LESSON XLVII EZRA'S REFORMS EZRA was a Jewish priest of Babylon, a leading figure in the new order of scribes that had grown up among the exiles. The scribe at that time was a scholar, lawyer, preacher, and magistrate, all in one. Moved by religious zeal, and with the purpose of making Jerusalem once more the religious center for the Jewish race, Ezra conceived the idea of going to that city with an enthusiastic band of followers, and infusing new life into the discouraged community. The account of the gathering, the caravan, and the methods of travel is of great interest. Before setting out, Ezra and his company fasted and prayed and intrusted themselves to Jehovah. Upon reaching Jerusalem they turned over to the temple authorities the valuable gifts which they had brought. The native Judæans caught the spirit of self-sacrifice and made important contributions, and a great revival of religious enthusiasm followed. Reading the book of the law. Ezra brought with him from Babylon a book of laws which he wished to read to the people. Accordingly, he gathered them (probably only the heads of families) about the watergate. This was the most important eastern entrance to the city, and probably was so called because from it the road led down to Jerusalem's one perennial spring. In front of the gate was an open space where the people assembled on public occasions. It was a memorable scene that now took place, for it ushered in a new era in the religious life of Israel. Ezra stood on a "pulpit of wood," and "opened the book in the sight of all the people; ... and when he opened it, all the people stood up.' First he gave thanks to God, "and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with the lifting up of their hands. And they bowed their heads, and worshiped Jehovah with their faces to the ground." From early morning until midday Ezra read, “and the ears of all the people were attentive." Ezra had assistants: "And they read distinctly; and they gave the sense, so that they understood the reading." This probably means that the Hebrew was translated into Aramaic, the common language of the people. This is a significant step in more ways than one. In pre-exilic days, when the prophets spoke, few understood their message, for the masses were very ignorant. Now an attempt was made to have all the people understand the Law. It was a democratic movement to which the people eagerly responded. It marked the beginning of a more general diffusion of education among the Jews. Each day for a week parts of the Law were read in the same way. Finding that they had not been keeping Jehovah's commands recorded in the new book, the people were much distressed, but Ezra wisely told them not to be troubled about the past but to begin keeping them now. Identity of the book.-What was the book which Ezra brought from Babylon? Many scholars believe it to have been the Pentateuch, practically, though not fully, as we have it to-day. At least it included the P code (a document referred to in Lesson XLIX). From the reforms at once inaugurated parts of it can be identified. Reforms in accordance with the new law. The reforms of Ezra were drastic and far-reaching. When he is told of the heathen marriages that have been entered into even by priests, he rends his garment and tears his hair and sits down confounded until the evening. Then he falls on his knees and prays, and a great crowd gathers and watches him. The people are moved to tears. One of them proposes that the foreign women and children be put away. Then Ezra makes a proclamation, calling the people together on a certain day. They come and stand in the rain while he addresses them, "trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain." A court is appointed with Ezra at its head, and this court sits for three months trying cases. One hundred and thirteen men are convicted and forced to send away their foreign wives and their children. The new law (the P code) was meant to strike at the evils of the times, and its most important provisions had to do with (1) prohibition of heathen marriages, (2) Sabbath observance, (3) the support of the temple, and (4) ceremonial cleanness. All had the same object-to make the Jews a separate people, and thus to prevent a recurrence of the disasters that had formerly overtaken them. The story of Ezra has been treated here without regard to certain important questions which must be considered by any one who seeks a thorough knowledge of the period and of the work of Ezra. There is no unanimity among scholars regarding the matter, though all agree that there are troublesome problems connected with Ezra. One of them is the fact that Ezra's visit to Jerusalem is represented as having occurred thirteen years before Nehemiah's, or in B. C. 458. Many believe that Ezra's work followed Nehemiah's. reasons in part are as follows: The I. Ezra's work could not have been done before the walls were rebuilt. 2. In Ezra's prayer he gives thanks that the walls of Jerusalem have been rebuilt. 3. The account of Ezra's work presupposes a large population in the city, which was sparsely inhabited in the time of Nehemiah. 4. If Ezra's work was as successful as the account represents, it is difficult to see why Nehemiah's reforms were necessary so soon afterward. The memoirs of Ezra are not regarded as possessing the authority of Nehemiah's. "Ezra is an austere and commanding figure which has left a lasting impression upon the religious life of the Jewish people. By investing the Law with a sanctity and influence that it had never before possessed and making it the possession of the entire community, he endowed the Jewish people with a cohesive power which was proof against all attacks from without."1 BIBLICAL SOURCES: Ezra comes from Babylon to Jerusalem, Ezra 7; 8. He deals with the offenders, Ezra 10. 1-17. He reads the new law-book to the people, Neh. 8. QUESTIONS 1. Describe the scene of the reading of the law-book by Ezra to the people. 2. What book do scholars believe this to have been? 3. What was the nature of Ezra's services to his people? 4. Can you give the approximate size of the province of Judah at this time? 5. What evidence of its small area is there in this lesson? 6. What empire ruled Judah at this period? 1 G. H. Box, Hastings's Bible Dictionary, p. 253. LESSON XLVIII RUTH THE GLEANER IN our English Bible the book of Ruth is placed directly after Judges because it deals with the same period of history, but in the Hebrew Bible it stands in the third division, or Writings. In spirit it is utterly unlike Judges. Placed where it is in the Bible, some one has said that "it is like a pastoral symphony after a surfeit of martial music." Without doubt it is the most charming story in the Bible, "the very ideal and type of the idyl," as R. G. Moulton remarks, and Goethe has called it "the loveliest little idyl that tradition has transmitted to us." The date of the book. The language and point of view belong to post-exilic times and the book itself contains evidence of a late date in its references to customs obsolete at the time of writing (as 4. 7). We know nothing of the origin of the traditions upon which it is based. Though scholars are not fully agreed, many believe the book was written between B. C. 400 and 350. Its purpose. As we have seen, after the destruction of Jerusalem very strict laws were made by the Jewish leaders against intermarriage with foreigners, and the Moabites were one of the two nations that came under their special condemnation. "An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of Jehovah; even to the tenth generation shall none belonging to them enter into the assembly of Jehovah forever" (Deut. 23. 3). We have learned that the |