242 THE MAGIC OF JEWELS AND CHARMS
Jewish
nation that was deported, and the sufferings and humiliations to which
they were subjected in a foreign land only served to strengthen their
faith in Yahveh and in his Law. Hence it is, that when this tried and
purified remnant returned to Judaea, rebuilt the fallen temple and
reorganized the state, the latter became a theocracy in a much
stricter sense than ever beforehand from this time we can really speak
of Judaism as the religion of the whole people.
But
the inevitable tendency to split up the unity of the divine force, a
tendency that makes itself felt in all religions and among all peoples,
soon asserted itself anew and in a different direction. As the people
were no longer allowed, we may even say were no longer inclined, to go
after foreign gods, they proceeded to develop the idea of divine
messengers or intermediaries which had always formed part of the
national faith, but had never been fully evolved. While Isaiah and
Ezekiel both knew of a division of the angels into certain categories
as, for example, cherubim, seraphim, hayyot (living creatures), ofanim
(wheels) and arelim, there is no attempt at individualization, and the
first mention of an angel's name occurs in the Book of Daniel, which
later critics are disposed to assign to the second century b.c. It
is most natural to suppose that such names were known and were familiar
to the people long before that time. When we read in the Book of
Daniel, xii, 1 : "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great
prince which standeth for the children of Israel," it is easy to see
that the idea that certain special qualities were attributed to this
angel was deeply rooted in the popular mind. In a previous verse, x,
13, we read : "Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me,"—a
conclusive proof that a hierarchy of angels had already been thought
out.
The great source of information in regard to angelology is the Kabbinical literature which had its rise about the
