rbed by the Jews, and though belief in a resurrection was not
universal it had been accepted by the Pharisees, and was probably more
popular than either the ancient Jewish belief in Sheol or the imported
Greek belief in the immortality of the soul, of which traces can be
found in the Wisdom Literature. All this is, however, different from
the ancient Jewish tradition of a Golden Age in this world, and there
are plain traces in Jewish literature of the attempt to reconcile the
two systems.

It was obviously possible, by dint of a comparatively small confusion
of thought, to identify the Golden Age with the Age to Come, and to
suppose that all the unfulfilled features of the visions of the earlier
prophets would be realised in the Age to Come. In this case the figure
of the Davidic king, if he happened to be part of the picture, could
easily be transplanted into the Age to Come, and whereas in the earlier
presentation he had the special function of destroying in a holy war
the enemies of Israel, he could now have the more universal
responsibility of abolishing all evil, and of acting as judge to decide
who should enter into the new world.

It is on general principles entirely probable that some such
accommodation of thought was effected in some Jewish circles, as it was
afterwards among the Christians. But there is comparatively little
evidence that such was actually the case. Especially is there very
little evidence that the anointed Son of David was transmuted in this
fashion. The most that can {22} be said is that some of the many
titles which were applied to the expected Davidic king were also
applied to the expected supernatural judge. But identity of title does
not always mean identity of person, and the general descriptions of the
two figures are as a rule quite separate. It would appear that on the
whole the better Jews in the time of Christ were looking for the End of
the Age and the Resurrection, rather than for the restoration of the
kingdom of David, but that there was a popular minority which still had
hopes of the restoration of the monarchy.

The most thorough attempt to reconcile the two lines of thought is to
be found in the fourth book of Ezra, which elaborates a complete
combination of both systems with a clearness quite unusual in
apocalyptic literature. According to this the time was approaching
when the Messiah, by which is clearly meant the king of Israel, would
appear, destroy all opposi