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which past experience had revealed.

      III. The Holiness Code. The chief product of the literary activity of the earlier part of the exile is the collection of laws found in the seventeenth to the twenty-sixth chapters of Leviticus. Because of its strong emphasis on the holiness of Jehovah and on the necessity that he be worshipped by a people both ceremonially and morally holy, it is now commonly designated as the Holiness Code. In theme, in point of view, in purpose, and in literary form it has many close points of contact with the writings of Ezekiel. In its original unity it evidently came from the period and circle of thought in which the great priest-prophet lived. His sermons, however, suggest that he was acquainted with its main teachings. In distinguishing sharply between the Jerusalem priests and the ministering Levites, and in prohibiting the marriage of a priest with a widow, Ezekiel shows that his work represented a slightly later stage in the development of Israel's religious standards. The most probable date, therefore, for the Holiness Code is the decade between the first and second captivity (597–586 B.C.).

      Like every ancient lawbook the Holiness Code contains many laws and regulations which evidently come from a much earlier period in Israel's history. Some of its enactments are very similar to those of the primitive codes of Exodus 21–23. In spirit it is closely related to the book of Deuteronomy. It also reproduces many of the laws found in this earlier code. Both codes represent the fruitage of the teaching of the pre-exilic prophets and priests. Each contains ceremonial, civil, and moral laws; but the emphasis on the ritual is more pronounced in the Holiness Code. It consists of ten or eleven distinct groups of laws. In Leviticus 18 and 19 are found certain short decalogues. They probably represent the united efforts of the Judean prophets and priests during the Assyrian period to inculcate the true principles of justice, service, and worship in the minds of the people. Some of the laws in these earlier decalogues are the noblest examples of Old Testament legislation:

      DUTIES TO OTHERS

      [Sidenote: Kindness to the needy]

       I. Thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy fields.

       II. Thou shalt not gather the gleanings of thy harvest.

       III. Thou shalt not glean thy vineyard.

       IV. Thou shalt not gather the fallen fruit of thy vineyard.

       V. Thou shalt leave them for the poor and the resident alien.

      [Sidenote: Honesty in business relations]

       VI. Ye shall not steal.

       VII. Ye shall do no injustice, in measures of length, weight or of

       quantity.

       VIII. Ye shall not deal falsely with one another.

       IX. Ye shall not lie to one another.

       X. Ye shall not swear falsely by my name.

      JUSTICE TO ALL MEN

      [Sidenote: Toward dependents]

       I. Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbor.

       II. Thou shalt not rob thy neighbor.

       III. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with thee all night

       until the morning.

       IV. Thou shalt not curse the deaf.

       V. Thou shalt not put a stumbling-block before the blind.

      [Sidenote: Toward equals]

       VI. Thou shalt not do injustice in rendering a judicial decision.

       VII. Thou shalt not show partiality to the poor.

       VIII. Thou shalt not have undue consideration for the powerful.

       IX. Thou shalt not go about as a tale-bearer among thy people.

       X. Thou shalt not seek the blood of thy neighbor [by bearing false

       testimony in court].

      ATTITUDE TOWARD OTHERS

      [Sidenote: In the heart]

       I. Thou shalt not hate thy fellow-countryman in thy heart.

       II. Thou shalt warn thy neighbor and not incur sin on his account.

       III. Thou shalt not take vengeance.

       IV. Thou shalt not bear a grudge against the members of thy race.

       V. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

      IV. The Liberation of Jehoiachin and the Hopes of the Jews. The liberation of Jehoiachin, the grandson of Josiah, from the Babylonian prison where he had been confined since the first capture of Jerusalem was the one event in the Babylonian period deemed worthy of record by the biblical historians. The occasion was the accession of Nebuchadrezzar's son Evil-merodach (Babylonian, Amil-Marduk). The act possessed little political importance, for the Jews were helpless in the hands of their Babylonian masters; but it evidently aroused the hopes of the exiles, and especially that type of hope which centred in the house of David.

      Ezekiel, in his ideal programme, assigned to the Davidic prince only minor duties in connection with the temple, and transferred the chief authority to the high priest and his attendants. But it is evident that Ezekiel did not fully voice the hopes of the majority of the exiles. The late passage in II Samuel 7:16, which contains the promise to David:

      Thy house and kingdom shall always stand firm before me,

       Thy throne shall be established forever,

      expresses the prevailing belief in the days immediately preceding the exile. The national hopes which looked to the descendants of the house of David for fulfilment were inevitably modified, however, by the experiences of the exile and strengthened by the liberation of Jehoiachin. The rule of such kings as Manasseh and Jehoiakim had revealed the overwhelming evils that unworthy rulers, even though of the house of David, could bring upon their subjects. Josiah's reign, on the other hand, established new and higher standards. The noble ethical and social ideals of Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah had not wholly failed to awaken a response.

      All of these varied influences are traceable in the two prophecies found in Isaiah 9:1–7 and 11:1–10. Embodying as they do many of the social principles for which Isaiah contended, it was natural that these anonymous writings should afterward be attributed to that great statesman-prophet. Jehovah, however, was the one supreme king whom Isaiah acknowledged; and it was difficult to find in his strenuous life a logical or historical setting for these kingly oracles. They also imply that the royal house of Judah had been struck down, and that the new king is to rise out of a background of gloom and is to inaugurate an entirely new era. The character and rule of this king of popular hopes reflect many of the traits of David and Josiah; but his aims and methods are in accord with the moral and social standards of the great pre-exilic prophets. They portray a temporal ruler; but the spirit which actuates him and the principles which guide him are noble and unselfish. As subsequent history clearly shows, the prophet or prophets who painted these portraits apparently hoped that a son or grandson of Jehoiachin would realize them. It is exceedingly probable in the light of the later predictions of Haggai and Zechariah (Sections XCIV, XCV) that these prophecies were written not long after the birth of Zerubbabel. The kingdom over which he was to rule and to which he was to bring perfect justice and peace was the prophetic counterpart of Ezekiel's priestly plan of the restored and redeemed community. The ethical ideals thus concretely set forth were never fully realized in Israel's troubled history; but they remain as valid and commanding to-day as they were far back in the Babylonian period. The abolition of all the insignia of war, the high sense of official responsibility, the protection of the weak by the strong, and the reign of perfect peace and harmony throughout all the earth are the goals for which all earnest, consecrated souls in every age and race are striving. It is natural and proper that the Christian Church should see in Jesus the fullest and truest realization of these ancient kingly ideals.

      V. The Rule of Nabonidus. The successors of Nebuchadrezzar proved weak and inefficient. His dissolute son, Amil-Marduk, was soon murdered by his brother-in-law Nergalsharuzur (Gk. Neriglissar). This ruler is probably the Nergal-sharezer of

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