minister to the needs of his great and growing population. Evidently, the captivity was not considered harsh by many of the exiles, for when permission was given in the Persian period for the Jews to return to Palestine very few took advantage of the opportunity. Babylon was a richer land, and from every point of view a more comfortable place to live. As the modern Jew looks with a wistful longing to the ancestral land and is ever mindful of its interests, but prefers for himself to remain where the great business opportunities exist, so it was that the Babylonian Jews, while loyal to their religion and deeply concerned for the welfare of Palestine, preferred to remain in the wealthy Tigris-Euphrates valley, where they became a more and more important part of the population.

It is probable that the Jew learned business in Babylon. The code of Hammurabi, which represents the conditions of a millennium and a half before the exile, reveals a developed commercialism as already existing in that remote time. The Babylonians continued to be a commercial people with an extensive trade, reaching every country of the known world. And this was elaborated to the point of the organization of credits and the institution of banks. In the fifth century Jewish names appear in the contracts of Babylonia, and we are able to understand that the allurements of business kept many of these ambitious people from returning to the meager life of Palestine.

The Jewish territory was restricted to the city of Jerusalem and a limited district about it. How poor was the condition of the people is attested by the prophets Haggai (1. 7-11; 2. 16f.), Zechariah (7. 7), Malachi (3. 14), and by Nehemiah (I. 3; 2. 17; 4. 2; 5. 1-5). We know that the simple business life of Jerusalem had been restored to a degree, for the goldsmiths and the merchants were there (Neh 3. 31f.), and the necessaries of life were brought to the city for sale (13. 15-18). But even so, the Phoenician trader was doing the business. And in the story of Jonah,

which belongs to this period, it is significant that he is dependent upon Gentile sailors to give him passage from the port of Joppa (Jonah 1. 5).

How far the commercialism of the Babylonian Jews may have affected their brethren in Palestine it is impossible to say, for we have little knowledge of exact conditions in Jerusalem from the time of Nehemiah until the Greek period.

85. THE INFLUENCE OF GREEK COMMERCIALISM

It was the Greek who brought the Jew into the currents of the world's life. Alexander conquered the East with the great ambition of universalizing the Greek language and the Greek culture. The story of the Hellenization of the Jews, and of the great protests which brought about the Maccabean revolt, and of the continued potent influence of Greek life that in turn Hellenized the Maccabeans, and of the further protest that produced Pharisaism, is one of the most interesting chapters in the history of civilization. We are concerned here with only a single phase of that complicated process, namely, the development of the Jewish trader and man of affairs.

The policy of Alexander resulted in the establishment of Greek cities all over the eastern Mediterranean world, of which Alexandria and Antioch were the most conspicuous examples. Jews were eagerly sought as colonists for these new cities, and were accorded special privileges. While Jerusalem, therefore, did not greatly increase in wealth and dignity, the Jews spread over all the Greek world, learned the methods of commerce, and took their place in the extensive trade that covered the Mediterranean with shipping and kept all the roads of the Levant busy with merchan-' dise. While the Jews, therefore, took some part in the maritime trade, the life of the seafarer was never a familiar one to them. "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters" were regarded with a certain

wonder, and their adventures as full of peril (Psa 107. 23-30; Sirach 43. 24f.).

The Jews of the Dispersion maintained intimate relations with Jerusalem, to which they returned from time to time in pilgrimages, and they must have exerted some influence on the commerce of the land. Commercialism must have been increasing when Sirach wrote his treatise, for he had some fear that business involved moral dangers: "A merchant shall hardly keep himself from wrongdoing, and a huckster shall not be free from sin" (26. 29); “sin will thrust itself in between buying and selling" (27. 2); and a warning is found necessary against the abandonment of agriculture for the ways of commerce (7. 15).

The freedom from foreign oppression which the Maccabean rule secured was favorable to commercial development. It is specially mentioned that Simon captured the port of Joppa and "made an entrance to the isles of the sea" (1 Macc 14. 5). This wise ruler, who was much concerned to build up Judæa, must have used every opportunity to advance its trade and agriculture. The extending territory and increasing wealth of the later Asmoneans are evidences that the country was taking its independent place in the great Greek world.

The Roman influence and the reigns of the Herods were altogether favorable to the extension of commerce. Josephus has many references to the prosperity and business activity of his countrymen (Antiquities, XII, iv, 10; B. J., II, xxi, 2). The Gospels, though altogether incidentally, reflect busy commercial conditions. The market place is prominent in the people's life (Matt 20. 3; 23. 7; Mark 6. 56; 7. 4). Food is offered for sale in the villages and towns (Matt 14. 15; John 4. 8). Oil (Matt 25. 9), clothing (Mark 15. 46), cattle (Luke 14. 19), weapons (Luke 22. 36) are articles of purchase, as also costly ointments and spices (Mark 14. 5; 16. 1; John 19. 39). The trader journeys from place to place with his wares (Luke 10. 30-37),

not only with common articles, but the jewel merchant carries on his costly business (Matt 13. 45f.). Men of wealth, and even noblemen, engage in trade through the medium of their servants (Matt 25. 14-30; Luke 19. 12-27), banks are in operation at which money may be placed at interest (Matt 25. 27; Luke 19. 23). Men may be so engrossed in business as to be careless of spiritual values (Matt 22. 5), and what we should call "graft" is not unknown, for trading is permitted in the temple precincts by the permission and for the advantage of the priests (Matt 21. 12f.).

DIRECTIONS FOR STUDY

1. Read Josh 7. 21; 1 Sam 13. 19-21; 14. 3; 17. 38f.; 18. 6, 11; 26. 5, and consider carefully how the Hebrews could have obtained the various articles referred to.

2.

Read Kings 4. 20 to 7. 50; 9. 15 to 10. 29, and note every item of Solomon's commerce and manufacture. What were the good and the bad results of this development in the life of the people?

3. Read Lev 19. 35f.; Prov II. 1; 16. 11; 20. 10; Amos 8. 5; Mic 6. 10f.; Sirach 42. 4. What type of business do these injunctions particularly relate to? How far are such laws important to-day? Is obedience to these laws sufficient to make modern business satisfactory?

4. Read Ezek 26 and 27, and note the great impression made by Tyre upon the Hebrew mind. Note carefully the fine allegory of Tyre as a beautiful vessel that suffers shipwreck (ch. 27). 5. Make a list of the articles of the Tyrian commerce in Ezek 27 and identify as far as possible the various countries mentioned. Consider the effect upon Israel of having such a people as her near neighbor.

6. Read the book of Acts, and note (1) the indications of the presence of Jews throughout the Roman empire, (2) the different means of communication available in the empire, (3) the evidence of the commerce of Paul's day.

7. Rev 18 represents the feeling of satisfaction in the destruction of Rome, the tyrannical city. Note the description there given of Roman commerce. Consider that the Jews were

living in that Roman empire.

8. What are the social problems that arise in a commercial society as distinguished from an agricultural society?

9. What causes have contributed to make the modern Jew a man of business? Does this represent an advance in his culture? What kind of civilization would be possible in Palestine to-day if political conditions were satisfactory?

10. What is the best balance between a people's commercial and industrial activities, on the one hand, and their agricultural activities on the other? What are the tendencies of our American life in this particular? Do you regard them as healthy?