Bruce Israel & the Nations

The History of Israel from the Exodus to the Fall of the Second Temple
1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-1-912149-39-1
Verlag: Kingsley Books
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 272 Seiten

In recounting Israel's story from the Exodus to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, F.F. Bruce reveals the historical context of the nation of Israel in a way that reads more like a novel than an academic text. In doing so, he makes the Bible come alive. For instance, the book gives a context to Psalm 137 in which Edom rejoices over Jerusalem's fall to Babylon, and it gives context to John 4 where a woman says, 'Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.' The Old Testament is the story of Israel, God's chosen people. At the time the Bible was written, the story's context -- Israel's relation with Egypt, with the nations of Canaan, and with Babylon and Assyria, for instance -- was familiar to its readers. However, today's readers, who sometimes find the political context of the Old Testament and the events of the intertestamental period to be obscure, will gain fresh understanding through Israel and the Nations. 'An excellent sketch of the history of Israel, written with a splendid clarity,' said biblical scholar John Bright. Illustrated; includes genealogical and chronological tables.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bruce, F. F.

Leseproben

Chapter Two

The Philistines and the Hebrew Monarchy

(c. 1100-1010 bc)

THE PHILISTINES

The situation which did at last lead to the establishment of a hereditary monarchy in Israel was brought about by invaders from another region—not from the east but the west. The downfall of the Mycenaean and Hittite empires towards the end of the thirteenth century bc uprooted many of the populations of the Aegean lands and sent them sailing over the eastern Mediterranean in search of new homes. One such group was called the Philistines, from the southwest of Asia Minor. Some of the Philistines settled in Crete; others attempted to land on the Egyptian coast, and when they were driven away, sailed east and landed on the Mediterranean coastland of Canaan. Here they were able to settle. They organized themselves in the five city-states of Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, Gath and Gaza— former Canaanite cities. Each of these five city-states was under the control of a ruler whom they called in their own language a seren (a word related to the Greek tyrannos, cf. English “tyrant”). The Philistines intermarried with the Canaanite women of the area and quickly adopted the Canaanite language and religion. They were capable military organizers, and when once they had established themselves in their five city states, they began to extend their control over the rest of Canaan. They soon came into contact with the Israelites, and militarily the Israelites were no match for them. Although the Israelites had entered Canaan sometime after the beginning of the Iron Age, they were slow in making use of iron. Sisera12 had had nine hundred chariots with iron fittings, but the Israelite tribesmen who defeated him had never developed similar equipment. There would have been technical and organizational problems; and besides, a chariot force required the use of horses. Horses, as we shall see,13 were scarcely used in Israel until the reign of Solomon.

The Philistines, however, had mastered the art of iron working, and when they began to assert their power over the Israelites they made sure that they kept control of all iron working in their own hands. When the Israelites began to use iron agricultural tools, the Philistines insisted that they must come to Philistine smiths to have them sharpened. They realized that if they permitted Israelite blacksmiths, these workmen might not only make and sharpen agricultural tools, but also weapons of war, to be used in rebellion against their overlords. The Philistines were able to extend their power steadily along all the roads and lines of communication in the land, as far as the eastern end of the Plain of Jezreel. Although they made the Israelites pay them tribute, their domination was not really oppressive. They certainly did not threaten the very existence of the people as the Midianite raiders had done in Gideon's day. Indeed, some of the Israelites were quite content to live peacefully under Philistine domination, as the story of Samson makes plain, and they objected to Samson's attacks on the Philistines, which resulted in Philistine anger not only against him but against his fellow countrymen as well.

But if the very existence of the Israelites was not endangered by their Philistine overlords, their national survival was in danger. An important sanctuary at this time was at Shiloh, in Ephraimite territory, where the ark of the covenant was housed (in a more permanent structure than the old tent shrine of the wilderness days) and where the God of Israel was worshipped as “Yahweh of hosts”. The priestly family in charge of the sanctuary of Shiloh traced its descent from Moses’ brother Aaron (who had been chief priest of the tent shrine in the wilderness). The last of the chief priests of Shiloh, Eli by name, was more than just a priest; at this important sanctuary he also acted as intertribal judge.

Near the end of his life, the tribes of Israel decided to resist any further Philistine encroachment, and revolted against their overlords. First they came to Shiloh, no doubt in order to receive the priestly blessing on their enterprise. But after a defeat by the Philistines, they decided that they must have the sacred ark itself, to go before them into battle and (they believed) ensure success against the enemies of Yahweh. But even the presence of the ark was insufficient. They were beaten, and more decisively than before, at Aphek, some twelve miles east of Joppa. The two sons of Eli, who accompanied the ark as it led Israel into battle, were killed in action. Worse still, the ark itself was captured by the enemy. The disastrous news was taken back to Shiloh and caused the death of Eli himself. Shiloh itself with its sanctuary may have been destroyed by the Philistines— the evidence of archaeological research on the site is not clear.

The bond which united the tribes of Israel was broken; the central shrine was destroyed; its priesthood was wiped out (apart from two infants, the grandsons of Eli); and the ark, the very symbol of Yahweh’s presence with his people, was in foreign hands. The Philistines had triumphed indeed. It looked as if Israel’s glory and national identity had departed for ever.

SAMUEL’S LEADERSHIP

Israel was rescued by the courage and leadership of one man, Samuel. Samuel has often received much less than his due from historians, but his name deserves to stand alongside those of Moses, Joshua and David in the annals of Israel. Samuel was a native of the region of Ramah, in the tribal territory of Ephraim. He had grown up at Shiloh, where he was in attendance at the sanctuary under the direction of Eli. Even before the destruction of Shiloh he had shown a prophetic gift, and when the disaster took place, he proved equal to the task of rallying the shattered morale of his people. He showed them that their God was still with them, even if the sacred ark was in the hands of the Philistines. Indeed, when the Philistines after a short time restored the ark to Israelite territory, Samuel was content to leave it in the obscurity of a private house in Kiriath Jearim, on the border between Judah and Benjamin. It remained there throughout Samuel’s lifetime and for several years more. The functions as judge which Eli had carried out could no longer be performed at Shiloh, but Samuel continued to carry them out. He went annually in circuit to the ancient sacred centers of Mizpah in the central highlands (which to some extent served as a new Israelite center), Gilgal and Bethel, as well as to his own hometown of Ramah. In these places he pronounced judgment on the cases submitted to him.

Although he did not belong to the priestly family, Samuel undertook the priestly duties, without Israelite objections. At Mizpah, Gilgal and Bethel there were ancient altars where sacrifice might be offered, and at Ramah too he erected an altar and sacrificed there. Israel had no capital city, but this one man, under God, served as the focus of national life. He has well been described as “God’s emergency man”.

Under his direction Israel returned to its old covenant loyalty to Yahweh, and with the return of their former faith came a resurgence of national courage. They again confronted the Philistines, and on the battlefield where they had suffered such a crushing defeat a few years before, they defeated the Philistines so thoroughly that for many years the Philistines left the central highlands in peace.

But Samuel grew old, and then the question arose who should take his place. He had two sons who acted as deputy judges for him, but they did not show their father’s strict honesty and were suspected of accepting bribes. The people had no desire to be judged by them when Samuel could no longer carry out his duties as judge.

In these circumstances, Israelites once again began to desire to have a hereditary monarchy, just as they had done in Gideon’s time, but with greater urgency than before. However, a hereditary monarchy introduced a principle which was bound to change the character of government in Israel. Till now they had been ruled by judges raised up by “the spirit of God”, sometimes from one tribe, sometimes another. But the hereditary principle meant that their rulers in future would not all have the special spiritual gifts which Samuel and the judges before him had possessed. In fact, the Israelite kings would probably resemble the kings of Israel’s neighbors.

But if the Israelite people now wanted a king, there was only one man who could arrange it, and that man was Samuel. Samuel argued with them, telling them that their request marked a lack of faith in Yahweh, their true King—Yahweh had never yet failed to raise up a leader of his choice in time of need. When they persisted, Samuel agreed to their demand, and nominated as their king a man named Saul, from Gibeah in the tribal territory of Benjamin. Saul may have been chosen by Samuel some time earlier to act as military commander under his direction. But Saul came from an obscure family, and many despised him in spite of his impressive stature. Their attitude was changed, however, when a sudden cry for help came from across Jordan, from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who were closely related to Saul’s own tribe of Benjamin. The Ammonite king had threatened to enslave them. When the appeal came to Saul at his home farm at Gibeah, he sent a summons to united action throughout the tribes, and arrived with astonishing speed to give effective help to Jabesh-gilead.

The energy which he showed on this occasion impressed the popular imagination. The people...