Title: Civilization Of the Hebrews
Along The Banks Of Rivers
Edited By: Robert Guisepi
The Hebrew Kingdoms
In war, diplomacy, inventions, and art, the Hebrews made little splash in
the stream of history. In religion and ethics, however, their contribution to
the world civilization was tremendous. Out of their experience grew three
great religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Much of Hebrew experience is recorded in the Holy Writ of Israel, the Old
Testament of the Christian Bible, whose present content was approved about
A.D. 90 by a council of rabbis. Asa work of literature it is outstanding; but
it is more than that. "It is Israel's life story - a story that cannot be told
adequately apart from the conviction that God had called this people in his
grace, separated them from the nations for a special responsibility, and
commissioned them with the task of being his servant in the accomplishment of
his purpose." ^26
[Footnote 26: B. W. Anderson, Understanding the Old Testament, 2nd ed.
(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1966), p. 559.]
The Biblical account of the history of the Hebrews (later called
Israelites and then Jews) begins with the patriarchal clan leader Abraham,
called in Genesis 14:15 "the Hebrew" (Habiru). About 1800 B.C. Abraham led his
people out of Ur in Sumer, where they had settled for a time in their
wanderings, and eventually they arrived in the land of Canaan, later called
Palestine.
About 1700 B.C., driven by famine, some Hebrews followed Abraham's
great-grandson Joseph, son of Israel (also called Jacob), into Egypt. Joseph's
rise to power in Egypt, and the hospitable reception of his people there, is
attributed to the presence of the largely Semitic Hyksos, who had conquered
Egypt about 1720 B.C. Following the expulsion of the Hyksos by the pharaohs of
the Eighteenth Dynasty, the Hebrews were enslaved by the Egyptians. Shortly
after 1300 B.C. Moses led them out of bondage and into the wilderness of
Sinai, where they entered into a pact or covenant with their God, Yahweh. The
Sinai Covenant bound the people as a whole - the nation of Israel, as they now
called themselves - to worship Yahweh before all other gods and to obey his
Law. In return, Yahweh made the Israelites his chosen people whom he would
protect and to whom he granted Canaan, the Promised Land "flowing with milk
and honey." The history of Israel from this time on is the story of the
working out of this covenant.
The Israelites had to contend for Palestine against the Canaanites, whose
Semitic ancestors had migrated from Arabia early in the third millennium B.C.
Joined by other Hebrew tribes already in Palestine, the Israelites formed a
confederacy of twelve tribes and, led by war leaders called judges, in time
succeeded in subjugating the Canaanites.
The decisive battle in 1125 B.C. at Megiddo, called Armageddon ("Hill of
Megiddo") in the New Testament, owed much to Deborah the prophetess who
"judged Israel at that time" (Judges 4:4). God bade Deborah, already famed
throughout Israel for her wisdom, to accompany the discouraged war leaders and
stir them to victory. For this reason she has been called the Hebrew Joan of
Arc.
The vigorous and decisive role played by Deborah and other Israelite
women (Moses' sister Miriam, for example), reflects the absence of female
inferiority in early Israel. Genesis describes the two sexes as being equal
and necessary for human livelihood: "So God created mankind in his image,
...male and female he created them. And God blessed them and said to them, 'Be
fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it [together]'" (1:27-28).
And in the Song of Songs the maiden and the youth share equally in the desire
and expression of love; there is no sense of subordination of one to the
other. But the continuing dangers that faced the nation led to the creation of
a strong centralized monarchy, and with it came male domination and female
subordination. Deborah was the last Israelite woman upon whom God's spirit and
wisdom descended.
Soon after the Canaanites were defeated, a far more formidable foe
appeared. The Philistines, part of the Sea Peoples who had tried
unsuccessfully to invade Egypt and from whom we get the word Palestine,
settled along the coast about 1175 B.C. Aided by the use of iron weapons,
which were new to Palestine, the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant,
the sacred chest described as having mysterious powers, in which Moses had
placed the Ten Commandments. By the middle of the eleventh century B.C., were
well on their way to dominating the entire land.
The loose twelve-tribe confederacy of Israel could not cope with the
Philistine danger. "Give us a king to govern us," the people demanded, "that
we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may govern us and go
before us and fight our battles." This move was strongly opposed by the
conservative upper class, led by the prophet-judge Samuel. He warned the
assembled Israelites that if they set up a king they would "reject the rule of
God" and incur divine disapproval. He predicted that a king would subject them
to despotic tyranny. But the Israelite assembly rejected Samuel's advice and
elected Saul as their first king. Thereupon "the Lord said to Samuel, 'Hearken
to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not
rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them'" (1 Samuel
8:7). This appears to have been a grudging concession on God's part - like that
of a father who allows his wayward son to learn from experience the folly of
his ways.
Saul's reign (1020-1000 B.C.) was not successful. Continuously undercut
by the conservatives led by Samuel and overshadowed by the fame of the
boy-hero David, who had slain the Philistine giant Goliath in single combat,
Saul made no attempt to transform Israel into a centralized state. He
collected no taxes, and his army was composed of volunteers. A victim also of
his own tempestuous and moody nature, Saul finally committed suicide after an
unsuccessful battle with the Philistines. "How are the mighty fallen," the Old
Testament concludes the story of Saul - a story with all the pathos of a Greek
tragedy.
Saul's successor, the popular David (1000-961 B.C.), not only restricted
the Philistines to a narrow coastal strip but became the ruler of the largest
state in the ancient history of the area, stretching from the Euphrates to the
Gulf of Aqaba. David also conquered Jerusalem from the Canaanites and made it
the private domain of his royal court, separate from the existing twelve
tribes. His popularity was enhanced when he deposited the recovered Ark of the
Covenant in his royal chapel, to which he attached a priesthood. The priests
in turn proclaimed that God had made a special covenant with David as "the
Lord's servant," and with the throne of David through all generations to
come.
David's work was completed by his son Solomon (961-922 B.C.), under whom
Israel reached a pinnacle of worldly power and splendor as an oriental-style
monarchy. In the words of the Bible:
Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to
the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; they
brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life....
And Judah and Israel dwelt in safety, from Dan even to Beersheba,
every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of
Solomon....And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond
measure, and largeness of mind....Now the weight of gold that
came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents
of gold, besides that which came from the traders and from the
traffic of the merchants, and from all the kings of Arabia and
from the governors of the land....The king also made a great
ivory throne, and overlaid it with the finest gold....
(1 Kings 4:20 f.; 10:14 f.)
But the price of Solomon's vast bureaucracy, building projects (especially the
palace complex and the Temple at Jerusalem), standing army (1400 chariots and
12,000 horses), and harem (700 wives and 300 concubines) was great. High
taxes, forced labor, and the loss of tribal independence led to dissension.
The Old Testament attributed this dissension to Solomon's feeble old age, "For
when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and
his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David
his father....Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, 'Since...you have not kept
my covenant and my statutes which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the
kingdom from you'" (1 Kings 11: 4-11).
When Solomon died in 922 B.C., the realm split into two kingdoms - Israel
in the north and Judah in the south. These two weak kingdoms were in no
position to defend themselves when new, powerful empires rose again in
Mesopotamia. In 721 B.C. the Assyrians captured Samaria, the capital of the
northern kingdom, taking 27,290 Israelites into captivity (the "ten lost
tribes") and settling foreign peoples in their place. The resulting mixed
population, called Samaritans, made no further contribution to Hebrew history
or religion.
The southern kingdom of Judah held out until 586 B.C. when
Nebuchadnezzar, the Chaldean ruler of Babylonia, destroyed Jerusalem and
carried away an estimated 15,000 captives; "none remained, except the poorest
people of the land" (2 Kings 25:14). Thus began the famous Babylonian Exile of
the Jews (Judeans), which lasted until 538 B.C. when Cyrus the Persian, having
conquered Babylon, allowed them to return to Jerusalem where they rebuilt the
Temple destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.
Persian rule was followed by that of the Hellenistic Greeks and Romans.
From A.D. 66 to 70, the Jews rebelled against Rome, and Jerusalem was largely
destroyed in the savage fighting that ensued. The Jews were again driven into
exile, and the Diaspora - the "scattering"was at its height.
[See Ancient Israel: 8th Century BC]
Hebrew Religion
From the time of Abraham the Hebrews worshiped one god, a stern, warlike
tribal deity whose name Yahweh (Jehovah) was first revealed to Moses. Yahweh
differed from the many Near Eastern nature gods in being completely separate
from the physical universe which he had created. This view of Yahweh as the
Creator of all things everywhere was inevitably to lead to the monotheistic
belief that Yahweh was the sole God in the universe.
After their entrance into Palestine, many Hebrews adopted the fertility
deities of the Canaanites as well as the luxurious Canaanite manner of living.
As a result, prophets arose who "spoke for" (from the Greek word prophetes)
Yahweh in insisting on strict adherence to the Sinai Covenant and in
condemning the "whoring" after other gods, the selfish pursuit of wealth, and
the growth of social injustice.
Between roughly 750 and 550 B.C. appeared a series of great prophets who
wrote down their messages. They sought to purge the religion of Israel of all
corrupting influences and to refine the concept of Yahweh. As summed up by
Micah (c. 750 B.C.) in a statement often cited as the essence of all advanced
religions, "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord
require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly
with your God" (Micah 6:8)? Micah's contemporary, the shepherd-prophet Amos,
stressed the need for social justice: "Thus saith the Lord:...[the rich and
powerful] sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals.
They trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth, and turn aside
the way of the afflicted...so that they have profaned my holy name" (Amos
2:6-7).
The prophets viewed the course of Hebrew history as being governed by the
sovereign will of Yahweh, seeing the Assyrians and the Chaldeans as "the rod
of Yahweh's anger" to chastise his stubborn, wayward people. They also
developed the idea of a coming Messiah (the "anointed one" of God), a
descendant of King David. As "a king in righteousness," the Messiah would
inaugurate a reign of peace and justice. This ideal would stir the hopes of
Jews for centuries.
Considered the greatest of the Hebrew prophets are Jeremiah and the
anonymous Second Isaiah, so-called because his message was incorporated in the
Book of Isaiah (chapters 40-55). Jeremiah witnessed the events that led to
Nebuchadnezzar's destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and to the Babylonian
Captivity of the Jews. He prepared the people for these calamities by
affirming that Yahweh would forgive their sins and restore "a remnant" of his
people by proclaiming a "new covenant." The old Sinai Covenant had been
between Yahweh and the nation, which no longer existed. It had become overlaid
with ritual and ceremony and centered in the Temple, which had been destroyed.
The new covenant was between Yahweh and each individual; religion was now a
matter of one's own heart and conscience, and both the nation and the Temple
were considered superfluous. Second Isaiah, who lived at the end of the
Babylonian Captivity, capped the work of his predecessors by proclaiming
Israel to be Yahweh's "righteous servant," purified and enlightened by
suffering and ready to guide the world to the worship of the one, eternal,
supreme God. Thus the Jews who returned from the Exile were provided with a
renewed faith in their destiny and a new comprehension of their religion that
would sustain them through the centuries.