says, 'The law will be renewed under the Messiah, and a new one shall be given to the people of Israel.' So Gfrörer translates. I presume that the reference ought to be to verse 13, where it is said that the Torah returns to its renewal, and renews itself,'-which, so far from supporting Gfrörer's statement, means that men will engage in the study of the Law even more zealously than before. A much earlier book, Siphra,1 says, accepting the words of Jeremiah xxxi. 31, 32, that God will make a new covenant with his people; but as the writer does not go at all beyond the Scriptural language, and does not mention the Messiah, we can hardly rest on so literal an interpretation the burden of Gfrörer's inference.2 The evidence, therefore, reduces itself to a misunderstanding of the Midrashim; and we must conclude that the prevailing view was that not only would there be a great exaltation of the moral and spiritual life, but the Law of Moses would be maintained in its integrity in the time of the Messiah. 1 Bechuqqothai, i 2. 2 See the quotations in Gfrörer, Jahrh. d. H. ii. S. 341-3. CHAPTER XVII. THE CONVERSION OF THE GENTILES. 6 CLOSELY Connected with the moral nature of the Messianic kingdom is the conversion of the Gentiles. Notwithstanding the thirst for vengeance which appears so plainly in some of the Jewish writings, the wider hope of the more noble among the prophets finds no doubtful expression. The Sibyl, with her Alexandrine culture and her evident partiality for the Greeks, looks forward to a time when the nation of the great God shall again be strong, who shall be the leaders of life to all mortals,'1 and believes that in the Messianic period the prosperity of the Israelites will move the Gentiles to repentance :- And again the sons of the great God shall all live quietly around the temple, rejoicing in those things which the Creator and the just-judging Monarch will give. For he alone would protect them, mightily siding with them, having as it were a wall of burning fire round about. And they shall be without war in the cities and in the country; for the hand of evil war shall not be upon them, but rather the immortal Champion himself will be with them, and the hand of the Holy One. And then all the islands and cities will say, "How greatly the Immortal loves those men; for all things care for them and help them, heaven and the God-sent sun and moon." And the all-producing earth shall shake in those days. And they shall bring 1 iii. 194-5. sweet discourse from their mouths in hymns: "Come, all falling on the ground, let us supplicate the Immortal King, the great and most high God. Let us send to the temple, since he alone is ruler; and let us all meditate on the law of the most high God, who is the most just of all on the earth. But we have wandered from the path of the Immortal, and worship with senseless mind handmade work of carved images and deceased men." These things the souls of faithful men shall cry: "Come, falling on our mouths among the people of God, let us in every house delight with hymns our Parent, God."' Greece especially is appealed to, to serve God, and so become partaker in the blessings of the last time.2 Even the Book of Enoch expects the Gentiles to be converted, and assembled in the new Jerusalem :- And I saw all the sheep that remained, and all the beasts on the earth and all the birds of heaven, how they fell down and did homage before those sheep; and they implored, and hearkened to them in every word. . . And all that had been ruined and dispersed, and all the beasts of the field and all the birds of heaven, assembled themselves in that house [the new Jerusalem], and the Lord of the sheep had great joy, because they were all good, and returned to his house. And I saw until they laid down that sword which had been given to the sheep, and brought it back into his house, and they sealed it up before the Lord; and all the sheep were enclosed in that house, and it did not contain them. And the eyes of all of them were opened, that they saw what was good, and there was not one among them that did not see. And I saw that that house was great and broad and very full. And I saw that a white bull was born, with great horns; and all the beasts of the field and all the birds of heaven feared him and intreated him always. And I saw until all their species were changed, and they all became white bulls; and the first among them became a great animal, and had great black horns on his head. And the Lord of the sheep rejoiced over them and over all the bulls.' Again, among the blessings of the last time it is said that all the children of men shall become righteous, and all nations shall show me honour and praise me, and all shall adore me.' 2 The Psalms of Solomon, on the contrary, notwithstanding the spirituality of their Messiah, hold out no hope to the Gentiles. The Messiah will bless the people of the Lord; but he will purify Jerusalem from the Gentiles, and no stranger shall dwell there any more.5 He will destroy lawless Gentiles with the word of his mouth, and they shall flee before him, while he will gather together the holy people. Gentiles will, indeed, come from the ends of the earth to see his glory, and to bring gifts; but it is evident that they are conceived as doing so only because they are under his yoke, and the circumstance is mentioned merely to enhance the splendour of his dominion. Philo has some interesting remarks bearing upon this subject in a passage in which he is speaking of the future blessedness of mankind. He says that if there be one virtuous man in a city, he will appear above the city; and a city distinguished by its virtue will be above the country round about it; and a nation with the same excellence will step above all nations, as the head is above the body, so as to be conspicuous on all sides, not for the sake of glory, but in order to benefit the beholders. For 1 xc. 30, 33-38. 2 x. 21. 3 xvii. 40. 6 4 xvii. 25. 3 xvii. 31. This expression need not exclude the presence of converted Gentiles; but their presence is nowhere intimated. 。 xvii. 27, 28. ' xvii. 34. 8 xvii. 32. the continual manifestations of excellent examples engrave similar images on souls that are not altogether hardened.'1 Fourth Ezra, written amid the deepest distresses of the Jewish nation, breathes only hatred and vengeance against the Gentiles, and in the Apocalypse of Baruch this spirit is only so far softened that the writer has the contemptuous mercy of an expecting conqueror towards those who did not know Israel or tread down the seed of Jacob. While the hostile nations shall be put to the sword, these shall be saved alive by the Messiah, but only that they may be subjects of the chosen people. It is interesting to compare with this the expression of exactly the same view, with its Scriptural proofs, in a work written about a thousand years later, the Yalqut :- An old man asked a Rabbi, Will the nations of the world also have part in the times of the Messiah? He answered, My son, every nation or kingdom that has oppressed the children of Israel shall see their glory, but then immediately vanish into dust, and live no more for ever, as it is written,3 "The wicked shall see it, and be grieved, &c." Every kingdom and nation, on the other hand, that has not oppressed and insulted the Israelites, shall come, and shall be our vine-dressers and husbandmen, according to the saying,4 66 Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your ploughmen and your vine-dressers. But ye shall be named the priests of the Lord." 9 In the Talmud different opinions are represented. The more merciful view is contained in the following passage: -Rabbi Eli'ezer says, All the Gentiles shall become 1 De Præm. et Pœn. § 19. 5 3 Ps. cxii. 10. 2 Ch. lxxii. Paragraph 212, on Ex. xii. 48. Referred to by Gfrörer, Jahrh. d. H. ii. S. 241. |