ISRAEL
The
first
of
these
important
creations
was
the
Psalter,
the
hymn-book
of
the
Second
Temple.
This
greatest
of
the
world's
collections
of
sacred
song
was
a
gradual
growth.
Book
I.
(Pss
3-41)
came
into
existence
prob-ably
in
the
time
of
Nehemiah.
The
other
collections
were
gradually
made
at
different
times,
the
whole
not
being.completed
till
the
Maccabsean
age
(cf
.
art.
Psalms).
In
compiUng
it
some
earlier
hymns
were
probably
utiUzed,
but
they
were
so
re-edited
that
critics
cannot
clearly
date
them.
Into
this
collection
there
went
every
variety
of
religious
expression.
The
breathings
of
anger
against
enemies
mingle
with
tender
aspirations
after
communion
vrith
God.
One
psalm,
the
SOth,
treats
sacrifice
sarcastically,
while
many
express
a
devotion
to
the
Law
which
is
extremely
touching.
One
(Ps
51)
expresses
the
most
advanced
and
psychologically
correct
conception
of
the
nature
of
sin
and
forgiveness
that
is
found
anywhere
in
the
OT.
A
Judaism
capable
of
producing
such
a
book
was
noble
indeed.
To
live
up
to
the
highest
expressions
of
this
the
first-fruits
of
creative
Judaism
is
to
be
a
pure
Christian.
(3)
There
was,
however,
in
this
period
a
class
of
sages
who
lived
apart
from
the
Ufa
of
the
Temple,
un-touched
by
the
ceremonies
of
the
priest
or
the
aspira-tions
of
the
prophet.
They
treated
religious
problems
from
that
practical
common-sense
point
of
view
which
the
Hebrews
called
'
wisdom.'
The
books
produced
by
this
class
had
a
profound
religious
influence.
The
attitude
of
these
men
left
them
free
for
the
greatest
play
of
individuality.
Their
books
are,
therefore,
vpritten
from
various
standpoints,
and
present
widely
divergent
points
of
view.
The
oldest
of
these,
the
Book
of
Job,
discusses,
in
some
of
the
noblest
poetry
ever
written,
the
problem
of
suffering,
or
the
mystery
of
life.
The
author
treats
his
theme
with
absolute
freedom
of
thought,
untrammelled
by
the
priestly
conceptions
of
the
Law.
In
his
conclusion,
however,
he
is
profoundly
religious.
He
demonstrates
at
once
the
function
and
the
limits
of
reason
in
the
religious
life,
—
its
function
to
keep
theology
in
touch
with
reality,
and
its
inabiUty
to
fathom
lifes
mystery.
Job
does
not
find
satisfaction
till
he
receives
the
vision
of
God,
and
becomes
willing,
through
appreciation
of
the
Divine
Peraonality,
to
trust
even
though
his
problems
are
unsolved
(cf.
Peake,
Problem
of
Suffering
m
OT,
100
ff.).
The
Book
of
Proverbs
contains
the
sayings
of
sages
of
the
practical,
everyday
sort.
Their
view
of
life
is
ex-pediential.
Wisdom
is
good
because
it
pays,
and
the
fear
(worship)
of
Jahwen
is
the
beginning
of
wisdom.
Sometimes,
as
in
ch.
8,
they
rise
to
noble
poetry
in
the
praise
of
wisdom,
but
for
the
most
part
they
pursue
the
humdrum
pathway
of
everyday
expediency.
Their
point
of
view
is
the
opposite
of
that
of
the
impassioned
Psalmists,
but
is
not
inconsistent
with
formal
faithfulness
in
the
observance
of
the
Law.
Ecdesiastes
is
the
work
of
a
man
who
has
almost
lost
faith,
and
who
has
quite
lost
that
enthusiasm
for
life
which
the
perception
of
a
noble
meaning
in
it
gives.
He
is
not
altogether
aole
to
throw
off
completely
his
childhood's
beliefs,
but
they
have
ceased
to
be
for
him
a
solution
of
life's
mystery,
and
he
has
scant
patience
with
those
who,
in
like
case
with
himself,
continue
to
volubly
profess
their
devotion
because
it
is
the
orthodox
tiling
to
do.
He
insists
upon
bringing
all
things
to
the
test
of
reality.
Sirach
is
a
collection
of
aphorisms
which
continues
the
work
of
the
Book
of
Proverbs.
(4)
The
religious
life
thus
far
described
was
that
which
flourished
in
Palestine.
During
this
period,
however,
the
Jews
had
been
scattering
over
the
world
(cf
.
Dis-persion).
These
scattered
communities
had
no
idea
of
being
anything
but
Jews.
They
had
their
synagogues
in
which
the
Law
was
read,
and,
like
the
Captivity
in
Babylonia,
they
maintained
as
much
of
their
religious
life
as
they
could
away
from
the
Temple.
As
often
as
possible
they
went
to
Jerusalem
at
the
time
of
somejgreat
feast,
and
took
part
in
its
sacrificial
worship.
Contact
with
the
heathen
world,
however,
broadened
the
vision
of
these
Jews.
They
saw
that
many
Gentiles
were
noble
men.
Probably
too
here
and
there
one
of
the
nobler
Gentiles
was
attracted
by
the
lofty
religion
of
the
Jew.
ISRAEL
At
all
events
there
sprang
up
among
the
Diaspora
a
desire
to
win
the
heathen
world
to
Judaism.
The
translation
of
the
Bible
into
Greek,
which
was
begun
in
the
3rd
cent.,
was
demanded
not
only
for
the
use
of
the
Greek-speaking
Jews,
but
as
an
instrument
in
the
hands
of
those
who
would
fulfil
the
missionary
conception
of
the
Second
Isaiah
and
win
the
world
to
Jahweh.
Towards
the
end
of
this
period
a
missionary
literature
began
to
be
written.
One
portion
of
this,
the
Sibylline
Oracles,
the
oldest
part
of
which
dates
perhaps
from
the
Maccabsean
age,
represented
the
Sibyl,
who
was
so
popular
in
the
Grseco-Roman
world,
as
recounting
in
Greek
hexameters
the
history
of
the
chosen
people.
The
Book
of
Jonah
dates
from
this
period,
and
is
a
part
of
this
literature,
though
probably
written
in
Palestine.
Its
author
satirizes
the
nation
as
a
whole
for
her
un-willingness,
after
all
her
chastisements,
either
to
go
on
the
mission
to
which
Jahweh
would
send
her,
or
to
rejoice
that
He
showed
mercy
to
any
but
herself.
6.
The
reign
of
legalism.
—
With
the
beginning
of
the
HasmonjEan
dynasty
(John
Hyrcanus
i.),
the
creative
period
of
Judaism
was
over,
and
the
leaders,
gathering
up
the
heritage
of
the
past,
were
crystalUzing
it
into
per-manent
form.
This
did
not
come
about
all
at
once,
and
its
beginnings
go
back
into
the
preceding
period.
The
writers
of
the
Priestly
Law
were
the
real
intellectual
ancestors
of
those
ChaSldlm,
or
enthusiasts
for
the
Law,
out
of
whom
the
Maccabees
sprang.
Until
after
the
Maccabsean
struggle,
however,
the
rehgious
life
was
too
varied,
and
the
genius
of
the
nation
too
creative,
for
the
priestly
conceptions
to
master
everybody.
The
struggle
of
the
Maccabees
for
the
life
of
the
Jevrish
religion
greatly
strengthened
the
Cha^cRm,
who
early
in
the
Hasmonsean
rule
developed
into
the
Pharisees.
More
numerous
than
the
Sadducees,
and
possessing
among
the
country
people
a
much
greater
reputation
for
piety,
they
soon
became
the
dominant
party
in
Palestine.
Some,
as
the
Essenea
(wh.
see),
might
split
off
from
them,
but
they
were
too
insignificant
to
shatter
the
Pharisees'
Influence.
The
aim
of
the
Pharisees
was
to
apply
the
Law
to
all
the
details
of
daily
life.
Some
of
its
provisions
were
in-definite.
It
called
on
the
Hebrew
not
to
work
on
the
Sabbath,
but
some
work
was
necessary,
if
man
would
live.
They
endeavoured
to
define,
therefore,
what
was
and
what
was
not
work
within
the
meaning
of
the
Pentateuch.
Similarly
they
dealt
vrith
other
laws.
These
definitions
were
not
for
some
centuries
committed
to
writing.
Thus
there
grew
up
an
Oral
Law
side
by
side
with
the
Written
Law,
and
in
due
time
the
Pharisees
regarded
this
as
of
Divine
authority
also.
Thus
their
energies
fastened
the
grip
of
external
observance
upon
the
religious
Ufe.
The
epoch
was
not
creative.
They
dared
not
create
anything.
Everything
was
given
out
either
as
an
Interpretation
of
the
Law,
or
as
the
interpretation
of
some
predecessor.
There
was
development
and
growth,
of
course,
but
this
was
accomplished,
not
by
creating
the
new,
but
by
inter-preting
the
old.
In
the
Rabbinic
schools,
which
were
developed
in
the
reign
of
Herod,
this
system
fully
unfolded
Itself,
and
became
the
archetype
of
orthodox
Judaism
to
the
present
day.
In
the
Rabbinic
schools
the
method
of
teaching
was
by
repetition.
The
sayings
or
interpretations
of
famous
Rabbis
were
stated
by
the
master
and
repeated
again
and
again
till
they
were
remembered.
Not
originality
but
memory
was
the
praiseworthy
quality
in
a
student.
Thus
when,
centuries
later,
the
Oral
Law
was
committed
to
writing,
it
was
called
Mishna,
or
'Repetition.'
In
thesynagogue(wh.
see),
where
thepeopleworshlpped
on
the
Sabbath,
and
where
the
children
were
taught,
the
inner
religious
Ufe
was
fostered,
but
synagogues
graduaUy
became
centres
for
the
propagation
of
Pharisaism.
Beginning
with
the
Maccabsean
struggles,
a
new
class
of
literature,
the
Apocalyptic,
was
called
into
existence.
Prophecy
was
completely
dead.
No
one
had
the
creative
genius
to
unfold
in
his
own
name
the
Divine
purposes.
For
some
centuries
those
who
had
a
message
for
their
