Chapters on Jewish Literature | Page 7

Judaism to the
heathen world. In the Jewish Sibylline books the religion of Israel is
presented as a hope and a threat; a menace to those who refuse to
follow the better life, a promise of salvation to those who repent. About
the year 80 C.E., a book of this kind was composed. It is what is known
as the Fourth Book of the Sibylline Oracles. The language is Greek, the
form hexameter verse. In this poem, the Sibyl, in the guise of a
prophetess, tells of the doom of those who resist the will of the one true
God, praises the God of Israel, and holds out a beautiful prospect to the
faithful.
The book opens with an invocation:
Hear, people of proud Asia, Europe, too, How many things by great,
loud-sounding mouth, All true and of my own, I prophesy. No oracle of
false Apollo this, Whom vain men call a god, tho' he deceived; But of
the mighty God, whom human hands Shaped not like speechless idols
cut in stone.

The Sibyl speaks of the true God, to love whom brings blessing. The
ungodly triumph for a while, as Assyria, Media, Phrygia, Greece, and
Egypt had triumphed. Jerusalem will fall, and the Temple perish in
flames, but retribution will follow, the earth will be desolated by the
divine wrath, the race of men and cities and rivers will be reduced to
smoky dust, unless moral amendment comes betimes. Then the Sibyl's
note changes into a prophecy of Messianic judgment and bliss, and she
ends with a comforting message:
But when all things become an ashy pile, God will put out the fire
unspeakable Which he once kindled, and the bones and ashes Of men
will God himself again transform, And raise up mortals as they were
before. And then will be the judgment, God himself Will sit as judge,
and judge the world again. As many as committed impious sins Shall
Stygian Gehenna's depths conceal 'Neath molten earth and dismal
Tartarus.
But the pious shall again live on the earth, And God will give them
spirit, life, and means Of nourishment, and all shall see themselves,
Beholding the sun's sweet and cheerful light. O happiest men who at
that time shall live!
The Jews found some consolation for present sorrows in the thought of
past deliverances. The short historical record known as the "Scroll of
Fasting" (Megillath Taanith) was perhaps begun before the destruction
of the Temple, but was completed after the death of Trajan in 118. This
scroll contained thirty-five brief paragraphs written in Aramaic. The
compilation, which is of great historical value, follows the order of the
Jewish Calendar, beginning with the month Nisan and ending with
Adar. The entries in the list relate to the days on which it was held
unlawful to fast, and many of these days were anniversaries of national
victories. The Megillath Taanith contains no jubilations over these
triumphs, but is a sober record of facts. It is a precious survival of the
historical works compiled by the Jews before their dispersion from
Palestine. Such works differ from those of Josephus and the Sibyl in
their motive. They were not designed to win foreign admiration for
Judaism, but to provide an accurate record for home use and inspire the

Jews with hope amid the threatening prospects of life.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
JOSEPHUS.
Whiston's English Translation, revised by Shilleto (1889).
Graetz.--II, p. 276 [278].
SIBYLLINE ORACLES.
S.A. Hirsch.--Jewish Sibylline Oracles, J.Q.R., II, p. 406.
CHAPTER III
THE TALMUD
The Amoraim compile the Palestinian Talmud and the Babylonian
Talmud.--Representative Amoraim: I (220-280) Palestine--Jochanan,
Simon, Joshua, Simlai; Babylonia--Rab and Samuel. II (280-320)
Palestine--Ami, Assi, Abbahu, Chiya; Babylonia--Huna and Zeira. III
(320-380) Babylonia--Rabba, Abayi, Rava. IV (380-430)
Babylonia--Ashi (first compilation of the Babylonian Talmud). V and
VI (430-500) Babylonia--Rabina (completion of the Babylonian
Talmud).
The Talmud, or Gemara ("Doctrine," or "Completion"), was a natural
development of the Mishnah. The Talmud contains, indeed, many
elements as old as the Mishnah, some even older. But, considered as a
whole, the Talmud is a commentary on the work of the Tannaim. It is
written, not in Hebrew, as the Mishnah is, but in a popular Aramaic.
There are two distinct works to which the title Talmud is applied; the
one is the Jerusalem Talmud (completed about the year 370 C.E.), the
other the Babylonian (completed a century later). At first, as we have
seen, the Rabbinical schools were founded on Jewish soil. But Palestine
did not continue to offer a friendly welcome. Under the more tolerant
rulers of Babylonia or Persia, Jewish learning found a refuge from the

harshness experienced under those of the Holy Land. The Babylonian
Jewish schools in Nehardea, Sura, and Pumbeditha rapidly surpassed
the Palestinian in reputation, and in the year 350 C.E., owing to natural
decay, the