But there were other captivities which helped to scatter the children of Abraham. The causes of the Dispersion most obvious to the student of Old Testament history were the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities, when the king of Assyria carried Israel away into his own land and placed them in Halah, and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes (2Ki 17:5 ff) and when in the reign of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, Judah was carried away into Babylonia (2Ki 24:14). It is found also in the Apocrypha Baruch, a work belonging to the 1st century AD: "I will scatter this people among the Gentiles, that they may do good to the Gentiles" (1:7). That the Dispersion of the Jews was for the benefit of the Gentiles is a conception to which expression is given in utterances of psalmists and prophets (Ps 67:1-7 Mic 5:7, etc.). And it appears also in the Deuteronomic Law (De 28:25 30:1). The thought of such a Dispersion as a punishment for the disobedience of the people finds frequent expression in the Prophets: Hosea (9:3), Jeremiah (8:3 16:15, etc.), Ezekiel (1Pe 4:13), and Zechariah (10:9). In 2 Maccabees certain priests of Jerusalem are represented as praying to God: "Gather together our Dispersion, set at liberty them that are in bondage among the heathen" (2 Macc 1:27 compare 2 Esdras 2:7 Jas 1:1 1Pe 1:1). The Jews therefore said among themselves, Whither will this man go that we shall not find him? Will he go unto the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?" (Joh 7:34-35). On a notable occasion Jesus said, "Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, ye cannot come. They were known as the Golah (Aramaic Galutha'), the captivity-an expression describing them in relation to their own land and the Diaspora, the Dispersion, an expression describing them in relation to the nations among whom they were scattered. The Dispersion is the comprehensive designation applied to Jews living outside of Palestine and maintaining their religious observances and customs among the Gentiles. The Dispersion an Auxiliary to the Spread of the Gospel 1. The Dispersion a Preparation for the Advent of Christģ1. Dispersion Influenced by Greek Thoughtģ0. Jews in Italy, Gaul, Spain and North Africa.Ģ9. Influence of Jews in the Early Roman Empire 24. A New Chapter of Old Testament HistoryĢ3.
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