The Makers and Teachers of Judaism Part 29

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 10:5]

However the prosperity of Hyrca.n.u.s caused the Jews to envy him; and they who were worst disposed to him were the Pharisees. Now Hyrca.n.u.s was one of their disciples and had been greatly beloved by them. But once when he invited them to a feast and entertained them kindly and saw them in a good humor, he began to say to them that they knew that he desired to be a righteous man and do all things by which he might please G.o.d and them, for the Pharisees are philosophers. However, he desired, if they observed him offending in any respect or departing from the right way, that they would call him back and correct him. When they testified that he was entirely virtuous he was well pleased with their approval. But one of his guests, Eleazar by name, was a man malignant by nature, who delighted in dissension. This man said: "Since you wish to know the truth, if you really desire to do what is right, lay down the high priesthood and content yourself with the civil government of the people." And when Hyrca.n.u.s desired to know for what cause he ought to lay down the high priesthood, the other replied: "We have heard from old men that your mother was a captive in the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes." This story was false, and Hyrca.n.u.s was provoked against him. All the Pharisees likewise were very indignant with him.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 10:6a-c]

Now there was a certain Jonathan, a great friend of Hyrca.n.u.s, but of the sect of the Sadducees, whose ideas are the opposite of those of the Pharisees. He told Hyrca.n.u.s that Eleazar had cast that slur upon him according to the common opinion of all the Pharisees and that this would be made clear if he would ask them the question, What punishment they thought this man deserved? For in this way he might be sure that the slur was not laid on him with their approval, if they advised punis.h.i.+ng him as the crime deserved. Therefore when Hyrca.n.u.s asked this question, the Pharisees answered that the man deserved stripes and imprisonment, but it did not seem right to punish a slur with death. And indeed the Pharisees ordinarily are not apt to be severe in punishment. At this mild sentence Hyrca.n.u.s was very angry and thought that this man reproved him with their approval. It was this Jonathan who influenced him so far that he made him join the Sadducees and leave the party of the Pharisees and abolish the decrees that they had thus imposed on the people and punish those who obeyed them. This was the source of the hatred with which he and his sons were regarded by the mult.i.tude.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 10:7]

But when Hyrca.n.u.s had put an end to this sedition, he afterward lived happily and administered the government in the best manner for thirty-one years and then died, leaving behind him five sons. He was esteemed by G.o.d worthy of the three highest honors, the rulers.h.i.+p of his nation, the high priesthood, and prophecy, for G.o.d was with him and enabled him to predict the future.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 11:1a-c, 8a]

Now when Hyrca.n.u.s was dead, his eldest son Aristobulus, intent upon changing the government into a monarchy, was the first to put a diadem on his head. This Aristobulus loved his next brother Antigonus and treated him as an equal, but the others he kept in bonds. He also cast his mother into prison because she disputed the government with him, for Hyrca.n.u.s had left her in control of everything. He also proceeded to that degree of barbarity that he killed her in prison with hunger. Moreover he was estranged from his brother Antigonus by false charges and also slew him, although he seemed to have a great affection for him and had shared the kingdom with him. But Aristobulus immediately repented of the slaughter of his brother; on which account his disease grew upon him.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 11:3e]

Then Aristobulus died, after having reigned a year. He was called a lover of the Greeks and conferred many benefits on his country. He also made a war against Iturea [Galilee], and added a great part of it to Judea and compelled the inhabitants, if they wished to remain in that country, to be circ.u.mcised and to live according to the Jewish laws.

I. Murder of Simon. Even his moderation and kindly rule did not deliver Simon from the violent death that overtook all the sons of Mattathias.

His murderer was his son-in-law, a certain Ptolemy, who was governor of the Jordan Valley, the resources of which had been developed under Simon.

Ptolemy trusted to the support of the Syrian court, but he failed to reckon with two things: (1) the loyalty of the people to their Maccabean leaders; and (2) the ability of Simon's son, John Hyrca.n.u.s. Instead of falling a victim to Ptolemy's plot, John at once went to Jerusalem where he was made the high priest and governor by the people. Ptolemy, who was besieged in the castle of Dok, saved his miserable life only by shameless perfidy.

II. The Syrian Invasion. Antiochus Sidetes proved the ablest Syrian king of this period. Although his first attack had been repelled by Simon, he again attempted, on the accession of Hyrca.n.u.s, to reestablish his authority in Palestine. Josephus, in his account, obscures this humiliating chapter in Jewish history. The statement that Hyrca.n.u.s took from the tomb of David vast wealth and thus purchased immunity from Syrian attack has all the characteristics of an Oriental tale. Instead, Antiochus Sidetes not only besieged but captured Jerusalem, and doubtless compelled the Jews to pay heavy tribute. Preferring, however, to retain their loyalty rather than to crush them, he left John Hyrca.n.u.s in control of Judea, and Jerusalem escaped destruction. In the disastrous campaign against the Parthians in which Antiochus lost his life John Hyrca.n.u.s accompanied him with a following of Jewish soldiers. The death of Antiochus Sidetes in 129 B.C. at last left the Jews free to develop their kingdom without further fear of Syrian interference. This event marks for the Jews the attainment of absolute political freedom--a privilege which they continued to enjoy for a little over half a century.

III. John's Military Policy and Conquests. John possessed the characteristic ambitions and energy of his family. In his policy he also seems to have been strongly influenced by the achievements of Israel's early conquering king, David. His aim was to build up a small empire, and by crus.h.i.+ng the ancient foes of Israel to secure immunity from further attack. In employing foreign mercenaries he also followed the example of King David. Doubtless he was influenced in doing so by his experiences in the Parthian campaign. This policy, however, was far removed from the spirit of the early Maccabean leaders who had unsheathed the sword in behalf of their principles. John's first campaign was against the cities to the east of the Jordan, and resulted in the conquest of the towns of Medeba and Samaga and the territory subject to them. The conquest of Shechem and southern Samaria was undoubtedly prompted both by hereditary hatred toward the Samaritans and by the desire to provide an outlet for the growing Jewish population. After standing for two centuries, the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim was destroyed by the Jews. This sacrilegious act naturally intensified that hatred between Jew and Samaritan which burned so fiercely during the early part of the first Christian century. Marissa and Dora, the chief cities of the Idumeans, were next conquered. With strange inconsistency, John Hyrca.n.u.s, whose ancestors had first taken up the sword in defence of religious liberty, compelled the descendants of their old foes, the Edomites, to give up their national religion or else go into exile. This policy was fraught with far-reaching consequences, for among those appointed to rule over the conquered Edomites was Antipater, the ancestor of Herod, who was destined to rule the Jews and to initiate that long series of disasters that culminated in the destruction of the Jewish state. Last of all, John Hyrca.n.u.s advanced to the conquest of the Greek city of Samaria. Because of its natural strength and formidable defences a year was required for the siege, and it was ultimately captured only through famine. The sons of John Hyrca.n.u.s succeeded in holding at bay the Syrian armies that were sent to relieve the besieged. The conquered inhabitants were sold as slaves, and the city was left for a time in complete ruins. The conquest of Scythopolis, the ancient Bethshean, extended the bounds of John's kingdom to the southern hills of Galilee. Thus he became master of a small empire extending out toward the desert on the east, to the South Country on the south, touching the sea at Joppa, and including the entire territory of ancient Samaria on the north. While not as large as the kingdom of David, it was a more perfect political unit, and offered superior opportunities for commerce and internal development.

IV. The Break with the Pharisees. The successes of John Hyrca.n.u.s blinded the majority of the nation to the real issues at stake. But a powerful group, which during the Maccabean period appeared for the first time under the name of Pharisees, began to withdraw their allegiance and silently, at least, to protest against a high priest whose chief ambition was conquest. The story which Josephus tells to explain the defection of the Pharisees may be simply a popular tradition, but it is indicative of that division within Judaism which ultimately wrecked the Maccabean state. From the days of John Hyrca.n.u.s, the Maccabean rulers, with only one exception, were compelled to meet the silent but strong opposition of the Pharisees. As a result they turned to the rising party of the Sadducees which henceforth identified itself with the interests of the reigning family. Thus in the year of its greatest triumph the Jewish state became a house divided against itself. Estranged from the better-minded religious leaders of the nation, John Hyrca.n.u.s and his successors followed an increasingly secular, selfish policy until they completely forgot the n.o.ble ideals for which their fathers had striven.

V. The Reign of Aristobulus. The accession of Aristobulus marks a triumph of that h.e.l.lenism against which Judas and Simon had unsheathed the sword. Like many an Oriental monarch, he established his position on the throne by the murder of all members of his family who might contest his power. His inhuman cruelty to his mother and the suspicions which led him to murder his brother reveal a barbarous spirit that can only be explained as a result of the wrong ambitions that had already taken possession of Israel's rulers. Aristobulus's brief reign of one year is marked by two significant acts. The first is the a.s.sumption of the t.i.tle of king. On his own initiative, and apparently without the consent of the people, he placed the diadem upon his head. The other important act was the conquest of part of the territory of Iturea, which was known in later times as Galilee. He found it occupied by a mixed Syrian and Greek population in which were probably a few descendants of the ancient Israelites. Following the policy of his family, he doubtless at once inaugurated a system of colonization which carried to Galilee a strong Jewish population. Henceforth, by virtue of race, language, and religion, Galilee was closely bound to Judea.

Section CXIV. THE PHARISEES, SADDUCEES, AND ESSENES

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:2, 3a-c]

The Jews have three sects of philosophy: the Essenes, the Sadducees, and those called Pharisees. The Pharisees do not yield to luxury but despise that kind of life; and they follow the guidance of reason, and what that prescribes to them as good, they do. They also pay respect to those advanced in years nor are they so bold as to contradict them in anything which they have introduced. While they believe that all things are done by predestination, they do not take away from a man the choice of acting as he deems proper, for they believe that it is G.o.d's will that an event be decided for good or evil both by the divine counsel and by the man who is willing to accede to it. They also believe that souls possess immortal power and that under the earth there will be rewards or punishments according as men have lived virtuously or viciously in this life, and that the vicious are to be detained in an everlasting prison and that the virtuous shall have the power to live again.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:3d]

On account of this doctrine they have great influence with the people, and whatsoever they do in connection with the divine wors.h.i.+p, prayers and sacrifices, they perform in accordance with the direction of the Pharisees.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:4a, Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:14c]

But the doctrine of the Sadducees is that souls die with the bodies, nor do they give heed to anything beyond these things which the law enjoins.

They deny predestination entirely and a.s.sert that G.o.d exercises no oversight over any evil doing and they say that good or evil lies before man to choose, and, according to each man's inclination, he chooses the one or the other.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:4b]

They also think it virtuous to dispute with those teachers of philosophy which they follow. This doctrine, however, is accepted by only a few, but these are of the highest rank, They are able to accomplish almost nothing by themselves; for when they come to power, unwillingly but perforce, they accede to the Pharisaic doctrine, for otherwise they would not be tolerated by the mult.i.tude.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:5a, b]

The doctrine of the Essenes is that all things are best left to G.o.d. They teach the immortality of souls and think that the rewards of righteousness are to be earnestly striven for; and when they send what they have dedicated to G.o.d to the temple, they offer their sacrifices in accordance with the special law of purity which they observe. On this account they are excluded from the common court of the temple but themselves offer their sacrifices. Yet their course of life is far better than that of other men and they devote themselves wholly to agriculture.

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:2, 13a]

The Essenes seem to have a greater affection for each other than do the other sects. They reject pleasure as an evil, but regard self-restraint and the conquest of pa.s.sions as a virtue. They despise marriage and choose out other people's children, while they are impressionable and teachable, and they regard them as their own kindred, and conform them to their own customs. They do not absolutely repudiate marriage. There is also another order of Essenes, who agree with the rest in regard to their way of living, customs and laws, but differ from them in regard to marriage, for they think that by not marrying they will cut off the most important element in human life, which is the succession of mankind.

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:3, 4]

These men are despisers of riches and are wonderfully communistic among themselves. No one is to be found among them who has more than the others, for it is a law among them that those who join their sect must share with them what they have, so that among them all there is no evidence of poverty or excess of riches, but everyone's possessions are shared in common, so there is, as it were, but one property among all the brothers.

They also have directors appointed by vote to manage their common affairs.

These have no other interest, but each devotes himself to the needs of all. They possess no one city, but many of them dwell in every city, and if any of their sect come from other places, what they have lies open for them, just as if it were their own. They do not change garments or sandals until they first are entirely torn to pieces or worn out by time. Nor do they either buy or sell anything to each other, but every one of them gives to him who wants it and receives from him again in return for it what he wants; and even though no return is made, they are free to take what they want from whom they wish.

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:5]

And their piety toward G.o.d is very extraordinary; for before sunrise they speak not a word about profane matters, but offer up certain inherited prayers as if they made a supplication to it for its rising. After this everyone is sent away by their directors to engage in some of those arts in which they are skilled, and at which they labor with great diligence until the fifth hour; after which they a.s.semble again in one place. And when they have clad themselves in linen coverings, they bathe their bodies in cold water. After this purification is over they meet together in an apartment of their own in which none of another sect is permitted to enter. Then they go ceremonially pure into the dining room, as if into a temple. And when they have quietly sat down, the baker lays loaves in order for them, and a cook also brings a single plate of one kind of food and sets it before each of them. And a priest offers a prayer before eating. It is unlawful for any one to taste the food before the prayer.

When he has dined he offers prayer again. When they begin and when they end they praise G.o.d as the giver of the necessities of life. After this they lay aside their garments as though they were sacred, and devote themselves to their labor again until evening. Then they return home to dine in the same manner and if any strangers be there they sit down with them. There is never any clamor or disturbance to pollute their household, but they give everyone permission to speak in turn. The silence of the inmates appears to outsiders like some awful mystery.

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:6]

They do nothing except in accordance with the injunctions of their directors. Only these two things are done among them as each wishes, namely, they a.s.sist the needy and show mercy; but they cannot a.s.sist their kindred without the permission of their directors. They dispense their anger justly and restrain their pa.s.sion. They are eminent for fidelity and are the advocates of peace. Also whatever they say is mightier than an oath, but swearing is avoided by them, and they regard it worse than perjury, for they say that he who cannot be believed without swearing by G.o.d is already condemned. They also devote great attention to the study of the works of the ancients and select from them those things that are profitable for soul and body. Also they seek out such roots as may be effective for the cure of their diseases and inquire into the properties of stones.

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:7]

To one who desires to enter their sect, admission is not immediately granted; but he is prescribed the same method of living as they use for a year during which he is still excluded, and they give him a small hatchet, and girdle and the white garment. And when during that time he has given evidence of self-control, he approaches nearer to their way of living and is allowed to share the waters of purification. However, he is not even now allowed to live with them, for after this demonstration of his fort.i.tude, his character is tried two years more, and if he appears to be worthy, they then admit him into the society. But before he is allowed to touch their common food, he is obliged to swear to them awful oaths that in the first place he will show piety toward G.o.d and then that he will observe justice toward men, and that he will do no harm to any one either voluntarily or at the command of others, and that he will always hate the wicked, and help the righteous, and that he will show fidelity to all men and especially to those in authority, that he will be a lover of truth and denounce those who tell lies, and that he will keep his hands clean from theft, and his soul from unlawful gain. Moreover he swears to communicate their doctrines to no one otherwise than he received them himself, and that he will abstain from robbery, and that he will faithfully preserve the books of their sect and the names of the angels.

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:8a, 9a-c]

Those who are caught in any heinous sins they cast out of their society; and he who is thus expelled often dies miserably. And in the judgments they p.r.o.nounce they are most exacting and just, nor do they pa.s.s sentence by the votes of a court having less than one hundred members, and what is determined by them is unalterable. What they most of all honor, after G.o.d himself, is the name of their legislator [Moses], whom, if any one blasphemes, he is punished by death. They also think it a good thing to obey their elders and the majority. They are stricter than any others of the Jews in resting from their labors on the seventh day, for they not only prepare their food the day before, that they may not be obliged to kindle a fire on that day, but they will not venture to move any vessel out of its place.

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:10b, c, 11b]

They are also long-lived, insomuch that most of them live over a hundred years because of the simplicity of their diet and as a result of their regular course of life. They despise the miseries of life and are above pain because of their n.o.ble thoughts. And as for death, if it come with glory, they regard it as better than immortality. They think also, like the Greeks, that the good have their habitation beyond the ocean in a region that is never oppressed by storms of rain or of snow, or with heat, and that this place is refreshed by the gentle breath of the west wind that is continually blowing from the ocean; while they allot to the bad a dark and cold den which is never free from unceasing punishment.

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:12]

There are also those among them who undertake to foretell things to come by reading the holy books, by using several different forms of purifications and by being constantly familiar with discourses of the prophets; and it is only seldom that they fail in their predictions.

I. Influences that Gave Rise to the Jewish Parties. The Maccabean period witnessed the birth of the great parties that henceforth distinguished Judaism. They represented the crystallizing of the different currents of thought that were traceable in the Greek period and even earlier. These diverse points of view were in part the result of that democratic spirit which has always characterized Israel's life. In the striking ant.i.thesis between the idealists and the legalists and the practical men of affairs it is also possible to detect the potent influence which the prophets had exerted upon the thought of their nation. In the Greek period the Chronicler and certain of the psalmists, with their intense devotion to the temple and its services to the practical exclusion of all other interests, were the forerunners of the later Pharisees. Ben Sira, with his hearty appreciation of the good things of life, with his devotion to the scriptures of his race, with his evident failure to accept the new doctrine of individual immortality, and with his great admiration for the high priests, was an earlier type of the better cla.s.s of Sadducees. The persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes developed these parties. As has already been noted, the Hasideans who followed Judas in the struggle to restore the law and the temple service were the immediate predecessors of the early Pharisees. The word "Pharisees" means separatists, and is used first in the days of Jonathan (Jos. _Ant_. III 5:9) In the same connection Josephus refers to the Sadducees. The name of this second party is probably derived, not from the Hebrew word sadik, meaning righteous, but from Zadok (later written Sadok or Sadduk), who was placed by Solomon in charge of the Jerusalem temple. It was thus the designation of the aristocratic, high-priestly party. In the Persian and Greek periods the high priests had ruled the Judean state without opposition.

It was the rise of the party of the Pharisees that apparently developed that of the Sadducees. This party included the hereditary n.o.bles who supported and sympathized with the Maccabean leaders. The Essenes evidently represent a reaction against the prevailing moral corruption.

In many respects they were simply extreme Pharisees. They were zealots in religion, just as the later party of the Zealots were extremists in their hatred of Rome and in the methods which they were ready to use in order to attain their ends.

II. Character and Beliefs of the Pharisees. Originally the Pharisees were not a political but a religious party. The opposition of the Sadducees in time led them to enter public life. In politics they were conservatives. They had little sympathy with the popular ambition for political independence, and probably regarded with alarm the tendency toward national expansion. Alliances with the heathen nations seemed to them disloyalty to Jehovah. In belief they were progressives. While they stood squarely on the ancient law, they recognized the importance of interpreting it so as to meet the many questions that rose in public and private life. To this great and practically endless task much of their time was devoted. They thus recognized the fact that Israel's law was still in process of development. To their later interpretations of the law they attributed great authority. One of their maxims was: "It is a worse offence to teach things contrary to the ordinances of the scribes than to teach things contrary to the written law." Naturally their attempt to antic.i.p.ate by definite regulations each individual problem led them to absurd extremes and in time obscured the real intent of the older laws, but the spirit which actuated it was progressive. They also did not hesitate to accept the growing popular belief in angels and spirits. Like the earlier prophets, they recognized the presence of Jehovah directing the life of the nation and of the individual. They accepted the new-born belief in the immortality of the individual, clinging, however, to the hope of a bodily resurrection. They also held to the popular messianic hopes which became more and more prominent during the Maccabean and Roman periods.

The Pharisees were the most democratic party in Judaism. While for their own members they insisted upon a most rigorous ceremonial regime, they allowed the common people to ally themselves with them as a.s.sociates. In their acceptance of the popular hopes and in their endeavor to adapt Israel's law to the life of the nation and thus establish a basis for the realization of Israel's hopes they appealed to the ma.s.ses and exerted over them a powerful influence. Josephus a.s.serts that so great was the influence of the Pharisees with the people that the Sadducees, in order to carry through their policies, were obliged, nominally, at least, to adopt the platform of their rivals. The Pharisees were also zealous in teaching the people and thus kept in close touch with the ma.s.ses. They, therefore, stood as the true representatives of Judaism.

Their principles have survived and are still the foundations of orthodox Judaism.

III. Character and Beliefs of the Sadducees. The Sadducees were few in numbers compared with the Pharisees. They represented, on the one side, the old priestly aristocracy, and on the other the new n.o.bility that rallied about the Maccabean leaders. They depended for their authority upon their wealth, their inherited prestige, and the support of the throne. They were in reality a political rather than a religious party.

In politics they were progressives and opportunists. Any policy that promised to further their individual or cla.s.s interests was acceptable to them. As is usually the case with parties that represent wealth and hereditary power, they were conservatives in belief. They stood squarely on the earlier scriptures of their race and had no sympathy with the later Pharisaic interpretations and doctrines. Whether or not, as Josephus a.s.serts, they entirely rejected fate, that is, the providential direction of human affairs, is not clear. Probably in this belief they did not depart from the earlier teachings of priests and prophets. Their selfish and often unscrupulous acts suggest a basis for Josephus's claim, even though allowance must be made for his hostile att.i.tude toward them. While they were conservatives in theory, the Sadducees were of all cla.s.ses in Judaism most open to Greek and heathen influence, for foreign alliances and h.e.l.lenic culture offered opportunities for advancement and power.

IV. Character and Beliefs of the Essenes. Less important but even more interesting are the Essenes. They were a sect, or monastic order, rather than a political or religious party. Josephus, who a.s.serts that for a time he was a.s.sociated with them, has given a full account of their peculiar customs. They evidently represented a strong reaction against the prevailing corruption and a return to the simple life. Their spirit of humility, fraternity, and practical charity are in marked contrast to the aims of the Sadducees and the later Maccabean rulers. In their beliefs they were idealists. Their invocation of the sun, their extreme emphasis on ceremonial cleanliness, their tendency toward celibacy, and their distinction between soul and body, all suggest the indirect if not the direct influence of the Pythagorean type of philosophy. If the Essenes represented simply an extreme type of Pharisaism, the peculiar form of its development was undoubtedly due to the Greek atmosphere amidst which it flourished. The Essenes do not appear to have had any direct influence in the politics of their day. They were a current apart from the main stream of Judaism, and yet they could not fail to exert an indirect influence.

Many of their ideals and doctrines were closely similar to the teachings of John the Baptist and Jesus. Yet there is a fundamental difference between Essenism and primitive Christianity, for one sought to attain perfection apart from life and the other in closest contact with the currents of human thought and activity. While according to Josephus the party of the Essenes at one time numbered four thousand, like all ascetic movements it soon disappeared or else was deflected into that greater stream of monasticism which rose in the early Christian centuries.

Section CXV. THE LIFE AND FAITH OF THE JEWS OF THE DISPERSION

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 3:1a]

The Jews obtained honor from the kings of Asia when they became their auxiliaries; for Seleucus Nicator made them citizens of those cities which he built in Asia and in lower Syria, and in Antioch, the metropolis, and gave them privileges equal to those of the Macedonians and the Greeks who were its inhabitants.

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, VII, 3:3a]