Max Beer

“ Bereft of their soil and of their voice in the management of society, the physical attributes of Yahve lost all meaning to the poor. All the more they turned their attention to the ethical aspects of social life, and began to see in Yahve chiefly a god of justice and loving-kindness. Such a god could not accept the offerings of the exploiting rich. ”

“ The cause of the poor, the feelings of the expropriated, the new ethical conception of Yahve, the whole mental revolution that had been going on in Palestine found an eloquent and educated interpreter in ISAIAH: "Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may live alone in the midst of the earth! ”

“ They became the leaders of the impoverished masses. And both currents of thought, the religious and the social, combined to create a revolutionary and far-reaching conception of Yahve and his laws. Henceforth the Yahve prophets were no more the miracle workers and soothsayers of old, but ethical preachers, social agitators and dis­turbers of the established order. They came either from the lower strata of society, like Amos the shepherd, or from the educated priestly caste, like Isaiah and Jeremiah. ”

“ In their eyes the religious crisis in Israel was the central fact of history, and as Yahve was the power that shaped the affairs of the universe, Egypt and Assyria were but the tools in his hand to punish or to help Israel. ”

“ Hate the evil, and love the good and establish judgment at the gate .... Let justice run down like water, and righteousness as a mighty stream. Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilder­ness 40 years? ”

“ To read one of the great chapters of Isaiah with its harrowing description of the misery of the poor and of the insatiable wealth-grabbing of the rich, of the greatness of the socio-ethical idea of Yahve and of its final and approaching realisation is to listen to one of the eloquent addresses of a modern Marxist orator. ”

“ Put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes. Learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow .... Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and her converts with righteousness. ”

“ Palestine formed the gate from Africa to Asia and from Asia to Africa The Hebrews could, under those conditions, not remain isolated and live their own life, but had to take sides. Their land was, there­fore, often invaded either by the Egyptians or by the Assyrians and Babylonians. ”