could really sink deep into the heart of the masses and drop most soothing balm upon its fresh wounds, until they consented to clothe themselves in the magic garb of gentle elegy, and, in lines (verses) worthy to live on every tongue, imperceptibly raised the legitimate sorrow of every member of the nation to loftier comfort and to kindred prayer. This is the significance of the popular elegies which beyond doubt were composed in great numbers' during these years, and of which a remarkable and instructive example is preserved in the small Book of Lamentations which we still possess. The five songs which compose this book evidently constitute a higher unity, in which the poet sets forth all the painful experiences of the people, and all their real causes for mourning, as well as all the sufferings which were yet more keenly felt by individuals; but together with them he exhibits all those higher truths which alone could bring real comfort in such great misery, real elevation in such great depression. The fate of Zion, that is of the true community, is so unspeakably heavy, that it can even appeal to the heathen for sympathy; 2 but at the next moment the deep consciousness of its higher destiny rises up anew against the heathen in all the more irresistible strength. The sufferings of the whole community, and still more of each individual, are bitter and humiliating indeed; but the sharpest sting is the consciousness, on the part of the nation, of having merited them all by its own great sins, and their only alleviation lies in the sincere confession of its own guilt, and in raising itself anew to the divine grace which is for ever the same. To this confession, and to the hope which rests on this grace, the cycle of songs leads imperceptibly on, and thus it formed the most beautiful minor book of songs to which the art of the time could give utterance, and which the genuine spirit of the true religion was then able to produce. We must not place the composition of these songs too long after the destruction of Jerusalem, for they reproduce with the greatest vividness many very special features of that event; 5 but numerous indications point with equal distinctness to a time Own art of these songs are further explained in It is sufficient to notice such traits as 1 at which the first pang had already passed away, and the new circumstances, with their crushing weight, had already begun to establish themselves firmly; nor do such elegies, with their melting softness and their transitions to the higher doctrine, find a fitting place until the first wild burst of grief has subsided. There is no evidence whatever of their having been probably composed in Babylon, but on the other hand there are distinct marks which point to Egypt as the place of their origin.2 The fact that Jeremiah himself was banished in his extreme old age to Egypt might warrant us in regarding him as the author of the songs, especially as this little book is early found attached to his larger work; at any rate, if the songs are not his, they are at least the work of one of his disciples who must have been himself a native of Jerusalem." 4 Again, the hope of Israel, which in the course of centuries had acquired such strength, is not relinquished even in the historical composition of these gloomy days. We see this very clearly in the present canonical books of Kings, which were written about the middle of the exile. At that time there was no prospect as yet of a speedy deliverance of Israel; for although King Jehoiachin, for whose fate the whole people felt such warm and special sympathy, was at last released from prison on the death of Nabuchodrozzor (560 B.C.) by his successor, EvilMerodach, and even brought to the royal court with special marks of favour, yet, strictly speaking, it was only a former personal injury that was rectified by this conduct on the part of the new king. Special kindness in the treatment of a man who had lost his crown nearly forty years before had no bearing on the fate of the nation; besides, when this historical work was written he had already died-no doubt during the two years' reign of this Babylonian monarch. In spite of all this the unknown historian dwelt with the utmost enthusiasm on the memory of 1 Consider in particular the words in Lam. i. 7, ii. 15, iii. 14, 17 sq., v. 7, 18, 20. 2 See above, p. 6, note 2. 3 Vol. iv. p. 275. 4 This is shown by the history of the Canon of the Old Testament. Josephus, too, found the minor work connected in this way with that of Jeremiah, and on that account considered it to be his work; but in representing it (Ant. xix. 5. 1) as having been composed by Jeremiah on the death of Josiah, he no doubt derived the idea from 2 Chron. xxxv. 25; but it by no means follows, however, that the Chronicler himself entertained this opinion, since it is more probable that he refers in the passage in question to a great book of Lamentations, to which he still had access, and which included Jeremiah's elegy on Josiah's death, together with others. They certainly have a great deal of Jeremiah's style and thought about them, but in the colouring of the language there is also much that is foreign to him; and the poet himself most probably belonged to the young men in whose name he speaks, Lam. iii. 27. The native city of the poet mentioned Lam. iii. 51 can only be Jerusalem. ? Vol. i. p. 159 sqq. s Vol. iv. p. 263 sq. the kingdom of Israel, and took special delight in bringing the Messianic hopes into prominence, though only when he found them in older documents.1 Just at the time, therefore, when these hopes in their narrow and literal sense must have seemed to have lost all foundation and support in external history, so far as they referred to the confident expectation of a successor of David who should complete the destinies of Israel, the work of this historian shows how far they were from having actually disappeared. II. ISRAEL AMONG THE HEATHEN. 1. The Inward Transformation. Since the glorified hope of Israel was cherished so sedulously and so universally among the scattered masses of the people from the very first years of this heavy time of trial, and the recognition with which it was greeted darted rays of such brilliance through the life of this long period of gloom, it is clear that any favourable opportunity would fan into a flame of light the fire which still glowed beneath the ashes. Thus in the long run the years of exile, instead of turning out a curse to the community of the true God, which no longer survived except in ruins, would prove, contrary to human expectation, a real and great blessing to it. Repulsed by the world, and thrown back upon itself, the peculiar genius of Israel, in so far as it was still uncorrupted and unexhausted and yet strove with all its might to secure the continuance of its own life and development, took advantage of this compulsory pause to collect its powers round their abiding centre, as a preliminary measure, and there condense them into the germ of a new life with greater tranquillity and less disturbance. The ruinous errors and perversities of earlier centuries were over now; and all the storm was past of that wild passion into which even the essentially noble efforts of Israel had so often degenerated in the time of the nation's independent life. Only the Immortal and Eternal in Israel could maintain itself, and the sole method by which it was enabled to hold out against the trials of the time was by severing itself more sternly than ever from all that was foreign to it, and returning more quietly and firmly upon itself. As we look upon the great stream of history, therefore, we may say with justice,' Now or never must 1 See especially 2 Sam. vii. 16; 1 Kings xi. 39. the noble and immortal in Israel learn simply by its own intrinsic might to hold its own against the ignoble efforts and degrading tendencies which still enter into its own fibre on the one hand, and against the whole of the great heathen world in the midst of which it is placed on the other; and the period we are considering is the only one in which both these difficulties were surmounted. Against the degrading tendencies of Israel itself there was now no Josiah or other champion to contend; against heathenism there was not the smallest power, not even a visible sanctuary of Israel, left. Even the hereditary priest could now derive no temporal advantage from the established Jahveism, since the offerings and other gifts had ceased of themselves, and indeed were demanded by no one; whereas the heathenism which was everywhere supreme appealed to each individual with all the force of its seductive charms. If, then, in this altered state of things Jahveism was still to maintain itself, it could only be by its own intrinsic energy and essential truth; and although, in the course of the centuries immediately preceding, Jahveism had already felt in many ways the beginning of an inner purification and strengthening against heathenism, yet all this had now to be consolidated a thousandfold, for the time had come when Jahveism must either entirely drop out of existence everywhere, or else increase its inner power and gather strength for a fresh life, as it had never done before. Thus, towards the end of this most heavy time of trial, we observe a nation, already completely transformed within, and marvellously purified and invigorated, rising once more under the disadvantages of dispersion and external powerlessness. Moreover, this process takes place on the grandest scale, as the sequel of the history will more fully show; but we feel it with peculiar power as soon as we turn to the numerous songs of the period, the language of which soars on the wings of a courage and enthusiasm arising from the deepest source, combined with a sincerity of heart open as the day, which is always the sign of a nature deeply stirred and renovated. great prophets had often foretold a thorough sifting in the last days, and the higher deliverance of a very small portion of the people only, when it had been thoroughly tested by sufferings; and much of this was now realised more powerfully and The Ever since Joel iii. 5 [ii. 32] and still more since Amos v. 25, ix. 9, and Isaiah. generally than ever before; for although many individuals partially or entirely sank into heathenism, yet others rose with all the more decision and energy against every perversion in that quarter or in Israel; and the few who were accustomed to watch diligently for God's hidden will and government, followed the silent or express development of things all the more intently during the period of compulsory inaction. Indeed, this active observation was at this time exceedingly necessary. The simple conditions under which Israel had formerly moved had for a long time been absent; and although the great destruction itself had now broken away many of the surroundings which by their excessive complication had entangled the national life more and more inextricably, yet their remoter effects continued to exercise a powerful influence enough. Meanwhile, however, the deficiencies of the old order of things were deeply felt by more earnest minds, and a new order sought to establish itself so as to supply them, and carry out the uncompleted efforts to attain what the old still lacked. 1) The first and at the same time the most powerful effort of the time was simply an attempt to return to the ancient but eternal truths and forces which the community had established of old. It was these alone which in every age had brought to the people of God the salvation which it had enjoyed; and now, though they had so often before been neglected and despised, they were at last recognised most fully as the only truths capable of effecting its genuine deliverance again, and they still supported Israel even in this long and heavy trial. Repentance, and a return to the ancient, the everlasting, and the true God, from the delirium, the charms, and the seductions of the world, had indeed been for centuries the cry of the best prophets, ever growing in intensity. In the decline of the kingdom Josiah had striven with all his might to carry out this change through the whole life of the people; but it seemed as if Israel needed to be violently torn away from all the beloved habits and the security of its original fatherland, before it could wrest its heart from the corruptions which had there sunk so deep into it. What all the better kings and prophets had failed to accomplish in sufficient fulness in their own country was now, however, rapidly achieved by the inexorable severity of the time, on a foreign soil, and almost without the co-operation of man. The many stern threats of the Prophets were now realised before their eyes in the most rigorous manner; they ceased to mock these anticipations as they so often used to do,' and 1 See vol. iv. p. 128. |