A.M. 2561.

CHAPTER VI.

THE JUDGES OF THE ISRAELITES,

TO THE MONARCHY UNDER DAVID.

A.M. 2561. B.C. 1443-A.M. 2941. B.C. 1063.

JOSHUA had no immediate successor. The dispositions of the B.C. 1443. people over whom he had presided with such singular success, were now relaxing into that indifference to the divine favours which is the sure presage of their withdrawment; and thus neglectful of the principles of their unity, as a nation, they lost the secret of their strength and of their past progress. Joshua, indeed, as presiding over the whole of the tribes of Israel, and carrying forward victoriously the accomplishment of God's promises to give them all the land of Canaan, had no successor until the times of DAVID. It will accord, then, at once with our plan, and with the circumstances of the case, to give a brief view of the fates of this remarkable people during the time of their JUDGES, under the name of the most distinguished of them, (and perhaps their own historian,) SAMUEL, as the connecting link between the conquests of Joshua and those of Daivd.

Tribe of Judah presides. Caleb.

By a divine decision, the tribe of Judah was selected, shortly after the death of Joshua, to lead forward their brethren in their future wars; and over that tribe CALEB, the distinguished and faithful companion of their late commander, appears at this time to have presided. As the possessions of Judah closely bordered upon those of the tribe of Simeon, the cautious veteran was induced to call for the assistance of the latter tribe more particularly than for that of the rest, and their first efforts were directed to the deliverance of their own respective territories from the hand of the enemy. The two tribes unitedly undertook the siege of Bezek, (a town of Canaan, near the Jordan, about seventeen miles from Shechem,) and Jerusalem. In the neighbourhood of Bezek they obtained a complete victory over the united forces of the Canaanites and Perizzites, amounting to upwards of 10,000 men, and finding in the city seventy mutilated princes who " gathered their meat under the table" of Adoni-Bezek, the tyrant of the place, they inflicted upon him a retaliatory punishment by cutting off his thumbs and great toes. Jerusalem, then called Jebus, submitted to their arms at about the same time, for to this place they brought the captive king of Bezek,

(whose conscience appears to have been touched with the justice of a.m. 2561. the government of God,) and there he died. Though the king of B.C. 1443. Jerusalem had formerly placed himself at the head of that alliance over which Joshua gained his great victory at Gibeon, the Jewish general does not appear to have subdued the capital, which was now taken by assault and burnt; except a strong fortress on the top of Mount Zion, which resisted every attack. The mountainous country

At

Caleb.

around, and towards the south, to the wilderness of Paran, was immediately added to the lot of Judah; and the united tribes proceeded to attack in succession, Hebron, Debir, Gaza, Askelon, and Zephath, the possession of which they divided between them. Debir we hear finally of Caleb, in the proclamation which he issued, offering his daughter in marriage to whoever might subdue the place; and on his nephew Othniel, the son of Kenaz, (afterwards the first of the Judges,) becoming the successful champion, he adds a liberal dowry to that honourable gift. The character of Caleb will always Character of rank high among that of the greatest of men. He was one of the two " 'among the faithless, faithful" found, when twelve princes of the tribes were deputed from the wilderness to search the promised land; and their report was so important to the hopes, and even to the peaceable conduct of the people. Joshua and Caleb were the heroes and helpers of that day, who, when the whole of their companions discouraged all further trust in God, and in his servant Moses, stilled the people," avowed the difficulties, but anticipated the future triumphs of their way; and at the peril of their lives insisted that what their eyes had seen of the promised possessions, would abundantly compensate for every effort in obtaining them. He had the testimony of God" that he followed" Him "fully"—was the only individual then above twenty years of age, except Joshua, who afterwards was permitted to enter into the land he had described— and at the period before us, of his last achievements, as a leader and commander of God's people, was engaged in the subjugation of a portion of that very race, ("the sons of Anak,") whose gigantic stature had been transferred to all the people of the land, and formed one of the chief grounds of the cowardly and faithless apprehensions of his brethren.

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The other tribes, aroused by these repeated successes, made several efforts to extend their respective territories. The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh assisted the Danites in the subjugation of the Amorites, and took possession of Bethel; but contented themselves, even "in their strength," with rendering the conquered nations tributary, instead of fulfilling the divine commission to extirpate them from the land. This now became the general conduct of the fickle but highly favoured tribes. They found, perhaps, in the immediate possession of the skill and labours of their captives, in the splendour and imposing character of their idolatry, the soothing solemnities of their groves, and the silver and gold of their idols,

A.M. 2561. (which they were commanded "utterly to detest,") as well as in the B.C. 1443. personal charms of their females, those very seductions from obedience

Apostacy

of the Israelites.

Micah's idolatry.

to the true God, of which they had been so often warned, and which constituted one of the principal reasons for the awful mandate of the entire destruction of these nations. While the Canaanites, on the other hand, would have every motive to submit for a time to that yoke to which resistance was so evidently in vain, and to contract alliances which enervated the conquerors more than the conquered; as they might ultimately have the opportunity of shaking them off at pleasure. A divine messenger announced to the Israelites God's high disapprobation of this idle and unfaithful policy; but at the death of Caleb that generation was swept away, which had seen His greater interpositions on their behalf, and the rising generation appears to have mingled without reluctance in all the habits and idolatries of the land.

A.M. 2599. During these times of confusion and apostacy, occurred the two B.C. 1406. events, highly characteristic of such a period, which are related, at considerable length, at the conclusion of the book of JUDGES, that the narrative of the public affairs of this people might not be too much interrupted. An Ephraimite, of the name of Micah, having erected a splendid private temple for certain idols belonging to his mother, made his own son his priest. But a young Levite accidentally travelling into the neighbourhood, Micah persuaded him to accept the office, regularly stipulated his salary, and provided for him habiliments in imitation of those in which the regular priesthood were accustomed to appear before God in Shiloh. This ignorant devotee now anticipated with confidence that his worship would be acceptable to Jehovah; but the Levite, upon whose idolatrous services he so warmly congratulated himself, became the means of his utter ruin. A party of Danites, in their researches after a more extended territory, came to Mount Ephraim, and lodged at Micah's house. Finding in the Levite an old acquaintance, and having inquired into the nature of his present occupations, they first pretended to ask the counsel of God respecting their success in a projected enterprize upon Laish, and receiving a favourable answer, the army of the tribe assembled in the neighbourhood. But instead of manifesting any gratitude for the hospitality of Micah to their messengers, or reverence for the character assumed by his priest, they now took advantage of their numbers to seize upon his idol, and the riches of his shrine, which they carried, with the accommodating priest, to Laish; and having subjugated the city to their own dominion, set up the idol for public worship there. Here it is said to have been established and resorted to, all the time that the ark of God was in Shiloh. The idols of Micah remind us of the teraphim of Laban, the talismans of the oriental nations, and the penates of the Romans. In some instances, as in the case of Micah, they seem to have been hieroglyphics, or symbols, borrowed per

haps from the cherubim, or such figures as were commanded to A.M. 2599. be made for the tabernacle, and which might be supposed to be B.C. 1406. emblems of Deity; although image worship was expressly forbidden, and the Israelites were reminded that, neither in the giving of the law, nor upon any other occasion, had the Deity appeared in a visible shape. In the case of Laban, they were not unlikely household gods, similar to the penates of the later ages of idolatry, as it is highly probable that such a man as Laban would yield to the superstitious customs around him, especially if it should in any way conduce to his worldly interest. It seems, by the testimony of the Rabbins, that teraphim is a word sometimes applied to magical preparations, involving the most cruel rites, and supposed to possess oracular powers. The talismans of the East were metal figures, formed under the aspects of certain planets, and supposed to possess great efficacy in active and protecting qualities and virtues. It is evident, that in families in which we should have expected greater purity, we find a strange propensity to idolatry-even in that of Jacob, who commanded his household to deliver to him their idols, previous to his going to Bethel to worship, and he buried them under an oak. Various conjectures have been formed respecting a word (D) which in various parts of the Scriptures signifies simply an image of any kind.

Gibeah.

The other circumstance which the inspired penman has perpetu- Outrage at ated, presents a still more disgraceful picture of the times, and was more extensively disastrous to the tribes. A Levite of Mount Ephraim was returning home with a concubine who had eloped from him, and lodged for the night with a brother Ephraimite at Gibeah, a town belonging to the tribe of Benjamin; when the inhabitants of the place surrounded the hospitable abode, and demanded the stranger for the gratification of their brutal lusts. In vain, like just Lot, did the master of the house expostulate with these wretches; no method of appeasing them could be found except that of delivering up the concubine of his guest, who remained with them until morning; when she died at the door from the cruelty of their treatment. The Levite, with the coolness of determined vengeance predominating in his mind, took the body home, divided it into twelve pieces, and sent one to each of the tribes, with an appeal against the outrage he had suffered. A general assembly of the Israelites was called in consequence at Mizpeh, amongst whom appeared an army of 400,000 men. Here they examined into the case of the indignant Levite more fully, and agreeing that nothing so disgraceful had ever occurred amongst them since they had been formed into a nation, the whole assembly resolved that they would not return unto their homes until the perpetrators of this abominable deed were brought to punishment. Messengers were despatched, making instant requisition for them of the princes of the tribe of Benjamin; who, instead of uniting in

A.M. 2599 detestation of the crime, armed themselves in defence of the crimB.C. 1406. inals to the number of 20,000 chosen men. The divine approbation seems to have sanctioned the sense of justice which now appeared to fill the bosom of the tribes; but as it existed very feebly there, and in union with vindictive and oppressive dispositions, God's interposition for them was but partial and temporary. They were instructed by an oracular communication to march as heretofore under the direction of the tribe of Judah; they penetrated quickly to the town of Gibeah, and though twice repulsed with considerable loss, they obtained (partly by stratagem) a final and most decisive victory over the Benjamites, who were all put to the sword except about 600 men. These fled into the mountains of the neighbourhood, while the fury of the other tribes urged them to the utter destruction of the cities and villages, and even the wives and children of their devoted brethren. Of this excessive vengeance, however, they soon saw reason to repent. The threatened extinction of a tribe from Israel, by its own sin or their own arbitrary measures in punishing it, was an unparalleled calamity, and the tribes again met in council, over the consequences. The 600 men who fled into the rocks of Rimmon, constituted the whole remaining strength of the tribe of Benjamin; and at the beginning of the war, the other tribes had vowed to give no Benjamite a wife from amongst them. They now therefore devised two most strange and unjustifiable expedients to obviate the effects of this rash vow. Finding that the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead, (a portion of the tribe of Manasseh,) had not repaired to the general assembly at Mizpeh, and recollecting an awful oath they then had made respecting all who did not come, they issued an edict for the destruction of that place, with the exception of the unmarried women, whom they assigned to the Benjamites. They also encouraged them to take advantage of the annual feast unto God in Shiloh, by seizing for wives the young women who repaired thither. The fugitives availed themselves of these expedients, and the tribe, though it always remained a small one, 'gradually recovered from these severe disasters.

Othniel.

The valour of ОTHNIEL, who seems to have been born to sustain the honours of Caleb's family, had shortly after these transactions, a noble field for its display. The tribes of Israel by their impiety and pusillanimity, after the death of his father-in-law, had been subjected to the dominion of Cushan-Rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, for upwards of eight years; when Othniel found means to raise an army against the oppressor; and so unwearied and successful were his exertions, that he established a permanent deliverance for the Israelites, and judged them in peace forty years. Their captain in the season of difficulty and danger, and guided generally in his steps by the immediate dictation of the Spirit of God, this important person would naturally obtain that ascendency in the national councils which the proper improvement of his own victories