THE LEGENDS OF THE JEWS VOLUME IV BIBLE TIMES AND CHARACTERS

B >> BY LOUIS GINZBERG >> THE LEGENDS OF THE JEWS VOLUME IV BIBLE TIMES AND CHARACTERS

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The rapid degeneration in the family of Moses may be accounted
for by the fact that Moses had married the daughter of a priest who
ministered to idols. Yet, the grandson of Moses was not an idolater
of ordinary calibre. His sinful conduct was not without a
semblance of morality. From his grandfather he had heard the rule
that a man should do "Abodah Zarah" for hire rather than be
dependent upon his fellow-creatures. The meaning of "Abodah
Zarah" here naturally is "strange," in the sense of "unusual" work,
but he took the term in its ordinary acceptation of "service of
strange gods." (132) So far from being a whole-souled idolater, he
adopted methods calculated to harm the cause of idol worship.
Whenever any one came leading an animal with the intention of
sacrificing it, he would say: "What good can the idol do thee? It
can neither see nor hear nor speak." But as he was concerned about
his won livelihood, and did not want to offend the idolaters too
grossly, he would continue: "If thou bringest a dish of flour and a
few eggs, it will suffice." This offering he would himself eat.

Under David he filled the position of treasurer. David appointed
him because he thought that a man who was willing to become
priest to an idol only in order to earn his bread, must be worthy of
confidence. However sincere his repentance may have been, he
relapsed into his former life when he was removed from his office
by Solomon, who filled all position with new incumbents at his
accession to the throne. Finally he abandoned his idolatrous ways
wholly, and became so pure a man that the was favored by God
with the gift of prophecy. This happened on the day on which the
man of God out of Judah came to Jeroboam, for the grandson of
Moses is none other than the old prophet at Beth-el who invited
the man of God out of Judah to come to his house. (133)

The mischief done by Micah spread further and further. Especially
the Benjamites distinguished themselves for their zeal in paying
homage to his idols. God therefore resolved to visit the sins of
Israel and Benjamin upon them. The opportunity did not delay to
come. It was not long before the Benjamites committed the
outrage of Gibeah. Before the house of Bethac, a venerable old
man, they imitated the disgraceful conduct of the Sodomites
before the house of Lot. When the other tribes exacted amends
from the Benjamites, and were denied satisfaction, bloody combats
ensued. At first the Benjamites prevailed, in spit of the fact that the
Urim and Thummim questioned by Phinehas had encouraged the
Israelites to take up the conflict, with the words: "Up to war, I shall
deliver them into your hands." After the tribes had again and again
suffered defeat, they recognized the intention of God, to betray
them as a punishment for their sins. They therefore ordained a day
of fasting and convocation before the holy Ark, and Phinehas the
son of Eleazar entreated God in their behalf: "What means this,
that Thou leadest us astray? Is the deed of the Benjamites right in
Thine eyes? Then why didst Thou not command us to desist from
the combat? But if what our brethren have done is evil in Thy
sight, then why dost Thou cause us to fall before them in battle? O
God of our fathers, hearken unto my voice. Make it known this day
unto Thy servant whether the war waged with Benjamin is
pleasing in Thine eyes, or whether thou desirest to punish Thy
people for its sins. Then the sinners among us will amend their
ways. I am mindful of what happened in the days of my youth, at
the time of Moses. In the zeal of my soul I slew two for the sin of
Zimri, and when his well-wishers sought to kill me, Thou didst
send an angel, who cut off twenty-four thousand of them and
delivered me. But now eleven of Thy tribes have gone forth to do
Thy bidding, to avenge and slay, and, lo, they have themselves
been slain, so that they are made to believe that Thy revelations
are lying and deceitful. O Lord, God of our forefathers, naught is
hidden before Thee. Make it manifest why this misfortune has
overtaken us."

God replied to Phinehas at great length, setting forth why eleven
tribes had suffered so heavily. The Lord had wanted to punished
them for having permitted Micah and his mother Delilah to pursue
their evil ways undisturbed, though they were zealous beyond
measure in avenging the wrong done to the woman at Gibeah. As
soon as all those had perished who were guilty of having aided and
abetted Micah in his idolatrous practices, whether directly or
indirectly, God was willing to help them in their conflicts with the
Benjamites.

So it came. In the battle fought soon after, seventy-five thousand
Benjamites fell slain. Only six hundred of the tribe survived. (134)
Fearing to remain in Palestine, the small band emigrated to Italy
and Germany. (135)

At the same time the punishment promised them by God overtook
the two chief sinners. Micah lost his life by fire, and his mother
rotted alive; worms crawled from her body. (136)

In spite of the great mischief caused by Micah, he had one good
quality, and God permitted it to plead for him when the angel
stood up against him as his accusers. He was extremely hospitable.
His house always stood wide open to the wanderer, and to his
hospitality he owed it that he was granted a share in the future
world. (137) In hell Micah is the first in the sixth division, which
is under the guidance of the angel Hadriel, and he is the only one
in the division who is spared hell tortures. (138) Micah's sons was
Jeroboam, whose golden calves were sinful far beyond anything
his father had done. (139)

In those days God spake to Phinehas: "Thou art one hundred and
twenty years old, thou hast reached the natural term of man's life.
Go now, betake thyself to the mountain Danaben, and remain there
many years. I will command the eagles to sustain thee with food,
so that thou returnest not to men until the time when thou lockest
fast the clouds and openest them again. Then I will carry thee to
the place where those are who were before thee, and there thou
wilt tarry until I visit the world, and bring thee thither to taste of
death." (140)

ELKANAH AND HANNAH

The period of the Judges is linked to the period of the Kingdom by
the prophet Samuel, who anointed both Saul and David as kings.
Not only was Samuel himself a prophet, but his forebears also has
been prophets, (1) and both his parents, Elkanah and Hannah, were
endowed with the gift of prophecy. (2) Aside from this gift,
Elkanah possessed extraordinary virtue. He was a second
Abraham, the only pious man of his generation, who saved the
world from destruction when God, made wroth by the idolatry of
Micah, was on the point of annihilating it utterly. (3) His chief
merit was that he stimulated the people by his example to go on
pilgrimages to Shiloh, the spiritual centre of the nation.
Accompanied by his whole household, including kinsmen, he was
in the habit of making the three prescribed pilgrimages annually,
and though he was a man of only moderate means, (4) his retinue
was equipped with great magnificence. In all the towns through
which it passed, the procession caused commotion. The lookers-on
invariably inquired into the reason of the rare spectacle, and
Elkanah told them: "We are going to the house of the Lord at
Shiloh, for thence come forth the law. Why should you not join
us?" Such gentle, persuasive words did not fail of taking effect. In
the first year five households undertook the pilgrimage, the next
year ten, and so on until the whole town followed his example.
Elkanah chose a new route every year. Thus he touched at many
towns, and their inhabitants were led to do a pious deed. (5)

In spite of his God-fearing ways, Elkanah's domestic life was not
perfectly happy. He had been married ten years, and his union with
Hannah had not been blessed with offspring. (6) The love he bore
his wife compensated him for his childlessness, but Hannah herself
insisted upon his taking a second wife. Peninnah embraced every
opportunity of vexing Hannah. In the morning her derisive greeting
to Hannah would be: "Dost thou not mean to rise and wash thy
children, and send them to school?" (7) Such jeers were to keep
Hannah mindful of her childlessness. Perhaps Peninnah's
intentions were laudable: she may have wanted to bring Hannah to
the point of praying to God for children. (8) However it may have
been forced from her, Hannah's petition for a son was fervent and
devout. She entreats God: "Lord of the world! Hast Thou created
aught in vain? Our eyes Thou hast destined for sight, our ears for
hearing, our mouth for speech, our nose to smell therewith, our
hands for work. Didst Thou not create these breasts above my
heart to give suck to a babe? (9) O grant me a son, that he may
draw nourishment therefrom. Lord, Thou reignest over all beings,
the mortal and the heavenly beings. The heavenly beings neither
eat nor drink, they do not propagate themselves, nor do they die,
but they live forever. Mortal man eats, drinks, propagates his kind
and dies. If, now, I am of the heavenly beings, let me live forever.
But if I belong to mortal mankind, let me do my part in
establishing the race." (10)

Eli the high priest, who at first misinterpreted Hannah's long
prayer, dismissed her with the blessing: "May the son to be born
unto thee acquire great knowledge in the law." (11) Hannah left
the sanctuary, and at once her grief-furrowed countenance
changes. She felt beyond a doubt that the blessing of Eli would be
fulfilled. (12)

THE YOUTH OF SAMUEL

Hannah's prayer was heard. At the end of six months and a few
days (13) Samuel was born to her, in the nineteenth year of her
married life, (14) and the one hundred and thirtieth of her age. (15)
Samuel was of a frail constitution, (16) and required tender care
and nurture. For this reason he and his mother could not
accompany Elkanah on his pilgrimages. Hannah withheld her boy
from the sanctuary for some years. Before Samuel's birth a voice
from heaven had proclaimed that in a short time a great man
would be born, whose name would be Samuel. All men children of
that time were accordingly named Samuel. As they grew up, the
mothers were in the habit of getting together and telling of their
children's doings, in order to determine which of them satisfied the
expectations the prophecy had aroused. When the true Samuel was
born, and by his wonderful deed excelled all his companions, it
became plain to whom the word of God applied. (17) His
preeminence now being undisputed, Hannah was willing to part
with him.

The following incident is an illustration of Samuel's unusual
qualities manifested even in infancy. He was two years old when
his mother brought him to Shiloh to leave him there permanently.
An occasion at once presented itself for the display of his learning
and acumen, which were so great as to arouse the astonishment of
the high priest Eli himself. On entering the sanctuary Samuel
noticed that they were seeking a priest to kill the sacrificial
animal. Samuel instructed the attendants that a non-priest was
permitted to kill the sacrifice. The high priest Eli appeared at the
moment when, by Samuel's directions, the sacrifice was being
killed by a non-priest. Angered by the child's boldness, he was
about to have him executed, regardless of Hannah's prayer for his
life. "Let him die," (18) he said, "I shall pray for another in his
place." Hannah replied: "I lent him to the Lord. Whatever betide,
he belongs neither to thee nor to me, but to God." (19) Only then,
after Samuel's life was secure, Hannah offered up her prayer of
thanksgiving. Beside the expression of her gratitude, it contains
also many prophecies regarding Samuel's future achievements, and
it recited the history of Israel from the beginning until the advent
of Messiah. (20) Her prayer incidentally brought relief to the Sons
of Korah. Since the earth had swallowed them, they had been
constantly sinking lower and lower. When Hannah uttered the
words, "God bringeth down to Sheol, and bringeth up," (21) they
came to a standstill in their downward course.

Hannah was spared to witness, not only the greatness of her son,
but also the undoing of her rival. Every time Hannah bore a child,
Peninnah lost two of hers, until eight of her ten children had died,
and she would have had to surrender all, had not Hannah
interceded for her with prayer. (22)

ELI AND HIS SONS

Shortly (23) before Samuel entered upon his novitiate in the
sanctuary, Eli succeeded to the three highest offices in the land: he
was made high priest, president of the Sanhedrin, and ruler over
the political affairs of Israel. Eli was a pious man, and devoted to
the study of the Torah, wherefore he attained to a good old age and
to high honors. (24) In his office as high priest he was successor to
no less a personage than Phinehas, who had lost his high-priestly
dignity on account of his haughty bearing toward Jephthah. With
Eli the line of Ithamar rose to power instead of the line of Eleazar.
(25) However, the iniquitous deed of his two sons brought dire
misfortune upon Eli and upon his family, though the Scriptural
account of their conduct may not be taken literally. The sons of Eli
transgressed only in that they sometimes kept the women waiting
who came to the sanctuary to bring the purification offerings, and
so they retarded their return to their families. (26) This was bad
enough for priest of God. Their misdeeds recoiled upon their
father, who was not strict enough in rebuking them. Eli's
punishment was that he aged prematurely, and, besides, he had to
give up his various offices.

During his lifetime, his youngest son Phinehas, the worthier of the
two, (27) officiated as high priest. The only reproach to which
Phinehas laid himself open was that he made no attempt to mend
his brother's ways.

The worst of God's decree against Eli he learned from Elkanah,
(28) the man of God who came unto Eli, and who announced that
the high-priestly dignity would be wrested from his house, and
once more conferred upon the family of Eleazar, and, furthermore,
his descendant would all die in their prime. The latter doom can be
averted by good deeds, devotion in prayer, and zealous study of the
Torah. These means were often employed successfully. (29) But
against the loss of the high priest's office there is no specific. The
house of Eli forfeited it irrevocably. Abiathar, the great-grandson
of Eli's son Phinehas, (30) the last of the high priest of the line of
Ithamar, had to submit to the fate of seeing David transfer his
dignity to Zadok, in whose family it remained forever.

The sons of Eli brought misfortune also upon the whole of Israel.
To their sins and the ease with which the people condoned them
was attributed the unhappy issue of the war with the Philistines.
The holy Ark, the receptacle for the broken table of the law, which
accompanied the people to the camp, (31) did not have the
expected effect of compelling victory for the Israelites. What Eli
feared happened. He enjoined upon his sons not to appear before
him if they should survive the capture of the Ark. (32) But they did
not survive it; they died upon the battlefield on which their nation
had suffered bitter defeat. The Philistines, to be sure, had to pay
dearly for their victory, especially those who had spoken
contemptuous words when the holy Ark had appeared in the
Israelitish camp: "The God of the Israelites had ten plagues, and
those he expended upon the Egyptians. He no longer has it in His
power to do harm." But God said: "Do ye but wait to see. I shall
bring plague down upon you like of which hath never been." (33)
This new plague consisted in mice crawling forth out of the earth,
and jerking the entrails out of the bodies of the Philistines while
they eased nature. If the Philistines sought to protect themselves by
using brass vessels, the vessels burst at the touch of the mice, and,
as before, the Philistines were at their mercy. (34) After some
months of suffering, when they realized that their god Dagon was
the victim instead of the victor, they resolved to send the Ark back
to the Israelites. Many of the Philistines, (35) however, were not
yet convinced of God's power. The experiment with the milch kine
on which there had come no yoke was to establish the matter for
them. The result was conclusive. Scarcely had the cows begun to
draw the cart containing the Ark when they raised their voices in
song:

Arise thou, O Acacia! Soar aloft in the fulness of thy splendor,

Thou who art adorned with gold embroidery,

Thou who art reverenced within the Holiest of the palace,

Thou who art covered by the two Cherubim! (36)

When the holy Ark was thus brought into the Israelitish domain,
there was exceeding great rejoicing. Yet the people were lacking
in due reverence. They unloaded the holy vessel while doing their
usual work. God punished them severely. (37) The seventy
members of the Sanhedrin perished, and with them fifty thousand
of the people. (38) The punishment was meet for another reason.
At first sight of the Ark some of the people had exclaimed: "Who
vexed these that thou didst feel offended, and what had mollified
thee now?" (39)

THE ACTIVITIES OF SAMUEL

In the midst of the defeats and other calamities that overwhelmed
the Israelites, Samuel's authority grew, and the respect for him
increased, until he was acknowledged the helper of his people. His
first efforts were directed toward counteracting the spiritual decay
in Israel. When he assembled the people at Mizpah for prayer, he
sought to distinguish between the faithful and the idolatrous, in
order to mete out punishment to the disloyal. He had all the people
drink water, whose effect was to prevent idolaters from opening
their lips. (40) The majority of the people repented of their sins,
and Samuel turned to God in their behalf: "Lord of the world!
Thou requirest naught of man but that he should repent of his sins.
Israel is penitent, do Thou pardon him." (41) The prayer was
granted, and when, after his sacrifice, Samuel led an attack upon
the Philistines, victory was not withheld from the Israelites. God
terrified the enemy first by an earthquake, and then by thunder and
lightning. Many were scattered and wandered about aimlessly;
many were precipitated into the rents torn in the earth, the rest had
their faces scorched, and in their terror and pain their weapons
dropped from their hands. (42)

In peace as in war Samuel was the type of a disinterested,
incorruptible judge, who even refused compensation for the time,
trouble, and pecuniary sacrifices entailed upon him by his office.
(43) His sons fell far short of resembling their father in these
respects. Instead of continuing Samuel's plan of journeying from
place to place to dispense judgment, they had the people come to
them, and they surrounded themselves with a crew of officials who
preyed upon the people for their maintenance. (44) In a sense,
therefore, the curse with which Eli threatened Samuel in his youth
was accomplished: both he and Samuel had sons unworthy of their
fathers. (45) Samuel at least had the satisfaction of seeing his sons
mend their ways. One of them is the prophet Joel, whose prophecy
forms a book of the Bible. (46)

Though, according to this account, the sons of Samuel were by no
means so iniquitous as might be inferred from the severe
expressions of the Scripture, still the demand for a king made by
the leaders of the people was not unwarranted. All they desired
was a king in the place of a judge. What enkindled the wrath of
God and caused Samuel vexation, was the way in which the
common people formulated the demand. "We want a king," they
said, "that we may be like the other nations." (47)

THE REIGN OF SAUL

There were several reasons for the choice of Saul as king. He had
distinguished himself as a military hero in the unfortunate
engagement of the Philistines with Israel under the leadership of
the sons of Eli. Goliath captured the tables of the law. When Saul
heard of this in Shiloh, he marched sixty miles to the camp,
wrested the tables from the giant, and returned to Shiloh on the
same day, bringing Eli the report of the Israelitish misfortune. (48)
Besides, Saul possessed unusual beauty, (49) which explains why
the maidens whom he asked about the seer in their city sought to
engage him in a lengthy conversation. (50) At the same time he
was exceedingly modest. When he and his servant failed to find
the asses they were looking for, he said, "My father will take
thought of us," putting his servants on a level with himself, (51)
and when he was anointed king, he refused to accept the royal
dignity until the Urim and Thummin were consulted. (52) His
chief virtue, however, was his innocence. He was as free from sin
as "a one year old child." (53) No wonder, then, he was held
worthy of the prophetic gift. The prophecies he uttered concerned
themselves with the war of Gog and Magog, the meting out of
reward and punishment at the last judgment. (54) Finally, his
choice as king was due also to the merits of his ancestors,
especially his grandfather Abiel, a man interested in the public
welfare, who would have the streets lighted so that people might
go to the houses of study after dark. (55)

Saul's first act as king was his successful attack upon Nahash, king
of the Ammonites, who had ordered the Gileadites to remove the
injunction from the Torah barring the Ammonites from the
congregation of Israel. (56) In his next undertaking, the campaign
against the Philistines, he displayed his piety. His son Jonathan had
fallen under the severe ban pronounced by Saul against all who
tasted food on a certain day, and Saul did not hesitate to deliver
him up to death. Jonathan's trespass was made know by the stones
in the breastplate of the high priest. All the stones were bright,
only the one bearing the name Benjamin had lost its brilliancy. By
lot it was determined that its dimmed lustre was due to the
Benjamite Jonathan. Saul desisted from his purpose of executing
Jonathan only when it appeared that he had transgressed his
father's command by mistake. A burnt offering and his weight in
gold paid to the sanctuary were considered an atonement for him.
(57) In the same war Saul had occasion to show his zeal for the
scrupulous observance of the sacrificial ordinances. He reproached
his warriors with eating the meat of the sacrifices before the blood
was sprinkled on the altar, (58) and he made it his task to see to it
that the slaughtering knife was kept in the prescribed condition. As
recompense, an angel brought him a sword, there being none
beside Saul in the whole army to bear one. (59)

Saul manifested a different spirit in the next campaign, the war
with the Amalekites, whom, at the bidding of God, he was to
exterminate. When the message of God's displeasure was conveyed
to Saul by the prophet Samuel, he said: "If the Torah ordains that a
heifer of the herd shall be beheaded in the valley as an atonement
for the death of a single man, how great must be the atonement
required for the slaughter of so many men? And granted they are
sinners, what wrong have their cattle done to deserve annihilation?
And granted that the adults are worthy of their fate, what have the
children done?" Then a voice proclaimed from heaven, "Be not
overjust." Later on, when Saul commissioned Doeg to cut down
the priests at Nob, the same voice was heard to say, "Be not
overwicked." (60) It was this very Doeg, destined to play so baleful
a part in his life, who induced Saul to spare Agag, the king of
Amalekites. His argument was the law prohibits the slaying of an
animal and its young on the same day. How much less permissible
is it to destroy at one time old and young, men and children. (61)
As Saul had undertaken the war of extermination against Amalek
only because forced into it, he was easily persuaded to let the
people keep a part of the cattle alive. As far as he himself was
concerned, he could have had no personal interest in the booty, for
he was so affluent that he took a census of the army by giving a
sheep to every one of his soldiers, distributing not less than two
hundred thousand sheep. (62)

Compared with David's sins, Saul's were not sufficiently grievous
to account for the withdrawal of the royal dignity from him and his
family. The real reason was Saul's too great mildness, a drawback
in a ruler. Moreover, his family was of such immaculate nobility
that his descendants might have become too haughty. (63) When
Saul disregarded the Divine command about the Amalekites,
Samuel announced to him that his office would be bestowed upon
another. The name of his successor was not mentioned on that
occasion, but Samuel gave him a sign by which to recognize the
future king: he who would cut off the corner of Saul's mantle,
would reign in his stead. Later on, when David met Saul in the
cave and cut off a piece of the king's skirt, Saul knew him for a
certainty to be his destined successor. (64)

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