not to have entered Jerusalem. No doubt the youthful king Josiah, with the steward of his palace, went to meet them, and induced them by the surrender of treasures to spare the capital.
This time of terror, when reports of the destruction of towns and the cruel murder of men were constantly reaching the ears of the people, made a deep impression on the inhabitants of Judah. Where the predictions of the prophets had fallen upon deaf ears, their actual fulfilment proved the folly of idolatrous worship. Had the gods of Assyria, Babylon, Phœnicia, or Philistia been able to save their people from the violent attack of the Scythians? A change of sentiment now came over the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the soul of King Josiah was deeply touched. He was gentle, pious, and susceptible by nature; only from habit had he devoted himself to the follies of idolatry, without entirely yielding to the malpractices of the times. The significant occurrences now taking place showed him that he and his nation were wandering in crooked paths. He did not venture, however, when he had come to this conclusion, to cast out from the capital of his kingdom the idol-worship which had been introduced during his grandfather's reign, half a century before. He did not dare arouse the princes of Judah, who held the reins of power, and who were strongly attached to idolatry. This would have required heroic decision, and Josiah could not bring himself to act with the required strength of purpose. It was, therefore, necessary for some one to urge him to action, and to the assertion of his royal power over those who surrounded him. The prophetic party undertook the work of inducing Josiah to return to the service of God, and to put aside all foreign worship. However he only took measures calculated to rescue the holy Temple of the Lord from its deserted state and the decay into which it was falling. The walls, halls and outbuildings of the Temple were cracking, and threatened to fall, and the decorations had been disfigured. Josiah took measures to prevent at least this outward decay. He recalled the exiled priests and Levites to the service of the Temple (627), and commanded them to collect contributions for the renovation of the Temple. At their head he placed the high-priest Hilkiah, whose house had not been polluted by the impurities of idol-worship. But whence were the means to be derived? The love of the rich for their Temple had grown so cold, or the nation had become so impoverished through the pillage of the Scythians that it was impossible to reckon on freewill offerings like those in the times of King Joash. Thus it became necessary actually to go begging for gifts in order to be able to repair the sanctuary. Levitic emissaries went through the city and country, from house to house, asking for contributions. Meanwhile, though King Josiah was thus actively working for the Temple, he was wanting in firmness in stamping out the errors of idolatry. A number of the nobles, it is true, had formally returned to their ancient creed, but only inasmuch as they swore by Jehovah, while they continued to worship idols. Other influences were needed to impress Josiah before he could summon heart to act. From two sides came the force which induced him to take a final step. On the one hand the impulse came from one of the prophets, who, from early youth, had spoken in powerful and irresistible language, and on the other, from a book which had revealed to the king the unmanliness of indecision. These two combined to bring about a better state of things in an extended circle, and also to lend fresh interest and a halo of poetry to the ancient law. The youth was the prophet Jeremiah, and the book that of Deuteronomy. Jeremijahu (Jeremiah), son of Hilkiah (born between 645 and 640, died between 580 and 570), came from the little town of Anathoth, in the tribe of Benjamin. He was not poor, though by no means enjoying great wealth. His uncle Shallum and the latter's son Hanameel (his mother's relations) possessed landed property in Anathoth.
Jeremiah's soul was rich and pure, like a clear mirror or a deep well-spring. Endowed with a gentle disposition and inclined to melancholy, the religious and moral condition of his surroundings had made a sad impression on him, even in his earliest youth. All that was false, perverse, and unworthy was repulsive to him, and filled him with sorrow. From the time that he began his work, his countrymen, the priests of Anathoth, persecuted him with such burning hate that it is impossible to think that they could have determined the bent of his mind. Undoubtedly, however, the writings of the elder prophets exercised an influence over his disposition and ideas. His spirit became so imbued with their teachings that he used their thoughts, expressions, and words as his own. This study of the written prophetic legacies gave his mind its tendency, and filled him with exalted ideas of God, of the moral order in the events of humanity, of the importance of Israel's past and its significance in the future, and taught him to hate what was low. Following the divine call, he entered upon his prophetic mission, and afterwards initiated others, either in Anathoth or in Jerusalem. The description of his own initiation (Jer. ch. i.) can bear no comparison with the simplicity and depth with which Isaiah introduced himself as a prophet. The times demanded a different kind of eloquence. Moral degradation had strongly affected the nation, and ruin was sure to come, unless help were soon at hand. Nor did Jeremiah, like former prophets, speak to a small cultured circle, but to great popular assemblages, to the princes as well as to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the people of Judah. On them figures of speech would have been wasted; it was necessary to speak clearly, and to the purpose, in order that the words might have effect, and so Jeremiah spoke chiefly in simple prose, only occasionally weaving into his speech the flowers of rhetoric. The threats of punishment and announcements of salvation of his predecessors, with the exception of Isaiah, were mostly vague and indefinite, and on this account the scornful inhabitants of Jerusalem had cast them to the winds. Jeremiah had to counteract the effects of such scornful disregard of prophetic announcements. He was endowed with greater prophetic gifts than any of his predecessors—even than Isaiah. He prophesied in the first instance from year to year; later on, when the tragic fate neared its fulfilment, he predicted from month to month occurrences that were to come to pass, and his prophetic visions were realised with marvellous accuracy. He did not see the future in the uncertain light of dreams, but in broad daylight, with open eyes, while in communion with the outer world. Therefore he did not speak in enigmas, did not make hidden allusions, but called things by their true names.
Upon this pure prophetic spirit had been put the heavy task of rousing the perverse nation, which had been going astray for nearly half a century, just at the time when the king was rousing himself from the lethargy into which he had drifted.
No sooner had Jeremiah received his call than his diffidence and gentleness disappeared. He describes the sensations which the prophetic spirit awoke in him (Jeremiah xxiii. 29):
"Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord: and like a hammer that shivereth the rock?"
His first speech of burning eloquence was directed against the nation's falling away from its traditions, against idolatry and its abominations. In it he not only hurled his crushing words against the perverted idol-worship, but also against the frequent recurrence of bloodshed (Jeremiah ii.).
Words like these from so young a speaker could not fail to make an impression. Some of the noble families turned away from their immoral course, and returned to the God worshipped by Jeremiah and the other prophets. The family of Shaphan, which occupied a high position, joined the prophet's party, and defended it with fervour. King Josiah meanwhile devoted himself earnestly to the restoration of the ruined Temple. He commissioned (621) three of his chief officers—Shaphan, Maasseiah, the governor of the city, and Joah, the chancellor—to summon the high-priest to surrender the funds collected under his supervision, that they might be employed in the purchase of building materials and the pay of the workingmen. When Hilkiah gave up the sum, he also handed a large roll to Shaphan, saying, "I have found the book of the law in the Temple." Shaphan read the roll, and was so struck by its contents that he informed the king of the discovery that had been made. This book exercised a wonderful influence. The Book of the Law which the high-priest Hilkiah gave to Shaphan to hand to the king was the last testament of the prophet Moses, which, before his death, he recommended to the earnest consideration of his people. It has an historical introduction and an historical epilogue, leading the historical record up to and beyond the death of Moses. Laws are generally cold, stern, and hard, and with threatening gesture they say, "Thou shalt, or shalt not, or heavy punishment will overtake thee." The law-book found in the time of Josiah is not couched in such terms. It exhorts, warns, and actually entreats that this or that may be done or left undone. It uses the language of a loving father, whose son, standing before a great goal, is warned not to lose the bright future before him through his own fault, and thus become an object of scorn and a disgrace. A pleasant breeze is wafted from this book of