INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF

ZEPHANIAH.

§ 1. FROM THE FALL OF THEBES TO THE FALL OF NINEVEH.

These two termini include the period of the decline and fall of the Assyrian empire. Within its limits belong the prophecies of both Zephaniah and Nahum. The difficulty and the greatness of their work can be properly appreciated only as we obtain an understanding of the course of events of which it formed a part. Judah, under Manasseh, continued the vassalage to Assyria that had been inaugurated by Ahaz, through his panic-stricken recourse to the aid of Tiglath-pileser III, and had been riveted upon Hezekiah by Sennacherib. Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal maintained the high prestige of Assyria throughout western Asia. The former had established her dominion over lower Egypt as far south as Memphis in 670 B.C., and had died (668 B.C.) while on the march to Egypt to drive back the Ethiopian Taharka, who had incited the Delta to revolt and was actively engaged in the attempt to free Egypt from the Assyrian yoke. Ashurbanipal (668–626 B.C.) immediately took up the unfinished task of his predecessor. His reign was the last blaze of Assyria's glory. Taharka was driven back into Nubia and Assyria's sway re-established over the Delta. Twenty kings of the Mediterranean littoral and the neighbouring islands, including Manasseh of Judah, hastened to renew their submission to Assyria. The irrepressible Taharka resumed his intrigues with the princes of the Delta soon after Ashurbanipal's return home and again stirred up revolt. The traitors were all severely punished by Ashurbanipal, with the exception of Necho, prince of Sais, who was shown honour and appointed Assyria's representative in charge of the whole of the Delta, being granted a body of Assyrian troops with which to maintain his authority.

This plan of organisation worked well for some time after the death of Taharka (663 B.C.). But in the third year of his successor, Tanutamon, negotiations were again opened between the princes of the Delta and the Ethiopian king, who attacked Necho and his Assyrian soldiers, inflicting defeat upon them and slaying Necho himself. In 661 B.C., Ashurbanipal despatched an expedition to Egypt which drove Tanutamon back into Ethiopia and seized and plundered Thebes, the ancient stronghold and capital. From this blow Thebes never recovered; though Tanutamon re-entered the city after the withdrawal of the Assyrian army and remained there until 654 B.C., when Psamtik, son of Necho and king of Sais and Memphis, expelled the Ethiopians and restored Thebes to Egyptian ownership.

While the Egyptian campaigns were draining Assyria of blood and treasure, Ashurbanipal was also compelled to wage a bloody war against Elam, which had resumed her former hostility shortly after his accession. Two campaigns reduced Elam to temporary submission, under the rule of princes appointed as Assyrian vassals (665 B.C.). Another draught upon Assyria's resources was occasioned by troubles in the far west, where Ba'al of Tyre had to be besieged and Arvad and Tabal brought to submission and tribute. Shortly afterward, Assyria's aid was besought by Arvad, Tabal and Lydia against the Cimmerians who had become aggressive.

An irremediable injury was done to the life of the Assyrian empire by the civil war instituted through the revolt of Ashurbanipal's brother, Shamash-shum-ukin, king of Babylon. The struggle was fierce and of seven years' duration, ending in 647 B.C. with the complete triumph of Ashurbanipal, who became king of Babylon under the name Kandalanu. Thereupon followed a series of campaigns against Elam, which had aided Shamash-shum-ukin. These resulted about 640 B.C. in the total destruction of Elam as a nation. The western peoples, who had eagerly seized upon the opportunity offered by the revolt of Babylon to rid themselves of the oppressive burden of vassalage to Nineveh, also required chastisement. The Arabian tribes, including the Kedarenes and Nabateans, who had aided Shamash-shum-ukin, were brought into subjection by Ashur

banipal in a series of battles, in the course of which his troops overran the territory of the Kedarenes, Nabatæans, Edom, Moab, Ammon and the Hauran. Ushu and Acco, in Phoenicia, were also unmercifully punished. If any credence may be given to the Chronicler's story of the captivity of Manasseh of Judah, it is safe to say that the events which brought it about must be placed in connection with this same revolt of the western peoples. In addition to these foes on the east and west, the peoples of the north and north-west initiated hostilities and persisted in them. Among others the Mannai and the Cimmerians were smitten by Ashurbanipal. Not until about 640 B.C. was peace restored throughout the Assyrian empire. For twelve years Assyria had been engaged in a desperate struggle for life, which she won, but at terrible cost. Meantime, Egypt, left to her own devices and led by the energetic Psamtik I, had expelled the Ethiopians, made alliance with Gyges of Lydia and so strengthened herself and increased her resources that Ashurbanipal made no further effort to reduce her to submission. The last fourteen years of the reign of Ashurbanipal are shrouded in obscurity.

Since the accession of Manasseh, Judah had been passing through a period of reaction. The ideals exalted by prophets like Isaiah and Micah had suffered eclipse. A relation of vassalage to Assyria had been inherited from Hezekiah's reign. Heavy tribute taxed the resources of the people to the utmost and fretted the freedom-loving spirit of these hill-dwellers almost beyond endurance. It is probable that, when the neighbouring peoples entered into the conspiracy with Shamash-shum-ukin against Ashurbanipal, Judah did not stand aloof. In any case, high hopes were raised by the general revolt throughout the empire only to be dashed to the ground with the collapse of the whole movement. This political maelstrom of dissatisfaction, restlessness, intrigue, hope and despair was intensified by the cross-currents of the social and religious life which ran fast and furious. Foreign customs and practices were welcomed with open arms. Manasseh himself led the reactionary movement in religion which sought to reinstate the old deities and shrines that had been discredited by Sennacherib's invasion. The Baalim and Asherah, so generally worshipped

throughout Syria, were restored to favour in Judah. Sun-worship too was officially approved and practised. That all this was due to something more than mere religious indifference, easy-going toleration or even diplomatic acceptance of the cults of the neighbouring peoples allied with Judah in the common desire and purpose to obtain freedom from Assyria, is evident from the fact that Manasseh is said to have offered up one of his own sons as a burntoffering. This means agonising endeavour on the part of a superstitious and idolatrous people and its king to secure the favour and help of Heaven in their endeavour to better their lot. Despairing of success with the aid of Yahweh alone, they turned eagerly to the other gods of the local pantheon in the hope of securing their cooperation. They were willing to pay the highest price for such aid, withholding not their own heart's blood. The precise significance of the statement in 2 K. 2116 that "Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another" is undiscoverable. It may refer to frequent resort to infant sacrifice, though it is unlikely that Manasseh would have been held solely accountable for this; or to a bloody persecution of the prophets of Yahweh (cf. Je. 230); or even to acts of tyranny, like the judicial murder of Naboth the Jezreelite in Ahab's time, occasioned by the desire to replenish the royal treasury or to remove influential opposition to the royal policy. The interplay of such conditions and influences produced a high degree of ferment in Jerusalem. With the passing of Manasseh and Amon and the accession of Josiah about 638 B.C., new influences began to come to the fore in Judah. The principles inculcated by the earlier prophets were bearing fruit and were to receive official endorsement when the boy king came to maturity of judgment.

While the new régime was establishing itself in Judah, new forces and strange faces began to appear in the larger arena of western Asia. The Scythians, breaking loose from their mountain fastnesses in the north, came pouring down upon Assyria's territory, sweeping everything before them.* In the extreme west they encountered Psamtik I of Egypt, who had for years been occupied with the siege of Ashdod, which he was now forced to abandon by

* Hdt., I, 103 ff..