polite society does to its devotees. The evil was not so much in the
minuteness of the regulations as in the external and superficial notion of
religion which they induced.

17. Optimism was the mood of Israel's prophets from the earliest times.
Every generation looked for the dawning of a day which should banish all
ill and realize the dreams inspired by the covenant in which God had
chosen Israel for his own. In proportion as the rabbinic formalism held
control of the hearts of the people, the Messianic hope lost its warmth
and vigor. Yet the scribes did not abandon the prophetic optimism; they
held to the letter of the hope, but as its fulfilment was for them
dependent on perfect obedience to the law, oral and written, their
interest was diverted to the traditions, and their strength was given to
legal disputations. Of the rest of the people, the Sadducees naturally
gave little thought to the promise of future deliverance, they were too
absorbed with regard for present concerns. Nor is there any evidence that
the Essenes, with all their reputed knowledge of the future, cherished the
hope of a Messiah. The other elements among the people who owned the
general leadership of the scribes looked eagerly for the coming time when
God should bring to pass what he had promised through the prophets. While
some expected God himself to come in judgment, and gave no thought to an
Anointed one who should represent the Most High to the people, the
majority looked for a Son of David to sit upon his father's throne. Even
so, however, there were wide differences in the nature of the hope which
was set on the coming of this Son of David. The Zealots were looking for a
victory, which should set Israel on high over all his foes. To the rest of
the people, however, the method of the consummation was not so clear, and
they were ready to leave God to work out his purpose in his own way,
longing meanwhile for the fulfilment of his promise. One class in
particular gave themselves to visionary representations of the promised