Man lays his hand on the rock,
Upturns mountains by the roots,
Cuts passages in the rocks,
All precious things he sees,
Binds the streams that they flow not,
Hidden things he brings to light.
Upturns mountains by the roots,
Cuts passages in the rocks,
All precious things he sees,
Binds the streams that they flow not,
Hidden things he brings to light.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v18 - Mom to Old
Its unity is the unity
of an idea; the many attempts which have been made to discover in
it a unity of action have none of them gained general acceptance.
The gnomic literature of the Hebrews, contained mainly in the
books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes (but also in certain Psalms, as
the 27th and the 49th), has, by its nature, little of the poetic, except
the outward form; its balanced phrases present excellent examples
of Semitic parallelism. In some cases a longer description gathers
force by the accumulation of details; as in the well-known picture
of the good housewife (Prov. xxxi. 10–31), which is in the nature of
an ode to the housewife, as Ps. cxix. is an ode to the Law.
Ecclesiastes is written for the most part in prose, and has pass-
ages of great eloquence and beauty. The author counsels quiet ac-
ceptance of what God has given (iii. 11-15):—
HE HAS made everything beautiful in its time. He presents
the world to man, yet so that man, from beginning to end, can-
not find out what he has done. I thence conclude that there is
nothing better for them than to rejoice and taste of happiness.
while they live; for when one eats and drinks, and enjoys what
he has acquired by his labor, this is the gift of God. I know
that whatever God does shall be for ever. Nothing can be added
to it, nor anything taken from it. God so acts that men may
fear him. That which is, has already existed; that which is to
be, has already been; that which has passed away, God seeks in
order to give it existence again.
He warns against all excess (vii. 15-17):—
All this have I seen in the days of my vain life. The good
man perishes in spite of his goodness, and the bad man lives
long in spite of his badness. Be not too righteous, nor pretend
to be too wise, lest thou destroy thyself. Be not too wicked, nor
too foolish, lest thou die before thy time.
The description of old age and its slowly lessening powers (xii.
1-7) belongs to the best productions of Hebrew literature:
REMEMBER thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the
sad days come, and the years draw nigh when thou shalt say,
## p. 10808 (#688) ##########################################
10808
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
"I have no pleasure in them;" before the sun, the light, the
moon, and the stars, be darkened, and the clouds return after the
rain; when the house-guards tremble, the strong men bow, when
the maidens grinding corn cease because they are few, and those
who look out of the windows are darkened, and the street-doors
are shut; when the sound of the grinding is low; when one starts
up from sleep at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of
music are brought low, and one is afraid of what is high, and
terrors are in the way; when the almond-tree blossoms, the
grasshopper is a burden, and all stimulants fail; because man
goes to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
before the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken,
or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at
the cistern, and the dust return to the earth as it was, and the
spirit return to God who gave it.
The failure of light and the recurrence of rain (verses 1, 2) indicate
the growing gloom of old age. The decay of natural powers is repre-
sented (verses 3, 4) by the cessation of activity in a great house fall-
ing into ruin: arms (guards) and legs (strong men) lose their strength,
the teeth (maidens grinding) are few, the eyes grow dim (windows);
in a word, the avenues of the senses are closed (the doors are shut).
Then comes (verses 4, 5) a more literal description of bodily weak-
ness: the old man cannot sleep, music gives him no pleasure, he
walks about in fear and trembling, his hair turns white (almond-tree),
the smallest weight is burdensome, the appetite does not respond
to stimulants. Finally comes the end,- from the fountain of life no
water can be drawn. With this gloomy portraiture of old age we
may compare the cheerful picture given by Cicero. The object
of the preacher is to lead men to use aright the vigorous season of
youth.
THE APOCALYPSE
There remains to be mentioned the apocalypse, a species of com-
position which must be regarded as a creation of Hebrew thought.
Before the eye of a seer the history of generations or centuries is
unrolled in a series of visions, the culminating point of which is the
triumph of the people of Israel. It is the visional expression of that
unification of history which is given in simple narrative form in the
Hexateuch and suggested in the Prophets. Kingdoms rise and fall,
and all things move toward the divinely appointed goal, -the estab-
lishment of Israel in peace and prosperity. In the Book of Daniel
(the only elaborated apocalypse in the Old Testament) the kingdoms
set forth are the Babylonian, the Median, the Persian, and the Greek;
## p. 10809 (#689) ##########################################
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
10809
and the visions all end with the downfall of Antiochus Epiphanes
(see particularly Chapter xi. ). A majestic picture is presented in the
description of the judgment of the enemies of Israel, the "one like a
man" being explained in the context as meaning Faithful Israel (vii.
9-14):-
I BEHELD till thrones were placed, and one that was full of
years did sit: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his
head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames and its wheels
burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before
him; a thousand thousands ministered unto him and ten thousand
times ten thousand stood before him; the judgment was set and
the books were opened. I beheld at that time till, because of the
voice of the great words which the horn spake, the beast was
slain, and his body destroyed, and he was given to be burned
with fire. And as for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was
taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a
time. I saw in the night visions, and behold there came with the
clouds of heaven one like a man, and he came to the Ancient of
Days, and was brought into his presence. And to him was given
dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations,
and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting
dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that
shall not be destroyed.
The Hebrew power of narration is well illustrated in the scenes
described in Chapters ii. -vi.
THE APOCRYPHA
THE books which constitute the Old Testament were slowly gath-
ered by the Jews into a sacred canon, the discussions on which did
not cease until the Synod of Jamnia, held probably about A. D. 95.
Meantime the Jews had been producing other works, which, though
some of them were excellent in tone, were for various reasons not
thought worthy by the Palestinian rabbis to be accepted as sacred
scripture. In respect to some of these books the Alexandrian Jews
appear to have held a different opinion; some are included in the
Septuagint along with the canonical books, and it is to these that
the name Apocrypha properly belongs. The purpose of some of the
Alexandrian additions is obvious. Since, for example, the Hebrew
Book of Esther does not contain the name of God, or make any ref-
erence to religion, the Greek supplies this lack by adding visions and
## p. 10810 (#690) ##########################################
10810
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
prayers. In any case we have, in this Jewish Apocrypha, a very in-
teresting mass of literature, reflecting the religious and literary cul-
ture of the Jews in the two centuries preceding the beginning of our
era. In addition to the works constituting the Apocrypha proper
(that is, the extra-canonical or deuterocanonical books contained in
the Septuagint,) there are several others, of no less importance and
equally deserving of mention. Such, for example, are the Books of
Enoch and the Sibyllines. We need make no distinction between
the two classes, but may take them all together.
The first book of this sort in order of time is the work com-
monly called Ecclesiasticus, or the Wisdom of the Son of Sirach;
better called the Proverbs of Ben-Sira, or simply Ben-Sira. It was
composed about 190 B. C. in Hebrew, by Jesus (Joshua) ben-Sira;
translated into Greek by his grandson in Alexandria in 132 B. C. ; and
afterwards translated into Latin, Syriac, and Arabic. The book con-
sists for the most part of apophthegms which resemble those in our
Book of Proverbs. It contains also several extended poems of no little
beauty; among which may be cited those in Chapters i. and xxiv. ,
and the roll of the great men of Israel, Chapters xliv. -1. Its sayings
are marked by great worldly wisdom, and bear the impress of a man
who lived in a large city. In common with the other Wisdom books,
it shows the marks of Greek influence in its conception of wisdom
and of morality.
Nothing was known of the Hebrew original until the present year
(1897), when MSS. containing about ten chapters (xxxix. 15-xlix. 11),
came to Oxford, and the text has now been edited. The language
of the fragment does not differ in style from that of the canonical
Book of Proverbs; it is classical, but with a small admixture of
later words. This fact is of great literary interest, as helping to
the solution of the question how long classical Hebrew continued
to be used in books: it appears that it was employed certainly as
late as 190 B. C. ; the occurrence of some late words is of course
to be expected in this period. It further appears that the Versions,
while they in general render the Hebrew correctly, differ from it
in not a few instances. Several scholars had undertaken to repro-
duce the Hebrew from the Greek and the Syriac; it turns out that
they had not in a single case written the Hebrew of a verse as it
is given in this MS. , but have in many instances departed widely
from it, a fact which should teach us caution in attempting to re-
store Hebrew texts from ancient Greek, Syriac, Latin, and Ethiopic
translations. Another important point is settled by this text. It had
been contended (especially by Professor Margoliouth of Oxford) that
the poetical form of the Hebrew Ben-Sira was metrical, and that the
original could often be restored by the aid of the laws of metre.
The form, however, is distinctly not metrical; it is simply the old
## p. 10811 (#691) ##########################################
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
10811
Hebrew rhythm, such as appears in Psalms, Proverbs, and all the
poetical parts of the Old Testament. One leaf of the MS. was brought
by Mrs. Lewis from the East; the remainder was secured for the
Bodleian Library through Professor Sayce. The MS. contains vari-
ants, and must be subjected to critical sifting.
Not long after Ben-Sira came the apocalyptic Book of Enoch, which
now exists mainly in an Ethiopic translation. The apocalypse had
come to be a favorite form of literature among the Jews, and so con-
tinued for two hundred and fifty years. Amid depressing circum-
stances, it was pleasant to put into the mouth of some ancient seer a
prediction of future success and glory for the nation. In this case it
is the old patriarch Enoch who receives the revelation. The book is
composite, having been added to from time to time. The first section,
Chapters i. -xxxvi. (perhaps the oldest part of the book), describes the
fate of evil angels, and the abodes of good and bad men after death.
Next should come the section Chapters lxxxiii. -xc. , in which we
have the judgment of the world, ending with the victorious career
of Judas Maccabæus. In addition, the section Chapters xxxvii. -lxxi.
(partly a distinct work) describes further the Messianic judgment of
the world. Chapters lxxii. -lxxxii. contain a description of Enoch's
journey through the heavens,-a picture of the celestial physics of
the time. And finally, in the last section, Chapters xci. -civ. , the
problem of the fate of the righteous and the wicked is discussed in
a new form. The book in its present form has little literary interest,
but is valuable as giving a glimpse of the religious notions of the
time. The best English translation is that of R. H. Charles (1893).
Along with this may be mentioned a similar work entitled 'The
Secrets of Enoch,' translated from the Slavonic by W. R. Morfill,
and edited by Mr. Charles (1896); it is held by him to have been
composed about the beginning of our era.
Nearly contemporary with Enoch is the earliest part of the Sibyl-
line Oracles, a work written in Greek hexameters. The Jews, not to
be behind other nations of the time, would have their own Sibyl, who
should tell their national fortunes, and make manifest their national
greatness. The work, as we now have it, is a congeries of diverse
productions, the composition of which (partly by Jews, partly by
Christians) extends from the Maccabean period to the end of the
first Christian century. Though it has no literary value, it formerly
enjoyed extraordinary popularity, as the "teste David cum Sibylla" of
the 'Dies Iræ' indicates. Its predictions traverse the periods extend-
ing from the creation of the world down to the times of the various
authors. An excellent English metrical translation is that of M. S.
Terry (1890).
Other apocalypses may be briefly mentioned. The Assumption
(or Ascension) of Moses, written in the first quarter of the first
## p. 10812 (#692) ##########################################
10812
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
century of our era, puts into the mouth of Moses a prediction of
Jewish history, which comes on down, through the time of Antiochus
Epiphanes, to Herod the Great, and possibly even to a later period.
The period after the capture of Jerusalem by the Romans was pro-
lific in this species of writing. The Apocalypse of Baruch (the
scribe of Jeremiah) sketches the history down to the destruction of
the Second Temple. The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (pre-
dictions uttered by the twelve sons of Jacob), come down to about
the same time. To the end of the first century also belongs the
Fourth Book of Esdras, remarkable for its elaborate visions. Many
of these works are based on Jewish originals, with Christian addi-
tions.
The Jewish skill in story-telling is illustrated in the books of
Tobit and Judith. The former of these is a charming sketch of
family life in the second century B. C. The well-ordered households
of Tobit and Raguel, the ingenuous youth and maiden Tobias and
Sara, the affable angel Rafael, his disingenuousness and his business.
capacity, are drawn to the life. The Persian demon Asmodeus, and
the exorcism by the heart and liver of the fish, show how far the
Jews then practiced magic arts; and the golden rule (iv. 15) indicates
the advance of their ethical ideas. The historical data are thoroughly
confused. The Book of Judith, though somewhat inflated in style, is
dramatically powerful; in spite of its absurd historical framework,
and the dubious procedure of the heroine, the dénouement has a
heroic coloring. Both books furnished subjects to the older painters
and sculptors, and are entitled to our gratitude for having given us
Donatello's Judith and Botticelli's Tobias.
The historical literature is meagre. The only work which can
properly lay claim to the name "history" is the First Book of Mac-
cabees; which, written probably in the earlier part of the first cen-
tury B. C. , narrates the story of the Maccabean uprising, to the death
of Simon, the successor of Judas, B. C. 175-135. The style is simple
and effective, and the work is valuable as an authority for the times.
Second Maccabees is largely a collection of legendary matter relating
to the period 175-160 B. C. It contains (Chapters vi. and vii. ) two
famous descriptions of the constancy of Jewish martyrs.
The Third and Fourth Books of Maccabees, which are not con-
tained in our Greek Apocrypha, belong in the category not of history
but of romance. The Third Book deals with a great deliverance of
the Jews from the purposed revenge of Ptolemy IV. The Fourth
Book is a philosophical treatise on the supremacy of reason, the dis-
course being based on the story of Eleazar and the Seven Brothers,
in Second Maccabees, referred to above. The book is of interest as
giving an example of Jewish attempts to deal with Jewish beliefs in
the spirit of Stoicism. The historian Josephus, and the philosopher
## p. 10813 (#693) ##########################################
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
10813
Philo, may be mentioned here, but are entitled to independent treat
ment.
The Wisdom of Solomon appears to have been composed in the
first century B. C. , and to have been written in Greek. For elevation
of thought and beauty of style it deserves the first place among the
Apocryphal books, and high rank in the literature of the world. It
is the first Jewish work in which the belief in ethical immortality
appears; and this belief is for the author a complete solution of the
problem (hitherto unsolved) of the earthly sufferings of the righteous.
A student of Greek philosophy, his conception of wisdom and of the
Cosmos differs from earlier Jewish ideas in its distinctly Stoic form
his Wisdom approaches nearly the Logos of Philo. The following
extract (Chapter v. ) will exhibit his resemblances to and differences
from the older poetry and rhythmical prose:-
THE LAMENT OF THE WICKED
TH
HEN shall the righteous man take bold stand
Before those who afflict him and ignore his labors.
Seeing it, they shall be seized with terrible fear
And amazed at his unexpected deliverance.
Repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit,
They shall say to themselves:—
This was he whom we fools once had in derision,
As a proverb of reproach.
We accounted his life madness and his end without honor.
But he is numbered among the children of God,
And his lot is among the saints.
We have erred from the way of truth,
The light of righteousness has not shined upon us,
Nor the sun of righteousness risen upon us.
We have trod the paths of lawlessness and destruction,
We have traversed trackless deserts,
The way of the Lord we have not known.
What has pride profited us?
What good has riches with vaunting brought us?
All those things have passed like a shadow,
Like a post that hastes by,
Like a ship that passes over the tossing deep,
Of whose transit no trace can be found,
Nor the pathway of its keel in the waves;
## p. 10814 (#694) ##########################################
10814
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
Or as, when a bird has flown through the air,
No token of her way is to be found,
But the light air beaten with the stroke of her wings
And cleft by the violence of their motion
Is passed through, and no sign of its flight is found;
Or as, when an arrow is shot at a mark,
The parted air straightway comes together again,
So that one knows not its course:
So we as soon as born, began to fail;
Of virtue we had no sign to show,
But in our wickedness were consumed.
For the hope of the ungodly is like dust blown away by the wind,
Like froth driven by the storm, like smoke dispersed by the tempest,
And it passes as the remembrance of the guest of a day.
But the righteous live for evermore;
Their reward is with the Lord,
The care of them with the most High.
Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom
And a beautiful crown from the hand of the Lord.
For with his right hand he will cover them,
With his arm he will shield them.
He will take his zeal as panoply
And make the creation his weapon to ward off foes.
He will put on righteousness as breastplate,
And unfeigned justice as helmet;
He will take holiness as an invincible shield;
His piercing wrath he will sharpen for a sword,
And the world shall fight with him against the wicked.
Then shall the right-aiming thunderbolts speed;
From the clouds, as from a well-drawn bow, they shall fly to the
mark,
And wrathful hailstones shall be cast as out of a bow.
The sea shall rage against them,
The floods shall fiercely drown them.
A mighty wind shall withstand them,
Like a storm blow them away.
And so iniquity shall lay waste the whole earth,
And wrong-doing overthrow the thrones of the mighty.
As an illustration of the variety of style in the gnomic poetry,
we append three odes in praise of wisdom, taken from Job, Ben-Sira,
and Wisdom.
## p. 10815 (#695) ##########################################
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
10815
JOB XXVIII.
HERE is a mine for silver,
THE
And a place where gold is washed.
Iron is taken out of the dust,
And copper melted out of stone.
Man penetrates to the extremity of darkness,
Searches out the farthest bound,
The dark and gloomy rock,
Sinks a shaft under the abodes of men-
Forgotten, without foothold they hang,
Swinging out of human sight.
Out of the earth comes bread,
Its depths are upheaved as by fire,
In its stones are sapphires,
And in its dust is gold.
The path thereto no vulture knows,
Nor does eye of falcon see it;
Wild beasts tread it not,
The lion stalks not over it.
Man lays his hand on the rock,
Upturns mountains by the roots,
Cuts passages in the rocks,
All precious things he sees,
Binds the streams that they flow not,
Hidden things he brings to light.
But wisdom, where is it found,
And the place of understanding, where?
The way to it man knows not;
It is not in the land of the living.
Says the deep, it is not in me;
Says the sea, it is not with me.
It is not bought with gold,
Silver is not weighed as its price;
It is not estimated in gold of Ophir,
Or by precious onyx or sapphire;
Gold and glass do not equal it,
Nor is it to be exchanged for golden vessels;
Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned,
The price of wisdom is above pearls.
The topaz of Ethiopia does not equal it,
Its value is not reckoned in gold.
## p. 10816 (#696) ##########################################
10816
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
Wisdom, then, whence comes it?
Where is the place of understanding?
It is hid from the eyes of all living,
Concealed from the birds of heaven.
Abaddon and Death can but say:
We have heard of it with our ears.
God understands its way,
He alone knows its place.
He looked to the ends of the earth,
Under the whole heaven he saw,
Settled the weight of the wind,
Fixed the water by measure,
Made a law for the rain,
A path for the lightning of thunder,-
Then he saw it and declared it,
Established and searched it out,
And to man he said:
The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
And to depart from evil is understanding.
ECCLESIASTICUS XXIV.
ISDOM shall praise herself,
W Glory in the midst of her people,
[mouth
In the congregation of the Most High open her
And triumph before his power.
From the mouth of the Most High I came,
And covered the earth as a cloud.
In high places I dwelt,
My throne was in the pillar of cloud.
Alone I compassed the heaven,
Walked in the depth of the abyss.
In every people and nation I got a possession.
With all these did I seek rest.
In whose land should I abide?
Then the Creator of all things commanded,
My Maker set down my tent,
And said, Thy dwelling be in Jacob,
And thy domain in Israel!
Of old in the beginning he created me,
And I shall never fail.
Before him in the sacred tabernacle I ministered;
Thus was I established in Sion.
## p. 10817 (#697) ##########################################
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
10817
In the beloved city he placed me,
In Jerusalem was my authority.
I took root in an honored people,
In the portion of the Lord's possession.
Lofty I grew, like a cedar in Lebanon,
Like a cypress on the mountains of Hermon;
I was high like a palm-tree in Engaddi.
I resembled a rose-plant in Jericho,
A fair olive-tree in the field.
Like a plane-tree I grew up.
I was fragrant as cinnamon and aspalath,
Yielded an odor like myrrh,
Like galbanum and onyx and storax
And the fume of frankincense in the tabernacle.
Like the terebinth I stretched out my branches,
Branches of honor and grace.
Like the vine I put forth fair buds,
And my flowers were honor and riches.
Come unto me, all ye that desire me,
And sate yourselves with my fruits.
My memorial is sweeter than honey,
And mine inheritance than the honeycomb.
They that eat me shall yet be hungry,
They that drink me shall yet be thirsty.
He who obeys me shall never be put to shame,
They who work by me shall not do amiss.
All these things are the book of the covenant of God
the Most High,
The law which Moses commanded
As an heritage to the congregations of Jacob,
Filling all things with wisdom like Pison,
Like Tigris in the time of new fruits;
Making understanding abound like Euphrates,
Like Jordan in the time of harvest;
Bringing instruction to light like the Nile,
Like Geon in time of vintage.
The first man knew her not perfectly,
Nor shall the last find her out.
For her thoughts are vaster than the sea,
Her counsels profounder than the great Deep.
I came forth as a brook from a river,
As a conduit into a garden.
XVIII-677
## p. 10818 (#698) ##########################################
10818
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
I said, I will water my garden,
Abundantly water my bed.
And lo, my brook became a river,
And my river became a sea.
I will yet make wisdom shine as the dawn
And send forth her light afår off.
I will yet pour out wisdom as prophecy
And leave it to all ages forever.
Not for myself alone have I labored,
But for all them that seek wisdom.
WISDOM OF SOLOMON, VII. 22-29
ISDOM, the arch:
WIS In her is a spi
of all things, taught me.
intelligent, holy,
One, manifol sul ""
Lively, clear, u'
Lucid, unhape, right-loving, quick,
Unfetter 1, beneficent, philanthropic,
Steaufast, sure, free from care,
Having all power, overseeing all things,
Permeating all spirits,
All that are wise and pure and subtlest.
Wisdom, of all things, is freest in movement;
By her pureness she traverses and permeates all things;
She is the breath of the power of God,
Ꮧ,
A pure effluence from the glory of the Almighty;
With her no impure thing may mingle.
She is the brightness of the everlasting light,
The unspotted mirror of the power of God,
The image of his goodness.
Being but one, she yet can do all things;
Remaining in herself, she makes all things new:
In all ages entering into holy souls,
She makes them friends of God and prophets.
For God loves none but him who dwells with wisdom.
She is more beautiful than the sun,
Fairer than the host of stars;
Being compared with light, she is found to excel it.
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of an idea; the many attempts which have been made to discover in
it a unity of action have none of them gained general acceptance.
The gnomic literature of the Hebrews, contained mainly in the
books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes (but also in certain Psalms, as
the 27th and the 49th), has, by its nature, little of the poetic, except
the outward form; its balanced phrases present excellent examples
of Semitic parallelism. In some cases a longer description gathers
force by the accumulation of details; as in the well-known picture
of the good housewife (Prov. xxxi. 10–31), which is in the nature of
an ode to the housewife, as Ps. cxix. is an ode to the Law.
Ecclesiastes is written for the most part in prose, and has pass-
ages of great eloquence and beauty. The author counsels quiet ac-
ceptance of what God has given (iii. 11-15):—
HE HAS made everything beautiful in its time. He presents
the world to man, yet so that man, from beginning to end, can-
not find out what he has done. I thence conclude that there is
nothing better for them than to rejoice and taste of happiness.
while they live; for when one eats and drinks, and enjoys what
he has acquired by his labor, this is the gift of God. I know
that whatever God does shall be for ever. Nothing can be added
to it, nor anything taken from it. God so acts that men may
fear him. That which is, has already existed; that which is to
be, has already been; that which has passed away, God seeks in
order to give it existence again.
He warns against all excess (vii. 15-17):—
All this have I seen in the days of my vain life. The good
man perishes in spite of his goodness, and the bad man lives
long in spite of his badness. Be not too righteous, nor pretend
to be too wise, lest thou destroy thyself. Be not too wicked, nor
too foolish, lest thou die before thy time.
The description of old age and its slowly lessening powers (xii.
1-7) belongs to the best productions of Hebrew literature:
REMEMBER thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the
sad days come, and the years draw nigh when thou shalt say,
## p. 10808 (#688) ##########################################
10808
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
"I have no pleasure in them;" before the sun, the light, the
moon, and the stars, be darkened, and the clouds return after the
rain; when the house-guards tremble, the strong men bow, when
the maidens grinding corn cease because they are few, and those
who look out of the windows are darkened, and the street-doors
are shut; when the sound of the grinding is low; when one starts
up from sleep at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of
music are brought low, and one is afraid of what is high, and
terrors are in the way; when the almond-tree blossoms, the
grasshopper is a burden, and all stimulants fail; because man
goes to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
before the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken,
or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at
the cistern, and the dust return to the earth as it was, and the
spirit return to God who gave it.
The failure of light and the recurrence of rain (verses 1, 2) indicate
the growing gloom of old age. The decay of natural powers is repre-
sented (verses 3, 4) by the cessation of activity in a great house fall-
ing into ruin: arms (guards) and legs (strong men) lose their strength,
the teeth (maidens grinding) are few, the eyes grow dim (windows);
in a word, the avenues of the senses are closed (the doors are shut).
Then comes (verses 4, 5) a more literal description of bodily weak-
ness: the old man cannot sleep, music gives him no pleasure, he
walks about in fear and trembling, his hair turns white (almond-tree),
the smallest weight is burdensome, the appetite does not respond
to stimulants. Finally comes the end,- from the fountain of life no
water can be drawn. With this gloomy portraiture of old age we
may compare the cheerful picture given by Cicero. The object
of the preacher is to lead men to use aright the vigorous season of
youth.
THE APOCALYPSE
There remains to be mentioned the apocalypse, a species of com-
position which must be regarded as a creation of Hebrew thought.
Before the eye of a seer the history of generations or centuries is
unrolled in a series of visions, the culminating point of which is the
triumph of the people of Israel. It is the visional expression of that
unification of history which is given in simple narrative form in the
Hexateuch and suggested in the Prophets. Kingdoms rise and fall,
and all things move toward the divinely appointed goal, -the estab-
lishment of Israel in peace and prosperity. In the Book of Daniel
(the only elaborated apocalypse in the Old Testament) the kingdoms
set forth are the Babylonian, the Median, the Persian, and the Greek;
## p. 10809 (#689) ##########################################
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
10809
and the visions all end with the downfall of Antiochus Epiphanes
(see particularly Chapter xi. ). A majestic picture is presented in the
description of the judgment of the enemies of Israel, the "one like a
man" being explained in the context as meaning Faithful Israel (vii.
9-14):-
I BEHELD till thrones were placed, and one that was full of
years did sit: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his
head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames and its wheels
burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before
him; a thousand thousands ministered unto him and ten thousand
times ten thousand stood before him; the judgment was set and
the books were opened. I beheld at that time till, because of the
voice of the great words which the horn spake, the beast was
slain, and his body destroyed, and he was given to be burned
with fire. And as for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was
taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a
time. I saw in the night visions, and behold there came with the
clouds of heaven one like a man, and he came to the Ancient of
Days, and was brought into his presence. And to him was given
dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations,
and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting
dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that
shall not be destroyed.
The Hebrew power of narration is well illustrated in the scenes
described in Chapters ii. -vi.
THE APOCRYPHA
THE books which constitute the Old Testament were slowly gath-
ered by the Jews into a sacred canon, the discussions on which did
not cease until the Synod of Jamnia, held probably about A. D. 95.
Meantime the Jews had been producing other works, which, though
some of them were excellent in tone, were for various reasons not
thought worthy by the Palestinian rabbis to be accepted as sacred
scripture. In respect to some of these books the Alexandrian Jews
appear to have held a different opinion; some are included in the
Septuagint along with the canonical books, and it is to these that
the name Apocrypha properly belongs. The purpose of some of the
Alexandrian additions is obvious. Since, for example, the Hebrew
Book of Esther does not contain the name of God, or make any ref-
erence to religion, the Greek supplies this lack by adding visions and
## p. 10810 (#690) ##########################################
10810
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
prayers. In any case we have, in this Jewish Apocrypha, a very in-
teresting mass of literature, reflecting the religious and literary cul-
ture of the Jews in the two centuries preceding the beginning of our
era. In addition to the works constituting the Apocrypha proper
(that is, the extra-canonical or deuterocanonical books contained in
the Septuagint,) there are several others, of no less importance and
equally deserving of mention. Such, for example, are the Books of
Enoch and the Sibyllines. We need make no distinction between
the two classes, but may take them all together.
The first book of this sort in order of time is the work com-
monly called Ecclesiasticus, or the Wisdom of the Son of Sirach;
better called the Proverbs of Ben-Sira, or simply Ben-Sira. It was
composed about 190 B. C. in Hebrew, by Jesus (Joshua) ben-Sira;
translated into Greek by his grandson in Alexandria in 132 B. C. ; and
afterwards translated into Latin, Syriac, and Arabic. The book con-
sists for the most part of apophthegms which resemble those in our
Book of Proverbs. It contains also several extended poems of no little
beauty; among which may be cited those in Chapters i. and xxiv. ,
and the roll of the great men of Israel, Chapters xliv. -1. Its sayings
are marked by great worldly wisdom, and bear the impress of a man
who lived in a large city. In common with the other Wisdom books,
it shows the marks of Greek influence in its conception of wisdom
and of morality.
Nothing was known of the Hebrew original until the present year
(1897), when MSS. containing about ten chapters (xxxix. 15-xlix. 11),
came to Oxford, and the text has now been edited. The language
of the fragment does not differ in style from that of the canonical
Book of Proverbs; it is classical, but with a small admixture of
later words. This fact is of great literary interest, as helping to
the solution of the question how long classical Hebrew continued
to be used in books: it appears that it was employed certainly as
late as 190 B. C. ; the occurrence of some late words is of course
to be expected in this period. It further appears that the Versions,
while they in general render the Hebrew correctly, differ from it
in not a few instances. Several scholars had undertaken to repro-
duce the Hebrew from the Greek and the Syriac; it turns out that
they had not in a single case written the Hebrew of a verse as it
is given in this MS. , but have in many instances departed widely
from it, a fact which should teach us caution in attempting to re-
store Hebrew texts from ancient Greek, Syriac, Latin, and Ethiopic
translations. Another important point is settled by this text. It had
been contended (especially by Professor Margoliouth of Oxford) that
the poetical form of the Hebrew Ben-Sira was metrical, and that the
original could often be restored by the aid of the laws of metre.
The form, however, is distinctly not metrical; it is simply the old
## p. 10811 (#691) ##########################################
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
10811
Hebrew rhythm, such as appears in Psalms, Proverbs, and all the
poetical parts of the Old Testament. One leaf of the MS. was brought
by Mrs. Lewis from the East; the remainder was secured for the
Bodleian Library through Professor Sayce. The MS. contains vari-
ants, and must be subjected to critical sifting.
Not long after Ben-Sira came the apocalyptic Book of Enoch, which
now exists mainly in an Ethiopic translation. The apocalypse had
come to be a favorite form of literature among the Jews, and so con-
tinued for two hundred and fifty years. Amid depressing circum-
stances, it was pleasant to put into the mouth of some ancient seer a
prediction of future success and glory for the nation. In this case it
is the old patriarch Enoch who receives the revelation. The book is
composite, having been added to from time to time. The first section,
Chapters i. -xxxvi. (perhaps the oldest part of the book), describes the
fate of evil angels, and the abodes of good and bad men after death.
Next should come the section Chapters lxxxiii. -xc. , in which we
have the judgment of the world, ending with the victorious career
of Judas Maccabæus. In addition, the section Chapters xxxvii. -lxxi.
(partly a distinct work) describes further the Messianic judgment of
the world. Chapters lxxii. -lxxxii. contain a description of Enoch's
journey through the heavens,-a picture of the celestial physics of
the time. And finally, in the last section, Chapters xci. -civ. , the
problem of the fate of the righteous and the wicked is discussed in
a new form. The book in its present form has little literary interest,
but is valuable as giving a glimpse of the religious notions of the
time. The best English translation is that of R. H. Charles (1893).
Along with this may be mentioned a similar work entitled 'The
Secrets of Enoch,' translated from the Slavonic by W. R. Morfill,
and edited by Mr. Charles (1896); it is held by him to have been
composed about the beginning of our era.
Nearly contemporary with Enoch is the earliest part of the Sibyl-
line Oracles, a work written in Greek hexameters. The Jews, not to
be behind other nations of the time, would have their own Sibyl, who
should tell their national fortunes, and make manifest their national
greatness. The work, as we now have it, is a congeries of diverse
productions, the composition of which (partly by Jews, partly by
Christians) extends from the Maccabean period to the end of the
first Christian century. Though it has no literary value, it formerly
enjoyed extraordinary popularity, as the "teste David cum Sibylla" of
the 'Dies Iræ' indicates. Its predictions traverse the periods extend-
ing from the creation of the world down to the times of the various
authors. An excellent English metrical translation is that of M. S.
Terry (1890).
Other apocalypses may be briefly mentioned. The Assumption
(or Ascension) of Moses, written in the first quarter of the first
## p. 10812 (#692) ##########################################
10812
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
century of our era, puts into the mouth of Moses a prediction of
Jewish history, which comes on down, through the time of Antiochus
Epiphanes, to Herod the Great, and possibly even to a later period.
The period after the capture of Jerusalem by the Romans was pro-
lific in this species of writing. The Apocalypse of Baruch (the
scribe of Jeremiah) sketches the history down to the destruction of
the Second Temple. The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (pre-
dictions uttered by the twelve sons of Jacob), come down to about
the same time. To the end of the first century also belongs the
Fourth Book of Esdras, remarkable for its elaborate visions. Many
of these works are based on Jewish originals, with Christian addi-
tions.
The Jewish skill in story-telling is illustrated in the books of
Tobit and Judith. The former of these is a charming sketch of
family life in the second century B. C. The well-ordered households
of Tobit and Raguel, the ingenuous youth and maiden Tobias and
Sara, the affable angel Rafael, his disingenuousness and his business.
capacity, are drawn to the life. The Persian demon Asmodeus, and
the exorcism by the heart and liver of the fish, show how far the
Jews then practiced magic arts; and the golden rule (iv. 15) indicates
the advance of their ethical ideas. The historical data are thoroughly
confused. The Book of Judith, though somewhat inflated in style, is
dramatically powerful; in spite of its absurd historical framework,
and the dubious procedure of the heroine, the dénouement has a
heroic coloring. Both books furnished subjects to the older painters
and sculptors, and are entitled to our gratitude for having given us
Donatello's Judith and Botticelli's Tobias.
The historical literature is meagre. The only work which can
properly lay claim to the name "history" is the First Book of Mac-
cabees; which, written probably in the earlier part of the first cen-
tury B. C. , narrates the story of the Maccabean uprising, to the death
of Simon, the successor of Judas, B. C. 175-135. The style is simple
and effective, and the work is valuable as an authority for the times.
Second Maccabees is largely a collection of legendary matter relating
to the period 175-160 B. C. It contains (Chapters vi. and vii. ) two
famous descriptions of the constancy of Jewish martyrs.
The Third and Fourth Books of Maccabees, which are not con-
tained in our Greek Apocrypha, belong in the category not of history
but of romance. The Third Book deals with a great deliverance of
the Jews from the purposed revenge of Ptolemy IV. The Fourth
Book is a philosophical treatise on the supremacy of reason, the dis-
course being based on the story of Eleazar and the Seven Brothers,
in Second Maccabees, referred to above. The book is of interest as
giving an example of Jewish attempts to deal with Jewish beliefs in
the spirit of Stoicism. The historian Josephus, and the philosopher
## p. 10813 (#693) ##########################################
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
10813
Philo, may be mentioned here, but are entitled to independent treat
ment.
The Wisdom of Solomon appears to have been composed in the
first century B. C. , and to have been written in Greek. For elevation
of thought and beauty of style it deserves the first place among the
Apocryphal books, and high rank in the literature of the world. It
is the first Jewish work in which the belief in ethical immortality
appears; and this belief is for the author a complete solution of the
problem (hitherto unsolved) of the earthly sufferings of the righteous.
A student of Greek philosophy, his conception of wisdom and of the
Cosmos differs from earlier Jewish ideas in its distinctly Stoic form
his Wisdom approaches nearly the Logos of Philo. The following
extract (Chapter v. ) will exhibit his resemblances to and differences
from the older poetry and rhythmical prose:-
THE LAMENT OF THE WICKED
TH
HEN shall the righteous man take bold stand
Before those who afflict him and ignore his labors.
Seeing it, they shall be seized with terrible fear
And amazed at his unexpected deliverance.
Repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit,
They shall say to themselves:—
This was he whom we fools once had in derision,
As a proverb of reproach.
We accounted his life madness and his end without honor.
But he is numbered among the children of God,
And his lot is among the saints.
We have erred from the way of truth,
The light of righteousness has not shined upon us,
Nor the sun of righteousness risen upon us.
We have trod the paths of lawlessness and destruction,
We have traversed trackless deserts,
The way of the Lord we have not known.
What has pride profited us?
What good has riches with vaunting brought us?
All those things have passed like a shadow,
Like a post that hastes by,
Like a ship that passes over the tossing deep,
Of whose transit no trace can be found,
Nor the pathway of its keel in the waves;
## p. 10814 (#694) ##########################################
10814
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
Or as, when a bird has flown through the air,
No token of her way is to be found,
But the light air beaten with the stroke of her wings
And cleft by the violence of their motion
Is passed through, and no sign of its flight is found;
Or as, when an arrow is shot at a mark,
The parted air straightway comes together again,
So that one knows not its course:
So we as soon as born, began to fail;
Of virtue we had no sign to show,
But in our wickedness were consumed.
For the hope of the ungodly is like dust blown away by the wind,
Like froth driven by the storm, like smoke dispersed by the tempest,
And it passes as the remembrance of the guest of a day.
But the righteous live for evermore;
Their reward is with the Lord,
The care of them with the most High.
Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom
And a beautiful crown from the hand of the Lord.
For with his right hand he will cover them,
With his arm he will shield them.
He will take his zeal as panoply
And make the creation his weapon to ward off foes.
He will put on righteousness as breastplate,
And unfeigned justice as helmet;
He will take holiness as an invincible shield;
His piercing wrath he will sharpen for a sword,
And the world shall fight with him against the wicked.
Then shall the right-aiming thunderbolts speed;
From the clouds, as from a well-drawn bow, they shall fly to the
mark,
And wrathful hailstones shall be cast as out of a bow.
The sea shall rage against them,
The floods shall fiercely drown them.
A mighty wind shall withstand them,
Like a storm blow them away.
And so iniquity shall lay waste the whole earth,
And wrong-doing overthrow the thrones of the mighty.
As an illustration of the variety of style in the gnomic poetry,
we append three odes in praise of wisdom, taken from Job, Ben-Sira,
and Wisdom.
## p. 10815 (#695) ##########################################
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
10815
JOB XXVIII.
HERE is a mine for silver,
THE
And a place where gold is washed.
Iron is taken out of the dust,
And copper melted out of stone.
Man penetrates to the extremity of darkness,
Searches out the farthest bound,
The dark and gloomy rock,
Sinks a shaft under the abodes of men-
Forgotten, without foothold they hang,
Swinging out of human sight.
Out of the earth comes bread,
Its depths are upheaved as by fire,
In its stones are sapphires,
And in its dust is gold.
The path thereto no vulture knows,
Nor does eye of falcon see it;
Wild beasts tread it not,
The lion stalks not over it.
Man lays his hand on the rock,
Upturns mountains by the roots,
Cuts passages in the rocks,
All precious things he sees,
Binds the streams that they flow not,
Hidden things he brings to light.
But wisdom, where is it found,
And the place of understanding, where?
The way to it man knows not;
It is not in the land of the living.
Says the deep, it is not in me;
Says the sea, it is not with me.
It is not bought with gold,
Silver is not weighed as its price;
It is not estimated in gold of Ophir,
Or by precious onyx or sapphire;
Gold and glass do not equal it,
Nor is it to be exchanged for golden vessels;
Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned,
The price of wisdom is above pearls.
The topaz of Ethiopia does not equal it,
Its value is not reckoned in gold.
## p. 10816 (#696) ##########################################
10816
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
Wisdom, then, whence comes it?
Where is the place of understanding?
It is hid from the eyes of all living,
Concealed from the birds of heaven.
Abaddon and Death can but say:
We have heard of it with our ears.
God understands its way,
He alone knows its place.
He looked to the ends of the earth,
Under the whole heaven he saw,
Settled the weight of the wind,
Fixed the water by measure,
Made a law for the rain,
A path for the lightning of thunder,-
Then he saw it and declared it,
Established and searched it out,
And to man he said:
The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
And to depart from evil is understanding.
ECCLESIASTICUS XXIV.
ISDOM shall praise herself,
W Glory in the midst of her people,
[mouth
In the congregation of the Most High open her
And triumph before his power.
From the mouth of the Most High I came,
And covered the earth as a cloud.
In high places I dwelt,
My throne was in the pillar of cloud.
Alone I compassed the heaven,
Walked in the depth of the abyss.
In every people and nation I got a possession.
With all these did I seek rest.
In whose land should I abide?
Then the Creator of all things commanded,
My Maker set down my tent,
And said, Thy dwelling be in Jacob,
And thy domain in Israel!
Of old in the beginning he created me,
And I shall never fail.
Before him in the sacred tabernacle I ministered;
Thus was I established in Sion.
## p. 10817 (#697) ##########################################
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
10817
In the beloved city he placed me,
In Jerusalem was my authority.
I took root in an honored people,
In the portion of the Lord's possession.
Lofty I grew, like a cedar in Lebanon,
Like a cypress on the mountains of Hermon;
I was high like a palm-tree in Engaddi.
I resembled a rose-plant in Jericho,
A fair olive-tree in the field.
Like a plane-tree I grew up.
I was fragrant as cinnamon and aspalath,
Yielded an odor like myrrh,
Like galbanum and onyx and storax
And the fume of frankincense in the tabernacle.
Like the terebinth I stretched out my branches,
Branches of honor and grace.
Like the vine I put forth fair buds,
And my flowers were honor and riches.
Come unto me, all ye that desire me,
And sate yourselves with my fruits.
My memorial is sweeter than honey,
And mine inheritance than the honeycomb.
They that eat me shall yet be hungry,
They that drink me shall yet be thirsty.
He who obeys me shall never be put to shame,
They who work by me shall not do amiss.
All these things are the book of the covenant of God
the Most High,
The law which Moses commanded
As an heritage to the congregations of Jacob,
Filling all things with wisdom like Pison,
Like Tigris in the time of new fruits;
Making understanding abound like Euphrates,
Like Jordan in the time of harvest;
Bringing instruction to light like the Nile,
Like Geon in time of vintage.
The first man knew her not perfectly,
Nor shall the last find her out.
For her thoughts are vaster than the sea,
Her counsels profounder than the great Deep.
I came forth as a brook from a river,
As a conduit into a garden.
XVIII-677
## p. 10818 (#698) ##########################################
10818
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
I said, I will water my garden,
Abundantly water my bed.
And lo, my brook became a river,
And my river became a sea.
I will yet make wisdom shine as the dawn
And send forth her light afår off.
I will yet pour out wisdom as prophecy
And leave it to all ages forever.
Not for myself alone have I labored,
But for all them that seek wisdom.
WISDOM OF SOLOMON, VII. 22-29
ISDOM, the arch:
WIS In her is a spi
of all things, taught me.
intelligent, holy,
One, manifol sul ""
Lively, clear, u'
Lucid, unhape, right-loving, quick,
Unfetter 1, beneficent, philanthropic,
Steaufast, sure, free from care,
Having all power, overseeing all things,
Permeating all spirits,
All that are wise and pure and subtlest.
Wisdom, of all things, is freest in movement;
By her pureness she traverses and permeates all things;
She is the breath of the power of God,
Ꮧ,
A pure effluence from the glory of the Almighty;
With her no impure thing may mingle.
She is the brightness of the everlasting light,
The unspotted mirror of the power of God,
The image of his goodness.
Being but one, she yet can do all things;
Remaining in herself, she makes all things new:
In all ages entering into holy souls,
She makes them friends of God and prophets.
For God loves none but him who dwells with wisdom.
She is more beautiful than the sun,
Fairer than the host of stars;
Being compared with light, she is found to excel it.
сабар
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