years afterwards, the kingdom of Israel, thus weakened and distressed, was completely broken up and destroyed. In A. M. 3283, Shalmaneser and Esar-haddon, his grandson, carried off the remaining seven and a half tribes, planting them in the same places whither their brethren had been carried before them; "and," it is added, "IN THE CITIES OF THE MEDES." (2 Kings xviii. 11.)

Strictly speaking, there were three deportations of these tribes:

1st. Of the two and a half tribes, on the other side of Jordan, by Pul and Tilgath-pilneser.

2nd, Of the bulk of the seven and a half tribes, by Shalmaneser.

3rd. Of the remains of the latter, by Esar haddon, who swept the land of even the poor lingerers on the mountains of Israel; so that Israel could not by any means become a people; but remained broken as a nation, and broken as a people too.

To make the riddance complete, Esar-haddon brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria, instead of the children of Israel." (Ezra iv. 2, 10; 2 Kings xvii. 24.)

THE DISPERSION OF THE TEN TRIBES.

FROM their captivity the Ten Tribes never returned. It has been urged that they returned with Ezra, because that individual sacrificed twelve victims for the aggregate tribes. This no more proves the case, than the fact of St. James addressing his epistle to the Twelve Tribes establishes their distinct and corporate existence in his day. This act of Ezra, simply testified his faith in the purposes and promises of God; of the unalterable love of God for his people, though now broken, and dispersed, and swallowed up of the Gentiles.

It is not to be doubted that individuals of these tribes returned when Judah and Benjamin were restored ; for we have New Testament evidence of the fact.

To cite individual instances,

we have Anna, who was of the tribe Asshur; (St. Luke ii. 36;) and the apostles were selected from four different tribes in Galilee. For a collective example, the day of Pentecost proves that many of these tribes were distinguished in the days of the apostles; for is it to be doubted, that of the dwellers in Parthia, Media, Elam, &c., who, when the Spirit was poured out, were assembled from the very seats of the captives of the tribes, none were of Ephraim. History informs us, that "Ezra sent a copy of the decree of Artaxerxes to all of the same nation throughout Media, where the Ten Tribes lived in captivity, and many of them came with their effects to Babylon, desiring to return to Jerusalem; but the main body of the Israelites abode in that region; and therefore it hath happened, (says Josephus,) that there are two tribes in Asia and Europe, living in subjection to the Romans; but the ten tribes are beyond the Euphrates at this time. Again, the Talmud, far from acknowledging the return of the tribes, affirms that only the dregs of the people followed Ezra.

Ephraim no longer existed as a distinct part of the nation. The genealogies of the Jews became * Antiq. lib. ii. cap. 5, sect. 2, p. 482.

irregular, and the tribes were blended together. Persecution and the revolution of empires diminished their numbers; in short, "the land of their enemies consumed them." The Ten Tribes, however, never were nor can become extinct and for their existence, or rather for the existence of the remnant, it is natural to turn to those regions which were the acknowledged seats of their exile and captivity; whilst, for their identity, we must refer to other proofs than the antiquary would furnish, and data which perhaps the authority of history would be prone to despise.

The captivity of Judah and Benjamin subsequent to that of the Ten Tribes, and the diffusion of the Jewish family throughout Chaldea, Mesopotamia, Parthia, and Media, (Esther ix. 30,) contributed to further the judgment of God upon rebellious Ephraim, in melting him with the mass of his people, and destroying his existence independent of Judah and Benjamin. This amalgamation, together with the revolution of empires, and the vicissitudes of a hundred generations, renders the identification difficult and almost impossible. But the purposes of God are sure, and who can annul when he decrees?

"The remnant shall return, the remnant of Jacob unto the mighty God. For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, a REMNANT of them shall return.” (Isaiah x. 21, 22.)

Considering the myriads carried into captivity, and the large proportion of the Ten over the Two Tribes, it is not a matter of speculation to conclude, that the great mass of the Persian Jews, and those of adjacent countries, are of Ephraim, or the Ten Tribes. In fact, the traditions of the Jews of Salmas and the Koord countries affirm this fact. The Jews of Babylon to this day, preserve a distance from their brethren in Persia and Georgia under this conviction. But the identification must be irrespective of tradition, and of those generalities which may lead us to speculate to the end of the chapter, but which would never conduct to any satisfactory result.

The seven and a half tribes which were scattered and sold into Mesopotamia, Media, Parthia, Ethiopia, India, and Assyria, are never likely to return to the land of their forefathers, or to be incorporated in the true stock of Israel, as it is not clear from Scripture whether the return of the whole tribes is foretold. We find in the time