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By  the  late  Prof.  S.  R.  DRIVER, 


D.D.,  Oxford 


DEUTEJ?ONOMY.        Third    Edition.        {International 
Critical  Commentary.')     I2s. 

"The  series  could  have  had  no  better  introduction  than  this 
volume  from  its  Old  Testament  editor.  .  .  .  Dr.  Driver  has 
achieved  a  commentary  of  rare  learning  and  still  more  rare 
candour  and  sobriety  of  judgment." — Prof.  G.  A.  Smith. 

AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  LITERATURE 
OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  Ninth  Edition, 
thoroughly  revised.      {International  Theological  Library.) 

1 23. 

"  By  far  the  best  account  of  the  great  critical  problems  con- 
nected with  the  Old  Testament  that  has  yet  been  written.  .  .  . 
It  is  a  perfect  marvel  of  compression  and  lucidity  combined." 

Guardian. 

Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T.  CLARK,  38  George  Street 


THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 


1> 


THE    IDEALS    OF 
THE    PROPHETS 


SERMONS 


BY    THE    LATE 


S.    R.    DRIVER,    D.D. 

REGIUS    PROFESSOR   OF    HEBREW    AND 
CANON   OF  CHRIST  CHURCH,    OXFORD 


TOGETHER   WITH 

A   BIBLIOGRAPHY   OF    HIS   PUBLISHED 
WRITINGS 


Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T.  CLARK,  38  George  Street 

1915 


Printed  by 
Morrison  &  Gibb  Limited, 

FOR 

T.    &    T.    CLARK,    EDINBURGH. 

LONDON  :   SIMPKIN,    MARSHALL,    HAMILTON,    KENT,    AND  CO.    LIMITED. 
NEW    YORK:   CHARLES  SCRIBNER's  SONS 


First  Impression    .    .    .    February  1915 
Reprinted      ....    July  1915 


PREFACE 

BEFORE  his  death  on  the  26th  of  February  1914, 
Dr.  Driver  left  instructions  that  a  volume  of  his 
sermons  should  be  published,  and  even  chose  a  certain 
number  for  the  purpose.  Four  of  these,  Nos.  ix.,  xi., 
xix.,  XX.,  have  appeared  in  print  already  ;  they  are 
reprinted  here  by  the  courtesy  of  the  Editors  and 
Publishers  of  The  Expository  Times  and  of  The  Inter- 
jyreter.  Dr.  Driver's  own  selection  has  been  consider- 
ably enlarged  with  a  view  to  forming  a  group,  both 
representative  of  his  ordinary  teaching  and  connected 
together  by  a  certain  unity  of  subject  and  treatment. 
It  is  evident  that  he  took  a  special  delight  in  preach- 
ing about  the  ideals  of  the  Old  Testament  prophets  ; 
accordingly  most  of  these  sermons  will  be  found  to  bear 
upon  this  topic.  All  of  them  were  delivered  in  Christ 
Church  Cathedral,  Oxford,  of  which  he  was  a  Canon 
in  virtue  of  his  office  as  Regius  Professor  of  Hebrew  ; 
he  was  never  connected  with  any  other  church  ;  so  that 
the  present  volume  will  serve,  in  some  degree,  as  a 
memorial  of  his  thirty-two  years'  ministry  there,  from 
1882  to  1914. 

In  his  preaching,  Dr.  Driver's  aim  was  to  help  people 
to  understand  the  Bible,  and  especially  the  Old  Testa- 


viii  PREFACE 

ment ;  his  sermons,  therefore,  were  mainly  exegetical, 
packed  with  careful  information,  and  noteworthy  for  an 
unerring  perception  of  the  essential  things.  What  he 
taught  in  the  lecture-room  and  in  his  published  writings, 
he  taught  also  in  the  pulpit.  It  has  been  largely  owing 
to  his  extraordinary  industry  and  knowledge  that 
English  readers  have  had  an  opportunity  of  learning 
what  the  Old  Testament  contains  and  means  ;  he  was 
anxious  that  the  Cathedral  congregation  should  learn 
this  too.  Hence  his  constant  effort  to  remove  traditional 
misunderstandings,  and  to  show  how  the  Bible  may 
become  intelligible,  and  speak  with  a  living  voice  to  the 
men  and  women  of  to-day. 

One  point  in  particular  Dr.  Driver  frequently  discusses 
in  these  sermons — the  fulfilment  of  prophecy.  He  would 
lead  us  to  take  a  larger,  less  mechanical,  view  of  the 
subject  than  is  still  widely  held  ;  he  would  have  us  see 
that,  in  this  larger  sense,  the  ideals  of  the  prophets  were 
adopted  by  Christ,  and  demand  Christian  conditions 
for  their  full  accomplishment.  How  deep  was  his 
conviction  of  the  ultimate  goal  of  prophecy,  how  un- 
faltering his  faith  in  the  great  Christian  verities,  appears 
in  every  sermon  of  this  collection.  He  has  shown 
throughout  his  ministry  that  a  modern  Biblical  scholar, 
one  of  the  foremost  champions  of  the  new  learning,  a 
master  in  the  science  of  language  and  criticism,  could  at 
the  same  time  handle  the  sacred  text  with  the  reverence 
traditional  among  English  people,  and  with  his  whole 
heart  remain  true  to  the  Christian  Faith,  and  fulfil  his 
service  as  a  loyal  son  of  the  Church. 


PREFACE  ix 

Perhaps  Dr.  Driver's  sermons  will  appeal  more  to  the 
reader  than  they  did  to  the  listener.  Owing  to  his 
rapid  delivery  and  a  certain  indistinctness  of  utterance 
it  was  not  always  easy  to  follow  him.  Moreover,  he 
never  held  any  pastoral  charge  ;  he  lived  all  his  life  in 
college,  with  the  unworldliness  and  simplicity  of  a  true 
scholar  ;  and  it  was  his  lot  to  preach  to  an  educated 
audience  in  a  University  city.  He  recognized  what  he 
could  do  and  what  he  could  not  do;  he  made  no  attempt  to 
speak  about  matters  that  lay  outside  his  experience.  But 
what  he  had  to  give  he  gave,  and  always  of  his  best.  He 
took  great  pains  with  his  sermons,  as  with  everything  he 
did  ;  never  an  exaggerated  phrase,  nor  an  ill-considered, 
shallow  judgment  is  to  be  found  in  his  work  anywhere. 
Those  who  wish  to  understand  something  of  what  the  pro- 
phets of  Israel  taught  and  hoped  for  will  find  what  they 
want  in  these  sermons,  conveyed  in  the  clear,  straight- 
forward style  which  was  characteristic  of  the  preacher. 

A  bibliography  of  Dr.  Driver's  publications,  compiled 
by  his  son  Mr.  Godfrey  R.  Driver,  scholar  of  New  College, 
has  been  added  in  the  belief  that  it  will  be  found  service- 
able to  students.  It  is  a  fine  record  of  a  life's  work.  As 
we  scan  the  familiar  titles,  many  of  us  will  realize  afresh 
how  much  we  owe  to  one  whom  we  have  long  regarded  as 
master  and  guide,  a  debt  which  we  can  only  hope  to  repay 
by  following  his  example  of  industry,  of  single-minded 
devotion  to  the  truth,  of  loyalty  to  the  Christian  Faith. 

G.  A.  C. 

Christ  Chtjrch,  Oxford, 
July  1914. 


CONTENTS 


'    I.  The  Call  to  Conversion 

Isaiah  i.  16,  17 

^   II.  Vision  and  Crisis  . 
Isaiah  xxxii.  1,  2 

III.  Crisis  and  Deliverance 

Isaiah  xxxvii.  31 

rV.  A  Problem  of  Faith     . 
Habakkuk  11.  4    ■ 

v.  The  New  Covenant 

'  Jeremiah  xxxi.  33 

VI.  JUD^A  CaPTA  .  .  .  • 

Lamentations  i.  12 

VII.  The  Worth  of  the  Individual 
Ezekiel  xviii.  2-4 

VIII.  The  Blessedness  of  Zion    . 
Isaiah  XXV.  6 

IX.  The  Ideals  6f  the  Prophets 
Isaiah  xxxv.  1 

\    X.  The  Fall  op  Lucifer   . 
Isaiah  xiv.  12 

XI.  A  Light  to  the  Gentiles    . 
Isaiah  xlix.  6 


PAOE 

1 


20 


34 


44 


50 


62 


73 


81 


93 


103 


xii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

XII.  The  Glory  of  this  House         .        .        ,       ,113 
Haggai  ii.  6,  7 

XIII.  Comparative  Religion        ....  122 

Malachi  i.  11 

XIV.  A  Creed  Corrected    .        .        .       .        .        .    135 

Jonah  iv.  10  f. 

XV.  CiviTAS  Dei 144 

Psalm  Ixxxvii.  3 

XVI.  Vexilla  Regis 152 

Zechariah  ix.  9  f. 

XVII.  The  Kingdom  of  the  Saints     ....    164 
Daniel  vii.  21  f. 

XVIII.  God's  Thoughts 176 

Psalm  cxxxix.  17,  18 

XIX.  A  Mirror  for  Princes 185 

Psalm  Ixxii.  1 

XX.  The  Authorized  Version 195 

Isaiah  xi.  9 


APPENDICES 


Appendix  A       . 213 

B   ' 235 

C 238 


»» 


THE  CALL  TO  CONVERSION 

"  Wash  you,  make  you  clean ;  put  away  the  evil  of  your 
doings  from  before  mine  eyes  ;  cease  to  do  evil :  learn  to  do 
well."— Isaiah  i,  16, 17. 

TN  the  opening  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Isaiah  we 
-■-  listen  to  the  great  arraignment,  as  it  has  been 
called,  in  which  the  prophet  reproaches  the  nation  with 
its  unworthy  discharge  of  the  claims  due  from  it,  with 
its  declension  from  the  high  ideal  set  before  it,  with 
its  ostentatious  observance  of  the  ceremonial  of 
religion  by  which  it  sought  to  excuse  itself  for  the 
sins  of  selfishness  and  violence  so  rife  within ;  we 
hear  the  earnest  invitation  to  repentance  addressed  to 
it,  the  gracious  terms  of  pardon,  if  the  offer  is  responded 
to,  the  judgment  in  store,  if  it  maintains  its  present 
course  unchecked. 

Isaiah's  endeavour  is  to  awaken  in  his  nation  its 
slumbering  spiritual  susceptibilities,  to  arouse  it  by  the 
offer  of  pardon,  and  to  bring  it  back  to  simpleness  and 
sincerity  of  life.  His  aim  is  to  produce  what  would  now 
be  called  a  great  social  and  religious  reform — a  reform, 
however,  consisting  not  merely  in  the  removal  of  palpable 
z 


2    THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

anomalies,  but  having  its  root  in  a  complete  change  of 
heart  in  the  individual.  This  is  what  in  other  parts  of  the 
Bible  is  called  a  turning  back,  or  returning  to  God,  and, 
also  in  the  New  Testament,  a  change  of  mind.  The  heart 
of  the  natural  man  is  perverse,  it  will  go  its  own  way, 
which  is  seldom  the  right  way  :  it  must  be  educated  by 
teaching,  by  the  example  of  one's  elders,  into  the  right 
way,  until,  by  the  grace  of  God  co-operating  with  it, 
it  turns  hack  from  its  own  way,  and  turns  to  God.  By 
a  Latinism,  the  proper  sense  of  which  is  sometimes 
misunderstood,  this  turning  to  God  is  called  by  the 
technical  term  conversion,  that  is,  a  thorough  or  com- 
plete turning.  It  is  a  mistake,  however,  to  suppose  that 
the  change  which  we  call  conversion  always  occurs 
in  exactly  the  same  way ;  the  way  in  which  it  takes 
place  varies  with  the  character  and  antecedents  of  the 
individual :  it  may  be  the  immediate  result  of  a  par- 
ticular influence  or  impression  brought  to  bear  upon  a 
person,  and  then  it  is  sudden  and  readily  observable  ; 
but  in  other  cases,  especially  in  the  case  of  those  who 
from  their  childhood  have  been  brought  under  the  right 
influences,  it  is  gradual,  and  there  is  no  particular 
moment  at  which  a  person  so  trained  is  conscious  of  the 
change  having  come  over  him.  But,  whether  it  is  to 
be  accomplished  gradually  or  suddenly,  the  turning  from 
sin  and  worldliness  and  turning  to  God  is  the  necessary 
antecedent  of  a  holy  life.  And  this  is  what  the  prophets, 
addressing  their  selfish  or  worldly  contemporaries,  often 
say  :  as  Hosea  (xiv.  1  f.), "  0  Israel,  return  unto  the  Lord 
thy  God ;  for  thou  hast  stumbled  through  thy  iniquity. 


THE  CALL  TO  CONVERSION  3 

Take  with  you  words,  and  return  unto  the  Lord ;  and 
say  unto  him,  Take  away  all  iniquity,  and  receive  us 
graciously."  Jeremiah  speaks  similarly  (xviii.  11,  xxxv. 
15) :  "  Return  ye  now  every  one  from  his  evil  way,  and 
amend  your  ways  and  your  doings."  And  in  the  Acts 
it  is  said  of  various  converts  that  they  "  turned  unto  the 
Lord  "  (ix.  35). 

The  other  word  expressing  a  similar  idea  is  the  one 
commonly  rendered  repentance,  but  meaning  properly, 
at  least  in  the  New  Testament,  change  of  mind.  This 
is  the  word  used  by  John  the  Baptist,  when  he  first 
preached  the  baptism  of  repentance — of  change  of  mind 
— unto  remission  of  sins,  and  when  he  came  forward 
to  announce  the  coming  of  Christ :  "  Repent  ye — or, 
change  your  mind — for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at 
hand  " ;  "  bring  forth  fruits  worthy  of  repentance,"  or 
again,  of  "  change  of  mind."  And  St.  Paul,  describing 
before  King  Agrippa  what  he  did  after  his  conversion, 
uses  both  words  together,  telling  him  how  he  went  to 
both  Jews  and  Gentiles  bidding  them  to  change  their, 
mind  and  turn  to  God,  and  do  works  worthy  of  their 
change  of  mind  (Acts  xxvi.  20). 

The  prophet,  in  the  words  of  the  text,  thus  strikes  one 
of  'the  keynotes  of  Advent — ^repentance,  or  change  of 
mind,  a  complete  breaking  with  the  past :  f  Put  away 
the  evil  of  your  doings  from  before  mine  eyes ;  cease  to 
do  evil  "  ;  and  the  adoption  of  a  new  manner  of  life 
for  the  future  :  "  Wash  you,  make  you  clean  ;  learn  to  do 
well ;  seek  judgment,  set  right.the  oppressor,  judge  the 
fatherless,  plead  for  the  widow.'! 


4     THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

The  same  thought  is  set  before  us  by  St.  Paul  in 
phraseology  suggested  by  the  Christian  dispensation, 
in  the  passage  from  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans  which 
the  Church  reads  on  this  first  Sunday  in  Advent, 
i  The  two  faults  which  Isaiah  selects  specially  for 
censure  are  formality  in  religion  and  the  abuse  of  posi- 
tion on  the  part  of  those  enjoying  power  or  authority. 
The  Jews  were  always  prone  to  believe  that,  if  they 
performed  regularly  the  external  offices  of  religion,  their 
duty  towards  God  was  sufficiently  discharged,  and 
moral  obligations  might  be  disregarded.  Moral  defi- 
ciencies, with  at  least  many  of  them,  were  a  matter  of 
indifference,  provided  the  formal  routine  of  festival- 
keeping  and  sacrifice  was  properly  observed  :  it  was 
this,  they  persuaded  themselves,  which  received  God's 
favour,  and  it  was  something  far  easier  to  observe  than 
the  restraints  of  morality.  This  strange  delusion  was 
deeply  rooted  in  Israel's  heart,  and  all  the  great  prophets 
take  occasion  to  attack  it.  Hosea,  in  a  well-known 
passage,  writes  :  "  I  desire  kindness  rather  than  sacrifice, 
and  the  knowledge  of  God  more  than  burnt-offerings  " 
(vi.  6).  And  Isaiah  here  indignantly  declares  that  God 
has  no  delight  in  the  sacrifices  and  pilgrimages  and  formal 
trampling  the  courts  of  His  temple  on  the  part  of  men 
whose  hands  are  full  of  blood  ;  He  will  hide  His  eyes 
from  them,  and  however  much  they  multiply  prayers, 
He  will  not  hear  them :  "  Wash  you,  make  you  clean ; 
put  away  the  evil  of  your  doings  from  before  my  eyes ; 
cease  to  do  evil:  learn  to  do  well."  Isaiah's  words 
contain  a  lesson  for  our  own  times,  and  apply  to  others 


THE  CALL  TO  CONVERSION  § 

besides  those  whose  hands  are  literally  "  full  of  blood  "  ; 
regularity  in  church-going  is  no  cloak  and  no  excuse  for 
dishonesty,  or  hardheartedness,  or  envy,  or  jealousy, 
or  evil-speaking,  or  enmity,  or  other  similar  faults, 
such  as,  it  is  to  be  feared,  are  still  not  unknown  among 
those  who  observe  regularly  the  outward  offices  of 
religion. 

The  other  fault  which  Isaiah  especially  attacked  is 
the  abuse  of  position,  on  the  part  of  those  enjojdng 
power  or  authority.  Corrupt  rulers,  unjust  officials, 
the  maladministration  of  justice,  the  abuse  of  power 
and  wealth  on  the  part  of  those  a  little  better  off  than 
their  neighbours,  leading  to  the  oppression  .in  various 
forms,  of  the  poor  and  the  unprotected,  are  and  always 
have  been  a  crying  evil  in  the  East ;  the  legislation  of 
the  Pentateuch  sought  in  vain  to  guard  against  them  ; 
and  the  prophets  are  constantly  inveighing  against 
them.  Corrupt  judges  and  rulers  are  unheard  of  in 
our  country  at  the  present  day  ;  but  dishonesty,  in 
one  form  or  another  so  prevalent  now  in  trade, 
extortion,  attempts  to  defraud  and  take  other  advan- 
tages of  the  poor,  and  the  crying  abuse  of  what 
are  known  as  "sweated  industries,"  take  among  our- 
selves quite  the  same  place  as  the  oppression  of  the 
fatherless  and  the  widow,  the  violent  seizing  of  other 
men's  lands,  and  the  withholding  their  right  from  the 
poor,  which  are  so  vehemently  denounced  by  the  pro- 
phets. Jerusalem,  we  must  also  remember,  as  chapter 
iii.  shows,  was  in  Isaiah's  time  what  would  now  be 
called  a  fashionable  capital  ;    and  where  wealth  and 


6     THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

fashion  reign  supreme  they  are  nearly  always  accom- 
panied by  selfishness,  inhumanity,  and  oppression. 
Isaiah  deplores  the  deterioration  of  society  in  Judah 
from  its  more  glorious  past.  "  Thy  silver  is  become 
dross,  thy  wine  mixed  with  water ;  thy  princes  are 
rebellious,  and  companions  of  thieves  ;  every  one  loveth 
bribes,  and  foUoweth  after  rewards  ;  they  judge  not 
the  fatherless,  neither  doth  the  cause  of  the  widow 
come  unto  them."  So  he  foretells  the  nemesis  which 
will  overtake  the  too  careless  nation.  "  Ah,  I  will 
ease  me  of  mine  adversaries,  and  avenge  me  of  my 
enemies  ;  and  I  will  turn  mine  hand  against  thee,  and 
smelt  away  as  in  a  furnace  thy  dross,  and  take  away 
all  thy  alloy.  Zion  shall  be  redeemed  by  judgment, 
and  those  that  turn  of  her  by  righteousness  (that  is,  by 
the  righteousness  of  God,  as  declared  in  judgment).  But 
transgressors  and  sinners  shall  be  destroyed  together, 
and  they  that  forsake  the  Lord  shall  be  consumed." 
The  prophet  announces  the  coming  judgment,  and  the 
need  of  true  amendment  of  life  for  those  who  wish  to 
escape  the  final  consequences  of  their  sin ;  only  those 
in  Zion  who  turn  to  God  in  penitence  will  be  delivered 
when  thjp  day  of  judgment  breaks.  The  judgment 
comes  in  many  ways  :  it  falls  upon  nations,  it  falls 
upon  corrupt  governments,  it  falls  upon  individuals. 

The  declarations  of  Isaiah  were  never  fulfilled  precisely 
as  he  anticipated.  Many  of  those  whom  Isaiah  had  in 
mind  escaped,  we  may  be  sure,  all  temporal  retribution 
whatever  ;  and  when  a  judgment  did  fall  upon  Jeru- 
salem, it  never,  we  may  be  equally  sure,  picked  out 


THE  CALL  TO  CONVERSION  7 

■\ 

the    wicked   and   spared   the   righteous/     But   Isaiah 

expresses  an  eternal  truth  in  the  form  in  which  he  and 
his  contemporaries  apprehended  it :    he  declares  the 
retribution  which,  in  the  natural  course  of  God's  pro- 
cedures, or  by  the  natural  operation  of  the  laws  by 
which    human   society    is   regulated,    very   commonly 
falls  upon  those  who  defy  the  cardinal  principles  of 
morality  or  religion.    In  the  age  of  the  prophets  nothing 
was  known  about  either  rewards  or  punishments  in  a 
future  life.     These  only  entered  into  the  sphere  of  re- 
velation at  a  much  later  stage  of  its  history.     In  the 
light  of  the  New  Testament  we  are  entitled  to  extend 
what  Isaiah  says  to  embrace  the  hereafter.    Isaiah  is 
thinking  of  the  nation,  which,  as  a  whole,  and  especially 
in  the  persons  of  its  upper  and  responsible  classes,  he 
regarded  as  corrupt ;   he  himself  no  doubt  has  thus  in 
his  mind  a  great  national  catastrophe  such  as  has  often 
in  history  brought  to  its  end  an  immoral  rule.     But 
retribution  for  sin  may  fall  also  upon  individuals  ;    it 
may,  when  it  comes,  surprise  us  unawares  ;  it  may  take 
the  form  of  some  temporal  penalty  ;   it  may  fall  upon 
us  in  the  hour  of  death,  or  in  the  day  of  final  judgment. 
The  season  of  Advent  may  thus  become  a  time  of 
looking  forward  to,  and  preparation  for,  not  only  our 
annual  commemoration  of  the  first  coming  of  Christ, 
but  also  for  His  second  coming.     Let  us  then  take  to 
heart  the  lesson  that  the  prophet  would  have  us  learn ; 
let  us,  to  use  the  imagery  of   St.    Paul  in  the  Epistle 
for  to-day  and  of   the   Collect,  awake   betimes  out  of 
sleep  :  let  us  cast  off  the  works  of  darkness  and  put 


8     THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

upon  us  the  armour  of  light  by  which  we  may  ward 
off  the  assaults  of  the  Evil  One,  and  be  able  to  fight  as 
Christ's  soldiers,  in  the  kingdom  of  light  into  which 
we  have  been  translated,  that  so,  when  the  time  comes, 
we  may  be  fit  to  appear  in  the  presence  of  our  Lord. 


n 

VISION  AND  CRISIS 

"  Behold,  a  king  shall  reign  in  righteousness,  and  princes  shall 
rule  in  Judgment.  And  a  man  shall  be  as  an  hiding  place  from 
the  wind,  and  a  covert  from  the  tempest ;  as  rivers  of  water 
in  a  dry  place,  as  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land." — 
Isaiah  xxxii.  1,  2. 

TOURING  the  season  of  Advent  the  first  lessons  in 
-*-^  our  services,  on  both  Sundays  and  week-days, 
are  selected  regularly  from  the  Book  of  Isaiah.  The 
selection  is  an  appropriate  one  ;  for  in  no  part  of  the 
Old  Testament  are  the  thoughts  which  we  associate 
with  the  coming  of  Christ  set  forth  with  greater  clear- 
ness and  finer  imaginative  power  than  in  the  prophecies 
grouped  together  in  the  book  which  bears  Isaiah's 
name.  On  the  first  Sunday  in  Advent,  in  the  two 
impressive  chapters  with  which  this  volume  opens,  we 
hear  the  prophet,  in  dignified  and  stately  periods, 
arraigning  his  people  for  their  sins,  and  declaring  the 
judgment  which  in  consequence  is  doomed  to  break 
upon  them  ;  on  the  second  Sunday  we  listen  to  the 
parable  of  the  vineyard,  which  sets  forth  how  imperfectly 
the  people  of  Judah  had  responded  to  the  efforts  and 
intentions  of  their  Divine   Lord,  and  hear  the  woes 


lo        THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

which  the  indignant  prophet  hurls  against  the  sins  of 
his  countrymen ;  while  in  the  afternoon,  as  if  by  con- 
trast, we  gaze  with  wonder  upon  the  picture  which  he 
draws  of  the  gracious  person  and  blissful  rule  of  Israel's 
ideal  King ;  on  the  third  Sunday  and  this  we  have 
presented  to  us  other  delineations  of  the  brighter  future 
which  the  prophet,  as  he  looks  out  beyond  the  troubles 
of  the  present,  discerns  beyond  (chs.  xxv.,  xxvi.,  xxx. 
1-26,  xxxii.). 

The  chapter  from  which  these  words  are  taken  was 
written  during  the  campaign  of  Sennacherib  against 
Jerusalem,  which  so  nearly  ended  in  the  capture  of 
the  city  and  the  ruin  of  Judah.  It  was  a  time  when, 
as  was  natural,  the  temper  of  the  people  was  sorely 
tried ;  the  hosts  of  Assyria  were  rapidly  approaching 
to  wreak,  as  it  seemed,  the  same  fate  upon  Jerusalem 
as  had  just  been  dealt  out  to  the  cities  of  Phoenicia. 
The  danger  to  Judah  was  thus  real,  and  the  alarm, 
we  may  be  sure,  was  correspondingly  great.  It  was 
Isaiah's  call  to  console  and  encourage  his  people  with 
the  assurance  that  the  purpose  of  the  Assyrians  would 
fail,  that  disaster  was  awaiting  them,  and  that  God 
would  interpose  in  His  people's  extremity  and  relieve 
it.  And  in  doing  this  his  eye  glances  now  and  again 
at  the  future,  which  he  pictures  as  beginning  when  the 
troubles  of  the  present  are  past.  The  overthrow  of 
the  Assyrians  is  to  him  an  epoch,  or  turning-point, 
in  the  history  of  his  people  ;  when  that  has  taken 
place  the  defects  and  shortcomings  which  he  deplored 
will  be  at  an  end ;   the  people,  no  longer  imperilled 


VISION   AND  CRISIS  ii 

by  foes  without,  or  oppressed  by  wrong  and  injustice 
within,  will  be  purged  and  regenerated ;  a  golden  age 
will  at  once  begin,  when  Israel's  ideal  character  as  a 
holy  and  godlike  nation  will  be  realized  in  actual  fact. 

And  so  he  depicts  an  age  in  which  "  a  king  will  reign 
in  righteousness,  and  princes  rule  in  judgment."  The 
princes  and  judges  of  Isaiah's  day,  as  we  know  from 
the  terms  in  which  he  alludes  to  them  in  his  own  book, 
had  often  abused  their  office  :  they  consulted  only  their 
own  advantage  or  aggrandizement,  they  thought  little 
of  the  social  and  moral  well-being  of  their  people  ;  the 
poor  and  the  unprotected  seldom  got  their  rights.  In 
the  future  which  the  prophet  contemplates,  all  this  will 
be  changed ;  king  and  princes  will  be  the  devoted 
guardians  of  justice,  none  will  look  to  them  in  vain  for 
wrongs  to  be  redressed  and  innocence  vindicated.  The 
most  indispensable  condition  of  a  happy  people,  the 
integrity  and  disinterestedness  of  its  government  and 
ruling  classes,  will  thus  be  satisfied.  *'  And  a  man 
shall  be  as  an  hiding  place  from  the  wind,  and  a  covert 
from  the  tempest ;  as  rivers  of  water  in  a  dry  place, 
as  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land."  The 
figures  are  drawn  from  those  extremes  of  climate  which 
are  more  noticeable  in  Eastern  countries  than  in  our  own 
— the  violent  rains  in  winter,  threatening  to  drench  and 
sweep  away  all  before  them ;  the  blazing  heat  of  noon 
in  sunmaer,  scorching  vegetation,  and  compelling  the 
exhausted  traveller  to  desist  from  his  journey  and 
betake  himself,  if  he  can,  to  the  refreshment  of  a 
stream  or  the  shelter  of  a  rock  by  the  wayside. 


12         THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

By  a  "  man  "  is  meant  here  any  citizen,  especially 
one  enjoying  some  position  or  influence  ;    and  such  a 
one,  instead  of  taking  advantage  of  his  position,  as  both 
Isaiah  and  Micah  tell  us  the  nobles  of  Judah  did,  to 
oppress  his  less  fortunate  neighbours,  to  encroach  upon 
their  lands,  to  use  their  services  without  proper  pay- 
ment, to  aggrandize  himself  at  their  expense,  will  be 
what    his    position    demands    that    he    should    be, 
the  willing  and  effectual   protector  of  the  poor.     All 
classes,  king,  princes,  individual  citizens,  will  be  pervaded 
by  an   increased  sense  of  public  responsibility  and  of 
the  claims  which  society  has  upon  them,  and  public  duty. 
"  And  the  eyes  of  them  that  see  shall  not  be  closed ; 
and  the  ears  of  them  that  hear  shall  attend."     Those 
who  have  the  faculties  of  intellectual  and  moral  per- 
ception will  then  use  them  ;  they  will  not  be  blinded  by 
nterest  or  prejudice  ;    they  will  be  quick  to  realize 
what  the  times  require,  and  to  discern  the  duties  which 
occasion   may   lay   upon   them.     "  And   the   heart   of 
the  hasty  shall  understand  so   as   to   know,  and  the 
tongue  of  the  stammerer  shall  be  quick  to  speak  plainly  " 
— premature  and  superficial  judgments  will  be  replaced 
by  discrimination  and  sound  knowledge ;  vacillation  will 
give  way  before  the   prompt  and  clear  assertion  of 
principle.    The  prophet  pictures  a  moral  transformation 
as  effected  in  his  nation  ;  the  defects  and  faults  of  the 
present   will   be   removed ;     a   healthy,    prompt,   and 
sound  moral  judgment  will  take  the  place  of  the  im- 
perfect and  corrupt  principles  of  action  which  too  often 
asserted  themselves  in  the  society  which  he  knew. 


VISION   AND  CRISIS  13 

In  illustration,  Isaiah  takes  the  conventional  abuse 
of  certain  moral  terms,  exposes  it,  and  declares  that  it 
shall  cease.  "  The  churl  will  no  longer  be  called  noble, 
nor  the  knave  said  to  be  gentle  " — or,  as  we  might  say 
now,  a  gentleman.  What  kind  of  person  the  prophet 
means  by  a  churl  is  apparent  from  the  next  verse,  where 
his  character  is  unfolded  in  his  actions  :  "  For  the 
churl  speaketh  churlishness,  and  his  heart  worketh  in- 
iquity, to  practise  profaneness,  to  utter  error  as  against 
the  Lord,  to  make  empty  the  soul  of  the  hungry,  and 
to  cause  the  drink  of  the  thirsty  to  fail."  This  and 
other  passages  in  which  the  word  is  used  show  that  it 
denotes  a  person  who  is  blind  to  the  claims  which 
either  God  or  man  has  upon  him,  one  who  is  absorbed 
in  a  sense  of  self,  rough  and  arrogant  in  his  manner, 
impious  towards  God,  selfish,  hard-hearted,  and  in- 
different towards  men.  Such  a  character  is  so  un- 
lovely that  it  is  difficult  to  picture  fully  what  it  is  ; 
but  in  Isaiah's  time  it  seems  to  have  been  viewed  with 
no  disapproval  or  surprise. 

One  would  fain  believe  that  the  character  was  un- 
known now  in  a  Christian  country  ;  but  a  rough  and 
aggressive  self-assertiveness,  not  less  than,  especially  in 
some  strata  of  society,  a  selfish  and  avaricious  disregard 
of  the  just  claims  of  others,  is  still  to  be  met  with  among 
us.  Are  there  none  among  us  to  whom  the  indignant 
words  spoken  by  the  same  prophet  on  another  occasion 
might  not  be  addressed :  "  The  spoil  of  the  poor  is  in 
your  houses ;  what  mean  ye  that  ye  crush  my  people, 
and  grind  the  faces  of  the  poor  ?  saith  the  Lord,  the  Lord 


14  THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

of  hosts "  ?  And  the  knave,  too,  was  looked  upon 
as  a  respectable,  gentlemanly  man:  the  knave  whose 
instruments,  or  tools,  as  the  prophet  goes  on  to  explain, 
were  evil,  and  who  "  devised  wicked  devices  to  destroy 
the  poor  with  lying  words  " — that  is,  who  sought  by  false 
allegations  to  circumvent  the  unfortunate  and  to  de- 
fraud him  of  his  right.  Isaiah  may  have  had  mainly 
in  view  that  crying  evil  in  the  East,  the  corrupt  adminis- 
tration of  justice.  That  happily  is  unknown  in  this 
country,  but  the  same  motive  may  operate  in  different 
ways  ;  and  we  do,  for  instance,  hear  sometimes  of  men 
apparently  respectable,  and  even  holding  good  positions 
in  society,  who  are  in  reality  unprincipled  speculators 
or  adventurers,  and  who  in  various  ways,  for  their  own 
selfish  ends,  take  advantage  of  those  poorer  than  them- 
selves, and  bring  ruin  upon  the  helpless  and  the  un- 
protected. That  is  no  longer  to  be  :  the  moral  sense 
being  quickened,  men  and  actions  will  be  called  by  their 
right  names  ;  neither  the  irreligious  and  illiberal  churl 
nor  the  unprincipled  schemer  will  any  longer  impose 
upon  the  world,  or  enjoy  a  reputation  which  is  not  his 
due.  "  But  the  liberal,  or  noble,  man  devises  noble 
things,  and  in  noble  things  doth  he  persist" — ^his  aims 
and  plans  are  honourable,  and  he  persists  in  them ;  he 
does  not  turn  aside  from  them,  and  his  thoughts  are 
ever  directed  towards  giving  them  effect. 

The  prophet's  ideal  then  includes,  as  has  been  said, 
both  character  and  the  capacity  to  discriminate  char- 
acter. First,  the  prophet  claims  character — consistent 
and  high-minded  regard  of  duty,  especially  in  those 


VISION  AND  CRISIS  15 

holding  public  or  influential  positions  ;  secondly,  he 
claims  the  capacity  to  discriminate  character  :  men  are 
both  to  be  exemplary  themselves,  and  to  appreciate 
what  is  exemplary  in  others  ;  they  are  not  to  be  de- 
ceived by  a  plausible  exterior  ;  the  conventional  abuse 
of  language  is  to  cease  ;  things  are  to  be  called  by  their 
true  names  ;  dishonesty  is  not  to  be  excused  by  calling 
it  the  practice  of  the  trade  ;  faults  are  not  to  be  con- 
doned because  they  are  committed  by  men  holding  a 
high  place  in  society.  Honourable  terms  are  not  to  be 
applied,  in  flattery  or  falsehood,  to  persons  unworthy  of 
them. 

Isaiah  no  doubt  pictured  his  ideal  fulfilled  much  sooner 
than  was  actually  to  be  the  case  ;  he  pictured  the 
moral  transformation  of  life  and  society  taking  place 
as  soon  as  the  Assyrian  danger  was  past,  and  Israel 
could  again  breathe  freely.  Like  the  other  prophets, 
he  did  not  realize  the  complexity  of  human  nature  or 
the  force  of  evil  habit  upon  it ;  he  did  not  perceive  how 
gradual  all  moral  change  must  be  ;  he  did  not  com- 
prehend what  centuries  must  elapse,  and  what  new  and 
varied  influences  must  be  brought  to  bear  upon  human 
nature,  before  the  conditions  of  a  perfect  social  state 
could  be  even  approximately  satisfied.  This  prophecy 
does  not  stand  alone  ;  there  are  many  similar  to  it  in 
Isaiah,  and  some  also  in  other  prophets.  I  will  only 
quote  two :  "  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  that  he  that 
is  left  in  Zion,  and  he  that  remaineth  in  Jerusalem, 
shall  be  called  holy  " — every  one  who  survives  the 
coming  disaster  will  realize  the  ideal  character  of  Israel, 


i6         THE   IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS 

and  be  holy.  And  again :  "  Then  judgment  shall 
dwell  in  the  wilderness,  and  righteousness  shall  abide  in 
the  fruitful  field  :  and  the  work  of  righteousness  shall  be 
peace,  and  the  effect  of  righteousness,  quietness  and  con- 
fidence for  ever  "  (Is.  iv.  3,  xxxii.  17).  Righteousness, 
that  is,  will  dwell  throughout  the  land ;  and  its  effect 
will  be  a  secure  and  contented  people ;  no  sin  will  be 
there  to  mar  the  national  felicity. 

It  was  thus  Isaiah's  fixed  and  firm  conviction  that  such 
a  golden  age  was  destined,  in  God's  good  time,  to  arrive ; 
and  we,  who  live  under  the  Christian  dispensation,  can  at 
least  testify  to  the  benefits  which  have  accrued  to  man- 
kind through  the  life  and  work  of  Christ.  The  spiritual 
and  moral  illumination  possessed  by  the  Jews,  with  the 
many  practical  consequences  resulting  from  it,  are  now 
no  longer  confined  to  a  single  nation ;  they  have  become, 
through  the  work  of  Christ  and  the  agency  of  His 
apostles,  the  inheritance  of  the  entire  world.  Were  it 
not  for  the  influences  exerted  by  Christianity  upon  the 
history  of  Europe,  first  upon  the  Latin  and  afterwards 
upon  the  Teutonic  races,  how  different  would  the 
position  be  in  which  we  ourselves  should  stand  at  the 
present  moment !  The  civilization  of  modern  times, 
though  it  has  its  dark  spots — they  are  sometimes,  alas ! 
very  dark — nevertheless  bear  conspicuous  evidence  of 
the  invigorating  and  ennobling  influences  which  radiate 
from  the  birth  of  Christ  in  the  manger  at  Bethlehem. 
But  the  perfect  age,  of  which  the  prophets  had  visions, 
is  still  far  distant.  The  constitution  of  human  nature 
is  such  that  a  moral  revolution  on  a  large  scale  cannot 


VISION   AND  CRISIS  17 

be  accomplished,  like  a  political  revolution,  in  a  moment, 
by  an  external  force  :  it  can  only  be  brought  about  by 
the  slow  and  gradual  co-operation  of  individuals  ex- 
erted in  the  particular  sphere  in  which  they  each  live. 
The  kingdom  of  heaven  cannot  come  upon  us  suddenly 
from  without :  it  can  only  be  realized  gradually  by  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  men  co-operating  with  the  spirit 
of  God  in  bringing  it  about.  The  advent  of  Christ, 
and  the  consequences  resulting  from  it,  supply  the 
primary  condition  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophet's 
vision.  The  new  motives  and  the  new  influences 
which  Christ,  by  founding  His  Church,  brought  to 
bear  upon  its  members,  constitute  the  power  through 
which  human  life  must  be  regenerated,  and  society, 
as  a  whole,  purified  and  reformed. 

What  then  we,  as  individuals,  have  to  ask  om-selves  is, 
How  far  are  we  setting  before  us  the  prophet's  ideal  ? 
How  far  are  we  exerting  ourselves  to  act  up  to  it  ? 
How  far  are  we  appl)dng  the  advantages  of  our  Christian 
position  for  the  purpose  of  realizing  it  ?  Do  we  fulfil 
our  duties  towards  the  society  in  which  we  move  ?  Are 
we,  as  individual  citizens,  a  "  shelter  "  against  wrong 
and  evil  which  may  come  down  upon  our  neighbours  ? 
We  may  be  a  shelter  and  a  source  of  refreshment  in 
many  ways.  We  may  help  to  relieve  our  neighbours' 
physical  wants.  We  may  help  them  to  fight  against 
untoward  circumstances,  and  prevent  them  from  suc- 
cumbing in  the  struggle  for  life.  We  may  educate 
their  moral  and  spiritual  nature.  We  may  diffuse 
wholesome  principles  of  life  and  action,  we  may  elevate 


i8         THE  IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS 

their  standard  of  duty,  we  may  win  their  hearts  by 
our  personal  influence  and  example.  We  may  help  to 
educate  public  opinion,  and  to  rouse  it  to  the  duty 
of  doing  something,  for  instance,  to  ameliorate  the 
conditions  under  which,  especially  in  our  large  cities, 
many  of  our  poor  live  ;  to  check  the  exaction  from  them 
of  hard  and  ill-paid  labour,  and  to  suppress  that  nefarious 
traffic  in  the  souls  of  the  innocent  of  which  we  have 
heard  lately.  No  one  method  can  be  laid  down  which 
will  suit  all  cases :  though  the  principle  is  the  same, 
it  may  be  indefinitely  varied  in  its  application.  The 
power  and  the  value  of  personal  influence  and  personal 
character  is  what  Isaiah  emphasizes ;  and  our  duty 
is  to  consider  whether  we  are  making  the  most  of 
this,  and  availing  ourselves,  as  fully  as  we  are  able 
to  do,  of  the  opportunities  which  our  position  places  in 
our  way. 

But  further,  we  must  not  be  deficient  in  moral 
insight  and  moral  courage.  "  The  eyes  of  them  that 
see  shall  not  be  closed,  and  the  ears  of  them  that  hear 
shall  attend."  Our  moral  sense  must  be  on  the  alert. 
We  must  be  quick  to  discern  the  duties  that  we  have 
to  meet,'  and  moral  principles  must  be  asserted  with 
clearness  and  decision.  The  odious  characters  whom 
the  prophet  so  unsparingly  exposes  must  be  recognized 
at  their  true  worth ;  they  must  not  impose  upon  our 
good  nature  or  our  politeness ;  they  must  be  dealt  with 
as  they  deserve.  Isaiah  names  types  of  character : 
of  the  particular  examples  which  he  selects  we  may 
have  no  experience,    but  there  are  others  of  the  same 


VISION   AND  CRISIS  19 

kind.  The  principle  which  he  demands  is  that  merely 
conventional  standards  should  be  abandoned  ;  society 
should  not  be  ruled  indiscriminately,  harmfully  as  well 
as  harmlessly,  by  fashion  or  custom  ;  men  should  be 
recognized  at  their  true  value,  and  treated  accordingly. 
Society  is  sometimes  too  apt  to  condone  faults,  and 
even  vices,  if  they  can  shelter  themselves  under  the 
cloak  of  respectability,  or  if  wealth,  or  success,  or 
custom  blind  men  to  their  real  nature.  But  moral 
insight  and  moral  courage  must  assert  themselves ; 
nobility  of  character  will  so  come  gradually  to  pre- 
ponderate, and  the  standards  of  society,  where  they 
are  defective,  will  be  elevated  and  ennobled. 

Such  are  some  of  the  thoughts  suggested  by  Isaiah's 
picture  of  the  golden  future  :  personal  character, 
personal  influence,  personal  exertion,  directed,  in 
however  humble  a  degree,  towards  the  realization  of 
a  great  ideal.  By  the  blessing  of  God  and  the 
sustaining  grace  of  His  Holy  Spirit  may  we  keep  this 
high  ideal  before  our  eyes,  and  may  we  be  enabled, 
each  one  of  us,  to  contribute  something  towards  this 
end! 


Ill 

CRISIS  AND  DELIVERANCE 

"  And  the  remnant  that  is  escaped  of  the  house  of  Judah 
shall  again  take  root  downward^  and  bear  fruit  upward." — 
Isaiah  xxxvii.  31. 

/  TN  the  year  which  preceded  the  invasion  of  Senna- 
V-*-  cherib,  and  while  the  kingdom  of  Judah  remained 
tributary  to  Assyria,  a  strong  party  in  Jerusalem  was 
aiming  at  a  revolt,  and  trusting  in  the  help  of  Egypt 
to  effect  their  purpose.  Isaiah  foresaw  the  disastrous 
consequences  which  such  a  course  would  entail,  and 
endeavoured  to  dissuade  his  people  from  persisting  in 
it.  His  warnings  were,  however,  uttered  in  vain  ;  and 
the  30th  and  31st  chapters  of  his  book  allude  to  the 
embassies  which  nevertheless  were  being  sent,  once  and 
again,  to  'complete  the  alliance  with  Egypt.  Hezekiah, 
it  seems,  held  out  for  some  time  ;  but  at  length  he  was 
no  longer  able  to  resist  the  wishes  of  the  statesmen  and 
people  in  Judah ;  and  in  the  following  year,  seven  hundred 
and  one  years  before  Christ,  the  decisive  step  was  taken. 
As  we  learn  from  the  contemporary  Assjrrian  inscriptions 
recently  discovered,  this  step  was  not  taken  by  the 
people  of  Judah  alone  ;  many  of  the  cities  of  Phoenicia 


CRISIS  AND  DELIVERANCE  21 

and  the  Philistines  joined  with  them  in  what  was,  in 
fact,  a  concocted  plan  of  revolt.  Sennacherib  tells  us 
himself  of  the  measm-es  which  he  immediately  took  to 
punish  his  rebellious  subjects.  First,  he  led  his  army 
to  Phoenicia,  and  reduced  Sidon  and  the  other  revolting 
cities  there.  Then  he  turned  southwards,  marching  with 
his  army  all  along  the  seacoast  of  Palestine  into  the 
country  of  the  Philistines,  and  subdued  the  Philistine 
cities  of  Ashkelon  and  Ekron,  the  troops  from  Egypt 
sent  to  assist  the  Ekronites  being  defeated  and  obliged 
to  retire.  It  was  probably  just  when  Sennacherib's 
army  was  starting  on  its  march  to  the  south  that 
the  great  prophecy  contained  in  Isaiah's  10th  chapter 
was  delivered.  The  news  of  Sennacherib's  movements 
would,  we  may  be  sure,  be  received  in  Jerusalem  with 
anxiety ;  nor  would  the  alarm  be  diminished  when  it 
became  known  what  successes  he  was  gaining  in 
Phoenicia ;  and  when  the  report  arrived  that  his  vast 
army  was  preparing  to  move  southwards,  the  politicians 
who  a  year  previously  had  derided  Isaiah's  forebodings 
must  have  begun  to  have  their  misgivings.  Isaiah, 
though  he  disapproved  of  the  step  which  had  been 
taken,  and  which  was  the  direct  cause  of  the  present 
danger,  nevertheless  does  not  abandon  his  country 
in  its  trouble,  or  leave  it  to  despair ;  his  words  are 
buoyant  with  encouragement  and  hope.  Certainly 
he  does  not  conceal  from  his  countrymen  that  the 
suffering  and  anxiety  entailed  by  their  mistaken  step 
cannot  be  averted ;  but  the  ultimate  issue  is  painted  by 
him  more  brightly  than  ever.   The  Assyrian,  proud  though 


22        THE  IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

he  be  of  his  strength,  is  embarking  upon  an  enterprise 
which  is  doomed  to  failure ;  and  Isaiah  uses  the 
grandest  imagery  to  describe  his  fall.  He  pictures 
the  Assyrian  battalions  as  the  trees  of  a  huge  forest, 
which,  however,  are  destroyed  by  a  sudden  conflagra- 
tion, so  that  at  the  end  of  a  single  day  a  child  may 
count  them. 

"  Therefore  shall  the  Lord,  Jehovah  of  hosts,  send 
upon  his  fat  ones  leanness  ;  and  underneath  his  glory 
shall  be  kindled  a  burning  like  the  burning  of  fire. 
And  the  Light  of  Israel  shall  be  for  a  fire,  and  his  Holy 
One  for  a  flame  ;  and  it  shall  burn  and  devour  his 
thorns  and  briers  in  one  day.  And  the  remnant  of 
the  trees  of  his  forest  shall  be  few,  that  a  child  shall  write 
them  "  (x.  16-19).  z 

But  Judah,  though  it  escapes,  will  not  escape  un- 
harmed ;  it  will  be  a  time  of  trial  for  all ;  many  will 
suffer  and  perish  in  the  catastrophe,  but  those  who 
do  escape  will  have  their  characters  purified,  and  will 
on  longer  rely  upon  false  helps. 

"  In  that  day,  the  remnant  of  Israel,  and  they  that  are 
escaped  out  of  the  house  of  Jacob,  shall  no  more  again 
stay  upon  him  that  smote  him;  but  shall  stay  upon 
Jehovah,  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  in  truth.  A  remnant 
shall  return,  even  the  remnant  of  Jacob,  unto  the 
mighty  God.  For  though  thy  people  Israel  be  as  the 
sand  of  the  sea,  only  a  remnant  of  them  shall  return  :  a 
consumption  is  determined,  overflowing  with  righteous- 
ness "  (x.  20-22) — that  is,  an  exterminating  judgment, 
giving  effect  with  a  torrent's  force  to  God's  righteous 


CRISIS  AND  DELIVERANCE  23 

purpose  and  sweeping  all  away  except  a  "remnant," 
is  decreed  to  be  enacted  upon  the  earth. 

"  Therefore,  0  ray  people,  be  not  afraid  of  the  Assyrian 
though  he  smite  thee  with  the  rod,  and  lift  up  the  stafi 
against  thee  after  the  manner  of  Egypt.  .  .  .  Behold,  the 
Lord,  Jehovah  of  hosts,  shall  lop  the  bough  with  terror  : 
and  the  high  ones  of  stature  shall  be  hewn  down,  and 
the  haughty  shall  be  humbled.  And  he  shall  cut  down 
the  thickets  of  the  forest  with  iron,  and  Lebanon  shall 
fall  by  a  mighty  one  "  (x.  24,  33  f.). 

,This  promise  of  the  failure  of  Assyria  must  have  been 

helpful  in  restoring  confidence  in  Jerusalem.  Neverthe- 
less, Sennacherib  still  pressed  forward,  and  after  his 
successes  against  the  Philistine  cities,  proceeded  to 
attack  Judah.  The  narrative  in  the  Book  of  Isaiah 
begins  with  the  statement  that  "  he  came  up  against  all 
the  fenced  cities  of  Judah,  and  took  them"  (xxxvi.  1). 
His  own  inscription  speaks  still  more  explicitly  :  "  Forty- 
six  of  his  strong  cities,  fortresses,  and  smaller  towns  of 
their  border  without  number,  I  besieged  and  took; 
200,000  people,  small  and  great,  male  and  female,  and 
cattle  without  number,  I  carried  ofi  as  spoil.  Hezekiah 
himself,  as  a  bird  in  a  cage,  in  Jerusalem  his  royal  city, 
I  shut  up.  His  cities  which  I  had  plundered,  from  his 
domain  I  cut  off,  and  gave  to  the  Philistine  kings  of 
Ashdod,  Ekron,  and  Gaza.  I  diminished  his  territory." 
The  description  indicates  with  sufficient  plainness  the 
desperate  condition  to  which  Jerusalem  and  Judah  were 
reduced  :  the  country  overrun  by  the  Assyrian  soldiers, 
the   capital    blockaded,    numerous   cities   and    villages 


24        THE  IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS 

captured,  men  and  cattle  carried  ofE  as  captives,  parts  of 
the  territory  handed  over  to  their  Philistine  foes.  The 
description,  it  is  true,  is  confined  to  the  outlines  of 
events ;  but  we  can  supplement  it  with  details  suggested 
by  allusions  in  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah  or  otherwise 
probable  under  the  circumstances.  We  may  think  of 
the  confusion  within  the  city  :  all  ordinary  occupations, 
whether  of  business  or  amusement,  at  a  standstill, 
fugitives  hurrying  in  for  shelter,  soldiers  and  their 
leaders  returning  with  nothing  glorious  to  report ;  others 
at  work  repairing  the  fortifications,  levelling  the  houses 
and  trees  outside  which  could  give  shelter  to  the  besiegers, 
storing  up  water  within  the  city  in  the  event  of  a  siege ; 
and  then  in  the  distance,  clouds  of  smoke  and  flame 
day  after  day  rising  up,  telling  of  some  city  or  village 
destroyed  by  the  invaders.  As  Isaiah  says  in  another 
part  of  his  book  :  "  Your  country  is  desolate,  and  your 
cities  burned  with  fire;  your  land,  strangers  are  devouring 
it  in  your  presence,  and  it  is  desolate  like  the  overthrow 
of  strangers  "  (i.  7).  Probably  to  this  period  belongs 
the  22nd  chapter  of  Isaiah,  telling  of  an  assault 
made  upon  the  capital — the  valleys  near  Jerusalem 
filled  with  chariots,  horsemen  outside  the  gates,  Elam 
bearing  the  quiver,  and  Kir  uncovering  the  shield — a 
day,  as  the  people  calls  it,  of  discomfiture  and  treading 
down  and  confusion  from  the  Lord,  Jehovah  of  hosts 
(xxii.  5-7). 

In  all  this  famine  and  distress  what  was  to  be  done  ? 
Hezekiah  had  but  one  course  open  to  him ;  he  could 
but  submit.    He  sent  to  the  Assyrian  king  at  Lachish, 


CRISIS  AND  DELIVERANCE  25 

about  thirty-five  miles  south-west  of  Jerusalem,  the 
message :  "I  have  offended;  return  from  me:  that  which 
thou  puttest  upon  me  I  will  bear  "  (2  Kings  xviii.  14). 
The  offer  was  accepted ;  an  immense  amount  of  gold 
and  silver  was  exacted;  and,  naturally,  now  Hezekiah 
deemed  himself  secure.  But  something — we  do  not 
know  what — occurred  to  arouse  Sennacherib's  sus- 
picion, or  to  make  him  dissatisfied  with  the  engage- 
ment he  had  concluded,  and  he  sent  again  demanding 
the  unconditional  surrender  of  Jerusalem. 

Endeavours  were  made  to  conciliate  him  and  obtain 
more  favourable  terms ;  but  Hezekiah's  envoys  sent  to 
Lachish  returned,  saying  that  their  efforts  had  been 
unsuccessful.  The  Assyrian  king  remained  unmoved. 
The  dismay  in  Jerusalem  must  now  have  been  indescrib- 
able, and  the  fall  of  the  city  could  have  seemed  to  be 
only  a  question  of  time.  Again  Isaiah  comes  forward 
with  the  messages  of  assurance  and  hope  contained  in 
his  33rd  chapter.  "  Woe  to  thee  that  spoilest,  and 
thou  wast  not  spoiled ;  and  dealest  barbarously,  and 
they  dealt  not  barbarously  with  thee  !  when  thou  hast 
ceased  to  spoil,  thou  shalt  be  spoiled ;  and  when  thou 
hast  made  an  end  to  deal  barbarously,  they  shall  deal 
barbarously  with  thee"  —  a  just  retribution  will 
overtake  thee  ;  the  fate  thou  preparedst  for  others  will 
recoil  upon  thyself.  A  moment  later  the  prophet's 
inspired  vision  sees  the  enemy  in  flight — "  At  the  noise 
of  the  tumult  the  peoples  are  fled ;  at  the  lifting  up  of 
thyself  the  nations  are  scattered.  And  your  spoil  shall 
be  gathered  as  the  caterpillar  gathereth  :    as  locusts 


26    THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

leap  shall  they  leap  upon  it "  (xxxiii.  3  f.).  He  draws 
in  passing  a  pitiable  picture  of  the  state  to  which  Judah 
has  been  reduced :  "  Behold,  their  valiant  ones  cry- 
without  ;  the  ambassadors  of  peace " — the  envoys 
retiring  from  Lachish — "  weep  bitterly." 

"  The  highways  lie  waste,  the  wayfaring  man 
ceaseth  :  he  hath  broken  the  covenant,  he  hath  despised 
the  cities,  he  regardeth  not  man," — alluding  to  the 
perfidy  of  the  Assyrians,  and  their  high-handed  treat- 
ment of  whatever  and  whoever  came  in  their  way.  The 
country  itself  sympathizes  with  the  sufferings  of  its 
inhabitants  :  "  The  land  mourneth  and  languisheth  : 
Lebanon  is  ashamed  and  withereth  away :  Sharon  is 
like  a  desert.  Now  will  I  arise,  saith  Jehovah ;  now  will 
I  lift  up  myself ;  now  will  I  be  exalted.  Ye  shall  conceive 
chaff,  ye  shall  bring  forth  stubble  :  your  breath  is  a 
fire  that  shall  devour  you  "  (xxxiii.  7  ff.). 

And  he  passes  on  to  contemplate  the  time  when  the 
anxieties  of  the  present  will  be  all  past : 

"  Thou  shalt  not  see  the  fierce  people,  the  people 
of  a  deep  speech  that  thou  canst  not  perceive ;  of  a 
stammering  tongue,  that  thou  canst  not  understand." 
Zion  will  then  be  at  rest,  secure  from  all  pain  or 
harm.  "  Look  upon  Zion,  the  city  of  our  sacred  feasts  : 
thine  eyes  shall  see  Jerusalem  a  quiet  habitation,  a 
tent  that  shall  not  be  removed,  the  stakes  whereof 
shall  never  be  plucked  up,  neither  shall  any  of  the  cords 
thereof  be  broken.  .  .  .  And  the  inhabitant  shall  not 
say  in  that  day,  I  am  sick  :  the  people  that  dwell 
therein  shall  be  forgiven  their  iniquity  "  {ibid.  vv.  19-24). 


CRISIS  AND   DELIVERANCE 


27 


The  deliverance,  however,  was  not  at  hand  yet.  Sen- 
nacherib sends  the  Rabshakeh  from  Lachish,  accom- 
panied by  a  great  army,  to  demand  the  surrender  of 
Jerusalem.  This  officer  was  a  clever,  fluent  diplomatist, 
able  to  make  the  best  use  of  the  situation,  and  to 
appeal  forcibly  to  popular  feeling  and  prejudice.  His 
aim  is  partly  to  intimidate  the  people,  partly  by 
delusive  promises  to  make  them  dissatisfied  with 
Hezekiah  and  rise  up  against  him.  And  there  are 
certainly  elements  of  truth  in  his  arguments.  With 
his  first  words  he  touches  the  sore  point  in  Judah's 
policy,  her  trust  in  Egypt.  "  Lo,  thou  trustest  in  the 
staff  of  this  broken  reed,  on  Egypt ;  whereon  if  a  man 
lean,  it  will  go  into  his  hand,  and  pierce  it :  so  is  Pharaoh 
king  of  Egypt  to  all  that  trust  in  him."  His  estimate 
of  the  help  to  be  derived  from  Egypt  (xxxvi.  6) 
does  not  differ  from  the  estimate  of  Isaiah  himself. 
He  proceeds  to  undermine  the  religious  confidence  of 
the  people.  Hezekiah  had  abolished  many  of  the 
local  sanctuaries,  where  the  rites  were  often  con- 
taminated by  heathen  practices,  and  directed  all  men 
to  worship  in  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem. 

The  Rabshakeh  knew  that  many  Jews  would  look 
upon  this  disestablishment  of  religion  as  likely  to  incur 
Jehovah's  displeasure,  and  turn  Him  against  them ; 
so  he  takes  advantage  of  their  feeling  and  says :  "  If 
thou  say  unto  me,  We  trust  in  Jehovah  our  God :  is 
not  this  he,  whose  high  places  and  altars  Hezekiah 
hath  taken  away,  and  hath  said  to  Judah  and  to  Jeru- 
salem,   Ye   shall    worship    before    this   altar  ?  "    {ibid 


28        THE  IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

ver.  7).  Jehovah,  he  argues,  would  not  defend  worship- 
pers who  had  thus  treated  His  sanctuaries,  and  forbidden 
people  to  worship  Him  as  they  had  long  been  accus- 
tomed to  do.  Then  he  puts  forward,  with  perfect 
truth,  the  military  strength  of  Assyria,  and  the  com- 
parative feebleness  of  that  of  Judah.  "  How  canst  thou 
turn  away  the  face  of  one  captain  of  the  least  of  my 
master's  servants  ?  "  "I  will  give  thee  two  thousand 
horses  if  thou,  for  thy  part,  canst  set  riders  upon  them  " 
{ibid.  vv.  8,  9).  And  then  there  follows  the  tempting 
promise,  designed  to  induce  the  people  to  abandon 
their  own  king  and  trust  to  Sennacherib :  "  Make  a 
treaty  with  me,  and  come  out  to  me ;  and  eat  every 
one  of  his  vine,  and  every  one  of  his  fig-tree,  and  drink 
every  one  the  water  of  his  own  cistern :  until  I  come 
and  take  you  away  to  a  land  like  your  own  land,  a 
land  of  corn  and  must,  a  land  of  bread-corn  and  vine- 
yards "  {ibid.  vv.  16,  17).  No  other  nation  had  suc- 
cessfully resisted  the  Assyrians ;  only  twenty  years 
before  Samaria  had  been  taken  by  them,  and  its  in- 
habitants sent  into  exile ;  can  Jerusalem  hope  to 
escape  ?  The  alarm  both  of  Hezekiah  and  his  ministers 
is  grea4; ;  but  the  king's  faith  does  not  desert  him, 
and  he  sends  to  Isaiah  to  crave  his  intercession  for 
"  the  remnant  that  is  left."  The  remnant  that  is  left. 
The  expression  seems  to  fall  from  the  narrator  by 
chance  ;  but  it  acquires  significance  in  the  light  of 
the  history,  which  shows  what  great  losses  in  captives 
or  in  slain  the  Jews  had  experienced.  Isaiah  answers 
with  unabated  confidence  ;    Hezekiah  has  no  ground 


CRISIS  AND  DELIVERANCE  29 

for  alarm  :  "  I  will  put  a  spirit  in  him  " — that  is,  an  un- 
explained impulse  will  seize  him — "  and  he  shall  hear  a 
rumour  " — some  alarming  tidings — "  and  return  to  his 
own  land  "  (xxxvii.  7).  Encouraged  thus  by  Isaiah, 
the  people  resist  the  Rabshakeh's  appeals  alike  to  their 
hopes  and  to  their  fears.  He  returns  to  Sennacherib 
with  the  reply  that  his  mission  had  proved  unsuccessful. 
But  Sennacherib  was  still  uneasy  :  a  report  of  move- 
ments on  the  part  of  the  Egyptians  had  reached  him, 
and  he  sends  a  second,  more  peremptory  message  to 
Hezekiah,  declaring  that  his  trust  in  God  is  ill-founded, 
and  again  pointing  to  the  inability  of  any  nation  or 
fortress  to  resist  Assyria.  Hezekiah  spreads  the  taunting, 
defiant  letter  before  the  Lord,  and  entreats  His  help 
in  prayer. 

The  crisis  was  indeed  a  real  one.  The  reiterated 
demand  for  the  surrender  of  Jerusalem  could  only  mean 
that,  if  not  complied  with,  Sennacherib  would  himself 
advance  against  the  city,  and  bring  to  bear  upon  it 
those  formidable  engines  of  attack  which  made  the 
name  of  Assyria  dreaded  in  antiquity.  The  boast  of 
Sennacherib  was  a  true  one  :  one  city  after  another 
had  fallen  before  him ;  Jerusalem  was  stripped  of  her 
allies ;  since  no  help  was  to  be  expected  from  Egypt, 
her  territory  was  at  the  mercy  of  the  enemy:  must 
not  resistance  have  seemed  desperate,  and  were  not 
the  chances  incalculably  against  her  escape  ?  To  the 
human  eye  the  fate  of  the  city  must  have  seemed  sealed. 
And  we,  who  look  back  upon  the  crisis  in  the  light  of 
history,  can  see  what  a  momentous  one  it  was,  and 


30        THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

how  much  more  turned  upon  it  than  the  welfare  of  a 
single  nation.  If  the  Jews  had  now,  like  the  ten  tribes 
of  Samaria  twenty  years  before,  been  scattered  among 
the  heathen,  what  would  have  been  the  future  of  their 
religion  ?  What  would  have  become  of  the  teaching 
of  the  prophets  ?  How  could  the  Christ  have  come  in 
the  flesh  ?  Would  there  have  been  such  a  thing  as 
Christianity  ?  The  issue  was  indeed  critical :  it  was 
fraught  with  momentous  consequences  for  the  entire 
world. 

Yet  Isaiah  never  wavered.  His  faith  remained 
unshaken,  his  prevision  was  clear  and  true.  From  the 
first  he  had  seen  distinctly.  In  the  Ariel  prophecy  of  a 
year  previously  he  had  said :  "  The  multitude  of  the 
terrible  ones  shall  be  as  chaff  that  passeth  away :  yea,  it 
shall  be  in  an  instant  suddenly"  (xxix.  5) ;  and  often 
since  he  had  repeated,  under  different  imagery,  the 
same  thought.  Though  the  people  were  in  terror,  the 
messengers  of  peace  "  weeping  bitterly,"  the  king  and  his 
counsellors  helpless,  every  prospect  of  relief  cut  off,  his 
confidence  never  forsook  him :  the  more  closely  the  toils 
seemed  drawn  about  Jerusalem,  the  more  boldly  he 
announced  his  nation's  deliverance,  the  brighter  were  his 
visions  of  its  future  glory.  And  so  now  in  the  supreme 
hour  of  his  country's  danger  he  comes  forward  with  the 
fine  prophecy  in  which  the  virgin  stronghold  of  Jerusalem 
is  represented  as  disdainfully  mocking  her  proud  assail- 
ant in  his  defeat,  and  watching  derisively  his  retreat- 
ing footsteps.  "  The  virgin,  the  daughter  of  Zion, 
hath  despised  thee,  and  laughed  thee  to  scorn  ;    the 


CRISIS  AND   DELIVERANCE  31 

daughter  of  Jerusalem  hath  shaken  her  head  after  thee  " 
(xxxvii.  22).     The  Assyrian  had  boasted  that  he  could 
lead  his  army  where  he  would,  over  mountain  chains, 
through  thick  forests,  across  barren  deserts  ;    he  had 
indeed   laid   waste     many   cities   and   subdued   many 
nations,  but  that  was  because  he  had  been  an  instru- 
ment,  though   an  unconscious   one,  in  the  hands   of 
Providence.    His  aims  were,  however,  selfish  ones  ;  they 
were  those  of  a  despot  who  sought  only  the  aggrandize- 
ment of  his  empire,  and  had  no  desire  to  benefit  or 
criticize    humanity ;     and   now    when   he   essayed    to 
destroy  Israel  and  thwart  the  growth  of  all  true  religion 
upon  earth,  he  could  no  longer  hope  to  succeed  :  "  There- 
fore will  I  put  my  hook  in  thy  nose,  and  my  bridle  in 
thy  lips  " — ^like  some  wild  animal  ignominiously  cap- 
tured— "  and  turn  thee  back  by  the  way  by  which  thou 
camest."     "  By  the  way  that  he  came,  by  the  same 
shall  he  return,  and  into  this  city  he  shall   not   come, 
saith  the  Lord  "   (xxxvii.  29,  34).     It  was  perhaps  the 
most  dramatic  moment  in  Israel's  history.     The  life  or 
death  of  the  nation  was  trembling  in  the  balance.     On 
one  side  stood  all  human  probabilities,  all  that  human 
eye  could  foresee   or  human   skill  calculate  ;    on  the 
other,  the  unwavering  promise  of  Isaiah.     Which  would 
the  event  justify  ?     The  conflict  of  hopes  and  fears  must 
have  been  intense,  the  suspense  while  it  lasted  more 
agonizing  than  can  be  imagined.     We  do  not  know 
particulars  ;    we  do  not  know  how  the  tidings  reached 
the  city,  or  with  what   revulsions   of   feeling  it  was 
received ;    all  that   the   narrative  says  is  that   "  the 


32         THE   IDEALS   OF  THE  PROPHETS 

angel  of  the  Lord  went  forth,  and  smote  in  the  camp 
of  the  Assyrians  185,000  men  "  ;  and  that  Sennacherib, 
king  of  Assyria,  departed,  and  went  and  returned,  and 
dwelt  at  Nineveh  {ibid.  ver.  37).  It  was  Isaiah's  promise 
which  the  event  justified.  No  doubt  the  immediate 
cause  of  the  disaster  was  a  pestilence,  attributed, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  pestilence  in  David's  time,  to 
the  operation  of  an  angel.  Sennacherib's  army  was 
not  struck  down  outside  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  for 
there  is  reason  to  suppose  that  it  was  on  its  way  into 
Egypt ;  and  the  pestilence  was  produced  probably  by 
the  unhealthy  miasmas  of  the  Serbonian  bog — a  huge 
swamp  on  the  borders  of  Egypt  —  the  malaria  from 
which  has  been  known  also  in  more  recent  times  to 
engender,  more  than  once,  a  desolating  plague. 

Thus,  under  Providence,  Jerusalem  was  saved ;  and 
the  benefits  accruing  to  the  world,  from  Israel's  com- 
pletion of  its  destined  course  of  history,  were  preserved. 
It  is  one  of  the  signal  occasions  in  which  we  can 
trace,  acting  by  invisible  and  mysterious  means,  the 
hand  of  God  in  history.  The  "  remnant  of  the  house 
of  Judah,"  which  had  all  but  perished,  and  which  to 
human  eye  seemed  to  be  lost,  was  again  able  "  to  take 
root  downward,  and  bear  fruit  upward."  If  Jerusalem 
had  then  been  surrendered  or  captured,  all  that  had 
been  gained  by  the  work  of  Isaiah  and  other  prophets 
would  have  been  lost  to  Israel  and  the  world.  The 
spiritual  religion  of  which  Isaiah  was  the  exponent  was 
not  yet  capable  of  existing  apart  from  the  nationality 
in  which  it  was  born ;    and  hence  the  preservation  of 


CRISIS  AND  DELIVERANCE  33 

the  Hebrew  State  was  of  paramount  importance  for  the 
conservation  of  the  true  knowledge  of  God.  Outside 
the  narrow  field  of  Jewish  literature,  a  faint  and  dis- 
torted echo  of  the  retreat  of  Sennacherib  is  all  that  is 
to  be  heard  ;  in  the  victorious  progress  of  the  Assyrian 
monarchy  it  barely  produced  a  momentary  interrup- 
tion ;  Sennacherib's  inscriptions  tell  us  how  he  resumed 
his  campaigns,  in  other  directions,  the  very  next  year. 
And  yet,  as  has  been  said,  "  the  event  has  had  more 
influence  on  the  life  of  subsequent  generations  than 
all  the  conquests  of  Assyrian  kings ;  for  it  assm-ed  the 
permanent  vitality  of  that  religion  which  was  the 
cradle  of  Christianity  "  ;  1  and  so  it  is  that,  though 
2600  years  have  since  rolled  by,  we  listen  year  by  year 
to  the  tragic  story  of  Judah's  great  deliverance,  and 
are  grateful  to  the  Providence  which  so  shaped  the 
course  of  history  that,  as  Isaiah  said,  a  remnant  should 
escape,  and  hand  on  to  future  generations  the  love  of 
the  living  God. 

»  W.  lloLertson  Smith,  Prophets  of  Israel,  j).  356. 


IV 
A  PROBLEM  OF  FAITH 

"  Behold,  his  soul  is  puifed  up,  it  is  not  upright  in  him  :   but 
the  just  shall  live  by  his  faithfulness." — Habakkuk  ii.  4. 

rriHE  prophet  Habakkuk  lived  in  anxious  and 
-'-  troubled  times.  The  political  and  other  difficulties 
were  beginning  which  where  destined  within  less  than 
twenty  years  to  bring  the  kingdom  of  Judah  to  its 
close,  and  cause  the  exile  of  its  inhabitants  to  Babylonia. 
On  the  one  hand,  the  social  condition  of  Judah  was 
anything  but  what  it  should  be.  In  spite  of  the  reform 
carried  through  by  Josiah  about  twenty  years  previously, 
the  mass  of  the  people,  as  we  learn  from  allusions  in 
Jeremiah,  had  speedily  fallen  back  ;  though  there  were, 
indeed,  still  faithful  souls  left,  lawlessness,  injustice, 
dishonesty  and  oppression  were  only  too  conspicuous 
in  the  nation  at  large,  and  idolatry  was  widely  and 
openly  practised.  Jehoiakim  the  king  was  a  selfish 
and  tyrannical  ruler.  The  nobles  were  ready  enough 
to  follow  his  example  ;  so  that,  by  the  time  when 
Habakkuk  T\T:ote,  the  old  evils  of  Manasseh's  reign 
began  to  break  out  again.  On  the  other  hand,  political 
dangers  threatened.     The  age  was  one  in  which  the 

34 


A  PROBLEM   OF  FAITH  35 

empires  of  Egypt  on  the  west  and  the  Chaldaeans  on 
the  east  were  contending  for  supremacy,  and  Judah, 
which  lay  between  them,  was  one  of  the  countries  for 
which  they  both  disputed.  Jehoialdm  owed  his  throne 
to  Pharaoh  Necho,  king  of  Egypt;  but  Jehoialdm 
had  only  been  reigning  for  four  years  when  the  power 
of  Egypt  was  utterly  shattered  by  a  great  defeat  which 
it  sustained,  at  Carchemish  on  the  Euphrates,  by  the 
Chaldaeans  under  Nebuchadnezzar.  Jeremiah  at  once 
perceived  the  crucial  significance  of  this  victory ;  he 
saw  that  it  was  the  design  of  Providence  that  Nebu- 
chadnezzar should  acquire  supremacy  over  the  whole 
world,  so  far  as  it  was  then  known  ;  and  counselled  his 
people  accordingly  to  accept  the  inevitable,  and  acqui- 
esce in  a  position  of  dependence  upon  the  Chaldaeans. 
Already  rumours  respecting  this  nation  of  warriors, 
their  ferocious  character,  their  insatiable  lust  of  con- 
quest, their  irresistible  prowess,  had  reached  Jerusalem. 
It  was  clear  that  before  long  they  would  seek  to 
include  Judah  in  their  empire ;  timely  submission 
might  avert  further  disaster ;  resistance  to  their 
demands  would  be  fatal. 

To  Habakkuk  the  outlook  suggested  perplexity  and 
questionings.  There  seemed  to  him  to  be  a  conflict 
of  principles  which  he  could  not  fully  understand. 
These  questionings  are  set  forth  in  his  first  chapter, 
and  the  passage  which  I  have  taken  as  my  text  is  the 
answer  to  them.  The  book  opens  in  the  form  of  a 
dialogue  between  the  prophet  and  his  God.  Habakkuk 
contemplates    with    dismay    the    reign    of    lawlessness 


36        THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

around  him  in   Judah.     Long  and  earnestly  has  he 
pleaded  with  God  to  interpose  :  "  0  Lord,  how  long  shall 
I  cry,  and  thou  wilt  not  hear  ?     I  cry  out  unto  thee  of 
violence,  and  thou  wilt  not  save,"  but  no  answer  has 
come  ;  evil  rears  its  head  unchecked  and  unremedied  ; 
iniquity,  violence,  plundering,  strife,  contention,  uni- 
versal paralysis  of  law  and  order  are  what  everywhere 
prevails :  "  Therefore  law  is  benumbed,  and  judgment 
doth  never  go  forth  ;   the  wicked  doth  compass  about 
the  righteous  ;  judgment  goeth  forth  perverted."     These 
are  the  sights  he  is  compelled  to  witness  day  by  day 
around  him  in  Judah.     Will  Jehovah  never  interfere  ? 
The  answer  comes  from  the  mouth  of  Jehovah  Him- 
self.    Even  now  the  nations  may  look  on  and  wonder  ; 
for  He  is  about  to  work  a  work  so  unparalleled,  so  in- 
credible, that  men  would  not  believe  it  though  it  were 
told  them.     Even  now  He  is  raising  up  the  Chaldaean 
as  the  instrument  of  His  judgment — a  fierce  and  restless 
nation ;  which  marches  through  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  earth  in  an  unchequered  career  of   conquest ; 
which  inspires  terror  into  all  who  hear  of  it ;  whose  sole 
law  is  its  own  imperious  will ;  whose  horses  are  swifter 
than  leopards  and  fiercer  than  wolves ;  who  mock  at 
any  efiort  to  avert  their  progress ;  who  scoff  at  kings, 
and  princes  are  a  derision  unto  them ;  who  deride  every 
stronghold,  for  they  heap  up  dust  into  mounds  against 
it,  and  take  it.     On  they  sweep  like  some  violent  wind, 
demolishing  one  obstacle  after  another  which  stands  in 
their  way  ;  intoxicated  by  success  they  deify  their  own 
power,  and  his  might  becometh  his  god.     Such  is  the 


A  PROBLEM   OF   FAITH  37 

alarming  and  terrible  power  which  is  to  be  Jehovah's 
instrument  of  judgment  against  Judah. 

But  this  answer  only  raises  a  fresh  perplexity  in 
the  prophet's  mind.  How  can  the  pure  and  holy  God 
employ  such  instruments  as  His  agents,  and  how  can  He 
surrender  not  Israel  only,  but  the  nations  of  the  world, 
to  the  mercy  of  a  tyrant  who  acknowledges  no  law  but 
his  own  will,  and  no  god  but  his  own  might  ?  Is  this 
Jehovah's  government  of  the  world  ?  Such  a  judgment 
seems  to  be  only  the  triumph  of  violence  on  a  larger 
scale.  The  wrong-doing  of  the  Chaldsean  is  more  un- 
bearable than  the  evil  it  was  meant  to  pmiish.  The 
prophet  therefore  remonstrates  with  God,  the  righteous 
Ruler  of  the  world,  and  m-ges  the  cruelties  and  in- 
humanities of  the  Chaldseans  :  "  0  thou  that  art  of  purer 
eyes  than  to  behold  evil,  and  that  canst  not  look  on  per- 
verseness,  wherefore  lookest  thou  upon  them  that  deal 
treacherously,  and  boldest  thy  peace  when  the  wicked 
swalloweth  up  them  that  is  more  righteous  than  he ; 
and  hast  made  men  as  the  fishes  of  the  sea,  as  the 
creeping  things,  which  have  no  ruler  over  them  ?  "  And 
then  comparing  the  Chaldaean  to  a  fisherman,  Habakkuk 
draws  a  picture  of  the  manner  in  which  he  drags  men 
and  nations  indiscriminately  into  his  power,  exulting 
inhumanly  over  their  helplessness,  and  caring  only  for 
the  number  of  victims  he  can  secure.  Is  this,  asks  the 
prophet,  to  endure  for  ever  ?  and  can  the  righteous 
God,  whose  very  nature  it  is  to  abhor  iniquity,  look  on 
in  silence  upon  this  success  of  inhumanity  and  wrong  ? 
Such   is  the  difficulty    which    he  feels.     The    second 


38        THE  IDEALS   OF  THE  PROPHETS 

chapter  states  the  answer  to  it.  He  places  himself  in 
imagination  upon  his  prophetic  watch-tower,  and  waits 
expectantly  for  an  answer  that  may  satisfy  his  com- 
plaint. "  I  will  stand  upon  my  watch,  and  set  me  upon 
the  tower,  and  will  look  forth  to  see  what  he  will  speak 
with  me,  and  what  I  shall  answer  concerning  my  com- 
plaint." The  language  is  figurative.  He  compares  him- 
self to  a  watchman  looking  out  from  his  watch-tower 
into  the  distance,  like  the  watchman,  for  instance, 
who  looked  out  to  tell  David  news  of  his  son  Absalom  ; 
so  he  awaits  the  answer  or  message  from  heaven.  The 
answer  comes  in  a  brief,  emphatic,  pregnant  oracle, 
which  on  account  of  its  importance  he  is  to  engrave 
upon  a  tablet  in  characters  that  all  may  read ;  its 
truth  may  not,  indeed,  appear  at  once,  but  it  will  be 
verified  ultimately ;  for  "  it  hasteth  towards  the  end," 
that  is,  towards  the  appointed  time  which  will  unfold 
its  meaning.  The  vision  is  this,  "  Behold,  his  soul  is 
puffed  up,  it  is  not  upright  in  him :  but  the  righteous 
shall  live  by  his  faithfulness." 

The  first  clause  describes  the  Chaldaean.  His  nature 
is  inflated,  presumptuous,  insincere  ;  it  is  essentially 
false  and  unreal ;  and  therefore — as  one  must  com- 
plete  the  sense  by  inference  from  the  second  clause — ^it 
possesses  no  principle  of  permanence  ;  it  will  prove 
in  the  end  his  ruin.  The  word  rendered  upright  is  more 
literally  smooth  or  even,  and  it  is  intended  to  point  a 
contrast  to  the  preceding  puffed  up  or  swollen.  But 
the  two  senses  of  the  word  are  present  to  the  writer  ; 
the   soul   of   the   Chaldsean   is   neither   smooth,   calm 


A   PROBLEM   OF   FAITH  39 

and  even,  nor  is  it  upright.     The  righteous,  on  the  con- 
trary,— that  is,  Israel  according  to  its  calling,  realized  at 
the  time  in  the  character  of  those  godly  men  who  even 
in  the  darkest  days  represented  it, — will  live  by  his 
faithfulness.     The   firmness,    trustworthiness,   honesty 
and  integrity  of  the  true  Israelite  will  prove  for  him  a 
principle  of  permanence,  carrying  him  in  safety  through 
the  troubles  and  convulsions  which  are  to  shake  the 
world.     The  word  rendered  faithfulness  means  properly 
steadiness  or  firmness,  then  trusiivorthiness  in  character 
and    conduct,   especially   honesty,   truthfulness.     For 
instance,  in  the  Second  Book  of  Kings  (xii.  6),  when 
workmen  were  employed  in  repairing  the  Temple,  and 
money  was  given  to  the  foremen  to  pay  them,  it  is  said 
no  account  was  demanded  of  them,  for  they  dealt  in  faith- 
fulness or  honesty  ;  and  Jeremiah,  speaking  of  false  and 
deceitful  men,  says  they  are  grown  strong  in  the  land,  but 
not  for  faithfulness  (ix.  2).     An  honest  character  has,  it 
is  implied,  the  principle  of  permanence  in  it ;   it  will 
live  and  be  preserved  amid  disasters  in   which  others 
perish  ;   the  Chaldsean,  whose  soul  is  not  even  or  up- 
right within  him,  will  perish.     Thus  the  different  char- 
acters of  the   Chaldsean  and   the   righteous   carry   in 
them   their   different    destinies.     The    Chaldaean    may 
triumph  for  a  time,  but  his  end  is  destruction.     And  so, 
after  dwelling  a  little  more  fully  on  his  ambitious  aims, 
the  prophet  develops  his  doom  in  the  shape  of  five  woes, 
which  with  dramatic  vividness  and  propriety  are  sup- 
posed to  be  pronounced  upon  him  by  the  nations  whom 
he  has  oppressed — woes  pronounced  upou  his  insatiable 


40        THE   IDEALS   OF   THE  PROPHETS 

lust  of  conquest,  his  rapacity  and  self-aggrandizement, 
his  oppression  of  the  people  to  build  and  adorn  his  own 
cities,  his  barbarous  humiliation  of  prostrate  nations 
and  their  rulers,  his  irrational  idolatries. 

"  The  righteous  shall  live  by  his  faithfulness."  It 
is  a  word  of  consolation  and  encouragement  in  a  time 
of  trouble  and  disaster.  The  anxious  Israelite  may  be 
reassured ;  an  honest  and  upright  life  will  be  always 
his  security.  The  general  thought  is  the  same  as  that 
of  Isaiah,  who,  in  answer  to  the  question,  "  Who  can 
dwell  with  perpetual  burnings  ?  "  who  can  endure 
proximity  to  fiery  trials  and  troubles,  ready  at  any 
moment  to  break  out  1  replies,  "  He  that  walketh 
righteously,  and  speaketh  uprightly ;  he  that  despiseth 
the  gain  of  oppressions,  that  shaketh  his  hands  from 
holding  of  bribes,  that  stoppeth  his  ears  from  hearing 
of  blood,  and  shutteth  his  eyes  from  looking  upon  evil  ; 
he  shall  dwell  on  high  :  his  place  of  defence  shall  be  the 
munitions  of  rocks ;  his  bread  shall  be  given  him ;  his 
water  shall  be  sure  (xxxiii.  14  if.)."  The  man  who  leads 
an  innocent  and  upright  life,  who  scorns  injustice  and 
repels  temptations  to  evil,  may  feel  a  moral  security 
which,  even  in  times  of  danger  and  distress,  may  make 
him  superior  to  all  apprehensions.  That  is  the  general 
thought  of  Habakkuk's  oracle.  But  it  is  evident  it 
does  not  solve  the  difficulty  which  the  prophet  felt,  or 
which  others  after  him  have  felt,  in  the  anomaUes 
which  the  moral  government  of  the  world  present. 
The  Chaldsean  might  indeed,  in  virtue  of  his  nature, 
be    doomed    ultimately   to    perish ;     but    his    empire 


A   PROBLEM   OF   FAITH  41 

siir\aved  and  flourished  for  seventy  years  ;  and  mean- 
while Habakkuk's  compatriots,  so  far  from  abiding 
in  peace  and  security,  were  besieged  and  blockaded  in 
their  city  and  ultimately  carried  into  exile,  amid  suffer- 
ings and  hardships  which  can  be  imagined,  and  which 
are  alluded  to  not  indistinctly  by  writers  of  the  time. 
It  is  enough  if  the  prophet  can  mitigate  the  difficulty, 
and  give  grounds  for  hope  that,  though  individuals 
may  suffer,  the  present  rule  of  lawlessness  and  injustice 
will  at  least  not  continue  permanently.  It  is  not  a 
mere  material  security  which  the  prophet  promises  ; 
it  is  rather  a  moral  triumph,  which  even  material 
disappointment  and  disaster  cannot  overthrow,  which 
consists  in  the  testimony  of  a  good  conscience,  and  in 
the  sense  that  it  enjoys  the  approving  verdict  of  God, 
and  is,  spiritually,  the  recipient  of  His  favour. 

In  the  New  Testament  the  second  clause  of  the  text 
is  quoted  three  times — in  the  Epistles  to  the  Romans 
and  Galatians,  and  also  in  that  to  the  Hebrews — in 
the  sense,  "  the  just  shall  live  by  faith."  This  sense, 
whether  it  was  intended  or  not  by  the  LXX.  trans- 
lators, whose  version  the  apostles  read,  was,  at  any 
rate,  one  which  the  Greek  word  used  by  them  per- 
mitted ;  and  the  text  was  accordingly  adopted  by  St. 
Paul  in  that  sense,  as  one  of  the  bases  of  his  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith.  As  in  many  other  cases,  the 
apostolic  writers  adopt  meanings  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment suggested  by  the  version  with  which  they  and  their 
readers  were  familiar,  even  where  the  version  does  not 
represent  the  exact  sense  of  the  original.   The  word  means 


42         THE   IDEALS   OF  THE  PROPHETS 

not  faith,  the  active  principle  of  trustfulness  or  reliance 
upon  another,  hvit  faithfulness,  the  more  passive  principle 
of  trustworthiness,  of  being  oneself  firm,  steady  and 
reliable  in  intercourse  with  others.  The  apostle,  quot- 
ing the  verse  as  it  is  read  in  the  LXX.,  amphfies  and 
spiritualizes  the  prophet's  words,  interpreting  them  in 
a  sense  which  does  not  properly  belong  to  them,  but 
which,  as  it  was  suggested,  or  permitted,  by  the  Greek, 
fitted  them  in  that  form  for  use  in  his  argument.  His 
doctrine  of  justification  does  not  depend,  however, 
upon  the  sense  which  he  thus  attaches  to  the  passage, 
and  it  is  but  one  among  several  which  are  quoted  by 
him ;  nor  is  his  use  of  it  to  be  regarded  as  fixing 
its  primary  meaning.  It  is  true,  we  could  easily 
understand  how  the  idea  of  steadfastness  or  faithful- 
ness, when  limited  to  relation  towards  a  particular 
person,  might  pass  on  into  that  of  fidelity  or  loyalty 
to  him ;  and  how  this  again  might  have  a  further 
tendency  to  widen  into  belief  or  faith  in  him ;  but 
these  possible  changes  in  the  meaning  of  the  term  are 
not  changes  through  which  it  actually  passed.  The 
New  Testament  presents  to  us  what  is  in  reality  a 
development  of  the  prophet's  thought :  we  must  be  on 
our  guard  lest  such  development,  though  sanctioned  and 
adopted  by  the  apostles,  should  lead  us  astray  as  to  the 
meaning  which  the  word  bears  in  the  original  context. 
The  righteous  shall  live,  says  the  prophet,  not  by  his 
faith  but  by  his  faithfulness — by  his  honesty,  his 
integrity,  his  trustworthiness,  in  all  his  actions,  in  all 
his  words,  and  in  whatever  station  of  life  or  office  his 


A  PROBLEM   OF   FAITH  43 

lot  may  be  cast.     A  man  of  faithfulness,  says  one  of 
the  proverbs,  aboundeth  in  blessings.     Lying  lips,  says 
another  proverb,  are  an  abomination  to  the  Lord ;  but 
they  that  do  faithfulness  are  His  delight.     Righteous- 
ness and  faithfulness,  in  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah,  are  to 
form   the   girdle,  the    close    and   constant  companion, 
of  the  ideal  King  in  his  exalted  office. ^    Faithfulness, 
fideUty  to  an  office  or  trust,  is    one   of   those  sterling 
virtues  which    form    the    foundation  of    society.      It 
receives  in  the  Old   Testament   the   stamp   of   Divine 
approval.     It  was  sadly  lacking  in  Jerusalem,  Jeremiah 
tells  us,  in  his  day.     Nevertheless  it  is  the  virtue  to 
which   the   great   promise   of    Habakkuk  is   attached. 
"  The    righteous    shall    live    by   his   faithfulness,''   he 
will  endure  when  others  fall ;    he  mil    escape    when 
others,   as   a    consequence   of    their    imperfect    moral 
nature,    their    insincerity,    their    selfishness    or    other 
faults,  are  brought  to  ruin ;   he  will,  even  if  external 
calamity  overtake  him,  be  supported  by  the  inward 
testimony  of  his  approving  conscience,  and  the  con- 
viction that  he  enjoys  God's  favoiurable  regard. 
^  Prov.  xxviii.  20,  xii.  22 ;  Is.  xi.  6. 


THE  NEW  COVENANT 

"  But  this  is  the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with  the  house  of 
Israel  after  those  days,  saith  the  Lord  ;  I  will  put  my  law  in 
their  inward  parts,  and  in  their  heart  will  I  write  it ;  and  I  will 
be  their  God,  and  they  shall  be  my  people." — Jebemiah  xxxi. 
33. 

THIS  prophecy  of  the  New  Covenant  is  one  of 
those  great  passages  in  the  prophets,  perhaps  the 
greatest  of  all,  which  stand  out  from  the  rest  and  im- 
press us  by  the  wonderful  spirituality  of  their  tone,  and 
by  their  evangehcal  character.  Though  this  particular 
passage  is  not  among  those  recorded  to  have  been 
quoted  by  our  Lord,  it  breathes  emphatically  His 
spirit,  and  is  a  striking  declaration  of  the  great  principles 
of  spontaneous  personal  service  on  which  in  His  ministry 
He  so  frequently  insists.  To  judge  from  the  context 
in  which  it  occurs,  it  was  uttered  originally  either  on 
the  eve  of  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Chaldseans, 
or  when  the  destruction  had  already  taken  place,  and 
large  detachments  of  the  inhabitants  were  already 
on  the  road  to  exile.  And  so  in  the  chapter  from  which 
the  text  is  taken  the  prophet's  thoughts  sometimes 
go  out  in  sympathy  with  his  sufiering  and  exiled  com- 

44 


THE   NEW  COVENANT  45 

patriots,  sometimes  dwell  in  imagination  upon  a  more 
blissful  future  when  he  pictures  the  exiled  people 
restored  to  their  homes  in  Palestine  :  "  Again  will  I  build 
thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  built,  0  virgin  of  Israel :  again 
shalt  thou  be  adorned  with  thy  tabrets,  and  shalt  go 
forth  in  the  dances  of  them  that  make  merry.  Again 
shalt  thou  plant  vineyards  upon  the  mountains  of 
Samaria  :  the  planters  shall  plant,  and  shall  enjoy  the 
fruit  thereof."  And  then,  as  his  thoughts  turn  to 
Ramah,  a  village  about  five  miles  north  of  Jerusalem, 
and  he  sees  the  long  train  of  exiles  passing  it  on 
their  melancholy  way,  he  imagines  Rachel,  the  mother 
of  the  two  great  tribes  of  Joseph  and  Benjamin  who 
was  buried  there,  looking  out  from  her  tomb  and  be- 
wailing the  loss  and  banishment  of  her  descendants  : 
"  Thus  saith  the  Lokd  :  A  voice  is  heard  in  Ramah, 
lamentation,  and  bitter  weeping,  Rachel  weeping  for  her 
children  ;  she  refuseth  to  be  comforted  for  her  children, 
because  they  are  not." 

But  he  bids  her  desist :  they  will  soon  return. 
"  Thus  saith  the  Lord:  Refrain  thy  voice  from  weeping, 
and  thine  eyes  from  tears  :  for  thy  work  shall  be  re- 
warded, saith  the  Lord  ;  and  they  shall  come  again 
from  the  land  of  the  enemy,"  And  then  there  follows 
a  vision  of  Ephraim  repenting,  smiting  on  his  thigh  in 
grief  over  his  youthful  folly,  confessing  that  he  had 
been  self-willed,  no  better  than  a  calf  unaccustomed  to 
the  yoke,  and  acknowledging  the  justice  of  the  punish- 
ment he  had  received  :  "  Turn  thou  me,  and  I  shall  turn  ; 
for  thou  art  the  Lord  my  God."     And  thus  Jehovah, 


46        THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

overhearing  his  words  of  contrition,  is  moved  with 
yearning  towards  the  returning  prodigal,  and  promises 
to  have  compassion  upon  him,  and  bring  both  him  and 
Judah  back  again  to  their  own  land. 

But  what  could  be  the  use  of  restoring  Israel,  if  the 
disappointments  of  its  previous  history  were  to  be 
repeated  ?  God  had  of  old  constituted  Israel  a  people 
in  close  fellowship  with  Himself,  but  that  constitution 
had  failed  to  secure  the  expected  results  ;  the  mass  of 
the  people,  at  any  rate,  had  failed  woefully  in  their 
allegiance  ;  and  God  had  at  length  been  obliged  to 
cast  them  of?.  And  so,  when  the  nation  is  once  again 
restored,  Jeremiah  pictures  the  old  constitution,  or 
covenant  as  he  calls  it,  as  abolished,  and  a  new  one 
founded  to  take  its  place,  furnished  with  conditions 
which  may  form  a  better  safeguard  against  failure  : 
"  Behold  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will 
make  a  new  covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel,  and  with 
the  house  of  Judah  :  not  according  to  the  covenant 
that  I  made  with  their  fathers  in  the  day  that  I 
took  them  by  the  hand  to  bring  them  out  of  the  land 
of  Egypt.  ...  I  will  put  my  law  in  their  inward  parts, 
and  in  their  heart  will  I  write  it ;  and  I  will  be  their 
God,  and  they  shall  be  my  people.  And  they  shall 
no  more  teach  every  man  his  neighbour,  and  every 
man  his  brother,  saying.  Know  the  Lord  :  for  they  shall 
all  know  me,  from  the  least  of  them  unto  the  greatest  of 
them,  saith  the  Lord  :  for  I  will  forgive  their  iniquity, 
and  their  sin  will  I  remember  no  more."  In  every 
respect  the  New  Covenant  is  to  be  a  contrast  to  the 


THE  NEW  COVENANT  47 

old.  The  law  written  upon  tables  of  stone  is  to  be 
replaced  by  the  law  written  in  the  heart  ;  religion 
will  thus  become  more  internal,  spiritual,  personal. 
Real  knowledge  will  be  enjoyed.  The  people  may 
have  the  law  written  in  material  characters  and  yet 
not  read  it,  or  fail  to  understand  what  its  significance 
might  be.  The  law  written  in  the  heart  will  be- 
come, so  to  say,  man's  second  nature,  an  inseparable 
part  of  his  intellectual  and  moral  being.  Principles, 
again,  will  take  the  place  of  particular  outward 
ordinances  ;  for  a  multitude  of  ceremonial  observances, 
such  as  formed  a  great  part  of  the  law  under  the  old 
covenant,  and  the  exact  nature  of  which  had  often  to 
be  learnt  by  special  inquiring  of  a  priest,  men  will 
have  large  principles  enshrined  in  their  hearts,  such  as 
truth,  and  justice,  and  purity,  love  to  God  and  love  to 
man.  Men  will  no  longer  need  the  law  as  something 
external  to  themselves,  something  prescribed  from 
without,  having  no  necessary  hold  upon  them — their 
inner  natm-e  will  be  brought  into  harmony  with  the 
will  of  God,  so  as  to  do  what  is  well-pleasing  in  His 
eyes  of  their  own  spontaneous  impulse  : — this  is  what 
is  indicated  by  the  figm-es  which  the  prophet  uses. 
Jeremiah  foretells  the  advent  of  an  ideal  state,  in 
which  the  sin  of  the  people  is  forgiven,  and  its 
nature  transformed  by  a  Divine  act  of  grace ;  the 
children  of  the  New  Covenant  are  to  be  veritable  sons 
of  God,  no  longer  subject,  as  Israel  largely  was 
under  the  old  covenant,  to  law  as  a  command  imposed 
from  without,  but  ruled  by  impulses  to  good,  acting 


48        THE   IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

upon  the  heart  as  a  principle  operative  from  within ; 
they  will  "  know  the  Lord  " — know  what  His  demands 
and  requirements  are,  and  as  a  natural  consequence 
act  accordingly. 

We  see  here,  in  a  germinal  form,  truths  taught  more 
distinctly  and  explicitly  in  the  New  Testament.  Jere- 
miah, in  fact,  anticipates  what  St.  Paul  terms  a  "  new 
creature  " — the  re-creation  by  a  Divine  act  of  man's 
inner  nature.  He  does  not,  of  course,  describe  it  from  the 
specifically  Christian  point  of  view  from  which  the  apostle 
speaks,  but  his  fundamental  thought  is  the  same.  And 
if  we  reflect  upon  the  pictm'e,  we  may  see  what  a  remark- 
able and  striking  one  it  is.  It  is  the  picture  of  an  entire 
community  ruled  by  God's  law,  and  acting  conformably 
to  His  will ;  every  member,  "  from  the  least  of  them 
unto  the  greatest  of  them,"  having  a  clear  and  full 
knowledge  of  what  God  demands,  and  regulating  their 
thoughts  and  words  and  deeds  accordingly.  God  is 
thus  theirs,  and  they  are  His.  He  is  theirs,  the  object 
of  their  love  and  reverence  ;  they  are  His,  the  objects 
of  His  providential  care  and  the  recipients  of  His 
grace.  Sin  has  no  more  power  over  them ;  the  guilt 
which  they  may  once  have  committed  has  been  for- 
given and  will  be  remembered  no  more. 

The  picture  drawn  by  the  prophet  is,  however,  an 
ideal  one,  and  an  ideal  which  has  not  yet  been  realized. 
Human  nature  has  not  yet  been  regenerated  on  the 
scale  which  the  prophet  here  contemplates.  On  all 
sides  around  us  we  see  how  imperfectly  human  nature 
is  subordinated  to  right.     A  community  living  in  perfect 


THE  NEW  COVENANT  49 

devotion  to  its  God  has  not  yet  been  found  upon  this 
earth  ;  whether  it  will  ever  there  be  found  is  more  than 
we  are  able  to  say.  Some  indeed  there  are,  a  few  out 
of  the  multitude,  who  have  so  "put  on  the  new  man  " 
as  to  realize  approximately,  and  so  far  as  the  imper- 
fections of  human  nature  permit,  the  prophet's  ideal. 
But  the  ideal  is  there  ;  it  is  a  standard  by  which  we 
may  all  measure  ourselves,  a  goal  which  we  may  all 
strive  to  attain.  To  conform  our  wills  to  the  will 
of  God,  to  imitate  Christ  in  our  lives,  to  "  know " 
the  Lord,  in  that  full  and  practical  sense  of  the 
expression  which  the  prophet  has  in  mind,  is  as  high 
an  aim  as  we  can  set  ourselves.  How  often  is  the 
prayer,  modelled  upon  the  prophet's  words,  taken  upon 
our  lips :  "  Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us,  and  write  all 
these  Thy  laws  in  our  hearts,  we  beseech  Thee  "  I 


VI 
JUDiEA  CAPTA 

"  Is  it  nothing  to  you,  all  ye  that  pass  by  ?  Behold,  and  see 
if  there  be  any  sorrow  like  unto  my  sorrow,  which  is  done  unto 
me,  wherewith  the  I.OBD  hath  afflicted  me  in  the  day  of  his 
fierce  anger." — Lamentations  i.  12. 

SUCH  are  the  words  in  which  an  Israelite  poet, 
speaking  in  the  name  of  his  nation,  gives  vent  to 
the  intensity  of  his  grief  at  the  calamity  which  had 
befallen  his  people.  Jerusalem,  the  city  which  David 
had  founded  and  Solomon  had  beautified,  the  city 
which  the  memories  of  four  hundred  years  had  en- 
deared to  the  hearts  of  the  people  of  Judah,  had 
been  captured  after  a  long  siege  by  the  Chaldseans  : 
its  walls  were  broken  down,  its  houses  desolate,  its 
Temple  a  ruin.  The  mass  of  the  nation  was  either  in 
exile  already,  or  was  journeying  thither  amid  priva- 
tion and  distress.  How  dark  to  many  the  future  of 
the  nation  must  have  now  appeared,  it  is  not  difficult 
to  imagine ;  the  hopes  which  with  growing  persistency 
had  gathered  round  Zion  must  have  seemed  shattered, 
and  the  promises  which  one  prophet  after  another 
had  announced   to   her    must   have  appeared  as  idle 


5° 


JUD^A   CAPTA  51 

dreams.  In  the  bitter  present,  the  seventy  years 
to  which  Jereniiah  had  limited  his  people's  exile, 
and  the  prospect  that  his  words  would  be  realized, 
would  seem  incalculably  remote.  How  a  pious  and 
thoughtful  spirit  felt  at  this  dark  period  we  learn  from 
this  book  of  Lamentations.  An  old  tradition  has 
assigned  the  prophet  Jeremiah  himself  as  its  author  ; 
but  even  should  that  not  be  the  case,  it  is  the  work  of  a 
kindred  spirit,  a  companion  and  disciple,  who  reflects 
in  the  main  his  line  of  thought,  and  shows  the  same 
religious  feelings.  The  book  consists  of  five  distinct 
elegies,  each  constructed  with  great  art,  almost  every 
line  marked  by  that  broken  plaintive  rhythm  which 
seems  to  have  been  generally  chosen  by  the  writers  of 
Hebrew  elegy,  and  each  abounding  with  images  which 
appeal  to  every  reader  by  their  pathos  and  force.  For 
the  author  does  not  merely  describe  from  a  distance  ;  he 
is  full  of  sympathy  ;  and  even  when  he  narrates  his 
people's  sufierings,  he  narrates  them  as  something  he 
experienced  himself ;  the  long  tale  of  woe  is  made  his 
own ;  one  sob  after  another  rises  from  his  heart,  the 
plaintive  strain  brightened  now  and  again  by  faith  and 
trust.  Listen  to  him  as  in  the  first  chapter  he  bids  us 
contemplate  Jerusalem,  sitting,  as  a  bereaved  woman, 
desolate  on  the  ground  : 

"  How  doth  she  sit  solitary,  the  city  that  was  full  of 
people  ! 
She  that  was  great  among  the  nations  is  become  as 
a  widow  ! 


52         THE   IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS 

Slie  that  was  a  princess  among  the  provinces,  is 
become  tributary  !  " 
"Hear,  I  beseech  you,  all  ye  peoples,  and  behold  my 
sorrow : 
My   virgins    and   my   young  men   are   gone  into 
captivity." 

In  the  second  chapter  the  poet  bewails  in  piteous 
accents  God's  rejection  of  the  city  of  His  choice,  the  city 
where  His  tabernacle  was  pitched  and  His  altar  erected, 
the  city  which  for  so  many  centmies,  and  through  so 
many  storms,  He  had  protected  with  His  mighty  arm. 
But  now 

"  Jehovah  hath  cast  down  from  heaven  to  earth  the 

beauty  of  Israel, 
And  remembered  not  his  footstool  in  the  day  of  his 

anger  ! 
He  hath  bent  his  bow  like  an  enemy.  .  .  . 
He  hath  swallowed  up  Israel ; 
Swallowed  up  all  her  palaces,  he  hath  destroyed  his 

strongholds. 
And  increased  in  the  daughter  of  Judah  mourning 

and  lamentation  .  .  . 
The  young  and  the  old  lie  on  the  ground  in  the 

streets ; 
My  virgins  and  my  young  men  are  fallen  by  the 

sword : 
Thou  hast  slain  them  in  the  day  of  thine  anger, 

thou  hast  not  pitied.  .  .  . 


JUD^A  CAPTA  53 

What  shall  I  equal  to  thee,  that  I   may  comfort 

thee,  0  virgin  daughter  of  Zion  ? 
For  thy  breach  is  great  like  the  sea  :   who  can  heal 

thee  ?  " 

What  a  picture  do  these  and  similar  passages  give  us 
of  the  scenes  which  the  poet  himself  had  witnessed, 
and  of  the  depth  to  which  his  own  heart  was  stirred  ! 
How  graphically  do  they  set  before  us  the  agony  and 
despair  which  must  have  reigned  in  Jerusalem,  and  the 
humiliation  through  which  the  nation  then  passed,  and 
which  (as  another  prophet  expresses  it)  caused  God's 
name  to  be  contemned  among  the  heathen !  But  the 
fullest  expression  of  his  mind  is  in  the  third  chapter,  where 
oiu:  poet  brings  the  picture  to  a  focus  by  setting  before 
us  the  plaint  either  of  some  typical  or  exceptionally 
distressed  citizen,  or  of  the  city  regarded  imaginatively 
as  an  individual ;  the  latter  is  more  probable.  Hence 
he  uses  graphic  and  varied  imagery  for  the  purpose 
of  showing  how  poignant  and  severe  the  national  dis- 
tress had  been ;  hence  also  the  personal  aspect  of  the 
suffering  is  most  vividly  depicted.  The  suffering  nation 
is  figured  as  one  whom  God  attacks  as  a  hostile  warrior 
and  persecutor,  aiming  at  him  the  shafts  of  His  bow, 
penetrating  to  his  inmost  parts,  and  threatening  to  rend 
him  asunder. 

"  I  am  the  man  that  hath  seen  aflfliction  by  the  rod 
of  his  wrath. 
He  hath  led  me  and  caused  me  to  walk  in  darkness 
and  not  in  light. 


54        THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

Again  and  again  all  the  day  lie  turnetli  his  hand 

against  me." 
"  He  hath  bent  his  bow,  and  set  me  as  a  mark  for  the 

arrow. 
He  hath  caused  the  shafts  of  his  quiver  to  enter 

into  my  reins." 

Israel  is  mocked  of  all  about  him,  and  has  abandoned 
all  hope.  But  before  long  the  poet's  faith  asserts 
itself ;  and  he  finds  comfort  in  the  thought  that  there 
must  be  some  purpose  in  the  affliction  from  which  he 
and  his  people  suffer,  and  that  therefore  the  prospect 
is  not  utterly  dark. 

"  It  is  of  the  Lord's  mercies  that  we  are  not 
consumed,  because  his  compassions  fail  not. 

They  are  new  every  morning :  great  is  thy  faithful- 
ness. 

The  Lord  is  my  portion,  saith  my  soul ;  therefore 
will  I  hope  in  him." 

The  only  condition  which  he  feels  to  be  still  wanting  is 
confession,  penitence  and  amendment : 

"  Let  us  search  and  try  our  ways,  and  turn  again  to 
,  the  Lord. 
Let  us  lift  up  our  hearts  with  our  hands  unto  God 

the  heavens. 
We  have  transgressed  and  have  rebelled ;  thou  hast 
not  pardoned." 

Need  I  cite  more  to  show  the  intensity  of  his  feeling, 
the  depth  of  his  pathos,  the  liveliness  of  his  faith  ? 


JUD^A  CAPTA  55 

In  the  text,  the  thought  to  which  the  poet  pathetically 
gives  expression  is  that  of  sorrow  unequalled,  yet  un- 
heeded.    Jerusalem  sits  alone  in  her  unparalleled  grief ; 
and  the   bitterness  of  it  is  intensified   by  the  pitiless 
disregard  of  spectators.     She  sits  as  it  were  by  the 
highway,  and  the  crowd  passes  on,  taking  no  notice. 
Bedouins  of  the  desert  pitch  their  tents  in  sight  of  her 
ruined  towers,  and  travellers  passing  north  and  south 
see  her  deserted  streets,  and  yet  all  gaze  unmoved  at  the 
spectacle  of  her  grief.     Why,  indeed,   should  they  be 
moved  ?      The  spectacle  of  a  conquered  nation   and  a 
pillaged  capital  was  not  a  rare  thing  in  antiquity ;    it 
did  not  attract  either  the  attention  or  the  sympathy 
which  it  would  do  now.     Yet  the  poet  feels  deeply  his 
nation's  sorrow,  and  is  conscious  there  is  something 
in  it  which  merits  more  attentive  regard.     The  trouble 
of  Israel  had  not  come  upon  them  as  upon  a  common 
nation  :  they  were  peculiar  in  constitution,  in  privileges, 
in  history.     Never  was  city  more  favoured  than  Jerusalem. 
She  was  the  chosen  seat  of  Divine  grace.     In  her  Temple 
stood  God's  mercy-seat.     High  privileges  of  revelation 
and  spiritual  blessings  descended  upon   her   sons   and 
daughters.     The  loss  of  these  privileges  brought  a  dis- 
tress that  men  who  had  never  enjoyed  them  could  not 
have  felt.     Never  ivas  city  more  loved  than  Jerusalem. 
This  city  of   sacred   memories  and  tender  associations 
was  dear  to  the  hearts  of  her  inhabitants  ;  and  the  over- 
throw brought  a  giief  proportionate  to  this  love ;  and 
never  was  city  more  visited  by  the  Divine  wrath.    Here  was 
the  secret  of  her  deepest  trouble.     She  was  afflicted  in 


56        THE  IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

the  day  of  God's  fierce  anger.  And  of  this  her  godly- 
sons,  such  as  the  poet  of  the  Lamentations,  were  fully 
conscious.  Their  material  suffering  was  embittered  by 
the  thought  of  God's  alienation  which  underlay  it  and 
of  which  it  was  the  expression.  And  yet  their  sorrow 
was  unheeded.  Their  neighbours,  as  we  know  from 
allusions  in  Ezekiel  and  elsewhere,  even  if  they  did 
not,  like  the  Edomites,  take  part  with  the  Chaldaeans 
in  their  work  of  destruction,  gave  vent  to  malicious 
exultation,  and  looked  forward  to  taking  speedy 
possession  of  the  territory  of  Judah ;  they  had  no 
thought  or  care  for  the  God  of  Israel,  and  the  fall 
of  a  rival  touched  no  chord  of  sympathy  in  their 
heart. 

In  old  days  the  Book  of  Lamentations  was  regularly 
read  during  the  services  of  Holy  Week  ;  and  some  years 
ago,  after  it  had  been  for  long  discontinued  in  oiu*  Church, 
this  custom  was  revived  by  the  compilers  of  the  lectionary 
now  in  use.  True,  my  text  cannot  be  understood  as 
written  with  reference  to  our  Lord,  for  the  passage  as  a 
whole  clearly  refers  to  the  sad  experiences  of  Jerusalem. 
But  what  more  suitable  at  this  sacred  season  than  to 
direct  our  thoughts  not  merely  to  the  Passion  of  our 
Blessed' Lord  Himself,  but  to  the  sufferings  of  God's 
faithful  servant  of  old,  which  may  justly  be  regarded 
as  an  adumbration  of  His,  and  are  in  several  respects 
very  parallel  ?  Have  we  not,  in  the  godly-minded  poet 
bewailing  his  ruined  home,  and  mourning  over  the 
strokes  which  one  after  another  fell  upon  his  beloved 
nation,  a  vision  of  Christ  mourning  over  the  sins  of 


JUD/EA  CAPTA  57 

human  nature,  contemplating  in  pity  the  destruction 
which  they  brought  upon  others,  and  enduring  in  silent 
anguish  the  sufierings  which  they  mysteriously  caused 
to  Himself  ?  Let  us  briefly  consider  the  comparison 
under  one  or  two  aspects.  The  prophets  who  wit- 
nessed the  fall  of  the  Jewish  state  found  their  con- 
temporaries, some  addicted  to  different  forms  of  idol- 
atry, others  drawing  near  to  God  with  the  lips  only, 
pointing  with  pride  to  their  Temple,  trusting  that  to 
save  them,  and  indifferent  to  the  demands  of  morality 
and  justice.  Those  who,  like  Jeremiah,  for  instance, 
laboured  to  bring  them  to  a  better  mind,  to  ameliorate 
if  not  to  avert  the  disaster  which  they  saw  to  be  im- 
pending, were  unheeded  by  the  self-confident  nation ; 
they  were  even  persecuted  and  went  in  danger  of  their 
lives.  Christ  found  similarly  His  people  self-righteous, 
abandoned  to  unspiritual  service,  and,  so  far  as  their 
material  prosperity  was  concerned,  confident  in  their 
own  wisdom  and  their  own  counsels  for  its  preserva- 
tion. How  earnestly  He  strove  to  move  them  to 
repentance  the  Gospels  testify  ;  but  few  except  those 
who  joined  the  small  circle  of  His  own  disciples  were 
influenced  by  Him ;  and  the  final  and  irrevocable 
sentence  passed  His  lips  :  "  How  often  would  I  have 
gathered  thy  children  together,  as  a  hen  doth  gather  her 
brood  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not !  Behold, 
your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate."  A  generation 
had  hardly  passed  away  when  His  words  were  fulfilled  : 
Jerusalem  underwent  her  last  siege,  and  was  entered  by 
the  Romans  after  undergoing   sufierings   more    bitter 


58        THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

and  more  intense  even  than  those  which  wrung  from  the 
poet  of  the  Lamentations  his  cry  of  woe. 

But  it  is  the  godly  sufierer,  the  man  whom  chasten- 
ings  have  subdued  and  who  bears  with  resignation,  that 
the  poet  here  represents ;  not  those  whose  persistence 
in  a  self-chosen  course  brings  to  them  destruction.  He 
may  sympathize  with  those  who  are  differently  minded, 
but  he  speaks  himself  the  language  of  resignation.  "  The 
Lord  is  righteous ;  for  I  have  rebelled  against  his 
commandment  "  (i.  18).  "  I  am  the  man  that  hath  seen 
afliiction  by  the  rod  of  his  wrath  "  (iii.  1).  He  acknow- 
ledges that  there  is  a  cause  for  the  affliction  in  which 
he  finds  himself.  God,  he  says,  does  not  afflict  of  His 
heart,  that  is,  as  we  should  express  it,  from  caprice, 
without  any  definite  object  or  aim,  regardless  of  the 
circumstances  of  particular  individuals.  The  sins 
and  errors  of  the  nation  have  brought  punishment 
upon  them  ;  and  from  this  punishment,  though  person- 
ally innocent,  he  cannot  escape.  In  the  poet  of  the 
Lamentations  and  in  those  like-minded  with  himself 
on  whose  behalf  he  speaks,  we  see  then  the  innocent 
suffering  with  the  guilty,  the  innocent  so  associated 
with  the  guilty  by  ties  of  kindred  and  other  relations 
that  they  cannot  escape  from  their  punishment.  In  the 
Passion  of  our  Lord  we  have  more  than  this ;  we  see 
the  innocent  not  suffering  with  the  guilty,  but  suffering 
for  them,  and  taking  upon  Himself  not  merely  the  sins 
of  His  own  nation,  but  those  of  the  whole  world. 
In  both  alike  we  see  how,  by  a  mystery  of  Providence, 
the  sin  of  one  involves  in  its  bitter  consequences  others 


JUD^A  CAPTA  59 

who  are  guiltless.  And  if  the  sorrows  which  the  poet 
witnessed  pierced  him  so  keenly,  elicited  from  his 
heart  a  response  so  sympathetic  and  so  full  that  words 
seem  to  fail  him  in  the  effort  to  express  it,  what  are  we 
to  think  of  the  Passion  undergone  by  the  far  more 
sympathetic  and  sensitive  soul  of  our  Blessed  Lord  ? 
He  who  not  merely  endure(i  open  contumely  at  the 
hands  of  His  own  people,  but  knew  and  could  realize 
the  weight  of  misery  and  sin  under  which  mankind 
were  labouring.  He  must  have  suffered  far  more  keenly 
and  intensely ;  nevertheless  the  picture  which  the  poet 
has  left  us  of  his  own  deeply  moved  soul  may  help  us 
to  appreciate  the  reality  and  the  degree  of  the  agony 
of  our  Lord. 

It  is,  as  I  said,  a  vision  of  Christ ;  it  is  not  the  reality. 
There  are  expressions  which  our  Lord  could  not  ap- 
propriate. The  poet  does  not  hesitate  to  identify  himself 
with  his  people ;  he  exclaims  :  "  We  have  transgressed 
and  rebelled ;  thou  hast  not  pardoned "  (iii.  42). 
Christ,  in  matters  of  religious  importance,  stands  always 
opposed  to  His  people,  even  to  His  nearest  disciples  ; 
no  words  like  these  could  have  ever  escaped  His  lips. 
Both  the  first  and  the  third  chapters  end  with  a  prayer 
for  vengeance  upon  Israel's  foes  : 

"  Let  all  their  wickedness  come  before  thee  ; 
And  do  unto  them,  as  thou  has  done  unto  me  for 

all  my  transgressions." 
"Render  unto  them  a  recompence,  0  Lord,  according 

to  the  work  of  their  hands  : 


6o      Tin-:  ini-:Ar,s  ov  rm^  rRorm-.TS 

ViirmK*  Uiomiii  nn.t';(M-.  iuul  (lt>Mlniy  IIhmm  I'ntni  uiulor 
IIh'  lH>av(M>M  of  lli(>  l.mu)."' 

Thoro  i;i  litMv  !i  (iiifv  «>l'  viiulictiveneSB,  BU(1»  mm  riMild 
liavo  no  pliu'o  in  \]\o  olinrjiotor  »>f  (Ininl .  t\\\d  wliitli. 
hiul  il    luM'U   1|HM(\   WOllM    IlilVO    llt'(<M    ii    luomi    l)l(Muinh 

\ipoM  ilM  ixMlVction.  Our  lit>nl  .sponlcs  HotnotimoM  in 
ai\gvr.  l>ul  iK^vor  in  i)MMsi»»i\  ;  lit'  n»!iy  |>mh.s  mohIimu'o 
!iM  i\  ju*l,)'.o.  lull  lli.s  words  ItronllK^  uo  .suspicion  of 
iinp!\iiou(U<  or  rrnHMigo  :  llu'  po(M of  llu»  liimuMitations 
wiui  liun\!»n  in  his  <'xp(M'ionitvi.  Imnutn  in  his  HUScopU- 
bililios  suul  in  his  ('motions.  It  is  a  beaut ifvil  charavtor 
which  \vc  ,!o<>  rclloofiMl  in  his  «'h\",icM  a  characfvr  ut 
nianifohl  svMupalhy.  ihvply  injpnv.  .m1  by  Iho  siv'.hl  ol 
human  misory,  ttiui  iuspiroil  by  resignation  :nui  trust. 
li«t  us  oDutoniphito  it  as  an  in\!igo  of  the  more  pcrfoct 
hun\anity  of  our  Lord;  and  if.  when  oompjuvd  with 
thttt,  it  bctra>ns  the  touch  of  hnn\!in  nn|>(>rfoction.  let 
\is  n\arvol  rathor  Ih.-il  this  is  not.  greater,  ami  a.sk  onr- 
selves  whether  tun-  own  (h'ticieiuMes  nuiy  not  bo  graver 
and  n\ore  oonspieuous  ;  aiul  at  tins  time,  more  especially, 
lot  us  eontempliUe  r.-Uher  his  patience  and  his  atllictivJU, 
and  let  us  see  in  then\  :i  foreshadowing  of  the  sutTeriuga 
of  ChriMt  ;  i\nd  let  the  picture  of  hun>iliatitM\  which  is 
set  before  us  in  this  Hook  be  .-in  end>lem  of  ihiit  deeper 
and  m\cxprcssed  luuuiliation,  uudorgot\e  tor  oiu'  smIu-^ 
by  llim. 

"  Is  it  m>thinj!;  to  yon.  all  ye  that,  pass  by! 

Uohold,   and  see  if  thew   be  any   sorrow  like  imto 
luv  sorri>w\'* 


JlJD/l^A   rAVT\  6i 

Ih  it  notJiinp;  to  mh  that  Chrint,  an  at  thiw  tinrif-,  liorc,  IIk! 
cruel  in.HiiltH  of  llii  focH,  and  exfuiricriccd  Uic  ti(»rrown 
of  GethHcrriJiiio  ?  Is  it  notliinfj;  to  uh  that  wcj  jmHH  by 
hcfcdlcHHJy  on  the  other  sid*;  ?  Were  uny  HorrowH  ho 
keen  and  piercing  a«  Hin  ?  Ixit  uh  romniernorate 
thoHfi  HorrowH  with  Holenin  ^^ratitude  ;  Irjt  uh  foHow  tlioH<5 
detailn  of  the  PaHHion  on  whif;h  the  KvangeliHtH  love,  to 
linp^er  ;  let  uh  endeavour,  hy  God'n  grace,  ho  to  order 
our  iivoH  in  the  Hpirit  of  llin  fear  that  we  may  \u:  made 
partakerH  in  the  hlcHHiugH  which  He  ban  Hccurcd  for  uh. 


VII 
THE  WORTH  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL 

"  What  mean  ye,  that  ye  use  this  proverb,  saying,  The  fathers 
have  eaten  sour  grapes,  and  the  children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge  ? 
As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord  God,  ye  shall  not  have  occasion  any 
more  to  use  this  proverb  in  Israel.  Behold,  all  souls  are  mine  ; 
as  the  soul  of  the  father,  so  also  the  soul  of  the  son  is  mine  :  the 
soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die." — Ezekiel  xviii.  2-4. 

THE  prophet  Ezekiel  lived  at  a  critical  period  in  the 
history  of  the  Jewish  people.  The  kingdom  and 
dynasty  founded  by  David,  after  a  duration  of  more  than 
four  hundred  years,  was  hastening  to  its  close.  Jeremiah 
had  in  vain  endeavoured  to  persuade  his  countrymen 
that  their  safety  lay  in  5delding  to  the  inevitable,  and 
accepting  the  condition  of  dependence  upon  the  Chal- 
daeans.  He  could  not  convince  them ;  they  claimed 
their  independence ;  Jerusalem  was  in  consequence 
besieged,  'with  the  result  that  Jehoiachin  was  obhged 
to  surrender  :  he  himself  with  the  principal  members 
of  the  court,  and  the  elite  of  Jerusalem  generally, 
were  condemned  to  exile  in  Babylonia ;  Zedekiah  his 
uncle  was  placed  on  the  throne  by  Nebuchadnezzar. 
Among  those  thus  carried  into  exile  was  Ezekiel.  He 
lived  in  a  colonv  of  exiled  Jews  on  the  river  Chebar,  in 

6i 


THE   WORTH   OF  THE   INDIVIDUAL       63 

a  distant  part  of  Babylonia  ;  there  he  prophesied,  and 
there  he  wrote  the  book  which  bears  his  name.  During 
the  four  years  covered  by  the  first  twenty-four  chapters 
his  eyes  are  steadily  directed  toward  Jerusalem  ;  and 
his  principal  aim  is  to  convince  his  hearers  that  the 
moral  state  of  its  inhabitants  is  such  that  its  final  doom 
cannot  be  long  deferred  ;  Zedekiah  and  those  remaining 
with  him  in  the  city  will  join  ere  long  their  fellow- 
countrymen  who  were  in  exile  already.  The  issue 
agreed  with  his  predictions ;  in  588  B.C.  Jerusalem 
was  taken  by  the  troops  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  the  city 
was  destroyed,  and  the  rest  of  its  inhabitants  taken  into 
exile  in  Babylonia. 

Ezekiel  thus  lived  in  an  age  of  transition  between  * 
the  old  and  the  new.  He  witnessed,  and  suffered  in, 
the  great  shock  which  must  always  accompany  a  disrup- 
tion of  ties  and  associations  which  have  continued  un- 
disturbed for  centimes.  This  shock  brought  with  it  a 
change  in  the  manner  of  looking  at  moral  problems. 
In  the  ancient  world  it  often  happened  that  men 
were  not  viewed  so  clearly  as  individuals  as  they  are 
now ;  the  idea  of  their  individual  rights  and  position 
was  not  so  firmly  held  :  they  were  treated  rather  as 
members  of  the  societies  of  which  they  formed  part ; 
the  individual,  whether  he  deserved  it  or  not,  was  in- 
volved in  the  guilt  of  the  tribe  or  nation  to  which  he 
belonged.  The  son,  and  even  the  whole  family,  of  a 
criminal  often  suffered  with  him,  though  they  were 
entirely  innocent  of  the  crime.  This  point  of  view 
was  shared  also  by  the  Jews.     So  long  as  the  Jewish 


64        THE   IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS 

state  existed,  the  principle  of  solidarity  was  accepted  as 
a  recognized  principle  of  the  Divine  government  of  the 
world.  Men  sufiered  for  the  sins  of  their  ancestors ; 
individuals  shared  the  punishment  incurred  by  the 
nation  as  a  whole.  It  was  what  every  one  saw  taking 
place  about  him,  and  it  was  accepted  as  an  element 
of  the  recognized  constitution  of  things.  The  principle 
seemed  to  be  the  more  clearly  established,  because  the 
ancient  Jews  had  but  a  dim  and  imperfect  conception  of 
a  future  life  ;  and  it  never  occiured  to  them  to  suppose 
that  injustice  or  inequalities  here  could  be  redressed  or 
compensated  for  in  a  future  state  hereafter.  The  lot 
of  men  in  this  present  life  was  practically  the  final 
and  only  lot  of  which  the  Jews  took  cognizance. 

The  disastrous  years  which  ended  in  the  fall  of 
Jerusalem,  and  the  unprecedented  sufferings  attending 
them,  gave  rise  to  questionings  on  this  subject  which 
exercised  and  perplexed  many  minds.  The  strokes  which 
had  fallen  one  after  another  upon  the  state  must  be 
deserved,  when  the  state  was  considered  as  a  moral 
person  which  had  sinned  all  through  her  history — a 
point  of  view  which  Ezekiel  himself  adopts  in  his  16th 
chapter ;  but  they  fell  with  a  crushing  weight  upon 
those  who  had  not  been  partakers  in  the  sins  which 
brought  them  down.  The  reflections  thus  occasioned 
found  expression  in  a  popular  proverb,  which  must 
have  been  often  heard  at  the  time,  for  it  is  quoted 
by  Jeremiah  as  well  as  by  Ezeldel :  "  The  fathers  have 
eaten  sour  grapes,  and  the  children's  teeth  are  set  on 
edge."     The  phrase  was  meant  as  an  arraignment  of 


THE  WORTH   OF  THE   INDIVIDUAL       65 

the  methods  of  Providence.  The  doctrine  of  trans- 
mitted guilt  was  accepted  as  a  fact  of  experience,  but  it 
no  longer  satisfied  men's  deeper  moral  instincts.  There 
was  felt  to  be  in  it  at  bottom  something  incongruous 
with  perfect  justice.  And  so  these  questionings  found 
expression  in  the  proverb.  In  the  natural  sphere,  if  a 
man  eats  sour  gi'apes,  his  own  teeth  are  blunted  or  set 
on  edge  ;  the  consequences  are  immediate,  and  they 
are  transitory.  But  in  the  moral  sphere,  so  it  was  sup- 
posed, a  man  may  eat  sour  grapes  all  his  life  and 
be  conscious  of  no  evil  consequences  whatever ;  the 
consequences  afiect  only  his  children,  who  have  com- 
mitted no  such  indiscretion,  and  are  in  no  way  respon- 
sible for  their  father's  misdeeds.  No  doubt  this  was 
the  predominant  idea  which  the  proverb  was  intended 
to  express;  but  in  different  mouths  it  might  express  dif- 
ferent feelings.  By  some,  for  instance,  it  might  be  uttered 
in  self-exculpation,  in  a  satisfied,  self-righteous  tone  ;  by 
others  as  an  expression  of  the  fatalism  and  despair  which 
settled  down  on  the  minds  of  men  when  they  realized 
the  full  extent  of  the  calamity  which  had  overtaken 
them,  as  though  they  were  lying  under  a  hopeless  fate 
inherited  from  the  past,  which  crushed  out  individual 
life  and  paralysed  all  personal  efiort  after  righteous- 
ness. 

The  prophet  meets  the  state  of  the  people's  mind 
by  two  great  principles,  enunciated  in  the  first  and 
second  parts  of  the  chapter  respectively.  In  the  first  he 
sets  the  individual's  immediate  relation  to  God  against 
the  idea  that  guilt  is  transmitted  from  father  to  children : 
5 


66        THE   IDEALS   OF  THE  PROPHETS 

"All  souls  are  mine:  the  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die." 
In  the  second  he  rejects  the  idea  that  a  man's  fate  is  so 
determined  by  his  past  life  as  to  make  a  moral  change 
in  him  impossible :  "I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death 
of  him  that  dieth  :  wherefore  turn  yourselves,  and  live." 
"  All  souls  are  mine ;  as  the  soul  of  the  father,  so 
also  the  soul  of  the  son  is  mine  :  the  soul  that  sinneth, 
it  shall  die."  Soul  here  does  not  mean  the  spiritual  or 
immortal  part  of  man ;  it  denotes  merely  (as  often  in 
Old  Testament)  an  individual  person ;  and  the  passage 
means  that  every  individual  person  stands  in  imme- 
diate relation  to  God,  all  belonging  to  Him  alike,  the 
son  not  less  than  the  father,  and  thus  each  is  treated 
by  Him  independently.  According  to  the  point  of 
view  which  the  prophet  was  combating,  the  son  had 
no  personal  independence  ;  he  belonged  to  his  father, 
or,  speaking  more  generally,  to  the  nation  or  family, 
and  was  related  to  God  only  as  a  member  of  a  larger 
whole,  in  whose  destiny  he  was  involved.  "  The  soul  that 
sinneth,  it  shall  die  " — ^it  and  not  another,  on  account 
of  its  sin  ;  it  stands  to  God  in  a  direct  relation.  Ezekiel 
then  develops,  or  illustrates,  his  truth  in  three  instances. 
First,  he  takes  the  case  of  a  man  who  is  righteous,  who 
does  thaf  which  is  lawful  and  right,  who  avoids  the 
prevalent  sins  of  the  age,  who  performs  the  duties  of 
philanthropy,  liberality  and  justice,  and  who  walks 
generally  in  the  ways  which  are  pleasing  to  God :  such  a 
man  shall  surely  live.  By  live  the  prophet  means  some- 
thing more  than  mere  physical  life,  and  something  less 
than  the  sense  which  the  word  might  have  in  the  light  of 


THE  WORTH   OF  THE   INDIVIDUAL       67 

the  New  Testament :  he  means,  will  live  in  God's  sight, 
enjoy  His  favom:,  and  have  that  favom:  reflected  in  his 
own  outward  felicity.  Secondly,  he  supposes  the  right- 
eous man  to  be  the  father  of  a  violent  son,  who  sheds 
blood  and  does  evil ;  such  a  son  shall  not  live  because 
of  his  father's  righteousness,  he  shall  die  because  of  his 
own  sin,  where  die  again  means  die  spiritually,  be  de- 
prived of  the  light  of  God's  favour  and  of  the  life  which 
that  brings.  Thirdly,  he  supposes  this  imrighteous 
man  to  have  a  son  who,  seeing  his  father's  iniquities, 
takes  warning  by  them  and  Uves  righteously ;  this  son 
shall  not  die  on  account  of  his  father's  sins,  but  live 
because  of  his  own  righteousness.  The  truth  that  a 
man  is  judged  by  his  own  actions  and  not  by  those  of  his 
father,  seems  to  us  elementary  ;  but  it  was  not  so  to  the 
generation  which  Ezekiel  addressed.  They  saw  it,  but 
they  did  not  see  it  clearly.  Ezekiel  brings  out  into  the 
light  the  element  of  truth  which  prompted  the  proverb 
which  he  quotes,  while  freeing  it  from  the  exaggeration 
in  which  it  is  there  set  forth.  There  are  cases  in  which 
not,  indeed,  the  guilt  of  a  man's  ancestors,  but  the 
consequences  of  their  guilt  cling  to  him,  and  he  cannot 
shake  them  ofi  ;  but  not  to  the  extent  which  the  proverb 
implied.  They  never  wholly  overpower  the  moral 
independence.  Ezekiel  lifts  the  individual  out  of  the 
mass  in  which  he  had  as  it  were  been  lost,  and  points 
out  that  he  is  to  be  dealt  with  by  God  independently. 
The  second  great  truth  which  Ezekiel  asserts  is  the 
moral  freedom  of  the  individual  to  determine  his  own 
destiny  before  God.     "  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of 


68        THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

him  that  dieth :  wherefore  turn  yourselves,  and  live/ 
As  men  are  not  to  be  implicated  in  the  sins  of  their 
people  or  their  forefathers,  so  the  individual  is  not  to 
lie  under  the  ban  of  his  own  past.  As  before,  the 
prophet  chooses  illustrations.  He  takes  the  two 
opposite  cases  of  a  wicked  man  turning  from  his  wicked- 
ness, and  a  righteous  man  turning  from  his  righteousness, 
and  he  teaches  that  the  effect  of  such  a  change  of  mind 
as  regards  a  man's  relation  to  God  is  absolute  :  the  sinner 
who  turneth  from  his  wickedness  and  doeth  righteousness 
shall  live.  The  good  life  subsequent  to  his  conversion 
is  the  outward  mark  of  a  new  state  of  heart  in  which 
the  guilt  of  former  transgressions,  now  repented  of,  is 
entirely  blotted  out.  "  All  his  transgressions  that  he 
hath  committed  shall  not  be  remembered  in  regard  to 
him  :  in  his  righteousness  that  he  hath  done  he  shall 
live."  But,  conversely,  the  righteous  man  who  turneth 
away  from  his  righteousness  and  doeth  evil,  shall  die 
in  his  evil :  his  act  of  apostasy  efiaces  the  remembrance 
of  the  righteous  purpose  and  righteous  deeds  of  the 
earlier  period  of  his  life. 

The  truth  which  the  prophet  thus  teaches  is  the 
emancipation  of  the  individual,  through  repentance, 
from  his  oWn  past.  There  was  need  of  such  teaching,  for 
Ezekiel's  contemporaries  gave  themselves  up  to  despair  ; 
they  said  (xxxiii.  10) :  "  Our  iniquities  are  upon  us,  and 
we  waste  away  in  them  ;  how  then  can  we  live  ? "  And 
the  answer  is  the  same  as  that  given  here  :  "  As  I  live, 
saith  the  Lord  God,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death 
of  the  wicked ;  but  that  he  turn  from  his  way,  and  live  : 


THE  WORTH   OF  THE   INDIVIDUAL      69 

turn  ye,  turn  ye  from  your  wicked  ways  ;  for  why  will 
ye  die  ? "  The  people's  calamities  seemed  to  them  to 
prove  the  weight  of  their  sins  ;  it  came  upon  them 
with  crushing  force  ;  they  were  unable  to  rise  up  under 
it,  and  fell  into  despondency.  But  Ezekiel  seeks  to 
brace  them  up :  he  teaches  that,  in  virtue  of  his 
immediate  personal  relation  to  God,  each  man  has  the 
power  to  accept  the  offer  of  salvation,  to  break  away 
from  his  sinful  life  and  to  escape  the  judgment  which 
awaits  the  impenitent.  It  is  a  declaration  of  the  possi- 
bility and  efl&cacy  of  individual  repentance  ;  God  has  no 
pleasure  in  the  death  of  him  that  dieth,  but  willeth 
rather  that  all  men  repent  and  live. 

Ezekiel  thus  asserts  the  independence  of  the  indi- 
vidual against  the  idea  that  he  is  involved  in  the  sins 
of  his  people  or  his  forefathers,  and  also  against  the 
idea  that  he  lies  under  the  ban  of  his  own  previous  life. 
The  immediate  relation  of  every  spirit  to  God,  and  its 
moral  freedom  to  break  from  its  own  past,  emancipates  it 
in  both  these  directions.  The  prophet  does  not,  indeed, 
deny  that  the  individual  spirit  may  suffer  evil  conse- 
quences, both  from  its  relation  to  its  people  and  also 
from  its  relation  to  its  former  self ;  but  he  denies  that  it 
shall  suffer  from  them  spiritually  in  the  sense  in  which 
his  contemporaries  supposed  it  to  suffer.  Each  man's 
moral  freedom  raises  him  above  these  consequences, 
and  brings  him  as  an  independent  person  into  direct 
relation  with  God,  over  against  others,  and  even  over 
against  his  own  former  self. 

The  doctrine  of  this   18th  chapter  is   perhaps   the 


70         THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

most  characteristic  element  of  Ezekiel's  teaching. 
It  is  evident  that  the  prophet  anticipates  questions 
which  have  often  come  to  the  front  in  modern 
times.  Moral  aptitudes  and  deficiencies  are  trans- 
mitted by  inheritance :  do  not  children  suffer  by 
reason  of  faults  or  tendencies  for  which  they  are 
not  themselves  strictly  and  fully  responsible  ?  We 
cannot  entirely  sever  ourselves  from  our  surroundings  : 
do  not  men  sometimes  suffer  morally  for  the  neglected 
education,  the  evil  example,  which  they  owe  to  their 
parents  ?  Does  it  not  constantly  happen  that  a  man's 
life  is  affected  for  good  or  evil  by  influences  which  de- 
scend upon  him  from  his  ancestry  ?  Do  not  people  often 
suffer  physically  through  the  social  ties  which  involve 
them,  though  personally  innocent,  in  the  consequences 
of  the  wrong-doing  of  others  ?  Within  the  sphere  of 
the  individual  life,  the  law  of  habit  would  seem  to  ex- 
clude the  possibility  of  complete  emancipation  from 
the  penalty  due  to  past  transgressions.  Experience 
teaches  that  men's  characters  are  not  entirely  un- 
influenced by  the  acts  of  their  ancestors,  and  by 
the  habits  of  their  own  past  life.  Then  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  there  are  cases  in  which  the  proverb  is 
true,  in  which  the  fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes,  and 
the  children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge.  But  there  are  two 
things  which  we  must  here  bear  in  mind.  In  the  first 
place,  something  depends  upon  the  spirit  in  which  the 
proverb  is  used,  whether  it  is  meant  as  an  absolute 
and  universal  principle  of  Providence,  or  whether  it  is 
only  supposed   to   be  true  with    limitations  and   re- 


THE  WORTH   OF  THE   INDIVIDUAL      71 

strictions.  Ezekiel's  contemporaries  exaggerated  the 
dependence  of  the  individual  upon  his  antecedents ; 
they  made  it  a  power  which  he  could  not  contend  against ; 
and  in  opposition  to  them  the  prophet  asserted  strongly 
the  contrary  truth,  without  stopping  to  introduce  the 
qualifications  which  would  have  to  be  introduced  in 
practice.  And,  secondly,  the  prophet  does  not  contem- 
plate entirely  the  existing  order  of  things.  The  Jewish 
state  was  drawing  to  its  close  :  he  felt  himself  on  the 
threshold  of  a  new  epoch,  the  era  of  the  perfect  kingdom 
of  God ;  and  it  is  in  this  new  era  that  he  pictures 
the  new  principle  which  he  enunciates  as  operating. 
Like  other  prophets,  he  outlines  an  ideal  society,  and 
describes  the  principles  which  will  prevail  in  it.  The 
prophets  look  forward  to  an  ideal  world,  in  which 
men's  characters  will  be  what  they  ought  to  be,  and  in 
which  consequently  there  will  be  nothing  to  hinder 
men's  outward  lot  corresponding  to  their  inward  state, 
and  the  righteous  enjoying  external  felicity.  The  pro- 
phets pictured  their  ideal  upon  earth,  but  we  can 
only  imagine  it  as  realized  completely  in  another  state 
of  existence,  or  in  heaven.  Ezekiel  wrote,  however, 
in  an  age  when  the  old  order  of  things  and  the 
ideas  which  belonged  to  it  were  passing  away ;  and  for 
the  age  which  should  come  he  proclaimed  once  for 
all  the  doctrine  of  the  independence  of  the  individual 
soul  before  God.  As  against  the  view  which  regards 
the  misfortunes  of  the  present  as  entirely  derived  from 
the  mistakes  of  the  past,  he  asserts  the  truth,  which  we 
must  all  feel  to  be  consonant  with  justice,  that,  while 


72         THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

allowance  will  be  made  for  untoward  antecedents  and 
circumstances,  every  man  will  be  judged  by  God  accord- 
ing to  what  he  does  himself,  and  the  use  he  makes  of 
the  opportunities  which  he  enjoys. 

The  prophet  closes  with  a  practical  exhortation 
based  on  the  new  truths  he  has  been  expounding. 
Because  every  one  may  emancipate  himself  from  his  past, 
and  because  God  will  judge  every  one  according  to  the 
condition  in  which  he  is  found,  let  the  house  of  Israel 
repent,  and  turn  from  its  transgressions,  lest  iniquity 
be  its  ruin.  The  call  was  designed  by  the  prophet  to 
arouse  Israel  from  its  lethargy  or  its  despair  :  and  it  is 
one  which  is  not  less  urgent  and  forcible  now  than  it 
was  when  it  was  heard  first  by  the  exiles  in  Baby- 
lonia :  "  Cast  away  from  you  all  your  transgressions 
whereby  ye  have  transgressed,  and  make  you  a  new 
heart  and  a  new  spirit :  for  why  should  ye  die,  0  house 
of  Israel.  For  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of 
him  that  dieth,  saith  the  Lord  God  :  wherefore  turn 
yourselves,  and  live.'* 


VIII 
THE  BLESSEDNESS  OF  ZION 

"And  in  this  mountain  shall  the  Lckd  make  unto  all  peoples 
a  feast  of  fat  things,  a  feast  of  wines  on  the  lees,  of  fat  things  full 
of  marrow,  of  wines  on  the  lees  well  refined." — Isaiah  xxv.  6. 

T)OTH  on  week-days  and  on  Sundays  during  Advent 
-■-'  the  first  lessons  in  our  services  are  taken  from  the 
Book  of  Isaiah,  the  book  which  beyond  all  other  books  of 
the  Old  Testament  contains  prophecies  both  of  coming 
judgment  and  of  coming  salvation.  When  the  book  is 
studied  carefully  and  compared  with  the  history,  it 
soon  becomes  apparent  that  it  is  not  throughout  the 
work  of  a  single  prophet  or  of  a  single  age.  In  some 
parts — in  the  greater  part,  in  fact,  of  chs.  i.  to  xxxix. — 
the  writer  is  living  is  Jerusalem ;  he  refers  to  events 
happening  dm:ing  the  reigns  of  Ahaz  and  Hezekiah  ; 
and  his  main  object  is  to  bring  home  to  the  people  their 
moral  shortcomings,  to  impress  upon  them  the  course 
which,  in  their  political  attitude  towards  Assyria  and 
Egypt,  a  wise  statesmanship  would  suggest ;  and  to 
announce  the  approaching  invasion  and  siege  by  the 
Assyrians,  and  the  straits  to  which  Jerusalem  will 
thereby   be   reduced,    until   a   sudden   and  surprising 

73 


74         THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

destruction  overtakes  their  foes,  after  which  a  glorious 
period  of  ideal  felicity,  of  peace  and  righteousness,  under 
the  just  rule  of  a  perfect  king,  will  begin  for  Judah.  In 
the  second  part  of  the  book  (chs.  xl.  fE.)  the  people  are 
not  in  Judah,  but  in  exile  in  Babylon  ;  and  the  prophet, 
beginning  with  the  familiar  words,  "  Comfort  ye,  com- 
fort ye,  my  people,"  encourages  his  despondent  or 
indifferent  countrymen  with  promises  of  speedy  deliver- 
ance. Cyrus,  who  lived  one  and  a  half  centuries  after 
Isaiah,  has  already  begun  his  career  of  conquest ;  he 
will  soon  take  Babylon,  and  release  the  Jewish  exiles  ; 
upon  their  return  to  Palestine  an  ideal  age  of  peace, 
tranquillity  and  spiritual  blessedness  will  begin,  which 
is  depicted  with  even  more  splendid  eloquence,  and  in 
more  gorgeous  colours,  than  the  similar  visions  of 
felicity  which  Isaiah  himself  had  pictured  as  following 
the  overthrow  of  the  Assyrian  host. 

The  25th  chapter  belongs  to  the  remarkable  pro- 
phecy which  extends  from  the  24th  to  the  27th  chapter 
of  the  same  book.  This  prophecy  has  a  character  of 
its  own.  Its  historical  background,  instead  of  being 
clearly  defined,  is  indistinct ;  and  in  both  style  and 
outlook  it  differs  markedly  from  those  other  parts  of 
the  book  which  I  have  mentioned. 

That  the  prophecy  springs  out  of  some  definite 
historical  situation  is  indeed  manifest ;  but  it  is  neither 
the  Judah  of  Isaiah's  day,  nor  the  Babylon  which  the 
exiles  were  soon  to  leave  ;  its  features  are  veiled  by  the 
use  of  imaginative  and  symbolical  language,  the  precise 
signification  of  which  frequently  eludes  our  grasp. 


THE  BLESSEDNESS   OF   ZION  75 

The  prophecy  opens  with  a  vision  in  ch.  xxiv,  of  a 
great  disaster  about  to  overwhelm  the  earth  :  "  Behold, 
the  Lord  maketh  the  earth  empty,  and  layeth  it  bare, 
and  turneth  it  upside  down,  and  scattereth  abroad 
its  inhabitants  "  ;  and  there  follows  a  description  of 
the  coming  catastrophe,  and  of  the  manner  in  which  it  is 
to  involve  all  ranks  and  classes  of  society  in  a  common 
ruin,  and  bring  to  an  end  every  enjoyment  of  life.  For 
a  moment,  indeed,  the  prophet  hears  in  imagination, 
from  exiles  in  the  distant  west,  the  songs  of  praise  hail- 
ing the  dawn  of  a  brighter  day  ;  but  he  himself  cannot 
share  these  hopes,  for  he  is  conscious  that  the  work  of 
judgment  is  not  yet  complete.  In  the  end,  however, 
Israel  emerges  triumphant,  and  the  reign  of  its  Divine 
King  begins  in  splendour  and  majesty  :  "  For  the  Lord 
of  hosts  shall  reign  in  Mount  Zion,  and  before  his  elders 
gloriously." 

In  the  25th  chapter  the  prophet  represents  the 
redeemed  community  of  the  future  expressing  in  a 
hymn  its  thankfulness  for  its  deliverance.  God's 
ancient  purposes  have  been  fulfilled ;  the  city  which 
oppressed  them — which  is  not  named,  and  which  seems 
to  be  an  idealized  symbol  of  the  world-power  opposed 
to  God  and  His  people  —  has  at  length  been  over- 
thrown ;  and  such  of  the  heathen  as  still  survive  own 
Jehovah's  might,  who  has  shoAvn  Himself  a  stronghold 
to  the  poor  and  oppressed  people  of  God. 

The  hymn  is  followed  by  a  picture  of  the  blessedness 
of  which  Zion,  at  the  time  imagined,  will  become  the 
centre.     A  rich  banquet — a  figure  at  once  of  spiritual 


76        THE   IDEALS   OF  THE  PROPHETS 

and  material  enjoyments — will  be  provided  there  for  all 
nations  :  "  And  in  this  mount  shall  the  Lord  of  hosts 
make  unto  all  peoples  a  feast  of  fat  things,  a  feast  of 
wines  on  the  lees,  of  fat  things  full  of  marrow,  of  wines 
on  the  lees  well  refined."  The  figure  of  a  banquet  is  the 
same,  we  may  remember,  as  that  which  is  used  by  our 
Lord  in  the  same  connection  when  He  says,  in  view  of 
the  faith  in  Him  shown  by  the  Roman  centm-ion : 
"  And  many  shall  come  from  the  east  and  from  the 
west,  and  shall  sit  down  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob,  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven "  (Matt.  viii.  11). 
Death  and  sorrow,  the  prophet  continues,  will  then  vex 
no  more  :  "He  hath  swallowed  up  death  for  ever  ; 
and  the  Lord  God  will  wipe  away  tears  from  off  all 
faces,  and  the  reproach  of  his  people  will  he  take  away 
from  off  all  the  earth." 

The  picture  is  one  of  those  which  meet  us  frequently 
in  the  prophets,  and  especially  in  the  prophecies  which 
are  now  aggregated  in  the  Book  of  Isaiah,  the  picture 
of  a  future  state  of  ideal  happiness  upon  earth.  The  sin 
and  sorrow  which  mar  the  present  are  abolished ;  the 
power  of  death  limited  or  even,  as  here,  annihilated  ; 
Israel  no  longer  suffering  national  misfortune  or  disgrace  ; 
the  nations  of  the  world  no  longer  the  enemies  of  God 
and  of  His  truth,  but  admitted  to  the  same  privileges 
as  those  enjoyed  by  His  own  people  Israel,  and  seeking 
spiritual  life  and  spiritual  sustenance  in  Zion.  We 
remember,  for  instance,  the  picture  in  the  2nd  chapter, 
or,  again,  that  given  at  the  end  of  the  19th  chapter, 
where  the  prophet  imagines  a  highway  constructed. 


THE   BLESSEDNESS   OF   ZION  77 

leading  from  Assyria  into  Egypt,  along  which  the  two 
peoples  of  Assyria  and  Egypt,  who  in  Isaiah's  day  were 
sworn  foes,  journeying  to  and  fro  upon  it  to  visit  one 
another,  and  both  joining  together  in  the  worship 
of  the  God  of  Israel.  And  the  writer  of  ch.  Ivi.  declares 
that  the  restored  Temple  is  to  be  a  "  house  of  prayer 
for  all  peoples."  This  large  catholicity  of  the  prophets' 
outlook  is  a  remarkable  feature  :  they  break  through 
their  national  exclusivenesss  and  picture  the  Gentiles 
as  admitted  to  the  privileges  of  the  chosen  people. 

In  the  sequel  to  our  present  chapter  the  redeemed 
nation  of  the  future  praises  God  for  its  long-deferred, 
but  now  at  last  accomplished,  deliverance.  Jerusalem, 
the  idealized  Jerusalem  of  the  future,  is  now  strong 
and  secure  ;  the  city  of  its  foes  is  overthrown,  and  it 
is  henceforth  to  be  the  abode  of  a  righteous  and  loyal 
people  :  "  Open  ye  the  gates,  that  the  righteous  nation 
which  keepeth  faithfulness,"  which  is  loyal  to  its  God, 
"  may  enter  in."  Henceforth,  moreover,  the  inequalities 
of  the  present  will  be  no  more  ;  righteousness  will  prevail 
universally,  and  be  rewarded  as  it  deserves ;  and  the 
course  in  life  of  the  righteous  will  be  free  from 
trouble  and  difficulty :  "  the  path  of  the  just  is  (now) 
evenness  ;  evenly  dost  thou  level  the  path  of  the  just." 
Long,  indeed,  as  the  people,  in  the  remarkable  retrospect 
which  follows,  are  represented  as  saying  :  Long  indeed 
had  they  sujSered,  and  looked  earnestly  for  better  days  ; 
they  had  hoped  to  see  Jehovah  approaching  on  the  path 
of  judgment  to  deliver  them,  but  they  had  waited  in 
vain,  their  own  efforts  had  accomplished  nothing,  and 


78         THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

wrought  no  permanent  deliverance  for  the  nation ; 
their  land  was  desolated,  and  they  could  not  repeople 
it.  And  so  the  thought  rises  in  the  prophet's  mind  that 
Israel's  final  redemption  could  be  effected  only  by 
means  of  a  resurrection :  Israel's  foes  will,  indeed, 
remain  for  ever  in  their  graves,  for  "  the  dead  live  not, 
the  Shades  arise  not  "  ;  this  is  the  general  truth  which 
the  prophet  expresses  ;  but  the  buried  Israelites  will  rise 
again  and  help  to  replenish  the  depopulated  land  : 
"  Thy  dead  shall  live  ;  the  dead  bodies  of  my  nation 
shall  arise.  Awake  and  sing,  ye  that  dwell  in  the  dust ; 
for  thy  dew  is  as  the  dew  of  lights  ;  and  the  earth  shall 
cast  forth  the  Shades." 

We  have  then  in  these  two  chapters,  clothed  in  a 
highly  imaginative  garb,  two  great  ideals  set  before  us  : 
an  ideal  of  a  blissful  future,  not,  indeed,  in  heaven,  but 
upon  earth,  in  which  the  power  of  death,  that  main 
hindrance  to  perfect  human  felicity,  will  be  abolished, 
righteousness  will  be  supreme,  and  the  kingdom  of 
God  prevail  over  the  forces  opposed  to  it ;  when  also 
the  nations  of  the  earth  will  sit  down  at  a  banquet 
provided  for  them  by  Jehovah  in  Zion — the  figure  being 
a  symbol  of  the  spiritual  and  material  blessings  which 
they  will  'then  share  with  the  chosen  people  :  and  the 
ideal  of  a  resurrection  in  which  the  saints  of  God  will 
rise  and  join  with  their  brethren  still  alive  in  peopling 
the  desolated  land  of  Judah.  This  is  the  form  in 
which  these  two  ideals  are  presented  by  the  prophet, 
but  we  must  not  suppose  that  they  are  destined  to  be 
realized   as  he   pictured   them.    The   prophets   never 


THE  BLESSEDNESS  OF   ZION  79 

overcame  entirely  the  limitations  which  their  own  age 
and  national  life  imposed  upon  them ;  they  never, 
for  instance,  rose  to  the  idea  of  a  Church,  with  places  of 
worship  scattered  all  over  the  world.  The  spiritual 
metropolis  of  the  future  is  always  the  hill  of  Zion,  and 
the  observances  of  the  Jewish  religion  are  always  to  be 
maintained  ;  the  prophet  who  writes  in  the  66th  chapter 
even  pictures  "  all  flesh  "  as  coming,  every  sabbath  and 
every  new  moon,  to  worship  in  Jerusalem.  This  limita- 
tion, however,  does  not  detract  from  the  real  catholicity 
of  their  ideal ;  in  their  anticipations  of  the  ultimate 
admission  of  the  nations  of  the  world  into  the  kingdom 
of  God,  they  recognized  both  the  true  religious  needs 
of  human  nature,  and  also  that  their  own  religion 
contained  in  germ  the  principles  for  satisfying  them. 
The  Christian  Church,  following  out  the  teaching  and 
instruction  of  our  Lord,  set  itself  to  do  this  ;  the  Gentile 
Churches  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome  were  the  firstfruits 
of  their  labours ;  the  nations  of  Christian  Europe 
(including  ourselves)  followed  afterwards  ;  but  history 
tells  us  how  gradual  the  process  of  conversion  was ; 
and  we  have  but  to  look  around  us  to  see  what  vast 
parts  of  the  world  are  still  outside  the  pale  of  God's 
kingdom,  and  how  little  even  those  nations  which  are 
nominally  Christian  realize  the  perfections  of  peace  and 
righteousness  and  spiritual  aspiration  which  are  the 
leading  features  of  the  prophets'  ideals. 

And  when  we  look  at  the  other  element  in  our  prophet's 
hope,  that  of  a  resurrection,  we  cannot  but  be  struck 
by  the  immature  and  imperfect  form  in  which  it  is 


8o        THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

expressed.  The  prophets  of  the  older  dispensation 
had  no  knowledge  of  a  future  spiritual  life  in 
heaven ;  revelation  is  progressive ;  and  they  only 
made  advances  towards  that  doctrine.  Sometimes,  in 
their  conceptions  of  the  future  kingdom  of  God,  they 
thought  of  the  Israelites  living  in  it  as  enjoying 
patriarchal  longevity ;  sometimes  as  enjo5dng  in  it 
never-ending  life  (Is.  xxv.) ;  sometimes  they  thought 
of  their  dead  countrymen  as  living  again,  and  helping 
to  repeople  the  wasted  land  of  Judah  (ch.  xxvi.).  But 
all  these  pictures  were  of  a  glorified  life,  free  from  sin 
and  trouble,  upon  earth.  It  is  only  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment that  the  future  life,  conceived  in  these  forms  by 
some  of  the  prophets,  was  completely  spiritualized, 
co-ordinated  with  the  general  body  of  Christian  truth, 
and  raised  from  earth  to  heaven. 


IX 

THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

"  The  wilderness  and  the  solitary  place  shall  be  glad  ;  and  the  ^ 
desert  shall  rejoice,  and  blossom  as  the  rose." — Isaiah  xxxv.  1. 

rriHERE  can  be  few  who  are  in  the  habit  of  attending 
-'-  a  Cathedral  service  to  whom  these  words  are  not 
familiar,  and  in  whom  they  do  not  arouse  exquisite  and 
delicious  memories.  Two  great  tone-poets,  who  have 
enriched  the  devotional  music  of  the  Anglican  Church 
with  some  of  its  choicest  gems,  have  vied  with  one 
another  in  the  effort  to  express  in  worthy  melody  the 
noble  and  beautiful  prophecy  of  which  this  is  the  opening 
verse.  In  dignified  and  impressive  tones  they  have 
depicted  the  sudden  change  in  the  aspect  of  the  barren 
soil ;  the  waters  breaking  forth  in  the  wilderness,  and 
the  streams  in  the  desert ;  the  doubts  and  fears  of  the 
exiled  Israelites  giving  place  to  buoyancy  and  joy  ; 
the  happiness  of  those  privileged  to  mount  triumphantly 
on  the  highway  leading  to  their  home  ;  the  rapture  of 
sacred  delight  filling  their  breasts  as  they  enter  with 
singing  into  Zion,  and  are  conscious  that  the  supreme 
goal  of  human  happiness  has  been  reached,  that  sor- 
row and  sighing  have  fled  away,  and  that  the  discords 

6  8x 


82         THE  IDEALS   OF  THE  PROPHETS 

jarring  in  the  present  have  at  last  been  resolved  in 
the  sweet  and  inexpressible  harmony  of  the  future. 
So  long  as  the  human  soul  remains  susceptible  to  the 
emotions  aroused  by  music,  so  long  as  music  retains  its 
magic  power  of  winning  entrance  to  the  heart  for  true 
and  noble  thoughts,  so  long,  we  may  be  sure,  the  names 
of  Wesley  and  Goss  will  be  inseparably  conjoined  with 
the  prophecy  which  now  stands  as  the  35th  chapter  of 
the  book  which  bears  Isaiah's  name. 

What,  however,  may  we  learn  from  the  prophecy, 
when  we  regard  it  in  its  context  and  original  signifi- 
cance ?  It  is  connected  intimately  with  the  Sith  chapter, 
and  forms  its  counterpart  and  sequel.  The  prophecy 
in  the  34th  chapter  is  directed  against  Edom,  the  near 
neighbour  of  Judah,  but  also  its  great  rival,  between 
whom  and  Judah  there  prevailed  a  spirit  of  inveterate 
ill-feeling  and  jealousy,  leading  to  frequent  and  bitter 
hostilities.  The  day  of  triumph  for  Edom  came  when 
Jerusalem  was  entered,  and  the  Temple  destroyed,  by 
the  Chaldaeans  under  Nebuchadnezzar :  Ezekiel  and 
Obadiah  ^  alike  bear  witness  to  the  malicious  exulta- 
tion which  the  Edomites  then  expressed  :  they  laid  in 
wait  to  plunder  and  intercept  the  fugitives ;  they 
watched  eagerly  as  the  victorious  Chaldaeans  broke 
down  the  walls ;  as  a  Psalmist,  writing  long  after,  has 
not  forgotten,  they  even  urged  on  the  work  of  destruc- 
tion, saying  : 

"  Down  with  it,  down  with  it,  even  to  the  ground ! "  ' 

1  Ezek.  XXV.  12-14,  xxxv.  5,  10,  12  f.;  Obad.  10-14. 
*  Pa.  cxxxvii.  7  (Prayer-Book  Version). 


THE   IDEALS   OF   THE   PROPHETS  83 

The  34th  and  35th  chapters  of  Isaiah  form  one  of 
those  prophecies  which,  though  incorporated  in  the 
Book  of  Isaiah,  are  not  by  Isaiah  himself.  The  34th 
chapter  was  written  while  resentment  for  this  unfeeling 
behaviour  of  the  Edomites  was  still  keenly  felt  by  the 
Jews.  It  consists  of  a  long  and  impressive  denuncia- 
tion of  the  judgment  impending  on  Edom  :  the  prophet 
describes  the  carnage  and  destruction  of  which  its 
country,  he  imagines,  will  shortly  be  the  scene  ;  its 
mountain  stronghold  will  be  laid  desolate  ;  its  land  will 
be  buried  under  streams  of  molten  lava  ;  its  castles 
and  fortresses  will  become  the  resort  of  desert  creatures, 
which  will  haunt  its  ruins  for  ever. 

To  the  desolation  and  abandonment  thus  anticipated 
for  Edom,  the  picture  in  ch.  xxxv.  forms  a  striking  and 
finely  conceived  contrast.  For  the  Israelites,  now  at 
last  to  be  delivered  from  their  years  of  exile  in  Babylon, 
the  wilderness  and  the  parched  land  will  rejoice,  and 
the  desert  burst  forth  into  brilliant  and  abundant 
flowers.  The  wilderness  meant  is  the  broad  arid  expanse 
lying  between  Babylon  and  Palestine,  which  the  exiles 
journeying  homewards  would  naturally  have  to  traverse. 
Jehovah  is  returning  with  His  long-exiled  nation  ;  and 
the  way  by  which  He  will  pass  must  be  worthily  prepared 
for  the  progress  of  the  Great  King  ;  the  desert  must  be 
transformed  into  a  paradise  for  the  delectation  of  His 
people ;  avenues  of  stately  trees  must  cast  their 
shade  about  them  :  "  the  glory  of  Lebanon  shall  be 
given  unto  it,  the  majesty  of  Carmel  and  Sharon  " 
—  those   richly  forested  districts  of    Palestine — "  they 


84         THE  IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS 

shall  see  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  the  majesty  of  our 
God." 

"  Strengthen  ye  the  weak  hands,  and  confirm  the 
feeble  knees.  Say  to  them  that  are  of  a  fearful  heart, 
Be  strong,  fear  not  "  :  let  those  among  the  exiles  who 
are  fearful  and  timorous,  and  who  doubt  whether  their 
release  is  near  at  hand,  take  com'age  :  "  Behold,  your 
God  will  come  with  vengeance  ;  he  will  come  and  save 
you."  Then  human  infirmities  will  cease  to  vex,  and 
nature  will  co-operate  spontaneously  in  the  relief  of 
human  needs  :  "  Then  shall  the  lame  man  leapa  s  an 
hart,  and  the  tongue  of  the  dumb  sing  :  for  in  the 
wilderness  shall  waters  break  out,  and  streams  in  the 
desert,"  yielding  cool  and  near  refreshment  for  the 
returning  exiles  :  the  glowing  sand  or  mirage,  which 
so  often  in  Eastern  countries  deludes  with  false  hopes 
the  exhausted  traveller,  will  become  a  real  lake,  and 
the  thirsty  land  will  send  forth  springs  of  water.  "  And 
an  highway  shall  be  there,  and  a  way  ;  and  it  shall  be 
called  the  Way  of  Holiness  ;  the  unclean  shall  not  pass 
over  it,  but  it  shall  be  for  those  :  the  wayfaring  men, 
yea  fools,  shall  not  err  therein."  The  prophet  imagines 
in  the  desert  a  raised  way  leading  from  Babylon  to 
Zion  :  only  those  who  are  worthy,  those  who  are  holy 
and  clean,  will  be  admitted  upon  it :  but  it  will  be  so 
broad  and  plain  that  even  the  simplest,  even  "  fools," 
will  not  lose  their  track  upon  it,  so  elevated  and  well- 
protected  that  no  dangerous  beast  v/ili  be  able  to  climb 
up  and  molest  the  pilgrims  journejing  along  it :  "  No 
lion  shall  be  there,  nor  shall  any  ravenous  beast  go 


THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS         85 

up  thereon,  they  shall  not  be  found  there  ;  but  the 
redeemed  shall  walk  there  " — not,  of  course,  the  "  re- 
deemed "  in  the  Christian  sense  of  the  term,  but,  as 
the  expression  is  elsewhere  explained,  those  whom 
Jehovah  has  redeemed  from  their  long  exile  in  Babylon  : 
"  And  the  ransomed  of  Jehovah  shall  return,  and  come 
with  singing  unto  Zion ;  and  everlasting  joy  shall  be  upon 
their  heads  ;  they  shall  obtain  gladness  and  joy,  and 
sorrow  and  sighing  shall  flee  away."  The  prophecy  is 
thus,  in  a  word,  a  promise  of  the  glorious  return  of  the 
Jewish  exiles  from  Babylon,  of  the  bountiful  provision 
to  be  made  for  the  relief  of  their  temporal  wants  upon 
the  way,  and  of  the  blessedness,  spiritual  and  material, 
which  will  attend  them  when  they  are  settled  again  in 
their  ancient  home. 

The  prophecy  is  not  the  only  one  in  which  similar 
representations  are  found.  The  great  prophecy  of 
Israel's  restoration  to  Palestine  which  now  forms  the 
last  twenty-seven  chapters  of  the  Book  of  Isaiah,  and 
which  was  written  approximately  at  the  same  period, 
abounds  in  similar  passages.  The  time  has  come  for 
God's  ancient  people  to  be  released  from  its  long  captiv- 
ity in  Babylon  ;  a  crisis  fraught  with  momentous  issues 
for  the  future  is  at  hand ;  and  in  glowing  imagery  the 
prophet  pictures  the  progress  of  the  returning  nation 
under  the  protecting  guidance  of  its  God  :  "  Prepare 
ye  in  the  wilderness  the  way  of  Jehovah,  make  plain 
in  the  desert  a  highway  for  our  God.  Every  valley 
shall  be  exalted,  and  every  mountain  and  hill  shall  be 
made  low  :   and  the  glory  of  Jehovah  shall  be  revealed, 


86        THE   IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS 

and  all  flesh  shall  see  it  together.  ...  I  will  open  rivers 
on  the  bare  heights,  and  fountains  in  the  midst  of  the 
valleys :  I  will  make  the  wilderness  a  pool  of  water, 
and  the  dry  land  springs  of  water.  I  will  plant  in  the 
wilderness  the  cedar,  the  acacia  tree,  and  the  myrtle  :  I 
will  set  in  the  desert  the  fir  tree,  the  plane,  and  the 
cypress  together.  ...  Go  ye  forth  from  Babylon,  flee 
ye  from  the  Chaldseans  ;  with  a  voice  of  singing  declare 
it  even  to  the  end  of  the  earth  :  say  ye,  Jehovah  hath 
redeemed  his  servant  Jacob.  And  they  thirsted  not 
when  he  led  them  through  the  deserts  :  he  caused  the 
waters  to  flow  out  of  the  rock  for  them :  he  clave  the 
rock  also,  and  the  waters  gushed  out.  ...  I  will 
set  thy  stones  in  fair  colours,  and  lay  thy  foundations 
with  sapphires.  .  .  .  And  all  thy  children  shall  be  the 
disciples  of  Jehovah  ;  and  great  shall  be  the  peace  of 
thy  children.  .  .  .  Thy  people  also  shall  be  all  righteous, 
they  shall  inherit  the  land  for  ever."  ^ 

These,  and  such  as  these,  are  the  gorgeous  and  brilliant 
traits  with  which  the  prophets  of  the  Exile  invest  the 
rapidly  approaching  future  of  their  nation.  How  im- 
perfectly those  expectations  were  realized,  history  tells 
us.  It  i^  true,  the  Jews  were  permitted  to  return  to 
their  own  country  in  the  first  year  after  Cyrus  con- 
quered Babylon ;  but  both  the  circumstances  of  the 
return  itself  and  the  state  of  the  restored  community 
were  in  singular  contrast  with  the  glorious  anticipations 
of  the  prophets.  No  avenues  of  umbrageous  trees 
protected  by  their  shade  the  homeward  marching 
» Is.  ?d.  3-5,  ?li.  18-19,  jslviii.  20-21,  liv.  11,  13,  \\.  21. 


THE   IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS         87 

Israelites  ;  no  streams  gushed  out  from  the  wilderness 
beneath  their  feet ;  when  the  Temple  and  city-walls 
after  many  hindrances  and  difficulties  were  at  last 
rebuilt,  the  splendour  which  the  second  Isaiah  had 
promised  to  the  restored  city,  the  homage  and  respect 
of  distant  nations  pressing  forward  with  their  offerings, 
and  the  expected  ideal  perfections,  which  were  to  be 
the  peculiar  privilege  of  the  restored  community,^  were, 
one  and  all,  conspicuous  by  their  absence.  The  prophecy 
of  Haggai,  and  the  Books  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  written 
in  large  measure  by  men  living  within  eighty  years  of  the 
return  under  Zerubbabel,  show  sufl&ciently  how  meagre 
were  the  principal  results  of  the  restoration,  how  de- 
pressed and  dependent  the  state  of  the  restored  com- 
munity. 

What  are  we  to  think  of  this  painful  discrepancy 
between  the  prophecy  and  the  fulfilment  ?  We  must 
bear  in  mind  the  general  character  of  prophecy.  The 
prophets,  in  the  first  place,  write  often  as  poets  :  they 
give  play  to  their  imagination ;  they  construct  ideals. 
It  is  true,  they  also  often  deliver  plain  and  direct  utter- 
ances :  they  rebuke  their  contemporaries  for  their 
vices ;  they  make  matter-of-fact  statements  respecting 
the  duty  of  man  to  his  neighbour  or  to  God  ;  they 
declare,  in  no  ambiguous  language,  the  temporal  judg- 
ments, or  temporal  deliverances,  which  they  see  ap- 
proaching. But  they  often  intermingle  in  their  dis- 
courses, especially  in  those  which  deal  with  the  future, 
a  large  ideal  element.  The  imagination,  which  has 
1  Is.  Ix.  3-7,  10-12,  14-16,  18,  21. 


88         THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

been  such  a  powerful  factor  in  the  education  of  our 
race,  and  the  master-creations  of  which  have  in  all 
ages  compelled  the  attention  and  admiration  of  man- 
kind, is  consecrated  to  the  service  of  God,  and  is  made 
the  vehicle  of  the  inspiring  spirit.  And  thus,  in  the 
pages  of  the  prophets,  coming  events  are  idealized : 
imaginative  pictures  of  a  golden  age  of  moral  and 
material  blessedness  are  attached  to  them :  a  present 
crisis  is  no  sooner  past  than  the  ultimate  goal  of  human 
history  is  conceived  to  have  been  reached.  Isaiah, 
when  the  vexatious  tyranny  of  the  Assyrian  is  past, 
pictures  an  immediate  revolution  in  the  character  and 
fortunes  of  his  people :  he  pictures  society  as  at  once 
transformed,  freed  from  all  the  faults  and  shortcomings 
which  mar  the  present ;  he  pictures  his  nation  in  the 
enjoyment  of  felicity,  and  of  spiritual  and  moral 
perfections,  secure  under  the  guardianship  of  its  ideal 
King.^  The  overthrow  of  the  hosts  of  Assyria  is  the 
crucial  tm-ning-point  in  the  history  of  his  people  ;  when 
that  is  accomplished  the  golden  age  begins.  And  so 
the  prophets  of  the  Exile  idealize  the  coming  restora- 
tion to  Palestine  :  that  with  them  is  the  crucial  moment 
of  history  ;  and  they  depict  it  in  more  gorgeous  colours 
than  even  isaiah  had  ventured  to  employ. 

How,  then,  are  these  prophecies  to  be  interpreted  ? 
The  prophets,  it  cannot  be  doubted,  like  other  men, 
mean  what  they  say  :  they  believed  that  the  pictures 
which  they  drew  would  be  realized  as  they  drew  them. 

1  Is.  xxix.  17-19,  23,  24,  xxx.  19-26,  xxxii  1-8,  16-18,  xxxiii.  5, 
6,  20-24,  xi.  1-9. 


THE   IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS         89 

The  only  exceptions  are  cases  in  which  it  may  reasonably 
be  supposed  that  they  are  using  figurative  language, 
as  when  Isaiah,  for  example,  describes  the  overthrow 
of  the  Assyrian  army  in  imagery  which  obviously 
cannot  be  intended  by  him  to  be  understood  literally.^ 
But  there  are  cases  in  which  the  prophet's  whole  con- 
ception of  the  future  is  such  that  it  cannot  reasonably 
be  supposed  to  have  been  intended  tiguratively  ;  and 
still  it  contains  traits  which  have  not  been  fulfilled  in 
the  past,  and  are  of  such  a  nature  that  they  cannot  be 
fulfilled  in  the  future.  I  say,  cannot  be  fulfilled  in  the 
future,  because  the  historical  conditions  with  which 
alone  these  traits  could  be  consistent,  and  under  which 
alone  they  could  be  intelligible,  have  passed  away  ; 
and  whatever  the  future  coiu'se  of  history  may  be,  can 
never  be  reproduced.  Tyie  was  long  ago  destroyed, 
and  its  people  have  perished,  without  ever,  as  Isaiah 
anticipated,  consecrating  their  gains  to  the  service  of 
the  true  God.^  The  great  nation  of  Assyria  has  also 
passed  away  :  but  it  never,  as  the  same  prophet  likewise 
expected  that  it  would  do,  shared  with  Israel  its  high 
theocratic  privileges,  or  consorted  with  Israel  and  Egypt 
in  the  friendly  worship  of  Jehovah.^  And  it  is  contrary 
to  the  most  fundamental  principles  of  the  Gospel  to 
suppose  that  Israel  should  ever  become,  as  the  great 
prophet  of  the  Exile  pictured  that  it  would  become, 
the  priestly  caste,  with  the  Gentiles  standing  towards 
it  in  the  subordinate  position  of  laity,  or  that  Jerusalem 

»€.?.  Is.  X.  16,  17,  xxix.  G,  XXX.  27,  28,  30,  33. 
»l8.  xxiii.  18.  *  Is.  xix.  23-25. 


go         THE   IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS 

should  become  the  actual  and  visible  religious  centre  of 
the  world,  to  be  visited,  week  by  week  and  month  by 
month,  by  pilgrims  from  all  nations,  to  observe  the 
Jewish  feasts  of  the  sabbath  and  the  new  moon.^  Large 
parts  of  Is.  xl.-lx.  are  prophecies  of  this  kind. 
They  plainly  describe  what  the  prophet  conceives  is 
to  follow  immediately  after  the  return  to  Palestine  ; 
they  cannot  reasonably  be  regarded  as  intended 
figuratively ;  and  unquestionably  they  have  not 
been  fulfilled. 

Nor  can  the  difi&culty  be  overcome  by  the  exegetical 
expedient  of  spiritualizing  the  imagery  of  such  pro- 
phecies so  as  to  make  them  predictions,  in  disguise,  of 
Christianity.  The  language  used  is  too  plain  to  permit 
that.  The  Israelites  are  to  be  delivered  not  from  the 
stronghold  of  sin  and  Satan,  but  from  Babylon ;  and 
their  deliverer  is  not  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  but  the 
Persian  monarch,  Cyrus.  We  must  take  prophecy  as 
we  find  it :  we  must  not,  prior  to  any  inductive  study 
of  what  the  contents  and  character  of  the  prophecies 
actually  are,  assume  that  every  description  of  the 
future  which  they  contain  must  tally  necessarily  with 
the  event,  and  be  surprised  and  disappointed  if  we  find 
that  it  does  not  do  so  ;  nor  must  we  unduly  strain  the 
language  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  the  two  into  agree- 
ment. The  prophet  is  much  more  than  a  mere  fore- 
teller :  he  is  in  a  far  wider  sense  the  interpreter  of  the 
thoughts  of  God,  the  announcer  to  man  of  the  Divine 
will  and  plan.     He  is  not  the  less  a  true  prophet  because 

1  Is.  Ixi.  6,  Ixvi.  23. 


THE   IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS         91 

the  picture  of  the  future  which  he  draws  is  sometimes 
a  Divine  ideal,  rather  than  the  reality  which  history 
actually  brings  with  it.  These  prophetic  conceptions 
display  astonishing  brilliancy  and  imaginative  power. 
They  stand  before^  us,  to  kindle  om-  admiration,  to 
ennoble  our  aspirations,  to  stir  our  emulation.  In  no 
part  of  the  Old  Testament  is  the  elevating  and  ennobling 
influence  of  the  Spirit  more  manifest  than  in  the  great 
ideals  of  the  prophets.  But  they  must  be  read,  and^ 
interpreted,  as  ideals  :  the  imaginative  form  in  which 
the  prophets'  thoughts  and  aspirations  are  set  forth 
must  be  recognized  as  such,  and  not  regarded  as  neces- 
sarily, in  all  its  details,  a  prediction  of  the  future.  And 
although  such  prophecies  cannot,  without  doing  violence 
to  words,  be  understood  even  as  disguised,  or  figurative, 
descriptions  of  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel,  yet  they  do 
embody  ideas  which  are  appropriated,  and  find  their 
fuller  realization,  in  the  Gospel  :  they  depict  states  of 
ideal  blessedness,  which,  though  they  are  not,  and  are 
not  intended  to  be,  identical  with  the  blessings  con- 
ferred by  Christianity,  may  still  be  regarded  as  emblems, 
suited  to  the  ages  to  which  they  were  addressed,  of  the 
blessedness  which  it  is  the  aim  of  the  Gospel  to  bring 
about,  partly  upon  earth,  more  completely  hereafter 
in  heaven.  The  felicity  which  the  prophet  of  the  Exile 
imagined  would  be  the  immediate  consequence  of  the 
restoration  to  Palestine,  may  be  viewed  as  an  ideab 
setting  forth  in  warm  and  glowing  colours  God's  purposes 
of  grace  towards  His  faithful  people,  and  the  blessed" 
ness  which  He  has  in  store  for  them,  and  at  the  same 


92         THE   IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS 

time  serving  as  a  fore-gleam,  or  prelude,  of  that  wider 
and  larger  salvation,  which  He  ofiers  to  all  men  in 
Christ.  Unto  which,  in  His  mercy,  may  He  vouch- 
safe to  bring  us,  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ,  our 
Lord! 


THE  FALL  OF  LUCIFER 

"  How  art  thou  fallen  from  heaven,  O  Lucifer,  son  of  the 
morning  !  " — Isaiah  xiv.  12. 

THE  verse  is  a  striking  one  ;  and  in  its  flo\\nng 
rhythm — which  it  owes  to  the  Genevan  translators 
of  1558 — reproduces,  undesignedly  we  may  be  sure,  but 
not  the  less  happily,  the  melodious  movement  of  the 
Homeric  hexameter.  What  does  it  refer  to  ?  It  has 
been  strangely  misunderstood  ;  but  if  we  look  at  it 
in  the  light  of  the  context,  the  sense  which  the  prophet 
attached  to  it  is  quite  apparent.  The  13th  chapter  of 
the  Book  of  Isaiah,  with  most  of  the  14th,  was  written 
very  shortly  before  the  close  of  the  long  years  of  exile 
which,  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the 
Chaldaeans  in  588,  the  bulk  of  the  Jews  passed  in  Baby- 
lon. Jeremiah  had  declared  that  the  empire  founded 
by  Nebuchadnezzar  should  not  last  more  than  seventy 
years,  and  the  close  of  the  seventy  years  was  now  ap- 
proaching :  a  great  conqueror  was  appearing  in  the  far 
East ;  and  prophets  were  among  the  exiles  to  interpret 
the  future  to  them,  and  to  announce  to  them  what  they 
might  expect.     Nebuchadnezzar  had  died  some  twenty 

93 


94        THE   IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS 

years  previously  ;  and  the  ruler  of  Babylon  at  the  time 
was  Nabonidus,  the  father  of  the  Belshazzar  mentioned 
in  the  Book  of  Daniel.  In  the  further  East,  Cyrus,  heir 
of  a  branch  of  the  royal  house  of  Persia,  was  beginning 
his  career  of  conquest,  in  which  he  first  subjugated  the 
Medes  and  incorporated  them  in  his  empire,  and  then 
carried  his  victorious  arms  all  through  Asia  Minor,  to 
the  coast  of  the  Archipelago.  The  prophets  quickly 
divined  that  he  would  be  the  conqueror  of  Babylon,  and 
the  destined  agent  of  God's  providence  for  the  release 
of  the  exiled  Jews.  The  author  of  the  great  prophecy 
which  begins  with  Is.  xl.  names  Cyrus  as  the  ruler 
who  would  accomplish  this  :  the  author  of  the  present 
prophecy  does  not  mention  him  by  name,  but  none  the 
less  anticipates  that  his  subjects,  the  Medes,  will  take 
triumphant  possession  of  Babylon,  and  give  permission 
to  his  compatriots  to  return  to  the  home  of  their  fathers. 
And  so  he  begins  by  imagining  poetically  a  signal  to  be 
raised  aloft,  that  the  foes  of  Babylon,  in  all  quarters, 
may  see  it  and  advance  to  the  attack  : 

"  Set  ye  up  an  ensign  upon  the  bare  mountain, 
Lift  up  the  voice  to  them. 
Wave  the  hand. 

That  they  may  enter  the  gates  of  nobles  " — 

that  is,  the  gates  of  Babylon  (xiii.  2),  Jehovah's  war- 
riors, consecrated  for  battle,  are  ready;  and  already 
upon  the  mountains  —  those,  namely,  which  skirted 
Babylon  on  the  N.E.,  the  country  of  the  Medes — he 
hears  in  spirit  the  thronging  hosts  assemble  : 


THE   FALL  OF   LUCIFER  95 

"  Hark !    a   multitude   in   the    mountains,  as   of   a 
great  people  ! 
Hark  !    a  tumult  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  nations 

gathered  together  ! 
The  Lord  of  hosts  is  mustering  the  host  for  battle." 

And  then,  after  a  poetical  description  of  the  terrors 
of  the  day  on  which  Babylon  will  fall,  he  specifies  its 
assailants — the  Medes,  a  people  who  know  no  pity  and 
will  spare  neither  young  nor  old,  the  capture  of  the  city, 
the  fewness  of  the  survivors — "  I  will  make  a  man  more 
rare  than  fine  gold,  even  a  man  than  the  gold  of  Ophir  " 
— the  carnage  and  rapine  of  which  its  streets  will  then 
become  the  scene.  And  so  "  Babylon,  the  glory  of 
kingdoms,  the  beauty  of  the  Chaldaeans'  pride,  shall  be 
as  when  God  overthrew  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,"  and 
become  a  perpetual  desolation.  But  he  continues 
with  the  thought  that  is  nearest  to  his  heart,  "Jehovah 
will  have  compassion  on  Jacob,  and  will  again  choose 
Israel,  and  set  them  in  their  own  land." 

And  then  the  prophet  provides  Israel  with  an  ode  of 
triumph,  which  he  imagines  it  to  sing  in  the  day  of  its 
deliverance  (xiv.  4  fE.),  an  ode  which  has  always  been 
justly  admired  as  one  of  the  finest  creations  of  Hebrew 
poetry. 

The  tyrant,  he  exclaims,  is  stilled  ;  the  earth  is  at 
peace  ;  only  the  sound  of  rejoicing  is  heard  : 

"  How    hath    the    oppressor    ceased !     the    raging 
ceased  ! 


96        THE   IDEALS   OF  THE  PROPHETS 

The  Lord  hath  broken  the  stafi  of  the  wicked,  the 

sceptre  of  rulers ; 
That  smote  the  peoples  in  wrath  with  a  continual 

stroke, 
That  ruled  the  nations  in  anger,  with  a  rule  that 

none  restrained. 
The  whole  earth  is  at  rest,  and  is  quiet :  they  break 

forth  into  ringing  cries." 

And  he  adds,  with  allusion  to  the  custom  of  the 
Assyrian  and  Babylonian  kings  to  beautify  their  temples 
and  palaces  with  cedar-wood  brought  from  Lebanon  : 

"  Yea,  the  fir  trees  rejoice  over  thee,  and  the  cedars 
of  Lebanon,  saying. 
Since  thou  hast  lain  down,  no  feller  is  come  up 
against  us." 

The  prophet  next  accompanies  in  thought  the  shade 
of  the  Babylonian  king  as  it  journeys  to  the  Underworld, 
and  imagines  the  ironical  greeting  that  will  there  meet 
it  from  the  lips  of  the  other  kings  still,  as  on  earth, 
supposed  to  be  invested  with  the  panoply  of  state  : 

"  Hell  from  beneath  " — that  is,  not  "  hell  "  in  our  sense 
of  the  word,  as  a  place  of  torment,  but  "  hell  "  in  the 
sense  if  always  bears  in  the  Old  Testament,  the  Under- 
world, or  to  use  the  Hebrew  word,  sometimes  retained 
in  the  RV.,  Sheol,  the  vast  and  dark  subterranean 
cavern,  in  which  the  Hebrews  believed  the  departed, 
good  and  bad  alike,  to  be  gathered  : 

"  Sheol  from  beneath  is  disturbed  for  thee  to  meet 
thee  at  thy  coming  : 


THE   FALL  OF   LUCIFER  97 

It  roiiseth  the  shades  for  thee,  even  all  the  chief 

ones  of  the  earth  ; 
It  hath  caused  to  rise  up  from  their  thrones  all 

the  kings  of  the  nations. 
All  they  shall  answer  and  say  unto  thee, 

Art  thou  become  also  weak  as  we  ? 

Art  thou  become  like  unto  us  ? 
Brought  down  to  Sheol  is  thy  pomp, 

The  music  of  thy  lyres  : 
The  maggot  is  spread  under  thee, 

And  worms  cover  thee." 

But  even  this  does  not  depict  in  its  full  magnitude 
the  abasement  of  the  Babylonian  monarch.  In  lofty 
words  there  follows  a  description  of  the  end  of  his  pride  : 
he  who  in  his  splendour  was  like  the  day-star,  shining 
brightly  in  the  early  dawn,  is  hurled  to  the  ground  ;  he 
who  would  have  joined  the  ranks  of  the  gods  is  cast 
down  to  the  inmost  recesses  of  the  dark  underground 
cavern  of  Sheol : 

"  How  art    thou    fallen    from   heaven,   0   Lucifer, 
son  of  the  morning  ! 
How  art  thou  cast  down  to  the  ground,  who  didst 

lay  low  the  nations  ! 
And  yet  thou  saidst  in  thy  heart, 

Heaven  will  I  scale  ; 
Above  the  stars  of  God 

Will  I  set  on  high  my  throne ; 
I  will  sit  enthroned  in  the  Mount  of  Assembly  " — 
7 


98         THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

the  Babylonian  Olympus,  the  meeting-place  of  the 
Babylonian  gods — 

"  In  the  recesses  of  the  North. 
I  will  ascend  above  the  heights  of  the  clouds, 

I  will  make  myself  like  to  the  Most  High. 
Yet  to  Sheol  shalt  thou  be  brought  down, 
To  the  recesses  of  the  pit." 

And  then  the  prophet's  thought  passes  to  the  battle- 
field, from  the  feeble  shade  in  Sheol  to  the  unburied, 
dishonoured  corpse — not  interred  among  the  kings  in  a 
royal  burial-place,  but  lying  unheeded  on  the  battle- 
field, among  the  bodies  of  his  own  soldiers  : 

"  They  that  see  thee  (that  is,  thy  corpse)  will  look 
narrowly  at  thee. 
They  will  consider  thee,  saying. 
Is  this  the  man  that  made  the  earth  to  tremble, 

That  did  shake  kingdoms  ?  . 
That  made  the  world  like  a  wilderness. 

That  overthrew  its  cities  ? 
The  kings  of  the  nations,  all  of  them,  sleep  in  glory, 

, Every  one  in  his  house. 
But  thou  art  cast  forth  tombless  ; 

Covered  over  by  the  slain. 
That  are  thrust  through  with  the  sword, 
That  go  down  to  the  stones  of  the  pit. 
As  a  carcase  trodden  under  foot. 
For  thou  hast  destroyed  thy  land. 
Thou  hast  slain  thy  people ; 


THE   FALL  OF   LUCIFER  99 

The  seed  of  evil-doers 

Shall  never  more  be  named." 

We  now  understand  what  Lucifer  means  in  my  text. 
The  word  itself,  which  comes  to  us  from  the  Vulgate, 
signifies  simply  Light-hearer  :  it  denotes  here,  in  accord- 
ance with  its  regular  use  in  Latin,  simply  the  morning 
star,  Venus,  as  it  does  in  Milton's  Nativity  Hymn; 
and  the  fall  of  the  Babylonian  king  from  his  splendour 
and  state  is  represented  poetically  as  the  fall  of  the 
bright  morning  star  from  the  sky.  But  the  verse  was 
strangely  misunderstood  in  former  times.  Ancient  in- 
terpreters, who  often  explained  texts  very  superficially 
without  any  regard  to  the  context,  were  reminded  by 
it  of  our  Lord's  words  in  the  Gospel,  "I  beheld  Satan 
fall  like  lightning  from  heaven  " — meaning  that  in  the 
success  of  His  disciples  on  their  mission  He  saw  an 
earnest  of  the  fall  of  Satan  from  his  power  over  the  world  ; 
and  so  it  was  supposed  that  this  verse  referred  similarly 
to  the  fall  of  Satan,  as  a  rebel  angel,  from  heaven.  This 
interpretation  prevailed  throughout  the  Middle  Ages, 
and  Lucifer  became  a  title  of  Satan.  It  is  used  by 
Milton  in  Faradise  Lost  in  this  sense,  when  he  speaks  o 
"  The  palace  of  great  Lucifer  .  .  .  which  .  .  .  Affecting 
all  equality  with  God,"  he  built  himself,  and  alludes  to 
the  ambition  which  occasioned  his  fall  from  heaven. ^ 
And  the  sense  is  still  current  among  us  in  the  pro- 

*  Paradise  Lost,  v.  760  ff. ;  "  The  palace  of  great  Lucifer  "  is  called 
"  The  Mountain  of  the  Congregation  "  in  766 ;  of.  vii.  131,  x.  425  f. 
''city  and  proud  seat  Of  Lucifer,  so  by  allusion  called  Of  tliat 
bright  star  to  .Satan  paragoned."  Cf.  Shakespeare,  King  Henry  vni , 
in.  ii.  371. 


loo        THE  IDEALS   OF  THE  PROPHETS 

verbial  expression,  "  As  proud  as  Lucifer."  But  the  word 
Lucifer,  as  denoting  the  morning  star,  is  practically  now 
unknown  in  English  ;  it  is,  moreover,  liable  to  be  mis- 
understood, and  to  be  taken  in  the  more  popular  sense 
which  has  still  survived  ;  and  so  in  the  KV.  day-star 
has  been  rightly  substituted,  happily  with  no  change 
in  the  music  of  the  verse  : 

"How  art  thou  fallen  from  heaven,  O  day-star,  son 
of  the  morning  !  " 

The  prophecy  is  one  of  exultation  over  the  approach- 
ing fall  of  the  power  which  had  enthralled  the  Jews  ;  it 
hails  triumphantly  the  prospect  of  their  speedy  return 
to  Palestine.  The  prophet  dwells  with  delight  on  the 
thought  of  the  mustering  foe,  their  assault  upon  Baby- 
lon, their  pitiless  slaughter  of  the  population,  the 
perpetual  desolation  which  the  city  should  thenceforth 
for  all  ages  become.  The  Jews  had,  indeed,  suffered 
severely  at  the  hands  of  the  Chaldseans.  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, fifty  or  sixty  years  before,  had  besieged  and  taken 
Jerusalem,  and  sent  the  bulk  of  the  population  into 
exile ;  and  the  Book  of  Lamentations  gives  a  graphic 
but  painful  picture  of  the  hardships  which  men,  women 
and  children  had  undergone  in  consequence.  We  can 
therefore  understand  the  intensity  of  feeUng  with  which, 
as  the  day  of  release  was  seen  to  be  near,  the  prophets 
spoke.  Patriotic  spirit,  the  memory  of  the  past, 
religious  fervom*,  the  vision  of  immediate  freedom 
and  of  a  new  age  to  be  ruled  by  true,  spiritual  ideals, 
gave   spurs  to   their    imagination   and    animation   to 


THE  FALL  OF   LUCIFER  loi 

their  pen.  An  exiled  people  could  not  be  expected 
to  view  their  oppressors  otherwise  than  the  Jews  did, 
or  to  see  that  there  were  any  redeeming  points  in 
their  character.  Even  Nebuchadnezzar,  as  we  now 
know  from  the  inscriptions,  was  not  only  zealous  for 
the  welfare  of  his  people,  but,  according  to  his  lights, 
extremely  religious  and  reverent ;  when  he  enumerates, 
for  instance,  with  pride  his  buildings  in  Babylon,  he  both 
begins  and  ends  with  a  full  acknowledgment  of  his 
dependence  on  Marduk,  and  with  prayers  for  the  con- 
tinuance of  his  blessing.  And  Nabonidus,  the  last  king 
of  Babylon,  was  anything  but  a  despot ;  he  was  a  quiet? 
retiring  and  religious  man,  who  devoted  himself  mainly 
to  the  peaceful  work  of  restoring  temples,  and  whose 
prayer,  more  than  once,  is  that  both  he  and  his  son 
Belshazzar  may  be  preserved  from  sin.  ^Vhen,  there- 
fore, we  read  the  prophet's  description  of  him,  we 
must  not  regard  it  as  di'awn  carefully  and  impartially 
by  a  historian,  but  as  coloured  by  the  circum- 
stances and  feelings  of  the  time,  and  depicting,  not 
Nabonidus  personally,  but  an  ideal  despot,  an  ideal 
personification — and  as  such  a  very  true  and  just 
personification — of  the  aims  and  ambitions  and  actions 
of  a  typical  ruler  of  the  East.  But  of  a  beneficent  and, 
according  to  his  lights,  a  rehgious  despot,  we  may  find  a 
much  earlier  and  more  famous  example.  Two  thousand 
years  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  and  some  seven  hun- 
dred years  before  Moses,  a  great  ruler  of  Babylonia, 
Hammurabi,  a  contemporary  of  Abraham,  framed  a 
code  of  laws  for  his  people,  the  influence  of  which  in  the 


102       THE  IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

ancient  East  was  very  great,  and  echoes  of  which  seem 
to  be  heard  even  in  some  of  the  laws  in  the  Pentateuch. 
In  the  preface  to  this  code,  Hammurabi  states  what  his 
object  was  in  promulgating  it :  he  had  been  called,  he 
says,  to  cause  justice  to  prevail  in  the  land,  to  destroy 
the  wicked  and  the  evil,  that  the  strong  might  not 
harm  the  weak,  and  to  promote  the  welfare  of  his  people. 
Better  and  wiser  motives  than  these  could  hardly  be 
found  for  parliamentary  legislation  of  the  twentieth 
century.  That  the  rulers  whom  I  have  mentioned  did 
not  know  the  God  of  Israel  was  not  their  fault :  the 
knowledge  of  Him  had  not  been  brought  to  them.  But 
they  are  examples  of  what  we  frequently  meet  when  we 
study  religions  other  than  our  own,  that  God  left  Him- 
self not  without  witness  in  the  world,  and  that  there 
have  ever  been  in  every  nation  men  seeking  after  God, 
if  haply  they  might  feel  after  Him,  and  find  Him, 
though  He  is  not  far  from  each  one  of  us ;  who,  in  so 
far  as  they  found  Him,  endeavoured  to  rule  both  their 
own  lives  and  the  lives  of  others  in  accordance  with 
what  they  deemed  to  be  His  purpose.  While  grateful, 
therefore,  that  we  ourselves  live  in  a  clearer  and  brighter 
and  purer  light,  let  us  do  justice  to  such  men,  for  their 
appearance  is  part  of  the  Divinely -constituted  order  and 
education  of  the  world. 


XI 
A  LIGHT  TO  THE  GENTILES 

"  It  is  too  light  a  thing  that  thou  shouldest  be  my  servant 
to  raise  up  the  tribes  of  Jacob,  and  to  restore  the  preserved  of 
Israel :  I  will  also  give  thee  for  a  light  to  the  Gentiles,  that  my 
salvation  may  be  unto  the  end  of  the  earth." — Isaiah  xlix.  6. 

THESE  words  are  addressed  to  the  ideal  "  Servant 
of  the  Lord,"  who  constitutes  such  a  prominent 
and  striking  figure  in  the  second  part  of  the  Book  of 
Isaiah.  The  second  part  of  this  book,  beginning  with 
ch.  xl.,  consists  of  a  majestic  piece  of  prophetic  oratory, 
addressed  originally  to  the  Jewish  exiles  in  Babylon, 
and  intended  primarily  for  their  consolation  and  en- 
couragement. For  nearly  two  generations  the  majority 
of  the  people  of  Judah  had  been  banished  from  their 
native  land  :  they  had  settled  down  in  a  foreign  country, 
which  many,  it  seems,  had  come  to  regard  as  their 
natural  home,  and  which  consequently  they  were  indis- 
posed to  leave,  even  should  the  opportunity  for  doing 
so  be  presented  to  them.  Others,  who  still  looked 
with  yearnings  towards  Palestine,  conceived  that  their 
hopes  were  doomed  to  disappointment :  in  spite  of  the 
promises  given  by  Jeremiah,  that  the  rule  of  the  Chal- 

daeans  should  not  continue  for  more  than  seventy  years, 

103 


104       THE   IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

the  Babylonian  monarchy  still  stood  secure,  and  the 
power  that  should  effect  their  deliverance  appeared  for 
the  time  as  far  off  as  ever.  It  seemed  as  though  Judah 
was  to  dwindle  away  and  disappear  in  exile,  as  the 
ten  tribes  had  dwindled  away  and  disappeared  before 
them.  To  move  and  stimulate  those  who  were  thus 
indifferent,  to  encourage  and  strengthen  those  who 
were  despondent,  is  the  principal  aim  and  purpose  of 
these  magnificent  chapters.  "  Comfort  ye,  comforc  ye 
my  people,"  are  the  prophet's  opening  words  ;  and  they 
form  the  theme  which  his  whole  argument  develops. 
Triumphantly  the  prophet  points  to  the  approach  of 
the  deliverer,  Cyrus,  in  the  distance  :  with  keen  irony 
he  satirizes  the  splendid  idol-gods,  which  were  the  pride 
of  the  great  city ;  they  are  impotent,  he  exclaims, 
either  to  shield  their  city  from  its  foe,  or  to  thwart 
the  purposes  of  Providence  ;  the  promises  given  by  God 
to  His  people  cannot  fail,  and  ere  long  the  nation  will 
be  free.  In  ch.  Ixii.  the  prophet  depicts  the  home- 
ward march  of  the  exiles,  the  splendour  of  the  restored 
Jerusalem,  the  felicity  and  security  and  righteousness 
of  its  inhabitants.  So  far,  therefore,  from  Judah  being 
abandoned  to  pine  away  and  perish  in  exile,  a  great 
and  august  future  is  before  it. 

Of  this  future  one  aspect  is  exhibited  in  the  text. 
As  the  prophet  surveys  the  past  history  of  his  people, 
and  reflects  upon  its  distinctive  character,  he  thinks 
of  Israel  as  God's  "  servant,"  called  by  God  to  do  His 
work,  to  be  His  witness  upon  earth,  to  be  in  the  person 
of  its  prophets  and  other  spiritual  teachers  the  organ 


A  LIGHT  TO  THE  GENTILES  105 

and  channel  of  His  revelation.  But  the  servant  has 
not  properly  fulfilled  this  work  ;  he  has  been  blind,  in- 
attentive, unobservant  of  God's  dealings  (xlii.  19,  20)  : 
80  upon  the  basis  of  the  actual  but  imperfect  Israel 
the  prophet  rises  to  the  conception  of  the  ideal  Israel, 
the  Israel  true  to  its  destiny,  latent  in  the  actual  Israel, 
and  realized,  at  least  approximately,  in  its  godly 
members,  but  at  the  same  time  distinct  from  it.  And 
he  personifies  this  figure  so  vividly  that  it  assumes  in 
his  hands  the  features  and  form  of  an  individual,  whose 
feelings  and  motives  and  purposes  are  depicted,  and  who 
represents  in  their  perfection  the  typical  excellences  of 
the  nation,  and  may  therefore  be  described  in  a  word 
as  the  personified  genius  of  Israel.  In  virtue  of  his 
being  Jehovah's  "  servant,"  this  ideal  Israel  has  a 
mission.  He  is  to  be  a  prophet,  not  to  the  actual  Israel 
only,  but  to  the  world — a  prophet,  faithful  and  patient 
in  the  discharge  of  his  work,  in  spite  of  the  opposition 
and  contumely  and  persecution  even  unto  death  which 
he  encounters  in  it  (Is.  1,  4-9,  and  lii.  13-liii.  12). 
And  as  he  is  to  be  a  prophet  to  the  world,  this  ideal 
Israel,  in  the  chapter  from  which  the  text  is  taken,  is 
dramatically  introduced,  addressing  distant  nations; 
for  he  has  a  message  which  concerns  them  : 

"  Listen,  0  isles,  unto  me, 
And  hearken,  ye  peoples,  from  afar  : 
Jehovah  hath  called  me  from  the  womb. 
From  the  bowels    of    my  mother  hath  he  made 
mention  of  my  name." 


io6        THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

From  the  beginning  of  its  national  history  Israel  has 
been  called  by  Jehovah  to  be  His  minister  and  servant. 

"  And  he  hath  made  my  mouth  a  sharp  sword, 
In  the  shadow  of  his  hands  he  hath  hid  me  ; 
And  he  said  unto  me,  Thou  art  my  servant, 
Israel,  in  whom  I  will  be  glorified." 

He  has  been  guarded  carefully  and  trained  for  his  work, 
given  the  sharp  tongue  to  rebuke  and  correct :  he  is 
Israel,  through  whom  Jehovah  will  glorify  Himself. 

"  But  I  said,  I  have  laboured  in  vain,- 

I  have  spent  my  strength  for  nought  and  vanity  ; 
Yet  surely  my  judgment  is  with  the  Lord, 
And  my  recompence  with  my  God." 

For  a  moment  he  had  felt  discouraged  by  his  want  of 
success  ;  but  he  was  reassured  by  the  thought  that  his 
cause  was  in  God's  hands,  who  would  render  him  in 
due  time  the  reward  of  his  labours. 

And  now  a  new  and  more  honourable  commission  is 
entrusted  to  him  : 

"Thus  saith  the  Lord,  that  formed  me  from  the 
womb  to  be  his  servant,  It  is  too  light  a  thing  that 
thou  shbuldest  be  my  servant  to  raise  up  the  tribes  of 
Jacob,  and  to  restore  the  preserved  of  Israel :  I  will 
also  give  thee  to  be  a  light  to  the  Gentiles,  that  my 
salvation  may  be  unto  the  end  of  the  earth."  It  is  not 
enough  for  him  to  have  been  predestined  to  effect  the 
restoration  of  the  chosen  nation  from  Babylon ;  he  is 
to  have  a  mission  to  the  entire  world ;  he  is  to  be  a 


A  LIGHT   TO  THE   GENTILES  107 

"  light  of  the  Gentiles,"  to  bring  all  mankind  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  true  God. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  Israel  is  to  restore  Israel. 
What  can  be  the  meaning  of  this  ?  The  explanation 
is  no  doubt  difficult ;  but  we  must  consider  what  the 
prophet  says  in  the  light  of  his  eiitire  conception.  His 
meaning  seems  to  be  what  we  should  express,  in  more 
prosaic  language,  by  saying  that  Israel's  destiny,  or 
the  future  destined  for  it  by  God,  was  the  guarantee  of 
its  restoration  :  but  to  the  prophet  this  destiny  is 
embodied  in  the  figure  of  the  ideal  Israel,  which  he  then 
sets  over  against  the  actual  Israel,  and  views  as  acting 
independently  on  its  behalf,  and  effecting  its  restoration 
to  Palestine.  And  this  representation,  if  we  desire  a 
prosaic  fulfilment  of  it,  does  so  far  correspond  to  the 
facts,  that  while  Cyrus  actually  gave  permission  to  the 
Jews  to  return  and  rebuild  the  Temple,  it  was  the 
godly  kernel  of  the  nation,  who  were  zealous  for 
the  religion  of  their  fathers  and  at  the  time  were  the 
representatives  of  the  ideal  nation,  who  gave  effect 
to  Cyrus's  permission  and  led  a  large  number  of  the 
people  back.  This  work,  however,  of  restoring  Israel 
from  its  exile,  great  as  it  was,  and  important  as  its  con- 
sequences were,  is  in  the  prophet's  view  eclipsed  by  a  still 
greater  work  which  he  sees  reserved  for  the  "  servant." 
"  It  is  a  small  thing  for  thee  to  be  my  servant  to  raise 
up  the  tribes  of  Jacob  and  to  restore  the  preserved  of 
Israel  :  I  will  also  make  thee  a  light  to  the  Gentiles, 
that  my  salvation  may  be  to  the  end  of  the  eartli." 
Ideal  Israel  is  thus  to  be  the  instrument,  not  only  for 


io8       THE   IDEALS   OF  THE  PROPHETS 

restoring  the  exiled  Israelites  to  Palestine,  but  also 
for  extending  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth. 

The  thought  of  the  ultimate  extension  of  Israel's 
religion  to  all  nations  of  the  world  is  one  which  occurs 
frequently  in  the  prophets.  Thus  we  read  in  ch.  li.  6 : 
"  For  a  law  shall  go  forth  from  me,  and  I  will  make  my 
judgment  (that  is,  my  religion)  i  to  rest  for  a  light  of  the 
peoples."  It  was  the  privilege  of  the  chosen  people  to 
be  for  many  centuries  the  guardian  and  witness  of 
divine  truth  ;  but  the  prophets  loved  to  think  of  the 
privileges  enjoyed  by  Israel  as  extended  eventually  to 
the  world  at  large.  This  was  not,  indeed,  possible  for 
the  religion  of  Israel  exactly  as  it  is  set  before  us  in 
the  Old  Testament.  The  ceremonial  law,  Avith  its 
elaborate  sacrificial  system,  was  the  outcome  of  a 
relatively  immature  stage  of  religious  belief ;  and  with 
its  strict  limitation  of  all  ofierings  and  sacrifices  to  a 
single  local  centre  could  evidently  form  no  element  in 
a  universal  religion,  intended  to  embrace  nations  living 
in  every  part  of  the  world.  But  it  was  possible  for  the 
religion  of  Israel  in  its  essential  features,  when  its 
temporary  elements  had  been  stripped  off,  and  it  had 
been  transformed  and  spiritualized,  and  thus  adapted 
to  new  conditions  and  a  larger  sphere.  This  trans- 
formation and  adaptation  to  new  and  larger  surround- 

1  Mishpdt  ('judgment,'  'ordinance')  denotes  religion  as  a  system 
of  established  ordinances.  So  xlii.  1-3  (where  the  edition  of  the  RV. 
with  marginal  references  glosses  the  word  incorrectly),  Jer.  v.  4,  5, 
viii.  7  (RV.  rightly  'ordinance').  See  the  note  in  my  Jeremiah, 
p.  344. 


A  LIGHT  TO  THE  GENTILES  109 

ings  was,  of  course,  accomplished  by  Christianity  :  the 
ideal  Israel,  who  fulfilled  this  part  of  the  prophet's 
picture,  was  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  whose  first  agents 
in  carrying  out  this  great  work  were  His  apostles, 
especially  St.  Paul.  It  was  St.  Paul  who,  both  by  his 
teaching  and  by  his  many  missionary  journeys  among 
the  heathen,  was  in  a  special  sense  the  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles.  St.  Paul  showed  in  particular  in  his  Epistles 
how  the  old  ceremonial  law  was  abolished  by  faith  in 
Christ :  "  In  Christ  Jesus,  neither  circumcision  nor  un- 
circumcision  availeth  anything,  but  a  new  creature  "  ; 
and  writing  to  the  Gentile  Cliurches  founded  in  Asia 
Minor  and  Europe,  he  laid  down  in  detail  the  principles 
of  the  Christian  life,  as  they  should  be  believed  and 
acted  upon  by  converts  from  all  nations  alike. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  how  the  two  chief  ex- 
pressions in  the  text  are  alluded  to  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. One  allusion  is  familiar  to  us.  It  occurs  in  the 
thanksgiving  uttered  by  the  aged  Simeon,  who  was 
looking  for  the  consolation  of  Israel  when  he  received 
the  infant  Jesus  into  his  arms  in  the  Temple  (Luke 
ii.  29-32) : 

"  Master  !  now  releasest  thou  thy  servant. 
According  to  thy  word,  in  peace  : 
For  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation. 
Which  thou  hast  prepared  before  the  face  of  all 

peoples  ; 
A  light  for  revelation  to  the  Gentiles, 
And  the  glory  of  thy  people  Israel." 


no   THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

The  other  allusion  is  when  Paul  and  Barnabas  at 
Lystra  (Acts  xiii.  47)  justify  their  turning  from  the  Jews 
of  that  place,  who  rejected  their  preaching,  to  the 
Gentiles,  by  a  quotation  of  this  verse  :  "  For  so  the 
Lord  hath  commanded  us,  saying  : 

I  have  set  thee  for  a  light  of  the  Gentiles, 
That  thou  shouldest  be  for  salvation  unto  the  end 
of  the  earth." 

Christ  appears  thus  as  the  Light  of  the  Gentiles,  and 
His  apostles,  Paul  and  Barnabas,  as  the  agents  by 
whom  that  light  should  be  made  to  shine.  Nor  does 
this  passage  stand  alone  in  the  Acts,  St.  Paul,  once 
the  ardent  persecutor  of  the  infant  Church,  first  became 
conscious  of  his  call  to  be  the  apostle  to  the  Gentiles 
at  the  time  of  that  memorable  occasion  in  his  life,  his 
conversion  on  the  road  to  Damascus.  In  the  account 
given  by  him  of  this  event  before  Agrippa,  he  says  that 
in  the  trance  which  fell  upon  him  he  heard  Jesus  speaking 
to  him  and  telling  him  that  He  was  now  sending  him 
to  the  Gentiles  to  open  their  eyes,  that  they  might  turn 
from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto 
God  (Acts  xxvi.  18) ;  and  in  Damascus,  Ananias,  the 
disciple  who,  when  bidden  to  visit  Saul  of  Tarsus, 
objected  that  he  was  one  of  the  most  virulent  perse- 
cutors of  the  Christians,  was  reassured  by  the  words, 
"  Go  thy  way ;  for  he  is  a  chosen  vessel  unto  me,  to 
bear  my  name  before  the  Gentiles  and  kings,  and  the 
children  of  Israel  "  (Acts  ix.  15). 

And  so  the  first  part  of  Is.   xlix.  is  appropriately 


A   LIGHT  TO  THE   GENTILES  in 

chosen  as  one  of  the  first  lessons  for  the  Festival  of  the 
Conversion  of  St.  Paul,  St.  Paul  was,  above  all  other 
apostles,  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles.  He  was  the 
principal  agent  by  whom  the  truths  inherited  from  the 
fathers,  deepened  and  enlarged  and  so  adapted  to 
Gentile  needs,  were  made  known  among  the  great 
centres  of  commercial  and  intellectual  activity  in  Asia 
Minor  and  Europe.  In  the  missionary  labours  of  St. 
Paul  the  first  steps  were  taken  in  evangelizing  the  ends 
of  the  earth.  The  time  was  ripe  for  such  steps  to  be 
taken.  It  was  an  age  in  which  Greek  and  Roman 
civilization,  operating  round  the  shores  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea,  had  broken  do\vn  many  of  the  old  barriers 
that  separated  nations  :  and  the  Greek  language,  now 
familiar  to  many  dwelling  in  the  same  parts,  formed  a 
vehicle  adapted  both  to  the  formulation  and  to  the 
propagation  of  the  new  faith.  Ali-eady  Jews  had  spread 
widely  over  many  parts  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  world, 
and  helped  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  acceptance  of 
the  new  form  which  the  old  religion  was  now  assuming. 
And  St.  Paul,  by  his  energy  and  enterprise,  his  enthusiasm 
and  his  warm  spiritual  nature,  was  eminently  fitted  to 
win  the  hearts  of  many  for  the  faith  of  Christ ;  while 
by  his  education,  his  knowledge  of  Greek  and  Jew  alike, 
— ^he  was  a  Jew  of  Tarsus,  and  thus  well  trained  in  the 
beliefs  and  principles  of  Judaism,  and  also  passed  his 
early  years  in  the  busy  and  varied  life  of  a  Greek  com- 
mercial city — and  by  his  gifts  of  intellect,  he  was  not 
less  well  fitted  to  expound  and  develop  the  principles 
of  the  new  faith,  to  show  how  it  sprang  legitimately 


112        THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

from  Judaism,  and  at  tlie  same  time  to  build  up 
a  Christian  Church,  which  would  comprehend  without 
distinction  men  of  every  nationality,  whether  Greek  or 
Jew,  whether  barbarian  or  Scythian,  whether  bond  or 
free  (Col.  iii.  11).  St.  Paul,  in  the  providence  of  God, 
was  the  creator  of  Gentile  Christianity.  It  was  through 
his  instrumentality  that  the  Church  first  became 
Catholic.  Let  us  not  forget  that  the  religious  blessings 
and  privileges  which  we.  Gentiles,  enjoy,  were  once 
confined  to  the  Jews  ;  and  let  the  Festival  of  the  Con- 
version of  St.  Paul,  as  it  comes  round  year  by  year, 
move  us  to  a  grateful  recollection  of  the  debt  which  we 
owe  to  the  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles. 


NOTE. 

Dillmann  (cf.  Peake,  Problem  of  Suffering  in  the  Old  Testament, 
p.  48)  renders  the  first  clause  of  Is.  xlix.  6 :  "  Too  light  a  thing 
for  thy  being  my  servant  {i.e.  for  thy  position  as  my  servant)  is 
it  to  raise  up,"  etc. ;  and  if  the  passage  stood  alone,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  it  would  naturally  be  so  rendered.  But  what  of  Ezek. 
viii.  17,  which  Dillmann  does  not  refer  to  ?  One  thing  is  certain : 
if  the  text  of  Ezek.  viii.  17  is  correct,  RV.  of  Is.  xlix.  6  is  perfectly 
defensible  ;  on  the  other  hand,  if  RV.  of  Is.  xlix.  6  is  not  tenable, 
then  the  text  of  Ezek.  viii.  17  must  be  corrected,  and  min  omitted 
before  the  infinitive  'asoth  (cf.  1  Kings  xvi.  31 ).  And  what  also  of  min 
after  rab'  ("  enough  "),  Ex.  ix.  28,  1  Kings  xii.  28  (by  the  side  of  the 
infin.  alone,  Deut.  i.  6,  ii.  3),  Ezek.  xliv.  6 ;  and  after  challlah  {ad 
profanum !  "  Far  be  it  "),  Gen.  xviii.  25,  and  frequently  ?  It 
deserves  consideration  whether  in  all  these  cases,  though  the  infin. 
alone  would  undoubtedly  be  the  logical  subject,  as  the  action  denoted 
by  it  is  only  mentioned  to  be  deprecated,  the  min  is  not  illogically 
introduced  to  satisfy  the  feeling  that  some  kind  of  expression  should 
be  given  to  this  fact :  if  this  be  the  case,  the  RV.  of  Is.  xlix.  6  may 
continue  to  stand. 


XII 
THE  GLORY  OF  THIS  HOUSE 

"  For  thus  saith  the  LoKD  of  hosts :  Yet  once,  it  is  a  little 
while,  and  I  will  shake  the  heavens,  and  the  earth,  and  the  sea, 
and  the  dry  land  ;  and  I  will  shake  all  nations,  and  the  desirable 
things  of  all  nations  shall  come,  and  I  will  fill  this  house  with 
glory,  saith  the  LoBD  of  hosts." — Hacgai  ii.  6,  7. 

THE  last  of  the  Sundays  after  Trinity  has  from 
ancient  times  been  observed  as  a  kind  of  eve 
to  Advent.  In  the  first  lesson  for  this  morning  the 
Church  views  the  close  of  the  Christian  vear  as  svm- 
bolizing  the  close  of  human  life;  in  the  passage  from 
Jeremiah  appointed  for  the  Epistle,  and  in  the  alter- 
native first  lessons  for  this  afternoon,  it  bids  us  direct 
our  thoughts  to  the  coming  of  Christ.  The  prophet 
Haggai  was  called  upon  to  prophesy  in  dull  and  dispirit- 
ing times.  Seventeen  years  had  elapsed  since  the  edict 
of  Cyrus  had  given  permission  to  the  exiles  in  Babylon, 
after  their  fifty  or  sixty  years'  captivity,  to  return  to 
their  old  home  and  rebuild  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem  ; 
and  a  fair  proportion,  though  by  no  means  the  whole, 
had  availed  themselves  of  the  privilege.  Immediately 
after  the  return  the  altar  of  burnt -offering  was  erected 

upon  its  old  site  ;  and  shortly  afterwards  the  foundation 
8 


)i4       THE   IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS 

of  the  new  Temple  was  formally  laid.  But  disappoint- 
ments followed.  The  half-caste  Samaritans  asked  to 
be  allowed  to  assist  in  rebuilding  the  Temple;  and, 
being  refused,  became  the  determined  opponents  of  the 
Jews,  and  succeeded  in  seriously  interrupting  the 
progress  of  the  work.  Nor  was  this  all.  The  country 
itself  was  not  prosperous.  The  land  had  lain  neglected 
for  many  years,  and  could  not  at  once  be  brought  into 
proper  cultivation  ;  as  Haggai  himself  tells  us,  there 
was  a  succession  of  bad  seasons  ;  the  scanty  crops  were 
blasted  by  mildew  and  beaten  down  by  hail ;  the  people 
generally  were  impoverished  and  disappointed,  though 
a  few,  indeed,  were  prosperous  enough  to  dwell  in 
panelled  houses.  The  author  of  the  later  chapters  of 
Isaiah,  a  few  years  before,  had  drawn  dazzling  visions 
of  the  restoration :  a  triumphal  progress  of  the  exiles 
through  the  desert ;  Jerusalem  resplendent  with  every 
glory ;  the  nations  of  the  earth  envious  of  their  happi- 
ness, and  vying  with  one  another  in  showing  them 
honour  and  respect.  The  reality  was  a  bitter  dis- 
enchantment ;  the  people  were  disheartened ;  they  con- 
cluded that  the  wrath  of  God  was  not  removed  from 
them,  and  that  the  "time  had  not  yet  come  for  the 
Lord's  house  to  be  built." 

This  remissness  in  rebuilding  God's  house  moved  the 
souls  of  the  two  prophets,  Haggai  and  Zechariah  ;  and 
they  exerted  themselves  to  induce  the  people  to  proceed 
with  the  work.  Haggai,  in  his  first  chapter,  spoken 
in  the  second  year  of  the  Persian  king  Darius,  retorts 
indignantly    the     people's    words    upon    themselves : 


THE  GLORY  OF  THIS   HOUSE  115 

"  Is  it  time  for  you  to  dwell  in  your  panelled  houses, 
while  this  house  lieth  waste  ? "  and  he  attributes  the 
bad  seasons  and  other  misfortunes  from  which  they 
had  been  suffering  to  their  neglect.  His  words  had 
such  effect,  that  three  weeks  later  Zerubbabel,  the 
governor  of  Judah,  and  the  high  priest  Joshua,  and 
many  of  the  leading  Jews,  felt  themselves  moved  to 
begin  the  work. 

It  was  just  a  month  afterwards  that  the  prophecy 
was  spoken  which  the  Church  appoints  for  this  even- 
ing. They  are  words  of  encouragement  addressed  to 
the  people.  Those  who  could  remember  the  Temple  of 
Solomon  before  it  was  pillaged  and  burnt  sixty  years 
before,  were  no  doubt  bitterly  grieved  when  they  saw 
its  dismantled  walls  and  ruined  courts,  and  wondered 
whether  it  could  ever  be  possible  to  restore  them  to 
their  former  splendour.  "Who  is  left  among  you  that 
saw  this  house  in  its  former  glory  ?  and  how  do  ye 
see  it  now  ?  is  it  not  in  your  eyes  as  nothing  ?  Yet 
take  heart,  0  Zerubbabel ;  and  take  heart,  0  Joshua : 
for  I  am  with  you,  and  my  spirit  still  abideth  among 

you." 

"  Yet  once,  it  is  a  little  while,  and  I  will  shake  the 
heavens,  and  the  earth,  and  the  sea,  and  the  dry  land  ; 
and  I  will  shake  all  nations,  and  the  desirable  things  of 
all  nations  shall  come,  and  I  will  fill  this  house  with 
glory,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  The  silver  is  mine,  and 
the  gold  is  mine,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  The  latter 
glory  of  this  house  shall  be  greater  than  the  former,  and 
in  this  place  will  I  give  peace,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts." 


ii6       THE   IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

In  the  AV.,  with  which  we  are  more  familiar,  we  have  the 
desire  of  all  nations  shall  come,  the  words  being  supposed 
to  be  a  personal  reference  to  the  future  Messiah  ;  but 
grammar  will  not  permit  of  this  rendering.  The  verb 
come  being  plural,  desirable  (or  precious)  things  means 
treasures ;  and  the  verse  thus  declares  that  the  treasures 
of  the  nations,  the  silver  and  the  gold  spoken  of  in  the 
next  verse,  will  be  brought  to  beautify  the  Temple,  so 
that  it  will  be  even  more  glorious  and  splendid  than  was 
the  Temple  of  Solomon.  The  thought  is  thus  exactly 
that  of  Is.  Ix.,  spoken  a  few  years  before,  where, 
pointing  to  the  splendour  of  the  restored  Jerusalem, 
the  prophet  says :  "  The  abundance  of  the  sea  shall  be 
turned  unto  thee,  the  wealth  of  the  nations  shall  come 
unto  thee.  They  shall  bring  gold  and  frankincense 
and  proclaim  the  praises  of  the  Lord.  And  I  will 
beautify  the  house  of  my  glory."  The  nations,  Haggai 
says,  will  offer  willingly  and  abundantly  of  their 
treasures ;  and  so  the  latter  glory  of  the  house  shall  be 
greater  than  the  former  glory — Solomon's  walls  were 
no  doubt  still  standing,  so  the  Temple  is  still  regarded 
as  the  same — on  account,  namely,  of  the  splendid  gifts 
which  will  crowd  into  it  from  the  whole  world. 

It  is  probable  that,  as  was  generally  the  case  with 
the  prophets,  the  incidents  of  the  time  suggested  the 
form  and  imagery  of  Haggai's  prophecy.  In  the  first  two 
years  of  Darius'  reign  his  empire  was  in  a  disturbed 
state :  many  important  provinces  revolted  under 
pretenders,  and  were  with  difficulty  reduced  by  him  to 
submission ;  and  as  in  former  days  movements  among  the 


THE  GLORY  OF  THIS   HOUSE  117 

nations  or  approaching  political  crises,  taken  in  con- 
junction with  their  bearing  upon  Israel,  had  given  the 
impulse  to  prophesy,  so,  it  can  hardly  be  doubted,  this 
shaking  of  nations  in  the  East  helped  to  awaken  the 
spirit  of  prophecy  in  Haggai  and  determine  the  direction 
of  his  thoughts.  It  was  a  shaking  which,  as  he  wrote, 
seemed  destined  to  spread,  to  embrace  other  nations, 
and  to  issue  in  that  overthrow  of  heathen  powers 
which  the  older  prophets  had  also  looked  forward  to 
as  preceding  the  advent  of  the  Messianic  age.  And  so 
indeed  we  actually  read  at  the  end  of  the  book  :  "  Speak 
to  Zerubbabel,  saying,  I  will  shake  the  heavens  and 
the  earth  :  and  I  will  overthrow  the  throne  of  kingdoms, 
and  I  will  destroy  the  strength  of  the  kingdoms  of  the 
nations  ;  and  I  will  overthrow  the  chariots,  and  those 
that  ride  in  them ;  and  the  horses  and  their  riders 
shall  come  down,  every  one  by  the  sword  of  his  brother. 
In  that  day,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  will  I  take  thee, 
0  Zerubbabel,  my  servant,  the  son  of  Shealtiel,  saith 
the  Lord,  and  will  make  thee  as  a  signet  :  for  I  have 
chosen  thee,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts." 

It  is  clear  from  these  words  that  what  the  prophet 
anticipates  is  that  before  long  heathen  powers  will  be 
overthrown,  and  God's  kingdom  will  be  established 
upon  earth.  It  was  imperative,  therefore,  that  the 
Temple  should  be  prepared  for  Him  without  delay : 
for  when  this  was  done  the  people  would  no  longer  have 
cause  to  complain  that  their  toil  brought  them  only 
disappointment :  God's  blessing  would  rest  upon  them. 
In  this  shaking  of  nations  which  Haggai  foretells,  some 


u8   THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

would  offer  of  their  costliest  treasures  to  beautify  tlie 
restored  Temple ;  nations  unfriendly  to  Jehovah  and 
His  people  would  perish  in  internecine  strife ;  the 
Messianic  age  would  begin  in  Judah,  with  an  honour- 
able place  reserved  in  it  for  Zerubbabel.  He  would  be 
a  signet  in  Jehovah's  hand ;  as  the  signet  was  given  in 
the  East  to  an  important  minister  as  a  mark  of  con- 
fidence and  authority,  he  would  be,  as  it  were,  God's 
responsible  vicegerent  upon  earth. 

As  in  other  cases,  we  must  read  and  judge  the  pro- 
phecies of  the  future  kingdom  of  God  in  the  light  of 
the  age  in  which  they  were  written.  They  are  ideals 
which,  in  the  sense  in  which  they  were  spoken,  often 
remained  unfulfilled.  The  nations  did  not  press  in  to 
the  Second  Temple  as  the  prophet  here  anticipated  ; 
the  kingdoms  of  the  world  were  not  overthrown  ;  the 
Messianic  age  did  not  at  once  begin,  and  the  governor 
Zerubbabel  held  no  honourable  place  in  it.  Exactlv 
in  the  same  way  Isaiah  long  before,  when  his  country 
was  hard  pressed  by  the  invading  hosts  of  Assyria, 
announced  in  confident  tones  not  only  the  failure  of 
their  attack  (which  was  fulfilled  by  the  event),  but  also 
how  this  would  at  once  be  followed  by  the  regeneration 
of  society,  the  cessation  of  all  the  sin  and  trouble  which 
vexed  Judah  in  his  own  day,  the  advent  of  a  golden  age, 
when  no  foe  would  any  more  threaten  without  and  no 
evil-doer  work  mischief  within,  when  a  king  would  reign 
in  righteousness  and  princes  in  judgment,  and  when 
Judah  would  be  the  home  of  felicity  and  peace.  This 
vision  also  was  sadly  belied  by  the  reality.    No  such 


THE  GLORY  OF  THIS   HOUSE  119 

transformation  of  society  ensued  after  the  failure  of 
Sennacherib's  attack,  as  the  prophet  had  anticipated ; 
no  golden  age  began  for  the  remnant  of  Judah — it  has 
not  begun  for  it  even  now.  We  must  read  such 
prophecies  as  ideals  of  the  goal  designed  by  God  for 
man,  visions  which,  though  not  realized,  present  pictures 
of  what  human  life  and  society  might  and  ought  to  be, 
and  of  what  perhaps  at  some  future  time,  when  Chris- 
tianity has  leavened  the  hearts  and  wills  of  men  more 
completely  and  more  universally  than  it  has  done  at 
present,  it  actually  may  be.  And  so  in  the  present 
prophecy,  Haggai,  as  he  looks  out  into  the  future, 
idealizes  it ;  he  pictures  the  restored  Temple  as  the 
future  religious  centre  of  the  world,  nations  coming 
on  pilgrimage  to  it,  and  delighting  to  honour  it  with 
their  gifts  ;  its  glory  consequently  on  a  greater  scale 
than  that  of  Solomon's  Temple,  and  Judah  enjoying 
a  God-given  peace.  Haggai,  in  fact,  applies  to  the 
rebuilding  of  the  Temple  what  Isaiah  had  said  long 
before  in  a  well-known  passage  when  picturing  the 
day  when  the  nations  of  the  earth  would  become 
worshippers  of  the  God  of  Israel  and  make  pilgrimages 
to  Zion  :  "  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  latter 
days  that  the  mountain  of  the  Lord's  house  shall  be 
established  in  the  top  of  the  mountains  and  exalted 
above  the  hills :  and  all  nations  shall  flow  unto  it " — 
recognizing  in  it  a  centre  of  divine  instruction — "  for 
out  of  Zion  shall  go  forth  a  law,  and  the  word  of  the 
Lord  from  Jerusalem  (ii.  2,  3)." 
And  so  we  may  understand  the  sense  in  which  the 


I20       THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

prophecy  is  read  suitably  on  the  last  Sunday  before 
Advent.  It  is  no  prophecy,  as  the  false  rendering  of 
the  Authoriised  Version  suggests,  of  the  coming  of  a 
personal  Messiah ;  but  it  looks  forward  to  the  time  when 
what  can  only  become  possible  through  the  advent 
of  Christ  may  be  accomplished.  It  was  only  when  the 
religion  of  the  prophets  was  detached  from  local  con- 
ditions, such  as  sacrifice  at  Jerusalem,  and  expanded 
and  developed  as  it  was  by  Christ  and  His  apostles, 
that  it  became  adapted  for  the  nations  of  the  world. 
Thus  Haggai  looks  forward  to  a  time  when,  converted 
to  faith  in  Him,  the  nations  of  the  world  might,  in  a 
figurative  sense,  honour  the  Temple  of  the  true  God.  It 
was  never  fulfilled,  any  more  than  was  Isaiah's  prophecy 
which  I  have  just  quoted,  in  the  form  in  which  Haggai 
pictured  its  fulfilment ;  but  that  was  a  result  of  the  cir- 
cumstances under  which  it  was  written.  Seldom,  if  ever, 
did  the  prophets  rise  to  the  idea  of  a  purely  spiritual  re- 
ligion; in  their  most  catholic  outlook  into  the  future  they 
nearly  always  pictured  religion  as  bound  to  the  forms  of 
their  own  dispensation :  Zechariah,  for  instance,  pictures 
the  nations  of  the  earth  as  coming  annually  to  keep  the 
Feast  of  Tabernacles  (xiv.  16  fi.).  With  a  religion  spread 
over  the 'whole  world,  a  local  centre  at  Jerusalem  is 
obviously  impossible  ;  and  Haggai's  prophecy  can  only 
be  fulfilled  in  a  spiritual  sense.  The  nations  may  own 
one  religion  and  one  God,  but  they  cannot  ofier  their 
worship  or  their  gifts  at  one  material  temple.  Never- 
theless, the  essential  thought  of  the  passage  is  the  over- 
throw of  the  kingdom  of  the  world  and  the  honour 


THE  GLORY  OF  THIS   HOUSE  121 

paid  by  the  nations  to  the  Temple  of  the  true  God. 
That  great  vision  has  been  partially  fulfilled,  but 
only  partially.  The  kingdoms  of  the  world  have  as 
yet  become  only  in  part,  and  even  that  imperfectly, 
the  kingdom  of  the  Lord  and  of  His  Anointed.  As 
in  other  similar  cases,  the  complete  realization  of  the 
prophet's  ideal  lies  in  the  future.  May  it  please  God 
to  hasten  the  time  when  the  ideal  becomes  a  reality, 
when  the  nations  flock  with  one  accord  to  worship  in 
His  spiritual  Temple,  and  His  kingdom  is  established 
throughout  the  earth  ! 


XIII 
COMPARATIVE  RELIGION 

"  For  from  the  rising  of  the  sun  even  unto  the  going  down  of 
the  same  my  name  is  great  among  the  Gentiles ;  and  in  every 
place  incense  is  offered  mito  my  name,  and  a  pure  offering,  saith 
the  Lord  of  hosts." — Malachi  i.  11. 

MALACHI  was  one  of  the  latest  of  the  prophets; 
he  prophesied  about  four  hundred  years  before 
Christ,  some  ninety  years  after  the  Jews  had  returned 
from  their  exile  in  Babylon  to  their  native  country. 
The  Temple  had  been  rebuilt,  and  public  worship  in  it 
had  been  resumed.  But  a  feeling  of  depression  and 
discontent  prevailed  among  the  people.  The  expecta- 
tions which  earlier  prophets  had  aroused  had  not 
been  fulfilled.  The  return  from  Babylon  had  not 
been  followed  by  the  glories  promised  by  the  Second 
Isaiah  ;  '  the  completion  of  the  Temple  had  not,  as 
Haggai  and  Zechariah  had  promised,  brought  in  the 
Messianic  age ;  Jerusalem  was  still  thinly  inhabited ; 
bad  harvests,  troubles  from  neighbours  and  general 
poverty  increased  the  disheartenment.  A  spirit  of  care- 
lessness and  indifference  sprang  up  among  the  people, 
and  extended  even  to  the  priests.     The  people  were 


COMPARATIVE   RELIGION  123 

remiss  in  the  payment  of  tithe  and  other  sacred  dues ; 
marriages  with  foreign  women,  and  divorce,  became 
alarmingly  common.  The  priests,  forgetful  of  the 
honour  and  reverence  which  are  God's  due,  treated  His 
altar  with  contempt,  offering  upon  it  blemished  or  imper- 
fect animals,  such  as  their  own  Persian  governor  would 
not  think  of  accepting  as  a  present ;  they  performed 
the  duties  of  their  high  office  perfunctorily ;  they  were 
open,  it  seems,  to  bribery ;  they  permitted  to  one  what 
they  refused  to  another  ;  uprightness  and  impartiality 
were  not,  as  they  should  have  been,  the  ruling  principles 
of  their  lives. ^  Hear  how  the  prophet  describes  them 
as  speaking  : 

"  Ye  say,  Behold,  what  a  weariness  is  it !  "  {i.e.  what 
a  trouble  the  service  of  the  sanctuary  is!),  "and  ye  snufE 
at  it "  {i.e.  ye  treat  it  with  contempt) ;  "  and  ye  bring 
that  which  has  been  taken  by  violence,  and  the  lame, 
and  the  sick ;  and  ye  bring  it  as  an  offering  :  should  I 
accept  this  at  your  hand  ?  saith  the  Lord."  ^  Better 
the  prophet  exclaims,  that  the  Temple  should  be  closed 
altogether,  than  that  sacrifices  presented  in  such  a 
spirit  should  be  offered  on  it !  "  Oh  that  there  were 
one  among  you  that  would  shut  the  doors,  that  ye 
might  not  kindle  fixe  on  mine  altar  to  no  purpose  !  " 
"  I  have  no  pleasure  in  you,  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts,  neither  will  I  accept  an  offering  from  your 
hand."  ^  Then  follow  the  words  of  the  text.  Jehovah 
has  no  pleasure  in  Israel's  offerings  ;    for  while  He  is 

»  Mai.  i.  6-8,  13,  14.  ii.  8,  9  end. 

2  Mai.  i.  13.  3  Mai.  i.  10. 


124       THE   IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

honoured  among  the  Gentiles,  Israel  dishonours  Him. 
"  For  from  the  rising  of  the  sun  even  unto  the  going 
down  of  the  same  my  name  is  great  among  the  Gentiles ; 
and  in  every  place  incense  is  offered  unto  my  name, 
and  a  pure  offering  :  for  my  name  is  great  among  the 
Gentiles,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  But  ye  profane  it, 
in  that  ye  say  " — not,  indeed,  in  so  many  words,  but 
virtually  by  treating  Jehovah's  table  with  irreverence — 
"  The  table  of  the  Lord  is  polluted,  and  his  food  is 
contemptible."  The  honour  shown  to  Jehovah  by  the 
Gentiles  is  contrasted  with  the  dishonour  and  irreverence 
shown  towards  Him  by  His  own  people. 

The  passage  is  a  remarkable  one.  The  sacrifices 
of  the  heathen,  with  the  limitation,  we  must  suppose, 
that  they  are  offered  seriously  and  earnestly,  are  repre- 
sented as  offered  to  Jehovah,  and  as  acceptable  to  Him. 
Malachi  may  have  been  led  to  this  thought  through 
his  acquaintance  with  the  doctrines  of  the  Persian 
religion,  which  would  be  known  in  Judah  at  the  time, 
and  which  were  certainly  purer  and  more  spiritual  than 
those  of  heathenism  generally.  But  however  that 
may  be,  the  passage  is  a  tribute  to  the  truer  and  better 
side  of  heathen  religion.  The  heathen  do  not  know 
God  as  He  revealed  Himself  to  the  Jews  :  still  there  is 
such  a  thing  as  natural  religion  ;  and  in  so  far  as  heathen 
nations  recognized  a  being,  or  even  beings,  higher  than 
themselves,  upon  whom  they  believed  themselves  to  be 
dependent  and  to  whom  they  offered  tokens  of  gratitude 
and  reverence  and  devotion,  Jehovah,  the  only  true 
God,  accepts  such  homage  as  offered  to  Himself.     And 


COMPARATIVE   RELIGION  125 

He  accepts  the  imperfect  homage  of  the  Gentiles,  if  it  is 
the  best  that  with  their  knowledge  and  opportunities 
they  are  able  to  give,  in  preference  to  the  service  of  His 
own  people,  and  even  of  His  own  ministers,  if  this 
is  offered  only  perfunctorily  with  heedlessness  and 
irreverence.  Malachi  thus  "  recognizes  in  the  religious 
earnestness  of  the  Gentiles  a  form  of  devotion  which 
Jehovah  is  willing  to  accept."  ^  His  words  even  go 
beyond  what  is  said  by  St.  Peter  in  the  Acts,  that  "  in 
every  nation  he  that  feareth  God,  and  worketh  right- 
eousnessj  is  acceptable  to  him  "  (Acts  x.  35). 

There  is  another  text  which  deals  with  the  same 
subject,  though  from  a  somewhat  different  point  of 
view.  The  writer  of  Deuteronomy  in  warning  the 
Israelite  against  idolatry,  bids  him  take  heed  "  lest  thou 
lift  up  thine  eyes  unto  heaven,  and  when  thou  seest  the 
sun  and  the  moon  and  the  stars,  even  all  the  host  of 
heaven,  thou  be  drawn  away  and  worship  them,  and 
serve  them,  which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  divided  {i.e. 
allotted)  to  all  the  peoples  under  the  whole  heaven  " 
(Deut.  iv.  19).  The  God  of  Israel  is  supreme  ;  He  assigns 
to  every  nation  its  objects  of  worship  ;  and  tlie  venera- 
tion of  the  heavenly  bodies — which  was  widely  diffused 
in  antiquity — by  the  nations  other  than  Israel  forms  part 
of  His  providential  order  of  the  world.  Natural  religion, 
though  it  may  become  depraved,  as  St.  Paul  points  out 
(Rom.  i.  21  ff.),  is  a  witness  to  some  of  the  deepest 
needs  and  instincts  of  humanity ;  in  default  of  a  pure 
and  higher  faith,  the  yearnings  of  mankind  after  a 
»  Ottley,  The  Religion  of  Israel  (1905),  p.  161. 


126       THE   IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS 

power  higher  than  themselves  find  in  it  legitimate 
satisfaction.  We  have  thus  two  texts  referring  to  the 
religious  worship  of  the  Gentiles,  one  representing  it 
as  accepted  by  God  and  offered  to  Himself,  the  other 
speaking  of  it  as  part  of  God's  providential  order  of  the 
world,  and  intended  by  Him  to  be  practised  by  those 
nations  who  lay  beyond  the  range  of  the  higher  light 
possessed  by  the  Chosen  People. 

I  have  been  led  to  refer  to  those  texts  in  view  of  the 
approaching   Congress   for   the    History   of    Religions, 
which  is  to  be  held  during  the  coming  week  in  Oxford.^ 
A  very  large  number  of  religions,  ancient  and  modern, 
established  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  are  now 
known ;    and  for  many  years  past  students  interested 
in  the  subject  have  collected  particulars  about  them, 
and  compared  the  beUefs  and  practices  current  among 
them.     Almost  daily  we  are  learning  more  about  the 
religion    of    ancient    Babylonia,    which    probably,    in 
some  respects,  has   left  its  mark  upon  parts  of    the 
Old  Testament :   we  also  know  much  more  than  we 
did  a  century  ago  about  the  religions   of  the   ancient 
Egyptians    and    other    neighbours    of    the    Israelites. 
The  forty-nine  volumes  of  the  Sacred  Books  of  the  East, 
published  In  Oxford  during  a  succession  of  years  under 
the  editorship  of  the  late  Prof.  Max  Miiller,  acquaint 
us  very  fully  with  the  religious  beliefs  and  practices 
of    ancient    India,   Persia,   China,   and    other   Eastern 
countries  :    and  the  investigations  of  missionaries  and 
travellers  in  modern  times  have  taught  us  much  about 

'  September  1908. 


COMPARATIVE   RELIGION  127 

the  religions  of  the  native  races  of  Africa,  America, 
Australia,  and  of  nearly  every  part  of  the  modern 
world.  Naturally,  in  many  of  these  religions  there  is 
much  that  is  degraded  and  superstitious  and  cruel  and 
perverse  ;  but  if  we  look  through  all  this,  we  shall 
generally  find  in  them  elements  of  truth,  and  evidence 
of  the  sound  and  healthy  instincts  of  humanity. 

Man  is  by  nature  a  religious  being.  Religion  is  con- 
fined to  no  one  time  or  place.  Whatever  may  have 
been  the  case  in  the  infancy  of  the  world,  and  whatever 
may  be  the  case  with  particular  tribes  even  now,  the 
great  majority  of  tribes  and  races  have  developed,  in  a 
more  or  less  mature  form,  some  system  of  religious 
belief.  Even  though  religion  should  not  be  a  miiversal 
characteristic  of  mankind,  there  are  facts  abundantly 
sufficient  to  show  that  it  is  a  genuine  instinct  of 
humanity  ;  and  that,  as  men  advance  in  culture  and 
civilization,  their  religious  instincts  express  them- 
selves, as  a  rule,  the  more  strongly  and  the  more  dis- 
tinctly. Homer,  long  ago,  did  not  generalize  too 
boldly  when  he  said,  "  All  men  yearn  after  gods."  ^ 
Man,  almost  as  soon  as  he  can  reflect,  is  conscious  that 
he  did  not  make  either  himself  or  the  world  about  him. 
The  contemplation  of  nature,  so  vast,  so  wonderful,  so 
varied,  forces  upon  him  the  conviction  that  it  must 
be  the  work  of  some  being  possessing  a  mind  similar  to 
his  own,  but  immeasurably  greater  and  more  powerful. 
At  first,  perhaps,  men  deified  natural  forces  or  agencies, 
or  they  thought  of  many  gods — of  gods  who,  as  it  were, 

'  Odyssey,  iii.  48. 


128       THE   IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

took  charge  of  particular  departments  of  nature ;  but 
a  tendency  to  attribute  all  to  one  supreme,  or  even  one 
single  God,  often  manifested  itself,  and  the  idea  of  a  maker 
or  creator  of  the  world  and  man  was  thus  arrived  at. 

Moreover,  in  virtue  of  the  nature  with  which  he  has 
been  endowed,  man  rises  to  a  sense  of  right  and  wrong ; 
he  feels  that  if  he  does  wrong  his  god  is  displeased  ;  and 
he  acquires  the  sense  of  sin.  He  makes  offerings  to  his 
god,  to  thank  him,  it  may  be,  for  the  gifts  of  spring  or 
harvest,  or  to  propitiate  him,  if  he  has  reason  to  dread 
the  god's  displeasure;  and  so  the  ideas  of  sacrifice 
and  atonement  arise.  Religious  festivals  of  different 
kinds  are  celebrated,  as  acts  of  homage  and  gratitude, 
to  the  powers  on  which  man's  happiness  depends. 
Rites  of  initiation  and  purification  are  adopted, 
witnessing  to  the  idea  of  a  fife  higher  than  a  merely 
natural  life,  and  to  the  need  of  cleansing  after  defilement. 
In  some  religions  also  the  idea  of  a  communion  with 
the  tribal  deity  appears  :  the  worshippers  therefore  par- 
take of  a  common  sacrificial  meal  of  which  the  deity  also 
is  supposed  t6  partake ;  or  they  eat,  for  instance,  a  dough 
image  of  their  god.  They  hope  thereby  to  participate 
in  a  divine  life  communicated  to  them,  which  they 
believe'  will  be  to  them  a  protection  and  source  of  life 
and  strength.  There  are  many  religions  also  in  which 
the  idea  of  an  incarnation  is  found.  And  I  need  hardly 
say  how  common  in  all  parts  of  the  world  is  the  custom 
of  prayer  to  the  national  deity. 

The  beliefs  and  practices  which  I  have  here  rapidly 
noted,  and  the  number  of  them  might  be  increased,  are 


COMPARATIVE   RELIGION  129 

thus  more  or  less  common  to  all  the  religions  of  the 
world.  But  they  are  also  the  ideas  which  in  a  purer 
and  higher  form  belong  to  Christianity  ;  they  thus  form 
connecting  links  between  those  religions  and  our  own. 
The  ideas  of  creation,  of  sin,  of  sacrifice,  of  atonement, 
of  communion,  embody  central  truths  of  the  Christian 
rehgion.  No  doubt  they  are  found  generally,  in 
heathen  religions,  in  a  crude,  grotesque,  or  perverse 
form  :  but  they  are  there  ;  they  are  the  ideas  which 
these  heathen  nations  believe  in,  and  desire,  as  well  as 
they  can  do,  to  express  ;  and  in  a  more  elevated  and 
spiritual  form  they  are  of  the  essence  of  Christianity. 
Christianity  is  the  highest,  and  indeed  the  absolute 
religion  ;  but  other  religions  share  with  it  common 
features.  Other  religions  express  imperfectly  the 
truths  which  spring  out  of  the  relation  in  which  the 
human  mind,  constituted  as  it  is,  feels  that  it  stands 
to  the  being,  or  beings,  which  it  recognizes  above  it ; 
and  these  are  just  the  truths  which  find  a  more 
spiritual  and  satisfying  recognition  in  Christianity. 
We  discover,  then,  features  in  which  Christianity 
resembles  other  religions,  and  features  in  which  it 
differs  from  them.  But  things  standing  in  this  relation 
to  one  another  can  be  compared.  Thus  there  arises 
the  science  of  the  Comparative  Study  of  Religions, 
both  of  other  religions  among  themselves,  and  also  with 
Christianity.  This  implies  no  disparagement  to  Chris- 
tianity, which  remains  the  most  spiritual  and  perfect 
religion  that  we  can  imagine. 

The  existence  of  beliefs  and  practices  such  as  these 
9 


I30       THE  IDEALS   OF  THE  PROPHETS 

among  so  many  religions  of  the  world  is  an  important 
witness  to  the  truth  of  Christianity.  It  shows  that  the 
instincts  of  which  they  are  the  expression — even  though 
it  may  be  the  struggling  and  imperfect  expression — 
are  rooted  in  human  nature,  and  that  they  have  a  real 
claim  to  be  satisfied  ;  it  thus  creates  a  strong  presump- 
tion that  the  religion  which  satisfies  them  most  com- 
pletely is  the  highest  and  the  truest.  Long  ago  a 
Christian  Father,  Tertullian,  who  lived  about  200  a.d., 
wrote  a  treatise  called  "  The  witness  of  the  soul  by 
nature  Christian,"  in  which  he  developed  this  argu- 
ment ;  he  pointed  to  the  religious  beliefs  and  practices 
of  the  Gentiles  as  testifying  to  the  truth  of  principles 
more  fully  satisfied  by  Christianity  :  the  soul,  he  argued, 
was  thus  by  nature  Christian ;  it  accepted  already 
in  principle  so  many  truths  about  God  and  His  relation 
to  the  world  and  man  which  Christians  also  held,  that 
it  ought  consistently  to  go  farther  and  accept  them  in 
the  fuller  and  more  reasonable  form  in  which  they 
were  presented  by  Christianity.  And  in  modern  times, 
not  many  years  since  (1881),  a  Bampton  Lecturer  in 
this  University,  the  present  Bishop  of  Salisbury, 
argued  similarly,  that  non-Christian  religious  systems 
bore  witness  to  convictions  and  aspirations  on  the  part 
of  man  which  were  only  fully  satisfied  by  the  faith  of 
Christ. 

There  is  also  another  point  to  which  I  may  refer 
briefly.  Christianity  resembles  other  religions  in 
having  had  a  history.  Since  the  times  of  the  apostles, 
when  St.   Paul   planted  infant  churches  in  different 


COMPARATIVE   RELIGION  131 

paxts  of  Asia  and  Europe,  it  has  undergone  many  re- 
markable developments  :  new  practices,  and  sometimes 
new  beliefs,  have  sprung  up  in  it ;  it  has  divided,  and  in 
its  reformed  branches  often  subdivided ;  in  its  different 
parts  also  great  differences,  both  of  doctrine  and  of 
organization,  have  prevailed.  More  than  that,  Chris- 
tianity sprang  out  of  an  antecedent  religion,  the  religion 
of  Israel.  This  also  had  a  history,  and  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment we  can  trace  some  of  the  stages  through  which  it 
passed.  On  its  ceremonial  side,  the  religion  of  Israel 
had  links  connecting  it  with  the  religions  of  neighbouring 
peoples :  such  institutions  as  sacrifice  and  purifications 
and  religious  pilgrimages  and  a  priesthood,  were,  for  in- 
stance, not  peculiar  to  Israel ;  they  were  shared  by  the 
Israelites  with  their  neighbours ;  there  are  also  frequent 
examples  of  rites  and  usages  prescribed  in  the  Pentateuch 
to  which  analogies  have  been  found  in  many  different 
parts  of  the  world.  But  the  Israelites,  while  they 
practised  such  usages,  adapted  them  to  the  spirit  of 
their  own  higher  religion,  and  made  them  the  vehicle 
of  its  higher  teaching,  and  spiritualized  them  in  a 
manner  to  which  among  other  nations  there  has 
been  no  parallel.  And  so  they  were  qualified  to 
prepare  the  way  for  Christianity.  The  ceremonial 
observances  of  the  Jewish  theocracy  were,  however, 
unsuited  for  a  religion  in  which  Gentiles,  being  in  all 
parts  of  the  world,  were  to  share  :  St.  Paul  taught  that 
they  were  not  to  be  imposed  upon  Gentile  converts  ; 
and  the  Christian  Church  discarded  them.  But  the 
spiritual  principles  of  the  religion  of  Israel,  including 


1X2       THE  IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 


'o 


many  finding  expression  in  their  institutions — such, 
principles  as  the  belief  in  One  God,  sacrifice,  atone- 
ment, sin,  forgiveness — were  naturally  retained,  and 
became,  indeed,  part  of  the  very  essence  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith. 

The  religions  of  the  world,  strange  as  some  of  their 
beliefs  and  practices  seem  to  us  to  be,  must  thus  have 
their  appointed  place  in  the  providential  order  of  the 
world.     Why,  indeed,  the  human  mind  has   been   so 
constituted  as  to  create  this  extraordinary  diversity 
of  religious  beliefs,  why  the  higher  light  granted  of  old 
to  the  people  of  Israel,  and  since  the  advent  of  Christ 
to  those  who  have  been  His  followers,  was  not  from  the 
first  more  widely  diffused,  is  more  than  we  can  say: 
we  can  see  but  a  part  of  the  entire  plan  upon  which 
God  deals  with  men ;  perhaps  if  we  saw  the  whole,  we 
should  see  the  reasons  more  clearly.     But  we  cannot 
doubt  that  it  is  a  part  of  His  plan  for  the  gradual  educa- 
tion of  our  race.    And  we  must  remember  that  although, 
when  placed  side  by  side  with  Christianity,  the  inferiority, 
and  even  in  some  cases  the  degradation,  of  other  religions 
becomes  obvious,  yet  when  a  heathen  religion  is  not 
brought  side  by  side  with  Christianity,  but  is  practised 
by  those  who  have  never  heard  of  Christianity  and  who 
know  nothing  better,  it  is  the  expression  of  some  of  the 
deepest  and  truest  instincts  of  the  human  soul,  of  its 
cravings  for  something  higher  than  itself,  of  its  needs  and 
wants,  its  gratitude  and  its  contrition,  its  hopes  and  fears ; 
and,  as  Malachi  declared,  its  homage  offered  honestly 
and  earnestly  is  accepted  by  God  as  if  it  were  offered 


COMPARATIVE   RELIGION  133 

to  Himself.  St.  Paul  himself,  we  may  remember,  said 
in  his  speech  at  Athens  that  it  was  God's  purpose  in 
planting  men  in  different  parts  of  the  earth  "  that  they 
should  seek  God,  if  haply  they  might  feel  after  him,  and 
find  him,  though  he  is  not  far  from  each  one  of  us  : 
for  in  him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being  " 
(Acts  xvii.  27,  28).  The  religions  of  the  Gentiles  are  thus, 
in  St.  Paul's  view,  the  aspirations  of  the  human  soul — 
however  imperfect,  however  faltering,  however  earth- 
bound — for  God. 

Accordingly  we  welcome  the  statement  of  the 
bishops,  assembled  lately  from  different  regions  of  the 
world  at  Lambeth,  on  the  subject  of  non-Christian  re- 
ligions :  "  Christians  must  never  hesitate  to  look  for 
what  is  true  and  good  in  them,  to  recognize  that  they 
have  had  a  place  in  the  purpose  of  the  one  loving  God 
of  all  the  earth,  and  to  try  to  lead  men  by  the  truths 
which  they  know  to  Him,  the  Truth,  in  whom  all  truths 
meet."  These  words  breathe  the  spirit  in  which  the 
Christian  should  regard  the  religions  of  the  world  ; 
they  breathe  also  the  spirit  in  which  missionary  enter- 
prise should  be  conducted — to  lead  men  on  by  the 
truths  that  they  know  to  the  higher  truths  which  as 
yet  they  do  not  know.  Let  us  thank  God,  who  has 
brought  us  into  the  clear  and  pure  light  of  His  Gospel  ; 
and  let  us  pray  Him  to  bless  the  efforts  made  to  bring 
others  into  the  same  light,  that  so,  in  His  good  time, 
the  kingdom  of  the  world  may  become  the  kingdom  of 
His  Christ. 


134       THE  IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS 


NOTES. 

On  Mai.  i.  11,  see,  further,  G.  A.  Smith,  The  Booh  of  the  Twelve 
Prophets  (in  the  "  Expositor's  Bible  "),  vol.  ii.,  1906,  pp.  347,  359  ; 
and  the  commentary  of  the  present  writer  in  the  second  volume  of 
the  Minor  Prophets,  in  the  "  Century  Bible,"  1906,  p.  304  f.  The 
Authorized  Version  has  "  shall  he  great,"  "  shall  be  offered  "  :  but 
(as  the  italics  show)  no  verb  is  expressed  in  the  Hebrew ;  and  the 
context  makes  it  clear  that  the  reference  must  be  to  the  prophet's 
own  present. 

An  interesting  exposition,  from  a  Christian  standpoint,  of  many 
typical  forms  of  pagan  behef,  and  comparison  of  them  with  corre- 
sponding truths  of  Christianity,  will  be  found  in  Canon  Macculloch's 
Comparative  Theology  (in  the  "  Churchman's  Library"),  1902.  See 
also,  especially  on  the  question  whether  or  not  all  known  races  have 
a  religion,  the  address  of  Mr.  E.  S.  Hartland,  President  of  Section  1. 
("  Religions  of  the  Lower  Culture  "),  at  the  Oxford  Congress. 


XIV 
A  CREED  CORRECTED 

"  And  the  Lord  said.  Thou  hast  had  pity  on  the  gourd,  for 
the  which  thou  hast  not  laboured,  neither  nndest  it  grow ; 
which  came  up  in  a  night,  and  perished  in  a  night :  and  should 
not  I  have  pity  on  Nineveh,  that  great  city,  wherein  are  more 
than  sixscore  thousand  persons  that  cannot  discern  between 
their  right  hand  and  their  left  hand ;  and  also  much  cattle  ? " — 
Jonah  iv.  10  f. 

THE  main  features  of  the  story  of  Jonah  are  so  well 
known  that  I  need  only  recall  them  in  outline. 
The  prophet  was  commissioned  to  travel  from  Palestine 
to  Nineveh  to  warn  the  inhabitants  of  that  vast  heathen 
city  of  approaching  judgment ;  he  tried  to  escape  from 
the  uncongenial  task,  but  by  a  miracle  he  was  preserved 
to  do  it.  The  Ninevites  repented  ;  what  the  prophet 
dreaded  came  about ;  instead  of  being  treated  as  they 
deserved,  the  heathen  received  pardon,  and  the  prophet  a 
searching  rebuke  for  his  prejudice  and  narrowness  of  heart. 
Jonah  is  mentioned  once  besides  in  the  Old  Testament, 
in  2  Kings  xiv.  25,  but  is  not  brought  into  any  connexion 
with  Nineveh.  He  is  there  said  to  have  predicted  to 
Jeroboam  ii.  the  successes  gained  by  him  in  his  wars 
against  the  Syrians.  This  fixes  the  date  of  the  prophet's 
lifetime    to    nearly    eight    hundred    years    before    the 


135 


136       THE   IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

Christian  era.  The  Book  of  Jonah  cannot,  however, 
have  been  written  by  Jonah  himself,  nor  can  it  be  as 
early  as  this  :  the  style  of  the  writing,  and  the  fact  that 
the  Psalm,  which  in  ch.  ii.  Jonah  is  stated  to  have  sung, 
consists  largely  of  quotations  from  Psalms  which  belong 
to  a  much  later  age,  show  that  it  must  have  been  written 
long  after  Jonah's  own  age.  Probably  it  was  not  written 
till  after  the  Israelites  returned  from  their  seventy  years' 
captivity  in  Babylon,  nearly  four  hundred  years  after  the 
time  of  Jonah  himself.  The  part  of  the  Book  of  Jonah 
with  which  perhaps  many  persons  are  most  familiar, 
and  which  has  often  through  misunderstanding  been 
made  the  butt  of  very  needless  derision,  is  not  its  most 
important  part,  and  it  certainly  is  not  the  part  on  which 
the  author  himself  lays  the  greatest  stress — the  marvel- 
lous manner  in  which  the  prophet  was  swallowed,  and 
after  three  days  disgorged  alive  by  the  great  fish.  Partly 
the  strange  character  of  this  episode,  and  partly  certain 
historical  difficulties  connected  with  Jonah's  mission  to 
Nineveh,  such  as  the  rapid  repentance  of  its  vast  heathen 
population,  which  is  contrary  to  all  human  experience 
or  probability,  have  led  many  commentators  to  question 
whether  the  book  contains  throughout  a  narrative  of 
events  which  Uterally  happened,  and  whether  it  is  not 
rather  of  the  nature  of  a  parable  or  allegory,  designed  to 
convey,  in  an  impressive  and  attractive  form,  certain 
spiritual  lessons.  There  is  much  to  be  said  in  favour  of 
this  view  :  indeed,  if  the  narrative  be  read  without  bias 
it  almost  immediately  suggests  itself. 

The  narrative  is  not   contemporary,   or   nearly   so, 


A  CREED   CORRECTED  137 

with  the  events  it  purports  to  describe  ;  the  marvel 
related  in  it  thus  lacks,  for  instance,  the  attestation 
which  our  Lord's  miracles  possess,  the  narratives  re- 
specting which  can  be  traced  back  to  the  age  of  His 
immediate  disciples  and  followers.  Accordingly,  we 
may  agree  with  most  modern  commentators  in  regard- 
ing the  book  as  a  specimen  of  that  allegorical  literature 
to  which  the  later  Jews  were  very  much  addicted,  and 
which  they  adopted  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  home 
forcibly  some  moral  or  spiritual  lesson.  There  are  other 
examples  of  the  same  kind  of  narrative  in  the  Old 
Testament :  notably  the  Book  of  Job,  which  does  not 
contain  a  history  properly  so  called,  but  makes  use 
of  a  tradition  respecting  Job  and  his  three  friends  in 
order  to  discuss  a  grave  religious  problem.  This  parallel 
is  sufficient  to  show  that  we  have  no  right  to  limit 
the  methods  of  God's  providence,  or  to  argue  that  He 
could  not  teach  His  people  except  by  means  of  an  actual 
history.  It  has,  indeed,  been  sometimes  held  that  our 
Blessed  Lord,  by  the  terms  in  which  He  referred  to  the 
story  of  Jonah,  intended  to  refer  to  it  as  a  matter  of 
history  ;  but  it  is  far  from  clear  that  that  is  the  case  : 
He  Himself  adopted  largely  the  method  of  moral  alle- 
gory in  His  own  parables ;  it  was  His  habit,  in  other 
words,  to  embody  spiritual  truth  in  tales  that  were  not 
literal  facts,  but  were  only  told  to  fix  spiritual  truths 
in  the  minds  of  His  hearers  ;  so  that  He  might  well 
have  pointed  to  the  deep  symbolism  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment parable,  without  thereby  intending  to  imply  that 
it  was  a  record  of  actual  fact. 


138       THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

But  let  us  pass  to  that  whicli  is  of  greater  importance 
in  the  Book  of  Jonah,  the  spiritual  teaching  which  it 
contains. 

The  structure  of  the  narrative  shows,  indeed,  that  the 
didactic  purpose  of  the  book  is  the  author's  chief  aim. 
He  introduces  just  those  details  that  have  a  bearing 
upon  this ;  while  omitting  others  which,  had  his 
interest  been  in  the  history  as  such,  must  naturally 
have  been  mentioned  :  for  instance,  details  as  to  the 
spot  on  which  Jonah  was  cast  upon  the  land,  particulars 
as  to  his  journey  to  Nineveh  and  the  special  sins  of 
which  the  Ninevites  were  guilty.  There  is  also  nothing 
respecting  the  after  history  of  either  Nineveh  or  the 
prophet  :  the  author,  having  pointed  the  moral  of  his 
story,  has  no  occasion  to  add  more.  The  narrative  rests 
not  improbably,  like  that  of  Job,  on  a  traditional  basis. 
Jonah,  as  we  have  seen,  was  an  historical  person  ;  and 
traditions  may  have  been  current  respecting  a  missionary 
journey  taken  by  him  to  Nineveh,  and  about  the  manner 
in  which  he  discharged,  or  sought  to  avoid  discharging, 
his  prophetic  ofl&ce.  Whatever  materials  the  author 
possessed,  they  were  arranged  by  him  in  a  literary  form, 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  set  forcibly  before  his  readers 
the  truths  which  he  desired  them  to  take  to  heart. 

The  book  contains  more  lessons  than  one.  It  teaches, 
for  instance,  the  wonderful  power  of  true  repentance  and 
the  largeness  of  God's  mercy :  the  heathen  mariners, 
after  acknowledging  the  power  of  Jonah's  God,  are 
saved ;  Jonah,  after  being  in  appearance  wholly  lost, 
when  he  has  sung  from  a  full  heart  a  hymn  of  praise 


A  CREED  CORRECTED  139 

to  God,  and  acknowledged  Him  as  the  source  of  his 
strength,  is  saved  also  ;  the  Ninevites,  after  turning 
back  from  their  former  errors,  are  saved  likewise.  An- 
other lesson  which  the  book  teaches  is  this,  that  it  is 
wrong,  as  it  is  also  useless,  to  attempt  to  evade  a  duty 
which  has  once  been  imposed  upon  us  by  God  :  the  call 
of  duty,  though  it  may  lead  us  through  unpleasant, 
and,  as  Jonah  feared,  through  disappointing  and 
vexatious  consequences,  must  nevertheless  be  obeyed. 
A  third  truth  which  the  book  impresses  is  the  teaching 
of  Jer.  xviii.  on  the  conditional  nature  of  prophecy  ; 
it  shows  that  even  after  a  Divinely-inspired  judgment 
has  been  uttered  by  a  prophet,  it  may  yet  be  possible 
by  repentance  to  avert  it ;  and  if  this  be  done,  objections 
must  not  be  taken  that  God's  word  is  of  none  efEect. 
Jeremiah,  in  the  chapter  that  I  have  referred  to,  relates 
how  he  was  taught  a  lesson  from  observing  the  work 
of  a  potter  :  he  watched  the  potter  at  work  with  his 
wheels  ;  if  the  vessel  he  was  making  was  marred,  he 
changed  his  design,  and  fashioned  it  into  another,  as  it 
seemed  to  him  to  be  suitable.  And  then  the  prophetic 
application  was  borne  in  upon  him  :  "  0  house  of 
Israel,  cannot  I  do  unto  you  as  this  potter  ?  saith  the 
Lord.  Behold,  as  the  clay  in  the  potter's  hand,  so  are 
ye  in  mine  hand,  0  house  of  Israel.  At  what  instant  I 
shall  speak  concerning  a  nation,  and  concerning  a  king- 
dom, to  pluck  up,  and  to  break  down,  and  to  destroy  it ; 
if  that  nation,  concerning  which  I  have  spoken,  turn  from 
their  evil,  I  will  repent  of  the  evil  that  I  thought  to  do 
unto  them.     And  at  what  time  I  shall  speak  concerning 


140        THE   IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS 

a  nation,  and  concerning  a  kingdom,  to  build  and  to 
plant  it ;  if  it  do  evil  in  my  sight,  that  it  obey  not  my 
voice,  then  I  will  repent  of  the  good,  wherewith  I  said 
I  would  benefit  them.  Now  therefore  speak  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  saying,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  : 
Behold,  I  frame  evil  against  you,  and  devise  a  device 
against  you :  return  ye  now  every  one  from  his  evil  way, 
and  amend  your  ways  and  your  doings."  God's  declared 
purpose,  whether  of  judgment  or  of  salvation,  is  depen- 
dent for  its  execution  upon  the  temper  of  those  to  whom 
it  is  addressed  ;  by  a  change  on  their  part  they  may 
avert  the  judgment,  as  they  may  also  cut  themselves  off 
from  the  promised  salvation.  The  terms  of  Jonah's 
warning  to  the  Ninevites  are  in  part  borrowed  from 
Jeremiah  ;  and  the  repentance  of  the  Ninevites  and  the 
revocation  of  the  sentence  against  them,  exactly  illus- 
trate Jeremiah's  teaching.  Thus  the  Book  of  Jonah 
may  be  said  to  exemplify  by  a  practical  illustration 
Jeremiah's  teaching  of  the  conditional  nature  of 
prophecy.  The  truth  is,  that  a  threatened  punishment 
may  be  averted  by  timely  penitence  on  the  part  of 
those  who  receive  the  warning. 

These  lessons  do  not,  however,  seem  to  constitute  the 
chief  aim  of  the  book.  That  aim  is  rather  indicated  in 
the  words  with  which  the  book  closes,  and  which  I  have 
taken  as  my  text.  The  real  design  of  the  narrative 
seems  to  have  been  to  teach,  in  opposition  to  the  narrow 
exclusive  view,  which  was  apt  to  be  popular  with  the 
Jews,  that  God's  purposes  of  grace  are  not  limited  to 
Israel   alone,  but   that  they  are  open  to  all  of   every 


A  CREED  CORRECTED  141 

nation,  so  soon  as  they  cast  aside  their  life  of  sin  and 
turn  to  Hira  in  true  penitence.  It  anticipates  the 
teaching  of  St.  Peter  that  "  to  the  Gentiles  also  hath 
God  granted  repentance  unto  life  "  (Acts  xd.  18). 
The  great  prophets  had  often  taught  the  future  re- 
ception of  the  heathen  into  the  kingdom  of  God  : 
Isaiah,  for  instance,  had  drawn  a  picture  of  all  nations 
flocking  to  Zion,  seeking  there  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
and  owning  it  as  their  spiritual  metropolis  ;  and  another 
prophet  had  even  declared  in  far-seeing  words  that  it 
was  Israel's  mission  to  be  the  instrument  of  extending 
salvation  to  the  world.  But  this  teaching  of  the 
prophets  had  not  taken  root  in  the  heart  of  the 
people  ;  and  even  long  afterwards,  it  was  one  of  the 
elements  in  the  teaching  of  Christ  and  the  early  apostles 
which  came  most  strongly  into  conflict  with  current 
prejudices.  The  predominant  theme  of  the  prophets 
had  been  the  denunciation  of  judgment,  sometimes  on 
Israel  itself,  but  more  often  on  Israel's  foes ;  and  the 
Israelites  themselves  had  suSered  so  much  at  the  hand 
of  foreign  oppressors  that  they  came  to  look  upon  the 
heathen  as  their  natural  foes,  and  were  impatient  when 
they  saw  the  judgments  against  them  unfulfilled.  Jonah 
appears  here  as  the  representative  of  the  popular 
Israelite  creed.  He  resists  at  the  outset  the  com- 
mission to  preach  at  Nineveh  at  all  :  and  when  his 
preaching  there  has  been  successful  in  a  manner  which 
he  did  not  anticipate,  and  the  sentence  which  he  had 
been  charged  to  pronounce  is  revoked,  he  gives  way 
to  bitter  vexation.     In  the  rebuke  with  which  the  book 


142       THE   IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

closes,  the  exclusive  spirit  of  the  author's  own  con- 
temporaries stands  condemned.  The  author  holds  up 
before  them  a  mirror,  in  which  they  may  see  reflected 
their  own  incapacity  to  grasp  the  largeness  of  God's 
ways,  and  their  own  unwillingness  to  fulfil  the  mission 
with  which  they  are  entrusted. 

It  is  remarkable  and  in  agreement  with  this  view  of 
the  aim  of  the  book,  that  the  heathen  are  represented 
in  a  more  favourable  light  than  the  Jew.  "  The 
mariners  are  spared ;  the  prophet  is  cast  forth  as 
guilty.  The  Ninevites  repent,  and  are  forgiven  ;  the 
prophet  is  rebuked." 

Jonah's  character  is  not,  indeed,  depicted  in  a  favour- 
able light.  He  is  represented,  like  the  less  spiritual 
of  his  fellow-countrymen,  as  wayward,  unspiritually- 
minded,  deficient  in  insight.  He  does  at  last  what  he  is 
commanded  to  do  ;  but  he  does  it  so  unwillingly,  and 
with  so  little  perception  of  a  prophet's  mission,  that  he 
is  disappointed  with  a  result  at  which  he  ought  clearly 
to  have  rejoiced  ;  he  has  Ehjah's  despondency,  without 
EHjah's  excuse.  He  is  even  represented  as  expecting, 
almost  as  hoping,  to  see  Nineveh  miraculously  over- 
thrown :  "  he  made  him  a  booth,  and  sat  under  it  in 
the  shadow  till  he  might  see  what  would  become  of  the 
city,"  When  nothing  happens,  disappointment  seizes 
him :  his  labour  has  been  in  vain ;  his  reputation,  he 
thinks,  is  gone.  He  had  thanked  God  for  his  own  pre- 
servation :  but  he  is  sore  displeased  that  a  city  contain- 
ing six  hundred  thousand  inhabitants  should  be  spared. 
"  The  proud,  hard  prophet  sits  sullen  and  discontented, 


A  CREED  CORRECTED  143 

for  the  strange  reason  that  *  God  is  more  merciful  than 
himself.'  "  It  is  consistent  with  the  prophet's  character 
that  in  ch.  iv.  he  is  led  indirectly  to  make  the  con- 
fession from  which  the  main  lesson  of  the  book  is 
deduced,  by  his  love  of  self  being  painfully  touched  : 
for  his  compassion  on  the  gourd  is  only  elicited  by  the 
scorching  effect  of  the  sun's  rays  upon  his  own  person. 

The  Book  of  Jonah  is  thus  a  didactic  narrative, 
and  its  importance  lies,  not  in  the  incidents  which  it 
relates,  but  in  the  spiritual  truths  which,  in  the  form 
of  a  narrative  from  life,  it  sets  forth.  The  book  is  a 
remarkable  and  beautiful  one.  It  is  full  of  large  lessons 
of  toleration,  of  pity,  of  the  impossibility  of  flying  from 
God,  of  the  compassion  and  love  of  God,  of  the  narrow- 
ness and  pettiness  of  man,  humbled  and  rebuked  by 
God's  exceeding  mercy.  It  is  penetrated  by  the  wide 
catholicity  of  view  which  marked  the  great  prophets  and 
leaders  of  the  Jews,  and  distinguished  them  so  pre- 
eminently above  the  mass  of  their  fellow-countrymen. 
It  anticipates  the  truth  which  long  afterwards  was 
only  gradually  realized  by  the  nascent  Chiu:ch.  May 
we  as  we  read  the  book,  take  to  heart  the  lesson 
of  toleration  and  mercy  which  it  contains,  and  the 
rebuke  which  it  administers  to  vanity,  national  preju- 
dice, narrow-mindedness,  and  pride  ! 


XV 

CIVITAS  DEI 

"  Glorious  things  are  spoken  of  thee,  O  city  of  God." — Psalm 
Ixxxvii.  3. 

npHE   Psalm  from    whicli  these   words    are    taken, 

-L     though  short,  is  a  pregnant  and  expressive  one. 

In  beautiful  and  striking  imagery  it  depicts  Zion  as 

the  metropolis  of  the  universal  kingdom  of  God,  and 

anticipates  the  day  when  all  nations  will  be  adopted 

into  it  as  its  citizens.     It  looks  forward  to  the  time 

when  the  Gentiles  shall  be  no  longer  "  alienated  from 

the  commonwealth  of  Israel,"  but  "  fellow-citizens  with 

the  saints,  and  of  the  household  of  God."     The  Psalm 

is  evidently  one  of  the  later  ones  :    and  the  glorious 

things    alluded   to   are    no    doubt    former   prophecies 

promising  the  future  glory  and  magnificence  of  the  holy 

city,  and  the  honour  which  all  nations  would  then  be 

eager  to  pay  her.     The  psalmist  puts  some  of  these 

promises  into  his  own  words  in  the  next  verse,  in  which 

he  represents  God  as  speaking  Himself,  declaring  that  it 

is  His  purpose  to  reconcile  Zion's  ancient  enemies  to 

Himself    and  incorporate  them  as  her  citizens.     "  I 

144 


CIVITAS   DEI  145 

will  make  mention  of  Rahab  and  Babylon  as  those  that 
know  me."  Rahab,  signifying  properly  hoastfulness  or 
arrogance,  had  been  used  by  Isaiah  as  a  term  of  oppro- 
brium to  designate  Egypt  (xxx.  7),  a  power  which  in  his 
days  exercised  a  disastrous  influence  upon  the  statesmen 
and  people  of  Judah,  tempting  them  to  embark  upon 
unwise  enterprises,  being  loud  and  forward  in  promises 
of  assistance,  but  always  failing  when  the  moment  for 
action  came.  Babylon  was  the  great  power  which  held 
the  Jews,  firstly  in  thraldom,  afterwards  in  exile,  for 
more  than  seventy  years.  These  two  nations,  the 
psalmist  says,  which  had  shown  themselves  in  the  past 
so  baneful  and  oppressive  to  Judah,  will  be  counted, 
in  the  future  which  he  here  anticipates,  among  them 
that  know,  or  own,  the  true  God.  Still  dwelling  upon 
the  same  thought,  the  psalmist  points  to  Philistia,  Tyre, 
the  Morians,  that  is,  the  Moors,  a  general  term  used 
formerly  to  denote  the  people  of  Africa,  though  here 
Ethiopia  would  express  the  psalmist's  meaning  more 
accurately — all  being  the  names  of  heathen  peoples  well 
known  to  the  Jews  ;  and  says  that  this  one  among  them, 
pointing,  as  it  were,  to  him.,was  born  there,tha,t  is,  in  Zion. 
Just  as  Egypt  and  Babylon  will  be  counted  among  those 
who  own  the  God  of  Israel,  so  will  a  native  of  any  of 
these  other  countries  be  counted  as  a  native  and  citizen 
of  Zion.  The  two  parts  of  the  verse  are  parallel  to  and 
explain  one  another  :  the  various  nations  of  the  earth, 
represented  by  those  named,  will  be  enrolled  spiritually 
as  Zion's  children.     The   psalmist  continues,  echoing 

the  Divine  decree,  and  dwelling  upon  the  honour  which 
10 


146       THE   IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS 

will  accrue  to  Zion  by  such  an  accession  of  fresh  citizens  • 
And  of  Zion  it  shall  be  said,  This  and  that  man  was  born  in 
her — this  and  that  man,  namely,  of  the  different  nations 
just  named  :  all  will  be  counted  as  her  spiritual  children  ; 
and  He,  the  Most  High,  shall  establish  her  under  His 
protection  and  blessing.  She  will  grow  stronger  and 
nobler  as  each  fresh  nation  joins  itself  to  her.  Still 
with  the  same  thought  in  his  mind,  the  psalmist  next 
exemphfies  it  by  another  figure  :  The  Lord  shall  reckon 
when  He  writeth  up — or  registers — the  peoples,  saying. 
This  man  was  born  there.  It  is  the  figure  of  a  census  or 
enrolment.  The  nations  of  the  world  are  supposed  to 
pass  in  review  before  the  Almighty.  He  enters  them 
in  a  book,  and  particular  individuals  amongst  them 
are  registered  as  belonging  by  adoption  to  the  com- 
munity of  Zion.  The  psalmist's  thoughts,  it  will  be 
noticed,  start  with  the  actual  and  literal  city  Jerusalem, 
occupied  only  by  Jews  ;  but  as  he  advances  the  literal 
city  changes  insensibly  into  the  ideal  city,  into  which 
great  and  distant  peoples  can  be  received  by  incorpora- 
tion. We  now  see  what  are  the  excellent  or  glorious 
things  of  which  the  text  speaks  :  not  merely  the  fact 
that  Jerusalem  above  all  other  cities  of  Israel  was  the 
city  which  God  had  loved  and  chosen  as  His  abode, 
but  that  it  was  the  prototype  of  a  wider  and  greater 
community  of  the  future,  embracing  without  restric- 
tion those  who  had  hitherto  been  excluded,  or  but 
partially  admitted  to  its  privileges  ;  and  that  this  com- 
munity, perpetuating  the  features  of  the  ancient  Zion, 
should  be  established  and  secured  by  God.     It  is  a  great 


CIVITAS  DEI  147 

and  profound  thought  which  the  Psalm  expresses,  the 
union  and  brotherhood  of  nations,  not  by  conquests, 
but  by  incorporation  into  an  ideal  state.  "  The  poet 
sees  the  most  inveterate  foes  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
acknowledging  His  sovereignty  :  he  sees  nations  the  most 
bitterly  antagonistic  to  Israel,  the  most  diametrically 
opposed  in  character  to  the  true  spirit  of  Israel,  the 
most  remote  from  the  influence  of  Israel,  brought  into 
harmony  with  Israel,  and  adopted  into  its  common- 
wealth." 1 

The  Psalm  is  dependent  for  its  central  thought  upon 
Isaiah,  who  in  his  2nd  chapter  gives  us  a  picture 
of  the  mountain  of  the  Lord's  house,  elevated  so  as 
to  become  the  spiritual  metropolis  of  the  world,  and 
the  nations  pressing  thither,  eager  to  listen  to  the 
instruction  proceeding  from  it.  In  another  part  of  his 
book  he  represents  to  us  a  highway  from  Egypt  to 
Assyria,  the  two  nations,  in  his  days  irreconcilable 
foes,  passing  to  and  fro  in  friendly  converse  upon  it,  and 
doing  homage  with  Israel  itself  to  Israel's  God  (xix.  23). 
Elsewhere  in  his  book  (ch.  xxv.  6)  we  have  the  picture 
of  a  feast  instituted  by  God  upon  the  hill  of  Zion,  in 
which  all  nations  will  share.  And  elsewhere,  "  My  house 
shall  be  called  an  house  of  prayer  for  all  peoples  "  (Is. 
Ivi.  7).  Very  probably  passages  such  as  these  are  what 
the  psalmist  alludes  to  in  the  text.  Certainly,  none  of 
these  promises  have  been  realized  in  the  form  in  which 
they  were  expressed  :  the  civilization  of  Assyria,  like 
that  of  Babylon  afterwards,  passed  away  before  either 
»  Kirkpatrick,  Psalms  {"  Cambridge  Biblo  "),  p.  519. 


148       THE  IDEALS   OF  THE  PROPHETS 

was  converted  to  a  knowledge  of  the  true  God  ;  and  the 
Temple  hill  has  not  been  made  the  visible  and  literal 
centre  of  a  spiritual  dominion  or  meeting-place  of  all 
peoples.  It  is  the  truths  underlying  the  figures  in  which 
they  are  clothed  upon  which,  if  we  would  understand 
such  prophetic  passages  aright,  we  must  concentrate 
our  attention.  Egypt  or  Assyria,  Tyre  or  Philistia,  are 
not  named  for  their  own  sake,  but  as  representative  of 
the  heathen  world  generally  :  prominent  or  well-known 
powers  are  taken  as  types  of  the  rest.  The  prophets 
often  look  forward  to  the  admission  of  the  heathen  to 
the  privileges  of  Israel ;  the  psalmist,  following  in  their 
steps,  finds  the  true  glory  of  Zion  in  this  adoption  of 
new  citizens  and  their  new  birth — for  as  such  is  the 
incorporation  described — into  her  community.  The 
city  of  God,  expanded,  idealized,  glorified,  is  the  theme 
of  his  prophetic  song.  The  city  contemplated  by  the 
psalmist  is,  however,  an  earthly  one.  The  prophets, 
often  as  they  picture  for  their  nation  a  glorified  and 
blissful  future,  a  future  transformed  and  free  from 
pain  and  sin,  picture  it  always  as  upon  earth,  and  indeed 
as  centred  at  Zion.  The  city  of  God  was  only  com- 
pletely- spiritualized  and  transferred  from  earth  to 
heaven,  in  the  teaching  of  Christ  and  His  apostles. 
The  thought  of  a  community  united  together  by  spiritual 
ties  alone,  bound  in  allegiance  to  no  visible  earthly 
head,  and  numbering  amongst  its  members  not  merely 
those  alive  upon  earth  but  also  the  faithful  departed, 
may  be  sought  in  vain  in  the  pages  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment.   The  prophets  foresaw  as  a  fact  that  the  Gentiles 


CIVITAS   DEI  149 

must  in  due  time  share  the  spiritual  privileges  of  the 
Jews,  though  they  did  not  realize  in  detail  the  means 
by  which  they  could  be  enabled  to  do  so.  But  when  the 
time  for  that  to  be  accomplished  had  arrived,  the  forms 
and  ideas  and  truths  of  the  Old  Covenant  had  only  to 
be  reapplied  :  the  principles  by  which  the  Church  was 
constituted  and  governed  were  an  extension  and  re- 
adaptation  of  those  of  the  Jewish  theocracy.  The 
reality,  however,  transcended  even  the  far-seeing  anti- 
cipation of  the  psalmist.  And  so  the  apostle,  writing 
to  the  people  of  Philippi,  could  say,  Our  citizenship  is 
in  heaven,  and  could  deduce  from  the  fact  a  lesson  to 
despise  ignoble  earthly  pleasures,  to  abandon  whatever 
is  unworthy  of  a  heavenly  calling,  and  to  await  in 
patience  and  hope  the  final  manifestation  and  triumph 
of  Christ  their  Head. 

The  City  of  God !  It  is  the  title  of  the  great  work 
of  St.  Augustine,  which  has  been  described  as  at  once 
"  the  funeral  oration  of  ancient  society,  and  the  panegyric 
on  the  birth  of  the  new."  The  beginning  of  the  fifth 
century  after  Christ  was  marked  by  a  significant  event. 
Hitherto  the  power  of  Rome  had  steadily  maintained 
itself  :  for  more  than  six  centuries  no  foreign  invader 
had  approached  within  sight  of  her  walls  ;  the  security 
of  the  capital  was  reputed  unassailable  ;  but  now  hordes 
of  Goths  coming  from  the  north  had  penetrated  Italy, 
and  after  two  failures  had  entered  the  ancient  city  in 
triumph.  The  capture  of  Rome  appalled  and  shocked 
the  whole  empire.  The  spell  of  Roman  greatness  was 
broken  ;    the  social  order,  which  had  been  founded  in 


I50       THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

Paganism,  and  was  even  now  not  entirely  dissociated 
from  it,  seemed  to  have  reached  its  end.  The  Gothic 
victors,  though  not  orthodox  Christians,  were  still  not 
heathen  ;  and  in  the  sack  of  the  city,  their  leader,  Alaric, 
had  made  provision  for  the  safety  of  helpless  Christians, 
and  some  of  the  largest  churches  had  been  set  apart  as 
asylums  or  sanctuaries.  This  mitigation  of  the  cruelties 
of  warfare  impressed  Augustine  ;  he  contrasts  it  with 
the  experiences  which  were  but  too  common  in  the 
ancient  world,  and  eloquently  attributes  it  to  the 
influence  of  the  name  of  Christ.  The  conqueror  has 
been  checked  and  held  in  awe  by  his  respect  for  Christian 
brethren  and  the  sanctity  of  the  Christian  character. 
This,  however,  is  but  the  point  from  which  Augustine's 
treatise  starts  :  as  a  whole  it  is  a  contrast  between  the 
civilization  of  Paganism,  its  virtues  and  its  splendour, 
its  vices  and  its  superstition,  its  devotion  to  shadows 
and  illusions,  which  is  passing  away,  and  a  new  social 
system  which  may  now  assume  the  vacant  seat,  a 
system  founded  by  God  and  ruled  by  His  laws,  instinct 
with  noble  and  holy  aspirations,  and  buoyant  with 
hope  both  for  the  present  and  the  hereafter.  The 
claims  and  history  of  the  one  are  compared  with 
the  claims  and  history  of  the  other.  The  doom  of 
Paganism,  he  concludes,  is  at  length  visibly  sealed  : 
and  the  Church  of  Christ  may  proceed  unimpeded 
upon  her  career  of  triumph  and  success.  The  city  of 
God,  which  in  the  mind  of  the  psalmist  was  scarcely 
distinct  from  the  little  hill  of  Zion,  had,  in  the  interval 
which   followed  the   preaching   of   Christ,   disengaged 


CIVITAS  DEI  151 

itself  from  local  ties.  It  had  expanded,  and  included 
amongst  its  members  natives  of  every  known  nation : 
from  Syria  and  Africa,  from  Germany  and  Spain,  from 
the  throne  of  the  Caesars  to  the  poorest  citizens  of  the 
tmpire,  came  crowding  forward  those  of  whom  it 
might  be  said,  pointing  to  each  in  turn.  This  one  was 
horn  there.  A  great  and  vital  transformation  had  passed 
over  society,  and  although  much  remained  to  be  accom- 
plished, and  the  passions  of  some,  or  the  prejudices 
of  others,  required  to  be  subjected  to  the  yoke  of 
Christ,  yet  as  a  whole  Christian  life  and  belief  had 
laid  their  grasp  upon  the  world ;  the  change  was  such 
a  real  one,  its  effects  so  marked,  its  permanence  so  well 
guaranteed,  that  the  panegyric  of  the  Christian  theo- 
logian was  more  than  justified.  The  revolution,  for  such 
it  was,  had  taken  place  which  realized  step  by  step  the 
psalmist's  prophetic  thought ;  and  although  the  unity 
of  Christian  people  has  been  severed,  yet  we  must  strive 
to  look  beneath  the  ruptures  which  mark  the  surface 
of  Christendom,  and  discern  below  them  the  unbroken 
circumference  of  the  city  of  God. 

"  And  of  Zion  it  shall  be  said 
This  and  that  man  was  born  in  her  : 
He,  the  Most  High,  shall  establish  her." 

And  that  the  kingdom  thus  founded  may  be  con- 
firmed, its  borders  enlarged,  its  benefits  extended,  its 
end  consummated,  is  our  daily  prayer ;  as  it  should 
also  be  our  daily  aim  to  realize  it  more  eflectually,  and 
exhibit  it  more  faithfully  in  our  own  persons  and  lives. 


XVI 

VEXILLA  REGIS 

"  Rejoice  greatly,  O  daughter  of  Zion  ;  shoiit,  O  daughter  of 
Jerusalem:  behold,  thy  king  cometh  unto  thee  :  he  is  just,  and 
having  salvation  ;  lowly,  and  riding  upon  an  ass,  even  upon  a  colt 
the  foal  of  an  ass.  And  I  will  cut  off  the  chariot  from  Ephraim, 
and  the  horse  from  Jerusalem,  and  the  battle-bow  shall  be  cut 
off ;  and  he  shall  speak  peace  unto  the  nations :  and  his  dominion 
shall  be  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  River  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth." — Zechariah  ix.  9  f , 

THE  occasion  and  date  of  this  prophecy  are  both 
uncertain,  but  the  context  speaks  with  sufficient 
clearness  to  make  its  general  meaning  plain.  In  the 
preceding  verses  the  prophet  has  been  describing  the 
humihation  of  the  foes  of  Judah,  especially  the  neigh- 
bouring Philistines,  and  promises  that  God  will  encamp 
about  His  house  to  protect  it,  that  no  oppressor,  no 
represeritative  of  foreign  dominion,  such  as  had  often 
been  seen  in  Judah  in  the  past,  shall  pass  through  it 
any  more,  or  exercise  authority  over  it.  Then  follow 
the  words  of  the  text.  Jerusalem,  free  now  from  the 
assault  and  power  of  the  foreigner,  is  secure  :  and 
the  prophet  sees  its  ideal  King  entering  its  gates,  the 

weapons  of  war  destroyed,  and  a  reign  of  peace,  which 

152 


VEXILLA  REGIS  153 

will  embrace  far-ofE  nations  as  well  as  Judah  itself,  in- 
augurated. The  king  is  described  as  just,  and  having 
salvation.  This  latter  expression  must  not  be  mis- 
understood :  we  must  not  suppose  that  salvation  is 
used  in  the  spiritual  sense  which  it  has  in  the  New 
Testament.  As  the  margin  of  the  AV.  rightly  explains, 
"  having  salvation "  is,  literally,  saved ;  salvation 
therefore  has  here  the  sense  of  victory,  deliverance, 
the  same  sense  which  the  word  has  when  it  is  said,  for 
instance  in  1  Samuel,  with  allusion  to  Jonathan's  success 
against  the  Philistines,  "  Shall  Jonathan  die,  who  hath 
wrought  this  great  salvation  on  Israel  ? "  (xiv.  45). 
Hence,  what  is  really  meant  by  "  having  salvation  " 
is  "  saved,"  delivered  and  rescued  from  the  perils  of 
war.  The  king  is  depicted  in  one  word  as  just  and 
victorious :  he  is  just,  both  in  himself  and  because  he 
engages  in  the  defence  of  a  righteous  cause  ;  he  returns 
victorious,  and  dispenses  amongst  his  people  the  blessings 
which  he  has  secured.  But  no  ostentation  or  idle  dis- 
play marks  his  progress.  He  is,  on  the  contrary,  meek, 
lowly  both  in  outward  state  and  in  soul ;  like  one 
possessing  no  rank  or  position,  and,  in  consequence,  of 
a  subdued  disposition ;  though  he  comes  in  triumph  he 
does  not  disown  his  character,  and  it  is  reflected  in  his 
actions  and  demeanour.  Moreover,  he  is  described  as 
"  riding  upon  an  ass,  even  upon  a  colt  the  foal  of  an 
ass."  The  second  clause,  by  just  expressing  in  different 
words  the  substance  of  the  first,  gives  emphasis  and  dis- 
tinctness to  the  idea  which  the  author  desires  to  convey. 
The   ass  in  Eastern  countries  is  no    inferior  animal. 


154       THE   IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

Nevertheless  it  was  not  generally  associated  with 
royalty ;  for  since  the  establishment  of  the  monarchy 
by  Solomon  the  horse  had  been  naturalized  in  Israel, 
and  was  employed  both  on  state  occasions  and  also  on 
military  service,  the  ass  being  used  commonly  in  ordi- 
nary life.  Thus  the  picture  drawn  by  Zechariah  would 
imply  condescension  and  humility  unusual  on  the  part 
of  a  person  of  rank,  such  as  a  king.  More  than  this,  as 
opposed  to  the  horse,  the  ass  would  be  an  emblem  of 
peace.  With  the  promise  of  secured  peace,  but  with 
no  ostentatious  pomp,  then,  the  victorious  king  enters 
his  capital.  Chariot  and  horse,  the  battle-bow,  every 
symbol  of  war,  will  disappear,  the  prophet  continues, 
*'  and  he  shall  speak  peace  unto  the  nations" — pro- 
nounce the  word  of  peace  that  will  bring  strife  to  an 
end.  "  His  dominion  shall  be  from  sea  to  sea " — 
from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  unnamed  seas  in  the 
distant  East,  "  and  from  the  River  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth,"  that  is,  from  the  Euphrates  as  far  westwards 
as  the  imagination  could  travel.  The  limits  which 
Solomon's  empire  was  held  to  have  reached  are  here 
extended,  and  the  area  thus  embraced  is  assigned  as 
the  empire  of  the  ideal  ruler  of  the  future. 

The'  prophecy  is  no  doubt  dependent  in  its  main 
features  upon  Isaiah.  The  portrait  of  the  ideal  King  of 
Israel,  whom  we  usually  call  by  the  name  Messiah,  is 
for  the  first  time  in  Old  Testament  distinctly  sketched  by 
Isaiah.  For  when  the  Old  Testament  is  read  carefully, 
a  progress  or  gradual  advance  often  discloses  itself, 
which  it  is  sometimes  important  to  observe.     Earlier 


VEXILLA   REGIS  155 

prophets,  such  as  Nathan  had,  for  example,  promised 
the  permanence  of  the  line  founded  by  David  :  "  He 
shall  build  an  house  for  my  name,  and  I  will  stablish 
the  throne  of  his  kingdom  for  ever  "  (2  Sam.  vii.  13)  ; 
or  (as  Amos  in  his  last  chapter)  had  looked  forward 
to  a  restoration  in  the  future  of  the  material  empire  of 
Judah  to  the  limits  and  strength  which  it  had  attained 
under  David.  But  Isaiah  draws  the  definite  picture 
of  an  individual  ruler,  and  repeats  it  in  its  essential 
parts  more  than  once.  Some  of  his  representations 
show  a  strong  resemblance  to  part  of  the  description  in 
Zechariah.  Thus  to  quote  one  of  the  best  known  from 
the  9th  chapter  :  "  For  thou  hast  broken  the  yoke  of 
bis  burden,  and  the  staff  of  his  shoulder,  the  rod  of 
his  oppressor,  as  at  the  day  of  Mdian.  For  all  the  arm- 
our of  the  armed  man  in  the  tumult,  and  the  garments 
rolled  in  blood,  shall  be  even  for  burning,  and  for  fuel  of 
fire.  For  a  child  is  born  unto  us,  a  son  is  given  unto 
us  ;  and  the  government  is  upon  his  shoulder  :  and  his 
name  is  called  Wonderful,  Counsellor,  the  Mghty  God, 
Everlasting  Father,  Prince  of  Peace."  Here  we  have 
the  fall  of  the  oppressor,  in  this  case  the  Assyrians, 
who  had  lately  carried  into  exile  the  tribes  of  Zebulun 
and  Naphtali,  in  the  N.  and  N.E.  of  Israel,  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  accoutrements  and  weapons  of  war,  brought 
into  connexion  with  the  birth  of  the  ideal  ruler  of 
David's  line,  the  protector  of  his  country,  one  of  whose 
titles  is  that  of  Prince  of  Peace.  Here  the  justice  and 
equity  of  his  rule  are  emphasized  ;  in  ch.  ii.,  when 
describing  the  future  consummation  of  Israel's  religion. 


156       THE   IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

the  same  prophet  describes  how  the  word  proceeding 
from  Zion  will  be  the  signal  for  the  cessation  of  strife 
among  the  peoples  of  the  world  (Is.  ii.  4).  Of  such 
passages  as  these  the  text  is  partly  the  reassertion, 
partly  the  extension.  In  Zechariah  a  special  feature  in 
the  character  of  the  Messiah  is  dwelt  upon  :  and  the 
work  of  peace  among  the  nations,  which  in  Isaiah  does 
not  appear  connected  with  any  particular  agent,  is  here 
distinctly  ascribed  to  the  ideal  King. 

The  evangelists  record  how,  as  on  this  day,  our 
Blessed  Lord  made  His  solemn  entry  into  Jerusalem 
in  a  manner  designed,  at  least  in  part,  to  fulfil  the 
prophecy  contained  in  the  text.  The  time  of  the  end 
had  at  length  come  ;  the  period  of  our  Lord's  active 
ministry  upon  earth  was  drawing  to  its  close  ;  and  the 
announcements  He  had  more  than  once  made  to  His 
disciples,  that  the  Son  of  Man  must  be  delivered  up 
into  the  hands  of  wicked  men  and  suffer  death  upon 
the  Cross,  were  about  to  be  accomplished.  For  the 
last  time  He  set  His  face  towards  Jerusalem,  the  city 
whose  children  He  would  so  often  have  gathered  to- 
gether, but  they  would  not !  During  the  days  im- 
mediately before  the  Passover,  He  made  His  home  at 
Bethany,  a  village  two  to  three  miles  east  of  the  city, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  whence,  each 
day  He  visited  Jerusalem,  returning  to  Bethany  in  the 
evening.  On  the  night  when  He  first  reached  Bethany 
from  the  country,  He  stayed,  as  we  learn  from  St.  John's 
account,  in  the  house  of  Lazarus  and  Mary  ;  the  Jews 
who   flocked  thither   in  some   numbers  to  see  Him, 


VEXILLA  REGIS  157 

would  carry  home  with  them  news  of  His  intention  to 
enter  Jerusalem  the  next  day.  His  entry  therefore  was 
expected  :  and  many,  including  those  who  had  come 
to  Jerusalem  for  the  Passover,  assembled  to  meet  and 
welcome  Him,  some  impelled  probably  by  curiosity 
or  wonder,  others  expecting  that  He  would  perhaps 
claim  His  kingdom  by  a  visible  miracle.  The  road  from 
Bethany  to  Jerusalem  still  exists,  and  the  natural 
features  are  strongly  marked  ;  so  that  even  those  who 
have  not  visited  the  spot  can  imagine  the  scene  without 
great  difi&culty.  The  path  is  a  rough  but  well-defined 
mountain  track,  winding  over  rock  and  loose  stones, 
with  the  sloping  shoulder  of  Olivet  on  the  right  hand 
and  a  declivity  on  the  left.  When  the  traveller  reaches 
the  point  at  which  the  descent  of  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
as  St.  Luke  calls  it,  begins,  the  first  gUmpse  is  caught 
of  Jerusalem  in  front,  and  soon  the  city  appears  in  full 
view.  It  is  a  striking  panorama  even  now  :  it  must 
have  been  yet  more  so  in  the  days  of  our  Lord.  Im- 
mediately in  front,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  deep 
Kidron  valley,  rose  the  imposing  walls,  crowned  on  the 
south  by  the  Temple  buildings  which  had  lately  been 
magnificently  decorated  and  enlarged  by  Herod  ;  on  the 
north  stood  out  the  strong  castle  of  Antonia  ;  while  at 
various  points  the  eye  rested  on  palaces  and  noble  build- 
ings, with  a  background  of  gardens  and  suburbs  closing 
in  the  view  behind.  As  our  Lord,  attended  by  His 
disciples,  began  the  descent  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  the 
throng  from  the  city  met  Him  ;  an  outburst  of  enthusi- 
asm seized  the  multitude  ;  they  tore  down,  as  they  were 


158       THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

wont  to  do  in  Palestine  on  festal  occasions,  branches 
of  trees — St.  John  specifies  palm-trees — to  spread  them 
along  His  way ;  they  greeted  Him,  as  Jehu  was  greeted 
(2  Kings  ix.  13)  nine  centuries  before  when  the  messenger 
of  Elisha  anointed  him,  by  throwing  down  their  gar- 
ments in  His  path.  They  shouted  homage  to  the  Son 
of  David  coming  into  the  midst  of  them,  and  addressed 
Hosannas  to  God  on  high  for  the  advent  of  one  in  whom 
they  recognized  their  deliverer  and  king.  Whether 
these  uncontrolled  demonstrations  of  joy  entirely 
corresponded  with  the  spirit  and  wishes  of  our  Lord 
Himself  may  be  questioned  :  doubtless  He  designed  to 
make  a  solemn  entry  into  Jerusalem,  and  directed  His 
disciples  to  take  steps  to  accomplish  it ;  but  we  may 
venture  to  think  that  a  scene  of  less  excitement  and 
stir  would  have  been  more  in  accordance  with  His  own 
mind.  Indeed,  according  to  St.  Luke,  the  sight  of  the 
city,  bursting  upon  His  view,  suggested  to  Him  very 
different  thoughts ;  it  led  Him  to  contemplate  the  bitter 
doom  that  was  in  store  for  the  city  some  forty  years  after- 
wards. As  He  drew  near,  He  wept  over  it,  saying,  "If 
thou  hadst  known  in  this  day  the  things  which  belong 
unto  peace  !  For  the  days  shall  come  upon  thee  when 
thine  enemies  shall  cast  up  a  bank  about  thee,  and  com- 
pass thee  round,  and  keep  thee  in  on  every  side,  and 
shall  dash  thee  to  the  ground,  and  thy  children  within 
thee ;  and  they  shall  not  leave  in  thee  one  stone  upon 
another,  because  thou  knewest  not  the  time  of  thy 
visitation."  But  the  enthusiasm  was  there,  and  He 
refused  to  check  it :  to  a  suggestion  that  He  should 


VEXILLA  REGIS  159 

do  so,  He  replied,  "  I  tell  you  that  if  these  should  hold 
their  peace,  the  stones  would  immediately  cry  out." 

It  appears  probable  that  our  Lord  deliberately 
resolved  to  enter  the  city  in  the  manner  described,  on 
account  of  the  prophecy  of  Zechariah.  He  identified 
Himself  with  the  royal  person  seen  in  vision  by  the 
prophet ;  and  as  a  means  of  proclaiming  it  publicly 
gave  literal  effect  to  Zechariah's  words.  Of  the  coming 
passion  there  is  no  trace  in  the  prophecy  :  no  dark  line 
appears  to  cross  the  future  in  store  for  the  returning 
victor;  we  are  impressed  only  by  the  tranquil,  submissive 
demeanour  as  of  one  who  might  conceivably  have 
experienced  humiliation  in  the  past,  but  implying 
nothing  as  to  the  future.  It  is  the  picture  of  one  who 
is  not  proud,  not  elated  by  success,  not  ostentatious. 
And  this  is  the  remarkable  feature  of  the  prophecy, 
the  contrasted  and,  so  far  as  experience  goes,  we  might 
almost  say  the  contradictory  attitudes  which  it  com- 
bines. But  the  prophet  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  character 
which  must  belong  to  Israel's  ideal  King,  whose  progress 
would  be  no  imitation  of  the  dazzling  processions  of 
an  Eastern  monarch,  and  who  would  disdain  all  but  a 
"  lowly  pomp."  And  such  was  the  character  realized  by 
Christ,  who  in  founding,  and  founding  successfully.  His 
kingdom,  passed  nevertheless  His  earthly  life,  as  to- 
day's Epistle  reminds  us,  in  lowliness  of  mind  and 
outward  state,  amid  adversity  and  affliction. 

Our  Lord  then  identified  Himself  with  Zechariah's 
ideal  King  ;  and  there  are  features  in  the  portrait  and 
the  fulfilment  which  correspond  ;  but  there  are  others 


i6o       THE   IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

in  wticli  the  correspondence  is  not  so  precise.    Zechariah 
seems  to  picture  the  successes  of  his  king  as  achieved 
before  his  entrance  into  Jerusalem.     But  the  work  of 
our   Lord    cannot  with    any  propriety   be    described 
as  completed  until  after  His    entry  into    Jerusalem, 
until    after,    indeed,    His    passion    and    resurrection. 
It  is,  however,  a  misconception   of   prophecy  to  treat 
it  as  "  anticipated  history,"  or  history  written  before- 
hand.   The  prophets  almost  uniformly  see  the  future 
through  the  forms  of  their  own  social   and  rehgious 
organization  ;  their  OAvn  times,  their  own  surroundings 
supply  the  figures  under  which  they  represent  it.    In 
Isaiah's   day,   for   example,   the   Israelites   performed 
annual  pilgrimages  to  Jerusalem :  hence,  in  the  proph- 
ecy of  his  2nd  chapter,  which  I  have  already  quoted, 
he  represents  all  nations  as  streaming  to  Zion  in  a 
manner    which    obviously    must    not    be    understood 
literally  :  it  is  the  form  under  which  he  conceives  their 
acknowledgment   of   the  truth   of  the  rehgion   whose 
centre  was  in  Zion.    The  case  is  analogous  here.    For 
over  three  hundred  years  the  monarchy  which  David 
had  founded  was  the  pivot  of  the  Jewish  constitution  : 
and  accordingly  one  prominent  feature  in  the  delineation 
of  the  future  is  the  figure  of  the  ideal  King  who  will 
display  the  perfection  of  earthly  monarchy,  governing 
Israel  with  perfect  justice  and  wisdom,  and  securing  for 
his  subjects  perfect  peace.    But  in  this  form,  the  pro- 
phet's predictions  were  never  realized :  Christ,  it  is  true, 
summed  up  in  Himself  those  perfections,  and  founded 
a  kingdom  ;  but  the  kingdom  of  the  prophets  is  trans- 


VEXILLA   REGIS  i6i 

formed ;  the  glorified  earthly  kingdom  centred  in  Zion 
has  given  place  to  a  spiritual  kingdom  of  Heaven  : 
and  the  material  blessings  which  the  ideal  King  would 
secure  for  the  nations  owning  his  sway  are  replaced  by 
the  empire  of  Christ  over  the  minds  of  men.  Hence 
it  is  in  accordance  with  analogy  not  to  find  precise  corre- 
spondence between  the  details  of  a  particular  prophecy 
and  its  fulfilment  :  Zechariah's  ideal  picture  is  modelled 
upon  the  life  and  doings  of  the  Israelite  king  :  and 
in  so  far  as  Christ  was  not  such  a  king  literally  as 
David  or  Solomon  were,  an  agreement  in  every  detail  is 
more  than  we  have  a  right  to  expect.  And,  secondly, 
as  indeed  almost  follows  from  what  has  been  said,  it 
is  in  its  broader  rather  than  in  its  minuter  features  that 
prophecy  is  significant.  The  prophets  interpreted  to 
their  contemporaries  the  movements  of  history ;  they 
pointed  to  the  tendencies  which  underlay  the  history 
and  institutions  of  their  own  people,  and  showed  how 
these  would  be  more  completely  and  adequately  realized 
in  the  future.  This  prophetic  goal  of  Israel's  history  was 
made  a  possibility  by  the  work  of  Christ ;  in  Him  the 
religion  of  Israel  assumed  a  form  in  which  it  became 
adapted  for  the  world  at  large  ;  He  founded  a  kingdom 
in  which  under  all  their  broader  aspects,  if  not  with 
minute  literality,  the  visions  of  the  prophets  were 
more  than  realized. 

Upon  both  grounds,  then,  a  general  correspondence 

between  prophecy  and  fulfilment,  embracing  character 

and  larger  features,  but  not  necessarily  extending  to 

details,  is  all  that  can,  or  that  need  be,  claimed.     We 

II 


i62       THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

may,  however,  observe  an  evident  fitness  in  tlie  moment 
which  our  Blessed  Lord  selected  for  His  entry.  It  was 
immediately  before  the  completion  of  His  work  on  earth, 
and  was  probably  one  of  the  incidents  which  contributed 
to  bring  on  the  crisis.  No  earlier  period  of  His  life  would 
have  been  equally  suitable.  It  inaugurated  the  week 
of  His  passion,  which  was  also  the  week  which  saw  the 
consummation  of  His  triumph.  His  entry  was  thus 
the  first  overt  act  in  the  final  establishment  of  His 
kingdom. 

There  is  another  point  on  which  the  prophecy  has 
been  only  imperfectly  fulfilled.  Zechariah  promises 
under  his  ideal  King  a  reign  of  peace.  Alas !  neither 
Zechariah's  vision,  nor  Isaiah's,  of  a  federation  of  the 
world,  owning  the  suzerainty  of  Israel's  God,  is  yet 
accomplished.  Even  of  late,  have  not  the  rumours  of 
war  sounded  in  our  ears  ?  But  these  visions  of  the 
prophets  are  not  in  vain.  They  hold  out,  primarily  to 
their  own  nation,  but  also  to  mankind  in  general,  an 
ideal  of  the  goal  to  which  human  history  should  tend, 
for  the  guidance  and  inspiration  of  all  who  contem- 
plate it.  Moreover,  civilization  has  not  in  reality  been 
stationary.  A  tendency  to  peace  has  been  created 
which  scarcely  existed  at  all  in  the  days  of  Isaiah  and 
Zechariah  :  annual  campaigns  on  the  part  of  a  great 
nation,  such  as  those  engaged  in  by  the  Assyrians 
against  neighbouring  lands  for  the  mere  sake  of  war, 
have  long  ceased ;  and  the  conduct  of  war  is  amelio- 
rated and  civilized  as  compared  with  what  it  was  in 
ancient  times.     These  changes  are  due  largely,  if  not 


VEXILLA   REGIS  163 

exclusively,  to  the  operation  of  Christian  influences 
and  Christian  feeling.  And  thus  the  word  of  peace, 
not  absolutely  even  now  without  efiect,  has  gone  forth 
to  the  Gentiles.  And  although  the  Israelite  monarchy 
has  not  been  established  as  Zechariah  conceived  it,  it  is 
true  that  the  spiritual  empire  which  Christ  has  founded 
owns  its  subjects  from  one  sea  to  another,  and  from  the 
Euphrates  to  the  world's  end.  Certainly  we  might  wish 
that  this  empire  were  more  perfectly  continuous  than  it 
is  ;  but  we  trust  and  believe  that  its  borders  are  in 
process  of  extension.  Transformation  of  character, 
change  of  religion  and  habits  of  life  on  a  large  scale 
must  be  of  necessity  a  slow  process ;  the  impediments 
presented  by  old  customs  and  associations  are  difficult 
to  remove ;  but  we  may  still  hope  and  pray  that  these 
tendencies,  already  more  than  inchoate,  may  develop, 
that  so  the  kingdom,  which  as  on  this  day  Christ 
openly  assumed,  may  be  finally  completed  and  con- 
firmed. 


XVII 
THE  KINGDOM  OF  THE  SAINTS 

"  I  beheld,  and  the  same  horn  made  war  with  the  saints,  and 
prevailed  against  them ;  until  the  ancient  of  days  came,  and 
judgment  was  given  for  the  saints  of  the  Most  High;  and  the 
time  came  that  the  saints  possessed  the  kingdom." — Daniel  vii. 
21  £. 

nnHE  chapter  containing  this  vision  is    a    strange, 
-L     and  to  many,  perhaps,  a  perplexing  one  ;    is  it 
possible  to  discover  what  its  real  meaning  and  signi- 
ficance is  ? 

In  endeavouring  to  do  this  we  must  start,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  prophets  generally,  with  the  circumstances 
of  the  writer's  age.  The  prophets  always  write  primarily 
for  their  own  contemporaries  ;  if  they  look  out  into  the 
future  it  is  from  the  historical  situation  in  which  they 
are  themselves  placed ;  their  writings  abound  with 
allusions  to  events  passing  around  them ;  it  is,  more- 
over, these  events  which  largely  determine  the  scope 
and  character  of  their  prophecies.  Now  the  allusions 
in  the  Book  of  Daniel  make  it  plain  that  it  was  written 
much  later  than  the  time  of  Daniel  himself  ;  and  that 
it  was,  in  fact,  designed  for  the  encouragement  and 

support  of  the  faithful  Israelites  under  the  persecu- 

164 


THE   KINGDOM   OF  THE  SAINTS         165 

tions  which  they  suffered,  in  the  second  century  before 
Christ,  at  the  hands  of  the  Syrian  king,  Antiochus 
Epiphanes. 

English  Churchmen  are  not,  perhaps,  so  famihar 
as  they  might  be  with  the  First  Book  of  Maccabees  ; 
but  the  early  chapters  of  it  give  a  vivid  account  of  what 
happened  in  Jerusalem  at  the  time  ;  and  they  are 
followed  by  the  stirring  narrative  of  the  loyalty  of  the 
Maccabees  and  the  achievements  of  Judas  Maccabaeus. 
Never  before  had  the  Israelites  suffered  so  severely 
for  their  faith  :  Antiochus  Epiphanes  aimed  not  at  the 
political  extinction  of  the  Jewish  nation,  but  at  the 
destruction  of  their  religion  ;  his  purpose  was  to  unite 
all  the  nations  forming  his  empire  in  the  worship  of  the 
gods  of  Greece.  Religious  laxity  and  indifference  within 
joined  hands  with  aggressive  heathendom  without  to 
bring  about  the  result  intended.  The  course  of  history 
had  brought  the  Jews  into  relations  with  their  Greek 
neighbours  :  for  a  centurv  and  a  half  Judaea  had  been 
a  dependency  of  the  Ptolemies  in  Egypt,  and  now  of  the 
Selucidae  at  Antioch.  About  107  B.C.  a  Hellenizing 
party  acquired  power  in  Jerusalem,  whose  aim  it  was  to 
cast  off  the  distinctive  features  of  the  Jewish  faith,  and 
adopt  the  habits  and  usages  of  the  Greeks.  An  under- 
standing was  formed  with  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  king  of 
Syria,  a  monarch  the  extravagance  of  whose  character 
bordered  on  insanity,  a  zealous  patron  of  the  gods  of 
Greece  and  Rome.  Ilis  first  assault  upon  the  Jews  was 
made  on  his  return  from  a  campaign  in  Egypt,  when, 
his  cupidity  being  excited  by  the  wealth  of  the  Temple, 


i66       THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

he  sacrilegiously  entered  the  Holy  Place  and  robbed  it 
of  its  costly  sacred  vessels  and  other  treasures.  In 
four  graphic  verses  the  author  of  the  First  Book  of 
Maccabees  describes  the  consternation  and  grief  which 
this  conduct  of  Antiochus  occasioned  in  Jerusalem.  But 
worse  was  shortly  to  follow.  Two  years  later,  in  the 
year  168  B.C.,  his  troops  fell  treacherously  upon  the 
city  on  a  Sabbath  day  ;  they  plundered  and  massacred 
many  of  the  inhabitants ;  they  established  a  garrison 
of  Syrian  soldiers  close  beside  the  Temple,  and  began 
a  series  of  persecuting  measures,  the  object  of  which 
was  the  absolute  suppression  of  the  Jewish  religion. 
The  established  worship  in  the  Temple  was  prohibited  ;  a 
heathen  altar,  called  the  "  abomination  of  desolation,"  ^ 
was  erected  on  the  altar  of  burnt-ofTering,  and  sacri- 
fice to  Zeus  ofEered  upon  it.  Images  of  heathen  deities 
were  set  up  in  the  streets  and  incense  burnt  to  them, 
books  of  the  law  were  searched  for,  and  when  found  were 
destroyed.  Observance  of  the  Jewish  ceremonial  was 
made  a  capital  offence.  So  severe  was  the  persecution 
that  all  God-fearing  Jews  were  obliged  to  flee  from 
Jerusalem.  The  Temple  was  deserted,  and  its  precincts 
presented  the  appearance  of  a  ruin.  For  three  years  this 
condition  of  things  continued  until  by  the  patriotism 
and  fortitude  of  the  Maccabees  a  stand  was  made  :  the 
troops  of  Antiochus  were  defeated  by  Judas  ;  the  sanctu- 
ary was  purified  and  rededicated,  and  worship,  after 
three  years'  interruption,  again  inaugurated.  To  com- 
memorate this  recovery  the  Feast  of  Dedication,  which 

1  1  Mace.  i.  54. 


THE   KINGDOM   OF  THE  SAINTS         167 

is  alluded  to  in  St.  John's  Gospel,  was  ever  afterwards 
observed  annually  for  seven  days. 

These  cruel  times  are  alluded  to  distinctly  more  than 
once  in  the  Book  of  Daniel.  In  the  8th  chapter 
Antiochus  himself  is  described  as  the  king  of  fierce 
countenance,  who  should  stand  up  against  the  Prince  of 
princes  (that  is,  God),  take  away  the  continual  burnt- 
ofiering,  cast  down  and  trample  under  foot  the  place  of 
His  sanctuary,  and  destroy  the  people  of  the  saints.  In 
the  11th  chapter  the  events  of  the  reign  of  Antiochus 
are  narrated  in  greater  detail.  He  exalts  himself  against 
the  true  God,  he  utters  words  of  marvellous  impiety, 
he  violently  profanes  the  sanctuary,  he  interrupts  the 
regular  sacrifices,  and  sets  up  the  abomination  that 
maketh  desolate — the  heathen  altar  mentioned  before  ; 
many  loyal  Jews  are  persecuted  and  martyred,  but  the 
persecution  is  to  last  only  "  for  a  season  "  ;  after  three 
years  or  a  little  more,  the  persecutor  will  be  "  broken 
without  hand" — Antiochus  died,  in  fact,  suddenly  of 
a  mysterious  mental  disease — and  the  saints  of  God 
will  be  delivered. 

The  parallelism  which  prevails  between  the  different 
parts  of  the  book,  and  the  fact  that  the  whole  culminates 
in  the  persecutions  of  Antiochus  and  the  following  de- 
liverance, leave  no  reasonable  doubt  that  the  allusions 
in  the  7th  chapter  are  to  the  same  crucial  period  of  the 
nation's  trials.  The  ten  horns  which  Daniel  there  sees 
on  the  head  of  the  fourth  beast,  are  the  successors  of 
Alexander  on  the  throne  of  Antiochus ;  and  the  little 
horn  which  rises  up  afterwards  among  them,  and  which 


i68       THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

is  expressly  stated  to  signify  a  king  who  "  speaks  words 
against  the  Most  High,  and  makes  war  upon  the  saints  : 
and  who  shall  think  to  change  the  times  and  the  law  ; 
and  they  shall  be  given  into  his  hand  until  a  time  and 
times  and  half  a  time,"  ^  that  is,  for  three  years  and  a 
half,  can  be  no  other  than  Antiochus  Epiphanes.  He  is 
described  in  the  8th  and  11th  chapters  in  precisely 
similar  terms  as  speaking  "  marvellous  things  against  the 
God  of  gods,"  as  persecuting  the  people  of  God,  and  as 
striving  to  abolish  the  observances  of  the  Jewish  law. 
But  here  also,  as  in  those  other  chapters,  his  arrogance 
and  presumption  endure  only  for  a  time  ;  when  the  three 
and  a  half  years  are  expired  "  the  judgment  shall  sit,  and 
they  shall  take  away  his  dominion,  to  consume  and  to 
destroy  it  unto  the  end  "  (vii.  26) ;  and  the  judgment 
is  described  under  singularly  majestic  imagery.  The 
Almighty,  the  Ancient  of  Days,  figured  as  an  aged 
man,  "the  hair  of  his  head  like  pure  wool,"  is  seated 
on  His  throne  of  flame  :  countless  myriads  of  celestial 
attendants  minister  around  Him;  a  stream  of  fire, 
significant  of  His  wrath  against  sin,  issues  from 
before  Him;  the  judgment  is  set  and  the  books  are 
opened.  The  beast,  whose  horn  spake  proud  things, 
the  heathen  power  of  Syria,  is  slain ;  his  body  is 
destroyed  and  given  to  be  burned  with  fire. 

After  this  there  comes  with  the  clouds  of   heaven 

one   like   unto  a   son   of    man,    not   as   in   the   AV., 

the  Son  of  man,  but  a  figure  in  human  form,  who  is 

brought  to  the  Almighty,  and  who  receives  forthwith 

1  Dan.  vii.  25;  of.  vv.  8,  11. 


THE   KINGDOxM   OF  THE  SAINTS  169 

a  dominion  embracing  all  nations,  an  everlasting 
dominion  which  shall  not  pass  away,  and  his  kingdom 
that  which  shall  not  be  destroyed.  In  effective  con- 
trast to  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  which  are  symbolized 
by  four  beasts,  stress  is  laid  on  the  human  appearance 
of  the  being  who  here  receives  the  kingdom;  it  is  no 
longer  the  brute  force  of  the  ambitioiis  despotisms  of 
antiquity,  it  is  one  who  retains  and  exercises  the  true 
functions  of  humanity.  In  the  explanation  of  the 
vision  which  follows  in  the  second  part  of  the  chapter,^ 
the  saints  of  God  correspond  to,  and  seemingly  take  the 
place  of,  the  "  son  of  man  "  ;  for  after  the  judgment 
on  the  impious  horn,  it  is  said  :  "  And  the  kingdom  and 
the  dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdoms  under 
the  whole  heaven,  shall  be  given  to  the  people  of  the 
saints  of  the  Most  High  :  his  kingdom  is  an  everlasting 
kingdom,  and  all  dominions  shall  serve  and  obey  him."  2 
It  thus  seems  that  in  the  mind  of  the  writer  "  the  one 
like  unto  a  son  of  man,"  the  figure  in  human  form 
brought  before  the  Almighty,  is  a  symbolical  representa- 
tion of  the  idealized  Jewish  nation. 

If  the  object  of  the  Book  of  Daniel  is  to  be  properly 
understood,  it  must  be  looked  at  as  a  whole.  We  shall 
then  see  that  it  is  written  throughout  with  a  view  to  the 
Jews  in  the  time  of  Antiochus's  persecution.  The  nar- 
ratives in  the  first  six  chapters  have  a  didactic  import  : 
they  are  narratives  of  a  kind  which  were  popular  among 
the  later  Jews,  and  of  which  we  have  another  example  in 
the  Book  of  Jonah  ;  they  were  written  with  the  view  of 
»  Dan.  vii.  16-28.  "  Dan.  vii.  27 ;  of.  vv.  13,  14. 


l^o       THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

inculcating,  under  an  attractive  literary  guise,  certain 
moral  and  religious  lessons,  to  give  examples  of  religious 
heroism,  and  to  show,  for  instance,  how  God  in  His  pro- 
vidence  frustrates   the   purposes   of   the   proudest   of 
earthly  monarchs,  while  He  defends  and  rewards  His 
servants  who  in  time  of  danger  or  temptation  cleave  to 
Him  faithfully.  They  are  thus  adapted  to  supply  motives 
for  the  encouragement  and  models  for  the  imitation  of 
the  loyal  Israelites,  at  a  time  when  their  constancy  was 
sorely  tried,  when  the  worship  of  foreign  deities  was  com- 
manded and  that  of  the  true  God  proscribed,  and  when 
men  might  well  need  to  be  reminded  that  it  was  not  God's 
purpose  to  allow  the  powers  of  heathenism  to  prevail 
against  Him,   In  the  visions  occupying  the  second  part  of 
the  book,  the  writer  fills  in  the  great  historical  picture 
outlined  by  the  colossal  image  which  Nebuchadnezzar  in 
the  2nd  chapter  is  said  to  have  seen  in  his  dream; 
and  he  shows  that  as  the  course  of  history,  jo  far  as  it 
has  hitherto  gone,  has  been  in  accordance  with  God's 
predetermined  plan,  so  it  is  also  part  of  His  plan  that 
the  trial  of  the  saints  shall  not  continue  indefinitely,  but 
that  within  three  and  a  half  years  of  the  time  when  it 
began,  it  should  reach  its  appointed  term,  and  the  great 
persecutor  of  the  Jews  should  then  meet  his  doom. 
God,  in  other  words,  was  guiding  the  course  of  history 
towards  the  salvation  of  His  people. 

The  fundamental  thought  of  the  book  is  thus  the 
triumph  of  the  kingdom  of  God  over  the  kingdoms  of 
the  world.  The  colossal  image  described  in  the  2nd 
chapter,  Avith  head  of  gold,  breast  of  silver,  belly  and 


THE    KINGDOM   OF  THE   SAINTS         171 

thighs  of  brass,  legs  of  iron,  and  feet  of  iron  and  clay, 
represents  the  anti-theocratic  power  of  the  world  in  its 
splendour  and  its  magnificence,  in  its  degeneracy  and  its 
decay  ;  and  the  stone  cut  out  without  hands  which  falls 
from  heaven  and,  lighting  upon  the  feet  of  the  image, 
breaks  it  to  pieces,  becoming  afterwards  itself  a  moun- 
tain which  fills  the  whole  earth,  symbolizes  the  kingdom 
of  God,  before  which  all  earthly  powers  are  destined 
to  succumb,  and  which  is  itself  ultimately  to  embrace 
the  entire  world.  It  is  the  same  triumph  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  over  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth,  which  with 
increasing  definiteness  of  detail,  and  with  more  special 
reference  to  the  climax  of  antagonism  reached  in  the 
audacious  pretensions  of  Antiochus,  that  is  depicted 
in  the  seventh  and  subsequent  chapters  of  the  same  book. 
Upon  a  divinely  controlled  succession  of  sinful  world- 
empires  follows  at  last  the  universal  and  eternal  kingdom 
of  the  people  of  the  Most  High  ;  a  kingdom  which 
contrasts  with  all  previous  kingdoms,  as  man  contrasts 
with  beasts  of  prey. 

This  is  essentially  the  same  idea,  though  exhibited 
under  a  new  form,  which  is  expressed  repeatedly  by  the 
earher  prophets.  They  all  pictured  an  age  when  the 
trials  and  disappointments  of  the  present  would  be  no 
more  ;  when  human  infirmity  and  human  sin  would  cease 
to  vex ;  when  Israel,  freed  from  foreign  oppression  with- 
out and  purified  from  unworthy  members  within,  would 
enjoy  spiritual  and  material  prosperity  undistiu-bed ; 
when  the  nations  of  the  earth,  no  longer  hostile,  would 
be  incorporated   into   the   kingdom  of  God.     It   was 


172        THE   IDEALS   OF  THE  PROPHETS 

a  grand  and  a  splendid  and  ennobling  ideal  which  they 
projected  upon  the  futm'e,  and  which  many  of  them 
portrayed  in  dazzling  colours.  But  the  prophets 
foreshortened  the  future  ;  they  did  not  realize  the  length 
of  period  which  must  elapse  before  corrupt  human 
nature  could  be  so  transformed  as  to  constitute  a  perfect 
or  ideal  society.  Isaiah  and  Micah  pictured  it  as  be- 
ginning immediately  after  the  troubles  were  past  to 
which  their  nation  was  exposed  at  the  hands  of  the 
Assyrians;  the  prophets  of  the  Exile  pictured  it  as 
beginning  with  the  restoration  of  Israel  to  Palestine. 
Neither  of  these  anticipations  corresponded  with  the 
event.  In  each  case  the  sober  reality  contrasted 
strangely  with  the  glowing  delineations  of  the  prophets. 
The  same  foreshortening  of  the  future  is  observable  in  the 
Book  of  Daniel.  If  the  book,  and  especially  the  11th 
and  12th  chapters,  be  read  attentively,  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  writer  conceived  the  triumph  of  his  people  and 
the  commencement  of  the  Messianic  age  as  succeeding 
immediately  the  end  of  the  persecutions  of  Antiochus, 
and  the  downfall  of  the  persecutor.  Like  the  other 
prophets,  he  pictured  the  consummation  of  history  as 
much  closer  at  hand  than  was  really  the  case. 

Nevertheless  the  ideas  expressed  in  the  vision  remain 
true  ones,  even  though  the  period  of  their  accomplish- 
ment may  have  been  deferred.  The  passage  prefigures, 
however  imperfectly,  the  supra  mundane,  celestial 
origin  of  Israel's  future  Lord.  Not  only  did  Christ 
adopt,  though  in  a  deeper  and  fuller  sense  than  the  term 
bears  in  Daniel,  the  title  "  Son  of  man,"  no  longer  "  one 


THE   KINGDOM   OF  THE  SAINTS        173 

like  unto  a  son  of  man,"  but  "  the  Son  of  man,"  that  is, 
the  ideal  representative  of  the  human  race  ;  He  also  ap- 
propriated on  a  well-known  occasion  the  imagery  of  the 
passage  to  Himself  when  he  said  to  Caiaphas  :  "  Hence- 
forth ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  sitting  at  the  right 
hand  of  power,  and  coming  on  the  clouds  of  heaven." 
And  this  may  suggest  the  sense  in  which  our  Church 
intends  us  to  read  the  passage  in  Daniel,  by  placing  it 
before  us  upon  the  day  on  which  we  commemorate  our 
Lord's  Ascension.     The  Ascension  of  our  Blessed  Lord 
marks  a  significant  stage  in  the  triumph  of  His  glorified 
and  risen  life  :  it  is  the  initial  step  in  His  exaltation  and 
session  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  the  place  of  highest 
honour,  to  which  He  is  exalted,  and  where  He  reigns  as 
King,  destropng  by  the  virtue  of  His  death  and  by  His 
ever-present  grace  the  power  of  sin  over  those  already 
incorporated  into  His  kingdom,  and  extending  by  means 
of  His  Church   His   dominion  throughout  the   world. 
It  is  the  assumption  by  Christ  of  His  regal  power,  by 
which  He  gradually  subdues  all  enemies  to  Himself  and 
extends  His  spiritual  authority  over  the  kingdoms  of  the 
earth,  which  we  celebrate  on  the  Festival  of  His  Ascen- 
sion.    And  the  extension  of  the  kingdom  of  God  through- 
out the  world,  its  justification  against  the  power  opposed 
to  it,  and  the  glorification  of  its  head  and  representative, 
who  comes  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  to  receive  his  power 
at  the  hands  of  the  Most  High,  is  the  subject  of  the 
vision  in  the  Book  of  Daniel.     That  ultimate  consum- 
mation of  history,  though  nearer  now,  as  we  believe, 
than  in  the  davs  when  the  Book  of  Daniel  was  com- 


174       THE  IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

posed,  remains  yet  an  unfulfilled  ideal :  but  it  is  through 
the  continuous  efficacy  of  the  ascended  Christ  that  it 
is  being  furthered,  and  its  accomplishment  advanced. 
That  it  may  be  realized  more  effectually  is  our  daily 
prayer.  May  God  grant  that  His  kingdom  may  be  set 
up  ever  more  securely  in  our  hearts  ;  may  we  con- 
tribute, so  far  as  in  us  lies,  by  our  example  and  teaching, 
to  its  confirmation  in  others  !  May  it  please  Him  to 
bless  our  endeavours  for  its  extension  among  those  who 
have  not  yet  been  brought  within  it,  that  so  the  ever- 
lasting dominion  which  shall  not  pass  away,  and  the 
kingdom  which  shall  not  be  destroyed,  may  be  estab- 
lished with  power  upon  the  earth  ! 

It  is  sometimes  asked,  wherein  for  us  lies  the  value 
of  the  prophets'  writings  ?  It  is  true,  questions  such  as 
what  was  the  part  played  by  the  Assyrians  in  the  days 
of  Isaiah,  or  who  the  king  denoted  by  the  httle  horn 
in  Daniel  is  supposed  to  be,  are  in  themselves  of  no 
importance  for  us.  But  for  numbers  of  those  who  lived 
at  the  time  they  were  questions  of  nothing  less  than  life 
or  death ;  and  the  prophets  watched  the  movements  in 
their  poHtical  world  with  even  more  than  keen  attention. 
Political  crises  called  forth  their  most  characteristic 
utterances ;  and  (which  is  the  point  to  be  observed 
now)  in  these  utterances  they  rise  frequently  above  the 
local,  the  temporal,  and  the  national,  and  express  great 
spiritual  truths  of  permanent  and  universal  validity. 
Hence,  while  it  greatly  increases  the  interest  and  in- 
telligibility of  the  prophet's  writings  to  understand  the 
historical  and  social  conditions  out  of  which  particular 


THE   KINGDOM   OF  THE   SAINTS         175 

prophecies  arose,  we  must  in  drawing  from  them  spiritual 
lessons,  abstract  such  elements  as  are  local  and  temporary 
in  them,  and  look  rather  at  those  which  are  permanent 
and  universal.  So  in  Daniel,  in  connexion  with  the 
local  occurrence  of  the  approaching  end  of  Antiochus, 
one  of  the  things  on  which  the  writer  of  the  book  most 
strongly  insists,  and  which  he  brings  home  to  us  under 
many  suggestive  figures,  is  the  truth  that,  in  God's 
providence,  wickedness  is  to  be  overthrown,  and  the 
kingdom  of  God  established  for  ever.  Whether,  as  he 
appears  himself  to  have  thought,  this  is  to  take  place 
while  the  present  condition  of  things  continues,  or 
whether  it  is  to  be  reserved  for  a  spiritual  state  of 
existence  hereafter,  is  more  perhaps  than  we  can  cer- 
tainly say  :  the  consummation  is  at  least  one  for  which 
our  Lord  has  taught  us  to  pray,  Thy  kingdom  come  ! 


XVIII 
GOD'S  THOUGHTS 

"  How  precious  also  are  thy  thoughts  unto  me,  0  God  !  How 
great  is  the  sum  of  them  !  If  I  could  count  them,  they  are 
more  in  number  than  the  sands  :  When  I  awake,  I  am  still  with 
thee." — Psalm  cxxxix.  17,  18. 

TN  no  part  of  the  Bible  does  the  thought  of  the 
-^  omnipresence  and  omniscience  of  God  find  pro- 
founder  or  more  pathetic  expression  than  in  this  Psalm. 
Who  the  author  was  we  do  not  know,  in  spite  of  the 
title ;  certainly  not  David,  for  the  language,  not  less 
than  the  deep  spirituality  of  the  thought,  bears  the 
stamp  of  a  far  later  age.  But  whoever  its  author  may 
have  been,  he  displays  in  a  marked  degree  the  same 
command  of  apt  and  suggestive  imagery,  the  same 
power  of  rhythmically  balancing  his  clauses,  the  same 
unique  art  of  bringing  home  an  idea  by  repeating  it  in 
a  varied  form  in  the  second  line  of  a  couplet,  which 
was  always  characteristic  of  the  Hebrew  poets,  and  is 
the  secret  of  the  external  charm  and  attractiveness  of 
everything  that  they  wrote.  The  psalmist  does  not, 
in  the  manner  of  a  dogmatic  theologian,  state  as  an 

abstract  truth  the  fact  of  the  Divine  omnipresence  ;  he 

176 


GOD'S  THOUGHTS  177 

reflects  upon  it,  he  illustrates  it  in  its  consequences,  he 
reveals  to  us  the  practical  influence  which  it  exerted 
upon  his  own  character  and  life.  And  he  does  this  with 
the  skill  and  power  of  a  true  poet,  by  the  use  of 
images  which  suggest  far  more  than  they  actually 
say,  which  attract  us  by  their  poetical  beauty,  and 
awaken  in  us  almost  involuntarily  a  responsive  echo. 
The  opening  verse,  "  Lord,  thou  hast  searched  me  out, 
and  knowest  me,"  states  at  once  the  sum  and  the  theme 
of  the  psalmist's  meditations.  The  thought  is  devel- 
oped in  the  verses  which  follow : 

"Thou  knowest  my  downsitting  and  mine  uprising. 
Thou  understandest  my  thought  afar  off. 
Thou  hast  searched  my  path  and  my  couch. 
And  art  acquainted  with  all  my  ways  " — 

exempUfpng  how  every  action  of  his  daily  life,  and 
every  thought  which  rises  in  his  breast,  is  marked  before 
the  same  Divine  eye.  He  is  in  the  grasp  of  his  Maker's 
hand,  and  he  feels  it :  "  Thou  hast  beset  me  behind  and 
before,  and  laid  thine  hand  upon  me.  Such  know- 
ledge is  too  wonderful  for  me,"  too  high,-  "  I  cannot 
attain  unto  it."  Escape  from  His  spirit  and  presence  is 
impossible  ;  though  he  made  his  couch  in  the  abode  of 
the  dead — far  down,  as  the  Hebrews  believed,  beneath 
the  earth ;  though,  like  the  morning,  which  as  it  breaks 
shoots  its  light  in  a  moment  across  the  whole  sky,  he 
sped  from  one  quarter  of  heaven  to  another,  and  rested 
in  the  distant  and  unknown  west,  even  there  God's 
eye  would  follow  him,  God's  guiding  presence  would 
12 


178       THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

attend  liim.  Nay,  even  darkness,  with  its  seemingly 
impenetrable  pall,  would  not  hide  him  from  the  Divine 
eye: 

"  If  I  say.  Only  let  darkness  cover  me, 

And  the  light  about  me  be  turned  to  night : 

Even  darkness  hideth  not  from  thee, 
But  the  light  shineth  as  the  day  : 

The  darkness  and  the  light  are  to  thee  both  alike." 

Nor  is  it  any  marvel  that  God  should  have  such  an 
intimate  knowledge  of  man,  for  man  is  His  creature  : 
"  Thou  are  the  author  of  my  reins,"  the  parts,  that  is, 
which  were  regarded  a,8  the  seat  of  the  emotions  ;  the 
subtlest,  most  secret  springs  of  feeling  were  God's  work- 
manship. More  than  this,  however,  the  entire  course 
of  his  past  life  in  all  the  wondrous  stages  through  which 
it  had  passed,  had  been  noted  in  the  mind  of  God,  and 
had  been  an  object  of  His  forethought  and  providential 
care : 

"  My  frame  was  not  hidden  from  thee, 
When  I  was  made  in  secret 
And  curiously  wrought  in  the  lowest  parts  of  the 
earth. 
Thine  eye  did  see  my  substance,  while  yet  im- 
perfect, 
And  in  thy  book  were  all  of  them  written,- 
Even  the  days  that  were  fashioned  (that  is,  fore- 
ordained) 
When  as  yet  there  was  none  of  them." 


GOD'S  THOUGHTS  179 

He  stops,  and  turns  aside  to  describe  his  own  attitude 
as  he  realizes  these  facts : 

"  To  me  how  precious  are  thy  thoughts,  0  God  ! 
How  great  is  the  sum  of  them  ! 
They  are  countless,  they  cannot  be  summed  ; 
I  awake,  and  am  still  present  with  thee." 

Every  morning  the  oblivion  through  which  he  has 
passed  suggests  to  him  by  contrast  the  recollection  of 
God's  unceasing  watchfulness,  reminds  him  that  God's 
providence  still  continues,  and  that  His  thoughts  con- 
cerning him,  though  countless  before,  have  still  been 
mounting  up  in  number.  The  Psalm  closes  in  an  altered 
strain : 

"  Oh  that  thou  wouldst  slay  the  wicked,  0  God ! 
Depart  from  me,  ye  bloodthirsty  men.'* 

The  change  of  tone  seems  to  us  abrupt,  and  to  harmonize 
ill  with  what  has  preceded  ;  but  such  transitions  occur 
elsewhere  in  the  Psalms.  There  is  one,  for  example,  at 
the  end  of  the  104th,  another  Psalm  in  which  the 
works  of  the  Creator  are  poetically  reviewed,  and  which 
the  poet  closes  with  the  wish  that  sinners,  who  form  as 
it  were  a  blot  upon  the  fair  face  of  creation,  may  be 
extirpated  from  it.  There  are  many,  thinks  our  psalmist, 
who  not  only  have  no  appreciation  for  the  goodness 
which  he  has  thus  described,  but  who  hate  and  blas- 
pheme it.  He  passionately  repudiates  all  connexion  with 
persons  such  as  these,  he  would  fain  see  these  enemies 
of  God's  truth  blotted  out  from  the  face  of  creation : 


i8o       THE   IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS 

"  Do  not  I  hate  them,  0  Lord,  that  hate  thee  ? 

And  do  not  I  loathe  those  that  rise  up  against 
thee  ?  " 

There  is  no  question  here  of  any  feeling  expressed  by 
the  psalmist  towards  his  personal  enemies  :  it  is  God's 
enemies,  not  his  own,  who  elicit  from  him  this  outburst 
of  indignant  detestation.  The  hostility  which  he  con- 
templates is  not  that  which  arises  from  weakness  or 
ignorance;  it  is  intentional,  aggressive,  expressed  by 
men  who,  as  ver.  20  says,  "purposely  defy"  God. 
The  Psalm  ends  with  a  personal  application  of  the 
same  thought  with  which  it  had  begun  : 

"  Search  me,  0  God,  and  know  my  heart, 
Try  me,  and  know  my  thoughts  : 
And  see  if  there  be  any  way  of  wickedness  in  me, 
And  lead  me  in  the  way  everlasting," 

that  is,  not  quite  the  way  of  eternal  life,  but  the  way 
which  lasts  continually,  the  abiding  and  true  way,  the 
way  which  does  not  end  in  disaster  and  ruin,  like  that 
of  the  wicked  described  in  the  first  Psalm,  but  which 
is  pleasing  to  God,  and  therefore  will  endure,  and  be 
rewarded  by  Him. 

God's  thoughts,  the  psalmist  says,  are  precious  to 
him.  The  connexion  in  which  the  words  are  spoken 
makes  it  plain  that  the  phrase  means  not  God's  thoughts 
in  general,  but  God's  purposes  with  regard  to  the  in- 
dividual :  God's  presence  invisibly  accompanying  him 
wherever  he  may  be,  God's  eye  discerning  the  most 


GOD'S  THOUGHTS  i8i 

secret  movements  of  his  heart,  God's  will  declaring  itself 
in  every  stage  of  his  bodily  existence.  Man's  physical 
and  mental  being,  intricate  and  multiform  as  it  is,  lies 
naked  before  God  in  minutest  detail.  The  trifling  in- 
cidents of  his  life  are  not  beyond  the  reach  of  that 
omnipresent  and  omniscient  eye,  and  his  physical  life 
in  particular  is  the  realization  of  a  divinely  conceived 
plan  ;  in  the  vivid  figure  which  the  poet  uses  to  describe 
this,  every  successive  stage  in  the  growth  of  his  frame 
was  "  written  in  thy  book."  The  truth  which  the 
psalmist  valued  thus  highly  is  one  which  deserves  to  be 
remembered.  The  material  organism  which  belongs  to[all 
of  us  is,  so  far  as  observation  can  tell  us,  a  result  of  the 
action  of  physical  and  mechanical  laws :  it  is  carried 
through  its  whole  life,  maintained,  supported,  and 
nourished  by  processes  which  are  common  to  the  entire 
animal  world,  and  in  which  the  hand  of  God  does  not 
visibly  intervene.  So  much  so  is  this  the  case,  that  even 
in  the  present  day  there  are  to  be  found  sincere  and  de- 
voted students  "  of  nature's  wonders,"  who  are  so  capti- 
vated by  the  contemplation  of  the  subtle  and  delicate 
mechanism  by  which  the  processes  of  nature  are  carried 
on,  and  so  impressed  by  the  evidence  of  the  continual 
and  unvarying  operation  of  natural  law,  that  they  are 
unable  to  pass  beyond  the  idea  of  physical  forces  and 
elements,  or  to  recognize  the  presence  of  any  agency 
beyond  those  which  observation  or  experiment  discloses 
to  them.  The  139th  Psalm  breathes  a  difierent  spirit. 
While  allowing  fullest  scope  for  the  uninterrupted  opera- 
tion of  natural  law,  the  psalmist  elevates  our  minda 


i82        THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

above  it,  and  bids  us  (while  we  study  it  as  we  will)  see  in 
its  workings  the  realization  of  a  purpose,  the  outcome  of  a 
personal  will,  the  witness  to  something  greater  than  itself. 
The  thoughts  of  God  are,  indeed,  inexhaustible  :  in 
their  fulness  and  entirety  they  can  never  be  searched 
out  by  man  ;  nevertheless  we  can  discover  some  of  them, 
and  our  knowledge,  though  it  be  but  partial,  gives  us 
some  insight  into  His  attributes  and  manner  of  working. 
Every  law  of  nature,  every  fact  resulting  from  the  inter- 
action of  a  combination  of  laws,  is,  if  we  will  but  recog- 
nize it,  a  thought  of  God  made  visible  to  our  senses, 
and  presented  to  us  therefore  in  a  form  under  which  we 
may  contemplate  it.  The  works  of  nature  are  the  acts 
of  God.  And  they  remain  so,  whatever  theory  we  may 
adopt  respecting  the  secondary  or  physical  causes 
through  which  they  may  have  been  brought  about. 
The  phenomena  of  organic  life  are,  for  instance,  not  less 
the  acts  of  God,  upon  the  theory  now  usually  accepted 
by  men  of  science,  and  known  generally  by  the  name  of 
Evolution,  than  upon  the  old  but  (as  it  now  seems) 
questionable  theory  of  special  creations — the  theory,  that 
is,  that  the  different  species  of  hving  things  were  each 
the  subject  of  an  independent  creative  act,  instead 
of  arising  one  from  another  by  progressive  organic 
development.  The  religious  and  the  scientific  aspects 
of  nature  are  not  antagonistic,  they  supplement  one 
another.  Science  studies  the  facts  of  nature  in  them- 
selves, and  investigates  the  laws  by  which  they  are 
connected  together  :  it  is  beyond  its  province  to  speak 
of  their  relation  to  God.     Religion,  on  the  other  hand, 


GOD'S  THOUGHTS  183 

accepts  the  facts  as  science  teaches  them,  but  contem- 
plates them  under  a  new  aspect,  and  views  them  in 
relation  to  God  as  their  Author. 

And  the  religious  view  is  infinitely  deepened  and  en- 
riched when  we  not  only  recognize  the  world  as  the  work 
of  God,  but  are  able  to  trace  the  relation  of  part  to  part, 
and  to  discover  the  harmony  and  order  and  infinite 
variety  of  principle  and  adjustment  which  prevail  in 
nature  as  a  whole.  The  unity  of  nature,  the  correlation 
of  its  different  elements  and  forces,  the  comprehensive- 
ness of  the  plan  by  which  its  manifold  operations  are  regu- 
lated and  sustained,  have  all  been  wonderfully  illumined 
by  the  discoveries  of  the  last  century,  and  not  the  least  by 
those  that  have  been  made  under  the  guidance  of  the 
clue  supplied  by  the  doctrine  of  evolution.  To  a  theist, 
the  doctrine  of  evolution  afiords  a  growing  elevation  and 
enlargement  of  his  conception  of  the  Creator's  providence 
and  wisdom.  It  may  be  that,  as  modern  science  teaches, 
the  various  tribes  of  living  beings  which  with  picturesque 
and  all  but  infinite  diversity  of  habit  and  form,  ani- 
mate the  surface  of  the  globe,  arose  not  as  separate 
and  distinct  creations,  but  by  slow  variation  out  of 
pre-existing  forms ;  they  are  not  the  less  on  that  account 
the  workmanship  of  a  Divine  Creator  and  the  witness 
to  a  great  and  comprehensive  plan.  But  the  truth 
that  God's  thoughts  are  reflected  in  natiure  came  home 
to  the  psalmist  most  nearly,  as  it  comes  home  to  many 
of  us,  in  the  contemplation  of  man's  physical  frame,  in 
its  daily  change  and  growth,  in  its  daily  experiences  and 
trials — "  I  awake,  and  I  am  still  present  with  thee," 


i84       THE   IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

still  present  to  Thy  mind,  still  the  object  of  Thy  per- 
petual care. 

And  if  this  be  so,  if  our  natural  life,  in  the  functions 
which  we  cannot  modify  or  control,  is  thus  unfolded 
under  the  eye  of  God,  and  disposed  in  accordance  with 
His  counsel  and  design,  how  plainly  is  it  our  duty,  in  those 
matters  which  are  dependent  on  our  own  agency,  to 
surrender  ourselves  to  the  guidance  of  His  known  will. 
His  purposes  express  themselves  in  our  physical  Ufe 
without  our  co-operation :  when  they  begin  to  need  our 
co-operation  in  order  to  give  them  effect,  let  us  gladly 
render  it,  lest  we  thwart  and  mar  His  designs,  or  spoil 
the  harmony  of  His  workmanship.  We  cannot,  indeed, 
reach  perfection  ;  but  by  obedience  to  His  will  and 
devotion  to  His  service  we  may  carry  on  the  gracious 
pm-poses  which  He  has  revealed  to  us. 

This  is  what  the  psalmist  desires  in  the  last  verses  : 
"  Search  me,  0  God,  and  know  my  heart  :  try  me,  and 
know  my  thoughts  " ;  and  this  is  the  application  which  he 
makes  of  the  truth  which  he  has  been  contemplating. 
Let  us  endeavour  then  to  make  his  spirit  our  own :  let 
his  deep  and  expressive  words  produce  in  us  the  same 
overwhelming  sense  of  the  reality  which  he  describes, 
and  lead'  us  unto  that  "  way  everlasting,"  that  way 
which  lasts  continually,  of  the  full  nature  of  which  the 
psalmist  had  but  a  dim  and  imperfect  apprehension, 
but  which  has  been  revealed  to  us  more  distinctly  in 
the  Gospel.  Let  us  pray  that  God's  searching  eye  may 
be  directed  upon  us,  that  He  may  purify  our  hearts, 
and  make  us  fit  to  become  heirs  of  eternal  life. 


XIX 

A  MIRROR  FOR  PRINCES 

"  Give  the  king  thy  judgments,  O  God,  And  thy  righteousness 
to  the  king's  son." — Psalm  Ixxii.  1. 

THESE  familiar  words  form  the  opening  verse  of  a 
Psalm  which  depicts  the  ideal  of  a  godly  king. 
Who  the  king  was  with  regard  to  whom  the  words 
were  spoken,  we  do  not  know  :  it  was  pretty  clearly 
one  of  the  later  kings — possibly  Josiah,  The  Psalm 
reads  as  though  it  were  written  at  the  time  of  the  king's 
accession  ;  and  the  poet  prays  that  God  will  confer 
upon  him  the  gifts  that  will  enable  him  to  rise  to  the 
height  of  his  office,  and  to  prove  himself  a  beneficent 
and  righteous  ruler. 

"  Give  the  king  thy  judgments,  0  God, 

And  thy  righteousness  to  the  king's  son." 

May  God  give  the  king  a  store  of  His  judgments,  or 
decisions,  that  he  may  appropriate  and  apply  them 
when  cases  come  before  him  for  trial ;  and  may 
He  endow  him,  as  the  son  of  a  royal  father,  with  a 
Divine  sense  of  justice  that  may  make  him  a  worthy 
ruler  !     May  he,  the  poet  continues,  judge  God's  people 


i86       THE   IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS 

with  righteousness,  and  His  poor  —  those  common 
victims  of  oppression  and  injustice  under  an  Oriental 
government — with  judgment ;  may  peace  and  righteous- 
ness flourish  in  his  land  ;  may  his  rule  be  as  gentle  and 
beneficent  as  the  rain  coming  down  upon  the  mown 
grass,  and  as  drops  that  water  the  earth  ! 

Next,  taking  a  bolder  flight,  the  poet  prays  that  the 
king's  realm  may  be  wider  than  Solomon's,  that  all 
enemies  may  be  subdued  before  him,  and  that  the  most 
distant  and  famous  peoples  may  do  him  homage : 

"  May  he  have  dominion  also  from  sea  to  sea, 

And   from  the  Euphrates  to   the   ends  of  the 
earth  ! 
May  the  desert-dwellers  (the  wild  Bedawin,  the  free 
sons  of  the  desert,  who  will  not  readily  own  any 
superior)  bow  before  him. 
And  his  enemies  lick  the  dust ! 
May  the  kings  of  Tarshish  and  of  the  isles  (of  Tartes- 
sus  in  distant  Spain,  and  the  isles  and  coasts 
of  the  Mediterranean  Sea)  render  presents  ! 
May  the  kings  of  Sheba  (in  South  Arabia)  and  Seba 

(in  Abyssinia)  bring  dues  ! 
Yea,  may  all  kings  fall  down  before  him, 
May  all  nations  do  him  service  !  " 

The  vision  of  a  world-wide  dominion,  and  of  a  world- 
wide homage,  rises  here  in  the  poet's  mind  ;  but  the 
king's  claim  to  it  rests  upon  the  justice  and  mercifulness 
of  his  rule.  As  before,  his  special  merit  is  his  care  for 
the  poor  and  the  oppressed : 


A  MIRROR   FOR  PRINCES  187 

*'  For  he  will  deliver  the  needy  when  he  crieth  ; 
The  poor  also,  and  him  that  hath  no  helper  ; 
He  will  have  pity  on  the  feeble  and  the  needy, 

And  the  lives  of  the  needy  he  will  save  ; 
He  will  redeem  their  souls  from  oppression  and  wrong, 
And  precious  will  their  blood  be  in  his  sight." 

And  the  psalmist  closes  with  three  final  prayers,  for 
the  welfare  of  the  king,  the  prosperity  of  his  land  and 
people,  and  the  honourable  perpetuation  of  his  name  : 

"  So  may  he  live  !  and  may  there  be  given  unto  him 

of  the  gold  of  Sheba  ! 
May  prayer  also   be  made  for  him  (not,  as  in  the 
Prayer-Book  Version,  '  unto  him  ')  continually  ! 
And  daily  may  he  be  blessed  ! 
May  there  be  abundance  of  corn  in  the  land  upon  the 

top  of  the  mountains  ; 
May  the  fruit  thereof  shake  like  Lebanon  : 

And  may  men  blossom  out  of  the  city  like  the 
herbage  of  the  earth  ! 
May  his  name  endure  for  ever  ! 

May  his  name   be  propagated  (i.e.  perpetuated  by 
his  descendants)  as  long  as  the  sun  endureth  ! 
May  men  also   bless  themselves  by  him  {i.e.  use  his 
name  in  blessing  as  a  type  of  happiness,  saying,  '  God 
make  thee  like  this  king  !  ') 

May  all  nations  call  him  happy  !  " 

Such    are  the    prayers  and    splendid    anticipations 
which,  on  a  gala  day,  were   expressed   by  some  poet 


i88        THE   IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

of  Israel  on  behalf  of  a  newly  appointed  king  of  his 
people.  The  poet's  thoughts  move  along  lines  suggested 
partly  by  reminiscences  of  the  happy  reign  of  Solomon, 
partly  by  a  sense  of  what  the  qualifications  of  a  just 
ruler  should  be  under  the  social  conditions  of  the  time. 
But  the  poet,  in  the  hopes  and  anticipations  which  he 
puts  forth,  includes  more  than  could  be  realized  by  any 
actual  king  of  Israel,  and  portrays,  in  fact,  an  ideal 
King,  whose  just  and  perfect  rule  extends  to  the  ends 
of  the  earth,  and  commands  the  homage  of  the  world. 
And  in  so  far  as  he  does  this,  he  looks  out  beyond  the 
actual  king  whose  accession  he  celebrates,  and  constructs 
a  picture  of  the  King  of  Israel  whom  we  call  the  Messiah. 
But  it  is  not  on  this  aspect  of  the  Psalm  that  I  desire 
to  dwell  further  to-day. 

The  blessings  of  a  wise  and  beneficent  rule  are  often 
alluded  to  in  the  Old  Testament.  In  a  poem  in  the 
Second  Book  of  Samuel  (xxiii.  1-7),  called  the  "Last 
words  of  David,"  the  blessings  of  such  a  rule  are 
compared  beautifully  to  the  life-giving  sunshine  of  a 
cloudless  morning,  when  after  rain  the  earth  appears 
clad  with  fresh  young  verdure  : 

"  When  one  ruleth  over  men  righteously, 
Ruleth  in  the  fear  of  God, 
Then  is  it  as  the  light  of  the  morning  when  the  sun 
ariseth, 
A  morning  without  clouds,  when  through  clear 
shining  after  rain  the  young  grass  springeth  out 
of  the  earth." 


A  MIRROR   FOR   PRINCES  189 

And  the  ideal  King  is  depicted  in  the  prophets  as 
doing,  like  David  and  Solomon,  judgment  and  justice 
in  the  land ;  as  defending  the  cause  of  the  poor,  and 
delivering  them  from  oppression  and  wrong  ;  as  punish- 
ing the  wrong-doer,  and  by  a  wise  and  just  rule  main- 
taining the  prosperity  of  his  people.  In  the  101st  Psalm 
we  have  what  has  been  called  a  "  miiTor  for  princes."  A 
king  speaks  in  it ;  and  he  solemnly  professes  his  resolve 
not,  like  many  an  Eastern  ruler,  to  make  his  palace 
the  home  of  caprice  and  self-indulgence  and  corrup- 
tion and  favouritism,  but  to  walk  within  his  house  in 
the  integrity  of  his  heart,  to  set  no  base  example  before 
his  eyes,  to  cherish  no  crooked  purpose  or  evil  design, 
to  tolerate  around  him  no  slander  or  pride  or  injustice, 
but  to  make  men  of  probity  and  integrity  his  com- 
panions and  ministers,  and  finally,  morning  by  morning, 
to  hold  his  court  of  justice,  that  he  may  "  root  out  all 
wicked  doers  out  of  the  city  of  the  Lord."  And  so  this 
Psalm  is  naturally  appointed  as  one  of  the  Proper  Psalms 
for  the  day  of  the  Sovereign's  Accession. 

I  have  been  led  to  refer  this  morning  to  these  ideals 
of  kingly  rule,  on  account  of  the  great  national  event 
which  is  to  take  place  next  Thursday. ^  More  than  a 
year  has  indeed  elapsed  since  our  gracious  Sovereign 
assumed  the  throne  :  but  it  is  the  striking  and  impressive 
Coronation  ceremony  which  seals  and  ratifies  his  acces- 
sion, and  formally  entrusts  to  him  the  high  duties 
and  responsibilities  which  in  his  august  office  he  is 
called  upon  to  perform.     Circumstances  have  indeed 

1  June  22,  1911. 


igo       THE   IDEALS   OF  THE  PROPHETS 

changed  greatly  since  the  poets  and  prophets  of  Israel 
wrote.  In  those  days  absolute  monarchies  were  the 
usual  form  of  government  in  the  East ;  they  were 
indeed  the  only  practicable  form  of  government,  in  times 
when  the  culture  and  education  of  the  people  were 
limited,  when  what  we  should  call  the  political  life  of 
a  nation  had  not  yet  begun  to  assert  itself,  and  the 
influence  of  the  people  upon  such  subjects  as  legislation, 
the  treatment  of  social  problems,  and  national  policy, 
was  practically  nil.  But  an  absolute  monarchy  is  no 
longer  suited  to  the  wide  and  varied  needs  and  interests 
of  modern  civilization  :  hence  the  monarchies  which 
have  continued  to  the  present  day  are  mostly  limited 
in  power,  to  a  far  greater  extent  than  was  the  case  in 
antiquity ;  the  power  of  the  people,  as  represented  in 
parliamentary  assembUes  and  other  ways,  has  greatly 
increased ;  while  in  many  nations  democracies  have 
supplanted  monarchies  altogether.  But  whether  the 
government  be  a  monarchy,  or  an  oligarchy,  or  a  de- 
mocracy, all  governments  are  constituted  to  maintain 
the  welfare  of  the  people  governed  by  them  ;  and  hence 
the  great  principles  of  righteousness  and  equity  and 
justice,  on  which  the  prophets  so  eloquently  insist,  and 
of  which'  the  psalmists  sing,  remain  as  the  foundations 
of  a  prosperous  state,  and  as  the  essential  conditions  of 
its  people's  welfare.  "  Righteousness,"  says  a  Hebrew 
proverb,  "  exalteth  a  nation  ;  but  sin  is  a  reproach  to 
peoples."  And  all  history  shows  the  truth  of  this 
generalization,  whatever  be  the  form  of  government 
by  which  the  nation  is  ruled. 


A  MIRROR   FOR   PRINCES  rgi 

It  is  true,  of  course,  that  the  power  and  rights  of  the 
Crown  being  in  modern  countries  limited,  and  the 
population  and  area  of  a  country  like  our  own,  for 
instance,  being  so  much  greater  than  those  of  ancient 
Israel,  the  Sovereign  cannot  interfere  directly,  or  act 
personally,  to  the  extent  that  he  did  there ;  he  cannot, 
for  instance,  like  David  and  Solomon,  himself  administer 
justice,  or  himself  introduce  reforms,  or  determine,  with 
merely  the  approval  of  a  few  counsellors,  questions  of 
peace  and  war  ;  but  he  can  do  a  great  deal  indirectly ; 
he  can,  in  virtue  of  his  high  position  and  the  respect 
which  it  commands,  influence  public  opinion,  and  con- 
tribute materially  to  maintain  high  standards  of  re- 
sponsibility and  honour  on  the  part  of  his  ministers ; 
he  can  mark  with  his  approval  men  of  efficiency  and 
high  character ;  he  can,  by  suggestion  and  example, 
encourage  and  promote  social  reforms.  Power  need 
not  be  the  less  real  because  it  is  wielded  indirectly. 
Certainly  the  most  crying  evils  of  an  Oriental  monarchy 
— the  abuse  of  power  and  position  on  the  part  of  high 
officials,  the  extortion  and  oppression  practised  by 
them  upon  the  poor  and  the  defenceless,  and  the  selling 
of  justice  to  the  highest  bidder — are,  happily,  unknown 
in  this  country,  and  do  not  therefore  need  a  sovereign 
to  put  them  down.  But  there  are  still,  it  must  sorrow- 
fully be  confessed,  many  social  abuses  rife  among  the 
less  responsible  classes  of  the  community — among  the 
wealthy,  for  instance,  luxury  and  selfishness  prevail 
with  mischievous  efiect,  while  among  the  middle  classes, 
the  love  of  gain  leads  often  both  to  impositions  upon 


192        THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

those  who  are  least  able  to  bear  them,  and  to  the 
terrible  abuse  commonly  described  as  "  sweating  " : 
these  can  only  be  effectively  rectified  by  moving  public 
opinion  ;  and  in  contributing  towards  this  end,  the 
indirect  influence  of  the  Sovereign  may  be  of  supreme 
value.  The  Sovereign  is  still  the  head  of  the  State, 
though  he  acts  largely  not  personally,  but  through  the 
agency  of  ministers,  judges,  and  other  representatives, 
whose  appointments  are  either  made  or  sanctioned  by 
himself.  And  so  in  the  Coronation  ceremony,  the  Sword, 
the  symbol  of  judgment,  and  of  the  power  to  maintain 
order,  to  put  down  misgovernment,  and  to  punish  evil- 
doers, is  presented  upon  the  altar  with  a  prayer,  the 
terms  of  which  are  suggested  by  words  of  St.  Paul 
(Rom.  xiii.  4),  and  St.  Peter  (1  Pet.  ii.  14)  :  "Hear  our 
prayers,  0  Lord,  we  beseech  thee,  and  so  direct  and 
support  thy  servant,  our  King,  who  is  now  to  be  girt 
with  this  Sword,  that  he  may  not  bear  it  in  vain  ;  but 
may  use  it  as  the  minister  of  God  for  the  terror  and 
punishment  of  evil-doers,  and  for  the  protection  and 
encouragement  of  those  that  do  well,  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord."  And  afterwards,  when  it  has  been 
girt  about  him,  the  Sovereign  is  addressed  in  these 
words  :'  "With  this  Sword  do  justice,  stop  the  growth 
of  iniquity,  protect  the  holy  Church  of  God,  help  and 
defend  widows  and  orphans,  restore  the  things  that  are 
gone  to  decay,  maintain  the  things  that  are  restored, 
punish  and  reform  what  is  amiss,  and  confirm  what  is 
in  good  order ;  that  doing  these  things  you  may  be 
glorious  in  all  virtue  ;  and  so  faithfully  serve  our  Lord 


A  MIRROR   FOR   PRINCES  193 

Jesus  Christ  in  this  life,  that  you  may  reign  for  ever 
with  Him  in  the  life  which  is  to  come."  And  the 
Sceptre,  "  the  ensign  of  kingly  power  and  justice,"  is 
delivered  to  him  with  these  words  :  "  Receive  the  Rod 
of  equity  and  mercy  :  and  God,  from  whom  all  holy 
desires,  all  good  counsels,  and  all  just  works  do  proceed, 
direct  and  assist  you  in  the  administration  and  exercise 
of  all  those  powers  which  He  has  given  you.  Be  so 
merciful  that  you  be  not  too  remiss  ;  so  execute  justice 
that  you  forget  not  mercy.  Punish  the  wicked,  protect 
and  cherish  the  just,  and  lead  your  people  in  the  way 
wherein  they  should  go." 

These,  then,  are  the  high  responsibilities  which  our 
Sovereign  undertakes — to  maintain  efEectually  justice 
and  good  government,  to  temper  wisely  judg- 
ment with  mercy,  to  have  a  care  for  true  religion,  to 
defend  the  unprotected,  to  punish  evil-doers  and  in 
general  to  check  iniquity,  to  correct  anomalies  and 
abuses,  to  guard  and  preserve  whatever  may  contribute 
to  the  well-being  of  the  people.  Expanded  and  enlarged, 
these  are  just  the  same  responsibilities  which,  in  the 
two  Psalms  which  I  have  quoted  this  morning,  con- 
stitute the  ideal  of  a  king.  Let  us  be  thankful  that  we 
in  this  country  are  ruled  by  a  Sovereign  who,  as  we  well 
know,  will  respect  and  maintain  the  noble  traditions  of 
high  endeavour  and  high  achievement  which  he  has 
inherited  from  his  ancestors  ;  who  will  devote  himself, 
heart  and  soul,  to  the  task  of  realizing,  as  far  as  in  him 
lies,  the  great  ideal  which  the  Coronation  service  sets 
before  him ;  and  who,  with  God's  help,  will  pass  on  to 
13 


194       THE  IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

his  successors  an  empire,  embracing  far-stretching 
regions  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  not  less  stable, 
and  not  less  well-ordered,  and  well  governed,  than  it  was 
when  he  received  it  from  his  beloved  and  honoured 
father. 


XX 

THE  AUTHORIZED  VERSION 

"  For  the  earth  shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord, 
as  the  waters  cover  the  sea." — ISAiiS  xi.  9. 

/^UR  country  is  commemorating  this  year^  the  300th 
^-^  anniversary  of  the  publication  of  the  Authorized 
Version  of  the  Bible.  This  event  was  a  momentous 
one  in  the  history  of  the  English  people ;  and  I  should 
like  this  morning  to  place  before  you  some  thoughts 
suggested  by  it — to  speak  of  the  long  and  sometimes 
troubled  years  of  preparation  and  development  which 
preceded  it,  of  the  influence  which  the  Version  has  exerted 
upon  our  people,  and  of  the  position  which  it  holds  at 
the  present  day.  Let  me  describe  to  you  briefly  how 
the  Authorized  Version  came  into  being. 

In  olden  days  both  Bibles  and  Service-books  were  in 
Latin  ;  there  was  a  prejudice  against  change,  and  the 
translation  of  them  into  the  language  of  the  people 
took  a  long  time  to  accomplish.  As  early,  however,  as 
the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries  Anglo-Saxon  versions  of 
the  Psalms,  Gospels,  and  some  of  the  historical  books 
of  the  Old  Testament  were  made.     But   no  attempt 

>  March  1911. 

'95 


196       THE   IDEALS   OF  THE  PROPHETS 

was  made  to  translate  the  entire  Bible  into  English 
till  the  fourteenth  century,  in  the  reign  of  Edward  iii. 
(1327-1377),  when  John  WjcMe  arose  (1320-1384). 
Wy cliff e  was  closely  connected  with  Oxford.  He  was 
Steward  of  Merton  College,  Master  of  Balliol,  and 
Warden  of  Canterbury  College — a  hostel  for  the  recep- 
tion of  theological  students  from  Canterbury — after- 
wards absorbed  into  Christ  Church,  where  the  Canter- 
bury Quadrangle  still  marks  its  ancient  site.  Wycliffe 
was  a  man  of  remarkable  ability  and  influence,  an 
effective  orator,  and  an  unsparing  assailant  of  the 
ecclesiastical  and  social  abuses  of  his  time.  His  life 
was  a  revolt  against  what  he  conceived  to  be  unright- 
eous dominion.  The  Bible,  he  felt,  supported  him  in 
his  contention ;  and  so,  with  the  help  of  Nicholas  of 
Hereford,  its  translation  was  accomplished  (1382),  The 
translation  was  made,  not  from  the  original  texts,  but 
from  the  Latin  Vulgate.  Its  reception  showed  that 
it  met  a  need  of  the  times.  "  The  new  version,"  we 
are  told,  "  was  eagerly  sought  after  and  read.  Copies 
passed  into  the  hands  of  all  classes  of  the  people.  Active 
and  powerful  measures  were  taken  to  suppress  it ;  copies 
were  sought  for  and  burnt  as  most  noxious  productions 
of  heretical  depravity ;  but  the  number  (150)  of  MSS 
which  survived  this  inquisition  and  still  remain  testify 
what  a  large  number  there  must  have  originally  been." 
Nevertheless  WyclifEe's  translation  continued  to  be 
viewed  with  suspicion,  and  in  1408  the  reading 
of  it  was  expressly  forbidden  by  Henry  iv.  (1399- 
1413). 


THE  AUTHORIZED  VERSION 


197 


During  the  century  which  elapsed  between  1388 1 
and  the  age  of  William  Tindale  nothing  further  was 
done  for  the  translation  of  the  Bible.  Tindale  was  the 
real  father  of  the  Authorized  Version.  He  was  a  native 
of  Gloucestershire,  who  came  to  Oxford  and  became  a 
student  of  Magdalen  Hall,  the  old  Grammar  School,  a 
portion  of  which  is  still  to  be  seen  just  at  the  entrance 
to  Magdalen  College.  He  took  his  degree  in  1512,  shortly 
after  the  accession  of  Henry  viii.  Since  Wycliffe's 
death  great  events  had  happened  and  greater  events 
were  looming  in  the  future,  all  of  which  materially 
helped  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  English.  The 
age  of  the  renaissance  was  beginning.  The  capture  of 
Constantinople  in  1453  by  the  Turks  caused  many 
Greek  scholars,  carrying  with  them  the  treasures  of 
their  literature,  to  seek  a  home  in  the  West,  especially 
in  Italy,  and  so  brought  about  a  revival  of  Greek  learn- 
ing in  Europe.  Greece,  it  has  been  strikingly  said, 
thus  "  rose  from  the  grave  with  the  New  Testament  in 
her  hand "  ;  and,  as  soon  appeared,  the  Teutonic 
nations  welcomed  the  gift.  In  1477  the  newly-invented 
art  of  printing  was  introduced  into  England.  In  1491 
Greek  was  first  taught  in  Oxford  by  William  Grocyn,  a 
Fellow  of  New  College,  who  had  studied  in  Italy.  Colet 
and  Erasmus,  both  men  of  the  new  learning,  saw  its 
value  for  the  cause  of  reform.  The  former,  as  Dean  of 
St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  preached  against  the  worldliness 
of  the  clergy.  The  latter  taught  Greek  at  Cambridge 
from  1509  to  1514,  and  in  1516  published  an  edition  of 
*  The  date  of  Purvey's  revision  of  Wycliffe's  translation. 


rgS       THE   IDEALS   OF   THE   PROPHETS 

the  New  Testament  in  Greek,  the  first  printed  edition 
published  in  Europe.  It  at  once  made  a  great  impres- 
sion, and  was  much  talked  about.  Between  1477  and 
1530  many  editions  of  the  Hebrew  Old  Testament  and 
the  Greek  New  Testament  were  printed  on  the  Con- 
tinent, and  found  their  way  into  England.  A  desire  to 
possess  the  Bible  in  the  vernacular  sprang  up  throughout 
Europe,  and  many  translations  followed.  In  Germany 
Luther  was  beginning  his  crusade  against  Rome.  He 
published  the  New  Testament  in  German  in  1522,  and 
the  whole  Bible  in  1534.  Tindale  was  a  reformer  from 
his  youth.  In  conversation  with  a  learned  divine,  who 
said,  "  We  were  better  without  God's  laws  than  the 
Pope's,"  he  replied,  "  I  defy  the  Pope  and  all  his  laws. 
If  God  spares  my  life,  ere  many  years  I  will  cause  a  boy 
that  driveth  the  plough  to  know  more  of  the  Scripture 
than  thou  doest."  He  went  to  London,  and  sought  to 
interest  Tunstall,  the  Bishop  of  London  at  the  time,  in 
his  plan  of  a  translation,  but  soon  discovered  this  to 
be  impossible ;  as  he  mournfully  said,  he  found  that 
"  there  was  no  room  in  my  lord  of  London's  palace  to 
translate  the  New  Testament,  but  also  that  there  was 
no  place  to  do  it  in  all  England."  He  therefore  left 
England  and  settled  in  Cologne.  There  he  translated 
the  New  Testament  into  English  ;  and,  supplied  with 
funds  by  English  merchants,  who  promised  to  convey 
the  work  secretly  to  England,  and  diffuse  it  widely  in 
that  country,  began  to  print  it.  But  he  was  betrayed  ; 
the  printing  was  interrupted  ;  and  he  fled  up  the  Rhine 
to  Worms.    Worms  was  devoted  to  Luther,  and  Tin- 


THE  AUTHORIZED  VERSION  199 

dale  could  work  there  in  safety.  He  completed  his 
translation,  and  6000  copies  reached  England  in 
1526. 

The  English  bishops  met  to  dehberate  on  the  situa- 
tion ;  and  at  once  took  active  measures  to  suppress  the 
book.  All  copies  found  were  ordered  to  be  burnt.  The 
Bishop  of  London  preached  a  sermon  at  Paul's  Cross, 
in  the  precincts  of  the  Cathedral,  which  was  followed  by 
a  formal  public  burning  of  the  dreaded  book.  Neverthe- 
less the  book  was  widely  read  in  secret ;  and  among  the 
places  deeply  infected  with  the  new  heresy  was  Cardinal 
College,  the  magnificent  foundation  of  Wolsey,  after- 
wards refounded  by  Henry  viii.  as  Christ  Church.  A 
memorable  scene  was  enacted  in  St.  Frideswide's  Church, 
the  present  Cathedral,  on  February  21st,  1528.  The 
Commissary,  sent  down  by  Wolsey  to  search  out  the 
heretics,  entered  the  choir  in  the  middle  of  evensong, 
interrupted  the  service,  and  conferred  with  the  Dean  in 
his  seat  respecting  their  arrest.  We  possess  a  graphic 
description,  written  by  one  of  the  suspects,  a  student 
of  Alban  Hall,  of  what  subsequently  happened. ^  Tin- 
dale  meanwhile  completed  the  Pentateuch  in  English, 
and  it  was  printed  at  Marburg  in  1530.  After  this  he 
moved  to  Antwerp,  and  worked  at  other  books  of  the 
Old  Testament.  In  the  end  he  was  betrayed  to  his 
enemies,  imprisoned  in  the  Castle  of  Vilvorde,  near 
Brussels,  where,  on  October  6th,  1536,  he  was  strangled 
and  burnt.     His  last  words  were,  "  Lord,  open  the  King 

>  Fox.  Aci^  and  Monuments  of  Martyrs,  ed.  1684,  ii.  438-441  (the 
story  of  Dalaber  aud  Garret) ;  cf.  Westcott,  p.  40  ff. 


200       THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

of  England's  eyes,"  a  prayer  which  before  long  was 
signally  answered. 

It  is  remarkable  now  how  the  secular  arm  came  to 
the  help  of  the  English  Bible.  Henry  viii.,  who  was 
still  on  the  throne,  had  been  unfriendly  to  Tindale, 
and  had  issued  proclamations  against  the  use  of  his 
translation.  But  the  breach  with  Rome  was  beginning, 
and  the  situation  changed  quickly.  In  1529  Wolsey 
fell  from  power ;  in  1531  Henry  assumed  the  title  of 
supreme  head  of  the  Church  of  England  ;  in  1533  lie 
divorced  Catherine  of  Aragon  and  married  Anne  Boleyn, 
both  with  the  strong  disapproval  of  the  Pope.  Other 
points  of  difierence  arose  ;  and  in  the  same  year  the 
papal  authority  in  England  was  formally  annulled. 
Feeling  had  also  changed  on  the  subject  of  Bible  transla- 
tion. Shortly  after  Wolsey 's  death  Henry  had  prom- 
ised a  translation  of  the  Scriptures.  Miles  Coverdale, 
who  certainly  knew  Tindale,  and  had  not  improbably 
assisted  him,  had  been  invited  by  Cromwell,  who  suc- 
ceeded Wolsey  in  the  King's  favour  (1529-1540),  to 
make  a  translation  of  the  entire  Bible  ;  and  in  1535 
his  translation  appeared,  dedicated  to  the  King.  This 
was  the  first  English  translation  of  the  entire  Bible. 

But  a  ;aiore  important  version  was  one  which  ap- 
peared four  years  afterwards,  in  1539,  called  from  its 
size — it  is  a  large  and  thick  black-letter  folio — the 
Great  Bible.  This  also  was  Coverdale's  work  ;  in  fact 
it  was  his  earlier  translation  revised  and  improved,  at 
the  suggestion  of  Cromwell,  by  a  more  careful  compari- 
sion  of  the  original  texts.     It  met  with  great  success. 


THE  AUTHORIZED  VERSION  aoi 

A  royal  injunction  commanded  its  free  exhibition  in  all 
churches,  and  contemporaries  tell  us  what  interest  it 
immediately  evoked,  how  numbers  flocked  to  the 
churches  to  read  it,  while  as  many  as  could  procured  it 
for  themselves.  In  two  years  it  went  through  seven 
editions,  each  with  revision,  and  it  was  often  reprinted 
afterwards.  One  part  of  the  Great  Bible  is  familiar  to 
us  still.  When  the  Prayer  Book  was  first  compiled,  in 
1549,  the  Psalter  was  taken  naturally  from  the  Great 
Bible,  and  it  remains  there  still,  a  monument  of  the 
noble  and  melodious  English  prose  of  which  Coverdale 
was  an  acknowledged  master. 

The  circulation  of  the  English  Bible  remained  un- 
impeded during  the  short  reign  of  Edward  vi.  (1547- 
1553).  With  the  accession  of  Mary  (1533-1558)  a 
change  came.  Rome  was  again  in  the  ascendant,  and 
the  reformers  had  to  flee  to  the  Continent.  A  band  of 
them  settled  in  Geneva,  the  home  of  Calvin  ;  and  there, 
in  1560,  they  produced  another  version,  dedicated  to 
Queen  Elizabeth,  and  known  as  the  Geneva  Bible.  This 
translation  contained  short  explanatory  notes.  Its 
convenient  size  and  useful  notes  caused  it  speedily  to 
become  the  household  Bible  of  Englishmen  ;  and  it  con- 
tinued to  be  so  for  nearly  a  century.  Some  of  the  notes 
were,  however,  tinged  with  Calvinism ;  so  in  1568,  also 
under  Elizabeth,  the  Bishops'  Bible  appeared,  so  called 
from  the  number  of  bishops  who  assisted  in  its  pro- 
duction. 

But  the  existence  of  two  rival  translations  was  an 
inconvenience  ;    and  soon  after  James  i.  came  to  the 


202        THE   IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS 

throne  lie  expressed  the  wish  that  the  best  scholars  of 
the  time  should  be  invited  to  co-operate  and  produce 
"  one  uniform  translation."  His  wish  was  speedily 
carried  out.  The  Bible  was  divided  into  six  parts ; 
six  companies  of  scholars  were  appointed,  two  sitting 
at  Westminster,  two  at  Cambridge,  and  two  at  Oxford, 
to  carry  out  the  work.  Rules  were  drawn  up  for  their 
guidance,  and  the  completed  Bible,  our  Authorized 
Version,  appeared  in  1611. 

Such,  then,  told  briefly  and  imperfectly,  is  the  long 
and  sometimes  tragic  story  of  the  progress  by  which 
an  open  Bible  was  secured  for  England.  It  is  well  that 
we,  who  enjoy  in  ease  what  our  forefathers  toiled  and 
even  gave  their  lives  for,  should  remember  the  price  at 
which  our  freedom  was  purchased,  and  feel  the  gratitude 
that  is  due  to  those  who  gave  it  to  us.  It  is  worthy 
of  notice  that  all  the  crucial  steps  in  the  movement 
came  from  the  party  of  reform.  If  the  ecclesiastical 
authorities  had  retained  their  power  and  had  had  their 
will,  there  would  have  been  no  open  Bible  in  England 
even  to-day.  The  truth  was  obscured ;  abuses  were  rife  ; 
but  the  Bible,  it  was  felt  by  those  who  knew  it,  was  the 
charter  of  spirituality,  of  justice,  and  of  freedom.  To 
those  who  gave  it  to  us  in  our  own  language  we  owe  an 
incalculable  debt. 

The  Version  of  1611  was  not  a  new  translation.  It 
was  founded  upon  the  versions  of  Tindale  and  Cover- 
dale,  upon  the  Great  Bible,  the  Geneva  Bible,  and  the 
Bishops'  Bible.  King  James's  translators  took  from 
these  the  best  that  each  could  give,  and  welded  all 


THE  AUTHORIZED  VERSION  20 


J 


together,  naturally  with  many  corrections  and  improve- 
ments of  their  own,  into  a  new  whole.  It  was  the  final 
issue  of  nearly  a  century  of  preparation. 

Its  outstanding  characteristic  feature  is  the  marvellous 
felicity  of  its  style ;  a  comparison  of  its  renderings  with 
those  of  the  previous  versions  quickly  makes  its  superi- 
ority in  this  respect  apparent.  The  translators  had  all 
lived  through  the  Elizabethan  era.  Shakespeare  was 
still  bringing  out  his  plays  while  the  translators  were  at 
their  work.  At  least  the  leading  spirits  in  all  the  com- 
panies showed  themselves  masters  of  a  style  which  was 
chaste,  dignified,  and  impressive,  and  of  a  rhythm 
which  is  always  melodious  and  grateful  to  the  ear. 
Style  and  rhythm  are  indeed  externals,  but  they  are 
externals  which  cannot  be  despised :  they  delight  the 
ear,  and  so  the  thoughts  which  they  enshrine  find  their 
way  into  the  heart.  The  English  Bible  has  all  the  at- 
tributes of  a  classic  :  it  is  a  "  Well  of  English  undefyled." 
The  beauty  and  freshness  and  innate  attractiveness, 
which  are  the  predominant  characteristics  of  the  original, 
combine,  with  this  remarkable  felicity  of  phrase  and 
rhythm  in  the  translation,  to  give  the  Authorized  Ver- 
sion that  incomparable  fascination  and  influence  which 
it  has  exerted  over  so  many  generations  of  Englishmen. 

King  James's  translation  has  accomplished  a  great 
work — greater,  we  may  be  sure,  than  the  translators 
themselves  could  in  the  least  imagine  or  foresee. 
Though  it  did  not  at  once  supersede  the  Geneva  and 
the  Bishops'  Bibles,  in  the  end  its  superior  merits  won 
it  its  due,  and  it  became  the  only  Bible  of  the  English- 


204       THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

speaking  people.  Since  the  seventeenth  century  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race  has  spread,  and  colonized  regions  of 
the  earth  of  which  our  forefathers  had  never  heard  ; 
and  so  King  James's  Bible  has  carried  the  light  of  truth, 
not  only  throughout  our  own  islands,  but  into  every 
part  of  the  habitable  world — ^into  India,  Africa,  Australia, 
and  into  the  teeming  populations  ever  increasing  and 
ever  pulsating  with  new  energies  and  new  life,  which 
already  occupy  the  greater  part  of  the  vast  continent 
of  North  America,  and  are  likely  soon,  in  Canada,  to 
be  diffused  yet  more  widely. 

Let  me  quote  here  a  few  sentences  which  must  voice, 
1  am  sure,  the  common  feehng  of  Enghshmen,  from  the 
admirable  address  presented  to  King  George  by  the 
very  representative  deputation  which  waited  upon  him 
a  few  days  ago  :  "  On  the  occasion  of  the  Tercentary 
of  the  issue  of  the  Authorized  Version  of  the  English 
Bible,  we,  who  believe  the  Bible  to  be  *  the  most  valuable 
thing  that  this  world  affords,'  desire  to  unite  with  your 
Majesty  in  thanksgiving  to  Almighty  God  for  the 
inestimable  blessings  bestowed  upon  the  EngUsh-speak- 
ing  people  by  its  translation  into  our  mother-tongue, 
and  its  influence  in  the  moulding  of  our  national  life. 
These  bleSsings  are  enjoyed,  not  only  in  these  islands, 
and  your  Majesty's  Dominions  across  the  seas,  but  also 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  and  wherever  the 
English  language  prevails."  And  then,  after  some 
remarks  on  our  indebtedness  to  those  who  laboured 
and  suffered — some  of  them  laying  down  their  lives — 
to  secure  for  their  fellow-countrymen,  not  only  a  version 


THE  AUTHORIZED  VERSION  205 

of  the  Holy  Scriptures  which  they  could  understand, 
but  also  liberty  to  read  it  in  their  own  homes,  and  upon 
the  manner  in  which  in  the  past  the  Throne  had  been 
linked  with  the  work,  the  address  continues  :    "  The 
growth  and  strength  of  the  Empire  owe  much  to  the 
English  Bible.    It  has  sweetened  home  life  ;   it  has  set 
a  standard  of  pure  speech  ;   it  has  permeated  literature 
and  art ;   it  has  helped  to  remove  social  wrongs,  and  to 
ameUorate  conditions  of  labour  ;    it  has  modified  the 
laws  of  the  realm,  and  shaped  the  national  character  ; 
and  it  has  fostered  international  comity  and  goodwill 
among  men.     Above  all,  the   English  Version  of  the 
Bible  has  made  accessible  to  us  the  revelation  of  God 
our  Father  in  His  Son  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  .  .  .  We 
praise  God,  not  only  for  the  benefits  of  the  Bible  to 
past  generations,  but  also  because  its  truths,  as  long 
as  they  are  made  the  standard  of  life,  will  preserve  the 
glory  of  our  Empire  through  generations  to  come.  .  .  . 
And  we  pray  that  your  Majesty's  subjects  may  con- 
tinue to  read  this  book  until  its  spirit  and  teaching 
are   vitalized  in   personal  character  and  in  domestic 
relationships,  and  so  enter  into  every  sphere  of  cor- 
porate   life — business    and    professional,     social    and 
political,   national   and  Imperial."     And  our  giacious 
Sovereign,  in  the   course  of  his   reply,   said :     "  This 
glorious   and   memorable  achievement,  coming  like  a 
broad  light  in  darkness,  gave  freely  to  the  whole  English- 
speaking  people   the  right  and  the   power  to  search 
for  themselves  for  the  truths  and  consolations  of  our 
faith  ;  and  during  300  years  the  multiplying  milhons  of 


2o6       THE   IDEALS   OF  THE   PROPHETS 

the  English-speaking  races,  spreading  ever  more  widely 
over  the  surface  of  the  globe,  have  turned  in  their  need 
to  the  grand  simplicity  of  the  Authorized  Version,  and 
have  drawn  upon  its  inexhaustible  springs  of  wisdom, 
courage,  and  joy."  These  words,  both  those  in  the 
address  and  those  in  the  reply  from  the  Throne,  we 
may  unreservedly  appropriate.  In  broad  and  general 
terms  they  describe  truly  the  wonderful  and  far-reaching 
influence  which  the  Authorized  Version  has  exerted 
upon  English-speaking  people. 

Perhaps  one  further  point  might  be  mentioned.  For 
more  than  one  hundred  years,  since  1804,  the  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society  has  been  busily  engaged  in  cir- 
culating in  different  languages  copies  of  the  Scriptures. 
The  number  of  copies  of  the  English  Bible  which  it  has 
circulated  is  incalculable  ;  but  besides  this  it  circulates 
now  either  the  Bible,  or  parts  of  the  Bible,  in  some  400 
other  languages.  I  think  we  may  ascribe  this  to  at 
least  the  indirect  influence  of  the  Authorized  Version, 
the  value  and  the  influence  of  a  version  in  the  vernacular, 
as  tested  by  our  own  Bible,  naturally  suggesting  and 
encouraging  the  use  of  the  same  method  when  Christi- 
anity was  offered  to  those  nations  of  the  earth  who  did 
not  know  it. 

But  while  we  admire  and  revere,  we  must  not  idolize. 
It  is  a  mistake  to  make  even  a  Version  of  the  Bible  into 
a  fetish.  Our  Bible  was  translated  300  years  ago;  and 
it  is  the  simple  truth  that  the  translation  no  longer 
satisfies  the  scholarship  "or  the  needs  of  the  present  day. 
There  are  two  main  reasons  why  the  Version  of  1611 


THE  AUTHORIZED  VERSION  207 

is  not  adequate  now — both,  it  is  right  to  say,  due  to  the 
operation  of  causes  which  the  translators  themselves 
could  neither  prevent  nor  foresee.  In  the  first  place, 
the  English  language  has  itself  changed  since  1611  ;  and 
many  words  and  expressions  which  were  perfectly  clear 
then  are  obscure  now.  Some  words,  then  in  current 
use,  are  now  obsolete,  and  their  meanings,  to  all  ordinary 
readers,  are  unknown  ;  and  other  words  have  changed 
their  meaning  so  that  they  mislead  the  modern  reader. 
A  reader  of  Shakespeare  constantly  comes  across  pas- 
sages which  he  cannot  understand  for  the  same  reason, 
and  he  must  refer  to  a  glossary  for  explanations.  The 
case  is  the  same  with  the  Authorized  Version.  Archa- 
isms, so  long  as  they  continue  intelligible  (as  "  which  " 
for  "  who  "),  lend  a  choice,  antique  coloiu:  to  the  trans- 
lation, which  we  are  only  too  glad  to  retain  ;  when  they 
convey  either  no  meaning,  or  a  false  meaning,  as  Bishop 
Lightfoot  said  long  ago,i  the  time  for  removing  them 
has  come.  To  take  a  simple  example,  we  are  no  longer 
justified  in  saying,  "  I  know  nothing  by  myself,"  when 
we  mean  "  I  know  nothing  against  myself."  Secondly, 
the  Authorized  Version  is  inadequate  now  on  account 
of  the  progress  of  knowledge.  King  James's  translators 
were  learned  men,  fully  abreast  of  the  knowledge  of 
their  own  day  ;  through  no  fault  of  their  own,  they  were 
not  abreast  of  the  Icnowledge  of  the  present  day.  The 
languages  of  the  original,  both  Hebrew  and  Greek,  are 
much  better  understood  now  than  they  were  in  1611 ; 

*  In  his  most  valuable  essay,  On  a  Fresh  Revision  of  the  Englith 
N.T.  (1871,  2nd  ed.  1872),  p.  171. 


2o8       THE   IDEALS  OF  THE   PROPHETS 

many  of  the  ablest  minds  have  given  their  best  to  the 
elucidation  of  the  Bible  ;  discovery  and  research  in  the 
East  have  thrown  light  upon  much  which,  even  fifty 
years  ago,  was  obscure ;  so  that  now  there  is  no  book 
of  the  Bible  which  is  not  in  some  parts — in  some  cases 
in  many  parts — better  understood  than  was  the  case 
300  years  ago.  Of  course,  there  are  large  parts  of  the 
Bible,  including  a  great  number  of  theologically  im- 
portant texts,  which  would  not  be  affected  at  all  by  a 
retranslation.  But  the  Bible  is  not  a  collection  of 
isolated  texts  ;  it  consists  largely  of  poems,  prophetical 
discourses,  and  epistles,  each,  or  each  part,  of  which 
forms  a  continuous  whole  or  a  consecutive  argument, 
and  can  only  be  understood  as  such  ;  and  the  Author- 
ized Version  often  fails  to  make  the  sense  or  the  argu- 
ment clear. 

The  Revised  Version  is  no  doubt  capable  of  improve- 
ment ;  but  we  know  how  much  superior  it  is  to  the 
Authorized  Version  in  many  difficult  passages  of  both 
Testaments.  We  sometimes  hear  it  said  that  the  Bible 
is  not  read  as  much  as  it  ought  to  be  ;  but  may  not  this 
be  due,  at  least  in  some  measure,  to  the  fact  that  parts  of 
it,  inclu(Jing  some  which  ought  to  be  the  most  attractive, 
have  not  been  made  as  clear  and  intelligible  as  they 
should  be  ?  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  of  the  present 
day  to  utilize  this  new  knowledge  of  which  I  have  spoken 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  its  children  a  Bible  as 
faithful  to  the  original  as  possible.  From  the  terms 
in  which  King  James's  translators  speak  in  their  pre- 
face to  the  reader,  we  may  be  sure  that,   could  they 


THE  AUTHORIZED  VERSION  209 

come  to  life  again,  they  would  be  the  first  to  do  this 
themselves.  A  national  Bible  ought  to  be  as  accurate 
a  Bible,  and  as  intelligible  a  Bible,  as  the  scholarship 
of  the  day  can  make  it.  And  it  ought  to  combine  these 
qualities  of  accuracy  and  intelligibility  with  that  dignity 
of  style,  felicity  of  phrase,  and  melodious  rhythm, 
which  are  so  conspicuous  in  the  Authorized  Version, 
without  which  a  Bible  would  not  deserve  to  be  a  national 
Bible,  and  without  which  it  would  cease  to  be  the  classic 
that  such  a  Bible  ought  to  be.  To  preserve  all  that  is 
most  beautiful  in  the  Authorized  Version,  and  all  that 
is  most  characteristic  of  it,  while  altering  that  which 
time  has  shown  to  need  correction  or  improvement,  is 
not  to  disparage  or  dishonour  the  Version  which  we  all 
love  ;  it  is  rather,  by  fitting  it  for  longer  life,  to  raise  it 
to  higher  honour,  and  to  adapt  it  for  wider  and  deeper 
influence.^ 

1  For  detailed  particulars  of  the  history  of  the  English  Bible,  with 
comparisons  of  versions,  etc.,  see  Westcott,  History  of  the  English 
Bible,  2nd  ed.,  1005 ;  W.  F.  Moulton,  History  of  the  English  Bible, 
2nd  ed..  1911 ;  and  Lupton,  in  DB.  v.  236-271. 


14 


APPENDICES 


SIX 


rriHESE  Appendices  have  been  added  at  the  request 

-'-      of  Dr.  Cooke,  in  the  hope  that  they  may  prove  of 

interest  to  readers ;    the  Bibliography  especially  has 

been  compiled  for  the  use  of  students :   est  enim  hcec 

quoque  studiosis  non  iniucunda  cognitio.     It  is,  however, 

much  to  be  feared  that  such  a  list  cannot  be  complete, 

as  many  articles,  often  unsigned,  in  periodical  hterature 

must  inevitably  escape  notice,  though  the  editors  of 

several   journals   have    earned   our   thanks   by   much 

welcome  help.     We  should  be  grateful  if  any  who  notice 

errors  or  omissions  would  kindly  communicate  with 

us. 

G.  R.  D. 

New  College,  Oxford, 
November  3,  1914. 


ST2 


APPENDIX   A 

A  BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  DR.  DRIVERS  PUBLISHED 

WRITINGS 


1871 

A  Commentary  on  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel  by  Mosheh  ben 
Shesheth,  edited  from  a  Bodleian  MS.,  with  a 
Translation  and  Notes. 

1874 
A  Treatise  on  the  Use  of  the  Tenses  in  Hebrew,    Editions : 
—(1)  1874;   (2)  1881;   (3)  1892. 

1875 
In  The  Academy,  May  22.  p.  534.    "  Ecclesiastes  ;    A  Contri- 
bution to  its  Interpretation  ;  containing  an  Intro- 
duction to  the  Book,  an  Exegetical  Analysis,  and  a 
Translation  WITH  Notes."     By  Thomas  Tyler,  M.A. 

1876 
The  Sunday-School  Centenary  Bible,  or  The  Holy  Bible  : 
Edited  with  Various  Renderings  and  Readings  from 
the  Best  Authorities.  The  Old  Testament.  Together 
with  T.  K.  Cheyne.  Editions  :—(l)  1876;  (2)  1880; 
(3)  1888;   (4)  1893. 

1877 
The  53rd  Chapter  of  Isaiah  according  to    the  Jewish 
Interpreters.     Vol.  u.,  Transultion,    Together  with 
Ad.  Neubauer. 

««3 


214  APPENDIX  A 

1879 
In  The  Academy,  Nov.  29,  p.  395.    Hebrew  Literature. 

1880 

A  Commentary  on  the  Book  op  Proverbs,  attributed 
TO  Abraham  Ibn  Ezra,  edited  from  a  MS.  in  the 
Bodleian  Library. 

In  The  Academy,  Feb.  7,  p.  96.  The  Prophecy  op  Joel  and 
ITS  Interpreters.  "Die  Prophetie  des  Joel,"  u.s.w. 
Von  Adalbert  Merx. 

In  The  Guardian,  Nov.  3,  p.  1515.     Ps.  Ixxvi.  10. 
New  edition  : — The  Holy  Bible  ;    Edited  with  Various 
Renderings  and  Readings  from  the  Best  Authori- 
ties (1876),  2nd  ed.i 

1881 

New  edition : — A  Treatise  on  the  Use  op  the  Tenses  in 
Hebrew  (1874),  2nd  ed.,  revised  and  enlarged. 

1882 
In  The  Journal  of  Philology,  vol.  xi.  p.  201.     On  some  Alleged 

Linguistic  Affinities  op  the  Elohist. 
In  The  Academy,  Feb.  25,  p.  131.    "Israel."    By  Dr.  Juuus 
Wellhausen  (Encyclopaedia  Britannica.     Ninth  edition. 
Vol.  xiii.). 
Apr.  8,  p.  243.    "  Goethe's  Faust,  the  First  Part.    The 
Text,  with  English  Notes,  Essays,  and  Verse  Trans- 
lations."   By  E.  J.  Turner  and  E.  A.  Morshbad,  M.A. 
May  20,  p.  356.    Recent  Hebrew  Literature. 

1883 
In  The  Church  of  TJngland  Pvlpit  and  Ecclesiastical  Review, 
Dec' 15,  p.  277.     Evolution  Compatible  with  Faith 
(GEN.ii.  7).* 

1884 
In  The  Academy,  March  29,  p.  216.     "  The  Book  op  Psalms," 
translated  by  the  Rev.  T.  K.  Cheyne,  M.A. 

1  Called  The  Teacher's  Variorum  Bible. 

2  A  sermon  preached  before  the  University  of  Oxford  on  Oct.  21, 
and  reprinted  as  Sermon  I.  on  pp.  1-27  of  "  Sermons  on  the  Old  Testa- 
ment" (1892). 


APPENDIX  A  215 

lnTheOxfordMagazine,vo\.u.p.  182.     "  The  Book  of  Psalms," 

TEANSLATED  BY  THE  ReV.  T.  K.  ChEYNE,  M.A. 

1885 
Recent  Theories  on  the  Origin  and  Nature  of  the  Tetra- 

GRAMMATON.     Essay  i.  in  Studia  Biblica,  vol.  i.  p.  1. 
In  The  Expositor,  3rd  series,  vol.  ii.  p.  1.     The  Revised  Version 
OF  the  Old  Testament — The  Book  of  Genesis. 
p.  81.    The  Book  of  Exodus. 
p.  21 1 .    The  Books  of  Leviticus  and  Numbers. 
p.  289.    The  Books  of  Deuteronomy  and  Joshua. 
In  The  Journal  of  Philology,  vol.  xiv.  p.  1.     Gen.  xlix.  10:  an 

Exegetical  Study. 
In  Hebraica,^  vol.  ii.  p.  33.    Grammatical  Notes. 
In  The  Contemporary  Review,  vol.  xlvii.  p.  291.     Old  Testament 

Literature. 
In  The  Academy,  July  25,  p.  52.  "  Prolegomena  to  the  History 
OF  Israel."    By  Julius  Wellhausen.    Translated 
from  the  German  under  the  Author's  Supervision 
BY  J.  S.  Black  and  C.  A.  Menzies.    With  Preface  by 
Prof.  W.  R.  Smith. 
In  The  Guardian,  Aug.  19,  p.  1227.    [The  Revised  Version  of 
the  Old  Testament.]    A  Boon. 
Aug.  26,  p.  1257.    The  Orthodoxy,  Theological  and  Philo- 
logical, OF  the  Marginal  Renderings  of  the  Revised 
Version  of  the  Old  Testament. 
Sept.  9,  p.  1334.    The  Revised  Version. 
Sept.  16,  p.  1367.     The  Revised  Version. 
Sept.  23,  p.  1404.    The  Revised  Version. 
Sept.  30,  p.  1442.    The  Revised  Version. 
Oct.  7,  p.  1477.    The  Revised  Version  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment.* 

1886 
The  Divine  Nature  (Is.  vi.  3)— In  "  The  Anglican  Pulpit  of 

To-day,"  Sermon  xl.  p.  456. 
In  The  Expositor,  3rd  series,  vol.  iii.  p.  23.     The  Cosmogony 
of  Genesis. 
p.  260.    Two  Hebrew  New  Testaments. 

*  An  American  periodical. 

«  Read  at  the  Church  Congress  at  Portsmouth  on  Tuesday,  Oct.  6. 


2i6  APPENDIX  A 

In  The  Contemporary  Review,  vol.  xlix.  p.  295.    Old  Testament 

LlTBRATURB. 

Vol,  1.  p.  594.    Old  Testament  Litekatube. 
In    The    Sunday-School    Times,    Dec.    18.     Indications    op 
Different  Documents  in  the  Pentateuch.     I.  The 
Beginning— Gen.  i.  26-31,  ii.  1-3  (Jan.  2)} 
Dec.  25,  II.  Sin  and  Death— Gen.  ill.  1-6,  17-19  (Jan.  %)} 

1887 

Critical    Notes    on    the    International    Sunday-School 

Lessons  from  the  Pentateuch. 
In  The  Expositor,  3rd  series,  vol.  v.  p.  55.     Notes  on  Difficult 

Texts. 
p.  259,  Notes  on  Difficult  Texts. 
Vol.  vi.  p.  71.    "  Job  and  Solomon  ;  or  The  Wisdom  of 

THE  Old  Testament."   By  the  Rev.  T.  K.  Cheyne,  M.A. 
In  The  Contemporary  Review,  vol.  li.  p.  894.     Old  Testament 

Literature. 
In  The  Academy,  Dec.  3,  p.  365.     "  Neuer  Commentar  uber 

DIE  Genesis."    Von  Franz  Delitzsch. 
In  The  Guardian,  March  9,  p.  386.    The  Margins  in  the  Re- 
vised Version  op  the  Old  Testament. 
In  The  Sunday-School  Times,  Jan.  1.     III.  Cain  and  Abel — 

Gen.  iv.  3-16  (Jan.  IQ)} 
Jan.  8.    IV.  Noah  and  the  Ark— Gen.  vi.  9-22  (Jan.  23).i 
In  The  Oxford  Review,  No.  58,  p.  371.     University  Sermon — 

On  the  Jewish  Interpretation  of  Prophecy  (2  Tim. 

i.  10).2 
No.  68,  p.  15.    University  Sermon — On  Amos  ii.  11, 12.' 
In  The  Andover  Review,*  vol.  viii,,  Dec,  p.  639.    The  Cosmogony 

of  Genesis. 

r 

^  The  series  was  discontinued  by  the  decision  of  the  Editor  at  the 
end  of  the  fourth  lesson  and  published  in  Feb.  1887,  under  the  title 
of  "Critical  Notes  on  the  International  Sunday-School  Lessons  from 
the  Pentateuch,"  as  above. 

"  Reprinted  as  Sermon  IV.  on  pp.  72-94  of  "  Sermons  on  the  Old 
Testament  "  (1892). 

3  Reprinted  as  Sermon  V.  on  pp.  99-118  of  "Sermons  on  the  Old 
Tfstamcnt"  (1892). 

*  An  American  periodical. 


APPENDIX  A  217 

1S88 
Isaiah  :  his  Life  and  Times  and  the  Writings  which  bear 
HIS  Name.     Editions  :—(1)  1888  ;   (2)1893;   (3)1910. 
New   Edition: — The    Teacher's    Variorum   Bible   (1876, 
1880),  3rd  ed. 
In  The  Guardian,  Nov.  28,  p.  1810.     Professor  Driver's  Paper 
at  Southwell.^ 
Dec.  12,  p.  1896.    The  Authorship  of  the  Fourth  Gospel. 
Dec.  27,  p.  1974.     The  Authorship  of  the  Fourth  Gospel. 
In  Bibliotheca  Sacra,*  July,  p.  565.     Letter  from  Professor 

Driver. 
In  The  Oxford  Magazine,  vol.  vi.  p.  326.     "  Analecta  Orien- 
taua  ad  Poeticam  Aristoteleam."     Edidit  D.  Mar- 
goliouth,  M.A. 
In  The  Oxford  University  Herald,  Sept.  1.     On  Ecclesiastes — 
A  Sermon  on  Ecclesiastes  i.  2. 

1889 
In  The  Expositor,  3rd  series,  vol.  ix.  p.  15.     Notes  on  Three 
Passages  in  St.  Paul's  Epistles. 
p.  321.     The  Double  Text  of  Jereinhah. 
In  The  Jevnsh  Quarterly  Review,  vol.  i.  p.  258.     The  Origin  and 

Structure  of  the  Book  of  Judges. 
In   The  Contemporary  Review,  vol.  Iv.  p.  393.     Recent  Old 
Testament  Literature. 

1890 
Notes  on  the  Hebrew  Text  of  the  Books  of  Samuel,  with 

AN    Introduction    on    Hebrew    Paleography    and 

the  Ancient  Versions  and  Facsimiles  of  Inscriptions. 

Editions  :— (1)  1890;   (2)  1913. 
An  Introduction  to  the  English  Translation  of  the  Fourth 

Edition  of  Franz  Delitzsch's  "  Biblical  Commentary  on 

the  Prophecies  of  Isaiah." 
In  The  Expositor,  4th  series,  vol.  i.  p.  387.     Note  on  Professor 

D.  S.  Margoliouth's  "  The  Language  and  Metre  of 

ECCLESIASTICUS." 

*  Read  at  the  Southwell  DioceBan  Conference  and  rcporkd  iu  The 
Guardian  for  Oct.  31,  p.  1652. 
2  An  American  periodical. 


2i8  APPENDIX  A 

In  The  Expository  Times,  vol.  i.  p.  197.     Professor  Franz 

Delitzsch. 
In  The  Contemporary  Review,  vol.  Ivii.  p.  215.     The  Critical 

Study  of  the  Old  Testament.^ 
In  The  Gtiardian,  Apr.  2,  p.  557.     "  Lux  MuNDi."     Old  Testa- 
ment Criticism. 
Apr.  23,  p.  679.     Dr.  Driver  on  Samuel. 
May  14,  p.  809.     Mr.  Slatter  on  Samuel. 
Oct.  1,  p.  1539.     Book  of  Jonah. 
In   The  Oxford  Magazine,  vol.  viii.  p.  182.     The  Inaugural 
Lecture  of  the  Laudian  Professor  of  Arabic.    An 
Essay  on  the  Place  op  Ecclesiasticus  in  Semitic 
Literature.     1.  The  Problem. 
p.  190.    The  Inaugural  Lecture  of  the  Laudian  Profes- 
sor OF  Arabic.    An  Essay  on  the  Place  of  Ecclesi- 
asticus IN  Semitic  Literature.    2.  The  Solution. 

1891 

An  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the  Old  Testament.^ 
Editions:— (1)  1891,  September;  (2)  1891,  November; 
(3)  1892,  March ;  (4)  1892,  August  [Reprinted  in  April 
1893];  (5)  1894,  June  [Reprinted  in  January  1896]; 
(6)  1897,  October,  revised,  enlarged  and  reset ;  (7)  1898, 
October  [Reprinted  in  May  1902;  August  1903; 
October  1905 ;  January  1907] ;  (8)  1909,  September ; 
(9)  1913,  October. 

In  The  Expository  Times,  vol.  iii.  p.  17.  Christ's  Appeal  to  the 
Old  Testament. 

In  The  Critical  Review,  vol.  i.  p.  35.  "  Lectures  on  the  Com- 
parative Grammar  of  the  Semitic  Languages."  By 
Professor  W.  Wright. 

In  The  "Oxford  Magazine,  vol.  x.,  Supplement,  Nov.  4. 
University  Sermon  on  2  Tim.  iii.  16,  17.^ 

1  Reprinted  in  1905  as  No.  21  of  "  Essays  for  the  Times." 

2  Translated  into  German  from  the  fifth  edition  by  Dr.  J.  W. 
Rothstein  in  1896  as  "  Einleitung  in  die  Littebattje  des  Alten 
Testaments.  Von  S.  R.  Driver,  D.D.,  Regius  Professor  d. 
Hebb.  u.  Canonicus  an  Christ  Church,  Oxford." 

s  Reprinted  as  Sermon  VII.  on  pp.  143-162  of  "  Sermons  on  the 
Old  Testament "  (1892). 


APPENDIX  A  219 

1892 
Sermons  on  Stjbjkcts  connected  with  the  Old  Testament. 
New  editions  : — A  Treatise  on  the  Use  of  the  Tenses  in 
Hebrew  (1874),  3rd  ed.,  revised  and  improved. 
March.    An  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the 

Old  Testament  (1891),  3rd  ed. 
Aug.    An  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the  Old 
Testament  (1891),  4th  ed. 
In  The  Expositor,  4th  series,  vol.  v.  p.  321.     Klostermann  on 
THE  Pentateuch. 
Vol.  vi.  p.  199.    Professor  W.  Robertson  Sivhth  on  the  Old 
Testament.^ 
p.  392.     Professor  A.  B.  Davidson  on  the  Prophet 

EZEKIEL. 

In  The  Expository  Times,  vol.  iii.  p.  206.     Hebrew  Grammars 

AND  Lexicons. 
Vol.  iv.   p.    95.      Professor   Sayce    and    the    "  Higher 

Criticism." 
p.   110.     The  Moral  and  Devotional  Value  of  the 

Old  Testament.* 
In  The  Contemporary  Review,  vol.  Ixi.  p.  262.     Principal  Cavb 

on  the  Hexateuch. 
In  The  Guardian,  Oct.  12,  p.  1549.     The  Permanent  (Moral 

AND  Devotional)  Value  of  the  Old  Testament  fob 

THE  Christian  Church.* 

1893 
Articles  in  the  Second  Edition  of  Sir  Wm.  Smith's  Dictionary 
of  the  Bible :  ' — Adadah,  Allon  (partly),  Ammizabad 
(partly),  Ammon,  Amos,  Apothecaries,  Arbathite 
(partly),  Bocheru,  Deuteronomy,  Exodus,  Genesis, 
Joshua, 

^  Reprinted  in  The  Magazine  of  Christian  Literature  (an  American 
periodical),  vol.  \i\.  p.  59. 

'  Read  at  the  Church  Congress  at  Folkestone  on  Thursday,  Oct.  6, 
and  reprinted  on  pp.  ix-xix  as  an  introduction  to  "  Sermons  on 
the  Old  Testament  "  (1892). 

3  "  To  Professor  Driver  and  the  Rev.  C.  J.  Ball  they  [the  editors] 
owe  a  careful  revision  of  the  Hebrew  and  other  Semitic  words  in  a 
large  number  of  articles  "  (Preface  to  the  second  edition,  p.  vii). 


220  APPENDIX  A 

New  editions :— The  Teacher's   Variorttm  Bible  (1876), 
4th  ed.    Isaiah,  his  Life  and  Times  (1888),  2nd  ed., 
revised. 
Reprint : — An  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the  Old 
Testament,  4th  ed. 
In  The  Expositor,  4th  series,  vol.  viii.  p.  388.     I.  Professor 
Marshall's  Aramaic  Gospel. 
p.  419.     II.  Professor  Marshall's  Aramaic  Gospel. 
In    The   Critical   Review,  vol.  iii.  p.  35.     Baentsch's   "  Das 

BUNDESBUCH." 

In  The  Guardian,  Nov.  29,  p.  1913.     The  Bishop  of  Colchester 

AS  A  Critic. 
Dec.    13,   p.    1990.      The    Bishop    op   Colchester   as    a 

Critic. 
In  The  Academy,  Oct.  28,  p.  367.    The  Methods  of  the  Higher 

Criticism. 
In  The  Church  Times,  Feb.  3,  p.  101.      Canon  Driver  on 

Genesis  i. 

1894 

The  Book  of  Leviticus  ;  Vol.  ii.,  Critical  Edition  of  the 
Hebrew  Text,  printed  in  Colours  exhibiting  the 
Composite  Structure  of  the  Book,  with  Notes. 
Assisted  by  the  Rev.  H.  A.  White— In  "The  Polychrome 
Bible." 
New  edition  : — June.  An  Introduction  to  the  Literature 
OP  the  Old  Testament  (1891),  5th  ed.,  revised,  with  an 
appendix. 

In  The  Contemporary  Review,  vol.  Ixv.  p.  408.  Archeology  and 
THE  Old  Testament. 

In  The  Guardian,  Oct.  10,  p.  1561.  The  Growth  op  the  Old 
Testament. '^ 

In  The  Oxford  Magazine,  vol.  xii.  p.  273.  Professor  Robert- 
son SiHTH. 

1895 

A  Critical  and  Exegetical  Commentary  on  Deuteronomy — 
In  "  The  International  Critical  Commentary  Series." 
Editions:— (1)  1895;   (2)1896;   (3)1902. 

^  Read  at  the  Church  Congress  at  Exeter  on  Tuesday,  Oct.  9. 


APPENDIX  A  221 

Detailed  Statement  op  the  Evidence  respectino  (cXijt»;  iyla. 
On  p.  12  of  "  A  Critical  and  Exegetical  Commentary  on 
The  Epistle  to  the  Romans,"  by  the  Rev.  William 
Sanday,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  and  the  Rev.  Arthur  C.  Headlam, 
B.D. 

In  The  Expositor,  5th  series,  vol.  i.  p.  241.    The  Speeches  in 
Chronicles. 
Vol.  ii.  p.  286.     The  Speeches  in  Chronicles. 

In  The  Guardian,  Nov.  13,  p.  1767.  Professor  Sayce  and  the 
"  Critics." 

1806 
Notes   on  the  Hebrew  Words  for  Wine — In   "The  Bible 
and  Temperance,"  p,  7. 
New  edition : — A  Critical  and  Exegetical  Commentary 

on  Deuteronomy  (1895),  2nd  ed. 
Reprint : — An  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the 
Old  Testament,  5th  ed. 
In  The  Expository  Times,  vol.  vii.  p.  431.     Hebrew  Concord- 
ances. 
p.  478.     Melchizedek. 
p.  567.    The  Wells  of  Beer-sheba. 
Vol.  viii.  p.  43.    Melchizedek. 
p.  142.    Melchizedek. 
In  The  Contemporary  Review,  vol.  Ixix.  p.  257.     "  The  Sceptics 

of  the  Old  Testament."    By  E.  J.  Dillon. 
In  The  Academy,  Oct.  17,  p.  275.     The  Works  of  Abb6  Loisy. 
In   The  Guardian,  March  11,  p.  394.     Archeology  and  the 
Old  Testament.     I.  Chedorlaomer  and  his  Allies. 
Apr.  8,  p.  537.     Archeology  and  the  Old  Testament. 

II.  Melchizedek. 

May  6,  p.  722.     Archeology  and  Genesis  xiv. 

May  20,  p.  791.     Archeology  and  the  Old  Testament. 

III.  NiMROD  AND  CUSH. 

p.  802.     Archeology  and  Genesis  xiv. 
May  27,  p.  836.    Archeology  and  Genesis  xiv, 
June  3,  p.  875.    The  Higher  Criticism. 
June  10,  p.  924.     Archeology  and  Genesis  xiv. 
July  1,  p.  1029.    The  Original  Hebrew  of  Ecclesiasticus. 
July  29,  p.  1189.     Archeology  and  the  Old  Testament. 

IV.  The  Cosmogony  of  Genesis, 


222  APPENDIX  A 

1897 

The  Books  of  Joel  and  Amos,  edited  with  Introduction 
AND  Notes— In  "  The  Cambridge  Bible  for  Schools  and 
Colleges." 
[Reprinted  in  1898  and  1901.] 
A  Glossary  with  the  Note  Appended,  on  pp.  xxxi-xxxvi 
of  "  The  Original  Hebrew  of  a  Portion  of  Ecclesiasticus," 
edited    by    A,    E.    Cowley,  M.A.,  and    Ad.  Neubauer. 
M.A. 
New  edition : — An  Introduction  to  the  Literature  op 
the  Old  Testament  (1891),  6th  ed.,  revised  and  enlarged 
(and  entirely  reset). 
In  The  Expository  Times,  vol.  viii.  p.  240,  Sargon  op  Akkad 
and  his  Critics. 
p.  426.     The  Translation  of  Maspero.     (By  "  Verax.") 
Vol.  ix.   p.   96.      Hommel's    "  Ancient    Hebrew    Tradi- 
tion." 
p.  118.   Professor  Nowack's  "  Die  Kleinen  Propheten." 
In  The  Jewish  Quarterly  Review,  vol.  ix.  p.  563.     The  Hebrew 
Text    op    Ecclesiasticus.      (1)  The  Word  fi^jrin  in 
EccLus.   xliv.    17.    (2)  Prof.   Smend's   Emendations. 
By  the  Editors  of  the  Hebrew  Text  of  Ecclesiasticus 
(A.  E.  Cowley,  Ad.  Neubauer,  S.  R.  Driver). 
In  The  Athenaeum,  No.  3610,  p.  18.    The  English  Translation 
OF  Prof.   Maspero's   "  Struggle   of  the   Nations." 
(By  "  Verax.") 
No.  3612,  p.  84.    Prop.   Maspero's   "  Struggle   of   the 

Nations."     (By  "  Verax.") 
No.  3614,  p.  149.    Prof.  Maspero's  "  Struggle  of  the 
Nations."     (By  "  Verax.") 
In   The ,  Guardian,   Nov.   3,   p.    1767.     The  Translation  op 
"  The  Struggle  of  the  Nations."     (By  "  Verax.") 
Nov.  17,  p.  1848.    Professor  Maspero's  "Struggle  op  the 

Nations."     (By  "  Verax.") 
Dec.  1,  p.   1928.    Professor  Maspero  and  the  S.P.C.K. 

(By  "Verax.") 
Dec.  15,  p.  2021.    The  Translation  of  Maspero's  "  Struggle 

op  the  Nations."     (By  "  Verax.") 
Dec.  22,  p.  2056.    Professor  Maspero  and  the  S.P.C.K. 
(By  "  Verax.") 


APPENDIX  A  223 


1898 

The  Book  of  Leviticus  ;  Vol.  i.,  A  new  English  Transla- 
tion, PRINTED  IN  Colours  exhibiting  the  Composite 
Structure  of  the  Book,  with  explanatory  Notes 
AND  PICTORIAL  ILLUSTRATIONS.  Assisted  by  the  Rev. 
H.  A.  White— In  "  The  Polychrome  Bible." 

The  Parallel  Psalter,  being  the  Prayer-Book  Version 
OP  THE  Psalms  and  a  New  Version  arranged  on 
opposite  Pages,  with  an  Introduction  and  Glossaries. 
Editions  :— (1)  1898  ;  (2)  1904. 

A  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  dealing  with  its  Language, 
Literature,  and  Contents,  including  the  Bibucal 
Theology  ;  edited  by  James  Hastings,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  John  A.  Selbie  and,  chiefly  in  the  revision 
of  proofs,  of  A.  B.  Davidson,  S.  R.  Driver,  H.  B. 
Swete. 
[Reprinted  in  May  1898,  April  1900,  December  1901, 
February  1903,  June  1904,  September  1905,  August 
1906.  February  1910.] 

Articles  : — Abomination,  Abomination  of  Desolation,  Argob, 

ASHTAROTH,  ASHTORETH,  DaY  OF  ATONEMENT  (partly), 

AzAZEL,  Bezer,  Creeping  Things,  Detestable  Things, 
Dizahab,  Ephod,  Geliloth,  Gilead,  Mt.  Gtlead, 
Habakkuk,  Hazerim,  Hazeroth,  Hill  Country, 
Hivites,  Host  of  Heaven,  Ir-ha-heres,  Ishmael, 
Jacob,  Jah,  Jebus,  Jebusi  and  Jebusite,  Joseph, 
Laban,  Law  in  the  Old  Testament,  The  Lord  op 
Hosts,  Lot  and  Lot's  Wife,  Machir,  Maktesh, 
Manasseh,  Massah,  Meni,  Mori.\h,  The  Most  High, 
Nahor,  Naioth,  Nob,  Offer  and  Offering  and  Ob- 
lation, Pethor,  Plain,  Poor,  Potiphar,  Potiphera, 
Propitiation,  Rachel,  Ramah  (partly),  Rebekah, 
RiBLAH,  Sabbath,  Shiloh,  Shun,  Siddim,  The  Son  of 
Man,    Confusion    of    Tongues,    Vale    and    Valley, 

ZAMZUMillM,  ZOAR,  ZUZIM. 

New  edition : — An  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of 

the  Old  Testament  (1891),  7th  ed. 
Reprint: — The  Books  of  Joel  and  Amos  (1897). 


224  APPENDIX  A 

In  The  Expositor,  5th  series,  vol.  vii.  p.  464.    Magna  est  Vebitas 

ET  PK.a!VALET.l 

In  The  Expository  Times,  vol.  x.  p.  15.     The  best  Critical 
Commentary  on  Isaiah  ii. 

1899 
An  Essay  on  Hebbew  Authority.      Part  I.   in   Hogarth's 

"  Authority  and  Archaeology." 
Articles  in  the  Encyclopcedia  Biblica : — Bashan,  Beth-Peor, 

Chronicles    (partly),    Goel,    Golan,    Joel,    Mesha, 

Tbachonitis,  Zephaniah. 
In  The  Critical  Review,  vol.  ix.  p.  77.     "  The  Poetry   and 

Religion  of  the  Psalms."      By    Professor    James 

Robertson, 
In  The  Guardian,  June  28,  p.  886.     "  The  Original  Hebrew  of 

ECCLESIASTICUS." 

July  12,  p.  975.     "The  Original  Hebrew  of  Ecclesias- 

TICUS." 

Nov,  15,  p.  1609,    Recent  Literature  on  Ecclesiasticus. 

1900 
The  Book  op  Daniel,  with  an  Introduction  and  Notes— 
In  "  The  Cambridge  Bible  for  Schools  and  Colleges." 
[Reprinted  in  1912.] 
Notes  in  Different  Conceptions  of  Priesthood  and  Sacrifice,  edited 
by  W.  Sanday : — On  p.  12,  Words  for  Sacrifice. 
On  p.  19,  The  Hebrew  Word  for  Priest. 
On  p,  39,  To  lay  the  Hands  upon. 
In  The  Expository  Times,  vol.  xi.  p.  230.     The  Word  j/ynnn^ 
in  Prov.  xviii,  24. 
p.  233.    A  Correction  of  a  Statement  in  the  Encyclo- 
pedia Biblica,  s.v.  Bashan. 
In  The  Guardian,  Feb.  28,  p.  326.     "  The  Original  Hebrew 
of   Ecclus.    xxxi.    12-31   and  xxxvi,  22-xxxvii.   26." 
By  the  Rev.  G.  Marqoliouth. 
March  14,  p.  460.    The  German  Translation  of  the  Apocry- 
phal    AND     PSBUDEPIGRAPHIC     WRITINGS    OP    THE    OlD 

1  Reprinted  in  The  Expositor  (the  American  edition)  in  July, 
vol.  iii-  p.  546. 


A 


APPENDIX   A  225 

Testament,  under  the  Editorship  of  Professor 
Kautzsch. 
In  The  Christian  World  Pulpit,  Nov.  14,  p.  312.  The  Old 
Testament  in  the  Light  of  To-day.^  An  Address 
delivered  in  connection  with  the  Jubilee  of  New  College, 
Hampstead,  on  Wednesday,  November  7. 

1901 
Articles  in  the  Jewish  Encyclopedia  : — Exodus  (partly),  Deuter- 
onomy (partly). 
Reprints: — The  Books  op  Joel  and  Amos  (1897);    The 

Book  of  Daniel  (1900). 
In  The  Expositor,  6th  series,  vol.  iii.  p.  27.    The  Old  Testament 

IN  the  Light  of  To-day.* 
In  The  Expositor)/  Times,  vol.  xii.  p.  187.     A  Correction  re 

P6KES,  ON  p.  69  of  the  Cambridge  Commentary  on 

Daniel. 
In  The  Jewish  Chronicle,  March  8,  p.  12.    Dr.  Adolf  Neubauer. 
In    The  Guardian,  May    29,   p.   740.     "  The    Ascension    of 

Isaiah."    By  R.  H.  Charles,  D.D. 
June  19,  p.  842.    Two  Books  on  Assyria  and  Babylonu  : 

"  A  History  of  Babylonia  and   Assyria."     By   R. 

W.   Rogers,   Ph.D.   (Leipzig),   D.D.,   LL.D..  F.R.G.S. 

"  Voices  of  the  Past  from  Assyria  and  Babylonia." 

By  H.  S.  Robertson,  B.A.,  D.Sc. 
In  The  Oxford  Magazine,  vol.  xix.  p.  276.     Canon  Bright,  An 

Appreciation.^ 

1902 
A  Letter  to  the  Vice-Chancellor — On  p.  1 6  of  "  Statements 

of  the  Needs  of  the  University,  being  Replies  to  a  Circular 

Letter  addressed  by  the  Vice-Chancellor  on  Feb.  20,  1902 

to  the  Heads  of  Institutions  and  Departments,  to  the 

Boards  of  Faculties,  and  to  the  Professors  and  Readers."' 
New  edition : — A  Critical  and  Exegetical  Commentary 

ON  Deuteronomy  (1895),  3rd  ed. 

^  Reprinted  1901  in  The  Expositor,  6th  series,  vol.  iii.  p.  27  (see 
p.  228,  note "). 

«  Republished  in  "  The  Higher  Criticism,"  by  S.  R.  Driver  and 
A.  F.  Kirk  Patrick,  in  1905.  An  address  delivered  at  New  College, 
London. 

'Reprinted  in  The  Guardian,  March  13,  p.  346. 

15 


226  APPENDIX  A 

Reprint : — An  iKTRODtrcTiON  to  the  Liteeatttre  of  the 
Old  Testament,  7th  ed. 

Jn  The  Expositor,  6th  series,  vol.  vi.  p.  321.     Specimen  of  a 
New  Translation  of  the  Prophets. 

Jn  The  Expository  Times,  vol.  xiii.  p.  167.    Should  the  Author- 
ized Version  continue  to  be  used  in  the  Public 
Services  of  the  Church  ? 
p.  240.    A  Correction  to  be  made  on  p.  168. 
p.  457.    Jacob's  Route  from  Haran  to  Shechem. 

In  The  Guardian,  Jan.  1,  p.  20.  "An  Assyrian  Doomsday  Book, 
OR  Liber  Censualis  of  the  District  round  Habran 
in  the  Seventh  Century  b.c."  By  the  Rev.  C.  H. 
W.  Johns,  M.A.  "The  Books  of  Ezra  and  Nehb- 
MiAH."  By  Hermann  Guthe,  D.D.  "The  Ancient 
East:  No.  II.  The  Tell  el  Amarna  Period."  By 
Carl  Niebuhe. 
Feb.  19,  p.  271.     Professor  A.  B.  Davidson. 

In  The  British  Weekly,  Jan.  30.     Dr.  Davidson. 

In  Records  of  the  Past,^  vol.  i.  p.  59.     The  Moabite  Stone.   (By 
Dr,  Ginsburg  and  Prof.  Driver,) 

1903 
Professor    Davidson — In   "  The  Proceedings  of  the  British 

Academy,  1903-1904,"  p.  289. 
Two  Letters  to  John  Abbey — In  "  The  Bible,  The  Theologians, 
The  Christian  Churches,  and  the  Drink  Curse,"  pp.  1  and  6. 
Reprint : — An  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the 
Old  Testament,  7th  ed. 
In  The  Expositor,  6th  series,  vol.  vii.  p.  37,    Translations  feom 
THE  Prophets,     Jer.  iv.  3-vi.  30.' 
p.  •  147.     Translations  from    the    Prophets.     Jer.    i, 

vii.  1-ix.  22.* 
p.  229.    Translations  from  the   Prophets.     Jer.   ix. 

23-xiii.* 
p.    316.     Translations  from  the  Prophets.     Jer,   xi. 
9-xii.  6.* 

*  An  American  periodical. 

2  Republished  in  1906  under  the  title  of  "  The  Book  of  the  Prophet 
Jeremiah ;  A  Revised  Translation  with  Introductions  and  Short 
Explanations." 


APPENDIX  A  227 

p.     353.      Translations    from     the    Prophets.     Jbb. 

xii.  7-xvi.  9.^ 
Vol.  viii.  p.  12.     Translations  from  the  Prophets.     Jer. 

xxii.-xxiii.* 
Fn  The  Journal  of  Iheolojkal  Studies,  vol.  iv.  p.  434.     Two 

Notes  on  Is.  xli.  5-7. 
In  The  Church  Times,  Aug.  7,  p.  173.     The  Hebrew  Prophets 

(Is.  li.  4).2 
In  The  Christian  World  Pulpit,  Aug.  12,  p.  104.    The  Hebrew 

Prophets  (on  Is.  li.  4). 

1904 

The  Book  of  Genesis,  with  Introduction  and  Notes — 
In  "  The  Westminster  Commentaries."  Editions  :—(l) 
1904,  January;  (2)  1904,  March;  (3)  1904,  October; 
(4)  1905;  (5)  1906;  (6)  1907;  (7)  1909;  (8)  1911, 
revised;  (9)  1913. 
In  The  Expositor,  6th  series,  vol.  ix.  p.  104.  Translations 
from  the  Prophets.  Jer.  xvi.  10-xx.  18.^ 
p.    174.     Translations    from    the    Prophets.      Jer. 

xxx.-xxxi.^ 
p.  394.    Translations  from  the  Prophets.     Jer.  xxv.^ 
Vol.  X.  p.  61.     Translations  from  the  Prophets.    Jer. 
xlvi.-xlvii.  28.* 
p.  138.     Translations  from  the  Prophets.    Jer.  xlvii. 
29-xlix.i 
In  The  Church  Quarterly  Review,  July,  p.  439.    "  Old  Testament 
Prophecy."     By  the  late  A.  B.  Davidson,  D.D. 
Oct.,  p.  219.     "  The  Book  of  Psalms."     By  T.  K.  Cheyne, 
D.LiTT.,  D.D. 
In  The  Guardian,  Oct.  5,  p.  1628.     A  Jasper  Seal,  discovered 
AT  Tell  el-Mutesellim. 
Oct.  26,  p.  1791.     Dr.  A.  B.  Davidson's  Theology  or  the 

Old  Testament. 
New  editions  :— The  Parallel  Psalter  (1898). 

'  Republished  in  1906  under  the  title  of  "The  Book  of  the  Prophet 
Jeremiah:  A  Revised  Translation  with  Introductions  and  Short 
Explanations." 

*  No.  '21  of  "  Sermons  on  (Critical  Questions,"  preached  at  St. 
Mark's,  Marylcbone  Road,  London,  N.W. 


228  APPENDIX  A 

March.     The  Book  of  Genesis  (Jan.  1904),  2nd  ed, 
Oct.    The  Book  of  Genesis  (Jan.  1904),  3rd  ed. 

1905 

Dettteronomium  et  Libek  Josu-e — In  Rud.  Kittel's  "  Biblia 

Hebraica."  i     Editions  :— (1)  1905  ;    (2)  1909. 
The  Highek  Criticism.     Three  Papers  by  S.  R.  Driver  and 
A.  F.  Kirkpatrick.*    Editions  .—(1)  1905;   (2)  1912  (in 
an  enlarged  form). 
The  Critical  Study  of  the  Old  Testament — In  "  Essays  for 
the  Times,"  No.  21.3 
New  edition  : — The  Book  of  Genesis  (1904),  4th  ed. 
Reprint : — An  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the 
Old  Testament,  7th  ed. 
In  The  Interpreter,  vol.  i.  p.  10.     The  Permanent  Reugious 

Value  of  the  Old  Testament.* 
In  The  Church    Quarterly  Review,  July,  p.  416.     Studies  in 

Biblical  Law.    By  Harold  M.  Wiener,  M.A.,  LL.D. 
In  The  Cfvardian,  June  21,  p.  1048.    Professor  Konig  and 
THE  Higher  Criticism. 
Oct.  18,  p.  1743.     Dr.  Reich  on  the  "  Higher  Criticism." 
In  The  Record,  vol.  xxiv.  p.  670,  July  14.     Dr.  Reich's  Lecture, 
p.  768,  Aug.  18,    The  Higher  Criticism. 
p.  809,  Sept.  1.    The  Higher  Criticism. 
p.  827,  Sept.  8.    The  Higher  Criticism. 
p.  847,  Sept.  15.     The  Higher  Criticism. 
p.  868,  Sept.  22.     The  Higher  Criticism. 
p.  890,  Sept.  29.    The  Higher  Criticism. 

*  "  Biblia  Hebraica,  adjuvantibus  Professoribus  G.  Beer,  F.  Buhl, 
G.  Dalman,  S.  R.  Driver,  M.  Lohr,  W.  Nowack,  I.  W.  Rothstein, 
V.  Ryssel,  edidit  Rud.  Kittel,  Professor  Lipsiensis." 

2  The  two  papers  by  Dr.  Driver  were  reprinted  from  The  Ex- 
positor, Jan.  1901,  p.  27,  and  The  Interpreter,  1905,  vol.  i.  p.  10. 

3  "  Reprinted,  by  permission  of  the  editor,  from  The  Contemporary 
Review  for  February,  1890  (vol.  Ivii.  p.  215).  One  or  two  short 
omissions  have  been  made  and  a  few  verbal  alterations  introduced ; 
but  in  other  respects  the  paper  remains  as  it  was  originally  written  " 
(note  on  p.  5). 

*  Republished  in  "  The  Higher  Criticism,"  by  S.  R,  Driver  and 
A.  F.  Kirkpatrick,  in  1905. 


APPENDIX  A  229 

p.  999,  Oct.  27.    The  Higher  Criticism. 

p.  1051,  Nov.  10.     The  Higher  Criticism. 

p.  1101,  Nov.  24.    The  Higher  Criticism, 

p.  1158,  Dec.  8.    The  Higher  Criticism. 

p.  1027,  Dec.  22.    The  Higher  Criticism. 
In  The  Times,  June  1.     The  Higher  Criticism. 
In  The  Daily  Mail,  Aug.  23,  p.  2.     What  is  Criticism  ? 
Sept.  6,  p.  6,     Canon  Driver's  Postscript. 

1906 

The  Book  of  Job  m  the  Revised  Version,  edited  with 
Introductions  and  Brief  Annotations. 
[Reprinted  in  1908.] 

Ecclesiastes— In  Rud.  Kittel's  "  Biblia  Hebraica."  1  Edi- 
tions :— (1)  1906) ;  (2)  1909. 

The  Minor  Prophets  (Nahum,  Habakkuk,  Zephaniah, 
Haggai,  Zechariah,  Malachi),  Introductions,  Re- 
vised Version  with  Notes,  Index  and  Map — In  "  The 
Century  Bible." 

A  Hebrew  and  English  Lexicon  of  the  Old  Testament, 
with  an  Appendix  containing  the  Biblical  Aramaic, 

BASED  ON  THE  LEXICON  OF  WiLLIAM  GeSENIUS,  AS  TRANS- 
LATED BY  Edward  Robinson;  by  Francis  Brown  with  the 
co-operation  of  S.  R.  Driver  and  Charies  A.  Briggs.* 
The  Book  of  the  Prophet  Jeremiah;    A  Revised  Trans- 

• "  Biblia  Hebraica,  adjuvantibus  Professoribus  G.  Beer,  F.  Buhl, 
G.  Dalman,  S.  R.  Driver,  M.  Lohr,  W.  Nowack,  I.  W.  Rothstein, 
V.  Ryssel,  cdidit  Rud.  Kittcl,  Professor  Lipsienis." 

^  "  The  articles  written  by  Professor  Driver  include  all  pronouns, 
prepositions,  adverbs,  conjunctions,  interjections, and  other  particlea, 
together  with  some  nouns  whose  princijial  use  (with  or  without  a 
preposition)  is  adverbial ;  also  some  entire  stems  of  which  only  one 
derivative  is  used  adverbially  :  e.g.  I.  nna,  nSa  (not  Sy!^?),  nn',  I.  ^Si, 
DUD,  yn  ;  bufr  in  the  case  of  dcv,  ^}},  3*59,  1.  i^y,  Vyo  and  "^y  {s^lb  .I'jv), 
cy,  'i)iy,  jv  {sub  rrjy),  among  others,  Professor  Driver's  responsibility 
does  not  go  beyond  the  particular  words.  Under  nj9  ho  is  respon- 
sible for  the  treatment  of  \i^  with  prepositions  prefixed.  He  has 
prepared  a  few  other  articles,  as  well ;  e.g.  S'^k,  H.  113,  S5.7,  r\-£\ 
r\y\r\,  Tpi;i,  nno,  cys,  inn.  In  addition  to  articles  for  which  he  is  ex- 
clusively responsible,  he  has  read  all  the  proofs,  and  made  many 
suggestions  "  (Preface,  p.  ix). 


230  APPENDIX  A 

LATION  WITH  INTRODUCTIONS  AND  ShORT  EXPLANATIONS.^ 

Editions  :— (1)  1906  ;   (2)  1908. 
New  edition  : — The  Book  of  Genesis  (1904),  5th  ed. 
In  The  Expository  Times,  vol.  xvii.  p.  282.     On  Dillmann's 
Critical  Position. 

1907 
New  edition  : — The  Book  op  Genesis  (1904),  6th  ed. 
Reprint : — An  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the 
Old  Testament,  7th  ed. 
In  The  Expository  Times,  vol.  xviii.  p.   189.     Dr.  Driver's 
Jeremiah. 
p.  331,    Notes  on  the  Book  of  Judges. 
In  The  Guardian,  Oct.  23,  p.  1752.     Genesis  and  Science. 
Nov.  6,  p.  1827.     A  Jewish  Temple  in  Egypt,  b.c,  525-111, 

p.  1834.    Genesis  and  Science. 
Nov.  20,  p.  1913.     Genesis  and  Science. 
Nov.  27,  p.  1953.     Genesis  and  Science, 
Dec.  4,  p.  1996.    Genesis  and  Science. 
Dec.  11,  p.  2057.    Genesis  and  Science. 

1908 
Christianity  and  Other  Religions  ;    Three  short  Sermons 

by  S.  R.  Driver  (1),  and  W.  Sanday  (2  and  3). 
A  Prefatory  Note  to  The  Book  of  Isaiah,  by  G.  H.  Box,  M.A, 
Article  in  Hastings'   Encydopcedia  of  Religion  and  Ethics : — 
Expiation  and  Atonement. 
Reprint : — The  Book  of  Job. 
In  The  Expositor,  7th  series,  vol.  v.  p.  481.     An  Aram.4.ic  In- 
scription from  Syria. 
In  The  Iriterpreter,  vol.  iv.  p.  245.     A  Light  to  the  Gentiles.^ 
In  The  Times,  March  20.     Biblical  Archeology. 
Apr.  3.    Biblical  Archeology. 

1909 

Modern    Research    as    Illustrating    the    Bible.      The 

Schweich  Lectures  for  1908. 
Articles  in  Hastings'  Dictionary  of  the  Bible  (one   volume) : — 

1  Based  on  the  articles  in  The  Expositor  for  1903  and  1904. 

2  Rep  i!  lished  1915  in  "The  Ideals  of  the  Prophets  "  Sermon  xi. 


APPENDIX  A  231 

Eber,   Goo,   Ir-ha-heres,   Kenites,   Magoq,    MA>rRK, 

MizPAH,  MizPEH,  Penuel,  Succoth. 
Articles  in  The  Standard  Bible  Dictionary  : — Aramaic  Lanquaqe, 

Chronicles,  Jeremiah,  Numbers. 
New  editions  : — An  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  thb 

Old  Testament  (1891),  8th  ed.,  revised. 
Deuteronomium,    Liber   Josu^,    Ecclesiastes  —  In    Rud. 

Kittel,  "  Biblia  Hebraica,"  2nd  ed.,  emended.^ 
In  The  Expository  Times,  vol.  xxi.  p.  29.     The  Ideals  of  the 

Prophets.^ 
In  The  Journal  of  Theological  Studies,  vol.  x.  p.  616.     "The 

Reuqion    of    Ancient    Palestine    in    the    Second 

Millennium  b.c,  in  the  Light  of  Archeology  and 

THE  Inscriptions."    By  Stanley  A.  Cook. 
In  The  Guardian,  Feb.  17,  p.  241.     The  Walls  of  Jericho. 
In   The  Society  jar  Biblical  Study,  Supplement,   July,   p.    15. 

Bibliography — Old    Testament.     1.  Introductions. 

2.  Commentaries.     1.  Historical  Books. 


1910 

The  Hebrew  Prophets  (I'',  li.  4) — In  "Modem  Sermons  by 

World  Scholars,"  p.  95. 
Article  in  the  11th  edition  of  The  Encyclopcedia  Britannica: — 
Old  Testament  Canon  and  Chronology  (s.v.  Bible). 
New  edition  : — Isaiah,  his  Life  and  Times  (1888),  3rd  ed. 
In  The  Expositor,  7th  series,  vol.  ix.  p.  20.     The  xMethod  op 
Studying  the  Psalter,  with  Special  Application  to 
the  Messianic  Psalms.    Ps.  ii.^ 
p.  114.    The  Method  of  Studying  the  Psalter.    Ps.  xlv. 

An  Ode  celebrating  a  Royal  Marriage.^ 
p.  217.    The  Method  of  Studying  the  Psalter.    Ps.  ex.* 
p.  348.     The  Method  of  Studying  the  Psalter.    Ps.  xl.^ 
p.  507.    The  Method  of  Studying  the  Psalter.    Ps. 
xxii.* 

»  "  Item  Professores  S.  R.  Driver  et  Eb.  Nestle,  qui  passim  ad  notat 
corrigendas  vel  locuplelandas  coniribiierunt,  nos  sibi  obstrinxerunt " 
(Prmjatio  ad  rditionem  alteram,  p.  111). 

"  Republi8hed  1915  in  "The  Ideala  of  the  Prophets."  Sermon  ix. 

*  Republished  1916  in  'Studies  in  the  Psalms 


232  APPENDIX  A 

Vol.  X.  p.  26.    The  Method  of  Studying  the  Psaltee. 

Ps.  xvi.^ 
In  The  Expository  Times,  vol.  xxi.  p.  495.     I.  On  Maps  of 

Palestine  containing  Ancient  Sites. 
p.  562.    II.  On  Maps  of  Palestine  containing  Ancient 

Sites. 
In  The  Oxford  Chronicle,  Jan.  21.     Dr.  Driver's  Reply  at  the 

Presentation  of  his  Portrait. 
In  The  Oxford  Times,  Jan.  22.     Dr.  Driver's  Reply  at  the 

Presentation  op  his  Portrait. 
In  The  Society  for  Biblical  Study,  Supplement,  January,  p.  8. 

Bibliography    of    the    Old    Testament.      2.  The 

Prophets. 
Supplement,  April,  p.  II.     Old  Testament  Bibliography. 

3.  The    Hagiographa     [Revised    in    the    Supplement, 

July,   1912.    Bibliography  of  the  Old  Testament, 

Revised.] 
In  The  Sunday  at  Home,  March.    Which  is  the  Most  Magni- 
ficent Passage  in  the  Bible  ? 

1911 
The  Book  op  Exodus,  In  the  Revised  Version,  with  Intro- 
duction AND  Notes — In   "  The    Cambridge    Bible  for 
Schools  and  Colleges." 
New    edition: — The    Book  op  Genesis    (1904),   8th   ed., 
revised. 
In  The  Expositor,  8th  series,  vol.  ii.  p.  385.    I.  The  Book  of 
Judges. 
p.  518.    II.  The  Book  of  Judges. 
In  The  Expository  Times,  vol.  xxii.  p.  341.     The  Authorized 
Version  op  the  Bible.^ 
p.  497.,    A  Mirror  for  Rulers  (Ps.  Ixxii.  1).^ 
In  The  Guardian,  Jan.  25,  p.  106,     Hebrew  Inscriptions  prom 
Sbbustieh,  the  Site  of  the  ancient  Samaria.     (Notes 
for  the  week,  Nos.  10  and  11.) 
Feb.  10,  p.  180.    The  Discoveries  at  Samaria. 
In  The  Record,  vol.  xxx.  p.  106,  Feb.  17.    Islington  Clerical 
Meeting. 

1  Republished  1915  in  "Studies  in  the  Psalms." 

2  "The  Ideals  of  the  Prophets,"  Sermons  xix.,  xx. 


APPENDIX   A  233 

p.  235,  March  10.    Islington  Clerical  Meeting. 
p.  282,  March  24.     Islington  Clerical  Meeting. 
In  The  Oxford  Times,  Apr.  1.     Commemoration  Sermon  on  the 
Tercentenary  of  the  Authorized  Version  of  the 
Bible  (Is.  xi.  9).^ 

1912 
On  the  Marginal  Notes  of  the  Revised  Version.   (By  S.  R. 

Driver  and  W.  Aldis  Wright.) 
Articles  in  The  Prayer -Book  Dictionary : — Penitential  Psalms, 
Psalter. 2 
New  edition  : — The  Higher  Criticism.     By  S,  R.  Driver  and 
A.  F.  Kirkpatrick  (as  in  1905,  with  the  addition  of  another 
paper  by  A.  F.  Kirkpatrick). 
Reprint : — The  Book  of  Daniel. 
In  The  Expositor,  8th  series,  vol.  iii.  p.  24.    The  Book  of  Judges. 
III.  Deborah  and  Barak. 
p.  120.    The  Book  of  Judges.    IV.  Deborah  and  Barak 
(continued). 
In  The  Times,  July  15,    A  Revised  Version  without  Notes.* 

1913 

New   editions : — Notes   on    the    Hebrew    Text  of  the 
Books    of    Samuel    (1890),    2nd    ed.,*    revised    and 
enlarged. 
An  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment (1891),  9th  ed.,  revised. 

^  "  The  Ideals  of  the  Prophets,"  Sermon  xx. 

*  "  Studies  in  the  Psalms." 

3  Theologians'  Protest,  published  also  in  other  periodicals,  and 
signed  by  30  scholars  :  W.  Aldis  Wright,  Christian  D.  Gmsburg, 
T.  K.  Cheyne,  A.  H.  Sayce,  S.  R.  Driver  (Members  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment Revision  Company),  F.  H.  Chase,  H.  E.  Ryle,  A.  F.  Kirk- 
patrick, H.  B.  Swete,  A.  J.  Mason,  W.  Kmery  Barnes,  R.  H.  Konnett, 
F.  C.  Burkitt,  J.  F.  Bethune-Baker,  J.  H.  Srawley,  Stanley  A. 
Cook,  H.  S.  Holland,  R.  L.  Ottley,  E.  W.  Watson,  W.  Lock.  G.  A. 
Cooke,  C.  F.  Burney,  R.  H.  Charles,  J.  F.  Stenning.  A.  C.  Headlam, 
J.  Skinner,  W.  H.  Bennett,  J.  H.  Moiilton,  G.  B.  Gray.  A.  S.  Pcake. 

*  Entitled  Notes  on  the  Hebrew  Text  and  the  Topooraphy 
op  the  Books  of  Samuel,  with  an  iNTRonucTiox  on  Hehrew 
Paleography  and  the  Ancient  Versions  and  Facsimiles  of 
Inscriptions  and  Maps. 


234  APPENDIX  A 

The  Book  of  Genesis  (1904),  9th  ed. 
In  The  Church  Reading  Magazine,  No.  47,  p.  37.     The  Book  of 

Genesis.^ 
In  The  Jewish  Chronicle,  Oct.  31,  Supplement,  p.  4.     Blood 

Ritual  Protest, 
In  The  Jetvish  World,  Oct.  29.     Blood  Ritual  Protest. 

1914 
In  The  Expository  Times,  vol.  xxv.  p.  179.    "  Notes  on  Samuel." 

POSTHUMOUS  WORKS 

1915 
The  Ideals  of  the  Prophets.      Sermons:     together  with  a 

Bibliography  of  his  published  Writings.    Edited  by  the 

Rev.  G.  A.  Cooke,  D.D. 
Studies  in  the  Psalms.^    Edited  by  the  Rev.  C.  F.  Burney, 

D.Litt. 

^  Also  printed,  before  the  insertion  of  the  last  paragraph,  for  the 
Lincoln  Diocesan  Reading  Society. 

2  Containing  the  Articles,  in  The  Expositor  for  1910,  entitled  "  The 
Method  of  Studying  the  Psalter,"  and  Sermons  on  the  Psalms. 
A  commentary  on  the  Book  of  Job  is  being  completed  by  Dr. 
Buchanan  Gray  and  Dr.  McNeile,  for  the  "Int.  Grit.  Comment." 
series. 


APPENDIX  B 

THE  MAIN  EVENTS  IN  DR.  DRIVER'S  LIFE 


1846,  Oct.  2   .      .      .   Bom  at  Southampton. 

1857,  June     .      „      .    First   school    at    Rev.    H.    N.    Burrows, 

Shirley  House,  Southampton. 

1862,  May  3  .      .      .   A  "  Commoner  "  at  Winchester  College. ^ 

1865 Third    "Winchester"    Classical    Scholar- 
ship to  New  College,  Oxford, 

1866 Pusey  and  Ellerton  Hebrew  Scholarship. 

1867 First  class  in  Classical  Moderations. 

Second  class  in  Mathematical  Moderations. 

1869 First  class  in  the   Final    Honour   School 

of   "  Literse   Humaniores."     Degree   of 
B.A. 

1870,  Lent  Term       .   Fellow  of  New  College. 

Kennioot  Hebrew  Scholarship. 

1871,  Lent  Term       .    IJall  Houghton  Senior  Septuagint  Prize. 

1872,  Lent  Term       .   Houghton  Syriac  Prize.^     Degree  of  IM.A. 
1874,  Dec.  31       .      .   Ordentliches     Mitglied     der      Deutschen 

Morgenlandischen  Gesellschaft  (Leipzig). 

^  At  Winchester  he  won  the  following  i)rizc8  : — 1862,  Dec,  Lord 
Saye  and  Sele's  prize  for  Senior  Part,  Fifth  Book  ;  1864,  July, 
Lord  Saye  and  Sole's  prize  for  Junior  Part,  Sixth  Book ;  also.  Lord 
Saye  and  Sele's  prize  for  Natural  Science  ;  1804,  Dec,  Senior  Duncan 
Mathematical  Prize  ;  1865,  July,  the  Warden  and  Fellows'  Prize 
for  Greek  Iambics ;  also,  Lord  Saye  and  Sele's  prize  for  Senior 
Part,  Sixth  Book. 

*  This  was  the  first  award  of  the  S>Tiac  Prize. 

a33 


APPENDIX  B 

Tutor  of  New  College. 

Member  of  the  Old  Testament  Revision 
Company. 

Ordained  deacon  in  Salisbury  Cathedral 
by  Dr.  Moberly,  Bishop  of  Salisbury.^ 

Ordained  priest  by  the  Bishop  of 
Salisbury. 

Appointed  Regius  Professor  of  Hebrew, 
and  Canon  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford.^ 

Degree  of  D.D.,  by  decree  of  Convocation. 

Admitted  Canon. 

Resided  in  Christ  Church. 

Last  meeting  of  the  Old  Testament 
Revision  Company. 

Examining  Chaplain  to  Dr.  Ridding,* 
Bishop  of  Southwell. 

Present  at  the  Portsmouth  Church  Con- 
gress. 

Visit  to  Palestine. 

Married  Mabel,  elder  daughter  of  Edmvmd 
Burr  Esq.,  of  Burgh  next  Aylsham, 
Norfolk. 

Honorary  degree  of  D.Litt.  at  Dublin. 

Present  at  the  Folkestone  Church  Congress. 

Present  at  the  Exeter  Church  Congress, 

Co-editor  with  C.  A.  Briggs  of  the  Old 
Testament  volumes  in  "  The  Inter- 
national Critical  Commentary." 

1  Formerly  Headmaster  of  Winchester  College  (1836-1866). 

2  "  It  is  of  interest  to  note  that  it  was  not  until  1882  that  Pro- 
fessor Driver' became  convinced  of  the  Graf-Wellhausen  view  of  the 
dates  of  the  documents  of  the  Pentateuch  "  ("  The  Life  of  William 
Robertson  Smith,"  by  J.  S.  Black  and  G.  W.  Crystal,  1912,  p.  551). 

3  Dr.  Pusey  died  on  Sept.  16,  1882  ;  Mr.  Gladstone's  letter  offering 
the  Professorship  and  Canonry  to  Dr.  Driver  was  dated  on  Oct.  23 ; 
Mr.  Gladstone's  letter  acknowledging  Dr.  Driver's  acceptance  of  his 
offer  was  dated  on  Oct.  28  ;  the  Letters  Patent  were  dated  on 
Jan.  5,  1883. 

*  Formerly  Second  Master  (1863-1866)  and  Headmaster  (1866- 
1884)  of  Winchester  College. 


236 

1875, 

•9 

Trinity  Term  . 
Mich.  Term  . 

1881, 

Dec.  18   .  . 

1882, 

2  Dec.  21   .   . 

1883, 

Jan. 5  .   .  , 

1884, 

Jan.  12   .  . 

June 
Jul3'- 

1884- 

-1904   .   .   . 

1885, 

Oct.   .   .   . 

1888 
1891, 

•    •     •     •     ■ 

July?  .   .   . 

1892, 

1894, 
1895 

July  .  .  . 
Oct.  ,  .  . 
Sept.  .  .  . 

•    •  '   «    •    • 

APPENDIX   B 


237 


1901,  June  13 
1902    .      .      . 

1905,  June  14 

1906,  Sept.  26 

1907,  Nov.  15 

1910,  Dec.  8  . 


„     Jan. 
„     Jan. -Apr. 
1911    .     .     . 


1913    .... 

1914,  Feb.  26      . 


Honorary  degree  of  D.D.  at  Glafigow. 

Fellow  of  the  British  Academy. 

Honorary  degree  of  Litt.D.  at  Cambridge. 

Honorary  degree  of  D.D.  at  Aberdeen. 

Deputation  to  confer  the  honorary  degree 
of  D.C.L.  on  the  German  Emperor. 

Correspondierendes  INIitglied  der  Kciniglich 
Preussischen  Akademie  der  VVissen- 
schaften  (Berlin). 

Presentation  of  portrait. 

Visit  to  Egypt  and  Palestine. 

Deputation  to  His  Majesty  the  King  on  the 
Tercentenary  of  the  Authorized  Version 
of  the  Bible. 

Vice-President  of  the  National  Anti- 
Vivisection  Society. 

Died  at  Oxford. 


APPENDIX   C 

OBITUARY  NOTICES  OF  DR.  DRIVER 


"  The  Lifb-Work  of  Samuel  Rolles  Driver."     A  Sermon 

preached  in  Christ  Church  Cathedral  on  March  8,  1914. 

By  W.  Sanday,  D.D.,  F.B.A. 
In  periodicals : — 

The  Expositor,  8th  series,  vol.  vii.  No.  41,  p.  385.   By  Professor 

A.  S.  Peake,  D.D. 
The  Expository  Times,  vol.  xxv.  p.  342.     By  the  Rev.  G.  A. 

Cooke,  D.D. 
The  Contemporary  Review,  April.     By  G.  Buchanan  Gray. 
The  Interpreter,  April.     By  the  Editor. 
The  Guardian,  March  6.     By  the  Rev.  Prof.  Naime. 
The  Record,  March  6.     By  "  R.  B.  G." 
The   Christian   Conmmowealth,    March   4.     By    Prof.    T.    K. 

Cheyne,  F.B.A. 
The  Church  Family  Newspaper,  March  6.     By  Prof.  Margo- 

liouth. 
Comment  and  Criticism,  vol.  ii.  p.  7.      Dr.  A.  H.  McNeile,  D.D. 
The  Biblical  World,  vol.  xliii.  p.  291.     By  Francis  Brown, 

D.D.,  LL.D. 
The  Christian  Advocate,  March  19.     By  R.  W.  Rogers. 
The  Commonwealth,   vol.    xix.,   No.    220.      By     Dr.    H.   S. 

Holland. 
The  British  Weekly,  March  5.     By  the  Editor ;    also  by  the 

Rev,  Principal  Skinner,  D.D. ;    by  the  Rev.  Principal 

Bennett,  D.D. ;  by  the  Rev.  J.  Stephens  Roose,  M.A. 
March  12.     By  T.  Witton  Davies. 
April  2.     By  Rev.  Professor  R.  W.  Rogers. 

The  Animals'  Guardian,  April.     By  (Rev.)  M.  C.  F.  Morris. 

238 


APPENDIX  C  239 

The  Chicago  Daily  Tribune,  March  14.     By  the  Rev.  Jesse 

Bowman  Young. 
The    Wykehamist,   March    19.     By  J.    V.    (the   Rev.    Canon 

Vaughan). 
The  Oxford  Magazine,  March  5.     By  C.  F.  B.  (the  Rev.  C.  F. 

Bumey,  D.Litt.). 
The  Oxford  Chronicle,  Feb.  27.     By  W.  B.  Brash. 
The  Oxford  Times,  March  5.  By  the  Rev.  A.  J.  Carlyle,  D.Litt. 
The  Proceedings    of    the    British    Academy,    1915.      By    the 

Rev.  R.  H.  Charles,  D.Litt.,  F.B.A. 


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Morrison  &  Gibb  Limited 

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