E. C. S.
In the early chapters of this book Moses" praises of Hebrew valor in marching into a land already occupied and utterly destroying men, women and children, seems much like the rejoicing of those who believe in exterminating the aboriginees in America. Evidently Moses believed in the survival of the fittest and that his own people were the fittest.
He teaches the necessity of exclusiveness, that the hereditary traits of the people may not be lost by intermarriage. Though the Israelites, like the Puritans, had notable foremothers as well as forefathers, yet it was not the custom to mention them. Perhaps the word fathers meant both, as the word man in Scripture often includes woman. In the preface by Lord Bishop Ely, to what is popularly known as the Speaker"s Bible, the remark is made that "whilst the Word of G.o.d is one, and does not change, it must touch at new points the changing phases of physical, philological and historical knowledge, and so the comments that suit one generation are felt by another to be obsolete." So, also, it is that with the higher education of women, their wider opportunities and the increasing sense of justice, many interpretations of the Bible are felt to be obsolete, hence the same reason exists for the Woman"s Commentary, which is already popularly known as the Woman"s Bible.
Deuteronomy is a name derived from the Greek and signifies that this is the second or duplicate law, because this, the last book of the Pentateuch, consists partly in a restatement of the law, as already given in other books. Deuteronomy contains also, besides special commands and advice not previously written, an account of the death of Moses. Johnson"s Universal Cyclopedia states that "the authority of this book has been traditionally a.s.signed to Moses, but, of course, the part relating to his death is not supposed to be written by himself, and indeed the last four chapters may have been added by another hand." DeWette declares that Moses could not have been the author. He not only points to the closing chapters as containing proof, but he refers to the anachronisms in earlier chapters, and insists that the general manner in which the Mosaic history is treated belongs to a period after the time of Moses. And Rev. John White Chadwick in his "Bible of To-day" declares that "Prophetism created Deuteronomy." He speaks of Malachi, the last of the Prophets, as the first to mention the Mosaic law, and says that in the eighth century before Christ there was no Mosaic law in any modern sense. The Pentateuch in anything like its present form was still far in the future. Deuteronomy more than a hundred years ahead. Leviticus and Numbers nearly three hundred. * * *
The book of Deuteronomy was much more of a manufacture than any previous portion of the Pentateuch. * * * Not Sinai and Wilderness, but Babylon and Jerusalem, witnessed the promulgation of the Levitical law.
Its priest was Ezra and not Aaron; but who was its Moses the most patient study is not likely ever to reveal. The roar of Babylon does not give up its dead. It would seem as if the Rev. Dr. George Lansing Taylor shared some of these ideas when, in his poem at the centennial of Columbia College, he said:
"Great Ezra, Artaxerxes" courtly scholar-- Doctor, ere old Bologna gave that collar, A ready scribe in all the laws of heaven, From Babylon ascends, to Zion given, Armed with imperial power and proclamation, To rear G.o.d"s house and educate a nation.
As editor for G.o.d, the first in story, He crowns the editorial chair with glory.
Inspired to push Jehovah"s mighty plan on He lays its corner-stone, the Bible canon.
His Bible college, Bible publication, Convert the city, crown the Restoration, And fix the beacon date for History"s pages The chronologic milestone of the ages."
This chapter of Deuteronomy in the solemnity and explicitness of its blessing and cursings must produce a deep impression on those who are desirous of pursuing a course which would promote personal and national prosperity. Reading chapter xix and remembering the history of the Jews from Moses to this day I reverently acknowledge the sure word of prophecy therein recorded. Chapter x.x.x also has high literary merit.
Its euphony is in accordance with its solemn but encouraging warnings and promises. It touches the connection divinely ordained and eternally existing between life and goodness, death and sin, emphasizing the apostolic injunction, "cease to do evil, learn to do well." This chapter, giving the last directions of Moses and intimations of his departure from earth, is one of deep interest. How the Lord communicated to him that his end approached does not appear, but deeply impressed with the belief, he naturally called together Joshua and the Levites and gave his final charge. Whether fact or fiction this farewell is deeply interesting. The closing chapters, containing the "song of blessing," comes to all lovers of religious poetry as the swan song of Moses. Though doubting its authorship, one may enjoy its beauty and grandeur. Chapter x.x.xiv narrates the death of Moses:
"By Nebo"s lonely mountain, On this side Jordan"s wave."
It tells briefly the mourning of the children of Israel over their great leader"s departure and affirms the appointment of Joshua, the son of Nun, as his successor, and fitly closes the valuable collection of writings called the Pentateuch.
Since I have proposeed the elimination of some of the coa.r.s.er portions of Deuteronomy, I wish to add the testimony of Stevens in his "Scripture Speculations," as to the general morality of this ancient code. "Barbarous as they were in many things, childish in more, their laws are as much in advance of them as of their contemporaries,--were even singular for humanity in that age, and not always equaled in ours.
We forget that there were contemporary nations which justified stealing, authorised infanticide, legalized the murder of aged parents, a.s.sociated l.u.s.t with worship. None of these blots can be traced on the Jewish escutcheon. By preventing imprisonment for debt, Moses antic.i.p.ated the latest discovery of modern philanthropy. * * * Even the mercy of Christianity was foreshadowed in his provision for the poor, who were never to cease out of the land; the prospered were to lend without interest, and never to harden their heart against a brother.
The hovel of the poor was a sanctuary, and many a minute safeguard like the return of the debtor"s garment at nightfall, to save him from suffering during the chilliness of the night, has waited to be brought to light by our more perfect knowledge of Jewish customs." But that the Scriptures, rightly interpreted, do not teach the equality of the s.e.xes, I must be permitted to doubt. We who love the Old and New Testaments take "Truth for authority, and not authority for truth," as did our sainted Lucretia Mott, whose earnest appeals for liberty were often jewelled, as were Daniel Webster"s most eloquent speeches, with some texts from the old Hebrew Bible.
P. A. H.
CHAPTER VI.
THE PENTATEUCH.
The primal requisite for the more accurate understanding of the Bible is its translation from the past to the present tense. It has been studied as history, as the record of a remote past whose truth it has been well-nigh impossible to verify. It should be studied as a record of the present, the present experience of the individual and the race which is to ultimate in the perfect actualization of generic possibilities.
Like the tables of stone the Bible is written on both sides; or it has a letter which is its exterior and an interior spirit or meaning. The history which const.i.tutes its letter ill.u.s.trates those principles which const.i.tute its meaning. The formless must be put into form to be apprehended. Mistaking the form for that substance which has been brought to the level of human apprehension by its means, is the error which const.i.tutes the basis of dogmatic theology. Error in a premise compels error in conclusions. It is no wonder that woman"s true relation to man and just position in the social fabric has remained unknown. A Moses on Pisgah"s height is needed to-day to see and declare this promised land; and he must be revelator, first, to women themselves, for they especially need enlightenment upon the true nature of the Bible.
So long as they mistake superst.i.tion for religious revelation, they will be content with the position and opportunities a.s.signed them by scholastic theology. They will remember and "keep their place" as thus defined. Their religious nature is warped and twisted through generations of denominational conservatism; which fact, by the way, is the greatest stumbling block in the path of equal suffrage to-day, and one to which the leaders of that movement have seemed unaccountably blind.
Thus woman"s strongest foes have been of her own s.e.x; and because her sense of duty and religious sentiment have been operative according to a false ideal, unintentionally women have been and will continue to be bigoted until they allow a higher ideal to penetrate their minds; until they see with the eye of reason and logic, as well as with the sentiment which has so long kept them the dependent cla.s.s.
The Bible from beginning to end teaches the equality of man and woman, their relation as the two halves of the unit, but also their distinctiveness in office. One cannot take the place of the other because of the fundamental nature of each. The work of each half in its own place is necessary to the perfect whole.
The man has more prominence than the woman in the Bible because the masculine characters in their succession represent man as a whole-- generic man. The exterior or male half is outermost, the interior or female half is covered by the outer. One is seen, the other has to be discerned, and can be discerned by following the harmonious relativity between the two halves of the unit. There is a straight line of ascent from the Adam to the Christ, within which is the straight line of ascent from the Eve to the Mary. The book of Genesis is the substance of the whole Bible, its meaning is the key to the meaning of the whole; it is the skeleton around which the rest is builded. If the remainder of the Old Testament were destroyed its substance could be reconstructed from Genesis. As the bony structure of the physical body is the framework which is filled in and rounded to symmetrical proportions by the muscular tissue, so Genesis is the framework which is symmetrically rounded and filled by the other books, which supply the necessary detail involved in basic principles.
The first chapter of Genesis is not the record of the creation of the world. It is a symbolical description of the composite nature of man, that being which is male and female in one. The personal p.r.o.noun "He"
belongs to his exterior nature; and the characters which ill.u.s.trate this nature and the order of its development are men. The p.r.o.noun "She"
belongs to the interior nature, and all characters--fewer in number-- which ill.u.s.trate it, are women. "Male and female created he them." The second chapter describes the nature and origin of the visible world, the nature and origin of the soul, their relation to each other and to this dual being. With the third chapter begins the symbolical ill.u.s.tration of the soul"s existence--of its continuity of existence which is unbroken till its highest possibilities are actualized, till all the inherent capabilities of the dual being are fully manifested.
The leading characters of Genesis--Adam, Enos, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph--seven in number, represent the seven chief stages of the soul"s existence which follow each other like the notes in the musical scale. It is our own experience that is there portrayed, both present and prospective. What we as individuals, and nations are now going through in our efforts for betterment, is told in the story of Genesis. More than this, the clue to a.s.sured betterment is found there also. This experience is on two lines which are always distinct but never separate--the male and the female. These are indissolubly bound together "from the beginning," the same principles, necessitating the same moral standards and spiritual ideals, and governing both. The largest measure of our individual and national perplexities and sufferings has come from the ignorant straining apart of that which "G.o.d hath joined together" and which we can not successfully and permanently "put asunder."
The remaining four books of the Pentateuch, supply the detail beginning between the Adam and Noah of Genesis, rounding out that part of the skeleton. The Exodus from Egypt under the leadership of Moses, represents the soul"s growth out of purely sense-consciousness by the help of spiritual perception. Moses is the personification of this faculty inherent in and operative from the eternal ego, the dual being, which is "the Lord" of the Bible. The Old Testament presents the outer or masculine nature of this "Lord" as the Jehovah. The New Testament presents the inner or feminine nature as the Virgin.
The children of Israel according to their tribes, represent the ranging characteristics or parts which make up the soul of self- consciousness. They are the "chosen people" because when the soul sees with its spiritual insight as well as with its sensuous outsight, it can, if it will, choose between the two as guides. Their experiences in the wilderness are what we are pa.s.sing through to-day; for there is now a people who have made this choice and are following the higher leader in their work for the human race, which is the only satisfactory way of working for themselves. But this leader--spiritual perception--cannot put the soul in possession of its promised land--a higher state of existence or quality of self-consciousness. It sees the higher and leads in its direction; but understanding of fundamental, therefore unvarying and always applicable, principles is necessary for that realization which Is the attainment of the higher, or its possession.
Moses" death before crossing Jordan ill.u.s.trates this limitation, which is also the limitation of earnest reformers to-day. They can see for us and point out that which awaits them; but they can never take those others "into the land." They must travel on their own feet.
Joshua, as the leader after Moses, is the personification of this understanding. He is Moses" sepulchre, for Moses is buried in him.
Spiritual insight develops understanding which is its continuity. Hence the continuation of experiences under Joshua the "Saviour" through whom the soul takes "possession" of its higher state. In the "wilderness" of transition from the old to the new, mistakes occur which mar their consequences. In this ill.u.s.tration of the Pentateuch, Miriam "speaks against" Moses, is stricken with leprosy and "set without the camp,"
and the people cannot journey till all is "brought in again."
Woman"s intellectual development after ages of repression, has resulted with many of the s.e.x, in an agnosticism which, at first liberal, has grown to be a dogmatic materialism. She "speaks against"
spiritual insight and its revelations. In forsaking her dogmas and creeds she has forsaken religion. She is to be "brought in again"-- brought to see that religion is of the soul and is individual; while dogma and doctrine are from the sensuous out-side alone. The one tends to true freedom, the other generates bondage. Broadly, women of to-day are of two cla.s.ses; those who are still held by the conservatism of creeds, and those who have gone to the other extreme through the exhilaration of intellectual activity. Both cla.s.ses must meet upon a common ground, recognition of fundamental principles and effort to apply them--before the New Testament can become the practical ethical standard.
An outline of a subject so vast and profound as the nature and meaning of the Pentateuch, must necessarily be more or less unsatisfactory. It cannot be detached from the rest of the Bible which is a complete organic body. Its meaning is consecutive and harmonious with first premises, from beginning to end. The obvious inconsistencies and absurdities involve only its letter, which may or may not be true as history without affecting the truth of the book itself which lies in its meaning.
The projectors of "The Woman"s Bible" must not avoid the whirlpool of a masculine Bible only, to split upon the rock of a feminine Bible alone. This would be an attempt to separate what is intensely joined together and defeat the end desired. The book is the soul"s guide in the fulfilling of its destiny--that destiny which is involved in its origin; and the soul, in sleep, is s.e.xless. Its faculties and powers are differentiated are masculine and feminine.
If the question is asked--"What is your authority for this view of the Bible?" the answer is "I have none but the internal evidence of the book itself. When joined it is self-evident truth, requiring no external authority to give it support."
U. N. G.
APPENDIX.
As the Revising Committee refer to a woman"s translation of the Bible as their ultimate authority, for the Greek, Latin and Hebrew text, a brief notice of this distinguished scholar is important:
Julia Smith"s translation of the Bible stands out unique among all translations. It is the only one ever made by a woman, and the only one, it appears, ever made by man or woman without help. Wyclif, "the morning star of the Reformation," made a translation from the Vulgate, a.s.sisted by Nicholas of Hereford. He was not sufficiently familiar with Hebrew and Greek to translate from those tongues. Coverdale"s translation was not done alone. In his dedication to the king he says he has humbly followed his interpreters and that under correction.
Tyndale, in his translation, had the a.s.sistance of Frye, of William Roye, and also of Miles Coverdale. Julia Smith translated the whole Bible absolutely alone, without consultation with any one. And this not once, but five times--twice from the Hebrew, twice from the Greek and once from the Latin. Literalness was one end she kept constantly in view, though this does not work so well with the Hebrew tenses. But she did not mind that. Frequently her wording is an improvement, or brings one closer to the original than the common translation. Thus in I.
Corinthians viii, 1, of the King James translation, we have: "Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." Julia Smith version: "Knowledge puffs up and love builds the house." She uses "love" in place of "charity" every time. And her translation was made nearly forty years before the revised version of our day, which also does the same.
Tyndale, in his translation nearly three hundred and seventy-five years ago, made the same translation of this word; but Julia Smith did not know that and never saw his translation. This word "charity" was one of the words that Sir Thomas More, Lord Chancellor of England, charged Tyndale with mistranslating. The other two words were "priest" and "church," Tyndale calling priests "seniors," and church, "congregation." Both Julia Smith and the revised version call them priests and church. And he gives the word, "Life" for "Eve" "And Adam will call his wife"s name Life, for she was the mother of all living."