inheritance having been assigned to him at Timnath-serah in Mount
Ephraim, where he built a city and settled amongst the people he had
led so prudently, Joshua summoned the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the
half tribe of Manasseh, and having commended them for their bravery
and fidelity, gave them his blessing, and bade them return to their
own settlements beyond the Jordan (Josh. xxii. 1–6).
Accordingly these tribes departed. But while yet on the western side
of the river they set up a great Altar, not indeed for burnt-offering
or for sacrifice, which could only be presented at the Brazen Altar of
the Tabernacle at Shiloh (Lev. xvii. 8, 9; Deut. xii. 4–29), but as a
standing witness to all generations, that though parted by that river,
they were not sundered in religion or national interests from their
western brethren. No sooner, however, was the erection of this altar
announced to the other tribes, than they assembled at Shiloh, and
made war upon their brethren, whom they deemed guilty of apostasy. But
first, they prudently resolved to send an embassy, with Phinehas and
ten princes at its head, to try the effect of a friendly expostulation.
Phinehas accordingly set out and laid before them the complaint of
their brethren. What trespass, he asked, was this of which they were
guilty in building this altar? Had they forgotten the judgments the
nation had incurred by their sin in the matter of Baal-Peor, or the
trouble the nation suffered in consequence of the trespass of Achan?
What, then, did they mean by this turning away from following the Lord,
and exposing the whole people to His deserved wrath?
Startled at this suspicion of faithlessness, the two tribes and a
half reiterated the most solemn protestations of their innocence. The
Altar they had erected was not intended for any sacrificial purposes
whatsoever. It was simply an Altar of Memorial, a Testimony to future
generations that they had the same part and lot in the interests of
the nation as their brethren on the west of Jordan. Even the zealous
Phinehas could not but be satisfied with this explanation. It was
no apostasy or rebellion, but at the worst an error in judgment. And
the embassy returned with the joyful intelligence that there were no
grounds for a quarrel or an appeal to arms, while the two tribes and a
half, having named the altar ED, or a Witness, continued their journey
to their eastern homes, where they settled down in the territories
assigned them by Moses.
And now at length the land had rest. The tribes east and west of Jordan
established themselves in _the lands of the heathen, and inherited
the labour of the people_ (Ps. cv. 44). Before long Joshua, already
stricken in age, became aware that the day was at hand when he must go
the way of all the earth. Summoning, therefore, the tribes of Israel,
with their elders, their judges, and their officers to Shechem, a spot
consecrated by the remains of Joseph (Josh. xxiv. 33), and the national
acceptance of the blessings and cursings of the law (Josh. viii. 30–35),
he for the last time exhorted the nation to faithfulness to Jehovah.
He reviewed their history from the day that their fathers dwelt on the
other side of the Euphrates in the old time until now, when the Lord
had given them cities which they builded not, vineyards and oliveyards
which they planted not. The call of Abraham, the descent of Jacob into
Egypt, the wonders of the Exodus, the desert wanderings, the conquest
of the Amorites on the east of Jordan, of the Canaanites on this, all
these great events in their history were reviewed, and then the aged
Chief solemnly bade them choose whom they would serve, Jehovah who had
done so great things for them, or the gods of their fathers and of the
nations in whose land they dwelt. Thereupon the people solemnly renewed
the Covenant they had before made on the same spot, and as an abiding
memorial of their promise Joshua set up a Stone Pillar under a sacred
oak of Abraham and Jacob[169], and wrote out the words of the Covenant
in the _Book of the Law of God_ (Josh. xxiv. 26). This done, he bade
every man depart unto his inheritance, and shortly afterwards, at the
age of 110, this devout, blameless, fearless warrior died, and was
buried in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah[170] (Josh.
xxiv. 30).
BOOK VII.
PERIOD OF THE JUDGES.
CHAPTER I.
_EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE DEATH OF JOSHUA._
JUDG. I. B.C. CIRC. 1425.
THE position of the Israelites at the death of Joshua was eminently
favourable. A nation of freemen, entrusted at Sinai with the “Oracles
of God,” they were now in possession of the Promised Land. Though their
late leader had not appointed any successor to those extraordinary
functions he had retained throughout his life, a complete form of
government had always obtained amongst them ever since they became a
nation in Egypt. This was mainly kept up by the chiefs of the several
tribes, the heads of the great families or clans, and the heads of
houses. (Comp. Josh. viii. 33; xxiii. 2; xxiv. 1.) God Himself was
their King, and in a sensible and living presence manifested Himself at
the Tabernacle now set up at Shiloh, and revealed His will through the
mediation of the High-priest.
But though their position was one of great privileges and blessings,
it was none the less one of trial and probation. The purposes for
which the Vine of Israel had been called out of Egypt (Ps. lxxx. 8) and
planted in this goodly land could not be fulfilled without trouble and
exertion. There were enemies without and within their newly-acquired
territory, ready at the first opportunity to attempt its recovery
from their hands. If they were secure from their old oppressors
the Egyptians, yet on the south and south-east the Midianites and
Amalekites were only too likely to attack a people, whose late
victories must have been a continual source of jealousy; while on the
north-east were formidable chiefs, who might, as in the days of their
forefather Abraham[171], sweep down upon the country beyond the Jordan,
and grievously harass the eastern tribes. Moreover, extensive as the
conquests of Joshua had been, they had not achieved nor were they
intended to achieve the entire extirpation of the Canaanites. The
conquered population retained large tracts and important positions in
the very heart of the country. The Philistines retained the fertile
plain of the Shephelah in the south-west; the almost impregnable
fortress of Jebus still remained unconquered on the very border of
Judah; well nigh the entire sea-coast from Dor to Sidon was in the
hands of the Phœnicians; the strong towns of Beth-shean, of Taanach,
and Megiddo were still held by the Canaanites in the fertile plain
of Jezreel; while on the north still lingered formidable remnants of
the great confederacy under Jabin. These nations had _not been driven
out hastily_, but had been left to test and prove the fidelity of the
generation that _had not known the wars of Canaan_ (Judg. ii. 22), and
the duty of subjugating them had been solemnly enforced by Joshua in
his last address to the assembled tribes (Josh. xxiii. 5–10).
Accordingly we find that all the days of the elders that outlived
Joshua, the nation did not forget its vocation, but carried on the work
to which it had been called (Judg. ii. 7).
1. Thus _Judah_, whose conquest of Hebron and its vicinity has been
already related, in alliance with the neighbouring tribe of Simeon,
attacked Bezek, slew 10,000 of its Canaanite and Perizzite inhabitants,
and captured its ferocious king Adoni-bezek, whose cruel mutilation of
seventy vassal princes gives us an insight into the character of the
native chiefs, whom Israel was commissioned to expel (Judg. i. 6, 7).
As he had done to others, so Judah did to him. They _cut off his thumbs
and his great toes_, and carried him captive to Jerusalem, _i.e._
to the Lower City, which was taken, and set on fire. But the Upper
City resisted all their efforts, as afterwards those of the tribe of
Benjamin (Judg. i. 21[172]). They were more successful, however, in
other places, and reduced numerous cities of the Canaanites in the
central mountains, the southern desert, and the low country of the west
(Judg. i. 17, 18).
2. The powerful house of _Joseph_ was not behind-hand in following the
example of the lion-tribe of Judah. They sent spies to descry the town
of Luz, who seeing a man coming from thence, seized him, but consented
to spare his life and that of his family on condition that he shewed
them the entrance, on ascertaining which, they smote the place with
the edge of the sword. Thus in addition to Shechem, the house of
Joseph became possessed of another spot consecrated by the most sacred
associations, even the town, near which was the stone Pillar their
father Jacob had set up on his way to Padan-Aram, and called the
place Beth-el, _the House of God_ (Judg. i. 22–26). But they were not
similarly successful in expelling the Canaanites from Gezer near lower
Beth-horon (Judg. i. 29), or from their strongholds in the plain of
Jezreel, Taanach, Megiddo, and Beth-shean. Instead of utterly driving
them out, they put them under tribute, as also the Amorites, who
succeeded in thrusting the children of Dan from the fertile lowland of
the sea-coast into the mountains, to be themselves dispossessed in turn
by the Philistines (Judg. i. 34, 35).
3. Similar declensions from the strict line of duty marked the conduct
of other tribes. _Zebulun_ contented itself with merely imposing
tribute on the nations within its borders; _Asher_ made no attempt to
expel the powerful Phœnicians on the sea-coast from Accho to Zidon,
or from their more inland settlements; and _Naphtali_ spared the
inhabitants of the fenced cities of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath
(Judg. i. 30–33). This neglect of an obvious duty soon led to worse
results. Contrary to the express commands of the Law, and the repeated
exhortations of Moses and Joshua, the Israelites began to make leagues
with the heathen nations. Leagues with nations led to marriages with
individuals, and these to their natural consequences. Their new
relatives invited the Israelites to their idolatrous festivals, where
the consecrated licentiousness gratified their sensual appetites, and
before long there _arose a generation, which knew not the Lord, nor yet
the works which He had done for Israel_ (Judg. ii. 10). Forgetting Him
who had done so great things for them, they bowed themselves to strange
gods, and practised the worst abominations, even sacrificing their
sons and their daughters to Baal and Ashtaroth (Ps. cvi. 37, 38; Judg.
ii. 13).
This gradual spread of idolatry, and as a natural consequence, of
moral and social degeneracy, is strikingly illustrated by two incidents
recorded in the last five chapters of the Book of Judges, which seem to
have been inserted for this very purpose as a kind of appendix to that
Book[173].
CHAPTER II.
_MICAH AND THE DANITES, THE TRIBAL WAR._
JUDG. XVII.–XXI. B.C. CIRC. 1406.
THERE was living about twenty years after the death of Joshua in
Mount Ephraim in central Palestine a man named MICAH, whose mother
one day lost 1100 shekels of silver. So terrible was the curse she
imprecated on the thief, that her son in alarm confessed that he had
abstracted the money. Instead of reproaching him, his mother thereupon
informed him that she had dedicated this sum, probably the savings of
a lifetime[174], to the Lord, to make a graven and a molten image. Upon
this Micah restored the money to his mother, who sent 200 shekels to
a founder for the purpose of fashioning the idol. When made, it was
set up in Micah’s house, and he consecrated one of his sons as priest,
and arrayed him in a sacred vestment, probably made in imitation
of the ephod of the High-priest. Not satisfied, however, with the
ministrations of his son, on the arrival of a young Levite of Bethlehem
in Judæa, travelling, probably, in search of employment as a teacher of
the Law, he persuaded him also to become his priest, and agreed to give
him 10 shekels of silver a-year, suitable sacerdotal vestments, and his
living. On these terms the Levite was content to dwell with him, became
his priest, and _was unto him as one of his sons_.
Soon after this it happened that the tribe of Dan being still hard
pressed by the Amorites[175], and desirous of an addition to their
territory, sent five spies from two towns in the low country to
discover a new and advantageous settlement. The spies set out, and
on their way came to Mount Ephraim, where they obtained a lodging
in the house of Micah. Recognizing the voice of the young Levite,
they enquired the cause of his presence there, and on ascertaining
the position he held, begged him to ask counsel of Jehovah as to the
success of their expedition. The Levite did so, and the answer was
propitious. Thereupon the spies resumed their journey, and tracking the
Jordan to its source beyond the waters of Merom, came to an eminence
on which rose the town of Laish (_Tell el-Kâdy_), a colony from Sidon,
whose inhabitants, “separated from their mother-city[176] by the huge
mass of Lebanon and half of Anti-Lebanon,” _dwelt quiet and secure_
(Judg. xviii. 7) in the enjoyment of the warm climate and exquisite
scenery, and tilling the fertile soil irrigated by many streams.
The spies marked the spot, and on their return bade their brethren
arise, and take possession of a place _where there was no want of
anything that is in the earth_ (Judg. xviii. 10). Upon this, six
hundred Danites from Zorah and Eshtaol girded on their weapons of war,
and went up and encamped at a spot behind Kirjath-jearim, which though
it belonged to Judah, they named Mahaneh-Dan, or _the Camp of Dan_.
Thence they ascended into the mountain-range of Ephraim, and like the
spies before them, drew near the house of Micah. Informed that here
there was an ephod and teraphim, a graven image and a molten image, the
six hundred warriors took their stand by the gateway leading into the
court, and engaged the Levite in conversation, while the spies ascended
into the sanctuary, and stole away the images with the sacerdotal
vestments. On re-appearing, the Levite tried to expostulate, but was
speedily bidden to hold his peace, and without much difficulty suffered
himself to be persuaded that it would be better to accompany them,
and instead of being a priest unto one man, to become a priest _unto a
tribe and a family in Israel_ (Judg. xviii. 19). With such secrecy was
their departure effected, that the Danites had got a good way from the
house of Micah, before the latter became aware of the grievous wrong he
had sustained. Gathering together the inhabitants of the houses, which
had gradually clustered round his idolatrous sanctuary, he pursued
after the roving warriors. But it was in vain that he gave vent to his
grief and rage. The spoilers only mocked him, and bade him take care he
did not lose his life as well as his gods; consequently he was fain to
return to his rifled sanctuary, while the six hundred held on their way
northward.
Reaching the source of the Jordan far up in the northern mountains,
they found the town of Laish just as the spies had described it. Far
from its mother-city, the careless colony had no deliverer in its
hour of peril. Without warning the spoilers burst upon it, scaled
its walls, set it on fire, and massacred its inhabitants, men, women
and children without mercy. They afterwards rebuilt it, called it
_Dan after the name of Dan their father_, and there set up the images
they had taken from Micah. There too the young Levite, who, it seems,
was no unimportant personage, but no other than Jonathan, the son of
Gershom, the son of the great lawgiver Moses[177], ministered at this
new sanctuary, and his descendants remained till the Captivity (Judg.
xviii. 14–31).
If any proof were wanting of the association of religious with moral
declension at this period, it is supplied by the biography of another
Levite, which is also given in these concluding chapters of the Book of
Judges.
2. This Levite, who, like the other, dwelt on the edge of Mount Ephraim,
took him a concubine out of Bethlehem-Judah, who proved faithless, and
returned to her father’s house. On this her husband went in quest of
her, and was received by her father with true Eastern hospitality. As
the fifth day declined after his arrival, resisting the importunities
of his father-in-law who would have had him stay longer, he rose up
to return, and as night fell drew near the town of Jebus, which still
remained in the hands of its Canaanite inhabitants. Rejecting the
advice of his servant to lodge there during the night, he pressed on,
and it was already dark when he reached Gibeah in Benjamin.
As he was sitting in the streets of the town awaiting an offer of
shelter, an old man approached coming from his work in the fields. His
home, too, was in Mount Ephraim, but he was sojourning at Gibeah, and
taking compassion on the homeless condition of the Levite he brought
him into his house, and gave him a lodging for the night. As they sat
at meat, certain of the lowest inhabitants of the place set upon the
house, and treated the Levite’s concubine with such violence, that
in the morning when he arose he found her lying dead before the door.
Enraged at this savage act he took her home, and there with his knife
divided her together with her bones into twelve pieces, and sent them
among the twelve tribes. This ferocious summons to vengeance roused
all Israel as one man (Judg. xx. 1). Even the tribes beyond the Jordan
assembled with the rest of their brethren, and 400,000 warriors met at
Mizpeh in Benjamin, a fortified eminence a little to the north of Jebus,
and listened to the Levite while he recounted the dark tale of outrage
(Judg. xx. 2–6).
The recital excited still greater indignation, and all the people _knit
together as one man_ bound themselves by a solemn vow never to return
to their homes till they had taken deep vengeance on the inhabitants
of Gibeah for the disgrace they had brought upon Israel. Messengers
were accordingly sent through the territory of Benjamin demanding their
surrender. This the Benjamites absolutely refused, and making the cause
of Gibeah their own, prepared to encounter the men of Israel with all
their forces, amounting to 26,000, together with the 700 warriors of
Gibeah, chosen men, left-handed, every one of whom _could sling stones
at an hair breadth, and not miss_ (Judg. xx. 16).
In this juncture, instead of consulting the Divine Will whether they
should embark in this war at all, the indignant tribes having already
decided on the campaign only sought to know who should take the lead.
Judah was the tribe indicated by the Divine response, and in the
engagement that ensued, the Israelites were defeated with a loss of
upwards of 22,000 men. On the day following they renewed the attack,
but only to sustain a second reverse and a loss of 18,000 of their
best troops. In the greatest distress at this double defeat, the eleven
tribes assembled at Bethel, fasted the whole day until the evening,
and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord. Then
Phinehas, who had led the sacred war against the Midianites, enquired
whether a third engagement should be hazarded, and in reply was bidden
to go up, for this time the Lord would deliver Benjamin into their hand
(Judg. xx. 28).
Thereupon it was resolved to repeat the tactics so successful at Ai.
An ambuscade was planted behind Gibeah, and on the descent of the
Benjamites a flight was feigned to draw them from the town towards
a spot, where the road divided into two paths, the one leading to
Bethel, the other to Gibeah-in-the-Field, probably the modern _Jeba_.
Unconscious of their danger the Benjamites suffered themselves to
be decoyed from the town, and slew about 30 of their foes. Meanwhile
the ambuscade arose, and bursting on the defenceless town, put
the inhabitants to the sword. A great pillar of flame and smoke
signalled to the rest of the army the success of the stratagem, and
the Benjamites at last awakened to their danger fled eastward to the
desert region bordering on the Jordan valley. But their foes now turned,
and inclosing them round about (Judg. xx. 43), trode them down, and
slew 25,000.
From this indiscriminate massacre only 600 of the Benjamites effected
their escape to the cliff of Rimmon, an inaccessible natural fortress
situated about 7 miles north-east of Gibeah, and overhanging the wild
region bordering on the Jordan. Here they entrenched themselves for a
space of four months, while the eleven tribes not content with firing
and ravaging every town in the territory of Benjamin, bound themselves
by a vow to abstain from all intermarriage with them. Regret, however,
for the almost entire extinction of a tribe in Israel subsequently
softened their hearts, and by a curious stratagem characteristic of
this troubled period, when there _was no king in Israel_, and _every
man did that which was right in his own eyes_ (Judg. xxi. 25), they
enquired whether any city had failed to take part in the late tribal
war. Thereupon it was discovered that Jabesh-gilead, a city on the
east of the Jordan, had sent no forces to aid their brethren. Thither,
therefore, 12,000 men were despatched, with instructions utterly
to destroy the recreant city and massacre every man and married
woman. This ruthless order was executed to the letter, and the entire
population was put to the sword, save 400 virgins, who were given in
marriage to the remnant of Benjamin. These not sufficing for wives,
the Benjamites took advantage of a yearly festival at the sanctuary of
Shiloh, when the daughters of the place assembled to take part in the
sacred dances, and concealing themselves in the neighbouring vineyards,
burst forth upon the unsuspecting maidens and carried off each one a
wife for himself, with whom they returned, repaired their towns, and
dwelt in them (Judg. xxi. 23–25).
CHAPTER III.
_OTHNIEL AND EHUD, DEBORAH AND BARAK._
JUDG. II.–V. B.C. CIRC. 1406–1296.
THE two incidents just recorded are illustrations of the turbulence and
disorder of the period which followed the death of Joshua and of the
elders that outlived Joshua. Forgetful of their vocation, the Chosen
People intermingled with the heathen Canaanites, conformed to their
rites and customs, and so forfeited the protection and blessing of
their Invisible King. He therefore _delivered them into the hands of
spoilers that spoiled them, He sold them to their enemies round about
... and they were greatly distressed_ (Judg. ii. 14, 15).
But on the first manifestation of repentance, _He regarded their
affliction, He heard their cry_ (Ps. cvi. 44, 45), and raised up
_Deliverers_, who saved them from their enemies. The Hebrew word used
to denote these Deliverers, these Saviours of their country, _Shofet,
Shophetim_[178], and which we have translated _Judge_, is much the same
as the _Suffes, Suffetes_ of the Carthaginians at the time of the Punic
wars. Raised up on extraordinary occasions, like the Dictators in the
history of Rome, they delivered the nation from some pressing danger,
and their power and authority generally terminated with the crisis
which had called them forth. Higher than the princes of the tribes,
vested with extraordinary powers for the emergency, their office was
not hereditary, though we shall see it finally tending in more than
one instance towards fixedness and perpetuity, and in the person of Eli
united with that of the High-priest (Judg. x. 3, 4; xii. 8–14; 1 Sam.
viii. 1–3).
_Invasion from the North-east. Othniel._
The crisis, which called forth the first of these Deliverers, was the
invasion of the country by _Chushan-rishathaim_, king of Mesopotamia.
From the seat of his dominion between the Euphrates and the Tigris he
extended his conquests so far southward, that the Israelites suffered
grievously from his oppressions for a space of 8 years. At the close
of this period, OTHNIEL, whose valour in attacking Kirjath-sepher
and marriage with the daughter of the famous Caleb have been lately
recorded[179], went out against him and defeated him, and restored rest
to the land for 40 years (Judg. iii. 8–11).
_Invasion from the South-east. Ehud._
On his death, the people again fell into idolatry, and the Moabites
under EGLON, aided by their old allies the Ammonites and Amalekites,
crossed the Jordan and seized the ruined site of Jericho. From this
vantage ground, Eglon was enabled to extend his dominion at least
over the tribe of Benjamin, from which, if not from other tribes, he
exacted annual tribute for a space of 18 years. This was brought to him
at Jericho, where he would seem to have constructed a palace. On one
occasion, EHUD, the son of Gera, a Benjamite, was selected to command
the party deputed to carry this proof of subjection. Having executed
his commission, he accompanied his men as far back as the _quarries_,
or rather the _graven images_ at Gilgal (Judg. iii. 19, _margin_),
possibly the idol-temples, with which the Moabites had profaned
the associations of that sacred spot. Thence he turned back, and on
pretence of having a message from God to deliver to him, obtained a
private interview with Eglon, as he sat in his _summer parlour_, or
“parlour of cooling” (Judg. iii. 20, _margin_), probably on the roof
of his house, where he might catch the cool breezes that tempered
the tropical heat of the Jordan valley. On entering, Ehud repeated
the purport of his errand, and Eglon bade the attendants instantly
withdraw. Then as he rose from his seat to meet his visitor, Ehud, who
was left-handed like many of his tribe, drew a long two-edged dagger,
which he had made[180] and hidden under his mantle upon his right thigh
(Judg. iii. 16), and stabbed him with such force as to leave the weapon
in his body. Without lingering a moment, he then shut and locked the
doors of the chamber, and fled “through the porch or gallery that ran
round the roof[181],” and passing beyond Gilgal, made for the wooded,
shaggy, hills of Seirath, in the mountains of Ephraim. There he blew a
horn, and roused the Israelites, who rushed down the hills and followed
him in the direction of Jericho. Meanwhile the attendants had opened
the door of Eglon’s chamber, and beheld the corpse lying on the floor.
Panicstricken at this unexpected death of their leader, and still more
by the sudden rising of the Israelites, the Moabites fled towards the
fords of the Jordan. But the Israelites had been beforehand with them,
and suffering none to cross, slew upwards of 10,000 men.
Rest was now restored at least to the tribe of Benjamin for 80
years, but in the south-west the Philistines, encouraged probably
by the success of the Moabites, made an inroad, and reduced the
Israelites to great straits (Judg. v. 6). But SHAMGAR, the son of
Anath, was raised up to be a deliverer. Armed with nothing but a long
iron-spiked ox-goad[182], he made a sudden and desperate assault upon
the Philistines, and slew 600 of them, thus obtaining a temporary
respite for his people (Judg. iii. 31).
_Invasion from the North. Deborah and Barak._
But a more terrible invasion was in store for the nation, which again
on the death of Ehud relapsed into idolatry (Judg. iv. 1). This time
the oppressor came from the north, where under a second JABIN, the
Canaanites, whom Joshua had defeated in his memorable victory at the
waters of Merom, had recovered a portion of their former strength. With
his vast hosts, and his 900 chariots of iron commanded by SISERA his
captain, who resided at _Harosheth of the Gentiles_[183], he overran
the country of the neighbouring tribes, Asher, Naphtali and Zebulun.
Such was the general prostration and terror that, as had already
been the case in the days of Shamgar, _the highways were unoccupied_,
and the travellers stole from place to place by _crooked, tortuous
by-paths_ (Judg. v. 6). Village life ceased in Israel, and the
peasantry, abandoning the cultivation of the ground, retired for
refuge to the walled towns. But even here they were not secure. There
was _war in the gates_, the place usually devoted to the administration
of justice, and even _in the places of drawing water the noise of the
archers_ could be heard twanging their terrible bows (Judg. v. 8, 11).
No resistance could be offered, for according to a common policy (1 Sam.
xiii. 19–22) there had been a general disarmament of the people, and
_not a spear or shield was to be seen among forty thousand in Israel_
(Judg. v. 8). The spirit of the nation was completely crushed, and the
second Jabin and Sisera his captain carried on unchecked for upwards
of 20 years those measures, whereby they reduced the Israelites to a
condition of degrading servitude (Judg. iv. 3).
At length, however, a Deliverer appeared. Under a solitary palm-tree
in the mountain-range of Ephraim between Ramah and Bethel, lived a
prophetess named DEBORAH, who was or had been the wife of Lapidoth.
In the failure of all other leaders she was now regarded by the
oppressed people with the utmost reverence, and _they went up to her
for judgment_ (Judg. iv. 5). Like Joan of Arc in after times, her
whole soul was fired with indignation at the sufferings endured by
her people, and at length from Kadesh-naphtali, a City of Refuge,
not far from Jabin’s capital (Josh. xx. 7; xxi. 32), and therefore
peculiarly animated with hostility to the oppressor, she summoned
BARAK[184] (_lightning_) the son of Abinoam. On the strength of a
Divine commission, she then enjoined him to gather 10,000 men from
his own and the neighbouring tribe of Zebulun to the green summit of
Tabor[185], and promised to draw to the river Kishon in the plain of
Esdraelon the great captain of Jabin’s army with his chariots and his
host, and there deliver them into his hand. Barak declined to undertake
the arduous enterprise, unless the Prophetess promised to accompany him.
To this she assented, but distinctly warned him that the expedition
would not be for his honour; as he was thus willing to lean upon a
woman’s aid, so into the hands of a woman would the Lord deliver the
leader of his enemy’s forces.
Leaving her seat of judgment, Deborah then accompanied Barak to
Kedesh, and he employed himself in rousing his own tribe of Naphtali
and that of Zebulun to join in the insurrection. Having at length
gathered 10,000 men around his standard he marched, still attended
by the Prophetess, to the high places of Tabor. There he was joined by
portions of other tribes, whom the influence of Deborah had roused to
take part in the great struggle, consisting of the princes of Issachar,
a body of Ephraimites, and detachments from Benjamin and north-eastern
Manasseh (Judg. v. 14, 15). Other tribes, however, came not thus
zealously _to the help of the Lord against the mighty_. Of the two
maritime tribes, Dan on the south clung to his ships in the port of
Joppa, and Asher forgat the perils of his fellows in the creeks and
harbours of his Phœnician allies (Judg. v. 17). The name of Judah is
not even mentioned among the patriot forces. Amongst the tribes across
the Jordan _great was the debate_ as to the course to be pursued.
Reuben preferred to _abide secure among his sheepfolds_[186], and
to _listen to the bleating of his flocks_, and Gad to _linger beyond
Jordan_ in his grassy uplands (Judg. v. 17). But amidst the wavering
of many hearts, Zebulun and Naphtali remained firm, and prepared _to
jeopardize their lives unto the death_ on the high places of Tabor
(Judg. v. 18).
Meanwhile certain of the Kenites[187], who had separated from the
rest of their tribe in the hill country of Judah (Judg. i. 16), and
now dwelt under the oaks of Zaanaim[188] near Kedesh, informed Sisera
of the sudden movement of Barak towards Tabor (Judg. iv. 11, 12).
Thereupon, without delay he gathered all his forces, and encamped on
the level plain of Esdraelon, between the friendly towns of Taanach
and Megiddo[189], where he was also joined by other Canaanite chiefs
anxious to quell the sudden insurrection (Judg. v. 3, 19).
At length the heroic Deborah gave the encouraging command to Barak,
_Up, for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into
thine hand_. Probably long before it was light[190] the camp of Barak’s
little army was struck, and the patriot tribes rapidly descending the
winding mountain-path fell upon the hosts of Sisera and threw them
into wild confusion. As they fled in utter dismay along the plain,
not only the troops of Barak, but _the stars in their courses_ (Judg.
v. 20), the elements of heaven, began to fight against the Canaanites.
A furious storm of rain and hail[191] gathered from the east, and
bursting right in their faces, rendered useless the bows of their
archers[192], and swelled into a mighty torrent the rivulets, springs,
and spongy marshes near Megiddo. Before long _the ancient torrent_
of the _Kishon_ (_twisted_ or _winding_) rose in its bed, and the
plain became an impassable morass[193]. The chariots of Sisera were
now utterly useless. The hoofs of the horses vainly plunging in the
tenacious mud and swollen streams _were broken by means of their
pransings_ (Judg. v. 22). The torrent of the Kishon, now rushing fast
and furious, _swept them away_, and the strength of the Canaanites _was
trodden down_. Stuck fast, entangled, overwhelmed they could not stand
for a moment before the avenging Barak, and not a man made good his
escape to the city of their great leader, _Harosheth of the Gentiles_,
before their pursuers had smitten them with the edge of the sword (Judg.
iv. 16).
Meantime, while his mother and her attendants were vainly awaiting the
return of his triumphal chariot (Judg. v. 28), Sisera himself fled away
on foot to the friendly tribe of Heber the Kenite beneath the oaks of
Zaanaim, where he hoped for safety from his remorseless pursuers. After
a while he drew near the tent of Jael, Heber’s wife, and chieftainess
of the tribe. She herself had descried him approaching, and went
forth to meet him. _Turn in, my lord_, said she, _turn in to me, fear
not_. And he turned in, and she covered him with a rug or blanket
(Judg. iv. 18). Spent and weary, before he lay down, he asked for a
little water to drink; but she gave him something better than water.
She opened the skin bottle of milk, such as always stands by Arab
tents, she brought forth butter, or “thick curdled milk” in a _lordly
dish_[194], or the bowl used for illustrious strangers, and covered him
again with the rug.
Thus doubly assured of hospitality Sisera bade her deny his presence
if any enquired after him, and then laid him down and slept. But as she
stood at the tent-door, other thoughts than those of kindness towards
the slumbering chief came over Jael. At length taking one of the wooden
sharp-pointed tent-nails in one hand and a mallet in the other, she
went softly unto him, and smote him with such force that the nail
entered into his temples, and fastened his head to the ground, _for
he was fast asleep and weary, and so he died_. Meanwhile the pursuing
Barak drew near. Him too Jael went forth to meet, and taking him within,
showed him his terrible foe, the captain of the nine hundred iron
chariots, lying dead upon the ground, with the nail driven through his
temples.
Thus on that day, as the Prophetess had said, God delivered Sisera
into the hand of a woman. Together she and Barak returned from the
battle-field, and chanted responsively a sublime Triumphal Hymn,
celebrating the recent victory over the northern Canaanites, which now
secured to the land rest for 40 years (Judg. v.).
CHAPTER IV.
_INVASION OF THE MIDIANITES. GIDEON._
JUDG. VI.–VIII. B.C. CIRC. 1256–1249.
AS so often before, the effects of this last great deliverance were
but transitory. Again the Israelites relapsed into idolatry, and in
consecrated groves practised all the abominations that disgraced the
worship of Baal. The national punishment they thus drew down upon
themselves was more severe than anything they had yet endured. Since
the sacred war led by Phinehas against the Midianites[195] (Num. xxxi.
1–13), that people had recovered much of their ancient strength, and
now in concert with the Amalekites, and _the children of the East_
(Judg. vi. 3), or the Arabian tribes beyond the Jordan, they determined
to invade the territory of Israel. Led by two superior chiefs, having
the title of king, ZEBAH and ZALMUNNA, and two inferior chiefs, OREB
and ZEEB (_the Raven and the Wolf_), they poured into the country with
their herds, their flocks, and their camels, like locusts for multitude,
and gradually overran it from the plain of Jezreel down the valley of
the Jordan, and southward as far as Gaza in the fertile Lowlands of
the west. Here they established themselves, destroyed the crops[196],
and for a period of seven years reduced the Israelites to the greatest
straits, so that they left the plains, and fled for refuge to dens or
catacombs, which they cut out of the rocky mountains, to inaccessible
strongholds, and the limestone caves with which Palestine abounds[197]
(Judg. vi. 2).
As so often before, the Deliverer came from the quarter most exposed
to the ravages of the invaders. At Ophrah, in the hills of western
Manasseh, not far from Shechem, and overlooking the plain of Jezreel,
the head-quarters of the Midianitish host, lived a high-born Abi-ezrite,
a descendant of one of the princely families of Manasseh (Josh.
xvii. 2; Num. xxvi. 30), named JOASH. The invasion had brought not only
impoverishment but dire bereavement into his home. In a skirmish near
the heights of Tabor the Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna, had slain
all his noble sons save one, GIDEON (Judg. viii. 18, 19).
On one occasion, as Gideon was threshing wheat, not in the open summer
threshing-floor, but by the winepress[198] near his native Ophrah, to
hide it from the Midianites, an Angel appeared and saluted him with
the words, _The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour_. In reply
Gideon contrasted the present degraded condition of the nation with the
glorious days when Jehovah brought them out of Egypt, and complained
that He had now deserted them, nor was there any hope of deliverance.
Thereupon the Angel informed him that _he_ was the destined Saviour of
his people, that the Lord would be with him, and that he should _smite
the Midianites as one man_ (Judg. vi. 16). Unable to believe that
such a mission could be designed for himself, Gideon requested a sign
to assure him that the Speaker was a messenger of Jehovah, and by
direction of the Angel made ready a kid, and cakes of unleavened bread,
and presented them under the oak. The Angel then bade him lay the
flesh and unleavened cakes upon the rock and pour the broth over them,
and when he had done so touched them with a rod he bore in his hand.
Instantly there rose up fire from the rock, and consumed the offering,
in the midst of which the Angel suddenly disappeared. The fact that
he had thus been permitted to converse face to face with Deity filled
Gideon with alarm, but the Lord reassured him, and he built an altar
there which he called Jehovah-Shalom, or, the _Lord send Peace_, in
memory of the salutation of the Angel (Judg. vi. 24).
i. Thus solemnly called to be the Deliverer of his countrymen, Gideon
was first commissioned to testify against the idolatrous practices
which had caused the present national degradation. The Lord appeared to
him in a dream, and bade him throw down an altar which his father had
erected in honour of Baal, and cut down a grove he had set up, and then
to build in an orderly manner an altar to Jehovah on the rock where
his meat-offering had been accepted, and sacrifice thereon his father’s
second bullock of seven years old. With the assistance of his servants,
Gideon during the night-time executed this commission, and on the
morrow the townspeople were surprised to find that both altar and grove
had disappeared. Enquiry led to the detection of the offender, and
Joash was bidden to bring forth his son that he might be put to death
for the sacrilege of which he had been guilty. But Joash replied with
much irony that he was truly guilty of impiety who believed that Baal
could not defend himself. _Will ye take upon yourselves_, said he,
_to plead Baal’s cause? let him plead for himself_. A new name, which
Gideon henceforth bore, JERUB-BAAL, or the _Tryer of Baal_, attested
the national acquiescence in the wisdom of his father’s reply (Judg.
vi. 32).
ii. Tried and not found wanting in moral courage, Gideon was now
directed to carry out the second part of his commission. Blowing a
trumpet he first gathered around him his own clan of Abi-ezer, and
then sending messengers throughout Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and
Naphtali[199], invited the aid of these tribes against the common
enemy. With characteristic caution, however, he requested a further
sign from Jehovah before actually entering upon his arduous task. A
double sign was vouchsafed to him. A fleece of wool, first dripping
with dew while all the soil around was hot and dry, then dry while
all the soil around was damp, convinced him that the Lord would indeed
deliver Israel by his hand.
By this time upwards of 32,000 of his countrymen had gathered around
him, and with this force he encamped on the slope of Gilboa, near
the spring of Jezreel, henceforth known as the _Spring of_ Harod or
_Trembling_, overlooking the plain of Jezreel covered with the tents of
the Midianites. But the host was too many and too great for God to give
victory thereby. If they were successful with their present numbers
they might vaunt that their own hand had saved them. Proclamation was,
therefore, made that from the _Spring of Trembling_ all who were afraid
to persevere in their arduous enterprise might return to their homes.
Of this permission 22,000 at once availed themselves and went their way.
But another trial was to test the qualifications of the rest. By Divine
command Gideon took the remaining 10,000 of his forces to the spring,
and watched them as they asswaged their thirst. While all the rest
bowed down upon their knees, three hundred _putting their hand to their
mouth, lapped of the water with their tongues as a dog lappeth_ (Judg.
vii. 5, 6).
These three hundred Gideon set by themselves, the rest he sent away.
Night now drew on, and with his little band, like the same famous
number at Thermopylæ, he was left alone on the brow of the steep
mountain which overlooks the vale of Jezreel, where Midian and Amalek
and all the children of the east lay along like locusts for multitude,
their camels gaily caparisoned, numerous as the sand on the seashore
(Judg. vii. 12). To confirm the faith of Gideon in this great crisis,
God now bade him, attended by Phurah his armour-bearer, drop down from
the height where he was, and go to the host of his enemy. Accordingly
the two crept down cautiously from rock to rock[200] in the still
night to the outskirts of the Midianitish tents, where Gideon overheard
a man tell his fellow how he had dreamt a dream, _and lo! a cake
of |common|[200] barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and
came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that
the tent lay along_. To this recital the other replied, showing the
reputation Gideon had gained even amongst his foes, _This is nothing
else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: into
his hands hath God delivered Midian, and all the host_ (Judg. vii.
13, 14).
The Listener heard the dream and the interpretation, and straightway
knew what he was to do. Returning up the mountain to his faithful three
hundred, he divided them into three companies, and gave to every man a
horn, an earthen pitcher, and a firebrand or torch[201] (Judg. vii. 16,
_margin_) to put therein. Then bidding them follow him, and do exactly
as they saw him do, in the beginning of the middle watch he again stole
down towards the outskirts of the tents of the Midianites, while the
three companies following silently took their places every man round
about the slumbering camp. Then Gideon and his company suddenly blew
their horns, and at this signal 300 horns blew, 300 pitchers crashed,
300 torches blazed, and the always terrible war-cry of the Israelites,
_The Sword of Jehovah and of Gideon_[202], rent the midnight air. In
a moment the Midianites and Amalekites were roused, and thrown into
inextricable confusion and alarm. Amidst the blazing of so many torches,
the crashing of so many pitchers, and the blast of so many trumpets all
on different sides, they imagined themselves attacked by an enormous
force. Filled with uncontrollable terror, they turned their swords
against one another, and then rushed with one accord down the steep
descent towards the Jordan eastward, to Beth-Shittah, _the House of the
Acacia_, and Abel-Meholah, _the Meadow of the Dance_, hotly pursued not
only by the three hundred, but some of the forces of Naphtali, Asher,
and Manasseh, now convinced amidst the returning light of day that
Gideon had indeed achieved a great victory (Judg. vii. 23).
The Midianites hoped to reach the fords of Beth-barah immediately
under the highlands of Ephraim. But Gideon had already sent messengers
thither, and the Ephraimites were not slow to seize the fords and
intercept the flying foe, but not before a considerable body had
already crossed with the two kings, Zebah and Zalmunna. But they were
in time to capture the two inferior chiefs, Oreb and Zeeb, the one
at a sharp cliff, the other at a winepress, where they slew them,
and cutting off their heads hurried after Gideon, who with his three
hundred was already on the other side of the Jordan, _faint yet
pursuing_. Annoyed, now the victory was won, that they had not been
summoned to join in the battle, the haughty Ephraimites chode with
him, and manifested great resentment. With rare self-restraint the
victorious Leader asked what after all he had done in comparison with
them. Pointing to the bloody heads of the princes they had slain, he
enquired whether the _grapes_ Ephraim had already _gleaned_ were not
better than the entire _vintage_ of his little clan of Abi-ezer. This
soft answer turned away the wrath of the offended tribe, and the chase
was renewed (Judg. viii. 1–3).
Two places on the track of the pursuit refused to befriend Gideon. The
men of Succoth[203] on the east of Jordan, near the ford of the torrent
Jabbok, and of Penuel further up the mountains, declined to supply his
nearly exhausted troops with bread, and mocked at him, when he said
he was chasing the kings of Midian. Halting only to threaten them with
vengeance on his return, he hurried on after the enemy. The victorious
Israelites had already slain 120,000, but 15,000 with the two kings had
reached Karkor, far from any towns in the open desert-wastes east of
the Jordan. Here they thought themselves secure, but Gideon ascending
from the valley of the Jordan burst upon them, put them to a complete
rout, and at last captured the two kings, Zebah and Zalmunna.
Then in triumph the conqueror returned down the long defiles leading
to the Jordan, followed by his cavalcade of captives mounted on their
gaily decked camels (Judg. viii. 21). As he passed Penuel he razed to
the ground its lofty watchtower, and slew the men of the city. Reaching
Succoth he obtained from a young man of the place a description of
its 77 head-men, and showed them the captive kings, and then “with
the thorny branches of the neighbouring acacia-groves” he beat them
to death. Then pushing westwards he reached his native Ophrah. There
turning to the captive kings[204] and at length revealing the secret
of this long pursuit, he enquired what manner of men they were whom
they had murdered on the green slopes of Tabor. _As thou art, so were
they_, was the reply, _each one resembled the children of a king_. The
remembrance of his brethren, _the sons of his own mother_, filled the
warrior with wrath. Had they shown mercy to them, he would have spared
his prisoners, but now that could not be. Summoning, therefore, his
firstborn Jether, he bade him draw his sword and slay them. But the boy
quailed before those mighty kings, and at their request Gideon himself
took the sword and slew them, and gathered up the golden chains and
crescent-shaped collars and trappings of their camels (Judg. viii.
18–21).
The immediate effect upon the nation of this deliverance was greater
than that of any other. Not only had the country quietness for 40
years (Judg. viii. 28), not only did Gideon’s Altar, and the Spring of
Trembling, and the rock Oreb (or the _Raven’s Crag_), and the winepress
of Zeeb remain standing monuments of this great day, when God _made
like a wheel_[205], and drove over the uplands of Gilead _as stubble
before the wind_ (Ps. lxxxiii. 13, 14), like clouds of chaff blown from
the summer threshing-floors, the proud people which had said, _Let us
take to ourselves the pastures of God in possession_ (Ps. lxxxiii. 12),
but for the first time the Israelites offered hereditary royal dignity
to the great conqueror. _Rule thou over us_, said they, _both thou,
and thy son, and thy son’s sons also_. Gideon had the rare self-control
to decline the flattering request. _I will not rule over you_, said he,
_neither shall my son rule over you; Jehovah shall rule over you_. One
request only and a strange one did he make of the grateful tribes, that
they would give him the golden earrings and other ornaments they had
taken from the conquered foe. Willingly into his cloak the people flung
the ornaments, jewels, and chains from the camels’ necks to the weight
of 1700 shekels, and with these Gideon made an ephod, and put it in his
native Ophrah, and all _Israel went a whoring after it_, which thing
became a snare unto Gideon and to his house. Though he declined the
royal dignity, he was addicted to a royal failing. He multiplied wives
and begat 70 sons, and after living to a good old age descended in
peace to the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites[206]
(Judg. viii. 32).
CHAPTER V.
_ABIMELECH AND JEPHTHAH._
JUDG. IX.–XII. B.C. CIRC. 1249–1188.
AFTER the death of Gideon, Jehovah, whose minister he had been for
the deliverance of the people, was again forgotten by the Israelites.
Forgetting Gideon, forgetting Him who had sent Gideon, they made
Baal-Berith, _Baal of the Covenant_, their god, and set up his
sanctuary even in Shechem, though hallowed by the memories of the
patriarchs[207] and the solemn ratification of the Law[208].
Meanwhile Gideon’s 70 sons appear to have exercised authority over some
portion of the country. One of them, whose name was ABIMELECH, the son
of a slave a Canaanite native of Shechem, after consultation with his
mother’s brethren and her relatives (Judg. ix. 1), suggested that in
place of the divided authority of his numerous brothers, he, _their
bone and their flesh_ (Judg. ix. 2), should be vested with the supreme
authority. The spirit of clanship was strong. _He is our brother_,
whispered the family to the Shechemites, who at length fell in with the
scheme, and lent Abimelech seventy pieces of silver from the sanctuary
of Baal-Berith.
With the money he hired a body of men, and going to his father’s house
at Ophrah, murdered all his brethren, save JOTHAM the youngest, who
managed to escape. He was now left alone, and was solemnly anointed
king by the men of Shechem, who thus formally signified their revolt
from the Hebrew commonwealth. Tidings of what was going on reached the
ears of Jotham. Emerging from his hiding-place, he stationed himself on
one of the rocky inaccessible spurs of Mount Gerizim[209], and taking
up his parable from the variegated foliage of the valley below and the
neighbouring forest, bade the men of Shechem listen while he addressed
to them the earliest Parable, that of the Bramble-King. _Once, he said,
the Trees went forth to anoint a king over them. The Olive, the Vine,
the Fig were each asked to accept the royal dignity, but each declined;
the Olive could not leave his fatness, or the Fig-tree his sweetness,
or the Vine the juice of his grapes. Recourse was then had to the
Bramble, which not only accepted the proffered honour, but bade the
other trees put their trust in its shadow, and threatened, if they did
not, that fire should come forth from it and devour even the cedars
of Lebanon._ Jotham then reminded the Shechemites of the services
his father had rendered to the nation, and rebuked them for their
gross ingratitude to his family. If they thought they had done well
in electing Abimelech, the Bramble-King, he bade them rejoice in him;
if not, he hoped a fire might come forth from the king, in whose shadow
they had placed their trust, and destroy him and all who had joined in
electing him. With these words the speaker fled.
In a short time his words were fulfilled. For three years Abimelech
maintained his supremacy, residing himself at Arumah (Judg. ix. 41),
not far from Shechem, while that place was entrusted to Zebul, his
viceroy. During the joyous season of the vintage[210] (Judg. ix. 27)
Gaal the son of Ebed, a leader of a body of freebooters tried to
persuade the people of Shechem to transfer their allegiance from
Abimelech, who was but half a kinsman, to the Hivite tribe of Hamor.
Intelligence of this movement reached the ears of Zebul, who without
delay sent word to Abimelech, bidding him levy his forces and surprise
the plotters in the city. After a desperate battle Abimelech captured
the place, put the entire population to the sword, and sowed the
ruins of the city with salt (Judg. ix. 45). A remnant, however, of the
insurgents took refuge in the temple of Baal-Berith. Thither Abimelech
pursued them at the head of his followers, whom he commanded on their
way to cut down boughs from the trees on the wooded eminence of Zalmon
(Ps. lxviii. 14) close to the city. These he piled against the hold,
set them on fire, and suffocated and burnt the refugees. From Shechem
he repaired to Thebez[211] (_Tûbas_) and speedily captured the town;
but again the inhabitants took refuge in one of its strong towers, and
there held out. Forcing his way up to it, Abimelech was about to repeat
the stratagem he had found so successful at Shechem (Judg. ix. 52),
when a woman flung a fragment of millstone at his head[212]. Unwilling
to die thus ingloriously, he bade his armour-bearer thrust him through
with his sword, and so expired.
Other judges now succeeded, of whom TOLA, of the tribe of Issachar,
governed Israel for a space of 23 years at Shamir in Mount Ephraim
(Judg. x. 1, 2); he was succeeded by JAIR of Gilead, who during 22
years shared his almost regal honours with his thirty sons (Judg. x.
3, 4).
_Invasion of the Ammonites; Jephthah._
But recent judgments had not the effect of restraining the people from
apostasy. To the worship of Baal and Astarte they now added that of the
gods of Syria, of Zidon, of Moab and Ammon, as also of the Philistines.
The national punishment they thus drew down upon themselves came from
two quarters. On the south-west and along the fertile borders of the
Shephelah the Philistines rose and reduced a portion of the country
to subjection, while the tribes on the east of Jordan fell a prey to
the Ammonites, and for 18 years endured the humiliation of irksome
oppression. Nor were they the only sufferers, for the Ammonites crossed
the Jordan and carried on their ravages even in the territories of
Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim (Judg. x. 6–9). So terrible was the
oppression they now endured, that at length the Israelites were roused
to a deep repentance; finding it in vain to cry unto their false gods
in the day of tribulation, they put them away, and besought Jehovah
if only this once to stretch forth His hand and deliver them. _Grieved
for the misery of Israel_ (Judg. x. 16), the Lord raised up a deliverer
in the person of JEPHTHAH, a base-born native of Gilead. Driven forth
from his father’s house by his legitimate sons, Jephthah had fled
into the land of Tob, somewhere on the east of Gilead, where putting
himself at the head of brave but lawless men, he lived the life of a
freebooter, making incursions from time to time into the territories
of neighbouring tribes, and living on the proceeds of the spoil (Judg.
xi. 1–3).
Determined to throw off the Ammonitish yoke, the tribes on the east
of Jordan now turned to Jephthah, and promised him the chieftaincy, if
he would undertake to lead them against the enemy. Jephthah consented,
and it was formally agreed that, in the event of success, he should
retain the supreme command. His first step was to send an embassy to
the Ammonites urging the right of the Israelites to the land of Gilead.
This being unsuccessful, he prepared for open war, and traversing
Gilead and Manasseh collected warriors from such places as acknowledged
his authority. But before entering on the campaign, in imitation
probably of heathen customs, and especially of the Ammonites (2 Kin.
iii. 27), he solemnly vowed to offer as a burnt-offering to Jehovah
whatever should first come forth from his house to meet him on his
return from battle. The engagement took place in the forests of Gilead,
and the Ammonites were utterly routed. Twenty cities, from Aroer on the
Arnon to Minnith and Abel Keramim (_the Meadow of the Vineyards_), fell
into the hands of the conqueror (Judg. xi. 33).
But his rash and heathenish vow cast a deep shadow on his triumphal
return. As he drew near his home in Mizpeh (_the Watch-tower_) of
Gilead, his daughter and only child came forth to meet him with
timbrels and with dances. When the father saw her he rent his clothes,
and with the utmost grief made known to her his vow, from which he
declared he could not go back. But the noble maiden did not decline
the awful sacrifice demanded of her. All she requested was that for
two months she might be allowed to wander with her companions among
the mountain-gorges of her native Gilead, and bewail her virginity. At
the expiration of this period she returned to her father, and Jephthah
without referring the matter to the High-priest, or remembering the
strict commands of the law on this subject[213], his spirit clouded
with gloomy superstition, _did with her according to his vow that he
had vowed_ (Judg. xi. 39). The memory of this awful sacrifice was kept
up by a yearly festival, lasting four days, during which the daughters
of Israel went up into the mountains of Gilead to praise and lament the
death of their heroic sister.
Jephthah, however, was not long suffered either to enjoy his triumph,
or lament the fatal vow which had stained it. Like Gideon before him,
he had to encounter the complaints of the proud and jealous tribe of
Ephraim for not summoning them to share the glories of the late victory.
In vindication of their absurd claims, they even threatened to burn his
house over his head, and invaded the territory of the Gileadites, whom
they taunted with being _fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites and
Manassites_. A second tribal war ensued, in which the men of Ephraim
were thoroughly worsted. Rushing routed to the fords of the Jordan,
they found them already in possession of Jephthah’s forces, who allowed
none to cross that failed to pronounce the word _Shibboleth_[214].
Upwards of 42,000 revealed their Ephraimite origin by substituting
the simple _s_ for _sh_, and were massacred. The supreme authority,
for which he had covenanted, Jephthah only lived to enjoy for 6 years,
when he died, and was buried in one of the cities of his native land
(Judg. xii. 1–7).
After him other and obscurer judges rose to display the growing
tendency towards hereditary monarchy. Thus IBZAN of Bethlehem in
Zebulun judged, at least north-western Israel, for 7 years, and
conferred a portion of his dignity on his 30 sons and 30 daughters;
ELON of the same tribe ruled for 10 years; and after him ABDON, of
Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, about 6 miles from Shechem, exercised
the supremacy for 8 years, and was succeeded in a portion of his almost
regal honours by his numerous children (Judg. xii. 8–14).
CHAPTER VI.
_INVASION FROM THE SOUTH-WEST. SAMSON._
JUDG. XIII.–XVI. B.C. 1161–1120.
MEANWHILE the Philistines[215] on the south-west had not only
established themselves in the Shephelah, or Low Country, but now
commenced that long and deadly hostility to the Israelites, which
lasted from this time through the reigns of Saul and David, and was
not finally terminated till the time of Hezekiah (2 Kings xviii. 8).
Their oppressions naturally pressed most heavily on the little tribe
of Dan, already hard pushed by the Amorites. From this tribe, then,
the Deliverer came. But unlike others who had been called to the same
office, he was specially set apart for it even before his birth.
On the high hill of Zorah overlooking the fertile lowlands of Philistia
lived a Danite named Manoah. To his wife, who as yet had no child, it
was announced by an Angel that she was about to become the mother of a
son, whom she was to devote as a Nazarite[216] unto God from his birth;
no razor was ever to come upon his head; wine and strong drink he was
never to touch; and he should _commence_ the deliverance of Israel
from the Philistines (Judg. xiii. 5). These words were announced to
Manoah by his wife, and a second appearance of the Angel was vouchsafed
to assure both parents of the certainty of these events, which was
further confirmed, as in the case of Gideon, by the disappearance
of the Angel in the flames which consumed the Danite’s meat-offering
(Judg. xiii. 20).
In process of time the child was born, and was named SAMSON, either
_the sunlight_, or _the strong_. As he grew, he became distinguished
for supernatural strength, and from time to time in Mahanah-Dan, the
camp of the famous Six Hundred of his tribe[217], was moved to perform
those exploits which made him the terror of the Philistines. His
first action, however, when come to man’s estate, did not display that
hostility to the national enemy which his parents would naturally have
expected. At Timnath, then in the occupation of the Philistines, he
saw one of the daughters of the place, whom he was resolved to marry.
Very unwillingly did his father and mother give their consent, and
went down from Zorah with their wayward son “through wild rocky gorges”
to the vineyards of Timnath, situated, as was often the case, far from
the village to which they belonged, and amidst rough wadies and wild
cliffs[218]. In one of these Samson encountered a young lion, and,
though he had nothing in his hand, rent it _as he would have rent a
kid_. Thinking little of the circumstance, he did not mention it to his
father and mother, but went with them to Timnath, and talked with the
woman, and she pleased him well. On his second descent through the same
wild rocky pass, he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion, and
discovered amongst the bones a swarm of bees. A portion of the honey
he took himself, and gave a portion to his parents, saying nothing of
his exploit, or the place whence he had obtained the honey. The wedding
festival was celebrated at Timnath, and lasted several days, on one
of which the bridegroom put forth a riddle to his thirty Philistine
“companions,” promising thirty sheets and thirty changes of garments to
any that guessed it, but demanding the same of them if within the days
of the feast they failed to discover it. The young men accepted the
challenge, and Samson put forth his riddle, saying,
_Out of the eater came forth meat,
Out of the strong came forth sweetness._
For three days the Philistine youths tried to unravel it, and failed.
Then they beset Samson’s wife, and threatened to burn her and her
father’s house, if she did not ascertain for them the interpretation.
During the remaining days, therefore, she implored of Samson with
tears the revelation of the secret. At first he was proof against
her entreaties, but on the last day of the feast he told her, and she
revealed it to the thirty Philistines, who came to him in the evening
and said,
_What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?_
_If ye had not ploughed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle_
was the giant’s brief reply, and going down to Ashkelon, one of the
five cities of the lords of the Philistines, on the extreme southern
edge of the Mediterranean Sea, he slew thirty men and of the spoil
brought the stipulated reward.
Then in great wrath he returned to Zorah. But when wheat-harvest
came round, his passion for the woman was somewhat rekindled, and he
resolved to present her with a kid, and now learnt from her father
for the first time, that, probably during his absence at Ashkelon,
thinking he utterly hated her, he had bestowed her upon another.
Thereupon Samson, being enraged, resolved to wreak his vengeance on the
Philistines, and catching, probably in pitfalls and snares, 300 foxes,
he fastened them tail to tail with lighted firebrands in the midst, and
sent them into their cornfields, olive-yards, and vine-yards. Terrible
was the mischief thus inflicted in a country, which even now, “in the
summer months, is one sea of dead-ripe grain, dry as tinder[219].”
At length the Philistines ascertained who was the author of this
destructive conflagration, and went to the house of his late wife, and
burnt her and her father to death. Thereupon Samson avenged himself
by inflicting upon them a great slaughter, and went and took up his
abode on the lofty cliff of Etam, probably not very far from Bethlehem.
Thither the Philistines pursued him, and demanded his surrender of the
men of Judah. So utterly lost to all feelings of honour, so degraded
from its former high estate was this tribe, that 3000 men actually
scaled the rocky cliff, and brought Samson bound with two new cords
to his enemies. On his approach, the Philistines raised a mighty shout.
But at the moment supernatural strength was given to the captive. He
burst his bonds as though they had been cords of flax burnt in the
fire, and seizing the jawbone of an ass, and aided probably by the now
inspirited Israelites, slew a thousand of the Philistines. In memory of
this exploit, he named the place Ramath-Lehi (_the casting away of the
jawbone_). Sore athirst after his exertions, he feared that from sheer
exhaustion he might fall once more into the hands of his foes, but
from a hollow place in Lehi God caused water to issue, and his spirit
reviving he called the spot En-hakkore (_the Spring of the crier_)
(Judg. xv. 16–19).
Samson is next found at Gaza (_the strong_), which though allotted to
and conquered by Judah ( Josh. xv. 47; Judg. i. 18) had fallen into
the hands of the Philistines, who now encompassed the gate of the city,
intending to capture him in the morning. But at midnight he arose,
and taking the doors of the gate and the two posts, carried them, bar
and all, to the top of the hill before Hebron. After this, he fell
in love with Delilah, a Philistine courtesan, of the valley of Sorek,
apparently near Gaza. This last amour led to his capture and death. For
the enormous reward of 1100 pieces of silver from each lord, equivalent
to 5500 shekels, the five lords of the Philistines persuaded her to
undertake the task of discovering the secret of his great strength.
Three times she importuned him to reveal the mystery, but he succeeded
in putting her off with wiles. Green withes, new ropes, the binding
of his seven clustering locks to the web, all these expedients were
powerless to detain him prisoner, and he escaped with ease from the
hands of the Philistines. The fourth time, however, she succeeded, and
he told her all his heart, revealing the secret of his Nazarite vow.
Accordingly, while he was asleep upon her knees, she caused the seven
locks to be shaved off, and when he awoke the giant found that his
strength had departed from him. The watching Philistines sprang into
the chamber, took him, bored out his eyes, and brought him bound with
brazen fetters to Gaza, where they made him grind in the prison-house
(Judg. xvi. 21).
Then a day was fixed for a solemn festival in honour of Dagon, their
national deity, half man and half fish[220], to whom the deliverance
of the nation from their dreaded foe was ascribed. In the midst of the
feast, Samson was brought in to make sport for his unfeeling captors.
The temple, where the festival was held, situated probably on a sloping
hill, was full of men and women, and even on the roof upwards of 3000
were packed together. The blinded giant was led in by a lad, and at his
own request was suffered to feel the pillars on which the temple stood.
Standing there, he prayed that his old strength might for this once
be restored to him, and that he might be enabled to wreak a complete
revenge on his unfeeling enemies. Taking hold of the pillars with both
hands, and praying that he might die with the Philistines, he bowed
himself with all his might, and the temple walls fell in, and crushed
the lords of the Philistines and the assembled crowd. Samson’s body
was extricated from the ruins, and in sad procession was borne by his
brethren and kinsmen “up the steep ascent to his native hills,” and
laid between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burial-place of Manoah his father
(Judg. xvi. 31).
As Judge, Samson’s supremacy had lasted twenty years. The words of
the Angel to his parents had declared that _he should begin to deliver
Israel out of the hand of the Philistines_, and in truth his work
was only begun. Its completeness was marred chiefly by himself. “His
acts were dictated mainly by caprice and the impulse of the moment; he
frittered away the great powers which had been bestowed upon him, and
forgot the Divine call which he had received. Still these incomplete
results may in some measure be fairly ascribed to the character of
his countrymen; they always permitted him to stand unaided and alone,
and even surrendered him to the enemy[221].” The work that he _began_
needed a very different man to _complete_ it, the spirit of the people
needed renewal, and an internal reformation was essential.
Before recounting the means whereby this was brought about, the
Sacred Narrative presents us with a little history, which strikingly
illustrates the repose and peacefulness which characterized some
of the calmer intervals in the disturbed period of the Judges. From
Bethlehem-Judah there went forth during a season of famine[222] two
Ephrathites of the place, ELIMELECH and NAOMI, with their sons MAHLON
and CHILION, to seek a home across the Jordan in the land of Moab. Here
Elimelech died, and his two sons married two of the daughters of Moab,
ORPAH and RUTH.
After a period of about ten years his sons also died, and Naomi
hearing that the famine had ceased in the land of Israel, prepared to
return to her native town accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth, whom
no entreaties could induce to remain amongst her own people. It was
the beginning of barley-harvest[223] when they returned, and Ruth went
to glean near Bethlehem in the fields of Boaz, a man of wealth and a
kinsman of Elimelech. The appearance and the story of the beautiful
stranger, which he learnt from the townspeople, attracted the attention
of Boaz to the Moabitess, and he permitted her not only to glean in his
fields, but to share with his labourers the provisions supplied them.
By the advice of her mother-in-law, Ruth afterwards claimed kinship
with the wealthy Boaz, and he was not slow to acknowledge it. A nearer
kinsman, however, was first asked to discharge these duties, which
included not only the redemption of the land that had belonged to
Elimelech, but also the taking of Ruth in marriage _to raise up the
name of the dead upon his inheritance_ (Deut. xxv. 5–10). On his
declining to perform the latter duty, Boaz redeemed the land in the
presence of ten elders of Bethlehem and the assembled people, and
married Ruth, by whom he became the father of Obed, the grandfather
of King David[224].
A more pleasing picture of Hebrew country life can hardly be imagined
than the story of “the gleaner Ruth,” illustrating, as it does, “the
friendly relations between the good Boaz and his reapers, the Jewish
land-system, the method of transferring property from one person to
another, the working of the Mosaic Law for the relief of distressed
and ruined families, but above all handing down the unselfishness, the
brave love, the unshaken trustfulness of her, who though not of the
chosen Race was, like the Canaanitess Tamar (Gen. xxxviii. 29; Matt.
i. 3) and the Canaanitess Rahab (Matt. i. 5), privileged to become the
ancestress of David, and so of great David’s greater SON” (Ruth iv.
18–22).
BOOK VIII.
FROM THE TIME OF SAMUEL TO THE ACCESSION OF DAVID.
CHAPTER I.
_ELI AND SAMUEL._
1 SAM. I.–IV. B.C. CIRC. 1171–1141.
DURING the twenty years that Samson judged Israel, the High-priesthood,
diverted for reasons not revealed from the line of Eleazar to the
younger line of Ithamar (1 Chron. vi. 4–15; xxiv. 4), had been filled
by ELI, who henceforth appears to have discharged the united duties of
High-priest and Judge. The Tabernacle with the Ark was now at Shiloh,
where a town had rapidly grown up. Inside the gateway leading up to it
was a “seat” or “throne” (1 Sam. i. 9; iv. 13), on which Eli used to
sit, and thence survey the worshippers as they came up on high days to
the Festivals.
Year by year, as he sat there, he would see amongst the pilgrims
coming up to the Feast of Tabernacles the family of ELKANAH, a man of
Ramathaim-Zophim[225] in Mount Ephraim. Though a Levite in the line
of Kohath (1 Chron. vi. 27–34), he affords one of the few instances of
polygamy in the ranks of the lower orders. By his wife Peninnah he had
several children; by Hannah, his favourite wife, he had none, which was
to her a source of much trouble, and brought down upon her many taunts
from her rival. On one occasion, as Eli sat on his throne at the gate,
he was led more particularly to notice one of this little family group.
At the close of the sacrificial Feast, unable any longer to endure the
mockery of her rival and her own bitterness of heart, Hannah remained
long in silent prayer at the Sanctuary. The High-priest saw her lips
move, but heard no sound of her voice, as she prayed. Thinking that
she had indulged to excess at the feast, he rebuked her, and bade her
put away her wine from her. Then Hannah told him of her secret grief,
and the aged priest, convinced of his error, quickly made amends by
bestowing upon her his blessing, and expressing a hope that the God of
Israel might grant the petition she had preferred (1 Sam. i. 17).
The story of the wife of Manoah was, probably, not unknown to Hannah,
and she too prayed that if the Lord would grant her a man-child, she
would devote him as a Nazarite to His service all the days of his life.
Her prayer was heard. Before the Feast of Tabernacles came round again,
she had become the mother of a son, to whom she gave the appropriate
name of SAMUEL, “_the Asked_ or _Heard of God_.” When he was weaned,
she brought him to Shiloh, with three bullocks, an ephah of flour, and
a skin bottle of wine, and having poured forth her thankfulness in an
inspired hymn, presented the boy to Eli, as the child for whom she had
prayed, and whom she now wished to return to the Lord (1 Sam. ii. 1–11).
In striking contrast with the simplicity and innocence of the young
child, who henceforth waited upon Eli, the two sons of that pontiff,
HOPHNI and PHINEHAS were _sons of Belial, they knew not the Lord_. By
their rapacity and lust they had filled all Israel with loathing and
indignation, so that _men abhorred the offering of the Lord_. But Eli
_restrained them not_, and, as years went on, their wickedness seemed
only to increase in spite of his expostulations. It was a dark day in
Israel, and their conduct gives us a terrible glimpse into the fallen
condition of the chosen people (1 Sam. ii. 12–21).
Before long the first warning came to Eli. A _man of God_ stood before
him, and after reminding him of the high honour God had conferred
upon him, when He chose him to be His priest, sternly rebuked him
for honouring his sons above their Maker, and announced that instead
of the office remaining in his family, its high functions should be
transferred to another and more faithful line. And not only did he thus
denounce distant punishment but an immediate and speedy pledge of it in
the death on one day of both his sons (1 Sam. ii. 27–36).
But this warning produced no effect. Eli was old and greyheaded.
However fitted he might have been once for the task of ruling his
family, that day was gone by now. A second warning, therefore, of
coming doom was now given him, not by the mouth of any stranger, but
of the child, whom Hannah had left in the Tabernacle at Shiloh _a loan
unto the Lord_. Clad in a white linen ephod, and the little mantle[226]
reaching to the feet, which his mother brought him from year to year,
his long flowing hair betokening his Nazarite vow, Samuel ministered
before Eli. The degraded state of the priesthood in the hands of
Hophni and Phinehas had made intimations of the Divine Will rare and
precious in those days, _there was no open vision_. But the Lord found
a way to intimate the coming doom of Eli’s house. One night, when the
aged priest had lain down to rest in one of the chambers hard by the
Tabernacle, which was illumined only by the light of the seven-branched
Golden Candlestick, in the early morning, before it was yet light,
a Voice called Samuel and awoke him from his slumber. Thinking Eli
had called him, he went to him, and enquired the cause. But Eli had
not spoken, and bade him lie down again. He did so, and again the
Voice pronounced his name. Once more he ran to the bed-side of the
High-priest, who as before denied that he had called him, and told him
to return to his bed. A third time the Voice pronounced his name, and
then Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child, and bade him,
if he heard it again, reply, _Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth_.
Samuel returned to his bed, and when the Voice called to him for the
fourth time, answered as the aged priest had bidden him, and heard
the purport of the mysterious call. _The Lord was about to do a thing
in Israel, at which both the ears of him that heard it should tingle.
Eli’s sons had made themselves vile, and he had not restrained them.
For this iniquity his house was now to be judged and neither sacrifice
nor offering could make atonement; when the Lord began, He would also
make an end._
Until the sun was up, Samuel lay still, and forbore to tell Eli what he
had heard. But the High-priest, whose conscience, doubtless, only too
surely whispered what it was, bade him hide nothing from him. And then
the old man, whose eyes were dim that he could not see, listened, while
the child told him every whit. Death awaited his sons, beggary and
desolation his family. _It is the Lord_, was his brief reply, _let Him
do what seemeth Him good_, and in the course of time the warning was
fulfilled. As Samuel grew, the Lord began to reveal Himself more and
more to him. The influence of Eli, already weakened, now dwindled from
day to day. He “decreased” and Samuel “increased,” and the Lord was
with him, and _let none of his words fall to the ground_, so that all
Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, knew that he was established to be
a Prophet, a revealer of the Divine Will (1 Sam. iii. 19–21).
Meanwhile the strength of the Philistines had recovered from the wounds
it had received from the champion of Dan. Advancing their forces to
Aphek, no great distance from the fortress of Jebus, they attacked
the Israelites, and inflicted on them a loss of 4,000 men. Alarmed at
this reverse, the Israelites resolved to fetch the Ark and take it into
battle, that it might save them out of the hands of their enemies. The
sacred symbol was thereupon removed from the curtains that enclosed it,
and the two sons of Eli accompanied it to the field. _A great shout, so
that the earth rang again_, greeted its arrival in the Israelite camp,
and the Philistines alarmed at the proximity of the _mighty Gods, that
smote the Egyptians with all the plagues_, resolved to sell their lives
dear, rather than become subject to their enemies. Again, therefore,
the battle was joined, and Israel sustained a still more disastrous
defeat. Upwards of 30,000 were slain, amongst whom were Eli’s sons, and
worse than all, the _Ark of God was taken_ (1 Sam. iv. 11).
On his elevated “seat” by the wayside Eli sat to receive any tidings
from the battle-field, his heart trembling for the sacred Symbol of
which he was the guardian. As the day closed, a young man of the tribe
of Benjamin came running into the town of Shiloh. His clothes were
rent, his hair sprinkled with dust. A wail of lamentation arose from
the people, who no sooner saw him thus attired, than they knew how the
day had gone. Eli heard the noise of the tumult, and enquired the cause.
_I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to-day out of the army_,
said the young man. _And what is there done, my son?_ enquired the
pontiff. _Israel is fled before the Philistines_, was the reply, _and
there hath been also a great slaughter among the people――and thy two
sons, also, Hophni and Phinehas are dead――and the Ark of God is taken_.
No sooner did the last part of his terrible tidings fall from his
mouth, than the aged priest fell _from his seat backwards, and his neck
brake, and he died_. Ninety-eight summers had passed over his head, and
forty years he had judged Israel, and now his doom was come. But still
another death was to mark that dreadful day. The wife of Phinehas
was near to be delivered of her second child. The news reached her
that her husband and her father-in-law were dead, that Israel had been
defeated, that the Ark had been taken. She bowed her head, the pangs of
childbirth came upon her, a son was born, and the women that stood by
tried to cheer her fainting spirits. But in vain. _The Ark of God was
taken_, that was all her mind could realize. With her last breath she
gave the child a name that should be a memorial of that fearful day.
_Call him_ ICHABOD, she said, _The glory is departed from Israel_[227]
(1 Sam. iv. 12–22).
CHAPTER II.
_SAMUEL’S JUDGESHIP._
1 SAM. V.–VIII. B.C. 1141–1095.
MEANWHILE the Ark was carried by the Philistines in triumph to
Ashdod[228], one of their five confederate cities, and placed in the
Temple of Dagon. But there its sanctity was remarkably vindicated, for
on the morrow that idol was found lying on its face upon the ground. In
vain did its votaries set it up in its place again. The next day saw it
a second time laid prostrate, and not only fallen, but broken, without
head or hands. Moreover while a plague of mice destroyed their crops,
“emerods,” _i.e._ hemorrhoids or piles, tormented their bodies. In
great consternation they, thereupon, removed the Ark to Gath, but there,
too, the same plague broke out, and when they were on the point of
removing it to Ekron, the inhabitants of that city interfered, and
declared they would not admit it within their walls.
The advice of the priests and diviners was then asked, and they
suggested that the sacred Coffer should be placed in a new cart
drawn by two milch kine, which had never been yoked, and with a
trespass-offering of five golden mice and five golden emerods be sent
back to the Israelites. If the kine of their own accord took the road
to Beth-shemesh, (_house of the Sun_[229]), under the hills of Dan, and
close to the Philistine lowlands, then it would be certain that their
misfortunes were due to the hostility of the Gods of the Israelites,
otherwise it might be concluded that some chance had smitten them.
The plan was adopted. The Ark was placed in the new cart, together with
the coffer containing the trespass-offerings, and the kine took the
high-road from Ekron to Beth-shemesh, without turning to the right hand
or the left. It was the time of wheat-harvest, and the people of the
town were busy gathering in their corn, when lifting up their eyes
they with joy beheld the Ark, which they had not seen for seven months
(1 Sam. vi. 1). The kine, meanwhile, stopped not till they had reached
the field of Joshua, an inhabitant of the place, where there was a
great stone. Beth-shemesh being a suburb-city, and allotted to the
priests (Josh. xxi. 16; 1 Chr. vi. 59), the Levites residing there
took down the Ark and the coffer, placed them on the great stone, then
clave the wood of the cart, and offered up the kine as a burnt-offering
to Jehovah, at the close of which ceremony, the five lords of the
Philistines, who had joined the procession, returned to their own
country (1 Sam. vi. 10–16).
But even this joyous day was not to pass by without a great calamity.
Not content with offering sacrifices, the people of Beth-shemesh
approached the Ark, and though even the priests were not allowed to
touch it, removed the lid, to do which some force must have been used,
and looked into it, for which profanity a considerable number were
stricken with instant death. Messengers were, therefore, dispatched
to Kirjath-jearim (_the fields of the wood_, see Ps. cxxxii. 6), and
thither through the hills the Ark was sent, and placed in the house of
the Levite Abinadab, whose son Eleazar was consecrated to keep it, and
there it remained until the time of David (1 Sam. vii. 1).
Meanwhile Samuel, of whom we have not heard since he denounced the doom
of the house of Ithamar, was growing up an acknowledged Prophet of the
Lord. In this sad crisis of the nation’s history he now came forward
and convening an assembly at Mizpeh, probably the _Watch-tower_ of
Benjamin, solemnly expostulated with the Israelites on their idolatrous
practices. With fasting and public confession they acknowledged the
righteousness of the late judgments. Water was poured upon the ground,
and the people entered into a covenant to abandon the worship of Baal
and Ashtaroth. From this day Samuel’s career as Judge began, and was
inaugurated by a great victory over the Philistines, who hearing that
the Israelites were recovering from their former depression, once more
gathered together at Mizpeh, prepared to give them battle. At this
crisis, Samuel taking a lamb offered it as a whole burnt-offering for
the nation’s sins, and was thus piously employed when the Philistines
made their onslaught. But at this moment a terrific thunder-storm burst
forth, accompanied, according to Josephus, by an earthquake. Seized
with a sudden panic, the Philistines fled in disorder, and were pursued
with great slaughter by the victorious Israelites as far as Beth-car
(_the house of lambs_), a height to the west of Mizpeh. On the very
spot, where twenty years before the Philistines had gained their most
signal triumph, Samuel now set up a huge stone to commemorate his
victory, and named it Ebenezer, _the Stone of Help_ (1 Sam. vii. 12).
The subsequent effects of this success were still more apparent. Not
only did the Philistines receive a decided check, but the Amorites also,
the scourge of the little tribe of Dan, made peace with Israel, and
all the cities in the Philistine territory, which had been taken from
the Israelites, from Ekron to Gath, were restored. Samuel’s office as
Judge was now confirmed. Ramah, his birth-place, was his residence,
and here he erected an altar to the Lord, and thence from year to year
went forth in solemn circuit to the old sanctuaries, Bethel, Gilgal,
and Mizpeh, combining with the duties of a Judge the functions also of
a Seer or Prophet, and with all the weight of an Oracle advising in any
of the troubles of national or domestic life (1 Sam. ix. 11, 18, 19).
As years passed on, and he waxed old, his sons JOEL and ABIAH, like
those of Jair and Abdon before him, shared a portion of his judicial
functions, and administered justice in the more southerly portions of
the country. But they did not walk in their father’s footsteps. He who,
when a child, had denounced the terrible doom on Eli for the wickedness
of his sons, lived to see his own sons turning aside after lucre,
exacting excessive usury, and perverting judgment (1 Sam. viii. 3).
A new and more advanced period in the history of the nation was at hand,
and the supremacy of the Judges was about to close. Samuel, who came
like Numa after Romulus, did not fail to prepare the people for the
new epoch. At Ramah, at Bethel, at Mizpeh, at Gilgal[230] he gathered
together _Schools of the Prophets_, and was the great reformer of the
prophetical order, a work of such importance that he is even classed
with Moses, the great Lawgiver of the nation. (Comp. Ps. xcix. 6;
Acts iii. 24; xiii. 20.) The title, indeed, of “prophet” has occurred
already more than once, and is applied to Abraham (Gen. xx. 7), to
Moses (Deut. xviii. 15–18), to Aaron (Ex. vii. 1), to Miriam (Ex.
xv. 20), to the seventy elders (Num. xi. 24–30), to Deborah[231] (Judg.
iv. 4). But these were isolated cases. It was the work of Samuel to
give permanence and effectiveness to the prophetical functions.
Promising youths were gathered by him into Schools or Colleges of
Prophets, where they lived together in a society or community, under a
head or leading prophet, whom they called their _Father_ (Comp. 1 Sam.
x. 12; xix. 20), or _Master_ (2 K. ii. 3), while they were termed his
_sons_. Here they employed themselves in studying the Law of Moses;
practised the composition of sacred poetry; and became skilled in
sacred music, _the psaltery, harp, tabret, pipe, and cymbals_ (1 Sam.
x. 5; 2 K. iii. 15; 1 Ch. xxv. 1, 6). They also preserved and copied
historical records, and “gathered up the traditions of their own and
former times.” Their calling was not merely, sometimes not at all,
to predict future events. They were to be forth-speakers for God, to
commune with God, to speak of God, to teach His truth, to declare His
will, and that not only in words, but sometimes in action. Studying the
Law of Moses, and the records of God’s past dealings with their nation,
they were to see the earnest of His presence for rebuke or consolation
in the present. Their vocation required of them to preach morality and
spiritual religion, to denounce oppression and covetousness, injustice
and profligacy, cruelty and idolatry. And while called to reveal God’s
will in each successive crisis of the nation’s history, they were also
specially raised up to fix the eye of their countrymen on the future,
to keep alive the belief in God’s promises of Redemption, and to
foretell the incarnation of Him, in whom all nations were to be blessed.
If they often typified Him, whose appearance they announced and whose
Spirit dwelt in them, in His humiliation, being despised and rejected
by the generation in which they lived, yet from time to time they
typified Him also in His exaltation, for the Lord, whose messengers
they were, stood by them, frequently confirmed their word by miracles,
and punished those who injured them[232].
The subsequent position of the Prophetical order at momentous periods
of the national history is strikingly illustrated by the conduct of its
Reformer and Organizer now. The misconduct of Samuel’s sons produced
dissatisfaction and a cry for change. Samuel himself was stricken in
age. He had been a man of peace. One military success and one only had
distinguished his Judgeship. On the west the ever-restless Philistines
gave signs of recovery from their late defeat (1 Sam. x. 5), while
beyond the Jordan Nahash the Ammonite threatened the cities of the
tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh (1 Sam. xii. 12). There was no
known general in Israel qualified by his position or powers to take the
command of the nation’s armies, and lead them to battle. The fixed form
of kingly government, which the people saw enjoyed by all the nations
around, which they had themselves partially adopted under Gideon and
Abimelech, under Jair and Abdon, and to which events appeared to have
been rapidly tending, was not yet realized.
At this juncture, then, the elders and accredited heads of the nation
repaired to Ramah, and on the ground of Samuel’s advanced age, the
misconduct of his sons, and, as we gather from an incidental remark
of Samuel himself afterwards, an apprehended invasion by the Ammonites,
they requested that the form of government might be changed, that
a king might rule over them, like the nations round about (1 Sam.
viii. 5).
This demand was a shock to Samuel’s feelings, and _the thing displeased
him_. He knew well the abuses such a form of government was too likely
to entail. But he did not reject the petition of the nation. He was
a true mediator between the old order that was changing and the new
order, to which it was destined to give place. He prayed to the Lord
for advice and direction in this great crisis, and his prayer was heard.
Though he had been rightly displeased with the people’s request, though
they had done worse than rejecting him and had rejected their invisible
Ruler, he was directed to hearken to their voice, but he was not to
leave them without warning. He was to _shew them the manner of the king
that should reign over them_ (1 Sam. viii. 9).
Accordingly Samuel convened an assembly, and faithfully described
the Oriental court and ceremonial, which the election of a king would
inevitably entail; how he would at his own pleasure take their sons
and appoint them to command his chariots and his horses, would set
them to ear his ground and reap his harvest, and fashion his chariots
and instruments of war; how he would take their daughters to be his
confectioners, his cooks, and his bakers; how their property would
cease to be their own, and their fields, their oliveyards and vineyards,
their flocks and herds, their menservants and maidservants would be
required to be at his disposal. Under this despotism he warned them
that a day would come when they would cry unto the Lord, but He would
not hear them (1 Sam. viii. 10–18).
His words, however, fell on unheeding ears. The pomp and ceremonial
of a court had too many attractions for the nation; without a king
to judge them and fight their battles, they affected to feel isolated
and degraded in the eyes of neighbouring peoples, and a king they were
resolved to have. This answer of the elders Samuel carried back to
the Lord, who again bade him hearken to their voice, and promised the
fulfilment of their wishes, with which assurance they were dismissed to
their several cities[233] (1 Sam. viii. 22).
CHAPTER III.
_ELECTION OF THE FIRST KING._
1 SAM. IX. B.C. 1095.
THE elders of Israel had not long to wait for the king they so
earnestly desired. Shortly after Samuel’s return to Ramah he received
Divine intimation that on the morrow one would be sent him, whom he was
to anoint to be _captain over the Lord’s people_. Accordingly the next
day, as he was on his way to the high place to give his benediction
at a sacrificial feast, he met two wayfaring men. One was a man of
Benjamin, SAUL the son of Kish, of a noble and handsome mien and
gigantic stature, from his shoulders and upward higher than any of
the people; the other was his servant. In quest of the asses of Saul’s
father, which had strayed, the two had been traversing without success
the central region of Palestine, and now guided by certain maidens of
Ramah, whom they had met at the entrance of the place going out to draw
water, they had resolved to ask the advice of Samuel.
The Prophet had already noticed the tall handsome stranger, and as he
drew near the Divine Voice assured him that he was the destined Ruler
of His people (1 Sam. ix. 15, 16). When, therefore, Saul enquired for
the Seer’s house, Samuel not only declared that he was the person he
sought, but revealed his mysterious acquaintance with the secret of
his three days’ journey, and bade him lay aside all further anxiety,
for the asses were found. Then, turning to Saul, he added in yet
more mysterious words, _On whom is the desire of Israel? Is it not on
thee, and on all thy father’s house?_ Marvelling at the import of this
significant question addressed to one who belonged to _the smallest
of the tribes of Israel_, and whose family was _the least of all the
families of Benjamin_ (1 Sam. ix. 21), Saul followed the Prophet to the
high place, where with his servant he was made to sit in the chiefest
place among the thirty guests assembled at the sacrificial feast, and
to partake of a special portion which had been reserved for him.
Thence he returned to the town, and in the evening held further
conversation with Samuel on the house-top of his dwelling. Next morning
at daybreak Samuel roused his guest, and accompanied him some little
way to the end of the town. There the servant was bidden to pass on,
and the two being left alone the Prophet taking a phial of oil poured
it on Saul’s head, and kissed him, and assured him of his election
to be the first King of Israel. To this assurance he added prophetic
intimations of incidents which would occur on Saul’s return homewards,
and which could not fail still further to confirm him in the conviction
that his sudden elevation was indeed of the Lord. Two men would meet
him at Rachel’s sepulchre, and inform him that the asses were found,
and that his father’s anxieties now centred on himself; at the “plain,”
or rather the “oak” of Tabor (1 Sam. x. 3) he would meet three men
going to Bethel carrying gifts of kids, bread, and a skin bottle of
wine; they would salute him, and offer him two loaves of bread, which
he was to receive at their hand; then, thirdly, on reaching _the hill
of God_, probably Gibeah, where the Philistines had posted a garrison,
he would meet a company of the prophets coming down from the high place
with psaltery, tabret, pipe, and harp, whose inspired strains would
so affect him that he would join himself to them, and be turned into
another man. After the fulfilment of these three signs, he was to go
to Gilgal, and there tarry seven days till Samuel’s arrival to offer
sacrifices, and tell him what he should do (1 Sam. x. 8). Then the two
men parted, each of the three signs came to pass, and God gave the son
of Kish _another heart_. Convinced of his call to inaugurate the kingly
period of Israel’s history, his soul rose to the greatness of the
occasion; the strains of the prophetic choir so wrought upon his spirit
that he felt inspired to join them, and his appearance in their society
became the occasion of a well-known proverb, _Is Saul also among the
prophets?_ (1 Sam. x. 12).
Meanwhile Samuel convened all the people to Mizpeh of Benjamin, and
after again rebuking them for their want of faith in thus hastily
seeking a change of government, bade them present themselves before
the Lord by their tribes and by their thousands, in order that the
sacred lot might decide the election of the king. In solemn order
the tribes passed before him, and the lot fell upon that of Benjamin.
Then the same ceremony was successively repeated with the clans, the
families, the individuals, and in a manner that none could dispute, it
was indicated that Saul the son of Kish was the object of the Divine
choice. But when search was made for him, he was not to be found. Still
unwilling to accept the arduous duties of the kingdom, he had concealed
himself in the circle of baggage round the encampment at Mizpeh. The
search was renewed, and he was brought forth from his hiding-place. As
he advanced into the midst his exalted stature struck the spectators
with admiration, and a universal shout of _Long live the King_
betokened the nation’s acceptance of its new head (1 Sam. x. 24).
Left to themselves, the Israelites would, doubtless, have stood
committed to the new form of government, without pausing to insist
on any conditions from their Ruler, well content if he proved as
absolute and irresponsible as those of the nations round about. But the
far-seeing Samuel was wiser than they. Well knowing the bearing of the
transactions of that day on the nation’s future, he not only expounded
to the people the manner of the kingdom as set forth by their great
Lawgiver in the Book of Deuteronomy (xvii. 14–20), but for the sake of
greater security committed the regulations thus accepted to writing,
and laid them up in safe keeping before the Lord, and thus, “under
Divine sanction, and amidst the despotisms of the East, arose the
earliest example of a constitutional monarchy[234].”
This ceremony concluded, the people returned to their homes, and
Saul retired to Gibeah. Though his elevation had been thus formally
approved, there were not wanting those who, on the score, probably,
of the obscurity of his tribe, and the fact that his capacities were
as yet unknown, expressed much dissatisfaction at his promotion,
questioned his ability to rule them, and brought him none of the usual
presents (1 Sam. x. 27). With rare self-control, however, he held his
peace, and in a short time was enabled to justify the confidence that
had been reposed in him.
While living in retirement at Gibeah, he received intelligence which
roused all his martial ardour, and for the first time revealed his
talents as a military leader. The Ammonites, recovered from the
defeat they had sustained from Jephthah, had under the leadership of
their king NAHASH laid siege to Jabesh-gilead (See Judg. xxi. 8), the
inhabitants of which place in their terror invited the heathen king
to make a covenant with them, and agreed to serve him. This, with
characteristic haughtiness he declined, except on the condition that he
might put out their right eyes, and thus render them unfit for further
military service. In this strait, the elders of the place requested
seven days’ respite, and meanwhile sent messengers to their brethren
imploring assistance. Saul was driving his herd homewards from the
field, when the sound of wild lamentation in his native town revealed
the danger which threatened the friendly[235] town of Jabesh-gilead.
Immediately _the Spirit of the Lord came upon him_ (1 Sam. xi. 6),
filling him with courage and resolution for the emergency. Taking
a yoke of oxen, he hewed them in pieces, and sent this war-token
throughout all the tribes, summoning them under pain of eternal
disgrace to rally round himself and Samuel and hasten to the rescue
of their brethren. He then bade the messengers return to Jabesh-gilead
with the assurance of succour, _before the sun was hot on the morrow_.
His determined spirit quickly communicated itself to others, and
300,000 from Israel, and 30,000 from Judah gathered round him and the
Prophet. Bezek, a place apparently within a day’s march of Jabesh,
was appointed their head-quarters, and thence dividing his forces into
three companies Saul executed a swift night-march, and burst upon the
Ammonites in the morning watch, who panic-stricken by this unexpected
onslaught were defeated with enormous loss, _so that not two of them
were left together_ (1 Sam. xi. 11).
This signal success had an instantaneous effect upon the people. The
Israelites hailed Saul as the deliverer of their country, and even
proposed to put to death those who had not at first acknowledged him as
king. With continued self-command, however, he calmed their zeal, and
declined to stain with innocent blood the memory of a day, on which,
as he said with becoming modesty, _not he but Jehovah had wrought
salvation in Israel_. At this juncture, the new ruler having been tried
and not found wanting, Samuel suggested that the people should once
more repair to Gilgal, and there renew the kingdom. Accordingly after
the sacrifice of peace-offerings and amidst great rejoicings Saul was
solemnly inaugurated in his regal functions, while Samuel embraced the
opportunity afforded by so large a gathering to bid farewell to the
people he had ruled so prudently with all his power (1 Sam. xii.). _He
had hearkened_, he said, _to their voice; he had made a king over them.
For himself, he was old and grey-headed, he had walked before them from
his childhood unto that day. Let them now testify if they had ought
against him. Had he defrauded any? Had he oppressed any? Had he taken
any bribe to blind his eyes? If so, he would make ample restoration._
With one voice the whole people bore witness to the integrity and
uprightness of his public life. Then, like Moses and Joshua, he gave
them his parting counsels, and after exhorting them by the memory of
past mercies and past deliverances to cleave fast to the Lord, and
not forsake His commandments, called on the Lord Himself to ratify
his words by an outward and visible sign. It was the season of
wheat-harvest[236], when thunder and rain seldom or never occurred.
But at the word of Samuel, the sky became black with clouds, the
thunder rolled and the rain fell, bearing witness to the solemnity of
the Prophet’s warnings; who having thus bidden farewell to the people,
henceforth retired from any share in the government, which now devolved
on Saul alone.
CHAPTER IV.
_THE BATTLE OF MICHMASH._
1 SAM. XIII. XIV. B.C. 1093–1087.
IN dismissing Saul from Ramah after their first interview, Samuel,
it will be remembered, had told him that he would pass _a garrison of
the Philistines_ (1 Sam. x. 5; xiii. 3) Recovering from their defeat
at Ebenezer this people had again renewed their old hostilities, and
pitched in the heart of the mountains of Benjamin. Two years after his
accession (1 Sam. xiii. 1), Saul resolved to throw off a yoke which
pressed so severely on the neighbourhood of his native place. Gathering
round him a small standing army of 3,000 men, he placed 1,000 under the
command of his valiant son JONATHAN at Geba[237], while he himself with
2,000 took up a position at Michmash (_Mŭkhmas_) about 7 miles north of
Jerusalem, and along the ridge of intervening heights in the direction
of Bethel. Either at or close to Jonathan’s position was posted a
garrison of the Philistines. For some time the rival forces stood
watching one another, and at length Jonathan in a fit of youthful
ardour fell upon the garrison, and put it to flight.
Tidings of this event quickly reached the Philistines in their rich
southern plains, who forthwith swarmed with a vast force up through the
passes of Benjamin, while Saul retired to Gilgal, and there summoned a
general gathering of the nation. But in face of the enormous masses of
their foes, the Israelites, seized with a sudden panic, as in the days
of Gideon (Judg. vi. 2), fled for refuge to the natural hiding-places
of the country, to the dens, the inaccessible fastnesses, and the caves
with which it abounded, while some even crossed the Jordan into the
territory of Gad and Gilead (1 Sam. xiii. 7).
The Philistines now in their turn occupied Michmash, and their
oppression of the Israelites was most grievous. A regular disarmament
was carried out, so that none of the Hebrews had sword or spear save
the king and his son, and their immediate retainers; nay, the very
smiths were removed, and the Hebrews were constrained to go down to
their enemies to get their agricultural implements sharpened. In this
terrible crisis Saul sent messages from Gilgal to Samuel at Ramah,
who promised within seven days to join the king and celebrate solemn
sacrifices, preparatory, probably, to some concerted plan of action.
But the days passed away, and Samuel came not. The Philistines were
collecting in constantly increasing numbers at Michmash, and the
terrified Israelites dropped off more and more, leaving their king
with barely 600 followers. The present posture of affairs imperatively
demanded prudence and caution, and from Samuel the king would,
doubtless, have learnt the Divine will, and He, who had enabled Gideon
with only 300 men to conquer even more numerous foes, would have opened
up some mode of deliverance. But Samuel came not, and Saul, unable to
restrain his impatience, resolved to offer the sacrifices himself. He
had scarcely done so when the Prophet arrived and sternly rebuked him
for his impetuous zeal. _Thou hast done foolishly_, said he, _thou
hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God_, and he proceeded
to intimate that the kingdom, which might have been established in his
family, would not continue, but would be transferred to another (1 Sam.
xiii. 11–14).
Meanwhile the Philistines continued their oppressive and tyrannical
exactions. Roving bands from their camp went forth in three
directions[238], and committed disastrous depredations, while from
the heights, where they were encamped, Saul and Jonathan, at the head
of their little band, looked down upon a ravaged and terror-stricken
country, unable and afraid to lift a hand against its oppressors. At
length Jonathan resolved to strike another blow. Between the Israelite
position at Geba and the Philistine garrison at Michmash was a distance
of about three miles, part of which consisted of a deep gorge, running
between two sharp jagged rocks, the one called Bozez (_Shining_),
probably from the white chalky cliffs, the other Seneh (_the Thorn_ or
_Acacia_), so called probably from some solitary acacia on its summit.
Above this gorge[239] was the Philistine garrison. Without informing
his father, or communicating his design to any one, except the young
man his armour-bearer, Jonathan resolved to ascend the steep sides of
the ravine, and then to take the conduct of the enemy as an omen for
further operations. If the Philistines came forth and threatened an
attack, they would remain in the valley; if they challenged them to
advance, they would take this as an augury of success, and press on.
Upon their hands and feet, then, the two climbed up, and at length were
detected by the Philistines. _Behold_, they cried in derision, _the
Hebrews come forth out of the holes, where they have hid themselves.
Come up and we will shew you a thing._ The omen was favourable, and
the two pressed on.
_Strong as a lion, and swift as an eagle_ (2 Sam. i. 23), Jonathan no
sooner reached the summit than he rushed upon his unexpecting foes,
and aided by his armour-bearer, slew at the first onset upwards of
twenty men. Thereupon a sudden and uncontrollable panic seized the
garrison and spread to the camp, and even the marauding hordes in the
neighbourhood. A simultaneous earthquake (1 Sam. xiv. 15) increased
the confusion, and when Saul’s watchmen at Gibeah looked towards the
opposite end of the gorge of Michmash, they beheld the multitudes
_melting away, going and beating down one another_. Unable to explain
the cause of this sudden movement, the king ordered the High-priest
Ahiah to enquire who had left the Israelite camp. On ascertaining that
Jonathan was leading an attack upon the enemy, he would have a second
time consulted the ark of God, but while he was talking, the noise
in the Philistine host grew louder and louder. On this he bade the
High-priest stay his enquiries, and putting himself at the head of his
600 followers, he rushed up the defile, and on reaching the opposite
side found that a general panic had seized the foe, _every man’s hand
was against his fellow, and there was a great discomfiture_ (1 Sam.
xiv. 20).
It was the signal for a general rising. Even the Israelites in the
Philistine camp turned against their captors, and were quickly joined
by others of their brethren, who till now had remained concealed in the
mountains of Ephraim. Onwards the pursuit swept over the high ground
of Bethel and down the pass of Beth-horon to Ajalon[240]. In the
excitement of the hour, and carried away by that rash impetuosity which
henceforth seemed to mar all his actions, Saul cried to heaven, _Cursed
be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged of
mine enemies_ (1 Sam. xiv. 24). He had not yet encountered his heroic
son, and the fasting people were spent and wearied. Soon the pursuit
lay through a forest bedewed in divers places with the droppings
of wild honey. Overcome with his exertions, which had brought such
glory to the nation, and unaware of his father’s rash adjuration,
Jonathan put forth the end of his staff into a honeycomb, and therewith
refreshed his parched lips. An Israelite saw what he had done, and
revealed the terms of the royal curse. _My father hath troubled the
land_, said he, and once more mingled in the pursuit (1 Sam. xiv.
24–32).
The day must now have been far advanced, and the host utterly unable
to endure any longer the enforced fast flew upon the spoil, and taking
sheep and oxen slew them on the ground, devouring the fresh carcases
even with the blood[241]. When the news of this infraction of the law
was announced to Saul, he directed that a large stone should be set up
to serve as a kind of altar. Still eager and impetuous, late as it was,
he wished to continue the pursuit and to spoil the Philistines till the
morning light. The more prudent Ahiah suggested that the Divine Will
should first be ascertained. Arrayed in his ephod (1 Sam. xiv. 3), he
consulted, probably, the “Breastplate of Judgment[242],” while the king
enquired of the Lord, _Shall I go down after the Philistines? Wilt Thou
deliver them into the hand of Israel?_ But no answer was vouchsafed,
the Oracle was dumb. Suspecting there was something to intercept the
Divine response, Saul proposed to ascertain the cause by appealing
to the sacred lot, exclaiming with all his former rashness, _As the
Lord liveth, though the sin be found in Jonathan my son, he shall
surely die_. In solemn silence the chiefs of the host divided; Saul and
Jonathan stood on one side, the people on the other. The lot was cast,
and it was ascertained that the sin lay between the king and his son.
Again the lot was cast, and this time Jonathan was taken. Adjured by
his father, the youthful conqueror confessed that with his staff he had
taken and eaten some honey. Saul declared he would abide by his vow,
and Jonathan would have fallen a victim to the royal rashness, had
not the people interfered. With a determination he dared not oppose,
they declared that not one hair of his head should fall to the ground.
Thus Jonathan was saved; and Saul returned to his native hills, and the
Philistines, defeated and disgraced, to their fertile lowlands (1 Sam.
xiv. 24–46).
CHAPTER V.
_SAUL AND THE AMALEKITES. DAVID AND GOLIATH._
1 SAM. XV.–XVII. B.C. 1079–1063.
THIS signal victory materially confirmed Saul’s supremacy. Acting no
longer merely on the defensive, he now directed expeditions against
Moab, Ammon, Edom, and even the king of Zobah, a region east of
Cœle-Syria and extending towards the Euphrates. While in the full
tide of his success he received a visit from Samuel, who on the
strength of a Divine command, entrusted him with a commission, which
he was to execute to the very letter. The treacherous hostility of the
powerful tribe of Amalek, when they fell upon the exhausted rear of
the Israelites at their departure from Egypt, had not been forgotten by
God (Ex. xvii. 8, 14; Num. xxiv. 20). Since then they had on more than
one occasion evinced the same hostility[243]. They were now devoted to
utter destruction. _Go and smite Amalek_, ran the Divine commission;
_utterly destroy all that they have; spare them not; slay both man
and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass_ (1 Sam.
xv. 2, 3).
Thereupon Saul mustered a force of 210,000 at Telaim in southern Judah,
and after warning the Kenites to betake themselves to a place of safety,
he attacked the Amalekites and smote them from Havilah to Shur. All the
people he utterly destroyed, but, in direct violation of the express
instructions he had received, spared all the best of the spoil and Agag
the Amalekite king. Returning from this expedition he set up a _place_,
or, probably, a _monument_ of his victory, at Carmel in the mountainous
country of Judah, and thence repaired to Gilgal. A Divine intimation
had already made known to Samuel how imperfectly the king had executed
his commission, and with a heavy heart he went forth to meet him. With
a haste which betrayed the misgivings of his conscience, Saul no sooner
saw the Prophet than he boasted of his execution of the Divine mandate.
But Samuel was not thus to be deceived. _The bleating of the sheep
and the lowing of oxen_ on all sides revealed but too clearly the lax
interpretation which Saul had chosen to put upon his instructions,
and he only increased his condemnation by trying to throw the blame
of his own shortcomings upon the people, who, he declared, _had spared
the best of the spoil to sacrifice to Jehovah_. The Prophet sternly
reminded him that Jehovah had far more delight in obedience to His
commands than in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, and for the second
time intimated that the continuance of his dynasty was forfeited; he
had _rejected the Word of the Lord, and the Lord had rejected him from
being king_ (1 Sam. xv. 12–23).
With much contrition Saul then confessed his error, and as the Prophet
turned to depart, grasped the skirt of his mantle to induce him to stay.
The mantle rent, and Samuel interpreted the omen; the Lord had _rent
the kingdom_ from its unworthy head, and designed it for _a neighbour
of his_, who was better than he. Without denying the justice of the
sentence, Saul entreated the granting of one concession, imploring
Samuel to _honour him before the elders of his people, and turn with
him and worship Jehovah_. The prophet yielded, and for the last time
the two offered sacrifice together. But if Saul had neglected his
duty, Samuel could not forget the captive king, whom the Divine decree
had devoted to death. He ordered Agag to be brought before him. The
king came forward _delicately_, remarking, as if to disarm hostility,
_surely the bitterness of death is past_. _As thy sword_, rejoined
the Prophet, _hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be
childless among women_; and he hewed him in pieces before the Lord.
The commission of Jehovah thus vindicated, Saul returned to Gibeah, and
Samuel to Ramah, there to mourn for one, whose career, once so hopeful,
was now obscured with such dark forebodings of coming doom (1 Sam. xv.
24–35).
The sorrow of Samuel for Saul’s shortcomings was real. But he was
before long roused from his grief by a Divine commission to take a horn
of oil and go to Bethlehem, there to anoint another king. Fear lest the
purport of his errand should reach Saul’s ears would have deterred him
from venturing on the journey, but he was bidden to take a heifer and
invite the elders of the town to a sacrificial feast. In obedience to
this command he left Ramah, and proceeded on his way. As he ascended
the long gray hill leading to the village, his approach was discerned
by the elders, who trembled when they saw the venerable Prophet.
_Comest thou peaceably?_ they enquired anxiously. _Peaceably_, was the
reply, and they were bidden to prepare to accompany him to the feast.
Amongst those invited on this occasion was JESSE, sprung from one of
the oldest families[244] in the place, the son of OBED, and grandson
of the Moabitess RUTH. He was an aged man at this time, and the father
of eight sons, of whom seven now accompanied him to the feast (1 Sam.
xvii. 12). When they were all assembled, and waiting to commence, the
Prophet looked upon the eldest, the tall Eliab, and thought that of a
surety he beheld the Lord’s anointed. But the Divine Voice bade him not
look upon _his countenance_, or _the height of his stature_, for the
Lord, _who looketh not upon the outward appearance but upon the heart_,
had refused him. Then the old man’s second son Abinadab passed before
him, and his third son Shammah, and after them four other sons, but
the Lord had chosen none of them. _Are here all thy children?_ enquired
Samuel. _There remaineth yet the youngest_, said Jesse, _and, behold,
he keepeth the sheep_. _Send and fetch him_, rejoined the Prophet;
_till he come hither, we cannot sit round_ (1 Sam. xvi. 11, _margin_).
Accordingly a messenger was sent to the sheepfolds, and brought in the
youngest, DAVID (_the beloved_, _the darling_), the Benjamin of Jesse’s
house. With his shepherd’s staff in his hand, his scrip or wallet round
his neck (1 Sam. xvii. 40), a mere stripling beside the tall Eliab,
ruddy or auburn-haired, with fair bright eyes[245], _comely and goodly
to look to_ (1 Sam. xvi. 12, 18), he stood before the Prophet. _Arise,
anoint him, for this is he_, whispered the Divine Voice, and there
in the midst of his brethren and the assembled elders, Samuel poured
upon him the consecrated oil, on which the feast so long delayed was
celebrated, and Samuel rose up and returned to Ramah. (See Ps. lxxviii.
70–72.)
Meanwhile the Spirit of God, which came upon David from that day
forward, departed from Saul, and _an evil spirit troubled him_ (1 Sam.
xvi. 14). He became moody and liable to fits of sudden phrensy. To
rouse him from this distressing state, his servants advised that a
clever player on the harp should be sent for, that by the charms of
his music he might soothe his spirit. When enquiry was made for such
a minstrel, one of the royal servants mentioned the name of the son of
Jesse as not only cunning in playing, but of tried valour, prudent in
speech, comely in person, and prospered with the blessing of the Lord
(1 Sam. xvi. 18). Saul thereupon sent for him, and Jesse dispatched
him with a humble offering. Even the troubled spirit of the king was
soothed by the music of the future Psalmist of Israel; he loved him,
and made him not only his minstrel but his armour-bearer, and retained
him about his person (1 Sam. xvi. 21).
When the paroxysms of Saul’s malady abated, David would seem to have
returned to his old occupations on the bleak downs of Bethlehem, where
his faithfulness _in a few things_ fitted him to become a ruler _over
many things_. His shepherd life called into action some of the best
qualities in human nature. Firmness, nerve, energy and constancy were
all required of him, who would in true devotion to this calling, endure
the heat by day and the frost by night (Gen. xxxi. 40), climb narrow
ledges and scale lofty precipices in quest of pasture for his flocks,
and defend them against wild beasts, such as lions and wolves, bears
and panthers, or robbers of the desert. All these tests David had stood.
His strength and courage were well known beyond the boundaries of his
native village. Once during his solitary shepherd life a lion, and at
another time a bear attacked his father’s flock. He fled not like a
“hireling shepherd,” but put his life in his hand, and went after them
and slew them (1 Sam. xvii. 34–37).
Meanwhile the ever active Philistines had once more risen in arms
against the Israelites. Gathering together their forces they took up a
position on a height, which, probably from being the scene of frequent
sanguinary encounters, was known as Ephes-dammim (_the boundary of
blood_), situated on the frontier hills of Judah between Socoh and
Azekah. Separated from their foes by a deep ravine or glen, Saul and
his followers pitched on the north side of the Valley of Elah[246]
(_the terebinth_). For forty mornings and evenings there descended into
this valley from the camp of the Philistines a giant named GOLIATH of
Gath. Of enormous height and clad in complete armour, he openly defied
any one of the Hebrew host to mortal combat, and offered to stake the
supremacy of either people on the issue. Even the tall majestic Saul
declined the challenge, and, like his people, _was dismayed and greatly
afraid_ (1 Sam. xvii. 11).
While the two armies thus stood confronting each other, early one
morning David entered the camp, having been bidden by his father to
visit his three eldest brothers, then serving in the army. As he drew
near the outskirts of the camp, the host with the well-known war-cry
was advancing to take up its daily position in battle-array. Hastily
leaving with the keeper of the baggage the provisions which his father
had sent as a present to their captain, he hurried within the lines,
and was in the act of saluting his brethren, when the voice of the
giant was audible calling across the ravine his morning challenge.
David heard his words of haughty defiance, and lost in wonder at the
despondency of the people, listened eagerly to the bystanders, as they
recounted the reward, which the king had promised to bestow on any
one who was willing to accept the giant’s challenge, and slew him in
the fight. Heeding nothing the taunts of his eldest brother ELIAB, who
would have had him mind the few sheep he had left amidst the pastures
of Bethlehem, instead of coming thither to see the battle, he went
from soldier to soldier listening again and again to the account of the
king’s promised reward, till at length his bold defiance of the giant
reached the ears of Saul (1 Sam. xvii. 31).
Summoned into the royal presence, David declared his readiness to go
forth and encounter his gigantic foe, and at Saul’s request tried on
his armour, which, however, did not fit him, and he speedily put it off
again. Then, choosing five smooth stones from the dry torrent-bed which
ran through the ravine, he placed them in his shepherd’s script, and
with his staff in one hand, and a sling[247] in the other, drew near
the Philistine. The latter enraged at the youthful appearance of his
assailant cursed him by his gods, and threatened _to give his flesh
to the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field_. Undismayed David
returned threat for threat, and as his foe drew near, put his hand into
his bag and took thence a stone, which he slang with all his might,
and smote the Philistine in his forehead, _that the stone sank into his
forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth_. Then without delay
he stood upon the prostrate body, and drawing the giant’s huge sword
from its sheath, finished the work by cutting off his head. The sight
of their champion lying weltering in his blood filled the Philistines
with consternation, and they commenced a precipitate flight. Raising
their well-known war-cry, the Israelites then rushed across the ravine
and up the opposite heights, and chased their foes to the gates of
Ekron and Gath, and spoiled their tents. On their return the youthful
warrior, who had in so signal a manner proved that the Lord saved
not with sword and spear, bearing the head of his gigantic enemy in
his hand, was conducted to Saul’s tent by Abner the king’s uncle and
captain of the host. Some two or three years had probably elapsed since
the days when David soothed Saul’s melancholy with the strains of his
harp, and in his altered visage the king did not recognise his former
minstrel[248]. But he now took him permanently into his service, and
would let him no more return to his father’s house (1 Sam. xviii. 2).
CHAPTER VI.
_DAVID’S LIFE AS AN OUTLAW._
1 SAM. XVIII.–XXIII. B.C. 1063–1061.