'The Book of Judges is anonymous on the face of it; and therefore, even
the pretence is wanting to call it the word of God; it has not so much
as a nominal voucher: it is altogether fatherless.
'This book begins with the same expression as the Book of Joshua. That
of Joshua begins (chap, i., v. 1)--_Now after the death of Moses_, etc.;
and this of Judges begins--_Now after the death of Joshua_, etc. This,
and the similarity of style between the two books, indicate that they
are the work of the same author; but who he was is altogether unknown;
the only point that the book proves is, that the author lived long after
the time of Joshua; for though it begins as if it followed immediately
after his death, the second chapter is an epitome, or abstract, of the
whole book, which, according to the Bible {108} chronology, extends its
history through a space of 306 years--that is, from the death of Joshua,
1426 years before Christ, to the death of Sampson, 1120 years before
Christ, and only twenty-five years before Saul went to _seek his
father's asses, and was made king_ (the chronology of this book has been
a matter of much debate; and it is stated by various chronologers with
very serious difference). But there is good reason to believe, that it
was not written till the time of David at least; and that the Book of
Joshua was not written before the same time.' ( _Vide_ 'Age of Reason').
*Chapter i., w. 7 and 8, have been noticed on page 103.
Verses 9 to 15. These verses are a mere repetition of Joshua, chap. xv.,
w. 13 to 19.
Verse 16. Who were the Kenites? We read in Exodus, that the
father-in-law of Moses was a priest of Midian, and by Numbers we learn,
that Moses had an Ethiopian (query Egyptian) wife. A Kenite may be a
Midianite, or an Ethiopian, or, as in the case of the Trinity, all three
may be one. By this verse they appear to be settled in Judah, south
of Arad, while by chap, iv., vv. 11 and 17, they are in the north by
Napthali.
Verse 17 has been noticed on page 72.
Verse 19. As the verse stands, it is flatly contradicted in Mark, chap,
x., v. 27. A devout believer in the omnipotence of the Deity would
doubtless wonder how chariots of iron could form serious obstacles to
the attainment of any object by Judah, when the Lord was fighting for
Judah. The Septuagint renders the verse somewhat differently.
*Chapter ii., vv. 1 to 5. This visit of the angel of the Lord from his
residence at Gilgal does not seem to have been attended with any good
result; the Jews wept, but they must have shed what are commonly known
as crocodiles' tears.
Verses 6 to 10 These verses are simply repetitions of verses 28 to
31, of the last chapter of Joshua, and are inserted here in a confused
manner, having no connection with the earlier or later verses of he
chapter. The whole of this chapter is confused and incoherent.
Verse 22 contradicts the attribute of foreknowledge, commonly ascribed
to Deity.
*Chapter iii., v. 1. 'These are the nations which the Lord had left.'
That is, we are told, that the Lord spared the Canaanites, or rather a
portion of them, 'to prove the Israelites.' The omniscient Deity could
hardly have needed to prove his people, as he must have known what
course of conduct they would pursue. To ordinary readers the matter is
surrounded with difficulty. God had originally issued a series of loving
commands with reference to these Canaanites; one was, 'Spare alive
nothing that breatheth.' The Jews might well imagine that, as God had
abandoned this portion of the commandments without special directions
as to the others, that they (the Jews) were at liberty to make treaties
with the Canaanites, and marry amongst them. {109} Verse 3. 'All the
Canaanites.' This is not true. The inhabitants of Jericho and Ai were
Canaanites, and these were 'utterly destroyed.'
Verses 15 to 26. The Douay says, that 'what Ehud, who was judge and
chief magistrate of Israel, did on this occasion, was by a special
inspiration from God; but such things are not to be imitated by private
men.' There is no statement in the Book that God specially inspired Ehud
to kill Eglon; yet if Eglon was a tyrant who deserved death, and if the
act of Ehud was a praiseworthy act in him, why should it not be so
in another? Verger doubtless was equally inspired when he killed the
Archbishop of Paris, Felton when he killed the Duke of Buckingham,
and Pianori when he tried to kill Louis Napoleon. The question is
two-fold--1st. Is it lawful to destroy tyrants? 2nd. If a man is almost
unanimously accursed, and accused as a tyrant (as Louis Napoleon for
example), is it lawful for one man to constitute himself judge, jury,
and executioner?
Verses 29 and 31. These round numbers betray the fallibility of the
writer. A revelation from Deity would have been more precise. Shamgar
must have been an extremely valiant warrior. To kill 600 men with only
an ox-goad is no trifle. The record does not say whether or not they
were all killed in one day, or during a lone period; or whether in a
mass together, or separately. They could scarcely have been all killed
in one day, and tne probability is, that Shamgar did not attack the
600 men in a mass. I can only hope that Shamgar did not waylay the
Philistines, simply killing them unawares. The Douay says, that the
weapon used was a 'plough-share,' not an 'ox-goad.'
*Chapter iv. Voltaire thus comments on this chapter:--
'We have no intention here to inquire at what time Baruch was chief of
the Jewish people; why, being chief, he allowed his army to be commanded
by a woman; whether this woman, named Deborah, had married Lapidoth;
whether she was the friend or relative of Baruch, or, perhaps, his
daughter, or his mother; nor on what day the battle of Thabor, in
Galilee, was fought between this Deborah and Sisera, Captain-General of
the armies of King Jabin, which Sisera commanded in Galilee, an army
of three hundred thousand foot, ten thousand horse, and three thousand
chariots of war, according to the historian Josephus.
'We shall at present leave out of the question this Jabin, King of a
village called Hazor, who had more troops than the Grand Turk. We very
much pity the fate of his grand vizier Sisera, who, having lost the
battle of Galilee, leaped from his chariot and four that he might fly
more swiftly on foot. He went and begged the hospitality of a holy
Jewish woman, who gave him some milk, and drove a great cart-nail
through his head while he was asleep. We are very sorry for it; but this
is not the matter to be discussed. We wish to speak of chariots of war.
'The battle was fought at the foot of Mount Thabor, near the river
Kishon. Mount Thabor is a steep mountain, the branches of which,
somewhat less in height, extend over a great part of Galilee. Betwixt
{110} this mountain and the neighbouring rocks there is a small plain
covered with great flint stones, and impracticable for cavalry. The
extent of this plain is four or five hundred paces. We may venture to
believe that Sisera did not here draw up his three hundred thousand
men in order of battle; his three thousand chariots would have found it
difficult to manoeuvre on such a field.
'We may believe that the Hebrews had no chariots of war in a country
renowned only for asses; but the Asiatics made use of them in great
plains.
'Confucius, or rather Confutze, says positively that from time
immemorial each of the viceroys of the provinces was expected to furnish
to the emperor a thousand war chariots drawn by four horses.
'Chariots must have been in use long before the Trojan war, for Homer
does not speak of them as a new invention: but those chariots were
not armed like those of Babylon; neither the wheels nor the axles were
furnished with steel blades.
'This invention must at first have been very formidable, in large plains
especially, when the chariots were numerous, driven with impetuosity
and armed with long pikes and scythes; but when they became familiar
it seemed so easy to avoid their shock, that they fell into general
disuse.'
*Chapter iv., v. 2. Hazor was burnt and thoroughly destroyed by Joshua.
Verse 4. We have no account of any of the prophecies of Deborah.
Verse 11. 'Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses.' This is an error. Hobab
is described in Numbers as the son of Raguel, the latter being the
father-in-law of Moses. (See page 49).
Verses 17 to 22. After reading these verses, Professor Newman wrote as
follows:--
'In various attempts at compromise--such as conceding the scriptural
fallibility in human science but maintaining its spiritual perfection--I
always found the division impracticable. At last it pressed on me that
it I admitted morals to rest on an independent basis, it was dishonest
to shut my eyes to any apparent collisions of morality with the
Scriptures. A very notorious and decisive instance is that of Jael.
Sisera when beaten in battle fled to the tent of his friend Heber, and
was there warmly welcomed bv Jael, Heber's wife. After she had refreshed
him with food and lulled him to sleep, she killed him, by driving a nail
into his temples, and for this deed (which now-a-days would be called
a perfidious murder), the prophetess Deborah, in an inspired psalm,
pronounces Jael to be "blessed above women," and glorifies her act by
an elaborate description of its atrocity. As soon as I felt that I was
bound to pass a moral judgment on this, I saw that as regards the Old
Testament the battle was already lost.'
*Chapter v. This Song of Deborah, like other oriental songs, is strongly
figurative.
Verse 8. Instead of 'They chose new gods, then was war in the gates,'
the Douay has it, 'The Lord chose new wars and himself overthrew
the gates of his enemies.' {111} Verse 12. There were no captives to
lead--all were killed. (See. chap, iv., v. 16.)
Verse. 23. Where and what was Meroz? Was it a city or a country? Were
its inhabitants Israelites or Canaanites? No one knows. It is the only
time it is mentioned throughout the whole of the Bible.
Verse 26. The Douay in this Terse says nothing about smiting off
Sisera's head, neither does chap, iv., v. 21.
*Chapter vi. On page 79 I remarked on the account of the total
destruction of the Midianitish nation, and I have now to submit that one
of the accounts must be positively untrue. If 'every male' was killed
by the Israelites, there can be no foundation for the statement that the
Midianites 'came as grasshoppers for multitude, for both they and their
camels were without number.'
Verses 8 to 10. This prophet was a shrewd fellow; he only related the
past, but did not attempt to foretell the future. Why is he called a
prophet? The whole of this chapter is very confused. In vv. 11 and 12
the 'angel of the Lord' appears, but in vv. 14 and 16 it is 'the Lord,'
and in vv. 20 and 21 the 'angel of the Lord' again, and this is rendered
still more confused by vv. 22 and 23, as it is nowhere said to be death
to see an angel.
Verse 21. This is quite a type of modern conjuring--to set on fire the
flesh and cakes by touching them with a magic wand. The Douay, to make
the matter more complete, says that the angel 'vanished.'
Gideon seems to have been very unbelieving, and to have required many
miracles before he would accept God's message.
*Chapter vii., v. 3. This fact speaks volumes in favour of the
Israelites. They must have been a noble race, when more than two-thirds
of an army in the face of an enemy pleaded guilty to the suggestion of
cowardice, and ran away.
Verses 13 and 14. This is scarcely probable. If Gideon was an unknown
and mean man amongst his own people (see chap, vi., v. 15), it is
unlikely that he would be so famous amongst the Midianites; beside which
the Midianites worshipped a different God from the Israelites, and the
man would not have used the kind of language here attributed to him. The
words are not the words of a Midianite at all, but such as a Jew would
be more apt to utter.
Verses 16 to 22. This battle of the 'trumpets, lamps, and pitchers,' is
a most glorious one. The Midianites and Amalekites are 'as the sand by
the sea shore for multitude.' 300 men surrounded their camp unobserved
by the sentinels, who ought to have been more than ordinarily wakeful,
having only just been relieved. These three hundred men, who have each
a lamp concealed in a pitcher, suddenly break all their pitchers with a
great crash, blow their trumpets, and shout out loudly. The Midianites
and Amalekites, who must have been timid and nervous people, are much
frightened, and begin to kill one another, and to run away as fast as
possible. This is the more remarkable, as the 300 men all held their
{112} lamps up, so that it would have been easy to have distinguished
friends from enemies.
The 300, not satisfied with their easy victory, pursued the flying
enemy, and slew 120,000 of them, being 400 to each man, then attacked
their two Princes, Zebah and Zalmunna, who were at the head of an army
of 15,000 men. These the 300 Israelites of course routed easily, after
which they returned, and on their way back, tore the elders of Succoth
(who refused to aid them in their pursuit) with thorns and briars, and
cut the men in pieces. (Vide Douay translation, chap, viii., v. 16).
After this they beat down the fortified tower of Penuel, and slew the
inhabitants of that city. The 300 did not neglect the plunder, but
brought back 1700 shekels of gold, beside the golden chains which were
about the camels' necks, and ornaments and jewels, and I do not find
that they were stoned to death like Achan for so doing. Although Gideon
and his 300 followers were so valiant, yet his first-born son, Jether,
did not inherit the bravery of his father (Vide chap, viii., v. 20).
I have, in several places, discussed the commands to extirpate the
Canaanites given in the previous books, and in noticing this terrible
slaughter, I cannot help quoting a few words in defence from Dr. J. Pye
Smith:--
'The extreme cruelty and abominable crimes of those nations were
undoubtedly just and sufficient causes, under the righteous government
of God, for their being cut off, as they were (not by pestilence or
earthquake, but) by a people sent, and avowedly coming, with this
executive commission from the only Sovereign of all men and all nations.
Yet there was also another and a weighty reason in the case. It was the
universal belief that the greatness and honour of a Deity were to be
judged of by the standard of great and signal victories which he gave
to the nation which he had taken under his protection. The conquest
of Canaan, therefore, was a demonstration to the Canaanites of the
feebleness, and even nothingness, of their own gods, and of the superior
power of the God of Israel. And this impression would be strengthened
by the fact of success and reverses occurring in exact proportion to the
faithfulness or the disobedience of the Israelites towards their God,
their natural leader, protector, and king.'
Where is the record of the 'extreme cruelty' and 'abominable crimes'
of these nations? Were they more cruel than the Israelites, or did they
commit more abominable and cruel crimes than those of Lot, of Onan,
of Jacob, of Judah, of Reuben, of Simeon, and Levi, of the people of
Benjamin, or of the many other Israelitish men and women whose names
we fortunately cannot pollute our pages with, but the record of
whose horrible and detestable enormities are still to be found in the
legislative enactments which the Deity found it necessary to make for
the guidance of his chosen people? And why did the Deity give way to the
'universal belief' of an ignorant and vicious people? Cannot the great
Jehovah win men by his mighty and irresistible will rather than by sword
and fire? 'The conquests,' says Dr. Smith,' were a demonstration to
the conquered of the power of the Deity.' Not so, for in a wholesale
massacre, they took away from the {113} Canaanites the capability for
appreciating any demonstration however clear; logic has little effect on
a man whose throat is cut from ear to ear.
*Chapter ix., v. 5. By chap, viii., verses 30 and 31, we find that
Gideon had seventy sons, besides Abimelech; yet here are seventy killed
by order of Abimelech, and the youngest escapes, and this youngest son
makes the confusion worse confounded, when speaking against Abimelech;
for he mentions his seventy brethren slain on one stone (verse 18); and
the number is again repeated in verses 24 and 56.
It is evident that Jotham entertained very different ideas of the Deity
from those held by John the Evangelist, for he speaks of the olive, of
whose fatness both gods and men make use (_vide_ Douay), and of wine
which cheereth God and man.
Verse 23. 'God sent an evil spirit.' Out of perfect good, evil cannot
come, yet perfection is alleged to be an attribute of the Deity, who
sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem.
*Chapter xi., v. 1. According to Deuteronomy, chap, xxiii., v. 2,
Jephtha was debarred from entering into the congregation of the Lord.
Verse 15. 'Thus saith Jephtha, Israel took not away the land of Moab,
nor the land of the children of Amnion;' yet according to Joshua, chap,
xiii., v. xxv., Moses gave to the tribe of Gad 'half the land of the
children of Ammon.'
Verse 24. Here we have the fact revealed, that each tribe or nation had
a God peculiar to itself: one worshipped Chemosh, another Baal, another
Jehovah, and each tribe believed that its particular Deity fought its
battles, and that when a battle was lost, then the God was displeased,
and a sacrifice was wanting to restore favour.
Verses 30 to 40. Voltaire says:--
'It is evident from the text, that Jephtha promised to sacrifice the
first person that should come out of his house to congratulate him on
his victory over the Ammonites. His only daughter presented herself
before him for that purpose; he tore his garments, and immolated her,
after having permitted her to go and deplore, in the recesses of the
mountains, the calamity of her dying a virgin. The daughters of Israel
long continued to celebrate this painful event, and devoted four days in
the year to lamentation for the daughter of Jephtha.
'In whatever period this history was written, whether it was imitated
from the Greek history of Agamemnon and Idomeneus, or was the model from
which that history was taken; whether it might be anterior or posterior
to similar narratives in Assyrian history, is not the point I am now
examining. I keep strictly to the text. Jephtha vowed to make his
daughter a burnt offering, and fulfilled his vow.
'It was expressly commanded by the Jewish law to sacrifice men devoted
to the Lord:--"Every man that shall be devoted shall not be redeemed;
but shall be put to death without remission." The Vulgate translates it:
"He shall not be redeemed but shall die the death."
'It was in virtue of this law that Samuel hewed in pieces King {114}
Agag, whom, as we have already seen, Saul had pardoned. In fact, it
was for sparing Agag that Saul was rebuked by the Lord, and lost his
kingdom.
'Thus, then, we perceive sacrifices of human blood clearly established;
there is no point of history more incontestable: we can only judge of a
nation by its own archives, and by what it relates concerning itself.
'What is the natural meaning of the phrase, "he did to her as he had
vowed."
'What had Jephtha vowed? What had he promised by an oath to perform? To
kill his daughter; to offer her up as a burnt offering; and he did kill
her.
'Read Calmet's dissertation on the rashness of Jephtha's vow, and its
fulfilment; read the law which he cites, that terrible law of Leviticus,
in the twenty-seventh chapter, which commands, that all which shall be
devoted to the Lord shall not be ransomed, but shall die the death. _Non
redimetur, sed morte morietur_.
'Observe the multitude of examples by which this most astonishing truth
is attested. Look at the Amalekites and Canaanites; look at the King of
Arad and all his family, subjected to the law of devotion; look at the
priest Samuel slaying King Agag with his own hands, and cutting him into
pieces as a butcher cuts up an ox in his slaughterhouse?
Verse 39. 'And it was a custom in Israel.' What meaning can we attach to
these words? Our translators have prefixed the word '_That_' to the next
verse, to make people believe the custom to refer to the weeping for
Jephtha's daughter; if this were the correct reading, then the phrase is
incorrect; it is in the past tense, and after relating the fulfilment
of Jephtha's vow, adds 'it was a custom.' What? The only answer is, that
human sacrifice was a custom. In feet, if it had not been an established
custom, the whole nation would have cried out as one man against the
murder of Jephtha's daughter. (See also page 54.)
*Chapter xiii., v. 5. 'No razor shall touch his head;' yet despite this
imperative command of the Omnipotent Deity, a razor did touch Samson's
head. (_Vide_ chap. xvi. v. 19.)
Verse 9. God hearkened to the voice of Manoah. (See Joshua, ehap. x., v.
14, which contradicts this.)
Verse 19. This is a repetition of the conjuring referred to on page 111;
here the angel vanishes in the flame.
*Chapter xiv., vv. 8 and 9. Bees do not usually rest on carrion at
all, much less store honey in a rotting carcass; but it is not more
surprising that this should happen, than that Samson should tear a young
lion asunder with nothing to aid him but his naked hands.
*Chapter xv., v. 4. Foxes must have been very plentiful in the country,
where Samson then was; but they must have taken some time to catch. The
following is a foot-note to the Douay, 'Being judge of the people, he
might have many to assist him to catch with nets or otherwise a number
of these animals.' It is difficult to conceive why the Philistines
so neglected their own interests, and quietly {115} allowed Samson
to capture and turn loose these 300 foxes amongst their crops; and I
confess that I cannot quite discover the utility and morality of the
course pursued by Samson in burning the corn fields. Verses 14 and
15. Shamgar's feat, commented on in page 109, sinks into utter
insignificance beside this. 1000 men all killed with the new jaw-bone
of an ass--these evidently slain at one time as they fell in 'heaps upon
heaps.' If Samson killed the Philistines at the rapid rate of one per
minute, which would be good work considering the weapon employed, the
slaughter, if conducted without cessation, would then occupy nearly
seventeen hours; and we cannot wonder that Samson was 'sore athirst.'
The water flowing from the jaw-bone is a miracle. As to miracles, see
pages 74 and 75.
*Chapter xvi., v. 1. If the rulers of the Israelites were so immoral,
the Israelitish people must have been similar in character.
Verses 7 and 11. Truthfulness does not seem to have been one of Samson's
qualifications.
Verse 27. I should like to have seen the house which Samson threw down;
it must have been a curious specimen of ancient architecture. We are
informed that it had an immense roof, supported by two pillars, rather
close together, between which Samson stood, and we are also informed,
that 3,000 men and women were on that roof 'beholding Samson's play'
(_vide_ Douay translation), although, unless the 3,000 could see through
the roof, this must have been another miracle, as Samson would be
entirely hidden from their sight by the roof and pillars.
I cannot discover the most remote moral connected with the history of
Samson; nothing but robbery, wanton destruction of property, immorality,
and murder. 1st. He enters into a wager with his wife's friends; having
lost his wager, he robs and murders thirty men, to enable him to pay his
loss. This career of useless crime and bloodshed is continued, but his
own profligacy is ultimately the cause of his being taken prisoner, and
punished by the Philistines; yet this is a judge of God's chosen people.
*Chapter xix. The number 'nineteen' is badly connected in this book. The
remarks on page 36 apply here, but I cannot pass the matter thus. These
are God's chosen people, men of the tribe of Benjamin, people whom God
has visited personally, men for whom he has slaughtered the unfortunate
Canaanites by thousands, and yet so horribly, basely depraved. Where was
the fire from heaven this time? Fathers! do you place this book in the
bands of your sons and daughters, and tell them that it is the Holy
Bible? If you do, will they not learn the horrible state of society
amongst God's own selected people? Will they be elevated and improved by
the knowledge thus conferred? Will it make them better men and women?
I say, no; and every man who devotes thought to the subject will be
compelled to echo my denial.
Is it possible that events, so similar as those related in Genesis,
chap. xix., vv. 7 and 8, and w. 23 and 24 of this chapter, could have
twice happened in the world's history? It cannot be true. If it be true,
{116} surely there could never have been a God regulating the affairs
of the universe, predestining and permitting such terribly disgusting
obscenities and cruelties as those here detailed.
Verse 29. If the twelve pieces were intended for the twelve tribes, this
would include the offending tribe of Benjamin, which does not seem to be
the meaning of the text.
*Chapter xx., v. 28. Phinehas, the grand-son of Aaron, could not have
been alive at this period, if we suppose the occurrences related in
chronological order. Divines overcome the difficulty by alleging that
the last chapters of the book should be the first, as they refer to
events immediately succeeding the death of Joshua. A devout believer
would reverently admire the mysterious manner in which God revealed his
Holy Word upside down; but a thinking man would recognise in this error
conclusive evidence against the assertion that the book is a revelation
from God.
'The name of this Book is taken from the title of the functionaries,
whose actions and administration it principally relates. This name is
[------] _shophetim_, plural of [------] _shophet_, a judge. This word
designates the ordinary magistrates, properly called judges; and is here
also applied to the chief rulers, perhaps because _ruling_ and _judging_
are so intimately connected in the East that sitting in judgment is one
of the principal employments of an Oriental monarch.
'The book is easily divisible into two parts; one ending with chap.
xvi., contains the history of the Judges, from Othniel to Samson,
and the other, which occupies the rest of the book, forms a sort of
appendix, relating particular transactions, which the author seems to
have reserved for the end. If these transactions had been placed in
order of time, we should, probably, have found them in a much earlier
portion of the work, as the incidents related seem to have occurred not
long after the death of Joshua.
'The author of the Book is unknown. Some ascribe it to Samuel, some
to Hezekiah, and others to Ezra. The reason which has principally
influenced the last determination of the authorship is found in chap,
xviii., v. 30:--"He and his son were priests to the tribe of Dan, until
the day of the captivity of the land." But this may have referred to
the captivity of the ark among the Philistines, or to some particular
captivity of the tribe of Dan; or rather of that part of the
tribe settled in the north; or the reference may have been to both
circumstances. It is also possible that the clause, "until the day
of the captivity of the land," may actually have been added after the
captivity. That the book itself was written after the establishment of
the monarchical government, appears from the habit which the author
has of saying,that the event he is relating happened in the time when "
there was no king in Israel," which renders it evident that there was a
king when he wrote.' ( _Vide_ 'Hebrew Records.')
The recital of the adventures of Samson, of Micah, etc., with so many
slight particulars fully enlarged upon, is conclusive evidence against
this Book as a history, for it is impossible to conceive such minute
particularity of detail in individual cases, and yet such an utter
neglect of even the most general dates in the history of the nation.
{117}