Friedrich Strauss

“ Only read, Myron, the translation of our Books of Kings, and you will be surprised to find, that on reaching the reign of Solomon, you are transported from the calm tone of historic narrative, to the animated style of poetry, as if its own traits and colours were not strong or bright enough to do justice to the reminiscences of those joyous, youthful days. In the history of a nation, as in the life of an individual, there is always some one period, in which every thing is combined that contributes to happiness ”

“ They took the road to Jericho, which leads over the mount of Olives. They had before them a journey of one hundred and fifty stadia, or about twenty-four sabbath-days’ journies. Passing the dry bed of the brook Kedron, they walked under the shade of the cedars, till the road wound up the side of the mount and led them through rows of olive-trees over the easternmost of the three summits. It is loftier than any of the hills on which the city stands. As they ascended it, Helon cast back a look of gratitude and regret on the sacred spot, where God had shown him so much good. ”

“ Now the voices rose, like the notes of the mounting lark, on the summit of the hills, now sunk again in the depths of the valleys. How differently did it operate now upon the heart of Helon, and when he sung it before to his solitary harp on his roof in Alexandria! How did he bless the memory of Samuel, who had given his schools of the prophets the harp and the flute; [95] and of David, who, bred up among them, did not forget them even when seated on his throne, [96] but appointed Levites for the cultivation of music; and himself often laid down his sceptre, to assume the harp. ”

“ Be not thou therefore unduly exalted, but rejoice that thou art permitted, as a priest of Jehovah, to minister in his temple. Before the full light of day is spread over heaven and earth, some one spot is brightened by a partial gleam. But has that spot done any thing to merit this distinction? Give thanks then to Jehovah that thou standest in the earliest beams of that dawn which is the harbinger of light to all mankind. When He comes for whom we wait, the brightness of his rising shall illuminate the whole earth, and the heathens shall walk in his light. ”

“ Festivity and cheerful conversation now reigned among the whole assemblage. Whether it be that a people, which had suffered so much calamity and oppression, naturally enjoys the more keenly a temporary interval of pleasure, or that every approach to God is to the pure mind a source of joy and peace, certain it is, that no nation has ever more carefully studied to remove all trace of sorrow from religious services than the Jews. If the service of the law was a heavy burthen, the service of God was freedom and happiness. ”

“ What confusion in Israel! What dissension and mutual hatred! There is still a small handful, whom I will not call a sect, men of pious, peaceful minds, who wait in simplicity and humility for the appearance of the Messiah, who reject every other word but that of God, and keep his ordinances in his temple. Of their number I reckon myself one—Elisama also belongs to them, as do nearly all the Aramæan Jews who live in the Diaspora. In Jerusalem, however, there are few such to be found. Now thou art forewarned, go, and Jehovah bless and keep thee! ”

“ The last strophes were not completely sung; many were already silent, eagerly watching for the first sight of Jerusalem. All eyes were turned towards the north; a faint murmur spread from rank to rank among the people, only those who had been at the festival before continued the psalm, and these solitary scattered voices formed a solemn contrast with the silence of the rest of the multitude. Helon’s heart was in his eye, and he could scarcely draw his breath. ”

“ THE WATER OF JEALOUSY. Let him beware who thinks that he has attained the highest pinnacle of temporal prosperity! The ball is in ceaseless vibration, and the moment in which it reaches its greatest elevation is that in which its descent must necessarily begin.
The death of Elisama had so disturbed the mind of Helon that Selumiel’s wisdom and Sulamith’s affection could only for a moment yield him consolation. ”

“ Myron was rather dissatisfied, as having had the worst of the argument; Helon was full of the animating reflections which the journey in the night had excited in him; and Elisama still under the influence of the melancholy which had seized him at the river of Egypt. All emotions are durable in the mind of an oriental, and he does not quickly part either with his sorrow or his joy. ”

“ Selumiel stretched out his hand to the friend of his youth; they turned round, and scarcely had they advanced a few steps further when they had reached the summit of the hill, and the garden of God, the plain of Jericho, lay before them. The towers of the city arose from amidst the fertile fields, through which the silver Jordan wound its course. From the valley of death through which they had just passed, they had emerged into a scene where life displayed itself in all its luxuriance and fulness. ”

“ The hostilities and alienations produced by self-love and the collision of interests appeared to have been left at home, and the general joy dispersed every melancholy feeling which an individual might have been disposed to indulge. On these pilgrimages they seemed as free from care as the people of old, when, rescued from Egyptian bondage, they were fed by manna from heaven, on their way to the land that flowed with milk and honey. ”

“ The young priest, dissatisfied with the turn which their conversation had taken, said hastily, and in a manner which neither of the old men understood, “In my service in the temple one thing only displeased me, that the turn of duty comes to each course of priests but once in twenty-four weeks. I fain would live the life of a priest every week and every day.”
“You might have discovered the method of doing so this very day,” said Selumiel.
“The Essenes do not sacrifice,” said Helon; “how then shall I find among them a perpetual priesthood?” ”

“ No painting, no statuary, no drama!”
“Thou speakest,” said Elisama, interposing angrily, “like a blind heathen, and what I have so often intimated seems to have been lost upon thee. Israel was not designed, nor ever aimed, to excel in such worldly arts. It was to be a kingdom of priests and a holy people, to receive and to preserve the law of Jehovah; and on this account he calls it his people, his Jeshurun, his beloved Israel. The time which other nations might devote to the culture of the elegant arts, Israel was to spend in the observance of the law. ”

“ Sichem lay in a plain, or to speak more accurately, in a valley, which extended to the east and west. On the northernnorthern and southern sides of the long line of the city rose the two mountains, Ebal and Gerizim, separated by so small an interval, that the voice might be heard from the summit of the one to the summit of the other. Thus sheltered from the pernicious winds of the north-west and south-west, it lay stretched out in picturesque beauty, at the feet of the gigantic guards that seemed stationed for its protection. ”

“ Every one, full of the persuasion of his own wisdom, expounded the divine word according to his own fancy. Helon could not but perceive that all this wisdom was an arbitrary, self-invented, human system of doctrine respecting divine things, in opposition to which, not only Plato but the whole tenour of scripture taught him, that God only can be our instructor in things relating to himself, and that human reason must here rely upon revelation. This revelation he found in the law, delivered to his nation upon mount Sinai, under circumstances the most impressive and sublime. ”

“ As he turned round, Elisama was behind him at the door, and was wiping the tears from his eyes. “May Jehovah bless thee,” said he. “His counsel is wonderful, and he will bring it to pass.”
“God grant me,” said Helon, “that I may keep his law with a perfect mind.”
“May he give thee what thy psalm says,” replied Elisama. “Now that thou art a priest and a husband in the promised land, I doubt no longer. Marriage is a divine ordinance, and the divine blessing rests upon it. This I myself experienced, alas, for too short a time! God said, It is not good that man should be alone ”

“ For I am desolate and afflicted. The travellers were invited to take some food, but Elisama declared that only the servant in Israel took food early in the morning, and to others it was a disgrace. The mother, however, was not to be dissuaded, and compelled them to take dates, figs, and honey. “Greet thy father’s grave,” said she to Helon. “Let thy first visit be to the valley of Jehoshaphat.” Sallu led out the camels. He was full of joy, and every moment touched his ear-ring as a badge of honour. The mother embraced her son, and weeping said to him,
The Lord bless thee and keep thee! ”

“ Elisama died under the imputation of homicide, and we all were guilty of injustice towards the excellent Sulamith. Thou art right; Israel is a disobedient, sinful people. I condemn others freely, because I include myself in the same condemnation. Jehovah has given us his law, and the only fruit of it is that we are more criminal than the heathen who live without a law. O that I had lived in Solomon’s or David’s days! In our present condition it cannot be fulfilled. What God has enabled thee to do is a miracle, as all the people regard it. ”

“ His way is prepared; Israel is once more free, and a people. What would I give, if in my grey hairs I might yet be permitted to behold him! What a glorious passover will that be, when He keeps it with us, in Baris or on Zion, and his people accompany him with palm branches and Hosannas! I envy you, Helon, for you may live to see that day.”
“It will be a happy day,” said Helon,Helon, “but not more happy than this.” The old men smiled at his enthusiasm, and rejoiced that among the youth of Israel there should be such joy in keeping the festivals of Jehovah. ”

“ They departed from Jericho immediately. The whole city was assembled, men, women, and children. Sulamith’s mother stood among the crowd wringing her hands. Most of the females sympathized with their suffering sister; but the whispers of malice and the taunts of malignant joy were also heard.
Helon followed them at a distance, by the same road by which at Pentecost he had gone up to Jerusalem an affianced bridegroom, full of joy and hope. Then the desert had seemed to be converted into a paradise. ”

“ Would that Myron were here! We children of Israel are one people; we have one God, and one city of the Lord; and every Jew in Egypt, Asia, Syria, and Chaldea, always turns his eyes in his prayers towards this one place. Think, my friends, that while so many hundreds of thousands are assembled in Jerusalem, millions in the remotest countries, into which our people has been scattered, cast longing looks this evening towards us, envying us our joy, and desiring nothing more, than to to be in the Holy City and in the courts of Jehovah! ”

“ Selumiel was the first to resume the discourse. “You remarked,” said he to Helon, “that the Essenes are Jewish Pythagoreans; and there are in truth many points of resemblance between them. Both practise community of goods, both hold in abhorrence every kind of effeminacy and voluptuousness, both love white garments, forbid to take an oath, drink only water, pay extraordinary reverence to old age, enjoin silence for a stated time upon their novices, offer only unbloody sacrifices, and teach that destiny is supreme and uncontroulable in human affairs. ”

“ For the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions.
Her children are gone into captivity before the enemy;
From the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed.
Her princes are become like deer, that find no pasture;
They fall without strength before the pursuer.
Jerusalem calls to mind in her misery the pleasures of the days of old. ”

“ Every thing here was done by command; no man followed a will of his own; indeed the will itself appeared to be social not individual, one thing only was excepted—beneficence. If those who were in need were not his own kindred, every one might assist and relieve them without asking permission or waiting for a command. The fields were covered with luxuriant crops, but the cultivators themselves were spare and pale.
Selumiel and Elisama had rested themselves, the heat of the mid-day was past, and there was no more to be discovered in a day than in an hour respecting the Essenes. ”

“ So here at Jerusalem, the temple was called the camp of the Majesty of Jehovah, the exterior courts, the camp of the Levites, and the city, the camp of Israel. Thus the stranger, when he came from foreign parts, to celebrate the festival of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, found here the names and divisions which had been in use among his ancestors in the desert, and the whole city became as it were a permanent encampment, a standing memorial of that wonderful event, which is incomprehensible to those who consider Israel as only under human guidance. ”