Read The Story of the Chosen People (Yesterday's Classics) Online
Authors: H. A. Guerber
Tags: #History
The Story of the Chosen People (Yesterday's Classics)
by
H. A. Guerber
Yesterday's Classics
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Cover and Arrangement © 2010 Yesterday's Classics, LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or retransmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher.
This edition, first published in 2010 by Yesterday's Classics, an imprint of Yesterday's Classics, LLC, is an unabridged republication of the work originally published by American Book Company in 1896. This title is available in a print edition (ISBN 978-1-59915-331-5).
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Yesterday's Classics
Yesterday's Classics republishes classic books for children from the golden age of children's literature, the era from 1880 to 1920. Many of our titles are offered in high-quality paperback editions, with text cast in modern easy-to-read type for today's readers. The illustrations from the original volumes are included except in those few cases where the quality of the original images is too low to make their reproduction feasible. Unless specified otherwise, color illustrations in the original volumes are rendered in black and white in our print editions.
In this little volume the author has tried to give a consecutive story of the Jews, or Chosen People, as objectively as the Stories of the Greeks and of the Romans, with which it forms a series. The narrative has been written in the simplest style, so as to enable even the youngest child of the third or fourth reader grade to understand it.
Not the least attempt has been made to dwell upon the strictly religious side of the subject, for, owing to the mixed population in our large cities and schools, such an attempt would be impracticable. The sole aim of this very elementary work is to familiarize children, be they of Jewish, Protestant, Roman Catholic, or Freethinker parentage, with the outline of the story contained in the Old Testament, so that they can understand the allusions which appear even in juvenile literature, and can look with intelligent appreciation upon the reproductions of works of art which are now to be found in nearly all our books and magazines.
I have found that, when told to young children, these historical narratives prove a source of much interest, and that the elementary knowledge then obtained remains so clear and vivid that even when they are grown up, and able to enter into the subject more thoroughly, the impression of the story as first heard is the one which is most permanent.
While it may seem that, with all the facilities which the country affords to rich and poor alike, such instruction in schools would be superfluous, the fact remains that, with the exception of a few well-known stories, the children have no idea of the contents of the Old Testament. This lack of general information on the subject is often a great drawback to teachers in the course of their instruction, as references are constantly made to the Bible.
Although this is a juvenile history of the Jews, it has not been written without much research; and, in order to make it as brief, comprehensive, and accurate as possible, many authorities beside the Bible, Josephus, and the Bible dictionaries, have been consulted.
It is hoped that an inkling of the story of the Jews will stimulate the children's interest, will early imbue them with a taste for history, and will give them the desire to gain further and more complete information on the subject when they grow older.
We are indebted to Merton Russell Cotes, Esq., J.P., F.R.G.S., ex-Mayor of Bournemouth, for permission to reproduce T. M. Rooke's painting of Ahab and Elijah, now in his possession, and to Messrs. Braun, Clement & Co., for the use of several of their carbons.
Chapter II. The Forbidden Fruit
Chapter VI. The Tower of Babel
Chapter VII. The Birth of Ishmael
Chapter VIII. The Birth of Isaac
Chapter IX. Abraham's Sacrifice
Chapter X. The Mess of Pottage
Chapter XII. Jacob's Return Home
Chapter XVIII. The Crossing of the Red Sea
Chapter XXI. The Brazen Serpent
Chapter XXII. The Death of Moses
Chapter XXIII. The Walls of Jericho
Chapter XXIV. The Conquest of the Promised Land
Chapter XXV. The Death of Sisera
Chapter XXVII. Gideon's Fleece
Chapter XXVIII. Defeat of the Midianites
Chapter XXIX. Jephthah's Daughter
Chapter XXXI. The False Delilah
Chapter XXXII. The Ark Captured
Chapter XXXIII. The Return of the Ark
Chapter XXXIV. Saul, King of Israel
Chapter XXXV. The Anointing of David
Chapter XXXVI. David and Goliath
Chapter XXXVII. David's Flight
Chapter XXXVIII. David's Generosity
Chapter XXXIX. David Made King
Chapter XL. The Ark Brought to Jerusalem
Chapter XLI. The Repentance of David
Chapter XLII. Absalom in Disgrace
Chapter XLIII. The Death of Absalom
Chapter XLIV. The Judgment of Solomon
Chapter XLV. The Building of the Temple
Chapter XLVI. The Death of Solomon
Chapter XLVII. The Two Kingdoms
Chapter XLVIII. The Seven Kings of Israel
Chapter XLIX. The Great Drought
Chapter L. The Priests of Baal
Chapter LIII. The Chariot of Fire
Chapter LV. The Siege of Samaria
Chapter LVI. Joash King of Judah
Chapter LVII. The Story of Jonah
Chapter LVIII. The Captivity of Israel
Chapter LIX. The Story of Tobit
Chapter LXI. The Prophecies of Jeremiah
Chapter LXII. The Captivity of Judah
Chapter LXIII. Nebuchadnezzar's Dreams
Chapter LXIV. The Feast of Belshazzar
Chapter LXV. The Return from Captivity
Chapter LXVI. The Story of Esther
Chapter LXVII. The Jews Saved from Death
Chapter LXVIII. Alexander and the High Priest
Chapter LXIX. The Beginning of the End
Chapter LXX. The Destruction of Jerusalem
The Creation
T
HE
Bible, as you already know, is composed of two parts, called the Old and the New Testaments. Both Jews and Christians consider that the first part of this book is sacred, because it contains God's teachings as he revealed, or made them known, to man. They do not, however, agree about the second part, which is considered sacred only by Christians.
The Old Testament contains, besides God's teachings, a history of the Jews, which is so interesting and important that educated people of all countries and religions are expected to know all about it. It is this history which you are going to hear, but, of course, if you want it complete, you must read it in the Bible itself.
The very first book of the Bible is called Genesis, a word meaning "origin," because it tells us about the beginning, or origin, of the world. We are told that in the beginning there was neither land nor water, nor any living things, and that darkness rested over all.
This early stage of affairs, when the elements of all things were mixed up together, has been called Chaos (confusion); and we are told that God, the Almighty, who had no beginning or end, created, or made, the whole world out of Chaos.
The story is told very briefly indeed, and all the periods of creation are called days. Of course we now know that by days the writer of the book of Genesis did not mean twenty-four hours, as we do. The word "days" was used for an indefinite space of time; and, just as God is far more powerful than we can imagine, so his days are far longer than ours.
God's spirit moved over Chaos, and during the first day he said: "Let there be light." At these words the darkness which rested over all things vanished, and light first appeared. This light shone through the thick vapors which then surrounded the earth.
During the second day, or period, the vapors parted, and now for the first time the blue sky could mirror itself in the blue waters which covered the face of the earth. As the clouds in the sky could rain down water, the Bible says that on the second day God "divided the waters which were under the firmament [or sky] from the waters which were above the firmament."
During the third day, or period, another great change took place; for the crust of the earth, shaken by earthquakes, formed great bumps and hollows. Thus were formed mountains and valleys; and the waters, which had covered all the face of the earth, now flowed into the deep basins, where they formed lakes, seas, and oceans.
As soon as dry land appeared, God said that the earth should bring forth grass, trees, and plants of all kinds; and each one was to have seeds, so that new plants would replace the old as soon as they died. The earth had been bare and ugly when it first rose up out of the waters; but it was now covered with verdure, and became beautiful as it is to-day.
On the fourth day, God allowed the lights in the sky to be seen; and the sun, moon, and stars began to serve, as they do now, to mark the days and the nights, the seasons and the years. Darkness and light were thus clearly divided, and we are told that "God saw that it was good."
During the fifth day, or period, when the rays of the sun had strengthened the trees and plants, God created the birds and fishes, and bade them multiply and fly through the air, and fill all the waters in the seas. It is in obedience to this command that the birds and fishes lay eggs and hatch their young.
The sixth day, or period, was spent in the creation of the higher animals, and lastly of man. Now the Bible tells us that man was formed out of earth, but that he was different from all the beings which had already been created, because he was like God.
This first man bore the name of Adam. Although his body was made of dust, his life was breathed into him by God, who brought all the animals to him that he might name them, and told him that he should be master over them all.
God had labored for six whole days, or periods, and from Chaos had brought forth the world and all the living creatures in it. He gazed upon his work, "saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good." The labor was done, so, on the seventh day, God "rested from all his work."
It is partly because God rested on the seventh day, after laboring six days, that we work for six days of the week, and rest on the seventh; and each Sunday is thus an anniversary of God's day of rest.
The Forbidden Fruit
A
DAM
had been placed in a beautiful garden named Eden, which God had planted, and which was watered by four rivers. Here God came to visit the first man, and told him that he could eat of the fruit of every plant and tree in the garden, except the fruit which grew on "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." This tree was placed in the center of the garden, and God gave this order to find out whether Adam would obey him.
Besides, if the man did not eat of the fruit, he would never know trouble or sickness. At the same time that God gave this first command, or law, he added the first punishment, or penalty, saying: "For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
God now brought the animals which he had created, so that Adam might name them all. In doing so, the man saw that the beasts went about in pairs, and that he was the only living creature who had no mate. He felt very lonely when he saw this, and told God that he would like to have a companion like himself. So the Creator "caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs," and from it made a woman.
When Adam awoke, God brought the first woman to him. Adam saw that she was a part of himself; and he said that a man shall "leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife." Thus, in the Garden of Eden and in the presence of God himself, the first marriage was celebrated; and Adam and his wife were so pure and innocent that they were perfectly happy, and no more ashamed of being naked than little children.
