The Makers and Teachers of Judaism From the Fall of Jerusalem to the Death of Herod the Great

The unknown author of these immortal poems spoke out of the depth of his own painful experience and doubtless in a large degree realized the ideals of service which he thus effe...

[Sidenote: Mal. 3:1-4] Behold, I am about to send my messenger, And he shall prepare the way before me; And the Lord, whom ye seek, Will suddenly come to his temple; But who can...

[Sidenote: Job 7:20, 21] If I have sinned, what have I done to thee, O watcher of men? Why hast thou set me as thy target? And why am I a burden to thee? And why dost thou not p...

[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:39-48] When Mattathias and his friends knew it they mourned bitterly over them. And they said to each other, If we all do as our brothers have done, and do...

V. Teachings of the Book of Jonah. The value and message of the book of Jonah have in the past been largely overlooked because the true literary character of the book has been m...

[Sidenote: Isa. 40:16, 17] Lo the nations! as a drop from a bucket, And as dust on a balance are they reckoned. Lo the isles! as a mote he uplifteth, And Lebanon is not enough f...

[Sidenote: I Mac. 5:45, 54] Then Judas gathered all the Israelites who were in the land of Gilead, from the least to the greatest, with their wives and children and their househ...

[Sidenote: Zech. 1:7-11] In the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month [February], in the second year of Darius [519 B.C.], this word of Jehovah came to the prophet Zechariah,...

I. The Political Situation. The position of the Jewish patriots was both perilous and tragic. A ring of hostile peoples pressed them closely on every side. The Jews were the vic...

IV. His Attitude toward His Subjects. The peace which Herod brought to Palestine was won at the point of the sword. The fear which he felt for his subjects was surpassed only by...

So they gathered together and came to Mizpeh, opposite Jerusalem; for in Mizpeh there was a place of prayer for Israel. And they fasted that day, and put sackcloth and ashes on...

[Sidenote: Ezek. 37:24-28] '"And my servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in mine ordinances, and observe my statutes...

V. Fortunes of the Jews of Palestine. Josephus's figure of a ship in a storm, smitten by the waves on either side, well describes the lot of the Jews of Palestine during the Gre...

[Sidenote: I Macc. 15:4-8] So the land had rest all the days of Simon, And he sought the good of his nation. His authority and his glory were well-pleasing to them all his days....

II. Nehemiah's Method of Correcting the Social Evils in the Community. Nehemiah's address recorded in the fifth chapter of his memoirs completes the picture suggested in Isaiah...

The period represented by this volume is in many ways the most complex and confusing in Israel's history. The record is not that of the life of a nation but of the scattered rem...

[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:10-15] Now there came forth from [Alexander's successors] a sinful root, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the king, who had been a hostage at Rome, and...

VIII. His Treatment of Conquered Peoples. Cyrus showed the same wisdom in his treatment of the many petty peoples who had been ground down under the harsh rule of Babylon. In on...

IV. Origin and Aims of the Priestly Laws. The late priestly laws which moulded the life of Judaism are found in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. They do not constitu...

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 9:1] But after the flight of Pompey and of the senate beyond Ionian Sea, Caesar gained possession of Rome and of the Empire and released Aristobulus...

[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 5:1] Now Alexander left the kingdom to Alexandra, his wife, and trusted the Jews would readily submit to her, for in opposing his habitual violation of t...

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, VII, 10:2d-3e] Now Onias, the son of Simon, one of the Jewish high priests, fled from Antiochus [Epiphanes] the king of Syria, when he made war with th...

[Sidenote: II Kings 25:27-30] Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, Evil-m...

VI. The Date of the Samaritan Schism. Josephus has given an unusually full and detailed account of the final schism between the Jews and Samaritans. He dates it under the high p...

III. Obstacles that Confronted Him. The high-priestly rulers do not appear to have welcomed Nehemiah with enthusiasm. Some of them, at least, later sought to undermine his work....

The rod of correction gives wisdom, But a child left to himself brings disgrace to his mother. Chastise your son while there is still hope, And set not your heart on his destruc...

V. Progress in Job's Thought. The thought of the book of Job is characteristically Oriental. Instead of moving straight on from premises to conclusion it constantly reverts to t...

[Sidenote: Jer. 44:11-13, 22] 'Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold, I set my face against you for evil to cut off the remnant of Judah in the land...

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 20:1] Now Herod was immediately concerned about his entire fortunes because of his friendship with Antony, who had been defeated at Actium by Caesar...

IV. The Break with the Pharisees. The successes of John Hyrcanus blinded the majority of the nation to the real issues at stake. But a powerful group, which during the Maccabean...

[Sidenote: Enoch 46:1-3] And there I saw One who had a head of days, and his head was white like wool, and with him was another being whose countenance had the appearance of a m...

Section XCVI. Israel's Training and Destiny. GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the conditions in the Judean community during the seventy years following the rebuilding of the templ...