PRINCETON, N. J.
Division XJ.^.W.^ I
Sec/ion ^iA...5 ...I. O.
S/ie// Number s/s^T-.
A HISTORY
OF
THE HEBREW PEOPLE
A HISTORY
OF
THE HEBREW PEOPLE.
By CHART.ES foster KENT.
Vol. I.
— The United Kingdom.
12mo. Net, $1.25.
With Maps.
Vol. II.
— The Divided Kingdom.
12mo. Net, $1.25.
With Maps.
A HISTOEY
OP
THE HEBREW PEOPLE
FROM THE DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM TO
THE FALL OF JERUSALEM IN 586 B.C.
BY
CHARLES FOSTER KENT, Ph.D.
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE AND HISTORY
BROWN UNIVERSITY
WITH MAPS AND CHART
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1897
Copyright, 1897,
By Charles Scribner's Sons.
5Sntbprsitg ^rcss:
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U, S. A.
PREFACE
The division of the Hebrew kingdom at the death
of Solomon turned the courses of Hebrew life and
thought into such entirely new channels that that
which precedes and that which follows this eventful
act constitute, in a sense, two independent historical
units. Both, however, are parts of an organic whole,
and therefore our knowledge of one remains incom-
plete without a familiarity with the other. Recogniz-
ing that many threads were necessarily left loose, and
that many conclusions, especially in the analysis of the
historical sources, were stated without complete proof,
it was with great hesitation that the first volume was
submitted to the public. Its aims, however, have been
so generously appreciated by all classes of Bible stu-
dents that it is with keen pleasure that I now endeavor
to redeem the implied promise, and gather up these
loose threads by presenting the subsequent develop-
ment of the history, since this itself constitutes the
most satisfactory and final proof of the conclusions
previously offered. Thus, for example, in the full light
of the reformation of Josiah, the peculiar ideas of the
Deuteronomic editor of Judges and Samuel are clearly
intelligible, and the inconsistencies in these books,
which at first seem so glaring, disappear in the true
Vi PREFACE
perspective of history. During the prophetic period
also the great religious truths, heretofore found only
in germ, unfold, making this, of all Semitic antiquity,
the era unquestionably the richest in its intellectual
and spiritual development.
While the determination to limit the present volume
to the length prescribed by the wants of the busy
reader has been persistently adhered to, the aim has
been so to introduce him to the character, work, and
essential teachings of each of the prophets that he may
find in their recorded words that reality and meaning
which are impossible without a clear understanding of
their historical background.
A detailed critical analysis of the different prophet-
ical books, which are the main historical sources for
the various periods, has not been attempted, since the
sections whose date and authorship are in question
fortunately do not contain data of sufficient importance
to modify materially our conception of the history ;
and therefore such a treatment would be aside from
the purpose of the present work, which deals primarily
with the life of the Hebrew people in its political,
social, and religious aspects rather than with their
literary products.
The course of the development of Hebrew history
was determined so largely by the influence of the two
great world-powers, Assyria and Babylonia, that they
suggest the most practical division into periods. Be-
fore the advent of Assyria the histories of the two
Hebrew kingdoms ran closely parallel and therefore
they have been considered together. Subsequently they
PREFACE vii
were separated so widely that they have been treated
independently. References to sections, preceded by
the Roman numeral I., refer to the first volume of this
history, which treats of the period included between
the settlement in Canaan and the division of the
kingdom.
Trusting that this work will prove to many only a
starting-point for a more detailed study of the variety
of interesting problems which arise in connection with
each chapter, I have given in the Appendix a full list of
references to the leading authorities. The bibliog-
raphy therein contained also suggests the previous
writers to whom I am indebted.
In the same connection I take pleasure in acknowl-
edging a more personal indebtedness to Professor
Frank K. Sanders, Ph. D., of Yale University, and
the Reverends Samuel B. Sherrill and Stephen G.
Hopkins, who have reviewed the present volume in
manuscript.
C. F. K.
Berlin, Germany,
January 2, 1897.
CONTENTS
PART I
THE PRE-ASSYRIAN PERIOD OF HEBREW HISTORY
THE HISTORICAL SOURCES FOR THE PERIOD
Sections 1-12. Pages 3-11.
Section 1. The general character of the sources. 2. The edi-
tor of the Book of Kmgs. 3. Ancient state records. 4.
Analysis of I. Kings xii.-xvi. 5. The Elijah stories. 6.
Historical value of Kings. 7. Characteristics of Chronicles.
8. Point of view of the chronicler. 9. His didactic purpose.
10. Sources of the chronicler. 11. Historical value of
Chronicles. 12. Phoenician and Moabite inscriptions.
II
THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE TWO KINGDOMS
Sections 13-17. Pages 12-15.
Section 13. The chronological data of Kings. 14. Different
chronological systems. 15. Exactness of Assyi'ian dates.
16. Synchronisms between Hebrew and Assyrian history.
17. Chronology of the Pre-Assyrian period.
CONTENTS
III
THE DIVISION OE THE HEBREW KINGDOM
Sections 18-26. Pages 16-25.
Section 18. The causes of the division. 19. Early separation
of Israel and Judah. 20. Tlie division following the death
of Saul. 21. Mutual jealousy under David. 22. Kesults of
Solomon's policy. 23. Attitude of the prophets. 2-1. Orien-
talism versus Jehovahism. 25. liehoboam's policy and its
fruits. 26. Kesults of the division.
lY
RESOURCES AND ORGANIZATION OF THE TWO
KINGDOMS
Sections 27-34. Pages 26-34.
Section 27. The boundary between Israel and Judah. 28.
Their natural defences. 29. Their relative productiveness.
30. Elements of unity and discord. 31. Position of the
king in the north and the south. 32. The national religion
of Israel. 33. Northern sanctuaries. 34. Significance of
Jeroboam's religious policy.
POLITICAL EVENTS IN ISRAEL AND JUDAH
Sections 35-45. Pages 35-45.
Section 35. The reigns of Jeroboam and Rehoboam. 36. War
between Israel and Judah. 37. Accession of Omri. 38.
His w^ars with Damascus. 39. The building of Samaria.
40. The policy of Ahab. 41. Aramean invasions. 42. Ahab's
victory over the Arameans, and defeat at Karkar. 43. His
death at Ramoth-Gilead. 44. Joram's unsuccessful invasion
of Moab. 45. Contemporary events in Judah.
CONTENTS xi
YI
THE RELIGIOUS CRISIS IN ISRAEL, AND THE WORK
OF ELIJAH
Sections 46-54. Pages 46-54.
Section 46. The religious life of Judah. 47. Position of the
prophets in the two kingdoms. 48. Results of Ahab's alli-
ance with Phoenicia. 49. False and true Jehovah prophets.
50. The danger from Baalism. 51. Character of Elijah.
52. His protest against Baalism. 53. Ahab's crimes against
his subjects. 54. Elijah's work as a social and religious
reformer.
PART II
THE ASSYRIAN PERIOD OF ISRAEL'S HISTORY
I
THE HISTORICAL SOURCES AND CHRONOLOGY
Sections 55-58. Pages 57-60.
Section 55. The analysis of II. Kings iv.-xvii. 56. The
prophecies of Amos and Hosea. 57. Assyrian inscriptions.
58. Chronology of the period.
II
THE REVOLUTION OF JEHU
Sections 59-68. Pages 61-69.
Section 59. The contrast between Elijah and Elisha. 60. The
prophetic guilds. 6L Character of the " sons of the prophets."
62. Elisha's relation to the prophetic guilds. 63. The anoint-
ing of Jehu. 64. The murder of Joram. 65. Death of Jez-
ebel. 66. Jehu's slaughter of the royal family. 67. The
disastrous effects of the revolution. 68. Establishment of
the principle of separation.
Xll CONTENTS
III
ISEAEL UNDER THE RULE OF THE HOUSE OF JEHU
Sections 69-76. Pages 70-77.
Section 69. Jehu's tribute to Assyria. 70. Damascus and
Assyria. 71. Israel's subjection to Damascus. 72. Aramean
invasion. 73. Unexpected deliverance. 74. Plumiliation of
Damascus by the Assyrians. 75. Extension of Israel's power.
76. Its Indian summer under Jeroboam II.
IV
THE PROPHETS AMOS AND HOSEA
Sections 77-84, Pages 78-85.
Section 77. The new type of prophets. 78. Their character-
istics. 79. Nationality and position of Amos. 80. His call
to be a prophet. 81. The reception of his message. 82.
Personality of Hosea. 83. His private history. 84. Histor-
ical importance of these prophets.
V
SOCIETY AND MORALS IN ISRAEL
Sections 85-90. Pages 86-91.
Section 85. The causes of Israel's sudden decline. 86. Im-
portance of the individual in the Hebrew state. 87. The re-
sults of the war with Damascus. 88. Increasing greed and
luxury. 89. Public and private corruption. 90. Impending
national destruction.
Yl
POPULAR AND PROPHETIC RELIGION
Sections 91-95. Pages 92-97,
Section 91. The prevailing conceptions of Jehovah. 92. Cor-
ruption of the priests and prophets. 93. The God of Amos.
94. Sources of the new light. 95. Divine love as proclaimed
by Hosea.
CONTENTS xiii
YII
THE DECLINE AND FALL OF ISRAEL
Sections 96-102. Pages 98-104.
Section 96. The reign of Menahem. 97. Conquests of Tiglath-
Pileser III. 98. Parties in Israel. 99. Rebellion against
Assyria. 100. Subjugation of Palestine by Tiglath-Pileser.
101. Intrigues of Egypt. 102. Kevolt of Hoshea and the
final fall of Samaria.
YIII
THE ROLE OF ISRAEL IN THE WORLD'S HISTORY
Sections 103-108. Pages 105-110.
Section 103. The deportation of the Israelites. 104. Tate of
the exiles. 105. Introduction of foreign colonists into
Samaria. 106. Their religious faith. 107. Israel's literary
products. 108. Its religious contributions.
PART III
THE ASSYRIAN PERIOD OF JUDAH'S HISTORY
I
THE HISTORICAL SOURCES AND CHRONOLOGY
Sections 109-115. Pages 113-119.
Section 109. The analysis of II. Kings xi.-xxi. 110. Date
of Isaiah's prophecies. 111. Micah's sermons. 112. Con-
temporary Assyrian inscriptions. 113. Chronology of the
period. 114. Date of Hezekiah's accession. 115. Data
suggesting the year 725 b. c.
XIV CONTENTS
n
FROM ATHALIAH TO AHAZ
Sections 116-125. Pages 120-126.
Section 116. The revolution led by Jehoiada. 117. Rejection
of Baalism. 118. Repair of the Temple. 119. Invasion of
Hazael. 120. Accession of Amaziah. 121. Conquests in
Edom. 122. Judah's humiliation by Israel. 123. Character
of Azariah (Uzziah). 121. His foreign and home policy,
125. His war against Tiglath-Pileser III.
Ill
THE CRISIS OF 734 B.C.
Sections 126-134. Pages 127-133.
Section 126. The invasion of the Israelites and Arameans.
127. Character of Ahaz. 128. The youthful Isaiah. 129.
His call to be a prophet. 130. His words of encouragement
to Ahaz. 131. The mysterious sign. 132. Isaiah's political
insight. 133. His appeal to the people. 134. Submission
of Ahaz to Assyi'ia.
IV
SOCIETY AND RELIGION IN JUDAH
Sections 135-143, Pages 134-140.
Section 135. The new influences in the life of Judah. 136.
Social sermons of the prophets. 137. Oppression of the poor
by the rich. 138, Results of intemperance. 139. Corruption
of the rulers. 140. Earlier conceptions of Jehovah. 141.
Popular superstitions. 142. False religious leaders. 143.
Debasing ceremonials.
CONTENTS XV
THE GREAT INVASION OF SENNACHERIB
Sections 144-153. Pages 141-150.
Section 144. The reign of Hezekiah. 145. Sargon's invasion
of Palestine in 711 b. c. 146. Significance of the embassy
of Merodach-Baladan. 147. Rebellion in Palestine. 148.
Advance of Sennacherib. 149. Isaiah's predictions of As-
syi'ia's overthrow. 150. Conquest of Judah. 151. Surrender
of Jerusalem. 152. Isaiah's activity at the great crisis.
153. Sennacherib's sudden retreat.
VI
THE WORK AND TEACHINGS OF ISAIAH
Sections 154-163. Pages 151-158.
Section 154. The greatness of Isaiah. 155. His conception of
Jehovah's holiness. 156. His Messianic ideals. 157. His
predictions concerning the Messianic king. 158. The coming
Messianic kingdom. 159. The unfolding of the divine plan.
160. Growth of a prophetic party. 161. Doctrine of the
"faithful remnant." 162. Reformation of Hezekiah. 163.
The fruits of Isaiah's work.
YII
THE REACTIONARY REIGN OF MANASSEH
Sections 164-169. Pages 159-164.
Section 164. The causes of the religious reaction. 165.
Triumph of the anti-prophetical party. 166. Introduction
of foreign religions. 167. Work of Isaiah's disciples. 168.
Editing of the Book of Deuteronomy. 169. Religious sig-
nificance of the period.
xvi CONTENTS
PART IV
THE BABYLONIAI^ PERIOD OF JUDAH'S HISTORY
THE HISTORICAL SOURCES
Sections 170-176. Pages 167-171.
Section 170. The analysis of 11. Kings xxii.-xxv. 171. The
Book of Deuteronomy. 172. Prophecies of Zephaniah,
Nahum, and Habakkuk. 173. Jeremiah's earlier sermons.
174. His later prophecies. 175. Ezekiel's earlier writings.
176. Babylonian and Greek records.
II
THE GREAT REFORMATION UNDER JOSIAH
Sections 177-188. Pages 172-182.
Section 177. The forerunners of the reformation. 178. Ad-
vance of the Scythians, 179. Zephaniah's reform sermons.
180. Call and character of Jeremiah. 181. Text of his
earliest prophecies. 182. Finding of the book of the law.
183. Institution of reform measures. 184. Historical sig-
nificance of the reformation. 185. The chief enactments of
Deuteronomy. 186. Beginning of the rule of the wi'itten
law. 187. Literary activity following the reformation. 188.
Editing of earlier prophetical and wisdom books.
Ill
JUDAH AND THE NEW WORLD POWERS
Sections 189-196. Pages 183-189.
Section 189. The fall of Assyria. 190. Advance of Necho
and death of Josiah. 191. The short reign of Jehoahaz.
192. Religious reaction under Jehoiakim. 193. Protests of
Jeremiah. 194. Persecutions of the true Jehovah .prophets.
195. Supremacy of the Chaldeans. 196. Counsels of Habak-
kuk and Jeremiah.
CONTENTS xvii
IV
JEREMIAH AND THE FALL OF JERUSALEM
Sections 197-206. Pages 190-198.
Section 197. The reception of Jeremiah's message. 198. His
political policy. 199. His unflinching loyalty. 200. The
first conquest of Jerusalem. 201. Inefficiency of Zedekiah.
202. Reappearance of old heathen forms. 203. Influence of
the false prophets. 204. Revolt against Babylon. 205.
Jeremiah's experiences during the siege of the city. 206.
Final destruction of Jerusalem.
V
THE LAST CHAPTER OF JUDAH'S HISTORY
Sections 207-212. Pages 199-204.
Section 207. The Jewish colony at Mizpah. 208. Murder of
Gedaliah. 209. Fortunes of the exiles. 210. Unique work
and character of the Hebrew prophets. 211. Their con-
stantly developing religious ideals. 212. Fulfilment of the
prophetic revelation in Christianity.
Appendix 207-218
LIST OF MAPS AND CHART
Chronological Chart Frontispiece
The Two Hebrew Kingdoms ..... to face page 26
The Assyrian Empire to face page 100
PART I
THE PRE-ASSYRIAN PERIOD OF
HEBREW HISTORY
THE HISTORICAL SOURCES FOR THE PERIOD
1. The glories of the united Hebrew kingdom at-
tracted and held the attention of succeeding genera-
tions so effectually that the later prophets and priests
whose writings are preserved in the Old Testament
were impelled to draw copiously from the rich records
which had been handed down from that earlier age.
A period of decline, however, such as that which im-
mediately followed the division of the kingdom, did
not call forth the activity of the patriotic historian;
neither were the events themselves of a character to
appeal to religious teachers seeking for appropriate
historical illustrations ; consequently, our data respect-
ing the Pre-Assyrian period of Hebrew history are at
many points exceedingly incomplete.
2. The oldest and most authentic records are con-
tained in I. Kings xii.-II. Kings iii. An examination
of these chapters quickly demonstrates that, like the
Books of Judges, Samuel, and I. Kings i.-xi., of which
they are the continuation, they are compilations. As
in the Book of Judges (I. sect. 32), the work of the
editor or compiler is most apparent in the recurring
formulas which constitute the framcAVork into which
the citations from the older sources are fitted. The
3
4 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
introductory formula in the case of the kings of Israel
indicates the synchronism with the kingdom of Judah,
and the length of the reigns of each king. In the
case of the kings of Judah, the name of the queen-
mother is also added, and frequently the age of the
king at his accession. The closing formula consists
of a reference to the liistorical source for the reign
and to the death of the king, and usually gives the
name of his successor. In the case of the kings of
Judah, the words " was buried with his fathers " are
added. The compiler's formula includes the stere-
otyped judgment upon each king. Even Zimri, who
overthrew the house of Baasha and reigned in Tirzah
but seven days, is condemned, as are all the kings of
Israel who succeeded its founder, for "doing that
which was evil in the sight of the Lord, in walking
in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did,
to make Israel to sin." A study of their recorded
deeds indicates that the compiler commends or con-
demns them, not because of their ability or inefficiency
as rulers, but according to their attitude toward the
religion of Jehovah, and especially toward its cere-
monial observances. His standard naturally was that
of the later age in which he lived. The two kings
who are accredited with " doing right in the eyes of
the Lord" are Asa and Jehoshaphat, who instituted
movements toward the reform of the reli odious cult.
3. These and kindred facts demonstrate conclusively
that the interests of the editor of the Book of Kings
were religious rather than political. This in turn ex-
plains why so many events of transcendent importance
to the modern historian were either ignored or re-
ceived only a passing notice. Fifteen times he refers
THE ORIGINAL SOURCES OF "KINGS" 5
the reader for information respecting the acts of the dif-
ferent reigns to the ^'Book of the Chronicles of the
Kings of Judah," and seventeen times to the corre-
sponding Clironicles of Israel. These references —
exceedingly tantalizing since there is no hope that the
Chronicles can ever be recovered — suggest the sources
from which he gained a part of his facts. Even though
he lived after the final capture of Jerusalem, in 586
B. c, with Avhich the narrative in Kings ends, it is not
incredible that certain state annals were still acces-
sible to him. The office of recorder, established under
David (I. Kings iv. 3), is good evidence that some such
memoranda of events were kept. The frequent change
of rulers, especially in Israel, was, however, unfavor-
able for the preservation of a connected record. It is
more probable that the Chronicles (literally, " words of
days ") referred to were two independent, continuous
narratives, based upon the official annals of the two
kingdoms.
4. Chapter xii. 1-31 contains the account of the
division of the kingdom, and the establishing of Jero-
boam as king over Israel. The original source was
probably the " Chronicles of the Kings of Israel," since
the interest is with the north. In verses 26-31, the
work of the compiler, who was strongly influenced by
the ideas of the age of Josiah (sect. 188), is appar-
ent. The language and representation of section xii.
32-xiii. 32, which tells of the mission of the unknown
Judean man of God to the royal sanctuary at Bethel,
indicate that it is a very late prophetic tradition, pos-
sibly inserted after the work of the compiler was com-
pleted. It has been suggested, not without reason,
that it had its historical basis in the denunciatory mis-
6 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
sion of the Judean prophet Amos, to the royal sanc-
tuary at Bethel, when another Jeroboam sat on the
throne of Israel (sects. 79, 80). Verses 33 and 34 of
chapter xiii. continue the thought of xii. 31, in the
language of the editor. Chapter xiv. 1-18 consists of
an ancient prophetic narrative, worked over in places
by the same hand. The remainder of this chapter,
and the two following, contain a series of short cln-ono-
logical and political notices cast in the framework of
the compiler, broken only by the brief prophecy of
Jehu against Baasha in xvi. 1-4.
5. The political notices are again interrupted by the
insertion of chapters xvii.-xix. The thought and
style of this section indicate that it is all from one
source, which must have been an old prophetic history
of the deeds of Elijah, based upon the stories current
among the later prophets. Here the compiler has
transcribed liis material with few, if any, alterations.
The abruptness of the beginning suggests that the ori-
ginal narrative was provided with an introduction,
which he for some reason omitted. Chapter xxi.
continues the Elijah history. In chapter xx., wliich
breaks the continuity of the record, the interest is
political, although in verses 35-43 the sons of the
prophets are the central figures. It is evident that
here, and in xxii. 1-38, the original source w^as Israel-
itish, and was also probably the prophetic records.
The remainder of chapter xxii. consists of political
notices incorporated in the regular framework of the
compiler. The same are continued in II. Kings i. 17^
18. Between verses 1 and 17^, however, is inserted a
narrative concerning Elijah. Whether this is from the
same source as the other Elijah stories or from a later
HISTORICAL VALUE OF "KINGS" 7
age, is uncertain. Chapter ii. concludes the history
of Elijah, and introduces that of Elisha. In iii. 1-3
the familiar formula of the compiler reappears, while
the remainder of the chapter, like I. Kings xx. and
xxii., is in part political and in part prophetical, and
was evidently drawn from an Israeli tish source. The
political notices of chapter viii. 16-29 conclude the
treatment of this period.
6. This general analysis demonstrates that the dif-
ferent parts of Kings require careful study and adjust-
ment by the historian. The testimony of the later
traditions must be weighed in the light of their dis-
tance from the events of which they treat, and of the
influences to which they have been subjected. The
date and point of view of the compiler also must be
constantly borne in mind. It may, however, be justly
said that although the Books of Kings leave us igno-
rant of many important facts, they are, nevertheless,
an exceedingly authentic historical source, since they
are for the most part based upon records almost, if not
quite, contemporary with the events recorded; and
tlirough them we are able to gain a remarkably clear
conception of the essential movements of the period
with which they are concerned.
7. While the second Book of Chronicles treats of
the same epochs, its historical contributions are much
inferior to those of the Books of Kings. In many pas-
sages the text is practically the same in each, indi-
cating that the chronicler transferred bodily many
sections from the older history. Consequently the
Book of Chronicles is also a compilation ; but only in
a limited sense, for a study of the language and char-
acteristics of the other parts of the book soon reveals
8 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
the fact that they are not citations from different
sources, but are all from the same author, or, at least,
from the same age and written from the same point of
view.
8. His peculiarities are clearly marked. His use of
words and constructions indicates that the Hebrew
language was already beginning to decay. With the
exception of one or two short notices, he completely
ignores the history of Israel. He conceives of Judah
as a religious state, very similar to the post-exilic
hierarchy. He represents a ritual and institutions un-
known to the pre-exilic historians, as already devel-
oped. Prophets are frequently introduced whose words
and acts suggest no kinship with Elijah or Amos, but
who are closely related to the legal prophets of the
restored Jewish community. The evidence soon be-
comes conclusive that the author of Chronicles not
only wrote long after the exile (the beginning of the
Greek period, about 330 b. c, being the date usually
assigned to him), but he also repeatedly read the ideas
current in his age into the earlier days.
9. Two distinct strands, therefore, run tlu^ough the
book : the first consists of the citations from the Book
of Kings ; the second, of the writings of the chronicler
himself. Although he has endeavored to reconcile them
by omissions and expansions, the variations resulting
from the two widely different points of view reflected
therein are frequently apparent. The didactic aim of
the chronicler is also very evident. National misfor-
tune and prosperit}^ are always attributed directly to
right or wrong doing on the part of king or people.
The attentive reader soon recognizes that the author
has constantly in mind the Jews of his own day, whom
THE SOURCES OF "CHRONICLES" 9
lie was endeavoring in this manner to influence. The
purpose which always dominated him, even more than
the author of Kings, was to teach ethical and religious
truth. With him the mere recording of historical facts
was entirely secondary. If the systematic exaggera-
tion of numbers wliich is found throughout the book
is his work, it is the result, not of a deliberate effort to
pervert the truth, but rather to make his illustrations
the more impressive.
10. This preliminary study makes it possible to
estimate approximately the historical value of the
book. Since the citations from Kings only repeat
what is known, additional information, if any, must
be sought for in those parts of the book peculiar to
the chronicler. Living as he did, centuries after the
events recorded, the important question is, what were
the sources, other than Kings, from which he drew
his facts ? He refers to (1) " The Book of the Kings
of Judah and Israel" (II. Chron. xvi. 11, xxv. 26,
xxviii. 26) ; (2) " The Book of the Kings of Israel and
Judah " (II. Chron. xxvii. 7, xxxv. 27, xxxvi. 8) ; and
(3) " The Acts of the Kings of Israel " (II. Chron.
xxxiii. 18). These, probably, are to be identified as
variations of the same title. In several cases facts not
found in the canonical Book of Kings are cited from
this " Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah," which
is conclusive proof that they are not the same. It
cannot be identified with the authorities referred to in
the Book of Kings, since they were two independent
works (sect. 3), treating the history of each kingdom
separately. Beference is made in II. Chi'onicles xxiv.
27 to " The Midrash of the Book of Kings." Midrash
(translated " commentary ") is a late Hebrew designa-
10 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
tion for a treatise containing moral or religious teach-
ing derived from some scriptural narrative or history.
It is not impossible that this was still another title for
" The Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah." If so,
the chief authority of the clii'onicler was a post-exilic
work, based upon the earlier traditions of the nation's
history, written, like the Book of Chronicles, with the
aim of deriving therefrom practical lessons for imme-
diate application. The '' words " of certain prophets
and seers to which the chronicle refers may have been
independent monographs, although the context sug-
gests that they were only titles of certain sections of
the greater work. Another source is called " The
Midrash of the Prophet Iddo" (II. Chron. xiii. 22),
suggesting that its character likewise was didactic
rather than liistorical.
11. In the light of these facts there is no absolute
proof that the chronicler had access to ancient sources
equal or superior to those cited by the compiler of
Kings. On the other hand, the representation of the
chronicler is clear evidence that he drew his historical
illustrations largely from current tradition. In many
cases these differ radically from the testimony of the
Book of Kings ; for example, according to I. Kings xv.
1-4, Abijam, the successor of Rehoboam, " walked in
all the sins of his father, which he had done before
him ; and his heart was not perfect v\dth the Lord, his
God," while the chronicler represents him (II. Chron.
xiii. 1-22) as valiantly championing the cause of
Jehovah, and winning a great victory over Jeroboam
of Israel. This idealization of the history, in accord-
ance with certain presuppositions current in the later
days of the Jewish state, or as the result of long oral
EGYPTIAN AND MOABITE INSCRIPTIONS 11
transmission, runs through the entire book, and, of
course, in many cases obscures the original kernel of
liistorical fact. At the same time it cannot be doubted
that certain details of the history have been preserved in
this manner. When, however, the testimony of Kings
and Chronicles differs, it is obvious that that of the older
book is to be followed. Supplemental information
contained in the Book of Chronicles must also be care-
fully weighed in the light of the tendencies of the
author before being used.
12. Among the extra-biblical sources are the Phceni-
cian inscriptions, which furnish valuable information
respecting the religion of these neighbors of Israel.
Later Hebrew and Greek writings have also preserved
a few stray facts. The long inscription of Shishak I.,
inscribed in Egyptian hieroglyphics on the walls of
the temple at Karnak, tells of his invasion of Palestine.
The most valuable document, outside of the Bible, is
the famous Moabite stone found east of the Jordan,
and now preserved in the Louvre at Paris. This in-
scription consists of thirty-three lines, written in the
so-called Phoenician script, on a monument of black
basalt, reared by the Moabite king, Mesha, mentioned
in II. Kings iii. 4, in commemoration of his victories
over the Israelites. It refers to the conquest of Moab
by Omri, and gives the details of the war with the
Israelites, marvellously supplementing the biblical
records.
II
THE CHEONOLOGY OF THE TWO KINGDOMS
13. Hebrew chronology presents a most difficult
and perplexing problem. The biblical data respecting
the chronology of the two kingdoms are of two kinds :
(1) the length of each reign is given ; (2) at the acces-
sion of each king the corresponding year of the reign of
his contemporary in the other kingdom is stated. Ad-
dition of the years assigned to the kings of Israel and
of Judah during a given period at once reveals differ-
ences which indicate that the first group of data is
not exact. A comparison of the second, the synchro-
nisms, with each other and with the lengths assigned
to the different reigns, also discloses wide variations.
These facts are not so surprising when it is noted
that the chronological data belong, not to the citations
from the older sources, but are from the hand of the
compiler, who lived about the time of the fall of
Jerusalem, in 586 B. c, and was therefore entirely
dependent either upon earlier records or traditions for
his information, or else, when these were wanting, was
obliged to estimate as best he could. In the age of
Jeremiah and Ezekiel it had become the custom to
reckon time by the year of the reigning monarch, so
that in the writings of these prophets he could find
12
DIFFERENT CHRONOLOGICAL SYSTEMS 13
data from which to determine the length of each reign ;
but in the earlier periods there appears to have been
no regular system of chronology, and no definite point
from which to reckon. The older documents contain
almost no chronological notices. Amos, the most ex-
act of the earlier prophets, states that he delivered
his prophecy " two years before the earthquake."
Zechariah (xiv. 5) refers to the same great earthquake,
which occurred during the reign of Uzziah of Judah ;
but succeeding generations soon forgot its exact date,
so that the reference is now valueless.
14. The data upon which the compiler of Kings
based his statements must have been exceedingly in-
complete. " The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel and
of Judah" may have given him the length of the reigns
of certain kings, although the character of his system
suggests that he was almost entirely dependent upon
general tradition or his own estimates. A careful ex-
amination of the series of synchronisms confirms the
conclusion that they were added by a still later editor,
who was endeavoring to harmonize the differences in
the chronology of the two kingdoms. A great variety
of devices has been adopted by later biblical clu-onolo-
gists, with a view to ex^Dlaining the discrepancies.
That of Bishop Ussher, the one introduced in the
margin of the Authorized Version, has in the past
received the widest acceptance. The testimony of the
Assyrian inscriptions, however, has demonstrated that
his system can no longer be accepted as even approxi-
mately correct.
15. That v/hich overtlirows, at the same time fur-
nishes the basis for a more satisfactory reconstruction.
Fortunately the Assyrians, like the Greeks, designated
14 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
each year by the name of a certain officer. Not one,
but many duplicate copies of these eponym lists have
been found which mutually corroborate each other,
and establish beyond question the exactness of the
Assyrian chronological system. This is in turn car-
ried down to later times by the Ptolemaic. Astro-
nomical calculations have confirmed the testimony of
these two systems respecting the month, as well as the
year, when a certain great eclipse occulted. In accord-
ance with the spirit of exactness, not only the length
of the reigns of the kings, but also the events of each
year, are clearly stated in the Assyrian annals and his-
torical inscriptions. Consequently, when Hebrew and
Assyrian history touch, an exact standard is provided
for confirming or correcting the biblical data.
16. At two points the history of Judah and Israel
absolutely synchronizes ; namely, at the division, and
when Jehu slew the rulers of both the kingdoms (sect.
64). The inscription of Shalmaneser II. states that
Jehu paid tribute to Assyria in 842 b. c. Since there
is no evidence that his territory was invaded, it is prob-
able that his object in so doing was to establish his
position on the throne of Israel; indeed, it would
have been in perfect accord with the policy of Assyria
if it had originally had a part in instigating the revo-
lution. However that may be, 842 b. c. may be as-
signed as its date. Addition of the years attributed,
respectively, to the kings who reigned between these
two common dates, gives a total of ninety-five for
Judah, and ninety-eight for Israel, which represents a
difference of three years. The error should probably
be assigned to Israel.
17. On an inscription of Shalmaneser II., Ahab of
CHRONOLOGY OF THE EARLIER PERIOD 15
Israel is mentioned among the allied kings who fought
at Karkar in 854 B. c. (sect. 42). The battle of
Ramoth-Gilead, at wliich Ahab met his death (sect.
43), was necessarily later, probably in the succeeding
year, 853 B. c, eleven years before the revolution of
Jehu. The biblical liistorian, however, assigns two
years to Ahaziah, and twelve to Jehoram, the two
kings who reigned between Ahab and Jehu. Aha-
ziah's fatal accident, recorded in II. Kings i. 2, prob-
ably came about the time of his accession. His brother
.Jehoram naturally became regent; in which case the
two years of his regentship before Ahaziah's death
would be counted twice. Since Ahab was living in
854, the duration of Jehoram's reign must have been
eleven instead of twelve years. With these changes^
the chronology of Judah and Israel is brought into
agreement. According to this reckoning, the division
of the Hebrew empire took place in 937 B. c, a date
confirmed by the Egyptian monuments, since it falls
within the reign of Shishak I., who received the refu-
gee Jeroboam, and later invaded Palestine (sect. 35).
These results, together with the contemporary chronol-
ogy of Egypt, Damascus, and Assyria, are presented
in the chronological chart at the beginning of this
volume.
Ill
THE DIVISION OF THE HEBEEW KINGDOM
18. Within a single century the barbarous Hebrew
peasants had been organized into a powerful empire
which dominated the Canaanitish world. Still greater
political influence and prosperity seemed to await
them, when suddenly the empire was divided, and
a few centuries later the two kingdoms, mutually
weakened, fell an easy prey to foreign conquerors.
What were the causes of tliis fatal act of division, so
weighted with far-reaching consequences? A casual
reader of Old Testament history might at once reply
that it was due to the unwise course followed by
Solomon's successor in his treatment of the northern
tribes. This, however, would present only the imme-
diate cause, — the spark which set off the accumulated
mass of tinder. To understand the real causes, it is
necessary to review the preceding chapters of Hebrew
history.
19. When the f ragmen taiy records of the Book
of Judges at times turned the flash-light upon the
Hebrew tribes contending for the possession of the
soil of Canaan, or absorbing and assimilating the origi-
nal inhabitants of the land, we found the Israelites,
in the north and centre, and the Judeans in the south,
each lighting their own battle alone, and each grapjDling
16
ISRAEL AND JUDAH 17
with their own individual problems (I. sects. 49, 41).
Gideon's kingdom does not appear to have extended
farther south than the limits of Ephraim. Nov/here
is there any indication (in the light of the oldest
sources) that during the period of the judges the north
and south were ever united, even temporarily, to ward
off the attack of a threatening enemy. Furthermore,
a strong line of Canaanitish cities, of which Jebus was
the chief, extended across the land of Canaan from
east to west, completely cutting off the Israelites of
the north from their kinsmen of the south. The
Judeans also absorbed an unusually large native
element, wliich undoubtedly tended to neutralize the
mutual attraction of common blood and religion.
Thus the circumstances and events of their early
history all tended to foster the spirit of independence
rather than of union. The frequent recurrence, side
by side, in the earlier as well as in the later narratives
of Samuel and Kings, of the two names Israel and
Judah as designations of the north and south, respec-
tively, indicates that this distinction was constantly
maintained, even during the period of the united
kingdom (I. Sam. xi. 8; xvii. 52; II. Sam. xi. 11;
xii. 8 ; xxi. 2 ; I. Kings i. 35 ; iv. 20, 25). In the
oldest sections in Judges the same distinctions are
observed (i. 2, 4, 8, 28 ; v. 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, etc.).
Not until after the fall of the northern kingdom does
Israel, as a general nam.e, appear to have been also
applied to Judah. This looser usage is most common
in Chronicles. In this connection it may be noted
that the tribes in the north after the division were
assuming no new title when they designated their
kingdom as Israel.
2
18 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREV/ PEOPLE
20. Under the stress of a common and threatening
danger (subjection to the Philistine yoke), all the
tribes were diiven for a brief period to unite about
the standard of the Benjaminite Saul. If the support
of the Judeans was at hrst strong alid hearty, it was
gradually withdrawn when their kinsman and popular
champion, David, was hunted from the coiu't of their
suspicious king. Although they did not openly revolt,
the readiness with which they proceeded, after the
battle of Gilboa, to elect their favorite to the throne
of Judah, even though the northern tribes remained
faithful to the house of Saul, shows conclusively that
their support of the Benjaminite king was far from
enthusiastic, and that the feeling of jealousy was only
smouldering.
21. Throughout all early Hebrew history the north-
ern tribes, of which Eplu'aim and Manasseli were the
acknowledged leaders, far surpassed Judah in influence
and resources. Joshua, Deborah, Barak, Gideon,
Samuel, and Saul, whose exploits were the pride of
the race, all came from the north ; but the scion of the
house of Saul, whom the Israelites placed upon the
tlirone after the death of their first king, proved a
weak reed to lean upon ; while from without the
victorious Philistines pressed them so severely that
their might v/as terribly broken. At last the stroke
of assassins cut down in quick succession both their
general and their king, so that they were left without
a leader. Under the pressiu^e of this insistent danger,
the Hebrew tribes v/ere for the first time in their
history really miited. David's continued success in
war, and a policy which favored the northern tribes
even more than Judah, preserved the union ; neverthe-
JEALOUSY BETWEEN NOETH AND SOUTH 19
less during his reign the ancient, fierce rivalry broke
forth and tlu*eatened to sunder the state. In his
efforts to conciliate the northern tribes after the
suppression of the rebellion of Absalom, David un-
wittingly stirred up the jealousy of the Judeans.
Evidently, while endeavoring to appease them, he in
turn incensed their old rivals of the north ; for we
find them in a mad revolt, v/hich is only put down
by Joab hj force of arms. This incident is conclusive
proof that the old bitter feeling survived, and that
all the skill and power of a David was required
to keep together the elements which mingled so
imperfectly.
22. Solomon took good care, at the beginning of
his reign, to remove by the sword all persons who
might prove seditious. Perhaps he felt too secure
after this act, since his later policy is famous for just
those mistakes which his father had so carefully
avoided. He succeeded in realizing his ideal of
splendor and absolutism; but his success was pur-
chased at a terrible cost. Although for a time his
people were dazzled by the display, erelong the
northern tribes waked up to the bitter realization
of the fact that all this glitter was not gold, and that
the just policy of David no longer guided the throne.
Israelitish interests were made subservient to those
of the king and of Judah. It was gall and bitterness
to the northerners to see the wealth and power of
the empire constantly being concentrated in the
southern capital. Furthermore, the Temple and all
the splendid palaces and strong fortifications with
which the city v/as beautified v/ere built hy the fruits of
their increase and by their wearisome toil. Thus to
20 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
override the rights of the individual subject and to re-
duce to serfdom a people who a generation before had
been free and independent, inevitably meant rebellion
whenever opportunity offered. Many may have been
the uprisings. History records only the unsuccessful
one led by Jeroboam the Ephraimite.
23. In connection with the account of this rebel-
lion, there is a suggestive notice (I. Kings xi. 29-39)
to the effect that Jeroboam was informed by a prophet,
Ahijah, that he would become king over the ten tiibes.
Even thouo'h the narrative be late, it is of value as
indicating the hostile attitude of the pro]_)hets toward
the policy and reign of Solomon. This is further
confirmed by the reference, in I. Kings xii. 22-24,
to the action of a certain man of God, named Shemaiah.
When Kehoboam, after the division, gathered together
his forces to march against the Israelites to reduce
them to subjection, this man of God appeared before
the king, and proclaimed that it was the will of
Jehovah that they should not go up and hght against
their brethren. The narrative also adds that the
Judeans listened to him and desisted from their expe-
dition. These references are sufficient to indicate
that the influence of at least the more zealous Jehovah-
prophets was thrown on the side of the Israelites, and
that they favored rather than opposed the division.
The attitude of the true prophets in subsequent crises,
when conditions were similar, confirms the conclusion.
24. A careful study, on the one hand, of the reign
of Solomon and of the tendencies which were then
beginning to manifest themselves, and, on the other,
of the character and ideals of these early men of God,
reveals the cause of their attitude. Solomon's policy
REAL CAUSES OF THE DIVISION 21
brought to the Hebrew nation the refining influences
and the products of the civilization of that ancient
world. Tlirough the newly opened channels of con-
quest and commerce it was fast absorbing the art and
ideas of the surrounding peoples. In a generation or
two more it would have been quite impossible to dis-
tinguish it from its neighbors. If its character and
mission were to be similar to that of the other nations
of the world, this transformation certainly represented
great progress ; but if it had a peculiar mission, and if
that mission could be performed only as it preserved a
unique individuality, this was not an altogether prom-
ising line of development. Also, according to the fun-
damental principles of a Semitic alliance, Solomon was
obliged to acknowledge the gods of the allied peoples,
and to tolerate their worship Avithin t]ie territory of
Israel. The crisis was more than a political one ; it
was also religious. It was Solomon's policy of Orien-
talism versus the pure worship of Jehovah. The fu-
ture of the faith of humanity hung in the balances.
Probably the prophets did not fully appreciate the
stupendous issues at stake, but they saw enough to
lead them to act. Tliey were ready to welcome the
disunion of the tribes as the last resort, in the hope
that thereby they might avert the awful danger which
threatened the faith which they held dearer than
the unity of their nation. Hence, before Rehoboam
mounted the throne of his father, the circumstances of
their early history, the bitter jealousy between the
north and the south, and the injustice and grinding
oppression of Solomon, which had aroused the uncom-
promising opposition of the prophets as well as the
resentment of the proud tribes of the north, had pre-
pared the way for the division.
22 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
25. A king with the commanding prestige and tact
of David miglit have averted the catastrophe for a
time. But Rehoboam, reared in the luxurious Orien-
tal court of Solomon, possessed neither of these quali-
ties. The laws also which determined the right of
succession in Israel evidently had not as yet been defi-
nitely established. Saul and David had been chosen by
the nation to be their leaders and counsellors. Solomon
had been nominated as Ms successor by the aged David,
and this had been publicly ratified — at least, by the
citizens of Jerusalem. Hence it appears that the Hebrew
people had thus far had an important voice in the elec-
tion of their king, although the tendency to regard the
office as hereditary was beginning to manifest itself.
The northern tribes, discontented with the heavy bur-
dens and unjust partiality of Solomon's rule, had good
precedents as well as reasons for refusing to accept
Solomon's son as their king until they were given
certain assurances that these evils would be abated.
Accordingly they m^eet at the old northern capital, She-
chem, whither Rehoboam, apparently attended by only
a small force, goes to confer with them. The demand
which they make is reasonable : " Lighten the griev-
ous burdens which your father laid upon us." It is
probable that if the king had yielded, the dismember-
ment of the empire might even then have been averted.
Ostensibly he acknowledges its justice, for he half
consents in asking for three days for consideration.
Graphically, the author of Kings presents the counsels
of the different factions in Rehoboam's camp. The
gray-bearded courtiers, who had been instructed by the
politic David, and who had grown old in the service of
the worldly-wise Solomon, appreciate the situation and
THE ACT OF DIVISION 23
urge a conciliatory policy — at least, until the present
crisis is past. But the younger men, who, like him-
self, had grown up in the vitiated court of Solomon,
had only absorbed its ideas of Oriental absolutism.
Naturally he accepts their advice, since it merely voices
his wishes. Despotism shall win or lose the day.
Therefore, at the end of the appointed time, when the
representatives of the northern tribes again assemble,
confidently expecting a generous Magna Charta, a
bomb is exploded in their midst. " Whereas my father
did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your
yoke ; my father chastised you with whips, but I will
chastise you with scorpions," are the arrogant words
of the king. It instantly kindles into a fierce blaze all
the suppressed jealousy and discontent which filled
their hearts. The old cry of revolt, raised during the
days of David by Sheba the Benjaminite (II. Sam.
XX. 1), "What portion have we in David? To your
tents, O Israel," spreads like wild-fire from mouth to
mouth throughout the assembly. The aged Adoram,
who was at the head of the hated levy, is sent to treat
with the Israelites, and falls the first victim of Reho-
boam's folly. It is forever too late for conciliation.
The die is cast. Before Rehoboam has reached Jeru-
salem, whither he had fled for his life, king of but one
tribe, Jeroboam, who in the earlier days had led the
revolt against the tyranny of Solomon, and had now
returned from his forced exile in Egypt, had been
raised to the throne of Israel. The Judeans, who nat-
urally refused to accept the choice of the majority of
the tribes, are regarded as rebels by their kinsmen of
the north. The old breach was opened too widely
ever to be closed again.
24 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
26. The act of division turned the future course of
Hebrew history into entirely new channels. Its effects
can be clearly traced in all the varying fortunes which
subsequently came to the Hebrew race. It is idle to
conjecture what might have been, had the integrity of
the empire been preserved ; but it is certain that the
division sapped the political strength of the Hebrew
people, so that the possibility of their becoming a great
world-povfer was forever destroyed. With few excep-
tions their subsequent history is one of continuous
political disaster. On the other hand, the mighty tide
of foreign customs and civilization which came in dur-
ing the reigns of David and Solomon was turned sud-
denly backward. The energies of the people were
occupied in a death-struggle for national existence.
Consequently, for a few generations at least, the social
life tended necessarily to return to its primitive sim-
plicity. The influence of Solomon's policy of exalting
the court far above the mass of the nation Avas arrested,
and thereby greater equality among all classes was
secured. The tendency to place Jehovah on an equal-
ity with the gods of the surrounding nations was also
temporarily checked. The series of political calamities
which soon overtook Israel, and later Judah, called
forth those religious heroes, the prophets, who won
mighty victories for righteousness and Jehovah.
When the northern kingdom fell in 722 B. c, Judah,
severed from it by the division, survived to enjoy
a century of independent existence, which was rich
in spiritual experience. By virtue of its separation,
its religious life was centralized more and more in
Jerusalem, thereby preparing the way for that cen-
tralization of worsliip which in time became one of the
EESULTS OF THE DIVISION 25
strongest bulwarks against the influence of heathen-
ism. The approaching captivity, which followed in
the wake of the division, led the prophets to open their
spiritual eyes wider until they beheld, instead of the
local god of one little nation, a Lord supreme in the
affairs of men and in the universe. Out of the depths
of their private and national affliction, those divinely
enlightened men caught glimpses of the character and
will of the Eternal, which enabled them to rise above
national annihilation and exile, and to give to their
race and humanity truths and principles which are
the everlasting foundations of religious faith. Thus,
while by the division the Hebrew nation lost its life,
in a truer and higher sense it found it.
IV
EESOUECES AND ORGANIZATION OF THE TWO
KINGDOMS
27. The territory of the two kingdoms which came
into existence as the result of the division, v/as defined
by tribal rather than natural boundaries. The border
line between them lay within the land of Benjamin,
and the greater part of the territory of this tribe must
have fallen to the northern kingdom. The Benja-
minites regarded themselves as belonging to the house
of JosexDh (II. Sam. xix, 16, 20). Their traditions
and the events of their earlier history all bound them
most closely to the tribes of the north. They had
every reason to regard with no kindly interest the
family of David, which had supplanted that of their
kinsman Saul. Their resentment, in fact, found re-
peated expression at the time of Absalom's rebellion
during the lifetime of David, and almost resulted in
the dismemberment of the kingdom (II. Sam. xvi.
1-14 ; XX. 1-22). Consequently, there is every reason
for accepting the testimony of I. Kings xii. 20, v/hich
states explicitly, ^' There was none that foUow^ed the
house of David, but the tribe of Judah only," instead
of the popular impression that Benjamin joined with
the south. The boundary line must have run a few
miles north of Jerusalem, including within the limits
26
35 Longitude East
fruni Greenwich 36
ISRAEL AND JUDAH AFTER THE DIVISION OF
THE HEBREW E3IPIRE.
AEEA AND STRENGTH OF JUDAH 27
of Judah a small section of the territory of Benjamin
immetliately adjacent to the southern capital. It
varied at different times, and j^roved a fertile subject
of dispute (I. Kings xv. 17-22). During the reign of
Asa, Ramah (about six miles north of Jerusalem) was
fortified by the Israelites. When the forces of the
north were withdrawn, the Judeans improved the op-
portunity to fortify in turn the neighboring towns of
Geba and Mizpah (five miles north of Jerusalem).
The Judean territory probably never extended beyond
these points.
28. The area of the territory of the southern king-
dom could not have been more than one-half of that of
itd northern rival, while the amomit of arable land was
less than one-fourth. The area of Judah, however,
during the greater part of its history was greatly in-
creased by the territory of Edom, over wliich the
Judeans continued to exercise a suzerainty. Simi-
larly, at the division, the territory of the Moabites fell
to the tribes of the north. Although the land of
Judah Avas much smaller, it enjoyed certain advantages
of position not shared by the northern kingdom. On
the east, the Dead Sea, with its barren shores, proved an
efficient barrier against Moabite or Ammonite invasion.
On the south extended the desert, which barred the
way against all invaders, except the wandering Arabs,
whose attacks, although troublesome, were no menace
to the nation's life. After their power was broken by
David, the Philistines, whose lands bounded Judah on
the v/est, never again united for the conquest of
Hebrew soil. For two centuries the northern king-
dom proved an effective buttress against the formi-
dable attacks of the great world powers from the north.
28 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
The only foe which Juclah had cause to fear was
Egypt, and Egypt's ambitions and capabilities were
limited to desultory forays into Canaan. Israel, on
the other hand, by virtue of its position was obliged to
engage in a constant and desperate struggle fo]' exist-
ence. Its bars were all down. The broad valleys
which led into the heart of the land furnished natural
highways for hostile armies. Egyptian invasion pene-
trated its territory also, while from the northeast there
came, almost yearly, Aramean, and later Assyrian
armies, which gradually drained its life-blood.
29. The natural resoui'ces of the two kingdoms pre-
sented even greater contrasts. Judah's territory was
strewn mth limestone rocks. The little soil between
yielded only a meagre subsistence in return for the
most wearisome labor. Water, the absolute requisite
for animal and vegetable life, was doled out by nature
most sparingly. While great wealth was impossible, a
suificient livelihood could be gained by toil. It was a
land calculated to develop hardy, earnest, courageous
men, fond of their rocky hills, and tenacious of their
customs and religion. It fui-nished no surplus of prod-
ucts to tempt its inhabitants to seek a foreign market,
and the barriers which encircled them intensified the
tendency to remain at home. In Israel, on the con-
trary, the rocks were concealed by rich soil, abounding
in springs which called forth everywhere a rich vege-
tation. Broad plains, easily tilled, furnished a gener-
ous supply of grain. Contrasted with Judah, it was
indeed "a land flowing with milk and honey." Its
wealth, however, encouraged commerce and attracted
the invader. It gave to Israel material prosperity and
commanding prestige, but with these came temptations
LACK OF UNITY IN ISRAEL 29
and clangers unknown to Judah. It tended to develop
a luxurious, pleasure-loving people, far more suscep-
tible to foreign influences than their poor cousins living
among the limestone hills in the south.
30. Judah's inferiority in size and numbers Avas
more than compensated for by the unity and homo-
geneity of its population. The tribe of Judah not
only dominated the southern kingdom, but it had so
completely absorbed the Simeonites, and the Arabian
clans, which it had found in possession of its southern
territory, that it was a nation made up of one tribe.
The interests of the people were the same, since their
land presented little diversity and limited its inhabi-
tants to the culture of the vine and the raising of
sheep and cattle. Jerusalem towered so high above
the few other towns in the kingdom that they stood
toward her only in a relation of dependence. In this
respect Judah resembled states like Damascus, Baby-
lon, and Rome. Furthermore, the Temple, with its
splendid equipment, conmianded the reverence and
homage of all the people, and was, therefore, a potent
uniting force. These elements of strength and union
were lacking in Israel. Ephraim, the leading tribe,
shared its influence with others. Rival sectional inter-
ests were an even greater source of weakness. The
tribes in the extreme north and across the Jordan
never participated actively in the common national
life of Israel. Natural divisions, like the plain of
Esdraelon and the deep valley of the Jordan, kept the
different sections of the northern kingdom from com-
ing into close touch with each other. An inevitable
result of the wide variations in physical contour was
that its inhabitants were found engaged in a great
30 A HISTORY OF TtlE HEBREW PEOPLE
variety of occupations. In the territory of Ephraim
and Manasseli, for example, agTicultural and pastoral
pursuits flourished side bj^ side ; on the rich plain of
Esdraelon the life was wholly agricultural ; in the north,
fishing as well as the culture of the soil occupied
the people; while across the Jordan the majority of
the inhabitants were shepherds. Consequently, while
Judah Avas a perfect social unit, bound together by the
closest natural bonds, Israel was made up of a loose
aggregation of such units. In the north also there
was no capital city like Jerusalem, nor sanctuary
like that reared by Solomon, dominating and binding
together all these different elements, which from
geographical, racial, and political causes were so
heterogeneous.
31. Furthermore, in Israel, where a strong central
government was most needed, it was most conspicuously
lacking. In Judah the kingship was hereditary, and
was retained in the same family throughout its history,
so that its rulers enjoyed the prestige of the name of
David, and all the cumulative power which comes
from an uninterrupted succession. The priesthood,
which exercised great influence, used this to maintain
the authority of the throne, by which it was in turn
supported. The prophets also co-operated with the
civil rulers to further the political interests of the
nation. Throughout Judean history the relations of
court and people were most cordial. Therefore the
authority of the king was practically absolute without
being tyrannical. In Israel these conditions were in
many respects reversed. Jeroboam I. was raised to the
throne from the ranks of the people. His authority,
therefore, was delegated, and he enjoyed none of the
RELIGIOUS POLICY OF JEROBOAM I. 31
prestige of a long established royal line. His influ-
ence, like that of the judges of earlier days, and the
kings who succeeded hiui, depended chiefly upon his
own personal ability. When an Israelitish king was
weak or incapable, his authority was little more than
that of his most powerful nobles. This fact explains
why so often in the northern kingdom an asj)iring sub-
ject was able to mount the throne by the assassination
of his sovereign. These frequent revolutions tended
still further to v/eaken the authority of tiie central
government. Consequently, the strength of Israel was
constantly being sapped, not only by foes from with-
out, but by inefiicient rule and anarchy within.
32. Jeroboam I. felt impelled, as the first king of
a newly constituted kingdom, to establish a royal
sanctuary which should be closely identified with the
new regime^ and enjoy in a peculiar sense the kingly
patronage. Late historians, v/ho lived wdien all the
ceremonial worship had been centralized in Jerusalem,
regarded this act as in itself a sin; but it is clear,
in the light of subsequent history, that at this time
even the Judeans worshipped at many shrines outside
of Jerusalem, and that Jeroboam did not thereby dis-
countenance the other sanctuaries, like Gilgal, Shiloh,
and Beersheba, already established in the territory of
Israel (Amos iv. 4 ; viii. 14 ; I. Sam. i. 3, 9). In
reality he was only acting in accordance with the
precedent established by Gideon (I. sect, bb) and Solo-
mon (I. sect. 154), and performing his duty as the
religious as well as civil head of the nation. Instead,
however, of following minutely the example of his
predecessors and establishing a new shrine at Ins capi-
tal, he selected, doubtless with a view to securing
32 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
the support of the priests, two sanctuaries, located
conveniently for his people, and indicated that they
were to be the royal shrines by setting up at each a calf
or bull, probably made of wood overlaid with gold.
The bull seems to have been regarded among the
Hebrews and other Semitic peoples as a symbol of
majesty and strength (compare Deut. xxxiii. 17). It
appeared in the supports of the brazen sea of Solomon's
Temple, probably in the horns of the altar, and possi-
bly in the form of the cherubim which guarded the
Ark of Jehovah. Colossi, with the body of bulls,
are also familiar figures before every ancient Assyrian
palace. That the Israelites originally regarded them
as symbols of Jehovah can scarcely be questioned;
indeed, the author of Kings explicitly states that
Jeroboam identified them with the god Avho delivered
tlie Israelites from Egypt (I. Kings xii. 28).
33. From such zealous prophets as Elijah and
Elisha tills act of Jeroboam's evoked no censure ; in
fact, it must have been regarded as eminently satis-
factory by the conservatives of his realm, for instead
of establishing a new shrine, hallowed by no tradi-
tions, as did Solomon, he merely assumed the attitude
of patron toward two of the most venerated and popu-
lar sanctuaries in the land. The one at Dan, in the
north, had been established during the period of the
judges, and was presided over by the family of a
certain Levite of Bethlehem, who traced descent from
Moses (I. sect. 69). Bethel, as its name (" House of
El ") signifies, was regarded as a sacred city by the
Israelites, at least since the time of its capture.
According to Judges xviii. 30, the same priestly
family continued in charge of the sanctuary of Dan
THE RELIGIOUS CULT OF ISRAEL 33
from the days of the judges to the captivity. If it
was necessary for Jeroboam to appoint new priests
to meet the additional requirements of the services
at the sanctuary in Bethel, which seems to have en-
joyed in a greater measure the royal patronage, he
could refer, as a precedent, to a similar appointment
by David (I. i^icct. 123). The ritual at these shrines
probably did not chfter materially from the one at
Jerusalem during the same period. The author of
Kings recalls the fact that the great annual feast in
Israel was held in the eighth month instead of the
seventh, as was the custom in Judah in his time.
It may also be inferred that on this occasion the king,
like Solomon before him (I. sect. 162), publicly sac-
rificed at the great altar in Bethel. The p>rophet
Amos, a few generations later, refers to the custom
of going up to Bethel and bringing sacrifice every
morning, and tithes eveiy three years, and of offering
sacrifices of thanksgiving of that which is leavened,
and of proclaiming free-will offerings (iv. 4, 5). He
also speaks of the solemn assemblies and public sacri-
fices in terms which suggest that they were attended
with song and music, and even with licentious prac-
tices (v. 21-24 ; ii. 8).
34. Although his contemporaries did not recognize
it, the policy which Jeroboam adopted in regard to
the national religion was a hindrance to the develop-
ment of the purer worship of Jehovah. About the
sanctuaries which he thus exalted, clung all the debas-
ing traditions and customs of a less enlightened past.
The golden bulls also belonged to the degrading sym-
bolism of the preceding age. His act, therefore, rep-
resented a step backward rather than forward. Later
3
34 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
prophets, who recognized the evils which followed
in its train, were right in hrancUng it as a fatal mistake.
Keeping alive dead traditions and forms, because they
had served the past well enough, instead of adopting
a higher expression of truth, w^as the sin " where v\dth
Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, made Israel to sin." In
this respect the newly established temple at Jerusalem,
untrammelled by any inherited traditions, enjoyed ad-
vantages which were destined ultimately to make it
a centre of commanding influence.
POLITICAL EVENTS IN ISRAEL AND JUDAH
35. The dissolution of the empire of David pre-
cipitated a long series of petty wars between the differ-
ent peoples of the Palestinian world. In the contest
between Israel and Judah the advantages at first
were with the smaller kingdom, since it inherited most
of the military equipment of the empire. Rehoboam,
who evinced the same incapacity for war that had
characterized his father, did not, however, improve his
opportunity, but contented himself with establishing
fortresses throughout the territory of Judah. Jeroboam
in the meantime fortified his capital, Shechem. Lo-
cated in a narrow valley commanded by . Gerizim on
the south, and Ebal on the north, it could never be
made an impregnable stronghold. The author of Kings
states that he subsequently "went out from thence
and built Penuel," which is to be identified with the
east-Jordan tov/n south of the Jabbok, upon which
Gideon at an earlier period v/reaked such dire ven-
geance (I. sect. 54). Later Tirzah, which was proba-
bly located about six miles northeast of Shechem,
became the capital of the northern kingdom (I. Kings
xiv. 17; XV. 33). The superiority which Judah
at first enjoyed disappeared a few years later, when
35
36 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
its territory was invaded by Shishak, the Lybian com-
mander who founded the twenty-second Egyptian
dynasty. JeriLsalem was captured, and the wealth
which David and Solomon had collected was trans-
ferred to Egypt. Within Judah bronze henceforth
took the phice of gold in the court as well as in the
Temple. According to the inscription which Shishak
caused to be inscribed on the south wall of the great
temple of Amen at Karnak, commemorating this plun-
dering expedition, Israel suffered together with Judah ;
for several of the one hundred and thirty-tlu-ee cap-
tured cities mentioned therein belonged to the north.
36. When this wave of invasion had receded, the
war between the two Hebrew kingdoms was renewed.
After a reign of twenty-two years Jeroboam died and
was succeeded by his son Nadab, who was assassinated
soon after his accession by a certain Baasha of the tribe
of Issachar, while he was besieging the Philistine town
of Gibbethon. According to the chronicler, Abijam,
the son of Rehoboam, gained an important victory over
Jeroboam. Baasha, the nev/ king of Israel, however,
carried on the war with fresh vigor. Ramah, on the
extreme southern border of Israel, was fortified, and
the independence of Judah was so threatened that its
king, Asa, in alarm, collecting the gold and silver
which he could find in his court and the Temple, sent
them as a present to persuade Benhadad, the king of
the new Aramean state Avhich had been founded at
Damascus by Rezon during the reign of Solomon
(I. sect. 143), to break his treaty with Baasha. Ben-
hadad, ambitious for conquest, responded by invading
the territory of Israel, capturing the cities of Dan,
Abel, and Ijon in the north, and overrunning the land
ACCESSION OF OMRI 37
around the Sea of Galilee. Baasha was obliged to
withdi-aw his forces from the south, and Asa improved
the opportunity to fortify Geba and Mizpali. The
Judean king by this act secured immediate deliverance,
but he thereby introduced into Israelitish politics a
foe who was destined for generations to harass and
menace both the Hebrew kingdoms.
37. Elah, the son who succeeded Baasha, proved an
even more inefficient ruler than the son of Jeroboam.
In a drunken debauch he was slain by Zimri, one of
his military officers. In accordance with the custom
of the age, his family were exterminated by the same
hand. The assassin sat but seven days on the tlirone
thus rendered vacant. As soon as the news of this
deed reached the army engaged in the siege of Gibbe-
thon, they at once elected their general, Omri, king,
and marched against the conspirator, who remained at
the capital, Tirzah. When Zimri realized that resist-
ance was useless, he retired to the palace and burnt it
down over his head. During this period of anarchy
another party in Israel set up as king a certain Tibni,
the son of Ginath. In the civil war which followed,
Omri was ultimately successful, and became the founder
of the strongest dynasty which occupied the throne
of Israel.
38. Fortunately for the existence of Israel, Omri
proved an able and energetic military commander ; for
Benhadad of Damascus, its northern foe, was strong
and pressing it closely. The record in Kings pre-
serves none of the details of the wars between Damas-
cus and Israel, which were fought during the twelve
years of Omri's rule. On the whole, they must have
been adverse to the northern kingdom; for Ahab,
38 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
Omri's successor, was little better than a vassal of
Benhadad during the earlier part of liis reign (I.
Kings XX.). An incidental reference informs us that
Omri ceded certain Israelitish cities to his foe, and
that he was also compelled to set aside certain streets
in his capital — prohably for the especial use of Ara-
mean traders — which were under the especial patron-
age of the king of Damascus (I. Kings xx. 34). In
that age this act was one of the penalties imposed
by the conqueror upon the vanquished. In the east
his military enterprises were attended with greater
success; according to the testimony of the Moabite
stone, " Omri was king of Israel and oppressed Moab
many days, for Chemosh was angry with his land"
(lines 4-6).
39. Under his wise direction the relations between
Israel and Judah became more and more friendly, un-
til in the days of Ahab the two Hebrew kingdoms are
found fighting together against their common foes.
The most important act of his reign, however, was the
establishment of Samaria as the capital of his kingdom.
Since the latter days of Jeroboam the kings of Israel
had resided at the insignificant town of Tirzah. Omri
purchased for two talents of silver a commanding hill,
situated a few miles northeast of the ancient capital,
Shechem, surrounded on every side by deep valleys,
and encircled by some of the most fruitful territory in
all Israel. On this site, centrally located and capable
of being easily rendered almost impregnable, he built
Samaria, which was thus identified Avith his family, and
wliich subsequently figured so prominently in Israel-
itish history. Although he never attained as great
success, since the conditions v/ere mucii more unfavor-
AHAB'S HOME AND FOREIGN TOLICY 39
able, Omri from a political point of view stands in
much the same relation to Israel as David did to the
united Hebrew kingdom. The Assyrians, even when
Jehu had supplanted the family of Omri, recognized
his ability by designating Israel as "the House of
Omri."
40. Ahab, his son, adopted the policy of Solomon,
although he evinced far more energy as a military
leader than that splendor-loving monarch. At Sa-
maria he engaged in extensive building operations,
while at Jezreel, on the edge of the fair plain of Es-
draelon, he had another palace. During his reign the
prevalent spirit of building impelled Hiel, the Bethel-
ite, to rebuild Jericho (I. Kings xvi. 33, 34). Under
the rule of the preceding dynasties, Israel had had no
relations with the surrounding nations except those
imposed by war. Omri or else his son, who succeeded
to his ambitions, recognizing the material advantages
which would accrue to Israel, surrounded as it was by
so many hostile peoples, from an alliance with the opu-
lent trading city of Tyre, renewed the old relations
which had existed during the days of David and Solo-
mon, and cemented them by a marriage between Ahab
and the daughter of the Tyrian king.
41. The author of Kings gives few suggestions re-
specting the sequence of events in Ahab's reign ; this
question, therefore, must be determined from a study
of the events themselves. His father had been obliged
to make important concessions to Benhadad of Damas-
cus. The greater part, if not all, of the territory of
Israel north of the plain of Esdraelon and east of the
Jordan, had been seized by this powerful foe. Ahab
submitted to his demands until at length the Aramean
40 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
king assembled all his forces and invaded Israel for
the purpose of completely subjugating it. He suc-
ceeded in overrxmning its territory and in shutting up
the king of Israel within his capital Samaria. Ahab
at first acceded to Benhadad's demand that he become
his vassal. Not content Avith this concession, the Ara-
mean king insisted that the city and palace be given
up to his servants for plunder. Ahab recognized that
he could hope for no leniency. Accordingly, after
consulting with his elders and peojile, he sent back a
refusal, which called forth from Benhadad dire tin-eats
of vengeance. Aha!) retorted in the words of the
proverb, " Let not him that girdeth on his armor
boast himself as he that putteth it off," and forthwith
mustered his army for an attack, although his entire
fighting force was less than eight thousand. At mid-
day they fell upon the Arameans, while Benhadad was
engaged in a drinking-bout with his princes. When
it was reported to the reveller that the Israelites were
approaching, he gave the senseless command to take
them alive. In a short time his aimy was in flight,
and he himself was fleeing for his life.
42. His counsellors consoled the vanquished king
with the assurance that his defeat was because the god
of the Israelites was a god of the hills, and that on the
plains he could expect a victory. They also wisely
suggested that he substitute military commanders for
the inefficient princes. Acting in accordance with
their advice, Benhadad invaded Israel in the following
year with a great army to meet with a still more over-
whelming defeat at Aphek, which may have been the
Aphek memorable in the Philistine wars (I. sect. 59),
but more probably is to be identified with the modern
AHAB'S WARS WITH DAMASCUS 41
town of Fik, located five miles east of the Sea of Gali-
lee, and therefore in the direction from which the
Arameans would naturally advance. He himself was
unable to escape, but was compelled in the garb of a
suppliant to crave mercy from the king of Israel. Al-
though the prophets of his realm severely denounced
Ahab for his leniency, he spared the life of his foe, and
allowed him to depart on the condition that he would
restore the Israelitish cities captured from Omri, and
set aside for the Israelites certain quarters in Damas-
cus. Ahab's motive in so doing can only be conjec-
tured. Possibly it was because he recognized in the
approach of Assyria a common adversary which de-
manded their united attention. The fact that these
hereditary foes chd actually fight side by side with the
other princes of Palestine against Assyria at Karkar in
the year 854 b. c. is established by the testimony of
the inscription of the Assyrian king, Shalmaneser II.
The land of Damascus is accredited with furnishing
twelve hundred chariots, twelve hundred cavalry, and
twenty thousand soldiers, while Ahab, of the land of
Israel, sent two thousand chariots and ten thousand
soldiers. The only satisfactory explanation of how
Ahab, whose territory was not especially adapted for
chariots, was able to furnisli more than his rich north-
ern rival, is that the battle of Karkar followed soon
after the great Israelitish victory at Aphek.
43. Shalmaneser claims that he completely routed
the forces of the Palestinian coalition. He did not,
however, immediately follow up the results of his
victory, being recalled by more important affairs in the
east. Thus Damascus and Israel were free to resume
their old attitude of hostility. After three years of
42 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
peace Aliab again took up the gauntlet. The cause
was that the king of Damascus had failed to restore
the Israelitish cities, as promised at the treaty of
Aphek, for the attack was directed against Ramoth-
Gilead, showing that it was still retained by the enemy.
Jehoshaphat of Judah, lured by the false message of
the four hundred servile prophets of Israel, joined the
campaign. Ahab, knowing that he himself was an
especial object of hate to the king of Damascus,
entered the battle in disguise. A chance arrow, how-
ever, pierced through his armor and inflicted a mortal
wound, so that at evening he died. The army, thus
bereft of a leader, gave up the fight and scattered,
each man to his home.
44. The death of Ahab was the beginning of a long-
series of disasters for Israel. Ahaziah, who followed
him, fell through a lattice in the upper chamber of his
palace at Samaria, and received injuries from which he
never recovered. He and his brother Joram, or Jeho-
ram, who succeeded him, carried on the policy of tlieir
father, but with little of his military ability. Mesha,
the shepherd king of Moab, improved this opportunity
to throw off completely the yoke of Israel. Joram
summoned his father's ally, Jehosliaphat of Judah,
and his vassal prince, the king of Edom, with their
armies, to aid him in subduing the rebel. Instead of
invading the territory of Moab from the north, vfhere
it was most easily defended, they took the longer and
more difficult route around the southern end of the
Dead Sea, where they almost perished for lack of
water. The Moabites, attacked in their rear, were put
to flight and their territory devastated. The Moabite
king was shut up within his capital, and, after making
THE REIGN OF JEHOSHAPIIAT 43
a vain effort to escape with some of liis followers,
resorted to the extreme measure of offering up his
oldest son on the walls, as a burnt-offering to appease
and thereby win the favor and aid of his god. The
act is quite in keeping v/ith the religious practices of
the age, and with the spirit which finds expression in
the Moabite inscription. It aroused the superstitious
fear of the allies, and proved the signal for their
retreat. Moab was thus lost to Israel; while in the
north the contest with Damascus, which at this time
was weakened by the attacks of the Assyrians, was
carried on without marked success on either side.
At last the religious storm which had long been
gathering within Israel broke, in the revolution of
Jehu, sweeping the family of Omri from the throne,
and inaugurating another era in the history of the
northern kingdom.
45. According to the testimony of Chronicles
(II. Chron. xiv.), during the reign of Asa, Judali was
invaded by an Egyptian army, led by Zerah, who is
probably to be identified with Osorkon I. The Judean
king, collecting his forces, met and defeated the
marauding foe at Mareshah, near the Philistine border.
Jehoshaphat, the son of Asa, who was the first to enter
into friendly relations with Israel, was an energetic
and aspiring prince. Although his warlike ventures in
connection with the northern kingdom were univer-
sally unsuccessful, he infused nev/ life and activity
into Judah. Garrisons were placed in the walled
towns, citadels and store-cities built at strategic points,
and the army regularly organized (11. Chron. xvii.). In
the south he carried his conquests to the Red Sea, and
forced certain of the wild, desert tribes to pay him a
44 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
large annual tribute. Imitating Solomon, he prepared
to send from the port of Ezion-geber large merchant-
ships to Ophir. These, however, were wrecked even
before they had left their port. Under his son, Jeho-
ram, Judah met with still further reverses. The town
of Libnah successfully revolted. In the campaign
aofainst the Edomites, who at the same time renounced
the yoke of Judah and " made a king over themselves,"
Jehoram Avith his army barely escaped from being sur-
rounded and captured, by cutting his way by night
through the line of the insurgents. The alliance be-
tween Israel and Judah was cemented by the marriage
of Jehoram to Athaliah, one of the daughters of Ahab.
The court of Judah imitated more and more that of
Israel. Ahaziah, who succeeded to the throne of Judah,
joined his cousin Joram in his war against the Ara-
means, and fell a victim to the destroying zeal of the
reformer Jehu. Athaliah, the queen mother, seized
this opportunity, by the murder of the seed royal, to
assume the supreme power. For six years Judah en-
diu^ed her tyranny, until a wave of revolution headed
by Jehoiada, the priest, cut down the usurper and
placed upon the throne of Judah, Jehoash, the youth-
ful son of Ahaziah, who liad been rescued by his aunt
from the massacre instituted by Athaliah. From a
political point of view the Pre-Assyrian period of
Hebrew history was one of steady decline, only tem-
porarily checked by the energetic efforts of such
kings as Jehoshaphat, Omri, and Ahab. The rich
resources of Israel were being exhausted by repeated
revolutions ; the strength of the Hebrew race was being
wasted by a fruitless civil war ; and the energies of
the entire Palestinian world were being dissipated
t
^;% RESULTS OF THE CIVIL WARS 45
by internecine conflicts waged with the cruelty and
destructiveness characteristic of the age. Before
Assyria, wliich was destined radically to transform
the character of Palestinian politics, appeared on
the horizon, conditions in Canaan were ripe for its
conquest.
:m ^:
VI
THE RELIGIOUS CRISIS IN ISRAEL, AND THE
WORK OF ELIJAH
46. The data are too incomplete and unsatisfactory
to determine with certainty what was the character of
the rehgioiis life of Judah during the centuiy imme-
diately following the division. Under Rehoboam and
Abijam, the religious conditions introduced by Solo-
mon's policy continued unchanged. The reigns of
Asa and Jehoshaphat were, however, characterized by
renewed political and commercial activity, and with
this came certain movements toward religious reform
which served to extend the influence of the Temple
and of its priesthood. The most odious symbols of
Baalism were removed, and its most immoral practices
suppressed ; but the author of Kings, as well as later
conditions, testifies that, "nevertheless the high places
were not taken away ; the people still sacrificed and
burnt incense in the high places " (I. Kings xxii. 43).
Inasmuch as Jehoshaphat's spirit of reform did not
deter him from readily affiliating with the house of
Omri, which openly tolerated Baalism, and from lis-
tening as willingly to the prophets of Israel as to those
of his own land, it must be concluded that religious
ideas and practices in the south were not radically
better than those in the north.
46
INFLUENCE OF THE PROPHETS IN ISRAEL 47
47. In religion, as in politics, Israel played the
leading role. In both kingdoms, the priests of the
sanctuaries were conservative rather than progressive
religious forces, cherishing existing customs and
loyally supporting the ruling monarchs. Upon the
prophets, therefore, devolved the high duty of deliver-
ing their nation from the grave dangers which threat-
ened, and of leading it on to a higher and purer
religious life. The author of Kings refers incidentally
to one or two prophets in Judah, and the chronicler to
still others ; but there is no evidence that they exerted
much influence. In Israel, however, the conchtions
were entirely different. The prophets favored the
division (sect. 19), because they hoped in the new
kingdom to be able to realize their ideals. Their
hopes were partially fulfilled. Freedom from the
dominating authority of the throne was temporarily
secured, and much of the old simplicity restored ; but
it was a reversion to the conditions which obtained
during the days of the judges. The foreign wars and
the dangers of national annihilation soon called forth a
series of military kings, who had no sympathy nor
concern for the realization of the lofty religious ideals
which filled the souls of the greatest prophets. Con-
sequently, between the monarchy and prophecy, the
two leading powers in Israel, there was an intense and
ever-growing opposition. It first found expression in
messages of denunciation and warning, directed by the
prophets against the reigning sovereigns (I. Kings xiv.
1-17 ; xvi. 1-4).
48. The antagonism between prophet and king
reached its culmination in the persons of Elijah and
Ahab, who were each the strongest representatives of
48 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
the two opposite tendencies. The causes of the con-
flict were the same as those which earlier led to the
division of the Hebrew empire. Ahab, as we have
seen (sect. 40), was, like Solomon, intent only upon
making Israel a strong political power, and upon es-
tablishing his own authority. The means which he
used were well adapted to his ends. The newly
founded towns of Samaria and Jezreel grew into cities,
adorned with public buildings. The currents of com-
merce were set in motion through an alliance with
T}Te. New ambitions filled the minds of the rude
shepherds and farmers as they came into contact with
foreign life and civilization. With Phoenician wares
and customs came, inevitably, Phoenician religion.
Ahab was bound to countenance it by the obligations
of his alliance. In Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal,
the ex-priest of Baal, who had mounted the throne of
Tyre by miuxlering his predecessor, Phoenician culture
found a champion as ardent as she was unprincipled.
Ahab sealed the alliance, and gratified his queen by
building at Samaria a temple and altar of Baal. This
called for special priests, who enjoyed Jezebel's patron-
age. Ahab and his political advisers indignantly re-
sented the charge of committing any sin against
Jehovah in thus recognizing the god of an allied
people. Even if the king did at times pay his respects
at the sanctuary of Baal, he had no intention of aban-
doning the worship of the god of his nation. Perhaps
the best evidence of this is that to his children, Aha-
ziah, Jehoram, and Athaliah, he gave names which
contained the shorter form of Jehovah ( Jah or -iah),
the designation of their god peculiar to the Hebrews.
49. From a political point of view, AhaVs general
FALSE AND TRUE PROPHETS 49
policy, although calculated to alter fundamentally the
character of Israel, appeared to be wise and beneficial.
It was only the more enlightened prophets, represent-
ing the best conscience of the nation, who recognized
the menace which it was to the pui-e worahip of Jeho-
vah. Those who had dared to raise their voices in pro-
test had been silenced, and in some cases persecuted ;
for Ahab regarded them as mere fanatics, blind to the
best interests of Israel, and rebels defying his author-
ity. Jezebel recognized in them the most zealous
opponents of her policy. According to the narrative
preserved in I. Kings xviii., she personally undertook
to exterminate these " troublers of Israel." Their
cause was also betrayed by the many in Israel who
were called prophets of Jehovah, and who, neverthe-
less, prophesied only according to the dictates of self-
interest. This fact is vividly portrayed in the picture
contained in I. Kings xxii. Jehoshaphat of Judah
and Ahab of Israel are about to go out in battle against
the Arameans at Ramoth-Gilead, when, in accordance
with the prevailing custom, the Judean king makes
the demand, " Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the
Lord to-day " (verse 5). In compliance, Ahab sum-
mons four hundred (a general number) of the prophets
of Jehovah. Unanimously they predict, '' Go up ; for
the Lord shall deliver it [Ramoth-Gilead] into the hand
of the king." Jehoshaphat, suspecting their subser-
viency, asks whether there is no other prophet from
whom he may inquire. Ahab replies reluctantly
that there is a certain Micaiah, the son of Imlah, whom
he hates because he always prophesies evil. While
awaiting his arrival, the four hundred prophets reiter-
ate their prediction of victory. To impress it, one of
50 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
them makes horns of iron and declares, " Thus saith
Jehovah, with these shalt thou push the Arameans
until they be consumed." The royal messenger, who
summons Micaiah, urges him to return a message
agreeable to the king ; but he replies, " What Jehovah
saith unto me, that will I speak." Mockingly he re-
peats before the kings the words of the four hundi-ed
prophets. When Ahab adjured him to speak the truth,
he proclaims, in the figurative language of prophecy,
"I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as
sheep that have no shepherd." Then, by the use of an
allegory, he tactfully but forcibly declares that the
message of the other prophets is false, being prompted
by a lying spirit. His fidelity is repaid by the blows
of his fellow prophets, and painful imprisonment at
the command of the king.
50. The scene belongs to the last daj^s of Ahab's
life, and is conclusive evidence that he never ceased to
regard Jehovah as the god of Israel. The real danger
was more insidious, for it was that the distinctions
between the religion of Jehovah and Baal would be
completely levelled. The incident just referred to
indicates that at least the majority of the official
prophets of Jehovah abetted rather than opposed this
tendency. The ceremonial forms with which Jehovah
and Baal were worshij^ped were so similar that the
priests could maintain no essential distinctions. Tlie
cultivation of the soil was the chief industry of Israel ;
and Baal was pre-eminently the god of agriculture,
while Jehovah had from the first been associated with
the nomadic life of the desert. To understand the
gravity of the situation, it is necessary to remember
how attractive to a Semite of that age was the religion
THE CHARACTER OF ELIJAH 51
of Baal, which gave the greatest license to its devotees.
Its system of morals was the antithesis of that preached
by the austere prophets of Jehovah. Gradually and
almost imperceptibly, Israel was again becoming politi-
cally, socially, and religiously like the other nations
about, — a consummation fatal to the performance of
its miique mission to the world.
51. One man alone had the courage to act. Later
generations, appreciating something of the sublimity
of Elijah's personality, cast about it an atmosphere of
wonder. Ahab and many of his contemporaries re-
garded him as an arch-fanatic. From the biblical nar-
rative we learn that his home was among the hills east
of the Jordan, on the borders of the desert in that part
of the land vv^hich retained longest the customs and
thought peculiar to nomadic life. He was, therefore,
in sympathy with those who regarded with apprehen-
sion Israel's departure from the ancient pastoral sim-
plicity. It was a feeling which found objective
expression in the vow of the Nazarite not to touch
the product of the vine, since this v/as regarded as the
characteristic symbol of Canaanitish agricultural civi-
lization ; and in the customs of the Rechabites, who also
refused to drink wine and clung persistently to their
nomadic life (Jer. xxxv. : IT. Kings x. 15-23). In mode
of living and thought, Elijah always retained the char-
acteristics of a "sojourner in Gilead." His religion
also was that of the desert, which had been the cradle
Oi the Mosaic faith. He was imaffected by the seduc-
tive spell of the Canaanitish civilization, and had little
sympathy with the current aspirations for material
wealth and political glory. His one ideal was that
Israel should be in the true sense the people of Jeho-
52 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
vah. Toleration of the worship of Baal was to his
enlightened vision entirely incompatible with the
realization of that ideal. It must, therefore, be
suppressed, even though at the cost of the nation's
existence.
52. The method which he employed to accomplish
this was characteristic of the man. Ahab had no in-
clination, even if he had had the abilitj^, to understand
and fulfil his demands. Accordingly he appealed from
the king to the people. Famine, which was ahvays rec-
ognized as a sign of Jehovah's displeasure, first did its
work of preparation. It is interesting to note in the
same connection that Meander of Ephesus also refers
to a drought during the reign of Ethobalos (Phoeni-
cian, Ethbaal), King of Tyre, which lasted one year
and was finally averted, according to Phoenician tra-
dition, by the intercession of the king. According to
the narrative in Kings, at Elijah's command, to which
Ahab was forced to defer, the people assembled on
Mount Carmel. On its heights popular superstition
and the religion of Jehovah met face to face, and the
weakness of the one and the strength and grandeur
of the other were manifest. Upon the minds of the
people was flashed anew and with unparalleled clear-
ness the old truth, so nearly forgotten, that Jehovah
is a jealous God, and that therefore they must make
an absolute choice between him and Baal. Not only
his words and acts, but also the personality and man-
ner of the great prophetr-hero impressed the lesson.
Baal was vanquished, and his priests, who were pres-
ent, were slain ; the cause of Elijah's God for the
moment triumphed ; but at the close of that memorable
day the people returned to their homes, and Jezebel
NATURE OF ELIJAH'S WORK 53
practically retained her old power. Nothing seemed
to have been gained. Truth is not impressed upon
humanity by the tempest, nor by the lightning-flash,
nor in a moment, but gradually. Teachers were needed
to move among the people and inculcate the great truth
by word and life. Elijah must have realized his utter
inability to complete the task wliich he had undertaken.
He had done all that he could, and much more was
needed. With supreme fidelity to human nature, tra-
dition records the despair which in the moment of
reaction filled his impulsive, heroic soul.
53. Elijah was not only the herald of a purer con-
ception and a truer service of Jehovah, but he also
proved himself the champion of the rights of the peo-
ple against the aggressions of the throne. Ahab's
policy of absolutism manifested itself in his palace
building and the suppression of the prophets who
challenged his authority. It found its most heinous
expression, however, in an incident recorded in I.
Kings xxi. Near the royal palace at Jezreel was the
vineyard of a peasant by the name of Naboth. The
king, desiring to extend his grounds, endeavored to
secure it by purchase ; but the Jezreelite, availing him-
self of the right of every free citizen of Israel, refused
to part with his family possession. Ahab returned
to his palace in a pet. Jezebel, familiar only with
the methods of an Oriental monarch, taunted him be-
cause he had stopped to regard the rights of his sub-
ject, and despatched letters to the elders of Jezreel,
commanding them to bring against Naboth the charge
of blasphemy, and forthwith to stone him to death.
The queen evidently knew her instruments, for the
crime was speedily committed. When Ahab went
54 A HISTOKY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
down to take possession of the vineyard so iniquitously
gained, Elijah met him with a bitter denunciation on
his lips, and the proclamation that because of tliis deed
destruction would come upon himself and family.
54. The horror which this royal crime aroused in
the minds of the people undoubtedly chd more to over-
throw the house of Omri than the favor shown to the
Phoenician Baal ; for they felt, with reason, that the
hereditary rights, of wliich they were always exceed-
ingly jealous, were thereby endangered. Notwith-
standing the distinguished services of the house of
Omri, popular discontent against it continued to grow,
and was reinforced by the opposition of the Jehovah
prophets until it found expression in the bloody revo-
lution of Jehu. Undoubtedly tliis revolution was one
of the indirect fruits of Elijah's work, but liis contri-
butions to Israel's development were positive as well
as negative. He does not appear to have brought for-
ward any new revelation, but by word, and esj)ecially
by his life, he impressed upon his age the simple yet
revolutionizing truth that Jehovah, the god of their
race, was a jealous and righteous God. Being jealous,
he accepts nothing less than the entire service of his
people. Being righteous, he demands righteousness
in turn from his followers. The heroic prophet of
Jehovah left the scene of his struggles before the prin-
ciples for which he offered himself gained general ac-
ceptance ; but he left behind him a personal ideal of
simple grandeur, of undaunted courage, and of un-
swerving advocacy of the demands of divine righteous-
ness, which was partially realized in the prophets who
followed him, and only fully in the second Elijah, who
heralded the coming of the One altogether righteous.
PART II
THE ASSYRIAN PERIOD OF ISRAEL'S
HISTORY
THE HISTOEICAL SOUECES, AND CHRONOLOGY
65. The story of the gradual decadence and final
destruction of Israel is recounted in II. Kings iv.-xvii.,
in a series of citations from various sources. The first
part of the section (iv. 1-viii. 15 ; xiii. 14-21) consists
of stories concerning Elislia. Variations in language
and context indicate that they are not all from the
same hand (compare verses 23 and 24 of chapter vi. ;
also V. 27, and viii. 4, 5). Chapters iv., vi. 1-7, and viii.
1-6 manifest the closest affinity with one another. All
the Elisha passages, however, are characterized by the
same picturesqueness of style, the same general point
of view, and the same indications of the influence
of oral transmission as the Elijah narratives (sect. 4),
and hence were doubtless current in the same pro-
phetic circles in Israel during the ninth and eighth
centuries B. c. The compiler has introduced them
into his history with very few changes. The material
in chapters ix. 1-x. 27, which records the revolution
of Jehu, although taken from several different sources,
is evidently old. It is closely related to the politico-
prophetical material contained in I. Kings xx., xxii.,
and II. Kings iii. The remaining passages, which
refer primarily to Israel, are, with the exception of
57
58 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
the short section xiv. 8-14, epitomes from the hand
of the compiler. In chapter xvii. 7-23 he reviews
the causes which in his opinion led to the fall of the
northern kingdom, and in verses 24-41 explains the
origin of the Samaritan people and of their religion.
5G. Our conception of this period would be very
defective if we v\'ere dependent alone upon the frag-
mentary records of Kings. Fortunately portions of
the sermons of two prophets who prophesied in Israel
have been preserved. These are the most valuable
historical sources, because they represent the testi-
mony, not only of eyewitnesses, but of the most
enlightened men of their age. Through their eyes
we are able to study conditions as they actually ex-
isted, and to become familiar with the details of the
history. The prophecy of Amos deals especially with
the social questions which agitated Israel during the
days of Jeroboam II. It is a perfect unit, the parts
being closely related, and, with the exception of a few
possible interpolations, is all from the hand of the
prophet himself. The prophecy of Hosea, wdio lived
a generation later, is, on the contrary, exceedingly
disconnected. The repetitions of theme and ideas and
the loose correlations of the parts indicate that it is
based upon extracts from different sermons. It is
sharply divided into two parts. The first includes
chapters i.-iii. The reference in i. 4 to the house
of Jehu as still standing is conclusive evidence that
the section belongs to the latter days of the brilliant
reign of Jeroboam II. In the second part, chapters
iv.-xiv., the historical background is entirely different.
Anarchy has succeeded the order of the earlier days ;
there are several references to the murder of a king
WITNESS OF ASSYRIAN INSCRIPTIONS 59
(vii. 3-7, 16; x. 15); Israel has lost her prestige
(vii. 8 ; viii. 8), and is foolishly seeking alliances with
Egypt and Assyria, in the hope that it can secure help
from them (v. 13; vii. 11 ; viii. 9; xii. 1). Evidently
most of the sermons from which these were taken
belong to the days of disorder and decline which
followed the death of Jeroboam II., antedating, how-
ever, the invasion of Tiglath-Pileser in 731 b. c,
when Gilead was wrested from Israel (vi. 8 ; xii. 11).
57. The liistorical inscriptions of the great Assyrian
conquerors, Shalmaneser II., Tiglath-Pileser III., Shal-
maneser III., and Sargon, who extended their cam-
paigns into Palestine, furnish many facts supplemental
to the biblical data. Through them the student is
introduced to the broader field of Semitic politics,
and enabled to study those movements of which the
Hebrew kingdoms were the victims. Although the
Assyrian annalists frequently exaggerate, and some-
times suppress unpleasant facts, this tendency is easily
detected. Their testimony is of inestimable value,
since it is that of writers living at the time that the
events transpired. The exact chronological system
which they contain has revolutionized our conclusions
respecting the chronology of this period.
58. The Assyrian inscriptions establish the date of
the fall of Samaria at 722 b. c. Beginning in 842 b. c,
the Assyrian period of Israelitish history was, there-
fore, limited to one hundred and twenty-one years.
The total number of years assigned in the biblical
narratives to the kings of Israel from Jehu to the fall
of Samaria is one hundred and forty-three, presenting
a discrepancy of twenty-two years. Here again the
Assyrian inscriptions suggest where the error is to be
60 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
found. In 738 b. c. Menaliem paid tribute to Assj^ia.
This date also gives approximately the year of his
accession, since the biblical account definitely states
that Israel's king gave the Assyrian king one thousand
talents, " that his hand might be with him to confirm
the kingdom in his hand" (II. Kings xv. 19). The
total number of years assigned by the compiler to the
kings wlio reigned in Israel during the seventeen
years between 738 and 722 b. c. is forty-one (ten, two,
twenty, and nine). Evidently the tvv-enty-two extra
years have been inserted here. Four years later, 734
B. c, Tiglath-Pileser invaded Israel, putting to death
Pekah who had cut down Pekahiah, the son of
Menahem. These facts indicate that the round num-
bers (ten and twenty) assigned to Menahem and
Pekah, are greatly exaggerated. Menahem may have
reigned tliree, while Pekah's rule could not have
exceeded two years. On the other hand, the nine
years attributed to Hoshea, and the one hundred and
three to the house of Jehu, are confirmed, giving as
the result a comparatively definite system (see chart).
II
THE KEVOLUTION OF JEHU
59. Although the principles which Elijah valiantly
advocated did not gain immediate recognition with
court and people, he did succeed in impressing them
indelibly upon the minds of certain of his followers.
Chief among these was Elisha. According to I. Kings
xix. 16-21, he was from the town of Abel-Meholah,
which was situated on the southern side of the plain
of Bethshean, not far from the Jordan. His home,
therefore, was in the midst of a rich agricultural com-
munity, and his father, Shaphat, was one of the rich
farmers of Israel. His call to the prophetic office was
unprecedented, for he is the only prophet who, accord-
ing to the biblical record, was summoned to that high
calling by another. At first his relations to Elijah
were those of a disciple and servant (II. Kings iii. 11).
A more striking contrast could not be imagined than
existed between the rugged, fearless prophet of Gilead
and his follower. The one represented the uncompro-
mising life and religion of the nomad, while the other
belonged to the agricultural class in Israel and was
familiar with the customs of city and court. The
stories respecting these two prophets which were cur-
rent in the prophetic schools during the succeeding
61
62 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
centuries, illustrate how different was the impression
which the two men made upon posterity. With the
name of Elijah was associated the drought, the thunder-
roll, and the lightning-flash, — wonders within the realm
of Nature. Elisha, on the other hand, was always
found among men, healing their maladies, cleansing
their fomi tains, and advising king and subject. The
one used denunciations to accomplish his ends, the
other diplomacy ; in the eyes of his contemporaries the
one seemed to fail, the other to be crowned with com-
plete success ; and yet Elijah will always be recog-
nized as the master, the greater soul who dared to
initiate.
60. At this critical point in Israelitish history the
prophetic guilds (I. sect. 86), which were mentioned
first during the days of Samuel, again come into
prominence. They were located at the larger cities,
like Jericho (II. Kings ii. 5), and especially at the old
sanctuaries, such as Bethel (II. Kings ii. 3) and Gilgal
(II. Kings iv. 38). Their members stood in much the
same relation to the religion of Jehovah as the prophets
of Baal to the Phoenician cult (I. Kings xviii. 19, 22).
They Avere permitted to marry, and entered into busi-
ness contracts with their fellow countrymen (II. Kings
iv. 1). Certain of them, at least, lived together, as
at Gilgal, sharing a common table (I I. Kings iv. 38-41).
Tliese guilds sometimes changed their place of abode,
and built their quarters with their own hands (IIo
Kings vi. 1-T). They must have been dependent for
their subsistence chiefly upon their own toil, although
they may have received some support from the throne,
as did the priests of the royal sanctuaries and the
prophets of Baal, who enjoyed the patronage of Jeze-
NATURE OF THE PROPHETIC GUILDS 63
bel. The subserviency of the four hiuidred Jehovah
prophets, who were summoned before Ahab and
Jehoshaphat (sect. 45), indicates that they must have
anticipated some material reward. Tliis incident also
suggests what were the functions of the members of
these prophetic guilds. Questions, private as well as
public, concerning which it was deemed necessary to
consult Jehovah, were referred to them. According
to Deuteronomy xviii. 9-15, the prophets filled the
place in Hebrew life left vacant by the diviners, wiz-
ards, and necromancers to which the people were ac-
customed to resort in the earlier days. Their services,
therefore, would call forth private donations. In II.
Kings V. 22, Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, is repre-
sented as soliciting a gift in behalf of two young men
of the sons of the prophets, who had recently come
from the hill country of Ephraim.
61. There is no direct information respecting the
manner in which the members of these prophetic guilds
were chosen. The term " son of the prophets " is used,
not to indicate lineal descent, but in the common Se-
mitic sense of the member of a community. Personal
inclination or natural characteristics undoubtedly had
much to do in determining the choice. The account
of the call of Elisha (sect. 59), and the references to
his servant, Gehazi, suggest that the older prophets
gathered about themselves young men, who attended
them and, as an inevitable result of association on such
terms, absorbed much of their spirit and teacliing. A
group of such followers would easily grow into a guild.
The application to these bands of the modern term
"school,"' mth its implication of regular instruction,
is not warranted by any biblical reference, and is en-
64 A HISTOEY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
tirely out of harmony with the habits of the Orient.
Undoubtedly much of the old frenzy and wild enthu-
siasm characterized their religious life. The son of
the prophets who anointed Jehu was called a mad
fellow by the other officers in command of the Israel-
itish army (II. Kings ix. 11, 12) ; even Elisha em-
ployed a minstrel to induce that ecstatic state which
they deemed essential for prophesying.
62. While they shared certain external character-
istics, the Hebrew prophets differed widely in their
teachings. The four hundred who predicted victory
for Ahab (I. Kings xxii.) must have come from the
various prophetic guilds; and yet there was no S}Tn-
pathy between them, and Micaiah, the son of Imlah,
or the unknown son of the prophets who declared that
judgment Avould surely come upon Ahab because he
spared the life of Benhadad (I. Kings xx. 35-43). In-
stead, the reference indicates that already there were
two distinct classes of prophets m Israel: the true
prophets, like Elijah and Micaiah, who saw clearly the
will of Jehovah and acted accordingly; and the so-
called false prophets, who likewise prophesied in the
name of Jehovah, but who had no divinely given mes-
sage. It was this latter class which subsequently
undermined the influence of the true prophets by de-
stroying all confidence in the prophetic word. Among
the more faithful sons of the prophets, Elijah's message
to Israel must have met with the readiest response. As
in the days of Samuel, they proved a political as well
as a religious force. Elijah's successor, Elisha, assisted
them in their building operations, helped them in ad-
versity, and stood toward them in the relation of patron
(11. Kings vi. 1-7; iv. 1-7, 38-41; v. 22). In them
ELISHA'S MESSAGE TO JEHU 65
he found in turn that support which was absolutely
necessary if Baalism was to be overthrown.
63. For more than a decade after the death of Ahab,
his family continued undisturbed on the throne of
Israel. The author of Kings declares that Joram made
a movement toward reform by ''putting away the pillar
of Baal which his father had made," but there was no
essential change in the religious policy of tlie nation.
Baalism was still openly tolerated, and Jezebel exer-
cised her old influence. Meantime the resentment of
the people, kindled by the injustice against Naboth,
and the zeal of the prophets, jealous for Jehovah, in-
creased until it was ready to burst into a fierce flame.
Elisha was the one who applied the torch. On a cer-
tain day about 842 b. c, when the Israelitish army were
carrying on the war with the Arameans, intrenched at
Ramoth-Gilead, he called one of the sons of the proph-
ets, and despatched him on a secret mission to the army.
Joram, the Idng, had returned to Jezreel wounded, and
so the messenger on his arrival was ushered into the
presence of the captains of the host. Disregarding the
rest, he addressed himself directly to one of them, a
certain Jehu, saying, "I have an errand to thee, O
Captain." As soon as the two were alone the pro-
phetic messenger, in accordance with Elisha's com-
mand, poured the oil, with which he was provided, on
Jehu's head, declaring that Jehovah had anointed him
king over Israel, and immediately fled. The spirit of
rebellion was in the air, and the act was so full of sig-
nificance that when Jehu rejoined his fellow ofiicers
they inquired at once the reason of the strange visit
of this fanatic. At first he attempted to turn them off,
but they refused to be deceived. Then in his blunt
5
66 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
fashion Jehu announced that he had been anointed
king. The details of the narrative suggest that tliis
was only the launching of a conspiracy previously
arranged. Conditions certainly were ripe. Stripping
off their outer garments, his fellow officers cast them
down upon the steps beneath Jehu's feet, and with
trumpet-blast proclaimed him king.
64. Elisha made no mistake in the choice of a man
to overthrow the house of Omri. Energy and crafti-
ness were in him, combined with a certain reckless-
ness, which found popidar expression in the saying,
" He drives like Jehu." Impetuous, fearless, regard-
less of life, he Avas fitted alike to lead a cavalry
charge or a dangerous revolution. He had also lis-
tened to Elijah as he pronounced the awful curse
upon the house of Ahab, so that he regarded the
reigning family as doomed, and himself as a messenger
sent by Jehovah to execute his judgment. His ambi-
tion and fanaticism needed no further encouragement.
Leaving the officers and army behind, with strict in-
junctions that no one should be allowed to bear the
news of the conspiracy to the court, he himself set out
in hot haste across the Jordan and up over the plain
of Jezreel, which leads to the northern capital. When
Joram, the wounded king, learned from the watchman
that a company was approaching, he despatched a
horseman to meet them, to learn whether their mission
was a peaceful one. Jehu, grimly commanding the
messenger to fall behind, rode on furiousl}^ A second
horseman was sent out with the same result. Soon he
was near enough for the watchman on the battlements
of the palace to perceive from his driving that it was
Jehu. Recognizing that he came on important busi-
JEHU'S DESTRUCTIVE ZEAL 67
ness and not suspecting a conspiracy, the king set out
to meet him, accompanied by Ahaziah, his cousin, the
king of Judah, who was visiting him at the time.
Jehu's reply to his salutation led him to fear treachery.
As he tm-ned to flee with Ahaziah he fell to the bot-
tom of his chariot, pierced through the heart by an
arrow from Jehu's bow. In remembrance of Elijah's
prophecy against Ahab (sect. 53), the revolutionist com-
manded his faithful follower, Bidkar, to cast the body
upon the land secured by foul means from Naboth
the Jezreelite.
65, Jehu's fierce zeal against the house of Ahab
led him to pursue the fleeing king of Judah across
the plain of Esdraelon, and to command his followers
to slay him. Near Ibleam Ahaziah received a mortal
wound, from which he died at the famous old fortress
of Megiddo. Jezebel was the next victim of Jehu's
destructive hate. Attiring herself in all her finery,
she met him with the taunting words, " Is it peace,
thou Zimri, thy master's murderer ? " Without reply-
ing, he commanded the eunuchs in attendance to throw
her down tlirough the window. The order was imme-
diately executed, and the fierce conspirator drove his
chariot horses over her body. When he at last gave
orders to his servants to bury the aged queen, it was
found that the dogs had further fulfilled the prophecy
of Elijah, and devoured the body.
66. Having exterminated the representatives of the
reigning family at Jezreel, Jehu next turned to Samaria,
where were seventy of the descendants of the hated
Ahab. To the elders of the city and the guardians of
the young princes he sent an ironical letter, suggesting
that they elect one of their royal wards king and
68 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
defend him if they could. It awakened the response
anticipated. In terror they submitted, and expressed
their readiness to do whatever Jehu should command.
He forthwith demanded the heads of the princes.
When these were received at Jezreel, he caused them
to be piled up at the city gate, as a gory proof of the
complicity of the elders of Samaria in this wholesale
slaughter. Forty-two of the princes of the royal
house of Judah, whom Jehu overtook near Samaria,
were mercilessly put to death. His thirst for blood
was not satisfied until the nobles, favorites, and priests
of Ahab were all slain. According to the narrative
preserved in II. Kings x. 17-28, a large number of
the followers of Baal shared the same fate.
67. By this revolution the house of Ornri was com-
pletely exterminated, and the danger that Baalism
would gradually supplant the worship of Jehovah for-
ever averted; but at a terrible cost. The blood, so
ruthlessly shed at this time, w^eakened Israel to such
an extent that for the next half-century it ^vas forced
to maintain an almost hopeless struggle for existence.
Even though the evil was great, it hardly justified the
means employed to remove it. Either Elisha and the
prophets who favored it were deceived .as to the charac-
ter of Jehu, or else had not yet learned that the cause
of truth is not permanently advanced by intrigue and
bloodshed. Amos and Hosea, looking back from the
vantage-point of the next century, condemned this
revolution, declaring, in the name of Jehovah, " I will
visit the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu"
(Hosea i. 4; Amos vii. 9). The sword, thus fanati-
cally unsheathed in the name of religion, was destined
to be repeatedly used by friends and foes of Jehovah
CONSEQUENCES OF JEHU'S REVOLUTION 69
witli the same deplorable effects. Jehu proved himself
to be little more than an unscrupulous adventurer
who improved a favorable opportunity to further his
own interests. From him the cause of the pui-e wor-
ship of Jehovah could expect little real assistance.
He rooted out Baalism, but in its place he only restored
the half-heathenish bull worship of Jeroboam.
68. At the same time this great prophetic revolu-
tion established a principle, enunciated in the earlier
days and potent at the division of the Hebrew empire
(sect. 26), which determined to a great extent the char-
acter of the history of Judah as v/ell as Israel. It was
that for which Elijah contended : " If Jehovah be God,
follow him." Practically interpreted, this meant that
under no conditions should the god of a foreign na-
tion be recognized within the land of Jehovah ; hence
alliances between Israel and other peoples were forever
impossible. Thus at this time was virtually instituted
that complete separation, so jealously guarded by
prophets, and later by priests, which made the Hebrews
a holy (in its original sense of '* separate ") nation, and
wliich appears even to-day in the sharp line of demarca-
tion drawn between the Jew and the Gentile.
Ill
ISRAEL UKDEK THE EULE OF THE HOUSE OF JEHU
69. The bloody waves of revolution which about
the middle of the ninth century B. c. swept in quick
succession over the two Hebrew kingdoms, also af-
fected Damascus. Even before Jehu raised his hand
against the house of Omri, Hazael improved the op=
portunity, afforded by the illness of his master, the
aged warrior, Benhadad II., to mount the throne by
murdering liim. Although Damascus was beset by
strong and active foes, the usurper succeeded, by his
energy and military powers, in raising it to a more
commanding position than it had enjoyed under his
predecessor. Jehu of Israel, however, possessed little
of the ability of his northern rival, whose example he
had imitated. The blood which he so freely shed in
establishing his undisputed sway was that of the mili-
taiy class who had rallied about Ahab. Israel was
divided into antagonistic parties, and the prophetic con-
servatives who had supported him had little interest in
war. The biblical historian passes over the events of
his reign with a brevity which is ominous. We are
not surprised, therefore, to learn from the inscriptions
of the AssjT-ian conqueror, Shalmaneser II., that he
received the tribute of '' Jehu, son of Omri," together
70
EARLY ASSYRIAN INVASIONS 71
with that of Tyre and Sidon. On the Black Obelisk
also the ambassadors of Jehu are pictured bearing gifts
of silver and gold to the great king. The date of the
campaign thus commemorated is 842 b. c, probably
soon after the accession of Jehu. The Assyrian army
does not appear to have actually invaded the terri-
tory of Israel ; hence the tribute was sent by Jehu in
the hope of strengthening liis position by securing
the favor of the Assyrians ; but he was doomed to
disappointment.
70. In this same campaign Shalmaneser met and de-
feated the army of Hazael near Mount Senir, a north-
ern spur of Hermon. The camp of the Arameans,
with eleven hundred and twenty-one chariots and four
hundred and seventy horses, fell into the hands of the
conqueror. The territory from the mountains of the
Haui'an to the gates of Damascus was laid waste,
but the capital itself offered a successful resistance.
Three years later Shalmaneser again invaded the
land of Hazael, capturing four cities and receiving the
tribute of Tyre and Sidon. This campaign, however,
was not so extensive as the preceding, and the name
of Jehu is not found among the kings who then
paid tribute. Shalmaneser retired without having
broken the power of Damascus. For the next thirty-
five years Palestine enjoyed immunity from Assyrian
invasion. The latter days of the great conqueror,
Shalmaneser II., were darkened by a serious revolt
headed by his oldest son. It was finally put down;
but his successor, Shamshi-Ramman II., was so busily
occupied in consolidating the disorganized empire that
he found no time for foreign conquests.
71. This period of Assyrian inactivity Hazael im-
72 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
proved to extend the boundaries of his kingdom.
Israel, being the hereditary enemy of Damascus, was
naturally the first victim. Jehu, who had vainly
sought deliverance by calling upon the common en-
emy, Assyria, bitterly atoned for his mistake. The
territory of Israel east of the Jordan, and that of Moab
as far as the Anion, were overrun and made subject to
Damascus (II. Kings x. 32, 33). These conquests of
Hazael were characterized by extreme cruelty. The
men in the conquered towns were pitilessly slain, the
little children dashed in pieces, and the women sub-
jected to the most brutal indignities (II. Kings viii.
12 ; Amos i. 3, 4). The Philistine town of Gath was
also captured by the armies of Hazael. To reach this
point they were obliged to cross the plain of Esdi'aelon,
which they probably did as conquerors. Judah was
likewise invaded, and Jerusalem was saved only by
the payment of heavy tribute. During the reign of
Jehu's son, Jehoahaz, the old empire of David was
completely dominated by Damascus. In the graphic
language of the author of Kings, the people of Israel
were ground down under the heel of the conqueror
until they were made " like the dust in thresliing."
Their fighting force was reduced to fifty horsemen,
ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen. Their old
foes, the Philistines, Moabites, and Edomites, took ad-
vantage of their weakness to invade their territory for
the purpose of pillage and plunder, wreaking their
hatred upon the defenceless, and carrying away the
inhabitants to sell them into slavery (II. Kings xiii.
20, 21 ; Amos i. 6-15). Drought, pestilence, and fam-
ine completed their work of desolation (Amos iv.
6-11).
ISRAEL'S HUMILIATION BY DAMASCUS 73
72. To this period of Israel's greatest humiliation
probably belongs the Elisha narrative in II. Kings
vi. 24-vii. 20. It certainly has no internal relation-
ship with the context (compare vi. 23 and viii. 1).
Being a popular tradition, it unfortunately does not
preserve the name of the king of Israel. The com-
piler of Kings, evidently considering that the Aramean
king referred to was Benhadad II., who figured so
prominently in Ahab's wars, assigned the narrative
to its present position. More probably the invader
was Benhadad III., the son of Hazael, who carried on
his wars against Israel with the same energy as his
older namesake (II. Kings xiii. 3). The later period
also furnishes the only satisfactory background for
the events recorded. The territory of Israel was
completely overrun by the armies of Damascus. Its
king was closely besieged within his capital, Samaria.
Famine had done its work until the most unattractive
food was selling for a fabulous sum. The common
people, wild with hunger and despair, were even eat-
ing their own offspring. There seemed absolutely no
hope of deliverance. Israel was on the verge of com-
plete subjection.
73. Under the rule of the house of Jehu, the influ-
ence of the prophet Elisha in the court was very strong.
The old antagonism between king and prophet was
for a time set aside. Elisha's position and personal
ability made him the chief adviser of the realm.
Samaria's prolonged resistance was evidently due to
his counsels, for when the king learned of the appall-
ing conditions within the city he swore that it should
cost the prophet his head. According to the narrative,
Elisha met this crisis with an assurance equalled only
74 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
by that of the great Isaiah in strikingly similar circum-
stances (sect. 152). Confidently he asserted : '-' Thus
saith the Lord, To-morrow about this time shall a meas-
ure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures
of barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria." Before
the dawn of the next day four Hebrew lepers, who
had turned in desperation to the Aramean camp, came
with the report that it w^as deserted. Subsequent
investigation demonstrated that the enemy had re-
treated in wild confusion. The cause of their panic
was the rumor that the king of Israel had hired cer-
tain allies to attack them. According to the accepted
English translation, these were the Hittites and Egyp=
tians. This may be only the popular Israelitish ac-
count of the event, while the real enemies w^ere the
AssjTians. The Hebrew word translated "Egyp-
tians " may, however, with equal propriety be identi-
fied with the Musre, who lived to the north of the
modern Syria and who are referred to several times in
the Assyrian historical inscriptions. If Ave accept this
translation, the reference is at once relieved of many of
its difficulties, since the land of the Musre was near
that of the Hittites, and a union between them against
their hereditary enemies, the Arameans, is by no means
incredible.
74. Israel would in time have been completely
absorbed by the powerful kingdom of Damascus, and
its independent national life extinguished, had not
relief come from an unexpected quarter. The Book of
Kings declares that "the Lord gave Israel a savior,
so that they went out from under the hand of the
Arameans " (II. Kings xiii. 5). From the monuments
we learn that that savior was Assyria. Kamman-
CAPTURE OF DAMASCUS BY ASSYRIA 75
nirari, the successor of Shamshi-Ramman, was animated
by the ambitions of his predecessors. His reign of
twenty-four years was filled with a series of conquests.
As a result he extended the boundaries of Assyria in
every direction until in the northeast it touched the
Caspian Sea, and on the west the Mediterranean.
About 800 B. c, Tyre, Sidon, Philistia, and Edom
were reduced to subjection. The kingdom of Damas-
cus was the most important of his western conquests.
The city itself was besieged and captured, and vast
plunder taken. Its king — who is called in the in-
scriptions " Mari," the Aramaic for " Lord " — and
its people became vassals of Assyria. The " Land of
Omri " (Israel) is also reckoned among the conquered
states. With the aid of the geographical lists it is
possible to trace the campaign of Ramman-nirari to
the plain of Esdraelon, which at the time must have
constituted the northern limits of Israel. Broken as it
was by Aramean oppression, its ready submission to
the great king was assured. It, therefore, bent before
the storm, while Damascus, the stronger state, was
shattered.
75. Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, came to the throne
of Israel about 797 b. c, which was the date of the
final conquest of Damascus. His accession marks a
decided turn in the tide of Israel's fortunes. He con-
ducted three successful campaigns against his old op-
pressor, and recovered from Damascus the Israelitish
towns which had been captured in the former wars
(II. Kings xiii. 17-19, 25). Amaziah of Judah, who
rashly ventured to challenge him, met with a signal
defeat at Bethshemesh, and was made to pay dearly for
his folly. Jeroboam II., Avho came to the throne of
76 A HISTORY OE THE HEBREW PEOPLE
Israel about 780 B. c, inherited the energy as well as
the fruits of the victories of his father, Joasli. For a
half-century also Palestine ^yas relieved from the de-
structive attacks of AssjTia. Shalmaneser III., who
succeeded the great conqueror Ramman-nirari, was
himself obliged to assume the defensive. Under a
native prince, the Armenians, whose home was among
the mountains in the north, became so formidable
that they not only threw off the yoke, but also thi'eat-
ened the independence of Assyria. During the tw^o
succeeding reigns frequent revolts and outbreaks of
pestilence exhausted still further the resources of the
empire. The vassal states availed themselves of its
weakness to renounce their allegiance. Among the
first to do this were the principalities of Palestine.
76. During this period of freedom from foreign at-
tack, Jeroboam II. pushed the boundaries of Israel to
their farthest limits. The territory of her old rivals,
the Moabites, was reconquered. Damascus was too
much weakened to offer effectual resistance. The
sway of Israel extended from the Arabah, on the
southeastern end of the Dead Sea, to Hamath, between
the Lebanons (II. Kings xiv. 25 , Amos vi. 14).
Judah's territory was correspondingly expanded, so
that, excepting in the northeast, the ancient empire of
David Avas again under the rule of the Hebrews.
Commerce also sprang up, bringing to the Israelites
wealth unheard of since the days of Solomon. The
marvellous natural resources of Israel were allowed for
the first time to assert themselves. This growth in
property was as sudden as it was great. The nation
which was trembling a generation before on the verge
of anniliilation had become a dominant power in the
ISRAEL'S INDIAN SUMMER 77
Palestinian world. The reaction naturally induced a
spirit of over-confidence in king and people. What
was only Indian summer was believed to be the dawn
of a golden era. In reality Assyria was only slumber-
ing. When Damascus fell, the last barrier which
protected the Israelites from this all-absorbing world-
power was tlu'own down; the enemy was at their
doors.
IV
THE PEOPHETS AMOS AND HOSEA
77. At this supreme crisis in Israel's liistoiy a new-
type of prophet appeared, with a new and a nobler
message. Already the house of Jehu had broken
loose from the principles laid dowai by the prophets
who had called its founder to the throne. Doubtless
there were many of the so-called prophets of Jehovah
who stood high in royal favor, since they, like the four
hundred (sect. 49), prophesied according to the mil of
their human rather than their divine King ; but these
were only imitations of the real. The distinctions
between the true and false prophets were, however,
not absolutely established. They were determined by
the purity of the ideal revealed to each, and the
steadfastness with which he adliered to it.
78. During the reign of Jeroboam II. there filled
the souls of certain great prophets an ideal of national
righteousness so exalted that they could only condemn
the existing conditions. Reconciliation between their
claims upon the nation and the policy of the reigning
family w^as impossible. Unlike the earlier prophets,
rejecting political intrigue and force, they depended
entirely upon the truth of their w^ords for their accep-
tance. At the same time they did not appeal to the
fanaticism of the masses. Unfortunately they spoke
78
THE NEW TYPE OF PROPHET 79
in an age when the authority of the prophets with the
people was being rapidly destroyed by the lying mes-
sages of their false colleagues. The demands of this
new class of prophets were so unfamiliar, and the
principles which they annunciated so different from
those generally accepted, that they were at first re-
garded only with suspicion. To be a true prophet
during the Assyrian period required unflinching cour-
age and unceasing patience as well as a soul open wide
to divine truth. Recognizing that they could reach
only a limited number by their voice, and desiring to
give a permanence to their work, the prophets began
regularly to commit their sermons to writing. This in
itself represents a most significant transition. Only a
few words, preserved in the historical narratives, were
handed down to succeeding generations from the lips
of the great prophets who had moulded Israel in the
preceding ages. From this time on, writing became
common among the Hebrev/s. Prophetic teaching, as
a result, took more definite form. It also became
cumulative, since each succeeding prophet built upon
the foundations laid by liis predecessors.
79. Isaiah incorporates in chapters xv. and xvi.
a citation from an earlier prophecy against Moab.
Tradition assigns it, on very insufficient grounds, to
Jonah, the son of Amittai, who prophesied the suc-
cesses of Jeroboam II. (II. Kings xiv. 25). Others also
must have preceded Amos, but he is the first prophet
whose prophecy and name are preserved together in
the Old Testament. Although his message was to the
northern kingdom, he was a native of Judah. The
town of Tekoa, perched on a high hill about six miles
south of Bethlehem, was his home (Amos i. 1). Im-
80 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
mediately on the east begins the wilderness of Tekoa,
which extends toward the Dead Sea, twelve miles dis-
tant. The life of ithe town, therefore, retained the
pastoral simplicity of the earlier days. Amos himself
was one of the herdsmen of Tekoa. The Hebrew
word indicates that he watched small animals, such as
sheep and goats. The prophet also adds that he was a
" dresser of sycamore trees " (vii. 14), probably at the
proper season piercing their fruit that it might ripen
so as to be utilized as food by the poor, who could
secure nothing more palatable. Hence his occupation
was the humblest. His surroundings were all pastoral
and agricultui'al. His prophecy also abounds in
figures drawn from the simple life of the country.
At the same time he betrays a familiarity with lands
outside Judah, which must have been the result of per-
sonal observation. The peculiar location of Samaria
and the conditions within Israel's capital were well
known to him (iii. 9, 10). His references to the sur-
rounding nations reveal an intimate acquaintance with
them (i., ii.). The graphic allusion to the rising and
falling of Egypt's river suggests that this shepherd-
prophet had sometime made a journey to that wonder-
land.
80. By environment and observation, therefore, this
earnest man of Judah was prepared for his great mis-
sion. He does not tell us when or how it was that
" Jehovah took him from following the flock and said
unto him, ^ Go prophesy unto my people Israel ' "
(vii. 15). Perhaps it gradually dawned upon his
slowly awakening spiritual consciousness. The fact
remains that when — about the middle of the eighth
century B. c. — one festal day he began to preach to
APPEARANCE OF AMOS AT BETHEL 81
the crowds of Israelites who gathered at their great
national sanctuary, Bethel, he was absolutely certain
of his God-given commission. To their angry, sus-
picious looks, inquiring what right he, a rude Judean
shepherd, had to condemn them, he replied : " You
certainly will agree that a lion does not roar in the
forest when it hath no prey, and that a bird does not
fall into a snare where none has been set; in other
words, that nothing unusual occurs without a corre-
sponding cause; consequently, my presence here is
conclusive evidence that I was sent. On the other
hand, — I appeal to you who recall the awful wars
with Damascus — Is the trumpet, announcing that the
enemy is near, ever blown without the people being
afraid ? Every sufheient cause produces a correspond-
ing effect. You all believe that when evil comes to a
city, it is the Lord who sends it. Furthermore, you
know that God does nothing which he does not reveal
unto his servants the prophets. When the Lord God
speaks to a prophet, as he has to me, you must know
that prophet can do nothing but prophesy " (iii. 3-8).
81. Coming thus, a foreigner without introduction,
to sing in the ears of a self-satisfied, prosperous people
the death-dirge, *' The virgin Israel is fallen no more
to rise," Amos showed marvellous skill in his opening
address. In a series of short prophecies, in which the
recurring formulas add to the effectiveness, he de-
nounces the sins of Israel's enemies, and proclaims
that at last they have sinned beyond forgiveness, and
that, therefore, destruction impends. This was joyful
news to his hearers. They listen eagerly ; but in giv-
ing their ready assent they unwittingly subscribed to
certain principles which the prophet forthwith applied
82 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
to their own case with awful effectiveness. His logic
was so unassailable, and their iniquities which he
denounced so patent, that the rulers and priests of the
proud royal sanctuary were obliged to listen without
interru^otion, until at last he declared, " The sanc-
tuaries of Israel shall be laid waste ; and I will rise
against the house of Jeroboam with the sword"
(vii. 9). This gave an opportunity for a charge of
blasphemy and treason, wliich Amaziah, the priest of
Bethel, hastened to improve. " Amos hath conspired
against thee in the midst of the house of Israel ; the
land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos
saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall
surely be led away captive out of the land " (vii. 10,
11), was the message, half truth, half falsehood, which
he sent to Jeroboam. Either on his own authority or
that of the king, Amaziah then turned upon Amos
with the sarcastic words : " O thou seer, go, flee thee
away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and
prophesy there ; but prophesy not again any more at
Bethel ; for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a royal
house " (vii. 12, 13). Disclaiming the implication
that he was one of those mercenary prophets who
" declare war against those who put not bribes in their
mouth " (Micah iii. 5), he protested that he was only
a humble shepherd whom Jehovah called from his
occupation and sent upon the present mission (vii. 14,
15). He was compelled to depart ; but even as he
turned to leave he took occasion to reiterate most
impressively the burden of his message: "Thou and
thy family, O Amaziah, shall experience all the bitter
woes of conquest, and Israel shall surely be led away
captive out of liis land."
NATIONALITY AND CHARACTER OF HOSEA 83
82. Amos returned to his flock. A few of the more
thoughtful in Israel pondered over his solemn words
of warning; but the majority only remembered that
at a certain feast at Bethel one of those fanatical
prophets, betrayed by his accent and m.anners to be a
Judean shepherd, had startled them all for a time by
his awful denunciations, until at last the priest,
Amaziah, had silenced the mad fellow. The truth,
however, which had once found expression could not
be long silenced. During the latter part of the reign
of Jeroboam, Hosea, the son of Beeri, also began to
preach to his countrymen. His reference to "our
king " (vii. 5), who must have been one of the rulers
of Israel, his familiarity with the geography and his-
tory, and, above all, the loyal love for the northern
kingdom which he shows in every utterance, indicate
beyond question that, unlike Amos, he was a citizen
of the greater Hebrew state. His illustrations and
references suggest that his home was in a large town
or city. From his familiarity with the early traditions
of his people (i. 4 ; viii. 14 ; x. 6, 9, 10 ; xi. 1 ; xii.
12 ; xiii. 4), it may be inferred that he was a careful
student of its history. The style and thought of his
prophecies reveal a loving, sympathetic nature, sensi-
tive and tender as that of a woman. His feelings are
often so deep that they only find utterance in broken
and disconnected sentences. His logic is that of the
emotions and intuitions rather than of reason.
83. From the allusions contained in the first three
chapters of his prophecy, it is possible to reconstruct
the outlines of his sad private history. Like many
other prophets, in response to the promptings of true
affection, he took to himself as wife a woman by the
84 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
name of Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. He believed
that she would faithfully return the strong love which
he felt toward her ; but later experience proved that
she, like so many of the Israelitish women of that age,
was indeed one of " the daughters of whoredom." Law
and custom permitted him to put her away, but his
love and the hope that he could yet reclaim her led
him to forgive the heinous crime. Even after she fled
from his home with her paramour, and was finally put
up for sale as a common slave, he bought and restored
her to his home, so darkened by her infamy. Then by
discipline, which is sometimes the supreme proof of
love toward the erring, he sought to lead her back to
the path of rectitude. Whether he succeeded or not,
he does not add ; but these simple, sad facts, presented
with a purpose, reveal the method v/hereby Divine Love
spoke to Hosea. His own tragic experience enabled
him to appreciate Jehovah's feeling toward apostate
Israel, wdiich he likewise had loved, called, forgiven,
and finally, as a last resort, was forced to punish, that
the people might be led in penitence to claim his for-
giveness. Hosea loiew, as did no other man in Israel,
the pain which the sin of one who is loved can liring to
the heart of the one loving. This explains why his de-
nunciations of sinful Israel are unequalled for their
vehemence. On the other hand, his messages of divine
love and mercy are the strongest and the tenderest
uttered by Hebrew prophet. His public as well as
his private life w^as a tragedy of tragedies, for it was
his sad fate to proclaim saving truth to his beloved
nation and then see it rapidly go down to its ruin,
simply because it refused to listen. In this painful
school of affliction, however, Hosea learned lessons
IMPORTANCE OF THE HEBREW PROPHETS 85
which make his obscure, broken prophecy the gospel
of the Old Testament.
84. These two prophets were despised and rejected
by their contemporaries. Hosea bitterly complains
that the prophet who denounces Israel's sins is re-
garded as a fool, and the man that hath a spirit as mad
(ix. 7). The prophet is subjected on every side to
treacherous and murderous attacks ; even in the house
of his God he does not escape from the malignity of
his relentless foes (ix. 8). His life was one long mar-
tyrdom. The rulers of Israel paid no more heed to
the words of Amos and Hosea, than to the barking of
the dogs without their capital city ; and yet time has
proved that the prophets were right and the rulers
wrong. Unquestionably they are the most important
figures in the last act of Israel's drama ; for the activ-
ity of the Hebrew prophets ultimately moulded their
nation's history, and thereby distinguished it from that
of the hundred other petty states which rose and fell,
and have long since been forgotten.
SOCIETY AND MORALS IN ISRAEL
85. Israel's sudden fall from the height of pros-
perity wliich it enjoyed under Jeroboam II. was not
entirely due to the cruelty of the foreign conqueror.
To use a prophetic figure, the nation was like an
attractive basket of rich tropical fruit, dead ripe ; it
was fair to look upon, but within were the germs of
decay, which were destined in a short time, under un-
favorable conditions, to transform it into a mass of
loatlisome putrefaction (Amos viii. 1-3). The prophets,
detecting, by the aid of their enlightened vision, these
insidious evils, pointed them out and at the same time
suggested the remedy. Amos, viewing conditions in
Israel as a foreiofner, directed his attention almost
exclusively to social questions ; Avhile Hosea, who was
able to go to the roots of the nation's life, was con-
stantly dealing with its morals and religion.
86. Certain social disorders, to which an Oriental
community, organized like the Hebrew states, was
especially susceptible, were constantly breaking out in
Israel. The principles underlying the Hebrew com-
monwealth were essentially democratic. During its
early history questions of national interest were set-
tled in a popular assembly, or in a representative
86
EFFECTS OF ISRAEL'S WARS 87
council of the tribal elders. The king was chosen by
the people to be their servant. Every free Israelite had
inalienable rights which the king must respect. Judi-
cial as well as political power was delegated. A
Hebrew judge, like the sheik of a modern Bedouin
tribe, was little more than a referee. Custom supplied
the place of a constitution and legal code. Kight and
justice were therefore guarded, not by law and politi-
cal organization, but by the co-operation of all the
citizens of the community. Anything which destroyed
the simple and normal relations of its individual mem-
bers shook the very foundations of the state. Earlier
prophets recognized this fact. When the old sim-
plicity was threatened under Solomon and Ahab, they
strove to maintain it at any cost, and for the time suc-
ceeded. Tendencies, however, were at work which
the prophets with their waning political influence
could no longer stay.
87. History proves that the chief burden of a pro-
tracted, intense struggle, such as was the v/ar be^iween
Israel and Damascus, rests upon the middle and poorer
classes. Year after year, they were obliged to go forth
for the defence of their families, while their little
estates were neglected. They returned to find their
hereditary lands consumed and themselves and families
reduced to slavery. When the tide of war turned and
the spoil of conquest poured into Israel, it did not
materially relieve the poor. Instead it merely en-
riched the military nobility which had arisen during
the long years of war. Commerce, which sprang up
in a time of peace, only added to the wealth of the
already rich, increasing the distance between classes.
Thus it was that the old simplicity, so essential to such
88 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
a state as Israel, suddenly disappeared, and with it the
middle class, who are the main dependence of every
nation, leaving only the rich nobility and their poor
dependants.
88. Unwonted national prosperity aroused among
the rich and powerful in Israel a passion for show
and luxury which was the more striking because of
the contrast with the simplicity of the earlier days and
the want and penury which were still the lot of the
masses. Great estates took the place of small hold-
ings; palaces of hewn stone, furnished with beds of
ivory and silken couches, rose on the land once held
by the families of those who now were serfs (Amos
iii. 11, 12; v. 11; vi. 4). Their idle masters sought
far and wide for the choicest morsels with which to
gratify their appetites, as they stretched themselves
upon their ivory couches, singing idle songs to the
sound of the viol, anointing themselves with expen-
sive ointment and engaging in shameful carousals
(Amos vi. 1-7). It was a selfish luxury which led
those who thus indulofed themselves to disreo^ard en-
tirely the sacred duty which they owed to their poorer
brethren (Amos vi. 6). Instead it led them to deeds
of inhuman cruelty, in comparison with which the
barbarity of the heathen nations about them, which
they so readily condemned, could easily be condoned
(Amos i.-iii.). A poor debtor, even though he was
a righteous man and his indebtedness a mere trifle,
received not the least mercy at their hands ; indeed,
they exulted in the misery which they brought upon
him (Amos ii. 6, 7 ; viii. 4). Their chief delight
seemed to be to wrong the needy and helpless (Amos
ii. 7). Their palaces were filled with the fruits of
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE CORRUPTION 89
their violence and robbery (Amos iii. 10). Even the
wives of the nobles, those from whom mercy might
be expected, if from any source, only " oppressed the
poor and crushed the needy " by urging their husbands
on to greater exactions, in order to gratify their unholy
appetites. The public tribunals, instead of being
sources of justice, were made the instruments whereby
the rulers extracted bribes and perverted the cause
of the poor and helpless (Amos v. 12). Under such
conditions there could be no harmony between classes,
nor unity in the state. There is a g3;im significance
in the message of Amaziah to the king respecting
Amos's plain unveiling of Israel's social evils : " Amos
hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house
of Israel : The land is not able to bear all his words."
Even the ruling class realized that only a leader was
necessary to set the much wronged masses into a mad
revolt. When such conditions existed mthin the
nation, there was no hope of escape from the clutches
of the foreign foe.
89. At a later and more degenerate period, when
the strong hand of Jeroboam II. no longer guided the
state, Hosea brought in a still more sweeping indict-
ment against Israel : " There is no truth, nor mercy,
nor knowledge of God in the land. There is naught
but swearing, and breaking faith, and killing, and steal-
ing, and committing adultery ; they break out, and
deeds of bloodshed touch deeds of bloodshed " (iv. 1,
2). Israel's crimes were those common among all
peox)les, but especially so in the Orient. Repeatedly
Hosea complains that the people swear falsely in
making covenants, and that the deceit which charac-
terized their forefather Jacob has not ceased to be
90 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
the besetting sin of his descendants (x. 4 ; xi. 12).
It found expression in the false measures and balances
wliich Amos saw in the hands of the merchants of
Israel (viii. 5). Theft and highway robbery were
common (Hosea vii. 1). Rulers, prophets, and priests,
who were the appointed guarchans of the people, con-
spired together to spoil them (Hosea v. 1 ; iv. 6 ;
vi. 9). Anarchy ruled unchallenged (Amos iii. 9;
Hosea vii. 5-7). In this atmosphere, so deeply tainted
by the influence of Baalism, there flourished a gross
immorality which extended to all classes. The
daughters of Israel gave themselves up to the licen-
tious practices attendant U23on that degenerate cult
(Hosea iv. 11-15). Deeds of lewdness, such as would
have aroused public indignation even in the barbarous
days of the judges, were of common occurrence (Hosea
ix. 9 ; X. 9 : Judges xix.). The most sacred laws of
society were wantonly disregarded (Amos ii. 7).
90. The virgin Israel indeed had fallen so low that
there was little hope that she would ever rise again
(Amos V. 2). In the last chapter of the prophecy of
Amos the firm conviction is expressed that after cap-
tivity had sifted out the evil elements in the state, the
few faithful would be restored to enjoy a peace and
prosperity far surpassing that of the earlier days (ix.
8-15). Hosea also pictured, in rich imagery, the glo-
rious era which would be inaugurated when once
Israel's discipline had accomplished its end and the
people had come back to Jehovah in penitence to be
reconciled to him " in righteousness and in judgment
and in loving-kindness and in mercies" (ii. 9-23).
Both prophets, however, as they saw the social and
moral degeneracy of the nation, and the bhnd self-
CERTAINTY OF ISRAEL'S DOWNFALL 91
confidence of its leaders, which gave no promise of
reform, declared that its destruction at the hands of
a foreign conqueror was absolutely certain (Amos iv.
12 ; vi. 14; vii. 9; Hosea iii. 3, 4; xiii. 16). The Judean
2)rophets, Isaiah and Micah, echoed the same (Isaiah
xxviii. 1-13; Micah i. 2-7). Subsequent develop-
ments confirmed most signally their inspired diagnosis
of Israel's sickness, and established the eternal prin-
ciples upon which they based their predictions.
VI
POPULAR AND PROPHETIC RELIGION
91. The blackness of the picture wherein Amos
and Hosea portray the scfcial and moral conditions of
their age is undoubtedly in part due to the striking
contrast between their standards and those of their
contemporaries. The masses still clung to the old
conception of Jehovah. They believed that he was
simply Israel's god and stood in the same relation to
them as Chemosh did to the Moabites (I. sects. 72, 167).
The series of national misfortunes which had befallen
them were regarded as tokens of his displeasure (Amos
iv. 6-11). The turn in the tide of war which brought
to them the unparalleled prosperity of the reign of
Jeroboam 11. was regarded as conclusive evidence that
Jehovah was pleased with his people. Starting with
the mistaken dogma, then already old, that success
was always a pi"oof of divine favor, and calamity of
displeasure, they, as was the hero of the Book of Job
when oppressed by the same error, must often have
been forced to the conclusion that Jehovah, like the
gods of the Greeks, was at times ruled by caprice.
Ordinarily, however, they believed, as did Mesha, king
of Moab (compare Moabite Inscription), that zealous
service by sword and sacrifice would surely secure his
92
PREVAILING RELIGIOUS FALLACIES 93
favor. On the other hand, according to the naive
thought of the age, Israel was the one people of Je-
hovah, therefore his glory was dependent upon their
national prosperity. Adversity might afflict them for
a time, but erelong he would surely arouse himself
to deliver them and vindicate his honor among their
foes, who were also his enemies (Amos v. 18). Assyr-
ian storm clouds lowered in the distant horizon, but
the mass of the Israelites felt absolutely sure that Je-
hovah would deliver; for, according to their concep-
tion of him, it was incredible that he would allow his
people, who alone of all the nations bore his name, to
be destroyed. Besides, were they not honoring him
with a devotion and wealth of sacrifice unequalled be-
fore in their history? The cry, "My God, we, Israel,
know thee " (Hosea viii. 2), voiced the popular feeling.
They deemed the one who predicted the downfall of
Israel guilty of impious blasphemy.
92. Such a religion put little stress upon social or
private morality. While Jehovah was served by cere-
mony and offering, that sufficed. The ordinary priests
and prophets encouraged the people in this fatal delu-
sion. Amaziah, the chief priest of the royal sanctuary
at Bethel, regarded the teaching of Amos as the wild-
est fanaticism (Amos vii. 12, 13). Hosea declared to
the priesthood, " Thou shalt stumble in the day, and
the prophet also shall stumble with thee in the night.
. . . My people are destroyed for lack of knowl-
edge. I have rejected thee, that thou shalt be no
priest to me ; seeing thou hast forgotten the law of
thy God, I also will forget thy children. As they
were multiplied, so they sinned against me; I will
change their glory into shame. They feed on the sin
94 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
of my people, and set their hearts on iniquity. And
it shall be, like people, like priest" (iv. 5-9). They
were but blind leaders of the blind. The ceremonial
service itself was attended by mad revels (Amos v. 23 ;
Hosea iv. 11-14 ; ix. 1-5). The priests of the differ-
ent sanctuaries vied with one another in making their
services the most attractive, in order to swell the offer-
ings. Their greed made them little better than high-
way robbers (Hosea vi. 9). When the national religion
was so corrupt, we cease to wonder that society was
so rotten.
93. The miracle, explicable only as we recognize the
influence of the Divine, is that certain prophets were
led to reject completely the prevailing ideas, and to
present a system of faith and morals which has be-
come the foundation of the three greatest world re-
ligions. Amos outlines, in his artistic introduction
(i., ii.), the new and revolutionizing principles which
characterize his prophecy. Jehovah is God, not only
of Israel, but of each and every nation. The gods of
the other peoples shrivel into insignificance in the full
light of tills truth. Before Jehovah's tribunal the
nations are condemned, because they have transgressed
the common laws of humanity. Each is judged ac-
cording to its enlightenment. Hence greater privilege
entails greater responsibility. Jehovah is a righteous
God, and therefore demands righteousness from his
people, and can show no favoritism. Having gained
a half-assent to these profound propositions, Amos pro-
ceeded to throw down in quick succession the cher-
ished fallacies which hitherto had dominated the minds
of the Israelites. " Yes, you alone of all the peoples
of the world have I known in a peculiarly intimate
AMOS'S CONCEPTION OF JEHOVAH 95
relation," declares Jehovah, "but because your oppor-
tunities have been greater, I v/ill visit upon you all
your iniquities (iii. 2). Jehovah despises all your
feasts and sacrifices and ceremonial worship, because
they are mere mockery, when accompanied, as they are,
with deeds of injustice and inhumanity (iv. 4, 5 ; v. 21-
25). He is no human judge who can be bribed with
gifts. Righteousness is the only acceptable offering.
Do you not know that he has also been active in the
life of other nations? He it was that brought your
hereditary enemies, the Philistines, from Caphtor, and
the Arameans from Kir, just as he led you out of
Egypt (ix. 7.) In fact, it is he who is bringing this
great nation, Assyria, to execute upon you the death
sentence" (vi. 14).
94. It is not strange that the Israelites were unable
to comprehend a message which swept away their im-
memorial claims to Jehovah's especial favor, and placed
them in such unfavorable contrast with their hated
enemies. Amos was indeed an iconoclast; but whence
his new truth? The situation suggests the means
whereby the Eternal revealed himself to his prophets.
The first element in the revelation was that they saw
existing conditions in their true significance. They
recognized that the advance of Assyria meant destruc-
tion for Israel. In the face of this fact, the old con-
ceptions of Jehovah as merely the god of a land and
people were totally insufficient, for they offered only
one explanation: the God of Israel was no God, or
else weaker than the gods of the conquering race.
This was the conclusion which the exiled Israelites
accepted, and thereby forfeited their national indivi-
duality and religion (sect. 104). Confronted by the
96 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
same burning question, Amos was divinely led to open
his eyes and see instead of the God of Israel the God
of the universe, who directed the march of the Assyr-
ian armies as well as fought for Israel. With this
came a full grasp of the truth, heretofore but imper-
fectly enunciated, that Jehovah was a God of perfect
righteousness. A study of conditions within Israel
soon revealed the reason of the approaching captivity.
Henceforth devotion to the ideal of righteousness,
even though it cost the life of their state, character-
ized the true prophets. With untiring zeal they strove
to realize it in their nation, and at the same time en-
deavored to prepare their race for the great catas-
trophe which they saw apj^roaching. It was due to
their unceasing efforts that the spark of national life
and faith was kept alive during the trying centuries
which followed.
95. Hosea reiterated the teachings of Ins predeces-
sor, and added many new and j)i'ecious truths. Amos
had looked with no favor upon the religious cult of
Israel ; Hosea, appreciating its debasing influence, un-
hesitatingly denounced the worship of the golden
calves as wholly corrupt (viii. 5 ; x. 5 ; xiii. 2, 3).
With infinite tenderness, he called upon the Israelites
to forsake '' the work of their own hands " and turn
to a God in whom " the fatherless fuideth mercy," who
would "heal their backslidings and love them freely "
(xiv. 3, 4). As we have seen (sect. 83), Hosea's tragic
private experience was that wliich prepared him to
appreciate the character and purpose of Jehovah even
more truly than Amos. The God whom he proclaimed
was righteous because he was loving. He declared
that the approaching captivity was to be not merely a
THE GOD OF AMOS AND HOSEA 97
fulfilment of the stern laws of justice, but rather a form
of discipline intended to call the nation back to repent-
ance (ii. 10-23 ; iii. 4, 5). The punishment brought far
less pain to Israel than to the loving heart of Jehovah.
Gladly would he remit the penalty if love did not
command that it be executed (xi. 8-9). The stern,
just God of Amos assumes an entirely different aspect,
and through the eyes of Hosea we behold a Divine
Father, who v/ith inlinite love and tenderness called
" his son [Israel] from Eg}^t, taught him to walk, and
took him in his arms." Although the child was way-
ward, he drew him "with the bands of love " (xi. 1-4).
Again the figure changes and Jehovah is the husband
who sought out Israel and v/as united to the nation by
the sacred covenant bonds. With unceasing love, he
anticipated Israel's every want, although it was re-
quited only with the basest infidelity and ingratitude.
Whenever the discipline of captivity should bring the
foolish, erring people back to Jehovah, he stood ready
to forgive and to restore (ii. 1-23). Thus, while the
masses blindly worshipped a tribal god, whose favor
and help they sought to win by the abundance of their
gifts, Amos perceived that Jehovah was the righteous
ruler of the universe ; and Hosea, with still deeper in-
sight, proclaimed the supreme truth of religion, that
God is love.
VII
THE DECLINE AND FALL OF ISRAEL
96. While the prophets were learning from the
great crisis tln-ough which their nation was passing new
and rich lessons, Israel was rapidly hastening to its
ruin. Jeroboam died about 740 B. c, and in less than
two decades the proud kingdom over which he ruled
ceased to exist. Four of the six kings who succeeded
him were struck down by assassins, and one died in
captivity. His son, Zechariah, perished by a conspir-
acy, after a reign of only six months. Shallum, the
chief conspirator, reigned in the capital a month, and
then was slain b}^ Menahem, the son of Gadi, who ap-
pears to have been the military governor of the old
Israelitish capital of Tirzah. His rule, like that of
Omri, was at first opposed, but he succeeded in sub-
jugating the disaffected districts, and then visited
upon them a most brutal revenge (II. Kings xv. 16).
The weakness of his position is indicated by the state-
ment of the Book of Kings to the effect that he gave
a thousand talents of silver, which he exacted from the
wealthy in his realm, to Pul to confirm the kingdom
in his hand (II. Kings xv. 19, 20). Although Pul is
not mentioned in the Assjaian annals, it is established
from other sources that he was Tiglath-Pileser III.,
98
CAMPAIGNS OF TIGLATH-PILESER 99
who reigned on the tlirone of Assyria from 745 to
727 B. c, — Pul being his private name and Tiglath-
Pileser the official title Avhich he assumed and which
of course is always employed on the monuments.
97. This was the great conqueror who revived the
waning fortunes of the Assyrian empire. His connec-
tion with the old reigning family, if any, was distant,
since in the annals no reference is made to his ances-
try. He succeeded, by infusing into his nation new
blood and energy, in organizing again its resources
and kindling its old ambitions for conquest. The
first six years of his reign were occupied with cam-
paigns in the east ; but before 738 B. c. he had broken
the strength of the kingdom of Hamath, north of
Israel, and of its ally, Azariah (Uzziah) of Judali
(sect. 126), and in that year reached the borders of
Israel. The inscriptions, therefore, give the date at
which Israel paid tribute, as well as confirm the bib-
lical record, since they state that among the many
western princes who then acknowledged liis suzerainty
were Rezon of Damascus, Menahem of Samaria, and
Hiram of Tyre. The Assyrian empire again touched
the Mediterranean. The two great world powers,
with their capitals on the Tigris and the Nile, stood
face to face. Palestine, being the key to both the east
and the west, was the bone of contention.
98. From this time on, Israel and Judah were to
be the scene of constant intrigue and war. Ephraim,
*' Hke a silly dove," flew blindly into the Assyrian net
(Hosea vii. 11). Menahem's weak, selfish policy gave
the great eastern power a hold upon Israel which it
never relaxed. Inordinate greed, as well as insatiable
cruelty, characterized this new conqueror. Each year
100 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
the resources of Israel were drained to pay the heavy
tribute which was exacted. The nation writhed under
the awful injustice. Egypt, jealous of the influence
of her rival, was constantly holding out promises of
assistance in case Israel would revolt. Although the
prophets pointed out the folly of su.ch an alliance
(Hosea vii. 11 ; xii. 1), and the weakness of Egypt was
evident, a large and growing party advocated the plan
of tlu^owing olf the yoke of Assyria, and of trusting to
their own strength and the support of Egypt to resist
the common foe. Menahem and his son, however, led
the opposite faction, which might be called the Assyrian
party, since it urged that safety was to be found only
in submission. For about five years they maintained
their policy. The second part of the prophecies of
Hosea reflects something of the confusion and weak-
ness which characterized the period. The king and
princes regarded the people as their prey (v. 1), law
and order were relaxed, and with this a wild abandon
took possession of all classes (vii. 8-16). Under such
conditions the sti'ength of the anti-Assjaian party in-
creased rapidly. It found a leader in Pekah, the son
of Remaliah, the captain of Pekahiah who succeeded
his father, Menahem. Supported by fifty of his fear-
less Gileadite followers, he raised the standard of
revolt in Samaria and slew the inefficient king.
The year 735 b. c. must have been the date of this
revolution.
99. That which encouraged the Israelites to strike
for independence at this time was undoubtedly the
absence of Tiglath-Pileser III. and his armies, since
we learn from his annals that he was engaged, between
737 and 735 b. c, in campaigns in the east. Rezon of
CONQUEST OF ISRAEL IN 734 B. C. 101
Damascus, the cities of Tyre, Siclon, Askelon, and Gaza
joined with Pekah in a coalition against Assyria. The
other peoples of Syria, however, held aloof. The al-
lies recognized that the only hope of successful resist-
ance lay in a union of all. Accordingly they marched
against Judah, to force it to join with them. Its terri-
tory was devastated, and its king shut up in his capi-
tal ; but before he could be brought to submission
Tiglath-Pileser with his armies was upon the rebels.
His advance was so rapid that they were taken un-
prepared. He followed the usual route along the
coast of the Mediterranean. From the west he sent
his armies eastward over the plain of Escbaelon, and
from thence to the conquest of the Israelitish towns
in the north. Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Ke-
desh, and Hazor are the cities mentioned in the biblical
record (II. Kings xv. 29). All this territory north of
the plain of Esdraelon was subjugated and placed un-
der the charge of Assyrian governors. Continuing
his march southward, he captured Askelon and Gaza,
thereby securing the frontiers of Palestine and cutting
off all possibility of assistance from Egypt. Return-
ing, he completed the subjugation of Israel. The ter-
ritory of Ephraim was devastated, and many of its
inhabitants carried away captive. The rebel Pekah,
who had made such a valiant though ineffectual strike
for freedom, was put to death. According to II. Kings
XV. 30, the Israelite Hoshea, whom Tiglath-Pileser
appointed governor over the remnant of Israel, prob-
ably as a reward for his treason, was the instrument
whereby Pekah met his end.
100. This memorable campaign of 734 b. c. gave
Israel its death-blow. Its territory was henceforth
102 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
limited to a few square miles, bounded on the north
by the plain of Esdraelon and on the east by the Jor-
dan. Although stripped of their wealth, those who
were allowed to remain behind were compelled to pay
an exorbitant annual tribute to Assyria. Duiing
the two succeeding years Damascus suffered a similar
fate. Its army was defeated, and its king shut up in
his capital " like a caged bird." Its territory, even to
the walls of the city, was laid waste with a thorough-
ness of v/hich the Assyrians alone were capable. In
732 B. c. Damascus itself fell (compare II. Kings xvi.
9). In accordance with the policy of Tiglath-Pileser
III. and his successors, its people were deported to the
northern part of the Assyrian empire. In this effec-
tive way its power was extinguished so that it never
again gave serious annoyance to its conquerors. Even
before Tiglath-Pileser appeared, Ahaz of Judah had
hastened to swear allegiance ; the kings of Edom,
Moab, and Ammon later followed his example. Tig-
lath-Pileser also made a successful incursion into
Arabia, reducing to subjection a strong tribe under a
queen by the name of Samsi, and received the homage
and tribute of many Arabian chiefs. By his skill and
energy he had not only completely reorganized the de-
caying empire, but also had extended its boundaries
far beyond all former limits.
101. As long as the great conqueror lived, Hoshea,
the governor, whom he had placed over the remnant
who still bore the name of Israel, remained faithful ;
but the death of Tiglath-Pileser III. in 727 b. c. was
the signal for a general revolt. Shalmaneser III., his
successor, anticipated this by despatching an army into
the west-land. Under the pressui-e of these circum-
THE FATAL REVOLT OF HOSHEA 103
stances, Hosliea did homage and brought tribute to liis
new master; but when the army was withdrawn he
yielded to the demands of the anti-Assyrian party.
He was only a vassal king of the crippled remnant of a
little nation, while Assyria was at its height. Already
the toils of the world-conqueror had been tightened by
the fruitless efforts which the Israelites had made to
gain their freedom. If they failed, all was lost, for
the next stage of subjection was deportation and
national anniliilation. Judah was neither willing nor
able to render any aid. It was Egypt's empty prom-
ises which encouraged the feverish leaders of the
northern kingdom to court certain destruction. About
this time also the kings of Ethio^Dia, whose power had
long overshadowed that of the weak rulers of northern
Egypt, took possession of the throne of the Pharaohs.
With the new dynasty the old longings for conquest
were revived. The first step toward their realization
was an attempt to undermine the influence of their
dangerous rival in Palestine. This was in part success-
ful, for the name of Egypt still inspired confidence,
and the renown of the new Pharaoh, Shabaka, aroused
unwarranted hopes.
102. In 725 or 724 b. c. the fatal alliance was
formed between Hoshea and his would-be patron
(II. Kings xvii. 4). Before any relief came from
Egypt, Shalmaneser IV. invaded Israel and captured
its king, who apparently had advanced against him.
The details respecting the events of the last few years
of the northern kingdom are exceedingly meagre.
Although deprived of their king, its leaders made a
last stand in Samaria. Its impregnable position made
it impossible for the Assyrians to capture it by storm,
104 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
and therefore tliey were obliged to wait tliree years
until starvation had done its ghastly work. The rich
territory about was all in the hands of the enemy, so
that there was no hope of relief from their countrymen.
The expectation that Egypt would yet deliver them,
and the Iniowledge that they could anticipate no
mercy from their conqueror, nerved them for a heroic
though hopeless resistance. The crowded city must
have been the scene of the most horrible want and
misery, Egypt's weakness and disorganized condition
rendered it utterly incapable of coping with the
thoroughly equipped, experienced armies of Assyria;
indeed, there is no evidence that it made any attempt
to help its ally. Shalmaneser began and practically
completed the conquest of Samaria, but, dying before
the city finally surrendered, its capture was one of the
first events which rendered glorious the reign of the
great conqueror, Sargon, who succeeded him in
December of 722 b. c. The policy of assimilation
inaugurated by Tiglath-Pileser III. was carried out
even more rigidly by the new monarch. The city was
given up to plunder ; twenty-seven thousand two hun-
dred and ninety of its inhabitants were, according to
the inscriptions of Sargon, carried away into captivity,
and over those who were left behind was placed an
Assyrian governor to attend to the collection of the
annual tribute. Section after section of the kingdom
of Jeroboam II. had been broken off and annexed to
Assyria, until at the end of eighteen years the capital
itself was brought under the same iron sway and Israel
as a nation ceased to exist.
VIII
THE EOLE OF ISRAEL IN THE WORLD'S HISTORY
103. With the fall of Samaria, Israel not only lost
its identity as a nation, but the character of its people
also was completely changed under the influence of
the foreign populations which surged into the land.
Assyria's policy of eradicating by force all national
spirit and of assimilating and amalgamating the differ-
ent races in its vast empire, that the possibility of
revolt might be removed, ultimately proved eminently
successful in the case of Israel. In 720 B. c, two
years after the fall of Samaria, there was a general
uprising in Syria, which included Hamath, Arpad, and
Damascus. The provinces into wliich the land of
Israel had been divided were drawn into the insurrec-
tion. The severity of the penalty which was inflicted
upon the Israelites was probably in part due to this
additional offence. Strategic reasons also prompted
S argon to root out completely all possible seeds of
rebellion, since the strong fortress of Samaria com-
manded central Palestine ; and already Assyiian plans
of conquest extended beyond Syria to Egypt.
104. The captives who were deported naturally in-
cluded the rich, the ruling and military classes, and
the religious leaders. One body of exiles was settled
105
106 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
on the cliief northern tributary of the Euphrates, the
river Habor, within the Mesopotamian province of
Gozan. Here they were surrounded by an Aramaic-
speaking population, with which they readily assimi-
lated, and consequently quickly lost their identity.
Another group was transported, several years later,
to the land of the Medes, on the extreme eastern bor-
ders of the empire. The location, Halah, the third
place mentioned in II. Kings xvii. 6, has not yet been
definitely established; it may have been situated in
Mesopotamia, or possibly east of the Tigris. The
great majority of the Israelites who survived the
devastating Assyrian wars were allowed to remain in
their homes. The pastoral and agricultural classes in
the community suffered least. Since the territory
north of the plain of Esdraelon submitted first and
with little resistance, it escaped the repeated deporta-
tions which so seriously modified the character of the
population of the district lying to the south. This
fact explains why, after the exile, the Galileans affil-
iated with the Jews so much more readily than did the
Samaritans.
105. According to XL Kings xvii. 24, " The king of
Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cutliah,
and from Avva, and from Hamath, and from SejDhar-
vaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead
of the children of Israel ; and they possessed Samaria,
and dwelt in the cities thereof." The annals of Sargon
corroborate and supplement this reference. Among
the events of his first year, it is stated that colonists
from the rebellious state of Babylon were transported
to the land of the Hittites, which was a general desig-
nation of Syria. Cuthah and Sepharvaim have been
ORIGIN OE THE SAMARITANS 107
identified as Babylonian towns. During the second
year of S argon's reign, Hamath, having rebelled, was
subjected to the severest punishment known to the
conqueror. Colonists from the east were introduced
to take the place of the natives, who, according to the
biblical record, were transferred to Samaria. Two
other inscriptions state that Arabians from four desert
tribes conquered by Sargon were also settled in
Samaria. About half a century later Esarhaddon
transported tliither still other colonists from Baby-
lonia and the cities of Elam (Ezra iv. 2, 9, 10). A
more heterogeneous mixture of peoples could not be
imagined; Babylonians, Elamites, Arabians, and Ha-
matheans mingled their blood with that of the ancient
Israelites to form the Samaritan race which was thus
gradually evolved. Their national spirit was so com-
pletely crushed that they submitted readily to the
various foreign conquerors who have ever since ruled
the land of Palestine. The result has been that they
alone, of all the ancient peoples who once inhabited
this much contested territory, have survived, and to-
day are represented by a small tribe of about one
hundred members, who live together at Nablus, the
ancient Shechem, and on their sacred Mount Gerizim
worship Jehovah in accordance with the customs of
their fathers.
106. It is obvious that the wild theories concerning
the fate of the '4ost ten tribes of Israel" are entirely
without foundation, since they were never lost. Their
descendants survived and at times emerged into prom-
inence ; but with the destruction of Samaria in
722 B. c, the Israelites sank to the level of the peoples
about them. The catastrophe, which the true prophets
108 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
had labored so earnestly to avert, came at last. The
foreign colonists worshipped their respective gods for
a time ; but, in accord with the current ideas of
the age, public disasters were soon interpreted as an
indication that the god of the land was angry. There-
fore priests of Jehovah were introduced ; Bethel again
became a religious centre ; the worsliip of the God of
Israel continued to be the acknowledged cult of the
land; but other gods were freely tolerated, and
Jehovah was regarded as little more than a local
divinity and placed on an equality with the other
deities. The old heathen forms were also retained.
The conception of Jehovah ceasing to develop, the
religion itself became dead; and when its faith was
dead, Israel's life was no longer an important factor in
the history of humanity. Its glory and its influence
came alone from its past.
107. The sudden and disastrous fate of Israel ex-
plains why a comparatively small part of the literature
of the Old Testament comes from the larger Hebrew
kingdom. That kingdom fell just as the Hebrews
were entering upon their most prolific literary period.
The Judeans, who became the custodians of its writings,
were never very kindly disposed toward the people of
the north, and the feeling of antagonism steadily in-
creased during the succeeding centuries. In view of
these facts, it is surprising that so much has been
preserved. Probably a few of the proverbs and psalms
in our present collections are from Israelitish authors.
The Song of Songs breathes the spirit and reflects the
point of view of the north rather than of the south.
One of the most important strands of projDhetic nar-
rative (E) which run through the Hexateuch, bears
THE LITERATURE AND THOUGHT OF ISRAEL 109
unmistakable marks of its Israelitish origin. Almost
all the ancient material preserved in the Book of
Judges, part of that in Samuel, and the greater por-
tion of Kings were derived originally from northern
sources. Although the prophet Amos was a Judean,
his message was directed wholly against the north, and
may properly be reckoned among its literature. The
prophecy of Hosea is at the same time the noblest and
most characteristic product of Israel. Although its
style is rough and broken, its figures and references
suggest something of the beauty and delicacy of
thought which under brighter skies find expression in
the Song of Songs, and which might have come to per-
fection, had not the fruits of the nation's sins and
adverse circumstances forever silenced its poets and
prophets.
108. Until Samaria began to totter, the spiritual
side of the religion of Jehovah found its true develop-
ment in Israel. Religiously as well as politically, the
southern kingdom followed in the wake of the greater
and more active state. Israel alone had an Elijah and
an Elisha. The great religious and social crisis arose
first in the north. Its enlightened prophets gave
the watchwords to all who followed. The definite
proclamation by Amos, that Jehovah was the God of
the universe and at the same time altogether righteous,
ultimately revolutionized religious thought. He also
first clearly enunciated the great fact of the universal
brotherhood of man, and emphasized the obligations
which grow out of it. When he declared that cere-
monial service was hateful to God if unaccompanied by
deeds of justice and mercy, he presented a truth which
humanity has not yet fully grasped. Hosea first saw
110 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
clearly that love, not arbitrary will, rules the universe,
and announced that Jehovah is just because his love is
supreme. He recognized the Supreme Father of man-
kind, and in his messages of warning to the nation
and in his promises of God's forgiveness laid the
foundations of the New Testament revelation. Israel's
greatest prophets stand apart and above their nation ;
the truths which they proclaimed were never accepted
and consequently never realized in its history ; but in
Judah, and ultimately in the life of humanity, they
found their true field of development. Israel there-
fore, through the messages of its prophets, enjoys
immortality, although its body politic met such an
untimely death.
PART III
THE ASSYRIAN PERIOD OF JUDAH'S
HISTORY
THE mSTOEICAL SOUECES, AND CHRONOLOGY
109. Side by side with the material contained in
II. Kings xi.-xvii., relating to Israel, are important
sections: xi, 1-xii. 21; xiv. 1-14, 17-22; xv. 1-7,
32-38, and xvi. 1-20, which refer to contemporary
events in Judah. The accounts of the priestly revolu-
tion (xi. 1-20) and the subsequent repair of the Temple
under Joash (xii. 4-16), were derived from early
Judean sources. They, together with xvi. 10-18,
which describes the altar erected by Ahaz, may have
been based upon official records preserved in the
Temple. Chapters xii. 17, 18 ; xiv. 8-14, 19, 20, 22 ;
XV. 5, and. xvi. 5-9 consist of concise political notices,
gathered by the compiler, probably, from the state
annals, and incorporated in his regular framev/ork.
With the exception of the short epitome inserted by
the editor in xviii. 9-12, the rest of the Book of Kings,
beginning with chapter xviii., is devoted entirely to
Judah. The brief account of the invasion of Sen-
nacherib in xviii. 13-16 was probably taken from the
state records; while the more detailed narrative of
the same, contained in xviii. 17-xix. 37, and repro-
duced in Isaiah xxxvi. and xxxvih, in which Isaiah is
the chief figure, is, like the stories of Elijah and Elisha,
8 113
114 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
from some prophetic historian living not long after
the events recorded. Chapter xix. 21-31 preserves a
short prophecy, practically as it fell from the lips of
Isaiah. Chapter xx. 1-19 is also a prophetic narra-
tive, evidently of still later date than the one contained
in xviii. 17 - xix. 37. Chapter xxi., which treats of
the reigns of Manasseh and Amon, contains some defi-
nite historical data (verses 3-7), although it consists
mainly of the comments of the compiler. The narra-
tive in Kings is supplemented by a few additional
facts which have been preserved by the chronicler in
the corresponding chapters (II. Chron. xxiii.-xxxiii.)
of his work.
110. The Assyrian period of Judah's history is
illuminated, at its most important crises, by the ser-
mons of its greatest statesman-prophet. They treat
every side of the nation's life, and consequently ren-
der this epoch one of the best known of Hebrew his-
tory. The prophecies of Isaiah, however, are not
arranged in chronological order. With the aid of an
occasional superscription and the testimony of internal
evidence, it is possible to date those relating to Judah
with comparative certainty. His call, recorded in chap-
ter vi., was during the last jea,v of Uzziah, between
740 and 737 b. c. Chapters ii. 5 - iv. 1 contain prophe-
cies delivered about 735 b. c, during the reign of the
weak Ahaz (iii. 12), and before the loss of Elath (ii.
16) to the Arameans in 734 b. c. To the same year
belong the series of sermons preserved in v. 1-25;
ix. 8-x. 4 and v. 26-30, which distantly reflect the
coming Aramean-Ephraimitish war. The addresses
in vii. 1-ix. 7, and xvii. 1-11 Avere delivered in 734
B.C., when these storm clouds from the north were
DATE OF ISAIAH'S PROPHECIES 115
hovering over Judah. Chapter i. belongs either to
this time, when the land was overrun by Arameans,
Edomites, and Philistines, or to the even darker days
of 701 B. c. The opening words of chapter xxviii.,
found in verses 1-6, were uttered shortly before the
fall of Samaria in 722 b. c. The short prophecy in
chapter xx. indicates Isaiah's attitude toward the up-
rising which called Sargon to Palestine in 711 b. c.
Isaiah's activity reached its height in connection with
the great rebellion against Assyria, which resulted in
the invasion of Sennacherib in 701 b. c. The events
recorded in the historical sections, xxxviii. and xxxix.,
belong to the years immediately preceding that crisis ;
the narratives themselves were taken from II. Kings.
The short passage xiv. 29-32 reflects the exultation of
the people of Palestine on hearing of the death of their
oppressor Sargon in 705 b. c. As early as 703 b. c. the
leaders of Judah began plotting, thereby arousing
Isaiah to utter the words of warning preserved in
xxviii. 7-xxix. 24. Chapters xxx.-xxxii. and xxii.
15-25 come from a later period, probably 702 b. c,
when alliances were being openly made with Egypt.
To the year of the invasion itself, when the armies of
Sennacherib were on the march toward Palestine, be-
long the sermons in x. 5-xi. 9; xiv. 24-27. In xvii.
12-14 the city is about to be besieged ; chapter xviii.
pictures graphically the terror of the Ethiopians at
this time, and xxii. 1-14 the confusion within Jeru-
salem and the wild rejoicing when the siege was
raised. The historical sections xxxvi. and xxxvii.,
which record the final deliverance of the city, were,
like xxxviii. and xxxix., taken from II. Kings. The
remaining portions of the book either relate to foreign
116 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
nations or else are from other hands, as is demonstrated
by their style and contents.
111. The prophecies of Micah, a younger contem-
porary of Isaiah, deal especially with the social condi-
tions in Judah. Chapters i.-iii., with the exception
of ii. 12, 13, treat of the same general themes. The
references in i. 1-7 to the impending fall of Samaria
establish their date at a little before 722 b. c. Chap-
ters iv. and v., if from Micah, may be assigned to the
days of confusion and terror which attended the inva-
sion of Sennacherib in 701 B. c. The only satisfactory
historical background for yi. l-vii. 6 is the reac-
tionary reign of Manasseh. The style and thought
of the remainder of chapter vii. is so different from
that which precedes that its date and authorship are
exceedingly uncertain.
112. Judah as v/ell as Israel is frequently mentioned
in the Assyrian inscriptions. In addition to the
annals already referred to (sect. 57), those of Sen-
nacherib contain a full account of tlie movements
of this mighty conqueror, and especially the steps
in his great western campaign of 701 B. c. The
tribute lists of Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal also
afford valuable information respecting political condi-
tions during the reign of Manasseh, which is passed
over with such brief mention by the biblical historians.
113. The chronology of this period presents exceed-
ingly intricate problems, arising from the conflicting
testimony of the biblical data. The Assyiian chro-
nology fixes two dates : (1) the accession of Athaliah
to the thi'one of Judah after the slaughter of Azariah
by Jehu in 842 B. c. ; and (2) the invasion of Judah by
Pekah and Rezon in 735-734 b. c, when Ahaz was
CHRONOLOGY OF JUDAH'S ASSYRIAN PERIOD 117
on the throne. We also know that Azariah (Uzziah)
of Judah was defeated by Tiglath-Pileser III. in 740-
738 B. c. Allowing only two or tliree years for the
independent reign of Jotham, the year 735 b. c. is
established approximately as the date of the accession
of Ahaz. According to the chronological system of
the compiler of Kings, a total of one hundred and forty-
three (Athaliah, 6 ; Joash, 40 ; Amaziah, 29 ; Azariah,
52 ; Jotham, 16) years is assigned to the period of one
hundred and seven years which intervened between
the beginnings of the reigns of Athaliah and Ahaz,
giving a discrepancy of thirty-six years. The six
years of Athaliah and the forty of Joash seem to be
well established. Amaziah's attack upon Jehoash of
Israel (II. Kings xiv. 8-14) indicates that they were
contemporaries. It probably occurred near the close
of the reign of Jehoash, when he had recovered from
the disastrous wars with Damascus. It has also been
conjectured with reason that Amaziah's death at the
hands of a conspiracy (II. Kings xiv. 19) was the result
of his defeat. From these inferences, 782 b. c. may
be accepted as the date of his death, giving him a
reign of sixteen instead of twenty-nine years. The
'^remaining twenty-three years must be deducted from
the reigns of Azariah (Uzziah) and Jotham. Since
Azariah was a leper, his son ruled as regent (II. Kings
XV. 5). This accounts in part for the variation in the
reckoning of the compiler, since he would give the full
number of years during which each reigned. It is obvi-
ous that whatever system of dates is adopted for the
first part of this period, they must be regarded as only
approximate. In the chronological chart the system of
Kamphausen has been generally followed.
118 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
114. The most perplexing although not the most
important question in connection with the remainder
of the period is the date of the accession of Hezekiah.
Two distinct series of data point, the one to 715, and
the other to 725 b. c. The date (715 b. c.) accepted
by the majority of German scholars rests primarily
upon II. Kings xviii. 13, which states that Sennache-
rib's invasion of 701 b. c. fell in the fourteenth
year of Hezekiah. This seems to be confirmed by
II. Kings XX. 1-6, which associates Hezekiah's sick-
ness with Sennacherib's invasion, and contains the
prophecy that the king would survive his illness fifteen
years (verse 6). It may, however, have been from
this statement that the author of II. Kings xviii. 13,
knowing that Hezekiah reigned in all twenty-nine
years, drew the inference that the great invasion was
in his fourteenth (29 — 15 = 14) year. Furthermore, it
is distinctly stated (II. Kings xx. 12; Isa. xxxix. 1)
that Merodach-Baladan of Babylon sent an embassy
to Hezekiah during his illness. From the inscriptions
of Sennacherib it is established that Merodach-Baladan
was no longer king in 701 b. c, which at once throws
suspicion upon the data in question. It also necessi-
tates the arbitrary shortening of the reign of Manasseh
by ten years.
115. On the other hand, II. Kings xviii. 10 defi-
nitely states that Samaria was taken in the sixth year
of Hezekiah. Addition of the years assigned to Heze-
kiah and the kings of Judah who succeeded him
before the fall of Jerusalem in 586 b. c. fixes the
beginning of his reign at 725 b. c, which is in prac-
tical agreement with the passage just cited. There
are good grounds for regarding the number of years
DATE OF HEZEKIAH'S ACCESSION 119
assigned to these kings as substantially correct, since
their reigns were not so far removed from the age of
the compiler as were those of the earlier days. Under
Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Manasseh, also, the influence
of Assyria became paramount in Judah, as was mani-
fested in the introduction of a new style of altar
(II. Kings xvi. 10), and eastern customs (Isa. ii. 6),
and, as a result, from this time on a more exact system
of reckoning time seems to have been adopted.
Jeremiah and Ezekiel regularly date their prophecies
according to the year of the reigning king. Further-
more, when we are able by these other sources to
verify the number of years assigned by the compiler
to the later kings, we find them substantially correct.
The reference in Jeremiah xxvi. 18, which states posi-
tively that the sermons of Micah were delivered during
the days of Hezekiah, obviously points to 725 rather
than 715 B. c, since this prophecy foretells the fate
of Samaria (722 b. c). Whichever date be accepted,
the sixteen years assigned to the reign of Ahaz cannot
stand. Perhaps the most serious objection to the
earlier date is its inconsistency with the ages of Ahaz
and Hezekiah at their accession. Ahaz could not have
died when only thirty years old and left a son aged
twenty-five. These, however, are details which pos-
terity would be least likely to record, and respecting
which the compiler has elsewhere shown that he was
dependent upon conjecture. In the light of all the
evidence, therefore, 725 b. c. is the more probable date
for the accession of Hezekiah.
II
FKOM ATHALIAH TO AHAZ
116. The revolution of Jehu, which included the
slaughter of Ahaziah of Judah and thereby gave
the unscrupulous Athaliah an opportunity to seize
the throne, was followed, six years later, by a counter
revolution in the southern kingdom, likewise inspired
by the more zealous champions of the worship of Je-
hovah. It is significant that the one v/ho planned it
was not a prophet, but Jehoiada, the priest of the
temple of Jehovah, where Joash, the youthful son of
the murdered Ahaziah, had been hidden by his aunt
from Athaliah's destructive hand. The details of the
conspiracy w^ere carefully prepared, and the captains of
the royal guard previously pledged to co-operate. The
coup cVctat took place on a Sabbath day. The guard,
who regularly assumed charge of the Temple on that
day, were posted at such points as commanded the
passage from the palace and the other entrances to
the sanctuary. The Temple guard, which was ordi-
narily relieved from duty on the Sabbath, was or-
dered to remain and protect the person of the young
king. The prestige of the house of David gave force
to the movement. In the hands of the guard were
placed the spears and shields which had been won
120
THE KELIGIOUS REVOLUTION IN JUDAH 121
from their foes by the great conqueror, whose offspring
they were about to restore to the throne of his ances-
tors. When all was ready, the little Joash (or Je-
hoash) was led forth and duly anointed king. The
cry of guard and people, '' Let the king live," was the
first intimation which Athaliah received of the con-
spiracy. Her exclamation of " Treason " aroused no
response. She was slain within the palace at the com-
mand of Jehoiada, who virtually acted as regent dur-
ing the boyhood of the new ruler.
117. A solemn covenant was then made between
Jehovah and the people "that they should be the
Lord's people." Elijah's words of protest against the
toleration of Baal worship found a response in J udah
as well as in Israel. Under the influence of the re-
action, and doubtless at the instigation of the priest,
Jehoiada, the people went to the temple of Baal, which
had been allowed to flourish undisturbed beneath the
shadows of the capital, and tore it down, levelling altars
and images, and slaying its priest, Mattan, in the midst
of the ruin to make the desecration complete. Thus,
with little bloodshed, was consummated the important
revolution whereby the family of David was restored
to the throne of Judah, and Baalism placed mider
a ban.
118. A century and a half had elapsed since the
building of Solomon's Temple ; and consequently the
demand for repairs was imperative. While the reign-
ing family of Judah v/as coquetting with the house of
Ahab and countenancing a temple of Baal at Jerusa-
lem, the temple of Jehovah was neglected. Joash,
however, who had been raised to the throne by a
priestly revolution, was under obligation to repay the
122 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
debt thus incurred. He accordingly turned over to
the priests the regular religious tax, as well as the
voluntary offerings, with the understanding that they
were, with the proceeds, to see that the necessary re-
pairs were completed. Twenty-three years passed,
however, and nothing was done. When, at last, they
were called to account by the king, Jehoiada intro-
duced the simple but effective device of placing at
the right side of the entrance of the Temple a chest
with a hole in the lid into which the priests who
guarded the door cast the offerings of the people.
As the money accumulated, it was taken from thence
by the priest and royal secretary and paid directly to
the workmen. In this way the structure of the Temple
was rescued from decay.
119. The long reign of Joash was further charac-
terized by a threatened invasion led by the ambitious
king of Damascus, Hazael, who not only overran Israel,
but also attacked the Philistine town of Gath, which
he captured and desti^oyed so effectually that it hence-
forth disappeared from the list of the Philistine Pen-
tapolis. Jerusalem was the next place toward which
he turned for plunder. Joash, however, anticipated at-
tack, and saved his capital by turning over to Hazael
the accumulated treasures of the Temple and palace.
The latter part of his reign was further darkened by a
conspiracy among liis servants, who for some unknown
cause slew him at the house of Millo.
120. The hereditary principle was so strong in Ju-
dah that Amaziah, his son, succeeded Joash without
serious opposition. As soon as he l)ecame the real
master of his realm, he avenged the death of liis father
by slaying his murderers. For the first time (com-
CONQUESTS OF AMAZIAH 123
pare Josh. vii. 24-26 ; II. Sam. xxi. ; II. Kings ix. 26)
the milder custom, which finds expression in Deuter-
onomy xxiv. 16, of not visiting upon the innocent off-
spring the crimes of the parent, was observed. The
act represented such a marked advance toward civili-
zation that it justly commanded the especial attention
of the writer of II. Kings xiv. 6. Amaziah's attitude
toward the national religion was, like that of his
father, exceedingly friendly.
121. During the earlier part of the Assyrian period
of Judean history the smaller and more protected
Hebrew kingdom felt the influence of the great em-
pire on the Tigris only inchrectl}^ When the power
of Damascus was broken, it improved the opportunity,
as did Israel, to extend its boundaries. Since the days
of Jehoram (sect. 45), the Edomites had maintained
their independence. Amaziah invaded their land,
and fought a successful battle in the Valley of
Salt, to the south of the Dead Sea, in which a large
number of the Edomites Avere slain. Sela ("The
Rock," better known by its later Greek name Petra)
was captured, and its name changed to Joktheel, as
long as it remained under the sway of Judah. Ama-
ziah's conquests appear to have extended southward to
Elath, on the Red Sea (II. Kings xiv. 22) ; but the
Edomites still retained the eastern portion of their ter-
ritory. Amos later predicted the coming destruction
of Teman and Bozrah, which in his day were the chief
Edomite cities (i. 12). The kings of Edom figure fre-
quently among the princes of Palestine, who subse-
quently paid tribute to the conquering monarchs of
Assyria, and there is no evidence that they were sub-
ject to Judah,
124 A HISTOKY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
122. Elated by his victory over the Edomites, Ama-
ziah sent his fatal challenge to Joash of Israel (sect.
75). Although the power of the northern kingdom
had been broken by its long wars with Damascus, it
was rapidly recovering, and its resources far exceeded
those of Judah. Joash, therefore, showed a fraternal
consideration for his cousins of the south in endeavor-
ing to persuade Amaziah to desist from his foolhardy
enterprise ; but the Judean king refused to listen, and
learned his error when, at Bethshemesh, he was de-
serted by his army and found himself the captive of
the king of Israel. A long section of the wall of Jeru-
salem was torn down, the Temple and palace were de-
spoiled of their treasures, and hostages taken. Like
his father, Amaziah fell a victim to a conspiracy. The
cause was probably the discontent aroused by the dis-
astrous results of his rash attack upon Israel. Recog-
nizing his danger, he fled from Jerusalem to the border
town of Lachish, whither his assassins pursued and
where they slew him. He was, however, accorded a
burial in the royal tombs, and his son regularly suc-
ceeded him.
123. The youth of sixteen who was thus raised to
the throne of Judah possessed the energy of his father,
and in addition a prudence and organizing ability which
made his reign the most glorious since the division of
the kingdoms. His official name appears to have been
Azariah. This is the one by which he is generally
known in the Book of Kings, and also on the Assyrian
monuments, while in the prophecies and Clironicles
(excepting I. Chron. iii. 13) he is called Uzziah. The
latter may have been the name by which he was fami-
liarly known among liis people, but, by later genera-
THE BRILLIANT REIGN OF AZARIAH 125
tions, it was shortened still further to Uzza (II. Kings
xxi. 18, 26). He was afflicted by leprosy, and so, in
accordance with the inexorable Hebrew custom, which
made no exception even for a king, was obliged to
dwell in his separate palace. His son, Jotham, as-
sumed charge of the court, and discharged the public
duties of the king as judge of the realm.
124. The Book of Kings is as silent respecting the
long and important reign of Azariah (Uzziah) as it
is concerning that of his contemporary, Jeroboam II.
of Israel. The chronicler, however, has preserved
an account of his military successes which may be
regarded as historical. Wliile Israel was extending
its boundaries in the north and east, Judah was push-
ing in the opposite directions. The territory of the
Philistines, whose power had been broken by the Ara-
means (sect. 119), was invaded and several of their
cities captured. Hebrew colonies were settled in the
lands thus annexed. The prophet Micah, who came
from Moresheth, a little town tributary to Gath (Micah
i. 1, 14), was probably a descendant of these colonists.
Some of the towns mentioned in his opening proph-
ecy (i. 10-16) may have been those founded by
Azariah (Uzziah) at this time. Elath, the Edomite
town on the Red Sea, which had been the port from
which Hebrew ships in the earlier days went forth to
engage in trade with Arabia and India, was rebuilt.
The revival of commerce, therefore, explains in part
the prosperity of the period. Azariah's wars against
the Arabian tribes were presumably to protect his
merchants and to secure an undisturbed passage to
the port on the Red Sea. The series of building en-
terprises attributed to him by the chronicler is quite
126 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
in accord with his character. The walls of Jerusalem
were rebuilt and provided with towers ; the army also
was thoroughly organized; cisterns were dug to col-
lect and retain the winter rains ; and watch-towers
were constructed in the wilderness for the protection
of the herds of cattle which belonged to the king. In
the uplands he had many fields, carefully tilled by
husbandmen and vinedressers, since he was a patron
and lover of agriculture.
125. From two fragmentary inscriptions of Tiglath-
Pileser III., we learn that the influence of this strong
Judean king was felt throughout the Palestinian world.
Jeroboam II. died about 740 b. c, and Israel quickly
fell into disorder (sect. 96). This perhaps explains
why in 739 or 738 B. c, Azariah (Uzziah) was recog-
nized as the leader of the coalition of Syrian states
which attempted to check the advance of Assyria in
the north. The effort, however, was in vain. The
cities of Hamath were subjugated by Tiglath-Pileser.
Judah escaped immediate invasion simply because its
territory was far removed from the scene of its defeat.
The reference to Azariah (Uzziah) in the Assyrian
inscriptions also indicates that he survived nearly as
long as his son Jotham, whose independent reign
could not have extended beyond two or three years
at the longest (compare sect. 113). He continued the
policy of his father, and distinguished his rule by
building the upper gate of the Temple. His last
year was darkened by the threatened invasion of the
allied kings of Israel and Damascus, and he died,
leaving this danger as an unpleasant heritage to his
son Ahaz.
Ill
THE CRISIS OF 734 B. C.
126. The occasion of the invasion of Judah by its
two northern neighbors was, as has been indicated
(sect. 99), their determination to force the southern
kingdom to unite with them in a revolt against
Assyria. The kings of Judah had measured their
strength with this world-power only a few years be-
fore, and were loath to venture another experiment.
The northern allies, however, were insistent. The
armies of Damascus captured the port of Elath, ex-
pelling the Judeans, and thus cut off the source of
the nation's wealth. When Ahaz still refused to join
the coalition, Pekah of Israel and Rezon of Damascus
made preparations to march upon Jerusalem, depose
its unpatriotic king, and install a certain son of
Tabeel in his place. Undoubtedly within the city
itself there was a strong party favorable to the coali-
tion (Isa. viii. 6). The energetic foe might appear
without the walls at any time. According to the
chronicler (II. Chron. xxviii. 5-18), the armies of
Judah had already suffered an overwhelming defeat at
the hands of the confederates. Edomites and Philis-
tines had also taken advantage of the weakness of
their old enemy and master, to devastate and overrun
127
128 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
its southern towns. Well may Isaiah's words, pre-
served in chapter i. 7, 8, have been uttered at this time
" Your countiy is desolate ; your cities are burned
with fh'e ; your land, strangers are devouring it in
your presence, and it is desolate, as the overthrow of
strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a booth
in ci vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as
a besieged city." Hearts of king and people were
moved *' as the trees of the forest are moved with the
wind " (Isa. vii. 2). The future of Judah depended
upon the policy which should then be adopted.
127. The crisis brought into prominence two men
of widely different character. Ahaz, the king, pos-
sessed all of the faults with few of the virtues of the
descendants of David. He was superficial, cowardly,
superstitious, and selfishly indifferent to the welfare
of his nation. In him we recognize a characteristic
product of the luxurious reign of Azariah (Uzziah).
He was more at home in the harem than on the tln^one.
His youth and inexperience alone palliate his faults.
128. Isaiah, the prophet, was at this time also a
young m.an. His ability and the influence which he
exerted in the state strengthen the testimony of tra-
dition, which maintains that he was closely connected
with the royal family. He had grown up at Jeru-
salem, familiar with the life of the court, and also
with that broader field of Semitic politics into which
Judah was then entering. About the time of his
birth the remarkable mission of the Judean Amos
to Israel occurred. The ministry of Hosea had just
been completed. The grave social and religious prob-
lems with which they had grappled were already
present in Judah. Related as intimately as was the
ISAIAH'S CALL TO BE A PROPHET 129
smaller Hebrew kingdom to the greater, the revolu-
tionizing messages of these prophets were undoubtedly
familiar to the more enlightened men in the south.
Isaiah's prophecies indicate that as a young man he
was acquainted with these great teachers of the north,
if not personally, at least through their written or
popularly reported sermons.
129. As his eyes were divinely opened to a broader
and deeper conception of Jehovah and a truer appre-
ciation of conditions within and without Judah, the
conviction deepened that some one must undertake the
task, unpleasant as it would necessarily be, of pro-
claiming the new truth to the nation. Four or five
years before the crisis of 734 B. c, this conviction
culminated in a definite and personal call for him to be
a prophet. The day and hour were indelibly fixed in
his memory (vi. 1). As his spiritual vision was clari-
fied under the influence of the Spirit of the Highest,
he was enabled to see the real instead of the symbol.
In place of the Temple, the Ark and the cherubim,
he beheld the God of perfect holiness, seated upon his
tln-one. In the presence of the Holy One he realized
his own sinfulness and that of his nation with a vivid-
ness unequalled before, perhaps, in the history of man.
The realization of the awful contrast presented the
need which was the occasion of his call. His own
symbolic cleansing was an earnest of the free forgive-
ness which would always follow the cry of penitence.
The voice of duty was plainly recognized as the voice
of God calling for a messenger to send to his people.
Unhesitatingly Isaiah offered himself and was accepted.
Henceforth his life-work was to preach truth to a
nation which turned toward it only a deaf ear ; and,
130 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
like Hosea, he was destined to see the cities of his
beloved land laid waste and devastated simply because
of this stubborn refusal to listen.
130. At first Isaiah confined himself to denunciation
of the social and religious evils which had crept into
the life of Judah (sect. 110) ; but the needs of the
situation in 731 B. c. called him to political activity.
Accompanied by his little son, Shear-Jashub, whose
name ("A remnant shall return") was in itself a
prophecy of hope, lie niet Ahaz one day near the con-
duit, which probably led from the pool within the city,
where was stored the water which issued from the
present Virgin's Fount, to a point without the Avails.
The presence of the king at this place suggests that he
was making preparations for the impending siege.
Isaiah's words, addressed directly to him, were cal-
culated to inspire confidence, and may be briefly para-
phrased : " Be watchful, O king, and commit yourself
to no rash policy ; be not terrified by the threatening
foes, for their show of power is like the last fierce
flame which blazes up before a firebrand burns out
completely. Surely you are not afraid of that con-
spirator, Pekah, who has incited Israel to make this
attack, nor of his ally, Rezon. It is Jehovah's will
that their plans shall be overturned. Israel itself,
before many years, shall go down to its ruin; there-
fore you have no cause for fear; but if you do not
believe, surely you shall not be established."
131. Knowing, perhaps, that Ahaz was already plan-
ning ignominiously to purchase present deliverance by
selling his freedom to Assyiia, the common foe, the
prophet waited to see whether or not he would heed
his words. Perceiving that they had made no impres-
ISAIAH'S MYSTERIOUS SIGN 131
sion, he demanded, " Ask thee a sign of the Lord, thy
God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height
above ; " but he was speaking to deaf ears. Unwilling
to be convinced, Ahaz replied, " I will not ask, neither
will I tempt the Lord." Indignantly Isaiah turned
upon the hypocritical king and his faithless princes,
who were " a weariness to man and God " alike, and,
after rebuking them, announced unasked his myste-
rious sign : " A young woman shall bear a son ; amidst
destitution shall he grow up, but before he shall attain
to the years of discretion the territory of these foes
whom you now fear shall be desolate." The name of
the child, Immanu-El (God-with-us), contained a prom-
ise of that perfect era toward which the prophet,
surrounded as he was by so much that was imperfect,
confidently looked ; but whether the child was the
ideal king of liis later prophecies, his own offspring, a
son of Hezekiah, or any child that might be born at
that time, it is clear, in the light of the context, that
the allusion to his birth was intended primarily as a
sign that Israel and Damascus, and Judah also, would
soon be devastated by the foreign conqueror. Casting
aside symbolism, in the following verses Isaiah plainly
declares to Ahaz that the nation whose favor he is
courting will prove the instrument whereby Jehovah
will bring a desolating judgment upon Judah, and that
his land is about to become the scene of the great con-
test between the world powers, Egypt and Assyria.
132. Isaiah's utterances at this time reveal the
clearness and depth of his political insight. He
not only correctly estimated the relative strength of
the nations with which Judah must deal, but antici-
pated their future movements. His policy of holding
132 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
aloof from all foreign entanglements was dictated by
reason as well as by faith in Jehovah ; for union with
Pekah and Rezon would be suicide ; and alliance with
Assyria only hastened the time when the yoke of the
rapacious conqueror should rest upon the neck of little
Judah. Ahaz, however, rejected the advice of his
wisest counsellor, and hastened to become the vassal of
his deadliest foe. "I am thy servant and thy son,"
was the fawning message which he sent to Tiglath-
Pileser. Temple and palace v/ere desj)oiled of their
treasures to swell the present wherewith Judah's sub-
jection was purchased.
133. Treated with scorn by king and princes, Isaiah
turned to the people. No means were left untried to
impress his message upon his countrymen. On a great
tablet he inscribed the significant motto, " Swift spoil,
speedy prey," and placed it in a conspicuous place
Avhere all could read it. Imitating the example of
Hosea (Hosea i. 4-9), he gave as a name to a child
who was born to him at that time the same alarming
words which proclaimed the speedy devastation of
Samaria and Damascus by the hands of the Assyrians
(viii. 3, 4). Thus he endeavored to allay the terror
inspired by the cry of *' conspiracy " which had rung
tliroughout the city when the news had come of the
advance of the northern confederates, and to arouse
instead a genuine trust in Jehovah (Isa. viii. 12). The
faith of the masses, however, j^roved no stronger than
that of their king and princes. In their fright they
forgot Jehovah, and resorted unto those who had
" familiar spirits and unto the wizards that chirp and
that mutter " (viii. 19). Only his few faithful disciples,
*'the cliildren whom the Lord had given him," were
JUDAH'S SUBJECTION TO ASSYRIA 13B
ready to wait for Jehovah, who had for the time bemg
" hidden his face from the house of Jacob " (viii. 17,
18). In them he recognized the true hope of Judah;
they were " for signs and wonders in Israeh" Hence-
forth he devoted himself to instructing them (viii. 16).
134. Tiglath-Pileser III. advanced with such rapid-
ity that the states of Palestine, which had been
wasting their energies in civil war, were unable to
make a united defence (compare sect. 99). As Isaiah
had predicted, nation after nation was broken m
pieces. Torrents of blood flowed from one end of
Syria to the other, Pekah of Israel was among the
first to fall. Judah alone enjoyed the immunity from
attack which it had purchased at so great a cost.
Among the vassal princes who assembled at Damascus
to do homage to the conqueror was Ahaz of Judah.
Deterred by no strong religious principles, he caused
the old brazen altar which stood before the Temple at
Jerusalem to be moved to the north, and on its site
he reared a new altar after the style of one which he
had seen in Damascus. To gratify his Assyrian mas-
ter still further, he commanded that all the regular
offerings should be burnt upon this foreign altar.
Other innovations were introduced into the Temple,
presumably with the same object. Even within their
most sacred sanctuary, the Judeans were not allowed
to forget that their honor and independence had been
forfeited by their cowardly king.
IV
SOCIETY AND EELIGION IN JTJDAH
135. For the first century and a half after the divi-
sion of the Hebrew empire, society in Judah reverted
to the simplicity of the earlier days. Jerusalem,
perched on a barren plateau, surrounded by dry
ravines and limestone hills, was the insignificant capi-
tal of a little nation of herdsmen and vinedressers.
Their poverty and natural seclusion rendered impor-
tant social transformations impossible. During the
reign of Azariah (Uzziah), however, the smaller Hebrew
kingdom was exposed to the same temptations to
which the larger and richer northern state had long
been subjected. The prolonged and prosperous reign
of this able king not only extended Judah's boundaries
and influence, but also brought wealth and peace un-
known since the days of Solomon. The capture of
the Edomite towns of Sela and Elath opened the way
for commerce with Arabia and India. The approach
of Assp'ia introduced the states of Palestine to the
greater world without, and inspired in them the mate-
rial ambitions by which this great people were at this
time dominated.
136. The same forces, therefore, which revolution-
ized society in Israel, were actively at work in Judah.
134
ISAIAH'S SOCIAL SERMONS 135
They began to be felt most strongly during the reigns
of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. We might suspect
that Amos magnified the social evils of Israel, did not
the royal prophet Isaiah and his contemporary, Micah,
picture those of Judah in still darker colors. Danger
from without always led the prophets to study condi-
tions within the state more closely, just as to-day extra
sanitary precautions are taken when a dread pestilence
threatens. Consequently the social sermons of the
prophets were delivered in connection with the crises
of their nation.
137. The earliest public addresses of Isaiah with
which we are familiar were upon social themes, and
belong to the troublesome days preceding the invasion
of 734 B. c. The one preserved in chapter v. may be
regarded as typical. Like Amos, with consummate
skill he gains the hearing of his audience before pro-
nouncing their condemnation. Accordingly he asks
permission to sing to them a song. His words are cast
in the light, tripping metre of the vineyard ditty, so
agreeable to the ears of a people whose chief occupa-
tion was the culture of the vine ; the theme also was a
vineyard established by a dear friend. Briefly he
recounts how a fair site was selected, the ground pre-
pared and no pains spared to make it perfect in every
detail ; but, alas, its fruit ! It has only wild grapes.
" Is it not just, O Judeans, to destroy utterly this vine-
yard? " While their heads are still nodding in ready
assent, like a flash comes the application : " Israel is
the vineyard, carefully planted by Jehovah. Judah is
his favorite vine. Are the fruits justice and righteous-
ness? No; only oppression and the cry of the
wronged." Not content with general denunciations,
136 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
the prophet proceeds to point out the most heinous
crimes : " Woe unto them that join house to house,
that lay field to field, till there be no room, and ye be
made to dwell alone in the midst of the land." So
vivid is the picture that one can see the rich nobles
gradually driving out their poorer neighbors from their
little ancestral possessions, that they may add acre
after acre to their huge estates. Micah a few years
later echoed the same protest: "Woe to them that
devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds!
When the morning is light they practise it, because
it is in the power of their hand; and they covet
fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them
away; and they oppress a man and his house, even
a man and his heritage " (ii. 1, 2). Both prophets
recognized that this process was rapidly reducing
the independent freedmen to servitude and thereby
destroying the middle class in Judah.
138. Again Isaiah pronounced a woe upon those
who make di'inking and feasting the chief end of
their existence. He realized that the whole com-
munity suffered from this wanton waste : " There-
fore my people are gone into captivity, for lack of
knowledge ; and their honorable men are famished,
and their multitude are parched with thirst." So
great was his abhorrence of the intemperance in Judah
that the prophet utters in the same sermon (verses 22,
23) another contemptuous woe against those " mighty
to drink wine and men of strength to mingle strong
diink."
139. The prophets of Judah, like those of Israel,
recognized that the rulers were chiefly to blame for the
awful social corruption. Micah, who regarded them,
CORRUPTION OF THE RULERS 137
as did Amos, from the point of view of the masses,
declared that they were cannibals " who tear the flesh
of the people from their bones and eat it " (iii, 2, 3).
Their greed and rapacity knew no limit. Like high-
way robbers they pounced upon the passer-by and
stripped off his robe (ii. 8). Helpless women and chil-
di-en were their especial prey (ii. 9). Under the name
of justice, decisions were given to the one who offered
the highest bribe (iii. 11). Isaiah, the royal prophet,
repeatedly denounced them in language equally strong :
"They that lead Judah cause it to err. They spoil
the poor in their houses and crush my people" (iii. 14,
15). " The princes are companions of thieves ; every-
one loveth gifts and hath no regard for the cause of
the widow and fatherless" (i. 23). The women of
Judah also were ruled by a passion, not for gratifying
their appetites, as were those of Israel, but for show
and adornment, which was leading them on to commit
the most cruel excesses (Isa. iii. 16, 17). None of
the social evils to which an Oriental state is peculiarly
subject were lacking in Judah. The little kingdom
was poorly prepared to weather the terrific storms
which were about to sweep over it ; for, according to
the testimony of its acutest statesman, "from the
sole of the foot even unto the head, there was no
soundness in it " (Isa. i. 6).
140. Since it bore such evil fruits, it may be inferred
that the religion of Judah was little better than that
of Israel. The few historical references confirm the
truth of this inference. Until the political revolution
instigated by Jehoiada (sect. 118) overthi-ew the tem-
ple and worship of the Tpian Baal, they appear to
have been tolerated without open opposition. The
138 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
revolution itself represented not so much an advance
as a return to ideas and forms already generally ac-
cepted. The religiouis history of Judah, therefore,
during the first century of the Assyrian period is
marked by little appreciable progress. The popular
conceptions of Jehovah and the forms with which he
was worshipped were the same as in the earlier days.
The compiler of Kings, viewing the history from a later
period, considered it a sin that " the high places were
not taken away ; the people still sacrificed and burnt
incense in the high places." But the age saw in it
nothing wrong; for the sanctuary at Jerusalem had
not yet attained its commanding prestige.
141. Under the influence of the Canaanitish cult,
the people still worshipped trees as symbols of life, and
indulged in the debasing practices associated therewith
(Isa. i. 29) ; but Baalism never proved as seductive
to the Judeans as to the Israelites, whose territory was
largely agricultural. Instead, they appear to have re-
tained many of the primitive superstitions, inherited
from their nomadic past, and conserved by their con-
stant contact with the tribes of the desert. Into the
reign of Hezekiah the masses continued to worsliip a
brazen serpent which was associated with the name of
Moses (II. Kings xviii. 4). Isaiah complained that
" Their land also is full of idols ; they worship the
work of their own hands, that which their own fingers
have made " (ii. 8). Idols of silver and of gold, prob-
ably corresponding to the teraphim, or family idols,
frequently referred to in the earlier times (1. sects. 69,
167), seem to have been commonly found in the pos-
session of private individuals as well as in the public
sanctuaries (Isa. ii. 20).
FALSE PRIESTS AND PROPHETS 139
142. Their unjustifiable appropriation of the funds
intended for the repair of the Temple indicates that
the priests of the royal sanctuary during the days
of Joash, when the greatest purity might have been
expected, were little better than those who ministered
at the northern shrines. Micah, with his usual blunt-
ness, declared that the priests of his day taught for
hire (iii. 11). The official prophets he condemns still
more severely ; not only do they " divine for money "
(iii. 11), but " they even prepare war against the one
who putteth not into their mouths " (iii. 5). Deuter-
onomy xviii. 9-22 declares that one of the missions
of the true prophet is to take the place of the diviners,
augurs, enchanters, sorcerers, charmers, consulters with
familiar spirits, wizards, and necromancers to whom
the people were Avont to resort. Isaiah refers to these
false religious guides as being very common in his day,
and speaks sorrowfully of those who go to consult them
(viii. 19; xxix. 4; iii. 3). Both Isaiah (ii. 3) and
Micah (iii. 7) associate them with the regular prophets
of Jehovah. Their references imply that the people
considered them to be as reputable and important
members of the community as the judge, the priest,
the military captain, and the counsellor.
143. The same fundamental errors characterized
the popular religion of both Judah and Israel. A
formal, ceremonial service was regarded as sufficient,
and morality as almost non-essential (Isa. i. 10-17 ;
Micah vi. 6-8). Jehovah ever remained the tribal
god of Judah; but this did not deter the ordinary
citizen, nor such a king as Ahaz, from " making his
son to pass through the fire according to the abomina-
tions of the heathen" (II. Kings xvi. 3), and from
140 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
freely adopting foreign customs (Isa. ii. 6), and even
from paying homage to the deities of the surrounding
nations (Micah i. 13). Reformations more fundamen-
tal than that v/hich is attributed to Hezekiah by the
author of Kings (II. Kings xviii. 4), and which would
transform the formal ceremonial into an ethical and
spiritual religion, were required, before the faith of j
Judah would be prepared to meet the supreme test
which awaited it. An understanding of the prevailing
religious conditions and ideas alone furnishes the basis
for an adequate appreciation of the marvellous degree
of spiritual enlightenment which was vouchsafed to
the prophets who proclaimed the true God to their
nation. The striking contrast between popular and
prophetic fa,ith is exjolained only as we recognize the
patent fact that "Jehovah had spoken to his servants."
THE GREAT INVASION OF SENNACHERIB
144. The fall of Samaria in 722 b. c. made an im-
pression upon Judah which was not soon forgotten.
This was deepened, when two years later Sargon met
and signally defeated an Egyptian army under Sha-
baka, near Raphia, on the borders of the land of the
Nile. The Judeans were thus enabled to learn by
observation, instead of by bitter experience, that
Assyria was practically invincible. For three decades
they profited by this knowledge, paid tribute to Sargon,
and as a result enjoyed peace and prosperity. The
public treasury, depleted by Ahaz, was again filled
(II. Kings XX. 13), and the Philistine territory, as far
as Gaza, was conquered (II. Kings xviii. 8). To this
period must also be assigned the construction by
Hezekiah of the pool and conduit whereby water was
brought within the city to insure a supply in time
of siege (II. Kings xx. 20). This work may be iden-
tified with the rock-cut tunnel, discovered in 1880,
which conducts the water which flows from the
present Virgin's Fount, south of the Temple hill, to
the pool of Siloam, wliich was within the ancient city
walls, and within which was found the ancient Hebrew
inscription describing the process of construction.
141
142 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
Hezekiali also figures as a patron of literature. The
collection of proverbs preserved in chapters xxv.-xxix.
of the Book of Proverbs, according to the superscrip-
tion (xxv. 1), " were copied out " by his scribes.
145. The petty states of Palestine bore with impa-
tience the galling yoke of Assyria. The masses in
time forgot the lessons which they had learned and
listened only too readily to Egypt, which, consistently
with its usual policy, was endeavoring to stir up
rebellion among the vassals of its powerful rival.
Consequently in most of the cities of Syria there arose
a party who, relying upon the aid of Eg}^3t, were
eager to try their chances in a revolt. In 711 b. c.
this element gained the ascendency in the Philistine
town of Ashdod, and induced it to refuse the usual
tribute. Gath was drawn into the rebellion, and a
strong part}^ in Judali favored union with the rebels.
To avert the danger, Isaiah employed extreme meas-
ures to bring his countrymen to their senses and keep
them true to their pledges to Assyria. Taking off his
outer garment, with bare feet, in the significant garb
of a captive, he went about Jerusalem for three years
" as a sign and a wonder upon Egypt and Ethiopia"
(Isa. XX. 3) . His words and action dissipated the popu-
lar illusion respecting Egypt's strength sufficiently to
save Judah from becoming fatally involved. Sargon,
recognizing the danger of a general uprising, advanced
with lightning rapidity (as he assures us in his inscrip-
tions), not even waiting to collect his entire army.
Ashdod found itself deserted by its allies ; the rebel
king fled to Egypt, and the rigors of conquest were
visited upon the inhabitants. The tribute and presents
of Judah, Edom, and Moab, " who were plotting revolt
MOVEMENTS TOWARD REBELLION 143
and treason " (Sargon Cyl. Inscp. 29) were accepted,
and peace was established in Palestine.
146. While Sargon lived, the subject peoples re-
mained quiet ; but his assassination in 705 B. c. was
a cause of wild rejoicing (Isa. xiv. 29), and became
the occasion of a widespread uprising. Merodach-
Baladan, the king of Babylon who had been over-
thrown and driven from his capital in 709 b. c,
returned to head the revolt in the east. Outside of
Babylonia, he induced the Elamites, certain Arameans
of Mesopotamia, and Arabian tribes to unite with him.
It was probably at this time that his ambassadors
appeared in Jerusalem and were so cordially received
by Hezekiah (II. Kings xx. 12-21 ; Isa. xxxix.).
The readiness of the Judean king to show them all
the treasures and equipment of his capital, and the
indignant protest of Isaiah are explained when it
becomes clear that their mission, although ostensibly
to congratulate Hezekiah on his recovery from a
severe illness, was in reality to induce him to join the
grand coalition.
147. Isaiah, who in 734 b. c. had so strenuously
opposed alliance with Assyria, now exerted all his
influence to deter the leaders of his nation from taking
the fatal steps. " In quietness and in confidence
shall be your strength" (xxx. 15) was the keynote
of all his teaching. The statesmen of Judah, how-
ever, were intoxicated with the spirit of revolt (Isa.
xxviii. 7 ; xxx. 9). Prophets, seers, and wise men.
with their siren songs, encouraged them in their wild
course (xxix. 9-14). A mad recklessness took posses-
sion of all, and the baser elements, " the scornful men,"
ruled public opinion (xxviii. 14, 15). Isaiah's " precept
144 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
upon precept and line upon line," which had held
Judah to a true course for thirty years, were rejected
(xxviii. 9-13). In vain he declared that "out of
the serpent's root shall come forth an adder," and with
prophetic vision pointed out the " smoke that cometh
out of the north " (xiv. 29, 31). The nations, however,
could not believe that another conqueror like Sargon
would rise in his stead. At first the anti- Assyrian
party carried on their counsels in secret, fearing,
doubtless, the opposition of Isaiah (xxix. 15) ; but at
length Judah openly arrayed itself under the standard
of revolt. Already this had been raised in the towns
of Phoenicia and Philistia. Sidon in the north, and
Ekron in the south v/ere the leaders. Padi, the
vassal king of Ekron, wdio remained faithful to his
Assyrian master, was sent in chains to Jerusalem.
Ambassadors were despatched to secure the aid of
Tirhakah, the Ethiopian prince who had recently
usurped the throne of Egypt. Isaiah pointed with
scorn to ^^ Egypt that helpeth in vain, and to no
purpose; therefore, have I called her Kaliab, that
sitteth still " (xxx. 7). His charge against the leaders
of Jerusalem, however, was not merely one of folly
and shortsightedness. Their supreme mistake was
that " they looked not imto the Holy One of Israel,
neither sought the Lord ; " instead, they placed their
whole trust in their military equipment and " in the
shadow of Egypt'' (xxxi. 1; xxx. 1-4), forgetting
that "the Egj-ptians were men and not God; and
their horses flesh and not spirit" (xxxi. 3). From the
first Isaiah took his stand upon the principle that Zion
was inviolable, and declared that although the rulers
of Judah should learn to their shame the folly of their
SENNACHEKIB'S CONQUEST OF PALESTINE 145
plans, yet at the last Jehovah would deliver his holy-
city (xxix. 5-8 ; xxxi. 4-9).
148. Events soon demonstrated the truth of the
prophet's position. Sennacherib, who succeeded Sar-
gon, proved as great a general as his father. Until
702 B. c. he was occupied in suppressing the rebellion
in the east. Merodach-Baladan was at last completely
vanquished. Master of the east, Sennacherib turned
his large army, noAV flushed with victory, toward Pales-
tine. He found the rebels poorly organized. Without
aiding one another, they each fell in turn an easy prey.
His march lay along the coast of the Mediterranean.
Sidon fell first, with its dependent towns. " Ethobal
upon the royal throne, I placed over them, and the
payment of the tribute of my lordship, every year
without change, I laid upon him. Menahem of Sam-
simuruna [Samaria], Ethobal of Sidon, Mitinti of
Ashdod, Buduilu of Ammon, Chemoshnadab of Moab,
Malik-rammu of Edom (all the kings of the west-land)
brought rich presents, heavy gifts together with mer-
chandise before me, and kissed my feet," is the testi-
mony of the conqueror (Taylor Prism, ii. 44-57). At
the first blow, therefore, half the princes of Palestine
hastened to submit. From Phoenicia, Sennacherib
marched at once against the Philistine town of Aske-
lon, capturing it, and thereby preventing a union be-
tween the rebels and their Egyptian allies. Thence
he turned back against Ekron, which had led the up-
rising. While besieging this city he met, at the neigh-
boring town of Eltekeh, an army sent by Tirhakah to
the relief of Ekron. According to the Assyrian annals,
the Egyptian troops experienced a signal defeat. They
were certainly forced to retire, leaving Ekron and
10
146 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
Judali to their fate. Longer resistance was hopeless.
The bodies of the rebellious princes of the Philistine
city were impaled on stakes without its walls, and
their supporters carried away into captivity, and the
deposed king, Pach, restored to his tln^one.
149. The evils which were about to overtake his
countrymen were due to the mistakes against wdiich
Isaiah had repeatedly v/arned them, yet he did not re-
main silent. As the gloom deepened, his prophecies
of ultimate deliverance became more definite and cer-
tain. Even while the Assyrians were in the north he
uttered the sublime address contained in x. 5-xi. 9 :
" Assyria is advancing," is the underlying thought,
"crushing nations, and will yet bring woe to rebel-
lious Judah ; but it is only the rod wherewith Jehovah
executes judgment. The proud king of Assyria, how-
ever, does not recognize this fact. In his arrogance
he boasts that by the strength of his own hand he has
conquered the world. Shall the ax boast itself against
him that heweth therewith ? The Assyrians shall be
allowed to advance unopposed to the very walls of
Jerusalem, and then Jehovah will suddenly arise and
cast them down in utter ruin. As the danger increased,
the prophet repeatedly proclaimed these stupendous
truths (xiv. 24-27 ; xvii. 12-14). The basis of his pre-
dictions was the realization that the God of Judah was
the Lord of hosts whose " hand is stretched out upon
all the nations, and whose purpose none can disannul "
(xiv. 27). That he would allow this arrogant monster
of greed and cruelty to crush completely his chosen
people was incredible.
150. While Isaiah was predicting his downfall, Sen-
nacherib was completing the conquest of the Philistine
DEVASTATION OF JUDAH 147
towns, and sending detachments of his army up the
valleys of Judah (Isa. xxii. 7). Forty-six of its cities
were captured. According to the conqueror, over two
hundred thousand Jewish captives were dragged away,
together with huge spoil, consisting of horses, mules,
asses, camels, oxen, and innumerable sheep. The terri-
tory thus ravaged was divided between their old ene-
mies, the kings of Ashdod, Ekron, and Gaza, to make
the humiliation greater; and a grinding tribute was
imposed. Hezekiah was shut up "like a caged bird
within his city," and the walls encircled with siege
towers so that none could escape. For a time Heze-
kiah offered a resistance. Isaiah xxii. 1-14 reflects
some of the details of the siege : the armory was put
in readiness for attack, the waters collected in the
lower pool, and a reservoir made between the two
walls for the water of the old pool. The chronicler
adds (II. Chron. xxxii.) that all the fountains without
the city were closed, and the defences strengthened.
Isaiah xxii. 10 also states that certain houses within
the city were broken down to fortify the wall. The
main army of Sennacherib, however, did not advance
against Jerusalem, because it was still occupied in
Philistia, or possibly because the scant supply of water
furnished by the barren hills of Judah rendered it
impracticable.
151. The reason wliich led Hezekiah to submit, as
suggested both b}^ the inscription of Sennacherib and
Isaiah xxii. 8, was that the rulers and the allies who
had been introduced within the city for its defence
were completely terrified by the approach of the foe,
"fear overcame them" (Taylor Inscp. iii. 32), and "all
fled away together " (Isa. xxii. 3). The same cowardice
148 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
evidently characterized the attitude of the leaders at
this juncture, as a few days later, when faced by a
greater danger. Hezekiah, who was nearly as weak as
his craven princes, hastened to send word to Sen-
nacherib, who was then besieging the border town of
Lachish: "I have offended; return from nie; that
which thou puttest upon me will I bear " (II. Kings
xviii. 14). He paid for his pardon thirty talents of
gold, three hundred talents (eight hundred Assyrian
talents according to the inscriptions) of silver, and
spoil of every description. To pay this huge tribute,
even the gold on the doors of the Temple was stripped
off. The daughters of the king and the young men
and women of his palace were among the captives
who were sent back to Nineveh. Isaiah felt no sym-
pathy with the wild rejoicing Avhich followed this igno-
minious deliverance, purchased " by the spoiling of the
daughter of my people " (Isa. xxii. 1-5). " Let us eat
and drink, for to-morrow we shall die" (Isa. xxii. 13)
voiced the reckless mood of princes and peo^^le.
152. The unnatural mirth of the Jerusalemites was
quickly turned to mourning; for the greed of the
Assyrian monarch, or else the realization that it would
be dangerous to leave such a strong fortress in the
hands of those who might become foes as he advanced
to the conquest of Egypt, led him to send certain of
his officers with a small army to demand the uncondi-
tional surrender of the city. Their boasting words
struck terror to the hearts of all except one, for it
seemed the height of folly to suppose that Jerusalem,
weakened as she was, could successfully resist the
whole might of the Ass3^rian army should it be turned
against her. In their extremity they turned to Isaiah.
THE GREAT DELIVERANCE 149
His words of assurance nerved Hezekiali to send back
a refusal. The Assyrian messenger found his master
at Libnah, having completed the conquest of Lachish.
News soon came that the Egyptian king, Tirhakah, •
was advancing. With the exception of Jerusalem, all
Palestine had bowed before Sennacherib, and now he
made a last effort to intimidate it into surrender. Of
the many crises through which Judah passed, this was
the greatest. Surrender meant the destruction of the
city and the annihilation of the nation; a refusal to
accede to the demands of the conqueror would leave
no hope for clemency should the angry king turn his^
hosts upon them. Again Isaiah came forth to save"
the city by his inspired and inspiring message: "As-
syria's arrogancy and blasphemy shall soon be punished.
Jehovah is about to put his hook in its nose and
turn it back by the way which it came. The king of
Assyria shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an
arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield,
nor cast a mount against it" (II. Kings xix. 20-34).
153. Isaiah's greatness is attested, not only by the
sublimity of his message, but by the fact that it carried
persuasion with it. Sennacherib set out to meet Tir-
hakah without taking any measures to execute his
threats against Jerusalem. On the borders of Egypt
he suddenly turned back and never again dunng his
reign visited the west-land. His annals naturally
make no reference to this unexpected retreat. The
Babylonian chronicle refers to an uprising which may
account for his haste. The Egyptian as well as the
biblical allusions suggest that, amidst the swampy
marshes at the northeastern end of the Nile Delta, Ins
army was attacked by a severe pestilence, which the
150 A mSTOEY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
Hebrews ever regarded as the work of an angel of
Jehovah (compare II. Kings xix. 35 with II. Sam. xxiv.
15, 16), so that he did not dare advance with his
forces thus weakened. Whatever was the cause, the
fact is established that Isaiah's marvellous prediction
was most signally fulfilled, and Judah delivered solely
by his activity for another century of remarkable
religious development.
VI
THE WORK AND TEACHINGS OF ISAIAH
154. Isaiah is unquestionably the most perfect ex-
ample of a Hebrew prophet, for in him every side of
the prophetic activity was fully developed. While
Micah and Amos were concerned chiefly with social
questions, and Hosea with morals and religion, Isaiah
spoke with authority on all of these themes. Every-
thing that concerned his nation, and consequently
determined its attitude toward Jehovah, whose am-
bassador he was, commanded his attention. In the
politics of his age he was, as we have seen, the central
figure. At every turn in the varying fortunes of
Judah he proved himself a practical statesman, and a
loyal patriot as well. When conditions changed, he
urged allegiance to Assyria with as great earnestness
as he had formerly opposed the alliance. Unceasingly
he combated the social and moral evils of his day, and
endeavored to overthrow the popular fallacies by pre-
senting fuller truths. Isaiah's power as a prophet,
however, rested more upon the strength of his own per-
sonality and his marvellous skill in presenting his
teachings, than upon the originality of the truth which
he thus made living and vivid ; for most of the princi-
ples which he emphasized had already been enunciated
by Amos and Hosea.
151
152 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
155. Underlying all his teaching was the exalted
conception of the holiness of God. It found expres-
sion at the time of his call in the v/ords of the seraphim,
''Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the Avhole
earth is filled with his glory." It was repeated again
and again in his prophecies in the designation the
"Holy One of Israel," which is liis most common
title for Jehovah. Already Amos and Hosea had re-
ferred to this attribute of the Highest (Amos iv. 2 ;
Hosea xi. 9) ; and it was a quality commonly ascribed
by Semitic peoples to their deities ; but Isaiah gave to
it a depth of meaning which it had never possessed be- ,
fore. Its original significance appears to have been /
that of separation. Applied to the gods, it expressed
the idea that they v/ere separate from the material
world to which their v/orshippers were confined. \
Among the Hebrews the conception of physical in \
time grew into that of moral separation. Jehovah's
holiness was his moral perfection as contrasted with
man's imperfection. By Isaiah it was used as a com-
prehensive designation for all of the moral attributes
which belong to God. When he declared that Jehovah
was the " Holy One of Israel," he meant, on the one
hand, that Jehovah stood in an intimate personal rela-
tion to his nation. Upon this relationship he based
the teaching that God would not allow Jerusalem to
be destroyed, and that he would ever preserve at least
a remnant of his people. On the other hand, Israel,
being in a peculiar sense Jehovah's people, was his
representative and under solemn obligation to reflect
his character. The social and moral demands which
Isaiah constantly urged upon his nation rested upon this •
unique relationship. " Ye shall be holy, for I am holy "
ISAIAH'S MESSIANIC IDEALS 153
later expressed the fundamental teaching of priest as
well as prophet (Lev. xix. 2; xx. 7, 26).
156. The coming perfection, which he pictured so
vividly amidst the darkest scenes of Judah's degrada-
tion and disaster, was without doubt primarily intended
to serve as a basis of contrast wherev/ith to bring out
o
the blackness of existing conditions, and at the same
time to inspire his countrymen to strive for the speedy
realization of that perfection. Although in the high-
est and truest sense it was an ideal, it was also a pre-
diction and promise of the futui'e, since the inspired
j)rophet was enabled, as his soul's vision was clarified
by the Highest, to catch glimpses of the divine plan,
and the eternal principles according to which it was
gradually unfolding. He saw only the first dawning
rays, instead of the sun at its zenith ; and consequently
he expected in his own generation that which was not
realized until centuries later. The details also were
often indistinct and determined by the immediate point
of view of the prophet; but no one can study his
Messianic prophecies and fail to perceive a funda-
mental rather than a superficial connection between
them and the consummation Avhich was inaugurated by
Jesus.
157. As he turned from the cowardly Ahaz, whose
vacillating policy was plunging his nation into a sea of
trouble, his prophetic eyes beheld, instead of the
devastation wi'ought in the north by the armies of
Tiglath-Pileser, an era of freedom and peace, to be in-
stituted by a prince yet to be born (ix. 1-7). His
character was to be revealed by the names which he
would bear: Wonderful Counsellor, with marvellous
wisdom directing the policy of his nation; Mighty
154 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
God, gifted with divine might and power; Eternal
Father, unceasingly caring for his people with paternal
solicitude ; Prince of Peace, destined to introduce per-
fect harmony among mankind. Seated upon tlie throne
of David, he was to establish upon the principles of
perfect righteousness an eternal kingdom. " The zeal
of the Lord of hosts shall perform this." Again, when
the armies of Sennacherib had carried destruction to
the walls of Jerusalem, Isaiah called attention to this
central and personal figure in his picture of the future.
"When Jehovah has cut down the proud Assyrians,
like the cedars of Lebanon, there shall come forth a
shoot out of the stock of Jesse. The spirit of the
Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the
spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord."
Righteousness shall characterize his rule ; the op-
pressed shall he champion; perfect peace shall pre-
vail, extending even to the animal world, and all the
earth shall know the Lord (xi. 1-9).
158. In other prophecies Isaiah presents in varying
imagery still other characteristics of the Messianic era.
The social abuses, against which he had so often re-
monstrated, were to cease ; men shall be quick to per-
ceive the truth ; every act shall receive its just reward ;
rulers and people alike shall be governed by the laws
of justice and mercy (xxxii.). Jerusalem shall be
exalted above all the cities of the earth, and thither
shall the nations resort to learn the law of Jehovah,
the judge of the universe. Isaiah appears to have
anticipated that the Messianic kingdom would be an
earthly one with its centre at Jerusalem. With Micah
(v. 3-6), he seems to have expected that the Messianic
FULFILMENT OF ISAIAH'S PREDICTIONS 155
King would appear to inaugurate it during the Assyr-
ian period, and that his first act would be to overthrow
the hated conqueror.
159. Isaiah, however, emphasized the moral and
spiritual side of the kingdom far more than the tem-
poral. In the prophecy concerning Egypt (xix.), which
is generally attributed to him, he declared that in the
coming day Egypt and Assyria, which stood for hostile
heathendom, would be recognized, on an equality with
Israel, as the people of Jehovah. No better illustration
could be cited to show the breadth of his vision. To
him Jehovah was in a peculiar sense the Holy One of
Israel, but he was also the Holy One of the universe,
whose just and beneficent purposes were being realized
in the rise and fall of nations. Through his eyes one
is enabled to follow the unfolding of that divine plan
in the varying fortunes which had come and were
then coming to his chosen people ; and also to trace its
outlines, as they were projected on the canvas of the
future. Subsequent development was destined to
more than fulfil his sublimest predictions, and in a
manner far transcending his highest expectations ; but
posterity has rightly recognized, in the Messianic
prophecies of Isaiah and of the prophets who followed
him, links binding together the past, the present, and
the future, and demonstrating that God's dealings
with man are ever prompted by the same loving
purpose.
160. The Hebrew prophets recognized that the ful-
filment of their predictions rested upon certain condi-
tions, implied if not expressed (compare, for a detailed
statement of this important law, Jer. xviii. 3-12).
Hence their constant endeavor was to influence their
156 A HISTOEY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
nation to fulfil the conditions upon which the promises
of God were given. Hitherto citizenship in Judah
had been regarded as conclusive evidence that a man
was a follower of Jehovah, and, consequently, the
prophets had spoken to the nation as a whole; but a
truer conception of God's character and demands drew
sharp distinctions between classes in the Hebrev\^ state
itself. Those who accepted and applied the teachings
of the true prophets graduallj^ grew into a party hav-
ing little in common with the majority, who refused to
give heed to the new revelation. This little group of
disciples corresponded, in the ancient Hebrew common-
wealth, to the modern church. It was an inevitable
outgrowth of conditions then existing, but it neverthe-
less marked a new epoch in the liistory of religion.
There is no evidence that the true prophets of the
north gained an organized following, and if they did,
it was dissipated at the fall of Samaria. Isaiah, how-
ever, makes reference to his disciples early in his
ministry (viii. 16). To them he turned, when he be-
gan to despair of the regeneration of the entire nation.
In liim the prophetic party found an able leader, and
upon them he impressed his teachings. Micah of
Moresheth, a younger contemporary of Isaiah, did not
share the latter's belief in the inviolability of Zion
(Micah iii. 12), but otherwise he echoes in nearly every
verse of liis prophecy the principles proclaimed by his
distinguished teacher. The preservation of so many of
the sermons of Isaiah is also doubtless due to the
watchful care of his disciples.
161. In this band of faithful hearers and doers the
prophet recognized the permanent element in the state,
the true Israel, the good grain, which, according to
HEZEKIAH'S REFORMATION 157
Amos, was alone to survive the sifting among the na-
tions (ix. 9, 10). They also were the only ones
who fulfilled the conditions upon which Jehovah's
promises for the future rested ; hence Isaiah was led
first to give definite expression to the doctrine of the
'^faithful remnant," which became one of the most im-
portant teachings of later prophets.
162. Under Isaiah's leadership the prophetic party
was able to exercise a potent influence in Judah. The
religious reformation under Hezekiah was one of its
fruits. Jeremiah xxvi. 18, 19 associates it definitely
with the preaching of Isaiah's disciple, Micah. Un-
fortunately the references to it are exceedingly general.
II. Kings xviii. 4 states that " Hezekiah removed the
high places, and brake the pillars, and cut down the
Asherah; and he brake in pieces the brazen serpent
that Moses had made." Shortly before 701 b. c.
Isaiah spoke of the destruction of the idols as a hope of
the future (xxx. 22 ; xxxi. 7), so that the most prob-
able date for these acts is found in the years immedi-
ately following the great victory of the prophetic party,
in connection with the deliverance of Jerusalem ; but
it may be questioned whether such a thorough reform
as is suggested by the passage in Kings was instituted
before the time of Josiah, for in his day he found the
high places reared by Solomon near Jerusalem still
undisturbed (II. Kings xxiii. 13). The first step would
be to destroy the idols of silver and gold and the
Asherim, which were so common in the land, and
which had called forth the denunciations of Isaiah and
Micah. King and people could not be expected to ex-
cel in zeal those who instigated the reform, and there
is no evidence that these prophets had yet raised their
158 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
voices against the high places. Their desecration by
the armies of Sennacherib undoubtedly diminished
their prestige in contrast with the royal sMne at
Jerusalem, which had survived the crisis untouched,
and perhaps at this time gave the first impetus to that
movement which led later prophets to place them under
a ban (Deut. xii.), and ultimately culminated in their
abolition by Josiah.
163. The reformation of Hezekiah is not, however,
the most lasting fruit of Isaiah's labors. He himself
hoped for a national repentance so deep that the
people would of their own will cast aside their idols.
Not by royal decree, but by word and life, he sought to
reform his nation. In his own character he furnished
for all time an example of the highest type of patriot-
ism, which shrunk from no sacrifice, nor paled in the
face of the greatest danger, because it was inspired by an
intelligent and so an unfailing faith in a God of infinite
majesty and perfect holiness. Although liis field of
activity was little Judah, he stands among the greatest
statesmen and reformers of the world. He alone saved
his nation in the time of its greatest danger. Few, if
any, writers have surpassed him in grandeur, force, and
vividness of literary style. So forcibly did he impress
his teachings by word and by life upon the little group
of disciples who gathered about him, that they ulti-
mately transformed the religion of their nation ; and
since Judaism prepared the way for Christ, Christian-
ity will forever bear the stamp of Isaiah's mighty
personality.
VII
THE EEACTIONARY EEIGN OF MANASSEH
164. While Hezekiah lived, he succeeded in up-
holding the cause of the prophetical party, to whom
he owed the preservation of his kingdom ; but when
the reins of power were handed over to his youthful
son, Manasseh, a great religious reaction swept over
Judah. In their zeal, the reform party, instead of
patiently waiting until they could reach the heart of
the nation, had begun by destroying the popular objects
of worship, about which the traditions and veneration
of generations had centred. Among all peoples that
which is hallowed by sacred associations and endorsed
by the past enjoys a peculiar sanctity ; but to a remark-
able degree was this the case among the primitive
Semitic races. In the place of these accepted ideas
and sacred relics, the new prophetic school presented a
God whom the masses understood only imperfectly,
and whose demands were exceedingly difficult for
them to fulfil. Isaiah and the author of Micah v.
had both given them reason to believe that the Mes-
sianic era, which they had pictured in such glowing
colors, would be inaugurated immediately after the
deliverance of Jerusalem in 701 b. c. ; and that with
it would come the overthrow of the power of Assyria;
159
160 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
but the monuments show that Judah continued to pay
tribute to Assyria for the next half-century, at least,
and that, instead of declining, the mighty empire !
attained its greatest glory during this period. Egypt,
toward which it had long been looking with envious
eyes, was repeatedly invaded and finally made a sub-
ject province. Both the east and the west lay pros-
trate before the conqueror.
165. The peoiDle, who recognized no other index of
Jehovah's x:)leasure or displeasure than prosperity or
adversity, considered that they had not only been
deluded by the prophetic party, but also led on to
commit acts of impiety which were calling down the
wrath of their God. Innocent blood was shed in Jeru-
salem until it Avas filled from one end to the other (II.
Kings xxi. 16). The sword of the reactionists "de-
voured the prophets like a destroying lion " (Jer. ii.
30). To preach the God of Isaiah became a crime.
" Back to the old ! " was tlie popular cry to which
Manasseh and the princes who gathered about him
listened. The idols torn down by Hezekiah were care-
fully restored, and the Asherim again set up; the
augurs, the enchanters, those who had familiar spirits,
and the wizards exercised their old influence (II. Kings
xxi. 6). Sodomites were tolerated in connection with
the service of the Temple (II. Kings xxiii. 7). In the
valley of Hinnom, to the south of Jerusalem, the first
born were sacrificed to Moloch (II. Kings xxi. 6 ; xxiii.
10). Micah vi. 6, 7, reflects the intensity of feeling
which prompted such acts. Graphically he puts in the
mouth of the people the cry, " Wherewith shall I come
before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God ?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with
CAUSES OF THE RELIGIOUS REACTION 161
calves of a year old ? Will the Lord be pleased with
thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of
oil ? Shall I give my first born for my transgressions,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" As
Judah continued to be ground down under the yoke
of a foreign conqueror, faith in the old forms was
shaken ; the masses had not yet accepted the great
prophetic truth that Jehovah required liis follower
simply " to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with thy God" (Micah vi. 8); hence they
feverishly endeavored to secure the favor of the half-
heathenish deity which they worshipped, by the value
and multiplicity of their sacrifices.
166. So deep-seated was the popular distrust of
Jehovah that the worship of other gods was intro-
duced within his Temple. Naturally those of Assyria
received the first place. Abeady Ahaz had curried
favor with his master by imitating Assyrian fasliions
in the furnisliing of the Temple (sect. 134). To those
who refused to see with the prophets Jehovah's hand
in the conquests of Assyria, as well as in the deliver-
ance of Judah, the humiliation of his chosen people
before the world-conqueror was conclusive evidence
that his gods v/ere superior to Jehovah. Hence
Manasseh strengthened his position with the majority
of his subjects, as well as with his Assyrian masters,
when " he built altars for all the host of heaven in the
two courts of the house of the Lord," and placed
the chariots of the sun within the sacred precincts
(II. Kings xxi. 3, 4 ; xxiii. 11, 12). No stronger proof
could be adduced to show the inherent weakness of the
commonly prevailing conceptions of Jehovah than the
readiness with which foreign cults were not only
11
162 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
tolerated but even welcomed. The popular worship of
Judah at this time must have been a strange com-
bination of cults, native and foreign. The frantic
effort which it made to maintain itself against the
attacks of the true prophets and the influence of the
new ideas and conditions which confronted it, is only
paralleled by the bitter opposition offered by that re-
marlvctble mixture of customs and religions which were
found in Rome when the light of Christianity first
burst upon heathendom.
167. Until the power of Assyria began to wane, the
anti-prophetic party remained in control of Judah.
The history of this half-century is almost a blank,
because the voices of the prophets were silenced.
There is evidence, however, that they were not inac-
tive. The spirit and teachings of Isaiah still lived
among his disciples. The God who had led his people
thus far had not forsaken them. As is always the
case, persecution onty forced the true prophets to seek
other and better channels through which to impart the
truths committed to them. Silenced, they took up the
pen and endeavored to put their teachings in a form
which would be permanent, and at the same time
inteiligil)le to all. They recognized that not merely
abstract principles, but concrete forms were necessary
to reach the masses and take the place of the debasing
ceremonials which were valued so highly by the people.
Therefore, avoiding the mistakes of Hezekiah's refor-
mation, they adopted, as far as possible, pre-existent
usages and traditions, and, eliminating the heathen
elements, assigned to them a deeper and more spiritual
meaning. The step from the old to the new was thus
made easy instead of abrupt.
AIM AND CONTENT OF DEUTERONOMY 163
168. The body of the Book of Deuteronomy (v-
xxvi., xxviii.) is the most important fruit of this new
reform movement. Many older laws were incorpor-
ated in it, but a majority of the questions with which
it deals are those which first became insistent during
this period. The reaction under Manasseh had demon-
strated that the high places, the local sanctuaries
scattered tliroughout Judah, which up to the time of
Hezekiah had been accepted without protest from
priest or prophet, were conservers of the practices and
forms inherited from the darker past. Their ritual
was a snare rather than a help toward the purer wor-
ship of Jehovah. Consequently the most prominent
enactment of the new law book was to centralize all
the ceremonial worship of Jehovah in Jerusalem. The
other evils which characterized Manasseh's reign, such
as the worship of idols or foreign gods and the con-
sulting of diviners or necromancers, were expressly
forbidden. While it is primarily a law book, it is
permeated throughout with a broad prophetic spirit.
Service is ever placed above sacrifice ; to " love and
serve Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and all thy
soul" (x. 12) is its supreme demand. The love of
God toward his people and the love which he asks
from them toward liim and his creatures are its
exalted theme. The detailed laws are presented as a
means whereby this love is to find expression. The
writer of Deuteronomy was, therefore, like Moses, a
prophet, imbued with the great prophetic ideas which
were the priceless heritage of his race. Since many of
the laws and narratives which are the nucleus of his
work were originally Mosaic in spirit, if not in form,
their later editor was entirely justified in associating
164 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
them, as lie does (always in the third person), with the
name of Moses. He Avas only following the custom,
characteristic of the compilers of the historical books
(compare, for example, I. Sam. viii.) when he refor-
mulated the old laws, and put into the mouth of the
father of the Hebrew nation the words which he
would have uttered had he lived in the light of the
new conditions and fuller revelation.
169. The circumstances of the reign of Manasseh
and of his son Amon, who pursued the policy of his
father, w^ere unfavorable for the promulgation of this
new code ; and hence it was laid aside in the Temple
until it was discovered — actually or perhaps ostensibly
in accordance with a plan known to the few most inter-
ested in it — and made the programme of the great ref-
ormation of Josiah (II. Kings xxiii.). The Asspian
period of Judean history opened with a religious
reform and closed vv^ith a reaction which apparently
reinstated all the old heathenism ; it was filled with
grave political errors which brought disaster and
bloodshed upon the nation ; it was also characterized
by awful social and moral crimes ; but through all the
gloom, God's eternal truth was shining more and more
into the hearts of his faithful ones, and through them
was finding fuller and clearer expression. The pro-
phetic seed, sown amidst opposition and persecution,
was about to take root in the life of the nation.
PART IV
THE BABYLONIAN PERIOD OF JUDAH'S
HISTORY
THE HISTORICAL SOTJECES
170. Certain verses (xxiii. 29-xxiv. 1) in chap-
ters xxii.-xxv. of II. Kings, which treat of the period,
were probably based upon material gathered from the
state annals; but with the exception of a few later
additions, the section as a whole is from the Deutero-
nomic editor, whose personal knowledge of the events
furnished him the necessary data.
171. The Book of Deuteronomy, which, as we have
seen (sect. 168), comes from the latter part of the
preceding or from the beginning of the Babylonian
period, is also a most valuable historical source, since
it presents the laws and motives which became the
keynotes of the new reformation.
172. The stirring events of the age called forth an
unusually large and active body of prophets, many
of whose writings have been preserved. The first to
raise his voice in denunciation of the sins inherited
from Manasseh's reign was Zephaniah. The imme-
diate occasion of his prophecy was the advance of the
dreaded Scythians, who about 627 B. c. swept down
the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, spreading ter-
ror throughout Palestine. From the land of captivity
there also came about this time the brief prophecy of
167
168 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
Nalium. Primarily it was intended as a message of
encouragement to the Judeans ; but its theme is the
coming fall of the cruel, rapacious world-conqueror,
Assyria, whose yoke had rested upon the necks of the
Semitic peoples for more than two centuries. It Avas
probably evoked by the first attack upon Nineveh, in
625 B. c, by the Modes under King Pln^aotes. To the
same group belongs the powerful prophecy of Habak-
kuk. Josiah's brilliant reign has been succeeded by
the reactionary rule of Jehoiakim. The Assyrians
have completely disappeared, and in their place the
Chaldeans are advancing. The date of the prophecy,
therefore, must be sought shortly before the great
battle of Carchemish in 604 b. c.
173. The chief historical source for the entire period
is the combination of prophecy, history, and biography
found in the Book of Jeremiah. The first collection
of his discourses was made in the fourth year of
Jehoiakim (xxxvi.), but was soon destroyed. The
second edition, which was made in the following year
and included his earlier sermons, is probably the basis
of our present text. Jeremiah's ministry, however,
began twenty-tlu^ee years earlier, in 627 B. c, before
the reformation of Josiah had been instituted, and
lasted until after the final destruction of Jerusalem in
586 B. c. His sermons in their j^resent order are not
arranged chronologically. Fortunately the superscrip-
tions, as well as the contents, aid in determining the
dates at which they were delivered. His call, re-
corded in chapter i., belongs to the year 627 b. c. The
sermons in ii.-vi. refer frequently to "the foe from
the north," which was probably the Scythian hordes
alluded to by Zephaniah, although when he collected
DATE OF JEREMIAH'S PROPHECIES 169
his prophecies hiter he had the Chaldeans in mind.
They were, therefore, originally delivered soon after
the prophet's call in 627 B. c, and represent his noble
contributions to the reformation, which was carried
into effect in 621 B.C. Chapter xi. 1-8 suggests the
important part which he took in that movement. The
short section, xxii. 10-12, relates to the brief reign of
Jehoahaz.
174. Jeremiah's activity at the beginning of the
reign of Jehoiakim is represented by chapters xxvi.,
vii.-ix., X. 17-25, xi. 9-xii. 6. To the year 604
B. c. may be assigned the sermons and incidents re-
corded in chapters xxv., xxxvi. 1-8, xlv. 1-xlix.
33. Chapter xxxvi. 9-32 belongs to the follomng
year, and xiv.-xx. and xxxv. to the latter part of the
reign of Jehoiakim. About the death of that inefficient
ruler and the first siege of Jerusalem in 597 B. c. are
grouped xii. 7-xiii. 27 and xxii. 13-30. Chapters
xxiv., xxvii.-xxix., and xlix. 34-39 come from the
earlier days of Zedekiah's reign ; while 1. and li. con-
tain a prophecy which, according to li. 59, belongs
to the year 593 b. c, but its point of view, style, and
temper are so different from those which characterize
Jeremiah's ordinary utterances that it is usually as-
signed to one of his disciples who wrote not long be-
fore the end of the Babylonian exile. The siege of
Jerusalem by Nebuchadrezzar, which began in 587
B. c, called forth the series of sermons preserved in
xxi. 1-10, xxiii., and xxxiv. Chapters xxxvii. and
xxxviii. are historical, and describe the personal ex-
periences of the prophet during the siege. The glori-
ous prophecies contained in xxx -xxxiii. are from the
same dark period ; the last two are definitely assigned
170 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
to the clays of his confinement during the second stage
of the siege. Chapters xxxix.-xliv. and lii. record
the final capture of Jerusalem and the subsequent
fortunes of Jeremiah and the few who were allowed
by the conqueror to remain in Judah. Respecting
the second edition of Jeremiah's earlier sermons, it is
explicitly stated that " there were added besides unto
them many like words" (xxxvi. 32). The example
set by the prophet himself was followed by later edi-
tors of his writings, who recast certain sections and
inserted others. The historical chapters, also, are
either from Baruch, his faitliful scribe, or from some
one of his disciples.
175. Among the prominent Jewish exiles who were
transported in 597 b. c. to the banks of the river
Chebar in Babylonia, was a priest by the name of
Ezekiel. In July of 592 b. c, the fifth year of his
captivity, he was called by a vision to the prophetic
office. The chief end of his life-work was to conserve
within the little body of exiles that which was best in
the religious heritage from his nation's past; but while
Jerusalem still stood, conditions there frequently com-
manded his attention. Consequently the first twenty-
four chapters of his prophecy contain much valuable
historical data relating to Judah. With characteristic
exactness he has dated all of his prophecies. Chap-
ters i.-vii. come from the year 592, viii.-xix. from
591, xx.-xxiii. from 590, and xxiv. from 588 B.C.
The foreign prophecies (xxv.-xxxii.), like Obadiah's
brief oracle against Edom, suggest the attitude of the
surrounding nations at the time of Jerusalem's final
fall. While Ezekiel's writino-s lack the intimate famil-
iarity with the details of Judah's later history which
EXTRA-BIBLICAL SOURCES 171
characterizes those of Jeremiah, they contain the con-
clusions of a man gifted with clearest insiglit into
conditions and forces witliin and without the parent
state.
176. It is fortunate that the biblical records for the
period are so full and varied, for the outside sources
throw little light upon the history of Judah. The in-
scriptions of Nebuchadrezzar, thus far discovered, re-
late almost entirely to his building enterprises and
devotion to the gocls. Nothing respecting his inva-
sion and capture of Jerusalem has been found. With
the aid of Herodotus and Babylonian records it is pos-
sible, however, to trace the outlines of the history of
the great eastern nations which determined the fate of
the little Palestinian kingdom.
II
THE GREAT EEFOEMATION UNDER JOSIAH
177. Amon, the son of Manasseh, was slain by
his nobles after a reign of only two years. The
people thereupon arose and put the conspirators to
death. Unfortunately the author of Kings leaves us
to conjecture the motives which prompted these acts.
He only states that Amon " walked in all the way his
father walked in, and served the idols that his father
served " (II. Kings xxi. 21). His policy was calcu-
lated to win the favor of the masses, who clung tena-
ciously to their old idols ; hence their zeal in avenging
his death is explained. Whether or not the conspiracy
of the nobles represented a premature attempt to
institute a more progressive religious policy, must
remain an open question, although subsequent devel-
opments strengthen the inference that it was. If so,
it indicates that already, when Josiah, the little eight-
year-old son of Amon, came to the throne of Judah
in 639 B. c, the spirit of reform was in the air.
Conditions were also favorable. Already omens of
Assyria's coming downfall were beginning to appear.
The predictions of Isaiah were at last about to be ful-
filled. Assyrian armies no longer menaced the peace
of Palestine. The gods of the conqueror were seen,
172
FORERUNNERS OF THE REFORMATION 173
after all, to be not invincible. The work of the
reformers also began to be felt. The ardor with
which the descendant of such immediate ancestors as
Anion and Manasseh later championed the cause of
Jehovah is explained only on the supposition that
Josiah at an early age came under the instruction of
these earnest co-workers.
178. Of necessity, they developed their plans at
first in secret, awaiting a favorable occasion to raise
openly the standard of reform. This came about the
twelfth year of Josiah's reign, when the startling
news spread throughout Palestine that a detachment
of the Scythians was moving southward along the
coast of the Mediterranean. A more dreaded foe
could not be imagined. From their home north of
the Black Sea, they streamed through the passes of
the Caucasus in countless hordes, ruthlessly destroy-
ing cities, fields, men, women, and children. They
knew neither fear nor mercy. Already strong nations
had fallen before them, and even the Assyrian empire
was shaken to its foundations ; therefore the Judeans
had good reason to tremble at the approach of the
mysterious foe. From Herodotus we learn that they
advanced to the borders of Egypt, where they were
bribed by the reigning Pharaoh to turn back. The
coast towns of Palestine bore the brunt of their attack.
Although there is no evidence that they invaded
Judah, their presence shook its inhabitants from their
indifference.
179. Zephaniah seized the opportunity to attack the
sins of his nation. Religious conditions were prac-
tically the same as under IManasseh, except that the
bitterness which characterized the first stages of the
174 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
reaction had disappeared, and the prophets of Jehovah
could speak freely, without fear of persecution.
Within the capital the black-robed priests of Baal
were still supported by eager devotees. On the
house-tops many continued to worship the sun, moon,
and stars. Some dragged Jehovah down to a level
with the heathen deities by syncretizing him with
Malcam; wliile others had completely abandoned his
service (i. 4-6). Among the nominal worshippers of
Jehovah there were many who had arrived at the
sceptical conclusion that he lacked either the desire
or the power to direct the affairs of man (i. 12).
To all the prophet declared that the great oncoming
host was God's instrument of judgment. Forcibly he
portrayed the utter desolation which was about to
come upon proud Assyria, and upon the circle of
hostile nations which had taken base advantage of
Judah's weakness (ii.); ^^^ declared, as Amos had
on another occasion (sect. 81), that the destruction
would not stop there. "Against the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, Jehovah will stretch out his hand and cut
off the apostates (i. 4, 5), and the princes who are as
roaring lions, the judges who are as evening wolves,
the light and treacherous prophets and the priests who
profane the sanctuary and do violence to the law'*
(iii. 3, 4). The proclamation of judgment, however,
was always with the prophets only a means to an end.
With the same beauty and grandeur Zephaniah pro-
ceeds to describe the other side of the coming day of
Jehovah. When the nation has been purged of its
dross, then Jehovah will gather the "meek of the
earth, who have wrought judgment" (ii. 3), "the
remnant of Israel," and "they shall feed and lie
CALL AND CHARACTER OF JEREMIAH 176
down, and none shall make them afraid," and he
" will make them a name and a praise among all the
peoples of the earth " (iii. 13, 20). To his country-
men this little reform tract was a signal of warning
before the coming storm, and at the same time it
pointed the way to a haven of refuge for the faithful.
180. At this critical period (627 b. c.) the voice of the
Lord calling him to be a prophet was first recognized
by Jeremiah. His book of prophecies, which in many
parts is almost a personal memoir, tells of the conflicts
which then raged in the heart of the timid youth. He
appreciated in part the magnitude of the task to which
he was called (i. 11-19). Although he loved his
nation passionately, he was destined to witness the
hideous death-struggles which were induced by its
excesses. Rejected and persecuted by those whom he
sought to help, his life was to be one prolonged
martyrdom, doubly painful because he was so keenly
sensitive. In character and experience he had much
in common with Hosea. Among all the prophets,
none uttered sterner denunciations and none spoke
with greater tenderness. In the spirituality and the
depth of his religious emotions he had no equal. Jere-
miah's birthplace was the little town of Anathoth,
situated a short distance north of Jerusalem. Thither
Abiathar, the priestly representative of the house of
Eli, had been banished by Solomon (I. sect. 141) ; and
it is by no means impossible that the prophet was a
descendant of that renowned family. In his birth and
in the holy influences cast about him by his parents
during his childhood, he recognized an especial prep-
aration for the prophetic office (i. 5).
181. " Out of the north evil shall break forth upon
176 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
all the inhabitants of the land " (i. 14), was a thought
prominent at the time of his call and, as with Zepha-
niah, was the background of his reformation sermons.
He was not obliged to look far for the cause of this
evidence of Jehovah's displeasure. The hideous fruits
of Judah's apostasy w^ere apparent on every side ; it
was almost impossible to hnd a just and true man in
Jerusalem (v. 1). The prophet felt that aw^ful loneli-
ness wdiich oppressed him throughout most of his
ministry. " If thou vrilt put away thine abominations
out of my sight, then shalt thou not be removed "
(iv. 1), was the central idea of Ms preaching during
these years.
182. Zephaniah and Jeremiah did not stand alone
in their noble endeavor to reform the nation. Nahum's
brief prophecy came about this time, to assure the
Judeans that Jehovah was about to cast down the
haughty Asspians. Common adversity led the more
faithful priests and prophets to draw closely to-
gether. The high-priest Hilkiah, the friend of Jere-
miah, was prominent in the movement ; and certain of
Josiah's ministers, as well as the king himself, were
most favorably disposed toward it. The first open
steps toward reform seem to have been taken about
627 B. c, when Zephaniah and Jeremiah began to
preach. Already the Temple was being repaired, when,
in 621 B. c, the memorable discovery was made which
determined the character of the reformation. The
custom, initiated in the days of Joash (sect. 119), of
intrusting the funds for the repair of the Temple to
a committee, consisting of the royal scribe or secretary
and the cliief priest, was still in vogue. While they
were discharging tliis duty, Hilkiah, the priest, in-
REFORM MEASURES 177
formed Shaplian, the scribe, of the discovery of the
book of the lavv^ within the Temple. It was given to
Shaphan, vv^ho read it and then delivered it to the king.
When the king had heard its contents, he was deeply
affected. Forthwith he despatched a deputation, con-
sisting of Ililkiah, the priest, Achbor, Asaiah, Shaphan
and his son, Ahikam, to inquire of the Lord, in
behalf of himself and the people, respecting the
significance of the book. Strangely enough, they
turned, not to Zephaniah or Jeremiah, but to Huldah,
a prophetess, the wife of the keeper of the wardrobe.
When its contents were confii^med by the prophetess,
the king gathered together all the people of his realm
within the Temple precincts and read the book to
them. As a result, a solemn covenant was entered into
by king and people to observe its injunctions.
183. Rigorous measures were at once instituted by
the Idng to carry those injunctions into effect. The
first step was to cleanse the Temple. The vessels and
paraphernalia which were used in the service of Baal
and the host of heaven were brought forth and burned
in the Kidron valley ; the altars reared by IManasseh
were demolished ; the chariots of the sun were burned,
and their horses removed from the entrance of the
Temple ; the houses of those consecrated to the licen-
tious worship of Baal and Ashtarte were torn down ;
in the valley of Hinnom, Tophet, where the people had
been v/ont to sacrifice their children to Molech, was
defiled; the shrines erected by Solomon without the
city, for Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and other foreign divini-
ties, were broken in pieces. The king's zeal even led
him to destroy the old Israelitish sanctuary of Bethel.
Idols and teraphim were placed under a ban, and
12
178 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
wizards and diviners driven from the land. The most
revolutionary act, however, was the destruction of the
high places, which were found near every city. The
kings of Judah, in recognition of the importance of
those places, had heretofore appointed regular priests
to care for them. Deprived of their occupation, these
were invited by Josiah to connect themselves with
the Temple at Jerusalem, which was made by this
religious revolution the one legal sanctuary in the
kingdom. As might be expected, the majority of them
rejected the offer, and "did eat unleavened bread
among their brethren" (II. Kings xxiii. 9). In con-
clusion a memorable passover feast was celebrated at
Jerusalem in accordance with the directions laid down
in the newly found lav/ book.
184. Conclusive evidence might be adduced from
other sources to demonstrate that this book of the
covenant consisted of a portion, at least, of our present
Book of Deuteronomy ; but it is sufficient to note how
closely the reformation instituted by Josiah conforms
in every detail to the laws therein contained. Hereto-
fore we have found that custom and usage, frequently
radically different from those which are enjoined by
the first five books of the Old Testament, determined
the character of the ceremonial forms in force at any
given period ; but with the reformation of Josiah be-
gins the rule of the written law. At first this un-
doubtedly represented a great advance, for not only
were the requirements of Deuteronomy far superior to
the forms which they supplanted, but they also gave a
stability to the worship of Jehovah which it had never
possessed before. Reactions came, but the T^aitten law
survived to gain wider acceptance when conditions
INFLUENCE OF THE NEW LAW BOOK 179
were again favorable. Ultimately, however, the means
whereby this stability had been secured impeded the
religious development of the Jewish race, as is always
the case when fixed forms of worship or statements of
faith are substituted for the living spiritual life which
they were intended to promote. The law was allowed
to overshadow and extinguish prophecy, from which it
originally derived its spiritual significance ; and when
it ceased to grow, it became dead and meaningless.
185. The Book of Deuteronomy was, as we have
seen (sect. 168), the result of a noble effort to replace
the popular religion with a new system in accord with
the new prophetic revelation. The most practical
way of reacliing the masses seemed to be through ex-
plicit laws, which would regulate social relations and
the religious cult. Deuteronomy, accordingly, sought to
give objective expression to the fundamental prophetic
teachings. The abolition of idols and of the worship
of foreign deities was the most impressive declaration
that Jehovah was a spirit, and that he, as the supreme
ruler of the universe, demanded the entire homage of
his followers. The great prophetic watchword, " Thou
art a holy people unto the Lord thy God," which finds
expression so frequently in Deuteronomy (vii. 6 ; xiv.
2, 21; xxvi. 1, 9; xxviii. 9), was interpreted into the
details of life and ritual. Isaiah's other characteristic
doctrine of the inviolability of Zion also took form in
the exaltation of the Temple at Jerusalem, to the
exclusion of all other sanctuaries.
186. The full significance of this sweeping innova-
tion can be appreciated only by a comparison with the
practices which it supplanted. Hitherto sacrifices
appear to have been offered an^-where and by any one;
180 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
in fact, every animal slain was regarded as shared with
the deity (I. sects. 69, 70). At every town there was
a high place to which the people went, not only on
feast days, but whenever they wished, through the
priest, to have a disputed case settled, or to ascertain
the divine will respecting their private matters (I. sect.
163). Religion entered into all their life. The enact-
ments of Deuteronomy swept away the high places,
placed a ban upon private sacrifice, and restricted
all offerings to the Temple. A sharp distinction v/as
thereby drawn between the laity and the priests,
between secular and holy things. Eeligion henceforth
became something formal, above and apart, rather than
in all which concerned the nation or individual. Con-
ventionality took the place of the old freedom and
joyousness which had so often degenerated into lax-
ness. The end desired by the reformers v/as attained.
The narrowing of religion saved it from the shallow-
ness of heathenism. The Jehovah who was wor-
shipped in tlie Temple with jealously guarded forms
was not in danger of being degraded to a level with
the surrounding deities. That which henceforth con-
stituted the Jewish church was divorced from the state,
and so survived the downfall of the nation. Un-
fortunately the narrowing process did not cease after
the crisis was past, so that its later effects were de-
plorable ; but, measured in the light of existing
circumstances, the reformation of Josiah marks the
beginning of that movement which ultimately resulted
in the complete elimination of the practical heathenism
which had long threatened the extinction of the pure
worship of Jehovah.
187. The unparalleled success of the reformation of
FKUITS OF JOSIAH'S REFORMATION 181
Josiah was undoubtedly largely due to the ability and
energy of the king himself. Since David, no ruler
appeared on the throne of Judah who has been so
uniyersally commended by his own and succeeding
generations. His reformation, like every other insti-
tuted by state authority, affected first the externals
of religion; but the thirteen prosperous years which
followed were improved to impress its fundamental
principles upon the popular heart. In Jeremiah
xi. 1-8, we may listen to the exhortations of the
prophet as he went about the cities of Judah and the
streets of Jerusalem preaching in the language of
Deuteronomy, " Hear ye the words of this covenant,
and do them." Prophet, priest, and wise man united
with voice and pen in heralding the glorious truths
which then for the first time received general accept-
ance. The prophetical party carried all before it, and
heathenism was for the time driven into concealment.
The Messianic era foretold by earlier prophets seemed
about to become a reality. The principles of justice
and mercy dominated rulers and people (Jer. xxii. 15,
16). Peace and prosperity bespoke Jehovah's favor.
188. The reformation of Josiah furnishes the best
starting-point from which to study the literature of
the Old Testament. It kindled a prodigious literary
activity, and has left its impress upon nearly every
volume of that unique library. The language, ideas,
and spirit which find expression in Deuteronomy and
Jeremiah characterize all the writings of the age,
making it possible readily to distinguish them. It
now l:)ecomes easy to understand the work of the first
editors of the prophetico-historical books. Judges,
Samuel, and Kings, who gathered together the ancient
182 A HISTORY or THE HEBREW PEOPLE
narratives of their race, calling attention to the rich
spiritual truths which they illustrated, and interspers-
ing them with observations and judgments which
reflect the higher ideals current at tliis later period.
Some of the Psalms bear witness to the deeply devo-
tional spirit which then filled the souls of these earnest
workers. The introduction to the Book of Proverbs
(i.-ix.), whose hortatory religious tone stands in such
contrast with the other sections of the anthology,
contains the characteristic birth-marks of this unique
epoch. The union of the older collections found in
chapters x.-xxix. of Proverbs is probably the work
of the same hand. The priceless revelation granted
to the Hebrew race had begun to crystallize into
written proverbs, psalms, prophecies, and laws, so
that when reactions and exile came, it was preserved
to be the imperishable and inestimable heritage of
humanity.
Ill
JTJDAH AND THE NEW WORLD POWERS
189. Judah's Indian summer ended most abruptly.
The primary cause of this time of peace and prosperity
had been the decline of Assyria. Two decades before
its final disintegration, Nahum beheld in prophetic
vision a fierce enemy marching against this " den of
lions " which was filled with the prey of nations, and,
in the name of Jehovah, pronounced a woe upon it.
He saw that its " people were women, and the gates of
its land were set wide open unto its enemies." Dis-
organization and social corruption had sapped its
strength; "its hurt was grievous." Already the
prophet heard the nations clapping their hands over
the downfall of their merciless oppressor. The first
serious attack came from the Medes, about the middle
of the seventh century. Hostilities were temporarily
interrupted by the invasion of the Scythians; but
when these ceased, the Medes, under Cyaxares, united
with the Babylonians, under Nabopolassar, for the final
overthrow of the mighty power whose name for more
than two centuries had been written in blood on almost
every page of Semitic history ; and its former vassals,
the Babylonians (or Chaldeans, as they are more com-
monly called), succeeded to its rule.
183
184 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
190. Before Nineveh fell in 607 b. c, Neclio, the
aspiring Pharaoh of Egypt, set out to secure a portion
of the great empire which was falling into decay. The
march of his huge army lay across the memorable plain
of Esdraelon. Josiah, who had improved the period
of quiet to extend the boundaries of Judah so that
they enclosed a large part of the territory of ancient
Israel, refused Necho a passage across Hebrew soil.
Blindly casting himself upon the care of Jehovah,
whose cause he had so valiantly championed, the re-
former-king with his little army attacked the Egyptian
host, doubtless confident that his God would grant
him the victory. At the old fortress of Megiddo he
fell slain, and the conqueror passed on, assured of
Judah's submission.
191. The death of Josiah is unquestionably the
most tragic event in Hebrew history, for his fall proved
a death-blow to the immediate realization of the ideals
of the party which he represented. The reformation
instituted under his direction was still on trial. The
heathen party, who had only been forced into silence,
hastened to point to the signal calamity which befell
him as a judgment upon his iconoclastic zeal. The
force of this line of argument with the people had
already been frequently demonstrated. Since Necho
did not immediately follow up his victory at Megiddo,
the prophetical party was able to set aside Josiah's
eldest son, whose disregard for their interest was
known, and place his brother, Jehoahaz, on the throne.
The new king, however, did not have an opportunity
to vindicate the confidence which was placed in him.
When the Egyptian conqueror returned from the
Euphrates, whither he had extended his rule, he en-
THE RULE OF JEHOIAKLM 185
ticed Jehoaliaz to Riblah, on the river Orontes, where
he was holding court. For some reason — perhaps
because the Judean king represented the party of
Josiah, or because his okler brother promised greater
tribute — Necho sent Jehoahaz, after a reign of only
three months, in chains to Egypt, and made his brother
Eliakim, who bore after his accession the name of Je-
hoiakim, king in his stead.
192. This act placed the reactionary, half-heathenish
party in control of the state, and inaugurated the series
of political errors and religious crimes which resulted,
in less than a quarter of a century, in the complete
destruction of Judah. The tribute imposed by Necho
was comparatively small, consisting of one hundi'ed
talents of silver and one of gold; but it was exacted
from the people, v/hile the king devoted the wealth
which must have collected in the public treasury dur-
ing Josiah's prosperous reign, together with that which
he unjustly extorted from his subjects, to building for
himself a broad and spacious palace, provided with
windows, ceiled with cedar, and painted with ver-
milion (Jer. xxii. 13-15). The chief ambition of
this selfish, vain son of a noble father was to imitate
the luxurious courts on the Nile and Euplirates.
Solomon's policy of despotism was re-introduced
into little Judah, and with it came its inevitable
fruits, oppression and injustice (Jer. xxii. 17). Judah's
" shepherds had become brutish and ceased to inquire
of the Lord " (Jer. x. 21). The rigorous demands of
the true prophets were treated with contempt. The
majority of the Judeans followed the example of their
king, and '' turned back to the iniquities of their fore-
fathers and went after other gods to serve them"
186 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
(Jer. xi. 10). Most of the heathen practices of Ma-
nasseh's reign were resumed. '' Their children remem-
bered their altars and their Asherim by the green trees
upon the high hills " (Jer. xvii. 2). Altars to Baal
were set up in all the cities of Judah and in every
street of Jerusalem (Jer. xi. 13). In attempting to
root out the old cult at one stroke and by force, the
reformers had essayed a task which has repeatedly
been proved impossible.
193. While the ignorant were turning back to their
old idols and heathen gods, the more enlightened were
entertaining a fatal delusion. Shutting their eyes to
the dangers which tln-eatened their nation from with-
out, they blindly trusted to tlie service of the Temple
to save them (Jer. vii. 4). Isaiah's teaching re-
specting the inviolability of Zion had grown into a
dogma, and the conditions upon which that teaching
had been based were ignored. Formalism, instead of
morality, was regarded as the essential element in
religion. In vain Jeremiah endeavored to recall them
to their senses: "Will you steal, murder, commit
adultery, swear falsely, burn incense unto Baal, and
walk after other gods whom you have not known, and
then come and stand before me in this house which is
called by my name, and say. We are delivered ; that
you may do all these abominations ? This Temple has
become a den of robbers. It shall be utterly destroyed,
as was the ancient sanctuary at Shiloh (I. sect. 60).
You shall be cast out as were your brethren of the
north. On just one condition can tliis nation be saved,
and that is that it amend its way " (vii. 3-15).
194. During this period Jeremiah stood almost
alone. He complains that the people put their trust
PEKSECUTION OF THE TRUE PROPHETS 187
in lying words that cannot profit ; priest and propliet
deal falsely ; in their pride they declare, We are wise
and the law of the Lord is with us ; constantly they
are crying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace (vii. 8 ;
viii. 8, 11). His own kinsmen at Anathoth treacher-
ously attempted to put him to death because he would
not stop uttering his ominous predictions (xi. 18-23).
So deep-seated was the popular faith in the indestruc-
tibility of Jerusalem that his opponents, the priests and
prophets, preferred a capital charge against him be-
cause he had prophesied against the city (xxvi.). It
was a critical moment for the prophet. Calmly he
reiterated his former words, and warned his accusers
against bringing innocent blood upon their capital.
His voice might then have been silenced, had not cer-
tain of the elders, chief among whom was Ahikam,
the son of Josiah's secretary, Shaphan, saved him by
citing the precedent of Micah, the Morashtite, who
had declared in the days of Hezekiah, " Zion shall be
ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps,
and the mountain of the house as the high places of a
forest " (Micah iii. 12). Uriah, a prophet of the town
of Kiriath-jearim, who prophesied, as did Jeremiah,
respecting the fate of the city and land, had no power-
ful patrons to espouse his cause. Persecution by the
king and princes led him to flee to Egj^Dt, whither
Jehoiakim sent messengers, who brought him back
and then slew him, casting his body into the common
burial field. The murder of this early martyr indi-
cates the temper of king and people, which led the
few true prophets, like Jeremiah, to realize that the
fate of the nation Avas sealed.
195. The rule of Egypt over Palestine lasted only
188 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
four years. After the capture of Nineveli the Chal-
deans soon conquered the territory of the fallen foe ;
and in 605-604 b. c. Nebuchadrezzar (wrongly written
Nebuchadnezzar in the Books of Kings and Chronicles),
the son of Nabopolassar, met Necho in a raemorable
battle near the tov/n of Carchemisli, on the Euphrates.
Jeremiah xlvi. re-echoes the din of that fierce conflict :
Egj^3t's ''mighty ones were beaten down, they fled
away and looked not back ; their swift and mighty
men stumbled and fell." The advance of the con-
queror was delayed by the death of his father. Two
or three years elapsed before he could establish himself
upon the throne, and again turn westward to reap the
fruits of the victory which left him master of south-
western Asia.
196. The impending advance of the Chaldeans gave
new force to the warnings of the true prophets. Be-
fore his armies reached Judah Jeremiah proclaimed
with the most absolute assurance that Nebuchadrezzar
would lay Judah desolate, and that the nations about
would also be compelled to drink of tliis winecup of
fury from the hand of Jehovah (xxv.). Habald^uk
voices the cry of doubt and anguish v/hich escaped at
this time from the lips of the few faithful followers of
Jehovah: ''Within Judah the law is relaxed, justice
perverted, violence rules, while the flerce and pitiless
Chaldeans are sweeping down upon us for our destruc-
tion. Thou that art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and
that canst not look on perverseness, wherefore lookest
thou on them that deal treacherously, and boldest thy
peace when the wicked swallows up the man that is
more righteous than he?" With Jeremiah, he realized
that the overweening pride of their foes would ulti-
JUDAH'S SUBMISSION TO BABYLON 189
mately prove their destruction (Jer. xxv. 12 ; Hab. ii.
8) ; but for the present there was nothing for the just
man to do but wait and trust that his integrity would
yet be vindicated (ii. 4). These words of warning
may have been that which influenced the Judeans to
submit without resistance when Nebuchadrezzar ad-
vanced, about 600 B. c, to the conquest of the west-
land. After three years, however, they entered upon
that mad career of revolt which darkens the last
chapter of Judah's history.
IV
JEREIVIIAH AND THE FALL OF JERUSALEM
197. Viewed in the perspective of liistory, the most
important character in this closing period of Hebrew
history is Juclah's last and greatest prophet. Thi'ough-
out the reign of Jehoiakim, however, Jeremiah's words
were treated only with contempt. At times discour-
aged, but never daunted, he constantly sought new
means whereby to make an impression upon his un-
willing hearers. When the approach of the Chaldeans,
after the battle of Carchemish, had led to the procla-
mation of a national fast at Jerusalem, he seized the
opportunity to collect his former prophecies, and then
himself despatched his faithful scribe, Baruch, to the
Temple to read them in the presence of the people
(xxxvi.). A grandson of Josiah's secretary, Shaphan,
hastened to inform the princes assembled in the palace ;
and Baruch was forthwith summoned to read his roll
before them. As they listened they were so far im-
pressed by its contents that they determined to bring
it to the attention of the king. Knowing his dislike
for the uncompromising prophecies of Jeremiah, they
kindly urged Baruch to flee with his m.aster into con-
cealment. Then they informed Jehoiakim of the affair,
and at his command the roll was brought. Before
190
ACTIVITY OF JEREMIAH 191
many pages had been read, he contemptuously cut it
into pieces, and cast it into a fire that was burning on
a brazier such as those with wliich the Hebrews heated
their homes during the cokl winter months. The re-
monstrances of certain of his ministers, who were
friendly to Jeremiah, were in vain. Three of the
nobles were at once sent out to take the prophet and
his faithful scribe ; "but the Lord hid them."
198. Two or three years later, when the spirit of
revolt was sv/eeping Judah into fatal opposition to
Babylon, Jeremiah redoubled his efforts to bring the
infatuated people to their senses. The political policy
which he advocated was the same as that urged by
Isaiah under strikingly similar circumstances. To
the party who were relying upon Egypt to save them
from Babylon, he said, '' Cursed is he that trusteth in
man, and maketh flesh his arm. God alone is the true
source of confidence; for as the clay in the potter's
hand, so are you, O house of Israel, in the hand of
Jehovah; therefore, amend your ways if you desire
deliverance " (xvii. 5, 7 ; xviii. 6, 11). There was, how-
ever, no hope, for the people were bent upon following
their own devices (xviii. 12).
199. In 597 b. c. Jehoiakim openly revolted. The
other states of Palestine, instead of joining with him,
overran the territory of Judah at the instigation of
their Babylonian master. Among those who then
sought refuge in Jerusalem were men of the tribe of
the Recabites, descendants of the wandering Kenites,
who had tenaciously clung to their nomadic life and
customs. Knowing the steadfastness with which they
adhered to the strict injunctions of their great re-
former, Jonadab (II. Kings x. 15-24), Jeremiah invited
192 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
them into the Temple and placed wine before them.
As he had anticipated, they bluntly refused to partake.
Thereupon he turned to the Judeans and drew a for-
cible contrast between their disregard for the com-
mands of Jehovah, as proclaimed by his prophets, and
the fidelity of the Recabites in following the precepts
of their ancestor. At another time Jeremiah led cer-
tain of the elders of Jerusalem out into the valley of
Hinnom, which had often been defiled by human sac-
rifices, and solemnly broke before them a potter's vessel,
which he had brought with him (xix.). Then he de-
clared in the name of Jehovah : " Even so will I break
this people and city." When he repeated his prophecy
in the court of the Temple, he was violently attacked
and put in the public stocks by Pashur, the cliief officer
of the house of the Lord (xx.). When the crowds, as
they passed by, derided him, his humanity asserted it-
self ; bitterly he cursed the day of his birth, and prayed
that he might see Jehovah's vengeance upon his per-
secutors (xx. 12) ; but, painful as was his lot, he still
went on prophesying, for, as he pathetically exclaims :
"• If I say I will not speak any more in his name, then
there is in mine heart as it were a burning fire shut up
in my bones, and I am weary with forbearing, so that
I cannot stay (xx. 9).
200. Death removed Jehoiakim before he saw the
final results of his folly in revolting against Babylon.
He was succeeded by his eighteen-year-old son, Coniah,
or Jeconiah (Jer. xxii. 24 ; xxiv. 1), who assumed at
his accession the name Jehoiakin. The queen mother,
Nehushta, appears to have been the virtual ruler (Jer.
xxii. 26). It was, however, a barren reign, lasting only
three months. The circle of Judah's enemies was
FIRST CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM 193
ever drawing closer and closer. The cities outside
Jerusalem v/ere abandoned to their fate (Jer. xiii. 19).
In vain the Judeans looked toward Egypt for help, for
Nebuchadrezzar had barred his rival out of Palestine
(II. Kings xxiv. 7). At last a division of the army
of the great conqueror Avas detailed to lay siege to the
capital, and the pride of the king and queen-mother
was humbled (Jer. xiii. 18). Seeing that resistance
was hopeless, they with their court surrendered uncon-
ditionally on the arrival of the Babylonian monarch.
In their treatment of rebellious states the Chaldeans
followed the policy of the Ass}Tians. Jehoiakin was
carried away to Babylon. During the latter part of
his exile he was kindly treated by his captors (Jer. lii.
31-34), and was regarded with marked respect by his
subjects, who shared his captivity (Ezek. i. 2 ; Lam. iv.
20). With him went the best elements in Judah. In
addition to the nobles and court, Nebuchadrezzar car-
ried off seven thousand trained warriors and one thou-
sand artisans. In many cases, although not always
(Ezek. xxiv. 21), their families went with them to
swell the numbers in the Jewish colony, which was
established on the river Chebar in the land of the
Chaldeans (Ezek. i. 3). To pay the heavy tribute
exacted by the conqueror, palace and Temple were
looted. Bitterly did those who were left behind feel
the loss of the vessels of the Lord's house, which went
to furnish Babylonian temples (Jer. xxvii. 16; Dan.
i. 2 ; V. 2). Only the pillars, the brazen sea, the vases,
and the less valuable vessels were left behind (Jer.
xxvii. 18).
201. Those who were carried into exile at the first
captivity, in 597 b. c, had proved themselves base
13
194 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
enough ; but even Jeremiah called them good in com-
parison ^vith the ignorant, inefficient men who were
allowed to remain. Over these Nebuchadrezzar placed,
as his vassal, Mattaniah, a younger son of Josiah, who
is known in history by his official name, Zedekiah.
The situation called for a ruler who could organize
and then hold these turbulent elements to a wise and
consistent policy. Under the Assyrian rule, Judali
had bent before the storm and thus survived; the
Chaldeans were no harsher taskmasters. Unfortu-
nately, however, the new king was lacking in both
energy and courage. Although his intentions were
good, he proved only a tool in the hands of his head-
strong nobles.
202. The overwhelming disaster, which had come
upon Judah, instead of leading the people to listen to
the voice of the true prophets, only prompted them to
cry more vehemently: "The Lord seeth us not; the
Lord hath forsaken the land " (Ezek. viii. 12 ; ix. 9).
Having lost faith in Jehovah, they turned to the old
superstitions. The ancient totemistic forms of wor-
ship were secretly revived in connection Avith the
Temple ; an Asherah was again set up within the sacred
precincts : the women adopted the Syrian custom of
weeping for Tammuz ; and the men worshipped the
sun, turning their backs upon Jehovah's sanctuary
(Ezek. viii.). The siren voices of the false prophets,
who deliberately or mistakenly uttered lying messages
in the name of Jehovah, continued to lure the nation
on to its ruin.
203. Soon after the accession of Zedekiah, mes-
sengers came from the vassal kings of Moab, Ammon,
and Tyre, urging him to join in a league against
JEREMIAH AND THE FALSE PROPHETS 195
Babylon. Chapters xxvii. and xxviii. of Jeremiah's
prophecy reflect the bitter conflict which was then
waged between him and those " who prophesied lies."
The methods and form of expression used by each
were identical, so that it is not strange that the people
found it difficult to decide which to believe. Jere-
miah's advice was : " Serve the king of Babylon, and
live." His opponents, chief among whom was the
prophet Hananiah, declared that Jehovah had broken
the yoke of Babylon, and that within two years Je-
hoialdn, with tlie captives and spoil taken by Nebu-
chackezzar, would be brought back to Jerusalem. To
impress his words, Hananiah took the yoke which Jere-
miah was wearing about his neck, as a symbol of the
continued rule of Babylon, and broke it in pieces be-
fore the people, saying, " Even so v/ill Jehovah break
the yoke of Nebuchadrezzar within two full years from
off the neck of all the nations." For the moment Jere-
miah was silenced ; but he soon returned with the mes-
sage that the broken yoke of wood was to be exchanged
for a yoke of iron, and that within a year Hananiah
would atone for his lying words with his life. The
death of this degenerate prophet undoubtedly did more
than anything else to establish in the minds of the
people the truth of Jeremiah's predictions and save
their state temporarily from fatal entanglements.
204. The fanatical belief, however, that Jehovali
would interpose in a miraculous v/ay to rescue his
people from the hands of their enemies Avas also shared
by many of the exiles. False prophets and prophet-
esses in their midst encouraged them in the delusion,
so that Ezekiel, like Jeremiah, with whom he was in
perfect agreement, recognized that his influence was
196 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
constantly being neutralized. Popular faith in the
prophetic word was practically destroyed, and with it
that veneration which had heretofore guarded the per-
son of the ambassador of the Highest. Communica-
tion between the exiles and their brethren in Judah
was frequent ; and despite the efforts of Jeremiah and
Ezekiel, the two kindled each other's fanatical hopes
until, in 588 b. c, those in Judah plunged into another
revolt against Babylon. Amnion and Tyi-e joined with
them, and ambassadors were despatched to Egypt to
secure "horses and much people" (Ezek. xvii. 15).
Nebuchadrezzar gave the rebellion his immediate atr
tention, and by January of 587 b. c. was encamped
with his army about the walls of Jerusalem. In their
terror and dismay its inhabitants were induced to ob-
serve the neglected law, incorporated in Deuteronomy
XV. 12, 13, and free their Hebrew slaves and maid-
servants (Jer. xxxiv.). The act was of the nature of
a solemn covenant with Jehovah, intended to induce
him to deliver them from their imminent danger. It
may also have had in view the practical aim of increas-
ing the number of loyal defenders to guard the city
walls.
205. At this juncture lamentation was temporarily
changed to rejoicing by the unexpected departure of
the besieging army. The cause was the advance of
an Egyptian force under Hophra (Jer. xxxvii. 5). The
short respite was regarded by the fanatical people as
an omen that they were again to be delivered, as in
the days of Hezekiah. Notwithstanding the remon-
strances of Jeremiah against their perfidy, the slaves
who had been set free were forthwith brought under
the old bondage (Jer. xxxiv.). The prophet himself, as
JEKEMIAH'S NARROW ESCAPE 197
he set out for his estate at Anathoth, was arrested,
brought before the princes, and charged with attempt-
ing to desert to the Chakleans. His hostile judges,
after venting their spite upon him, cast him into a vile
prison, where he remained many days, until Zedekiah,
alarmed perhaps by the report of the movements of
the Chaldean army, secretly summoned him into his
presence. In reply to his eager question, Jeremiah
declared to the king that he would surely be delivered
into the hands of his foe. To those who did not un-
derstand the true patriotism which inspired his advice
to submit, Jeremiah seemed indeed a traitor to the
common cause. The friendship of a king who openly
admitted his inability to oppose their will was of no
avail to deliver him from the vindictive assault of
the princes (Jer. xxxviii.). Not wishing to slay him
openly, they let the prophet down into a cistern and
left him there to die a miserable death. It w^as fortu-
nate that there was no water in the cistern, and that
Jeremiah had a friend among the heterogeneous crowd
which gathered about the king. His deliverer was an
Ethiopian by the name of Ebed-meleck ("slave of the
king"). Informing his royal master of the danger
which threatened the prophet, he was commissioned
to go with a band of men to his rescue. During the
remainder of the siege, v/hich had meantime been re-
newed, Jeremiah was under the protection of the royal
guard. Again he assured the king, in a private inter-
view, that the only salvation for himself and his capi-
tal lay in surrender to the Chaldeans. The irresolute
Zedekiah was, however, too weak to oppose his proud
princes, who were bent upon continuing the resistance,
even though their hopes that Egypt would deliver them
had proved utterly futile.
198 A HISTOKY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
206. Certain passages in Lamentations (ii. 19-22;
iv. 10) suggest the liorrors of the siege, which lasted
a year and a half. Famine drove the Hebrew mothers
to such a pitch of madness that they did not hesitate
to consume their own children ; while it so far weak-
ened the strength of the defenders that in July of
586 B. c. the besiegers were able to force an entrance
into the city tln*ough the northern wall. Under the
cover of night Zedekiah, with his few warriors, fled
through the southern gate, down across the barren
wilderness of Judea toward the Jordan. The fugi-
tives were overtaken, however, by the Chaldeans on
the plain of Jericho ; Zedekiah was carried before
Nebuchadrezzar at Riblah in Hamath, where he was
forced to witness the slaughter of liis sons ; and then
was condemned to lose his eyes and spend the re-
mainder of liis days in captivity at Babylon. His
nobles, including the leading priests of the Temple,
the king's cabinet, the chief military commanders, and
sixty of the more prominent elders, were likev/ise
brought before the great king at Riblah and slain.
Those who escaped the slaughter at the capture of the
city, together with the deserters to the Chaldeans, were
carried into exile. Nabuzaradan, an officer of Nebu-
chadrezzar, was deputed to attend to the destruction
of Jerusalem. First it was despoiled of its treasures,
the vessels of the Temple, which remained from the
first captivity, being among the booty; then all the
houses, including the palace and the house of the Lord,
were burnt, and the walls of the city torn down. At
last Micah's grim prophecy was literally fulfilled:
"Jerusalem became heaps, and the mountain of the
house as the high places of a forest."
THE LAST CHAPTEK OF JUDAH S HISTOEY
207. Befoee the national life of Judali was extin-
guished entirely, it flashed up in one brilliant, expir-
ing gleam. Not wishing to leave the land utterly
desolate, Nebuchadrezzar allowed certain of the poorer
Judeans, chiefly vinedressers and shepherds, to remain
behind. With them were left a few nobles whose
loyalty could be trusted. Over the little state was
placed, as governor, Gedaliah, the son of Jeremiah's
patron, Ahikam, and the grandson of Josiah's secre-
tary, Shaphan. Jerusalem being destroyed, Mizpah,
located on a height a few miles to the north, was
selected as the seat of government. Among Geda-
liah's stanchest supporters was the prophet Jeremiah.
At first he had been carried in chains with other Jew-
ish captives to Ramah (Jer. xl. 1). There a careful
investigation was made, by the Chaldean oflicers, of
the record of the prisoners, and judgment meted out
according to their deeds. Jeremiah's determined op-
position to rebellion was rewarded by giving him the
choice of either going with the exiles or remaining
with his kinsmen in Judah. Duty, and probably incli-
nation as well, led him to join Gedaliah ; for in this
noble ruler he recognized one who was in perfect sym-
199
200 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
patliy with his teachings, and who might yet realize
what had been impossible while the headstrong princes
who had met their fate at Riblah still guided the
state.
208. For two bright months (Jer. xli. 1) all went
well. Judean fugitives, who had sought refuge among
the surrounding peoples, flocked to the standard of
the wise Gedaliah. In peace the people turned to
agricultural pursuits. Old hopes were being revived,
when suddenly all was ruined by an act of superla-
tive treachery. The petty kings of the surrounding
nations looked with bitter jealousy upon any prosperity
enjoyed by their old rival. Prompted by this feeling,
the king of Ammon instigated a certain Jewish prince
by the name of Ishmael to kill Gedaliah. Refusing to
think any evil of Ishmael, although he had previously
been warned of a plot, the generous governor freely
extended to him his hospitality, in return for wliich
he received the death-thrust. The iew Judeans and
the Chaldean soldiers in attendance upon Gedaliah
were also slain by the assassin and his followers.
Even a band of harmless pilgrims who stopped at
Mizpah on their way to the site of the ruined Temple
at Jerusalem, did not escape the fiendish perfidy of
this base son of the East. With the princesses and
the few men of Mizpah who had been spared, Ishmael
set out to return to his master, the king of Ammon.
On the way, however, he was overtaken by certain
followers of the murdered governor, who forced him
to abandon his captives and flee for his life.
209. Rejecting Jeremiah's counsel to remain, the
little band who survived Ishmael's slaughter fled to
Eg}^t to avoid the vengeance which they feared the
THE COMPLETE EXTINCTION OE JUDAH 201
Chaldeans would visit upon them because of the
murder of their governor. Perhaps their apprehen-
sions were not without foundation, for, according to
Jeremiah lii. 30, there was later still another deporta-
tion, whereby seven hundred and forty-five more Ju-
deans were carried to Babylon. In the land of Judah
there remained at last only a few humble peasants;
all semblance of local government disappeared. Jere-
miah was taken by the fugitives into the land of Egypt,
where he continued his painful ministry until, accord-
ing to tradition, he met a martyr's death at the hands
of his countrymen. From his latest prophecies it
appears that the Egyptian exiles soon relapsed into
practical heathenism, retaining only the forms of the
worship of Jehovah. That which remained of the real
life of the Hebrew people was found among the group
of Jewish captives in the land of Babylon, and upon
them rested the future of their race and religion. At
this point also the history of the Hebrew nation closes,
and Jewish history begins.
210. Judah, like the northern kingdom, came to an
end from the same causes, and in accordance with the
same unchangeable laws which have repeatedly oper-
ated in the downfall of other kingdoms. As the prophets
so clearly pointed out, religious, social and moral
corruption led to the weakening and disintegration of
the state. Selfish, inefficient rulers and blind spiritual
leaders hastened this process, so that, when the temper
of the nation was severely tested by the weight of the
heavy yoke of the foreign conqueror, it was unequal
to the strain, and in the end Judah's vacillating policy
brought down upon it the destructive wrath of Baby-
lon. The individual events in Hebrew history were
202 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
analogous to those which entered into the life of other
peoples. As has been repeatedly noted, the popular
beliefs and the forms in which Jehovah was v/orshipped
were also very similar to those which prevailed among
the surrounding Semitic nations. Hebrew history is
unique because of the presence and work of its in-
spired teachers. They moulded its life, interpreted
the true significance of its events, and proclaimed the
nature, will, and purposes of the Eternal Father, who
found in them his willing messengers, and who in
turn revealed himself to them as to none of their
contemporaries.
211. Hence, while the state was going down to its
ruin, the prophetic vision and ideals were always
broadening. National experiences, Vvdiich shook the
faith of the masses, constantly opened to the true
prophets new and deeper conceptions of Jehovah and
of his world plan. While public morals deteriorated,
these men, who were in living touch with the Holy
One, continued to demand conformity to higher and
higher standards of mercy and righteousness. As they
were led to perceive the glaring imperfections in the
Hebrew commonwealth, they portrayed with ever-in-
creasing definiteness the outlines of the perfect state
of the future in which the will of Jehovah should be
the supreme law. Gradually they began to realize
that their nation as a whole would never attain to the
divine ideal. Jeremiah voiced this conclusion, and at
the same time opened a new chapter in God's revela-
tion, when he declared, as he sat upon the ruins of
Jerusalem, that instead of the old covenant between
God and the nation, which had been broken by the
people's sins, Jehovah would establish a new and ever-
JEREMIAH'S ETERNAL MESSAGE 203
lasting covenant, inscribed, not in laAv books, but in
* the human heart. Then the people would come no
more to the priest or prophet to learn the character
and will of God, but all would know him, from the
least of them even to the greatest (xxxi. 31-34). Old
forms would no longer be necessary; even the Ark
would be forgotten (iii. 16) ; for Jehovah himself
would cleanse the iniquities of his people and freely
pardon. Each man is personally responsible for his
own action, and therefore according to his own deeds
alone shall he be judged before God (xxxi. 29, 30).
212. Although Jeremiah, with the prophets who had
gone before, still looked forward for the realization of
these exalted ideals to the time when exile should have
done its work of purification and the Jewish race should
be restored to its land, he proclaimed in germ the great
truth of Cliristianity, that religion after all is a rela-
tion between the loving Father and liis individual
children. In many ways the message of the weeping
prophet is more closely related to the New Testament
teacliing than that of any other Old Testament writer ;
but before the supreme truths intrusted to the Hebrew
prophets could be imparted to all humanity, they must
find personal expression. During the period of the
exile this was partially realized in the faithful Israel,
who, amidst persecution and doubt, preserved the
sacred revelation, and came back to Palestine forever
purged of the old idolatry and entirely converted to
the teaching of the true prophets. Later Judaism
failed, however, to realize fully the prophetic ideals ;
only in the perfect Son of Man, the Son of the Eternal
Father, did the old half-truths find their complete and
personal fulfilment. The same God who gradually re-
204 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
vealed himself to his people amidst the varied experi-
ences of their history perfected that revelation in the
life and work of the Christ, who inaugurated a world-
wide, spiritual kingdom, limited to no race or land or
forms, and transcending the highest expectations of
inspired prophet and psalmist.
APPENDIX
THE AUTHORITIES UPON HEBREW
HISTORY
APPENDIX
THE AUTHOEITIES UPON HEBEEW HISTOEY
The Prophetic period of Hebrew history has evoked
from the writers of the past and present a greater volume
of literature than any other ancient epoch, except that
which immediately followed the beginniug of the Christian
era. So many and so important have been the new dis-
coveries, however, and so rapid the advances in biblical
study, that of the thousands of books which relate to this
period, only a very few dating from the preceding decade
are still of value even to the technical student. Although
the present bibliography is limited to the more recent
works, it has been found exceedingly difficult to keep the
list of books of reference within practical bounds.
In addition to the books described in the preceding
volume of the History (pages 209-212), of especial service
to the historical student is Schrader's The Cuneiform In-
scriptions and the Old Testament^ in which the author
has collected a.nd interpreted the Assyrian inscriptions
which throw light upon the Old Testament books. The
latest results of Assyriological study are ably presented
in Winckler's KeilinschriftUches Texthuch zum Alten Testa-
ment, which covers the same field. In the new series of
the Records of the Past, edited by Professor Sayce, is
found a translation of many of the more important in-
scriptions which relate directly or indirectly to the history
of the Hebrews. Still more comprehensive, and on the
whole more accurate, is the corresponding German work,
207
208 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
Die Keili7ischriftliche Bibliothek, prepared under the
general editorship of Professor Schrader. It also pre-
sents the transliterated text, thus making it possible for
those familiar with the Assyrian to verify the suggested
translations.
Semitic history has recently been enriched by the
second volume of Professor McCurdy's History, FrojyhecT/,
and the Monuments, which treats of the period of Assyria's
greatest power, and consequently of Judah's greatest peril.
For a comprehensive survey of Assyrian history Tide's
Bahylonische-Assyrische Geschichte remains the standard
authority. It should, however, be read in connection
with Professor Winckler's more recent work, Geschichte
Babyloniens und Assyriens.
Among a host of recent books dealing with the life and
teachings of the Hebrew prophets, W. E. Smith's Projyhets
of Israel, which appears in a new edition with an in-
troduction and a few corrections by Professor Cheyne,
continues to be one of the most helpful and inspiring in-
troductions to the Assyrian period of Hebrew history.
Kirkpatrick's The Doctrine of the Prophets is of great
value to the general and technical student alike, since it
presents in concise form the characteristic teachings of
each prophet, with the date of his activity and the cir-
cumstances amidst which he labored. Of the same char-
acter is Professor Cornill's little volume on the Prophets
of Israel, which has recently been translated into English.
It is an able popular presentation of the positions of the
advanced German school, of which he is a distinguished
representative, and will be found exceedingly stimulating.
The list of commentaries upon the different prophetical
books has been restricted to a few of the best English
works, which present the latest results of biblical scholar-
ship in a form attractive and easily intelligible to all
readers. Isaiah is illuminated by the writings of Pro-
AUTHORITIES UPON HEBREW HISTORY 209
fessors Smith and Driver. Both treat his prophecies in
their chronological order, and interpret them in their his-
torical setting. Critical questions respecting the date
and authorship of the different sections of the Book of
Isaiah are considered in detail and from an advanced
point of view by Professor Cheyne in his Litroduction to
the Book of Isaiah. For the interpretation of individual
passages, the commentaries of Cheyne, Duhm, and Dillman
are the best authorities.
Cheyne's Jeremiah, His Life and Times corresponds to
the work of Professor Driver upon Isaiah. Although its
value to the historical student is somewhat impaired by
the presence of a large amount of homiletical material,
it is the most useful book on Jeremiah for general refer-
ence. The leading commentaries upon Jeremiah's prophe-
cies are those of Cornill, Giesbrecht, and Orelli.
Professor G. A. Smith's The Booh of the Twelve Proijhets
is unquestionably the most helpful as well as the latest
contribution to the elucidation of the shorter prophetic
books. It is characterized by the same excellences as his
work on Isaiah. Still more popular is the little volume
in the Men of the Bible Series by Canon Farrar on The
Minor Pro2ohets. For the interpretation of individual
passages, Orelli's The Book of the Twelve Minor Proi^hets
is valuable. Students of the German will consult with
great profit Wellhausen's Die Kleinen Propheten in Skiz-
zen und Vorarheiten.
Within its special field, the Messianic Prophecy of
Eiehm is the most lucid and suggestive introduction.
For the classification and epitomization of the different
passages the Messianic Prophecy by Professor Briggs is
exceedingly useful, and largely supplants the older and
more conservative Old Testament Prophecy by Orelli.
14
BOOKS OF REFERENCE
LITERATURE
Abbreviations
Dri Driver — lutroductiou to the Literature of
the Old Testament, 1891.
Kent Kent — The Wise Men of Ancient Israel and
their Proverbs, 1895.
R. P. o ..... . Records of the Past, New Series, I.-VI. 1892.
C. I. ....... . Schrader — The Cuneiform Inscriptions and
the Old Testament, I., II. (Eng. transl.
1885).
K. B Keilinschriffcliche Bibliothek, I.-III. 1889-
1892.
HISTORY
Ew Ewald — History of Israel, IV. (Eng. transl.
1883-1885).'
McC McCurdy — History, Prophecy, and the Mon-
uments, I. II. 1894, 189G.
En. B Encyclopaedia Biitannica (Biblical articles).
Kitt Kittel — Geschichte der Hebraer, I. II. 1888,
1892.
St Stade — Geschichte desVolkes Israel, 1. 1887.
B. A. G Tiele — Babylonische-Assyrische Geschichte,
1886, 1888.
PROPHECY
W. R. S W. R. Smith — The Prophets of Israel, 1895.
Kirk Kirkpatrick — The Doctrine of the Prophets,
1892.
210
BOOKS OF REFERENCE 211
Abbreviations
Corn. Proplis. . . Cornill — The Prophets of Israel, 1895.
Smith, T. P. . . . G. A. Smith — The Book of the Twelve
Prophets, I. 1896.
Far Farrar — The Minor Prophets, 1889.
Smith, Is G. A. Smith — The Book of Isaiah, I. 1890.
Dri. Is Driver — Isaiah, His Life and Times, 1888.
Cheyne Cheyne — Jeremiah, His Life and Times,
1888.
RELIGION
Schultz Schultz — Old Testament Theology, I. II.
(Eng. transl. 1892).
Mont. . Montefiore — The Religion of the Ancient
Hebrews, 1892.
Dill Dillman — Handbiich der AlttestamentUchen
Theologie, 1895.
Smend Smend — Alttestamentliche Theologie, 1893.
HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY
G. A. S Smith, G. A. — The Historical Geography of
the Holy Land, 1894.
REFERENCES
Part I. — THE PRE-ASSYKIAN PERIOD OF
HEBREW HISTORY
I
THE HISTORICAL SOURCES FOR THE PERIOD
I. Kings xii.-II. Kings iii.; 11. Chronicles x. 1-xxii. 9; Dri.
175-178, 183-185, 484-502; C. I. I. 177-195; R. P. II. 191-203,
IV. 42-71; W. R. S. 376-378; En. B. XIV. 85, 86; Kitt. II.
177-186, 192-199; St. 73-79; K. B. I. 170-174.
II
THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE TWO KINGDOMS
W. R. S. 144-151, 403-405; McC. II. 420-423; R. P. 11. 110-
127, 207, 208; Ew. IV. 20-22, 295-299; C. I. II. 161-199; Kitt.
II. 200-204; St. 88-99; B. A. G. 92-99.
Ill
THE DIVISION OF THE HEBREW KINGDOM
I. Kings xii. 1-24 ; McC. I. 252-254 ; En. B. XIII. 406; Mont.
83-86; Kitt. II. 207-210; St. 344-349; Dill. 162-164; St. 344-
349.
ly
RESOURCES AND ORGANIZATION OF THE TWO KINGDOMS
I. Kings xii. 25-32; xiii. 33, 34; G. A. S. 257-364; McC. I.
316-322 ; Ew. IV. 1-20 ; Dill. 164-170.
212
REFERENCES 213
V
POLITICAL EVENTS IN ISRAEL AND JUDAH
I. Kings xiv. 1-xvi. 34; xx. 1-43; xxii. 1-53; II. Kings iii.
1-27; McC. 1.254-286; C. I. I. 177-195; G. A. S. 845, 34G;
En. B. XIII. 406; Ew. IV. 23-59, 71-78; Kitt. II. 211-236,
240-243; Dill. 170-172; St. 349-357, 519-524,527-541; B. A. G.
185-192.
VI
THE RELIGIOUS CRISIS IN ISRAEL, AND THE WORK OF ELIJAH
I. Kings xvii. 1-xix. 21; xxi. 1-29 ; II. Kings i. 1-ii. 25; W.
R. S. 72-85; Corn. Prophs. 29-36; Ew. IV. 63-71, 101-113;
Mont. 89-96; Smith, T. P. I. 20-30; En. B. VIII. 134-136,
XIII. 407; Smend 152-159; Dill. 172, 173; St. 524-527.
Part XL— THE ASSYEIAN PEEIOD OF
ISRAEL'S HISTOEY
I
THE HISTORICAL SOURCES AND CHRONOLOGY
II. Kings iv.-xvii. ; Amos ; Hosea ; Dri. 185, 186, 293-296,
281-286; R. P. IV. 86-95; V. 115-128; En. B. XIV. 86; Smith,
T. P. I. 61-72, 211-226 ; W. R. S. 405-407; C. I. I. 196-277 ; Kitt.
II. 186-189, 204-206 ; St. 558-561 ; K. B. I. 174-193, II. 2-80.
TI
THE REVOLUTION OF JEHU
II. Kings ix. 1-x. 31 ; W. R. S. 85-87 ; En. B. XIII. 407, 408;
VIII. 140-142 ; Ew. IV. 96-101; Schultz I. 235-246; C. I. I.
196-201 ; Kitt. II. 237-240 ; St. 541-545.
216 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
IV
SOCIETY AND RELIGION IN JUDAH
Isaiah ii. ; iii. 1-iv. 1; v.; Micah i.-iii. ; McC. I. 359-366; II.
252-257; W. R. S. 199-205; Smith, T. P. I. 375-399; Kirk.
152-158, 201-225; Far. 124-110 ; Eu. B. XIII. 412, 413; Ew. IV.
146-148; Kent 158-165; Dill. 175-178; Schultz I. 230-235,
246-290.
THE GREAT INVASION OF SENNACHERIB
II. Kings xviii.-xx. ; II. Chronicles xxix.-xxxii. ; Isaiah xx. ;
xxii. 15-25 ; xxviii-xxxii. ; x. 5-xi. 9 ; xiv. 24-27 ; xvii. 12-14 ;
xviii.; xxii. 1-14; xxxvi.-xxxvii. ; Micah iv. ; v.; W. R. S.
279-356; Dri. Is. 43-83; Smith, Is. 151-204, 306-374; Kirk.
161-168; McC. LL 258-321, 428-431 ; C. I. I. 277-310; II. 1-43,
82-103 ; G. A. S. 157-160 ; Ew. IV. 172-190 : Kitt. II. 301-
314; St. 603-624; B. A. G. 244-325.
VI
THE WORK AND TEACHINGS OF ISAIAH
W. R. S. 205-210, 224-234, 424: Smith. Ts. 131-150 ; Dri. Is.
107-116; Kirk. 169-196; Corn. Prophs. 56-70; Schultz I. 290-
297; Mont. 139-160; Smend 203-227.
VIT
THE REACTIONARY REIGN OF MANASSEH
n. Kings xxi.; II. Chronicles xxxiii. ; Micah vi. 1-vii. 6;
McC. IT. 877-390; W. R. S. 356-373; Corn. Prophs. 71-79;
Smith. T. P. 419-434; Mont. 161-173; C. I. II. 53-59; Ew. IV.
206-225 ; Kitt. II. 314-321 ; Dill. 178, 179 ; St. 624-641 ; B. A. G.
325-351.
REFERENCES 217
Part IV. — THE BABYLOOTAN PEEIOD OF
JUDAH'S HISTOEY
I
THE HISTORICAL SOURCES
11. Kings xxii.-xxv. ; II. Chronicles xxxiv.-xxxvi. ; Zephaniah ;
Nahum ; Habakkuk ; Jeremiah ; Obadiah ; Ezekiel i.-xxiv. ; Dri.
187-189, 314-320, 232-279, 297-300 ; C. I. II. 43-52 ; Kirk. 235-
246, 280-285; Kitt. H. 191, 192.
II
THE GREAT REFORMATION UNDER JOSIAH
IT. Kings xxii. 1-xxiii. 30 ; 11. Chronicles xxxiv.-xxxv. ;
Zephaniah; Jeremiah i.-vi. ; xi. 1-8; McC. 11. 391-402; Corn.
Prophs. 80-99 ; En. B. XIII. 415; XXI. 575-577; Cheyne 1-101;
Kent 67-73; Far. 153-158; Kirk. 253-263, 296-298; Mont. 173-
195; Ew. IV. 226-240; Kitt. II. 321-325; Smend 227-233, 263-
302; St. 641-671.
Ill
JUDAH AND THE NEW WORLD POWERS
11. Kings xxiii. 31-xxiv. 17; II. Chronicles xxxvi. 1-10; Habak-
kuk; Nahum; Jeremiah xxii. 1-12; xxvi. ; vii.-ix. ; x. 17-25;
xi. 9-xii. 6; xxv. ; xxxvi.; xiv.-xx. ; xxxv. ; xii. 7-xiii. 27;
xxii. 13-30; McC. II. 402-414; Corn. Prophs. 99-102; Cheyne
102-164 ; Far. 141-152, 159-174 ; Kirk. 246-252, 264-280; Schultz
I. 300-307 ; Mont. 195-204 ; C. I. II. 43-47 ; Ew. IV. 240-264 ;
Kitt. II. 325-331; Smend 233-252; St. 671-681; B. A. G.
400-427.
IV
JEREMIAH, AND THE FALL OF JERUSALEM
11. Kings xxiv. 18-xxv. 21; II. Chronicles xxxvi. 11-21;
Obadiah; Jeremiah xxiv. ; xxvii-xxxiv. ; 1. ; li.; xxi. 1-10; xxiii.;
218 A HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE
xxxvii.-xxxix.; Ezekieli.-xxiv. ; Corn. Prophs. 102-107; Cheyue
165-181; Kirk. 298-310, 321-345; Schiiltz I. 307-310; Mont.
204-208; C. I. XL 47-52; Ew. IV. 264-274; Kitt. II. 331, 332;
Smend 252-262; St. 681-691; B. A. G. 427-441.
V
THE LAST CHAPTER OF JUDAH'S HISTORY
XL Kings XXV. 22-30; Jeremiah xl.-xliv. ; lii.; Cheyne 182-
205; Kirk. 310-320; Mont. 208-221; Ew. IV. 274-276 ; Kitt. II.
332, 333; Dill. 180-183; St. 694-703.
A HISTORY
OF
THE HEBREW PEOPLE
By CHARLES FOSTER KENT, Ph.D.
Professor of Biblical Literature and History
in Brown University.
Vol. I. THE UNITED KINGDOM. From the Settlement in
Canaan to the Division of the Kingdom. $1.25 net.
Vol. II. THE DIVIDED KINGDOM. $1.25 net.
PERSONAL AND PRESS NOTICES.
Warren H. Langdon, Professor of Practical Theology,
San Francisco Theological Seminary. — " This is a learned
and ably written work. To those who adopt the conclusions of
the Higher Criticism it will be a very acceptable history of the
Hebrew People from their settlement in Canaan to the close of
the united kingdom. It is written in an interesting, vigorous,
and lucid style, easily grasped by the ordinary student."
George S. Goodspeed, Professor of Semitics, Univer-
sity of Chicago. — " I believe that the book, on account of
the excellence of its contents and the vividness and simplicity
of its style, is by far the best history of the Hebrew People in
English for Colleges and Bible teachers. I am persuaded that
it will do a real service in broadening the mind and clarifying
the knowledge of all into whose hands it may fall."
Irving F. Wood, Professor of Biblical Literature, Smith
College. — " The book, with its brief chapters and popular style,
is exactly what is needed now. The criticism, called new,
though it is a generation old to the scholars, has made the Bible
so much richer, and more valuable, that it needs to be reopened
to the people. This reopening, such books as this of Professor
Kent will do. It is very cautious in the statement of contro-
verted points, but at the same time very clear where the results
of scholarship are positive. Its study of the sources of Hebrew
History and of the period of the Judges seems to me to be very
valuable."
The Outlook. — "It is conceived and executed in the
spirit of modern criticism : treats the history and literature of
Israel as history and literature, but is wholly reverent in its tone
and constructive in its purpose; an excellent text-book for the
study of Old Testament history."
The Christian Advocate. — " The whole volume pre-
sents a rare combination of graphic delineation and careful
accuracy in regard to historic fact. Used in connection with
the Bible only, it must prove most valuable to the ordinary
reader, while if studied with a use of the authorities named in
the appendix, it will be a firm and solid stepping-stone into a
vast and important region of knowledge not yet fully explored
or bounded."
The Congregationalist. — "It purposely avoids argu-
ment, and gives a clear picture of the development of the
Hebrew Nation in accordance with the views of the modern
critics. The author closely follows their results, and any criti-
cism of the book would necessarily involve that of the whole
school. The great body of modern scholars now hold this
position, and instruction therein is provided for in many of our
colleges. This book is especially fitted for a reference and
text-book for such classes."
Methodist Review. — " We have seldom read a small
book which has so much of clearly stated, well-wrought,
and inspiring matter packed into its pages. W^iethcr an
instructor should accept or reject its methods and conclusions,
we doubt if a better book could be found for the instruction of
coUesre classes.
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS,
153-157 Fifth Avenue, - - = NEW YORK.
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