E
E (ELOHIST) One of the principal narrative sources or strata of the first five
books of the Old Testament, most likely from the 700s B.C. The term is
derived from the use of the word Elohim to identify God in this source.
EAGLE (נשר (nesh ar)) Any of several large birds of prey from the eagle
family. The eagle, classified as unclean, was the largest flying bird to be
found in Palestine. The 2 types of eagle commonly seen were the Golden
Eagle, and the Imperial Eagle. The sweep of its flight and the swiftness
of its movement is what most impressed the Old Testament writers. It
seems probable the Hebrew word neshar was also used for vulture.
The eagle, doubtless because it was the monarch of the birds, fur-
nished various figures to the prophets and apocalyptists. In Daniel 7, the
lion with eagle's wings combines the noblest of the beasts and the noblest
of the birds to represent the Babylonian kingdom. In Revelation 4, 1 of
the 4 living creatures surrounding God's throne is said to be like a flying
eagle. The association of eagles with deities goes back to at least 1800-
1600 B.C., as it is found in Akkadian art of that period.
EAR (HEARING) (אזן (aw zan); ouV (ous)) The ear is frequently mentioned
in the Bible in its literal, physical sense. Its figurative use as a symbol of
the complete process of hearing and, by extension, of understanding and
obedience is far more significant. In many passages the word “ear” might
well be translated “mind.” For hearing the divine word, the possession of
physical ears is not enough; God must “open” the ears so that the word is
received, understood, & obeyed. In the Bible, the key word for the human
response to God is “hearing” and obeying, rather than “seeing” God, as in
the mystery religions.
EAR OF GRAIN (שבלת (shib bo leth); otacuV (oh ta kus)) Individual head of
grain.
EARLY RAIN (יורה (yo reh); מורה (mo reh)) The first rains of autumn be-
ginning the rainy season. They were important as softening the ground for
plowing.
EARNEST (arrabwn) Anything used as a pledge, as in a deposit or down
payment in business transactions. In the New Testament it is used figura-
tively of “the Spirit” as a guarantee of part payment of the believer's "in-
heritance," namely, immortality. This reflects the usage of contemporary
documents regarding inheritance.
EARRING (נזם (neh zem), nosering; עגיל (aw gheel), round; לחש (lakh
ash), amulet)
EARTH (ארץ ('eh rets); עפר (‘aw far), dust; רקיע (raw kee ah), fir-
mament; gh (gay)) Biblical views about the earth in its physical aspect
are to be found in the Old Testament; the New Testament has no occasion
to touch on the subject.
The Hebrews regarded the earth as a flat strip, suspended over the
cosmic ocean, supported on pillars; the lower ends reached down to the
nether world. The total surface of the earth was comprehended by the
expression “the four edges” (in Hebrew: arbah kanaphot ha'ehrets). In
Job 38, the word for edges is taken in the literal sense of “skirts,” and
God is said to shake them out so as to rid them of the wicked. The “ends
of the earth” were popularly identified with the wild regions lying to the
north or northeast of Syria, which explains why the ark of Noah is said
to have come to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
The fertility of the earth was thought to be dependent largely on
human conduct. This belief stemmed originally from the notion that hu-
man misbehavior upset the balance and order of nature in general. The
soil of any given area was regarded as the estate of the local deity. Waste-
land, on the other hand, was the domain of noxious spirits. There is no
evidence that even backsliding Israelites never worshiped the earth. But
this was the case among their Semitic neighbors; one of those gods was
named Ersitu.
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In the Bible, human misbehavior offended God, who withdrew
God's presence and help. In Isaiah 62, the barren earth is likened to a
woman who is at first abandoned, but eventually remarried. Conversely,
when the earth lies barren, this may be described in terms of sexual uncha-
stity. The earth is considered to be polluted especially by bloodshed.
Nothing would grow where innocent blood had been spilled. Hebrew law
required that the earth lie fallow every 7th year, which was eventually ex-
plained as a humane concession to the poor. In the Creation story in
Genesis 1, the earth is said to have been created on the 3rd day. At the
present age's end, there is to be a renewal or huge increase in the earth's
fertility as part of the “new creation.”
EARTHQUAKE (רעש (ra ash)) A trembling of the earth caused most
often by a movement of the earth's crust. Palestine lies within the active
earthquake zone bounded by the Alps, the Caucasus, & the Himalayas;
some 20% of the recorded earthquakes occur here. Palestine experien-
ces an average of 1 or 2 destructive earthquakes per century, & two to
six light shocks each year. The unstable Jordan Valley & the fault lines
running into it from both east & west, create conditions necessary for
movements of the earth's surface.
In the Old Testament, the earthquake is one mark of Yahweh's
presence for revelation or for destructive judgment. Classical & modern
writers record at least 17 major earthquakes in the Palestine area during
the Christian era. The archaeologist Claude Schaeffer finds evidence in
his excavation for a particularly heavy quake covering the whole region
around 1365 B.C. A memorable earthquake took place in the reign of
Uzziah (786-744 B.C.). The Jewish historian Josephus describes a severe
shock during Herod's reign. Luke records a tremor which broke open the
prison at Philippi where Paul & Silas were confined.
EAST, PEOPLE OF THE (בני קדם (ben eh ked hem)) A term used very
broadly to indicate those nations who lived to the East of the Israelites.
The Eastern peoples had a special reputation for wisdom; this may have
been the reason for introducing the wise men from the East in the story
of the birth of Jesus.
EAST COUNTRY (ארץ קדם ('eres ked hem)) The land to which Abraham
sent the children of his concubine, roughly equivalent to the part of Arabia
that lies southeast of Palestine
EAST GATE (המזרח שער (shah 'ar ha miz rawkh)) A gate mentioned in
Nehemiah 3, perhaps identical with the “eastern gate of Yahweh's house.”
It is not one of the structures restored by Nehemiah.
EAST WIND (קדים רוח (ru akh kaw deem)) It is not merely a wind direc-
tion like “north wind,” but the name of a wind with special characteristics,
now known as the khamsin or sirocco. It is a hot, dry, dusty wind from the
deserts to the south and the southeast of Palestine which blows for seve-
ral days in April-June and September-November. Its high temperatures &
extremely low humidity, together with dust-filled air are trying to men and
animals and withering to vegetation.
EASTERN SEA (ים הקדמוני (yawm ha kad mo nee)) A name employed in
late prophetic passages for the lake called the Salt Sea in the Old Testa-
ment’s 1st 5 books and in Joshua; it is presently known as the Dead Sea.
EASTER (anastasiV (an ah stas is) (See also “Resurrection in the New
Testament (NT)-Outside of the Gospels” entry in the main section)
Though the event itself is nowhere described, Jesus’s resurrection as
Christ represents the watershed of NT history & the central point of its
faith. It marks the division between Jesus’ earthly life & the apostolic
age; but it is seen also as a new act of creation, signaling the divide be-
tween the old world & the new. It has connections backward to the pro-
mise of resurrection in the Old Testament (OT) (See Resurrection in the
OT ). Resurrection's center is that invisible point on the “third day,”
where faith & history meet in a relationship which remains impossible to
solve by historical, scientific or logical means.
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Topic List—1. Resurrection of Christ & Resurrection in Gene-
ral; 2. Prospectof the Resurrection; 3. Fact of the Resurrec-
tion: The Empty Tomb; 4. Fact of the Resurrection: Appea-
rances and Experiencing the Living Christ; 5. Meaning of the
Resurrection.
1. Resurrection of Christ and Resurrection in General—It is
necessary to emphasize from the start that Christ’s resurrection is not, &
cannot be, understood as a typical instance of resurrection in general. It is
a unique event, & by definition the Messiah’s resurrection. Nowhere in
the NT is the resurrection hope deduced from Christ’s resurrection, as if
his survival of death were the supreme instance that proved or guaranteed
eternal life for others. For Christians the resurrection hope is reinforced
and redefined as a sharing in the risen life and body of Christ.
For Jesus, assurance of a general resurrection rests upon the con-
viction that God “isn't God of the dead, but of the living.” And Paul says,
“If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has been not raised.”
Moreover, Paul doesn't draw general conclusions from Christ's resurrec-
tion appearances; the resurrection hope is never argued from them. Nor
is it argued that in the resurrection body of the Lord we see the type or
pledge of our own. Paul also does not say that our resurrection body
will be like his, only that its character will be determined entirely by the
gift of God, “as God has chosen.”
Jesus isn't the only one to be raised from the dead in the NT. But
the Greek noun anastasis is never used of these other raisings. The rai-
sing of Lazarus is unique in being viewed consciously and deliberately as
a sign, both of the general resurrection and of Jesus’ resurrection. But
though the raisings are signs of the End, the men besides Jesus are re-
stored to life only to die again; their death is merely postponed.
It is important to remember that, for the Hebrew mind, there was
no real division between life and death; death was a weak form of life.
At death the soul or spirit left the body but could be called back into it.
The other people raised are indeed dead; but in all these cases the dead
person is simply called back to life. Raising the dead is the continuation
of healing beyond a certain point; the agents of it may be purely human.
The resurrection of Jesus is different from these raisings; he has
passed over the border into the departed spirits' realm; he is not brought
back simply to this life, but is raised forever to the right hand of God. This
is done, not through any human agency, but by God alone; only of his rai-
sing does the NT use the term “the resurrection.” The most decisive dis-
tinction is that this is the resurrection of the Messiah.
For the earliest Christian preaching it is the Resurrection that desig-
nates Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. This is the point at which his
reign as Messiah begins, when he enters upon & begins the age of glory.
At the hour when Jesus is glorified, God's messianic act is complete, & the
age to come has begun to supersede this one. It was what happened “on
the third day,” and the age-ending significance attached to it, that alone
could make men think of applying the term, e anastasis, “the resurrection”
to a point within history.
2. Prospect of the Resurrection—The question must be raised
whether Jesus had any recognition of the future possibility of the Resurrec-
tion, & if any evidence of his recognition is afforded by our existing docu-
ments. These were written to set forth the post-resurrection faith of the
apostolic church: they were not written as documentaries to put on record
how Jesus himself saw the event beforehand. They do record the fact that
Jesus himself spoke unwaveringly of the coming vindication by God of his
person and cause. And sometimes this vindication is expressed in terms
of resurrection out of death.
There can be little doubt that these predictions have been touched
up in the light of events. There is a growing tendency of scholars to
recognize in the basic predictions something that may well have its origin
with Jesus himself. The language of them takes its color from Isaiah 52-53,
except for the crucial clause that “after three days” the Son of man “will
rise again.” For it was not strictly “after 3 days” that Jesus rose, but “on
the third day (i.e. after two days).”
It is probable that Jesus should have seen his vindication as Son of
man, representing the whole people of God, in terms of resurrection. The
very use of the term “Son of Man” implies the idea of vindication out of
suffering, as in Daniel 7, & any such vindication couldn't end simply on the
note of humiliation. That Jesus foresaw some such vindication by God as
the end of his ministry of humiliation and death is made more probable by
the recurrence of this theme in other forms in his teaching.
The “perfecting” of Jesus is in some mysterious way linked with his
death in Jerusalem. The convictions of coming glory, when God's sove-
reignty shall be vindicated in power, reach their climax in the assertion
that, as Son of man, Jesus is to come in glory to the Father and be seated
in victory at his right hand.
As in Daniel 7, the Son of man comes to God's throne to be given
judgment in the face of his oppressors and to receive the kingdom, the
power, & the glory. Jesus' predictions of his rising again out of death &
of his exaltation in glory refer to an act of God similar to the one in
Daniel, which is to vindicate him as Christ and Son of man. Both Daniel
and the gospels have a reference to the final messianic act of God as the
present age's end, which only the events of the third day were to prove to
be located in the midst of history.
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The objection that Jesus could not have spoken to his disciples of
his rising after 3 days loses much of its force when the disciple's frame of
reference is taken into account. The disciples, who are regularly represen-
ted as baffled by this saying, could have given it no other references than
the general resurrection at the last day, before which Elijah was to come,
and so they asked about Elijah. The coming vindication of the Son of
man of which Jesus had spoken so often to deaf ears was fulfilled in a
way they could never have guessed, by a rising, not at the end of history,
but within history. This wasn't simply one more temporary anticipation of
the final resurrection; it was beginning of “the resurrection,” of the new
world, itself.
3. Fact of the Resurrection: The Empty Tomb—The earliest re-
cords do not speak specifically of the empty tomb. It is, however, often
overlooked how insistently they speak of the full tomb. Both in the primi-
tive Pauline summary & in the Acts preaching, Jesus' burial is specifically
mentioned. This burial went against the usual practice under Roman law,
in which the body of Jesus as a condemned criminal would have been
thrown into a lime pit, left to rot, or at best, buried in a common grave.
So, the firm tradition that he was given burial in a tomb, complete with
details in all the gospel accounts, must be accepted as one of the most
firmly grounded facts of Jesus' life.
The empty tomb may not receive any mention in the earliest evi-
dence, but even in the pre-gospel tradition, it is almost certainly impli-
cit. A bodiless resurrection, the notion that a man might be spiritually
raised while his body lay on in the tomb would have seemed to the
Jew an absurdity. In whatever form the Resurrection was proclaimed, it
implied an empty sepulcher. This, of course, says nothing as to whether
the resurrection of Jesus was a bodily event, only that from the beginning
it was believed and preached as such.
When we turn to the gospels, their evidence on the empty tomb is
in substance unanimous. There are variations in the names and number of
the women who visited the tomb. There are divergent accounts of the
exact degree of darkness when they arrived. The description of the figure
or figures at the tomb varies, from a young man sitting on the right side, to
an angel descending from heaven, to two men (or angels) in dazzling ap-
parel. And there is some divergence about what these figures said. None
of these differences is the kind of difference that impugns the authenticity
of the narrative. Indeed, they are all precisely what one would look for in
genuine accounts of so confused and confusing a scene.
Aside from details of the scene, the basic witness is extraordinarily
unanimous. Through Joseph of Arimathea, the body of Jesus was given a
hurried burial outside Jerusalem on that Friday night in a rock tomb which
was closed by a large stone. After the sabbath rest, the women came at
dawn on Sunday, to find the stone rolled away from the tomb and the body
gone. The natural supposition was that the grave had been disturbed by
human agents. Matthew, Mark, & Luke tell us that the figures insist that
Jesus has risen. The women tell the disciples, “but these words seemed to
them an idle tale and they did not believe them.”
The records suggest that the turn of events was utterly unexpected.
To say that it was the product of wishful thinking is to ignore the fact that
it was the last thing that the women or the disciples could have wished.
The theory that the disciples had stolen the body implies that the whole
subsequent preaching of the Resurrection was based on a conscious
fraud; this is as psychologically improbable as the supposed “wishful
thinking.” Those who had the most interest in doing so could neither
deny the tomb was empty nor produce the body. Alternative explanations
have failed to command any serious measure of support.
Recent scholars have abandoned the attempt to give rationalistic
explanations of the narrative. The whole story represents the purely spiri-
tual acknowledgment of the cross of Christ, not as a defeat, but as the vic-
tory of God. This acknowledgment is what the Resurrection originally
meant. It was this conviction, and not any empty tomb, that dawned upon
the disciples on the third day.
The only issue relevant here, is whether or not this interpretation
does justice to the scriptural evidence. It cannot be supported by any evi-
dence prior to the gospel records. If the whole story of the empty tomb
were a subsequent construction, it is difficult to believe that the resultant
tradition would have shown either the agreements or the disagreements
which it now does. It is important to note that there is no suggestion in
the NT that to believe in the Resurrection means to believe in the empty
tomb. The empty tomb isn't itself the Resurrection, any more than the
shell of the chrysalis is the butterfly. However solid the evidence of the
empty tomb may appear, it can never be decisive.
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4. Fact of the Resurrection: Appearances and Experiencing the
Living Christ—According to all our accounts, it was the appearances,
not the tomb, that were decisive for the disciples' faith. They were an es-
sential part of the earliest witness. Paul gives a detailed list of them in I
Corinthians 15. In tryingto match up his appearance accounts with the
accounts of the 4 gospels, there will always be some uncertainty. There
appear to be records of at least 11 different appearances besides the one
to Paul, 8 of which occur in the gospels, and 4 of which occur outside the
gospel (one occurs in both). The 8 gospel ones are listed here:
1. To the women (Matthew 28: 9-10) 5. To disciples (Luke 24: 36-49)
2. To Mary Magdalene (John: 11-18) 6. To disciples (John 20: 24-29)
3. To Peter (Luke 24:34) 7. To disciples (Matthew 28: 16-20)
4. To 2 disciples on the road to Emmaus 8. To 7 disciples (John 21: 1-14)
(Luke 24:13-31)
The common feature in all the appearances is that they were granted to
those already followers of Christ. He hadn't returned for public inspection,
but to those who were chosen by God as witnesses. The appearances
were assurance given to those who had previously accepted him, not
proof to compel faith.
There's no uniform tradition as to where appearances took place.
Where we know the location, they are in 1 of 2 regions: in or near Jerusa-
lem (1-6), and in Galilee (7, 8). Mark & Matthew assume a Galilee tradi-
tion, while Luke has a Jerusalem one. There is no real problem in suppo-
sing that appearances took place in both areas. It has been suggested that
the appearances correspond with where the disciples would naturally have
been during or between the festivals of Passover and Pentecost. Others
have seen the different locations as the gospel writers trying to make a the-
ological point.
The gospel ones are represented as progressively more materialistic
as the gospel tradition develops. All the appearances depict the same
phenomenon, of a body identical yet changed, transcending the limita-
tions of the flesh yet capable of manifesting itself within the order of the
flesh. Indeed John and Luke insist upon the physical character of the
appearances.
The impression that Paul witnesses to apparitions of the glorified
Christ, while the gospels stress his earthly form, is only partially valid.
The theological purpose of the gospel resurrection stories is just as much
to present this Jesus as exalted in the Father's glory as it is to establish
Jesus' identity. Ultimately, there is no distinction between what might be
called resurrection and ascension appearances. They are all demonstra-
tions of Jesus as not only alive but sovereign.
The moment of glory has already occurred, & the appearances are
regarded as laying the other side of Jesus' enthronement as Lord and
Christ. The primitive witness was that Jesus was “designated Son of God
in power by his resurrection from dead.” This was anticipated in the trans-
figuration vision, whose meaning was revealed only when “the Son of man
[rose] from the dead.”
It was the appearances which transformed the apostles. If we don't
accept that, then we have to postulate that the belief produced the appea-
rances, turning them into projections, perhaps even hallucinations. What
we find isn't the joyful hysteria that accompanies imaginings, but doubt
& incredulity mixed with a frightened joy. In contrast with the empty tomb,
the resurrection appearances look far less tangible as evidence. But is it
possible to account for the belief that developed, & the radical transforma-
tion of the disciples that occurred, without having those appearances in
some form that wasn't illusory? For those who had already begun to recog-
nize in Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, they were more than the miracle
of a man surviving death; they personified & personalized the resurrection.
If the appearances had been merely psychic phenomena, one would
expect the sense that Jesus was alive to have grown less vivid. But the
conviction became even more settled once the appearances had ceased,
& those who hadn't seen were won to just as living a faith as those who
had seen. Moreover, the ground of appeal even for those who had shared
in the appearances wasn't the past, but the present experience of Christ,
such as Paul's abiding experience of the “Christ who lives in me.”
This abiding & transforming experience, grounded on the firsthand
awareness of the living Christ, is what made and sustained the Christian
Church. The NT evidence for the Resurrection is to be seen not merely in
the gospels' closing chapters; it is to be seen above all in the faith which
prompted the very composition of the gospels. And the very existence of
the Christian church today, which lives by this experience is the fact of
history that is least open to doubt; no one can deny its existence. This
knowledge of the living, victorious Christ is the only real evidence for
now is to make a claim that only his continued presence can sustain and
confirm.
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And yet the Resurrection remains for the NT, not primarily an experi-
ence, but an event. The Resurrection is not simply the risen Christ, but an
event and act of God in history of which only those can be witnesses who
were there to see. The continuing presence of the living Christ can never
detach the Christian faith in the Resurrection from history. Every succes-
sive generation has to go back to the apostolic witness. And yet, neither
are the historical facts by themselves the witness. In the end, the signs of
the Resurrection, the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer and the church,
are the indispensable internal testimony to it.
5. Meaning of the Resurrection—“It is the Lord!” was the first in-
stinctive reaction to the Resurrection. The emphasis laid upon physical
aspects of the Lord's risen body is not in the interest of materialization for
its own sake but of placing beyond dispute his identity. Every appearance
has a recognition scene in which Jesus either says or does something
which establishes his identity. The actions Jesus takes involved either dis-
playing the marks of the Passion or sharing food. The latter action recalls
Jesus, at the Last Supper, with his promise of eating and drinking in the
kingdom of God, and also the loaves & the fishes, after which they sought
to make him king.
Again, the sole recipients of these actions are those able to recog-
nize the physical scars and the spiritual continuity, those who “came up
with him from Galilee to Jerusalem.” For this reason the identity of Jesus
through death and life isn't confined to the first moments of recognition.
The experience of the living Christ isn't the awareness of the ever-present
lordship of God in Christ. It is the knowledge of a victory begun only
through the once-for-all act of the Cross.
If the 1st reaction of the disciples was that Jesus was alive, the 2nd
was the realization that he had been raised to the right hand of God. The
constant NT emphasis is not simply that Christ has risen, but that God has
raised him. The consistent witness is that God raised Jesus, not from the
underworld to earth, but up to heaven. By virtue of the Resurrection,
Jesus has gone into heaven & is at the right hand of God. At the moment
of resurrection God's seal is placed unmistakably upon all that Jesus was
and did—and has still to do. Even now Christ reigns and must reign “until
he has put all his enemies under his feet.”
Resurrection is always seen by the NT, not simply as the moment
when Jesus himself was “crowned with glory and honor,” but as the mo-
ment also when he “opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers” and
began the “new & living way” between God and humankind. The Resur-
rection is the point of release, when the “life” that Jesus came to bring is
poured forth in power and let loose in all the world.
1st, Jesus is restored to his friends, never again to be parted from
them. 2nd, the restoration of Jesus to his disciples is closely paralleled by
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The connection between the exaltation
of Christ to the Father and his gift of the Spirit occurs in both Acts 2 and
Ephesians 4. So, the Resurrection means both that Jesus through Spirit
is to be with the disciples, and that the disciples are to be with Jesus. God
sent his Son into the world that we might “live through him” & that “life”
is a present possession of the Christian. It is the Resurrection through
which the new life, with forgiveness of sins, is offered. This new life is
mediated through faith, which is essentially faith in the God who “gives
life to the dead.”
To say that the Resurrection designates Jesus as the Christ is ano-
ther way of stating that it begins the messianic age, the new creation. In
his person it is no longer reserved for the “last day.” Yet once again the
new age is not confined to his person. He is but the “first-born from the
dead,” “the first fruits” of the new order. In one sense Christ remains
unique. But all the language declaring his uniqueness is constantly bal-
anced by other language which puts beyond doubt that that to which the
Christian has been born anew is essentially “living hope,” an “inheri-
tance” of which in the “Holy Spirit of promise” we have but the “guaran-
tee until we acquire it.” The new age has not yet been fully realized.
EBAL (עיבל, stripped of leaves) Ancestor of a Horite sub-clan in Edom
the third son of clan chief Shobal.
EBAL, MOUNT. A mountain located north of and directly opposite Mount
Gerizim, forming one side of an important east-west pass. Shechem lies
at the eastern entrance and modern Nablus in the valley. The Hebrews
were to confirm the covenant with Yahweh, declaring the blessings from
nounced by the tribes Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali
upon any persons who would break the commandments. Joshua built an
altar on Mount Ebal
with half of them in front of Ebal, and the other half in front of Gerizim,
and the ark of the covenant between them.
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EBED (עבד, servant) 1. The father of Gaal, who led the rebellion against Abi-
melech at Shechem. 2. One who returned to Palestine with Ezra.
EBED-MELECH (עבד־מלך, servant of the king) An Ethopian eunuch in
Zedekiah's court, who rescued Jeremiah from the cistern. The title ebed
was adopted in David’s time as an official title; it later became a name.
EBENEZER (אבן העזר, stone of help) A place near Aphek where the
Israelites had two battles with the Philistines, in the second of which the
ark was captured (I Samuel 4 & 5). I Samuel 7 mentions another Ebene-
zer, set up to commemorate a victory over the Philistines. Many scholars
consider this part of I Samuel unhistorical, and an attempt to give a more
pleasant explanation of the name.
EBER (עבר, passage, ford) 1. The ancestor who gave his name to a group
of people. The Jahwist writer makes Eber an ancestor of all Semites,
while the Priestly writer makes him the ancestor of just the Hebrews.
2. A family of the tribe of Gad. 3. A family of the tribe of Benjamin.
4. Another family of the tribe of Benjamin. 5. A postexilic priest.
EBEZ (אבץ, tin) A town in Issachar. Its location is unknown. It is possibly
an error for “resting place.”
EBONY (הובגים (hob neem)) The highly prized core wood of the ebony tree,
imported from Ceylon India
Babylonian, Greeks, and Romans prized ebony and ivory for use in fur-
niture, and vessels. It was also used in the Near East for idols.
Mountain; now Hamadan . Its location makes it a traffic center, as it is on
the main route from Mesopotamia to Iran and farther east to India and Cen-
tral Asia. Cyrus the Great captured it in the middle of the 500s B.C. At Ec-
batana during Darius’ reign a copy of Cyrus' decree concerning the Jeru-
salem temple’s rebuilding was found, according to Ezra 6. Esther’s & Mor-
decai’s alleged tomb which is found in Hamadan is, perhaps, the tomb
of the wife of the Sassanian ruler Yazegird (399-420 A.D.). It survived
severe damage by Mongol armies in 1220 & again in the next century by
Tamerlane. No thorough archaeological work has so far been undertaken
at this site.
(See also the entry in the OT Apocrypha / Influences Outside the
Bible section of the Appendix.)
ECCLESIASTES (קהלת (ko he leth), preacher, teacher, herald; Ekklh-
siasthV, one who participates in a popular assembly.) The pen
name of the author and the name of his book, the 21st of the Old Testa-
ment (OT) in the English versions. It is a noble example of OT wisdom
literature, and was probably written around 250 B.C. Its author may
have been a Jewish sage schooled in the wisdom tradition & affected by
Greek philosophers. He explored life and recorded his findings as to
what is best for any person. He counseled taking pleasure, while ac-
knowledging right and wrong, and his own sense of pity for the human
state.
Title, Place in Canon, and Language—The title verse reads:
“The words of Koheleth, the son of David” The meaning of the name is not
clear. “Preacher” is a poor translation because whatever Koheleth may be
doing in his book, he is not preaching. “Koheleth” could mean “Officer of
the Kahal” (assembly) or herald. Whatever the meaning of the word, the
author obviously employed it as a proper noun.
No son of David, to our knowledge, bore the name Koheleth, & no
son of David but Solomon was “king over Israel in Jerusalem.” "Koheleth"
here substitutes for Solomon, and the author by design impersonates Solo-
mon. Due to his superior mind & unlimited wealth, the author had made of
himself a Solomon. By thus impersonating Solomon, Eccleasiastes' author
both employed and enhanced the tradition concerning Solomon.
The author wanted the reader to think of the Solomon to whom was
attributed Proverbs, the Song of Solomon, other apocryphal books, a huge
harem, and incredible wealth as they read about the author's own experi-
ments at lavish living. This using of Solomon's reputation and name, per-
haps also facilitated the admission of his book into the OT canon, even
though it seemed to set forth Solomon's private opinions, rather than the
revealed wisdom of God.
E-7
In the primary Greek OT the three books attributed to Solomon fol-
low on Psalms, attributed to the father of Solomon; the King James & Re-
vised Standard Versions adopted this order. Jewish literature outside the
OT suggests that Solomon wrote the Song of Solomon in his youth, Pro-
verbs in his maturity, & Ecclesiastes in his old age, when most men speak
of life's illusions. The Jewish Bible groups it with Song of Solomon, Ruth,
Lamentations, and Esther to make up the Writings. It was probably the
custom of reading the scrolls in the synagogue on certain holy days that
brought them together. By 1100 A.D., it was an established custom to read
Ecclesiastes in the house of worship on the Feast of Tabernacles.
Ecclesiastes' language was the Hebrew of the author's day, which
was in a transition from the classical Hebrew of the Bible to the style used
in the Mishna or commentary. If the text of Ecclesiastes is fairly intact and
uniform throughout the various surviving manuscripts, the book had no
long history of textual transmission before it enjoyed the care which pre-
served it unchanged throughout the Christian centuries.
The Author and his Times—Except that we know he wasn't Solo-
mon, we know very little directly about the author of Ecclesiastes. His
chosen name suggests no more than that possibly he was a public figure
connected with some “assembly,” and most likely a resident of Jerusalem.
We could safely say that the author had the means himself to satisfy, to
some extent at least, the desires to which in the person of Koheleth he
gives full rein. It is probable that he was advanced in years & could write
feelingly of youth's advantage & the inconvenience of old age.
Both the author & his times went into the making of his book. His
book is a mirror of his personality, which united independence of judg-
ment with a relaxed and charitable attitude and a grave and wistful disposi-
tion. We can be fairly certain about Ecclesiastes' date; it was certainly
written before the Maccabean struggle. The apocryphal book Ecclesiasti-
cus seems to borrow from Ecclesiastes. Its certain date of 190 B.C. indi-
cates that Ecclesiastes was well known by 190 and narrows its date to be-
tween 250 and 200 B.C.
The ideological position which his book occupies among the other
books of wisdom is another means of fixing the date of Koheleth. As the
earliest, Ezekiel presents the principle that each man always receives from
God what penalty his offense has warranted, what compensation his virtue
has earned. This principle becomes a given truth by the time of Proverbs.
Job's author, whom experience has taught otherwise, wrote an agonized
doubt, aware of flagrant injustice, yet still felt compelled to defend the
principle of divine justice. Going beyond Job, the author of Ecclesiastes
simply denies divine justice and acquiesces in the lack of it. While over-
simplified, this description of the process is essentially right, and places
Ecclesiastes in the 200s.
Unity of the Book—It is most likely that some editor glossed Ko-
heleth's work in the interest of right thinking. There are scattered verses
which uphold the early principle of divine justice, even while the body of
Koheleth's work denies it. Conceivably the tension was within the Eccle-
siastes' author, but it is more likely that Koheleth speaks with a single
voice while his colleagues have other views. The maxims which conclude
the book and others found within the body of the work were most likely
added by an editor who was moved by a spirit different from the author.
Recent opinion has held that the book was extensively added to by pious
wisdom editors in an effort to blunt the author's dissidence; it is really only
a question of how much.
In the somewhat disjointed later half of the book, the expression
may well be the thoughts of Koheleth himself—his somewhat random
musings. Generally speaking, if a proverb in Ecclesiastes gives conven-
tional expression to a familiar doctrine which Koheleth is otherwise intent
upon discrediting, this proverb is like to be the work of a “defender of the
faith.” A few such examples are: 3: 17; 7: 16; 7: 18b; 8: 5; 8: 12-13;
11: 9b; and 12: 13b-14. What is left after these verses is still not very sys-
tematic. The book is a kind of philosopher's diary, pages from an artist's
note book, a thinking aloud, a gathering of literary fragments published
without a plan. The unity is more of mood than it is of form.
E-8
Thoughts of Koheleth—He was making a study of human society.
He set out to observe and take notes, to experiment & record his findings.
His specific projects included: “to know madness and folly”; to know
“how to cheer my body with wine”; & to learn what goes on “in the place
of justice.” Having observed them by reason of his inquiring mind, he
makes sorrowful record of sundry social phenomena. He relates more
fully certain cases illustrative of the world's folly: the lonely miser; the
fickle mob; the forgotten man. It is not an objective catalogue of social
data.
He has seen that one fate comes to the wise man and the fool; time
and chance happens to them all. His conclusion in Chapter 1 was: “I
have seen everything that is done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity
and a striving after wind,” or “a feeding on wind.” Another significant
conclusion is that what is best for people is "to be happy and enjoy them-
selves as long as they live."
It is notable that Koheleth evokes no authority for his statements
other than experience and reasoned conclusions. There is no prophetic
“word of the Lord” in this book, only a private wisdom. The spirit of free
inquiry which breathes through the book of Koheleth is a remarkable fea-
ture of the book. Wisdom is not for him always something that one ob-
tains through his own efforts; it may resemble “native intelligence” and
come as a gift from God to the one who pleases him.
It is because Koheleth had such great wisdom that he can study
human life. For him wisdom is nearly the same as virtue, folly the same
as sin. He is healthy-minded enough to recognize and acknowledge the
advantages of intelligence as against stupidity. But he refuses to be dog-
matic & says: “The wise man dies like the fool,” and “What befalls the
fool will befall me also; why then have I been so very wise?”
His position proceeds from his skepticism. Though he relies on
nothing more than his own observations and experiments, he is yet dubi-
ous that thus he can sound the depths of life. Despite his questioning,
Koheleth, when speaking of morals, employs conventional words in
their conventional sense. Koheleth, therefore, had his standards, knew
between good and evil, and was not “above” or “beyond” them; he be-
haved himself.
Consideration of 3 questions was central to his purpose, yet he
found no answers. First, how does one know right from wrong? Kohe-
leth does not undertake an answer. His inquiries and experiments are
not a quest for moral good. He is asking not what is morally right but
what is profitable; the 2 need not be the same. His question implies that
he doubts whether anyone knows even what is good for them. He uses
conventional ethical terms in a conventional sense, so he was less unor-
thodox than he seems in his writing. Since Koheleth holds that God con-
ceals more than he communicates, he never clearly suggests the source
of man's knowledge of right and wrong, but also he does not deny the
possibility of having such knowledge.
Second, why should a man choose the right? Koheleth can't really
say as there is no apparent advantage in it for anyone. Righteous people
sometimes suffer as one would expect a wicked person to suffer, and the
wicked seem sometimes to be rewarded; & all alike must die. Since re-
ward and punishment are not apparent either in life or death or in its
sequel, why should one choose the right? And third, how can anyone
choose at all? In the matter of one's freedom to choose despite predesti-
nation, Koheleth abides in paradox. He can hold that all is foreordained,
& still shift his ground & put upon the person the responsibility. Whether
God holds the reins loose or tight, people live as though they choose their
own way.
Although Ecclesiastes' author develops no clear-cut system of
ethics, he yet proposes a way of life and a social attitude in the form of
three admonitions. First, he counsels moderation. Since absolute righte-
ousness is beyond human reach, a person should not demand the impossi-
ble of themselves, but neither should they let themselves go completely,
to their sure ruin.
Second, he charges people to make the most of life. One may be-
lieve that he regarded the pursuit of happiness as no less than a moral ob-
ligation. This admonition is repeated 7 times in his discourse.
Third, he recommends that people help one another. This is based
on the belief that all people are no more than beasts, & that profit comes
from competition and success, which in turn leads to oppression of the
many and utter loneliness for the few who are successful.
The religion of Koheleth displays both a practical piety and a
theoretical system of unorthodox beliefs. Koheleth acknowledges God
and recognizes that God is the creator and the source of life. His ethics
reveals in part how one might “please” God. He also commends a modi-
cum of religious practice, not so much to offer sacrifices and to multiply
prayer as “to listen.” There are also less usual features in his religion.
His God is somewhat withdrawn and not very communicative.
Biblical religion in general emphasizes God's accessibility through
prayer and God's constant communication with humankind. Koheleth,
on the other hand, says: “Don't be rash with your mouth . . . for God is
in heaven, & you upon earth.” He also emphasizes the inscrutable my-
stery of God. Not only is Koheleth's God remote and silent; he is also
inflexible, for “Whatever God does endures for ever; nothing can be
added to it, nor anything taken from it.”
In urging one to enjoy life as “God's gift to humans,” Koheleth, the
Teacher, is probably not so much repudiating the determinism in his reli-
gion as he is emphasizing the remoteness of God. God's unconcern gives
one the chance to make the most of one's short life.
E-9
ECSTASY (ekstasiV (ek sta sis), to put out of place) A mental condition in
which consciousness is wholly or partly in suspension, thought and voli-
tion cease, and the subject is directed and controlled by the Spirit of God.
The Greek word conveys the idea of the soul or spirit's temporarily lea-
ving the body, which is an idea foreign to Hebrew thinking. Hebrew be-
lief is that the personalities in ecstasy are no longer themselves but the
agent of the spiritual power invading or possessing them. Appearing with
great diversity universally, this word defies rigid definition and it best left
as a broad definition.
In the Old Testament we find the ecstasy of primitive prophecy, pro-
duced by group participation in song and dance, contagious, culminating in
trance. Ecstasy doesn't cease with the development of classical prophecy.
Isaiah, Amos, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel are notable examples of prophets ex-
periencing ecstasy. Abnormal elements of ecstasy are, however, subservi-
ent to moral and spiritual ends in classical prophecy.
In the New Testament, events surrounding the birth and ministry of
Jesus show signs of ecstasy; the exultation of Elizabeth and Mary, and the
inspired utterances of Zechariah, Simeon, and Anna. The church begins in
ecstasy—the wind, the fire, the tongues, all indicating exalted states of fee-
ling following much prayer and intense messianic conviction. Ecstatic
moods & speech during worship threaten the Corinth church's welfare.
Paul's conversion involves ecstasy, and he he later speaks with tongues.
He places little weight upon such transports, urging Christians rather to
seek Christ's love. John, “in the Spirit on the Lord's Day,” hearing a voice
and seeing a vision, is doubtless in a state of ecstasy.
ED (עד, witness) The name used in the King James Version for the altar in
Joshua 22. The Revised Standard Version translates it as “witness.”
those who cleansed the temple. 2. See Beth-Eden.
Yahweh, in which Adam and Eve first dwelt. The root of the Hebrew word
sumes the word is from the Hebrew verb meaning “to delight.” "Eden" oc-
curs thirteen times in the singular form to designate a location. It is gene-
rally agreed among scholars that the sections Genesis 2: 10-14 stems
from a tradition which is at variance with the rest of Genesis 2. According
to this ancient tradition a river with its source in Eden issues from the gar-
den as a single stream, and then divides into four branches.
The identification of the first two rivers, Pishon and Gihon is very
controversial, and no generally accepted conclusion has been reached by
scholars. The Gihon, “which flows around the whole land of Cush,” is also
the name of a well-known spring east of Jerusalem. Cush signifies almost
always Ethiopia, so Jewish and Christian tradition identifies Gihon with the
Nile. The third & fourth branches are well known. Hiddekel is certainly
the Tigris, & Perath is certainly the Euphrates.
From this evidence, it should become clear that any reconstruction
of the geography is based on a measure of hypothesis & myth, as for in-
stance, the fact that the Tigris and the Euphrates never had a common
source. One very attractive theory is that this tradition is an ancient picture
of the 4 world-rivers encircling the entire earth. Pishon is the Indus, which
encircled Arabia and flowed into the Nile. The Nile, along with the Euphra-
tes, crossed below the Persian Gulf which was conceived of as a lake, &
encircled Ethiopia.
Although the concept of a primeval paradise appears well developed
in many ethnic religions, it is found only sporadically in the Near East. The
writer of Genesis 2 has described the Garden of Eden in language arising
out of the myth, reworking the ancient material to make his own unique wit-
ness. Here man was placed in the garden to work it, not just to enjoy its
luxury. Humans were driven from the garden on account of their disobedi-
ence, because Eden symbolized the state of unbroken fellowship between
God and humans.
E-10
(I Chronicles 8) 3. A village of Judah province of Beer-sheba
(Joshua 15).
between Bethlehem and Hebron
Rachel. It is used in Micah 4 for Mount Zion.
EDICT (דת (dawth), decree; פתגם (pith gawm)) A public proclamation, writ-
ten & sealed with the king's signet and publicly read. What distinguishes
an edict from a decree is its written form and public pronouncement. The
Bible emphasizes the irrevocability of Medo-Persian law, but there is no
evidence of this in other historical documents. In Esther the royal edict to
exterminate the Jews was counteracted by another permitting the Jews to
take vengeance on their enemies (Esther 8).
EDIFICATION (oikodomh (oy kod om ay), to build up) In the first 3 gospels,
this word has the literal meaning of building up. Paul, who frequently
uses the Greek word in both noun and verb forms, never uses it literally.
He uses it in the sense of “building up” the church, of “building up” fellow
believers, & most often to mean edification in the sense of “strengthening,
unifying, making for peace.”
elites to the east & the south. All their monuments & written records have
perished, so what information we have comes from the writings of its
neighbors and enemies, Israelites, Egyptians, Assyrians and Babylonians,
and from archaeology.
In the Old Testament (OT), Jacob's brother Esau was identified
with Edom. The story of the 2 brothers is based largely on the fortunes
of the 2 nations, especially Isaac's blessing, which foreshadows the histo-
rical facts of Edom first being subject to Israel, and then later regaining
its independence. In view of the constant hostility between Edom and
Judah in the time of kings, it isn't surprising that nearly all Judean pro-
phets are hostile toward the Edomites, especially Amos, Obadiah, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, & Malachi. On the other hand, the law of Deuterono-
my is fairly lenient in the Edomites' admission into the community.
The land of Edom had three distinct parts: Fortress Edom, the out-
lying regions, and the hinterland. Fortress Edom was an area with 4 irre-
gular sides beginning at the southeast tip of the Dead Sea and extending
east and south. It is about 100km from north to south, & 24 km on ave-
rage east to west. On the north, the Brook Zered separated it from Moab;
the eastern boundary faced the desert; the southern boundary was the
scarp of the Neqb esh-Shtar; the western boundaries were the hills that
overlook the Arabah from the east.
About 40 km south of the Brook Zered, the western line of hills is
partly broken by the Punon valley, which extends eastward for about 14
km. This divided the territory into two unequal parts. The north ranges
from 1500-1600 meters above sea level and had its stronghold at Bozrah;
the south ranges from 1600 to just over 1700 meters above sea level and
had its stronghold at Teman. The Edomite part of the King's Highway
ran down the middle of Fortress Edom. The entire boundary of this Edom
was dotted with a series of fortresses, especially on the eastern frontier.
These fortresses were set back some miles from the edge of the plateau
and near enough to one another to communicate by fire signals.
Edom's outlying regions were west and south of Fortress Edom.
These parts weren't settled by the Edomites, but because they were close
to Fortress Edom, they were essentially under Edomite control. The Ara-
bah possessed copper and iron mines which were worked and contributed
greatly to their wealth when not under Hebrew domination. The hinterland
was a stretch west of the Arabah which was never settled or even effec-
tively controlled by the Edomites, but was occupied by nomadic tribes
which owed a nominal allegiance to Edom. Some of them, such as the
Kenizzites and Amalekites were reckoned to be of Edomite origin.
The biblical narratives in Genesis emphasize the close racial rela-
tionship between the Israelites and the Edomites. The Edomites came ori-
ginally from Aram, and intermarried with Canaanites, Ishmaelites, and Ho-
rites. Edomites practiced some agriculture, with their chief wealth coming
from their trade. Copper and iron could be exchanged for the products of
Arabia, Egypt, Syria, & Babylonia. It is probable that the Edomites spoke
a dialect of Hebrew, for there is no hint of a difference in language. They
were governed by kings long before Israel was.
E-11
Archaeology has shown us that from the 2200s to the 1900s B.C.,
there was a flourishing civilization in Edom, after which the land was unin-
habited except for nomads, until the 1200s B.C. The Edomites of the Bible
arrived in the 1200s and were well established by the time of the Exodus.
There was no contact between Edom & Israel during the period of the Con-
quest and of the judges. Saul is said to have defeated the Edomites, and
David “won a name” by being the first to subdue the country. He put garri-
sons throughout the country; his general Joab led a six-month campaign of
extermination against the Edomite males. After this, Israel in the reign of
Solomon began to exploit the mines Edom on a large scale.
Edom remained in subjection even after the kingdom's split into
Israel (north) and Judah (south). In Jehoshaphat's time, Edom was ruled
by a governor. Edom successfully revolted under Judah's next king, Jo-
ram. The independence of Edom lasted around 50 or 60 years until it was
assailed by new attempts of Judah. Amaziah achieved a partial conquest,
which Azariah completed. Edom once more won back its freedom from
the feeble Ahaz in an alliance with Aram & Israel. This league was broken
up when the Assyrians came to Judah’s rescue around 732 B.C. For the
next hundred years Edom was a vassal of Assyria.
As a result of these wars and the necessity of paying heavy tributes,
the prosperity of Edom declined rapidly in the next 200 years. When Ne-
buchadrezzar besieged and captured Jerusalem in 586 B.C., the Edomites
joined his forces and exulted at the destruction of their ancient enemies. It
is ironic that, in the last struggle against Rome, the descendants of these
same Edomites were among its most fanatic defenders.
(See also the entry in the OT Apocrypha / Influences Outside the
Bible section of the Appendix.)
EDREI (אדרעי, strong, mighty) 1. A residence city of Og Bashan .
Moses and the Israelites invaded Bashan from the desert and defeated Og
in the plain before Edrei. The city and the district around it were assigned
to the Machir clan of the tribe of Manasseh. It is located about 96 km
south of Damascus.
2. A city in Naphtali.
EDUCATION IN THE OLD TESTAMENT (OT) (לקח (leh kakh); instruction
(received); למד (law mad), goad (into learning); תרה (tor ah), instruc-
tion; manqanw (man than oh); instruction) A central concern of the OT
was the education of the young. Some of its most important portions
seem to have been written by educators; its very name Torah, meant “in-
struction.” Instruction, teachings, both human and divine, become synony-
mous in the OT with learning the proper way of life, or laws of conduct
toward God and toward each other.
Education in ancient Israel fits into the framework of ancient Near
Eastern education. From 2500 B.C., numerous schools for future scribes
flourished throughout ancient Sumer, and eventually prevailed throughout
Western Asia. It was at these scribal schools that the literary creations of
the past were carefully copied and studied by the more mature pupils.
Among the school texts which have come down to us are classified lists of
words indicating a basic knowledge of the botanical, zoological, mineralo-
gical, and geographic lore of the time; mathematical tables; mathematical
problems and solutions; and grammar texts.
The main purpose of Sumerian schools was to train professional
scribes. Education was voluntary, and since it involved both time and
cost, it is natural that scholars came from the higher social & economic
strata of urban communities. Among the school personnel were the
ummia, the “expert” or “professor,” who was sometimes also called
“school father.” Other members of the faculty were teachers of drawing
and Sumerian. One term for “pupils” which later Israelites used, was
banim, “sons.” The pupil attended school from sunrise to sunset and was
subject to strict discipline.
In the upper Euphrates region, archaeology discovered in the Mari
palace two rooms which were clearly schoolrooms. This and other evi-
dence indicates that an organized system existed along the upper Euphra-
after 2000 B.C. There was also organized classroom instruction in Ca-
naan before the Israel Conquest, as evidenced by a letter (1400 B.C.).
From ancient Egypt, we have a number of New Kingdom papyri,
writing boards, and ostraca which served as schoolboy exercise texts.
The texts all indicate that the profession of scribe was most highly regar-
ded in ancient Egypt, & was the gateway to all the preferred government
positions. The scribal school in Egypt was attached to the temple, and
was called the “house of life.” The teacher beats the pupil often, but it is
for the future scribe's own good. We may place the picture of education
in OT life in the same tradition as the educational system of the ancient
Near East, although not on the same level of intensity.
E-12
In the OT, children are among the most precious gifts of the Lord.
Among the blessings of security & plenty & old age, not the least are nu-
merous offspring. They are also regarded as a reward for their own sake.
In the view of the OT, the happiness of humankind isn't to be understood
without children. It was natural that in a society in which children were
held in such high regard, the careful upbringing and education of these
children would be seen as one of the most important functions of
parenthood.
The general aims of education in ancient Israel were the transmis-
sion of the historical heritage of the Hebrew nation, and the instruction
in the ethical conduct of life. Israel's historical heritage was stressed in
the early years of its nationhood. The Hebrews are strongly enjoined in
the books of Exodus & Joshua to teach their children the powerful memo-
ries of the redemption of Israel Egypt
The educational aim of transmitting the ethical heritage is stated
succinctly in Genesis: “I have chosen Abraham, that he may charge his
children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing
righteousness & justice.” Israel's ideas of social justice are intimately asso-
ciated with & proceed from the holiness of God. This fellowship in God's
holiness and love for God is the key precept. It is the following of ethical
precepts which constitutes the “fear of the Lord,” which is considered “the
beginning of knowledge.”
When the nation was firmly established, the idea that an ethical
way of life based on monotheism would lead to earthly good was stressed
and organized in the wisdom literature. The book of Proverbs, which is a
manual of instruction on moral ethics in itself, also contains a third purpose
of education, namely instruction in the practical conduct of daily existence.
Proverbs stresses the importance of instruction as of the utmost necessity
for the good life. Wisdom, which includes knowledge both of righteous
ethical principles and of practical skills of social adjustment, is the well-
spring of existence. The fact that the person of wisdom and understanding
can always increase their learning and skill is also emphasized.
It was primarily up to the father of a family to impart instruction to
his children. The Shema of Deuteronomy 6: 4-9 commands each Israelite
father to teach the words of God diligently to his children. In the book of
Proverbs, the mother is regarded as of equal importance with the father in
imparting instruction. At an early age children were trained in the everyday
duties of the family. Girls learned household crafts, such as baking, spin-
ning and weaving, & where no boy was present, also pasturing and wate-
ring the sheep. Music and dance were also taught, and evidently the Israe-
lites of all periods had a lively taste for these arts.
The Gezer Calendar, discovered in central Palestine by archaeolo-
gists is believed to be from the early 900s B.C. Some believe it to be a
school boy's tablet, used and reused for dictation. The Gezer tablet de-
scribes the Palestinian agricultural year in a way that was easy to remem-
ber, and apparently at a somewhat rudimentary level. It shows that there
was some literacy among peasants during early Israelite monarchy.
Even in the early periods, it was customary to devote a child to the
service of the deity. Samuel, the most notable example of this, must have
received both general and specialized instruction from Eli in order to per-
form his services to the Lord. Since there was a certain body of know-
ledge & skills which was offered to would-be, professional prophets, there
was most likely some form of education if not actual schools for them.
When the tradition of Yahwistic prophecy was established later during the
period of the monarchy, the prophets may have had groups of disciples
they taught. Among the things they taught was their general knowledge of
the medical science of their day.
Elijah's disciple and successor was Elisha, the first among many of
Elijah's pupils or “sons.” As master, Elisha was also responsible for the
welfare of the widows & children of any of his pupils who died. There are
indications in the Bible that there existed women who were educated well
enough to become prophetesses, or to play a role in the wisdom tradition.
The priests & Levites also trained the members of their craft in the
medical arts as well as their duties in the temple. In the Levitical Code,
among the general duties of the sons of Aaron is the injunction to teach
the people of Israel. They were supposed to give this instruction free of
charge; acceptance of payment was seen as reprehensible.
In Israel itself, it is most likely that for some time after the Return,
the body of teachings (torah) continued to be the property and responsibi-
lity of the priesthood. The great revival of Israel was initiated by Ezra &
Nehemiah. Ezra was himself a priest, & he took it upon himself to teach
the Torah to the people. The Torah was taught on Mondays & Thursdays,
which corresponded to market days in Ezra's Second Commonwealth.
Later, biblical exposition & scholarship tended to be mostly in the hands
of the “scribes.”
E-13
The scribal occupation dated from the early days of the 1st Com-
monwealth (the monarchy). Their chief functions were evidently secreta-
rial. Jonathan, David's uncle, is a counselor and a scribe. Under King
Uzziah, Jeiel, the scribe is mentioned among the generals of the army. It
is possible that many of the scribes were Levites, who would naturally
combine both scribal and teaching duties. In the last days of the 1st Com-
monwealth, the scribes are already recognized as a professional class.
These scribes were the repositories of Israel's cultural heritage they
were known as the “men of the Great Assembly.” It is, in all probability,
these scribes who are “the wise” of Proverbs, & it is most likely they who
prepared & collated the OT's wisdom literature. The book of Proverbs is
a collection of their methods, attitudes, & a large portion of the subject
matter taught in their schools.
The OT, as a collection of writings by the prophets & scribes who
became the teachers of Israel, would naturally tend to express theories of
education. Education itself was regarded as a mission commanded by
God; the prototype of all teachers was the Lord. When the Lord is angry
with his people, it is only as a teacher is angry with his pupils. God will
still be close to them and guide them in the correct path.
Despite the assumed necessity for using the rod, teaching should
be done with quiet restraint: “The words of the wise heard in quiet are
better than the shouting of a ruler among fools” (Ecclesiastes 9). Instruc-
tion of children began at a very early age, apparently soon after they were
weaned. Actual teaching began quite early in the morning. Beginning the
child's education as young as possible, and as early in the day as possible
have been universally recognized as 2 of teaching's basic foundations.
Among the fundamental laws of education is the axiom of teaching
the child a little at a time. There indications of teaching the individual let-
ters of the alphabet first, and using the alphabetic order to teach verses of
the Bible, as in Proverbs 31: 10-31 (1 verse for each of 22 letters in alpha-
betic order) and Psalm 119 (1 stanza for each of 22 letters in the same
order). Another teaching device was the parable. The parable in the OT is
used for moral instruction, & is shown to convey such a vivid import that
those to whom the parable is directed grasp the lesson in spite of them-
selves.
According to the OT, literacy, while not universal, was nevertheless
quite widespread. It seems to be a common occurrence according to Deu-
teronomy. Moses also commands that the words of the Torah be written.
According to Isaiah, any child could write down at least simple numbers
or tallies. Literacy would have been quite common, then, in the days of
Hezekiah.
EDUCATION IN THE NEW TESTAMENT (See the entry in the Old Testament
Apocrypha / Influences Outside the Bible section of the Appendix.)
EGLAH (עגלה, heifer) A wife of David; the mother of Ithream.
EGLAIM (אגלים, two ponds) A town on the border of Moab
Isaiah 15. Its site is unknown.
EGLATH-SHELISHIYAH (גלת שלשיהﬠ , third heifer (?)) A place in
Moab mentioned in Isaiah 15 & Jeremiah 48 as part of the oracles against
Moab; the location is uncertain. King James Version translates as “a hei-
fer of 3 years old.”
EGLON (עגלון, young bull) 1. The obese king of Moab who invaded wes-
tern Jordan territory in the region of Jericho, held it subject for eighteen
years, and was treacherously assassinated by Ehud, the second deliverer
in the book of Judges (3). Eglon's western Jordan campaign was carried
on with the help of the Ammonites and Amalekites. The bringing of the
annual tribute provided Ehud with the occasion for his exploit on Eglon,
which resulted in the death of the king and the loss of territory.
2. A Canaanite royal city, 11 km southwest of Lachish, at the
very edge of the foothills which extend into the coastal (Philistine) plain.
Eglon was one of the cities in the Amorite coalition led by Adonizedek
of Jerusalem against the Gibeonite confederacy. Joshua agreed to help the Gibeonites. Near Azekah, the coalition was routed. The leaders, in-
cluding Debir king of Eglon were executed. After this victory, the Israe-
lites occupied the cities of the coalition, and destroyed Eglon. It became
a part of the tribe of Judah's Lachish district.
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EGYPT (מצרים (mits rah yim), fortifications, borders) A land in northeastern
Africa; in the narrowest sense the 2 banks of the Nile River from the First
Cataract north to the region of modern Cairo, which is Upper and Middle
Egypt, and the Delta, which is Lower Egypt.
Topic List—1. Geography; 2. History (Introduction); 3. Prehistoric and Old Kingdom; 4. Middle Kingdom: Before,
During and After (2200-1570 B.C.); 5. Early New Kingdom (1570- 1375 B.C.); 6. Amarna Period (1375-1300 B.C.); 7. Late New Kingdom (1300-1100 B.C.); 8. Post-imperial
Period (1100-700 B.C.); 9. Ethiopian and Saitic Periods; 10. Religion (Introduction); 11. Older Official Religion; 12. Pharaoh as God; 13. Ma’at (Social Order) & Priesthood; 14. Amarna Reformation and Reaction; 15. Religion in Late
Times; 16. Egyptology
1. Geography—Ancient Egypt was one of the earliest civilizations
and for many centuries one of the most powerful nations. The Egyptians
called their country the “Two Lands (Upper and Lower),” or the “Black
Land”; the name Egypt is of late application. For much of her history she
laid claim to the oases west of the Nile Valley, Nubia between the First and
Second Cataracts, the Red Sea coast, and much of the Sinai Peninsula.
Shortly after 2000 B.C., she pushed south of the 2nd Cataract and shortly
after 1500 B.C. the 4th Cataract. Soon after 1500 B.C. she carved out an
Asiatic empire, with holdings in Palestine and Phoenicia.
The Greek writers pointed out that the land of Egypt is the gift of the
Nile. Northeast Africa is a desert country, essentially rainless. Only the flow
of the Nile and particularly its annual inundation makes human life possi-
ble. The Egyptians saw a contrast between their land and the neighboring
countries and felt that this showed the solicitude of the gods for their land.
From the equatorial lakes of Africa, the White Nile starts a 6,400 km
course northward to the Mediterranean. At Khartum in the Sudan it meets
the Blue Nile. The 2 unite for the final roughly 3,000 km. of the Nile pro-
per. Where there was sandstone and limestone, a valley was carved out.
Barriers of harder stone cut across the course of the Nile, creating six cata-
racts. Some annual rainfall is effective in the latitude of the Fourth Cata-
ract, which in the 700s B.C. and following was the center of a kingdom the
Bible calls Cush (Ethiopia). The region between the Third and First Cata-
racts is Nubia. North of the First Cataract lies Egypt
The Nile Valley is hemmed in by the Libyan and Red Sea hills, and
the 960 km of valley from the First Cataract to Memphis near the Delta,
varies in width from roughly 2 to 38 km of arable land. From the Cairo
region north the land fans out into the broad stretches of the Delta, with a
maximum width at the north of 200 km. In ancient times it had at least 5
branches.
The equatorial and Abyssinian rains are seasonal and they combine
to enlarge the Nile in an annual flooding, beginning in July and subsiding
from September on. With catch basins & canals, the waters may be held
for a long time at some distance from the banks of the river. Before mo-
dern dams were introduced, the inundation deposited an annual increment
of fresh and fertile silt upon the land as a natural fertilizer. Irrigation, silt,
and a warm climate made Egypt one of the richest agricultural countries in
the world.
Egypt was relatively insulated against invasion. Upper Egypt was
fringed by the infertile Red Sea Desert and the formidable Libyan Desert.
At the northwest corner only a limited access was possible along the Lib-
yan coast. Only when the Egyptian state was weak or divided, could the
Hyksos, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and Arabs penetrate Egypt
successfully.
The Delta’s northern half was afflicted with salt marshes. The an-
cient cities lay 40 km inland from the Mediterranean and were reached
along one of the Nile arms. Until Alexander the Great founded Alexan-
dria, there was no major city on the coast. The chief cities of biblical inte-
rest were: Zoan and/or Rameses in the commercial eastern delta; On, and
in Upper Egypt ; and Syene (Aswan
has always been the prevailing wind, bringing cool air from the Mediter-
ranean and permitting navigation southward against the Nile’s current.
Egypt's wealth and power rested upon an agricultural base. Barley
was the chief crop, with wheat and emmer less important. Flax made the
linen of Egypt prized in the ancient world. The grape was cultivated in
the oases, and the Delta's fringes. For many centuries until the coming of
paper, papyrus from the marshes was a valued export.
Only in good, firm wood for houses or ships was Egypt poor. There
was a brisk trade with Phoenicia for cedar, fir, & cypress. Livestock were
important in the Egyptian economy. There were no sheep and wool as in
Asia; however, large cattle were abundant. The camel was very rare until
Persian times; the donkey was the earlier caravan animal. The horse was
introduced around 1700 B.C. Fish, goose, & duck were important in the
Egyptian diet.
Egyptian hills are rich in building and sculpturing stone, from hard
stones like granite & basalt to softer materials like limestone & alabaster.
Egypt could build colossal monuments out of stone, whereas Mesopota-
mia had to rely upon brick. In terms of mineral deposits, there was copper
in the Red Sea Hills in western Sinai, gold in the Red Sea Hills and in
Nubia. For iron, Egypt had to rely on purchases from abroad.
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The irrigated black soil was so precious that the Egyptian farmers
lived in tightly built villages and went out to their fields. There was no
such thing as private property, but in practice Egyptian commoners treated
soil, houses, cattle, & chattels as their own. Village houses & even royal
palaces were of mud brick, whereas tombs & temples were of stone. The
black soil was too valuable to be cut up by roads.
Thus from prehistoric times on, the Egyptians were a river-faring
people, and by the beginning of history they had taken their boats out onto
the open sea. Mostly, they dominated the Red Sea, where they traded
southward to the land of incense, myrrh, gum and ivory. In most basic
commodities ancient Egypt was self-sufficient. Construction wood, tin,
silver, & iron had to be imported from northern sources.
The chief commercial-military road to Asia left Africa near modern-
day Kantarah, cut across northern Sinai & reached Palestine near Gaza.
For large bodies like armies on the march & also for security it was neces-
sary to police and fortify the water holes along the way. Because of this,
Moses led the children of Israel away from this route “by way of the
wilderness.”
In physical type the ancient Egyptian belonged to the slight, brunet
family which is called the Mediterranean race. He was relatively short,
slight frame, dark hair and eyes, but not originally dark in skin color. In
early history the Negro was unknown to the Egyptian. By 2000 B.C. the
Negro was visible at the Third Cataract, and by 1500 the Egyptian Empire
in Ethiopia was in constant contact with Negroes. Negro characteristics
weren't prominent in the Egypt which the Hebrews knew, except for the
Ethiopian pharaohs.
Linguistically, ancient Egyptian was a composite of the Semitic and
Hamitic language branches; Egyptian & Semitic share many root words.
Until very late times they applied no ethnic term to themselves; they called
themselves “the people.” What we do know about Egyptian dialects is
that it was difficult for a man from the First Cataract (South) to understand
a man from the Delta marshes in the North.
For the Delta Egyptian, most of his sacred shrines lay to the South.
The temple of the sun-god Re was at On (Heliopolis). Near Memphis were
the pyramid area and a cemetery. At Hermopolis in Middle Egypt was the
lay the shrine of Osiris, god of the dead. Thebes, which was even further
south, was a capital from 2100 B.C. on. After 1300, it was a provincial
capital, because at Karnak lay the mighty temple of the imperial god,
Amon-Re.
2. History (Introduction)—From Greek times, the history of the
pharaohs has been divided into 30 dynasties, the first at the beginning of
written history around 3000 B.C., the 30th ending with Alexander the
Great's conquest in 332 B.C. 3 political plateaus of older history were the
Old Kingdom or pyramid age, 3rd through 6th Dynasties (2700-2200 B.C.);
the Middle Kingdom or 12th Dynasty (2000-1800 B.C.); and the New King-
dom or Empire, 18th -20th (1570-1090 B.C.).
There was also the Ethiopian period, including the 25th Dynasty
(715-663 B.C.), the Sais
Dynasty (663-525 B.C.), and the Persian period (525-332 B.C.). Scholars
do not have an exact chronology for Egypt before 663 B.C.; disagreement
grows the further back one goes. For dates before 2000 B.C. there may be
wide disagreement. Fortunately the disagreement for most of the biblical
period usually falls within the stretch of a single generation.
3. Prehistoric and Old Kingdom—Archaeologists have traced a
series of prehistoric cultures. The northeastern African plateau was once
well-watered. Gradually it dried up, and man, animals, and plants were
driven down to the margin of the sole remaining water, the Nile River.
Close association at the riverbank of man and plant and animal foods pro-
moted the process of domestication. Northeastern African man ceased to
be a Libyan hunter & became an Egyptian herdsman. The basic social unit
became the village community.
Very gradually certain amenities were introduced, such as houses
with rooms, doors and windows, granaries for storage, linen in place of
hides, containers made of pottery, better tools, metal objects, jewelry, and
cosmetics. As the population increased, it wasn't enough to herd a few
animals down to the marshes which fringed the Nile, nor enough to tease
a few marginal plants with a hoe. The marshes had to be cleared and
drained for new fields. Irrigation was necessary to carry the water farther
from the Nile and hold it for a longer time. The community enlarged from
individual agricultural villages to provinces of common interests.
One factor which moved Egypt towards civilization was the appea-
rance of elements borrowed from Mesopotamia. Among these elements
are the cylinder seal, brick architecture, & artistic motifs, perhaps even the
idea of writing. Since no comparable borrowings from Egypt have been
found in Mesopotamia, the priority of Mesopotamian civilization may be
conceded.
E-16
Around 3000 B.C., the Abydos Upper Egypt or southern
with a capital at Memphis
sequently, we call this period history's & civilization's beginning in Egypt.
The conquest of Egypt had probably taken several generations before the
dynasty's founding, & required several generations after Menes, believed
to be the dynasty's founder, to complete the conquest. The first two dynas-
ties, lasting 2 to 4 centuries, were occupied with working out the forms of
the new nations.
By the beginning of the 3rd Dynasty, around 2700 B.C., Egypt was
mature enough to begin the pyramid age, which began with the Stepped
Pyramid of Djoser, the first large-scale monument constructed entirely of
hewn stone. Credit is customarily given to Djoser's brilliant minister Ii-em-
hotep. Under Djoser the bureaucracy was reorganized, to meet the pro-
blems of a more complex state. The government was a theocracy, vested
in the person of the king. The assignment of authority to individuals to act
in the name of the king was the first step toward the building up of a secu-
lar bureaucracy. The king was still the only one assured of eternal life. If
he needed his court for eternal rule in the next world, then they might also
have eternal life.
The 4th Dynasty (2650-2500 B.C.) was the peak of Egypt's material
and artistic glory. It was the age of the three great pyramids of Gizeh: the
Great Pyramid of Khufu (or Cheops), which was 1 of the 7 wonders of the
world; the 2nd Pyramid of Khaf-Re (or Chepren); and the 3rd Pyramid for
Men-kau-Re (or Mycerinus).
Legends from later times say that Khufu & Khaf-Re were hated by
their own people, more likely from the economic obligation to supply
forced labor, which was a regular obligation, than from the bitterness of
laborers under a taskmaster's whip. By this time writing was competent to
meet all normal needs of government and religion, & painting enjoyed the
sophisticated ability to render beautifully organized scenes. These were
great accomplishment effected within an extraordinarily short period of
time.
The extreme focus upon the divine person of the king was subject
to challenge. The 5th Dynasty (2500-2350 B.C.) saw the rise of two other
gods. The sun-god Re of Heliopolis gained political power by the acknow-
ledgement that he was the father of the ruling god, Osiris, who came into
prominence as the god of the dead. Further, the royal family & court had
a lesser voice in government, whereas outlying officials, while claiming
loyal service to the king, wielded greater authority.
The precise historical value of Egyptian inscriptions is questionable.
Every orthodox inscription shows the king bringing order and success to
his nation by superhuman discretion. This was the ancient Egyptian’s con-
formance to the truth of faith in the divine order, rather than the truth of ob-
jective observation. Within this divine order the king was a god, omnisci-
ent and infallible. An example of this are three inscriptions over an 1,800
year period that have 3 pharaohs claiming victory over the same Libyan
family.
The decentralization of the state continued in the 6th Dynasty (2350-
2200 B.C.). To the south there was energetic penetration into the Sudan.
Caravans were led by nobles who had the tasks of promoting the flow of
trade. The trade in cedar from the Lebanon and the shipping facilities of
the port of Gebal were to the advantage of both Gebal and Egypt. In Pale-
stine, however, around 2325 B.C., Egypt had to send five military expedi-
tions against the “sand-dwellers,” the people of southern Palestine. A final
expedition was mounted by water and penetrated farther north, but it was
only a temporary victory. As the central government weakened, Asiatics
took advantage of a slackened frontier to trickle into the Egyptian Delta.
4. Middle Kingdom: Before, During and After (2200-1570 B.C.)
The Old Kingdom showed structural weakness when ineffective kings were
unable to check the growing independence of the nobles. The Egyptians
blamed the infiltration of Asiatic Bedouins into the Delta, but it was really
the state's weakness which left the borders unguarded. In the 200 years
between the Old & the New Kingdom, Egypt suffered severely from the
overturn of the old values of stability and prosperity.
Out of the confusion there emerged first the realization that the Old
Kingdom's confident materialism had been inadequate to meet the goals of
worldly success & eternal life. People came to feel that living a good life in
pious service to the gods and in a concern for fellow men was also neces-
sary. Secondly, there was a feeling for the common man and a need for
social justice.
A vigorous document insisted that a peasant had rights to justice
from a royal official; the rights of immortality spread to a wider number.
Every “good man,” would now become the god Osiris. Around 2100 B.C.
the competition for power in Egypt narrowed down to a contest between
Herakleopolis in central Egypt, and Thebes, an unknown, upstart city in the
South. Around 2050 B.C. Thebes was victorious and reunited Egypt for
what we call the Middle Kingdom.
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Later ages looked back at the 12th Dynasty (1990-1780) as a golden
classical age of Egyptian history. They won new agricultural land by large-
scale irrigation works. Nubia was conquered, & a frontier fortress was set
above the 2nd Cataract. A fortified trading house was maintained south
of the 3rd Cataract. At least one military raid went into Palestine; Palestine
& Syria came under the cultural domination of Egypt.
Under the Old Kingdom, the popularity of the King wasn't an issue.
In the decentralized Middle Kingdom, popularity became essential. There-
fore, these new kings deliberately issued written publicity on their own be-
half. These texts were given such momentum that they became Egyptian
classics, lasting 300, and sometimes 700 years. The 12th Dynasty was
active in developing the copper mines of Sinai. While the Old Kingdom
sent army units to Sinai, the Middle Kingdom relied more upon good rela-
tions with the sheiks.
We can only guess at the forces which led to the disintegration of the
Middle Kingdom. Without strong kings, the nobles' fealty would slacken.
The 12th Dynasty's end and the 13th's beginning saw brief reigns and obvi-
ous signs of internal weakness. In the century following 1850 B.C., there
appeared strange documents known as the “execration texts,” written for-
mulas for the cursing & confusion of the King's enemies. Many Egyptians
were so cursed, as were Nubians, Libyans, and the rulers of city-states in
Palestine, including Jerusalem. Clearly the execration texts reflect uneasi-
ness on the part of the Egyptian king.
The 2nd intermediate period started with the disintegration of the
state and a competing dynasty in the Delta. Asiatics penetrated the Delta
before 1700 B.C.; tradition calls them the Hyksos. 400 years later a monu-
ment was erected commemorating the 400th year of the rule of the god
Seth, who is the Egyptian god of foreign lands. The inscription most
likely applies to Hyksos rule but avoids reference to hated invaders.
The Hyksos introduced the horse & chariot, the composite bow, a
heavier sword, body armor, and their rectangular fortresses of beaten
earth. With these they invaded once-proud Egypt, conquered her, and set
up dynasties of Hyksos kings as overlords. Whether the Hyksos age
(1720-1570 B.C.) includes Joseph’s time and the beginning of the Israelite
sojourn in Egypt has long been debated. Some argue that a Hyksos king
would more naturally appoint Joseph his first minister. Those who support
1225 B.C. for the Exodus point to the 430 years of sojourning and reach a
date of 1655 B.C., in the midst of the Hyksos Dynasty.
The Hyksos was no barbarian horde; they seem to have been active
merchants. The Hyksos kings at Avaris tolerated the existence of wea-
kened Theban rulers & were content with the firm possession of the Delta.
Around 1580 B.C., a Theban king named Ka-mose found the situation in-
tolerable. His counselors urged him not to provoke a war & endanger the
advantages they held. Ka-mose brushed aside the counsel of his nobles
and started a war of liberation.
5. Early New Kingdom (1570-1375 B.C.)—Ka-mose succeeded
in pushing the Hyksos back into the Delta. The following king, Ah-mose I
expelled the Hyksos, reunited Egypt, and thus started the 18th Dynasty
and the New Kingdom. The names of the 18th Dynasty, Amen-hotep &
Thut-mose, showed dedication to Amon of Thebes and to Thoth of Her-
mopolis. The domination of Egypt by Asiatic rulers had made a real dif-
ference in the nationalistic spirit of the land. The shock of foreign domina-
tion deeply affected the national psychology and shook their lofty compla-
cency. This must never happen again. The Middle Kingdom had had an
African empire; this was re-established as far as the Third Cataract early in
the 18th Dynasty.
There was a struggle between military and non-military policy begin-
ning around 1490 B.C. Queen Hat-Shepsut and her non-military policy had
the first success. The youthful Thut-mose was forced into obscurity and in-
activity when Hat-shepsut seized power and proclaimed herself king. For
18 years she ruled with vigor. Her party focused on reconstruction, buil-
ding enterprises, & peaceful foreign trade. They sought the same domi-
nance in foreign lands that the Old & Middle Kingdom had enjoyed. Then,
Hatshepsut suddenly fell from power and disappeared from history.
Young Thut-mose III (1490-1436 B.C.) set out on a military cam-
paign into Palestine as part of his military & imperial policy. Thutmose was
a man of great military administrative ability. He devoted 17 campaigns to
Asia, founded an Egyptian empire up into northern Syria, and introduced
military and civil controls to hold the area. Thut-mose described his initial
campaign into Asia as the punishment of a “rebellion,” which is a self-righ-
teous falsehood. The “rebellion” of May, 1468 B.C., consisted of a coali-
tion of 330 princes of Palestinian and Syrian city-states. The Palestinian
cities included Gezer, Joppa, Acco, Megiddo, Dothan, and Hazor. The
Syrian cities included Damascus, Aleppo, & Carchemish. Major Phoeni-
cian cities like Tyre and Gebal did not join the coalition, perhaps wishing to
maintain their trade with Egypt.
E-18
Thut-mose moved with great energy and daring. He threw his forces
successfully through the mountain pass at Megiddo without a loss. The bat-
tle the following day near Megiddo was a quick Egyptian victory. The Asia-
tics fled within the walls of Megiddo, which was encircled by a moat & a
wall of timbers; it was subjected to a 7 month siege. The Egyptians seized
the Palestinian harvest, and forced the starving enemy inside Megiddo to
surrender in December. He stripped them of their possessions, but let
them return to their homes on donkey-back after taking an oath of fealty to
his person. In the following 19 years, Thut-mose III conducted 16 more
campaigns in Asia; some were parades of power, some involved actual
fighting.
The newly won Egyptian territory was organized with resident garri-
sons, Egyptian high commissioners and a courier service. The pharaoh
maintained local princes; their younger brothers and sons were brought up
at the Egyptian court until the current ruler died and they might succeed to
the throne. Thus, Thut-mose forged a strong empire, which was remark-
ably loyal to Egypt for the best part of a century.
Thut-mose III's son, Amen-hotep II (1439-1406 B.C.), demonstrated
that there would be no lapse of Egyptian control. He first captured a cou-
rier of the Prince of Naharin or Mitanni, who may have been inciting the
local rulers to rebellion; he eventually took a Mitannian princess as his
wife. Second, Amenhotep fought near Soco, and brought many prisoners
back to Egypt, including 3,600 'Apiru or Habiru, the first time we hear of
these people. Many Egyptians resided abroad in Palestine & Syria, while
vast numbers of Asiatics lived in Egypt. Shrines for Nile Valley's gods
were erected in Asia, while Egyptians living abroad set up monuments to
Asiatic deities such as Baal and Anath. Within Egypt there were priests of
Baal and Ashtoreth.
As wealth flowed into Egypt, ostentation became a mark of cosmo-
politan sophistication. Art became livelier, more naturalistic, and softer in
line; Crete's influences on Egypt's art were stronger than those of Asia
or Africa. Architecture favored colossal structures. Three generations of
triumph, power, and wealth brought the imperial magnificence of Amen-
hotep III (1398-1361 B.C.). Egypt's vassals were peaceful, her commer-
cial ties solid, & the Hittites, Babylonians, and Assyrians were not challen-
ging Egypt in Syria.
6. Amarna Period (1375-1300 B.C.)—An Egyptian peace im-
posed by conquest and administration had advantages both to Egyptians
and their Asiatic subjects. Even though each Syrian prince professed or
protested their loyalty, he might take the opportunity to advise his liege
lord that some other prince was acting treacherously. When the Egyptian
capital ignored accusations, the Asiatics were emboldened to continue.
Egypt was preoccupied with an internal contest for power. At one
time, one individual assumed the role of high government official, priest,
& commander of the army. Now these services had become very profess-
sionalized and specialized. Boys were trained for government positions,
for a professional military career, or for the priesthood. Since national
gods were the guarantors of victory, they received a lion's share of the
booty. Amon-Re, the god of empire acquired huge holdings of land, slaves
& other income. Civil government, the military, and the priesthood com-
peted with the pharaoh for power.
In part this competition precipitated the “Amarna Revolution” (1375-
1300 B.C.). Religion was already showing trends toward a narrowed-
down devotion to one god, which was at least the beginnings of monothe-
ism. As pharaoh, Amen-hotep IV found himself increasingly the captive of
the highest civil servants and the highest priests. To gain more pre-emi-
nence, he seized upon the new trends as material for a revolution.
Since Amen-hotep III appointed his son as coregent, the two kings
had a joint reign of nine years. In the sixth year of that co-reign the youn-
ger Amenhotep gave up the attempt to introduce a new religion in Thebes.
The young heretic Amen-hotep changed his name to Akh-en-Aton (“It is
well with Aton”); Aton was a sun god. He moved his capital from Thebes,
to the new site Akhen-Aton, more than 320 km to the north. Worship of
Aton, to the exclusion of all others, became the official state religion.
Physically Akh-en-Aton (1375-1353 B.C.) wasn't strong enough to
follow the traditions of his more vigorous ancestors. He switched to lea-
dership in spiritual, artistic, and intellectual fields. In an excess of candor,
the formerly very private royal palace was opened up to public view. And
although past Egyptian art had been detached from the here and now, Akh-
en-Aton's artists delighted in contemporary scenes.
E-19
In the break with the past, Akh-en-Aton's administrators were new
people. The old conservative families were cut off from power, & the new
diplomats had no experience in foreign affairs. The Asiatic empire went to
pieces, as Syrian princes tried to set up little separate states, and the Hit-
tite Empire moved out of Anatolia to seize Syrian territory. Those princes
who remained loyal to Egypt, got no help from it, & lost their thrones.
Mobile invaders, the Habiru, penetrated the land for their own advantage.
The northern part of the empire fell away to the Hittites; the southern part
was carved up into small independent states.
Akh-en-Aton had no sons, so he married his daughter to Smenkh-
kere (1355-1352 B.C.), whom he made co-regent. Smenkhere returned to
Thebes, & the worship of the god Amon was resumed. After Smenkhkere,
another son-in-law, Tut-ankh-Aton, who changed his name to Tut-ankh-
Amon (1352-1344 B.C.) returned to the older forms of religion & govern-
ment. The army commander Hor-em-heb (1340-1303 B.C.) seized the
throne in order to restore law and order; he vigorously put down rebellion
and corruption. Official Egyptian records skip over the names of rulers be-
tween Amen-hotep III and Hor-em-heb.
7. Late New Kingdom (1300-1100 B.C.)—This kingdom and the
19th Dynasty (1303-1202 B.C.) brought in a new family and new official
gods of state. Where the 18th Dynasty worshiped the southern Egyptian
gods Amon and Thoth, the 19th worshiped the northern and Delta gods
Re, Seth, and Ptah of Memphis. Rameses in the northeastern Delta would
eventually become the capital city; Thebes would remain important as a
traditional, seasonal, and religious capital, as well as a provincial capital.
General Hor-em-heb was succeeded by Ramses I (1303-1302
B.C.), & his son Seti I (1302-1290 B.C.). Seti in his first regnal year cam-
paigned from the Suez frontier to the hills of Galilee. He defeated the
'Apiru or Habiru of Mount Jarmuth and then campaigned against the Hit-
tites in Syria; the pharaoh was successful in taking Kadesh on the
Orontes.
In the fifth year of his reign, Ramses II (1290-1224 B.C.) fought
against the Hittite king Muwatallis at Kadesh on the Orontes. The Hittites
had the city-states of Carchemish, Aleppo, Ugarit, some of the older peo-
ple of Asia Minor, & some of the new Sea Peoples of Asia Minor as allies;
Ramses had Sardinian mercenaries. By 1270 B.C., Egypt and the Hittites
had resolved their differences in a treaty of alliance & mutual assistance, &
Ramses married the daughter of the Hittite king. The last half of Ramses
66-year reign was unremarkable. The Sea Peoples used the period to in-
crease their strength against the Hittites and Egypt.
Ramses II was a great builder within Egypt; he appropriated the
monuments of predecessors for himself. The royal city in the Delta was
named after him, so that serious attention must be given to the claim that
he was the Pharaoh of the Hebrew's Oppression. However, the Egyptian
texts present no supporting evidence. Ramses II's long reign produced a
swarm of royal princes, many of whom died before their father.
His 13th son Mer-ne-Ptah was old when he succeeded to the throne
(1224-1214 B.C.). His two great problems were keeping alive his hard-
pressed Hittite ally with grain, because of the pressure of the Sea Peoples,
and of repelling an invasion of Libyans & Sea Peoples. A poem of victory
ends with the only mention of Israel in Egyptian literature. The 19th Dyna-
sty ran out its last 12 years with feeble kings succeeding one another. For
a period of 5 years there was a Syrian who seized the throne of Egypt;
perhaps one of the Asiatic chamberlains serving at the palace was able to
take over power.
A new dynasty, the 20th (1197-1090 B.C.), appeared to “cleanse the
great throne of Egypt.” Its only important figure was Ramses III (1195-
1164 B.C.). Ramses III lost his life in a conspiracy which originated in
his own harem. Within a generation after his death the Asiatic empire col-
lapsed, and Egypt withdrew into her shell. Detailed figures show that the
various great temples most likely held 10% of the people and 12% of the
land. Amon-Re’s temple at Karnak alone owned one person out of every
15 & one acre out of every 10. The reigns of the later “Ramses” kings were
weak and brief; the last was a feeble palace prisoner.
8. Post-imperial Period (1100-700 B.C.)—After the empire Egypt
never regained her dominance in eastern Mediterranean. Egypt kept brea-
king up into smaller states. Mercenary armies had the tasks of conquest &
defense; fewer Egyptians served in the military. From Samuel’s time to Is-
rael’s fall, Egypt was normally in a state of divided weakness. Around 1100
B.C., an emissary of Amon's high priest at Thebes was treated with con-
tempt in a city that once was the Asiatic center of pro-Egyptian feeling.
The 21st Dynasty (1090-940 B.C.) was the result of two cities, Tanis
of the Delta, & Thebes Egypt
eratively. A powerful family at Thebes used the military and priesthood as
a stepping-stone to the throne. The rulers at Thebes undertook the pious
task of restoring a minimum of order and decency to the thoroughly robbed
cemetery of Thebes. The merchant dynasty at Tanis was based on sea
trade. Solomon's Egyptian queen may have been a daughter of this family.
E-20
The empire had brought Libyan mercenaries into Egypt, & many of
them rose to local power in the Delta. One such family produced Shishak,
founder of the 22nd Dynasty (940-745 B.C.); little is known of Shisak's
successors. The 23rd Dynasty was of minor importance, and the 24th was
confined to a single pharaoh, Bek-en ranef or Bocchoris (715-709 B.C.),
who is credited with Egypt's first codified law. Before him law was the
divine word of the king, and later of the god's oracle.
9. Ethiopian & Saitic Periods (700-525 B.C.) Sometime around
Bocchoris’ reign was the rise of Cushite or Ethiopian pharaohs. Around
the middle of the 700s B.C. they consolidated their power in Cush. Around
720 or 715 B.C., Pi-ankhi had enough power that he had backing in Upper
Egypt. Pi-ankhi took the field against the Egyptians, captured cities in
Middle Egypt, and finally Memphis in the North. 16 northern rulers were
forced to take an oath of allegiance to Pi-ankhi. Pi-ankhi’s inscription
shows a non-Egyptian who was more devoutly Egyptian than the native
rulers. Before returning to the 4th Cataract, Pi-ankhi forced the god
Amon’s most powerful servant, a woman, to adopt his sister as her daugh-
ter and successor.
Now came the pressure upon Palestine Egypt
rians, Babylonians, Macedonians, and Romans. Egypt preferred diploma-
tic intrigue to military force. She incited the little rulers of Palestine-Syria
to resist the invaders. At the same time Egypt proper was changing under
foreign influences, while Cush, being less exposed to outside influence
preserved some of the older forms of the Egyptian religion.
Meanwhile, foreign powers which were more united and ambitious
than Egypt were moving toward its domination, by first consolidating
their position in Syria-Palestine. Sargon II took Samaria, the northern
kingdom of Israel, and defeated the Egyptians at Raphia. Sennacherib
captured cities of Judah and besieged Jerusalem. It was reserved for Esar-
haddon, some 30 years after Sennacherib, to penetrate Egypt, capture
Memphis, and send Tirhakah, the Ethiopian Pharaoh, in flight to the south.
Tirhakah's nephew Tanut-Amon came out of Cush, recaptured Memphis,
and briefly defied the Assyrians. Ashurbanipal of Assyria won back Mem-
phis and subdued the mighty city of Thebes.
Esarhaddon had recognized and loosely sponsored among others,
the family ruling the city-state of Sais in the west central Delta. From this
family Psamtik or Psammetichus I (663-525 B.C.) sought to enlarge his
power & claim the rule of all Egypt. The 26th Dynasty (663-609 B.C.)
is also called the Saitic period, the Renaissance, or the Restoration. Art
reverted to the expressions of the Old and Middle Kingdoms; the literature
of the day tried to reproduce the form and spirit of classical literature. In
its beginning this period had the excitement of rediscovery and spiritual
encouragement; it produced works of vigor & charm. Later it became ste-
rile, a search for a past glory in an age that had little inner glory of its own.
Another marked feature of the Saitic period was the strong influ-
ence of foreigners in Egypt. Phoenician merchants were welcomed in the
Delta. In the old Egyptian cities sections were designated for Greek mer-
chants & artisans. The pharaoh himself employed Greek mercenaries. A
revival of Egypt's ancient glory involved also military effort to extend the
state. Greek mercenaries were sent south; most of the military efforts were
in Asia. Psammetichus I invaded Palestine and laid siege to Ashdod.
Neco, His successor, campaigned ambitiously in Palestine & Syria.
Neco's decisive defeat by Nebuchadrezzar of Babylonia at Carchemish in
605 B.C., for a time quieted Egypt's ambitions in Asia. Later, Hophra tried
to stir up Judah in revolt against Babylonia and thus was a major factor in
Jerusalem’s fall and the Babylonian captivity. The century following the
Assyrian Empire’s collapse and Nineveh’s fall was a period of readjust-
ment. The abrupt emergence of the Persians under Cyrus shifted the cen-
ter of power eastward.
In 525 B.C., Egypt fell like an overripe fruit into Persian hands under
Cambyses, most likely with the help of Egyptian collaborators. Egyptian tra-
dition insists that Cambyses was brutal and impious. Darius I (522-486
B.C.) did his best to appear to as a legitimate pharaoh. Under his reign we
first hear of the Jewish colony at the First Cataract. Egypt was not grateful
to the Persians for a mild policy. Darius’ death was the signal for a revolt,
which Xerxes I put down with severity. Persian rule was effective from
525-404 B.C. (See also the entry in the Old Testament Apocrypha/Influ-
ence Outside the Bible section of the Appendix.).
The Roman rule of Egypt was oppressive. Augustus initiated a tight
control under his personal supervision as emperor. 3 legions were garri-
soned on the land. Augustus exercised veto control over senators' visits to
Egypt. Taxes were heavy. A cold & rigorous system bled Egypt white.
Roman taxation and military control over their once proud spirits changed
the Egyptians' outlook on life; they turned to the hope of another and better
world. The Christian evangelists in Egypt in the 100s A.D., found a ready
audience.
See also entry in the Old Testament (OT) Apocrypha/ Influences out-
side the OT section of the Appendix.
E-21
10. Religion (Introduction)—Ancient Egyptian religion was a poly-
theism which, in the course of 3,000 years, showed a high complexity. In
the world of ancient orientals, every phenomenon and every process in
man's life could be attributed to the agency of gods. There was no separa-
tion of the religious & the secular. There was no acceptance of natural law,
with its impersonal chain of cause & effect. Since it was possible to deify a
human being, to see the divine in plant or animal or forces of nature, the
gods were indefinitely many & their agency widespread. Egypt had its own
national gods, & particularly one resident god, Egypt's king. One might
fairly say that the miraculous was more real to the ancient Egyptian than
the natural.
The Egyptians would relate any phenomenon or event to the acti-
vity of their gods by myth. Myths became so complex as to appear contra-
dictory to our minds. But in ancient terms, different explanations of the
same phenomenon weren't to be questioned by mere man. For example,
the creation story was told in several different ways about a single god; it
was even told to the glory of different gods in different terms.
A religious state never fully admitted that there was any distinction
between the sacred & the secular. In earlier Egypt, there was no distinc-
tion between a priest & a layman; the civil servant was civil administrator,
army commander, and priest of the temple. Only the demands of a large,
complex state forced separation into full time priests & full-time civil ser-
vants. Over the millenniums the slow accumulation of deposit has oblite-
rated most evidence of the private life, so it's difficult to reach certainty
on personal beliefs and private devotions of individuals. Since many tem-
ples and tombs were preserved in the desert, we are relatively well in-
formed on official and mortuary religion.
11. Older Official Religion—3 types of ancient Egyptian gods
may be identified: (a) divinities of place (e.g. Ptah of Memphis, Khnum
of the 1st Cataract region, the crocodile god Sobek of the Faiyum;
(b) cosmic deities (e.g. Nut of the sky; Geb of the earth; Re of the sun;
(c) life aspect/ function deities (e.g. Ma'at for truth & justice; Bes for
household and childbirth; Sekhmet for war & disease. By historical times
these 3 categories appear as thoroughly blended, so that one god could
represent a place, part of nature, & a function of life. Blending also oc-
curred among similar gods, so that various falcon gods became Horus &
ruling deities were combined into Amon-Re or Atum Re-Har-akhti.
The gods of place have been called totems and often involved an
animal or animal/human figure. A god might make his or her appearance
in a particular animal. Worshipers of that god did not then hold all of that
particular kind of animal as sacred, but only the one dedicated animal in
the temple. Until Greco-Roman times there was no animal-worship in an-
cient Egypt. The regional Egyptian god and the concept that their king
was a god, seems to have been African in origin, and was largely absent
in Asia religion.
The cosmic gods were more clearly paralleled in Asia. The god
Atum took his place upon a little mound of earth & brought the elements
of the cosmos into being. Atum's own two children were Shu, god of air,
and Tefnut goddess of moisture. These two produced Geb, the earth-god,
and Nut, the sky-goddess. Geb and Nut brought forth Osiris and Isis as a
pair, and Seth and Nephthys as a pair. Osiris and and his sister-wife Isis,
came to be the forces of life or regeneration, & Seth the force which de-
stroyed life. The nine gods just mentioned were treated as a corporation
of supreme gods.
The Osiris Saga is another key myth, one with many variations.
Osiris had been a ruler in this world; his brother Seth killed him. Isis re-
claimed her husband's body, and partially revived it by her magic. Osiris
had died, but lived on in death, and became the ruler of the dead. Isis in
the marshes, brought forth her son, Horus, who combated his uncle Seth
for earthly rule. Horus won this contest & became a principle of kingship;
every living Egyptian king was Horus. Seth became a god of storm, of the
desert, and of foreign lands.
Several deities were addressed as “father of the gods.” By the 11th
Dynasty the god of Thebes emerged as Amon & was soon united with Re
as Amon-Re, the imperial god. Another merger of ruling deities was Atum
Re-Har-akhti. Even while merged, each god remained distinct in specific
function. Of the many other gods who might be listed, perhaps the most
important was Ptah, earth-god, creator-god in his own independent myth,
& patron of arts & crafts. In the 1st Dynasty Ptah's power rivaled Re's.
E-22
12. Pharaoh as God—From the beginning the king of Egypt
god, the divine principle of rule upon earth. The earliest inscriptions call
him Horus. At first perhaps only he was assured of happy eternal life; later,
his need of officials & servants could offer them eternal life in his service.
From the 1st Dynasty we know of burials of kings, princesses, and nobles,
where personal servants, with their tools, were buried at the same time as
the master. Through much of the Old Kingdom the tombs of the royalty &
nobility clung closely to the pyramid of the king. The mortuary texts assert
that a proper burial was an offering which the king gives.
The centrality of the god-king in the earlier Old Kingdom and his
agency in procuring eternal happiness brought forth the pyramid age. In a
strictly productive sense, the work of building a monumental tomb was bad
economy for the state. In a religious sense, the denial of death through an
everlasting structure nourished the Egyptian's confidence in himself & in
the destiny which the gods had wrought for him. Beginning in the 5th
Dynasty, there was a decentralizing tendency in the practice of burial.
Dogma continued to insist on devoted service to the ruler, although immor-
tality was no longer dependent on the divine king.
The Egyptian interest in life after death bulks large in our view, be-
cause their elaborate tombs have been preserved for us. From our first
view around 3000 B.C. down to 1200 B.C., the prevailing psychology was:
we Egyptians lead a full, abundant, & cherished life, & the gods will conti-
nue this richness after death. Only in the late period did the mortuary reli-
gion strike a more somber note. The Egyptian faith that an abundant life
might be eternal offers a contrast to the dim & uncertain future life of the
Babylonians and the Hebrews. This contrast must arise from security and
assurance of good in Egypt. Even the peasant could contrast himself favo-
rably with the neighboring nomads, and could feel that the gods had singu-
larly blessed the Egyptians beyond other peoples.
The visible absolutism of earliest Egypt placed all of the ministerial
positions and as many of the other offices as possible in the hands of the
royal family. From the 3rd Dynasty forward, bureaucracy grew. The king's
absolutism was diluted by the use of high officials who didn't carry the di-
vine blood. There was a progressive decentralization and a weakening of
the king's effectiveness. From the beginning the king had been the god
Horus. In the Fifth Dynasty, the king now became the son of Re. Clearly
the independence of the king had been limited by forcing upon him filial
devotion to the sun-god. The priesthood at Heliopolis (On) must have
emerged into political power.
We know little about temples and priests in the Old & Middle King-
doms. Temples must have been modest, relative to the mighty structures
which would appear in the New Kingdom. The priesthood was not yet a
full-time service but was staffed from the nobles & officials; a sacred state
made no distinction between the secular and the ecclesiastical.
Great state resources were employed to build the king's pyramid
tomb & to give him mortuary service in perpetuity. The same resources
were available for the nobles. Fields were set apart to provide income for
goods and services, such as the perpetual services of funerary priests, &
for stocking the tombs. The setting aside of large resources for the mainte-
nance of the dead very seriously ate into the economy of Egypt. As long
as the state was stable & prosperous, Egyptians could afford to pay this
high price. In any period of breakdown, the burial economy would be
swept aside to the advantage of the living.
Within the royal pyramids of the 5th & 6th Dynasties lengthy texts
were inscribed, to promote and ensure the triumphant immortality of the
god-king. The Pyramid Texts are a rich, if confusing, source of informa-
tion on the royal mortuary beliefs & practices in the Old Kingdom. Every
means was taken to guarantee the deceased king's welfare, from making
him a humble servant of the sun-god to making him the ruthless conqueror
of the world of the gods.
A state in which the absolutism of the king was gradually diluted
could not maintain the separate glory of the god-king. Each dead Egyptian
might become the god Osiris, who had himself survived death. The Old
Kingdom Pyramid Texts became the Middle Kingdom Coffin Texts. The
of the Dead." It is rare to find 2 manuscripts of this book which have the
same selection of “chapters.”
The opening up of divine immortality to Egyptian nobles and high
officials, in a society which had no fixed castes, might theoretically, at
least, be universal. For the peasant and the slave eternity was probably
uncertain and dependent upon his master's need of him in the next world.
After the collapse of the Old Kingdom there was a tendency toward the
extension of good to a wider number of persons. The values of position,
wealth, and a heavy investment in tombs had broken down during the first
intermediate period. The kingship was no longer distinct from ordinary hu-
manity. Rich had become poor, and poor had become rich. In the doubt
and frustration of social change, man looked for new answers to some of
his old problems. One important answer lay in a search for social justice.
E-23
13. Ma’at (Social Order) & Priesthood—Throughout Egyptian
history a word of highest quality was ma'at (right, order, conformity, truth,
justice, or righteousness.) The Egyptian had no word which meant directly
morally “good.” Ma'at was something one had to render to the king and
which the king had to render to the gods. When the Old Kingdom's prospe-
rous order went to ruins, for around 200 years of the intermediate period
they defined ma'at as social justice. Rich and poor alike had god-given
rights to the use of the flood waters. The poorest peasant had an innate
right to impartial justice from the administrator.
The Middle Kingdom was a time of local sovereignty on the part of
nobles; the kings found it to their advantage to combat this separatism by
conscientious efforts toward the well-being of all Egyptians. This demand
upon one to live a life of social concern for one's fellow human being was
reflected in the mortuary religion. Now the deceased had to stand before
the gods, with the deeds of his life piled up as legal exhibits. If there was
an excess of good, he would be admitted to eternal happiness.
This insistence at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom that all had
equal rights was no longer firmly stated after the state again became pro-
sperous. Worldly success as a recognized good came back again into the
texts; concern for unimportant people faded. Individual conscience was
not so important as regularity with the system. Ma'at, although essentially
obedient acceptance of the system, continued to have a moral tone. After
the early Middle Kingdom, later ages did not clearly demand simple piety
and humanity to others.
Even after the Hyksos had been expelled and the New Kingdom set
up, there was a sense of political insecurity. Under this sense of peril, the
state could easily be organized in an authoritarian tone, with power in the
hands of the ruling few. This ruling few included the more powerful
priesthoods.
The Old Kingdom capital had been at Memphis in the pyramid area.
The Middle Kingdom rule had come from Thebes in the South. A God at
Thebes was Amon, the “hidden one,” an unseen & ever-present force. As
Amon-Re he became the supreme national god and ultimately the imperial
god. As the gods were rewarded for successful ventures, temples became
larger & priests became more prominent. This process reached its climax
in the New Kingdom, when Egyptian armies marched forth to conquer the
world, and thankfully enriched the temples with captive slaves & spoils.
The priesthood became a full-time activity, and from 1400 B.C. on, the
temples became colossal structures.
The 3 great priesthoods came to be Re at Heliopolis (On), Ptah at
Memphis, & Amon-Re at Thebes. The high-priest in Thebes was a power-
ful official & a rival to the king in power. By 1200 B.C. temples owned
1/8th of the arable land, and possibly 1/10th of the population; the temple
of Amon-Re held much more than 1/2 of this tremendous possession.
In the Middle Kingdom (2050-1720 B.C.) Amon-Re's temple
B.C.) it became the soaring, sprawling complex which can be seen today.
Late in the New Kingdom, Amon-Re's divine sanction, coming from his
oracle, was necessary for every major activity of the state. With the New
cracy was enlarged, & this civil service interlocked thoroughly with the
priesthood, contributing the ruling personnel for Egypt from a few major
families. The army became a standing force, and the commander of the
army became a professional. The pharaoh, the priesthood, the civil ser-
vice, and the army became overlapping rivals for the control of Egypt.
14. Amarna Reformation and Reaction—The tensions caused
by this rivalry were contributing forces toward a major break with the past
in the form of the Amarna revolution (1375-1300 B.C.). Among several
other factors, the struggle for power was undoubtedly a cause of clea-
vage. The pharaoh saw his authority invaded by rival powers. The civil
service stood on the conservative side with the older religion. The new
force, the army, saw its advantage with the king.
The elements of this movement existed in some form before the
time of the heretic king, who politically sought to recapture the former
centrality of his office. In art the empire had already introduced a warm
interest in the here and now, with more naturalism & a more flexible line
for the human image. In language the old classical speech was already
dead in everyday usage. It was only necessary to accept the currently
spoken language as appropriate for purposes of the state and of religion.
E-24
Akh-en-Aton's religion expressed the devotion to a single god as
the nourisher of all humankind. Many of the elements of this new faith
were old. Sun-worship in Egypt had existed from the beginnings. The
worship of Aton was two generations older than Akh-en-aton. The idea
of a universal god was product of the century-old empire, when the con-
quering Egyptians had to concede that the gods cherished other peoples
also. Akh-en-aton brought these elements together and gave them a new
emphasis.
It is also clear that Akh-en-Aton made his break, changed his
name, and moved his capital, while his father & co-regent, Amen-hotep
III was still living and working with the old system. Thus around 1375
B.C. the younger pharaoh changed his name from Amen-hotep IV to Akh-
en-Aton. The temples of Amon and of other gods were bereft of annual
royal gifts and of tribute from abroad. The old governing families of the
civil services and the priesthood were dropped and administration was
turned over to new persons.
In particular, Akh-en-Aton disavowed the god Amon, the “hidden
one” in a mighty temple; he worshiped the sun-disk out in the open air.
His beautiful hymn to the Aton gives the essence of the new faith. There
was but one god, creator and sustainer of life. The similarity of this hymn
to the 104th Psalm in thought & structure is very marked. Yet it must be
stressed that there was little ethical content in the new faith.
Two gods were worshiped at Amarna. Akh-en-Aton and his queen
Nefertiti worshiped Aton, while Akh-en-Aton became for his worshipers
their sole source of good in this life. It must be emphasized that lesser
people at Amarna did not practice Atonism; they only reverted to that fer-
vent devotion to the god-king. Some have claimed Akh-en-Aton's mono-
theism as the inspiration of the Hebrew faith. But Moses was 160 km to
the north and most likely a century later, when Atonism was a heresy &
only a few factors of the Amarna faith still persisted. Further, the new
Hebrew faith was anti-Egyptian, and it was a cardinal principle that the
Israelite God had defeated the Pharaoh. A lack of connection between
these two is clearly indicated.
The Amarna revolution started with high enthusiasm. It came to a
tragic and dishonored end. Asiatic holdings fell away to the Hittites or
to local princes. Within Egypt, loyalty and taxes from the provinces
was probably withheld. Compromise or surrender became inevitable.
Akh-en-Aton took as his co-regent a young son-in-law, Smenkhkere,
& permitted this new king to return to Thebes. Around 1350 B.C. both
Akh-en-Aton and Smenkhkere disappeared from the scene.
A second son-in-law, Tut-ankh-Aton, made the full surrender. He
made a formal disavowal of the Aton by changing his name to Tut-ankh-
Amon; he greatly increased the property of the temples. There were brief
reigns by Tut-ankh-Amon and Eye, an elderly member of the family, after
which Hor-em-heb, a general of the army, took over the throne to restore
order and confidence. Later tradition skipped over the reigns of the Amar-
na family, & pretended that Hor-em-heb began his reign right after Amen-
hotep III. The Amarna break with the past had lasting effects. Art retained
some of the lithe naturalism of the movement. Language and literature
remained closer to reality. Even in religion itself, there were some later
hymns which have been called monotheistic, if a broad definition of mono-
theism is used.
Egypt was never the same again. The old cohesive sense of high
destiny & common purpose couldn't be recaptured. The pharaoh couldn't
recapture his supreme authority. Increasingly he became the figurehead
of the state & the captive of custom. The army wielded striking power;
out of army command emerged the 19th, 21st, and 22nd Dynasties.
The gods Amon, Re, & Ptah were now entrenched by victory. Their
temples became larger, their estates became richer, & their priests became
more powerful. Only powerful men could seek out the powerful gods, so
that ordinary people must have been cut off from access to great gods.
They would have to seek out gods who weren't mighty & successful. This
clinging of little people to little gods were clear features of the later times.
15. Religion in Late Times—For two centuries the late New King-
the forces against Egypt were greater than before, & Egypt's answer was
less the unison of religious patriotism and more the employment of paid
professionals & foreign mercenaries. Egypt put up a bold front. Yet it was
a losing struggle, so Egypt withdrew from empire (1150 B.C.).
About the same time a succession of weak pharaohs began. They
became palace captives of corrupt high officials & priests. The proud
spirit withered, & national ambition gave way to individual ambition.
After 1100 B.C., Egypt could not compete equally with Assyria or Baby-
lonia or Persia or Macedonia or Rome as a world power. Increasingly
the Egyptian became introspective and cautious and clung to ritual and
regulation.
E-25
As early as the 19th Dynasty a change appeared in noble's tombs. In
place of a vigorous and lusty emphasis upon the abundant things of this
life, the scenes showed the mortuary services and charted the perils of the
passage into the other world. Personal religion also showed this new so- briety. Formerly a father had encouraged his son to a life of vigorous acti-
vity. Now abruptly the emphasis became resignation to one's fate.
The good man was no longer the “knowing one”; he was now the
“silent one.” Humble piety appeared in dedicatory tablets and in the in-
structions which a father gave to his son. The best example of this is the
advice given to his son by Amen-em-Opet. (Sections of this text are extra-
ordinarily like passages in the Hebrew book of Proverbs). Success was
for the god alone; man without god was doomed to failure. The normal
state of humans alone was wrongdoing, but the normal state of the god
was to be merciful and to rescue humans.
Religion offered him a sense of community in disciplined tasks, es-
pecially in the scrupulous practice of specific rituals. Now the sacred ani-
mal became the center of an elaborate cult so exacting that one may now
speak of animal-worship. There was a shift to the belief that the symbol
provided for the god's presence was the god's own self. Egypt
had recourse to magic, but magical texts & apparatus began to increase
in the late New Kingdom . The paraphernalia for magical securing of ad-
vantage & warding off of evil became even more abundant. There was
also an added emphasis upon guidance by the oracle.
Because of this ritualistic piety there was a dual process at work.
Some of the older cities increased in sacred importance as seats of a god
who give oracular direction. In late times the political capital was normal-
ly in the North, but Thebes in the South was the home of the revered god
Amon. The pharaohs had to control this separatism by placing a reliable
agent in Thebes. A sister or daughter of the reigning pharaoh would be
appointed divine votaress of Amon.
The process of blending different gods together also received conti-
nued emphasis. It was easy for the Greeks to identify Amon with their
Zeus, Thoth with their Hermes, or Hat-Hor with their Aphrodite. Egyptian
religion became a “mystery,” and thus it had exotic and inexplicable appeal
to Greeks & Romans as something mystical simply because it was strange.
The nature of divine being continued to be flexible, anything from
polytheistic to monotheistic. Egypt continued to welcome deities and wor-
shipers from other religions. However, a thousand years of political impo-
tence & domination did dry up Egyptian spiritual strength. The Egyptians
avoided making personal decisions themselves in the hope that the gods
would direct destiny in every respect. When finally Roman taxation was so
extreme as to set a penalty upon abundance within Egypt itself, the final at-
tachment to the old faith was broken. Then Christianity entered with the
message that the next world would be a release from and a reward for the
acceptance of this world’s privations, and the Egyptians went over to Chris-
tianity with ardor.
16. Egyptology—The study of ancient Egypt
tory or the analysis of texts & from archaeology or the analysis of physical
materials. There was little understanding of Egyptian language, as the ear-
lier stages of the Egyptian language and the understanding of the various
forms of writing had been lost to knowledge after the introduction of Chris-
tianity. Before the 1800s, the Bible and classical writings from outside of
Egypt contributed all that we knew about ancient Egypt.
The team of scientists and historians Napoleon brought with him to
Greek and two Egyptian writings. In 1850 a Frenchman, August Mariette,
began in Egypt to uncover major monuments & became a dominant figure
in the land for 30 years. In the 1880s three figures appeared. The young
Frenchman, Gaston Maspero, came to direct the antiquities service for a
full generation; he was a historian of genius.
A young German, Adolf Erman, brought order and recognized rules
to the study of the ancient Egyptian language. A young Englishman Flin-
ders Petrie, revolutionized field archaeology in Egypt
East. Petrie made a neglected material, ordinary pottery, the critically deci-
sive factor for excavations which were defective in inscriptions. He exca-
vated many of the richest sites in Egypt, Sinai, and Palestine.
An inevitable result of the abundance of new material was that the
focus shifted from Egypt's connection with the Hebrews, Greeks, and Ro-
mans to the process of Egyptian culture in itself. Around the beginning of
the 1900s Americans entered the scene. George A Reisner of Harvard ad-
vanced Petries's techniques to new standards of precision. James H.
Breasted became America's most widely recognized ancient historian and
produced books which still carry great weight. Egyptology has reached a
firm understanding of careful methodology, and is now able to present a
consistent and significant story.
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stream marking the traditional southwestern boundary of Canaan . The
Brook of Egypt is identified with the Wadi el- 'Arish, which has its origin in
the middle of the Sinai Peninsula and flows into the Mediterranean midway
between Gaza & Pelusium. During the rainy season it is a rushing stream,
but in summer it dwindles to a dry bed.
southern boundary of the territory promised to Abram's descendants in Ge-
nesis 15. Taken as nahar, the word means large river, which seems to
refer to the Nile. Some would change the spelling to read nachal, which
means “brook.”
EGYPTIAN, THE (o AiguptioV (oh ay ghip tee os)) A person with whom
Paul is said to have been mistakenly identified by a Roman tribune. There
are 3 accounts of the Egyptian: a brief statement in Acts 21,& 2 longer ac-
counts by Josephus, a Jewish historian. Luke simply says that he didn't
speak Greek & was therefore a barbarian. His actions were described as
leading 4,000 Assyrians in rebellion out into the desert. The Roman tri-
bune sees him as a barbarian rebel, a disturber of the peace on the Em-
pire's edge.
Josephus mentions an Egyptian strikingly similar & likewise un-
named in two different accounts. In the first account, the assassins are
described as dagger men running wild in Jerusalem, murdering whom
they will, even Jonathan the high priest. “Another body” of “more wic-
ked” men pretended to divine inspiration and induced the multitude to
follow them into the wilderness. But Felix, anticipating a revolt, sent
horsemen and footmen, “who destroyed a great number.” The Egyptian
is described as a false prophet and as the most mischievous of all. He
led 30,000 men from the wilderness to the Mount of Olives. Again, Felix
took the initiative and with his Roman soldiers assisted by the people put
the Egyptian to flight.
In the 2nd account it is the dagger men who persuaded the multi-
tude to follow them into the wilderness to behold signs & wonders. Felix
brought them back and punished them. The Egyptian persuaded the mul-
titude of the common people to go with him to the Mount of Olives. There
he promised to bring down Jerusalem’s walls. Again in this account Felix
came, killed 400 of them and took 200 alive; the Egyptian escaped.
The three accounts seemed to refer to the same Egyptian and
the same events. Yet the details vary greatly and can't be harmonized.
Certainly, most of the numbers of people involved appeared inflated.
Josephus' description of him as prophet-pretender seems to require that
the Egyptian be a Jew or at least a proselyte. Yet Paul's reply, “I am a
Jew,” seems to imply that the Egyptian was not.
The intent of Luke in introducing the Egyptian into the narrative
is for the sake of contrast with Paul, who is a civilized Roman citizen
from a well-known city and not to be confused with the false prophets
and false Christ of Matthew 24. Since Paul is an authentic Jew, he is en-
titled to all the rights and privileges of Judaism as a legally recognized
religion in the Empire.
EHI (אהי (ay hi), brother) Listed as a son of Benjamin; the word is probably an
erroneous fragment for Ahiram.
EHUD (אחוד) 1. A left-handed hero, son of Gera
min. He delivered his countrymen from an 18 year Moabite oppression by
treacherously assassinating King Eglon after paying him tribute and cutting
off the escape of the Moabite army of occupation. While Ehud isn't termed
a judge, that he was regarded as a God-inspired deliverer is indicated.
2. Son of Bilhan and Benjamin’s great-grandson according to the
Bible. It is more likely that the genealogy of which Ehud is a part was origi-
nally that of Zebulun, and that the name of Benjamin was an error.
EKER (עקר, family (?)) Part of the postexilic clan of Jerahmeel (I Chronicles 2).
EKRON (עקרון, eradication) The northernmost of the 5 principal cities of the
Philistines, about 14km east of the Mediterranean , near the beginning of
ment with regard to exact identification of the site. It was assigned to
Judah; the tradition is that Judah captured it in Judges 1. When it next
appears, it is in the Philistines' hands, and the captured ark is brought
there from Gath. The ark proved troublesome and was returned to the
Israelites at Beth-shemesh.
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Ekron next appears in an inscribed list of places captured by Shi-
shak in his invasion of around 918 B.C. Then Ahaziah, son of Ahab and
king of Israel
the deity of Ekron, rather than the God of Israel. Several later prophets
denounced Ekron and her sister-cities. Ekron played a part in the cam-
paign of Sennacherib against rebellious Hezekiah of Judah (701 B.C.).
Padi, king of Ekron was imprisoned by rebels and handed over to Heze-
kiah. Sennacherib took Ekron & put the rebels to death. He then forced
Hezekiah to release Padi, who was restored to his throne. The next king,
Ikausu, was put under tribute, along with Manasseh of Judah, by both
Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal.
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