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النشر الإلكتروني

indeed, the date of this part of the book depends upon whether the 'great horn' which grows upon one of the 'sheep' in xc. is to be interpreted (with Dillm., Schürer, and others) of John Hyrcanus (B.C. 135-105), or (with Charles) of Judas Maccabaeus (B.C. 165-161). As illustrating Dan. x. 13, 20, 21, xii. 1, it is worth noticing that Israel, after its apostasy, is committed to the charge of 70 'shepherds' (i.e. angels), who are held responsible for what happens to it, and are afterwards called up before God for judgement (lxxxix. 54—xc. 17, 22—25). Chs. xci.-xciii., also addressed to Methuselah, contain another historical apocalypse: the history of the patriarchs and of Israel is divided into seven weeks, in the first of which lives Enoch, in the second Noah, &c. (but without any names being actually mentioned); at the end of the seventh week, which is described as an age of apostasy, the writer lives himself: the eighth week, that of 'righteousness,' sees the kingdom of God established in the land of Israel: in the ninth week it is spread over all the earth: in the tenth week will be the 'eternal judgement' upon the fallen angels; there will then follow 'weeks without number in goodness and righteousness, and sin will no more be mentioned for ever' (xciii. 1-10, xci. 12-17). Chs. xciv.cv., addressed to Enoch's sons, consist of a series of woes pronounced upon sinners, intermixed with exhortations to follow righteousness and avoid the ways of sin and death.

In all the preceding sections of the book there is either no Messiah, or, at most (xc. 37), a Messiah who is merely a superior man, mentioned only in passing, very different from the glorious super-human Messiah of chs. xxxvii.-lxxi.

Chs. xxxvii. lxxi., commonly known as the 'Similitudes,' date, according to Dillm., Charles, and others, from shortly before B.C. 64, according to Schürer, from the time of Herod. In these chapters the Messiah is a much more prominent and also a much more exalted figure than in the other parts of the book. The chapters consist of three 'similitudes,' or visions. In the first (xxxviii.-xliv.) Enoch sees the abodes of the righteous, and the 'Elect One' (the Messiah), the Almighty surrounded by myriads of angels, and with the four 'presences,' Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, and Phanuel, ever praying before Him, and is admitted also to the 'secrets of the heavens' (including the explanation of different natural phenomena, as lightnings, wind, dew, &c.). In the second vision (xlv.- lvii.) he beholds the Messianic judgement, the 'Elect One,' or the 'Son of Man,' beside the 'Head of

Days' (the Almighty), and afterwards sitting on the 'throne of his glory,' for the purpose of judging the world; after the judgement, the fallen angels and wicked kings are cast into a furnace of fire; a resurrection of Israelites takes place (li. 1), the righteous 'become angels' (li. 4), and enjoy everlasting felicity. In the third vision (lviii.-lxix., but with many interpolations, interrupting the connexion) Enoch describes more fully the ultimate felicity of the righteous (lviii.) in the light of eternal life (lviii. 3), and in the immediate presence of the 'Son of Man' (lxii. 14), and the judgement of the Messiah upon angels and men (lxi.—lxiii., lxix. 26—29). The imagery of the 'Similitudes' is fine: and the thought is often an expansion of parts of Daniel (see the notes on vii. 9, 10, and p. 106 f.).

The Apocalypse of Baruch was written probably shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus (A.D. 70), at a time when the problem which seemed to the Jews so difficult of solution was, how God could have permitted such a disaster to fall upon His people. Baruch, after the Chaldaeans have carried off the mass of the people, having fasted (cf. Dan. x. 3) for seven days, is told to remain in Jerusalem in order to receive disclosures respecting the future; and, after a second fast (xii. 5), hears a voice telling him that the heathen also will receive their punishment in due time (xiii. 5): he debates at some length with God respecting the prosperity of the wicked and the sufferings of the righteous, but is given to understand that these anomalies will be adjusted in a future life. After a third fast, and prayer (ch. xxi.), Baruch sees the heavens opened (Ezek. i. 1), and is assured, in answer to his further questionings, that the time of redemption is not now far distant: 'Behold, the days come, and the books will be opened in which are written the sins of all those who have sinned, and the treasuries in which the righteousness of all those who have been righteous in creation is gathered' (xxiv. 1): the period of coming tribulation is divided into 12 times, each marked by its own woe (xxvi.-xxvii.); at the end of the twelfth time, the Messiah will be revealed, those who have 'fallen asleep in hope' will rise again, and a reign of happiness will begin upon earth (xxix.-xxx.). Soon afterwards Baruch has a vision of a great forest, with a vine growing opposite to it: the forest was laid low till only a single cedar remained standing; this, after being rebuked by the vine for its iniquities, was destroyed by fire, while the vine spread, and the plain around blossomed into flowers. The forest is explained to signify the

four empires which oppressed Israel: the vine was the Messiah, who should destroy the last empire (the Roman) for its impieties, and establish a rule of peace (xxxvi.-xl.). On the strength of this revelation, Baruch exhorts the elders of the people to obedience and patience (xliv.-xlvi.). In a fourth vision Baruch sees a great cloud rising up from the sea, and pouring down upon the earth black and bright waters alternately, twelve times in succession, the last bright waters being followed by waters blacker than any which had preceded, and these being followed by lightnings, and twelve rivers ascending from the sea (liii.). After a prayer (liv.), the interpretation of the vision is disclosed to him by the angel Ramiel: the twelve black and bright waters symbolize twelve evil and good periods in the history of the world: the eleventh dark waters symbolizing the Chaldaean disaster, the twelfth bright waters the restoration of Jerusalem, the blacker waters which followed, the future consummation of troubles, the lightning and the twelve rivers, the Messiah, and the felicity which he would bring (lvi.-lxxiv.).

A third apocalypse is the Fourth Book of Esdras (2 Esdras of the English Apocrypha), written most probably under Domitian (A.D. 81— 96). Chs. i.-ii., xv.-xvi., are Christian additions: the Apocalypse itself consists only of chs. iii.-xiv. It contains seven visions, purporting to have been seen by Ezra whilst in captivity. In the first of these Ezra, having unfolded to God in prayer his perplexity at the sight of Israel suffering at the hand of a nation more wicked than itself, is told, in the course of a colloquy with the angel Uriel, that he is not in a position to judge of the dealings of Providence (iii. 1-v. 13). In a second and third vision (v. 20—vi. 34, vi. 36—ix. 25), the same subject being continued, Ezra is taught (among other things) that the events of history must run their appointed course, and that in a future state the righteous and the wicked will each be rewarded according to their due: there will be 'seven ways' of punishment for the one, and 'seven orders' of blessedness for the other (vii. 79-99, R.V.). In the fifth vision Ezra sees in a dream an eagle rising up out of the sea, with 12 wings and three heads: as he watched her spreading her wings over the earth, he perceived eight smaller wings growing up out of them: the 20 wings and the three heads bare rule over the earth in succession until a lion appeared, and in a loud voice rebuked the eagle for its tyranny and cruelty, and bade it disappear (xi.). The interpretation follows. The eagle is the fourth kingdom which appeared

to Daniel, i.e. according to the interpretation adopted by the author (p. 95, 99 n.), the Roman empire: the wings and heads are different Roman rulers1: the lion is the anointed one' (the Messiah), who should arise in the end of the days out of the seed of David, and reprove and overthrow these rulers, and give rest and peace unto his people, for 400 years (xii. 24; see vii. 28 ff.), until the final judgement. The sixth vision (xiii.), of the one 'in the likeness of a man,' is summarized below, p. 107 f. In the seventh and last vision (xiv.), we have the curious story of the manner in which, the law having been burnt, the 24 books of the O.T., as well as 70 other 'apocryphal' books, were written, in the course of 40 days, by five scribes, at Ezra's dictation.

The Assumption of Moses,-written, as vi. 2-9 shews, within a very few years of the death of Herod, B.C. 4,-contains an 'apocalypse' of the history of Israel from their entry into Canaan till the days of Herod (chs. ii.-v.). Ch. vii. describes the rule of impious and scornful men, preceding the time of the end. Chs. viii.—ix., as the text at present stands, foretell a 'second visitation' destined then to befall the nation, which reads like a repetition of the persecution of Antiochus: indeed, it is possible that Dr Charles is right in supposing that it is really a description of that persecution, and that the two chapters have become displaced from their proper position after ch. v. Ch. x. is a Psalm of triumph over the approaching judgement. From the death of Moses till the final judgement there are assigned (x. 12) 250 'times,' or weeks of years, i.e. (cf. i. 2) it is placed A.M. 4250.

The so-called Sibylline Oracles,-a heterogeneous compilation, in Greek hexameters, of materials of very different origin and dates, partly Jewish and partly Christian,-contain in Book III. (ll. 162-807) a long 'apocalypse,' in which the seventh Ptolemy (Physcon, B.C. 145-117) is more than once referred to (11. 191—193, 316–318, 608–610), and which is considered by the best authorities to have been written C. 140 B.C. This apocalypse contains a survey of the history of Israel from the age of Solomon: Antiochus Epiphanes is referred to in all probability in 11. 388-400 (see p. 98), and certainly in 11. 612—615; the Sibyl also foretells the advent of the Messianic king, his vengeance on his adversaries, the prosperity which will prevail under him (652

1 The names are not given; and very different opinions have been held as to what rulers are meant. See Schürer, ii. 650 ff. (ed. 3, 1898, iii. 236 ff.).

-731), and the signs which are to herald the end of all things (795-807)1.

These examples will illustrate sufficiently the general character of the Jewish "Apocalypses.' While including an element of exhortation, and theological reflexion, they are in their most distinctive parts imaginative developments, varying in detail, but with many common features, partly of the thought (which is usually placed as a 'revelation' in the mouth of an ancient seer) that the movements of history, including the course and end of the distress out of which the apocalypse itself arose, are predetermined by God; partly of the eschatological hopes which the writer expects to see realized as soon as the period of present distress is past, but which vary in character-being for instance more or less material, and being with or without a Messiah-according to the individual writer. And these are just the features which appear in the Book of Daniel. It is of course not for a moment denied that the Book of Daniel is greatly superior to the other 'apocalypses' that have been referred to,not only for example is its teaching more spiritual, but it is entirely free from the fantastic and sometimes indeed absurd representations in which the non-canonical apocalyptic writers often indulge: nevertheless, just as there are Psalms both canonical and non-canonical (the so-called 'Psalms of Solomon'), Proverbs both canonical and non-canonical (Ecclesiasticus), histories both canonical and non-canonical (1 Macc.), 'midrashim' both canonical (Jonah) and non-canonical (Tobit, Judith), so there are analogously apocalypses both canonical and noncanonical; the superiority, in each case, from a theological

1 See further, on both these and other 'Apocalypses,' Charles' translations of the Book of Enoch, the Book of the Secrets of Enoch, the Apocalypse of Baruch, and the Assumption of Moses; the introductions and translations in Kautzsch's Pseudepigraphen des AT.s (1899); the art. APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE in the Encyclopaedia Biblica; the arts. BARUCH, ENOCH, &c. in Hastings' Dict. of the Bible; Schürer, ii. 616–691, 790—807, § 32 (ed. 3, iii. 190—294, 420—450); Dillmann in Herzog2, xii. 342 ff.; W. J. Deane, Pseudepigrapha (1891); and comp. the remarks of Wellhausen in his Skizzen und Vorarbeiten, vi. (1899), pp. 226-234.

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