THE RELIGION OF ISRAEL. CHAPTER VI. THE RELIGION OF ISRAEL TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM IN 586 B.C. TOWARDS the end of the 8th century before our era, Hezekiah had attempted to effect a complete revolution in the religious practices of his subjects. From the very brief account by the author of 2 Kings*-which is enlarged and embellished, but not really supplemented, by the Chroniclert-we should scarcely infer that his measures had so wide an aim. Yet we do not go too far when we say "a complete revolution." We already know that the "high places" which Hezekiah abolished had existed for centuries all over the kingdom, and that the use of pillars, asheras and images of Jahveh, according to Isaiah and Micah,‡ was general. It is very improbable, therefore, that the king met with no opposition of any sort and gained his end entirely and at once. The historian, it is true, makes no mention of the obstacles which were put in his way, but this fact could possess value as evidence only if he had shown himself to be accurately informed and had entered into details. Nevertheless the possibility remains, that Hezekiah was powerful enough to deter his subjects from any attempt at resistance, or to nip their opposition in the bud. But no one can well think it likely that he altogether changed the persuasions and ideas of his people during his reign of thirty years. The means which he employed—the removing," "cutting down" and "breaking to pieces"—however Vol. I. pp. 79 sqq. * 2 Kings xviii. 4, comp. 22. VOL II. +2 Chr. xxix.—xxxi. B suitable they may have been for altering the outward appearance of things in a short time, did not reach the root of the evil. In a word, but little penetration was required to foresee that these violent measures would necessarily be followed by an equally violent reaction. And this is what actually occurred. In the year 696 B.C. Hezekiah died. His son Manasseh, a boy of twelve, became king in his stead; his reign lasted 55 years, until 641 B.C. Amon his son and successor trod in his father's footsteps until 639 B.C. For 57 years, then, the kingdom was governed in one spirit, in the spirit of the party whose tenderest feelings had been wounded by Hezekiah's reformation. We should indeed remember that Manasseh and Amon, just as much as their predecessor, represented a conviction. In reading the accounts concerning them,* our first impression is that they were crowned miscreants, and Manasseh especially. The author can find no words strong enough to express the abhorrence with which Manasseh's deeds inspire him. He twice compares him to Ahab.† One of his atrocities, the placing of the Ashera-pillar in the temple, is a desecration of that building, and is diametrically opposed to Jahveh's promises and commands to David and Solomon. It is with evident approbation that the author mentions the prediction of Manasseh's contemporaries among the prophets, that, on account of his transgressions and of the readiness of the people to take part in them, Jerusalem shall be laid waste and its inhabitants scattered among the nations.§ Over and above all this, he accuses him of having "shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem with it from one end to the other."|| The painful impression made by these accusations would certainly be considerably lessened, if we might assume, with the Chronicler,¶ that Manasseh subsequently repented of his sins, and, after his return from a temporary captivity in Assyria, hastened to repair as much as * 2 Kings xxi.; 2 Chr. xxxiii. 2 Kings xxi. 7, 8. || 2 Kings xxi. 16. +2 Kings xxi. 3, 13. |