1. There was a change in language, from He´brew to Ar-a-ma´ic, or Chal-da´ic. The books of the Old Testament written after the restoration are in a different dialect from the earlier writings. After the captivity the Jews needed an interpreter in order to understand their own earlier Scriptures. Allusion to this fact is given in Neh. 8. 7. The Chal´dee of Bab´y-lon and the He´brew were sufficiently alike to cause the people during two generations to glide imperceptibly from one to the other, until the knowledge of their ancient tongue was lost to all except the scholars.

2. There was a change in habits. Before the captivity the Jews were a secluded people, having scarcely any relation with the world. The captivity brought them into contact with other nations, and greatly modified their manner of living. Hitherto they had been mostly farmers, living on their own fields; now they became merchants and traders, and filled the world with their commerce. Rarely now do we find a Jew who cultivates the ground for his support. They are in the cities, buying and selling. This tendency began with the Bab-y-lo´ni-an captivity, and has since been strengthened by the varied experiences, especially by the persecutions, of the Jews during the centuries.

3· There was a change in character. This was the most radical of all. Before the captivity the crying sin of Ju´dah, as well as of Is´ra-el, was its tendency to idolatry. Every prophet had warned against it and rebuked it, reformers had risen up, kings had endeavored to extirpate it; but all in vain—the worshipers of God were the few; the worshipers of idols were the many. After the captivity there was a wonderful transformation. From that time we never read of a Jew bowing his knee before an idol. The entire nation was a unit in the service of Je-ho´vah. Among all the warnings of the later prophets, and the reforms of Ez´ra and Ne-he-mi´ah, there is no allusion to idolatry. That crime was utterly and forever eradicated; from the captivity until to-day the Jews have been the people of the one, invisible God, and intense in their hatred of idols.

4. There were new institutions as the result of the captivity. Two great institutions arose during the captivity:

1.) The synagogue, which grew up among the exiles, was carried back to Pal´es-tine, and was established throughout the Jew´ish world. This was a meeting of Jews for worship, for reading the law, and for religious instruction. It had far greater influence than the temple after the captivity; for while there was but one temple in all the Jewish world, there was a synagogue in every city and village where Jews lived; and while the temple was the seat of a priestly and ritualistic service, the synagogue promoted freedom of religious thought and utterance. Out of the synagogue, far more than the temple, grew the Christian church.

2.) The order of scribes was also a result of the captivity. The days of direct inspiration through prophets were passing away, and those of the written Scripture, with a class of men to study and interpret it, came in their place. During the captivity the devout Jews studied the books of their literature, the law, the psalms, the histories, and the prophets. After the captivity arose a series of scholars who were the expounders of the Scriptures. Their founder was Ez´ra, at once a priest, a scribe, and a prophet (Ezra 7. 1-10), who arranged the books and in a measure completed the canon of Old Testament Scripture.

5. There was a new hope, that of a Mes-si´ah. From the time of the captivity the Jew´ish people looked forward with eager expectation to the coming of a Deliverer, the Consolation of Is´ra-el, the "Anointed One" (the word Mes-si´ah means "anointed"), who should lift up his people from the dust, exalt the throne of Da´vid, and establish an empire over all the nations. This had been promised by prophets for centuries before the exile, but only then did it begin to shine as the great hope of the people. It grew brighter with each generation, and finally appeared in the coming of Je´sus Christ, the King of Is´ra-el.

6. From the captivity there were two parts of the Jew´ish people: the Jews of Pal´es-tine, and the Jews of the dispersion, 1.) The Jews of Pal´es-tine, sometimes called He´brews (Acts 6. 1), were the lesser in number, who lived in their own land and maintained the Jew´ish state. 2.) The Jews of the dispersion were the descendants of those who did not return after the decree of Cy´rus (Ezra 1. 1), but remained in foreign lands and gradually formed Jew´ish "quarters" in all the cities of the ancient world. They were the larger in number, and later were called "Gre´cian Jews," or Hellenists, from the language which they used (Acts 6. 1). Between these two bodies there was a close relation. The Jews of the dispersion had synagogues in every city (Acts 15. 6), were devoted to the law, made constant pilgrimages to Je-ru´sa-lem, and were recognized as having one hope with the Jews of Pal´es-tine. The traits of the two bodies were different, but each contributed its own elements toward the making of a great people.

Blackboard Outline

IV. Con. Cap. 1. Kin. tre. 2. Org. main. 3. La. wor. obs. 4. Ins. pro. tea. 5. Lit. pre. enl.
V. Res. Cap. 1. Ch. Ian. 2. Ch. hab. 3. Ch. char. 4. Ne. ins. (syn. scr.) 5. Hop. Mess. 6. Two. par. peo.