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latter, than to preserve the former from the foreign nations amid which they lived. To what side soever the Jews turned, they came in contact with Greeks, and with Greek philosophy, under one modification or another. It was around them, and among them; for small bodies of that people were scattered through their own territories, as well as through the surrounding provinces. For a long time, they seem to have striven against its influence; but what security could human watchfulness afford, under such circumstances? It insinuated itself very slowly at first; but stealing upon them from every quarter, and operating from age to age, it mingled at length in all their views, and by the year 150 before Christ, had wrought a visible change in their notions and habits of thought; the first permanent change of the kind which they had ever experienced, to any great extent. We must, however, keep in view a marked distinction between the Jews of Palestine, and those of Egypt; for it was here that the corruptions appear to have begun, and to have maintained the advantage-ground, in succeeding times.68

The Septaugint, or Greek version of the Pentateuch, made by the Egyptian Jews, about 280 or 270 before Christ, is probably the earliest Jewish production that we have, subsequent to the end of the Old Testament. As it is but a translation, however, it can throw no other light on

68 These points, Brucker has illustrated at great length, (Hist. Crit. Philosophiæ, Vol. ii. particularly pp. 691–697; 703—

707.)

our subject than may be derived from the peculiarities of its execution, its manner of phraseology, its paraphrastic expressions, which naturally betray with more or less distinctness, the sentiments of the translators themselves. From some of these criteria, it appears that the ancient notion of Sheol was still retained. Wherever that term occurs in the Hebrew original, the authors of the Septaugint render it by the Greek word Hades, which denotes the subterranean world of the dead. They never confound it, as our English translators have done, with the grave or sepulchre; and never connect with it any verb that signifies to bury. In their version, Hades is kept as distinct from the place of burial, as heaven is from earth. It is always in the singular number, indicating but one region the various words by which the grave is signified, are, on the other hand, either singular or plural, as the case may require.69 Such are the only traces we discover in the Greek version of the pentateuch ; and as this was the standard copy of the law with the Jews of Egypt, who could not read the Hebrew, it may be regarded as an index of their opinions. The Septuagint translation of the rest of the Old Testament was made at a later date.

The apocryphal book, Ecclesiasticus, or the Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach, is probably the next, in order of time. It was originally composed in Palestine, 237 years, it is thought, before Christ; but we have only the Greek version, made in Egypt about a century after

69 Campbell's Preliminary Dis. vi. Pt. ii, § 8.

wards.70 So far as a single work can be relied on, as indicating the popular sentiments of the time, it goes to show that the Palestine Jews had about the same views as formerly, of the state of the dead. The author speaks of the depths of the belly of hades ;' and, in a song of thanksgiving for deliverance, says, that in a recent scene of great personal danger, his life drew near to Hades beneath.'71 It was from Hades that Elijah brought up the deceased son of the Shunamite woman, when he raised him from the dead.72 This was the common receptacle of all the deceased: Fear not the sentence of death,' says he ; ' remember them that have been before thee, and that come after; for this is the sentence of the Lord over all flesh. And why art thou against the pleasure of the Most High There is no inquisition in Hades, whether thou have lived ten, or an hundred, or a thousand years.'73 There, the dead remain in the same inactive condition as represented by the old prophets: Who shall praise the Most High in Hades, instead of them which live and give thanks? Thanksgiving perisheth from the dead, as from one that is not: the living and sound in heart shall praise the Lord. . . . . For all things cannot be in men; because the son of man is not immortal. '74 Weep for the dead,' says he; for he hath lost the

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70 For the dates of the Apocryphal books. and the countries in which they were written, &c., I depend on Eichhorn, (Einleitung in die apokryphischen Schriften des A. Test.) and Horne, (Introduction, &c. vol. iv.) without consulting the older authors, such as Prideaux, &c.

71 Ecclus, li. 5, 6. 74 xvii, 27-30

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light; and weep for the fool, for he wanteth understanding. Make little weeping for the dead, for he is at rest; but the life of the fool is worse than death.'75 'When the dead is at rest, let his remembrance rest; and be comforted for him, when his spirit is departed from him."76 The author intimates no resurrection from this state, notwithstanding the very plan of his book must have led him repeatedly to introduce the subject, had he been acquainted with it. And that he had no thought of a retribution in Hades, is evident, both from the tenor of the representations just quoted, and from the circumstance that in his numerous descriptions of rewards and punishments, he speaks of such only as are experienced in this world, or in the hour of death, or in the fortune of one's posterity." As examples of Jewish phraseology in relation to the temporal judgments appointed to the wicked, it may be useful to notice some expressions he uses: the time of their punishment, whensoever it arrives, is called the day of vengeance; they are reserved to the mighty day of their punishment; they are exhorted to think of the wrath that shall be at the end, and the time of vengeance, when the Lord shall turn away his face; the vengeance on the ungodly is fire and worms; in the congregation

75 Ecclus. xxii. 11.

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76 xxxviii. 23

77 For his description of rewards and punishments, see i. 9-14; v. 6, 7; ix 11, 12, xi. 26-28; xii. 6; xix, 2, 3 ; xxi. 9, 10, (where the pit of hell' is literally the pit of hades,') xxiii. 3, 11, 21-28; xxvii. 25-30; xxix. 9-13; xxxi. 10, 11; xxxiv. 13—17 ; xxxv. 16--20; xxxix. 9-12, 2630; xl. 5-15; xli. 6-13; xliv. 8-23; and the five chapters from xlv. to 1.

of the ungodly, a flame is kindled, and in a rebellious nation, wrath is set on fire; the congregation of the wicked is like tow wrapped together, and the end of them is a flame of fire to destroy them; let the heathen nations be consumed by the rage of fire ; an evil tongue burneth as a flame of fire, and shall not be quenched; the lewd shall be a heritage to moths and worms; they kindle a fire in their flesh; a hot mind is as a burning fire, which will never be quenched, till it be consumed; a foolish father shall gnash his teeth in the end; in the day of death the Lord rewarded a man according to his works,78 &c. All these expressions, several of which bear a close affinity with some of the controverted figures in the New Testament, are here applied to the fortune of the wicked in this life, or to the circumstances of their death.

The first book of Esdras, and the book of Tobit, though their dates cannot be fixed with certainty, may be placed between the years 230 and 150 before Christ. The former appears to have been written by a Jew of Egypt; and perhaps the latter was composed in the same country; but possibly in Palestine, possibly in Babylon. From neither, however, do we obtain any important materials for our present inquiry. The following passage in the book of Tobit may refer to the subject: having been vexed till he was weary of life, he says, in his prayer, Command my spirit to be taken from me, that I may be dismissed,

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78 Ecclus. v. 7 ; vii. 17 ; ix. 11, 12; xi. 26; xii. 6; xvi. ; xix. 3; xviii. 24; xxi. 9 ; xxiii. 16; xxviii. 22, 23 ; xxx. 9, 10; xxxvi. 9.

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