always move on the same plane, was not always characterized by true
Ezion-giber, in the land of Edom (1 Kings 9:26; 22:47, 48; 1 Chron. 18:13; 2 Chron. 8:17, 18). Such passages as 2 Kings 15:19; 16:7; Isa. 20:1 find their explanation in the rising power of the Assyrians and the gradual extension of their empire, as revealed especially by the inscriptions of their kings. The words of Rabshakeh in 2 Kings 18:21 and Isa. 36:6 become luminous in view of the fact that there was a rather influential Egyptian party in Judah during the reign of Hezekiah (Isa. 30:1–7). The radical change in the political position and constitution of Israel must be borne in mind in the interpretation of the post-exilic writings. Such passages as Ezra 4:4– 6 ff.; Neh. 5:14, 15; Zech. 7:3–5; 8:19; Mal. 1:8, can only be explained in the light of contemporary history. And on turning from the Old Testament to the New, the interpreter encounters a situation for which he is entirely unprepared, unless he has made a study of the inter-testamentary period. The Romans are the dominant power, and Idumaeans have rule over the heritage of Jacob. Parties that were never heard of in the Old Testament now occupy the center of the stage. There is a Jewish Sanhedrin that decides matters of the greatest importance, and a class of scribes that has practically supplanted the priests as teachers of the people. Hence, all kinds of questions arise. How was the Jewish state constituted? By what irony of history did Idumaeans become the recognized rulers of the Jewish people? What limitations did the Roman supremacy impose on the Jewish government? Did the existing parties have political significance; and if so, what did they aim at? A study of Israel's past will give answer to these questions. Such passages as Matt. 2:22, 23; 17:24–27; 22:16–21; 27:2; John 4:9, can only be explained in the light of history.
3. RELIGIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES. The religious life of Israel did not always move on the same plane, was not always characterized by true spirituality. There were seasons of spiritual elevation, but these were soon followed by periods of moral and religious degradation. The generations that served God with a humble and reverent spirit were repeatedly succeeded by such as worshipped idol-gods, or sought satisfaction in hypocritical lip-service. The history of Israel's religion,
when viewed as a whole, reveals deterioration rather than progress, devolution instead of evolution.
The period of the Judges was one of a religious syncretism that resulted from the fusion of the service of Jehovah with the worship of the Canaanitish Baalim. In the days of Samuel, the prophetic order began to assert itself and exercised a beneficial influence on the spiritual life of the nation. The period of the Kings was characterized in Judah by repeated declines and revivals. Worship on high places and, at times, even flagrant idolatry, was the besetting sin of the people. During the same period, the typical sin of the Northern kingdom was its calf-worship, augmented in the days of Ahab by the worship of Melkart, the Phoenician Baal. After the exile, idolatry was rare in Israel, but its religion degenerated into cold formalism and dead orthodoxy.
These things must be taken into consideration in the interpretation of those passages that refer to the religious life of the people. Moreover, the interpreter should be acquainted with the religious institutions and practices of Israel, as regulated by the Mosaic law. Such passages as Judg. 8:28, 33; 10:6; 17:6, can only be explained in the light of contemporary history. In 1 Sam. 2:13–17, the writer himself gives a historical explanation of the manner in which the sons of Eli disregarded the law. The question of why Jeroboam set up calves at Dan and Bethel can only be answered historically. History gives answer to the question as to why the pious kings and prophets of Judah are constantly combating the worship on high places, while the prophets of Ephraim seldom condemn this practice. Without the necessary historical knowledge, the expositor will find it impossible to understand the word of the angel to Manoah, "the child shall be a nazarite to God" (Judg. 13:7); Jeremiah's reference to the valley of Hinnom as "the valley of slaughter" (Jer. 19:6; comp. 7:31–33); Micah's mention of "the statutes of Omri" (Micah 6:16); Jesus' injunction to the leper to go and show himself to the priest (Matt. 8:4); and his reference to "the ministrels and the people making a noise" (Matt. 9:23); and to those that "sold oxen and sheep and