The Expositor's Bible: The Book of the Twelve Prophets, Vol. 2: Commonly Called the MinorSmith, George Adam
Religion
The Expositor's Bible: The Book of the Twelve Prophets, Vol. 2: Commonly Called the Minor
Smith, George Adam
Bible. Minor Prophets -- Commentaries
[582] It is used in Hag. i. 12, 14, ii. 2, only after the mention of
the leaders; see, however, Pusey’s note 9 to Hag. i. 12; while in Zech.
viii. 6, 11, 18, it might be argued that it was employed in such a way
as to cover not only Jews who had never left their land, but all Jews
as well who were left of ancient Israel.
[583] Compare Cheyne, _Introduction to the Book of Isaiah_, 1895, xxxv.
ff., who says that in the main points Kosters’ conclusions “appear
so inevitable” that he has “constantly presupposed them” in dealing
with chaps. lvi.—lxvi. of Isaiah; and Torrey, _op. cit._, 1896, p. 53:
“Kosters has demonstrated, from the testimony of Haggai and Zechariah,
that Zerubbabel and Jeshua were not returned exiles; and furthermore,
that the prophets Haggai and Zechariah knew nothing of an important
return of exiles from Babylonia.” Cf. also Wildeboer, _Litteratur des
A. T._, pp. 291 ff.
[584] iv. 4.
[585] Of course it is always possible that, if there had been no great
Return from Babylon under Cyrus, the community at Jerusalem in 520 had
not heard of the prophecies of the Second Isaiah.
[586] This argument, it is true, does not fully account for the curious
fact that Haggai and Zechariah never call the Jewish community at
Jerusalem by a name significant of their return from exile. But in
reference to this it ought to be noted that even the Aramaic document
in the Book of Ezra which records the Return under Cyrus does not call
the builders of the Temple by any name which implies that they have
come up from exile, but styles them simply _the Jews who were in Judah
and Jerusalem_ (Ezra v. 1), in contrast to the Jews who were in foreign
lands.
[587] Indeed, why does he ignore the whole Exile itself if no return
from it has taken place?
[588] Zech. ii. 10-17 Heb., 6-13 Eng.
[589] _E.g._ Stade, Kuenen (_op. cit._, p. 216). So, too, Klostermann,
_Gesch. des Volkes Israel_, München, 1896. Wellhausen, in the second
edition of his _Gesch._, does not admit that the List is one of exiles
returned under Cyrus (p. 155, n.).
[590] ix. 4; x. 6, 7.
[591] _Op. cit._, p. 216, where he also quotes the testimony of the
Book of Daniel (ix. 25).
[592] Since writing the above I have seen the relevant notes to
the second edition of Wellhausen’s _Gesch._, pp. 155 and 160. “The
refounding of Jerusalem and the Temple cannot have started from the
Jews left behind in Palestine.” “The remnant left in the land would
have restored the old popular cultus of the high places. Instead of
that we find even before Ezra the legitimate cultus and the hierocracy
in Jerusalem: in the Temple-service proper Ezra discovers nothing to
reform. Without the leaven of the Gôlah the Judaism of Palestine is in
its origin incomprehensible.”
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