Chapter III: The Hebrews and the Philistines--Damascus (1)

_The Israelites in the land of Canaan: the judges--The Philistines and the Hebrew kingdom--Saul, David, Solomon, the defection of the ten tribes--the XXIst Egyptian dynasty--Sheshonq--Damascus._

After reaching Kadesh-barnea, the Israelites in their wanderings had come into contact with various Bedawin tribes--Kenites, Jerahmelites, Edomites, and Midianites, with whom they had in turn fought or allied themselves, according to the exigencies of their pastoral life. Continual skirmishes had taught them the art of war, their numbers had rapidly increased, and with this increase came a consciousness of their own strength, so that, after a lapse of two or three generations, they may be said to have constituted a considerable nation. Its component elements were not, however, firmly welded together; they consisted of an indefinite number of clans, which were again subdivided into several families. Each of these families had its chief or ruler, to whom it rendered absolute obedience, while the united chiefs formed an assembly of elders who administered justice when required, and settled any differences which arose among their respective followers. The clans in their turn were grouped into tribes,* according to certain affinities which they mutually recognised, or which may have been fostered by daily intercourse on a common soil, but the ties which bound them together at this period were of the most slender character. It needed some special event, such as a projected migration in search of fresh pasturage, or an expedition against a turbulent neighbour, or a threatened invasion by some stranger, to rouse the whole tribe to corporate action; at such times they would elect a nasi, or ruler, the duration of whose functions ceased with the emergency which had called him into office.**

* The tribe was designated by two words signifying staff or
branch.

** The word _nasi,_ first applied to the chiefs of the
tribes (_Exod._ xxxiv. 31; _Lev_. iv. 22; _Numb_. ii. 3),
became, after the captivity, the title of the chiefs of
Israel, who could not be called _kings_ owing to the foreign
suzerainty (_Esdras_ i. 8).

Both clans and tribes were designated by the name of some ancestor from whom they claimed to be descended, and who appears in some cases to have been a god for whom they had a special devotion; some writers have believed that this was also the origin of the names given to several of the tribes, such as Gad, Good Fortune, or of the totems of the hyena and the dog, in Arabic and Hebrew, Simeon and Caleb. * Gad, Simeon, and Caleb were severally the ancestors of the families who ranged themselves under their respective names, and the eponymous heroes of all the tribes were held to have been brethren, sons of one father, and under the protection of one God. He was known as the Jahveh with whom Abraham of old had made a solemn covenant; His dwelling-place was Mount Sinai or Mount Seîr, and He revealed Himself in the storm;** His voice was as the thunder which shaketh the wilderness, His breath was as a consuming fire, and He was decked with light as with a garment. When His anger was aroused, He withheld the dew and rain from watering the earth; but when His wrath was appeased, the heavens again poured their fruitful showers upon the fields.***

* Simeon is derived by some from a word which at times
denotes a hyena, at others a cross between a dog and a
hyena, according to Arab lexicography. With regard to Caleb,
Renan prefers a different interpretation; it is supposed to
be a shortened form of Kalbel, and Dog of El is a strong
expression to denote the devotion of a tribe to its patron
god.

** Cf. the graphic description of the signs which
accompanied the manifestations of Jahveh in the _Song of
Deborah (Judges_ v. 4, 5), and also in 1 _Kings_ xix. 11-13.

*** See 1 _Kings_ xvii., xviii., where the conflict between
Elijah and the prophets of Baal for the obtaining of rain is
described.

He is described as being a jealous God, brooking no rival, and visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. We hear of His having been adored under the figure of a calf, * and of His Spirit inspiring His prophets, as well as of the anointed stones which were dedicated in His honour. The common ancestor of the nation was acknowledged to have been Jacob, who, by his wrestling with God, had obtained the name of Israel; the people were divided theoretically into as many tribes as he had sons, but the number twelve to which they were limited does not entirely correspond with all that we know up to the present time of these children of Israel. Some of the tribes appear never to have had any political existence, as for example that of Levi,** or they were merged at an early date into some fellow-tribe, as in the case of Reuben with Gad;*** others, such as Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin, and Judah, apparently did not attain their normal development until a much later date.

* The most common of these animal forms was that of a calf
or bull (Exod. xxxii.; Deut. ix. 21; and in the kingly
period, 1 Kings xii. 28-30; 2 Kings x. 29); we are not told
the form of the image of Micah the Ephraimite (Judges xviii.
14, 17, 18, 20, 30, 31).

** Levi appears to have suffered dispersion after the events
of which there are two separate accounts combined in Gen.
xxxiv. In conjunction with Simeon, he appears to have
revenged the violation of his sister Dinah by a massacre of
the Shechemites, and the dispersion alluded to in Jacobs
blessing (Gen. xlix. 5-7) is mentioned as consequent on this
act of barbarism.

*** In the IXth century Mesha of Moab does not mention the
Reubenites, and speaks of the Gadites only as inhabiting the
territory formerly occupied by them. Tradition attributed
the misfortunes of the tribe to the crime of its chief in
his seduction of Bilhah, his fathers concubine (Gen. xlix.
3, 4; cf. xxxv. 22)

The Jewish chroniclers attempted by various combinations to prove that the sacred number of tribes was the correct one. At times they included Levi in the list, in which case Joseph was reckoned as one;* while on other occasions Levi or Simeon was omitted, when for Joseph would be substituted his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh.** In addition to this, the tribes were very unequal in size: Ephraim, Gad, and Manasseh comprised many powerful and wealthy families; Dan, on the contrary, contained so few, that it was sometimes reckoned as a mere clan.

* As, for instance, in Jacobs blessing (Gen. xlix. 5-7) and
in the enumeration of the patriarchs sons at the time of
his journey to Egypt (Gen. xlvi. 9-26).

** Numb. i. 20, et seq., where the descendants of Levi are
not included among the twelve, and Deut. xxxiii. 6-25, where
Simeon is omitted from among the tribes blessed by Moses
before his death.

The tribal organisation had not reached its full development at the time of the sojourn in the desert. The tribes of Joseph and Judah, who subsequently played such important parts, were at that period not held in any particular estimation; Reuben, on the other hand, exercised a sort of right of priority over the rest.*

* This conclusion is drawn from the position of eldest son
given to him in all the genealogies enumerating the children
of Jacob. Stade, on the contrary, is inclined to believe
that this place of honour was granted to him on account of
the smallness of his family, to prevent any jealousy arising
between the more powerful tribes, such as Ephraim and Judah
(_Ges. des Vollces Isr._, vol. i. pp. 151, 152).

The territory which they occupied soon became insufficient to support their numbers, and they sought to exchange it for a wider area, such as was offered by the neighbouring provinces of Southern Syria. Pharaoh at this time exercised no authority over this region, and they were, therefore, no longer in fear of opposition from his troops; the latter had been recalled to Egypt, and it is doubtful even whether he retained possession of the Shephelah by means of his Zakkala and Philistine colonies; the Hebrews, at any rate, had nothing to fear from him so long as they respected Gaza and Ascalon. They began by attempting to possess themselves of the provinces around Hebron, in the direction of the Dead Sea, and we read that, before entering them, they sent out spies to reconnoitre and report on the country.* Its population had undergone considerable modifications since the Israelites had quitted Goshen. The Amorites, who had seriously suffered from the incursions of Asiatic hordes, and had been constantly harassed by the attacks of the Aramæans, had abandoned the positions they had formerly occupied on the banks of the Orontes and the Litany, and had moved southwards, driving the Canaanites before them; their advance was accelerated as the resistance opposed to their hordes became lessened under the successors of Ramses III., until at length all opposition was withdrawn. They had possessed themselves of the regions about the Lake of Genesareth, the mountain district to the south of Tabor, the middle valley of the Jordan, and, pressing towards the territory east of that river, had attacked the cities scattered over the undulating table-land. This district had not been often subjected to incursions of Egyptian troops, and yet its inhabitants had been more impressed by Egyptian influence than many others.

Drawn by Paucher-Gudin, from the squeezes and sketches
published in the _Zeitschrift ties Palcistina-Vereins_.

Whereas, in the north and west, cuneiform writing was almost entirely used, attempts had been made here to adapt the hieroglyphs to the native language.

The only one of their monuments which has been preserved is a rudely carved bas-relief in black basalt, representing a two-horned Astarte, before whom stands a king in adoration; the sovereign is Ramses II., and the inscriptions accompanying the figures contain a religious formula together with a name borrowed from one of the local dialects.*

*This is the Stone of Job discovered by Strahmacher. The
inscription appears to give the name of a goddess, Agana-
Zaphon, the second part of which recalls the name of Baal-
Zephon.

The Amorites were everywhere victorious, but our information is confined to this bare fact; soon after their victory, however, we find the territory they had invaded divided into two kingdoms: in the north that of Bashan, which comprised, besides the Haurân, the plain watered by the Yarrnuk; and to the south that of Heshbon, containing the district lying around the Arnon, and the Jabbok to the east of the Dead Sea.* They seem to have made the same rapid progress in the country between the Jordan and the Mediterranean as elsewhere. They had subdued some of the small Canaanite states, entered into friendly relation with others, and penetrated gradually as far south as the borders of Sinai, while we find them establishing petty kings among the hill-country of Shechem around Hebron, on the confines of the Negeb, and the Shephelah.** When the Hebrew tribes ventured to push forward in a direct line northwards, they came into collision with the advance posts of the Amorite population, and suffered a severe defeat under the walls of Hormah.*** The check thus received, however, did not discourage them. As a direct course was closed to them, they turned to the right, and followed, first the southern and then the eastern shores of the Red Sea, till they reached the frontier of Gilead.****

* The extension of the Amorite power in this direction is
proved by the facts relating to the kingdoms of Sihon and Og
Gent. i. 4, ii. 24-37, iii. 1-1.7.

** For the Amorite occupation of the Negeb and the hill-
country of Judah, cf. Numb. xiii. 29; Bent. i. 7, 19-46;
Josh. x. 5, 6, 12, xi. 3; for their presence in the
Shephelah, cf. Judges i. 34-36.

*** See the long account in Numb, xiii., xiv., which
terminates with the mention of the defeat of the Israelites
at Hormah; and cf. Bent. i. 19-46.

**** The itinerary given in Numb. xx. 22-29, xxxi., xxxiii.
37-49, and repeated in Bent, ii., brings the Israelites as
far as Ezion-geber, in such a manner as to avoid the
Midianites and the Moabites. The friendly welcome accorded
to them in the regions situated to the east of the Dead Sea,
has been accounted for either by an alliance made with Moab
and Ammon against their common enemy, the Amorites, or by
the fact that Ammon and Moab did not as yet occupy those
regions; the inhabitants in that case would have been
Edomites and Midianites, who were in continual warfare with
each other.

There again they were confronted by the Amorites, but in lesser numbers, and not so securely entrenched within their fortresses as their fellow-countrymen in the Negeb, so that the Israelites were able to overthrow the kingdoms of Heshbon and Bashan.*

* War against Sihon, King of Heshbon (Numb. xxi. 21-31;
Beut. ii. 26-37), and against Og, King of Bashan (Numb. xxi.
32-35; Beut. iii. 1-13).

Drawn by Boudier, from photograph No. 336 of the _Palestine
Exploration Fund._

Gad received as its inheritance nearly the whole of the territory lying between the Jabbok and the Yarmuk, in the neighbourhood of the ancient native sanctuaries of Penuel, Mahanaim, and Succoth, associated with the memory of Jacob.* Reuben settled in the vicinity, and both tribes remained there isolated from the rest. From this time forward they took but a slight interest in the affairs of their brethren: when the latter demanded their succour, Gilead abode beyond Jordan, and by the watercourses of Reuben there were great resolves at heart, but without any consequent action.** It was not merely due to indifference on their part; their resources were fully taxed in defending themselves against the Aramæans and Bedawins, and from the attacks of Moab and Ammon. Gad, continually threatened, struggled for centuries without being discouraged, but Reuben lost heart,*** and soon declined in power, till at length he became merely a name in the memory of his brethren.

* Gad did not possess the districts between the Jabbok and
the Arnon till the time of the early kings, and retained
them only till about the reign of Jehu, as we gather from
the inscription of Mesa.

** These are the very expressions used by the author of the
_Song of Deborah_ in Judges v. 16, 17.

*** The recollection of these raids by Reuben against the
Beduin of the Syrian desert is traceable in 1 Citron, v. 10,
18-22.

Two tribes having been thus provided for, the bulk of the Israelites sought to cross the Jordan without further delay, and establish themselves as best they might in the very heart of the Canaanites. The sacred writings speak of their taking possession of the country by a methodic campaign, undertaken by command of and under the visible protection of Jahveh* Moses had led them from Egypt to Kadesh, and from Kadesh to the land of Gilead; he had seen the promised land from the summit of Mount Nebo, but he had not entered it, and after his death, Joshua, son of Nun, became their leader, brought them across Jordan dryshod, not far from its mouth, and laid siege to Jericho.

* The history of the conquest is to be found in the _Book of
Joshua._

The walls of the city fell of themselves at the blowing of the brazen trumpets,* and its capture entailed that of three neighbouring towns, Aï, Bethel, and Shechem. Shechem served as a rallying-place for the conquerors; Joshua took up his residence there, and built on the summit of Mount Ebal an altar of stone, on which he engraved the principal tenets of the divine Law.**

* Josh, i.-vi.

** Josh, vii., viii. Mount Ebal is the present Gebel
Sulemiyeh.

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph brought back by Lortet.

The sudden intrusion of a new element naturally alarmed the worshippers of the surrounding local deities; they at once put a truce to their petty discords, and united in arms against the strangers. At the instigation of Adoni-zedeck, King of Jerusalem, the Canaanites collected their forces in the south; but they were routed not far from Gibeon, and their chiefs killed or mutilated.* The Amorites in the north, who had assembled round Jabin, King of Hazor, met with no better success; they were defeated at the waters of Merom, Hazor was burnt, and Galilee delivered to fire and sword.**

* Josh. x. The same war is given rather differently in
Judges i. 1-9, where the king is called Adoni-bezek.

** Josh. xi. As another Jabin appears in the history of
Deborah, it has

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph in Lortet.

The country having been thus to a certain extent cleared, Joshua set about dividing the spoil, and assigned to each tribe his allotted portion of territory.* Such, in its main outlines, is the account given by the Hebrew chroniclers; but, if closely examined, it would appear that the Israelites did not act throughout with that unity of purpose and energy which they [the Hebrew chroniclers] were pleased to imagine. They did not gain possession of the land all at once, but established themselves in it gradually by detachments, some settling at the fords of Jericho,** others more to the north, and in the central valley of the Jordan as far up as She-chem.***

* The lot given to each tribe is described in Josh, xiii.-
xxi. It has been maintained by some critics that there is a
double rôle assigned to one and the same person, only that
some maintain that the Jabin of Josh. xi. has been
transferred to the time of the Judges, while others make out
that the Jabin of Deborah was carried back to the time of
the conquest.

** Renan thinks that the principal crossing must have taken
place opposite Jericho, as is apparent from the account in
Josh, ii., iii.

*** Carl Niebuhr believes that he has discovered the exact
spot at the ford of Admah, near Succoth.

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph in Lortet.

The latter at once came into contact with a population having a higher civilization than themselves, and well equipped for a vigorous resistance; the walled towns which had defied the veterans of the Pharaohs had not much to fear from the bands of undisciplined Israelites wandering in their neighbourhood. Properly speaking, there were no pitched battles between them, but rather a succession of raids or skirmishes, in which several citadels would successively fall into the hands of the invaders. Many of these strongholds, harassed by repeated attacks, would prefer to come to terms with the enemy, and would cede or sell them some portion of their territory; others would open their gates freely to the strangers, and their inhabitants would ally themselves by intermarriage with the Hebrews. Judah and the remaining descendants of Simeon and Levi established themselves in the south; Levi comprised but a small number of families, and made no important settlements; whereas Judah took possession of nearly the whole of the mountain district separating the Shephelah from the western shores of the Dead Sea, while Simeon made its abode close by on the borders of the desert around the wells of Beersheba.*

* Wellhausen has remarked that the lot of Levi must not be
separated from that of Simeon, and, as the remnant of Simeon
allied themselves with Judah, that of Levi also must have
shared the patrimony of Judah.

The descendants of Rachel and her handmaid received as their inheritance the regions situated more to the centre of the country, the house of Joseph taking the best domains for its branches of Ephraim and Manasseh. Ephraim received some of the old Canaanite sanctuaries, such as Ramah, Bethel, and Shiloh, and it was at the latter spot that they deposited the ark of the covenant. Manasseh settled to the north of Ephraim, in the hills and valleys of the Carmel group, and to Benjamin were assigned the heights which overlook the plain of Jericho. Four of the less important tribes, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Zebulon, ventured as far north as the borders of Tyre and Sidon, behind the Phoenician littoral, but were prevented by the Canaanites and Amorites from spreading over the plain, and had to confine themselves to the mountains. All the fortresses commanding the passes of Tabor and Carmel, Megiddo, Taanach, Ibleam, Jezreel, Endor, and Bethshan remained inviolate, and formed as it were an impassable barrier-line between the Hebrews of Galilee and their brethren of Ephraim. The Danites were long before they found a resting-place; they attempted to insert themselves to the north of Judah, between Ajalon and Joppa, but were so harassed by the Amorites, that they had to content themselves with the precarious tenure of a few towns such as Zora, Shaalbîn, and Eshdol. The foreign peoples of the Shephelah and the Canaanite cities almost all preserved their autonomy; the Israelites had no chance against them wherever they had sufficient space to put into the field large bodies of infantry or to use their iron-bound chariots. Finding it therefore impossible to overcome them, the tribes were forced to remain cut off from each other in three isolated groups of unequal extent which they were powerless to connect: in the centre were Joseph, Benjamin, and Dan; in the south, Judah, Levi, and Simeon; while Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Zebulon lay to the north.

The period following the occupation of Canaan constituted the heroic age of the Hebrews. The sacred writings agree in showing that the ties which bound the twelve tribes together were speedily dissolved, while their fidelity and obedience to God were relaxed with the growth of the young generations to whom Moses or Joshua were merely names. The conquerors dwelt among the Canaanites: the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite: and they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods. And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord their God, and served the Baalim and the Asheroth. *

When they had once abandoned their ancient faith, political unity was not long preserved. War broke out between one tribe and another; the stronger allowed the weaker to be oppressed by the heathen, and were themselves often powerless to retain their independence. In spite of the thousands of men among them, all able to bear arms, they fell an easy prey to the first comer; the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and the Philistines, all oppressed them in turn, and repaid with usury the ills which Joshua had inflicted on the Canaanites. Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had spoken, and as the Lord had sworn unto them: and they were sore distressed. And the Lord raised up judges, which saved them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. And yet they hearkened not unto their judges, for they went a-whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves down unto them: they turned aside quickly out of the way wherein their fathers walked obeying the commandments of the Lord; but they did not so. And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of their groaning by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them. But it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their doings, nor from their stubborn way. * The history of this period lacks the unity and precision with which we are at first tempted to credit it.

* Judges ii. 15-19.

The Israelites, when transplanted into the promised land, did not immediately lose the nomadic habits they had acquired in the desert. They retained the customs and prejudices they had inherited from their fathers, and for many years treated the peasantry, whose fields they had devastated, with the same disdain that the Bedawin of our own day, living in the saddle, lance in hand, shows towards the fellahîn who till the soil and bend patiently over the plough. The clans, as of old, were impatient of all regular authority; each tribe tended towards an isolated autonomy, a state of affairs which merited reprisals from the natives and encouraged hatred of the intruders, and it was only when the Canaanite oppression became unendurable that those who suffered most from it united themselves to make a common effort, and rallied for a moment round the chief who was ready to lead them. Many of these liberators must have acquired an ephemeral popularity, and then have sunk into oblivion together with the two or three generations who had known them; those whose memory remained green among their kinsmen were known by posterity as the judges of Israel.*

* The word judges, which has been adopted to designate
these rulers, is somewhat misleading, as it suggests the
idea of an organized civil magistracy. The word shophet,
the same that we meet with in classical times under the form
_suffetes_, had indeed that sense, but its primary meaning
denotes a man invested with an absolute authority, regular
or otherwise; it would be better translated _chief, prince,
captain_.

These judges were not magistrates invested with official powers and approved by the whole nation, or rulers of a highly organised republic, chosen directly by God or by those inspired by Him. They were merely local chiefs, heroes to their own immediate tribe, well known in their particular surroundings, but often despised by those only at a short distance from them. Some of them have left only a name behind them, such as Shamgar, Ibzan, Tola, Elon, and Abdon; indeed, some scholars have thrown doubts on the personality of a few of them, as, for instance, Jair, whom they affirm to have personified a Gileadite clan, and Othnîel, who is said to represent one of the Kenite families associated with the children of Israel.* Others, again, have come down to us through an atmosphere of popular tradition, the elements of which modern criticism has tried in vain to analyse. Of such unsettled and turbulent times we cannot expect an uninterrupted history:** some salient episodes alone remain, spread over a period of nearly two centuries, and from these we can gather some idea of the progress made by the Israelites, and observe their stages of transition from a cluster of semi-barbarous hordes to a settled nation ripe for monarchy.

* The name Tola occurs as that of one of the clans of
Issachar (Gen. xlvi. 13; Numb. xxvi. 23); Elon was one of
the clans of Zebulon (Gen. xlvi. 14; Numb. xxvi. 26)

** Renan, however, believes that the judges formed an
almost continuous line, and that there merely lacks a
descent from father to son to make of them an actual
dynasty. The chronology of the _Book of Judges_ appears to
cover more than four centuries, from Othnîel to Samson, but
this computation cannot be relied on, as forty
years represents an indefinite space of time. We must
probably limit this early period of Hebrew history to about
a century and a half, from cir. 1200 to 1050 B.C.

The first of these episodes deals merely with a part, and that the least important, of the tribes settled in Central Canaan.* The destruction of the Amorite kingdoms of Heshbon and Bashan had been as profitable to the kinsmen of the Israelites, Ammon and Moab, as it had been to the Israelites themselves.

* The episode of Othnîel and Cushan-rishathaim, placed at
the beginning of the history of this period (Judges iii. 8-
11), is, by general consent, regarded as resting on a
worthless tradition.

The Moabites had followed in the wake of the Hebrews through all the surrounding regions of the Dead Sea; they had pushed on from the banks of the Arnon to those of the Jabbok, and at the time of the Judges were no longer content with harassing merely Reuben and Gad.

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the original in the Louvre.

They were a fine race of warlike, well-armed Beda-wins. Jericho had fallen into their hands, and their King Eglon had successfully scoured the entire hill-country of Ephraim,* so that those who wished to escape being pillaged had to safeguard themselves by the payment of an annual tribute.

* The text seems to infer (Judges iii. 13-15) that, after
having taken the Oily of Palm Trees, i.e. Jericho (Deut.
xxxiv. 3; 2 Ghron. xxviii. 15), Eglon had made it his
residence, which makes the story incomprehensible from a
geographical point of view. But all difficulties would
disappear if we agreed to admit that in ver. 15 the name of
the capital of Eglon has dropped out.

Ehud the Left-handed concealed under his garments a keen dagger, and joined himself to the Benjamite deputies who were to carry their dues to the Moabite sovereign. The money having been paid, the deputies turned homewards, but when they reached the cromlech of Gilgal,* and were safe beyond the reach of the enemy, Ehud retraced his steps, and presenting himself before the palace of Eglon in the attitude of a prophet, announced that he had a secret errand to the king, who thereupon commanded silence, and ordered his servants to leave him with the divine messenger in his summer parlour.

* The cromlech at Gilgal was composed of twelve stones,
which, we are told, were erected by Joshua as a remembrance
of the crossing of the Jordan (Josh. iv. 19-24).

And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat. And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly: and the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, for he drew not the sword out of his belly; and it came out behind. Then Ehud locked the doors and escaped. Now when he was gone out, his servants came; and they saw, and, behold, the doors of the parlour were locked; and they said, Surely he covereth his feet in his summer chamber. But by the time they had forced an entrance, Ehud had reached Gilgal and was in safety. He at once assembled the clans of Benjamin, occupied the fords of the Jordan, massacred the bands of Moabites scattered over the plain of Jericho, and blocked the routes by which the invaders attempted to reach the hill-country of Ephraim. Almost at the same time the tribes in Galilee had a narrow escape from a still more formidable enemy.* They had for some time been under the Amorite yoke, and the sacred writings represent them at this juncture as oppressed either by Sisera of Harosheth-ha-Goyîm or by a second Jabin, who was able to bring nine hundred chariots of iron into the field.** At length the prophetess Deborah of Issachar sent to Barak of Kadesh a command to assemble his people, together with those of Zebulon, in the name of the Lord;*** she herself led the contingents of Issachar, Ephraim, and Machir to meet him at the foot of Tabor, where the united host is stated to have comprised forty thousand men. Sisera,**** who commanded the Canaanite force, attacked the Israelite army between Taanach and Megiddo in that plain of Kishon which had often served as a battle-field during the Egyptian campaigns.

* The text tells us that, after the time of Ehud, the land
had rest eighty years (Judges iii. 30). This, again, is one
of those numbers which represent an indefinite space of
time.

** It has been maintained that two versions are here blended
together in the text, one in which the principal part is
played by Sisera, the other in which it is attributed to
Jabin. The episode of Deborah and Barak (Judges iv., v.)
comprises a narrative in prose (chap, iv.), and the song
(chap, v.) attributed to Deborah. The prose account probably
is derived from the song. The differences in the two
accounts may be explained as having arisen partly from an
imperfect understanding of the poetic text, and partly from
one having come down from some other source.

*** Some critics suppose that the prose narrative (Judges
iv. 5) has confounded the prophetess Deborah, wife of
Lapidoth, with Deborah, nurse of Rachel, who was buried near
Bethel, under the Oak of Weeping (Gen. xxxv. 8), and
consequently place it between Rama and Bethel, in the hill-
country of Ephraim.

**** In the prose narrative (Judges iv. 2-7) Sisera is
stated to have been the general of Jabin: there is nothing
incompatible in this statement with the royal dignity
elsewhere attributed to Sisera. Harosheth-ha-Goyîm has been
identified with the present village of El-Haretîyeh, on the
right bank of the Kishon.

It would appear that heavy rains had swelled the streams, and thus prevented the chariots from rendering their expected service in the engagement; at all events, the Amorites were routed, and Sisera escaped with the survivors towards Hazor.

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph in Lortet.

The people of Meroz facilitated his retreat, but a Kenite named Jael, the wife of Heber, traitorously killed him with a blow from a hammer while he was in the act of drinking.*

* Meroz is the present Marus, between the Lake of Huleh and
Safed. I have followed the account given in the song (Judges
v. 24-27). According to the prose version (iv. 17-22), Jael
slew Sisera while he was asleep with a tent-pin, which she
drove into his temple. [The text of Judges v. 24-27 does not
seem to warrant the view that he was slain in the act of
drinking, nor does it seem to conflict with Judges iv. 11.-
-Tr.]

This exploit was commemorated in a song, the composition of which is attributed to Deborah and Barak: For that the leaders took the lead in Israel, for that the people offered themselves willingly, bless ye the Lord. Hear, O ye kings, give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the Lord; I will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel. * The poet then dwells on the sufferings of the people, but tells how Deborah and Barak were raised up, and enumerates the tribes who took part in the conflict as well as those who turned a deaf ear to the appeal. Then came down a remnant of the nobles and the people.... Out of Ephraim came down they whose root is in Amalek:--out of Machir came down governors,--and out of Zebulon they that handle the marshals staff.--And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah--as was Issachar so was Barak,--into the valley they rushed forth at his feet.**--By the watercourses of Reuben--there were great resolves of heart.--Why satest thou among the sheepfolds,--to hear the pipings for the flocks?--At the watercourses of Reuben--there were great searchings of heart--Gilead abode beyond Jordan:--and Dan, why did he remain in ships?--Asher sat still at the haven of the sea--and abode by his creeks.--Zebulon was a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death,--and Naphtali upon the high places of the field.--The kings came and fought;--then fought the kings of Canaan.--In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo:--they took no gain of money.--They fought from heaven,--the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.--The river of Kishon swept them away,--that ancient river, the river Kishon.--O my soul, march on with strength.--Then did the horsehoofs stamp--by reason of the pransings, the pransings of their strong ones.

* Judges v. 2, 3 (R.V.).

** The text of the song (Judges v. 14) contains an allusion
to Benjamin, which is considered by many critics to be an
interpolation. It gives a mistaken reading, _Issachar_ with
Barak; Issachar having been already mentioned with Deborah,
probably Zébulon should be inserted in the text.

Sisera flies, and the poet follows him in fancy, as if he feared to see him escape from vengeance. He curses the people of Meroz in passing, because they came not to the help of the Lord. He addresses Jael and blesses her, describing the manner in which the chief fell at her feet, and then proceeds to show how, at the very time of Siseras death, his people were awaiting the messenger who should bring the news of his victory; through the window she looked forth and cried--the mother of Sisera cried through the lattice--Why is his chariot so long in coming?--Why tarry the wheels of his chariot?--Her wise ladies answered her,--yea, she returned answer to herself,--Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil?--A damsel, two damsels to every man;--to Sisera a spoil of divers colours,--a spoil of divers colours of embroidery on both sides, on the necks of the spoil?--So let all Thine enemies perish, O Lord:--but let them that love Him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might.

It was the first time, as far as we know, that several of the Israelite tribes combined together for common action after their sojourn in the desert of Kadesh-barnea, and the success which followed from their united efforts ought, one would think, to have encouraged them to maintain such a union, but it fell out otherwise; the desire for freedom of action and independence was too strong among them to permit of the continuance of the coalition.

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by M. C. Alluaud
of Limoges.

Manasseh, restricted in its development by the neighbouring Canaanite tribes, was forced to seek a more congenial neighbourhood to the east of the Jordan--not close to Gad, in the land of Gilead, but to the north of the Yarmuk and its northern affluents in the vast region extending to the mountains of the Haurân. The families of Machir and Jair migrated one after the other to the east of the Lake of Gennesaret, while that of Nobah proceeded as far as the brook of Kanah, and thus formed in this direction the extreme outpost of the children of Israel: these families did not form themselves into new tribes, for they were mindful of their affiliation to Manasseh, and continued beyond the river to regard themselves still as his children.* The prosperity of Ephraim and Manasseh, and the daring nature of their exploits, could not fail to draw upon them the antagonism and jealousy of the people on their borders. The Midianites were accustomed almost every year to pass through the region beyond the Jordan which the house of Joseph had recently colonised. Assembling in the springtime at the junction of the Yarmuk with the Jordan, they crossed the latter river, and, spreading over the plains of Mount Tabor, destroyed the growing crops, raided the villages, and pushed, sometimes, their skirmishing parties over hill and dale as far as Gaza.**

* Manasseh was said to have been established beyond the
Jordan at the time that Gad and Reuben were in possession of
the land of Gilead (Numb, xxxii. 33, 39-42, xxxiv. 14, 15;
Dent. iii. 13-15; Josh. xiii. 8, 29-32, xxii.). Earlier
traditions placed this event in the period which followed
the conquest of Canaan by Joshua. It is not certain that all
the families which constituted the half-tribe of Manasseh
took their origin from Manasseh: one of them, for example,
that of Jair, was regarded as having originated partly from
Judah (1 Chron. ii. 21-24).

** Judges vi. 2-6. The inference that they dare not beat
wheat in the open follows from ver. 11, where it is said
that Gideon was beating out wheat in his winepress to hide
it from the Midianites.

A perpetual terror reigned wherever they were accustomed to pass*: no one dared beat out wheat or barley in the open air, or lead his herds to pasture far from his home, except under dire necessity; and even on such occasions the inhabitants would, on the slightest alarm, abandon their possessions to take refuge in caves or in strongholds on the mountains.1 During one of these incursions two of their sheikhs encountered some men of noble mien in the vicinity of Tabor, and massacred them without compunction.** The latter were people of Ophrah,*** brethren of a certain Jerubbaal (Gideon) who was head of the powerful family of Abiezer.****

* The history of the Midianite oppression (Judges vi.-viii.)
seems to be from two different sources; the second (Judges
viii. 4-21), which is also the shortest, is considered by
some to represent the more ancient tradition. The double
name of the hero, Gideon-Jerubbaal, has led some to assign
its elements respectively to Gideon, judge of the western
portion of Manasseh, and Jerubbaal, judge of the eastern
Manasseh, and to the consequent fusion of the two men in
one.

** This is an assumption which follows reasonably from
Judges viii. 18, 19.

*** The site of the Ophrah of Abiezer is not known for
certain, but it would seem from the narrative that it was in
the neighbourhood of Shechem.

**** The position of Gideon-Jerubbaal as head of the house
of Abiezer follows clearly from the narrative; if he is
represented in the first part of the account as a man of
humble origin (Judges vi. 15, 16), it was to exalt the power
of Jahveh, who was accustomed to choose His instruments from
amongst the lowly. The name Jerubbaal (1 Sam. xii. 11:2 Sam.
xi. 21, where the name is transformed into Jerubbesheth, as
Ishbaal and Meribbaal are into Ishbosheth and Mephibosheth
respectively), in which Baal seems to some not to
represent the Canaanite God, but the title Lord as applied
to Jahveh, was supposed to mean Baal fights against him,
and was, therefore, offensive to the orthodox. Kuenen
thought it meant Lord, fight for him! Renan read it
Yarebaal, from the Vulgate form Jerobaal, and translated He
who fears Baal. Gideon signifies He who overthrows in the
battle.

Assembling all his people at the call of the trumpet, Jerubbaal chose from among them three hundred of the strongest, with whom he came down unexpectedly upon the raiders, put them to flight in the plain of Jezreel, and followed them beyond the Jordan. Having crossed the river, faint and yet pursuing, he approached the men of Succoth, and asked them for bread for himself and his three hundred followers. Their fear of the marauders, however, was so great that the people refused to give him any help, and he had no better success with the people of Penuel whom he encountered a little further on. He did not stop to compel them to accede to his wishes, but swore to inflict an exemplary punishment upon them on his return. The Midianites continued their retreat, in the mean time, by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, but Jerubbaal came up with them near Karkâr, and discomfited the host. He took vengeance upon the two peoples who had refused to give him bread, and having thus fulfilled his vow, he began to question his prisoners, the two chiefs: What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king. And he said, They were my brethren, the sons of my mother: as the Lord liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you. And he said unto Jether his firstborn, Up, and slay them. But the youth drew not his sword: for he feared, because he was yet a youth. True Bedawins as they were, the chiefs pride revolted at the idea of their being handed over for execution to a child, and they cried to Jerubbaal: Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. From this victory rose the first monarchy among the Israelites. The Midianites, owing to their marauding habits and the amount of tribute which they were accustomed to secure for escorting caravans, were possessed of a considerable quantity of gold, which they lavished on the decoration of their persons: their chiefs were clad in purple mantles, their warriors were loaded with necklaces, bracelets, rings, and ear-rings, and their camels also were not behind their masters in the brilliance of their caparison. The booty which Gideon secured was, therefore, considerable, and, as we learn from the narrative, excited the envy of the Ephraimites, who said: Why hast thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with Midian? *

* Judges viii. 1-3.

The spoil from the golden ear-rings alone amounted to one thousand seven hundred shekels, as we learn from the narrative, and this treasure in the hands of Jerubbaal was not left unemployed, but was made, doubtless, to contribute something to the prestige he had already acquired: the men of Israel, whom he had just saved from their foes, expressed their gratitude by offering the crown to him and his successors. The mode of life of the Hebrews had been much changed after they had taken up their abode in the mountains of Canaan. The tent had given place to the house, and, like their Canaanite neighbours, they had given themselves up to agricultural pursuits. This change of habits, in bringing about a greater abundance of the necessaries of life than they had been accustomed to, had begotten aspirations which threw into relief the inadequacy of the social organisation, and of the form of government with which they had previously been content. In the case of a horde of nomads, defeat or exile would be of little moment. Should they be obliged by a turn in their affairs to leave their usual haunts, a few days or often a few hours would suffice to enable them to collect their effects together, and set out without trouble, and almost without regret, in search of a new and more favoured home. But with a cultivator of the ground the case would be different: the farm, clearings, and homestead upon which he had spent such arduous and continued labour; the olive trees and vines which had supplied him with oil and wine--everything, in fact, upon which he depended for a livelihood, or which was dependent upon him, would bind him to the soil, and expose his property to disasters likely to be as keenly felt as wounds inflicted on his person. He would feel the need, therefore, of laws to secure to him in time of peace the quiet possession of his wealth, of an army to protect it in time of war, and of a ruler to cause, on the one hand, the laws to be respected, and to become the leader, on the other, of the military forces. Jerubbaal is said to have, in the first instance, refused the crown, but everything goes to prove that he afterwards virtually accepted it. He became, it is true, only a petty king, whose sovereignty was limited to Manasseh, a part of Ephraim, and a few towns, such as Succoth and Penuel, beyond the Jordan. The Canaanite city of Shechem also paid him homage. Like all great chiefs, he had also numerous wives, and he recognised as the national Deity the God to whom he owed his victories.

Out of the spoil taken from the Midianites he formed and set up at Ophrah an ephod, which became, as we learn, a snare unto him and unto his house, but he had also erected under a terebinth tree a stone altar to Jahveh-Shalom (Jehovah is peace).* This sanctuary, with its altar and ephod, soon acquired great celebrity, and centuries after its foundation it was the object of many pilgrimages from a distance.

Jerubbaal was the father by his Israelite wives of seventy children, and, by a Canaanite woman whom he had taken as a concubine at Shechem, of one son, called Abimelech.**

* The _Book of Judges_ separates the altar from the ephod,
placing the erection of the former at the time of the
vocation of Gideon (vi. 11-31) and that of the ephod after
the victory (viii. 24-27). The sanctuary of Ophrah was
possibly in existence before the time of Jerubbaal, and the
sanctity of the place may have determined his selection of
the spot for placing the altar and ephod there.

** Judges viii. 30, 31.

The succession to the throne would naturally have fallen to one of the seventy, but before this could be arranged, Abimelech went to Shechem unto his mothers brethren, and spake with them, and with all the family of the house of his mothers father, saying, Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is better for you, that all the sons of Jerubbaal, which are threescore and ten persons, rule over you, or that one rule over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh. This advice was well received; it flattered the vanity of the people to think that the new king was to be one of themselves; their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother. And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith (the Lord of the Covenant), wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light fellows, which followed him.... He slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone. The massacre having been effected, all the men of Shechem assembled themselves together, and all the house of Millo,* and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar which was in Shechem. ** He dwelt at Ophrah, in the residence, and near the sanctuary, of his father, and from thence governed the territories constituting the little kingdom of Manasseh, levying tribute upon the vassal villages, and exacting probably tolls from caravans passing through his domain.

* The word Millo is a generic term, meaning citadel or
stronghold of the city: there was a Millo in every important
town, Jerusalem included.

** The oak of the pillar was a sacred tree overshadowing
probably a _cippus_: it may have been the tree mentioned in
Gen. xxxv. 4, under which Jacob buried the strange gods; or
that referred to in Josh. xxiv. 26, under which Joshua set
up a stone commemorative of the establishment of the law.
Jotham, the youngest son of Gideon, escaped the massacre. As
soon as he heard of the election of Abimelech, he ascended
Mount Gerizim, and gave out from there the fable of the
trees, applying it to the circumstances of the time, and
then fled. Some critics think that this fable--which is
confessedly old--was inserted in the text at a time when
prophetical ideas prevailed and monarchy was not yet
accepted.

This condition of things lasted for three years, and then the Shechemites, who had shown themselves so pleased at the idea of having one of their brethren as sovereign, found it irksome to pay the taxes levied upon them by him, as if they were in no way related to him. The presence among them of a certain Zebul, the officer and representative of Abimelech, restrained them at first from breaking out into rebellion, but they returned soon to their ancient predatory ways, and demanded ransom for the travellers they might capture even when the latter were in possession of the kings safe conduct. This was not only an insult to their lord, but a serious blow to his treasury: the merchants who found themselves no longer protected by his guarantee employed elsewhere the sums which would have come into his hands. The king concealed his anger, however; he was not inclined to adopt premature measures, for the place was a strong one, and defeat would seriously weaken his prestige. The people of Shechem, on their part, did not risk an open rupture for fear of the consequences. Gaal, son of Ebed,* a soldier of fortune and of Israelitish blood, arrived upon the scene, attended by his followers: he managed to gain the confidence of the people of Shechem, who celebrated under his protection the feast of the Vintage.

* The name Ebed (slave, servant) is assumed to have been
substituted in the Massorotic text for the original name
Jobaal, because of the element Baal in the latter word,
which was regarded as that of the strange god, and would
thus have the sacrilegious meaning Jahveh is Baal. The term
of contempt, Ebed, was, according to this view, thus used to
replace it.