Chapter III

_BATTLE OF MEROM AND DIVISION OF THE LAND._
JOSH. XI.–XXI. B.C. 1450–1444.

INTELLIGENCE of the decisive battle of Beth-horon before long reached the ears of that powerful chief in northern Palestine, who has been already mentioned, JABIN, _the Wise_, whose capital Hazor was the principal fortress in that part of the country. Determined to make a last effort to defeat the Israelites he rallied round his standard[160] not only the chiefs in his own immediate neighbourhood, but from the plains south of the sea of Galilee, or, as it was then called, _the sea of Chinnereth_, from the valley of the Jordan, the maritime plain of Dor, and the as yet unconquered fortress of Jebus.

Again encouraged by the Lord with the promise of a decisive victory, Joshua did not shrink from encountering this formidable confederacy. Setting forth on a forced march, he burst upon the combined armies of the northern chiefs, as they were encamped by the waters of Merom. As before, his attack was irresistible. The Lord delivered the vast hosts of the foe into the hands of Israel, who smote them with great slaughter, and chased them as far as the friendly city of great Zidon on the west, and the valley of Mizpeh on the east. This was the first occasion on which the Israelites encountered the horses and iron chariots of the Canaanites. According to the special command of their leader (Josh. xi. 6), they cut the ham-strings of their horses, so as to render them unfit for further use, and burnt the chariots with fire. Hazor, the stronghold of Jabin, was captured and burnt, its king and all its inhabitants were put to the sword, the flocks and herds only being reserved as spoil for the people.

The battle of Merom was the last of Joshua’s recorded engagements, but a long war, considered to have lasted nearly seven years, now occupied his energies, during which he proved his fidelity to the instructions given by the great Lawgiver of the nation. _As the Lord commanded Moses His servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua_, till by the time he had completed his campaigns, six nations and thirty-one kings had swelled the roll of his triumphs (Josh. xi. 18–23; xii. 24).

At length, when he was old and stricken in years, he was commanded to divide the conquered territory among the nine tribes and the half tribe of Manasseh.

The mode adopted was twofold.

1. In some cases individual chiefs claimed particular spots on the score of their own prowess, or putting themselves at the head of armed predatory expeditions conquered certain portions with the sword. The chief instance of this was afforded by the aged compeer of Joshua, CALEB the son of Jephunneh, who now won distinction and renown for his own tribe of Judah. Forty-five years had elapsed since as one of the twelve spies in company with Joshua he had come down the _Valley of the Cluster_ to Hebron, the fortress of the giant Arba, where they gathered the enormous bunch of Syrian grapes. On that memorable day Moses had rewarded his eminent faithfulness by promising him the _land whereon his feet had trod as an inheritance for himself and his children for ever_ (Num. xiv. 23, 24; Josh. xiv. 9). This winding _Valley_, then, _of the Cluster_, this _mountain_ (Josh. xiv. 12) on which rose the stronghold of the Anakims, was the portion Caleb desired for himself, and hence with the Divine aid he vowed to drive forth its gigantic possessors, and take it for his own.

Joshua willingly granted his request, and the great warrior of the tribe of Judah went up against the city of Arba, and drove out the sons of Anak, Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. Thence he proceeded southward to DEBIR or Kirjath-sephir[161], _the City of Books_, probably a sacred oracular place, and promised to give to its successful assailant his daughter Achsah in marriage. Thereupon OTHNIEL his nephew, or according to others his younger brother, attacked and took the fortress, and won the promised prize. On the way to Othniel’s house, Achsah dismounted from the ass on which she rode, and begged her father to give her some “better heritage than the dry and thirsty frontier of the desert.” Below the spot on which rose the newly captured fortress was a bubbling rivulet, falling into a rich valley. _Thou hast given me_, said she, _a south land, give me also the bubbling rills_, and he gave her _the upper and lower bubblings_, and thus Hebron and Debir with the rich valley below became the inheritance of the great warrior of Judah, and was long after known by his name (1 Sam. xxv. 3; xxx. 14).

2. But the more general mode of dividing the conquered land, in accordance with the Divine instructions, was by casting lots before the Tabernacle at Shiloh[162], in the presence of Joshua, the High-priest, and the elders of the nation. As the distribution of the tribes of REUBEN, GAD, and the half-tribe of MANASSEH on the east of the Jordan has been already described, we may confine ourselves to those on the western side, under the threefold division of (a) _The South_, (b) _the Centre_, (c) _the North_.

(a) _The South._

i. The most southerly frontier was assigned first to Judah but
afterwards to SIMEON (Josh. xix. 9), and is often called in
Scripture _the South_ (Josh. x. 40; Judg. i. 9). Like Reuben on
the east of Jordan, Simeon was destined to have little influence
on the subsequent history, to be _divided in Jacob and scattered
in Israel_ (Gen. xlix. 5–7), and to be constantly exposed to
the attacks of the Amalekites and other nomadic tribes on its
frontier (comp. 1 Chron. iv. 39–43).

ii. Next to Simeon on the North was the territory of the lion
tribe of JUDAH, comprising the undulating pasture country of the
South, the fertile lowland of the West, the hill fortresses of
the centre, and the wild desert bordering on the Dead Sea. Part
of his inheritance was fertile, and covered with corn fields and
vineyards (Gen. xlix. 11), part was a wild country, “the lair
of savage beasts,” where amidst caverns, ravines and mountains,
Judah, true to the description in the blessing of Jacob, could
_stoop down and couch as a lion_, guarding the southern frontier
of the Promised Land.

iii. North-east of Judah was the warlike little tribe (Ps.
lxviii. 27; 1 Sam. ix. 21) of BENJAMIN, famous for its archers
(2 Sam. i. 22), slingers (Judg. xx. 16), and left-handed
warriors (Judg. iii. 15; xx. 16). Its territory was small, being
hardly larger than the county of Middlesex, but its position
was of great importance. Containing numerous rounded hills[163],
which presented favourable sites for strong fortresses, it
commanded the chief passes leading down from the central hills
to the Jordan on the one side, and the plains of Philistia on
the other. In this broken and hilly country the tribe became
warlike and indomitable, _ravening as a wolf_ (Gen. xlix. 27).

iv. Compressed into the narrow space between the north-western
hills of Judah and the Mediterranean was the tribe of DAN,
containing within the 14 miles from Joppa to Ekron one of the
most fertile tracts in the land, the corn-field and garden of
southern Palestine. But for this rich prize it had to contend
first with the Amorites (Judg. i. 34), and afterwards with the
Philistines (Judg. xiv. &c.), and eventually, as we shall see,
was obliged to seek a new home in the North (Judg. xviii. 27–29).

(b) _The Centre._

The central portion of the Holy Land, the _Samaria_ of after
ages, was assigned to the two brother tribes of the _house of
Joseph_, EPHRAIM and MANASSEH. Of this territory, which may
be roughly estimated at 55 miles from E. to W., and 70 from
N. to S., and which was about equal in extent to the counties
of Norfolk and Suffolk combined[164], (i) the more southerly
portion was assigned to Joshua’s own tribe of EPHRAIM. It
extended as far south as Ramah and Bethel within a few miles
of Jerusalem, and was rich in fountains and streamlets, in
“wide plains in the hearts of mountains, and continued tracts
of vegetation,” in corn-fields and orchards, _the precious
things of the earth and the fulness thereof_, which the Lawgiver
invoked on _the ten thousands of Ephraim_ (Deut. xxxiii. 13–17),
and of whose father Jacob had said that he should be _a fruitful
bough, a fruitful bough by a well_ (Gen. xlix. 22). (ii) And
as the duty of guarding the northern outposts on the east of
Jordan had been assigned to one half of the tribe of MANASSEH,
so to the remaining half on the west was assigned the duty
of defending the passes into the great plain of Jezreel. Its
territory stretched westwards to the Mediterranean and the
slopes of Carmel, but did not quite reach the Jordan on the East.

(c) _The North._

The northern portion of the Holy Land, the _Galilee_ of after
times, extending from the range of Carmel to the mountains
of Lebanon, was assigned to four tribes “allied by birth, and
companions on the desert march,” ISSACHAR, ZEBULUN, ASHER, and
NAPHTALI.

i. The territory of ISSACHAR lay above that of Manasseh, and
exactly consisted of the plain of Esdraelon (the Greek form of
the Hebrew _Jezreel_, = _the seed-plot of God_). The luxuriance
of this plain,――the battle-field of Palestine[165]――is the theme
of every traveller. The soil yielded corn and figs, wine and
oil (1 Chr. xii. 40), the stately palm waved over the villages,
and the very weeds to this day testify to its extraordinary
fertility. Here Issachar rejoiced in his _tents_ (Deut. xxxiii.
18, 19), couched down as the strong he-ass (Gen. xlix. 14, 15)
used for burden and field-work, and seeing that _rest was good,
and the land that it was pleasant, bowed his shoulder to bear,
and became a servant to the tribute_, which various marauders,
Canaanites (Judg. iv. 3, 7), Midianites, Amalekites (Judg. vi.
3, 4), Philistines (1 Sam. xxix. 1; xxxi. 7–10) exacted, bursting
through his frontier open both on the east and west, and tempted
by his luxuriant crops[166].

ii. Immediately north of Issachar was the allotment of ZEBULUN,
extending from the _Sea of Chinnereth_[167] (afterwards _the
Lake of Gennesareth_) on the east, towards the Mediterranean on
the west. Besides the fertile plain near the fisheries of the
lake, this tribe possessed the _goings out_ (Deut. xxxiii. 18),
the outlet of the plain of Akka, where it could _suck of the
abundance of the seas_.

iii. The land of NAPHTALI stretched from the Sea of Chinnereth
to the valley which separates the ranges of Lebanon and
Anti-Lebanon, and was one of the most densely wooded districts
of the country; its forests surpassed even those of Carmel,
and the land has been described as a “natural park of oaks and
terebinths.” Its soil also was rich and fertile, _full with the
blessing of the Lord_ (Deut. xxxiii. 23).

iv. To the West of Naphtali and resting on the sea-shore was
the lot of the tribe of ASHER. It was an important position,
including the creeks and harbours (Judg. v. 17, 18) on the coast,
and commanding all approaches to Palestine from the sea on the
north. Its soil was pre-eminently fertile, and well fulfilled
the blessings of Jacob and Moses. Here Asher could dip his foot
in the _oil_ of his luxuriant olive-groves (Deut. xxxiii. 24),
fatten on the _bread_, the fruit of his rich plains, and the
_royal dainties_ (Gen. xlix. 20), the produce of his vineyards
and pastures, while _for_ or _under his shoes_ (Deut. xxxiii. 25)
was the _iron_ ore of Lebanon, and the _brass_, or copper, of
the neighbouring Phœnician settlements[168].

One tribe alone received no share in this allotment. Like Simeon,
but in a different sense, the tribe of LEVI was to be _divided
in Jacob and scattered in Israel_ (Gen. xlix. 7). Devoted to the
service of the sanctuary and sacrificial and other ministrations,
this tribe depended for its maintenance on the tithes of the
produce of land and cattle (Num. xviii.); but besides this,
from each tribe, four cities and their suburban pastures, or
forty-eight in all, were set apart for it, and amongst these
were included the _six cities of Refuge_, three on each side of
the Jordan,

_On the West._

1. _Kedesh_ in Naphtali.
2. _Shechem_ in Mt Ephraim.
3. _Hebron_ in Judah.

_On the East._

4. _Golan_ in Bashan.
5. _Ramoth-Gilead_ in Gad.
6. _Bezer_ in Reuben.

The division of the Promised Land being thus concluded, and his own 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).