Bring peace to the Middle East! 54: when religions were born 2: Judaism

中東に平和を！５４：　宗教が誕生する時　２：　ユダヤ教

<  1.  A miracle of Moses >
＜　１．　モーセの海割り　＞

This time, I investigate the birth of Judaism and after that time.
This is the oldest one among those five religions.

今回はユダヤ教誕生とその後を追います。
これは５つの宗教の中では最も古いものです。


Preface
The origin of the Jewish people lies in that various tribes had drifted to the ground of Palestine from each place of the Middle East and they gained their permanent residency after fights.
It was about the thirteenth century B.C.
This area was one of the oldest birthplaces of agriculture, had received the benefit of both civilization of Egypt and Mesopotamia, and a sophisticated culture grew up here.
However, the Jewish kingdom was on an only pathway between the both large kingdoms, therefore a alliance with one kingdom meant an attack from the other one, and the Jewish kingdom was subject to destruction and aggression many times.
In this occasion, many prophets appeared and sounded a note of warning to the Jewish people.
They severely criticized politics of King and an irreligion of people, and prognosticated the kingdom would perish before long


はじまり
ユダヤ民族の起源は、様々な部族が中東各地からパレスチナの地に流れ着き、戦いの末に定住を勝ち取ったことに始まる。
それは紀元前１３世紀頃のことでした。
この地は、最古の農耕発祥地の一つであり、エジプトとメソポタミアの両文明の恩恵を受けて高い文化が育っていた。
しかし、ユダヤの国は両大国に挟まれた通り道にあたり、一方との同盟は他方からの攻撃を意味し、幾度も破壊と侵略を被った。
こんな折、幾多の預言者達が出現し、ユダヤ民族に警鐘を鳴らした。
彼らは王の政策と民の無信仰を痛烈に批判し、やがて国は滅亡するであろうと予言した。




<  2.  the Babylonian Captivity >
＜　２．　バビロンの捕囚　＞


Turning point
A decisive misfortune befell them before long.
Powerful Assyria invaded and destroyed Jerusalem, and took the upper crust away to Baghdad.
However, in the sixth century B.C., an emperor of Persia of the new ruler absolved them, returned them to the Jerusalem, and permitted the rebuilding of a former Solomon shrine.
Their country Jerusalem became a small and waste vassal state that can't compare with the large empire of ex-Solomon.

The people thought that the national ruin was because of the anger of God, and should obey God.
The persons that took the central role in the rebuilding were compiling sacred texts that involved religious precepts and teachings since before 1,000 years B.C. as the oldest thing, and almost finished editing of the Old Testament in the third century B.C.
As a result of this, they may have wished to get the saving grace of God and the strong solidarity.

At the time of the rebuilding, there were the Jews who came back to Jerusalem, but on the other hand, there were the Jews that organized communities in each place of the Middle East, played an active part with using the accumulation of the high culture.


転機
やがて決定的な災厄が降りかかった。
強大なアッシリアが侵略し、エルサレムを破壊の後、ユダヤの上流階層をバクダットへと捕囚した。
しかし紀元前６世紀、新たな支配者のペルシア王が彼らを解放のうえ、エルサレムに戻し、かつてのソロモン神殿の再建を許した。
彼らの国土はかつてのソロモンの大帝国とは比べものにならないほど小さな荒れ果てた属州エルサレムだけになった。

人々は、亡国は神の怒りのせいであり、神に服従すべきと考えた。
再建を担った人々は、最古のものでは紀元前１千年前の戒律や教えを加え、紀元前３世紀には旧約聖書の編纂をほぼ終えた。
これによって彼らは神の御加護と強固な団結を得られることを望んだのだろう。

再建時、エルサレムに戻ったユダヤ人もいたが、中東各地に共同体を造り、高い文化の蓄積を生かして活躍する人々もいた。




<  3.  The rebuilding of Solomon shrine >
＜　３．　神殿の再建　＞

Point of the Judaism
This religion give greater importance to religious precepts in comparison with other religion.
It included law of early city-state period of Mesopotamia from their tribal rules.

What was entrusted by the people at the birth of this religion was to found a strong country by Jewish people, and it was natural that the religion identified with the law of their country.
To prevent the national ruin, they felt need for an unquestioning obedience to God, and it was to obey the religious precepts God gave.


ユダヤ教のポイント
他の宗教と比べ、最も戒律が重視されている。
それは部族の掟からメソポタミアの都市国家期の法までを含んでいた。

この宗教の誕生期に託されたのは、ユダヤ民族による強固な国造りであって、国の統治（法）と宗教は一体が当然だった。
彼らは、亡国を招かない為には神への絶対服従、つまり神の与えた戒律に絶対服従することだった。

 Afterwards
It lasted approximately 200 years when they were devoting themselves to the rebuilding although being a small country, and it was in the peaceful times.
However, Alexander the Great invaded in the 4th century B.C., and maelstrom of war lasted by the later internal trouble.
The Jew again built their kingdom in the second century B.C., but it became a vassal state since an invasion of the Roman Empire in 63 B.C.
During this time, the continuation of Judaism was forgiven, and the high priest continued to have the religious authority.

However, the misgovernment of the foreign rulers and a lack of understanding about Jewish culture continued.
Thus, the Jewish antipathy increased, resistance movements rose up in each place and it was sitting on a time bomb.

The next time is about Christianity.


その後
小さいながらも再建に専念した平和な時代は２００年ほど続いた。
しかし紀元前４世紀のアレクサンダー大王の進攻、その後の内紛で戦火は続いた。
紀元前２世紀には、ユダヤ人は王国を築いたが、紀元前６３年のローマ帝国の侵攻後、一属国となり果てた。
この間も、ユダヤ教は存続を許され、大祭司が宗教的権威を持ち続けた。

しかし、異国の統治者の失政やユダヤ文化への無理解が続き、ユダヤ人の反感は募り、各地で抵抗運動が起きて、一触即発の状態になっていた。


次回はキリスト教です。