Many erroneous conceptions appear to have hitherto prevailed with respect to the exile of the Hebrews: it seems to be generally regarded as little less than the sudden extinction of the whole Hebrew nation, and the prostration of all their higher tendencies; whereas it will be found in reality to furnish the true and original key to their purified worship and reverence for the Deity, and, above all, to the subsequent influence of the Levitical law; indeed the whole century deserves our particular attention, as it forms the most critical period for the Jewish hierarchy.

History shows that only a part of the nation was actually carried into captivity; Jeremiah, a contemporary witness, states the number who were compelled to emigrate from the kingdom of Judah, on three different occasions, at 4600 souls1; all the vine-dressers and husbandmen were also expressly excepted2. Banishment to a distant land must always be regarded as a heavy calamity, but in other respects the situation of the exiles was accompanied by many alleviating circumstances; they were allowed to settle on the rivers of Mesopotamia, and to retain their ancient constitution, as the mention of the "Elders of Israel" by Ezekiel would certainly seem to imply3. Hebrews of distinction were admitted to offices of state, which is fully

1 "This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand Jews and three and twenty: in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons: in the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred."--Jerem. lii. 28-30. 2 Jerem. lii. 16.

3 "Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me."-Ezek. xiv. 1.

And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the

acknowledged in the story of Daniel, and many became colonists of note and completely forgot their native land1. The members of the ten tribes also became by degrees so thoroughly accustomed to the climate, and so completely incorporated with the surrounding nations, that they have disappeared from the face of the earth, and left not a trace of their existence. It is clear, therefore, that this transplantation of the Jews cannot be correctly termed a captivity2: still less are we justified in supposing that, during this period, the national spirit was all at once extinguished; it would seem, on the contrary, to have received a new impulse during the exile, from the pious hopes to which it gave birth, and afterwards from the restoration of the temple. The larger proportion of the Psalms in our collection relate wholly to the events of this period, dwelling with bitter regret on the glories of the past, or occasionally pouring forth the glad exultations of the exiled patriots returning to their ancient home3.

Hitherto the religion of the Hebrews had been developed less in form than in spirit by their poets and their prophets; and while its moral elements had gradually assumed more importance, less value was attached to mere external service;-hitherto the people, left to their own guidance, had

tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the Lord, and sat before me."-Ezek. xx. 1.

“And it came to pass the next day, when the people were assembled to her husband Joacim, the two elders came also full of mischievous imagination against Susanna to put her to death.”—Susan. i. 28.

"Where [in

1 Compare Tobit ii. 14, [or rather Tobit xiv. 13, 14. Ecbatana] he [Tobias] became old with honour..........and he died at Ecbatana in Media, being 127 years old."]

2 See especially Jost, Jud. Geschichte (Hist. Jews), iii. 10, &c.

3

Compare Psalms xiv. xxiii. xxvi. xxvii. xl. xliii. xliv. li. cxxxvii. cxxxix., Isaiah xl.-lxvi.

been constantly devoted to the religion of nature and the popular superstitions of Palestine; but now, for the first time, they were united under a purer faith, and realized at length the pious desires of their earlier bards and sages. Whilst they remained among the Persians, they lived to witness the religious reformation brought about by Zoroaster, and it was under the Persian rule that the Jews conceived a deep aversion to every species of idolatry, whilst those who took refuge in Egypt conformed to the religion of that country1. "During their exile," says Jost", "the Jews had derived from the Persians (and Babylonians) new views of religion, new arts and a new language, and had adopted a new mode of life;" and thereupon they sought to collect all the fragments of their own literature that were still in existence: the historical works were reduced into convenient epitomes, the prophetical and poetical portions were connected together and (as the author and the date were in most cases unknown, and the contents of many writings might appear objectionable) they were either arranged according to an historical succession, or the writings were connected according to the similarity of their contents, in which at first, as was natural on a fresh organization of the state, the laws would appear to have been regarded as objects of great importance. A legend, which ought not to be wholly rejected, freely admits that Ezra had rendered important service in the department of the laws; and it would also appear, that in the gradual collection of the

1 "In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth."-Jeremiah xliv. 8.

2 Jud. Geschichte (Hist. Jews), i. 45, ii, 252.

182

CYCLES OF FIFTY YEARS.

other writings (which offer no decisive grounds for a settlement of what is called the Canon), the final arrangement was the work of some one disposing hand; since, notwithstanding the pervading want of any settled system of chronology, the remarkable fact appears, that the interval between the most important events exactly corresponds with the cycle of [fifty years for] the year of Jubilee. Frank1 has proved this most clearly, and infers from it that, in the Hebrew history, the wisdom of the Deity had so ordered the course of events as to bring them into accordance with this chronological cycle, whereas in profane authors the chronology is obliged to follow the course of events. There is good reason to believe, that the whole collection of the books of the Old Testament did not assume its present shape, nor become an object of popular veneration, until a much later date than that which is usually assigned. The people had become so completely Aramæan during their residence near Babylon, that they were obliged, on their return, to employ interpreters in the public readings of the Scriptures, and it could only have been by very slow degrees that their writings were first fixed in the later square character derived from the Chaldæan.

Lastly we may observe, in the words of Jost, that "the popular conceptions of the liberation of the Jews under Cyrus (B.c. 536) are very far from being correct; for these

1 Astron. Grundrechnung der Bibl. Geschichte. (Astronom. Foundation of Biblical History). Dessau, 1783.

2 See Jost iii. 114.

3 "And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel."-Nehem. viii. 1. [See also verses 7 and 8.]

would lead us to suppose that a captive band of slaves had suddenly received the royal permission to form themselves again into a nation, to choose their own king, and to build for themselves a metropolis and a temple. All, however, that could have been reasonably expected from an Eastern despot would have been the permission to return to their own homes, for those who were desirous of obtaining such a privilege; and Cyrus had at that time no further reason to fear an insurrection in the district to which they were going, as the province in which it lay had been reduced to complete subjection." It appears, indeed, that the returning colony consisted only of the poorer class of people, led by a few pious priests, to whom alone we are indebted for the preservation of the national literature; or, as the Talmud expresses it, "only the chaff was borne away upon the wind, while the finer meal remained behind1.”

We now return from this digression, to continue our examination of the Pentateuch, commencing with the Levites, who were the great upholders of the ceremonial system.

1 Mesech. Kidduschim, c. 4.