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Palestine, situated at the eastern end of the Mediterranean,
has always been a buffer area in relation to the powers to the north, the
east and the south.
After Alexander the Great (d. 323BC) had tried to create
a Graeco-Oriental empire, the generals who succeeded him divided up his empire.
Their successors, struggled for generations to control Palestine, since it
lay south of the Asia Minor of the Antigonids, south and west of the Syria
and Mesopotamia of the Seleucids, and north-east of the Egypt of the Ptolemies.
Throughout the third and second centuries BC, as the kings exhausted themselves
and their peoples with incessant warfare, Palestine was a principal arena
for their military operations.
Only the rise of a new and greater power could
have brought peace to the region.
Such a power was Rome.
And its interventions
in the East produced significant changes in the life of Palestine.
A crisis in the second century BC was especially important. It began in
168 when the Seleucid king Antiochus Epiphanes was on his way to attack Egypt.
Near Pelusium, by the Mediterranean on the Egyptian frontier, a Roman legate
met him, and in the name of the Senate, ordered him to withdraw.
The king
asked for time to consider. "Decide here", said the Roman, drawing a circle
in the sand about him.
Doubtless remembering that the Romans had 100,000
men in Asia Minor and Greece, the king withdrew.
On his way back to Antioch
he decided to make effective a plan, which he had formulated for unifying
his kingdom.
For some time the leaders of the Jewish people had been advocating
and implementing the cultural integration of their nation with the Graeco-Oriental
monarchy.
They had built a Greek gymnasium in Jerusalem;
they had worn Greek
hats;
and some of them had undergone an operation to efface the effect of
their circumcision.
The high priest and others had assumed Greek names (Jason,
Menelaus) in addition to their ordinary Jewish ones.
These Jewish officials were startled, however, by the intensity with which
the king planned to Hellenize.
In the temple at Jerusalem another altar was placed over the altar of sacrifice,
and on it a pig - unclean in Jewish eyes - was offered to the one god of
Greek and Jew alike: Zeus.
The response of the Jewish people was instantaneous.
Led by a group of brothers known as the Maccabees (probably a nickname from
the word for "hammer"), the people revolted and, after a series of bloody
battles, finally recaptured Jerusalem, where in 65BC the temple was cleansed
and rededicated.
The festival of Hanukkah, observed on the 25th of Kislev
(November-December) with the lighting of lamps, still celebrates the memory
of this event.
It is one of the five great feasts of the Jewish year.
Our
information about Maccabean times comes to us from three important documents,
in addition to the histories of Josephus and of Graeco-Roman writers.
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The oldest of these writings is the Old Testament book of Daniel,
an apocalypse
intended to show that all empires are made to rise and fall by God;
it also
predicts the destruction of Antiochus Epiphanes.
The author did not favour
the active revolt of the Maccabees,
for in his view God intervenes without
human assistance.
He tells how Alexander overcame the Persian Empire,
how his kingdom was
then divided among his successors,
and how Antiochus Epiphanes persecuted
the Jews (8:1-12, cf. 20 -6).
He predicts that the persecution will last
1,150 days, or nearly three and a half years (8:14) - the years from 168
to 165BC.
Finally he goes on to predict that after conquering Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia
the king will die in his camp between Jerusalem and the Mediterranean (11:40-5).
After this event the general resurrection will come (12:1-3).
Since the king actually died early in 164 while fighting the Parthians to
the northeast of Palestine, Daniel must have written in 165.
The importance
of the book lies not in its detailed predictions, which were clearly wrong,
but in the theological ideas that it reflects and advocates.
It sets forth
the apocalyptic hope of Judaism,
speaking of "one like a son of man" who is
to come on the clouds of heaven (7:13) and of the bodily resurrection of
the dead.
Like the prophetic writings it interprets history in relation to
the activity of God.
God's reign is everlasting, but at various times his intervention in history
becomes more clearly manifest.
Because of these emphases, and also because later situations seemed to resemble
that in which Daniel wrote, his book was influential both among apocalyptic-minded
Jews (e.g., Enoch and Sibylline Oracles 3, 388-400) and among many early
Christians.
It gave hope to those Jews who did not join the Maccabees (and
perhaps to those who did) just as in the first Christian century II Esdras
and the book of Revelation encouraged Jews and Christians to look for the
fall of Rome.
Very soon God would take power away from those who had it and
would give it to his chosen people.
This transfer would mark the inauguration
or restoration of God's reign on earth.
Not all Jewish writers shared Daniel's apocalyptic enthusiasm, and in the
first book of Maccabees we find a history (originally in Hebrew, now in Greek)
written by a more politically-minded author.
This writer did not discuss
miracles; as far as we can tell, he did not look forward to the resurrection.
He expresses his faith in God as the one who helps those who help themselves.
His history, based on documents and personal reminiscences, describes events
up to the accession of Hyrcanus, high priest in 135.
On the other hand, when a certain Jason of Cyrene wrote five books describing
the events up to 161
(our II Maccabees is an abridgement of his work), he emphasized the transcendent
power of God.
God created the universe out of the non-existent (7:28) and
he will bring about the resurrection of the dead (7; 12:43-4).
Therefore
we are not surprised to find his history full of miracles, even though he
may hint that he has put these stories in so that readers will find his work
attractive (15:39).
In Jason's view the action of God anticipated in Daniel
has been realized in Maccabean history.
These three works reflect
Not all Jews were enthusiastic about
apocalypses;
not all believed that God had intervened in various battles
between Antiochus and the Maccabees.
All agreed that God ultimately governs
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Pharisees | Sadducees | Essenes | Essene Literature | top
Because of the divergent attitudes present within Judaism,
various parties
or sects came into existence soon after the Maccabees assumed control of
the state.
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Much of our information about the Pharisees
comes from Josephus, in whose narrative we first encounter them in relation
to the reign of Queen Alexandria (c. 100BC).
If we try to go farther
back, it is possible that we find forerunners of the Pharisees in the "Chasidim",
or "pious", who in the time of Antiochus practised partial pacifism.
They
observed the Sabbath so scrupulously that they would not defend themselves
on that day and were easily overcome by the king?s troops.
Some survivors
were able to join the Maccabees and to reinterpret the Sabbath legislation
(I Macc.2:29-44).
But as a party the Pharisees arose later.
Their name
was probably derived from a word meaning "separate".
Josephus
describes them as
"a party of Jews which seems to be more religious than the others
and to explain the laws with more minute care." (War I, 110).
In another place he contrasts them with the conservative priestly group known as the Sadducees.
"The Pharisees handed down certain legislation to the people from the tradition of the fathers, legislation which has not been recorded in the laws of Moses;
for this reason the party of the Sadducees rejects it,
saying that what is written must be considered legislation,
but that what comes from the tradition of the fathers need not be observed." (Antiq. 13, 297).
Certain sociological implications can be drawn from other points that Josephus
mentions.
The Pharisees were rather urbane and friendly to strangers (War 2,
166);
they were followed by the masses (Antiq. 13, 298);
they insisted upon the value of tradition but interpreted the law more freely
than the Sadducees did (18, 12).
They believed in God's governing of human affairs and believed in life after
death;
the righteous would rise again, but the souls of the wicked would
be punished eternally (18, 2-6).
These points suggest that the Pharisees
belonged to what we should call a kind of middle class, living chiefly in
the cities.
They recognized the necessity for making modifications in the
law and they used tradition to provide precedents.
With their relatively liberal views, it is not surprising to find various
schools existing within Pharisaism itself.
For example, at the end of the first century BC we meet the famous rabbis
Shammai and Hillel,
the one representing a more conservative attitude, the
other a more liberal view.
Thus it was said that a gentile came to Shammai
and said to him,
"You may accept me as a proselyte on the condition that you teach me the whole law while I stand on one foot."
Shammai drove him away
with a measuring rod.
Then he went to Hillel, who received him as a proselyte and said to him,
"What is hateful to you do not do to your fellow:
that is the whole law;
all the rest is its explanation;
go and learn."
(The parallel with Jesus' "great commandment" is obvious.)
Again there was the question of the words to be used at a wedding when dancing
before the bride.
The school of Hillel said that the formula
"O bride, beautiful and gracious"
should be used.
The school of Shammai, more scrupulous, disagreed.
"If she is lame or blind, is one to say,
"O bride, beautiful and gracious"?
Does it not say in the Torah (Exod. 23.7),
"Keep thee far from lying"? "
The followers of Hillel answered with an analogy from human experience.
"Then, if someone makes a bad purchase in the market,
is one to commend it or to run it down?
Surely one should commend it."
The schools also disagreed over the question of the grounds for divorce.
In Shammai's view the only ground was adultery;
Hillel held that there were
other grounds resembling the modern "incompatibility".
Here the teaching
of Jesus, as recorded in Matthew, at any rate, sides with Shammai against
Hillel.
We should not exaggerate the importance of these divisions.
Both Shammai and Hillel stood within the one congregation of Israel.
As later tradition relates,
"Israel will be redeemed only when it forms one single band:
when all are united, they will receive the presence of the Shekinah.
Therefore Hillel said (Aboth 2, 5),
"Separate not thyself from the community." "
And both believed in the importance of the living oral tradition, though
it would appear that Hillel had to learn to do so.
Before a group of rabbis
he once gave learned arguments for the precedence of the Passover over the
Sabbath when Passover fell on a Sabbath day.
His audience remained unimpressed
until he said, "Thus I heard it from Shemaiah and Abtalion," his teachers.
Then they recognized him as a true Pharisee.
As a group the Pharisees were concerned with modifying the stringencies
of the old law so that it could be applied in modern circumstances.
Indeed,
it was a Pharisaic formula that Jesus expressed when he said that the Sabbath
was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).
We can see these modifications
in the criticisms of Matthew 23:16.
For instance, the Pharisees said,
"Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing;
but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is bound" [by his oath].
The purpose of this distinction was to prevent casual oaths from being enforced.
Only a deliberate, intentional oath, carefully formulated, was to have binding
force.
Again, the Pharisees tithed mint and anise and cummin (Matt.23:23).
Here the question involved is that of just what is to be tithed.
Surely,
if tithing is a matter of law rather than of personal inclination, it is
necessary to know what is to be included as taxable.
"Tithe not much by estimation",
said Paul's teacher Gamaliel (Aboth 1, 17).
In the Gospel of Matthew the Pharisees are criticized not for tithing but
for concentrating upon it as the essence of religion.
Concentration on
minor points is a temptation to be found in every religion.
The Pharisees recognized the positive value of law, which deters men from wrong actions by prescribing penalties and brings them to acknowledge their shortcomings.
"I should never have known sin but for the law" (Rom. 7:7).
Since, in their view, God had revealed the law, they had to obey its implications
as well as its plain statements.
They regarded the spirit as binding along
with the letter.
In order to work out the implications, they developed what
we call rabbinic exegesis.
G. F. Moore has described it thus [Judaism 1 (Cambridge,
Mass., 1927), 319]
To discover, elucidate, and apply what God ... teaches and enjoins is the task of the scholar as interpreter of scripture. Together with the principle that in God's revelation no word is without significance this conception of scripture leads to an atomistic exegesis, which interprets sentences, clauses, phrases, and even single words, independently of the context of the historical occasion, as divine oracles;
combines them with other similarly detached utterances;
and makes large use of analogy of expressions, often by purely verbal association.
Moore's criticisms are valid as far as they go.
What he himself seems to neglect is the necessity of legal exegesis rather
than historical interpretation in dealing with a legal code;
and the historical
exegesis he admires was practically non-existent in antiquity.
It may be added that to attempt to understand the Pharisees by comparing
them with other groups in later times is not an especially rewarding pursuit.
Historical understanding must be based on direct contact, not on analogies.
Simply to list some of the groups compared with them -
Franciscans, New England
Puritans, Pietists, Methodists, high churchmen in Anglicanism, and Democrats
-
is enough to suggest that, in spite of some resemblances, the comparisons
add nothing.
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We know much less about the Sadducees than about their rivals.
Judaism became
largely Pharisaic after the destruction of the temple in AD70, and the traditions
of the Sadducees were not preserved.
From the way in which Josephus contrasts
them with the Pharisees it is obvious that they represented a priestly aristocracy
with rural ties.
They were rich and conservative, and they insisted upon
a rigid interpretation of the law.
According to Josephus they believed that
providence was not operative in human affairs, though his statement may mean
no more than that they were successful politicians.
They did not believe
in life after death; according to the book of Acts (23:8) they held that
"there is no resurrection nor angel nor spirit".
If this statement is correct,
it would appear that the Sadducees accepted as scripture only the Pentateuch,
not the prophets or the other writings.
According to Mark 12:18-27 they argued
against the possibility of resurrection on the grounds provided by Deuteronomy
25:5-6.
The law said that if a man died without offspring his brother was
to take the widow and beget children so that the dead man's name might not
"be
blotted out in Israel".
Suppose seven brothers in succession had the same wife, the Sadducees suggested;
whose wife would she be if there were to be a resurrection?
First of all, Pliny tells us just where most of the Essenes were to be found.
He says (N. H. 5,15,4) that they lived west of the Dead Sea
at a point where there is nothing to fear from the sea's exhalations.
Surely
this suggests a point where the fresh water flowing in from the Jordan River
would purify the sea - and this is just where Qumran is.
Then he tells us
what lies to the south of the community.
First comes En Geddi (which is actually about sixteen miles south of Qumran);
then comes Masada (and this is about ten miles farther on).
It seems obvious
and certain, that Pliny is aware that the Essenes were located just where
the Qumran community was located;
and therefore the Dead Sea people were
Essenes.
Philo and Josephus describe the places where the Essenes lived differently.
Philo says once that they lived not in cities but in villages and once that
they lived in cities and in villages.
Josephus says they lived in various cities.
This confusing situation is cleared up by the Zadokite document, which gives
one set of rules for those who live in cities, another for those who live
in camps.
The document's camps are presumably the villages of Philo.
The
centre of Essene life, then, was at Qumran, but there were other Essenes
who observed special rules and lived in cities elsewhere.
This variety corresponds
in part with what Josephus tells us about two kinds of Essenes.
There were
those who did not marry but brought up the children of others -
thus probably
maintaining a kind of orphan asylum as in some mediaeval monasteries.
Others
did marry and have children.
It is not quite clear what the situation at Qumran itself was, since in its
burying ground the remains of a few women have been found.
In order to become a member of the community, Josephus says, a "postulant"
had to undergo a year's probation.
He was given a shovel for sanitary purposes,
a girdle, and a white garment, which he wore at meetings of the group.
He
could not, however, take part in the daily baths of the community or in its
noonday meal.
Since strangers were admitted to the evening meal, he could
participate in this.
At the end of the year he could become a "candidate".
For two years more he took part in the daily baths, wearing the white garment
and entering the water at eleven in the morning.
Before sunrise and after
sunset he shared in the common prayers;
mornings and afternoons were spent
in fieldwork or animal husbandry or bee keeping or work at a craft.
He
owed strict obedience to the elders of the community and had already turned
over his property to the overseer (epimelitis), though presumably
he could recover it if he was finally not approved.
After these three years he was ready for initiation.
He took solemn oaths that he would observe reverence towards God and justice
towards men.
He would hate the wicked and help the righteous.
He would
continue to obey the authorities of the group.
If he should become one
of the authorities, he would not use his authority for self-aggrandizement.
He would love the truth and rebuke liars.
He would not conceal his property
or his actions.
Finally, he would never reveal the teachings of the group
to others.
He would keep sacred the books of the sect and the secret names
of the angels.
All this is to be found almost exactly paralleled in the Dead Sea Manual of Discipline.
"Everyone who wishes to join the community
must pledge himself to respect God and man;
to live according to the communal rule;
... to love all that God has chosen and to hate all that he has rejected;
... to act truthfully and righteously;
... to love all the children of light
... and to hate all the children of darkness."
Such persons must bring their property into the community of God.
They are to take oaths to obey their superiors and to observe the law as
the community interprets it.
They are to spend a year before being admitted
to the state of purity, that is, before admission to the baths.
Then they
are to spend another year of apprenticeship while they work for the community,
and only after that year can they be admitted to the common meal.
According
to Josephus the second period lasted two years;
no doubt it was found that
one year was not quite long enough a time.
We do not know so much about
the baths and the common meals from documents, but the remains of the monastery
make it plain that the Qumran community did have a common dining hall and
an elaborate water supply for purifications.
Finally, we know that its
members valued the holy books so much that they hid them away in jars,
and that in these books there was a great concern for the names of the
angels (especially in Enoch).
We must therefore regard the Dead Sea community as an Essene community.
It was one of the most important forces in the religious life of Palestine
in the first centuries BC and AD.
Josephus treats the Essenes as being
just as significant as either Pharisees or Sadducees.
We get some light
on their numerical importance from a couple of ancient statistics.
Josephus
tells us that there were 6,000 Pharisees in all, and Philo tells us that
there were 4,000 Essenes.
Of course not all these Essenes lived at Qumran.
As far as archaeologists can tell, there was room for not more than two
hundred of them there.
But there were other Essenes, a third order, so to speak, who lived in the
cities and villages of Palestine.
As for the government of the community,
Josephus tells us that the most
important disciplinary questions had to be settled by a court of at least
one hundred members;
this is the general council of the Manual of Discipline.
According to the Manual, the most severe penalties involved removal from
the common meal or expulsion from the community;
similarly Josephus says
that bad Essenes had no food but had to eat grass.
Less important offences
resulted in cutting down rations.
He also tells us that blasphemy was punished
by death,
and while in the Manual of Discipline the penalty is excommunication,
in the Zadokite Document it is also death.
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Some of the literature found in the caves of Qumran deals with the organization
and operation of the community.
Here should be included the Manual of Discipline,
the Zadokite or "Damascus" Document,
and a Formulary of Blessings.
Further books contain liturgical materials
such as a hymn of initiates found at the end of a copy of the Manual and
the hymns or psalms (hodayoth) of thanksgiving for redemption.
Others contain paraphrases and commentaries related to the Old Testament,
such as fragments of the apocryphal books of Enoch and Jubilees and of commentaries
on Genesis, Isaiah, Hosea, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and various psalms.
(No
fragment of Enoch thus far found contains the Similitudes, cc. 37-71, which
speak of the coming of a heavenly Son of Man.)
In addition, there are military
and apocalyptic documents, which include the War of the Sons of Light and
the Sons of Darkness, a manual of discipline for the time after the war,
and fragments on the new covenant and the coming doom.
Other fragments seem to come from highly secret books.
These include a Hebrew "Book of Mysteries",
a description of the heavenly Jerusalem,
a "Liturgy of the Three Tongues of Fire",
and a treatise with the title "The Words of the Book that Michael spoke
to the Angels".
The Manual of Discipline begins with the promise,
which is to be made by
those who wish to join the community.
They must respect God and man;
they
must avoid evil and adhere to good;
they must love the children of light
and hate the children of darkness.
They must turn their property over
to the community of God, and they must observe the calendar in force at Qumran,
i.e. a year of 364 days.
Then they take an oath, confess their sins, and
receive a blessing from the priests.
The levites pronounce a curse on the
children of darkness, and both priests and levites pronounce a curse on hypocrites
who join the community.
The Manual then goes on to describe an annual review
of the children of light.
The theological purpose of this review is explained
in relation to redemption through knowledge of God's truth and a description
of God's having given man the spirits of truth and of perversity.
Truth
comes from the fountain of light, and the Prince of Lights rules the True;
perversity comes from the wellspring of darkness, and the perverse are ruled
by the Angel of Darkness.
The true will be helped by the God of Israel and
the Angel of his truth,
and will receive everlasting life, a crown of glory,
a robe of honour, and perpetual light.
The perverse will be eternally damned,
at the time of the final judgement.
After this introduction there follow
the detailed rules for the life of the community, a community of separation,
virtue, holiness and mutual sharing.
There is an account of how initiates
are to be admitted and how disobedient members are to be punished.
There
is a description of the government of the community by fifteen "men of perfect
holiness", twelve laymen and three priests.
This community is to be the
true temple of God, and a true synagogue.
The Zadokite Document contains similar materials but lays more emphasis
on the history of Israel as an expression of the principles of the community.
It contains two different codes, one for Essenes who live in urban communities,
the other for those who live in camps.
Finally, there is a supplementary
code, most of which deals with oaths and their binding nature.
The Hymns of Thanksgiving are personal in nature but reflect the basic doctrines
of Qumran,
salvation by knowledge and by membership in the community.
Bardtke
has suggested that they were not used in formal worship but were intended
for private use by members of the group,
so that their thoughts would always
be directed towards the greatness of the redemption they had received.
"Now I am as one
who has entered a stronghold,
taken refuge behind a high wall,
till deliverance come.
For I have stayed myself on thy truth, O God."
The history of creation and redemption,
and the hope of eternal security, are blended together in these hymns.
The commentaries are especially interesting because they interpret Old Testament
prophecy and psalmody in relation to the history of the community.
In the
commentary on Micah we read that the prophet's condemnation of Samaria really
refers to the wicked priests of Jerusalem, the enemies of God, whom he will
punish.
Similarly on Nahum we read that "the abode of the lions" (2, 11)
means Jerusalem, where wicked men of the heathen dwell;
it will eventually
be trodden under.
The lion of Nahum 2, 12 is Demetrius Eucerus, king of Syria,
who about 88BC crucified eight hundred Jews.
In the Habakkuk commentary it
is harder to identify the wicked priest who persecuted the Teacher of Righteousness
and eventually was punished himself.
Gaster may be right when he argues that
the case is supposed to be typical;
it could be any anti-Essene priest.
The
significant thing about these commentaries is the evidence they give for
the community's interpretation of prophecy in relation to itself. In this
way the Essenes were forerunners of the Christian exegetes of the Old Testament.
The War of the Sons of Light with the Sons of Darkness is a plan for the
conquest of the world by the Sons of Light.
It is the Mein Kampf of
the Dead Sea generalissimo, who describes the future in a way faintly reminiscent
of the entrance of Israel into Canaan but more clearly based on Roman military
organization, procedure and strategy.
At the end, a form of prayer of thanksgiving
for victory is provided.
Finally we have a manual of discipline for the future congregation of Israel,
when the war has been won and when a king has been restored to the throne.
At that time all Israel will live in the manner of the sons of Zadok.
We should note that this common life is to be reserved for those who are
Israelites by birth.
No gentile mission is contemplated.
The gentiles will
be dead.
And in the fragment, which Gaster calls 'The Coming Doom',
we read
that outsiders do not know what is going to happen,
and there is no nation
which really hates wrongdoing.
Only we know what will take place;
only we
are going to be saved;
for only we truly obey God's will.
The message of the Dead Sea gospel is thus directed to Israelites who wish
to know the truth about God, about history, and about themselves.
The truth
is that God is on their side and is directing history towards a final battle,
which will involve the triumph of his elect.
Who are his elect?
We are
his elect,
and we shall eventually rule the world and kill the sons of darkness,
who are all men except ourselves.
The religion of the Qumran people was characterized
by some of the most exclusive sectarianism the world has ever seen, an apocalyptic-eschatological
sectarianism which looked for triumph in this world, and soon.
This triumph
was not achieved.
The resemblances between the life and thought of the Essenes and the life
and thought of early Christians are so striking that it may be well to say
something about the differences at this point.
In spite of resemblances between
the "teacher of righteousness" and Jesus, there seem to be at least two
basic differences.
The Qumran people taught and, indeed, demanded, hatred
of enemies.
The gospel of Jesus was quite different (Matt.5:43-7; Luke 6:27-35).
The Qumran people were greatly concerned with ritual purity;
Jesus was not.
The mission of Qumran was essentially to itself;
the mission of the early
Church was to outsiders -
first to all Jews, then to gentiles as well.
The
Church, like Jesus himself proclaimed the forgiveness of sins.
The teacher
of righteousness, like Jesus, suffered persecution from his opponents.
Jesus
was put to death and rose from the dead.
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Within a generation after the Maccabean revolt had become a successful revolution,
the Roman Senate recognized the Jewish State and Rome refused to give sanctuary
to political exiles hostile to the leadership of Simon Maccabaeus.
By co-operating
with various Seleucid kings, the Jewish rulers were able to maintain a relative
independence, which persisted even after Antiochus Sidetes besieged Jerusalem
in 134;
the new Jewish king John Hyrcanus (135-105) was able to bring about
mutual disarmament.
Assuming the office of high priest as well as that of
king, he was opposed by the Pharisees - in vain.
After a brief interval,
his son Alexander Jannaeus ruled from 104 until 78, in spite of popular hostility,
which resulted in his being pelted with lemons at one feast of Tabernacles,
and in turn Alexander's wife Alexandra was queen from 78 to 69, while their
son Hyrcanus became high priest.
She favoured the Pharisees;
the Sadducees
sided with her younger son Aristobulus,
who led a revolt against his mother
and ruled until 63.
Hyrcanus retired from office, but with the assistance
of Aretas III of Nabataea and his confidant the Idumean Antipater, was able
to re-enter Jerusalem in 65.
At this point the Roman general Pompey, in the
East with his legions, compelled Aretas to evacuate Jerusalem, and two years
later various delegates came to Pompey with petitions from Hyrcanus, from
Aristobulus, and from "the Jewish people", who insisted that they preferred
Roman to royal rule.
In response to this invitation, Pompey proceeded against
Jerusalem and captured it on a Sabbath when the Jewish soldiers refused to
take up arms.
Hyrcanus was confirmed as high priest, while in 46 he received
the title of ethnarch.
Unable to defend Jerusalem against a Parthian raid,
he fled to Rome and was replaced in 43 by Herod, son of Antipater.
Roman
troops drove the Parthians out,
while in 39BC Herod received the title KING
OF THE JEWS.
From the time of Pompey come the Pharisaic Psalms of Solomon, which emphasize
the wickedness of the kings now dethroned and look forward to the rise of
a rightly anointed ("messiah") king of Davidic ancestry.
This expectation
was not fulfilled, for Pompey put Judaea along with the new Roman province
of Syria under a governor at Antioch who controlled two legions.
Loosely subordinate to him was King Herod.
After Herod's accession he suppressed Galilean "robbers" (probably revolutionaries)
and finally recaptured Jerusalem.
During the Roman civil conflicts he first
supported Mark Antony, who had momentarily achieved power.
At the time of
the battle of Actium (31),
when Octavian decisively defeated Antony and Cleopatra,
Herod had discreetly occupied himself with Arabian affairs;
just afterwards,
he went to Octavian on the island of Rhodes
and explained that he had urged
Antony to kill Cleopatra.
He also argued that he had always been faithful
to whatever friends he had.
Since Octavian needed faithful friends, or welcomed
political realists, he confirmed Herod's kingship.
At home, innumerable murders and harsh repression marked Herod's long rule;
abroad, he contributed lavishly to the monuments, which indicated and supported
the success of Octavian's reign.
When he died in 4BC a legacy of about £2,000,000
to the emperor ensured the preservation of his treasures, while after long
disputes and abortive revolts the.
Senate ratified his will and confirmed
the powers of his three sons.
The struggles were severe.
In Galilee a certain Judas arose;
elsewhere two more revolts broke out, only
to be suppressed by a Roman general who crucified two thousand Jews.
At
Rome itself fifty Jewish delegates asked to have Herod's kingdom placed
directly under the governor of Syria.
It was decided, however, that Archelaus
should rule half the kingdom, including Judaea.
He was to have the title
of Ethnarch and would later become king if all went well.
A quarter, to
the northeast, was to go to Herod Philip,
and another quarter, consisting
of Galilee and Peraea, to Herod Antipas.
All did not go well in Judaea.
After ten years of misrule and marital difficulties, Archelaus was removed
in AD6 and Judaea was "temporarily" placed under a Roman procurator named
Coponius.
A Roman census was undertaken, since for the first time the Roman
tax system was being introduced.
In Galilee Judas took up arms again, declaring
that the Jews had no king but God and that taxes should be paid to the
Romans.
This time he was killed.
The next year, under P. Sulpicius Quirinius, governor of Syria, the census
was completed.
He made a certain Annas high priest and confirmed Herod Antipas
and Philip in their tetrarchies.
Once introduced, the procuratorial system continued in effect.
The procurator who stayed longest in Judaea was Pontius Pilatus, sent out
from Rome in AD26 at a time when Tiberius's principal adviser was notoriously
hostile towards the Jews.
Pilate confirmed the high priesthood of Caiaphas,
son-in-law of Annas.
He had been in office since the year 18, presumably
because of his ability to serve Roman interests.
Shortly after Pilate's
arrival he brought Roman troops into Jerusalem bearing their legionary
standards on which images of animals or deities were often carved.
This
action resulted in rioting, which Pilate fiercely suppressed.
A little
later he expropriated the corban trusts held by the temple so that
he could build a sixty-mile aqueduct for Jerusalem's water supply.
A mob
protested against this action but was scattered by soldiers wearing plain
clothes and concealed clubs.
The religious impact of Pilate's rule seems to have been felt almost immediately
by a certain John, a member of a priestly family who went out to the desert
east of the Dead Sea.
It is possible that he had been influenced at one time
or another by the teaching of the Essenes.
In any event, he now began to
proclaim the coming wrath of God, stating the necessity of universal repentance;
according to Luke 3:10-14 this involved the sharing of possessions, honest
tax-collection, and the avoidance of looting by soldiers.
A "baptism of repentance"
in the river Jordan was required of all who followed him.
John's preaching
created a crisis in Palestine.
Great numbers of Jews went out to the desert
to see this prophet of doom.
His preaching did not last long, however,
for
he proceeded to denounce Herod Antipas, tetrarch not only of Galilee but
also of Peraea, where John was preaching.
Like others of the Herodian family
this Herod had marital problems.
He had become infatuated with Herodias, the wife of his half-brother, and
had deserted his own wife to marry her.
The situation was dangerous, since
his first wife was the daughter of Aretas IV of Nabatea.
Therefore when Herod
heard that John had denounced the marriage as contrary to Jewish law he suspected
the existence of a plot. John was imprisoned in the frontier fortress at
Machaerus, near the Dead Sea, and later, at the instigation of Herodias,
was beheaded.
It was a time of revolutionary fervour, and when Jesus of Nazareth, once
baptized by John, proclaimed in Galilee the imminent reign of God and then
came up to Jerusalem, the high priest Caiaphas and a group of Jewish leaders
denounced him to Pilate.
After a cursory investigation the procurator ordered
him crucified along with two "thieves" who were perhaps revolutionists.
His execution probably took place on April 6th, AD 30.
The next year, Pilate's influence at Rome was sharply diminished when the
anti-Jewish adviser of Tiberius was executed for sedition.
A further problem
soon arose when he erected Roman votive shields in the old palace of Herod
I in Jerusalem.
Herod's four sons protested, and Rome sent orders to remove
them. Pilate survived in Judaea, however, until the year 36, when a Samaritan
prophet gathered a great crowd by promising to show them the authentic sacred
vessels, which Moses had buried on Mount Gerizim.
The procurator hastily sent troops, which dispersed the prophet's followers
by killing many of them.
Samaritan protests to the imperial legate in Syria resulted in Pilate's
being dismissed from office and sent to Rome.
The fact that he arrived there
only after the death of Tiberius early in 37 may have been fortunate for
him, but we know nothing more about his life.
Meanwhile further disorders had broken out in Palestine.
Aretas of Nabatea had finally moved against his sometime son-in-law, and
when the army of Herod Antipas was decisively beaten in the year 36, he
appealed to Tiberius for help.
Some help arrived, but within three years
his enemies accused him of having conspired against Tiberius.
They informed
the new emperor Gaius that Herod was stockpiling arms in order to join
the Parthians against Rome.
An investigation revealed that he had acquired
enough weapons for seventy thousand troops, and he was thereupon banished
to Gaul.
A year later unrest arose in Judaea. Gaius, believing firmly in his own deity,
ordered a colossal statue of himself to be placed in the temple at Jerusalem.
A politic governor of Syria was able to delay transport of the statue to
Judaea until those at Rome who knew Gaius was insane murdered him.
Jewish
delegates sent from Alexandria and elsewhere had been able to combine protestations
of loyalty with appeals for the emperor's favour; the assassin's dagger
was more effective.
In an attempt to restore order in Palestine, Claudius made Herod Agrippa
I, grandson of Herod the Great and, on his mother's side, close to the Roman
nobility, king of Judaea in the year 41.
Though he was half an Idumean, the
grateful Jewish people hailed him as their "brother" and protector.
By implication,
at least, he seemed to have restored the kingdom of David, though coins of
his last two years bore the Greek word "Caesar's friend".
Unfortunately Agrippa died in 44 and the rule of the procurators began once
more.
The first of them, Cuspius Fadus, had to deal with a self-styled "prophet"
named Theudas, who took his followers to the Jordan, assuring them that like
Joshua (4:7) be could make the waters divide.
For him, as for some of the Essenes, Jerusalem had become a profane city.
The procurator sent a detachment of cavalry, which defeated Theudas's followers
and beheaded him.
After Fadus, the next procurator was Tiberius Alexander,
nephew of the Jewish philosopher Philo.
He had to deal with a severe famine
caused by the failure of the Egyptian wheat crop.
Apparently revolutionary
ideas came to the fore again, for he crucified the sons of the earlier rebel
Judas of Galilee.
The next procurator, Ventidius Cumanus (48-52), had to deal with riots in
Jerusalem, which took place when a Roman soldier ridiculed Passover pilgrims.
According to Josephus, twenty thousand men lost their lives in the city.
On another occasion a Roman soldier in a village near Jerusalem burned up
a scroll containing the Jewish law;
this time the procurator, more cautious,
had the offender executed.
Still later, some Galilean Jews were murdered
on their way through Samaria to a festival at Jerusalem.
Cumanus, who according
to Josephus had been bribed by the Samaritans to remain inactive, did nothing
about the incident, and when Jewish zealots took vengeance on the criminals
he attacked them.
The governor of Syria sent the high priest to Rome, but
Cumanus was removed from office.
Antonius Felix, his successor, remained as procurator until about 60, largely
by means of vigorous suppression of revolutionary activities.
The struggle
was becoming acute.
In response to Felix there arose a resistance group called
the Sicarii (cf. Acts 21.38) because they carried short daggers (sicae) in
the crowds at festivals and stabbed supporters of the Romans.
One victim
was the high priest Jonathan.
Other Jews, less militant, advocated withdrawal
to the desert, where they expected to witness "signs from heaven".
A famous
prophet of this kind was an Egyptian Jew who gathered either four thousand
(Acts 21:38) or thirty thousand (Josephus) followers and proposed to go to
the Mount of Olives.
At his word the walls of Jerusalem would fall as the
walls of Jericho had fallen for Joshua.
Roman troops arrived before he spoke
the word.
Since he escaped from the slaughter that followed, a Roman tribune
was able to suppose that Paul might be the Egyptian (Acts 21:38).
The result of these movements was that, in Josephus's expression, all Judaea
was filled with madness.
Procurators after Felix stayed in Judaea no more
than two years before being recalled, and open war broke out in 66.
top
When Jerusalem fell in AD70 the event which most impressed the Jewish people
was not the sack of the city but the destruction of the temple by fire.
Herod
had undertaken the temple, whose renovation (still incomplete) in 20BC, was
the focal point of the Jewish religion.
Jerusalem was the "city of the great
king" (Matt. 5:35) because God's house was there.
In the temple were conducted
the daily sacrifices of animals and produce;
the most important of these
sacrifices were the people's burnt offering, immolated twice a day.
At these ceremonies lamps were lighted and music, both choral and instrumental,
was performed.
Additional offerings were made on the Sabbath and at the great
festivals.
The temple was the centre of the rites of the religious year,
which began
with the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) on the 10th of the month Tishri (September-October).
Burnt offerings were sacrificed and the scapegoat was sent away, bearing
Israel's sins upon it (Lev. 16:10).
The whole fast, which followed, expressed
God's forgiveness of his people.
They confessed their sins and he forgave
them.
The cycle of festivals began with
These festivals, along with the regular sacrifices, cost a great deal of
money to maintain.
They were supported partly by special gifts from kings
and other individuals, partly by an annual tax of half a shekel (about 10s.)
from every male Jew over 20 years of age (cf. Matt. 17:24-7), and partly
by small free-will offerings (Mark 12:41-4).
The funds went to buy animals
and other items needed for the sacrifices and to support a community of priests
and Levites (temple attendants) perhaps numbering ten thousand.
The temple and its services expressed the faith of Israel in the one God,
and the oneness of the temple was often regarded as analogous to the oneness
of God himself (for a Christian parallel cf. Eph. 4:4-6).
The sacrifices
not only expressed the faith but also taught it by means of dramatic action.
Further instruction in the content and meaning of the revealed law was necessary,
however, and this was provided by means of an institution developed by the
Pharisees.
top
Indeed, the principal institution of Pharisaism was the synagogue.
This term (from the Greek word for "assembly", sometimes used in the Septuagint
in relation to the "congregation" of Israel) referred both to the group
involved, consisting of a minimum of ten adult males, and to the building
in which it met.
The chief purpose of the synagogue was the Sabbath service,
consisting of the Shema ("Hear, O Israel, the Lord
thy God is one God," Deut. 6:4-5),
the eighteen benedictions,
and the benediction of Numbers 6:23- 6.
Individuals recited psalms;
then came the reading of a brief portion of the Old Testament in Hebrew,
followed by a targum or periphrastic translation into Aramaic or Greek,
and a sermon on the lesson for the day.
The lesson was apparently fixed by a carefully devised lectionary system.
Anyone appointed by the ?head of the synagogue? ("archisynagogos") could
deliver the sermon (cf. Luke 4:16-27; Acts 17:2).
The Fourth Book of Maccabees may represent an expansion of such a homily.
During the week the synagogue was used as a school in which scribes instructed
young people in scripture and its exegesis.
In these circumstances they learned
the two principal exegetical methods, halacha and haggada.
Halachic
exegesis involved the interpretation of the law in relation to practical
obligations;
haggadic exegesis was used for deriving theological and mythological ideas
from the Old Testament.
top
Most Jews remained outside the circle of the sects we have mentioned.
There
were very few Sadducees and Essenes.
Josephus informs us that there were
only six thousand Pharisees.
The overwhelming majority of Palestinian Jews
belonged to what the Pharisees called the am ha-aretz, "the people
of the land".
We know nothing of them from any
writings they may have produced;
we encounter them in the attacks made upon
them by the Pharisees and in the stories about "tax
collectors and sinners" in the gospels.
They constituted the
"lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt. 10:6; 15:24).
Thus far we have considered only the Jews of Palestine.
We must not forget,
however, that most Jews lived not in Palestine but in the great cities of
the Roman Empire:
Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, Ephesus, and others.
There they were the object of considerable hostility from Greeks and Romans
who regarded them as superstitious, exclusive, and - in the words of Tacitus
- hostile to the human race.
Their Sabbath-observance and practice of circumcision
were especially criticized.
From Egypt one papyrus letter reflects fear of
their financial acumen.
Above all, however, as emperor-worship became more
significant, their refusal to accept the divinity of the Roman emperor was
attacked, even though treaties with the Jewish nation exempted them from
participating in ruler-cult.
(At Jerusalem sacrifices were offered for, not
to, the emperor;
the cessation of these sacrifices in AD 66 marked the beginning
of revolt).
One source of difficulty was the existence of Jews who participated in the
benefits of Graeco-Roman culture and were citizens of their cities, as well
as of the empire, while claiming allegiance to Judaism at the same time.
Philo of Alexandria belonged to a wealthy and politically influential family;
he was well educated in Greek rhetoric and philosophy;
but he stated that
as a Jew his native city (patris) was Jerusalem.
Similarly
the apostle Paul was a Jew, a citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia, and a Roman citizen
(Acts 21:39; 22:27 -8).
Roman policy favoured cosmopolitanism; but it had its limits, and turbulence
in Palestine did not improve the position of Jews elsewhere.
From the career and the writings of Philo we can see how eager some Jews
were to bridge the gap between Judaism and Hellenism.
Philo took part in
a movement to replace an anti-Jewish governor of Alexandria (Against Flaccus)
and in an attempt to modify the anti-Jewish attitude of the emperor Gaius
(Embassy to Gaius).
He wrote innumerable volumes containing
exegesis of the Jewish law intended to show that it expressed the universal
law of nature as well as special laws binding only upon the Jewish people.
top
The writings of Philo can be viewed as apologetic for Judaism, indicating
the hope that mankind would gradually come to recognize the universal aspects
of the Jewish law.
Philo's attitude was not universally shared, as we have
already seen not only in the Dead Sea Scrolls but also in the record of events
in first-century Palestine.
In what we may call non-apologetic Judaism there was a long tradition of
faith in God's imminent action to take up his power and reign. Israel would
be vindicated and restored to power; foreign domination would come to an
end.
This hope was made up of political and religious motifs, which were
inextricably combined.
The great prophets of exilic times had always concerned themselves with politics.
The author of Daniel had stated that
"the kingdom and the dominion,
and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven,
shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High" (7:27).
In the time of Pompey the Psalms of Solomon had looked forward to the coming
of a Messianic king (17:23).
More recently, the Assumption of Moses, written
in the time of Archelaus, had anticipated the inauguration of God's reign.
No doubt there were many Jews who did not share these hopes, but Palestinian
leaders kept them alive among the people.
Scholars have often pointed out that in first-century Judaism there was
no one "doctrine of the Messiah", but this fact means only that Jews differed
as to details.
Those who were concerned with the coming reign of God could
unite on one dogma:
foreign oppressors would be driven out and God alone
would rule Israel.
This dogma was acutely embarrassing to the pro-Roman aristocracy
of priests and Sadducees who governed Palestine in collaboration with the
procurators.
Their attitude is well expressed in John 19:15:
"We have no king but Caesar".
Indeed, their appeal to Pilate as "Caesar's friend"
(John 19:12) makes use of a term found on coins of Agrippa I.
From the official
point of view, Jesus was crucified as THE KING OF THE JEWS (Mark
15:26).
One of the principal difficulties in New Testament study, as we shall
see in the next chapter, is that of determining the relation of Jesus? mission
to the various revolutionary movements.
Why were these movements so strong in first-century Palestine?
First of
all, we must recall that the Roman Empire had only recently come into existence.
The peoples subject to it were able to remember times when their own kings
had ruled them, and with the passage of time, past misrule tended to be forgotten.
Official inscriptions found throughout the empire speak of the glories of
Roman rule, but those who erected them did not necessarily speak for all
classes of society.
Especially towards the borders of the empire there was
a great deal of unrest.
Second, the burden of Roman taxation was oppressive.
It has been calculated that in first-century Palestine the total of Jewish
and Roman taxes may have reached a rate of twenty-five per cent;
and while
in modern times progressive taxation reaches levels far beyond this point,
taxation in antiquity was not progressive.
Taxes on sales and produce, along
with customs and poll taxes, fell evenly, and thus inequitably, on rich and
poor alike.
Third, the economic situation in Palestine, as elsewhere in the
empire, was characterized by extreme inequality.
While this situation was
not determinative of the gospel message or its reception, it undoubtedly
had something to do with the form in which the gospel was cast.
top
Current Recension:
From the Authorized Daily Prayer Book, tr. S. Singer (1890; 8th ed. 1915),
pp. 44-54.
top"The following prayer (Amidah) is to be said standing.
O Lord, open thou my lips,
And my mouth shall declare thy praise.
I
Blessed art thou, O Lord our God and God of our fathers,
God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob,
The great, the mighty, the revered God, the most high God,
Who bestowest loving-kindnesses, and possessest all things;
Who rememberest the pious deeds of the patriarchs,
And in love wilt bring a redeemer to their children?s children for thy name?s sake.
O King, Helper, Saviour, and Shield.
Blessed art thou, O Lord, the Shield of Abraham.
II
Thou, O Lord, art mighty for ever,
Thou quickenest the dead,
Thou art mighty to save.
Thou sustainest the living with loving-kindness,
Quickenest the dead with great mercy,
Supportest the falling, healest the sick, loosest the bound,
And keepest thy faith with them that sleep in the dust.
Who is like unto thee, Lord of mighty acts,
And who resembleth thee, O King,
Who killest and quickenest,
And causest salvation to spring forth?
Yea, faithful art thou to quicken the dead.
Blessed art thou, O Lord, who quickenest the dead.
III
Thou art holy,
And thy name is holy,
And holy beings praise thee daily. (Selah.)
Blessed art thou, O Lord, the holy God.
IV
Thou favourest man with knowledge,
And teachest mortals understanding.
Oh favour us with knowledge, understanding and discernment from thee.
Blessed art thou, O Lord, gracious Giver of knowledge.
V
Cause us to return, O our Father, unto thy law;
Draw us near, O our King, unto thy service,
And bring us back in perfect repentance unto thy presence.
Blessed art thou, O Lord, who delightest in repentance.
VI
Forgive us, O our Father, for we have sinned;
Pardon us, O our King, for we have transgressed;
For thou dost pardon and forgive.
Blessed art thou, O Lord, who art gracious, and dost abundantly forgive.
VII
Look upon our affliction and plead our cause,
And redeem us speedily for thy name?s sake;
For thou art a mighty Redeemer.
Blessed art thou, O Lord, the Redeemer of Israel.
VIII
Heal us, O Lord, and we shall be healed;
Save us and we shall be saved;
For thou art our praise.
Vouchsafe a perfect healing to all our wounds;
For thou, almighty King, art a faithful and merciful Physician.
Blessed art thou, O Lord, who healest the sick of thy people Israel.
IX
Bless this year unto us, O Lord our God,
Together with every kind of the produce thereof, for our welfare;
Give a blessing upon the face of the earth.
O satisfy us with thy goodness,
And bless our year like other good years.
Blessed art thou, O Lord, who blessest the years.
X
Sound the great horn for our freedom;
Lift up the ensign to gather our exiles,
And gather us from the four corners of the earth.
Blessed art thou, O Lord, who gatherest the banished ones
of thy people Israel.
XI
Restore our judges as at the first,
And our counsellors as at the beginning;
Remove from us grief and suffering;
Reign thou over us, O Lord,
Thou alone, in loving-kindness and tender mercy,
And justify us in judgement.
Blessed art thou, O Lord,
the King who lovest righteousness and judgement.
XII
And for slanderers let there be no hope,
And let all wickedness perish as in a moment;
Let all thine enemies be speedily cut off,
And the dominion of arrogance do thou uproot and crush,
Cast down, and humble speedily in our days.
Blessed art thou, O Lord,
who breakest the enemies and humblest the arrogant.
XIII
Towards the righteous and the pious,
Towards the elders of thy people the house of Israel,
Towards the remnant of their scribes,
Towards the proselytes of righteousness,
And towards us also may thy tender mercies be stirred,
O Lord our God;
Grant a good reward unto all who faithfully trust in thy name;
Set our portion with them for ever, so that we may not be put to shame;
For we have trusted in thee.
Blessed art thou, O Lord, the stay and trust of the righteous.
XIV
And to Jerusalem, thy city, return in mercy,
And dwell therein as thou hast spoken;
Rebuild it soon in our days as an everlasting building,
And speedily set up therein the throne of David.
Blessed art thou, O Lord,
who rebuildest Jerusalem.
XV
Speedily cause the offspring of David, thy servant, to flourish,
And let his horn be exalted by thy salvation,
Because we wait for thy salvation all the day.
Blessed art thou, O Lord,
who causest the horn of salvation to flourish.
XVI
Hear our voice, O Lord our God;
Spare us and have mercy upon us,
And accept our prayer in mercy and favour;
For thou art a God who hearkenest unto prayers and supplications:
From thy presence, O our King, turn us not empty away;
For thou hearkenest in mercy to the prayer of thy people Israel.
Blessed art thou, O Lord,
who hearkenest unto prayer.
XVII
Accept, O Lord our God, thy people Israel and their prayer;
Restore the service to the oracle of thy house;
Receive in love and favour both the fire-offerings of Israel and their prayer;
And may the service of thy people Israel be ever acceptable unto thee.
And let our eyes behold thy return in mercy to Zion.
Blessed art thou, O Lord,
who restorest thy divine presence unto Zion.
XVIII
We give thanks unto thee,
For thou art the Lord our God and the God of our fathers
for ever and ever;
Thou art the Rock of our lives,
The Shield of our salvation through every generation.
We will give thanks unto thee
And declare thy praise for our lives which are committed unto thy hand,
And for our souls which are in thy charge,
And for thy miracles, which are daily with us,
And for thy wonders and thy benefits,
which are wrought at all times, evening, morn, and noon.
O thou who art all-good,
whose mercies fail not;
Thou, merciful Being,
whose loving-kindnesses never cease,
We have ever hoped in thee.
For all these things thy name, O our King,
shall be continually blessed and exalted for ever and ever.
And everything that liveth shall give thanks unto thee forever,
And shall praise thy name in truth,
O God, our salvation and our help.
Blessed art thou, O Lord,
whose name is All-good, and unto whom it is becoming to give thanks.
XIX.
Grant peace, welfare, blessing, grace,
loving-kindness and mercy unto us
and unto all Israel, thy people.
Bless us, O our Father,
even all of us together,
with the light of thy countenance;
For by the light of thy countenance thou hast given us,
O Lord our God,
the Law of life, loving-kindness and righteousness,
blessing, mercy, life and peace;
And may it be good in thy sight to bless thy people Israel
at all times and in every hour with thy peace.
Blessed art thou, O Lord,
who blessest thy people Israel with peace.
Shortened form of the Amidak:
First three Benedictions, followed by:
Give us understanding, O Lord our God, to know thy ways;
circumcise our hearts to fear thee,
and forgive us so that we may be redeemed.
Keep us far from sorrow;
satiate us on the pastures of thy land,
and gather our scattered ones from the Four Corners of the earth.
Let them that go astray be judged according to thy will,
and wave thy hand over the wicked.
Let the righteous rejoice in the rebuilding of thy city,
and in the establishment of thy temple,
and in the flourishing of the horn of David thy servant,
and in the clear-shining light of the son of Jesse, thine anointed.
Even before we call, do thou answer.
Blessed art thou, O Lord, who hearkenest unto prayer.Last three Benedictions, and concluding prayers.