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Title: The Legends of the Jews
Volume 4
Author: Louis Ginzberg
Release Date: October, 2001 [eBook #2882]
[Most recently updated: February 4, 2022]
Language: English
Produced by: David Reed
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LEGENDS OF THE JEWS, VOLUME IV ***
The Legends of the Jews
by Louis Ginzberg
TRANSLATED PROM THE GERMAN MANUSCRIPT
VOLUME IV
BIBLE TIMES AND CHARACTERS
FROM JOSHUA TO ESTHER
Contents
I. JOSHUA
The Servant of Moses
Entering the Promised Land
Conquest of the Land
The Sun Obeys Joshua
War with the Armenians
Allotment of the Land
II. THE JUDGES
The First Judge
Campaigns of Kenaz
Othniel
Boaz and Ruth
Deborah
Gideon
Jephthah
Samson
The Crime of the Benjamites
III. SAMUEL AND SAUL
Elkanah and Hannah
The Youth of Samuel
Eli and His Sons
The Activities of Samuel
The Reign of Saul
The Court of Saul
IV. DAVID
David's Birth and Descent
Anointed King
Encounter with Goliath
Pursued by Saul
Wars
Ahithophel
Joab
David's Piety and His Sin
Absalom's Rebellion
David's Atonement
Visitations
The Death of David
David in Paradise
The Family of David
His Tomb
V. SOLOMON
Solomon Punishes Joab
The Marriage of Solomon
His Wisdom
The Queen of Sheba
Solomon Master of the Demons
The Building of the Temple
The Throne of Solomon
The Hippodrome
Lessons in Humility
Asmodeus
Solomon as Beggar
The Court of Solomon
VI. JUDAH AND ISRAEL
The Division of the Kingdom
Jeroboam
The Two Ahijabs
Asa
Jehoshaphat and Ahab
Jezebel
Joram of Israel
VII. ELIJAH
Elijah before His Translation
After His Translation
Censor and Avenger
Intercourse with the Sages
God's Justice Vindicated
Elijah and the Angel of Death
Teacher of the Kabbalah
Forerunner of the Messiah
VIII. ELISHA AND JONAH
Elisha the Disciple of Elijah
The Shunammite
Gehazi
The Flight of Jonah
Jonah in the Whale
The Repentance of Nineveh
IX. THE LATER KINGS OF JUDAH
Joash
Three Great Prophets
The Two Kingdoms Chastised
Hezekjah
Miracles Wrought for Hezekiah
Manasseh
Josiah and His Successors
X. THE EXILE
Zedekiah
Jeremiah
Nebuchadnezzar
The Capture of Jerusalem
The Great Lament
Jeremiah's Journey to Babylon
Transportation of the Captives
The Sons of Moses
Ebedmelech
The Temple Vessels
Baruch
The Tombs of Baruch and Ezekie1
Daniel
The Three Men in the Furnace
Ezekiel Revives the Dead
Nebuchadnezzar a Beast
Hiram
The False Prophets
Daniel's Piety
XI. THE RETURN OF THE CAPTIVITY
Belshazzar's Feast
Daniel under the Persian Kings
The Grave of Daniel
Zerubbabel
Ezra
The Men of the Great Assembly
XII. ESTHER
The Feast for the Grandees
The Festivities in Shushan
Vashti's Banquet
The Fate of Vashti
The Follies of Ahasuerus
Mordecai
Esther's Beauty and Piety
The Conspiracy
Haman the Jew-baiter
Mordecai's Pride
Casting the Lots
The Denunciation of the Jews
The Decree of Annihilation
Satan Indicts the Jews
The Dream of Mordecai Fulfilled
The Prayer of Esther
Esther Intercedes
The Disturbed Night
The Fall of Haman
The Edict of the King
I.
JOSHUA
THE SERVANT OF MOSES
The early history of the first Jewish conqueror (1) in some respects is
like the early history of the first Jewish legislator. Moses was
rescued from a watery grave, and raised at the court of Egypt. Joshua,
in infancy, was swallowed by a whale, and , wonderful to relate, did
not perish. At a distant point of the sea-coast the monster spewed him
forth unharmed. He was found by compassionate passers-by, and grew up
ignorant of his descent. The government appointed him to the office of
hangman. As luck would have it, he had to execute his own father. By
the law of the land the wife of the dead man fell to the share of his
executioner, and Joshua was on the point of adding to parricide another
crime equally heinous. He was saved by a miraculous sign. When he
approached his mother, milk flowed from her breasts. His suspicions
were aroused, and through the inquiries he set a foot regarding his
origin, the truth was made manifest. (2)
Later Joshua, who was so ignorant that he was called a fool, became the
minister of Moses, and God rewarded his faithful service by making him
the successor to Moses. (3) He was designated as such to Moses when, at
the bidding of his master, he was carrying on war with the Amalekites.
(4) In this campaign God's care of Joshua was plainly seen. Joshua had
condemned a portion of the Amalekites to death by lot, and the heavenly
sword picked them out for extermination. (5) Yet there was as great a
difference between Moses and Joshua as between the sun and the moon.
(6) God did not withdraw His help from Joshua, but He was by no means
so close to him as to Moses. This appeared immediately after Moses had
passed away. At the moment when the Israelitish leader was setting out
on his journey to the great beyond, he summoned his successor and bade
him put questions upon all points about which he felt uncertain.
Conscious of his own industry and devotion, Joshua replied that he had
no questions to ask, seeing that he had carefully studied the teachings
of Moses. Straightway he forgot three hundred Halakot, and doubts
assailed him concerning seven hundred others. The people threatened
Joshua's life, because he was not able to resolve their difficulties in
the law. It was vain to turn to God, for the Torah once revealed was
subject to human, not to heavenly, authority. (7) Directly after Moses'
death, God commanded Joshua to go to war, so that the people might
forget its grievance against him. (8) But it is false to think that the
great conqueror was nothing more than a military hero. When God
appeared to him, to give him instructions concerning the war, He found
him with the Book of Deuteronomy in his hand, whereupon God called to
him: "Be strong and of good courage; the book of the law shall not
depart out of thy mouth." (9)
ENTERING THE PROMISED LAND
The first step in preparation for war was the selection of spies. To
guard against a repetition of what had happened to Moses, Joshua chose
as his messengers Caleb and Phinehas, on whom he could place dependence
in all circumstances. (10) They were accompanied on their mission by
two demons, the husbands of the she-devils Lilith and Mahlah. When
Joshua was planning his campaign, these devils offered their services
to him; they proposed that they be sent out to reconnoitre the land.
Joshua refused the offer, but formed their appearance so frightfully
that the residents of Jericho were struck with fear of them. (11) In
Jericho the spies put up with Rahab. She had been leading an immoral
life for forty years, but at the approach of Israel, she paid homage to
the true God, lived the life of a pious convert, and, as the wife of
Joshua, became the ancestress of eight prophets and of the prophetess
Huldah. (12) She had opportunity in her own house of beholding the
wonders of God. When the king's bailiffs came to make their
investigations, and Rahab wanted to conceal the Israelitish spies,
Phinehas calmed her with the words: "I am a priest, and priests are
like angels, visible when they wish to be seen, invisible when they do
not wish to be seen." (13)
After the return of the spies, Joshua decided to pass over the Jordan.
The crossing of the river was the occasion for wonders, the purpose of
which was to clothe him with authority in the eyes of the people.
Scarcely had the priests, who at this solemn moment took the place of
the Levites as bearers of the Ark, set foot in the Jordan, when the
waters of the river were piled up to a height of three hundred miles.
All the peoples of the earth were witnesses of the wonder. (14) In the
bed of the Jordan Joshua assembled the people around the Ark. A Divine
miracle caused the narrow space between its staves to contain the whole
concourse. Joshua then proclaimed the conditions under which God would
give Palestine to the Israelites, and he added, if these conditions
were not accepted, the waters of the Jordan would descend straight upon
them. Then they marched through the river. When the people arrived on
the further shore, the holy Ark, which had all the while been standing
in the bed of the river, set forward of itself, and, dragging the
priests after it, overtook the people.
The day continued eventful. Unassailed, the Israelites marched seventy
miles to Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, and there performed the ceremony
bidden by Moses in Deuteronomy: six of the tribes ascended Mount
Gerizim, and six Mount Ebal. The priests and the Levites grouped
themselves about the holy Ark in the vale between the two peaks. With
their faces turned toward Gerizim, the Levites uttered the words:
"Happy the man that maketh no idol, an abomination unto the Lord," and
all the people answered Amen. After reciting twelve blessings similar
to this in form, the Levites turned to Mount Ebal, and recited twelve
curses, counterparts of the blessings, to each of which the people
responded again with Amen. Thereupon an altar was erected on Mount Ebal
with the stones, each weighing forty seim, which the Israelites had
taken from the bed of the river while passing through the Jordan. The
altar was plastered with lime, and the Torah written upon it in seventy
languages, so that the heathen nations might have the opportunity of
learning the law. At the end it was said explicitly that the heathen
outside of Palestine, if they would but abandon the worship of idols,
would be received kindly by the Jews.
All this happened on one day, on the same day on which the Jordan was
crossed, and the assembly was held on Gerizim and Ebal, the day on
which the people arrived at Gilgal, where they left the stones of which
the altar had been built. (15) At Gilgal Joshua performed the rite of
circumcision on those born in the desert, who had remained
uncircumcised on account of the rough climate and for other reasons.
(16) And here it was that the manna gave out. It had ceased to fall at
the death of Moses, but the supply that had been stored up had lasted
some time longer. (17) As soon as the people were under the necessity
of providing for their daily wants, they grew negligent in the study of
the Torah. Therefore the angel admonished Joshua to loose his shoes
from off his feet, for he was to mourn over the decline of the study of
the Torah, (18) and bare feet are a sign of mourning. The angel
reproached Joshua in particular with having allowed the preparations
for war to interfere with the study of the Torah and with the ritual
service. Neglect of the latter might be a venial sin, but neglect of
the former is worthy of condign punishment. (19) At the same time the
angel assured Joshua that he had come to aid him, and he entreated
Joshua not to draw back from him, like Moses, who had refused the good
offices of the angel. (20) He who spoke to Joshua was none other than
the archangel Michael. (21)
CONQUEST OF THE LAND
Joshua's first victory was the wonderful capture of Jericho. The whole
of the city was declared anathema, because it had been conquered on the
Sabbath day. Joshua reasoned that as the Sabbath is holy, so also that
which conquered on the Sabbath should be holy. (22) The brilliant
victory was followed by the luckless defeat at Ai. In this engagement
perished Jair, the son of Manasseh, whose loss was as great as if the
majority of the Sanhedrin had been destroyed. (23) Presently Joshua
discovered that the cause of the defeat was the sinfulness of Israel,
brought upon it by Achan, who had laid hands on some of the spoils of
Jericho. Achan was a hardened transgressor and criminal from of old.
During the life of Moses he had several times appropriated to his own
use things that had been declared anathema, (24) and he had committed
other crimes worthy of the death penalty. (25) Before the Israelites
crossed the Jordan, God had not visited Achan's sins upon the people as
a whole, because at that time it did not form a national unit yet. But
when Achan abstracted an idol and all its appurtenances from Jericho,
(26) the misfortune of Ai followed at once.
Joshua inquired of God, why trouble had befallen Israel, but God
refused to reply. He was no tale-bearer; the evil-doer who had caused
the disaster would have to be singled out by lot. (27) Joshua first of
all summoned the high priest from the assembly of the people. It
appeared that, while the other jewels in his breastplate gleamed
bright, the stone representing the tribe of Judah was dim. (28) By lot
Achan was set apart from the members of his tribe. Achan, however,
refused to submit to the decision by lot. He said to Joshua: "Among all
living men thou and Phinehas are the most pious. Yet, if lots were cast
concerning you two, one or other of you would be declared guilty. Thy
teacher Moses has been dead scarcely one month, and thou has already
begun to go astray, for thou hast forgotten that a man's guilt can be
proved only through two witnesses."
Endued with the holy spirit, Joshua divined that the land was to be
assigned to the tribes and families of Israel by lot, and he realized
that nothing ought to be done to bring this method of deciding into
disrepute. He, therefore, tried to persuade Achan to make a clean
breast of his transgression. (29) Meantime, the Judeans, the tribesmen
of Achan, rallied about him, and throwing themselves upon the other
tribes, they wrought fearful havoc and bloodshed. This determined Achan
to confess his sins. (30) The confession cost him his life, but it
saved him from losing his share in the world to come. (31)
In spite of the reverses at Ai, (32) the terror inspired by the
Israelites grew among the Canaanitish peoples. The Gibeonites planned
to circumvent the invaders, and form an alliance with them. Now, before
Joshua set out on his campaign, he had issued three proclamations: the
nation that would leave Canaan might depart unhindered; the nation that
would conclude peace with the Israelites, should do it at once; and the
nation that would choose war, should make its preparations. If the
Gibeonites had sued for the friendship of the Jews when the
proclamation came to their ears, there would have been no need for
subterfuges later. But the Canaanites had to see with their own eyes
what manner of enemy awaited them, and all the nations prepared for
war. The result was that the thirty-one kings of Palestine perished, as
well as the satraps of many foreign kings, who were proud to own
possessions in the Holy Land. (33) Only the Girgashites departed out of
Palestine, and as a reward for their docility God gave them Africa as
an inheritance. (34)
The Gibeonites deserved no better fate than all the rest, for the
covenant made with them rested upon a misapprehension, yet Joshua kept
his promise to them, in order to sanctify the name of God, by showing
the world how sacred an oath is to the Israelites. (35) In the course
of events it became obvious that the Gibeonites were by no means worthy
of being received into the Jewish communion, and David, following
Joshua's example, excluded them forever, a sentence that will remain in
force even in the Messianic time. (36)
THE SUN OBEYS JOSHUA
The task of protecting the Gibeonites involved in the offensive and
defensive alliance made with them, Joshua fulfilled scrupulously. He
had hesitated for a moment whether to aid the Gibeonites in their
distress, but the words of God sufficed to recall him to his duty. God
said to him: "If thou dost not bring near them that are far off, thou
wilt remove them that are near by." (37) God granted Joshua peculiar
favor in his conflict with the assailants of the Gibeonites. The hot
hailstones which, at Moses' intercession, had remained suspended in the
air when they were about to fall upon the Egyptians, were now cast down
upon the Canaanites. (38) Then happened the great wonder of the sun's
standing still, the sixth (39) of the great wonders since the creation
of the world.
The battle took place on a Friday. Joshua knew it would pain the people
deeply to be compelled to desecrate the holy Sabbath day. Besides, he
noticed that the heathen were using sorcery to make the heavenly hosts
intercede for them in the fight against the Israelites. He, therefore,
pronounced the Name of the Lord, and the sun, moon and stars stood
still. (40) The sun at first refused to obey Joshua's behest, seeing
that he was older than man by two days. Joshua replied that there was
no reason why a free-born youth should refrain from enjoining silence
upon an old slave whom he owns, and had not God given heaven and earth
to our father Abraham? (41) Nay, more than this, had not the sun
himself bowed down like a slave before Joseph? "But," said the sun,
"who will praise God if I am silent?" (42) Whereupon Joshua: "Be thou
silent, and I will intone a song of praise." (43) And he sang thus:
1. Thou hast done mighty things, O Lord, Thou has performed great
deeds. Who is like unto Thee? My lips shall sing unto Thy name.
2. My goodness and my fortress, my refuge, I will sing a new song unto
Thee, with thanksgiving I will sing unto Thee, Thou art the strength of
my salvation.
3. All the kings of the earth shall praise Thee, the princes of the
world shall sing unto Thee, the children of Israel shall rejoice in Thy
salvation, they shall sing and praise Thy power.
4. In Thee, O God, did we trust; we said, Thou art our God, for Thou
wast our shelter and our strong tower against our enemies.
5. To Thee we cried, and we were not ashamed; in Thee we trusted, and
we were delivered; when we cried unto Thee, Thou didst hear our voice,
Thou didst deliver our souls from the sword.
6. Thou hast shown unto us Thy mercy, Thou didst give unto us Thy
salvation, Thou didst rejoice our hearts with Thy strength.
7. Thou wentest forth for our salvation; with the strength of Thy arm
Thou didst redeem Thy people; Thou did console us from the heavens of
Thy holiness, Thou didst save us from tens of thousands.
8. Sun and moon stood still in heaven, and Thou didst stand in Thy
wrath against our oppressors, and Thou didst execute Thy judgements
upon them.
9. All the princes of the earth stood up, the kings of the nations had
gathered themselves together, they were not moved at Thy presence, they
desired Thy battles.
10. Thou didst rise against them in Thine anger, and Thou didst bring
down Thy wrath upon them, Thou didst destroy them in Thy fury, and Thou
didst ruin them in Thy rage.
11. Nations raged from fear of Thee, kingdoms tottered because of Thy
wrath, Thou didst wound kings in the day of Thine anger.
12. Thou didst pour out Thy fury upon them, Thy wrathful anger took
hold of them, Thou didst turn their iniquity upon them, and Thou didst
cut them off in their wickedness.
13. They spread a trap, they fell therein, in the net they hid their
foot was caught.
14. Thine hand found all Thine enemies, who said, through their sword
they possessed the land, through their arm thy dwelt in the city.
15. Thou didst fill their faces with shame, Thou didst bring their
horns down to the ground.
16. Thou didst terrify them in Thy wrath, and thou didst destroy them
from before Thee.
17. The earth quaked and trembled from the noise of Thy thunder against
them; Thou didst not withhold their souls from earth, and Thou didst
bring down their lives to the grave.
18. Thou didst pursue them in Thy storm, Thou didst consume them in the
whirlwind, Thou didst turn their rain into hail, they fell in floods,
so that they could not rise.
19. Their carcasses were like rubbish cast out in the middle of the
streets.
20. They were consumed, and they perished before Thee, Thou hast
delivered Thy people in Thy might.
21. Therefore our hearts rejoice in Thee, our souls exult in Thy
salvation.
22. Our tongues shall relate Thy might, we will sing and praise Thy
wondrous works.
23. For Thou didst save us from our enemies, Thou didst deliver us from
those who rose up against us, Thou didst destroy them from before us,
and depress them beneath our feet.
24. Thus shall all Thine enemies perish, O Lord, and the wicked shall
be like chaff driven by the wind, and Thy beloved shall be like trees
planted by the waters. (44)
WAR WITH THE ARMENIANS
Joshua's victorious course did not end with the conquest of the land.
His war with the Armenians, after Palestine was subdued, marked the
climax of his heroic deeds. Among the thirty-one kings whom Joshua had
slain, there was one whose son, Shobach by name, was king of Armenia.
With the purpose of waging war with Joshua, he united the forty-five
kings of Persia and Media, and they were joined by the renowned hero
Japheth. The allied kings in a letter informed Joshua of their design
against him as follow: "The noble, distinguished council of the kings
of Persia and Media to Joshua, peace! Thou wolf of the desert, we well
know what thou didst to our kinsmen. Thou didst destroy our palaces;
without pity thou didst slay young and old; our fathers thou didst mow
down with the sword; and their cities thou didst turn into desert.
Know, then, that in the space of thirty days, we shall come to thee,
we, the forty-five kings, each having sixty thousand warriors under
him, all them armed with bows and arrows, girt about with swords, all
of us skilled in the ways of war, and with us the hero Japheth. Prepare
now for the combat, and say not afterward that we took thee at
unawares."
The messenger bearing the letter arrived on the day before the Feast of
Weeks. Although Joshua was greatly wrought up by the contents of the
letter, he kept his counsel until after the feast, in order not to
disturb the rejoicing of the people. Then, at the conclusion of the
feast, he told the people of the message that had reached him, so
terrifying that even he, the veteran warrior, trembled at the heralded
approach of the enemy. Nevertheless Joshua determined to accept the
challenge. From the first words his reply was framed to show the
heathen how little their fear possessed him whose trust was set in God.
The introduction to his epistle reads as follows: "In the Name of the
Lord, the God of Israel, who saps the strength of the iniquitous
warrior, and slays the rebellious sinner. He breaks up the assemblies
of marauding transgressors, and He gathers together in council the
pious and the just scattered abroad, He the God of all gods, the Lord
of all lords, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God is the Lord of
war! From me, Joshua, the servant of God, and from the holy and chosen
congregation to the impious nations, who pay worship to images, and
prostrate themselves before idols: No peace unto you, saith my God!
Know that ye acted foolishly to awaken the slumbering lion, to rouse up
the lion's whelp, to excite his wrath. I am ready to pay you your
recompense. Be ye prepared to meet me, for within a week I shall be
with you to slay your warriors to a man."
Joshua goes on to recite all the wonders God had done for Israel, who
need fear no power on earth; and he ends his missive with the words:
"If the hero Japheth is with you, we have in the midst of us the Hero
of heroes, the Highest above all the high."
The heathen were not a little alarmed at the tone of Joshua's letter.
Their terror grew when the messenger told of the exemplary discipline
maintained in the Isrealitish army, of the gigantic stature of Joshua,
who stood five ells high, of his royal apparel, of his crown graven
with the Name of God. At the end of seven days Joshua appeared with
twelve thousand troops. When the mother of King Shobach, who was a
powerful witch, espied the host, she exercised her magic art, and
enclosed the Isrealitish army in seven walls. Joshua thereupon sent
forth a carrier pigeon to communicate his plight to Nabiah, the king of
the trans-Jordanic tribes. He urged him to hasten to his help and bring
the priest Phinehas and the sacred trumpets with him. Nabiah did not
tarry. Before the relief detachment arrived, his mother reported to
Shobach that she beheld a star arise out of the East against which her
machinations were vain. Shobach threw his mother from the wall, and he
himself was soon afterward killed by Nabiah. Meantime Phinehas arrived,
and, at the sound of his trumpets, the wall toppled down. A pitched
battle ensued, and the heathen were annihilated. (45)
ALLOTMENT OF THE LAND
At the end of seven years of warfare, (46) Joshua could at last venture
to parcel out the conquered land among the tribes. This was the way he
did it. The high priest Eleazar, attended by Joshua and all the people,
and arrayed in the Urim and Thummim, stood before two urns. One of the
urns contained the names of the tribes, the other the names of the
districts into which the land was divided. The holy spirit caused him
to exclaims "Zebulon." When he put his hand into the first urn, lo, he
drew forth the word Zebulon, and from the other came the word Accho,
meaning the district of Accho. Thus it happened with each tribe in
succession. (47) In order that the boundaries might remain fixed,
Joshua had had the Hazubah (48) planted between the districts. The
rootstock of this plant once established in a spot, it can be
extirpated only with the greatest difficulty. The plough may draw deep
furrows over it, yet it puts forth new shoots, and grows up again amid
the grain, still marking the old division lines. (49)
In connection with the allotment of the land Joshua issued ten
ordinances intended, in a measure, to restrict the rights in private
property: Pasturage in the woods was to be free to the public at large.
Any one was permitted to gather up bits of wood in the field. The same
permission to gather up all grasses, wherever they might grow, unless
they were in a field that had been sown with fenugreek, which needs
grass for protection. For grafting purposes twigs could be cut from any
plant except the olive-trees. Water springs belonged to the whole town.
It was lawful for any one to catch fish in the Sea of Tiberias,
provided navigation was not impeded. The area adjacent to the outer
side of a fence about a field might be used by any passer-by to ease
nature. From the close of the harvest until the seventeenth day of
Marheshwan fields could be crossed. A traveler who lost his way among
vineyards could not be held responsible for the damage done in the
effort to recover the right path. A dead body found in a field was to
be buried on the spot where it was found. (50)
The allotment of the land to the tribes and subdividing each district
among the tribesmen took as much time as the conquest of the land. (51)
When the two tribes and a half from the land beyond Jordan returned
home after an absence of fourteen years, they were not a little
astonished to hear that the boys who had been too young to go to the
wars with them had in the meantime shown themselves worthy of the
fathers. They had been successful in repulsing the Ishmaelitish tribes
who had taken advantage of the absence of the men capable of bearing
arms to assault their wives and children. (52)
After a leadership of twenty-eight years (53), marked with success (54)
in war and in peace, Joshua departed this life. His followers laid the
knives he had used in circumcising the Israelites (55) into his grave,
and over it they erected a pillar as a memorial of the great wonder of
the sun's standing still over Ajalon. (56) However, the mourning for
Joshua was not so great as might justly have been expected. The
cultivation of the recently conquered land so occupied the attention of
the tribes that they came nigh forgetting the man to whom chiefly they
owed their possession of it. As a punishment for their ingratitude,
God, soon after Joshua's death, brought also the life of the high
priest Eleazar and of the other elders to a close, and the mount on
which Joshua's body was interred began to tremble, and threatened to
engulf the Jews. (57)
II.
THE JUDGES
THE FIRST JUDGE
After the death of Joshua the Israelites inquired to God whether they
were to go up against the Canaanites in war. They were given the
answer: "If ye are pure of heart, go forth unto the combat; but if your
hearts are sullied with sin, then refrain." They inquired furthermore
how to test the heart of the people. God ordered them to cast lots and
set apart those designated by lot, for they would be the sinful among
them. Again, when the people besought God to give it a guide and
leader, an angel answered: "Cast lots in the tribe of Caleb." The lot
designated Kenaz, and he was made prince over Israel. (1)
His first act was to determine by lot who were the sinners in Israel,
and what their inward thought. He declared before the people: "If I and
my house be set apart by lot, deal with us as we deserve, burn us with
fire." The people assenting, lots were cast, and 345 of the tribe of
Judah were singled out, 560 of Reuben, 775 of Simon, 150 of Levi, 665
of Issachar, 545 of Zebulon, 380 of Gad, and 665 of Asher, 480 of
Manasseh, 448 of Ephraim, and 267 of Benhamin. (2) So 6110 (3) persons
were confined in prison, until God should let it be know what was to be
done with them. The united prayers of Kenaz, Eleazar the high priest,
and the elders of the congregation, were answered thus: "Ask these men
now to confess their iniquity, and they shall be burnt with fire."
Kenaz thereupon exhorted them: "Ye know that Achan, the son of Zabdi,
committed the trespass of taking the anathema, but the lot fell upon
him, and he confessed his sin. Do ye likewise confess your sins, that
ye may come to life with those whom God will revive on the day of the
resurrection." (4)
One of the sinful, a man by the name of Elah, (5) said in reply
thereto: "If thou desirest to bring forth the truth, address thyself to
each of the tribes separately." (6) Kenaz began with his own, the tribe
of Judah. The wicked of Judah confessed to the sin of worshipping the
golden calf, like unto their forefathers in the desert. The Reubenites
had burnt sacrifices to idols. The Levites said: "We desired to prove
whether the Tabernacle is holy." Those of the tribe of Issachar
replied: "We consulted idols to know what will become of us." (7) The
sinners of Zebulon: "We desired to eat the flesh of our sons and
daughters, to know whether the Lord loves them." The Danites admitted,
they had taught their children out of the books of the Amorites, which
they had hidden then under Mount Abarim, (8) where Kenaz actually found
them. The Naphtalites confessed to the same transgression, only they
had concealed the books in the tent of Elah, and there they were found
by Kenaz. The Gadites acknowledged having led an immoral life, and the
sinners of Asher, that they had found, and had hidden under Mount
Shechem, the seven golden idols called by the Amorites the holy nymphs
the same seven idols which had been made in a miraculous way after the
deluge by the seven sinners, Canaan, Put, Shelah, Nimrod, Elath, Diul,
and Shuah. (9) They were of precious stones from Havilah, which
radiated light, making night bright as day. Besides, they possessed a
rare virtue: if a blind Amorite kissed one of the idols, and at the
same time touched its eyes, his sight was restored. (10) After the
sinners of Asher, those of Manasseh made their confession they had
desecrated the Sabbath. The Ephraimites owned to having sacrificed
their children to Moloch. Finally, the Benjamites said: "We desired to
prove whether the law emanated from God or from Moses."
At the command of God these sinners and all their possessions were
burnt with fire at the brook of Pishon. Only the Amorite books and the
idols of precious stones remained unscathed. Neither fire nor water
could do them harm. Kenaz decided to consecrate the idols to God, but a
revelation came to him, saying: "If God were to accept what has been
declared anathema, why should not man?" He was assured that God would
destroy the things over which human hands had no power. Kenaz, acting
under Divine instruction, bore them to the summit of a mountain, where
an altar was erected. The books and the idols were placed upon it, and
the people offered many sacrifices and celebrated the whole day as a
festival. During the night following, Kenaz saw dew rise from the ice
in Paradise and descend upon the books. The letters of their writing
were obliterated by it, and then an angel came and annihilated what was
left. (11) During the same night an angel carried off the seven gems,
and threw them to the bottom of the sea. Meanwhile a second angel
brought twelve other gems, engraving the names of the twelve sons of
Jacob upon them, one name upon each. No two of these gems were alike:
(12) the first, to bear the name of Reuben, was like sardius; the
second, for Simon, like topaz; the third, Levi, like emerald; the
fourth, Judah, like carbuncle; the fifth, Issachar, like sapphire; the
sixth, Zebulon, like jasper; the seventh, Dan, like ligure; the eighth,
Naphtali, like amethyst; the ninth, Gad, like agate; the tenth, Asher,
like chrysolite; the eleventh, Joseph, like beryl; and the twelfth,
Benjamin, like onyx.
Now God commanded Kenaz to deposit twelve stones in the holy Ark, and
there they were to remain until such time as Solomon should build the
Temple, and attach them to the Cherubim. (13) Furthermore, this Divine
communication was made to Kenaz: "And it shall come to pass, when the
sin of the children of men shall have been completed by defiling My
Temple, the Temple they themselves shall build, that I will take these
stones, together with the tables of the law, and put them in the place
whence they were removed of old, and there they shall remain until the
end of all time, when I will visit the inhabitants of the earth. Then I
will take them up, and they shall be an everlasting light to those who
love me and keep my commandments." (14)
When Kenaz bore the stones to the sanctuary, they illumined the earth
like unto the sun at midday.
CAMPAIGNS OF KENAZ
After these preparations Kenaz took the field against the enemy, with
three hundred thousand men. (15) The first day he slew eight thousand
of the foe, and the second day five thousand. But not all the people
were devoted to Kenaz. Some murmured against him, and calumniating him,
said: "Kenaz stays at home, while we expose ourselves on the field."
The servants of Kenaz reported these words to him. He ordered the
thirty-seven (16) men who had railed against him to be incarcerated,
and he swore to kill them, if God would but grant him assistance for
the sake of His people.
Thereupon he assembled three hundred men of his attendants, supplied
them with horses, and bade them be prepared to make a sudden attack
during the night, but to tell none of the plans he harbored in his
mind. The scouts sent ahead to reconnoitre reported that the Amorites
were too powerful for him to risk an engagement. Kenaz, however,
refused to be turned away from his intention. At midnight he and his
three hundred trusty attendants advanced upon the Amorite camp. Close
upon it, he commanded his men to halt, but to resume their march and
follow him when they should hear the notes of the trumpet. If the
trumpet was not sounded, they were to return home.
Alone Kenaz ventured into the very camp of the enemy. Praying to God
fervently, he asked that a sign be given him: "Let this be the sign of
the salvation Thou wilt accomplish for me this day: I shall draw my
sword from its sheath, and brandish it so that it glitters in the camp
of the Amorites. If the enemy recognize it as the sword of Kenaz, then
I shall know Thou wilt deliver them into my hand; if not, I shall
understand Thou hast not granted my prayer, but dost purpose to deliver
me into the hand of the enemy for my sins."
He heard the Amorites say: "Let us proceed to give battle to the
Israelites, for our sacred gods, the nymphs, are in their hands, and
will cause their defeat." When he heard these words, the spirit of God
came over Kenaz. He arose and swung his sword above his head. Scarce
had the Amorites seen it gleam in the air when they exclaimed: "Verily,
this is the sword of Kenaz, who has come to inflict wounds and pain.
But we know that our gods, who are held by the Israelites, will deliver
them into our hands. Up, then, to battle!" Knowing that God had heard
his petition, Kenaz threw himself upon the Amorites, and mowed down
forty-five thousand of them, and as many perished at the hands of their
own brethren, for God had sent the angel Gabriel (17) to his aid, and
he had struck the Amorites blind, so that they fell upon one another.
On account of the vigorous blows dealt by Kenaz on all sides, his sword
stuck to his hand. A fleeing Amorite, whom he stopped, to ask him how
to loose it, advised him to slay a Hebrew, and let his warm blood flow
over his hand. Kenaz accepted his advice, but only in part: instead of
a Hebrew, he slew the Amorite himself, and his blood freed his hand
from the sword. (18)
When Kenaz came back to his men, he found them sunk in profound sleep,
which had overtaken them that they might not see the wonders done for
their leader. They were not a little astonished, on awakening, to
behold the whole plain strewn with the dead bodies of the Amorites.
Then Kenaz said to them: "Are the ways of God like unto the ways of
man? Through me the Lord hath sent deliverance to this people. Arise
now and go back to your tents." The people recognized that a great
miracle had happened, and they said: "Now we know that God hath wrought
salvation for His people; He hath no need of numbers, but only of
holiness."
On his return from the campaign, Kenaz was received with great
rejoicing. The whole people now gave thanks to God for having put him
over them as their leader. They desired to know how he had won the
great victory. Kenaz only answered: "Ask those who were with me about
my deeds." His men were thus forced to confess that they knew nothing,
only, on awakening, they had seen the plain full of dead bodies,
without being able to account for their being there. Then Kenaz turned
to the thirty-seven men imprisoned, before he left for the war, for
having cast aspersions upon him. "Well," he said, "what charge have you
to make against me?" Seeing that death was inevitable, they confessed
they were of the sort of sinners whom Kenaz and the people had
executed, and God had now surrendered them to him on account of their
misdeeds. They, too, were burnt with fire.
Kenaz reigned for a period of fifty-seven years. When he felt his end
draw nigh, he summoned the two prophets, Phinehas and Jabez, (19)
together with the priest Phinehas, the son of Eleazar. To these he
spake: "I know the heart of this people, it will turn from following
after the Lord. Therefore do I testify against it." Phinehas, the son
of Eleazar, replied: "As Moses and Joshua testified, so do I testify
against it; for Moses and Joshua prophesied concerning the vineyard,
the beautiful planting of the Lord, which knew not who had planted it,
and did not recognize Him who cultivated it, so that the vineyard was
destroyed, and brought forth no fruit. These are the words my father
commanded me to say unto this people."
Kenaz broke out into loud wailing, and with him the elders and the
people, and they wept until eventide, saying: "Is it for the iniquity
of the sheep that the shepherd must perish? May the Lord have
compassion upon His inheritance that it may not work in vain."
The spirit of God descended upon Kenaz, and he beheld a vision. He
prophesied that this world would continue to exist only seven thousand
years, to be followed then by the Kingdom of Heaven. These words
spoken, the prophetical spirit departed from him, and he straightway
forgot what he had uttered during his vision. Before he passed away, he
spoke once more, saying: "If such be the rest which the righteous
obtain after their death, it were better for them to die than live in
this corrupt world and see its iniquities." (20)
As Kenaz left no male heirs, Zebul was appointed his successor. Mindful
of the great service Kenaz had performed for the nation, Zebul acted a
father's part toward the three unmarried daughters of his predecessor.
At his instance, the people assigned a rich marriage portion to each of
them; they were given great domains as their property. The oldest of
the three, Ethema by name, he married to Elizaphan; the second, Pheila,
to Odihel; and the youngest, Zilpah, to Doel.
Zebul, the judge, instituted a treasury at Shiloh. He bade the people
bring contributions, whether of gold or of silver. They were only to
take heed not to carry anything thither that had originally belonged to
an idol. His efforts were crowned with success. The free-will offerings
to the temple treasure amounted to twenty talents of gold and two
hundred and fifty talents of silver.
Zebul's reign lasted twenty-five years. Before his death he admonished
the people solemnly to be God-fearing and observant of the law. (21)
OTHNIEL
Othniel was a judge of a very different type. His contemporaries said,
that before the sun of Joshua went down, the sun of Othniel, his
successor in the leadership of the people , appeared on the horizon.
The new leader's real name was Judah; Othniel was one of his epithets,
as Jabez was another. (22)
Among the judges, Othniel represents the class of scholars. His acumen
was so great that he was able, by dint of dialect reasoning, to restore
the seventeen hundred traditions (23) which Moses had taught the
people, and which had been forgotten in the time of mourning for Moses.
Nor was his zeal for the promotion of the study of the Torah inferior
to his learning. The descendants of Jethro left Jericho, the district
assigned to them, and journeyed to Arad, only that thy might sit at the
feed to Othniel. (24) His wife, the daughter of his half-brother Caleb,
was not so well pleased with him. She complained to her father that her
husband's house was bare of all earthly goods, and his only possession
was knowledge of the Torah. (25)
The first event to be noted in Othniel's forty years' reign (26) is his
victory over Adoni-bezek. This chief did not occupy a prominent
position among the Canaanitish rulers. He was not even accounted a
king, nevertheless he had conquered seventy foreign kings. (27) The
next event was the capture of Luz by the Israelites. The only way to
gain entrance into Luz was by a cave, and the road to the cave lay
through a hollow almond tree. If the secret approach to the city had
not been betrayed by one of its residents, it would have been
impossible for the Israelites to reach it. God rewarded the informer
who put the Israelites in the way of capturing Luz. The city he founded
was left unmolested both by Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar, and not
event the Angel of Death has power over its inhabitants. They never
die, unless, weary of life, they leave the city. (28)
The same good fortune did not mark Othniel's reign throughout. For
eight years Israel suffered oppression at the hands of Cushan, the
evil-doer who in former days had threatened to destroy the patriarch
Jacob, as he was now endeavoring to destroy the descendants of Jacob,
for Cushan is only another name for Laban. (29)
Othniel, however, was held so little answerable for the causes that had
brought on the punishment of the people, that God granted him eternal
life; he is one of the few who reached Paradise alive. (30)
BOAZ AND RUTH
The story of Ruth came to pass a hundred (31) years after Othniel's
reign. Conditions in Palestine were of such a nature that if a judge
said to a man, "Remove the mote from thine eye," his reply was, "Do
thou remove the beam from thine own." (32) To chastise the Israelites
God sent down them one of the ten seasons of famine which He had
ordained, as disciplinary measures for mankind, from the creation of
the world until the advent of Messiah. (33) Elimelech (34) and his
sons, (35) who belonged to the aristocracy of the land, attempted
neither to improve (36) the sinful generation whose transgressions had
called forth the famine, nor alleviated the distress that prevailed
about them. They left Palestine, and thus withdrew themselves from the
needy who had counted upon their help. They turned their faced to Moab.
(37) There, on account of their wealth and high descent, they were made
officers in the army. (38) Mahlon and Chilion, the sons of Elimelech,
rose to still higher distinction, they married the daughters of the
Moabite king Eglon (39) But this did not happen until after the death
of Elimelech, who was opposed to intermarriage with the heathen. (40)
Neither the wealth nor the family connections of the two men helped
them before God. First they sank into poverty, and, as they continued
in their sinful ways, God took their life. (41)
Naomi, their mother, resolved to return to her home. Her two
daughters-in-law were very dear to her on account of the love they had
borne her sons, a love strong even in death, for they refused to marry
again. (42) Yet she would not take them with her to Palestine, because
she foresaw contemptuous treatment in store for them as Moabitish
women. (43) Orpah was easily persuaded to remain behind. She
accompanied her mother-in-law a distance of four miles, and then she
took leave of her, shedding only four tears as she bade her farewell.
Subsequent events showed that she had not been worthy of entering into
the Jewish communion, for scarcely had she separated from Naomi when
she abandoned herself to an immoral life. But with God nothing goes
unrewarded. For the four miles which Orpah travelled with Naomi, she
was recompensed by bringing forth four giants, Goliath and his three
brothers. (44)
Ruth's bearing and history were far different. She was determined to
become a Jewess, and her decision could not be shaken by what Naomi, in
compliance with the Jewish injunction, told her of the difficulties of
the Jewish law. Naomi warned her that the Israelites had been enjoined
to keep Sabbaths and feast days, (45) and that the daughters of Israel
were not in the habit of frequenting the threatres and circuses of the
heathen. Ruth only affirmed her readiness to follow Jewish customs.
(46) And when Naomi said: "We have one Torah, one law, one command; the
Eternal our God is one, there is none beside Him," Ruth answered: "Thy
people shall be my people, thy God my God." (47) So the two women
journeyed together to Bethlehem. They arrived there on the very day on
which the wife of Boaz was buried, and the concourse assembled for the
funeral saw Naomi as she returned to her home. (48)
Ruth supported herself and her mother-in-law sparsely with the ears of
grain which she gathered in the fields. Association with so pious a
woman as Naomi (49) had already exercised great influence upon her life
and ways. Boaz was astonished to notice that if the reapers let more
than two ears fall, in spite of her need she did not pick them up, for
the gleaning assigned to the poor by law does not refer to quantities
of more than two ears inadvertently dropped at one time. (50) Boaz also
admired her grace, her decorous conduct, her modest demeanor. (51) When
he learned who she was, he commended her for her attachment to Judaism.
To his praise she returned: "Thy ancestors found no delight even in
Timna, (52) the daughter of a royal house. As for me, I am a member of
a low people, abominated by thy God, and excluded from the assembly of
Israel." For the moment Boaz failed to recollect the Halakah bearing on
the Moabites and Ammonites. A voice from heaven reminded him that only
their males were affected by the command of exclusion. (53) This he
told to Ruth, and he also told her of a vision he had had concerning
her descendants. For the sake of the good she had done to her
mother-in-law, kings and prophets would spring from her womb. (54)
Boaz showed kindness not only to Ruth and Naomi, but also to their
dead. He took upon himself the decent burial of the remains of
Elimelech and his two sons. (55) All this begot in Naomi the thought
that Boaz harbored the intention of marrying Ruth. She sought to coax
the secret, if such there was, from Ruth. (56) When she found that
nothing could be elicited from her daughter-in-law, she made Ruth her
partner in a plan to force Boaz into a decisive step. Ruth adhered to
Naomi's directions in every particular, except that she did not wash
and anoint herself and put on fine raiment, until after she had reached
her destination. She feared to attract the attention of the lustful, if
she walked along the road decked out in unusual finery. (57)
The moral conditions in those days were very reprehensible. Though Boaz
was high-born and a man of substance, yet he slept on the
threshing-floor, so that his presence might act as a check upon
profligacy. In the midst of his sleep, Boaz was startled to find some
one next to him. At first he thought it was a demon. Ruth calmed his
disquietude (58) with these words: "Thou art the head of the court, thy
ancestors were princes, thou art thyself an honorable man, and a
kinsman of my dead husband. As for me, who am in the flower of my
years, since I left the home of my parents where homage is rendered
unto idols, I have been constantly menaced by the dissolute young men
around. (59) So I have come hither that thou, who art the redeemer,
mayest spread out thy skirt over me." (60) Boaz gave her the assurance
that if his older brother Tob (61) failed her, he would assume the
duties of a redeemer. The next day he came before the tribunal of the
Sanhedrin (62) to have the matter adjusted. Tob soon made his
appearance, for an angel led him to the place where he was wanted, (63)
that Boaz and Ruth might not have long to wait. Tob, who was not
learned in the Torah, did not know that the prohibition against the
Moabites had reference only to males. Therefore, he declined to marry
Ruth. (64) So she was taken to wife (65) by the octogenarian (66) Boaz.
Ruth herself was forty years old (67) at the time of her second
marriage, and it was against all expectations that her union with Boaz
should be blessed with offspring, a son Obed the pious. (68) Ruth lived
to see the glory of Solomon, but Boaz died on the day after the
wedding. (69)
DEBORAH
Not long after Ruth, another ideal woman arose in Israel, the
prophetess Deborah.
When Ehud died, there was none to take his place as judge, and the
people fell off from God and His law. God, therefore, sent an angel to
them with the following message: "Out of all the nations on earth, I
chose a people for Myself, and I thought, so long as the world stands,
My glory will rest upon them. I sent Moses unto them, My servant, to
teach them goodness and righteousness. But they strayed from My ways.
And now I will arouse their enemies against them, to rule over them,
and they will cry out: 'Because we forsook the ways of our fathers,
hath this come over us.' Then I will send a woman unto them, and she
will shine for them as a light for forty years." (70)
The enemy whom God raised up against Israel was Jabin, (71) the king of
Hazor, who oppressed him sorely. But worse than the king himself was
his general Sisera, one of the greatest heroes know to history. When he
was thirty years old, he had conquered the whole world. At the sound of
his voice the strongest of walls fell in a heap, and the wild animals
in the woods were chained to the spot by fear. The proportions of his
body were vast beyond description. If he took a bath in the river, and
dived beneath the surface, enough fish were caught in his beard to feed
a multitude, and it required no less than nine hundred horses to draw
the chariot in which he rode. (72)
To rid Israel of this tyrant, God appointed Deborah and her husband
Barak. Barak was an ignoramus, like most of his contemporaries. It was
a time singularly deficient to scholars. (73) In order to do something
meritorious in connection with the Divine service, he carried candles,
at his wife's instance, to the sanctuary, wherefrom he was called
Lipidoth, "Flames." Deborah was in the habit of making the wicks on the
candles very thick, so that they might burn a long time. Therefore God
distinguished her. He said: "Thou takest pains to shed light in My
house, and I will let thy light, thy flame, shine abroad in the whole
land." Thus it happened that Deborah became a prophetess and a judge.
She dispensed judgement in the open air, for it was not becoming that
men should visit a woman in her house. (74)
Prophetess though she was, she was yet subject to the frailties of her
sex. Her self-consciousness was inordinate. She sent for Barak (75) to
come to her instead of going to him, (76) and in her song she spoke
more of herself than was seemly. The result was that the prophetical
spirit departed from her for a time while she was composing her song.
(77)
The salvation of Israel was effected only after the people, assembled
on the Mount of Judah, had confessed their sins publicly before God and
besought His help. A seven days' fast was proclaimed for men and women,
for young and old. Then God resolved to help the Israelites, not for
their sakes, but for the sake of keeping the oath he had sworn to their
forefathers, never to abandon their seed. Therefore He sent Deborah
unto them. (78)
The task allotted to Deborah and Barak, to lead the attack upon Sisera,
was by no means slight. It is comparable with nothing less than
Joshua's undertaking to conquer Canaan. Joshua had triumphed over only
thirty-one of the sixty-two kings of Palestine, leaving at large as
many as he had subdued. Under the leadership of Sisera these thirty-one
unconquered kings opposed Israel. (79) No less than forty thousand
armies, each counting a hundred thousand warriors, were arrayed against
Deborah and Barak. (80) God aided Israel with water and fire. The river
Kishon and all the fiery hosts of heaven (81) except the star Meros
(82) fought against Sisera. The Kishon had long before been pledged to
play its part in Sisera's overthrow. When the Egyptians were drowned in
the Red Sea, God commanded the Angel of the Sea to cast their corpses
on the land, that the Israelites might convince themselves of the
destruction of their foes, and those of little faith might not say
afterward that the Egyptians like the Israelites had reached dry land.
The Angel of the Sea complained of the impropriety of withdrawing a
gift. God mollified him with the promise of future compensation. The
Kishon was offered as security that he would received half as many
bodies again as he was now giving up. When Sisera's troops sought
relief from the scorching fire of the heavenly bodies in the coolness
of the waters of the Kishon, God commanded the river to redeem its
pledge. And so the heathen were swept down into the Sea by the waves of
the river Kishon, whereat the fishes in the Sea exclaimed: "And the
truth of the Lord endureth forever." (83)
Sisera's lot was no better than the lot of the men. He fled from the
battle on horseback (84) after witnessing the annihilation of his vast
army. When Jael saw him approach, she went to meet him arrayed in rich
garments and jewels. She was unusually beautiful, and her voice was the
most seductive ever a woman possessed. (85) These are the words she
addressed to him: "Enter and refresh thyself with food, and sleep until
evening, and then I will send my attendants with thee to accompany
thee, for I know thou wilt not forget me, and thy recompense will not
fail." When Sisera, on stepping into her tent, saw the bed strewn with
roses which Jael had prepared for him, he resolved to take her home to
his mother as his wife, as soon as his safety should be assured.
He asked her for milk to drink, saying: "My soul burns with the flame
which I saw in the stars contending for Israel." Jael went forth to
milk her goat, meantime supplicating God to grant her His help: "I pray
to Thee, O Lord, to strengthen Thy maid-servant against the enemy. By
this token shall I know that Thou wilt aid me if, when I enter the
house, Sisera will awaken and ask for water to drink." Scarcely had
Jael crossed the threshold when Sisera awakened and begged for water to
quench his burning thirst. Jael gave him wine mixed with water, which
caused him to drop into a sound sleep again. The woman then took a
wooden spike in her left hand, approached the sleeping warrior, and
said: "This shall be the sign that Thou wilt deliver him into my hand
if I draw him from the bed down on the ground without awaking him." She
tugged at Sisera, and in very truth he did not awaken even when he
dropped from the bed to the floor. Then Jael prayed: "O God, strengthen
the arm of Thy maid-servant this day, for Thy sake, for the sake of Thy
people, and for the sake of those that hope in Thee." With a hammer she
drove the spike into the temple of Sisera, who cried out as he was
expiring: "O that I should lose my life by the hand of a woman!" Jael's
mocking retort was: "Descend to hell and join thy fathers, and tell
them that thou didst fall by the hand of a woman." (86)
Barak took charge of the body of the dead warrior, and he sent it to
Sisera's mother, Themac, (87) with the message: "Here is thy son, whom
thou didst expect to see returning laden with booty." He had in mind
the vision of Themac and her women-in-waiting. When Sisera went forth
to battle, their conjuring tricks had shown him to them as he lay on
the bed of a Jewish woman. This they had interpreted to mean that he
would return with Jewish captives. "One damsel, two damsels for ever
man." (88) they had said. Great, therefore, was the disappointment of
Sisera's mother. No less than a hundred cries did she utter over him.
(89)
Deborah and Barak thereupon intoned a song of praise, thanking God for
the deliverance of Israel out of the power of Sisera, and reviewing the
history of the people since the time of Abraham. (90)
After laboring for the weal of her nation for forty years, Deborah
departed this life. Her last words to the weeping people were an
exhortation not to depend upon the dead. They can do nothing for the
living. So long as a man is alive, his prayers are efficacious for
himself and for others. They avail naught once he is dead.
The whole nation kept a seventy days' period of mourning in honor of
Deborah, and the land was at peace for seven years. (91)
GIDEON
Elated by the victory over Sisera, Israel sang a hymn of praise, the
song of Deborah, and God, to reward them for their pious sentiments,
pardoned the transgression of the people. (92) But they soon slipped
back into the old ways, and the old troubles harassed them. Their
backsliding was due to the witchcraft of a Midianite priest named Aud.
He made the sun shine at midnight, and so convinced the Israelites that
the idols of Midian were mightier than God, and God chastised them by
delivering them into the hands of the Midianties. (93) They worshipped
their own images reflected in the water, (94) and they were stricken
with dire poverty. They could not bring so much as a meal offering, the
offering of the poor. (95) On the eve of one Passover, Gideon uttered
the complaint: "Where are all the wondrous works which God did for our
fathers in this night, when he slew the first-born of the Egyptians,
and Israel went forth from slavery with joyous hearts?" God appeared
unto him, and said: "Thou who art courageous enough to champion Israel,
thou art worthy that Israel should be saved for thy sake." (96)
An angel appeared, and Gideon begged him for a sign, that he would
achieve the deliverance of Israel. He excused his petition with the
precedent of Moses, the first prophet, who likewise has asked for a
sign. The angel bade him pour water on the rock, and then gave him the
choice of how he would have the water transformed. Gideon desired to
see one-half changed into blood, and one-half into fire. Thus it
happened. The blood and the fire mingled with each other, yet the blood
did not quench the fire, nor did the fire dry out the blood. Encouraged
by this and other signs, (97) Gideon undertook to carry on the war
against the Midianites with a band of three hundred God-fearing men,
and he was successful. Of the enemy one hundred and twenty thousand
corpses covered the field, and all the rest fled precipitately. (98)
Gideon enjoyed the privilege of bringing salvation to Israel because he
was a good son. His old father feared to thresh his grain on account of
the Midianites, and Gideon once went out to him in the field and said:
"Father, thou art too old to do this work; go thou home, and I shall
finish thy task for thee. If the Midianites should surprise me out
here, I can run away, which thou canst not do, on account of thy age."
(99)
The day on which Gideon gained his great victory was during the
Passover, and the cake of barley bread that turned the camp of the
enemy upside down, of which the Midianite dreamed, was a sign that God
would espouse the cause of His people to reward them for bringing a
cake of barley bread as an 'Omer offering. (100)
After God had favored Israel with great help through him, Gideon had an
ephod made. In the high priest's breastplate, Joseph was represented
among the twelve tribes by Ephraim alone, not by Manasseh, too. To wipe
out this slight upon his own tribe, Gideon made an ephod bearing the
name of Manasseh. He consecrated it to God, but after his death homage
was paid to it as an idol. (101) In those days the Israelites were so
addicted to the worship of Beelzebub that they constantly carried small
images of this god with them in their pockets, and every now and then
they were in the habit of bringing the image forth and kissing it
fervently. (102) Of such idolaters were the vain and light fellows who
helped Abimelech, the son of Gideon by his concubine from Shechem, to
assassinate the other sons of his father. But God is just. As Abimelech
murdered his brothers upon a stone, so Abimelech himself met his death
through a millstone. It was proper, then, that Jotham, in his parable,
should compare Abimelech to a thorn-bush, while he characterized his
predecessors, Othniel, Deborah, and Gideon, as an olive-tree, or a
fig-tree, or a vine. This Jotham, the youngest of the sons of Gideon,
was more than a teller of parables. He knew then that long afterward
the Samaritans would claim sanctity for Mount Gerizim, on account of
the blessing pronounced from it upon the tribe. For this reason he
chose Gerizim from which to hurl his curse upon Shechem and it
inhabitants. (103)
The successor to Abimelech equalled, if he did not surpass, him in
wickedness. Jair erected an altar unto Baal, and on penalty of death he
forced the people to prostrate themselves before it. Only seven men
remained firm in the true faith, and refused to the last to commit
idolatry. Their names were Deuel, Abit Yisreel, Jekuthiel, Shalom,
Ashur, Jehonadab, and Shemiel. (104) They said to Jair: "We are mindful
of the lessons given us by our teachers and our mother Deborah. 'Take
ye heed,' they said, 'that your heart lead you not astray to the right
or to the left. Day and night ye shall devote yourselves to the study
of the Torah.' Why, then, dost thou seek to corrupt the people of the
Lord, saying, 'Baal is God, let us worship him'? If he really is what
thou sayest, then let him speak like a god, and we will pay him
worship." For the blasphemy they had uttered against Baal, Jair
commanded that the seven men be burnt. When his servants were about to
carry out his order, God sent the angel Nathaniel, the lord over the
fire, and he extinguished the fire though not before the servants of
Jair were consumed by it. Not only did the seven men escape the danger
of suffering death by fire, but the angel enabled them to flee
unnoticed, by striking all the people present with blindness. Then the
angel approached Jair, and said to him: "Hear the words of the Lord ere
thou diest. I appointed thee as prince over my people, and thou didst
break My covenant, seduce My people, and seek to burn My servants with
fire, but they were animated and freed by the living, the heavenly
fire. As for thee, thou wilt die, and die by fire, a fire in which thou
wilt abide forever."
Thereupon the angel burnt him with a thousand men, whom he had taken in
the act of paying homage to Baal. (105)
JEPHTHAH
The first judge of any importance after Gideon was Jephthah. He, too,
fell short of being the ideal Jewish ruler. His father had married a
woman of another tribe, an unusual occurrence in a time when a woman
who left her tribe was held in contempt.(106) Jephthah, the offspring
of this union, had to bear the consequences of his mother's irregular
conduct. So many annoyances were put upon him that he was forced to
leave his home and settle in a heathen district. (107)
At first Jephthah refused to accept the rulership which the people
offered him in an assembly at Mizpah, for he had not forgotten the
wrongs to which he had been subjected. In the end, however, he yielded,
and placed himself at the head of the people in the war against Getal,
the king of the Ammonites. At his departure, he vowed before God to
sacrifice to Him whatsoever came forth out of the doors of his house to
meet him when he returned a victor from the war.
God was angry and said: "So Jephthah has vowed to offer unto me the
first thing that shall meet him! If a dog were the first to meet him,
would a dog be sacrificed to me? Now shall the vow of Jephthah be
visited on his first-born, on his own offspring, yea, his prayer shall
be visited on his only daughter. But I assuredly shall deliver my
people, not for Jephthah's sake, but for the sake of the prayers of
Israel."
The first to meet him after his successful campaign was his daughter
Sheilah. Overwhelmed by anguish, the father cried out: "Rightly was the
name Sheilah, the one who is demanded, given to thee, that thou
shouldst be offered up as a sacrifice. Who shall set my heart in the
balance and my soul as the weight, that I may stand and see whether
that which happened to me is joy or sorrow? But because I opened my
mouth to the Lord, and uttered a vow, I cannot take it back." Then
Sheilah spoke, saying: "Why dost thou grieve for my death, since the
people was delivered? Dost thou not remember what happened in the day
of our forefathers, when the father offered his son as a burnt
offering, and the son did not refuse, but consented gladly, and the
offerer and the offered were both full of joy? Therefore, do as thou
hast spoken. But before I die I will ask a favor of thee. Grant me that
I may go with my companions upon the mountains, sojourn among the
hills, and tread upon the rocks to shed my tears and deposit there the
grief for my lost youth. The trees of the field shall weep for me, and
the beasts of the field mourn for me. I do not grieve for my death, nor
because I have to yield up my life, but because when my father vowed
his heedless vow, he did not have me in mind. I fear, therefore, that I
may not be an acceptable sacrifice, and that my death shall be for
nothing." Sheilah and her companions went forth and told her case to
the sages of the people, but none of them could give her any help. Then
she went up to Mount Telag, where the Lord appeared to her at night,
saying unto her: "I have closed the mouth of the sages of my people in
this generation, that they cannot answer the daughter of Jephthah a
word; that my vow be fulfilled and nothing of what I have thought
remain undone. I know her to be wiser than her father, and all the wise
men, and now her soul shall be accepted at her request, and her death
shall be very precious before My face all the time." Sheilah began to
bewail her fate in these words: "Hearken, ye mountains, to my
lamentations, and ye hills, to the tears of my eyes, and ye rocks,
testify to the weeping of my soul. My words will go up to heaven, and
my tears will be written in the firmament. I have not been granted the
joy of wedding, nor was the wreath of my betrothal completed. I have
not been decked with ornaments, nor have I been scented with myrrh and
with aromatic perfumes. I have not been anointed with the oil that was
prepared for me. Alas, O mother, it was in vain thou didst give birth
to me, the grave was destined to be my bridal chamber. The oil thou
didst prepare for me will be spilled, and the white garments my mother
sewed for me, the moth will eat them; the bridal wreath my nurse wound
for me will wither, and my garments in blue and purple, the worms will
destroy them, and my companions will all their days lament over me. And
now, ye trees, incline your branches and weep over my youth; ye beasts
of the forest, come and trample upon my virginity, for my years are cut
off, and the days of my life grow old in darkness." (108)
Her lamentations were of as little avail as her arguments with her
father. In vain she sought to prove to him from the Torah that the law
speaks only of animal sacrifices, never of human sacrifices. In vain
she cited the example of Jacob, who had vowed to give God a tenth of
all the possessions he owned, and yet did not attempt later to
sacrifice one of his sons. Jephthah was inexorable. All he would yield
was a respite during which his daughter might visit various scholars,
who were to decide whether he was bound by his vow. According to the
Torah his vow was entirely invalid. He was not even obliged to pay his
daughter's value in money. But the scholars of his time had forgotten
this Halakah, and they decided that he must keep his vow. The
forgetfulness of the scholars was of God, ordained as a punishment upon
Jephthah for having slaughtered thousands of Ephraim.
One man there was living at the time who, if he had been questioned
about the case, would have been able to give a decision. This was the
high priest Phinehas. But he said proudly: "What! I, a high priest, the
son of a high priest, should humiliate myself and go to an ignoramus!"
Jephthah on the other hand said: "What! I, the chief of the tribes of
Israel, the first prince of the land, should humiliate myself and go to
one of the rank and file!" So only the rivalry between Jephthah and
Phinehas caused the loss of a young life. Their punishment did not miss
them. Jephthah dies a horrible death. Limb by limb his body was
dismembered. As for the high priest, the holy spirit departed from him,
and he had to give up his priestly dignity. (109)
As it had been Jephthah's task to ward off the Ammonites, so his
successor Abdon was occupied with protecting Israel against the
Moabites. The king of Moab sent messengers to Abdon, and they spoke
thus: "Thou well knowest that Israel took possession of cities that
belonged to me. Return them." Abdon's reply was: "Know ye not how the
Ammonites fared? The measure of Moab's sins, it seems, out against the
enemy, slew forty-five thousand of their number, and routed the rest.
(110)
SAMSON
The last judge but one, Samson, was not the most important of the
judges, but he was the greatest hero of the period and, except Goliath,
the greatest hero of all times. He was the son of Manoah of the tribe
of Dan, and his wife Zelalponit (111) of the tribe of Judah, (112) and
he was born to them at a time when they had given up all hope of having
children. Samson's birth is a striking illustration of the
shortsightedness of human beings. The judge Ibzan had not invited
Manoah and Zelalponit to any of the one hundred and twenty feasts in
honor of the marriage of his sixty children, which were celebrated at
his house and at the house of their parents-in-law, because he thought
that "the sterile she-mule" would never be in a position to repay his
courtesy. It turned out that Samson's parents were blessed with an
extraordinary son, while Ibzan saw his sixty children die during his
lifetime. (113)
Samson's strength was superhuman, (114) and the dimensions of his body
were gigantic he measured sixty ells between the shoulders. Yet he
had one imperfection, he was maimed in both feet. (115) The first
evidence of his gigantic strength he gave when he uprooted two great
mountains, and rubbed them against each other. Such feats he was able
to perform as often as the spirit of God was poured out over him.
Whenever this happened, it was indicated by his hair. In began to move
and emit a bell-like sound, which could be heard far off. Besides,
while the spirit rested upon him, he was able with one stride to cover
a distance equal to that between Zorah and Eshtaol. (116) It was
Samson's supernatural strength that made Jacob think that he would be
the Messiah. When God showed him Samson's latter end, then he realized
that the new era would not be ushered in by the hero-judge. (117)
Samson won his first victory over the Philistines by means of the
jawbone of the ass on which Abraham had made his way to Mount Moriah.
It had been preserved miraculously. (118) After this victory a great
wonder befell. Samson was at the point of perishing from thirst, when
water began to flow from his own mouth as from a spring. (119)
Besides physical prowess, Samson possessed also spiritual distinctions.
He was unselfish to the last degree. He had been of exceeding great
help to the Israelites, but he never asked the smallest service for
himself. (120) When Samson told Delilah that he was a "Nazarite unto
God," she was certain that he had divulged the true secret of his
strength. She knew his character too well to entertain the idea that he
would couple the name of God with an untruth. There was a weak side to
his character, too. He allowed sensual pleasures to dominate him. The
consequences was that "he who went astray after his eyes, lost his
eyes." Even this severe punishment produced no change of heart. He
continued to lead his old life of profligacy in prison, and he was
encouraged thereto by the Philistines, who set aside all considerations
of family purity in the hope of descendants who should be the equals of
Samson in giant strength and stature. (121)
As throughout life Samson had given proofs of superhuman power, so in
the moment of death. He entreated God to realize in him the blessing of
Jacob, (122) and endow him with Divine strength. (123) He expired with
these words upon his lips: "O Master of the world! Vouchsafe unto me in
this life a recompense for the loss of one of my eyes. For the loss of
the other I will wait to be rewarded in the world to come." Even after
his death Samson was a shield unto the Israelites. Fear of him had so
cowed the Philistines that for twenty years they did not dare attack
the Israelites. (124)
THE CRIME OF THE BENJAMITES
A part of the money which Delilah received from the Philistine lords as
the price of Samson's secret, she gave to her son Micah, and he used it
to make an idol for himself. (125) This sin was the more unpardonable
as Micah owed his life to a miracle performed by Moses. During the
times of the Egyptian oppression, if the prescribed number of bricks
was not furnished by the Israelites, their children were used as
building material. Such would have been Micah's fate, if he had not
been saved in a miraculous way. Moses wrote down the Name of God, and
put the words on Micah's body. The dead boy came to life, and Moses
drew him out of the wall of which he made a part. (126) Micah did not
show himself worthy of the wonder done for him. Even before the
Israelites left Egypt, he made his idol, (127) and it was he who
fashioned the golden calf. At the time of Othniel the judge, (128) he
took up his abode at a distance of not more than three miles from the
sanctuary at Shiloh, (129) and won over the grandson of Moses (130) to
officiate as priest before his idol.
The sanctuary which Micah erected harbored various idols. He had three
images of boys, and three of calves, one lion, an eagle, a dragon, and
a dove. When a man came who wanted a wife, he was directed to appeal to
the dove. If riches were his desire, he worshipped the eagle. For
daughters both, to the calves; to the lion for strength, and to the
dragon for long life. Sacrifices and incense alike were offered to
these idols, and both had to be purchased with cash money from Micah,
even didrachms for a sacrifice, and one for incense. (131)
The rapid degeneration in the family of Moses may be accounted for by
the fact that Moses had married the daughter of a priest who ministered
to idols. Yet, the grandson of Moses was not an idolater of ordinary
calibre. His sinful conduct was not without a semblance of morality.
From his grandfather he had heard the rule that a man should do "Abodah
Zarah" for hire rather than be dependent upon his fellow-creatures. The
meaning of "Abodah Zarah" here naturally is "strange," in the sense of
"unusual" work, but he took the term in its ordinary acceptation of
"service of strange gods." (132) So far from being a whole-souled
idolater, he adopted methods calculated to harm the cause of idol
worship. Whenever any one came leading an animal with the intention of
sacrificing it, he would say: "What good can the idol do thee? It can
neither see nor hear nor speak." But as he was concerned about his won
livelihood, and did not want to offend the idolaters too grossly, he
would continue: "If thou bringest a dish of flour and a few eggs, it
will suffice." This offering he would himself eat.
Under David he filled the position of treasurer. David appointed him
because he thought that a man who was willing to become priest to an
idol only in order to earn his bread, must be worthy of confidence.
However sincere his repentance may have been, he relapsed into his
former life when he was removed from his office by Solomon, who filled
all position with new incumbents at his accession to the throne.
Finally he abandoned his idolatrous ways wholly, and became so pure a
man that the was favored by God with the gift of prophecy. This
happened on the day on which the man of God out of Judah came to
Jeroboam, for the grandson of Moses is none other than the old prophet
at Beth-el who invited the man of God out of Judah to come to his
house. (133)
The mischief done by Micah spread further and further. Especially the
Benjamites distinguished themselves for their zeal in paying homage to
his idols. God therefore resolved to visit the sins of Israel and
Benjamin upon them. The opportunity did not delay to come. It was not
long before the Benjamites committed the outrage of Gibeah. Before the
house of Bethac, a venerable old man, they imitated the disgraceful
conduct of the Sodomites before the house of Lot. When the other tribes
exacted amends from the Benjamites, and were denied satisfaction,
bloody combats ensued. At first the Benjamites prevailed, in spit of
the fact that the Urim and Thummim questioned by Phinehas had
encouraged the Israelites to take up the conflict, with the words: "Up
to war, I shall deliver them into your hands." After the tribes had
again and again suffered defeat, they recognized the intention of God,
to betray them as a punishment for their sins. They therefore ordained
a day of fasting and convocation before the holy Ark, and Phinehas the
son of Eleazar entreated God in their behalf: "What means this, that
Thou leadest us astray? Is the deed of the Benjamites right in Thine
eyes? Then why didst Thou not command us to desist from the combat? But
if what our brethren have done is evil in Thy sight, then why dost Thou
cause us to fall before them in battle? O God of our fathers, hearken
unto my voice. Make it known this day unto Thy servant whether the war
waged with Benjamin is pleasing in Thine eyes, or whether thou desirest
to punish Thy people for its sins. Then the sinners among us will amend
their ways. I am mindful of what happened in the days of my youth, at
the time of Moses. In the zeal of my soul I slew two for the sin of
Zimri, and when his well-wishers sought to kill me, Thou didst send an
angel, who cut off twenty-four thousand of them and delivered me. But
now eleven of Thy tribes have gone forth to do Thy bidding, to avenge
and slay, and, lo, they have themselves been slain, so that they are
made to believe that Thy revelations are lying and deceitful. O Lord,
God of our forefathers, naught is hidden before Thee. Make it manifest
why this misfortune has overtaken us."
God replied to Phinehas at great length, setting forth why eleven
tribes had suffered so heavily. The Lord had wanted to punished them
for having permitted Micah and his mother Delilah to pursue their evil
ways undisturbed, though they were zealous beyond measure in avenging
the wrong done to the woman at Gibeah. As soon as all those had
perished who were guilty of having aided and abetted Micah in his
idolatrous practices, whether directly or indirectly, God was willing
to help them in their conflicts with the Benjamites.
So it came. In the battle fought soon after, seventy-five thousand
Benjamites fell slain. Only six hundred of the tribe survived. (134)
Fearing to remain in Palestine, the small band emigrated to Italy and
Germany. (135)
At the same time the punishment promised them by God overtook the two
chief sinners. Micah lost his life by fire, and his mother rotted
alive; worms crawled from her body. (136)
In spite of the great mischief caused by Micah, he had one good
quality, and God permitted it to plead for him when the angel stood up
against him as his accusers. He was extremely hospitable. His house
always stood wide open to the wanderer, and to his hospitality he owed
it that he was granted a share in the future world. (137) In hell Micah
is the first in the sixth division, which is under the guidance of the
angel Hadriel, and he is the only one in the division who is spared
hell tortures. (138) Micah's sons was Jeroboam, whose golden calves
were sinful far beyond anything his father had done. (139)
In those days God spake to Phinehas: "Thou art one hundred and twenty
years old, thou hast reached the natural term of man's life. Go now,
betake thyself to the mountain Danaben, and remain there many years. I
will command the eagles to sustain thee with food, so that thou
returnest not to men until the time when thou lockest fast the clouds
and openest them again. Then I will carry thee to the place where those
are who were before thee, and there thou wilt tarry until I visit the
world, and bring thee thither to taste of death." (140)
III.
SAMUEL AND SAUL
ELKANAH AND HANNAH
The period of the Judges is linked to the period of the Kingdom by the
prophet Samuel, who anointed both Saul and David as kings. Not only was
Samuel himself a prophet, but his forebears also has been prophets, (1)
and both his parents, Elkanah and Hannah, were endowed with the gift of
prophecy. (2) Aside from this gift, Elkanah possessed extraordinary
virtue. He was a second Abraham, the only pious man of his generation,
who saved the world from destruction when God, made wroth by the
idolatry of Micah, was on the point of annihilating it utterly. (3) His
chief merit was that he stimulated the people by his example to go on
pilgrimages to Shiloh, the spiritual centre of the nation. Accompanied
by his whole household, including kinsmen, he was in the habit of
making the three prescribed pilgrimages annually, and though he was a
man of only moderate means, (4) his retinue was equipped with great
magnificence. In all the towns through which it passed, the procession
caused commotion. The lookers-on invariably inquired into the reason of
the rare spectacle, and Elkanah told them: "We are going to the house
of the Lord at Shiloh, for thence come forth the law. Why should you
not join us?" Such gentle, persuasive words did not fail of taking
effect. In the first year five households undertook the pilgrimage, the
next year ten, and so on until the whole town followed his example.
Elkanah chose a new route every year. Thus he touched at many towns,
and their inhabitants were led to do a pious deed. (5)
In spite of his God-fearing ways, Elkanah's domestic life was not
perfectly happy. He had been married ten years, and his union with
Hannah had not been blessed with offspring. (6) The love he bore his
wife compensated him for his childlessness, but Hannah herself insisted
upon his taking a second wife. Peninnah embraced every opportunity of
vexing Hannah. In the morning her derisive greeting to Hannah would be:
"Dost thou not mean to rise and wash thy children, and send them to
school?" (7) Such jeers were to keep Hannah mindful of her
childlessness. Perhaps Peninnah's intentions were laudable: she may
have wanted to bring Hannah to the point of praying to God for
children. (8) However it may have been forced from her, Hannah's
petition for a son was fervent and devout. She entreats God: "Lord of
the world! Hast Thou created aught in vain? Our eyes Thou hast destined
for sight, our ears for hearing, our mouth for speech, our nose to
smell therewith, our hands for work. Didst Thou not create these
breasts above my heart to give suck to a babe? (9) O grant me a son,
that he may draw nourishment therefrom. Lord, Thou reignest over all
beings, the mortal and the heavenly beings. The heavenly beings neither
eat nor drink, they do not propagate themselves, nor do they die, but
they live forever. Mortal man eats, drinks, propagates his kind and
dies. If, now, I am of the heavenly beings, let me live forever. But if
I belong to mortal mankind, let me do my part in establishing the
race." (10)
Eli the high priest, who at first misinterpreted Hannah's long prayer,
dismissed her with the blessing: "May the son to be born unto thee
acquire great knowledge in the law." (11) Hannah left the sanctuary,
and at once her grief-furrowed countenance changes. She felt beyond a
doubt that the blessing of Eli would be fulfilled. (12)
THE YOUTH OF SAMUEL
Hannah's prayer was heard. At the end of six months and a few days (13)
Samuel was born to her, in the nineteenth year of her married life,
(14) and the one hundred and thirtieth of her age. (15) Samuel was of a
frail constitution, (16) and required tender care and nurture. For this
reason he and his mother could not accompany Elkanah on his
pilgrimages. Hannah withheld her boy from the sanctuary for some years.
Before Samuel's birth a voice from heaven had proclaimed that in a
short time a great man would be born, whose name would be Samuel. All
men children of that time were accordingly named Samuel. As they grew
up, the mothers were in the habit of getting together and telling of
their children's doings, in order to determine which of them satisfied
the expectations the prophecy had aroused. When the true Samuel was
born, and by his wonderful deed excelled all his companions, it became
plain to whom the word of God applied. (17) His preeminence now being
undisputed, Hannah was willing to part with him.
The following incident is an illustration of Samuel's unusual qualities
manifested even in infancy. He was two years old when his mother
brought him to Shiloh to leave him there permanently. An occasion at
once presented itself for the display of his learning and acumen, which
were so great as to arouse the astonishment of the high priest Eli
himself. On entering the sanctuary Samuel noticed that they were
seeking a priest to kill the sacrificial animal. Samuel instructed the
attendants that a non-priest was permitted to kill the sacrifice. The
high priest Eli appeared at the moment when, by Samuel's directions,
the sacrifice was being killed by a non-priest. Angered by the child's
boldness, he was about to have him executed, regardless of Hannah's
prayer for his life. "Let him die," (18) he said, "I shall pray for
another in his place." Hannah replied: "I lent him to the Lord.
Whatever betide, he belongs neither to thee nor to me, but to God."
(19) Only then, after Samuel's life was secure, Hannah offered up her
prayer of thanksgiving. Beside the expression of her gratitude, it
contains also many prophecies regarding Samuel's future achievements,
and it recited the history of Israel from the beginning until the
advent of Messiah. (20) Her prayer incidentally brought relief to the
Sons of Korah. Since the earth had swallowed them, they had been
constantly sinking lower and lower. When Hannah uttered the words, "God
bringeth down to Sheol, and bringeth up," (21) they came to a
standstill in their downward course.
Hannah was spared to witness, not only the greatness of her son, but
also the undoing of her rival. Every time Hannah bore a child, Peninnah
lost two of hers, until eight of her ten children had died, and she
would have had to surrender all, had not Hannah interceded for her with
prayer. (22)
ELI AND HIS SONS
Shortly (23) before Samuel entered upon his novitiate in the sanctuary,
Eli succeeded to the three highest offices in the land: he was made
high priest, president of the Sanhedrin, and ruler over the political
affairs of Israel. Eli was a pious man, and devoted to the study of the
Torah, wherefore he attained to a good old age and to high honors. (24)
In his office as high priest he was successor to no less a personage
than Phinehas, who had lost his high-priestly dignity on account of his
haughty bearing toward Jephthah. With Eli the line of Ithamar rose to
power instead of the line of Eleazar. (25) However, the iniquitous deed
of his two sons brought dire misfortune upon Eli and upon his family,
though the Scriptural account of their conduct may not be taken
literally. The sons of Eli transgressed only in that they sometimes
kept the women waiting who came to the sanctuary to bring the
purification offerings, and so they retarded their return to their
families. (26) This was bad enough for priest of God. Their misdeeds
recoiled upon their father, who was not strict enough in rebuking them.
Eli's punishment was that he aged prematurely, and, besides, he had to
give up his various offices.
During his lifetime, his youngest son Phinehas, the worthier of the
two, (27) officiated as high priest. The only reproach to which
Phinehas laid himself open was that he made no attempt to mend his
brother's ways.
The worst of God's decree against Eli he learned from Elkanah, (28) the
man of God who came unto Eli, and who announced that the high-priestly
dignity would be wrested from his house, and once more conferred upon
the family of Eleazar, and, furthermore, his descendant would all die
in their prime. The latter doom can be averted by good deeds, devotion
in prayer, and zealous study of the Torah. These means were often
employed successfully. (29) But against the loss of the high priest's
office there is no specific. The house of Eli forfeited it irrevocably.
Abiathar, the great-grandson of Eli's son Phinehas, (30) the last of
the high priest of the line of Ithamar, had to submit to the fate of
seeing David transfer his dignity to Zadok, in whose family it remained
forever.
The sons of Eli brought misfortune also upon the whole of Israel. To
their sins and the ease with which the people condoned them was
attributed the unhappy issue of the war with the Philistines. The holy
Ark, the receptacle for the broken table of the law, which accompanied
the people to the camp, (31) did not have the expected effect of
compelling victory for the Israelites. What Eli feared happened. He
enjoined upon his sons not to appear before him if they should survive
the capture of the Ark. (32) But they did not survive it; they died
upon the battlefield on which their nation had suffered bitter defeat.
The Philistines, to be sure, had to pay dearly for their victory,
especially those who had spoken contemptuous words when the holy Ark
had appeared in the Israelitish camp: "The God of the Israelites had
ten plagues, and those he expended upon the Egyptians. He no longer has
it in His power to do harm." But God said: "Do ye but wait to see. I
shall bring plague down upon you like of which hath never been." (33)
This new plague consisted in mice crawling forth out of the earth, and
jerking the entrails out of the bodies of the Philistines while they
eased nature. If the Philistines sought to protect themselves by using
brass vessels, the vessels burst at the touch of the mice, and, as
before, the Philistines were at their mercy. (34) After some months of
suffering, when they realized that their god Dagon was the victim
instead of the victor, they resolved to send the Ark back to the
Israelites. Many of the Philistines, (35) however, were not yet
convinced of God's power. The experiment with the milch kine on which
there had come no yoke was to establish the matter for them. The result
was conclusive. Scarcely had the cows begun to draw the cart containing
the Ark when they raised their voices in song:
Arise thou, O Acacia! Soar aloft in the fulness of thy splendor,
Thou who art adorned with gold embroidery,
Thou who art reverenced within the Holiest of the palace,
Thou who art covered by the two Cherubim! (36)
When the holy Ark was thus brought into the Israelitish domain, there
was exceeding great rejoicing. Yet the people were lacking in due
reverence. They unloaded the holy vessel while doing their usual work.
God punished them severely. (37) The seventy members of the Sanhedrin
perished, and with them fifty thousand of the people. (38) The
punishment was meet for another reason. At first sight of the Ark some
of the people had exclaimed: "Who vexed these that thou didst feel
offended, and what had mollified thee now?" (39)
THE ACTIVITIES OF SAMUEL
In the midst of the defeats and other calamities that overwhelmed the
Israelites, Samuel's authority grew, and the respect for him increased,
until he was acknowledged the helper of his people. His first efforts
were directed toward counteracting the spiritual decay in Israel. When
he assembled the people at Mizpah for prayer, he sought to distinguish
between the faithful and the idolatrous, in order to mete out
punishment to the disloyal. He had all the people drink water, whose
effect was to prevent idolaters from opening their lips. (40) The
majority of the people repented of their sins, and Samuel turned to God
in their behalf: "Lord of the world! Thou requirest naught of man but
that he should repent of his sins. Israel is penitent, do Thou pardon
him." (41) The prayer was granted, and when, after his sacrifice,
Samuel led an attack upon the Philistines, victory was not withheld
from the Israelites. God terrified the enemy first by an earthquake,
and then by thunder and lightning. Many were scattered and wandered
about aimlessly; many were precipitated into the rents torn in the
earth, the rest had their faces scorched, and in their terror and pain
their weapons dropped from their hands. (42)
In peace as in war Samuel was the type of a disinterested,
incorruptible judge, who even refused compensation for the time,
trouble, and pecuniary sacrifices entailed upon him by his office. (43)
His sons fell far short of resembling their father in these respects.
Instead of continuing Samuel's plan of journeying from place to place
to dispense judgment, they had the people come to them, and they
surrounded themselves with a crew of officials who preyed upon the
people for their maintenance. (44) In a sense, therefore, the curse
with which Eli threatened Samuel in his youth was accomplished: both he
and Samuel had sons unworthy of their fathers. (45) Samuel at least had
the satisfaction of seeing his sons mend their ways. One of them is the
prophet Joel, whose prophecy forms a book of the Bible. (46)
Though, according to this account, the sons of Samuel were by no means
so iniquitous as might be inferred from the severe expressions of the
Scripture, still the demand for a king made by the leaders of the
people was not unwarranted. All they desired was a king in the place of
a judge. What enkindled the wrath of God and caused Samuel vexation,
was the way in which the common people formulated the demand. "We want
a king," they said, "that we may be like the other nations." (47)
THE REIGN OF SAUL
There were several reasons for the choice of Saul as king. He had
distinguished himself as a military hero in the unfortunate engagement
of the Philistines with Israel under the leadership of the sons of Eli.
Goliath captured the tables of the law. When Saul heard of this in
Shiloh, he marched sixty miles to the camp, wrested the tables from the
giant, and returned to Shiloh on the same day, bringing Eli the report
of the Israelitish misfortune. (48) Besides, Saul possessed unusual
beauty, (49) which explains why the maidens whom he asked about the
seer in their city sought to engage him in a lengthy conversation. (50)
At the same time he was exceedingly modest. When he and his servant
failed to find the asses they were looking for, he said, "My father
will take thought of us," putting his servants on a level with himself,
(51) and when he was anointed king, he refused to accept the royal
dignity until the Urim and Thummin were consulted. (52) His chief
virtue, however, was his innocence. He was as free from sin as "a one
year old child." (53) No wonder, then, he was held worthy of the
prophetic gift. The prophecies he uttered concerned themselves with the
war of Gog and Magog, the meting out of reward and punishment at the
last judgment. (54) Finally, his choice as king was due also to the
merits of his ancestors, especially his grandfather Abiel, a man
interested in the public welfare, who would have the streets lighted so
that people might go to the houses of study after dark. (55)
Saul's first act as king was his successful attack upon Nahash, king of
the Ammonites, who had ordered the Gileadites to remove the injunction
from the Torah barring the Ammonites from the congregation of Israel.
(56) In his next undertaking, the campaign against the Philistines, he
displayed his piety. His son Jonathan had fallen under the severe ban
pronounced by Saul against all who tasted food on a certain day, and
Saul did not hesitate to deliver him up to death. Jonathan's trespass
was made know by the stones in the breastplate of the high priest. All
the stones were bright, only the one bearing the name Benjamin had lost
its brilliancy. By lot it was determined that its dimmed lustre was due
to the Benjamite Jonathan. Saul desisted from his purpose of executing
Jonathan only when it appeared that he had transgressed his father's
command by mistake. A burnt offering and his weight in gold paid to the
sanctuary were considered an atonement for him. (57) In the same war
Saul had occasion to show his zeal for the scrupulous observance of the
sacrificial ordinances. He reproached his warriors with eating the meat
of the sacrifices before the blood was sprinkled on the altar, (58) and
he made it his task to see to it that the slaughtering knife was kept
in the prescribed condition. As recompense, an angel brought him a
sword, there being none beside Saul in the whole army to bear one. (59)
Saul manifested a different spirit in the next campaign, the war with
the Amalekites, whom, at the bidding of God, he was to exterminate.
When the message of God's displeasure was conveyed to Saul by the
prophet Samuel, he said: "If the Torah ordains that a heifer of the
herd shall be beheaded in the valley as an atonement for the death of a
single man, how great must be the atonement required for the slaughter
of so many men? And granted they are sinners, what wrong have their
cattle done to deserve annihilation? And granted that the adults are
worthy of their fate, what have the children done?" Then a voice
proclaimed from heaven, "Be not overjust." Later on, when Saul
commissioned Doeg to cut down the priests at Nob, the same voice was
heard to say, "Be not overwicked." (60) It was this very Doeg, destined
to play so baleful a part in his life, who induced Saul to spare Agag,
the king of Amalekites. His argument was the law prohibits the slaying
of an animal and its young on the same day. How much less permissible
is it to destroy at one time old and young, men and children. (61) As
Saul had undertaken the war of extermination against Amalek only
because forced into it, he was easily persuaded to let the people keep
a part of the cattle alive. As far as he himself was concerned, he
could have had no personal interest in the booty, for he was so
affluent that he took a census of the army by giving a sheep to every
one of his soldiers, distributing not less than two hundred thousand
sheep. (62)
Compared with David's sins, Saul's were not sufficiently grievous to
account for the withdrawal of the royal dignity from him and his
family. The real reason was Saul's too great mildness, a drawback in a
ruler. Moreover, his family was of such immaculate nobility that his
descendants might have become too haughty. (63) When Saul disregarded
the Divine command about the Amalekites, Samuel announced to him that
his office would be bestowed upon another. The name of his successor
was not mentioned on that occasion, but Samuel gave him a sign by which
to recognize the future king: he who would cut off the corner of Saul's
mantle, would reign in his stead. Later on, when David met Saul in the
cave and cut off a piece of the king's skirt, Saul knew him for a
certainty to be his destined successor. (64)
So Saul lost his crown on account of Agag, and yet did not accomplish
his purpose of saving the life of the Amalekite king, for Samuel
inflicted a most cruel death upon Agag, and that not in accordance with
Jewish, but with heathen, forms of justice. No witnesses of Agag's
crime could be summoned before the court, nor could it be proved that
Agag, as the law requires, had been warned when about to commit the
crime. (65) Though due punishment was meted out to Agag, in a sense it
came too late. Had he been killed by Saul in the course of the battle,
the Jews would have been spared the persecution devised by Haman, for,
in the short span of time that elapsed between war and his execution,
Agag became the ancestor of Haman. (66)
The Amalekite war was the last of Saul's notable achievements. Shortly
afterward he was seized by the evil spirit, and the rest of his days
were passed mainly in persecuting David and his followers. Saul would
have died immediately after the Amalekite war, if Samuel had not
interceded for him. The prophet prayed to God that the life of the
disobedient king be spared, at least so long as his own years had not
come to their destined close: "Thou regardest me equal to Moses and
Aaron. (67) As Moses and Aaron did not have their handiwork destroyed
before their eyes during their life, so may my handiwork not cease
during my life." God said: "What shall I do? Samuel will not let me put
an end to Saul's days, and if I let Samuel die in his prime, people
will speak ill of him (68) Meanwhile David's time is approaching, and
one reign may not overlap the time assigned to another by his
hairbreadth." God determined to let Samuel age suddenly, and when he
died at fifty-two, (69) the people were under the impression the days
of an old man had come to an end. So long as he lived, Saul was secure.
(70) Scarcely was he dead, when the Philistines began to menace the
Israelites and their king. Soon it appeared how well justified had been
the mourning services for the departed prophet in all the Israelitish
towns. (71) It was not remarkable that the mourning for Samuel should
have been universal. During his active administration as judge, he had
been in the habit of journeying through every part of the country, and
so he was known personally to all the people. This practice of his
testifies not only to the zeal with which he devoted himself to his
office, but also to his wealth, for the expenses entailed by these
journeys were defrayed from his own purse. Only one person in all the
land took no part in the demonstrations of grief. During the very week
of mourning Nabal held feasts. "What!" God exclaimed, "all weep and
lament over the death of the pious, and this reprobate engages in
revelry!" Punishment was not withheld. Three days after the week of
mourning for Samuel Nabal dies. (72)
There was none that felt the death of Samuel more keenly than Saul.
Left alone and isolated, he did not shrink from extreme measures to
enter into communication with the departed prophet. With his two
adjutants, (73) Abner and Amasa, he betook himself to Abner's mother,
the witch of En-dor. (74) The king did not reveal his identity, but the
witch had no difficulty in recognizing her visitor. In necromancy the
peculiar rule holds good that, unless it is summoned by a king, a
spirit raised from the dead appears head downward and feet in the air.
(75) Accordingly, when the figure of Samuel stood upright before them,
the witch knew that the king was with her. Though the witch saw Samuel,
she could not hear what he said, while Saul heard his words, but could
not see his person another peculiar phenomenon in necromancy: the
conjuror sees the spirit, and he for whom the spirit had been raised
only hears it. Any other person present neither sees nor hears it.
The witch's excitement grew when she perceived a number of spirits
arise by the side of Samuel. The dead prophet, when he was summoned
back to earth, thought that the judgement day had arrived. He requested
Moses to accompany him and testify to his always having executed the
ordinances of the Torah as Moses had established them. With these two
great leaders a number of the pious arose, all believing that the day
of judgment was at hand. Samuel was apparelled in the "upper garment"
his mother had made for him when she surrendered him to the sanctuary.
This he had worn throughout his life, and in it he was buried. At the
resurrection all the dead wear their grave clothes, and so it came
about that Samuel stood before Saul in his well-known "upper garment."
Only fragments of the conversation between Samuel and Saul have been
preserved in the Scriptures. Samuel reproached Saul with having
disturbed him. "Was it not enough," he said, "for thee to enkindle the
wrath of thy Creator by calling up the spirits of the dead, must thou
need change me into an idol? For is it not said that like unto the
worshippers so shall the worshipped be punished?" Samuel then consented
to tell the king God's decree, that he had resolved to rend the kingdom
out of his hand, and invest David with the royal dignity. Whereupon
Saul: "These are not the words thou spakest to me before." (76) "When
we dwelt together," rejoined Samuel, "I was in the world of lies. Now I
abide in the world of truth, and thou heardest lying words from me, for
I feared thy wrath and thy revenge. Now I abide in the world of truth,
and thou hearest words of truth from me. As to the thing the Lord hath
done unto thee, thou hast deserved it, for thou didst not obey the
voice of the Lord, nor execute his fierce wrath upon Amalek." Saul
asked: "Can I still save myself by flight?" "Yes," replied Samuel, "if
thou fleest, thou art safe. But if thou acceptest God's judgment, by
to-morrow thou wilt be united with me in Paradise."
When Abner and Amasa questioned Saul about his interview with Samuel,
he replied: "Samuel told me I should go into battle to-morrow, and come
forth victorious. More than that, my sons will be given exalted
positions in return for their military prowess." The next day his three
sons went with him to the war, and all were stricken down. God summoned
the angels and said to them: "Behold the being I have created in my
world. A father as a rule refrains from taking his sons even to a
banquet, lest he expose them to the evil eye. Saul goes to war knowing
that he will lose his life, yet he takes his sons with him, and
cheerfully accepts the punishment I ordain." (77)
So perished the first Jewish king, as a hero and a saint. His latter
days were occupied with regrets on account of the execution of the
priest of Nob, (78) and his remorse secured pardon for him. (79)
Indeed, in all respects his piety was so great that not even David was
his equal: David had many wives and concubines; Saul had but on wife.
David remained behind, fearing to lose his life in battle with his son
Absalom; Saul went into the combat knowing he should not return alive.
Mild and generous, Saul led the life of a saint in his own house,
observing even the priestly laws of purity. Therefore God reproached
David with having pronounced a curse upon Saul in his prayer. (80)
Also, David in his old age was punished for having cut off the corner
of Saul's mantle, for no amount of clothing would keep him warm. (81)
Finally, when a great famine fell upon the land during the reign of
David, God told him it had been inflicted upon him because Saul's
remains had not been buried with the honor due to him, and at that
moment a heavenly voice resounded calling Saul "the elect of God." (82)
THE COURT OF SAUL
The most important figure at the court of Saul was his cousin Abner,
the son of the witch of En-dor. (83) He was a giant of extraordinary
size. A wall measuring six ells in thickness could be moved more easily
than one of Abner's feet. (84) David once chanced to get between the
feet of Abner as he lay asleep, and he was almost crushed to death,
when fortunately Abner moved them, and David made his escape. (85)
Conscious of his vast strength he once cried out: "If only I could
seize the earth at some point, I should be able to shake it." Even in
the hour of death, wounded mortally by Joab, he grasped his murderer
like a worsted ball. He was about to kill him, but the people crowded
round them, and said to Abner: "If thou killest Joab, we shall be
orphaned, and our wives and children will be prey to the Philistines."
Abner replied: "What can I do? He was about to extinguish my light."
The people consoled him: "Commit thy cause to the true Judge." Abner
thereupon loosed his hold upon Joab, who remained unharmed, while Abner
fell dead instantly. God had decided against him. (86) The reason was
that Joab was in a measure justified in seeking to avenge the death of
his brother Asahel. Asahel, the supernaturally swift runner, (87) so
swift that he ran through a field without snapping the ears of wheat
(88) had been the attacking party. He had sough to take Abner's life,
and Abner contended, that in killing Asahel he had but acted in
self-defense. Before inflicting the fatal wound, Joab held a formal
court of justice over Abner. He asked: "Why didst thou no render Asahel
harmless by wounding him rather than kill him?" Abner replied that he
could not have done it. "What," said Joab, incredulous, "if thou wast
able to strike him under the fifth rib, dost thou mean to say thou
couldst not have made him innocuous by a wound, and saved him alive?"
(89)
Although Abner was a saint, (90) even a "lion in the law," (91) he
perpetrated many a deed that made his violent death appear just. It was
in his favor that he had refused to obey Saul's command to do away with
the priests of Nob. (92) Yet a man of his stamp should not have rested
content with passive resistance. He should have interposed actively,
and kept Saul from executing his blood design. And granted that Abner
could not have influenced the king's mind in this matter, (93) at all
events he is censurable for having frustrated a reconciliation between
Saul and David. When David, holding in his hand the corner of the
king's mantle which he had cut off, sought to convince Saul of his
innocence, it was Abner who turned the king against the suppliant
fugitive. "Concern not thyself about it," he said to Saul. "David found
the rag on a thornbush in which thou didst catch the skirt of thy
mantle as thou didst pass it." (94) On the other hand, no blame
attaches to Abner for having espoused the cause of Saul's son against
David for two years and a half. He knew that God had designated David
for the royal office, but, according to an old tradition, God had
promised two kings to the tribe of Benjamin, and Abner considered it
his duty to transmit his father's honor to the son of Saul the
Benjamite. (95)
Another figure of importance during Saul's reign, but a man of
radically different character, was Doeg. Doeg, the friend of Saul from
the days of his youth, (96) died when he was thirty-four years old,
(97) yet at that early age he had been president of the Sanhedrin and
the greatest scholar of his time. He was called Edomi, which means, not
Edomite, but "he who causes the blush of shame," because by his keen
mind and his learning he put to shame all who entered into argument
with him. (98) But his scholarship lay only on his lips, his heart was
not concerned in it, and his one aim was to elicit admiration. (99)
Small wonder, then, that his end was disastrous. At the time of his
death he had sunk so low that he forfeited all share in the life to
come. (100) Wounded vanity caused his hostility to David, who had got
the better of him in a learned discussion. (101) From that moment he
bent all his energies to the task of ruining David. He tried to poison
Saul's mind against David, by praising the latter inordinately, and so
arousing Saul's jealousy. (102) Again, he would harp on David's Moabite
descent, and maintain that on account of it he could not be admitted
into the congregation of Israel. Samuel and other prominent men had to
bring to bear all the weight of their authority to shield David against
the consequences of Doeg's sophistry. (103)
Doeg's most grievous transgression, however, was his informing against
the priests of Nob, whom he accused of high treason and executed as
traitors. For all his iniquitous deeds he pressed the law into his
service, and derived justification of his conduct from it. Abimelech,
the high priest at Nob, admitted that he had consulted the Urim and
Thummim for David. This served Doeg as the basis for the charge of
treason, and he stated it as an unalterable Halakah that the Urim and
Thummim may be consulted only for a king. In vain Abner and Amasa and
all the other members of the Sanhedrin demonstrated that the Urim and
Thummim may be consulted for any on whose undertaking concerns the
general welfare. Doeg would not yield, and as no one could be found to
execute the judgement, he himself officiated as hangman. (104) When the
motive of revenge actuated him, he held cheap alike the life and honor
of his fellow-man. He succeeded in convincing Saul that David's
marriage with the king's daughter Michal had lost its validity from the
moment David was declared a rebel. As such, he said, David was as good
as dead, since a rebel was outlawed. Hence his wife was no longer bound
to him. (105) Doeg's punishment accorded with his misdeeds. He who had
made impious use of his knowledge of the law, completely forgot the
law, and even his disciples rose up against him, and drove him from the
house of study. In the end he died a leper.
Dreadful as this death was, it was not accounted an atonement for his
sins. One angel burned his soul, and another scattered his ashes in all
the house of study and prayer. (106) The son of Doeg was Saul's
armor-bearer, who was killed by David for daring to slay the king even
though he longed for death. (107)
Along with Abner and Doeg, Jonathan distinguished himself in the reign
of his father. His military capacity was joined to deep scholarship. To
the latter he owed his position as Ab Bet Din. (108) Nevertheless he
was one of the most modest men known in history. (109) Abinadab was
another one of Saul's sons who was worthy of his father, wherefore he
was sometimes called Ishvi. (110) As for Saul's grandson Mephibosheth.
He, too, was reputed a great man. David himself did not scorn to sit at
his feet, and he revered Mephibosheth as his teacher. (111) The wrong
done him by David in granting one-half his possessions to Ziba, the
slave of Mephibosheth, did not go unavenged. When David ordered the
division of the estate of Mephibosheth, a voice from heaven prophesied:
"Jeroboam and Rehoboam shall divide the kingdom between themselves."
(112)
IV.
DAVID
DAVID'S BIRTH AND DESCENT
David, the "elect of God," (1) was descended from a family which itself
belonged to the elect of Israel. Those ancestors of his who are
enumerated in the Bible by name are all of them men of distinguished
excellence. Besides, David was a descendant of Miriam, (2) the sister
of Moses, and so the strain of royal aristocracy was reinforced by the
priestly aristocracy. Nor was David the first of his family to occupy
the throne of a ruler. His great-grandfather Boaz was one and the same
person with Ibzan, the judge of Bethlehem. (3) Othniel, too, the first
judge in Israel after the death of Joshua, and Caleb, (4) the brother
of Othniel, were connected with David's family. As examples of piety
and virtue, David had his grandfather and more particularly his father
before him. His grandfather's whole life was a continuous service of
God, (5) whence his name Obed, "the servant," and his father Jesse was
one of the greatest scholars of his time, (6) and one of the four who
died wholly untainted by sin. (7) If God had not ordained death for all
the descendants of our first parents after their fall, Jesse would have
continued to live forever. As it was, he died at the age of four
hundred, (8) and then a violent death, by the hand of the Moabite king,
(9) in whose care David, trusting in the ties of kinship between the
Moabites and the seed of Ruth, left his family when he was fleeing
before Saul. Jesse's piety will not go unrewarded. In the Messianic
time he will be one of the eight princes to rule over the world. (10)
In spite of his piety, Jesse was not always proof against temptation.
One of his slaves caught his fancy, and he would have entered into
illicit relations with her, had his wife, Nazbat, the daughter of
Adiel, not frustrated the plan. She disguised herself as the slave, and
Jesse, deceived by the ruse, met his own wife. The child borne by
Nazbat was given out as the son of the freed slave, so that the father
might not discover the deception practiced upon him. This child was
David. (11)
In a measure David was indebted for his life to Adam. At first only
three hours of existence had been allotted to him. When God caused all
future generations to pass in review before Adam, he besought God to
give David seventy of the thousand years destined for him. A deed of
gift, signed by God and the angel Metatron, was drawn up. Seventy years
were legally conveyed from Adam to David, and in accordance with Adam's
wishes, beauty, dominion, and poetical gift (12) went with them.
ANOINTED KING
Beauty and talent, Adam's gifts to David, did not shield their
possessor against hardship. As the supposed son of a slave, he was
banished from association with his brothers, and his days were passed
in the desert tending his father's sheep. (13) It was his shepherd life
that prepared him for his later exalted position. With gentle
consideration he led the flocks entrusted to him. The young lambs he
guided to pastures of tender grass; the patches of less juicy herbs he
reserved for the sheep; and the full-grown sturdy rams were given the
tough weeds for food. Then God said: "David knows how to tend sheep,
therefore he shall be the shepherd of my flock Israel." (14)
In the solitude of the desert David had opportunities of displaying his
extraordinary physical strength. One day he slew four lions and three
bears, (15) though he had no weapons. His most serious adventure was
with the reem. David encountered the mammoth beast asleep, and taking
it for a mountain, he began to ascend it. Suddenly the reem awoke, and
David found himself high up in the air on its horns. He vowed, if he
were rescued, to build a temple to God one hundred ells in height, as
high as the horns of the reem. Thereupon God sent a lion. The king of
beasts (16) inspired even the reem with awe. The reem prostrated
himself, and David could easily descend from his perch. At that moment
a deer appeared. The lion pursued after him, and David was saved from
the lion as well as the reem. (17)
He continued to lead the life of a shepherd until, at the age of
twenty-eight, (18) he was anointed king by Samuel, who was taught by a
special revelation that the despised youngest son of Jesse was to be
king. Samuel's first charge had been to anoint one of the sons of
Jesse, but he was not told which one. When he saw the oldest, Eliab, he
thought him the king of God's choice. God had allowed him to be
deceived, in order to punish Samuel for his excessive
self-consciousness in calling himself the seer. It was thus proved to
him that he could not foresee all things. (19) However, Samuel's error
was pardonable. God's first choice had rested upon Eliab. Only on
account of his violent nature, his swiftness to anger against David,
the position destined for him was transferred to his youngest brother.
(20) Eliab was in a sense compensated by seeing his daughter become the
wife of Rehoboam. Thus he, too, enjoys the distinction of being among
the ancestors of the Judaic kings, and Samuel's vision of Eliab as king
was not wholly false. (21)
The election of David was obvious from what happened with the holy oil
with which he was anointed. (22) When Samuel had tried to pour the oil
on David's brothers, it had remained in the horn, but at David's
approach it flowed of its own accord, and poured itself out over him.
The drops on his garments changed into diamonds and pearls, and after
the act of anointing him, the horn was as full as before.
The amazement was great that the son of a slave should be made king.
Then the wife of Jesse revealed her secret, and declared herself the
mother of David. (23)
The anointing of David was for a time kept a secret, but its effect
appeared in the gift of prophecy which manifested itself in David, (24)
and in his extraordinary spiritual development. His new accomplishments
naturally earned envy for him. None was more bitterly jealous than
Doeg, the greatest scholar of his time. When he heard that Saul was
about to have David come to court as his attendant, Doeg began to
praise David excessively, with the purpose of arousing the king's
jealousy and making David hateful in his eyes. He succeeded, (25) yet
Saul did not relinquish his plan of having David at court. David had
become known to Saul in his youth, and at that time the king had
conceived great admiration for him. The occasion was one on which David
had shown cleverness as well as love of justice. A rich woman had had
to leave her home temporarily. She could not carry her fortune with
her, nor did she wish to entrust it to any one. She adopted the device
of hiding her gold in honey jars, and these she deposited with a
neighbor. Accidentally he discovered what was in the jars, and he
abstracted the gold. On her return the woman received her vessels, but
the gold concealed in them was gone. She had no evidence to bring up
against her faithless neighbor, and the court dismissed her complaint.
She appealed to the king, but he was equally powerless to help. When
the woman came out of the palace of the king, David was playing with
his companions. Seeing her dejection, he demanded an audience of the
king, that truth might prevail. The king authorized him to do as he saw
fit. David ordered the honey jars to be broken, and two coins were
found to adhere to the inner side of the vessels. The thief had
overlooked them, and they proved his dishonesty. (26)
ENCOUNTER WITH GOLIATH
David was not long permitted to enjoy the ease of life at court. The
aggressive manner assumed by Goliath drove him to the front. It was a
curious chance that designated David to be the slayer of Goliath, who
was allied with him by the ties of blood. Goliath, it will be
remembered, was the son of the Moabitess Orpah, (27) the sister-in-law
of David's ancestress Ruth, and her sister as well, both having been
the daughters of the Moabite king Eglon. (28) David and Goliath
differed as widely as their grandams, for in contrast to Ruth, the
pious, religious Jewess, Orpah had led a life of unspeakable infamy.
Her son Goliath was jeered at as "the son of a hundred fathers and one
mother." (29) But God lets naught go unrewarded, even in the wicked. In
return for the forty steps Orpah had accompanied her mother-in-law
Naomi, (30) Goliath the Philistine, her son, was permitted to display
his strength and skill for forty days, and in return for the four tears
Orpah had shed on parting from her mother-in-law, she was privileged to
give birth to four giant sons. (31)
Of the four, Goliath was the strongest and greatest. What the
Scriptures tell about him is but a small fraction of what might have
been told. The Scriptures refrain intentionally from expatiating upon
the prowess of the miscreant. Nor do they tell how Goliath, impious as
he was, dared challenge the God of Israel to combat with him, and how
he tried by every means in his power to hinder the Israelites in their
Divine worship. Morning and evening he would appear in the camp at the
very time when the Israelites were preparing to say the Shema. (32)
All the more cause, then, for David to hate Goliath and determine to
annihilate him. His father encouraged him to oppose Goliath, for he
considered it David's duty to protect Saul the Benjamite against the
giant, as Judah, his ancestor, had in ancient days pledged himself for
the safety of Benjamin, the ancestor of Saul. (33) For Goliath was
intent upon doing away with Saul. His grievance against him was that
once, when, in a skirmish between the Philistines and the Israelites,
Goliath had succeeded in capturing the holy tables of the law, Saul had
wrested them from the giant. (34) In consequence of his malady, Saul
could not venture to cross swords with Goliath, and he accepted David's
offer to enter into combat in his place. David put on Saul's armor, and
when it appeared that the armor of the powerfully-built king fitted the
erstwhile slender youth, Saul recognized that David had been
predestined for the serious task he was about to undertake, but at the
same time David's miraculous transformation did not fail to arouse his
jealousy. (35) David, for this reason, declined to array himself as a
warrior for his contest with Goliath. He wanted to meet him as a simple
shepherd. Five pebbles came to David of their own accord, (36) and when
he touched them, they all turned into one pebble. (37) The five pebbles
stood for God, the three Patriarchs, and Aaron. Hophni and Phinehas,
the descendants of the last, had only a short time before been killed
by Goliath. (38)
Scarcely did David begin to move toward Goliath, when the giant became
conscious of the magic power of the youth. The evil eye David cast on
his opponent sufficed to afflict him with leprosy, (39) and in the very
same instant he was rooted to the ground, unable to move. (40) Goliath
was so confused by his impotence that he scarcely knew what he was
saying, and he uttered the foolish threat that he would give David's
flesh to the cattle of the field, as though cattle ate flesh. One can
see, David said to himself, that he is crazy, and there can be no doubt
he is doomed. (41) Sure of victory, David retorted that he would cast
the carcass of the Philistine to the fowls of the air. At the mention
of fowls, Goliath raised his eyes skyward, to see whether there were
any birds about. The upward motion of his head pushed his visor
slightly away from his forehead, and in that instant the pebble aimed
by David struck him on the exposed spot. (42) An angel descended and
cast him to the ground face downward, so that the mouth that had
blasphemed God might be choked with earth. He fell in such wise that
the image of Dagon which he wore on his breast touched the ground, and
his head came to lie between the feet of David, who now had no
difficulty in dispatching him. (43)
Goliath was encased, from top to toe, in several suits of armor, and
David did not know how to remove them and cut off the head of the
giant. At this juncture Uriah the Hittite offered him his services, but
under the condition that David secure him an Israelitish wife. David
accepted the condition, and Uriah in turn showed him how the various
suits of armor were fastened together at the heels of the giant's feet.
David's victory naturally added fuel to the fire of Saul's jealousy.
Saul sent Abner, his general, to make inquiry whether David, who, he
knew, was of the tribe of Judah, belonged to the clan of the Perez or
to the clan of the Zerah. In the former case his suspicion that David
was destined for kingship would be confirmed. Doeg, David's enemy from
of old, observed that David, being the descendant of the Moabitess
Ruth, did not even belong to the Jewish communion, and Saul need
entertain no fears from that quarter. A lively discussion arose between
Abner and Doeg, as to whether the law in Deuteronomy regarding Moabites
affected women as well as men. Doeg, an expert dialectician,
brilliantly refuted all of Abner's arguments in favor of the admission
of Moabitish women. Samuel's authority had to be appealed to in order
to establish for all times the correctness of Abner's view. (44)
Indeed, the dispute could be settled only by recourse to threats of
violence. Ithra, the father of Amasa, in Arab fashion, for which reason
he was sometimes called the Ishmaelite, threatened to hew down any one
with his sword who refused to accept Samuel's interpretation of the
law, that male Moabites and male Ammonites are forever excluded from
the congregation of Israel, but not Moabite and Ammonite women. (45)
PURSUED BY SAUL
As God stood by David in his duel with Goliath, so he stood by him in
many other of his difficulties. Often when he thought all hope lost,
the arm of God suddenly succored him, and in unexpected ways, not only
bringing relief, but also conveying instruction on God's wise and just
guidance of the world.
David once said to God: "The world is entirely beautiful and good, with
the one exception of insanity. What use does the world derive from a
lunatic, who runs hither and thither, tears his clothes, and is pursued
by a mob of hooting children?" "Verily, a time will come," said God in
reply, "when thou wilt supplicate me to afflict thee with madness."
Now, it happened when David, on his flight before Saul, came to Achish,
the king of the Philistines, who lived in Gath, that the brothers of
Goliath formed the heathen king's body-guard, and they demanded that
their brother's murderer be executed. Achish, though a heathen, was
pious, for which reason he is called Abimelech in the Psalms, after the
king of Gerar, who also was noted for piety. He therefore sought to
pacify David's enemies. He called their attention to the fact that
Goliath had been the one to challenge the Jews to combat, and it was
meet, therefore, that he should be left to bear the consequences. The
brothers rejoined, if that view prevailed, then Achish would have to
give up his throne to David, for, according to the conditions of the
combat, the victor was to have dominion over the vanquished as his
servants. In his distress, David besought God to let him appear a
madman in the eyes of Achish and his court. God granted his prayer. As
the wife and daughter of the Philistine king were both bereft of
reason, we can understand his exclamation: "Do I lack madmen, that ye
have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence?" Thus it
was that David was rescued. Thereupon he composed the Psalm beginning
with the words, "I will bless the Lord at all times," which includes
even the time of lunacy. (46)
On another occasion David expressed his doubt of God's wisdom in having
formed such apparently useless creatures as spiders are. They do
nothing but spin a web that has no value. He was to have striking proof
that even a spider's web may serve an important purpose. On one
occasion he had taken refuge in a cave, and Saul and his attendants, in
pursuit of him, were about to enter and seek him there. But God sent a
spider to weave its web across the opening, and Saul told his men to
desist from fruitless search in the cave, for the spider's web was
undeniable proof that no one had passed through its entrance. (47)
Similarly, when David became indebted to one of them for his life, he
was cured of his scorn for wasps. He had thought them good for nothing
but to breed maggots. David once surprised Saul and his attendants
while they were fast asleep in their camp, and he resolved to carry
off, as proof of his magnanimity, the cruse that stood between the feet
of the giant Abner, who like the rest was sleeping. Fortunately his
knees were drawn up, so that David could carry out his intention
unhindered. But as David was retiring with the cruse, Abner stretched
out his feet, and pinned David down as with two solid pillars. His life
would have been forfeit, if a wasp had not stung Abner, who
mechanically, in his sleep, moved his feet, and released David. (48)
There were still other miracles that happened to David in his flight.
Once, when Saul and his men compassed David round about, an angel
appeared and summoned him home, to repulse the raid of the Philistines
upon the land. Saul gave up the pursuit of David, but only after a
majority had so decided, for some had been of the opinion that the
seizure of David was quite as important as the repulse of the
Philistines. (49) Again, in his battle with the Amalekites, David
enjoyed direct intervention from above. Lightning in flashes and sheets
illumined the dark night, so enabling him to carry on the struggle.
(50)
WARS
David's first thought after ascending the throne was to wrest
Jerusalem, sacred since the days of Adam, Noah, and Abraham, from the
grasp of the heathen. The plan was not easy of execution for various
reasons. The Jebusites, the possessors of Jerusalem, were the posterity
of those sons of Heth who had ceded the Cave of Machpelah to Abraham
only on condition that their descendants should never be forcibly
dispossessed of their capital city Jerusalem. In perpetuation of this
agreement between Abraham and the sons of Heth, monuments of brass were
erected, and when David approached Jerusalem with hostile intent, the
Jebusites pointed to Abraham's promise engraven upon them and still
plainly to be read. (51) They maintained that before David could take
the city, which they had surrounded with a high wall, he would have to
destroy the monuments. Joab devised a plan of getting into Jerusalem.
He set up a tall cypress tree near the wall, bent it downward, and
standing on David's head, he grasped the very tip of the tree. When the
tree rebounded, Joab sat high above the wall, and could jump down upon
it. Once in the city, he destroyed the monuments, and possessed himself
of Jerusalem. (52) For David a miracle had happened; the wall had
lowered itself before him so that he could walk into the city without
difficulty. David, however, was not desirous of using forcible means.
He therefore offered the Jebusites six hundred shekels, fifty shekels
for each Israelitish tribe. The Jebusites accepted the money, and gave
David a bill of sale. (53)
Jerusalem having been acquired, David had to prepare for war with the
Philistines, in which the king gave proof at once of his heroic courage
and his unshakable trust in God. The latter quality he displayed
signally in the battle that took place in the Valley of the Giants. God
had commanded David not to attack the host of the Philistines until he
heard "the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees." God
desired to pass judgment upon the tutelary angels of the heathen,
before surrendering the heathen themselves to the pious, (54) and the
motion of the tops of the trees was to indicate that the battle could
proceed. The enemy advanced until there were but four ells between them
and the Israelites. The latter were about to throw themselves against
the Philistines, but David restrained them, saying: "God forbade me to
attack the Philistines before the tops of the trees begin to move. If
we transgress God's command, we shall certainly die. If we delay, it is
probable that we shall be killed by the Philistines, but, at least, we
shall die as pious men that keep God's command. Above all, let us have
confidence in God." Scarcely had he ended his speech when the tops of
the trees rustled, and David made a successful assault upon the
Philistines. Whereupon God said to the angels, who were constantly
questioning him as to why he had taken the royal dignity from Saul and
given it to David: "See the difference between Saul and David." (55)
Of David's other campaigns, the most notable is his war with Shobach
the Aramean, whom he conquered in spite of his gigantic size and
strength. Shobach was very tall, as tall as a dove-cote, and one look
at him sufficed to strike terror to the heart of the beholder. (56) The
Aramean general indulged in the belief that David would treat the
Syrians gently on account of the monument, still in existence at that
time, which Jacob and Laban had erected on the frontier between
Palestine and Aram as a sign of their covenant that neither they nor
their descendants should wage war with each other. But David destroyed
the monument. (57) Similarly, the Philistines had placed trust in a
relic from Isaac, the bridle of a mule which the Patriarch had given to
Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, as a pledge of the covenant
between Israel and his people. David took it from them by force. (58)
However, David was as just as he was bold. Disregard of the covenants
made by the Patriarchs was far removed from his thoughts. Indeed,
before departing for the wars with the Arameans and the Philistines, he
had charged the Sanhedrin to investigate carefully the claims of the
two nations. The claims of the Philistines were shown to be utterly
unfounded. In no sense were they the descendants of those Philistines
who had concluded a treaty with Isaac; they had immigrated from Cyprus
at a much later date. The Arameans, on the other hand, had forfeited
their claims upon considerate treatment, because under the "Aramean"
Balaam, and later again, in the time of Othniel, under their king
Cushan-rishathaim, they had attacked and made war upon the Israelites.
(59)
AHITHOPHEL
Among David's courtiers and attendants, a prominent place is occupied
by his counsellor Ahithophel, (60) with whom the king was connected by
family ties, Bath-sheba being his granddaughter. (61) Ahithophel's
wisdom was supernatural, for his counsels always coincided with the
oracles rendered by the Urim and Thummim, and great as was his wisdom,
it was equalled by his scholarship. Therefore David did not hesitate to
submit himself to his instruction, (62) even though Ahithophel was a
very young man, at the time of his death not more than thirty-three
years old. (63) The one thing lacking in him was sincere piety, (64)
and this it was that proved his undoing in the end, for it induced him
to take part in Absalom's rebellion against David. Thus he forfeited
even his share in the world to come. (65)
To this dire course of action he was misled by astrologic and other
signs, which he interpreted as prophecies of his own kingship, when in
reality they pointed to the royal destiny of his granddaughter
Bath-sheba. (66) Possessed by his erroneous belief, he cunningly urged
Absalom to commit an unheard-of crime. Thus Absalom would profit
nothing by his rebellion, for, though he accomplished his father's
ruin, he would yet be held to account and condemned to death for his
violation of family purity, and the way to the throne would be clear
for Ahithophel, the great sage in Israel. (67)
The relation between David and Ahithophel had been somewhat strained
even before Absalom's rebellion. Ahithophel's feelings had been hurt by
his being passed over at the time when David, shortly after ascending
the throne, invested, on a single day, no less than ninety thousand
functionaries with positions.
On that day a remarkable incident occurred. When the Ark was to be
brought up from Geba to Jerusalem, the priests who attempted to take
hold of it were raised up in the air and thrown violently to the
ground. In his despair the king turned for advice to Ahithophel, who
retorted mockingly: "Ask thy wise men whom thou hast but now installed
in office." It was only when David uttered a curse on him who knows a
remedy and withholds it from the sufferer, that Ahithophel advised that
a sacrifice should be offered at every step taken by the priests.
Although the measure proved efficacious, and no further disaster
occurred in connection with the Ark, yet Ahithophel's words had been
insincere. He knew the real reason of the misadventure, and concealed
it from the king. Instead of following the law of having the Ark
carried on the shoulders of priests, David had had it put on a wagon,
and so incurred the wrath of God. (68)
Ahithophel's hostility toward David showed itself also on the following
occasion. When David was digging the foundations of the Temple, a shard
was found at a depth of fifteen hundred cubits. David was about to lift
it, when the shard exclaimed: "Thou canst not do it." "Why not?" asked
David. "Because I rest upon the abyss." "Since when?" "Since the hour
in which the voice of God was heard to utter the words from Sinai, 'I
am the Lord thy God,' causing the earth to quake and sink into the
abyss. I lie here to cover up the abyss." Nevertheless David lifted the
shard, and the waters of the abyss rose and threatened to flood the
earth. Ahithophel was standing by, and he thought to himself: "Now
David will meet with his death, and I shall be king." Just then David
said: "Whoever knows how to stem the tide of waters, and fails to do
it, will one day throttle himself." (69) Thereupon Ahithophel had the
Name of God inscribed upon the shard, and the shard thrown into the
abyss. The waters at once commenced to subside, but they sank to so
great a depth that David feared the earth might lose her moisture, and
he began to sing the fifteen "Songs of Ascents," to bring the waters up
again. (70)
Nevertheless David's curse was realized. Ahithophel ended his days by
hanging himself. His last will contained the following three rules of
conduct: (71) 1. Refrain from doing aught against a favorite of
fortune. 2. Take heed not to rise up against the royal house of David.
3. If the Feast of Pentecost falls on a sunny day, then sow wheat. (72)
Posterity has been favored with the knowledge of but a small part of
Ahithophel's wisdom, and that little through two widely different
sources, through Socrates, (73) who was his disciple, and through a
fortune-book written by him. (74)
JOAB
Joab, the warrior, was a contrast to Ahithophel in every essential. He
was David's right hand. It was said, if Joab had not been there to
conduct his wars, David would not have had leisure to devote himself to
the study of the Torah. He was the model of a true Jewish hero,
distinguished at the same time for his learning, piety, and goodness.
His house stood wide open for all comers, and the campaigns which he
undertook redounded invariably to the benefit of the people. They were
indebted to him for luxuries even, (75) and more than that, he took
thought for the welfare of scholars, he himself being the president of
the Sanhedrin. (76)
It interested Joab to analyze the character of men and their opinions.
When he heard King David's words: "Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him," he expressed his
astonishment that the comparison should be made with the love of a
father for a child, and not with the love of a mother; mother love as a
rule is considered the stronger and the more self-sacrificing. He made
up his mind to keep his eyes open, and observe whether David's idea was
borne out by facts. On one of his journeys he happened into the house
of a poor old man who had twelve children, all of whom the father
supported, however meagrely, with the toil of his own hands. Joab
proposed that he sell him one of the twelve children; he would thus be
relieved of the care of one, and the selling-price could be applied to
the better support of the rest. The good father rejected the
proposition brusquely. Then Joab approached the mother, offering her a
hundred gold denarii for one of the children. At first she resisted the
temptation, but finally she yielded. When the father returned in the
evening, he cut the bread, as was his wont, into fourteen pieces, for
himself, his wife, and his twelve children. In allotting the portions
he missed a child, and insisted upon being told its fate. The mother
confessed what had happened during his absence. He neither ate nor
drank, and next morning he set out, firmly resolved to return the money
to Joab and to slay him if he should refuse to surrender the child.
After much parleying, and after the father had threatened him with
death, Joab yielded the child to the old man, with the exclamation:
"Yes, David was right when he compared God's love for men to a father's
love for his child. This poor fellow who has twelve children to support
was prepared to fight me to the death for one of them, which the
mother, who calmly stayed at home, had sold to me for a price."
Among all the heroic achievements of Joab, the most remarkable is the
taking of the Amalekite capital. For six months the flower of the
Israelitish army, twelve thousand in number, under the leadership of
Joab, had been besieging the capital city of the Amalekites without
result. The soldiers made representations to their general, that it
would be well for them to return home to their wives and children. Joab
urged that this not only would earn for them contempt and derision, but
also would invite new danger. The heathen would be encouraged to unite
against the Israelites. He proposed that they hurl him into the city by
means of a sling, and then wait forty days. If at the end of this
period they saw blood flow from the gates of the fortress, it should be
a sign to them that he was still alive.
His plan was executed. Joab took with him one thousand pieces of money
and his sword. When he was cast from the sling, he fell into the
courtyard of a widow, whose daughter caught him up. In a little while
he regained consciousness. He pretended to be an Amalekite taken
prisoner by the Israelites, and thrown into the city by his captors,
who thus wished to inflict death. As he was provided with money, which
he dispensed lavishly among his entertainers, he was received kindly,
and was given the Amalekite garb. So apparelled, he ventured, after ten
days, on a tour of inspection through the city, which he found to be of
enormous size.
His first errand was to an armorer, to have him mend his sword, which
had been broken by his fall. When the artisan scanned Joab's weapon, he
started back—he had never seen a sword like it. He forged a new one,
which snapped in two almost at once when Joab grasped it firmly. So it
happened with a second sword, and with a third. Finally he succeeded in
fashioning one that was acceptable. Joab asked the smith whom he would
like him to slay with the sword, and the reply was, "Joab, the general
of the Israelitish king." "I am he," said Joab, and when the smith in
astonishment turned to look at him, Joab ran him through so skillfully
that the victim had no realization of what was happening. Thereupon he
hewed down five hundred Amalekite warriors whom he met on his way, and
not one escaped to betray him. The rumor arose that Asmodeus, the king
of demons, was raging among the inhabitants of the city, and slaying
them in large numbers.
After another period of ten days, which he spent in retirement with his
hosts, Joab sallied forth a second time, and caused such bloodshed
among the Amalekites that his gory weapon clave to his hand, and his
right hand lost all power of independent motion, it could be made to
move only in a piece with his arm. He hastened to his lodging place to
apply hot water to his hand and free it from the sword. On his way
thither the woman who had caught him up when he fell into the city
called to him: "Thou eatest and drinkest with us, yet thou slayest our
warriors." Seeing himself betrayed, he could not but kill the woman.
Scarcely had his sword touched her, when it was separated from his
hand, and his hand could move freely, for the dead woman had been with
child, and the blood of the unborn babe loosed the sword.
After Joab had slain thousands, the Israelites without, at the very
moment when they were beginning to mourn their general as dead, saw
blood issue from the city, and joyfully they cried out with one accord:
"Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One." Joab mounted a
high tower, and in stentorian tones shouted: "The Lord will not forsake
his people." Inspired with high and daring courage, the Israelites
demanded permission to assault the city and capture it. As Joab turned
to descend from the tower, he noticed that six verses of a Psalm were
inscribed on his foot, the first verse running thus: "The Lord answers
thee in the day of trouble, the name of the God of Jacob is thy
defense." Later David added three verses and completed the Psalm.
Thereupon the Israelites took the Amalekite capital, destroyed the
heathen temples in the city, and slew all its inhabitants, except the
king, whom, with his crown of pure gold on his head, they brought
before David. (77)
DAVID'S PIETY AND HIS SIN
Neither his great achievements in war nor his remarkable good fortune
moved David from his pious ways, or in aught changed his mode of life.
Even after he became king he sat at the feet of his teachers, Ira the
Jairite (78) and Mephibosheth. To the latter he always submitted his
decisions on religious questions, to make sure that they were in
accordance with law. (79) Whatever leisure time his royal duties
afforded him, he spent in study and prayer. He contented himself with
"sixty breaths" of sleep. (80) At midnight the strings of his harp,
(81) which were made of the gut of the ram sacrificed by Abraham on
Mount Moriah, (82) began to vibrate. The sound they emitted awakened
David, and he would arise at once to devote himself to the study of the
Torah. (83)
Besides study, the composition of psalms naturally claimed a goodly
portion of his time. Pride filled his heart when he had completed the
Psalter, and he exclaimed: "O Lord of the world, is there another
creature in the universe who like me proclaims thy praise?" A frog came
up to the king, and said: "Be not so proud; I have composed more psalms
than thou, and, besides, every psalm my mouth has uttered I have
accompanied with three thousand parables." (84) And, truly, if David
indulged in conceit, it was only for a moment. As a rule he was the
exemplar of modesty. The coins which were stamped by him bore a
shepherd's crook and pouch on the obverse, and on the reverse the Tower
of David. (85) In other respects, too, his bearing was humble, as
though he were still the shepherd and not the king. (86)
His great piety invested his prayer with such efficacy that he could
bring things in heaven down to earth. (87) It is natural that so godly
a king should have used the first respite granted by his wars to carry
out his design of erecting a house of worship to God. But in the very
night in which David conceived the plan of building the Temple, God
said to Nathan the prophet: "Hasten to David. I know him to be a man
with whom execution follows fast upon the heels of thought, and I
should not like him to hire laborers for the Temple work, and then,
disappointed, complain of me. I furthermore know him to be a man who
obligates himself by vows to do good deeds, and I desire to spare him
the embarrassment of having to apply to the Sanhedrin for absolution
from his vow." (88)
When David heard Nathan's message for him, he began to tremble, and he
said: "Ah, verily, God hath found me unworthy to erect His sanctuary."
But God replied with these words: "Nay, the blood shed by thee I
consider as sacrificial blood, but I do not care to have thee build the
Temple, because then it would be eternal and indestructible." "But that
would be excellent," said David. Whereupon the reply was vouchsafed
him: "I foresee that Israel will commit sins. I shall wreak My wrath
upon the Temple, and Israel will be saved from annihilation. However,
thy good intentions shall receive their due reward. The Temple, though
it be built by Solomon, shall be called thine." (89)
David's thinking and planning were wholly given to what is good and
noble. He is one of the few pious men over whom the evil inclination
had no power. (90) By nature he was not disposed to commit such
evil-doing as his relation to Bath-sheba involved. God Himself brought
him to his crime, that He might say to other sinners: "Go to David and
learn how to repent." (91) Nor, indeed, may David be charged with gross
murder and adultery. There were extenuating circumstances. In those
days it was customary for warriors to give their wives bills of
divorce, which were to have validity only if the soldier husbands did
not return at the end of the campaign. Uriah having fallen in battle,
Bath-sheba was a regularly divorced woman. As for the death of her
husband, it cannot be laid entirely at David's door, for Uriah had
incurred the death penalty by his refusal to take his ease in his own
house, according to the king's bidding. (92) Moreover, from the first,
Bath-sheba had been destined by God for David, but by way of punishment
for having lightly promised Uriah the Hittite an Israelitish woman to
wife, in return for his aid in unfastening the armor of the prostrate
Goliath, the king had to undergo bitter trials before he won her. (93)
Furthermore, the Bath-sheba episode was a punishment for David's
excessive self-consciousness. He had fairly besought God to lead him
into temptation, that he might give proof of his constancy. It came
about thus: He once complained to God: "O Lord of the world, why do
people say God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, and why not God
of David?" The answer came: "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were tried by
me, but thou hast not yet been proved." David entreated: "Then examine
me, O Lord, and try me." And God said: "I shall prove thee, and I shall
even grant thee what I did not grant the Patriarchs. I shall tell thee
beforehand that thou wilt fall into temptation through a woman."
Once Satan appeared to him in the shape of a bird. David threw a dart
at him. Instead of striking Satan, it glanced off and broke a wicker
screen which hid Bath-sheba combing her hair. The sight of her aroused
passion in the king. (94) David realized his transgression, and for
twenty-two years he was a penitent. Daily he wept a whole hour and ate
his "bread with ashes." (95) But he had to undergo still heavier
penance. For a half-year he suffered with leprosy, and even the
Sanhedrin, which usually was in close personal attendance upon him, had
to leave him. He lived not only in physical, but also in spiritual
isolation, for the Shekinah departed from him during that time. (96)
ABSALOM'S REBELLION
Of all the punishments, however, inflicted upon David, none was so
severe as the rebellion of his own son.
Absalom was of such gigantic proportions that a man who was himself of
extraordinary size, standing in the eye-socket of his skull, sank in
down to his nose. (97) As for his marvellous hair, the account of it in
the Bible does not convey a notion of its abundance. Absalom had taken
the vow of a Nazarite. As his vow was for life, and because the growth
of his hair was particularly heavy, the law permitted him to clip it
slightly every week. (98) It was of this small quantity that the weight
amounted to two hundred shekels.
Absalom arranged for his audacious rebellion with great cunning. He
secured a letter from his royal father empowering him to select two
elders for his suite in every town he visited. With this document he
travelled through the whole of Palestine. In each town he went to the
two most distinguished men, and invited them to accompany him, at the
same time showing them what his father had written, and assuring them
that they had been chosen by him because he had a particular affection
for them. So he succeeded in gathering the presidents of two hundred
courts about him. This having been accomplished, he arranged a large
banquet, at which he seated one of his emissaries between every two of
his guests, for the purpose of winning them over to his cause. The plan
did not succeed wholly, for, though the elders of the towns stood by
Absalom, in their hearts they hoped for David's victory. (99)
The knowledge that a part of Absalom's following sided with him in
secret,—that, though he was pursued by his son, his friends remained
true to him,—somewhat consoled David in his distress. He thought that
in these circumstances, if the worst came to the worst, Absalom would
at least feel pity for him. (100) At first, however, the despair of
David knew no bounds. He was on the point of worshipping an idol, when
his friend Hushai the Archite approached him, saying: "The people will
wonder that such a king should serve idols." David replied: "Should a
king such as I am be killed by his own son? It is better for me to
serve idols than that God should be held responsible for my misfortune,
and His Name thus be desecrated." Hushai reproached him: "Why didst
thou marry a captive?" "There is no wrong in that," replied David, "it
is permitted according to the law." Thereupon Hushai: "But thou didst
disregard the connection between the passage permitting it and the one
that follows almost immediately after it in the Scriptures, dealing
with the disobedient and rebellious son, the natural issue of such a
marriage." (101)
Hushai was not the only faithful friend and adherent David had. Some
came to his rescue unexpectedly, as, for instance, Shobi, the son of
Nahash, who is identical with the Ammonite king Hanun, the enemy of
David at first, and later his ally. (102) Barzillai, another one of his
friends in need, also surprised him by his loyalty, for on the whole
his moral attitude was not the highest conceivable. (103)
Absalom's end was beset with terrors. When he was caught in the
branches of the oak-tree, he was about to sever his hair with a sword
stroke, but suddenly he saw hell yawning beneath him, and he preferred
to hang in the tree to throwing himself into the abyss alive. (104)
Absalom's crime was, indeed, of a nature to deserve the supreme
torture, for which reason he is one of the few Jews who have no portion
in the world to come. (105) His abode is in hell, where he is charged
with the control of ten heathen nations in the second division.
Whenever the avenging angels sit in judgment on the nations, they
desire to visit punishment on Absalom, too, but each time a heavenly
voice is heard to call out: "Do not chastise him, do not burn him. He
is an Israelite, the son of My servant David." Whereupon Absalom is set
upon his throne, and is accorded the treatment due to a king. (106)
That the extreme penalties of hell were thus averted from him, was on
account of David's eightfold repetition of his son's name in his lament
over him. Besides, David's intercession had the effect of re-attaching
Absalom's severed head to his body. (107)
At his death Absalom was childless, for all his children, his three
sons and his daughter, died before him, as a punishment for his having
set fire to a field of grain belonging to Joab. (108)
DAVID'S ATONEMENT
All these sufferings did not suffice to atone for David's sin. God once
said to him: "How much longer shall this sin be hidden in thy hand and
remain unatoned? On thy account the priestly city of Nob was destroyed,
(109) on thy account Doeg the Edomite was cast out of the communion of
the pious, and on thy account Saul and his three sons were slain. What
dost thou desire now—that thy house should perish, or that thou thyself
shouldst be delivered into the hands of thine enemies?" David chose the
latter doom.
It happened one day when he was hunting, Satan, in the guise of a deer,
enticed him further and further, into the very territory of the
Philistines, where he was recognized by Ishbi the giant, the brother of
Goliath, his adversary. Desirous of avenging his brother, he seized
David, and cast him into a winepress, where the king would have
suffered a torturous end, if by a miracle the earth beneath him had not
begun to sink, and so saved him from instantaneous death. His plight,
however, remained desperate, and it required a second miracle to rescue
him.
In that hour Abishai, the cousin of David, was preparing for the advent
of the Sabbath, for the king's misfortune happened on Friday as the
Sabbath was about to come in. When Abishai poured out water to wash
himself, he suddenly caught sight of drops of blood in it. Then he was
startled by a dove that came to him plucking out her plumes, and
moaning and wailing. Abishai exclaimed: "The dove is the symbol of the
people of Israel. It cannot be but that David, the king of Israel, is
in distress." Not finding the king at home, he was confirmed in his
fears, and he determined to go on a search for David on the swiftest
animal at his command, the king's own saddle-beast. But first he had to
obtain the permission of the sages to mount the animal ridden by the
king, for the law forbids a subject to avail himself of things set
aside for the personal use of a king. Only the impending danger could
justify the exception made in this case.
Scarcely had Abishai mounted the king's animal, when he found himself
in the land of the Philistines, for the earth had contracted
miraculously. He met Orpah, the mother of the four giant sons. She was
about to kill him, but he anticipated the blow and slew her. Ishbi,
seeing that he now had two opponents, stuck his lance into the ground,
and hurled David up in the air, in the expectation that when he fell he
would be transfixed by the lance. At that moment Abishai appeared, and
by pronouncing the Name of God he kept David suspended 'twixt heaven
and earth.
Abishai questioned David how such evil plight had overtaken him, and
David told him of his conversation with God, and how he himself had
chosen to fall into the hands of the enemy, rather than permit the ruin
of his house. Abishai replied: "Reverse thy prayer, plead for thyself,
and not for thy descendants. Let thy children sell wax, and do thou not
afflict thyself about their destiny." The two men joined their prayers,
and pleaded with God to avert David's threatening doom. Abishai again
uttered the Name of God, and David dropped to earth uninjured. Now both
of them ran away swiftly, pursued by Ishbi. When the giant heard of his
mother's death, his strength forsook him, and he was slain by David and
Abishai. (110)
VISITATIONS
Among the sorrows of David are the visitations that came upon Palestine
during his reign, and he felt them all the more as he had incurred them
through his own fault. There was first the famine, which was so
desolating that it is counted among the ten severest that are to happen
from the time of Adam to the time of the Messiah. (111) During the
first year that it prevailed, David had an investigation set on foot to
discover whether idolatry was practiced in the land, and was keeping
back the rain. His suspicion proved groundless. The second year he
looked into the moral conditions of his realm, for lewdness can bring
about the same punishment as idolatry. Again he was proved wrong. The
third year, he turned his attention to the administration of charity.
Perhaps the people had incurred guilt in this respect, for abuses in
this department also were visited with the punishment of famine. (112)
Again his search was fruitless, and he turned to God to inquire of Him
the cause of the public distress. God's reply was: "Was not Saul a king
anointed with holy oil, did he not abolish idolatry, is he not the
companion of Samuel in Paradise? Yet, while you all dwell in the land
of Israel, he is 'outside of the land.'" David, accompanied by the
scholars and the nobles of his kingdom, at once repaired to
Jabesh-gilead, disinterred the remains of Saul and Jonathan, and in
solemn procession bore them through the whole land of Israel to the
inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin. There they were buried. The
tributes of affection paid by the people of Israel to its dead king
aroused the compassion of God, and the famine came to an end. (113)
The sin against Saul was now absolved, but there still remained Saul's
own guilt in his dealings with the Gibeonites, who charged him with
having killed seven of their number. David asked God why He had
punished His people on account of proselytes. God's answer to him was:
"If thou dost not bring near them that are far off, thou wilt remove
them that are near by." To satisfy their vengeful feelings, the
Gibeonites demanded the life of seven members of Saul's family. David
sought to mollify them, representing to them that they would derive no
benefit from the death of their victims, and offering them silver and
gold instead. But though David treated with each one of them
individually, the Gibeonites were relentless. When he realized their
hardness of heart, he cried out: "Three qualities God gave unto Israel;
they are compassionate, chaste, and gracious in the service of their
fellow-men. The first of these qualities the Gibeonites do not possess,
and therefore they must be excluded from communion with Israel." (114)
The seven descendants of Saul to be surrendered to the Gibeonites were
determined by letting all his posterity pass by the Ark of the law.
Those who were arrested before it were the designated victims.
Mephibosheth would have been one of the unfortunates, had he not been
permitted to pass by unchecked in answer to the prayer of David, (115)
to whom he was dear, not only as the son of his friend Jonathan, but
also as the teacher who instructed him in the Torah. (116)
The cruel fate that befell the descendants of Saul had a wholesome
effect. All the heathen who saw and heard exclaimed: "There is no God
like unto the God of Israel, there is no nation like unto the nation of
Israel; the wrong inflicted upon wretched proselytes has been expiated
by the sons of kings." So great was the enthusiasm among the heathen
over this manifestation of the Jewish sense of justice that one hundred
and fifty thousand of them were converted to Judaism. (117)
As for David, his wrong in connection with the famine lay in his not
having applied his private wealth to the amelioration of the people's
suffering. When David returned victorious from the combat with Goliath,
the women of Israel gave him their gold and silver ornaments. He put
them aside for use in building the Temple, and even during the three
years' famine this fund was not touched. God said: "Thou didst refrain
from rescuing human beings from death, in order to save thy money for
the Temple. Verily, the Temple shall not be built by thee, but by
Solomon." (118)
David is still more blameworthy on account of the census which he took
of the Israelites in defiance of the law in the Pentateuch. When he was
charged by the king with the task of numbering the people, Joab used
every effort to turn him away from his intention. But in vain.
Incensed, David said: "Either thou art king and I am the general, or I
am king and thou art the general." Joab had no choice but to obey. He
selected the tribe of Gad as the first to be counted, because he
thought that the Gadites, independent and self-willed, would hinder the
execution of the royal order, and David would be forced to give up his
plan of taking a census. The Gadites disappointed the expectations of
Joab, and he betook himself to the tribe of Dan, hoping that if God's
punishment descended, it would strike the idolatrous Danites. Disliking
his mission as he did, Joab spent nine months in executing it, though
he might have dispatched it in a much shorter time. Nor did he carry
out the king's orders to the letter. He himself warned the people of
the census. If he saw the father of a family of five sons, he would bid
him conceal a few of them. Following the example set by Moses, he
omitted the Levites from the enumeration, likewise the tribe of
Benjamin, because he entertained particularly grave apprehensions in
behalf of this greatly decimated tribe. (119) In the end, David was not
informed of the actual number obtained. Joab made two lists, intending
to give the king a partial list if he found that he had no suspicion of
the ruse. (120)
The prophet Gad came to David and gave him the choice of famine,
oppression by enemies, or the plague, as the penalty for the heavy
crime of popular census-taking. David was in the position of a sick man
who is asked whether he prefers to be buried next to his father or next
to his mother. The king considered: "If I choose the calamities of war,
the people will say, 'He cares little, he has his warriors to look to.'
If I choose famine, they will say, 'He cares little, he has his riches
to look to.' I shall choose the plague, whose scourge strikes all
alike." (121) Although the plague raged but a very short time, (122) it
claimed a large number of victims. The most serious loss was the death
of Abishai, whose piety and learning made him the counterpoise of a
host of seventy-five thousand. (123)
David raised his eyes on high, and he saw the sins of Israel heaped up
from earth to heaven. In the same moment an angel descended, and slew
his four sons, the prophet Gad, and the elders who accompanied him.
David's terror at this sight, which was but increased when the angel
wiped his dripping sword on the king's garments, settled in his limbs,
and from that day on they never ceased to tremble. (124)
THE DEATH OF DAVID
David once besought God to tell him when he would die. His petition was
not granted, for God has ordained that no man shall foreknow his end.
One thing, however, was revealed to David, that his death would occur
at the age of seventy on the Sabbath day. David desired that he might
be permitted to die on Friday. This wish, too, was denied him, because
God said that He delighted more in one day passed by David in the study
of the Torah, than in a thousand holocausts offered by Solomon in the
Temple. Then David petitioned that life might be vouchsafed him until
Sunday; this, too, was refused, because God said it would be an
infringement of the rights of Solomon, for one reign may not overlap by
a hairbreadth the time assigned to another. Thereafter David spent
every Sabbath exclusively in the study of the Torah, in order to secure
himself against the Angel of Death, who has no power to slay a man
while he is occupied with the fulfillment of God's commandments. The
Angel of Death had to resort to cunning to gain possession of David.
(125) One Sabbath day, which happened to be also the Pentecost holiday,
(126) the king was absorbed in study, when he heard a sound in the
garden. He rose and descended the stairway leading from his palace to
the garden, to discover the cause of the noise. No sooner had he set
foot on the steps than they tumbled in, and David was killed. The Angel
of Death had caused the noise in order to utilize the moment when David
should interrupt his study. The king's corpse could not be moved on
the Sabbath, which was painful to those with him, as it was lying
exposed to the rays of the sun. So Solomon summoned several eagles, and
they stood guard over the body, shading it with their outstretched
pinions. (127)
DAVID IN PARADISE
The death of David did not mean the end of his glory and grandeur. It
merely caused a change of scene. In the heavenly realm as on earth
David ranks among the first. The crown upon his head outshines all
others, and whenever he moves out of Paradise to present himself before
God, suns, stars, angels, seraphim, and other holy beings run to meet
him. In the heavenly court-room a throne of fire of gigantic dimensions
is erected for him directly opposite to the throne of God. Seated on
this throne and surrounded by the kings of the house of David and other
Israelitish kings, he intones wondrously beautiful psalms. At the end
he always cites the verse: "The Lord reigns forever and ever," to which
the archangel Metatron and those with him reply: "Holy, holy, holy, is
the Lord of hosts!" This is the signal for the holy Hayyot and heaven
and earth to join in with praise. Finally the kings of the house of
David sing the verse: "And the Lord shall be king over all; in that day
shall the Lord be one, and His name one." (128)
The greatest distinction to be accorded David is reserved for the
judgment day, when God will prepare a great banquet in Paradise for all
the righteous. At David's petition, God Himself will be present at the
banquet, and will sit on His throne, opposite to which David's throne
will be placed. At the end of the banquet, God will pass the wine cup
over which grace is said, to Abraham, with the words: "Pronounce the
blessing over the wine, thou who art the father of the pious of the
world." Abraham will reply: "I am not worthy to pronounce the blessing,
for I am the father also of the Ishmaelites, who kindle God's wrath."
God will then turn to Isaac: "Say the blessing, for thou wert bound
upon the altar as a sacrifice." "I am not worthy," he will reply, "for
the children of my son Esau destroyed the Temple." Then to Jacob: "Do
thou speak the blessing, thou whose children were blameless." Jacob
also will decline the honor on the ground that he was married to two
sisters at the same time, which later was strictly prohibited by the
Torah. God will then turn to Moses: "Say the blessing, for thou didst
receive the law and didst fulfil its precepts." Moses will answer: "I
am not worthy to do it, seeing that I was not found worthy to enter the
Holy Land." God will next offer the honor to Joshua, who both led
Israel into the Holy Land, and fulfilled the commandments of the law.
He, too, will refuse to pronounce the blessing, because he was not
found worthy to bring forth a son. Finally God will turn to David with
the words: "Take the cup and say the blessing, thou the sweetest singer
in Israel and Israel's king. And David will reply: 'Yes, I will
pronounce the blessing, for I am worthy of the honor.'" (129) Then God
will take the Torah and read various passages from it, and David will
recite a psalm in which both the pious in Paradise and the wicked in
hell will join with a loud Amen. Thereupon God will send his angels to
lead the wicked from hell to Paradise. (130)
THE FAMILY OF DAVID
David had six wives, including Michal, the daughter of Saul, who is
called by the pet name Eglah, "Calfkin," in the list given in the Bible
narrative. (131) Michal was of entrancing beauty, (132) and at the same
time the model of a loving wife. Not only did she save David out of the
hands of her father, but also, when Saul, as her father and her king,
commanded her to marry another man, she acquiesced only apparently. She
entered into a mock marriage in order not to arouse the anger of Saul,
who had annulled her union with David on grounds which he thought
legal. Michal was good as well as beautiful; she showed such
extraordinary kindness to the orphan children of her sister Merab that
the Bible speaks of the five sons of Michal "whom she bore to Adriel."
Adriel, however, was her brother-in-law and not her husband, but she
had raised his children, treating them as though they were her own.
(133) Michal was no less a model of piety. Although the law exempted
her, as a woman, from the duty, still she executed the commandment of
using phylacteries. (134) In spite of all these virtues, she was
severely punished by God for her scorn of David, whom she reproached
with lack of dignity, when he had in mind only to do honor to God. Long
she remained childless, and at last, when she was blessed with a child,
she lost her own life in giving birth to it. (135)
But the most important among the wives of David was Abigail, in whom
beauty, wisdom, and prophetical gifts were joined. With Sarah, Rahab,
and Esther, she forms the quartet of the most beautiful women in
history. She was so bewitching that passion was aroused in men by the
mere thought of her. (136) Her cleverness showed itself during her
first meeting with David, when, though anxious about the life of her
husband Nabal, she still, with the utmost tranquility, put a ritual
question to him in his rage. He refused to answer it, because, he said,
it was a question to be investigated by day, not by night. Thereupon
Abigail interposed, that sentence of death likewise may be passed upon
a man only during the day. Even if David's judgment were right, the law
required him to wait until daybreak to execute it upon Nabal. David's
objection, that a rebel like Nabal had no claim upon due process of
law, she overruled with the words: "Saul is still alive, and thou art
not yet acknowledged king by the world."
Her charm would have made David her captive on this occasion, if her
moral strength had not kept him in check. By means of the expression,
"And this shall not be unto thee," she made him understand that the day
had not yet arrived, but that it would come, when a woman, Bath-sheba,
would play a disastrous part in his life. Thus she manifested her gift
of prophecy.
Not even Abigail was free from the feminine weakness of coquetry. The
words "remember thine handmaid" should never have been uttered by her.
As a married woman, she should not have sought to direct the attention
of a man to herself. (137) In the women's Paradise she supervises the
fifth of the seven divisions into which it is divided, and her domain
adjoins that of the wives of the Patriarchs, Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel,
and Leah. (138)
Among the sons of David, Adonijah, the son of Haggith, must be
mentioned particularly, the pretender to the throne. The fifty men whom
he prepared to run before him had fitted themselves for the place of
heralds by cutting out their spleen and the flesh of the soles of their
feet. That Adonijah was not designated for the royal dignity, was made
manifest by the fact that the crown of David did not fit him. This
crown had the remarkable peculiarity of always fitting the legitimate
king of the house of David. (139)
Chileab was a son worthy of his mother Abigail. The meaning of his name
is "like the father," which had been given him because of his striking
resemblance to David in appearance, a circumstance that silenced the
talk against David's all too hasty marriage with the widow of Nabal.
(140) Intellectually, too, Chileab testified to David's paternity. In
fact, he excelled his father in learning, as he did even the teacher of
David, Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan. (141) On account of his piety
he is one of the few who have entered Paradise alive. (142)
Tamar cannot be called one of the children of David, because she was
born before her mother's conversion to Judaism. Consequently, her
relation to Amnon is not quite of the grave nature it would have been,
had they been sister and brother in the strict sense of the terms.
To the immediate household of David belonged four hundred young
squires, the sons of women taken captive in battle. They wore their
hair in heathen fashion, and, sitting in golden chariots, they formed
the vanguard of the army, and terrified the enemy by their appearance.
(143)
HIS TOMB
When David was buried, Solomon put abundant treasures into his tomb.
Thirteen hundred years later the high priest Hyrcanus took a thousand
talents of the money secreted there to use it in preventing the siege
of Jerusalem by the Greek king Antiochus. King Herod also abstracted
great sums. But none of the marauders could penetrate to the
resting-place of the kings,—next to David his successors were
interred,—for it was sunk into the earth so skillfully that it could
not be found. (144)
Once on a time, a Moslem pasha visited the mausoleum, and as he was
looking through the window in it, a weapon of his ornamented with
diamonds and pearls dropped into the tomb. A Mohammedan was lowered
through the window to fetch the weapon. When he was drawn up again, he
was dead, and three other Mohammedans who tried to enter in the same
way met the fate of their comrade. At the instigation of the kadi, the
pasha informed the Rabbi of Jerusalem that the Jews would be held
responsible for the restoration of the weapon. The Rabbi ordered a
three days' fast, to be spent in prayer. Then lots were cast to
designate the messenger who was to be charged with the perilous errand.
The lot fell upon the beadle of the synagogue, a pious and upright man.
He secured the weapon, and returned it to the pasha, who manifested his
gratitude by kindly treatment of the Jews thereafter. The beadle later
told his adventures in the tomb to the Hakam Bashi. When he had
descended, there suddenly appeared before him an old man of dignified
appearance, and handed him what he was seeking. (145)
Another miraculous tale concerning the tomb of David runs as follows: A
poor but very pious Jewish washerwoman was once persuaded by the keeper
of the tomb to enter it. Hardly was she within, when the man nailed up
the entrance, and ran to the kadi to inform him that a Jewess had gone
in. Incensed, the kadi hastened to the spot, with the intention of
having the woman burnt for her presumptuousness. In her terror the poor
creature had begun to weep and implore God for help. Suddenly a flood
of light illumined the dark tomb, and a venerable old man took her by
the hand, and led her downward under the earth until she reached the
open. There he parted from her with the words: "Hasten homeward, and
let none know that thou wert away from thy house." The kadi had the
tomb and its surroundings thoroughly searched by his bailiffs, but not
a trace of the woman could be discovered, although the keeper again and
again swore by the Prophet that the woman had entered. Now the
messengers whom the kadi had sent to the house of the woman returned,
and reported they had found her washing busily, and greatly astonished
at their question, whether she had been at the tomb of David. The kadi
accordingly decided that for his false statements and his perjury, the
keeper must die the very death intended for the innocent woman, and so
he was burnt. The people of Jerusalem suspected a miracle, but the
woman did not divulge her secret until a few hours before her death.
She told her story, and then bequeathed her possessions to the
congregation, under the condition that a scholar recite Kaddish for her
on each anniversary of her death. (146)
V.
SOLOMON
SOLOMON PUNISHES JOAB
At the youthful age of twelve (1) Solomon succeeded his father David as
king. His real name was Jedidiah, the "friend of God," but it was
superseded by the name Solomon on account of the peace that prevailed
throughout the realm during his reign. He bore three other names
besides: Ben, Jakeh, and Ithiel. He was called Ben because he was the
builder of the Temple; Jakeh, because he was the ruler of the whole
world; and Ithiel, because God was with him. (2)
The rebellion Adonijah intended to lead against the future king was
suppressed during David's lifetime, by having Solomon anointed in
public. On that occasion Solomon rode upon a remarkable she-mule,
remarkable because she was not the product of cross-breeding, but of a
special act of creation. (3)
As soon as he ascended the throne, Solomon set about executing the
instructions his father had given him on his death-bed. The first of
them was the punishment of Joab. (4)
Notwithstanding all his excellent qualities, which fitted him to be not
only David's first general, but also the president of the Academy, (5)
Joab had committed great crimes, which had to be atoned for. Beside the
murder of Abner (6) and Amasa of which he was guilty, he had incurred
wrong against David himself. The generals of the army suspected him of
having had Uriah the Hittite put out of the way for purposes of his
own, whereupon he showed them David's letter dooming Uriah. David might
have forgiven Joab, but he wanted him to expiate his sins in this
world, so that he might be exempt from punishment in the world to come.
(7)
When Joab perceived that Solomon intended to have him executed, he
sought the protection of the Temple. He knew full well that he could
not save his life in this way, for the arm of justice reaches beyond
the doors of the sanctuary, to the altar of God. What he wished was to
be accorded a regular trial, and not suffer death by the king's order.
In the latter case he would lose fortune as well as life, and he was
desirous of leaving his children well provided for. Thereupon Solomon
sent word to him that he had no intention of confiscating his estates.
(8)
Though he was convinced of Joab's guilt, Solomon nevertheless granted
him the privilege of defense. The king questioned him: "Why didst thou
kill Abner?"
Joab: "I was the avenger of my brother Asahel, whom Abner had slain."
Solomon: "Why, it was Asahel who sought to kill Abner, and Abner acted
in self-defense."
Joab: "Abner might have disabled Asahel without going to extremes."
Solomon: "That Abner could not do."
Joab: "What! Abner aimed directly at Asahel's fifth rib, and thou
wouldst say he could not have managed to wound him lightly?"
Solomon: "Very well, then, we shall drop Abner's case. But why didst
thou slay Amasa?"
Joab: "He acted rebelliously toward King David. He omitted to execute
his order to gather an army within three days; for that offense he
deserved to suffer the death penalty."
Solomon: "Amasa failed to obey the king's order, because he had been
taught by our sages that even a king's injunctions may be set at
defiance if they involve neglect of the study of the Torah, which was
the case with the order given to Amasa. And, indeed," continued
Solomon, "it was not Amasa but thou thyself who didst rebel against the
king, for thou wert about to join Absalom, and if thou didst refrain,
it was from fear of David's strong-fisted troops." (9)
When Joab saw that death was inevitable, he said to Benaiah, who was
charged with the execution of the king's order: "Tell Solomon he cannot
inflict two punishments upon me. If he expects to take my life, he must
remove the curse pronounced by David against me and my descendants on
account of the slaying of Abner. If not, he cannot put me to death."
Solomon realized the justness of the plea. By executing Joab, he
transferred David's curse to his own posterity: Rehoboam, his son, was
afflicted with an issue; Uzziah suffered with leprosy; Asa had to lean
on a staff when he walked; the pious Josiah fell by the sword of
Pharaoh, and Jeconiah lived off charity. So the imprecations of David
were accomplished on his own family instead of Joab's. (10)
THE MARRIAGE OF SOLOMON
The next to suffer Joab's fate was Shimei ben Gera, whose treatment of
David had outraged every feeling of decency. His death was of evil
portent for Solomon himself. So long as Shimei, who was Solomon's
teacher, was alive, he did not venture to marry the daughter of
Pharaoh. When, after Shimei's death, Solomon took her to wife, the
archangel Gabriel descended from heaven, and inserted a reed in the
sea. About this reed more and more earth was gradually deposited, and,
on the day on which Jeroboam erected the golden calves, a little hut
was built upon the island. This was the first of the dwelling-places of
Rome. (11)
Solomon's wedding-feast in celebration of his marriage with the
Egyptian princess came on the same day as the consecration of the
Temple. (12) The rejoicing over the king's marriage was greater than
over the completion of the Temple. As the proverb has it: "All pay
flattery to a king." Then it was that God conceived the plan of
destroying Jerusalem. It was as the prophet spoke: "This city hath been
to me a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they
built it even unto this day."
In the nuptial night Pharaoh's daughter had her attendants play upon a
thousand different musical instruments, which she had brought with her
from her home, and as each was used, the name of the idol to which it
was dedicated was mentioned aloud. The better to hold the king under
the spell of her charms, she spread above his bed a tapestry cover
studded with diamonds and pearls, which gleamed and glittered like
constellations in the sky. Whenever Solomon wanted to rise, he saw
these stars, and thinking it was night still, he slept on until the
fourth hour of the morning. The people were plunged in grief, for the
daily sacrifice could not be brought on this very morning of the Temple
dedication, because the Temple keys lay under Solomon's pillow, and
none dared awaken him. Word was sent to Bath-sheba, who forthwith
aroused her son, and rebuked him for his sloth. "Thy father," she said,
"was known to all as a God-fearing man, and now people will say,
'Solomon is the son of Bath-sheba, it is his mother's fault if he goes
wrong.' Whenever thy father's wives were pregnant, they offered vows
and prayed that a son worthy to reign might be born unto them. But my
prayer was for a learned son worthy of the gift of prophecy. Take care,
'give not thy strength unto women nor thy ways to them that destroy
kings,' for licentiousness confounds the reason of man. Keep well in
mind the things that are necessary in the life of a king. (13) 'Not
kings, Lemuel.' Have naught in common with kings who say: 'What need
have we of a God?' It is not meet that thou shouldst do like the kings
who drink wine and live in lewdness. Be not like unto them. He to whom
the secrets of the world are revealed, (14) should not intoxicate
himself with wine." (15)
Apart from having married a Gentile, whose conversion to Judaism was
not dictated by pure motives, Solomon transgressed two other Biblical
laws. He kept many horses, which a Jewish king ought not to do, and,
what the law holds in equal abhorrence, he amassed much silver and
gold. Under Solomon's rule silver and gold were so abundant among the
people that their utensils were made of them instead of the baser
metals. (16) For all this he had to atone painfully later on.
HIS WISDOM
But Solomon's wealth and pomp were as naught in comparison with his
wisdom. When God appeared to him in Gibeon, in a dream by night, and
gave him leave to ask what he would, a grace accorded to none beside
except King Ahaz of Judah, and promised only to the Messiah in time to
come, (17) Solomon chose wisdom, knowing that wisdom once in his
possession, all else would come of itself. (18) His wisdom, the
Scriptures testify, was greater than the wisdom of Ethan the Ezrahite,
and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the three sons of Mahol. This means
that he was wiser than Abraham, (19) Moses, (20) Joseph, (21) and the
generation of the desert. (22) He excelled even Adam. (23) His proverbs
which have come down to us are barely eight hundred in number.
Nevertheless the Scripture counts them equal to three thousand, for the
reason that each verse in his book admits of a double and a triple
interpretation. In his wisdom he analyzed the laws revealed to Moses,
and he assigned reasons for the ritual and ceremonial ordinances of the
Torah, which without his explanation had seemed strange. (24) The
"forty-nine gates of wisdom" were open to Solomon as they had been to
Moses, but the wise king sought to outdo even the wise legislator. He
had such confidence in himself that he would have dispensed judgment
without resort to witnesses, had he not been prevented by a heavenly
voice. (25)
The first proof of his wisdom was given in his verdict in the case of
the child claimed by two mothers as their own. When the women presented
their difficulty, the king said that God in His wisdom had foreseen
that such a quarrel would arise, and therefore had created the organs
of man in pairs, so that neither of the two parties to the dispute
might be wronged. on hearing these words from the king, Solomon's
counsellors lamented: "Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a youth."
In a little while they realized the wisdom of the king, and then they
exclaimed: "Happy art thou, O land, when thy king is a free man." The
quarrel had of set purpose been brought on by God to the end that
Solomon's wisdom might be made known. In reality the two litigants were
not women at all, but spirits. That all doubt about the fairness of the
verdict might be dispelled, a heavenly voice proclaimed: "This is the
mother of the child." (26)
During the lifetime of David, when Solomon was still a lad, he had
settled another difficult case in an equally brilliant way. A wealthy
man had sent his son on a protracted business trip to Africa. On his
return he found that his father had died in the meantime, and his
treasures had passed into the possession of a crafty slave, who had
succeeded in ridding himself of all the other slaves, or intimidating
them. In vain the rightful heir urged his claim before King David. As
he could not bring witnesses to testify for him, there was no way of
dispossessing the slave, who likewise called himself the son of the
deceased. The child Solomon heard the case, and he devised a method of
arriving at the truth. He had the father's corpse exhumed, and he dyed
one of the bones with the blood first of one of the claimants, and then
of the other. The blood of the slave showed no affinity with the bone,
while the blood of the true heir permeated it. So the real son secured
his inheritance. (27)
After his accession to the throne, a peculiar quarrel among heirs was
brought before Solomon for adjudication. Asmodeus, the king of demons,
once said to Solomon: "Thou art the wisest of men, yet I shall show
thee something thou hast never seen." Thereupon Asmodeus stuck his
finger in the ground, and up came a double-headed man. He was one of
the Cainites, who live underground, and are altogether different in
nature and habit from the denizens of the upper world. (28) When the
Cainite wanted to descend to his dwelling-place again, it appeared that
he could not return thither. Not even Asmodeus could bring the thing
about. So he remained on earth, took unto himself a wife, and begot
seven sons, one of whom resembled his father in having two heads. When
the Cainite died, a dispute broke out among his descendants as to how
the property was to be divided. The double-headed son claimed two
portions. Both Solomon and the Sanhedrin were at a loss; they could not
discover a precedent to guide them. Then Solomon prayed to God: "O Lord
of all, when Thou didst appear to me in Gibeon, and didst give me leave
to ask a gift of Thee, I desired neither silver nor gold, but only
wisdom, that I might be able to judge men in justice."
God heard his prayer. When the sons of the Cainite again came before
Solomon, he poured hot water on one of the heads of the double-headed
monster, whereupon both heads flinched, and both mouths cried out: "We
are dying, we are dying! We are but one, not two." Solomon decided that
the double-headed son was after all only a single being. (29)
On another occasion Solomon invented a lawsuit in order to elicit the
truth in an involved case. Three men appeared before him, each of whom
accused the others of theft. They had been travelling together, and,
when the Sabbath approached, they halted and prepared to rest and
sought a safe hiding-place for their money, for it is not allowed to
carry money on one's person on the Sabbath. They all three together
secreted what they had in the same spot, and, when the Sabbath was
over, they hastened thither, only to find that it had been stolen. It
was clear one of the three must have been the thief, but which one?
Solomon said to them: "I know you to be experienced and thorough
business men. I should like you to help me decide a suit which the king
of Rome has submitted to me. In the Roman kingdom there lived a maiden
and a youth, who promised each other under oath never to enter into a
marriage without obtaining each other's permission. The parents of the
girl betrothed their daughter to a man whom she loved, but she refused
to become his wife until the companion of her youth gave his consent.
She took much gold and silver, and sought him out to bribe him. Setting
aside his own love for the girl, he offered her and her lover his
congratulations, and refused to accept the slightest return for the
permission granted. On their homeward way the happy couple were
surprised by an old highwayman, who was about to rob the young man of
his bride and his money. The girl told the brigand the story of her
life, closing with these words: 'If a youth controlled his passion for
me, how much more shouldst thou, an old man, be filled with fear of
God, and let me go my way.' Her words took effect. The aged highwaymen
laid hands neither on the girl nor on the money.
"Now," Solomon continued to the three litigants, "I was asked to decide
which of the three persons concerned acted most nobly, the girl, the
youth, or the highwayman, and I should like to have your views upon the
question."
The first of the three said: "My praise is for the girl, who kept her
oath so faithfully." The second: "I should award the palm to the youth,
who kept himself in check, and did not permit his passion to prevail."
The third said: "Commend me to the brigand, who kept his hands off the
money, more especially as he would have been doing all that could be
expected of him if he had surrendered the woman he might have taken
the money."
The last answer sufficed to put Solomon on the right track. The man who
was inspired with admiration of the virtues of the robber, probably was
himself filled with greed of money. He had him cross-examined, and
finally extorted a confession. He had committed the theft, and he
designated the spot where he had hidden the money. (30)
Even animals submitted their controversies to Solomon's wise judgment.
A man with a jug of milk came upon a serpent wailing pitifully in a
field. To the man's question, the serpent replied that it was tortured
with thirst. "And what art thou carrying in the jug?" asked the
serpent. When it heard what it was, it begged for the milk, and
promised to reward the man by showing him a hidden treasure. The man
gave the milk to the serpent, and was then led to a great rock. "Under
this rock," said the serpent, "lies the treasure." The man rolled the
rock aside, and was about to take the treasure, when suddenly the
serpent made a lunge at him, and coiled itself about his neck. "What
meanest thou by such conduct?" exclaimed the man. "I am going to kill
thee," replied the serpent, "because thou art robbing me of all my
money." The man proposed that they put their case to King Solomon, and
obtain his decision as to who was in the wrong. So they did. Solomon
asked the serpent to state what it demanded of the man. "I want to kill
him," answered the serpent, "because the Scriptures command it, saying:
'Thou shalt bruise the heel of man.'" Solomon said: "First release thy
hold upon the man's neck and descend; in court neither party to a
lawsuit may enjoy an advantage over the other." The serpent glided to
the floor, and Solomon repeated his question, and received the same
answer as before from the serpent. Then Solomon turned to the man and
said: "To thee God's command was to bruise the head of the serpent do
it!" And the man crushed the serpent's head. (31)
Sometimes Solomon's assertions and views, though they sprang from
profound wisdom, seemed strange to the common run of men. In such
cases, the wise king did not disdain to illustrate the correctness of
his opinions. For instance, both the learned and the ignorant were
stung into opposition by Solomon's saying: "One man among a thousand
have I found; but a virtuous woman among all those have I not found."
Solomon unhesitatingly pledged himself to prove that he was right. He
had his attendants seek out a married couple enjoying a reputation for
uprightness and virtue. The husband was cited before him, and Solomon
told him that he had decided to appoint him to an exalted office. The
king demanded only, as an earnest of his loyalty, that he murder his
wife, so that he might be free to marry the king's daughter, a spouse
comporting with the dignity of his new station. With a heavy heart the
man went home. His despair grew at sight of his fair wife and his
little children. Though determined to do the king's bidding, he still
lacked courage to kill his wife while she was awake. He waited until
she was tight asleep, but then the child enfolded in the mother's arms
rekindled his parental and conjugal affection, and he replaced his
sword in its sheath, saying to himself: "And if the king were to offer
me his whole realm, I would not murder my wife." Thereupon he went to
Solomon, and told him his final decision. A month later Solomon sent
for the wife, and declared his love for her. He told her that their
happiness could be consummated if she would but do away with her
husband. Then she should be made the first wife in his harem. Solomon
gave her a leaden sword which glittered as though fashioned of steel.
The woman returned home resolved to put the sword to its appointed use.
Not a quiver of her eyelids betrayed her sinister purpose. On the
contrary, by caresses and tender words she sought to disarm any
suspicion that might attack to her. In the night she arose, drew forth
the sword, and proceeded to kill her husband. The leaden instrument
naturally did no harm, except to awaken her husband, to whom she had to
confess her evil intent. The next day both man and wife were summoned
before the king, who thus convinced his counsellors of the truth of his
conviction, that no dependence can be placed on woman. (32)
The fame of Solomon's wisdom spread far and wide. Many entered the
service of the king, in the hope of profiting by his wisdom. Three
brothers had served under him for thirteen years, and, disappointed at
not having learnt anything, they made up their minds to quit his
service. Solomon gave them the alternative of receiving one hundred
coins each, or being taught three wise saws. They decided to take the
money. They had scarcely left the town when the youngest of the three,
regardless of the protests of his two brothers, hastened back to
Solomon and said to him: "My lord, I did not take service under thee to
make money; I wanted to acquire wisdom. Pray, take back thy money, and
teach me wisdom instead." Solomon thereupon imparted the following
three rules of conduct to him: "When thou travellest abroad, set out on
thy journey with the dawn and turn in for the night before darkness
falls; do not cross a river that is swollen; and never betray a secret
to a woman." The man quickly overtook his brothers, but he confided
nothing to them of what he had learned from Solomon. They journeyed on
together. At the approach of the ninth hour three hours after noon
they reached a suitable spot in which to spend the night. The youngest
brother, mindful of Solomon's advice, proposed that they stop there.
The others taunted him with his stupidity, which, they said, he had
begun to display when he carried his money back to Solomon. The two
proceeded on their way, but the youngest arranged his quarters for the
night. When darkness came on, and with it nipping cold, he was snug and
comfortable, while his brothers were surprised by a snow storm, in
which they perished. The following day he continued his journey, and on
the road he found the dead bodies of his brothers. Having appropriated
their money, he buried them, and went on. When he reached a river that
was very much swollen, he bore Solomon's advice in mind, and delayed to
cross until the flood subsided. While standing on the bank, he observed
how some of the king's servants were attempting to ford the stream with
beasts laden with gold, and how they were borne down by the flood.
After the waters had abated, he crossed and appropriated the gold
strapped to the drowned animals. When he returned home, wealthy and
wise, he told nothing of what he had experienced even to his wife, who
was very curious to find out where her husband had obtained his wealth.
Finally, she plied him so closely with questions that Solomon's advice
about confiding a secret to a woman was quite forgotten. Once, when his
wife was quarrelling with him, she cried out: "Not enough that thou
didst murder thy brothers, thou desirest to kill me, too." Thereupon he
was charged with the murder of their husbands by his two
sisters-in-law. He was tried, condemned to death, and escaped the
hangman only when he told the king the story of his life, and was
recognized as his former retainer. It was with reference to this man's
adventures that Solomon said: "Acquire wisdom; she is better than gold
and much fine gold." (33)
Another of his disciples had a similar experience. Annually a man came
from a great distance to pay a visit to the wise king, and when he
departed Solomon was in the habit of bestowing a gift upon him. Once
the guest refused the gift, and asked the king to teach him the
language of the birds and the animals instead. The king was ready to
grant his request, but he did not fail to warn him first of the great
danger connected with such knowledge. "If thou tellest others a word of
what thou hearest from an animal," he said, "thou wilt surely suffer
death; thy destruction is inevitable." Nothing daunted, the visitor
persisted in his wish, and the king instructed him in the secret art.
Returned home, he overheard a conversation between his ox and his ass.
The ass said: "Brother, how farest thou with these people?"
The ox: "As thou livest, brother, I pass day and night in hard and
painful toil."
The ass: "I can give thee relief, brother. If thou wilt follow my
advice, thou shalt live in comfort, and shalt rid thyself of all hard
work."
The ox: "O brother, may thy heart be inclined toward me, to take pity
on me and help me. I promise not to depart from thy advice to the right
or the left."
The ass: "God knows, I am speaking to thee in the uprightness of my
heart and the purity of my thoughts. My advice to thee is not to eat
either straw or fodder this night. When our master notices it, he will
suppose that thou art sick. He will put no burdensome work upon thee,
and thou canst take a good rest. That is the way I did to-day."
The ox followed the advice of his companion. He touched none of the
food thrown to him. The master, suspecting a ruse on the part of the
ass, arose during the night, went to the stable, and watched the ass
eat his fill from the manger belonging to the ox. He could not help
laughing out loud, which greatly amazed his wife, who, of course, had
noticed nothing out of the way. The master evaded her questions.
Something ludicrous had just occurred to him, he said by way of
explanation.
For the sly trick played upon the ox, he determined to punish the ass.
He ordered the servant to let the ox rest for the day, and make the ass
do the work of both animals. At evening the ass trudged into the stable
tired and exhausted. The ox greeted him with the words: "Brother, hast
thou heard aught of what our heartless masters purpose?" "Yes," replied
the ass, "I heard them speak of having thee slaughtered, if thou
shouldst refuse to eat this night, too. They want to make sure of thy
flesh at least." Scarcely had the ox heard the words of the ass when he
threw himself upon his food like a ravenous lion upon his prey. Not a
speck did he leave behind, and the master was suddenly moved to
uproarious laughter. This time his wife insisted upon knowing the
cause. In vain she entreated and supplicated. She swore not to live
with him any more if he did not tell her why he laughed. The man loved
her so devotedly that he was ready to sacrifice his life to satisfy her
whim, but before taking leave of this world he desired to see his
friends and relations once more, and he invited them all to his house.
Meantime his dog was made aware of the master's approaching end, and
such sadness took possession of the faithful beast that he touched
neither food nor drink. The cock, on the other hand, gaily appropriated
the food intended for the dog, and he and his wives enjoyed a banquet.
Outraged by such unfeeling behavior, the dog said to the cock: "How
great is thy impudence, and how insignificant thy modesty! Thy master
is but a step from the grave, and thou eatest and makest merry." The
cock's reply was: "Is it my fault if our master is a fool and an idiot?
I have ten wives, and I rule them as I will. Not one dares oppose me
and my commands. Our master has a single wife, and this one he cannot
control and manage." "What ought our master to do?" asked the dog. "Let
him take a heavy stick and belabor his wife's back thoroughly," advised
the cock, "and I warrant thee, she won't plague him any more to reveal
his secrets."
The husband had overheard this conversation, too, and the cock's advice
seemed good. He followed it, and death was averted. (34)
On many occasions, Solomon brought his acumen and wisdom to bear upon
foreign rulers who attempted to concoct mischief against him. Solomon
needed help in building the Temple, and he wrote to Pharaoh, asking him
to send artists to Jerusalem. Pharaoh complied with his request, but
not honestly. He had his astrologers determine which of his men were
destined to die within the year. These candidates for the grave he
passed over to Solomon. The Jewish king was not slow to discover the
trick played upon him. He immediately returned the men to Egypt, each
provided with his grave clothes, and wrote: "To Pharaoh! I suppose thou
hadst no shrouds for these people. Herewith I send thee the men, and
what they were in need of." (35)
Hiram, king of Tyre, the steadfast friend of the dynasty of David, who
had done Solomon such valuable services in connection with the building
of the Temple, was desirous of testing his wisdom. He was in the habit
of sending catch-questions and riddles to Solomon with the request that
he solve them and help him out of his embarrassment about them.
Solomon, of course, succeeded in answering them all. Later on he made
an agreement with Hiram, that they were to exchange conundrums and
riddles, and a money fine was to be exacted from the one of them who
failed to find the proper answer to a question propounded by the other.
Naturally it was Hiram who was always the loser. The Tyrians maintain
that finally Solomon found more than his match in one of Hiram's
subjects, one Abdamon, who put many a riddle to Solomon that baffled
his wit. (36)
Of Solomon's subtlety in riddle guessing only a few instances have come
down to us, all of them connected with riddles put to him by the Queen
of Sheba. (37) The story of this queen, of her relation to Solomon, and
what induced her to leave her distant home and journey to the court at
Jerusalem forms an interesting chapter in the eventful life of the wise
king.
THE QUEEN OF SHEBA
Solomon, it must be remembered, bore rule not only over men, but also
over the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, demons, spirits,
and the spectres of the night. He knew the language of all of them and
they understood his language. (38)
When Solomon was of good cheer by reason of wine, he summoned the
beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the creeping reptiles, the
shades, the spectres, and the ghosts, to perform their dances before
the kings, his neighbors, whom he invited to witness his power and
greatness. The king's scribes called the animals and the spirits by
name, one by one, and they all assembled of their own accord, without
fetters or bonds, with no human hand to guide them.
On one occasion the hoopoe (39) was missed from among the birds. He
could not be found anywhere. The king, full of wrath, ordered him to be
produced and chastised for his tardiness. The hoopoe appeared and said:
"O lord, king of the world, incline thine ear and hearken to my words.
Three months have gone by since I began to take counsel with myself and
resolve upon a course of action. I have eaten no food and drunk no
water, in order to fly about in the whole world and see whether there
is a domain anywhere which is not subject to my lord the king. (40) and
I found a city, the city of Kitor, in the East. Dust is more valuable
than gold there, and silver is like the mud of the streets. Its trees
are from the beginning of all time, and they suck up water that flows
from the Garden of Eden. The city is crowded with men. On their heads
they wear garlands wreathed in Paradise. They know not how to fight,
nor how to shoot with bow and arrow. Their ruler is a woman, she is
called the Queen of Sheba. If, now, it please thee, O lord and king, I
shall gird my loins like a hero, and journey to the city of Kitor in
the land of Sheba. Its kings I shall fetter with chains and its rulers
with iron bands, and bring them all before my lord the king."
The hoopoe's speech pleased the king. The clerks of his land were
summoned, and they wrote a letter and bound it to the hoopoe's wing.
The bird rose skyward, uttered his cry, and flew away, followed by all
the other birds.
And they came to Kitor in the land of Sheba. It was morning, and the
queen had gone forth to pay worship to the sun. Suddenly the birds
darkened his light. The queen raised her hand, and rent her garment,
and was sore astonished. Then the hoopoe alighted near her. Seeing that
a letter was tied to his wing, she loosed it and read it. And what was
written in the letter? "From me, King Solomon! Peace be with thee,
peace with the nobles of thy realm! Know that God has appointed me king
over the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the demons, the
spirits, and the spectres. All the kings of the East and the West come
to bring me greetings. If thou wilt come and salute me, I shall show
thee great honor, more than to any of the kings that attend me. But if
thou wilt not pay homage to me, I shall send out kings, legions, and
riders against thee. Thou askest, who are these kings, legions, and
riders of King Solomon? The beasts of the field are my kings, the birds
my riders, the demons, spirit, and shades of the night my legions. The
demons will throttle you in your beds at night, while the beasts will
slay you in the field, and the birds will consume your flesh."
When the Queen of Sheba had read the contents of the letter, she again
rent her garment, and sent word to her elders and her princes: "Know
you not what Solomon has written to me?" They answered: "We know
nothing of King Solomon, and his dominion we regard as naught." But
their words did not reassure the queen. She assembled all the ships of
the sea, and loaded them with the finest kinds of wood, and with pearls
and precious stones. Together with these she sent Solomon six thousand
youths and maidens, born in the same year, in the same month, on the
same day, in the same hour all of equal stature and size, all clothed
in purple garments. They bore a letter to King Solomon as follows:
"From the city of Kitor to the land of Israel is a journey of seven
years. As it is thy wish and behest that I visit thee, I shall hasten
and be in Jerusalem at the end of three years."
When the time of her arrival drew nigh, Solomon sent Benaiah the son of
Jehoiada to meet her. Benaiah was like unto the flush in the eastern
sky at break of day, like unto the evening star that outshines all
other stars, like unto the lily growing by brooks of water. When the
queen caught sight of him, she descended from her chariot to do him
honor. Benaiah asked her why she left her chariot. "Art thou not King
Solomon?" she questioned in turn. Benaiah replied: "Not King Solomon am
I, only one of his servants that stand in his presence." Thereupon the
queen turned to her nobles and said: "If you have not beheld the lion,
at least you have seen his lair, and if you have not beheld King
Solomon, at least you have seen the beauty of him that stands in his
presence."
Benaiah conducted the queen to Solomon, who had gone to sit in a house
of glass to receive her. The queen was deceived by an illusion. She
thought the king was sitting in water, and as she stepped across to him
she raised her garment to keep it dry. On her bared feet the king
noticed hair, and he said to her: "Thy beauty is the beauty of a woman,
but thy hair is masculine; hair is an ornament to a man, but it
disfigures a woman." (41)
Then the queen began and said: (42) "I have heard of thee and thy
wisdom; if now I inquire of thee concerning a matter, wilt thou answer
me?" He replied: "The Lord giveth wisdom, out of His mouth cometh
knowledge and understanding." She then said to him:
1. "Seven there are that issue and nine that enter; two yield the
draught and one drinks." Said he to her: "Seven are the days of a
woman's defilement, and nine the months of pregnancy; two are the
breasts that yield the draught, and one the child that drinks it."
Whereupon she said to him: "Thou art wise."
2. Then she questioned him further: "A woman said to her son, thy
father is my father, and thy grandfather my husband; thou art my son,
and I am thy sister." "Assuredly," said he, "it was the daughter of Lot
who spake thus to her son."
3. She placed a number of males and females of the same stature and
garb before him and said: "Distinguish between them." Forthwith he made
a sign to the eunuchs, who brought him a quantity of nuts and roasted
ears of corn. The males, who were not bashful, seized them with bare
hands; the females took them, putting forth their gloved hands from
beneath their garments. Whereupon he exclaimed: "Those are the males,
these the females."
4. She brought a number of men to him, some circumcised and others
uncircumcised, and asked him to distinguish between them. He
immediately made a sign to the high priest, who opened the Ark of the
covenant, whereupon those that were circumcised bowed their bodies to
half their height, while their countenances were filled with the
radiance of the Shekinah; the uncircumcised fell prone upon their
faces. "Those," said he, "are circumcised, these uncircumcised." (43)
"Thou art wise, indeed," she exclaimed.
5. She put other questions to him, to all of which he gave replies.
"Who is he who neither was born nor has died?" "It is the Lord of the
world, blessed be He."
6. "What land is that which has but once seen the sun?" "The land upon
which, after the creation, the waters were gathered, and the bed of the
Red Sea on the day when it was divided."
7. "There is an enclosure with ten doors, when one is open, nine are
shut; when nine are open, one is shut?" "That enclosure is the womb;
the ten doors are the ten orifices of man his eyes, ears, nostrils,
mouth, the apertures for the discharge of the excreta and the urine,
and the navel; when the child is in the embryonic state, the navel is
open and the other orifices are closed, but when it issues from the
womb, the navel is closed and the others are opened."
8. "There is something which when living moves not, yet when its head
is cut off it moves?" "It is the ship in the sea." (44)
9. "Which are the three that neither ate, nor did they drink, nor did
they have bread put into them, yet they saved lives from death?" "The
signet, the cord, and the staff are those three."
10. "Three entered a cave and five came forth therefrom?" "Lot and his
two daughters and their two children."
11. "The dead lived, the grave moved, and the dead prayed: what is
that?" "The dead that lived and prayed, Jonah; and the fish, the moving
grave."
12. "Who were the three that ate and drank on the earth, and yet were
not born of male and female?" "The three angels who visited Abraham."
(45)
13. "Four entered a place of death and came forth alive, and two
entered a place of life and came forth dead?" "The four were Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, and the two were Nadab and Abihu."
14. "Who was he that was born and died not?" "Elijah and the Messiah."
15. "What was that which was not born, yet life was given to it?" "The
golden calf."
16. "What is that which is produced from the ground, yet man produces
it, while its food is the fruit of the ground?" "A wick."
17. "A woman was wedded to two, and bore two sons, yet these four had
one father?" "Tamar."
18. "A house full of dead; no dead one came among them, nor did a
living come forth from them?" "It is the story of Samson and the
Philistines."
19. The queen next ordered the sawn trunk of a cedar tree to be
brought, and she asked Solomon to point out at which end the root had
been and at which the branches. He bade her cast it into the water,
when one end sank and the other floated upon the surface of the water.
That part which sank was the root, and that which remained uppermost
was the branch end. Then she said to him: "Thou exceedest in wisdom and
goodness the fame which I heard, blessed be thy God!" (46)
The last three riddles which the Queen of Sheba put to Solomon were the
following:
20. "What is this? A wooden well with iron buckets, which draw stones
and pour out water." The king replied: "A rouge-tube."
21. "What is this? It comes as dust from the earth, its food is dust,
it is poured out like water, and lights the house." "Naphtha."
22. "What is this? It walks ahead of all; it cries out loud and
bitterly; its head is like the reed; it is the glory of the noble, the
disgrace of the poor; the glory of the dead, the disgrace of the
living; the delight of birds, the distress of fishes." He answered:
"Flax." (47)
SOLOMON MASTER OF THE DEMONS
Never has there lived a man privileged, like Solomon, to make the
demons amenable to his will. God endowed him with the ability to turn
the vicious power of demons into a power working to the advantage of
men. He invented formulas of incantation by which diseases were
alleviated, and others by which demons were exorcised so that they were
banished forever. (48) As his personal attendants he had spirits and
demons whom he could send hither and thither on the instant. He could
grow tropical plants in Palestine, because his ministering spirits
secured water for him from India. (49)
As the spirits were subservient to him, so also the animals. He had an
eagle upon whose back he was transported to the desert and back again
in one day, to build there the city called Tadmor in the Bible (50)
This city must not be confounded with the later Syrian city of Palmyra,
also called Tadmor. It was situated near the "mountains of darkness,"
(51) the trysting-place of the spirits and demons. Thither the eagle
would carry Solomon in the twinkling of an eye, and Solomon would drop
a paper inscribed with a verse among the spirits, to ward off evil from
himself. Then the eagle would reconnoitre the mountains of darkness,
until he had spied out the spot in which the fallen angels 'Azza and
'Azzael (52) lie chained with iron fetters a spot which no one, not
even a bird, may visit. When the eagle found the place, he would take
Solomon under his left wing, and fly to the two angels. Through the
power of the ring having the Holy Name graven upon it, which Solomon
put into the eagle's mouth, 'Azza and 'Azzael were forced to reveal the
heavenly mysteries to the king. (53)
The demons were of greatest service to Solomon during the erection of
the Temple. It came about in this wise: When Solomon began the building
of the Temple, it once happened that a malicious spirit snatched away
the money and the food of one of the king's favorite pages. This
occurred several times, and Solomon was not able to lay hold on the
malefactor. The king besought God fervently to deliver the wicked
spirit into his hands. His prayer was granted. The archangel Michael
appeared to him, and gave him a small ring having a seal consisting of
an engraved stone, and he said to him: "Take, O Solomon, king, son of
David, the gift which the Lord God, the highest Zebaot, hath sent unto
thee. With it thou shalt lock up all the demons of the earth, male and
female; and with their help thou shalt build up Jerusalem. But thou
must wear this seal of God; and this engraving of the seal of the ring
sent thee is a Pentalpha." (54) Armed with it, Solomon called up all
the demons before him, and he asked of each in turn his or her name, as
well as the name of the star or constellation or zodiacal sign and of
the particular angel to the influence of which each is subject. One
after another the spirits were vanquished, and compelled by Solomon to
aid in the construction of the Temple.
Ornias, the vampire spirit who had maltreated Solomon's servant, was
the first demon to appear, and he was set to the task of cutting stones
near the Temple. And Solomon bade Ornias come, and he gave him the
seal, saying: "Away with thee, and bring me hither the prince of all
the demons." Ornias took the finger-ring, and went to Beelzeboul, who
has kingship over the demons. He said to him: "Hither! Solomon calls
thee." But Beelzeboul, having heard, said to him: "Tell me, who is this
Solomon of whom thou speakest to me?" Then Ornias threw the ring at the
chest of Beelzeboul, saying: "Solomon the king calls thee." But
Beelzeboul cried aloud with a mighty voice, and shot out a great,
burning flame of fire; and he arose and followed Ornias, and came to
Solomon. Brought before the king, he promised him to gather all the
unclean spirits unto him. Beelzeboul proceeded to do so, beginning with
Onoskelis, that had a very pretty shape and the skin of a fair-hued
woman, and he was followed by Asmodeus; both giving an account of
themselves.
Beelzeboul reappeared on the scene, and in his conversation with
Solomon declared that he alone survived of the angels who had come down
from heaven. He reigned over all who are in Tartarus, and had a child
in the Red Sea, which on occasion comes up to Beelzeboul and reveals to
him what he has done. Next the demon of the Ashes, Tephros, appeared,
and after him a group of seven female spirits, who declared themselves
to be of the thirty-six elements of the darkness. Solomon bade them dig
the foundation of the temple, for the length of it was two hundred and
fifty cubits. And he ordered them to be industrious, and with one
united murmur of protest they began to perform the tasks enjoined.
Solomon bade another demon come before him. And there was brought to
him a demon having all the limbs of a man, but without a head. The
demon said to Solomon: "I am called Envy, for I delight to devour
heads, being desirous to secure for myself a head; but I do not eat
enough, and I am anxious to have such a head as thou hast." A
hound-like spirit, whose name was Rabdos, followed, and he revealed to
Solomon a green stone, useful for the adornment of the Temple. A number
of other male and female demons appeared, among them the thirty-six
world-rulers of the darkness, whom Solomon commanded to fetch water to
the Temple. Some of these demons he condemned to do the heavy work on
the construction of the Temple, others he shut up in prison, and
others, again, he ordered to wrestle with fire in the making of gold
and silver, sitting down by lead and spoon, and to make ready places
for the other demons, in which they should be confined.
After Solomon with the help of the demons had completed the Temple, the
rulers, among them the Queen of Sheba, who was a sorceress, came from
far and near to admire the magnificence and art of the building, and no
less the wisdom of its builder. (55)
One day an old man appeared before Solomon to complain of his son, whom
he accused of having been so impious as to raise his hand against his
father and give him a blow. The young man denied the charge, but his
father insisted that his life be held forfeit. Suddenly Solomon heard
loud laughter. It was the demon Ornias, who was guilty of the
disrespectful behavior. Rebuked by Solomon, the demon said: "I pray
thee, O king, it was not because of thee I laughed, but because of this
ill-starred old man and the wretched youth, his son. For after three
days his son will die untimely, and, lo, the old man desires to make
away with him foully." Solomon delayed his verdict for several days,
and when after five days he summoned the old father to his presence, it
appeared that Ornias had spoken the truth.
After some time, Solomon received a letter from Adares, the king of
Arabia. He begged the Jewish king to deliver his land from an evil
spirit, who was doing great mischief, and who could not be caught and
made harmless, because he appeared in the form of wind. Solomon gave
his magic ring and a leather bottle to one of his slaves, and sent him
into Arabia. The messenger succeeded in confining the spirit in the
bottle. A few days later, when Solomon entered the Temple, he was not a
little astonished to see a bottle walk toward him, and bow down
reverently before him; it was the bottle in which the spirit was shut
up. This same spirit once did Solomon a great service. Assisted by
demons, he raised a gigantic stone out of the Red Sea. Neither human
beings nor demons could move it, but he carried it to the Temple, where
it was used as a cornerstone.
Through his own fault Solomon forfeited the power to perform miraculous
deed, which the Divine spirit had conferred upon him. He fell in love
with the Jebusite woman Sonmanites. The priests of Moloch and Raphan,
the false gods she worshiped, advised her to reject his suit, unless he
paid homage to these gods. At first Solomon was firm, but, when the
woman bade him take five locusts and crush them in his hands in the
name of Moloch, he obeyed her. At once he was bereft of the Divine
spirit, of his strength and his wisdom, and he sank so low that to
please his beloved he built temples to Baal and Raphan. (56)
THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE
Among the great achievements of Solomon first place must be assigned to
the superb Temple built by him. He was long in doubt as to where he was
to build it. A heavenly voice directed him to go to Mount Zion at
night, to a field owned by two brothers jointly. One of the brothers
was a bachelor and poor, the other was blessed both with wealth and a
large family of children. It was harvesting time. Under cover of night,
the poor brother kept adding to the other's heap of grain, for,
although he was poor, he thought his brother needed more on account of
his large family. The rich brother, in the same clandestine way, added
to the poor brother's store, thinking that though he had a family to
support, the other was without means. This field, Solomon concluded,
which had called forth so remarkable a manifestation of brotherly love,
was the best site for the Temple, and he bought it. (57)
Every detail of the equipment and ornamentation of the Temple testifies
to Solomon's rare wisdom. Next to the required furniture, he planted
golden trees, which bore fruit all the time the building stood. When
the enemy entered the Temple, the fruit dropped from the trees, but
they will put forth blossoms again when it is rebuilt in the days of
the Messiah. (58)
Solomon was so assiduous that the erection of the Temple took but seven
years, about half the time for the erection of the king's palace, in
spite of the greater magnificence of the sanctuary. In this respect, he
was the superior of his father David, who first built a house for
himself, and then gave thought to a house for God to dwell in. Indeed,
it was Solomon's meritorious work in connection with the Temple that
saved him from being reckoned by the sages as one of the impious kings,
among whom his later actions might properly have put him. (59)
According to the measure of the zeal displayed by Solomon were the help
and favor shown him by God. During the seven years it took to build the
Temple, not a single workman died who was employed about it, nor even
did a single one fall sick. And as the workmen were sound and robust
from first to last, so the perfection of their tools remained
unimpaired until the building stood complete. Thus the work suffered no
sort of interruption. After the dedication of the Temple, however, the
workmen died off, lest they build similar structures for the heathen
and their gods. Their wages they were to receive from God in the world
to come, (60) and the master workman, Hiram, (61) was rewarded by being
permitted to reach Paradise alive. (62)
The Temple was finished in the month of Bul, now called Marheshwan, but
the edifice stood closed for nearly a whole year, because it was the
will of God that the dedication take place in the month of Abraham's
birth. Meantime the enemies of Solomon rejoiced maliciously. "Was it
not the son of Bath-sheba," they said, "who built the Temple? How,
then, could God permit His Shekinah to rest upon it?" When the
consecration of the house took place, and "the fire came down from
heaven," they recognized their mistake. (63)
The importance of the Temple appeared at once, for the torrential rains
which annually since the deluge had fallen for forty days beginning
with the month of Marheshwan, for the first time failed to come, and
thenceforward appeared no more. (64)
The joy of the people over the sanctuary was so great that they held
the consecration ceremonies on the Day of Atonement. It contributed not
a little to their ease of mind that a heavenly voice was heard to
proclaim: "You all shall have a share in the world to come."
The great house of prayer reflected honor not only on Solomon and the
people, but also on King David. The following incident proves it: When
the Ark was about to be brought into the Holy of Holies, the door of
the sacred chamber locked itself, and it was impossible to open it.
Solomon prayed fervently to God, but his entreaties had no effect until
he pronounced the words: "Remember the good deeds of David thy
servant." The Holy of Holies then opened of itself, and the enemies of
David had to admit that God had wholly forgiven his sin. (65)
In the execution of the Temple work a wish cherished by David was
fulfilled. He was averse to having the gold which he had taken as booty
from the heathen places of worship during his campaigns used for the
sanctuary at Jerusalem, because he feared that the heathen would boast,
at the destruction of the Temple, that their gods were courageous, and
were taking revenge by wrecking the house of the Israelitish God.
Fortunately Solomon was so rich that there was no need to resort to the
gold inherited from his father, and so David's wish was fulfilled. (66)
THE THRONE OF SOLOMON
Next to the Temple in its magnificence, it is the throne of Solomon
that perpetuates the name and fame of the wise king. None before him
and none after him could produce a like work of art, and when the
kings, his vassals, saw the magnificence of the throne they fell down
and praised God. The throne was covered with fine gold from Ophir,
studded with beryls, inlaid with marble, and jewelled with emeralds,
and rubies, and pearls, and all manner of gems. On each of its six
steps there were two golden lions and two golden eagles, a lion and an
eagle to the left, and a lion and an eagle to the right, the pairs
standing face to face, so that the right paw of the lion was opposite
to the left wing of the eagle, and his left paw opposite to the right
wing of the eagle. The royal seat was at the top, which was round.
On the first step leading to the seat crouched an ox, and opposite to
him a lion; on the second, a wolf and a lamb; on the third, a leopard
and a goat; (67) on the fourth perched an eagle and a peacock; on the
fifth a falcon (68) and a cock; and on the sixth a hawk and a sparrow;
all made of gold. At the very top rested a dove, her claws set upon a
hawk, to betoken that the time would come when all peoples and nations
shall be delivered into the hands of Israel. Over the seat hung a
golden candlestick, with golden lamps, pomegranates, snuff dishes,
censers, chains, and lilies. Seven branches extended from each side. On
the arms to the right were the images of the seven patriarchs of the
world, Adam, Noah, Shem, Job, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and on the
arms to the left, the images of the seven pious men of the world,
Kohath, Amram, Moses, Aaron, Eldad, Medad, and the prophet Hur.
Attached to the top of the candlestick was a golden bowl filled with
the purest olive oil, to be used for the candlestick in the Temple, and
below, a golden basin, also filled with the purest olive oil, for the
candlestick over the throne. The basin bore the image of the high
priest Eli; those of his sons Hophni and Phinehas were on the two
faucets protruding from the basin, and those of Nadab and Abihu on the
tubes connection the faucets with the basin.
On the upper part of the throne stood seventy golden chairs for the
members of the Sanhedrin, and two more for the high priest and his
vicar. When the high priest came to do homage to the king, the members
of the Sanhedrin also appeared, to judge the people, and they took
their seats to the right and to the left of the king. At the approach
of the witnesses, the machinery of the throne rumbled the wheels
turned, the ox lowed, the lion roared, the wolf howled, the lamb
bleated, the leopard growled, the goat cried, the falcon screamed, the
peacock gobbled, the cock crowed, the hawk screeched, the sparrow
chirped all to terrify the witnesses and keep them from giving false
testimony.
When Solomon set foot upon the first step to ascend to his seat, its
machinery was put into motion. The golden ox arose and led him to the
second step, and there passed him over to the care of the beasts
guarding it, and so he was conducted from step to step up to the sixth,
where the eagles received him and placed him upon his seat. As soon as
he was seated, a great eagle set the royal crown upon his head.
Thereupon a huge snake rolled itself up against the machinery, forcing
the lions and eagles upward until they encircled the head of the king.
A golden dove flew down from a pillar, took the sacred scroll out of a
casket, and gave it to the king, so that he might obey the injunction
of the Scriptures, to have the law with him and read therein all the
days of his life. Above the throne twenty-four vines interlaced,
forming a shady arbor over the head of the king, and sweet aromatic
perfumes exhaled from two golden lions, while Solomon made the ascent
to his seat upon the throne. (69)
It was the task of seven heralds to keep Solomon reminded of his duties
as king and judge. The first one of the heralds approached him when he
set foot on the first step of the throne, and began to recite the law
for kings, "He shall not multiply wives to himself." At the second
step, the second herald reminded him, "He shall not multiply horses to
himself"; at the third, the next one of the heralds said, "Neither
shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold." At the fourth
step, he was told by the fourth herald, "Thou shalt not wrest
judgment"; at the fifth step, by the fifth herald, "Thou shalt not
respect persons," and at the sixth, by the sixth herald, "Neither shalt
thou take a gift." Finally, when he was about to seat himself upon the
throne, the seventh herald cried out: "Know before whom thou standest."
(70)
The throne did not remain long in the possession of the Israelites.
During the life of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, it was carried to
Egypt. Shishak, the father-in-law of Solomon, appropriated it as
indemnity for claims which he urged against the Jewish state in behalf
of his widowed daughter. When Sennacherib conquered Egypt, he carried
the throne away with him, but, on his homeward march, during the
overthrow of his army before the gates of Jerusalem, he had to part
with it to Hezekiah. Now it remained in Palestine until the time of
Jehoash, when it was once more carried to Egypt by Pharaoh Necho. His
possession of the throne brought him little joy. Unacquainted with its
wonderful mechanism, he was injured in the side by one of the lions the
first time he attempted to mount it, and forever after he limped,
wherefore he was given the surname Necho, the hobbler. (71)
Nebuchadnezzar was the next possessor of the throne. It fell to his lot
at the conquest of Egypt, but when he attempted to use it in Babylonia,
he fared no better than his predecessor in Egypt. The lion standing
near the throne gave him so severe a blow that he never again dared
ascend it. Through Darius the throne reached Elam, but, knowing what
its other owners had suffered, he did not venture to seat himself on
it, and his example was imitated by Ahasuerus. The latter tried to have
his artificers fashion him a like artistic work, but, of course, they
failed. (72) The Median rulers parted with the throne to the Greek
monarchs, and finally it was carried to Rome. (73)
THE HIPPODROME
The throne was not the only remarkable sight at the court of the
magnificent king. Solomon attracted visitors to his capital by means of
games and shows. In every month of the year the official who was in
charge for the month, was expected to arrange for a horse race, and
once a year (74) a race took place in which the competitors were ten
thousand youths, mainly of the tribes of Gad and Naphtali, who lived at
the court of the king year in, year out, and were maintained by him.
For the scholars, their disciples, the priests, and the Levites, the
races were held on the last of the month; on the first day of the month
the residents of Jerusalem were the spectators, and, on the second day,
strangers. The hippodrome occupied an area of three parasangs square,
with an inner square measuring one parasang on each side, around which
the races were run. Within were two grilles ornamented with all sorts
of animals. Out of the jaws of four gilded lions, attached to pillars
by twos, perfumes and spices flowed for the people. The spectators were
divided into four parties distinguished by the color of their garb: the
king and his attendants, the scholars and their disciples, and the
priests and Levites were attired in light blue garments; all the rest
from Jerusalem wore white; the sight-seers from the surrounding towns
and villages wore red, and green marked the heathen hailing from afar,
who came laden with tribute and presents. The four colors corresponded
to the four seasons. In the autumn the sky is brilliantly blue; in
winter the white snow falls; the color of spring is green like the
ocean, because it is the season favorable to voyages, and red is the
color of summer, when the fruits grow red and ripe. (75)
As the public spectacles were executed with pomp and splendor, so the
king's table was royally sumptuous. Regardless of season and climate,
it was always laden with the delicacies of all parts of the globe. Game
and poultry, even of such varieties as were unknown in Palestine, were
not lacking, and daily there came a gorgeous bird from Barbary and
settled down before the king's seat at the table. The Scriptures tell
us of great quantities of food required by Solomon's household, and yet
it was not all that was needed. What the Bible mentions, covers only
the accessories, such as spices and the minor ingredients. The real
needs were far greater, as may be judged from the custom that all of
Solomon's thousand wives arranged a banquet daily, each in the hope of
having the king dine with her. (76)
LESSONS IN HUMILITY
Great and powerful as Solomon was, and wise and just, still occasions
were not lacking to bring home to him the truth that the wisest and
mightiest of mortals may not indulge in pride and arrogance.
Solomon had a precious piece of tapestry, sixty miles square, on which
he flew through the air so swiftly that he could eat breakfast in
Damascus and supper in Media. To carry out his orders he had at his
beck and call Asaph ben Berechiah (77) among men, Ramirat among demons,
the lion among beasts, and the eagle among birds. Once it happened that
pride possessed Solomon while he was sailing through the air on his
carpet, and he said: "There is none like unto me in the world, upon
whom God has bestowed sagacity, wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge,
besides making me the ruler of the world." The same instant the air
stirred, and forty thousand men dropped from the magic carpet. The king
ordered the wind to cease from blowing, with the word: "Return!"
Whereupon the wind: "If thou wilt return to God, and subdue thy pride,
I, too, will return." The king realized his transgression.
On one occasion he strayed into the valley of the ants in the course of
his wanderings. He heard one ant order all the others to withdraw, to
avoid being crushed by the armies of Solomon. The king halted and
summoned the ant that had spoken. She told him that she was the queen
of the ants, and she gave her reasons for the order of withdrawal.
Solomon wanted to put a question to the ant queen, but she refused to
answer unless the king took her up and placed her on his hand. He
acquiesced, and then he put his question: "Is there any one greater
than I am in all the world?" "Yes," said the ant.
Solomon: "Who?"
Ant: "I am."
Solomon: "How is that possible?"
Ant: "Were I not greater than thou, God would not have led thee hither
to put me on thy hand."
Exasperated, Solomon threw her to the ground, and said: "Thou knowest
who I am? I am Solomon, the son of David."
Not at all intimidated, the ant reminded the king of his earthly
origin, and admonished him to humility, and the king went off abashed.
Next he came to a magnificent building, into which he sought to enter
in vain; he could find no door leading into it. After long search the
demons came upon an eagle seven hundred years old, and he, unable to
give them any information, sent him to his nine hundred years old
brother, whose eyrie was higher than his own, and who would probably be
in a position to advise them. But he in turn directed them to go to his
still older brother. His age counted thirteen hundred years, and he had
more knowledge than himself. This oldest one of the eagles reported
that he remembered having heard his father say there was a door on the
west side, but it was covered up by the dust of the ages that had
passed since it was last used. So it turned out to be. They found an
old iron door with the inscription: "We, the dwellers in this palace,
for many years lived in comfort and luxury; then, forced by hunger, we
ground pearls into flour instead of wheat but to no avail, and so,
when we were about to die, we bequeathed this palace to the eagles." A
second statement contained a detailed description of the wonderful
palace, and mentioned where the keys for the different chambers were to
be found. Following the directions on the door, Solomon inspected the
remarkable building, whose apartments were made of pearls and precious
stones. Inscribed on the doors he found the following three wise
proverbs, dealing with the vanity of all earthly things, and
admonishing men to be humble:
1. O son of man, let not time deceive thee; thou must wither away, and
leave thy place, to rest in the bosom of the earth.
2. Haste thee not, move slowly, for the world is taken from one and
bestowed upon another.
3. Furnish thyself with food for the journey, prepare thy meal while
daylight lasts, for thou wilt not remain on earth forever, and thou
knowest not the day of thy death. (78)
In one of the chambers, Solomon saw a number of statues, among them one
that looked as though alive. When he approached it, it called out in a
loud voice: "Hither, ye satans, Solomon has come to undo you." Suddenly
there arose great noise and tumult among the statues. Solomon
pronounced the Name, and quiet was restored. The statues were
overthrown, and the sons of the satans ran into the sea and were
drowned. From the throat of the lifelike statue he drew a silver plate
inscribed with characters which he could not decipher, but a youth from
the desert told the king: "These letters are Greek, and the words mean:
'I, Shadad ben Ad, ruled over a thousand thousand provinces, rode on a
thousand thousand horses, had a thousand thousand kings under me, and
slew a thousand thousand heroes, and when the Angel of Death approached
me, I was powerless.'" (79)
ASMODEUS
When Solomon in his wealth and prosperity grew unmindful of his God,
and, contrary to the injunctions laid down for kings in the Torah,
multiplied wives unto himself, and craved the possession of many horses
and much gold, the Book of Deuteronomy stepped before God and said:
"Lo, O Lord of the world, Solomon is seeking to remove a Yod from out
of me, (80) for Thou didst write: 'The king shall not multiply horses
unto himself, nor shall he multiply wives to himself, neither shall he
greatly multiply to himself silver and gold'; but Solomon has acquired
many horses, many wives, and much silver and gold." Hereupon God said:
"As thou livest, Solomon and a hundred of his kind shall be annihilated
ere a single one of thy letters shall be obliterated." (81)
The charge made against Solomon was soon followed by consequences. He
had to pay heavily for his sins. It came about in this way: While
Solomon was occupied with the Temple, he had great difficulty in
devising ways of fitting the stone from the quarry into the building,
for the Torah explicitly prohibits the use of iron tools in erecting an
altar. The scholars told him that Moses had used the shamir, (82) the
stone that splits rocks, to engrave the names of the tribes on the
precious stones of the ephod worn by the high priest. Solomon's demons
could give him no information as to where the shamir could be found.
They surmised, however, that Asmodeus, (83) king of demons, was in
possession of the secret, and they told Solomon the name of the
mountain on which Asmodeus dwelt, and described also his manner of
life. On this mountain there was a well from which Asmodeus obtained
his drinking water. He closed it up daily with a large rock, and sealed
it before going to heaven, whither he went every day, to take part in
the discussions in the heavenly academy. Thence he would descend again
to earth in order to be present, though invisible, (84) at the debates
in the earthly houses of learning. Then, after investigating the seal
on the well to ascertain if it had been tampered with, he drank of the
water.
Solomon sent his chief man, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, to capture
Asmodeus. For this purpose he provided him with a chain, the ring on
which the Name of God was engraved, a bundle of wool, and a skin of
wine. Benaiah drew the water from the well through a hole bored from
below, and, after having stopped up the hole with the wool, he filled
the well with wine from above. When Asmodeus descended from heaven, to
his astonishment he found wine instead of water in the well, although
everything seemed untouched. At first he would not drink of it, and
cited the Bible verses that inveigh against wine, to inspire himself
with moral courage. At length Asmodeus succumbed to his consuming
thirst, and drank till his senses were overpowered, and he fell into a
deep sleep. Benaiah, watching him from a tree, then came, and drew the
chain about Asmodeus' neck. The demon, on awakening, tried to free
himself, but Benaiah called to him: "The Name of thy Lord is upon
thee." Though Asmodeus now permitted himself to be led off
unresistingly, he acted most peculiarly on the way to Solomon. He
brushed against a palm-tree and uprooted it; he knocked against a house
and overturned it; and when, at the request of a poor woman, he was
turned aside from her hut, he broke a bone. He asked with grim humor:
"Is it not written, 'A soft tongue breaketh the bone?'" A blind man
going astray he set in the right path, and to a drunkard he did a
similar kindness. He wept when a wedding party passed them, and laughed
at a man who asked his shoemaker to make him shoes to last for seven
years, and at a magician who was publicly showing his skill.
Having finally arrived at the end of the journey, Asmodeus, after
several days of waiting, was led before Solomon, who questioned him
about his strange conduct on the journey. Asmodeus answered that he
judged persons and things according to their real character, and not
according to their appearance in the eyes of human beings. He cried
when he saw the wedding company, because he knew the bridegroom had not
a month to live, and he laughed at him who wanted shoes to last seven
years, because the man would not own them for seven days, also at the
magician who pretended to disclose secrets, because he did not know
that a buried treasure lay under his very feet; the blind man whom he
set in the right path was one of the "perfect pious," and he wanted to
be kind to him; on the other hand, the drunkard to whom he did a
similar kindness was known in heaven as a very wicked man, but he
happened to have done a good deed once, and he was rewarded
accordingly.
Asmodeus told Solomon that the shamir was given by God to the Angel of
the Sea, and that Angel entrusted none with the shamir except the
moor-hen, (85) which had taken an oath to watch the shamir carefully.
The moor-hen takes the shamir with her to mountains which are not
inhabited by men, splits them by means of the shamir, and injects
seeds, which grow and cover the naked rocks, and then they can be
inhabited. Solomon sent one of his servants to seek the nest of the
bird and lay a piece of glass over it. When the moor-hen came and could
not reach her young, she flew away and fetched the shamir and placed it
on the glass. Then the man shouted, and so terrified the bird that she
dropped the shamir and flew away. By this means the man obtained
possession of the coveted shamir, and bore it to Solomon. But the
moor-hen was so distressed at having broken her oath to the Angel of
the Sea that she committed suicide.
Although Asmodeus was captured only for the purpose of getting the
shamir, Solomon nevertheless kept him after the completion of the
Temple. One day the king told Asmodeus that he did not understand
wherein the greatness of the demons lay, if their king could be kept in
bonds by a mortal. Asmodeus replied, that if Solomon would remove his
chains and lend him the magic ring, he would prove his own greatness.
Solomon agreed. The demon stood before him with one wing touching
heaven and the other reaching to the earth. Snatching up Solomon, who
had parted with his protecting ring, he flung him four hundred
parasangs away from Jerusalem, and then palmed himself off as the king.
SOLOMON AS BEGGAR
Banished from his home, deprived of his realm, Solomon wandered about
in far-off lands, among strangers, begging his daily bread. Nor did his
humiliation end there; people thought him a lunatic, because he never
tired of assuring them that he was Solomon, Judah's great and mighty
king. Naturally that seemed a preposterous claim to the people. (86)
The lowest depth of despair he reached, however, when he met some one
who recognized him. The recollections and associations that stirred
within him then made his present misery almost unendurable.
It happened (87) that once on his peregrinations he met an old
acquaintance, a rich and well-considered man, who gave a sumptuous
banquet in honor of Solomon. At the meal his host spoke to Solomon
constantly of the magnificence and splendor he had once seen with his
own eyes at the court of the king. These reminiscences moved the king
to tears, and he wept so bitterly that, when he rose from the banquet,
he was satiated, not with the rich food, but with salt tears. The
following day it again happened that Solomon met an acquaintance of
former days, this time a poor man, who nevertheless entreated Solomon
to do him the honor and break bread under his roof. All that the poor
man could offer his distinguished guest was a meagre dish of greens.
But he tried in every way to assuage the grief that oppressed Solomon.
He said: "O my lord and king, God hath sworn unto David He would never
let the royal dignity depart from his house, but it is the way of God
to reprove those He loves if they sin. Rest assured, He will restore
thee in good time to thy kingdom." These words of his poor host were
more grateful to Solomon's bruised heart than the banquet the rich man
had prepared for him. It was to the contrast between the consolations
of the two men that he applied the verse in Proverbs: "Better is a
dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith."
For three long years Solomon journeyed about, begging his way from city
to city, and from country to country, atoning for the three (88) sins
of his life by which he had set aside the commandment laid upon kings
in Deuteronomy not to multiply horses, and wives, and silver and
gold. At the end of that time, God took mercy upon him for the sake of
his father David, and for the sake of the pious princess Naamah, the
daughter of the Ammonite king, destined by God to be the ancestress of
the Messiah. The time was approaching when she was to become the wife
of Solomon (89) and reign as queen in Jerusalem. God therefore led the
royal wanderer to the capital city of Ammon. (90) Solomon took service
as an underling with the cook in the royal household, and he proved
himself so proficient in the culinary art that the king of Ammon raised
him to the post of chief cook. Thus he came under the notice of the
king's daughter Naamah, who fell in love with her father's cook. In
vain her parents endeavored to persuade her to choose a husband
befitting her rank. Not even the king's threat to have her and her
beloved executed availed to turn her thoughts away from Solomon. The
Ammonite king had the lovers taken to a barren desert, in the hope that
they would die of starvation there. Solomon and his wife wandered
through the desert until they came to a city situated by the sea-shore.
They purchased a fish to stave off death. When Naamah prepared the
fish, she found in its belly the magic ring belonging to her husband,
which he had given to Asmodeus, and which, thrown into the sea by the
demon, had been swallowed by a fish. Solomon recognized his ring, put
it on his finger, and in the twinkling of an eye he transported himself
to Jerusalem. Asmodeus, who had been posing as King Solomon during the
three years, he drove out, and himself ascended the throne again.
Later on he cited the king of Ammon before his tribunal, and called him
to account for the disappearance of the cook and the cook's wife,
accusing him of having killed them. The king of Ammon protested that he
had not killed, but only banished them. Then Solomon had the queen
appear, and to his great astonishment and still greater joy the king of
Ammon recognized his daughter. (91)
Solomon succeeded in regaining his throne only after undergoing many
hardships. The people of Jerusalem considered him a lunatic, because he
said that he was Solomon. After some time, the members of the Sanhedrin
noticed his peculiar behavior, and they investigated the matter. They
found that a long time had passed since Benaiah, the confidant of the
king, had been permitted to enter the presence of the usurper.
Furthermore the wives of Solomon and his mother Bath-sheba informed
them that the behavior of the king had completely changed it was not
befitting royalty and in no respect like Solomon's former manner. It
was also very strange that the king never by any chance allowed his
foot to be seen, for fear, of course, of betraying his demon origin.
(92) The Sanhedrin, therefore, gave the king's magic ring to the
wandering beggar who called himself King Solomon, and had him appear
before the pretender on the throne. As soon as Asmodeus caught sight of
the true king protected by his magic ring, he flew away precipitately.
Solomon did not escape unscathed. The sight of Asmodeus in all his
forbidding ugliness had so terrified him that henceforth he surrounded
his couch at night with all the valiant heroes among the people. (93)
THE COURT OF SOLOMON
As David had been surrounded by great scholars and heroes of repute, so
the court of Solomon was the gathering-place of the great of his
people. The most important of them all doubtless was Benaiah the son of
Jehoiada, who had no peer for learning and piety either in the time of
the first or the second Temple. (94) In his capacity as the chancellor
of Solomon, he was the object of the king's special favor. He was
frequently invited to be the companion of the king in his games of
chess. The wise king naturally was always the winner. One day Solomon
left the chess-board for a moment, Benaiah used his absence to remove
one of the king's chess-men, and the king lost the game. Solomon gave
much thought to the occurrence. He came to the conclusion that his
chancellor had dealt dishonestly with him, and he was determined to
give him a lesson.
Some days later Solomon noticed two suspicious characters hanging about
the palace. Acting at once upon an idea that occurred to him, he put on
the clothes of one of his servants and joined the two suspects. The
three of them, he proposed, should make the attempt to rob the royal
palace, and he drew forth a key which would facilitate their entrance.
While the thieves were occupied in gathering booty, the king roused his
servants, and the malefactors were taken into custody. Next morning
Solomon appeared before the Sanhedrin, which was presided over by
Benaiah (95) at the time, and he desired to know from the court what
punishment was meted out to a thief. Benaiah, seeing no delinquents
before him, and unwilling to believe that the king would concern
himself about the apprehension of thieves, was convinced that Solomon
was bent on punishing him for his dishonest play. He fell at the feet
of the king, confessed his guilt, and begged his pardon. Solomon was
pleased to have his supposition confirmed, and also to have Benaiah
acknowledge his wrong-doing. he assured him he harbored no evil designs
against him, and that when he asked this question of the Sanhedrin, he
had had real thieves in mind, who had broken into the palace during the
night. (96)
Another interesting incident happened, in which Benaiah played a part.
The king of Persia was very ill, and his physician told him he could be
cured by nothing but the milk of a lioness. The king accordingly sent a
deputation bearing rich presents to Solomon, the only being in the
world who might in his wisdom discover means to obtain lion's milk.
Solomon charged Benaiah to fulfil the Persian king's wish. Benaiah took
a number of kids, and repaired to a lion's den. Daily he threw a kid to
the lioness, and after some time the beasts became familiar with him,
and finally he could approach the lioness close enough to draw milk
from her udders.
On the way back to the Persian king the physician who had recommended
the milk cure dreamed a dream. All the organs of his body, his hands,
feet, eyes, mouth, and tongue, were quarrelling with one another, each
claiming the greatest share of credit in procuring the remedy for the
Persian monarch. When the tongue set forth its own contribution to the
cause of the king's service, the other organs rejected its claim as
totally unfounded. The physician did not forget the dream, and when he
appeared before the king, he spoke: "Here is the dog's milk which we
went to fetch for you." The king, enraged, ordered the physician to be
hanged, because he had brought the milk of a bitch instead of the milk
of a lion's dam. During the preliminaries to the execution, all the
limbs and organs of the physician began to tremble, whereupon the
tongue said: "Did I not tell you that you all are of no good? If you
will acknowledge my superiority, I shall even now save you from death."
They all made the admission it demanded, and the physician requested
the executioner to take him to the king. Once in the presence of his
master, he begged him as a special favor to drink of the milk he had
brought. The king granted his wish, recovered from his sickness, and
dismissed the physician in peace. So it came about that all the organs
of the body acknowledge the supremacy of the tongue. (97)
Besides Benaiah, Solomon's two scribes, Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons
of Shisha, deserve mention. They both met their death in a most
peculiar way. Solomon once upon a time noticed a care-worn expression
on the countenance of the Angel of Death. When he asked the reason, he
received the answer, that he had been charged with the task of bringing
the two scribes to the next world. Solomon was desirous of stealing a
march upon the Angel of Death, as well as keeping his secretaries
alive. He ordered the demons to carry Elihoreph and Ahijah to Luz, the
only spot on earth in which the Angel of Death has no power. (98) In a
jiffy, the demons had done his bidding, but the two secretaries expired
at the very moment of reaching the gates of Luz. Next day, the Angel of
Death appeared before Solomon in very good humor, and said to him:
"Thou didst transport those two men to the very spot in which I wanted
them." The fate destined for them was to die at the gates of Luz, and
the Angel of Death had been at a loss how to get them there. (99)
A most interesting incident in Solomon's own family circle is connected
with one of his daughters. She was of extraordinary beauty, and in the
stars he read that she was to marry an extremely poor youth. To prevent
the undesirable union, Solomon had a high tower erected in the sea, and
to this he sent his daughter. Seventy eunuchs were to guard her, and a
huge quantity of food was stored in the tower for her use.
The poor youth whom fate had appointed to be her husband was travelling
one cold night. He did not know where to rest his head, when he espied
the rent carcass of an ox lying in the field. In this he lay down to
keep warm. When he was ensconced in it, there came a large bird, which
took the carcass, bore it, together with the youth stretched out in it,
to the roof of the tower in which the princess lived, and, settling
down there, began to devour the flesh of the ox. In the morning, the
princess, according to her wont, ascended to the roof to look out upon
the sea, and she caught sight of the youth. She asked him who he was,
and who had brought him thither? He told her that he was a Jew from
Accho, and had been carried to the tower by a bird. She showed him to a
chamber, where he could wash and anoint himself, and array himself in a
fresh garb. Then it appeared that he possessed unusual beauty. Besides,
he was a scholar of great attainments and of acute mind. So it came
about that the princess fell in love with him. She asked him whether he
would have her to wife, and he assented gladly. He opened one of his
veins, and wrote the marriage contract with his own blood. Then he
pronounced the formula of betrothal, taking God and the two archangels
Michael and Gabriel as witnesses, and she became his wife, legally
married to him.
After some time the eunuchs noticed that she was pregnant. Their
questions elicited the suspected truth from the princess, and they sent
for Solomon. His daughter admitted her marriage, and the king, though
he recognized in her husband the poor man predicted in the
constellations, yet he thanked God for his son-in-law, distinguished no
less for learning than for his handsome person. (100)
VI.
JUDAH AND ISRAEL
THE DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM
The division of the kingdom into Judah and Israel, which took place
soon after the death of Solomon, had cast its shadow before. When
Solomon, on the day after his marriage with the Egyptian princess,
disturbed the regular course of the Temple service by sleeping late
with his head on the pillow under which lay the key of the Temple,
Jeroboam with eighty thousand Ephraimites approached the king and
publicly called him to account for is negligence. God administered a
reproof to Jeroboam; "Why dost thou reproach a prince of Israel? As
thou livest, thou shalt have a taste of his rulership, and thou wilt
see thou are not equal to its responsibilities." (1)
On another occasion a clash occurred between Jeroboam and Solomon. The
latter ordered his men to close the openings David had made in the city
wall to facilitate the approach of the pilgrims to Jerusalem. This
forced them all the walk through the gates and pay toll. The tax thus
collected Solomon gave to his wife, the daughter of Pharaoh, as
pin-money. Indignant at this, Jeroboam questioned the king about it in
public. In other ways, too, he failed to pay Solomon the respect due to
royal position, as his father before him, Sheba the son of Bichri, had
rebelled against David, misled by signs and tokens which he had falsely
interpreted as pointing to his own elevation to royal dignity, when in
reality they concerned themselves with his son. (2)
It was when Jeroboam was preparing to depart from Jerusalem forever, in
order to escape the dangers to which Solomon's displeasure exposed him,
(3) that Ahijah of Shilo met him with the Divine tidings of his
elevation to the kingship. The prophet Ahijah, of the tribe of Levi,
was venerable, not only by reason of his hoary age, his birth
occurred at least sixty years before the exodus from Egypt, (4) but
because his piety was so profound that a saint of the exalted standing
of Simon ben Yohai associated Ahijah with himself. Simon once
exclaimed: "My merits and Ahijah together suffice to atone for the
iniquity of all sinners from the time of Abraham until the advent of
the Messiah." (5)
JEROBOAM
Jeroboam was the true disciple (6) of this great prophet, His doctrine
was as pure as the new garment Ahijah wore when he met Jeroboam near
Jerusalem, and his learning exceeded that of all the scholars of his
time except his own teacher Ahijah alone. The prophet was in the habit
of discussing secret love with Jeroboam and subjects in the Torah whose
existence was wholly unknown to others. (7)
Had Jeroboam proved himself worthy of his high position, the length of
his reign would have equalled David's. (8) It was his pride that led
him into destruction. He set up the golden calves as objects to be
worshipped by the people, in order to wean them from their habit of
going on pilgrimages to Jerusalem. He knew that in the Temple only
members of the royal house of David were privileged to sit down. No
exception would be made in favor of Jeroboam, and so he would have to
stand while Rehoboam would be seated. Rather than appear in public as
the subordinate of the Judean king, he introduced the worship of idols,
which secured him full royal prerogatives.
In the execution of his plan he proceeded with great cunning, and his
reputation as a profound scholar and pious saint stood him in good
stead. This was his method: He seated an impious man next to a pious
man, and then said to each couple: "Will you put your signature to
anything I intend to do?" The two would give an affirmative answer. "Do
you want me as king?" he would then ask, only to receive and
affirmative answer again. "And you will do whatever I order?" he
continued. "Yes," was the reply. "I am to infer, then, that you will
even pay worship to idols if I command it?" said Jeroboam. "God forbid
!" the pious member of the couple would exclaim, whereupon his impious
companion, who was in league with the king, would turn upon him: "Canst
thou really suppose for an instant that a man like Jeroboam would serve
idols? He only wishes to put our loyalty to the test." Through such
machinations he succeeded in obtaining the signatures of the most
pious, even the signature of the prophet Ahijah. Now Jeroboam had the
people is his power. He could exact the vilest deeds from them. (9)
So entrenched, Jeroboam brought about the division between Judah and
Israel, a consummation which his father, Sheba the son of Bichri, had
not been able to compass under David, because God desired to have the
Temple erected before the split occurred. (10) Not yet satisfied,
Jeroboam sought to involve the Ten Tribes in a war against Judah and
Jerusalem. But the people of the northern kingdom refused to enter into
hostilities with their brethren, and with the ruler of their brethren,
a descendant of David. Jeroboam appealed to the elders of the
Israelites, and they referred him to the Danites, the most efficient of
their warriors; but they swore by the head of Dan, the ancestor of
their tribe, that they would never consent to shed blood of their
brethren. They were even on the point of rising against Jeroboam, and
the clash between them and the followers of Jeroboam was prevented only
because God prompted the Danites to leave Palestine.
Their first plan was to journey to Egypt and take possession of the
land. They gave it up when their princes reminded them of the Biblical
prohibition (11) against dwelling in Egypt. Likewise they were
restrained from attacking the Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites, for
the Torah commands considerate treatment of them. Finally they decided
to go to Egypt, but not to stay there, only to pass through to
Ethiopia. The Egyptians were in great terror of the Danites, and their
hardiest warriors occupied the roads travelled by them. Arrived in
Ethiopia, the Danites slew a part of the population, and exacted
tribute from the rest. (12)
The departure of the Danites relieved Judah from the apprehended
invasion by Jeroboam, but danger arose from another quarter. Shishak,
(13) the ruler of Egypt, who was the father-in-law of Solomon, came to
Jerusalem and demanded his daughter's jointure. He carried off the
throne of Solomon, (14) and also the treasure which the Israelites had
taken from the Egyptians at the time of the exodus. So the Egyptian
money returned to its source. (15)
THE TWO ABIJAHS
Jeroboam did not entirely forego his plan of a campaign against Judah,
but it was not executed until Abijah had succeeded his father Rehoboam
on the throne of Jerusalem. The Judean king was victorious. However, he
could not long enjoy the fruits of his victory. Shortly after occurred
his death, brought on by his own crimes. In his war against Jeroboam he
had indulged in excessive cruelty; he ordered the corpses of the enemy
to be mutilated, and permitted them to be buried only after
putrefaction had set in. Such savagery was all the more execrable as it
prevented many widows from entering into a second marriage. Mutilating
the corpses had made identification impossible, and so it was left
doubtful whether their husbands were among the dead.
Moreover, Abijah used most disrespectful language about the prophet
Abijah the Shilonite; he called him a "son of Belial" in his address to
the people on Mount Zemaraim. That in itself merited severe punishment.
Finally, his zeal for true worship of God, which Abijah had urged as
the reason of the war between himself and Jeroboam, cooled quickly.
When he obtained possession of Beth-el, he failed to do away with the
golden calves. (16)
In this respect his namesake, the Israelitish king Abijah, the son of
Jeroboam, was by far his superior. By removing the guards stationed at
the frontier, he bade defiance to the command of his father, who had
decreed the death penalty for pilgrimages to Jerusalem. More than this,
he himself ventured to go up to Jerusalem in fulfilment of his
religious duty. (17)
ASA
Asa, the son of Abijah of Judah, was a worthier and a more pious ruler
than his father had been. He did away with the gross worship of
Priapus, (18) to which his mother was devoted. To reward him for his
piety, God gave him the victory over Zerah, the king of the Ethiopians.
As a result of this victory he came again into possession of the throne
of Solomon and of the treasures Shishak had taken from his grandfather,
which Zerah in turn had wrested form Shishak. (19) Asa himself did not
long keep them. Baasha, the king of Israel, together with Ben-hadad,
the Aramean king, attacked Asa, who tried to propitiate Ben-hadad by
giving him his lately re-acquired treasures. (20) The prophet justly
rebuked him for trusting in princes rather than in God, and that in
spite of the fact that Divine help had been visible in his conflicts
with the Ethiopians and the Lubim; for there had been no need for him
to engage in battle with them; in response to his mere prayer God had
slain the enemy. (21) In general, Asa showed little confidence in God;
he rather trusted his own skill. Accordingly, he made even the scholars
of his realm enlist in the army sent out against Baasha. He was
punished by being afflicted with gout, he of all men, who was
distinguished on account of the strength residing in his feet. (22)
Furthermore, the division between Judah and Israel was made permanent,
though God had at first intended to limit the exclusion of David's
house from Israel to only thirty-six years. Had Asa shown himself
deserving, he would have been accorded dominion over the whole of
Israel. (23) In point of fact, Asa, through his connection by marriage
with the house of Omri, contributed to the stability of the Israelitish
dynasty, for as a result of the support given by the southern ruler
Omri succeeded in putting his rival Tibni out of the way. Then it was
that God resolved that the descendants of Asa should perish
simultaneously with the descendants of Omri. This doom was accomplished
when Jehu killed the king of Judah on account of his friendship and
kinship with Joram the king of Samaria. (24)
JEHOSHAPHAT AND AHAB
The successors of Omri and Asa, each in his way, were worthy of their
fathers. Jehoshaphat, the son of Asa, was very wealthy. The treasures
which his father had sent to the Aramean ruler reverted to him in
consequence of his victory over the Ammonites, themselves the
conquerors of the Arameans, whom they had despoiled of their
possessions. (25) His power was exceedingly great; each division of his
army counted no less than one hundred and sixty thousand warriors. (26)
Yet rich and powerful as he was, he was so modest that he refused to
don his royal apparel when he went to the house of the prophet Elisha
to consult him; he appeared before him in the attire of one of the
people. (27) Unlike his father, who had little consideration for
scholars, Jehoshaphat was particularly gracious toward them. When a
scholar appeared before him, he arose, hastened to meet him, and
kissing and embracing him, greeted him with "Rabbi, Rabbi!" (28)
Jehoshaphat concerned himself greatly about the purity and
sanctification of the Temple. He was the author of the ordinance
forbidding any one to ascend the Temple mount whose term of uncleanness
had not expired, even though he had taken the ritual bath. (29) His
implicit trust in God made him a complete contrast to his skeptical
father. He turned to God and implored His help when to human reason
help seemed an utter impossibility. In the war with the Arameans, an
enemy held his sword at Jehoshaphat's very throat, ready to deal the
fatal blow, but the king entreated help of God, and it was granted.
(30)
In power and wealth, Ahab, king of Samaria, outstripped his friend
Jehoshaphat, for Ahab is one of that small number of kings who have
ruled over the whole world. (31) No less than two hundred and fifty-two
kingdoms acknowledged his dominion. (32) As for his wealth, it was so
abundant that each of his hundred and forty children possessed several
ivory palaces, summer and winter residences. (33) But what gives Ahab
his prominence among the Jewish kings is neither his power nor his
wealth, but his sinful conduct. For him the gravest transgressions
committed by Jeroboam were slight peccadilloes. At his order the gates
of Samaria bore the inscription: "Ahab denies the God of Israel." He
was so devoted to idolatry, to which he was led astray by his wife
Jezebel, that the fields of Palestine were full of idols. But he was
not wholly wicked, he possessed some good qualities. He was liberal
toward scholars, and he showed great reverence for the Torah, which he
studied zealously. When Ben-hadad exacted all he possessed his
wealth, his wives, his children he acceded to his demands regarding
everything except the Torah; that he refused peremptorily to surrender.
(34) In the war that followed between himself and the Syrians, he was
so indignant at the presumptuousness of the Aramean upstart that he
himself saddled his warhorse for the battle. His zeal was rewarded by
God; he gained a brilliant victory in a battle in which no less than a
hundred thousand of the Syrians were slain, as the prophet Micaiah had
foretold to him. (35) The same seer (36) admonished him not to deal
gently with Ben-hadad. God's word to him had been: "Know that I had to
set many a pitfall and trap to deliver him into thy hand. If thou
lettest him escape, thy life will be forfeit for his." (37)
Nevertheless the disastrous end of Ahab is not to be ascribed to his
disregard of the prophet's warning for he finally liberated
Ben-hahad, but chiefly to the murder of his kinsman Naboth, whose
execution on the charge of treason he had ordered, so that he might put
himself in possession of Naboth's wealth. (38) His victim was a pious
man, and in the habit of going on pilgrimages to Jerusalem on the
festivals. As he was a great singer, his presence in the Holy City
attracted many other pilgrims thither. Once Naboth failed to go on his
customary pilgrimage. Then it was that his false conviction took place
a very severe punishment for the transgression, but not wholly
unjustifiable. (39) Under Jehoshaphat's influence and counsel, Ahab did
penance for his crime, and the punishment God meted out to him was
thereby mitigated to the extent that his dynasty was not cut off from
the throne at this death. (40) In the heavenly court of justice, (41)
at Ahab's trial, the accusing witnesses and his defenders exactly
balanced each other in number and statements, until the spirit of
Naboth appeared and turned the scale against Ahab. The spirit of Naboth
it had been, too, that had let astray the prophets of Ahab, making them
all use the very same words in prophesying a victory at Ramothgilead.
This literal unanimity aroused Jehoshaphat's suspicion, and caused him
to ask for "a prophet of the Lord," for the rule is: "The same thought
is revealed to many prophets, but no two prophets express it in the
same words." (42) Jehoshaphat's mistrust was justified by the issue of
war. Ahab was slain in a miraculous way by Naaman, at the time only a
common soldier of the rank and file. God permitted Naaman's missile to
penetrate Ahab's armor, though the latter was harder than the former.
(43)
The mourning for Ahab was so great that the memory of it reached
posterity. (44) The funeral procession was unusually impressive; no
less than thirty-six thousand warriors, their shoulders bared, marched
before his bier. (45) Ahab is one of the few in Israel who have no
portion in the world to come. (46) He dwells in the fifth division of
the nether world, which is under the supervision of the angel Oniel.
However, he is exempt from the tortures inflicted upon his heathen
associates. (47)
JEZEBEL
Wicked as Ahab was, his wife Jezebel was incomparably worse. Indeed,
she is in great part the cause of his suffering, and Ahab realized it.
Once Rabbi Levi expounded the Scriptural verse in which the iniquity of
Ahab and the influence of his wife over him are discussed, dwelling
upon the first half for two months. Ahab visited him in a dream, and
reproached him with expatiating on the first half of the verse to the
exclusion of the latter half. Thereupon the Rabbi took the second half
of the verse as the text of his lectures for the next two months,
demonstrating all the time that Jezebel was the instigator of Ahab's
sins. (48) Her misdeed are told in the Scriptures. To those there
recounted must be added her practice of attaching unchaste images to
Ahab's chariot for the purpose of stimulating his carnal desires.
Therefore those parts of his chariot were spattered with his blood when
he fell at the hand of the enemy. (49) She had her husband weighed
every day, and the increase of his weight in gold she sacrificed to the
idol. (50) Jezebel was not only the daughter and the wife of a king,
she was also co-regent with her husband, the only reigning queen in
Jewish history except Athaliah. (51)
Hardened sinner though Jezebel was, even she had good qualities. One of
them was her capacity for sympathy with others in joy and sorrow.
Whenever a funeral cortege passed the royal palace, Jezebel would
descend and join the ranks of the mourners, and, also, when a marriage
procession went by, she took part in the merry-making in honor of the
bridal couple. By way of reward the limbs and organs with which she had
executed these good deeds were left intact by the horses that trampled
her to death in the portion of Jezreel. (52)
JORAM OF ISRAEL
Of Joram, the son of Ahab, it can only be said that he had his father's
faults without his father's virtues. Ahab was liberal, Joram miserly,
nay, he even indulged in usurious practices. From Obadiah, the pious
protector of the prophets in hiding, he exacted a high rate of interest
on the money needed for their support. As a consequence, at his death
he fell pierced between his arms, the arrow going out at his heart, for
he had stretched out his arms to receive usury, and had hardened his
heart against compassion. (53) In his reign only one event deserves
mention, his campaign against Moab, undertaken in alliance with the
kings of Judah and Edom, and ending with a splendid victory won by the
allied kings. Joram and his people, it need hardly be said, failed to
derive the proper lesson from the war. Their disobedience to God's
commands went on as before. The king of Moab, on the other hand, in his
way sought to come nearer to God. He assembled his astrologers and
inquired of them, why it was that the Moabites, successful in their
warlike enterprises against other nations, could not measure up to the
standard of the Israelites. They explained that God was gracious to
Israel, because his ancestor Abraham had been ready to sacrifice Isaac
at His bidding. Then the Moabite king reasoned, that if God set so high
a value upon mere good intention, how much greater would be the reward
for its actual execution, and he, who ordinarily was a sun worshipper,
proceeded to sacrifice his son, the successor to the throne, to the God
of Israel. God said: "The heathen do not know Me, and their wrong-doing
arises from ignorance; but you, Israelites, know Me, and yet you act
rebelliously toward Me." (54)
As a result of the seven years' famine, conditions in Samaria were
frightful during the great part of Joram's reign. In the first year
everything stored in the houses was eaten up. In the second, the people
supported themselves with what they could scrape together in the
fields. The flesh of the clean animals sufficed for the third year; in
the fourth the sufferers resorted to the unclean animals; in the fifth,
the reptiles and insects; and in the sixth the monstrous thing happened
that women crazed by hunger consumed their own children as food. But
the acme of distress was reached in the seventh year, when men sought
to gnaw the flesh from their own bones. (55) To these occurrences the
prophecies of Joel apply, for he lived in the awful days of the famine
in Joram's reign.
Luckily, God revealed to Joel at the same time how Israel would be
rescued from the famine. The winter following the seven years of dearth
brought no relief, for the rain held back until the first day of the
month of Nisan. When it began to fall, the prophet said to the people,
"Go forth and sow seed!" But they remonstrated with him, "Shall one who
hath saved a measure of wheat or two measures of barely not use his
store for food and live, rather than for seed and die?" But the prophet
urged them, "Nay, go forth and sow seed." And a miracle happened. In
the ant hills and mouse holes, they found enough grain for seed, and
they cast it upon the ground on the second, the third, and the fourth
day of Nisan. On the fifth day of the month rain fell again. Eleven
days later the grain was ripe, and the offering of the 'Omer could be
brought at the appointed time, on the sixteenth of the month. Of this
the Psalmist was thinking when he said, "They that sow in tears shall
reap in joy." (56)
VII.
ELIJAH
ELIJAH BEFORE HIS TRANSLATION
The Biblical account of the prophet Elijah, (1) of his life and work
during the reigns of Ahab and his son Joram, gives but a faint idea of
a personage whose history begins with Israel's sojourn in Egypt, and
will end only when Israel, under the leadership of the Messiah, shall
have taken up his abode again in Palestine.
The Scripture tells us only the name of Elijah's home, (2) but it must
be added that he was a priest, identical with Phinehas, (3) the priest
zealous for the honor of God, who distinguished himself on the journey
through the desert, and played a prominent role again in the time of
the Judges. (4)
Elijah's first appearance in the period of the Kings was his meeting
with Ahab in the house of Hiel, the Beth-elite, the commander-in-chief
of the Israelitish army, whom he was visiting to condole with him for
the loss of his sons. God Himself had charged the prophet to offer
sympathy to Hiel, whose position demanded that honor be paid him.
Elijah at first refused to seek out the sinner who had violated the
Divine injunction against rebuilding Jericho, for he said that the
blasphemous talk of such evil-doers always called forth his rage.
Thereupon God promised Elijah that fulfilment should attend whatever
imprecation might in his wrath escape him against the godless for their
unholy speech. As the prophet entered the general's house, he heard
Hiel utter these words: "Blessed be the Lord God of the pious, who
grants fulfilment to the words of the pious." Hiel thus acknowledged
that he had been justly afflicted with Joshua's curse against him who
should rebuild Jericho.
Ahab mockingly asked him: "Was not Moses greater than Joshua, and did
he not say that God would let no rain descend upon the earth, if Israel
served and worshipped idols? There is not an idol known to which I do
not pay homage, yet we enjoy all that is goodly and desirable. Dost
thou believe that if the words of Moses remain unfulfilled, the words
of Joshua will come true?" Elijah rejoined: "Be it as thou sayest: 'As
the Lord, the God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall
not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.'" In
pursuance of His promise, God could not but execute the words of
Elijah, and neither dew nor rain watered the land. (5)
A famine ensued, and Ahab sought to wreak his vengeance upon the
prophet. To escape the king's persecutions, Elijah hid himself. He was
sustained with food brought from the larder of the pious king
Jehoshaphat by ravens, (6) which at the same time would not approach
near to the house of the iniquitous Ahab. (7)
God, who has compassion even upon the impious, tried to induce the
prophet to release Him from His promise. To influence him He made the
brook run dry (8) whence Elijah drew water for his thirst. As this
failed to soften the inflexible prophet, God resorted to the expedient
of causing him pain through the death of the son of the widow with whom
Elijah was abiding, and by whom he had been received with great honor.
When her son, who was later to be known as the prophet Jonah, (9) died,
she thought God had formerly been gracious to her on account of her
great worthiness as compared with the merits of her neighbors and of
the inhabitants of the city, and now He had abandoned her, because her
virtues had become as naught in the presence of the great prophet. (10)
In his distress Elijah supplicated God to revive the child. (11) Now
God had the prophet in His power. He could give heed unto Elijah's
prayer only provided the prophet released Him from the promise about a
drought, for resuscitation from death is brought about by means of dew,
and this remedy was precluded so long as Elijah kept God to His word
withholding dew and rain from the earth. (12) Elijah saw there was
nothing for it but to yield. However, he first betook himself to Ahab
with the purpose of overcoming the obduracy of the people, upon whom
the famine had made no impression. Manifest wonders displayed before
their eyes were to teach them wisdom. The combat between God and Baal
took place on Carmel. The mount that had esteemed itself the proper
place for the greatest event in Israelitish history, the revelation of
the law, was compensated, by the many miracles now performed upon it,
for its disappointment at Sinai's having been preferred to it. (13)
The first wonder occurred in connection with the choice of the
bullocks. According to Elijah's arrangement with Ahab, one was to be
sacrificed to God, and then one to Baal. A pair to twins, raised
together, were brought before the contestants, and it was decided by
lot which belonged to God and which to Baal. Elijah had no difficulty
with his offering; quickly he led it to his altar. But all the priests
of Baal, eight hundred and fifty in number, could not make their victim
stir a foot. When Elijah began to speak persuasively to the bullock of
Baal, urging it to follow the idolatrous priests, it opened its mouth
and said: "We two, yonder bullock and myself, came forth from the same
womb, we took our food from the same manger, and now he has been
destined for God, as an instrument for the glorification of the Divine
Name, while I am to be used for Baal, as an instrument to enrage my
Creator." Elijah urged: "Do thou but follow the priests of Baal that
they may have no excuse, and then thou wilt have a share in that
glorification of God for which my bullock will be used." The bullock:
"So dost thou advise, but I swear I will not move from the spot, unless
thou with thine own hands wilt deliver me up." Elijah thereupon led the
bullock to the priests of Baal. (14)
In spite of this miracle, the priests sought to deceive the people.
They undermined the altar, and Hiel hid himself under it with the
purpose of igniting a fire at the mention of the word Baal. But God
sent a serpent to kill him. (15) In vain the false priests cried and
called, Baal! Baal! the expected flame did not shoot up. To add to
the confusion of the idolaters, God had imposed silence upon the whole
world. The powers of the upper and of the nether regions were dumb, the
universe seemed deserted and desolate, as if without a living creature.
If a single sound had made itself heard, the priests would have said,
"It is the voice of Baal." (16)
That all preparations might be completed in one day, the erection of
the altar, the digging of the trench, and whatever else was necessary,
Elijah commanded the sun to stand still. "For Joshua," he said, "thou
didst stand still that Israel might conquer his enemies; now stand thou
still, neither for my sake, nor for the sake of Israel, but that the
Name of God may be exalted." And the sun obeyed his words. (17)
Toward evening Elijah summoned his disciple Elisha, and bade him pour
water over his hands. A miracle happened. Water flowed out from
Elijah's fingers until the whole trench was filled. (18) Then the
prophet prayed to God to let fire descend, but in such wise that the
people would know it to be a wonder from heaven, and not think it a
magician's trick. (19) He spoke: "Lord of the world, Thou wilt send me
as a messenger 'at the end of time,' but if my words do not meet with
fulfilment now, the Jews cannot be expected to believe me in the latter
days." (20) His pleading was heard on high, and fire fell from heaven
upon the altar, a fire that not only consumed what it touched, but also
licked up the water. (21) Nor was that all; his prayer for rain was
also granted. Scarcely had these words dropped from his lips, "Though
we have no other merits, yet remember the sign of the covenant which
the Israelites bear upon their bodies," when the rain fell to earth.
(22)
In spite of all these miracles, the people persisted in their
idolatrous ways and thoughts. Even the seven thousand who had not bowed
down unto Baal were unworthy sons of Israel, for they paid homage to
the golden calves of Jeroboam. (23)
The misdeeds of the people had swelled to such number that they could
no longer reckon upon "the merits of the fathers" to intercede for
them; they had overdrawn their account. (24) When they sank to the
point of degradation at which they gave up the sign of the covenant,
Elijah could control his wrath no longer, and he accused Israel before
God. (25) In the cleft of the rock in which God had once aforetimes
appeared to Moses, and revealed Himself as compassionate and
long-suffering, He now met with Elijah, (26) and conveyed to him, by
various signs, that it had been better to defend Israel than accuse
him. But Elijah in his zeal for God was inexorable. Then God commanded
him to appoint Elisha as his successor, for He said: "I cannot do as
thou wouldst have me." (27) Furthermore God charged him: "Instead of
accusing My children, journey to Damascus, where the Gentiles have an
idol for each day of the year. Though Israel hath thrown down My altars
and slain My prophets, what concern is it of thine?" (28)
The four phenomena that God sent before His appearance wind, (29)
earthquake, fire, and a still small voice were to instruct Elijah
about the destiny of man. God told Elijah that these four represent the
worlds through which man must pass: the first stands for this world,
fleeting as the wind; the earthquake is the day of death, which makes
the human body to tremble and quake; fire is the tribunal in Gehenna,
and the still small voice is the Last Judgment, when there will be none
but God alone. (30)
About three years (31) later, Elijah was taken up into heaven, (32) but
not without first undergoing a struggle with the Angel of Death. He
refused to let Elijah enter heaven at his translation, on the ground
that he exercised jurisdiction over all mankind, Elijah not excepted.
God maintained that at the creation of heaven and earth He had
explicitly ordered the Angel of Death to grant entrance to the living
prophet, but the Angel of Death insisted that by Elijah's translation
God had given just cause for complaint to all other men, who could not
escape the doom of death. Thereupon God: "Elijah is not like other men.
He is able to banish thee from the world, only thou dost not recognize
his strength." With the consent of God, a combat took place between
Elijah and the Angel of Death. The prophet was victorious, and, if God
had not restrained him, he would have annihilated his opponent. Holding
his defeated enemy under his feet, Elijah ascended heavenward. (33)
In heaven he goes on living for all time. (34) There he sits recording
the deeds of men (35) and the chronicles of the world. (36) He has
another office besides. He is the Psychopomp, whose duty is to stand at
the cross-ways in Paradise and guide the pious to their appointed
places; (37) who brings the souls of sinners up from Gehenna at the
approach of the Sabbath, and leads them back again to their merited
punishment when the day of rest is about to depart; and who conducts
these same souls, after they have atoned for their sins, to the place
of everlasting bliss. (38)
Elijah's miraculous deeds will be better understood if we remember that
he had been an angel from the very first, even before the end of his
earthly career. When God was about to create man, Elijah said to Him:
"Master of the world! If it be pleasing in Thine eyes, I will descend
to earth, and make myself serviceable to the sons of men." Then God
changed his angel name, and later, under Ahab, He permitted him to
abide among men on earth, that he might convert the world to the belief
that "the Lord is God." His mission fulfilled, God took him again into
heaven, and said to him: "Be thou the guardian spirit of My children
forever, and spread the belief in Me abroad in the whole world." (39)
His angel name is Sandalphon, (40) one of the greatest and mightiest of
the fiery angel host. As such it is his duty to wreathe garlands for
God out of the prayers sent aloft by Israel. (41) Besides, he must
offer up sacrifices in the invisible sanctuary, for the Temple was
destroyed only apparently; in reality, it went on existing, hidden from
the sight of ordinary mortals. (42)
AFTER HIS TRANSLATION
Elijah's removal from earth, so far being an interruption to his
relations with men, rather marks the beginning of his real activity as
a helper in time of need, as a teacher and as a guide. At first his
intervention in sublunar affairs was not frequent. Seven years after
his translation, (43) he wrote a letter to the wicked king Jehoram, who
reigned over Judah. The next occasion on which he took part in an
earthly occurrence was at the time of Ahasuerus, when he did the Jews a
good turn by assuming the guise of the courtier Harbonah, (44) in a
favorable moment inciting the king against Haman. (45)
It was reserved for later days, however, for Talmudic times, the golden
age of the great scholars, the Tannaim and the Amoraim, to enjoy
Elijah's special vigilance as protector of the innocent, as a friend in
need, who hovers over the just and the pious, ever present to guard
them against evil or snatch them out of danger. With four strokes of
his wings Elijah can traverse the world. (46) Hence no spot on earth is
too far removed for his help. As an angel (47) he enjoys the power of
assuming the most various appearances to accomplish his purposes.
Sometimes he looks like an ordinary man, sometimes he takes the
appearance of an Arab, sometimes of a horseman, now he is a Roman
court-official, now he is a harlot.
Once upon a time it happened that when Nahum, the great and pious
teacher, was journeying to Rome on a political mission, he was without
knowledge robbed of the gift he bore to the Emperor as an offering from
the Jews. When he handed the casket to the ruler, it was found to
contain common earth, which the thieves had substituted for the jewels
they had abstracted. The Emperor thought the Jews were mocking at him,
and their representative, Nahum, was condemned to suffer death. In his
piety the Rabbi did not lose confidence in God; he only said: "This too
is for good." (48) And so it turned out to be. Suddenly Elijah
appeared, and, assuming the guise of a court-official, he said:
"Perhaps the earth in this casket is like that used by Abraham for
purposes of war. A handful will do the work of swords and bows." At his
instance the virtues of the earth were tested in the attack upon a city
that had long resisted Roman courage and strength. His supposition was
verified. The contents of the casket proved more efficacious than all
the weapons of the army, and the Romans were victorious. Nahum was
dismissed, laden with honors and treasures, and the thieves, who had
betrayed themselves by claiming the precious earth, were executed, for,
naturally enough, Elijah works no wonder for evil-doers. (49)
Another time, for the purpose of rescuing Rabbi Shila, Elijah pretended
to be a Persian. An informer had announced the Rabbi with the Persian
Government, accusing him of administering the law according to the
Jewish code. Elijah appeared as witness for the Rabbi and against the
informer, and Shila was honorably dismissed. (50)
When the Roman bailiffs were pursuing Rabbi Meir, Elijah joined him in
the guise of a harlot. The Roman emissaries desisted from their
pursuit, for they could not believe that Rabbi Meir would choose such a
companion. (51)
A contemporary of Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Simon ben Yohai, who spent thirteen
years in a cave to escape the vengeance of the Romans, was informed by
Elijah of the death of the Jew-baiting emperor, so that he could leave
his hiding-place. (52)
Equally characteristic is the help Elijah afforded the worthy poor.
Frequently he brought them great wealth. Rabbi Kahana was so needy that
he had to support himself by peddling with household utensils. Once a
lady of high standing endeavored to force him to commit an immoral act,
and Kahana, preferring death to iniquity, threw himself from a loft.
Though Elijah was at a distance of four hundred parasangs, he hastened
to the post in time to catch the Rabbi before he touched the ground.
Besides, he gave him means enough to enable him to abandon an
occupation beset with perils. (53)
Rabba bar Abbahu likewise was a victim of poverty. He admitted to
Elijah that on account of his small means he had no time to devote to
his studies. Thereupon Elijah led him into Paradise, bade him remove
his mantle, and fill it with leaves grown in the regions of the
blessed. When the Rabbi was about to quit Paradise, his garment full of
leaves, a voice was heard to say: "Who desires to anticipate his share
in the world to come during his earthly days, as Rabba bar Abbahu is
doing?" The Rabbi quickly cast the leaves away; nevertheless he
received twelve thousand denarii for his upper garment, because it
retained the wondrous fragrance of the leaves of Paradise. (54)
Elijah's help was not confined to poor teachers of the law; all who
were in need, and were worthy of his assistance, had a claim upon him.
A poor man, the father of a family, in his distress once prayed to God:
"O Lord of the world, Thou knowest, there is none to whom I can tell my
tale of woe, none who will have pity upon me. I have neither brother
nor kinsman nor friend, and my starving little ones are crying with
hunger. Then do Thou have mercy and be compassionate, or let death come
and put an end to our suffering." His words found a hearing with God,
for, as he finished, Elijah stood before the poor man, and
sympathetically inquired why he was weeping. When the prophet had heard
the tale of his troubles, he said: "Take me and sell me as a slave; the
proceeds will suffice for thy needs." At first the poor man refused to
accept the sacrifice, but finally yielded, and Elijah was sold to a
prince for eighty denarii. This sum formed the nucleus of the fortune
which the poor man amassed and enjoyed until the end of his days. The
prince who had purchased Elijah intended to build a palace, and he
rejoiced to hear that his new slave was an architect. He promised
Elijah liberty if within six months he completed the edifice. After
nightfall of the same day, Elijah offered a prayer, and instantaneously
the palace stood in its place in complete perfection. Elijah
disappeared. The next morning the prince was not a little astonished to
see the palace finished. But when he sought his slave to reward him,
and sought him in vain, he realized that he had had dealings with an
angel. Elijah meantime repaired to the man who had sold him, and
related his story to him, that he might know he had not cheated the
purchaser out of his price; on the contrary, he had enriched him, since
the palace was worth a hundred times more than the money paid for the
pretended slave. (55)
A similar thing happened to a well-to-do man who lost his fortune, and
became so poor that he had to do manual labor in the field of another.
Once, when he was at work, he was accosted by Elijah, who had assumed
the appearance of an Arab: "Thou art destined to enjoy seven good
years. When dost thou want them now, or as the closing years of thy
life?" The man replied: "Thou art a wizard; go in peace, I have nothing
for thee." Three times the same question was put, three times the same
reply was given. Finally the man said: "I shall ask the advice of my
wife." When Elijah came again, and repeated his question, the man,
following the counsel of his wife, said: "See to it that seven good
years come to us at once." Elijah replied: "Go home. Before thou
crossest thy threshold, thy good fortune will have filled thy house."
And so it was. His children had found a treasure in the ground, and, as
he was about to enter his house, his wife met him and reported the
lucky find. His wife was an estimable, pious woman, and she said to her
husband: "We shall enjoy seven good years. Let us use this time to
practice as much charity as possible; perhaps God will lengthen out our
period of prosperity." After the lapse of seven years, during which man
and wife used every opportunity of doing good, Elijah appeared again,
and announced to the man that the time had come to take away what he
had given him. The man responded: "When I accepted thy gift, it was
after consultation with my wife. I should not like to return it without
first acquainting her with what is about to happen." His wife charged
him to say to the old man who had come to resume possession of his
property: "If thou canst find any who will be more conscientious
stewards of the pledges entrusted to us than we have been, I shall
willingly yield them up to thee." God recognized that these people had
made a proper use of their wealth, and He granted it to them as a
perpetual possession. (56)
If Elijah was not able to lighten the poverty of the pious, he at least
sought to inspire them with hope and confidence. Rabbi Akiba, the great
scholar, lived in dire poverty before he became the famous Rabbi. His
rich father-in-law would have nothing to do with him or his wife,
because the daughter had married Akiba against her father's will. On a
bitter cold winter night, Akiba could offer his wife, who had been
accustomed to the luxuries wealth can buy, nothing but straw as a bed
to sleep upon, and he tried to comfort her with assurances of his love
for the privations she was suffering. At that moment Elijah appeared
before their hut, and cried out in supplicating tones: "O good people,
give me, I pray you, a little bundle of straw. My wife has been
delivered of a child, and I am so poor I haven't even enough straw to
make a bed for her." Now Abika could console his wife with the fact
that their own misery was not so great as it might have been, and thus
Elijah had attained his end, to sustain the courage of the pious. (57)
In the form of an Arab, he once appeared before a very poor man, whose
piety equalled his poverty. He gave him two shekels. These two coins
brought him such good fortune that he attained great wealth. But in his
zeal to gather worldly treasures, he had no time for deeds of piety and
charity. Elijah again appeared before him and took away the two
shekels. In a short time the man was as poor as before. A third time
Elijah came to him. He was crying bitterly and complaining of his
misfortune, and the prophet said: "I shall make thee rich once more, if
thou wilt promise me under oath thou wilt not let wealth ruin they
character." He promised, the two shekels were restored to him, he
regained his wealth, and he remained in possession of it for all time,
because his piety was not curtailed by his riches. (58)
Poverty was not the only form of distress Elijah relieved. He exercised
the functions of a physician upon Rabbi Shimi bar Ashi, who had
swallowed a noxious reptile. Elijah appeared to him as an awe-inspiring
horseman, and forced him to apply the preventives against the disease
to be expected in these circumstances.
He also cured Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi of long-continued toothache by laying
his hand on the sufferer, and at the same time he brought about the
reconciliation of Rabbi Judan with Rabbi Hayyah, whose form he had
assumed. Rabbi Judah paid the highest respect to Rabbi Hayyah after he
found out that Elijah had considered him worthy of taking his
appearance. (59)
On another occasion, Elijah re-established harmony between a husband
and his wife. The woman had come home very late on Friday evening,
having allowed herself to be detained by the sermon preached by Rabbi
Meir. Her autocratic husband swore she should not enter the house until
she had spat in the very face of the highly-esteemed Rabbi. Meantime
Elijah went to Rabbi Meir, and told him a pious woman had fallen into a
sore predicament on his account. To help the poor woman, the Rabbi
restored to a ruse. He announced that he was looking for one who knew
how to cast spells, which was done by spitting into the eye of the
afflicted one. When he caught sight of the woman designated by Elijah,
he asked her to try her power upon him. Thus she was able to comply
with her husband's requirement without disrespect to the Rabbi; and
through the instrumentality of Elijah conjugal happiness was restored
to an innocent wife. (60)
Elijah's versatility is shown in the following occurrence. A pious man
bequeathed a spice-garden to his three sons. They took turns in
guarding it against thieves. The first night the oldest son watched the
garden. Elijah appeared to him and asked him: "My son, what wilt thou
have knowledge of the Torah, or great wealth, or a beautiful wife?"
He chose wealth, great wealth. Accordingly Elijah gave him a coin, and
he became rich. The second son, to whom Elijah appeared the second
night, chose knowledge of the Torah. Elijah gave him a book, and "he
knew the whole Torah." The third son, on the third night, when Elijah
put the same choice before him as before his brothers, wished for a
beautiful wife. Elijah invited this third brother to go on a journey
with him. Their first night was passed at the house of a notorious
villain, who had a daughter. During the night Elijah overheard the
chickens and the geese say to one another: "What a terrible sin that
young may must have committed, that he should be destined to marry the
daughter of so great a villain!" The two travellers journeyed on. The
second night the experiences of the first were repeated. The third
night they lodged with a man who had a very pretty daughter. During the
night Elijah heard the chickens and the geese say to one another: "How
great must be the virtues of this young man, if he is privileged to
marry so beautiful and pious a wife." In the morning, when Elijah
arose, he at once became a matchmaker, the young man married the pretty
maiden, and husband and wife journeyed homeward in joy. (61)
If it became necessary, Elijah was ready to do even the services of a
sexton. When Rabbi Akiba died in prison, Elijah betook himself to the
dead man's faithful disciple, Rabbi Joshua, and the two together went
to the prison. There was none to forbid their entrance; a deep sleep
had fallen upon the turnkeys and the prisoners alike. Elijah and Rabbi
Joshua took the corpse with them, Elijah bearing it upon his shoulder.
Rabbi Joshua in astonishment demanded how he, a priest, dared defile
himself upon a corpse. The answer was: "God forbid! the pious can never
cause defilement." All night the two walked on with their burden. At
break of day they found themselves near Caesarea. A cave opened before
their eyes, and within they saw a bed, a chair, a table, and a lamp.
They deposited the corpse upon the bed, and left the cave, which closed
up behind them. Only the light of the lamp, which had lit itself after
they left, shone through the chinks. Whereupon Elijah said: "Hail, ye
just, hail to you who devote yourselves to the study of the law. Hail
to you, ye God-fearing men, for your places are set aside, and kept,
and guarded, in Paradise, for the time to come. Hail to thee, Rabbi
Akiba, that thy lifeless body found lodgment for a night in a lovely
spot." (62)
CENSOR AND AVENGER
Helpfulness and compassion do not paint the whole of the character of
Elijah. He remained the stern and inexorable censor whom Ahab feared.
The old zeal for the true and the good he never lost, as witness, he
once struck a man dead because he failed to perform his devotions with
due reverence. (63)
There were two brothers, one of them rich and miserly, the other poor
and kind-hearted. Elijah, in the garb of an old beggar, approached the
rich man, and asked him for alms. Repulsed by him, he turned to the
poor brother, who received him kindly, and shared his meagre supper
with him. On bidding farewell to him and his equally hospitable wife,
Elijah said: "May God reward you! The first thing you undertake shall
be blessed, and shall take no end until you yourselves cry out Enough!"
Presently the poor man began to count the few pennies he had, to
convince himself that they sufficed to purchase bread for his next
meal. But the few became many, and he counted and counted, and still
their number increased. He counted a whole day, and the following
night, until he was exhausted, and had to cry out Enough! And, indeed,
it was enough, for he had become a very wealthy man. His brother was
not a little astonished to see the fortunate change in his kinsman's
circumstances, and when he heard how it had come about, he determined,
if the opportunity should present itself again, to show his most
amiable side to the old beggar with the miraculous power of blessing.
He had not long to wait. A few days later he saw the old man pass by.
He hastened to accost him, and, excusing himself for his unfriendliness
at their former meeting, begged him to come into his house. All that
the larder afforded was put before Elijah, who pretended to eat of the
dainties. At his departure, he pronounced a blessing upon his hosts:
"May the first thing you do have no end, until it is enough." The
mistress of the house thereupon said to her husband: "That we may count
gold upon gold undisturbed, let us first attend to our most urgent
physical needs." So they did and they had to continue to do it until
life was extinct. (64)
The extreme of his rigor Elijah displayed toward teachers of the law.
From them he demanded more than obedience to the mere letter of a
commandment. For instance, he pronounced severe censure upon Rabbi
Ishmael ben Jose because he was willing to act as bailiff in
prosecuting Jewish thieves and criminals. He advised Rabbi Ishmael to
follow the example of his father and leave the country. (65)
His estrangement from his friend Rabbi Joshua ben Levi is
characteristic. One who was sought by the officers of the law took
refuge with Rabbi Joshua. His pursuers were informed of his place of
concealment. Threatening to put all the inhabitants of the city to the
sword if he was not delivered up, they demanded his surrender. The
Rabbi urged the fugitive from justice to resign himself to his fate.
Better for one individual to die, he said, than for a whole community
to be exposed to peril. The fugitive yielded to the Rabbi's argument,
and gave himself up to the bailiffs. Thereafter Elijah, who had been in
the habit of visiting Rabbi Joshua frequently, stayed away from his
house, and he was induced to come back only by the Rabbi's long fasts
and earnest prayers. In reply to the Rabbi's question, why he had
shunned him, he said: "Dost thou suppose I care to have intercourse
with informers?" The Rabbi quoted a passage from the Mishnah to justify
his conduct, but Elijah remained unconvinced. "Dost thou consider this
a law for a pious man?" he said. "Other people might have been right in
doing as thou didst; thou shouldst have done otherwise." (66)
A number of instances are known which show how exalted a standard
Elijah set up for those who would be considered worthy of intercourse
with him. Of two pious brothers, one provided for his servants as for
his own table, while the other permitted his servants to eat abundantly
only of the first course; of the other courses they could have nothing
but the remnants. Accordingly, with the second brother Elijah would
have nothing to do, while he often honored the former with his visits.
A similar attitude Elijah maintained toward another pair of pious
brothers. One of them was in the habit of providing for his servants
after his own needs were satisfied, while the other of them attended to
the needs of his servants first. To the latter it was that Elijah gave
the preference. (67)
He dissolved an intimacy of many years' standing, because his friend
built a vestibule which was so constructed that the supplications of
the poor could be heard but faintly by those within the house. (68)
Rabbi Joshua ben Levi incurred the displeasure of Elijah a second time,
because a man was torn in pieces by a lion in the vicinity of his
house. In a measure Elijah held Rabbi responsible, because he did not
pray for the prevention of such misfortunes. (69)
The story told of Elijah and Rabbi Anan forms the most striking
illustration of the severity of the prophet. Someone brought Rabbi Anan
a mess of little fish as a present, and at the same time asked the
Rabbi to act as judge in a lawsuit he was interested in. Anan refused
in these circumstances to accept a gift from the litigant. To
demonstrate his single-mindedness, the applicant urged the Rabbit to
take the fish and assign the case to another judge. Anan acquiesced,
and he requested one of his colleagues to act for him, because he was
incapacitated from serving as a judge. His legal friend drew the
inference, that the litigant introduced to him was a kinsman of Rabbi
Anan's, and accordingly he showed himself particularly complaisant
toward him. As a result, the other party to the suit was intimidated.
He failed to present his side as convincingly as he might otherwise
have done, and so lost the case. Elijah, who had been the friend of
Anan and his teacher as well, thenceforth shunned his presence, because
he considered that the injury done the second party to the suit was due
to Anan's carelessness. Anan in his distress kept many fasts, and
offered up many prayers, before Elijah would return to him. Even then
the Rabbi could not endure the sight of him; he had to content himself
with listening to Elijah's words without looking upon his face. (70)
Sometimes Elijah considered it his duty to force people into abandoning
a bad habit. A rich man was once going to a cattle sale, and he carried
a snug sum of money to buy oxen. He was accosted by a stranger none
other than Elijah who inquired the purpose of his journey. "I go to
buy cattle," replied the would-be purchaser. "Say, it if please God,"
urged Elijah. "Fiddlesticks! I shall buy cattle whether it please God
or not! I carry the money with me, and the business will be
dispatched." "But not with good fortune," said the stranger, and went
off. Arrived at the market, the cattle-buyer discovered the loss of his
purse, and he had to return home to provide himself with other money.
He again set forth on his journey, but this time he took another road
to avoid the stranger of ill omen. To his amazement he met an old man
with whom he had precisely the same adventure as with the first
stranger. Again he had to return home to fetch money. By this time had
learned his lesson. When a third stranger questioned him about the
object of his journey, he answered: "If it please God, I intend to buy
oxen." The stranger wished him success, and the wish was fulfilled. To
the merchant's surprise, when a pair of fine cattle were offered him,
and their price exceeded the sum of money he had about his person, he
found the two purses he had lost on his first and second trips. Later
he sold the same pair of oxen to the king for a considerable price, and
he became very wealthy. (71)
As Elijah coerced this merchant into humility toward God, so he carried
home a lesson to the great Tanna Eliezer, the son of Rabbi Simon ben
Yohai. This Rabbi stood in need of correction on account of his
overweening conceit. Once, on returning from the academy, he took a
walk on the sea-beach, his bosom swelling with pride at the thought of
his attainments in the Torah. He met a hideously ugly man, who greeted
him with the words: "Peace be with thee, Rabbi." Eliezer, instead of
courteously acknowledging the greeting, said: "O thou wight, (72) how
ugly thou art! Is it possible that all the residents of thy town are as
ugly as thou?" "I know not," was the reply, "but it is the Master
Artificer who created me that thou shouldst have said: 'How ugly is
this vessel which Thou hast fashioned.'" The Rabbi realized the wrong
he had committed, and humbly begged pardon of the ugly man another of
the protean forms adopted by Elijah. The latter continued to refer him
to the Master Artificer of the ugly vessel. The inhabitants of the
city, who had hastened to do honor to the great Rabbi, earnestly urged
the offended man to grant pardon, and finally he declared himself
appeased, provided the Rabbi promised never again to commit the same
wrong. (73)
The rigor practiced by Elijah toward his friends caused one of them,
the Tanna Rabbi Jose, to accuse him of being passionate and irascible.
As a consequence, Elijah would have nothing to do with him for a long
time. When he reappeared, and confessed the cause of his withdrawal,
Rabbi Jose said he felt justified, for his charge could not have
received a more striking verification. (74)
INTERCOURSE WITH THE SAGES
Elijah's purely human relations to the world revealed themselves in
their fulness, neither in his deeds of charity, nor in his censorious
rigor, but rather in his gentle and scholarly intercourse with the
great in Israel, especially the learned Rabbis of the Talmudic time. He
is at once their disciple and their teacher. To one he resorts for
instruction on difficult points, to another he himself dispenses
instruction. As a matter of course, his intimate knowledge of the
supernatural world makes him appear more frequently in the role of
giver than receiver. Many a bit of secret lore the Jewish teachers
learnt from Elijah, and he it was who, with the swiftness of lightning,
carried the teachings of one Rabbi to another sojourning hundreds of
miles away. (75)
Thus it was Elijah who taught Rabbi Jose the deep meaning hidden in the
Scriptural passage in which woman is designated as the helpmeet of man.
By means of examples he demonstrated to the Rabbi how indispensable
woman is to man. (76)
Rabbi Nehorai profited by his exposition of why God created useless,
even noxious insects. The reason for their existence is that the sight
of superfluous and harmful creatures prevents God from destroying His
world at times when, on account of the wickedness and iniquity
prevailing in it, it repents Him of having created it. If He preserves
creatures that at their best are useless, and at their worst injurious,
how much more should He preserve human beings with all their
potentialities for good.
The same Rabbi Nehorai was told by Elijah, that God sends earthquakes
and other destructive phenomena when He sees places of amusement
prosperous and flourishing, while the Temple lies a heap of dust and
ashes. (77)
To Rabbi Judah he communicated the following three maxims: Let not
anger master thee, and thou wilt not fall into sin; let not drink
master thee, and thou wilt be spared pain; before thou settest out on a
journey, take counsel with thy Creator. (78)
In case of a difference of opinion among scholars, Elijah was usually
questioned as to how the moot point was interpreted in the heavenly
academy. (79) Once, when the scholars were not unanimous in their views
as to Esther's intentions when she invited Haman to her banquets with
the king, Elijah, asked by Rabba bar Abbahu to tell him her real
purpose, said that each and every one of the motives attributed to her
by various scholars were true, for her invitations to Haman had many a
purpose. (80)
A similar answer he gave the Amora Abiathar, who disputed with his
colleagues as to why the Ephraimite who cause the war against the tribe
of Benjamin first cast off his concubine, and then became reconciled to
her. Elijah informed Rabbi Abiathar that in heaven the cruel conduct of
the Ephraimite was explained in two ways, according to Abiathar's
conception and according to his opponent Jonathan's as well. (81)
Regarding the great contest between Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus and the
whole body of scholars, in which the majority maintained the validity
of its opinion, though a heavenly voice pronounced Rabbi Eliezer's
correct, Elijah told Rabbi Nathan, that God in His heaven had cried
out: "My children have prevailed over Me!" (82)
On one occasion Elijah fared badly for having betrayed celestial events
to his scholars. He was a daily attendant at the academy of Rabbi Judah
ha-Nasi. One day, it was the New Moon Day, he was late. The reason for
his tardiness, he said, was that it was his daily duty to awaken the
three Patriarchs, (83) wash their hands for them, so that they might
offer up their prayers, and after their devotions lead them back to
their resting-places. On this day their prayers took very long, because
they were increased by the Musaf service on account of the New Moon
celebration, and hence he did not make his appearance at the academy in
good time. Elijah did not end his narrative at this point, but went on
to tell the Rabbi, that this occupation of his was rather tedious, for
the three Patriarchs were not permitted to offer up their payers at the
same time. Abraham prayed first, then came Isaac, and finally Jacob. If
they all were to pray together, the united petitions of three such
paragons of piety would be so efficacious as to force God to fulfil
them, and He would be induced to bring the Messiah before his time.
Then Rabbi Judah wanted to know whether there were any among the pious
on earth whose prayer possessed equal efficacy. Elijah admitted that
the same power resided in the prayers of Rabbi Hayyah and his two sons.
Rabbi Judah lost no time in proclaiming a day of prayer and fasting and
summoning Rabbi Hayyah and his sons to officiate as the leaders in
prayer. They began to chant the Eighteen Benedictions. Then they
uttered the word for wind, a storm arose; when they continued and made
petition for rain, the rain descended at once. But as the readers
approached the passage relating to the revival of the dead, great
excitement arose in heaven, and when it became known that Elijah had
revealed the secret of the marvellous power attaching to the prayers of
the three men, he was punished with fiery blows. To thwart Rabbi
Judah's purpose, Elijah assumed the form of a bear, and put the praying
congregation to flight. (84)
Contrariwise, Elijah was also in the habit of reporting earthly events
in the celestial regions. He told Rabba bar Shila that the reason Rabbi
Meir was never quoted in the academy on high was because he had had so
wicked a teacher as Elisha ben Abuyah. Rabba explained Rabbi Meir's
conduct by an apologue. "Rabbi Meir," he said, "found a pomegranate; he
enjoyed the heart of the fruit, and cast the skin aside." Elijah was
persuaded of the justness of this defense, and so were all the
celestial powers. Thereupon one of Rabbi Meir's interpretations was
quoted in the heavenly academy. (85)
Elijah was no less interested in the persons of the learned than in
their teachings, especially when scholars were to be provided with the
means of devoting themselves to their studies. It was he who, when
Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, later a great celebrity, resolved to devote
himself to the law, advised him to repair to Jerusalem and sit at the
feet of Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai. (86)
He once met a man who mocked at his exhortations to study, and he said
that on the great day of reckoning he would excuse himself for his
neglect of intellectual pursuits by the fact that he had been granted
neither intelligence nor wisdom. Elijah asked him what his calling was.
"I am a fisherman," was the reply. "Well, my son," questioned Elijah,
"who taught thee to take flax and make nets and throw them into the sea
to catch fish?" He replied: "For this heaven gave me intelligence and
insight." Hereupon Elijah: "If thou possessest intelligence and insight
to cast nets and catch fish, why should these qualities desert thee
when thou dealest with the Torah, which, thou knowest, is very nigh
unto man that he may do it?" The fisherman was touched, and he began to
weep. Elijah pacified him by telling him that what he had said applied
to many another beside him. (87)
In another way Elijah conveyed the lesson of the great value residing
in devotion to the study of the Torah. Disguised as a Rabbi, he was
approached by a man who promised to relieve him of all material cares
if he would but abide with him. Refusing to leave Jabneh, the centre of
Jewish scholarship, he said to the tempter: "Wert thou to offer me a
thousand million gold denarii, I would not quit the abode of the law,
and dwell in a place in which there is no Torah." (88)
By Torah, of course, is meant the law as conceived and interpreted by
the sages and the scholars, for Elijah was particularly solicitous to
establish the authority of the oral law, (89) as he was solicitous to
demonstrate the truth of Scriptural promises that appeared incredible
at first sight. For instance, he once fulfilled Rabbi Joshua ben Levi's
wish to see the precious stones which would take the place of the sun
in illuminating Jerusalem in the Messianic time. A vessel in mid-ocean
was nigh unto shipwreck. Among a large number of heathen passengers
there was a single Jewish youth. To him Elijah appeared and said, he
would rescue the vessel, provided the boy went to Rabbi Joshua ben
Levi, and took him to a certain place far removed from the town and
from human habitation, and showed him the gems. The boy doubted that so
great a man would consent to follow a mere slip of a youth to a remote
spot, but, reassured by Elijah, who told him of Rabbi Joshua's
extraordinary modesty, he undertook the commission, and the vessel with
its human freight was saved. The boy came to the Rabbi, besought him to
go whither he would lead, and Joshua, who was really possessed of great
modesty, followed the boy three miles without even inquiring the
purpose of the expedition. When they finally reached the cave, the boy
said: "See, here are the precious stones!" The Rabbi grasped them, and
a flood of light spread as far as Lydda, the residence of Rabbi Joshua.
Startled, he cast the precious stones away from him, and they
disappeared. (90)
This Rabbi was a particular favorite of Elijah, who even secured him an
interview with the Messiah. The Rabbi found the Messiah among the crowd
of afflicted poor gathered near the city gates of Rome, and he greeted
him with the words: "Peace be with thee, my teacher and guide!"
Whereunto the Messiah replied: "Peace be with thee, thou son of Levi!"
The Rabbi then asked him when he would appear, and the Messiah said,
"To-day." Elijah explained to the Rabbi later that what the Messiah
meant by "to-day" was, that he for his part was ready to bring Israel
redemption at any time. If Israel but showed himself worthy, he would
instantly fufil his mission. (91)
Elijah wanted to put Rabbi Joshua into communication with the departed
Rabbi Simon ben Yohai also, but the later did not consider him of
sufficient importance to honor him with his conversation. Rabbi Simon
had addressed a question to him, and Rabbi Joshua in his modesty had
made a reply not calculated to give one a high opinion of him. (92) In
reality Rabbi Joshua was the possessor of such sterling qualities, that
when he entered Paradise Elijah walked before him calling out: "Make
room for the son of Levi." (93)
GOD'S JUSTICE VINDICATED
Among the many and various teachings dispensed by Elijah to his
friends, there are none so important as his theodicy, the teachings
vindicating God's justice in the administration of earthly affairs. He
used many an opportunity to demonstrate it by precept and example. Once
he granted his friend Rabbi Joshua ben Levi the fulfilment of any wish
he might express, and all the Rabbi asked for was, that he might be
permitted to accompany Elijah on his wanderings through the world.
Elijah was prepared to gratify this wish. He only imposed the
condition, that, however odd the Rabbi might think Elijah's actions, he
was not to ask any explanation of them. If ever he demanded why, they
would have to part company. So Elijah and the Rabbi fared forth
together, and they journeyed on until they reached the house of a poor
man, whose only earthly possession was a cow. The man and his wife were
thoroughly good-hearted people, and they received the two wanderers
with a cordial welcome. They invited the strangers into their house,
set before them food and drink of the best they had, and made up a
comfortable couch for them for the night. When Elijah and the Rabbi
were ready to continue their journey on the following day, Elijah
prayed that the cow belonging to his host might die. Before they left
the house, the animal had expired. Rabbi Joshua was so shocked by the
misfortune that had befallen the good people, he almost lost
consciousness. He thought: "Is that to be the poor man's reward for all
his kind services to us?" And he could not refrain from putting the
question to Elijah. But Elijah reminded him of the condition imposed
and accepted at the beginning of their journey, and they travelled on,
the Rabbi's curiosity unappeased. That night they reached the house of
a wealthy man, who did not pay his guest the courtesy of looking them
in the face. Though they passed the night under his roof, he did not
offer them food or drink. This rich man was desirous of having a wall
repaired that had tumbled down. There was no need for him to take any
steps to have it rebuilt, for, when Elijah left the house, he prayed
that the wall might erect itself, and, lo! it stood upright. Rabbi
Joshua was greatly amazed, but true to his promise he suppressed the
question that rose to his lips. So the two travelled on again, until
they reached an ornate synagogue, the seats in which were made of
silver and gold. But the worshippers did not correspond in character to
the magnificence of the building, for when it came to the point of
satisfying the needs of the way-worn pilgrims, one of those present
said: "There is not dearth of water and bread, and the strange
travellers can stay in the synagogue, whither these refreshments can be
brought to them." Early the next morning, when they were departing,
Elijah wished those present in the synagogue in which they had lodged,
that God might raise them all to be "heads." Rabbi Joshua again had to
exercise great self-restraint, and not put into words the question that
troubled him profoundly. In the next town, they were received with
great affability, and served abundantly with all their tired bodies
craved. On these kind hosts Elijah, on leaving, bestowed the wish that
God might give them but a single head. Now the Rabbi could not hold
himself in check any longer, and he demanded an explanation of Elijah's
freakish actions. Elijah consented to clear up his conduct for Joshua
before they separated from each other. He spoke as follows: "The poor
man's cow was killed, because I knew that on the same day the death of
his wife had been ordained in heaven, and I prayed to God to accept the
loss of the poor man's property as a substitute for the poor man's
wife. As for the rich man, there was a treasure hidden under the
dilapidated wall, and, if he had rebuilt it, he would have found the
gold; hence I set up the wall miraculously in order to deprive the
curmudgeon of the valuable find. I wished that the inhospitable people
assembled in the synagogue might have many heads, for a place of
numerous leaders is bound to be ruined by reason of multiplicity of
counsel and disputes. To the inhabitants of our last sojourning place,
on the other hand, I wished a 'single head,' for the one to guide a
town, success will attend all its undertakings. Know, then, that if
thou seest an evil-doer prosper, it is not always unto his advantage,
and if a righteous man suffers need and distress, think not God is
unjust." After these words Elijah and Rabbi Joshua separated from each
other, and each went his own way. (94)
How difficult it is to form a true judgment with nothing but external
appearances as a guide, Elijah proved to Rabbi Baroka. They were once
waling in a crowded street, and the Rabbi requested Elijah to point out
any in the throng destined to occupy places in Paradise. Elijah
answered that there was none, only to contradict himself and point to a
passer-by the very next minute. His appearance was such that in him
least of all the Rabbi would have suspected a pious man. His garb did
not even indicate that he was a Jew. Later Rabbi Baroka discovered by
questioning him that he was a prison guard. In the fulfilment of his
duties as such he was particularly careful that the virtue of chastity
should not be violated in the prison, in which both men women were kept
in detention. Also, his position often brought him into relations with
the heathen authorities, and so he was enabled to keep the Jews
informed of the disposition entertained toward them by the powers that
be. The Rabbi was thus taught that no station in life precluded its
occupant from doing good and acting nobly.
Another time Elijah designated two men to whom a great future was
assigned in Paradise. Yet these men were nothing more than clowns! They
made it their purpose in life to dispel discontent and sorrow by their
jokes and their cheery humor, and they used the opportunities granted
by their profession to adjust the difficulties and quarrels that
disturb the harmony of people living in close contact with each other.
(95)
ELIJAH AND THE ANGEL OF DEATH
Among the many benevolent deeds of Elijah, special mention ought to be
made of his rescue of those doomed by a heavenly decree to fall into
the clutches of the Angel of Death. He brought these rescues about by
warning the designated victims of their impending fate, and urging them
to do good deeds, which would prove protection against death.
There was once a pious and rich man with a beautiful and saintly
daughter. She had had the misfortune of losing three husbands in
succession, each on the day after the wedding. These sorrows determined
her never again to enter into the marriage state. A cousin of hers, the
nephew of her father, induced by the poverty of his parents, journeyed
from his distant home to apply for help to his rich uncle. Scarcely had
he laid eyes upon his lovely cousin when he fell victim to her charms.
In vain her father sought to dissuade his nephew from marrying his
daughter. But the fate of his predecessors did not affright him, and
the wedding took place. While he was standing under the wedding canopy,
Elijah came to him in the guise of an old man, and said: "My son, I
want to give thee a piece of advice. While thou are seated at the
wedding dinner, thou wilt be approached by a ragged, dirty beggar, with
hair like nails. As soon as thou catchest sight of him, hasten to seat
him beside thee, set food and drink before him, and be ready to grant
whatever he may ask of thee. Do as I say, and thou wilt be protected
against harm. Now I shall leave thee and go my way." At the wedding
feast, a stranger as described by Elijah appeared, and the bridegroom
did according to Elijah's counsel. After the wedding the stranger
revealed his identity, introducing himself as the messenger of the Lord
sent to take the young husband's life. The supplications of the
bridegroom failed to move him; he refused to grant a single day's
respite. All he yielded was permission to the young husband to bid
farewell to his newly-wed wife. When the bride saw that what she had
feared was coming to pass, she repaired to the Angel of Death and
argued with him: "The Torah distinctly exempts the newly-wed from all
duties for a whole year. If thou deprivest my husband of life, thou
wilt give the lie to the Torah." Thereupon God commanded the Angel of
Death to desist, and, when the relatives of the bride came to prepare
the grave of the groom, they found him well and unharmed. (96)
A similar thing befell the son of the great and extremely pious scholar
Rabbi Reuben. To him came the Angel of Death and announced that his
only son would have to die. The pious man was resigned: "We mortals can
do nothing to oppose a Divine decree," he said, "but I pray there, give
him thirty days' respite, that I may see him married." The Angel of
Death acquiesced. The Rabbi told no one of this encounter, waited until
the appointed time was drawing to a close, and, on the very last day,
the thirtieth, he arranged his son's wedding feast. On that day, the
bridegroom-to-be met Elijah, who told him of his approaching death. A
worthy son of his father, he said: "Who may oppose God? And am I better
than Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? They, too, had to die." Elijah told him
furthermore, that the Angel of Death would appear to him in the guise
of a ragged, dirty beggar, and he advised him to receive him in the
kindliest possible manner, and in particular he was to insist upon his
taking food and drink from him. All happened as Elijah had predicted,
and his advice, too, proved efficacious, for the heart of the Angel of
Death, who finally revealed his identity with the beggar, was softened
by the entreaties of the father, combined with the tears of the young
wife, who resorted to the argument cited above, of the year of
exemption from duty granted to the newly-married. The Angel of Death,
disarmed by the amiable treatment accorded to him, himself went before
the throne of God and presented the young wife's petition. The end was
God added seventy years to the life of Rabbi Reuben's son. (97)
TEACHER OF THE KABBALAH
The frequent meetings between Elijah and the teachers of the law of the
Talmudic time were invested with personal interest only. Upon the
development of the Torah they had no influence whatsoever. His relation
to the mystic science was of quite other character. It is safe to say
that what Moses was to the Torah, Elijah was to the Kabbalah.
His earliest relation to it was established through Rabbi Simon ben
Yohai and his son Rabbi Eliezer. For thirteen years he visited them
twice daily in their subterranean hiding-place, and imparted the
secrets of the Torah to them. (98) A thousand years later, Elijah again
gave the impetus to the development of the Kabbalah, for it was he that
revealed mysteries, first to the Nazarite Rabbi Jacob, then to his
disciple of the latter, Abraham ben David. The mysteries in the books
"Peliah" and "Kanah," the author Elkanah owed wholly to Elijah. He had
appeared to him in the form of a venerable old man, and had imparted to
him the secret lore taught in the heavenly academy. Besides, he led him
to a fiery rock whereon mysterious characters were engraved, which were
deciphered by Elkanah.
After his disciple had thus become thoroughly impregnated with mystical
teachings, Elijah took him to the tomb of the Patriarchs, and thence to
the heavenly academy. But the angels, little pleased by the intrusion
of one "born of woman," inspired him with such terror that he besought
Elijah to carry him back to earth. His mentor allayed his fears, and
long continued to instruct him in the mystical science, according to
the system his disciple has recorded in his two works. (99)
The Kabbalists in general were possessed of the power to cite Elijah,
to conjure him up by means of certain formulas. (100) One of them,
Rabbi Joseph della Reyna, once called upon Elijah in this way, but it
proved his own undoing. He was a saintly scholar, and he had conceived
no less a purpose than to bring about the redemption of man by the
conquest of the angel Samael, the Prince of Evil. After many prayers
and vigils and long indulgence in fasting, and other ascetic practices,
Rabbi Joseph united himself with his five disciples for the purpose of
conjuring up Elijah. When the prophet, obeying the summons, suddenly
stood before him, Rabbi Joseph spoke as follows: "Peace be with thee,
our master! True prophet, bearer of salvation, be not displeased with
me that I have troubled thee to come hither. God knows, I have not done
it for myself, and not for mine own honor. I am zealous for the name
and the honor of God, and I know thy desire is the same as mine, for it
is thy vocation to make the glory of God to prevail on earth. I pray
thee, therefore, to grant my petition, tell me with what means I can
conquer Satan." Elijah at first endeavored to dissuade the Rabbi from
his enterprise. He described the great power of Satan, ever growing as
it feeds upon the sins of mankind. But Rabbi Joseph could not be made
to desist. Elijah then enumerated what measures and tactics he would
have to observe in his combat with the fallen angel. He enumerated the
pious, saintly deeds that would win the interest of the archangel
Sandalphon in his undertaking, and from this angel he would learn the
method of warfare to be pursued. The Rabbi followed out Elijah's
directions carefully, and succeeded in summoning Sandalphon to his
assistance. If he had continued to obey instructions implicitly, and
had carried out all Sandalphon advised, the Rabbi would have triumphed
over Satan and hastened the redemption of the world. Unfortunately, at
one point the Rabbi committed an indiscretion, and he lost the great
advantages he had gained over Satan, who used his restored power to
bring ruin upon him and his disciples. (101)
The radical transformation in the character of Kabbalistic teaching
which is connected with the name of Rabbi Isaac Loria likewise is an
evidence of Elijah's activity. Elijah sought out this "father of the
Kabbalistic Renaissance," and revealed the mysteries of the universe to
him. Indeed, he had shown his interest in him long before any one
suspected the future greatness of Rabbi Isaac. Immediately after his
birth, Elijah appeared to the father of the babe, and enjoined him not
to have the rite of circumcision performed until he should be told by
Elijah to proceed. The eighth day of the child's life arrived, the
whole congregation was assembled at the synagogue (102) to witness the
solemn ceremonial, but to the great astonishment of his fellow-townsmen
the father delayed it. The people naturally did not know he was waiting
for Elijah to appear, and he was called upon once and again to have the
ceremony take place. But he did not permit the impatience of the
company to turn him from his purpose. Suddenly, Elijah, unseen, of
course, by the others, appeared to him, and bade him have the ceremony
performed. Those present were under the impression that the father was
holding the child on his knees during the circumcision; in reality,
however it was Elijah. After the rite was completed, Elijah handed the
infant back to the father with the words: "Here is thy child. Take good
care of it, for it will spread a brilliant light over the world." (103)
It was also Elijah who in a similar way informed Rabbit Eliezer, the
father of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tob, the father of him whose name is
unrivalled in the annals of the Hasidic Kabbalah that a son would be
born to him who should enlighten the eyes of Israel. This Rabbi Eliezer
was justly reputed to be very hospitable. He was in the habit of
stationing guards at the entrances to the village in which he lived,
and they were charged to bring all strangers to his house. In heaven it
was ordained that Rabbi Eliezer's hospitable instincts should be put to
a test. Elijah was chosen for the experiment. On a Sabbath afternoon,
arrayed in the garb of a beggar, he entered the village with knapsack
and staff. Rabbi Eliezer, taking no notice of the fact that the beggar
was desecrating the Sabbath, received him kindly, attended to his
bodily wants, and the next morning, on parting with him, gave him some
money besides. Touched by his kind-heartedness, Elijah revealed his
identity and the purpose of his disguise, and told him that, as he had
borne the trial so well, he would be rewarded by the birth of a son who
should "enlighten the eyes of Israel." (104)
FORERUNNER OF THE MESSIAH
Many-sided though Elijah's participation in the course of historical
events is, it cannot be compared with what he is expected to do in the
days of the Messiah. He is charged with the mission of ordering the
coming time aright and restoring the tribes of Jacob. (105) His
Messianic activity thus is to be twofold: he is to be the forerunner of
the Messiah, yet in part he will himself realize the promised scheme of
salvation. His first task will be to induce Israel to repent when the
Messiah is about to come, (106) and to establish peace and harmony in
the world. (107) Hence he will have to settle all legal difficulties,
and solve all legal problems, that have accumulated since days
immemorial, (108) and decide vexed questions of ritual concerning which
authors entertain contradictory views. In short, all difference of
opinion must be removed from the path of the Messiah. (109) This office
of expounder of the law Elijah will continue to occupy even after the
reign of peace has been established on earth, and his relation to Moses
will be the same Aaron once held. (110)
Elijah's preparatory work will be begun three days before the advent of
the Messiah. Then he will appear in Palestine, and will utter a lament
over the devastation of the Holy Land, and his wail will be heard
throughout the world. The last words of his elegy will be: "Now peace
will come upon earth!" When the evil-doers hear this message, they will
rejoice. On the second day, he will appear again and proclaim: "Good
will come upon earth!" And on the third his promise will be heard:
"Salvation will come upon earth." (111) Then Michael will blow the
trumpet, and once more Elijah will make his appearance, this time to
introduce the Messiah. (112) To make sure of the identity of the
Messiah, the Jews will demand that he perform the miracle of
resurrection before their eyes, reviving such of the dead as they had
known personally. (113) But the Messiah will do the following seven
wonders: He will bring Moses and the generation of the desert to life;
Korah and his band he will raise from out of the earth; he will revive
the Ephraimitic Messiah, who was slain; he will show the three holy
vessels of the Temple, the Ark, the flask of manna, and the cruse of
sacred oil, all three of which disappeared mysteriously; he will wave
the sceptre given him by God; he will grind the mountains of the Holy
Land into powder like straw, and he will reveal the secret of
redemption. Then the Jews will believe that Elijah is the Elijah
promised to them, and the Messiah introduced by him is the true
Messiah. (114)
The Messiah (115) will have Elijah blow the trumpet, and, at the first
sound, the primal light, which shone before the week of Creation, will
reappear; at the second sound the dead will arise, and with the
swiftness of wind assemble around the Messiah from all corners of the
earth; at the third sound, the Shekinah will become visible to all; the
mountains will be razed at the fourth sound, and the Temple will stand
in complete perfection as Ezekiel described it. (116)
During the reign of peace, Elijah will be one of the eight princes
forming the cabinet of the Messiah. (117) Even the coming of the great
judgment day will not end his activity. On that day the children of the
wicked who had to die in infancy on account of the sins of their
fathers will be found among the just, while their fathers will be
ranged on the other side. The babes will implore their fathers to come
to them, but God will not permit it. Then Elijah will go to the little
ones, and teach them how to plead in behalf of their fathers. They will
stand before God and say: "Is not the measure of good, the mercy of
God, larger than the measure of chastisements? If, then, we died for
the sins of our fathers, should they not now for our sakes be granted
the good, and be permitted to join us in Paradise?" God will give
assent to their pleadings, and Elijah will have fulfilled the word of
the prophet Malachi; he will have brought back the fathers to the
children. (118)
The last act of Elijah's brilliant career will be the execution of
God's command to slay Samael, and so banish evil forever. (119)
VIII.
ELISHA AND JONAH
ELISHA THE DISCIPLE OF ELIJAH
The voices of the thousands of prophets of his time were stilled when
Elijah was translated from earth to heaven. With him vanished the
prophetical spirit of those who in former times had in no wise been his
inferiors. (1) Elisha was the only one among them whose prophetical
powers were not diminished. On the contrary, they were strengthened, as
a reward for the unhesitating readiness with which he obeyed Elijah's
summons, and parted with the field he was ploughing, and with all else
he possessed, in favor of the community. Thenceforward he remained
Elijah's unwearying companion. When the angel descended from heaven to
take Elijah from earth, he found the two so immersed in a learned
discussion that he could not attract their attention, and he had to
return, his errand unfulfilled. (2)
Elijah's promise to bestow a double portion of his wondrous spirit upon
his disciple was realized instantaneously. During his life Elisha
performed sixteen miracles, and eight was all his master had performed.
The first of them, the crossing of the Jordan, was more remarkable than
the corresponding wonder done by Elijah, for Elisha traversed the river
alone, and Elijah had been accompanied by Elisha. Two saints always
have more power than one by himself. (3)
His second miracle, the "healing" of the waters of Jericho, so that
they became fit to drink, resulted in harm to himself, for the people
who had earned their livelihood by the sale of wholesome water were
very much incensed against the prophet for having spoiled their trade.
Elisha, whose prophetic powers enabled him to read both the past and
the future of these tradesmen, knew that they , their ancestors, and
their posterity had "not even the aroma of good about them." Therefore
he cursed them. Suddenly a forest sprang up and the bears that infested
it devoured the murmuring traders. The wicked fellows were not
undeserving of the punishment they received, yet Elisha was made to
undergo a very serious sickness, by way of correction for having
yielded to passion. (4) In this he resembled his master Elijah; he
allowed wrath and zeal to gain the mastery over him. God desired that
the two great prophets might be purged of this fault. Accordingly, when
Elisha rebuked King Jehoram of Israel, the spirit of prophecy forsook
him, and he had to resort to artificial means to re-awaken it within
himself. (5)
Like his teacher, Elisha was always ready to help the poor and needy,
as witness his sympathy with the widow of one of the sons of the
prophets, and the effective aid he extended to her. Her husband had
been none other than Obadiah, who, though a prophet, had at the same
time been one of the highest officials at the court of the sinful king
Ahab. By birth an Edomite, Obadiah had been inspired by God to utter
the prophecy against Edom. In his own person he embodied the accusation
against Esau, who had lived with his pious parents without following
their example, while Obadiah, on the contrary, lived in constant
intercourse with the iniquitous King Ahab and his still more iniquitous
spouse Jezebel without yielding to the baneful influence they
exercised. (6) This same Obadiah not only used his own fortune, but
went to the length of borrowing money on interest from the future king,
in order to have the wherewithal to support the prophets who were in
hiding. On his death, the king sought to hold the children responsible
for the debt of the father. In her despair the pious wife of Obadiah
(7) went to the graveyard, and there she cried out: "O thou God-fearing
man!" At once a heavenly voice was heard questioning her: "There are
four God-fearing men, Abraham, Joseph, Job, and Obadiah. To which of
them does thou desire to speak?" "To him of whom it is said, "He feared
the Lord greatly.'"
She was led to the grave of the prophet Obadiah, where she poured out
the tale of her sorrow. Obadiah told her to take the small remnant of
oil she still had to the prophet Elisha and request him to intercede
for him with God, "for God," he said, "is my debtor, seeing that I
provided a hundred prophets, not only with bread and water, but also
with oil to illuminate their hiding-place, for do not the Scriptures
say: 'He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord'?"
Forthwith the woman carried out his behest. She went to Elisha, and he
helped her by making her little cruse of oil fill vessels upon vessels
without number, and when the vessels gave out, she fetched potsherds,
saying, "May the will that made empty vessels full, make broken vessels
perfect." So it was. The oil ceased to flow only when the supply of
potsherds as well as vessels gave out. In her piety the woman wanted to
pay her tithe-offering, but Elisha was of the opinion that, as the oil
had been bestowed upon her miraculously, she could keep it wholly and
entirely for her own use. Furthermore, Elisha reassured her as to the
power of the royal princes to do her harm: "The God who will close the
jaws of the lions set upon Daniel, and who did close the jaws of the
dogs in Egypt, the same God will blind the eyes of the sons of Ahab,
and deafen their ears, so that they can do thee no harm." (8) Not only
was the poor widow helped out of her difficulties, her descendants unto
all times were provided for. The oil rose in price, and it yielded so
much profit that they never suffered want. (9)
THE SHUNAMMITE
The great woman of Shunem, the sister of Abishag and wife of the
prophet Iddo, (10) also had cause to be deeply grateful to Elisha. When
Elisha came to Shunem on his journey through the land of Israel, his
holiness made a profound impression upon the Shunammite. Indeed, the
prophet's eye was so awe-inspiring that now woman could look him in the
face and live. (11) Contrary to the habit of most women, who are intent
upon diminishing their expenses and their toil, the Shunammite took
delight in the privilege of welcoming the prophet to her house as a
guest. She observed that not even a fly dared approach close to the
holy man, and a grateful fragrance exhaled from his person. "If he were
not so great a saint," she said, "and the holiness of the Lord did not
invest him, there were no such pleasant fragrance about him." That he
might be undisturbed, she assigned the best chambers in the house to
the prophet. He on his part, desiring to show his appreciation of her
hospitality, knew no better return for her kindness than to promise
that she should be blessed with a child within a year. (12) The woman
protested: "O, my husband is an old man, nor am I of an age to bear
children; the promise cannot be fulfilled." Yet it happened as the
prophet had foretold. Before a twelvemonth had passed, she was a
mother.
A few years later her child died a sudden death. The mother repaired to
the prophet, and lamented before him: "O that the vessel had remained
empty, rather than it should be filled first, and then be left void."
The prophet admitted that, though as a rule he was acquainted with all
things that were to happen, God had left him in the dark about the
misfortune that had befallen her. With trust in God, he gave his staff
to his disciple Gehazi, and sent him to bring the boy back to life. But
Gehazi was unworthy of his master. His conduct toward the Shunammite
was not becoming a disciple of the prophet, and, above all, he had no
faith in the possibility of accomplishing the mission entrusted to him.
Instead of obeying the behest of Elisha, not to speak a word on his way
to the child of the Shunammite, Gehazi made sport of the task laid upon
him. To whatever man he met he addressed the questions: "Dost thou
suppose this staff can bring the dead back to life?" The result was
that he forfeited the power of executing the errand with which he had
been charged. Elisha himself had to perform the miracle. The prophet
uttered the prayer: "O Lord of the world! As Thou didst wonders through
my master Elijah, and didst permit him to bring the dead to life, so, I
pray Thee, do Thou perform a wonder through me, and let me restore life
to this lad." (13) The prayer was granted, and the child was revived.
The act of the prophet proves the duty of gratitude in return for
hospitality. Elisha did not attempt to resuscitate his own kith and kin
who had been claimed by death; he invoked a miracle for the sake of the
woman who had welcomed him kindly to her house. (14)
GEHAZI
Gehazi, proved untrustworthy by his conduct on this occasion, again
aroused the ire of the prophet when he disregarded the order not to
accept money from Naaman, the Syrian captain. He did not succeed in
deceiving the prophet. On his return from Naaman he found Elisha
occupied with the study of the chapter in the Mishnah Shabbat which
deals with the eight reptiles. The prophet Elisha greeted him with the
rebuke: "Thou villain! the time has come for me to be rewarded for the
study of the Mishnah about the eight reptiles. May my reward be that
the disease of Naaman afflict thee and thy descendants for evermore."
Scarcely had these words escaped his lips, when he saw the leprosy come
out on Gehazi's face. (15) Gehazi deserved the punishment on account of
his base character. He was sensual and envious, and did not believe in
the resurrection of the dead. His unworthy qualities were displayed in
his conduct toward the Shunammite and toward the disciples of Elisha.
When the pretty Shunammite came to the prophet in her grief over the
death of her child, Gehazi took her passionately in his arms, under the
pretext of forcing her away from the prophet, on whom she had laid hold
in her supplications.
As for the other disciples of Elisha, he endeavored to keep them away
from the house of the prophet. He was in the habit of standing without
the door. This induced many to turn away and go home, for they reasoned
that, if the house were not full to overflowing, Gehazi would not be
standing outside. Only after Gehazi's dismissal did the disciples of
Elisha increase marvellously. That Gehazi had no faith in the
resurrection of the dead, is shown by his incredulity with regard to
the child of the Shunammite. (16)
In spite of all these faults, Elisha regretted that he had cast off his
disciple, who was a great scholar in the law, especially as Gehazi
abandoned himself to a sinful life after leaving the prophet. By means
of magnetism he made the golden calves at Beth-el float in the air, and
many were brought to believe in the divinity of these idols. Moreover,
he engraved the great and awful Name of God in their mouth. Thus they
were enabled to speak, and they gave forth the same words God had
proclaimed from Sinai: "I am the Lord thy God Thou shalt have no other
gods before Me." Elisha accordingly repaired to Damascus to lead Gehazi
back to the paths of righteousness. But he remained impenitent, for he
said: "From thyself I have learned that there is no return for him who
not only sins himself, but also induces others to sin." (17) So Gehazi
died without having done aught to atone for his transgressions, which
were so great that he is one of the few Jews who have no share in
Paradise. (18) His children inherited his leprosy. He and his three
sons are the four leprous men who informed the king of Israel of the
precipitate flight of the Syrian host. (19)
Elisha's excessive severity toward his servant Gehazi and toward the
mocking boys of Jericho did not go unpunished. He had to endure two
periods of disease, and the third sickness that befell him cause his
death. He is the first known to history who survived a sickness. Before
him death had been the inevitable companion of disease. (20)
A great miracle marked the end of a life rich in miraculous deeds: a
dead man revived at the touch of Elisha's bier, and stood on his feet.
It was a worthy character for whom the wonder was accomplished
Shallum the son of Tikvah, the husband of Huldah the prophetess, a man
of noble descent, who had led a life of lovingkindness. He was in the
habit of going daily beyond the city bearing the pitcher of water, from
which he gave every traveller to drink, a good deed that received a
double reward. His wife became a prophetess, and when he died and his
funeral, attended by a large concourse of people, was disturbed by the
invasion of the Arameans, he was given new life by contact with the
bones of Elisha. He lived to have a son, Hanamel by name. (21)
The death of Elisha was a great misfortune for the Israelites. So long
as he was alive, no Aramean troops entered Palestine. The first
invasion by them happened on the day of his burial. (22)
THE FLIGHT OF JONAH
Among the many thousands (23) of disciples whom Elisha gathered about
him during the sixty years (24) and more of his activity, the most
prominent was the prophet Jonah. While the master was still alive,
Jonah was charged with the important mission of anointing Jehu king.
(25) The next task laid upon him was to proclaim their destruction to
the inhabitants of Jerusalem. (26) The doom did not come to pass,
because they repented of their wrong-doing, and God had mercy upon
them. Among the Israelites Jonah was, therefore, known as "the false
prophet." When he was sent to Nineveh to prophesy the downfall of the
city, he reflected: "I know to a certainly that the heathen will do
penance, the threatened punishment will not be executed, and among the
heathen, too, I shall gain the reputation of being a false prophet."
(27) To escape this disgrace, he determined to take up his abode on the
sea, where there were none to whom prophecies never to be fulfilled
would have to be delivered.
On his arrival at Joppa, there was no vessel in port. To try him, God
cause a storm to arise, and it carried a vessel back to Joppa, which
had made a two days' journey away from the harbor. The prophet
interpreted this chance to mean that God approved his plan. He was so
rejoiced at the favorable opportunity for leaving land that he paid the
whole amount for the entire cargo in advance, no less a sum than four
thousand gold denarii. After a day's sailing out from shore, a terrific
storm (28) broke loose. Wonderful to relate, it injured no vessel but
Jonah's. Thus he was taught the lesson that God is Lord over heaven and
earth and sea, and man can hide himself nowhere from His face.
On the same vessel were representatives of the seventy nations of the
earth, each with his peculiar idols. They all resolved to entreat their
gods for succor, and the god from whom help would come should be
recognized and worshipped at the only one true God. But help came from
none. Then it was that the captain of the vessel approached Jonah where
he lay asleep, and said to him: "We are suspended 'twixt life and
death, and thou liest here asleep. Pray, tell me, to what nation dost
thou belong?" "I am a Hebrew," replied Jonah. "We have heard," said the
captain, "that the God of the Hebrews is the most powerful. Cry to Him
for help. Perhaps He will perform such miracles for us as He did in
days of old for the Jews at the Red Sea."
Jonah confessed to the captain that he was to blame for the whole
misfortune, and he besought him to cast him adrift, and appease the
storm. The other passengers refused to consent to so cruel an act.
Though the lot decided against Jonah, they first tried to save the
vessel by throwing the cargo overboard. Their efforts were in vain.
Then they placed Jonah at the side of the vessel and spoke: "O Lord of
the world, reckon this not up against us as innocent blood, for we know
not the case of this man, and he himself bids us throw him into the
sea." Even then they could not make up their minds to let him drown.
First they immersed him up to his knees in the water of the sea, and
the storm ceased; they drew him back into the vessel, and forthwith the
storm raged in its old fury. Two more trials they made. They lowered
him into the water up to his navel, and raised him out of the depths
when the storm was assuaged. Again, when the storm broke out anew, they
lowered him to his neck, and a second time they took him back into the
vessel when the wind subsided. (29) But finally the renewed rage of the
storm convinced them that their danger was due to Jonah's
transgressions, and they abandoned him to his fate. He was thrown into
the water, and on the instant the sea grew calm. (30)
JONAH IN THE WHALE
At the creation of the world, God made a fish intended to harbor Jonah.
He as so large that the prophet was as comfortable inside of him as in
a spacious synagogue. The eyes of the fish served Jonah as windows,
and, besides, there was a diamond, which shone as brilliantly as the
sun at midday, so that Jonah could see all things in the sea down to
its very bottom.
It is a law that when their time has come, all the fish of the sea must
betake themselves to leviathan, and let the monster devour them. The
life term of Jonah's fish was about to expire, and the fish warned
Jonah of what was to happen. When he, with Jonah in his belly, came to
leviathan, the prophet said to the monster: "For thy sake I came
hither. It was meet that I should know thine abode, for it is my
appointed task to capture thee in the life to come and slaughter thee
for the table of the just and pious." When leviathan observed the sign
of the covenant on Jonah's body, he fled affrighted, and Jonah and the
fish were saved. To show his gratitude, the fish carried Jonah
whithersoever there was a sight to be seen. He showed him the river
from which the ocean flows, showed him the spot at which the Israelites
crossed the Red Sea, showed him Gehenna and Sheol, and many other
mysterious and wonderful place.
Three days Jonah had spent in the belly of the fish, and he still felt
so comfortable that he did not think of imploring God to change his
condition. But God sent a female fish big with three hundred and
sixty-five thousand little fish to Jonah's host, to demand the
surrender of the prophet, else she would swallow both him and the guest
he harbored. The message was received with incredulity, and leviathan
had to come and corroborate it; he himself had heard God dispatch the
female fish on her errand. So it came about that Jonah was transferred
to another abode. His new quarters, which he had to share with all the
little fish, were far from comfortable, and from the bottom of his
heart a prayer for deliverance arose to God on high. (31) The last
words of his long petition were, "I shall redeem my vow," (32)
whereupon God commanded the fish to spew Jonah out. At a distance of
nine hundred and sixty-five parasangs from the fish he alighted on dry
land. These miracles induced the ship's crew to abandon idolatry, and
they all became pious proselytes in Jerusalem. (33)
THE REPENTANCE OF NINEVEH
Jonah went straightway to Nineveh, the monster city covering forty
square parasangs and containing a million and half of human beings. He
lost no time in proclaiming their destruction to the inhabitants. The
voice of the prophet was so sonorous that it reached to every corner of
the great city, and all who heard his words resolved to turn aside from
their ungodly ways. At the head of the penitents was King Osnappar of
Assyria. (34) He descended from his throne, removed his crown, strewed
ashes on his head instead, took off his purple garments, and rolled
about in the dust of the highways. In all the streets royal heralds
proclaimed the king's decree bidding the inhabitants fast three days,
wear sackcloth, and supplicate God with tears and prayers to avert the
threatened doom. The people of Nineveh fairly compelled to God's mercy
to descend upon them. They held their infants heavenward, and amid
streaming tears they cried: "For the sake of these innocent babes, hear
our prayers." The young of their stalled cattle they separated from the
mother beasts, the young were left within the stable, the old were put
without. So parted from one another, the young and the old began to
bellow aloud. Then the Ninevites cried: "If Thou wilt not have mercy
upon us, we will not have mercy upon these beasts."
The penance of the Ninevites did not stop at fasting and praying. Their
deeds showed that they had determined to lead a better life. If a man
had usurped another's property, he sought to make amends for his
iniquity; some went so far as to destroy their palaces in order to be
able to give back a single brick to the rightful owner. Of their own
accord others appeared before the courts of justice, and confessed
their secret crimes and sins, known to none beside themselves, and
declared themselves ready to submit to well-merited punishment, though
it be death that was decreed against them.
One incident that happened at the time will illustrate the contrition
of the Ninevites. A man found a treasure in the building lot he had
acquired from his neighbor. Both buyer and seller refused to assume
possession of the treasure. The seller insisted that the sale of the
lot carried with it the sale of all it contained. The buyer held that
he had bought the ground, not the treasure hidden therein. Neither
rested satisfied until the judge succeeded in finding out who had
hidden the treasure and where were his heirs, and the joy of the two
was great when they could deliver the treasure up to its legitimate
owners. (35)
Seeing that the Ninevites had undergone a real change of heart, God
took mercy upon them, and pardoned them. Thereupon Jonah likewise felt
encouraged to plead for himself with God, that He forgive him for his
flight. God spoke to him: "Thou wast mindful of Mine honor," the
prophet had not wanted to appear a liar, so that men's trust in God
might not be shaken "and for this reason thou didst take to sea.
Therefore did I deal mercifully with thee, and rescue thee from the
bowels of Sheol."
His sojourn in the inside of the fish the prophet could not easily
dismiss from his mind, nor did it remain without visible consequences.
The intense heat in the belly of the fish had consumed his garments,
and made his hair fall out, (36) and he was sore plagued by swarms of
insects. To afford Jonah protection, God caused the kikayon to grow up.
When he opened his eyes one morning, he saw a plant with two hundred
and seventy-five leaves, each leaf measuring more than a span, so that
it afforded relief from the heat of the sun. But the sun smote the
gourd that it withered, and Jonah was again annoyed by the insects. He
began to weep and wish for death to release him from his troubles. But
when God led him to the plant, and showed him what lesson he might
derive from it, how, though he had not labored for the plant, he had
pity on it, he realized his wrong in desiring God to be relentless
toward Nineveh, the great city, with its many inhabitants, rather than
have his reputation as a prophet suffer taint. He prostrated himself
and said: "O God, guide the world according to Thy goodness."
God was gracious to the people of Nineveh so long as they continued
worthy of His lovingkindness. But at the end of forty days they
departed from the path of piety, and they became more sinful than ever.
Then the punishment threatened by Jonah overtook them, and they were
swallowed up by the earth. (37)
Jonah's suffering in the watery abyss had been so severe that by way of
compensation of God exempted him from death: living he was permitted to
enter Paradise. (38) Like Jonah, his wife was known far and wide for
her piety. She had gained fame particularly through her pilgrimage to
Jerusalem, a duty which, by reason of her sex, she was not obliged to
fulfil. (39) On one of these pilgrimages it was that the prophetical
spirit first descended upon Jonah. (40)
IX.
THE LATER KINGS OF JUDAH
JOASH
When the prophet Jonah, doing the behest of his master Elisha, anointed
Jehu king over Israel, (1) he poured the oil out of a pitcher, not out
of a horn, to indicate that the dynasty of Jehu would not occupy the
throne long. (2) At first Jehu, though a somewhat foolish (3) king, was
at least pious, but he abandoned his God-fearing ways from the moment
he saw the document bearing the signature of the prophet Ahijah of
Shilo, which bound the signers to pay implicit obedience to Jeroboam.
The king took this as evidence that the prophet had approved the
worship of the golden calves. So it came to pass that Jehu, the
destroyer of Baal worship, did nothing to oppose the idolatrous service
established by Jeroboam at Beth-el. (4) The successors of Jehu were not
better; on the contrary, they were worse, and therefore in the fifth
generation (5) an end was put to the dynasty of Jehu by the hand of the
assassin.
The kings of Judah differed in no essential particular from their
colleagues in the north. Ahaziah, whom Jehu killed, was a shameless
sinner; he had the Name of God expurged from every passage in which it
occurred in the Holy Scriptures, and the names of idols inserted in its
place. (6)
Upon the death of Ahaziah followed the reign of terror under the queen
Athaliah, when God exacted payment from the house of David for his
trespass in connection with the extermination of the priest at Nob. As
Abiathar had been the only male descendant of Abimelech to survive the
persecution of Saul, so the sole representative of the house of David
to remain after the sword of Athaliah had raged (7) was Joash, the
child kept in hiding, in the Holy of Holies in the Temple, by the high
priest Jehoiada and his wife Jehosheba. (8) Later Jehoiada vindicated
the right of Joash upon the throne, and installed him as king of Judah.
The very crown worn by the rulers of the house of David testified to
the legitimacy of the young prince, for it possessed the peculiarity of
fitting none but the rightful successors to David. (9)
At the instigation of Jehoiada, King Joash undertook the restoration of
the Temple. The work was completed so expeditiously that one living at
the time the Temple was erected by Solomon was permitted to see the new
structure shortly before his death. (10) This good fortune befell
Jehoiada (11) himself, the son of Benaiah, commander-in-chief of the
army under Solomon. So long as Joash continued under the tutelage of
Jehoiada, he was a pious king. When Jehoiada departed this life, the
courtiers came to Joash and flattered him: "If thou wert not a god,
thou hadst not been able to abide for six years in the Holy of Holies,
a spot which even the high priest is permitted to enter but once a
year." The king lent ear to their blandishments, and permitted the
people to pay him Divine homage. (12) But when the folly of the king
went to the extreme of prompting him to set up an idol in the Temple,
Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, placed himself at the entrance, and
barring the way said: "Thou shalt not do it so long as I live." (13)
High priest, prophet, and judge though Zechariah was, and son-in-law of
Joash to boot, the king still did not shrink from having him killed for
his presumptuous words, not was he deterred by the fact that it
happened on a Day of Atonement which fell on the Sabbath. (14) The
innocent blood crimsoning the hall of the priests did not remain
unavenged. For two hundred and fifty-two years it did not leave off
seething and pulsating, until, finally, Nebuzaradan, captain of
Nebuchadnezzar's guard, ordered a great carnage among the Judeans, to
avenge the death of Zechariah. (15)
Joash himself, the murderer of Zechariah, met with an evil end. He fell
into the hands of the Syrians, and they abused him in their barbarous,
immoral way. Before he could recover from the suffering inflicted upon
him, his servants slew him. (16)
Amaziah, the son and successor of Joash, in many respects resembled his
father. At the beginning of his reign he was God-fearing, but when,
through the aid of God, he had gained a brilliant victory over the
Edomites, he knew no better way of manifesting his gratitude than to
establish in Jerusalem the cult of the idol worshipped by his conquered
enemies. To compass his chastisement, God inspired Amaziah with the
idea of provoking a war with Joash, the ruler of the northern kingdom.
Amaziah demanded that Joash should either recognize the suzerainty of
the southern realm voluntarily, or let the fate of battle decide the
question. (17) At first Joash sought to turn Amaziah aside from his
purpose by a parable reminding him of the fate of Shechem, which the
sons of Jacob had visited upon him for having done violence to their
sister Dinah. (18) Amaziah refused to be warned. He persisted in his
challenge, and a war ensued. The fortune of battle decided against
Amaziah. He suffered defeat, and later he was tortured to death by his
own subjects. (19)
THREE GREAT PROPHETS
The reign of Uzziah, who for a little while occupied the throne during
his father Amaziah's lifetime, is notable particularly because it marks
the beginning of the activity of three of the prophets, Hosea, Amos,
and Isaiah. The oldest of the three was Hosea, (20) the son of the
prophet and prince Beeri, the Beeri who later was carried away captive
by Tiglath-pileser, the king of Assyria. (21) Of Beeri's prophecies we
have but two verses, preserved for us by Isaiah. (22)
The peculiar marriage contracted by Hosea at the command of God Himself
was not without a good reason. When God spoke to the prophet about the
sins of Israel, expecting him to defend or excuse his people, Hosea
said severely: "O Lord of the world! Thine is the universe. In place of
Israel choose another as Thy peculiar people from among the nations of
the earth." To make the true relation between God and Israel known to
the prophet, he was commanded to take to wife a woman with a dubious
past. After she had borne him several children, God suddenly put the
question to him: "Why followest thou not the example of thy teacher
Moses, who denied himself the joys of family life after his call to
prophecy?" Hosea replied: "I can neither send my wife away nor divorce
her, for she has borne me children." "If, now," said God to him, "thou
who hast a wife of whose honesty thou art so uncertain that thou canst
not even be sure that her children are thine, and yet thou canst not
separate from her, how, then can I separate Myself from Israel, from My
children, the children of My elect, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob!" Hosea
entreated God to pardon him. But God said: "Better were it that thou
shouldst pray for the welfare of Israel, for thou art the cause that I
issued three fateful decrees against them." Hosea prayed as he was
bidden, and his prayer averted the impending threefold doom. (23)
Hosea died at Babylon at a time in which a journey thence to Palestine
was beset with many perils. Desirous of having his earthly remains rest
in sacred ground, he requested before his death that his bier be loaded
upon a camel, and the animal permitted to make its way as it would.
Wherever it stopped, there his body was to be buried. As he commanded,
so it was done. Without a single mishap the camel arrived at Safed. In
the Jewish cemetery of the town it stood still, and there Hosea was
buried in the presence of a large concourse. (24)
The prophetical activity of Amos commenced after Hosea's had closed,
and before Isaiah's began. Though he had an impediment in his speech,
(25) he obeyed the call of God, and betook himself to Beth-el to
proclaim to the sinful inhabitants thereof the Divine message with
which he had been charged. The denunciation of the priest Amaziah, of
Beth-el, who informed against the prophet before King Jeroboam of
Israel, did him no harm, for the king, idolater though he was,
entertained profound respect for Amos. He said to himself: "God forbid
I should think the prophet guilty of cherishing traitorous plans, and
if he were, it would surely be at the bidding of God." (26) For this
pious disposition Jeroboam was rewarded; never had the northern kingdom
attained to such power as under him. (27)
However, the fearlessness of Amos finally caused his death. King Uzziah
inflicted a mortal blow upon his forehead with a red-hot iron. (28)
Two years after Amos ceased to prophesy, Isaiah was favored with his
first Divine communication. It was the day on which King Uzziah,
blinded by success and prosperity, arrogated to himself the privileges
of the priesthood. He tried to offer sacrifices upon the altar, and
when the high priest Azariah (29) ventured to restrain him, he
threatened to slay him and any priest sympathizing with him unless they
kept silent. Suddenly the earth quaked so violently that a great breach
was torn in the Temple, through which a brilliant ray of sunlight
pierced, falling upon the forehead of the king and causing leprosy to
break forth upon him. Nor was that all the damage done by the
earthquake. On the west side of Jerusalem, half of the mountain was
split off and hurled to the east, into a road, at a distance of four
stadia. (30) And not heaven and earth alone were outraged by Uzziah's
atrocity and sought to annihilate him; even the angels of fire, the
seraphim, were on the point of descending and consuming him, when a
voice from on high proclaimed, that the punishment appointed for Uzziah
was unlike that meted out to Korah and his company despite the
similarity of their crimes. (31)
When Isaiah beheld the august throne of God on this memorable day, (32)
he was sorely affrighted, for he reproached himself with not having
tried to turn the king away from his impious desire. (33) Enthralled he
hearkened to the hymns of praise sung by the angels, and lost in
admiration he failed to join his voice with theirs. "Woe is me," he
cried out, "that I was silent! Woe is me that I did not join the chorus
of the angels praising God! Had I done it, I, too, like the angels,
would have become immortal, seeing I was permitted to look upon sights
to behold which had brought death to other men." (34) Then he began to
excuse himself: "I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst
of people of unclean lips." At once resounded the voice of God in
rebuke: "Of thyself thou art the master, and of thyself thou mayest say
what thou choosest, but who gave thee the right to calumniate My
children of Israel and call them 'a people of unclean lips'?" And
Isaiah heard God bid one of the seraphim touch his lips with a live
coal as a punishment for having slandered Israel. Though the coal was
so hot that the seraph needed tongs to hold the tongs with which he had
taken the coal from the altar, the prophet yet escaped unscathed, but
he learned the lesson, that it was his duty to defend Israel, not
traduce him. Thenceforth the championship of his people was the
mainspring of the prophet's activity, and he was rewarded by having
more revelations concerning Israel and the other nations vouchsafed him
than any other prophet before or after him. Moreover God designated
Isaiah to be "the prophet of consolation." Thus it happened that the
very Isaiah whose early prophecies foretold the exile and the
destruction of the Temple, (35) later described and proclaimed, in
plainer terms than any other prophet, (36) the brilliant destiny in
store for Israel.
THE TWO KINGDOMS CHASTISED
Afflicted with leprosy, Uzziah was unfit to reign as king, and Jotham
administered the affairs of Judah for twenty-five years before the
death of his father. (37) Jotham possessed so much piety that his
virtues added to those of two other very pious men suffice to atone for
all the sins of the whole of mankind committed from the hour of
creation until the end of all time. (38)
Ahaz, the son of Jotham; was very unlike him. "From first to last he
was a sinner." (39) He abolished the true worship of God, forbade the
study of the Torah, set up an idol in the upper room of the Temple, and
disregarded the Jewish laws of marriage. (40) His transgressions are
the less pardonable, because he sinned against God knowing His grandeur
and power, as appears from his reply to the prophet. Isaiah said to
him: "Ask a sign of God, as, for instance, that the dead should arise,
Korah come up from Sheol, or Elijah descend from heaven." The king's
answer was: "I know thou hast the power to do any of these, but I do
not wish the Name of God to be glorified through me." (41)
The only good quality possessed by Ahaz was respect for Isaiah. (42) To
avoid his reproaches, Ahaz would disguise himself when he went abroad,
so that the prophet might not recognize him. (43) Only to this
circumstance, joined to the fact he was the father of a pious son and
the son of an equally pious father, is it to be ascribed that, in spite
of his wickedness, Ahaz is not one of those who have forfeited their
portion in the world to come. But he did not escape punishment; on the
contrary, his chastisement was severe, not only as king but also as
man. In the ill-starred war against Pekah, the king of the northern
kingdom, he lost his first-born son, a great hero. (44)
Pekah, however, was not permitted to enjoy the fruits of his victory,
for the king of Assyria invaded his empire, captured the golden calf at
Dan, and led the tribes on the east side of Jordan away into exile. The
dismemberment of the Israelitish kingdom went on apace for some years.
Then the Assyrians, in the reign of Hoshea, carried off the second
golden calf together with the tribes of Asher, Issachar, Zebulon, and
Naphtali, leaving but one-eighth of the Israelites in their own land.
The larger portion of the exiles was taken to Damascus. After that
Israel's doom overtook it with giant strides, and the last ruler of
Israel actually hastened the end of his kingdom by a pious deed. After
the golden calves were removed by the Assyrians, Hoshea, the king of
the north, abolished the institution of stationing the guards on the
frontier between Judah and Israel to prevent pilgrimages to Jerusalem.
But the people made no use of the liberty granted them. They persisted
in their idolatrous cult, and this quickened their punishment. So long
as their kings had put obstacles in their path, they could excuse
themselves before God for not worshipping Him in the true way. The
action taken by their king Hoshea left them no defense. When the
Assyrians made their third incursion into Israel, the kingdom of the
north was destroyed forever, and the people, one and all, were carried
away into exile. (45)
The heathen nations settled in Samaria by the Assyrians instead of the
deported Ten Tribes were forced by God to accept the true religion of
the Jews. Nevertheless they continued to worship their olden idols: the
Babylonians paid devotion to a hen, the people of Cuthah to a cock,
those of Hamath to a ram, the dog and the ass were the gods of the
Avvites, and the mule and the horse the gods of the Sepharvites. (46)
HEZEKIAH
While the northern kingdom was rapidly descending into the pit of
destruction, a mighty upward impulse was given to Judah, both
spiritually and materially, by its king Hezekiah. In his infancy the
king had been destined as a sacrifice to Moloch. His mother had saved
him from death only by rubbing him with the blood of a salamander,
which made him fire-proof. (47) In every respect he was the opposite of
his father. As the latter is counted among the worst of sinners, so
Hezekiah is counted among the most pious of Israel. His first act as
king is evidence that he held the honor of God to be his chief concern,
important beyond all else. He refused to accord his father regal
obsequies; his remains were buried as though he had been poor and of
plebeian rank. Impious as he was, Ahaz deserved nothing more dignified.
(48) God had Himself made it known to Hezekiah, by a sign, that his
father was to have no consideration paid him. On the day of the dead
king's funeral daylight lasted but two hours, and his body had to be
interred when the earth was enveloped in darkness. (49)
Throughout his reign, Hezekiah devoted himself mainly to the task of
dispelling the ignorance of the Torah which his father had caused.
While Ahaz had forbidden the study of the law, Hezekiah's orders read:
"Who does not occupy himself with the Torah, renders himself subject to
the death penalty." The academies closed under Ahaz were kept open day
and night under Hezekiah. The king himself supplied the oil needed for
illuminating purposes. Gradually, under this system, a generation grew
up so well trained that one could search the land from Dan even to
Beer-sheba and not find a single ignoramus. The very women and the
children, both boys and girls, knew the laws of "clean and unclean."
(50) By way of rewarding his piety, God granted Hezekiah a brilliant
victory over Sennacherib.
This Assyrian king, who had conquered the whole world, (51) equipped an
army against Hezekiah like unto which there is none, unless it be the
army of the four kings whom Abraham routed, or the army to be raised by
God and Magog in the Messianic time. Sennacherib's army consisted of
more than two millions and a half of horsemen, among them forty-five
thousand princes sitting in chariots and surrounded by their paramours,
by eighty thousand armor-clad soldiers, and sixty thousand swordsmen.
The camp extended over a space of four hundred parasangs, and the
saddle-beasts standing neck to neck formed a line forty parasangs long.
The host was divided into four divisions. After the first of them had
passed the Jordan, it was well nigh dry, for the soldiers had all
slaked their thirst with water of the river. The second division found
nothing to quench their thirst except the water gathered under the
hoofs of the horses. The third division was forced to dig wells, and
when the fourth division crossed the Jordan, they kicked up great
clouds of dust. (52)
With this vast army Sennacherib hastened onward, in accordance with the
disclosures of the astrologers, who warned him that he would fail in
his object of capturing Jerusalem, if he arrived there later than the
day set by them. His journey having lasted but one day instead of ten,
as he had expected, he rested at Nob. A raised platform was there
erected for Sennacherib, whence he could view Jerusalem. On first
beholding the Judean capital, the Assyrian king exclaimed: "What! Is
this Jerusalem, the city for whose sake I gathered together my whole
army, for whose sake I first conquered all other lands? Is it not
smaller and weaker than all the cities of the nations I subdued with my
strong hand?" He stretched himself and shook his head, and waved his
hand contemptuously toward the Temple mount and the sanctuary crowning
it. When his warriors urged him to make his attack upon Jerusalem, he
bade them take their ease for one night, and be prepared to storm the
city the next day. It seemed no great undertaking. Each warrior would
but have to pick up as much mortar from the wall as is needed to seal a
letter and the whole city would disappear. But Sennacherib made the
mistake of not proceeding directly to the attack upon the city. If he
had made the assault at once, it would have been successful, for the
sin of Saul against the priest at Nob had not yet been wholly expiated;
on that very day it was fully atoned for. (53) In the following night,
which was the Passover night, when Hezekiah and the people began to
sing the Hallel Psalms, (54) the giant host was annihilated. The
archangel Gabriel (55) sent by God to ripen the fruits of the field,
was charged to address himself to the task of making away with the
Assyrians, and he fulfilled his mission so well that of all the
millions of the army, Sennacherib alone was saved with his two sons,
his son-in-law (56) Nebuchadnezzar, and Nebuzaradan. (57) The death of
the Assyrians happened when the angel permitted them to hear the "song
of the celestials." (58) Their souls were burnt, though their garments
remained intact. (59) Such an end was too good for Sennacherib. To him
a disgraceful death was apportioned. On his flight away from Jerusalem,
he met a Divine apparition in the guise of an old man. He questioned
Sennacherib as to what he would say to the kings allied with him, in
reply to their inquiry about the fate of their sons at Jerusalem.
Sennacherib confessed his dread of a meeting with those kings. The old
man advised him to have his hair cut off, which would change his
appearance beyond recognition. Sennacherib assented, and his advisor
sent him to a house in the vicinity to fetch a pair of shears. Here he
found some people angels in disguise busying themselves with a
hand-mill. They promised to give him the shears, provided he ground a
measure of grain for them. So it grew late and dark by the time
Sennacherib returned to the old man, and he had to procure a light
before his hair could be cut. As he fanned the fire into a flame, a
spark flew into his beard and singed it, and he had to sacrifice his
beard as well as his hair. On his return to Assyria, Sennacherib found
a plank, which he worshipped as an idol, because it was part of the ark
which had saved Noah from the deluge. He vowed that he would sacrifice
his sons to this idol if he prospered in his next ventures. But his
sons heard his vows, and they killed their father, (60) and fled to
Kardu where they released the Jewish captives confined there in great
numbers. With these they marched to Jerusalem, and became proselytes
there. The famous scholars Shemaiah and Abtalion were the descendants
of these two sons of Sennacherib. (61)
MIRACLES WROUGHT FOR HEZEKIAH
The destruction of the Assyrian host delivered Hezekiah from an inner
as well as an outer enemy, for he had opponents in Jerusalem, among
them the high priest Shebnah. (62) Shebnah had a more numerous
following in the city than the king himself, (63) and they and their
leader had favored peace with Sennacherib. Supported by Joah, another
influential personage, Shebnah had fastened a letter to a dart, and
shot the dart into the Assyrian camp. The contents of the letter were:
"We and the whole people of Israel wish to conclude peace with thee,
but Hezekiah and Isaiah will not permit it." (64) Shebnah's influence
was so powerful that Hezekiah began to show signs of yielding. Had it
not been for the prophet Isaiah, the king would have submitted to
Sennacherib's demands.
Shebnah's treachery and his other sins did not go unpunished. When he
and his band of adherents left Jerusalem to join the Assyrians, the
angel Gabriel closed the gate as soon as Shebnah had passed beyond it,
and so he was separated from his followers. To the inquiry of
Sennacherib about the many sympathizers he had written of, he could
give no reply but that they had changed their mind. The Assyrian king
thought Shebnah had made sport of him. He, therefore, ordered his
attendants to bore a hole through his heels, tie him to the tail of a
horse by them, and spur the horse on to run until Shebnah was dragged
to death. (65)
The unexpected victory won by Hezekiah over the Assyrians, to whom the
kingdom of Samaria had fallen a prey but a short time before, showed
how wrong they had been who had mocked at Hezekiah for his frugal ways.
A king whose meal consisted of a handful of vegetables could hardly be
called a dignified ruler, they had said. These critics would gladly
have seen his kingdom pass into the hands of Pekah, the king of
Samaria, whose dessert, to speak of nothing else, consisted of forty
seim of young pigeons. (66)
In view of all the wonders God had done for him, it was unpardonable
that Hezekiah did not feel himself prompted at least to sing a song of
praise to God. Indeed, when the prophet Isaiah urged him to it, he
refused, saying that the study of the Torah, to which he devoted
himself with assiduous zeal, was a substitute for direct expressions of
gratitude. Besides, he thought God's miracles would become known to the
world without action on his part, (67) in such ways as these: After the
destruction of the Assyrian army, when the Jews searched the abandoned
camps, they found Pharaoh the king of Egypt and the Ethiopian king
Tirhakah. These kings had hastened to the aid of Hezekiah, and the
Assyrians had taken them captive and clapped them in irons, in which
they were languishing when the Jews came upon them. Liberated by
Hezekiah, the two rulers returned to their respective realms, spreading
the report of the greatness of God everywhere. And again, all the
vassal troops in Sennacherib's army, set free by Hezekiah, accepted the
Jewish faith, and on their way home they proclaimed the kingdom of God
in Egypt and in many other lands. (68)
By failing in gratitude Hezekiah lost a great opportunity. The Divine
plan had been to make Hezekiah the Messiah, and Sennacherib was to be
God and Magog. Justice opposed this plan, addressing God thus: "O Lord
of the world! David, king of Israel, who sang so many songs and hymns
of praise to Thee, him Thou didst not make the Messiah, and now Thou
wouldst confer the distinction upon Hezekiah, who has no word of praise
for Thee in spite of the manifold wonders Thou hast wrought for him?"
Then the earth appeared before God, and said: "Lord of the world! I
will song Thee a song in place of this righteous man; make him to be
the Messiah," and the earth forthwith intoned a song of praise.
Likewise spake the Prince of the World: (69) "Lord of the world! Do the
will of this righteous man." But a voice from heaven announced: "This
is my secret, this is my secret." And again, when the prophet exclaimed
sorrowfully, "Woe is me! How long, O Lord, how long!" the voice
replied: "The time of the Messiah will arrive when the 'treacherous
dealers and the treacherous dealers' shall have come." (70)
The sin committed by Hezekiah asleep, he had to atone for awake. If he
refused to devote a song of praise to God for his escape from the
Assyrian peril, he could not refrain from doing it after his recovery
from the dangerous sickness that befell him. (71) This sickness was a
punishment for another sin beside ingratitude. He had "peeled off" the
gold from the Temple, and sent it to the king of the Assyrians;
therefore the disease that afflicted him caused his skin to "peel off."
(72) Moreover, this malady of Hezekiah's was brought upon him by God,
to afford an opportunity for the king and the prophet Isaiah to come
close to each other. The two had had a dispute on a point of etiquette.
(73) The king adduced as a precedent the action of Elijah, who "went to
show himself unto Ahab," and demanded that Isaiah, too, should appear
before him. The prophet, on the other hand, modelled his conduct after
Elisha's, who permitted the kings of Israel, and Judah, and Edom, to
come to him. But God settled the dispute by afflicting Hezekiah with
sickness, and then He bade Isaiah go to the king and pay the visit due
to the sick. The prophet did the bidding of God. When he appeared in
the presence of the ailing king, he said: "Set thine house in order,
for thou wilt die in this world and not live in the next" a fate
which Hezekiah incurred because he had failed to take unto himself a
wife and bring forth posterity. The king's defense, that he had
preferred a celibate's life because he had seen in the holy spirit that
he was destined to have impious children, the prophet did not consider
valid. He rebutted it with the words: "Why does thou concern thyself
with the secrets of the All-Merciful? Thou hast but to do thy duty. God
will do whatsoever it pleases Him." Thereupon Hezekiah asked the
daughter of the prophet in marriage, saying: "Perchance my merits
joined to thine will cause my children to be virtuous." But Isaiah
rejected the proposal of marriage, because he knew that the decree of
God ordaining the king's death was unalterable. Whereupon the king:
"Thou son of thus has it been transmitted to me from the house of my
ancestor: (74) Even if a sharp sword rests at the very throat of a man,
he may yet not refrain from uttering a prayer for mercy." (75)
And the king was right. Though death had been decreed against him, his
prayer averted it. In his prayer he supplicated God to keep him alive
for the sake of the merits of his ancestors, who had built the Temple
and brought many proselytes into the Jewish fold, and for the sake of
his own merits, for, he said, "I searched out all the two hundred and
forty-eight members of my body which Thou didst give me, and I found
none which I had used in a manner contrary to Thy will." (76)
His prayer was heard. God added fifteen years to his life, but He made
him understand very clearly, that he owed the mercy solely to the
merits of David, not at all to his own, as Hezekiah fondly believed.
(77) Before Isaiah left the court of the palace, God instructed him to
return to the king, and announce his recovery to him. Isaiah feared
lest Hezekiah should place little trust in his words, as he had but a
short while before predicted his swiftly approaching end. But God
reassured the prophet. In his modesty and piety, the king would harbor
no doubt derogatory to the prophet's trustworthiness. (78) The remedy
employed by Isaiah, a cake of figs applied to the boil, increased the
wonder of Hezekiah's recovery, for it was apt to aggravate the malady
rather than alleviate it. (79)
A number of miracles besides were connected with the recovery of
Hezekiah. In itself it was remarkable, as being the first case of a
recovery on record. Previously illness had been inevitably followed by
death. Before he had fallen sick, Hezekiah himself had implored God to
change this order of nature. He held that sickness followed by
restoration to health would induce men to do penance. God had replied:
"Thou art right, and the new order shall be begun with thee." (80)
Furthermore, the day of Hezekiah's recovery was marked by the great
miracle that the sun shone ten hours longer than its wonted time. The
remotest lands were amazed thereat, and Baladan, the ruler of Babylon,
was prompted by it to send an embassy to Hezekiah, which was to carry
his felicitations to the Jewish king upon his recovery. Baladan, it
should be said by the way, was not the real king of Babylon. The throne
was occupied by his father, whose face had changed into that of a dog.
Therefore the son had to administer the affairs of state, and he was
known by his father's name as well as his own. (81) This Baladan was in
the habit of dining at noon, and then he took a nap until three o'clock
of the afternoon. On the day of Hezekiah's recovery, when he awoke from
his sleep, and saw the sun overhead, he was on the point of having his
guards executed, because he thought they had permitted him to sleep a
whole afternoon and the night following it. He desisted only when he
was informed of Hezekiah's miraculous recovery, and realised that the
God of Hezekiah was greater than his own god, the sun. (82) He at once
set about sending greetings to the Jewish king. His letter read as
follows: "Peace be with Hezekiah, peace with his great God, and peace
with Jerusalem." After the letter was dispatched, it occurred to
Baladan that it had not been composed properly. Mention of Hezekiah had
been made before mention of God. He had the messengers called back, and
ordered another letter to be written, in which the oversight was made
good. As a reward for his punctiliousness, three of his descendants,
Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-merodach, and Belshazzar, were appointed by God to
be world monarchs. God said: "Thou didst arise from thy throne, and
didst take three steps to do Me honor, by having thy letter re-written,
therefore will I grant thee three descendants who shall be known from
one end of the world to the other." (83)
The embassy sent by the Babylonian monarch was an act of homage to God
for his miracle-working power. Hezekiah, however, took it to be an act
of homage toward himself, and it had the effect of making him arrogant.
Not only did he eat and drink with the heathen who made up the embassy,
but also, in his haughtiness of mind, he displayed before them all the
treasures which he had captured from Sennacherib, and many other
curiosities besides, among them magnetic iron, a peculiar sort of
ivory, and honey as solid as stone.
What was worse, he had his wife partake of the meal in honor of the
embassy, and, most heinous crime of all, (84) he opened the holy Ark,
and pointing to the tables of law within it, said to the heathen: "With
the help of these we undertake wars and win victories." (85) God sent
Isaiah to reproach Hezekiah for these acts. The king, instead of
confessing his wrong at once, answered the prophet haughtily. (86) Then
Isaiah announced to him that the treasures taken from Sennacherib (87)
would revert to Babylon some time in the future, and his descendants,
Daniel and the three companions of Daniel, would serve the Babylonia
ruler as eunuchs. (88)
Despite his pride in this case, Hezekiah was one of the most pious
kings of Judah. Especially he is deserving of praise for his efforts to
have Hebrew literature put into writing, for it was Hezekiah who had
copies made of the books of Isaiah, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and
Proverbs. (89) On the other hand, he had concealed the books containing
medical remedies. (90)
Great was the mourning over him at his death. No less than thirty-six
thousand men with bared shoulders marched before his bier, and, rarer
distinction still, a scroll of the law was laid upon his bier, for it
was said: "He who rests in this bier, has fulfilled all ordained in
this book." (91) He was buried next to David and Solomon. (92)
MANASSEH
Hezekiah had finally yielded to the admonitions of Isaiah, and had
taken a wife unto himself, (93) the daughter of the prophet. But he
entered upon marriage with a heavy heart. His prophetic spirit foretold
to him that the impiousness of the sons he would beget would make their
death to be preferable to their life. These fears were confirmed all
too soon. His two sons, Rabshakeh and Manasseh, showed their complete
unlikeness to their parents in early childhood. Once, when Hezekiah was
carrying his two little ones on his shoulders to the Bet ha-Midrash, he
overheard their conversation. The one said: "Our father's bald head
might do for frying fish." The other rejoined: "It would do well for
offering sacrifices to idols." Enraged by these words, Hezekiah let his
sons slip from his shoulders. Rabshakeh was killed by the fall, but
Manasseh escaped unhurt. (94) Better had it been if Manasseh had shared
his brother's untimely fate. He was spared for naught but murder,
idolatry, and other abominable atrocities. (95)
After Hezekiah had departed this life, Manasseh ceased to serve the God
of his father. He did whatever his evil imagination prompted. The altar
was destroyed, and in the inner space of the Temple he set up an idol
(96) with four faces, copied from the four figures on the throne of
God. It was so placed that from whatever direction one entered the
Temple, a face of the idol confronted him. (97)
As Manasseh was sacrilegious toward God, he was malevolent toward his
fellows. He had fashioned an image so large that it required a thousand
men to carry it. Daily a new force was employed on this task, because
Manasseh had each set of porters killed off at the end of the day's
work. All his acts were calculated to cast contempt upon Judaism and
its tenets. It did not satisfy his evil desire to obliterate the name
of God from the Holy Scriptures; (98) he went so far as to deliver
public lectures whose burden was to ridicule the Torah. (99) Isaiah and
the other prophets, Micah, Joel, and Habakkuk, (100) left Jerusalem and
repaired to a mountain in the desert, that they might be spared the
sight of the abominations practiced by the king. Their abiding-place
was disclosed to the king. A Samaritan, a descendant of the false
prophet Zedekiah, had taken refuge in Jerusalem after the destruction
of the Temple. But he did not remain there long; charges were made
against him before the pious king Hezekiah, and he withdrew to
Bethlehem, where he gathered hangers-on about him. This Samaritan it
was who traced the prophets to their retreat, and lodged accusations
against them before Manasseh. (101) The impious king sat in judgment on
Isaiah, and condemned him to death. The indictment against him was that
his prophecies contained teachings in contradiction with the law of
Moses. God said unto Moses: "Thou canst not see My face; for man shall
not see Me and live"; while Isaiah said: "I saw the Lord sitting upon a
throne, high and lifted up." Again, Isaiah compared the princes of
Israel and the people with the impious inhabitants of Sodom and
Gomorrah, and he prophesied the downfall of Jerusalem and the
destruction of the Temple. (102) The prophet offered no explanation. He
was convinced of the uselessness of defending himself, and he preferred
Manasseh should act from ignorance rather than from wickedness.
However, he fled for safety. When he heard the royal bailiffs in
pursuit of him, he pronounced the Name of God, and a cedar-tree
swallowed him up. The king ordered the tree to be sawn in pieces. When
the saw was applied to the portion of the bark under which the mouth of
Isaiah lay concealed, he died. His mouth was the only vulnerable part
of his body, because at the time when he was called to his prophetical
mission, (103) it had made use of the contemptuous words "a people of
unclean lips," regarding Israel. Isaiah died at the age of one hundred
and twenty years, (104) by the hands of his own grandchild. (105)
God is long-suffering, but in the end Manasseh received the deserved
punishment for his sins and crimes. In the twenty-second year of his
rulership, the Assyrians came and carried him off to Babylon in
fetters, him together with the old Danite idol, Micah's image. (106) In
Babylonia, the king was put into an oven which was heated from below.
Finding himself in this extremity, Manasseh began to call upon god
after god to help him out of his straits. As this proved inefficacious,
he resorted to other means. "I remember," he said, "my father taught me
the verse: 'When thou art in tribulation, if in the latter days thou
shalt return to the Lord thy God, and hearken unto His voice, He will
not fail thee.' Now I cry to God. If He inclines His ear unto me, well
and good; if not, then all kinds of god are alike." The angels stopped
up the windows of heaven, that the prayer of Manasseh might not ascend
to God, and they said: "Lord of the world! Art Thou willing to give
gracious hearing to one who has paid worship to idols, and set up an
idol in the Temple?" "If I did not accept the penance of this man,"
replied God, "I should be closing the door in the face of all repentant
sinners." God made a small opening under the Throne of His Glory, and
received the prayer of Manasseh through it. Suddenly a wind arose, and
carried Manasseh back to Jerusalem. (107) His return to God not only
helped him in his distress, but also brought him pardon for all his
sins, so that not even his share in the future world was withdrawn from
him. (108)
The people of this time were attracted to idolatry with so irresistible
a force that the vast learning of Manasseh, who knew fifty-two
different interpretations of the Book of Leviticus, (109) did not give
him enough moral strength to withstand its influence. Rab Ashi, the
famous compiler of the Talmud, once announced a lecture on Manasseh
with the words: "To-morrow I shall speak about our colleague Manasseh."
At night the king appeared to Ashi in a dreams, and put a ritual
question to him, which the Rabbi could not answer. Manasseh told him
the solution, and Ashi, in amazement at the king's scholarship, asked
why one so erudite had served idols. Manasseh's reply was: "Hadst thou
lived at my time, thou wouldst have caught hold of the hem of my
garment and run after me." (110)
Amon, the son of Manasseh, surpassed his father in wickedness. He was
in the habit of saying: "My father was a sinner from early childhood,
and in his old age he did penance. I shall do the same. First I shall
satisfy the desires of my heart, and afterward I shall return to God."
(111) Indeed, he was guilty of more grievous sins than his predecessor;
he burned the Torah; under him the place of the altar was covered with
spiderwebs; and, as though of purpose to set at naught the Jewish
religion, he committed the worst sort of incest, a degree more heinous
than his father's crime of a similar nature. (112) Thus he executed the
first half of his maxim literally. For repentance, however, he was
given no time; death cut him off in the fulness of his sinful ways.
JOSIAH AND HIS SUCCESSORS
That the full measure of punishment was not meted out to Amon his evil
deeds were such that he should have forfeited his share in the world to
come was due to the circumstance that he had a pious and righteous
son. (113) Josiah offers a shining model of true, sincere repentance.
(114) Though at first he followed in the footsteps of his father Amon,
he soon gave up the ways of wickedness, and became one of the most
pious kings of Israel, whose chief undertaking was the effort to bring
the whole people back to the true faith. It dates from the time when a
copy of the Torah was found in the Temple, a copy that had escaped the
holocaust kindled by his father and predecessor Amon for the purpose of
exterminating the Holy Scriptures. (115) When he opened the Scriptures,
the first verse to strike his eye was the one in Deuteronomy: "The Lord
shall bring thee and thy king into exile, unto a nation which thou hast
not known." Josiah feared this doom of exile was impending, and he
sought to conciliate God through the reform of his people. (116)
His first step was to enlist the intercession of the prophets in his
behalf. He addressed his request, not to Jeremiah, but to the
prophetess Huldah, knowing that women are more easily moved to
compassion. As Jeremiah was a kinsman of the prophetess their common
ancestors were Joshua and Rahab the king felt no apprehension that
the prophet take his preference for Huldah amiss. The proud, dignified
answer of the prophetess was, that the misfortune could not be averted
from Israel, but the destruction of the Temple, she continued
consolingly, would not happen until after the death of Josiah. (117) In
view of the imminent destruction of the Temple, Josiah hid the holy Ark
and all its appurtenances, in order to guard them against desecration
at the hands of the enemy. (118)
The efforts of the king in behalf of God and His law found no echo with
the great majority of the people. Though the king was successful in
preventing the worship of idols in public, his subjects knew how to
deceive him. Josiah sent out his pious sympathizers to inspect the
houses of the people, and he was satisfied with their report, that they
had found no idols, not suspecting that the recreant people has
fastened half an image on each wing of the doors, so that the inmates
faced their household idols as they closed the door upon Josiah's
inspectors.
This godless generation contemporaneous with Josiah was to blame for
his death. When King Pharaoh, in his campaign against the Assyrians,
wanted to travel through Palestine, Jeremiah advised the king not to
deny the Egyptians the passage through his land. He cited a prophecy by
his teacher Isaiah, who had foreseen the war between Assyria and Egypt.
But Josiah retorted: "Moses, thy teacher's teacher, spake: 'I will give
peace in the land, and no sword shall go through your land,' not even
the sword that is not raised against Israel with hostile intent." The
king, innocent of the deception practiced by the people, knew not that
they were idol worshippers, to whom the promises of the Torah have no
application. In the engagement that ensued between the Jews and the
Egyptians, no less than three hundred darts struck the king. In his
death agony he uttered no word of complaint; he only said: "The Lord is
righteous, for I have rebelled against His commandment," thus admitting
his guilt in not having heeded the advice of the prophet. (119)
So ended the days of this just king after a brilliant career, the only
king since Solomon to rule over both Judah and Israel, for Jeremiah had
brought back to Palestine the ten exiled tribes of the north, and made
them subject to Josiah. (120) The mourning for him was profound. (121)
Even Jeremiah perpetuated his memory in his Lamentations. (122)
Pharaoh of Egypt was not permitted to enjoy the results of his victory
to the full, for it was soon after this that, in attempting to ascend
the wondrous throne of Solomon, he was stuck down by the lions and
rendered lame by the blow. (123)
The people put Jehoahaz on the throne of Judah to succeed Josiah,
though his brother Jehoiakim was the older by two years. To silence the
legitimate claims of Jehoiakim, the new king underwent the ceremony of
anointing. (124) But his reign was very brief. At the end of three
months Pharaoh carried him off into exile in Egypt, and Jehoiakim ruled
in his stead.
Jehoiakim was another of the sinful monarchs of the Jews, uncharitable
toward men and disobedient to God and the laws of God. His garments
were of two kinds of stuff mingled together, his body was tattooed with
the names of idols, and in order that he might appear as a non-Jew, he
performed the operation of an epipost upon himself. Various forms of
incest were committed by him, and, besides, he was in the habit of
putting men to death that he might violate their wives, and confiscate
their possessions. (125) Blasphemous as he was, he spoke: "My
predecessors did not know how to provoke the wrath of God. As for me, I
say frankly, we have no need whatsoever of Him; the very light He gives
us we can dispense with, for the gold of Parvaim can well replace it."
(126)
Seeing such abominations, God desired to resolve the world into its
original chaos. If He desisted from His purpose, it was only because
the people led a God-fearing life during the time of Jehoiakim. (127)
After he had reigned eleven years, Nebuchadnezzar put an end to his
dominion. Advancing with his army, the Babylonian king halted at
Daphne, a suburb of Antioch. Here he was met by the Sanhedrin of
Jerusalem, who desired to know whether he was coming with the purpose
of destroying the Temple. Nebuchadnezzar assured them, that all he
wanted was the surrender of Jehoiakim, who had rebelled against his
authority. Returned to Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin informed Jehoiakim of
Nebuchadnezzar's intention. The king asked the elders, whether it was
ethical to purchase their lives by sacrificing his. For answer they
referred him to the story of the way Joab dealt with the city of Abel
of Beth-maacah, which had saved itself by surrendering the rebel Sheba,
the son of Bichri. The king's objections did not deter the Sanhedrin
from following the example of Joab acting under the direction of David.
They made Jehoiakim glide down from the city walls of Jerusalem by a
chain. Below, the Babylonians stood ready to receive him.
Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiakim in fetters to all the cities of Judah,
then he slew him, and, his rage still unabated, threw his corpse to the
dogs after having stuck it into the carcass of an ass. (128) The dogs
left nothing of Jehoiakim's body over except his skull, on which were
written the words: "This and something besides." Many centuries later
it was found by a Rabbi near the gates of Jerusalem. He tried in vain
to give it burial; the earth refused to retain it, and the Rabbi
concluded therefrom that it belonged to the corpse of Jehoiakim. He
wrapped the skull in a cloth, and laid it in a closet. One day the wife
of the Rabbi discovered it there, and she burnt it, thinking the skull
belonged to a former wife of her husband, so dear to him even after her
death that he could not separate himself from this relic. (129)
When Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylonia from his Palestinian
expedition, the people received him with great pomp and solemnity. He
announced to them that in place of Jehoiakim, whom he had slain, he had
installed Mattaniah, the rebel's son, called Jehoiachin, as king over
Judah, and the people uttered the warning: "One cannot educate a
well-behaved puppy whose dam was ill-conditioned; let alone an
ill-conditioned puppy whose dam was ill-conditioned."
Nebuchadnezzar returned to Daphne, and informed the Sanhedrin, who
hastened from Jerusalem to meet him, that he desired the surrender of
Jehoiachin. If they refused to satisfy his demand, he would destroy the
Temple. When the Jewish king was told the threat of his Babylonian
adversary, he mounted upon the roof of the Temple, and, holding all the
keys of its chambers in his hand, he spoke thus to God: "Until now Thou
didst consider us worthy of confidence, and Thou didst entrust Thy keys
to us. Since Thou no longer dost esteem us trustworthy, here, take back
Thy keys." He was held to his word: a hand was stretched forth from
heaven, and it received the keys. (130)
Jehoiachin, good and pious, did not desire the city of Jerusalem to be
exposed to peril for his sake. So he delivered himself to the
Babylonian leaders, after they swore that neither city nor people
should suffer harm. But the Babylonians did not keep their oath. A
short while thereafter they carried into exile, not only the king, but
also his mother, and ten thousand (131) of the Jewish nobility and of
the great scholars. (132) This was the second attempt made by
Nebuchadnezzar to deport the Jews. On taking the former king Jehoiakim
captive, he had exiled three hundred of the noblest of the people,
among them the prophet Ezekiel. (133)
The king Jehoiachin was incarcerated for life, a solitary prisoner,
separated from his wife and his family. The Sanhedrin, who were among
those deported with the king, feared that the house of David die out.
They therefore besought Nebuchadnezzar not to separate Jehoiachin from
his wife. They succeeded in enlisting the sympathy of the queen's
hairdresser, and through her of the queen herself, Semiramis, the wife
of Nebuchadnezzar, who in turn prevailed upon the king to accord mild
treatment to the unfortunate prince exiled from Judea. Suffering had
completely changed the once sinful king, so that, in spite of his great
joy over his reunion with his wife, he still paid regard to the
prescriptions of the Jewish law regulating conjugal life. He was
prepared to deny himself every indulgence, when the purchase price was
an infringement of the word of God. Such steadfastness pleaded with God
to pardon the king for his sins, and the heavenly Sanhedrin absolved
God from His oath, to crush Jehoiachin and deprive his house of
sovereignty. (134) By way of reward for his continence he was blessed
with distinguished posterity. Not only was Zerubbabel, the first
governor of Palestine after the destruction of the Temple, a grandson
of Jehoiachin's, (135) but also the Messiah himself will be a
descendant of his. (136)
X.
THE EXILE
ZEDEKIAH
The execution of one king and the deportation of another were but
preludes to the great national catastrophe in the time of Zedekiah, the
destruction of the Temple and the exile of the whole people. After
Nebuchadnezzar had led Jehoiachin and a portion of the people into
banishment, his commiseration was aroused for the Jews, and he
inquired, whether any other sons of Josiah were still living. Only
Mattaniah was left. (1) He was re-named Zedekiah, in the hope that he
would be the father of pious sons. In reality the name became the omen
of the disasters to happen in the time of this king.
Nebuchadnezzar, who invested Zedekiah with the royal office, demanded
that he swear fealty to him. Zedekiah was about to swear by his own
soul, but the Babylonian king, not satisfied, brought a scroll of the
law, and made his Jewish vassal take the oath upon that. (2)
Nevertheless he did not keep faith with Nebuchadnezzar for long. Nor
was this his only treachery toward his suzerain. He had once surprised
Nebuchadnezzar in the act of cutting a piece from a living hare and
eating it, as is the habit of barbarians. Nebuchadnezzar was painfully
embarrassed, and he begged the Jewish king to promise under oath not to
mention what he had seen. Though Nebuchadnezzar treated him with great
friendliness, even making him sovereign lord over five vassal kings, he
did not justify the trust reposed in him. To flatter Zedekiah, the five
kings once said: "If all were as it should be, thou wouldst occupy the
throne of Nebuchadnezzar." Zedekiah could not refrain from exclaiming:
"O yes, Nebuchadnezzar, whom I once saw eating a live hare!"
The five kings at once repaired to Nebuchadnezzar, and reported what
Zedekiah had said. Thereupon the king of Babylonia marched to Daphne,
near Antioch, with the purpose of chastising Zedekiah. At Daphne he
found the Sanhedrin of Jerusalem, who had hastened thither to receive
him. Nebuchadnezzar met the Sanhedrin courteously, ordered his
attendants to bring state chairs for all the members, and requested
them to read the Torah to him and explain it. When they reached the
passage in the Book of Numbers dealing with the remission of vows, the
king put the question: "If a man desires to be released from a vow,
what steps must he take?" The Sanhedrin replied: "He must repair to a
scholar, and he will absolve him from his vow." Whereupon
Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed: "I verily believe it was you who released
Zedekiah from the vow he took concerning me." And he ordered the
members of the Sanhedrin to leave their state chairs and sit on the
ground. (3) They were forced to admit, that they had not acted in
accordance with the law, for Zedekiah's vow affected another beside
himself, and without the acquiescence of the other party, namely,
Nebuchadnezzar, the Sanhedrin had no authority to annul the vow. (4)
Zedekiah was duly punished for the grievous crime of perjury. When
Jerusalem was captured, he tried to escape through a cave extending
from his house to Jericho. God sent a deer into the camp of the
Chaldeans, and in their pursuit of this game, the Babylonian soldiers
reached the farther opening of the cave at the very moment when
Zedekiah was leaving it. (5) The Jewish king together with his ten sons
was brought before Nebuchadnezzar, who addressed Zedekiah thus: "Were I
to judge thee according to the law of thy God, thou wouldst deserve the
death penalty, for thou didst swear a false oath by the Name of God; no
less wouldst thou deserve death, if I were to judge thee according to
the law of the state, for thou didst fail in thy sworn duty to thy
overlord."
Zedekiah requested the grace that his execution take place before his
children's, and he be spared the sight of their blood. His children, on
the other hand, besought Nebuchadnezzar to slay them before he slew
their father, that they might be spared the disgrace of seeing their
father executed. In his heartlessness Nebuchadnezzar had resolved worse
things than Zedekiah anticipated. In the sight of their father, the
children of Zedekiah were killed, and then Zedekiah himself was
deprived of sight; his eyes were blinded. (6) He had been endowed with
eyes of superhuman strength, they were the eyes of Adam, and the
iron lances forced into them were powerless to destroy his sight.
Vision left him only because of the tears he shed over the fate of his
children. (7) Now he realized how true Jeremiah had spoken when he had
prophesied his exile to Babylonia. Though he should live there until
his death, he would never behold the land with his eyes. On account of
its seeming contradictoriness, Zedekiah had thought the prophecy
untrue. For this reason he had not heeded Jeremiah's advice to make
peace with Nebuchadnezzar. Now it had all been verified; he was carried
to Babylonia a captive, yet, blind as he was, he did not see the land
of his exile. (8)
JEREMIAH
Though Zedekiah besmirched his career by perjury, he was nevertheless
so good and just a king that for his sake God relinquished his purpose
of returning the world to its original chaos, as a punishment for the
evil-doing of a wicked generation. (9) In this depraved time, it was
first and foremost Jeremiah to whom was delegated the task of
proclaiming the word of God. He was a descendant of Joshua and Rahab,
and his father was the prophet (10) Hilkiah. He was born while his
father was fleeing (11) from the persecution of Jezebel, the murderess
of prophets. At his very birth he showed signs that he was destined to
play a great part. He was born circumcised, (12) and scarcely had he
left his mother's womb when he broke into wailing, and his voice was
the voice, not of a babe, but of a youth. He cried: "My bowels, my
bowels tremble, the walls of my heart they are disquieted, my limbs
quake, destruction upon destruction I bring upon earth." In this strain
he continued to moan and groan, complaining of the faithlessness of his
mother, and when she expressed her amazement at the unseemly speech of
her new-born son, Jeremiah said: "Not thee do I mean, my mother, not to
thee doth my prophecy refer; I speak of Zion, and against Jerusalem are
my words directed. She adorns her daughters, arrays them in purple, and
puts golden crowns upon their heads. Robbers will come and strip them
of their ornaments."
As a lad he received the call to be a prophet. But he refused to obey,
saying: "O Lord, I cannot go as a prophet to Israel, for when lived
there a prophet whom Israel did not desire to kill? Moses and Aaron
they sought to stone with stones; Elijah the Tishbite they mocked at
because his hair was grown long; and they called after Elisha, 'Go up,
thou bald head' no, I cannot go to Israel, for I am still naught but
a lad." God replied: "I love youth, for it is innocent. When I carried
Israel out of Egypt, I called him a lad, and when I think of Israel
lovingly, I speak of him as a lad. Say not, therefore, thou art only a
lad, but thou shalt go on whatsoever errand I shall send thee. Now,
then," God, continued, "take the 'cup of wrath,' and let the nations
drink of it." Jeremiah put the question which land was to drink first
from the "cup of wrath," and the answer of God was: "First Jerusalem is
to drink, the head of all earthly nations, and then the cities of
Judah." When the prophet heard this, he began to curse the day of his
birth. "I am like the high priest," he said, "who has to administer the
'water of bitterness' to a woman who is held under the suspicion of
adultery, and when he approaches the woman with the cup, lo, he beholds
his own mother. And I, O Mother Zion, thought, when I was called to
prophesy, that I was appointed to proclaim prosperity and salvation to
thee, but now I see that my message forebodes thee evil."
Jeremiah's first appearance in public was during the reign of Josiah,
when he announced to the people in the streets: "If ye will give up
your wicked doings, God will raise you above all nations; if not, He
will deliver His house into the hands of the enemies, and they will
deal with it as seemeth best to them."
The prophets contemporary with Jeremiah in his early years were
Zechariah and Huldah. The province of the latter was among women, while
Zechariah was active in the synagogue. (13) Later, under Jehoiakim,
Jeremiah was supported by the prophets of his relative Uriah of
Kiriathjearim, a friend of the prophet Isaiah. (14) But Uriah was put
to death by the ungodly king, the same who had the first chapter of
Lamentations burnt after obliterating the Name of God wherever it
occurs in the whole book. But Jeremiah added four chapters. (15)
The prophet fell upon evil times under Zedekiah. He had both the people
and the court against him. Nor was that surprising in a day when not
even the high priests in the Temple bore the sign of the covenant upon
their bodies. (16) Jeremiah had called forth general hostility by
condemning the alliance with Egypt against Babylonia, and favoring
peace with Nebuchadnezzar; and this though to all appearances the help
of the Egyptians would prove of good effect for the Jews. The hosts of
Pharaoh Necho had actually set forth from Egypt to join the Jews
against Babylon. But when they were on the high seas, God commanded the
waters to cover themselves with corpses. Astonished, the Egyptians
asked each other, whence the dead bodies. Presently the answer occurred
to them: they were the bodies of their ancestors drowned in the Red Sea
on account of the Jews, who had shaken off Egyptian rule. "What," said
the Egyptians thereupon, "shall we bring help to those who drowned our
fathers?" So they returned to their own country, justifying the warning
of Jeremiah, that no dependence could be put upon Egyptian promises.
(17)
A little while after this occurrence, when Jeremiah wanted to leave
Jerusalem to go to Anathoth and partake of his priestly portion there,
the watchman at the gate accused him of desiring to desert to the
enemy. He was delivered to his adversaries at court, and they confined
him in prison. The watchman knew full well that it was a trumped up
charge he was bringing against Jeremiah, and the intention attributed
to him was as far as possible from the mind of the prophet, but he took
this opportunity to vent an old family grudge. For this gateman was a
grandson of the false prophet Hananiah, the enemy of Jeremiah, the one
who had prophesied complete victory over Nebuchadnezzar within two
years. It were proper to say, he calculated the victory rather than
prophesied it. He reasoned: "If unto Elam, which is a mere ally of the
Babylonians against the Jews, destruction has been appointed by God
through Jeremiah, so much the more will the extreme penalty fall upon
the Babylonians themselves, who have inflicted vast evil upon the
Jews." (18) Jeremiah's prophecy had been the reverse: so far from
holding forth any hope that a victory would be won over Nebuchadnezzar,
the Jewish state, he said, would suffer annihilation. Hananiah demanded
a sign betokening the truth of Jeremiah's prophecy. But Jeremiah
contended there could be no sign for such a prophecy as his, since the
Divine determination to do evil can be annulled. On the other hand, it
was the duty of Hananiah to give a sign, for he was prophesying
pleasant things, and the Divine resolution for good is executed
without. (19) Finally, Jeremiah advanced the clinching argument: "I, a
priest, may be well content with the prophecy; it is to my interest
that the Temple should continue to stand. As for thee, thou art a
Gibeonite, thou wilt have to do a slave's service in it so long as
there is a Temple. But instead of troubling thy mind with the future in
store for others, thou shouldst rather have thought of thine own
future, for this very year thou wilt die." Hananiah, in very truth,
died on the last day of the year set as his term of life, but before
his death he ordered that it should be kept secret for two days, so to
give the lie to Jeremiah's prophecy. With his last words, addressed to
his son Shelemiah, he charged him to seek every possible way of taking
revenge upon Jeremiah, to whose curse his death was to be ascribed.
Shelemiah had no opportunity of fulfilling his father's last behest,
but it did not pass from his mind, and when he, in turn, lay upon his
death-bed, he impressed the duty of revenge upon his son Jeriah. It was
the grandson of Hananiah who, when he saw Jeremiah leaving the city,
hastened to take the opportunity of accusing the prophet of treason.
His purpose prospered. The aristocratic enemies of Jeremiah, enraged
against him, welcomed the chance to put him behind prison bars, and
gave him in charge of a jailer, Jonathan, who had been a friend of the
false prophet Hananiah. Jonathan pleased himself by mocking at his
prisoner: "See," he would say, "see what honor thy friend does thee, to
put thee in so fine a prison as this; verily, it is a royal palace."
Despite his suffering, Jeremiah did not hold back the truth. When the
king inquired of him, whether he had a revelation from God, he replied:
"Yes, the king of Babylonia will carry thee off into exile." To avoid
irritating the king, he went into no further detail. He only prayed the
king to liberate him from prison, saying: "Even wicked men like
Hananiah and his descendants at least cast about for a pretext when
they desire to take revenge, and their example ought not to be lost
upon thee who art called Zedekiah, 'just man.'" The king granted his
petition, but Jeremiah did not enjoy liberty for long. Hardly out of
prison, he again advised the people to surrender, and the nobility
seized him and cast him into a lime pit filled with water, where they
hoped he would drown. But a miracle happened. The water sank to the
bottom, and the mud rose to the surface, and supported the prophet
above the water. Help came to him from Ebed-melech, a "white raven,"
the only pious man at court. Ebed-melech hastened to the king and
spoke: "Know, if Jeremiah perishes in the lime pit, Jerusalem will
surely be captured." With the permission of the king, Ebed-melech went
to the pit, and cried out aloud several times, "O my lord Jeremiah,"
but no answer came. Jeremiah feared the words were spoken by his former
jailer Jonathan, who had not given up his practice of mocking at the
prophet. He would come to the edge of the pit and call down jeeringly:
"Do not rest thy head on the mud, and take a little sleep, Jeremiah."
To such sneers Jeremiah made no reply, and hence it was that
Ebed-melech was left unanswered. Thinking the prophet dead, he began to
lament and tear his clothes. Then Jeremiah, realizing that it was a
friend, and not Jonathan, asked: "Who is it that is calling my name and
weeps therewith?" and he received the assurance that Ebed-melech had
come to rescue him from his perilous position. (20)
NEBUCHADNEZZAR
The suffering to which Jeremiah was exposed was finally ended by the
capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. This Babylonian king was a son
of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. (21) His first contact with the
Jews happened in the time of his father-in-law Sennacherib, whom he
accompanied on his campaign against Hezekiah. The destruction of the
Assyrian army before the walls of Jerusalem, the great catastrophe from
which only Nebuchadnezzar and four others escaped with their life,
inspired him with fear of God. (22) Later, in his capacity as secretary
to the Babylonian king Merodach-baladan, it was he who called his
master's notice to the mention of the Jewish king's name before the
Name of God. "Thou callest Him 'the great God,' yet thou dost name Him
after the king," he said. Nebuchadnezzar himself hastened after the
messenger to bring back the letter and have it changed. He had advanced
scarce three steps when he was restrained by the angel Gabriel, for
even the few paces he had walked for the glory of God earned him his
great power over Israel. A further step would have extended his ability
to inflict harm immeasurably. (23)
For eighteen years daily a heavenly voice resounded in the palace of
Nebuchadnezzar, saying: "O thou wicked slave, go and destroy the house
of thy Lord, for His children hearken not unto Him." But Nebuchadnezzar
was beset with fears lest God prepare a fate for him similar to that of
his ancestor Sennacherib. He practiced belomancy and consulted other
auguries, to assure himself that he was against Jerusalem would result
favorably. When he shook up the arrows, and questioned whether he was
to go to Rome or Alexandria, not one arrow sprang up, but when he
questioned about Jerusalem, one sprang up. He sowed seeds and set out
planets; for Rome or Alexandria nothing came up; for Jerusalem
everything sprouted and grew. He lighted candles and lanterns; for Rome
or Alexandria they refused to burn, for Jerusalem they shed their
light. He floated vessels on the Euphrates; for Rome or Alexandria they
did not move, for Jerusalem they swam. (24)
Still the fears of Nebuchadnezzar were not allayed. His determination
to attack the Holy City ripened only after God Himself had shown him
how He had bound the hands of the archangel Michael, the patron of the
Jews, behind his back, in order to render him powerless to bring to his
wards. So the campaign against Jerusalem was undertaken. (25)
THE CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM
If the Babylonians thought that the conquest of Jerusalem was an easy
task, they were greatly mistaken. For three years God endured the
inhabitants with strength to withstand the onslaughts of the enemy, in
the hope that the Jews would amend their evil ways and abandon their
godless conduct, so that the threatened punishment might be annulled.
Among the many heroes in the beleaguered city that was bidding defiance
to the Babylonians, one by the name of Akiba was particularly
distinguished. The stones were hurled at the walls of the city from the
catapults wielded by the enemy without, he was wont to catch on his
feet, and throw them back upon the besiegers. Once it happened that a
stone was so cast as to drop, not upon the wall, but in front of it. In
his swift race toward it, Akiba was precipitated into the space between
the inner and the outer wall. He quickly reassured his friends in the
city, that his fall had in no wise harmed him. He was only a little
shaken up and weak; as soon as he had his accustomed daily meal, a
roasted ox, he would be able to scale the wall and resume the struggle
with the Babylonians. But human strength and artifice avail naught
against God. A gust of wind arose, and Akiba was thrown from the wall,
and he died. Thereupon the Chaldeans made a breach in the wall, and
penetrated into the city. (26)
Equally fruitless were the endeavors of Hanamel, the uncle of Jeremiah,
to save the city. He conjured the angels up, armed them, and had them
occupy the walls. The Chaldeans retreated in terror at the sight of the
heavenly host. But God changed the names of the angels, and brought
them back to heaven. Hanamel's exorcisms availed naught. When he called
the Angel of the Water, for instance, the response would come from the
Angel of Fire, who bore the former name of his companion. Then Hanamel
resorted to the extreme measure of summoning the Prince of the World,
who raised Jerusalem high up in the air. But God thrust the city down
again, and the enemy entered unhindered. (27)
Nevertheless, the capture of the city could not have been accomplished
if Jeremiah had been present. His deeds were as a firm pillar for the
city, and his prayers as a stony wall. Therefore God sent the prophet
(28) on an errand out of the city. He was made to go to his native
place, Anathoth, to take possession of a field, his by right of
inheritance. Jeremiah rejoiced; he took this as a sign that God would
be gracious to Judah, else He would not have commanded him to take
possession of a piece of land. Scarcely had the prophet left Jerusalem
when an angel descended upon the wall of the city and caused a breach
to appear, at the same time crying out: "Let the enemy come and enter
the house, for the Master of the house is no longer therein. The enemy
has leave to despoil it and destroy it. Go ye into the vineyard and
snap the vines asunder, for the Watchman hath gone away and abandoned
it. But let no man boast and say, he and his have vanquished the city.
Nay, a conquered city have ye conquered, a dead people have ye killed."
The enemy rushed in and ascended the Temple mount, and on the spot
whereon King Solomon had been in the habit of sitting when he took
counsel with the elders, the Chaldeans plotted how to reduce the Temple
to ashes. During their sinister deliberations, they beheld four angels,
each with a flaming torch in his hand, descending and setting fire to
the four corners of the Temple. The high priest, seeing the flames
shoot up, cast the keys of the Temple heavenward, saying: "Here are the
keys of Thy house; it seems I am an untrustworthy custodian," and, as
he turned, he was seized by the enemy and slaughtered in the very place
on which he had been wont to offer the daily sacrifice. With him
perished his daughter, her blood mingling with her father's. The
priests and the Levites threw themselves into the flames with their
harps and trumpets, and, to escape the violence feared from the
licentious Chaldeans, (29) the virgins who wove the curtains for the
sanctuary followed their example. Still more horrible was the carnage
caused among the people by Nebuzaradan, spurred on as he was by the
sight of the blood of the murdered prophet Zechariah seething on the
floor of the Temple. At first the Jews sought to conceal the true story
connected with the blood. At length they had to confess, that it was
the blood of a prophet who had prophesied the destruction of the
Temple, and for his candor had been slain by the people. Nebuzaradan,
to appease the prophet, ordered the scholars of the kingdom to be
executed first on the bloody spot, then the school children, and at
last the young priests, more than a million souls in all. But the blood
of the prophet went on seething and reeking, until Nebuzaradan
exclaimed: "Zechariah, Zechariah, the good in Israel I have
slaughtered. Dost thou desire the destruction of the whole people?"
Then the blood ceased to seethe.
Nebuzaradan was startled by the thought, if the Jews, who had a single
life upon their conscience, were made to atone so cruelly, what would
be his own fate! He left Nebuchadnezzar and became a proselyte. (30)
THE GREAT LAMENT
On his return from Anathoth, Jeremiah saw, at a distance, smoke curling
upward from the Temple mount, and his spirit was joyful. He thought the
Jews had repented of their sins, and were bringing incense offerings.
Once within the city walls, he knew the truth, that the Temple had
fallen a prey to the incendiary. Overwhelmed by grief, he cried out: "O
Lord, Thou didst entice me, and I permitted myself to be enticed; Thou
didst send me forth out of Thy house that Thou mightest destroy it."
(31)
God Himself was deeply moved by the destruction of the Temple, which He
had abandoned that the enemy might enter and destroy it. Accompanied by
the angels, He visited the ruins, and gave vent to His sorrow: "Woe is
Me on account of My house. Where are My children, where My priests,
where My beloved? But what could I do for you? Did I not warn you? Yet
you would not mend your ways." "To-day," God said to Jeremiah, "I am
like a man who has an only son. He prepares the marriage canopy for
him, and his only beloved dies under it. Thou doest seem to feel but
little sympathy with Me and with My children. Go, summon Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, and Moses from their graces. They know how to mourn."
"Lord of the world," replied Jeremiah, "I know not where Moses is
buried." "Stand on the banks of the Jordan," said God, "and cry: 'Thou
son of Amram, son of Amram, arise, see how wolves have devoured thy
sheep.'"
Jeremiah repaired to the Double Cave, and spake to the Patriarchs:
"Arise, ye are summoned to appear before God." When they asked him the
reason of the summons, he feigned ignorance, for he feared to tell them
the true reason; they might have cast reproaches upon him that so great
a disaster had overtaken Israel in his time. Then Jeremiah journeyed on
to the banks of the Jordan, and there he called as he had been bidden:
"Thou son of Amram, son of Amram, arise, thou are cited to appear
before God." "What has happened this day, that God calls me unto Him?"
asked Moses. "I know not," replied Jeremiah again. Moses thereupon went
to the angels, and from them he learned that the Temple had been
destroyed, and Israel banished from his land. Weeping and mourning,
Moses joined the Patriarchs, and together, rending their garments and
wringing their hands, they betook themselves to the ruins of the
Temple. Here their wailing was augmented by the loud lamentations of
the angels: (32) "How desolate are the highways to Jerusalem, the
highways destined for travel without end! How deserted are the streets
that once were thronged at the seasons of the pilgrimages! O Lord of
the world, with Abraham the father of Thy people, who taught the world
to know Thee as the ruler of the universe, Thou didst make a covenant,
that through him and his descendants the earth should be filled with
people, and now Thou hast dissolved Thy covenant with him. O Lord of
the world! Thou hast scorned Zion and Jerusalem, once Thy chosen
habitation. Thou hast dealt more harshly with Israel than with the
generation of Enosh, the first idolaters."
God thereupon said to the angels: "Why do ye array yourselves against
Me with your complaints?" "Lord do the world," they replied, "on
account of Abraham, Thy beloved, who has come into Thy house wailing
and weeping, yet Thou payest no heed unto him." Thereupon God: "Since
My beloved ended his earthly career, he has not been in My house. 'What
hath My beloved to do in My house'?" (33)
Now Abraham entered into the conversation: "Why, O Lord of the world,
hast Thou exiled my children, delivered them into the hands of the
nations, who torture them with all tortures, and who have rendered
desolate the sanctuary, where I was ready to bring Thee my son Isaac as
a sacrifice?" "Thy children have sinned," said God, "they have
transgressed the whole Torah, they have offended against every letter
of it." Abraham: "Who is there that will testify against Israel, that
he has transgressed the Torah?" God: "Let the Torah herself appear and
testify." The Torah came, and Abraham addressed her: "O my daughter,
dost thou indeed come to testify against Israel, to say that he
violated thy commandments? Dost thou feel no shame? Remember the day on
which God offered thee to all the peoples, all the nations of the
earth, and they all rejected thee with disdain. (34) Then my children
came to Sinai, they accepted thee, and they honored thee. And now, on
the day of their distress, thou standest up against them?" Hearing
this, the Torah stepped aside, and did not testify. "Let the twenty-two
letters of the Hebrew alphabet in which Torah is written come and
testify against Israel," said God. They appeared without delay, and
Alef, the first letter, was about to testify against Israel, when
Abraham interrupted it with the words: "Thou chief of all letters, thou
comest to testify against Israel in the time of his distress? Be
mindful of the day on which God revealed Himself on Mount Sinai,
beginning His words with thee: 'Anoki the Lord thy God.' No people, no
nation accepted thee, only my children, and now thou comest to testify
against them!" Alef stepped aside and was silent. The same happened
with the second letter Bet, (35) and with the third, Gimel, and with
all the rest all of them retired abashed, and opened not their mouth.
Now Abraham turned to God and said: "O Lord of the world! When I was a
hundred years old, Thou didst give me a son, and when he was in the
flower of his age, thirty-seven years old, Thou didst command me to
sacrifice him to Thee, and I, like a monster, without compassion, I
bound him upon the altar with mine own hands. Let that plead with Thee,
and have Thou pity on my children."
Then Isaac raised his voice and spake: "O Lord of the world, when my
father told me, 'God will provide Himself the lamb for a burnt
offering, my son,' I did not resist Thy word. Willingly I let myself be
tied to the altar, my throat was raised to meet the knife. Let that
plead with Thee, and have Thou pity on my children."
Then Jacob raised his voice and spake: "O Lord of the world, for twenty
years I dwelt in the house of Laban, and when I left it, I met with
Esau, who sought to murder my children, and I risked my life for
theirs. And now they are delivered into the hands of their enemies,
like sheep led to the shambles, after I coddled them like fledglings
breaking forth from their shells, after I suffered anguish for their
sake all the days of my life. Let that plead with Thee, and have Thou
pity on my children."
And at last Moses raised his voice and spake: "O Lord of the world, was
I not a faithful shepherd unto Israel for forty long years? Like a
steed I ran ahead of him in the desert, and when the time came for him
to enter the Promised Land, Thou didst command: 'Here in the desert
shall thy bones drop!' And now that the children of Israel are exiled,
Thou hast sent for me to mourn and lament over them. That is what the
people mean when they say: The good fortune of the master is none for
the slave, but the master's woe is his woe." And turning to Jeremiah,
he continued: "Walk before me, I will lead them back; let us see who
will venture to raise a hand against them." Jeremiah replied: "The
roads cannot be passed, they are blocked with corpses." But Moses was
not to be deterred, and the two, Moses following Jeremiah, reached the
rivers of Babylon. When the Jews saw Moses, they said: "The son of
Amram has ascended from his grave to redeem us from our enemies." (36)
At that moment a heavenly voice was heard to cry out: "It is decreed!"
And Moses said: "O my children, I cannot redeem you, the decree is
unalterable may God redeem you speedily," and he departed from them.
The children of Israel raised their voices in sore lamentations, and
the sound of their grief pierced to the very heavens. Meantime Moses
returned to the Fathers, and reported to them to what dire suffering
the exiled Jews were exposed, and they all broke out into woe-begone
plaints. (37) In his bitter grief, Moses exclaimed: "Be cursed, O sun,
why was not thy light extinguished in the hour in which the enemy
invaded the sanctuary?" The sun replied: "O faithful shepherd, I sware
by the life, I could not grow dark. The heavenly powers would not
permit it. Sixty fiery scourges they dealt me, and they said, 'Go and
let thy light shine forth,'" (38) Another last complaint Moses uttered:
"O Lord of the world, Thou hast written it in Thy Torah: 'And whether
it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day.'
How many mothers have they slaughtered with their children and Thou
art silent!"
Then, with the suddenness of a flash, Rachel, our mother, stood before
the Holy One, blessed be He: "Lord of the world," she said, "Thou
knowest how overwhelming was Jacob's love for me, and when I observed
that my father thought to put Leah in my place, I gave Jacob secret
signs, that the plan of my father might be set at naught. But then I
repented me of what I had done, and to spare my sister mortification, I
disclosed the signs to her. More than this, I myself was in the bridal
chamber, and when Jacob spake with Leah, I made reply, lest her voice
betray her. I, a woman, a creature of flesh and blood, of dust and
ashes, was not jealous of my rival. Thou, O God, everlasting King, Thou
eternal and merciful Father, why wast Thou jealous of the idols, empty
vanities? Why hast Thou driven out my children, slain them with swords,
left them at the mercy of their enemies?" Then the compassion of the
Supreme God was awakened, and He said: "For thy sake, O Rachel, I will
lead the children of Israel back to their land." (39)
JEREMIAH'S JOURNEY TO BABYLON
When Nebuchadnezzar dispatched his general Nebuzaradan to the capture
of Jerusalem, he gave him three instructions regarding the mild
treatment of Jeremiah: "Take him, and look well to him, and do him no
harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee." At the same time
he enjoined him to use pitiless cruelty toward the rest of the people.
But the prophet desired to share the fate of his suffering brethren,
and when he saw a company of youths in the pillory, he put his own head
into it. Nebuzaradan would always withdraw him again. Thereafter if
Jeremiah saw a company of old men clapped in chains, he would join them
and share their ignominy, until Nebuzaradan released him. Finally,
Nebuzaradan said to Jeremiah: "Lo, thou art one of three things; either
thou are a prophesier of false things, or thou art a despiser of
suffering, or thou art a shedder of blood. A prophesier of false things
for since many a year hast thou been prophesying the downfall of this
city, and now, when thy prophecy has come true, thou sorrowest and
mournest. Or a despiser of suffering for I seek to do thee naught
harmful, and thou thyself pursuest what is harmful to thee, as thou to
say, 'I am indifferent to pain.' Or a shedder of blood for the king
has charged me to have a care of thee, and let no harm come upon thee,
but as thou insistest upon seeking evil for thyself, it must be that
the king may hear of thy misfortune, and put me to death." (40)
At first Jeremiah refused Nebuzaradan's offer to let him remain in
Palestine. He joined the march of the captives going to Babylon, along
the highways streaming with blood and strewn with corpses. When they
arrived at the borders of the Holy Land, they all, prophet and people,
broke out into loud wails, and Jeremiah said: "Yes, brethren and
countrymen, all this hath befallen you, because ye did not hearken unto
the words of my prophecy." (41) Jeremiah journeyed with them until they
came to the banks of the Euphrates. Then God spoke to the prophet:
"Jeremiah, if thou remainest here, I shall go with them, and if thou
goest with them, I shall remain here." Jeremiah replied: "Lord of the
world, if I go with them, what doth it avail them? Only if their King,
their Creator accompanies them, will it bestead them." (42)
When the captives saw Jeremiah make preparations to return to
Palestine, they began to weep and cry: "O Father Jeremiah, wilt thou,
too, abandon us?" "I call heaven and earth to witness," said the
prophet, "had you wept but once in Zion, ye had not been driven out."
(43)
Beset with terrors was the return journey for the prophet. Corpses lay
everywhere, and Jeremiah gathered up all the fingers that lay about; he
strained them to his heart, fondled them, kissed them, and wrapped them
in his mantle, saying sadly: "Did I not tell you, my children, did I
not say to you, 'Give glory to the Lord your God, before He cause
darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains'?" (44)
Dejected, oppressed by his grief, Jeremiah saw the fulfilment of his
prophecy against the coquettish maidens of Jerusalem, who had pursued
but the pleasures and enjoyments of the world. How often had the
prophet admonished them to do penance and lead a God-fearing life! In
vain; whenever he threatened them with the destruction of Jerusalem,
they said: "Why should we concern ourselves about it?" "A prince will
take me unto wife," said one, the other, "A prefect will marry me." And
at first it seemed the expectations of Jerusalem's fair daughters would
be realized, for the most aristocratic of the victorious Chaldeans were
charmed by the beauty of the women of Jerusalem, and offered them their
hand and their rank. But God sent disfiguring and repulsive diseases
upon the women, and the Babylonians cast them off, threw them violently
out of their chariots, and ruthlessly drove them over the prostrate
bodies. (45)
TRANSPORTATION OF THE CAPTIVES
Nebuchadnezzar's orders were to hurry the captives along the road to
Babylon without stop or stay. He feared the Jews might else find
opportunity to supplicate the mercy of God, and He, compassionate as He
is, would release them instantly they did penance. (46) Accordingly,
there was no pause in the forward march, until the Euphrates was
reached. There they were within the borders of the empire of
Nebuchadnezzar, and he thought he had nothing more to fear.
Many of the Jews died as soon as they drank of the Euphrates. In their
native land they had been accustomed to the water drawn from springs
and wells. Mourning over their dead and over the others that had fallen
by the way, they sat on the banks of the river, while Nebuchadnezzar
and his princes on their vessels celebrated their victory amid song and
music. The king noticed that the princes of Judah, though they were in
chains, bore no load upon their shoulders, and he called to his
servants: "Have you no load for these?" They took the parchment scrolls
of the law, tore them in pieces, made sacks of them, and filled them
with sand; these they loaded upon the backs of the Jewish princes. At
sight of this disgrace, all Israel broke out into loud weeping. The
voice of their sorrow pierced the very heavens, and God determined to
turn the world once more into chaos, for He told Himself, that after
all the world was created but for the sake of Israel. The angels
hastened thither, and they spake before God: "O Lord of the world, the
universe is Thine. Is it not enough that Thou hast dismembered Thy
earthly house, the Temple? Wilt Thou destroy Thy heavenly house, too?"
God restraining them said: "Do ye think I am a creature of flesh and
blood, and stand in need of consolation? Do I not know beginning and
end of all things? Go rather and remove their burdens from the princes
of Judah." Aided by God the angels descended, and they carried the
loads put upon the Jewish captives until they reached Babylon.
On their way, they passed the city of Bari. (47) The inhabitants
thereof were not a little astonished at the cruelty of Nebuchadnezzar,
who made the captives march naked. The people of Bari stripped their
slaves of their clothes, and presented the slaves to Nebuchadnezzar.
When the king expressed his astonishment thereat, they said: "We
thought thou wert particularly pleased with naked men." The king at
once ordered the Jews to be arrayed in their garments. The reward
accorded the Bariites was that God endowed them forever with beauty and
irresistible grace. (48)
The compassionate Bariites did not find many imitators. The very
opposite quality was displayed by the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites,
and Arabs. Despite their close kinship with Israel, their conduct
toward the Jews was dictated by cruelty. The two first-mentioned, the
Ammonites and the Moabites, when they heard the prophet foretell the
destruction of Jerusalem, hastened without a moment's delay to report
it to Nebuchadnezzar, and urge him to attack Jerusalem. The scruples of
the Babylonian king, who feared God, and all the reasons he advanced
against a combat with Israel, they refuted, and finally they induced
him to act as they wished. (49) At the capture of the city, while all
the strange nations were seeking booty, the Ammonites and the Moabites
threw themselves into the Temple to seize the scroll of the law,
because it contained the clause against their entering into the
"assembly of the Lord even to the tenth generation." (50) To disgrace
the faith of Israel, they plucked the Cherubim from the Holy of Holies
and dragged them through the streets of Jerusalem, crying aloud at the
same time: "Behold these sacred things that belong to the Israelites,
who say ever they have no idols."
The Edomites were still more hostile (51) in the hour of Israel's need.
They went to Jerusalem with Nebuchadnezzar, but they kept themselves at
a distance from the city, there to await the outcome of the battle
between the Jews and the Babylonians. If the Jews had been victorious,
they would have pretended they had come to bring them aid. When
Nebuchadnezzar's victory became known, they showed their true feelings.
Those who escaped the sword of the Babylonians, were hewn down by the
hand of the Edomites. (52)
But in fiendish cunning these nations were surpassed by the
Ishmaelites. Eighty thousand young priests, each with a golden shield
upon his breast, succeeded in making their way through the ranks of
Nebuchadnezzar and in reaching the Ishmaelites. They asked for water to
drink. The reply of the Ishmaelites was: "First eat, and then you may
drink," at the same time handing them salt food. Their thirst was
increased, and the Ishmaelites gave them leather bags filled with
nothing but air instead of water. When they raised them to their
mouths, the air entered their bodies, and they fell dead.
Other Arabic tribes showed their hostility openly; as the Palmyrenes,
who put eighty thousand archers at the disposal of Nebuchadnezzar in
his war against Israel. (53)
THE SONS OF MOSES
If Nebuchadnezzar thought, that once he had the Jews in the regions of
the Euphrates they were in his power forever, he was greatly mistaken.
It was on the very banks of the great river that he suffered the loss
of a number of his captives. When the first stop was made by the
Euphrates, the Jews could no longer contain their grief, and they broke
out into tears and bitter lamentations. Nebuchadnezzar bade them be
silent, and as though to render obedience to his orders the harder, he
called upon the Levites, the minstrels of the Temple to sing the songs
of Zion for the entertainment of his guests at the banquet he had
arranged. The Levites consulted with one another. "Not enough that the
Temple lies in ashes because of our sins, should we add to our
transgressions by coaxing music from the strings of our holy harps in
honor of these 'dwarfs'?" (54) they said, and they determined to offer
resistance. The murderous Babylonians mowed them down in heaps, yet
they met death with high courage, for it saved their sacred instruments
from the desecration of being used before idols and for the sake of
idolaters.
The Levites who survived the carnage the Sons of Moses they were
bit their own fingers off, and when they were asked to play, they
showed their tyrants mutilated hands, with which it was impossible to
manipulate their harps. (55) At the fall of night a cloud descended and
enveloped the Sons of Moses and all who belonged to them. They were
hidden from their enemies, while their own way was illuminated by a
pillar of fire. The cloud and the pillar vanished at break of day, and
before the Sons of Moses lay a tract of land bordered by the sea on
three sides. For their complete protection God made the river Sambation
to flow on the fourth side. This river is full of sand and stones, and
on the six working days of the week, they tumble over each other with
such vehemence that the crash and the roar are heard far and wide. But
on the Sabbath (56) the tumultuous river subsides into quiet. As a
guard against trespassers on that day, a column of cloud stretches
along the whole length of the river, and none can approach the
Sambation within three miles. Hedged in as they are, the Sons of Moses
yet communicate with their brethren of the tribes of Naphtali, Gad, and
Asher, who dwell near the banks of the Sambation. Carrier pigeons bear
letters hither and thither.
In the land of the Sons of Moses there are none but clean animals, and
in every respect the inhabitants lead a holy and pure life, worthy of
their ancestor Moses. They never use an oath, and, if perchance an oath
escapes the lips of one of them, he is at once reminded of the Divine
punishment connected with his act his children will die at a tender
age.
The Sons of Moses live peaceably and enjoy prosperity as equals through
their common Jewish faith. They have need of neither prince nor judge,
for they know not strife and litigation. Each works for the welfare of
the community, and each takes from the common store only what will
satisfy his needs. Their houses are built of equal height, that no one
may deem himself above his neighbor, and that that the fresh air may
not be hindered from playing freely about all alike. Even at night
their doors stand wide open, for they have naught to fear from thieves,
nor are wild animals known in their land. They all attain a good old
age. The son never dies before the father. When a death occurs, there
is rejoicing, because the departed is known to have entered into life
everlasting in loyalty to his faith. The birth of a child, on the other
hand, calls forth mourning, for who can tell whether the being ushered
into the world will be pious and faithful? The dead are buried near the
doors of their own houses, in order that their survivors, in all their
comings and goings, may be reminded of their own end. Disease is
unknown among them, for they never sin, and sickness is sent only to
purify from sins. (57)
EBED-MELECH
The Sons of Moses were not the only ones to escape from under the heavy
hand of Nebuchadnezzar. Still more miraculous was the deliverance of
the pious Ethiopian Ebed-melech from the hands of the Babylonians. He
was saved as a reward for rescuing Jeremiah when the prophet's life was
jeopardized. On the day before the destruction of the Temple, shortly
before the enemy forced his way into the city, the Ethiopian was sent,
by the prophet Jeremiah acting under Divine instruction, to a certain
place in front of the gates of the city, to dole out refreshments to
the poor from a little basket of figs he was to carry with him.
Ebed-melech reached the spot, but the heat was so intense that he fell
asleep under a tree, and there he slept for sixty-six years. When he
woke up, the figs were still fresh and juicy, but all the surroundings
had so changed, he could not make out where he was. His confusion
increased when he entered the city to seek Jeremiah, and found nothing
as it had been. He accosted an old man, and asked him the name of the
place. When he was told it was Jerusalem, Ebed-melech cried out in
amazement: "Where is Jeremiah, where is Baruch, and where are all the
people?" The old man was not a little astonished at these questions.
How was it possible that one who had known Jeremiah and Jerusalem
should be ignorant of the events that had passed sixty years before? In
brief words he told Ebed-melech of the destruction of the Temple and of
the captivity of the people, but what he said found no credence with
his auditor. Finally Ebed-melech realized that God had performed a
great miracle for him, so that he had been spared the sight of Israel's
misfortune.
While he was pouring out his heart in gratitude to God, an eagle
descended and led him to Baruch, who lived not far from the city.
Thereupon Baruch received the command from God to write to Jeremiah
that the people should remove the strangers from the midst of them, and
then God would lead them back to Jerusalem. The letter written by
Baruch and some of the figs that had retained their freshness for
sixty-six years were carried to Babylonia by an eagle, who had told
Baruch that he had been sent to serve him as a messenger. The eagle set
out on his journey. His first halting-place was a dreary waste spot to
which he knew Jeremiah and the people would come it was the
burial-place of the Jews which Nebuchadnezzar had given the prophet at
his solicitation. When the eagle saw Jeremiah and the people approach
with a funeral train, he cried out: "I have a message for thee,
Jeremiah. Let all the people draw nigh to receive the good tidings." As
a sign that his mission was true, the eagle touched the corpse, and it
came to life. Amidst tears all the people cried unto Jeremiah: "Save
us! What must we do to return to our land?"
The eagle brought Jeremiah's answer to Baruch, and after the prophet
had sent the Babylonian women away, he returned to Jerusalem with the
people. Those who would not submit to the orders of Jeremiah relative
to the heathen women, were not permitted by the prophet to enter the
holy city, and as they likewise were not permitted to return to
Babylonia, they founded the city of Samaria near Jerusalem. (58)
THE TEMPLE VESSELS
The task laid upon Jeremiah had been twofold. Besides giving him charge
over the people in the land of their exile, God had entrusted to him
the care of the sanctuary and all it contained. (59) The holy Ark, the
altar of incense, and the holy tent were carried by an angel to the
mount whence Moses before his death had viewed the land divinely
assigned to Israel. There Jeremiah found a spacious place, in which he
concealed these sacred utensils. Some of his companions had gone with
him to note the way to the cave, but yet they could not find it. (60)
When Jeremiah heard of their purpose, he censured them, for it was the
wish of God that the place of hiding should remain a secret until the
redemption, and then God Himself will make the hidden things visible.
(61)
Even the Temple vessels not concealed by Jeremiah were prevented from
falling into the hands of the enemy; the gates of the Temple sank into
the earth, (62) and other parts and utensils were hidden in a tower at
Bagdad by the Levite Shimur (63) and his friends. Among these utensils
was the seven-branched candlestick of pure gold, every branch set with
twenty-six pearls, and beside the pearls two hundred stones of
inestimable worth. Furthermore, the tower at Bagdad was the
hiding-place for seventy-seven golden tables, and for the gold with
which the walls of the Temple had been clothed within and without. The
tables had been taken from Paradise by Solomon, and in brilliance they
outshone the sun and the moon, while the gold from the walls excelled
in amount and worth all the gold that had existed from the creation of
the world until the destruction of the Temple. The jewels, pearls,
gold, and silver, and precious gems, which David and Solomon had
intended for the Temple were discovered by the scribe Hilkiah, and he
delivered them to the angel Shamshiel, who in turn deposited the
treasure in Borsippa. The sacred musical instruments were taken charge
of and hidden by Baruch and Zedekiah until the advent of the Messiah,
who will reveal all treasures. In his time a stream will break forth
from under the place of the Holy of Holies, and flow through the lands
to the Euphrates, and, as it flows, it will uncover all the treasures
buried in the earth. (64)
BARUCH
At the time of the destruction of the Temple, one of the prominent
figures was Baruch, the faithful attendant (65) of Jeremiah. God
commanded him to leave the city one day before the enemy was to enter
it, in order that his presence might not render it impregnable. On the
following day, he and all other pious men having abandoned Jerusalem,
he saw from a distance how the angels descended, set fire to the city
walls, and concealed the sacred vessels of the Temple. At first his
mourning over the misfortunes of Jerusalem and the people knew no
bounds. But he was in a measure consoled at the end of a seven days'
fast, when God made known to him that the day of reckoning would come
for the heathen, too. Other Divine visions were vouchsafed him. The
whole future of mankind was unrolled before his eyes, especially the
history of Israel, and he learned that the coming of the Messiah would
put an end to all sorrow and misery, and usher in the reign of peace
and joy among men. As for him, he would be removed from the earth, he
was told, but not through death, and only in order to be kept safe
against the coming of the end of all time. (66)
Thus consoled, Baruch addressed an admonition to the people left in
Palestine, and wrote two letters of the same tenor to the exiles, one
to the nine tribes and a half, the other to the two tribes and a half.
The letter to the nine tribes and a half of the captivity was carried
to them by an eagle. (67)
Five years after the great catastrophe, he composed a book in Babylon,
(68) which contained penitential prayers and hymns of consolation,
exhorting Israel and urging the people to return to God and His law.
This book Baruch read to King Jeconiah and the whole people on a day of
prayer and penitence. On the same occasion a collection was taken up
among the people, and the funds thus secured, together with the silver
Temple vessels made by order of Zedekiah after Jeconiah had been
carried away captive, were sent to Jerusalem, with the request that the
high priest Joakim and the people should apply the money to the
sacrificial service and to prayers for the life of King Nebuchadnezzar
and his son Belshazzar. Thus they might ensure peace and happiness
under Babylonian rule. Above all, they were to supplicate God to turn
away His wrath from His people.
Baruch sent his book also to the residents of Jerusalem, and they read
it in the Temple on distinguished days, and recited the prayers it
contains. (69)
Baruch is one of the few mortals who have been privileged to visit
Paradise and know its secrets. An angel of the Lord appeared to him
while he was lamenting over the destruction of Jerusalem and took him
to the seven heavens, to the place of judgment where the doom of the
godless is pronounced, and to the abodes of the blessed. (70)
He was still among the living at the time in which Cyrus permitted the
Jews to return to Palestine, but on account of his advanced age he
could not avail himself of the permission. So long as he was alive, his
disciple Ezra remained with him in Babylonia, for "the study of the law
is more important than the building of the Temple." It was only after
the death of Baruch that he decided to gather together the exiles who
desired to return to the Holy Land and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
(71)
THE TOMBS OF BARUCH AND EZEKIEL
The piety of Baruch and the great favor he enjoyed with God were made
known to later generations many years after his death, through the
marvellous occurrences connected with his tomb. Once a Babylonian
prince commanded a Jew, Rabbi Solomon by name, to show him the grave of
Ezekiel, concerning which he had heard many remarkable tales. The Jew
advised the prince first to enter the tomb of Baruch, which adjoined
that of Ezekiel. Having succeeded in this, he might attempt the same
with the tomb of Ezekiel, the teacher of Baruch. (72) In the presence
of his grandees and his people the prince tried to open the grave of
Baruch, but his efforts were fruitless. Whosoever touched it, was at
once stricken dead. An old Arab advised the prince to call upon the
Jews to gain entrance for him, seeing that Baruch had been a Jew, and
his books were still being studied by Jews. The Jews prepared
themselves by fasts, prayers, penitence, and almsgiving, and they
succeeded in opening the grave without a mishap. Baruch was found lying
on marble bier, and the appearance of the corpse was as though he had
only then passed away. (73) The prince ordered the bier to be brought
to the city, and the body to be entombed there. He thought it was not
seemly that Ezekiel and Baruch should rest in the same grave. But the
bearers found it impossible to remove the bier more than two thousands
ells from the original grave; not even with the help of numerous
draught-animals could it be urged a single step further. Following the
advice of Rabbi Solomon, the prince resolved to enter the bier on the
spot they had reached and also to erect an academy there. These
miraculous happenings induced the prince to go to Mecca. There he
became convinced of the falseness of Mohammedanism, of which he had
hitherto been an adherent, and he converted to Judaism, he and his
whole court.
Near the grave of Baruch there grows a species of grass whose leaves
are covered with gold dust. As the sheen of the gold is not readily
noticeable by day, the people seek out the place at night, mark the
very spot on which the grass grows, and return by day and gather it.
(74)
Not less famous is the tomb of Ezekiel, at a distance of two thousand
ells from Baruch's. It is overarched by a beautiful mausoleum erected
by King Jeconiah after Evil-merodach had released him from captivity.
The mausoleum existed down to the middle ages, and it bore on its walls
the names of the thirty-five thousand Jews who assisted Jeconiah in
erecting the monument. It was the scene of many miracles. When great
crowds of people journeyed thither to pay reverence to the memory of
the prophet, the little low gate in the wall surrounding the grave
enlarged in width and height to admit all who desired to enter. Once a
prince vowed to give a colt to the grave of the prophet, if but his
mare which had been sterile would bear one. When his wish was
fulfilled, however, he did not keep his promise. But the filly ran a
distance equal to a four days' journey to the tomb, and his owner could
not recover it until he deposited his value in silver upon the grace.
When people went on long journeys, they were in the habit of carrying
their treasures to the grave of the prophet, and beseeching him to let
none but the rightful heirs remove them thence. The prophet always
granted their petition. Once when an attempt was made to take some
books from the grave of Ezekiel, the ravager suddenly became sick and
blind. For a time a pillar of fire, visible at a great distance, rose
above the grave of the prophet, but it disappeared in consequence of
the unseemly conduct of the pilgrims who resorted thither.
Not far from the grave of Ezekiel was the grave of Barozak, who once
appeared to a rich Jew in a dream. He spoke: "I am Barozak, one of the
princes who were led into captivity with Jeremiah. I am one of the
just. If thou wilt erect a handsome mausoleum for me, thou wilt be
blessed with progeny." The Jew did as he had been bidden, and he who
had been childless, shortly after became a father. (75)
DANIEL
The most distinguished member of the Babylonian Diaspora was Daniel.
Though not a prophet, (76) he was surpassed by none in wisdom, piety,
and good deeds. His firm adherence to Judaism he displayed from his
early youth, when, a page at the royal court, he refused to partake of
the bread, wine, and oil of the heathen, even though the enjoyment of
them was not prohibited by the law. (77) In general, his prominent
position at the court was maintained at the cost of many a hardship,
for he and his companions, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, were envied
their distinctions by numerous enemies, who sought to compass their
ruin.
Once they were accused before King Nebuchadnezzar of leading an
unchaste life. The king resolved to order their execution. But Daniel
and his friends mutilated certain parts of their bodies, and so
demonstrated how unfounded were the charges against them. (78)
As a youth Daniel gave evidence of his wisdom, when he convicted two
old sinners of having testified falsely against Susanna, as beautiful
as she was good. Misled by the perjured witnesses, the court had
condemned Susanna to death. Then Daniel, impelled by a higher power,
appeared among the people, proclaimed that wrong had been done, and
demanded that the case be re-opened. And so it was. Daniel himself
cross-questioned the witnesses one after the other. The same questions
were addressed to both, and as the replies did not agree with each
other, the false witnesses stood condemned, and they were made to
suffer the penalty they would have had the court inflict upon their
victim. (79)
Daniel's high position in the state dates from the time when he
interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The king said to the astrologers
and magicians: "I know my dream, but I do not want to tell you what it
was, else you will invent anything at all, and pretend it is the
interpretation of the dream. But if you tell me the dream, then I shall
have confidence in your interpretation of it."
After much talk between Nebuchadnezzar and his wise men, they confessed
that the king's wish might have been fulfilled, if but the Temple had
still existed. The high priest at Jerusalem might have revealed the
secret by consulting the Urim and Thummim. At this point the king
became wrathful against his wise men, who had advised him to destroy
the Temple, though they must have known how useful it might become to
the king and the state. He ordered them all to execution. Their life
was saved by Daniel, who recited the king's dream, and gave its
interpretation. (80) The king was so filled with admiration of Daniel's
wisdom that he paid him Divine honors. Daniel, however, refused such
extravagant treatment he did not desire to be the object of
idolatrous veneration. (81) He left Nebuchadnezzar in order to escape
the marks of honor thrust upon him, and repaired to Tiberias, where he
build a canal. Besides, he was charged by the king with commissions, to
bring fodder for cattle to Babylonia and also swine from Alexandria.
(82)
THE THREE MEN IN THE FURNACE
During Daniel's absence Nebuchadnezzar set up an idol, and its worship
was exacted from all his subject under penalty of death by fire. The
image could not stand on account of the disproportion between its
height and its thickness. The whole of the gold and silver captured by
the Babylonians in Jerusalem was needed to give it steadiness. (83)
All the nations owning the rule of Nebuchadnezzar, including even
Israel, obeyed the royal command to worship the image. Only the three
pious companions of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, resisted
the order. In vain Nebuchadnezzar urged upon them, as an argument in
favor if idolatry, that the Jews had been so devoted to heathen
practices before the destruction of Jerusalem that they had gone to
Babylonia for the purpose of imitating the idols there and bringing the
copies they made to Jerusalem. The three saints would not hearken to
these seductions of the king, nor when he referred them to such
authorities as Moses and Jeremiah, in order to prove to them that they
were under obligation to do the royal bidding. They said to him: "Thou
art our king in all that concerns service, taxes, poll-money, and
tribute, but with respect to thy present command thou art only
Nebuchadnezzar. Therein thou and the dog are alike unto us. Bark like a
dog, inflate thyself like a water-bottle, and chirp like a cricket."
(84)
Now Nebuchadnezzar's wrath transcended all bound, and he ordered the
three to be cast into a red hot furnace, so hot that the flames of its
fire darted to the height of forty-nine ells beyond the oven, and
consumed the heathen standing about it. No less than four nations were
thus exterminated. (85) While the three saints were being thrust into
the furnace, they addressed a fervent prayer to God, supplicating His
grace toward them, and entreating Him to put their adversaries to
shame. The angels desired to descend and rescue the three men in the
furnace. But God forbade it: "Did the three men act thus for your
sakes? Nay, they did it for Me; and I will save them with Mine own
hands." (86) God also rejected the good offices of Yurkami, the angel
of hail who offered to extinguish the fire in the furnace. The angel
Gabriel justly pointed out that such a miracle would not be
sufficiently striking to arrest attention. His own proposition was
accepted. He, the angel of fire, was deputed to snatch the three men
from the red hot furnace. He executed his mission by cooling off the
fire inside of the oven, while on the outside the heat continued to
increase to such a degree that the heathen standing around the furnace
were consumed. (87) The three youths thereupon raised their voices
together in a hymn of praise to God, thanking Him for His miraculous
help. (88) The Chaldeans observed the three men pacing up and down
quietly in the furnace, followed by a fourth the angel Gabriel as by
an attendant. Nebuchadnezzar, who hastened thither to see the wonder,
was stunned with fright, for he recognized Gabriel to be the angel who
in the guise of a column of fire had blasted the army of Sennacherib.
(89) Six other miracles happened, all of them driving terror to the
heart of the king: the fiery furnace which had been sunk in the ground
raised itself into the air; it was broken; the bottom dropped out; the
image erected by Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate; four nations were
wasted by fire; and Ezekiel revived the dead in the valley of Dura.
Of the last, Nebuchadnezzar was apprised in a peculiar way. He had a
drinking vessel made of the bones of a slain Jew. When he was about to
use it, life began to stir in the bones, and a blow was planted in the
king's face, while a voice announced: "A friend of this man is at this
moment reviving the dead!" Nebuchadnezzar now offered praise to God for
the miracles performed, and if an angel had not quickly struck him a
blow on his mouth, and forced him into silence, his psalms of praise
would have excelled the Psalter of David.
The deliverance of the three pious young men was a brilliant
vindication of their ways, but at the same time it caused great
mortification to the masses of the Jewish people, who had complied with
the order of Nebuchadnezzar to worship his idol. (90) Accordingly, when
the three men left the furnace which they did not do until
Nebuchadnezzar invited them to leave (91) the heathen struck all the
Jews they met in the face, deriding them at the same time: "You who
have so marvellous a God pay homage to an idol!" The three men
thereupon left Babylonia and went to Palestine, where they joined their
friend, the high priest Joshua. (92)
Their readiness to sacrifice their lives for the honor of God had been
all the more admirable as they had been advised by the prophet Ezekiel
that no miracle would be done for their sakes. When the king's command
to bow down before the idol was published, and the three men were
appointed to act as the representatives of the people, Hananiah and his
companions resorted to Daniel for his advice. He referred them to the
prophet Ezekiel, who counselled flight, citing his teacher Isaiah as
his authority. The three men rejected his advice, and declared
themselves ready to suffer the death of martyrs. Ezekiel bade them
tarry until he inquired of God, whether a miracle would be done for
them. The words of God were: "I shall not manifest Myself as their
savior. They caused My house to be destroyed, My palace to be burnt, My
children to be dispersed among the heathen, and now they appeal for My
help. As I live, I will not be found of them."
Instead of discouraging the three men, this answer but infused new
spirit and resolution in them, and they declared with more decided
emphasis than before, that they were ready to meet death. God consoled
the weeping prophet by revealing to him, that He would save the three
saintly heroes. He had sought to restrain them from martyrdom only to
let their piety and steadfastness appear the brighter.
On account of their piety it became customary to swear by the Name of
Him who supports the world on three pillars, the pillars being the
saints Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Their deliverance from death by
fire worked a great effect upon the disposition of the heathen. They
were convinced of the uselessness of their idols, and with their own
hands they destroyed them. (93)
EZEKIEL REVIVES THE DEAD
Among the dead whom Ezekiel restored to life (94) at the same time when
the three men were redeemed from the fiery furnace were different
classes of persons. Some were the Ephraimites that had perished in the
attempt to escape from Egypt before Moses led the whole nation out of
the land of bondage. Some were the godless among the Jews that had
polluted the Temple at Jerusalem with heathen rites, and those still
more godless who in life had not believed in the resurrection of the
dead. Others of those revived by Ezekiel were the youths among the Jews
carried away captive to Babylonia by Nebuchadnezzar whose beauty was so
radiant that it darkened the very splendor of the sun. The Babylonian
women were seized with a great passion for them, and at the
solicitation of their husbands, Nebuchadnezzar ordered a bloody
massacre of the handsome youths. But the Babylonian women were not yet
cured of their unlawful passion; the beauty of the young Hebrews
haunted them until their corpses lay crushed before them, their
graceful bodies mutilated. These were the youths recalled to life by
the prophet Ezekiel. Lastly, he revived some that had perished only a
short time before. When Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were saved from
death, Nebuchadnezzar thus addressed the other Jews, those who had
yielded obedience to his command concerning the worship of the idol:
"You know that your God can help and save, nevertheless you paid
worship to an idol which is incapable of doing anything. This proves
that, as you have destroyed your own land by your wicked deeds, so you
are now trying to destroy my land with your iniquity." Forthwith he
commanded that they all be executed, sixty thousand in number. Twenty
years passed, and Ezekiel was vouchsafed the vision in which God bade
him repair to the Valley of Dura, where Nebuchadnezzar had set up his
idol, and had massacred the host of the Jews. Here God showed him the
dry bones of the slain with the question: "Can I revive these bones?"
Ezekiel's answer was evasive, and as a punishment for his little faith,
he had to end his days in Babylon, and was not granted even burial in
the soil of Palestine. God then dropped the dew of heaven upon the dry
bones, and "sinews were upon them, and flesh came up, and skin covered
them above." At the same time God sent forth winds to the four corners
of the earth, which unlocked the treasure houses of souls, and brought
its own soul to each body. All came to life except one man, who, as God
explained to the prophet, was excluded from the resurrection because he
was a usurer.
In spite of the marvellous miracle performed from them, the men thus
restored to life wept, because they feared they would have no share at
the end of time in the resurrection of the whole of Israel. But the
prophet assured them, in the name of God, that their portion in all
that had been promised Israel should in no wise be diminished. (95)
NEBUCHADNEZZAR A BEAST
Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler of the whole world, (96) to whom even the
wild animals paid obedience, his pet was a lion with a snake coiled
about its neck, (97) did not escape punishment for his sins. He was
chastised as none before him. He whom fear of God had at first held
back from a war against Jerusalem, and who had to be dragged forcibly,
as he sat on his horse, to the Holy of Holies (98) by the archangel
Michael, he later became so arrogant that he thought himself a god,
(99) and cherished the plan of enveloping himself in a cloud, so that
he might live apart from men. (100) A heavenly voice resounded: "O thou
wicked man, son of a wicked man, and descendant of Nimrod the wicked,
who incited the world to rebel against God! Behold, the days of the
years of a man are threescore years and ten, or perhaps by reason of
strength fourscore years. It takes five hundred years to traverse the
distance of the earth from the first heaven, and as long a time to
penetrate from the bottom to the top of the first heaven, and not less
are the distances from one of the seven heavens to the next. How, then,
canst thou speak of ascending like unto the Most High 'above the
heights of the clouds'?" (101) For this transgression of deeming
himself more than a man, he was punished by being made to live for some
time as a beast among beasts, treated by them as though he were one of
them. (102) For forty days (103) he led this life. As far down as his
navel he had the appearance of an ox, and the lower part of his body
resembled that of a lion. Like an ox he ate grass, and like a lion he
attacked a curious crowd, but Daniel spent his time in prayer,
entreating that the seven years of this brutish life allotted to
Nebuchadnezzar might be reduced to seven months. His prayer was
granted. At the end of forty days reason returned to the king, the next
forty days he passed in weeping bitterly over his sins, and in the
interval that remained to complete the seven months he again lived the
life of a beast. (104)
HIRAM
Hiram, the king of Tyre, was a contemporary of Nebuchadnezzar, and in
many respects resembled him. He, too, esteemed himself a god, and
sought to make men believe in his divinity by the artificial heavens he
fashioned for himself. In the sea he erected four iron pillars, on
which he build up seven heavens, each five hundred ells larger than the
one below. The first was a plate of glass of five hundred square ells,
and the second a plate of iron of a thousand square ells. The third, of
lead, and separated from the second by canals, contained huge round
boulders, which produced the sound of thunder on the iron. The fourth
heaven was of brass, the fifth of copper, the sixth of silver, and the
seventh of gold, all separated from each other by canals. In the
seventh, thirty-five hundred ells in extent, he had diamonds and
pearls, which he manipulated so as to produce the effect of flashes and
sheets of lightening, while the stones below imitated the growling of
the thunder.
As Hiram was thus floating above the earth, in his vain imagination
deeming himself superior to the rest of men, he suddenly perceived the
prophet Ezekiel next to himself. He had been waved thither by a wind.
Frightened and amazed, Hiram asked the prophet how he had risen to his
heights. The answer was: "God brought me here, and He bade me ask thee
why thou art so proud, thou born of woman?" The king of Tyre replied
defiantly: "I am not one born of woman; I live forever, and as God
resides on the sea, so my abode is on the sea, and as He inhabits seven
heavens, so do I. See how many kings I have survived! Twenty-one of the
House of David, and as many of the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes, and no
less than fifty prophets and ten high priests have I buried." Thereupon
God said: "I will destroy My house, that henceforth Hiram may have no
reason for self-glorification, because all his pride comes only from
the circumstance that he furnished the cedar-trees for the building of
the Temple." The end of this proud king was that he was conquered by
Nebuchadnezzar, deprived of this throne, and made to suffer a cruel
death. Though the Babylonian king was the step-son of Hiram, he had no
mercy with him. Daily he cut off a bit of the flesh of his body, and
forced the Tyrian king to eat it, until the finally perished. Hiram's
palace was swallowed by the earth, and in the bowels of the earth it
will remain until it shall emerge in the future world as the habitation
of the pious. (105)
THE FALSE PROPHETS
Not only among the heathen, but also among the Jews there were very
sinful people in those days. The most notorious Jewish sinners were the
two false prophets Ahab and Zedekiah. Ahab came to the daughter of
Nebuchadnezzar and said: "Yield thyself to Zedekiah," telling her this
in the form of a Divine message. The same was done by Zedekiah, who
only varied the message by substituting the name of Ahab. The princess
could not accept such messages as Divine, and she told her father what
had occurred. (106) Though Nebuchadnezzar was so addicted to immoral
practices that he was in the habit of making his captive kings drunk,
and then satisfying his unnatural lusts upon them, and a miracle had to
interpose to shield the pious of Judah against this disgrace, (107) yet
he well knew that the God of the Jews hates immorality. He therefore
questioned Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah about it, and they
emphatically denied the possibility that such a message could have come
from God. The prophets of lies refused to recall their statements, and
Nebuchadnezzar decided to subject them to the same fiery test as he had
decreed for the three pious companions of Daniel. To be fair toward
them, the king permitted them to choose a third fellow-sufferer, some
pious man to share their lot. Seeing no escape, Ahab and Zedekiah asked
for Joshua, later the high priest, as their companion in the furnace,
in the hope that his distinguished merits would suffice to save all
three of them. They were mistaken. Joshua emerged unhurt, only his
garments were seared, but the false prophets were consumed. Joshua
explained the singeing of his garments by the fact that he was directly
exposed to the full fury of the flames. But the truth was that he had
to expiate the sins of his sons, who had contracted marriages unworthy
of their dignity and descent. Therefore their father escaped death only
after the fire had burnt his garments. (108)
DANIEL'S PIETY
No greater contrast to Hiram and the false prophets Ahab and Zedekiah
can be imagined than is presented by the character of the pious Daniel.
When Nebuchadnezzar offered him Divine honors, (109) he refused what
Hiram sought to obtain by every means in his power. The Babylonian king
felt so ardent an admiration for Daniel that he sent him from the
country when the time arrived to worship the idol he had erected in
Dura, for he knew very well that Daniel would prefer death in the
flames to disregard of the commands of God, and he could not well have
cast the man into the fire to whom he had paid Divine homage. Moreover,
it was the wish of God that Daniel should not pass through the fiery
ordeal at the same time as his three friends, in order that their
deliverance might not be ascribed to him. (110)
In spite of all this, Nebuchadnezzar endeavored to persuade Daniel by
gentle means to worship an idol. He had the golden diadem of the high
priest inserted in the mouth of an idol, and by reason of the wondrous
power that resides in the Holy Name inscribed on the diadem, the idol
gained the ability to speak, and it said the words: "I am thy God."
Thus were many seduced to worship the image. But Daniel could not be
misled so easily. He secured permission from the king to kiss the idol.
Laying his mouth upon the idol's, he adjured the diadem in the
following words: "I am but flesh and blood, yet at the same time a
messenger of God. I therefore admonish thee, take heed that the Name of
the Holy One, blessed be He, may not be desecrated, and I order thee to
follow me." So it happened. When the heathen came with music and song
to give honor to the idol, it emitted no sound, but a storm broke loose
and overturned it. (111)
On still another occasion Nebuchadnezzar tried to persuade Daniel to
worship an idol, this time a dragon that devoured all who approached
it, and therefore was adored as a god by the Babylonians. Daniel had
straw mixed with nails fed to him, and the dragon ate and perished
almost immediately. (112)
All this did not prevent Daniel from keeping the welfare of the king in
mind continually. Hence it was that when Nebuchadnezzar was engaged in
setting his house in order, he desired to mention 'Daniel in his will
as one of his heirs. But the Jew refused with the words: "Far be it
from me to leave the inheritance of my fathers for that of the
uncircumcised." (113)
Nebuchadnezzar died after having reigned forty years, as long as King
David. (114) The death of the tyrant brought hope and joy to many a
heart, for his severity had been such that during his lifetime none
dared laugh, and when he descended to Sheol, its inhabitants trembled,
fearing he had come to reign over them, too. However, a heavenly voice
called to him: "Go down, and be thou laid down with the uncircumcised."
(115)
The interment of this great king was anything but what one might have
expected, and for this reason: During the seven years spent by
Nebuchadnezzar among the beast, his son Evil-merodach ruled in his
stead. Nebuchadnezzar reappeared after his period of penance, and
incarcerated his son for life. When the death of Nebuchadnezzar
actually did occur, Evil-merodach refused to accept the homage the
nobles brought him as the new king, because he feared that his father
was not dead, but had only disappeared as once before, and would return
again. To convince him of the groundlessness of his apprehension, the
corpse of Nebuchadnezzar, badly mutilated by his enemies, was dragged
through the streets. (116)
Shortly afterward occurred the death of Zedekiah, the dethroned king of
Judah. His burial took place amid great demonstrations of sympathy and
mourning. The elegy over him ran thus: "Alas that King Zedekiah had to
die, he who quaffed the lees which all the generations before him
accumulated." (117)
Zedekiah reached a good old age, (118) for though it was in his reign
that the destruction of Jerusalem took place, yet it was the guilt of
the nation, not of the king, that had brought about the catastrophe.
(119)
XI.
THE RETURN OF THE CAPTIVITY
BELSHAZZAR'S FEAST
When God resolved to take revenge upon Babylon for all the sufferings
it had inflicted on Israel, He chose Darius and Cyrus as the agents of
vengeance. Cyrus, the king of Persia, and his father-in-law Darius, the
king of Media, together went up against Belshazzar, the ruler of the
Chaldeans. The war lasted a considerable time, and fortune favored
first one side, then the other, until finally the Chaldeans won a
decisive victory. To celebrate the event, Belshazzar arranged a great
banquet, which was served from the vessels taken out of the Temple at
Jerusalem by his father. While the king and his guests were feasting,
the angel sent by God put the "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin" on the
wall, Aramaic words in Hebrew characters, (1) written with red ink. The
angel was seen by none but the king. His grandees and the princes of
the realm who were present at the orgy perceived nothing. The king
himself did not see the form of the angel, only his awesome fingers as
they traced the words were visible to him.
The interpretation given to the enigmatical words by Daniel put an end
to the merry-making of the feasters. They scattered in dread and fear,
leaving none behind except the king and his attendants. In the same
night the king was murdered by an old servant, who knew Daniel from the
time of Nebuchadnezzar, and doubted not that his sinister prophecy
would be fulfilled. With the head of King Belshazzar he betook himself
to Darius and Cyrus, and told them how his master had desecrated the
sacred vessels, told them of the wonderful writing on the wall, and of
the way it had been interpreted by Daniel. The two kings were moved by
his recital to vow solemnly that they would permit the Jews to return
to Palestine, and would grant them the use of the Temple vessels.
They resumed the war against Babylonia with more energy, and God
vouchsafed them victory. They conquered the whole of Belshazzar's
realm, and took possession of the city of Babylon, whose inhabitants,
young and old, were made to suffer death. The subjugated lands were
divided between Cyrus and Darius, the latter receiving Babylon and
Media, the former Chaldea, Persia, and Assyria. (2)
But this is not the whole story of the fall of Babylon. The wicked king
Belshazzar arranged the banquet at which the holy vessels were
desecrated in the fifth year of his reign, because he thought it wholly
certain then that all danger was past of the realization of Jeremiah's
prophecy, foretelling the return of the Jews to Palestine at the end of
seventy years of Babylonian rule over them. Nebuchadnezzar had governed
twenty-five years, and Evil-merodach twenty-three, leaving five years
in the reign of Belshazzar for the fulfilment of the appointed time.
(3) Not enough that the king scoffed at God by using the Temple
vessels, he needs must have the pastry for the banquet, which was given
on the second day of the Passover festival, made of wheaten flour finer
than that used on this day for the `Omer in the Temple.
Punishment followed hard upon the heels of the atrocity. Cyrus and
Darius served as door-keepers of the royal palace on the evening of the
banquet. They had received orders from Belshazzar to admit none, though
he should say he was the king himself. Belshazzar was forced to leave
his apartments for a short time, and he went out unnoticed by the two
door-keepers. On his return, when he asked to be admitted, they felled
him dead, even while he was asseverating that he was the king. (4)
DANIEL UNDER THE PERSIAN KINGS
Daniel left Belshazzar and fled to Shushtar, where he was kindly
received by Cyrus, who promised him to have the Temple vessels taken
back to Jerusalem, provided Daniel would pray to God to grant him
success in his war with the king of Mosul. God gave Daniel's prayer a
favorable hearing, and Cyrus was true to his promise.
Daniel now received the Divine charge to urge Cyrus to rebuild the
Temple. To this end he was to introduce Ezra and Zerubbabel to the
king. Ezra then went from place to place and called upon the people to
return to Palestine. Sad to say, only a tribe and a half obeyed his
summons. Indeed, the majority of the people were so wroth against Ezra
that they sought to slay him. He escaped the peril to his life only by
a Divine miracle. (5)
Daniel, too, was exposed to much suffering at this time. King Cyrus
cast him into a den of lions, because he refused to bow down before the
idol of the king. For seven days Daniel lay among the wild beasts, and
not a hair of his head was touched. When the king at the end of the
week found Daniel alive, he could not but acknowledge the sovereign
grandeur of God. Cyrus released Daniel, and instead had his
calumniators thrown to the lions. In an instant they were rent in
pieces. (6)
In general Cyrus fell far short of coming up to the expectations set in
him for piety and justice. Though he granted permission to the Jews to
rebuild the Temple, they were to use no material but wood, so that it
might easily be destroyed if the Jews should take it into their head to
rebel against him. Even in point of morals, the Persian king was not
above reproach. (7)
Another time Cyrus pressingly urged Daniel to pay homage to the idol
Bel. As proof of the divinity of the idol the king advanced the fact
that it ate the dishes set before it, a report spread by the priests of
Bel, who entered the Temple of the idol at night, through subterranean
passages, themselves ate up the dishes, and then attributed their
disappearance to the appetite of the god. But Daniel was too shrewd to
be misled by a fabricated story. He had the ashes strewn upon the floor
of the Temple, and the foot-prints visible the next morning convinced
the king of the deceit practiced by the priests. (8)
Pleasant relations did not continue to subsist forever between Cyrus
and Darius. A war broke out between them, in which Cyrus lost life and
lands. Fearing Darius, Daniel fled to Persia. But an angel of God
appeared to him with the message: "Fear not the king, not unto him will
I surrender thee." Shortly afterward he received a letter from Darius
reading as follows: "Come to me, Daniel! Fear naught, I shall be even
kinder to thee than Cyrus was." Accordingly Daniel returned to
Shushtar, and was received with great consideration by Darius.
One day the king chanced to remember the sacred garments brought by
Nebuchadnezzar out of the Temple at Jerusalem to Babylon. They had
vanished, and no trace of them could be discovered. The king suspected
Daniel of having had something to do with their disappearance. It
booted little that he protested his innocence, he was cast into prison.
God sent an angel who was to blind Darius, telling him at the same time
that he was deprived of the light of his eyes because he was keeping
the pious Daniel in durance, and sight would be restored to him only if
Daniel interceded for him. The king at once released Daniel, and the
two together journeyed to Jerusalem to pray on the holy place for the
restoration of the king. An angel appeared to Daniel, and announced to
him that his prayer had been heard. The king had but to wash his eyes,
and vision would return to them. So it happened. Darius gave thanks to
God, and in his gratitude assigned the tithe of his grain to the
priests and the Levites. Besides, he testified his appreciation to
Daniel by loading him down with gifts, and both returned to Shushtar.
The recovery of the king convinced many of his subjects of the
omnipotence of God, and they converted to Judaism. (9)
Following the advice of Daniel, Darius (10) appointed a triumvirate to
take charge of the administration of his realm, and Daniel was made the
chief of the council of three. His high dignity he was second to none
but the king himself exposed him to envy and hostility on all sides.
His enemies plotted his ruin. With cunning they induced the king to
sign an order attaching the penalty of death to prayers addressed to
any god or any man other than Darius. (11) Though the order did not
require Daniel to commit a sin, he preferred to give his life for the
honor of the one God rather than omit his devotions to Him. When his
jealous enemies surprised him during his prayers, he did not interrupt
himself. He was dragged before the king, who refused to give credence
to the charge against Daniel. Meanwhile the hour for the afternoon
prayer arrived, and in the presence of the king and his princes Daniel
began to perform his devotions. This naturally rendered unavailing all
efforts made by the king to save his friend from death. Daniel was cast
into a pit full of lions. The entrance to the pit was closed up with a
rock, which had all of its own accord rolled from Palestine to protect
him against any harm contemplated by his enemies. (12) The ferocious
beasts welcomed the pious Daniel like dogs fawning upon their master on
his return home, licking his hands and wagging their tails.
While this was passing in Babylon, an angel appeared to the prophet
Habakkuk in Judea. He ordered the prophet to bring Daniel the food he
was about to carry to his laborers in the field. Astonished, Habakkuk
asked the angel how he could carry it to so great a distance, whereupon
he was seized by his hair, and in a moment set down before Daniel. They
dined together, and then the angel transported Habakkuk back to his
place in Palestine. Early in the morning Darius (13) went to the pit of
the lions to discover the fate of Daniel. The king called his name, but
he received no answer, because Daniel was reciting the Shema at that
moment, (14) after having spent the night in giving praise and
adoration to God. (15) Seeing that he was still alive, the king
summoned the enemies of Daniel to the pit. It was their opinion that
the lions had not been hungry, and therefore Daniel was still unhurt.
The king commanded them to put the beasts to the test with their own
persons. The result was that the hundred and twenty-two enemies of
Daniel, together with their wives and children numbering two hundred
and forty-four persons, were torn in shreds by fourteen hundred and
sixty-four lions. (16)
The miraculous escape of Daniel brought him more distinguished
consideration and greater honors than before. The king published the
wonders done by God in all parts of his land, and called upon the
people to betake themselves to Jerusalem and help in the erection of
the Temple.
Daniel entreated the king to relieve him of the duties of his position,
for the performance of which he no longer felt himself fit, on account
of his advanced age. The king consented on condition that Daniel
designate a successor worthy of him. His choice fell upon Zerubbabel.
Loaded with rich presents and amid public demonstrations designed to
honor him, Daniel retired from public life. He settled in the city of
Shushan, where he abode until his end. (17) Though he was no prophet,
God vouchsafed to him a knowledge of the "end of time" not granted his
friends, the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, (18) but even he,
in the fulness of his years, lost all memory of the revelation with
which he had been favored. (19)
THE GRAVE OF DANIEL
Daniel was buried in Shushan, on account of which a sore quarrel was
enkindled among the inhabitants of the city. Shushan is divided in two
parts by a river. The side containing the grave of Daniel was occupied
by the wealthy inhabitants, and the poor citizens lived on the other
side of the river. The latter maintained that they, too, would be rich
if the grave of Daniel were in their quarter. The frequent disputes and
conflicts were finally adjusted by a compromise; one year the bier of
Daniel reposed on one side of the river, the next year on the other.
When the Persian king Sanjar came to Shushan, he put a stop to the
practice of dragging the bier hither and thither. He resorted to
another device for guarding the peace of the city. He had the bier
suspended from chains precisely in the middle of the bridge spanning
the river. In the same spot he erected a house of prayer for all
confessions, and out of respect to Daniel he prohibited fishing in the
river for a distance of a mile on either side of the memorial building.
(20) The sacredness of the spot appeared when the godless tried to pass
by. They were drowned, while the pious remained unscathed. Furthermore,
the fish that swam near it had heads glittering like gold. (21)
Beside the house of Daniel lay a stone, under which he had concealed
the holy Temple vessels. Once an attempt was made to roll the stone
from its place, but whoever ventured to touch it, fell dead. The same
fate overtook all who later tried to make excavations near the spot; a
storm broke out and mowed them down. (22)
ZERUBBABEL
The successor to Daniel in the service of the king, Zerubbabel, enjoyed
equally as much royal consideration and affection. He occupied a higher
position than all the other servants and officials, and he and two
others constituted the body-guard of the king. (23) Once when the king
lay wrapped in deep slumber, his guards resolved to write down what
each of them considered the mightiest thing in the world, and he who
wrote the sagest saying should be given rich presents and rewards by
the king. What they wrote they laid under the pillow on which the head
of the king rested, that he might not delay to make a decision after he
awoke. The first one wrote: "Wine is the mightiest thing there is"; the
second wrote: "The king is the mightiest on earth," and the third,
Zerubbabel, wrote: "Women are the mightiest in the world, but truth
prevails over all else." When the king awoke, and he perused the
document, he summoned the grandees of his realm and the three youths as
well. Each of the three was called upon to justify his saying. In
eloquent words the first described the potency of wine. When it takes
possession of the senses of a man, he forgets grief and sorrow. Still
more beautiful and convincing were the words of the second speaker,
when his turn came to establish the truth of his saying, that the king
was the mightiest on earth. Finally Zerubbabel depicted in glowing
words the power of woman, who rules even over kings. "But," he
continued, "truth is supreme over all; the whole earth asks for truth,
the heavens sing the praises of truth, all creation quakes and trembles
before truth, naught of wrong can be found in truth. Unto truth
belongeth the might, the dominion, the power, and the glory of all
times. Blessed be the God of truth." When Zerubbabel ceased from
speaking, the assembly broke out into the words: "Great is truth, it is
mightier than all else!" The king was so charmed with the wisdom of
Zerubbabel that he said to him: "Ask for aught thou wishest, it shall
be granted thee." Zerubbabel required nothing for himself, he only
sought permission of the king to restore Jerusalem, rebuild the
sanctuary, and return the holy Temple vessels to the place whence they
had been carried off. Not only did Darius grant what Zerubbabel wished
for, not only did he give him letters of safe-conduct, but he also
conferred numerous privileges upon the Jews who accompanied Zerubbabel
to Palestine, and he sent abundant presents to the Temple and its
officers. (24)
As unto his predecessor Daniel, so unto Zerubbabel, God vouchsafed a
knowledge of the secrets of the future. Especially the archangel
Metatron dealt kindly with him. Besides revealing to him the time at
which the Messiah would appear, he brought about an interview between
the Messiah and Zerubbabel. (25)
In reality, Zerubbabel was none other than Nehemiah, who was given this
second name because he was born in Babylon. (26) Richly endowed as
Zerubbabel-Nehemiah was with admirable qualities, he yet did not lack
faults. He was excessively self-complacent, and he did not hesitate to
fasten a stigma publicly upon his predecessors in the office of
governor in the land of Judah, among whom was so excellent a man as
Daniel. To punish him for these transgressions, the Book of Ezra does
not bear the name of its real author Nehemiah. (27)
When Darius felt his end approach, (28) he appointed his son-in-law
Cyrus, (29) who had hitherto reigned only over Persia, to be the ruler
over his kingdom as well. His wish was honored by the princes of Media
and Persia. After Darius had departed this life, Cyrus was proclaimed
king.
In the very first year of his reign, Cyrus summoned the most
distinguished of the Jews to appear before him, and he gave them
permission to return to Palestine and rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem.
More than this, he pledged himself to contribute to the Temple service
in proportion to his means, and pay honor to the God who had invested
him with strength to subdue the Chaldeans. These actions of Cyrus
partly flowed from his own pious inclinations, and partly were due to
his desire to accomplish the dying behests of Darius, who had
admonished him to give the Jews the opportunity of rebuilding the
Temple.
When the first sacrifice was to be brought by the company of Jews who
returned to Jerusalem under the leadership of Ezra, and set about
restoring the Temple, they missed the celestial fire which had dropped
from heaven on the altar in the time of Moses, and had not been
extinguished so long as the Temple stood. They turned in supplication
to God to be instructed by Him. The celestial fire had been hidden by
Jeremiah at the time of the destruction of the Holy City, and the law
did not permit them to bring "strange fire" upon the altar of God. An
old man suddenly remembered the spot in which Jeremiah had buried the
holy fire, and he led the elders thither. They rolled away the stone
covering the spot, and from under it appeared a spring flowing not with
water, but with a sort of oil. Ezra ordered this fluid to be sprinkled
upon the altar, and forthwith an all-consuming flame shot up. The
priests themselves scattered in fright. But after the Temple and its
vessels were purified by the flame, it confined itself to the altar
never more to leave it, for the priest guarded it so that it might not
be extinguished. (30)
Among the band of returned exiles were the prophets Haggai, Zechariah,
and Malachi. Each one of them had a place of the greatest importance to
fill in the rebuilding of the Temple. By the first the people were
shown the plan of the altar, which was larger than the one that had
stood in Solomon's Temple. The second informed them of the exact
location of the altar, and the third taught them that the sacrifices
might be brought on the holy place even before the completion of the
Temple. On the authority of one of the prophets, the Jews, on their
return from Babylonia, gave up their original Hebrew characters, and
re-wrote the Torah in the "Assyrian" characters still in use at this
day. (31)
While the Temple work was in progress, the builders found the skull of
Araunah, the owner of the Temple site in the time of David. The
priests, unlearned as they were, could not decide to what extent the
corpse lying there had defiled the holy place. It was for this that
Haggai poured out his reproaches upon them. (32)
EZRA
The complete resettlement of Palestine took place under the direction
of Ezra, or, as the Scriptures sometimes call him, Malachi. (33) He had
not been present at the earlier attempts (34) to restore the sanctuary,
because he could not leave his old teacher Baruch, who was too advanced
in years to venture upon the difficult journey to the Holy Land. (35)
In spite of Ezra's persuasive efforts, it was but a comparatively small
portion of the people that joined the procession winding its way
westward to Palestine. For this reason the prophetical spirit did not
show itself during the existence of the Second Temple. Haggai,
Zechariah, and Malachi were the last representatives of prophecy. (36)
Nothing was more surprising than the apathy of the Levites. They
manifested no desire to return to Palestine. Their punishment was the
loss of the tithes, which were later given to the priest, though the
Levites had the first claim upon them. (37)
In restoring the Jewish state in Palestine, Ezra cherished two hopes,
to preserve the purity of the Jewish race, and to spread the study of
the Torah until it should become the common property of the people at
large. To help on his first purpose, he inveighed against marriages
between the Jews and the nations round about. (38) He himself had
carefully worked out his own pedigree before he consented to leave
Babylonia, (39) and in order to perpetuate the purity of the families
and groups remaining in the East, he took all the "unfit" (40) with him
to Palestine.
In the realization of his second hope, the spread of the Torah, Ezra
was so zealous and efficient that it was justly said of him: "If Moses
had not anticipated him, Ezra would have received the Torah." (41) In a
sense he was, indeed, a second Moses. The Torah had fallen into neglect
and oblivion in his day, and he restored and re-established it in the
minds of his people. (42) It is due to him chiefly that it was divided
up into portions, to be read annually, Sabbath after Sabbath, in the
synagogues, (43) and he it was, likewise, who originated the idea of
re-writing the Pentateuch in "Assyrian" characters. (44) To further his
purpose still more, he ordered additional schools for children to be
established everywhere, though the old ones sufficed to satisfy the
demand. He thought the rivalry between the old and the new institutions
would redound to the benefit of the pupils. (45)
Ezra is the originator of institutions known as "the ten regulations of
Ezra." They are the following: 1. Readings from the Torah on Sabbath
afternoons. 2. Readings from the Torah on Mondays and Thursdays. 3.
Sessions of the court on Mondays and Thursdays. 4. To do laundry work
on Thursdays, not Fridays. 5. To eat garlic on Friday on account of its
salutary action. (46) 6. To bake bread early in the morning that it may
be ready for the poor whenever they ask for some. 7. Women are to cover
the lower parts of their bodies with a garment called Sinar. (47) 8.
Before taking a ritual bath, the hair is to be combed. 9. The ritual
bath prescribed for the unclean is to cover the case of one who desires
to offer prayer or study the law. (48) 10. Permission to peddlers to
sell cosmetics to women in the towns. (49)
Ezra was not only a great teacher of his people and their wise leader,
he was also their advocate with the celestials, to whom his relation
was of a peculiarly intimate character. Once he addressed a prayer to
God, in which he complained of the misfortune of Israel and the
prosperity of the heathen nations. Thereupon the angel Uriel appeared
to him, and instructed him how that evil has its appointed time in
which to run its course, as the dead have their appointed time to
sojourn in the nether world. Ezra could not rest satisfied with this
explanation, and in response to his further question, seven prophetic
visions were vouchsafed him, and interpreted by the angel for him. They
typified the whole course of history up to his day, and disclosed the
future to his eyes. In the seventh vision he heard a voice from a
thorn-bush, like Moses aforetimes, and it admonished him to guard in
his heart the secrets revealed to him. The same voice had given Moses a
similar injunction: "These words shalt thou publish, those shalt thou
keep secret." Then his early translation from earth was announced to
him. He besought God to let the holy spirit descend upon him before he
died, so that he might record all that had happened since the creation
of the world as it was set down in the Torah, and guide men upon the
path that leads to God.
Hereupon God bade him take the five experienced scribes, Sarga, Dabria,
Seleucia, Ethan, and Aziel, with him into retirement, and dictate to
them for forty days. After one day spent with these writers in
isolation, remote from the city and from men, a voice admonished him:
"Ezra, open thy mouth, and drink whereof I give thee to drink." He
opened his mouth, and a chalice was handed to him, filled to the brim
with a liquid that flowed like water, but in color resembled fire. His
mouth opened to drink, and for forty days it was not closed. During all
that time, the five scribes put down, "in signs they did not
understand," they were the newly adopted Hebrew characters, all
that Ezra dictated to them, and it made ninety-four books. At the end
of the forty days' period, God spoke to Ezra thus: "The twenty-four
books of the Holy Scriptures thou shalt publish, for the worthy and the
unworthy alike to read; but the last seventy books thou shalt withhold
from the populace, for the perusal of the wise of thy people." On
account of his literary activity, he is called "the Scribe of the
science of the Supreme Being unto all eternity." (50)
Having finished his task, Ezra was removed from this mundane world, and
he entered the life everlasting. But his death did not occur in the
Holy Land. It overtook him at Khuzistan, in Persia, on his journey to
King Artachshashta. (51)
At Raccia, in Mesopotamia, there stood, as late as the twelfth century,
the synagogue founded by Ezra when he was journeying from Babylonia to
Palestine. (52)
At his grave, over which columns of fire are often seen to hover at
night, (53) a miracle once happened. A shepherd fell asleep by the side
of it. Ezra appeared to him and bade him tell the Jews that they were
to transport his bier to another spot. If the master of the new place
refused assent, he was to be warned to yield permission, else all the
inhabitants of his place would perish. At first the master refused to
allow the necessary excavations to be made. Only after a large number
of the non-Jewish inhabitants of the place had been stricken down
suddenly, he consented to have the corpse transported thither. As soon
as the grave was opened, the plague ceased.
Shortly before the death of Ezra, the city of Babylon was totally
destroyed by the Persians. There remained but a portion of the wall
which was impregnable by human strength. (54) All the prophecies hurled
against the city by the prophets were accomplished. To this day there
is a spot on its site which no animal can pass unless some of the earth
of the place is strewn upon it. (55)
THE MEN OF THE GREAT ASSEMBLY
At the same time with Ezra, or, to speak more accurately, under his
direction, the Great Assembly carried on its beneficent activities,
which laid the foundations of Rabbinical Judaism, and constituted the
binding link between the Jewish Prophet and the Jewish Sage. (56) The
great men who belonged to this august assembly once succeeded, through
the efficacy of their prayers, in laying hands upon the seducers unto
sin, and confining them, to prevent them from doing more mischief. Thus
they banished from the world "the desire unto idolatry." They tried to
do the same to "the desire unto lustfulness." This evil adversary
warned them against making away with him, for the world would cease to
exist without him. For three days they kept him a prisoner, but then
they had to dismiss him and let him go free. They found that not even
an egg was to be had, for sexual appetite had vanished from the world.
However, he did not escape altogether unscathed. They plastered up his
eyes, and from that time on he gave up inflaming the passions of men
against their blood relations. (57)
Among the decrees and ordinances of the Great Assembly, the most
prominent is the fixation of the prayer of the Eighteen Benedictions.
The several benedictions composing this prayer date back to remote
ancient times. The Patriarchs were their authors, and the work of the
Great Assembly was to put them together in the order in which we now
have them. We know how each of the benedictions originated: 1. When
Abraham was saved from the furnace angels spoke: "Blessed art Thou, O
Lord, the Shield of Abraham," which is the essence of the first of the
Eighteen. 2. When Isaac lay stunned by fright on Mount Moriah, God sent
His dew to revive him, whereupon the angels spoke: "Blessed art Thou, O
Lord, who quickenest the dead." 3. When Jacob arrived at the gates of
heaven and proclaimed the holiness of God, the angels spoke: "Blessed
art Thou, O Lord, Thou holy God." 4. When Pharaoh was about to make
Joseph the ruler over Egypt, and it appeared that he was unacquainted
with the seventy tongues which an Egyptian sovereign must know, the
angel Gabriel came and taught him those languages, whereupon the angels
spoke: "Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who graciously bestowest knowledge."
5. When Reuben committed the trespass against his father, sentence of
death was pronounced upon him in the heavens. But when he repented, he
was permitted to continue to live, and the angels spoke: "Blessed art
Thou, O Lord, who hast delight in repentance." 6. When Judah had
committed a trespass against Tamar, and confessing his guilt obtained
forgiveness, the angels spoke: "Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who pardonest
greatly." 7. When Israel was sore oppressed by Mizraim, and God
proclaimed his redemption, the angels spoke: "Blessed art Thou, O Lord,
who redeemest Israel." 8. When the angel Raphael came to Abraham to
soothe the pain of his circumcision, the angels spoke: "Blessed art
Thou, O Lord, who healest the sick." 9. When Israel's sowing in the
land of the Philistines bore an abundant harvest, the angels spoke:
"Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who blessest the years." 10. When Jacob was
reunited with Joseph and Simon in Egypt, the angels spoke: "Blessed art
Thou, O Lord, who gatherest the dispersed of Thy people Israel." 11.
When the Torah was revealed and God communicated the code of laws to
Moses, the angels spoke: "Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who lovest
righteousness and justice." 12. When the Egyptians were drowned in the
Red Sea, the angels spoke: "Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who shatterest
the enemy and humiliatest the presumptuous." 13. When Joseph laid his
hands on the eyes of his father Jacob, the angels spoke: "Blessed art
Thou, O Lord, who are the stay and the support of the pious." 14. When
Solomon built the Temple, the angels spoke: "Blessed art Thou, O Lord,
who buildest Jerusalem." 15. When the children of Israel singing hymns
of praise unto God passed through the Red Sea, the angels spoke:
"Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who causest the hour of salvation to sprout
forth." 16. When God lent a gracious ear to the prayer of the suffering
Israelites in Egypt, the angels spoke: "Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who
hearest our prayer." 17. When the Shekinah descended between the
Cherubim in the Tabernacle, the angels spoke: "Blessed art Thou, O
Lord, who wilt restore Thy Divine Presence to Jerusalem." 18. When
Solomon dedicated his Temple, the angels spoke: "Blessed art Thou, O
Lord, whose Name is worthy of praise." 19. When Israel entered the Holy
Land, the angels spoke: "Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who establishest
peace." (58)
XII.
ESTHER
THE FEAST FOR THE GRANDEES
The Book of Esther is the last of the Scriptural writings. The
subsequent history of Israel and all his suffering we know only through
oral tradition. For this reason the heroine of the last canonical book
was named Esther, that is, Venus, the morning-star, which sheds its
light after all the other stars have ceased to shine, and while the sun
still delays to rise. Thus the deeds of Queen Esther cast a ray of
light forward into Israel's history at its darkest. (1)
The Jews at the time of Ahaseurus were like the dove about to enter her
nest wherein a snake lies coiled. Yet she cannot withdraw, because a
falcon bides without to swoop down upon her. In Shushan the Jews were
in the clutches of Haman, and in other lands they were at the mercy of
many murderous enemies to their race, ready to do the bidding of Haman
to destroy and to slay them, and cause them to perish. (2)
But the rescue of the Jews from the hand of their adversaries is only a
part of this wonderful chapter in the history of Israel. No less
important is the exalted station to which they rose in the realm of
Ahasuerus after the fall of Haman, especially the power and dignity to
which Esther herself attained. On this account the magnificent feast
prepared by Ahasuerus for his subjects belongs to the history of
Esther.
The splendor of his feast is the gauge whereby to measure the wealth
and power she later enjoyed. (3)
Ahasuerus was not the king of Persia by right of birth. He owed his
position to his vast wealth, with which he purchased dominion over the
whole world. (4)
He had various reasons for giving a gorgeous feast. The third year of
his reign was the seventieth since the beginning of Nebuchadnezzar's
rule, and Ahasuerus thought it quite certain that the time had passed
for the fulfilment of the prophecy of Jeremiah foretelling the return
of Israel to the Holy Land. The Temple was still in ruins, and
Ahasuerus was convinced that the Jewish kingdom would never again be
restored. Needless to say, it was not Jeremiah who erred. Not with the
accession of King Nebuchadnezzar had the prophet's term of years begun,
but with the destruction of Jerusalem. Reckoned in this way, the
seventy years of desolation were at an end exactly at the time when
Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, permitted the rebuilding of the Temple.
(5)
Beside this mistaken cause for a celebration, there were reasons
personal to Ahasuerus why he desired to give expression to joy. A short
time before, he had crushed a rebellion against himself, and this
victory he wanted to celebrate with pomp and ceremony. (6) The first
part of the celebration was given over to the hundred and twenty-seven
rulers of the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of his empire. His
purpose was to win the devotion of those of them with whom otherwise he
did not come in direct contact. But can it be said with certainty that
this was a good policy? If he had not first made sure of the loyalty of
his capital, was it not dangerous to have these rulers near him in case
of an insurrection?
For six whole months he celebrated the feast for the grandees the
nobles and the high officials, the latter of whom, according to the
constitution, were all required to be Medians under the Persian king
Ahasuerus, as they would have had to be Persians under a Median king.
(7)
This was the program of the feast: In the first month Ahasuerus showed
his treasures to his guests; in the second, the delegates of the king's
royal vassals saw them; in the third the presents were exposed to view;
in the fourth the guests were invited to admire his literary
possessions, among them the sacred scroll; in the fifth his pearl and
diamond-studded ornaments of gold were put on exhibition; and in the
sixth he displayed the treasures which had been given him as tribute.
(8) All this vast wealth, however, appertained to the crown, it was not
his personal property. When Nebuchadnezzar felt his end draw nigh, he
resolved to sink his immense treasures in the Euphrates rather than let
them ascend to his son Evil-merodach, so great was his miserliness.
But, again, when Cyrus gave the Jews permission to build the Temple,
his divinely appointed reward was that he discovered the spot in the
river at which the treasures were sunk, and he was permitted to take
possession of them. These were the treasures of which Ahasuerus availed
himself to glorify his feast. So prodigious were they that during the
six months of the feast he unlocked six treasure-chambers daily to
display their contents to his guests. (9)
When Ahasuerus boasted of his wealth, which he had no right to do, as
his treasures had come from the Temple, God said: "Verily, has the
creature of flesh and blood any possessions of his own? I alone possess
treasures, for 'the silver is mind, and the gold is mine.'" (10)
Among the treasures displayed were the Temple vessels, which Ahasuerus
had desecrated in his drinking bouts. When the noble Jews who had been
invited to the capital saw these, they began to weep, and they refused
to take further part in the festivities. Thereupon the king commanded
that a separate place be assigned to the Jews, so that their eyes might
be spared the painful sight. (11)
This was not the only incident that aroused poignant memories in them,
for Ahasuerus arrayed himself in the robes of state once belonging to
the high priests at Jerusalem, and this, too, made the Jews smart
uncomfortably. (12) The Persian king had wanted to mount the throne of
Solomon besides, but herein he was thwarted, because its ingenious
construction was an enigma to him. Egyptian artificers tried to fashion
a throne after the model of Solomon's, but in vain. After two years'
work they managed to produce a weak imitation of it, and upon this
Ahasuerus sat during his splendid feast. (13)
THE FESTIVITIES IN SHUSHAN
At the expiration of the hundred and eighty days allotted to the feast
for the nobles, Ahasuerus arranged a great celebration for the
residents of Shushan, the capital city of Elam. From the creation of
the world until after the deluge the unwritten law had been in force,
that the first-born son of the patriarchs was to be the ruler of the
world. Thus, Seth was the successor to Adam, and he was followed in
turn by Enosh, and so the succession went on, from first-born son to
first-born son, down to Noah and his oldest son Shem. Now, the
first-born son of Shem was Elam, and, according to custom, he should
have been given the universal dominion which was his heritage. Shem,
being a prophet, knew that Abraham and his posterity, the Israelites,
would not spring from the family of Elam, but from that of Arpachshad.
Therefore he named Arpachshad as his successor, and through him
rulership descended to Abraham, and so to Isaac, Jacob, and Judah, and
to David and his posterity, down to the last Judean king Zedekiah, who
was deprived of his sovereignty by Nebuchadnezzar.
Then it was that God spake thus: "So long as the government rested in
the hands of My children, I was prepared to exercise patience. The
misdeeds of the one were made good by the other. If one of them was
wicked, the other was pious. But now that the dominions has been
wrested from My children, it shall at least revert to its original
possessors. Elam was the first-born son of Shem, and his seed shall be
given the rule." So it happened that Shushan, the capital city of Elam,
became the seat of government. (14)
That there were any celebrations in Shushan was due to Haman, who even
in those early days was devising intrigues against the Jews. He
appeared before Ahasuerus, and said: "O king, this people is a peculiar
people. May it please thee to destroy it." Ahasuerus replied: "I fear
the God of this people; He is very mighty, and I bear in mind what
befell Pharaoh for his wicked treatment of the Israelites." "Their
God," said Haman, "hates an unchaste life. Do thou, therefore, prepare
feasts for them, and order them to take part in the merry-makings. Have
them eat and drink and act as their heart desireth, so that their God
may become wrathful against them."
When Mordecai heard of the feasts that were planned, he advised the
Jews not to join in them. (15) All the prominent men of his people and
many of the lower classes took his advice to heart. They fled from
Shushan, to avoid being compelled to take part in the festivities. (16)
The rest remained in the city and yielded to force; they participated
in the celebrations, and even permitted themselves to eat of food
prepared by the heathen, though the king had taken care not to offend
the religious conscience of the Jews in such details. (17) He had been
so punctilious that there was no need for them to drink wine touched by
the hand of an idolater, let alone eat forbidden food. The arrangements
for the feast were entirely in the charge of Haman and Mordecai, so
that neither Jew nor Gentile might absent himself for religious
reasons. (18)
It was the aim of the king to let every guest follow the inclination of
his heart. When Ahasuerus issued the order, that the officers of his
house were to "do according to every man's pleasure," God became wroth
with him. "Thou villain," He said, "canst thou do every man's pleasure?
Suppose two men love the same woman, can both marry her? Two vessels
sail forth together from a port, the one desires a south wind, the
other a north wind. Canst thou produce a wind to satisfy the two? On
the morrow Haman and Mordecai will appear before thee. Wilt thou be
able to side with both?" (19)
The scene of the festivities was in the royal gardens. The upper
branches of the high trees were made to interlace with each other, so
as to form vaulted arches, and the smaller trees with aromatic foliage
were taken up out of the ground, and placed in artfully constructed
tents. From tree to tree stretched curtains of byssus, white and
sapphire blue, and vivid green and royal purple, fastened to their
supports by ropes depending from round silver beams, these in turn
resting on pillars of red, green, yellow, white, and glittering blue
marble. The couches were made of delicate draperies, their frames stood
on silver feet, and the rods attached to them were of gold. The floor
was tiled with crystal and marble, outlined with precious stones, whose
brilliance illuminated the scene far and wide. (20)
The wine and the other beverages were drunk only from golden vessels,
yet Ahasuerus was so rich that no drinking cup was used more than a
single time. (21) But magnificent as these utensils of his were, when
the holy vessels of the Temple were brought in, the golden splendor of
the others was dimmed; it turned dull as lead. The wine was in each
case older than its drinker. To prevent intoxication from unaccustomed
drinks, every guest was served with the wine indigenous to his native
place. In general, Ahasuerus followed the Jewish rather than the
Persian manner. It was a banquet rather than a drinking bout. (22) In
Persia a custom prevailed that every participant in a banquet of wine
had to drain a huge beaker far exceeding the drinking capacity of any
human being, and do it he must, though he lost reason and life. The
office butler accordingly was very lucrative, because the guests at
such wassails were in the habit of bribing him to purchase the liberty
of drinking as little as they pleased or dared. This Persian habit of
compelling excess in drinking was ignored at Ahasuerus's banquet; every
guest did as he chose. (23)
The royal bounty did not show itself in food and drink alone. The
king's guests could also indulge in the pleasures of the dance if they
were so minded. Dancers were provided, who charmed the company with
their artistic figures displayed upon the purple-covered floor. (24)
That the enjoyment of the participants might in no wise be marred, as
by separation from their families, all were permitted to bring their
households with them, (25) and merchants were released from the taxes
imposed upon them. (26)
So sure was Ahasuerus of his success as a host that he dared say to his
Jewish guests: "Will your God be able to match this banquet in the
future world?" Whereunto the Jews replied: "The banquet God will
prepare for the righteous in the world to come is that of which it is
written, 'No eye hath seen it but God's; He will accomplish it for them
that wait upon Him.' If God were to offer us a banquet like unto thine,
O king, we should say, Such as this we ate at the table of Ahasuerus."
(27)
VASTHI'S BANQUET
The banquet given by Queen Vashti to the women differed but slightly
from Ahasuerus's. She sought to emulate her husband's example even in
the point of exhibiting treasures. Six store-chambers she displayed
daily to the women she had bidden as guests; aye, she did not even
shrink from arraying herself in the high-priestly garments. The meats
and dishes, as at Ahasuerus's table, were Palestinian, only instead of
wine, liqueurs were served, and sweets.
As the weak sex is subject to sudden attacks of indisposition, the
banquet was given in the halls of the palace, so that the guests might
at need withdraw to the adjoining chambers. The gorgeously ornamented
apartments of the palace, besides, were more attractive to the feminine
taste than the natural beauties of the royal gardens, "for a woman
would rather reside in beautiful chambers and possess beautiful clothes
than eat fatted calves." (28) Nothing interested the women more than to
become acquainted with the arrangement of the interior of the palace,
"for women are curious to know all things." Vashti gratified their
desire. She showed them all there was to be seen, describing every
place as she came to it: This is the dining-hall, this the wine-room,
this the bed-chamber. (29)
Vashti, too, was actuated by a political motive when she determined to
give her banquet. By inviting the wives of hostages in case the men
rose in insurrection against the king. (30) For Vashti knew the ways of
statecraft. She not only was the wife of a king, but also the daughter
of a king, of Belshazzar. The night of Belshazzar's murder in his own
palace, Vashti, alarmed by the confusion that ensued, and not knowing
of the death of her father, fled to the apartments in which he was in
the habit of sitting. The Median Darius had already ascended the throne
of Belshazzar, and so it happened that Vashti, instead of finding the
hoped-for refuge with her father, ran straight into the hands of his
successor. But he had compassion with her, and gave her to his son
Ahasuerus for wife.
THE FATE OF VASHTI
Though Ahasuerus had taken every precaution to prevent intemperate
indulgence in wine, his banquet revealed the essential difference
between Jewish and pagan festivities. When Jews are gathered about a
festal board, they discuss a Halakah, or a Haggadah, or, at the least,
a simple verse from the Scriptures. Ahasuerus and his boon companions
rounded out the banquet with prurient talk. The Persians lauded the
charms of the women of their people, while the Medians admitted none
superior to the Median women. Then "the fool" Ahasuerus up and spake:
"My wife is neither a Persian nor a Median, but a Chaldean, yet she
excels all in beauty. Would you convince yourselves of the truth of my
words?" "Yes," shouted the company, who were deep in their cups, "but
that we may properly judge of her natural charms, let her appear before
us unadorned, yes, without any apparel whatsoever," and Ahasuerus
agreed to the shameless condition. (31)
The thing was from God, that so insensate a demand should be made of
Vashti by the king. A whole week Mordecai had spent in fasting and
praying, supplicating God to mete out punishment to Ahasuerus for his
desecration of the Temple utensils. On the seventh day of the week, on
the Sabbath, when Mordecai after his long fast took food, because
fasting is forbidden on the Sabbath day, God heard his prayer and the
prayer of the Sanhedrin. (32) He sent down seven Angels of Confusion to
put an end to Ahasuerus's pleasure. They were named: Mehuman,
Confusion; Biztha, Destruction of the House; Harbonah, Annihilation;
Bigtha and Abagtha, the Pressers of the Winepress, for God had resolved
to crush the court of Ahasuerus as one presses the juice from grapes in
a press; Zetha, Observer of Immorality; and Carcas, Knocker. (33)
There was a particular reason why this interruption of the feast took
place on the Sabbath. Vashti was in the habit of forcing Jewish maidens
to spin and weave on the Sabbath day, and to add to her cruelty, she
would deprive them of all their clothes. It was on the Sabbath,
therefore, that her punishment overtook her, and for the same reason it
was put into the king's heart to have her appear in public stripped of
all clothing. (34)
Vashti recoiled from the king's revolting order. But it must not be
supposed that she shrank from carrying it out because it offended her
moral sense. She was not a whit better than her husband. She fairly
revelled in the opportunity his command gave her to indulge in carnal
pleasures once again, for it was exactly a week since she had been
delivered of a child. But God sent the angel Gabriel to her to
disfigure her countenance. Suddenly signs of leprosy appeared on her
forehead, and the marks of other diseases on her person. (35) In this
state it was impossible for her to show herself to the king. She made a
virtue of necessity, and worded her refusal to appear before him
arrogantly: "Say to Ahasuerus: 'O thou fool and madman! Hast thou lost
thy reason by too much drinking? I am Vashti, the daughter of
Belshazzar, who was a son of Nebuchadnezzar, the Nebuchadnezzar who
scoffed at kings and unto whom princes were a derision, and even thou
wouldst not have been deemed worthy to run before my father's chariot
as a courier. Had he lived, I should never have been given unto thee
for wife. Not even those who suffered the death penalty during the
reign of my forefather Nebuchadnezzar were stripped bare of their
clothing, and thou demandest that I appear naked in public! Why, it is
for thine own sake that I refuse to heed they order. Either the people
will decide that I do not come up to thy description of me, and will
proclaim thee a liar, or, bewitched by my beauty, they will kill thee
in order to gain possession of me, saying, Shall this fool be the
master of so much beauty?'" (36)
The first lady of the Persian aristocracy encouraged Vashti to adhere
to her resolution. "Better," her adviser said, when Ahasuerus's second
summons was delivered to Vashti, together with his threat to kill her
unless she obeyed, "better the king should kill thee and annihilate thy
beauty, than that thy person should be admired by other eyes than thy
husband's, and thus thy name be disgraced, and the name of thy
ancestors." (37)
When Vashti refused to obey the repeated command to appear before the
king and the hundred and twenty-seven crowned princes of the realm,
Ahasuerus turned to the Jewish sages, and requested them to pass
sentence upon his queen. Their thoughts ran in this wise: If we condemn
the queen to death, we shall suffer for it as soon as Ahasuerus becomes
sober, and hears it was at our advice that she was executed. But if we
admonish him unto clemency now, while he is intoxicated, he will accuse
us of not paying due deference to the majesty of the king. They
therefore resolved upon neutrality. "Since the destruction of the
Temple," they said to the king, "since we have not dwelt in our land,
we have lost the power to give sage advice, particularly in matters of
life and death. Better seek counsel with the wise men of Ammon and
Moab, who have ever dwelt at ease in their land, like wine that hath
settled on its lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel.
(38)
Thereupon Ahasuerus put his charge against Vashti before the seven
princes of Persia, Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres,
Marsena, and Memucan, who came from Africa, India, Edom, Tarsus, Mursa,
Resen, and Jerusalem, respectively. (39) The names of these seven
officials, each representing his country, were indicative of their
office. Carshena had the care of the animals, Shethar of the wine,
Admatha of the land, Tarshish of the palace, Meres of the poultry,
Marsena of the bakery, and Memucan provided for the needs of all in the
palace, his wife acting as housekeeper. (40)
This Memucan, a native of Jerusalem, was none other than Daniel, called
Memucan, "the appointed one," because he was designated by God to
perform miracles and bring about the death of Vashti. (41)
When the king applied for advice to these seven nobles, Memucan was the
first to speak up, though in rank he was inferior to the other six, as
appears from the place his name occupies in the list. However, it is
customary, as well among Persians as among Jews, in passing death
sentence, to begin taking the vote with the youngest of the judges on
the bench, to prevent the juniors and the less prominent from being
overawed by the opinion of the more influential. (42)
It was Memucan's advice to the king to make an example of Vashti, so
that in future no woman should dare refuse obedience to her husband.
Daniel-Memucan had had unpleasant experiences in his conjugal life. He
had married a wealthy Persian lady, who insisted upon speaking to him
in her own language exclusively. (43) Besides, personal antipathy
existed between Daniel and Vashti. He had in a measure been the cause
of her refusal to appear before the king and his princes. Vashti hated
Daniel, because it was he who had prophesied his death to her father,
and the extinction of his dynasty. She could not endure his sight,
wherefore she would not show herself to the court in his presence. (44)
Also, it was Daniel who, by pronouncing the Name of God, had caused the
beauty of Vashti to vanish, and her face to be marred. (45) In
consequence of all this, Daniel advised, not only that Vashti should be
cast off, but that she should be made harmless forever by the hangman's
hand. His advice was endorsed by his colleagues, and approved by the
king. That the king might not delay execution of the death sentence,
and Daniel himself thus incur danger to his own life, he made Ahasuerus
swear the most solemn oath known to the Persians, that it would be
carried out forthwith. At the same time a royal edict was promulgated,
making it the duty of wives to obey their husbands. With special
reference to Daniel's domestic difficulties, it was specified that the
wife must speak the language of her lord and master. (46)
The execution of Vashti brought most disastrous consequences in its
train. His whole empire, which is tantamount to saying the whole world,
rose against Ahasuerus. The widespread rebellion was put down only
after his marriage with Esther, but not before it had inflicted upon
him the loss of one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, the half of his
kingdom. Such was his punishment for refusing permission to rebuild the
Temple. It was only after the fall of Haman, when Mordecai had been
made the chancellor of the empire, that Ahasuerus succeeded in reducing
the revolted provinces to submission. (47)
The death of Vashti was not undeserved punishment, for it had been she
who had prevented the king from giving his consent to the rebuilding of
the Temple. "Wilt thou rebuild the Temple," said she, reproachfully,
"which my ancestors destroyed?" (48)
THE FOLLIES OF AHASUERUS
Ahasuerus is the prototype of the unstable, foolish ruler. He
sacrificed his wife Vashti to his friend Haman-Memucan, and later on
again his friend Haman to his wife Esther. (49) Folly possessed him,
too, when he arranged extravagant festivities for guests from afar,
before he had won, by means of kindly treatment, the friendship of his
surroundings, of the inhabitants of his capital. (50) Ridiculous is the
word that describes his edict bidding wives obey their husbands. Every
one who read it exclaimed: "To be sure, a man is master in his own
house!" However, the silly decree served its purpose. It revealed his
true character to the subjects of Ahasuerus, and thenceforward they
attached little importance to his edicts. This was the reason why the
decree of annihilation directed against the Jews failed of the effect
expected by Haman and Ahasuerus. The people regarded it as but another
of the king's foolish pranks, and therefore were ready to acquiesce in
the revocation of the edict when it came. (51)
The king's true character appeared when he grew sober after the episode
with Vashti. Learning that he had had her executed, he burst out
furiously against his seven counsellors, and in turn ordered them to
death. (52)
Foolish, too, is the only word to describe the manner in which he set
about discovering the most beautiful woman in his dominion. King David
on a similar occasion wisely sent out messengers who were to bring to
him the most beautiful maiden in the land, and there was none who was
not eager to enjoy the honor of giving a daughter of his to the king.
Ahasuerus's method was to have his servants gather together a multitude
of beautiful maidens and women from all parts, and among them he
proposed to make choice. The result of this system was that the women
concealed themselves to avoid being taken into the harem of the king,
when it was not certain that they would be found worthy of becoming his
queen. (53)
With his stupidity Ahasuerus combined wantonness. He ordered force to
be used in taking the maidens from their parents and the wives from
their husbands, and then he confined them in his harem. (54) On the
other hand, the moral sense of the heathen was so degraded that many
maidens displayed their charms to public view, so that they might be
sure to attract the admiring attention of the royal emissaries.
As for Esther, for four years Mordecai kept her concealed in a chamber,
so that the king's scouts could not discover her. But her beauty had
long been known to fame, and when they returned to Shushan, they had to
confess to the king, that the most superbly beautiful woman in the land
eluded their search. Thereupon Ahasuerus issued a decree ordaining the
death penalty for the woman who should secrete herself before his
emissaries. There was nothing left for Mordecai to do but fetch Esther
from her hiding-place, and immediately she was espied and carried to
the palace of the king. (55)
MORDECAI
The descent of Mordecai and of his niece Esther is disposed of in a few
words in the Scripture. But he could trace it all the way back to the
Patriarch Jacob, from whom he was forty-five degrees removed. (56)
Beside the father of Mordecai, the only ancestor of his who is
mentioned by name is Shimei, and he is mentioned for a specific reason.
This Shimei is none other then the notorious son of Gera, the rebel who
had so scoffed and mocked at David fleeing before Absalom that he would
have been killed by Abishai, if David had not generously interfered in
his favor. David's prophetic eye discerned in Shimei the ancestor of
Israel's savior in the time of Ahasuerus. For this reason he dealt
leniently with him, and on his death-bed he bade his son Solomon
reserve vengeance until Shimei should have reached old age and could
beget no more children. Thus Mordecai deserves both appellations, the
Benjamite and the Judean, for he owed his existence not only to his
actual Benjamite forebears on his father's side, but also to the Judean
David, who kept his ancestor Shimei alive. (57)
Shimei's distinction as the ancestor of Israel's redeemer was due to
the merits of his wife. When Jonathan and Ahimaaz, David's spies in his
war against his son, fled before the myrmidons of Absalom, they found
the gate of Shimei's house open. Entering, they concealed themselves in
the well. That they escaped detection was due to the ruse of Shimei's
pious wife. She quickly transformed the well into a lady's chamber.
When Absalom's men came and looked about, they desisted from searching
the place, because they reasoned, that men as saintly as Jonathan and
Ahimaaz would not have taken refuge in the private apartment of a
woman. God determined, that for having rescued two pious men He would
reward her with two pious descendants, who should in turn avert the
ruin of Israel. (58)
On his mother's side, Mordecai was, in very deed, a member of the tribe
of Judah. (59) In any event, he was a son of Judah in the true sense of
the word; he publicly acknowledged himself a Jew, and he refused to
touch of the forbidden food which Ahasuerus set before his guest at his
banquet. (60)
His other appellatives likewise point to his piety and his
excellencies. His name Mordecai, for instance, consists of Mor, meaning
"myrrh," and Decai, "pure," for he was as refined and noble as pure
myrrh. Again, he is called Ben Jair, because he "illumined the eyes of
Israel"; and Ben Kish, because when he knocked at the gates of the
Divine mercy, they were opened unto him, which is likewise the origin
of his name Ben Shimei, for he was heard by God when he offered up
prayer. (61) Still another of Mordecai's epithets was Bilshan, "master
of languages." Being a member of the great Sanhedrin he understood all
the seventy languages spoken in the world. (62) More than that, he knew
the language of the deaf mutes. It once happened that no new grain
could be obtained at Passover time. A deaf mute came and pointed with
one hand to the roof and with the other to the cottage. Mordecai
understood that these signs meant a locality by the name of
Gagot-Zerifim, Cottage-Roofs, and, lo, new grain was found there for
the 'Omer offering. On another occasion a deaf mute pointed with one
hand to his eye and with the other to the staple of the bolt on the
door. Mordecai understood that he meant a place called En-Soker, "dry
well," for eye and spring are the same word, En, in Aramaic, and Sikra
also has a double meaning, staple and exhaustion. (63)
Mordecai belonged to the highest aristocracy of Jerusalem, he was of
royal blood, and he was deported to Babylonian together with King
Jeconiah, by Nebuchadnezzar, who at that time exiled only the great of
the land. (64) Later he returned to Palestine, but remained only for a
time. He preferred to live in the Diaspora, and watch over the
education of Esther. When Cyrus and Darius captured Babylon, Mordecai,
Daniel, and the Jewish community of the conquered city accompanied King
Cyrus to Shushan, where Mordecai established his academy. (65)
ESTHER'S BEAUTY AND PIETY
The birth of Esther caused the death of her mother. Her father had died
a little while before, so she was entirely orphaned. Mordecai and his
wife interested themselves in the poor babe. His wife became her nurse,
and he himself did not hesitate, when there was need for it, to do
services for the child that are usually performed only by women. (66)
Both her names, Esther as well as Hadassah, are descriptive of her
virtues. Hadassah, or Myrtle, she is called, because her good deeds
spread her fame abroad, as the sweet fragrance of the myrtle pervades
the air in which it grows. In general, the myrtle is symbolic of the
pious, because, as the myrtle is ever green, summer and winter alike,
so the saints never suffer dishonor, either in this world or in the
world to come. In another way Esther resembled the myrtle, which, in
spite of its pleasant scent, has a bitter taste. Esther was pleasant to
the Jews, but bitterness itself to Haman and all who belonged to him.
The name Esther is equally significant. In Hebrew it means "she who
conceals," a fitting name for the niece of Mordecai, the woman who well
knew how to guard a secret, and long hid her descent and faith from the
king and the court. She herself had been kept concealed for years in
the house of her uncle, withdrawn from the searching eyes of the king's
spies. Above all she was the hidden light that suddenly shone upon
Israel in his rayless darkness.
In build, Esther was neither tall nor short, she was exactly of average
height, another reason for calling her Myrtle, a plant which likewise
is neither large nor small. In point of fact, Esther was not a beauty
in the real sense of the word. The beholder was bewitched by her grace
and her charm, and that in spite of her somewhat sallow, myrtle-like
complexion. (67) More than this, her enchanting grace was not the grace
of youth, for she was seventy-five years old when she came to court,
and captivated the hearts of all who saw her, from king to eunuch. This
was in fulfilment of the prophecy which God made to Abraham when he was
leaving the home of his father: "Thou art leaving the house of thy
father at the age of seventy-five. As thou livest, the deliverer of thy
children in Media also shall be seventy-five years old."
Another historical event pointed forward to Esther's achievement. When
the Jews, after the destruction of Jerusalem, broke out into the wail,
"We are orphans and fatherless," God said: "in very sooth, the redeemer
whom I shall send unto you in Media shall also be an orphan fatherless
and motherless." (68)
Ahasuerus put Esther between two groups of beauties, Median beauties to
right of her, and Persian beauties to left of her. Yet Esther's
comeliness outshone them all. (69) Not even Joseph could vie with the
Jewish queen in grace. Grace was suspended above him, but Esther was
fairly laden down with it. (70) Whoever saw her, pronounced her the
ideal of beauty of his nation. The general exclamation was: "This one
is worthy of being queen." (71) In vain Ahasuerus had sought a wife for
four years, in vain fathers had spent time and money bringing their
daughters to him, in the hope that one or the other would appeal to his
fancy. None among the maidens, none among the women, pleased Ahasuerus.
But scarcely had he set eyes upon Esther when he thrilled with the
feeling, that he had at last found what he had long yearned for. (72)
All these years the portrait of Vashti had hung in his chamber. He had
not forgotten his rejected queen. But once he beheld Esther, Vashti's
picture was replaced by hers. (73) Maiden grace and womanly charm were
in her united. (74)
The change in her worldly position wrought no change in Esther's ways
and manners. As she retained her beauty until old age, so the queen
remained as pure in mind and soul as ever the simple maiden had been.
All the other women who entered the gates of the royal palace made
exaggerated demands, Esther's demeanor continued modest and unassuming.
The others insisted that the seven girl pages assigned to them should
have certain peculiar qualities, as, that they should not differ, each
from her mistress, in complexion and height. Esther uttered no wish
whatsoever.
But her unpretending ways were far from pleasing to Hegai, chief of the
eunuchs of the harem. He feared lest the king discover that Esther did
nothing to preserve her beauty, and would put the blame for it upon
him, an accusation that might bring him to the gallows. To avoid such a
fate, he loaded Esther down with resplendent jewels, distinguishing her
beyond all the other women gathered in the palace, as Joseph, by means
of costly gifts lavished upon him, had singled out her ancestor
Benjamin from among his brethren.
Hegai paid particular attention to what Esther ate. For her he brought
dishes from the royal table, which, however, she refused obstinately to
ouch. Only such things passed her lips as were permitted to Jews. She
lived entirely on vegetable food, as Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah had
aforetimes done at the court of Nebuchadnezzar. (75) The forbidden
tidbits she passed over to the non-Jewish servants. (76) Her personal
attendants were seven Jewish maidens as consistently pious as herself,
whose devotion to the ritual law Esther could depend upon.
Otherwise Esther was cut off from all intercourse with Jews, and she
was in danger of forgetting when the Sabbath bath came around. She
therefore adopted the device of giving her seven attendants peculiar
names, to keep her in mind of the passage of time. The first one was
called Hulta, "Workaday," and she was in attendance upon Esther on
Sundays. On Mondays, she was served by Rok`ita, to remind her of
Rek`ia, "the Firmament," which was created on the second day of the
world. Tuesday's maid was called Genunita, "Garden," the third day of
creation having produced the world of plants. On Wednesday, she was
reminded by Nehorita's name, "the Luminous," that it was the day on
which God had made the great luminaries, to shed their light in the
sky; on Thursday by Ruhshita, "Movement," for on the fifth day the
first animated beings were created; on Friday, the day on which the
beasts came into being, by Hurfita, "little Ewelamb"; and on the
Sabbath her bidding was done by Rego`ita, "Rest." Thus she was sure to
remember the Sabbath day week after week. (77)
Mordecai's daily visits to the gate of the palace had a similar
purpose. Thus Esther was afforded the opportunity of obtaining
instruction from him on all ritual doubts that might assail her. (78)
This lively interest displayed by Mordecai in Esther's physical and
spiritual welfare is not wholly attributable to an uncle's and
guardian's solicitude in behalf of an orphaned niece. A much closer
bond, the bond between husband and wife, united them, for when Esther
had grown to maidenhood, Mordecai had espoused her. (79) Naturally,
Esther would have been ready to defend her conjugal honor with her
life. She would gladly have suffered death at the hands of the king's
bailiffs rather than yield herself to a man not her husband. Luckily,
there was no need for this sacrifice, for her marriage with Ahasuerus
was but a feigned union. God has sent down a female spirit in the guise
of Esther to take her place with the king. Esther herself never lived
with Ahasuerus as his wife. (80)
At the advice of her uncle, Esther kept her descent and her faith a
secret. Mordecai's injunction was dictated by several motives. First of
all it was his modesty that suggested secrecy. He thought the king, if
he heard from Esther that she had been raised by him, might offer to
install him in some high office. In point of fact, Mordecai was right
in his conjecture; Ahasuerus had pledged himself to make lords,
princes, and kings of Esther's friends and kinspeople, if she would but
name them.
Another reason for keeping Esther's Jewish affiliations a secret was
Mordecai's apprehension, that the fate of Vashti overtake Esther, too.
If such were in store for her, he desired at least to guard against the
Jews' becoming her fellowsuffers. Besides, Mordecai knew only too well
the inimical feelings entertained by the heathen toward the Jews, ever
since their exile from the Holy Land, and he feared that the
Jew-haters, to gratify their hostility against the Jews, might bring
about the ruin of Esther and her house. (81)
Mindful of the perils to which Esther was exposed, Mordecai allowed no
day to pass without assuring himself of her well-being. His
compensation therefore came from God: "Thou makest the well-being of a
single soul they intimate concern. As thou livest, the well-being and
good of thy whole nation Israel shall be entrusted to thee as thy
task." (82) And to reward him for his modesty, God said: "Thou
withdrawest thyself from greatness; as thou livest, I will honor thee
more than all men on earth." (83)
Vain were the efforts made by Ahasuerus to draw her secret from Esther.
He arranged great festivities for the purpose, but she guarded it well.
She had an answer ready for his most insistent questions: "I know
neither my people nor my family, for I lost my parents in my earliest
infancy." But as the king desired greatly to show himself gracious to
the nation to which the queen belonged, he released all the peoples
under his dominion from the payment of taxes and imposts. In this way,
he thought, her nation was bound to be benefited. (84)
When the king saw that kindness and generosity left her untouched, he
sought to wrest the secret from her by threats. Once when she parried
his inquiries in the customary way, saying, "I am an orphan, and God,
the Father of the fatherless, in His mercy, has brought me up," he
retorted: I shall gather virgins together the second time." His purpose
was to provoke the jealousy of Esther, "for a woman is jealous of
nothing so much as a rival."
When Mordecai noticed that women were being brought to court anew, he
was overcome with anxiety for his niece. Thinking that the fate of
Vashti might have befallen her, he was impelled to make inquires about
her. (85)
As for Esther herself, she was but following the example of her race.
She could keep silent in all modesty, as Rachel, the mother of
Benjamin, had kept a modest silence when her father gave her sister
Leah to Jacob for wife instead of herself, and as Saul the Benjamite
was modestly reserved when, questioned by his uncle, he told about the
finding of his she-asses, but nothing about his elevation to the
kingship. Rachel and Saul were recompensed for their self-abnegation by
being given a descendant like Esther. (86)
THE CONSPIRACY
Once the following conversation took place between Ahasuerus and
Esther. The king asked Esther: "Whose daughter art thou?"
Esther: "And whose son art thou?"
Ahasuerus: "I am a king, and the son of a king."
Esther: "And I am a queen, the daughter of kings, a descendant of the
royal family of Saul. If thou art, indeed, a real prince, how couldst
thou put Vashti to death?"
Ahasuerus: "It was not to gratify my own wish, but at the advice of the
great princes of Persia and Media."
Esther: "Thy predecessors took no advice from ordinary intelligences;
they were guided by prophetical counsel. Arioch brought Daniel to
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and Belshazzar, too, summoned Daniel
before him."
Ahasuerus: "Is there aught left of those toothsome morsels? Are there
still prophets abroad?
Esther: "Seek and thou wilt find." (87)
The result was that Mordecai was given the position at court once
occupied by the chamberlains Bigthan and Teresh. Indignant that a place
once filled by senators should be given to a barbarian, the ousted
officials resolved to be revenged upon the king and take his life.
Their purpose was to administer poison, which seemed easy of
accomplishment, as they were the royal butlers, and could find many
occasions to drop poison into a cup of water before handing it to the
king. The plan successfully carried out would have satisfied their
vengeful feelings, not only as to the king, but as to Mordecai as well.
It would have made it appear that the death of Ahasuerus was
attributable to the circumstance, that he had entrusted his person to
the care of the Jew, as his life had been secure under Bigthan and
Teresh. They discussed their plans in the presence of Mordecai, acting
upon the unwarranted assumption, that he would not understand the
language they spoke, the Tarsian, their native tongue. They were
ignorant of the fact, that Mordecai was a member of the Sanhedrin, and
as such knew all the seventy languages of the world. Thus their own
tongue betrayed them to ruin.
However, Mordecai had no need to make use of his great knowledge of
languages; he obtained his information about the plot of the two
chamberlains through prophetical channels. Accordingly, he appeared one
night in the palace. By a miracle the guards at the gates had not seen
him, and he could enter unrestrained. Thus he overheard the
conversation between the two conspirators.
Mordecai had more than a single reason for preventing the death of
Ahasuerus. In the first place, he desired to secure the king's
friendship for the Jews, and more especially his permission for the
rebuilding of the Temple. Then he feared, if the king were murdered
immediately after his rise to a high place in the state, the heathen
would assign as the cause of the disaster his connection with the Jews
his marriage with Esther and the appointment of Mordecai to office.
Esther's confidence in Mordecai's piety was so great that she
unhesitatingly gave credence to the message she received from him
concerning the mischievous plot hatched against the king. She believed
that God would execute the wishes of Mordecai. Albeit Bigthan and
Teresh had no plans of the sort attributed to them by her uncle, they
would conceive then now in order to make Mordecai's words true. That
Esther's confidence was justified appeared at once. The conspirators
got wind of their betrayal to the king, and in good time they removed
the poison they had already placed in Ahasuerus's cup. But that the lie
might not be given to Mordecai, God caused poison to appear where none
had been, and the conspirators were convicted of their crime. (88) The
king had the water analyzed which he was given to drink, and it was
made manifest that it contained poison. (89) Other evidence besides
existed against the two plotters. It was established that both had at
the same time busied themselves about the person of the king, though
the regulations of the palace assigned definite hours of service to the
one different from those assigned to the other. This made it clear that
they intended to perpetrate a dark deed in common. (90)
The two conspirators sought to escape the legitimate punishment for
their dastardly deed by ending their own life. But their intention was
frustrated, and they were nailed to the cross. (91)
HAMAN THE JEW-BAITER
The conspiracy of Bigthan and Teresh determined the king never again to
have two chamberlains guard his person. Henceforward he would entrust
his safety to a single individual, and he appointed Haman to the place.
This was an act of ingratitude toward Mordecai, who, as the king's
savior, had the most cogent claims upon the post. (92) But Haman
possessed one important advantage, he was the owner of great wealth.
With the exception of Korah he was the richest man that had ever lived,
for he had appropriated to himself the treasures of the Judean kings
and of the Temple. (93)
Ahasuerus had an additional reason for distinguishing Haman. He was
well aware of Mordecai's ardent desire to see the Temple restored, and
he instinctively felt he could not deny the wish of the man who had
snatched him from untimely death. Yet he was not prepared to grant it.
To escape from the dilemma he endeavored to make Haman act as a
counterpoise against Mordecai, that "what the one built up, the other
might pull down." (94)
Ahasuerus had long been acquainted with Haman's feeling against the
Jews. When the quarrel about the rebuilding of the Temple broke out
between the Jews and their heathen adversaries, and the sons of Haman
denounced the Jews before Ahasuerus, the two parties at odds agreed to
send each a representative to the king, to advocate his case. Mordecai
was appointed the Jewish delegate, and no more rabid Jew-hater could be
found than Haman, to plead the cause of the antagonists of the Temple
builders. (95)
As for his character, that, too, King Ahasuerus had had occasion to see
in its true light, because Haman is but another name for Memucan, the
prince who is chargeable in the last resort with the death of Vashti.
At the time of the king's wrath against the queen, Memucan was still
lowest in the rank among the seven princes of Persia, yet, arrogant as
he was, he was the first to speak up when the king put his question
about the punishment due to Vashti an illustration of the popular
adage: "The common man rushes to the front." (96) Haman's hostility
toward Vashti dated from her banquet, to which the queen had failed to
bid his wife as guest. Moreover, she had once insulted him by striking
him a blow in the face. Besides, Haman calculated, if only Vashti's
repudiation could be brought about, he might succeed in marrying his
own daughter to the king. (97) He was not the only disappointed man at
court. In part the conspiracy of Bigthan and Teresh was a measure of
revenge against Ahasuerus for having made choice of Esther instead of a
kinswoman of theirs. (98)
Esther once married to the king, however, Haman made the best of a bad
bargain. He tried by every means in his power to win the friendship of
the queen. Whether she was Jewess or heathen, he desired to claim
kinship with her as a Jewess through the fraternal bond between Esau
and Jacob, as a heathen easily enough, "for all the heathen area akin
to one another." (99)
MORDECAI'S PRIDE
When Ahasuerus raised Haman to his high office, he at the same time
issued the order, that all who saw him were to prostrate themselves
before him and pay him Divine honors. To make it manifest that the
homage due to him had an idolatrous character, Haman had the image of
an idol fastened to his clothes, so that whoever bowed down before him,
worshipped an idol at the same time. (100) Mordecai alone of all at
court refused to obey the royal order. The highest officials, even the
most exalted judges, showed Haman the reverence bidden by the king. The
Jews themselves entreated Mordecai not to call forth the fury of Haman,
and cause the ruin of Israel thereby. Mordecai, however, remained
steadfast; no persuasions could move him to pay to a mortal the tribute
due to Divinity. (101)
Also the servants of the king who sat at the gate of the royal palace
said to Mordecai: "Wherein art thou better than we, that we should pay
reverence to Haman and prostrate ourselves, and thou doest naught of
all commanded us in the matter?" Mordecai answered, saying "O ye fools
without understanding! Hear ye my words and make meet reply thereunto.
Who is man that he should act proudly and arrogantly man born of
woman and few in days? At his birth there is weeping and travailing, in
his youth pain and groans, all his days are 'full of trouble,' and in
the end he returns unto dust. Before such an one I should prostrate
myself? I bend the knee before God alone, the only living One in
heaven, He who is the fire consuming all other fires; who holds the
earth in His arms; who stretches out the heavens in His might; who
darkens the sun when it pleases Him, and illumines the darkness; who
commanded the sand to set bounds unto the seas; who made the waters of
the sea salt, and caused its waves to spread an aroma as of wine; who
chained the sea as with manacles, and held it fast in the depths of the
abyss that it might not overflow the land; it rages, yet it cannot pass
its limits. With His word He created the firmament, which He stretched
out like a cloud in the air; He cast it over the world like a dark
vault, like a tent it is spread over the earth. In His strength He
upholds all there is above and below. The sun, the moon, and the
Pleiades run before Him, the stars and the planets are not idle for a
single moment; they rest not, they speed before Him as His messengers,
going to the right and to the left, to do the will of Him who created
them. To Him praise is due, before Him we must prostrate ourselves."
The court officials spake and said: "Yet we know well that thy ancestor
Jacob prostrated himself before Haman's ancestor Esau!"
Whereunto Mordecai made reply: "I am a descendant of Benjamin, who was
not yet born when his father Jacob and his brothers cast themselves
upon the earth before Esau. My ancestor never showed such honor to a
mortal. Therefore was Benjamin's allotment of land in Palestine
privileged to contain the Temple. The spot whereon Israel and all the
peoples of the earth prostrated themselves before God belonged to him
who had never prostrated himself before mortal man. Therefore I will
not bend my knee before this sinner Haman, nor cast myself to earth
before him." (102)
Haman at first tried to propitiate Mordecai by a show of modesty. As
though he had not noticed the behavior of Mordecai, he approached him,
and saluted him with the words: "Peace be with thee, my lord!" But
Mordecai bluntly replied: "There is no peace, saith my God, to the
wicked." (103)
The hatred of Mordecai cherished by Haman was due to more than the
hereditary enmity between the descendants of Saul and Agag. (104) Not
even Mordecai's public refusal to pay the homage due to Haman suffices
to explain its virulence. Mordecai was aware of a certain incident in
the past of Haman. If he had divulged it, the betrayal would have been
most painful to the latter. This accounts for the intensity of his
feeling.
It once happened that a city in India rebelled against Ahasuerus. In
great haste troops were dispatched thither under the command of
Mordecai and Haman. It was estimated that the campaign would require
three years, and all preparations were made accordingly. By the end of
the first year Haman had squandered the provisions laid in to supply
the part of the army commanded by him, for the whole term of the
campaign. Greatly embarrassed, he requested Mordecai to give him aid.
Mordecai, however, refused him succor; they both had been granted the
same amount of provisions for an equal number of men. Haman then
offered to borrow from Mordecai and pay him interest. This, too,
Mordecai refused to do, and for two reasons. If Mordecai had supplied
Haman's men with provisions, his own would have to suffer, and as for
interest, the law prohibits it, saying "Unto thy brother thou shalt not
lend upon usury," and Jacob and Esau, the respective ancestors of
Mordecai and Haman, had been brothers.
When starvation stared them in the face, the troops commanded by Haman
threatened him with death unless he gave them their rations. Haman
again resorted to Mordecai, and promised to pay him as much as ten per
cent interest. The Jewish general continued to refuse the offer. But he
professed himself willing to help him out of his embarrassment on one
condition, that Haman sell himself to Mordecai as his slave. Driven
into a corner, he acquiesced, and the contract was written upon
Mordecai's knee-cap, because there was no paper to be found in the
camp.
The bill of sale ran thus: "I, Haman, the son of Hammedatha of the
family of Agag, was sent out by King Ahasuerus to make war upon an
Indian city, with an army of sixty thousand soldiers, furnished with
the necessary provisions. Precisely the same commission was given by
the king to Mordecai, the son of Shimei of the tribe of Benjamin. But I
squandered the provisions entrusted to me by the king, so that I had no
rations to give to my troops. I desired to borrow from Mordecai on
interest, but, having regard to the fact that Jacob and Esau were
brothers, he refused to lend me upon usury, and I was forced to sell
myself as slave to him. If, now, I should at any time decline to serve
him as a slave, or deny that I am his slave, or if my children and
children's children unto the end of all time should refuse to do him
service, if only a single day of the week; or if I should act
inimically toward him on account of this contract, as Esau did toward
Jacob after selling him his birthright; in all these cases, a beam of
wood is to be plucked out of the house of the recalcitrant, and he is
to be hanged upon it. I, Haman, the son of Hammedatha of the family of
Agag, being under no restraint, do hereby consent with my own will, and
bind myself to be slave in perpetuity to Mordecai, in accordance with
the contents of this document."
Later, when Haman attained to high rank in the state, Mordecai,
whenever he met him, was in the habit of stretching out his knee toward
him, so that he might see the bill of sale. This so enraged him against
Mordecai and against the Jews that he resolved to extirpate the Jewish
people. (105)
CASTING THE LOTS
Haman's hatred, first directed against Mordecai alone, grew apace until
it included Mordecai's colleagues, all the scholars, whom he sought to
destroy, and not satisfied with even this, he plotted the annihilation
of the whole of Mordecai's people, the Jews. (106)
Before beginning to lay out his plans, he desired to determine the most
favorable moment for his undertaking, which he did by casting lots.
First of all he wanted to decide on the day of the week. The scribe
Shimshai began to cast lots. Sunday appeared inappropriate, being the
day on which God created heaven and earth, whose continuance depends on
Israel's existence. Were it not for God's covenant with Israel, there
would be neither day nor night, neither heaven nor earth. Monday showed
itself equally unpropitious for Haman's devices, for it was the day on
which God effected the separation between the celestial and the
terrestrial waters, symbolic of the separation between Israel and the
heathen. Tuesday, the day on which the vegetable world was created,
refused to give its aid in bringing about the ruin of Israel, who
worships God with branches of palm trees. Wednesday, too, protested
against the annihilation of Israel, saying: "On me the celestial
luminaries were created, and like unto them Israel is appointed to
illumine the whole world. First destroy me, and then Thou mayest
destroy Israel." Thursday said: "O Lord, on me the birds were created,
which are used for sin offerings. When Israel shall be no more, who
will bring offerings? First destroy me, and then Thou mayest destroy
Israel." Friday was unfavorable to Haman's lots, because it was the day
of the creation of man, and the Lord God said to Israel, "Ye are men."
Least of all was the Sabbath day inclined to make itself subservient to
Haman's wicked plans. It said: "The Sabbath is a sign between Israel
and God. First destroy me, and then Thou mayest destroy Israel!" (107)
Baffled, Haman gave up all idea of settling upon a favorable day of the
week. He applied himself to the task of searching out the suitable
month for his sinister undertaking. As it appeared to him, Adar was the
only one of the twelve owning naught that might be interpreted in favor
of the Jews. The rest of them seemed to be enlisted on their side. In
Nisan Israel was redeemed from Egypt; in Iyar Amlek was overcome; In
Siwan the Ethiopian Zerah was smitten in the war with Asa; in Tammuz
the Amorite kings were subjugated; in Ab the Jews won a victory over
Arad, the Canaanite; in Tishri the Jewish kingdom was firmly
established by the dedication of Solomon's Temple, while in Heshwan the
building of the Temple at Jerusalem was completed; Kislew and Tebet
were the months during which Sihon and Og were conquered by the
Israelites, and in Shebat occurred the sanguinary campaign of the
eleven tribes against the godless children of Benjamin. Not alone was
Adar a month without favorable significance in Jewish history, but
actually a month of misfortune, the month in which Moses died. What
Haman did not know was, that Adar was the month in which occurred also
the birth of Moses. (108)
Then Haman investigated the twelve signs of the zodiac in relation to
Israel, and again it appeared that Adar was the most unfavorable month
for the Jews. The first constellation, the Ram, said to Haman, "'Israel
is a scattered sheep,' and how canst thou expect a father to offer his
son for slaughter?"
The Bull said: "Israel's ancestor was 'the firstling bullock.'"
The Twins: "As we are twins, so Tamar bore twins to Judah."
The Crab: "As I am called Saratan, the scratcher, so it is said of
Israel, 'All that oppress him, he shall scratch sorely.'"
The Lion: "God is called the lion, and is it likely the lion will
permit the fox to bite his children?"
The Virgin: "As I am a virgin, so Israel is compared unto a virgin."
The Balance: "Israel obeys the law against unjust balances in the
Torah, and must therefore be protected by the Balance."
The Scorpion: "Israel is like unto me, for he, too, is called
scorpion."
The Archer: "The sons of Judah are masters of the bow, and the bows of
mighty men directed against them will be broken."
The Goat: "It was a goat that brought blessing unto Jacob, the ancestor
of Israel, and it stands to reason that the blessing of the ancestor
cannot cause misfortune to the descendant."
The Water-bearer: "His dominion is likened unto a bucket, and therefore
the Water-bearer cannot but bring him good." (109)
The Fishes were the only constellation which, at least according to
Haman's interpretation, made unfavorable prognostications as to the
fate of the Jews. It said that the Jews would be swallowed like fishes.
God however spake: "O thou villain! Fishes are sometimes swallowed, but
sometimes they swallow, and thou shalt be swallowed by the swallowers."
(110) And when Haman began to cast lots, God said: "O thou villain, son
of a villain! What thy lots have shown thee is thine own lot, that thou
wilt be hanged." (111)
THE DENUNCIATION OF THE JEWS
His resolve to ruin the Jews taken, Haman appeared before Ahasuerus
with his accusation against them. "There is a certain people," he said,
"the Jews, scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the
provinces of the kingdom. They are proud and presumptuous. In Tebet, in
the depth of winter, they bathe in warm water, and they sit in cold
water in summer. Their religion is diverse from the religion of every
other people, and their laws from the laws of every other land. To our
laws they pay no heed, our religion finds no favor with them, and the
decrees of the king they do not execute. When their eye falls upon us,
they spit out before us, and they consider us as unclean vessels. When
we levy them for the king's service, they either jump upon the wall,
and hide within the chambers, or they break through the walls and
escape. If we hasten to arrest them, they turn upon us, glare at us
with their eyes, grind their teeth, stamp their feet, and so intimidate
us that we cannot hold them fast. They do not give us their daughters
unto wives, nor do they take our daughters unto wives. If one of them
has to do the king's service, he idles all the day long. If they want
to buy aught of us, they say, 'This is a day for doing business.' But
if we want to buy aught of them, they say, 'We may do no business
to-day,' and thus we can buy nothing from them on their market-days.
"Their time they pass in this wise: The first hour of the day, they
say, they need for reciting the Shema; the second for praying; the
third for eating; the fourth for saying grace, to give thanks to God
for the food and drink He has granted them; the fifth hour they devote
to their business affairs; in the sixth they already feel the need of
rest; in the seventh their wives call for them, saying, 'come home, ye
weary ones, who are so exhausted by the king's service!'
"The seventh day they celebrate as their Sabbath; they go to the
synagogues on that day, read out of their books, translate pieces from
their Prophets, curse our king, and execrate our government, saying:
'This is the day whereon the great God rested; so may He grant us rest
from the heathen.'
"The women pollute the waters with their ritual baths, which they take
after the seven days of their defilement. On the eighth day after the
birth of sons, they circumcise them mercilessly, saying, 'This shall
distinguish us from all other nations.' At the end of thirty days, and
sometimes twenty-nine, they celebrate the beginning of the month. In
the month of Nisan they observe eight days of Passover, beginning the
celebration by kindling a fire of brushwood to burn up the leaven. They
put all the leaven in their homes out of sight before they use the
unleavened bread, saying, 'This is the day whereon our fathers were
redeemed from Egypt.' Such is the festival they call Pesah. They go to
their synagogues, read out of their books, and translate from the
writings of the Prophets, saying: 'As the leaven has been removed out
of our houses, so may this wicked dominion be removed from over us.'
"Again, in Siwan, they celebrate two days, on which they go to their
synagogues, recite the Shema, and offer up prayers, read out of the
Torah, and translate from the books of their Prophets, curse our king,
and execrate our government. This is the holiday which they call
Azarta, the closing festival. They ascend to the roofs of their
synagogues, and throw down apples, which are picked up by those below,
with the words, 'As these apples are gathered up, so may we be gathered
together from our dispersion among the heathen.' They say they observe
this festival, because on these days the Torah was revealed to their
ancestors on Mount Sinai.
"On the first of Tishri they celebrate the New Year again they go to
their synagogues, read out of their books, translate pieces from the
writings of their Prophets, curse our king, execrate our government,
and blow the trumpets, saying: 'On this Day of Memorial may we be
remembered unto good, and our enemies unto evil.'
"On the ninth day of the same month they slaughter cattle, geese, and
poultry, they eat and drink and indulge in dainties, they and their
wives, their sons and their daughters. But the tenth day of the same
month they call the Great Fast, and all of them fast, they together
with their wives, their sons, and their daughters, yea, they even
torture their little children without mercy, forcing them to abstain
from food. They say: 'On this day our sins are pardoned, and are added
to the sum of the sins committed by our enemies.' They go to their
synagogues, read from their books, translate from the writings of their
Prophets, curse our king, and execrate our government, saying: 'May
this empire be wiped off from the face of the earth like unto our
sins.' They supplicate and pray that the king may die, and his rule be
made to cease.
"On the fifteenth of the same month they celebrate the Feast of
Tabernacles. They cover the roofs of their houses with foliage, they
resort to our parks, where they cut down palm branches for their festal
wreaths, pluck the fruit of the Etrog, and cause havoc among the
willows of the brook, by breaking down the hedges in their quest after
Hosha'not, saying: 'As does the king in the triumphal procession, so do
we.' Then they repair to their synagogues to pray, and read out of
their books, and make circuits with their Hosha'not, all the while
jumping and skipping like goats, so that there is no telling whether
they curse us or bless us. This is Sukkot, as they call it, and while
it lasts, they do none of the king's service, for, they maintain, all
work is forbidden them on these days.
"In this way they waste the whole year with tomfoolery and
fiddle-faddle, only in order to avoid doing the king's service. At the
expiration of every period of fifty years they have a jubilee year, and
every seventh year is a year of release, during which the land lies
fallow, for they neither sow nor reap therein, and sell us neither
fruits nor other products of the field, so that those of us who live
among them die of hunger. At the end of every period of twelve months,
they observe the New Year, at the end of every thirty days the New
Moon, and every seventh day is the Sabbath, the day on which, as they
say, the Lord of the world rested." (112)
After Haman had finished his arraignment of the Jews, God said: "Thou
didst well enumerate the holidays of the Jews, yet thou didst omit the
two Purim and Shushan-Purim which the Jews will celebrate to
commemorate thy fall."
Clever though Haman's charge was, the vindication of the Jews was no
whit less clever. For they found a defender in the archangel Michael.
While Haman was delivering his indictment, he spoke thus to God: "O
Lord of the world! Thou knowest well that the Jews are not accused of
idolatry, nor of immoral conduct, nor of shedding blood; they are
accused only of observing Thy Torah." God pacified him: "As thou
livest, I have not abandoned them, I will not abandon them."
Haman's denunciations of the Jewish people found a ready echo in the
heart of the king. He replied: "I, too, desire the annihilation of the
Jews, but I fear their God, for He is mighty beyond compare, and He
loves His people with a great love. Whoever rises up against them, He
crushes under their feet. Just think of Pharaoh! Should his example not
be a warning to us? He ruled the whole world, yet, because he oppressed
the Jews, he was visited with frightful plagues. God delivered them
from the Egyptians, and cleft the sea for them, a miracle never done
for any other nation, and when Pharaoh pursued them with an army of six
hundred thousand warriors, he and his host together were drowned in the
sea. Thy ancestor Amalek, O Haman, attacked them with four hundred
thousand heroes, and all of them God delivered into the hands of
Joshua, who slew them. Sisera had forty thousand generals under him,
each one commander of a hundred thousand men, yet they all were
annihilated. The God of the Jews ordered the stars to consume the
warriors of Sisera, and then He caused the great general to fall into
the power of a woman, to become a by-word and a reproach forever. Many
and valorous rulers have risen up against them, they all were cast down
by their God and crushed unto their everlasting disgrace. Now, then,
can we venture aught against them?"
Haman, however, persisted. Day after day he urged the king to consent
to his plan. Ahasuerus thereupon called together a council of the wise
men of all nations and tongues. To them he submitted the question,
whether the Jews ought not to be destroyed, seeing they differed from
all other peoples. The sage councillors inquired: "Who is it that
desires to induce thee to take so fatal a step? If the Jewish nation is
destroyed, the world itself will cease to be, for the world exists only
for the sake of the Torah studied by Israel. Yea, the very sun and moon
shed their light only for the sake of Israel, and were it not for him,
there were neither day nor night, and neither dew nor rain would
moisten the earth. More than this, all other nations beside Israel are
designated as 'strangers' by God, but Israel He called in His love 'a
people near to Him,' and His 'children.' If men do not suffer their
children and kinsmen to be attacked with impunity, how much less will
God sit by quiet when Israel is assailed God the Ruler over all
things, over the powers in heaven above and on earth beneath, over the
spirits and the souls God with whom it lies to exalt and to degrade, to
slay and to revive."
Haman was ready with a reply to these words of the wise: "The God who
drowned Pharaoh in the sea, and who did all the wonders and signs ye
have recounted, that God is now in His dotage, He can neither see nor
protect. For did not Nebuchadnezzar destroy His house, burn His palace,
and scatter His people to all corners of the earth, and He was not able
to do one thing against it? If He had had power and strength, would he
not have displayed them? This is the best proof that He was waxed old
and feeble."
When the heathen sages heard these arguments advance by Haman, they
agreed to his plan, and put their signature to an edict decreeing the
persecution of the Jews. (113)
THE DECREE OF ANNIHILATION
This is the text of the decree which Haman issued to the heads of all
the nations regarding the annihilation of the Jews: "This herein is
written by me, the great officer of the king, his second in rank, the
first among the grandees, and one of the seven princes, and the most
distinguished among the nobles of the realm. I, in agreement with the
rulers of the provinces, the princes of the king, the chiefs and the
lords, the Eastern kings and the satraps, all being of the same
language, write you at the order of King Ahasuerus this writing sealed
with his signet, so that it may not be sent back, concerning the great
eagle Israel. The great eagle had stretched out his pinions over the
whole world; neither bird nor beast could withstand him. But there came
the great lion Nebuchadnezzar, and dealt the great eagle a stinging
blow. His pinions snapped, his feathers were plucked out, and his feet
were hacked off. The whole world has enjoyed rest, cheer, and
tranquillity since the moment the eagle was chased from his eyrie until
this day. Now we notice that he is using all efforts to secure wings.
He is permitting his feathers to grow, with the intention of covering
us and the whole world, as he did unto our forefathers. At the instance
of King Ahasuerus, all the magnates of the king of Media and Persia are
assembled, and we are writing you our joint advice, as follows: 'Set
snares for the eagle, and capture him before he renews his strength,
and soars back to his eyrie.' We advise you to tear out his plumage,
break his wings, give his flesh to the fowl of heaven, split the eggs
lying in his nest, and crush his young, so that his memorial may vanish
from the world. Our counsel is not like unto Pharaoh's; he sought to
destroy only the men of Israel; to the women he did no harm. It is not
like unto the plan of Esau, who wanted to slay his brother Jacob and
keep his children as slaves. It is not like unto the tactics of Amalek,
who pursued Israel and smote the hindmost and feeble, but left the
strong unscathed. It is not like unto the policy of Nebuchadnezzar, who
carried them away into exile, and settled them near his own throne. And
it is not like unto the way of Sennacherib, who assigned a land unto
the Jews as fair as their own had been. We, recognizing clearly what
the situation is, have resolved to slay the Jews, annihilate them,
young and old, so that their name and their memorial may be no more,
and their posterity may be cut off forever." (114)
The edict issued by Ahasuerus against the Jews ran thus: "To all the
peoples, nations, and races: Peace be with you! This is to acquaint you
that one came to us who is not of our nation and of our land, an
Amalekite, the son of great ancestors, and his name is Haman. He made a
trifling request of me, saying: 'Among us there dwells a people, the
most despicable of all, who are a stumbling-block in every time. They
are exceeding presumptuous, and they know our weakness and our
shortcomings. They curse the king in these words, which are constantly
in their mouths: "God is the King of the world forever and ever: He
will make the heathen to perish out of His land: He will execute
vengeance and punishments upon the peoples." From the beginning of all
time they have been ungrateful, as witness their behavior toward
Pharaoh. With kindness he received them, their wives, and their
children, at the time of a famine. He gave up to them the best of his
land. He provided them with food and all they needed. Then Pharaoh
desired to build a palace, and he requested the Jews to do it for him.
They began the work grudgingly, amid murmurings, and it is not
completed unto this day. In the midst of it, they approached Pharaoh
with these words: "We wish to offer sacrifices to our God in a place
that is a three days' journey from here, and we petition thee to lend
us silver and gold vessels, and clothes, and apparel." So much did they
borrow, that each one bore ninety ass-loads off with him, and Egypt was
emptied out. When, the three days having elapsed, they did not return,
Pharaoh pursued them in order to recover the stolen treasures. What did
the Jews? They had among them a man by the name of Moses, the son of
Amram, an arch-wizard, who had been bred in the house of Pharaoh. When
they reached the sea, this man raised his staff, and cleft the waters,
and led the Jews through them dryshod, while Pharaoh and his host were
drowned.
"'Their God helps them as long as they observe His law, so that none
can prevail against them. Balaam, the only prophet we heathens ever
had, they slew with the sword, as they did unto Sihon and Og, the
powerful kings of Canaan, whose land they took after killing them.
Likewise they brought ruin upon Amalek, the great and glorious ruler
they, and Saul their king, and Samuel their prophet. Later they had an
unmerciful king, David by name, who smote the Philistines, the
Ammonites, and the Moabites, and not one of them could discomfit him.
Solomon, the son of this king, being wise and sagacious, built them a
house of worship in Jerusalem, that they might not scatter to all parts
of the world. But after they had been guilty of many crimes against
their God, He delivered them into the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar, who
deported them to Babylonia.
"'To this day they are among us, and though they are under our hand, we
are of none account in their eyes. Their religion and their laws are
different from the religion and he laws of all the other nations. Their
sons do not marry with our daughters, our gods they do not worship,
they have no regard for our honor, and they refuse to bend the knee
before us. Calling themselves freemen, they will not do our service,
and our commands they heed not.'
"Therefore the grandees, the princes, and the satraps have been
assembled before us, we have taken counsel together, and we have
resolved an irrevocable resolution, according to the laws of the Medes
and Persians, to extirpate the Jews from among the inhabitants of the
earth. We have sent the edict to the hundred and twenty-seven provinces
of my empire, to slay them, their sons, their wives, and their little
children, on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar none is to
escape. As they did to our forefathers, and desired to do unto us, so
shall be done unto them, and their possessions are to be given over to
the spoilers. Thus shall ye do, that ye may find grace before me. This
is the writing of the letter which I send to you, Ahasuerus king of
Media and Persia." (115)
The price Haman offered the king for the Jews was ten thousand
hundredweights of silver. He took the number of the Jews at their
exodus from Egypt, six hundred thousand, as the basis of his
calculation, and offered a half-shekel for every soul of them, the sum
each Israelite had to pay yearly for the maintenance of the sanctuary.
Though the sum was so vast that Haman could not find coin enough to pay
it, but promised to deliver it in the form of silver bars, Ahasuerus
refused the ransom. When Haman made the offer, he said: "Let us cast
lots. If thou drawest Israel and I draw money, then the sale stands as
a valid transaction. If the reverse, it is not valid." Because of the
sins of the Jews, the sale was confirmed by the lots. But Haman was not
too greatly pleased with his own success. He disliked to give up so
large a sum of money. Observing his ill humor, Ahasuerus said: "Keep
the money; I do not care either to make or to lose money on account of
the Jews." (116)
For the Jews it was fortunate that the king did not accept money for
them, else his subjects would not have obeyed his second edict, the one
favorable to the Jews. They would have been able to advance the
argument, that the king, by accepting a sum of money for them, had
resigned his rights over the Jews in favor of Haman, who, therefore,
could deal with them as he pleased. (117)
The agreement between Ahasuerus and Haman was concluded at a carouse,
by way of punishment for the crime of the sons of Jacob, who had
unmercifully sold their brother Joseph into slavery to the Ishmaelites
while eating and drinking. (118)
The joy of this Jew-hating couple for Ahasuerus hated the Jews with
no less fierce a hatred than Haman did (119) was shared by none. The
capital city of Shushan was in mourning and sorely perplexed. Scarcely
had the edict of annihilation been promulgated against the Jews, when
all sorts of misfortunes began to happen in the city. Women who were
hanging up their wash to dry on the roofs of the houses dropped dead;
men who went to draw water fell into the wells, and lost their lives.
While Ahasuerus and Haman were making merry in the palace, the city was
thrown into consternation and mourning. (120)
SATAN INDICTS THE JEWS
The position of the Jews after the royal edict became known beggars
description. If a Jew ventured abroad on the street to make a purchase,
he was almost throttled by the Persians, who taunted him with these
words: "Never mind, to-morrow will soon be here, and then I shall kill
thee, and take thy money away from thee." If a Jew offered to sell
himself as a slave, he was rejected; not even the sacrifice of his
liberty could protect him against the loss of his life. (121)
Mordecai, however, did not despair; he trusted in the Divine help. On
his way from the court, after Haman and his ilk had informed him with
malicious joy of the king's pleasure concerning the Jews, he met Jewish
children coming from school. He asked the first child what verse from
the Scriptures he had studied in school that day, and the reply was:
"Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked
when it cometh." The verse committed to memory by the second was: "Let
them take counsel together, but it shall be brought to naught; let them
speak the word, but it shall not stand; for God is with us." And the
verse which the third had learnt was: "And even to old age I am He, and
even to hoar hairs I will carry you: I have made and will bear; yea, I
will carry and will deliver."
When Mordecai heard these verses, he broke out into jubilation,
astonishing Haman not a little. Mordecai told him, "I rejoice at the
good tidings announced to me by the school children." Haman thereupon
fell into such a rage that he exclaimed: "In sooth, they shall be the
first to feel the weight of my hand."
What gave Mordecai the greatest concern, was the certainty that the
danger had been invited by the Jews themselves, through their sinful
conduct in connection with the banquets given by Ahasuerus. Eighteen
thousand five hundred Jews had taken part in them; they had eaten and
drunk, intoxicated themselves and committed immoralities, as Haman had
foreseen, the very reason, indeed, he had advised the king to hold the
banquets.
Thereupon Satan had indicted the Jews. The accusations which he
produced against them were of such a nature that God at once ordered
writing materials to be brought to Him for the decree of annihilation,
and it was written and sealed.
When the Torah heard that Satan's designs against the Jews had
succeeded, she broke out into bitter weeping before God, and her
lamentations awakened the angels, who likewise began to wail, saying:
"If Israel is to be destroyed, of what avail is the whole world?"
The sun and the moon heard the lamentations of the angels, and they
donned their mourning garb and also wept bitterly and wailed, saying:
"Is Israel to be destroyed, Israel who wanders from town to town, and
from land to land, only for the sake of the study of the Torah; who
suffers grievously under the hand of the heathen, only because he
observes the Torah and the sign of the covenant?"
In great haste the prophet Elijah ran to the Patriarchs and to the
other prophets, and to the saints in Israel, and addressed these words
to them: "O ye fathers of the world! Angels, and the sun and the moon,
and heaven and earth, and all the celestial hosts are weeping bitterly.
The whole world is seized with throes as of a woman in travail, by
reason of your children, who have forfeited their life on account of
their sins, and ye sit quiet and tranquil." Thereupon Moses said to
Elijah: "Knowest thou any saints in the present generation of Israel?"
Elijah named Mordecai, and Moses sent the prophet to him, with the
charge that he, the "saint of the living generation," should unite his
prayers with the prayers of the saints among the dead, and perhaps the
doom might be averted from Israel. But Elijah hesitated. "O faithful
shepherd," he said, "the edict of annihilation issued by God is written
and sealed." Moses, however, did not desist; he urged the Patriarchs:
"If the edict is sealed with wax, your prayers will be heard; if with
blood, then all is vain."
Elijah hastened to Mordecai, who, when first he heard what God had
resolved upon, tore his garments and was possessed by a great fear,
though before he had confidently hoped that help would come form God.
He gathered together all the school children, and had them fast, so
that their hunger should drive them to moan and groan. Then it was that
Israel spoke to God: "O Lord of the world! When the heathen rage
against me, they do not desire my silver and gold, they desire only
that I should be exterminated from off the face of the earth. Such was
the design of Nebuchadnezzar when he wanted to compel Israel to worship
the idol. Had it not been for Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, I had
disappeared from the world. Now it is Haman who desires to uproot the
whole vine." (122)
Then Mordecai addressed all the people thus: "O people of Israel, that
art so dear and precious in the sight of thy Heavenly Father! Knowest
thou not what has happened? Hast thou not heard that the king and Haman
have resolved to remove us off the face of the earth, to destroy us
from beneath the sun? We have no king on whom we can depend, and no
prophet to intercede for us with prayers. There is no place whither we
can flee, no land wherein we can find safety. We are like sheep without
a shepherd, like a ship upon the sea without a pilot. We are like an
orphan born after the death of his father, and death robs him of his
mother, too, when he has scarce begun to draw nourishment from her
breast."
After this address a great prayer-meeting was called outside of
Shushan. The Ark containing the scroll of the law, covered with
sackcloth and strewn with ashes, was brought thither. The scroll was
unrolled, and the following verses read from it: "When thou art in
tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, in the latter
days thou shalt return to the Lord thy God, and hearken unto His voice,
for the Lord thy God is a merciful God: He will not fail thee, neither
destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of they fathers which He swore
unto them."
Thereunto Mordecai added words of admonition: "O people of Israel, thou
art dear and precious to thy Father in heaven, let us follow the
example of the inhabitants of Nineveh, doing as they did when the
prophet Jonah came to them to announce the destruction of the city. The
king arose from his throne, laid his crown from him, covered himself
with sackcloth, and sat in ashes, and he made proclamation, and
published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles,
saying, 'Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let
them not feed, nor drink water, but let them be covered with sackcloth,
both man and beast, and let them cry mightily unto God; yea, let them
turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in
their hands.' Then God repented Him of the evil He had designed to
bring upon them, and He did it not. Now, then, let us follow their
example, let us hold a fast, mayhap God will have mercy upon us." (123)
Furthermore spake Mordecai: "O Lord of the world! Didst Thou not swear
unto our fathers to make us as many as the stars in the heavens? And
now we are as sheep in the shambles. What has become of Thine oath?"
(124) He cried aloud, though he knew God hears the softest whisper, for
he said: "O Father of Israel, what hast Thou done unto me? One single
cry of anguish uttered by Esau Thou didst repay with the blessing of
his father Isaac, 'By thy sword shall thou live,' and now we ourselves
are abandoned to the mercy of the sword." (125) What Mordecai was not
aware of, was that he, the descendant of Jacob, was brought unto
weeping and wailing by Haman, the descendant of Esau, as a punishment,
because Jacob himself had brought Esau unto weeping and wailing. (126)
THE DREAM OF MORDECAI FULFILLED
Esther, who knew naught of what was happening at court, was greatly
alarmed when her attendants told her that Mordecai had appeared in the
precincts of the palace clothed in sackcloth and ashes. She was so
overcome by fright that she was deprived of the joys of motherhood to
which she had been looking forward with happy expectancy. (127) She
sent clothes to Mordecai, who, however, refused to lay aside his garb
of mourning until God permitted miracles to come to pass for Israel,
wherein he followed the example of such great men in Israel as Jacob,
David, and Ahab, and of the Gentile inhabitants of Nineveh at the time
of Jonah. By no means would he array himself in court attire so long as
his people was exposed to sure suffering. (128) The queen sent for
Daniel, called also Hathach in the Scriptures, and charged him to learn
from Mordecai wherefore he was mourning. (129)
To escape all danger from spying ears, Hathach and Mordecai had their
conversation in the open, like Jacob when he consulted with his wives
Leah and Rachel about leaving their father Laban. (130) By Hathach
Mordecai sent word to the queen, that Haman was an Amalekite, who like
his ancestor sought to destroy Israel. (131) He requested her to appear
before the king and plead for the Jews, reminding her at the same time
of a dream he had once had and told her about.
Once, when Mordecai had spent a long time weeping and lamenting over
the misery of the Jews in the Dispersion, and prayed fervently to God
to redeem Israel and rebuild the Temple, he fell asleep, and in his
sleep a dream visited him. He dreamed he was transported to a desert
place he had never seen before. Many nations lived there jumbled
together, only one small and despised nation kept apart at a short
distance. Suddenly a snake shot up from the midst of the nations,
rising higher and higher, and growing stronger and larger in proportion
as it rose. It darted in the direction of the spot in which they tiny
nation stood, and tried to project itself upon it. Impenetrable clouds
and darkness enveloped the little nation, and when the snake was on the
point of seizing it, a hurricane arose from the four corners of the
world, covering the snake as clothes cover a man, and blew it to bits.
The fragments scattered hither and thither like chaff before the wind,
until not a speck of the monster was to be found anywhere. Then the
cloud and the darkness vanished from above the little nation, the
splendor of the sun again enveloped it. (132)
This dream Mordecai recorded in a book, and when the storm began to
rage against the Jews, he thought of it, and demanded that Esther go to
the king as the advocate of her people. At first she did not feel
inclined to accede to the wishes of Mordecai. By her messenger she
recalled to his mind, that he himself had insisted upon her keeping her
Jewish descent a secret. (133) Besides, she had always tried to refrain
from appearing before the king at her own initiative, in order that she
might not be instrumental in bringing down sin upon her soul, for she
well remembered Mordecai's teaching, that "a Jewish woman, captive
among the heathen, who of her own accord goes to them, loses her
portion in the Jewish nation." She had been rejoicing that her
petitions had been granted, and the king had not come nigh unto her
this last month. Was she now voluntarily to present herself before him?
(134) Furthermore, she had her messenger inform Mordecai, that Haman
had introduced a new palace regulation. Any one who appeared before the
king without having been summoned by Haman, would suffer the death
penalty. Therefore, she could not, if she would, go to the king to
advocate the cause of the Jews. (135)
Esther urged her uncle to refrain from incensing Haman and furnishing
him with a pretext for wreaking the hatred of Esau to Jacob upon
Mordecai and his nation. Mordecai, however, was firmly convinced that
Esther was destined by God to save Israel. How could her miraculous
history be explained otherwise? At the very moment Esther was taken to
court, he had thought: "Is it conceivable that God would force so pious
a woman to wed with a heathen, were it not that she is appointed to
save Israel from menacing dangers?" (136)
Firm as Mordecai was in his determination to make Esther take a hand in
affairs, he yet did not find it a simple matter to communicate with
her. For Hathach was killed by Haman as soon as it was discovered that
he was acting as mediator between Mordecai and Esther. (137) There was
none to replace him, unto God dispatched the archangels Michael and
Gabriel to carry messages from one to the other and back again. (138)
Mordecai sent word to her, if she let the opportunity to help Israel
slip by, she would have to give account for the omission before the
heavenly court. (139) To Israel in distress, however, help would come
from other quarters. Never had God forsaken His people in time of need.
Moreover, he admonished her, that, as the descendant of Saul, it was
her duty to make reparation for her ancestor's sin in not having put
Agag to death. Had he done as he was bidden, the Jews would not now
have to fear the machinations of Haman, the offspring of Agag. He bade
her supplicate her Heavenly Father to deal with the present enemies of
Israel as He had dealt with his enemies in former ages. To give her
encouragement, Mordecai continued: "Is Haman so surpassing great that
his plan against the Jews must succeed? Dost though mean to say that he
is superior to his own ancestor Amalek, whom God crushed when he
precipitated himself upon Israel? Is he mightier than the thirty-one
kings who fought against Israel and whom Joshua slew 'with the word of
God'? Is he stronger than Sisera, who went out against Israel with nine
hundred iron chariots, and yet met his death at the hands of a mere
woman, the punishment for having withdrawn the use of the water-springs
from the Israelites and prevented their wives from taking the
prescribed ritual baths and thus from fulfilling their conjugal duty?
Is he more powerful than Goliath, who reviled the warriors of Israel,
and was slain by David? Or is he more invincible than the sons of
Orpah, who waged wars with Israel, and were killed by David and his
men? Therefore, do not refrain thy mouth from prayer, and thy lips from
supplication, for on account of the merits of our fathers, Israel has
ever and ever been snatched out of the jaws of death. He who has at all
times done wonders for Israel, will deliver the enemy into our hands
now, for us to do with him as seemeth best to us."
What he endeavored to impress upon Esther particularly, was that God
would bring help to Israel without her intermediation, but it was to
her interest to use the opportunity, for which alone she had reached
her exalted place, to make up for the transgressions committed by her
house, Saul and his descendants. (140)
Yielding at last to the arguments of Mordecai, Esther was prepared to
risk life in this world, in order to secure life in the world to come.
She made only one request of her uncle. He was to have the Jews spend
three days in prayer and fasting in her behalf, that she might find
favor in the eyes of the king. At first Mordecai was opposed to the
proclamation of a fast, because it was Passover time, and the law
prohibits fasting on the holidays. But he finally assented to Esther's
reasoning: "Of what avail are the holidays, if there is no Israel to
celebrate them, and without Israel, there would not be even a Torah.
Therefore it is advisable to transgress on law, that God may have mercy
upon us." (141)
THE PRAYER OF ESTHER
Accordingly Mordecai made arrangements for a fast and a prayer-meeting.
On the very day of the festival, he had himself ferried across the
water to the other side of Shushan, where all the Jews of the city
could observe the fast together. (142) It was important that the Jewish
residents of Shushan beyond all other Jews should do penance and seek
pardon from God, because they had committed the sin of partaking of
Ahasuerus's banquet. Twelve thousand priests marched in the procession,
trumpets in their right hands, and the holy scrolls of the law in their
left, weeping and mourning, and exclaiming against God: "Here is the
Torah Thou gavest us. Thy beloved people is about to be destroyed. When
that comes to pass, who will be left to read the Torah and make mention
of Thy name? The sun and the moon will refuse to shed their light
abroad, for they were created only for the sake of Israel." Then they
fell upon their faces, and said: "Answer us, our Father, answer us, our
King." The whole people joined in their cry, and the celestials wept
with them, and the Fathers came forth from their graves.
After a three days' fast, Esther arose from the earth and dust, and
made preparations to betake herself to the king. She arrayed herself in
a silken garment, embroidered with gold from Ophir and spangled with
diamonds and pearls sent her from Africa; a golden crown was on her
head, and on her feet shoes of gold.
After she had completed her attire, she pronounced the following
prayer: "Thou art the great God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
and the God of my father Benjamin. Not because I consider myself
without blemish, do I dare appear before the foolish king, but that the
people of Israel may not be cut off from the world. Is it not for the
sake of Israel alone that the whole world was created, and if Israel
should cease to exist, who will come and exclaim 'Holy, holy, holy'
thrice daily before Thee? As Thou didst save Hananiah, Mishael, and
Azariah out of the burning furnace, and Daniel out of the den of lions,
so save me out of the hand of this foolish king, and make me to appear
charming and graceful in his eyes. I entreat Thee to give ear to my
prayer in this time of exile and banishment from our land. By reason of
our sins the threatening words of the Holy Scriptures are accomplished
upon us: 'Ye shall sell yourselves unto your enemies for bondmen and
for bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.' The decree to kill us has
been issued. We are delivered up unto the sword for destruction, root
and branch. The children of Abraham covered themselves with sackcloth
and ashes, but though the elders sinned, what wrongs have the children
committed, and though the children committed wrongs, what have the
sucklings done? The nobles of Jerusalem came forth from their graves,
for their children were given up to the sword.
"How quickly have the days of our joy flown by! The wicked Haman has
surrendered us to our enemies for slaughter.
"I will recount before Thee the deeds of Thy friends, and with Abraham
will I begin. Thou didst try him with all temptations, yet didst Thou
find him faithful. O that Thou wouldst support his beloved children for
his sake, and aid them, so that Thou wouldst bear them as an
unbreakable seal upon Thy right hand. Call Haman to account for the
wrong he would do us, and be revenged upon the son of Hammedatha.
Demand requital of Haman and not of Thy people, for he sought to
annihilate us all at one stroke, he, the enemy and afflicter of Thy
people, whom he endeavors to hem in on all sides.
"With an eternal bond Thou didst bind us unto Thee. O that Thou wouldst
uphold us for the sake of Isaac, who was bound. Haman offered the king
ten thousand talents of silver for us. Raise Thou our voice, and answer
us, and bring us forth out of the narrow place into enlargement. Thou
who breakest the mightiest, crush Haman, so that he may never again
rise from his fall. I am ready to appear before the king, to entreat
grace for my inheritance. Send Thou an angel of compassion with me on
mine errand, and let grace and favor be my companions. May the
righteousness of Abraham go before me, the binding of Isaac raise me,
the charm of Jacob be put into my mouth, and the grace of Joseph upon
my tongue. Happy the man who putteth his trust in God; he is not
confounded. He will lend me His right hand and His left hand, with
which He created the whole world. Ye, all ye of Israel, pray for me as
I pray in your behalf. For whatsoever a man may ask of God in the time
of his distress, is granted unto him. Let us look upon the deeds of our
fathers and do like unto them, and He will answer our supplications.
The left hand of Abraham held Isaac by the throat, and his right hand
grasped the knife. He willingly did Thy bidding, nor did he delay to
execute Thy command. Heaven opened its windows to give space to the
angels, who cried bitterly, and said: 'Woe to the world, if this thing
should come to pass!' I also call upon Thee! O answer me, for Thou
givest ear unto all who are afflicted and oppressed. Thou art called
the Merciful and the Gracious; Thou art slow to anger and great in
lovingkindness and truth. Hear our voice and answer us, and lead us out
of distress into enlargement. For three days have I fasted in
accordance with the number of days Abraham journey to bind his son upon
the altar before Thee. Thou didst make a covenant with him, and didst
promise him: 'Whenever thy children shall be in distress, I will
remember the binding of Isaac favorably unto them, and deliver them out
of their troubles.' Again, I fasted three days corresponding to the
three classes Israel, priests, Levites, and Israelites, who stood at
the foot of Sinai, and said: 'All the Lord hath spoken will we do, and
be obedient.'"
Esther concluded her prayer and said: "O God, Lord of hosts! Thou that
searchest the heart and the reins, in this hour do Thou remember the
merits of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that my petition to Thee may not
be turned aside, nor my request be left unfulfilled.' (143)
ESTHER INTERCEDES
After finishing her prayer, Esther betook herself to the king,
accompanied by three attendants, one walking to the right of her, the
second on the other side, and the third bearing her train, heavy with
the precious stones with which it was studded. (144) Her chief
adornment was the holy spirit that was poured out over her. But
scarcely did she enter the chamber containing the idols, when the holy
spirit departed from her, and she cried out in great distress: "Eli,
Eli, lamah azabtani! Shall I be chastised for acts that I do against my
will, and only in obedience to the promptings of sore need? (145) Why
should my fate be different from that of the Mother? When Pharaoh only
attempted to approach Sarah, plagues came upon him and his house, but I
have been compelled for years to live with this heathen, and Thou dost
not deliver me out of his hand. O Lord of the world! Have I not paid
scrupulous heed to the three commands Thou didst specially ordain for
women?"
To reach the king, Esther had to pass through seven apartments, each
measuring ten ells in length. The first three she traversed unhindered;
they were too far off for the king to observe her progress through
them. But barely had she crossed the threshold of the fourth chamber,
when Ahasuerus caught sight of her, and, overcome by rage, he
exclaimed: "O for the departed, their like is not found again on earth!
How I urged and entreated Vashti to appear before me, but she refused,
and I had her killed therefor. This Esther come hither without
invitation, like unto a public prostitute."
In consternation and despair Esther stood rooted to the centre of the
fourth chamber. Having once allowed her to pass through the doors under
their charge, the guards of the first four rooms had forfeited their
authority over her; and to the guards in the other three rooms, she had
not yet given cause for interfering with her. Yet the courtiers were so
confident that Esther was about to suffer the death penalty, that the
sons of Haman were already busy dividing her jewels among themselves,
and casting lots for her royal purple. Esther herself was keenly aware
of her dangerous position. In her need, she besought God: "Eli, Eli,
lamah azabtani," and prayed to Him the words which have found their
place in the Psalter composed by King David. (146) Because she put her
confidence in God, He answered her petition, and sent her three angels
to help her: the one enveloped her countenance with "the threads of
grace," the second raised her head, and the third drew out the sceptre
of Ahasuerus until it touched her. (147) The king turned his head
round, to avoid seeing Esther, but the angels forced him to look her
way, and be conquered by her seductive charm. (148)
By reason of her long fast, Esther was so weak that she was unable to
extend her hand toward the sceptre of the king. The archangel Michael
had to draw her near it. Ahasuerus then said: "I see, thou must have a
most important request to prefer, else thou hadst not risked thy life
deliberately. (149) I am ready to give it thee, even to the half of the
kingdom. There is but one petition I cannot grant, and that is the
restoration of the Temple. I gave my oath to Geshem the Arabian,
Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the Ammonite, not to allow it to be
rebuilt, from fear of the Jews, lest they rise up against me." (150)
For the moment, Esther refrained from uttering her petition. All she
asked was, that the king and Haman would come to a banquet she proposed
to give. She had good reasons for this peculiar course of conduct. She
desired to disarm Haman's suspicions regarding her Jewish descent, and
to lead her fellow-Jews to fix their hope upon God and not upon her. At
the same time, it was her plan to arouse jealousy of Haman in both the
king and the princes. She was quite ready to sacrifice her own life, if
her stratagems would but involve the life of Haman, too. (151) At the
banquet she therefore favored Haman in such manner that Ahasuerus could
not but be jealous. She moved her chair close to Haman's, and when
Ahasuerus handed her his wine-cup, to let her drink of it first, she
passed it on to his minister.
After the banquet, the king repeated his question, and again made the
asseveration, that he would fulfill all her wishes at whatever cost,
barring only the restoration of the Temple. Esther, however, was not
yet ready; she preferred to wait another day before taking up the
conflict with Haman. She had before her eyes the example of Moses, who
also craved a day's preparation before going out against Amalek, the
ancestor of Haman. (152)
Deceived by the attention and distinction accorded him by Esther, Haman
felt secure in his position, priding himself not only on the love of
the king, but also on the respect of the queen. He felt himself to be
the most privileged being in all the wide realm governed by Ahasuerus.
(153)
Filled with arrogant self-sufficiency, he passed by Mordecai, who not
only refused to give him the honors decreed in his behalf, but,
besides, pointed to his knee, inscribed with the bill of sale whereby
Haman had become the slave of Mordecai. (154) Doubly and triply
enraged, he resolved to make an example of the Jew. But he was not
satisfied with inflicting death by a simple kick.
On reaching his home he was disappointed not to find his wife Zeresh,
the daughter of the Persian satrap Tattenai. As always when Haman was
at court, she had gone to her paramours. He sent for her and his three
hundred and sixty-five advisers, and with them he took counsel as to
what was to be done to Mordecai. (155) Pointing to a representation of
his treasure chamber, which he wore on his bosom, (156) he said: "And
all this is worthless in my sight when I look upon Mordecai, the Jew.
What I eat and drink loses its savor, if I but think of him." (157)
Among his advisers and sons, of whom there were two hundred and eight,
none was so clever as Zeresh his wife. She spoke thus: "If the man thou
tellest of is a Jew, thou wilt not be able to do aught to him except by
sagacity. If thou castest him into the fire, it will have no effect
upon him, for Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah escaped from the burning
furnace unhurt; Joseph went free from prison; Manasseh prayed to God,
and He heard him, and saved him from the iron furnace; to drive him out
in the wilderness is useless, thou knowest the desert did no evil to
the Israelites that passed through it; putting out his eyes avails
naught, for Samson blind did more mischief than ever Samson seeing.
Therefore hang him, for no Jew has ever escaped death by hanging."
(158)
Haman was well pleased with the words of his wife. She fetched
artificers in wood and iron, the former to erect the cross, the latter
to make the nails. Their children danced around in high glee while
Zeresh played upon the cithern, and Haman in his pleasurable excitement
said: "To the wood workers I shall give abundant pay, and the iron
workers I shall invite to a banquet."
When the cross was finished, Haman himself tested it, to see that all
was in working order. A heavenly voice was heard: "It is good for Haman
the villain, and for the son of Hammedatha it is fitting." (159)
THE DISTURBED NIGHT
The night during which Haman erected the cross for Mordecai was the
first night of Passover, the very night in which miracles without
number had ever been done for the Fathers and for Israel. But this time
the night of joy was changed into a night of mourning and a night of
fears. Wherever there were Jews, they passed the night in weeping and
lamenting. The greatest terrors it held for Mordecai, because his own
people accused him of having provoked their misfortunes by his haughty
behavior toward Haman. (160)
Excitement and consternation reigned in heaven as well as on earth.
(161) When Haman had satisfied himself that the cross intended for his
enemy was properly constructed, he repaired to the Bet ha-Midrash,
where he found Mordecai and all the Jewish school children, twenty-two
thousand in number, in tears and sorrow. He ordered them to be put in
chains, saying: "First I shall kill off these, and then I shall hang
Mordecai." The mothers hastened thither with bread and water, and
coaxed their children to take something before they had to encounter
death. The children, however, laid their hands upon their books, and
said: "As our teacher Mordecai liveth, we will neither eat nor drink,
but we will perish exhausted with fasting." They rolled up their sacred
scrolls, and handed them to their teachers with the words: "For our
devotion to the study of the Torah, we had hoped to be rewarded with
long life, according to the promised held out in the Holy Scriptures.
As we are not worthy thereof, remove the books!" The out-cries of the
children and of the teachers in the Bet ha-Midrash, and the weeping of
the mothers without, united with the supplications of the Fathers,
reached unto heaven in the third hour of the night, and God said: "I
hear the voice of tender lambs and sheep!" Moses arose and addressed
God thus: "Thou knowest well that the voices are not of lambs and
sheep, but of the young of Israel, who for three days have been fasting
and languishing in fetters, only to be slaughtered on the morrow to the
delight of the arch-enemy."
Then God felt compassion with Israel, for the sake of his innocent
little ones. He broke the seal with which the heavenly decree of
annihilation had been fastened, and the decree itself he tore in
pieces. (162) From this moment on Ahasuerus became restless, and sleep
was made to flee his eyes, for the purpose that the redemption of
Israel might be brought to pass. God sent down Michael, the leader of
the hosts of Israel, who was to keep sleep from the king, (163) and the
archangel Gabriel descended, and threw the king out of his bed on the
floor, no less than three hundred and sixty-five times, continually
whispering in his ear: "O thou ingrate, reward him who deserves to be
rewarded."
To account for his sleeplessness, Ahasuerus thought he might have been
poisoned, and he was about to order the execution of those charged with
the preparation of his food. But they succeeded in convincing him of
their innocence, by calling to his attention that Esther and Haman had
shared his evening meal with him, yet they felt no unpleasant effects.
(164) Then suspicions against his wife and his friend began to arise in
his mind. He accused them inwardly of having conspired together to put
him out of the way. He sought to banish this thought with the
reflection, that if a conspiracy had existed against him, his friends
would have warned him of it. But the reflection brought others in its
train: Did he have any friends? Was it not possible that by leaving
valuable services unrewarded, he had forfeited the friendly feelings
toward him? (165) He therefore commanded that the chronicles of the
kings of Persia be read to him. He would compare his own acts with what
his predecessors had done, and try to find out whether he might count
upon friends. (166)
What was read to him, did not restore his tranquility of mind, for he
saw a poor man before him none other than the angel Michael who
called to him continually: "Haman wants to kill thee, and become king
in thy stead. Let this serve thee as proof that I am telling thee the
truth: Early in the morning he will appear before thee and request
permission of thee to kill him who saved thy life. And when thou
inquirest of him what honor should be done to him whom the king
delighteth to honor, he will ask to be given the apparel, the crown,
and the horse of the king as signs of distinction." (167)
Ahasuerus's excitement was soothed only when the passage in the
chronicles was reached describing the loyalty of Mordecai. Had the
wishes of the reader been consulted, Ahasuerus had never heard this
entry, for it was a son of Haman who was filling the office of reader,
and he was desirous of passing the incident over in silence. But a
miracle occurred the words were heard though they were not uttered!
The names of Mordecai and Israel had a quieting influence upon the
king, and he dropped asleep. He dreamed that Haman, sword in hand, was
approaching him with evil intent, and when, early in the morning, Haman
suddenly, without being announced, entered the antechamber and awakened
the king, Ahasuerus was persuaded of the truth of his dream. The king
was still further set against Haman by the reply he gave to the
question, how honor was to be shown to the man whom the king delighteth
to honor. Believing himself to be the object of the king's good-will,
he advised Ahasuerus to have his favorite arrayed in the king's
coronation garments, and the crown royal put upon his head. Before him
one of the grandees of the kingdom was to run, doing herald's service,
proclaiming that whosoever did not prostrate himself and bow down
before him whom the king delighteth to honor, would have his head cut
off, and his house given over to pillage.
Haman was quick to notice that he had made a mistake, for he saw the
king's countenance change color at the mention of the word crown. He
therefore took good care not to refer to it again. In spite of this
precaution, Ahasuerus saw in the words of Haman a striking verification
of his vision, and he was confident that Haman cherished designs
against his life and his throne. (168)
THE FALL OF HAMAN
Haman was soon to find out that he had gone far afield in supposing
himself to be the man whom the king delighted to honor. The king's
command ran: "Hasten to the royal treasure chambers; fetch thence a
cover of find purple, a raiment of delicate silk, furnished forth with
golden bells and pomegranates and bestrewn with diamonds and pearls,
and the large golden crown which was brought me from Macedonia upon the
day I ascended the throne. Furthermore, fetch thence the sword and the
coat of mail sent me from Ethiopia, and the two veils embroidered with
pearls which were Africa's gift. Then repair to the royal stables, and
lead forth the black horse whereon I sat at my coronation. With all
these insignia of honor, seek out Mordecai!"
Haman: "Which Mordecai?"
Ahasuerus: "Mordecai the Jew."
Haman: "There be many Jews named Mordecai."
Ahasuerus: "The Jew Mordecai who sits at the king's gate."
Haman: "There be many royal gates; I know not which thou meanest."
Ahasuerus: "The gate that leads from the harem to the palace."
Haman: "This man is my enemy and the enemy of my house. Rather would I
give him ten thousand talents of silver than do him this honor."
Ahasuerus: "Ten thousand talents of silver shall be given him, and he
shall be made lord over thy house, but these honors must thou show unto
him."
Haman: "I have ten sons. I would rather have them run before his horse
than do him this honor."
Ahasuerus: "Thou, thy sons, and thy wife shall be slaves to Mordecai,
but these honors must thou show unto him."
Haman: "O my lord and king, Mordecai is a common man. Appoint him to be
ruler over a city, or, if thou wilt, even over a district, rather than
I should do him this honor."
Ahasuerus: "I will appoint him ruler over cities and districts. All the
kings on land and on water shall pay him obedience, but these honors
must thou show unto him."
Haman: "Rather have coins struck bearing thy name together with his,
instead of mine as hitherto, than I should do him this honor."
Ahasuerus: "The man who saved the life of the king deserves to have his
name put on the coin of the realm. Nevertheless, these honors must thou
show unto him."
Haman: "Edicts and writings have been issued to all parts of the
kingdom, commanding that the nation to which Mordecai belongs shall be
destroyed. Recall them rather than I should do him this honor."
Ahasuerus: "The edicts and writings shall be recalled, yet these honors
must thou show unto Mordecai."
Seeing that all petitions and entreaties were ineffectual, and
Ahasuerus insisted upon the execution of his order, Haman went to the
royal treasure chambers, walking with his head bowed like a mourner's,
his ears hanging down, his eyes dim, his mouth screwed up, his heart
hardened, his bowels cut in pieces, his loins weakened, and his knees
knocking against each other. (169) He gathered together the royal
insignia, and took them to Mordecai, accompanied on his way by Harbonah
and Abzur, who, at the order of the king, were to take heed whether
Haman carried out his wishes to the letter.
When Mordecai saw his enemy approach, he thought his last moment had
come. He urged his pupils to flee, that they might not "burn themselves
with his coals." But they refused, saying: "In life as in death we
desire to be with thee." The few moments left him, as he thought,
Mordecai spent in devotion. With words of prayer on his lips he desired
to pass away. Haman, therefore, had to address himself to the pupils of
Mordecai: "What was the last subject taught you by your teacher
Mordecai?" They told him they had been discussing the law of the `Omer,
the sacrifice brought on that very day so long as the Temple had stood.
At his request, they described some of the details of the ceremony in
the Temple connected with the offering. He exclaimed: "Happy are you
that your ten farthings, with which you bought the wheat for the `Omer,
produced a better effect than my ten thousand talents of silver, which
I offered unto the king for the destruction of the Jews."
Meantime Mordecai had finished his prayer. Haman stepped up to him, and
said: "Arise, thou pious son of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Thy
sackcloth and ashes availed more than my ten thousand talents of
silver, which I promised unto the king. They were not accepted, but thy
prayers were accepted by thy Father in heaven."
Mordecai, not yet disabused of the notion that Haman had come to take
him to the cross, requested the grace of a few minutes for his last
meal. Only Haman's repeated protests assured him. When Haman set about
arraying him with the royal apparel, Mordecai refused to put it on
until he had bathed, and had dressed his hair. Royal apparel agreed but
ill with his condition after three days of sackcloth and ashes. As luck
would have it, Esther had issued the command that the bathkeepers and
barbers were not to ply their trades on that day, and there was nothing
for Haman to do but perform the menial services Mordecai required.
Haman tried to play upon the feelings of Mordecai. Fetching a deep
sigh, he said: "The greatest in the king's realm is now acting as
bathkeeper and barber!" Mordecai, however, did not permit himself to be
imposed upon. He knew Haman's origin too well to be deceived; he
remembered his father, who had been bathkeeper and barber in a village.
Haman's humiliation was not yet complete. Mordecai, exhausted by his
three days' fast, was too weak to mount his horse unaided. Haman had to
serve him as footstool, and Mordecai took the opportunity to give him a
kick. Haman reminded him of the Scriptural verse: "Rejoice not when
thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he is
overthrown." Mordecai, however, refused to apply it to himself, for he
was chastising, not a personal enemy, but the enemy of his people, and
of such it is said in the Scriptures: "And thou shalt tread upon the
high places of thine enemies." (170)
Finally, Haman caused Mordecai to ride through the streets of the city,
and proclaimed before him: "Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the
king delighteth to honor." In front of them marched twenty-seven
thousand youths detailed for this service from the court. In their
right hands they bore golden cups, and golden beakers in their left
hands, and they, too, proclaimed: "Thus shall be done unto the man whom
the king delighteth to honor." The procession furthermore was swelled
by the presence of Jews. They, however, made a proclamation of
different tenor. "Thus shall be done," they cried out, "unto the man
whose honor is desired by the King that hath created heaven and earth."
(171)
As he rode along, Mordecai gave praise to God: "I will extol Thee, O
Lord; for Thou hast raised me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice
over me. O Lord my God, I cried unto Thee, and Thou hast healed me. O
Lord, Thou hast brought up my soul from Sheol; Thou hast kept me alive,
that I should not go down to the pit." Whereupon his pupils joined in
with: "Sing praise unto the Lord, O ye saints of His, and give thanks
to His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment; in His favor is
life; weeping may tarry for the night, but joy cometh in the morning."
Haman added the verse thereto: "As for me, I said in my prosperity, I
shall never be moved. Thou, Lord, of Thy favor hadst made my mountain
to stand strong. Thou didst hide Thy face; I was troubled." Queen
Esther continued: "I cried to Thee, O Lord; and unto the Lord I made
supplication. What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the
pit? Shall the dust praise Thee? Shall it declare Thy truth?" and the
whole concourse of Jews present cried out: "Thou hast turned for me my
mourning into dancing; Thou hast loosed my sackcloth, and girded me
with gladness, to the end that my glory may sing praise to Thee, and
not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto Thee forever."
(172)
When this procession passed the house of Haman, his daughter was
looking out of the window. She took the man on the horse to be her
father, and the leader of it, Mordecai. Raising a vessel filled with
offal, she emptied it out over the leader her own father. Scarce had
the vessel left her hand, when she realized the truth, and she threw
herself from the window, and lay crushed to death on the street below.
(173)
In spite of the sudden change in his fortunes, Mordecai ended the
eventful day as he had begun it, in prayer and fasting. No sooner was
the procession over than he put off the royal robes, and, again
covering himself with sackcloth, he prayed until night fell.
Haman was plunged in mourning, partly on account of the deep disgrace
to which he had been subjected, partly on account of the death of his
daughter. (174) Neither his wife nor his friends could advise him how
to mend his sad fortunes. They could hold out only sorry consolation to
him: "If this Mordecai is of the seed of the saints, thou wilt not be
able to prevail against him. Thou wilt surely encounter the same fate
as the kings in their battle with Abraham, and Abimelech in his quarrel
with Isaac. As Jacob was victorious over the angel with whom he
wrestled, and Moses and Aaron caused the drowning of Pharaoh and his
host, so Mordecai will overcome thee in the end." (175)
While they were yet talking, the king's chamberlains came, and hastily
carried Haman off to the banquet Esther had prepared, to prevent him
and his influential sons from plotting against the king. (176)
Ahasuerus repeated his promise, to give Esther whatever she desired,
always expecting the restoration of the Temple. This time, casting her
eyes heavenward, Esther replied: "If I have found favor in thy sight, O
Supreme King, and if it please Thee, O King of the world, let my life
be given me, and let my people be rescued out of the hands of its
enemy." (177) Ahasuerus, thinking these words were addressed to him,
asked in irritation: "Who is he, and where is he, this presumptuous
conspirator, who thought to do thus?" These were the first words the
king had ever spoken to Esther herself. Hitherto he had always
communicated with her through an interpreter. He had not been quite
satisfied she was worthy enough to be addressed by the king. Now made
cognizant of the fact that she was a Jewess, and of royal descent
besides, he spoke to her directly, without the intervention of others.
(178)
Esther stretched forth her hand to indicate the man who had sought to
take her life, as he had actually taken Vashti's, but in the excitement
of the moment, she pointed to the king. Fortunately the king did not
observe her error, because an angel guided her hand instantaneously in
the direction of Haman, (179) whom her words described: "This is the
adversary and the enemy, he who desired to murder thee in thy
sleeping-chamber during the night just passed; he who this very day
desired to array himself in the royal apparel, ride upon thy horse, and
wear they golden crown upon his head, to rise up against thee and
deprive thee of thy sovereignty. But God set his undertaking at naught,
and the honors he sought for himself, fell to the share of my uncle
Mordecai, who this oppressor and enemy thought to hang." (180)
The anger of the king already burnt so fiercely that he hinted to
Esther, that whether Haman was the adversary she had in mind or not,
she was to designate him as such. To infuriate him still more, God sent
ten angels in the guise of Haman's ten sons, to fell down the trees in
the royal park. When Ahasuerus turned his eyes toward the interior of
the park, he saw the ruthless destruction of which they were guilty. In
his rage he went out into the garden. This was the instant utilized by
Haman to implore grace for himself from Esther. Gabriel intervened, and
threw Haman upon the couch in a posture as though he were about to do
violence to the queen. At that moment Ahasuerus reappeared. Enraged
beyond description by what he saw, he cried out: "Haman attempts the
honor of the queen in my very presence! Come, then, ye peoples,
nations, and races, and pronounce judgment over him!" (181)
When Harbonah, originally a friend of Haman and an adversary of
Mordecai, heard the king's angry exclamation, he said to him: "Nor is
this the only crime committed by Haman against thee, for he was an
accomplice of the conspirators Bigthan and Teresh, and his enmity to
Mordecai dates back to the time when Mordecai uncovered their foul
plots. Out of revenge therefor, he has erected a cross for him."
Harbonah's words illustrate the saying: "Once the ox has been cast to
the ground, slaughtering knives can readily be found." Knowing that
Haman had fallen from his high estate, Harbonah was intent upon winning
the friendship of Mordecai. (182) Harbonah was altogether right, for
Ahasuerus at once ordered Haman to be hanged. Mordecai was charged with
the execution of the king's order, and Haman's tears and entreaties did
not in the least move him. He insisted upon hanging him like the
commonest of criminals, instead of executing him with the sword, the
mode of punishment applied to men of rank guilty of serious
misdemeanors. (183)
The cross which Haman, at the advice of his wife Zeresh and of his
friends, had erected for Mordecai, was now used for himself. It was
made of wood from a thorn-bush. God called all the trees together and
inquired which one would permit the cross for Haman to be made of it.
The fig-tree said: "I am ready to serve, for I am symbolic of Israel,
and, also, my fruits were brought to the Temple as firstfruits." The
vine said: "I am ready to serve, for I am symbolic of Israel and, also,
my wine is brought to the altar." The apple-tree said: "I am ready to
serve, for I am symbolic of Israel." The nut-tree said: "I am ready to
serve, for I am symbolic of Israel." The Etrog tree said: "I should
have the privilege, for with my fruit Israel praises God on Sukkot."
The willow of the brook said: "I desire to serve, for I am symbolic of
Israel." The cedar-tree said: "I desire to serve, for I am symbolic of
Israel." The palm-tree said: "I desire to serve, for I am symbolic of
Israel." Finally the thorn-bush came and said: "I am fitted to do this
service, for the ungodly are like pricking thorns." The offer of the
thorn-bush was accepted, after God gave a blessing to each of the other
trees for its willingness to serve.
A sufficiently long beam cut from a thorn-bush could be found only in
the house of Haman, which had to be demolished in order to obtain it.
(184) The cross was tall enough for Haman and his ten sons to be hanged
upon it. It was planted three cubits deep in the ground, each of the
victims required three cubits space in length, one cubit space was left
vacant between the feet of the one above and the head of the one below,
and the youngest son, Vaizatha, had his feet four cubits from the
ground as he hung. (185)
Haman and his ten sons remained suspended a long time, to the vexation
of those who considered it a violation of the Biblical prohibition in
Deuteronomy, not to leave a human body hanging upon a tree overnight.
Esther pointed to a precedent, the descendants of Saul, whom the
Gibeonites left hanging half a year, whereby the name of God was
sanctified, for whenever the pilgrims beheld them, they told the
heathen, that the men had been hanged because their father Saul had
laid hand on the Gibeonites. "How much more, then," continued Esther,
"are we justified in permitting Haman and his family to hang, they who
desired to destroy the house of Israel?" (186)
Beside these ten sons, who had been governors in various provinces,
Haman had twenty others, ten of whom died, and the other ten of whom
were reduced to beggary. (187) The vast fortune of which Haman died
possessed was divided in three parts. The first part was given to
Mordecai and Esther, the second to the students of the Torah, and the
third was applied to the restoration of the Temple. (188) Mordecai thus
became a wealthy man. He was also set up as king of the Jews. As such
he had coins struck, which bore the figure of Esther on the obverse,
and his own figure on the reverse. (189) However, in the measure in
which Mordecai gained in worldly power and consideration, he lost
spiritually, because the business connected with his high political
station left him no time for the study of the Torah. Previously he had
ranked sixth among the eminent scholars of Israel, he now dropped to
the seventh place among them. (190) Ahasuerus, on the other hand, was
the gainer by the change. As soon as Mordecai entered upon the office
of grand chancellor, he succeeded in subjecting to his sway the
provinces that had revolted on account of Vashti's execution. (191)
THE EDICT OF THE KING
The edict issued against the Jews was revoked by Ahasuerus in the
following terms:
"King Ahasuerus sends this letter to all the inhabitants of water and
earth, to all the rulers of districts, and to generals of the army, who
dwell in every country; may your peace be great! I write this to you to
inform you, that although I rule over many nations, over the
inhabitants of land and sea, yet I am not proud of my power, but will
rather walk in lowliness and meekness of spirit all my days, in order
to provide for you great peace. Unto all who dwell under my dominion,
unto all who seek to carry on business on land or on sea, unto all who
desire to export goods from one nation to the other, from one people to
the other unto them all, I am the same, from one end of the earth to
the other, and none may seek to cause excitement on land or on sea, or
enmities between one nation and another, between one people and
another. I write this, because in spite of our sincerity and honesty
with which we love all the nations, revere all the rulers, and do good
to all the potentates, there are nevertheless people who were near to
the king, and into whose hand the government was entrusted, who by
their intrigues and falsehoods misled the king, and wrote letters which
are not right before heaven, which are evil before men, and harmful for
the empire. This was the petition they requested from the king: that
righteous men should be killed, and most innocent blood be shed, of
those who have not done any evil, nor were guilty of death such
righteous people as Esther, celebrated for all virtues, and Mordecai,
wise in every branch of wisdom, there is no blemish to be found in them
nor in their nation. I thought that I was requested concerning another
nation, and did not know it was concerning the Jews, who were called
the Children of the Lord of All, who created heaven and earth, and who
led them and their fathers through great and mighty empires. And now as
he, Haman, the son of Hammedatha, from Judea, a descendant of Amalek,
who came to us and enjoyed much kindness, praise, and dignity from us,
whom we made great, and called 'father of the king,' and seated him at
the right of the king, did not know how to appreciate the dignity, and
how to conduct the affairs of state, but harbored thoughts to kill the
king and take away his kingdom, therefore we ordered the son of
Hammedatha to be hanged, and all that he desired we have brought upon
his head; and the Creator of heaven and earth brought his machinations
upon his head." (192)
As a memorial of the wonderful deliverance from the hands of Haman, the
Jews of Shushan celebrated the day their arch-enemy had appointed for
their extermination, and their example was followed by the Jews of the
other cities of the Persian empire, and by those of other countries.
Yet the sages, when besought by Esther, refused at first to make it a
festival for all times, lest the hatred of the heathen be excited
against the Jews. They yielded only after Esther had pointed out to
them that the events on which the holiday was based, were perpetuated
in the annals of the kings of Persia and Media, and thus the outside
world would not be able to misinterpret the joy of the Jews.
Esther addressed another petition to the sages. She begged that the
book containing her history should be incorporated in the Holy
Scriptures. Because they shrank from adding anything to the triple
Canon, consisting of the Torah, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa, they
again refused, and again they had to yield to Esther's argument. She
quoted the words from Exodus, "Write this for a memorial in a book,"
spoken by Moses to Joshua, after the battle of Rephidim with the
Amalekites. They saw that it was the will of God to immortalize the
warfare waged with the Amalekite Haman. Nor is the Book of Esther an
ordinary history. Without aid of the holy spirit, it could not have
been composed, and therefore its canonization resolved upon "below" was
endorsed "above." (193) And as the Book of Esther became an integral
and indestructible part of the Holy Scriptures, so the Feast of Purim
will be celebrated forever, now and in the future world, and Esther
herself by her pious deeds acquired a good name both in this world and
in the world to come. (194)
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