Israelite society underwent profound changes in the period I of the monarchy, and the new opportunities for some to acquire considerable wealth led to greater disparities between rich and poor. Throughout this period a series of prophets publicly challenged the behavior of the Israelite ruling elite. They denounced the changes in Israelite society as corrupting people and separating them from the religious devotion and moral rectitude of an earlier, better time. The prophets often spoke out on behalf of the uneducated, inarticulate, illiterate, and powerless lower classes, and they thus provide valuable information about the experiences of different social groups. Theirs was not objective reporting, but rather the angry, anguished visions of unconventional individuals.
The following excerpt from the Hebrew Bible is taken from the book of Amos. A herdsman from the southern kingdom of Judah in the era of the divided monarchy, Amos was active in the northern kingdom of Israel in the mid-eighth century B. C.E., when Assyria threatened the Syria-Palestine region.
1:1 The following is a record of what Amos prophesied. He was one of the herdsmen from Tekoa. These prophecies about Israel were revealed to him during the time of King Uzziah of Judah and King Jeroboam son of Joash of Israel. . . .
3:1 Listen, you Israelites, to this message which the Lord is proclaiming against you. This message is for the entire clan I brought up from the land of Egypt:
3:2 “I have chosen you alone from all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your sins." . . .
3:9 Make this announcement in the fortresses of Ashdod and in the fortresses in the land of Egypt. Say this: “Gather on the hills around Samaria! [capital of the northern kingdom] Observe the many acts of violence taking place within the city, the oppressive deeds occurring in it.". . .
3:11 “Therefore," says the sovereign Lord, “an enemy will encircle the land. Your power, Samaria, will be taken away; your fortresses will be looted." 3:12 This is what the Lord says: “Just as a shepherd salvages from the lion's mouth a couple of leg bones or a piece of an ear, so the Israelites who live in Samaria will be salvaged. They will be left with just a corner of a bed, and a part of a couch." . . .
4:1 Listen to this message, you “cows of Bashan" who live on Mount Samaria! You oppress the poor; you crush the needy. You say to your husbands, “Bring us more to drink so we can party!" 4:2 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his own holy character: “Certainly the time is approaching! You will be carried away in baskets, every last one of you in fishermen's pots. 4:3 Each of you will go straight through the gaps in the walls; you will be thrown out toward Harmon." . . .
5:11 “Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops and exact a grain tax from them, you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone, nor will you drink the wine from the fine vineyards you planted.
5:12 Certainly I am aware of your many rebellious acts and your numerous sins. You torment the innocent, you take bribes, and you deny justice to the needy at the city gate. . . . 5:21 I absolutely despise your festivals. I get no pleasure from your religious assemblies.
5:22 Even if you offer me burnt and grain offerings, I will not be satisfied; I will not look with favor on the fattened calves you offer in peace.
5:23 Take away from me your noisy songs; I don't want to hear the music of your stringed instruments." . . .
6:4 They lie around on beds decorated with ivory, and sprawl out on their couches. They eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the middle of the pen.
6:5 They sing to the tune of stringed instruments; like David they invent musical instruments.
6:6 They drink wine from sacrificial bowls, and pour the very best oils on themselves.
6:7 Therefore they will now be the first to go into exile, and the religious banquets where they sprawl out on couches will end.
7:10 Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent this message to King Jeroboam of Israel: “Amos is conspiring against you in the
Very heart of the kingdom of Israel! The land cannot endure all his prophecies.
9:11 In that day I will rebuild the collapsing hut of David. I will seal its gaps, repair its ruins, and restore it to what it was like in days gone by."
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7:11 As a matter of fact, Amos is saying this: 'Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly be carried into exile away from its land' "
7:12 Amaziah then said to Amos, “Leave, you visionary! Run away to the land of Judah! Earn money and prophesy there! 7:13 Don't prophesy at Bethel any longer, for a royal temple and palace are here!"
7:14 Amos replied to Amaziah, “I was not a prophet by profession. No, I was a herdsman who also took care of sycamore fig trees.
7:15 Then the Lord took me from tending flocks and gave me this commission, 'Go! Prophesy to my people Israel! '" . . .
8:8 “Because of this the earth will quake, and all who live in it will mourn. The whole earth will rise like the River Nile, it will surge upward and then grow calm, like the Nile in Egypt. 8:9 In that day," says the sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun set at noon, and make the earth dark in the middle of the day. 8:10 I will turn your festivals into funerals, and all your songs into funeral dirges. I will make everyone wear funeral clothes and cause every head to be shaved bald. I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son; when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day." . . .
9:8 “Look, the sovereign Lord is watching the sinful nation, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. But I will not completely destroy the family of Jacob," says the Lord.
9:9 “For look, I am giving a command and I will shake the family of Israel together with all the nations. It will resemble a sieve being shaken, when not even a pebble falls to the ground. . . .
Died childless, his brother was expected to marry his widow and sire an heir.
In early Israel women provided a vital portion of the goods and services that sustained the family. As a result, women were respected and enjoyed relative equality with their husbands. Unlike men, however, they could not inherit property or initiate divorce, and a woman caught in extramarital relations could be put to death. Working-class women labored with other family members in agriculture or herding in addition to caring for the house and children. As the society became urbanized, some women worked outside the home as cooks, bakers, perfumers, wet nurses (usually a recent mother, still producing milk, hired to provide nourishment to another person’s child), prostitutes, and singers of laments at funerals. A few women reached positions of influence, such as Deborah the Judge, who led troops in battle against the Canaanites. Women known collectively as “wise women” appear to have composed sacred texts in poetry and prose. This reality has been obscured, in part by the male bias of the Hebrew Bible, in part because the status of women declined as Israelite society became more urbanized.
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QUESTIONS FOR ANALYSIS
1. For whom is Amos's message primarily intended? How does the ruling class react to Amos's prophetic activity, and how does he respond to their tactics?
2. What does Amos see as wrong in Israelite society, and who is at fault? Why are even the religious practices of the elite criticized?
3. What will be the means by which God punishes Israel, and why does God punish them this way? What grounds for hope remain?
4. What are the main complaints of the Babylonian Sufferer, and where does he look for a solution? Do the Babylonian gods seem to be less directly involved in human affairs than the Israelite deity?
Source: Excerpts from the Hebrew Bible quoted by permission. NETS Bible copyright
© 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L. L.C. http://www. bible. org. All rights reserved.
Excerpts from Babylonian document: James B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts
Relating to the Old Testament (3rd edition with Supplement, 1969), 603-604. Reprinted
By permission of Princeton University Press.
Fragmentation and Dispersal
After Solomon’s death around 920 B. C.E., resentment over royal demands for money and labor and the neglect of tribal prerogatives split the monarchy into two kingdoms: Israel in the north, with its capital at Samaria°; and Judah° in the southern territory around Jerusalem (see Map 4.4). The two were sometimes at war, sometimes allied.
This period saw the final formulation of monotheism, the absolute belief in Yahweh as the one and only god. Nevertheless, religious leaders still had to contend with
Samaria (suh-MAH-ree-yuh) Judah (JOO-duh) cults professing polytheism (the belief in multiple gods). The ecstatic rituals of the Canaanite storm-god Baal° and the fertility goddess Asherah° attracted many Israelites. Prophets condemned the adoption of foreign ritual and threatened that Yahweh would punish Israel severely.
The small states of Syria and the two Israelite kingdoms laid aside their rivalries to mount a joint resistance to the Neo-Assyrian Empire, but to no avail. In 721 b. c.e. the Assyrians destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and deported much of its population to the east. New settlers were brought in from Syria, Babylon, and Iran,
Baal (BAHL) Asherah (uh-SHARE-uh)
The Phoenician City-States
Changing the area’s ethnic, cultural, and religious character and removing it from the mainstream of J ewish history. The kingdom of Judah survived for more than a century longer, sometimes rebelling, sometimes paying tribute to the Assyrians or the Neo-Babylonian kingdom (626-539 B. C.E.) that succeeded them. When the Neo-Babylonian monarch Nebuchadnezzar" captured Jerusalem in 587 B. C.E., he destroyed the Temple and deported to Babylon the royal family, the aristocracy, and many skilled workers such as blacksmiths and scribes.
The deportees prospered so well in their new home “by the waters of Babylon” that half a century later most of their descendants refused the offer of the Persian monarch Cyrus (see Chapter 5) to return to their homeland. This was the origin of the Diaspora"—a Greek word meaning “dispersion” or “scattering.” This dispersion outside the homeland of many Jews—as we may now call these people, since an independent Israel no longer ex-isted—continues to this day. To maintain their religion and culture outside the homeland, the Diaspora communities developed institutions like the synagogue (Greek for “bringing together”), a communal meeting place that served religious, educational, and social functions.
Several groups of Babylonian Jews did make the long trek back to Judah in the later sixth century b. c.e., where they met with a cold reception from the local population. Persevering, they rebuilt the Temple in modest form and drafted the Deuteronomic" Code (deutero-nomic is Greek for “second set of laws”) of law and conduct. The fifth century b. c.e. also saw the compilation of much of the Hebrew Bible in roughly its present form.
The loss of political autonomy and the experience of exile had sharpened Jewish identity, with an unyielding monotheism as the core belief. Jews lived by a rigid set of rules. Dietary restrictions forbade the eating of pork and shellfish and mandated that meat and dairy products not be consumed together. Ritual baths were used to achieve spiritual purity, and women were required to take ritual baths after menstruation. The Jews venerated the Sabbath (Saturday, the seventh day of the week) by refraining from work and from fighting, following the example of Yahweh, who, according to the Bible, rested on the seventh day after creating the world (this is the origin of the concept of the weekend). These strictures and others, including a ban on marrying non-Jews, tended to isolate the Jews from other peoples, but they also fostered a powerful sense of community and the belief that they were protected by a watchful and beneficent deity.
World History
