Sirach on Hezekiah and Isaiah

Sirach Chapter 48

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17 Ezekias [Hezekiah] fortified his city, and brought in water into the midst thereof: he digged the hard rock with iron, and made wells for waters.




18 In his time Sennacherib came up, and sent Rabsaces, and lifted up his hand against Sion, and boasted proudly.



19 Then trembled their hearts and hands, and they were in pain, as women in travail.



20 But they called upon the Lord which is merciful, and stretched out their hands toward him: and immediately the Holy One heard them out of heaven, and delivered them by the ministry of Esay.



21 He smote the host of the Assyrians, and his angel destroyed them.



22 For Ezekias had done the thing that pleased the Lord, and was strong in the ways of David his father, as Esay [Isaiah] the prophet, who was great and faithful in his vision, had commanded him.



23 In his time the sun went backward, and he lengthened the king's life.



24 He saw by an excellent spirit what should come to pass at the last, and he comforted them that mourned in Sion.



25 He shewed what should come to pass for ever, and secret things or ever they came.

Sirach Chapter 49

1 The remembrance of Josias is like the composition of the perfume that is made by the art of the apothecary: it is sweet as honey in all mouths, and as musick at a banquet of wine.



2 He behaved himself uprightly in the conversion of the people, and took away the abominations of iniquity.



3 He directed his heart unto the Lord, and in the time of the ungodly he established the worship of God.



4 All, except David and Ezekias and Josias, were defective: for they forsook the law of the most High, even the kings of Juda failed.



5 Therefore he gave their power unto others, and their glory to a strange nation.


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Did Captive Israel Build Assyria’s Capital City?



[The AMAIC does not necessarily accept the dates given in this interesting article]

by Jory Steven Brooks

The Book 2 Kings ch.17 v.6 reveals that one of the places to which Israel was transplanted was called, "Halah." Little has been written about this in Christian literature, and some scholars plead ignorance as to the correct location of this place of exile. However, the Anchor Bible Dictionary (III. 25) tells us that this word matches letter for letter with the Assyrian district of "Halahhu," except for the doubling of the last "h" and the addition of the characteristic Assyrian "u" case ending. The latter is not unusual, because the Biblical Haran (Genesis 11:32, 12:4-5, 28:10 & 29:4) appears in Assyrian as "Haranu", and Ur, the birthplace of Abraham (Genesis 11:28 & 31, 15:7 & Nehemiah 9:7), is written as Uru.



This district of Halahhu was located north-east of the city of Nineveh in northern Assyria. A map shown in the Rand-McNally Bible Atlas (1956) indicates that Halahhu covered all of the area from Nineveh to the Zagros Mountains to the north and north-east (p. 244-5). In the midst of this district, King Sargon II purchased land along the Khosr River from the inhabitants of the small non-Assyrian town of Maganuba to build a new capital city. This new city was named Dur-Sharrukin, the Fortress of Sargon; it is better known today as Khorsabad after the modern small village of that name built on part of the ruins.



Halahhu was also the name of a city as well as a district. The Rand-McNally Bible Atlas (p. 297-8), informs us,



"Halah lay northeast of Nineveh, which city at a slightly later day had a gate named the 'gate of the land of Halah' [Halahhu]. Since there is reason to believe that the city lay between Nineveh and Sargon’s new capital [Khorsabad], the large mound of Tell Abassiyeh has been nominated for it. Excavations there might give us traces of the ten lost tribes."



The city of Halah, or Halahhu, in which Israelites were resettled was therefore located just outside Sargon’s new capital city complex. Amazingly, in spite of this knowledge, apparently no one -- historian, scholar, or archaeologist -- has ever examined this Halahhu city mound area. There seems to be no effort to trace lost Israel! Is it perhaps because of the popular myth in books and journals that no Israelites were ever exiled or lost?



The reasons why Sargon moved the capital of Assyria from Nimrud to the new city of Dur-Sharrukin has been a fertile subject for speculation among scholars. Historians believe that his predecessor, Shalmaneser V, was murdered in Palestine during the siege of Samaria. The exact date of Shalmaneser’s death is unknown, but it may have been in 721 BC, because Sargon claimed to be the conqueror of the capital of Israel. If Sargon was in some way involved in the conspiracy that enabled him to seize power (an obvious supposition), he may have disdained ruling in the palace of his predecessor. Another possibility is that Sargon wished to expand the borders of Assyria northward into the sparsely inhabited Zagros Mountains, its foothills and valleys, to strengthen his northern border.



Whatever the reasons, a marvellous palace complex came into being almost a mile square, twelve miles north-east of Nineveh along the Khosr River. It was a massive building project. Assyrian scholar William R. Gallagher tells us that in Assyrian terms, Dur-Sharrukin was 2,935 dunams in size, compared to the city of Jerusalem at only 600 dunams (Sennacherib’s Campaign, p. 263). Yet this accomplishment was in spite of the fact that Assyria had a massive labour shortage:



"At least two letters to Sargon indicate a shortage of manpower. In one letter the sender complained that the magnates had not replaced his dead and invalid soldiers. These amounted to at least 1,200 men. The second letter, probably from Taklak-ana-Bel, governor of Nasibina, reports a scarcity of troops" (ibid., p.266).



This labour shortage was partly due to the massive capital building project, but also because of a deadly epidemic resembling the bubonic plague that later raged across Europe in the fourteenth century AD. The Akkadian word for it was "mutanu", the plural of "mutu," meaning death. This epidemic struck not just once, but several times (802, 765, 759, and 707 BC) with deadly effect. Historical records indicate that this plague had so decimated the Assyrian army by 706 BC that they were unable to engage in any military missions at all that year (ibid., p. 267).



The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago carried out an archaeological excavation at the site of Dur-Sharrukin during the years 1930-33, and published an account of their discoveries in a volume written by Henri Frankfort which says the following:



"We know that Sargon used a considerable amount of forced labor in the building of his capital -- captives and colonists from other parts of the empire" (p. 89).



Assyrian scholar Gallagher adds:



"Sargon II’s cumbersome building projects at Dur-Sharrukin had placed a great strain on the empire...Much of the forced labor on Sargon‘s new city was done by prisoners of war. The conditions shown on Sennacherib‘s palace wall reliefs for the transport of his bull colossi were undoubtedly the same as in Sargon‘s time. They show forced laborers under great exertion, some clearly exhausted, being driven by taskmasters with sticks" (ibid., p. 265).



A text inscribed upon a carved stone bull at Dur-Sharrukin states,



"He [Sargon] swept away Samaria, and the whole house of Omri" (Records Of The Past, XI:18).



The "House of Omri" was the Assyrian designation for Israel, and was spoken with a guttural applied to the first vowel, so that it was pronounced "Khumri." Following Sargon’s terse statement was a notice of the building of the new Assyrian capital city. Construction of Dur-Sharrukin began in 717 BC, only four years after the fall of Samaria, and took over ten years, with ceremonies marking its completion in 706 BC.



Although there is no record of the exact date that the Assyrians marched the Israelite residents of Samaria eastward to Halah(hu), it is probable that Sargon knew from the beginning of his rule (or even before he became king) that he would build his palace in that location. Did he send the Israelites there in order to help build his new city, the capital of Assyria? If not, why were they there during these years of construction? Although proof does not exist at present, the correlation of location and dates, coupled with the great need for labourers, makes it highly probable that YEHOVAH’s people were involved.



And how appropriate was the symbolism resulting from this circumstance! Israel was called to build the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God on earth, but refused. They turned their hearts to false gods and worshipped the work of men’s hands. Because of this, YEHOVAH used the Assyrians, perhaps the foremost pagan idolaters, to punish his people. Those who had been offered the highest honour of building YEHOVAH’s earthly dominion instead were consigned the deepest dishonour of building the earthly dominion of the enemies of YEHOVAH God.



Many of the wall reliefs, stone idols, and other important finds from Dur-Sharrukin are now on display at the Oriental Institute in Chicago. Included is a massive stone winged bull termed in Assyrian, "Lamassu," that formerly stood at the doorway to King Sargon’s throne room. The carving and moving of several of these monstrous stone monuments was undoubtedly one of the most amazing feats of human labour. They were composite figures, with a human face, a body that was part bull, part lion, and wings of a bird. The king was thus symbolically empowered with the formidable qualities of speed, power, and intelligence.



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Taken from: http://www.hope-of-israel.org.nz/captiveisrael.html

The Prayer of Judith

1Judith fell prostrate, put ashes upon her head, and uncovered the sackcloth she was wearing. Just as the evening incense was being offered in the temple of God in Jerusalem, Judith cried loudly to the Lord:a 2“Lord, God of my father Simeon, into whose hand you put a sword to take revenge upon the foreigners* who had defiled a virgin by violating her, shaming her by uncovering her thighs, and dishonoring her by polluting her womb. You said, ‘This shall not be done!’ Yet they did it. 3Therefore you handed over their rulers to slaughter; and you handed over to bloodshed the bed in which they lay deceived, the same bed that had felt the shame of their own deceiving. You struck down the slaves together with their masters, and the masters upon their thrones.* 4Their wives you handed over to plunder, and their daughters to captivity, and all the spoils you divided among your favored children, who burned with zeal for you and in their abhorrence of the defilement of their blood called on you for help. O God, my God, hear me also, a widow.




5“It is you who were the author of those events and of what preceded and followed them. The present and the future you have also planned.b Whatever you devise comes into being. 6The things you decide come forward and say, ‘Here we are!’ All your ways are in readiness, and your judgment is made with foreknowledge.c



7“Here are the Assyrians, a vast force, priding themselves on horse and chariot, boasting of the power of their infantry, trusting in shield and spear, bow and sling.d They do not know that you are the Lord who crushes wars;* 8Lord is your name. Shatter their strength in your might, and crush their force in your wrath.e For they have resolved to profane your sanctuary, to defile the tent where your glorious name resides, and to break off the horns of your altar with the sword. 9* See their pride, and send forth your fury upon their heads.f Give me, a widow, a strong hand to execute my plan.g 10By the deceit of my lips, strike down slave together with ruler, and ruler together with attendant. Crush their arrogance by the hand of a female.h



11* i “Your strength is not in numbers, nor does your might depend upon the powerful.j You are God of the lowly, helper of those of little account, supporter of the weak, protector of those in despair, savior of those without hope.



12“Please, please, God of my father, God of the heritage of Israel, Master of heaven and earth, Creator of the waters, King of all you have created, hear my prayer! 13Let my deceitful words* k wound and bruise those who have planned dire things against your covenant, your holy temple, Mount Zion, and the house your children possess.l 14Make every nation and every tribe know clearly that you are God, the God of all power and might, and that there is no other who shields the people of Israel but you alone.”



* [9:1–14] Judith prepares to confront the enemy by turning to God, the source of her strength. Her prayer, an individual lament, moves from a remembrance of God’s saving deeds of the past to an appeal to God to exercise the same power in the present. Judith contrasts the empty pride of the Assyrians with God’s surpassing might, powerful enough to be exercised in unlikely ways, even through the hand of a woman.



* [9:2] The foreigners: Shechem, the Hivite, violated Dinah, Jacob and Leah’s daughter (Gn 34:2). Defiled a virgin by violating her: meaning of the Greek is unclear; lit., “who loosened the virgin’s womb (metran) to defilement.” Some read “headdress” or “girdle” (mitran) instead of “womb” (metran).



* [9:3] Because Shechem had deceived and violated Dinah, her brothers, Simeon and Levi, tricked Shechem and the men of his city into being circumcised, and then killed them while they were recovering from the circumcision (Gn 34:13–29).



* [9:7–8] You are the Lord who crushes wars; Lord is your name: cf. Ex 15:3, “The Lord is a warrior; Lord is his name” and Jdt 16:2, “The Lord is a God who crushes wars.”



* [9:9–10] In a five-fold petition, Judith asks that God see their pride, send fury on their heads, give her a strong hand, strike down the enemy through her deceit, and crush their pride by the hand of a female (theleia, see also 13:15 and 16:5, rather than the more usual gyne, woman). In an androcentric society, there was no greater dishonor for a male than that he die at the hand of a female (see Jgs 9:53–54). Nine verses emphasize that by her hand God’s deliverance is accomplished: 8:33; 9:9, 10; 12:4; 13:4, 14, 15; 15:10; and 16:5.



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* [9:11–12] Ten titles for God are arranged in two groups of five on either side of the repeated Greek particle, nai nai (“verily” or “please”). The title “Master of heaven and earth” (v. 12; see notes on 1:11 and 5:20) is unique to Judith in the Septuagint, as are also “God of the heritage of Israel” and “Creator of the waters.”



* [9:13] Deceitful words: twice Judith asks God to make her a successful liar in order to preserve her people (vv. 10, 13).



a. [9:1] Ex 30:7–8; 1 Chr 28:18; Ezr 9:5; Ps 141:2; Dn 9:21.



b. [9:5] Is 41:22–23; 42:9; 43:9; 44:7; 46:10.



c. [9:6] Jb 38:35; Is 46:9–13; Bar 3:35.



d. [9:7] Ex 15:1, 21.



e. [9:8] Ex 15:3; Ps 46:9–10; 76:4–5.



f. [9:9] Ex 15:7.



g. [9:9] Ex 3:19–20; 4:2, 4, 6, 7, 17, 20; 5:21; 6:1; 7:4, 5, 15, 17, 19; 8:1, 2, 12, 13; 9:3, 22; 10:12, 21, 22; 12:11; 13:3, 9, 14, 16; 14:16, 21, 26, 27; 15:6, 9, 12, 20; Jgs 5:26.



h. [9:10] Jgs 4:9.



i. [9:11] Ps 33:16–17.



j. [9:11] Ex 15:2; Jgs 7:2; 1 Sm 17:45–47; 2 Chr 16:8–9.



k. [9:13] Jdt 10:4; 11:20, 23; 16:6, 9; Est C:24.



l. [9:13] Dn 11:28.











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Taken from: http://www.usccb.org/bible/judith/9