_THE GREAT FESTIVALS._
EXOD. XXIII. 14–17; LEV. XXIII. 1–22;
NUM. XXVIII. 16–31; DEUT. XVI. 1–16.
THE great Historical Festivals, at which all males amongst the
Israelites were required to appear before the Lord, were, as has
been said already, (i) _The Passover_; (ii) _The Feast of Weeks or
Pentecost_; (iii) _The Feast of Tabernacles_.
(i) _The Passover._ The original institution of this Festival has been
already noticed. The directions for its yearly celebration are given in
Ex. xxiii. 14–17; Lev. xxiii. 5–8; Num. xxviii. 16–25; Deut. xvi. 1–8.
As in Egypt, so now, on the 10th day of _Nisan_ or _Abib_,
corresponding to the close of March or the beginning of April, each
Paschal company, which might not exceed twenty or be less than ten,
was to select a lamb or kid, a male of the first year, and keep it till
the 14th day. If pronounced by the priests to be free from blemish, it
was to be slain _between the evenings_, in the Court of the Tabernacle,
and its blood poured round the Altar of Burnt-offering. It was then,
after being flayed, to be taken to the house where the Paschal Company
intended to assemble, to be roasted with fire, whole and entire without
the breaking of a single bone, and to be eaten with unleavened bread
and bitter herbs.
The Festival lasted from the 14th to the 21st of Nisan, and during
this period nothing but unleavened bread might be eaten, and all leaven
was to be carefully removed from the house before the 14th. The daily
sacrifices for the nation consisted of (i) a _Burnt-Offering_ of two
bullocks, one ram, seven yearling lambs, accompanied by the usual
meat-offering, and (ii) one goat for a _Sin-Offering_. Thank-offerings,
called by the Jews _Chagigah_, might also be offered by individuals
during the Festival, especially on the 15th, the first day of Holy
Convocation. (Comp. Lev. vii. 29–34; 2 Ch. xxx. 22–44; xxxv. 7.)
On the 16th the first ripe sheaf of barley was to be brought into the
sanctuary, and there waved by the priest before the Lord, and at the
same time a yearling lamb was offered with a meat- and drink-offering
(see Lev. xxiii. 9–14). Till this sheaf had thus been waved, and
this offering presented, no produce of the now ripening harvest,
whether bread or parched corn, or green ears, might be eaten (Josh.
v. 11, 12)[100].
(ii) At the end of seven complete weeks from the 16th of Nisan, the
second day of unleavened bread, commenced _the_ FEAST OF WEEKS (Ex.
xxxiv. 22; Deut. xvi. 10), or of _Harvest_ (Ex. xxiii. 16), or of
_First-fruits_ (Numb. xxviii. 26), or of _Pentecost_ (Acts ii. 1),
from the Greek word for the _fiftieth_ day.
The passages bearing on it will be found in Ex. xxiii. 16; Lev. xxiii.
15–22; Num. xxviii. 26–31; Deut. xvi. 9–12.
The Festival lasted but one day, which was kept with a holy Convocation.
Its distinguishing feature was the offering of _two leavened loaves_,
made from the new corn of the now completed harvest, which together
with two lambs as a thank-offering were waved before the Lord. The
especial sacrifices in addition to the daily offering were one young
bullock, two rams, and seven yearling lambs as a _Burnt-offering_ with
the usual meat- and drink-offering, and a goat for a _Sin-offering_;
but thank-offerings might, as at the Passover, be made at pleasure by
individuals.
The character of the Festival was pre-eminently an expression of
gratitude for the harvest, which commenced with the offering of the
first sheaf of ripe barley at the Passover, and ended with that of
the two loaves now presented and made of the newly-ripened wheat. In
its festive joy the man-servant and maid-servant, the stranger, the
fatherless and the widow were to share with the freeborn Israelite, who
was to be reminded of the bondage in Egypt, and his obligation to keep
the Law[101] (Deut. xvi. 12).
(iii) The Feast of _Tabernacles_ or of _Ingathering_ (Ex. xxxiv. 22)
was so called as being (i) a feast of thanksgiving for the completion
of the ingathering of fruits and of the vintage, and (ii) as
commemorating the dwelling of the Israelites in tents during their
wanderings in the wilderness (Lev. xxiii. 43).
The chief passages relating to it are Ex. xxiii. 16; Lev. xxiii. 34–43;
Num. xxix. 13–39; Deut. xvi. 13–15; and compare with these Neh. viii.
It was celebrated in the autumn on the 15th of the seventh month Tisri,
and lasted seven days, of which the first and last were days of Holy
Convocation. It was the most joyous of all the Festivals. During it the
Israelites were commanded to live in tents or booths of green boughs of
the olive, palm, pine, myrtle, and other trees with thick foliage (Neh.
viii. 15, 16). The burnt-offerings were more numerous at this Feast
than any other, including, besides the sacrifice on each day of 2 rams,
14 lambs, and a kid for a sin-offering, that of 70 bullocks, 13 on the
first day, 12 on the second, and so on to the seventh, when 7 bullocks
only were offered. If the Festival fell in a Sabbatical year, portions
of the Law, chiefly Deuteronomy, were read each day in public (Deut.
xxxi. 10–12; Neh. viii. 18). The most remarkable celebrations of this
Feast were (i) at the dedication of Solomon’s Temple (1 Kings viii.
2, 65); (ii) after the Captivity (Ezra iii. 4; Neh. viii. 17)[102].
Later festivals were (i) the Feast of PURIM, or _Lots_, instituted
by Mordecai to commemorate the defeat of Haman’s machinations against
the Jews (Esth. iii. 7–15; ix. 24–26). It began on the 14th day of the
12th month Adar, and lasted two days. (ii) The Feast of DEDICATION,
to commemorate the cleansing of the Temple after its defilement by
Antiochus Epiphanes (Dan. xi. 31). Established by Judas Maccabæus,
it was kept on the 25th of the winter month Chisleu, _December_ (Jn.
x. 22), and lasted eight days, being distinguished by the offering of
many sacrifices, a general illumination (hence its name the _Feast of
Lights_), and other rejoicings.
In Scripture, dates are often fixed by a reference to the seasons
or productions (Num. xiii. 20; 2 Sam. xxi. 9). The following Table,
therefore, is here given, in which the civil and sacred months, their
_approximate_ English equivalents, the various annual feasts, and the
chief features of the seasons are combined. It is assumed that _Abib_
or _Nisan_ answers to April. (See Article _Month_ in Smith’s _Bib.
Dict._ and Angus’s _Bible Handbook_, p. 270.)
CALENDAR
Year
───────── English Seasons
Sacred Month and
Civil Month (nearly) Festivals │ Productions
─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼─────────────────────────
i.│ 7│ ABIB or │April│14. The PASSOVER│ Fall of the _latter_
│ │ NISAN │ │ │ or _spring_ rain.
│ │ (_green │ │ │ (Deut. xi. 14.)
│ │ ears_) │ │ │ Floods
│ │ Days 30 │ │ │ (Josh. iii. 14).
│ │Exod. xii. 2│ │16. First-fruits│HARVEST
│ │ │ │ of │ Barley ripe at Jericho.
│ │ │ │ barley-harvest│
│ │ │ │ presented │ Wheat partly in the ear.
─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼─────────────────────────
ii.│ 8│ ZIF │ May │14. _Second │ Barley harvest general
│ │(_blossom_) │ │ Passover_ for │ (Ruth i. 22).
│ │ Days 29 │ │ those who │
│ │ 1 Kings │ │ could not keep│ Wheat ripens.
│ │ vi. 1 │ │ the first. │
│ │ │ │ Num. ix. │
│ │ │ │ 10, 11 │
─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼─────────────────────────
iii.│ 9│ SIVAN │ June│ 6. PENTECOST │ Wheat harvest. Summer
│ │ Days 30 │ │ or FEAST OF │ begins.
│ │ Esth. │ │ WEEKS │ No rain from April
│ │ viii. 9. │ │ │ to Sept. (1 Sam.
│ │ │ │ │ xii. 17).
─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼─────────────────────────
iv.│10│ THAMMUZ │ July│ │HOT SEASON.
│ │ Days 29 │ │ │ Heat increases.
│ │ Zec. │ │ │
│ │ viii. 19 │ │ │
─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼─────────────────────────
v.│11│ AB │ Aug.│ │ The streams dry up.
│ │ Days 30 │ │ │ Heat intense.
│ │Esth. vii. 9│ │ │ Vintage (Lev. xxvi. 5).
─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼─────────────────────────
vi.│12│ ELUL │Sept.│ │ Heat still intense
│ │ Days 29 │ │ │ (2 Kin. iv. 18–20).
│ │Neh. vi. 15 │ │ │ Grape harvest general
│ │ │ │ │ (Num. xiii. 23).
─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼─────────────────────────
vii.│ 1│ TISRI or │ Oct.│1. Feast of │SEED TIME
│ │ ETHANIM │ │ _Trumpets_ │
│ │ Days 30 │ │10. Day of │ Former or early rains
│ │ 1 Kin. │ │ ATONEMENT │ begin (Joel ii. 23).
│ │ viii. 2 │ │15. Feast of │ Ploughing and sowing
│ │2 Chr. v. 3 │ │ TABERNACLES │ begin.
│ │ │ │ First-fruits │
│ │ │ │ of wine and │
│ │ │ │ oil (Lev. │
│ │ │ │ xxiii. 39) │
─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼─────────────────────────
viii.│ 2│ BUL │ Nov.│ │ Rain continues.
│ │ (_rain_) │ │ │
│ │ Days 29 │ │ │ Wheat and barley
│ │ 1 Kin. │ │ │ sown. Vintage in
│ │ vi. 38 │ │ │ N. Palestine.
─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼─────────────────────────
ix.│ 3│ CHISLEU │ Dec.│ │WINTER
│ │ Days 30 │ │25. Feast of │ Winter begins. Snow on
│ │ Neh. i. 1 │ │ _Dedication_ │ the mountains.
│ │ │ │ (1 Macc. │
│ │ │ │ iv. 52–59) │
─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼─────────────────────────
x.│ 4│ THEBETH │ Jan.│ │ Coldest month. Hail,
│ │ Days 29 │ │ │ snow (Josh. x. 11).
│ │Est. ii. 16 │ │ │
─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼─────────────────────────
xi.│ 5│ SHEBAT │ Feb.│ │ Weather gradually
│ │ Days 30 │ │ │ becomes warmer.
│ │ Zech. i. 7 │ │ │
─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼─────────────────────────
xii.│ 6│ ADAR │March│ │COLD SEASON
│ │ Days 29 │ │14, 15. Feast of│ Thunder and hail
│ │Esth. iii. 7│ │ _Purim_ │ frequent.
│ │Esth. ix. 27│ │ │ Almond-tree blossoms.
NOTE.
_Laws of Purity._
Not altogether unconnected with these regulations respecting
Holy Times and Seasons were other enactments of the Mosaic code,
having for their object the enforcement of ideas of purity and
holiness. _Ye shall be holy unto Me_, was the Divine command;
_for I the Lord thy God am holy, and have severed you from other
people that ye should be Mine_ (Lev. xix. 2; xx. 7). Many of
these regulations were, doubtless, laws of health, tending
to regulate diet, enforce cleanliness, and guard against many
prevalent disorders. But over and above this, they had a higher
object, and formed part of the moral discipline of the elect
nation.
They regard (i) things unclean to eat; (ii) things unclean to
touch; (iii) unclean matters or conditions[103].
i. _Things unclean to eat._ The prohibitions respecting food
follow directly the laws concerning sacrifice. Portions of many
sacrifices, as we have seen, might be eaten. From this eating
the Law passes on to food generally, the nature of which has
“commonly no little influence on the refinement and manners of a
people.” Concerning vegetable eating, no rules are laid down. In
respect to animal food, the laws are clear and precise. (i) Of
_quadrupeds_, the clean were such as _both parted the hoof and
chewed the cud_, all others were unclean. All animals, therefore,
used in sacrifice might be eaten, as also the numerous species
of deer and gazelles (Deut. xiv. 5), but none of the _carnivora_,
or such animals as the camel, coney, hare, or pig. (ii) Of
_birds_ also, all that were offered in sacrifice might be eaten,
such as doves, pigeons, and also quails, but all birds of prey,
and nearly all the water-fowl, were unclean. (iii) Of _Fish_,
those only were clean that had both fins and scales. (iv) All
_Reptiles_ and _Insects_ were unclean, except locusts, and such
as had four legs for walking and two for springing (Lev. xi.
21, 22; comp. Matt. iii. 4). But the Israelite was also strictly
forbidden to eat anything that died of itself (Ex. xxii. 31), or
was torn by beasts, emphatically the blood of any animal (Gen.
ix. 4; Lev. iii. 17; xvii. 10, 12; Comp. 1 Sam. xiv. 32, 33).
(ii) _Things unclean to touch._ An Israelite incurred defilement
who touched or handled (i) the dead body of any animal, whether
clean or unclean (Lev. xi. 24–28), (ii) the body, bones, or
grave of a dead man (Num. xix. 11, 13, 16). The latter was
deemed a defilement calling for special purification. The person
was unclean seven days. For his cleansing a young red heifer
was slain outside the camp or town, in the presence of one of
the priests. Some of the blood the priest was then to sprinkle
seven times in the direction of the Sanctuary, to burn the
entire carcase, and cast into the fire cedar-wood, scarlet wool,
and hyssop. The ashes were then collected, and laid up in a
clean place, and a portion mixed with water was to be sprinkled
on whatever had been defiled, man, or place, or vessel. This
ceremony was to be repeated twice, on the third and on the
seventh day. On the latter day the person defiled washed his
clothes, bathed, and was clean at even. But still stricter
regulations were enforced when a priest or a Nazarite had become
defiled (Num. xix. 1–22).
(iii) _Unclean matters or conditions._ Many are enumerated, but
we need speak of only one, the disease of LEPROSY. This fearful
malady, indigenous in Egypt and Asia Minor, disfiguring the
whole person, and making it horrible to the beholder, was called
by the Jews _the Stroke_, and even by the Greeks the _first-born
son of Death_[104]. It made itself apparent by a white swelling
on the skin, especially on the face, turning the skin white (Ex.
iv. 6), and the hair white or yellow (Lev. xiii. 3, 10, 30), and
producing other disfigurements. The person affected with it was
instantly to repair to the priests (Lev. xiii. 2, 9), whose duty
it was to make a minute examination, and pronounce whether it
was a case of “true leprosy.” If so, the sufferer was pronounced
_utterly unclean_, and forthwith assumed the awful badges of
his sad condition. He rent his clothes, bared his head, put
a covering on his upper lip (Lev. xiii. 45), as though he was
mourning for the dead (Ezek. xxiv. 17, 22), and wherever he
went cried out, _Unclean! unclean!_ An exile from his home, his
family, his friends (Num. v. 2), he was bound to reside without
the camp or city in a separate house by himself, or in the
society of others similarly afflicted (Lev. xiii. 46; 2 Kings
xv. 5; 2 Kings vii. 3; Lk. xvii. 12). No Israelite ever pretended
to effect a cure of this awful malady. The priest could pronounce
upon the symptoms, shut out the sufferer from the congregation,
but he had no power to heal. If, however, the symptoms abated,
and there were any signs of a cure, the sufferer again went to
the priest, who carefully ascertained whether this was the case.
If so, a peculiar ceremony celebrated the healing. It consisted
of two stages, (i) Two birds were taken, one killed by the
priest over running water, the other dipped, together with
cedar-wood, scarlet wool, and hyssop, in its blood, and suffered
to fly away into the open air. The priest then sprinkled the
leper with the blood seven times, and pronounced him clean.
(ii) But before he could return to the society of his fellowmen,
he must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, bathe, and
then present himself at the Sanctuary with a he-lamb as a
_Trespass-offering_, an ewe lamb as a _Sin-offering_, and
a he-lamb as a _Burnt-offering_ with its usual meat-offering.
In cases of poverty two doves or pigeons might be presented
in place of the two latter offerings, but the he-lamb as a
_Trespass-offering_ was indispensable. This was first slain,
and its blood smeared by the priest on the leper’s right ear,
the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot.
Consecrated oil was then similarly applied, and poured on his
head, and the other sacrifices offered, at the conclusion of
which atonement was deemed to have been made, and the Leper was
clean (Lev. xiv. 49–53).
The regulations respecting this fearful malady were no mere
sanitary regulations, for it was not catching from one person
to another (comp. 2 Kings v. 1; viii. 4), and the ordinances
respecting it did not apply to the stranger and the sojourner.
“From the whole host of maladies and diseases which had
broken in upon man’s body, God selected this, the sickness of
sicknesses, that He might thereby testify against that out of
which it and all other sicknesses grew, against SIN, as not
from Him, and as grievous in His sight[105].” It was the outward
and visible sign of the innermost spiritual corruption, a meet
emblem in its small beginnings, its gradual spread, its internal
disfigurement, its dissolution little by little of the whole
body, of that which corrupts, degrades, and defiles man’s inner
nature, and renders him unmeet to enter the Presence of a Pure
and Holy God.
(iv) Among the _Vows_ known before the time of Moses (and which,
as a general rule, were discouraged by him, comp. Deut. xxiii.
21–23) was that of the _Nazarite_. The person making this vow
was bound, usually for a certain term, to abstain from wine or
strong drink, from grapes or anything made from the vine, from
cutting the hair of his head, or approaching a corpse, even
that of his nearest relative (Num. vi. 2–7). If he accidentally
touched a corpse, he was obliged on the seventh day to cut
off his hair, and begin his vow afresh on the next day, after
presenting to the priest two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons,
one for a sin, and the other for a burnt-offering, and a lamb
as a trespass-offering. At the expiration of his vow, he brought
to the Tabernacle a burnt-, sin-, and thank-offering (Lev. vii.
12, 13) with a meat- and drink-offering (Num. vi. 15), had the
left shoulder of the thank-offering waved upon his hands by the
priest (Num. vi. 19, 20), and cutting off his hair burnt it in
the fire on the altar. Of Nazarites for life three are mentioned
in Scripture, _Samson_ (the only one actually called a Nazarite,
Judg. xiii. 5), _Samuel_ (1 Sam. i. 11), _John the Baptist_
(Lk. i. 15).
CHAPTER VI.
_CIVIL AND MORAL LAWS._
EXOD. XXI.–XXIII. DEUT. XIX.–XXIV.
HITHERTO we have been concerned with those portions of the Mosaic Law,
which instructed the Israelite in his duty towards God, and the mode in
which He was to be worshipped. We will now turn to the chief of those
which instructed him in his duty as (i) _a member of a family_, and
(ii) _of a nation_.
(i) The FAMILY RELATIONS include (1) _The mutual duties of Parents and
Children_, (2) _of Husband and Wife_, (3) _of Master and Servant_.
(1) _The duties of Parents and Children._ Reverence for parents
is enjoined in the Decalogue as the first duty next after those
appertaining to God Himself. _Honour thy father and mother_ is the
first and the only commandment to which a promise of long life and
continuance in the Promised Land is definitely attached (Ex. xx. 12;
Eph. vi. 2), and to smite or revile father or mother is made a capital
offence (Ex. xxi. 15, 17; Lev. xix. 3; xx. 9). In the Patriarchal
times, as we have already seen[106], the authority of the father over
his children was very great. His blessing conferred special benefits,
his curse special injury (Gen. ix. 25, 27; xxvii. 27–40; xlviii. 15, 20;
xlix.). His authority was of great moment, not only in the marriage of
sons (Gen. xxiv. 3), but of daughters, though in the latter case the
consent of the brothers, or at least of the elder brother, was deemed
important (Gen. xxiv. 50, 51; xxxiv. 11). But the Mosaic Law did not
invest the father with the same boundless power as the Greek or Roman
Law[107]. He could not inflict death irresponsibly. The incorrigible
son, whom he could not restrain from flagrant crimes, he might bring
before the elders of the city, who, having obtained the concurrence of
_both_ parents, might sentence him to be stoned to death. But in the
execution of the judgment the whole congregation were required to take
part, in order to promote a more general abhorrence of the sin (Deut.
xxi. 18–21). The father could not disinherit his sons; to the firstborn
he must give two portions, and equal shares to the rest; but in case of
extreme indigence he might sell his children, especially his daughters,
into servitude, or surrender them to creditors as a pledge (Ex. xxi. 7).
(2) _The Relations of Husband and Wife._ The institution of marriage
was jealously guarded by the Mosaic Law. Adultery ranked next to
murder, and the punishment for both parties was death by stoning (Lev.
xviii. 20; xx. 10; Deut. xxii. 22). In deference to the universal
custom of Oriental nations, and the example of the Patriarchs, polygamy
was _allowed_, though by no means _encouraged_, and though frequently
practised by the kings of Israel, was rare in private life (1 Sam.
i. 2). The right of divorce was conceded (Deut. xxiv. 1–4) on account
of _the hardness of the hearts_ of the people (Matt. xix. 8), but a
woman once divorced and marrying again might not return to her first
husband, either on the death of, or when put away by, the second. The
Mosaic Law sanctioned a custom of the Patriarchal age (Gen. xxxviii. 8),
which made it necessary that if a man died childless, his wife should
be taken in marriage by his surviving brother, and it was further
ordained that the firstborn son by such a marriage should succeed
in the name of his brother, that it be not put out in Israel (Deut.
xxv. 5, &c.). The rigour, however, of the old custom was relaxed. If
the brother had children of his own alive, he was exempt; and if he
declared in open court his unwillingness to enter into the marriage,
the duty devolved on the next relation of the deceased husband. (See
Ruth iv. 5–11.)
(3) _The Relation of Master and Servant._ Slavery existed amongst
the Israelites as amongst all other Eastern nations. Slaves could be
acquired in four ways. (1) They might be taken in war (Num. xxxi. 11,
35; Deut. xx. 14); (2) they might be purchased of parents or former
owners or merchants in time of peace (Gen. xvii. 23; Lev. xxv. 44, 45);
(3) they might have sold themselves in satisfaction for a debt (Lev.
xxv. 39–43; 2 Kings iv. 1); (4) they might be the children of slaves
born in their master’s house. But while slavery was thus recognised
as an institution, it was the aim of the Mosaic Law to mitigate its
evils as much as possible. Thus, not only does it open with a number
of precepts relating to slaves (Ex. xxi. 2–6), but it ever pronounced
them to be equal before God as regarded their spiritual relation, and
freely admitted them to all religious privileges, circumcision (Gen.
xvii. 10–14; Ex. xii. 44), the rest of the Sabbath (Ex. xx. 10),
the festivals (Ex. xii. 44), and gave them an interest in all the
sacrifices offered by the family (Deut. xvi. 11, 14).
In regard, again, to civil rights, the Hebrew slave was never looked
upon as a mere _thing_ or _chattel_. A master could not chastise a
slave to death without being punished (Ex. xxi. 20, 21), and if he
inflicted bodily mutilation, the slave, whether male or female, might
claim to be free (Ex. xxi. 26, 27). In the seventh year of his service
the Hebrew slave might take up his freedom, leaving, however, his
wife given him by his master during service and her children (Ex. xxi.
3, 4); if he declined to avail himself of this privilege, his master
might take him before the elders, bore his ear with an awl to the door,
and then he was his servant for ever, _i.e._ till the year of Jubilee
(Ex. xxi. 5, 6; Deut. xv. 16, 17). Moreover, as the Israelites when
delivered from Egyptian bondage had not gone forth empty, so the
Hebrew bondslave at his release (which took effect in the Jubilee
year, even though he had not served his full time) was to be furnished
liberally out of the flock, the floor, and the winepress (Deut. xv.
13, 14). Besides bondslaves we also find _hired servants_ among the
Hebrews. They were to be treated kindly, and their wages duly paid (Lev.
xix. 13; Deut. xxiv. 14, 15). Strangers also within the gates, whether
runaway slaves or exiles from their own land, who would naturally be in
extreme want, were to be treated with great kindness, for the Israelite
himself was a _stranger in the land of Egypt_ (Ex. xxii. 21; xxiii. 9).
Together with the poor generally, whether Hebrews or heathens, they
were to have the free enjoyment of the gleaning of the field and
the garden (Lev. xix. 9, 10; xxiii. 22; Deut. xxiv. 19–21), of the
spontaneous produce of the Sabbatical year (Lev. xxv. 5, 6), of the
sacrificial and tithe-feasts (Deut. xiv. 28, 29), and their share at
joyous family festivals, such as marriages, circumcision, the weaning
of children.
(ii) The Laws affecting the Israelite in his civil capacity may be
arranged in three groups, according as they regarded the sanctity of
(1) _Life_, (2) _Character_, and (3) _Property_.
(1) _Life._ The Laws protecting the life and person include those
against (a) _premeditated murder_, and (b) _unintentional manslaughter_.
(a) _Premeditated murder._ The wilful shedder of man’s blood met with
no compassion from the Mosaic Code. The original law at Sinai (Ex.
xxi. 12–14) and the subsequent repetition of it (Deut. xix. 11–13) made
death the inevitable penalty of murder, even as it had been in the days
of Noah (Gen. ix. 6). The murderer was regarded as accursed; for him
the horns of the altar were to be no refuge; he was to be dragged from
them by force to suffer his doom, nor could rank or wealth exempt him
from it, for it was expressly provided that on no pretext whatever
should any ransom be taken (Num. xxxv. 31, 32). Nor was his person only
regarded as accursed, but so long as he remained undiscovered, even
the land was looked upon as polluted. If no efforts could detect the
murderer, the elders of the nearest town were to take a heifer, and
bring it down to a _rough valley, neither eared nor sown_, and there
strike off its head. They were then to wash their hands over it, and in
the presence of the Levites pronounce the following words; _Our hands
have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Be merciful,
O Lord, unto Thy people, whom Thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent
blood to Thy people of Israel’s charge_. Thus atonement was to be made
(Deut. xxi. 1–9).
(b) _Unintentional homicide._ Prior to the Mosaic age, the duty of
avenging blood devolved upon the next of kin, who was called the Goel
or _Avenger_, and together with his office inherited the property of
the deceased. Sometimes a whole family took upon them this duty (2 Sam.
xiv. 7). Amongst the other nations, as the Arab tribes of the present
day, “any bloodshed whatever, whether wilful or accidental, laid the
homicide open to the _duteous_ revenge of the relatives and family of
the slain person, who again in their turn were then similarly watched
and hunted by the opposite party, until a family war of extermination
had legally settled itself from generation to generation, without the
least prospect of a peaceful termination.” It was the aim of the Mosaic
Law, without abolishing this long established custom, to mitigate its
evils as far as possible. Accordingly it was directed that, on the
arrival of the people in the Promised Land, six _Cities of Refuge_
should be set apart, to which the homicide might fly, if not overtaken
by the _Avenger_. Of these, three were to be on either side of the
Jordan, almost equally remote from each other, and the roads leading
to them were to be kept in a state of perfect repair (Ex. xxi. 13; Num.
xxxv. 11; Deut. xix. 3). They were to be chosen out of the priestly
and Levitical cities, as likely to be inhabited by the most intelligent
portion of the community. On reaching one of them, the case of the
homicide was to be examined by the elders; if they pronounced him
guilty he was to be delivered up to the Avenger; if innocent, an abode
was to be provided him in the city, where he was to remain till the
death of the high-priest, but if found at any time by the Avenger
beyond the limit of protection, 2000 cubits, he was liable to be put to
death. On the demise of the high-priest he might return to the city of
his possession (Num. xxxv. 25, 28)[108].
(2) The sacredness of a _man’s character_ was enforced by the
commandment in the Decalogue forbidding _false witness_, and by laws
prohibiting calumny, hatred, partiality in judgment for rich or poor
(Ex. xxiii. 1–3; Lev. xix. 16–18). No exact penalty was enforced,
but it was enjoined that in case of false witness the parties should
be brought before the priests and judges, and if after diligent
inquisition the charge was established, then should be done unto the
slanderer as he had thought to have done unto his brother, that so the
evil might be put away (Deut. xix. 19–21).
(3) _Property_ was carefully guarded in the Mosaic Law, which forbade
not only stealing, the act, but coveting, the intention.
(a) _Direct theft_ was punished by restitution. If the stolen goods
were found in the hands of the thief, he was to restore twofold; if
before his detection he had applied them to his own use, he was to
restore five oxen for an ox, four sheep for a sheep (Comp. 2 Sam.
xii. 6); but a still heavier fine was exacted if he had not only sold,
but killed and injured. If unable to pay the fine, he was to be sold
into slavery to a Hebrew master, and serve him till he could pay (Ex.
xxii. 1–4). A night-thief might be resisted even to death (Ex. xxii. 2).
Man-stealing or kidnapping was a capital offence (Ex. xxi. 16). The
crime of removing a neighbour’s landmark was severely reprobated (Deut.
xix. 14; xxvii. 17).
(b) _Indirect injury through carelessness or other causes._ This
included injury done to property entrusted to another for safe keeping.
If it was stolen and the thief detected, he was to repay double; if he
could not be found, the trustee, on being declared guilty of negligence
by the judges, was to restore twofold. Compensation was also exacted,
where property was injured through a pit being left open, through
cattle straying amongst other cattle or trespassing on another’s land,
or through fire spreading to standing corn (Ex. xxi. 33–36; xxii. 5, 6).
Straying or suffering beasts, even if the property of an enemy, were to
be brought back or relieved (Ex. xxiii. 4, 5).
_Land._ All land was to be regarded as belonging to God, and
the holders as His tenants. At the conquest of Palestine each
tribe was to have its allotment, and each family its portion,
and these were to remain for ever inalienable (Num. xxvii. 1–11;
xxxvi.; comp. 1 Kings xxi. 3; 2 Kings ix. 25, 26). All sold land,
therefore, was to return to its original owners at the Jubilee,
but might be redeemed by the owner or his representative at any
period before then (Lev. xxv. 13–16, 23–28).
_Laws of debt._ An Israelite who had fallen into debt from
any cause, might (i) sell himself as a slave to one of his
own nation, with the right of resuming his freedom after six
years, and at the Jubilee recovering his inheritance, (ii) claim
a timely loan (Deut. xv. 1–11), but no usury might be taken
from an Israelite (Ex. xxii. 25–27; Deut. xxiii. 19, 20). Thus
pledges would become frequent, but they might not be cruelly or
ruinously exacted. The handmill, a necessity in every family,
might not be pledged (Deut. xxiv. 6); the cloak must be restored
before nightfall when it became essential (Ex. xxii. 26, 27;
Deut. xxiv. 12, 13); the lender was not to go into the house of
his debtor to claim his pledge, or seize any article he chose;
he was to stand abroad, and the pledge was to be brought out to
him (Deut. xxiv. 10, 11).
BOOK V.
FROM THE DEPARTURE FROM SINAI TO THE DEATH OF MOSES.
CHAPTER I.
_KADESH-BARNEA AND THE MISSION OF THE SPIES._
NUMB. X.–XIV. B.C. 1490.
THE period of the encampment of the Israelites at Sinai had now
occupied upwards of a year. The Covenant had been concluded, the Law
had been given, the Tabernacle had been erected, the priests had been
consecrated, and Jehovah dwelt in the midst of His chosen people. It
was now time to think of marching onwards towards Canaan. As, however,
the occupation of that country must of necessity be preceded by its
conquest, an organization of the Israelitish forces was the first duty.
Accordingly, a census was taken of all who were fit for war, or about
twenty years old, and the result gave a total of 603,550 fighting
men (Num. i. 46), to whom if we add the Levites, the women, and the
children, we may conclude that the host numbered altogether between
two and three millions. The first anniversary of the Passover was then
duly celebrated, and on the twentieth day of the second month in the
second year, the Pillar of Cloud moved from off the Tabernacle, and
this signal for departure having been given, the order of the march
was marshalled.
First, borne by the Kohathites, went the Ark of the Covenant, the
lid of which was the throne of Jehovah, and was overspread by the
Cloudy Pillar (Num. x. 33). Then followed the tribe of Judah, the most
numerous and the strongest of all the tribes, supported by Issachar
and Zebulun, under the standard of a “Lion,” the ensign of Judah. Then
followed the sons of Gershon and Merari, bearing the external portions
of the Tabernacle, the coverings and hangings, the boards, the pillars,
and the sockets. They were succeeded by the tribe of Reuben, flanked by
Gad and Simeon, marching under the common standard of Reuben, a “Man’s
Head.” Next came the rest of the Kohathites, bearing the sacred vessels
of the Sanctuary. Then the tribe of Ephraim, flanked by Benjamin and
Manasseh, under the standard of Ephraim, the figure of an “Ox;” and
the long procession closed with the tribe of Dan, between Naphtali
and Asher, with the standard of Dan, an “Eagle with a Serpent in its
talons.”
These arrangements having been made, the Silver Trumpets sounded, the
silence of the desert was broken by the shout, _Rise up, Lord, and let
Thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Thee flee before
Thee_ (Num. x. 35; comp. Ps. lxviii. 1, 2), and the march began. At
this time there was present in the camp HOBAB, by some supposed to
have been the father-in-law, by others the brother-in-law of Moses. The
Israelitish leader knew how invaluable would be the experience of one
so well acquainted with every track and pass in the terrible wilderness
they were now about to traverse, and he earnestly entreated him to
continue with them, and share the goodness which the Lord would show
to Israel (Num. x. 29). There seems little doubt that Hobab consented
to accompany the people, and to be to them _instead of eyes_ amidst the
dangers of the inhospitable desert[109].
In the course of three days the host entered on the sandy plain which
parts the mountain-mass of Sinai from the table-land of the Tîh[110].
Having for more than a year enjoyed the pleasant encampment before
the Mount of God, they no sooner entered on this arid tract, than
they gave vent to their feelings of discontent. During the journey
from the Red Sea to Sinai God had borne with similar manifestations
of their weakness. But now that they had been brought into nearer and
more visible relations with Him, having the Sanctuary in their midst,
the Ark preceding them, and the Manna dropping upon them from day to
day, their murmurings could not be thus passed over, but brought down
instant rebuke and punishment. On this occasion the Divine displeasure
was marked by the outbreak of a fire on the extreme outskirts of the
encampment, which inflicted considerable damage, and was only removed
by the intercession of Moses, who called the spot TABERAH, or _the
burning_ (Num. xi. 1–3).
But this judgment had scarcely been removed when the same spirit
of discontent broke out afresh. The _mixed multitude_, which had
accompanied them from Egypt, and soon afterwards the Israelites
themselves, began to complain of the Manna, _this light food_, as
they called it, and lamented the loss of the fish, the cucumbers,
the melons, the leeks, and other vegetables, they had enjoyed in the
fertile valley of the Nile. So loud and general were their complainings,
that Moses despaired of accomplishing the purport of his mission, and
poured out his soul in prayer to God, begging for some relief from the
burden of daily anxiety which weighed him down. In mercy towards His
despairing servant, the Lord bade him select seventy elders, and bring
them to the door of the Tabernacle, and promised to take of the spirit
that was upon him and bestow a portion on them, that they might share
with him the weight of responsibility. He also promised that on the
morrow flesh, such as the people had pined after, should be given them,
and that not for one day only but for a whole month, until it became
even more loathsome to them than the celestial food they had so lately
despised. In obedience to this command, the seventy elders were brought
before the Tabernacle, and the Lord bestowed upon them a portion of
the spirit that was upon the Israelitish leader, and _they prophesied,
and did not cease_. Two of their number, ELDAD and MEDAD, though
selected for this high office, either from accident or some other cause,
did not accompany the rest to the appointed place, and though they
remained in the camp, and at a distance from the Cloudy Pillar, became
inspired with the same spirit. This striking incident was announced
to Moses by Joshua, who, jealous for his master’s honour, thought that
such prophesying ought to be prohibited. But Moses thought otherwise.
_Enviest thou for my sake?_ he replied; _would God that all the Lord’s
people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them_
(Num. xi. 24–30. Comp. Mk. ix. 38; Lk. ix. 49).
Shortly afterwards the second promise of the Lord was also fulfilled.
A strong wind brought up a prodigious number of quails from the sea
in the proximity of the Gulf of Akaba, which covered the ground to the
extent of a day’s journey on either side of the camp. For two days and
a night the people were busily occupied in collecting, and spreading
the birds abroad, probably for the purpose of drying them. So they _did
eat and were filled_; for _God gave them of their own desire, they were
not estranged from their lust_ (Ps. lxxviii. 29, 30). But while the
meat was still _between their teeth_, His _wrath fell upon them_, and
He smote them with a severe plague, _and slew the mightiest of them,
even the chosen ones of Israel_ (Ps. lxxviii. 31), and the spot where
they were buried was named KIBROTH HATTAAVAH, the _graves of lust_.
From this ill-omened encampment the host proceeded in a
north-easterly direction to _Hazeroth_, which is thought to have
been the modern _Ain-el-Huderah_, and to have consisted of the
unenclosed semi-permanent villages, in which the Bedouins are found
to congregate[111]. Here a still severer trial awaited Moses. There
arrived in the camp a Cushite or Ethiopian woman (Num. xii. 1) whom he
had married, and who is identified by some with Zipporah, while others
believe her to have been an Egyptian whom he had espoused previous to
his flight from that country. Hitherto the position of Miriam had been
one of great influence in the camp, and second only to that of Moses
and Aaron (Comp. Micah vi. 4). To her the arrival of the stranger was
most unwelcome, and she feared she would now be deposed from her high
position as a “mother in Israel.” Having, therefore, induced Aaron to
share her views, she openly turned against Moses and maintained that he
was not the sole expositor of Jehovah’s will, that she and Aaron were
of equal authority with him (Num. xii. 1–4).
With his wonted self-control Moses was content to endure these
reproaches in silence. But the Lord interposed to defend the honour
of His servant. The Pillar of Cloud suddenly appeared before the
Tabernacle, and thither Aaron and Miriam were summoned together with
Moses himself. There in words of stern rebuke the Lord denounced
their hard speeches against His chosen servant. Very different was
his position from that of an ordinary prophet, to whom the Divine
will might be made known by vision or dream. _My servant Moses_, said
Jehovah, _is faithful in all my house. With him will I speak mouth to
mouth, even apparently and not in dark speeches, and the similitude of
the Lord shall he behold; wherefore, then, were ye not afraid to speak
against my servant Moses?_ With this vindication of the true position
of the Hebrew leader the Cloud removed, and Aaron looked on Miriam,
and behold! she had become leprous, _as white as snow_. Thereupon Moses
interceded for her, and the Lord promised that the judgment should
not be permanent, but as unclean she must remain without the camp for
seven days, during which period the host remained at Hazeroth (Num.
xii. 4–16).
The days of her purification being ended, the Israelites resumed their
march, and striking northwards across the plateau of the Tîh, probably
after several intermediate encampments, reached KADESH or KADESH-BARNEA
(Num. xxxiii. 36). This spot, whether identified with the spring of
_Ain-Kŭdes_, or with _Ain-esh-Shehabeh_ south of _Jebel-el-Mŭkhrah_, or
with _Ain-el-Weibeh_ in the _Arabah_[112], was at the very gates of the
Promised Land. It required but a strenuous and persevering effort to
reach the final goal of their long journey. This effort Moses exhorted
them to make (Deut. i. 20, 21), bidding them not be afraid, but go
up boldly and possess the land, which the Lord God of their fathers
had given them. On this the people proposed (Deut. i. 22) that spies
should first be sent to ascertain the best route, and what cities
ought first to be attacked. Moses consented to this proposal, and with
the Divine concurrence selected twelve princes, one from each tribe,
whom he exhorted to make a thorough search throughout the length and
breadth of the land, and ascertain its character, its products, and its
inhabitants (Deut. i. 23; Num. xiii. 1–20).
One of the select twelve was HOSHEA, the valiant attendant of Moses,
whose name was now changed to JEHOSHUA or JOSHUA (_God the Saviour_),
a title which well became the future leader of the Israelitish hosts.
It was now _the time of the first ripe grapes_ (Num. xiii. 20), or the
month of September[113]. Setting out from the wilderness of Paran, the
spies traversed the land as far north as Rehob on the way to Hamath,
in the valley of the Orontes, which divides the ranges of Lebanon
and Anti-Lebanon. Then they _ascended by the south_[114], and came to
Hebron, where dwelt Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the gigantic sons of
Anak. In a valley opening on this city, celebrated even now for its
vineyards, they plucked pomegranates, and figs, and a bunch with one
cluster of grapes of such enormous size that it required to be carried
on a staff between two men, whence the valley was named ESHCOL, or
the _Valley of the Cluster_. With these proofs of the fertility of the
land, after an absence of forty days, the spies returned and presented
themselves in the camp at Kadesh before the host assembled to hear
their report.
The productiveness of the promised land, they said, was sufficiently
attested by the fruits they had brought back. It was, indeed, _a good
land, and flowed with milk and honey_. But the people, it could not
be denied, were strong, and of great stature, and among them were the
sons of Anak, before whom they themselves appeared as grasshoppers
(Num. xiii. 33). They were proceeding to enumerate the chief tribes
whom they had encountered, when Caleb, the Kenezite, of the tribe
of Judah, one of their number, anxious to dispel the feelings of
despondency with which their report was received, broke in with the
advice that the people should make an immediate attack, and promised
them speedy and certain success. But, save the valiant Joshua, he found
no other to support his brave counsels; the rest of the spies dwelt
only on the dangers of the expedition, and their despondency found
but too faithful an echo in the hearts of the people, who burst forth
into lamentation, openly murmured against Moses and Aaron for having
brought them thither, and even proposed to appoint a captain to lead
them back into Egypt. In vain Joshua and Caleb tried to calm the
tumult, and to check the mutiny. The host would listen to nothing, and
even threatened to stone them to death. But at this moment the Glory
of Jehovah appeared before the Tabernacle in the sight of the whole
people. Terrible though most just was His wrath at this signal proof of
faithlessness, in spite of all the signs and wonders He had wrought in
their midst. He threatened to destroy them utterly with pestilence, and
make of Moses a nation greater and mightier than they. But, as before
on Sinai, so now that unselfish leader stood heroically in the gap.
He pleaded earnestly with the justly offended Jehovah; he represented
the joy the rejection of the people would cause to the Egyptians and
the nations of Canaan, who had all heard of _the mighty Hand and the
stretched out Arm_, which had guided them through the wilderness.
Finally, he appealed to the NAME which the Lord Himself had proclaimed
on the top of Sinai[115], _the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth_, and implored the
forgiveness of the people (Num. xiv. 11–19).
His prayer was heard. The Almighty assured him that the nation, as a
nation, should be preserved, their name should not be utterly blotted
out. But, save Joshua and Caleb, not one of that generation, which
in spite of the wonders they had seen in Egypt and in the wilderness
had refused to trust in God, should enter into the promised Land. For
them, all hope of entry was cut off; every one, from twenty years old
and upwards, should die; their carcases should lie bleaching in the
wilderness (1 Cor. x. 5), while their children, whom they had deemed a
certain prey to the Canaanites, should atone for their faithlessness by
wandering forty years, a year for each day the spies had been engaged
in searching out the land (Num. xiv. 33, 34). As an earnest of this
judgment, the ten spies, who by their faithless despondency had been
the primary cause of the mutiny, were struck with instant death, and
the command was given to the rest of the host to _return into the
wilderness by the way of the Red Sea_. This announcement was received
by the people with universal lamentation, and on the morrow they rose
up, and in spite of the earnest exhortations of Moses (Deut. i. 42, 43),
and the ominous circumstance that the Cloud had not removed from the
Tabernacle, made a wild rush up the steep and difficult pass, probably
_es-Sufah_, leading into the uplands of Southern Palestine, where
they encountered the Amorites (Deut. i. 44), the _highlanders_ of the
mountains, and their old enemies the Amalekites (Num. xiv. 45), by whom
they were driven back, routed and discomfited as far as Hormah (Num.
xiv. 20–45).
CHAPTER II.
_THE WANDERINGS. DEATH OF MIRIAM AND AARON._
NUMB. XV.–XXI. B.C. 1490–1451.
AFTER this signal defeat it was clear that the sentence pronounced
upon the existing generation was irrevocable, and the host remained
for a considerable time at Kadesh (Deut. i. 46). During this period
a formidable conspiracy broke out against the authority of Moses and
Aaron. In their natural state of mortification at recent events, the
people were now more than ever likely to lend a ready ear to those
who whispered that under the auspices of any other than their present
leaders, they might escape from their humiliating doom, and reach the
goal of their hopes. Such fatal advisers soon appeared in the persons
of KORAH, a Kohathite, of the tribe of Levi, and DATHAN, ABIRAM, and ON,
of the tribe of Reuben. The former, jealous probably of the sacerdotal
pre-eminence of the line of Amram, and the latter loth to see their
tribe deprived of their ancestor’s right of primogeniture, conspired,
it is thought, “to place Korah at the head of a priesthood chosen by
popular election, and possibly to restore the tribe of Reuben to the
rights of the firstborn, of which it had been deprived[116].”
Successful in gaining over to their views 250 princes of the people,
they rose up against Moses and Aaron, and publicly charged them with
_taking too much upon themselves_, and usurping functions which ought
to have been shared by the congregation at large, who were all, every
one of them, _holy unto the Lord_. On hearing these charges Moses
resolved to refer the matter to the Divine decision, and bade Korah
and his company assemble on the morrow with lighted censers before the
Tabernacle. A similar summons was addressed to the Reubenite leaders,
but they flatly refused to attend at the place of meeting, and charged
Moses with having disappointed the hopes of the people, and being
anxious only to make himself a prince over them. Curiosity, however,
induced them to stand at the doors of their tents in full view of the
Tabernacle, where Korah and his associates stood with lighted censers
awaiting the Divine decision (Num. xvi. 1–16).
Before long the Glory of the Lord appeared, and Moses was instructed
to command that a clear space should be kept round the tents of Korah,
Dathan, and Abiram, and that the people should be careful to touch
nothing belonging to them, lest they should be consumed in their sin.
Then the servant of Jehovah offered to submit his claims to an awful
and infallible test. If the ringleaders in this rebellion _died the
common death of all men, or were visited after the visitation of all
men, then the Lord had not sent him_; but if a new and terrible fate
befell them, and _the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them
up_, then it would be known that they had provoked the Lord. His words
had hardly been uttered, when this awful catastrophe took place. The
earth clave asunder, and swallowed up Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, with
everything belonging to them, and at the same time a fire burst forth
and consumed the 250 men, who had presumed to offer incense at the
Sanctuary. Thus this great conspiracy was signally punished, and as a
memorial of the occurrence, Eleazar the son of Aaron was directed to
take the brazen censers of the offenders, and therewith to make plates
for the altar of burnt-sacrifice.
In spite, however, of this terrible proof of the Divine displeasure,
the very next day saw the people again murmuring against Moses and
Aaron, complaining that they had slain _the people of Jehovah_, and
threatening to break out into a fresh and general mutiny. Thereupon the
Glory of Jehovah once more overshadowed the Tabernacle, and a plague
broke out amongst the host. But at the exhortation of Moses, Aaron
took a lighted censer from off the altar, and standing between the
living and the dead, made an atonement for the people, but not before
14,700 men had by their deaths paid the penalty for their murmuring and
insubordination. Thus the divinely-ordained priesthood of Aaron averted,
while that assumed by Korah only brought destruction upon the host. But
in order that the Aaronic priesthood might be still further attested,
and that for all future generations, another sign was vouchsafed.
Moses was directed to receive from the Prince of each tribe an almond
rod with the name of the tribe inscribed thereon, and to lay these
rods before the Ark in the Holy of Holies, that on the morrow it might
be proved incontestably which tribe had been selected to perform the
priestly functions. Moses obeyed, and on the morrow, when the rods
were removed, behold! that of Levi, on which the name of Aaron had been
inscribed, instead of being dry like the rest, _had brought forth buds,
and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds_. Thus to the confusion of
all other pretenders, the claims of this branch of the tribe of Levi
were confirmed in a way that could not be gainsaid, and the Mystic Rod
was directed to be laid up before the Ark, as a testimony against all
future pretenders, and a pledge of the Divine choice (Num. xvii. 1–11;
Heb. ix. 4).
From Kadesh the host now _took their journey into the wilderness by
the way of the Red Sea_ (Deut. ii. 1), and for thirty-eight years
continued to wander in the deserts of Paran. This long period of
punishment and humiliation is shrouded by the sacred historian in
profound obscurity. It is probable that Kadesh was for some time a sort
of head-quarters, whence the great mass of the people were scattered
far and wide in smaller or larger groups over the peninsula, while
afterwards encampments were made at different spots, ♦wherever Moses
and the Tabernacle were settled (Num. xxxiii. 19–36). From a comparison
of the four passages[117] of Holy Scripture which alone throw any light
upon this dark period of Israel’s history, Deut. viii. 2–6; Josh. v.
4–9; Ezek. xx. 10–26; Amos v. 25, 26, we infer that it was a period
of “training and temptation, of humiliation and blessing, of natural
wants and supernatural existence;” that the rite of circumcision was
neglected, and the annual celebration of the Passover not kept up,
while the Sabbath also was not strictly observed[118] (Josh. v. 5; Ezek.
xx. 13). Meanwhile, according to the sentence pronounced upon them, all
the men of that generation from twenty years old and upwards died, save
Moses and his brother, and the two faithful spies Joshua and Caleb.
At the close, however, of this period, the host once more assembled at
Kadesh. Moses was now far advanced in years, and his second approach to
the very threshold of the Promised Land was saddened by two events of a
peculiarly mournful character. First, Miriam his sister, and companion
of his childhood, died, and was buried at Kadesh (Num. xx. 1). But,
however afflicted he may have been at her loss, the conduct of the
people, whom he led, must have grieved him still more. For, again,
on a failure of water, the new generation proved faithless, and brake
forth into murmurings and complainings as violent as their forefathers
at Rephidim. For the second time the ill-omened words of disaffection
sounded in his ears, and roused in him and his brother feelings of
greater irritation than they had ever displayed before. On appealing
to the Lord, they were commanded to assemble the people before the Rock
facing the encampment, and it was promised that it should bring forth
water in obedience to their word. Thereupon the Brothers gathered
the people together before the Rock, but instead of appealing to _it_,
Moses began to speak _unadvisedly_ (Ps. cvi. 32, 33) _to them_, saying,
_Hear now, ye rebels! must we fetch you water out of this rock?_ Then,
instead of doing as he had been instructed, he lifted up his hand,
and with the rod struck the Rock, not once, but twice, on which the
refreshing streams indeed flowed forth abundantly, and supplied the
wants of the people and their cattle, but the fidelity and self-control
of the Brothers, of the Prophet and the Priest, had alike failed,
neither had they sanctified Jehovah in the eyes of the host. (Comp.
Num. xxvii. 14; Deut. xxxiii. 51.) For this sin, whatever may have been
its precise heinousness, the Almighty pronounced on both the Brothers
the sentence of exclusion from the Promised Land. Into it they were
never to enter, or realise with the people they had led the hopes and
anticipations of so many long and weary years.
But though thus excluded from the goal of his long pilgrimage,
there was on the part of Moses no diminution of the zeal he had ever
displayed in behalf of the people. Always preferring their welfare to
his own, he was ready to lead them _towards_, if he was not to lead
them _into_ the Promised Land, and as a preliminary he sent ambassadors
to the Edomites and Moabites, requesting a free passage through their
territory. But though his messengers recounted the various proofs of
Divine protection which had accompanied the journeyings of the people,
and promised to keep to the highway, and injure neither the fields, the
vineyards, nor the wells, but pay for any water they might use, they
met with a direct refusal. Edom not only forbad them a passage through
his territory, but posted a strong force to guard all the approaches
into it. Thereupon, in obedience to the Divine command, the Israelites
abstained from any retaliation against the descendants of Esau, and
the latter did not openly venture to attack them. But an Amorite tribe
inhabiting the southern highlands of Palestine, under the command of
their chief Arad, fell upon them, and took some of them prisoners. This
roused the spirit of the people; they attacked their foes, and utterly
destroyed them and their cities, naming the spot in memory of the
incident Hormah, or _utter Destruction_ (Num. xxi. 1–4).
Thus debarred from what would have been the natural route towards
the country east of the Jordan, nothing remained but to march
southward down the Arabah towards the eastern arm of the Red Sea,
and then take a long and wearisome circuit round the territory of
the Edomites. Accordingly they set out, and reached Mount Hor[119],
at the edge of the land of Edom (Num. xxxiii. 37), and the highest
and most conspicuous of the whole range of its sandstone mountains,
overshadowing the mysterious city of Sela, or Petra, _the Rock_. Here
it was intimated to Moses that another of the few remaining links which
connected him with the generation that had come forth from Egypt must
be taken from him. He had already laid Miriam in her desert-grave at
Kadesh; now he was told that on the craggy top of Hor he must leave
his brother, the high-priest Aaron, who in accordance with his recent
sentence must die for his sin at the Waters of Strife. For the last
time, therefore, the Brothers repaired to the Tabernacle, where Aaron
was arrayed in his priestly robes, and then, accompanied by Eleazar
his son, the three ascended the toilsome height in the sight of the
mournful and watching host. Arrived at the summit Moses stripped his
brother of his priestly garments, and put them on Eleazar, and there,
in full view of the desert, the scene of his long pilgrimage, and just
in sight of the utmost borders of the Land of Promise, on the first day
of the fifth month, in the 123rd year of his age, the great High-priest
was gathered to his fathers. Then Moses and Eleazar reverently interred
him in his rocky tomb, and descended from the mount, and Eleazar
ministered “that evening in the familiar garments of him, whom the
people would see no more” (Num. xx. 22–29)[120].
Thirty days were spent in mourning for Aaron, and then the host
continued their march down the Arabah, and after encamping at
Ezion-geber at the eastern head of the Red Sea, entered on the sandy,
shadeless waste, which stretched eastward from the mountains of Edom
far on to the Persian Gulf, and was even more terrible than the desert
they had left. This and the thought of the long circuit that awaited
them so wrought upon the spirit of the people, that they again broke
out into bitterest complaints against their leader, their tedious
march, and their food. The region they were now traversing abounded
in _fiery_ or deadly serpents[121], of which the Lord sent many among
the people, and much people of Israel died. But on the manifestation
of a spirit of repentance, Moses, by the Divine command, made a Brazen
Serpent, and fixed it upon a pole in the sight of the congregation,
and all who looked thereon were healed. The symbol of this wonderful
deliverance was long preserved, and was regarded with veneration
as late as the days of Hezekiah (2 Kings xviii. 4), by whom it was
destroyed. The occurrence is also memorable as having suggested one of
the most sacred similitudes of the New Testament, for in His well-known
conversation with Nicodemus, the Saviour likened to the uplifting of
this serpent by Moses His own uplifting upon the Cross, _that whosoever
believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life_ (John iii.
14, 15).
After this incident the Israelites resumed their march, and pressing
forward in a northerly direction, skirted the eastern frontier of
Edom, and eventually encamped near the willow-shaded brook or valley
of Zered[122], which ran into the Dead Sea near its south-east corner,
and formed the southern boundary of Moab. Hence they advanced towards
the rushing stream of the Arnon (_swift, noisy_), “dashing through a
deep defile of sandstone rocks,” the first river they had seen since
they left the Nile. Crossing one of its fords, an incident commemorated
in an ancient song (Num. xxi. 14, 15; Deut. ii. 24), they reached a
spot which they called by a name sufficient of itself to indicate that
their weary wanderings were at an end, and that they were approaching a
cultivated land. Needing water, the princes and nobles, at the command
of Moses, dug in the ground with their staves till they reached a cool
refreshing spring. In memory of this grateful discovery they called
the spot BEER-ELIM[123], _the well of the Heroes_, and celebrated their
thanksgiving in a burst of sacred poetry (Num. xxi. 17, 18). They were
now encamped on “the vast range of forest and pasture on the east of
the Jordan.”
CHAPTER III.
_CONQUEST OF THE EAST OF JORDAN――BALAAM AND BALAK._
NUM. XXI.–XXIV. B.C. 1451.
THE country north of the present encampment of the Israelites from the
Arnon to the Jabbok was at this time possessed by the Amorites. We have
already met with this tribe on the western side of the Jordan (Gen. xiv.
7, 13; xiii. 18; Num. xiii. 29[124]). Tempted by the rich pasture lands
east of this river a colony of them appears to have crossed, and having
driven the Moabites with great slaughter and the loss of many captives
from the country south of the Jabbok (Num. xxi. 26–29), to have made
the wide chasm of the Arnon henceforth the boundary between them.
The Amorite king at this time was SIHON, and his capital was Heshbon,
twenty miles east of the Jordan, on the parallel of the northern end of
the Dead Sea. Thither the Israelitish leader sent messengers requesting
a peaceful passage through his territory, and promising the same
respect for his land and possessions, which had already been proposed
to the Edomites. But their request was rudely rejected. Sihon would not
allow them even to pass through his borders, but assembled his forces,
and prepared for battle. The Israelites did not decline the engagement,
which took place at Jahaz, probably a short distance south of Heshbon,
and resulted in the total defeat of the Amorites; Sihon himself, his
sons, and all his people were smitten with the sword, his walled towns
Ar and Heshbon, Nophah and Medeba were captured, and his numerous
flocks and herds fell into the hands of the victors, who thus became
masters of the entire country between the Arnon and the Jabbok (Num.
xxi. 27–30).
Apparently about the same time that Sihon had expelled the Moabites
from the rich territory south of the Jabbok, another Amorite chief
seized the country extending from that river to the foot of Hermon,
and known as the land of Bashan. His name was OG, one of the last
of the giant-race of Rephaim. He ruled over sixty cities, and his
stronghold was a remarkable oval district, about 22 miles from north
to south by 14 from west to east, called by the Hebrews _Argob_, or the
_stony_, afterwards by the Greeks _Trachonitis_, and now _Lejah_. This
extraordinary region has been described as “an ocean of basaltic rocks
and boulders, tossed about in the wildest confusion, and intermingled
with fissures and crevices in every direction, and yet in spite of its
ungainly and forbidding features thickly studded even now with deserted
cities and villages, in all of which the dwellings are solidly built
and of remote antiquity[125].” On a rocky promontory south-west of
this marvellous region, “without water, without access, save over rocks
and through defiles almost impracticable[126],” was the city of Edrei
(_strength_). Here, “as if in the Thermopylæ of his kingdom,” the giant
king of Bashan and all his people resolved to encounter the advancing
hosts of the Israelites, led, it seems probable, by two eminent chiefs
of the tribe of Manasseh, Jair and Nobah. (Comp. Num. xxxii. 41, 42;
Deut. iii. 14.) Like the Amorite chief of Heshbon, Og could not
withstand the valour of the Israelites. He was utterly routed, and
_his threescore cities fenced with high walls, gates and bars_, besides
_unwalled towns a great many_, fell into their hands. A trophy of this
victory, long preserved by the children of Ammon in the city of ♦Rabbah,
was the huge iron bedstead[127] of the Amorite king, nine cubits long,
by four wide; and long afterwards the subjugation of _Sihon king of
the Amorites_, and _Og the king of Bashan, great kings, famous kings,
mighty kings_, was deemed worthy of being ranked with the tokens and
wonders wrought in the land of Egypt, and the overthrow of Pharaoh in
the Red Sea (Ps. cxxxv. 10–12; cxxxvi. 15–21).
After these two decisive engagements, which made them masters of the
entire country east of the Jordan, from the wide chasm of the Arnon
to the foot of the snow-capped Hermon, the Israelites encamped in the
plains of Shittim, or _the Meadow of the Acacias_, amidst “the long
belt of acacia-groves, which, on its eastern as well as its western
side, line the upper terraces of the Jordan over against Jericho[128].”
South of the Arnon was the little corner of territory occupied by Moab,
who viewed with no little alarm the successes of the Israelites against
such _mighty kings_ as Sihon and Og. _This people_, said BALAK the
king of Moab to the elders of Midian, _lick up all that are round
about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field_. Sensible of the
uselessness of attacking a nation so manifestly under the protection of
an Invisible Power, the two confederate tribes resolved before falling
upon them to place them under an awful curse, which might have the
effect of paralysing their arms[129]. At this time no man was supposed
to have greater power in this way than a famous Prophet named BALAAM,
the son of Beor. He lived far away from the present encampment of
the Israelites at Pethor, beyond the Euphrates, in Aram among _the
mountains of the East_, but his fame had spread across the Assyrian
desert even to the shores of the Dead Sea. His gifts he exercised as a
Prophet of the same God, who had wrought so many miracles in behalf of
the Israelites. If, therefore, he could be persuaded to lay upon them
his powerful ban, their further success the Moabites thought might be
checked, and the children of Lot might not only recover the land of
which they had been deprived by the Amorites, but possibly add to them
the fertile territory the Israelites had so lately won from Sihon and
Og.
Accordingly, elders both of Moab and Midian, with the rewards of
divination in their hands, were despatched eastward across the Assyrian
desert to intreat the aid of the powerful Prophet. On reaching their
destination and announcing the purport of their errand, Balaam,
uncertain of the lawfulness of complying with it, requested them to
lodge there that night, while he ascertained the will of Jehovah. The
answer he obtained was unfavourable. _Thou shalt not go with them_;
said God, _thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed_.
On the morrow, therefore, he sent the messengers away, bidding them
announce to their master that Jehovah forbade his accompanying them.
Undeterred by this failure, and possibly informed by his messengers
that the Prophet _himself_ did not seem unwilling to come, the king
of Moab sent a second embassy consisting of princes _more and more
honourable than the last_, to inform him that he would advance him to
very great honour, and do whatever he commanded, if only he would come.
Again, therefore, the toilsome Syrian desert was traversed, and the
messengers preferred their request. But again they seemed to have come
in vain. _If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold_,
said the Prophet, _I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord to do less
or more_. But instead of at once sending the messengers away, he bade
them lodge with him that night, while he consulted the Lord a second
time. On this occasion the word of the Lord came to him, and bade him
go, but authorized him to speak nothing more and nothing less than the
very words that should be put into his mouth. Balaam accordingly set
out on his journey, but he was not to accomplish it without receiving
another and a more terrible warning against it and its object. As
he rode upon his ass, the _Angel of the Lord_ stood in the way, with
his sword drawn in his hand. As if in derision of his claims to be a
powerful Seer, the beast alone discerned the celestial Adversary, and
started aside out of the way into a field. On this, Balaam smote it,
and turned it into a path running through some vineyards. But again
the Angel confronted the wilful Prophet, and the frightened ass in its
efforts to avoid him crushed his foot against the wall. Therefore
Balaam struck it a second time, and now, as if in still deeper derision
of one, who claimed to be able to reveal to kings and princes the will
of the Invisible, the dumb beast, in the accents of a man _forbad the
madness of the Prophet_ (2 Pet. ii. 16). On this, Balaam’s eyes were
at length opened, and as he bowed himself down before the Angel, he was
sternly rebuked for his wilfulness, and proposed to turn back rather
than displease the Lord. But since his mind was wholly bent on that
course, he was a second time bidden to proceed, but a second time also
warned against uttering any other words than those which a Divine Power
should put into his mouth.
The journey was now resumed, and at length the watchmen of Balak
announced to their master that the mighty Prophet was approaching.
Therefore Balak went forth to meet him, and after a brief rebuke of his
delay, conducted his visitor to Kirjath-Huzoth, _the Town of Streets_,
a place in the furthest borders of his kingdom, and possibly of sacred
or oracular reputation[130], where he entertained him at a great feast.
On the next day he conducted him to the high places dedicated to Baal
(Num. xxii. 41) that rose above the encampment of the Israelites,
whence he might gain a view of the utmost part of the people he had
desired him to curse. There by the Prophet’s direction the king erected
seven altars, and on each they offered together a bullock and a ram,
and while Balak with his attendant princes stood by his burnt-offering,
Balaam went forth to _a high place_ (Num. xxiii. 3) to learn the Divine
will. _And God met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth_, and returning
to the expectant king, he declared that it was impossible for him to
curse Jacob and defy Israel, that he could not _curse him whom God had
not cursed, or defy him whom Jehovah had not defied_.
On hearing this response so entirely opposite to what he had expected,
Balak was highly incensed, but thinking a change of view might have
a different influence on the Prophet’s spirit, he brought him to
Zophim[131], a _cultivated field of the Watchmen_ high up on the range
of Pisgah. Again the altars were built, and the victims slain; again
the king stood by his burnt-sacrifice, and again Balaam went forth _to
meet the Lord_. But still the answer was unfavourable. The steam of
sacrifice could not bend the will of Jehovah; _He was not a man that He
should lie_, or repent of His fixed purpose; what He had said He would
do, what He had spoken He would perform; _in Jacob He had not beheld
iniquity, neither had He seen perverseness in Israel; He had brought
them out of Egypt_, and neither augury nor divination could prevail
against them.
More incensed than before, the king of Moab burst forth into bitter
complaints against the Prophet, and though the latter reminded him
that he could speak nothing but the word of Jehovah, yet he determined
from one more point to show him the people, that peradventure he might
thence effect the potent curse. He led him up, therefore, to a peak,
where stood the sanctuary of Peor (Num. xxiii. 28), looking toward
Jeshimon or _the waste_, “probably the dreary barren waste of the hills
lying immediately on the east of the Dead Sea.” There the seven altars
were for the third time built, and the victims for the third time slain.
But Balaam was now convinced that Jehovah was pleased only to bless the
people. Without resorting, therefore, any more to useless divinations,
he lifted up his eyes, and looked down upon the tribes encamped in the
acacia groves below him, with their _goodly tents spread out like the
valleys_, or watercourses of the mountains, like the hanging gardens
beside his own great river Euphrates, as _lign-aloes which the Lord had
planted, as cedar trees beside the waters_ (Num. xxiv. 6). And as he
stood, “with tranced yet open gaze” he saw the Vision of the Almighty,
and “in outline dim and vast” beheld the future of the “desert-wearied
tribes” that lay encamped before him “in sight of Canaan[132].” He
beheld them _pouring water from their buckets, their seed in many
waters, their king higher than any Amalekite Agag_ ruling in the
Arabian wilderness south of where he stood. He knew that God had
_brought them forth out of Egypt_, and that their _strength was like
that of the unicorn_. He foresaw them _couched as a lion, and lying
down as a great lion, eating up the nations their enemies, breaking
their bones, and piercing them through with the arrows_ of their
archers. _Blessed was he that blessed them, and cursed was he that
cursed them_ (Num. xxiv. 1–9).
Balak’s vexation was now increased tenfold. Smiting his hands together
he upbraided the Prophet for his deceit, and in place of advancing him,
as he had intended, to high honour, bade him flee for his life to his
native land. Nor was the other loath to go. But before he went, for he
felt himself still moved by the prophetic spirit, he would _advertise_
the king of what this mysterious people _would do to his people in the
latter days_ (Num. xxiv. 14). Again, therefore, he took up his parable,
_and saw, but not now,――he beheld but not nigh, a Star_, bright as
any that spangled the Eastern sky, _coming out of Jacob, and a sceptre
rising out of Israel, smiting through the princes of Moab[133], and
destroying_ all their wild warriors _the sons of tumult_[134]. One by
one he saw “the giant forms of empires on their way to ruin;” Edom and
Seir becoming a possession for their enemies; Amalek, then _the first
of the nations, in his latter end perishing for ever_; the Kenites,
then _strong in their dwelling-place, and putting their nest in the_
neighbouring _rocks_ of En-gedi _wasted and made a prey_; nay even
Israel _carried away captive by Asshur_. And yet once more he saw
woe in store even for Asshur, even for his own native land. Far
in the distant future he saw _ships_ coming _from Chittim_, the
island of Cyprus, _to afflict Asshur and to afflict Eber_, till the
proud kingdoms of the Eastern world, and he who should _afflict_
them _perished for ever_[135]. And then the Vision closed. The
“true Prophetic light died away,” and the king of Moab, baffled and
disappointed, returned to his people.
CHAPTER IV.
_WAR WITH THE MIDIANITES――DEATH OF MOSES._
NUMB. XXV.–XXXII. DEUT. XXXII. B.C. 1451.
BUT though his tongue had pronounced eloquent blessings upon the
people he found he could not curse, Balaam’s heart was filled with
malice against them. Dismissed by the king of Moab without the promised
honours and rewards, he lingered amongst the neighbouring Midianites,
and with the keen hatred of his now hardened heart counselled them
to join the children of Moab in seducing the Israelites from their
allegiance to Jehovah. The festival of Baal-Peor was at hand, and was
celebrated with all the unbridled licentiousness of a heathen orgy.
If the Israelites could be persuaded to join in it, they might, he
suggested, become “as other men,” and the Invisible protection now
vouchsafed would be withdrawn (Num. xxxi. 16). His artful suggestion
was adopted. The festival was celebrated, and the Israelites fell
into the snare. They joined themselves to Baal-Peor, took part in
the hideous rites, and defiled themselves before the Lord. Thus
they brought upon themselves a curse far more real than any that the
divinations of Balaam could have effected. Had such apostasy gone
unpunished, the Strength of Israel would indeed have ceased, and the
counsels of the wily Prophet would have been successful. The crisis
required severe and exemplary visitation. A plague broke out which
swept off upwards of 24,000, and the princes of the tribes, at the
command of Moses, slew the guilty with unsparing vigour, and hanged
them up before the Lord. On this occasion PHINEHAS, the son of Eleazar,
and grandson of Aaron, particularly distinguished himself by his
righteous zeal, which was accepted as an atonement for the people,
and rewarded not only by the cessation of the pestilence, but with
a promise that the priesthood should remain in his family for ever.
But a terrible vengeance was denounced against the crafty Midianites,
and after a second numbering of the people by Moses and Eleazar, a
Sacred War was proclaimed. A thousand warriors from each tribe, led not
by Joshua, but by Phinehas, and accompanied by the Ark, went forth to
execute the task of righteous retribution. The silver trumpets sounded
the signal for the onset, and the Midianites were utterly routed. Five
of their chiefs, Evi and Rekem, Zur and Hur and Reba, as also all their
males, were put to death; their cities were burnt; their goodly castles
fired; their women and children taken captive; nor did the crafty
prophet escape; _he received the wages of his unrighteousness_, and
perished by the sword (Num. xxxi. 8; 2 Pet. ii. 15).
The country east of the Jordan, which the Israelites had now wrested
from Sihon and Og, was to a great extent a long table-land of
undulating downs famed for its rich pasturage[136], and clothed with
luxuriant vegetation. It was the forest-land, the pasture-land of
Palestine, _a place for cattle_ (Num. xxxii. 1). Of the tribes of
Israel, as we have already noticed[137], Reuben and Gad were eminently
pastoral, _they had a very great multitude of cattle_ (Num. xxxii. 1).
On the conclusion, therefore, of the Sacred War against the Midianites,
they approached Moses and the elders of Israel with the petition that
they might be allowed to settle down in a region so peculiarly suited
to their requirements. This request seemed to the Israelitish leader
to savour of a desire to shrink from the arduous work which lay before
the nation, and as likely to discourage the people from crossing over
and attempting the conquest of the rugged western country, and he
reproached them for their apparent selfishness and indifference to
the welfare of their brethren. But the two tribes protested their
perfect sympathy with the great national cause; they were ready to
send the flower of their troops across the river, and only wished for
the present _to build sheepfolds for their cattle, and cities for their
little ones_, whither they might return on the conquest of the western
country. This promise was deemed sufficient, and Moses distributed
between them the lately conquered territory, assigning to Reuben
and Gad the kingdom of Sihon from the Arnon to the Jabbok[138], and
intrusting to the half of the warlike tribe of Manasseh, whose warriors
had taken so prominent a part in the conquest of the east of Jordan
(Num. xxxii. 39; Deut. iii. 13–15), the inaccessible heights and
impassible ravines of Bashan, and the almost impregnable tract of
Argob[139], the chief stronghold of the giant Og.
Meanwhile it had been once and again intimated to the Israelitish
leader that the day drew near, when he must be gathered unto his
fathers. Under the special direction, therefore, of Jehovah, he now
occupied himself with giving final and specific instructions respecting
the future government of the nation. Joshua “his minister” was solemnly
appointed to be his successor; the boundaries of the Promised Land were
definitely marked out (Num. xxxiv.); its cities with their suburbs,
including six “cities of refuge” for the unwitting manslayer, were
assigned to the tribe of Levi (Num. xxxv.), and other necessary
regulations were made.
For an ordinary leader this would have been enough. But the recent sad
occurrences in the matter of Baal-Peor had only too surely reminded
Moses of the fickle tendencies of the nation, and none knew better
than himself the awful consequences of national apostasy. For the last
time, therefore, he assembled the people together and delivered to
them his final counsels. Commencing with a retrospect of the past forty
years, he reminded them of the _goodness and faithfulness_ which had
always followed them, in spite of their murmurings and discontent,
and the victories they had been enabled to achieve (Deut. i–iv. 43).
He recapitulated the Law given on Mount Sinai, with such additions
or modifications as his own enlarged experience suggested (Deut.
v. 1–xxvi. 19), and appointed a day, on which, at the conclusion of the
conquest, its blessings and curses were to be ratified by the nation
with the most imposing and solemn ceremonies (Deut. xxvii.). He then,
for the last time, enlarged on the exalted vocation of the nation, and
the blessings which would assuredly accompany obedience to the Divine
laws, _in the city and the field, in their basket and their store,
in their going out and their coming in_, and dwelt with no less
earnestness on the terrible punishments which would follow apostasy
and transgression, “in furnishing images for which the whole realm
of nature was exhausted, and which nothing excepting the real horrors
of the Jewish history, the misery of their sieges, the cruelty, the
contempt, the oppressions, which for ages this scattered, despised, and
detested nation have endured, can approach[140]” (Deut. xxviii.–xxx.).
But oral delivery was not deemed sufficient. He, therefore, wrote out
the Law, with its blessings and its curses, and gave it to the priests,
charging them to place it beside the Ark in the Holy of Holies, and to
read it, in the hearing of all the people, once every seven years, at
the Feast of Tabernacles (Deut. xxxi. 9, 26). Then turning to Joshua,
whom he had already nominated as his successor, he bade him _Be strong
and of a good courage_, assuring him that Jehovah would be with him,
and would make all he did to prosper. But as if to deepen the gloomy
forebodings past experience must have suggested, the Lord Himself not
only announced in the clearest terms the future apostasy of the people
(Deut. xxxi. 16–18), but directed Moses to compose a Song, which the
people were to learn and teach their children, as a testimony against
themselves in the days to come, when they should have turned unto other
gods, and served them, and provoked the Lord, and broken His covenant
(Deut. xxxi. 18, 21; xxxii. 1–43). Having composed this Song of
Witness[141], and pronounced his last solemn blessing, not like Jacob
upon twelve men gathered round his deathbed, but on a mighty nation, on
_the ten thousands of Ephraim, and the thousands of Manasseh_, the aged
Prophet, _whose eye was not dim nor his natural force abated_, was
warned that his hour was come. From the plains of Moab he went up the
mountain of Nebo, to the highest point in the long eastern range over
against Jericho, and there He who called him to his high mission at the
Burning Bush showed him that land, which had been so long sworn to the
sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Eastward and westward, southward and
northward, he surveyed that goodly Land; he saw it all with his eyes
though he was not to set his foot thereon. “Beneath him lay the tents
of Israel ready for the march; and ‘over against’ them, distinctly
visible in its grove of palm-trees, the stately Jericho, key of the
Land of Promise. Beyond was spread out the whole range of the mountains
of Palestine, in its fourfold masses; ‘all Gilead’ with Hermon and
Lebanon in the east and north; the hills of Galilee, overhanging the
lake of Gennesareth; the wide opening where lay the plain of Esdraelon,
the future battle-field of the nations; the rounded summits of Ebal and
Gerizim; immediately in front of him the hills of Judæa, and, amidst
them, seen distinctly through the rents in their rocky walls, Bethlehem
on its narrow ridge, and the invincible fortress of Jebus[142].” Such
was his Pisgah-view, and then all was over. The great Prophet had
served his day and his generation, he had reached his 120th year,
and his work was ended. There, _in the land of Moab_, he died, and He
whom he had served faithfully in all His house, buried him in a valley
or ravine in the land of Moab, over against the idol-sanctuary of
Beth-Peor (Deut. xxxiv. 6), but _no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto
this day_.
NOTE.
Three points in reference to Moses deserve attention: (i) His
work, (ii) His character, (iii) His office. (i) _His work._
“The Hebrew lawgiver was a man who, considered merely in
an historical light, without any reference to his Divine
inspiration, has exercised a more extensive and permanent
influence over the destinies of his own nation and mankind
at large, than any other individual recorded in the annals of
the world.... To his own nation he was chieftain, historian,
poet, lawgiver. He was more than all these, he was the founder
of their civil existence. Other founders of republics and
distinguished legislators have been, like Numa, already at
the head of a settled and organized community; or have been
voluntarily invested with authority, like Lycurgus and Solon,
by a people suffering the inconvenience of anarchy. Moses had
first to form his own people, to lead them out of captivity, to
train them for forty years in the desert, and bestow on them a
country of their own, before he could create his commonwealth.”
(ii) _His character._ “The word _meekness_ (Num. xii. 3)
which is used in Scripture in reference to his personal
character ‘represents what we should now designate by the word
_disinterested_.’ All that is told of him indicates a withdrawal
of himself, a preference of the cause of his own nation to his
own interests, which makes him the most complete example of
Jewish patriotism.” He joins his countrymen in their degrading
servitude (Ex. ii. 11; v. 4); he forgets himself to avenge their
wrongs (Ex. iv. 13). He wishes that not he only, but all the
nation were gifted alike: _Enviest thou for my sake?_ (Num. xi.
29.) When the offer is made that the people should be destroyed,
and that he should be made a great nation (Ex. xxxii. 10),
he prays that they may be forgiven――_if not, blot me, I pray
thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written_ (Ex. xxxii. 32).
Even when excluded from realizing the hopes of a lifetime, his
zeal for his people suffers no diminution. (iii) _His office._
While other prophets saw Jehovah only in visions and dreams,
Moses spake with Him _mouth to mouth_, and was entrusted _with
the whole household of God_ (Heb. iii. 2, 5). He was at once
Deliverer, Lawgiver, Priest, Teacher, Leader, and Judge. His
prophetic gift controlled, pervaded, inspired, and regulated
all these functions, and he was thus an eminent type of a still
greater PROPHET (Deut. xviii. 15, 18) to be raised up to Israel
_from among their brethren_, (i) as a Redeemer of his people;
(ii) as a Mediator between them and God; (iii) as a Teacher and
Lawgiver; (iv) as receiving the fullest communications from God;
(v) as the Revealer of a new name of God; (vi) as the founder
of a new religious society. See Milman’s _History of the Jews_,
I. 214; Article _Moses_, in Smith’s _Bib. Dict._; Kurtz’s
_History of the Old Covenant_, III. 478; Davison _On Prophecy_,
pp. 110–112.
BOOK VI.
JOSHUA AND THE CONQUEST OF WESTERN PALESTINE.
CHAPTER I.
_THE PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN AND FALL OF JERICHO._
JOSH. I.–VI. B.C. 1451.
JOSHUA, the son of Nun, of the powerful tribe of Ephraim, had, as we
have seen, been already selected as the successor of Moses, and the
leader of the Israelitish forces. When, therefore, the thirty days of
mourning for that eminent servant of God were ended (Deut. xxxiv. 8),
he was encouraged by the Lord to undertake the task of conquest, which
now devolved upon him, and was assured of complete success, if careful
to observe the commandments of the Law. Accordingly preparations
were made for the enterprise without delay; provisions for three days
were issued to the host, and the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh,
already located on the eastern side of the Jordan, were reminded of
their promise to accompany their brethren, and share the perils and
hardships of the campaign.
Illustration: THE HOLY LAND
divided among
THE TWELVE TRIBES
_Stanford’s Geographical Establishment_
London & Cambridge Macmillan & Co.
The general distribution of the nations now inhabiting western
Palestine has been already described[143]. Along the valley of the
Jordan, and a large portion of the plain of Esdraelon, as also the
sea-coast, dwelt the CANAANITES proper or _Lowlanders_; the JEBUSITES
held the strong fortress of Jebus (_Jerusalem_); the HITTITES Hebron
and its vicinity; between the HITTITES and the Dead Sea were the
powerful and warlike AMORITES or _Highlanders_; the HIVITES occupied
the country about Gibeon and under Mount Hermon; the PERIZZITES the
high plains under the range of Carmel; while in the extreme north dwelt
a powerful chief, who bore the hereditary name of JABIN, or _the wise_.
His fortress was at Hazor, somewhere on the high ground overlooking
the waters of Merom, a strong and fortified position, and the principal
city of that portion of the land.
The first step to any complete subjugation of the country was the
capture of the important city of Jericho, situated immediately opposite
the camp of Joshua in a vast grove of noble palm-trees, nearly three
miles broad, and eight miles long, which “must have recalled to the
few survivors of the old generation of the Israelites the magnificent
palm-groves of Egypt, such as may now be seen stretching along the
shores of the Nile at Memphis[144].” It was a fenced city, enclosed
by walls of considerable breadth, was the residence of a king, and not
only contained sheep and oxen, but abounded in silver and gold, and
vessels of brass and iron (Josh. vi. 24). From its position it was the
key of Western Palestine, and “commanded the two main passes into the
Central Mountains.”
The first act of Joshua, therefore, was to send two spies to
reconnoitre this important place. Setting out from Shittim, or the
_meadows of Acacia_, and crossing the Jordan, they effected their
entrance into the house of a woman named Rahab on the city wall. Their
arrival was not unobserved, and was reported to the king of Jericho.
He sent to Rahab’s house, and demanded their surrender, but she had
already concealed her visitors among the flax-stalks spread out to dry
on the flat roof of her house, and when the king’s messengers arrived,
she informed them that the two men had departed, and advised a speedy
pursuit. Misled by this information, the officers of the king went
after them in all haste, while she came up to the spies upon the roof,
and related what had occurred. The townsfolk, she said, had heard of
the marvellous passage of the Red Sea, and of the defeat of the great
Amorite chiefs on the east of Jordan, and despaired of offering any
effectual resistance to a nation thus visibly protected by a God
powerful _in heaven above, and in earth beneath_ (Josh. ii. 11). These
fears she herself shared, and now offered to assist them (Heb. xi. 31,
Jas. ii. 25) in escaping, by letting them down by a cord from her
window, that they might fly to the “jagged range of the white limestone
mountains[145]” behind the city, and conceal themselves for three days
till their pursuers were returned. As a requital for this kindness she
implored them at the capture of the city, which she regarded as certain,
to spare her life, and the lives of her father and mother, and all
her relatives. To this the spies assented, and having agreed that the
scarlet cord should be bound in the window whence they effected their
escape, to mark out the house to their comrades, and be a pledge of its
security, suffered themselves to be lowered down, and in the course of
three days, after hiding in the mountains, once more crossed the Jordan,
and announced to Joshua the despondency of the people of Jericho.
Early therefore the next morning the Hebrew leader broke up the
encampment on the upper terraces of Shittim, and descended to the
lower banks of the Jordan, where three days were spent in ceremonial
purifications, and in preparing for the passage of the river. The Ark
was to lead the way borne by the priests, and the people were to follow
at a distance of 2000 cubits, or nearly a mile, and were assured that
the feet of the priests should no sooner rest in the river, than the
waters from the south would be cut off from the waters that came down
from above, and would stand on a heap, thus at once affording a passage,
and a pledge of future and complete victory over all the nations of
Canaan (Josh. iii. 1–13).
It was now the time of harvest, which ripens three weeks earlier in
the plain of Jericho than in other parts of Palestine; and the Jordan,
at this point three quarters of a mile wide, had overflowed all its
banks[146]. On the 10th of Nisan, the sacred month, and therefore four
days before the Feast of the Passover, the signal for the passage was
given. The priests advanced bearing the Ark, and presently reached the
brim or “broken edge” of Jordan (Josh. iii. 15). But no sooner were
their feet dipped in the water, than far up the river, _in Adam, the
city which is beside Zaretan_, that is, about thirty miles from the
place where the Israelites were encamped, the waters which rushed down
from above _stood and rose up upon a heap_, while those that came down
towards the Salt Sea _failed, and were cut off_ (Josh. iii. 16). Thus
from north to south the waters were _driven backwards_ (Ps. cxiv. 3),
and the dry river-bed was exposed to view. Into it the priests
descended bearing the Ark, and there they stood firm and motionless, as
if on dry ground. Meanwhile, below the spot where they stood, the host,
probably at various points, _hasted and passed over_ (Josh. iv. 10),
led by the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh,
whose vanguard amounted to 40,000 men ( Josh. iv. 12). When at length
from the deep bed of the river all had ascended to the desert plains
on the further side, Joshua gave the signal to the priests to come
out of the river. Preceded by twelve chiefs of the tribes with twelve
huge stones taken from the bed of the Jordan, which were set up as a
memorial on the upper bank of the Jordan valley, they moved from the
spot where they had stood so long, and no sooner had they reached the
other side than the waters rushed back to their accustomed channel, and
the river overflowed its banks as before (Josh. iv. 18).
Intelligence of this marvellous event reached the ears not only of the
Amorite mountain-chiefs, but also of the Canaanite lowlanders on the
sea-coast, and filled them with the utmost alarm, _their heart melted,
neither was there spirit in them any more_. No attack, therefore,
was made upon the Israelites, who were left in quiet possession of
their advanced post on the western side of Jordan. Here the rite of
circumcision, so long neglected during their desert wanderings, was
performed, and in memory of this removal of the reproach of their
uncircumcised state, the rising ground of their encampment was called
Gilgal, _rolling away_ (Josh. v. 9). They were now also in a condition
to keep the Passover, which was duly celebrated on the 14th day of
the month at even _on the plains of Jericho_, and the unleavened cakes
prescribed for this Festival were made of the old corn of the land,
and not of the manna, which on the next day entirely ceased, and thus
proved that their desert life was really over (Josh. v. 10–12).
The capture of Jericho was the next step to be taken, and while Joshua
was, in all probability, deeply meditating thereon, there appeared
to him _a Man with his sword drawn in his hand_, who in answer to the
enquiries of the Israelite leader declared himself to be the _Prince of
the army of Jehovah_[147]. In deep reverence Joshua fell on his face to
the ground, and was bidden to loose his shoes from off his feet, _for
the place on which he stood was holy ground_. Instructions were then
given him respecting the method of the city’s capture. To mark in the
strongest manner the singularity of the campaign, to distinguish it
from anything that had been known before, the great frontier fortress
of the Jordan valley was to fall in a way above all others calculated
to show that _the Lord fought for Israel_. Once a day for six days
the host, preceded by the sacred Ark and seven priests each blowing
a trumpet of ram’s horn, was to march in procession round the city.
On the seventh day the circuit was to be made seven times, at the
conclusion of which the priests were to sound a long blast with the
rams’ horns. This was to be the signal for a general shout, on which
Joshua was assured that the walls of Jericho would fall down flat, and
the host would be enabled to advance every man straight before him into
the doomed city. Once within it, the Israelites were to consider every
thing save the house and family of Rahab as devoted to Jehovah. Man and
woman, young and old, ox and sheep, were to be given up to wholesale
destruction, and the city itself was to be burnt with fire, and all
that was therein, save the vessels of gold and silver, of brass and
iron, which were to be consecrated to the service of Jehovah.
Accordingly, early the following morning, the strange advance was
ordered. First went a select body of armed men (Josh. vi. 9), then
followed the priests blowing with the trumpets, next the Ark, and
lastly the vanguard. Save the blast of the trumpets, there was no war
cry of the troops, no sound even of human voice. Once a day for six
days the strange procession passed round the city. What the swords of
the Israelites could effect had already been proved in fierce conflicts
with Sihon and Og, but now they hung unused in their sheaths. At
early dawn on the seventh day the same procession went forth, and
compassed the city not once but seven times. The last circuit complete,
the priests sounded a long continued blast, and on a given signal
from Joshua, the _great shout_ of the entire army rose to heaven.
Immediately the walls of Jericho fell down flat, and the host advanced
straight into it, and captured it. In the house of Rahab her father and
mother and other relatives were gathered together as had been agreed,
and having been identified by the spies, were led forth to a place of
safety without the camp of Israel. The rest of the inhabitants without
exception were slain with the edge of the sword; the city was burnt,
and everything was consumed save the vessels of gold and silver, of
brass and iron. And not only was the proud “City of Palm-trees” thus
utterly destroyed, but Joshua imprecated a solemn curse on any one
who attempted to rebuild it, he should lay the foundation _thereof
in his firstborn, and in his youngest son should he set up the gates
of it_[148] (Josh. vi. 26). Thus the first step in the conquest
was brought to a successful end, and the most important town in the
Jordan valley, the key of western Palestine, was in the hands of the
Israelites.
CHAPTER II.
_CONQUEST OF THE SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS._
JOSH. VII.–XI. B.C. 1451.
THE passes into the central hills being thus secured, Joshua without
delay sent men to reconnoitre the position of AI, a royal city,
strongly posted beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Bethel, “at
the head of the ravines running up from the valley of the Jordan.”
The spies reported it as easy of capture, and suggested that two or
three thousand men would be amply sufficient for the undertaking.
Acting on their advice Joshua dispatched the suggested number, who
advanced boldly up the ravine, but only to meet with an unexpected
and disastrous repulse. The men of Ai, strong in their high position,
chased them down the “steep descent” from the gates, and slew about
thirty-six men.
This unlooked-for reverse excited the profoundest despondency in
the Israelitish camp. Joshua and the elders, with dust upon their
heads, lay till eventide upon the ground before the Ark, which had so
lately been led triumphantly round Jericho, anticipated nothing less
than a general attack of the collected Canaanites, emboldened by the
discomfiture of the people. From this dejection they were roused by
the Voice of the Captain of the Lord’s Host informing them that the
Israelites themselves were the cause of this defeat; they had not kept
themselves from _the accursed thing_ in the devoted city of Jericho,
but had taken and concealed a portion of the spoil, nor till atonement
was made for this sin, could they expect any further success to attend
their arms.
On the morrow, therefore, all Israel was assembled by their tribes,
and an appeal was made to the sacred Lot to discover the offender. The
tribe of Judah having been taken, its clans, families, and households
were successively led forth, and at length the transgressor was
found in the person of ACHAN, the son of Carmi. Adjured by Joshua
to make a full confession, he owned that from the spoils of Jericho
he had secretly set aside a richly ornamented Babylonish or Assyrian
robe[149], 200 shekels of silver, and a solid wedge of gold weighing
50 shekels, and had hidden them in the ground under his tent. Thither
messengers were sent, and there the stolen property was found, and
spread before the assembled host. Achan was then taken to a valley
south or south-west of Jericho, and there stoned to death, together
with his sons, his daughters, and all his family; their remains
together with his tent, the stolen property, and all his possessions
were then burnt with fire, while a great mound of stones was set up
over the scene of the execution, and the valley was henceforth known
as that of Achor (_trouble_).
The host was now in a position to resume the attack upon Ai.
Selecting[150] 30,000 men from his forces, Joshua set out from Gilgal,
and on reaching the neighbourhood of the city detached 5,000 men
to place themselves during the night in ambush behind it. Meanwhile
he himself, with the rest of his army, took up his position on an
eminence near the north side of the town. Early the following morning
he descended into the valley, and the king of Ai no sooner detected
them than he advanced with all his forces to the encounter. Thereupon
the Israelites feigned a retreat, and were hotly pursued by their foes
towards the desert of the Jordan[151], while at the signal of Joshua’s
uplifted spear the ambuscade rushed into Ai and set it on fire. The
smoke of their city ascending up to heaven was the first announcement
to the inhabitants of the success of the stratagem practised by the
Israelites. Attacked before and behind they were utterly routed,
and their whole population, numbering 12,000, were put to the sword.
The city itself was sacked and burnt, and its king having been taken
prisoner was hanged upon a tree till sunset, when the body was taken
down, and a huge heap of stones was piled up over his grave.
After this signal victory the Israelitish leader determined to take
advantage of the terror which the success of his arms had inspired in
the hearts of the Canaanites, and carry out the command of Moses[152]
touching the ratification of the Law with imposing and solemn
ceremonies, on the mountains Ebal and Gerizim (Deut. xxvii.). From Ai,
to the north of which the host had already advanced, Ebal was about
20 miles distant. Thither accordingly the host repaired; an altar of
unhewn stones was erected, and burnt-offerings and peace-offerings were
sacrificed to Jehovah. The stones were then plastered with lime, and
the words of the Law, probably the Ten Commandments, or the Blessings
and Cursings contained in Deut. xxvii. inscribed thereon[153]. Half of
the assembled tribes then ascended the summit of Ebal, the other half
that of Gerizim. In the intermediate valley[154] stood the priests and
Levites with the Ark, surrounded by the elders, officers, and judges,
with Joshua at their head. Of the blessings and cursings of the Law
each was then read aloud by the Levites, and as they read, to each
curse the six tribes on Ebal responded with a unanimous loud _Amen_,
and to each blessing the assembled thousands on Gerizim similarly
testified their acquiescence[155].
On their return from this solemn ratification of the Covenant the
Israelites assembled at Gilgal[156]. Here they were met by an embassy
from GIBEON, now _El-Jib_. It was a royal city, situated exactly
“opposite the opening of the pass of Ai,” inhabited by the commercial
Hivites, and was at this time the head of a small group of confederate
cities, _Chephirah_, _Beeroth_, and _Kirjath-jearim_ (Josh. ix. 17).
Alarmed by the successes of Joshua, the Canaanite kings of the hills,
the valleys, and the sea-coast had mustered their forces for a general
attack upon him. In this the Gibeonites had resolved to take no part,
but determined if possible to make a league with the Israelites. For
this purpose they sent ambassadors arrayed in old and tattered garments
and clouted shoes, carrying old sacks upon their asses, dry and mouldy
bread, and goat-skin bottles patched and shrivelled, the better to keep
up the appearance of being toil-worn travellers from a far country
(Josh. ix. 3–13).
Completely deceived by this wily embassage, without waiting to take
counsel of the Lord, Joshua and the princes concluded a covenant with
them, and solemnly swore that they would spare their lives. Within
three days, however, they arrived in the midst of their cities, and
ascertained that instead of being very far off, they were their near
neighbours. Loud was the murmuring of the people against their chiefs,
when they saw how they had been duped. But the latter nobly determined
to abide by their oaths, and in place of putting the Gibeonites to
death reduced them to the condition of bondmen, and made them _hewers
of wood and drawers of water_ for the congregation, and for the altar
of the Lord[157].
Meanwhile news of the capitulation of Gibeon having reached the ears of
the southern kings, they resolved to attack the recreant city, and five
powerful chiefs, the king of JEBUS, the king of HEBRON or KIRJATH-ARBA,
the king of JARMUTH, the king of LACHISH, the king of EGLON, marched
against it, and commenced a regular siege. In their alarm the
Gibeonites sent an urgent message to Joshua at Gilgal, bidding him
_slack not his hand_, but come to their aid with the utmost speed, and
deliver them from their powerful foes. Perceiving that not a moment was
to be lost, Joshua instantly arrayed all his forces, and by a forced
march suddenly burst upon the Amorite kings, as they lay encamped
before the city. Unable to offer any effectual resistance to this
utterly unexpected attack, they were helpless before the Hebrew leader,
and _the Lord who fought for Israel_. Numbers were slaughtered at
Gibeon itself, numbers fled along the rocky ascent leading to Upper
Beth-horon (_the house of Caves_), about four miles distant. Hence,
however, they were chased by the triumphant Israelites along the rough
descent leading to Lower Beth-horon, and thence to Azekah and Makkedah,
when a terrific storm burst forth; _the Lord thundered out of heaven_
and _cast down great hailstones_ upon the flying Canaanites, _so
that they were more which died with the hailstones than they whom the
children of Israel slew with the sword_ (Josh. x. 11). Standing on
the summit of Upper Beth-horon[158], Joshua watched the foe flying in
helpless confusion towards the western lowlands. The Lord had already
delivered them into his hands, and time only was needed to render the
rout complete and enable his forces to _avenge themselves_ on their
enemies. But the day was far advanced, and he feared the Canaanites
might yet make good their escape. _In the sight_, then, _of all Israel_,
he cried, _Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou, Moon, in the
valley of Ajalon_ (_the place of deer_ or _gazelles_). And the Lord,
who fought for Israel, hearkened to the voice of His servant: _the
sun stood still, and the moon stayed_, and in the lengthened afternoon
the pursuit was continued without pause or rest. Arrived at Makkedah,
somewhere in the Shephelah or maritime plain, the five kings hid
themselves in a well-known cave[159] shaded by trees. But thither
also the tide of battle brought the triumphant Joshua, who bade his
followers only pause _to roll great stones to the mouth of the cave,
and set men by it for to keep them_. Longer he would not tarry; intent
upon the pursuit he urged his forces to smite the hindmost of their
foes, and prevent their escaping into their cities. His words were
obeyed, nor till they had made an end of slaying the Canaanites with
a great slaughter did the pursuers return to Makkedah. Here a camp was
formed, and the mouth of the cave having been opened, the five kings
were dragged forth in the sight of Joshua and all the men of Israel.
As they lay prostrate upon the ground, the Israelite leader bade the
captains of the men of war put their feet on their necks, and then
smote them, and slew them, and hanged them upon five trees, until
the evening. Then, as the sun went down upon that memorable day, like
which was _no day before or after it_, they were taken down, and flung
into the cave where they had vainly tried to conceal themselves, great
stones were once more rolled to its mouth, and the royal sepulchre was
closed (Josh. x. 16–27).
Such was the issue of the eventful battle of Beth-horon. It sealed the
fate of every important city of southern Palestine. One after another,
Makkedah and Libnah, Lachish and Eglon, Hebron and Debir fell before
the victorious Israelites. From one captured city they passed on to
another conquering and to conquer, till they had smitten _all the
country of the hills and of the south, and of the vale, and of the
springs_ from Kadesh-Barnea in the southern desert to the central plain
of Esdraelon (Josh. x. 41).
CHAPTER III.
_BATTLE OF MEROM AND DIVISION OF THE LAND._
JOSH. XI.–XXI. B.C. 1450–1444.
INTELLIGENCE of the decisive battle of Beth-horon before long reached
the ears of that powerful chief in northern Palestine, who has been
already mentioned, JABIN, _the Wise_, whose capital Hazor was the
principal fortress in that part of the country. Determined to make a
last effort to defeat the Israelites he rallied round his standard[160]
not only the chiefs in his own immediate neighbourhood, but from the
plains south of the sea of Galilee, or, as it was then called, _the sea
of Chinnereth_, from the valley of the Jordan, the maritime plain of
Dor, and the as yet unconquered fortress of Jebus.
Again encouraged by the Lord with the promise of a decisive victory,
Joshua did not shrink from encountering this formidable confederacy.
Setting forth on a forced march, he burst upon the combined armies
of the northern chiefs, as they were encamped by the waters of Merom.
As before, his attack was irresistible. The Lord delivered the vast
hosts of the foe into the hands of Israel, who smote them with great
slaughter, and chased them as far as the friendly city of great Zidon
on the west, and the valley of Mizpeh on the east. This was the first
occasion on which the Israelites encountered the horses and iron
chariots of the Canaanites. According to the special command of their
leader (Josh. xi. 6), they cut the ham-strings of their horses, so as
to render them unfit for further use, and burnt the chariots with fire.
Hazor, the stronghold of Jabin, was captured and burnt, its king and
all its inhabitants were put to the sword, the flocks and herds only
being reserved as spoil for the people.
The battle of Merom was the last of Joshua’s recorded engagements, but
a long war, considered to have lasted nearly seven years, now occupied
his energies, during which he proved his fidelity to the instructions
given by the great Lawgiver of the nation. _As the Lord commanded Moses
His servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua_, till by
the time he had completed his campaigns, six nations and thirty-one
kings had swelled the roll of his triumphs (Josh. xi. 18–23; xii. 24).
At length, when he was old and stricken in years, he was commanded to
divide the conquered territory among the nine tribes and the half tribe
of Manasseh.
The mode adopted was twofold.
1. In some cases individual chiefs claimed particular spots on the
score of their own prowess, or putting themselves at the head of armed
predatory expeditions conquered certain portions with the sword. The
chief instance of this was afforded by the aged compeer of Joshua,
CALEB the son of Jephunneh, who now won distinction and renown for his
own tribe of Judah. Forty-five years had elapsed since as one of the
twelve spies in company with Joshua he had come down the _Valley of the
Cluster_ to Hebron, the fortress of the giant Arba, where they gathered
the enormous bunch of Syrian grapes. On that memorable day Moses had
rewarded his eminent faithfulness by promising him the _land whereon
his feet had trod as an inheritance for himself and his children for
ever_ (Num. xiv. 23, 24; Josh. xiv. 9). This winding _Valley_, then,
_of the Cluster_, this _mountain_ (Josh. xiv. 12) on which rose the
stronghold of the Anakims, was the portion Caleb desired for himself,
and hence with the Divine aid he vowed to drive forth its gigantic
possessors, and take it for his own.
Joshua willingly granted his request, and the great warrior of the
tribe of Judah went up against the city of Arba, and drove out the sons
of Anak, Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. Thence he proceeded southward to
DEBIR or Kirjath-sephir[161], _the City of Books_, probably a sacred
oracular place, and promised to give to its successful assailant his
daughter Achsah in marriage. Thereupon OTHNIEL his nephew, or according
to others his younger brother, attacked and took the fortress, and won
the promised prize. On the way to Othniel’s house, Achsah dismounted
from the ass on which she rode, and begged her father to give her some
“better heritage than the dry and thirsty frontier of the desert.”
Below the spot on which rose the newly captured fortress was a bubbling
rivulet, falling into a rich valley. _Thou hast given me_, said she,
_a south land, give me also the bubbling rills_, and he gave her _the
upper and lower bubblings_, and thus Hebron and Debir with the rich
valley below became the inheritance of the great warrior of Judah, and
was long after known by his name (1 Sam. xxv. 3; xxx. 14).
2. But the more general mode of dividing the conquered land, in
accordance with the Divine instructions, was by casting lots before the
Tabernacle at Shiloh[162], in the presence of Joshua, the High-priest,
and the elders of the nation. As the distribution of the tribes of
REUBEN, GAD, and the half-tribe of MANASSEH on the east of the Jordan
has been already described, we may confine ourselves to those on the
western side, under the threefold division of (a) _The South_, (b) _the
Centre_, (c) _the North_.
(a) _The South._
i. The most southerly frontier was assigned first to Judah but
afterwards to SIMEON (Josh. xix. 9), and is often called in
Scripture _the South_ (Josh. x. 40; Judg. i. 9). Like Reuben on
the east of Jordan, Simeon was destined to have little influence
on the subsequent history, to be _divided in Jacob and scattered
in Israel_ (Gen. xlix. 5–7), and to be constantly exposed to
the attacks of the Amalekites and other nomadic tribes on its
frontier (comp. 1 Chron. iv. 39–43).
ii. Next to Simeon on the North was the territory of the lion
tribe of JUDAH, comprising the undulating pasture country of the
South, the fertile lowland of the West, the hill fortresses of
the centre, and the wild desert bordering on the Dead Sea. Part
of his inheritance was fertile, and covered with corn fields and
vineyards (Gen. xlix. 11), part was a wild country, “the lair
of savage beasts,” where amidst caverns, ravines and mountains,
Judah, true to the description in the blessing of Jacob, could
_stoop down and couch as a lion_, guarding the southern frontier
of the Promised Land.
iii. North-east of Judah was the warlike little tribe (Ps.
lxviii. 27; 1 Sam. ix. 21) of BENJAMIN, famous for its archers
(2 Sam. i. 22), slingers (Judg. xx. 16), and left-handed
warriors (Judg. iii. 15; xx. 16). Its territory was small, being
hardly larger than the county of Middlesex, but its position
was of great importance. Containing numerous rounded hills[163],
which presented favourable sites for strong fortresses, it
commanded the chief passes leading down from the central hills
to the Jordan on the one side, and the plains of Philistia on
the other. In this broken and hilly country the tribe became
warlike and indomitable, _ravening as a wolf_ (Gen. xlix. 27).
iv. Compressed into the narrow space between the north-western
hills of Judah and the Mediterranean was the tribe of DAN,
containing within the 14 miles from Joppa to Ekron one of the
most fertile tracts in the land, the corn-field and garden of
southern Palestine. But for this rich prize it had to contend
first with the Amorites (Judg. i. 34), and afterwards with the
Philistines (Judg. xiv. &c.), and eventually, as we shall see,
was obliged to seek a new home in the North (Judg. xviii. 27–29).
(b) _The Centre._
The central portion of the Holy Land, the _Samaria_ of after
ages, was assigned to the two brother tribes of the _house of
Joseph_, EPHRAIM and MANASSEH. Of this territory, which may
be roughly estimated at 55 miles from E. to W., and 70 from
N. to S., and which was about equal in extent to the counties
of Norfolk and Suffolk combined[164], (i) the more southerly
portion was assigned to Joshua’s own tribe of EPHRAIM. It
extended as far south as Ramah and Bethel within a few miles
of Jerusalem, and was rich in fountains and streamlets, in
“wide plains in the hearts of mountains, and continued tracts
of vegetation,” in corn-fields and orchards, _the precious
things of the earth and the fulness thereof_, which the Lawgiver
invoked on _the ten thousands of Ephraim_ (Deut. xxxiii. 13–17),
and of whose father Jacob had said that he should be _a fruitful
bough, a fruitful bough by a well_ (Gen. xlix. 22). (ii) And
as the duty of guarding the northern outposts on the east of
Jordan had been assigned to one half of the tribe of MANASSEH,
so to the remaining half on the west was assigned the duty
of defending the passes into the great plain of Jezreel. Its
territory stretched westwards to the Mediterranean and the
slopes of Carmel, but did not quite reach the Jordan on the East.
(c) _The North._
The northern portion of the Holy Land, the _Galilee_ of after
times, extending from the range of Carmel to the mountains
of Lebanon, was assigned to four tribes “allied by birth, and
companions on the desert march,” ISSACHAR, ZEBULUN, ASHER, and
NAPHTALI.
i. The territory of ISSACHAR lay above that of Manasseh, and
exactly consisted of the plain of Esdraelon (the Greek form of
the Hebrew _Jezreel_, = _the seed-plot of God_). The luxuriance
of this plain,――the battle-field of Palestine[165]――is the theme
of every traveller. The soil yielded corn and figs, wine and
oil (1 Chr. xii. 40), the stately palm waved over the villages,
and the very weeds to this day testify to its extraordinary
fertility. Here Issachar rejoiced in his _tents_ (Deut. xxxiii.
18, 19), couched down as the strong he-ass (Gen. xlix. 14, 15)
used for burden and field-work, and seeing that _rest was good,
and the land that it was pleasant, bowed his shoulder to bear,
and became a servant to the tribute_, which various marauders,
Canaanites (Judg. iv. 3, 7), Midianites, Amalekites (Judg. vi.
3, 4), Philistines (1 Sam. xxix. 1; xxxi. 7–10) exacted, bursting
through his frontier open both on the east and west, and tempted
by his luxuriant crops[166].
ii. Immediately north of Issachar was the allotment of ZEBULUN,
extending from the _Sea of Chinnereth_[167] (afterwards _the
Lake of Gennesareth_) on the east, towards the Mediterranean on
the west. Besides the fertile plain near the fisheries of the
lake, this tribe possessed the _goings out_ (Deut. xxxiii. 18),
the outlet of the plain of Akka, where it could _suck of the
abundance of the seas_.
iii. The land of NAPHTALI stretched from the Sea of Chinnereth
to the valley which separates the ranges of Lebanon and
Anti-Lebanon, and was one of the most densely wooded districts
of the country; its forests surpassed even those of Carmel,
and the land has been described as a “natural park of oaks and
terebinths.” Its soil also was rich and fertile, _full with the
blessing of the Lord_ (Deut. xxxiii. 23).
iv. To the West of Naphtali and resting on the sea-shore was
the lot of the tribe of ASHER. It was an important position,
including the creeks and harbours (Judg. v. 17, 18) on the coast,
and commanding all approaches to Palestine from the sea on the
north. Its soil was pre-eminently fertile, and well fulfilled
the blessings of Jacob and Moses. Here Asher could dip his foot
in the _oil_ of his luxuriant olive-groves (Deut. xxxiii. 24),
fatten on the _bread_, the fruit of his rich plains, and the
_royal dainties_ (Gen. xlix. 20), the produce of his vineyards
and pastures, while _for_ or _under his shoes_ (Deut. xxxiii. 25)
was the _iron_ ore of Lebanon, and the _brass_, or copper, of
the neighbouring Phœnician settlements[168].
One tribe alone received no share in this allotment. Like Simeon,
but in a different sense, the tribe of LEVI was to be _divided
in Jacob and scattered in Israel_ (Gen. xlix. 7). Devoted to the
service of the sanctuary and sacrificial and other ministrations,
this tribe depended for its maintenance on the tithes of the
produce of land and cattle (Num. xviii.); but besides this,
from each tribe, four cities and their suburban pastures, or
forty-eight in all, were set apart for it, and amongst these
were included the _six cities of Refuge_, three on each side of
the Jordan,
_On the West._
1. _Kedesh_ in Naphtali.
2. _Shechem_ in Mt Ephraim.
3. _Hebron_ in Judah.
_On the East._
4. _Golan_ in Bashan.
5. _Ramoth-Gilead_ in Gad.
6. _Bezer_ in Reuben.