I'm not knocking it, because they wrote the books, but the religious parties always cooked the results IMO. You'll recall the disorder of the period of Judges -- when there was no king and everyone did as he pleased. Retrospectively, the writers suggested that there was a Jewish nation, but IMO that's fiction. There were tribes -- the fought each other and killed each other when they could. Samuel -- a priest -- lubricated Saul (a Benjamite) who tried to build a nation and fought the Philistines unsuccessfully. David (Judean) rebelled allied himself with Philistines and fought Saul. The place was full of tribelets and factions, rebellions, fornication and adultery. David tried to centralize worship in Jerusalem (even dressed and pretended to be a priest) and had his henchmen claim that he was High Priest by the order of Melchizedek. This led to enormous disorder in the North, where the local Aaronites resisted losing the local sacrifices in their high places (which they lived on). IMO this was one of the principal reasons that Israel and Judah split aside from Solomon's merciless taxation and Rehoboam's incompetence. If you follow the history of both nations, you will see that the kings were sometimes trying to build a state from both orthodox jews, Baalites, northern secessionists, and even philistines. (Ahab and Jezebel, for instance). Elijah's attacks on Ahab and murder of the Baal priests wrecked the northern kingdom.
I don't have time or skill to present a balanced argument. But please consult any scholarly (secular) history of the Jewish people, such as Ben-Sasson (ed) Harvard 1976, and you will get my point. I am intellectually opposed to religion, but am not trying to blackguard the priesthood and the rabbinate. I think they (naturally) fought for their own specific version of Judaism even if it destroyed the state and the people. I find it amazing that the Hasmoneans were able to lead the Jews to disaster, or that the Zealots and Bar-Kocheba were able to destroy the people by their intolerance and religious hysteria.
It was Jewish intolerance and exceptionalism, refusal to obey the uniform religious rules of the Empires that conquered them (and otherwise always allowed local sects their gods and rights of conscience) that led to the destruction of the state and the expulsion of the people. Straining at a gnat, I say. If Caesar wants a pinch of incense, give it to him. If he wants his statue in the Temple -- better a Temple with Caesar than no Temple at all. |
