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627 ;

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

627

Till- bitter fei-ling against Hoinc that actuated the Ji-ws for the hun(ire(l years between 30 auil IHO jieriiiitted no other eoneeption than Nero as that it would be Homes ruler who Antichrist, would marslial the lieatliiii hosts for the final slrui:i:li' ami lead theni to victory: anil Nero the vilest wretch that ever mounted a throne tilled the ideal of wickedness sulhciiiitly to be considered the worthy leader of the heathen. The Jewish Sibyl, writing about the year M(l. tells the story that Nero was at that tinu' in concealment in the hind of the I'artliiaiis. where he Would remain for decades, returiiiuir thence to stir up a universjd war(I' Sibyl. Il'J-lOU, in au'reement with a Komau legend: see Zahn, "Zeilschr. fi'ir Kirchliehe Wis.senschaft und Leben," IHftli, ;i37 il 111/., and GetTcken, "Gottinfrer Nachrichten, Phil.Ilist. Classe," 1899, pp. 441 (I set/.). More of the deinotiiae character of Antichrist, and more, therefore, of the original conception concerning him as being {ither Satan or one of Satan's tools, is retiectedin the reference to Nero in the tifth Sibylline (!(i3 </ .vry.). writlen ill 74: "Then from theeiids<if the earth shall return the malricidal man who has become fugitive, and who frsimes irui|uitous plans in ins mind; he will destroy the whole earth, and coniiuer all, and ill all matters he will be wiser than all other men. Hut the wise people shall have jieace, the people that remaineth tried in sorrows in order that it may thereafter rejoice. Hut the complete metamorphosis of Nero into a devil wherein he is no l(inger the representative of Home, but the incarnation of the Evil One is first to be found in a Jewish JSibyl of about 12-12-j (V Sibyl. 2H-;j4). Of Nero it is liiere siud. "The one that received the letter for 50 [letter J. N, as initial] will become ruler a terrible dragon, breathing tierce war. Thereafter he will return and make himself like unto God, but He [God] will convince him that he is as nothing." Here Nero is the true Antichrist, the Satan, the old Dragon CJ^DTpn UTIJ), who measures himself against

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God. This conception did not remain confined to Jewish circles, but as the Revelation of John (.iii., xvii.) shows, when rising Christianity sulfered much at the hands of the Homan power, it spread among the Christians likewise. In any case, the last struggle of the heathen is conceived as a battle against Goil; and it appears thus in the IMidrash Wayosha' (Jellinek, " IJ. H." i. ")6), where it is declared of Anti <-lirist: "And he shall say. I will first coni|uer their '

Go<l,

and

after that will kill

them

[the

Jews]'";

again the old conception of Antichrist us uu opponent of God. The Hiblical narrative of the departure of the Nnieliles from Egypt alTorded much material for the d( Miiption of the latter days, iiiasnuieli a-* the tiiial reilemptioii was conceived after the fashion of the first. Thus the Ephraimite .Messiah Messiah, the son of Joseph, as he is called who ]ilays ii great part therein in conjunction with Ait.Mii.is, originali'd in the legend preserved bv the' Hairgadahof an alti'mpled departure from Kirvpt made bv the Kphraimites (Mek., Shindi, 9: Saiih. K'r. Piik,. El. xlviii. I; auil inasmuch as prioriolhi- tirsi redemption tlKfe had been a prominent Ephiiiimite named Nun, who headiil an attempt by the Israelites at ,selfemanci)ialion and found a violent iliaih at the hands of the Egyptians, parallelism demanded that there should be an Ephiiiimite .Messiah, to be slain by Armilus. Till' conception of AnIichrisI held by the Cliureli

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of the curly Christian age and Ihroiiglioiit IheMiddle Ages is very much involved and in need of critical

Antichrist

Antieonus

The

investigation.

pas.sagcs concerning Antichrist

New

Testament were misunderstood at a very early date: and there seems to have been, moreover, in the

a persistent oral tradition that modified the legend of Antichrist to a considerable degree. In John, v. 43. the pojiular Jewish conception of an Anti-.Mes,siah has

become tmnsforined into a Jewish pseudo-Messiah, a presentation which was championed for many centuries in the Cliurch(see Rous,set, l.r. pp. IHitei seg.). It was i)arlieularly expected that he would be of the tribe of Dan (ihi'l. p. 112). which is probably

connected with the Jewish conception of the Messiah, that he would be derived from that tribe on the maternal side (Gen. H. .cviii. see also Zohar. Balak, '.W)). On the other hand, there reigned fora certain time among Christians too some confusion of Antichrist with the legend of Nero (Bousset, l.c pp. 49 et seg)., and there is likewise to be found an identification of Antichrist with Belial— Antichrist being oftei; represented as the son of Satan, and even as an incarnation of Satan himself (see Bki.i.vi.). The legend of the origin of Antichrist (=. Belial) set forth by Gunkel and Bousset is that the Babylonian Tiamat. ijueen of the abyss of The Mod- darkness and fiood. aided by thepowern Hyers of her infernal domain, rebels pothesis. against the higher gods, but is defeated

by the ,son of the gods, Marduk; and gives rise to a human incarnation in the shape of the Antichrist with superhuman powers, the man who sets himself up as eijual to God. The idea of Antichrist has made its way beyond the confines of Judaism and Christianity and has entered into various literatures of the world only, however, through the medium of Christianity. There are traces of it in the more ancient Edda literature; while the semi-Christian old-Bavarian poem "Muspilli" (ninth century) makes e.teiisive use of the various Antichrist legends. The Parsec Pahlavi writings betray unmistakable evidences of the tradition, especially the apocalypse " Hahman Yast," written in Pahlavi and translated in "Sacred Books of the East," v. 191 ,1 wt/., which is full of it. In .rabian liteiature. Antichrist is calleil "Al Dajjal " (the liar), or more fu'.ly, " Al Masili al-Dajjal " (the false Messiah). The name shows its Christiau-Syriac source; for "dajal " dt-notes "lying " almost exclusively in the Christian dialect of .Vmmaic. In the .Mohammedan account. Dajjal is really the Jewish pseuilo-Messiah. and is slain by Jesus after he had long maintained his imposture. Of the numerous details concerning him. it is interesting to note that he is represented as a one eyed monster, of horrible mien, and that in some respects the picture agrees with the various descriptions ot Armilus (see .VitOMiN.KTiox oK Desol.vtiox; AllHIM.KN; AuMii.fs). it

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Diiu.iiHUiAPiiY TliP III<'rnUir<?on Antlrlirlsl I.h very exlen-ilvo, HI Uml iinl.v a sniutl selifllon iiui tw jrlvi'ii lii.r' Itomeniiinn,



('iifii//i(

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til

fitiirziM/i

Thi/vnilntiii r-/ifi» I'cn.

ri

rt'fi'n'nre,s to

lUenitunO;

(iitlUniri'ii. IMi'i. trunslalitl liiln Kiii.'ll>li liv

Cttntmrntitr ztir

ii|i.

ltnu.>«4't.


 * u,s-;{i>i4UK»:t7

Ihr Antichrist^

Kfiinc. Istkl;

J(i/iiuoi(.s-,l/*«M-i'. Kt. Jiiiivji. .xvlil. I'.iituri/.: (iHtTiken. In

Frii'tlliliiiliT,

Jnhrti. ItHII, pp. :Wi-:fllll litlllkel. .'!0 ; Hmii;. In TliiiUini. Slml. diiji ll'llrtciiihi-ru. V. Iss if I...;., -.sa, ( «!./. : .Salinii'ki'iiliiiri.'i'r, In Jahrlt. /*(> Uiwifrln-
 * ii>. i.'l .7 ».;. ;



("/iii.u. isil'i.

fllr IhiilM-lK

WalnU'ln. Kii.



ill

Zalin,

';'/i.i.(iit;(f. iv. <UV4ilT: SiliflriT, ilrxch. II. .'kCJ: Z< itw/i. /. irrwM'ii«r/i. Tlirnhm. xxxvlll. .Vis fii (Inn .V. T. i.-u-c Index).

d

KiuUit.

L. G.

ANTIGONXTS (ANTONINTTS) .scholar ot

llie

third cintiiries). Ial,i.

introduction;



Palestinian

and Oiilylwo Ilaggadot (Mek., Heshal-

l;i.-l

laiiiiailii'

r(/<-i/i

to

i.'iiienition (.si'cond

Ex. xiv.7)and one Ilalakah