PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
A Dictionary of the Bible — Volume 5
James Hastings · 1,128,046 words · 1137 reading sections
Section 901
*In 1K 1282 Jeroboam 1. is charged with having instituted a feast on the 15th day of the 8th month after the manner of the feast in Judah, but it is disputed whether this means that at that time the Feast of Harvest was celebrated even in Judah in the 8th month (instead of the 7th, as was the later practice). The fixin…
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6. The truest reflexion of the manners and morals of our period is preserved, without doubt, in the stories of the patriarchs in Gn 12-50. In these figures we have a twofold presentation of types that are thoroughly true to life—in Abraham a kind of ideal of ancient Israelitish piety, in Jacob the empirical phenomenon …
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Secondly, however, and closely connected with the above, what we have really to do with, at Jeast in the Jacob-narratives, are not the actions and experiences of individuals, but the relations of one people to another, namely, of Israel towards the Edomites (Esau) on the one hand, and the Arameans (Laban) on the other.…
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vi. ANTHROPOLOGY AND THEORY OF THE UNI- VERSE (WELTANSCHAUUNG).— Under this twofold heading we propose to treat of everything which, according to modern views, constitutes the scien- tifie standpoint of a period, but which to ancient, and especially to Israelitish, notions is so closely connected with religion that it …
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Keeping now to the, exact terms of the funda- mental and principal passage, Gn 2’, we learn from this, in the form of narrative, that Jahweh at first formed a man [proleptically for ‘a human body’] from clods [not ‘dust ’] of the field, and then breathed into his nostrils breath of life, so that man became a living bei…
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same purpose Job 144 (‘How could a clean come from an unclean? Not one.’) 154 254*—late pas- sages, but manifestly intending to express nothing more than is meant already by J in Gn 871. In the last-cited passages from Job the ques- tion is put, ‘How can one born of woman be pure [before God]?’: this shows how the con…
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The question as to the nature and the com- ponents of man’s personality was one that could not fail to engage the attention of ancient thought in other quarters as well. Along with the ob- servations which point to its answer, it always forced itself afresh to the front, and in particular exercised an influence even up…
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* There appears to be no doubt that the conception of Para- dise with its four rivers is borrowed from Eastern (? Babylonian) myths, and that the description of the rivers (Gn 210-14) is a later insertion in the early narrative. With regard to this insertion [not to the whole myth] Stade may be right in holding (art. ‘…
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The question, what part of the man goes after death into Sh@6l, cannot be answered from the standpoint of the dichotomy of the OT, which has been already described. For the body is laid in the grave and falls a prey to corruption. The breath of life returns to God, and with its separation from the body the man ceases t…
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For the truth mentioned above, that the whole conception of Shé’%l lies outside genuine Jah- wism, and was at all times a part, indeed, of the popular faith, but not of religion proper, there is evidence not only in the stern rejection of necro- mancy (as the appendage of another, heathen, religion), but, above all, in…
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670 RELIGION OF ISRAEL RELIGION OF ISRAEL record is thoroughly anthropocentric ; and man is not only (as in Gn 1) the goal and crown of creation, but to such a degree is he its central point that the world of animals is created solely on his account, with the result that in no way do they come up to his dignity and e…
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* At most we should have to except only the serpent of Am 93 (see above) and Rahab of Is 307 (as a designation of Egypt). But not only is the authenticity of the last passage disputed, but the correctness of its text is very doubtful, and, finally, rahab may here be quite well an appellative ‘ raging ’ ‘ bluster ing’)…
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There are two facts which must be kept steadily in view, because they suffice to explain all the phe- nomena in the Prophetical literature. (a) In the first place, it is, throughout, a religious literature ; it does not profess to give anything, and we must accordingly not look to it for anything, that goes beyond reli…
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+ The emphasis we lay on the word writing in this title is not intended to deny that there were true prophets of Jahweh in Israel besides these (cf. what was said above, p. 6568, about Micaiah ben-Imiah, and what is said in Jer 2620f. of Uriah ben-Shemaiah); but we can judge only of those about whose messages we have w…
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4, Now, it is quite true that in opposition to this it has been maintained (so, in great detail, by A. Klostermann in SK, 1877, p. 391 ff., and_ again recently by Duhm in his Commentary on Isaiah, p. 129) that, at least in the case of Ezekiel, by the prophet’s own confession, cataleptic conditions, namely, temporary lo…
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6. Finally, it must be Proponpces, a@ gross exag- geration to think of al/ the activity of the pro- hets as carried on under ecstatic conditions. When a prophet begins his message with the expression ‘ Thus saith the LORD’ (7° 7px 45), or introduces into his address the very frequent 674 RELIGION OF ISRAEL RELIGION …
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out. Jeremiah promises that he will pray to Jahweh for a message, and that he will not keep back a single word of it when he receives it. But ten days elapse before the Divine word comes to him, forbidding absolutely the migration to Egypt, and commanding the people to remain in their own land, The charges of falsehoo…
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10. From this follows another result, which is not least in importance, namely, that the minatory prediction, however categorically it may be ex- pressed, has always only a conditional character. Even Amos, whose denunciation of judgment sounds so irrevocable that he actually strikes up the funeral dirge (kindh) over I…
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676 RELIGION OF ISRAEL and, above all, the difference in their subject- matter. But, further, the visions present themselves to us in such multiplicity that we can readily understand how attempts have been made to dis- tinguish between genuine vision and the purely literary garb given to prophetic ideas—not to speak …
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(d) The latest * accounts of visions proper lie before us in the eight night-visions of Zechariah (18-68). We have already (p. 673°) pointed out that, apart from 41, there are no indications point- ing to a cataleptic condition of the prophet when he had these visions. Hence it appeared to us quite improbable that ‘the…
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with merely alluding to this, for it lies outside the scope of an article dealing with the history of religion. 3. Full notice must be taken, however, of the symbolical actions whereby the prophets gave, as it were, a concrete form to the truths they pro- claimed. We meet with an example of this even in very early tim…
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* So, with most moderns, we should read (following the LXX) in place of 390. From the beginning of the exile of Israel to that of Judah there are reckoned in round numbers 150 years [in reality they amount to only about 130, or, counting from 784, to 142], which are followed by 40 years of joint exile. Nothing can be m…
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(a) In seeking to establish these propositions in more detail, we may look first at what is said of the Person of God. It was an unavoidable neces- sity that even in this period the analogy of the human personality should still be used to give a clear, nay even an intelligible, idea of the nature and working of the Div…
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(6) The first of these is that nowhere in the pre- exilic prophets are angels * spoken of as beings mediating between God and man. For the seraphim in the vision of Isaiah (see above, p. 644%), which might readily occur to one’s mind, are really the retinue of Jahweh, not His messengers who are supposed to be at a dist…
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t Am 24, with its allusion to the (Judean) 01319, lit. ‘lies,’ [=‘idols’], is generally recognized to be a later interpolation. t On the controversy as to the beginning of absolute mono- theism, the reader may consult: A. Kuenen, art. ‘Jahweh and the other gods’ in Theol. Review, J uly 1876; Baudissin Studien zur semi…
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In view of all these testimonies to a lofty view of history and a conception of God which embraced the whole Universe, we can now see also the polemic against images in its true light. We perceive how to the prophets every attempt to give to this fowertal, majestic God a petty visible form, must have been anabomination…
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It cannot occasion us any surprise that ¢his use of the concepts ‘holy’ and ‘holiness’ meets us most frequently in the latest stratum of the Pentateuch, the so-called Priests’ Code, for the latter is concerned, above all, with ritual prescrip- tions. But in this matter it is plain that it simply follows a long-establis…
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It may be added that expressions about the holiness of God are at first very rare. Ex 15" (‘ Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, terrible in exploits, doing wonders?’) should probably be assigned to the later Prophetical period. Jos 241% (‘ Ye cannot serve Jahweh, for he is a holy God’), from the pen of E, emphasiz…
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another connexion we shall have to speak of how He causes it to triumph over wrong and sin, even if this involves the giving up and destruction of His own people. Here it may suffice to refer to one other illustration of how widely the genuine Prophetical judgment of things differs from that of the mass of the people o…
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(e) In view of the above-described strong empha- sizing of the holiness of God as the absolute eleva- tion and unapproachableness, nay the awfulness, of the Divine essence, and, in no less degree, owing to the circumstance that the preaching of repent- ance was the main task of the prophets, it is readily intelligible …
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+ In Hos 111 (MT ‘out of Egypt I called my son’) we should probably read, with LXX and Targ., ‘his sons’ aa RELIGION OF ISRAEL RELIGION OF ISRAEL 685 the Book of Deuteronomy labours to impress it upon the people’s minds that it was not on account of any greatness (Dt 7’) or any special righteous- ness of theirs that…
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While Deuteronomy accommodates itself to pre- vailing customs, there are, on the other hand, say- ings of the prophets proper which cannot be under- stood except as absolutely disclaiming any demand on God’s part for sacrificial gifts—a proof, by the way, that these prophets, one and all, are as yet quite unacquainted …
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This testimony of Jeremiah weighs all the more * The usual rendering, ‘more than in burnt - offerings,’ by which, after all, a recognition of sacrifice is introduced into the saying, would be in itself linguistically possible, butis absolutely excluded by the first half-verse ; midpn means simply ‘ apart from (or to t…
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But the strongest evidence of the Prophetical spiritualizing of the old ritual customs is the turn now given to the very ancient and strictly observed requirement of circwmcision (cf. above, p. 622>7); when in Jer 44 (cf. also Dt 106 30%) the removal of the foreskin of the heart is called for. We shall not be wrong in …
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But all this humanity and mildness in Deutero- nomy goes hand in hand with an unbending strict- ness, not only against idolatry but against every form of lawlessness. The son who is hopelessly corrupt is, at the instance of his own parents, to be stoned to death (21'8), In like manner, in the case of adultery (22”), or…
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od. Since we have already (p. 672 ff.) discussed fully the nature and functions of these, we may here refer to other two points only. There is, first, the very definite way in which the prophets look for the fulfilment of their predictions (cf. esp. Is 8% 308, Hab 2?, where the prediction is still further strengthened…
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* Of., on this subject, art. PROPITIATION in vol. iv. EXTRA VOL.—44 other hand, the sins of Manasseh inevitably bring about the destruction of the nation (Jer 154, 2 K 24°), Deuteronomy, however, is far from infer- ring the false converse of this postulate that virtue is sure of reward, and wickedness of punishment ; …
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In the category of idolatry, Hosea (4!2) clearly includes also divining by means of small staves (the so-called rhabdomancy), as Isaiah (8!) includes necromancy and in general every form of divina- tion and magic (2°, ef. also 2 K 234). The popular belief might imagine these things to be reconcil- able with the worship…
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(c) The character of the conception of God and the religious conditions find their natural reflexion in the moral conditions that prevailed in the nation. On this head we have endless complaints by the prophets, directed at times against the people as a whole, and at times against particular classes. Beginning with the…
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judgment. And across the terrors of the judg- ment there smiles an era of grace and Divine com- passion, an era of renewal, when the remnant of the nation shall once more answer to the idea of a people of God, and reap the fruits of such a privi- lege. It is only natural that these various stages of the prophets’ messa…
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e may live; for then will Jahweh the God of osts be with you, as ye have said. Hate the evil and love the good, and establish right in the gate: it may be that Jahweh the God of Hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph’? These last words suggest the question whether perhaps, after all, the closing part of the…
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Cf. esp. Marti, ‘Dodekapropheton’ (in Kurzer Hdcom., Ttibingen, 1903), p. 27 ff. t On the ‘holy seed’ of 613 see below, p. 696, RELIGION OF ISRAEL right way. Procure justice for the orphan, plead the cause of the widow.’ These words surely in- dicate that he does not consider it an impossible ray Peaks that at least …
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(d) The question whether, in the case of Micah, the contemporary of Isaiah, the threatening of the total destruction not only of Samaria (1°*) but also of Jerusalem (3!) was the final word of his prophecy, depends upon the other question, how much of Mic 4ff. is from the pen of Micah himself. In any case we cannot rega…
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* Cf. above, p. 6752, 5. The so-called ‘ Messianic prophecy.’ —(a) So far as words are concerned, we have to deal here, properly speaking, only with such predictions as have for their subject the Messiah, the ‘ Anointed,’* i.e. the King of the house of David, who, after the purifying judgment is over, is to hold sway …
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III. The following represent a free critical standpoint : Ferd. Hitzig, Vorlesungen tiber die biblische Theologie und [forming an independent 2nd part] die messianischen Weissagungen des AT, herausgegeben von Kneucker, Karlsruhe, 1880 ; Ed. Riehm, Die messianische Weissagung, Gotha, 1875, 2nd ed. 1885, Eng. ed. 1900; V…
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(8) Is 9'6 and 111-°.—The same difficulty arises, of course, in estimating the two great, undoubtedly Messianic prophecies, Is 9! and 111 [the secondary character of 11°" is now pretty generally acknow- ledged]. It is no objection to Isaiah’s authorship that in 9! the circumstances of the Exile appear to be presupposed…
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(5) Jer 23°%.—Jn view of all that has been said, * Dt 327 shows that this isthe meaning of obdiy ‘1D? (not ‘days of eternity,’ as if what were spoken of were the eternal pre-existence of the Messiah). it might not be an impossible supposition that the real starting-point of the expectation of a personal Messiah is t…
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(e) Jer 315!*4.—We do not find that Jeremiah follows out the above notion elsewhere. But in its place he offers in 31°!4 a prophecy regarding the condition of Judah after the purifying judgment, which goes far beyond the announcement of simple restoration and renewed prosperity. This is the famous prophecy of the ‘new …
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*It would of course be a gross exaggeration to deny any individualistic traits to the religion of Israel prior to the time of Jeremiah. Such an assertion would be contradicted by such notices of individual prayer as we find in 18 129f: ete. But, on the other hand, we are not entitled, with Sellin (Beitrage zur israel. …
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‘giant substructures, was associated with the most glorious recollections of the Golden Age of united Israel; and the Northern kingdom could only re- flect with envy that it had no share left in this pride of the whole nation. But was not this advantage of Judah, after all, only an outward, not to say a purely imagin…
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In what has been said above we do not mean to affirm that the idea of centralizing the cultus, which was first realized in 621 through the law- book of Hilkiah, was wholly remote in the time of * The Prophets of Israel, Edinburgh, 1882, p. 274 f. : + The attempt of W. Erbt (Die Sicherstellung des Monotheismus, Gottin…
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It is worthy of note that since the time of Micah, whose swan-song, full of the bitterest com- plaints, may be preserved in the fragment Mic 7°, the voice of Jahweh prophecy had been, so far as we know, completely hushed. The oracle of Nahum against Nineveh (dating probably about 660), lies, in view of its contents, ou…
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* Regarding this law-book it must suffice here (cf. also above, p. 671>) to remark that, although not wholly identical with our present Book of Deuteronomy, it must have had the closest affinity with the latter. Further, we have to confess ourselves convinced that the discovery of the book by Hilkiah was really acciden…
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V. EZEKIEL. 1. The great importance of Ezekiel for the fur- ther development of the religion of Israel, as we have sketched it at the close of the preceding section, could not be recognized until the depend- ence of the Priests’ Code upon his programme for the future (Ezk 40-48) was placed beyond doubt. As long as it …
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4. The rarity with which the above ideas are touched upon in Ezekiel is plainly owing to the circumstance that he feels himself in the first instance far more impelled to give strong expres- sion to his holy indignation at the sins and the consequently enormous guilt of his people. Hence his Divine commission has for i…
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RELIGION OF ISRAEL RELIGION OF ISRAEL 703 breach of treaty (177%) ; the princes, who are like wolves and worthless shepherds (22% 341%); the priests, who are forgetful of their duties (22) ; the lying prophets (13'* 22°%) and prophetesses (13!7#-), who lull the people into false security. _All this guilt cries for …
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9, As elsewhere in the expectations of the pro- phets regarding the future, a pretty large space is occupied in Ezekiel with threatenings against foreign nations; nay, it would seem from 30% as if the ‘Day of the Lorp,’ which had been looked for from the time of Amos, was exclusively a day of judgment upon foreign peop…
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(c) Suitably to its above significance, the city along with the sacred ¢értéimdah is the heart and almost the exact central point of the whole country ; for to the north of it lie seven, and to the south five tribes, the latter—quite contrary to the former historical state of things—including even Issachar, Zebulun, an…
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EXTRA VOL.—45 RELIGION OF ISRAEL 705 officials of this kind reintroduced. It was quite outside the scope of his ideas that in the new Jerusalem the place of the national political head should be taken by a spiritual one—in fact, by a high priest. Ezekiel, then, retained a political head ; but the latter is, strictly …
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3. We have just described Deutero-Isaiah’s fun- damental notion of a Divine purpose of salvation, which is at present becoming plain—a purpose which includes all nations, and which at the same time solves all the enigmas of Israel’s history. It is primarily under this notion that we must sub- sume all the declarations …
901 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain historical reference work (1898–1905); OCR text from Internet Archive. Historical scholarship and terminology reflect its era; OCR may contain errors. Verify quotations and current scholarly claims independently.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.