THE JEWISH E^•CYCLOPEDIA
671
To this (lis(ri|>ti<)n of the literary iHCulUirities of the Jewish A|iocal_vpsc luifiht bi^ added that in its distinctly I'sthatolofjical [jortions it exhiliits with cousid<Tal)lo uiiiforiiiily the diction and symliolistn of the chissical Old Tcslanient passjiiies (see helow). As this is true, liowever, in lilie degree of the Inilk of late Jewish and early Christian eschatnlogieal literature, most of which is imt apocalyptic in the proper sense of the word, it can hardly be treated as u charaitr risiic mi a par with those described above. ^ III. Origin and Materials. The origin of the Jewish Apocalypse is to be .sought chieMy in the natural development of certain welldetined tenden cies in the national literature; possibly also in part, as some have thoiiglit. in the iiilluence of foreign litei-ary models. The earliest of a Jewish Ajjocalypse is the ISook of Daniel (middle of the second century li.c), with Avhich book the distinct beginning of a new branch of literature is made (though some hold that a part of the Book of Enoch is anterior to Daniel). But the author of Dan. vii.-.ii.. though a pioneer and an originator in this department, could hardly be called the creatorof the Jewish Apocalvpse. Nearlyevery one of the characteristic features of his work is to be found well established in the earlier literature of liis people. Ftnthcnnore, the subseiiucnt compositions of this class were not wholly or even larirely developed from tin; materials provitled in this book. Like Daniel, and together with it. they were a characteristic product oi' the times (see below). The extensive Enoch lit<'rature, which begins to make its appearance soon after this, is in it.self a sutheient demonstration of the fact. It is evident that the materials for this sort of composition were at that lime ready to Iiand. On the other side, the Book of Daniel certainly did determine, to a considerable extent, liow the existing materials should be use<l in the apocalyjilic tradition an<l in the pojiular eschaIts intlneiice on both the religious and the tology.
reli,gious
idc^as
and
known example
literary side
The most
was very
great.
nearly related jirecursor of the Jewish Apocalypse was the characteristically developed eschutological elemi'nt in the later Hebrew ])rophecy. The Hebrew ideas concerning the last things were in many respects very similar to Late those which were helil by thesurroinidHebrew ing peoples; but the same fiuidamen Prophets, tal biliefs which shaped the religious life of the nation, and determined the developuK'nt of every other dipartment of it.s religious literature, showed themselves to be fully operative liere also. It was llie doctrine of the <'hosen people, especially, which was the controlling intln ence in the growth of Hebrew and Jc>wish eschatology; and this is easily reiogni/.cd also us the dominant iilea in the Jewish .Vpocalyjise. The hope I'nr Israel cherished by the later i)ropliet.s tinds its coniphlest and most ixalted expres,sion in I.sa. xl.-lxvi., where thi' future of the nation is painti'd in vivid colors and on a magniticent scale: "Israel is the chosen ])e(iple of the- one God, who has plainly declared His purpose ever since the be Though it is now a dispised race, trodden ginuing. under foot, its glorious future is certain." As the horizon of the .lews gradually widined. anil tiny saw more plainly their ndative position among thr nations of the earth, and the impossibility of gain ing any lasting political supremacy, the belief in an age to come, in which riuhteousni'ss and the true religion should hold undisputed pos.session, came more anil more prominently into the fori'grounil. In the .Maecabean agi', especially, tmder the stress of severe persecution, this Ixdief, anil the various
Apocalypse
doctrines connected with it. received a mightj' impulse. Thus out of the hope nourished by " DeuteroIsaiah " and his fellows (who are only les.s eloquent than he in giving voice to it) there grew of necessity the doctrine of " the world to come " ih<t'ohirii-hiih(i): the ever-present contrast between which and "this world " (/"'-'"'"'"-/"'i</0 is one of the fundamentals of apocalyptic literature throughmit its whole history, though these particular forms of expression are late in appearing (see, however, Enoch, Ixxi. 'i). Thus, the purpose of the whole elaborate symbolism of Dan. vii. is to be found in the final antithesis between the successive empires of this world and the "everlasting kingdom" of the siu'nts of the Jlost High (verses 18, 27). Compare also especially II Ksd. vii. .^(). viii. 1. The more unlikely it seemed that Israel would iver be able to gel the upper hand of the surrounding nations, the stronger grew the feeling that the linal triumph would be preceded by a complete overthrow of the existing order. The present age wiiuld come to a sudden end and a new age. ushered in by the "day of the Lord." would take its place. This "end" (D'D'.I nnnsO would be "Day of announced by great portents, and conthe Lord." vulsions of nature, "signs" on the earth and in the heavens; and in speaking of these things, a phraseology highly figurative and mysterious became tixed in use. See. forexample,
xxxiv. -t. Ixvi. l.T; Zeph. i. l.'J; Zech. w/. [ii. 30 f/ifj.]. etc. and compare in the New Testament Matt. xxiv. 29, and the synoptic parallels. These ideas and images were a fruitful source of material for the apocalyptic writings: compare, for example, Sibyl, iii. TOG-SOT; II Esd. v. 1-13. vi. 20-28; Apoc. Bar" xxvii., liii., Ix.x.; Enoch, xci -xciii., c.; II Esil. ["5 Ezra"] xv. 5, 20. Isa.
xxiv.
xiv.
etsi'f/.,
Joel,
- ii-4rr.
H
iii.
et
xvi. 18-39.
Moreover, the day of Israel's triinnph was to be a day of judgment on the Gentiles. The various phases of this idea made so iiromiuent by the later lirophets a series of linal bloody wars, in which the oppressors of Israel shall fall: " Gog and Magog" (Ezek. xxxviii. ft »)•(/.). the judgment and punish-
—
ment of the nations by Jehovah (Zeph. 9
— are
iii.
8; Joel, iv.
elaborated in characteristic manner by the apocalyptic writers. The most striking example is the prediction in Dun. xi. 40-45 (see above. ?; II. 4). The idea of a final trimnph of God and His heavenly hosts over evil spirits also followed naturally, and kept pace with the development of the Jewish angelology. The " guardian angels " of Dan. ix.-xii., and the punishment of the " fuUen stars," which oceuides so much sjiace in the EiuhIi literature, are only elaborations of beliefs which hud already rec<'ived distinct exjiression; compare Isa. xxiv. 21 ft iifij. (a most important jiassjige), xxvii. Deiil. xxxii. 8 ((Jreekl: Joi), xxxviii, 1; Ps. Ixxxii. The appearance of the evil spirit "Azazel" 7, etc. in Lev. xvi. 8 ft nfi/. is |)roof tiuit the numes of ungels anil demons were in common use before the days of Daniel and Enoch. I5ut the esihatologiial teuchings current among the Jews Ht the beginning of the .seeond century lie. were not eoneerned luinly with the fate of the nations, and of the people Israel in parliculur. As the coming "day of the Lord" was li>oked ujion as a time when wrongs were to be st't right, it was luitiinil— indeed necessiiry that the expected judgment should also up])ear as the linal lrinm)ih of the righteousover the wicked, even ii Israel. Thus Mai. iii. l-r,. 13-18. 19-21 (iv. 1-3); Zeph. i. 12; Zech. xiii. Setufj. Hence the diMlriueof the resurrection of the [iii.]
2,
ft
x(i/.)
—
