But there is an element in Jewish Apocalyptic literature which forbids us to regard it as a mere extension of OT Messianic teaching. Foreign in- fluence is clearly traceable in such ideas as those of a partial resurrection, a millennial reign, ete. And in this instance the external impulse was not Greek, but Persian. Between Hellenism and Jewish Apocalyptic there is no affinity: the one conceived the golden age as past, the other as future. In the atmosphere of Alexandrian Juda- ism the Messianic hope lost its vitality, and resolved itself into little else than a philosophy of human betterment from the point of view of religion and morals. On the other hand, apocalyptic beliefs are closely associated with Babylonia under the Persian rule. The scene of the Book of Daniel, in which they were first propounded, is laid in Babylon, and the Pal. Apocrypha show that it was among the Jews who either as returned exiles or as citizens had intimate relations with Baby- lon that these views found acceptance. Moreover,
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the sacred writings of the Persians (Vendiddd, etc.) speak of the coming of a deliverer in the last days, of the overthrow of the enemies of Ormazd, and the consequent establishment of an era of happiness analogous to that contemplated in the Messianic expectation of the Jews. The re- semblance extends even to such details as the idea of a fifth monarchy, the resurrection of the dead, the millennial reign of the saviour, ete. Not that these elements were simply adopted by the Jews as an addition to their own Messianic hopes by way of supplementing and completing them. In no case does the resemblance amount to identity, and on certain points, as, ¢.g., that of the final restoration of the wicked, the Persian doctrine was distinctly rejected by the Jews. This again influenced their views of the resur- rection, which they conceived as partial and not universal. The Persian elements traceable in the Jewish beliefs of the period merely show that, in the fresh interpretation of ancient documents in- duced by their changing circumstances, the Jews were influenced by the recollection of something analogous in Mazdeism.
We havea typical specimen of Jewish A pocalyptic in the Book of Enoch. Difficult critical questions arise with reference to this strange and interesting book,—questions of date, authorship, and constitu- ent elements,—but it is unnecessary for our purpose to discuss them. (See the general and special In- troductions in Charles’ ed.). Two well-marked sec- tions of the book treat of the Messianic expectation, viz. the Similitudes (37-71) and the Dream Visions (83-90). The date assigned by Charles to the latter section is B.C. 166-161, or a little later than Daniel. The work of a Hasidan in full sympathy with the Maccabeean insurrection, it contains two visions, of which the first deals with the judgment of the Deluge, and the second gives a bird’s-eye view of the entire course of human history from the Creation down to the establishment of the Messiah’s king- dom. In the first vision no attempt is made to explain the origin of human sin. According to the representation of the writer, the judgment that first fell upon the world was caused by the sin of the rebel angels, and not by that of man. In the second vision, which employs a symbolism akin to that of the Book of Daniel, special stress is laid upon the distressful condition of Israel after the Exile. This is ascribed to the faithlessness of the seventy shepherds, who wickedly destroyed those whom God entrusted to their care (89%), But in the midst of this oppression, from the party of the Hasideeans and in the person of Judas Maccabzeus (the ‘great horn’ of 90°), there will arise a deliverer whose sword shall destroy their enemies. God Himself shall appear, and the earth shall swallow them up (90%). Then will ensue the judgment of the fallen watchers, the shepherds, and the apostate Jews, who will be cast into a fiery abyss (90%), This will be followed by the setting up of the new Jerusalem, the conversion of the remanent Gentiles, and their submission to Israel (9078), the resurrec- tion of those who have succumbed to persecution, and the gathering of the dispersed of Israel (90°). Finally, the Messiah (‘a white bullock’) will appear (90°7); all the saints will be changed into his likeness, and God will rejoice over them (90°), We have here ‘the Messiah coming forth from the bosom of the community. He is a man only, but yet a glorified man, and superior to the community from which he springs. So far as he is a man only, he may be regarded as the prophetic Messiah as opposed to the Apocalyptic Messiah of the Simili- tudes, and yet he is not truly the prophetic Mes- siah ; for he has absolutely no function to perform, and he does not appear till the world’s history is finally closed. Accordingly, his presence here must
be accounted for purely through literary reminis- cence, and the hope of the Messiah must be re- garded as practically dead at this period. The writer felt no need of such a personality so long as the nation had such a chief as Judas Maccabeeus’ (Charles, Introd. p. 30.). ;
5. The Messianic idea in later Palestinian books. —The Book of Jubilees (written, according to Charles, B.C. 135-105). This work is distinguished by the spirituality of its description of the Messi- anic kingdom, although the person of the Messiah, whom the writer expects to arise from Judah, is alluded to only once (3118). It is neither strictly apocalyptic in form, nor chiefly concerned with the subject of the Messianic hope. Only two or three passages are of importance for our purpose. Ch. 1 speaks of the day when the sanctuary of God will be established in the midst of Israel for ever and ever. Corrected by reproof, the people will abandon their idolatry. After having been dispersed among the heathen, the penitent Israelites will be gathered into one, and God will come and dwell among them. On the setting up of the Messianic kingdom, ‘the heavens and theearth’ . . . ‘and all the luminaries shall be renewed’ (1°). This idea of the gradual transformation of nature as well as man appears to have been taken from Mazdeism (Séderblom, La Vie Future apres le Mazdéisme, p. 254). In ch. 23 the death of Abraham at the age of 175 years gives occasion for some reference to the duration of human life, and this again leads the writer to portray in glowing colours the future vicissitudes of Israel. By reason of sin the infant of three weeks will look like a centenarian. But they will begin to renounce the sins of their fathers, and then their days will gradually lengthen to a thousand years, and the servants of the Lord ‘ will again pursue their enemies.’ In another passage universal empire is promised to kings of Jacob’s line (318). The statement that life will be short until the day of the Great Judgment (23") seems to indicate that the writer conceives the Judgment as intervening at the point when after protracted trial a new generation penitently kisses the rod. This marks the rise of the Messianic era. ‘Jubilees will pass away,’ however, before a perfectly pure Israel shall dwell in quiet throughout the Jand.*