have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their
sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my
heart." *
There is a very interesting passage in Jeremiah in which he denounces the Jews in Egypt for
their idolatry. He himself had lived among them for a time. The prophet tells the Jewish
refugees in Egypt that Yahweh will destroy them all because their wives have burnt incense to
other gods. But they refuse to listen to him, saying: "We will certainly do whatsoever thing
goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out
drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the
cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of victuals, and were
well, and saw no evil." But Jeremiah assures them that Yahweh noticed these idolatrous
practices, and that misfortune has come because of them. "Behold, I have sworn by my great
name, saith the Lord, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah
in all the land of Egypt.... I will watch over them for evil, and not for good; and all the men of
Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until
there be an end of them." â€
Ezekiel is equally shocked by the idolatrous practices of the Jews. The Lord in a vision shows
him women at the north gate of the temple weeping for Tammuz (a Babylonian deity); then He
shows him "greater abominations," five and twenty men at the door of the Temple worshipping
the sun. The Lord declares: "Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither
will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them."
‡
The idea that all religions but one are wicked, and that the Lord punishes idolatry, was
apparently invented by these prophets. The prophets, on the whole, were fiercely nationalistic,
and looked forward to the day when the Lord would utterly destroy the gentiles.
The captivity was taken to justify the denunciations of the prophets. If Yahweh was all-
powerful, and the Jews were his Chosen People, their sufferings could only be explained by
their wickedness. The psychology is that of paternal correction: the Jews are to be purified by
punishment. Under the influence of this belief, they developed, in
* Ibid., VII, 31.â
€
Jeremiah XLIV, 11-end.â
€
¡Ezekiel VIII, 11-end.