* This may be inferred from the fact that names compounded with Baal occur not only in Saul's but in David's family. Cf »liO !Ios 21«.
See, DOW, W"llh. In u. Jiid. Geschichte, 110.
of J"; from being the L'nii|ue One J" became llu Only One. Possibly their iiiimls nmved along several lines. The prophets of the Slh cent, do not formally ilcclare J" to be God alone, though they silently ignore all other gods ; it is only in the age of i)t and in that of Deutero- Isaiah that J"'s solo Godhead is directly expressed.
It is now a common-place to say that Amos taught that J" is absolute Uigliteousness, the impersonation of the moral idea ; that moral evil alone is sin ; and that the only service J ' desires is a righteous life (though Amos also teaches that J" is good and compassionate, i'-"'- 7'") ; and that Hosea represents ,J ' as unchanging Love, which no ingratitude of His people can weary or alienate (though Hosea does not forget the righteousness of J", 2'"); and that to Isaiali .1" is the tran- scendent Sovereign and unive^^.■ll Lord (though he, too, recognizes the fatherl3' goodness and nurture of J", 1^ S'"-). Isaiah exjire-sses his conception in the term kddush, of which 'holy' is a very im- perfect rendering. 'Holiness' is not primarilv a moral quality, it is the expression of (iodhcad in the absolute sense. ' The Holy One of Israel ' is a paradox, meaning that the transcendent God has become God of Israel. Isaiah in one thought goes beyond his predecessors (but see Hosea) : he insists on religiousness — t\ia,t,t\\ec(j>is(:iousncss of J 'should be ever present in the mind. The want of this consciousness, insensibility to the Lord the King, failure to recognize Him in the events of history and human life, — this is sin (1™-)- And it is the cause of all sin, of the levity of human life (o'-), and the self-exaltation both of men and nations (2»«- 9" 10'=). The prophetic ideas form but half their teaching, the gieater half lies in their own life and personal relation to God. Taken as a whole, the prophetic teaching amounts to the full ethicizing of the conception of J''. And the moral is of no nationality ; it transcends nation- ality, and is human. The righteous God is God universal, over all. The principles of the human economy have at last clearly reflected themselves in the consciousness of the jirophets, and human history is seen to be a moral process. And the idea naturally suggested the other idea of the issue of the process, the eschatology, which is the realizing of perfect righteousness in the world of mankind (Is 1^ 9'). The movement of the prophetic thought towards universalism wa-s aided by the entrance of the great empires of Assyria and Babj'lon on the stage of history. This gave them a new idea, that of the world ; it created a new antithesis, J" and the world ; an<l it opened a new realm for the rule of the King', all the nations of the earth. Univers.-ilisni is moat broadly taught in Deulero-Isaiah ; hut there it is a theological deduction from the unity of God. J" is God alone, the first and the last, initi- ating all movements and leading them to their issue ; and His salvation shall be to the ends of the earth (496). The loftiest thoughts of God expressed in Scripture are found in JoIj and iJeut.- Isaiah. In the latter writer all the o]ieralions and attributes of J" are combined to sustain the faith that he is Redeemer of Israel and Saviour of all mankind, — His creation of the earth (45"**-) and man (42*"), His call of Lsrael to be His servant and revelation of Himself within it (42'-« 45"'-«' 49'""), and its Kestoration (49™- 50"'-),^all these are in order that all the ends of the earth may look unto Him and be saved (ib"" 49« 51^*).
(4) From the Exile onwards. — Attributes. — In the last period of Israel's history new conceptions of Goil hardly emerge. The period was rather one of assimilation of the prophetic teaching into the individual mind and experience. What the pro phets had taught of the nature of J'
the pro ■, of Ilii
GOD
GOD
203
puipose, and particularly of the eschatolorical issues of His purpose, formed the subject of re- flection, and eflbrta were made to verify it in experience. The eli'orts, as lias been said, raised problems which, if they batllud solution, led to a more inward knowledge of God (Ps 73"'"'). The problems were mainly three : God and the world ; God and Israel H is people ; and God and the life and destiny of the individual (see aliove).
Perhaps in tliis pjriod fuller and more formal expression is given to the attributes of God. But ft ilelailed account of the divine attributes is of little moment or worth. When the idea is reached that (!od is a transcendent moral Person, it is but a matter of deduction or analysis to tabulate His attributes, for 'moral' embraces not only right- eousness, but goodness, love, anil comjiassion. In earlier times J" revealed His nature in actions which illustrated some one of His attributes. The very surprising ancient passage Ex 34"'-, in which J" proclaimed His name, that is, His whole being, left little to be added later : ' Jehovah, Jehovah God, merciful and gracious, long-sull'ering, and abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniiiuity, and transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.' In later times two causes contri- buted to a more frequent reference to the attributes of God : frst, the tendency to reflection on His nature and on His historical operations, and their religious meaning. This tendency appears in Ezk, and Deutcro-Isaiah, and downwards. The latter prophet is fond of turning God's creative and liistorical acts (43") into attributes ; and thus His relation to the world as Creator becomes the basis and guarantee of His rel.ation to it as Saviour (451811. . jf (;jjg cosmic christology of St. Paul's later Epp. ). And, ser.oiuUy, when the people wrestled with their God over their adverse destiny and hojics deferred, calling to mind His wonders of old (Ps 77", and the historical Pss), and the 'sure mercies' promised to David (Pss 89. 132), and appealing to Him not to be far (Ps 22), to make no tarrying, but shine forth for their salva- tion and stir up His might, they naturally often dwell on His attributes, for prayer is mostly calling to God's mind that which He is. Yet, however varied the emotions be in these psalms, in contents they hardly go beyond the jirayers of Moses (Ex 32""-, Nu U'^"-, Dt O-^"-). The ethical being of J" in combination with His attributes of omni.science and oniiiiiiresenco is very profoundly realized by the author of Ps 139. (On special points in the various attributes see the separate articles).