Part 12 (2/2)

Primarily this was probably due to the fact that each was based upon a divine _torah_ or decision, received from Jehovah through the priestly oracle. The public reading and promulgation of the Deuteronomic laws in the days of Josiah, with the attestation of the prophets and the solemn adoption by the people, was an act of canonization far more formal than the final acceptance of the New Testament writings by the Council of Carthage.

[Sidenote: _Adoption of the late priestly law_]

The next great stage in the canonization of the law is recorded in Nehemiah x. Then the representatives of the Jewish community _entered into a solemn obligation and took oath to walk in G.o.d's law, which was given by Moses the servant of G.o.d, and to observe to do all the commands of Jehovah our Lord and his ordinances and his statutes_ (v. 29.) This action appears to be the historical basis of the fanciful and incredible Jewish traditions concerning the work of the Great Synagogue and the authority of Ezra. The new law thus adopted was evidently the one gradually developed and finally formulated by the Jewish priests in Babylonia. It was accepted, as was the earlier Deuteronomic code, because it met the needs and appealed to the moral and religions sense of those by whom it was adopted.

[Sidenote: _Acceptance of the completed Torah_]

To set completely aside the Deuteronomic lawbook and the primitive decalogue of Exodus xx.-xxiii., already in force among the Jews of Palestine, was impossible and unnecessary. Hence, as we have noted, it was the task of some editor of the next generation to combine these and the earlier prophetic histories with the late priestly law and its accompanying history. Naturally this whole collection was still called the _Torah_ or _Law_ and was at once accepted as canonical by the Jews.

This step was also most natural because their interests all centred about the ritual, and for two centuries the dominant tendency had been to exalt the sanct.i.ty of the written law.

[Sidenote: _Date of the final canonization of the Law_]

It is possible to fix approximately the date of this first edition of the Old Testament writings, since the Samaritans adopted and still retain simply the Pentateuch and an abbreviated edition of Joshua as their scriptures. Although Josephus, following a late Jewish tradition, dates the Samaritan schism at about 330 B.C., the contemporary evidence of Nehemiah xiii. 28 suggests that it was not long after 400. It is therefore safe to conclude that by 350 B.C. the first five books of our Old Testament had not only been singled out of the larger literature of the race, but were regarded as possessing a unique sanct.i.ty and authority.

[Sidenote: _Principles of canonization_]

As the name _Law_ suggests, the chief reason for this was the fact that these five books embodied laws long since accepted as binding. The second reason was probably because they were by current tradition ascribed to Moses. The third, and not the least, was, doubtless, because they met the need felt by the community for a unified and authoritative system of laws and for an authentic record of the earlier history of their race, especially that concerning the origin of their beloved inst.i.tutions.

[Sidenote: _Evidence that the Law was first canonized_]

The priority of the canon of the law is also proved by the fact that, although it contains some of the later Old Testament writings, it stands first, not only in position but in the esteem of the Jewish race.

Furthermore, it became in time the designation of all the Old Testament canonical writings. The term _Law_ is thus used in the New Testament (_e.g._, John x. 34, xii. 34; I Cor. xiv. 21), in the Talmud, and by the rabbis, indicating that the later groups of historical, prophetic, and poetical books were simply regarded as supplements.

[Sidenote: _Canonization of the prophetic writings_]

The history of the canonization of the next group, known as the _Prophets_, is very obscurely recorded, and this largely because it reached its culmination in the Greek period, concerning which we have only the most meagre information. Here a.n.a.logy with the history of the New Testament is helpful. The same influences which led the early Christians to add the Epistles and Acts undoubtedly operated upon the minds of the Jews. The Law represented only a limited period in their national and religious history. But the addition of the early prophetic and legal histories to the detailed laws prepared the way for the expansion of the canon. This included first, the four historical books, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, with the exception of Ruth. These were designated as the _Former Prophets_. Thus even the later Jews recognized their true character and authors.h.i.+p. The second division of the _Prophets_ included Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book of the Twelve, which contained the minor prophets.

[Sidenote: _Evidence that the historico-prophetic books were first added to the Law_]

The order of the book and the probabilities of the situation suggest that the _Former Prophets_, since they were the immediate sequel of the prophetic histories of the Pentateuch, and recorded the deeds of such heroes as David, Solomon, and Isaiah, were added first. That they also bear the marks of late priestly revision, is direct evidence of the esteem in which they were held by the late priestly school that completed the canon of the Law. They therefore may have been added as early as 300 B.C. They were certainly known to the author of Chronicles, as his many quotations from them show, although it is difficult to see how he would have felt as free as he does to subst.i.tute the testimony of later tradition, if they were regarded as equally sacred with the Law.

[Sidenote: _Reverence for the prophetic word_]

The reference to the prediction of Jeremiah, in the opening verse of Ezra, suggests the reverence with which the author of Chronicles regarded the words of this prophet. The post-exilic Jews never ceased to revere the prophetic word. The popular belief, current in the Greek period, that the prophets had ceased to speak only deepened their reverence for the teachings of Moses' successors (Deut. xviii. 15-19).

The devotion of the later scribes is evinced by the scores of glosses which they have added to the older prophecies. It is manifest, therefore, how strong was the tendency, even in priestly circles, to add the Prophets to the Law.

[Sidenote: _Date of completion of the prophetic canon_]

The process was probably gradual and perhaps not complete until the Jews had learned fully to appreciate the value of their ancient Scriptures, after martyrs had died for the sacred writings during the Maccabean struggle. Aside from supplements made to older books, as, for example, Zechariah ix.-xiv., the canon of the prophets was probably closed not later than 200 B.C. From direct evidence it is clear that the book of Daniel (written about 165 B.C.) did not find a place in this canon. It is also significant that in the prologue to the Greek version of Ben Sira or Ecclesiasticus (132 B.C.) the translator refers repeatedly--as though they were then regarded as of equal authority--to the _Law and the Prophets and the rest of the books_, or to _the other books of the fathers_. But most significant of all, Ben Sira, who wrote about 190 B.C., includes in his list of Israel's heroes (xliv.-l.) not only those mentioned in the _Torah_, but also David, Solomon, Hezekiah, and the chief characters in the _Former Prophets_. Furthermore, Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel are introduced in their proper settings, and the panegyric closes with a reference to the twelve prophets collectively, indicating that Ben Sira was also acquainted with the _Latter Prophets_ as a group.

[Sidenote: _The beginning of the last stage in the canonization of the Old Testament_]

The reference to _the rest of the books_ in the prologue to Ben Sira indicates that even before 130 B.C. certain other writings had been joined to the canon of the Law. Ben Sira himself, to judge from his description of David (_cf_. xlvii. 8, 9, and I Chron. 25), Zerubbabel, Joshua, and Nehemiah, was acquainted with the books of Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Chapter xlvii. 8 apparently contains an allusion to a hymn-book attributed to David. Evidently he was also familiar with the book of Proverbs, including its introductory chapters. Thus we have a glimpse of the beginning of that third stage in the canonization of the Old Testament which, as in the case of the New, continued for fully three centuries.

[Sidenote: _Canonization of the Psalter and Lamentations_]

The Psalter doubtless pa.s.sed through different stages of canonization, as did the Old Testament itself. The earliest collection was, in the beginning, probably made for liturgical purposes, and its adoption in the service of the temple was practically equivalent to canonization.

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