History of the Jews (Vol. 1-6). Graetz Heinrich

History of the Jews (Vol. 1-6) - Graetz Heinrich


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in speech and action. The speedy downfall of this sinful country, teeming with idolatry and immorality, seemed certain to the Judæans. They followed with intense interest the warlike progress of the hero Cyrus, because they foresaw that a conflict was imminent between the Medo-Persian empire and Babylonia. Cyrus had directed his weapons against the Lydian kingdom of Crœsus, who had made an offensive and defensive alliance with Nabonad of Babylonia, and Amasis, king of Egypt. Well aware that they, in turn, would be attacked, these monarchs tried to gain strength by alliance. But this served only to incite the Persian conqueror to destroy the sooner the independence of Babylonia. Did any of the Judæan favourites at the Babylonian court, or any of the converted heathens open secret negotiations with Cyrus? The kindness shown later on to the Judæans by the Persian warrior, and their persecution by Nabonad, lead to the supposition that such was the case.

      Nabonad's persecutions were first directed against the patriotic and pious exiles; severe punishments were decreed against them, which were cruelly put into execution. It seemed as if the staunchest of the nation were to be proved and tried, as Job had been, by suffering. Upon some, heavy labour was imposed, from which even the aged were not exempt. Others were shut up in dungeons, or were whipped, beaten, and insulted. Those who dared speak of their speedy deliverance through Cyrus were doomed to a martyr's death, to which they submitted fearlessly.

      A contemporary prophet, who witnessed the persecution, or, perhaps, was one of its victims, described it in harrowing words. Considering the sufferers as the wards of the people, he speaks of their terrible anguish as being that of the entire national body:

      "He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.... He was oppressed, although he was submissive, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. Through prison and through judicial punishment was he taken away." (Isaiah liii. 3, 7.)

      The suffering of the Judæans in Babylonia, at that time, closely resembled the persecution of their ancestors in Egypt. But there was this difference: in Egypt all Israelites alike were subjected to slavery and forced labour in the fields and on buildings, whilst in Babylonia the dungeon and death awaited those exiles only who refused to abjure their nationality and their religion. Psalm cii., composed at this time, pictures the sombre mood of one of these victims of persecution, relieved, however, by the hope of future deliverance. The Judæans who were threatened with imprisonment and torture followed the victories of Cyrus with anxious interest. Several prophets now appeared, who announced, to the consolation of the sufferers, the downfall of Babylon, and the speedy deliverance of the exiles. Two of them have left us prophecies that are unsurpassed; indeed, one of those writers manifested so boundless a wealth of eloquence and poetry, that his works rank among the most beautiful in literature. When Cyrus at length commenced the long-planned siege of Babylon, and the anxious expectations of the exiles had grown harrowing, this prophet, with his gift of glowing eloquence, uplifted and instructed his people.

      If the perfection of a work of art consists in the fact that the ideas and the language are in true harmony with each other, and that the latter makes the abstruse thought clear and intelligible, then the speech or series of speeches of this prophet, whom, in ignorance of his real name, we call the second, or the Babylonian Isaiah, form an oratorical work of art without a parallel. Here are combined richness of thought, beauty of form, persuasive power and touching softness, poetic fervour and true simplicity, and all this is expressed in such noble language and warm colouring that, although intended for the period only in which they were composed, they will be understood and appreciated in all time.

      The Babylonian Isaiah wished to comfort his suffering Judæan brethren, and, at the same time, to give them a high aim. The suffering Jewish tribe as well as all those who have minds to comprehend and hearts to feel, whatever their race and language may be, can find in this prophet the solution of a problem, the correctness of which history has proven. He showed how a nation can be small yet great, wretched and hunted to death yet immortal, at one and the same moment a despised slave and a noble exemplar. Who was this prophet, at once a great thinker and a great poet? He says not a word about himself, and there are no records of his life. The collectors of the prophetical writings, finding that in eloquence and sublimity his words resembled those of Isaiah, added them to the prophecies of the older seer, and included them in the same scroll.

      No one could console the sorrowing Judæan community with such sympathy, or encourage it with such ardour as the Prophet of the Captivity. His words are like balm upon a burning wound, or like a gentle breeze upon a fevered brow.

      "Comfort ye," he begins, "comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins." (Isaiah xl.)

      The exhausted and despairing community was described by this prophet as a wife and mother who had been rejected, and robbed of her children on account of her sins, but who still is dear to her husband as the beloved of his youth. This deserted one he calls "Jerusalem," the emblem of all that was tender to his soul. He exclaims to the forlorn mother:

      "Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury. Thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling and wrung them out.

      "There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth, neither is there any that taketh her by the hand, of all the sons that she has brought up.... O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires, and I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of precious stones, and all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children....

      "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you, and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem."

      But where is this consolation to be found? Not in the hope of vain, worldly glory, not in might and power, but in an all-embracing salvation. This prophet of the Captivity was the first who clearly grasped and demonstrated that a creed of general salvation was promised through Abraham to future generations. The past was to be forgotten and forgiven; a new social order was to spring up; heaven and earth were to be re-created. All people from all the ends of the earth would be included in this universal salvation, and every knee would bend and every tongue swear homage to the God adored by Israel. It was for this purpose that Abraham had been called from a distant land, and that his descendants had been chosen before their birth. God had created the people of Israel to be His servant among nations, His messenger to all people, His apostle from the beginning of the world.

      The prophet describes this apostolic people in poetry of such transcendental beauty that it becomes an ideal. And is there any mission sublimer than that of being the vanguard of the nations in the path of righteousness and salvation? Was Israel not to be proud of having been chosen for such a duty? The prophet goes on to say how this ideal nation was to realise its apostolic mission:

      "Behold my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him, he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench; he shall bring forth judgment into truth." (Isaiah xlii. 1–4.)

      The Law of God was thus to be universally acknowledged, and the messenger of God was to bring about this acknowledgment by his own example, in spite of scorn, contempt, and persecution. This, Israel's recognised mission, the prophet of the Captivity explained briefly, in words supposed to be spoken by the nation itself (Isaiah xlix. 1–6). He taught that martyrdom, bravely encountered and borne with gentle resignation, would ensure victory to the law of righteousness, which Israel, if true to its ideals, was to promulgate. The leading conception that runs through Isaiah's poetical monologue was thus expressed by the prophet in the short but effective verse:

      "For mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all peoples." (Isaiah lvi. 7.)

      The fall of the Babylonian empire, with its absurd and immoral idolatry, and the deliverance of the Judæan community were to be the first steps in this


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