CHAPTER IX THE LITERARY HERITAGE FROM NORTHERN ISRAEL (Before 722 B.C.) THE Deborah-song would, in itself, prove that poetry had reached a high stage of development in Northern Israel before the rise of the monarchy. When the Ephraimite history was composed, probably during the earlier part of the reign of Jeroboam II, the writer embodied many songs sung in Israel and made reference to whole books of poems already existing. We cannot question that many poems had been composed in Northern Israel during the age of settlement and conquest and of the united and divided. Kingdoms. The greater part of the stories of the Judges arose in these regions, and it may well be that back of these lay old songs, in other cases than that of the great deliverance by the waters of Megiddo. The history of the divided kingdom, as given in the books of Kings, preserves very little of song; but the so-called "Blessing of Moses," embodied in the book of Deuteronomy, was probably written in Northern Israel during the prosperous reign of Jeroboam II, and was thus nearly contemporary with the oracle of Amos. It is similar to the earlier "Blessing of Jacob," and like that has comparatively little of literary charm. The ancient sacred spots of Northern Israel were centres where many traditions were preserved which found their ultimate place in the Ephraimite narrative; the suggestion has a priori probability that many songs to Jehovah were treasured at the same places. Amos, who speaks of Bethel and Gilgal as sanctuaries, condemns the noise of songs and viols along with the sacrifices at the solemn assemblies in honor of Jehovah. At the king's sanctuary of Bethel, where organized worship was carried on throughout the entire history of Northern Israel, we may feel very confident that there was a special collection of religious songs. Whether we can identify any extant songs as belonging to this collection is a matter of more uncertainty; yet we find in Israel's great song book certain hymns which seem to emanate from the Joseph tribes, at least in their original form. In the first stanza, for example, of Psalm 80, we are in the hill country of Samaria where Benjamin was at the southern border, Manasseh on the northern slopes, and the great tribe of Ephraim in the central district. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; Thou that sittest above the cherubim, shine forth. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up thy might, Turn us again, O God; And cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. The time is one of distress for these regions. As Mesha, king of Moab, pictured his god, Kemosh, angry with him,' so the poet of Israel finds Jehovah, God of hosts, angry with his people. O Jehovah God of hosts, How long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people? And given them tears to drink in large measure. Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbors; And our enemies laugh among themselves. Turn us again, O God of hosts; And cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.2 In Psalm 81 also, Joseph seems to be the portion of Israel that is in the thought of the poet. The new moon as a feast day recalls Amos's picture of practices in this region, and the thought seems almost to echo Hosea as the song progresses. Sing aloud unto God our strength: Make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. The pleasant harp with the psaltery. Blow the trumpet at the new moon, 1 See p. 89. 280 14. For it is a statute for Israel An ordinance of the God of Jacob. He appointed it in Joseph for a testimony, Who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt: But my people hearkened not to my voice; And Israel would none of me. So I let them go after the stubbornness of their heart, That they might walk in their own counsels. Oh that my people would hearken unto me, That Israel would walk in my ways! I would soon subdue their enemies, And turn my hand against their adversaries. The haters of Jehovah should submit themselves unto him: But their time should endure for ever. He would feed them also with the finest of the wheat; And with honey out of the rock would I satisfy thee. In Psalm 77, with its echoes of Deborah's picture of Jehovah's advance, as the God of the thunder storm, Joseph is again prominent. Thou art the God that doest wonders: Thou hast made known thy strength among the peoples. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. The waters saw thee, O God; The waters saw thee, they were afraid: The depths also trembled. The clouds poured out water; The skies sent out a sound: Thine arrows also went abroad. The voice of thy thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lightened the world: The earth trembled and shook. And thy paths in the great waters, That all of these psalms were originally composed in Northern Israel, in the particular region occupied by the Joseph tribes, seems highly probable. In our book of Psalms, they are all assigned to an Asaph collection. From this earlier book evidently Psalms 50 and 73 to 83 were taken. In several other songs of this group there are indications of Israelite rather than Judean origin. We may note that in 507 and 731 the address is to Israel, and that in 759 and 76 God is the God of Jacob. This is his title in the psalms of only the Asaph and Korah groups, and is in harmony with a theory of Northern Israelitish origin. The suggestion that the original Asaph collection may have been the hymnal of the Bethel sanctuary, which stood in Ephraim's territory, is a most attractive one. Whether it be a true surmise or not, we may feel much confidence that many of the poems in the collection were composed in Ephraim and so antedate in their original form the downfall of Samaria in 722 B.C. To date the songs more precisely is in most cases quite impracticable, though we may note, for example, in Psalm 76 4-8 a majestic description of Israel's God as the God of War, which suggests the early days when the wars of Jehovah were still the great theme of his people's song. 1 The writer desires to acknowledge his indebtedness to the lectures of Dr. John P. Peters, delivered at Brown University in January, 1910, for the noting of the data and their interpretation in the above discussion of the Asaph Psalter, as also in the following discussion of the Korahite. The writer's own examination of the evidence, made since hearing the lecture discussion, has led him to feel more assurance that the Asaph collection may well be the Bethel hymnal than Dr. Peters ventured to express. Students of the Psalms must eagerly await Dr. Peters's forthcoming commentary. Glorious art thou and excellent, From the mountains of prey. The stouthearted are made a spoil, They have slept their sleep; And none of the men of might have found their hands. At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, Both chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep. Thou, even thou, art to be feared; And who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry? The earth feared, and was still. Again, the opening of 82, with its thought of God judging among the gods, seems primitive. In the later verses, however, there comes an outcry for judgment such as Amos promised, and this portion seems certainly later than the preaching of that great prophet. It is conceivable that one who had heard Amos composed this prayer in the days of injustice which continued for a short generation before the final judgment fell on Israel. Of the Korahite collection, Psalms 42-49 and 84-89, several bear marks of far northern origin, not in Samaria but Galilee. In the last Psalm of the collection, Tabor and Hermon are pictured as rejoicing in Jehovah's name. This line could hardly have been written after Gilead and Galilee had been devastated by Tiglathpileser in 734, and had been taken away from Israel. We are brought to the northern districts during the prosperous days of the kingdom. Much of the poem may have been added later, but some of the verses accord well with a relatively early origin. O Jehovah God of hosts, Who is a mighty one, like unto thee, O Jehovah? And thy faithfulness is round about thee. Thou rulest the pride of the sea; When the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them. Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; Thou hast scattered thine enemies with the arm of thy strength. The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: The world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them. |