The Sources<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It should be unnecessary to point out that these pages do not contain a complete account of the sources on which our knowledge of the ancient world is based. They are intended to convey a quantity of information that may be useful to those who are beginning the study of the subject and suggestions concerning what they may do next after they have made some use of this book. Perhaps the best general suggestion is that they should read more of the authors and texts quoted here and in particular that they should read some works through from beginning to end. I have kept in mind throughout the needs of the reader who knows no language but English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Roman Empire (ch. 1)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The story of the Roman Empire has long been familiar from well-known literary sources; in more recent times these have been supplemented by the use of evidence drawn from inscriptions, papyri, and coins.
\nThe literary evidence is of different kinds, and of unequal value. Augustus\u2019s Res Gestae, though hardly an inspiring document, should not be missed; it is one of the few first-hand sources, drawn up by a leading actor in the story, and perhaps is none the worse for being as matter-of-fact as its author. The history of the whole period is told by Tacitus in the Annals and the Histories. It is not a perfect account, for it is tendentious, and parts of it have been lost; but even so it is a classical piece of historical writing, and on the whole Tacitus is faithful to his facts, though the interpretation he puts upon them is his own affair. Suetonius tells the same story in a different form and with less power in his books on the Twelve Caesars; there are other historians, such as Appian and Dio Cassius, whose works supplement those that have been mentioned but can for the present be deferred.
\nAfter reading Augustus himself and Tacitus, the student should look at the indirect literary evidence, the work of the literary men and philosophers of the period. Above all, Virgil claims attention, both in the Aeneid, which provides a religious and philosophical background for the achievements of Augustus and the greatness of Rome, and in the Eclogues and Georgics, which tell of the Italian\u2019s love for his native countryside. Other poets of the period take us for the most part into a different atmosphere; Horace, and still more Ovid, and satirists such as Martial and Juvenal, reflect the more sophisticated life of the city. Seneca may be read for practical Roman philosophy; interesting and often amusing glimpses of character and social custom under the Empire can be found in, for example, the works of Lucian, in Trimalchio\u2019s Supper (Petronius), and in the Metamorphoses (Apuleius).
\nFor the use of papyri and inscriptions see below. The study of coins is a speciality which few can pursue at first hand; there is an excellent summary of the subject by H. Mattingly in the Cambridge Ancient History 12. 713\u2013720. There is a striking example of its use in E. Stauffer\u2019s Christ and the Caesars (ETr. London 1955).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Papyri (ch. 2)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reader who wishes to see more of the daily life of the Empire revealed in the papyri cannot do better than use the volumes of A. S. Hunt and C. C. Edgar, referred to on p. 28. A smaller collection is that of G. Milligan, Selections from the Greek Papyri (Cambridge 1927). He may see how a special problem is illuminated by papyri in Jews and Christians in Egypt (by H. I. Bell, London and Oxford 1924); a more general account is given by N. Lewis, Life in Egypt under Roman Rule (Oxford 1983). When he has exhausted collections such as these he must turn to the full-scale publications of papyri, such as The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, of which the first volume appeared in 1898, the forty-eighth in 1981. Such a row of volumes may appear forbidding, but the contents are well tabulated and indexed, and it is easy to dip into them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inscriptions (ch. 3)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inscriptions, unfortunately, are not so easily accessible; indeed, the reader who does not intend to use Latin and Greek can make very little headway with the subject. The most considerable collection of inscriptions provided with translations is perhaps that of the series Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua. As its title implies, this series deals with only one part of the ancient world; but it serves as an excellent introduction. Further may be mentioned the very useful collections of W. Dittenberger (Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum, and Orientis Graecae Inscriptiones Selectae); and the four great corpora\u2014Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum, Corpus Inscriptionum Judaicarum, Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, and Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum. In many, however, perhaps in most cases, these are not the most convenient sources for particular inscriptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Philosophers and Poets (ch. 4)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pre-Socratic philosophers are of doubtful importance for the student of early Christianity; the extant fragments of their works are translated in K. Freeman\u2019s Ancilla to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers (Blackwell, Oxford 1948).
\nThe story of Socrates is presumably still common knowledge. The essential parts of it can be conveniently read in the Penguin volume, The Last Days of Socrates. For Plato himself it is, perhaps, best to begin with the Republic, which provides an introduction to both his philosophical and his political thought. In Aristotle\u2019s Nicomachean Ethics the reader will find valuable discussions of a number of ethical and religious terms which reappear\u2014though by no means always with the same meanings\u2014in the New Testament.
\nThe surviving works of Epicurus are not many; they are translated by C. Bailey in his book Epicurus (Oxford 1926).
\nThe earlier Stoics are difficult of access to the English reader. The fragments of their works are admirably collected in H. von Arnim, Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta (four volumes, Leipzig 1903\u201324), but no one has yet done for this volume what Miss Freeman (see above) has done for H. Diels, Fragmente der Vorsokratiker (three volumes, Berlin 1951, 1952). There is, however, an excellent selection in E. Bevan\u2019s Later Greek Religion (London 1927), an admirable collection of documents. Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius are available in several translations, and are well worth serious study.
\nThose commonly called \u2018philosophers\u2019 were not the only Greek thinkers who pondered deeply the problems of human existence. The great tragic poets, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, are among the most important representatives of the Greek power to observe and consider, and their work is a significant part of the New Testament background. Many of the plays are to be found in translation in the Penguin Classics.
\nFinally, the student may be recommended to read through Philostratus\u2019s Life of Apollonius of Tyana, which provides a striking picture not only of this itinerant philosopher but also of the life of the Graeco-Roman world; and is a very entertaining story too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gnosticism (ch. 5)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best introduction to the difficult field of Gnosticism is provided by R. McL. Wilson\u2019s Gnosis and the New Testament (Blackwell, Oxford 1968), which may be followed by his The Gnostic Problem (Mowbray, London 1958). There is, however, nothing to equal reading the texts, and a beginner will find helpful Gnosticism, an Anthology (R. M. Grant, ed., Collins, London 1961). There is more material in the two volumes of Gnosis (W. Foerster, ed., ETr. R. McL. Wilson, ed., Oxford University Press, I 1972, II 1974).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mystery Religions (ch. 6)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the reasons given in this chapter, study of the Mystery Religions is very difficult, and there are few simple, straightforward texts that can be recommended for reading. The whole of Apuleius\u2019s Metamorphoses xi (part of which is quoted: 110) may be read; and Euripides\u2019s Bacchae. Beyond these works, the reader may be referred to the exemplary treatment of one mystery religion by F. Cumont in The Mysteries of Mithra (ETr., London and Chicago 1910), or, better still, by the same author in Textes et Monuments Figur\u00e9s relatifs aux Myst\u00e8res de Mithra (two volumes, Brussels 1896, 1899). See also M. J. Vermaseren, Corpus Inscriptionum Religionis Mithriacae (The Hague 1956).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jewish History (ch. 7)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The story of the Jews in the Maccabean period is told in 1 and 2 Maccabees. The history is taken further by Josephus; see the War and Antiquities xii\u2013xx. These are the main, and indispensable, sources. Parallel narratives, Jewish and non-Jewish, exist here and there; most of them are referred to in the notes in the edition of Josephus in the Loeb Classical Library, and need not be specified here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rabbinic Literature and Rabbinic Judaism (ch. 8)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An admirable introduction to reading in the Rabbinic literature is provided in A Rabbinic Anthology, edited by C. G. Montefiore and H. Loewe (London 1938). It is of course true that, as the editors point out, their anthology is an anthology\u2014that is, they were interested in collecting flowers, not weeds; and the weeds which undoubtedly exist in so wide a field are not found in the anthology. When this book of extracts has been used the reader should attempt a solid and continuous piece. There are two means to this end. One is the invaluable translation of the whole Mishnah by H. Danby (Oxford 1933). The other is the series of Rabbinical texts (mostly Mishnah tractates) published by the SPCK. Some of these contain text only, some text and translation, some translation only. The following Mishnah tractates are recommended for introductory study: Berakoth, Shabbath, Pesahim, Yoma, Sukkah, Megillah, Nedarim, Sanhedrin, Abodah Zarah, Aboth. Among the early midrashim, there is a very convenient edition of Mekilta (text and translation) by J. Z. Lauterbach (Philadelphia 1933\u20131935). Valuable English translations of later and longer Rabbinic texts have been published by the Soncino Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Qumran (ch. 9)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best introduction to the Qumran texts is The Dead Sea Scrolls, by G. Vermes (Collins, London 1977), and the handiest text for the English reader is the same author\u2019s The Dead Sea Scrolls in English (Penguin Books, Harmondsworth 1962). It is unfortunate that there is no English equivalent to E. Lohse, Die Texte aus Qumran (K\u00f6sel-Verlag, Munich 1964), which gives the original texts of the most important non-biblical manuscripts with a German translation. Still useful are The Dead Sea Scrolls and More Light on the Dead Sea Scrolls by Millar Burrows (Secker & Warburg, London 1956 and 1958).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Philo (ch. 10)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For all but the philosopher, Philo is best approached by way of his historical writings, the book against Flaccus (In Flaccum), and the account of the Jewish mission from Alexandria to the Emperor Gaius (Legatio ad Gaium). These works show Philo as a loyal Jew, an aspect of his character which is of fundamental importance, though it is easy in his more philosophical writings to lose sight of it. From these straightforward narratives (which incidentally are historical documents of great importance) it is possible to work back to books like that On Abraham, where Philo retells the biblical story, and draws from it on the whole moral rather than metaphysical lessons. Finally (though Philo himself might have reckoned it first in importance) may be read the detailed allegorical exposition of the Pentateuch. Much of Philo\u2019s most characteristic speculative thought is to be found in On the Creation of the World and Allegories of the Laws, both of which deal with the first few verses of Genesis and accordingly allow Philo to develop his cosmology. There are separate editions of some of Philo\u2019s books, but of greatest use are the excellent twelve volumes of the Loeb edition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Josephus (ch. 11)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of the works of Josephus were referred to above. There is much to be said for beginning the study of Josephus with the Life (in which he recapitulates a good deal of the story of the war with Rome) and the apologetic work Against Apion. The earlier books of the Antiquities may be left till last; for the most part Josephus rewrites in his own words the stories of the Old Testament, and rarely if ever improves them. Some of Josephus\u2019s work has appeared in the Penguin Classics, but the complete edition of the original with a translation and very useful notes in the Loeb series is of great value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Septuagint and Targum (ch. 12)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Septuagint may be studied from two points of view. In the first place, it is most instructive (not least for the student of the New Testament) to set side by side and compare the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Old Testament. Through the Greek, Hebraic thought and speech came into the New Testament, but at the same time the Hebraic contents of the Old Testament suffered a measure of transposition. This kind of study of course requires knowledge of Hebrew and Greek. In the second place, the Septuagint presents the reader with a number of books not contained in the Hebrew Bible. These may be read in the Apocrypha published with or as supplementary to the ordinary English Bible. The first edition of this book mentioned the translations and short commentaries contained in The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, edited by R. H. Charles (Oxford 1913; two volumes\u2014the apocryphal books, with the exception of 4 Ezra (2 Esdras), are in the first). This edition is still useful though it has for many purposes been replaced by a new Oxford University Press volume, The Apocryphal Old Testament (H. F. D. Sparks, ed. 1984), which however does not contain the works generally known as the Apocrypha and has no rightful place under the heading of Septuagint, and by two volumes edited by J. H. Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (Darton, Longman and Todd, London 1983 and 1985), which contains a few books belonging to the Septuagint. There are also very useful volumes in the SPCK series (see above).
\nOf the apocryphal books, 1 and 2 Maccabees were referred to above; the Wisdom of Solomon, and Ecclesiasticus, belong to the Wisdom literature; Tobit and Judith are religious and moral romances; 4 Ezra is an apocalypse.
\nThe whole of the Epistle of Aristeas, with its long (and legendary) account of the making of the Septuagint, can be read in the second volume of Charles\u2019s Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha.
\nOn the Targums, the best introduction is J. Bowker, The Targums and the Rabbinic Literature (Cambridge University Press 1969), which translates and discusses a considerable number of passages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apocalyptic (ch. 13)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the Apocalypses the works of Sparks and of Charlesworth are indispensable; Charles is still useful, and the appropriate volumes in the SPCK series are very valuable. The apocalyptic material contained in the Old Testament itself (notably Daniel) should not be neglected. Of material not contained in the Septuagint, the Similitudes of Enoch (i.e. 1 Enoch 37\u201371), 2 Baruch, and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (though here Christian influence\u2014and even Christian authorship\u2014may be suspected) may be recommended for study. Useful guides are D. S. Russell, The Method and Message of Jewish Apocalyptic (SCM Press, London 1964) and, with valuable new insights, C. Rowland, The Open Heaven (SPCK, London 1982).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1 The Roman Empire<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Augustus and the Imperial Settlement<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The roots of that Empire in which the Christian faith was born ran deep and in many directions, not only into the Roman Republic but also into the Macedonian Empire of Alexander, and the Greek city states. Eventually, the Empire was able to seek philosophical justification in the cosmopolitanism of developed Stoicism (see 73\u201381); but at first it needed no justification beyond its own achievements. A world weary of civil war with its attendant social and economic disturbance and distress was prepared to welcome the victor of Actium as a saviour\u2014after all, what more did the average man ask of his gods than the peace, security, and social welfare Augustus gave him? Of course, there were some malcontents. The senatorial families deplored changes which deprived them of the substance of power and placed it in the hands of one man, armed with an ultimate, if generally veiled, authority over life and property. But to the majority the Senate mattered little, and the provinces knew that they were far better governed than ever they had been under the Republic.
\nThe character, motives, and intentions of Augustus; the political basis of the imperial constitution; the varying relations between the Emperors and the Senate\u2014these all present historical problems of unusual depth and complexity. Here, at the risk of undue simplification, will be given only a few passages illustrating the work of Augustus and some of the succeeding Emperors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1
\nRes Gestae Divi Augusti 12f., 24\u20137, 34f.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Towards the close of his life, Augustus deposited with the Vestal Virgins four documents. One was his will, disposing of his personal property. Of the remaining three, one contained directions for the celebration of his funeral, another an account of the things he had done (rerum a se gestarum; Suetonius, Augustus 101), and the third a military and financial account of the state of the Empire. The brass tablets on which, pursuant to Augustus\u2019s instructions, the Res Gestae were engraved have not been found; but the greater part of the document has been recovered from a bilingual (Greek-Latin) inscription in the temple of Rome and Augustus at Ancyra (the Monumentum Ancyranum), now supplemented by a Greek text found at Apollonia (in Pisidia) and a Latin found at Pisidian Antioch. There can be little doubt that the Res Gestae were compiled partly for the purposes of propaganda; but the substantial accuracy of the facts contained in them seems to fail only through a few small lapses of memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time,* by decree of the Senate, a portion of the praetors and tribunes of the plebs, together with the consul, Q. Lucretius, and other men of note, were sent as far as Campania to meet my arrival, an honour which up to this day has been decreed to none other but myself.
\n When in the consulship of Tiberius Nero and P. Quintilius* I returned to Rome from Spain and Gaul after settling the affairs of those provinces with success, the Senate, to commemorate my return, ordered an altar to Pax Augusta to be consecrated in the Campus Martius, at which it decreed that the magistrates, priests, and Vestal Virgins should celebrate an anniversary sacrifice.
\n Whereas our ancestors have willed that the gateway of Janus Quirinus* should be shut, whenever victorious peace is secured by sea and by land throughout the empire of the Roman people, and whereas before my birth twice only in all is it on record that the gateway has been shut, three times under my principate has the Senate decreed that it should be shut.\u2026
\n After my victory* I replaced in the temples of all the communities of the province of Asia the ornaments which my adversary in the war had, after despoiling the temples, taken into his own possession.
\n Silver statues of myself, standing or on horseback or sitting in a chariot, were set up in the city to the number of about eighty, which I myself took down, and out of the money value I set up gifts of gold in the temple of Apollo in my own name and in the names of those who had honoured me with the statues. I conquered the pirates* and gave peace to the seas. In that war I handed over to their masters for punishment nearly 30,000 slaves who had run away from their owners, and taken up arms against the republic.
\n The whole of Italy of its own free will took the oath of fidelity to me, and demanded me as its leader in the war of which Actium was the crowning victory. An oath was also taken to the same effect by the provinces of Gaul, Spain, Africa, Sicily, and Sardinia.
\n Among those who at that time served under my standards were more than seven hundred senators; out of that number, either before that date or afterwards, up to the day on which these records were written, eighty-three attained the consulship, and about one hundred and seventy were elected to priesthoods.
\n I extended the frontiers* of all the provinces of the Roman people, which had as neighbours races not obedient to our empire.
\n I restored peace* to all the provinces of Gaul and Spain and to Germany, to all that region washed by the Ocean from Gades to the mouth of the Elbe.
\n Peace too I caused to be established in the Alps from the region nearest to the Hadriatic as far as the Tuscan sea, while no tribe was wantonly attacked by war.
\n My fleet sailed along the Ocean from the mouth of the Rhine as far towards the east as the borders of the Cimbri, whither no Roman before that time had penetrated either by land or sea. The Cimbri and the Charydes and the Semnones and other German peoples of the same region through their envoys petitioned for my friendship and that of the Roman people.
\n By my command and under my auspices two armies were led almost at the same time, one into Ethiopia, the other into that part of Arabia which is called Felix; and large forces of the enemy belonging to both races were killed in battle, and many towns captured. In Ethiopia the army advanced as far as Napata, the nearest station to Meroe; in Arabia to the borders of the Sabaei to the town of Mariba.
\n Egypt I added to the empire of the Roman people.*
\n Greater Armenia, on the murder of its king Artaxes, I could have made into a province, but I preferred, following the precedent of our ancestors, and acting through Tiberius Nero, who was then my stepson, to hand it over as a kingdom to Tigranes, son of Artavasdes, and grandson of king Tigranes. Afterwards, when the same race revolted and rebelled, I subdued it by means of my son, Gaius, and handed it over to the rule of king Ariobarzanes, the son of Artabazus, king of the Medes; and after his death, to his son, Artavasdes. On the latter being killed, I sent out to the kingdom Tigranes, a scion of the royal family of Armenia.
\n I regained possession of all the provinces on the farther side of the Hadriatic towards the East and of all Cyrene, at a time when they were for the most part in the occupation of foreign kings, as I had already regained Sicily and Sardinia, when they were seized in the servile war.\u2026
\n In my sixth and seventh consulships,* after I had extinguished the civil wars, having been put in supreme possession of the whole empire by the universal consent of all, I transferred the republic* from my own power into the free control of the Senate and Roman people.
\n For the which service I received the appellation of Augustus* by decree of the Senate, and the door-posts of my house were publicly decked with laurel leaves;* the civic crown* was fixed up above my gate, and a golden shield set up in the Julian senate-house, which, as its inscription testifies, was granted to me by the Senate and Roman people to commemorate my virtue, clemency, justice, and piety.
\n After that time I stood before all others in dignity,* but of actual power I possessed no more than my colleagues in each several magistracy.
\n While I was holding my thirteenth consulship, the Senate and equestrian order and the whole Roman people gave me the title of father of my country,* and decreed that the title should be inscribed in the vestibule of my house and in the senate-house and in the forum of Augustus, under the chariot which was set up in my honour by decree of the Senate.
\n At the time when I wrote these records, I was in my seventy-sixth year.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2
\nSuetonius, Augustus 31<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the death of Lepidus he assumed the office of high priest,* which he had never presumed to do while Lepidus was alive. He brought in from all quarters and burnt the books of prophecy, both Latin and Greek (in number more than two thousand), whose authors were unknown or little known, retaining only the Sibylline books, and of these he made a selection. He placed them in two gilt bookcases under the base of the statue of Apollo Palatinus. He brought back to its original regularity the year which, set in order by the deified Julius, had subsequently through neglect fallen into disorder and confusion. In this reordering he called by his own name the month Sextilis, choosing this rather than September, in which he was born, because in it he had won his first consulate and most notable victories. He increased the number, dignity, and emoluments of the priests, and especially of the Vestal Virgins. When it was necessary to choose a new Vestal in place of one who had died, and many solicited not to be required to submit their daughters for election, he swore that if any of his granddaughters had been of the proper age he would have offered her for the purpose. He restored several of the old ceremonies which had gradually fallen into disuse, such as the augury of Salus, the office of Flamen Dialis, the Lupercalian rite, the Secular and Compitalitian Games.* He forbad beardless boys to run in the Lupercalia; and at the Secular Games he forbad young persons of either sex to attend any of the shows at night unless accompanied by some older relative. He ordered the Lares to be decorated twice a year at the Compitalitia with spring flowers, and autumn flowers. Next to the immortal gods he paid highest honour to the memory of those generals who had extended the empire of the Roman people from least to greatest. Accordingly he restored their public works, retaining the original inscriptions, and erected statues of them all, in triumphal dress, in both porches of his forum. He declared by proclamation that his design was that the citizens should require of him while he lived, and of princes in succeeding ages, that they should copy their example. He also removed from the senate-house where G. Caesar had been killed, and placed under a marble arch over against the hall of his theatre, the statue of Pompey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3
\nHorace, Carmen Saeculare<\/p>\n\n\n\n
O Phoebus, and Diana, queen of forests, radiant glory of the heavens, O ye ever cherished and ever to be cherished, grant the blessings that we pray for at the holy season when the verses of the Sibyl* have commanded chosen maidens and spotless youths to sing the hymn in honour of the gods who love the Seven Hills.
\n O quickening Sun, that in thy shining car usherest in the day and hidest it, and art reborn another and yet the same, ne\u2019er mayst thou be able to view aught greater than the city of Rome!
\n O Ilithyia, that, according to thy office, art gracious to bring issues in due season, protect our matrons, whether thou preferrest to be invoked as \u2018Lucina\u2019 or as \u2018Genitalis\u2019. Rear up our youth, O goddess, and bless the Fathers\u2019 edicts* concerning wedlock and the marriage-law, destined, we pray, to be prolific in new offspring, that the sure cycle of ten times eleven years may bring round again music and games thronged on three bright days and as many gladsome nights!
\n And ye, O Fates, truthful in your oracles, as has once been ordained, and may the unyielding order of events confirm it, link happy destinies to those already past.
\n Bountiful in crops and cattle, may Mother Earth deck Ceres with a crown of corn; and may Jove\u2019s wholesome rains and breezes give increase to the harvest!
\n Do thou, Apollo, gracious and benign, put aside thy weapon and give ear to thy suppliant sons! And do thou, O Luna, the constellations\u2019 crescent queen, to the maidens lend thine ear!
\n If Rome be your handiwork, and if from Ilium* hailed the bands that gained the Tuscan shore (the remnant bidden to change their homes and city in auspicious course), they for whom righteous Aeneas, survivor of his country, unscathed \u2019mid blazing Troy, prepared a way for liberty, destined to bestow more than had been left behind, then do ye, O gods, make teachable our youth and grant them virtuous ways; to the aged give tranquil peace; and to the race of Romulus, riches and offspring and every glory!
\n And what the glorious scion of Anchises and of Venus,* with sacrifice of milk-white steers, entreats of you, that may he obtain, triumphant o\u2019er the warring foe, but generous to the fallen! Already the Parthian fears the hosts mighty on land and sea, and fears the Alban axes. Already the Indians and Scythians, but recently disdainful, are asking for our answer. Already Faith and Peace and Honour and ancient Modesty and neglected Virtue have courage to come back, and blessed Plenty with her full horn is seen.
\n May Phoebus, the prophet, who goes adorned with the shining bow, who is dear to the Muses nine, and with his healing art relieves the body\u2019s wearied frame\u2014may he, if he looks with favour on the altars of the Palatine, prolong the Roman power and Latium\u2019s prosperity to cycles ever new and ages ever better! And may Diana, who holds Aventine and Algidus, heed the entreaty of the Fifteen Men* and incline her gracious ears to the children\u2019s prayers! That such is the purpose of Jove and all the gods, we bear home the good and steadfast hope, we the chorus trained to hymn the praises of Phoebus and Diana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4
\nVirgil, Eclogue IV<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Muses of Sicily, essay we now\nA somewhat loftier task! Not all men love\nCoppice or lowly tamarisk: sing we woods,\nWoods worthy of a Consul let them be.\n Now the last age by Cumae\u2019s Sibyl sung\nHas come and gone, and the majestic roll\nOf circling centuries begins anew:\nJustice returns, returns old Saturn\u2019s reign,\nWith a new breed of men sent down from heaven.\nOnly do thou, at the boy\u2019s birth* in whom\nThe iron shall cease, the golden age arise,\nBefriend him, chaste Lucina; \u2019tis thine own\nApollo reigns. And in thy consulate,\nThis glorious age, O Pollio, shall begin,\nAnd the months enter on their mighty march.\nUnder thy guidance, whatso tracks remain\nOf our old wickedness, once done away,\nShall free the earth from never-ceasing fear.\nHe shall receive the life of gods, and see\nHeroes with gods commingling, and himself\nBe seen of them, and with his father\u2019s worth\nReign o\u2019er a world at peace. For thee, O boy,\nFirst shall the earth, untilled, pour freely forth\nHer childish gifts, the gadding ivy-spray\nWith foxglove and Egyptian bean-flower mixed,\nAnd laughing-eyed acanthus. Of themselves,\nUntended, will the she-goats then bring home\nTheir udders swollen with milk, while flocks afield\nShall of the monstrous lion have no fear \u2026\n\u2026 Nathless\nYet shall there lurk within of ancient wrong\nSome traces, bidding tempt the deep with ships,\nGird towns with walls, with furrows cleave the earth.\nTherewith a second Tiphys shall there be,\nHer hero-freight a second Argo bear;\nNew wars too shall arise, and once again\nSome great Achilles to some Troy be sent.\nThen, when the mellowing years have made thee man,\nNo more shall mariner sail, nor pine-tree bark\nPly traffic on the sea, but every land\nShall all things bear alike: the glebe no more\nShall feel the harrow\u2019s grip, nor vine the hook;\nThe sturdy ploughman shall loose yoke from steer,\nNor wool with varying colours learn to lie;\nBut in the meadows shall the ram himself\nNow with soft flush of purple, now with tint\nOf yellow saffron, teach his fleece to shine.\nWhile clothed in natural scarlet graze the lambs.\n\u2018Such still, such ages weave ye, as ye run,\u2019\nSang to their spindles the consenting Fates\nBy Destiny\u2019s unalterable decree.\nAssume thy greatness, for the time draws nigh,\nDear child of gods, great progeny of Jove!\nSee how it totters\u2014the world\u2019s orbed might,\nEarth, and wide ocean, and the vault profound,\nAll, see, enraptured of the coming time!\nAh! might such length of days to me be given,\nAnd breath suffice me to rehearse thy deeds,\nNor Thracian Orpheus should out-sing me then,\nNor Linus, though his mother this, and that\nHis sire should aid\u2014Orpheus Calliope,\nAnd Linus fair Apollo. Nay, though Pan,\nWith Arcady for judge, my claim contest,\nWith Arcady for judge great Pan himself\nShould own him foiled, and from the field retire.\n Begin to greet thy mother with a smile,\nO baby-boy! ten months of weariness\nFor thee she bore: Oh baby-boy, begin!\nFor him, on whom his parents have not smiled,\nGods deem not worthy of their board or bed.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nTiberius<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tiberius succeeded his stepfather (and adoptive father) Augustus in AD 14. He was able, resolute, just, and (having regard to the fortunes of the Empire as a whole) successful; but he remained unpopular, and never stirred the public response that Augustus had won. A legend grew up about him which concealed his virtues and magnified his faults; the legend perverted the truth, but its very existence goes far to prove that all was not well. Yet for twenty-three years Tiberius maintained government (especially in the provinces) with undoubted efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5
\nSuetonius, Tiberius 36<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Foreign religions, the Egyptian and Jewish religious rites, he suppressed, and compelled those who were engaged in that superstition to burn their religious vestments with all their apparatus. The Jewish youth he dispersed, under pretence of military service, into provinces of unhealthy climate; the rest of that race, and those who adopted similar opinions, he expelled from the city, on pain of perpetual slavery if they did not obey. He also banished the astrologers; but when they petitioned him, and promised that they would forsake their art, he pardoned them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6
\nTacitus, Annals ii. 85<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another debate dealt with the proscription of the Egyptian and Jewish rites, and a senatorial edict directed that four thousand descendants of enfranchised slaves, tainted with that superstition and suitable in point of age, were to be shipped to Sardinia and there employed in suppressing brigandage: \u2018if they succumbed to the pestilential climate, it was a cheap loss.\u2019 The rest had orders to leave Italy, unless they had renounced their impious ceremonial by a given date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7
\nTacitus, Annals vi. 51<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The son of Nero,* on both sides he traced his origin to the Claudian house, though his mother,* by successive acts of adoption, had passed into the Livian and, later, the Julian families. From earliest infancy he experienced the hazards of fortune. At first the exiled attendant of a proscribed father, he entered the house of Augustus in the quality of stepson; only to struggle against numerous rivals during the heyday of Marcellus and Agrippa and, later, of Gaius and Lucius Caesar; while even his brother Drusus was happier in the love of his countrymen. But his position was the most precarious after his preferment to the hand of Julia, when he had to tolerate, or to elude, the infidelities of his wife. Then came the return from Rhodes; and he was master of the heirless imperial house for twelve years, and later arbiter of the Roman world for virtually twenty-three. His character, again, has its separate epochs. There was a noble season in his life and fame while he lived a private citizen or a great official under Augustus: an inscrutable and disingenuous period of hypocritical virtues while Germanicus and Drusus remained: with his mother alive, he was still an amalgam of good and evil; so long as he loved, or feared, Sejanus, he was loathed for his cruelty, but his lust was veiled; finally, when the restraints of shame and fear were gone, and nothing remained but to follow his own bent, he plunged impartially into crime and into ignominy.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gaius (Caligula)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emperor from AD 37 to 41. Again, it is not easy to penetrate to Gaius\u2019s true character through the cloud of hatred with which he came to be surrounded. He seems to have suffered from megalomania, if from no other form of madness. The following incident illustrates the character of Gaius and his thoughtless policy, and at the same time the self-sacrificing public spirit of a Roman provincial governor of the best kind, whose first thought was for the good of those entrusted to his care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8
\nJosephus, War ii, 184\u20137, 192\u2013203<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The insolence with which the emperor Gaius defied fortune surpassed all bounds: he wished to be considered a god and to be hailed as such, he cut off the flower of the nobility of his country, and his impiety extended even to Judaea. In fact, he sent Petronius* with an army to Jerusalem to instal in the sanctuary statues of himself; in the event of the Jews refusing to admit them, his orders were to put the recalcitrants to death and to reduce the whole nation to slavery. But these orders, as the sequel showed, were under God\u2019s care. Petronius accordingly with three legions and a large contingent of Syrian auxiliaries, left Antioch on the march for Judaea. Among the Jews, some put no belief in the rumours of war, others believed, but saw no means of defence: alarm, however, soon became universal, the army having already reached Ptolemais.\u2026
\n The Jews assembled with their wives and children in the plain of Ptolemais and implored Petronius to have regard first for the laws of their fathers, and next for themselves. Yielding so far to this vast multitude and their entreaties, he left the statues and his troops at Ptolemais and advanced into Galilee, where he summoned the people, with all persons of distinction, to Tiberias. There he dwelt upon the power of the Romans and the emperor\u2019s menaces, and, moreover, pointed out the recklessness of their request; all the subject nations, he urged, had erected in each of their cities statues of Caesar, along with those of their other gods, and that they alone should oppose this practice amounted almost to rebellion, aggravated by insult.
\n When the Jews appealed to their law and the custom of their ancestors, and pleaded that they were forbidden to place an image of God, much more of a man, not only in their sanctuary but even in any unconsecrated spot throughout the country, Petronius replied, \u2018But I too must obey the law of my master; if I transgress it and spare you, I shall be put to death, with justice. War will be made on you by him who sent me, not by me; for I too, like you, am under orders.\u2019 At this the multitude cried out that they were ready to endure everything for the law. Petronius, having checked their clamour, said, \u2018Will you then go to war with Caesar?\u2019 The Jews replied that they offered sacrifice twice daily for Caesar and the Roman people, but that if he wished to set up these statues, he must first sacrifice the entire Jewish nation; and that they presented themselves, their wives and their children, ready for the slaughter. These words filled Petronius with astonishment and pity at the spectacle of the incomparable devotion of this people to their religion and their unflinching resignation to death. So for the time he dismissed them, nothing being decided.
\n During the ensuing days he held crowded private conferences with the aristocracy, and public meetings with the people; at these he had recourse alternately* to entreaty, to advice, most often, however, to threats, holding over their heads the might of the Romans, the fury of Gaius, and the necessity which circumstances imposed upon himself. As, however, none of these efforts would induce them to yield, and as he saw that the country was in danger of remaining unsown\u2014for it was seed-time and the people had spent fifty days idly waiting upon him\u2014he finally called them together and said: \u2018It is better that I should take the risk. Either, God aiding me, I shall prevail with Caesar and have the satisfaction of saving myself as well as you, or, if his indignation is roused, I am ready on behalf of the lives of so many to surrender my own.\u2019 With that he dismissed the multitude, who rained blessings on his head, and collecting his troops left Ptolemais and returned to Antioch. From that city he hastened to report to Caesar his expedition into Judaea and the entreaties of the nation, adding that, unless he wished to destroy the country as well as its inhabitants, he ought to respect their law and revoke the order. To this dispatch Gaius replied in no measured terms, threatening to put Petronius to death for his tardiness in executing his orders. However, it so happened that the bearers of this message were weather-bound for three months at sea, while others, who brought the news of the death of Gaius, had a fortunate passage. So Petronius received this last information twenty-seven days earlier than the letter conveying his own death-warrant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Claudius<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like Tiberius, Claudius (AD 41\u201354) has probably suffered from misrepresentation. Probably he was often wiser than his critics, and by no means the half-wit they depict. He instituted not a few constitutional and administrative reforms. For his treatment of the difficult situation at Alexandria see 48. He touches the New Testament at several points, one of which is treated in the first passage quoted. Whether or not the second (on the violation of tombs) is directly relevant to the New Testament is disputed. It is clear that those who did not accept the Christian faith in the resurrection of Jesus might well accuse his disciples of breaking the seal on his grave and stealing his body (cf. Matt. 27:62\u20136; 28:11\u201315). The name Nazareth is also suggestive. But it must be remembered that Jesus was not buried at Nazareth, that Nazareth did not, so far as we know, become a major centre of the Church, that the disciples were not prosecuted for violation, and that the date of the inscription is not certain\u2014it may go back to the time of Augustus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9
\nSuetonius, Claudius 25<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 He forbade men of foreign birth to use the Roman names so far as those of the clans were concerned. Those who usurped the privileges of Roman citizenship he executed in the Esquiline field. He restored to the Senate* the provinces of Achaea and Macedonia, which Tiberius had taken into his own charge. He deprived the Lycians of their independence because of deadly intestine feuds, and restored theirs to the Rhodians, since they had given up their former faults. He allowed the people of Ilium perpetual exemption from tribute, on the ground that they were the founders of the Roman race, reading an ancient letter of the Senate and people of Rome written in Greek to king Seleucus, in which they promised him their friendship and alliance only on condition that he should keep their kinsfolk of Ilium free from every burden. Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus,* he expelled them from Rome. He allowed the envoys of the Germans to sit in the orchestra, led by their na\u00efve self-confidence; for when they had been taken to the seats occupied by the common people and saw the Parthian and Armenian envoys sitting with the Senate, they moved of their own accord to the same part of the theatre, protesting that their merits and rank were no whit inferior. He utterly abolished the cruel and inhuman religion of the Druids among the Gauls, which under Augustus had merely been prohibited to Roman citizens; on the other hand he even attempted to transfer the Eleusinian rites from Attica to Rome, and had the temple of Venus Erycina in Sicily, which had fallen to ruin through age, restored at the expense of the treasury of the Roman people. He struck his treaties with foreign princes in the Forum, sacrificing a pig and reciting the ancient formula of the fetial priests. But these and other acts, and indeed almost the whole conduct of his reign, were dictated not so much by his own judgement as that of his wives and freedmen,* since he nearly always acted in accordance with their interests and desires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10
\nClaudius, An Ordinance<\/p>\n\n\n\n
See Journal of Roman Studies xxii. (1932), 184\u201397 (F. de Zulueta); also Documents illustrating the reigns of Claudius and Nero (compiled by M. P. Charlesworth, 1939), 15. An inscription discovered in the neighbourhood of Nazareth. For further discussion see A. Momigliano, Claudius the Emperor and his Achievement, 1934, pp. 35\u20137, and more recently H. H. Scullard, From the Gracchi to Nero, 1979, p. 467.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ordinance of Caesar. It is my pleasure that graves and tombs remain undisturbed in perpetuity for those* who have made them for the cult of their ancestors or children or members of their house. If however any man lay information that another has either demolished them, or has in any other way extracted the buried, or has maliciously transferred them to other places in order to wrong them, or has displaced the sealing or other stones, against such a one I order that a trial be instituted, as in respect of the gods, so in regard to the cult of mortals. For it shall be much more obligatory to honour the buried. Let it be absolutely forbidden for any one to disturb them. In case of contravention I desire that the offender be sentenced to capital punishment* on charge of violation of sepulture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nero<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After five years of good rule (the so-called Quinquennium Neronis), Nero (AD 54\u201368) lapsed into vicious ways and irresponsible government. His death led to a period of civil war in which Otho, Galba, Vitellius, and Vespasian (see below) successively seized power. The legal basis of Nero\u2019s persecution of Christians is obscure. The New Testament (Rev. 17:12\u201317) as well as other sources attests the belief that Nero would after his death return to avenge himself upon his enemies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11
\nTacitus, Annals xv. 44<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order. Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations,* called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination when daylight had expired. Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car. Hence, even for criminals who deserve extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut one man\u2019s cruelty, that they were being destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12
\nSuetonius, Nero 16<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He devised a new form for the buildings of the city and in front of the houses and apartments he erected porches, from the flat roofs of which fires could be fought; and these he put up at his own cost. He had also planned to extend the walls as far as Ostia and to bring the sea from there to Rome by a canal.
\n During his reign many abuses were severely punished and put down, and no fewer new laws were made: a limit was set to expenditures; the public banquets were confined to a distribution of food; the sale of any kind of cooked viands in the taverns was forbidden, with the exception of pulse and vegetables, whereas before every sort of dainty was exposed for sale. Punishment was inflicted on the Christians,* a class of men given to a new and mischievous superstition. He put an end to the diversions of the chariot drivers, who from immunity of long standing claimed the right of ranging at large and amusing themselves by cheating and robbing the people. The pantomimic actors and their partisans were banished from the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13
\nSulpicius Severus, Chronicle ii. 29<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the meantime, the number of the Christians being now very large, it happened that Rome was destroyed by fire, while Nero was stationed at Antium. But the opinion of all cast the odium of causing the fire upon the emperor, and he was believed in this way to have sought for the glory of building a new city. And in fact Nero could not, by any means he tried, escape from the charge that the fire had been caused by his orders. He therefore turned the accusation against the Christians, and the most cruel tortures were accordingly inflicted upon the innocent. Nay, even new kinds of deaths were invented, so that, being covered in the skins of wild beasts, they perished by being devoured by dogs, while many were crucified or slain by fire, and not a few were set apart for this purpose, that, when the day came to a close, they should be consumed to serve for light during the night. In this way, cruelty first began to be manifested against the Christians. Afterwards,* too, their religion was prohibited by laws which were enacted; and by edicts openly set forth it was proclaimed unlawful to be a Christian. At that time Paul and Peter were condemned to death, the former being beheaded with a sword, while Peter suffered crucifixion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14
\nSuetonius, Nero 57<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He met his death in the thirty-second year of his age, on the anniversary of the murder of Octavia,* and such was the public rejoicing that the people put on liberty-caps and ran about all over the city. Yet there were some who for a long time decorated his tomb with spring and summer flowers, and now produced his statues on the rostra in the fringed toga, and now his edicts, as if he were still alive and would shortly return and deal destruction to his enemies. Nay more, Vologaesus, king of the Parthians, when he sent envoys to the Senate to renew his alliance, earnestly begged this too, that honour be paid to the memory of Nero. In fact, twenty years later, when I was a young man, a person of obscure origin appeared, who gave out that he was Nero, and the name was still in such favour with the Parthians that they supported him vigorously and surrendered him with great reluctance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vespasian<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The death of Nero and the ensuing disturbances took place while Vespasian was engaged in the subjugation of Judaea (see 141 and preceding note); in due course he came to the purple, leaving his son Titus to continue military operations against Jerusalem. He was a wise, strong, sober ruler (AD 69\u201379), and Titus who succeeded him reproduced his good qualities, but unfortunately reigned only two years before being succeeded by his brother Domitian, who may have murdered him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
15
\nTacitus, Histories ii. 4f.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After inspecting the costly regal gifts and other objects which the Greek mind, with its love for antiquity, assigns to a dim and distant past, Titus inquired first* about his own voyage. Assured of a prosperous course over a tranquil sea, he sacrificed a number of victims, and then put some dark questions about himself. The priest, whose name was Sostratus, perceiving that the entrails were all alike favourable, and that the goddess looked approvingly upon some great enterprise, gave a brief and ordinary answer for the moment, and then, granting a private interview, disclosed the future. Titus made his way back to his father in high spirits, bringing with him a great accession of confidence to the hesitating minds of the army and the provincials.
\n Vespasian had well nigh concluded the Judaean war. Nothing remained but the siege of Jerusalem, an undertaking formidable rather from the mountainous character of the site, and the invincible superstition of the inhabitants, than because their forces were strong enough to endure the extremities of a siege. Vespasian himself, as above related,* had three legions, inured to war, under his command; Mucianus had four. These last had seen no service; but they had been saved from lethargy by an ambition to rival the glories of the neighbouring army, and they had gained as much in vigour from a period of unbroken rest, and by escaping the hardships of war, as the other army had acquired of hardihood by undergoing its toil and dangers. Each general had his auxiliaries of horse and foot, his fleets and allied princes; each enjoyed an equal, though a different, reputation.
\n Vespasian was a keen soldier. He would march in front of his men, and choose the spots for encampment; he would work day and night over his plans, and himself take part in the fighting, if need were; content with any food that came, scarce distinguishable in dress and bearing from any common soldier, had he only been free from avarice, he might have been ranked with the generals of olden days.
\n Mucianus, on the contrary, was a magnificent person. In wealth, and in everything else, he lived on a scale above that of private life: more ready of speech than Vespasian, he had more skill and foresight in the conduct of civil affairs: the virtues of the two men without the faults of either would have formed an admirable temper for an emperor.
\n As governors of adjoining provinces\u2014Syria and Judaea\u2014they had been at variance, and jealous of each other; but on the death of Nero they gave up their animosity and made common cause. In the first instance friends had intervened; but it was Titus who became the chief bond of concord between them, putting an end to unworthy rivalry in view of their common interests, being a man specially fitted both by nature and by training to attract even such a person as Mucianus.
\n The tribunes, centurions, and common soldiers were brought over to the cause by their energy or their indolence, by the calls of virtue or of pleasure, according to their several natures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Domitian<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Domitian (AD 81\u201396) the rule of \u2018bad\u2019 emperors returned, and a second reign of terror, more serious than Tiberius\u2019s, began. The century closed hopefully, however, and the work of Domitian\u2019s successors, Nerva, Trajan, and Hadrian, saw the empire enter upon the happiest and most prosperous period in its history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
16
\nSuetonius, Domitian 13<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When he became emperor, he did not hesitate to boast in the Senate that he had conferred their power on both his father and his brother, and that they had but returned him his own; nor on taking back his wife after their divorce, that he had \u2018recalled her to his divine couch\u2019. He delighted to hear the people in the amphitheatre shout on his feast day: \u2018Good Fortune attend our Lord and Mistress.\u2019 Even more, in the Capitoline competition, when all the people begged him with great unanimity to restore Palfurius Sura, who had been banished some time before from the Senate, and on that occasion received the prize for oratory, he deigned no reply, but merely had a crier bid them be silent. With no less arrogance he began as follows in issuing a circular letter in the name of his procurators, \u2018Our Master and our God* bids that this be done.\u2019 And so the custom arose of henceforth addressing him in no other way even in writing or in conversation. He suffered no statues to be set up in his honour in the Capitol, except of gold and silver and of a fixed weight. He erected so many and such huge vaulted passage-ways and arches in the various regions of the city, adorned with chariots and triumphal emblems, that on one of them someone wrote in Greek: \u2018It is enough.\u2019* He held the consulship seventeen times, more often than any of his predecessors. Of these the seven middle ones were in successive years, but all of them he filled in name only, continuing none beyond the first of May and few after the Ides of January. Having assumed the surname after his two triumphs, he renamed the months of September and October from his own names, calling them \u2018Germanicus\u2019 and \u2018Domitianus\u2019, because in the former he had come to the throne and was born in the latter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
17
\nSuetonius, Domitian 12<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reduced to financial straits by the cost of his buildings and shows, as well as by the additions he had made to the pay of the soldiers, he tried to lighten the military expenses by diminishing the number of his troops; but perceiving that in this way he exposed himself to the attacks of the barbarians, and nevertheless had difficulty in easing his burdens, he had no hesitation in resorting to every sort of robbery. The property of the living and the dead was seized everywhere on any charge brought by any accuser. It was enough to allege any action or word derogatory to the majesty of the prince. Estates of those in any way connected with him were confiscated, if but one man came forward to declare that he had heard from the deceased during his lifetime that Caesar was his heir. Besides other taxes, that on the Jews* was levied with the utmost rigour, and those were prosecuted who without publicly acknowledging that faith* yet lived as Jews, as well as those who concealed their origin* and did not pay the tribute levied upon their people. I recall being present in my youth when the person of a man ninety years old was examined before the procurator and a very crowded court, to see whether he was circumcised.\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
18
\nTacitus, Agricola 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is recorded that when Rusticus Arulenus extolled Thrasea Paetus, when Herennius Senecio extolled Helvidius Priscus, their praise became a capital offence, so that persecution fell not merely on the authors themselves but on the very books: to the public hangman, in fact, was given the task of burning in the courtyard of the forum the memorials of our noblest characters.
\n They imagined, no doubt, that in those flames disappeared the voice of the people, the liberty of the Senate, the conscience of mankind; especially as the votaries of philosophy also were expelled, and all liberal culture exiled, in order that nowhere might anything of good report present itself to men\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19
\nDio Cassius, Epitome 67.14.1\u20133<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At this time the road leading from Sinuessa to Puteoli was paved with stone. And the same year* Domitian slew, along with many others, Flavius Clemens* the consul, although he was a cousin and had to wife Flavia Domitilla,* who was also a relative of the emperor\u2019s. The charge brought against them both was that of atheism, a charge on which many others who drifted into Jewish ways were condemned. Some of these were put to death, and the rest were at least deprived of their property. Domitilla was merely banished to Pandateria. But Glabrio,* who had been Trajan\u2019s colleague in the consulship, was put to death, having been accused of the same crimes as most of the others, and, in particular, of fighting as a gladiator with wild beasts. Indeed, his prowess in the arena was the chief cause of the emperor\u2019s anger against him, an anger prompted by jealousy. For in Glabrio\u2019s consulship Domitian had summoned him to his Alban estate to attend the festival called the Juvenalia and had imposed on him the task of killing a large lion; and Glabrio not only had escaped all injury but had despatched the lion with most accurate aim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2 The Papyri<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No single material substance has in recent years contributed to our knowledge of the world in which the New Testament was written, and indeed of the New Testament itself, more than papyrus. This writing material, the preparation and characteristics of which are described below, was in common use before, in, and after New Testament times. The oldest New Testament MSS. are papyri, and it is very probable that the autographs themselves of the New Testament books were written on papyrus. Even more important, however, than this, is the fact that during the last century or so thousands of papyrus documents\u2014the vast majority of them fleeting notes never intended for perpetuity\u2014have been recovered and edited. Not only do they throw a flood of light upon the social and religious customs of the country of their origin (almost all have been found in Egypt where alone the climatic conditions favour the preservation of papyrus); they also illustrate in a most striking way the language, and sometimes the thought, of the New Testament and the early Church.
\nThe bearing of the papyri upon social and religious history will be briefly illustrated in the following pages. Here it must be emphasized that they are essentially non-literary. It is true that numbers of papyri have been found containing literary texts, and some have contributed fresh material to the known corpus of Greek literature; but the great bulk of papyrus material represents the writing of everyday life. We read countless private letters, bills, contracts, agreements, schoolboys\u2019 exercises, magical spells, charms, prayers, public announcements, petitions, and so on. We see the officials and common folk of Egypt (in many ways a unique, yet in others a not unrepresentative, district of the eastern part of the Roman Empire) going about their daily tasks with no suspicion that they are being observed, governing and being governed, buying and selling, teaching and learning, marrying and being given in marriage, begetting children and either exposing them or rearing and educating them. Here then is a quantity of source material such as the historian dreams of but (in ancient history) rarely sees. On the basis of it not the political history only but the daily life of a people can be reconstructed.
\nThe grammatical and lexicographical importance of the papyri cannot be treated here. The student should consult first the Introduction to the Vocabulary of the Greek Testament by J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan, where are given excellent examples of the way in which linguistic problems in the New Testament have been solved by means of the new texts. There is much further material in G. A. Deissmann\u2019s Bible Studies and Light from the Ancient East, and in J. H. Moulton\u2019s Grammar of New Testament Greek. The contribution made by papyrology to the understanding of New Testament Greek must not be underestimated; but it seems right to add here that it is perhaps not quite so great as its most enthusiastic advocates have suggested. The language of the New Testament is not identical with that of the papyri. Simple words with a commercial or legal background, such as \u1f00\u03c1\u03c1\u03b1\u03b2\u03ce\u03bd (earnest) and \u03b2\u03b5\u03b2\u03b1\u03b9\u03bf\u1fe6\u03bd (guarantee), are admirably illuminated by the commercial and legal papyri, but the central words of the New Testament, such as \u1f00\u03b3\u03ac\u03c0\u03b7 (love) and \u03b4\u03b9\u03ba\u03b1\u03b9\u03bf\u03c3\u03cd\u03bd\u03b7 (righteousness), cannot be adequately explained on this basis; the background must be extended to take into account not only the LXX (see Chapter 12) but also the unique creative impulse which produced the New Testament and laid its stamp upon the language in which the New Testament was written. In the third volume of Moulton\u2019s Grammar, written by N. Turner, the balance has perhaps swung the other way, and the ordinariness of New Testament Greek, its resemblance to the common Greek of the papyri, is to some extent undervalued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Preparation and Use of Papyrus<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The following account needs little explanation. It is given at some length not only because knowledge of the materials and make-up of papyrus is useful in palaeography but also because it affords interesting information about manufacturing processes and economic conditions in antiquity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20
\nPliny, Natural History xiii. 68\u201383<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have not yet touched on the marsh-plants nor the shrubs that grow by rivers. But before we leave Egypt we shall also describe the nature of papyrus, since our civilization or at all events our records depend very largely on the employment of paper. According to Marcus Varro* we owe even the discovery of paper to the victory of Alexander the Great, when he founded Alexandria in Egypt, before which time paper was not used. First of all people used to write on palm-leaves and then on the bark of certain trees, and afterwards folding sheets of lead began to be employed for official muniments, and then also sheets of linen or tablets of wax for private documents; for we find in Homer [Iliad vi. 168] that the use of writing tablets existed even before the Trojan period, but when he was writing even the land itself which is now thought of as Egypt did not exist as such, while now paper grows in the Sebennytic and Saitic nomes* of Egypt, the land having been subsequently heaped up by the Nile, inasmuch as Homer wrote that the island of Pharos, which is now joined to Alexandria by a bridge, was twenty-four hours\u2019 distance by sailing-ship from the land. Subsequently, also according to Varro, when owing to the rivalry between King Ptolemy and King Eumenes* about their libraries Ptolemy suppressed the export of paper, parchment was invented at Pergamum; and afterwards the employment of the material on which the immortality of human beings depends spread indiscriminately.
\n Papyrus then grows in the swamps of Egypt or else in the sluggish waters of the Nile where they have overflowed and lie stagnant in pools not more than about three feet in depth; it has a sloping root as thick as a man\u2019s arm, and tapers gracefully up with triangular sides to a length of not more than about fifteen feet, ending in a head like a thyrsus; it has no seed, and is of no use except that the flowers are made into wreaths for statues of the gods. The roots are employed by the natives for timber, and not only to serve as firewood but also for making various utensils and vessels; indeed the papyrus itself is plaited to make boats, and the inner bark is woven into sail-cloth and matting, and also cloth, as well as blankets and ropes. It is also used as chewing-gum, both in the raw state and when boiled, though only the juice is swallowed.\n Papyrus also grows in Syria on the borders of the lake round which grows the scented reed already mentioned [xii. 48], and King Antiochus would only allow ropes made from this Syrian papyrus to be used in his navy, the employment of esparto not yet having become general. It has recently been realized that papyrus growing in the Euphrates near Babylon can also be used in the same way for paper; nevertheless up to the present the Parthians prefer to embroider letters upon cloths.\n The process of making paper from papyrus is to split it with a needle into very thin strips made as broad as possible, the best quality being in the centre of the plant, and so on in the order of its splitting up. The first quality used to be called \u2018hieratic paper\u2019 and was in early times devoted solely to books connected with religion, but in a spirit of flattery it was given the name of Augustus, just as the second best was called \u2018Livia paper\u2019 after his consort, and thus the name \u2018hieratic\u2019 came down to the third class. The next quality had been given the name of \u2018amphitheatre paper\u2019, from the place of its manufacture. This paper was taken over by the clever workshop of Fannius at Rome, and its texture was made finer by a careful process of insertion, so that it was changed from common paper into one of first-class quality, and received the name of the maker; but the paper of this kind that did not have this additional treatment remained in its own class as amphitheatre paper. Next to this is the Saitic paper named from the town where it is produced in the greatest abundance, being made from shavings of inferior quality, and the Taeneotic, from a neighbouring place, made from material still nearer the outside skin, in the case of which we reach a variety that is sold by mere weight and not for its quality. As for what is called \u2018emporitic\u2019 paper, it is no good for writing but serves to provide covers for documents and wrappers for merchandise, and consequently takes its name from the Greek word for a merchant. After this comes the actual papyrus, and its outermost layer, which resembles a rush and is of no use even for making ropes except those used in water.\n Paper of all kinds is \u2018woven\u2019 on a board moistened with water from the Nile, muddy liquid supplying the effect of glue.<\/em> First an upright layer is smeared on to the table, using the full length of papyrus available after the trimmings have been cut off at both ends, and afterwards cross strips complete the lattice-work. The next step is to press it in presses, and the sheets are dried in the sun and then joined together, the next strip used always diminishing in quality down to the worst of all. There are never more than twenty sheets to a roll.
\n There is a great difference in the breadth of the various kinds of paper: the best is thirteen inches* wide, the hieratic two inches less, the Fannian measures ten inches and the amphitheatre paper one less, while the Saitic is still fewer inches across and is not as wide as the mallet used in making it, as the emporitic kind is so narrow that it does not exceed six inches. Other points looked at in paper are fineness, stoutness, whiteness and smoothness. The status of best quality was altered by the Emperor Claudius. The reason was that the thin paper of the period of Augustus was not strong enough to stand the friction of the pen, and moreover as it let the writing show through there was a fear of a smudge being caused by what was written on the back, and the great transparency of the paper had an unattractive look in other respects. Consequently the foundation was made of leaves of second quality and the woof or cross layer of leaves of the first quality. Claudius also increased the width of the sheet, making it a foot across. There were also eighteen-inch sheets called \u2018macrocola\u2019,* but examination detected a defect in them, as tearing off a single strip damaged several pages. On this account Claudius paper has come to be preferred to all other kinds, although the Augustus kind still holds the field for correspondence; but Livia paper, having no quality of a first-class kind, but being entirely second class, has retained its position.
\n Roughness is smoothed out with a piece of ivory or a shell, but this makes the lettering apt to fade, as owing to the polish so given the paper does not take the ink so well, but has a shinier surface. The damping process if carelessly applied often causes difficulty in writing at first, and it can be detected by a blow with the mallet, or even by the musty smell if the process has been rather carelessly carried out. Spottiness also may be detected by the eye, but a bad porous strip inserted in the middle of the pasted joins, owing to the sponginess of the papyrus, sucks up the ink and so can scarcely be detected except when the ink of a letter runs: so much opportunity is there for cheating. The consquence is that another task is added to the process of paper-weaving.
\n The common kind of paste for paper is made of fine flour of the best quality mixed with boiling water, with a very small sprinkle of vinegar; for carpenter\u2019s paste and gum make too brittle a compound. But a more careful process is to strain the crumb of leavened bread in boiling water; this method requires the smallest amount of paste at the seams, and produces a paper softer than even linen. But all the paste used ought to be exactly a day old\u2014not more nor yet less. Afterwards the paper is beaten thin with a mallet and run over with a layer of paste, and then again has its creases removed by pressure and is flattened out with the mallet. This process may enable records to last a long time;* at the house of the poet and most distinguished citizen Pomponius Secundus I have seen documents in the hands of Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus; while as for autographs of Cicero, of his late Majesty Augustus, and of Virgil, we see them constantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\nForm and Style of Letter-writing in the Papyri<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament twenty-one are (or appear to be) letters. In addition, Revelation contains the seven letters to the seven churches, and Acts the letter sent by the Council of Jerusalem to the churches of Asia Minor (15:23\u20139) and that sent by the tribune Claudius Lysias to the procurator Felix (23:26\u201330). It has already been noted that many of the papyri are letters, and it is not surprising that there are frequent similarities between the New Testament letters and letters roughly contemporary with them. A few illustrations of this resemblance will suffice. References are inserted where possible to the admirable collection of papyri edited by A. S. Hunt and C. C. Edgar (Loeb Classical Library, two volumes, 1932 and 1934), as H&E.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21
\nP. Lond. 42 (H&E 97). A letter from wife to husband. 168 BC<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Isias to her brother* Hephaestion greeting.* If you are well and other things are going right, it would accord with the prayer which I make continually* to the gods. I myself and the child and all the household are in good health and think of you always. When I received your letter from Horus, in which you announce that you are in detention in the Serapeum* at Memphis, for the news that you are well I straightway thanked the gods, but about your not coming home, when all the others who had been secluded there have come, I am ill-pleased, because after having piloted myself and your child through such bad times and been driven to every extremity owing to the price of corn I thought that now at least, with you at home, I should enjoy some respite, whereas you have not even thought of coming home nor given any regard to our circumstances, remembering how I was in want of everything while you were still here, not to mention this long lapse of time and these critical days, during which you have sent us nothing. As, moreover, Horus* who delivered the letter has brought news of your having been released from detention, I am thoroughly ill-pleased. Notwithstanding, as your mother also is annoyed, for her sake as well as for mine please return to the city, if nothing more pressing holds you back. You will do me a favour by taking care of your bodily health. Goodbye.* Year 2, Epeiph 30. [Addressed] To Hephaestion.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
22
\nP. Oxy. 292 (H&E 106). A letter of commendation. About AD 25<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Theon to the most honoured Tyrannus very many greetings. Heraclides, the bearer of this letter, is my brother, wherefore I entreat you with all my power to take him under your protection.* I have also asked your brother Hermias by letter to inform you about him. You will do me the greatest favour if you let him win your approval. Before all else I pray that you may have health and the best of success, unharmed by the evil eye. Goodbye. [Addressed] To Tyrannus the dioecetes.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23
\nBGU 27 (H&E 113). A letter from a brother. Second or third century AD<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Irenaeus to Apollinarius his dearest brother many greetings. I pray continually for your health, and I myself am well. I wish you to know that I reached land on the sixth of the month Epeiph and we unloaded our cargo on the eighteenth of the same month. I went up to Rome, on the twenty-fifth of the same month and the place welcomed us as the god willed, and we are daily expecting our discharge, it so being that up till to-day nobody in the corn fleet* has been released. Many salutations to your wife and to Serenus and to all who love you, each by name.* Goodbye. Mesore 9. [Addressed] To Apollinarius from his brother Irenaeus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It will be convenient at this point to turn aside from the non-literary papyri in order to illustrate another kind of letter. Attention has been drawn (see especially H. D. Betz, A Commentary on Paul\u2019s Letter to the Churches in Galatia, 1979) to the importance of the apologetic epistle, which provides parallels with the epistles of Paul. These letters are not easy to represent since \u2018most of the pertinent literature did not survive\u2019 (Betz, p. 15), and those who would use them are obliged to augment epistolary evidence with apologetic speeches. The Seventh Epistle of Plato, though relevant, is too long to quote; shorter letters may serve to indicate the spirit of the literature but cannot parallel the structure of a letter such as Galatians. The extracts here are from \u2018The Epistles of Diogenes\u2019 translated by B. Fiore SJ, in the recent collection by A. J. Malherbe, The Cynic Epistles (1977).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
24
\nThe Epistles of Diogenes (in Malherbe, op. cit.) 7. To Hicetas<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Diogenes to Hicetas.* Do not be upset, Father, that I am called a dog* and put on a double, coarse cloak, carry a wallet over my shoulders, and have a staff in my hand. It is not worth while getting distressed over such matters, but you should rather be glad that your son is satisfied with little, while being free from popular opinion, to which all, Greeks and barbarians alike, are subservient. Now the name, besides not being in accord with my deeds, is a sign that is notable as it is. For I am called heaven\u2019s dog, not earth\u2019s, since I liken myself to it, living as I do, not in conformity with popular opinion but according to nature, free under Zeus, and crediting the good to him and not to my neighbour. (2) As for my clothing, even Homer writes that Odysseus, the wisest of the Greeks, so dressed while he was returning home from Ilium under Athena\u2019s direction. And the vesture is so fine that it is commonly acknowledged to be a discovery not of men but of the gods.
\n First she gave him a cloak, tunic and mantle, seedy, dirty, stained by filthy smoke. She put around him a large, hairless hide of swift deer and gave him a staff and a poor leather pouch, riddled with holes, with a knapsack strap on it (Homer, Odyssey 13. 434\u201338)
\n Take heart, Father, at the name which they call me, and at my clothing, since the dog is under the protection of the gods and his clothing is god\u2019s invention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
25
\nThe Epistles of Diogenes (in Malherbe, op. cit.) 45. To Perdiccas<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Diogenes to Perdiccas, do well. Be ashamed at the threats you wrote me, since you haven\u2019t convinced me at all that I am worse than Eriphyle and that I have bartered myself venally for gold. You think this fit, and you probably won\u2019t put off assaulting me verbally. You threaten to kill me\u2014the threat of an insect! Nor are you aware that if you do this you in turn will suffer. For there is someone who cares about us, and he exacts equal satisfaction for such deeds from those who initiate unjust actions. From the living it\u2019s a single penalty, but from the dead ten-fold. I write this not out of fear of your threats, but wishing that you do not do anything wrong on my account.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Magical and Religious Papyri<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jewish and Christian papyri are not included here, nor are MSS. of literary texts. It is partly for this reason that the papyri quoted may give the impression that the religion of Egypt in the Hellenistic and Roman periods had little real religious feeling in it, but was on the one hand commercial and official, on the other magical. One would not expect the more personal and mystical aspects of religion to be treated in non-literary documents of the kind commonly preserved among the papyri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
26
\nP. Oxy. 1211 (H&E 403). Articles for sacrifice. Second century AD<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This note lists the articles needed for a sacrifice at \u2018the festival which is still held about the summer solstice when the river begins to rise\u2019 (H&E ii. 525). Evidently the strategus was responsible for providing the sacrificial material, or at least for paying for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To the strategus.* Articles for the sacrifice to the most sacred Nile on Pauni 30. 1 calf, 2 jars of sweet-smelling wine, 16 wafers, 16 garlands, 16 pine-cones, 16 cakes, 16 green palm-branches, 16 reeds likewise, oil, honey, milk, every spice except frankincense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
27
\nP. Tebt. 294 (H&E 353). Application for the office of prophet. AD 146<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The religion of Egypt was maintained by the state, and its servants held official paid positions for which application, accompanied by a fee, had to be made to the local authorities. It will be seen that the duties of the \u2018prophet\u2019 are very different from the activities of Old Testament and Christian prophets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Copy. To Tiberius Claudius Justus, administrator of the private account,* from Pakebkis son of Marsisouchus, exempted* priest of the famous temple of Soknebtunis also called Cronus and the most great associated gods, which is situated in the village of Tebtunis in the division of Polemon in the Arsinoite nome. I wish to purchase the office of prophet* in the aforesaid temple, which has been offered for sale for a long time, on the understanding that I shall \u2026 and carry the palm-branches and perform the other functions of the office of prophet and receive in accordance with the orders the fifth part of all the revenue which falls to the temple,* at the total price of 2,200 drachmae instead of the 640 drachmae offered long ago by Marsisouchus son of Pakebkis, which sum I will pay, if my appointment is ratified, into the local public bank at the customary dates; and I and my descendants and successors shall have the permanent ownership and possession of this office for ever with all the same privileges and rights, on payment (by each one) of 200 drachmae for admission. If therefore it seem good to you, my lord, you will ratify my appointment here in the city* upon these terms and write to the strategus of the nome about this matter, in order that the due services of the gods who love you may be performed. The fifth share of the proceeds of the revenues which falls to me, as aforesaid, after deducting expenses is 50 artabae of wheat, 9\u215d artabae of lentils, 60 drachmae of silver. Farewell. The 10th year of the Emperor Caesar Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius, Tubi 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
28
\nP. Oxy. 1148 (H&E 193). A question addressed to an oracle. First century AD<\/p>\n\n\n\n
O Lord Sarapis Helios, beneficent one. [Say] whether it is fitting that Phanias my son and his wife should not agree now with his father, but oppose him and not make a contract. Tell me this truly. Goodbye.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
29
\nP. Oxy. 1478 (H&E 198). A charm for victory. About AD 300<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charm for victory for Sarapammon son of Apollonius \u2026 [Here follow ten or eleven magical symbols] \u2026 Give victory and safety in the racecourse and the crowd to the aforesaid Sarapammon in the name of Sulicusesus.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
30
\nParis Magical Papyrus (lines 3,007\u20133,085). Charms and formulas. About AD 300<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Published by C. Wessely, \u2018Griechische Zauberpapyri von Paris und London\u2019, in Denkschrift der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Wien, Phil.-Hist. Klasse, xxxvi. (1888). See also G. A. Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, 250\u201360. Outside the official cults maintained by the state, religion in Egypt reflected the mixed population of the country, in which native Egyptians, Greek settlers, merchants and administrators, and Roman soldiers and officials were joined by various orientals, including numerous Jews. Those in particular who practised magic were willing to adopt from any source names and formulas which sounded impressive and effective. Of the resulting amalgam the following passage is an excellent example. Its Jewish affiliations are unmistakable; but it was certainly not written by an orthodox Jew, and probably not by a Jew of any kind. Yet there were Jewish exorcists (cf. e.g. Matt. 12:27 = Luke 11:19; Acts 19:13), and it may be that some of them used methods akin to those described in this papyrus. The reality of the demon world, constantly assumed in the New Testament, is clearly presupposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For those possessed by daemons,* an approved charm* by Pibechis.\nTake oil made from unripe olives, together with the plant\nmastigia and lotus pith, and boil it with marjoram\n(very colourless), saying: \u2018Joel,* Ossarthiomi,\nEmori, Theochipsoith, Sithemeoch, Sothe,\nJoe,* Mimipsothiooph, Phersothi, Aeeioyo,*\nJoe, Eochariphtha: come out of* such an one (and the other usual formulae).\u2019\nBut write this phylactery upon a little sheet of\ntin: \u2018Jaeo, Abraothioch, Phtha,* Mesentiniao,\nPheoch, Jaeo, Charsoc\u2019, and hang it\nround the sufferer: it is of every demon a thing to be trembled at,* which\nhe fears. Standing opposite, adjure* him. The adjuration is\nthis: \u2018I adjure thee by the god of the Hebrews\nJesu,* Jaba, Jae, Abraoth, Aia, Thoth, Ele,\nElo, Aeo, Eu, Jiibaech, Abarmas, Jabarau,\nAbelbel, Lona, Abra, Maroia, arm,\nthou that appearest in fire,* thou that art in the midst of earth and snow\nand vapour, Tannetis: let thy angel descend,\nthe implacable one, and let him draw into captivity the\ndaemon as he flieth around this creature\nwhich God formed* in his holy paradise.\nFor I pray to the holy god, through the might of* Ammonipsentancho.\u2019\nSentence. \u2018I adjure thee with bold, rash words: Jacuth,\nAblanathanalba, Acramm.\u2019 Sentence. \u2018Aoth, Jathabathra,\nChachthabratha, Chamynchel, Abrooth.\nThou art Abrasiloth, Allelu, Jelosai,\nJael: I adjure thee by him who appeared unto\nOsrael* in the pillar of light and in the cloud by\nday,* and who delivered his word* from the taskwork\nof Pharaoh and brought upon Pharaoh the\nten plagues because he heard not. I adjure\nthee, every daemonic spirit, say whatsoever\nthou art.* For I adjure thee by the seal\nwhich Solomon* laid upon the tongue\nof Jeremiah and he spake. And say thou\nwhatsoever thou art,* in heaven, or of the air,\nor on earth, or under the earth or below the ground,\nor an Ebusaean, or a Chersaean, or a Pharisee.* Say\nwhatsoever thou art,* for I adjure thee by God the lightbringer,*\ninvincible, who knoweth what is in the heart\nof all life, who of the dust hath formed the race\nof men, who hath brought out of uncertain [places]\nand maketh thick the clouds and causeth it to rain upon the earth\nand blesseth the fruits thereof; who is\nblessed by every power in heaven of angels,\nof archangels. I adjure thee by the great God Sabaoth,\nthrough whom the river Jordan returned\nbackward,\u2014the Red Sea also,\nwhich Israel journeyed over and it stood impassable.\nFor I adjure thee by him who revealed the hundred\nand forty tongues* and divided them\nby his command. I adjure thee by him who\nwith his lightnings the [race?] of stiff-necked giants consumed,\nto whom the heaven of heavens sings praises,\nto whom Cherubin his wings* sing praises.\nI adjure thee by him who hath set mountains* about the sea,\na wall of sand, and hath charged it not to pass\nover, and the deep hearkened. And do thou\nhearken, every daemonic spirit, for I adjure thee\nby him that moveth the four winds since\nthe holy aeons, him the heaven-like, sealike,\ncloud-like, the light-bringer, invincible.\nI adjure thee by him that is in Jerosolymum* the pure, to whom the\nunquenchable fire through every aeon is\noffered, through his holy name Jaeobaphrenemum\n(Sentence), before whom trembleth the Genna* of fire\nand flames flame round about and iron\nbursteth* and every mountain feareth from its foundations.\nI adjure thee, every daemonic spirit, by him that\nlooketh down on earth and maketh tremble the\nfoundations thereof and hath made all things\nout of things which are not into Being.\u2019 But I adjure thee,\nthou that usest this adjuration: the flesh of swine\neat not,* and there shall be subject unto thee every spirit\nand daemon, whatsoever he be. But when thou adjurest,\nblow, sending the breath from above [to the feet] and\nfrom the feet to the face, and he [the daemon] will\nbe drawn into captivity. Be pure and keep it. For the sentence\nis Hebrew* and kept by men\nthat are pure.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n31
\nP. Tebt. 276. Astrology. Late second or third century AD<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A special feature of gnostic-magical religion was astrology, which fascinated the Hellenistic world, and held with a paralysing grip the Hellenistic mind. The following is a fragment from a \u2018technical\u2019 astrological work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 If in addition Mercury is in conjunction, and Saturn is irregularly situated, \u2026 from an unfavourable position; if at the same time Mars is in opposition to Saturn, the aforesaid position being maintained [he will destroy?] profits of transactions. Saturn in triangular relation to Mars signifies [bad] fortune. Jupiter in triangular relation to Mars or in conjunction makes great kingdoms and empires. Venus in conjunction with Mars causes fornications and adulteries; if in addition Mercury is in conjunction with them, they in consequence make scandals and lusts. If Mercury is in conjunction with Jupiter or appears in triangular relation, this causes favourable actions or commerce, or a man will gain his living by \u2026 or by reason, and \u2026 If Mars appear in triangular relation to Jupiter and Saturn, this causes great happiness, and he will make great acquisitions and \u2026 If while Jupiter and Saturn are in this position Mars comes into conjunction with either, \u2026 after obtaining [wealth] and collecting a fortune he will spend and lose it. If Jupiter, Mercury, and Venus are in conjunction, they cause glories and empires and great prosperity; and if the conjunction takes place at the morning rising [of Venus], they cause prosperity from youth upwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Papyri illustrating Social and Economic Conditions<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is hardly one of the thousands of extant papyri which could not be quoted with some degree of relevance under this head. In the following pages an attempt is made to illustrate some of the conditions of private life\u2014birth, employment, marriage, the family, death; to show how the papyri afford data for economic history\u2014goods, prices, taxes, and the like; and to give some examples of legal documents. Finally one very important political document is quoted. For the most part these papyri (except when used by specialists for detailed study) require little comment, but the reader who will pursue them\u2014and the many similar papyri\u2014with attention and sympathetic imagination will be rewarded with an insight into the world of primitive Christianity which he could hardly obtain by any other means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
32
\nP. Tebt. 299. Notice of birth. About AD 50<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This papyrus is mutilated in places, and the restorations are not certain; but all are probable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To Arius son of Lysimachus, comogrammateus* of Tebtunis, from Psoiphis son of Harpocras son of Pakebkis, his mother being Thenmarsisuchus daughter of Psoithis and Kellauthis, inhabitants of the village, priest of the fifth tribe of the gods at the village, Cronos, the most great god, and Isis and Sarapis, the great gods, and one of the fifty exempted* persons. I register Pakebkis, the son born to me and Taasies daughter of \u2026 and Taopis in the 10th year of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus Imperator, and request that the name of my aforesaid son Pakebkis be entered on the list.\u2026*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
33
\nP. Oxy. 275 (H&E 13). Agreement of apprenticeship. AD 66<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tryphon son of Dionysius son of Tryphon and of Thamounis daughter of Onnophris, and Ptolemaeus son of Pausirion son of Ptolemaeus and of Ophelous daughter of Theon, weaver, both being inhabitants of Oxyrhynchus, mutually acknowledge that Tryphon has apprenticed to Ptolemaeus his son Thoonis, whose mother is Saraeus daughter of Apion, and who is not yet of age, for a period of one year from the present day, to serve and to follow all the instructions given to him by Ptolemaeus in the art of weaving as far as he himself knows it, the boy to be fed and clothed for the whole period by his father Tryphon, who will also be responsible for all the taxes on him, on the condition that Ptolemaeus will pay to him monthly on account of food five drachmae and at the close of the whole period on account of clothing twelve drachmae, nor shall Tryphon have the right to remove the boy from Ptolemaeus until the completion of the period, and for whatever days therein the boy plays truant, he shall send him to work for the like number at the end of it or else forfeit one drachma of silver for each day, and for removing him within the period he shall pay a penalty of 100 drachmae and the like sum to the Treasury. If Ptolemaeus fails to instruct the boy fully, he shall be liable to the same penalties. This contract of apprenticeship is valid. The 13th year of Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus Imperator, the 21st of the month Sebastus. [Signed\u2014in a different hand] I, Ptolemaeus son of Pausirion son of Ptolemaeus and of Ophelous daughter of Theon, will do everything in the one year. I, Zoilus son of Horus son of Zoilus and of Dieus daughter of Sokeus have written for him, as he is illiterate. The 13th year of Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus Imperator, Sebastus 21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
34
\nBGU 1052 (H&E 3). A contract of marriage. 13 BC<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To Protarchus from Thermion daughter of Apion, with her guardian Apollonius son of Chaereas, and from Apollonius son of Ptolemaeus. Thermion and Apollonius son of Ptolemaeus agree that they have come together to share a common life, and the said Apollonius son of Ptolemaeus acknowledges that he has received from Thermion by hand from the house a dowry of a pair of gold earrings weighing three quarters and \u2026 silver drachmae; and from now Apollonius son of Ptolemaeus shall furnish to Thermion as his wedded wife all necessaries and clothing in proportion to his means and shall not ill-treat her nor cast her out nor bring in another wife, or he shall straightway forfeit the dowry increased by half, with right of execution upon both the person of Apollonius son of Ptolemaeus and all his property as if by legal decision, and Thermion shall fulfil her duties towards her husband and their common life and shall not absent herself from the house for a night or a day without the consent of Apollonius son of Ptolemaeus nor dishonour nor injure their common home nor consort with another man, or she again if guilty of any of these actions shall, after trial, be deprived of the dowry, and in addition the transgressing party shall be liable to the prescribed fine. The 17th year of Caesar,* Pharmouthi 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
35
\nP. Oxy. 744 (H&E 105). A letter from husband to wife. 1 BC<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hilarion to his sister* Alis very many greetings, likewise to my lady Berous and Apollonarion. Know that we are still in Alexandria. Do not be anxious; if they really go home, I will remain in Alexandria. I beg and entreat you, take care of the little one, and as soon as we receive our pay I will send it up to you. If by chance you bear a child, if it is a boy, let it be, if it is a girl, cast it out.* You have said to Aphrodisias* \u2018Do not forget me.\u2019 How can I forget you? I beg you then not to be anxious. The 29th year of Caesar,* Pauni 23. [Addressed, on the verso] Deliver to Alis from Hilarion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
36
\nRev. \u00c9g. 1919, p. 201 (H&E 133). A letter from son to father. Early third century AD<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To my lord and father Arion from Thonis greeting. Before all else I make supplication for you every day, praying also before the ancestral gods of my present abode that I may find you and all our folk thriving. Look you, this is my fifth letter to you, and you have not written to me except only once, not even a word about your welfare, nor come to see me; though you promised me saying \u2018I am coming,\u2019 you have not come to find out whether the teacher is looking after me or not. He himself is inquiring about you almost every day, saying, \u2018Is he not coming yet?\u2019 And I just say \u2018Yes.\u2019 Endeavour then to come to me quickly in order that he may teach me as he is eager to do. If you had come up with me, I should have been taught long ago. And when you come, remember what I have often written to you about. Come to us quickly then before he goes up country. I send my salutations to all our folk, each by name, together with those who love us. Salutations also to my teachers. Goodbye, my lord and father, and may you prosper, as I pray, for many years along with my brothers whom may the evil eye harm not. [Postscript] Remember our pigeons. [Addressed] To Arion my father from \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
37
\nBGU 1103 (H&E 6). Deed of divorce. 13 BC<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To Protarchus from Zois daughter of Heraclides, with her guardian her brother Irenaeus son of Heraclides, and from Antipater son of Zenon. Zois and Antipater agree that they have separated from each other, severing the union which they had formed on the basis of an agreement made through the same tribunal in Hathur of the current 17th year of Caesar, and Zois acknowledges that she has received from Antipater by hand from his house the material which he received for dowry, clothes to the value of 120 drachmae and a pair of gold earrings. The agreement of marriage shall henceforth be null, and neither Zois nor other person acting for her shall take proceedings against Antipater for restitution of the dowry, nor shall either party take proceedings against the other about cohabitation or any other matter whatsoever up to the present day, and hereafter it shall be lawful both for Zois to marry another man and for Antipater to marry another woman without either of them being answerable. In addition to this agreement being valid, the one who transgresses it shall moreover be liable both to damages and to the prescribed fine. The 17th year of Caesar, Pharmouthi 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
38
\nP. Tebt. 381. A will. AD 123<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 8th year of the Emperor Caesar Trajanus Hadrianus Augustus, Choiak 22, at Tebtunis in the division of Polemon of the Arsinoite nome. Thaesis daughter of Orsenouphis son of Onnophris, her mother being Thenobastis, of the aforesaid village of Tebtunis, aged about seventy-eight years, having a scar on the right forearm, acting with her guardian,* her kinsman Cronion son of Ameis, aged about twenty-seven, having a scar between his eyebrows, acknowledges that she, the acknowledging party, Thaesis, has consented that after her death there shall belong to Thenpetesuchus, her daughter by her late departed husband Pansais, and also to Sansneus son of Tephersos, the son of her other daughter Taorseus, now dead, to the two of them, property as follows: to Thenpetesuchus alone, the house, yard and all effects belonging to Thaesis in the said village of Tebtunis by right of purchase from Thenpetesuchus daughter of Petesuchus, and the furniture, utensils, household stock and apparel left by Thaesis, and the sums due to her and other property of any kind whatsoever, while to Sansneus she has bequeathed eight drachmae of silver,* which Sansneus shall receive from Thenpetesuchus after the death of Thaesis; on condition that the daughter Thenpetesuchus shall properly perform the obsequies and laying out of her mother, and shall discharge such private debts as Thaesis* shall prove to owe, but as long as her mother Thaesis lives she shall have power to \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
39
\nP. Oxy. 39. Release on medical grounds from military service. AD 52<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Copy of a release dated and signed in the 12th year of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus Imperator, Pharmouthi 29. Release from service was granted by Gn. Vergilius Capito, praefect of Upper and Lower Egypt,* to Tryphon, son of Dionysius, weaver, suffering from cataract and shortness of sight, of the metropolis of Oxyrhynchus. Examination was made in Alexandria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
40
\nP. Tebt. 300. Notice of death. AD 151<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To Melanas, comogrammateus of Tebtunis, from Paopis son of Psoiphis son of Paopis, exempted priest of the famous temple at Tebtunis. My father Psoiphis son of Paopis and Asis, of the said village, exempted priest of the said temple, died in the month Tubi of the present 14th year of Antoninus Caesar the lord.* Wherefore I present this notice, that this name may be struck off and may be inscribed in the list of such persons, and I swear by the Fortune* of Antoninus Caesar the lord that the information above given is true. I, Paopis son of Psoiphis, have presented the notice.* The 14th year of the Emperor Caesar Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius, Mecheir 15.
\n [On the verso is written the title of the document (\u1f51\u03c0\u03cc\u03bc(\u03bd\u03b7\u03bc\u03b1) \u03c4\u03b5\u03bb\u03b5\u03c5\u03c4(\u1fc6\u03c2) \u03a8\u03cd\u03c6\u03b9\u03c2 \u03a0\u03b1\u03ce\u03c0\u03b9\u03c2), with the signature of Melanas.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
41
\nP. Cairo Zen. 59092 (H&E 182). A list of clothes. About 257 BC<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zenon\u2019s trunk in which are contained: 1 linen wrap, washed; 1 clay-coloured cloak, for winter, washed, and 1 worn, 1 for summer, half-worn, 1 natural-coloured, for winter, washed, and 1 worn, 1 vetch-coloured, for summer, new; 1 white tunic for winter, with sleeves, washed, 1 natural-coloured, for winter, with sleeves, worn, 1 natural-coloured, for winter, worn, 2 white, for winter, washed, and 1 half-worn, 3 for summer, white, new, 1 unbleached, 1 half-worn; 1 outer garment, white, for winter, washed; 1 coarse mantle; 1 summer garment, white, washed, and 1 half-worn; 1 pair of Sardian pillowcases; 2 pairs of socks, clay-coloured, new, 2 pairs of white, new; 2 girdles, white, new. [On the verso] From Pisicles, a list of Zenon\u2019s clothes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
42
\nP. Tebt. 35 (H&E 223). Official regulation of the price of myrrh (a government monopoly). 111 BC<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apollonius to the epistatae* in the division of Polemon and to the other officials greeting. For the myrrh distributed in the villages no one shall exact more than 40 drachmae of silver for a mina-weight or in copper 3 talents 2,000 drachmae with a charge of 200 drachmae on the talent for carriage;* which sum shall be paid not later than the 3rd of Pharmouthi to the collector sent for the purpose. Let the subjoined notice* be posted up with the concurrence of the village secretary, who shall sign his name below the order along with you. Whoever contravenes these instructions will render himself liable to accusation. We have therefore also sent the sword-bearers.* Goodbye. Year 6, Pharmouthi 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
43
\nP. Oxy. 1439 (H&E 381). A toll receipt. AD 75<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sarapion has paid the one per cent tax for toll dues of the Oasis upon one ass-load of barley and one ass-load of garlic. The 2nd year of Vespasianus the lord, seventh (7th) day of Mecheir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
44
\nP. Amh. 51 (H&E 28). Deed of sale of a house. 88 BC<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[Column 1, summary] The 26th year, Mesore 28. Peteesis son of Pates has sold to Pelaeas son of Eunous the house belonging to him in the eastern part of Pathyris, built raftered and furnished with doors, the boundaries of which are given in the deed of sale. [Column 2, text of deed] In the 26th year of the reign of Ptolemy surnamed Alexander and of Cleopatra the sister, gods Philometores Soteres, the priests and priestesses and the canephorus* being those now in office, the 28th of the month Mesore, at Pathyris, before Hermias, agoranomus* of the upper toparchy of the Pathyrite nome. Peteesis son of Pates, Persian, aged about forty years, of medium height, fair-skinned, smooth-haired, long-faced, straight-nosed, with a scar under the left eyebrow, has sold the house belonging to him, built and raftered and furnished with doors, at the so-called fountain in the eastern part of Pathyris, of which the boundaries are, to the south the house of Pelaeas the purchaser, on the north the house of Taenoutis daughter of Psenpoeris, of which Totoes son of Panechates has possession, on the east and west a royal street, or whatever the boundaries may be all round. Pelaeas son of Eunous has bought it for one talent of copper. Negotiator and guarantor of all the terms of this deed of sale: Peteesis the vendor, who has been accepted by Pelaeas the purchaser. [Subscribed] Registered by me, Hermias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
45
\nP. Ryl. 175 (H&E 278). A householder\u2019s complaint to the police that he has been robbed. AD 28\u20139<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To Serapion, chief of police, from Orsenouphis son of Harpaesis, notable of the village of Euhemeria in the division of Themistes. In the month Mesore of the past 14th year of Tiberius Caesar Augustus I was having some old walls on my premises demolished by the mason Petesouchus son of Petesouchus, and while I was absent from home to gain my living, Petesouchus in the process of demolition discovered a hoard which had been secreted by my mother in a little box as long ago as the 16th year of Caesar, consisting of a pair of gold earrings weighing 4 quarters, a gold crescent weighing 3 quarters, a pair of silver armlets of the weight of 12 drachmae of uncoined metal, a necklace with silver ornaments worth 80 drachmae, and 60 silver drachmae. Diverting the attention of his assistants and my people he had them conveyed to his own home by his maiden daughter, and after emptying out the aforesaid objects he threw away the box empty in my house, and he even admitted finding the box, though he pretends that it was empty. Wherefore I request, if you approve, that the accused be brought before you for the consequent punishment. Farewell.
\n Orsenouphis, aged fifty, scar on left forearm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
46
\nP. Hamb. i. 4 (H&E 249) Engagement to appear in court. AD 87<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Copy of bond. To Nemesion, royal scribe of the division of Heraclides, from Lucius Vettius Epaphroditus. I swear by the Emperor Caesar Domitianus Augustus Germanicus that I will present myself in Alexandria not later than the 23rd of the month Pharmouthi of the current 6th year of the Emperor Caesar Domitianus Augustus Germanicus and will attend the most sacred court of his excellency the praefect Gaius Septimius Vegetus until I have contested the case which Marcus Antonius Tituleius, soldier, is bringing against me, in conformity with the order delivered to Claudius Chares, late strategus, otherwise may I incur the consequences of the oath. Isidorus, public scribe, has written for him, as he professes to be illiterate. Epaphroditus, aged thirty-five years, with a scar on the small finger of the right hand, described by Tebulus,* assistant. The 6th year of the Emperor Caesar Domitianus Augustus Germanicus, Pharmouthi 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
47
\nP. Oxy. 37 (H&E 257). Minutes of legal proceedings before a strategus. AD 49<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From the minutes of Tiberius Claudius Pasion, strategus. The 9th year of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus Imperator, Pharmouthi 3, at the court. Pesouris versus Saraeus. Aristocles, advocate for Pesouris, said: \u2018Pesouris, for whom I appear, in the 7th year of Tiberius Claudius Caesar the lord picked up from a rubbish-heap* a male foundling called Heraclas. This he entrusted to the defendant, and the nurse\u2019s contract which was made here referred to it as a son of Pesouris. She received her wages for the first year. The pay-day for the second year came round and again she received them. To show that these statements are true, we have her receipts in which she acknowledges payment. As the foundling was being starved, Pesouris took it away. Subsequently, seizing an opportunity, she burst into the house of my client and carried the foundling off; and she seeks to obtain the foundling as being her free-born child. I have here, first, the written contract for nursing, I have, secondly, the receipt for the wages. I demand that these be recognized.\u2019 Saraeus: \u2018I weaned my own child and the foundling of these persons was entrusted to me. I have received from them the whole eight staters. Subsequently the foundling died, [.] staters being still unearned.* Now they seek to take away my own child.\u2019 Theon:* \u2018We have the papers relating to the foundling.\u2019 The strategus: \u2018Since from its looks the child appears to be the son of Saraeus, if she and her husband will sign a sworn declaration that the foundling entrusted to her by Pesouris has died, I give judgement in accordance with the decision of our lord the praefect* that on paying back the money which she has received she shall have her own child.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
48
\nP. Lond. 1912 (H&E 212). A letter of the Emperor Claudius to the Alexandrians. AD 41<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This letter is of great historical and constitutional importance. See p. 13 and 148\u20139.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Proclamation by Lucius Aemilius Rectus.* Seeing that all the populace, owing to its numbers, was unable to be present at the reading of the most sacred and most beneficent letter to the city, I have deemed it necessary to display the letter publicly in order that reading it one by one you may admire the majesty of our god Caesar and feel gratitude for his goodwill towards the city. Year 2 of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus Imperator, the 14th of Neus Sebastus.
\n Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus Imperator, Pontifex Maximus, holder of the tribunician power, consul designate, to the city of Alexandria greeting. Tiberius Claudius Barbillus, Apollonius son of Artemidorus, Chaeremon son of Leonidas, Marcus Julius Asclepiades, Gaius Julius Dionysius, Tiberius Claudius Phanias, Pasion son of Potamon, Dionysius son of Sabbion, Tiberius Claudius Archibius, Apollonius son of Ariston, Gaius Julius Apollonius, Hermaiscus son of Apollonius, your ambassadors, having delivered to me the decree, discoursed at length concerning the city, directing my attention to your goodwill towards us, which from long ago, you may be sure, had been stored up to your advantage in my memory; for you are by nature reverent towards the Augusti, as I know from many proofs, and in particular have taken a warm interest in my house, warmly reciprocated, of which fact (to mention the last instance, passing over the others) the supreme witness is my brother Germanicus addressing you in words more clearly stamped as his own.* Wherefore I gladly accepted the honours given to me by you, though I have no weakness for such things. And first I permit you to keep my birthday as a dies Augustus as you have yourselves proposed, and I agree to the erection in their several places of the statues of myself and my family; for I see that you were anxious to establish on every side memorials of your reverence for my house. Of the two golden statues the one made to represent the Pax Augusta Claudiana, as my most honoured Barbillus suggested and entreated when I wished to refuse for fear of being thought too offensive, shall be erected at Rome, and the other according to your request shall be carried in procession on name-days in your city; and it shall be accompanied by a throne, adorned with whatever trappings you choose. It would perhaps be foolish, while accepting such great honours, to refuse the institution of a Claudian tribe* and the establishment of groves after the manner of Egypt; wherefore I grant you these requests as well, and if you wish you may also erect the equestrian statues given by Vitrasius Pollio my procurator. As for the erection of those in four-horse chariots which you wish to set up to me at the entrances into the country, I consent to let one be placed at Taposiris, the Libyan town of that name, another at Pharos in Alexandria, and a third at Pelusium in Egypt. But I deprecate the appointment of a high priest to me and the building of temples, for I do not wish to be offensive to my contemporaries, and my opinion is that temples and such forms of honour have by all ages been granted as a prerogative to the gods alone.
\n Concerning the requests which you have been anxious to obtain from me, I decide as follows. All those who have become ephebi* up to the time of my principate I confirm and maintain in possession of the Alexandrian citizenship with all the privileges and indulgences enjoyed by the city, excepting such as by beguiling you have contrived to become ephebi though born of servile mothers; and it is equally my will that all the other favours shall be confirmed which were granted to you by former princes and kings and praefects, as the deified Augustus also confirmed them. It is my will that the neocori* of the temple of the deified Augustus in Alexandria shall be chosen by lot in the same way as those of the said deified Augustus in Canopus are chosen by lot. With regard to the civic magistracies being made triennial your proposal seems to me to be very good; for through fear of being called to account for any abuse of power your magistrates will behave with greater circumspection during their term of office. Concerning the senate, what your custom may have been under the ancient kings I have no means of saying, but that you had no senate under the former Augusti you are well aware. As this is the first broaching of a novel project, whose utility to the city and to my government is not evident, I have written to Aemilius Rectus to hold an inquiry and inform me whether in the first place it is right that a senate should be constituted and, if it should be right to create one, in what manner this is to be done.
\n As for the question which party was responsible for the riots and feud (or rather, if the truth must be told, the war) with the Jews,* although in confrontation with their opponents your ambassadors, and particularly Dionysius son of Theon, contended with great zeal, nevertheless I was unwilling to make a strict inquiry, though guarding within me a store of immutable indignation against whichever party renews the conflict; and I tell you once for all that unless you put a stop to this ruinous and obstinate enmity against each other, I shall be driven to show what a benevolent prince can be when turned to righteous indignation. Wherefore once again I conjure you that on the one hand the Alexandrians show themselves forbearing and kindly towards the Jews who for many years have dwelt in the same city, and dishonour none of the rites observed by them in the worship of their god, but allow them to observe their customs as in the time of the deified Augustus, which customs I also, after hearing both sides, have sanctioned; and on the other hand I explicitly order the Jews not to agitate for more privileges than they formerly possessed, and not in future to send out a separate embassy as if they lived in a separate city, a thing unprecedented, and not to force their way into gymnasiarchic* or cosmetic* games, while enjoying their own privileges and sharing a great abundance of advantages in a city not their own, and not to bring in or admit Jews who come down the river from Syria or Egypt, a proceeding which will compel me to conceive serious suspicions; otherwise I will by all means take vengeance on them as fomenters of what is a general plague infecting the whole world. If desisting from these courses you consent to live with mutual forbearance and kindliness, I on my side will exercise a solicitude of very long standing for the city, as one which is bound to us by traditional friendship. I bear witness to my friend Barbillus of the solicitude which he has always shown for you in my presence and of the extreme zeal with which he has now advocated your cause, and likewise to my friend Tiberius Claudius Archibius. Farewell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3 Inscriptions<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An immense number of inscribed stones and metals, written in Latin, Greek, and Semitic languages, has been preserved, in various degrees of mutilation, from the world in which primitive Christianity arose. Taken together they furnish a very great deal of valuable material for the reconstruction of the military, political, social, and religious history of the ancient world. A complete account, or even an adequate sketch, of this material would clearly be out of place in this book, as would also be a description of the methods by which inscriptions may be, and have been, sought, excavated, deciphered, and interpreted. The following non-Christian inscriptions all bear directly, though in different ways, upon the history of early Christianity; it must be remembered that other inscriptions, which have no such direct reference, are nevertheless of great importance to the historian who would study the New Testament and other early Christian documents in their original setting. Other inscriptions will be found at 1, 10, 113, 114, 115.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Gallio inscription at Delphi<\/p>\n\n\n\n
49
\nW. Dittenberger, Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum, 3rd edn. 801D<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is a full and convenient account in F. J. F. Jackson and K. Lake, The Beginnings of Christianity, V, pp. 460\u20134. Four fragments of a stone bearing a rescript of the emperor Claudius (see 9, 10) were discovered in the present century at Delphi, in Greece (Achaea), which refer to Gallio as proconsul of the province; cf. Acts 18:12. The stone is dated, and consequently makes possible greater precision in the dating of Paul\u2019s visit to Corinth. Parts of the inscription have perished, and conjectural supplements (most of which are very probable) are indicated by square brackets, so far as this is possible in translation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tiberius [Claudius]* Caesar Augustus Germanicus, [Pontifex maximus, in his tribunician] power\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n[year 12, acclaimed Emperor for]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* the 26th time, father of the country, [consul for the 5th time, censor, sends greeting to the city of Delphi.]\nI have for long been zealous for the city of Delphi [and favourable to it from the]\nbeginning, and I have always observed the cult of the [Pythian] Apollo,* [but with regard to]\nthe present stories,* and those quarrels of the citizens of which [a report has been made by Lucius]\nJunius Gallio my friend, and [pro]consul [of Achaea] \u2026*\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several lines follow which can be read with only partial certainty, and are not significant for the present purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Temple Inscription<\/p>\n\n\n\n
50
\nW. Dittenberger, Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae, 598<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The inscription translated below explains itself. Gentiles were allowed in the outer but not the inner areas of the temple at Jerusalem and Josephus (War v. 193f.; cf. War vi. 125; Ant. xv. 417; Philo, Leg. ad Gaium 212) says: \u2018Proceeding across this [the open court] towards the second court of the temple, one found it surrounded by a stone balustrade, three cubits high and of exquisite workmanship; in this at regular intervals stood slabs giving warning, some in Greek, others in Latin characters, of the law of purification, to wit that no foreigner was permitted to enter the holy place, for so the second enclosure of the temple was called.\u2019 One of these warning notices was discovered in 1871 by Clermont-Ganneau. It runs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No man of another nation to enter within the fence and enclosure round the temple. And whoever is caught will have himself to blame that his death ensues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We may compare Acts 21:26\u201330; Eph. 2:14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Synagogue Inscriptions<\/p>\n\n\n\n
See A. Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East (1927), p. 16; E. Sch\u00fcrer, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (new ed.) III. i. 90f.; F. J. F. Jackson and K. Lake, Beginnings of Christianity, IV, p. 67; V. p. 64. Jewish communities, many of them equipped with synagogues, were to be found in many towns of the Roman Empire. The following inscriptions attest the existence of synagogues at Corinth, Rome, and Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
51
\nCorpus Inscriptionum Judaicarum 718. A Synagogue at Corinth<\/p>\n\n\n\n
See Deissmann, loc. cit.
\n [Syn]agogue of the Hebr[ews].<\/p>\n\n\n\n
52
\nCIJ 510 (= CIG, 9909). A Synagogue at Rome<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here lies\nSalo[me]\ndaughter of Gadia,\nfather\nof the synagogue*\nof the Hebrews. She\nlived forty-one years.\nIn peace\nbe her\nsleep.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n53
\nA Synagogue at Jerusalem. CIJ, 1404<\/p>\n\n\n\n
See Jackson and Lake, op. cit. IV, p. 67; also E. L. Sukenik, Ancient Synagogues in Palestine and Greece, 1934, pp. 69f.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Theodotus, son of Vettenus,* priest and\narchisynagogue,* son of an archisynagogue,\ngrandson of an archisynagogue, built\nthe synagogue for the* reading\nof the Law and the teaching of the commandments,* and\nthe guest-house* and the rooms and the water\nsupplies as an inn for those\nwho have need when they come from abroad; which [synagogue]\nhis fathers founded* and the elders\nand Simonides.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nSacral Manumission<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the ancient world slavery was a common and hardly questioned institution. Consequently the states of freedom and bondage, and the transition between the two, were more familiar to the New Testament writers than to ourselves. As there were many ways by which a person might become a slave, so also there were several methods of emancipation. For example, a god and his priests might assist the process; this method suggests the possibility of parallels with various New Testament metaphors, and may be illustrated by the following inscriptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
54
\nW. Dittenberger, Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum, 2nd edn 845<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An inscription of 200\u2013199 BC, found (with others) on a wall of the temple of Apollo at Delphi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Pythian Apollo\nbought* from Sosibius\nof Amphissa for freedom*\na female slave, whose name\nis Nicaea, by race a Roman, at a price\nof three silver minas and\na half-mina. Former seller according to\nthe law was Eumnastus*\nof Amphissa. He has received\nthe price. The deed of sale*\nNicaea has entrusted to\nApollo for freedom.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n55
\nCIJ 683 (= CIG 2114 bb)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This inscription was found at Panticapaeum, in the Crimea. It is plainly of Jewish origin, and shows both the wide extent of the Diaspora (see 148\u2013152), and that the Jews also practised manumission at their sacred places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the reign of king Tiberius\nJulius Rhescuporis, friend of\nCaesar and friend of Rome, the pious;\nin the year 377,* in the month Penitius,\nthe 20th [or 23rd], I, Chreste, formerly wife\nof Nicias, son of Sotas, release at the house of\nprayer* my slave Heraclas\nto be completely free according to my vow.*\nHe is not to be retained or dis-\nturbed by any heir of mine,\nbut to go wherever he wishes,\nwithout let or hindrance according to\nmy vow, except for the house of prayer*\nwhich is for worship and meeting.\nAssent is given to this\nalso by my heirs, Pericleides\nand Heliconias.\nJoint oversight will be taken also by the\nsynagogue of the Jews.*<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nTwo Ossuaries<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1945 a large grave chamber was discovered at Talpioth, a suburb of Jerusalem. It seems to have been in use from about 50 BC to about AD 50, and contained fourteen ossuaries, on some of which inscriptions were still legible, some in Aramaic, some in Greek. The two Greek inscriptions are transliterated as follows; their interpretation is disputed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
56<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iesous iou<\/p>\n\n\n\n
57<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iesous aloth<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The name Jesus is clear and unquestioned. The letters that follow have been given different interpretations. Probably the best view is that Iou and Aloth are both personal names, indicating that the bones in question were those of Jesus son of Iou (or of Ias, taking \u03b9\u03bf\u03c5 to be genitive of \u1f38\u03ac\u03c2) and of Jesus son of Aloth. On this view the ossuaries have nothing to do with Christian origins\u2014an interesting conclusion, since some also bear incised crosses, which must be interpreted as Jewish symbols (see E. Dinkler, Signum Crucis (T\u00fcbingen 1967), 3\u201315). Some however hold that the name Jesus refers to Jesus of Nazareth; E. L. Sukenik (American Journal of Archaeology 51 (1947) 351\u2013365) thinks that iou and aloth are both cries of woe; in the presence of death the bereaved address their sorrow to Jesus. B. Gustafsson (New Testament Studies 3, (1956) 65\u201369) thinks this to be entirely correct for iou, which he takes as an appeal for help: Jesus, help! Aloth he connects with the Hebrew \u05e2\u05dc\u05d4, \u2018alah, and understands the inscription to mean, Jesus, let (him who rests here) arise!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4 Philosophers and Poets<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Philosophy, in the strict sense in which the term is now understood, plays only a small part in the background of the New Testament. In the early Christian period the age of the great philosophers was past. The \u2018failure of nerve\u2019 (to use Dr Gilbert Murray\u2019s vivid phrase) had long set in. The fearless freedom of thought which had marked Periclean Athens had disappeared; men had lost confidence in the power of their own intelligence to solve by abstract ratiocination the problems of mind and matter, man and the universe. Dogmatism, revelation, religion, and even superstition replaced independent thought; interest in metaphysics was replaced by interest in practical ethics\u2014how was a virtuous man to live in evil surroundings? When the problems of cosmology were envisaged they were seen as divine secrets revealed only to the elect.
\nTo write thus is to paint perhaps too dark a picture. A preoccupation with ethics is after all no discredit to any age, and Christianity (like the Judaism from which it emerged) entered the ancient world as a revelation. But even a slight sketch of Platonism and Aristotelianism as metaphysical systems would be out of place in this book. Plato\u2019s work as the virtual founder of idealism was even in the first century important enough; but what the first century made of it was Gnosticism, or something much like Gnosticism (see Chapter 5), and the \u2018philosophy\u2019 condemned in Col. 2:8 was a worship of angels rather than a pursuit of truth and the Ideal Good. The first century was in philosophy an eclectic age, and no attempt will be made here to delineate the views of the several philosophical \u2018schools\u2019 (though certain venerable labels will be retained). The extracts given below may, however, help to suggest the atmosphere in which the Christian faith was propagated.
\nIt is not only professional philosophers who think deeply and instructively about the meaning of life, nor do they always impress their contemporaries as being the wisest and most reputable of men. Poets, and not only tragic poets, took their place in an intellectual environment, and the criticism levelled by a comic writer such as Aristophanes was much more than a modern chaffing of the absent-minded professor. Men like him were shocked by the essential levity, and the profiteering rapacity, of the sophists, who were prepared to prove that black was white to make a living. Socrates deserved the criticism less than most, but his personal characteristics and his fame invited it. And Aristophanes had serious if cynically expressed things to say about, for example, war and peace, men and women. It is however to the great writers of tragedy that one turns for profound reflection on human duty and destiny. They took their plots from the common stock of Greek legend, and saw in them, and used them to express, the issues of life and death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heraclitus and the Logos<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is very improbable that those fragments of the philosopher Heraclitus (who flourished in Ephesus in the fifth century BC) that contain the word \u03bb\u03cc\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2 have anything to do with John\u2019s Logos-doctrine, or indeed with any New Testament doctrine. It has, however, been maintained that Heraclitus\u2019s extremely obscure remarks are important for the study of the New Testament, and they are included here for the convenience of the reader, who may consider the question for himself. The references given are to R. Walzer, Eraclito: raccolta dei Frammenti (Florence, 1939).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
58
\nHeraclitus, Fragment (in Walzer, op. cit.) 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though the word always exists* men are without understanding, both before they hear it, and after they have heard it the first time. For though all things happen in accordance with this word men seem as if they had no acquaintance with them, making trial of both words and deeds such as I set forth, distinguishing each thing according to its nature and showing how it is. But other men know not what they do even when they are awake, as they forget what they do when they are asleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
59
\nHeraclitus, Fragment (in Walzer, op. cit.) 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is necessary therefore to follow the common. But though the word* is common most men live as if they had a wisdom of their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
60
\nHeraclitus, Fragment (in Walzer, op. cit.) 31<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Transformations of fire: first, sea, and half of sea is earth, and half is waterspout.\u2026 The sea liquefies and is measured by the same measure* as before it became earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
61
\nHeraclitus, Fragment (in Walzer, op. cit.) 50<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It* is wise to listen not to me but to the word, and to confess that all things are one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plato: the Philosopher\u2019s Mission and the Doctrine of Ideas<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A discussion of the relation between Socrates and the Sophists would take us far beyond the limits of this book. That Socrates himself was able to distinguish sharply between his own work and that of the common run of sophists is clear; but it is equally clear that there was no small superficial resemblance between them. He sometimes appeared, like them, to make \u2018the worse appear the better reason\u2019; this was because he questioned every conventional, unexamined motive, bade men examine themselves and their presuppositions, and dared to give a fresh opinion\u2014or at least ask fresh questions\u2014on such matters as the religion and established order of the state. He made powerful enemies by the devastating elenchus with which he exposed the hollow shams especially of those who were reputed to be wise and influential. The sophists were teachers of rhetoric; Socrates taught men to know themselves, and in that knowledge to discover their own ignorance. This was his mission to Athens, and in the faithful execution of it he became the prototype of the philosophic missionary (see below, 85\u20139 and introductory note), and indeed of the philosophic martyr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
62
\nPlato, Apology of Socrates 28D\u201330C<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this work (which cannot be regarded as conveying the words of Socrates himself: Xenophon also wrote a somewhat similar, but different, Apology) Socrates answers the charge, on which he was convicted and put to death, that \u2018he had corrupted the young men of the city, and did not believe in the gods believed in by the city but had introduced other new divinities\u2019. In reply Socrates describes the origin of his \u2018mission\u2019. The Delphic oracle had pronounced him the wisest of men. This he found incredible, and to prove it false he proceeded to interrogate those who had a reputation for wisdom. He was amazed to find that, notwithstanding their reputation, they were ignorant men, and came to believe that he might after all be the wisest of men since, though he too was ignorant, he at least knew that he was ignorant (cf. l. 18 below). The theme of his mission is developed further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strange, indeed, would be my conduct,* O men of Athens, if I who, when I was ordered by the generals whom you chose to command me at Potidaea and Amphipolis and Delium,* remained where they placed me, like any other man, facing death\u2014if now, when, as I conceive and imagine, God orders me* to fulfil the philosopher\u2019s mission of searching into myself and other men, I were to desert my post through fear of death, or any other fear; that would indeed be strange, and I might justly be arraigned in court for denying the existence of the gods, if I disobeyed the oracle because I was afraid of death, fancying that I was wise when I was not wise. For the fear of death is indeed the pretence of wisdom, and not real wisdom, being a pretence of knowing the unknown; and no one knows whether death, which men in their fear apprehend to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good. Is not this ignorance of a disgraceful sort, the ignorance which is the conceit that a man knows what he does not know? And in this respect only I believe myself to differ from men in general, and may perhaps claim to be wiser than they are:\u2014that whereas I know but little of the world below, I do not suppose that I know: but I do know that injustice and disobedience to a better, whether God or man, is evil and dishonourable, and I will never fear or avoid a possible good rather than a certain evil. And therefore if you let me go now, and are not convinced by Anytus, who said that since I had been prosecuted I must be put to death; (or if not that I ought never to have been prosecuted at all); and that if I escape now, your sons will all be utterly ruined by listening to my words\u2014if you say to me, Socrates, this time we will not mind Anytus, and you shall be let off, but upon one condition, that you are not to inquire and speculate in this way any more, and that if you are caught doing so again you shall die;\u2014if this was the condition on which you let me go, I should reply: Men of Athens, I honour and love you; but I shall obey God rather than you, and while I have life and strength I shall never cease from the practice and teaching of philosophy, exhorting any one whom I meet and saying to him after my manner: You, my friend,\u2014a citizen of the great and mighty and wise city of Athens,\u2014are you not ashamed of heaping up the greatest amount of money and honour and reputation, and caring so little about wisdom and truth and the greatest improvement of the soul, which you never regard or heed at all? And if the person with whom I am arguing, says: Yes, but I do care; then I do not leave him or let him go at once; but I proceed to interrogate and examine and cross-examine him, and if I think that he has no virtue in him, but only says that he has, I reproach him with undervaluing the greater, and overvaluing the less. And I shall repeat the same words to every one whom I meet, young and old, citizen and alien, but especially to the citizens, inasmuch as they are my brethren. For know that this is the command of God; and I believe that no greater good has ever happened in the state than my service to the God. For I do nothing but go about persuading you all, old and young alike, not to take thought for your persons or your properties, but first and chiefly to care about the greatest improvement of the soul. I tell you that virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every other good of man, public as well as private. This is my teaching, and if this is the doctrine which corrupts the youth, I am a mischievous person. But if any one says that this is not my teaching, he is speaking an untruth. Wherefore, O men of Athens, I say to you, do as Anytus bids or not as Anytus bids, and either acquit me or not: but whichever you do,* understand that I shall never alter my ways, not even if I have to die many times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
63
\nPlato, Republic vii. 514A\u2013517A<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This famous Allegory of the Cave sets forth in outline Plato\u2019s doctrine of ideas. It is significant that the allegory is given a practical, moral, setting and application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened:\u2014Behold! human beings living in an underground den, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the den; here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads. Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a raised way; and you will see, if you look, a low wall built along the way, like the screen which marionette players have in front of them, over which they show the puppets.
\n I see.
\n And do you see, I said, men passing all along the wall carrying all sorts of vessels, and statues and figures of animals made of wood and stone and various materials, which appear over the wall? Some of them are talking, others silent.
\n You have shown me a strange image, and they are strange prisoners.
\n Like ourselves, I replied; and they see only their own shadows, or the shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave?
\n True, he said; how could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads?
\n And of the objects which are being carried in like manner they would only see the shadows?
\n Yes, he said.
\n And if they were able to converse with one another, would they not suppose that they were naming what was actually before them?
\n Very true.
\n And suppose further that the prison had an echo which came from the other side, would they not be sure to fancy when one of the passers-by spoke that the voice which they heard came from the passing shadow?
\n No question, he replied.
\n To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images.
\n That is certain.
\n And now look again, and see what will naturally follow if the prisoners are released and disabused of their error. At first, when any of them is liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck round and walk and look towards the light, he will suffer sharp pains; the glare will distress him, and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his former state he had seen the shadows; and then conceive someone saying to him, that what he saw before was an illusion, but that now, when he is approaching nearer to being and his eye is turned towards more real existence, he has a clearer vision,\u2014what will be his reply? And you may further imagine that his instructor is pointing to the objects as they pass and requiring him to name them,\u2014will he not be perplexed? Will he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now shown to him?
\n Far truer.
\n And if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take refuge in the objects of vision which he can see, and which he will conceive to be in reality clearer than the things which are now being shown to him?
\n True, he said.
\n And suppose once more, that he is reluctantly dragged up a steep and rugged ascent, and held fast until he is forced into the presence of the sun himself, is he not likely to be pained and irritated? When he approaches the light his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not be able to see anything at all of what are now called realities.
\n Not all in a moment, he said.
\n He will require to grow accustomed to the sight of the upper world. And first he will see the shadows best, next the reflections of men and other objects in the water, and then the objects themselves; then he will gaze upon the light of the moon and the stars and the spangled heaven; and he will see the sky and the stars by night better than the sun or the light of the sun by day?
\n Certainly.
\n Last of all he will be able to see the sun, and not mere reflections of him in the water, but he will see him in his own proper place, and not in another; and he will contemplate him as he is.
\n Certainly.
\n He will then proceed to argue that this is he who gives the seasons and the years, and is the guardian of all that is in the visible world, and in a certain way the cause of all things which he and his fellows have been accustomed to behold?
\n Clearly, he said, he would first see the sun and then reason about him.
\n And when he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of the den and his fellow-prisoners, do you not suppose that he would felicitate himself on the change, and pity them?
\n Certainly, he would.
\n And if they were in the habit of conferring honours among themselves on those who were quickest to observe the passing shadows and to remark which of them went before, and which followed after, and which were together; and who were therefore best able to draw conclusions as to the future, do you think that he would care for such honours and glories, or envy the possessors of them? Would he not say with Homer,
\n \u2018Better to be the poor servant of a poor master,\u2019
\n and to endure anything, rather than think as they do and live after their manner?
\n Yes, he said, I think that he would rather suffer anything than entertain these false notions and live in this miserable manner.
\n Imagine once more, I said, such an one coming suddenly out of the sun to be replaced in his old situation; would he not be certain to have his eyes full of darkness?
\n To be sure, he said.
\n And if there were a contest, and he had to compete in measuring the shadows with the prisoners who had never moved out of the den, while his sight was still weak, and before his eyes had become steady (and the time which would be needed to acquire this new habit of sight might be very considerable), would he not be ridiculous? Men would say of him that up he went and down he came without his eyes; and that it was better not even to think of ascending; and if any one tried to loose another and lead him up to the light, let them only catch the offender, and they would put him to death.
\n No question, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Earlier Stoics<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a philosophical system, Stoicism was materialist; much more important than this, however, is the fact that in spirit it was deeply religious and thoroughly moral. The universe, the Stoics held, was not a meaningless place, nor was man\u2019s place in it fortuitous. Pervading the whole of the material order was Reason and Purpose, \u03bb\u03cc\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2, itself divine and indeed the only god the Stoics recognized (see however 66 for their readiness to make some acknowledgement of the gods popularly believed in). It was this divine Reason that ordered the regular motions of the heavenly bodies, the rotation of the seasons and the exact performance by natural objects of their appointed functions. Man\u2019s duty was to live in accordance with this Reason or Natural Law (\u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u1f70 \u03bb\u03cc\u03b3\u03bf\u03bd); indeed a spark or seed of the universal Reason (a \u03bb\u03cc\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2 \u03c3\u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03cc\u03c2) resided within men, or at least within the best and wisest of them. Like Socrates, the Stoic must obey the divine spark at all costs, even at the cost of life itself. It might even in certain circumstances be the most appropriate course for the wise and dutiful man to take his own life\u2014life that had lost its dignity and worth was not to be preferred to death. This sounds a cold and cheerless creed, and so perhaps it was; yet beyond question it nerved many a man to face the battle of life with a clear head and a brave heart, and it inculcated humanity and forbearance in a world in which these virtues were not common.
\nThe works of none of the earlier Stoics have come down to us in their entirety, and the authors themselves are imperfectly known to us. The founder of the school was Zeno (c. 336\u2013263 BC) who taught in the Painted Porch (Stoa) at Athens\u2014whence the name of the school. Almost contemporary with him was Cleanthes (c. 331\u2013232 BC). In a later generation Chrysippus (c. 280\u2013205 BC) was perhaps the most voluminous of all Stoic writers. Posidonius, who is also quoted in this section, belongs to a later period (c. 135\u201351 BC), and is particularly important because he did much to fuse Stoic and Platonic thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
64
\nZeno, Fragments in J. von Arnim, Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta, I (1964), 175, 176<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Destiny is the concatenated causality of things, or the scheme* according to which the kosmos is directed.
\n Zeno defined Destiny as \u2018a power which moves Stuff\u2019. \u2018Providence\u2019 and \u2018Nature\u2019 are other names which he gave to the same thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
65
\nZeno, Fragment 98<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The element of all the things which exist is Fire, and the origins of this Fire are Stuff and God.* Both of these are bodily substances: God the active substance, and Stuff the passive substance. At certain destined periods of time the whole universe is turned to fire;* then again it is once more constituted* an ordered manifold world. But the primal fire subsists in it like a kind of seminal fluid, containing in itself the formulas* and causes of all the things which have been and are and shall be; the concatenation and sequence of these things is Destiny or Understanding or Truth, an inevitable and ineluctable Law of things. Thus the whole universe is governed excellently well, like a city-state in which Law reigns supreme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
66
\nZeno, Fragments 162, 152<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The General Law, which is Right Reason, pervading everything, is the same as Zeus,* the Supreme Head of the government of the universe.
\n Zeno used to propound the following argument:
\n \u2018It is reasonable to honour the gods:*
\n but it is not reasonable to honour beings which do not exist: therefore gods exist.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
67
\nCleanthes, Fragment in von Arnim, op. cit., 537<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thou, O Zeus,* art praised above all gods: many are thy names and thine is all power for ever.
\n The beginning of the world was from thee: and with law* thou rulest over all things.
\n Unto thee may all flesh speak: for we are thy offspring.*
\n Therefore will I raise a hymn unto thee: and will ever sing of thy power.
\n The whole order of the heavens obeyeth thy word: as it moveth around the earth.
\n With little and great lights mixed together: how great art thou, King above all for ever!
\n Nor is anything done upon earth apart from thee: nor in the firmament, nor in the seas:
\n Save that which the wicked do:* by their own folly.
\n But thine is the skill to set even the crooked straight: what is without fashion is fashioned and the alien akin before thee.
\n Thus hast thou fitted together all things in one: the good with the evil:
\n That thy word should be one in all things: abiding for ever.
\n Let folly be dispersed from our souls: that we may repay thee the honour, wherewith thou has honoured us:
\n Singing praise of thy works for ever: as becometh the sons of men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
68
\nChrysippus, Fragment (in von Arnim, op. cit. II (1964)) 625<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Stoics say that when the planets* return, at certain fixed periods of time, to the same relative positions, in length and breadth, which they had at the beginning, when the cosmos was first constituted, this produces the conflagration and destruction* of everything which exists. Then again the cosmos is restored anew in a precisely similar arrangement as before. The stars again move in their orbits, each performing its revolution in the former period, without any variation. Socrates and Plato and each individual man will live again, with the same friends and fellow-citizens. They will go through the same experiences and the same activities. Every city and village and field will be restored, just as it was. And this restoration of the universe takes place, not once, but over and over again\u2014indeed to all eternity without end. Those of the gods who are not subject to destruction, having observed the course of one period, know from this everything which is going to happen in all subsequent periods. For there will never be any new thing other than that which has been before, but everything is repeated down to the minutest detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
69
\nChrysippus, Fragment 1169. On the problem of evil<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There can be nothing more inept than the people who suppose that good could have existed without the existence of evil. Good and evil being antithetical, both must needs subsist in opposition, each serving, as it were, by its contrary pressure as a prop to the other. No contrary, in fact can exist, without its correlative contrary. How could there be any meaning in \u2018justice\u2019, unless there were such things as wrongs? What is justice but the prevention of injustice? What could anyone understand by \u2018courage\u2019, but for the antithesis of cowardice? Or by \u2018continence\u2019, but for that of self-indulgence? What room for prudence, unless there was imprudence? Why do not such men in their folly go on to ask that there should be such a thing as truth, and not such a thing as falsehood? The same may be said of good and evil, felicity and inconvenience, pleasure and pain. These things are tied, as Plato puts it, each to the other, by their heads: if you take away one, you take away the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
70
\nChrysippus, Fragment 1192<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If there are gods and they do not declare to men beforehand future events, either (1) they do not love men, or (2) they are themselves ignorant of the future, or (3) they do not consider that it is to man\u2019s interest to have knowledge of the future, or (4) they do not think that it sorts with their dignity to foreshow the future to men, or (5) the gods themselves have not the power to do it. But (1) it is not the case that they do not love us, being beneficent and friends of mankind; (2) they cannot be ignorant of things which they themselves have instituted and ordained;* (3) it is to our interest to know what is going to happen, for we shall act more prudently, if we know; (4) the gods cannot think such disclosure beneath their dignity, for nothing is of higher worth than to do good; and lastly (5) divination regarding the future cannot lie outside their power. To suppose, then, that there are gods and that they do not give signs of the future, is impossible. But there are gods. Therefore they must give signs of the future. Further, if they give signs, it cannot be that they give us no means of reading those signs; for in that case they would give signs to no purpose. If they give us the means, we cannot deny the existence of divination. Therefore divination is a reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
71
\nPosidonius, apud Sextus Empiricus, adv. Math. vii. 93<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just as light, Posidonius says, explaining Plato\u2019s Timaeus,* is apprehended by the vision, which is itself of luminous quality, just as a voice is apprehended by the hearing, which is itself of airy quality, so the Nature of the Universe ought to be apprehended by the Reason, which is akin to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
72
\nPosidonius [Cf. Galen, De Hippocratis et Platonis Decretis iv. 7]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cause of the passions\u2014the cause, that is, of disharmony and of the unhappy life\u2014is that men do not follow absolutely the daemon that is in them,* which is akin to, and has a like nature with, the Power governing the whole cosmos, but turn aside after the lower animal principle, and let it run away with them. Those who fail to see this neither thereby set the cause of the passions in any better light, nor hold the right belief regarding happiness and concord.* They do not perceive that the very first point in happiness is to be led in nothing by the irrational, unhappy, godless element in the soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stoic Ethics<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It has already been stated that Stoicism was from the beginning a moral philosophy; but the earlier Stoics engaged in a speculative physics which, though it was by no means abandoned by their successors in the Roman period, retreated into the background, ethical interests becoming more and more predominant as Stoicism became the prevailing philosophy of the ever practical Romans. Epictetus was a lame slave belonging to Epaphroditus, himself a freedman of Nero\u2019s. He was allowed to study philosophy, and eventually emancipated. He was born in Asia Minor, came to Rome, and later settled at Nicopolis in Epirus. The exact dates of his life cannot be determined, but he was already active as a philosopher in AD 89, and survived till towards the middle of the second century. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was emperor of Rome from AD 161 to 180. From an early age he was marked for high distinction, and enjoyed all that wealth and position could afford. These things, however, meant nothing to him in comparison with the virtuous life of a moral philosopher, and he was perhaps history\u2019s nearest approach to the ideal of the philosopher-king. \u2018It is a striking testimony to the wide range of Stoic influence that it should have found its highest expression in a Roman Emperor and a Greek slave, both finding common ground in the Stoic doctrine and the language of the later Greek world\u2019 (P. E. Matheson, Epictetus, The Discourses and Manual (Oxford 1916) i. 13).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
73
\nEpictetus, Discourses I, xvi. 1\u20138, 15\u201321. On Providence<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marvel not that the other creatures have their bodily needs supplied\u2014not only meat and drink, but a bed to lie on\u2014and that they want no shoes nor rugs nor clothes, while we want all these things. For it would not have been a good thing that these creatures, born not for themselves but for service, should have been created liable to wants. Consider what it would be for us to have to take thought not only for ourselves but for sheep and asses, how they were to dress and what shoes they were to put on, and how they should find meat and drink. But just as soldiers when they appear before their general are ready shod, and clothed and armed, and it would be a strange thing indeed if the tribune had to go round and shoe or clothe his regiment, so also nature has made the creatures that are born for service ready and prepared and able to dispense with any attention. So one small child can drive sheep with a rod.
\n Yet we forbear to give thanks that we have not to pay the same attention to them as to ourselves, and proceed to complain against God on our own account. I declare, by Zeus and all the gods, one single fact of nature would suffice to make him that is reverent and grateful realize the providence of God: no great matter, I mean; take the mere fact that milk is produced from grass and cheese from milk and wool from skin. Who is it that has created or contrived these things?
\n \u2018No one\u2019, he says.
\n Oh, the depth of man\u2019s stupidity and shamelessness!\u2026
\n If we had sense we ought to do nothing else, in public and in private, than praise and bless God and pay him due thanks. Ought we not, as we dig and plough and eat, to sing the hymn to God? \u2018Great is God that he gave us these instruments wherewith we shall till the earth. Great is God that he has given us hands, and power to swallow, and a belly, and the power to grow without knowing it, and to draw our breath in sleep.\u2019 At every moment we ought to sing these praises and above all the greatest and divinest praise, that God gave us the faculty to comprehend these gifts and to use the way of reason.
\n More than that: since most of you are walking in blindness, should there not be some one to discharge this duty and sing praises to God for all? What else can a lame old man as I am do but chant the praise of God? If, indeed, I were a nightingale I should sing as a nightingale, if a swan, as a swan: but as I am a rational creature* I must praise God. This is my task, and I do it: and I will not abandon this duty, so long as it is given me; and I invite you all to join in this same song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
74
\nEpictetus, Discourses II, viii. 9\u201314<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Will you not then seek the true nature of the good in that, the want of which makes you refuse to predicate good in other things?
\n \u2018What do you mean? Are not they too* God\u2019s works?\u2019
\n They are, but not his principal works, nor parts of the Divine. But you are a principal work, a fragment of God himself,* you have in yourself a part of him. Why then are you ignorant of your high birth? Why do you not know whence you have come? Will you not remember, when you eat, who you are that eat, and whom you are feeding, and the same in your relations with women? When you take part in society, or training, or conversation, do you not know that it is God you are nourishing and training? You bear God about with you, poor wretch, and know it not. Do you think I speak of some external god of silver or gold? No, you bear him about within you and are unaware that you are defiling him with unclean thoughts and foul actions. If an image of God were present, you would not dare to do any of the things you do; yet when God himself is present within you and sees and hears all things, you are not ashamed of thinking and acting thus: O slow to understand your nature, and estranged from God!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
75
\nEpictetus, Discourses IV, i. 1\u201323, 28\u201331<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That man is free, who lives as he wishes, who is proof against compulsion and hindrance and violence, whose impulses are untrammelled, who gets what he wills to get and avoids what he wills to avoid.
\n Who then would live in error?
\n No one.
\n Who would live deceived, reckless, unjust, intemperate, querulous, abject?
\n No one.
\n No bad man then lives as he would, and so no bad man is free.
\n Who would live in a state of distress, fear, envy, pity, failing in the will to get and in the will to avoid?
\n No one.
\n Do we then find any bad man without distress or fear, above circumstance, free from failure?
\n None. Then we find none free.
\n If a man who has been twice consul hear this, he will forgive you if you add, \u2018But you are wise, this does not concern you.\u2019 But if you tell him the truth, saying, \u2018You are just as much a slave yourself as those who have been thrice sold\u2019, what can you expect but a flogging?
\n \u2018How can I be a slave?\u2019 he says; \u2018my father is free, my mother is free, no one has bought me; nay, I am a senator, and a friend of Caesar, I have been consul and have many slaves.\u2019
\n In the first place, most excellent senator, perhaps your father too was a slave of the same kind as you, yes and your mother and your grandfather and the whole line of your ancestors. And if really they were ever so free, how does that affect you? What does it matter if they had a fine spirit, when you have none, if they were fearless and you are a coward, if they were self-controlled and you are intemperate?
\n \u2018Nay, what has this to do with being a slave?\u2019 he replies.
\n Does it seem to you slavery to act against your will, under compulsion and with groaning?
\n \u2018I grant you that,\u2019 he says, \u2018but who can compel me except Caesar, who is lord of all?\u2019
\n Why, then, your own lips confess that you have one master: you must not comfort yourself with the thought that he is, as you say, the common master of all, but realize that you are a slave in a large household. You are just like the people of Nicopolis, who are wont to cry aloud, \u2018By Caesar\u2019s fortune, we are free.\u2019
\n However, let us leave Caesar for the moment if you please, but tell me this: Did you never fall in love with any one, with a girl, or a boy, or a slave, or a free man?
\n \u2018What has that to do with slavery or freedom?\u2019
\n Were you never commanded by her you loved to do anything you did not wish? Did you never flatter your precious slave-boy? Did you never kiss his feet? Yet if any one compel you to kiss Caesar\u2019s, you count it an outrage, the very extravagance of tyranny. What is this if not slavery? Did you never go out at night where you did not wish, and spend more than you wished and utter words of lamentation and groaning? Did you put up with being reviled and shut out? If you are ashamed to confess your own story, see what Thrasonides says and does: he had served in as many campaigns or more perhaps than you and yet, first of all, he has gone out at night, at an hour when Getas does not dare to go, nay, if he were forced by his master to go, he would have made a loud outcry and have gone with lamentations over his cruel slavery, and then, what does he say?
\n A worthless girl has made a slave of me,
\n Whom never foe subdued.
\n Poor wretch, to be a slave to a paltry girl and a worthless one too! Why do you call yourself free then any more? Why do you boast of your campaigns? Then he asks for a sword, and is angry with the friend who refuses it out of goodwill, and sends gifts to the girl who hates him, and falls to praying and weeping, and then again when he has a little luck he is exultant. How can we call him free when he has not learnt to give up desire and fear?\u2026
\n Come now and let us review the conclusions we have agreed to. He is free, whom none can hinder, the man who can deal with things as he wishes. But the man who can be hindered or compelled or fettered or driven into anything against his will, is a slave. And who is he whom none can hinder? The man who fixes his aim on nothing that is not his own. And what does \u2018not his own\u2019 mean? All that it does not lie in our power to have or not to have, or to have of a particular quality or under particular conditions. The body then does not belong to us, its parts do not belong to us, our property does not belong to us. If then you set your heart on one of these as though it were your own, you will pay the penalty deserved by him who desires what does not belong to him. The road that leads to freedom, the only release from slavery is this, to be able to say with your whole soul:
\n Lead me, O Zeus, and lead me, Destiny,
\n Whither ordain\u00e9d is by your decree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
76
\nMarcus Aurelius, To Himself ii. 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Say to thyself at daybreak:* I shall come across the busybody, the thankless, the bully, the treacherous, the envious, the unneighbourly. All this has befallen them because they know not good from evil. But I, in that I have comprehended the nature of the Good that it is beautiful, and the nature of Evil that it is ugly, and the nature of the wrong-doer himself that it is akin to me, not as partaker of the same blood and seed but of intelligence and a morsel of the Divine, can neither be injured by any of them\u2014for no one can involve me in what is debasing*\u2014nor can I be wroth with my kinsman and hate him. For we have come into being for co-operation, as have the feet, the hands, the eyelids, the rows of upper and lower teeth. Therefore to thwart one another is against Nature; and we do thwart one another by shewing resentment and aversion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
77
\nMarcus Aurelius, To Himself iii. 7<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prize not anything as being to thine interest that shall ever force thee to break thy troth, to surrender thine honour, to hate, suspect, or curse any one, to play the hypocrite, to lust after anything that needs walls and curtains. For he that has chosen before all else his own intelligence and good \u2018genius\u2019, and to be a devotee of its supreme worth, does not strike a tragic attitude or whine, nor will he ask for either a wilderness or a concourse of men; above all he will live neither chasing anything nor shunning it. And he recks not at all whether he is to have his soul imprisoned in his body for a longer or a shorter span of time, for even if he must take his departure at once, he will go as willingly as if he were to discharge any other function that can be discharged with decency and orderliness, making sure through life of this one thing, that his thoughts should not in any case assume a character out of keeping with a rational and civic creature.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
78
\nMarcus Aurelius, To Himself iv. 7<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Efface the opinion, I am harmed, and at once the feeling of being harmed disappears; efface the feeling, and the harm disappears at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
79
\nMarcus Aurelius, To Himself vi. 54<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That which is not in the interests of the hive cannot be in the interests of the bee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
80
\nMarcus Aurelius, To Himself viii. 34<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thou hast seen a hand cut off or a foot, or a head severed from the trunk, and lying at some distance from the rest of the body. Just so does the man treat himself, as far as he may, who wills not what befalls and severs himself from mankind or acts unsocially. Say thou hast been torn away in some sort from the unity of Nature; for by the law of thy birth thou wast a part; but now thou hast cut thyself off. Yet here comes in that exquisite provision, that thou canst return again to thy unity. To no other part has God granted this, to come together again, when once separated and cleft asunder. Aye, behold his goodness, wherewith he hath glorified man! For he hath let it rest with a man that he be never rent away from the Whole, and if he do rend himself away, to return again and grow onto the rest and take up his position again as part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
81
\nMarcus Aurelius, To Himself xii. 35f<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not even death* can bring terror to him who regards that alone as good which comes in due season, and to whom it is all one whether his acts in obedience to right reason are few or many, and a matter of indifference whether he look upon the world for a longer or a shorter time.
\n Man, thou hast been a citizen in this World-City,* what matters it to thee if for five years or a hundred? For under its laws equal treatment is meted out to all. What hardship then is there in being banished from the city, not by a tyrant or an unjust judge but by Nature who settled thee in it? So might a praetor who commissions a comic actor, dismiss him from the stage. But I have not played my five acts, but only three. Very possibly, but in life three acts count as a full play. For he, that is responsible for thy composition originally and thy dissolution now, decides when it is complete. But thou art responsible for neither. Depart then with a good grace, for he that dismisses thee is gracious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aristotle<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of this great and influential philosopher all that will be given here is one passage which gives a small illustration of his logic and of his careful attention to the definition of words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
82
\nNicomachean Ethics V, iv. 7\u201312<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is why when disputes occur men have recourse to a judge.* To go to a judge is to go to justice,* for the ideal judge is so to speak justice personified.* Also, men require a judge to be a middle term or medium*\u2014indeed in some places judges are called mediators\u2014, for they think that if they get the mean they will get what is just. Thus the just is a sort of mean, inasmuch as the judge is a medium between the litigants.
\n Now the judge restores equality: if we represent the matter by a line divided into two unequal parts, he takes away from the greater segment that portion by which it exceeds one-half of the whole line, and adds it to the lesser segment. When the whole has been divided into two halves, people then say that they \u2018have their own\u2019, having got what is equal. This is indeed the origin of the word dikaion (just): it means dicha (in half), as if one were to pronounce it dichaion; and a dikast (judge) is a dichast (halver). The equal is a mean by way of arithmetical proportion between the greater and the less. For when of two equals a part is taken from the one and added to the other, the latter will exceed the former by twice that part, since if it had been taken from the one but not added to the other, the latter would exceed the former by once the part in question only. Therefore the latter will exceed the mean by once the part, and the mean will exceed the former, from which the part was taken, by once that part. This process then will enable us to ascertain what we ought to take away from the party that has too much and what to add to the one that has too little: we must add to the one that has too little the amount whereby the mean between them exceeds him, and take away from the greatest of the three the amount by which the mean is exceeded by him. Let the lines AA\u2032, BB\u2032, CC\u2032 be equal to one another; let the segment AE be taken away from the line AA\u2032, and let the segment CD be added to be added to the line CC\u2032, so that the whole line DCC\u2032 exceeds the line EA\u2032 by CD + CF; then DCC\u2032 will exceed BB\u2032 by CD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A
\n E
\n A\u2032
\nB
\n B\u2032<\/p>\n\n\n\n
D
\nC
\n F
\n C\u2032<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Epicurus<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stoics and Epicureans resembled one another more closely than either party would allow. Both saw that in a chaotic world the only way to peace was the disciplining of desire. Epicurus (c. 342\u2013270 BC), though often called an atheist, did not deny the existence of gods, but taught that as they are beings who themselves enjoy continual bliss they will never cause harm or suffering to men; there is nothing to fear from them, but neither can they be placated or cajoled\u2014if they listened to all the prayers men offer the whole race would come to an end, so foolish and contradictory are the petitions they would hear. Suffering does come to men, but it can be endured, as Epicurus himself had proved, not merely with \u2018Stoicism\u2019 but with happiness. Severe pains are short; lasting pains are rarely severe. Moreover, pains can never hurt us if our minds are abstracted from them. Pleasure (Epicurus does not mean sensual or individualist pleasure) is the chief good; and it can be attained by those who seek it wisely. In Physics, Epicurus taught an atomic system. Lucretius, who is quoted here, was a Roman Epicurean (c. 99\u201355 BC) who found, as many did, in the teaching of Epicurus so great a relief from fear and distress that he could express it only in the language of religion; Epicurus was a Saviour\u2014from religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
83
\nLucretius, On the Nature of Things i. 62\u201379<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Man\u2019s life upon earth in base dismay,\nCrushed by the burthen of Religion,* lay,\nWhose face, from all the regions of the sky,\nHung, glaring hate upon mortality,\nFirst one Greek man against her dared to raise\nHis eyes, against her strive through all his days;\nHim noise of gods nor lightnings nor the roar\nOf raging heaven subdued, but pricked the more\nHis spirit\u2019s valiance, till he longed the Gate\nTo burst of this low prison of man\u2019s fate.\nAnd thus the living ardour of his mind\nConquered, and clove its way; he passed behind\nThe world\u2019s last flaming wall, and through the whole\nOf space uncharted ranged his mind and soul.\nWhence, conquering, he returned to make Man see\nAt last what can, what cannot, come to be;\nBy what law to each Thing its power hath been\nAssigned, and what deep boundary set between;\nTill underfoot is tamed religion trod,\nAnd, by his victory, Man ascends to God.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n84
\nEpicurus, Epistle to Menoeceus 123ff., 127b\u2013132<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The things which I used unceasingly to commend to you, these do and practise, considering them to be the first principles of the good life. First of all believe that god is a being immortal and blessed, even as the common idea of a god is engraved on men\u2019s minds, and do not assign to him anything alien to his immortality or ill-suited to his blessedness: but believe about him everything that can uphold his blessedness and immortality. For gods there are, since the knowledge of them is by clear vision. But they are not such as the many believe them to be: for indeed they do not consistently represent them as they believe them to be. And the impious man is not he who denies the gods of the many, but he who attaches to the gods the beliefs of the many. For the statements of the many about the gods are not conceptions derived from sensation, but false suppositions, according to which the greatest misfortunes befall the wicked and the greatest blessings* [the good] by the gift of the gods. For men being accustomed always to their own virtues welcome those like themselves, but regard all that is not of their nature as alien.
\n Become accustomed to the belief that death is nothing to us. For all good and evil consists in sensation, but death is deprivation of sensation. And therefore a right understanding that death is nothing to us makes the mortality of life enjoyable, not because it adds to it an infinite span of time, but because it takes away the craving for immortality. For there is nothing terrible in life for the man who has truly comprehended that there is nothing terrible in not living. So that the man speaks but idly who says that he fears death not because it will be painful when it comes, but because it is painful in anticipation. For that which gives no trouble when it comes, is but an empty pain in anticipation. So death, the most terrifying of ills, is nothing to us, since so long as we exist, death is not with us; but when death comes, then we do not exist. It does not then concern either the living or the dead, since for the former it is not, and the latter are no more.\u2026
\n We must consider that of desires some are natural, others vain, and of the natural some are necessary and others merely natural; and of the necessary some are necessary for happiness, others for the repose of the body, and others for very life. The right understanding of these facts enables us to refer all choice and avoidance to the health of the body and [the soul\u2019s] freedom from disturbance,* since this is the aim of the life of blessedness. For it is to obtain this end that we always act, namely, to avoid pain and fear. And when this is once secured for us, all the tempest of the soul is dispersed, since the living creature has not to wander as though in search of something that is missing, and to look for some other thing by which he can fulfil the good of the soul and the good of the body. For it is then that we have need of pleasure, when we feel pain owing to the absence of pleasure; [but when we do not feel pain], we no longer need pleasure. And for this cause we call pleasure the beginning and end of the blessed life. For we recognize pleasure as the first good innate in us, and from pleasure we begin every act of choice and avoidance, and to pleasure we return again, using the feeling as the standard by which we judge every good.
\n And since pleasure is the first good and natural to us, for this reason we do not choose every pleasure, but sometimes we pass over many pleasures, when greater discomfort accrues to us as the result of them: and similarly we think many pains better than pleasures, since a greater pleasure comes to us when we have endured pains for a long time. Every pleasure then because of its natural kinship to us is good, yet not every pleasure is to be chosen: even as every pain also is an evil, yet not all are always of a nature to be avoided. Yet by a scale of comparison and by the consideration of advantages and disadvantages we must form our judgement on all these matters. For the good on certain occasions we treat as bad, and conversely the bad as good.
\n And again independence of desire we think a great good\u2014not that we may at all times enjoy but a few things, but that, if we do not possess many, we may enjoy the few in the genuine persuasion that those have the sweetest pleasure in luxury who least need it, and that all that is natural is easy to be obtained, but that which is superfluous is hard. And so plain savours bring us a pleasure equal to a luxurious diet, when all the pain due to want is removed; and bread and water produce the highest pleasure, when one who needs them puts them to his lips. To grow accustomed therefore to simple and not luxurious diet gives us health to the full, and makes a man alert for the needful employments of life, and when after long intervals we approach luxuries disposes us better towards them, and fits us to be fearless of fortune.
\n When, therefore, we maintain that pleasure is the end, we do not mean the pleasures of profligates and those that consist in sensuality, as is supposed by some who are either ignorant or disagree with us or do not understand, but freedom from pain in the body and from trouble in the mind. For it is not* continuous drinkings and revellings, nor the satisfaction of lusts, nor the enjoyment of fish and other luxuries of the wealthy table, which produce a pleasant life, but sober reasoning, searching out the motives for all choice and avoidance, and banishing mere opinions, to which are due the greatest disturbance of the spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Philosophic Missionary<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the age of the New Testament philosophy was not exclusively the affair of the study and university. It was essentially practical, and was intended to be practised. The teachers of philosophy saw their own beliefs as the needed cure for men\u2019s ills and proceeded to offer them to the public. The philosopher became a street-corner orator, and the Cynics in particular preached their \u2018gospel\u2019 to all who would listen (see above, 24, 25), and it was often delivered\u2014and received\u2014less as a reasoned system of beliefs about the universe than as a divine revelation. The philosopher became a figure who may have contributed something to the New Testament picture of the apostles, especially as he took on the role of sufferer and martyr (see above, 62), and at the same time that of one who was more than human, a divine man (\u03b8\u03b5\u1fd6\u03bf\u03c2 \u1f00\u03bd\u03ae\u03c1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
85
\nEpictetus, Discourses III, xxii. 19\u201326<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First then you must make your Governing Principle pure, and hold fast this rule of life, \u2018Henceforth my mind is the material I have to work on, as the carpenter has his timber and the shoemaker his leather: my business is to deal with my impressions aright. My wretched body is nothing to me, its parts are nothing to me. Death? Let it come when it will, whether to my whole body or to a part of it. Exile? Can one be sent into exile beyond the Universe? One cannot. Wherever I go, there is the sun, there is the moon, there are the stars, dreams, auguries, conversation with the gods.\u2019
\n The true Cynic when he has ordered himself thus cannot be satisfied with this: he must know that he is sent as a messenger from God to men concerning things good and evil, to show them that they have gone astray and are seeking the true nature of good and evil where it is not to be found, and take no thought where it really is: he must realize, in the words of Diogenes when brought before Philip after the battle of Chaeronea, that he is sent \u2018to reconnoitre\u2019.* For indeed the Cynic has to discover what things are friendly to men and what are hostile: and when he has accurately made his observations he must return and report the truth, not driven by fear to point out enemies where there are none, nor in any other way disturbed or confounded by his impressions.
\n He must then be able, if chance so offer, to come forward on the tragic stage, and with a loud voice utter the words of Socrates: \u2018Oh race of men, whither are ye hurrying? What are you doing, miserable creatures? You wander up and down like blind folk: you have left the true path and go away on a vain errand, you seek peace and happiness elsewhere, where it is not to be found, and believe not when another shows the way.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
86
\nPhilostratus, Life of Apollonius i. 17<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When a certain quibbler asked him,* why he asked no questions of him, he replied: \u2018Because I asked questions when I was a stripling; and it is not my business to ask questions now, but to teach people what I have discovered.\u2019 \u2018How then,\u2019 the other asked him afresh, \u2018O Apollonius, should the sage converse?\u2019 \u2018Like a law-giver,\u2019 he replied, \u2018for it is the duty of the law-giver to deliver to the many the instructions of whose truth he has persuaded himself.\u2019 This was the line he pursued during his stay in Antioch, and he converted to himself the most unrefined people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
87
\nPhilostratus, Life of Apollonius iv. 20<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now while he was discussing the question of libations, there chanced to be present in his audience a young dandy who bore so evil a reputation for licentiousness, that his conduct had once been the subject of coarse street-corner songs. His home was Corcyra, and he traced his pedigree to Alcinous the Phaeacian who entertained Odysseus. Apollonius then was talking about libations, and was urging them not to drink out of a particular cup, but to reserve it for the gods, without ever touching it or drinking out of it. But when he also urged them to have handles on the cup, and to pour the libation over the handle, because that is the part of the cup at which men are least likely to drink, the youth burst out into loud and coarse laughter, and quite drowned his voice. Then Apollonius looked up at him and said: \u2018It is not yourself that perpetrates this insult, but the demon, who drives you on without your knowing it.\u2019 And in fact the youth was, without knowing it, possessed by a devil; for he would laugh at things that no one else laughed at, and then he would fall to weeping for no reason at all, and he would talk and sing to himself. Now most people thought that it was the boisterous humour of youth which led him into such excesses; but he was really the mouthpiece of a devil, though it only seemed a drunken frolic in which on that occasion he was indulging. Now when Apollonius gazed on him, the ghost in him began to utter cries of fear and rage, such as one hears from people who are being branded or racked; and the ghost swore that he would leave the young man alone and never take possession of any man again. But Apollonius addressed him with anger, as a master might a shifty, rascally, and shameless slave and so on, and he ordered him to quit the young man and show by a visible sign that he had done so. \u2018I will throw down yonder statue,\u2019 said the devil, and pointed to one of the images which was in the king\u2019s portico, for there it was that the scene took place. But when the statue began by moving gently, and then fell down, it would defy anyone to describe the hubbub which arose thereat and the way they clapped their hands with wonder. But the young man rubbed his eyes as though he had just woke up, and he looked towards the rays of the sun, and won the consideration of all who now had turned their attention to him; for he no longer showed himself licentious, nor did he stare madly about, but he had returned to his own self, as thoroughly as if he had been treated with drugs; and he gave up his dainty dress and summery garments and the rest of his sybaritic way of life, and he fell in love with the austerity of philosophers,* and donned their cloak, and stripping off his old self modelled his life in future upon that of Apollonius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
88
\nPhilostratus, Life of Apollonius v. 24<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Such were his experiences in Rhodes, and others ensued in Alexandria, as soon as his voyage ended there. Even before he arrived Alexandria was in love with him, and its inhabitants longed to see Apollonius as one friend longs for another; and as the people of Upper Egypt are intensely religious they too prayed him to visit their several societies. For owing to the fact that so many come hither and mix with us from Egypt, while an equal number pass hence to visit Egypt, Apollonius was already celebrated among them and the ears of the Egyptians were literally pricked up to hear him. It is no exaggeration to say that, as he advanced from the ship into the city, they gazed upon him as if he was a god, and made way for him in the alleys, as they would for priests carrying the sacraments. As he was being thus escorted with more pomp than if he had been a governor of the country, he met twelve men who were being led to execution on the charge of being bandits; he looked at them and said: \u2018They are not all guilty, for this one,\u2019 and he gave his name, \u2018has been falsely accused or he would not be going with you.\u2019 And to the executioners by whom they were being led, he said: \u2018I order you to relax your pace and bring them to the ditch a little more leisurely, and to put this one to death last of all, for he is guiltless of the charge; but you would anyhow act with more piety, if you spared them for a brief portion of the day, since it were better not to slay them at all.\u2019 And withal he dwelt upon this theme at what was for him unusual length. And the reason for his doing so was immediately shown; for when eight of them had had their heads cut off, a man on horseback rode up to the ditch, and shouted: \u2018Spare Pharion; for\u2019, he added, \u2018he is no robber, but he gave false evidence against himself from fear of being racked, and others of them in their examination under torture have acknowledged that he is guiltless.\u2019 I need not describe the exultation of Egypt, nor how the people, who were anyhow ready to admire him, applauded him for this action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
89
\nApollonius of Tyana, Epistle iii<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You* have visited the countries that lie between me and Italy, beginning from Syria, parading yourself in the so-called royal cities. And you had a philosopher\u2019s doublet all the time, and a long white beard, but besides that nothing. And now how comes it that you are returning by sea with a full cargo of silver, of gold, of vases of all sorts, of embroidered raiment, of every other sort of ornament, not to mention overweening pride, and boasting and unhappiness? What cargo is this, and what the purport of these strange purchases? Zeno never purchased but dried fruits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Poetic Comment<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a note on the poets and their significance see above, pp. 58f. Aristophanes (c. 448\u2013c. 380 BC) drew satirical pictures of the great men of his time; in the Clouds, of Socrates. The caricature seems bitter, but may not have been taken too seriously. Plato thought of Aristophanes as a pleasant and amusing companion who could lighten a conversation that was getting too serious. Aeschylus (c. 525\u2013c. 456 BC) fought in the Persian Wars and wrote about ninety plays, of which seven survive. They show innovation in stage technique and are plays of destiny, of inherited guilt, and of the doom that overweening pride (\u1f55\u03b2\u03c1\u03b9\u03c2) brings upon itself. Sophocles (c. 496\u2013406 BC) was perhaps the least critical of the great tragedians; religion he takes for granted, but he is deeply concerned with character and the clash of duties, as in the passage quoted below. Euripides (c. 485\u2013406 BC) on the other hand was always an independent thinker, capable of shocking public opinion by criticizing its conventions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
90
\nAristophanes, Clouds 222\u2013274<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strepsiades: Socrates! Socrates!\n Sweet Socrates!\n Socrates: Mortal! Why callest thou me?\n Strepsiades: O, first of all, please tell me what you are doing.\n Socrates:* I walk on air, and contemplate the Sun.\n Strepsiades: O then from a basket you contemn the Gods,\n And not from the earth, at any rate?\n Socrates: Most true.\n I could not have searched out celestial matters\n Without suspending judgement, and infusing\n My subtle spirit with the kindred air.\n If from the ground I were to seek these things,\n I could not find: so surely doth the earth\n Draw to herself the essence of our thought.\n The same too is the case with water-cress.\n Strepsiades: Hillo! What\u2019s that?\n Thought draws the essence into water-cress?\n Come down, sweet Socrates, more near my level,\n And teach the lessons which I came to learn.\n Socrates: And wherefore art thou come?\n Strepsiades: To learn to speak.*\n For owing to my horrid debts and duns,\n My goods are seized, I\u2019m robbed, and mobbed, and plundered.\n Socrates: How did you get involved with your eyes open?\n Strepsiades: A galloping consumption seized my money.\n Come now: do let me learn the unjust Logic*\n That can shrink debts: now do just let me learn it.\n Name your own price, by all the Gods I\u2019ll pay it.\n Socrates: The Gods! why you must know the Gods with us\n Don\u2019t pass for current coin.\n Strepsiades: Eh? what do you use then?\n Have you got iron,* as the Byzantines have?\n Socrates: Come, would you like to learn celestial matters,\n How their truth stands?\n Strepsiades: Yes, if there\u2019s any truth.\n Socrates: And to hold intercourse with yon bright Clouds,\n Our virgin Goddesses?\n Strepsiades: Yes, that I should.\n Socrates: Then sit you down upon that sacred bed.\n Strepsiades: Well, I am sitting.\n Socrates: Here then, take this chaplet.*\n Strepsiades: Chaplet? why? why? now, never, Socrates:\n Don\u2019t sacrifice poor me, like Athamas.\n Socrates: Fear not: our entrance-services require\n All to do this.\n Strepsiades: But what am I to gain?\n Socrates: You\u2019ll be the flower of talkers, prattlers, gossips: Only keep quiet.\n Strepsiades: Zeus! your words come true!\n I shall be flour indeed with all this peppering.\n Socrates: Old man sit you still, and attend to my will,\n and hearken in peace to my prayer.\n O Master and King, holding earth in your swing,\n O measureless infinite Air;\n And thou glowing Ether, and Clouds who enwreathe her\n with thunder, and lightning, and storms,\n Arise ye and shine, bright Ladies Divine,*\n to your student in bodily forms.\n Strepsiades: No, but stay, no, but stay, just one moment I pray,\n while my cloak round my temples I wrap.\n To think that I\u2019ve come, stupid fool, from my home,\n with never a waterproof cap!\n Socrates: Come forth, come forth, dread Clouds, and to earth\n your glorious majesty show;\n Whether lightly ye rest on the time-honoured crest\n of Olympus environed in snow,\n Or tread the soft dance \u2019mid the stately expanse\n of Ocean the nymphs to beguile,\n Or stoop to enfold with your pitchers of gold,\n the mystical waves of the Nile,\n Or around the white foam of Maeotis ye roam,\n or Mimas all wintry and bare,\n O hear while we pray, and turn not away\n from the rites which your servants prepare.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n91
\nAeschylus, Eumenides 752\u2013807<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Athena: This man* stands acquitted on the charge of murder. The numbers of the casts are equal. (Apollo disappears.)\n Orestes: O Pallas, O Saviour of my house! I was bereft of fatherland, and it is thou who hast given me a home therein again. And it shall be said in Hellas: \u2018The man is an Argive once more, and dwells in his father\u2019s heritage by grace of Pallas and of Loxias and of that third God, the all-ordaining one, the Saviour\u2019\u2014even he who hath had respect unto my father\u2019s death, and preserveth me, seeing that my mother\u2019s cause has advocates such as these.\n And now I depart unto my home,* first unto this thy land and folk having pledged mine oath for the future, even to the fulness of all time to come, that verily no chieftain of my country shall come hither to bear against them the embattled spear. For I myself, then in my grave, will bring it to pass by baffling ill-success, even by visiting their marches with discouragement and their ways with evil omens, that they who violate my present oath shall repent them of their enterprise. But while the straight course is preserved and they hold in everlasting honour this city of Pallas with their confederate spears, I shall be the more graciously disposed unto them.\n And so farewell\u2014thou and thy people that guard thy city. May they struggle with thy foes, let none escape, and may it bring thee safety and victory in war. (Exit.)\n Chorus: Shame! Ye younger gods,* ye have ridden down the ancient laws and have wrested them from my grasp! And I, bereft of honour, unhappy that I am, in my grievous wrath, upon this land (and woe unto it!) discharge from my heart venom in requital for my grief, aye venom, in drops its soil shall not endure. And from it a canker, blasting leaf, blasting child (ah! just return!), speeding over the land shall cast upon the ground infection ruinous to human kind. I groan aloud. What shall I do? I am mocked by the people. Intolerable are the wrongs I have suffered. Ah, cruel indeed the wrongs of the woeful daughters of Night, bereft of honour and distressed!\n Athena: Let me prevail with you not to bear it with sore lament. For ye have not been vanquished. Nay, the trial resulted fairly in ballots equally divided without disgrace to thee; but from Zeus was offered testimony clear, and he that himself uttered the oracle himself bore witness that Orestes should not suffer harm for his deed. And be ye no longer indignant, launch not your grievous wrath upon this land, nor visit it with unfruitfulness by discharging drops whose wasting influence will devour the seed. For I do promise you most sacredly that ye shall occupy a cavernous seat in a righteous land, where by your hearths ye shall sit on radiant thrones, worshipped with honour by my burghers here.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n92
\nSophocles, Antigone 441\u201370<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Creon: Speak, girl, with head bent low and downcast eyes,\n Dost thou plead guilty or deny the deed?*\n Antigone: Guilty. I did it, I deny it not\n Creon: (to guard)*\n Sirrah, begone whither thou wilt, and thank\n Thy luck that thou hast \u2019scaped a heavy charge.\n (to Antigone)\n Now answer this plain question, yes or no,\n Wast thou acquainted with the interdict?*\n Antigone: I knew, all knew; how should I fail to know?\n Creon: And yet wert bold enough to break the law?\n Antigone:* Yea, for these laws were not ordained of Zeus,\n And she who sits enthroned with gods below,\n Justice, enacted not these human laws.\n Nor did I deem that thou, a mortal man,\n Could\u2019st by a breath annul and override\n The immutable unwritten laws of Heaven.\n They were not born today nor yesterday;\n They die not; and none knoweth whence they sprang.\n I was not like, who feared no mortal\u2019s frown,\n To disobey these laws and so provoke\n The wrath of Heaven. I know that I must die,\n E\u2019en hadst thou not proclaimed it; and if death\n Is thereby hastened, I shall count it gain.*\n For death is gain to him whose life, like mine,\n Is full of misery. Thus my lot appears\n Not sad, but blissful; for had I endured\n To leave my mother\u2019s son unburied there,\n I should have grieved with reason, but not now.\n And if in this thou judgest me a fool,\n Methinks the judge of folly\u2019s not acquit.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n93
\nEuripides, The Trojan Women 634\u2013683<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Andromache:* Mother, O mother, a fairer, truer word\n Hear, that I may with solace touch thine heart:\u2014\n To have been unborn I count as one with death;\n But better death than life in bitterness.\n No pain feels death, which hath no sense of ills:\n But who hath prospered, and hath fallen on woe,\n Forlorn of soul strays far from olden bliss.\n Thy child, as though she ne\u2019er had looked on light,\n Is dead, and nothing knoweth of her ills.\n But I, who drew my bow at fair repute,\n Won overmeasure, yet fair fortune missed.\n All virtuous fame that women e\u2019er have found,\n This was my quest, my gain, \u2019neath Hector\u2019s roof.\n First\u2014be the woman smirched with other stain,\n Or be she not\u2014this very thing shall bring\n Ill fame, if one abide not in the home:\n So banished I such craving, kept the house:\n Within my bowers I suffered not to come\n The tinsel-talk of women, lived content\n To be in virtue schooled by mine own heart;\n With silent tongue, with quiet eye, still met\n My lord: knew in what matters I should rule,\n And where \u2019twas meet to yield him victory:\n Whereof the fame to the Achaean host\n Reached, for my ruin; for, when I was ta\u2019en,\n Achilles\u2019 son would have me for his wife\u2014\n His slave in mine own husband\u2019s murderers\u2019 halls!\n If from mine heart I thrust my love, mine Hector,\n And to this new lord ope the doors thereof,\n I shall be traitress to the dead: but if\n I loathe this prince, shall win my masters\u2019 hate.\n And yet one night, say they, unknits the knot\n Of woman\u2019s hate of any husband\u2019s couch!\n I scorn the wife who flings her sometime lord\n Away, and on a new couch loves another!\n Not even the steed, from her stall-mate disyoked,\n Will with a willing spirit draw the yoke;\n Yet speech nor understanding in the brute\n Is found, whose nature lags behind the man.\n Thou, O mine Hector, wast my fitting mate\n In birth and wisdom, mighty in wealth and valour.\n Stainless from my sire\u2019s halls thou tookest me,\n And first didst yoke with thine my maiden couch.\n Now hast thou perished: sea-borne I shall be,\n Spear-won to Hellas, unto thraldom\u2019s yoke.\n Hath not the doom then of Polyxena,\n Whom thou lamentest, lesser ills than mine?\n With me not even is hope, which lingers last\n With all: nor with far vision of good I cheat\n Mine heart, though sweet thereof the day-dream were.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n5 Gnosis and Gnosticism<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not only the origins but even the definition of Gnosticism are matters of dispute. Gnosticism is sometimes defined as the common trend and substance of a group of Christian heresies in the second century. Under this definition it is of course impossible to consider Gnosticism as part of the background of the New Testament; it did not come into existence until after the New Testament was complete. There is much to be said for this definition; it has the merit of objectivity, and the merit too of being related to documents, persons, and events which are capable of being dated. Yet it is not entirely satisfactory, for when this second-century Gnosticism is analysed it shows a number of characteristics to which some New Testament writers appear to be reacting, so that we must conclude that though the developed Christian heresies arose after and to some extent on the basis of the New Testament writings there must already have been in existence, before at least some parts of the New Testament were written, a body of religious thought manifesting at least some of the characteristics of the second-century gnostic movement. Some describe the pre-Christian movement as Gnosticism, others retain that title for the later movement and describe the earlier as Gnosis, others again as Proto-Gnosticism, or some similar term. It matters little what terminology is employed, though it is of fundamental importance that any writer should make absolutely clear how he is using the words in question, and a universally agreed terminology would be very desirable. Here Gnosticism will be used for the Christian deviations of the second and later centuries, Gnosis for the comparable movement of religious thought earlier than and contemporary with the New Testament. This distinction is useful, though its usefulness is diminished by the fact that both nouns must share the one adjective gnostic. And the definition once adopted leaves unanswered a group of questions of very great complexity. What was Gnosis? From what sources is it known? How is it related to Gnosticism?
\nIt is not the purpose of this chapter to answer, or attempt to answer, these questions. In a volume of background documents, however, it must be plainly stated that, though it is as near certain as may be that Gnosis existed, there are no sources that prove that it existed, that tell us exactly what it was, or show its relation to Gnosticism. To a great extent it must be reconstructed from the New Testament, which names it (1 Tim. 6:20), refers to it under other terms (e.g. Col. 2:8), and refers to those who proudly made the claim, I know him (God) (1 John 2:4). It would not be proper to collect New Testament evidence in this book. Most of the passages that will be adduced are drawn inevitably from the later period; some are heretical Christian, others are simply non-Christian. In each case, however, they bear indirect witness to an earlier stage in which Christian, Jewish, Greek, and oriental streams were running together to form the still unco-ordinated and variable forms of Gnosis. In addition to material quoted here Philo is an important witness to the earliest stages of Gnosis; see Chapter 10, and especially 234\u20137.
\nThe following passages are arranged in relation to their origin rather than topically, but they should serve to bring out some of the main themes of Gnosis, and to give some indication of the way in which they developed into Gnosticism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Hermetic Literature<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There have been transmitted from antiquity, mainly through Christian channels, a considerable number of tractates more or less closely connected with the divine person Hermes Trismegistus. Of these, many are simply astrological or magical, and may be discounted. The rest contain a body of teaching which might with equal justice be called religious or philosophical. This teaching, which here and there shows contact with the Greek Old Testament, is an important element in the background of the New Testament.
\nHermes Trismegistus (Thrice-Greatest Hermes) is the Greek title of the Egyptian god Thoth. Trismegistus probably represents an Egyptian expression meaning \u2018very great\u2019, and served to distinguish the foreign god from the native Greek Hermes. In most of the tractates Hermes himself, or a similar divine figure, communicates secret knowledge (gnosis) about God, about creation, or about salvation, to a disciple, who is sometimes but not always named. The revelation is generally given in the form of a dialogue in which the disciple\u2019s share is limited to asking questions and expressing admiration. Prayers and praise addressed to God are also found.
\nThe date of the Hermetic writings cannot be established with certainty, but it seems probable that most of them were composed between AD 100 and 200, though it is by no means impossible that some fall within the first century AD. What is more important is that these literary remains give the impression of being the deposit of many years of oral teaching, as well as of reflection and mystical meditation. It seems very probable, though the matter is not capable of proof, that ideas similar to those contained in the written Hermetica were entertained and discussed, in Egypt and perhaps elsewhere, at the time when the New Testament documents were written and when Christianity was spreading westwards from Palestine into the Greek world.
\nThis westward movement of Christianity is to be noted here because the Hermetica also represent, in part, the transition of Jewish and Egyptian, that is of Oriental, thoughts into Greek shape and expression. In order to understand the Hermetica it is above all necessary to grasp that their authors were men who believed that there had been revealed to them a Gospel which it was their mission to preach to mankind.
\nThe first Hermetic tractate, often called the Poimandres, makes this message particularly clear, and most of the passages quoted below are taken from it. \u2018It tells how the God revealed to his prophet in ecstasy the divine origin of the universe and of man, and commissioned him to preach the way of salvation to mankind in general. It makes use of various forms of religious appeal familiar to us from the literature of Judaism and Christianity\u2014the inspired myth of the beginning of things, the doctrine of immortality, the divine promises and threats of judgement, eschatology, and the call to repentance, concluding with a hymn of praise and aspiration. Its actual teaching is of a type common to most of the Hermetica, but this teaching is presented in a more imaginative way than is usual, with more appeal to the emotions, and its address to all who will hear contrasts with the esotericism of some of the other Hermetic writings\u2019 (C. H. Dodd, The Bible and the Greeks (1935), p. 99). The tractate opens with the appearance of Poimandres, and the disciple\u2019s request for knowledge. Thereupon is manifested a vision which teaches the origin of the universe, and, in mythical form, the origin, and hence the nature, of man is revealed. His story is traced from original archetypal man to the present state of empirical fallen humanity. In this way both the cause and character of man\u2019s ills are indicated, and with them the way of escape. Leaving behind everything mortal and corruptible the soul must rise through the seven spheres until it enters into God himself and so becomes divine. That this may take place is the Gospel of Poimandres. Having received it the disciple becomes an apostle and preaches to mankind the way of salvation; some refuse it, others accept, and seek instruction. These last the prophet gathers about him and bids them give thanks to God. When they have departed he himself blesses God in a short psalm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
94
\nCorpus Hermeticum 1. Poimandres 1ff. Introduction<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It happened once that, when I had begun to reflect upon the things that are, and my thoughts had been caught up on high, and when my bodily senses had been put under restraint,* like those who are weighed down by sleep resulting from overeating or bodily fatigue, I seemed to see an immense figure of boundless size who was calling me by name and saying to me, \u2018What do you wish to hear and to behold, and, by your thought, to learn and know?\u2019 \u2018Who are you?\u2019 I said. \u2018I am Poimandres,\u2019 said he, \u2018the Mind of the Sovereignty.* I know what you wish, and I am with you everywhere.\u2019 \u2018I wish\u2019, I said, \u2018to learn the things that are, and to understand their nature, and to know God;* how I wish to hear this!\u2019 He replied, \u2018Keep in your mind the things you wish to learn, and I will teach you.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
95
\nCorpus Hermeticum 1. Poimandres 4ff., 9. Cosmogony<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When he had said this his aspect changed. Everything was opened to me in a moment, and I beheld a boundless vision; all became light, a calm and joyous light, and when I saw it I was captivated by it. And after a little there came in its turn a downwardbearing darkness,* terrible and grim, twisted in crooked spirals, like (it seemed to me) a snake. Then the darkness changed into a wet nature, unspeakably agitated and giving forth smoke, as from a fire, and producing an unutterable mournful sound. Then was sent out from it an inarticulate cry, like (it seemed) the noise of a fire, and coming from the light \u2026 a holy Word assailed the nature,* and fire unmixed leapt up from the wet nature towards the height. It was light and swift, and at the same time active, and the air, being light, followed the [fiery] breath, ascending from the earth and water as far as the fire, so that it seemed to be suspended from it; but the earth and water remained in their place mingled together, so that the earth could not be distinguished from the water. Earth and water were kept in motion by the breathlike word which was rushing audibly over them.*
\n Then said Poimandres to me, \u2018Have you understood what this vision means?\u2019 \u2018I shall know it,\u2019 I said. \u2018That light\u2019, said he, \u2018am I, Mind, thy God,* who was before the wet nature which appeared out of darkness; the luminous Word which came forth from Mind is son of God,\u2019* \u2018What then?\u2019 \u2018You must understand it thus. That which sees and hears in you is the word of the Lord, and your mind is God the Father. These are not separated one from another, for the union of them is life.\u2019 \u2018Thank you,\u2019 I said. \u2018But now\u2019, he went on, \u2018consider the light and understand that.\u2019 \u2026
\n Then* Mind (or God), being bisexual, existing as life and light,* generated by a word another Mind, as Demiurge.* The latter, being god of fire and breath, created seven administrators, who in their orbits envelop the world of sense perception. Their administration is called Destiny.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
96
\nCorpus Hermeticum 1. Poimandres 12\u201315. Archetypal Man and his Fall<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mind, the Father of all, being life and light, generated a Man equal to himself,* whom he loved as being his own offspring, for he was very beautiful since he bore the image of his father. Truly therefore did God love his own form, and delivered over to him all his own creations. And when the Man had considered the creation which the Demiurge had made in the fire, he himself also wished to create, and was permitted to do so by his father. He came into the sphere of the Demiurge, where he was to have all authority, and considered the creations of his brother.* They loved him, and each one gave him a share in his own rank. Having perceived their essence and partaken of their nature, he wished to break out of the bounding circle of the orbits and to know the might of him who is set over the fire.
\n And he that had all authority* over the world of mortal beings and the irrational creatures looked down through the framework of the orbits, having broken through the vault of heaven, and he showed the fair form of God to the downward-bearing Nature. When Nature saw him who had in himself the unfailing beauty and all the power of the administrators, and the form of God, she smiled in love because she saw the image of the Man\u2019s most beautiful form reflected in the water and his shadow upon the earth. When he saw this form like himself in her, reflected, that is, in the water, he loved it, and desired to dwell there. With the will came the act, and he inhabited the irrational form; but Nature, when she had received him whom she loved, enfolded him altogether and they were united;* for they were in love.
\n And for this reason, alone among all the living creatures upon earth, man is twofold.* He is mortal by reason of the body, immortal by reason of the essential Man. For although he is immortal and has authority over all things, yet he endures mortal conditions since he is subjected to Destiny. Although therefore he is above the framework of the orbits he has yet become a slave to it; and although he is bisexual, since he came from a bisexual father, and not subject to sleep since he came from one not subject to sleep, yet is he held fast.\u2026*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
97
\nCorpus Hermeticum 1. Poimandres 27ff. The Prophet\u2019s Mission<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When he had said these things Poimandres before my eyes mingled with the Powers. And I, having given thanks and blessed the Father of all things, was dismissed by him [Poimandres], filled with power and instructed regarding the nature of the universe and the supreme vision. And I began to preach to men the beauty of piety and knowledge:* \u2018O peoples, earth-born men, who have given yourselves up to drunkenness and sleep and to ignorance of God, be sober, cease your orgies, bewitched as you are by irrational sleep.\u2019
\n When they heard, they joined me with one accord. I said, \u2018Why, O earth-born men, have you given yourselves up to death, when you have the right to partake of immortality?* Repent,* you who have journeyed with error and kept company with ignorance. Rid yourselves of the light which is darkness. Abandon corruption, partake of immortality.\u2019
\n And some of them mocked me and went away, having given themselves up to the way of death; others* begged me to teach them, throwing themselves at my feet. I raised them up and became the guide of the human race, teaching them the doctrine which showed how and in what way they should be saved. I sowed in them* the words of wisdom, and they were nourished upon the water of immortality.* And when evening was come and the sun\u2019s light had begun to disappear completely, I bade them give thanks to God, and when they had completed the thanksgiving each one turned to his own bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
98
\nCorpus Hermeticum 1. Poimandres 30ff. The Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But for my part I wrote down for myself (or, inscribed in memory) the benefaction of Poimandres, and, being filled with those things I had desired, I rejoiced greatly. For the sleep of my body had become watchfulness of soul, and the closing of my eyes true vision, and my silence pregnant with good, and the utterance of my speech a brood of good things. This befell me because I received them from my mind, that is, from Poimandres, the word of the Sovereignty. So I came, inspired with the spirit of truth.
\n Wherefore with all my soul and with all my strength I offer blessing to God the Father.
\n Holy is God, the Father of all things.
\n Holy is God, whose will is accomplished by his own Powers.
\n Holy is God, who wills to be known and who is known to his own.*
\n Holy art thou, who by the Word hast constituted all things that are.*
\n Holy art thou, of whom all Nature is the image.*
\n Holy art thou, whom Nature did not form.
\n Holy art thou, who art stronger than every Power.
\n Holy art thou, who art greater than all excellence.
\n Holy art thou, who art above praises.
\n Accept pure rational sacrifices* from a soul and a heart stretched upward toward thee, O thou ineffable, unspeakable, named in silence. Grant me my prayer that I may not fall from the knowledge which befits our essence, and empower me. Then will I enlighten with this grace those of the human race who are in ignorance, my brothers, thy sons. Wherefore I believe and I bear witness; I move into life and light.* Blessed art thou, O Father. Thy man wishes to share in thy holiness,* as thou hast delivered to him all authority.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
99
\nCorpus Hermeticum 4. The Bowl 3\u20137<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reason, O Tat, God has distributed among all men,* but he has not done this* with mind. It is not that he grudged it to any; for grudging envy does not come from above but is found below in the souls of men who do not possess mind.
\n Why then, my father, did God not distribute mind to all?
\n He willed, my son, to set it before souls as a prize that they might win.
\n And where did he set it?
\n He filled a great bowl* with it and set it down. He provided a herald and ordered him to proclaim to the hearts of men the following message. Dip yourself, you who can, into this bowl, you who believe that you will ascend to him who sent the bowl down, you who know for what purpose you have come into being.
\n Those therefore who have understood the proclamation and dipped themselves* in mind partook of gnosis and became perfect men, since they had received mind. But those who ignored the proclamation, these are the logikoi,* who have not received mind in addition (to reason) and do not know for what purpose they have come into being, or from what source. The perceptions of these men are akin to those of irrational animals. Their temperament is one of anger and wrath, they do not admire the things that are worthy of contemplation, they attend to the pleasures and desires of their bodies, and believe that it is for the sake of these things that man has come into being. But those who have partaken of the gift that comes from God, these, O Tat, by a comparison of their works are no longer mortal but immortal, for they have embraced all things in their own mind,* the things on earth, the things in heaven, and anything there may be beyond heaven. Having thus raised themselves to such a height they have seen the Good, and having seen it considered their stay on earth an unhappy chance. They have despised all things, both corporeal and incorporeal, and press on towards the One and Only. This, O Tat, is the knowledge of mind: an abundance of divine things and the understanding of God, since the bowl is divine.
\n I too wish to be dipped, my father.
\n Unless first, my child, you hate your body, you cannot love yourself. But if you love yourself you shall have mind, and having mind you will partake of knowledge.
\n What do you mean by this, father?
\n It is impossible, my child, to attach yourself to both things mortal and things divine. For since there are two kinds of being, the corporeal and the incorporeal, and these include the mortal and the divine, the choice between them is left to him who wishes to choose. For where choice remains it is impossible to have both, and the defeat of the one manifests the active power of the other.
\n The choice of the better not only proves to be the finest thing for him who has made the choice, since it leads to man\u2019s divinization, but also demonstrates piety towards God. But the choice of the worse means man\u2019s destruction, and offends against God only in this, that as processions go through the midst of a city,* unable to achieve anything themselves and getting in the way of others, in the same way these also go on procession in the world, drawn along by corporeal pleasures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
100
\nCorpus Hermeticum 13. Concerning Rebirth 1, 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the General Discourses,* my father, you spoke in riddles and without making things clear, when you discoursed on divinity. You revealed nothing,* when you said that no one could be saved before rebirth. When I became your suppliant, on the descent from the mountain, after you had discoursed with me, when I asked that I might learn the doctrine of rebirth, since of all things this is the only one of which I am ignorant, you said that you would commit it to me \u2018when you are ready to distance yourself from the world\u2019. I am ready, and I have strengthened my mind to withstand the world\u2019s deceit. Now do you supply my deficiencies by the things you have said you would deliver to me regarding rebirth, making them known by speech or secretly. O Trismegistus, I do not know from what kind of womb a man is (re)born, of what kind of seed.
\n My child, it is intellectual Wisdom in Silence,* and the seed is the true Good.
\n Who provides the seed, father? I am altogether at a loss.
\n The will of God, my child.
\n And what sort of being is he that is begotten, father? for he has no share of the substance that is in me.
\n He who is begotten will be another person, God the child of God, the All in All, composed of all the Powers.
\n You are telling me a riddle, father, and not speaking as a father to his son.
\n This kind of thing, my child, is not taught, but when it is his will God brings it to remembrance.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coptic Gnostic Texts from Nag Hammadi<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1945 a library of gnostic texts, written in Coptic, was discovered at Nag Hammadi in Egypt. They must have belonged to a gnostic Christian sect: most have a Christian element, some a very strong Christian element, but at the same time they bear witness to a gnostic movement that was not exclusively, and perhaps was not at all, of Christian origin. They have provided a much better understanding than was previously possible of the Christian gnostic heresies, which may now be known at first hand and not simply through the words of their opponents, and also indirectly shed light on the origins of the gnostic movement as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
101
\nNag Hammadi Codex III. 70\u201390. Eugnostos the Blessed<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This appears to have been a document untouched by Christian influence. There is a parallel text, The Sophia of Jesus Christ, which is a Christianized version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eugnostos the Blessed, to those who are his.
\n Greetings! I wish you to know that all men born from the foundation of the world until now are dust. Inquiring about God,* who he is, and what he is like, they have not found him. The wisest among them have speculated about the truth from the ordering of the world. But the speculation has not reached the truth. For the ordering is spoken of in three (different) opinions by all the philosophers, (and) hence they do not agree. For some of them say about the world that it was directed by itself. Some, that it is providence (that directs it). Some, that it is fate. Now, it is none of these. Again, (of) the three opinions that I have just described, none is true. For whatever is from itself is empty life, since it only makes itself. Providence is foolish. And the inevitable is undiscerning.
\n Whoever, then, is able to get free of these three opinions that I have just described and come by means of another view to confess the God of truth, and be in harmony with everyone because of him, he is an immortal who is in the midst of mortal men.
\n The one who is is ineffable. No sovereignty knew him, no authority, no subjection, nor did any creature from the foundation of the world, except himself. For he is immortal. He is eternal, having no birth; for everyone who has birth will perish. He is unbegotten, having no beginning; for everyone who has a beginning has an end. No one rules over him, since he has no name; for whoever has a name is the creation of another. He is unnameable. He has no human form; for whoever has human form is the creation of another. He has his own semblance\u2014not like the semblance that we have received or seen, but a strange semblance that surpasses all things and is better than the totalities. It looks to every side and sees itself from itself. He is without end; he is incomprehensible. He is ever imperishable, and has no likeness to anything. He is unchanging good. He is faultless. He is everlasting. He is blessed. He is unknowable,* while he nonetheless knows himself. He is immeasurable. He is untraceable. He is perfect, having no defect. He is imperishably blessed. He is called \u2018the Father of the Universe\u2019.
\n Before anything was revealed of those that appear, the greatness and the authorities that are in him, he embraced the totalities of the totalities, and nothing embraced him. For he is all mind,* thought and reflecting, thinking, rationality, and power. They all are equal powers. They are the sources of the totalities. And their whole race, until the end, is in the foreknowledge of the Unbegotten. For that which appears has not yet been arrived at.
\n Now a difference existed between the imperishable aeons and the perishable ones. Let us, then, consider it in this way. Everything that came from the perishable will perish, since they came from the perishable. Whatever came from imperishableness will not perish but will become imperishable, since it came from imperishableness. Thus a multitude of men went astray; since they did not know this difference, which has been stated, they died.
\n But let this suffice for now, since it is impossible for anyone to dispute the nature of the words that I have just spoken in regard to the blessed, imperishable, true God. Now, if anyone desires to believe the words that are set down here, let him investigate from what (sing.) is hidden to the completion of what (sing.) is revealed, and this thought will instruct him how the belief in those things that are not revealed was found in what (sing.) is revealed. This thought is a source of knowledge.
\n The Lord of the Universe is not rightly called \u2018Father\u2019, but \u2018First Father\u2019. For the Father is the source of what is revealed. For he is the beginningless First Father and beholds himself within himself as with a mirror. He was revealed in his likeness as Self-Father, that is, Self-Begetter, and as Confronter, since he confronted the Unbegotten First-Existing One. Indeed he is of equal age with the one who is before his countenance, but he is not equal to him in power.
\n Afterward he revealed a multitude of confronting, self-begotten ones, equal in age and power, being in glory, and without number. They are called \u2018the generation over whom there is no kingdom among the kingdoms that exist\u2019. And the whole multitude there over which there is no kingdom is called \u2018the Sons of the Unbegotten Father\u2019. Now he is the unknowable, who is ever full of imperishableness and ineffable joy. They all are at rest in him, ever rejoicing in ineffable joy because of the unchanging glory and the measureless jubilation that was never heard or known among all the aeons and their worlds. But enough for now, lest we go on endlessly.
\n Another subject of knowledge is this, under the heading of the begotten. Before the universe, the First was revealed. In the boundlessness he is a self-grown, self-constructed father who is full of shining, ineffable light.* In the beginning he decided to have his form come to be as a great power. Immediately the beginning of that light was revealed as an immortal, androgynous man. His male name is \u2018the Begetting of the Perfect One\u2019. And his female name is \u2018All-wise Begettress Sophia\u2019. It is also said that she resembles her brother and her consort. It is a truth that is uncontested; for here below error, which exists with it, contests the truth.
\n Through Immortal Man was revealed a first designation (fem.), namely divinity and kingdom; for the Father, who is called \u2018Self-Father Man\u2019, revealed this (masc.). He created for himself a great aeon corresponding to his greatness. He gave it great authority, and it ruled over all creations. He created for himself gods and archangels and angels, myriads without number for retinue. Now from that man originated divinity and kingdom. Therefore he was called \u2018God of gods\u2019, \u2018King of kings\u2019.
\n Now First Man is \u2018Faith (Pistis)\u2019 for those who will come to be after these. He was within a unique mind, thought, which is like it, reflecting and thinking, rationality and power. All the parts that exist are perfect and immortal. In respect to imperishableness, they are equal. However in respect to power, there is a difference, like the difference between a father and a son, and a son and a thought, and the thought and the remainder \u2026
\n Now Immortal Man is full of every imperishable glory and ineffable joy. His whole kingdom rejoices in everlasting rejoicing, those who never have been heard or known in any aeon that came after them, and its worlds. Afterward First Source came from Immortal Man, the one who is called \u2018the Perfect Begetter\u2019.
\n Man took his consort and revealed that first-begotten androgyny whose name is \u2018First-begotten Son of the Father\u2019. His female aspect is called \u2018First-begotten Sophia, Mother of the Universe\u2019, whom some call \u2018Love\u2019. Now the First-begotten, since he has his authority from his father, created a great aeon corresponding to his greatness, creating for himself myriads of angels without number for retinue. The whole multitude of those angels is called \u2018the Assembly of the Holy Ones, the shadowless lights\u2019. Now when these greet each other, their embraces are for angels who are like them.
\n First-Begetter Father is called \u2018Adam of the Light\u2019. And the kingdom of Son of Man is full of ineffable joy and unchanging* jubilation because they rejoice continually in ineffable joy over their imperishable glory, which has never been heard of, nor has it been revealed to all the aeons that came to be and their worlds.
\n Now Son of Man harmonized with Sophia, his consort, and revealed a great androgynous light. Some call his masculine name \u2018Saviour, Begetter of All Things\u2019. His feminine name is called \u2018Sophia, All-Begettress\u2019. Some call her \u2018Pistis\u2019.
\n Then the Saviour harmonized with his consort, Pistis Sophia. He revealed six androgynous spiritual beings whose type is that of those who preceded them \u2026
\n Now the first aeon is that of Immortal Man. The second aeon is that of Son of Man, the one who is called \u2018First Begetter\u2019. The third is that of the son of Son of Man, the one who is called \u2018Saviour\u2019. The one who embraces these is the aeon over whom there is no kingdom in the divine, boundless eternity, the aeon of the aeons, with the immortals who are in him, the one above the Eighth that was revealed in chaos \u2026
\n From his good pleasure and his thought the powers were revealed, who were called \u2018gods\u2019. And the gods by their thinkings revealed divine gods. And the gods by their thinkings revealed lords. And the lords of the lords by their words revealed lords. And the lords by their powers revealed archangels. The archangels revealed angels. By this (fem.), the semblance was revealed, with structure and form, to name all the aeons and their worlds.
\n All the immortals, which I have just described, have authority\u2014all of them\u2014by the power of Immortal Man and Sophia, his consort, who was called \u2018Silence\u2019, and was named \u2018Silence\u2019 because in reflecting without a word she perfected her greatness. The imperishables, since they have the authority, each provided for themselves great kingdoms in all the immortal heavens and their firmaments, thrones, and temples corresponding to their greatness. Some, indeed, who are in dwelling places and in chariots, being in ineffable glory, and not being able to be sent into any nature, provided for themselves hosts of angels, myriads without number for retinue and glory, even ineffable virgin spirits of light. They have no sickness nor weakness, but it is only will, so it comes to be in an instant. The aeons and their heavens and the firmaments were complete for the glory of Immortal Man and Sophia, his consort.
\n This is where every aeon was and their worlds, and those that came after them, to provide there the types, their likenesses, in the heavens of chaos and their worlds. And all natures, from the Immortal One from the time of the Unbegotten One to the revelation of (or: to) chaos, in the shining, shadowless light, and in ineffable joy, and unutterable jubilation, ever delight themselves on account of their unchanging glory and the immeasurable rest that is impossible to speak of or even to conceive of among all the aeons that came to be and their powers.
\n But enough for now. Now all these things that I have just said to you (sing.) I have said in the way that you can accept, until the one who does not need to be taught is revealed among you, and he will say all these things to you joyously and in pure knowledge.
\n Eugnostos the Blessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
102
\nNag Hammadi Codex I. The Gospel of Truth 34\u201341<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A book bearing this title is referred to by Irenaeus (Adv. Haer. 3.11.9); it seems to have been of Valentinian origin; some think that it was written by Valentinus himself. It is a Christian gnostic work, and probably a very early one; it bears witness to that Gnosis which helped to produce Christian Gnosticism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the word of the gospel of the discovery of the pleroma,* for those who await the salvation which is coming from on high. While their hope which they are waiting for is waiting\u2014they whose image is light with no shadow in it\u2014then at that time the pleroma is about to come. The deficiency of matter has not arisen through the limitlessness of the Father, who is about to bring the time of the deficiency, although no one could say that the incorruptible one will come in this way. But the depth of the Father was multiplied and the thought of error did not exist with him. It is a thing that falls, it is a thing that easily stands upright again in the discovery of him who has come to him whom he shall bring back. For the bringing back is called repentance.*
\n For this reason incorruptibility breathed forth; it pursued the one who had sinned in order that he might rest. For forgiveness is what remains for the light in the deficiency, the word of the pleroma. For the physician* runs to the place where a sickness is because that is his will that is in him. He who has a deficiency, then, does not hide it, because one has what the other lacks. So with the pleroma, which has no deficiency; it fills up his deficiency\u2014it is that which he provided for filling up what he lacks, in order that therefore he might receive the grace. When he was deficient he did not have the grace. That is why there was diminution existing in the place where there is no grace. When that which was diminished was received, he revealed what he lacked, as a pleroma; that is the discovery of the light of truth which rose upon him because it is immutable.
\n That is why Christ* was spoken of in their midst, so that those who were disturbed might receive a bringing back, and he might anoint them with the ointment. The ointment is the mercy of the Father who will have mercy on them. But those whom he has anointed are the ones who have become perfect. For full jars are the ones that are usually anointed. But when the anointing of one jar is dissolved, it is emptied, and the reason for there being a deficiency is the thing through which its ointment goes. For at that time a breath draws it, one by the power of the one with it. But from him who has no deficiency no seal is removed, nor is anything emptied. But what he lacks the perfect Father fills again. He is good. He knows his plantings* because it is he who planted them in his paradise. Now his paradise is his place of rest.
\n This is the perfection in the thought of the Father, and these are the words of his meditation. Each one of his words is the work of his one will in the revelation of his Word. While they were still in the depth of his thought, the Word which was first to come forth revealed them along with a mind that speaks the one Word in silent grace. It (masc.) was called thought since they were in it (fem.) before being revealed. It came about, then, that it was first to come forth at the time that was pleasing to the will of him who willed. And the will is what the Father rests in and is pleased with. Nothing happens without him, nor does anything happen without the will of the Father, but his will is incomprehensible. His trace is the will, and no one will know it, nor is it possible for one to scrutinize it in order to grasp it. But when he wills, what he wills is this\u2014even if the sight does not please them in any way\u2014before God it is the will, the Father. For he knows the beginning of all of them and their end. For at their end he will question them directly (?). Now the end is receiving knowledge about the one who is hidden,* and this is the Father, from whom the beginning came forth, to whom all will return who have come forth from him. And they have appeared for the glory and the joy of his name.
\n Now the name of the Father is the Son.* It is he who first gave a name to the one who came forth from him, who was himself, and he begot him as a son. He gave him his name which belonged to him; he is the one to whom belongs all that exists around him, the Father, His is the name; his is the Son. It is possible for him to be seen. But the name is invisible because it alone is the mystery of the invisible which comes to ears that are completely filled with it. For indeed the Father\u2019s name is not spoken, but it is apparent through a son.
\n In this way, then, the name is a great thing. Who therefore will be able to utter a name for him, the great name, except him alone to whom the name belongs and the sons of the name in whom rested the name of the Father, who in turn themselves rested in his name? Since the Father is unengendered, he alone is the one who begot a name for himself before he brought forth the aeons in order that the name of the Father should be over their head as lord, that is, the name in truth, which is firm in his command through perfect power. For the name is not from mere words, nor does his name consist of appellations, but it is invisible. He gave a name to himself since he sees himself, he alone having the power to give himself a name. For he who does not exist has no name. For what name is given to him who does not exist? But the one who exists exists also with his name, and he knows himself. And to give himself a name is the prerogative of the Father. The Son is his name. He did not therefore hide it in the work, but the Son existed; he alone was given the name. The name therefore is that of the Father, as the name of the Father is the Son. Where indeed would mercy find a name except with the Father?
\n But no doubt one will say to his neighbour, \u2018Who is it who will give a name to him who existed before himself, as if offspring did not receive a name from those who begot them?\u2019 First, then, it is fitting for us to reflect on this matter: what is the name? It is the name in truth; it is not therefore the name from the father, for it is the one which is the proper name. Therefore he did not receive the name on loan as do others, according to the form in which each one is to be produced. But this is the proper name.* There is no one else who gave it to him. But he is unnameable, indescribable, until the time when he who is perfect spoke of himself. And it is he who has the power to speak his name and to see it.
\n When therefore it pleased him that his name which is uttered should be his Son, and he gave the name to him, that is, him who came forth from the depth, he spoke about his secret things, knowing that the Father is a being without evil. For that very reason he brought him forth in order to speak about the place and his resting-place from which he had come forth, and to glorify the pleroma, the greatness of his name and the gentleness of the Father. About the place each one came from he will speak, and to the region where he received his essential being he will hasten to return again, and to be taken from that place\u2014the place where he stood\u2014receiving a taste from that place and receiving nourishment, receiving growth. And his own resting-place is his pleroma.
\n Therefore all the emanations of the Father are pleromas, and the root of all his emanations is in the one who made them all grow up in himself. He assigned them their destinies. Each one of them is apparent in order that through their own thought \u2026 For the place to which they send their thought, that place is their root, which takes them up in all the heights to the Father. They possess his head which is rest for them and they hold on close to him, as though to say that they have participated in his face by means of kisses. But they do not appear in this way, for they did not surpass themselves nor lack the glory of the Father nor think of him as small nor that he is harsh nor that he is wrathful, but a being without evil, imperturbable, gentle, knowing all spaces before they have come into existence, and having no need to be instructed.
\n This is the manner of those who possess something from above of the immeasurable greatness, as they stretch out after the one alone and the perfect one, the one who is there for them. And they do not go down to Hades nor have they envy nor groaning nor death within them, but they rest in him who is at rest, not striving nor being involved in the search for truth. But they themselves are the truth; and the Father is within them and they are in the Father, being perfect, being undivided in the truly good one, being in no way deficient in anything, but they are set at rest, refreshed in the Spirit. And they will heed their root. They will be concerned with those things in which he will find his root and not suffer loss to his soul. This is the place of the blessed; this is their place.
\n For the rest, then, may they know, in their places, that it is not fitting for me, having come to be in the resting place, to speak of anything else. But it is in it that I shall come to be, to be concerned at all times with the Father of the all and the true brothers,* those upon whom the love of the Father is poured out and in whose midst there is no lack of him. They are the ones who appear in truth since they exist in true and eternal life and speak of the light which is perfect and filled with the seed of the Father, and which is in his heart and in the pleroma, while his Spirit rejoices in it and glorifies the one in whom it existed because he is good. And his children are perfect and worthy of his name, for he is the Father: it is children of this kind that he loves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
103
\nNag Hammadi Codex II. The Gospel of Thomas 1\u20137, 24\u201327, 112\u2013114<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unlike the Gospel of Truth, Thomas bears a close resemblance to the New Testament Gospels, though it consists entirely of sayings. Some think it to be a Gospel of equal age and historical value with those of the New Testament. A more probable view is that it was based upon those Gospels, or their sources, or on other earlier Gospels, and edited in the light of gnostic beliefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus* spoke and which Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down.
\n And he* said, \u2018Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death.\u2019
\n Jesus said, \u2018Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds.* When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All.\u2019*
\n Jesus said, \u2018If those who lead you say to you, \u201cSee, the Kingdom is in the sky,\u201d then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, \u201cIt is in the sea,\u201d then the fish will precede you. Rather, the Kingdom is inside of you, and it is* outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are sons of the living Father. But if you will not know yourselves, you will dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty.\u2019
\n Jesus said, \u2018The man old in days will not hesitate to ask a small child* seven days old about the place of life, and he will live. For many who are first will become last, and they will become one and the same.\u2019
\n Jesus said, \u2018Recognize what is in your sight, and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you. For there is nothing hidden which will not become manifest.\u2019*
\n His disciples questioned Him and said to Him, \u2018Do You want us to fast?* How shall we pray? Shall we give alms? What diet shall we observe?\u2019
\n Jesus said, \u2018Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate, for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain without being uncovered.\u2019
\n Jesus said, \u2018Blessed is the lion* which becomes man when consumed by man; and cursed is the man whom the lion consumes, and the lion becomes man \u2026\u2019
\n His disciples said to Him, \u2018Show us the place* where You are, since it is necessary for us to seek it.\u2019
\n He said to them, \u2018Whoever has ears,* let him hear. There is light within a man of light, and he (or: it) lights up the whole world. If he (or: it) does not shine, he (or: it) is darkness.\u2019
\n Jesus said,* \u2018Love your brother like your soul, guard him like the pupil of your eye.\u2019
\n Jesus said, \u2018You see the mote in your brother\u2019s eye, but you do not see the beam in your own eye. When you cast the beam out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to cast the mote from your brother\u2019s eye.\u2019
\n Jesus said, \u2018If you do not fast as regards the world, you will not find the Kingdom. If you do not observe the Sabbath as a Sabbath, you will not see the Father \u2026\u2019
\n Jesus said, \u2018Woe to the flesh* that depends on the soul; woe to the soul that depends on the flesh.\u2019
\n His disciples said to Him, \u2018When will the Kingdom come?\u2019*
\n Jesus said, \u2018It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying, \u201cHere it is\u201d or \u201cThere it is.\u201d Rather, the Kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it.\u2019
\n Simon Peter said to them, \u2018Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of Life,\u2019
\n Jesus said, \u2018I myself shall lead her in order to make her male,* so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.\u2019
\n The Gospel According to Thomas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mandaean Literature<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The literature of the Mandaeans, who still exist in Iraq and Iran, is contained in manuscripts that are by no means ancient, and assessment of the original dates of composition is difficult, so that completely agreed results have not been reached. The relevance of these texts to the study of the New Testament also is disputed and cannot be discussed here; the following opinion however may be quoted. \u2018In Mandaic literature we have before us an important witness to the religion of \u201cGnosis\u201d or gnosticism from late Antiquity, which probably reaches back to the pre-Christian era. Thus the Mandeans are the last surviving witnesses of this form of religion \u2026 Daring suppositions have associated them in their origins with the history of the beginnings of Christianity and explained them as descendants of an old group of John the Baptist\u2019s disciples. Although these hypotheses, which were especially advocated by Reitzenstein, cannot all be substantiated, yet it can today be claimed with confidence that the oldest elements of Mandaic literature have preserved for us a witness from the Oriental milieu of early Christianity which can be utilized in the interpretation of certain New Testament texts (in particular the Johannine corpus).\u2019 (K. Rudolph, in Gnosis, a Selection of Gnostic Texts, II Coptic and Mandean Sources, W. Foerster, ed., ETr. R. McL. Wilson, ed., pp. 125f.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
104
\nRight Ginza II. 3<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the name of the Great Life!\nWhen I came, I, the messenger of light,\nthe king, who came here from the light,\nthen I came, laufa* and radiance in my hand,\nlight and praise (or: radiance) upon me,\nsplendour and illumination upon me.\nVoice and proclamation upon me,\nthe sign upon me and the baptism,*\nand I illuminate darkened hearts.\nWith my voice and my proclamation\nI uttered a cry to the world.\nA cry I uttered to the world,\nfrom one end of the world to the other.\nI uttered a cry to the world:\nlet everyone take care of himself.\nEveryone who takes care of himself\nshall be saved from the consuming fire.\nHail to the servants of Ku\u0161\u1e6da,*\nthe perfect and faithful.\nHail to the perfect,\nwho turn away from all evil.\nI am the messenger of light,\nwhom the Great One sent into the world.\nThe true* messenger am I,\nin whom there is no falsehood,\nThe true one,* in whom there is no falsehood,\nin whom there is no imperfection or deficiency.\nI am the messenger of light:\nwhoever smells at his scent is quickened to life.\nWhoever receives his word (or: doctrine),\nhis eyes are filled with light.\nWith light his eyes are filled,\nand his mouth is filled with praise.\nWith praise his mouth is filled,\nand his heart is filled with wisdom.\nThe adulterers* smelt at it\nand they abandoned their adultery.\nThey abandoned their adultery and came,\nand surrounded themselves with my scent.\nThey spoke:\n\u2018When we were ignorant,* we practised adultery,\nnow, since we have knowledge, we do not commit adultery any more.\u2019\nI am the true messenger,\nin whom there is no falsehood \u2026\n\nThe liars smelt at it,\nand they abandoned their lies.\nThey abandoned their lies,\ncame, and surrounded themselves with my scent.\nThey spoke:\n\u2018Our lord! When we were ignorant, we spoke lies,\nnow, since we have knowledge, we do not speak lies any longer.\u2019\nThe messenger of the Life am I,\nthe true one, in whom there is no falsehood,\nthe true one, in whom there is no falsehood,\nin whom there is no imperfection or deficiency.\nThe tree of praise,\nfrom which everyone who smells it becomes alive.\nWhoever smells at it,\nhis eyes are filled with light \u2026\n\nThe murderers smelt at it,\nand they abandoned their murders.\nTheir murders they abandoned,\nthey came, and surrounded themselves with my scent.\nThey spoke:\n\u2018Our lord! When we were ignorant, we committed murder,\nnow, since we have knowledge, we do not murder any more.\u2019\nThe sorcerers smelt at it,\nand they abandoned their sorcery.\nTheir sorcery they abandoned,\nthey came, and surrounded themselves with my scent.\nThey spoke:\n\u2018Our lord! When we were ignorant, we practised sorcery,\nnow, since we have knowledge, we practise sorcery no more.\u2019\nA vine am I, a vine of life,\na tree, in which there is no falsehood.\nThe tree of praise,\nfrom which everyone who smells at it becomes alive.\nWhoever hears his word (or: doctrine),\nhis eyes are filled with light.\nWith light his eyes are filled,\nhis mouth is filled with praise.\nWith praise his mouth is filled\nand his heart is filled with Ku\u0161\u1e6da.\nThe winkers smelt at it,\nand they abandoned their winking.\nTheir winking they abandoned,\nthey came, and surrounded themselves with my scent.\nThey spoke:\n\u2018When we were without knowledge, we winked (immodestly),\nnow, since we have knowledge, we do not wink any more.\u2019\n\u2018From the day we saw you,\nfrom the day we heard your words.\nFrom the day we saw you,\nour heart was filled with peace.\nWe believed in you, Good One,\nwe saw your light and will not forget you.\nAll our days we will not forget you\nand will not let you out of our heart for one hour,\nbecause our heart shall not become blind\nand these souls shall not be obstructed in their ascent.\u2019\nI spoke to them:\n\u2018Whoever repents,\nhis soul shall not be cut off from the light,\nand the lord will not cut him off (or: damn him).\u2019\nBut the wicked ones, the liars,\ncut themselves off from the light,\nfor it was manifest to them, and they would not see,\nand they were called, and they would not listen or believe.\nThe wicked fall through their own will\ninto the great Ocean of Suf.*\nThey will be housed in the darkness,\nand the mountain of darkness will receive them,\nuntil the day, the day of judgement,\nuntil the hour, the hour, of salvation.\nAs for us, who praise you, our lord,\nyou will forgive our sins and guilt.\nPraise be to you, King of Light,\nwho have sent us, your friends, the truth.\nYou are victorous, Manda d\u1e24aiy\u00ea,*\nand you lead all your friends to victory.\nAnd the Life triumphs over all evil works.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n105
\nLeft Ginza III. 19<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They (the uthras*) spoke to it (the soul):\n\u2018What are your works, soul,\nso that we may be your escort on the way?\u2019\nIt spoke to them:\n\u2018My father distributed bread\nand my mother dispensed alms.\nMy brothers recited hymns,\nand my sisters administered ku\u0161\u1e6da.\u2019*\nThey spoke to it:\n\u2018Your father, who distributed bread,\ndistributed it for himself.\nYour mother who dispensed alms,\ndispensed them for her own soul.\nYour brothers who recited hymns,\nwill ascend on the path of ku\u0161\u1e6da.\nYour sisters, who administered ku\u0161\u1e6da,\nwill Manda d\u1e24aiy\u00ea* support.\nBut what are your works which you have done for yourself,\nso that we may be your escort?\u2019\nIt spoke to them:\n\u2018I have loved the Life,\nand allowed Manda d\u1e24aiy\u00ea to settle in my inner thoughts.\nAt the close of Saturday in the evening\nand at the coming in of Sunday for the good (?)\nI put alms in my pocket,\nand took a loaf of bread in my hand.\nI put alms in my pocket\nand went to the gate of the temple.\nI added the alms to the other alms\nand the loaf of bread to the community meal.\nI found an orphan and sustained it,\nI replenished the widow\u2019s pocket.\nI found a naked person.\nand clothed him in a garment for his nakedness.\nI found a prisoner,\nand I released him and sent him back to his village.\u2019<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n6 Mystery Religions<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The evidence upon which our knowledge of the so-called mystery religions rests is for the most part fragmentary and by no means easy to interpret. Very much of it consists of single lines and passing allusions in ancient authors (many of whom were either bound to secrecy or inspired with loathing with regard to the subject of which they were treating), inscriptions (many of them incomplete), and artistic and other objects discovered by archaeologists. If a small selection of such evidence were given it would be meaningless, or perhaps misleading; if it were given in bulk it would swell this chapter into several volumes. It is impossible therefore to present here a serious account of even one mystery cult; instead, some of the longest and clearest passages available have been selected and arranged so as to illustrate features which were (in various forms and degrees) common to most of the cults.
\nThe object of the mystery cults was to secure salvation for men who were subject to moral and physical evil, dominated by Destiny, and unable by themselves to escape from the corruption that beset the material side of their nature (cf. p. 94 and 96). Salvation accordingly meant escape from Destiny, release from corruption and a renewed moral life. It was effected by what may broadly be called sacramental means. By taking part in prescribed rites the worshipper became united with God, was enabled in this life to enjoy mystical communion with him, and further was assured of immortality beyond death. This process rested upon the experiences (generally including the death and resurrection) of a Saviour-God, the Lord (\u03ba\u03cd\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2) of his devotees. The myth, which seems often to have been cultically represented, rested in many of these religions upon the fundamental annual cycle of agricultural fertility; but rites which probably were in earlier days intended to secure productiveness in field and flock were now given an individual application and effect.
\nThe following are among the most important features of the mystery religions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Myth<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The saving cycle of events in the experience of the god were recounted in a tale conveniently described as a myth. Examples taken from two of the cults, that of Isis, which originated in the religion of ancient Egypt but became hellenized and came to have points of resemblance to the religion of Dionysus; and that of Cybele, the Great Mother, which was brought from Pessinus and installed in Rome in 205 BC during the second Punic War (Livy xxix. 10), are given here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
106
\nPlutarch, Isis and Osiris 12\u201319<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They say that the Sun, when he became aware of Rhea\u2019s intercourse with Cronus, invoked a curse upon her that she should not give birth to a child in any month or any year; but Hermes, being enamoured of the goddess, consorted with her. Later, playing at draughts with the moon, he won from her the seventieth part of each of her periods of illumination, and from all the winnings he composed five days, and intercalated them as an addition to the three hundred and sixty days. The Egyptians even now call these five days intercalated and celebrate them as the birthdays of the gods. They relate that on the first of these days Osiris was born, and at the hour of his birth a voice issued forth saying, \u2018The Lord of All advances to the light.\u2019 \u2026 On the second of these days Arueris was born whom they call Apollo, and some call him also the elder Horus. On the third day Typhon was born, but not in due season or manner, but with a blow he broke through his mother\u2019s side and leapt forth. On the fourth day Isis was born in the regions that are ever moist;* and on the fifth Nephthys, to whom they give the name of Finality and the name of Aphrodite, and some also the name of Victory. There is also a tradition that Osiris and Arueris were sprung from the Sun, Isis from Hermes, and Typhon and Nephthys from Cronus.\u2026 They relate, moreover, that Nephthys became the wife of Typhon; but Isis and Osiris were enamoured of each other and consorted together in the darkness of the womb before their birth. Some say that Arueris came from this union and was called the elder Horus by the Egyptians, but Apollo by the Greeks.
\n One of the first acts related of Osiris in his reign was to deliver the Egyptians from their destitute and brutish manner of living. This he did by showing them the fruits of cultivation, by giving them laws, and by teaching them to honour the gods. Later he travelled over the whole earth civilizing it without the slightest need of arms, but most of the peoples he won over to his way by the charm of his persuasive discourse combined with song and all manner of music. Hence the Greeks came to identify him with Dionysus.*
\n During his absence the tradition is that Typhon attempted nothing revolutionary because Isis, who was in control, was vigilant and alert; but when he returned home Typhon contrived a treacherous plot against him and formed a group of conspirators seventy-two in number. He had also the co-operation of a queen from Ethiopia who was there at the time and whose name they report as Aso. Typhon, having secretly measured Osiris\u2019s body and having made ready a beautiful chest of corresponding size artistically ornamented, caused it to be brought into the room where the festivity was in progress. The company was much pleased at the sight of it and admired it greatly, whereupon Typhon jestingly promised to present it to the man who should find the chest to be exactly his length when he lay down in it. They all tried it in turn, but no one fitted it; then Osiris got into it and lay down, and those who were in the plot ran to it and slammed down the lid, which they fastened by nails from the outside and also by using molten lead. Then they carried the chest to the river* and sent it on its way to the sea through the Tanitic Mouth.\u2026
\n \u2026 Isis, when the tidings reached her, at once cut off one of her tresses and put on a garment of mourning in a place where the city still bears the name of Kopto. Others think that the name means deprivation, for they also express \u2018deprive\u2019 by means of \u2018koptein\u2019.* But Isis wandered everywhere at her wits\u2019 end; no one whom she approached did she fail to address, and even when she met some little children she asked them about the chest. As it happened, they had seen it, and they told her the mouth of the river through which the friends of Typhon had launched the coffin into the sea \u2026
\n Thereafter Isis, as they relate, learned that the chest had been cast up by the sea near the land of Byblus and that the waves had gently set it down in the midst of a clump of heather. The heather in a short time ran up into a very beautiful and massive stock and enfolded and embraced the chest with its growth and concealed it within its trunk. The king of the country admired the great size of the plant, and cut off the portion that enfolded the chest (which was now hidden from sight), and used it as a pillar to support the roof of his house. These facts, they say, Isis ascertained by the divine inspiration of Rumour, and came to Byblus and sat down by a spring, all dejection and tears; she exchanged no word with anybody, save only that she welcomed the queen\u2019s maidservants and treated them with great amiability \u2026
\n \u2026 Then the goddess disclosed herself and asked for the pillar which served to support the roof. She removed it with the greatest ease and cut away the wood of the heather which surrounded the chest; then, when she had wrapped up the wood in a linen cloth and had poured perfume upon it, she entrusted it to the care of the kings; and even to this day the people of Byblus venerate this wood which is preserved in the shrine of Isis. Then the goddess threw herself down upon the coffin with such a dreadful wailing that the younger of the king\u2019s sons expired on the spot. The elder son she kept with her, and, having placed the coffin on board a boat, she put out from land \u2026
\n In the first place where she found seclusion, when she was quite by herself, they relate that she opened the chest and laid her face upon the face within and caressed it and wept. The child came quietly up behind her and saw what was there, and when the goddess became aware of his presence, she turned about and gave him one awful look of anger. The child could not endure the fright, and died \u2026
\n As they relate, Isis proceeded to her son Horus, who was being reared in Buto, and bestowed the chest in a place well out of the way; but Typhon, who was hunting by night in the light of the moon, happened upon it. Recognizing the body he divided it into fourteen parts and scattered them, each in a different place. Isis learned of this and sought for them again, sailing through the swamps in a boat of papyrus \u2026
\n The traditional result of Osiris\u2019s dismemberment is that there are many so-called tombs of Osiris in Egypt; for Isis held a funeral for each part when she had found it.\u2026
\n Later, as they relate, Osiris came to Horus from the other world* and exercised and trained him for the battle. After a time Osiris asked Horus what he held to be the most noble of all things. When Horus replied, \u2018To avenge one\u2019s father and mother for evil done to them\u2019, Osiris then asked him what animal he considered the most useful for them who go forth to battle; and when Horus said, \u2018A horse\u2019, Osiris was surprised and raised the question why it was that he had not rather said a lion than a horse. Horus answered that a lion was a useful thing for a man in need of assistance, but that a horse served best for cutting off the flight of an enemy and annihilating him. When Osiris heard this he was much pleased, since he felt that Horus had now an adequate preparation. It is said that, as many were continually transferring their allegiance to Horus, Typhon\u2019s concubine, Thueris, also came over to him; and a serpent which pursued her was cut to pieces by Horus\u2019s men, and now, in memory of this, the people throw down a rope in their midst and chop it up.
\n Now the battle, as they relate, lasted many days and Horus prevailed. Isis, however, to whom Typhon was delivered in chains, did not cause him to be put to death, but released him and let him go. Horus could not endure this with equanimity, but laid hands upon his mother and wrested the royal diadem from her head; but Hermes put upon her a helmet like unto the head of a cow.
\n Typhon formally accused Horus of being an illegitimate child, but with the help of Hermes to plead his cause it was decided by the gods that he also was legitimate. Typhon was then overcome in two other battles. Osiris consorted with Isis after death, and she became the mother of Harpocrates, untimely born and weak in his lower limbs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
107
\nPlutarch, Isis and Osiris 27<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This later passage begins to show the relation between myth and cult. See further 108.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stories* akin to these and to others like them they say are related about Typhon;* how that, prompted by jealousy and hostility, he wrought terrible deeds and, by bringing utter confusion upon all things, filled the whole Earth, and the ocean as well, with ills, and later paid the penalty therefor. But the avenger, the sister and wife of Osiris, after she had quenched and suppressed the madness and fury of Typhon, was not indifferent to the contests and struggles which she had endured, nor to her own wanderings nor to her manifold deeds of wisdom and many feats of bravery, nor would she accept oblivion and silence for them, but she intermingled in the most holy rites portrayals and suggestions and representations of her experiences at that time, and sanctified them, both as a lesson in godliness and an encouragement for men and women who find themselves in the clutch of like calamities. She herself and Osiris, translated for their virtues* from good demigods into gods, as were Heracles and Dionysus later, not incongruously enjoy double honours, both those of gods and those of demigods, and their powers extend everywhere, but are greatest in the regions above the earth and beneath the earth. In fact, men assert that Pluto is none other than Serapis and that Persephone is Isis, even as Archemachus of Euboea has said, and also Heracleides Ponticus who holds the oracle in Canopus to be an oracle of Pluto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
108
\nEusebius, Preparatio Evangelica II, ii. 22ff<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Phrygians say that Maeon was king of Phrygia and begat a daughter named Cybele, who first invented a pipe, and was called the Mountain Mother. And Marsyas the Phrygian, who was friendly with her, was the first to join flutes together, and he lived in chastity to the end of his life.
\n But Cybele became pregnant by intercourse with Attis, and when this was known, her father killed Attis and the nurses; and Cybele became mad and rushed out into the country, and there continued howling and beating a drum.*
\n She was accompanied by Marsyas, who entered into a musical contest with Apollo, and was defeated, and flayed alive by Apollo.
\n And Apollo became enamoured of Cybele and accompanied her in her wanderings as far as the Hyperboreans, and ordered the body of Attis to be buried, and Cybele to be honoured as a goddess.
\n Wherefore the Phrygians keep this custom even to the present day, lamenting the death of the youth, and erecting altars, and honouring Attis and Cybele with sacrifices.
\n And afterwards, at Pessinus* in Phrygia, they built a costly temple, and instituted most magnificent worship and sacrificial rites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Initiation<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rites of initiation opened the way into membership of the cults, and generally seem to have consisted primarily of some ceremonial by means of which the initiand was incorporated into the divine action of the myth, and so achieved life by virtue of the resurrection of the god. Of the following passages the former describes the rite of the taurobolium, in which the worshipper was drenched with the blood of a bull. It will be noted that the taurobolium described by Prudentius was carried out not as a means of initiation but for the purpose of consecrating a priest (of the Great Mother). It was to this cult that the rite originally belonged, but it may also have become an institution of Mithraism. The latter passage recounts Apuleius\u2019s initiation into the religion of Isis; it is less explicit in details, but it is impossible to doubt the reality and sincerity of Apuleius\u2019s conversion. See also 115.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
109
\nPrudentius, Peristephanon x. 1011\u201350<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The high priest who is to be consecrated is brought down under ground in a pit dug deep, marvellously adorned with a fillet, binding his festive temples with chaplets, his hair combed back under a golden crown, and wearing a silken toga caught up with Gabine girding.*
\n Over this they make a wooden floor with wide spaces, woven of planks with an open mesh; they then divide or bore the area and repeatedly pierce the wood with a pointed tool that it may appear full of small holes.
\n Hither a huge bull, fierce and shaggy in appearance, is led, bound with flowery garlands about its flanks, and with its horns sheathed;* yea, the forehead of the victim sparkles with gold, and the flash of metal plates colours its hair.
\n Here, as is ordained, the beast is to be slain, and they pierce its breast with a sacred spear; the gaping wound emits a wave of hot blood, and the smoking river flows into the woven structure beneath it and surges wide.
\n Then by the many paths of the thousand openings in the lattice the falling shower rains down a foul dew, which the priest buried within catches, putting his shameful head under all the drops, defiled both in his clothing and in all his body.
\n Yea, he throws back his face, he puts his cheeks in the way of the blood, he puts under it his ears and lips, he interposes his nostrils, he washes his very eyes with the fluid, nor does he even spare his throat but moistens his tongue, until he actually drinks the dark gore.
\n Afterwards, the flamens draw the corpse, stiffening now that the blood has gone forth, off the lattice, and the pontiff, horrible in appearance, comes forth, and shows his wet head, his beard heavy with blood, his dripping fillets and sodden garments.
\n This man, defiled with such contagions and foul with the gore of the recent sacrifice, all hail and worship* at a distance, because profane blood* and a dead ox have washed him while concealed in a filthy cave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
110
\nApuleius, The Golden Ass (Metamorphoses) xi. 22\u20136<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a dark night she* appeared to me in a vision, declaring in words not dark that the day was come which I had wished for so long; she told me what provision and charges I should be at for the supplications, and how that she had appointed her principal priest Mithras, that was joined unto my destiny (as she said) by the ordering of the planets, to be a minister with me in my sacrifices. When I had heard these and the other divine commandments of the high goddess, I greatly rejoiced, and arose before day to speak with the great priest, whom I fortuned to espy coming out of his chamber. Then I saluted him, and thought with myself to ask and demand with a bold courage that I should be initiate, as a thing now due; but as soon as he perceived me, he began first to say: \u2018O Lucius, now know I well that thou art most happy and blessed, whom the divine goddess doth so greatly accept with mercy. Why dost thou stand idle and delay? Behold the day which thou didst desire with prayer, when as thou shalt receive at my hands the order of most secret and holy religion, according to the divine commandment of this goddess of many names.\u2019* Thereupon the old man took me by the hand, and led me courteously to the gate of the great temple, where, after that it was religiously opened, he made a solemn celebration, and after the morning sacrifice was ended, he brought out of the secret place of the temple certain books written with unknown characters \u2026 thence he interpreted to me such things as were necessary to the use and preparation of mine order. This done, I diligently gave in charge to certain of my companions to buy liberally whatsoever was needful and convenient; but part thereof I bought myself. Then he brought me, when he found that the time was at hand, to the next baths, accompanied with all the religious sort, and demanding pardon of the gods, washed me and purified my body according to the custom: after this, when two parts of the day was gone, he brought me back again to the temple and presented me before the feet of the goddess, giving me a charge of certain secret things unlawful to be uttered, and commanding me generally before all the rest to fast by the space of ten continual days, without eating of any beast or drinking of any wine: which things I observed with a marvellous continency.* Then behold the day approached when as the sacrifice of dedication should be done; and when the sun declined and evening came, there arrived on every coast a great multitude of priests, who according to their ancient order offered me many presents and gifts. Then was all the laity and profane people commanded to depart, and when they had put on my back a new linen robe, the priest took my hand and brought me to the most secret and sacred place of the temple. Thou wouldest peradventure demand,* thou studious reader, what was said and done there: verily I would tell thee if it were lawful for me to tell, thou wouldest know if it were convenient for thee to hear; but both thy ears and my tongue should incur the like pain of rash curiosity. Howbeit I will not long torment thy mind, which peradventure is somewhat religious and given to some devotion; listen therefore, and believe it to be true. Thou shalt understand that I approached near unto hell, even to the gates of Proserpine,* and after that I was ravished throughout all the elements, I returned to my proper place: about midnight I saw the sun brightly shine, I saw likewise the gods celestial and the gods infernal, before whom I presented myself and worshipped them. Behold now have I told thee, which although thou hast heard, yet it is necessary that thou conceal it; wherefore this only will I tell, which may be declared without offence for the understanding of the profane.
\n When morning came and that the solemnities were finished, I came forth sanctified with twelve stoles and in a religious habit, whereof I am not forbidden to speak, considering that many persons saw me at that time \u2026 In my right hand I carried a lighted torch, and a garland of flowers was upon my head, with white palm-leaves sprouting out on every side like rays; thus I was adorned like unto the sun, and made in fashion of an image, when the curtains were drawn aside and all the people compassed about to behold me. Then they began to solemnize the feast, the nativity of my holy order \u2026 I began to say in this sort: \u2018O holy and blessed dame, the perpetual comfort* of human kind, who by thy bounty and grace nourishest all the world, and bearest a great affection to the adversities of the miserable as a loving mother, thou takest no rest night or day, neither art thou idle at any time in giving benefits and succouring all men as well on land as sea; thou art she that puttest away all storms and dangers from men\u2019s life by stretching forth thy right hand, whereby likewise thou dost unweave even the inextricable and tangled web of fate, and appeasest the great tempests of fortune, and keepest back the harmful course of the stars. The gods supernal do honour thee; the gods infernal have thee in reverence; thou dost make all the earth to turn, thou givest light to the sun, thou governest the world, thou treadest down the power of hell. By thy mean the stars give answer, the seasons return, the gods rejoice, the elements serve: at thy commandment the winds do blow, the clouds nourish the earth, the seeds prosper, and the fruits do grow. The birds of the air, the beasts of the hill, the serpents of the den, and the fishes of the sea do tremble at thy majesty: but my spirit is not able to give thee sufficient praise, my patrimony is unable to satisfy thy sacrifices; my voice hath no power to utter that which I think of thy majesty, no, not if I had a thousand mouths and so many tongues and were able to continue for ever. Howbeit as a good religious person, and according to my poor estate, I will do what I may: I will always keep thy divine appearance in remembrance, and close the imagination of thy most holy godhead within my breast.\u2019
\n When I ended my oration to the great goddess, I went to embrace the great priest Mithras, now my spiritual father,* clinging upon his neck and kissing him oft, and demanding his pardon, considering I was unable to recompense the good which he had done me: and after much talk and great greetings and thanks I departed from him straight to visit my parents and friends, after that I had been so long absent. And so within a short while after, by the exhortation of the goddess I made up my packet and took shipping towards the city of Rome, and I voyaged very safely and swiftly with a prosperous wind to the port of Augustus,* and thence travelling by chariot, I arrived at that holy city* about the twelfth day of December in the evening. And the greatest desire which I had there was daily to make my prayers to the sovereign goddess Isis, who, by reason of the place where her temple was builded, was called Campensis,* and continually is adored of the people of Rome: her minister and worshipper was I, a stranger to her church,* but not unknown to her religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Worship<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some rites of the mystery cults have already been described. They were almost infinitely various, ranging from the licentious to the truly spiritual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
111
\nJosephus, Antiquities xviii. 66\u201380<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was at Rome a woman whose name was Paulina: one who on account of the dignity of her ancestors, and by the regular conduct of a virtuous life, had a great reputation. She was also very rich. And although she were of a beautiful countenance, and in that flower of age wherein women are the most gay, yet did she lead a life of great modesty. She was married to Saturninus; one that was every way answerable to her in an excellent character. Decius Mundus, a man very high in the equestrian order, fell in love with this woman: and as she was of too great dignity to be seduced by presents, and had always rejected them, though they had been sent in great abundance, he was still more inflamed with love to her: insomuch that he promised to give her two hundred thousand Attic drachmae for one night\u2019s lodging. And when this would not prevail upon her, and he was not able to bear this misfortune in his amours, he resolved to famish himself to death, for want of food, on account of Paulina\u2019s refusal: and he went on with his purpose accordingly. Now Mundus had a freedwoman, who had been made free by his father, whose name was Ide; one skilful in all sorts of mischief. This woman was much grieved at the young man\u2019s resolution to kill himself (for he did not conceal his intentions to destroy himself from others); and came to him, and encouraged him by her discourse, and made him to hope, by some promises she gave him, that he might obtain a night\u2019s lodging with Paulina. And when he joyfully hearkened to her, she said, she wanted no more than fifty thousand drachmae for entrapping of the woman. So when she had encouraged the young man, and gotten as much money as she required, she did not take the same methods as had been taken before; because she perceived that the woman was by no means to be tempted by money. But as she knew that she was much devoted to the worship of the goddess Isis, she devised the following stratagem: She went to some of Isis\u2019s priests, and upon the strongest assurances of concealment, she persuaded them by words, but chiefly by the offer of twenty-five thousand drachmae in hand, and as much more when the thing had taken effect; and told them the passion of the young man; and persuaded them to use all possible means to beguile the woman. So they were drawn in to promise so to do, by the large sum of gold they were to have. Accordingly the oldest of them went immediately to Paulina; and upon his admittance, he desired to speak with her by herself. When that was granted him, he told her, that he was sent by the god Anubis,* who was fallen in love with her, and enjoined her to come to him. Upon this she took the message very kindly: and valued herself greatly upon this condescension of the deity: and told her husband, that she had a message sent her, and was to sup and to lie with Anubis. So he agreed to her acceptance of the offer, as fully satisfied with the chastity of his wife. Accordingly she went to the temple: and after she had supped there, and it was the hour to go to sleep, the priest shut the doors of the temple; when in the holy part of it the lights were also put out. Then did Mundus leap out; and she was at his service all the night, as supposing he was the god. And when he was gone away, which was before those priests who knew nothing of this stratagem were stirring, Paulina came early to her husband, and told him how Anubis had appeared to her. Among her friends also she declared how great a value she put upon this favour. They partly disbelieved the thing, when they reflected on its nature; and partly were amazed at it, as having no pretence for not believing it, when they considered the modesty, and the dignity of the person. But on the third day after what had been done, Mundus met Paulina, and said, \u2018Nay, Paulina, thou hast saved me two hundred thousand drachmae; which sum thou mightest have added to thine own family. Yet hast thou not failed to be at my service in the manner I invited thee. As for the reproaches thou hast laid upon Mundus, I value not the business of names; but I rejoice in the pleasure I reaped by what I did, while I assumed the name of Anubis.\u2019 When he had said this, he went his way. But now she began to come to the sense of the grossness of what she had done; and rent her garments, and told her husband of the horrid nature of this contrivance, and prayed him not to neglect to assist her in this case. So he discovered the fact to the emperor. Whereupon Tiberius inquired into the matter thoroughly, by examining the priests about it; and ordered them to be crucified; as well as Ide, who was the occasion of their perdition, and who had contrived the whole matter, which was so injurious to the woman. He also demolished the temple of Isis; and gave order that her statue should be thrown into the river Tiber. But he only banished Mundus; because he supposed that what crime he had committed was done out of the passion of love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
112
\nParis Papyrus 574. A Mithras Liturgy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
See A. Dieterich, Eine Mithrasliturgie (3rd edition, Leipzig and Berlin, 1923), 2\u201315. It is now very widely agreed that this work, though still frequently referred to under the title given, has in fact nothing to do with the religion of Mithras. Whether it is properly described as a liturgy is a further question. It remains however an interesting example of the interpenetration of magic and religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be gracious unto me, Providence and Fate, as I write down* these first traditional mysteries, [granting] immortality to my only child, a worthy initiate into this our power, which the great god Helios Mithras commanded to be imparted to me by his archangel, in order that I alone, an eagle, might tread heaven and behold all things.
\n This is the invocation of the prayer:
\n \u2018First origin of my origin,* first beginning of my beginning, spirit of spirit, firstfruit of the spirit within me, fire which art god-given to my mixing, the mixing of the mixings within me, firstfruit of the fire within me, water of water, firstfruit of the water within me, earthy substance, firstfruit of the earthy substance within me, whole body of me, A, son of my mother B, framed by the honourable arm and incorruptible right hand in a world unilluminated yet bright, with no living soul, yet with a living soul: if it seem good to you to give me, held as I am by my underlying nature, to immortal birth, in order that, after the present need which presses sore upon me, I may behold by deathless spirit the deathless Beginning, by deathless water, by solid earth and air, that I may be born anew by Thought, that I may be initiated and that the sacred spirit may breathe in me, that I may marvel at the holy fire, that I may behold the terrible great deep of the Dayspring, that the life-giving and surrounding Aether may hear me; for to-day I am to gaze with deathless eyes, I who was born mortal from a mortal womb, but transformed by mighty power and an incorruptible right hand \u2026\u2019
\n \u2026 But you shall see how the gods gaze upon you, and influence you.* Lay at once your right [fore-] finger upon your mouth and say, \u2018Silence! Silence! Silence!\u2019 (a symbol of the living, incorruptible god). \u2018Guard me, Silence!\u2019 Then whistle long, then sneeze, and say \u2026 and then you will see the gods looking graciously upon you, and no longer influencing you but going upon their own course of business.\u2026
\n \u2018O Lord, hail, great in power, king great in sovereignty, greatest of gods, Helios, Lord of heaven and earth, god of gods, mighty is thy breath, mighty is thy power. Lord, if it please thee, announce me to the greatest god, who hath begotten and made thee; for I am a man, A, the son of my mother B, born of the mortal womb of B and of lifegiving seed, and this day by thee who hast been regenerated, who out of so many thousands have been brought into immortality in this hour by the counsel of god, who is good beyond measure\u2014a man who wills and prays to worship thee according to his human power.\u2019 When you have said this, he will come into the vault of heaven and you will see him walking as on a road.
\n \u2026 Gaze on the god, groan long, and greet him thus: \u2018O Lord, hail, ruler of water, hail, founder of earth, hail, sovereign of spirit. Lord, having been born again I depart; increasing and having been increased I die; born of a life-giving birth I am set free for death and go on my way, as thou didst ordain, as thou didst enact and didst make the mystery.\u2019*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
113
\nM. J. Vermaseren, Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithricae I. 423. The dedication of a Mithraic chapel, in Rome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a favoured place, holy, dear to the gods, and kindly, which Mithras pointed out, and suggested to Proficientius, father* of the sacred rites, that he should make and dedicate for him a cave.* And pressing on with swift work he (now) completes the welcome duty, which, under good auspices, he undertook with careful thought, that the Syndexi might be able to perform their rites joyfully for ever.
\n These few lines were composed by Proficientius, most worthy father of Mithra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
114
\nVermaseren, op. cit. I, 473. A dedication in Rome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a gift to Zeus, great Sun, unconquered Mithras, and the gods who share his shrine, Castus (father) and Castus (son), sacred Raven,* set up two six-wicked bronze lampstands, and sanctified them, L. Satyrius Sporus and Pactumeius Lausus, fathers,* and Modestus, Paralius, Agathemerus, Felix, Apamenius, and Keloed, lions,* assisting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
115
\nVermaseren, op. cit. I, 523. Record of a taurobolium, in Rome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under the third consulship* of our lords Constantine and Maximin, Augusti, I, Gaius Magius Donatus Severianus, senator,* father of the sacred rites* of unconquered Mithras, hierophant of Father Liber and of the Hecates, made the taurobolium, on April 15.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7 Jewish History<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The history of the Jews in the New Testament period is a long story of which fortunately many details are known. To provide it here with even half complete documentation is neither possible nor necessary; instead, a few salient points receive brief illustration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Maccabean Period<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the first half of the second century BC the Jewish nation emerged from a period of relative obscurity, on which however, as on most of the ground covered in this chapter, Martin Hengel, Judaism and Hellenism (London 1974), should now be consulted. Alexander the Great\u2019s decade of vigorous campaigning had changed the shape of the Near East more radically than many preceding centuries; Alexandria and Antioch (to go no farther) became the centres of powerful Hellenistic monarchies, and Palestine suffered as a buffer state between the Ptolemies in the one and the Seleucids in the other. The Jews found themselves in a potent and persuasive atmosphere of Hellenistic life and culture, which undoubtedly began to influence their own civilization, and might well have long continued to do so had not Antiochus IV Epiphanes (of Syria; 176\u2013164 BC), by seeking to accelerate the process, aroused the Jewish conscience, thereby provoking a fierce and resolute resistance which gave direction and impetus to the history of the next 300 years. Of the period dominated by the Maccabean family, 1 Maccabees is a more or less contemporary, sober, and on the whole trustworthy record; but not all its sources are of equal value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
116
\n1 Maccabees 1:5\u201315<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And after these things he took to his bed,* and perceived that he was about to die. Then he called his chief ministers, men who had been brought up with him from his youth, and divided his kingdom among them while he was yet alive. And Alexander had reigned twelve years when he died. And his ministers ruled, each in his particular domain. And after he was dead they all assumed the diadem, and their sons after them did likewise; and this continued for many years. And these wrought much evil on the earth.
\n And a sinful shoot came forth from them, Antiochus Epiphanes,* the son of Antiochus the king, who had been a hostage in Rome, and had become king in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of the Greek kingdom.* In those days there came forth out of Israel lawless men,* and persuaded many, saying: \u2018Let us go and make a covenant with the nations that are round about us; for since we separated ourselves from them many evils have come upon us.\u2019 And the saying appeared good in their eyes; and as certain of the people were eager to carry this out, they went to the king, and he gave them authority to introduce the customs of the gentiles. And they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem according to the manner of the Gentiles. They also submitted themselves to uncircumcision, and repudiated the holy covenant; yea, they joined themselves to the Gentiles, and sold themselves to do evil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
117
\n1 Maccabees 1:20\u20134<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Antiochus, after he had smitten Egypt,* returned in the one hundred and fifty-third year, and went up against Israel and Jerusalem with a great army. And in his arrogance he entered into the sanctuary, and took the golden altar, and the candlestick for the light, and all its accessories, and the table of the shew-bread, and the cups, and the bowls, and the golden censers, and the veil, and the crowns, and the golden adornment on the fa\u00e7ade of the Temple, and he scaled it all off. Moreover, he took the silver, and the gold, and the choice vessels; he also took the hidden treasures which he found. And having taken everything, he returned to his own land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
118
\n1 Maccabees 1:54\u201364<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And on the fifteenth day of Chislev in the one hundred and forty-fifth year they set up upon the altar an \u2018abomination of desolation\u2019,* and in the cities of Judah on every side they established high-places; and they offered sacrifices at the doors of the houses and in the streets. And the books of the Law which they found they rent in pieces, and burned them in the fire. And with whomsoever was found a book of the covenant, and if he was found consenting unto the Law, such an one was, according to the king\u2019s sentence, condemned to death. Thus did they in their might to the Israelites who were found month by month in their cities. And on the twenty-fifth day of the month* they sacrificed upon the altar which was upon the altar of burnt-offering. And, according to the decree, they put to death the women who had circumcised their children, hanging their babes round their mothers\u2019 necks, and they put to death their entire families, together with those who had circumcised them. Nevertheless many in Israel stood firm and determined in their hearts that they would not eat unclean things, and chose rather to die so that they might not be defiled with meats, thereby profaning the holy covenant; and they did die.* And exceeding great wrath came upon Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
119
\n1 Maccabees 2:15\u201328<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the king\u2019s officers who were enforcing the apostasy came to the city of Modin to make them sacrifice. And many from Israel went unto them; but Mattathias and his sons* gathered themselves together. Then the king\u2019s officers answered and spake to Mattathias, saying: \u2018A ruler art thou, and illustrious and great in this city, and upheld by sons and brothers. Do thou, therefore, come first, and carry out the king\u2019s command, as all the nations have done,* and all the people of Judah, and they that have remained in Jerusalem; then shalt thou and thy house be numbered among the friends of the king,* and thou and thy sons shall be honoured with silver and gold, and with many gifts.\u2019 Thereupon Mattathias answered and said with a loud voice: \u2018If all the nations that are within the king\u2019s dominions obey him by forsaking, every one of them, the worship of their fathers, and have chosen for themselves to follow his commands, yet will I and my sons and my brethren walk in the covenant of our fathers. Heaven forbid that we should forsake the Law and the ordinances; but the law of the king we will not obey by departing from our worship either to the right hand or to the left.\u2019 And as he ceased speaking these words, a Jew came forward in the sight of all to sacrifice upon the altar in Modin in accordance with the king\u2019s command. And when Mattathias saw it, his zeal was kindled, and his heart quivered with wrath; and his indignation burst forth for judgement, so that he ran and slew him on the altar; and at the same time he also killed the king\u2019s officer who had come to enforce the sacrificing, pulled down the altar, and thus showed forth his zeal for the Law, just as Phinehas had done in the case of Zimri the son of Salom. And Mattathias cried out with a loud voice in the city, saying, \u2018Let every one that is zealous for the Law and that would maintain the covenant come forth after me!\u2019 And he and his sons fled into the mountains, and left all that they possessed in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
120
\n1 Maccabees 3:10\u201326<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Apollonius* gathered the Gentiles together, and a great host from Samaria, to fight against Israel. And Judas* perceived it, and went forth to meet him, and smote him, and slew him; and many fell wounded to death, and the rest fled. And they took their spoils; and Judas took the sword of Apollonius, and therewith fought he all his days.
\n And Seron, the commander of the host of Syria, heard that Judas had gathered a gathering and a congregation of faithful men with him, and of such as went out to war; and he said: \u2018I will make a name for myself, and get me glory in the kingdom; and I will fight against Judas and them that are with him, that set at nought the word of the king.\u2019 And he went up again; and there went up with him a mighty army of the ungodly to help him, to take vengeance on the children of Israel. And he came near to the ascent of Bethhoron;* and Judas went forth to meet him with a small company. But when they saw the army coming to meet them, they said unto Judas: \u2018What? shall we be able, being a small company, to fight against so great and strong a multitude? And we, for our part, are faint, having tasted no food this day.\u2019 And Judas said: \u2018It is an easy thing for many to be shut up in the hands of a few, and there is no difference in the sight of Heaven to save by many or by few; for victory in battle standeth not in the multitude of an host, but strength is from Heaven. They come unto us in fullness of insolence and lawlessness, to destroy us and our wives and our children, for to spoil us; but we fight for our lives and our laws. And he himself will discomfit them before our face; but as for you, be ye not afraid of them.\u2019 Now when he had left off speaking he leapt suddenly upon them, and Seron and his army were discomfited before him. And they pursued them at the descent of Bethhoron unto the plain; and there fell of them about eight hundred men; and the rest fled into the land of the Philistines.
\n Then began the fear of Judas and of his brethren, and the dread of them fell upon the nations round about them. And his name came near even unto the king; and every nation told of the battles of Judas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
121
\n1 Maccabees 4:36\u201361<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Judas and his brethren said: \u2018Behold, our enemies are discomfited:* let us go up to cleanse the Holy Place, and re-dedicate it.\u2019 And all the army was gathered together, and they went unto mount Sion, and they saw our sanctuary laid desolate, and the altar profaned, and the gates burned up, and shrubs growing in the courts as in a forest or upon one of the mountains, and the chambers of the priests pulled down; and they rent their garments, and made great lamentation, and put ashes on their heads; and they fell on their faces to the ground, and they blew the solemn blasts upon the trumpets, and cried unto heaven. Then Judas appointed a certain number of men to fight against those that were in the citadel,* until he should have cleansed the Holy Place. And he chose blameless priests, such as had delight in the Law; and they cleansed the Holy Place, and bare out the stones of defilement* into an unclean place. And they took counsel concerning the altar of burnt-offerings,* which had been profaned, what they should do with it. And a good idea occurred to them namely to pull it down, lest it should be a reproach unto them, because the Gentiles had defiled it; so they pulled down the altar, and laid down the stones in the mountain of the House, in a convenient place, until a prophet should come and decide as to what should be done concerning them. And they took whole stones according to the Law, and built a new altar after the fashion of the former one; and they built the Holy Place, and the inner parts of the house, and hallowed the courts. And they made the holy vessels new, and they brought the candlestick, and the altar of burnt-offerings and of incense, and the table, into the Temple. And they burned incense upon the altar, and they lighted the lamps that were upon the candlestick in order to give light in the Temple. And they set loaves upon the table, and hung up the veils, and finished all the works which they had undertaken. And they rose up early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, which is the month Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-eighth year, and offered sacrifice, according to the Law, upon the new altar of burnt-offerings which they had made. At the corresponding time of the month and on the corresponding day on which the Gentiles had profaned it, on that day was it dedicated afresh, with songs and harps and lutes, and with cymbals. And all the people fell upon their faces, and worshipped, and gave praise, looking up unto heaven, to him who had prospered them. And they celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days, and offered burnt-offerings with gladness, and sacrificed a sacrifice of deliverance and praise. And they decked the forefront of the Temple with crowns of gold and small shields, and dedicated afresh the gates and the chambers of the priests, and furnished them with doors. And there was exceeding great gladness among the people, and the reproach of the Gentiles was turned away. And Judas and his brethren and the whole congregation of Israel ordained,* that the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in their seasons year by year for eight days, from the twenty-fifth day of the month Chislev, with gladness and joy. And at that season they built high walls and strong towers around mount Sion, lest haply the Gentiles should come and tread them down, as they had done aforetime. And he set there a force to keep it, and they fortified Bethsura to keep it, that the people might have a stronghold over against Idumaea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
122
\n1 Maccabees 8:17\u201332<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Judas chose Eupolemus, the son of John, the son of Accos, and Jason, the son of Eleazar, and sent them to Rome,* to make a league of amity and confederacy with them, and that they should take the yoke from them, when they saw that the kingdom of the Greeks did keep Israel in bondage. And they went to Rome, and the way was exceeding long; and they entered into the senate house, and answered and said: \u2018Judas, who is also called Maccabaeus, and his brethren and the whole people of the Jews, have sent us unto you, to make a confederacy and peace with you, and that we might be registered as your confederates and friends.\u2019 And the thing was well-pleasing in their sight. And this is the copy of the writing which they wrote back again on tablets of brass, and sent to Jerusalem, that it might be with them there for a memorial of peace and confederacy:
\n \u2018Good success be to the Romans, and to the nation of the Jews, by sea and by land for ever; the sword also and the enemy be far from them. But if war arise for Rome first, or for any of their confederates in all their dominion, the nation of the Jews shall help them as confederates as the occasion shall prescribe to them, with all their heart; and unto them that make war they [i.e. the Jews] shall not give, neither supply, food, arms, money, or ships, as it hath seemed good unto Rome;* and they [i.e. the Jews] shall observe their obligations, receiving nothing [in the way of a bribe]. In the same manner, moreover, if war come first upon the nation of the Jews, the Romans shall help them as confederates with all their soul, as the occasion shall prescribe to them; and to them that are confederates there shall not be given corn, arms, money, or ships, as it hath seemed good unto Rome; and they shall observe these obligations, and that without deceit. According to these words have the Romans made a treaty with the people of the Jews. But if hereafter the one party or the other shall determine to add or diminish anything, they shall do it at their pleasure, and whatsoever they shall add or take away shall be established. And as touching the evils which king Demetrius* doeth unto you, we have written to him saying: \u201cWherefore hast thou made thy yoke heavy upon our friends and confederates the Jews? If, therefore, they plead any more against thee, we will do them justice, and fight thee by sea and by land.\u201d \u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
123
\n1 Maccabees 11:54\u201362<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now after this Tryphon* returned, and with him the young child Antiochus;* and he reigned, and put on a diadem. And there were gathered unto him all the forces which Demetrius* had sent away in disgrace; and they fought against him, and he fled, and was put to rout. And Tryphon took the elephants, and became master of Antioch. And the young Antiochus wrote unto Jonathan, saying: \u2018I confirm unto thee the high-priesthood,* and appoint thee over the four governments,* and to be one of the king\u2019s friends.\u2019 And he sent unto him golden vessels and furniture for the table, and gave him leave to drink in golden vessels,* and to be clothed in purple, and to have a golden buckle. And his brother Simon he made governor over the district from the Ladder of Tyre unto the borders of Egypt. And Jonathan went forth, and took his journey beyond the river, and through the cities; and all the forces of Syria gathered themselves unto him for to be his confederates. And he came to Askalon, and they of the city met him honourably. And he departed thence to Gaza, and they of Gaza shut him out; and he laid siege unto it, and burned the suburbs thereof with fire, and spoiled them. And they of Gaza made request unto Jonathan, and he gave them his right hand, and took the sons of their princes for hostages, and sent them away to Jerusalem. And he passed through the country as far as Damascus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The High Priests<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rule of Jonathan may serve as a transition to the period in which a succession of high priests exercised both religious and civil power in Jerusalem. At first they continued to be of the Maccabean, or Hasmonean, family. The political history of the period is very complicated, and oversimplified conclusions must not be drawn from the few documents quoted here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
124
\n1 Maccabees 14:25\u201349<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when the people heard these things, they said: \u2018What thanks shall we give to Simon* and his sons? For he, and his brethren, and his father\u2019s house have made themselves strong, and have chased away in fight the enemies of Israel from them, and established liberty for it.\u2019 And they wrote on tablets of brass, and set them upon a pillar in mount Sion. And this is the copy of the writing: \u2018On the eighteenth day of Elul, in the one hundred and seventy-second year\u2014that is the third year of Simon the high priest, and the prince of the people of God\u2014in a great congregation of priests and people and princes of the nation, and of the elders of the country, the following was promulgated by us: Forasmuch as oftentimes there have been wars in the country, Simon the son of Mattathias, the son of the children of Joarib, and his brethren, put themselves in jeopardy, and withstood the enemies of their nation, that their sanctuary and the Law might be upheld; and they glorified their nation with great glory. And Jonathan assembled their nation together, and became high priest to them; and he was gathered to his people. Then their enemies determined to invade their country, that they might destroy their country utterly, and stretch forth their hands against their sanctuary. Then rose up Simon and fought for his nation; and he spent much of his own substance, and armed the valiant men of his nation, and gave them wages. And he fortified the cities of Judaea, and Bethsura that lieth upon the borders of Judaea, where the arms of the enemies were aforetime, and set there a garrison of Jews. And he fortified Joppa which is by the sea, and Gazara which is upon the borders of Azotus, wherein the enemies dwelt aforetime; and he placed Jews there, and whatsoever things were needful for the sustenance of these he put in them. And when the people saw the faith of Simon, and the glory which he sought to bring unto his nation, they made him their leader and high priest, because he had done all these things, and because of the justice and the faith which he kept to his nation, and because he sought by all means to exalt his people. And in his days things prospered in his hands, so that the Gentiles were taken away out of their [the Jews\u2019] country; and they also that were in the city of David, they that were in Jerusalem, who had made themselves a citadel, out of which they issued, and polluted all things round about the sanctuary, and did great hurt unto its purity, these did he expel; and he made Jews to dwell therein, and fortified it for the safety of the country and of the city; and he made high the walls of Jerusalem. And king Demetrius confirmed him in the high-priesthood in consequence of these things, and made him one of his friends, and honoured him with great honour. For he had heard that the Jews had been proclaimed by the Romans friends, and confederates, and brethren, and that they had met the ambassadors of Simon honourably. And the Jews and the priests were well pleased that Simon should be their leader and high priest for ever,<\/em> until a faithful prophet should arise; and that he should be a captain over them, to set them over their works, and over the country, and over the arms, and over the strongholds, and that he should take charge of the sanctuary, and that he should be obeyed by all, and that all instruments in the country should be written in his name, and that he should be clothed in purple and wear gold; and that it should not be lawful for anyone among the people or among the priests to set at nought any of these things, or to gainsay the things spoken by him, or to gather an assembly in the country without him, or that any other should be clothed in purple, or wear a buckle of gold; but that whosoever should do otherwise, or set at nought any of these things, should be liable to punishment. And all the people consented to ordain for Simon that it should be done according to these words. And Simon accepted hereof and consented to fill the office of high priest, and to be captain and governor of the Jews and of the priests, and to preside over all matters.\u2019
\n And they commanded to put this writing on tablets of brass, and to set them up within the precincts of the sanctuary in a conspicuous place; and copies of this they caused to be placed in the treasury, to the end that Simon and his sons might have them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n125
\nJosephus, Antiquities xiii. 372\u20136<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As for Alexander,* his own people revolted against him\u2014for the nation was aroused against him\u2014at the celebration of the festival, and as he stood beside the altar and was about to sacrifice, they pelted him with citrons, it being a custom among the Jews that at the festival of Tabernacles everyone holds wands made of palm branches and citrons\u2014these we have described elsewhere; and they added insult to injury by saying that he was descended from captives* and was unfit to hold office and to sacrifice; and being enraged at this, he killed some six thousand of them, and also placed a wooden barrier about the altar and the Temple as far as the coping [of the court] which the priests alone were permitted to enter, and by this means blocked the people\u2019s way to him. He also maintained foreign troops of Pisidians and Cilicians, for he could not use Syrians, being at war with them. And after subduing the Arabs of Moab and Galaaditis, whom he forced to pay tribute, he demolished Amath\u016bs, as Theodorus* did not venture to meet him in the field. Then he engaged in battle with Obedas, the king of the Arabs, and falling into an ambush in a rough and difficult region, he was pushed by a multitude of camels into a deep ravine near Garada, a village of Gaulanis,* and barely escaped with his own life, and fleeing from there, came to Jerusalem. But when the nation attacked him upon this misfortune, he made war on it and within six years slew no fewer than fifty thousand Jews. And so when he urged them to make an end of their hostility toward him, they only hated him the more on account of what had happened. And when he asked what he ought to do and what they wanted of him, they all cried out, \u2018To die\u2019; and they sent to Demetrius Akairos,* asking him to come to their assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
126
\nJosephus, Antiquities xiv. 69\u201379<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now* when the siege-engine was brought up, the largest of the towers was shaken and fell, making a breach through which the enemy poured in \u2026 And there was slaughter everywhere. For some of the Jews were slain by the Romans, and others by their fellows;* and there were some who hurled themselves down the precipices, and setting fire to their houses, burned themselves within them, for they could not bear to accept their fate. And so of the Jews there fell some twelve thousand, but of the Romans only a very few. One of those taken captive was Absalom, the uncle and at the same time father-in-law of Aristobulus. And not light was the sin committed against the sanctuary, which before that time had never been entered or seen.* For Pompey and not a few of his men went into it and saw what it was unlawful for any but the high priests to see. But though the golden table was there and the sacred lampstand and the libation vessels and a great quantity of spices, and beside these, in the treasury, the sacred moneys amounting to two thousand talents, he touched none of these because of piety, and in this respect also he acted in a manner worthy of his virtuous character. And on the morrow he instructed the Temple servants to cleanse the Temple and to offer the customary sacrifice to God, and he restored the high-priesthood to Hyrcanus because in various ways he had been useful to him and particularly because he had prevented the Jews throughout the country from fighting on Aristobulus\u2019s side; and those responsible for the war he executed by beheading \u2026 And he made Jerusalem tributary to the Romans, and took from its inhabitants the cities of Coele-Syria which they had formerly subdued, and placed them under his own governor;* and the entire nation, which before had raised itself so high, he confined within its own borders. He also rebuilt Gadara, which had been demolished a little while before, to please Demetrius the Gadarene, his freedman; and the other cities, Hippus, Scythopolis, Pella, Dium, Samaria, as well as Marisa, Azotus, Jamneia, and Arethusa, he restored to their own inhabitants.* And not only these cities in the interior, in addition to those that had been demolished, but also the coast cities of Gaza, Joppa, Dora, and Straton\u2019s Tower\u2014this last city, which Herod refounded magnificently and adorned with harbours and temples, was later renamed Caesarea\u2014all these Pompey set free and annexed them to the province.*
\n For this misfortune which befell Jerusalem Hyrcanus and Aristobulus were responsible, because of their dissension. For we lost our freedom and became subject to the Romans, and the territory which we had gained by our arms and taken from the Syrians we were compelled to give back to them, and in addition the Romans exacted of us in a short space of time more than ten thousand talents; and the royal power which had formerly been bestowed on those who were high priests by birth became the privilege of commoners. But of this we shall speak in the proper place.* Now Pompey gave over to Scaurus Coele-Syria and the rest of Syria as far as the Euphrates river and Egypt, and two Roman legions, and then went off to Cilicia, making haste* to reach Rome. And with him he took Aristobulus in chains, together with his family; for he had two daughters and as many sons; but one of them, Alexander, got away, while the younger son, Antigonus, was carried off to Rome together with his sisters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Herod the Great<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are brought to the threshold of the New Testament period by one of the most curious epochs in Jewish history. The Idumaean adventurer Antipater, and his son Herod the Great, both of them audacious, cunning, capable, and fortunate, became rulers of a Jewish kingdom, and founded a dynasty which lasted a century and a half\u2014a long time in such turbulent days. Antipater had already been active before Pompey\u2019s intervention, as our first passage shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
127
\nJosephus, War i. 123\u20136<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The unexpected triumph of Aristobulus* alarmed his adversaries, and, in particular, Antipater, an old and bitterly hated foe. An Idumaean by race, his ancestry, wealth, and other advantages put him in the front rank of his nation. It was he who now persuaded Hyrcanus* to seek refuge with Aretas, king of Arabia, with a view to recovering his kingdom, and at the same time urged Aretas to receive him and to reinstate him on the throne. Heaping aspersions on the character of Aristobulus and encomiums on Hyrcanus, he represented how becoming it would be in the sovereign of so brilliant a realm to extend a protecting hand to the oppressed; and such, he said, was Hyrcanus, robbed of the throne which by right of primogeniture belonged to him.
\n Having thus prepared both parties for action,* Antipater one night fled with Hyrcanus from the city, and, pushing on at full speed, safely reached the capital of the Arabian kingdom, called Petra. There he committed Hyrcanus into the hands of Aretas, and, by dint of conciliatory speeches and cajoling presents, induced the king to furnish an army, fifty thousand strong, both cavalry and infantry, to reinstate his ward. This force Aristobulus was unable to resist. Defeated in the first encounter he was driven into Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
128
\nJosephus, War i. 199\u2013207<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After hearing both speakers,* Caesar* pronounced Hyrcanus to be the more deserving claimant to the high-priesthood, and left Antipater free choice of office. The latter, replying that it rested with him who conferred the honour to fix the measure of the honour, was then appointed viceroy* of all Judaea. He was further authorized to rebuild the ruined walls of the metropolis. Orders were sent by Caesar to Rome for these honours to be graven in the Capitol, as a memorial of his own justice and of Antipater\u2019s valour.
\n After escorting Caesar across Syria, Antipater returned to Judaea. There his first act was to rebuild the wall of the capital which had been overthrown by Pompey. He then proceeded to traverse the country, quelling the local disturbances, and everywhere combining menaces with advice. Their support of Hyrcanus, he told them, would ensure them a prosperous and tranquil existence, in the enjoyment of their own possessions and of the peace of the realm. If, on the contrary, they put faith in the vain expectations raised by persons who for personal profit desired revolution, they would find in himself a master instead of a protector, in Hyrcanus a tyrant instead of a king, in the Romans and Caesar enemies instead of rulers and friends; for they would never suffer their own nominee to be ousted from his office. But, while he spoke in this strain, he took the organization of the country into his own hands, finding Hyrcanus indolent and without the energy necessary to a king. He further appointed his eldest son, Phasael, governor of Jerusalem and the environs; the second, Herod, he sent with equal authority to Galilee, though a mere lad.*
\n Herod, energetic by nature, at once found material to test his metal. Discovering that Ezekias, a brigand-chief, at the head of a large horde, was ravaging the district on the Syrian frontier, he caught him and put him and many of the brigands to death. This welcome achievement was immensely admired by the Syrians. Up and down the villages and in the towns the praises of Herod were sung, as the restorer of their peace and possessions. This exploit, moreover, brought him to the notice of Sextus Caesar, a kinsman of the great Caesar and governor of Syria. Phasael, on his side, with a generous emulation, vied with his brother\u2019s reputation; he increased his popularity with the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and kept the city under control without any tactless abuse of authority. Antipater, in consequence, was courted by the nation as if he were king and universally honoured as lord of the realm. Notwithstanding this, his affection for Hyrcanus and his loyalty to him underwent no change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
129
\nJosephus, War i. 386f., 392b, 393a, 394, 396, 400<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, this peril surmounted,* Herod was instantly plunged into anxiety about the security of his position. He was Antony\u2019s friend, and Antony had been defeated by Caesar* at Actium. (In reality, he inspired more fear than he felt himself; for Caesar considered his victory to be incomplete so long as Herod remained Antony\u2019s ally.) The king, nevertheless, resolved to confront the danger and, having sailed to Rhodes, where Caesar was sojourning, presented himself before him without a diadem, a commoner in dress and demeanour, but with the proud spirit of a king. His speech was direct;* he told the truth without reserve \u2026
\n \u2018\u2026 I therefore now confirm your kingdom to you by decree; and hereafter I shall endeavour to confer upon you some further benefit, that you may not feel the loss of Antony.\u2019
\n Having thus graciously addressed the king, he placed the diadem on his head, and publicly notified this award by a decree, in which he expressed his commendation of the honoured man in ample and generous terms \u2026
\n Subsequently, when Caesar passed through Syria on his way to Egypt, Herod entertained him for the first time with all the resources of his realm; he accompanied the emperor on horseback when he reviewed his troops at Ptolemais; he entertained him and all his friends at a banquet; and he followed this up by making ample provision for the good cheer of the rest of the army.\u2026
\n Accordingly, when Caesar reached Egypt, after the death of Cleopatra and Antony, he not only conferred new honours upon him, but also annexed to his kingdom the territory which Cleopatra had appropriated, with the addition of Gadara, Hippos, and Samaria and the maritime towns of Gaza, Anthedon, Joppa, and Strato\u2019s Tower.\u2026*
\n Finally, on the death of Zenodorus,* he further assigned to him all the territory between Trachonitis and Galilee. But what Herod valued more than all these privileges was that in Caesar\u2019s affection he stood next after Agrippa, in Agrippa\u2019s* next after Caesar. Thenceforth he advanced to the utmost prosperity; his noble spirit rose to greater heights, and his lofty ambition was mainly directed to works of piety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
130
\nJosephus, War i. 401ff., 408, 417, 422<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thus, in the fifteenth year of his reign, he restored the Temple and, by erecting new foundation-walls, enlarged the surrounding area to double its former extent. The expenditure devoted to this work was incalculable, its magnificence never surpassed; as evidence one would have pointed to the great colonnades around the Temple courts and to the fortress which dominated it on the north. The colonnades Herod reconstructed from the foundations; the fortress he restored at a lavish cost in a style no way inferior to that of a palace, and called it Antonia in honour of Antony. His own palace, which he erected in the upper city, comprised two most spacious and beautiful buildings, with which the Temple itself bore no comparison; these he named after his friends, the one Caesareum, the other Agrippeum.
\n He was not content, however, to commemorate his patrons\u2019 names by palaces only; his munificence extended to the creation of whole cities. In the district of Samaria he built a town enclosed within magnificent walls twenty furlongs in length, introduced into it six thousand colonists, and gave them allotments of highly productive land. In the centre of this settlement he erected a massive temple, enclosed in ground, a furlong and a half in length, consecrated to Caesar; while he named the town itself Sebaste.* The inhabitants were given a privileged constitution \u2026
\n His notice was attracted by a town on the coast, called Strato\u2019s Tower,* which, though then dilapidated, was, from its advantageous situation, suited for the exercise of his liberality. This he entirely rebuilt with white stone, and adorned with the most magnificent palaces, displaying here, as nowhere else, the innate grandeur of his character \u2026
\n No man ever showed greater filial affection. As a memorial to his father he founded a city in the fairest plain of his realm rich in rivers and trees, and named it Antipatris. Above Jericho he built the walls of a fortress, remarkable alike for solidity and beauty, which he dedicated to his mother under the name of Cypros.\u2026
\n After founding all these places, he proceeded to display his generosity to numerous cities* outside his realm. Thus, he provided gymnasia for Tripolis, Damascus, and Ptolemais, a wall for Byblus, halls, porticoes, temples, and market-places for Berytus and Tyre, theatres for Sidon and Damascus, an aqueduct for Laodicea-on-sea, baths, sumptuous fountains and colonnades, admirable alike for their architecture and proportions, for Ascalon; to other communities he dedicated groves and meadow-land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
131
\nJosephus, War i. 429\u201333<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Herod\u2019s genius was matched by his physical constitution. Always foremost in the chase, in which he distinguished himself above all by his skill in horsemanship, he on one occasion brought down forty wild beasts in a single day; for the country breeds boars and, in greater abundance, stags and wild asses. As a fighter he was irresistible; and at practice spectators were often struck with astonishment at the precision with which he threw the javelin, the unerring aim with which he bent the bow. But besides these pre-eminent gifts of soul and body, he was blessed by good fortune; he rarely met with a reverse in war, and, when he did, this was due not to his own fault, but either to treachery or to the recklessness of his troops.
\n But, in revenge for his public prosperity, fortune visited Herod with troubles at home; his ill-fated career originated with a woman to whom he was passionately attached. For, on ascending the throne, he had dismissed the wife whom he had taken when he was still a commoner, a native of Jerusalem named Doris, and married Mariamme, daughter of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus.* It was she who brought into his house the discord, which, beginning at an early date, was greatly aggravated after his return from Rome. For, in the first place, in the interests of his children by Mariamme, he banished from the capital the son whom he had had by Doris, namely Antipater, allowing him to visit it on the festivals only. Next he put to death, on suspicion of conspiracy, Hyrcanus,* Mariamme\u2019s grandfather, who had come back from Parthia to Herod\u2019s court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
132
\nTacitus, Histories V, 4, 5, 8, 9. Impressions of a Gentile<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To establish his influence over this people for all time, Moses introduced new religious practices, quite opposed to those of all other religions. The Jews regard as profane all that we hold sacred; on the other hand, they permit all that we abhor. They dedicated, in a shrine, a statue of that creature* whose guidance enabled them to put an end to their wandering and thirst, sacrificing a ram, apparently in derision of Ammon. They likewise offer the ox, because the Egyptians worship Apis. They abstain from pork, in recollection of a plague, for the scab to which this animal is subject once afflicted them. By frequent fasts even now they bear witness to the long hunger with which they were once distressed, and the unleavened Jewish bread is still employed in memory of the haste with which they seized the grain. They say that they first chose to rest on the seventh day because that day ended their toils; but after a time they were led by the charms of indolence* to give over the seventh year as well to inactivity. Others say that this is done in honour of Saturn, whether it be that the primitive elements of their religion were given by the Idaeans, who, according to tradition, were expelled with Saturn and became the founders of the Jewish race, or is due to the fact that, of the seven planets that rule the fortunes of mankind, Saturn moves in the highest orbit and has the greatest potency; and that many of the heavenly bodies traverse their paths and courses in multiples of seven.
\n Whatever their origin, these rites are maintained* by their antiquity: the other customs of the Jews are base and abominable, and owe their persistence to their depravity. For the worst rascals* among other peoples, renouncing their ancestral religions, always kept sending tribute and contributions to Jerusalem, thereby increasing the wealth of the Jews; again, the Jews are extremely loyal toward one another, and always ready to show compassion, but toward every other people they feel only hate and enmity. They sit apart at meals, and they sleep apart, and although as a race, they are prone to lust, they abstain from intercourse with foreign women; yet among themselves nothing is unlawful. They adopted circumcision to distinguish themselves from other peoples by this difference. Those who are converted to their ways follow the same practice, and the earliest lesson they receive is to despise the gods, to disown their country, and to regard their parents, children, and brothers as of little account. However, they take thought to increase their numbers; for they regard it as a crime to kill any late-born child, and they believe that the souls of those who are killed in battle or by the executioner are immortal: hence comes their passion for begetting children, and their scorn of death. They bury the body rather than burn it, thus following the Egyptians\u2019 custom; they likewise bestow the same care on the dead, and hold the same belief about the world below; but their ideas of heavenly things are quite the opposite. The Egyptians worship many animals and monstrous images; the Jews conceive of one god only, and that with the mind alone: they regard as impious those who make from perishable materials representations of gods in man\u2019s image; that supreme and eternal being is to them incapable of representation and without end. Therefore they set up no statues in their cities, still less in their temples; this flattery is not paid their kings, nor this honour given to the Caesars. But since their priests used to chant to the accompaniment of pipes and cymbals and to wear garlands of ivy, and because a golden vine was found in their temple, some have thought that they were devotees of Father Liber,* the conqueror of the East, in spite of the incongruity of their customs. For Liber established festive rites of a joyous nature, while the ways of the Jews are preposterous and mean \u2026
\n A great part of Judea is covered with scattered villages, but there are some towns also; Jerusalem is the capital of the Jews. In it was a temple possessing enormous riches. The first line of fortifications protected the city, the next the palace, and the innermost wall the temple. Only a Jew* might approach its doors, and all save the priests were forbidden to cross the threshold. While the East was under the dominion of the Assyrians, Medes, and Persians, the Jews were regarded as the meanest of their subjects: but after the Macedonians gained supremacy, King Antiochus* endeavoured to abolish Jewish superstition and to introduce Greek civilization; the war with the Parthians, however, prevented his improving this basest of peoples: for it was exactly at that time that Arsaces had revolted. Later on, since the power of Macedon had waned, the Parthians had not yet come to their strength, and the Romans were far away, the Jews selected their own kings. These in turn were expelled by the fickle mob; but recovering their throne by force of arms, they banished citizens, destroyed towns, killed brothers, wives, and parents, and dared essay every other kind of royal crime without hesitation; but they fostered the national superstition, for they had assumed the priesthood to support their civil authority.
\n The first Roman to subdue the Jews and set foot in their temple by right of conquest was Gnaeus Pompey:* thereafter it was a matter of common knowledge that there were no representations of the gods within, but that the place was empty and the secret shrine contained nothing. The walls of Jerusalem were razed, but the temple remained standing. Later, in the time of our civil wars, when these eastern provinces had fallen into the hands of Mark Antony, the Parthian prince, Pacorus, seized Judea, but he was slain by Publius Ventidius, and the Parthians were thrown back across the Euphrates: the Jews were subdued by Gaius Sosius. Antony gave the throne to Herod,* and Augustus, after his victory, increased his power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Judaea under direct Roman Rule<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the death of Herod the Great (4 BC) his kingdom was divided among his surviving sons, but the arrangement did not last long. Judaea, after a short period of unsatisfactory rule by Archelaus, a son of Herod the Great, became a subordinate province. Its administrators (among them Pontius Pilate, Felix, and Festus) are often referred to as procurators; this title, however, though used from the time of Claudius, replaced the earlier (and more military) term prefect, as is proved by an inscription, discovered at Caesarea, which runs<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TIBERIEUM\n PON]TIUS PILATUS\n PRAEF]ECTUS IUDA[EA]E<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nFor source and bibliography see E. Sch\u00fcrer, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ, new edition by G. Vermes, F. Millar, M. Black, I (Edinburgh 1973), 358.
\nLater, parts of Herod the Great\u2019s dominions were ruled over by his grandson, Herod Agrippa I, and by his son, Herod Agrippa II. See Acts 12:1 and 25:23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
133
\nJosephus, War ii. 111ff., 117<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Archelaus, on taking possession of his ethnarchy, did not forget old feuds, but treated not only the Jews but even the Samaritans with great brutality. Both parties sent deputies to Caesar to denounce him, and in the ninth year of his rule* he was banished to Vienna, a town in Gaul, and his property confiscated to the imperial treasury. It is said that, before he received his summons from Caesar, he had this dream: he thought he saw nine tall and full-grown ears of corn on which oxen were browsing. He sent for the soothsayers and some Chaldeans and asked them their opinion of its meaning. Various interpretations being given, a certain Simon, of the sect of the Essenes,* said that in his view the ears of corn denoted years and the oxen a revolution, because in ploughing they turn over the soil; he would therefore reign for as many years as there were ears of corn and would die after a chequered experience of revolutionary changes. Five days later Archelaus was summoned to his trial.\u2026
\n The territory of Archelaus was now reduced to a province, and Coponius, a Roman of the equestrian order, was sent out as procurator entrusted by Augustus with full powers, including the infliction of capital punishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
134
\nJosephus, War ii. 169\u201377<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pilate,* being sent by Tiberius as procurator to Judaea, introduced into Jerusalem by night and under cover the effigies of Caesar which are called standards.* This proceeding, when day broke, aroused immense excitement among the Jews; those on the spot were in consternation, considering their laws to have been trampled under foot, as those laws permit no image to be erected in the city; while the indignation of the townspeople stirred the countryfolk, who flocked together in crowds. Hastening after Pilate to Caesarea, the Jews implored him to remove the standards from Jerusalem and to uphold the laws of their ancestors. When Pilate refused, they fell prostrate around his house and for five whole days and nights remained motionless in that position.
\n On the ensuing day Pilate took his seat on his tribunal in the great stadium and summoning the multitude, with the apparent intention of answering them, gave the arranged signal to his armed soldiers to surround the Jews. Finding themselves in a ring of troops, three deep, the Jews were struck dumb at this unexpected sight. Pilate, after threatening to cut them down if they refused to admit Caesar\u2019s images, signalled to the soldiers to draw their swords. Thereupon the Jews, as by concerted action, flung themselves in a body on the ground, extended their necks, and exclaimed that they were ready rather to die than to transgress the Law. Overcome with astonishment at such religious zeal, Pilate gave orders for the immediate removal of the standards from Jerusalem.
\n On a later occasion he provoked a fresh uproar by expending upon the construction of an aqueduct the sacred treasure known as Corbonas: the water was brought from a distance of 400 furlongs. Indignant at this proceeding, the populace formed a ring round the tribunal of Pilate, then on a visit to Jerusalem, and besieged him with angry clamour. He, foreseeing the tumult, had interspersed among the crowd a troop of his soldiers, armed but disguised in civilian dress, with orders not to use their swords, but to beat any rioters with cudgels. He now from his tribunal gave the agreed signal. Large numbers of the Jews perished, some from the blows which they received, others trodden to death by their companions in the ensuing flight. Cowed by the fate of the victims, the multitude was reduced to silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two of these Jewish parties occupy prominent places in the New Testament. The Sadducees were too closely bound up with the political life of their nation to survive the disaster of AD 70, and the Rabbinic literature, which was written down after that date, presents a consistently Pharisaic point of view. Sadducees are nevertheless sometimes referred to; see 159 in the chapter on Rabbinic Literature and Rabbinic Judaism. The Essenes, though not mentioned in the New Testament, were certainly a not unimportant sect. In addition to the paragraphs from Josephus and Philo quoted below see the chapter on Qumran. Whether the Qumran sect is to be identified with those who are elsewhere described as Essenes (the name does not appear in the Qumran manuscripts) is a difficult and disputed question, not to be discussed here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
135
\nJosephus, War ii. 119f., 122, 137\u201342, 152f., 162\u20136<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jewish philosophy,* in fact, takes three forms. The followers of the first school are called Pharisees, of the second Sadducees, of the third Essenes.
\n The Essenes* have a reputation for cultivating peculiar sanctity. Of Jewish birth, they show a greater attachment to each other than do the other sects. They shun pleasures as a vice and regard temperance and the control of the passions as a special virtue. Marriage they disdain,* but they adopt other men\u2019s children, while yet pliable and docile, and regard them as their kin and mould them in accordance with their own principles \u2026
\n Riches they despise, and their community of goods is truly admirable; you will not find one among them distinguished by greater opulence than another. They have a law that new members on admission to the sect shall confiscate their property to the order, with the result that you will nowhere see either abject poverty or inordinate wealth; the individual\u2019s possessions join the common stock and all, like brothers, enjoy a single patrimony \u2026
\n A candidate anxious to join their sect is not immediately admitted. For one year, during which he remains outside the fraternity, they prescribe for him their own rule of life, presenting him with a small hatchet,* the loin-cloth already mentioned,* and white raiment. Having given proof of his temperance during this probationary period, he is brought into closer touch with the rule and is allowed to share the purer kind of holy water,* but is not yet received into the meetings of the community. For after this exhibition of endurance, his character is tested for two years more, and only then, if found worthy, is he enrolled in the society. But, before he may touch the common food,* he is made to swear tremendous oaths: first that he will practise piety towards the Deity, next that he will observe justice towards men: that he will wrong none whether of his own mind or under another\u2019s orders; that he will for ever hate the unjust and fight the battle of the just; that he will for ever keep faith with all men, especially with the powers that be, since no ruler attains his office save by the will of God; that, should he himself bear rule, he will never abuse his authority nor, either in dress or by other outward marks of superiority, outshine his subjects; to be for ever a lover of truth and to expose liars; to keep his hands from stealing and his soul pure from unholy gain; to conceal nothing from the members of the sect and to report none of their secrets to others, even though tortured to death. He swears, moreover, to transmit their rules exactly as he himself received them; to abstain from robbery; and in like manner carefully to preserve the books of the sect* and the names of the angels.* Such are the oaths by which they secure their proselytes \u2026
\n The war with the Romans tried their souls through and through by every variety of test. Racked and twisted, burnt and broken, and made to pass through every instrument of torture, in order to induce them to blaspheme their lawgiver or to eat some forbidden thing, they refused to yield to either demand, nor ever once did they cringe to their persecutors or shed a tear. Smiling in their agonies and mildly deriding their tormentors, they cheerfully resigned their souls, confident that they would receive them back again \u2026*
\n Of the two first-named schools, the Pharisees, who are considered the most accurate interpreters of the laws, and hold the position of the leading sect, attribute everything to Fate and to God;* they hold that to act rightly or otherwise rests, indeed, for the most part with men, but that in each action Fate co-operates. Every soul, they maintain, is imperishable, but the soul of the good alone passes into another body, while the souls of the wicked suffer eternal punishment.
\n The Sadducees, the second of the orders, do away with Fate altogether, and remove God beyond, not merely the commission, but the very sight, of evil. They maintain that man has the free choice of good or evil, and that it rests with each man\u2019s will whether he follows the one or the other. As for the persistence of the soul after death, penalties in the underworld, and rewards, they will have none of them.
\n The Pharisees are affectionate to each other and cultivate harmonious relations with the community. The Sadducees, on the contrary, are, even among themselves, rather boorish in their behaviour, and in their intercourse with their peers are as rude as to aliens. Such is what I have to say on the Jewish philosophical schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
136
\nPhilo, Quod Omnis Probus Liber sit 75\u201380<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Palestinian Syria, too, has not failed to produce high moral excellence. In this country live a considerable part of the very populous nation of the Jews, including as it is said, certain persons, more than four thousand in number, called Essenes. Their name which is, I think, a variation, though the form of the Greek is inexact, of \u1f41\u03c3\u03b9\u03cc\u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 (holiness),* is given them, because they have shown themselves especially devout in the service of God, not by offering sacrifices of animals, but by resolving to sanctify their minds. The first thing about these people is that they live in villages and avoid the cities because of the iniquities which have become inveterate among city dwellers, for they know that their company would have a deadly effect upon their own souls, like a disease brought by a pestilential atmosphere. Some of them labour on the land and others pursue such crafts as co-operate with peace and so benefit themselves and their neighbours. They do not hoard gold and silver or acquire great slices of land because they desire the revenues therefrom, but provide what is needed for the necessary requirements of life. For while they stand almost alone in the whole of mankind in that they have become moneyless and landless by deliberate action rather than by lack of good fortune, they are esteemed exceedingly rich, because they judge frugality with contentment to be, as indeed it is, an abundance of wealth. As for darts, javelins, daggers, or the helmet, breastplate or shield, you could not find a single manufacturer of them, nor, in general, any person making weapons or plying any industry concerned with war, nor, indeed, any of the peaceful kind, which easily lapse into vice, for they have not the vaguest idea of commerce either wholesale or retail or marine, but pack the inducements to covetousness off in disgrace. Not a single slave is to be found among them, but all are free, exchanging services with each other, and they denounce the owners of slaves, not merely for their injustice in outraging the law of equality, but also for their impiety in annulling the statute of Nature, who mother-like has born and reared all men alike, and created them genuine brothers, not in mere name, but in very reality, though this kinship has been put to confusion by the triumph of malignant covetousness, which has wrought estrangement instead of affinity and enmity instead of friendship. As for philosophy they abandon the logical part to quibbling verbalists as unnecessary for the acquisition of virtue, and the physical to visionary praters as beyond the grasp of human nature, only retaining that part which treats philosophically of the existence of God and the creation of the universe. But the ethical part they study very industriously, taking for their trainers the laws of their fathers, which could not possibly have been conceived by the human soul without divine inspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
137
\nPhilo, De Vita Contemplativa 1\u20133<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have discussed the Essenes, who persistently pursued the active life and excelled in all or, to put it more moderately, in most of its departments. I will now proceed at once in accordance with the sequence required by the subject to say what is needed about those who embraced the life of contemplation. In doing so I will not add anything of my own procuring to improve upon the facts as is constantly done by poets and historians through lack of excellence in the lives and practices which they record, but shall adhere absolutely to the actual truth. Though I know that in this case it is such as to unnerve the greatest master of oratory, still we must persevere and not decline the conflict, for the magnitude of virtue shown by these men must not be allowed to tie the tongues of those who hold that nothing excellent should be passed over in silence.
\n The vocation of these philosophers is at once made clear from their title of Therapeutae and Therapeutrides,* a name derived from \u03b8\u03b5\u03c1\u03b1\u03c0\u03b5\u03cd\u03c9, either in the sense of \u2018cure\u2019 because they profess an art of healing better than that current in the cities which cures only the bodies, while theirs treats also souls oppressed with grievous and well-nigh incurable diseases, inflicted by pleasures and desires and griefs and fears, by acts of covetousness, folly and injustice and the countless host of the other passions and vices: or else in the sense of \u2018worship\u2019, because nature and the sacred laws have schooled them to worship the Self-existent who is better than the good, purer than the One and more primordial than the Monad. Who among those who profess piety deserve to be compared with these?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Jewish War of AD 66\u201370<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rigour and corruption of the procurators, together with the folly and excesses of the revolutionary minority of Jews, drove the country with ever-increasing swiftness to war. The story cannot be told here, but a few salient points will be mentioned. For some other events in the early course of the war see 239\u201340.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
138
\nJosephus, War ii. 254\u20136a, 258ff<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But while the country was thus cleared of these pests,* a new species of banditti was springing up in Jerusalem, the so-called sicarii, who committed murders in broad daylight in the heart of the city. The festivals were their special seasons, when they would mingle with the crowd, carrying short daggers* concealed under their clothing, with which they stabbed their enemies. Then, when they fell, the murderers joined in the cries of indignation and, through this plausible behaviour, were never discovered. The first to be assassinated by them was Jonathan the high priest; after his death there were numerous daily murders \u2026
\n Besides these there arose another body of villains, with purer hands but more impious intentions, who no less than the assassins ruined the peace of the city. Deceivers and impostors, under the pretence of divine inspiration fostering revolutionary changes, they persuaded the multitude to act like madmen, and led them out into the desert in the belief that God would there give them tokens of deliverance. Against them Felix, regarding this as but the preliminary to insurrection, sent a body of cavalry and heavy-armed infantry, and put a large number to the sword.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
139
\nJosephus, War ii. 271\u20138a<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Festus, who succeeded Felix as procurator,* proceeded to attack the principal plague of the country; he captured large numbers of the brigands and put not a few to death.
\n The administration of Albinus, who followed Festus, was of another order; there was no form of villainy which he omitted to practise. Not only did he, in his official capacity, steal and plunder private property and burden the whole nation with extraordinary taxes, but he accepted ransoms from their relatives on behalf of those who had been imprisoned for robbery by the local councils or by former procurators; and the only persons left in gaol as malefactors were those who failed to pay the price. Now, too, the audacity of the revolutionary party in Jerusalem was stimulated; the influential men among their number secured from Albinus, by means of bribes, immunity for their seditious practices; while of the populace all who were dissatisfied with peace joined hands with the governor\u2019s accomplices. Each ruffian, with his own band of followers grouped around him, towered above his company like a brigand chief or tyrant, employing his bodyguard to plunder peaceable citizens. The result was that the victims of robbery kept their grievances, of which they had every reason to complain, to themselves, while those who escaped injury cringed to wretches deserving of punishment, through fear of suffering the same fate. In short, none could now speak his mind, with tyrants on every side; and from this date were sown in the city the seeds of its impending fall.
\n Such was the character of Albinus, but his successor, Gessius Florus, made him appear by comparison a paragon of virtue. The crimes of Albinus were, for the most part, perpetrated in secret and with dissimulation; Gessius, on the contrary, ostentatiously paraded his outrages upon the nation, and, as though he had been sent as a hangman of condemned criminals, abstained from no form of robbery or violence. Was there a call for compassion, he was the most cruel of men; for shame, none more shameless than he. No man ever poured greater contempt on truth; none invented more crafty methods of crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
140
\nJosephus, War ii. 285\u201396<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ostensible pretext for war was out of proportion to the magnitude of the disasters to which it led. The Jews in Caesarea had a synagogue adjoining a plot of ground owned by a Greek of that city; this site they had frequently endeavoured to purchase, offering a price far exceeding its true value. The proprietor, disdaining their solicitations, by way of insult further proceeded to build upon the site and erect workshops, leaving the Jews only a narrow and extremely awkward passage. Thereupon, some of the hot-headed youths proceeded to set upon the builders and attempted to interrupt operations. Florus having put a stop to their violence, the Jewish notables, with John the tax-collector, having no other expedient, offered Florus eight talents of silver to procure the cessation of the work. Florus, with his eye only on the money, promised them every assistance, but, having secured his pay, at once quitted Caesarea for Sebaste, leaving a free field to sedition, as though he had sold the Jews a licence to fight the matter out.
\n On the following day, which was a Sabbath, when the Jews assembled at the synagogue, they found that one of the Caesarean mischief-makers had placed beside the entrance a pot, turned bottom upwards, upon which he was sacrificing birds. This spectacle of what they considered an outrage upon their laws and a desecration of the spot enraged the Jews beyond endurance. The steady-going and peaceable members of the congregation were in favour of immediate recourse to the authorities; but the factious folk and the passionate youth were burning for a fight. The Caesarean party, on their side, stood prepared for action, for they had, by a concerted plan, sent the man on to the mock sacrifice; and so they soon came to blows. Jucundus, the cavalry commander commissioned to intervene, came up, removed the pot and endeavoured to quell the riot, but was unable to cope with the violence of the Caesareans. The Jews, thereupon, snatched up their copy of the Law and withdrew to Narbata, a Jewish district sixty furlongs distant from Caesarea. Their leading men, twelve in number, with John at their head, waited upon Florus at Sebaste, bitterly complained of these proceedings and besought his assistance, delicately reminding him of the matter of the eight talents. Florus actually had them arrested and put in irons on the charge of having carried off the copy of the Law from Caesarea.
\n This news roused indignation at Jerusalem, though the citizens still restrained their feelings. But Florus, as if he had contracted to fan the flames of war, sent to the temple treasury and extracted seventeen talents, making the requirements of the imperial service his pretext. Instantly fired by this outrage, the people rushed in a body to the Temple and with piercing cries invoked the name of Caesar, imploring him to liberate them from the tyranny of Florus. Some of the malcontents railed on the procurator in the most opprobrious terms and carrying round a basket begged coppers for him as for an unfortunate destitute. These proceedings, however, far from checking his avarice, only provoked him to further peculation. Accordingly, instead of betaking himself, as he should have done, to Caesarea, to extinguish the flames of war, there already breaking out, and to root out the cause of those disorders\u2014a task for which he had been paid\u2014he marched with an army of cavalry and infantry upon Jerusalem, in order to attain his object with the aid of Roman arms, and by means of intimidation and menaces to fleece the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The war thus provoked opened favourably for the Jews, and dragged on indecisively. At length, Vespasian, entrusted (with his son Titus; on both see 15) with the conduct of the campaign, slowly but methodically penned the Jewish forces in Jerusalem, where they were eventually destroyed as much by starvation and internecine conflict as by the Roman arms. Josephus was taken prisoner (see 240), but not even his eloquence could move his compatriots to surrender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
141
\nJosephus, War v. 362\u201374<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Josephus, accordingly, went round the wall, and, endeavouring to keep out of range of missiles and yet within earshot, repeatedly implored them to save themselves and the people, to spare their country and their Temple, and not to display towards them greater indifference than was shown by aliens. The Romans, he urged, though without a share in them, yet reverenced the holy places* of their enemies, and had thus far restrained their hands from them; whereas men who had been brought up in them and, were they preserved, would alone enjoy them, were bent on their destruction. Indeed, they beheld their stoutest walls prostrate and but one remaining, weaker than those which had fallen; they knew that the might of the Romans was irresistible and that to serve them was no new experience for themselves. Be it granted that it was noble to fight for freedom, they should have done so at first; but, after having once succumbed and submitted for so long, to seek then to shake off the yoke was the part of men madly courting death, not of lovers of liberty. To scorn meaner masters might, indeed, be legitimate, but not those to whom the universe was subject. For what was there that had escaped the Romans, save maybe some spot useless through heat or cold? Fortune, indeed, had from all quarters passed over them, and God who went the round of the nations, bringing to each in turn the rod of empire, now rested over Italy. There was, in fact, an established law, as supreme among brutes as among men, \u2018Yield to the stronger\u2019 and \u2018The mastery is for those pre-eminent in arms\u2019. That was why their forefathers, men who in soul and body, aye and in resources to boot, were by far their superiors, had yielded to the Romans\u2014a thing intolerable to them, had they not known that God was on the Roman side. As for them, on what did they rely in thus holding out, when the main part of the city was already captured, and when those within it, though their walls still stood, were in a plight even worse than capture? Assuredly, the Romans were not ignorant of the famine raging in the city, which was now consuming the populace, and would ere long consume the combatants as well. For, even were the Romans to desist from the siege and not fall upon the city with drawn swords, yet they had at their doors a war with which none could contend, gaining strength every hour, unless indeed they could take arms and fight against famine itself and, alone of all men, master even its pangs. They would do well, he added, to repent ere irretrievable disaster befell them and to incline to salutary counsels while they had the opportunity; for the Romans would bear them no malice for the past, unless they persisted in their contumacy to the end: they were naturally lenient in victory,* and would put above vindictiveness considerations of expediency, which did not consist in having on their hands either a depopulated city or a devastated country. That was why, even at this late hour, Caesar* desired to grant them terms; whereas, if he took the city by storm, he would not spare a man of them, especially after the rejection of offers made to them when in extremities. That the third wall would be quickly carried was vouched for by the fall of those already captured; and even were that defence impregnable, the famine would fight for the Romans against them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At length, in September AD 70, the city fell amid appalling scenes of famine and bloodshed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
142
\nJosephus, War vi. 392ff., 399\u2013403a, 404\u20138<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The earthworks having now been completed after eighteen days\u2019 labour, on the seventh of the month Gorpiaeus* the Romans brought up the engines. Of the rebels, some already despairing of the city retired from the ramparts to the Acra, others slunk down into the mines; many, however, posting themselves along the wall, attempted to repel those who were bringing up the siege-engines. But these too the Romans overpowered by numbers and force, but, above all, by the high spirits in which they faced men already dispirited and unnerved. And when a portion of the wall broke down and some of the towers succumbed to the battering of the rams, the defenders at once took flight, and even the tyrants were seized with a needlessly serious alarm \u2026 Here may we signally discern at once the power of God over unholy men and the fortune of the Romans. For the tyrants stripped themselves of their security and descended of their own accord from those towers, whereon they could never have been overcome by force, and famine alone could have subdued them; while the Romans, after all the toil expended over weaker walls, mastered by the gift of fortune those that were impregnable to their artillery. For the three towers, which we have described above, would have defied every engine of war.
\n Having then abandoned these, or rather been driven down from them by God, they found immediate refuge in the ravine below Siloam; but afterwards, having recovered a little from their panic, they rushed upon the adjoining section of the barrier. Their courage, however, proving unequal to the occasion (for their strength was now broken alike by terror and misfortune), they were repulsed by the guards and dispersing hither and thither slunk down into the mines.
\n The Romans, now masters of the walls, planted their standards on the towers, and with clapping of hands and jubilation raised a paean in honour of their victory.\u2026 Pouring into the alleys, sword in hand, they massacred indiscriminately all whom they met, and burnt the houses with all who had taken refuge within. Often in the course of their raids, on entering the houses for loot, they would find whole families dead and the rooms filled with the victims of the famine, and then, shuddering at the sight, retire empty-handed. Yet, while they pitied those who had thus perished, they had no similar feelings for the living, but, running everyone through who fell in their way, they choked the alleys with corpses and deluged the whole city with blood, insomuch that many of the fires were extinguished by the gory stream. Towards evening they ceased slaughtering, but when night fell the fire gained the mastery, and the dawn of the eighth day of the month Gorpiaeus broke upon Jerusalem in flames\u2014a city which had suffered such calamities during the siege, that, had she from her foundation enjoyed an equal share of blessings she would have been thought unquestionably enviable; a city undeserving, moreover, of these great misfortunates on any other ground, save that she produced a generation such as that which caused her overthrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The final scenes in the military conflict were enacted at the fortress of Masada, where the garrison\u2019s resistance, literally unto death, has in recent years been confirmed by archaeology and is an inspiring record of courage and of patriotic and religious devotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
143
\nJosephus, War vii. 280\u20135, 295\u20136, 299, 315\u201316, 320\u201321, 333\u20136, 391\u20134, 400\u201301<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A rock of no slight circumference and lofty from end to end is abruptly terminated on every side by deep ravines, the precipices rising sheer from an invisible base and being inaccessible to the foot of any living creature, save in two places where the rock permits of no easy ascent. Of these tracks one leads from the Lake Asphaltitis on the east, the other, by which the approach is easier, from the west. The former they call the snake, seeing a resemblance to that reptile in its narrowness and continual windings; for its course is broken in skirting the jutting crags and, returning frequently upon itself and gradually lengthening out again, it makes painful headway. One traversing this route must firmly plant each foot alternately. Destruction faces him; for on either side yawn chasms so terrific as to daunt the hardiest. After following this perilous track for thirty furlongs, one reaches the summit, which, instead of tapering to a sharp peak, expands into a plain. On this plateau the high priest Jonathan* first erected a fortress and called it Masada; the subsequent planning of the place engaged the serious attention of King Herod \u2026
\n But the stores laid up within would have excited still more amazement, alike for their lavish splendour and their durability. For here had been stored a mass of corn, amply sufficient to last for years, abundance of wine and oil, besides every variety of pulse and piles of dates \u2026 There was also found a mass of arms of every description, hoarded up by the king and sufficient for ten thousand men, besides unwrought iron, brass, and lead; these preparations having, in fact, been made for grave reasons \u2026
\n Observing this, Silva,* thinking it easier to destroy this wall by fire, ordered his soldiers to hurl at it showers of burning torches. Being mainly made of wood, it quickly caught fire, and, from its hollow nature becoming ignited right through it blazed up in a volume of flame \u2026
\n However, neither did Eleazar* himself contemplate flight, nor did he intend to permit any other to do so. Seeing the wall consuming in the flames, unable to devise any further means of deliverance or gallant endeavour, and setting before his eyes what the Romans, if victorious, would inflict on them, their children and their wives, he deliberated on the death of all \u2026
\n \u2018\u2026 The penalty for those crimes let us pay not to our bitterest foes, the Romans, but to God through the act of our own hands. It will be more tolerable than the other. Let our wives thus die undishonoured, our children unacquainted with slavery; and, when they are gone, let us render a generous service to each other, preserving our liberty as a noble winding-sheet. But first let us destroy our chattels and the fortress by fire; for the Romans, well I know, will be grieved to lose at once our persons and the lucre. Our provisions only let us spare; for they will testify, when we are dead, that it was not want which subdued us, but that, in keeping with our initial resolve, we preferred death to slavery \u2026\u2019*
\n \u2026 For, while they caressed and embraced their wives and took their children in their arms, clinging in tears to those parting kisses, at that same instant, as though served by hands other than their own, they accomplished their purpose, having the thought of the ills they would endure under their enemy\u2019s hands to console them for their constraint in killing them. And in the end not one was found a truant in so daring a deed: all carried through their task with their dearest ones. Wretched victims of necessity, to whom to slay with their own hands their own wives and children seemed the lightest of evils! Unable, indeed, any longer to endure their anguish at what they had done, and feeling that they wronged the slain by surviving them if it were but for a moment, they quickly piled together all the stores and set them on fire \u2026*
\n The victims numbered nine hundred and sixty, including women and children; and the tragedy occurred on the fifteenth of the month Xanthicus.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
144
\nJosephus, War vii. 216ff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About the same time Caesar sent instructions to Bassus* and Laberius Maximus, the procurator, to farm out all Jewish territory. For he founded no city there, reserving the country as his private property, except that he did assign to eight hundred veterans discharged from the army a place for habitation called Emmaus,* distant thirty furlongs from Jerusalem. On all Jews, wheresoever resident, he imposed a poll-tax of two drachmae,* to be paid annually into the Capitol as formerly contributed by them to the Temple at Jerusalem. Such was the position of Jewish affairs at this date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Revolt of AD 132\u20135<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the terrible events of AD 70 Palestine remained on the whole quiet, though there were Jewish and anti-Jewish disturbances in other parts of the Empire. Further revolt in Palestine itself seems to have been provoked by a law forbidding circumcision and by Hadrian\u2019s decision to build a heathen temple on the site of the former Jewish Temple in Jerusalem (for the former see Spartian, Hadrian 4; for the latter, Dio Cassius, quoted below, 145). Our knowledge of the course of the rebellion and the ensuing war is unfortunately far from complete. The Jewish leader, hailed by R. Akiba (see 157 and note on l. 1) as Messiah, was one Bar Cocheba (also called, as is suggested by the coins, Simon). There can be no doubt that the war was serious and protracted, and that Palestinian Christians (as well as others) suffered considerably as a result of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
145
\nDio Cassius, Roman History lxix. 12ff<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Jerusalem he [Hadrian] founded a city in place of the one which had been razed to the ground, naming it Aelia Capitolina, and on the site of the temple of the god he raised a new temple to Jupiter. This brought on a war of no slight importance nor of brief duration, for the Jews deemed it intolerable that foreign races should be settled in their city and foreign religious rites planted there. So long, indeed, as Hadrian was close by in Egypt and again in Syria, they remained quiet, save in so far as they purposely made of poor quality such weapons as they were called upon to furnish, in order that the Romans might reject them and they themselves might thus have the use of them; but when he went farther away, they openly revolted. To be sure, they did not dare try conclusions with the Romans in the open field, but they occupied the advantageous positions in the country and strengthened them with mines and walls, in order that they might have places of refuge whenever they should be hard pressed, and might meet together unobserved underground; and they pierced these subterranean passages from above at intervals to let in air and light.
\n At first the Romans took no account of them. Soon, however, all Judaea had been stirred up, and the Jews everywhere were showing signs of disturbance, were gathering together, and were giving evidence of great hostility to the Romans, partly by secret and partly by overt acts; many outside nations, too, were joining them through eagerness for gain, and the whole earth, one might almost say, was being stirred up over the matter. Then, indeed, Hadrian sent against them his best generals. First of these was Julius Severus, who was dispatched from Britain, where he was governor, against the Jews. Severus did not venture to attack his opponents in the open at any one point, in view of their numbers and their desperation, but by intercepting small groups, thanks to the number of his soldiers and his under-officers, and by depriving them of food and shutting them up, he was able, rather slowly, to be sure, but with comparatively little danger, to crush, exhaust and exterminate them. Very few of them in fact survived. Fifty of their most important outposts and 985 of their most famous villages were razed to the ground. 580,000 men were slain in the various raids and battles, and the number of those that perished by famine, disease and fire was past finding out. Thus nearly the whole of Judaea was made desolate, a result of which the people had had forewarning before the war. For the tomb of Solomon, which the Jews regard as an object of veneration, fell to pieces of itself and collapsed, and many wolves and hyenas rushed howling into their cities. Many Romans, moreover, perished in this war. Therefore Hadrian in writing to the Senate did not employ the opening phrase commonly affected by the emperors, \u2018If you and your children are in health, it is well; I and the legions are in health.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
146
\nEusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica IV, vi. 1\u20134<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the rebellion of the Jews at this time grew much more serious, Rufus, governor of Judaea, after an auxiliary force had been sent him by the emperor, using their madness as a pretext, proceeded against them without mercy, and destroyed indiscriminately thousands of men and women and children, and in accordance with the laws of war reduced their country to a state of complete subjection. The leader of the Jews at this time was a man by the name of Bar Cocheba (which signifies a star), who possessed the character of a robber and a murderer, but nevertheless, relying upon his name,* boasted to them, as if they were slaves, that he possessed wonderful powers; and he pretended that he was a star that had come down to them out of heaven to bring them light in the midst of their misfortunes. The war raged most fiercely in the eighteenth year of Hadrian, at the city of Bithara, which was a very secure fortress, situated not far from Jerusalem. When the siege had lasted a long time, and the rebels had been driven to the last extremity by hunger and thirst, and the instigator of the rebellion had suffered his just punishment, the whole nation was prohibited from this time on by a decree, and by the commands of Hadrian, from ever going up to the country about Jerusalem. For the emperor gave orders that they should not even see from a distance the land of their fathers. Such is the account of Aristo of Pella.* And thus, when the city had been emptied of the Jewish nation and had suffered the total destruction of its ancient inhabitants, it was colonized by a different race, and the Roman city which subsequently arose changed its name and was called Aelia, in honour of the emperor Aelius Hadrian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
147
\nEusebius, HE IV, viii. 4<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The same writer,* speaking of the Jewish war which took place at that time, adds the following: \u2018For in the late Jewish war Bar Cocheba, the leader of the Jewish rebellion, commanded that Christians* alone should be visited with terrible punishments unless they would deny and blaspheme Jesus Christ.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dispersion<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From an early date Jews began to find their way to various parts of the Mediterranean world, and to the lands east of it. Their presence in many places can be proved not only by literary references but also by inscriptions and (in Egypt) by papyri (see 30, 48). They founded synagogues (for synagogues at Corinth, Rome, and Panticapaeum see 51\u20133), and there are many traces of their community life, and of their relations with Jerusalem. The dispersed Jews did not always find it easy to live on good terms with their neighbours.
\nWe are particularly well informed about the Jews in Alexandria, and their disputes with the Alexandrians. The letter of Claudius (48) regulated these disputes; previously embassies had been sent from both Jews and Alexandrian citizens to Claudius and to Gaius before him. Parts of the proceedings are described in great detail by Philo in the Flaccus and Embassy to Gaius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
148
\nJosephus, Antiquities xiv. 110\u201318<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But no one need wonder that there was so much wealth in our Temple, for all the Jews throughout the habitable world, and those who worshipped God,* even those from Asia and Europe, had been contributing to it for a very long time. And there is no lack of witnesses to the great amount of the sums mentioned, nor have they been raised to so great a figure through boastfulness or exaggeration on our part, but there are many historians who bear us out, in particular Strabo of Cappadocia,* who writes as follows. \u2018Mithridates* sent to Cos and took the money which Queen Cleopatra had deposited there, and eight hundred talents of the Jews.\u2019 Now there is no public money among us except that which is God\u2019s, and it is therefore evident that this money was transferred to Cos by the Jews of Asia because of their fear of Mithridates. For it is not likely that those in Judaea, who possessed a fortified city and the Temple, would have sent money to Cos, nor is it probable that the Jews living in Alexandria would have done this either, since they had no fear of Mithridates. And this same Strabo in another passage testifies that at the time when Sulla crossed over to Greece to make war on Mithridates, and sent Lucullus to put down the revolt of our nation in Cyrene, the habitable world was filled with Jews, for he writes as follows. \u2018There were four classes in the state of Cyrene; the first consisted of citizens, the second of farmers, the third of resident aliens (metics),* and the fourth of Jews. This people has already made its way into every city, and it is not easy to find any place in the habitable world which has not received this nation and in which it has not made its power felt. And it has come about that Cyrene, which had the same rulers as Egypt, has imitated it in many respects, particularly in notably encouraging and aiding the expansion of the organized groups of Jews, which observe the national Jewish laws. In Egypt, for example, territory has been set apart for a Jewish settlement, and in Alexandria a great part of the city has been allocated to this nation. And an ethnarch* of their own has been installed, who governs the people and adjudicates suits and supervises contracts and ordinances, just as if he were the head of a sovereign state. And so this nation has flourished in Egypt because the Jews were originally Egyptians* and because those who left that country made their homes near by; and they migrated to Cyrene because this country bordered on the kingdom of Egypt, as did Judaea\u2014or rather, it formerly belonged to that kingdom.\u2019 These are Strabo\u2019s own words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
149
\nPhilo, In Flaccum 73ff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having broken into everything like a burglar and left no side of Jewish life untouched by a hostility carried to the highest pitch, Flaccus* devised another monstrous and unparalleled line of attack worthy of this perpetrator of enormities and inventor of novel iniquities. Our Senate had been appointed to take charge of Jewish affairs by our saviour and benefactor Augustus, after the death of the ethnarch, orders to that effect having been given to Magius Maximus when he was about to take office for the second time as Governor of Alexandria and the country. Of this Senate the members who were found in their houses, thirty-eight in number, were arrested by Flaccus, who having ordered them to be straightway put in bonds marshalled a fine procession through the middle of the market of these elderly men trussed and pinioned, some with thongs and others with iron chains, and then taken into the theatre, a spectacle most pitiable and incongruous with the occasion. Then as they stood with their enemies seated in front to signalize their disgrace he ordered them all to be stripped and lacerated with scourges which are commonly used for the degradation of the vilest malefactor, so that in consequence of the flogging some had to be carried out on stretchers and died at once, while others lay sick for a long time despairing of recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally it may be of interest to note how Jews appeared to an observant Gentile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
150
\nJuvenal, Satire II. 10\u201316<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But while all his goods and chattels were being packed upon a single waggon, my friend halted at the dripping archway of the old Porta Capena.* Here Numa held his nightly assignations with his mistress; but now the holy fount and grove and shrine are let out to Jews, who possess a basket and a truss of hay for all their furnishings. For as every tree nowadays has to pay toll to the people, the Muses have been ejected, and the wood has to go a-begging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
151
\nJuvenal, Satire VI. 153\u201360, 542\u20137<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then in the winter time, when the merchant Jason is shut out from view, and his armed sailors are blocked out by the white booths, she will carry off huge crystal vases, vases bigger still of agate, and finally a diamond of great renown, made famous by the finger of Berenice.* It was given as a present long ago by the barbarian Agrippa to his incestuous sister, in that country where kings celebrate festal sabbaths with bare feet, and where a long-established clemency suffers pigs to attain old age \u2026
\n No sooner has that fellow* departed then a palsied Jewess, leaving her basket and her truss of hay, comes begging to her secret ear; she is an interpreter of the laws of Jerusalem, a high priestess of the tree, a trusty go-between of highest heaven. She, too, fills her palm, but more sparingly, for a Jew will tell you dreams of any kind you please for the minutest of coins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
152
\nJuvenal, Satire XIV. 96\u2013106<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some who have had a father who reveres the Sabbath, worship nothing but the clouds, and the divinity of the heavens,* and see no difference between eating swine\u2019s flesh, from which their father abstained, and that of man; and in time they take to circumcision.* Having been wont to flout the laws of Rome, they learn and practise and revere the Jewish law, and all that Moses committed to his secret tome,* forbidding to point out the way to any not worshipping the same rites, and conducting none but the circumcised to the desired fountain. For all which the father was to blame, who gave up every seventh day to idleness,* keeping it apart from all the concerns of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8 Rabbinic Literature and Rabbinic Judaism<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Rabbis<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rabbinic Judaism, though it claimed to have sprung directly from Moses, may be said to have begun with Ezra and his contemporaries, and to have been handed down from them as the staple form of religion in Palestine in the time of our Lord. The following passages are intended (a) to bring out the strongly traditional character of Rabbinic Judaism, and (b) to introduce the names of a number of important Rabbis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
153
\nAboth 1. 1ff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moses received the Law* from Sinai and committed it to Joshua, and Joshua to the elders,* and the eiders to the Prophets; and the Prophets committed it to the men of the Great Synagogue.* They said three things: Be deliberate in judgement, raise up many disciples, and make a fence around the Law.*
\n Simeon the Just* was of the remnants of the Great Synagogue. He used to say: By three things is the world sustained; by the Law, by the Temple-service, and by deeds of loving-kindness.
\n Antigonus of Soko* received the Law from Simeon the Just. He used to say: Be not like slaves that minister to the master for the sake of receiving a bounty, but be like slaves that minister to the master not for the sake of receiving a bounty; and let the fear of Heaven be upon you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
154
\nAboth 1. 12\u201315<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hillel and Shammai* received the Law from them.* Hillel said: Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving mankind* and bringing them nigh to the Law.
\n He used to say: A name made great* is a name destroyed, and he that increases not decreases,* and he that learns not is worthy of death, and he that makes worldly use of the crown* shall perish
\n He used to say: If I am not for myself* who is for me? and being for mine own self what am I? and if not now, when?
\n Shammai said: Make thy study of the Law a fixed habit; say little and do much, and receive all men with a cheerful countenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
155
\nAboth 2. 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rabbi* said: Which is the straight way that a man should choose? That which is an honour to him and gets him honour from men. And be heedful of a light precept* as of a weighty one, for thou knowest not the recompense of reward of each precept; and reckon the loss through the fulfilling of a precept against its reward, and the reward that comes from transgression against its loss. Consider three things and thou wilt not fall into the hands of transgression: know what is above thee\u2014a seeing eye and a hearing ear and all thy deeds written in a book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
156
\nAboth 28f.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rabban Johanan b. Zakkai* received the Law from Hillel and from Shammai. He used to say: If thou hast wrought much in the Law claim not merit for thyself, for to this end wast thou created. Five disciples had Rabban Johanan b. Zakkai, and these are they: R. Eliezer b. Hyrcanus, and R. Joshua b. Hananiah, and R. Jose the Priest, and R. Simeon b. Nathaniel, and R. Eleazar b. Arak. Thus used he to recount their praise: Eliezer b. Hyrcanus is a plastered cistern which loses not a drop; Joshua b. Hananiah\u2014happy is she that bare him; Jose the Priest is a saintly man; Simeon b. Nathaniel is fearful of sin; Eleazar b. Arak is an ever-flowing spring. He used to say: If all the Sages of Israel were in the one scale of the balance and Eliezer b. Hyrcanus in the other, he would outweigh them all. Abba Saul said in his name: If all the Sages of Israel were in the one scale of the balance and with them Eliezer b. Hyrcanus, and Eleazar b. Arak was in the other, he would outweigh them all.
\n He said to them: Go forth and see which is the good way to which a man should cleave. R. Eliezer said, A good eye. R. Joshua said, A good companion. R. Jose said, A good neighbour. R. Simeon said, One that sees what will be. R. Eleazar said, A good heart. He said to them: I approve the words of Eleazar b. Arak more than your words, for in his words are your words included. He said to them: Go forth and see which is the evil way which a man should shun. R. Eliezer said, An evil eye. R. Joshua said, An evil companion. R. Jose said, an evil neighbour. R. Simeon said, He that borrows and does not repay. He that borrows from man is as one that borrows from God, for it is written, The wicked borroweth and payeth not again but the righteous dealeth graciously and giveth (Ps. 37:21). R. Eleazar said, An evil heart. He said to them: I approve the words of Eleazar b. Arak more than your words for in his words are your words included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
157
\nAboth 3. 14\u201317<\/p>\n\n\n\n
R. Akiba* said: Jesting and levity accustom a man to lewdness. The tradition is a fence* around the Law; Tithes are a fence around riches; vows are a fence around abstinence; a fence around wisdom is silence.
\n He used to say: Beloved is man for he was created in the image [of God]; still greater* was the love in that it was made known to him that he was created in the image of God, as it is written, For in the image of God made he man (Gen. 9:6). Beloved are Israel for they were called children of God; still greater was the love in that it was made known to them that they were called children of God, as it is written, Ye are the children of the Lord your God (Deut. 14:1). Beloved are Israel, for to them was given the precious instrument;* still greater was the love, in that it was made known to them that to them was given the precious instrument by which the world was created, as it is written, For I give you good doctrine; forsake ye not my law (Prov. 4:2).
\n All is foreseen, but freedom of choice is given;* and the world is judged by grace, yet all is according to the excess of works [that be good or evil].
\n He used to say: All is given against a pledge,* and the net is cast over all living; the shop stands open and the shopkeeper gives credit and the account-book lies open and the hand writes and every one that wishes to borrow let him come and borrow; but the collectors go their round continually every day and exact payment of men with their consent or without their consent, for they have that on which they can rely;* and the judgement is a judgement of truth; and all is made ready for the banquet.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
158
\nAboth 4. 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ben Zoma* said: Who is wise? He that learns from all men, as it is written, From all my teachers* have I got understanding (Ps. 119:99). Who is mighty? He that subdues his [evil] nature,* as it is written, He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city (Prov. 16:32). Who is rich? He that rejoiceth in his portion, as it is written, When thou eatest the labour of thy hands happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee (Ps. 128:2). Happy shalt thou be\u2014in this world; and it shall be well with thee\u2014in the world to come.* Who is honoured? He that honours mankind, as it is written, For them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed (1 Sam. 2:30).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
159
\nYadaim 4. 6, 7<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Sadducees* say, We cry out against you, O ye Pharisees, for ye say, \u2018The Holy Scriptures render the hands unclean\u2019, [and] \u2018The writings of Hamiram* do not render the hands unclean\u2019. Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai* said, Have we naught against the Pharisees save this!\u2014for lo, they say, \u2018The bones of an ass are clean, and the bones of Johanan the High Priest are unclean\u2019. They said to him, As is our love for them so is their uncleanness\u2014that no man make spoons of the bones of his father or mother. He said to them, Even so the Holy Scriptures: as is our love for them so is their uncleanness; [whereas] the writings of Hamiram which are held in no account do not render the hands unclean.
\n The Sadducees say, We cry out against you, O ye Pharisees, for ye declare clean an unbroken* stream of liquid. The Pharisees say, we cry out against you, O ye Sadducees, for ye declare clean a channel of water that flows from a burial ground. The Sadducees say, We cry out against you, O ye Pharisees, for ye say, \u2018If my ox or my ass have done an injury they are culpable, but if my bondman or my bondwoman have done an injury they are not culpable\u2019\u2014if, in the case of my ox or my ass (about which no commandments are laid upon me) I am responsible for the injury that they do, how much more in the case of my bondman or my bondwoman (about whom certain commandments are laid upon me) must I be responsible for the injury that they do! They said to them, No!\u2014as ye argue concerning my ox or my ass (which have no understanding) would ye likewise argue concerning my bondman or my bondwoman which have understanding?\u2014for if I provoke him to anger he may go and set fire to another\u2019s stack of corn, and it is I that must make restitution!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Literature<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The foundation of orthodox Judaism was the biblical Law. This was however supplemented by a tradition (in the New Testament, and Josephus, \u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u03ac\u03b4\u03bf\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2), at first oral but later written down. This oral Law (\u05ea\u05d5\u05e8\u05d4 \u05e9\u05d1\u05e2\u05dc \u05e4\u05d4) was believed equally with the written to have originated with Moses (see on Aboth 1. 1 (153) above), and was consequently of equal authority. The process of writing down the oral Law, at first frowned upon, passed through several stages in the second century AD, until at the end of the century the Mishnah as we know it was compiled, on the basis of earlier documents (notably the Mishnah of R. Meir), by R. Judah (see above note on 155 l. 1). The Mishnah is on the whole a systematization and application of the Old Testament regulations for ceremonial and civil procedure (the tractate Aboth quoted in the preceding section and consisting mainly of religious and ethical maxims is exceptional), and is divided into six Orders, or Books, containing in all sixty-three tractates. The whole body of oral legal tradition was not used in R. Judah\u2019s Mishnah; a quantity that was left over forms the Tosephta, a body of material parallel in form and content to the Mishnah itself but lacking its authority. In turn the Mishnah was expounded and expanded, and in due course the whole body of Mishnah and comment was edited as the Talmud. The comment was known as Gemara and exists in two forms, which (with the Mishnah, which is common to both) make up the two Talmuds, the Babylonian and the Jerusalem, edited in the two main centres of Rabbinic activity, Babylonia and Palestine, c. AD 500. Most of the Talmudic material is Halakah; that is, it contains specific and authoritative direction for the life of Jewish obedience. (In addition to authorized halakoth it contains also many juridical opinions which were finally rejected by the majority of scholars.) Though the final date of recension is, as has been said, fairly late, the Talmuds contain a good deal that is early enough to be relevant to New Testament studies; in particular, the Gemara contains sayings described by the word Baraita; these are sayings of Tannaim (Rabbis of the pre-mishnaic period) which were not included in the Mishnah.
\nHalakah represents only one kind of Rabbinic literary activity. The other main direction of Rabbinic work was Haggadah\u2014practical, homiletic, and often imaginative and even fanciful interpretation of Scripture. This kind of exposition is to be found principally in the Midrashim, among which may be noted Mekilta (a commentary on Exodus), Siphra (on Leviticus), Siphre (on Numbers), Siphre (on Deuteronomy), and the Midrash Rabbah (or Large Midrash, on the Pentateuch and the five Megilloth). One other kind of literature may be noted\u2014the liturgical. Here the most important sources for our purpose are the Book of Daily Prayers, still in use in various forms in the synagogue today, and the Passover Haggadah, or service for use in the home on Passover night. Parts of the Prayer Book are medieval and parts are modern; but others are very ancient (see for example 187\u201394). Comparison of the Passover service with the Mishnaic instructions regarding the feast proves that much of it also is primitive.
\nAn exhaustive analysis of the literature cannot be attempted here, but the following passages exemplify forms which are of interest to the student of the New Testament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
EXEGESIS<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Much of the Rabbinic literature consists of the exegesis of Scripture. Though this may often appear to the modern reader arbitrary it was in fact generally conducted in accordance with certain established principles (Middoth). Several sets of such principles exist: the seven middoth of Hillel (quoted below); the thirteen middoth of R. Ishmael (died c. AD 135); the thirty-two middoth of R. Eliezer ben R. Jose the Galilean (end of the second century AD).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
160
\nTosephta Sanhedrin 7. 11 (p. 427)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hillel the Elder expounded seven principles (middoth) before the elders of Petherah: a minori ad maius,* analogy,* a standard conclusion based on one passage (of scripture), a standard conclusion based on two passages, general and particular\u2014particular and general,* analogy with another passage, proof from the context. These seven things did Hillel the Elder expound before the men of Petherah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
161
\nSiphre Numbers 82, 83 (on Numbers 10:33, 34)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they set forward from the mount of the Lord three days journey, and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them three days journey to seek out a resting-place for them (Num. 10:33). This suggests that the Shekinah* went in advance of them thirty-six miles on that day, in order that they should enter the land. They (the sages) told it in a parable. What can it be likened unto? It is like unto men who go out to war. On the way to the battlefield they rejoice, but as soon as they get exhausted, their hands hang down. But it was not so with Israel; for when they got tired, they encouraged each other and said: \u2018Come, let us take the land of Israel in possession!\u2019 Another interpretation. They said: \u2018Our fathers have sinned, and it was decreed by God that \u201ctheir bodies should fall in the wilderness\u201d Num. 14:29. Let us not sin [like them], lest we should die, but let us go and take the land of Israel in possession!\u2019
\n And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them. This ark which went with them into the camp contained the broken tablets [of the law]. R. Shimeon ben Jo\u1e25ai says: \u2018It is a parable. It is like to a Viceroy (ante-Caesar)* who went before his armies to prepare for them a place where they should camp; so the Shekina went before Israel and prepared for them a place where they should dwell.\u2019
\n To seek out a resting-place for them. (\u2018Seek out\u2019\u2014la-thur.) What is the meaning of these words? It is an allusion to the words, And the Canaanite, the King of Arad, heard (Num. 21:1), (namely) as soon as the Canaanites heard that the spies were dead, they said: \u2018Their spies who went to investigate the land are dead, let us go and fight against them.\u2019 R. Shimeon ben Jo\u1e25ai says: \u2018It says: \u201cfor Israel passed the way of ITHARIM\u201d, which means: I-tharim,* i.e. no guides. For as soon as Aaron died, the Canaanites said: \u201cTheir high priest is dead, their great guide (tayyar) and the pillar of cloud, which fought for them, have gone. Lo! the best time to fight them!\u201d \u2019 R. Shimeon ben Jo\u1e25ai says: \u2018Israel was much to be blamed, for at the time when they said, \u201cLet us send men to investigate the land\u201d (Deut. 1:22), God said to them: \u201cIf when ye have been in the wilderness, I have fed you and supported you, how much more will it be the case when ye enter into a good and wide land, a land flowing with milk and honey.\u201d \u2019
\n And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day (Num. 10:34). Hence they (the sages) said that there were seven clouds (cf. Exod. 40:28; Num. 9:19; 14:14). Four on their four sides, one above, and one below, and one in front. Every hilly place it (the cloud) levelled, and every depression it raised, and it killed the serpents and the scorpions. R. Judah says: \u2018There were thirteen clouds: two on every side, two above, two below, and one in front.\u2019 R. Josiah says: \u2018There were four.\u2019 Rabbi* says: \u2018There were two.\u2019
\n And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day. Over the lame, over the blind, over those with an issue, and over the lepers.
\n And the cloud, etc. Whence do we know (sayest thou) that if one of the Israelites dropped out from under the wings of the cloud, the pillar of cloud gathered him from behind until he joined the main body? Because it says: \u2018And the cloud of the Lord was over them.\u2019 Should we think that, as it shielded the Israelites, so it also shielded the peoples of the world? It says: \u2018Over them\u2019; only Israel it shielded, not the nations of the World. Should we think that as it shielded them by day, it shielded them also by night? It says: \u2018By day.\u2019 R. Shimeon ben El\u201bazar said: \u2018Whence do we know that all the forty years that the Israelites spent in the desert they had no need for a lamp, but even if a person went into the innermost part of a house, a lantern, as it were, entered with him and stayed until he returned? Because it goes on to say: \u201cFor the eyes of the whole house of Israel in all their journeys.\u201d Lo, even if a man went into the innermost part of a house, the pillar of fire lighted before him!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MAXIMS<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Much of the moral teaching of the Rabbis resembles that of the older Wisdom literature in that it is delivered in the form of maxims: brief, sententious utterances, often epigrammatic in form. Some examples have already been given (see 153\u20138); hundreds more could be quoted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
162
\nAboth 2. 7<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moreover he* saw a skull floating on the face of the water and he said unto it, Because thou drownedst they drowned thee and at the last they that drowned thee shall be drowned. He used to say: The more flesh the more worms; the more possessions the more care; the more women the more witchcrafts; the more bondwomen the more lewdness; the more bondmen the more thieving; the more study of the Law the more life;* the more schooling the more wisdom; the more counsel the more understanding; the more righteousness the more peace. If a man has gained a good name he has gained somewhat for himself; if he has gained for himself words of the Law he has gained for himself life in the world to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
163
\nAboth 3. 5<\/p>\n\n\n\n
R. Nehunya b. Ha-Kanah [c. AD 70\u2013130] said: He that takes upon himself the yoke of the Law, from him shall be taken away the yoke of the kingdom* and the yoke of worldly care; but he that throws off the yoke of the Law, upon him shall be laid the yoke of the kingdom and the yoke of worldly care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Naturally, legal as well as moral pronouncements were cast in the form of maxims, for example the pronouncement of R. Meir in a question of what might or might not be permitted on the Sabbath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
164
\nShabbath 15. 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These are knots for which they [that tie them on the Sabbath] are accounted culpable: camel-drivers\u2019 knots and sailors\u2019 knots; and as a man is culpable through the tying of them so is he culpable through the untying of them. R. Meir says: None is accounted culpable because of any knot which can be untied with one hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PARABLES<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parables constitute another very common rabbinic form. There is rarely any difficulty in their interpretation. Their most common logical basis is that of the \u2018light and heavy\u2019 argument (see above, 160 and note), but details are sometimes allegorized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
165
\nAboth 3. 18<\/p>\n\n\n\n
R. Eleazar b. Azariah [c. AD 50\u2013120] said: If there is no study of the Law there is no seemly behaviour, if there is no seemly behaviour there is no study of the Law; if there is no wisdom there is no fear [of God], if there is no fear [of God] there is no wisdom; if there is no knowledge there is no discernment, if there is no discernment there is no knowledge; if there is no meal there is no study of the Law, if there is no study of the Law there is no meal. He used to say: He whose wisdom is more abundant than his works, to what is he like? To a tree whose branches are abundant but whose roots are few; and the wind comes and uproots it and overturns it, as it is written, He shall be like a tamarisk in the desert and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness (Jer. 17:6). But he whose works are more abundant than his wisdom, to what is he like? To a tree whose branches are few but whose roots are many; so that even if all the winds in the world come and blow against it, it cannot be stirred from its place, as it is written, He shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out his roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat cometh, and his leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit (Jer. 17:8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
166
\nSukkah 2. 9<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Throughout the seven [days of the Feast] a man must make his Sukkah* a regular abode and his house a chance abode. If rain fell, when may he empty out [the Sukkah]? When the porridge would spoil. They propounded a parable: To what can it be compared?\u2014to a slave who came to fill the cup for his master and he poured the pitcher over his face.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
167
\nShabbath 153a<\/p>\n\n\n\n
R. Eliezer said: Repent one day before your death. His disciples asked R. Eliezer: But does a man know on what day he will die? He said: So much the more must he repent today; perhaps he will die tomorrow. It follows that a man should repent every day. Even so said Solomon in his wisdom, Let thy garments be always white; and let not thy head lack ointment (Eccles. 9:8). R. Johanan b. Zakkai spoke a parable: [It is like] a king who invited his servants to a feast and did not appoint them a time. The wise among them adorned themselves and sat down by the door of the palace, for they said: Is anything lacking in a palace? The foolish among them went to their work, for they said: Is a feast ever given without preparation? Suddenly the king summoned his servants. The wise among them went in before him adorned as they were, and the foolish went in before him in their working clothes. The king rejoiced to see the wise and was angry to see the foolish, and said: These who adorned themselves for the feast shall sit down and eat and drink; but those who did not adorn themselves for the feast shall stand and look on. The son-in-law of R. Meir said in the name of R. Meir: If so, the latter would look on as waiters; but rather both shall sit down; the former shall eat but the latter be hungry, the former shall drink but the latter be thirsty, as it is said, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry \u2026 (Isa. 65:13, 14).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NARRATIVE<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Rabbinic books often use narrative as a means of expressing or suggesting truth. Sometimes the narratives are straightforward stories of ordinary events leading to a legal question and decision; sometimes they are used for other purposes, for example, to reflect credit upon Israel or upon individual Jews. Miracles also are found, some of which form interesting parallels to the New Testament miracles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
168
\nNedarim 9. 5<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This narrative raises a question, and leads to a decision, about the validity and alterability of a vow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They may open the way for a man by reason of his wife\u2019s Ketubah.* It once happened that a man vowed to have no benefit from his wife, whose Ketubah was 400 denars. She came before R. Akiba and he declared him liable to pay her her Ketubah. He said, \u2018Rabbi, my father left about 800 denars, and my brother took 400 denars and I took 400; is it not enough that she should take 200 denars and I 200?\u2019 R. Akiba said to him, \u2018Even if thou must sell* the hair of thy head thou shalt pay her her Ketubah\u2019. The husband answered, \u2018Had I known that this was so, I had not made my vow\u2019, and R. Akiba released him from his vow.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
169
\nY. Baba Metzia ii. 5. 8c<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simeon b. Shetah [fl. c. 80 BC] was occupied with preparing flax. His disciples said to him, \u2018Rabbi, desist; we will buy you an ass, and you will not have to work so hard.\u2019 They went and bought an ass from an Arab, and a pearl was found on it. They came to him and said, \u2018From now on you need not work any more.\u2019 He said, \u2018Why?\u2019 They said, \u2018We bought you an ass from an Arab, and a pearl was found on it.\u2019 He said to them, \u2018Does its owner know of it?\u2019 They said, \u2018No.\u2019 He said to them, \u2018Go and give it back to him.\u2019 They said, \u2018But did not R. Huna, in the name of Rab, report that, even according to him who said that no profit may be made [by a third party] from that which is stolen from a heathen, yet all the world agrees that, if you find something which belonged to a heathen, you may keep it?\u2019 He said, \u2018Do you think that Simeon b. Shetah is a barbarian? No, he would prefer to hear the Arab say, \u201cBlessed be the God of the Jews\u201d, than to possess all the riches of the world.\u2019
\n It is also proved, from the story of R. Hanina, that lost property should be restored for the sake of the sanctification of the Name. For once, some aged Rabbis bought a heap of corn from some soldiers, and they found in it a bundle of denarii, and they returned it to the soldiers, who said, \u2018Blessed be the God of the Jews.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
170
\nTaanith 3. 8<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once they said to Onias the Circle-maker,* \u2018Pray that rain may fall.\u2019 He answered, \u2018Go out and bring in the Passover ovens* that they be not softened.\u2019 He prayed, but the rain did not fall. What did he do? He drew a circle and stood within it and said before God, \u2018O Lord of the world, thy children have turned their faces to me, for that I am like a son of the house* before thee. I swear by thy great name that I will not stir hence until thou have pity on thy children.\u2019 Rain began falling drop by drop. He said, \u2018Not for such rain have I prayed, but for rain that will fill the cisterns, pits, and caverns.\u2019 It began to rain with violence. He said, \u2018Not for such rain have I prayed, but for rain of goodwill, blessing, and graciousness.\u2019 Then it rained in moderation [and continued] until the Israelites went up from Jerusalem to the Temple Mount because of the rain. They went to him and said, \u2018Like as thou didst pray for the rain to come, so pray that it may go away!\u2019 He replied, \u2018Go and see if the Stone of the Strayers* has disappeared!\u2019 Simeon b. Shetah* sent to him saying, \u2018Hadst thou not been Onias I had pronounced a ban against thee! But what shall I do to thee?\u2014thou importunest God and he performeth thy will, like a son that importuneth his father and he performeth his will; and of thee Scripture saith, Let thy father and thy mother be glad, and let her that bare thee rejoice (Prov. 23:25)\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Law<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Law was not only the basis of Rabbinic scholarship and writing (above, pp. 184f.) but the foundation of both religious and social life. It came from God, it afforded a divine revelation of all needful truth, and provided a practical way of salvation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
171
\nExodus Rabbah 33. 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A parable. It is like a king who had one only daughter. There came a certain king and took her to wife; and he sought to go to his own land and take his wife with him. The king said: My daughter, whom I have given you, is my only daughter; I cannot be parted from her, but neither can I say to you, Do not take her, for she is your wife. But do me this kindness. Where you go, make a bedroom for me that I may dwell with you, for I cannot let my daughter go. In the same way said the Holy One (blessed be he) to Israel: I have given you the Law,* but I cannot be separated from it; nor can I say to you Do not take it. But wherever you go make me a house in which I may dwell, as it is said, Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them (Exod. 25:8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
172
\nSiphre Numbers, Shelah, 115, 35a<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Law is a precious gift, and presupposes God\u2019s redemption of his people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why is the Exodus from Egypt mentioned in connection with every single commandment? The matter can be compared to a king, the son of whose friend was taken prisoner. The king ransomed him, not as son, but as slave, so that, if at any time he should disobey the king, the latter could say, \u2018You are my slave.\u2019 So, when he came back, the king said, \u2018Put on my sandals for me, take my clothes to the bath house.\u2019 Then the man protested. The king took out the bill of sale, and said, \u2018You are my slave.\u2019 So when God redeemed the children of Abraham his friend, he redeemed them, not as children, but as slaves, so that if he imposed upon them decrees, and they obeyed not, he could say, \u2018Ye are my slaves.\u2019 When they went into the desert, he began to order them some light and some heavy commands, e.g. Sabbath and incest commands, and fringes and phylacteries. They began to protest. Then God said, \u2018You are my slaves. On this condition I redeemed you, that I should decree, and you should fulfil.\u2019 [Nevertheless, God\u2019s slaves are unlike man\u2019s slaves. God\u2019s ways are not like those of \u2018flesh and blood\u2019. For a man acquires slaves that they may look after and sustain him, but God acquires slaves that He may look after and sustain them].<\/p>\n\n\n\n
173
\nKiddushin 30b<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The words of the Law are likened to a medicine of life. Like a king who inflicted a big wound upon his son, and he put a plaster* upon his wound. He said, \u2018My son, so long as this plaster is on your wound, eat and drink what you like, and wash in cold or warm water, and you will suffer no harm. But if you remove it, you will get a bad boil.\u2019 So God says to the Israelites, \u2018I created within you the evil yetzer,* but I created the Law as a drug. As long as you occupy yourselves with the Law, the yetzer will not rule over you. But if you do not occupy yourselves with the Torah, then you will be delivered into the power of the yetzer, and all its activity will be against you.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Feasts and Festivals<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the Law itself, nothing did more to preserve the unity and uniqueness of Israel than the due celebration of the festivals prescribed in the Law. They were noted in Palestine and the Dispersion alike, but the three great pilgrim feasts (Passover, Pentecost, and Booths or Tabernacles) could only be fully observed in Palestine. This added so much more importance to the Sabbath, which everywhere distinguished Jews from their neighbours; nevertheless, Jews flocked to Jerusalem in great numbers to take part in the pilgrim feasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SABBATH<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like all other commandments, the Sabbath was regarded as a gracious gift of God, and was to the pious Israelite no burden but an occasion of rejoicing. The best clothes were worn, the best food eaten. Worship was held in the synagogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
174
\nMekilta on Exodus 31:13 (109b)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Sabbath is given over to you, not you to the Sabbath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
175
\nTamid 7. 4<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was the singing which the Levites used to sing in the Temple. On the first day they sang The earth is the Lord\u2019s and all that therein is, the round world and they that dwell therein (Ps. 24); on the second day they sang Great is the Lord and highly to be praised in the city of our God, even upon his holy hill (Ps. 48); on the third day they sang God standeth in the congregation of God, he is a judge among the gods (Ps. 82); on the fourth day they sang O Lord God to whom vengeance belongeth, thou God to whom vengeance belongeth, show thyself (Ps. 94); on the fifth day they sang Sing we merrily unto God our strength, make a cheerful noise unto the God of Jacob (Ps. 81); on the sixth day they sang The Lord is king, and hath put on glorious apparel (Ps. 93). On the Sabbath they sang A Psalm: a Song for the Sabbath Day (Ps. 92); a Psalm, a song for the time that is to come, for the day that shall be all Sabbath* and rest in the life everlasting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
176
\nShabbath 7. 1f.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A great general rule have they laid down concerning the Sabbath: whosoever, forgetful of the principle of the Sabbath,* committed many acts of work on many Sabbaths, is liable only to one Sin-offering; but if, mindful of the principle of the Sabbath, he yet committed many acts of work on many Sabbaths, he is liable for every Sabbath [which he profaned]. If he knew that it was the Sabbath and he yet committed many acts of work on many Sabbaths, he is liable for every main class of work [which he performed]; if he committed many acts of work of one main class, he is liable only to one Sin-offering.
\n The main classes of work are forty save one: sowing, ploughing, reaping, binding sheaves, threshing, winnowing, cleansing crops, grinding, sifting, kneading, baking, shearing wool, washing or beating or dyeing it, spinning, weaving, making two loops, weaving two threads, separating two threads, tying [a knot], loosening [a knot], sewing two stitches, tearing in order to sew two stitches, hunting a gazelle, slaughtering or flaying or salting it or curing its skin, scraping it or cutting it up, writing two letters, erasing in order to write two letters, building, pulling down, putting out a fire, lighting a fire, striking with a hammer and taking out aught from one domain into another. These are the main classes of work: forty save one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
177
\nShabbath 2. 7<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three things must a man say within his house when darkness is falling on the eve of Sabbath; Have ye tithed?* Have ye prepared the Erub?* and, Light the lamp.* If it is in doubt whether darkness has already fallen or not, they may not set apart Tithes from what is known to be untithed, or immerse utensils or light the lamps; but they may set aside Tithes from demai-produce* and prepare the Erub and cover up what is to be kept hot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PASSOVER<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The yearly feast of Passover brought multitudes of pilgrims to Jerusalem. The feast commemorated the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, a deliverance in which each participating Jew was bidden to feel that he had personally shared; and it pointed forward to a future act of deliverance by God, that is, it was eschatological as well as commemorative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
178
\nPesahim 10. 1, 3ff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the eve of Passover, from about the time of the Evening Offering, a man must eat naught until nightfall. Even the poorest in Israel must not eat unless he sits down to table,* and they must not give them less than four cups of wine to drink, even if it is from the [Paupers\u2019]* Dish.\u2026
\n When [food] is brought before him he eats it seasoned with lettuce, until he is come to the breaking of bread;* they bring before him unleavened bread and lettuce and the \u1e25aroseth,* although \u1e25aroseth is not a religious obligation. R. Eliezer b. R. Zadok [second century AD] says: It is a religious obligation. And in the Holy City* they used to bring before him the body of the Passover-offering.
\n They then mix him the second cup. And here the son asks his father (and if the son has not enough understanding his father instructs him [how to ask]), \u2018Why is this night different from other nights? For on other nights we eat seasoned food once, but this night twice; on other nights we eat leavened or unleavened bread, but this night all is unleavened; on other nights we eat flesh roast, stewed, or cooked, but this night all is roast.\u2019 And according to the understanding of the son his father instructs him. He begins with the disgrace and ends with the glory;* and he expounds from A wandering Aramean was my father \u2026 until he finishes the whole section [Deut. 26:5\u20139].
\n Rabban Gamaliel used to say: Whosoever has not said [the verses concerning] these three things at Passover has not fulfilled his obligation. And these are they: Passover, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs: \u2018Passover\u2019\u2014because God passed over the houses of our fathers in Egypt; \u2018unleavened bread\u2019\u2014because our fathers were redeemed from Egypt; \u2018bitter herbs\u2019\u2014because the Egyptians embittered the lives of our fathers in Egypt. In every generation a man must so regard himself as if he came forth himself out of Egypt, for it is written. And thou shalt tell thy son in that day saying, It is because of that which the Lord did for me when I came forth out of Egypt (Exod. 13:8). Therefore are we bound to give thanks, to praise, to glorify, to honour, to exalt, to extol, and to bless him who wrought all these wonders for our fathers and for us. He brought us out from bondage to freedom, from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning to a Festival-day, and from darkness to great light, and from servitude to redemption; so let us say before him the Hallelujah.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
179
\nOholoth 18. 7\u201310<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If a man bought a field in Syria that lies close to the Land of Israel and he can enter it in cleanness, it is clean,* and it is subject to the laws of Tithes and Seventh Year produce; but if he cannot enter it in cleanness it is deemed unclean, yet it is still subject to the laws of Tithes and Seventh Year produce. The dwelling-places of gentiles are unclean.* How long must a gentile have lived in them so that examination becomes needful? Forty days, even though he had no woman with him; but if a slave or [an Israelitish] woman watched over the dwelling, no examination is needful.
\n What do they examine? The deep drains and the foul water. The School of Shammai* say: Also the dunghill and loose earth. The School of Hillel* say: Wheresoever a pig or weasel can penetrate no examination is needful.
\n The rules about the dwelling-places of gentiles do not apply to colonnades. R. Simeon b. Gamaliel says: The rules about the dwelling-places of gentiles do not apply to a city of the gentiles that is in ruins. The east side of Kesrin* and the west side of Kesrin* are graveyards. The east side of Acre was in doubt, but the Sages have declared it clean. Rabbi and his court voted on Keni and declared it clean.
\n To ten places the rules about the dwelling-places of gentiles do not apply: the tents of the Arabs, field-huts, simple tents, fruit-shelters, summer houses, a gate-house, the open space in a courtyard, a bathhouse, an armoury, and the camping-grounds of the legions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PENTECOST<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This feast, held seven weeks (fifty days) after Passover, retained its primitive character as a harvest festival. Passover marked the beginning, Pentecost the end, of the ingathering. In the second century Pentecost was interpreted as the feast of the giving of the Law. In some traditions the Law was offered from Sinai to all nations in their own languages. If this legend could be traced to the first half of the first century it might be thought an important source of the narrative of Acts 2; but such an early origin is improbable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
180
\nPesahim 68b<\/p>\n\n\n\n
R. Eleazar [c. AD 270] said: Pentecost \u2026 the day on which the Law was given.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BOOTHS<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When \u2018the Feast\u2019 is mentioned without the addition of a name, the feast of Booths or \u2018Tabernacles\u2019 is generally referred to. Like Passover this feast attracted great multitudes to Jerusalem, but it could be kept anywhere by the devout Jew who was prepared to live in a Sukkah, or leafy booth (as prescribed in Lev. 23:42), for eight days. There were, however, special celebrations in the Temple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
181
\nSukkah 4. 1, 5\u20137, 9; 5. 1\u20133<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[The rites of] the Lulab* and the Willow-branch [continue] six days and sometimes seven days; the Hallel and the rejoicing, eight days; the Sukkah and the Water-libation, seven days; the Flute-playing, sometimes five and sometimes six days \u2026
\n How was the rite of the Willow-branch fulfilled? There was a place below Jerusalem called Motza. Thither they went and cut themselves young willow-branches. They came and set these up at the sides of the Altar so that their tops were bent over the Altar. They then blew [on the shofar] a sustained, a quavering and then another sustained blast. Each day they went in procession a single time around the Altar, saying, Save now, we beseech thee, O Lord: We beseech thee, O Lord, send now prosperity! (Ps. 118:25). R. Judah says: \u2018Ani waho!* save us we pray! Ani waho! save us we pray!\u2019 But on that day they went in procession seven times around the Altar. When they departed what did they say? \u2018Homage to thee, O Altar! Homage to thee, O Altar!\u2019 R. Eliezer says: \u2018To the Lord and to thee, O Altar! To the Lord and to thee, O Altar!\u2019
\n As was the rite on a week-day so was the rite on a Sabbath, save that they gathered [the willow-branches] on the eve of the Sabbath and set them in gilded troughs that they might not wither. R. Johanan b. Baroka says: They used to bring palm tufts and beat them on the ground at the sides of the Altar, and that day was called, \u2018The day of beating the palm tufts\u2019.
\n Straightway the children used to cast away their Lulabs and eat their citrons \u2026*
\n \u2018The Water-libation, seven days\u2019\u2014what was the manner of this? They used to fill a golden flagon holding three logs* with water from Siloam. When they reached the Water Gate they blew [on the shofar] a sustained, a quavering and another sustained blast. [The priest whose turn of duty it was] went up the [Altar-] Ramp and turned to the right where were two silver bowls. R. Judah says: They were of plaster, but their appearance was darkened because of the wine. They had each a hole like to a narrow snout, one wide and the other narrow, so that both bowls emptied themselves together. The bowl to the west was for water and that to the east was for wine. But if the flagon of water was emptied into the bowl for wine, or the flagon of wine into the bowl for water, that sufficed. R. Judah says: With one log they could perform the libations throughout eight days. To the priest who performed the libation they used to say, \u2018Lift up thine hand!\u2019 for once a certain one poured the libation over his feet, and all the people threw their citrons at him \u2026*
\n \u2018The Flute-playing, sometimes five and sometimes six days\u2019\u2014this is the flute-playing at the Beth ha-She\u2019ubah,* which overrides neither a Sabbath nor a Festival-day. They have said: He that never has seen the joy of the Beth ha-She\u2019ubah has never in his life seen joy.
\n At the close of the first Festival-day of the Feast they went down to the Court of the Women where they had made a great amendment.* There were golden candlesticks there with four golden bowls on the top of them and four ladders to each candlestick, and four youths of the priestly stock and in their hands jars of oil holding a hundred and twenty logs which they poured into all the bowls.
\n They made wicks from the worn out drawers and girdles of the priests and with them they set the candlesticks alight, and there was not a courtyard in Jerusalem that did not reflect the light of the Beth ha-She\u2019ubah.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE DAY OF ATONEMENT<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Day of Atonement is not a feast but a fast\u2014the only one in the Jewish calendar. It is fully described in the Mishnah tractate Yoma, from which the following quotations are taken. The Mishnah only elaborates the Old Testament regulations for the Temple ceremonies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
182
\nYoma 3. 8<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He came to his bullock* and his bullock was standing between the Porch and the Altar, its head to the south and its face to the west; and he set both his hands upon it and made confession. And thus used he to say: \u2018O God, I have committed iniquity, transgressed, and sinned before thee, I and my house. O God, forgive the iniquities and transgressions and sins which I have committed and transgressed and sinned before thee, I and my house, as it is written in the Law of thy servant Moses, For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you; from all your sins shall ye be clean before the Lord (Lev. 16:30)\u2019. And they answered after him, \u2018Blessed be the name of the glory of his kingdom for ever and ever!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
183
\nYoma 5. 1ff<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before this passage opens the high priest has offered a second bullock on account of the sins of the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They brought out to him the ladle and the fire-pan and he took his two hands full [of incense] and put it in the ladle, which was large according to his largeness [of hand], or small according to his smallness [of hand]; and such [alone] was the prescribed measure of the ladle. He took the fire-pan in his right hand and the ladle in his left. He went through the Sanctuary until he came to the space between the two curtains separating the Sanctuary from the Holy of Holies. And there was a cubit\u2019s space between them. R. Jose says: Only one curtain was there, for it is written, And the veil shall divide for you between the holy place and the most holy (Exod. 26:33). The outer curtain was looped up on the south side and the inner one on the north side. He went along between them until he reached the north side; when he reached the north he turned round to the south and went on with the curtain on his left hand until he reached the Ark. When he reached the Ark he put the fire-pan between the two bars. He heaped up the incense on the coals and the whole place became filled with smoke. He came out by the way he went in, and in the outer space he prayed a short prayer. But he did not prolong his prayer lest he put Israel in terror.*
\n After the Ark was taken away* a stone remained there from the time of the early prophets, and it was called \u2018Shetiyah\u2019. It was higher than the ground by three fingerbreadths. On this he used to put [the fire-pan].
\n He took the blood from him that was stirring it and entered [again] into the place where he had entered and stood [again] on the place whereon he had stood, and sprinkled [the blood] once upwards and seven times downwards, not as though he had intended to sprinkle upwards or downwards but as though he were wielding a whip. And thus used he to count: One, one and one, one and two, one and three, one and four, one and five, one and six, one and seven. He came out and put it on the golden stand in the Sanctuary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
184
\nYoma 6. 1, 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5.4\u20137 describes the sacrifice of one of the pair of goats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two he-goats of the Day of Atonement should be alike in appearance, in size, and in value, and have been bought at the same time. Yet even if they are not alike they are valid, and if one was bought one day and the other on the morrow they are valid. If one of them died before the lot was cast, a fellow may be bought for the other; but if after the lot was cast, another pair must be brought and the lots cast over them anew. And if that cast for the Lord died, he [the high priest] should say, \u2018Let this on which the lot \u201cFor the Lord\u201d has fallen stand in its stead\u2019; and if that cast for Azazel died, he should say, \u2018Let this on which the lot \u201cFor Azazel\u201d has fallen stand in its stead.\u2019 The other is left to pasture until it suffers a blemish, when it must be sold and its value falls to the Temple fund; for the Sin-offering of the congregation may not be left to die. R. Judah says: It is left to die. Moreover R. Judah said: If the blood was poured away the scapegoat is left to die; if the scapegoat died the blood is poured away.
\n He then came to the scapegoat and laid his two hands upon it and made confession. And thus used he to say: \u2018O God, thy people, the House of Israel, have committed iniquity, transgressed, and sinned before thee. O God, forgive, I pray, the iniquities and transgressions and sins which thy people, the House of Israel, have committed and transgressed and sinned before thee; as it is written in the Law of thy servant Moses, For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you; from all your sins shall ye be clean before the Lord\u2019 (Lev. 16:30). And when the priests and the people which stood in the Temple Court heard the Expressed Name* come forth from the mouth of the High Priest, they used to kneel and bow themselves and fall down on their faces and say, \u2018Blessed be the name of the glory of his kingdom for ever and ever!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
185
\nYoma 7. 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then the High Priest came to read. If he was minded to read in the linen garments he could do so; otherwise he would read in his own white vestment. The minister of the synagogue used to take a scroll of the Law and give it to the chief of the synagogue, and the chief of the synagogue gave it to the Prefect,* and the Prefect gave it to the High Priest, and the High Priest received it standing and read it standing. And he read After the death \u2026 (Lev. 16) and Howbeit on the tenth day \u2026 (Lev. 23:26\u201332). Then he used to roll up the scroll of the Law and put it in his bosom and say, \u2018More is written here than I have read out before you.\u2019 And on the tenth \u2026 (Num. 29:7\u201311) which is in the Book of Numbers, he recited by heart. Thereupon he pronounced eight Benedictions: for the Law, for the Temple-Service, for the Thanksgiving, for the Forgiveness of Sin, and for the Temple separately, and for the Israelites separately, and for the priests separately; and for the rest a [general] prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
186
\nYoma 8. 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the Day of Atonement, eating, drinking, washing, anointing, putting on sandals, and marital intercourse are forbidden. A king or a bride may wash their faces and a woman after childbirth may put on sandals. So R. Eliezer. But the Sages forbid it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Synagogue<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Temple and its services were, even at the great Festivals when Jerusalem was thronged with worshippers, for the few. The majority of Jews found corporate practice of their religion in the Synagogue, where the Law and the Prophets were read, and the community engaged in common prayer. There follow several selections from the Eighteen Benedictions (Sh\u2018moneh \u201bEsreh), one of the oldest parts of the synagogue service. For another of these Benedictions see below, 200.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
187
\nBenediction 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blessed art thou, O Lord our God and God of our fathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, the great, mighty and revered God, the most high God, who bestowest loving-kindnesses, and possessest all things; who rememberest the pious deeds of the patriarchs, and in love wilt bring a redeemer to their children\u2019s children for thy name\u2019s sake.
\n O King, Helper, Saviour and Shield. Blessed art thou, O Lord, the Shield of Abraham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
188
\nBenediction 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thou, O Lord, art mighty for ever, thou quickenest the dead, thou art mighty to save.
\n Thou sustainest the living with loving-kindness, quickenest the dead with great mercy, supportest the falling, healest the sick, loosest the bound, and keepest thy faith to them that sleep in the dust. Who is like unto thee, lord of mighty acts, and who resembleth thee, O King, who killest and quickenest, and causest salvation to spring forth?
\n Yea, faithful art thou to quicken the dead. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who quickenest the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
189
\nBenediction 6<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Forgive us, O our Father, for we have sinned; pardon us, O our King, for we have transgressed; for thou dost pardon and forgive. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who art gracious, and dost abundantly forgive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
190
\nBenediction 7<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look upon our affliction and plead our cause, and redeem us speedily for thy name\u2019s sake; for thou art a mighty redeemer. Blessed art thou, O Lord, the Redeemer of Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
191
\nBenediction 9<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bless this year unto us, O Lord our God, together with every kind of the produce thereof, for our welfare; give a blessing upon the face of the earth. O satisfy us with thy goodness, and bless our year like other good years. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who blessest the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
192
\nBenediction 10<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sound the great horn for our freedom; lift up the ensign to gather our exiles, and gather us from the four corners of the earth. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who gatherest the banished ones of thy people Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
193
\nBenediction 14<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And to Jerusalem, thy city, return in mercy, and dwell therein as thou hast spoken; rebuild it soon in our days as an everlasting building, and speedily set up therein the throne of David.
\n Blessed art thou, O Lord, who rebuildest Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
194
\nThe Qaddish Prayer<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Magnified and sanctified* be his great name in the world which he hath created according to his will. May he establish his kingdom during your life and during your days, and during the life of all the house of Israel, even speedily and at a near time, and say ye, Amen.
\n Let his great name be blessed for ever and to all eternity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u1e24aber and \u201bAm ha-\u2019aretz<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The social and religious commandments by which the written and oral Law regulated Jewish life were so numerous and far-reaching as to produce marked social distinctions between the scrupulous and the careless. Those who were most punctilious in their observance of the laws of purity and tithing banded themselves together into groups of \u1e25aberim (\u05d7\u05d1\u05e8\u05d9\u05dd), or \u2018associates\u2019. These associates met for religious and charitable purposes, but their main aim was to observe the levitical rules, and a man was admitted to their company only on his undertaking to do this. At the other extreme were the \u201bamme ha\u2019aretz (\u05e2\u05de\u05d9 \u05d4\u05d0\u05e8\u05e5) or \u2018people of the land\u2019, those who were known to be lax in their obedience to the Law. Intercourse between the two groups was limited, but by no means impossible. The scrupulous desired the lax to join their number, and the famous R. Akiba, for example, was in early life an \u201bam ha-\u2019aretz (see above, 157). That ill-feeling between the extreme religious classes existed cannot be denied; but it probably varied much from place to place and time to time, and allowance must be made for the hyperbole of some Rabbinic sayings on the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
195
\nDemai 2. 2ff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The corresponding passage in the Tosephta contains more details about the relations between \u1e25aberim and \u201bamme ha-\u2019aretz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He that undertakes to be trustworthy* must give tithe from what he eats and from what he sells and from what he buys [to sell again]; and he may not be the guest of an \u201bam ha-\u2019aretz. R. Judah says: Even he that is the guest of an \u201bam ha-\u2019aretz may still be reckoned trustworthy. They replied: He would not be trustworthy in what concerns himself; how then could he be trustworthy in what concerns others?
\n He that undertakes to be an Associate may not sell to an \u201bam ha-\u2019aretz [foodstuff that is] wet or dry, or buy from him [foodstuff that is] wet;* and he may not be the guest of an \u201bam ha-\u2019aretz nor may he receive him as a guest in his own raiment. R. Judah* says: Nor may he rear small cattle or be profuse in vows or levity or contract uncleanness because of the dead, but he should minister in the House of Study. They said to him: These things come not within the scope of the subject [of the Associate].
\n If [they that undertake to be Associates are] bakers, the Sages lay upon them only the duty of setting apart [from demai*-produce] enough for Heave-offering of Tithe and Dough-offering. If [they are] shopkeepers, they may not sell demai-produce. All that deal in large quantities may sell demai produce. Who are they that deal in large quantities? The like of wholesale merchants and dealers in grain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
196
\nKelim 1. 1, 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These Fathers of Uncleanness,* [namely] a [dead] creeping thing, male semen, he that has contracted uncleanness from a corpse, a leper in his days of reckoning,* and Sin-offering water too little in quantity to be sprinkled, convey uncleanness to men and vessels by contact and to earthenware vessels by [presence within their] air-space; but they do not convey uncleanness by carrying.
\n They are exceeded by carrion and by Sin-offering water sufficient in quantity to be sprinkled, for these convey uncleanness to him that carries them, so that he, too, conveys uncleanness to garments by contact, but the garments do not become unclean by contact [alone].<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Proselytes<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The missionary activity of Judaism is attested in the gospels (Matt. 23:15), and in Acts we meet not only proselytes (2:10; 6:5; 13:43), but also devout persons (\u03c3\u03b5\u03b2\u03cc\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03b9, 13:43, 50; 16:14; 17:4, 17; 18:7; cf. 148) who were attracted by the worship, theology, and ethics of the synagogue but had not become proselytes by taking the final step of circumcision, by which they would have cut themselves off from their own people and race. Non-Jewish authors, and Roman laws against circumcision, also attest the practice of proselytization.
\nIn general (there are a few exceptions) the Rabbinic literature is friendly to proselytes. See 154 above. Their courage and faith in joining the ranks of Israel were esteemed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
197
\nNumbers Rabbah 8. 3<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Holy One loves the proselytes exceedingly. To what is the matter like? To a king who had a number of sheep and goats which went forth every morning to the pasture, and returned in the evening to the stable. One day a stag joined the flock and grazed with the sheep, and returned with them. Then the shepherd said to the king, \u2018There is a stag which goes out with the sheep and grazes with them, and comes home with them.\u2019 And the king loved the stag exceedingly. And he commanded the shepherd, saying: \u2018Give heed unto this stag, that no man beat it\u2019; and when the sheep returned in the evening, he would order that the stag should have food and drink. Then the shepherds said to him, \u2018My Lord, thou hast many goats and sheep and kids, and thou givest us no directions about these, but about this stag thou givest us orders day by day.\u2019 Then the king replied: \u2018It is the custom of the sheep to graze in the pasture, but the stags dwell in the wilderness, and it is not their custom to come among men in the cultivated land. But to this stag who has come to us and lives with us, should we not be grateful that he has left the great wilderness, where many stags and gazelles feed, and has come to live among us? It behoves us to be grateful.\u2019 So too spoke the Holy One: \u2018I owe great thanks to the stranger, in that he has left his family and his father\u2019s house, and has come to dwell among us; therefore I order in the Law: \u201cLove ye the stranger\u201d \u2019 (Deut. 10:19).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
198
\nYebamoth 47a, b<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the admission of a male proselyte there were required circumcision, baptism, and (before the destruction of the Temple) sacrifice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One who comes to be made a proselyte in the present time is to be asked: \u2018Why dost thou come to be made a proselyte? Dost thou not know that at this time Israel is afflicted, buffeted, humiliated and harried, and that sufferings and sore trials come upon them?\u2019 If he answer: \u2018I know this, and am not worthy,\u2019 they are to accept him immediately.
\n Then they are to instruct him in some of the lighter and some of the weightier commandments; and inform him as to the sins in regard to the corner of the field, the forgotten sheaf, the gleaning, and the tithe for the poor. Then shall they teach him the penalties for transgression: \u2018Know well that up until the time that thou hast come hither thou hast eaten the forbidden fat of cattle without incurring the sentence of excommunication; that thou hast profaned the Sabbath without incurring the penalty of lapidation. But from now on if thou eat the forbidden fat of cattle thou wilt be excommunicated; if thou profanest the Sabbath thou wilt be stoned.\u2019 In the same way as they instruct him about the penalties of transgression shall they teach him the rewards for the observance of the commandments and shall say to him: \u2018Know thou that the world to come was made only for the righteous, but Israel at this present time may not experience very great good or very great afflictions.\u2019 Yet one must not multiply words or go too much into detail.
\n If he accept, he is to be circumcised immediately and received. In case of the discovery of any defect as to [a previous] circumcision, he is to be circumcised over again, and when healed brought to baptism immediately.
\n Two men learned in the Law shall stand near him and instruct him as to some of the lighter and some of the weightier commandments. He immerses himself and when he comes up he is in all respects an Israelite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heretics<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A word commonly used to describe a heretic or sceptic is \u05d0\u05e4\u05d9\u05e7\u05d5\u05e8\u05d5\u05e1 (\u2019appiqoros). The origin of the word is uncertain, but even if it was derived from a Hebrew root the coincidence of its sound with the name of the Greek thinker Epicurus must have played no small part in the development of its meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
199
\nSanhedrin 10. 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All Israelites have a share in the world to come, for it is written, Thy people also shall be all righteous, they shall inherit the land for ever; the branch of my planting, the work of my hands that I may be glorified (Isa. 60:21). And these are they that have no share in the world to come: he that says that there in no resurrection* of the dead prescribed in the Law, and [he that says] that the Law is not from heaven, and an Epicurean. R. Akiba says: Also he that reads the heretical books, or that utters charms over a wound and says, I will put none of the diseases upon thee which I have put upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee (Exod. 15:26). Abba Saul says: Also he that pronounces the Name* with its proper letters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of particular interest are the persons described as Minim. They at least include Jewish Christians, and the term may have been originally the name of that party, the corresponding abstract noun Minuth standing for their faith. There are many Rabbinic passages which refer to these sectaries; here we may quote only the twelfth of the Eighteen Benedictions (see above, 187\u2013193). This was drawn up towards the close of the first century AD as a \u2018test benediction\u2019; it was one which no heretic could pronounce (like the anathemas at the end of a creed) and therefore had the effect of banning heretics from the synagogue. It has taken various forms under the activity of Christian censors of the Jewish Prayer Book. The following is probably very close to the original wording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
200
\nBenediction 12<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the renegades let there be no hope, and may the arrogant kingdom* soon be rooted out in our days, and the Nazarenes* and the minim perish as in a moment and be blotted out from the book of life and with the righteous may they not be inscribed. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who humblest the arrogant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Theology<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The theology and religion of Rabbinism cannot be sketched or illustrated within short compass. Fundamentally both were derived from the Old Testament, but they were developed on lines which, though paralleled elsewhere in Judaism, were characteristic. Pursuit of the details of this development is the task of a lifetime; here a few more characteristic quotations from the tractate Aboth are given. See also 153\u20138, 171\u20133.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
201
\nAboth 3. 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Akabya b. Mahalaleel [first century AD] said: Consider three things and thou wilt not fall into the hands of transgression. Know whence thou art come and whither thou art going and before whom thou art about to give account and reckoning. \u2018Whence thou art come\u2019\u2014from a putrid drop; \u2018and whither thou art going\u2019\u2014to the place of dust, worm, and maggot; \u2018and before whom thou art to give account and reckoning\u2019\u2014before the King of kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed is he.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
202
\nAboth 4. 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ben Azzai [first half of second century AD] said: Run to fulfil the lightest duty even as the weightiest, and flee from transgression; for one duty draws another duty in its train, and one transgression draws another transgression in its train; for the reward of a duty [done] is a duty [to be done], and the reward of one transgression is [another] transgression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
203
\nAboth 4. 16f.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
R. Jacob [perhaps the teacher of R. Judah the Patriarch\u2014see 155] said: This world is like a vestibule before the world to come: prepare thyself in the vestibule that thou mayest enter into the banqueting hall.
\n He used to say: Better is one hour of repentance and good works in this world than the whole life of the world to come; and better is one hour of bliss in the world to come than the whole life of this world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
204
\nAboth 5. 10f.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are four types among men: he that says, \u2018What is mine is mine and what is thine is thine\u2019\u2014this is the common type, and some say that this is the type of Sodom; [he that says,] \u2018What is mine is thine and what is thine is mine\u2019\u2014he is an ignorant man (\u201bam ha-\u02bearetz); [he that says,] \u2018What is mine is thine and what is thine is thine own\u2019\u2014he is a saintly man; [and he that says,] \u2018What is thine is mine, and what is mine is mine own\u2019\u2014he is a wicked man.
\n There are four types of character: easy to provoke and easy to appease\u2014his loss is cancelled by his gain; hard to provoke and hard to appease\u2014his gain is cancelled by his loss; hard to provoke and easy to appease\u2014he is a saintly man; easy to provoke and hard to appease\u2014he is a wicked man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
205
\nAboth 5. 16<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If love depends on some [transitory] thing, and the [transitory] thing passes away, the love passes away too; but if it does not depend on some [transitory] thing it will never pass away. Which love depended on some [transitory] thing? This was the love of Amnon and Tamar. And which did not depend on some [transitory] thing? This was the love of David and Jonathan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
206
\nAboth 5. 20<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Judah b. Tema [end of the second century AD] said: Be strong as the leopard and swift as the eagle, fleet as the gazelle and brave as the lion to do the will of thy Father which is in heaven. He used to say: The shameless are for Gehenna and the shamefast for the Garden of Eden. May it be thy will, O Lord our God and the God of our fathers, that the Temple be built speedily in our days, and grant us our portion in thy Law with them that do thy will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Judicial Procedure<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Legislation regarding the constitution and conduct of courts, their procedure in civil and criminal cases, their competence, authority, and sentences, is detailed and large in bulk. Here only a few specimen regulations are given. It must be remembered that conditions and regulations were not static, and that occasionally the best-intentioned rules might be disregarded. New Testament interests suggest that some rules for capital trials, the law of blasphemy, and the method of execution by stoning should be quoted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
207
\nSanhedrin 4. 1, 3\u20135a; 5. 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Non-capital and capital cases* are alike in examination and inquiry, for it is written, Ye shall have one manner of law (Lev. 24:22). In what do non-capital cases differ from capital cases? Non-capital cases [are decided] by three and capital cases by three and twenty [judges]. Non-capital cases may begin either with reasons for acquittal or for conviction, but capital cases must begin with reasons for acquittal and may not begin with reasons for conviction. In non-capital cases they may reach a verdict either of acquittal or of conviction by the decision of a majority of one; but in capital cases they may reach a verdict of acquittal by the decision of a majority of one, but a verdict of conviction only by the decision of a majority of two. In non-capital cases they may reverse a verdict either [from conviction] to acquittal or [from acquittal] to conviction; but in capital cases they may reverse a verdict [from conviction] to acquittal but not [from acquittal] to conviction. In non-capital cases all may argue* either in favour of acquittal or of conviction; but in capital cases all may argue in favour of acquittal but not in favour of conviction. In non-capital cases he that had argued in favour of conviction may afterward argue in favour of acquittal, or he that had argued in favour of acquittal may afterward argue in favour of conviction; in capital cases he that had argued in favour of conviction may afterward argue in favour of acquittal, but he that had argued in favour of acquittal cannot afterward change and argue in favour of conviction. In non-capital cases they hold the trial during the daytime and the verdict may be reached during the night; in capital cases they hold the trial during the daytime and the verdict also must be reached during the daytime. In non-capital cases the verdict, whether of acquittal or of conviction, may be reached the same day; in capital cases a verdict of acquittal may be reached on the same day, but a verdict of conviction not until the following day. Therefore trials may not be held on the eve of a Sabbath or on the eve of a Festival-day* \u2026
\n The Sanhedrin was arranged like the half of a round threshing-floor so that they all might see one another. Before them stood the two scribes of the judges, one to the right and one to the left, and they wrote down the words of them that favoured acquittal and the words of them that favoured conviction. R. Judah says: There were three: one wrote down the words of them that favoured acquittal, and one wrote down the words of them that favoured conviction, and the third wrote down the words both of them that favoured acquittal and of them that favoured conviction.
\n Before them sat three rows of disciples of the Sages, and each knew his proper place. If they needed to appoint [another as a judge], they appointed him from the first row, and one from the second row came into the first row, and one from the third row came into the second; and they chose yet another from the congregation and set him in the third row. He did not sit in the place of the former, but he sat in the place that was proper for him.
\n How did they admonish the witnesses in capital cases? They brought them in and admonished them, [saying,] \u2018Perchance ye will say what is but supposition or hearsay or at secondhand, or [ye may say in yourselves], We heard if from a man that was trustworthy. Or perchance ye do not know that we shall prove you by examination and inquiry? Know ye, moreover, that capital cases are not as non-capital cases: in non-capital cases a man may pay money and so make atonement, but in capital cases the witness is answerable for the blood of him [that is wrongfully condemned] and the blood of his posterity [that should have been born to him] to the end of the world \u2026\u2019
\n They used to prove witnesses with seven inquiries: In what week of years? In what year? In what month? On what date in the month? On what day? In what hour? In what place? (R. Jose says: [They asked only,] On what day? In what hour? In what place?) [Moreover they asked:] Do ye recognize him? Did ye warn him? If a man had committed idolatry [they asked the witnesses], What did he worship? and, How did he worship it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
208
\nSanhedrin 7. 5<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018The blasphemer\u2019 is not culpable unless he pronounces the Name* itself. R. Joshua b. Karha [c. AD 150] says: On every day [of the trial] they examined the witnesses with a substituted name, [such as] \u2018May Jose smite Jose\u2019. When sentence was to be given they did not declare him guilty of death [on the grounds of evidence given] with the substituted name, but they sent out all the people and asked the chief among the witnesses and said to him, \u2018Say expressly what thou heardest\u2019, and he says it; and the judges stand up on their feet and rend their garments, and they may not mend them again. And the second witness says, \u2018I also heard the like\u2019, and the third says, \u2018I also heard the like\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
209
\nSanhedrin 6. 1\u20134<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When sentence [of stoning] has been passed they take him forth to stone him. The place of stoning was outside [far away from] the court, as it is written, Bring forth him that hath cursed outside the camp (Lev. 24:14). One man stands at the door of the court with a towel in his hand, and another, mounted on a horse, far away from him [but near enough] to see him. If [in the court] one said, \u2018I have somewhat to argue in favour of his acquittal\u2019, that man waves the towel and the horse runs and stops him [that was going forth to be stoned]. Even if he himself said, \u2018I have somewhat to argue in favour of my acquittal\u2019, they must bring him back, be it four times or five, provided that there is aught of substance in his words. If then they found him innocent* they set him free; otherwise he goes forth to be stoned. A herald goes out before him [calling], \u2018Such-a-one, the son of such-a-one, is going forth to be stoned for that he committed such or such an offence. Such-a-one and such-a-one are witnesses against him. If any man knoweth aught in favour of his acquittal let him come and plead it\u2019.
\n When he was about ten cubits from the place of stoning they used to say to him, \u2018Make thy confession\u2019, for such is the way of them that have been condemned to death to make confession, for every one that makes his confession has a share in the world to come. For so have we found it with Achan. Joshua said to him, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and make confession unto him, and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me. And Achan answered Joshua and said, Of a truth I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done (Joshua 7:19). Whence do we learn that his confession made atonement for him? It is written, And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day (Joshua 7:25)\u2014this day thou shalt be troubled, but in the world to come thou shalt not be troubled. If he knows not how to make his confession they say to him, \u2018Say, May my death be an atonement for all my sins\u2019. R. Judah says: If he knew that he was condemned because of false testimony he should say, \u2018Let my death be an atonement for all my sins excepting this sin\u2019. They said to him: If so, every one would speak after this fashion to show his innocence.
\n When he was four cubits from the place of stoning they stripped off his clothes. A man is kept covered in front and a woman both in front and behind. So R. Judah. But the Sages say: A man is stoned naked but a woman is not stoned naked.
\n The place of stoning was twice the height of a man. One of the witnesses knocked him down on his loins; if he turned over on his heart the witness turned him over again on his loins. If he straightway died that sufficed; but if not, the second [witness] took the stone and dropped it on his heart. If he straightway died, that sufficed; but if not, he was stoned by all Israel, for it is written, The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death and afterward the hand of all the people (Deut. 17:7). All that have been stoned must be hanged. So R. Eliezer. But the Sages say: None is hanged save the blasphemer and the idolator. A man is hanged with his face to the people and a woman with her face towards the gallows. So R. Eliezer. But the Sages say: A man is hanged but a woman is not hanged. R. Eliezer said to them: Did not Simeon b. Shetah hang women in Ashkelon?* They answered: He hanged eighty women, whereas two ought not to be judged in one day. How did they hang a man? They put a beam into the ground and a piece of wood jutted from it. The two hands [of the body] were brought together and [in this fashion] it was hanged. R. Jose says: The beam was made to lean against a wall and one hanged the corpse thereon as the butchers do. And they let it down at once; if it remained there overnight a negative command is thereby transgressed, for it is written, His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt surely bury him the same day; for he that is hanged is a curse against God (Deut. 21:23); as if to say: Why was this one hanged? Because he blessed the Name,* and the Name of Heaven was found profaned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9 Qumran<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The story of the discoveries made at and in the neighbourhood of Qumran, on the Dead Sea, from 1947 onwards, has now been often told, and it will not be repeated here. There have been found Biblical manuscripts, manuscripts of non-canonical Jewish texts, and many other objects of archaeological interest. Texts and artifacts together have made it possible to study the religious group that settled in this region, but it cannot be claimed that agreed results have been reached regarding their history or even their name; they are often described as Essenes, but the name does not occur in the texts that have been discovered and published, and at least for the present it is wise not to identify them too confidently with the Essenes described by Philo and Josephus (see above, 135\u20137), though without question there is a close relation between them. Their importance for the understanding of the New Testament was often exaggerated in the years immediately after they were discovered, but there is no doubt at all that they have greatly increased our knowledge of Judaism more or less contemporary with the New Testament. Judaism was a much less uniform structure than was sometimes supposed, and a better knowledge of Judaism in its variety and in its eccentricities cannot fail to be helpful to the student of the New Testament.
\nAny attempt to sketch the history, beliefs, and practices of the Qumran community within a page or two could lead only to deceptive oversimplification. Some of the events in the community\u2019s story, and aspects of its theology and discipline, are illustrated in the passages that follow. The best introduction in English to the study of the Qumran literature has been provided by G. Vermes, in his translation of the non-biblical texts (The Dea Sea Scrolls in English, first published in 1962) and in his general survey (The Dead Sea Scrolls: Qumran in Perspective, 1977), though some older works, such as those of Millar Burrows (The Dead Sea Scrolls, 1956; More Light on the Dead Sea Scrolls, 1958) and M. Black (The Scrolls and Christian Origins, 1961) are still of great value. The original texts of the most important manuscripts, together with a German translation, are conveniently given by E. Lohse (Die Texte aus Qumran, 1964).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Community and its Story<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On archaeological grounds it seems probable that the Qumran community came into existence, or at least took up residence at Qumran, some time in the second century BC (or possibly early in the first). The Scrolls contain a reference to a migration to the \u2018land of Damascus\u2019 (CD 6. 5); the meaning of this is unclear, and disputed. Damascus may be a symbolical name for Qumran (cf. Rev. 11:8), or may have been chosen because at the time of the migration Qumran was under the same civil authority as Damascus. The migration was in part voluntary, a protest against what the sect regarded as corrupt administration of Judaism at its heart in Jerusalem, and especially in the Temple, but may also in part have been forced by repressive measures on the part of the authority; it is easy to combine the two causes. Occupation of the site at Qumran seems to have been interrupted for a time by an earthquake.
\nThe aim of the sect was absolute purity in terms of its own understanding of the Torah; it was firmly governed and rigidly disciplined. The structure of its hierarchy is not clear; some of the evidence is given below. Strict discipline was enforced, with punishments for the disobedient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
210
\nCommunity Rule (1QS) 5. 1\u20136. 8<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this is the Rule for the men of the Community who have freely pledged themselves to be converted* from all evil and to cling to all His commandments according to His will.
\n They shall separate from the congregation of the men of falsehood* and shall unite, with respect to the Law and possessions, under the authority of the sons of Zadok, the Priests who keep the Covenant, and of the multitude of the men of the Community who hold fast to the Covenant. Every decision concerning doctrine, property, and justice shall be determined by them.
\n They shall practise truth and humility in common, and justice and uprightness and charity and modesty in all their ways. No man shall walk in the stubbornness of his heart so that he strays after his heart and evil inclination,* but he shall circumcise in the Community the foreskin of evil inclination and of stiffness of neck that they may lay a foundation of truth for Israel, for the Community of the everlasting Covenant. They shall atone for those in Aaron who have freely pledged themselves to holiness, and for those in Israel who have freely pledged themselves to the House of Truth, and for those who join them to live in community and to take part in the trial and judgement and condemnation of all those who transgress the precepts.
\n On joining the Community, this shall be their code of behaviour with respect to all these precepts.
\n Whoever approaches the Council of the Community* shall enter the Covenant of God in the presence of all who have freely pledged themselves. He shall undertake by a binding oath to return with all his heart and soul to every commandment of the Law of Moses in accordance with all that has been revealed of it to the sons of Zadok, the Keepers of the Covenant and Seekers of His will, and to the multitude of the men of their Covenant who together have freely pledged themselves to His truth and to walking in the way of His delight. And he shall undertake by the Covenant to separate from all the men of falsehood who walk in the way of wickedness.
\n For they are not reckoned in His Covenant. They have neither inquired nor sought after Him concerning His laws that they might know the hidden things in which they have sinfully erred; and matters revealed they have treated with insolence. Therefore Wrath shall rise up to condemn, and Vengeance shall be executed by the curses of the Covenant, and great chastisements of eternal destruction shall be visited on them, leaving no remnant. They shall not enter the water to partake of the pure Meal of the saints, for they shall not be cleansed unless they turn from their wickedness: for all who transgress His word are unclean. Likewise, no man shall mix with him with regard to his work or property lest he be burdened with the guilt of his sin. He shall indeed keep away from him in all things; as it is written, Keep away from all that is false (Exod. 23:7). No member of the Community shall follow them in matters of doctrine and justice, or eat or drink anything of theirs, or take anything from them except for a price; as it is written, Keep away from the man in whose nostrils is breath, for wherein is he counted? (Isa. 2:22). For all those not reckoned in His Covenant are to be set apart, together with all that is theirs. None of the saints shall lean upon the works of vanity: for they are all vanity who know not His Covenant, and He will blot from the earth all them that despise His word. All their deeds are defilement before Him, and all their possessions unclean.
\n But when a man enters the Covenant to walk according to all these precepts that he may join the holy congregation, they shall examine his spirit in community with respect to his understanding and practice of the Law, under the authority of the sons of Aaron who have freely pledged themselves in the Community to restore His Covenant and to heed all the precepts commanded by Him, and of the multitude of Israel who have freely pledged themselves in the Community to return to His Covenant. They shall inscribe them in the order, one after another, according to their understanding and their deeds, that every one may obey his companion, the man of lesser rank obeying his superior. And they shall examine their spirit and deeds yearly, so that each man may be advanced in accordance with his understanding and perfection of way, or moved down in accordance with the offences committed by him.
\n They shall rebuke one another in truth, humility, and charity. Let no man address his companion with anger, or ill-temper, or obduracy, or with envy prompted by the spirit of wickedness. Let him not hate him [in the wickedness of an uncircumcised] heart, but let him rebuke him on the very same day lest he incur guilt because of him. And furthermore, let no man accuse his companion before the Congregation without having first admonished him in the presence of witnesses.
\n These are the ways in which all of them shall walk, each man with his companion, wherever they dwell.
\n The man of lesser rank shall obey the greater in matters of work and money.
\n They shall eat in common and pray in common and deliberate in common.
\n Wherever there are ten men of the Council of the Community there shall not lack a Priest among them. And they shall all sit before him according to their rank and shall be asked their counsel in all things in that order. And when the table has been prepared for eating, and the new wine for drinking, the Priest shall be the first to stretch out his hand to bless the first-fruits of the bread and new wine.
\n And where the ten are, there shall never lack a man among them who shall study the Law continually, day and night, concerning the right conduct of a man with his Companion. And the Congregation shall watch in community for a third of every night of the year, to read the Book and to study Law and to pray together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
211
\nCommunity Rule (1QS) 8. 1\u201319<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the Council of the Community there shall be twelve men and three priests,* perfectly versed in all that is revealed of the Law, whose works shall be truth, righteousness, justice, lovingkindness, and humility. They shall preserve the faith in the Land with steadfastness and meekness and shall atone* for sin by the practice of justice and by suffering the sorrows of affliction. They shall walk with all men according to the standard of truth and the rule of the time.
\n When these are in Israel, the Council of the Community shall be established in truth. It shall be an Everlasting Plantation, a House of Holiness for Israel, an Assembly of Supreme Holiness for Aaron. They shall be witnesses to the truth at the Judgement, and shall be the elect of Goodwill who shall atone* for the Land and pay to the wicked their reward. It shall be that tried wall, that precious cornerstone (Isa. 28:16). It shall be a Most Holy Dwelling for Aaron, with everlasting knowledge of the Covenant of justice, and shall offer up sweet fragrance. It shall be a House of Perfection and Truth in Israel that they may establish a Covenant according to the everlasting precepts. And they shall be an agreeable offering, atoning for the Land and determining the judgement of wickedness, and there shall be no more iniquity. When they have been confirmed for two years in perfection of way by the authority of the Community, they shall be set apart as holy within the Council of the men of the Community. And the Interpreter* shall not conceal from them, out of fear of the spirit of apostasy, any of those things hidden from Israel which have been discovered by him.
\n And when these become members of the Community in Israel according to all these rules, they shall separate from the habitation of ungodly men and shall go into the wilderness to prepare the way of Him; as it is written, Prepare in the wilderness the way of* \u2026 make straight in the desert a path for our God (Isa. 40:3). This (path) is the study of the Law* which He commanded by the hand of Moses, that they may do according to all that has been revealed from age to age, and as the Prophets have revealed by His Holy Spirit.
\n And no man among the members of the Covenant of the Community who deliberately, on any point whatever, turns aside from all that is commanded, shall touch the pure Meal of the men of holiness* or know anything of their counsel until his deeds are purified from all falsehood and he walks in perfection of way. And then, according to the judgement of the Congregation, he shall be admitted to the Council and shall be inscribed in his rank. This rule shall apply to whoever enters the Community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
212
\nDamascus Rule (CD) 1. 1\u20132. 13<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hear now, all you who know righteousness, and consider the works of God; for He has a dispute with all flesh and will condemn all those who despise Him.
\n For when they were unfaithful and forsook Him, He hid His face from Israel and His Sanctuary and delivered them up to the sword. But remembering the Covenant of the forefathers, He left a remnant to Israel and did not deliver it up to be destroyed. And in the age of wrath, three hundred and ninety years* after He had given them into the hand of king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, He visited them, and He caused a root of planting to spring from Israel and Aaron to inherit His Land and to prosper on the good things of His earth. And they perceived their iniquity and recognized that they were guilty men, yet for twenty years they were like blind men groping for the way.
\n And God observed their deeds, that they sought Him with a whole heart, and He raised for them a Teacher of Righteousness* to guide them in the way of His heart. And he made known to the latter generations that which God had done to the latter generation, the congregation of traitors, to those who departed from the way. This was the time of which it is written, Like a stubborn heifer thus was Israel stubborn (Hos. 4:16), when the Scoffer* arose who shed over Israel the waters of lies. He led them astray in a wilderness without way by bringing low the everlasting hills, and by causing them to depart from the paths of righteousness, and by removing the bound with which the forefathers had marked out their inheritance, that he might call down on them the curses of His Covenant and deliver them up to the avenging sword of the Covenant. For they sought smooth things and preferred illusions (Isa. 30:10) and they watched for breaks (Isa. 30:13) and chose the fair neck;* and they justified the wicked and condemned the just, and they transgressed the Covenant and violated the Precept. They banded together against the life of the righteous (Ps. 94:21) and loathed all who walked in perfection; they pursued them with the sword and exulted in the strife of the people. And the anger of God was kindled against their congregation so that He ravaged all their multitude; and their deeds were defilement before Him.
\n Hear now, all you who enter the Covenant, and I will unstop your ears concerning the ways of the wicked.
\n God loves knowledge.* Wisdom and understanding He has set before Him, and prudence and knowledge serve Him. Patience and much forgiveness are with Him towards those who turn from transgression; but power, might, and great flaming wrath by the hand of all the Angels of Destruction towards those who depart from the way and abhor the Precept. They shall have no remnant or survivor. For from the beginning God chose them not; He knew their deeds before ever they were created and He hated their generations, and He hid His face from the Land until they were consumed. For He knew the years of their coming and the length and exact duration of their times for all ages to come and throughout eternity. He knew the happenings of their times throughout all the everlasting years. And in all of them He raised for Himself men called by name, that a remnant might be left to the Land, and that the face of the earth might be filled with their seed. And He made known His Holy Spirit to them by the hand of His anointed ones, and He proclaimed the truth (to them). But those whom He hated He led astray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
213
\nDamascus Rule (CD) 4. 2\u20136. 11<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Priests are the converts of Israel who departed from the land of Judah, and (the Levites are) those who joined them. The sons of Zadok* are the elect of Israel, the men called by name who shall stand at the end of days. Behold the exact list of their names according to their generations, and the time when they lived, and the number of their trials, and the years of their sojourn, and the exact list of their deeds \u2026
\n (They were the first men) of holiness whom God forgave, and who justified the righteous and condemned the wicked. And until the age is completed, according to the number of those years, all who enter after them shall do according to that interpretation of the Law in which the first were instructed. According to the Covenant which God made with the forefathers, forgiving their sins, so shall He forgive their sins also. But when the age is completed, according to the number of those years, there shall be no more joining the house of Judah, but each man shall stand on his watch-tower: The wall is built, the boundary far removed (Mic. 7:11).
\n During all those years Satan shall be unleashed* against Israel, as he spoke by the hand of Isaiah, son of Amoz, saying, Terror and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the land (Isa. 24:17). Interpreted,* these are the three nets of Satan with which Levi son of Jacob said that he catches Israel by setting them up as three kinds of righteousness. The first is riches, the second is fornication, and the third is profanation of the Temple. Whoever escapes the first is caught in the second, and whoever saves himself from the second is caught in the third (Isa. 24:18).
\n The builders of the wall (Ezek. 13:10) who have followed after \u2018Precept\u2019\u2014\u2018Precept\u2019 was a spouter of whom it is written, They shall surely spout (Mic. 2:6)\u2014shall be caught in fornication twice by taking a second wife while the first is alive, whereas the principle of creation is, Male and female created He them (Gen. 1:27). Also, those who entered the Ark went in two by two. And concerning the prince it is written, He shall not multiply wives to himself (Deut. 17:17); but David had not read the sealed book of the Law which was in the ark (of the Covenant), for it was not opened in Israel from the death of Eleazar and Joshua, and the elders who worshipped Ashtoreth. It was hidden and (was not) revealed until the coming of Zadok. And the deeds of David rose up, except for the murder of Uriah, and God left them to him.\n Moreover, they profane the Temple because they do not observe the distinction (between clean and unclean) in accordance with the Law, but lie with a woman who sees her bloody discharge.\n And each man marries the daughter of his brother or sister, whereas Moses said, You shall not approach your mother\u2019s sister; she is your mother\u2019s near kin (Lev. 18:13). But although the laws against incest are written for men, they also apply to women. When, therefore, a brother\u2019s daughter uncovers the nakedness of her father\u2019s brother, she is (also his) near kin.\n Furthermore, they defile their holy spirit and open their mouth with a blaspheming tongue against the laws of the Covenant of God saying, \u2018They are not sure.\u2019 They speak abominations concerning them; they are all kindlers of fire and lighters of brands (Isa. 50:11), their webs are spiders\u2019 webs and their eggs are vipers\u2019 eggs (Isa. 59:5). No man that approaches them shall be free from guilt; the more he does so, the guiltier shall he be, unless he is pressed. For (already) in ancient times God visited their deeds and His anger was kindled against their works; for it is a people of no discernment (Isa. 27:11), it is a nation void of counsel inasmuch as there is no discernment in them (Deut. 32:28). For in ancient times, Moses and Aaron arose by the hand of the Prince of Lights and Satan in his cunning raised up Jannes and his brother when Israel was first delivered.\n And at the time of the desolation of the Land there arose removers of the bound who led Israel astray. And the land was ravaged because they preached rebellion against the commandments of God given by the hand of Moses and of His holy anointed ones, and because they prophesied lies to turn Israel away from following God. But God remembered the Covenant with the forefathers, and He raised from Aaron men of discernment and from Israel men of wisdom, and He caused them to hear. And they dug the Well: the well which the princes dug, which the nobles of the people delved with the stave (Num. 21:18).\n The Well is the Law,<\/em> and those who dug it were the converts of Israel who went out of the land of Judah to sojourn in the land of Damascus. God called them all princes because they sought Him, and their renown was disputed by no man. The Stave is the Interpreter of the Law of whom Isaiah said, He makes a tool for his work (Isa. 54:16); and the nobles of the people are those who come to dig the Well with the staves with which the Stave ordained that they should walk in all the age of wickedness\u2014and without them they shall find nothing\u2014until he comes who shall teach righteousness at the end of days.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n214
\nDamascus Rule (CD) 10. 14\u201312. 6a<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Concerning the Sabbath to observe it according to its law
\n No man shall work on the sixth day from the moment when the sun\u2019s orb is distant by its own fulness from the gate (wherein it sinks); for this is what he said, Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy (Deut. 5:12). No man shall speak any vain or idle word on the Sabbath day. He shall make no loan to his companion. He shall make no decision in matters of money and gain. He shall say nothing about work or labour to be done on the morrow.
\n No man shall walk abroad doing his pleasure on the Sabbath. He shall not walk more than one thousand cubits* beyond his town.
\n No man shall eat on the Sabbath day except that which is already prepared. He shall eat nothing lying in the fields. He shall not drink except in the camp. If he is on a journey and goes down to bathe, he shall drink where he stands, but he shall not draw water into a vessel. He shall send no stranger to do his pleasure on the Sabbath day.
\n No man shall wear soiled garments, or garments brought to the store, unless they have been washed with water or rubbed with incense.
\n No man shall willingly mingle (with others) on the Sabbath.
\n No man shall walk more than two thousand cubits after a beast to pasture it outside his town. He shall not raise his hand to strike it with his fist. If it is stubborn he shall not take it out of his house.
\n No man shall take anything out of the house or bring anything in. He shall not open a sealed vessel on the Sabbath.
\n No man shall carry perfumes on himself whilst going and coming on the Sabbath. He shall lift neither sand nor dust in his dwelling. No foster-father shall carry a child whilst going and coming on the Sabbath.
\n No man shall chide his manservant or maidservant or labourer on the Sabbath.*
\n No man shall assist a beast to give birth on the Sabbath day. And if it should fall into a cistern or pit, he shall not lift it out on the Sabbath.
\n No man shall spend the Sabbath on a place near to Gentiles on the Sabbath.
\n No man shall profane the Sabbath for the sake of riches or gain on the Sabbath day. But should any man fall into water or fire, let him be pulled out with the aid of a ladder or rope or (some such) tool.
\n No man on the Sabbath shall offer anything on the altar except the Sabbath burnt-offerings; for it is written thus: Except your Sabbath offerings (Lev. 23:38).
\n No man shall send to the altar any burnt-offering, or cereal offering, or incense, or wood, by the hand of one smitten with any uncleanness, permitting him thus to defile the altar. For it is written, The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination, but the prayer of the just is as an agreeable offering (Prov. 15:8).
\n No man entering the house of worship shall come unclean and in need of washing. And at the sounding of the trumpets for assembly, he shall go there before or after (the meeting), and shall not cause the whole service to stop, for it is a holy service.
\n No man shall lie with a woman in the city of the Sanctuary, to defile the city of the Sanctuary with their uncleanness.
\n Every man who preaches apostasy under the dominion of the spirits of Satan shall be judged according to the law relating to those possessed by a ghost or familiar spirit (Lev. 20:27). But no man who strays so as to profane the Sabbath and the feasts shall be put to death; it shall fall to men to keep him in custody. And if he is healed of his error, they shall keep him in custody seven years and he shall afterwards approach the Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Faith and Practice<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was pointed out above (p. 219) that the aim of the sect was to achieve a life of perfect purity in conformity with its own understanding of the requirements of Torah. In order to achieve this, strict discipline was imposed upon its members. Admission to the community was not easily granted and probation was severe. The upper ranks of the hierarchy exercised absolute authority over the lower, with power of exclusion, a harsher punishment than might appear since the excluded member no longer had access to the only food that his vows permitted him to eat. The community had strict rules and they had to be strictly observed. It would however be wrong to suppose that its religion was merely formal. It is impossible to read not only the Hymns but also many other parts of the Qumran literature without being aware of a warm and genuine piety. The member of the sect was deeply penitent for his own personal sins and for those of his people, in which he could not but share. For forgiveness he depended wholly upon the mercy of God; in this however he knew that he might trust, because God was loving, and because he shared in the covenant that God had made with the fathers of the race and in the renewal of this covenant effected by the founders and leaders of the community and annually re-enacted. He could speak also of the righteousness of God and of his justification; how far his understanding of these terms coincided with Paul\u2019s is a matter of dispute. He looked forward to life in the presence of God after death, as well as to a glorious future for his people, or at least for the elect and righteous among them. And he did not fail to thank God for his mercies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
215
\nCommunity Rule (1QS) 11. 2\u201322<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As for me,\n my justification* is with God.\nIn His hand are the perfection of my way\n and the uprightness of my heart.\nHe will wipe out my transgression\n through his righteousness.*\n\nFor my light has sprung\n from the source of his knowledge;\nmy eyes have beheld his marvellous deeds,\n and the light of my heart, the mystery to come.\nHe that is everlasting\n is the support of my right hand;\nthe way of my steps is over stout rock\n which nothing shall shake;\nfor the rock of my steps is the truth of God\n and His might is the support of my right hand.\nFrom the source of His righteousness\n is my justification,\nand from His marvellous mysteries\n is the light in my heart.\nMy eyes have gazed\n on that which is eternal,\non wisdom concealed from men,\n on knowledge and wise design\n (hidden) from the sons of men;\non a fountain of righteousness\n and on a storehouse of power,\non a spring of glory\n (hidden) from the assembly of flesh.\nGod has given them to His chosen ones\n as an everlasting possession,\nand has caused them to inherit\n the lot of the Holy Ones.\nHe has joined their assembly\n to the Sons of Heaven\nto be a Council of the Community,\na foundation of the Building of Holiness,\nan eternal Plantation throughout all ages to come.\n\nAs for me,\n I belong to wicked mankind,\n to the company of ungodly flesh.*\nMy iniquities, rebellions, and sins,\n together with the perversity of my heart,\nbelong to the company of worms\n and to those who walk in darkness.\nFor mankind has no way,\n and man is unable to establish his steps\nsince justification is with God\n and perfection of way is out of his hand.\nAll things come to pass by His knowledge;\nHe establishes all things by His design\n and without Him nothing is done.\n\nAs for me,\n if I stumble, the mercies of God\n shall be my eternal salvation.\nIf I stagger because of the sin of flesh,\n my justification shall be\n by the righteousness of God which endures for ever.\nWhen my distress is unleashed\n He will deliver my soul from the Pit\n and will direct my steps to the way.\nHe will draw me near by His grace,\n and by His mercy will He bring my justification.\nHe will judge me in the righteousness of His truth\n and in the greatness of His goodness\n He will pardon all my sins.\nThrough His righteousness He will cleanse me\n of the uncleanness of man\n and of the sins of the children of men,\nthat I may confess to God His righteousness,\n and His majesty to the Most High.\n\nBlessed art Thou, my god,\n who openest the heart of Thy servant to knowledge!\nEstablish all his deeds in righteousness,\nand as it pleases Thee to do for the elect of mankind,\n grant that the son of Thy handmaid\nmay stand before Thee for ever.\n\nFor without Thee no way is perfect,\n and without Thy will nothing is done.\nIt is thou who hast taught all knowledge\n and all things come to pass by Thy will.\nThere is none beside Thee to dispute Thy counsel\n or to understand all Thy holy design,\nor to contemplate the depth of Thy mysteries\n and the power of Thy might.\nWho can contain Thy glory,\n and what is the son of man\n in the midst of Thy wonderful deeds?\nWhat shall one born of woman\n be accounted before Thee?\nKneaded from the dust,\n his abode is the nourishment of worms.\nHe is but a shape, but moulded clay,\n and inclines towards dust.\nWhat shall hand-moulded clay reply?\n What counsel shall it understand?<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n216
\nCommunity rule (1QS) 6. 8b\u20137. 25<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the rule for an Assembly of the congregation
\n Each man shall sit in his place: the Priests* shall sit first, and the elders* second, and all the rest of the people according to their rank. And thus shall they be questioned concerning the Law, and concerning any counsel or matter coming before the Congregation, each man bringing his knowledge to the Council of the Community.
\n No man shall interrupt a companion before his speech has ended, nor speak before a man of higher rank; each man shall speak in his turn. And in an Assembly of the Congregation no man shall speak without the consent of the Congregation, nor indeed of the Guardian* of the Congregation. Should any man wish to speak to the Congregation, yet not be in a position to question the Council of the Community, let him rise to his feet and say: \u2018I have something to say to the Congregation.\u2019 If they command him to speak, he shall speak.
\n Every man, born of Israel, who freely pledges himself to join the Council of the Community, shall be examined by the Guardian at the head of the Congregation concerning his understanding and his deeds. If he is fitted to the discipline, he shall admit him into the Covenant that he may be converted to the truth and depart from all falsehood; and he shall instruct him in all the rules of the Community. And later, when he comes to stand before the Congregation, they shall all deliberate his case, and according to the decision of the Council of the Congregation he shall either enter or depart. After he has entered the Council of the Community he shall not touch the pure Meal* of the Congregation until one full year is completed, and until he has been examined concerning his spirit and deeds; nor shall his property be mingled with that of the Congregation. Then when he has completed one year within the Community, the Congregation shall deliberate his case with regard to his understanding and observance of the Law. And if it be his destiny, according to the judgement of the Priests and the multitude of the men of their Covenant, to enter the company of the Community, his property and earnings shall be handed over to the Bursar of the Congregation who shall register it to his account and shall not spend it for the Congregation. He shall not touch the Drink of the Congregation until he has completed a second year among the men of the Community. But when the second year has passed, he shall be examined, and if it be his destiny, according to the judgement of the Congregation, to enter the Community, then he shall be inscribed among his brethren in the order of his rank for the Law, and for justice, and for the pure Meal; his property shall be mingled and he shall offer his counsel and judgement to the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These are the rules by which they shall judge at a Community (Court of) Inquiry
\n If one of them has lied deliberately in matters of property, he shall be excluded from the pure Meal of the Congregation for one year and shall do penance with respect to one quarter of his food.
\n Whoever has answered his companion with obstinacy, or has addressed him impatiently, going so far as to take no account of the dignity of his fellow by disobeying the order of a brother inscribed before him, he has taken the law into his own hand; therefore he shall do penance for one year [and shall be excluded].
\n Whoever has uttered the Name of the [Most] Venerable Being [shall be put to death]. But if he has blasphemed when frightened by affliction or for any other reason whatever, while reading the Book or praying, he shall be set apart and shall return to the Council of the Community no more.
\n If he has spoken in anger against one of the Priests inscribed in the Book, he shall do penance for one year and shall be excluded for his soul\u2019s sake from the pure Meal of the Congregation. But if he has spoken unwittingly, he shall do penance for six months.
\n Whoever has deliberately lied shall do penance for six months.
\n Whoever has deliberately insulted his companion unjustly shall do penance for one year and shall be excluded.
\n Whoever has deliberately deceived his companion by word or by deed shall do penance for six months.
\n If he has been careless with regard to his companion, he shall do penance for three months. But if he has been careless with regard to the property of the Community, thereby causing its loss, he shall restore it in full. And if he is unable to restore it, he shall do penance for sixty days.
\n Whoever has borne malice against his companion unjustly shall do penance for six months\/one year;* and likewise, whoever has taken revenge in any matter whatever.
\n Whoever has spoken foolishly: three months.
\n Whoever has interrupted his companion whilst speaking: ten days.
\n Whoever has lain down to sleep during an Assembly of the Congregation: thirty days. And likewise, whoever has left, without reason, an Assembly of the Congregation as many as three times during one Assembly, shall do penance for ten days. But if he has departed whilst they were standing he shall do penance for thirty days.
\n Whoever has gone naked before his companion, without having been obliged to do so, he shall do penance for six months.
\n Whoever has spat in an Assembly of the Congregation shall do penance for thirty days.
\n Whoever has been so poorly dressed that when drawing his hand from beneath his garment his nakedness has been seen, he shall do penance for thirty days.
\n Whoever has guffawed foolishly shall do penance for thirty days.
\n Whoever has drawn out his left hand to gesticulate with it shall do penance for ten days.
\n Whoever has gone about slandering his companion shall be excluded from the pure Meal of the Congregation for one year and shall do penance. But whoever has slandered the Congregation shall be expelled from among them and shall return no more.
\n Whoever has murmured against the authority of the Community shall be expelled and shall not return. But if has murmured against his companion unjustly, he shall do penance for six months.
\n Should a man return whose spirit has so trembled before the authority of the Community that he has betrayed the truth and walked in the stubbornness of his heart, he shall do penance for two years. During the first year he shall not touch the pure Meal of the Congregation, and during the second year he shall not touch the Drink of the Congregation and shall sit below all the men of the Community. Then when his two years are completed, the Congregation shall consider his case, and if he is admitted he shall be inscribed in his rank and may then question concerning the Law.
\n If, after being in the Council of the Community for ten full years, the spirit of any man has failed so that he has betrayed the Community and departed from the Congregation to walk in the stubbornness of his heart, he shall return no more to the Council of the Community. Moreover, if any member of the Community has shared with him his food or property which \u2026 of the Congregation his sentence shall be the same; he shall be ex[pelled].<\/p>\n\n\n\n
217
\nHymns (1QH) 1. 1\u201327a<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thou art long-suffering in Thy judgements\n and righteous in all Thy deeds.\nBy Thy wisdom [all things exist from] eternity,\n and before creating them Thou knewest their works for ever and ever.\n[Nothing] is done [without Thee]\n and nothing is known unless Thou desire it.\nThou hast created all the spirits\n <\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n[and hast established a statute]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and law for all their works.\nThou hast spread the heavens for Thy glory\n and hast [appointed] all [their hosts] according to Thy will;\nthe mighty winds according to their laws\n before they became angels [of holiness]\n \u2026 and eternal spirits in their dominions;\nthe heavenly lights to their mysteries,\n the stars to their paths,\n<\/p>\n\n\n
[the clouds]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
to their tasks,\n the thunderbolts and lightnings to their duty,\nand the perfect treasuries (of snow and hail)\n to their purposes,\n\u2026 to their mysteries.\nThou hast created the earth by Thy power\n and the seas and deeps [by Thy might].\nThou hast fashioned [all] their [inhabi]tants\n according to Thy wisdom,\nand hast appointed all that is in them\n according to Thy will.\n[And] to the spirit of man\n which Thou hast formed in the world,\n[Thou hast given dominion over the works of Thy hands]\n for everlasting days and unending generations.\n\u2026 in their ages\nThou hast allotted to them tasks\n during all their generations,\nand judgement in their appointed seasons\n according to the rule [of the two spirits.\nFor Thou hast established their ways]\n for ever and ever,\n<\/p>\n\n\n
[and hast ordained from eternity]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n their visitation for reward and chastisements;\nThou hast allotted it to all their seed\n for eternal generations and everlasting years \u2026\nIn the wisdom of Thy knowledge\n Thou didst establish their destiny before ever they were.\nAll things [exist] according to [Thy will]\n and without Thee nothing is done.\nThese things I know\n by the wisdom which comes from Thee,\nfor Thou hast unstopped my ears\n to marvellous mysteries.\nAnd yet I, a shape of clay\n kneaded in water,\na ground of shame\n and a source of pollution,\na melting-pot of wickedness\n and an edifice of sin,\na straying and perverted spirit\n of no understanding,\n fearful of righteous judgements,\nwhat can I say that is not foreknown,\n and what can I utter that is not foretold?\nAll things are graven before Thee\n on a written Reminder\n for everlasting ages,\nand for the numbered cycles\n of the eternal years\n in all their seasons;\nthey are not hidden or absent from Thee.\n\nWhat shall a man say\n concerning his sin?\nAnd how shall he plead\n concerning his iniquities?\nAnd how shall he reply\n to righteous judgement?\nFor Thine, O God of knowledge,\n are all righteous deeds\n and the counsel of truth;\nbut to the sons of men is the work of inquity\n and deeds of deceit.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
218
\nHymns (1QH) 4. 22b\u201340<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clinging to Thee, I will stand.\nI will rise against those who despise me\n and my hand shall be turned\n against those who deride me;\nfor they have no esteem for me\n <\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n[that Thou mayest]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
manifest Thy might through me.\nThou hast revealed Thyself to me in Thy power\n as perfect Light,\n and Thou hast not covered my face with shame.\nAll those who are gathered in Thy Covenant\n inquire of me,\nand they hearken to me who walk in the way of Thy heart,\n who array themselves for Thee\n in the Council of the holy.\nThou wilt cause their law to endure for ever\n and truth to go forward unhindered,\nand Thou wilt not allow them to be led astray\n by the hand of the damned\n when they plot against them.\nThou wilt put the fear of them into Thy people\n and (wilt make of them) a hammer\n to all the peoples of the lands,\nthat at the Judgement they may cut off\n all those who transgress Thy word.\n\nThrough me Thou hast illumined\n the face of the Congregation\n and hast shown Thine infinite power.\nFor Thou hast given me knowledge\n through Thy marvellous mysteries,\nand hast shown Thyself mighty within me\n in the midst of Thy marvellous Council.\nThou hast done wonders before the Congregation\n for the sake of Thy glory,\nthat they may make known Thy mighty deeds\n to all the living.\nBut what is flesh (to be worthy) of this?\nWhat is a creature of clay\n for such great marvels to be done,\nwhereas he is in iniquity from the womb\n and in guilty unfaithfulness until his old age?\nRighteousness, I know, is not of man,*\n nor is perfection of way of the son of man:*\nto the Most High God belong all righteous deeds.\nThe way of man is not established\n except by the spirit which God created for him\n to make perfect a way for the children of men,\nthat all His creatures might know\n the might of His power,\nand the abundance of His mercies\n towards all the sons of His grace.\n\nAs for me, shaking and trembling seize me\n and all my bones are broken;\nmy heart dissolves like wax before fire\n and my knees are like water\n pouring down a steep place.\nFor I remember my sins\n and the unfaithfulness of my fathers.\nWhen the wicked rose against Thy Covenant\n and the damned against Thy word,\nI said in my sinfulness,\n \u2018I am forsaken by Thy Covenant.\u2019\nBut calling to mind the might of Thy hand\n and the greatness of Thy compassion,\nI rose and stood,\n and my spirit was established\n in face of the scourge.\nI lean on Thy grace\n and on the multitude of Thy mercies,\nfor Thou wilt pardon iniquity,\n and through Thy righteousness\n [Thou wilt purify man] of his sin.\nNot for his sake wilt Thou do it,\n <\/p>\n\n\n
[but for the sake of Thy glory]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
.\nFor Thou hast created the just and the wicked \u2026\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
219
\nHymns (1QH) 6. 29\u201335<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then at the time of Judgement\n the Sword of God shall hasten,\nAnd all the sons of His truth shall awake\n to [overthrow] wickedness;\nall the sons of iniquity shall be no more.\nThe Hero* shall bend his bow;\nthe fortress shall open on to endless space\nand the everlasting gates shall send out weapons of war.\nThey shall be mighty\n from end to end [of the earth\nand there shall be no escape]\n for the guilty of heart [in their battle];\nthey shall be utterly trampled down\n without any [remnant.\nThere shall be no] hope\n in the greatness [of their might],\n no refuge for the mighty warriors;\nfor [the battle shall be] to the Most High God\n\n\u2026\nHoist a banner,\n O you who lie in the dust!\nO bodies gnawed by worms,\n raise up an ensign for [the destruction of wickedness]!\n[The sinful shall] be destroyed\n in the battles against the ungodly.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n220
\nHymns (1QH) 11. 3\u201314<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I thank Thee, my God,\n for Thou hast dealt wondrously to dust,\n and mightily towards a creature of clay!\nI thank Thee, I thank Thee!\n\nWhat am I, that Thou shouldst [teach] me\n the counsel of Thy truth,\nand give me understanding\n of Thy marvellous works;\nthat Thou shouldst lay hymns of thanksgiving\n within my mouth\n and [praise] upon my tongue,\nand that of my circumcised lips\n (Thou shouldst make) a seat of rejoicing?\n\nI will sing Thy mercies,\n and on Thy might I will meditate all day long.\nI will bless Thy name evermore.\nI will declare thy glory in the midst of the sons of men\n and my soul shall delight in Thy great goodness.\nI know that Thy word is truth,\n and that righteousness is in Thy hand;\nthat all knowledge is in thy purpose,\n and that all power is in Thy might,\n and that every glory is Thine.\n\nIn Thy wrath are all chastisements,\n but in Thy goodness is much forgiveness\n and Thy mercy is towards the sons of thy goodwill.\nFor thou hast made known to them\n the counsel of Thy truth,\nand hast taught them Thy marvellous mysteries.\n\nFor the sake of thy glory\n Thou hast purified man of sin\nthat he may be made holy for Thee,\n with no abominable uncleanness\n and no guilty wickedness;\nthat he may be one [with] the children of Thy truth\n and partake of the lot of Thy Holy Ones;\nthat bodies gnawed by worms may be raised from the dust*\n to the counsel [of Thy truth],\nand that the perverse spirit (may be lifted)\n to the understanding [which comes from Thee];\nthat he may stand before Thee\n with the everlasting host\n and with [Thy] spirits [of holiness],\nto be renewed together with all the living\n and to rejoice together with them that know.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nBiblical Exegesis<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The interpretation of the Old Testament was of vital importance to the Qumran sect, for two reasons. In the first place, it had to show that its understanding of Torah, over against that of the authorities in Jerusalem, from whom it had separated, was correct. In the second place, it had to show that the words of the prophets had truly been fulfilled in its own history, that the members of the sect were the elect to whom the promises had been made and in, for, and among whom they were being fulfilled. It is especially this latter necessity that brings Qumran exegesis close to early Christian exegesis, for the Christians also believed not only that they were correct interpreters of Scripture but that they had witnessed the fulfilment of Scripture in Christ and continued to witness its fulfilment in themselves and in their experience.
\nThe most characteristic term used in interpreting the Old Testament is p\u0113sher (\u05e4\u05e9\u05e8). \u2018This word occurs once only in the Old Testament (Eccles. 8:1), and does not appear to have been used by the rabbis as a technical exegetical term. The Aramaic equivalent is hardly more common. There is no doubt that the general meaning is interpretation, but only from the context can the method and manner of the interpretation be determined. A separate p\u0113sher is supplied for each small unit of text. Paragraphs are not interpreted as wholes, though it occasionally happens that clauses are combined in defiance of the original connection (or lack of it). Continuity is thus provided not by the original sense and context, but by the new historical context into which the biblical material is introduced and in terms of which it is explained. Within the several units of text the allegorical method is used in order to apply the passage quoted to its new historical setting. The use of allegory is a fairly clear indication that the commentator has in fact begun with historical circumstances, and convictions regarding them, known to himself, and has imposed them on his text.\u2019 (The Cambridge History of the Bible I (1970), pp. 388f.)
\nThere follows here the whole of what remains (apart from a few lines too broken to be worth quoting) of the Qumran commentary on Habakkuk. It seemed better to give one extended piece of exegesis than to pick out passages from a number of texts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
221
\nCommentary on Habakkuk (1 QpHab)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[Behold the nations and see, marvel and be astonished; for I accomplish a deed in your days but you will not believe it when] told (Hab. 1:5).
\n [Interpreted, this concerns] those who were unfaithful together with the Liar,* in that they [did] not [listen to the word received by] the Teacher of Righteousness* from the mouth of God. And it concerns the unfaithful of the New [Covenant] in that they have not believed in the Covenant of God [and have profaned] His holy Name. And likewise, this saying is to be interpreted [as concerning those who] will be unfaithful at the end of days. They, the men of violence and the breakers of the Covenant, will not believe when they hear all that [is to happen to] the final generation from the Priest [in whose heart] God set [understanding] that he might interpret all the words of His servants the Prophets, through whom he foretold all that would happen to His people and [His land].
\n For behold, I rouse the Chaldeans, that [bitter and hasty] nation (1:6a).
\n Interpreted, this concerns the Kittim [who are] quick and valiant in war, causing many to perish. [All the world shall fall] under the dominion of the Kittim,* and the wicked \u2026 they shall not believe in the laws of [God \u2026]
\n Who march through the breadth of the earth to take possession of dwellings which are not their own<\/a>.
\n \u2026 they shall march across the plain, smiting and plundering the cities of the earth. For it is as He said, To take possession of dwellings which are not their own.
\n They are fearsome and terrible; their justice and grandeur proceed from themselves (1:7).
\n Interpreted, this concerns the Kittim who inspire all the nations with fear [and dread]. All their evil plotting is done with intention and they deal with all the nations in cunning and trickery.
\n Their horses are swifter than leopards and fleeter than evening wolves. Their horses step forward proudly and spread their wings; they fly from afar like an eagle avid to devour. All of them come for violence; the look on their faces is like the east wind (1:8\u20139a).
\n [Interpreted, this] concerns the Kittim who trample the earth with their horses and beasts. They come from afar, from the islands of the sea, to devour all the peoples like an eagle which cannot be satisfied, and they address [all the peoples] with anger and [wrath and fury] and indignation. For it is as He said, The look on their faces is like the east wind.
\n \u2026
\n They scoff [at kings], and princes are their laughing-stock (1:10a).
\n Interpreted, this means that they mock the great and despise the venerable; they ridicule kings and princes and scoff at the mighty host.
\n They laugh at every fortress; they pile up earth and take it (1:10b).
\n Interpreted, this concerns the commanders of the Kittim who despise the fortresses of the peoples and laugh at them in derision. To capture them, they encircle them with a mighty host, and out of fear and terror they deliver themselves into their hands. They destroy them because of the sins of their inhabitants.
\n The wind then sweeps on and passes; and they make of their strength their god (1:11).
\n Interpreted, [this concerns] the commanders of the Kittim who, on the counsel of [the] House of Guilt, pass one in front of the other; one after another [their] commanders come to lay waste the earth. [And they make] of their strength their god: interpreted, this concerns [\u2026 all] the peoples \u2026
\n [Art Thou not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, my Holy One? We shall not die.] Thou hast ordained them, [O Lord], for judgement; Thou hast established them, O Rock, for chastisement. Their eyes* are too pure to behold evil; and Thou canst not look on distress (1:12\u201313a).
\n Interpreted, this saying means that God will not destroy His people by the hand of the nations; God will execute the judgement of the nations by the hand of his elect. And through their chastisement all the wicked of His people shall expiate their guilt who keep His commandments in their distress. For it is as He said, Too pure of eyes to behold evil: interpreted, this means that they have not lusted after their eyes during the age of wickedness.
\n O traitors, why do you stare and stay silent when the wicked swallows up one more righteous than he? (1:13b).
\n Interpreted, this concerns the House of Absalom* and the members of its council who were dumb at the time of the chastisement of the Teacher of Righteousness* and gave him no help against the Liar who flouted the Law in the midst of the whole [congregation].
\n Thou dealest with men like the fish of the sea, like crawling creatures, to rule over them. They draw [them all up with a fish-hook], and drag them out with their net, and gather them in [their seine. Therefore they sacrifice] to their net. Therefore they rejoice [and exult and burn incense to their seine; for by them] their portion is fat and their sustenance rich<\/a>.
\n \u2026 the Kittim and they shall gather in their riches, together with all their booty, like the fish of the sea. And as for that which He said, Therefore they sacrifice to their net and burn incense to their seine: interpreted, this means that they sacrifice to their standards and worship their weapons of war. For through them their portion is fat and their sustenance rich: interpreted, this means that they divide their yoke and their tribute\u2014their sustenance\u2014over all the peoples year by year, ravaging many lands.
\n Therefore their sword is ever drawn to massacre nations mercilessly (1:17).
\n Interpreted, this concerns the Kittim who cause many to perish by the sword\u2014youths, grown men, the aged, women and children\u2014and who even take no pity on the fruit of the womb.
\n I will take my stand to watch and will station myself upon my fortress. I will watch to see what He will say to me and how [He will answer] my complaint. And the Lord answered [and said to me, \u2018Write down the vision and make it plain] upon the tablets, that [he who reads] may read it speedily\u2019 (2:1\u20132).
\n \u2026 and God told Habakkuk to write down that which would happen to the final generation, but He did not make known to him when time would come to an end. And as for that which He said, That he who reads may read it speedily, interpreted this concerns the Teacher of Righteousness, to whom God made known all the mysteries* of the words of His servants the Prophets.
\n For there shall be yet another vision concerning the appointed time. It shall tell of the end and shall not lie (2:3a).
\n Interpreted, this means that the final age shall be prolonged, and shall exceed all that the prophets have said; for the mysteries of God are astounding.
\n If it tarries, wait for it, for it shall surely come and shall not be late (2:3b).
\n Interpreted, this concerns the men of truth who keep the Law, whose hands shall not slacken in the service of truth when the final age is prolonged. For all the ages of God reach their appointed end as He determines for them in the mysteries of His wisdom.
\n Behold, [his soul] is puffed up and is not upright (2:4a).
\n Interpreted, this means that [the wicked] shall double their guilt upon themselves [and it shall not be forgiven] when they are judged \u2026
\n But the righteous shall live by his faith<\/a>.
\n Interpreted, this concerns all those who observe the Law in the House of Judah, whom God will deliver from the House of Judgement because of their suffering and because of their faith in* the Teacher of Righteousness.
\n Moreover, the arrogant man seizes wealth without halting. He widens his gullet like Hell and like Death he has never enough. All the nations are gathered to him and all the peoples are assembled to him. Will they not all of them taunt him and jeer at him saying, \u2018Woe to him who amasses what does not belong to him! How long will he load himself up with pledges?\u2019 (2:5\u20136).
\n Interpreted, this concerns the Wicked Priest who was called by the name of truth when he first arose. But when he ruled over Israel his heart became proud, and he forsook God and betrayed the precepts for the sake of riches. He robbed and amassed the riches of the men of violence who rebelled against God, and he took the wealth of the peoples, heaping sinful iniquity upon himself. And he lived in the ways of abominations amidst every unclean defilement.
\n Shall not your oppressors suddenly arise and your torturers awaken; and shall you not become their prey? Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you (2:7\u20138a).
\n [Interpreted, this concerns] the Priest who rebelled [and violated] the precepts [of God \u2026 to command] his chastisement by means of the judgements of wickedness. And they inflicted horrors of evil diseases and took vengeance upon his body of flesh. And as for that which He said, Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you, interpreted this concerns the last Priests* of Jerusalem, who shall amass money and wealth by plundering the peoples. But in the last days, their riches and booty shall be delivered into the hands of the army of the Kittim, for it is they who shall be the remnant of the peoples.
\n Because of the blood of men and the violence done to the land, to the city, and to all its inhabitants (2:8b).
\n Interpreted, this concerns the Wicked Priest whom God delivered into the hands of his enemies because of the iniquity committed against the Teacher of Righteousness and the men of his Council, that he might be humbled by means of a destroying scourge, in bitterness of soul, because he had done wickedly to His elect.
\n Woe to him who gets evil profit for his house; who perches his nest high to be safe from the hand of evil! You have devised shame to your house; by cutting off many peoples you have forfeited your own soul. For the [stone] cries out [from] the wall [and] the beam from the woodwork replies (2:9\u201311).
\n [Interpreted, this] concerns the [Priest] who \u2026 that its stones might be laid in oppression and the beam of its woodwork in robbery. And as for that which He said, By cutting off many peoples you have forfeited your own soul, interpreted this concerns the condemned House whose judgement God will pronounce in the midst of many peoples. He will bring him thence for judgement and will declare him guilty in the midst of them, and will chastise him with fire of brimstone.
\n Woe to him who builds a city with blood and founds a town upon falsehood! Behold, is it not from the Lord of Hosts that the peoples shall labour for fire and the nations shall strive for naught? (2:12\u201313).
\n Interpreted, this concerns the Spouter of Lies* who led many astray that he might build his city of vanity with blood and raise a congregation on deceit, causing many thereby to perform a service of vanity for the sake of its glory, and to be pregnant with [works] of deceit, that their labour might be for nothing and that they might be punished with fire who vilified and outraged the elect of God.
\n For as the waters cover the sea, so shall the earth be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord (2:14).
\n Interpreted, [this means that] when they return \u2026 the lies. And afterwards, knowledge shall be revealed to them abundantly, like the waters of the sea.
\n Woe to him who causes his neighbours to drink; who pours out his venom to make them drunk that he may gaze on their feasts! (2:15).
\n Interpreted, this concerns the Wicked Priest who pursued the Teacher of Righteousness* to the house of his exile that he might confuse him with his venomous fury. And at the time appointed for rest, for the Day of Atonement, he appeared before them to confuse them, and to cause them to stumble on the Day of Fasting, their Sabbath of repose.*
\n You have filled yourself with ignominy more than with glory. Drink also, and stagger! The cup of the Lord\u2019s right hand shall come round to you and shame shall come on your glory (2:16).
\n Interpreted, this concerns the priest whose ignominy was greater than his glory. For he did not circumcise the foreskin of his heart, and he walked in the ways of drunkenness that he might quench his thirst. But the cup of the wrath of God shall confuse him, multiplying his \u2026 and the pain of \u2026
\n [For the violence done to Lebanon shall overwhelm you, and the destruction of the beasts] shall terrify you, because of the blood of men and the violence done to the land, the city, and all its inhabitants (2:17).
\n Interpreted, this saying concerns the Wicked Priest, inasmuch as he shall be paid the reward which he himself tendered to the poor. For Lebanon is the Council of the Community; and the beasts are the Simple of Judah who keep the Law. As he himself plotted the destruction of the Poor, so will God condemn him to destruction. And as for that which He said, Because of the blood of the city and the violence done to the land: interpreted, the city is Jerusalem where the Wicked Priest committed abominable deeds and defiled the temple of God. The violence done to the land: these are the cities of Judah where he robbed the Poor of their possessions.
\n Of what use is an idol that its maker should shape it, a molten image, a fatling of lies? For the craftsman puts his trust in his own creation when he makes dumb idols (2:18).
\n Interpreted, this saying concerns all the idols of the nations which they make so that may serve and worship them. But they shall not deliver them on the Day of Judgement.
\n Woe [to him who says] to wood, \u2018Awake\u2019, and to dumb [stone, \u2018Arise\u2019! Can such a thing give guidance? Behold, it is covered with gold and silver but there is no spirit within it. But the Lord is in His holy Temple]: let all the earth be silent before Him! (2:19\u201320).
\n Interpreted, this concerns all the nations which serve stone and wood. But on the Day of Judgement, God will destroy from the earth all idolatrous and wicked men.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe War<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One considerable text in the Qumran library is devoted to \u2018the war of the sons of light against the sons of darkness\u2019. It is such as to raise the question whether it refers to a literal war about to be fought with material weapons by Qumranite Jews against Gentiles and renegade (that is, non-Qumranite) Jews, or a spiritual conflict, a \u2018wrestling not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers\u2019, the last stand of the spiritual forces of darkness before the establishing of the rule of God. It is probably fair to say that the question thus put is mis-stated. What are expressed as alternatives were probably seen as opposite sides of the same coin. The supreme adversary of God and his people is the devil, and spiritual conflict there must be before the devil is overthrown and God is seen to be victorious. But the devil has human agents and they must be dealt with on their own terms, and if they have swords, spears, and shields, the people of God must have swords, spears, and shields too. Thus there will be real, that is, military, fighting to do, but in it the Qumranite soldier will have complete confidence in God who wins his own spiritual victory and enables his troops to win theirs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
222
\nWar Rule (1 QM) 1. 1\u201312a<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the M[aster. The Rule of] War on the unleashing of the attack of the sons of light against the company of the sons of darkness, the army of Satan: against the band of Edom, Moab,* and the sons of Ammon, and [against the army of the sons of the East and] the Philistines, and against the bands of the Kittim of Assyria and their allies the ungodly of the Covenant.*
\n The sons of Levi, Judah, and Benjamin, the exiles in the desert, shall battle against them in \u2026 all their bands when the exiled sons of light return from the Desert of the Peoples to camp in the Desert of Jerusalem; and after the battle they shall go up from there (to Jerusalem?).
\n [The king] of the Kittim [shall enter] into Egypt, and in his time he shall set out in great wrath to wage war against the kings of the north, that his fury may destroy and cut off the horn of [the nations].
\n This shall be a time of salvation for the people of God, an age of dominion for all the members of His company, and of everlasting destruction for all the company of Satan. The confusion of the sons of Japheth shall be [great] and Assyria shall fall unsuccoured. The dominion of the Kittim shall come to an end and iniquity shall be vanquished, leaving no remnant; [for the sons] of darkness there shall be no escape. [The seasons of righteous]ness shall shine over all the ends of the earth; they shall go on shining until all the seasons of darkness are consumed and, at the season appointed by God,* His exalted greatness shall shine eternally to the peace, blessing, glory, joy, and long life of all the sons of light.
\n On the day when the Kittim fall, there shall be battle and terrible carnage before the God of Israel, for that shall be the day appointed from ancient times for the battle of destruction of the sons of darkness. At that time, the assembly of gods and the hosts of men shall battle, causing great carnage; on the day of calamity, the sons of light shall battle with the company of darkness amid the shouts of a mighty multitude and the clamour of gods and men to (make manifest) the might of God. And it shall be a time of [great] tribulation for the people which God shall redeem; of all its afflictions none shall be as this, from its sudden beginning until its end in eternal redemption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
223
\nWar Rule (1 QM) 5. 3\u20136.17<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rule for the ordering of the battle divisions* to complete a front formation when their host had reached its full number
\n The formation shall consist of one thousand men ranked seven lines deep, each man standing behind the other.
\n They shall all hold shields of bronze burnished like mirrors. The shield shall be edged with an interlaced border and with inlaid ornament, a work of art in pure gold and silver and bronze and precious stones, a many-coloured design worked by a craftsman. The length of the shield shall be two and a half cubits and its width one and a half cubits.
\n In their hands they shall hold a spear and a sword. The length of the spear shall be seven cubits, of which the socket and spike shall measure half a cubit. The socket shall be edged with three embossed interlaced rings of pure gold and silver and bronze, a work of art. The inlaid ornaments on both edges of the ring shall be bordered with precious stones\u2014a many-coloured design worked by a craftsman\u2014and (embossed) with ears of corn. Between the rings, the socket shall be embossed with artistry like a pillar. The spike shall be made of brilliant white iron, the work of a craftsman; in its centre, pointing towards the tip, shall be ears of corn in pure gold.
\n The swords shall be made of pure iron refined by the smelter and blanched to resemble a mirror, the work of a craftsman; on both sides (of their blades) pointing towards the tip, figured ears of corn shall be embossed in pure gold, and they shall have two straight borders on each side. The length of the sword shall be one and a half cubits and its width four fingers. The width of the scabbard shall be four thumbs. There shall be four palms to the scabbard (from the girdle), and it shall be attached (to the girdle) on both sides for a length of five palms (?). The hilt of the sword shall be pure horn worked by a craftsman, with a many-coloured design in gold and silver and precious stones \u2026
\n \u2026 seven times and shall return to their positions.
\n And after them, three divisions of foot-soldiers shall advance and shall station themselves between the formations, and the first division shall hurl seven javelins of war towards the enemy formation. On the point of the javelins they shall write, Shining Javelin of the Power of God; and on the darts of the second division they shall write, Bloody Spikes to bring down the Slain by the Wrath of God; and on the javelins of the third division they shall write, Flaming Blade to devour the Wicked struck down by the Judgement of God. All these shall hurl their javelins seven times and shall afterwards return to their positions.
\n Then two divisions of foot-soldiers shall advance and shall station themselves between the two formations. The first division shall be armed with a spear and a shield, and the second with a shield and a sword, to bring down the slain by the judgement of God, and to bend the enemy formation by the power of God, to pay the reward of their wickedness to all the nations of vanity. And sovereignty shall be to the God of Israel, and He shall accomplish mighty deeds by the saints of His people.
\n Seven troops of horsemen shall also station themselves to right and to left of the formation; their troops shall stand on this (side) and on that, seven hundred horsemen on one flank and seven hundred horsemen on the other. Two hundred horsemen shall advance with the thousand men of the formation of foot-soldiers; and they shall likewise station themselves on both [flanks] of the camp. Altogether there shall be four thousand six hundred (men), and one thousand cavalrymen with the men of the army formations, fifty to each formation. The horsemen, together with the cavalry of the army, shall number six thousand; five hundred to each tribe.
\n The horses advancing into battle with the foot-soldiers shall all be stallions; they shall be swift, sensitive of mouth, and sound of wind, and of the required age, trained for war, and accustomed to noise and to every (kind of) sight. Their riders shall be gallant fighting men and skilled horsemen, and their age shall be from thirty to forty-five years. The horsemen of the army shall be from forty to fifty years old. They [and their mounts shall wear breast-plates,] helmets, and greaves; they shall carry in their hands bucklers, and a spear [eight cubits] long. [The horsemen advancing with the foot-soldiers shall carry] bows and arrows and javelins of war. They shall all hold themselves prepared \u2026 of God and to spill the blood of the wicked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
224
\nWar Rule (1 QM) 11. 1\u201312. 18<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Truly, the battle is Thine!* Their bodies are crushed by the might of Thy hand and there is no man to bury them.
\n Thou didst deliver Goliath of Gath, the mighty warrior, into the hands of David Thy servant, because in place of the sword and in place of the spear he put his trust in Thy great Name; for Thine is the battle. Many times, by Thy great Name, did he triumph over the Philistines. Many times hast Thou also delivered us by the hand of our kings through Thy lovingkindness, and not in accordance with our works by which we have done evil, nor according to our rebellious deeds.
\n Truly the battle is Thine and the power from Thee! It is not ours. Our strength and the power of our hands accomplish no mighty deeds except by Thy power and by the might of Thy great valour. This Thou hast taught us from ancient times, saying, A star shall come out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel. He shall smite the temples of Moab and destroy all the children of Sheth. He shall rule out of Jacob and shall cause the survivors of the city to perish. The enemy shall be his possession and Israel shall accomplish mighty deeds (Num. 24:17\u201319).
\n By the hand of Thine anointed,* who discerned Thy testimonies, Thou hast revealed to us the [times] of the battles of Thy hands that Thou mayest glorify Thyself in our enemies by levelling the hordes of Satan, the seven nations of vanity, by the hand of Thy poor whom Thou hast redeemed [by Thy might] and by the fulness of Thy marvellous power. (Thou hast opened) the door of hope to the melting heart: Thou wilt do to them as Thou didst to Pharaoh, and to the captains of his chariots in the Red Sea. Thou wilt kindle the downcast of spirit and they shall be a flaming torch in the straw to consume ungodliness and never to cease till iniquity is destroyed.
\n From ancient times Thou hast fore [told the hour] when the might of Thy hand (would be raised) against the Kittim, saying, Assyria shall fall by the sword of no man, the sword of no mere man shall devour him (Isa. 31:8). For Thou wilt deliver into the hands of the poor the enemies from all the lands, to humble the mighty of the peoples by the hand of those bent to the dust, to bring upon the [head of Thine enemies] the reward of the wicked, and to justify Thy true judgement in the midst of all the sons of men, and to make for Thyself an everlasting Name among the people [whom Thou hast redeemed] \u2026 of battles to be magnified and sanctified in the eyes of the remnant of the peoples, that they may know \u2026 when Thou chastisest Gog* and all his assembly gathered about him \u2026
\n For Thou wilt fight with them from heaven \u2026 For the multitude of the Holy Ones [is with Thee] in heaven, and the host of the Angels is in Thy holy abode, praising Thy Name. And Thou hast established in [a community] for Thyself the elect of Thy holy people. [The list] of the names of all their host is with Thee in the abode of Thy holiness; [the reckoning of the saints] is in Thy glorious dwelling-place. Thou hast recorded for them, with the graving-tool of life, the favours of [Thy] blessings and the Covenant of Thy peace, that Thou mayest reign [over them] for ever and ever and throughout all the eternal ages. Thou wilt muster the [hosts of] thine [el]ect, in their Thousands and Myriads, with Thy Holy Ones [and with all] Thine Angels that they may be mighty in battle, [and may smite] the rebels of the earth by Thy great judgements, and that [they may triumph] together with the elect of heaven.
\n For Thou art [terrible], O God, in the glory of Thy kingdom, and the congregation of Thy Holy Ones is among us for everlasting succour. We will despise kings, we will mock and scorn the mighty; for our Lord is holy, and the King of Glory is with us together with the Holy Ones. Valiant [warriors] of the angelic host are among our numbered men, and the Hero of war is with our congregation; the host of His spirits is with our foot-soldiers and horsemen. [They are as] clouds, as clouds of dew (covering) the earth, as a shower of rain shedding righteousness on all that grows on the earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rise up, O Hero!\nLead off Thy captives, O Glorious One!\nGather up Thy spoils, O Author of Mighty deeds!\nLay Thine hand on the neck of Thine enemies\n and Thy feet on the pile of the slain!\nSmite the nations, Thine adversaries,\n and devour the flesh of the sinner with Thy sword!\nFill thy land with glory\n and Thine inheritance with blessing!\nLet there be a multitude of cattle in Thy fields,\n and in Thy palaces silver and gold and precious stones!\n\nO Zion, rejoice greatly!\nO Jerusalem, show thyself amidst jubilation!\nRejoice, all you cities of Judah;\nkeep your gates ever open\n that the hosts of the nations\n may be brought in!\n\nTheir kings shall serve you\n and all your oppressors shall bow down before you;\n <\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n[they shall lick]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the dust [of your feet]. Shout for joy, [O daughters of] my people! Deck yourselves with glorious jewels and rule over [the kingdoms of the nations! Sovereignty shall be to the Lord] and everlasting dominion to Israel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
10 Philo<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Philo is the only Jew contemporary with the origins of Christianity who is well known to us from his own writings. The dates of his birth and death cannot be given with precision, but his life must have covered approximately the period 20 BC\u2013AD 45. During the greater part of this time he seems to have lived quietly in Alexandria. He was wealthy and belonged to one of the leading Jewish families in Alexandria; in his old age he was employed in an important mission on behalf of his fellow-countrymen; see 48, 149. The rest of his life was, so far as we know, uneventful; and it is certain that the production of his extensive philosophical works must have required a good deal of learned leisure. There is however no reason to doubt that Philo was sufficiently acquainted with at least the religious activities of his fellow-Jews in Alexandria. For his account of the Essenes and Therapeutae see 136\u20137.
\nIt is in his writings, not his life, that the interest of Philo for the student of early Christianity lies. These fall roughly into two parts. One set of treatises is devoted to an allegorical and homiletical exposition, discursive but, within the limits of Philo\u2019s methods, systematic, of a considerable part of the Greek text of Genesis. In substance, Philo\u2019s ideas are often far removed from his biblical text, but formally he offers us here a solid piece of verse by verse exegesis. The other set of treatises is less homogeneous, and less closely bound to the text of Scripture. It contains biographies (for example, of Moses); books on particular Old Testament laws (for example, the Decalogue); more strictly philosophical writings, and two historical works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Philo\u2019s Faithfulness to the Law<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Philo, as a philosophical writer, made much use of non-Jewish material; yet, unlike some Hellenistic Jews, he never ceased to be a Jew, and to maintain the strict observance of the national laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
225
\nDe Migratione Abrahami 89\u201393<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are some* who, regarding laws in their literal sense in the light of symbols of matters belonging to the intellect,* are overpunctilious about the latter, while treating the former with easy-going neglect. Such men I for my part should blame for handling the matter in too easy and off-hand a manner: they ought to have given careful attention to both aims, to a more full and exact investigation of what is not seen and in what is seen to be stewards without reproach. As it is, as though they were living alone by themselves in a wilderness, or as though they had become disembodied souls, and knew neither city nor village nor household nor any company of human beings at all, overlooking all that the mass of men regard, they explore reality in its naked absoluteness. These men are taught by the sacred word* to have thought for good repute, and to let go nothing that is part of the customs fixed by divinely empowered men greater than those of our time.
\n It is quite true that the Seventh Day is meant to teach the power of the Unoriginate* and the non-action of created beings. But let us not for this reason abrogate the laws laid down for its observance, and light fires or till the ground or carry loads or institute proceedings in court or act as jurors or demand the restoration of deposits or recover loans, or do all else that we are permitted to do as well on days that are not festival seasons. It is true also that the Feast* is a symbol of gladness of soul and of thankfulness to God, but we should not for this reason turn our backs on the general gatherings of the year\u2019s seasons. It is true that receiving circumcision* does indeed portray the excision of pleasure and all passions, and the putting away of the impious conceit, under which the mind supposed that it was capable of begetting by its own power: but let us not on this account repeal the law laid down for circumcising. Why, we shall be ignoring the sanctity of the Temple* and a thousand other things, if we are going to pay heed to nothing except what is shown us by the inner meaning of things. Nay, we should look on all these outward observances as resembling the body, and their inner meanings as resembling the soul. It follows that, exactly as we have to take thought for the body, because it is the abode of the soul, so we must pay heed to the letter of the laws. If we keep and observe these, we shall gain a clearer conception of those things of which these are the symbols; and besides that we shall not incur the censure of the many* and the charges they are sure to bring against us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His Philosophical Eclecticism<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps more influential in Philo\u2019s day than any strongly marked philosophical system was the eclectic method which was fostered by the mixing of nations and the flux of ideas in the early Empire. Platonism, Stoicism, and Neo-Pythagoreanism contributed complementary elements to the general intellectual atmosphere of the time; they can hardly be regarded as rivals for the whole-hearted allegiance of thinking men. Philo, with no great discrimination, selects from his knowledge of pagan thought any argument that will serve his turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PLATONISM<\/p>\n\n\n\n
226
\nDe Opificio Mundi 15f.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[Philo is writing of the first day of creation.] We must recount as many as we can of the elements embraced in it. To recount them all would be impossible. Its pre-eminent element is the intelligible world,* as is shown in the treatise dealing with the \u2018One\u2019.* For God, being God, assumed that a beautiful copy would never be produced apart from a beautiful pattern, and that no object of perception would be faultless which was not made in the likeness of an original discerned only by the intellect. So when he willed to create this visible world he first fully formed the intelligible world, in order that he might have the use of a pattern wholly God-like and incorporeal* in producing the material world, as a later creation, the very image of an earlier, to embrace in itself objects of perception of as many kinds as the other contained objects of intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
227
\nLegum Allegoriae i. 70\u20133<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this paragraph Philo describes the soul as threefold, a division thoroughly Platonic; cf. Plato, Timaeus 69C, Republic iv. 439D. He proceeds with a mythical picture of the chariot of the soul which is taken directly from Phaedrus 246ff., while the location of the various faculties in parts of the body is borrowed from Timaeus 69E, 90A, though it is not without parallels in the psychological language of the Old Testament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[Philo is allegorizing the rivers of Gen. 2:10\u201314.] It is worth* inquiring why courage is mentioned in the second place, self-mastery in the third, and prudence in the first, and why he has not set forth a different order of the virtues. We must observe, then, that our soul is threefold, and has one part that is the seat of reason, another that is the seat of high spirit, and another that is the seat of desire. And we discover that the head is the place and abode of the reasonable part, the breast of the passionate part, the abdomen of the lustful part; and that to each of the parts a virtue proper to it has been attached; prudence to the reasonable part, for it belongs to reason to have knowledge of the things we ought to do and of the things we ought not; courage to the passionate part; and self-mastery to the lustful part. For it is by self-mastery that we heal and cure our desires. As, then, the head is the first and highest part of the living creature, the breast the second, and the abdomen the third, and again of the soul the reasoning faculty is first, the high-spirited second, the lustful third: so too of the virtues, first is prudence which has its sphere in the first part of the soul which is the domain of reason, and in the first part of the body, namely the head; and second is courage, for it has its seat in high spirit, the second part of the soul, and in the breast, the corresponding part of the body; and third self-mastery, for its sphere of action is the abdomen, which is of course the third part of the body, and the lustful faculty, to which has been assigned the third place in the soul.
\n \u2018The fourth river\u2019, he says, \u2018is Euphrates\u2019. \u2018Euphrates\u2019 means \u2018fruitfulness\u2019,* and is a figurative name for the fourth virtue, justice, a virtue fruitful indeed and bringing gladness to the mind. When, then, does it appear? When the three parts of the soul are in harmony. Harmony for them is the dominance of the more excellent; for instance, when the two, the high-spirited and the lustful, are guided by the reasoning faculty as horses by their driver, then justice emerges; for it is justice for the better to rule always and everywhere, and for the worse to be ruled: and the reasoning faculty is better, the lustful and the high-spirited the inferior. Whenever, on the other hand, high spirit and desire turn restive and get out of hand, and by the violence of their impetus drag the driver, that is the reason, down from his seat and put him under the yoke, and each of these passions gets hold of the reins, injustice prevails. For it cannot but be that owing to the badness and want of skill of the driver, the team is swept down precipices and gullies, just as by experience and skill it must needs be brought safely through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
STOICISM<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Much of Philo\u2019s ethical teaching, and from time to time his anthropology also, shows clear traces of Stoic origins. The passages printed below are perhaps even more significant, for they show the interpretation of a fundamental element of Judaism\u2014Law\u2014in terms of a fundamental concept of Stoicism, Nature, the vital and regulative power of the universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
228
\nDe Opificio Mundi 3, 8f.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His exordium* is one that excites our admiration in the highest degree. It consists of an account of the creation of the world, implying that the world is in harmony with the Law, and the Law with the world, and that the man who observes the Law is constituted thereby a loyal citizen of the world,* regulating his doings by the purpose and will of Nature,* in accordance with which the entire world itself also is administered.\u2026
\n Moses,* both because he had attained the very summit of philosophy, and because he had been divinely instructed in the greater and most essential part of Nature\u2019s lore, could not fail to recognize that the universal must consist of two parts, one part active Cause and the other passive object;* and that the active Cause is the perfectly pure and unsullied Mind* of the universe, transcending virtue, transcending knowledge, transcending the good itself and the beautiful itself; while the passive part is in itself incapable of life and motion, but, when set in motion and shaped and quickened by Mind, changes into the most perfect masterpiece, namely this world. Those who assert that this world is unoriginate unconsciously eliminate that which of all incentives to piety is the most beneficial and the most indispensable, namely providence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NEO-PYTHAGOREANISM<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Philo\u2019s indebtedness to this school of thought is perhaps less deep than his relation to Platonism and Stoicism, which seem to have affected the substance of his thinking. But from time to time at least the form of his writing has been moulded by Neo-Pythagorean methods; note especially his fantastic discussions of the significance of numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
229
\nDe Opificio Mundi 99f.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[Philo is discussing the significance of the number 7.] So august is the dignity inherent by nature in the number 7, that it has a unique relation distinguishing it from all the other numbers within the decade: for of these some beget without being begotten,* some are begotten but do not beget, some do both these, both beget and are begotten: 7 alone is found in no such category. We must establish this assertion by giving proof of it. Well then, I begets all the subsequent numbers while it is begotten by none whatever: 8 is begotten by twice 4, but begets no number within the decade: 4 again holds the place of both, both of parents and of offspring; for it begets 8 by being doubled, and is begotten by twice 2. It is the nature of 7 alone, as I have said, neither to beget nor to be begotten. For this reason other philosophers liken this number to the motherless and virgin Nike, who is said to have appeared out of the head of Zeus, while the Pythagoreans liken it to the chief of all things: for that which neither begets nor is begotten remains motionless;* for creation takes place in movement, since there is movement both in that which begets and in that which is begotten, in the one that it may beget, in the other that it may be begotten. There is only one thing that neither causes motion nor experiences it, the original Ruler and Sovereign. Of him 7 may be fitly said to be a symbol. Evidence of what I say is supplied by Philolaus* in these words: \u2018There is, he says, a supreme Ruler of all things, God, ever One, abiding, without motion, himself [alone] like unto himself, different from all others\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
EPICUREANISM<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Philo\u2019s objection to the Epicurean philosophy see the next passage, 230.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Allegorical Method<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It has already been pointed out that one of Philo\u2019s principal aims was to read the doctrines of Hellenistic religious philosophy out of the canonical documents of Judaism. This could hardly be the easiest of tasks, since the doctrines Philo wished to find were not contained in the sources in which he sought them. They existed in Philo\u2019s mind, and the means by which he transferred them from their place of origin to the place where he hoped to find them was Allegory.
\nAllegorical exegesis, which was by no means confined to Judaism, was widely practised in the Hellenistic age. It arose partly out of the undoubted fact that some of the earlier philosophers had written with intentional obscurity; partly out of the longing of somewhat enervated minds for the authority of the great ones of the past; and partly out of the conviction that philosophy was superior to narrative, and that the reputation of Homer and other poets must be salvaged by finding hidden meanings in their sometimes all too vulgar stories. When Philo wished to fashion the Old Testament into something its authors had not intended, the allegorical tool lay ready to hand; and it must be admitted that he used it with skill, and that sometimes the results are pleasing and effective, though quite unconvincing as exegesis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
230
\nDe Posteritate Caini 1\u201311<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018And Cain went out from the face of God, and dwelt in the land of Naid, over against Eden\u2019 (Gen. 4:6). Let us here raise the question whether in the books in which Moses acts as God\u2019s interpreter we ought to take his statements figuratively,* since the impression made by the words in their literal sense is greatly at variance with truth. For if the Existent Being has a face, and he that wishes to quit its sight can with perfect ease remove elsewhere, what ground have we for rejecting the impious doctrines of Epicurus,* or the atheism of the Egyptians,* or the mythical plots of play and poem of which the world is full? For a face is a piece of a living creature, and God is a whole not a part, so that we shall have to assign to him the other parts of the body as well, neck, breasts, hands, feet, to say nothing of the belly and genital organs, together with the innumerable inner and outer organs. And if God has human forms and parts, he must needs also have human passions and experiences. For in the case of these organs, as in all other cases, Nature has not made idle superfluities, but aids to the weakness of those furnished with them. And she adjusts to them, according to their several needs, all that enables them to render their own special services and ministries. But the Existent Being* is in need of nothing, and so, not needing the benefit that parts bestow, can have no parts at all.
\n And whence does Cain \u2018go out\u2019? From the palace of the Lord of all? But what dwelling apparent to the senses could God have, save this world, for the quitting of which no power or device avails? For all created things are enclosed and kept within itself by the circle of the sky. Indeed the particles of the deceased break up into their original elements and are again distributed to the various forces of the universe out of which they were constituted, and the loan which was lent to each man is repaid, after longer or shorter terms, to Nature his creditor, at such time as she may choose to recover what she herself had lent.
\n Again he that goes out from someone is in a different place from him whom he leaves behind. [If, then, Cain goes out from God], it follows that some portions of the universe are bereft of God. Yet God has left nothing empty or destitute of himself, but has completely filled all things.
\n Well, if God has not a face, transcending as he does the peculiarities that mark all created things; if he is to be found not in some particular part only, seeing that he contains all and is not himself contained by anything; if it is impossible for some part of this world to remove from it as from a city, seeing that nothing has been left over outside it; the only thing left for us to do is to make up our minds that none of the propositions put forward is literally intended and to take the path of figurative interpretation so dear to philosophical souls.* Our argument must start in this way. If it is a difficult thing to remove out of sight of a mortal monarch, must it not be a thousandfold more difficult to quit the vision of God and be gone, resolved henceforth to shun the sight of him; in other words to become incapable of receiving a mental picture of him through having lost the sight of the soul\u2019s eye? Men who have suffered this loss under compulsion, overwhelmed by the force of an inexorable power, deserve pity rather than hatred. But those who have of their own free choice turned away and departed from the Existent Being, transcending the utmost limit of wickedness itself\u2014for no evil could be found equivalent to it\u2014these must pay no ordinary penalties, but such as are specially devised and far beyond the ordinary. Now no effort of thought could hit upon a penalty greater and more unheard of than to go forth into banishment from the Ruler of the Universe.
\n Adam, then, is driven out by God; Cain goes out voluntarily.* Moses is showing us each form of moral failure, one of free choice, the other not so. The involuntary act, not owing its existence to our deliberate judgment, is to obtain later on such healing as the case admits of, \u2018for God shall raise up another seed in place of Abel whom Cain slew\u2019 (Gen. 4:25). This seed is a male offspring, Seth or \u2018Watering\u2019, raised up to the soul whose fall did not originate in itself. The voluntary act, inasmuch as it was committed with forethought and of set purpose, must incur woes for ever beyond healing. For even as right actions that spring from previous intention are of greater worth than those that are involuntary, so, too, among sins those which are involuntary are less weighty than those which are voluntary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Etymological Arguments<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These should perhaps be regarded as a special case of allegory. The question whether they reveal ignorance or knowledge of Hebrew is hardly capable of an answer. The etymologies are often very fanciful, and quite incorrect, but so sometimes are those of the Rabbis, who undoubtedly knew Hebrew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
231
\nDe Abrahamo 81ff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What has been said is attested by the alteration and change in his name, for his original name was Abram, but afterwards he was addressed as Abraham* [Greek, Abraam]. To the ear there was but the duplication of one letter, alpha, but in fact and in the truth conveyed this duplication showed a change of great importance. Abram is by interpretation \u2018uplifted father\u2019;* Abraham, \u2018elect father of sound\u2019.* The former signifies one called astrologer* and meteorologist, one who takes care of the Chaldean tenets as a father would of his children. The latter signifies the Sage, for he uses \u2018sound\u2019 as a figure for spoken thought* and \u2018father\u2019 for the ruling mind, since the inward thought is by its nature father of the uttered, being senior to it, the secret begetter of what it has to say. \u2018Elect\u2019 signifies the man of worth, for the worthless character is random and confused, while the good is elect, chosen out of all for his merits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Philo\u2019s Doctrine of the Logos and other intermediate Beings<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To speak of Philo\u2019s \u2018doctrine\u2019 of the Logos is certainly misleading if by doctrine is meant an articulated and thoroughly thought-out system. The background of his thought, and therefore the thought itself, is not simple. The Logos played a considerable part in the Stoic account of the universe (see p. 65), and there can be no doubt that Philo writes under the influence of Stoic ideas. Not that these can be defined with precision: the Stoics speak of a \u03bb\u03cc\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2 \u03c3\u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03cc\u03c2 (seminal reason) which is the life-giving, constitutive factor in all existence, through which alone plants, animals and men have the life proper to them; they speak also of a \u03bb\u03cc\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2 \u1f10\u03bd\u03b4\u03b9\u03ac\u03b8\u03b5\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 (immanent reason; see above) and a \u03bb\u03cc\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2 \u03c0\u03c1\u03bf\u03c6\u03bf\u03c1\u03b9\u03ba\u03cc\u03c2 (expressed reason; see above). These last may belong to God (so far as the Stoic system may be said to have a God), or to men. Men themselves think, and may express their thought to others; and it is this very faculty that relates them to God (or the universe). This Stoic Logos, then, is a quasi-physical principle of life, which is capable of being crystallized into concrete expressions of life. There is also, however, a Platonic element in Philo\u2019s use of Logos, which comes to particularly clear expression in the account of creation at de Opif. M. 24f., where the thought is as follows. When man surveys the physical universe there rises to his mind the thought of an ideal universe, of which the phenomenal world is but a copy. This ideal universe is called the \u03ba\u03cc\u03c3\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2 \u03bd\u03bf\u03b7\u03c4\u03cc\u03c2 (since it exists in the mind, \u03bd\u03bf\u1fe6\u03c2). But, Philo urges, this ideal universe has an existence prior to our thought of it; it is in fact the thought of the divine mind which was before the creation of the visible world and was the means by which the visible world was made. This \u2018archetypal seal\u2019 (\u1f00\u03c1\u03c7\u03ad\u03c4\u03c5\u03c0\u03bf\u03c2 \u03c3\u03c6\u03c1\u03b1\u03b3\u03af\u03c2) may be called \u1f41 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03b8\u03b5\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03bb\u03cc\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2, the Logos of God. In this identification Philo was no doubt influenced by the biblical cosmogony, in which creation is effected by the powerful word (or speech) of God. Here Philo\u2019s thought is in close contact with Jewish speculation about Wisdom; see pp. 298\u2013303.
\nThe passage now to be quoted is one of very many; it is perhaps more biblical than most of Philo\u2019s references to the Logos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
232
\nQuis Rerum divinarum Heres? 205f.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To his Word, his chief messenger,* highest in age and honour, the Father of all has given the special prerogative, to stand on the border* and separate the creature from the Creator. This same Word both pleads with the immortal as suppliant* for afflicted mortality and acts as ambassador of the ruler to the subject. He glories in this prerogative and proudly describes it in these words \u2018and I stood between the Lord and you\u2019,* that is neither uncreated as God, nor created as you, but midway between the two extremes, a surety to both sides; to the parent, pledging the creature that it should never altogether rebel against the rein and choose disorder rather than order; to the child, warranting his hopes that the merciful God will never forget his own work. For \u2018I am the harbinger of peace to creation from that God whose will is to bring wars to an end, who is ever the guardian of peace.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Logos is not the only intermediate being in Philo\u2019s view of the universe. Subordinate to him there are also the Powers (\u03b4\u03c5\u03bd\u03ac\u03bc\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2). If it is difficult to make precise statements about the personality and functions of the Logos it is impossible to make them about the Powers. They are partly personifications of divine attributes, partly emanations from God\u2019s being; but they derive substance, as it were, from the common belief of antiquity in angels and demons.
\n In the following passage Philo allegorizes the narrative (Gen. 18) of the three travellers entertained by Abraham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
233
\nDe Abrahamo 119\u201322<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here we may leave the literal exposition and begin the allegorical.* Spoken words contain symbols of things apprehended by the understanding only. When, then, as at noontide God shines around the soul, and the light of the mind fills it through and through and the shadows are driven from it by the rays which pour all around it, the single object presents to it a triple vision,* one representing the reality, the other two the shadows reflected from it. Our life in the light which our senses perceive gives us a somewhat similar experience, for objects standing or moving often cast two shadows at once. No one, however, should think that the shadows can be properly spoken of as God. To call them so is loose speaking, serving merely to give a clearer view of the fact which we are explaining, since the real truth is otherwise. Rather, as anyone who has approached nearest to the truth would say, the central place is held by the Father of the Universe, who in the sacred scriptures is called he that IS* as his proper name, while on either side of him are the senior potencies, the nearest to him, the creative and the kingly. The title of the former is God, since it made and ordered the All; the title of the latter is Lord,* since it is the fundamental right of the maker to rule and control what he has brought into being. So the central Being with each of his potencies as his squire presents to the mind which has vision the appearance sometimes of one, sometimes of three: of one, when that mind is highly purified and passing beyond not merely the multiplicity of other numbers, but even the dyad which is next to the unit, presses on to the ideal form which is free from mixture and complexity, and being self-contained needs nothing more; of three, when, as yet uninitiated into the highest mysteries,* it is still a votary of the minor rites and unable to apprehend the Existent alone by itself and apart from all else, but only through its actions, as either creative or ruling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Philo\u2019s own Religion and Ethics<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is possible to criticize Philo\u2019s theology and philosophy, especially on grounds of consistency; but it is impossible to mistake the sincere piety without which none of his works would have been written. Moral exhortation is thrown out on page after page of his works, and it would be difficult to illustrate in short compass the Stoic-Jewish ethics which were the guide of his life. It must be sufficient to quote two passages which illustrate, first, the ideal of humble dependence upon God which is certainly the noblest contribution Philo makes to the history of religion, and, second, the moments of ecstatic illumination which brought him into communion with God and inspired his literary activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
234
\nQuis Rerum divinarum Heres? 24\u20139<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[Philo is interpreting Gen. 15:2.] He who says, \u2018Master, what wilt thou give me?\u2019 virtually says no less than this, \u2018I am not ignorant of thy transcendent sovereignty; I know the terrors of thy power; I come before thee in fear and trembling, and yet again I am confident. For thou hast vouchsafed to bid me fear not; thou hast given me a tongue of instruction that I should know when I should speak (Isa. 50:4), my mouth that was knitted up thou has unsewn, and when thou hadst opened it, thou didst strengthen its nerves for speech; thou hast taught me to say what should be said, confirming the oracle \u201cI will open thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt speak\u201d (Exod. 4:12). For who was I, that thou shouldst impart speech to me, that thou shouldst promise me something which stood higher in the scale of goods than \u201cgift\u201d or grace, even a \u201creward\u201d? Am I not a wanderer from my country, an outcast from my kinsfolk, an alien from my father\u2019s house? Do not all men call me excommunicate, exile, desolate, disfranchised? But thou, Master, art my country, my kinsfolk, my paternal hearth, my franchise, my free speech, my great and glorious and inalienable wealth. Why then shall I not take courage to say what I feel? Why shall I not inquire of thee and claim to learn something more? Yet I, who proclaim my confidence, confess in turn my fear and consternation, and still the fear and confidence are not at war within me in separate camps, as one might suppose, but are blended in a harmony. I find then a feast which does not cloy in this blending, which has schooled my speech to be neither bold without caution, nor cautious without boldness. For I have learnt to measure my own nothingness, and to gaze with wonder on the transcendent heights of thy loving-kindnesses. And when I perceive that I am earth or cinders or whatever is still more worthless, it is just then that I have confidence to come before thee, when I am humbled, cast down to the clay, reduced to such an elemental state, as seems not even to exist.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
235
\nDe Migratione Abrahami 34f.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I feel no shame in recording my own experience, a thing I know from its having happened to me a thousand times. On some occasions, after making up my mind to follow the usual course of writing on philosophical tenets, and knowing definitely the substance of what I was to set down, I have found my understanding incapable of giving birth to a single idea, and have given it up without accomplishing anything, reviling my understanding for its self-conceit, and filled with amazement at the might of him that IS to whom is due the opening and closing of the soul-wombs. On other occasions, I have approached my work empty and suddenly become full, the ideas falling in a shower from above and being sown invisibly, so that under the influence of the divine possession I have been filled with corybantic frenzy and been unconscious of anything, place, persons present, myself, words spoken, lines written. For I obtained language, ideas, an enjoyment of light, keenest vision, pellucid distinctness of objects, such as might be received through the eyes as the result of clearest shewing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, an attempt may be made to show briefly some of the evidence on which it has been held that Philo constructed out of Judaism a sort of mystery religion (see Chapter 6). There are not a few passages in which Philo makes wholesale use of language drawn from the mystery cults. The following is representative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
236
\nDe Cherubin 48f.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These thoughts, ye initiated,* whose ears are purified, receive into your souls as holy mysteries indeed and babble not of them to any of the profane. Rather as stewards guard the treasure in your own keeping, not where gold and silver, substances corruptible, are stored, but where lies that most beautiful of all possessions, the knowledge of the Cause and of virtue, and, besides these two, of the fruit which is engendered by them both. But, if ye meet with any of the initiated, press him closely, cling to him, lest knowing of some still newer secret he hide it from you; stay not till you have learnt its full lesson. I myself was initiated under Moses the God-beloved into his greater mysteries,* yet when I saw the prophet Jeremiah* and knew him to be not only himself enlightened, but a worthy minister of the holy secrets,* I was not slow to become his disciple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Philo\u2019s own view of the pagan mysteries was not likely to cause him to produce a rival to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
237
\nDe Specialibus Legibus i. 319f.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He banishes* from the sacred legislation the lore of occult rites and mysteries and all such imposture and buffoonery. He would not have those who were bred in such a commonwealth as ours take part in mummeries and clinging on to mystic fables despise the truth and pursue things which have taken night and darkness for their province, discarding what is fit to bear the light of day. Let none, therefore, of the followers and disciples of Moses either confer or receive initiation to such rites. For both in teacher and taught such action is gross sacrilege. For tell me,* ye mystics, if these things are good and profitable, why do you shut yourselves up in profound darkness and reserve their benefits for three or four alone, when by producing them in the midst of the market-place you might extend them to every man and thus enable all to share in security a better and happier life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11 Josephus<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Josephus the son of Matthias, a Jew of Palestine, was born shortly after the Crucifixion and lived till about the end of the first century. He lived through, and participated in, the great revolt and war of AD 66\u201370, and had the unusual privilege of seeing them from both the Jewish and the Roman side. He makes much (see below) of his distinguished ancestry and of his personal gifts; and the latter indeed were not small. He wrote the history of his people from the Creation to his own times, and, though it is not free from faults, his story is one of the most valuable ancient records extant. He defended his race and his religion against attack, and was in fact one of the first apologists. There is no doubt that in his literary compositions he received assistance, especially in the writing of Greek, which was not his native tongue; and it is equally certain that his actions were sometimes guided by the motives of self-preservation rather than by loyalty to his cause. But the historian of the first century before and the first century after Christ may well be grateful to Josephus both for his personal observation and for the, often important, sources he incorporates.
\nThe extant works of Josephus are:
\n1 The Jewish War. This work was originally written, immediately after the close of the war, in Aramaic, for the inhabitants of Upper Syria (War i. 3). Its aim was to urge upon these orientals the futility of further conflict with Rome, a piece of propaganda no doubt emanating from Josephus\u2019s Roman patrons (see below, 241). Later an expanded version was drawn up in Greek, with the aid of literary assistants.
\n2 The Antiquities of the Jews. This much longer book, which begins with a paraphrase of the biblical narrative of creation, carries the history of the Jews from the earliest times up to the period of the War. It was published c. AD 93\u20134. It is possible to distinguish in it the work of several different assistants, who must have put Josephus\u2019s material into shape.
\n3 The Life. This autobiography seems to have been added to a second edition of the Antiquities (see Ant. xx. 259, 266f.). It was written in reply to a rival history, drawn up by Justus of Tiberias, who not only claimed that his history was superior to all others, Josephus\u2019s included, but also made allegations against Josephus himself. Josephus replies by recapitulating his version of the story. It appears incidentally (Life 359f.) that Justus\u2019s history, and therefore also the Life, was not written till after AD 100.
\n4 Against Apion. This book of Jewish apologetics was written because Josephus found that the Antiquities was discredited by reason of the calumnies which certain persons were spreading about the Jews. Josephus makes a reply to this anti-semitic propaganda, writing, probably, in the first years of the second century.
\n5 There are indications that Josephus wrote, or intended to write, several other works, but not even fragments of them survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biographical Material<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It has already been indicated that we possess materials for a long and detailed life of Josephus. Here only the following essential points may be brought out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
238
\nLife 7\u201312<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Distinguished as he was by his noble birth,* my father Matthias was even more esteemed for his upright character, being among the most notable men in Jerusalem, our greatest city. Brought up with Matthias, my own brother by both parents, I made great progress in my education, gaining a reputation for an excellent memory and understanding. While still a mere boy, about fourteen years old, I won universal applause* for my love of letters; insomuch that the chief priests and leading men of the city used constantly to come to me for precise information on some particular of our ordinances. At about the age of sixteen I determined to gain personal experience of the several sects* into which our nation is divided. These, as I have frequently mentioned, are three in number\u2014the first that of the Pharisees, the second that of the Sadducees, and the third that of the Essenes. I thought that, after a thorough investigation, I should be in a position to select the best. So I submitted myself to hard training and laborious exercises and passed through the three courses. Not content, however, with the experience thus gained, on hearing of one named Bannus,* who dwelt in the wilderness, wearing only such clothing as trees provided, feeding on such things as grew of themselves, and using frequent ablutions of cold water, by day and night, for purity\u2019s sake, I became his devoted disciple. With him I lived for three years and, having accomplished my purpose, returned to the city. Being now in my nineteenth year I began to govern my life by the rules of the Pharisees, a sect having points of resemblance to that which the Greeks call the Stoic school.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Josephus was not quite thirty his career was interrupted by the outbreak of the Jewish war, in AD 66. Both in the War and in the Life he gives a detailed account of the part he played\u2014and according to his own narrative it was a prominent one\u2014in the campaigns, first on the one side, then on the other. He was soon entrusted with an important mission to Galilee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
239
\nLife 28f.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the defeat of Cestius,* already mentioned, the leading men in Jerusalem, observing that the brigands and revolutionaries* were well provided with arms, feared that, being without weapons themselves, they might be at the mercy of their adversaries, as in fact eventually happened. Being informed, moreover, that the whole of Galilee had not yet revolted from Rome, and that a portion of it was still tranquil, they dispatched me with two other priests,* Joazar and Judas, men of excellent character, to induce the disaffected to lay down their arms and to impress upon them the desirability of reserving these for the picked men of the nation. The latter, such was the policy determined on, were to have their weapons constantly in readiness for future contingencies, but should wait and see what action the Romans would take.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Josephus\u2019s activity as a Jewish general, though skilful and resourceful (as he tells us), did not last long. He was besieged in Jotapata (a town in Galilee); and in spite of his successful use of many stratagems, the town was captured by the Romans. Josephus and a few others escaped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
240
\nWar iii. 392\u2013408<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having thus survived both the war with the Romans* and that with his own friends,* Josephus was brought by Nicanor into Vespasian\u2019s* presence. The Romans all flocked to see him, and from the multitude crowding around the general arose a hubbub of discordant voices: some exulting at his capture, some threatening, some pushing forward to obtain a nearer view. The more distant spectators clamoured for the punishment of their enemy, but those close beside him recalled his exploits and marvelled at such a reversal of fortune. Of the officers there was not one who, whatever his past resentment, did not then relent at the sight of him. Titus* in particular was specially touched by the fortitude of Josephus under misfortunes and by pity for his youth.* As he recalled the combatant of yesterday and saw him now a prisoner in his enemy\u2019s hands, he was led to reflect on the power of fortune, the quick vicissitudes of war, and the general instability of human affairs. So he brought over many Romans at the time to share his compassion for Josephus, and his pleading with his father was the main influence in saving the prisoner\u2019s life. Vespasian, however, ordered him to be guarded with every precaution, intending shortly to send him to Nero.*
\n On hearing this, Josephus expressed a desire for a private interview with him. Vespasian having ordered all to withdraw except his son Titus and two of his friends, the prisoner thus addressed him: \u2018You imagine, Vespasian, that in the person of Josephus you have taken a mere captive; but I come to you as a messenger of greater destinies. Had I not been sent on this errand by God, I knew the law of the Jews and how it becomes a general to die. To Nero do you send me? Why then? Think you that [Nero and] those who before your accession succeed him will continue? You will be Caesar,* Vespasian, you will be Emperor, you and your son here. Bind me then yet more securely in chains and keep me for yourself; for you, Caesar, are master not of me only, but of land and sea and the whole human race. For myself, I ask to be punished by stricter custody, if I have dared to trifle with the words of God.\u2019 To this speech Vespasian, at the moment, seemed to attach little credit, supposing it to be a trick of Josephus to save his life. Gradually, however, he was led to believe it, for God was already rousing in him thoughts of empire and by other tokens* foreshadowing the throne. He found, moreover, that Josephus had proved a veracious prophet in other matters. For one of the two friends present at the private interview remarked: \u2018If these words are not a nonsensical invention of the prisoner to avert the storm which he has raised, I am surprised that Josephus neither predicted the fall of Jotapata to its inhabitants nor his own captivity.\u2019 To this Josephus replied that he had foretold to the people of Jotapata that their city would be captured after forty-seven days and that he himself would be taken alive by the Romans. Vespasian, having privately questioned the prisoners on these statements and found them true, then began to credit those concerning himself. While he did not release Josephus from his custody or chains, he presented him with raiment and other precious gifts, and continued to treat him with kindness and solicitude, being warmly supported by Titus in these courtesies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In due course Josephus\u2019s prediction was fulfilled, and he was now secure in the imperial favour. He lived at Rome under the protection first of Vespasian, then of Titus. For some further information about the subsequent activities of Josephus see the short account of his literary works above. The following description of his career in Rome is given in the Life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
241
\nLife 422\u201330<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Titus had quelled the disturbances in Judaea, conjecturing that the lands which I held at Jerusalem would be unprofitable to me, because a Roman garrison was to be quartered there, he gave me another parcel of ground in the plain. On his departure for Rome, he took me with him on board, treating me with every mark of respect. On our arrival in Rome I met with great consideration from Vespasian. He gave me a lodging in the house which he had occupied before he became Emperor; he honoured me with the privilege of Roman citizenship; and he assigned me a pension. He continued to honour me up to the time of his departure from this life, without any abatement in his kindness towards me.
\n My privileged position excited envy and thereby exposed me to danger. A certain Jew, named Jonathan,* who had promoted an insurrection in Cyrene, occasioning the destruction of two thousand of the natives, whom he had induced to join him, on being sent in chains by the governor of the district to the Emperor, asserted that I had provided him with arms and money. Undeceived by this mendacious statement, Vespasian condemned him to death, and he was delivered over to execution. Subsequently, numerous accusations against me were fabricated by persons who envied me my good fortune; but, by the providence of God, I came safe through all. Vespasian also presented me with a considerable tract of land in Judaea.
\n At this period I divorced my wife, being displeased at her behaviour.* She had borne me three children, of whom two died; one, whom I named Hyrcanus, is still alive. Afterwards I married a woman of Jewish extraction who had settled in Crete. She came of very distinguished parents, indeed the most notable people in that country. In character she surpassed many of her sex, as her subsequent life showed. By her I had two sons, Justus the elder, and then Simonides, surnamed Agrippa. Such is my domestic history.
\n The treatment which I received from the Emperors continued unaltered. On Vespasian\u2019s decease Titus, who succeeded to the empire, showed the same esteem for me as did his father, and never credited the accusations to which I was constantly subjected. Domitian* succeeded Titus and added to my honours. He punished my Jewish accusers,* and for a similar offence gave orders for the chastisement of a slave, a eunuch and my son\u2019s tutor. He also exempted my property in Judaea from taxation\u2014a mark of the highest honour to the privileged individual. Moreover, Domitia, Caesar\u2019s wife, never ceased conferring favours upon me.
\n Such are the events of my whole life; from them let others judge as they will of my character.
\n Having now, most excellent Epaphroditus,* rendered you a complete account of our antiquities, I shall here for the present conclude my narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Josephus on John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, and James<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A small quantity of the valuable historical material given by Josephus appears in other parts of this book (see especially Chapter 7). It is unnecessary to give a further selection here, but it will be convenient to add his famous and important references to John the Baptist, Jesus, and James the Just.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
242
\nAntiquities xviii. 116\u201319<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Josephus\u2019s reference to the Baptist arises almost casually out of his account of the affairs of Herod Antipas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of the Jews thought that Herod\u2019s army had been destroyed by God* as a just punishment for his treatment of John called the Baptist.* Herod killed him,* though he was a good man and commanded the Jews to practise virtue,* by exercising justice towards one another and piety towards God, and to come together to baptism. For the baptism* would be acceptable to God if they used it, not for the putting away of certain sins, but for the purification of the body,* the soul having previously been cleansed by righteousness. Now when the rest* crowded together to him (for they were greatly moved by hearing his words) Herod was afraid lest John\u2019s great influence over the people might lead to a revolt; for they seemed ready to do anything he advised. He therefore thought it much the better course to anticipate any rebellion that might arise from him by destroying him, than be involved in difficulties through an actual revolution and then regret it. So John, a victim to Herod\u2019s suspicion, was sent to Machaerus* (the fortress metnioned above), and there killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
243
\nAntiquities xviii. 63f.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The authenticity of Josephus\u2019s reference to Jesus as it now stands is very questionable. The passage is found in all the MSS. of the Antiquities (but none of these is older than the eleventh century), and was known to Eusebius (fourth century); but Origen (first half of the third century) does not seem to have read it, at least in its present form, since he says plainly that Josephus did not believe Jesus to be the Christ. It does not however follow from this fact that the whole passage is spurious. It will be indicated in the notes that several clauses could not have been written by Josephus; but when these are removed there remains a notice of Jesus comparable with that of John the Baptist, a notice from which all messianic and eschatological claims have been suppressed. It is, moreover, possible that Christian omissions as well as Christian interpolations should be allowed for; Christian writers, adding material in praise of Jesus, may quite well have omitted what they thought derogatory to his person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About this time* arose Jesus, a wise man,* if indeed it be lawful to call him a man.* For he was a doer of wonderful deeds, and a teacher of men who gladly receive the truth. He drew to himself many both of the Jews and of the Gentiles.* He was the Christ;* and when Pilate, on the indictment of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross,* those who had loved him at the first did not cease to do so, for he appeared to them again alive on the third day, the divine prophets having foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things about him.* And even to this day the race of Christians,* who are named from him, has not died out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
244
\nAntiquities xx. 200<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like the reference to John the Baptist, Josephus\u2019s allusion to James the brother of Jesus arises out of his account of the political history of the time. It is repeated by Eusebius (HE II, xxiii. 22), who also cites in the same passage another paragraph which he (in company with Origen) attributes to Josephus but which is not in our MSS., and Hegesippus\u2019s, somewhat divergent, narrative of James\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ananus, therefore, being of this character,* and supposing that he had a favourable opportunity on account of the fact that Festus was dead, and Albinus* was still on the way, called together the Sanhedrin, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, the so-called Christ,* James by name, together with some others, and accused them of violating the law, and condemned them to be stoned.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Josephus as Apologist<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Jews were perhaps the most favoured and the most hated race in the Roman Empire. Their peculiarities led to incessant friction with other races, yet they also, unlike other nations, were constantly active in commending their religious practices to others. Their self-defence and their zeal for their faith led to a fairly considerable literary output, of which little remains to us. Philo (see Chapter 10) may be regarded as a propagandist at the higher level; he was a thinker concerned to show the unity of his own faith with the best of Greek philosophy, and to set it forth in terminology which the Greek mind could understand and accept. Josephus works at a lower level; he rebuts slanders, demonstrates the antiquity of his faith, and commends the piety and virtue which it engenders. The whole of the Antiquities is a kind of apology; but the work Against Apion shows him most clearly as an apologist. The following passages bring out characteristic arguments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
245
\nAgainst Apion i. 69\u201372<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Josephus introduces his argument for the antiquity of his race. The Egyptians reproached the Greeks as a youthful race; Josephus would show that the Jews were younger than neither of these peoples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suppose that we were to presume to dispute the antiquity of the Greek nation and to base our contention on the absence of any mention of them in our literature. Would they not undoubtedly laugh us to scorn? They would, I imagine, offer the very reasons which I have just given* for such silence, and produce the neighbouring nations as witnesses to their antiquity. Well, that is just what I shall endeavour to do. As my principal witnesses I shall cite the Egyptians* and Phoenicians,* whose evidence is quite unimpeachable; for the Egyptians, the whole race without exception, and among the Phoenicians the Tyrians, are notoriously our bitterest enemies. Of the Chaldaeans* I could not say the same, because they are the original ancestors of our race, and this blood-relationship accounts for the mention which is made of the Jews in their annals. After producing the evidence supplied by these nations, I shall then bring forward those Greek historians* who have spoken of the Jews, in order to deprive our jealous enemies of even this pretext for controversy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We may next take examples of the way in which Josephus rebuts slanders made against his people and their religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
246
\nAgainst Apion ii. 79\u201385<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am no less amazed at the proceedings of the authors who supplied him* with his materials, I mean Posidonius* and Apollonius Molon.* On the one hand they charge us with not worshipping the same gods as other people; on the other, they tell lies and invent absurd calumnies about our Temple, without showing any consciousness of impiety. Yet to high-minded men nothing is more disgraceful than a lie, of any description, but above all on the subject of a Temple of world-wide fame and commanding sanctity.
\n Within this sanctuary Apion has the effrontery to assert that the Jews kept an ass\u2019s head, worshipping that animal and deeming it worthy of the deepest reverence; the fact was disclosed, he maintains, on the occasion of the spoliation of the Temple by Antiochus Epiphanes,* when the head, made of gold and worth a high price, was discovered. On this I will first remark that, even if we did possess any such object, an Egyptian should be the last person to reproach us; for an ass is no worse than the cats, he-goats, and other creatures which in his country rank as gods. Next, how did it escape him that the facts convict him of telling an incredible lie? Throughout our history we have kept the same laws, to which we are eternally faithful. Yet, notwithstanding the various calamities which our city, like others, has undergone, when the Temple was occupied by successive conquerors, [Antiochus] the Pious,* Pompey the Great,* Licinius Crassus,* and most recently Titus Caesar,* they found there nothing of the kind, but the purest type of religion, the secrets of which we may not reveal to aliens. That the raid of Antiochus Epiphanes on the Temple was iniquitous, and that it was impecuniosity which drove him to invade it, when he was not an open enemy, that he attacked us, his allies and friends, and that he found there nothing to deserve ridicule; these facts are attested by many sober historians. Polybius of Megalopolis, Strabo the Cappadocian, Nicolas of Damascus, Timagenes, Castor the chronicler, and Apollodorus all assert that it was impecuniosity which induced Antiochus, in violation of his treaties with the Jews, to plunder the Temple with its stores of gold and silver. There is the evidence which Apion should have considered, had he not himself been gifted with the mind of an ass and the impudence of the dog, which his countrymen are wont to worship. An outsider can make no sense of his lies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
247
\nAgainst Apion ii. 91\u20136<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apion, who is here the spokesman of others, asserts that:
\n Antiochus* found in the Temple a couch, on which a man was reclining, with a table before him laden with a banquet of fish of the sea, beasts of the earth, and birds of the air, at which the poor fellow was gazing in stupefaction. The king\u2019s entry was instantly hailed by him with adoration, as about to procure him profound relief; falling at the king\u2019s knees, he stretched out his right hand and implored him to set him free. The king reassured him and bade him tell him who he was, why he was living there, what was the meaning of his abundant fare. Thereupon, with sighs and tears, the man, in a pitiful tone, told the tale of his distress. He said that he was a Greek and that, while travelling about the province for his livelihood, he was suddenly kidnapped by men of a foreign race and conveyed to the Temple; there he was shut up and seen by nobody, but was fattened on feasts of the most lavish description. At first these unlooked for attentions deceived him and caused him pleasure; suspicion followed, then consternation. Finally, on consulting the attendants who waited upon him, he heard of the unutterable law of the Jews, for the sake of which he was being fed. The practice was repeated annually at a fixed season. They would kidnap a Greek foreigner, fatten him up for a year, and then convey him to a wood, where they slew him, sacrificed his body with their customary ritual, partook of his flesh, and, while immolating the Greek, swore an oath of hostility to the Greeks.* The remains of their victim were then thrown into a pit. The man (Apion continues) stated that he had now but a few days left to live, and implored the king, out of respect for the gods of Greece, to defeat this Jewish plot upon his life-blood and to deliver him from his miserable predicament.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lastly we may hear Josephus at his best, extolling the religion and virtue practised among his fellow-countrymen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
248
\nAgainst Apion ii. 164\u201371<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is endless variety in the details of the customs and laws which prevail in the world at large. To give but a summary enumeration: some peoples have entrusted the supreme political power to monarchs, others to oligarchies, yet others to the masses. Our lawgiver, however, was attracted by none of these forms of polity, but gave to his constitution the form of what\u2014if a forced expression be permitted\u2014may be termed a \u2018theocracy\u2019* placing all sovereignty and authority in the hands of God. To him he persuaded all to look, as the author of all blessings, both those which are common to all mankind, and those which they had won for themselves by prayer in the crises of their history. He convinced them that no single action, no secret thought, could be hid from him. He represented him as one, uncreated and immutable to all eternity; in beauty surpassing all mortal thought, made known to us by his power, although the nature of his real being passes knowledge.
\n That the wisest of the Greeks learnt to adopt these conceptions of God from principles with which Moses supplied them,* I am not now concerned to urge; but they have borne abundant witness to the excellence of these doctrines, and to their consonance with the nature and majesty of God. In fact, Pythagoras, Anaxagoras, Plato, the Stoics who succeeded him, and indeed nearly all the philosophers appear to have held similar views concerning the nature of God. These, however, addressed their philosophy to the few, and did not venture to divulge their true beliefs to the masses who had their own preconceived opinions; whereas our lawgiver, by making practice square with precept, not only convinced his own contemporaries, but so firmly implanted this belief concerning God in their descendants to all future generations that it cannot be moved. The cause of his success was that the very nature of his legislation made it [always] far more useful than any other; for he did not make religion a department of virtue, but the various virtues\u2014I mean, justice, temperance, fortitude, and mutual harmony* in all things between the members of the community\u2014departments of religion.* Religion governs all our actions and occupations and speech; none of these things did our lawgiver leave unexamined or indeterminate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Josephus as Interpreter of Scripture<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Especially in his account of Jewish Antiquities (see above, p. 269) Josephus was obliged to make considerable use of the Old Testament, often paraphrasing it and thereby to some extent revealing the text in which he read it and the way he interpreted it. It is clear that he was able to read it in both Hebrew and Greek, and he claims to have been trained as a Pharisee; he must therefore have been familiar with early rabbinic exegesis. He does not use the Old Testament, as Philo did, in the manner of a philosopher and theologian; the following passages give some examples of the way in which he drew upon it for mainly historical purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
249
\nAntiquities i. 27\u201339<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning God created* the heaven and the earth. The earth had not come into sight, but was hidden in thick darkness, and a breath* from above sped over it, when God commanded that there should be light. It came, and, surveying the whole of matter, He divided the light from the darkness, calling the latter night and the former day, and naming morning and evening the dawn of the light and its cessation. This then should be the first day, but Moses spoke of it as \u2018one\u2019 day; I could explain why he did so now, but, having promised to render an account of the causes of everything in a special work,* I defer till then the explanation of this point also. After this, on the second day, He set the heaven above the universe, when He was pleased to sever this from the rest and to assign it a place apart, congealing ice about it and withal rendering it moist and rainy to give the benefit of the dews in a manner congenial to the earth. On the third day He established the earth, pouring around it the sea; and on the self-same day plants and seeds sprang forthwith from the soil. On the fourth He adorned the heaven with sun and moon and the other stars, prescribing their motions and courses to indicate the revolutions of the seasons. The fifth day He let loose in the deep and in the air the creatures that swim or fly, linking them in partnership and union to generate and to increase and multiply their kind. The sixth day He created the race of four-footed creatures, making them male and female: on this day also He formed man. Thus, so Moses tells us, the world and everything in it was made in six days in all; and on the seventh God rested and had respite from His labours, for which reason we also pass this day in respose from toil and call it the sabbath, a word which in the Hebrew language means \u2018rest\u2019.
\n And here, after the seventh day, Moses begins to interpret nature, writing on the formation of man in these terms: \u2018God fashioned man by taking dust from the earth and instilled into him spirit and soul.\u2019 Now this man was called Adam,* which in Hebrew signifies \u2018red\u2019, because he was made from the red earth* kneaded together; for such is the colour of the true virgin soil. And God brought before Adam the living creatures after their kinds, exhibiting both male and female, and gave them the names* by which they are still called to this day. Then seeing Adam to be without female partner and consort (for indeed there was none), and looking with astonishment at the other creatures who had their mates, He extracted one of his ribs while he slept and from it formed woman; and when she was brought to him Adam recognized that she was made from himself. In the Hebrew tongue woman is called essa;* but the name of that first woman was Eve, which signifies \u2018mother of all (living)\u2019.**
\n Moses further states that God planted eastward a park, abounding in all manner of plants, among them being the tree of life and another of the wisdom by which might be distinguished what was good and what was evil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
250
\nAntiquities iii. 83\u201392<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Such was their mood when suddenly Moses appeared, radiant and high-hearted. The mere sight of him rid them of their terrors and prompted brighter hopes for the future; the air too became serene and purged of its recent disturbances on the arrival of Moses. Thereupon he summoned the people to assembly to hear what God had said to him, and, when all were collected, he stood on an eminence whence all might hear him and \u2018Hebrews\u2019, said he, \u2018God, as of yore, has received me graciously and, having dictated for you rules for a blissful life and an ordered government, is coming Himself into the camp. In His name, then, and in the name of all that through Him has already been wrought for us, scorn not the words now to be spoken, through looking only on me, the speaker, or by reason that it is a human tongue that addresses you. Nay, mark but their excellence and ye will discern the majesty of Him who conceived them and, for your profit, disdained not to speak them to me. For it is not Moses, son of Amaram and Jochabad, but He who constrained the Nile to flow for your sake a blood-red stream and tamed with divers plagues the pride of the Egyptians, He who opened for you a path through the sea, He who caused meat to descend from heaven when ye were destitute, water to gush from the rock when ye lacked it, He thanks to whom Adam partook of the produce of land and sea, Noah escaped the deluge, Abraham our forefather passed from wandering to settle in the land of Canaan, He who caused Isaac to be born of aged parents, Jacob to be graced by the virtues of twelve sons, Joseph to become lord of the Egyptians\u2019 might\u2014He it is who favours you with these commandments, using me for interpreter. Let them be had by you in veneration: battle for them more jealously than for children and wives. For blissful will be your life, do ye but follow these: ye will enjoy a fruitful earth, a sea unvext by tempest, a breed of children born in nature\u2019s way, and ye will be redoubtable to your foes. For I have been admitted to a sight of God, I have listened to an immortal voice: such care hath He for our race and for its perpetuation.\u2019
\n That said, he made the people advance with their wives and children, to hear God speak to them of their duties, to the end that the excellence of the spoken words might not be impaired by human tongue in being feebly transmitted to their knowledge. And all heard a voice which came from on high to the ears of all, in such wise that not one of those ten words escaped them which Moses has left inscribed on the two tables. These words it is not permitted us to state explicitly, to the letter,* but we will indicate their purport.
\n The first word teaches us that God is one and that He only must be worshipped. The second commands us to make no image of any living creature for adoration, the third not to swear by God on any frivolous matter, the fourth to keep every seventh day by resting from all work, the fifth to honour our parents, the sixth to refrain from murder, the seventh not to commit adultery, the eighth not to steal, the ninth not to bear false witness, the tenth to covet nothing that belongs to another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
251
\nAntiquities viii. 111\u2013121<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the king had thus spoken to the crowd, he looked again toward the temple* and, raising his right hand up to heaven,* said, \u2018Not by deeds is it possible for men to return thanks to God for the benefits they have received, for the Deity stands in need of nothing* and is above any such recompense. But with that (gift of speech), O Lord, through which we have been made by Thee superior to other creatures, we cannot but praise Thy greatness and give thanks for Thy kindnesses to our house and the Hebrew people, for with what other thing is it more fitting for us to appease Thee when wrathful, and, when ill disposed, to make Thee gracious than with our voice,* which we have from the air, and know to ascend again through this element? And so, with my voice I render thanks to Thee, first for my father\u2019s sake, whom Thou didst raise from obscurity to such great glory, and next on my own behalf, for whom unto the present day Thou hast done all that Thou didst foretell. And I beseech Thee henceforth to grant whatever God has power to bestow on men esteemed by Thee, and to increase our house for ever, as Thou didst promise David, my father, both in his lifetime and when he was near death, saying that the kingship should remain among us and that his descendants should transmit it to numberless successors. These things, therefore, do Thou grant us, and to my sons give that virtue in which Thou delightest. Beside these things I entreat Thee also to send some portion of Thy spirit to dwell in the temple, that Thou mayest seem to us to be on earth as well.* For to Thee even the whole vault of heaven and all its host is but a small habitation\u2014how much less this poor temple! Nonetheless I pray Thee to guard it for ever from sacking by our enemies, as Thine own temple, and to watch over it as Thine own possession. And if ever the people sin and then because of their sin are smitten by some evil from Thee, by unfruitfulness of the soil or a destructive pestilence or any such affliction with which Thou visitest those who transgress any of the sacred laws, and if they all gather to take refuge in the temple, entreating Thee and praying to be saved, then do Thou hearken to them as though Thou wert within, and pity them and deliver them from their misfortunes. And this help I ask of Thee not alone for the Hebrews who may fall into error, but also if any come even from the ends of the earth or from wherever it may be and turn to Thee, imploring to receive some kindness, do Thou hearken and give it them. For so would all men know that Thou Thyself didst desire that this house should be built for Thee in our land, and also that we are not inhumane by nature nor unfriendly to those who are not of our country, but wish that all men equally should receive aid from Thee and enjoy Thy blessings.\u2019
\n Having spoken in these words, he threw himself upon the ground and did obeisance for a long time; then he arose and brought sacrifices to the altar, and, when he had heaped it with whole victims, he knew that God was gladly accepting the sacrifice, for a fire darted out of the air and, in the sight of all the people, leaped upon the altar and, seizing on the sacrifice, consumed it all. When this divine manifestation occurred, all the people supposed it to be a sign that God would thereafter dwell in the temple, and with joy they fell upon the ground and did obeisance. But the king began to bless God and urged the multitude to do the like, seeing that they now had tokens of God\u2019s good will toward them, and to pray that such would be His treatment of them always and that their minds might be kept pure from all evil as they continued in righteousness and worship and in observance of the commandments which God had given them through Moses; for thus would the Hebrew nation be happy and the most blessed of all the races of men. And he exhorted them to remember that in the same way in which they had acquired their present blessings they would also preserve them surely and would make them greater and more numerous. For, he said, they ought to realize that not only had they received them because of their piety and righteousness, but that they would also maintain them through these same qualities, and that it is not so great a thing for men to acquire something which they have not had before as to preserve what is given them and be guilty of nothing which may harm it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12 Septuagint and Targum<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What Christians call the Old Testament was and is the sacred book of the Jews. In antiquity many, perhaps most, Jews were able to read it in the Hebrew in which by far the greater part of it was written. There were however some who could not understand Hebrew, and for their benefit it was early translated into the two languages most widely used at and beyond the eastern end of the Mediterranean, Greek and Aramaic. The earliest Greek translation is known as the Septuagint on account of the tradition (see below) that it was made by seventy (two) translators. The tradition is in most respects false, although here and there it shows glimpses of what appears to be the truth. The Jewish community in Egypt, and particularly in Alexandria, was both numerous and influential (see 48, 148\u20139); and it was Greek-speaking. Probably as early as the second century BC this community felt the need of a version of its sacred books in what was its every-day tongue, the dialect of vernacular Greek current in those parts. The translation was made, and the tradition, though false, clearly reveals the popularity of the new text and the veneration in which it was held. It is not probable that the whole of the Old Testament was translated at the same time; first came the Pentateuch, next the prophets, and last the books that were the latest to be received into the Jewish canon. More books were in fact translated into Greek than were ultimately received and authorized in Hebrew; the excess of material which the LXX contains in comparison with the Hebrew Bible constitutes what are known as the Old Testament apocrypha.
\nThe importance of this book, which was the Bible of the apostolic Church, is beyond all exaggeration. In it the first Christians sought the prophecies that justified their interpretation of the life and death of Jesus, and sometimes the Greek text was more accommodating than the Hebrew. Thus Isa. 7:14 in Greek spoke of a virgin, while in Hebrew it spoke of a young woman who might well be married and bearing a child in the course of nature. Again, at Acts 15:16ff. James is represented as basing an argument upon a passage in Amos (9:11f.) as read in the LXX but not in the Hebrew text. Justin\u2019s Dialogue with Trypho illustrates the textual disputes which inevitably arose between Church and Synagogue. Even more significant however than this use of the LXX is the fact that the characteristic theological terminology of the New Testament can again and again be shown to rest, in great part, upon the usage of the LXX. That this should be so is not surprising, and is due not simply to the fact that the minds of many of the early Christian writers had been formed upon the LXX. They succeeded to a task in which the LXX translators had been pioneers. Jewish Christianity, like the parent religion, Judaism itself, was a Semitic faith maintaining and propagating itself in the Hellenistic world. Its basic thoughts, as well as their expression in language, had to be translated from one world into another, and the earliest Christian writers found their work in part done for them by those who had already adapted the Greek language to express the faith of the Old Testament.
\nIn the LXX a double interaction of Greek and Hebrew thought took place. On the one hand, Greek ideas were occasionally introduced into Old Testament passages which originally were innocent of them. The clearest example of this process is at Exod. 3:14, where \u05d0\u05d4\u05d9\u05d4 \u05d0\u05e9\u05e8 \u05d0\u05d4\u05d9\u05d4 (I am that I am; or, I will be that I will be) becomes \u1f10\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9 \u1f41 \u1f64\u03bd (I am the Self-Existent); in general it is confined to the removal of anthropomorphisms, e.g. Exod. 24:10, They saw the place where the God of Israel stood, for They saw the God of Israel. The extent to which Hebrew ideas were, on the other hand, read into Greek words that did not originally contain them is a matter of dispute and cannot be seriously discussed here. It must be remembered that whereas the modern student will work with both Hebrew and Greek texts open in front of him, the LXX came into being for the benefit of those who were unable to use the Hebrew. Thus when the student reading the LXX meets the word \u03bd\u03cc\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2, law, he will recall that it translates \u05ea\u05d5\u05e8\u05d4 (torah), which often means simply teaching, instruction, and will be likely to find this sense in the Greek word. But the ancient user of the LXX when he encountered the word \u03bd\u03cc\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2 would take it to mean\u2014\u03bd\u03cc\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2, law, though recollection of the contexts in which the word was used may have modified his understanding to some extent.
\nThe LXX is also a very important witness to the original text of the Old Testament.
\nA translation of the Old Testament into Aramaic is known as a Targum. In many synagogues the reading of Torah, and of the accompanying Haftarah, or prophetic lection, was followed by a translation into Aramaic, a targum made by a methurgeman. These renderings were in theory made ex tempore, but there is no doubt that translators found ways of reminding themselves on paper of suitable translations of difficult passages, and in due course written targums appeared. The oldest that we have is probably the Neofiti Targum; later are the Targum of Onqelos and the Targum of Pseudo-Jonathan. In addition there are the so-called Fragment Targum (fragments of a Palestinian Targum) and the fragments from the Cairo Geniza. These in their present form do not go further back than the third century AD, but they may contain much older traditional translations and interpretations, for on the whole the Targums are free renderings and contain extensive interpretative material.
\nIn addition to Greek and Aramaic the Old Testament was translated into other languages, notably Latin, Syriac, and Coptic. In the following paragraphs the linguistic and textual importance of the LXX will not be treated. First the tradition of the origin of the LXX will be illustrated and criticized; next, certain aspects of LXX thought and writing, not represented or only slightly represented in the Hebrew canon, will be presented. Some characteristic Targum passages will then be quoted. Of these the first two are taken from J. Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature (Cambridge 1969), the best introduction to the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Traditional Origin of the Septuagint<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The tradition regarding the origin of the LXX is given in the simplest and briefest form by Philo; it is given at great length in the so-called Epistle of Aristeas, of which a fairly extensive paraphrase and summary is given by Josephus (Ant. xii. 11\u2013118; cf. i. 10ff.; Against Apion ii. 45ff.), and alluded to by Aristobulus (apud Eusebius Praep. Ev. XIII, xii. 2). All these sources agree in ascribing the design of translating the Jewish Scriptures to the Alexandrian king Ptolemy Philadelphus, who ruled 283\u2013245 BC. Philo and Josephus wrote, of course, in the first century AD; the Epistle of Aristeas claims to have been written by a contemporary of the events it records; in fact it is undoubtedly pseudonymous, and was probably written between 140 and 100 BC. The passage in Philo runs as follows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
252
\nPhilo, de Vita Mosis ii. 26\u201342<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In ancient times the laws were written in the Chaldean tongue, and remained in that form for many years, without any change of language, so long as they had not yet revealed their beauty to the rest of mankind. But, in course of time, the daily, unbroken regularity of practice exercised by those who observed them brought them to the knowledge of others, and their fame began to spread on every side. For things excellent, even if they are beclouded for a short time through envy, shine out again under the benign operation of nature when their time comes. Then it was that some people, thinking it a shame that the laws should be found in one half only of the human race, the barbarians, and denied altogether to the Greeks, took steps to have them translated. In view of the importance and public utility of the task, it was referred not to private persons or magistrates, who were very numerous, but to kings, and amongst them to the king of highest repute. Ptolemy, surnamed Philadelphus, was the third in succession to Alexander, the conqueror of Egypt.\u2026
\n This great man,* having conceived an ardent affection for our laws, determined to have the Chaldean translated into Greek, and at once dispatched envoys to the high priest and king of Judaea, both offices being held by the same person,* explaining his wishes and urging him to choose by merit persons to make a full rendering of the Law into Greek. The high priest was naturally pleased, and, thinking that God\u2019s guiding care must have led the king to busy himself in such an undertaking, sought out such Hebrews as he had of the highest reputation,* who had received an education in Greek* as well as in their native lore, and joyfully sent them to Ptolemy. When they arrived, they were offered hospitality, and, having been sumptuously entertained,* requited their entertainer with a feast of words full of wit and weight. For he tested the wisdom of each by propounding for discussion new instead of the ordinary questions, which problems they solved with happy and well-pointed answers in the form of apophthegms, as the occasion did not allow of lengthy speaking.
\n After standing this test, they at once began to fulfil the duties of their high errand. Reflecting how great an undertaking it was to make a full version of the laws given by the voice of God, where they could not add or take away or transfer anything, but must keep the original form and shape, they proceeded to look for the most open and unoccupied spot in the neighbourhood outside the city. For, within the walls, it was full of every kind of living creatures, and consequently the prevalence of diseases and deaths, and the impure conduct of the healthy inhabitants, made them suspicious of it. In front of Alexandria lies the island of Pharos,* stretching with its narrow strip of land towards the city, and enclosed by a sea not deep but mostly consisting of shoals, so that the loud din and booming of the surging waves grows faint through the long distance before it reaches the land. Judging this to be the most suitable place in the district, where they might find peace and tranquillity and the soul could commune with the laws with none to disturb its privacy, they fixed their abode there; and, taking the sacred books, stretched them out towards heaven with the hands that held them, asking of God that they might not fail in their purpose. And he assented to their prayers, to the end that the greater part, or even the whole, of the human race might be profited and led to a better life by continuing to observe such wise and truly admirable ordinances.
\n Sitting here in seclusion with none present save the elements of nature, earth, water, air, heaven, the genesis of which was to be the first theme of their sacred revelation, for the laws begin with the story of the world\u2019s creation, they became as it were possessed, and, under inspiration, wrote, not each several scribe something different, but the same word for word,* as though dictated to each by an invisible prompter. Yet who does not know that every language, and Greek especially, abounds in terms, and that the same thought can be put in many shapes by changing single words and whole phrases and suiting the expression to the occasion? This was not the case, we are told, with this law of ours, but the Greek words used corresponded literally with the Chaldean, exactly suited to the things they indicated.\u2026 The clearest proof of this is that, if Chaldeans have learned Greek, or Greeks Chaldean, and read both versions, the Chaldean and the translation, they regard them with awe and reverence as sisters,* or rather one and the same, both in matter and words, and speak of the authors not as translators but as prophets and priests of the mysteries, whose sincerity and singleness of thought has enabled them to go hand in hand with the purest of spirits, the spirit of Moses.
\n Therefore, even to the present day, there is held every year a feast and general assembly* in the island of Pharos, whither not only Jews but multitudes of others cross the water, both to do honour to the place in which the light of that version first shone out, and also to thank God for the good gift so old yet ever young. But, after the prayers and thanksgivings, some fixing tents on the seaside and others reclining on the sandy beach in the open air feast with their relations and friends, counting that shore for the time a more magnificent lodging than the fine mansions in the royal precincts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only a small part of the long Epistle of Aristeas can be quoted here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
253
\nEpistle of Aristeas, 301\u201316<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three days later* Demetrius* took the men and passing along the seawall, seven stadia long, to the island, crossed the bridge and made for the northern districts [of Pharos].* There he assembled them in a house, which had been built upon the sea-shore, of great beauty and in a secluded situation, and invited them to carry out the work of translation, since everything that they needed for the purpose was placed at their disposal. So they set to work comparing their several results and making them agree, and whatever they agreed upon was suitably copied out under the direction of Demetrius. And the session lasted until the ninth hour; after this they were set free to minister to their physical needs. Everything they wanted was furnished for them on a lavish scale. In addition to this Dorotheus* made the same preparations for them daily as were made for the king himself\u2014for thus he had been commanded by the king. In the early morning they appeared daily at the Court, and after saluting the king went back to their own place. And as is the custom of all the Jews, they washed their hands* in the sea and prayed to God and then devoted themselves to reading and translating the particular passage [upon which they were engaged], and I put the question to them, Why it was that they washed their hands before they prayed? And they explained that it was a token that they had done no evil* (for every form of activity is wrought by means of the hands) since in their noble and holy way they regard everything as a symbol of righteousness and truth.
\n As I have already said, they met together daily in the place which was delightful for its quiet and its brightness and applied themselves to their task. And it so chanced that the work of translation was completed in seventy-two days,* just as if this had been arranged of set purpose.
\n When the work was completed, Demetrius collected together the Jewish population* in the place where the translation had been made, and read it over to all, in the presence of the translators, who met with a great reception also from the people, because of the great benefits which they had conferred upon them. They bestowed warm praise upon Demetrius, too, and urged him to have the whole law transcribed and present a copy to their leaders.
\n After the books had been read, the priests and the elders of the translators and the Jewish community and the leaders of the people stood up and said, that since so excellent and sacred and accurate a translation had been made, it was only right that it should remain as it was* and no alteration should be made in it. And when the whole community expressed their approval, they bade them pronounce a curse in accordance with their custom upon any one who should make any alteration either by adding anything or changing in any way whatever any of the words which had been written or making any omission. This was a very wise precaution to ensure that the book might be preserved for all the future time unchanged.
\n When the matter was reported to the king, he rejoiced greatly, for he felt that the design which he had formed had been safely carried out. The whole book was read over to him and he was greatly astonished at the spirit of the lawgiver. And he said to Demetrius, \u2018How is it that none of the historians or the poets* have ever thought it worth their while to allude to such a wonderful achievement?\u2019 And he replied, \u2018Because the law is sacred and of divine origin. And some of those who formed the intention [of dealing with it] have been smitten by God and therefore desisted from their purpose.\u2019 He said that he had heard from Theopompus that he had been driven out of his mind for more than thirty days because he intended to insert in his history some of the incidents from the earlier and somewhat unreliable translations of the law. When he had recovered a little, he besought God to make it clear to him why the misfortune had befallen him. And it was revealed to him in a dream, that from idle curiosity he was wishing to communicate sacred truths to common men, and that if he desisted he would recover his health. I have heard, too, from the lips of Theodectes, one of the tragic poets, that when he was about to adapt some of the incidents in the book for one of his plays, he was affected with cataract in both his eyes. And when he perceived the reason why the misfortune had befallen him, he prayed to God for many days and was afterwards restored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Selections from the Septuagint<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peculiar difficulty accompanies the selection of passages from the LXX itself. No attempt is made in this book to describe the history and theology of the Old Testament, though they are both elements of fundamental importance in the background of the New Testament, and it has already been pointed out that a comparison of the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Old Testament is particularly instructive. Certain parts of the Greek Old Testament are quoted elsewhere (see 116\u201324; 260, 273) for special purposes; here three passages only will be given. They will be drawn from parts of the LXX which have no canonical Hebrew equivalent, and they will illustrate ideas which are important in the development of Hellenistic Judaism but are only scantily represented, or not represented at all, in the Hebrew Old Testament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE DIVINE WISDOM<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Already in the later parts of the Hebrew Old Testament Wisdom (\u05d7\u05db\u05de\u05d4, \u1e25okmah) is recognized as one of the good gifts of God to men. The word means, at first, practical good sense; the ability to live life intelligently, virtuously, and successfully (e.g. Prov. 1:2ff.). Whether this view of Wisdom was a native Jewish development or was borrowed from foreign sources is a question we need not here examine. Since however this Wisdom was naturally spoken of as the Wisdom of God (for from what other source could it spring?) it came to be thought of in a new way, once more, perhaps, under the pressure of foreign influence as well as inward development. Wisdom belonged to the stuff of the universe, and therefore, since God was the Creator of the universe, it stood in a double relationship to God and to the universe. Wisdom was not merely an attribute of wise men, or even an attribute of God himself; it had a more or less independent, a more or less personal, existence. It is necessary here to use terms of considerable vagueness since precision is one of the least evident characteristics of the Wisdom literature, and it is probably not correct to describe Wisdom as portrayed there as, in any strict sense, a hypostasis. We are moving in the realm of poetical and imaginative description, not of metaphysics, and it is certainly not one single view of Wisdom that we find in the Wisdom books, or even within any one of them.
\nIt is possible that the Jewish conception of Wisdom, and the literary form which it sometimes took, were influenced by the contemporary belief in the goddess Isis (on this see the notes below); and possible also that the figure of Wisdom is related to the Stoic conception of the Logos (see 64\u20136, 232\u20133). Probably, however, the influence of these external factors was in general secondary; that is, the Jewish writers employed the language of Hellenistic religion or philosophy as a means of commending their own faith.
\nIt seems very probable that the Wisdom of Solomon is to be regarded as a composite work. For the doctrine of Wisdom the most significant section (part of which is quoted below) is 7:1 (or 6:1)\u20139:18. This discourse upon, and prayer for, Wisdom is put into the mouth of Solomon. It may be dated before the time of Philo, probably in the first century BC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
254
\nWisdom of Solomon 7:1\u20138:1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I myself also am mortal,* like to all,\nAnd am sprung from one born of the earth, the man first formed,\nAnd in the womb of a mother was I moulded into flesh in the time of ten months,\nBeing compacted in blood of the seed of man and pleasure that came with sleep.\nAnd I also, when I was born, drew in the common air,\nAnd fell upon the kindred earth,\nUttering, like all, for my first voice, the self-same wail:\nIn swaddling clothes was I nursed, and with watchful cares.\nFor no king had any other first beginning;\nBut all men have one entrance into life, and a like departure.\nFor this cause I prayed,* and understanding was given me:\nI called upon God, and there came to me a spirit of wisdom.*\nI preferred her before sceptres and thrones,*\nAnd riches I esteemed nothing in comparison of her.\nNeither did I liken to her any priceless gem,\nBecause all the gold of the earth in her sight is but a little sand,\nAnd silver shall be accounted as clay before her.\nAbove health and comeliness I loved her,\nAnd I chose to have her rather than light,*\nBecause her bright shining is never laid to sleep.\nBut with her there came to me all good things together,\nAnd in her hands innumerable riches;\nAnd I rejoiced over them all because wisdom leadeth them;\nThough I knew not that she was the mother of them.*\nAs I learned without guile, I impart without grudging;\nI do not hide her riches.\nFor she is unto men a treasure that faileth not,\nAnd they that use it obtain friendship with God,\nCommended to him by the gifts which come through discipline.\nBut to me may God give to speak with judgement,\nAnd to conceive thoughts worthy of what hath been given me;\nBecause himself is one that guideth even wisdom and correcteth the wise.\nFor in his hand are both we and our words;\nAll understanding, and all acquaintance with divers crafts.\nFor he hath given me an unerring knowledge of the things that are,\nTo know the constitution of the world,* and the operation of the elements;\nThe beginning and end and middle of times,\nThe alternations of the solstices and the changes of seasons,\nThe circuits of years and the positions of stars;\nThe natures of living creatures and the ragings of wild beasts,\nThe powers of spirits* and the thoughts of men,\nThe diversities of plants and the virtues of roots:\nAll things that are either secret or manifest I learned,\nFor she that is the artificer of all things* taught me, even wisdom.\nFor there is in her a spirit* quick of understanding,* holy,\nAlone in kind, manifold,*\nSubtil, freely moving,\nClear in utterance, unpolluted,\nDistinct, that cannot be harmed,\nLoving what is good, keen, unhindered,\nBeneficent, loving toward man,\nSteadfast, sure, free from care,\nAll-powerful, all-surveying,\nAnd penetrating through all spirits*\nThat are quick of understanding, pure, subtil:\nFor wisdom is more mobile than any motion;\nYea, she pervadeth and penetrateth all things by reason of her pureness.\nFor she is a breath of the power of God,\nAnd a clear effluence* of the glory of the Almighty;\nTherefore can nothing defiled find entrance into her,\nFor she is an effulgence* from everlasting light\nAnd an unspotted mirror of the working of God,\nAnd an image of his goodness.\nAnd she, though but one, hath power to do all things;\nAnd remaining in herself, reneweth all things:\nAnd from generation to generation passing into holy souls\nShe maketh them friends of God and prophets.*\nFor nothing doth God love save him that dwelleth with wisdom.\nFor she is fairer than the sun,\nAnd above all the constellations of the stars:\nBeing compared with light, she is found to be before it;\nFor to the light of day succeedeth night,\nBut against wisdom evil doth not prevail;\nBut she reacheth from one end of the world to the other with full strength,\nAnd ordereth all things well.*<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nETHICAL PARAENESIS<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The conception of Wisdom, though in origin practical, may be regarded as an expression of the speculative activity of Judaism. A more characteristic feature of Judaism is however its deep-rooted interest in ethics, and this interest is reflected in the later LXX books, where moral paraenesis is a not uncommon literary form. The book of Tobit in particular may be described as an ethical romance designed to teach the practice of virtue and to demonstrate God\u2019s providential care for the righteous, especially for righteous Israelites. Its date is difficult to estimate since the story seems to have been known in a number of different forms; the earliest of these was probably not much later than 200 BC. In the passage quoted here the aged Tobit gives parting advice (most of which needs no explanation) to his son Tobias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
255
\nTobit 4:3\u201319<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And he called Tobias his son and he came unto him and he said unto him, Bury me well,* and honour thy mother;* and forsake her not all the days of her life, and do that which is pleasing before her, and grieve not her spirit in any matter. Remember her, child, that she hath experienced many dangers for thee in her womb; and when she is dead, bury her by me in one grave. My child, be mindful of the Lord all thy days, and let not thy will be set to sin and to trangress his commandments: do acts of righteousness all the days of thy life, and walk not in the ways of unrighteousness. For if thou doest the truth,* success shall be in thy works, and so it shall be unto all that do righteousness. Give alms* of thy substance: turn not away thy face from any poor man,* and the face of God shall not be turned away from thee. As thy substance is, give alms* of it according to thine abundance: if thou have much, according to the abundance thereof, give alms; if thou have little bestow it, and be not afraid to give alms according to that little: for thou layest up a good treasure for thyself against the day of necessity: because alms delivereth from death, and suffereth not to come into darkness.* Alms is a good offering in the sight of the Most High for all that give it. Beware, my child, of all whoredom, and take first a wife of the seed of thy fathers, take not a strange wife,* which is not of thy father\u2019s tribe; for we are the sons of the prophets. Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, our fathers of old time, remember, my child, that they all took wives of their kinsmen, and were blessed in their children, and their seed shall inherit the land. And now, my child, love thy brethren,* and scorn not in thy heart thy brethren and the sons and the daughters of thy people so as not to take one of them; for in scornfulness is destruction and much trouble, and in idleness is decay and great want, for idleness is the mother of famine. Let not the wages of any man, which shall work for thee, tarry with thee,* but render it unto him out of hand: and if thou serve God, recompense shall be made unto thee. Take heed to thyself, my child, in all thy works, and be discreet in all thy behaviour. And what thou thyself hatest, do to no man.* Drink not wine unto drunkenness, and let not drunkenness go with thee on thy way. Give of thy bread to the hungry, and of thy garments to them that are naked: of all thine abundance give alms; and let not thine eye be grudging when thou givest alms. Pour out thy bread and thy wine on the tomb of the just,* and give not to sinners. Ask counsel of every man that is wise, and despise not any counsel that is profitable. And bless the Lord thy God at all times, and ask of him that thy ways may be made straight, and that all thy paths and thy counsels may prosper: for every nation hath not good counsel; but the Lord will give to them all good things; and whom he will the Lord humbleth unto the nethermost Hades. And now, child, remember these commandments, and let them not be blotted out of thy heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MARTYRDOM AND THE FUTURE LIFE<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The development of Judaism as a religion of obedience to the written Law, and the recurring misfortunes which befell the national life of the Jews, provoked new experiences and fresh thinking. The attack upon Judaism by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (see 116\u201319), though it was directed against the nation and the national religion, fell in the first instance upon those who were, in their own consciences, confronted with the question whether they should or should not continue to be obedient to the Law. The question was not, as once it had been, whether the whole nation should remain in its own land or be carried away to Babylon, but whether a particular man should remain faithful to the religion in which he had been reared, and receive death by torture as his reward, or should compromise, and live. In these circumstances martyrdoms took place, perhaps for the first time in religious history. But (men began to ask) what was to be the ultimate fate of the martyrs? Were their suffering and death to be the last word? This was an intolerable thought, and the notion of a blessed personal future life, to which doubtless other sources contributed, was fostered by the faith and the sufferings of those who gave their lives for the Law.
\nThe Second Book of Maccabees is an epitome of a longer work; so much the book itself tells us (2:23: \u2026 this [the things concerning Judas Maccabaeus and his brothers], recounted by Jason in five books, we will try to compress into a single volume). Who Jason was, when he lived, and who was his epitomist, are questions which cannot be precisely answered. Probably the origins of the book go back into the second century BC, and they reveal both a Pharisaic kind of piety and the influence of Hellenistic Judaism. The seventh chapter (quoted below) is a vignette of the persecution which took place when Antiochus IV Epiphanes attempted to make the Jews surrender their religious rites and legal observances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
256
\n2 Maccabees 7<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also came to pass that seven brothers and their mother were arrested and shamefully lashed with whips and scourges, by the king\u2019s orders, that they might be forced to taste the abominable swine\u2019s flesh. But one of them spoke up for the others and said, Why question us? What wouldst thou learn from us? We are prepared to die sooner than transgress the laws of our fathers. Then the king, in his exasperation, ordered pans and cauldrons to be heated, and when they were heated immediately, ordered the tongue of the speaker to be torn out, had him scalped and mutilated before the eyes of his brothers and mother, and then had him put on the fire, all maimed and crippled as he was, but still alive, and set to fry in the pan. And as the vapour from the pan spread abroad, they and their mother exhorted one another to die nobly, uttering these words: The Lord God beholdeth this, and truly hath compassion on us, even as Moses declared in his song* which testifieth against them to their face, saying,
\n And he shall have compassion on his servants.
\n And when the first had died after this manner, they brought the second to the shameful torture, tearing off the skin of his head with the hair and asking him, Wilt thou eat, before we punish thy body limb by limb? But he answered in the language of his fathers and said to them, No. So he too underwent the rest of the torture, as the first had done. And when he was at the last gasp, he said, Thou cursed miscreant! Thou dost dispatch us from this life, but the King of the world shall raise us up, who have died for his laws, and revive us to life everlasting.* And after him the third was made a mocking-stock. And when he was told to put out his tongue, he did so at once, stretching forth his hands courageously, with the noble words, These I had from heaven; for his name\u2019s sake I count them naught; from him I hope to get them back again.* So much so that the king himself and his company were astounded at the spirit of the youth, for he thought nothing of his sufferings. And when he too was dead, they tortured the fourth in the same shameful fashion. And when he was near his end, he said: \u2019Tis meet for those who perish at men\u2019s hands to cherish hope divine that they shall be raised up by God again; but thou\u2014thou shalt have no resurrection to life.* Next they brought the fifth and handled him shamefully. But he looked at the king and said, Holding authority among men, thou doest what thou wilt, poor mortal; but dream not that God hath forsaken our race. Go on, and thou shalt find how his sovereign power will torture thee and thy seed! And after him they brought the sixth. And when he was at the point of death he said, Deceive not thyself in vain! We are suffering this on our own account, for sins against our own God. That is why these awful horrors have befallen us. But think not thou shalt go unpunished for daring to fight against God! The mother, however, was a perfect wonder; she deserves to be held in glorious memory, for, thanks to her hope in God, she bravely bore the sight of seven sons dying in a single day. Full of noble spirit and nerving her weak woman\u2019s heart with the courage of a man, she exhorted each of them in the language of their fathers, saying, How you were ever conceived in my womb, I cannot tell! \u2019Twas not I who gave you the breath of life or fashioned the elements of each! \u2019Twas the creator of the world who fashioneth men and deviseth the generating of all things, and he it is who in mercy will restore to you the breath of life even as you now count yourselves naught for his laws\u2019 sake. Now Antiochus felt that he was being humiliated, but, overlooking the taunt of her words, he made an appeal to the youngest brother, who still survived, and even promised on oath to make him rich and happy and a Friend** and a trusted official of State, if he would give up his fathers\u2019 laws. As the young man paid no attention to him, he summoned his mother and exhorted her to counsel the lad to save himself. So, after he had exhorted her at length, she agreed to persuade her son. She leant over to him, and, befooling the cruel tyrant, spoke thus in her fathers\u2019 tongue: My son, have pity on me. Nine months I carried thee in my womb, three years I suckled thee; I reared thee and brought thee up to this age of thy life. Child, I beseech thee, lift thine eyes to heaven and earth, look at all that is therein, and know that God did not make them out of the things that existed. So is the race of men created. Fear not this butcher, but show thyself worthy of thy brothers, and accept thy death, that by God\u2019s mercy I may receive thee again together with thy brothers. Ere she had finished, the young man cried, What are you waiting for? I will not obey the king\u2019s command, I will obey the command of the law given by Moses to our fathers. But thou, who hast devised all manner of evil against the Hebrews, thou shalt not escape the hands of God. We are suffering for our own sins, and though our living Lord is angry for a little, in order to rebuke and chasten us, he will again be reconciled to his own servants. But thou, thou impious wretch, vilest of all men, be not vainly uplifted with thy proud, uncertain hopes, raising thy hand against the heavenly children; thou hast not yet escaped the judgement of the Almighty God who seeth all. These our brothers, after enduring a brief pain, have now drunk of everflowing life, in terms of God\u2019s covenant, but thou shalt receive by God\u2019s judgement the just penalty of thine arrogance. I, like my brothers, give up body and soul for our fathers\u2019 laws, calling on God to show favour to our nation soon, and to make thee acknowledge, in torments and plagues, that he alone is God, and to let the Almighty\u2019s wrath, justly fallen on the whole of our nation, end in me and in my brothers. Then the king fell into a passion and had him handled worse than the others, so exasperated was he at being mocked. Thus he also died unpolluted, trusting absolutely in the Lord. Finally after her sons the mother also perished.
\n Let this suffice for the enforced sacrifices and the excesses of barbarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Selections from Targums<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first two passages are taken from the Targum of Pseudo-Jonathan (Jerusalem I) to the Pentateuch, the third from the Targum of Jonathan to the Prophets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
257
\nGenesis 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the beginning* God created the heaven and the earth.
\n And the earth was waste and void, desolate without the sons of men,* and empty of animals. And darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the spirit of mercies from before God blew upon the face of the waters.
\n And God said, \u2018Let there be light to lighten the world\u2019. And immediately there was light.
\n And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
\n And God called the light Day, and he made it so that the dwellers on the earth might labour during it; and the darkness he called Night, and he made it so that the creatures might have rest during it. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
\n And God said, \u2018Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters above from the waters below\u2019.
\n And God made the firmament, its thickness being three fingers* between the limits of the heavens and the waters of the ocean. And he divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above in the vault of the firmament: and it was so.
\n And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
\n And God said, \u2018Let the lower waters which are left over under the heaven be for a single place, and let the earth be dried up that the dry land may be visible\u2019. And it was so.
\n And God called the dry land Earth; and the assembly of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
\n And God said, \u2018Let the earth increase putting forth the herb whose seed produces seed, and the tree, fruit bearing fruit after its kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth\u2019. And it was so.
\n And the earth brought forth the herb whose seed produces seed (after its kind), and tree bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after its kind: and God saw that it was good.
\n And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.
\n And God said, \u2018Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons of festivals and for numbering by them the reckoning of days, and for sanctifying by them the new moon days and the new year days, the intercalations of the months and the intercalations of the years, the solstices of the sun and the appearance of the new moon, and the solar cycles:
\n and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth\u2019.
\n And it was so.
\n And God made the two great lights, and they were equal in glory for 21 years less 672 parts of an hour. Then the moon reported against the sun a false report,* and was diminished. And he separated the sun to be the greater light to rule the day, and the moon to be the lesser light, and the stars.
\n And God set them in their courses in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
\n and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light of day from the darkness of night: and God saw that it was good.
\n And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
\n And God said, \u2018Let the miry lakes of the waters swarm forth swarms of living creatures, and the bird which flies, and makes its nest on the earth, and let the day of its flight be through the air of the firmament of heaven.\u2019
\n And God created the great tannins,* the leviathan and its mate which were made for the day of consolation, and every living creature which swarms, which the clear waters brought forth abundantly, after their kinds, the kinds which are clean and the kinds which are not clean, and every bird flying with wings after its kind, the kinds which are clean and the kinds which are not clean: and God saw that it was good.
\n And God blessed them, saying, \u2018Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.\u2019
\n And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
\n And God said, \u2018Let the fragments of earth bring forth the living creature after its kind, the kinds which are clean and the kinds which are not clean, cattle, and creeping thing, and the beast of the earth after its kind.\u2019 And it was so.
\n And God made the living creature of the earth after its kind, the kinds which are clean and the kinds which are not clean, and the cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the ground after its kind, the kinds which are clean and the kinds which are not clean: and God saw that it was good.
\n And God said to the angels* who minister before him and who were created on the second day of the creation of the world, \u2018Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air of heaven, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.\u2019
\n And God created man in his own likeness, in the image of God created he him with 248 members and 365 sinews, and he laid skin over them, and filled it with flesh and blood: male and female in their way created he them.
\n And God blessed them, and said unto them, \u2018Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth with sons and daughters, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heaven, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.\u2019
\n And God said, \u2018Behold I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree unfruitful for the purposes of building and for burning; (and every tree) in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed: to you it shall be for meat:
\n and to every living creature of the earth, and to every fowl of the heaven, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, (I have given) every green herb for meat.\u2019 And it was so.
\n And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.
\n And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
258
\nGenesis 22<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it came to pass after these things, that Isaac and Ishmael were disputing.* Ishmael said: \u2018It is right for me to be the heir of my father, since I am his first-born son.\u2019 But Isaac said: \u2018It is right for me to be the heir of my father, since I am the son of Sarah his wife, but you are the son of Hagar, the handmaid of my mother.\u2019 Ishmael answered and said: \u2018I am more righteous than you because I was circumcised when thirteen years old; and if it had been my wish to refuse I would not have handed myself over to be circumcised.\u2019 Isaac answered and said: \u2018Am I not now thirty-seven years old? If the Holy One, blessed be he, demanded all my members I would not hesitate.\u2019 Immediately, these words were heard before the Lord of the universe, and immediately, the word of the Lord tested Abraham, and said unto him, \u2018Abraham\u2019; and he said, \u2018Here am I.\u2019
\n And he said, \u2018Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of worship; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.\u2019
\n And Abraham rose early in the morning and he saddled his ass, and took two of his young men, Eliezer and Ishmael, with him, and Isaac his son; and he clave the wood of the olive and the fig and the palm which are proper for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which the Lord had told him.
\n On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the cloud of glory smoking on the mountain, and he recognised it afar off.
\n And Abraham said unto his young men, \u2018Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder to find if what I was assured\u2014\u201cso shall thy seed be\u201d\u2014will be established;* and we will worship the Lord of the universe, and come again to you.\u2019
\n And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife; and they went both of them together.
\n And Isaac spoke unto Abraham his father, and said, \u2018My father:\u2019 and he said, \u2018Here am I, my son.\u2019 And he said, \u2018Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb* for a burnt offering?\u2019
\n And Abraham said: \u2018The Lord will choose for himself the lamb for a burnt offering my son.\u2019* So they went both of them with a single heart together.
\n And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built the altar there which Adam had built,* which had been destroyed by the waters of the flood and which Noah had rebuilt.* It had been destroyed in the generation of the division. And he laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.
\n And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. Isaac answered and said to his father: \u2018Bind me well* that I may not struggle at the anguish of my soul, and that a blemish may not be found in your offering, and that I may not be cast into the depth of destruction.\u2019 The eyes of Abraham looked at the eyes of Isaac, but the eyes of Isaac looked at the angels on high: Isaac saw them but Abraham did not see them. The angels on high answered, \u2018Come and see these two unique men in the earth; the one slaughters and the other is slaughtered. The one who slaughters does not hesitate, the one to be slaughtered stretches out his neck.\u2019
\n And the angel of the Lord called to him out of heaven, and said to him, \u2018Abraham, Abraham\u2019: and he said, \u2018Here am I.\u2019
\n And he said, \u2018Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything evil unto him: for now it is revealed before me that thou fearest the Lord, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me.\u2019
\n And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, that one ram which was created in the evening of the completion of the world caught in the thicket of a tree by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
\n And Abraham gave thanks and prayed there in that place, and said: \u2018When I prayed for mercy from before you, O Lord, it was revealed before you that there was no deviousness in my heart, and I sought to perform your decree with joy, that when the descendants of Isaac, my son, shall come to the hour of distress, you may remember them,* and answer them, and deliver them;* and that all generations to come may say, In this mountain Abraham bound Isaac, his son, and there the Shekina* of the Lord was revealed to him.\u2019
\n And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven and said, \u2018By my word* have I sworn, saith the Lord, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
\n that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy sons\u2019 sons shall possess the cities of their enemies;
\n and because of the merit of your sons* shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.\u2019
\n And the angels on high led Isaac and brought him to the school of Shem the great, and he was there three years. And on the same day Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
259
\nIsaiah 52:13\u201353:12<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Behold, my servant,* the Anointed One (or, the Messiah), shall prosper; he shall be exalted, and increase, and be very strong. As the house of Israel hoped (or, waited) for him many days, for his (text, their) appearance was wretched among the nations, and his (text, their<\/em>) countenance beyond that of the sons of men: so shall he scatter many nations; kings shall be silent because of him (or, it); they shall set their hands upon their mouths: for the things which had not been told them have they seen, and that which they had not heard have they perceived.
\n Who hath believed these our tidings? and to whom hath the power of the mighty arm of the Lord been so revealed? And the righteous shall grow up before him even as budding shoots; and as a tree that sendeth forth its roots by streams of water, so shall the holy generations increase in the land that was in need of him: his appearance shall not be that of a common man, nor the fear of him that of an ordinary man; but his countenance (or, complexion) shall be a holy countenance, so that all who see him shall regard him earnestly. Then shall the glory of all the kingdoms be despised and come to an end; they shall be infirm and sick even as a man of sorrows and as one destined for sicknesses, and as when the presence of the Shekinah was withdrawn from us, they (or, we) shall be despised and of no account. Then he shall pray on behalf of our transgressions and our iniquities shall be pardoned for his sake, though we were accounted smitten, stricken from before the Lord, and afflicted. But he shall build the sanctuary that was polluted because of our transgressions and given up because of our iniquities; and by his teaching shall his peace be multiplied upon us, and by our devotion to his words our transgressions shall be forgiven us. All we like sheep had been scattered; we had wandered off each on his own way; but it was the Lord\u2019s good pleasure to forgive the transgressions of us all for his sake. He was praying, and he was answered, and before he opened his mouth he was accepted; the mighty ones of the peoples shall he deliver up like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a ewe that before her shearers is dumb, and there shall be none before him opening his mouth or speaking a word. Out of chastisements and punishment shall he bring our exiles near, and the wondrous things that shall be wrought for us in his days who shall be able to recount? For he shall take away the dominion of the peoples from the land of Israel, and the sins which my people sinned shall he transfer unto them. And he shall deliver the wicked into Gehinnam, and those that are rich in possessions which they have obtained by violence unto the death of destruction, that those who commit sin may not be established, nor speak deceits with their mouth. And it was the Lord\u2019s good pleasure to refine and to purify the remnant of his people, in order to cleanse their soul from sin: they shall look upon the kingdom of their Anointed One (or, Messiah), they shall multiply sons and daughters, they shall prolong days, and they that perform the law of the Lord shall prosper in his good pleasure. From the subjection of the peoples shall he deliver their soul; they shall look upon the punishment of them that hate them; they shall be satisfied with the spoil of their kings: by his wisdom shall he justify the just, in order to subject many to the law; and for their transgressions shall he make intercession. Then will I divide unto him the spoil of many peoples and the riches of strong cities; he shall divide the booty, because he delivered his soul unto death, and subjected the rebellious to the law; and he shall make intercession for many transgressions, and the rebellious shall be forgiven for his sake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n13 Apocalyptic<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The roots of Jewish and Christian apocalyptic are in Old Testament prophecy, though not a few non-Jewish influences helped to shape its development. On the general question of the relation between prophecy and apocalyptic, see H. H. Rowley, The Relevance of Apocalyptic, Ch. 1. Here it may simply be emphasized that while both prophecy and apocalyptic were concerned with the future they conceived it in different ways. Prophets and apocalyptists alike believed that the future lay entirely within the prevision and control of God; but whereas the former saw the future developing continuously out of the present, good and evil bearing their own fruit and reaping their own reward, the latter saw the future as essentially discontinuous with the present. History would, as it were, take a leap to a new level, on which the judgements of God would be more plainly visible; or, better, God would, by entering history, either personally or through a representative, introduce into it a new factor which would revolutionize its course. A prophet might announce the captivity or restoration of his people; the apocalyptist announces the end of the age. The apocalyptists \u2018foreshorten\u2019 history even more radically than the prophets, and for them the last days are almost always at hand. This is not simply because the apocalyptic writers believed they could see the signs of the times in the growing evil of their age and that God must surely act speedily if he was to act at all. \u2018Apocalypse\u2019 means revealing, the disclosing of secrets; and the secrets were not only secrets of what was to be. They included also secrets of what already was, but was concealed in heaven. Out of their knowledge of these heavenly realities grew their awareness of what would in due course take place on earth; and since the heavenly beings stood ready for action their manifestation could not be long delayed.
\nThis awareness of persons and events belonging to an upper world means that apocalypticism is related to mysticism, man\u2019s immediate consciousness of the supernatural. This aspect of apocalypticism has been emphasized in recent years, notably by C. Rowland, in The Open Heaven (London 1982), though the practical \u2018Platonism\u2019 of apocalyptic was noted as long ago as 1953 (Scottish Journal of Theology 6, pp 138f.); The Background of the New Testament and its Eschatology, Studies in Honour of C. H. Dodd (Ed. W.D. Davies and D. Daube; Cambridge 1956), pp 363\u2013393. Speculation regarding the supreme God and his revelation of himself to men led also to the development of belief in mediating divine beings to such an extent that it seemed at times to threaten Jewish monotheism. These matters are illustrated below. Just as no sharp dividing line can be drawn between Jewish apocalyptists and Jewish mystics, so it is impossible to make a sharp distinction between apocalypticism and Pharisaism (see W.D. Davies, Christian Origins and Judaism (London 1962), pp 19\u201330). Rabbis included apocalyptic elements in their teaching, and the apocalyptists were eager that the law should be observed.
\nThe widespread influence of apocalyptic in the period of primitive Christianity hardly needs demonstration; not only can most of the apocalypses which are still extant be dated within that period, many other documents also, not primarily apocalyptic, bear clear traces of apocalyptic in their style and matter. This is true both of Jewish literature and of Christian, for though there is in the New Testament only one Apocalypse, apocalyptic material is to be found in almost every book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Literary Forms of Apocalyptic<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of the apocalypses reveal almost stereotyped forms of construction and expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PSEUDONYMITY<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Christian Apocalypse is noteworthy in that it makes no claim to be the work of a famous hero of the past; in the Church, prophecy flourished again, and in the presence of direct inspiration there was no need to claim antiquity as a source of authority. Nearly every Jewish apocalypse however is attributed to some ancient worthy; and a corollary of this pseudonymity is the necessity of finding some means of explaining why the book had not become known before its actual date of publication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
260
\nDaniel 12<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Daniel was written at the time of the attempt of Antiochus Ephiphanes to impose Hellenism upon the Jews (see 116\u201321), i.e., c. 167 BC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,* some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book,* even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on the brink of the river on this side, and the other on the brink of the river on that side. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was above the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my lord, what shall be the issue of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are shut up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand: but they that be wise shall understand. And from the time that the continual burnt-offering shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. But go thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and shalt stand in thy lot, at the end of the days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
26l
\n4 Ezra (otherwise 2 Esdras) 14:1\u201317<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ezra is a composite work, but the greater part of it was written in the first century AD. Christian additions were made, and the whole edited, at a later time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it came to pass after the third day, while I sat under the oak, lo! there came a voice out of a bush over against me; and it said, Ezra, Ezra!* And I said: Here am I, Lord. And I rose upon my feet. Then said he unto me: I did manifestly reveal myself in the bush, and talked with Moses when my people were in bondage in Egypt: and I sent him, and led my people out of Egypt, and brought them to Mount Sinai; and I held him by me for many days.
\n I told him many wondrous things,
\n showed him the secrets of the times,
\n declared to him the end of the seasons:
\n Then I commanded him saying:
\n These words shalt thou publish openly,* but these keep secret,*
\n And now I do say to thee:
\n The signs which I have shewed thee,
\n The dreams which thou hast seen,
\n and the interpretations which thou hast heard\u2014
\n lay them up in thy heart!* For thou shalt be taken up from among men, and henceforth thou shalt remain with my Son,* and with such as are like thee, until the times be ended.
\n For the world has lost its youth,
\n The times begin to wax old.
\n For the world-age is divided into twelve parts;* nine parts of it are passed already, and the half of the tenth part; and there remain of it two parts, besides the half of the tenth part.
\n Now, therefore, set in order thy house,
\n and reprove thy people;
\n Comfort the lowly among them,
\n and instruct those that are wise.
\n Now do thou renounce the life that is corruptible,
\n let go from thee the cares of mortality;
\n cast from thee the burdens of man,
\n put off now the weak nature;
\n lay aside thy burdensome cares,
\n and hasten to remove from these times!
\n For still worse evils* than those which thou hast seen happen shall yet take place. For the weaker the world grows through age, so much more shall evils increase upon the dwellers on earth.
\n Truth shall withdraw further off,
\n and falsehood be nigh at hand:
\n for already the Eagle* is hastening to come whom thou sawest in vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
262
\n1 Enoch 1. 1f.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The words of the blessing of Enoch, wherewith he blessed the elect and righteous, who will be living in the day of tribulation, when all the wicked and godless are to be removed. And he took up his parable and said\u2014Enoch a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, which the angels showed me, and from them I heard everything, and from them I understood as I saw, but not for this generation, but for a remote one which is for to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HISTORY IN ALLEGORICAL FORM<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The apocalyptist very commonly conveys his meaning by portraying contemporary history in symbolic form, and continuing the symbolic narrative so as to include the supernatural events which he believes to be close at hand. This method often permits the dating of apocalypses; the point at which the history loses precision and accuracy is the moment of writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
263
\nPsalms of Solomon 2:1\u20136, 24\u201335<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Psalms of Solomon were written about the middle of the first century BC, and seem to have come from the Pharisaic party within Judaism (see 135). In this Psalm the history is scarcely concealed, except that names are not mentioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the sinner waxed proud, with a battering-ram* he cast down fortified walls,\n And thou didst not restrain him.\nAlien nations ascended thine altar,\n They trampled it proudly with their sandals;\nBecause the sons of Jerusalem had defiled the holy things of the Lord,\n Had profaned with iniquities the offerings of God.\nTherefore he said: Cast them far from me;\nIt was set at naught before God,\n It was utterly dishonoured;\nThe sons and the daughters were in grievous captivity,\n Sealed was their neck, branded was it among the nations.\u2026\n\nAnd I saw and entreated the Lord and said,\n Long enough, O Lord, has thine hand been heavy on Israel, in bringing the nations upon them.\nFor they have made sport unsparingly in wrath and fierce anger;\n And they will make an utter end, unless thou, O Lord, rebuke them in thy wrath.\nFor they have done it not in zeal,* but in lust of soul,\n Pouring out their wrath upon us with a view to rapine.\nDelay not, O God, to recompense them on their heads,\n To turn the pride of the dragon* into dishonour.\nAnd I had not long to wait before God showed me the insolent\n one slain on the mountains of Egypt,*\n Esteemed of less account than the least, on land and sea;\nHis body, too, borne hither and thither on the billows with much insolence,\n With none to bury him, because he had rejected him with dishonour.\nHe reflected not that he was man,\n And reflected not on the latter end;\nHe said: I will be lord of land and sea;\n And he recognized not that it is God who is great,*\n Mighty in his great strength.\nHe is king over the heavens,\n And judgeth kings and kingdoms.\nIt is he who setteth me up in glory,\n And bringeth down the proud to eternal destruction in dishonour,\n Because they knew him not.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n264
\n4 Ezra 11<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The vision of this chapter, the well known Eagle Vision, is based on Daniel 7. The eagle represents the fourth kingdom seen by Daniel in the vision of ch. 7; but here it stands for the Roman Empire, whereas in Daniel it stands for the Greek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it came to pass the second night that I saw a dream: and lo! there came up from the sea an eagle which had twelve feathered wings, and three heads.* And I beheld, and lo! he spread his wings over the whole earth, and all the winds of heaven blew on him, and the clouds were gathered together unto him. And I beheld, and lo! out of his wings there grew anti-wings;* and they became wings petty and small. But his heads were at rest; the middle head was greater than the other heads, yet it rested with them. And I beheld, and lo! the eagle flew with his wings to reign over the earth and over them that dwell therein. And I beheld how all things under heaven were subject unto him, and no one spake against him\u2014not even one of the creatures upon earth. And I beheld, and lo! the eagle rose upon his talons, and uttered his voice to his wings, saying, Watch not all at once: sleep every one in his place, and watch by course: but let the heads be preserved for the last. And I beheld, and lo! the voice proceeded not from his heads, but from the midst of his body. And I numbered his anti-wings, and lo! there were eight.
\n And I beheld, and lo! [on the right side] there arose one wing, and reigned over the whole earth. And it came to pass that, after it had reigned, it came to its end and disappeared, so that the place of it was not visible. Then arose the second and reigned, and this bare rule for a long time.* And it came to pass that, after it had reigned, it also came to its end, so that it disappeared even as the first. And lo! a voice sounded which said to it: Hear, thou that hast borne rule over the earth so long a time; this I proclaim unto thee before thou shalt disappear\u2014After thee shall none bear rule the length of thy time, nay not even the half of it! Then the third lifted itself up and held the rule even as the former, and it also disappeared. And so it fell to all the wings [in turn] to rule and then disappear. And I beheld, and lo! in process of time the little wings also were set up [upon the right side] that they also might hold the rule; and some of them bare rule but disappeared suddenly: and some of them were set up but did not hold the rule. After this I beheld, and lo! the twelve wings disappeared, and two little wings;* and nothing was left in the eagle\u2019s body save only the three heads that were at rest, and six little wings. And I beheld, and lo! from the six little wings two detached themselves, and remained under the head that was upon the right side: but four remained in their place. And I beheld, and lo! one was set up, but immediately disappeared; a second also, and this disappeared more quickly than the first. And I beheld, and lo! the two that remained thought also in themselves to reign; and while they were thinking thus, lo! one of the heads that were at rest\u2014it, namely, that was in the midst\u2014awoke; for this one was greater than the two [other] heads. And I beheld how it allied itself with the two other heads; and lo! the head was turned with them that were with it, and did eat up the two under-wings that thought to have reigned. This head bare rule over the whole earth, and exercised lordship over the dwellers therein with much oppression; [and it wielded more power* over the inhabited world than all the wings that had been.] And after this I beheld, and lo! the middle head suddenly disappeared, even as the wings. But there remained the two heads which also reigned over the earth, and over the inhabitants therein. And I beheld, and lo! the head upon the right side devoured* that which was upon the left. Then I heard a voice, which said unto me: Look before thee, and consider what thou seest. And I beheld, and lo! as it were a lion,* roused out of the wood, roaring; and I heard how he uttered a man\u2019s voice against the eagle; and he spake, saying: Hear, thou Eagle\u2014I will talk with thee; the Most High saith to thee: Art thou not it that remainest of the four beasts which I made to reign in my world, that the end of my times might come through them? Thou, however, the fourth, who art come, hast overcome all the beasts that are past;
\n Thou hast wielded power over the world with great terror,
\n and over all the inhabited earth with grievous oppression;
\n Thou hast dwelt so long in the civilized world with fraud,
\n and hast judged the earth, but not with faithfulness:
\n For thou hast afflicted the meek,
\n and oppressed the peaceable;
\n Thou hast hated the upright,
\n and loved liars;
\n Thou hast destroyed the strongholds of the fruitful,
\n and laid low the walls of such as did thee no harm\u2014
\n And so thine insolence hath ascended to the Most High,
\n and thy pride to the Mighty One.
\n Then the Most High regarded his times\u2014
\n And lo! they were ended:
\n And his ages\u2014
\n and they were fulfilled.
\n Therefore shalt thou disappear, O thou Eagle,
\n and thy horrible wings,
\n and thy little wings most evil,
\n thy harm-dealing heads,
\n thy hurtful talons,
\n and all thy worthless body!
\n And so the whole earth, freed from thy violence, shall be refreshed again,* and hope for the judgement and mercy of him that made her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
VISION AND PARABLE<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is impossible to carry through a rigid distinction of these two forms, and they have already been illustrated incidentally (see especially 4 Ezra 11). The visions described by the apocalyptists were undoubtedly influenced in form by a literary tradition. It is impossible to think that the whole of the last passage, for example, was seen and remembered in a dream. On the other hand, it is quite unnecessary to suppose that, because the apocalyptists edited their visions and gave them literary order, they never received real visionary experiences. It is very probable that they did receive such visions, reflected upon them, and produced thereby the parables and allegories which we now read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
265
\n4 Ezra 13:1\u201313<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the sixth vision of this book. A long interpretation follows, from which some notes are taken here. Almost every detail is interpreted allegorically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it came to pass after seven days* that I dreamed* a dream by night: [and I beheld,] and lo! there arose a violent wind from the sea, and stirred all its waves. And I beheld, and lo! [The wind caused to come up out of the heart of the seas as it were the form of a man. And beheld, and lo!] this Man flew with the clouds of heaven.* And wherever he turned his countenance to look everything seen by him trembled; and whithersoever the voice went out of his mouth, all that heard his voice melted away, as the wax melts when it feels the fire. And after this I beheld, and lo! there was gathered together from the four winds of heaven an innumerable multitude of men to make war against the Man* that came up out of the sea. And I beheld, and lo! he cut out for himself a great mountain* and flew up upon it. But I sought to see the region or place from whence the mountain had been cut out; and I could not. And after this I beheld, and lo! all who were gathered together against him were seized with great fear; yet they dared to fight. And lo! when he saw the assault of the multitude as they came he neither lifted his hand, nor held spear nor any warlike weapon;* but I saw only how he sent out of his mouth as it were a fiery stream, and out of his lips a flaming breath, and out of his tongue he shot forth a stream of sparks. And these were all mingled together\u2014the fiery stream, the flaming breath, and the \u2026 storm, and fell upon the assault of the multitude which was prepared to fight, and burned them all up, so that suddenly nothing more was to be seen of the innumerable multitude save only dust of ashes and smell of smoke. When I saw this I was amazed. Afterwards I beheld the same Man come down from the mountain, and call unto him another multitude* which was peaceable. Then he drew nigh unto him the faces of many men, some of whom were glad, some sorrowful; while some were in bonds, some brought others who should be offered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
266
\n1 Enoch 90:28\u201342<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1 Enoch 85\u201390 is a long allegorical account of the history of Israel from the Creation to the messianic age. There is some mixing of metaphor, but in general men, Israelites and others, are represented by various kinds of animals. The present passage is the close of the allegory, which was written probably in or not long after the time of the Maccabees (see the notes and 116\u2013123).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I stood up to see till they folded up that old house;* and carried off all the pillars, and all the beams and ornaments of the house were at the same time folded up with it, and they carried it off and laid it in a place in the south of the land. And I saw till the Lord of the sheep* brought a new house greater and loftier than that first, and set it up in the place of the first which had been folded up: all its pillars were new, and its ornaments were new and larger than those of the first, the old one which he had taken away, and all the sheep were within it.*
\n And I saw all the sheep which had been left,* and all the beasts on the earth, and all the birds* of the heaven, falling down and doing homage to those sheep and making petition to and obeying them in every thing. And thereafter those three who were clothed in white* and had seized me by my hand [who had taken me up before], and the hand of that ram* also seizing hold of me, they took me up and set me down in the midst of those sheep before the judgement took place. And those sheep were all white, and their wool was abundant and clean. And all that had been destroyed and dispersed, and all the beasts of the field, and all the birds of the heaven, assembled in that house, and the Lord of the sheep rejoiced with great joy because they were all good and had returned to his house. And I saw till they laid down that sword, which had been given to the sheep,* and they brought it back into the house, and it was sealed before the presence of the Lord, and all the sheep were invited into that house, but it held them not. And the eyes of them all were opened, and they saw the good, and there was not one among them that did not see. And I saw that that house was large and broad and very full.
\n And I saw that a white bull was born,* with large horns, and all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air feared him and made petition to him all the time. And I saw till all their generations were transformed, and they all became white bulls; and the first among them became a lamb, and that lamb became* a great animal and had great black horns on its head; and the Lord of the sheep rejoiced over it and over all the oxen. And I slept* in their midst: and I awoke and saw everything. This is the vision which I saw while I slept, and I awoke and blessed the Lord of righteousness and gave him glory. Then I wept with a great weeping and my tears stayed not till I could no longer endure it: when I saw, they flowed on account of what I had seen; for everything shall come and be fulfilled, and all the deeds of men in their order were shown to me. On that night I remembered the first dream, and because of it I wept and was troubled\u2014because I had seen that vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Essential Notions of Apocalyptic<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It would not be wrong to say that the one essential notion of apocalyptic is not (as has too often been supposed) the conviction that the end is near, but that God wills to reveal himself to chosen men, whom he authorizes (or occasionally does not authorize\u2014e.g. Dan. 12:9; Rev. 10:4) to communicate the revelation to his people. Various aspects of this divine self-communication will be illustrated below. It is certainly true that apocalyptic often includes the belief that the time is short: God is about to bring his final purposes to pass. Those who have been warned must take appropriate action. Predictions of the future are inevitably various; there never was or could be an apocalyptic orthodoxy. Indeed some apocalyptic writers were decidedly unorthodox, not least those whose interest in the future was minimal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE TWO AGES<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The apocalyptists inherited the feeling for history which was characteristic of the prophets, and accordingly their thought was cast in a chronological mould. The line drawn between the secret and the manifest activity of God was a line in time, which separated the Present Age from the Age to Come. The present age witnessed the usurpation of God\u2019s authority by evil powers; in the Age to Come God alone would be the supreme ruler, and his perfect will would be perfectly seen and done. This distinction between two ages is no peculiarity of the apocalypses; it was current also among the Rabbis; see 158.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
267
\n4 Ezra 7:45\u201361<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I answered and said: O Lord, I said even then and say now: Blessed are they who come into the world and keep thy commandments.*
\n But concerning those for whom my prayer was offered: who is there of those who have come into the world that has not sinned? Or who of the earth-born is there that has not transgressed thy covenant? And now I see that the coming Age* shall bring delight to few, but torment unto many. For the evil heart* has grown up in us
\n which has estranged us from God,
\n and brought us into destruction;
\n And has made known to us the ways of death,
\n And showed us the paths of perdition,
\n and removed us far from life;
\n and that not a few only, but well nigh all that have been created!
\n And he answered me and said:
\n Hear me, and I will instruct thee,
\n and a second time will admonish thee:
\n For this cause the Most High has made not one Age but two.*
\n And whereas thou hast said that the righteous are not many but few, while the ungodly abound\u2014hear the answer to this: Suppose thou have choice stones, in number exceeding few; wilt thou set [place] with them lead and clay?
\n And I said: Lord, how should it be possible?
\n And he said unto me: Not only so, but
\n Ask the earth, and she shall tell thee;
\n Speak to her, and she shall declare it unto thee.
\n Say to her: Thou bringest forth gold and silver and brass\u2014and also iron and lead and clay: but silver is more abundant than gold, and brass than silver, and iron than brass, lead than iron, and clay than lead. Do thou, then, consider which things are precious and to be desired: that which is abundant or that which is rare?
\n And I said: O Lord my Lord, that which is plentiful is of less worth, but that which is more rare is precious.
\n And he answered me and said: Weigh within thyself what thou hast thought! For he that has what is rare rejoices beyond him that has what is plentiful.
\n So also shall be my promised judgment;* I will rejoice over the few that shall be saved, inasmuch as they it is that make my glory prevail now already and through them my name is now already named [with praise].
\n And I will not grieve over the multitude of them that perish: for they it is who now
\n are made like vapour,
\n counted as smoke,
\n are comparable unto the flame:
\n They are fired, burn hotly, are extinguished!*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
268
\n2 Baruch 83:4\u20139<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let none therefore of these present things ascend into your hearts, but above all let us be expectant,* because that which is promised to us shall come. And let us not now look unto the delights of the Gentiles in the present, but let us remember what has been promised to us in the end. For the ends of the times and of the seasons and whatsoever is with them shall assuredly pass by together. The consummation, moreover, of the age* shall then show the great might of its ruler, when all things come to judgement. Do ye therefore prepare your hearts for that which before ye believed, lest ye come to be in bondage in both worlds,* so that ye be led away captive here and be tormented there. For that which exists now, or which has passed away, or which is to come, in all these things, neither is the evil fully evil, nor again the good fully good.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
JUDGEMENT AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reference to a final judgement has appeared in many of the passages already quoted; it is a constant theme of apocalyptic, and a necessary event before present wrongs could be righted under the rule of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
269
\nAssumption of Moses 10<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This book was probably written during the lifetime of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then his kingdom shall appear* throughout all his creation,<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nAnd then Satan shall be no more,*
\n And sorrow shall depart with him.
\n Then the hands of the angel shall be filled
\n Who has been appointed chief,
\n And he shall forthwith avenge them of their enemies.
\n For the Heavenly One will arise from his royal throne,*
\n And he will go forth from his holy habitation
\n With indignation and wrath on account of his sons.
\n And the earth shall tremble:* to its confines shall it be shaken:
\n And the high mountains shall be made low
\n And the hills shall be shaken and fall.
\n And the horns of the sun shall be broken and he shall be turned into darkness;
\n And the moon shall not give her light, and be turned wholly into blood.
\n And the circle of the stars shall be disturbed.
\n And the sea shall retire into the abyss,
\n And the fountains of waters shall fail,
\n And the rivers shall dry up.
\n For the Most High will arise, the Eternal God alone,*
\n And he will appear to punish the Gentiles,*
\n And he will destroy all their idols.
\n Then thou, O Israel, shalt be happy,
\n And thou shalt mount upon the necks and wings of the eagle,
\n And they shall be ended.*
\n And God will exalt thee,
\n And he will cause thee to approach to the heaven of the stars,
\n In the place of their habitation.*
\n And thou shalt look from on high and shalt see thy enemies in Gehenna,
\n And thou shalt recognize them and rejoice,
\n And thou shalt give thanks and confess thy Creator.
\n And do thou, Joshua the son of Nun,* keep these words and this book: for from my death [assumption] until his advent there shall be CCL times.* And this is the course of the times which they shall pursue till they are consummated. And I shall go to sleep with my fathers. Wherefore, Joshua thou son of Nun, [be strong and] be of good courage; [for] God hath chosen [thee] to be minister in the same covenant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
270
\nSibylline Oracles iii. 767\u2013808<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In antiquity, considerable weight was attached to utterances attributed to the various Sibyls. Their oracles conveyed, for those who could understand them, divine judgements on human affairs. The production of such oracles was easy to anyone capable of writing Greek hexameter verses (their traditional medium), and Jewish writers (later, Christian also) were not slow to adopt this valuable means of propaganda. The Sibylline books as they have come down to us are not a unity, but there can be no doubt of the Jewish origin of the following verses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then indeed he will raise up his kingdom for all ages over men, he who once gave a holy law to godly men,* to all of whom he promised to open out the earth and the world, and the portals of the blessed, and all joys, and everlasting sense and eternal gladness.
\n And from every land they shall bring frankincense and gifts to the house of the great God:* and there shall be no other house for men even in future generations to know but only that which he has given to faithful men to honour. For mortals call that alone the house of the great God. And all the paths of the plain and the sheer banks, and the lofty mountains and the wild sea waves shall become easy to travel over by foot or sail in those days. For nought but peace shall come upon the land of the good: and the prophets of the Mighty God shall take away the sword. For they are the judges of mortal men and just kings. Even wealth shall be righteous among men: for this is the judgement and the rule of the Mighty God.
\n Rejoice, O virgin,* and exult: for to thee the Creator of heaven and earth has given everlasting joy. And in thee shall he dwell, and thou shalt have eternal light.
\n And wolves and lambs* together shall crop grass upon the mountains, and leopards shall feed with kids. Prowling bears shall lie with calves, and the carnivorous lion shall eat in the manger like the ox, and the tiniest infants shall lead them in bonds, for he shall make the beasts upon the earth incapable of harm. Serpents and asps shall sleep with babes, and shall not harm them: for God\u2019s hand shall be stretched over them.
\n Now I will tell thee a very evident sign,* that thou mayest understand when the end of all things is coming on the earth. When swords in the star-lit heaven appear by night towards dusk and towards dawn, and straightway dust is carried from heaven to earth,* and all the brightness of the sun fails at midday from the heavens, and the moon\u2019s rays shine forth and come back to earth, and a sign comes from the rocks with dripping streams of blood: and in a cloud ye shall see a battle of foot and horse, as a hunt of wild beasts, like unto misty clouds. This is the consummation of war* which God, whose dwelling is in heaven, is bringing to pass. But all must sacrifice to the Mighty King.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE MESSIANIC WOES AND THE MESSIAH<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The notion that the good Age would be preceded by a period of affliction and trial has its roots in Old Testament prophecy and other religious movements of the ancient East. It appears in many apocalyptic documents, and in the New Testament, but in several different forms. Sometimes the distress is political and military; sometimes it arises from supernatural portents; often from a combination of both. Similarly there is no consistency of thought about the Messiah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
271
\n2 Baruch 25\u201330<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And he answered and said unto me: Thou too* shalt be preserved till that time, till that sign which the Most High will work for the inhabitants of the earth in the end of days. This therefore shall be the sign. When a stupor shall seize the inhabitants of the earth, and they shall fall into many tribulations, and again when they shall fall into great torments. And it will come to pass when they say in their thoughts by reason of their much tribulation: The Mighty One doth no longer remember the earth\u2014yea, it will come to pass when they abandon hope, that the time will then awake.
\n And I answered and said: Will that tribulation which is to be continue a long time, and will that necessity embrace many years?
\n And he answered and said unto me: Into twelve parts is that time divided,* and each one of them is reserved for that which is appointed for it. In the first part there shall be the beginning of commotions. And in the second part there shall be slayings of the great ones. And in the third part the fall of many by death. And in the fourth part the sending of the sword. And in the fifth part famine and the withholding of rain. And in the sixth part earthquakes and terrors.* [Wanting]. And in the eighth part a multitude of spectres and attacks of the Shedim. And in the ninth part the fall of fire. And in the tenth part rapine and much oppression. And in the eleventh part wickedness and unchastity. And in the twelfth part confusion from the mingling together of all those things aforesaid. For these parts of that time are reserved, and shall be mingled one with another and minister one to another. For some shall leave out some of their own, and receive in its stead from others, and some complete their own and that of others, so that those may not understand* who are upon the earth in those days that this is the consummation of the times.
\n Nevertheless, whosoever understandeth shall then be wise.* For the measure and reckoning of that time are two parts a week of seven weeks.* And I answered and said: It is good for a man to come and behold, but it is better that he should not come lest he fall. [But I will say* this also: Will he who is incorruptible despise those things which are corruptible, and whatever befalls in the case of those things which are corruptible, so that he might look only to those things which are not corruptible?] But if, O Lord, those things shall assuredly come to pass which thou hast foretold to me, so do thou show this also unto me if indeed I have found grace in thy sight. Is it in one place or in one of the parts of the earth that those things are come to pass, or will the whole earth experience them?\n And he answered and said unto me: Whatever will then befall will befall the whole earth; therefore all who live will experience them. For at that time I will protect only those who are found in those selfsame days in this land.<\/em> And it shall come to pass when all is accomplished that was to come to pass in those parts, that the Messiah shall then begin to be revealed.* And Behemoth shall be revealed from his place and Leviathan* shall ascend from the sea, those two great monsters which I created on the fifth day of creation, and shall have kept until that time; and then they shall be for food for all that are left. The earth also shall yield its fruit tenthousandfold* and on each [?] vine there shall be a thousand branches, and each branch shall produce a thousand clusters, and each cluster produce a thousand grapes, and each grape produce a cor of wine. And those who have hungered shall rejoice: moreover, also, they shall behold marvels every day. For winds shall go forth from before me to bring every morning the fragrance of aromatic fruits, and at the close of the day clouds distilling the dew of health. And it shall come to pass at that selfsame time that the treasury of manna* shall again descend from on high, and they will eat of it in those years, because these are they who have come to the consummation of time.
\n And it shall come to pass after these things, when the time of the advent of the Messiah is fulfilled, that he shall return in glory.*
\n Then all who have fallen asleep in hope of him shall rise again. And it shall come to pass at that time that the treasuries will be opened in which is preserved the number of the souls of the righteous, and they shall come forth, and a multitude of souls shall be seen together in one assemblage of one thought, and the first shall rejoice and the last shall not be grieved. For they know that the time is come of which it is said, that it is the consummation of the times. But the souls of the wicked, when they behold all these things, shall then waste away the more. For they shall know that their torment is come and their perdition has arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n272
\nPsalms of Solomon 17:23\u201336<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the earlier part of the Psalm (which is to be dated soon after Pompey\u2019s capture of Jerusalem, 63 BC; see 126) the writer laments the calamities that have befallen his people by reason of foreign invaders, and sinful Jews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Behold, O Lord, and raise up unto them their king, the son of David,*\n At the time in the which thou seest, O God, that he may reign over Israel thy servant.\n And gird him with strength, that he may shatter unrighteous rulers,\n And that he may purge Jerusalem from nations that trample her down to destruction.\n Wisely, righteously he shall thrust out sinners from the inheritance,\n He shall destroy the pride of the sinner as a potter\u2019s vessel.\n With a rod of iron he shall break in pieces all their substance,\n He shall destroy the godless nations with the word of his mouth;\n At his rebuke nations shall flee before him,\n And he shall reprove sinners for the thoughts of their heart.\n And he shall gather together a holy people, whom he shall lead in righteousness,\n And he shall judge the tribes of the people that has been sanctified by the Lord his God.\n And he shall not suffer unrighteousness to lodge any more in their midst,\n Nor shall there dwell with them any man that knoweth wickedness,\n For he shall know them, that they are all sons of their God.\n And he shall divide them according to their tribes upon the land,\n And neither sojourner nor alien* shall sojourn with them any more.\n He shall judge peoples and nations in the wisdom of his righteousness. Selah.\n And he shall have the heathen nations to serve him under his yoke;\n And he shall glorify the Lord in a place to be seen of [?] all the earth;\n And he shall purge Jerusalem, making it holy as of old:\n So that nations shall come from the ends of the earth to see his glory,\n Bringing as gifts her sons who had fainted,\n And to see the glory of the Lord, wherewith God hath glorified her.\n And he shall be a righteous king, taught of God, over them,\n And there shall be no unrighteousness in his days in their midst,\n For all shall be holy and their king the anointed of the Lord.*\n For he shall not put his trust* in horse and rider and bow,\n Nor shall he multiply for himself gold and silver for war,\n Nor shall he gather confidence from [?] a multitude [?] for the day of battle.\n The Lord himself is his king,* the hope of him that is mighty through his hope in God.\n [?] All nations shall be in fear before him,\n For he will smite the earth with the word of his mouth for ever.\n He will bless the people of the Lord with wisdom and gladness,\n And he himself will be pure from sin, so that he may rule a great people.\n He will rebuke rulers, and remove sinners by the might of his word;\n And relying upon his God, throughout his days he will not stumble;\n For God will make him mighty by means of his holy spirit,*\n And wise by means of the spirit of understanding, with strength and righteousness.\n And the blessing of the Lord will be with him: he will be strong and stumble not;\n His hope will be in the Lord: who then can prevail against him?\n He will be mighty in his works, and strong in the fear of God,\n He will be shepherding the flock of the Lord* faithfully and righteously,\n And he will suffer none among them to stumble in their pasture,\n He will lead them all aright,\n And there will be no pride among them that any among them should be oppressed.\n This will be the majesty of the king of Israel whom God knoweth;\n He will raise him up over the house of Israel to correct him.\n His words* shall be more refined than costly gold, the choicest;\n In the assemblies he will judge the peoples, the tribes of the sanctified.\n His words* shall be like the words of the holy ones in the midst of sanctified peoples.\n Blessed be they that shall be in those days,\n In that they shall see the good fortune of Israel which God shall bring to pass in the gathering together of the tribes.\n May the Lord hasten his mercy upon Israel!\n May he deliver us from the uncleanness of unholy enemies!\nThe Lord himself is our king for ever and ever.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nTHE SON OF MAN<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No attempt will be made here to give an account of the problems raised by the use of this term in the Gospels, much less to answer them. There are indeed few New Testament problems that require a more extensive knowledge of Jewish and kindred literature, though when these have been ransacked it remains very doubtful whether \u2018the Son of man\u2019 was ever in Jewish use as a title for the Messiah, or for anyone else. That the Gospels use it as a title for Jesus seems clear; whether he used it as a title for himself is a matter of dispute, as is its origin. The words Son of man, or the Son of man, or that Son of man occur in, or are suggested by, the following passages which are often quoted in discussions of the question. It must be remembered that \u2018(the) son of man\u2019 is a Semitic idiom for \u2018(the) man\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
273
\nDaniel 7:1\u201314<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the date and origin of Daniel see above, 260 and note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters. Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven brake forth upon the great sea.* And four great beasts* came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion, and had eagle\u2019s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand upon two feet as a man, and a man\u2019s heart was given to it. And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in his mouth between his teeth: and they said unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, terrible and powerful, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. I beheld till thrones were placed,* and one that was ancient of days did sit: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, and the wheels thereof burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him; thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the judgement was set, and the books were opened. I beheld at that time because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and he was given to be burned with fire. And as for the rest of the beasts their dominion was taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. I saw in the night visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man,* and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
274
\n1 Enoch (a) 48 (b) 69. 26\u20139 (c) 71. 14\u201317<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The central section (37\u201371) of 1 Enoch, generally known as the Similitudes of Enoch, contains frequent reference to a person described as the (or that) Son of man. The date of the Similitudes is disputed, but may be contemporary with the New Testament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(a) And in that place* I saw the fountain of righteousness
\n Which was inexhaustible:
\n And around it were many fountains of wisdom:
\n And all the thirsty drank of them,
\n And were filled with wisdom,
\n And their dwellings were with the righteous and holy and elect.
\n And at that hour that Son of man was named
\n In the presence of the Lord of Spirits,
\n And his name before the Head of Days.
\n Yea, before the sun and the signs were created,
\n Before the stars of the heaven were made,
\n His name was named* before the Lord of Spirits.
\n He shall be a staff to the righteous whereon to stay themselves and not fall,
\n And he shall be the light of the Gentiles,
\n And the hope of those who are troubled of heart,
\n All who dwell on earth shall fall down and worship him,
\n And will praise and bless and celebrate with song the Lord of Spirits.
\n And for this reason hath he been chosen and hidden before him,*
\n Before the creation of the world and for evermore.
\n And the wisdom of the Lord of Spirits hath revealed him to the holy and righteous;*
\n For he hath preserved the lot of the righteous,
\n Because they have hated and despised this world of unrighteousness,
\n And have hated all its works and ways in the name of the Lord of Spirits:
\n For in his name they are saved,*
\n And according to his good pleasure hath it been in regard to their life.
\n In these days downcast in countenance shall the kings of the earth have become,
\n And the strong who possess the land because of the works of their hands,
\n For on the day of their anguish and affliction they shall not be able to save themselves.
\n And I will give them over into the hands of mine elect:
\n As straw in the fire so shall they burn before the face of the righteous,
\n And no trace of them shall any more be found.*
\n And on the day of their affliction there shall be rest on the earth,
\n And before them they shall fall and not rise again:
\n And there shall be no one to take them with his hands and raise them:
\n For they have denied the Lord of Spirits and his Anointed.*
\n The name of the Lord of Spirits be blessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(b) And there was great joy amongst them,\n And they blessed and glorified and extolled\n Because the name of that Son of man had been revealed unto them.*\n And he sat on the throne of his glory,\n And the sum of judgement was given unto the Son of man,*\n And he caused the sinners to pass away and be destroyed from off the face of the earth,\n And those who have led the world astray.\n With chains shall they be bound,\n And in their assemblage-place of destruction shall they be imprisoned,\n And all their works vanish from the face of the earth.\n And from henceforth there shall be nothing corruptible;\n For that Son of man has appeared,\n And has seated himself on the throne of his glory,\n And all evil shall pass away before his face,\n And the word of that Son of man shall go forth\n And be strong before the Lord of Spirits.\n This is the third Parable of Enoch.\n\n (c) And he came to me and greeted me with his voice, and said unto me:\n This is the Son of man who is born unto righteousness,*\n And righteousness abides over him,\n And the righteousness of the Head of Days forsakes him not.\n And he said unto me:\n He proclaims unto thee peace in the name of the world to come;\n For from hence has proceeded peace since the creation of the world,\n And so shall it be unto thee for ever and for ever and ever.\n And all shall walk in his ways since righteousness never forsaketh him:\n With him will be their dwelling-places, and with him their heritage,\n And they shall not be separated from him for ever and ever and ever.\n And so there shall be length of days with that Son of man,\n And the righteous shall have peace and an upright way\n In the name of the Lord of Spirits for ever and ever.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nMysticism<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To live in communion with the secrets of heaven is mysticism, and as was noted above it is never far from apocalypticism, in which the secrets of the upper world, and in close relation with them the secrets of the future, are revealed (Greek, \u1f00\u03c0\u03bf\u03ba\u03b1\u03bb\u03cd\u03c0\u03c4\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd). To some extent this intercourse with the heavenly world was a literary convention, but it was not wholly so; much of apocalyptic was based on sincere (even if sometimes misguided) religious experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
275
\n1 Enoch 14<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Compare 274. This part of 1 Enoch may go back as far as the third century BC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This book is the word of righteousness and of reproof for the Watchers* who are from eternity, as the Holy and Great One commanded in that vision. I saw in my sleep what I will now tell with the tongue of flesh and with my breath which the Great One has given to men in the mouth, that they might speak with it and understand with the heart. As he has created and appointed men to understand the word of knowledge, so he created and appointed me to reprove the Watchers, the sons of heaven. And I wrote out your petition, but in my vision thus it appeared, that your petition will not be granted you for all the days of eternity; and complete judgement has been decreed against you, and you will not have peace. And from now on you will not ascend into heaven for all eternity, and it has been decreed that you are to be bound in the earth for all the days of eternity. And before this you will have seen the destruction of your beloved sons, and you will not be able to enjoy them, but they will fall before you by the sword. And your petition will not be granted in respect of them, nor in respect of yourselves. And while you weep and supplicate, you do not speak a single word from the writing which I have written. And the vision appeared to me as follows: Behold clouds called me in the vision, and mist called me, and the path of the stars and flashes of lightning hastened me and drove me, and in the vision winds caused me to fly and hastened me and lifted me up into heaven. And I proceeded until I came near to a wall which was built of hailstones, and a tongue of fire surrounded it, and it began to make me afraid. And I went into the tongue of fire and came near to a large house which was built of hailstones, and the wall of that house was like a mosaic made of hailstones, and its floor was snow. Its roof was like the path of the stars and flashes of lightning, and among them were fiery Cherubim, and their heaven was like water. And there was a fire burning around its wall, and its door was ablaze with fire. And I went into that house, and it was hot as fire and cold as snow, and there was neither pleasure nor life in it. Fear covered me and trembling took hold of me, and as I was shaking and trembling, I fell on my face. And I saw in the vision, and behold, another house, which was larger than the former, and all its doors were open before me, and it was built of a tongue of fire. And in everything it so excelled in glory and splendour and size that I am unable to describe to you its glory and its size. And its floor was fire, and above were lightning and the path of the stars, and its roof also was a burning fire. And I looked and I saw in it a high throne, and its appearance was like ice and its surrounds like the shining sun* and the sound of Cherubim. And from underneath the high throne there flowed out rivers of burning fire so that it was impossible to look at it. And He who is great in glory sat on it, and his raiment was brighter than the sun, and whiter than any snow. And no angel could enter, and at the appearance of the face of him who is honoured and praised no creature of flesh could look. A sea of fire burnt around him, and a great fire stood before him, and none of those around him came near to him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him, but he needed no holy counsel. And the Holy Ones who were near to him did not leave by night or day, and did not depart from him. And until then I had a covering on my face, as I trembled. And the Lord called me with his own mouth and said to me, Come hither, Enoch, to my holy word. And he lifted me up and brought me near to the door. And I looked, with my face down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apocalyptic Judaism, like all Judaism, was based upon exegesis of a sacred text; in its mystical strand the passages most used were the creation narrative (Gen. 1; 2) and the chapters of the Chariot (Ezek. 1; 10). The latter in particular led both to mystical experience and to theological speculation, and its dangers were recognized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
276
\nMishnah Hagigah 2. 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The forbidden degrees may not be expounded before three persons, nor the Story of Creation before two, nor the chapter of the Chariot before one alone,* unless he is a sage that understands of his own knowledge. Whosoever gives his mind to four things it were better for him if he had not come into the world\u2014what is above? what is beneath? what was beforetime? and what will be hereafter?* And whosoever takes no thought for the honour of his Maker, it were better for him if he had not come into the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
277
\nMishnah Megillah 4. 10<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The story of Reuben is read out but not interpreted; the story of Tamar is read out and interpreted. The first story of the calf is read out and interpreted, and the second is read out but not interpreted. The Blessing of the Priests and the story of David* and of Amnon are read out but not interpreted. They may not use the chapter of the Chariot as a reading from the Prophets; but R. Judah permits it. R. Eliezer says: They do not use the chapter Cause Jerusalem to know as a reading from the Prophets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Four rabbis in particular were said to have \u2018entered into Paradise\u2019, that is, to have seen the secrets of the heavenly world. Only one, R. Akiba, came out of the experience unharmed. The account is given here from a passage in the Tosephta; there are parallels in Babylonian Hagigah 14b; Jerusalem Hagigah 77b; Song of Songs Rabbah 1:4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
278
\nTosephta Hagigah 2. 3, 4 (ETr. C. Rowland)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Four men entered into a garden.* Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Aher, and R. Akiba. One looked and died. One looked and was struck. One looked and cut the plants. One went up in peace and came down in peace. Ben Azzai* looked and died. Concerning him scripture says, Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. Ben Zoma* looked and was struck. Concerning him scripture says, Have you found honey? Eat what is sufficient for you \u2026 Elisha* looked and cut the plants. Concerning him scripture says, Do not allow your mouth to bring your flesh into sin \u2026 R. Akiba* went up in peace and came down in peace. Concerning him scripture says, Draw me; we shall run after you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mysticism could thus lead to madness and to heresy. Mystical theologians asked whether God was truly one or whether there was another to share his throne. In such speculations a being called Metatron played an important part; in the following passages, drawn from the same book (which contains very early traditions, though its final redaction may be as late as the fifth century AD), positive and negative views seem to be expressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
279
\n3 Enoch 11; 12<\/p>\n\n\n\n
R. Ishmael said: The angel Metatron, Prince of the Divine Presence, said to me:
\n The Holy One, blessed be he, revealed to me from that time onward all the mysteries of wisdom, all the depths of the perfect Torah and all the thoughts of men\u2019s hearts. All the mysteries of the world and all the orders of nature stand revealed before me as they stand revealed before the Creator. From that time onward I looked and beheld deep secrets and wonderful mysteries. Before a man thinks in secret, I see his thought; before he acts, I see his act. There is nothing* in heaven above or deep within the earth concealed from me.*
\n R. Ishmael said: Metatron, Prince of the Divine Presence, said to me:
\n Out of the love which he had for me, more than for all the denizens of the heights, the Holy One, blessed be he, fashioned for me a majestic robe, in which all kinds of luminaries were set, and he clothed me in it. He fashioned for me a glorious cloak in which brightness, brilliance, splendour, and lustre of every kind were fixed, and he wrapped me in it. He fashioned for me a kingly crown in which 49 refulgent stones were placed, each like the sun\u2019s orb, and its brilliance shone into the four quarters of the heaven of \u2018Arabot,* into the seven heavens, and into the four quarters of the world. He set it upon my head and he called me, \u2018The lesser YHWH\u2019* in the presence of his whole household in the height, as it is written, \u2018My name is in him.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
280
\n3 Enoch 16<\/p>\n\n\n\n
R. Ishmael said: The angel Metatron, Prince of the Divine Presence, the glory of highest heaven, said to me:
\n At first I sat upon a great throne at the door of the seventh palace, and I judged all the denizens of the heights on the authority of the Holy One, blessed be he. I assigned greatness, royalty, rank, sovereignty, glory, praise, diadem, crown, and honour to all the princes of kingdoms, when I sat in the heavenly court. The princes of kingdoms stood beside me, to my right and to my left, by authority of the Holy One, blessed be he. But when \u02beA\u1e25er* came to behold the vision of the chariot and set eyes upon me, he was afraid and trembled before me. His soul was alarmed to the point of leaving him because of his fear, dread, and terror of me, when he saw me seated upon a throne like a king, with ministering angels standing beside me as servants and all the princes of kingdoms crowned with crowns surrounding me. Then he opened his mouth and said, \u2018There are indeed two powers in heaven!\u2019 Immediately a divine voice came out from the presence of the \u0160ekinah and said, \u2018Come back to me, apostate sons\u2014apart from \u2018A\u1e25er!\u2019 Then \u2018Anapi\u2019el<\/em> YHWH, the honoured, glorified, beloved, wonderful, terrible, and dreadful Prince, came at the command of the Holy One, blessed be he, and struck me with sixty lashes of fire and made me stand to my feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n@book{Barrett_1987,
\nplace={London},
\nedition={Revised},
\ntitle={The New Testament Background: Selected Documents},
\npublisher={SPCK},
\nyear={1987}}<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Exportiert aus Verbum, 17:21 31. Dezember 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Sources It should be unnecessary to point out that these pages do not contain a complete account of the sources on which our knowledge of the ancient world is based. They are intended to convey a quantity of information that may be useful to those who are beginning the study of the subject and … <\/p>\n