It is in the great changes thus roughly sketched that CHAP. I. we must look for the true connexion of the two Testa The foundations of Chris were laid in ments. Unless they are taken into account the very tian thought language and form of the Apostolic writings must be un- and writing intelligible; for every page of the New Testament bears these periods. witness to the depth and permanence of the effects which they produced. Nor is there anything unnatural in regarding a period unmarked by any direct impress of Divine interposition, as cherishing in darkness germs of spiritual life to be quickened in due time. On the contrary, the great epochs of revelation are widely separated by ages, which serve at once for harvest and seed-time. Such were silently and the intervals of silence before the call of Abraham, during the Egyptian captivity, and before the mission of Samuel; and it may not be a mere fancy if we discover some analogy between the period of natural development in the Jewish nation which preceded the birth of our Lord, and that period of natural and silent growth which ushered in His ministry. The inward conflict was completed before the outward manifestation was begun. Even when the Divine power was withdrawn from visible operation, it was no less certainly engaged in bringing within its control new powers, and opening new fields for its future work. The end itself came only with the 'fulness of time.' Slowly, and almost imperceptibly, this measure of time slowly. was filled. The interval between the Captivity and the birth of Christ was not only fertile in critical combinations of different elements, but ample space was given for each to work its full effect. For two centuries after the Captivity the Jews1 grew up under the dominion of Persia; for about a century and a half they were under Greek rulers; for a 1 If the word had been current I should have preferred to say Judeans. In this way a threefold name would significantly mark a threefold history: the people of Israel-Judæans-Jews: the first CHAP. I. This follows from a general survey of the effects of i. The Persian period, as to century they enjoyed independence under the Hasmonean princes; and for more than half a century Rome was supreme through the government of her instruments. Or, if we include the Captivity, it may be said that for three hundred years the Spirit of the East was dominant in Judæa, to be followed, for a like period, by the spirit of the West'. What then, to define more clearly the outline which has been already drawn, were the characteristic influences of these two great periods? How can we best represent their effects upon the 'people of God??' The Captivity in Babylon, as has been already noticed, is in some respects analogous to that in Egypt, in its relation to the history of the Jews. In both cases the Jews were brought into contact with a nation whose material power was scarcely greater than its intellectual culture. In both cases important changes were wrought in the organization of the people which clearly represented the influence of their conquerors. But the two exiles were distinguished essentially in their character. The oppression in Egypt was manifested in the personal bondage of individuals: the captivity in Babylon was the political subjection of the nation. In Egypt we can see a people trained to patient endurance and ready submission among masters whose idol was science, and whose watchword was changelessness. In Persia we can see the same people exhausted by vain hopes, and, lamenting a fallen kingdom, 1 The division of the periods corresponds to that of the first two schools into which the Hebrew writers are divided. The age of the Sopherim began with Ezra and ended with Simon the Just. The age of the Tanaim began after the death of Simon and extended to the close of the second century. 2 For the history of the Jews during the Persian period Ewald is by far the most important authority (Geschichte Ezra's und der Heiligherrschaft, Göttingen, 1852). The smaller work of Jost (Allgemeine Geschichte, u. s. w. 1832) is a valuable summary. Raphall's History of the Jews (Vol. 1. 2, London, 1856) contains much useful matter, but in a very uncritical form. For the later period Jost's longer work is available. Herzfeld's Geschichte des Volkes Israel, u. s. w., I have not been able to see. led to contemplate the sublime truths of a spiritual world among teachers whose perception of the antagonism of good and evil, even amidst the worst corruptions, seems to have been only less clear than that of their Persian conquerors. The Jews came up out of Egypt an entire people, bound together by common descent and common suffer, ings; the voice of Sinai was still sounding in their ears when they approached the borders of Canaan; the miracles of release were but a prelude to miracles of conquest, They returned from Babylon no longer as a separate nation, but as a colony to form the central point of a religious commonwealth: they returned to hear the last words of prophecy from those who had guided their course, and to recognize in the writings of the past the abiding lessons of God: they returned as tributaries to a foreign power, and yet with a freedom for hierarchical development. which hitherto had been denied them. The revolution in their national hopes, in their spiritual position, in their social organization was distinct and critical'. CHAP. I. hopes. The their inde gained a truer union, and The return from Babylon was partial, and not general. (a) National The people of Israel passed from Egypt one united tribe to Jews by losing take possession of a promised kingdom, and to assert their pendence national independence. From Persia only a small band of spiritual exiles came back to the home of their fathers, while the higher hopes. mass of their countrymen still lingered in the land of their captivity, and were content to retain their faith while they sacrificed their patriotism. Henceforth the Jews ceased to form one people in a political sense, though they had found a spiritual bond which could transcend all national 1 Outwardly the annals of the Jews from the time of Nehemiah (B.C. 445) to the invasion of Alexander (B.C. 332) are indeed brief. One event only is mentioned-the murder of his brother by a high priest in the Temple: Joseph. Ant. XI. 7. 1. But there are traces of WESTC. GOSP oppression on one side and heroic The chronological errors of the E CHAP. I. (B) Spiritual position. As a differences. While they fought for different masters, and even met face to face in adverse lines, they could still serve one God with undivided worship. But however insignificant the returning exiles may have been in numbers and wealth, yet the return was necessary; and from being the centre of a kingdom Jerusalem became the centre of a creed. But the difference was most significant. The growth of a Church succeeded to the growth of a people, and the sympathies by which its members were united grew wider, as the sources from which they rose became more truly spiritual. In losing their independence the Jews lost also something of the narrowness of their first views1. No longer needing the close limits of Canaan to shut them off from foreign influences, they were prepared to maintain their faith in whatever land they visited. Deprived of their hereditary dominion, they were led to look forward to a more glorious period of power, when a Son of David should found an eternal and boundless kingdom. Under the presence of foreign rule they clung to the sure promises of their higher destiny; and with higher hopes than they had ever realized before, a few poor exiles went forth to conquer the world2. When once the people was inspired with this new consequence of principle of life, the prophetic work was ended. It re this the pro phetic work ceased, and mained only to ponder over the teaching of the old prophets, and to read their words in the light of a new faith. The promises were already given, and only a suspension of creative energy was needed that it might be possible to contemplate with steady and undiverted eye the treasures of the past. In this sense the Jews were stationary during the Persian period; but stationary only so far 1 It cannot, however, be determined when the court of the Gentiles was added to the Temple: Ewald, IV. 197. 2 Cf. Renan, Études, L'histoire du Peuple d'Israel, p. 121; a brilliant sketch of Jewish history from Ewald's point of view. as they entered on no new ground while they were busy in mastering every position in that which had been already occupied. And as if to prepare them for such a period of repose and silence the last words of Malachi pointed to no new prophet, but to Elias himself as the herald of the last and greatest crisis in their history. To some the very name of Malachi-the Messenger1-seemed to announce a new epoch, and the later tradition which identified him with Ezra, was only a bolder expression of the same idea. CHAP. I. writings were But when the personal work of the prophet was finished, the prophetic the need of the collective prophetic teaching was deeper collected, than ever; and the warnings of ancient history were then sought for most earnestly, when the records which contained them were, for the mass of the people, as sealed books. The generation which grew up in exile adopted the Aramaic dialect (Chaldee), which had been already introduced into Palestine by the Chaldæan invaders, and thenceforth Hebrew ceased to exist as the national language. But the want and the difficulty mutually relieved each other. The providential change of language suggested a general limit within which the voice of inspiration might be heard, as the fearful chastisements of the captivity turned men's minds to the old Scriptures with a devotion unknown before2. 1 Cf. Ewald, p. 201 n. The history of the Jewish Canon is necessarily obscure. The books of Moses appear to have been united under the title of the Law from a very early period (2 Kings xxii. 8; cf. Josh. xxiv. 26; 1 Sam. x. 25); but though the later prophets exhibit a familiar acquaintance with the works of their predecessors, there is no evidence to show that the prophetic writings were either formed into a definite collection or connected with the law before the exile. The earliest trace of such a collection of the prophets (omitting the questionable passage, |