them to privations, even in this his wisdom and love have been revealed: As a man chasteneth his son, so Jahveh thy God chasteneth thee."* It speaks for itself, that the Israelite may not and cannot be indifferent to such great love; he must "love Jahveh with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might," and cleave to him. The observance of Jahveh's commandments is inseparable from this love and adherence, yet it is not coincident with it, but results from it naturally and of itself as it were. All depends upon the state of the heart: the inward, and not the outward, circumcision is the main thing. § In a word, religion, to the Deuteronomist, is above all a matter of the heart. The author's conviction as to the false gods and their service is the reverse side of these ideas concerning Jahveh and his relation to Israel. We have already remarked that he regards the worship of the heavenly bodies by the heathen as an arrangement of Jahveh himself, and therefore is not hard upon them for it, although he more than once lays special stress upon the uselessness of image-worship, the adoration of "wood and stone."|| So much the more exacting is he in his demand that the Israelite may have no sort of intercourse with idolatry. He founds two series of precepts upon this principle. In the first place, he requires that every Israelite who follows after other gods than Jahveh shall be stoned.** He considers him or her especially guilty of death who, in whatever way it may have been, has tempted others into idolatry.++ Even though it be a whole city that has sinned by serving strange gods, it may not be spared. "Thou shalt smite the inhabitants of that city"-he says‡‡" with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it, and * Deut. viii. 3-5. + Deut. vi. 5, x. 12, xi. 1, 13, 22, xiii. 4, xix. 9, comp. xxx. 6, 16, 20. Deut. x. 20, xi. 22, xiii. 5, comp. iv. 4, xxx. 20. § Deut. x. 16, comp. xxx. 6. | Deut. iv. 28, xxviii. 36, 64, xxix. 17. ¶ Deut. iv. 23 seq., and elsewhere. ++ Deut. xiii. 1—6, 7—12, xviii. 20—22. ** Deut. xvii. 2-7. Deut. xiii. 12-18. all that therein is, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. All the goods of it shalt thou gather together in the midst of the market-place thereof, and thou shalt burn with fire the city and all the goods thereof as a burnt-offering to Jahveh thy god; and it shall be a sepulchral mound for ever and shall not be built up again." In the second place, he insists that the inhabitants of the land of Canaan shall be utterly destroyed (made cherem). This inhuman precept, which the Deuteronomist repeats again and again,* has no other motive than the fear of the seductive influence of the Canaanitish worship. He says this himself in so many words: when Israel summons a city in a foreign land and it surrenders, all its citizens shall be made slaves; if it offers resistance and is conquered, then all its male inhabitants must be killed, and the women, children and property fall into the hands of the conqueror; but "of the cities of the people which Jahveh thy god doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth, for thou shalt surely make them cherem, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as Jahveh thy God hath commanded thee; that they teach thee not to do after all their abominations, which they have done for their gods, and thou sin against Jahveh thy god."+ As if to show that this commandment is not prompted by bloodthirstiness or cruelty, the author immediately adds, that if a foreign city is besieged a long time, the fruit trees are not to be cut down! This is truly a proof that it is only the fear of Israel's pollution by idolatry that leads him to pen such inhuman rules. Let it not be forgotten, moreover, that the Canaanitish tribes had no longer any substantive existence in the 7th century B.C., and that it was no longer possible to exterminate them; in reality, therefore, it is merely by the supposition of the ban to be enforced against them, that the author attempts to deter the Israelites from idolatry. * Deut. vii. 2, 16, and elsewhere. Deut. xx. 19, 20. + Deut. xx. 10-18. From the avoidance of idolatry and of all that resembles it, it naturally follows that nothing which belongs to the service of false gods may be included in the worship of Jahveh. "Ye shall not do so"-after the manner of the Canaanites-" in honour of Jahveh your god:" this prohibition the Deuteronomist places in the foreground,* and he lays down his precepts concerning the service of Jahveh in conformity with it. I will give here a cursory review of his principal rules. I need scarcely say that he does not allow any similitude of Jahveh. The "ten words," as he gives them, expressly forbid the making of a graven image of any form whatever. If we remember when and for whom he wrote, we are not surprised that he attaches great significance to this prohibition, and does all he can to promote its observance. But still more emphasis is laid upon the limitation of the worship of Jahveh, with sacrifices, feasts, &c., to the temple at Jerusalem, "the place which Jahveh shall choose to cause his name to dwell there." It is the custom of the Canaanites to build altars to their gods everywhere, "upon the high mountains and upon the hills and under every green tree" this the Israelites are not to do; they are to bring their offerings to that one spot. § It is also worthy of notice, that the author, in laying down this commandment for the first time, clearly intimates that it is a new one, and, while he seems to be describing the Mosaic times, is really sketching his own. shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes; for ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which Jahveh your god giveth you."|| It is unnecessary here to analyze any more of the constantly recurring exhortations to be faithful to the one sanctuary ¶—admonitions against "the high places" one might call them: nothing can be more obvious than that in them the Deuteronomist gives utterance to one of his principal ideas. To "Ye Deut. iv. 12, 15-18, &c. ¶ Deut. xii. 5, 8, 11, 14, 18, 21, 26, xiv. 23-25, xv. 20, xvi. 2, 6, 7, 11, 15, 16, xvii. 8, 10, xviii. 6, xxvi. 2, comp. xxxi. 11. the one temple corresponds in his estimation the one tribe of priests. The priests of the tribe of Levi are the only ones whom he recognizes as lawful and as chosen by Jahveh.* Every Levite is not a priest, but he is qualified by birth to become one. If, therefore, he leaves the city where he sojourns as a stranger, and goes to Jerusalem and presents himself at the temple, "he shall minister in the name of Jahveh his god, as all his brethren the Levites do, which stand there before the face of Jahveh."+ Before they have presented themselves, the position of the Levites, who are not connected with the temple, is far from enviable. Their tribe has no inheritance of its own, as have all the rest of the tribes: "Jahveh is its inheritance;" the Levite lives upon the offerings made to Jahveh. Consequently, the Levites, scattered throughout the cities of Judah, are in very needy circumstances, and receive their share of the tithes in the third year, and of the sacrificial feasts, together with the widows and orphans, or are recommended generally to the charity of the Israelites. The ministering Levitical priests, on the contrary, have their fixed dues, which are probably given by the Deuteronomist as they existed in his time. § Compared with what was claimed at a later period, after the exile, the Deuteronomist's demands are very moderate: whereas at that time the tithes of fruits and cattle were assigned to the Levites, he speaks of the former as destined for another purpose, and is altogether silent regarding the latter.|| Other discrepancies also occur, upon which we shall fix our attention in a subsequent chapter. Yet in spite of all this, the priests stand very high in his estimationnot only as servants of Jahveh, competent to bless in his name,* * Deut. x. 8, 9, xviii. 1 seq. + Deut. xviii. 6, 7. Deut. xii. 19, xiv. 27, 29, xvi. 11, 14, xxvi. 11 et seq. § Deut. xviii. 3, 4. With regard to the tithes of the fruits of the field, see Deut. xii. 6, 17-19, xiv. 22-27, xv. 19-23: they are used at Jerusalem by the Israelite in sacrificial feasts. With regard to the same tithes in every third year, see Deut. xiv. 28, 29, xxvi. 12, 15: they are given to the needy and the Levites. No mention is made in Deut. of the tithes of cattle. Comp. on the contrary, Num. xviii. 21—32. ¶ Viz. in treating of the more recent sacerdotal laws. ** Deut. x. 8. but also as members of the supreme court of justice at Jerusalem, whose decisions every Israelite was bound to respect and obey.* It was not part of the Deuteronomist's plan to regulate the duties and occupations of the priests more minutely. He enters upon the holy rites and seasons only so far as is necessary to instruct every Israelite in what he has to do. He especially insists that every one shall offer up his sacrifices in the temple at Jerusalem, and that the sacrificial meals shall be held there.+ This applies also to the annual feasts held in honour of Jahveh. He knows of three such: the feast of unleavened bread (mazzoth), that of weeks, and that of tabernacles; he gives his directions for each one in particular. § The first-mentioned feast begins with the killing and eating of the passover; sheep and oxen, presumably the unpolluted male first-born of these animals, which were put aside for or dedicated to Jahveh,|| were used for this purpose; the meal of the passover, like the eating of unleavened bread for seven consecutive days, served as a memorial of the exodus from Egypt. The feast of weeks, at which, no doubt, the first-fruits of the grain-harvest were given to the priests,** was also kept by free-will offerings, which were used in social repasts in the sanctuary. ++ And finally the feast of tabernacles—no further explanation is given of the meaning of this name—after the conclusion of the vintage, is the great joyous festival at which the people thank Jahveh for the blessing received from him. It will be observed that the Deuteronomist enters into some detail only with respect to the feast of unleavened bread; his regulations concerning it may be partly new; he evidently leaves the two other feasts as they werealways with this one exception, that the "appearing before Jahveh's face"§§ is always synonymous in his writings with * Deut. xvii. 8-13. Deut. xvi. 16, 17. | Deut. xv. 19-21. ++ ++ ** Deut. xviii. 4, xxvi. 1-11. Deut. xvi. 13-15. + Deut. xii. 26, 27, xiv. 22 seq., xv. 19 seq. § Deut. xvi. 1—15. Deut. xvi. 1-8. ++ Deut. xvi. 9-12. §§ Exod. xxiii. 17, xxxiv. 23. |