5. OTHER MESSIANIC PASSAGES in Ezekiel and Second Isaiah; gathering and organizing of material not discussed in the chapter. Cf. Briggs, Mess. Proph., Chs. IX-XII. 6. THE MESSIANIC PROPHECIES OF THE PERIOD from the N. T. point of view: (a) the N. T. references collected and compared; (b) light thrown on conceptions of the N. T. time; (c) principles and permanent value of the N. T. conception. CHAPTER VIII THE EXPECTATION OF POST-EXILIC TIMES Literature. I. THE literary impulse given to Israel in exile was felt throughout the succeeding period in even greater measure. The Old Testament books in their present form almost without exception show marks of the post-exilic age due either to the working over of editors or to additions by writers of the time. Continuous and zealous study of the venerated writings which the past had handed down was not only not inconsistent with a free dealing with these texts on the part of post-exilic The scribes; it even encouraged correction, revision, combination, and addition to them from the higher point of view reached by such pious students. Old laws were newly codified, interpreted, and expanded in the direction pointed out by the thought and experience of the exile. Old prophecies were rounded out in accordance with recent evidences and larger expectations of Jehovah's blessing. The past was reviewed and reinterpreted in the light of the present. Old histories were reorganized and revised. New historical works were partly compiled and partly composed The Historico- Narratives. by the teachers of the day. Contemporary psalmists and prophets gave forth their poems and prophecies for the warning, edification, and comfort of the community, or voiced the experience of the faithful in forms so individual as to lead the student to question their application to the congregation at large. It was a time of intense literary life. The chief characteristic works of the post-exilic age are at least five: the Psalms; the priestly Document lying at the foundation of the Pentateuch, and known as the Priest Code, or P; the priestly history of Israel made up of the three books of Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah; the Book of Proverbs; and the Book of Daniel. Less significant, yet not without great value, are the various prophetic writings, most of them of less extent, and appearing at various epochs in the long period. These are the Book of Haggai, the Book of Zechariah, the Book of Jonah, Isaiah lvi.-lxvi., Ruth, the Book of Joel, Isaiah xxiv.-xxvii. and additions to various prophecies such as Zephaniah iii. 14-20; Isaiah xii., etc., and the Book of "Malachi." The historical narratives describing the life of the Persian age are contained in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. These books formed originally one book, and with the books of Chronicles contained an outline of the history of Israel parallel with that contained in the earlier books of Judges, Samuel, and Kings, but permeated with the priestly conceptions of the people's past. The author or compiler employed much valuable material, notably a series of official documents, and the memoirs of Ezra and Nehemiah. His arrangement and interpretation of this material and his own contributions have occasioned serious difficulties whose solution has been sought in various ways, none of which at present has obtained general assent.1 There is no question that the five books of the Psalms as at present organized in our Old Testament Scriptures are a product of Israel's postexilic literary activity. Though competent scholars differ as to whether any number of the poems were produced before the exile, all agree that they were The Psalms. gathered after that time and adapted to the liturgical service of the second temple, and a steadily growing tendency is discernible to ascribe the origin of an increasingly larger number of the poems to the same period. The Book of Zechariah has been for critical scholarship a stumbling block whose removal from the way is not yet accomplished. It is agreed by the majority of students that the book falls into at least two parts, (1) chapters i.-ix.; (2) chapters ix.-xiv. The problems of the dating of the latter Zechariah. part are under discussion. The more satisfactory body of argument favors a post-exilic date, though these chapters cannot come from the hand of the 1 Cf. Driver, Int.o, p. 552, for a statement of recent hypotheses. A good commentary is that by Ryle in Cambridge Bible for Schools. Daniel. General Literature. author of chapters i.-ix., but belong probably to a later time.1 A date for the Book of Daniel in the Maccabæan period (ca. 168 B.C.) is becoming more and more acceptable. It is the latest prophetical book of the Old Testament. The statement has already been made (p. 157) that historical traditions of an earlier time may be embodied in it. But the prophetical outlook is of the Greek age.2 Some general characteristics of the literature of this fruitful period may be mentioned : (1) Fervent piety is exhibited in the Psalms, the reflex of the prophetic teachings, and the response of the community to the events and experiences of the time. In turn joyous, hopeless, trustful, sceptical, devoted to the law and the temple, or preferring obedience to sacrifice, these songs are a faithful picture of the religious fervor of the post-exilic community. (2) The priestly ideal of life, that which seeks istics of the to bring all life under law and rule, and which in this particular case exalts the worship of the Temple and the position and privilege of the priest, receives its strongest representation and impulse in this age. Both law and prophecy, history and 1 Cf. Driver, Int.o, p. 344 ff., and G. A. Smith, XII Prophets, II, pp. 255 ff., 449 ff. 2 Two good commentaries on Daniel are those by Bevan and Prince. The latter is prepared for students of the English version. F. W. Farrar writes the volume of the Expositor's Bible on this book. |