History of the Jews (Vol. 1-6). Graetz Heinrich

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СКАЧАТЬ vassalage of Judah (600). Jeremiah, it appears, could now leave his hiding-place. Incensed as the king was against him, he dared not touch a hair of his head, for the princes who had saved him continued to protect him.

      Jehoiakim, however, bore the Chaldæan yoke with great reluctance; he could no longer give reins to his passion. The king of Egypt, no doubt, continued to urge Jehoiakim to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar. When, therefore, Ethbaal II. of Phœnicia withdrew his allegiance (598), Jehoiakim, with incomprehensible blindness, likewise refused to pay tribute, and allied himself with Egypt, and probably also with Phœnicia. Nebuchadnezzar, consequently, had to collect all his forces against Phœnicia. He commenced the siege of Tyre, which lasted thirteen years. He was, therefore, for the time being, prevented from chastising the rebellious king of Judah, and the latter might flatter himself with the belief that he had lastingly secured his independence. But though Nebuchadnezzar could not send a great army out against him, he nevertheless distressed the country by predatory inroads. Idumæan, Moabitish and Ammonitish hordes also overran the land and devastated it. At this critical period, Jehoiakim died (697). His successor was his young son Jehoiachin (Jeconiah, shortened into Coniah), or rather the reins of government were taken in hand by his mother, Nehushta. Jehoiachin also cherished the idea that he could oppose Nebuchadnezzar, and, therefore, did not pay him homage. He also continued to practise the horrors of idolatry and immorality as his father had done. But this blindness of Jehoiachin and his mother lasted only a short time. Nebuchadnezzar at length was enabled to withdraw, from the siege of Tyre, a great portion of his army, with which he proceeded against Egypt. This Chaldæan army easily subdued the entire country south of Phœnicia as far as the Egyptian river (Rhinokolura). The whole of Judah was also taken, with the exception of a few fortified towns in the south. Those who fell into the hands of the enemy were made prisoners. Notwithstanding this, Jehoiachin continued his opposition, thinking himself safe behind the thick walls of Jerusalem, relying besides on the support of Egypt in the event of a siege.

      Nebuchadnezzar, therefore, sent some of his generals to besiege Jerusalem. Jehoiachin had no time to think of repentance, for the besiegers were gaining on him, and the distress in the city was great. He therefore commenced to arrange conditions of surrender with the generals, when Nebuchadnezzar came to the camp, and was entreated by the king, the queen-mother and her court, to be merciful. The victor, however, showed no mercy, but imposed hard conditions. Jehoiachin had to relinquish his throne, and go, together with his mother, his wives, his kindred, and eunuchs, into exile in Babylonia. He had occupied the throne of David for only one hundred days. It was surprising that Nebuchadnezzar spared his life, and indeed, that he refrained altogether from bloodshed. He only banished ten thousand of the warriors and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, taken indiscriminately from the various families that lived in the capital, and transplanted them to Babylonia. Among them he also carried off a thousand mechanics who were skilled in forging arms and building fortifications. Of the Judæans who lived in the country he also took three thousand and twenty-three to Babylon as prisoners. That Nebuchadnezzar took possession of the treasures of the palace and the Temple was not an act of especial violence, but was justified by the military laws of those days. But he left the commonwealth intact, spared the city and its walls, and left the Temple uninjured. The first foreign conqueror Jerusalem had had after an existence of five hundred years showed greater mercy than many of the conquerors of later ages.

      Nebuchadnezzar likewise refrained from disestablishing David's throne, and placed on it the youngest son of Josiah, Mattaniah, who called himself Zedekiah. He was of a gentle, unwarlike and pliable character. The Babylonian conqueror thought that these qualities would be guarantees of peace and submission. In order, however, to make sure of Zedekiah's loyalty, Nebuchadnezzar entered into a solemn treaty with him, and bound him by an oath of fealty. The land of Judah was of extreme importance to him as a bulwark against Egypt, in the subjection of which he was continually engaged. For this reason he had sent into banishment the noble families and the princes of Judah, thus removing the daring and foolhardy men who might urge the king to ambitious schemes and rebellion. His object was to render Judah a weak, insignificant and dependent state, deriving its strength from him.

      Judah might, in fact, have continued to exist as a modest appendage of Babylon. It would soon have recovered from the severe blows inflicted on it. Though the banishment of so many noble families, the flower of the army and of the nation, was a severe blow; and though the capital and the country were filled with sorrow in consequence of their subjection, the remnant of the people nevertheless recovered themselves with wonderful rapidity, and again attained to a prosperous condition.

      The nobles, however, were not satisfied with their modest condition; they wished for wider spheres of activity. It was the curse of the country during the last century that the nobles of the capital not only governed the people, but also the court. The kings were but of little account, for, in imitation of the custom of kings like Sardanapalus, they lived in the harem of their palaces, and occupied their time with trifles. These nobles could now the more easily assert themselves, as their king, Zedekiah, was swayed by a most unkinglike weakness and indolence, and had not the courage to withstand them. He was, however, personally well-disposed. He does not seem to have particularly favoured idolatry, but rather to have lamented the national evils when they were brought under his notice, and to have given ear to the prophets. But he did not possess the power to oppose the nobles and their actions. Zedekiah may have intended to remain faithful to the oath of fealty which he had taken to his liege lord Nebuchadnezzar; but he had not the strength of will to adhere to his resolution. Rebellious schemes were secretly formed, which he, in the seclusion of his palace, did not find out, or, if cognisant of them, was incapable of opposing. This weakness on the part of the king, and foolhardiness on the part of the nobles, led to the fall of Judah. The nobles appear to have been seized with madness. Suggestions were made, in various quarters, of rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar. Egypt, ever false and deceitful, was continually goading the Judæans on by making brilliant promises of alliance which it seldom kept. On the other side, King Ethbaal of Tyre urged upon Judah and the neighbouring countries a war against Nebuchadnezzar. And by a third party, Judah was urged to revolt against Babylon, namely, by the banished Judæans, who stood in constant communication with their native land by letters and messengers. They clamoured for war, because they cherished the vague hope that Nebuchadnezzar's army would be defeated, and they would, in one way or another, regain their freedom and return to their country. In the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign (593), the ambassadors from the countries which were simultaneously urging Zedekiah to break his word and faith, arrived in Jerusalem: from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Zidon. They employed all the artifices of eloquence, and made promises and suggestions in order to bring the wavering monarch to a decision. Judah might have felt proud to be thus sought after and courted, to be considered, indeed, as the centre of political events.

      It is not known what reply Zedekiah sent through the ambassadors. His weak character surely made a definite decision an impossibility. Jeremiah opposed the universal frenzy, and it required no little courage on his part to do so. His prophetic spirit perceived that Nebuchadnezzar was destined to hurry through a course of victories, and to subjugate many nations to his sceptre. He, therefore, warned King Zedekiah, the nation and the priests, not to give themselves up to flattering hopes, but to submit to the Babylonian rule, or they would be crushed by the mighty conqueror. Jeremiah considered it as his prophetic calling to warn the deluded exiles in Babylon. He directed a message to them, telling them:

      "Build ye houses and dwell in them; and plant gardens and eat the fruit of them; take ye wives and beget sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply ye there and be not diminished. And seek ye the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace. For thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Let not your prophets that be in the midst of you, and your diviners deceive you, neither hearken ye to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely to you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord. For thus saith the Lord, After seventy years be accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place." (Jeremiah xxix. 4–8.)

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