The Cities That Built the Bible

by Dr. Robert Cargill

  Scholars believe the book of Daniel was composed well into the Hellenistic period because parts of the book reflect activity that took place in the early second century BCE. Daniel 8:1–8, for instance, speaks in apocalyptic code about Alexander the Great’s rise to power and conquest of the Mediterranean and Near East. Daniel 8:8 speaks of the death of Alexander and the rise of the four Diadochoi, the successors of Alexander and rulers over the remains of his segmented kingdom. Likewise, Daniel 8:9–12 speaks of the rise of “another horn, a little one, which grew exceedingly great,” the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who suppressed many aspects of Jewish worship and practice in Jerusalem, including circumcision and the daily sacrifices at the Temple.

  Note that even Antiochus’s termination of the burned offerings at the Jerusalem Temple is specifically mentioned in Daniel 8:11–12. Although some may argue that verses from Daniel 8 may be highly predictive visions of what was to come, most critical scholars see this as evidence that the latter portions of the book of Daniel were composed after the fact during the Hellenistic period, but literarily set in the Babylonian and early Persian periods.

  The book of Daniel likely began as a collection of disparate Aramaic court tales that were later collected and expanded. Although they were written in response to later Hellenistic threats to Judaism, they were literarily set in the time of the Babylonian exile as a model to Jews suffering under Greek oppression; in the same way that Daniel and his friends remained faithful to YHWH upon threat of death by the fiery furnace (Dan. 3) and the lions’ den (Dan. 6; Bel. 31–42), the book of Daniel encouraged Jews living under Greek oppression to remain faithful as well. This theme is seen in many other late Second Temple literary works that were ultimately left out of the Hebrew canon, including the Additions to Daniel (which include the Apocryphal Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Jews, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon), and manuscripts like the Aramaic Prayer of Nabonidus (4Q242), fragments of which were discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls.22 The book of Daniel was included in the Bible to give hope to Jews that one day, if they remain faithful to God, he will deliver them from foreign oppression.

  JEREMIAH

  Perhaps no prophet is more closely identified with Babylon than Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah). Jeremiah was active during the reign of King Josiah and continued his prophetic activity through the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 587 BCE. The famed “weeping prophet” is traditionally credited with writing the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations. However, although the prophecies early in the book (chaps. 1–25) may be attributed to Jeremiah the prophet, many scholars point to the narratives about Jeremiah (e.g., chaps. 25–29, 32–44), which read much like the text of 2 Kings, as evidence that large portions of the book, especially the latter parts, were composed and added to the book of Jeremiah by other authors because the materials dealt with him.

  Jeremiah 39:1–10 parallels Jeremiah 52:4–16 and 2 Kings 25:1– 12, while Jeremiah 40:7–41:18 parallels 2 Kings 25:23–26. In fact, Jeremiah 52 is a complete parallel retelling of 2 Kings 24:18–25:30, demonstrating that the later portions of the book are traditions about Jeremiah that were appended to his prophecy despite appearing elsewhere in the Bible. Remember also that according to Jeremiah 36:4 and 18, Jeremiah did not write his prophecies, but only received oracles from YHWH and spoke them aloud. It was Jeremiah’s scribe, Baruch ben Neriah, who actually wrote down the prophecies.

  Jeremiah is unique among the prophets, because rather than encouraging the king of Judah to rebel against its foreign oppressors and have faith in YHWH, as Isaiah had done with Ḥezekiah during the Assyrian threat, Jeremiah encouraged capitulation to Babylon (Jer. 27:8; 38:17–18, 20–23). This may be due to the fact that Jeremiah did not go into Egyptian captivity with King Jeho’aḥaz of Judah (2 Kings 23:30–34) or remain in Judah with King Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:17), but was taken into Babylonian captivity with King Jehoiachin. Jeremiah’s capitulation to Babylon may explain why the books of Kings end with the good treatment and release of King Jehoiachin in Babylon and why Jeremiah 52 is identical to 2 Kings 24:18–25:30; he felt that capitulation would ensure survival, and his works were preserved because he was “right”— those who surrendered survived in exile, while those who didn’t were destroyed along with Jerusalem.23

  One of the problems that Jeremiah highlighted in his prophecies is that the people of Jerusalem believed their city was unconquerable (cf. Ps. 46:1–5).24 He had even warned the Jerusalemites specifically in 7:4, 8 that Jerusalem was, in fact, not impregnable simply because the Temple was there: “Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’ . . . Here you are, trusting in deceptive words to no avail.” Jeremiah insisted, rather, that the Judahites had to do something in order to retain God’s protection; they couldn’t just assume that God would bless them because of the Temple. Specifically, Jeremiah pleaded with the king and residents of Jerusalem that they “act justly one with another . . . not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood . . . and . . . not go after other gods” (7:5–6); and only then—because of their right actions—would God defend Jerusalem. But Jerusalem ultimately fell, and it was this destruction of Jerusalem—the city that was so thought to be inviolable due to the protection of YHWH—that forever defined Babylon in the memories of Jews.

  Once again in Jeremiah we see the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple, and the exile to Babylon explained with a heavy dose of theological self-blame: the ancient Judahites believed God allowed Babylon to destroy Jerusalem because of Judah’s sins. Thus, it wasn’t God who broke his promise, but his people. Jeremiah’s prophecy essentially served to explain to the people of Judah and its kings why God allowed the destruction of the Temple (cf. Jer. 1:16; 5:19). Remember, the biblical tradition states that YHWH chose Abraham and his descendants as his people, promised to bless them, and promised David through the prophet Nathan that a descendant of David would always sit on the throne (2 Sam. 7). But Jeremiah argues that because Judah acted unjustly and worshipped other gods, it would be destroyed.

  As one might expect, Jeremiah’s message was very unpopular among the ruling class in Jerusalem. No one likes to be told that they are treating people unfairly, especially politicians and rulers. Jeremiah 36:23 states that King Jehoiakim cut up and burned every couple of columns of Jeremiah’s words as they were read to him. Even in modern times the prophetic voice bearing the message of government corruption and civil injustice is often attacked. As we see in the reaction to Martin Luther King, Jr., Mohandas Gandhi, and journalists and citizen watchdog groups that hold governments accountable for their actions, governments hate to be criticized. Jeremiah suffered greatly for criticizing those in power. The book of Jeremiah states he was attacked by his own relatives (12:6), beaten and put into the stocks (20:2), imprisoned by the king (35:17), and thrown into the cistern of Malkiah by Judah’s officials (cf. 38:6).

  The book of Jeremiah shows us that although we may argue about whether tragedy is a premeditated punishment from God because of our disobedience or simply a natural part of the human experience unmediated by any divine agent, we as humans ought to act justly toward one with another, refrain from oppressing the marginalized, like immigrants, orphans, and widows (Jer. 7:5–6), and defend the cause of the poor and needy. After all, isn’t that exactly what Jeremiah 22:16 says it means to know the Lord?

  THE END OF THE NEO-BABYLONIANS AND THE END OF EXILE

  The Neo-Babylonian Empire came to an end in 539 BCE, when the Persian king Cyrus the Great defeated the Babylonian king Nabonidus at the Battle of Opis, just north of Babylon. King Cyrus founded the Persian Achaemenid Empire and assumed the lands previously held by the Neo-Babylonians.

  So great was the Bible’s hatred of the Babylonians, that the prophet Isaiah actually heralds the Persian king as a messiah (or “anointed one”) because he overcame the Babylonians:

  [Thus says the LORD], who says o
f Cyrus, “He is my shepherd, and he shall carry out all my purpose”; and who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him . . . “so that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I surname you, though you do not know me.” (Isa. 44:28–45:4)

  This text from Isaiah was likely written after the so-called Edict of Cyrus announcing the general return of all exiled peoples back to their homes. Although Jerusalem and Judah are never mentioned on the Cyrus Cylinder, which calls only for the restoration of Mesopotamian sanctuaries (and not specifically of the Jerusalem Temple), the authors of the Bible certainly interpreted the decree as pertaining to them. Ezra 1:1–4 (cf. 2 Chron. 36:22–23) states:

  In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia so that he sent a herald throughout all his kingdom, and also in a written edict declared:

  “Thus says King Cyrus of Persia: the LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of those among you who are of his people—may their God be with them!—are now permitted to go up to Jerusalem in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem; and let all survivors, in whatever place they reside, be assisted by the people of their place with silver and gold, with goods and with animals, besides freewill offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.”

  The authors (and editors) of the Bible interpreted King Cyrus’s actions as the result of the hand of YHWH at work through King Cyrus, even though Cyrus did not “know” YHWH. They acknowledge that Cyrus did not credit YHWH for his victory, likely because they knew that in the same record that proclaimed the release of the exiled captives, Cyrus credits Babylon’s god, Marduk, for his victory:

  Marduk, the great lord, who nurtures his people, saw with pleasure his [Cyrus’s] fine deeds and true heart, and ordered that he should go to Babylon. He had him take the road to Tintir [Babylon], and, like a friend and companion, he walked at his side.25

  Thus, the Bible interprets the victory of Cyrus the Great over Babylon as the work of YHWH and interprets the Edict of Cyrus as God’s deliverance of his exiled peoples. Of course, referring to a foreign king as a messiah was problematic. But later Second Temple–period literature would attempt to support the notion that Cyrus the Great was, in fact, qualified to be called “messiah” by arguing that he actually converted to the worship of YHWH, as is suggested in 1 Esdras 4:42–63 and Bel and the Dragon 28 and 41. But desperate times call for desperate interpretations, and the editors of the Bible were more than willing to see the hand of God in the Persian victory over Babylon.

  THE LEGACY OF BABYLON

  Babylon continued to play an important role in the formation of the Bible even after it fell to Persia. Much of the Hebrew Bible was at the very least compiled and edited during the exile in Babylon, perhaps by the scribes at the court of the exiled King Jehoiachin. Some scholars even claim that portions of the Hebrew Bible may have been composed in Babylon perhaps by those Jews who remained in Babylon when others returned to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Remember that although the Edict of Cyrus allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple and repopulate what became the Persian province of Yehud (which would become Judea), many Jews—perhaps a majority of them—stayed behind in Babylon. This explains why areas in and around Babylon became centers of Jewish thought throughout the first six centuries CE, when the Babylonian Talmud, which preserves the teachings, interpretations, and often dissenting opinions of the most prominent early rabbis on a variety of subjects found in the Hebrew Bible, was compiled and edited.26 Thus, Babylon, despite its place in history as the city that destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple of YHWH, remained a place of Jewish learning throughout the first centuries of the common era.

  And this is how Babylon, the city that destroyed Jerusalem, contributed arguably a disproportionate amount of content to the Bible. Not only did it fundamentally alter the political plight of ancient Judah, but it also remained a symbol of destruction and evil even into the first Christian century. Revelation 17:5 adopts the symbol of Babylon, calling it the “mother of whores,” and promises that one day God’s people will experience vindication and victory over their oppressors, as Revelation 18:21 symbolically claims, “With such violence Babylon the great city will be thrown down, and will be found no more.” And this, I argue, is why most people have a negative view of Babylon—because of the role it played in building the Bible.

  CHAPTER 5

  Megiddo

  Armageddon. The very word strikes fear into the hearts of believers. (Either that, or you immediately see visions of Bruce Willis and Steve Buscemi blowing up a runaway asteroid hurtling toward earth.) But although Armageddon may be known in the imaginations of many as an apocalyptic battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil, the Armageddon described in Revelation 16:16 is actually a real place.

  The Greek name ‘Aρμαγεδών, or Armageddon, is actually the Greek rendering of two Hebrew words: har, meaning “mountain,” and Megiddo, the proper name of a site at a strategic north–south and east–west intersection in northern Israel. Because the rough breathing mark at the beginning of the Greek word ‘Aρμαγεδών has not always been preserved in transliterations into Latin, it leaves us with “Armageddon” instead of “Harmageddon.”

  Megiddo is significant for the building of the Bible as the location of the battle called “the great day of God the Almighty” (Rev. 16:14), an apocalyptic battle inaugurating the Day of Judgment, which reveals a lot about the cultural context in which the writers of the Bible were working. Megiddo was identified as the location of the end of the world because it had been the epicenter of armed conflict throughout Israel’s history.

  A TINY BATTLEFIELD WITH HUGE SIGNIFICANCE

  When I first stood atop Tel Megiddo and looked out over the Plain of Megiddo, my first thought was, “Well, if the armies of the world are going to meet here in a great final battle, they’re going to have to squeeze in pretty close together.” My colleague Eric Cline, who excavated at Megiddo from 1994 to 2014, explained that Megiddo is famous not for the size of the city or the plain below, but for its location as the strategic pass from north to south and east to west in northern Israel.

  Because of Megiddo’s role as the location of many ancient battles, it is a rich excavation site. In addition to the remains of the five thousand years of battles fought here, Megiddo is also home to artifacts from its settlements dating all the way back to 7000 BCE. (That’s six thousand years before David and Solomon!) The prominent mound rises 200 feet above its surroundings, with a massive six-chambered gate and tower complex greeting you at the top of a rather steep incline that will literally take your breath away before you even enter the city. You can imagine how difficult it would have been for heavily equipped soldiers to roll their siege machinery up the hill in their attempt to conquer Megiddo. Still, despite its apparent impenetrability, the remains of at least twenty occupation levels (or “cities” that are built one on top of the other) have been discovered there, meaning the military importance of controlling this strategic pass was worth the repeated ancient efforts made to conquer it. Thus, Megiddo is famous for the ancient battles fought to control this symbolic city.

  THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF ARMAGEDDON

  Megiddo has produced enough important archaeological finds to fill any number of volumes. Among the best-known discoveries at Megiddo is the circular Cana‘anite altar built around 2700 BCE, which was in use until approximately 1900 BCE. Cana‘anite high places (Heb. bamot) and altars existed long before there were Israelites in Cana‘an. It was altars and worship centers
like these that were probably being envisioned by the authors of Exodus when God commands Moses, “You shall tear down their altars, break their pillars, and cut down their sacred poles” (34:13), and in Deuteronomy 12:2–4, which says:

  You must demolish completely all the places where the nations whom you are about to dispossess served their gods, on the mountain heights, on the hills, and under every leafy tree. Break down their altars, smash their pillars, burn their sacred poles with fire, and hew down the idols of their gods, and thus blot out their name from their places. You shall not worship the LORD your God in such ways.

  Megiddo boasts a prominent six-chambered gate at its entrance, typically referred to as a “Solomonic Gate,” because similar gates have been discovered at other sites (Lachish, Gezer, Ḥaṣor) that archaeologists have traditionally dated to the tenth century BCE, that is, the time of King Solomon. The gates are significant because they incorporate two large towers at the front, which were typically topped with archers, and chambers within the gate that could be filled with soldiers holding lances, spears, and swords to greet any enemy lucky enough to make it through the gate’s door. Thus, the six-chambered gates combined a city gate with an elaborate gauntlet through which armies must progress in order to take the city.

  The six-chambered gate of Tel Megiddo.

  The Megiddo ivories are also an impressive reminder of Megiddo’s wealth and significance before ancient Israel existed as a nation. The ivories were recovered from the treasuries of the early thirteenth- and twelfth-century BCE palaces at Megiddo1 and include decorated wall plaques, inlaid armrests for chairs or a throne, and game boards for ancient games known as the “Game of 58 Holes” and the “Game of 20 Squares,” which are closely related to the ancient Egyptian game senet, the ancestor of modern backgammon.2