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

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ he possessed a princely fortune, and he made a princely display. He kept the reason of his sojourn secret, and did not even divulge it to the leaders of the community, for he did not trust them. One night he rode forth secretly to examine the extent of the injury sustained by the walls, and to devise a plan for repairing them. He then summoned the leading men of the community, and announced, to their amazement, that King Artaxerxes had given him complete power, not only to rebuild the walls, but to govern the country, and that it was his intention to wipe out the disgrace and misery that had fallen upon them. He found the assembled Judæans ready, heart and soul, to help him. Even those who had intermarried with the strangers, and were on a friendly footing with them, evinced their approbation. But Nehemiah had imposed a heavy task upon himself. He was to reorganise a disjointed commonwealth, whose members, through fear, weakness, selfishness, and a variety of motives, had not sufficient courage to face real danger. Nehemiah's first care was to fortify Jerusalem; he himself superintended the work of building the fortifications, and made it less arduous by a careful division of labour. But the task of rebuilding was necessarily a tedious one. The repudiated proselytes, headed by Sanballat and Tobiah, whose every hope of alliance with the Judæans had been cut off by Nehemiah's words, "Ye shall have no portion, no right, no memorial in Jerusalem," manifested as much zeal in disturbing the work, as he did in accomplishing it. They artfully tried to make the Persians suspect Nehemiah of treason, and of having conceived the ambitious scheme of making himself king of Judæa. Then they endeavoured to discourage the workmen by deriding them, and by declaring that the walls were weak enough for a jackal to break through them. When the walls had risen to half their destined height, the enemy secretly determined upon an attack. Nehemiah, however, had armed some of his own people, as well as some of the leading members of the community, and placed them on guard. Every workman had a sword girt upon his side; every carrier bore his burden in one hand and his weapon in the other. In order to hasten the completion of the walls, the work was carried on continuously from dawn to sunset, while a part of the force stood on guard, day and night, within the city. Nehemiah himself was always on the spot, accompanied by a trumpeter. At the blast of his trumpet, the scattered workingmen were instructed to assemble around him.

      But instead of resuming the attack upon the walls, Sanballat busied himself with devising intrigues against Nehemiah. He gave out that as soon as Jerusalem was fortified, Nehemiah would cause himself to be proclaimed king of the Judæans, and would revolt against Persia. The more credulous began to feel alarmed, and to think of withdrawing from the work, so as not to be regarded by the Persians in the light of accomplices. Furthermore, the heads of those families who were related to the enemy were in active treasonable correspondence with Tobiah. But all these intrigues were of no avail, and Nehemiah completed the work with such energy as to compel the unwilling admiration of the foe. From that time Sanballat and his followers appear to have given up their fruitless attempts to annoy Nehemiah, or to hinder his work.

      But within the community itself, Nehemiah had to fight no less severe a battle. Many of the most distinguished families who were apparently loyal, not only entertained secret communications with the enemy, but also were oppressing the poor in a most heartless manner. When, in the days of scarcity, the poor borrowed money from the rich in order to pay taxes to the king, or obtained grain for their own consumption, they had given as security their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves, their own houses, and sometimes even their own children; and if the debts were not repaid, the creditors would retain the land as their own property, and keep the children as slaves. As the complaints of those who had been thus cruelly treated rose louder and more frequently to the ears of Nehemiah, he determined to call these heartless men to account. He summoned a great assembly, and spoke severely against this form of heartlessness, which was specially condemned by the Law.

      "We, the Judæans of Persia," he exclaimed, "have, according to the best of our ability, redeemed our brethren, the Judæans that were sold unto the heathen. And will ye even sell your brethren so that they will be sold again unto us?" he added ironically. So deep was the respect enjoyed by Nehemiah, so weighty his opinion, and so ready were even the great and the rich to hearken to the admonitions of the Law, that they promised forthwith not only to release the enslaved persons, but also to restore the houses, fields and gardens to their owners and to cancel their debts. Nehemiah made use of this favourable mood to administer an oath to the rich, binding them to carry out their promises.

      This was an important victory gained by the Law, through its representative, Nehemiah, over selfishness. He indeed excelled all others in the example of self-denial which he set to them. Not only did he refuse the revenues due to him, but he advanced money and grain to the poor, and if they were unable to repay it, he relinquished the loans. His relatives and servants behaved in the same generous and unselfish manner.

      In this way Nehemiah overcame all difficulties, and brought order into the community. The people hung upon his words, and the leading men yielded him obedience. But when the walls of the city were rebuilt and the gates replaced, it appeared that the Levitical gatekeepers, and in fact all the Levites were missing. They had migrated after the destruction of the city, into other parts of the country, because they received no tithes. Altogether, the city was but thinly populated, and many houses were destroyed or deserted. Jerusalem therefore had to be peopled again, and the Temple furnished anew with attendants.

      It seems that Nehemiah caused a proclamation to be issued to all those who had deserted Jerusalem in the time of its insecurity, and to those who had originally settled in the provincial towns, inviting them to take up their permanent abode in the capital. Many of the noble families at once offered to do this. But as the number of these was too small to repeople Jerusalem, it was determined that the tenth part of the population of the rural districts be called upon to migrate to the capital, and that they be selected by lot. Nehemiah, however, did not think every one worthy of becoming a citizen of the Holy City, least of all those born of mixed marriages. He carefully went through the register of Judæans who had returned from Babylonia, examining the pedigree of each separate family. He conducted the matter with great rigour. Three families, consisting of six hundred and forty-two persons, who could not prove that they were descended from Israelites, were not admitted, and three Aaronide families, who were unable to produce the record of their lineage, were temporarily deprived of the dignity of the priesthood.

      As soon as Nehemiah had fortified Jerusalem, and found means to provide a population for it, giving the community a centre and forming the people into a compact body, he sought to breathe into this body the living soul of the Law. But for this purpose he required the aid of the scribes. Ezra, who had been thrown into the background by the great activity of Nehemiah, now re-appeared upon the scene. On the festival celebrated on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra assembled all the people, even those who dwelt in the country. "They gathered themselves together as one man into the open place which is before the Water-gate in Jerusalem." Here an elevated stand of wood was erected, upon which Ezra stood to read the Law. Everything was calculated to produce a solemn and imposing effect. The assembly was a numerous one; it consisted not only of men, but also of women, and of children who were old enough to understand what they heard. When Ezra unrolled the Book of the Law, all the people arose, and when he opened the services by reciting a blessing, they lifted up their hands, responding, in a loud voice, Amen. Then Ezra began to read a section of the Torah with an impressive voice, and all present listened intently. There were some, indeed, unable to follow the reading, but the Levites added a short and clear explanation, so that even the most ignorant could understand. The people were deeply moved by what they heard, and burst into tears. Probably they heard for the first time that portion of Deuteronomy in which are announced the fearful punishments consequent upon disregard of the Law; and the conscience-stricken people felt themselves unworthy of the Divine love, and were overwhelmed with grief. Some time elapsed before Ezra and the priests could restore tranquillity to the excited multitude. But at length they were quieted, and proceeded to celebrate the festival in an exalted mood. It was the first time that the people had taken the Book of the Law into their hearts, and that they had felt it to be an integral part of their existence, and themselves to be its guardians.

      The change which had begun during the time of the Babylonian exile was now completed. What СКАЧАТЬ