Israel and JudahISRAEL AND JUDAH AFTER THE DIVISION OF THE HEBREW EMPIRE.
Capitals of Northern Israel.Jeroboam, who was called to the throne of Northern Israel after the division, came from the ranks of the common people. His home was in the small, as yet unidentified town of Zeredah in Mount Ephraim. At first he established his capital at Shechem, but this city was incapable of defence and so the centre of authority was transferred across the Jordan to Penuel near Succoth. The occasion of this transfer was probably the invasion of Palestine byShishak, king of Egypt, who overran and plundered the west-Jordan territory. Later the capital was transferred again to the city of Tirzah, somewhere west of the Jordan. The identification of this city is uncertain. It may have been at the modern town of Telluza, situated on a hill one thousand nine hundred and forty feet above the level of the sea, immediately north of Mount Ebal. The town has many ancient cisterns but no spring. This identification would correspond to the statement of an early traveller (Borocardus) that Tirzah was on a height three leagues east of Samaria. The other more probable site is at Teiasir, about twelve miles northeast from Shechem, on the main highway that leads from this ancient capital through the Ophrah of Gideon to Bethshean and the upper Jordan valley (cf.p. 80). Teiasir is a central and commanding site, with extensive ruins to the north which indicate that it was once an important city. In II Kings 15:14 it is stated that "Menahem went up from Tirzah to Samaria," which applies excellently to Teiasir down near the Jordan but not to Telluza, which is one thousand feet higher and five hundred feet above Samaria. There is little doubt, therefore, that Teiasir represents the ancient northern capital.
The Aramean Kingdom.Northern Israel suffered from its exposed position. At first there was war between Judah and its northern rival, which resulted disastrously for the southern kingdom. To aid them in the conflict, the southern Israelites made the fatal mistake of calling in the Arameans to attack their foes on the north. By this time the Arameans had taken possession of northern Syria and established themselves at the ancient city of Damascus, which lay on a fertile oasis out in the desert, on the border line between Syria and northern Arabia.(42)By virtue of its central position it commanded the land trade of Egypt, Palestine, and Phœnicia on the west, and of Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Babylon on the east. It was "the harbor of the desert." The Aramean kingdom, with its capital at this favorable point, rapidly developed great wealth and military resources, and soon became a menaceto the independence of both Hebrew kingdoms, for the natural line of expansion of this Aramean kingdom was toward the south. The exposed position of Damascus alone saved the Hebrews from complete subjugation.
The Philistine Stronghold of Gibbethon.From the southwest the Philistines, availing themselves of the weakness of the two Hebrew kingdoms, fortified Gibbethon. This border fortress was the scene of repeated sieges. It is probably to be identified with Kibbiah, which lies in the foot-hills, seven miles northeast of Lydda. Kibbiah is eight hundred and forty feet above the ocean level and in the heart of the debatable territory between hill and plain. The possession of Gibbethon by the Philistines was a constant menace to the cities of southern Ephraim, but its strength seems to have baffled the Israelite armies for several decades.
Omri's Strong Rule.It was while besieging this Philistine stronghold that Omri, after the death of the adventurer, Zimri, was elected king by his soldiers. He proved to be in many ways the strongest king who ever sat on the throne of Northern Israel. The transference of his capital from Tirzah to the strong central city of Samaria(59)demonstrated his military skill and organizing ability. He also reconquered the territory of the Moabites as far as the Arnon, and, as is recorded on the Moabite stone, established strong garrisons throughout this territory.(46)He was not able, however, to repel the Aramean armies that at this time came marching down through the open highways from the north.
Ahab's Aramean Wars.Omri's son, Ahab, proved an even more able general than his father. In a series of engagements, in which he fought against great odds and against armies equipped far better than his own, he repelled the Arameans, who overran his territory. In the first engagement, which was fought near Samaria, the Hebrews, profiting by the blind overconfidence of the enemy, won through a sudden attack. The decisive battle was fought a year later near Aphek. This city is not the Aphek on the southeastern side of the Plainof Sharon, but is probably to be identified with the modern town of Fîk, beside the important highway which runs from the southern end of the Sea of Galilee northeastward toward Damascus. Ahab's courage was shown in thus going out to meet his foe on the northeastern border of his territory. The town lay on the top of the plateau at the end of a valley that looked down upon the Sea of Galilee on the west. The battle was probably fought on the level plain of the Jaulan, which ran east of the town, and resulted in the complete defeat of the Aramean army and the capture of its king.
Strength and Fatal Weakness of Ahab's Policy.Ahab was contented to make a favorable treaty with his fallen foe. The captured Israelite cities were restored and a trading quarter was set aside in Damascus for the Hebrew merchants. Ahab evidently sought in every way to develop the commercial resources of his kingdom. His marriage with Jezebel, the daughter of the Tyrian king, was intended to cement more closely the relations with this great commercial people on the west. Viewed from the point of view of world politics, Ahab's policy in maintaining the natural boundaries and in developing the commercial resources of his nation was sound. By his contemporaries he was doubtless regarded as a most successful king. His fatal mistake, however, was that of Solomon: in his pursuit of material splendor he disregarded the inherited beliefs and rights of his subjects. The official recognition of the Canaanite worship of his Phœnician queen was even more of a menace to the pure worship of Jehovah in Northern Israel in the days of Ahab than in Jerusalem in the days of Solomon. Northern Israel was pre-eminently Baal's land. Here the Canaanites had been most strongly intrenched and their religious traditions still pervaded the land. Communication with the Canaanites on the Mediterranean coast was exceedingly close and there was much in these ancient Baal cults to attract the prosperous, pleasure-loving, cosmopolitan people of Northern Israel. Ahab's policy did not contemplate a substitution of the worship of the Tyrian god, Baal Melkart, for that of Jehovah, butit did mean obscuring the fundamental characteristics and demands of Israel's God.
Elijah's Home.It was natural that the prophet who was able to analyze the situation and to point out its dangers, should come from the borderland of the desert where Moses had first impressed upon his people the unique character of Jehovah. Tishbe, the town from which Elijah came, will probably never be identified with absolute certainty, but it was somewhere in the land of Gilead. Modern tradition fixes it at Mar Elyas, a village a little north of the modern town of Ajlun in northern Gilead. Amidst this land of deep, rushing river-beds and steep, tree-clad hills, which gradually merge into the desert, was reared this stern champion of Jehovah and foe of the degenerate cults of agricultural Canaan. In one of these wadies, which cut down through the Gileadite hills toward the Jordan, Elijah found a refuge when the drought parched the fields west of the Jordan. His other home was Mount Carmel, whose fertile top and noble vistas resembled his native land across the Jordan.
The Scene on Mount Carmel.Excepting when he found refuge in the Phœnician city of Zarephath, which lay on a promontory about eight miles south of Sidon, and again at Horeb far in the south, Elijah performed his life work almost entirely in the narrow strip of land which lay between Gilead and Carmel. It was somewhere on the eastern end of Mount Carmel,(102)where it jutted out far into the Plain of Esdraelon, that he summoned king and people to the great conference which revealed to them the vital issue between the religion of Jehovah and that of Baal. Modern tradition identifies it with a site called El-Mahrakah, Place of the Burning. A spring a little below favors the conclusion that this was an ancient sanctuary. This retired spot, far away from the distractions of the city life below, was eminently fitted for the delivery of the prophet's brief but searching message. It looked along the western side of the plain to the old stronghold of Megiddo, the centre of the ancient Canaanite kingdoms. Due east lay the battle-field beside the Kishon where Jehovah fought for his people anddemonstrated in a language that a child nation could understand, his superiority to the local baals. To the south were the fertile, undulating hills and valleys of Samaria, to the north those of lower and upper Galilee, while eastward across the plain were the hills where lay the prophet's home, and far away in the northeast rose the snowy height of Mount Hermon. It was a scene that spoke clearly and impressively of Jehovah's might and of his tender love and care for his people. When at last, after the great convocation was over, the lightning flashed and the thunder rolled across the plain, none could doubt that Jehovah was still in the midst of his people demanding their undivided loyalty.
Ancient Jezreel.Jezreel, Ahab's northern capital, is ordinarily identified with the present town of Zerin,(11)although the absence of ancient ruins at this point renders the identification exceedingly doubtful. The village lies on a broad elevation rising three hundred feet above the plain and is encircled by fertile fields which extend for miles in almost every direction. The statement in I Samuel 29:1 that "the Israelites encamped by the fountain in Jezreel" implies that the ancient site was either further east near the copious spring now known as 'Ain el-Meiyiteh, or else to the southeast under the northwestern end of Mount Gilboa beside 'Ain Jalûd which is probably the famous Spring of Harod of Judges 7:1. Jezreel was on the central highway from Northern to Southern Israel and guarded the entrance to the Valley of Jezreel. Under royal patronage this fertile land would quickly be transformed into a paradise of gardens and vineyards. Ancient Jezreel, however, was a paradise in which a man listened to the tempting voice of his wife to his undoing. In reaching out and taking with his ruthless hand the vineyard of Naboth, Ahab condemned his family to exile and death. The voice of the dauntless prophet of Gilead pronounced his doom. Near this same vineyard the dogs licked the blood of Ahab, as his body was borne back across the Plain of Jezreel from the scene of his last battle with the Arameans.
Situation of Ramoth-Gilead.Like many of the east-Jordan sites, the identification of the famous city of Ramoth-Gilead, which was the scene of so many battles between the Hebrews and their northern foes, is uncertain. By some it has been identified with Reimun, a few miles west of Jerash, on one of the northern branches of the Jabbok, but this is on no important highway and has neither water nor the ruins of an ancient city. Eusebius apparently identifies Ramoth in Gilead with Es-Salt, fifteen miles west of Rabbath-Ammon, but this is too far south to satisfy fully the biblical references and has no large plain near by where chariots could manœuvre. Possibly the modern Jerash, which lies on a northern confluent of the Jabbok, was the site of the famous stronghold.(44)The name Ramoth implies that it was on a broad height and its prominence as a frontier town in the Aramean wars indicates that it was in northern Gilead. It may have been situated on the site of the modern Remtheh in northeastern Gilead. The modern town is to-day occupied by a Turkish garrison and stands near the point where the main road from Bethshean and the upper Jordan valley joined the great pilgrim highway on the edge of the desert. This identification would be in accord with the statement in I Kings 4:13, that Solomon's prefect, who resided in Ramoth-Gilead, collected taxes not only from the Manassite towns of Jair in Gilead, but also in the region of Argob, which is in Bashan. The latter region probably lay to the north and east of the upper waters of the Yarmuk. The implication in Josephus's Antiquities VIII, 15:4, that Ramoth in Gilead was a three-days' march from the city of Samaria, also favors the conclusion that it was the extreme outpost of the east-Jordan land. The other possible and, on the whole, most probable site is that suggested by Principal Smith, of Aberdeen University. He identifies it with the present city of Gadara. This town lies one thousand one hundred and ninety-four feet above the sea-level, on a bold plateau which runs out from the hills of Gilead. This height, two miles wide and at least four miles in length from east to west, is bounded on the north by thedeep valley of the Yarmuk, on the west by the Jordan, four and one-half miles away and over one thousand eight hundred feet below, and on the south by the Wady el-Arab, which cuts a deep gorge into the Gileadite hills. It is due south of Aphek, where was fought the great battle between the Hebrews and the Arameans under Ahab, and is on one of the chief highways which leads up from the Jordan through Arbela to join the pilgrim highway, to Damascus and Arabia. It is, therefore, the chief gateway and at the same time the natural fortress which guards northern Gilead. On the wide level plateaus about there is ample room for the manœuvring of chariots and an important road leads directly from it across the Jordan to Ahab's northern capital.
Elisha's Home.According to Jerome, Abel Meholah, the home of Elisha, was about nine miles south of Bethshean. The name, Meadow of the Dance, or of the Circle, implies that it was a low-lying valley. All these indications point to 'Ain Hel-weh, a ruined mound beside a gushing spring on the western side of the Jordan valley. It was surrounded by fertile fields. Throughout all his work Elisha, in contrast to Elijah, revealed his familiarity and close touch with the agricultural civilization of Northern Israel. The scenes of a greater part of his activity were the Jordan valley and the plains of Jezreel and Esdraelon, which lead into it from the west.
Jehu's Revolution.The culminating act of Elisha's work was to call Jehu to the kingship. The call came to him as he was directing the siege of Ramoth-Gilead. It is easy in imagination to follow his furious ride down the heights from Ramoth-Gilead across the Jordan and along its western side, past Bethshean and up the Valley of Jezreel to the northern capital of Ahab. On the open plain near the city of Jezreel he slew his master and thence rode into the city to complete the slaughter of the house of Ahab. By the sword he not only mounted the throne, but rooted out the Baalism against which Elijah and Elisha had both contended.
Rule of the House of Jehu.The history of Northern Israel for the next two generations is a record of humiliationand disaster. Jehu secured his position on the throne by paying a heavy tribute to the king of Assyria, whose armies were hovering on his northern borders. The active and ruthless Aramean king, Hazael, overran Northern Israel, destroying most of its warriors and extracting heavy tribute. In this hour of Israel's weakness the Philistines made forays into the south, carrying off Hebrews as slaves to foreign markets. It was not until Jehoash, the grandson of Jehu, came to the throne of Israel that the tide turned. Damascus, attacked in the rear by a northern Aramean people, was unable to cope with the Israelite armies. The east-Jordan territory was reconquered by Jehoash's son, Jeroboam II, and the Moabites again laid under tribute. For the first time in Israel's history a prophet arose in the land of Galilee. In the small town of Gath-Hepher, situated on a hill a little west of the highway which runs north from Nazareth, lived Jonah, the son of Amittai. He predicted that Jereboam's kingdom would extend, as it did later, from the southern end of the Dead Sea to the gateway between the Lebanons in the north, that marked the southern boundary of the strong northern Aramean kingdom of which the capital was Hamath. Again Northern Israel touched its widest bounds. Pride and self-confidence took possession of the nation. The military nobles who rallied about the king, enriched by the spoils of war, enslaved their fellow-countrymen whose fortunes had been depleted by the disastrous Aramean wars. Outwardly Northern Israel seemed strong and prosperous, but within were social wrongs which were eating the very vitals of the nation.
The Advance of Assyria.It was at this time that Assyria became the dominating factor in Northern Israel's history. This enterprising and ambitious nation was apparently an offshoot of the old Babylonian empire. It occupied the fertile plains east of the upper Tigris. As early as the eighteenth centuryB.C.it began to break away from the authority of Babylon. About 1100B.C.Tiglath-pileser I laid the foundations of the Assyrian empire by campaigns in Babylonia, Elam, Mesopotamia, and Syria; but it was not until 854B.C.that Assyria touched Israel. Then, according to the annals of theAssyrian king, Shalmanezer II defeated Ahab, together with the other princes of Syria, at the battle of Karkar. By 842 he had conquered practically all of Syria and received tribute from Jehu of Israel. During the reigns of the next two Assyrian kings the advance of this great world power was stayed. But when Tiglath-pileser IV founded a new dynasty he injected fresh energy into the empire, recovered its lost territory, and advanced to the conquest of Palestine.
Amos's Home at Tekoa.It was probably about the time when Tiglath-pileser IV began to institute his aggressive policy that Amos delivered his epoch-making sermon at the royal sanctuary in Bethel.(77)His home was at Tekoa, twelve miles south of Jerusalem, and but twenty-two from Bethel. Tekoa was the eastern outpost of Judah. Broad, rich fields lay on the north and west, but to the east it looked down upon the barren rounded hills that descended to the Dead Sea and toward the bold uplands of Moab in the distance. The town was situated on an elevated plateau which commanded a view of nearly all the places mentioned in the prophet's sermons: Kirioth in Moab, the region about Bethel and Gilgal, and the roads that led to Philistia, Egypt, and Edom. The dominant feature in the landscape was the Dead Sea, with its blue waters, its rising mists, and its gray, purple, and yellow cliffs. It was a grim, rugged, awe-inspiring outlook and clearly made a deep impression upon the thought and life of the prophet. Among the dry, rock-covered pasture lands, that run up to the eastern side of the town of Tekoa, the prophet received his training.(103)To-day, as in the past, it is the land of sheep and goats. The wildness of the region and the proximity to the desert demanded strong, stalwart shepherds, inured to hardship, keen to detect the presence of a foe, quick to repulse the attack of wild beast or lurking Arab robbers, and tender in their care of the young and the injured. Among these silent, treeless hills or beside the occasional spring, the traveller to-day meets this type of shepherd, silent and resourceful, armed with his short, heavy, wooden staff.
Influence of His Environment Upon the Prophet.Here Amos learned to champion the cause of the oppressed, to scent danger from afar, and faithfully to sound the alarm. His occupation doubtless took him to the annual festivals and market days at Jerusalem and Bethel, where his shepherd training asserted itself. He could not shut his eyes to the cruel oppression of the poor and dependent classes by the rich, greedy nobles. From afar he also noted the approach of the Assyrian lion. Being a faithful shepherd he could not remain silent. As he meditated on the situation in the quiet of his shepherd life among the hills about Tekoa, the conviction deepened into certainty that Jehovah in these varied ways was speaking to him, calling him to sound the note of alarm that the rulers of Israel might see the peril, right the wrongs, and thus save their nation. The influence of his shepherd's life and point of view is present in all his utterances. His message is a clear blast of desert air, sweeping through the corrupt atmosphere of the city, tainted as it was by that degenerate Canaanite civilization which still polluted the centres of Northern Israel's life.
Evidence Regarding Hosea's Home.A few years after Amos appeared at Bethel a prophet arose in Northern Israel itself, who reiterated the message of the shepherd from Tekoa in equally impressive terms. The superscription of Hosea's prophecy is unfortunately silent regarding his home. Local oriental tradition, however, has supplied this lack. One of the most commanding heights of southern Gilead bears the name of Jebel Ôsha, which is the Arabic for "Mountain of Hosea." Here, according to a tradition at least three hundred years old and perhaps based upon an older Jewish original, the prophet was buried. Here the Bedouin still sacrifice sheep in his honor. Possibly local tradition has preserved a fact unrecorded in the biblical narrative. It is indeed significant that Hosea alone of all the prophets makes frequent mention of the land of Gilead and reveals an intimate knowledge of its history. Thus, for example, he refers in 10:14 to the time whenShalmen, probably the Assyrian king Shalmanezer III, laid in ruins Beth-arbel in the day of battle. The city referred to is clearly one of the two east-Jordan towns bearing this name, and in all probability the Arbel east of Pella in the heart of northern Gilead. In 12:11 he declares: "In Gilead is iniquity, yea, they have wrought vanity." Again in 6:8, probably referring to the unidentified city east of the Jordan mentioned in Judges 10:17, he declares:
Gilead is a city of evil-doers,Tracked with bloody footprints,And as bandits lay in wait for a man,So a band of priests murder on the way to Shechem,Verily they commit deliberate crime.
Gilead is a city of evil-doers,Tracked with bloody footprints,And as bandits lay in wait for a man,So a band of priests murder on the way to Shechem,Verily they commit deliberate crime.
View From Jebel Ôsha.The bold heights of Jebel Ôsha commanded a view of most of the places mentioned in Hosea's prophecies. Across the valley lay the territory of the great tribe of Ephraim whose name is constantly used by him as a synonym for Northern Israel. A little to the northwest were the heights of Ebal and Gerizim, which guarded Shechem and the highway which led directly to the city of Samaria. From the same mountain height could be seen to the northwest the rounded top of Mount Tabor, which is the northernmost point mentioned by Hosea. Directly across the Jordan was the northern Gilgal, and a little to the southwest was the table-land of Bethel. Farther south was the height of Ramah. Hosea's prophecies also contain a surprising number of references to the lower Jordan valley, which lay stretched out immediately below the mountain peak which to-day bears his name. Just opposite were probably to be found the ancient cities of Admah and Zeboim. The former may be identified with the city of Adam, mentioned in the second chapter of Joshua (cf.p. 125), which probably stood near the Damieh ford, just below the point where the Jabbok enters the Jordan. Farther north the Plain of Jezreel comes down to the Jordan, while to the southwest onemay see the Valley of Achor, the present Wady Kelt, cutting its way through the western hills toward Ai and Bethel. Hosea also refers to Baal-peor in southern Gilead and to Shittim in the valley below, near the lower fords of the Jordan. Thus there are many indications in the ancient prophecy that Hosea lived among the hills of Gilead, and that, like Amos, he was a man who moved among the heights with a broad outlook ever before him. The message which these two prophets proclaimed was as different as the vistas which opened before them. Amos used the figures of the shepherd; Hosea those of agricultural life. Amos looked upon the evidence of Jehovah's might and justice; Hosea upon fertile fields and tree-clad hills, which spoke of Jehovah's love and his gracious provision for his people's needs. Thus the messages of these two contemporary prophets supplemented each other, the one proclaiming Jehovah's justice, the other Jehovah's love.
Conquest of Galilee and Gilead.The rulers of Northern Israel, however, were as irresponsive to Hosea's pleadings as they were to Amos's stern warnings. The result was that when in 734B.C.Tiglath-pileser IV invaded Northern Israel, an assassin sat on the throne and the rank and file of the people were crushed by the cruelty and oppression of those who should have defended them. Northern Israel was swept by the armies of the conqueror. Ijon, which was a city on the rich plain in northern Galilee between the Litany and the Nahr el-Hasbany, that still bears the name Merj Ayun (Ijon); Janoah, a city in the heights six miles east of Tyre; Abel-beth-maacah, at the upper end of the Jordan valley; Kadesh, Hazor, east of Lake Huleh and Ijon, were among the important cities captured in northern Galilee. Lower Galilee and Gilead were also overrun, their leading citizens transported to Assyria, and their territory annexed to that of the Assyrian empire.
The Exiled Northern Israelites.Tiglath-pileser IV left to Hoshea, the last king of Northern Israel, simply the territory west of the Jordan and south of the Plain of Esdraelon. After ruling for a decade as the vassal of Assyria, this king rebelled.For nearly three years his capital, Samaria, held out against the Assyrian armies, but at last, late in 722B.C., Samaria fell before the conqueror and twenty-seven thousand two hundred and ninety of its citizens were deported to different parts of the Assyrian empire. Some were settled in the province of Gozan on the upper waters of the Habor River, which flows southward into the Euphrates. They found a home, therefore, near the centre of Mesopotamia. References in the Assyrian inscriptions suggest that Halah was a city in western Mesopotamia. The third colony of exiles were settled in the Median cities to the east of Assyria.
The Fate of Northern Israel.The great majority of the people of Northern Israel were left behind in their cities and villages. To destroy their racial unity colonists were imported by the Assyrians from three cities—Babylon, Kutha, which is probably the Assyrian Kutu, a city a little northeast of Babylon, and Sippar, north of Babylon. Other colonists were brought from Hamath, the capital of the conquered northern Aramean kingdom. These colonists were in time absorbed by the native population. In later history this mixed race is known as the Samaritans.(104,105)For the next century Northern Israel largely lost its political and religious significance and became simply a part of the great Assyrian empire. In its brief history it demonstrated the great truth that prosperity, opportunity, and culture do not necessarily develop strong national character. At the same time through its prophets it gave to the world certain truths regarding Jehovah's justice and love which are the corner-stones of the faith of humanity.
Effect of Environment Upon Judah's History.Compared with the history of the northern kingdom, that of the southern, for the first two centuries following the division of the empire, was petty and insignificant. Judah was shut in by its natural barriers from contact with the larger life that surged up and down the coast plains and through the broad valleys of Northern Israel. While it survived, the northern kingdom protected it largely from Aramean and Assyrian invasions, so that during this period there were few great crises to call forth statesmen and prophets. Jerusalem, because of its size and prestige, completely overshadowed the other cities of Judah, so that most of the important events in the history of the southern kingdom took place in or near the capital. The natural unity of this little kingdom also freed it from the diverse and disintegrating influences that made Northern Israel's history one of civil war and bloodshed. The result was that until Jerusalem's destruction in 586B.C.the family of David, practically without interruption, continued to sit on the throne of Judah.
Shishak's Invasion.In 945B.C.the throne of Egypt was seized by a Libyan mercenary by the name of Sheshonk, known to the biblical writers as Shishak. He set to work at once to restore the ancient glories of the empire. To this end he invaded Palestine and Syria and, according to the records which he has inscribed on the great temple at Thebes,(106)he succeeded in capturing one hundred and fifty-six cities and districts. The cities lying along the Philistine Plain, including Socho, Ajalon,and Beth-horon, Gibeon in the north and Sharuhen and Arad in the south were among those captured. According to the biblical record Rehoboam stripped the temple of its wealth in order to pay tribute to this foreign conqueror.
War Between the Two Kingdoms.As soon as the Egyptian forces were withdrawn, Northern Israel, by virtue of its greater resources, first recovered its strength and fortified the town of Ramah, five miles north of Jerusalem. Ramah stood on a prominent hill two thousand six hundred feet high, near the intersection of the main highways running north, south, east, and west. From this fortress it was possible to cut off all commercial relations between Judah and the north. The king of Judah retaliated by hiring the aid of the Arameans. When the Northern Israelite army was withdrawn the fortress at Ramah was razed to the ground. With materials taken from this ruin the king of Judah fortified the old stronghold of Geba, two miles to the northeast, thus gaining control of the main highway from the Jordan to the Philistine Plain. In the same way Mizpah, an imposing, massive hill to the northwest of Jerusalem, was fortified. Mizpah(20)lies about two miles south of Gibeon,(93)through which ran the old division line between the north and the south, so it is evident that in this border warfare the boundary between the two kingdoms remained practically the same as before. Soon both were forced to unite against their common foe, the Arameans, so that, with one disastrous exception, neither attempted again to encroach upon the territory of the other.
Amaziah's Wars.In the division of the two kingdoms, Edom and the South Country fell to Judah. Shishak so completely weakened Judah that it appears to have early lost control of the Edomites. Amaziah, the father of Uzziah, was the first who succeeded in winning a decisive victory over these southern foes of the Hebrews. The battle was fought, as in the days of David, in the Valley of Salt, southwest of the Dead Sea. The narrative adds that he took Sela (the Rock) by storm. It is not clear whether this was a border fortress or, as many hold,Petra, the marvellous capital city of the Edomites, which lies in a narrow gorge, cut out of the heart of the many-colored limestone mountains that rise between the Ghôr and the Arabian desert.(50)Elated by this victory, Amaziah foolishly challenged the king of Northern Israel to battle. The decisive engagement was fought at Beth-shemesh, the prosperous town that lay on the southern side of the Valley of Sorek. It was almost due west of Jerusalem and in the heart of the lowlands along which the northern army probably approached. Following up the victory, the Northern Israelites tore down two hundred yards of the northwestern wall of Jerusalem at the point where the city mounted the northern plateau and was, therefore, most exposed. They also looted the temple and royal palace, thus completing the humiliation of the southern kingdom. The conspiracy which resulted in the flight and execution of Amaziah at Lachish, the southwestern outpost of Judah, was probably the fruit of his folly.
Uzziah's Strong Reign.Uzziah, who succeeded his father, rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and strengthened them by towers that guarded the northwestern and southwestern gates of the city. He also extended the influence of Judah in the south, building the important port of Elath. In a campaign against the Philistines he captured Gath, whose power had already been broken by the Arameans, Jabneh, west of Gezer, and Ashdod farther south. The death of this strong king, therefore, marked a crisis in the life of Judah, for his successors were inefficient and at this time Assyrian armies began to invade Palestine.
Isaiah of Jerusalem.It was in the year that Uzziah died that Judah's great prophet, Isaiah, entered upon his work. His intense loyalty to his nation and his conception of the transcendent majesty of the Divine King who ruled over Israel, reveal his southern birth and training. His familiarity with king, court, and the problems of the nation leave little doubt that he was a citizen of Jerusalem and possibly a scion of one of its noble families. At first, like Amos, he devoted himself to denouncingthe crimes of the ruling class and the inevitable result of their cruelty, greed, and disregard of public responsibility.
His Advice to Ahaz in the Crisis of 734 B.C.When, in 735, Northern Israel and Damascus united and endeavored to force Judah to combine with them in a coalition against the invader, Tiglath-pileser IV, Isaiah entered upon his work as a statesman. In person he went to advise Ahaz, as the king was probably investigating the defences of Jerusalem, in view of the possibilities of an impending siege. The place of meeting was evidently south of the city, where the valley of the Tyropœon joined that of the Hinnom near the pool where, in earlier days, Adonijah had rallied his followers.(107)Isaiah's advice, however, to make no alliances, but to simply trust Jehovah for deliverance, was rejected by king and people. Ahaz became a vassal of Assyria, and not only turned over the silver and gold of the temple and palace to the invader, but went in person to Damascus to pay homage to Tiglath-pileser.
The Great Rebellion of 703 B.C.The great crisis that called forth the majority of Isaiah's recorded sermons came thirty years later, when Judah was again tempted to enter into an alliance with the other states of Palestine in an endeavor to break free from the rule of Assyria. In common with the other little states of Palestine, it was a victim of its intermediate position between the great world-powers, Assyria and Egypt. Under a new Ethiopian dynasty, Egypt's ambitions were again beginning to stir and Assyria was the chief barrier to their realization. Therefore, Egypt by promises of help encouraged the states of Palestine to revolt against Assyria. In 711B.C.the Philistine towns of Ashdod and Gath did actually rebel. It was only by going about in the garb of the captive, proclaiming in this objective way what would be the consequence if Judah rebelled against Assyria, that Isaiah was able to arrest the attention of the nation and save it from fatally compromising itself. When the great Assyrian king, Sargon, died in 705B.C.the temptations to rebel were too strong to be resisted. Merodach-baladan, of the ancient Babylonian royal line, at once instigateda successful revolt in the lower Tigris-Euphrates valley and sent emissaries to Palestine to stir up the vassal states in a general uprising against Assyria. Tyre, Edom, Moab, Ammon the Philistine cities, and certain of the neighboring Bedouin tribes united in raising the standard of revolt against their common foe. Egypt again promised assistance, and, although Isaiah protested with all his powers, Judah was drawn into the coalition. Hezekiah was made the southern leader of the rebellion.
Home of the Prophet Micah.Sennacherib, the successor of Sargon, after putting down the rebellion in southern Babylonia, advanced with a large army to the reconquest of the eastern Mediterranean states. It was probably while the Assyrian king was advancing from the north that Isaiah's contemporary, Micah, uttered his warning against the venal and greedy nobles of Judah. The home of the prophet was Moresheth-gath. Eusebius and Jerome describe it as a small village a little east of the modern Beit-Jibrin, which commands the entrance to the Valley of Zephathah, through which ran the highway from Jerusalem to Gaza. Another important road ran from Hebron past the mound which represents without reasonable doubt the ancient Gath, and thence along the coast plains to the north. It was the centre of a prosperous agricultural life and at the same time shared the peculiar characteristics of these frontier towns. From his home among the foot-hills(108)Micah was able to watch the movement of Assyrian armies and to keep in close touch with the world-politics of his day. Like Amos, he was inspired by the sense of approaching danger to turn his attention to conditions within the nation and to endeavor with all his prophetic power to prepare it for the coming crisis. The note of alarm sounds through all his early utterances. In imagination he pictures the effects of the coming invasions and in the sound of the names of the villages about his home he finds suggestions of the calamity about to overtake them. His eyes fall first on Gath, which lay to the northwest on the highway along which the Assyrian army would naturally approach. His vision sweeps southward, including Shaphir, the modernSuafir, five miles southeast of Ashdod on the Philistine Plain, Zaanan and Lachish to the southwest, and other small villages on the western borders of Judah. His eye rests last of all upon Mareshah, which has recently been identified beyond doubt with the large Tell es-Sandahannah, one mile south of Beit-Jibrin. The latter was the most important city near Micah's home, for it guarded the pass and stood near the junction of the great highways that radiate from this point.
Judah's Fate in 701 B.C.Judah experienced in 701B.C.the calamities that Isaiah and Micah had predicted. The annals of Sennacherib state that the Assyrian king conquered forty-six of the cities of Judah, together with innumerable fortresses and small towns in their neighborhood; over two hundred thousand captives, and horses, mules, asses, camels, oxen, and sheep without number were carried away as spoils. In the picturesque language of the conqueror, "Hezekiah was shut up like a bird in a cage in the midst of Jerusalem" until he was forced to surrender and to pay a huge tribute of gold and silver.
Isaiah's Counsel in a Later Crisis.In this great crisis the wisdom of Isaiah's counsel was vindicated beyond question and his authority became so strong with king and people that an attempt was made to remove certain of the surviving heathen symbols from the popular worship. In the later crisis of 690B.C., when Sennacherib advanced to the conquest of Egypt, the prophet by his advice was able to save Jerusalem. While engaged in the siege of Lachish, the imposing fortress on the Philistine Plain on the southern side of the Wady el-Hesy, Sennacherib sent messengers demanding the unconditional surrender of Judah's capital. From the point of view of the Assyrian king it was dangerous to leave in his rear a strong fortress like Jerusalem, which had already proved a centre of rebellion. His demand, however, was unreasonable, for there is no evidence that Jerusalem, at this later time, was guilty of sedition. In the light of these changed conditions, instead of predicting calamity as a penalty for rebellion, Isaiah advised Hezekiah to refuse to surrender his city to destruction. The calm, unflinchingfaith of the prophet overcame the fears of the king and thus preserved Jerusalem for another century. Without waiting to carry out his threats against Jerusalem, Sennacherib advanced against Egypt. From the variant traditions it appears that in the marshy land on the eastern side of the Nile delta his army was overtaken by a plague and he was forced ignominiously to retreat.
The Reactionary Reign of Manasseh.Assyria continued, during the reign of Hezekiah's successor, Manasseh, to maintain its control of Palestine. Assyrian and Babylonian customs and religious institutions pervaded the land as never before. Two legal contracts, drawn up in the usual Assyrian form and dating from the years 651 and 648B.C.in the reign of Manasseh, have been discovered in the mound of Gezer. The one records the sale of a field and the other of an estate with the house and land. The owner of the land was a Hebrew (Nethaniah) but the joint owners of the estate and the twelve witnesses were nearly all Assyrians, indicating how strong was this foreign influence at the time. The weak Manasseh was a leader in a wide-spread reaction against the exalted religious and ethical teachings of the prophets. The old Canaanite cults were largely revived and the worship of Babylonian and Assyrian deities was introduced even into the temple at Jerusalem. Silenced by persecution, the faithful prophets and priests devoted themselves to putting the principles proclaimed by Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah into definite laws that would shape the daily life of the people. The results of their work are preserved in the book of Deuteronomy, which became the basis of the later reformation of Josiah.
Two Prophetic Reformers.The two leaders in the great reform movement were Jeremiah of Anathoth and Zephaniah, who seems to have had great influence over his kinsman, the young Josiah. Zephaniah was apparently a native of Jerusalem. Most of his prophecy is devoted to denouncing the different forms of apostasy and the crimes of oppression then prevalent in the capital. While Jeremiah was not a citizen ofJerusalem, he came from a neighboring village and was also in close touch with the political, social, and religious life of the capital.
Situation of Anathoth.The little town of Anathoth,(109)his home, lay to the northeast of Jerusalem, just over the Mount of Olives, at the point where the hills began to descend to the barren wilderness to the east. It stood on a low, rounded hill. The limestone rocks crop out at many points, imparting a rugged appearance to the landscape. A thriving fig orchard on the western side of the modern town recalls the forceful figure by which Jeremiah contrasted the Jews left in Palestine with the exiles in Babylonia. The low stone and mud buildings of the present town are crowded close together and the dirty streets and people remind the traveller of the men of ancient Anathoth who persecuted their illustrious townsman. On the south the view is shut off by the rising hills, but toward the northeast lies Gibeon and Ramah and to the north Michmash, with its inspiring memories. The chief view from Anathoth, like that from Tekoa, is toward the Jordan valley and the Dead Sea. The gray, barren hills let themselves down in gradual terraces to the depths below. To the northeast are the tree-clad hills of Gilead, while across the Dead Sea rise the rounded, rocky cliffs of the Moabite plateau. Like the homes of most of the great Hebrew prophets, it is a place of broad outlook. The general impression of Anathoth is grim, stern, and sombre, although here the harsh, barren landscape of the south merges into the more fertile and pleasing hill country of the north. Even so in the character of Jeremiah were blended the sternest, most exalted sense of justice and a love for his nation and his countrymen so tender and strong that he was ready to give his life, if need be, to save them from the evils which he saw impending. Through all his sermons these two motives struggle, sometimes the one and sometimes the other breaking forth into expression.
Josiah's Reign.In Josiah the reformers found an energetic leader. It was during his reign that the Scythian hordespoured down from southeastern Europe. Some of these wild barbarians swept down the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, giving Zephaniah and Jeremiah the texts of their earlier sermons. Others, turning to the east, flung themselves against the Assyrian empire and ultimately, in union with the Babylonians, succeeded in conquering Nineveh itself. The impending fall of Assyria favored the work of the reformers, so that in 621B.C.the prophetic law-book was brought from the temple and publicly adopted by Josiah in behalf of the people. The record of the institution of this new law indicates that Josiah's authority extended beyond the old bounds of Judah. After the withdrawal of the Assyrian governors it was natural that the surviving tribes of the north should again look to Jerusalem for political and religious leadership. This fact explains why Josiah's last fatal battle was fought against the Egyptian king, Necho, in the vicinity of the old Canaanite fortress of Megiddo.
The Brief Rule of Egypt.Necho, the son of Psamtik I, a Libyan who had succeeded in conquering Egypt, was inspired by the oft-recurring ambition to recover the Asiatic possessions once held by the empire. The approaching fall of Assyria gave him a favorable opportunity. With the aid of the Greek mercenaries in his service, he succeeded in conquering the Philistine cities. The defeat of Josiah at Megiddo in 608B.C.gave him practical possession of Palestine. In the same way the different states of Syria fell before him, so that between 608 and 605B.C.he was master of the eastern Mediterranean. This brief Egyptian rule, however, was overthrown by the new Chaldean kingdom, which arose in lower Babylonia and, after the fall of Nineveh, quickly fell heir to the southern and western part of the Assyrian empire. The decisive battle between the Egyptians and Chaldeans was fought at Carchemish, by the Euphrates, in 605B.C.and resulted in the complete defeat of Necho's army. The Egyptians were speedily driven from Syria and Palestine and the Chaldean authority established in their stead.
Jehoiakim's Reign.By the death of Josiah the cause of the patriotic prophetic party in Judah suffered severely. The younger son of the dead king, who was first put on the throne, was soon deposed by Necho and the selfish Jehoiakim was established as a vassal of Egypt. His sympathies were with the party of reaction and he proved another Manasseh. When the Chaldeans appeared in Palestine their rule was readily accepted, but after a reign of ten years Jehoiakim listened to the seductive promises of Egypt and rebelled against his Chaldean master. It was during the reign of Jehoiakim that Jeremiah delivered the greater part of his sermons. By direct address and object-lesson he denounced the follies and crimes of the king and people and tried to save them from the calamity which he saw impending. When the spirit of rebellion was rife he used all his influence to keep his countrymen loyal to the Chaldeans, but in vain. While Judah was being overrun by the Chaldean armies, Jehoiakim died and was succeeded by his young son, Jehoiachin.
The First Captivity.In 597B.C.Jerusalem itself fell before the army of Nebuchadrezzar. The king, his nobles, and between eight and ten thousand of the prominent men and artisans, representing in all between thirty and forty thousand souls, were transported to Babylonia. The object of Nebuchadrezzar was to strip the land of its leaders and all who might assist in carrying through another rebellion. Over the Judeans who were left behind was placed Zedekiah, a son of Josiah. The new king was inclined to listen to the voice of Jeremiah and to rule for the best interests of his subjects, but he was helpless in the hands of his headstrong nobles. For nearly a decade Judah submitted to the strong and, on the whole, benign rule of Nebuchadrezzar; but by 593B.C.the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon encouraged, as of old, by Egypt were again plotting rebellion. Jeremiah did all in his power to save Judah from these fatal entanglements, but false prophets undermined his influence and encouraged the people to hope that Jehovah would perform a miracle in their behalf.
The Second Captivity.In 588B.C.Zedekiah rebelled against the Chaldeans. Syria and Palestine proved themselves again, as throughout all their long history, a land incapable of united action. Nebuchadrezzar established his head-quarters at Riblah, on the upper Euphrates, beside the great northern highway. From this strategic point, from which history had already demonstrated that the Hebrew coastlands could best be ruled, he directed the campaign against the rebellious states. Most of them surrendered at once. Tyre and Jerusalem alone held out against a protracted siege. The Egyptian army which came to relieve Jerusalem was defeated on the borders of Palestine. It was only the fear of the judgment that would be visited upon them that inspired the followers of Zedekiah to resist as long as they did. Even at the risk of imprisonment and death at the hands of the unprincipled nobles, Jeremiah asserted that the only hope lay in surrender. At last Zedekiah in desperation, after the northern walls of the city had already been broken down by the besiegers, fled by night through the southeastern gate of the city, down through the gorge of the Kidron to Jericho. Here he was captured by the Chaldeans and carried to Riblah on the Orontes. While his life was spared, the nobles and religious leaders who had been active in the rebellion were put to death. About five thousand of the prominent men of Jerusalem were carried with Zedekiah to Babylon. The city and temple were stripped of their wealth and the walls were thrown down, leaving Judah's capital "a ruin and a heap." Israel's feasts were transformed into fasts and her songs into lamentations.(110)
The End of the Southern Kingdom.Not wishing to leave the territory of Judah in utter desolation, Nebuchadrezzar appointed Gedaliah, a grandson of Josiah's counsellor, Shaphan, governor over the Jews remaining in Jerusalem. The new ruler selected as the centre of his government Mizpah,(20,21)the most commanding point in northern Judah, four and a half miles northwest of Jerusalem. This was one of the two border cities which had been fortified by Asa, in his war against NorthernIsrael. The northern position of his capital suggests that his authority, like that of Josiah, extended over a part of southern Samaria. This inference is supported by the fact that Israelites from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria came, under the protection of his rule, to present offerings at the ruined temple at Jerusalem. Many Jewish refugees soon returned from Moab, Ammon, and Edom to put themselves under the protection of Gedaliah's just and kindly rule. The bright promise of an early restoration of Judah's fortunes was destroyed by the treachery of a certain Ishmael, of the Judean royal line, who, at the instigation of the king of Ammon, went to Mizpah and treacherously slew Gedaliah. Contrary to Jeremiah's advice, the Judahites who survived fled to Egypt, taking him with them. Thus Judah was overtaken with an even more overwhelming fate than that of the northern kingdom. Yet in the hour of its deepest humiliation two brave souls, Jeremiah in Palestine and Ezekiel in distant Babylon, proclaimed in clearest terms that Judah would again be inhabited and that a noble destiny yet awaited their nation. Above all, Jeremiah declared that inasmuch as the old covenant between Jehovah and the nation had been broken by the crimes of the rulers and people, a new and more spiritual covenant would be established between Jehovah and each individual.
Jewish Refugees in Egypt.After the destruction of Jerusalem in 586B.C.the Jews were to be found in three great centres—Egypt, Babylonia, and Palestine. Egypt, because of its friendly attitude toward the Jews and its nearness to southern Palestine, was the refuge to which most of the Jewish fugitives fled. Inasmuch as the approach of the Chaldean armies was from the north, the main highway running south from Hebron through the solitary desert was the most natural line of escape. The result was that a very large proportion of the Jewish race were to be found from this time on in the land of the Nile. Even before the final destruction of Jerusalem, both Jeremiah and Ezekiel addressed the Jewish refugees in Egypt. They were found in four important towns. The two nearest to Palestine were Migdol and Tahpanhes. Migdol means tower or fortress, and the reference is evidently to one of the frontier towns that guarded the eastern boundary of Egypt. It was probably the Migdolos mentioned in theItinerarium Antonini, and was situated midway between Pelusium on the Mediterranean coast and Sele, a little west of the Crocodile Lake, the present Lake Timsah. This would identify it with the ruins known as the Tell es-Semut, twelve miles southwest of Pelusium, beside the ancient caravan route that ran from Palestine to Egypt.