6) Geographical locations in the book of Daniel
Daniel 1:
- Kingdom of Judah:
Spiritual Dimension
While the above summary of the history of Judah deals with the military and political vicissitudes of its course, the biblical account presents a story in which Judah's rise and fall relates to one central theme: its fidelity to God. In this version of Judah's story, the division of the Solomon's United Kingdom is due to the fact of his idolatry and is predicted by the prophet Ahijah long before the northern rebel Jeroboam confronts Rehoboam over Solomon's oppressive labor policy.
Thereafter the kings of Judah prosper in war and peace when they "walk in the ways of [their] father David" and eschew to "sin of Jeroboam" (1 Kings 12:29-30). This sin was not his rebellion against the anointed king, Rehoboam, for that had been prophesied and even endorsed by God through Ahijah (1 Kings 11:31). Instead, it was his toleration of idolatry, his endorsement of the "high places" presided over by non-Levite priests, and especially his establishment of the royal temples at Dan and Beth-El, the latter only a few miles north of Jerusalem. In these sanctuaries he reportedly erected golden statues of bull calves.
Several Judean kings receive praise from the biblical writers, but even the good kings who destroyed the temples of Baal and tore down the "Ashera poles" did not go far enough, for they failed to destroy "high places" where unauthorized priests operated. Even in the capital, the idea that God alone should be worshiped failed to take root. Jerusalemites worshipped the bronze serpent of Moses (2 Kings 18:4). Families honored Astarte, the Queen of Heaven, by baking cakes and making drink offerings to her (Jeremiah 7:18). Male shrine prostitutes operated not only outside of Jerusalem, but even in the Temple itself in Josiah's day (2 Kings 23:7). So confused was the spiritual consciousness of the Judahites that the God spoke through Jeremiah to characterize human sacrifice as "something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind" (Jeremiah 7:31).
In the end, says the bible, Judah was not pure enough to stand in God's sight. Not even the radical reforms of King Josiah could save Judah from its fate. It must be chastised, its temple destroyed, and its people taken into exile. Only then would the Jews — for thus would the people of Judah be called henceforth — be allowed to return to Jerusalem, rebuild their Temple, and await the coming of a true king, the Messiah, the son of David.
Critical Views
Bible critics hold that the sacred history summarized in the above section is the product of a religious ideology that emerged several centuries after the facts it describes. An accurate history of Judah and Israel, if possible at all, must be painstakingly distilled from this magnificent work of religious historiography. Tools such as literary analysis, archaeology, and historical comparisons to other documents or events yield a picture that sometimes confirms the biblical view but often contradicts it.
Quoting Sennacharib of Assyria: "Because Hezekiah, king of Judah, would not submit to my yoke, I came up against him, and by force of arms and by the might of my power I took forty-six of his strong fenced cities...Hezekiah himself I shut up in Jerusalem, his capital city, like a bird in a cage. Then upon Hezekiah there fell the fear of the power of my arms, and he sent out to me the chiefs and the elders of Jerusalem with 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver, and divers treasures, a rich and immense booty."
The invasion of Judah by Sennacharib of Assyria provides a good example. The Bible briefly admits (2 Kings 18-19) that Sennacharib succeeded in conquering much of Judah. However, it goes on at some length to describe God's miraculous intervention to save Jerusalem by sending a mighty angel to smite the Assyrians with a plague. The story told by Sennacherib himself in the "Taylor Prism," discovered in the ruins of the city of Nineveh, is quite different (see sidebar).
Historical critics of the Bible tell us that much of the biblical history of Judah is colored so as to portray religious issues as paramount. It is replete with legendary and mythological material, as well as being highly biased toward the viewpoint of the Yahweh-only religious faction in Jerusalem. It exaggerates the wickedness of "Canaanite" religion, unfairly denigrates the Northern Kingdom, and favors the priestly elites of Jerusalem at the expense of their geographical and religious competitors. Feminist critics add that this portrayal of Judah's history arises from male chauvinist writers who sought to repress women in general and goddess worship in particular. Various critics argue that the biblical writers' justification of repressive policies toward other ethnic and religions groups is not better than the attitude of modern-day militant Muslim sects. Recently an intellectual movement has arisen to link Judean biblical attitudes with alleged Israeli cruelty toward the Palestinian people. Many historians, of course, refrain from such moral judgments against biblical standards, pointing out that the ethical values of today cannot be imposed on ancient societies. Finally, a large number of Christian and Jewish scholars accept some of the findings of historical criticism regarding the Kingdom of Judah but insist that the contribution of Ethical Monotheism to civilization outweighs the negative aspects mentioned above.
