Jews

(jooz,) (THE.) [From Heb. Yehudin.] (Hist.) In contrast to the obscurity in which the origin of other nations is veiled, we have the evidence of Holy Writ for the rise, progre , decline, and fall of this most illustrious people of ancient times. They deduced their rise from Arphaxad, the son of Shem; and we have it on record, that Abraham, the 6th in descent from Heber, the grandson of Arphaxad, dwelt in As syria, but removed into Canaan or Palestine, abt. 2000 years B. c. They were first called Hebrews (q. v.), afterwards Israeli tes (q. v.), and Judæans or Jews after the Babylonish captivity, which last name has subsisted to our own days. It may be proper to give hero a brief sketch of the history of the Jews after the close of the Captivity (q. v.), through the period in which sacred history does not chronicle their deeds and fortunes. The captivity had widely dispersed them. Besides those carried toBabylon, many wen tin to Egypt, and made themselves ahome there. Throughout other countries bodies of the Jews were settled in the various provinces-perhaps even beyond the limits of the Persian empire. The restored in Judea were of course va als of the same crown. But this monarchy was subverted by Alexander the Great, who is said to have bestowed privileges on the Jews. On his early death, 323 B. c., four kingdoms, Macedonia, Thrace, Syria, and Egypt, were formed of his dominions. Between the two last-named Judea lay, and was for a long while under the power of one or other of them, and frequently the battle-field of their armies. It formed part of the kingdom of Egypt under Ptolemy Soter, and was favorably treated by Ptolemy Philadelphus, in whose reign most probably the Septuagint version of the Old Testament was commenced. Oppre ed by Ptolemy Philopator, the Jews revolted, and placed themselves under Antiochus the Great, king of Syria. By Antiochus Epiphanes they were cruelly persecuted; their religion was proscribed, and their temple profaned. Then that determined patriotic spirit was roused which, under the leadership of the Maccabean family, high -priests as well as princes, achieved at last their independence. The regal title was taken by Aristobulus, of this family, son of Hyrcanus, 107 B. c., and transmitted to his succe ors. But the Roman power was now extending itself in the East. Syria was made a Roman province by Pompey, who took Jerusalem 63 B. c.; and from that time the Jews were more or le directly dependent on the authority of Rome. The sovereignty was indeed granted to members of the He rod i an family, of whom Herod the Great, and, after an interval, Herod Agrippa I., had the largest dominion. But ultimately the Jews were governed by Roman procurators, till the disastrous war in which their capital, their ritual, their polity were destroyed by Vespas i an and Titus (see JERUSALEM). They still exist, a separate nation, the living evidence of prophecy; and though without a country, they exercise no unimportant influence on the affairs of the world. And the time may come when they may again a ume their place, and reoccupy their land, a faithful people under the renewed protection of the God of their fathers. Although intermixed for 18 centuries with so many diverse nations, the Jews have not only preserved their religion, but also a certain national type of feature, of which the most salient points are a dark skin, thick lips, and an aquiline nose. Their religious doctrines and rites are detailed in the five books of Moses, hence called the Law. The Curaites acknowledge no other code; but the Rubbinists, one of the two sects into which the Jews are divided, add those precepts inculcated by the Talmud. The following is a summary of the Judaism or religious creed of the Jews:-1, that God is a creator and active supporter of all things; 2, that God is ONE, and eternally unchangeable; 3, that God is incorporeal, and cannot have any material properties; 4, that God shall eternally subsist; 5, that Godis alone to be worshipped; 6, that whatever has been taught by the prophets is true; 7, that Moses is the head and father of all contemporary doctors, and of all those who lived before and shall live after him; 8, that the law was given by Moses; 9, that the law shall always exist, and never be altered; 10, that God knows all the thoughts and actions of man; 11, that God will reward the observance and punish the breach of his law; 12, that the Me iah is to come, though he tarry a long time; and 13, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead when God shall think fit. These doctrines, commonly received by the Jews to this day, were drawn up about the end of the 11th century by the famous Jewish rabbi Maim on ides. [s. 503]