)
combines
naïveté, dignity, and moral earnestness.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v18 - Mom to Old
Tell thy lord
That he shall come at once.
He is asleep.
A midday slumber; he lies stretched
Stiffly beneath a shadowy elder-tree.
Hakon- Then wake him up. [Aside. ] Asleep, and after such
A deed Ha! Thorer, I admire thee;
Thou hast rare courage. [Aloud. ] Thrall, go wake him up.
Olaf- But wilt thou first not look at Olaf's head?
Hakon-No; I have said no.
Olaf-
Olaf-
Hakon- Asleep?
Olaf -
Thou dost think, my lord,
That perhaps it is a horrid frightful sight:
It is not so, my lord; for Olaf's head
Looks fresh and sound as any in the land.
Hakon-Away, I tell thee!
Olaf -
I ne'er saw the like:
always heard that Hakon was a hero,
Few like him in the North,- and does he fear
To see a lifeless and a corpseless head?
How wouldst thou tremble then, my lord, if thou
Shouldst see it on his body?
Hakon [turning round angrily]-
Thrall, thou darest!
Where hast thou got it?
Olaf [takes his hat off, and throws off his cloak] –
On my shoulders, Earl.
Forgive me that I bring it thee myself
In such a way: 'twas easiest for me.
Hakon — What, Olaf! Ha! what treachery is here?
Olaf- Old gray-beard, spare thy rash, heroic wrath.
Attempt not to fight Olaf, but remember
That he has still his head upon his body,
And that thy impotent, gray-bearded strength
Was only fitting for the headless Olaf.
## p. 10768 (#648) ##########################################
10768
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
Hakon [rushes at him]-
Ha, Hilfheim!
Olaf [strikes his sword, and says in a loud voice] —
So, be quiet now, I say,
And sheathe thy sword again. My followers
Surround the house; my vessels are a match
For all of thine, and I myself have come
To win the country in an honest fight.
Thyself hast urged me with thy plots to do it.
Thou standest like a despicable thrall
In his own pitfall caught at last; but I
Will make no use of these advantages
Which fate has granted me. I am convinced
That I may boldly meet thee face to face.
Thy purpose, as thou seest, has wholly failed,
And in his own blood does thy Thorer swim.
Thou seest 'twere easy for me to have seized thee;
To strike thee down were even easier still:
But the Christian doctrine do confess,
And do such poor advantages despise.
So choose between two courses. Still be Earl
Of Hlade as thou wast, and do me homage,
Or else take flight; for when we meet again
'Twill be the time for red and bleeding brows.
Hakon [proudly and quietly]-
My choice is made. I choose the latter, Olaf.
Thou callest me a villain and a thrall;
That forces up a smile upon my lips.
Olaf, one hears indeed that thou art young;
It is by mockery and arrogance
That one can judge thy age. Now, look at me
Full in the eyes; consider well my brow:
Hast thou among the thralls e'er met such looks?
Dost think that cunning or that cowardice
Could e'er have carved these wrinkles on my brow?
I did entice thee hither. Ha! 'tis true
I knew that thou didst wait but for a sign
To flutter after the enticing bait;
That in thy soul thou didst more highly prize
Thy kinship with an extinct race of kings
Than great Earl Hakon's world-renownèd deeds;
That thou didst watch the opportunity
――――
To fall upon the old man in his rest.
Does it astonish thee that I should wish
Quickly to rid myself of such a foe?
## p. 10769 (#649) ##########################################
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
10769
Olaf-
Remember, Hakon,-
Remember, Hakon, that e'en thou thyself
Hast been a Christian; that thou wast baptized
By Bishop Popo, and that thou since then
Didst break thy oath. How many hast thou broken?
Hakon-Accursed forever may that moment be
--
Olaf -
Hakon
That I deceived a dreamer who despised
The mighty gods,-does that astonish thee?
Does it astonish thee that I approved
My warriors' purpose, since a hostile fate
Attempted to dethrone, not only me,
But all Valhalla's gods?
―――――
When by the cunning monk I was deceived,
And let myself be fooled by paltry tricks.
He held a red-hot iron in his hand,
After by magic he had covered it
With witches' ointment.
O thou blind old man!
Thy silver hair does make me pity thee.
Ha! spare thy pity; as thou seest me here,
Thou seest the last flash and the latest spark
Of ancient Northern force and hero's life;
And that, with all thy fever-stricken dreams,
Proud youth, thou shalt be powerless to quench.
I well do know it is the Christian custom
To pity, to convert, and to amend.
Our custom is to heartily despise you,
To ruminate upon your fall and death,
As foes to gods and to a hero's life.
That Hakon does, and therein does consist
His villainy. By Odin, and by Thor,
Thou shalt not quench old Norway's warlike flame
With all thy misty dreams of piety.
Olaf 'Tis well: fate shall decide. We separate,
And woe to thee when next we meet again.
Hakon — Aye, woe to me if then I crush thee not.
Olaf- Heaven shall strike thee with its fiery might!
Hakon-No, with his hammer Thor the cross will smite!
XVIII-674
Translation of Frank C. Lascelles.
## p. 10770 (#650) ##########################################
10770
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
THE SACRIFICE
From Hakon Jarl'
[A golden horn with runic inscription has been brought to Hakon, who
has taken the words-
ER
to signify that he must sacrifice what is most dear to him if he would win in
the impending battle with Olaf Trygvesön. Acting upon this belief, he takes
Erling, his child, at early morn to the sacrificial grove. ]
Enter Earl Hakon, leading Erling by the hand
It is so cold, my father!
RLING
Hakon-
Erling-
-
Hakon-
Hakon
-
―
Erling-
-
――――
-
"Go to the great gods,
Give them thy best»-
Erling [clapping his hands]—What lovely roses, father!
Oh, see the lovely roses, how they blush!
But tell me, my dear father, whence do come
Such masses of these lovely pearls, which are
Strewed over all the valley down below?
Oh, how they glitter up towards the roses!
Those are no pearls; it is but morning dew.
That which thou callest roses is the sun.
Dost see it rise?
Erling-
My dear son,
It is yet early, therefore is it cold;
Thou shiverest, child!
That matters not, my father.
Oh, what a ball of fire!
How crimson red! O father dear, can we
Not travel thither to the morning sun?
Hakon Towards the sun our life must ever strive;
I am so glad that thou didst promise me
That I should see the sun arise to-day;
A sunrise have I never seen before.
Dost see the golden rays which yonder break
Far in the east?
For seest thou that lovely ruddy glow
Which glitters yonder? —that is Odin's eye.
The other, which by night thou seest shine
With a far softer and a paler glow,
Has he now left in pledge in Mimer's well,
That there it may obtain the drink which makes
His eye more fresh and more acute.
And what is Mimer's well?
And where
## p. 10771 (#651) ##########################################
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
10771
Hakon -
Erling-
Oh, how on high
It rises up! I can no longer bear
To gaze upon it, for it burns my eyes.
Hakon- The Almighty Father mounts upon his throne,
And soon the whole world will he look upon.
The golden throne doth dazzle earthly eyes;
Who dares presume to gaze upon the king
Of light and day in his full midday glow?
Erling [turning round frightened—
Oh, oh! my father, who are those? such grim
And old white men, who in the shadow stand
Behind the trees there?
Hakon-
Erling
The mighty sea
There, deep below, which dashes 'gainst the rocks,-
That is the deep-dug well of ancient Mimer,
That strengthens Odin's eye; and doubly bright
The sun arises, joyful and refreshed
By the cool morning waves.
Hakon
Speak not so, my son!
Those are the statues of the mighty gods,
Formed in the hard stone by the hands of men.
They do not dazzle us with summer flames;
To them may Askur's sons kneel down in peace,
And gaze with reverence upon their face.
Come, let us go and see them closer, come.
Oh no, my father, I do fear! Dost see
That old, long-bearded, hoary-headed man?
He looks so fierce and grim upon me. Oh,
He makes me quite afraid!
O Erling, Erling!
That is god Odin-art afraid of Odin?
Erling-No, no; of Odin I am not afraid,—
The real Odin yonder in the sky,
He will not harm me: he is good and bright;
He calls forth flowers from the lap of earth,
And like a flower does he gleam himself.
But that white, pallid sorcerer, he stares
As though he sought to take my life-blood.
Hakon
Erling-My father, let me go and fetch my wreath;
I left it hanging yonder on a bush
When thou didst show me when the sun arose:
And let us then go home again, my father,
Away from these grim, ancient statues here;
Ha!
## p. 10772 (#652) ##########################################
10772
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
Hakon
For thou mayst well believe the grim old man
Has no good-will towards thee, father dear.
Go fetch thy wreath, child, then come back at once.
[Exit Erling. ]
The sacrificial lamb should be adorned.
Ye mighty gods, behold from Valaskjalf
Earl Hakon's faith and truth confirmed by deeds!
Re-enter Erling with a wreath of flowers round his head
Erling - Here am I, my dear father, with my wreath.
Hakon - Kneel down, my son, to Odin, ere thou goest;
Stretch out thy little hands towards the sky,
And say,
And mercifully take him in thy charge. "
Erling [kneels down, looking towards the sun, stretches out his hands, and
says innocently and childlike]-
Great Father, hear the little Erling's prayer,
And mercifully take him in thy charge!
"Great Father! hear the little Erling's prayer,
—
[Hakon, who stands behind him, draws his dagger while Erling is saying
his prayer, and raises it to strike, but it falls from his hand. Er-
ling turns towards him quietly and confidently, picks up the dagger.
and says, as he gets up off his knees:-]
Hakon-
My father dear, thou'st let thy dagger drop.
How sharp and bright it is! When I am big
Then I shall also have such weapons, and
Will help thee 'gainst thy enemies, my father.
Hakon-What sorcerer is't that places in thy mouth
Such words as these to scare me, and to make
Me tremble?
Erling
O my father! what's the matter?
What has, then, Erling done? Why art thou wroth?
Hakon - Come, Erling, follow me behind the gods.
Erling-Behind the grim men?
Follow, and obey.
Behind the statue do the roses grow;
No pale white roses,- ruddy roses they,
Blood-red and purple roses. Ha! it is
A joy to see how quickly they shoot forth.
Follow, I say,- obey!
Erling [weeping] —
My father dear,
I am so frightened at the purple roses.
Hakon-Away! already Heimdal's cock does crow,
And now the time is come, the time is come!
[Exeunt.
Translation of Frank C. Lascelles.
## p. 10773 (#653) ##########################################
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
10773
SONG
From Correggio'
THE
HE fairy dwells in the rocky hall,
The pilgrim sits by the waterfall;
The waters tumble as white as snow,
From the rocks above to the pool below:
"Sir Pilgrim, plunge in the dashing spray,
And you shall be my own love alway!
"From the bonds of the body thy soul I'll free;
Thou shalt merrily dance in the woods with me.
Sir Pilgrim, into the waters dash,
And ivory white thy bones I'll wash.
Deep, deep shalt thou rest in my oozy home,
And the waterfall o'er thee shall burst in foam. "
The pilgrim he thrills, and to rise were fain,
But his limbs are so weary, he strives in vain.
The fairy she comes with her golden hair,
And she hands him a goblet of water fair;
He drinks the cool draught, and he feels amain
The frenzy of fever in heart and brain.
It chills his marrow, it chills his blood,
He has drunken of death's deceitful flood;
Pale, pale he sinks on the roses red,—
There lies the pilgrim, and he is dead.
The whirlpool sweeps him far down, and there
His bones 'mongst the sedges lie blanched and bare.
And now from the body the soul is free,
Now at midnight it comes to the greenwood tree:
In spring, when the mountain stream runs high,
His ghost with the fairy goes dancing by;
Then shines through the forest the wan moon's beam,
And through the clear waters his white bones gleam.
Translation of Sir Theodore Martin.
NOUREDDIN READS FROM AN OLD FOLIO
From Aladdin'
IFE'S gladsome child is led by Fortune's hand;
L
And what the sage doth moil to make his prize,
When in the sky the pale stars coldly stand,
From his own breast leaps forth in wondrous wise.
## p. 10774 (#654) ##########################################
10774
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
Met by boon Fortune midway, he prevails,
Scarce weeting how, in whatsoe'er he tries.
'Tis ever thus that Fortune freely hails
Her favorite, and on him her blessings showers,
Even as to heaven the scented flower exhales.
Unwooed she comes at unexpected hours;
And little it avails to rack thy brain,
And ask where lurk her long-reluctant powers;
Fain wouldst thou grasp-Hope's portal shuts amain,
And all thy fabric vanishes in air;
Unless foredoomed by Fate thy toils are vain,
Thy aspirations doomed to meet despair.
Translation of Sir Theodore Martin.
OEHLENSCHLÄGER'S ONLY HYMN
TEA
EACH me, O forest, that I may
Like autumn leaves fade glad away,
A fairer spring forecasting;
There green my tree shall glorious stand,
Deep-rooted in the lovely land
Of summer everlasting.
O little bird of passage, thou
Teach me in faith to hie me now
To shores that are uncharted;
When all winter here, and ice,
Then shall eternal Paradise
Open to me, departed.
Teach me, thou butterfly so light,
To break from out my prison plight
That is my freedom robbing;
On earth I creep with lowly things,
But soon the golden-purple wings
Shall high in air be throbbing.
O Thou who smilest from yon sky,
Master and Savior, Christ the high,
Teach me to conquer sorrow.
Let Hope's bright flag enhearten me;
Although Good Friday bitter be,
Fair is the Easter morrow.
Translated by Richard Burton for A Library of the World's Best Literature'
## p. 10775 (#655) ##########################################
10775
THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE JEWISH
APOCRYPHA
BY CRAWFORD H. TOY
THE OLD TESTAMENT
HE greatest interest in the Old Testament has, naturally, at-
tached to its religious thought; and it has sometimes been
forgotten that as the record of the national literature of the
Hebrew people, it deserves to be studied on the literary side. It
need fear no comparison in this regard with the great literatures of
the world. There are forms of literary art in which the Old Testa-
ment has no superior; and in any case, the pleasure which is derived
from it must be increased by a recognition of its literary excel-
lences.
Its prose portion consists of History (in which, for our purposes,
we may include the Legislation) and Prophecy. The former is simple
prose, the latter rhythmical and balanced. We may first consider the
narrative or historical portion.
NARRATIVE PROSE
The Old Testament histories consist almost entirely of annals and
anecdotes,- extracts from yearly records of events, or biographical
material which is made up largely of special incidents. The style is
remarkable for its simplicity. The Semitic languages (to which class
the Hebrew belongs) have no involved syntactical constructions.
Their sentences consist almost entirely of clauses connected by the
simple conjunction "and. " This peculiarity gives picturesqueness and
a certain monumental character to the narratives; each clause stands
out by itself, presenting a single picture. There is no attempt (as in
Greek) to represent elaborate and fine logical connections of thought.
And further, this formal isolatedness, if we may so term it, is not
confined to the structure of the sentence and the paragraph, but also
controls the composition of the historical books. The incidents are
set down as independent occurrences, and there is no attempt to trace
the logical connection between them.
This characteristic is abundantly illustrated in the books of Judges,
Samuel, and Kings. In the first of these books we have a series of
## p. 10776 (#656) ##########################################
10776
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
similar yet unconnected incidents: the land of Israel is conquered or
held in subjection by some neighboring people-a hero arises and
throws off the yoke - there is a period of quiet, followed by a new
epoch of subjection which calls forth another hero; and so on. So
the lives of Saul, David, and Samuel are simple biographies, in
which the incidents are, in like manner, for the most part detached;
and the same remark holds of the history of the reigns of the kings
who succeeded David. In the Pentateuch the lives of the Patriarchs
and of Moses, and the history of the march of the people from Egypt
to Canaan, are similarly composed of isolated paragraphs.
Yet on the other hand, it is to be observed that these books exhibit
a marked unity of plan. The Hexateuch (the Pentateuch and Joshua)
beginning with the creation of the world, and coming down to the
Flood, which separates human history into two great parts, passes to
the ancestor Abraham, follows his descendants to Egypt, describes
their advance to the promised land, and finally the conquest and
division of the territory. The aim of the work is to describe the set-
tlement of Israel in Canaan, and all the preceding history is made to
bear on that event. The Book of Judges, taking up the history at
the moment when the people enter Canaan, depicts the pre-regal
period as a unit; Samuel describes the establishment of the mon-
archy and the reigns of the first two kings; Kings gives the fortunes
of the people down to the suppression of the national political life;
and Chronicles, it may be added, with a still more noticeable unity,
confines itself to the history of Judah. Finally, in the short books
of Ezra and Nehemiah, we have the story of the introduction of
the Law, and the establishment of what may be called the Jewish
Church-Nation.
We have thus, in the historical books of the Old Testament, a
noteworthy unity of plan, combined with the isolation of independ-
ent parts. It is further to be noted that the object of each of these
histories is to express an idea. The Hexateuch is the prose epic
of the choice of Israel by Jehovah. The earlier historical books-
Judges, Samuel, and Kings-are historical sermons, illustrating the
text that national prosperity is dependent on obedience to the God
of Israel; in Chronicles the text is slightly varied,-here it is obedi-
ence to the Law of Moses which is the condition of national peace.
Examples of the finest qualities of narrative prose style are found
throughout the historical books. Abraham's plea for Sodom (Gen.
xviii.
) combines naïveté, dignity, and moral earnestness. Jehovah,
having had reports of the corruption of Sodom, comes down, accom-
panied by two angels, to inquire into the case, and first pays a visit
to Abraham. After a repast the two angels are sent to Sodom, with
instructions to destroy it; Jehovah remains with Abraham, whose
## p. 10777 (#657) ##########################################
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
10777
heart is sore at the thought of the destruction of the city where
dwelt his kinsman Lot. The narrative proceeds:
·-
AND Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou consume the
righteous with the wicked? Perhaps there are fifty righteous
men within the city: wilt thou consume and not spare the place
for the fifty righteous who are therein? That be far from thee
to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked;
that so the righteous should be as the wicked: that be far from
thee; shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? And Jeho-
vah said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous, then I will spare
all the place for their sake. And Abraham answered and said,
My lord, I who am dust and ashes have taken upon me to
speak to thee: there may perhaps lack five of the fifty righteous:
wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, I
will not destroy it if I find there forty and five. And he spake
unto him yet again, and said, Perhaps there shall be forty found
there. And he said, I will not do it for the forty's sake. And
he said, Oh let not my lord be angry, and I will speak; perhaps
there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it
if I find thirty there. And he said, Behold now, my lord, I have
taken upon me to speak to thee: perhaps there shall be twenty
found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for the twenty's
sake. And he said, Oh let not my lord be angry, and I will speak
yet but this once: perhaps ten shall be found there. And he
said, I will not destroy it for the ten's sake. And Jehovah went
his way when he had finished speaking with Abraham, and Abra-
ham returned to his place.
The familiar appeal of Judah on behalf of Benjamin (Gen. xliv.
18-34) must be mentioned for its exquisite pathos. Joseph, known to
the brothers only as the all-powerful prime minister, pretends to sus-
pect that they are spies, and refuses to sell them food unless they
bring him their youngest brother, of whom they had spoken. Jacob,
informed of this demand, at first refuses to send Benjamin- the only
surviving son, as he supposes, of his beloved Rachel. Pressed by
famine, he at last consents, Judah pledging himself to bring the lad
back. When they reach Egypt, Joseph so arranges that Benjamin
shall seem to have been guilty of theft and worthy of imprisonment.
Judah, in despair, comes forward and pleads for the boy's liberty.
The plea is little more than a recital of the circumstances, in sim-
plest dramatic form; but the heart-rending situation stands out with
## p. 10778 (#658) ##########################################
10778
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
lifelike clearness. The same element of pathos is found in the whole
story of Joseph's relations with his brothers.
For brilliant dramatic effect there is scarcely anything in literature
finer than the description of Elijah's challenge to the priests of Baal
(1 Kings xviii. ). The conditions are chosen with singular felicity. The
Sidonian Baal, the god of the Queen of Israel, is represented by four
hundred and fifty prophets, backed by all the power of the royal
court; for Jehovah, God of Israel, stands one proscribed fugitive, a
rude Bedawi from the east of the Jordan. The scene is the sacred
mountain Carmel, from whose slopes are visible the Great Sea, the
rich plains of the coast, and the rugged central plateau of Israel. Eli-
jah proposes to test the two deities, and take the more powerful; the
people, trembling and expectant, agree. The narrative goes on:-
AND Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose one bullock
for yourselves, and prepare it first, for ye are many; and call on
the name of your god, but put no fire under. And they took the
bullock and prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from
morning till noon, saying, O Baal, answer us. But there was no
voice, nor any that answered. And they danced about the altar
which they had made. And at noon Elijah mocked them, and
said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he
is gone aside, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep, and
must be awaked. And they cried aloud and cut themselves after
their manner with knives and lances, till the blood gushed out
upon them.
And when midday was past they prophesied until
the time of the evening cereal offering; but there was neither
voice, nor any answer, nor any that regarded. And Elijah said
to all the people, Come near to me; and all the people came
near to him. And he repaired the altar of Jehovah which was
broken down, and made a trench about the altar, as great as
would contain two measures of seed, put the wood in order, cut
the bullock in pieces, and laid it on the wood. And he said, Fill
four barrels with water, and pour it on the offering, and on the
wood. And he said, Do it the second time; and they did it the
second time. And he said, Do it the third time; and they did
it the third time. And the water ran round about the altar; and
he filled the trench also with water. And at the time of the
evening cereal offering Elijah came near and said, Jehovah, God
of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that thou
art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done
all these things at thy word. Answer me, O Jehovah, answer
## p. 10779 (#659) ##########################################
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
10779
me, that this people may know that thou, Jehovah, art God, and
turn thou their heart back again. Then fire from heaven fell
and consumed the offering and the wood and the stones and the
dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when
all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said,
Jehovah, he is God; Jehovah, he is God.
After this it is somewhat surprising to find Elijah (1 Kings xix. )
fleeing for his life at a threat made by the Queen. The story of his
flight contains a majestic theophany:-
AND he went into a cave and passed the night there. And
behold, Jehovah passed by, and a great and strong wind rent
the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks; but Jehovah was
not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but Jehovah
was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but
Jehovah was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small
voice. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle
and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And there
came to him a voice: What doest thou here, Elijah? And he
said, I have been very jealous for Jehovah, the God of hosts; be-
cause the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown
down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword: and I,
even I only, am left; and they seek my life to take it away.
A characteristic picture is given in 1 Kings xxii. The allied Kings
of Israel and Judah are about to attack the transjordanic city of
Ramoth, and desire first a response from the oracle. The King of
Judah, for some reason dissatisfied with Ahab's prophets, insists that
Micaiah be called. The latter, after mocking answers, finally predicts
disaster, and then proceeds to account for the favorable predictions
of the court prophets:-
I SAW Jehovah sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven
standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And Jehovah
said, Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at
Ramoth-Gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said
on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before
Jehovah and said, I will entice him. And Jehovah said to him,
Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and will be a lying.
spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt
entice him, and shalt prevail also: go forth and do so. Now,
therefore, behold, Jehovah has put a lying spirit in the mouth of
## p. 10780 (#660) ##########################################
10780
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
all these thy prophets, and Jehovah has spoken evil concerning
thee. Then Zedekiah the son of Kenaanah came near, and smote
Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the spirit of
Jehovah from me to speak to thee? And Micaiah said, Thou
shalt see on that day when thou shalt go into an inner chamber
to hide thyself. And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and
carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash
the king's son, and say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in
the prison, and feed him with bread and water of the worst sort,
until I come in peace. And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in
peace, Jehovah has not spoken by me.
A peculiar interest attaches to the three short books Ruth, Jonah,
and Esther. These differ from the works above named in the fact
that they describe each a single event. Each is a unity with defi-
nitely marked characters and incidents, leading to a culmination. In
a word, so far as the literary form is concerned, these are short
stories; and they seem to be the first productions of this sort in all
the ancient world. Their predecessors in Hebrew literature are the
incidents described in the Pentateuch and the historical books, in
the lives of the Patriarchs, Judges, and Kings, and Prophets; as for
example the story of Jephthah, the campaign of Gideon, the rebel-
lion of Absalom, and the challenge of Elijah to the priests of Baal.
These also are succinct and vivid narratives of particular incidents,
but the three books here referred to have the quality of finish and
plot,- elaborate arrangement of incident leading up to a dénoue-
ment,—in a still higher degree. The Moabitess Ruth, left a widow,
departs with her mother-in-law to a strange land; and here, by her
charm, conquers a place, and becomes the honored head of a great
household. Jonah, anxious to avoid a disagreeable mission, is never-
theless forced to go to Nineveh, and there becomes the occasion of
the announcement of a religious truth of primary significance,-
namely, that God cares no less for Nineveh than for Jerusalem. The
skill with which the narrative in Esther is constructed has always
excited admiration. The splendid royal banquet-the refusal of
Queen Vashti to make herself a spectacle to the drunken guests—
her deposition by the offended despot, and his determination to choose
another queen
- the appearance of the Jewess Esther, whose nation-
ality has been carefully concealed by her guardian Mordecai - the
successive trials of the inmates of the harem, and the selection of
Esther to be Queen-all this is an astounding whirligig of fortune.
But this is only preparatory to the main event. The sturdy Morde-
cai refuses to do reverence to the King's haughty favorite Haman,
who, exasperated by his persistent contempt, resolves to extirpate the
## p. 10781 (#661) ##########################################
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
10781
Jewish population of Persia, and procures a royal decree to that
effect. The Jews are in despair. Mordecai sends word to Esther
that she must go to the King (which to do unbidden is a crime) and
intercede; he adds that otherwise she herself will not escape the
general fate. She finally plucks courage from despair, goes, is gra-
ciously received, and invites the King and Haman to a banquet that
day. At that banquet she invites them to another next day, when
she will make her request. Haman, elated, listens to the advice of
his wife and his friends, and prepares a lofty post on which Mordecai
is to be impaled. That night the King, unable to sleep, listens to an
account, in the court record, of a good deed of Mordecai, hitherto
unrewarded. Who is without? he asks. The answer is: Haman (who
had come to arrange the impalement of his enemy).
He is sum-
moned, enters, is asked what should be done to the man whom the
King delights to honor. Thinking it could be only himself, he sug-
gests that the man, clothed in royal apparel, ride through the streets
on the King's own horse. So be it: Haman is ordered to conduct
Mordecai. It is a terrible blow, and is taken by his wife and his
friends as an omen of disaster. Next day, however, he comes to the
Queen's banquet, and here the King asks her to state her request-he
would grant it if it cost half his kingdom. The narrative continues:
QUEEN ESTHER answered: If I have found favor in thy sight,
O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me
at my petition, and my people at my request; for we are sold, I
and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, to perish. If we
had been sold as slaves, I had held my peace.
And King
Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther: Who is he and where is he
who dares so to do? Esther answered: The adversary and enemy
is this wicked Haman. Haman was afraid before the king and
the queen. The king rose up in wrath from the banquet of wine,
and went into the palace garden, and Haman remained standing
to plead for his life with Queen Esther; for he saw that there
was evil determined against him by the king. Then the king
returned from the garden to the banqueting-hall, and Haman had
sunk down on the couch on which Esther was. And the king
said: Will he do violence to the queen here in my presence?
As the words went out of the king's mouth, they covered Ha-
man's face.
•
The clear portraiture of persons, the succession of interesting sit-
uations, the rapidity and inevitableness of the movement, the splen-
did reversal of fortunes, combine to make the book a work of art of
a high order.
## p. 10782 (#662) ##########################################
10782
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
THE PROPHETS
The most distinctly characteristic part of Old Testament literature
is the prophetical. The position of the Israelitish prophet is unique.
No other people has produced a line of moral and religious patriots,
who followed the fortunes of the nation from generation to gen-
eration, and amid all changes of political situation remained true to
their cardinal principle,- that no conditions of power and wealth
would avail a nation which did not pay strict obedience to the moral
law and place its reliance in God. The prophetic writing belongs, in
general, to the class of oratory. The prophets are political-religious
watchmen, who appear at every crisis to announce the will of God.
They denounce current sins, religious and moral. They plead, exhort,
threaten, lament. They differ from other orators in that their audi-
ence is not a court of law, nor an assembly of the people, but the
whole nation; and the question which they discuss is not the inter-
pretation of a statute, or a particular point of political policy, but the
universal principle of obedience to God.
The language of the prophetical discourses is for the most part
rhythmical and measured, and the discourses themselves naturally
fall into strophes and paragraphs. There is no metre, no fixed suc-
cession or number of syllables in a line, and no regular strophic
arrangement; -on the contrary, the greatest freedom prevails in
respect to length of clauses and of strophes. The elaborate strophic
structure of the odes of the Greek drama does not exist in the pro-
phetic discourses; and as divisions into verses and strophes were
not given in the original Hebrew text, we are left to determine the
arrangement in every case from the contents. The writings of the
prophets vary greatly in style and in charm and power; but they
are almost without exception vigorous and striking. Whether they
denounce social evils, or inveigh against idolatry, whether they pro-
claim the wrath of God, or his mercy,- whether they threaten or
implore, they are almost always strong and picturesque.
The paragraphs, the logical divisions of simple prose discourse,
are generally marked in the English Revised Version. Strophic
divisions, marked by headings or refrains in rhythmical elevated
prose, are sometimes but not always indicated. Examples of stro-
phes are Amos i. , ii. ; Isa. v. 8–24 (woes); ix. 8-x. 4 (refrain), to which
should be attached v. 25; Ezek. xviii. , xx. , xxxii. 19-32 (not indicated
in R. V. ).
Among the prophets none is more eloquent than Amos in the
denunciation of social evils; take, for example, the passage on the
following page (Am. v. 11–24).
## p. 10783 (#663) ##########################################
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
10783
FORASMUCH as ye trample on the poor,
And take from him exactions of wheat,
Though ye have built houses of hewn stone.
Ye shall not dwell in them,
Though ye have planted pleasant vineyards
Ye shall not drink the wine thereof.
For I know how manifold are your transgressions
And how mighty are your sins,
Ye who afflict the just, who take bribes,
Who deprive the poor of their rights in courts of justice.
Therefore he that is prudent keeps silence in such a time, for
it is an evil time. Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live:
and then Jehovah, the God of hosts, may be with you, as ye say.
Hate the evil, and love the good, and maintain justice in the
courts: then it may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be
gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
There shall be wailing in all the broad ways,
In all the streets they shall say, Alas!
They shall call the husbandman to mourning,
And such as are skillful in lamentation to wailing.
In all vineyards shall be wailing,
For I will pass through the midst of thee, saith Jehovah.
Woe unto you who desire the day of Jehovah: why would ye
have the day of Jehovah? it is darkness and not light—as if a
man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him, and when he got
into his house and leaned his hand on the wall, a serpent bit
him. Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness and not light?
very dark, and no brightness in it?
I hate, I despise your feasts,
I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Though you offer me your burnt-offerings and cereal
I will not accept them;
[offerings,
The peace-offerings of your fat beasts I will not regard.
Take away from me the noise of thy songs;
The clang of thy viols I will not hear.
But let equity roll down as waters,
And justice as a perennial stream.
## p. 10784 (#664) ##########################################
10784
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
Amos, Isaiah, and Ezekiel display no tenderness toward their peo-
ple; Hosea is an intensely loving nature; Jeremiah's prevailing atti-
tude is one of sorrow, as in these extracts from chapters viii. and
ix. of his book:-
ОH FOR Comfort in my sorrow! My heart is sick! Hark! the
cry of the Daughter of my People from a far-off land: Is not
Jehovah in Zion? is not her King in her? -[Jehovah speaks:]
Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images
and with foreign gods? -[The people:] The harvest is past,
the autumn ingathering is ended, and we are not saved. — [The
prophet:] By the ruin of the Daughter of my People my spirit
is crushed; I mourn; dismay seizes me. Is there no balm in
Gilead? is there no physician there? why then is the wound of
the Daughter of my People not healed? -Oh that my head were.
water, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day
and night for the slain of the Daughter of my People! Oh that
I could find in the wilderness a lodging-place for travelers, that
I might leave my people, and from them go far away! .
For the mountains will I break forth into weeping and wailing,
and for the pastures of the wilderness utter a lament, because
they are burned, so that none passes through; voices of cattle
are not heard; birds of the heaven and beasts of the field are
all fled and gone.
. Call for the mourning women, that
they may come; send for women skilled in lament, that they may
come and utter wailing for us, that tears may stream from our
eyes and water from our eyelids.
•
Ezekiel's tremendous power of denunciation and of description
appears throughout his book; see for example Chapters vi. , xi. , xvi. ,
xx. , xxiii. , xxvi. -xxviii. , xxix. -xxxii. , xxxviii. , xxxix. He thus addresses
the land of Israel (vi. ):-
I WILL bring the sword on you, and destroy your high places;
Your altars shall be desolate, your sun-images shall be broken,
I will cast down your slain before your idols,
And scatter your bones about your altars.
And the remnant that escape the sword, scattered through the
lands,
Shall remember me among the nations whither they are car-
ried captive.
That he shall come at once.
He is asleep.
A midday slumber; he lies stretched
Stiffly beneath a shadowy elder-tree.
Hakon- Then wake him up. [Aside. ] Asleep, and after such
A deed Ha! Thorer, I admire thee;
Thou hast rare courage. [Aloud. ] Thrall, go wake him up.
Olaf- But wilt thou first not look at Olaf's head?
Hakon-No; I have said no.
Olaf-
Olaf-
Hakon- Asleep?
Olaf -
Thou dost think, my lord,
That perhaps it is a horrid frightful sight:
It is not so, my lord; for Olaf's head
Looks fresh and sound as any in the land.
Hakon-Away, I tell thee!
Olaf -
I ne'er saw the like:
always heard that Hakon was a hero,
Few like him in the North,- and does he fear
To see a lifeless and a corpseless head?
How wouldst thou tremble then, my lord, if thou
Shouldst see it on his body?
Hakon [turning round angrily]-
Thrall, thou darest!
Where hast thou got it?
Olaf [takes his hat off, and throws off his cloak] –
On my shoulders, Earl.
Forgive me that I bring it thee myself
In such a way: 'twas easiest for me.
Hakon — What, Olaf! Ha! what treachery is here?
Olaf- Old gray-beard, spare thy rash, heroic wrath.
Attempt not to fight Olaf, but remember
That he has still his head upon his body,
And that thy impotent, gray-bearded strength
Was only fitting for the headless Olaf.
## p. 10768 (#648) ##########################################
10768
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
Hakon [rushes at him]-
Ha, Hilfheim!
Olaf [strikes his sword, and says in a loud voice] —
So, be quiet now, I say,
And sheathe thy sword again. My followers
Surround the house; my vessels are a match
For all of thine, and I myself have come
To win the country in an honest fight.
Thyself hast urged me with thy plots to do it.
Thou standest like a despicable thrall
In his own pitfall caught at last; but I
Will make no use of these advantages
Which fate has granted me. I am convinced
That I may boldly meet thee face to face.
Thy purpose, as thou seest, has wholly failed,
And in his own blood does thy Thorer swim.
Thou seest 'twere easy for me to have seized thee;
To strike thee down were even easier still:
But the Christian doctrine do confess,
And do such poor advantages despise.
So choose between two courses. Still be Earl
Of Hlade as thou wast, and do me homage,
Or else take flight; for when we meet again
'Twill be the time for red and bleeding brows.
Hakon [proudly and quietly]-
My choice is made. I choose the latter, Olaf.
Thou callest me a villain and a thrall;
That forces up a smile upon my lips.
Olaf, one hears indeed that thou art young;
It is by mockery and arrogance
That one can judge thy age. Now, look at me
Full in the eyes; consider well my brow:
Hast thou among the thralls e'er met such looks?
Dost think that cunning or that cowardice
Could e'er have carved these wrinkles on my brow?
I did entice thee hither. Ha! 'tis true
I knew that thou didst wait but for a sign
To flutter after the enticing bait;
That in thy soul thou didst more highly prize
Thy kinship with an extinct race of kings
Than great Earl Hakon's world-renownèd deeds;
That thou didst watch the opportunity
――――
To fall upon the old man in his rest.
Does it astonish thee that I should wish
Quickly to rid myself of such a foe?
## p. 10769 (#649) ##########################################
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
10769
Olaf-
Remember, Hakon,-
Remember, Hakon, that e'en thou thyself
Hast been a Christian; that thou wast baptized
By Bishop Popo, and that thou since then
Didst break thy oath. How many hast thou broken?
Hakon-Accursed forever may that moment be
--
Olaf -
Hakon
That I deceived a dreamer who despised
The mighty gods,-does that astonish thee?
Does it astonish thee that I approved
My warriors' purpose, since a hostile fate
Attempted to dethrone, not only me,
But all Valhalla's gods?
―――――
When by the cunning monk I was deceived,
And let myself be fooled by paltry tricks.
He held a red-hot iron in his hand,
After by magic he had covered it
With witches' ointment.
O thou blind old man!
Thy silver hair does make me pity thee.
Ha! spare thy pity; as thou seest me here,
Thou seest the last flash and the latest spark
Of ancient Northern force and hero's life;
And that, with all thy fever-stricken dreams,
Proud youth, thou shalt be powerless to quench.
I well do know it is the Christian custom
To pity, to convert, and to amend.
Our custom is to heartily despise you,
To ruminate upon your fall and death,
As foes to gods and to a hero's life.
That Hakon does, and therein does consist
His villainy. By Odin, and by Thor,
Thou shalt not quench old Norway's warlike flame
With all thy misty dreams of piety.
Olaf 'Tis well: fate shall decide. We separate,
And woe to thee when next we meet again.
Hakon — Aye, woe to me if then I crush thee not.
Olaf- Heaven shall strike thee with its fiery might!
Hakon-No, with his hammer Thor the cross will smite!
XVIII-674
Translation of Frank C. Lascelles.
## p. 10770 (#650) ##########################################
10770
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
THE SACRIFICE
From Hakon Jarl'
[A golden horn with runic inscription has been brought to Hakon, who
has taken the words-
ER
to signify that he must sacrifice what is most dear to him if he would win in
the impending battle with Olaf Trygvesön. Acting upon this belief, he takes
Erling, his child, at early morn to the sacrificial grove. ]
Enter Earl Hakon, leading Erling by the hand
It is so cold, my father!
RLING
Hakon-
Erling-
-
Hakon-
Hakon
-
―
Erling-
-
――――
-
"Go to the great gods,
Give them thy best»-
Erling [clapping his hands]—What lovely roses, father!
Oh, see the lovely roses, how they blush!
But tell me, my dear father, whence do come
Such masses of these lovely pearls, which are
Strewed over all the valley down below?
Oh, how they glitter up towards the roses!
Those are no pearls; it is but morning dew.
That which thou callest roses is the sun.
Dost see it rise?
Erling-
My dear son,
It is yet early, therefore is it cold;
Thou shiverest, child!
That matters not, my father.
Oh, what a ball of fire!
How crimson red! O father dear, can we
Not travel thither to the morning sun?
Hakon Towards the sun our life must ever strive;
I am so glad that thou didst promise me
That I should see the sun arise to-day;
A sunrise have I never seen before.
Dost see the golden rays which yonder break
Far in the east?
For seest thou that lovely ruddy glow
Which glitters yonder? —that is Odin's eye.
The other, which by night thou seest shine
With a far softer and a paler glow,
Has he now left in pledge in Mimer's well,
That there it may obtain the drink which makes
His eye more fresh and more acute.
And what is Mimer's well?
And where
## p. 10771 (#651) ##########################################
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
10771
Hakon -
Erling-
Oh, how on high
It rises up! I can no longer bear
To gaze upon it, for it burns my eyes.
Hakon- The Almighty Father mounts upon his throne,
And soon the whole world will he look upon.
The golden throne doth dazzle earthly eyes;
Who dares presume to gaze upon the king
Of light and day in his full midday glow?
Erling [turning round frightened—
Oh, oh! my father, who are those? such grim
And old white men, who in the shadow stand
Behind the trees there?
Hakon-
Erling
The mighty sea
There, deep below, which dashes 'gainst the rocks,-
That is the deep-dug well of ancient Mimer,
That strengthens Odin's eye; and doubly bright
The sun arises, joyful and refreshed
By the cool morning waves.
Hakon
Speak not so, my son!
Those are the statues of the mighty gods,
Formed in the hard stone by the hands of men.
They do not dazzle us with summer flames;
To them may Askur's sons kneel down in peace,
And gaze with reverence upon their face.
Come, let us go and see them closer, come.
Oh no, my father, I do fear! Dost see
That old, long-bearded, hoary-headed man?
He looks so fierce and grim upon me. Oh,
He makes me quite afraid!
O Erling, Erling!
That is god Odin-art afraid of Odin?
Erling-No, no; of Odin I am not afraid,—
The real Odin yonder in the sky,
He will not harm me: he is good and bright;
He calls forth flowers from the lap of earth,
And like a flower does he gleam himself.
But that white, pallid sorcerer, he stares
As though he sought to take my life-blood.
Hakon
Erling-My father, let me go and fetch my wreath;
I left it hanging yonder on a bush
When thou didst show me when the sun arose:
And let us then go home again, my father,
Away from these grim, ancient statues here;
Ha!
## p. 10772 (#652) ##########################################
10772
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
Hakon
For thou mayst well believe the grim old man
Has no good-will towards thee, father dear.
Go fetch thy wreath, child, then come back at once.
[Exit Erling. ]
The sacrificial lamb should be adorned.
Ye mighty gods, behold from Valaskjalf
Earl Hakon's faith and truth confirmed by deeds!
Re-enter Erling with a wreath of flowers round his head
Erling - Here am I, my dear father, with my wreath.
Hakon - Kneel down, my son, to Odin, ere thou goest;
Stretch out thy little hands towards the sky,
And say,
And mercifully take him in thy charge. "
Erling [kneels down, looking towards the sun, stretches out his hands, and
says innocently and childlike]-
Great Father, hear the little Erling's prayer,
And mercifully take him in thy charge!
"Great Father! hear the little Erling's prayer,
—
[Hakon, who stands behind him, draws his dagger while Erling is saying
his prayer, and raises it to strike, but it falls from his hand. Er-
ling turns towards him quietly and confidently, picks up the dagger.
and says, as he gets up off his knees:-]
Hakon-
My father dear, thou'st let thy dagger drop.
How sharp and bright it is! When I am big
Then I shall also have such weapons, and
Will help thee 'gainst thy enemies, my father.
Hakon-What sorcerer is't that places in thy mouth
Such words as these to scare me, and to make
Me tremble?
Erling
O my father! what's the matter?
What has, then, Erling done? Why art thou wroth?
Hakon - Come, Erling, follow me behind the gods.
Erling-Behind the grim men?
Follow, and obey.
Behind the statue do the roses grow;
No pale white roses,- ruddy roses they,
Blood-red and purple roses. Ha! it is
A joy to see how quickly they shoot forth.
Follow, I say,- obey!
Erling [weeping] —
My father dear,
I am so frightened at the purple roses.
Hakon-Away! already Heimdal's cock does crow,
And now the time is come, the time is come!
[Exeunt.
Translation of Frank C. Lascelles.
## p. 10773 (#653) ##########################################
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
10773
SONG
From Correggio'
THE
HE fairy dwells in the rocky hall,
The pilgrim sits by the waterfall;
The waters tumble as white as snow,
From the rocks above to the pool below:
"Sir Pilgrim, plunge in the dashing spray,
And you shall be my own love alway!
"From the bonds of the body thy soul I'll free;
Thou shalt merrily dance in the woods with me.
Sir Pilgrim, into the waters dash,
And ivory white thy bones I'll wash.
Deep, deep shalt thou rest in my oozy home,
And the waterfall o'er thee shall burst in foam. "
The pilgrim he thrills, and to rise were fain,
But his limbs are so weary, he strives in vain.
The fairy she comes with her golden hair,
And she hands him a goblet of water fair;
He drinks the cool draught, and he feels amain
The frenzy of fever in heart and brain.
It chills his marrow, it chills his blood,
He has drunken of death's deceitful flood;
Pale, pale he sinks on the roses red,—
There lies the pilgrim, and he is dead.
The whirlpool sweeps him far down, and there
His bones 'mongst the sedges lie blanched and bare.
And now from the body the soul is free,
Now at midnight it comes to the greenwood tree:
In spring, when the mountain stream runs high,
His ghost with the fairy goes dancing by;
Then shines through the forest the wan moon's beam,
And through the clear waters his white bones gleam.
Translation of Sir Theodore Martin.
NOUREDDIN READS FROM AN OLD FOLIO
From Aladdin'
IFE'S gladsome child is led by Fortune's hand;
L
And what the sage doth moil to make his prize,
When in the sky the pale stars coldly stand,
From his own breast leaps forth in wondrous wise.
## p. 10774 (#654) ##########################################
10774
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
Met by boon Fortune midway, he prevails,
Scarce weeting how, in whatsoe'er he tries.
'Tis ever thus that Fortune freely hails
Her favorite, and on him her blessings showers,
Even as to heaven the scented flower exhales.
Unwooed she comes at unexpected hours;
And little it avails to rack thy brain,
And ask where lurk her long-reluctant powers;
Fain wouldst thou grasp-Hope's portal shuts amain,
And all thy fabric vanishes in air;
Unless foredoomed by Fate thy toils are vain,
Thy aspirations doomed to meet despair.
Translation of Sir Theodore Martin.
OEHLENSCHLÄGER'S ONLY HYMN
TEA
EACH me, O forest, that I may
Like autumn leaves fade glad away,
A fairer spring forecasting;
There green my tree shall glorious stand,
Deep-rooted in the lovely land
Of summer everlasting.
O little bird of passage, thou
Teach me in faith to hie me now
To shores that are uncharted;
When all winter here, and ice,
Then shall eternal Paradise
Open to me, departed.
Teach me, thou butterfly so light,
To break from out my prison plight
That is my freedom robbing;
On earth I creep with lowly things,
But soon the golden-purple wings
Shall high in air be throbbing.
O Thou who smilest from yon sky,
Master and Savior, Christ the high,
Teach me to conquer sorrow.
Let Hope's bright flag enhearten me;
Although Good Friday bitter be,
Fair is the Easter morrow.
Translated by Richard Burton for A Library of the World's Best Literature'
## p. 10775 (#655) ##########################################
10775
THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE JEWISH
APOCRYPHA
BY CRAWFORD H. TOY
THE OLD TESTAMENT
HE greatest interest in the Old Testament has, naturally, at-
tached to its religious thought; and it has sometimes been
forgotten that as the record of the national literature of the
Hebrew people, it deserves to be studied on the literary side. It
need fear no comparison in this regard with the great literatures of
the world. There are forms of literary art in which the Old Testa-
ment has no superior; and in any case, the pleasure which is derived
from it must be increased by a recognition of its literary excel-
lences.
Its prose portion consists of History (in which, for our purposes,
we may include the Legislation) and Prophecy. The former is simple
prose, the latter rhythmical and balanced. We may first consider the
narrative or historical portion.
NARRATIVE PROSE
The Old Testament histories consist almost entirely of annals and
anecdotes,- extracts from yearly records of events, or biographical
material which is made up largely of special incidents. The style is
remarkable for its simplicity. The Semitic languages (to which class
the Hebrew belongs) have no involved syntactical constructions.
Their sentences consist almost entirely of clauses connected by the
simple conjunction "and. " This peculiarity gives picturesqueness and
a certain monumental character to the narratives; each clause stands
out by itself, presenting a single picture. There is no attempt (as in
Greek) to represent elaborate and fine logical connections of thought.
And further, this formal isolatedness, if we may so term it, is not
confined to the structure of the sentence and the paragraph, but also
controls the composition of the historical books. The incidents are
set down as independent occurrences, and there is no attempt to trace
the logical connection between them.
This characteristic is abundantly illustrated in the books of Judges,
Samuel, and Kings. In the first of these books we have a series of
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OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
similar yet unconnected incidents: the land of Israel is conquered or
held in subjection by some neighboring people-a hero arises and
throws off the yoke - there is a period of quiet, followed by a new
epoch of subjection which calls forth another hero; and so on. So
the lives of Saul, David, and Samuel are simple biographies, in
which the incidents are, in like manner, for the most part detached;
and the same remark holds of the history of the reigns of the kings
who succeeded David. In the Pentateuch the lives of the Patriarchs
and of Moses, and the history of the march of the people from Egypt
to Canaan, are similarly composed of isolated paragraphs.
Yet on the other hand, it is to be observed that these books exhibit
a marked unity of plan. The Hexateuch (the Pentateuch and Joshua)
beginning with the creation of the world, and coming down to the
Flood, which separates human history into two great parts, passes to
the ancestor Abraham, follows his descendants to Egypt, describes
their advance to the promised land, and finally the conquest and
division of the territory. The aim of the work is to describe the set-
tlement of Israel in Canaan, and all the preceding history is made to
bear on that event. The Book of Judges, taking up the history at
the moment when the people enter Canaan, depicts the pre-regal
period as a unit; Samuel describes the establishment of the mon-
archy and the reigns of the first two kings; Kings gives the fortunes
of the people down to the suppression of the national political life;
and Chronicles, it may be added, with a still more noticeable unity,
confines itself to the history of Judah. Finally, in the short books
of Ezra and Nehemiah, we have the story of the introduction of
the Law, and the establishment of what may be called the Jewish
Church-Nation.
We have thus, in the historical books of the Old Testament, a
noteworthy unity of plan, combined with the isolation of independ-
ent parts. It is further to be noted that the object of each of these
histories is to express an idea. The Hexateuch is the prose epic
of the choice of Israel by Jehovah. The earlier historical books-
Judges, Samuel, and Kings-are historical sermons, illustrating the
text that national prosperity is dependent on obedience to the God
of Israel; in Chronicles the text is slightly varied,-here it is obedi-
ence to the Law of Moses which is the condition of national peace.
Examples of the finest qualities of narrative prose style are found
throughout the historical books. Abraham's plea for Sodom (Gen.
xviii.
) combines naïveté, dignity, and moral earnestness. Jehovah,
having had reports of the corruption of Sodom, comes down, accom-
panied by two angels, to inquire into the case, and first pays a visit
to Abraham. After a repast the two angels are sent to Sodom, with
instructions to destroy it; Jehovah remains with Abraham, whose
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10777
heart is sore at the thought of the destruction of the city where
dwelt his kinsman Lot. The narrative proceeds:
·-
AND Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou consume the
righteous with the wicked? Perhaps there are fifty righteous
men within the city: wilt thou consume and not spare the place
for the fifty righteous who are therein? That be far from thee
to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked;
that so the righteous should be as the wicked: that be far from
thee; shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? And Jeho-
vah said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous, then I will spare
all the place for their sake. And Abraham answered and said,
My lord, I who am dust and ashes have taken upon me to
speak to thee: there may perhaps lack five of the fifty righteous:
wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, I
will not destroy it if I find there forty and five. And he spake
unto him yet again, and said, Perhaps there shall be forty found
there. And he said, I will not do it for the forty's sake. And
he said, Oh let not my lord be angry, and I will speak; perhaps
there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it
if I find thirty there. And he said, Behold now, my lord, I have
taken upon me to speak to thee: perhaps there shall be twenty
found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for the twenty's
sake. And he said, Oh let not my lord be angry, and I will speak
yet but this once: perhaps ten shall be found there. And he
said, I will not destroy it for the ten's sake. And Jehovah went
his way when he had finished speaking with Abraham, and Abra-
ham returned to his place.
The familiar appeal of Judah on behalf of Benjamin (Gen. xliv.
18-34) must be mentioned for its exquisite pathos. Joseph, known to
the brothers only as the all-powerful prime minister, pretends to sus-
pect that they are spies, and refuses to sell them food unless they
bring him their youngest brother, of whom they had spoken. Jacob,
informed of this demand, at first refuses to send Benjamin- the only
surviving son, as he supposes, of his beloved Rachel. Pressed by
famine, he at last consents, Judah pledging himself to bring the lad
back. When they reach Egypt, Joseph so arranges that Benjamin
shall seem to have been guilty of theft and worthy of imprisonment.
Judah, in despair, comes forward and pleads for the boy's liberty.
The plea is little more than a recital of the circumstances, in sim-
plest dramatic form; but the heart-rending situation stands out with
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OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
lifelike clearness. The same element of pathos is found in the whole
story of Joseph's relations with his brothers.
For brilliant dramatic effect there is scarcely anything in literature
finer than the description of Elijah's challenge to the priests of Baal
(1 Kings xviii. ). The conditions are chosen with singular felicity. The
Sidonian Baal, the god of the Queen of Israel, is represented by four
hundred and fifty prophets, backed by all the power of the royal
court; for Jehovah, God of Israel, stands one proscribed fugitive, a
rude Bedawi from the east of the Jordan. The scene is the sacred
mountain Carmel, from whose slopes are visible the Great Sea, the
rich plains of the coast, and the rugged central plateau of Israel. Eli-
jah proposes to test the two deities, and take the more powerful; the
people, trembling and expectant, agree. The narrative goes on:-
AND Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose one bullock
for yourselves, and prepare it first, for ye are many; and call on
the name of your god, but put no fire under. And they took the
bullock and prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from
morning till noon, saying, O Baal, answer us. But there was no
voice, nor any that answered. And they danced about the altar
which they had made. And at noon Elijah mocked them, and
said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he
is gone aside, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep, and
must be awaked. And they cried aloud and cut themselves after
their manner with knives and lances, till the blood gushed out
upon them.
And when midday was past they prophesied until
the time of the evening cereal offering; but there was neither
voice, nor any answer, nor any that regarded. And Elijah said
to all the people, Come near to me; and all the people came
near to him. And he repaired the altar of Jehovah which was
broken down, and made a trench about the altar, as great as
would contain two measures of seed, put the wood in order, cut
the bullock in pieces, and laid it on the wood. And he said, Fill
four barrels with water, and pour it on the offering, and on the
wood. And he said, Do it the second time; and they did it the
second time. And he said, Do it the third time; and they did
it the third time. And the water ran round about the altar; and
he filled the trench also with water. And at the time of the
evening cereal offering Elijah came near and said, Jehovah, God
of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that thou
art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done
all these things at thy word. Answer me, O Jehovah, answer
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10779
me, that this people may know that thou, Jehovah, art God, and
turn thou their heart back again. Then fire from heaven fell
and consumed the offering and the wood and the stones and the
dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when
all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said,
Jehovah, he is God; Jehovah, he is God.
After this it is somewhat surprising to find Elijah (1 Kings xix. )
fleeing for his life at a threat made by the Queen. The story of his
flight contains a majestic theophany:-
AND he went into a cave and passed the night there. And
behold, Jehovah passed by, and a great and strong wind rent
the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks; but Jehovah was
not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but Jehovah
was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but
Jehovah was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small
voice. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle
and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And there
came to him a voice: What doest thou here, Elijah? And he
said, I have been very jealous for Jehovah, the God of hosts; be-
cause the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown
down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword: and I,
even I only, am left; and they seek my life to take it away.
A characteristic picture is given in 1 Kings xxii. The allied Kings
of Israel and Judah are about to attack the transjordanic city of
Ramoth, and desire first a response from the oracle. The King of
Judah, for some reason dissatisfied with Ahab's prophets, insists that
Micaiah be called. The latter, after mocking answers, finally predicts
disaster, and then proceeds to account for the favorable predictions
of the court prophets:-
I SAW Jehovah sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven
standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And Jehovah
said, Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at
Ramoth-Gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said
on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before
Jehovah and said, I will entice him. And Jehovah said to him,
Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and will be a lying.
spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt
entice him, and shalt prevail also: go forth and do so. Now,
therefore, behold, Jehovah has put a lying spirit in the mouth of
## p. 10780 (#660) ##########################################
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OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
all these thy prophets, and Jehovah has spoken evil concerning
thee. Then Zedekiah the son of Kenaanah came near, and smote
Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the spirit of
Jehovah from me to speak to thee? And Micaiah said, Thou
shalt see on that day when thou shalt go into an inner chamber
to hide thyself. And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and
carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash
the king's son, and say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in
the prison, and feed him with bread and water of the worst sort,
until I come in peace. And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in
peace, Jehovah has not spoken by me.
A peculiar interest attaches to the three short books Ruth, Jonah,
and Esther. These differ from the works above named in the fact
that they describe each a single event. Each is a unity with defi-
nitely marked characters and incidents, leading to a culmination. In
a word, so far as the literary form is concerned, these are short
stories; and they seem to be the first productions of this sort in all
the ancient world. Their predecessors in Hebrew literature are the
incidents described in the Pentateuch and the historical books, in
the lives of the Patriarchs, Judges, and Kings, and Prophets; as for
example the story of Jephthah, the campaign of Gideon, the rebel-
lion of Absalom, and the challenge of Elijah to the priests of Baal.
These also are succinct and vivid narratives of particular incidents,
but the three books here referred to have the quality of finish and
plot,- elaborate arrangement of incident leading up to a dénoue-
ment,—in a still higher degree. The Moabitess Ruth, left a widow,
departs with her mother-in-law to a strange land; and here, by her
charm, conquers a place, and becomes the honored head of a great
household. Jonah, anxious to avoid a disagreeable mission, is never-
theless forced to go to Nineveh, and there becomes the occasion of
the announcement of a religious truth of primary significance,-
namely, that God cares no less for Nineveh than for Jerusalem. The
skill with which the narrative in Esther is constructed has always
excited admiration. The splendid royal banquet-the refusal of
Queen Vashti to make herself a spectacle to the drunken guests—
her deposition by the offended despot, and his determination to choose
another queen
- the appearance of the Jewess Esther, whose nation-
ality has been carefully concealed by her guardian Mordecai - the
successive trials of the inmates of the harem, and the selection of
Esther to be Queen-all this is an astounding whirligig of fortune.
But this is only preparatory to the main event. The sturdy Morde-
cai refuses to do reverence to the King's haughty favorite Haman,
who, exasperated by his persistent contempt, resolves to extirpate the
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10781
Jewish population of Persia, and procures a royal decree to that
effect. The Jews are in despair. Mordecai sends word to Esther
that she must go to the King (which to do unbidden is a crime) and
intercede; he adds that otherwise she herself will not escape the
general fate. She finally plucks courage from despair, goes, is gra-
ciously received, and invites the King and Haman to a banquet that
day. At that banquet she invites them to another next day, when
she will make her request. Haman, elated, listens to the advice of
his wife and his friends, and prepares a lofty post on which Mordecai
is to be impaled. That night the King, unable to sleep, listens to an
account, in the court record, of a good deed of Mordecai, hitherto
unrewarded. Who is without? he asks. The answer is: Haman (who
had come to arrange the impalement of his enemy).
He is sum-
moned, enters, is asked what should be done to the man whom the
King delights to honor. Thinking it could be only himself, he sug-
gests that the man, clothed in royal apparel, ride through the streets
on the King's own horse. So be it: Haman is ordered to conduct
Mordecai. It is a terrible blow, and is taken by his wife and his
friends as an omen of disaster. Next day, however, he comes to the
Queen's banquet, and here the King asks her to state her request-he
would grant it if it cost half his kingdom. The narrative continues:
QUEEN ESTHER answered: If I have found favor in thy sight,
O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me
at my petition, and my people at my request; for we are sold, I
and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, to perish. If we
had been sold as slaves, I had held my peace.
And King
Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther: Who is he and where is he
who dares so to do? Esther answered: The adversary and enemy
is this wicked Haman. Haman was afraid before the king and
the queen. The king rose up in wrath from the banquet of wine,
and went into the palace garden, and Haman remained standing
to plead for his life with Queen Esther; for he saw that there
was evil determined against him by the king. Then the king
returned from the garden to the banqueting-hall, and Haman had
sunk down on the couch on which Esther was. And the king
said: Will he do violence to the queen here in my presence?
As the words went out of the king's mouth, they covered Ha-
man's face.
•
The clear portraiture of persons, the succession of interesting sit-
uations, the rapidity and inevitableness of the movement, the splen-
did reversal of fortunes, combine to make the book a work of art of
a high order.
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THE PROPHETS
The most distinctly characteristic part of Old Testament literature
is the prophetical. The position of the Israelitish prophet is unique.
No other people has produced a line of moral and religious patriots,
who followed the fortunes of the nation from generation to gen-
eration, and amid all changes of political situation remained true to
their cardinal principle,- that no conditions of power and wealth
would avail a nation which did not pay strict obedience to the moral
law and place its reliance in God. The prophetic writing belongs, in
general, to the class of oratory. The prophets are political-religious
watchmen, who appear at every crisis to announce the will of God.
They denounce current sins, religious and moral. They plead, exhort,
threaten, lament. They differ from other orators in that their audi-
ence is not a court of law, nor an assembly of the people, but the
whole nation; and the question which they discuss is not the inter-
pretation of a statute, or a particular point of political policy, but the
universal principle of obedience to God.
The language of the prophetical discourses is for the most part
rhythmical and measured, and the discourses themselves naturally
fall into strophes and paragraphs. There is no metre, no fixed suc-
cession or number of syllables in a line, and no regular strophic
arrangement; -on the contrary, the greatest freedom prevails in
respect to length of clauses and of strophes. The elaborate strophic
structure of the odes of the Greek drama does not exist in the pro-
phetic discourses; and as divisions into verses and strophes were
not given in the original Hebrew text, we are left to determine the
arrangement in every case from the contents. The writings of the
prophets vary greatly in style and in charm and power; but they
are almost without exception vigorous and striking. Whether they
denounce social evils, or inveigh against idolatry, whether they pro-
claim the wrath of God, or his mercy,- whether they threaten or
implore, they are almost always strong and picturesque.
The paragraphs, the logical divisions of simple prose discourse,
are generally marked in the English Revised Version. Strophic
divisions, marked by headings or refrains in rhythmical elevated
prose, are sometimes but not always indicated. Examples of stro-
phes are Amos i. , ii. ; Isa. v. 8–24 (woes); ix. 8-x. 4 (refrain), to which
should be attached v. 25; Ezek. xviii. , xx. , xxxii. 19-32 (not indicated
in R. V. ).
Among the prophets none is more eloquent than Amos in the
denunciation of social evils; take, for example, the passage on the
following page (Am. v. 11–24).
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FORASMUCH as ye trample on the poor,
And take from him exactions of wheat,
Though ye have built houses of hewn stone.
Ye shall not dwell in them,
Though ye have planted pleasant vineyards
Ye shall not drink the wine thereof.
For I know how manifold are your transgressions
And how mighty are your sins,
Ye who afflict the just, who take bribes,
Who deprive the poor of their rights in courts of justice.
Therefore he that is prudent keeps silence in such a time, for
it is an evil time. Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live:
and then Jehovah, the God of hosts, may be with you, as ye say.
Hate the evil, and love the good, and maintain justice in the
courts: then it may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be
gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
There shall be wailing in all the broad ways,
In all the streets they shall say, Alas!
They shall call the husbandman to mourning,
And such as are skillful in lamentation to wailing.
In all vineyards shall be wailing,
For I will pass through the midst of thee, saith Jehovah.
Woe unto you who desire the day of Jehovah: why would ye
have the day of Jehovah? it is darkness and not light—as if a
man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him, and when he got
into his house and leaned his hand on the wall, a serpent bit
him. Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness and not light?
very dark, and no brightness in it?
I hate, I despise your feasts,
I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Though you offer me your burnt-offerings and cereal
I will not accept them;
[offerings,
The peace-offerings of your fat beasts I will not regard.
Take away from me the noise of thy songs;
The clang of thy viols I will not hear.
But let equity roll down as waters,
And justice as a perennial stream.
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Amos, Isaiah, and Ezekiel display no tenderness toward their peo-
ple; Hosea is an intensely loving nature; Jeremiah's prevailing atti-
tude is one of sorrow, as in these extracts from chapters viii. and
ix. of his book:-
ОH FOR Comfort in my sorrow! My heart is sick! Hark! the
cry of the Daughter of my People from a far-off land: Is not
Jehovah in Zion? is not her King in her? -[Jehovah speaks:]
Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images
and with foreign gods? -[The people:] The harvest is past,
the autumn ingathering is ended, and we are not saved. — [The
prophet:] By the ruin of the Daughter of my People my spirit
is crushed; I mourn; dismay seizes me. Is there no balm in
Gilead? is there no physician there? why then is the wound of
the Daughter of my People not healed? -Oh that my head were.
water, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day
and night for the slain of the Daughter of my People! Oh that
I could find in the wilderness a lodging-place for travelers, that
I might leave my people, and from them go far away! .
For the mountains will I break forth into weeping and wailing,
and for the pastures of the wilderness utter a lament, because
they are burned, so that none passes through; voices of cattle
are not heard; birds of the heaven and beasts of the field are
all fled and gone.
. Call for the mourning women, that
they may come; send for women skilled in lament, that they may
come and utter wailing for us, that tears may stream from our
eyes and water from our eyelids.
•
Ezekiel's tremendous power of denunciation and of description
appears throughout his book; see for example Chapters vi. , xi. , xvi. ,
xx. , xxiii. , xxvi. -xxviii. , xxix. -xxxii. , xxxviii. , xxxix. He thus addresses
the land of Israel (vi. ):-
I WILL bring the sword on you, and destroy your high places;
Your altars shall be desolate, your sun-images shall be broken,
I will cast down your slain before your idols,
And scatter your bones about your altars.
And the remnant that escape the sword, scattered through the
lands,
Shall remember me among the nations whither they are car-
ried captive.
