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LECTURES  ON  THE  HISTORY 


OF 


THE    JEWISH    CHURCH. 


PAKT  I. 
ABRAHAM     to     SAMUEL. 


By  ARTHUR  PENRHYN  STANLEY,  D.D. 

EEGIUS     PSOFBSSOE    OP    ECCLESIASTICAL     HISTOET    IN     THE     UMVERSITY    OP    0X70BS :     HONOKABT 

CHAPLAIN    IN    OEDINAEY    TO    THE    QnEEN  :    H  jNOSAST 

CHAPLAIN    TO    THE    PEINCB    OB    WALES. 


WITH    MAPS    AND     PLANS. 


SECOND   EDITION. 


LONDON: 
JOHN    MUEEAT,    ALBEMAELE    STEEET. 

1863. 


2'Ae  rii/lit  of  trans'alion  is  reserved. 


LONDON 

PKIS^TED     BY     SPOTTISWOODE      AND      CO. 

JTBW-SIKEIil    SQUABE 


liRL 


DEDICATION. 


TO    THE   DEAR  MEMOKY   OP   HER, 

BY  "WHOSE   FIRM   FAITH,   CALM  WISDOM,   AND   TENDER   SYMPATHY 

THESE   AND   ALL   OTHER  LABOURS 

HAVE   FOR  YEARS   BEEN   SUSTAINED   AND   CBTEERED, 

TO    MY    MOTHER, 

THIS  WORK, 

WHICH   SHARED   HER  LATEST   CARE, 

IS   NOW  DEDICATED, 

IN   SACRED   AND   EVERLASTING   REMEMBRANCE. 


2107558 


PREFACE. 


THE  contents  of  this  volume,  in  accordance  with  a 
plan '  which  I  have  set  forth  elsewhere,  consist  of 
Lectures,  actually  or  in  substance,  addressed  to  my 
usual  hearers  at  Oxford,  chiefly  candidates  for  Holy 
Orders.  The  Twentieth  (with  some  slight  variations 
from  its  present  form)  was  preached  as  a  sermon  from 
the  University  Pulpit.  These  circumstances  will  account 
both  for  the  local  allusions,  and  for  the  practical  cha- 
racter of  the  Lectures,  which  I  have  left  in  most  cases 
as  they  originally  stood. 

Throughout  the  volume  I  have  endeavoured  to  bear 
in  mind  three  main  objects,  indicated  in  its  title. 

In  the  first  place,  the  work  must  be  regarded  not 
as  a  History,  but  as  Lectures.  This  mode  of  in- 
struction, besides  being  that  to  which  I  was  naturally 
led  by  the  duties  of  my  Chair,  appeared  to  me  specially 
adapted  to  the  subjects  of  which  I  was  to  treat.  In 
the  case  of  a  history  so  famihar  as  that  of  which  the 
materials  are  for  the  most  part  contained  in  the  Bible, 

'  Introductory  Lectures  to  the  History  of  the  Eastern  Church,  pp.  xxvii.-xxxi. 


VIU  PREFACE. 

and  embracing,  as  it  does,  topics  of  the  most  varied  in- 
terest, the  form  of  Lectures,  whilst  it  avoided  the  neces- 
sity of  a  continuous  narrative,  enabled  me  to  select  the 
portions  most  susceptible  of  fresh  illustration  and  com- 
bination, and  at  the  same  time  most  likely  to  stimulate 
an  intelhgent  study  of  the  whole.  Moreover,  there 
already  exists  in  EngHsh  a  well-known  narrative  of  the 
History  of  the  Jews,  which  is  now,  I  am  glad  to  hope, 
on  the  point  of  reappearing,  with  the  most  recent 
revisions  from  the  pen  of  its  distinguished  author.  I 
trust  that  the  venerable  Dean  of  S.  Paul's  will  add  to 
his  many  other  kindnesses  his  forgiveness  of  this  in- 
trusion on  a  field  peculiarly  his  own  —  an  intrusion 
which  would  never  have  been  attempted,  but  in  the 
belief  that  it  would  not  interfere  with  those  labours 
which  have  made  his  name  dear  to  all  who  know  the 
value  of  a  genuine  love  of  truth  and  freedom,  combined 
with  profound  theological  learning  and  high  ecclesias- 
tical station. 

Secondly,  although  for  the  above  reasons  abstaining 
from  the  attempt  to  write  a  consecutive  history,  I  have 
wished  to  present  the  main  characters  and  events  of 
the  Sacred  ISTarrative  in  a  form  as  nearly  historical  as 
the  facts  of  the  case  will  admit. 

The  Jewish  History  has  suffered  from  causes  similar 
to  those  which  still,  within  our  own  memory,  obscured 
the  history  of  Greece  and  of  Eome.  Till  within  the 
present  century,  the  characters  and  institutions  of  those 
two  great  countries  were  so  veiled  from  view  in  the 


PREFACE.  IX 

.conventional  haze  with  which  the  enchantment  of 
distance  had  invested  them,  that  when  the  more  graphic 
and  critical  historians  of  our  time  broke  through  this 
reserve,  a  kind  of  shock  was  felt  through  all  the 
educated  classes  of  the  country.  The  same  change  was 
in  a  still  higher  degree  needed  with  regard  to  the 
history  of  the  Jews.  Its  sacred  character  had  deepened 
the  difficulty  already  occasioned  by  its  extreme  anti- 
quity. That  earliest  of  Christian  heresies  —  Docetism, 
or  '  phantom  worship '  —  the  reluctance  to  recognise 
in  sacred  subjects  their  identity  with  our  own  flesh  and 
blood  —  has  at  different  periods  of  the  Christian  Church 
affected  the  view  entertained  of  the  whole  Bible.  The 
same  tendency  which  led  Philo  and  Origen,  Augustine 
and  Gregory  the  Great,  to  see  in  the  plainest  statements 
of  the  Jewish  history  a  series  of  mystical  allegories,  in 
our  own  time  has  as  completely  closed  its  real  contents 
to  a  large  part  both  of  religious  and  irreligious  readers, 
as  if  it  had  been  a  collection  of  fables.  Many,  who 
would  be  scandahsed  at  ignorance  of  the  battles  of 
Salamis  or  Cannae,  know  and  care  nothing  for  the 
battles  of  Beth-horon  and  Megiddo.  To  search  the 
Jewish  records  as  we  would  search  those  of  other 
nations,  is  regarded  as  dangerous.  Even  to  speak  of 
any  portion  of  the  Bible  as  '  a  history,'  has  been  de- 
scribed, even  by  able  and  pious  men,  as  an  outrage  upon 
religion. 

In  protesting  against  this  elimination  of  the  historical 
element  from  the  Sacred  Narrative,  I  shall  not  be  un- 
derstood as  wishing  to  efface  the  distinction  which  good 


X  PREFACE. 

taste,  no  less  than  reverence,  will  always  endeavour  to 
preserve  between  the  Jewish  and  other  histories. 
Even  in  dealing  with  Greek  and  Roman  times,  we  must 
beware  of  an  excessive  reaction  against  the  old  system 
of  nomenclature.  An  indiscriminate  introduction  of 
modern  associations  into  tiie  ancient  or  the  sacred 
world  is  almost  as  misleading  as  their  entire  exclusion. 
But  we  shall  be  best  preserved  from  such  dangers  by  a 
true  understanding  of  the  actual  events,  persons,  and 
countries  of  which  we  profess  to  speak.  And  there  are 
so  many  signs  of  returning  healthiness  in  regard  to 
Biblical  History,  that  we  need  not  fear  for  the  result. 
It  is  one  of  the  many  debts  of  gratitude  which  the 
Churcli  of  England  owes  to  the  author  of  the  '  Christian 
Year,'  that  he  was  one  of  the  first  amongst  our  divines 
who  ventured  in  his  well-known  poems  to  allude  to  the 
scenes  and  the  characters  of  the  Sacred  Story  in  the  same 
terms  that  he  would  have  used  if  speaking  of  any  other 
remarkable  history.  It  is  for  this  reason,  amongst 
others,  that  I  have  on  all  occasions,  where  it  was  pos- 
sible, employed  his  language  —  now  happily  familiar  to 
the  whole  of  Erighsh  Christendom  —  to  enforce  and  to 
illustrate  my  own  descriptions.  Similar  examples  of 
freely  handhng  these  sacred  subjects  in  a  becoming 
spirit  may  be  seen  (to  select  two  works,  widely  differing 
in  other  respects)  in  Dr.  Eobinson's  '  Biblical  Researches 
'  in  Palestine,'  and  the  Prefaces  to  Dr.  Pusey's  '  Com- 
'  mentary  on  the  Minor  Prophets.'  Indeed  it  may 
safely  be  said  —  and  it  is  the  almost  inevitable  result  of 
an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  language,  the  topo- 
graphy, or  the  poetry  of  the  Bible  —  that  whoever  has 


PREFACE.  XI 

passed  through  any  one  of  these  gates  into  a  nearer  pre- 
sence of  the  truths  and  the  events  described,  will  never 
again  be  able  to  speak  of  them  with  the  cold  and  stiff 
formality  which  once  was  thought  their  only  safe- 
guard. 

Thirdly,   it   has   been   my  intention  to  make  these 
Lectures  strictly  '  ecclesiastical.'      The  history  of  the 
Jewish  race,  language,  and  antiquities  belongs  to  other 
departments.     It  is  the  history  of  the  Jewish  Church 
of  which  my  office  invited  me  to  speak.     I  have  thus 
been  led  to  dwell  especially  on  those  parts  of  the  history 
which  bear  directly  on  the  religious  development  of 
the  nation.     I  have  never  forgotten  that  the  literature 
of  the  Hebrew  race,  ft-om  which  the  materials  of  these 
Lectures    are   drawn,  is  also   the  Bible  —  the  Sacred 
Book,   or  Books,  of  Christendom.     I  have  constantly 
endeavoured  to   remind  my  hearers  and  readers  that 
the  Christian  Church   sprang  out  of  the  Jewish,  and 
therefore  to  connect  the  history  of  the  two  together, 
both    by   way  of  contrast  and   illustration,  wherever 
opportunity  offered.     Whatever  memorials  of  any  par- 
ticular form  or  epoch  of  the  Jewish  History  can  be  per- 
manently traced  in  the  institutions,  the  language,  the 
imagery,  of  either  Church,  I  have  endeavoured  carefully 
to  note.     The  desire  to  find  in  all  parts  of  the  Old 
Testament  allegories  or  types  of  the  New,  has  been 
pushed  to  such  an  excess  that  many  students  turn  away 
from  this  side  of  the  history  in  disgust.     But  there  is 
a  continuity  of  character  runnhig  through  the  career 
of  the  Chosen  People  which  cannot  be  disputed,  and 


Xll  PREFACE. 

on  this,  the  true  historical  basis  of  '  types  '  —  which  is, 
in  fact,  only  the  Greek  word  for  '  hkenesses  ' — I  have 
not  scrupled  to  dwell.  Throughout  I  have  sought  to 
recognise  the  identity  of  purpose  —  the  constant  gravi- 
tation towards  the  greatest  of  all  events — which,  under 
any  hypothesis,  must  furnish  the  main  interest  of  the 
History  of  Israel. 


These  are  the  chief  points  to  which  I  have  called 
attention  in  my  Lectures,  and  to  which  I  here  again 
call  the  attention  of  my  readers.  There  are  many  col- 
lateral questions  naturally  arising  out  of  the  subject,  for 
which  the  purpose  of  this  work  furnishes  no  scope. 
Discussions  of  chronology,  statistics,  and  physical 
science  —  of  the  critical  state  of  the  different  texts  and 
the  authorship  of  the  different  portions  of  the  narrative 
—  of  the  precise  limits  to  be  drawn  between  natural 
and  supernatural,  ^  providential  and  miraculous — unless 
in  passages  where  the  existing  documents  and  the  ex- 
isting localities  force  the  consideration  upon  us,  I  have 
usually  left  unnoticed.  I  have  passed  by  these  ques- 
tions because  I  do  not  wish  to  disturb  my  readers  with 
distinctions  which  to  the  Sacred  writers  were  for  the 
most  part  alien  and  unknown,  and  which,  within  the 
limits  of  the  plan  of  this  work,  would  be  superfluous 
and  inappropriate.  The  only  exception  which  I  have 
made  has  been  in  favour  of  illustrations  from  Geogra- 
phy.    These,  from  the  circumstance  of  my  having  been 

'  For   an    able   statement   of  this       '  the  Supernatural '  in  the  Edinburgh 
question  I  may  refer  to  an  article  on       Eeview,  No.  236,  p.  378. 


PREFACE.  Xm 

twice  enabled  to  visit  the  scenes  of  Sacred  History,  I 
felt  that  I  might  be  pardoned  for  offering  as  my 
special  contribution  to  the  study  of  the  subject,  even  if 
they  somewhat  exceeded  the  due  proportion  of  the  rest^ 
of  the  work.  On  all  other  matters  of  this  secondary 
nature,  I  have  been  content  to  rest  on  the  researches^ 
of  others,  and  to  refer  to  them  for  further  elucidation. 
No  one  will,  I  trust,  suspect  me  of  undervaluing 
these  researches.  It  is  my  firm  conviction  that  in  pro- 
portion as  such  inquiries  are  fearlessly  pursued  by  those 
who  are  able  to  make  them,  will  be  the  gain  both  to 
the  cause  of  Bibhcal  science  and  of  true  Eeligion  ;  and 
I,  for  one,  must  profess  my  deep  obligations  to  those 
who  in  other  countries  have  devoted  their  time  and 
labour,  and  in  this  country  have  hazarded  worldly  in- 
terests and  popular  favour,  in  this  noble,  though  often 
perilous,  pursuit  of  Divine  Truth. 

To  name  any,  in  a  field  where  so  many  have  contri- 
buted to  the  general  result,  would  be  difficult  and  in- 
vidious. But  there  is  one  so  distinguished  above  the 
rest,  and  so  closely  connected  with  the  subject  of  this 
work,  that  I  must  be  permitted  to  express  here,  once 


•  This  must  be  my  excuse  for  the  of  Hebron,  and  the  Samaritan  Pass- 
frequent  references  to  another  work,  over. 

Sinai  and  Palestine,  which  was  origi-  ■^  It  will  be  seen  that  there  is  one 
naUy  undertaken  with  the  express  name  constantly  recurring  here,  as  in 
purpose  of  a  preparation  for  such  a  all  else  that  I  have  written  on  these 
work  as  is  here  attempted.  I  have  also  subjects.  It  is  an  unfailing  pleasure 
taken  this  opportunity  of  giving  in  to  me  to  refer  to  IVIr.  Grove's  con- 
the  Appendix  an  account  of  the  two  tinned  aid—  such  as  I  could  have  re- 
most  remarkable  scenes,  which  I  wit-  ceived  from  no  one  else  in  like  degree 
nessed  in  my  late  journey  to  the  — in  all  questions  connected  with 
Holy  Land, — the  visit  to  the  Mosque  Sacred  history  and  geography. 


XIV  PEEFACE. 

for  all,  the  gratitude  whicli  I,  in  common  with  many- 
others,  owe  to  his  vast  labours. 

It  is  now  twenty-seven  years  since  Arnold'  wrote 
to  Bunsen,  'Wliat  Wolf  and  Mebuhr  have  done  for 
'Greece  and  Eome,  seems  sadly  wanted  for  Judaea.' 
The  wish  thus  boldly  expressed  for  a  critical  and 
historical  investigation  of  the  Jewish  history  was,  in 
fact,  already  on  the  eve  of  accomplishment.  At  that 
time  Ewald  was  only  known  as  one  of  the  chief 
Orientalists  of  Germany.  He  had  not  yet  proved 
himself  to  be  the  first  Bibhcal  scholar  in  Europe.  But, 
year  by  year,  he  was  advancing  towards  his  grand 
object.  To  his  profound  knowledge  of  the  Hebrew 
language  he  added,  step  by  step,  a  knowledge  of  each 
stage  of  the  Hebrew  Literature.  These  labours  on  the 
prophetic  and  poetic  books  of  the  ancient  Scriptures 
culminated  in  his  noble  work  on  the  History  of  the 
People  of  Israel — as  powerful  in  its  general  conception, 
as  it  is  saturated  with  learning  down  to  its  minutest 
details.  It  would  be  presumptuous  in  me  either  to 
defend  or  to  attack  the  critical  analysis,  which  to  most 
English  readers  savours  of  arbitrary  dogmatism,  with 
which  he  assigns  special  dates  and  authors  to  the 
manifold  constituent  parts  of  the  several  books  of  the 
Old  Testament ;  and  from  many  of  his  general  state- 
ments I  should  venture  to  express  my  disagreement, 
were  this  the  place  to  do  so.  But  the  intimate  ac- 
quaintance which  he  exhibits  w^ith  every  portion  of  the 

'  Arnold's  Letters,  Feb.  10,  1835  {Life  and  Correspondence,  i.  338). 


PREFACE.  XV 

Sacred  Writings,  combined  as  it  is  with  a  loving  and 
reverential .  appreciation  of  each  individual  character, 
and  of  the  whole  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  Israelitish 
history,  has  won  the  respect  even  of  those  who  differ 
widely  from  his  conclusions.  How  vast  its  silent  effect 
has  been  may  be  seen  from  the  recognition  of  its  value, 
not  only  in  its  author's  own  country,  but  in  France, 
and  in  England  also.  One  instance  may  suffice  :  —  the 
constant  reference  to  his  writings  throughout  the  new 
'  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,'  to  which  I  have  myself  so 
often  referred  with  advantage,  and  which  more  than 
any  other  single  EngUsh  work  is  intended  to  represent 
the  knowledge  and  meet  the  wants  of  the  rising  gene- 
ration of  Bibhcal  students. 

But;  in  fact,  my  aim  has  been  not  to  recommend  the 
teaching  or  the  researches  of  any  theologian  however 
eminent,  but  to  point  the  way  to  the  treasures  them- 
selves of  that  History  on  which  I  have  spent  so  many 
years  of  anxious,  yet  delightful,  labour.  There  are 
some  excellent  men  who  disparage  the  Old  Testament, 
as  the  best  means  of  saving  the  New.  There  are  others 
who  think  that  it  can  only  be  maintained  by  dis- 
couraging all  inquiry  into  its  authority  or  its  contents. 
It  is  true  that  the  Old  Testament  is  inferior  to  the  New, 
that  it  contains  many  institutions  and  precepts  (those, 
for  example,  which  sanction  and  regulate  polygamy 
and  slavery),  which  have  been  condemned  or  aban- 
doned by  the  tacit  consent  of  nearly  the  whole  of  Chris- 
tendom. But  this  inferiority  is  no  more  than  both 
Testaments  freely  recognise  ;  the  one  by  pointing  to  a 


XVI  PREFACE. 

Future  greater  than  itself,  the  other  by  msisting  on  the 
gradual,  partial,  imperfect  character  of  the  Eevelations 
that  had  preceded  it.  It  is  true  also  that  the  rigid 
acceptance  of  every  part  of  the  Old  Testament,  as  of 
equal  authority,  equal  value,  and  equal  accuracy,  is 
rendered  impossible  by  every  advance  made  in  Biblical 
science,  and  by  every  increase  of  our  acquaintance  with 
Eastern  customs  and  primeval  history.  But  it  is  no 
less  true  that  by  almost  every  one  of  these  advances 
the  beauty  and  the  grandeur  of  the  substance  and 
spirit  of  its  different  parts  are  enhanced  to  a  degree  far 
transcending  all  that  was  possible  in  former  ages. 

My  object  will  have  been  attained,  if,  by  calling  at- 
tention to  these  incontestable  and  essential  features  of  the 
Sacred  History,  I  may  have  been  able  in  any  measure 
to  smooth  the  approaches  to  some  of  the  theological 
difficulties  which  may  be  in  store  for  this  generation ; 
still  more  if  I  can  persuade  any  one  to  look  on  the 
History  of  the  Jewish  Church  as  it  really  is  ;  to  see 
how  important  is  the  place  which  it  occupies  in  the 
general  education  of  the  world  —  how  many  elements 
of  religious  thought  it  suppUes,  which  even  the  New 
Testament  fails  to  furnish  in  the  same  degree — how 
largely  indebted  to  it  have  been  already,  and  may  yet 
be  in  a  still  greater  degree,  the  CiviHsation  and  the 
Faith  of  mankind. 


Chkist  Church,  Oxford  : 
Sept.  16,  1862. 


CONTENTS. 


PAQB 

Preface    ........         vii 

Introbuction        .......      xxxi 

Three  Stages  of  the  History  of  the  Jewish  Church         .       xxxi,  xxxii 
Authorities  for  the  History         .....     xxxii 

1.  Comparison  of  the  different  Canonical  Books     .  .    xxxiii 

2.  Lost  Books  ......    xxxiv 

3.  The  Hebrew  Text  —  The  Septuagint     .  .      xxxv,  xxxvi 

4.  Traditions  of  the  East  —  Josephus         .  xxxvii,  xxxviii 


THE  PATEIAKCHS. 


LECTURE  I. 

THE    CALL   OF   ABRAHAM. 

The  beginning  of  Ecclesiastical  History      ....  3 

I.  The  Migration  of  Abraham      .....  5 

Ur  of  the  Chaldees  —  Orfa — Haran — Passage  of  the 

Euphrates  —  Damascus         ....  5 — 10 
Likeness  to  the  Arabian  Chiefs  .  .  .11 

n.  The  Call  of  Abraham  .....        13 

1.  <  The  Friend  of  God  '—The  Worship  of  theHeavenly 

Bodies   and  of  the   Kings -^  Abraham  the  first 
Teacher  of  the  Divine  Unity  .  .  1.3—17 

2.  'The  Father  of  the  Faithful:'         ...         18 

Faith  of  Abraham  .  .  .  .18 

His  imiversal  Character     .  .  .  19 — 23 

The  name  of  Elohim  .  .  .  .22 

The  Covenant — Circumcision — The  Father  of  the 
Jewish  Church  ....  23—26 

a2 


xvm 


CONTENTS. 


LECTURE  n. 

ABKAHAM   AND   ISAAC. 

PAGE 

The  first  Entrance  into  the  Holy  Land       .  .  ,  .27 

I.  The  Halting-places  of  Abraham : 

1.  Shechem— 2.   Bethel— 3.   The  Oak  of  Mamre ; 
TheCaveof  Machpelah  — 4.  Beersheba      .  29—36 

n.  Simplicity  of  the  Patriarchal  Age  : 

Ishmael  —  Isaac —  Rebekah    .  .  .  37 — 39 

m.  External  Relations  of  Abraham       .  .  .  .39 

1.  To  the  Canaanites    .  .  .  .  .39 

2.  To  Egypt     .......  .        40 

3.  To  Ch'edorlaomer     .....        43 
Melchizedek  .  .  .  .  .44 

4.  To  the  Cities  of  the  Plain    ....        46 

TV.  Sacrifice  of  Isaac       .....  47 — 52 


LECTURE  m. 


JACOB. 


Contrast  of  Abraham  and  Jacob 


I.  Characters  of  Jacob  and  Esau 

Esau  the  hkeness  of  the  Edomites- 
Examples  of  mixed  Characters 

rr.  Wanderings  of  Jacob 

1.  Jacob  at  Bethel 

2.  In  Mesopotamia 

3.  At  Gilead     . 

4.  At  Mahanaim 

5.  At  Peniel 

Retirement  of  Esau 
The  Book  of  Job    . 

6.  Jacob's  Settlement  at  Shechem 

The  Oak  of  Deborah 
The  Grave  of  Rachel 

7.  The  Stay  at  Hebron 

8.  The  Descent  into  Egypt 

The  Death  of  Jacob 


■Jacob,  of  the  Jews 


63 

54 
56 
57 

59 
69 
61 
63 
64 
66 
68 
69 
70 
72 
72 
73 
74 
75 


CONTENTS. 


XIX 


LECTURE  IV. 


ISEAEL    IN     EGYPT. 


I.  Joseph  in  Egypt  .....  77—82 

II.  Israel  in  Egypt  ......        82 

The  Shepherd  Kings  and  Pastoral  State  of  Israel       .        83 
The  Servitude 84 

m.  Effects  of  their  Stay  : 

1.  Heliopolis,  and  Worship  of  the  Sun  .  86 — 90 

2.  Idolatry  of  Kings  —  Rameses         .  .  .  90,  91 
Pharaoh         .....  92—95 

3.  Leprosy        .  .  •  ,  •  •  .95 

4.  The  Use  of  the  Ass  ....        95 
Points  of  Contact  and  Contrast  in  the  Religions  of  Egypt  and 

Israel I  97—100 


MOSES. 


LECTURE  V. 

IHE  EXODtJS. 

trabo's  Account  of  Moses  ..... 

.      104 

I.  The  Birth  of  Moses      ..... 

105 

His  Education  ..... 

106 

His  Escape        ..... 

108 

n.  The  Call  of  Moses — The  Burning  Bush — The  Shepherd's 

. 

Staff               ..... 

109—111 

The  Name  of  Jehovah  .... 

Ill 

The  Return  of  Moaes    .... 

113 

His  personal  Appearance  and  Character 

114 

His  Family        ..... 

115 

in.  The  Delivekance    ..... 

117 

The  Plagues      . 

118 

The  Exodus      

120 

The  Passover     ..... 

121 

The  Flight        ..... 

124 

Rameses  —  Succoth  —  Etham  —  Passage  of  the 

Red 

Sea    ...... 

12 

5—128 

Its  peculiar  Characteristics 

12 

8—131 

The  Song  of  Miriam     .... 

132 

XX 


CONTENTS. 


LECTURE  VI. 

THE   WILDEENESS. 

PAGE 

The  Importance  of  Moses                ....  134—136 

Uncertainties  of  the  Topography  of  the  Wanderings           .  .       136 
Importance  of  the  Stay  in  the  Wilderness  to  Christian  and  to 

Jewish  Histoi-y :  Its  Peculiarities        .             .             .  138,  139 

Battle  of  Rephidim              .            .            .            .  .142 

The  Kenites  —  Jethro          .             .             .             .  .143 

The  Difficulties  of  the  Desert  —Water  —  Manna    .  145—147 


LECTURE  VII. 

SINAI  AND   IHE   LAW. 

March  from  Rephidim         .... 

.       149 

Sinai          ...... 

.       150 

I.  Negative  Revelation    .... 

.       151 

n.  Positive  Revelation    .... 

.       153 

Prophetic  Mission  of  Moses 

.      154 

Absence  of  the  Revelation  of  a  Futui'e  Lif 

3     .            .156 

The  Theocracy  .... 

157, 158 

in.  The  Law       ..... 

.      162 

Traces  of  the  Desert : 

1.  Constitution  of  the  Tribes    . 

.      163 

2.  The  Encampment     . 

.      164 

The  Ark         .... 

.      165 

The  Tabernacle 

.       166 

3.  Sacrifice  —  The  Tribe  of  Levi 

168—170 

4.  Distinctions  of  Food 

.      170 

6.  Blood  Revenge 

.      172 

6.  The  Law  generally  . 

.      173 

The  Ten  Commandments 

.      175 

LECTURE  VEIL 

KADESH   AND   PISGAH. 

I.  Journey  from  Sinai  to  Kadesh 

.       180 

Relics  of  the  Time    .... 

.       181 

Kadesh        ..... 

.       182 

Death  of  Aaron  and  IMiriam 

183, 184 

Moses  and  El  Khudr 

.       185 

CONTENTS. 


XXI 


n.  Journey  from  Kadesb  to  Moab 
Passage  of  the  Zered 
Passage  of  the  Arnon 
The  Well  of  the  Heroes 
The  Last  Days  of  Moses  —  Pisgah 

1.  Balaam  —  His  Character 

His  Journey 
His  Vision 

2.  Farewell  of 
Songs  — 'The 
God' 


LECTURE  YlU.—  cordmued. 

PAGE 

186 

187 

187 

187 

188 

189 

191 

194—197 

Moses — Deuteronomy — The     Two 

Prayer     of    Moses,   the     Man     of 

197—199 
199 
202 


The  last  View  from  Pisgah 
The  End  of  Moses 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  PALESTINE. 


LECTURE  IX. 


THE   CONQUEST   OF   THE   EAST   OF   THE   JORDAN. 

The  Early  Inhabitants  of  Western  Palestine           .             .             .  208 

The  PhcBnicians  or  Canaanites        .....  210 

Conquest  of  Eastern  Palestine              ....  212 
Sihon,  King  of  Heshbon  —  Battle  of  Jahaz  —  Defeat  of 

Midiau 213,  214 

Og,  King  of  Bashan  —  Battle  of  Edrei  —  Settlement  of 
Bashan  — Jair  — Nobah  .  .  .  214^217 

Pastoral  Character  of  the  Settlement               .             .             .  217 

Reuben 218 

Gad  — Manasseh               .....  219 

Controversy  between  the  Eastern  and  Western  Tribes       .             .  220 

Legend  of  Nobah .  221 

Eastern  Palestine  the  Refuge  of  the  West              .            .            .  222 


xxu 

CONTENTS. 

LECTUKE  X. 

THE   CONaUEST   OE   "WESTERN    PALESTINE — THE   FALL   OE   JERICHO. 

PAGE 

Importance  of  Western  Palestine   .....      225 

Phinehas      .             . 

, 

.       226 

Joshua 

,                     , 

.      227 

His  Character  - 

-  His  Name 

228—230 

The  Passage  of  the  Jordan 

230—232 

Gilgal  . 

.      233 

Jericho 

.      234 

Its  Fall     . 

.      235 

FaU  of  Ai 

.      236 

Eahab 

.      238 

The  Gibeonites 

.      238 

LECTURE  XI. 

THE   BATTLE   OF  BETH-HORON. 

Siege  of  Gibeon        .......      241 

Battle  of  Beth-horon  —  First  Stage  .  .  .  241,  242 

Second  Stage   .......      242 

Joshua's  Prayer  ......       243 

Third  Stage  —The  Slaughter  of  the  Kings  at  Makkedah  244—246 

Difficulties  of  the  Story        .  .  .  .  .  .247 

1.  The  Sun  standing  still — Answer  of  Galileo  and  of  Kepler  247 — 251 

2.  The  Massacre  of  the  Canaanites  —  Answer  of  Chiysostoni 
—  Answer  of  our  Lord  —  Answer  of  the  Epistle  to  the 

Hebrews  .....         251—253 

Illustrations  .....  253,  254 

The  Moral  Lesson  ....         255—257 


LECTURE  Xn. 


THE   BATTLE   OF    MEE03I   AND   SETTLEMENT   OF    THE   TRIBES. 

I.  Hazor  .......      258 

Gathering  of  the  Kings        .....       259 
The  Battle  of  Merom  .  .  .  .  .260 

II.  Settlement  of  the  Tribes  : 

1.  Separate  Conquests  .....       261 
Jair  and  Xobah  —  Dan  —  Attack  on  Bethel  — 
Judah  —  Caleb   and  Hebron  —  Othniel  and 
Debir  ....         261—265 


CONTENTS. 


XXUl 


LECTURE  Xn..—c(mtmued. 

2.  Assignment  of  Land : 
Ephraim 
Benjamin 
Simeon  . 
Zebulim,  Issachar,  Asher,  Xaphtali 
Dan 
Levi 

III.  Effects  of  the  Conquest 

1.  Settlement  of  the  Nation 

2.  Contact  with  Canaanites 

3.  Occupation  of  the  Holy  Land 

4.  Laws  of  Property — Decrees  of  Joshua 

IV.  Remains  of  the  Conquered  Races 

L^nconquered  Fortresses 
Tributary  Towns 
Migi'ation 

V.  Capitals 

Shiloh  . 
Shechem 
Joshua's  Grave 


265 
266 
267 
267 
268 
269 

270 
270 
272 
272 
273 

274 
275 
276 

277 

278 
278 
278—280 
280,  281 


THE    JUDGES. 


LECTURE  Xm. 

ISRAEL    UNDER  THE   JUDGES. 

Characteristics  of  the  Period  .....      285 

I.  Outward  Struggles       ......       287 

Continuation  of  the  Conquest  —  Military  Discipline         288 — 290 

n.  Litemal  Disorder       ......      290 

Office  of  Judge  .....  291,  292 

ni.  Phoenician  Influences  .....       292 

The  Name  of  Baal    ......       293 

Worship  of  Baal-berith        .  .  .  .  .293 

Vows  .......      294 


XXIV 


CONTENTS. 


LECTURE  Xm.— continued. 


PAGE 

IV.  Primitive  Simplicity              .....       294 

1.  The  Danites  and  Micah 

296 

2.  The  War  with  Benjamin 

301 

3.  Ruth 

303 

V.  Mixed  Characters 

306 

Classical  Element     . 

308 

VI.  Analogy  to  the  Middle  Ages 

310—314 

LECTURE  XIV.     ; 

DEBORAH. 

Preliminary  Conflicts  —  Othniel    .....      315 

Ehud 

315 

Deborah    . 

317 

Jabin  of  Hazor 

317 

Barak 

319 

Gathering  of  the  Tribes 

320 

The  Meeting  on  Tabor 

322 

Encampment  at  Taanach 

323 

Battle  of  Megiddo 

324 

The  Murder  of  Sisera 

327 

Eifect  of  the  Battle 

329 

The  Blessing  on  Jael 

330 

The  Song  of  Deborah 

334 

LECTURE  XV. 


GIDEON. 

The  Midianites         ..... 
Gideon       ...... 

The  Massacre  on  Tabor 

The  Mission  of  Gideon 

1.  The  Overthrow  of  the  "Worship  of  Baal 

2.  The  Insurrection  against  Midian 
The  Battle  of  Jezreel 
The  Battle  of  the  Rock  of  Oreb 
The  Battle  of  Karkor 
Royal  State  of  Gideon 

Rise  of  Abimelech 
Parable  of  Jotham 
Internal  State  of  Shechem 
Fall  of  Abimelech 


CONTENTS. 


XXV 


LECTURE  XVI. 


JEPHTHAH    AND 

SAMSON. 

PAGE 

Jephthah.    Transjordanic  Character  of  his  History  — 

-Shibbo- 

leth  —  Sacrifice  of  his  Daughter 

350— 3G2 

Samson,     The  Philistines   . 

362—365 

Birth  of  Samson 

.      365 

The  First  Nazarite 

.      366 

His  Humoiu' 

367—369 

His  Philistine  Conquests 

.       370 

'  Samson  Agonistes  '     . 

373,  374 

LECTUEE  XVn. 


THE   FALL   OF   SHILOH. 


The  Eise  of  Eli       . 

.      375 

Shiloh         .... 

.      376 

Elkanah  and  Hannah 

377,  378 

Hophni  and  Phinehas 

.      378 

Doom  of  the  House  of  Ithamar 

.      380 

Battle  of  Aphek 

.      380 

Capture  of  the  Ark 

.      382 

Fall  of  the  Sanctuary  of  Shiloh 

.      384 

SAMUEL  AND  THE  PEOPHETICAL  OFFICE. 


LECTUEE  XVHL 


Close  of  the  Theocracy 
Beginning  of  the  Monarchy    . 
Transition    ,  .  .  . 

Kise  of  Samttel 

I.  His  Connexion  with  the  Past 
The  Last  of  the  Judges 
The  Battle  of  Ebenezer 
His  Oracidar  Fame 
His  Prayer  of  Intercession   . 
His  Outward  Appearance     . 


389 
390 
390 
391 

392 
393 
393 
395 
395 
396 


XXVI 


COXTENTS. 


LECTUEE  XVm.— continued. 


.    n.  The  First  of  the  Order  of  Prophets    . 

PAGE 

.      396 

His  '  Revelations  '    . 

.      397 

'  Samuel  the  Seer  '   . 

.      398 

The  Schools  of  the  Prophets 

.      399 

The  Prophetic  Mission  of  Samuel   . 

.      402 

His  Mediation  between  the  Old  and  the  New 

.       402 

His  Independence         .... 

.      405 

His  Anti-sacerdotal  Character 

.      406 

His  gradual  Growth 

407—410 

His  End           ... 

.      410 

His  Grave        .            ... 

.      411 

The  Lesson  of  Samuel's  Life 

412—414 

LECTURE  xrs:. 


j.n  r.   jij.oj.uivx    uj?    jjjji   j-jujrjiJijjUAjj   unvan 

I.  The  Meaning  of  the  word  Propliet 

415—420 

II.  The  Office      ..... 

.      420 

Amongst  Heathens  .             .             .            , 

.      420 

In  the  Jewish  Church 

.      421 

1.  The  Age  of  Moses     .             . 

.      421 

2.  The  Judges  —  Samuel 

422,  423 

3.  David  and  Nathan    . 

423,  424 

4.  Prophets  of  the  Kingdom  of  Israel  . 

.      424 

5.  Prophets  of  the  Kingdom  of  Judah  . 

425,  426 

6.  Prophets  of  the  Captivity  and  the  Return 

426—428 

7.  Prophets  of  the  Christian  Era  : 

John  the  Baptist 

.      428 

The  Cierist 

.      428 

The  Apostles 

.      429 

III.  Characteristics  of  the  Institution 

.      429 

1.  The  Prophetic  Call 

.      429 

2.  Absence  of  Consecration 

.      431 

3.  Universality  of  Selection 

.      431 

4.  Schools  of  the  Prophets 

.      433 

5.  Modes  of  Prophetic  Teaching — Poetry 

434—436 

Apologues 

.      436 

Oral        .... 

.   *  436 

6.  Community  of  Prophetic  Literature 

.      437 

Summary   of  the   Office  —  Its  Functions  in   the  St 

ate  and 

Church  of  Palestine             .            .            .            . 

438—442 

CONTENTS. 


XXVll 


LECTURE  XIX.— continued. 

Note  .     '       . 

Catalogue  of  Prophets : 

1.  In  the  Jewish  Canon 
li.  In  Rabbinical  Traditions 
in.  In  Mussulman  Traditions 
rv.  In  Ecclesiastical  Traditions 


PAGE 

443 

443 
443 
444 
444 


LECTUEE  XX. 

ON  THE   NATtTRE   OP   THE   PEOPHETIC  TEACHINGr. 

Importance  of  the  Prophetic  Teaching       ....      446 
I.  In  relation  to  the  Past : 

■The  Historical  Works  of  the  Prophets         .  .  .       448 

n.  In  relation  to  the  Preseht  :'''-■ 

1.  Their  Theology: 

The  Unity  and  the  Spirituality  of  God     .             .  450 

2.  Their  Exaltation  of  the  Moral  above  the  Positive  Law  451 

3.  Their  Position  as  Counsellors           .             .             .  456 

4.  Their  Political  Functions     ....  459 

5.  Their  Independence              ....  462 

in.  In  relation  to  the  Future      .....  464 

Their  Predictions     ......  465 

1.  Political  and  Secular  Predictions     .  .  .  467 

2.  Messianic  Predictions  ....  471 

3.  Predictions  of  the  Future  of  the  Church,  of  the 

Future  of  the  Individual  Soul,  and  of  the  Futm-e 

Life 473 


APPENDIX  L 

TBADITIOJfAL   LOCALITIES   OP  ABRAHAM'S   MIGEATION'. 

I.  Ur  of  the  Chaldees 

1.  Kaleh-Sherghat 

2.  Warka 

3.  Mugheyr 

4.  Orfa 

II.  Haran 

1.  Haran  in  Mesopotamia 

2.  Hdn-dn-el-Aivamid,  near  Damascus 

III.  '  The  Place,'  or  '  Mosque,  of  Abraham,'  near  Damascus 


479 
479 
479 
479 
480 

481 
481 

481 

485 


XXvili  CONTENTS. 

APPENDIX  n. 

THE   CAVE   OF  MACHPELAH; 

PAGE 

History  of  the  Cave  .  .  .  .  .  .488 

Visit  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  •  .  .  .  .494 


APPENDIX  m. 
The  Samaritan  Passover     ......      517 


Note.    Aiithmetical  Errors  in  the  Sacred  History  .  .      526 

Index         ,,,.....      529 


LIST  OF  MAPS  AND  PLANS. 


Map  of  the  Migrations  of  Abraham       ....    to  face  page     5 

„      Palestine  before  the  Conquest  .         .         .         „        „    209 

Sketch  Plan  of  the  Mosque  at  Hebron  .        .        .        „        „    499 

Plan  of  Mount  Gerizim pagehl^ 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  History  of  the  Jewish  Church  is  divided  into  three 
great  periods ;  each  subdivided  into  lesser  portions ; 
each  with  its  own  peculiar  characteristics ;  each  terminated 
by  a  signal  catastrophe. 

The  First  is  that  which,  reaching  back  for  its  prelude 
into  the  Patriarchal  age,  commences,  properly  speaking, 
with  the  Exodus;  and  then,  passing  through  the  stages  of 
the  Desert,  the  Conquest,  and  the  Settlement  in  Palestine, 
ends  with  the  destruction  of  the  Sanctuary  at  Shiloh,  and  the 
absorption  of  the  ancient  and  primitive  state  of  society  into 
the  new  institution  of  the  Monarchy.  It  includes  the  rise 
of  the  tribes  of  Joseph.  It  is  the  period  often,  though  some- 
what inaccurately,  called  by  the  name  of  the  '  Theocracy.' ' 
Its  great  characters  are  Abraham,  Moses,  and  Samuel.  It 
embraces  the  first  Kevelation  of  the  Mosaic  Eeligion,  and  the 
first  foundation  of  the  Jewish  Church  and  Commonwealth. 

The  Second  period  covers  the  whole  history  of  the  Monarchy. 
It  begins  with  the  first  rise  of  the  institution  at  the  close  of 
the  aristocracy  or  oligarchy  of  the  Judges.  It  includes  the 
Empire  of  David  and  Solomon;  and  then,  dividing  itself 
into  the  two  separate  streams  of  the  Northern  and  Southern 
kingdoms,  terminates  in  the  overthrow  of  Jerusalem  and  the 
Temple  by  the  Chaldsean  armies.     It  comprehends  the  great 

>  See  Lectures  VIII.,  XVII.,  XVIII. 
b 


XXXU  INTRODUCTION. 

development  of  the  Jewish  Church  and  Religion  through 
the  growth  of  the  Prophetic  Order,  and  the  first  establishment 
of  the  Jewish  commonwealth  as  a  fixed  institution.  It  is 
marked  by  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  tribe  of  Judah. 

The  Third  period  begins  with  the  Captivity.  It  includes 
the  Exile,  the  Eeturn,  and  the  successive  periods  of 
Persian,  Grrecian,  and  Roman  dominion.  It  is  marked  by 
the  rise  of  the  tribe  of  Levi  in  the  Maccabean  dynasty ;  by 
the  growth  of  the  Jewish  colonies  in  Egypt,  Babylonia,  and 
the  West ;  and,  lastly  and  chiefly,  by  the  last  and  greatest 
development  of  the  Prophetic  Spirit,  out  of  which  rose  the 
Christian  Church,  and  the  consequent  expansion  of  the  Jewish 
Religion  into  a  higher  region ;  whilst  at  the  same  time  the 
dissolution  of  the  existing  Church  and  Commonwealth  of 
Judsea  was  brought  about  by  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem 
and  of  the  Temple  in  the  war  of  Titus,  and  by  the  final 
extinction  of  the  national  independence  in  the  war  of 
Hadrian. 

The  present  volume  includes  the  first  portion  of  the  History, 
extending  from  Abraham  to  Samuel,^  and  will,  it  is  hoped, 
be  followed  by  two  others,  bringing  down  the  history  to  its 
natural  conclusion. 

It  will  be  observed  that,  at  the  beginning  of  the  several 
sections,  I  have  prefixed  the  special  authorities  treating  of 
the  subjects  contained  in  them. 

Of  course  the  main  bulk  of  the  authorities  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Canonical  Books  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  It  has  been 
at  various  times  supposed  that  the  Books  of  Moses,  Joshua, 
and  Samuel,  were  all  written  in  their  present  form  by  those 
whose  names  they  bear.     This    notion,  however,    has  been 

'  From  the  extreme  uncertainty  any  dates.  In  the  second  and  third 
of  the  chronology  during  this  early  periods,  where  the  chronology  becomes' 
period,  I  have  abstained  from  affixing       fixed,  the  case  is  different. 


INTRODUCTION.  XXXUl 

in  former  ages  disputed  both  by  Jewish  and  Christian  theo- 
logians, and  is  now  rejected  by  almost  all  scholars.  It  has 
no  foundation  in  the  several  Books  themselves,  and  is  con- 
tradicted by  the  strong  internal  evidence  of  their  contents. 
To  determine  accurately  the  authorship  and  the  dates  of 
these  and  the  other  Sacred  Writings  is  a  question  belonging 
to  the  same  Biblical  Criticism,  which  has  thus  modified  the 
opinion  just  mentioned ;  and  to  those  who  are  called  to 
enter  into  the  details  of  such  inquiries  I  gladly  leave  the 
solution  of  this  problem.  But  there  are,  meanwhile,  certain 
landmarks  to  guide  us  in  the  study  of  these  original  authorities, 
which,  though  obvious  in  themselves,  often  escape  the  notice 
of  the  ordinary  theological  student. 

(1)  The  history  of  the  Jewish  Church  and  People  is  not  Compari- 
written  at  length  in  the  Jewish  Scriptures  in  the  form  in  which  g°°j.p°(j 
we  should  desire  ultimately  to  possess  it.  The  order  of  the  ^oo^s. 
books  as  they  stand  in  the  Canon  is  often  not  their  real  order, 
nor  are  the  events  themselves  always  related  in  the  order  of 
time.  Accordingly,  if  we  wish  to  have  the  full  account  of  any 
event  or  character,  we  must  piece  it  together  from  various  books 
or  passages,  often  separated  from  each  other  by  considerable 
intervals.  Obvious  examples  of  this  are  to  be  found  in  the 
illustrations  furnished  to  the  life  of  David  by  the  Psalms, 
and  to  the  history  of  the  Jewish  Kings  by  the  Prophetical 
writings.  Again,  portions  of  the  same  historical  events  are 
related  from  different  points  of  view,  or  with  fresh  incidents, 
or  by  implication,  in  parts  of  the  historical  books  where  we 
should  least  expect  to  find  them.  Thus  the  slaughter  of 
Grideon's  brothers,'  and  a  long  untold  stage  of  his  career,  is 
suggested  by  a  single  allusion  in  the  existing  narrative  to 
events  of  which  the  record  has  not  come  down  to  us ;  the 
storming  of  Hebron ^  by  Caleb  is  partly  made  up  from  the 

"  Judg.  viii.  18.     See  Lecture  XIV. 
2  Josh.  XT.  13,  14  ;  Judg.  i.  10.     See  Lectiu-e  XII, 
b  2 


Books. 


XXXIV  INTKODUCTION. 

Book  of  Joshua  and  partly  from  the  Book  of  Judges ;  the 
narratives^  affixed  to  the  end  of  the  Book  of  Judges  must 
chronologically  be  transferred  to  the  beginning  of  the  period. 
Many  of  these  scattered  notices  are  ingeniously  collected  by 
Professor  Blunt  as  undesigned  evidences  of  the  truth  of  the 
history  ;  and,  though  his  arguments  are  sometimes  too  fanci- 
ful to  be  safely  trusted,  yet  his  method  is  one  of  great 
value  to  the  historical  student,  and  is  the  same  which 
has  been  followed  out,  in  a  larger  and  more  critical 
spirit,  and  with  more  permanent  and  fruitful  results,  in 
Ewald's  reconstruction  of  the  history  both  of  the  Judges 
and  of  David. 
The  Lost  (2)  The  Books  of  the  Old  Testament,  in  their  present 
form,  in  many  instances  are  not,  and  do  not  profess  to  be, 
the  original  documents  on  which  the  history  was  based. 
There  was  (to  use  a  happy  expression  employed  of  late)  a 
'  Bible  within  a  Bible,'  an  '  Old  Testament  before  an  Old 
*  Testament  was  written.'  To  discover  any  traces  of  these 
lost  works  in  the  actual  text,  or  any  allusions  to  them,  even 
when  their  substance  has  entirely  perished,  is  a  task  of 
immense  interest.  It  reveals  to  us  a  glimpse  of  an  earlier 
world,  of  an  extinct  literature,  such  as  always  rouses  innocent 
inquiry  to  the  utmost.  Such  is  the  ancient  document  describ- 
ing the  conquest  of  the  Eastern  kings  in  the  14th  chapter 
of  the  Book  of  Genesis  ;  the  inestimable  fragments  of  an- 
cient songs  in  the  21st  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Numbers; 
the  quotations  from  the  Book  of  Jasher,  in  the  Book  of 
Joshua  and  the  First  Book  of  Samuel.  Whenever  these 
glimpses  occur,  they  deserve  the  most  careful  attention.  We 
are  brought  by  them  years,  perhaps  centuries,  nearer  to  the 
events  described.  We  are  allowed  by  them  to  see  something 
of  the  construction  of  the  narrative  itself.  The  indications  of 
the  origin  of  the  different  documents  by  variations  of  style, 

»  See  Lecture  XIII. 


INTRODUCTION.  XXXV 

by  the  use  of  peculiar  names  and  titles,  may  be  too  minute 
to  be  thoroughly  explored  by  any  except  professed  Hebrew 
scholars.  But  the  points  to  which  I  now  refer  are  open  to 
the  consideration  of  any  careful  student. 

(3)  Yet,  again,  we  must  always  bear  in  mind  that  the 
history  of  the  Chosen  People  is  not  exclusively  contained  in 
the  Authorised  English  version,  nor  even  only  in  the  Hebrew 
text  from  which  that  version  is  a  translation,  The  Author-  The  He- 
ised  Version,  indeed,  is  a  sufficient  account  of  the  history 
for  the  general  purposes  of  popular  instruction.  But  as  no 
scholar  thinks  of  reading  Thucydides  even  in  the  best  English 
translation,  so  no  theological  student  should  be  satisfied  unless 
he  at  least  endeavours  to  ascertain  how  far  the  English  version 
represents  the  original.  And  in  proportion  to  the  value  we 
attach  to  the  actual  words  of  the  Bible  itself,  ought  to  be 
our  care  not  to  over-estimate  the  words  even  of  the  best 
modern  translation.  The  variations  are,  perhaps,  not  im- 
portant as  to  the  general  sense.  But  as  to  the  precise  life 
and  force  of  each  word  (I  speak  chiefly  from  my  experience 
of  a  single  department,  the  geographical  vocabulary),  they 
are  very  considerable  ;  and,  in  a  language  so  pregnant  as  the 
Hebrew,  involve  often  serious  historical  consequences. 

The  Hebrew  Text,  however,  is  not  our  only  source  of  The  Sep- 
information  as  to  the  orimnal  materials  of  the  Sacred  His-  '*= 
tory.  Without  arguing  the  relative  merits  of  the  Hebrew  and 
the  Septuagint  texts,  we  have  no  right  to  set  aside  or  neglect 
such  .an  additional  authority  as  the  Septuagint  furnishes. 
Whatever  may  be  the  value  of  the  Hebrew  text  in  itself,  or 
its  authority  in  the  present  Jewish  Church,  or  the  present 
Church  of  Western  Europe,  the  Septuagint  was  the  text 
sanctioned  probably  by  our  Lord  Himself,  certainly  by 
the  Apostles,  and  still  acknowledged  by  the  whole  East. 
The  Septuagint  must,  therefore,  be  regarded  as  the  Old 
Testament    of  the   Apostolical,  and    of    the    early  Catholic 


XXXVl  INTRODUCTION. 

Church.      And,  though  we  may  refuse  to  acknowledge  this 
its  co-ordinate  authority  with  the  received  text  of  our  present 
Bible,  it  has  at  least  the  value  of  the  very  oldest   Jewish 
tradition  and  commentary  on  the  Sacred  Test.    Therefore,  no 
passage  of  the  Sacred  History  can  be  considered  as  exhausted 
unless  we  have  seen  how  it  is  represented  by  the  Alexandrian 
translators  ;  and  if,  as  is  often  the  case,  we  find  variations  of 
considerable   magnitude  from  the  Hebrew,  such   variations 
may  always  be  regarded,  if  not  as  the  original  account  of 
the  matter,  at  least  as  explanations  and  traditions  of  high 
antiquity.     Such,  for  example,  are  the  details  of  the  descent 
of  the  Eastern  kings,^  of  the  passage  of  the  Jordan,^  of  the 
execution  of  the  sons   of  Saul,^  of  the  coronation  of  Jero- 
boam."    The  Jews  of  Palestine,  in  their  horror  of  a  rival  text 
—  perhaps  of  a  translation  which  should  render  their  sacred 
books  accessible  to  all  the  world — held  that,  on  the  day  on 
which  the  Seventy  Translators  met,  a  supernatural  darkness 
overspread  the  earth ;  and  the  day  was  to  them  one  of  their 
solemn  periods  of  fasting  and  humiliation.     But  to  us,  who 
know  what  the  Septuagint  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Apostles, 
as  the  means  of  spreading  the  knowledge  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment through  the  Gentile  world  —  who,  in  the  scantiness  of 
any  remains  of  the  ancieot  Jewish  literature,  gladly  welcome 
any  additional  information  to  fill  up  the  void — who  feel  what 
a  bulwark  this  double  version  of  the  Old  Testament  furnishes 
against  a  too  rigid  or  literal  construction  of  the  Sacred  History 
—  the  Seventy  Translators,  if  not  worthy  of  the  high*  place 
which  the  ancient  Church   assigned  to  them,  may  well  be 
ranked  amongst  the  greatest  benefactors  of  Biblical  Litera- 
ture and  Free  Inquiry. 
Heathen  (4)  There  is  yet  another  class  of  authorities  to  which  I 

have  referred  whenever  occasion  offo'ed.     It  has  been  truly 

'  Gen.  xiv.  16.  '2  Sam.  xxi.  16. 

*  Josh.  iv.  20.  *  1  Kings  xii.  xiy. 


traditions. 


INTRODUCTION".  XXXVU 

said  that  the  history  of  the  Chosen  People  is  the  history,  nob 
of  an  inspired  book,  but  of  an  inspired  people.  If  so,  any 
record  that  has  been  preserved  to  us  of  that  people,  even 
although  not  contained  in  their  own  sacred  books,  is  far  too 
precious  to  be  despised.  These  records  are  indeed  very 
scanty.  They  consist  of  a  few  fragments  of  Gentile  histories 
preserved  by  Josephus,  Eusebius,  and  Clement  of  Alexandria ; 
a  few  statements  in  Justin,  Tacitus,  and  Strabo ;  a  few  in- 
scriptions in  Egypt  and  Assyria ;  the  traditions  of  the  East, 
whether  preserved  in  Eabbinical,  Christian,  or  Mussulman 
legends  ;  and  the  traditions  of  the  Jewish  Church  itself,  as 
preserved  by  Philo  and  Josephus.  All  these  notices,  unequal 
in  value  as  they  are  to  each  other,  or  to  the  records  of  the 
Old  Testament  itself,  have  yet  this  use — that  they  recall  to 
us  the  existence  of  the  facts,  independent  of  the  authority  of 
the  Sacred  Books. 

It  is  true  that  the  larger  part  of  the  interest  and  instruction 
of  the  Jewish  history  would  be  lost  with  the  loss  of  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures.  But  the  original  influence  of  the  Hebrew 
race  on  the  world  was  irrespective  of  the  Scriptures,  and  must 
always  continue.  Even  had  we  only  the  imperfect  account  of 
the  Jews  in  Tacitus  and  Strabo,  we  should  know  that  they 
were  the  most  remarkable  nation  of  ancient  Asia.  This  argu- 
ment applies  with  still  greater  force  to  the  traditions  of 
the  East,  and  to  the  traditions  of  Josephus.  With  regard  Eastern 
to  the  former,  it  is  impossible,  without  greater  knowledge  ^^'^  *^°"^' 
than  can  be  obtained  by  one  who  is  ignorant  of  Arabic,  and 
who  has  only  visited  the  East  in  two  or  three  fugitive 
journeys,  to  ascertain  how  far  they  have  a  substantial  exist- 
ence of  their  own,  or  how  far  they  are  mere  amplifications  of 
the  Koran  and  the  Old  Testament.  Some  cases — such  as 
the  wide-spread  prevalence  of  the  name  of  '  Friend '  for 
Abraham,  too  slightly  noticed^    in  the  Bible  to  have  been 

'  See  Lecture  I. 


XXXVlll  INTEODUCTION. 

derived  from  thence,  and  the  importance  assigned  to  the 
Arabian  Jethro  or  Shouayb ' — seem  to  indicate  an  inde- 
pendent origin.  But,  whether  this  be  so  or  not,  they  con- 
tinue to  form  the  staple  of  the  belief  of  a  large  part  of 
mankind  on  the  subject  of  the  Jewish  history,  and  as 
such  I  have  ventured  to  quote  them,  partly  in  order 
to  contrast  them  with  the  more  sober  style  of  the  Sacred 
Eecords,  but  chiefly  where  they  fall  in  with  the  general  spirit 
of  the  Biblical  narrative,  and  thus  furnish  an  instructive,  be- 
cause unexpected,  illustration  of  it.  Many  common  readers 
may  be  struck  by  the  Persian  or  Arabian  stories^  of  Abraham 
or  Moses,  whose  minds  have  by  long  custom  become  hardened 
to  the  effect  of  the  narrative  of  the  Bible  itself. 
Joseplms.  The  traditions  of  Josephus  are  yet  more  significant.  It  is 
remarkable  that,  of  his  four  works,  two  run  parallel  to  the 
Old  Testament,  and  two  to  the  New.  Whilst  the  histories  of 
'  the  Wars  of  the  Jews'  and  of  his  own ' Life  '  throw  a  flood  of 
light,  by  contemporary  allusions,  on  the  time  of  the  Christian 
era,  the  '  Antiquities '  and  the  '  Controversy  with  Apion ' 
illustrate  hardly  less  remarkably  the  times  of  the  older  Dis- 
pensation. The  *  Controversy  with  Apion,'  indeed,  is  chiefly 
important  for  its  preservation  of  those  Gentile  traditions  to 
which  I  have  before  referred.  But  the  '  Antiquities  '  furnish 
an  example,  such  as  hardly  occurs  elsewhere  in  ancient 
literature,  of  a  recent  history  existing  side  by  side  with  most 
of  the  original  documents  from  which  it  is  compiled.  It 
would  be  a  curious  speculation,  which  would  test  the  value  of 
the  style  and  spirit  of  the  Sacred  writers,  to  imagine  what 
would  be  the  residuum  of  the  effect  produced  by  the  Jewish 
history  if  the  Old  Testament  were  lost,  and  the  facts  were 
known  to  us  only  through  the  '  Antiquities '  of  Josephus. 
His  style  is  indeed  a  continual  foil  to  that  of  the  Sacred 
Narrative  —  his  verbosity  contrasted  with  its  simplicity,  his 
'  See  Lectures  V.,  VI.  «  See  Lectures  I.,  VIIL 


INTRODUCTION.  XXXIX 

vulgarity  with  its  sublimity,  bis  prose  with  its  poetry,  bis 
uniformity  with  its  variety.  But,  with  all  these  drawbacks, 
to  which  we  must  add  bis  omissions  and  emendations,  as  if  to 
meet  the  critical  eye  of  his  Roman  masters,  the  main  thread 
of  the  story  is  faithfully  retained  ;  occasionally,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  death  of  Moses  and  of  Saul,^  a  true  pathos  steals  over 
the  dull  level ;  occasionally,  as  in  the  case  of  the  story  of 
Balaam,  a  just  discernment  brings  out  clearly  the  moral 
elevation  peculiar  to  the  ancient  Scriptures.  But  there  is  a 
yet  further  interest.  His  account  is  filled  with  variations  not 
to  be  explained  by  any  of  the  differences  just  cited.  To 
examine  the  origin  of  these  would  be  an  interesting  task. 
Sometimes  he  coincides  with  the  variations  of  the  Septuagint; 
and,  in  cases  where  he  seems  not  to  have  copied  from  that 
Version,  his  statement  must  be  considered  as  a  confirmation 
of  the  value  of  the  text  which  the  Septuagint  has  followed. 
Sometimes  he  supplies  facts  which  agree  with  existing  local- 
ities, but  have  no  direct  connexion  with  the  Sacred  Narra- 
tive either  in  Hebrew  or  Greek,  as  in  his  account  of  the 
mountain  (evidently  Jebel  Attaka)  which  hemmed  in  the 
Israelites  at  the  Eed  Sea,  of  the  traditional  sanctity 
of  Sinai,  and  of  the  still  existing  manna.^  Sometimes 
he  makes  statements  which  are  not  found  in  the  narra- 
tive itself,  but  which  remarkably  illustrate  indirect  allu- 
sions contained  either  in  the  history  or  in  other  parts  of 
the  Old  Testament — as,  for  example,  the  thunder-storm  at 
the  Red  Sea,  which  coincides  very  slightly  with  the  narrative 
in  Exodus,  but  exactly  and  fully  with  the  allusions  in  the 
77th  Psalm ;  or  the  slaughter  in  the  torrent  of  Arnon, 
which  has  no  foundation  n  the  Mosaic  narrative,  but  is  the 
natural  explanation  of  the  ancient  song  preserved  in  the 
Book    of  Numbers.^       In    a   more    critical    historian   these 

'  Ant.  iy.  8,  §48;  vi.  U,  §  7.  5,  §  1. 

«  Ibid.  ii.  15,  §  1 ;  iii.  1,  §  6,  7  ;  iii.  '  Rid.  ii.  16,  §  3 ;  iv.  5,  §  2. 


Xl  INTRODUCTION. 

additions  might  be  considered  mere  amplifications  of  the 
slight  hints  furnished  by  the  original  writers,  but  in 
Josephus  it  seems  reasonable  (and,  in  that  case,  becomes 
deeply  interesting)  to  ascribe  them  to  an  independent  source 
of  information,  common  to  the  tradition  which  he  used  and 
to  the  occasional  allusions  in  the  Sacred  writers.  Sometimes 
his  variations  consist  simply  of  new  information,  capable 
neither  of  proof  nor  disproof,  but  receiving  a  certain  degree 
of  support  from  the  simplicity  and  probability  which  distin- 
guishes them  from  common  Rabbinical  legends ;  such  as  the 
story  of  Hur  being  the  husband  of  Miriam,'  or  of  the  rite  of 
the  red  heifer  having  its  origin  in  her  funeral.^  Finally, 
other  statements  exist,  which  agree  with  the  Oriental  or 
Gentile  traditions  already  quoted,  and  thus  reciprocally 
yield  and  receive  a  limited  confirmation :  as,  for  instance, 
Abraham's  connexion  with  the  contemplation  of  the  stars,^ 
and  the  great  deeds  of  Moses  in  Egypt.^ 


Such  are  the  main  authorities.  In  using  them  for  these 
Lectures,  it  will  sometimes  happen  that  they  hardly  profess,  or 
can  hardly  be  proved,  to  contain  the  statement  of  the  original 
historical  facts  to  which  they  relate.  But  they  nevertheless 
contain  the  nearest  approach  which  we,  at  this  distance  of 
time,  can  now  make  to  a  representation  of  those  facts.  They 
are  the  refraction  of  the  history,  if  not  the  history  itself — the 
echo  of  the  words,  if  not  the  actual  words.  And,  through- 
out, it  has  been  my  endeavour  to  lay  stress  on  those  portions 
and  those  elements  of  the  Sacred  Story,  which  have  hitherto 
stood,  and  are  likely  to  stand,  the  investigations  of  criticism, 
and  from  which  may  be  drawn  the  most  solid  instruction  for 
all  times. 

'  See  Lecture  VI.  '  See  Lecture  I. 

*  See  Lecture  VIIL  ■*  See  Lecture  V. 


INTRODUCTIOX.  xli 

There  may  be  errors  in  chronology  —  exaggerations  in 
numbers  —  contradictions  between  the  different  narratives 
—  poetical  or  parabolical  elements  interspersed  with  the 
historical  narrative  and  at  times  taking  its  place.  These 
may  compel  us  to  relinquish  one  or  other  of  the  nume- 
rous hypotheses  which  have  been  formed  respecting  the  com- 
position or  the  inspiration  of  the  Old  Testament.  But  as 
they  would  not  destroy  the  value  of  other  history,  so  they 
need  not  destroy  the  value  of  this  history  because  it  relates 
to  Sacred  subjects;  or  prevent  us  from  making  the  very 
most  of  those  portions  of  it  which  are  undeniably  historical, 
or  full  of  the  widest  and  most  permanent  lessons,  both  for 
'  the  example  of  life  and  instruction  of  manners,'  and  for 
'  the  establishment  of '  true  relig-ious  '  doctrine.' 


THE    PATRIARCHS. 


I.    THE   CALL   OF   ABRAHAM. 
II.    ABRAHAM   AND    ISAAC. 

III.  JACOB. 

IV,  ISRAEL   IN  EGYPT. 


SPECIAL  AUTHORITIES   FOR   THIS   PERIOD. 


1.  Gen,  xi.  27 — 1.  26   (Hebrew  and    Septuagint)  ;    Josh.  xxiv.  2-15 ; 

Neh.  ix.  7,  8  j  Ps.  cv.  6-23 ;  Hos.  xii.  3,  4, 12 ;  Isa.  li.  2. 

2.  The  earlier  Jewish  traditions :    in  Ecclus.  xliv.   19-23 ;    Judith  v. 

6-11 ;  Acts  vii.  1-16 ;  Josephus,  Ant.  i.  7 — ii.  8 ;  Philo,  De 
Migratione  Abrahami,  De  Ahrahamo,  and  De  Josepho. 

3.  The  Heathen  traditions  preserved  hy  Berosus,  Nicolaus  of  Damascus, 

Hecatseus  of  Abdera,  Cleodemus  Malchus  (in  Josephus,  Ajit.  i. 
eh.  7,  15),  Eupolemus,  Artapanus,  Apollonius  Melon,  Alexander 
Polyhistor,  Theodotus,  Aristeeus,  and  Demetrius  (in  Eusebius, 
Prcep.  Ev.  ix.  16-25),  Justin  (xxxvi.  2). 

4.  The  later  Jewish  traditions  in  the  Talmud  and  the  Targiim  Pseudo- 

jonathanj  and  collected  in  Otho's  Lexicon  Rabbinico-philologicum 
(Altona,  1757),  and  in  Beer's  Lehen  Abrahams  (Leipsic,  1859). 

5.  The  Mussulman  traditions  scattered  throughout  the  Koran,  collected 

in  D'Herbelot's  Bibliothkque  Orietitale  ('  Abraham  ; '  '  Ishak  ; ' 
'  Jacob ; '  '  Jousouf  ')  ;  and  conveniently  an-anged  in  Lane's 
Selections  from  the  Kiir-dn,  §  §  12,  13 :  Weil's  Biblical  Legends 
(London,  1846),  pp.  47-90  :  and  Jalal-addm,  Hist,  of  Temple  of 
Jerus.  (London,  1836),  ch.  xi-xv.  The  Persian  legends  in  Hyde, 
De  Religione  Veterutn  Persarum,  ch.  2,  3. 

6.  The  Christian  traditions :  in  Fabricius'  Codex  Pseudepigraphus   Vet. 

Testamenti,  pp.  311-800  :  Suidas,  Le.vicon  ('  Abraham  ' ). 


THE    PATRIARCHS. 

LECTUEE   I. 

THE    CALL    OP    ABRAHAM. 

The  Patriarchal  Age  is  not  in  itself  the  beginning  of  the 
history  of  the  Jewish  Church  or  nation.     That,  as  we  shall 
see,  has  its  origin  from    Moses.     But   the  more    primitive 
period  is  the  necessary  prelude  of  that  history,  because  it 
contains    the   earliest   distinct    beginnings    of    the   Jewish 
Eeligion  and  of  the  Jewish  race.     It  is  in  this  sense  that  the 
first  event  in  this  period  may  fitly  be  treated  as  the  opening 
of  all    Ecclesiastical    History,   as  the  first  historical  com- 
mencement of  a  religious  community  and  worship,  which 
has   continued  ever   since,  without   interruption,  into   the 
Christian  Church,  such  as,  with  all  its  manifold  diversities, 
it  now  exists.     This  event,  according  as  it  is  apprehended 
from  its  human   or  its    Divine   side,  may  be  described  as 
'  the  Migration,'  or  as  '  the    Call '  of  Abraham.     In  every 
crisis  of  history  these  two  elements  in  their  measure  may 
be  perceived,  the  one  secular,  the  other  religious;  the  one 
belonging  merely  to  the  past,  the  other  reaching  forward 
into  the  remotest  future.     In  this  instance,  both  are  set  dis- 
tinctly before  us  in  the  Biblical  narrative,  side  by  side,  as  if 
in  almost  unconscious  independence  of  each  other.     '  And 
'  Terah  took  Ahram  his  son,  and  Lot  the  son  of  Haran 


4  THE   CALL   OF   ABRAHAM.  lect.  i. 

'  his  soil's  son,  and  Sarai  his  daughter-in-laiv,  his  son 
'  Abrmn's  wife ;  and  they  went  forth  vjith  them  [LXX.  '  he 
^  led  tliem ']  from  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  to  go  into  the  land  of 
'  Canaan :  and  they  came  unto  Haran,  and  dwelt  there. 
' .  .  .  And  Abram  took  Sarai  his  wife,  and  Lot  his 
'  brothers  son^  and  all  their  substance  that  they  had  ga- 

*  thered,  and  the  souls  that  they  had  gotten  [the  slaves 
'  that  they  had  bought]  in  Haran ;  and  they  went  forth  to 

*  go  into  the  land  of  Canaan ;  and  into  the  land  of  Canaan 
'  they  came.''  This  is  the  external  aspect  of  the  Migration.^  A 
family,  a  tribe  of  the  great  Sernitic  race,  moves  westward  from 
the  cradle  of  its  earliest  civilisation.  There  was  nothing  out- 
wardly to  distinguish  them  from  those  who  had  descended  from 
the  Caucasian  range  into  the  plains  of  the  south  in  former 
times,  or  who  would  do  so  in  times  yet  to  come.  There 
was,  however,  another  aspect  which  the  surrounding  tribes 
saw  not,  but  which  is  the  only  point  that  we  now  see  dis- 
tinctly. '  The  Lord  "  said  "  ^  unto  Abram,  Get  thee  out  of  thy 
'  cou7itinf,  and  from  thy  kindred,  and  from  thy  father's 
'  house,  unto  a  land  that  I  vjill  show  thee :  and  I  tvill  make 
'  of  thee  a  great  nation,  and  I  will  bless  thee,  and  make  thy 

*  7iame  great ;  and  tliou  shall  be  a  blessing :  and  I  ivill  bless 
'  them  that  bless  thee,  and  curse  him  that  curseth  thee :  and 
'in  thee  shall  all  the  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed.'  In- 
terpret these  words  as  we  will ;  give  them  a  meaning  more 
or  less  literal,  more  or  less  restricted ;  yet  with  what  a  force 
do  they  break  in  upon  the  homeliness  of  the  rest  of  the 
narrative :  what  an  impulse  do  they  disclose  in  the  innermost 
heart  of  the  movement :  what  a  long  vista  do  they  open  even 
to  the  very  close  of  the  history,  of  which  this  was  the  first 
beginning  I 

1  This  is  the  title  of  Philo's  first       'had   said,'    is   an   alteration  of  the 
treatise  on  Abraham.  text,  probably  to  meet  the  statement 

-  The  tense  in  the  English  version,       of  Acts  vii.  2. 


lECT.  I.  THE   MIGEATION.  5 

Let  us  then  follow  the  example  of  the  sacred  narrative 
by  dramng  out  both  these  views  of  the  event.  Take, 
first,  its  outward  character  as  a  national  or  migratory  move- 
ment. 

I.  The  name  of  Abraham,  as  we  shall  afterwards  see  more  TheMigra- 
fully,  is  not  confined  to  the  sacred  history.  Over  and  above 
the  Book  of  Genesis,  there  are  two  main  sources  of  informa- 
tion. We  have  the  fragments  preserved  to  us  by  Josephus 
and  Eusebius  from  Greek  or  Asiatic  writers.  We  have  also 
the  Jewish  and  Mussulman  traditions,  as  represented  chiefly 
in  the  Talmud  and  the  Koran.  It  is  in  the  former  class — ^ 
those  presented  to  us  by  the  Pagan  historians — that  the 
migration  of  Abraham  assumes  its  most  purely  secular  as- 
pect. They  describe  him  as  a  great  man  of  the  East,  well 
read  in  the  stars,  or  as  a  conquering  Prince  who  swept  all 
before  him  on  his  way  to  Palestine.  These  characteristics, 
remote  as  they  are  from  oui*  common  view,  have  neverthe- 
less their  point  of  contact  with  the  Biblical  account,  which, 
simple  as  it  is,  implies  more  than  it  states. 

In  the  darkness  of  this  distant  past,  the  most  distinct  Ur  of  the 
images  we  can  now  hope  to  recall  are  those  of  the  place  and  *., 
scene  of  the  event.  Where  was  '  Ur  of  the  Chaldees  ?  '  '  It 
would  seem  at  first  sight  as  if  this,  the  most  solid  footing  on 
which  we  could  rely,  shifted  beneath  our  feet  so  rapidly  as 
to  deprive  us  of  any  standing  ground  whatever.  The  name 
itself  of  '  Chasdim '  or  '  Chaldeea '  has,  in  the  progress  of 
centuries,  descended  like  a  landslip  from  the  northern  Arme- 
nian mountains,  to  which  it  originally  belonged,  into  the 
southern  limits  of  Mesopotamia,  which  claimed  it  in  after 
times.  This  is  the  first  source  of  confusion.  Is  it  the  north- 
ern or  southern,  the  ancient  or  the  more  recent  Chaldsea,  of 
which  we  are  speaking?     But,  besides  this,  the  name  of  Ur 

■  'Ur  Chasdim,'  i.e.  'Ur  of  the  people  of  Chesed' — as  it  is  expressed  in 
the  original. 


6  THE   CALL    OF   ABRAHAM.  lect.  i. 

■f  ■  also  seems  to  have  been  sown  broadcast'over  the  whole  region. 
One  is  pointed  out  near  Nisibis,  another  near  Nineveh ;  a 
third  and  fourth  have  lately  been  found  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Babylon.  It  is  perhaps  the  most  probable  solution 
that  the  name  originally  meant  (as  the  Septuagint  translators 
have  rendered  it)  a  country  rather  than  a  place.  But  no 
arguments  advanced,  even  by  the  high  authority  of  recent 
discoverers,  seem  as  yet  sufficiently  established  to  disturb  the 
old  and  general  tradition  which  fixes  the  chief  centre  of  the 
early  movements  of  the  tribe  of  Abraham  at  the  place  va- 
riously known  as  Orfa,  Eoha,  Orehoe,  Callirrhoe,  Chaldgeopolis, 
Edessa,  Antioch  of  the  far  East,  Erech,^  Ur;  and,  were  it 
more  in  doubt  than  it  is,  the  singular  ecclesiastical  position 
occupied  by  this  city  of  many  names  calls  for  a  few  words  in 
passing. 
Orfa.  In  Christian  times,  it  was  celebrated  as  the  capital  of  Abga- 

rus,  Agbarus,  or  Akbar,  who  was  supposed  to  have  received 
the  traditional  portrait  and  letter  of  our  Saviour,^  and  thus 
became  the  first  Christian  king.  Gradually  it  was  invested 
with  a  sacred  preeminence,  as  the  cradle,  the  university,  the 
metropolis  of  the  Christianity  of  the  remote  East.  Within 
its  walls  lived  and  died  and  is  buried  the  chief  saint  of  the 
Syrian  Church,  Ephrem,  Deacon  of  Edessa.  In  its  neigh- 
bourhood, in  strange  conformity  with  its  earliest  history, 
wandered  a  race  of  hermits,  not  monastic  or  cosnobitic, 
but  nomadic  and  pastoral,  who  took  to  the  desert  life,  and 
almost  literally  grazed  like  sheep  on  the  desert  herbage.'  In 
later  times,  yet  again,  it  became  the  seat  of  a  Christian  prin- 
cipality under  the  chiefs  of  the  First  Crusade.  But  whilst 
these  later  glories  of  Edessa  are  gathered  from  books,  the 

*  Bayer,     Historia      Osrhoena     et  messenger,  attacked  by  thieves,  drop- 

Edessena,  3.  ped  the  letter,  which  gave  the  spring 

^  A  •well  was  sho'WTi  in  Pococke's  a  miraculous  character, 

time  {Travels,  i.  160),  in  which  the  '  Tillemont,  S.  Ephrem,  ch.  16,  17. 


THE    MKJKATION     OK    ABRAHAM 


LECT.  I.  UR   OF   THE    CHALDEES.  7 

stories  of  Abraham  alone  still  live  in  the  mouths  of  the  Aral) 
inhabitants  of  Orfa,  and  in  the  peculiarities  of  its  remarkable 
situation.  Tlie  city  lies  on  the  edge  of  one  of  the  bare, 
rugged  spurs  which  descend  from  the  mountains  of  Armenia 
into  the  Assyrian  plains,'  in  the  cultivated  land  which,  as 
lying  under  those  mountains,  is  called  Padan-Aram.  Two 
physical  features  must  have  secured  it,  from  the  earliest 
times,  as  a  nucleus  for  the  civilisation  of  those  regions.  One 
is  a  high  crested  crag,  the  natural  fortification  of  the  present 
citadel,  doubly  defended  by  a  trench  of  immense  depth,  cut 
out  of  the  living  rock  behind  it.  The  other  is  an  abundant 
spring,^  issuing  in  a  pool  of  transparent  clearness,  and  em- 
bosomed in  a  mass  of  luxuriant  verdure,  which,  amidst  the 
dull  brown  desert  all  around,  makes,  and  must  always  have 
made,  this  spot  an  oasis,  a  paradise,  in  the  Chaldfean  wilder- 
ness. Eound  this  sacred  pool,  *The  Beautiful  Spring,' 
'  Callirrhoe,'  as  it  was  called  by  the  Greek  writers,  gather 
the  modern  traditions  of  the  Patriarch.  Hard  by,  amidst  its 
cypresses,  is  the  mosque  on  the  spot  where  he  is  said  to  have 
offered  his  first  prayer :  the  cool  spring  itself  burst  forth  in 
the  midst  of  the  fiery  furnace  ^  which  the  infidels  had  kindled 
to  burn  him ;  its  sacred  fish,  swarming  by  thousands  and 
thousands,  from  their  long  continued  preservation,  are  che- 
rished by  the  faithful  as  under  his  special  patronage ;  the 
two  Corinthian  columns  which  stand  on  the  crag  above  are 
made  to  commemorate  his  deliverance.  In  the  first  centuries 
of  the  Christian  era  we  know  that  other  memorials  of  the 
Patriarchal  age  were  pointed  out.  The  year  of  Abraham  was 
long  adopted  in  Edessa  as  the  epoch  of  its  dates.^     Josephus 


'  OliTier  {Voyage  a  Syrie,  iv.  329)  ('the  leaper').  Bayer,  14. 
gives  a  good  description  of  the  several  ^  This  probably  arose  from  a  mis- 
zones  of  Mesopotamia.  conception  of  the  words  '  He  came  out 

^  At  times  it  swells  into  a  flood,  '  of  Ur,'  i.  e.  '  the  light,'  or  '  fire.' 

and  is  hence  called  Daizon  or  Scirtus  *  Bayer,  24. 


8  THE   CALL   OF   ABRAHAM.  lect.  i. 

speaks  of  the  sepulchre  of  Haran,  still  sho-wn  in  his  time  at 
Ur :  Eusebius  ^  speaks  of  the  tent  which  Jacob  inhabited 
whilst  feeding  the  flocks  of  Laban,  as  preserved  till  it  was 
accidentally  burnt  by  lightning  in  the  second  century.  But, 
apart  from  all  such  transitory  and  doubtful  reminiscences  as 
these,  we  may  well  believe  that  the  high  rock,  the  clear 
spring,  the  burst  of  verdure,  must  have  as  truly  made  this 
(such  might  be  a  possible  interpretation  of  the  name)  '  the 
'  light  of  the  race  of  Arphaxad '  (Ur  Chasdim),  as  the  like 
circumstances  made  Damascus  '  the  eye  of  the  East ; '  and 
amongst  the  countless  sepulchres  which  fill  the  rocky  hill  ^ 
behind  the  city,  some  may  reach  back  to  the  earliest  times 
of  human  habitation  and  interment. 

From  this  spot,  invested  with  a  tender  attractiveness  from 
which  even  the  passing  traveller  ^  reluctantly  tears  himself 
away,  we  may  believe  that  the  family  of  Abraham  were 
called.  Was  it,  as  according  to  Josephus,^  the  grief  of' 
Terah  over  the  untimely  death  of  Haran  ?  Was  it,  as  ac- 
cording to  the  tradition  followed  by  Stephen,  that  the  higher 
call  had  already  come  to  Abraham  ?  ^  We  know  not.  We 
are  told  only  that  they  went  southward :  they  went  upon  the 
track  which  Chaldseans,  and  Medes,  and  Persians,  and  Curds, 
and  Tartars,  afterwards  in  long  succession  followed,  as  if 
towards  the  rich  plains  of  Nineveh  or  of  Babylon. 
Haran,  One  day's  journey  from  Ur,  if  Orfa  be  Ur,  was  the  spot 

which  they  chose  for  their  encampment^ — Haran,  Charran, 


>  Chron.  22.  haps  Neh.  ix.  7. 

*  It  is  now  called  '  Top-dag,'  the  "  Visible  from  Orfa  almost  at  aU 
hill  of  the  cannon.     Olivier,  iv.  226.  times  (Ainsworth,  Assyria,  Babylonia, 

^  I  owe  this,  and  much  else  of  the  Chaldwa,     153).       The    surrounding 

impressions   of  Orfa   (which   I   have  country   is   well  described   in   Meri- 

not  myself  visited),  to  the  kind  in-  vale's   Hist,   of    Bomatis   under    the 

formation  of  two  recent  travellers.  E/)ipire,  i.    520,  and,  with  elaborate 

*  Jos.  Ant.  i.  7,  1.  learning,  in  Chwolson's  Ssabier,  i.  304. 

*  Acts  vii.  4.     PhUo,  i.  464 ;  per-  See  Appendix  I, 


LECT.  I.  HARAN.  9 

Carrhae.  That  it  was  a  place  of  note  may  be  gathered  from 
its  long  continued  name  and  fame  in  later  days.  As  the 
sanctviary  of  the  Moon  goddess,  it  was,  far  into  the  Koman 
Empire,  regarded  as  the  centre  of  Eastern  Paganism,  in 
rivalry  to  Edessa,  the  centre  of  Eastern  Christendom.  It 
was  the  scene,  too,  of  the  memorable  defeat  of  Crassus.  But 
no  modern  traveller,  up  to  the  present  time,  has  left  a  written 
account  of  this  world-old  place.  There  is  hardly  anything  to 
tell  us  why  it  was  fixed  upon  either  as  the  scene  of  that  fierce 
conflict,  or  as  the  scene  of  the  Patriarchal  settlement.  Only 
we  observe  that  it  is  the  point  of  divergence  between  the 
great  ^  caravan  routes  towards  the  various  fords  of  the 
Euphrates  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Tigris  on  the  other; 
and  therefore  must  have  had  some  marked  features  to  make 
it  a  fitting  encampment  both  for  Eoman  general  and  Chal- 
dsean  Patriarch.  Beside  the  settlement,  too,  were  the  wells,^ 
round  which  for  the  next  generations  one  large  portion  of 
the  tribe  of  Terah  continued  to  linger ;  and  the  settlers  in 
the  distant  west  are  described  as  still  retaining  their  affec- 
tion for  the  ancient  sanctuary,^  where  the  father  of  their 
race  was  buried,  and  whence  they  sought,  according  to  the 
true  Arabian  usage,  their  own  kinswomen  and  cousins  in 
marriage. 

But,  for  the  highest  spirit  of  the  Patriarchal  family,  Haran  Passage 
could  not  be  a  permanent  abiding-place.  *  The  great  river,'  Euphrates. 
*  the  river,'  as  his  descendants  called  it,  the  river  Euphrates, 
rolled  its  vast  boundary  of  waters  between  him  and  the 
remote  country  to  which  his  steps  were  bent.  Two  days' 
journey  brought  him  to  the  high  chalk  cliffs  which  overlook 
the  wide  western  desert.  Broad  and  strong  lay  the  great 
stream  beneath  and  between.     He  crossed  over  it,  probably 

'  Eitter,  Tii.  296.    As  such  it  seems  *  Nieb.  Trav.  ii.  410.    Gen.  xxix.  2. 

to  be   mentioned  in   Ezekiel   xxvii.  ^  Gen.   xi.    31,   xxix.   4.      Ewald, 

23.  Gcschichte,  i,  413. 


10  miE   CALL   OF   ABRAHAM.  lect.  i. 

near  the  same  point  wliere  it  is  still  forded.^  He  crossed 
it,  and  became  (s^^cll  at  least  was  one  interpretation  put 
upon  the  word)  Abraham,  '  the  Hebrew,^  the  man  who  had 
crossed  ^  the  river  flood — the  man  who  came  from  beyond 
the  Euphrates. 
Damascus.  For  seven  days'  journey^  or  more,  the  caravan  would 
advance  along  what  is  still  the  main  desert  road  to  Syria. 
Nothing  is  said  in  history  of  their  route.  It  is  but  an  ety- 
mological legend  which  connects  Aleppo^  with  the  herds  of 
the  Patriarch's  pastoral  tribe.  They  neared  the  range  of  the 
Lebanon  which  screened  the  Holy  Land  from  their  view ; 
and  underneath  its  shade  they  rested,  for  the  last  time,  in 
Damascus.^  It  is  curious  that  whilst  the  connexion  of  Abra- 
ham with  this  most  ancient  of  cities  is  almost  entirely  de- 
rived from  extraneous  sources,  it  is  yet  sufficiently  confirmed 
by  the  sacred  narrative  to  be  worthy  of  credit.  '  Abraham,' 
we  are  told,  '  was  king  of  Damascus.'  ^  He  had  crossed  the 
desert  with  his  tribe,  as  not  many  years  afterwards  came 
Chedorlaomer  and  the  kings  of  the  East;  and,  as  they  de- 
scended on  the  green  oasis  of  Siddim,  so  this  earlier  con- 
queror established  himself  in  the  green  oasis  of  Damascus, 
the  likeness,  on  a  larger  scale,  of  his  own  native  Ur.  In  later 
ages  his  name  was  still  honoured  in  the  region ;  and  a  spot 
pointed  out  as  *  Abraham's  dwelling-place.'  And  in  the 
primitive  play  on  the  name  ^  of  Abraham's  faithful  slave, 

1  Zeugma,  the  ancient  passage,  was  mseans   on    Damascus    from   Kir    in 

a    little    west   of    the    present    pas-  Armenia,  Amos  ix.  7. 

sage  at  Birs.     Olivier  (ir.  215)  com-  ®  Justin,    xxxvi.    2.      Nicolaus   of 

pares  it  in  size  and  rapidity  to  the  Damascus  (Jos.  Ant.   i.    7,  2).     See 

Khone.  Appendix  I. 

^  LXX.    Gen.   xiv.    13,  o   wepdrns.  ''  Gen.  xv.  2.     Ewald,  i.  366.    It  is 

Eenan,  Langucs  Semitiques,  i.  108.  lost  in  the  English,  but  preserved  in 

*  Gen.  xxxi.  23.  Eitter,  West  Asia,  the  Greek,  version  —  '  This  son  of 
vii.  296.  'Masek  is   Damasek   Eliezer.'      The 

*  '  Haleb,'  the  milk  of  Abraham's  Arab  tradition  makes  Eliezer's  name 
cow.  See  the  legend  in  Porter's  to  have  been  '  Dimshak,'  and  the  ori- 
Mcindbook  of  8t/ria,  613.  gin  of  the  name  of  the  city.  D'Herbelot, 

^  Compare  the  descent  of  the  Ara-       '  Abraham '  and  '  Damaschk,'  i.  209. 


LECT.  I.  HIS    OUTWAED    APPEAEAXCE.  11 

preserved  in  the  sacred  record,  we  have  a  guarantee  of  the 
close  tie  which  subsisted  between  the  Patriarch  and  his 
earliest  conquest.  '  Eliezer  of  Damascus '  was  the  lasting 
trophy  of  his  victory. 

As  we  pause  at  this  last  halting-place  before  his  entrance 
into  Palestine,  let  us  look  more  fully  in  the  face  the  great 
character  that  we  have  brought  thus  far  on  his  way. 

Not  many  years  ago  much  offence  was  given  by  one,  now  Likeness 
a  high  dignitary  in  the  English  Church,  who  ventured  to  Arabian 
suggest  the  original  likeness  of  Abraham,  by  calling  him  a  chiefs. 
Bedouin  Sheykh.  It  is  one  advantage  flowing  from  the 
multiplication  of  Eastern  travels  that  such  offence  could 
now  no  longer  be  taken.  Every  English  pilgrim  to  the 
Holy  Land,  even  the  most  reverential  and  the  most  fas- 
tidious, is  delighted  to  trace  and  to  record  the  likeness  of 
patriarchal  manners  and  costumes  in  the  Arabian  chiefs.  To 
refuse  to  do  so  would  be  to  decline  the  use  of  what  we  may 
almost  call  a  singular  gift  of  Providence.  The  unchanged 
habits  of  the  East  render  it  in  this  respect  a  kind  of  living 
Pompeii.  The  outward  appearances,  which  in  the  case  of  the 
Greeks  and  Komans  we  know  only  through  art  and  writing, 
through  marble,  fresco,  and  parchment,  in  the  case  of  Jewish 
history  we  know  through  the  forms  of  actual  men,  living  and 
moving  before  us,  wearing  almost  the  same  garb,  speaking  in 
almost  the  same  language,  and  certainly  with  the  same  gene- 
ral turns  of  speech  and  tone  and  manners.  Such  as  we  see 
them  now,  starting  on  a  pilgrimage  or  a  journey,  were 
Abraham  and  his  brother's  son,  when  they*  went  forth'  to  go 
into  the  land  of  Canaan.  '  All  their  substance  that  they  had 
'  gathered '  is  heaped  high  on  the  backs  of  their  kneeling 
camels.  The  '  slaves  that  they  had  bought  in  Haran '  run 
along  by  their  sides.  Pound  about  them  are  their  flocks  of 
sheep  and  goats,  and  theVsses  moving  underneath  the  tower- 
ing forms  of  the  camels.    The  chief  is  there,  amidst  the  stir  of 


12  THE   CALL    OF   ABRAHAM.  lect.  i. 

movement,  or  resting  at  noon  within  his  black  tent,  marked 
out  from  the  rest  by  his  cloak  of  brilliant  scarlet,  by  the  fillet 
of  rope  which  binds  the  loose  handkerchief  round  his  head,  by 
the  spear  which  he  holds  in  his  hand  to  guide  the  march,  and 
to  fix  the  encampment.  The  chief's  wife,  the  princess^  of  the 
tribe,  is  there  in  her  ^  own  tent,  to  make  the  cakes,  and  pre- 
pare the  usual  meal  ^  of  milk  and  butter  :  the  slave  or  the 
child  is  ready  to  bring  in  the  red  "*  lentile  soup  for  the 
weary  hunter,  or  to  kill  the  calf  for  the  unexpected  guest.^ 
Even  the  ordinary  social  state  is  the  same :  polygamy, 
slavery,  the  exclusiveness  of  family  ties ;  the  period  of 
service  for  the  dowry  of  a  wife ;  the  solemn  obligations  of 
hospitality  ;  the  temptations,  easily  followed,  into  craft  or 
falsehood. 

In  every  aspect,  'except  that  which  most  concerns  us,  the 
likeness  is  complete  between  the  Bedouin  chief  of  the  present 
day,  and  the  Bedouin  chief  who  came  from  Chaldsea  nearly 
four  thousand  years  ago.  In  every  aspect  but  one :  and 
that  one  contrast  is  set  off  in  the  highest  degree  by  the  re- 
semblance of  all  besides.  The  more  we  see  the  outward 
conformity  of  Abraham  and  his  immediate  descendants  to 
the  godless,  grasping,  foul-mouthed  Arabs  of  the  modern 
desert,  nay  even  their  fellowship  in  the  infirmities  of  their 
common  state  and  country,  the  more  we  shall  recognise  the 
force  of  the  religious  faith,  which  has  raised  them  from  that 
low  estate  to  be  the  heroes  and  saints  of  their  people,  the 
spiritual  fathers  of  European  religion  and  civilisation.  The 
hands  are  the  hands  of  the  Bedouin  Esau ;  but  the  voice  is 
the  voice  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,— the  voice  which  still 
makes  itself  heard  across  deserts  and  continents  and  seas ; 
hear  d  wherever  there  is  a  conscience  to  listen  or  an  imagina- 

'  '  Sarah '^princess,  of  which 'Saxai'  *  Gen.  xxv.  34. 

is  a  variation.  ^  For  the  Arab  life  in  Chald?ea,  see 

*  Gen.  xxiv.  67.  Loftus,  Chaldma  and  Susiana,  156. 
»  Gen.  xviii.  2-8. 


LECT.  I.  HIS   RELIGIOUS   ASPECT.  l3 

tion  to  be  pleased,  or  a  sense  of  reverence  left  amongst  man- 
kind. 

11.  Wliat  then  is  the  position  which  has  been  accorded  to 
Abraham  by  the  general  witness  of  history  ?  What  was  it 
which  caused  his  own  nation  to  make  their  highest  boast  of  a 
descent  ^  from  him  ?  which  caused  them  to  look  forward  to 
the  rest  in  his  bosom  ^  as  the  fitting  repose  of  weafied  souls 
that  have  escaped  from  the  toil  of  their  earthly  pilgrimage  ? 

The  answer  may  best  be  given  by  considering  the  two 
names  by  which  he  is  known  in  the  traditions  of  the  East, 
and  which,  though  they  only  occur  once  or  twice  in  Scrip- 
ture, yet  so  well  correspond  to  its  whole  representation  of 
Abraham,  that  they  may  fitly  be  taken  as  his  distinguishing 
characteristics. 

1.  First,  he  is  'the  Friend  of  Grod.'  '  Khalil- Allah,'  or,  The  Friend 
as  he  is  more  usually  called,  '  El-Khalil,'  simply,  *  the  °^  ^°*^- 
Friend/  ^  is  a  title  which  has  in  Mussulman  countries  super- 
seded altogether  his  own  proper  name.  In  many  ways  it  has 
a  peculiar  significance.  It  is,  in  its  most  general  aspect,  an 
illustration  of  the  difference  which  has  been  well  remarked 
between  the  early  beginnings  of  Jewish  history  and  those  of 
any  other  ancient  nation.  Grant  to  the  uttermost  the  un- 
certain, shadowy,  fragmentary  character  of  these  primitive 
records,  yet  there  is  one  point  brought  out  clearly  and  dis- 
tinctly.    The  ancestor  of  the  Chosen  People  is  not,  as  in  the 

'  It  was  a  tradition  that  the  He-  ture  it  occurs  only  in  James  ii.  23  ; 

brew  letters  were  given  by  him ;  and  '  He  was  called  the  friend  of  God : ' 

that   Alcph  stood  first  as  being  the  and  more  doubtfully  in  Isaiah  xli.  8  ; 

fii'st  letter  of  his  name.     (Suidas  in  '  Jacob    whom    I    have    chosen,    the 

voce 'Abraham.')   Artapanus (in  Eus.  'seed    of  Abraham    my  friend:'    2 

Prcep.  vs..  18)  derives  the  name  'He-  Chron.  xx.  7  ;  '  The  seed  of  Abraham 

brew'  from  that  of  Abraham.  'thy  friend,'     In  Clem.  Rom.  {Ep.  i. 

-  See  Lightfoot  on  Luke  xvL  22.  10)  he  is  called,  simply  '  the  friend,' 

^  See     D'Herbelot     ('  Abraham  '),  'A;8paa^  b   (pi\os  irpoaayopevdiis.       In 

for  its  precise  import.     The  name  of  Gen.  xviii.  17,  Philo  (i.  401)  reads, 

Abraham  was  interpreted  by  Apol-  '  Shall  I  hide  anything  from  Abraham 

lonius  Melon  (Ens.  Prcsp.  ix.  19)  as  '  my  friend?' 
'Friend   of   the   Father.'     In   Scrip- 


14  THE   CALL   OF   ABRAHAM.  i.ect.  i. 

legends  of  Greece  and  Eome,  or  even  of  Germany,  a  god  or 
a  demi-god,  or  the  son  of  a  god :  he  is,  as  we  have  just 
observed,  a  mere  man,  a  chief,  such  as  those  to  whom  these 
records  were  first  presented  must  have  constantly  seen  with 
their  own  eyes.  The  interval  ^  between  the  human  and 
divine  is  never  confounded.  Close  as  are  the  communications 
with  Deity,  yet  the  Divine  Essence  is  always  veiled,  the  man 
is  never  absorbed  into  it.  Abraham  is  '  the  Friend,'  but  he 
is  nothing  more.  He  is  nothing  more ;  but  he  is  nothing  less. 
He  is  ^the  Friend  of  God.'  The  title  includes  a  double 
meaning.  He  is  '  beloved  of  God.'  '  Fear  not,  Abram,  I  am 
'  thy  shield  and  thy  exceeding  great  reward.'  He  was 
The  call  '  chosen '  2  by  God :  he  was  '  called,'  ^  by  God.  Although 
in  the  word  '  ecclesia,'  in  its  religious  sense,  the  etymological 
meaning,  '  of  an  assembly  called  forth  by  the  herald,''  is 
lost  in  the  general  idea  of  '  a  congregation,'  yet  this  original 
meaning  gives  a  fitness  to  the  consideration  that  he  who  was 
the  first  in  the  succession  of  the  '  ecclesia,'  or  '  church,' 
was  so  by  virtue  of  what  is  known  in  all  subsequent  history 
as  his  '  call.'  The  word  itself,  as  applied  to  the  summons 
which  led  the  Patriarch  forth,  rarely  occurs  in  the  sacred 
writers.  But  it  gathers  up  in  a  short  compass  the  chief 
meaning  of  his  first  appearance.  In  him  was  exemplified 
the  fundamental  truth  of  all  religion,  that  God  has  not 
deserted  the  world ;  that  His  work  is  carried  on  by  His 
chosen  instruments ;  that  good  men  are  not  only  His 
creatures  and  His  servants,  but  His  friends.  In  those  simple 
words  in  which  the  Biblical  narrative  describes  '  the  call,' 
whatever  there  is  of  truth  in  the  predestinarian  doctrine  of 
Augustine  and  of  Calvin  finds  its  earliest  expression. 

But  the  further  meaning  involved  in  the  title  of  Abraham 

'  This  is  well  brought  out  in  Dean  ^  Neh.  ix.   7  :   'Thou  didst  choose 

Milman's  History  of  the  Jews,  i.  23.  'Abram.' 

Contrast  the  attempt  of  the  legends  ^  Isaiah    li.    2  :    'I    called  him.' 

to  invest  Abraham  with  a  supernatural  Heb.  xi.   8:    'He  was  called  to  go 

character.  '  out.' 


LECT.  I.  HIS   CREED.  15 

indicates  the  correlative  truth, — not  only  was  Abraham  be- 
loved by  God,  but  God  was  'beloved  by  him;'  not  only 
was  God  the  Friend  of  Abraham,  but  Abraham  was  '  the 
friend  of  God.'  To  expand  this  truth  is  to  see  what  was 
the  religion,  the  communion  with  the  Supreme,  which  raised 
Abraham  above  his  fellow-men. 

The  greater  histories  of  the  Christian  Church  usually  com-  Belief  ia 
mence  with  dissertations  on  the  state  of  the  heathen  world 
at  the  time  of  the  birth  of  Christ.  Something  analogous  to 
this  ouglit,  if  it  were  possible,  to  be  in  our  minds  in  con- 
ceiving the  rise  of  the  Jewish  Church  in  the  person  of 
Abraham.  But  it  would  be  of  a  totally  different  kind ;  it 
would  belong  to  the  province  rather  of  philosophy  than  of 
history.  We  must  transport  ourselves  back  to  that  pri- 
meval time  of  which  so  lively  a  picture  has  lately  been 
furnished '  from  the  results  of  philological  research ;  of  Worship 
which,  in  the  European  world,  we  see  perhaps  the  last  traces  heavenly 
in  Homer,  but  of  which  still  later  memorials  were  preserved  ^°*^^^^-  . 
in  the  New  World  in  the  Peruvian  worship,  even  down  to 
the  sixteenth  century,  when  it  was  seen  and  elaborately  • 
described  by  the"  first  Spanish  discoverers."  The  objects  of 
nature,  especially  the  heavenly  bodies,  were  then  invested 
with  a  '  glory '  and  a  '  freshness '  which  has  long  since 
'  passed  away '  from  the  earth ;  they  seemed  to  be  instinct 
with  a  divinity  which  exercised  an  almost  irresistible  fascina- 
tion over  their  first  beholders.  The  sight  of  '  the  sun  when 
'  it  shined,  and  of  the  moon  walking  in  brightness,'  ^  was  a 
temptation  as  potent  to  them  as  to  us  it  is  inconceivable ; 
'  their  heart  was  secretly  enticed,  and  their  hand  kissed 
'  their  mouth.'  There  was  also  another  form  of  idolatry, 
though  less  universal  in  its  influence.  '  There  were  giants 
'  on  the  earth  in  those  days ; '  giants,  if  not  actually,  yet  by 
their  colossal  strength  and  awful  majesty :  the  Pharaohs  and 

>  Professor  Miiller's  '  Comparative  *  See  Helps'  Spanish  Conq.  iii.  488. 

Mythology,'  in  Oxford  Essays,  1856.  ^  Job  x.xxi.  26,  27. 


16 


THE   CALL   OF   ABRAHAM. 


Worship  of  Nimrods,  whose  forms  we  can  still  trace  on  the  ornaments 
of  Egypt  and  Assyria  in  their  gigantic  proportions,  the 
mighty  hunters,  the  royal  priests,  the  deified  men.  From  the 
control  of  these  powers,  before  which  all  meaner  men  bowed 
down,  from  the  long  ancestral  prepossessions  of  'country 
*and  kindred  and  father's  house,'  the  first  worshippers  of 
One  who  was  above  all  alike  had  painfully  to  disentangle 
themselves.  It  is  true  that  Abraham  hardly  appears  before 
us  as  a  prophet  ^  or  teacher  of  any  new  religion.     As  ^  the 


'  He  is  so  called  incidentally,  Gen. 
XX.  7,  and  perhaps  Ps.  cv,  15.  He  is 
also  '  a  prophet '  (Nabi)  in  the  Mus- 
sulman traditions. 

"^  I  cannot  forbear,  in  illustration 
of  these  statements,  to  refer  to  a  far 
more  forcible  and  exact  exposition 
of  them  which  appeared  (since  the  de- 
livery of  this  lecture)  in  an  Essay  on 
Semitic  Monotheism  (in  The  Times 
of  April  14  and  15,  1860)  by  Pro- 
fessor Max  Mviller.  '  How  is  the  fact 
'to  be  explained  that  the  three  great 
'  religions  of  the  world  in  which  the 
'  Unity  of  the  Deity  forms  the  key- 
'note  are  of  Semitic  origin?  .... 
'  Mohammedanism,  no  doubt,  is  a 
'  Semitic  religion  ;  and  its  very  core  is 
'  Monotheism.  But  did  Mohammed 
'  invent  Monotheism  ?  Did  he  invent 
'even  a  new  name  of  God?  Not  at 
'  all.  .  .  .  And  how  is  it  with  Chris- 
'  tianity  ?  Did  Christ  come  to  preach 
'faith  in  a  new  God?  Did  He  or 
'His  disciples  invent  a  new  name  of 
'  God  ?  No.  Christ  came  not  to  de- 
'  stroy,  but  to  fulfil,  and  the  God 
'  whom  He  preached  was  the  God  of 
'Abraham.  And  who  is  the  God  of 
'Jeremiah,  of  Elijah,  and  of  Moses? 
'  We  answer  again,  "  the  God  of  Abra- 
'  ham."  Thus  the  Faith  in  the  One 
'  Living  God,  which  seemed  to  re- 
'  quire  the  admission  of  a  monotheistic 
'  instinct,  grafted  in  every  member 
'  of  the  Semitic  family,  is  traced  back 


•to  one  man,  to  him,  "in  whom  all 
■  the  families  of  the  earth  shall  be 
'  blessed." — And  if  from  our  earliest 
'childhood  we  have  looked  upon 
'  Abraham,  the  Friend  of  God,  with 
'love  and  veneration  .  .  .  his  vene- 
'  rable  figure  will  assume  still  more 
'majestic  proportions,  when  we  see 
'  in  him  the  life-spring  of  that  faith 
'which  was  to  unite  all  the  nations 
'  of  the  earth,  and  the  author  of  that 
'blessing  which  was  to  come  on  the 
'  GentDes  through  Jesus  Christ.  And 
'  if  we  are  asked  how  this  one  Abra- 
'  ham  passed  through  the  denial  of 
'  all  other  Gods,  to  the  knowledge  of 
'  the  one  God,  we  are  content  to  an- 
'  swer  that  it  was  by  a  special  divine 
'  revelation  ....  granted  to  that 
'  one  man,  and  handed  down  by  him 
'  to  Jews,  Christians,  and  Moham- 
'  medans  ...  to  all  who   believe  in 

'  the  God  of  Abraham We 

'  want  to  know  more  of  that  man 
'  than  we  do ;  but  even  with  the  little 
'  we  know  of  him,  he  stands  before  us 
'  as  a  figure  second  only  to  One  in  the 
'  whole  history  of  the  world.' 

'  Abraham,'  says  Baron  Bunsen,  '  is 
'  the  Zoroaster  of  the  Semitic  race ; 
'  but  he  is  more  than  the  Zoroaster, 
'  in  proportion  as  his  sense  of  the 
'  divine  was  more  spiritual,  and  more 
'  free  from  the  philosophy  of  nature, 
'and  the  adoration  of  the  visible 
'world.' — Bihelwerk,  ii.  88. 


lECT.  I.  HIS  CREED.  17 

Scripture  represents  him,  it  is  rather  as  if  he  was  possessed 
of  the  truth  himself,  than  as  if  he  had  any  call  to  proclaim  it 
to  others.  His  life  is  his  creed;  his  mioTation  is  his  mission.  Abraham 
But  we  can  hardly  doubt  that  here  the  legendary  tales  fill  teacher  of 
up,  though  in  their  own  fantastic  way,  what  the  Biblical  q/(3^o^'^*"^ 
account  dimly  implies.  He  was,  in  practice,  the  Friend 
of  God,  in  the  noblest  of  all  senses  of  the  word ;  the  Friend 
who  stood  fast  when  others  fell  away.  He  was  the  first  dis- 
tinct historical  witness,  at  least  for  his  own  race  and  country, 
to  Theism — to  Monotheism,  to  the  unity  of  the  Lord  and 
Ruler  of  all  against  the  primeval  idolatries,  the  natural 
religion  of  the  ancient  world.  It  may  be  an  empty  fable 
that  Terah  was  a  maker  of  idols,  and  that  Abraham  was  cast 
by  Nimrod  into  a  burning  fiery  furnace  for  refusing  to 
worship  him.  But  even  in  the  Book  of  Joshua  we  read  that 
the  original  fathers  of  the  Jewish  race  who  dwelt  beyond  the 
Euphrates  served  'other  gods,^  and  the  deliverance  implied 
in  the  call  indicates  something  more  than  a  mere  change  of 
state  and  place.^  We  may  be  forgiven  if  we  supply  the  void 
by  a  well-known  legend,  which  has  left  its  traces  in  almost 
every  traditional  account  of  Abraham.^  The  scene  is  some- 
times laid  in  Ur,  sometimes  in  the  celebrated  hill  above 
Damascus."*  The  story  is  best  told  in  the  words  of  the  Koran. 
*  WJien  night  overshadotved  him,  he  saiv  a  star,  and  said, 
' "  This  is  my  Lord."  But  when  it  set,  he  said,  "  I  like  not 
'  those  that  set.''''  And  when  he  saw  the  moon  rising,  he 
'  said,  "  Tills  is  m^/  Lord.^^  But  ivhen  the  moon  set,  he  an- 
'  sioered,  "  Verily,  if  my  Lord  direct  me  not  in  the  right 


'  Joshua  xxiv.  2,  14.     One  inter-  ^  Philo,  ii.  12.     Josephus,  Ant.  i. 

pretation  of  'Ur'    (light)  is  that  it  7,   1  ;    Suidas  {in  voce  'Abraham'); 

was  the  seat  of  the  sun-worship :  as  the  Tahnud  and  Midrash  (where  it  is 

it  certainly  was  in  the  fourth  century.  founded  on  Isa.  xli.  2).     See  Beer's 

Bayer,  4.  Leben  Abrahams,    102.      Koran,   ^^. 

2  See  Judith,  v.  7,  8,  a  statement  74-82. 

independent  of  Genesis.  ■•  Ibn  Batuta,  231. 


■16  THE   CALL   OF   ABKAHAM.  lect.  i. 

^ivay,  I  shall  be  as  one  of  those  who  err.^^  And  ivhen  he 
^  saw  the  sun  rising,  he  said,  "  This  is  my  Lord.  This  is 
'  greater  than  the  star  or  moon.''''  But  when  the  sun  went 
'  down,  he  said,  "  0  my  jpeople,  I  am  clear  of  these  things. 
*/  turn  my  face  to  Him  who  hath  made  the  heaven  and 
•*  the  earth.^' '  It  is  an  illustration  of  this  ancient  legend,  that 
many  ages  afterwards,  another  dweller  in  Ur  of  the  Chaldees, 
that  Syrian  saint  of  whom  I  have  before  spoken,  Ephrem  of 
Edessa,  relates  ^  that  once  coming  out  of  the  city  very  early 
in  the  morning  with  two  of  his  companions,  he  gazed  upon 
"the  heavens,  spangled  with  bright  stars.  Their  brilliancy 
struck  him  as  they  had  struck  the  Chaldaean  shepherd  of 
old ;  and  he  said,  '  If  the  brightness  of  these  stars  be  so 
'  dazzling,  how  will  the  saints  shine  when  Christ  shall  come  in 
'  glory ! '  What  a  world  of  new  hopes,  new  fears,  new  pro- 
spects, lies  between  the  reflection  of  the  primitive  patriarch 
and  the  reflection  of  the  Christian  saint ! 
T}^e  2.  This  leads  us  to  the  second  name  by  which  Abraham  is 

^f^7  known,  'The  Father  of  the  Faithful.' ^  Two  points  are  in- 
Faithful;  volved  in  this  name  also.  First,  he  was  himself  'the 
Faithful.'  In  him  was  most  distinctly  manifested  the  gift 
of '  faith.'  In  him,  long,  long  before  Luther,  long  before 
Paul,  was  it  proclaimed  in  a  sense  far  more  universal  and 
clear  than  the  '  paradox '  of  the  Eeformer,  not  less  clear  and 
his  faith,  universal  than  the  preaching  of  the  Apostle,  that  '  man  is 
'justified  by  faith.'  '^Abraham  believed  in  the  Lord,  and 
'  He  counted  it  to  him  for  righteousness.^  ^  Powerful  as  is 
the  effect  of  these  words  when  we  read  them  in  their  first 
untarnished  freshness,  they  gain  immensely  in  their  original 
language,  to  which  neither  Greek  nor  Grerman,  much  less 
Latin  or  English,  can  furnish  any  full  equivalent.  'He 
^  supported  himself,  he  built  himself  up,  he  reposed  as  a 
'  child  in  its  mother's  arms '  (such  seems  the  force  of  the  root 

»  Tillemont,  S.  Ephrem,  ch.  12.  ^  Kom.  iv.  13.  '  Gen.  xv.  6. 


LECT.  I.  HIS   FAITH.  19 

of  the  Hebrew  word  ' )  in  the  strength  of  God ;  in  God  whom 
he  cUd  not  see,  more  than  in  the  giant  empires  of  earth,  and 
tlie  bright  lights  of  heaven,  or  the  claims  of  tribe  and  kindred, 
which  were  always  before  him.     *  It  was  counted  to  him  for 
'righteousness.'     It  'was  counted  to  him,'  and  his  liistory 
seals  and  ratifies  the  result.     His  faith,  as  we  have  seen; 
transpires  not  in  any  outward  profession  of  faith,  but  precisely 
in  that  which  far  more  nearly  concerns  him  and  every  one  of 
us,  in  his  prayers,  in  his  actions,  in  the  righteousness,  the 
'justice'  (if  one  may  again  so  draw  out  the  sense  of  the 
Hebrew  word^),  the  ' wprightness,^  the  moral  'elevation''  of 
soul  and  spirit  which  sent  him  on  his  way  straightforward, 
without  turning  to    the  right   hand  or   to  the  left.      His 
belief,  vague  and  scanty  as  it   may  be,  even  in  the  most 
elementary  truths  of  religion,  is  in  the  Scriptures  implied 
rather  than  stated.     It  is  in  him  simply  'the  evidence  of 
'  things  not  seen,'  '  the  hope  against  hope.'     His  faith,  in  the 
literal  sense  of  the  word,  is  knowna  to  us  only  through  '  his 
works.'     He  and  his  descendants  are  blessed,  not,  as  in  the 
Koran,  because  of  his  adoption  of  the  first  article  of  the  creed 
of  Islam,  but  because  he  had  '  obeyed  the  voice  of  the  Lord, 
*  and  kept  His  charge,  His  commandments,  His  statutes,  and 
'  His  laws.''  ^ 

Such  was  the  faith  of  the  first  believer :  in  how  many  His  uui- 
ways,  an  example,  a  consolation,  a  study,  to  his  latest  de-  ^^''!^^  '^^''^ 
scendants.  And  this  prepares  us  for  observing  that  he  wa& 
not  only  'faithful,'  but  'the  Father  of  the  Faithful.'  In 
modern  ages  of  the  history  of  the  Church  it  has  too  often 
happened  that  the  doctrine  of  '  faith '  has  had  a  narrowing 
effect  on  the  conscience  and  feelings  of  those  who  have 
strongly  embraced  it.  It  was  far  otherwise  with  S.  Paul,  to 
whom  it  was  almost  synonymous  with  the  admission  of  the 

'  See  Gesenius,  Lexicon,  72.  ^  Gen.  sxvi.  5 ;  xriii.  19. 

=»  lb.  854. 

c  2 


20  THE   CALL   OF  ABEAHAil.  lect.  i. 

Gentiles.  It  was  far  otherwise  with  its  first  exemplifica- 
tion in  the  life  of  the  Patriarch  Abraham.  His  very  name 
implies  this  universal  mission.  '  The  Father '  *  (Abba) : 
'  The  lofty  Father '  (Ab-ram)  :  '  The  Father  of  multitudes ' 
( Ab-raham  ^)  :  the  venerable  parent,  siurveying,  as  if  from  that 
lofty  eminence,  the  countless  progeny  who  should  look  up  to 
him  as  their  spiritual  ancestor.  He  was,  first,  the  Father  of 
the  Chosen  People,  the  people  who,  by  reason  of  their  faith, 
though  in  one  sense  the  narrowest  of  all  ancient  nations,  yet 
were  also  the  widest,  in  their  diffusion  and  dispersion — the 
only  people  that,  by  virtue  of  an  invisible  bond,  maintained 
their  national  union  in  spite  of  local  difference  and  division. 
But  he  was  much  more  than  the  Father  of  the  Chosen  People. 
It  is  not  a  mere  allegory  or  accidental  application  of  separate 
texts,  that  justifies  S.  Paul's  appeal  to  the  case  of  Abraham  as 
including  within  itself  the  faith  of  the  whole  Grentile  world. 
His  position,  as  represented  to  us  in  the  original  records,  is 
of  itself  far  wider  than  that  of  any  merely  Jewish  saint  or 
national  hero ;  and  he  is,  on  that  ground  alone,  the  fitting 
image  to  meet  us  at  the  outset  of  the  history  of  the  Church. 
He,  the  founder  of  the  Jewish  race,  was  yet,  by  the  confession 
of  their  own  annals,  not  a  Jew,  nor  the  father  exclusively  of 
Jews.  He  was  *  the  Hebrew,'  to  whom,  both  in  the  Biblical 
record  ^  and  their  own  traditions,  the  Arabian  no  less  than 
the  Israelite  tribes  look  back  as  to  their  first  ancestor.  The 
scene  of  his  life,  as  of  the  Patriarchs  generally,  breathes  a 
larger  atmosphere  than  the  contracted  limits  of  Palestine — 
the  free  air  of  the  plains  of  Mesopotamia  and  the  desert, — 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  vast  shapes  of  the  Babylonian 
monarchy  on  one  side,  and  of  Egypt  on  the  other.     He  is 

'  According  to  the  Persian  tradi-  (7«a»iow=multitude,  as  of  the  drops 

tions,  his  name,  before  his  conversion,  of  rain,  the  swelling  of  springs,  the 

was  Zerwan,  '  the  wealthy.'      Hyde,  voice  of  singers).     Gesenius,  Lexicon, 

Bel.  Pers.  77.  281. 

^  An    abbreviation   of   rab-  amon  ^  Gen.  xvi.  15 ;  xxv.  1-6. 


LECT.  I.  niS   UNIVERSAL   CHARACTEE.  21 

not  an  ecclesiastic,  not  an  ascetic,  not  even  a  learned  sage, 
but  a  chief,  a  shepherd,  a  warrior,  full  of  all  the  affections 
and  interests  of  family  and  household,  and  wealth  and  power, 
and  for  this  very  reason  the  first  true  type  of  the  religious 
man,  the  first  representative  of  the  whole  Church  of  Grod. 

This  universality  of  Abraham's  faith — this  elevation,  this 
multitudinousness  of  the  Patriarchal,  paternal  character, 
which  his  name  involves,  has  also  found  a  response  in  those 
later  traditions  and  feelings  of  which  I  have  before  spoken. 
"V^Tien  Mahomet '  attacks  the  idolatry  of  the  Arabs,  he  jus- 
tifies himself  by  arguing,  almost  in  the  language  of  S.  Paul, 
that  the  faith  which  he  proclaimed  in  One  Supreme  Grod  was 
no  new  belief,  but  was  identical  with  the  ancient  religion  of 
their  first  father  Abraham.  When  the  Emperor  Alexander 
Severus  placed  in  the  chapel  of  his  palace  the  statues  of  the 
choice  spirits  of  all  times,^  Abraham,  rather  than  Moses,  was 
selected,  as  the  centre,  doubtless,  of  a  more  extended  circle 
of  sacred  associations.  When  the  author  of  the  *  Liberty  of 
Prophesying '  ventured,  before  any  other  English  divine,  to 
lift  up  his  voice  in  behalf  of  universal  religious  toleration,  he 
was  glad  to  shelter  himselfundertheauthority  of  the  ancient 
Jewish  or  Persian  apologue,  of  doubtful  origin,  but  of  most 
instructive  wisdom,  of  almost  scriptural  simplicity,  which  may 
well  be  repeated  here  as  an  expression  of  the  world-wide 
sympathies  which  attach  to  the  Father  of  the  Faithful.^ 

'  Wlien  Abraham  sate  at  his  tent-door,  according  to  his 
'  custom,  waiting  to  entertain  strangers,  he  espied  an  old 
'  man  stooping  and  leaning  on  his  staff,  iveary  ivith  age 

'Koran,  ii.    118-126;    129,   130;  in  a  letter  of  Mr.  Everett,  in  the  Z/fe 

iii.  30,  91,  of  Sydney  Smith,  14.     It  was  appa- 

^  '  Optimos  electos  et  animos  sane-  rently  told  by  a  Jewish  prisoner  at 

'tiores.' — Lamprid.  Alex.  Sever.  Vit.  Tripoli   to    the    Persian   poet  Saadi 

c  20,  whilst   working    as   a    slave,   thence 

^  The  story  and  its  origin  are  given  copied  by  Grotius,  thence  by  Taylor, 

in  Heber's  Life  of  Jeremy  Taylor,  note  thence  appropriated  by  Franklin. 
XX.  (Eden's  edit,  vol,  i.  p.  cccvi.),  and 


22  THE   CALL   OF   ABRAHAM.  lect.  i. 

'  aiid  travel,  coming  toivards  him,  tvho  was  an  hundred 
'  years  of  age.  He  received  him  kindly,  washed  his  feet, 
'provided  supper,  caused  him,  to  sit  doivn,  but  observing 

*  that  the  old  man  ate  and  prayed  not,  nor  begged  for  a 

*  blessing  on  his  meat,  asked  him  why  he  did  not  ivorship 

*  the  God  of  Heaven  ?  The  old  man  told  him  that  he  wor- 
'  shipped  the  fire  only,  and  acknowledged  no  other  God ;  at 
'  which  answer  Abraham  grew  so  zealously  angry,  that  he 
'  thrust  the  old  man  out  of  his  tent,  and  exposed  him  to 
'  all  the  evils  of  the  night  and  an  unguarded  condition. 
'  When  the  old  man  was  gone,  God  called  to  him  and  asked 
'  him  where  the  stranger  was ;  he  replied :  "  /  thrust  him 
'  away,  because  he  did  not  worship  thee.''"'  God  answered, 
'  "  /  have  suffered  him  these  hundred  years,  though  he  dis- 
' honoured  me:  and  couldest  not  thou  endure  him  for 
'one  night,  when  he  gave  thee  no  trouble?"  Upon  this, 
'  saith  the  story,  Abraham  fetched  him  back  again,  and 
'  gave  him  hospitable  enteHainment  and  wise  instruction. 
'  Go  thou  and  do  likewise ;  and  thy  charity  will  be  re- 
'  warded  by  the  God  of  Abrahar)!.'' 

The  name  If  we  may  trust  the  ingenious  conjecture  of  a  distin- 
guished writer  ^  whom  I  have  already  quoted,  a  more  certain 
and  enduring  memorial  has  been  preserved  of  this  side  of 
Abraham's  mission.  The  name  by  which  the  Deity  is  known 
throughout  the  patriarchal  or  introductory  age  of  the  Jewish 
Church  is  '  Elohim,'  translated  in  the  English  version  '  Grod.' 
In  this  name  has  been  discovered  a  trace  of  the  conciliatory, 
comprehensive  mission  of  the  first  Prophet  of  the  true  religion. 
'  Elohim  '  is  a  plural  noun,  though  followed  by  a  verb  in  the 
singular.  When  '  Eloah '  (Grod)  was  first  used  in  the  plural, 
it  could  only  have  signified,  like  any  other  plural,  *  many 
Eloahs ; '  and   such  a  plural  could  only  have  been  formed 

'  What  follows  has  been  added,  in       Professor  Miiller   on  Semitic  Mono- 
a  condensed  form,  from  the  Essay  of      theism,  already  cited.     (See  p.  IG.) 


LECT.  I.  HIS   UNIVEESAL   CHAEACTEK.  23 

after  the  various  names  of  Grod  had  become  the  names  of 
independent  deities;  that  is,  during  a  polytheistic  stage. 
The  transition  from  this  into  the  monotheistic  stage  could  be 
effected  only  in  two  ways ;  either  by  denying  altogether  the 
existe^ice  of  the  Elohim  and  changing  them  into  devils,— as 
was  done  in  Persia, — -or  by  taking  a  higher  view,  and  looking 
upon  them  as  so  many  names  invented  with  the  honest  pur- 
pose of  expressing  the  various  aspects  of  the  Deity,  though 
in  time  diverted  from  their  original  intention.  This  was  the 
view  taken  by  Abraham.  Whatever  were  the  names  of  the 
Elohim  worshipped  by  the  numerous  clans  of  his  race, 
Abraham  saw  that  all  the  Elohim  were  meant  for  God ;  and 
thus  Elohim,  comprehending  by  one  name  everything  that 
ever  was  or  ever  could  be  called  Divine,  became  the  name 
by  which  the  monotheistic  age  was  rightly  inaugurated :  a 
plural  conceived  and  construed  as  a  singular.  From  this 
point  of  view  the  Semitic  name  of  the  Deity,  which  at  first 
sounds  not  only  ungrammatical,  but  irrational,  becomes  per- 
fectly clear  and  intelligible.  It  is  at  once  the  proof  that 
Monotheism  rose  on  the  ruins  of  a  polytheistic  faith,  and  that 
it  absorbed  and  acknowledged  the  better  tendencies  of  that 
faith.  In  the  true  spirit  of  the  later  Apostle  of  the  Grentiles, 
Abraham,  his  first  predecessor  and  model,  declared  the 
God,  *  whom  they  ignorantly  worshipped,'  to  be  the  '  God 
'  that  made  the  world,  and  all  things  therein,'  '  the  Lord  of 
'  heaven  and  earth,'  '  in  whom  we  live,  and  move,  and  have 
*  our  being.'  ' 

Yet,  however  comprehensive  is  this  type  of  the  Patriarch's'  The  Cove- 
character,  there  is  an  exclusiveness  also.      In  one  point  of 
view,  '  he   is  the  Father  of  all  them  that  believe,  though   Circum- 
'  they  be  not  circumcised  : '  in  another  point  of  view  he  is  the 
Father  of  the  circumcision  only.     That  venerable  rite,  indeed, 

»  Acts  xvii.  23-28, 


24  THE   CALL   OF   ABEAHAM.  lect.  i. 

which  in  the  first  beginnings  of  Christianity  was  regarded 
only  as  a  mark  of  division  and  narrowness,  was,  in  the  primi- 
tive Eastern  world,  the  sign  of  a  proud  civilization.^  It  was 
not  only  a  Jewish,  but  an  Arabian,  a  Phoenician,  an  Egyp- 
tian custom.  As  such  it  still  lingers  in  the  Coptic  and 
Abyssinian  Churches.  How  far  any  of  these  countries  re- 
ceived it  from  Abraham,  or  Abraham  from  them,  is  now 
almost  as  difficult  to  ascertain  as  it  is  to  discern  the  ori- 
ginal signification  of  a  usage,  once  so  honourable  and  so 
sacred,  and  now  so  entirely  removed  alike  from  honour  and- 
from  sanctity.  But  the  limitation,  of  which,  in  a  religious 
sense,  it  was  the  symbol,  is  expressed  in  a  passage  of  the 
Patriarch's  life,  which  stands  midway,  as  it  were,  between  his 
The  vision  wider  and  his  narrower  call.  In  the  visions  ^  of  the  night 
"  r'fice  Abraham  is  called  forth  by  the  Divine  voice,  from  the  cur- 
tains of  the  tent,  under  the  open  sky.  He  is  told  to  look 
towards  heaven,  the  clear  bright  Eastern  heaven,  glittering 
with  innumerable  stars,  those  stars  which  all  tradition,  as  we 
have  seen,  has  so  naturally  and  so  closely  connected  with  the 
education  and  conversion  of  Abraham ;  the  stars  which  have 
in  all  times  taught  unearthly  wisdom  and  vastness  of  spiri- 
tual ideas  to  the  mind  of  man.  '  Look  toward  heaven,  and 
'  tell  the  stars,  if  thou  be  able  to  number  them.  So  shall 
*  thy  seed  be.'  This  was,  if  taken  in  its  fullest  sense,  that 
wide,  incalculable,  interminable  view  of  all  nations,  and  kin- 
dreds, and  peoples,  and  tongues — each  star  differing  from 
the  other  star  in  glory — of  which  we  have  already  spoken. 
But  the  vision  was  not  ended.  He  was  bidden  to  prepare  as  if 
for  the  peculiar  forms  of  sacrifice  which,  it  is  said,^  for  cen- 

»  See   Ezekiel  xxxii.   24-32,  with  302),    or  on   the    Gebel  Batrak  (the 

Ewald's  notes.    Compare  also  Ewald's  Patriarcli's  Mountain)  near  Heliron. 

Alterthiimer,  100.  ^  See  Von  Bohlen's  note  on  Gen. 

*  Gen.  XV.  1.     By  Jewish  tradition  xv.  10.     For  the  ampliticatiou  of  the 

this  scene  is  fixed  either  on  a  mountain  scene  see  Koran,  ii.  262,   iu  Lane's 

three  miles  north  of  Banias  (Schwarz,  Selections,  153. 


LECT.  I.         ITS   KELATIOX   TO   THE   JEWISH   CHURCH.  25 

turies  afterwards,  in  his  own  country,  were  used  to  sanction 
a  treaty  or  covenant.  The  birds,  and  the  fragments  of  the 
heifer  and  the  goat,  were  parted,  so  as  to  leave  a  space 
for  the  contracting  parties  to  pass  between ;  and  the  day 
began  to  decHne,  and  the  birds  of  prey,  of  evil  omen,  hovered 
like  a  crowd  over  the  carcases ;  and  at  last  the  sun  went 
down,  and  the  heavens,  so  bright  and  clear  on  the  preceding 
night,  were  overcast ;  and  '  a  deep  sleep  fell  upon  Abraham  ; 
'  and  lo  !  a  horror  of  great  darkness  fell  upon  him.'  And 
in  that  thick  darkness  a  light,  as  of  a  blazing  fire,  enveloped 
with  the  smoke  as  of  a  furnace,  passed  through  the  open 
space,  and  the  covenant,  the  first  covenant,  *  the  Old  Testa- 
ment,' was  concluded  between  Grod  and  man.  Taking 
these  figures  as  they  are  thus  shadowed  forth,  and  in  com- 
bination with  the  words  which  followed,  they  truly  express 
the  peculiar  *  conditions,'  to  use  the  modern  phrase,  under 
which  the  history  of  the  Chosen  People  was  to  be  unfolded, 
from  its  brighter  and  from  its  darker  side.  Darkness  and  light 
are  mingled  together ;  the  bright  heavens  of  yesterday  over- 
clouded by  the  horror  of  great  darkness  to-day ;  wheresoever 
the  carcases  of  the  victims  lie,  the  ravenous  eagles  are 
gathered  together,  and  with  difficulty  scared  away  by  the 
watchful  protector ;  the  light,  burning  in  the  midst  of  the 
smoke  as  it  sweeps  through  the  narrow  pathway,  is  the  same 
image  that  we  shall  meet  again  and  again  throughout  the 
liistory  of  the  Older,  and  of  the  New  covenant  also  :  the 
bush  burning  but  not  consumed ;  the  pillar  at  once  of  cloud 
and  of  fire ;  the  children  in  the  midst  of  the  furnace,  yet 
without  hurt;  the  remnant  preserved,  though  cut  down  to 
the  root ;  exile  and  bondage,  yet  constant  deUverance ;  a 
narrow  home,  yet  a  vast  dominion ;  ^  the  perverse,  wayward, 

'  Gen.  XV.  18-21.     The  'river  of      •western  limit  of  Jewish  thought  and 
Egypt'    (here  only)  is  the  Nile.     It       dominion, 
is  inserted,  evidently,  as  the  extreme 


26  THE    CALL   OF    ABE  AH  AM.  lect.  i. 

degraded  people,  yet  the  countrymen  and  the  progenitors, 
after  the  flesh,  of  One  in  whom  was  brought  to  the  highest 
fulfilment  their  own  union  of  suffering  and  of  triumph,  the 
thick  darkness  of  the  smoking  furnace,  the  burning  and  the 
shining  light. ^  This  is  the  mixed  prospect  of  the  History 
of  the  Jewish  Chinrch;  this  is  the  mixed  prospect,  in  its 
widest  sense,  of  all  Ecclesiastical  History. 

'  A  fine  passage,  whicli  unites  the  Ahrahams,  88),  where,  after  the  over- 
thought  of  the  TisioD  of  Gen.  xv.  12,  throw  of  Jerusalem,  the  figure  of 
with  the  mediatorial  prayer  and  ea-  Abraham  emerges  from  the  ruins  to 
tholie  spirit  of  Abraham  in  Gen.  xviii.  plead  for  the  repentance  and  resto- 
23,  occurs  in  the  legends  (Beer's  Leben  ration  of  his  people. 


27 


LECTUKE   11. 


ABRAHAM     AND     ISAAC. 


It  is  an  advantac^e  of  visitinsr  a  country  once  civilised  but  "^^^  ^^* 

°  o  ^  entrance 

since  fallen  back  into  barbarism,  that  its  present  aspect  more  into  the 

nearly  reproduces  to  us  the  appearance  which  it  wore  to  its  ^^yj 
earliest  inhabitants,  than  had  we  seen  it  in  the  height  of  its 
splendour.  Delphi  and  Mycenae,  in  their  modern  desolation, 
are  far  more  like  what  they  were  as  they  burst  upon  the  eyes 
of  the  first  Grrecian  settlers,  than  at  the  time  when  they  were 
covered  bj  a  mass  of  temples  and  palaces.  Palestine,  in  like 
manner,  must  exhibit  at  the  present  day  a  picture  more 
nearly  resembling  the  country  as  it  was  seen  in  the  days  of 
the  Patriarchs,  than  would  have  been  seen  by  David,  or  even 
by  Joshua.  Doubtless  many  of  the  hills  which  are  now 
bare  were  then  covered  with  forest;  and  the  torrent  beds 
which  are  now  dry  throughout  the  year  were,  at  least  in  the 
winter,  foaming  streams.  But,  as  far  as  we  can  trust  the 
scanty  notices,  the  land  must  have  been  in  one  important 
respect  much  what  it  is  now.  It  is  everywhere  intimated 
that  its  population  was  thinly  scattered  over  its  broken  sur- 
face of  hill  and  valley.  Here  and  there  a  wandering  shep- 
herd, as  now,  must  have  been  driving  his  sheep  over  the 
mountains.  The  smoke  of  some  worship,  now  extinct  for 
ages,  may  have  been  seen  going  up  from  the  rough,  upright 
stones,  which,  Kke  those  of  Stonehenge^or  Abury,  in  our  own 
country,  have  survived  every  form  of  civilised  buildings. 


28  ABEAHAM   AND    ISAAC.  lect.  ii. 

and  remain  to  this  day  standing  on  the  sea-coast  plain  of 
Phoenicia.  Groups  of  worshippers  must  have  been  gathered 
from  time  to  time  on  some  of  the  many  mountain  heights, 
or  under  some  of  the  dark  clumps  of  ilex ;  *  For  the  Canaanite 
'was  then  in  the  land.'  But  the  abodes  of  settled  life  are 
described  as  confined  to  two  spots ;  one,  the  oldest  city  in 
Palestine,  the  city  of  Arba  or  the  Four  Giants,  as  it  was 
called,  in  the  rich  vale  of  Hebron ;  the  other,  '  the  circle ' 
of  the  five  cities  in  the  vale  of  the  Jordan.  These  were  the 
earliest  representatives  of  the  civilisation  of  Canaan ;  the 
Perizzites,  or,  as  they  were  usually  called,  '  the  Hittites,' 
the  dwellers  in  the  open  villages,  who  gave  their  name  to  the 
whole  country;  so  much  so  that  the  children  of  Heth  are 
called  *the  children  of  the  land,'  and  the  land  itself  was 
known  both  on  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  monuments  as  the  land 
of  '  Heth.'  ^  Mingled  with  these,  on  the  mountain  tops,  as 
their  name  implies,  were  the  warlike  Amorite  chiefs,^  Mamre 
and  his  two  brothers.  Along  the  southern  coast,  and  the 
undulating  land  called  '  the  south  country,'  between  Pales- 
tine and  the  desert,  were  the  ancient  predecessors  of  the 
Philistines,  probably  the  Avites ;  not,  like  their  future  con- 
querors, a  maritime  people  of  fortified  cities,  but  a  pastoraly-. 
nomadic  race,  though  under  a  ruler  entitled  *king.'  On 
the  east  of  the  Jordan,  round  the  sanctuary  of  the  Horned 
Ashtaroth,  and  southward  as  far  as  the  Dead  Sea,  were  rem- 
nants of  the  gigantic  aboriginal  tribes,  not  yet  ejected  by 
the  encroachments  of  Edom,  Ammon,  or  Moab, — the  Horites, 
dwellers  in  the  caves  of  the  distant  Petra,  the  Emim  and 
Zamzummim  on  the  banks  of  the  Arnon  and  the  Jabbok, 
and  the  Eephaim,^  whose  name  long  lingered  in  the  memory 


>  Gen,  xxiii.  7.    See  Ewald,  i.  317.  '  Gen.  xiv.  5-7;   Deiit.  ii.  10-12, 

"^  Gen.  xiv.  13.     They  are  applied  20-23.     See   Lecture   IX.     For  the 

to  in  war,  as  the  Hittites  (xxiii.  7)  Eephaim  see  Geseuius  {in  voce). 

in  peace. 


LFCT.  11.  THE   HALTING-PLACES.  29 

of  the  later  inhabitants,  and  was  used  to  describe  the  shades 
of  the  world  beyond  the  grave. 

I.  Such  must  have  been  the  general  outline  of  Palestine 
when  Abraham  '  passed  over '  from  Damascus,  and  '  passed 
'through  the  land.'  Let  us,  as  he  roves,  almost  at  will.  Halting- 
through  the  unknown  country,  briefly  note  the  halting-places, 
to  which  we  are  specially  invited  by  the  Sacred  narrative, 
and  also  by  the  account  of  the  Patriarchal  wanderings  in  the 
speech  ^  of  S.  Stephen.  They  bring  before  us  the  point  often 
forgotten,  which  that  great  precursor  of  S.  Paul  was  specially 
endeavom-ing  to  impress  upon  his  hearers,  that  the  migration 
was  still  going  on  :  that  the  Patriarch  '  had  no  inheritance 
'  in  the  land,  no,  not  so  much  as  to  set  his  foot  on.'  Fixed 
locality  was  to  form  no  essential  part  of  the  true  religion, 
Abraham  was  still  the  first  Pilgrim,  the  first  Discoverer; 
'  not  knowing  whither  he  went.'  ^  The  words,  which  Eeuchlin 
used  to  Melanchthon  leaving  his  father's  home,  were  directly 
and  without  effort  taken  fi'om  the  call  to  Abraham,  to  go  out 
'  from  his  country  and  from  his  kindred  and  from  his  father's 
'  house.'  The  figures  which  we  thus  employ,  in  prose  and 
poetry,  in  allegory  and  sermon,  are  the  direct  bequest  of  the 
Patriarchal  pastoral  age.  In  the  sight  of  that  primitive 
time,  the  symbols  and  realities,  which  we  now  regard  as 
separate  from  each  other,  were  blended  in  one.  The  curtain 
of  the  picture  of  life,  if  I  may  use  the  expression  of  the 
Grreek  artist,  was  to  that  age  the  picture  itself. 

1.  Look  at  the  Patriarchal  wanderings  in  this  light,  and  it  Shechem. 
will  not  be  thought  misspent  time  to  dwell  for  a  short  space 
on  the  successive  stages  of  their  advance.      The  first  was 
'  the  place,'  as  it  is  called,  of  Shechem ;  then,  as  it  would 
seem,  only  marked  by  the  terebinths  of  Moreh.^     It  is  the 


•  Acts  Tii.  2-16.  *  Heb.  xi.  8. 

'  Gen.  xii.  6.    See  Sinai  and  Palestine,  142,  235, 


80  ABRAHAM   AND   ISAAC.  lect.  ii. 

earliest  instance  of  these  primitive  wanderers  pitching  their 
tents,  for  shelter  against  wind  or  rain,  under  the  shade  of 
some  spreading  tree.  As  a  rock  or  a  palm-grove  in  the 
desert,  so  in  Palestine  itself  was  the  isolated  terebinth  or 
ilex,  the  most  massive  and  majestic  of  its  native  trees,  and 
therefore  legitimately,  though  not  quite  correctly,  rendered 
by  the  English  parallel  of  *the  oak.'  The  oak  of  Moreh, 
like  that  of  Mamre,  to  which  we  shall  presently  come, 
probably  derived  its  name  from  some  ancient  chief,  and  was 
perhaps  already  regarded  as  in  some  measure  sacred. 
Here,  by  the  side  of  the  gushing  streams  of  the  vale  of 
Shechem,  we  are  told  that  the  first  encampment  was  made, 
and  the  altar  of  the  earliest  holy  place  in  the  Holy  Land 
consecrated.  The  oak  remained  for  many  centuries  the  object 
of  national  reverence.  The  sanctity  of  the  place  lasts  even 
to  this  day. 
Bethel.  2,  The  second  halt  was  a  day's  journey  farther  south,  on 

the  central  ridge  of  Palestine,  at  Bethel ;  then  only  known, 
if  known  at  all,  by  its  ancient  name  of  Luz ;  and  to  this 
same  spot  Abraham  returned  after  the  journey  from  Egypt, 
of  which  we  will  presently  speak  more  at  length.  That 
arrival  at  Bethel  was  more  than  a  halt;  it  is  repre- 
sented as  the  turning-point  of  his  life.  In  the  philosophical 
and  religious  traditions  of  all  countries  there  is  often 
described  a  separation  as  between  two  parting  roads,  a 
divortlum,  or  *  watershed,'  as  the  Eomans  called  it,  where 
those  who  have  been  companions  up  to  a  certain  point  are 
thenceforth  severed  asunder.  In  Grreek  teaching  the  choice 
is  described,  through  the  well-known  fable  of  Hercules, 
between  the  rugged  path  of  Virtue  and  the  easy  descent  of 
Pleasure.  In  Mussulman  legends,  Mahomet  stands  on  the 
mountain  above  Damascus,  and,  gazing  on  the  glorious  view, 
turns  away  from  it  with  the  words, '  Man  has  but  one  paradise, 
'  and  mine  is  fixed  elsewhere.'     Often,  too,  in  the  lives  and 


LECT.  11.  THE   HALTING-PLACES.  31 

conversions  of  good  men  in  later  times,  shall  we  see  this 
same  necessity  of  selection  brought  before  us  in  the  spiritual 
world.  Here  it  is  presented  to  us  in  one  of  those  instances 
which  I  just  noticed,  in  which  the  spiritual  lesson  and  the 
outward  imaffe  are  so  blended  tog-ether  as  to  be  indistin- 
guishable.  The  two  emigrants  from  Mesopotamia  had 
now  swelled  into  two  powerful  tribes,  and  the  herdsmen  of 
Abraham  and  Lot  strove  together,  and  the  first  controversy, 
the  first  primeval  pastoral  controversy,  divided  the  Patriar- 
chal Chui'ch.  '  Let  there  be  no  strife,  I  pray  thee '  (so  the 
Father  of  the  Faithful  replied  in  language  which  might  well 
extend  beyond  the  strife  of  herdsmen  and  shepherds,  to  the 
strife  of  '  pastors  and  teachers '  in  many  a  church  and  nation), 
'  let  there  be  no  strife,  I  pray  thee,  between  thee  and  me, 
'  between  my  herdsmen  and  thy  herdsmen,  for  we  are 
'brethren.  Is  not  the  whole  land  before  thee?  Separate 
'  thyself,  I  pray  thee,  from  me.  If  thou  wilt  take  the  left 
'  hand,  then  I  will  go  to  the  right ;  or,  if  thou  depart  to  the 
'  right  hand,  I  will  go  to  the  left.'  ^ 

It  was  the  first  instance  of  '  agreeing  to  differ,'  in  later 
times  so  rarely  found,  so  eagerly  condemned ;  and  yet  not 
less  suitable  to  all  times,  because  of  the  extreme  simplicity 
of  its  earliest  application. 

Meanwhile  let  us  take  our  stand  with  them  on  the  mountain 
east  of  Bethel.     The  indications  of  the  sacred  text,  and  the 


'  Gen.  xii.    8;   xiii.  3-17.     There  'he  called  the  name    Calumny,  be- 

is  another  like  passage  in  the  history  '  cause   they  strove  with  him.     And 

of  Isaac :  I  give  it  as  it  appears  in  '  they  digged  another  well,  and  strove 

the  Vulgate.    This,  by  translating  the  '  for  that  also;  and  he  called  the  name 

Hebrew  proper  names,  preserves  the  '  of  it  Strife.     And  he  removed  from 

spirit  of  the  original,  which  in  our  'thence    and    digged    another    well, 

version    is     entii-ely    lost :     '  Isaac's  '  and  for  that  they  strove  not ;    and 

'  servants  digged  in  the  valley,  and  '  he  called  the  name  of  it  Latitttde, 

'  found    there    a  well    of    springing  '  and  he  said,  for  now  the  Lord  hath 

'  water ;  and  the  herdsmen  of  Gerar  '  made  latitude  for  us,  and  we  shall 

'did    strive   with   Isaac's    herdsmen,  '  be  fruitfid  in  the  laud.' — G^ch.  xxvi. 

'  saying,   The    water    is   ours  ;    and  19-22. 


32  ABRAHAM   AND   ISAAC.  lect.  ir. 

peculiar  position  of  the  localities,  enable  us  to  fix  the  very- 
spot.  On  the  rocky  summit  of  that  hill,  under  its  grove  of 
oaks,  Abraham  had  pitched  his  tent  and  built  his  altar, — the 
first  of  the  '  high  places '  which  so  long  continued  in  Palestine 
amongst  his  descendants.  And  now,  from  this  spot,  he  and 
his  kinsman  made  the  choice  which  determined  the  fate  of 
each,  according  to  the  view  which  that  summit  commands. 
Lot  looked  down  on  the  green  valley  of  the  Jordan,  its 
tropical  luxuriance  visible  even  from  thence,  beautiful  and 
well  watered  as  that  garden  of  Eden,  of  which  the  fame 
still  lingered  in  their  own  Chaldsean  hills,  as  the  valley  of 
the  Nile  in  which  they  had  so  lately  sojourned.  He  chose 
the  rich  soil,  and  with  it  the  corrupt  civilisation  which  had 
grown  up  in  the  rank  climate  of  that  deep  descent;  and 
once  more  he  turned  his  face  eastward,  and  left  to  Abra- 
ham ^  the  hardship,  the  glory,  and  the  virtues  of  the  rugged 
hills,  the  sea-breezes,  and  the  inexhaustible  future  of  Western 
Palestine.  It  was  Abraham's  henceforward ;  he  was  to  '  arise 
'  and  walk  through  the  length  and  through  the  breadth  of 
'  it,  for  Gfod  had  given  it  to  him.'  This  was  the  first  appro- 
priation, the  first  consecration  of  the  Holy  Land. 
The  oak  3.  '  Then  Abraham  removed  his  tent,  and  came  and  dwelt 

of  Mainre.  c  -^^  ^|^g  «  oak-grove  "  of  Mamre,  which  is  in  Hebron,  and  built 
'  there  an  altar  unto  the  Lord.'  ^  Here  we  have  the  third 
and  chief  resting-place  of  the  wandering  Patriarch.  The 
modern  town  of  Hebron,  or,  as  it  is  now  called  after  its  first 
illustrious  occupant,  '  El  Khalil,'  *  The  Friend,'  lies  on  the 
northern  slope  of  a  basin  formed  by  the  confluence  of  two 
broad  valleys,  whose  superior  cultivation  and  vegetation  have 
probably  caused  the  long  historical  celebrity  of  this  spot  as 


*  It   is   on  this  divergence  of  the  of  that  name  near  Jerusalem, 
characters  of  Lot  and  Abraham  that  ^  Gen.  xiii.  18.     See  Sinai  and  Pa- 
is  founded   the   legend  of  the  Holy  Icstine,  142,  164. 
Cross,  commemorated  in  the  convent 


LECT.  11.  THE   HALTING-PLACES.  33 

the  earliest  seat  of  the  civilisation  and  power,  if  not  of 
Palestine,  at  least  of  Judsea.  The  hills  which  rise  above  it 
on  the  north  present  for  a  considerable  distance  a  level  table- 
land slightly  broken  by  occasional  depressions,  now  mostly 
occupied  by  corn-fields.  On  this  high  ground,  in  one  of  these 
depressions,  a  large  square  enclosure  of  ancient  masonry 
exhibits,  in  all  probability,  the  remains  of  the  sanctuary  built 
in  former  ages  round  what  is  still  called  by  Jews  and  Arabs 
'  The  House,'  or  '  The  Height,'  ^  of  Abraham.  On  this  spot, 
in  the  time  of  Josephus,  a  gigantic  terebinth  was  shown  as 
coeval  with  the  Creation,  and  as  being  that  under  which  the 
tent  of  the  Patriarch  was  pitched.  Images  and  pictures  of 
Abraham's  life  hung  from  its  branches.  A  fair  used  to  be 
held  beneath  it,  in  which  Christians,  Jews,  and  Arabs 
assembled  every  summer,  when  each  with  their  peculiar  rites 
honoured  the  sacred  tree.  Constantine  destroyed  the  images 
but  left  the  tree ;  its  trunk,  standing  in  the  midst  of  the 
church,  was  still  visible  in  the  seventeenth  century ;  and  its 
name  ('  the  field  of  the  terebinth ')  still  lingers  on  the  spot. 
Within  the  enclosure  is  a  deep  well,^  being  in  truth  precisely 
what  one  would  expect  to  find  hard  by  the  Patriarchal 
encampment. 

This  is  the  nearest  approach  to  a  home  that  the  wanderings 
of  Abraham  present.  Underneath  the  tree  ^  his  tent  was 
pitched  when  he  sate  in  the  heat  of  the  Eastern  noon.  Thither 
came  the  mysterious  visitants  whose  reception  was  afterwards 
commemorated  in  one  of  the  pictures  hung  from  the  sacred 
oak.  In  their  entertainment  is  presented  every  characteristic  * 
of  genuine  Arab  hospitality,  which  has  given  to  Abraham  the 
name  of  'The  Father  of  Guests.'     But  there  is  another  spot 

'  Kamet  el  Klialil.     See  Robinson,  '  Gen.    xriii    4,    '  the   tree,'    and 

Bib.  Res.  i.  216.  throughout,  '  plain '=' oak-grove.' 

2  Early  Travellers,  p.  87.    This  -well  **  For  the  haste  (Gen.  xviii.  6-8) 

(at  the  south-west  corner  of  the  en-  of  Arabian   hospitality,  see  Porter's 

closure)  is  not  mentioned  by  Robinson.  Damascus,  i. 

D 


34  ABRAHAM   AND   ISAAC.  lect.  n. 

in  Hebron  which  gives  a  yet  more  permanent  and  domestic 

character   to    its    connexion    with    Abraham's    life.       When 

Darius  pursued  .the  Scythians  into  their  wilderness,  they  told 

him  that  the   only  place  which  they  could  appoint  for  a 

Cave  of       meeting  was  by  the  tombs  of  their  fathers.     The  ancestral 

Macli- 

pelah.  burial-place  is  the  one  fixed  element  in  the  unstable  life  of.  a 

nomadic  race ;  and  this  was  what  Hebron  furnished  to  the 
Patriarchs.  The  one  spot  of  earth  which  Abraham  could 
call  his  own,  the  pledge  which  he  left  of  the  perpetuity  of  his 
interest  in  '  the  land  wherein  he  was  a  stranger,'  was  the 
sepulchre  which  he  bought  with  four  hundred  shekels  of  silver 
from  Ephron  the  Hittite.  It  was  a  rock  with  a  double  cave 
('  Machpelah '),  standing  amidst  a  grove  of  olives  or  ilexes, 
on  the  slope  of  the  table-land  where  the  first  encampment 
had  been  made.  The  valley  above  which  it  stood  probably  oc- 
cupied the  same  position  with  regard  to  the  ancient  town  of 
Hebron,  that  the  sepulchral  valley  of  Jehoshaphat  did  after- 
wards to  Jerusalem.  Eound  this  venerable  cave  the  reverence 
of  successive  ages  and  religions  has  now  raised  a  series  of 
edifices  which,  whilst  they  preserve  its  identity,  conceal  it 
entirely  from  view.  But  there  it  still  remains.  Within  the 
Mussulman  mosque,  within  the  Christian  church,  within  the 
massive  stone  enclosure  probably  built  by  the  Kings  of  Judah, 
is,  beyond  any  reasonable  question,  the  last  resting-place  of 
Abraham  and  Sarah,  of  Isaac  and  Eebekah  ;  '  and  there  Jacob 
'  buried  Leah ; '  and  thither,  with  all  the  pomp  of  funeral  state, 
his  own  embalmed  body  was  brought  from  the  palaces  of 
Egypt.  Of  all  the  great  Patriarchal  family,  Eachel  alone 
is  absent.  All  that  has  ever  been  seen  of  the  interior  of  the 
mosque  is  the  floor  of  the  upper  chamber,  containing  six 
chests,  placed  there,  as  usual  in  Mussulman  sepulchres,  to 
represent  the  tombs  of  the  dead.  But  it  is  said  that  here,  as 
in  the  analogous  case  of  the  tomb  of  Aaron  on  Mount  Hor, 
the  real  cave  exists  beneath ;    divided  by  an  artificial  floor 


LECT.  u.  THE   HALTIXG-PLACES.  35 

into  two  compartments,  into  the  npper  one  of  which  only 
the  chief  minister  of  the  mosque  is  admitted  to  pray  in  times 
of  great  calamity.  The  lower  compartment,  containing  the 
actual  graves,  is  entirely  closed,  and  has  never  been  seen  by 
any  one  '  within  the  range  of  memory  or  tradition. 

4.  Although  the  oaks  of  Mamre  and  the  cave  of  Machpelah  Beersheba. 
rendered  Hebron  the  permanent  seat  of  the  Patriarchs 
beyond  any  spot  in  Palestine,  and  although  they  are  always 
henceforth  described  as  lingering  around  this  green  and  fertile 
vale,  there  is  yet  another  circle  of  recollections  more  in  ac- 
cordance with  their  ancient  pastoral  habits.  Even  at  the 
moment  of  the  piuchase  of  the  sepulchre,  Abraham  represents 
himself  as  still  '  a  stranger  and  a  sojourner  in  the  land ; '  and 
as  such  his  haunts  were  elsewhere.  *He  journeyed  from 
'  thence  toward  the  south  country,  and  dwelt  between  Kadesh 
'  and  Shur,  and  sojourned  in  Grerar.'  None  of  these  particu- 
lar spots  are  known  with  certainty ;  but  it  is  evident  that  we 
are  now  far  away  from  the  hills  of  Judaea,  in  the  wide  upland 
valley,  or  rather  undulating  plain,  sprinkled  with  shrubs,  and 
with  the  wild  flowers  which  indicate  the  transition  from  the 
pastures  of  Palestine  to  the  desert, — marked  also  by  the 
ancient  wells,  dug  far  into  the  rocky  soil,  and  bearing  on 
their  stone  or  marble  margins  the  traces  of  the  long  ages 
(luring  which  the  water  has  been  drawn  up  from  their  deep 
recesses.  Such  are  those  near  the  western  extremity  of  the 
plain,  still  bearing  in  their  name  their  identification  with 
'  the  well  of  the  oath,'  or  '  the  well  of  the  Seven,'  ^  —  Beer- 
sheba— which  formed  the  last  point  reached  by  the  Patriarchs, 
the  last  centre  of  their  wandering  flocks  and  herds ;  and,  in 
after  times,  from  being  thus  the  last  inhabited  spot  on  the  edge 
of  the  desert,  the  southern  frontier  of  their  descendants.  This 
southernmost  sanctuary  marks  the  importance  which,  in  the 

'  See  Appendix  II.  sheba '  in  Dr.  Smith's  Dictionary  of 

'  See  Mr.  Grove's  article  on  '  Beer-      the  Bible. 

D  2 


36  ABRAHAM   AND   IS.iAC.  i.ect.  ii. 

migratory  life  of  the  East,  was  and  is  always  attached  to  the 
possession  of  water.  Here  the  solemn  covenant  was  made, 
according  to  the  significant  Arab  forms,  of  placing  the  seven 
lambs  ^  by  themselves,  between  Abraham  and  the  only  chief 
of  those  regions  who  could  dispute  his  right,  the  neighbour- 
ing king  of  the  Philistines  or  Avites.  '  And  Abraham,'  still 
faithful  to  the  practice  which  he  had  followed  in  Canaan 
itself,  '  planted  there  a  grove,'  ^ — not  now  of  ilex  or  tere- 
binth, which  never  descend  into  those  wild  plains,  but  the 
light  feathery  tamarisk,  the  first  and  the  last  tree  which 
the  traveller  sees  in  his  passage  through  the  desert,  and  thus 
the  appropriate  growth  of  this  spot.  Beneath  this  grove  and 
beside  these  wells  his  tents  were  pitched,  and  *  he  called  there 

*  on  the  name  of  the  Lord,  the  everlasting  Grod.'  It  was  the 
same  wilderness  into  which  Ishmael  had  gone  forth  and 
become  an  archer,  and  was  to  be  made  a  great  nation.  Is  it 
not  as  though  the  strong  Bedouin  (shall  we  add  the  strong 
parental)  instinct  had,  in  his  declining  days,  sprung  up  again 
in  the  aged  Patriarch  ? — as  if  the  unconquerable  aversion  to 
the  neighbourhood  of  walls  and  cities,  or  the  desire  to  meet 
once  more  with  the  first-born  son  who  recalled  to  him  his 
own  early  days,  drew  him  down  from  the  hills  of  Judaea  into 
the  congenial  desert  ?  At  any  rate,  in  Beersheba,  we  are  told, 
he  sojourned  'as  a  stranger'  many  days.  In  Beersheba 
Rebekah  was  received  by  his  son  Isaac  into  Sarah's  vacant 
tent ;  and  in  the  wilderness,  as  it  would  seem,  '  he  gave  up 

*  the  ghost  and  died  in  a  good  old  age,'  in  the  arms  of  his  two 
sons,  —  Isaac,  the  gentle  herdsman  and  child  of  promise, 
Ishmael,  the  Arabian  archer,  untameable  as  the  wild  ass  of 
the  desert,^ — '  and  they  buried  him  in  the  cave  of  Machpelah.' 

II.  We  turn  from  this  external  fi-amework  to  the  general 

'  Herod,  iii.  8.     Compare  Biihr's  Si/mbolik,  200. 
-  Gen.  xxi.  33.     Sinai  and  Palestine,  21. 
'  Gen.  xvi.  12  (Heb.). 


LECT.  II.  THE   PATKLiECHAL   HOUSEHOLD.  37 

effect  of  the  Patriarchal  age,  as  suggested,  amongst  many  Simplicity 
other  scenes,  by  the  few  words  which  have  just  been  quoted  triarchal 
describing  the  end  of  Abraham.  They  bring  home  to  us,  ^S^- 
beyond  any  other  writings,  the  force  and  the  beauty  of 
simple  feeling  and  natural  affection.  It  is  Homer,  and 
more  than  Homer,  carried  at  once  into  the  hands  and  hearts 
of  every  one.  We  all  know  the  instantaneous  effect  produced 
upon  us  in  countries  however  distant,  in  classes  or  races  of 
men  however  different  from  our  own,  by  hearing  the  cry  of 
a  little  child ;  with  what  irresistible  force  it  reminds  us  that 
we  belong  to  the  same  human  family ;  how  suddenly  it  recalls 
to  us,  however  far  away,  the  thought  of  our  own  home.  Is 
not  this  the  exact  effect  of  reading  the  story  of  Ishmael  ? 
Eemote  as  it  is  in  language,  garb,  and  manner  from  our-  Ishmael. 
selves,  we  instantly  recognise  the  testimony  to  our  common 
nature  and  kindred  in  the  prayer  of  Abraham  for  his  first- 
born Ishmael,— the  cliild  who  had  first  awakened  in  his 
bosom  the  feeling  of  parental  love  : — '  0  that  Ishmael  might 
'  live  before  Thee  ! '  ^  or  yet  more  in'  the  pathetic  scene  where 
the  imperious  caprice  of  the  Arab  chieftainess  forbade  Hagar 
and  her  son  to  remain  any  longer  in  the  tent,  and  '  the  thing 
'  was  very  grievous  in  Abraham's  sight  because  of  his  son. 
'  Abraham  rose  up  early  in  the  morning,  and  took  bread  and 
'  a  "  skin  "  filled  with  water,  and  gave  it  to  Hagar,  putting  it 
'  on  her  shoulder,  and  the  child,  and  sent  her  away  into  the 
'  wilderness.' 

Or  look  at  the  story  of  the  other  son,  the  child  of  laughter 
and  joy,  the  gentle  Isaac.  Read  the  narrative  of  Eliezer's 
mission  to  fetch  Rebekah.  Track  every  stage  of  that  journey 
— our  first  introduction  in  early  childhood  to  the  pictures  of 
Oriental  life,  only  deepened  more  strongly  by  the  sight  of 
the   reality.      Watch   the   long  pilgrimage  over  river  and 

'  Compare  Oilman's  Hist,  of  Jews,  i.  13. 


33  ABRAHAM   AND    ISAAC.  i.ect.  ii. 

mountain,  retraced  back  to  the  original  settlement  of  the 
race.  See  the  camels  kneeling  beside  the  well  without  the 
Kebekah.  city ;  Eebekah  descending  the  flight  of  steps  with  the  pitcher 
on  her  shoulder,  exactly  as  the  traveller  Niebuhr  met  the 
Syrian  damsels  at  one  of  these  very  wells.  Look  at  the 
different  characters  as  they  come  out  one  by  one  in  the 
interview — Eliezer,  the  faithful  slave,  bent  solely  on  discharg- 
ing his  mission  :  *  I  will  not  eat  till  I  have  told  mine  errand. 
'  Hinder  me  not,  seeing  that  the  Lord  hath  prospered  my 
'  way.'  *  Send  me  away,  that  I  may  go  to  my  master ; ' — the 
aged  Bethuel  always  in  the  background ; ' — Laban's  hard 
temper  relaxing  when  he  sees  the  ear-ring  or  nose-ring,  and 
the  bracelets  on  his  sister's  hands,  the  exact  ornaments  still 
so  dear  to  Arab  acquisitiveness  in  this  very  region ;— Eebekah 
eager  to  receive,  forward  to  go,  the  same  high  spirit  that  we 
shall  see  afterwards  in  her  future  home.  '  I  will  draw  water 
'  for  thy  camels  also  till  they  have  done  drinking.'  '  We 
'  have  both  straw  and  provender  enough,  and  room  to  lodge 
'  in.'  '  And  they  called  Eebekah,  and  said  unto  her  :  Wilt 
'  thou  go  with  this  man  ?  and  she  said,  I  will  go.'  '  And  they 
'  sent  away  Eebekah,  their  sister,  and  her  nurse.  And  they 
'  blessed  Eebekah  and  said  unto  her.  Thou  art  our  sister ;  be 
*  thou  the  mother  of  thousands  of  millions,  and  let  thy  seed 
'  possess  the  gate  of  them  that  hate  thee.'  Nor  can  we  over- 
look the  first  touch  of  what  may  be  called  sentimental 
feeling,  in  the  close  of  the  journey,  when  the  mournful  medi- 
tations ^  of  Isaac,  by  the  well  at  eventide,  are  suddenly  inter- 
rupted by  the  arrival  of  the  bride :  '  and  he  brought  her  into 
'  his  mother  Sarah's  tent,  and  Eebekah  became  his  wife  ;  and 
'he  loved  her,  and  Isaac  was  comforted  after  his  mother's 
'  death.' 


'  This  is  well  brought  out  by  Pro-  ^  '  Mournful.'     See  Blunt,  ib.   '  By 

fessor  Blunt,  Veracity  of  the  Books  of      the  well,'  LXX.  Gen.  xxiv.  63. 
Moses,  ch.  V. 


LECT.  II.  EXTERNAL   RELATIONS.  39 

What  an  insight  into  the  primitive  age !  but  what  a  cradle 
also  for  the  earliest  religious  history  !  We  often  say  that  in 
the  family  is  to  be  found  the  Patriarchal  Church,  in  the 
father  of  the  family  the  Patriarchal  Priest.  It  is  indeed  so 
i»n  more  senses  than  one.  When  we  think  of  the  many  periods 
in  which  the  relations  of  brother  and  sister,  father  and  child, 
husband  and  wife,  have,  even  by  good  men,  been  thrust  into 
the  background  as  unworthy  of  a  place  in  the  religious  rela- 
tions of  mankind,  we  may  well  hail  this  first  chapter  of 
Ecclesiastical  History,  as  possessing  far  more  than  a  merely 
poetical  value.  It  is  like  one  of  those  ancient  Patriarchal 
wells  so  often  mentioned  in  the  history.  Its  waters  are  still 
fresh  and  clear  in  its  deep  recess.  It  has  outlasted  all  other 
changes.  It  ministers  indeed  only  to  human  affections  and 
feelings,  but  it  is  precisely  to  those  feelings  which  are  as 
lasting  as  the  human  heart  itself,  and  which  therefore  give 
and  receive  from  the  record  which  so  responds  to  them,  a 
testimony  which  will  never  pass  away. 

III.  And  now  turn  from  the  Patriarchal  household  to  its  External 
points  of  contact  with  the  external  world.     These  are  perhaps  ^i^raham" 
what  most  escape  us  as  we  read  the  sacred  story  for  other 
purposes,  and  therefore  what  may  be  most  fitly  noticed  here. 

1.  The  general  relations  of  Abraham  to  the  Canaanitish  To  the 
tribes  have  a  twofold  aspect.  On  the  one  hand,  as  if  with  genei-allV^ 
the  full  consciousness  of  the  separation  which  was  to  exist 
between  his  seed  and  the  tribes  of  Canaan,  and  also  of  its 
future  superiority  over  them,  he  always  keeps  himself 
distinct  from  them :  he  professes  to  be  a  stranger  amongst 
them ;  he  will  accept  no  favour  at  their  hands ;  he  will  not 
have  any  intermarriage  between  his  race  and  theirs ;  he 
refuses  the  gift  of  the  sepulchre  from  Ephron,  and  of  the 
spoils  from  the  king  of  Sodom.  The  tomb  of  Machpelah  is 
a  proof,  standing  to  this  day,  of  the  long  predetermined 
assurance  that  the  children  of  Abraham  should  inherit  the 


40  ABRAHA^I   AND    ISAAC.  lect.  ii. 

land  in  which  this  was  their  ancestor's  sole,  but  most  precious 
possession.  It  is  like  the  purchase  of  the  site  of  Hannibal's 
camp  by  the  strong  faith  and  hope  of  the  besieged  senators 
of  Eome. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  not  in  his  actual  dealings 
with  the  Canaanites  a  trace  of  the  implacable  enmity  of  later 
ages;  no  shadow  cast  before  of  long  wars  of  extermination 
waged  against  them ;  no  indication  of  what,  in  modern  times, 
has  been  supposed  to  be  the  origin  of  so  many  dark  legends 
and  severe  accusations, — the  national  hatred  of  rivals  and 
neighbours.  The  anticipation  of  distinctness  and  superiority 
is  not  more  decided  in  one  class  of  incidents  than  the  absence 
of  any  anticipation  of  war  or  animosity  is  in  another.  Abime- 
lech,  Ephron,  Mamre,  Melchizedek,  all  either  worship  the 
same  Gfod,  or,  if  they  worship  Him  under  another  name,^ 
are  all  bound  together  by  ties  of  hospitality  and  friendship. 
The  times  when  the  Canaanite  is  to  be  utterly  destroyed, 
when  the  Amalekite  is  to  be  hewn  in  pieces,  when  the  Jews 
are  to  have  no  dealings  with  the  Samaritans,  are  still  very 
far  beyond  us :  we  are  still  above  the  point  of  separation 
between  the  various  tribes  of  Syria :  distinction  has  not  yet 
grown  into  difference ;  '  the  iniquity  of  the  Amorites  is  not 
'yet  full.'  To  overlook  the  unity,  the  comparative  unity, 
between  Abraham  and  the  neighbour  races  of  Palestine,  would 
be  to  overlook  one  of  the  most  valuable  testimonies  to  the 
antiquity,  the  general  Patriarchal  spirit  of  the  record  as  it 
has  been  handed  down  to  us. 

2.  Further,  there  are  the  more  special  occasions  on  which 
Abraham  is  drawn,  as  it  were,  out  of  the  pastoral  or  indi- 
\ddual  life,  into  wider  relations.  The  chief  of  these  is  the 
journey  into  Eg}^t. 

'  The  God  of  Melchizedek  (Gen.  xir.  18)  -was  not  Eloah  or  EloJiim,  but 
Eliun,  the  name  given  to  the  God  of  Phoenicia  by  Sanchoniathon  (Kenrick, 
Phan.  288). 


LECT.  II.  EXTEENAL   RELATIONS.  41 

I  shall  not  endeavour  here,  or  elsewhere,  to  determine, 
where  uncertainty  still  prevails,  the  special  points  where  the 
history  and  chronology  of  Egypt  or  Judsea  cross  each  other's 
path  :  neither  shall  I  draw  out  at  any  length  what  in  this 
instance  is  but  slightly  noticed  by  the  sacred  story,  the  im- 
pression left  by  Egypt  on  the  mind  of  this,  the  first  of  the  Abraham 
myriad  travellers  who  have  visited  the  valley  of  the  Mle.  ^  ^"^^  ' 
But  it  is  impossible  not  to  pause  for  a  moment  on  the  few 
points  which  this  event  suggests  to  us.  It  is  the  earliest 
known  appearance  in  Egypt  of  the  nomadic  races  of  Asia, 
who,  under  the  Shepherd  Kings,  exercised  so  great  an  in- 
fluence over  its  destinies  in  its  primitive  history, — who, 
imder  the  Arab  conquerors,  have  now  for  thirteen  centuries 
occupied  it  as  their  own.  Charlemagne  is  said  to  have  wept 
in  anticipation  of  the  coming  misfortunes  of  his  empire 
when  he  saw  the  sail  of  the  first  Norman  ship  on  the  waters 
of  the  Mediterranean,  And  the  ancient  Pharaoh,  whoever 
he  was,  might  have  wept  in  like  manner,  could  he  have  fore- 
seen, in  that  innocent  and  venerable  figure,  the  first  of  the 
long  succession  of  Asiatic  wanderers,  like  in  outward  form, 
though  unlike  in  almost  all  besides,  attracted  to  the  valley  of 
the  Nile  by  the  very  same  motives,  coming  '  down '  from  the 
table-lands  or  parched  valleys  of  their  own  deserts  or  moun- 
tains, because  'the  famine  was  grievous  in  the  land,'  and 
sojourning  in  Egypt,  because  its  river  gave  the  plenteous 
sustenance  which  elsewhere  they  sought  in  vain.^ 

If  the  Egyptian  may  have  been  startled  by  the  sight  of 
Abraham,  much  more  may  Abraham  have  been  moved  to  awe 
by  his  approach  into  Egypt.  Whatever  may  be  said  in  legen- 
dary tales  of  his  connexion  with  Nimrod  and  the  Assyrian 
powers,  this  arrival  in  Egjrpt  is  the  only  indication  given 
by  the  sacred  historian  of  any  conscious  entrance  into  the 

'  Isaac  was  going  down  in  like  manner,  when  he  was  stopped.     Gen.  xxvi.  2. 


42  ABRAHAiyi   AND    ISAAC.  lect.  ii. 

presence  of  a  great  earthly  kingdom.  The  very  craft  into 
which  the  Patriarch  is  betrayed  '  as  he  was  come  near  to  enter 
'  into  Egypt '  is  not  without  its  significance.  '  They  will  kill 
'  me,  but  they  will  save  thee  alive ;  say,  I  pray  thee,  thou  art 

*  my  sister,  and  it  shall  be  well  with  me  for  thy  sake,  and 

*  my  soul  shall  live  because  of  thee.'  '  His  faith  and  courage 
are  unnerved  at  the  prospect  and  at  the  sight  of  the  great 
potentate  amidst  his  princes  in  his  royal  house,  with  his 
harem  and  his  treasures  around  him.  Yet  it  is  also  charac- 
teristic of  the  Biblical  narrative,  that  the  impression  left 
upon  us  by  this  first  contact  of  the  Church  with  the  World  is 
not  purely  unfavourable.  It  has  been  truly  remarked  ^  that 
throughout  the  Scriptures  the  milder  aspect  of  the  world  is 
always  presented  to  us  through  Egypt,  the  darker  through 
Babylon.  Abraham  is  the  exile  from  Chaldtea,  but  he  is  the 
guest,  the  client  of  the  Pharaohs.  He  dwells,  according  to 
the  account  of  a  Pagan  historian,  many  years  in  the  sacred 
city  of  On,  where  afterwards  his  descendants  lived  so  long, 
and  there  teaches  the  Egyptians  astronomy  and  arithmetic.^ 
He  reconciles  the  theological  disputes  of  the  Egyptian  priests. 
He  receives  (as  we  infer  from  the  sacred  narrative)  the  gifts 

Camels  not  of  male  and  female  slaves,*  of  mules  and  asses  and  camels,  with 

mentioned    ^j^jgj^  then  as  now  the  streets  of  the  Eg-yptian  cities  abounded, 
on  the  *''  ^ 

mouu-         He  departs  in  peace.     And  such  as  Egypt  is  described  in  this 
nients.  ,  .     . 

narrative,  such  both  m  its  secular  greatness  and  in  its  religious 

neutrality  it  appears  to  have  been  in  those  of  her  monu- 
ments which  alone  can  be  with  certainty  ascribed  to  its 
most  ancient  period.  The  range  of  the  thirty  Pyramids,  in 
all  probability,  even  at  that  early  time  looked  down  on  the 

1  The  English  version  is  afraid  of  "*  One  of  these  may  hare  been 
saying  that  Sarah  was  the  wife  of  Hagar  (Gen.  xiii.  1),  who  afterwards, 
Pharaoh.  '  I  might  have  had  '  for  '  I  mindful  of  her  Egj'ptian  home,  gets  an 
had.'     Gen.  xii.  19.  Egyptian  wife   for  lier   son  Ishmael 

2  Arnold,  Sermons  on  Profhccy.  (Gen.  xxi.  21). 
*  Eupolemus  (Eus.  Prcep.  is.  17). 


LECT.  ir.  EXTERXAL   RELATIONS.  43 

plain  of  INIemphis.  They  remain  to  indicate  the  same  long 
anterior  state  of  civilisation  which  the  story  of  Abraham 
itself  implies,  yet  exhibit  neither  in  their  own  sepulchral 
chambers,  nor  in  those  which  immediately  surround  them, 
any  of  those  signs  of  grotesque  idolatry  which  give  additional 
point  to  the  story  of  the  Exodus,  and  which  exist  in  the  later 
monuments  of  Thebes  and  Ipsambul. 

3.  The  next  notice  of  Abraham's  connexion  with  the  War  with 
outer  world  is  of  a  wholly  different  kind,  and  is  far  more  in  laomer.' 
accordance  Avith  the  secular  aspect  of  his  life  presented  in 
Gentile  historians  than  anything  else  which  the  sacred  nar- 
rative presents.  '  Abram  the  Hebrew '  (so,  as  if  from  an 
external  point  of  view,  the  fragment,  apparently  of  some 
ancient  record,'  represents  him)  was  dwelling  in  state  at 
Hebron,  in  the  midst,  not  merely  of  his  familiar  circle,  but 
of  his  three  hundred  and  eighteen  trusty  slaves,  and  con- 
federate not  merely  with  the  peaceful  Ephron,  but,  after  the 
manner  of  the  Canaanite  chiefs  of  later  times,^  with  the 
Amorite  mountaineers,  Mamre,  and  his  brothers  Aner  and 
Eshcol.  Suddenly  a  messenger  of  woe  appeared  by  the  tent 
of  the  Hebrew.  From  the  remote  East,  a  band  of  kings  ^ 
had  descended  on  the  circle  of  cultivation  and  civilisa- 
tion which  lay  deep  ensconced  in  the  bosom  of  the  Jordan 
valley.  They  had  struck  dismay  far  and  wide  amongst 
the  aboriginal  tribes  of  the  desert,  all  along  the  east  of 
the  Jordan  and  down  to  the  remote  wilds  of  Petra,  and  up 
into  the  mountain  fastness  and  secluded  palm  grove  of 
Engedi.  In  the  green  vale  beside  the  shores  of  the  lake 
the  five  Canaanite  kings  rose  against  the  invaders  on  their 
return,  but  were  entangled  in  the  bituminous  pits  of  their  own 


'  For  the  character  and  importance  '  Some  slight  likeness  to  the  names 

of  this  chapter  as  an  historical  record,  of  Chedorlaomer  and  Amraphel  has 

see  Ewald,  Gesch.  i.  401,  &c.  been    found   in  the   Assyrian  monu- 

^  Josh.  X.  3  ;  xi.  1,  2,  &c.  ments.  Eawlinson's  Herod,  i.  436,  446. 


44  ABRAHAJVI   AXD   ISAAC.  lect.  ii. 

native  region.  The  conquerors  swept  them  away,  and  marched 
homewards  the  whole  length  of  the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  carry- 
ing off  their  plunder,  and  above  all  the  war-horses  ^  for  which 
afterwards  Canaan  became  so  famous.  But  from  the  defeat  in 
the  vale  of  Siddim  had  escaped  one  who  climbed  the  wall  of 
rocks  that  overhangs  the  field  of  battle,  and  announced  to 
the  new  colony  established  beneath  the  oak  of  Hebron  that 
their  kinsman  had  been  carried  away  captive.  Instantly 
Abraham  called  his  allies  together,  and  with  them  and  his 
armed  retainers  he  pursued  the  enemy,  and  (if  we  may  add 
the  details  from  Josephus  ^)  on  the  fifth  day,  at  the  dead  of 
night,  attacked  the  host  as  it  lay  sleeping  round  the  sources 
of  the  Jordan.  They  fled  over  the  range  of  Antilibanus,  and 
once  more  Abraham  beheld  the  scene  of  his  first  conquest, 
the  city  of  Damascus,  and  in  its  neighbourhood,  in  a  village 
still  bearing  the  same  name  ^  (Hobah),  he  finally  routed  the 
army  and  rescued  the  captives,  and  returned  again  to  the 
banks  of  the  Jordan.  In  a  vale  or  level  spot  not  far  from 
the  river,  called  probably  from  this  encounter  '  the  vale  of 
*  the  king '  or  *  of  the  kings,'  the  victorious  chief  was  met 
by  two  grateful  princes  of  the  country  which  he  had  de- 
livered; one  was  the  King  of  Sodom,  the  other  was  one 
whose   name  in   itself  commands  respectful  awe — Melchi- 

Melclii-       zedek,  the  King  of  Eighteousness.     Whence  he  came,  from 
zedek. 

what  parentage,  remains  untold,  nay  even  oi  what  place  he 

was  king  remains  uncertain  (for  Salem  may  be  either  Jeru- 
salem or  the  smaller  town  of  which,  in  after  times,  the  ruins 
were  shown  to  Jerome,  not  far  from  the  scene  of  the  inter- 
view). He  appears  for  a  moment,  and  then  vanishes  from 
our  view  altogether.     It  is  this  which  wraps  him  round  in 


'  Gen.  xiv.  11,  21  (LXX.).  is  said  to  be  commemorated  in  a  chapel 

^  Ant.  i.  10,  1.     Compare  also  Eus.  or  mosque  of  Abraham,  still  the  object 

Presp.  ix.  17.  of  pilgrimage,  an  hour  north  of  Da- 

*  Gen.  xiv.  15.     The  scene  of  this  mascus.  Porter,  i.  82.  See  Appendix  I. 


tECT.  11.  EXTERXAL   RELATIONS.  45 

that  mysterious  obscurity  which  has  rendered  his  name  the 
symbol  of  all  such  sudden,  abrupt  apparitions,  the  inter- 
ruptions, the  dislocations,  if  one  may  so  say,  of  the  ordinary 
even  succession  of  cause  and  effect  and  matter  of  fact  in  the 
various  stages  of  the  history  of  the  Church,  '  without  father, 
'  wdthout  mother,  without  descent,  having  neither  beginning 
'  of  days  nor  end  of  life.'  ^  No  wonder  that  in  Jewish  times 
he  was  regarded  as  some  remnant  of  the  earlier  world — 
Arphaxad  ^  or  Shem.  No  wonder  that  when,  in  after  times, 
there  arose  One  whose  appearance  was  beyond  and  above 
any  ordinary  influence  of  time  or  place  or  earthly  descent, 
the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  could  find  no  fitter 
expression  for  this  aspect  of  his  character  than  the  mysterious 
likeness  of  Melchizedek.  But  there  is  enough  of  interest  if 
we  merely  confine  ourselves  to  the  letter  of  the  ancient 
narrative.  He  was  the  earliest  instance  of  that  ancient, 
sacred,  though  long  corrupted  and  long  abused  name,  not 
yet  disentangled  from  the  regal  office,  but  still  of  sufficient 
distinctness  to  make  itself  felt :  '  Priest  of  the  Most  High 
'  God.'  That  title  of  Divinity  also  appears  for  the  first  time 
in  the  history ;  and  we  catch  from  a  heathen  author  a  clue 
to  the  spot  of  the  earliest  primeval  sanctuary  where  that 
Supreme  Name  was  honoured  with  priestly  and  regal  service. 
Tradition  ^  told  that  it  was  on  Mount  Gerizim  Melchizedek 
ministered.  On  that  lofty  summit,  from  Melchizedek,  even 
to  the  present  day,  when  the  Samaritans  still  maintain  that 
'on  this  mountain'  God  is  to  be  worshipped, the  rough  rock, 
smoothed  into  a  natural  altar,  is  the  only  spot  in  Palestine, 
perhaps  in  the  world,  that  has  never  ceased  to  be  the  scene 
of  sacrifice  and  prayer.  But  what  is  now  the  last  relic  of  a 
local  and  exhausted,  though  yet  venerable  religion,  was  in 

'  Heb.  vii.  3.  in  Gencsim,  ad  loc. 

"  Jerome,    Epist    ad    Evangelum,  ^  Eupolemus  (Eus.   Prd]^.   £v.  ix. 

§    5 ;  and   Liber   Hcbr.    Qucestionum       17). 


46 


ABRAHAM   AND   ISAAC. 


Abraham 
and  the 
cities  of 
the  plain. 


those  Patriarchal  times  the  expression  of  a  wide,  all-embracing 
worship,  which  comprehended  within  its  range  the  ancient 
chiefs  of  Canaan  and  the  Founder  of  the  Chosen  People.  The 
meeting  of  the  two  in  the '  King's  Dale  '  personifies  to  us  the 
meeting  between  what,  in  later  times,  has  been  called  Na- 
tural and  Eevealed  Eeligion ;  and  when  Abraham  '  received 
the  blessing  of  Melchizedek,  and  tendered  to  him  his  reverent 
homage,  it  is  a  likeness  of  the  recognition  which  true  his- 
torical Faith  will  always  humbly  receive  and  gratefully 
render  when  it  comes  in  contact  with  the  older  and  everlast- 
ing instincts  of  that  religion  which  'the  Most  High  Grod, 
'  Possessor  of  Heaven  and  Earth,'  has  implanted  in  nature 
and  in  the  heart  of  man,  in  *  the  power  of  an  endless  life.' 

4.  There  is  yet  another  occasion  on  which  Abraham  appears 
in  connexion,  not  indeed  with  the  revolutions  of  armies  or  of 
empires,  but  with  the  more  awful  convulsions  which  agitate 
the  fabric  of  the  world  itself.  What  were  the  precise  special 
means  by  which  the  fertile  vale  of  Siddim  was  blasted  with 
eternal  barrenness — how  and  to  what  extent  the  five  guilty 
cities  of  the  plain  were  overthrown,  is  still  a  vexed  question 
equally  with  theologians  and  geologists.^  We  need  only 
here  consider  the  aspect  of  the  catastrophe,  as  it  was  pre- 
sented to  the  Patriarch.  I  will  not  weaken  by  repetition 
the  well-known  words  in  which  the  '  Friend  of  God '  and 
of  man  draws  near  to  plead  before  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth 
ao^ainst  the  indiscriminate  destruction  of  the  rig'hteous  with 
the  wicked.  This  union  of  the  yearnings  of  compassion 
with  the  sense  of  justice  and  of  profound  resignation,  such  a 
sympathy  with  the  calamities,  not  only  of  his  own  country- 
men but  of  a  foreign  and  a  detested  race,  must  in  that  dis- 
tant age  be  counted  (to  say  the  least)  as  a  marvellous  antici- 


'  Jerome,  Epist.  ad  Evangclum,  §  6, 
justly  remarks  that  the  narrative 
leaves   it  amhiffuous  whether  Abra- 


ham  gave  tithes  to   Melchizedek  or 
Melchizedek  to  Abraham. 
^  Sinai  and  Falestim;  289. 


LECT.  II.  SACRIFICE   OF   ISAAC.  47 

pation  of  a  higher  morality  and  religion,  such  as  we  are 
accustomed  to  think  peculiarly  our  own.  Eead  and  study 
that  chapter  well ;  we  may  go  much  forther  and  fare  much 
worse,  even  in  modern  and  Christian  times,  in  seeking  a 
true  justiiication  of  the  ways  of  Grod  to  man.  'And  on 
'  the  morrow  Abraham  gat  up  early  in  the  morning  to  the 
*  place  where  he  stood  before  the  Lord.'  The  hill  is  still 
pointed  out  ^  amongst  the  many  summits  near  Hebron  com- 
manding a  view  down  into  the  deep  gulf  which  parts  the 
mountains  of  Judaea  from  those  vast,  unknown,  unvisited 
ranges  which,  with  their  caves  and  wide  table-lands,  invite  the 
fugitives  from  the  plain  below.  The  subsequent  history  of 
that  chasm  was  like  a  perpetual  memorial  of  Abraham's 
prayer.  The  guilty  cities  disappear  for  ever.  The  descen- 
dants of  the  innocent  fugitives  become  the  powerful  nations, 
of  mixed  character  and  dark  origin, — Ammon  and  Moab. 

IV.  Lastly,  the  history  of  the  world  and  of  the  Church  Sacrifice  of 
requires  us  to  notice  the  act  of  faith  which  takes  us  back 
into  the  innermost  life  of  Abraham  himself,  and  marks  at 
least  one  critical  stage  in  the  progress  of  the  True  Eeligion.^ 
There  have  been  in  almost  all  ancient  forms  of  Eeligion,  in 
most  modern  forms  also,  two  strong  tendencies,  each  in  itself 
springing  from  the  best  and  purest  feelings  of  humanity,  yet 
each,  if  carried  into  the  extremes  suggested  by  passion  or  by 
logic,  incompatible  with  the  other,  and  with  its  own  highest 
purpose.  One  is  the  craving  to  please,  or  to  propitiate,  or  to 
communicate  with  the  powers  above  us  by  surrendering  some 
object  near  and  dear  to  ourselves.  This  is  the  source  of  all 
sacrifice.  The  other  is  the  profound  moral  instinct  that  the 
Creator  of  the  world  cannot  be  pleased  or   propitiated  or 

^  Now  called  Beni-naim  ;  probably  -396  ;  Maurice,  Doctrine  of  Sacrifice, 

the    ancient    Caphar-Barucha.       See  33 ;  Ewald,  i.  430,  iv.   76 ;  Buusen's 

Jerome,  Ejnt.  Paula,  §  11;  and  Eo-  Gott   in   Geschichte,  i.  170;    and  (in 

binson,  i.  490.  part)    Kurtz's    History    of    the    Old 

*  See  Arnold's  Sermons,  vol.  ii.  394  Covenant,  i.  §  15. 


48  ABRAHAM   AND    ISAAC.  lect.  ii. 

approached  by  any  other  means  than  a  pure  life  and  good 
deeds.  On  the  exaggeration,  on  the  contact,  on  the  collision, 
of  these  two  tendencies,  have  turned  some  of  the  chief  cor- 
ruptions, and  some  of  the  chief  difficulties,  of  Ecclesiastical 
History.  The  earliest  of  these  we  are  about  to  witness  in  the 
life  of  Abraham,  There  came,  we  are  told,  the  Divine  inti- 
mation, '  Take  now  thy  son,  thine  only  son  Isaac,  whom  thou 
'  lovest,  and  .  .  .  offer  him  for  a  burnt  offering  on  one  of  the 

*  mountains  which  I  will  tell  thee  of.'  It  was  in  its  spirit  the 
exact  expression  of  the  feeling  of  self-devotion  without  which 
Keligion  cannot  exist,  and  of  which  the  whole  life  of  the 
Patriarch  had  been  the  great  example-  But  the  form  taken 
by  this  Divine  trial  or  temptation '  was  that  which  a  stern 
logical  consequence  of  the  ancient  view  of  Sacrifice  did 
actually  assume,  if  not  then,  yet  certainly  in  after  ages, 
among  the  surrounding  tribes,  and  which  cannot  therefore 
be  left  out  of  sight  in  considering  the  whole  historical  aspect 
of  the  narrative.  Deep  in  the  heart  of  the  Canaanitish 
nations  was  laid  the  practice  of  human  sacrifice ;  the  very 
offering  here   described,  of   '  children  passing  through  the 

*  fire,'  '  of  their  sons  and  of  their  daughters,'  '  of  the  firstborn 
'  for  their  transgressions,  the  fruit  of  their  body  for  the  sin  of 

*  their  soul.'  On  the  altars  of  Moab,  and  of  Phoenicia,  and 
of  the  distant  Canaanite  settlements  in  Carthage  and  in  Spain, 
nay  even,  at  times,  within  the  confines  of  the  Chosen  People 
itself,  in  the  wild  vow  of  Jephthah,  in  the  sacrifice  of  Saul's 
sons  at  Gibeah,  in  the  dark  sacrifices  of  the  valley  of  Hinnom 
under  the  very  walls  of  Jerusalem — this  almost  irrepressible 

'  That    this   temptation    or    trial,  where  the  same  temptation,  which  in 

through  whatever  means  it  was  sug-  one   book  is   ascribed   to  God,  is  in 

gested,  should  in  the  sacred  narrative  another  ascribed  to  Satan  :  '  The  Lord 

be  ascribed  to  the  overruling  voice  of  '  moved    David  to   say,   Go,  number 

God,  is  in  exact  accordance  with  the  'Israel'  (2    Sam.  xxiv.    1).      'Satan 

general  tenor  of   the  Hebrew  Scrip-  '  provoked  David  to   number    Israel ' 

tures.   A  still  more  striking  instance  (1  Chron.  xxi.  1). 
is  contained  in  the  history  of  David, 


LECT.  Ti.  SACRIFICE   OF   ISAAC.  49 

tendency  of  the  burning  zeal  of  a  primitive  race  found  its 
terrible  expression.  Such  was  the  trial  which  presented  itself 
to  Abraham.  From  his  tents  in  the  south  he  set  forth  at 
the  rising  of  the  sun,  and  went  unto  the  place  of  which  God 
had  told  him.  It  was  not  the  place  which  Jewish  tradition 
has  selected  on  Mount  Moriah  at  Jerusalem ;  still  less  that 
which  Christian  tradition  shows,  even  to  the  thicket  in  which 
the  ram  was  caught,  hard  by  the  church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre;  still  less  that  which  Mussulman  tradition  in- 
dicates on  Mount  Arafat  at  Mecca.  Eather  we  must  look 
to  that  ancient  sanctuary  of  which  I  have  already  spoken, 
the  natural  altar  on  the  summit  of  Mount  Grerizim.'  On 
that  spot,  at  that  time  the  holiest  in  Palestine,  the  crisis  was 
to  take  place.  One,  two,  three  days'  journey  from  Hhe  land 
'  of  the  Philistines ' — in  the  distance  the  high  crest  of  the 
mountain  appears.  And  'Abraham  Ufted  up  his  eyes  and 
'  saw  the  place  afar  off.'  .  .  . 

The  sacrifice,  the  resignation  of  the  will,  in  the  Father 
and  the  Son  ^  was  accepted ;  the  literal  sacrifice  of  the  act 
was  repelled.  On  the  one  hand,  the  great  principles  were  pro- 
claimed that  mercy  is  better  than  sacrifice,  and  that  the  sacri- 
fice of  self  is  the  highest  and  holiest  offering  that  Grod  can 
receive.  On  the  other  hand,  the  inhuman  superstitions, 
towards  which  the  ancient  ceremonial  of  sacrifice  was  per- 
petually tending,  were  condemned  and  cast  out  of  the  true 
worship  of  the  Church  for  ever.^ 

There  are  doubtless  many  difficulties  which  may  be  raised 

'  Sinai  and  Palestine,  251,  'son,    whom   they  called   leoud,   thf 

'  The  dialogue  between  Abraham  '  Phoenician  word  for  an  only  son,'  [so 

and  Isaac  is  given  with  considerable  applied  to   Isaac,   Gen.  xxii.  2]    '  on 

pathos  in  the  collection  of  legends  in  '  occasion  of  a  great  national  calamity 

Beer's  Lcben  Abrahams,  56-70.  'adorned  him  with   royal  attire,  and 

^  According  to  the  Phoenician  tra-  '  sacrificed  him  on  an  altar  which  he 

dition,  '  Israel,  king  of  the  country,  '  had  prepared.' — Sanchoniathon  :  see 

'  haA-ing  by  a  nymph  called  Anobret  Kenrick's  Phmnicia,  288. 
["the    Hebrew  fountain"]   an  only 


50  ABRAHAM   AND    ISAAC.  lect.  ]i. 

on  the  offering  of  Isaac :  but  there  are  few,  if  any,  which 
will  not  vanish  away  before  the  simple  pathos  and  lofty  spirit 
of  the  narrative  itself,  provided  that  we  take  it,  as  in  fairness 
it  must  be  taken,  as  a  whole ;  its  close  not  parted  from  its 
commencement,  nor  its  commencement  from  its  close — the 
subordinate  parts  of  the  transaction  not  raised  above  its 
essential  primary  intention.  And  there  is  no  difficulty  which 
will  not  be  amply  compensated  by  reflecting  on  the  near 
approach,  and  yet  the  complete  repulse,  of  the  danger  which 
might  have  threatened  the  early  Church.  Nothing  is  so 
remarkable  a  proof  of  a  divine  and  watchful  interposition, 
as  the  deliverance  from  the  iniirmity,  the  exaggeration,  the 
excess,  whatever  it  is,  to  which  the  noblest  minds  and  the 
noblest  forms  of  religion  are  subject.  We  have  a  proverb 
which  tells  us  that  '  jMan's  extremity  is  Grod's  opportunity.' 
S.  Jerome  tells  us  '  that  the  corresponding  proverb  amongst 
the  Jews  was  '  In  the  mount  of  the  Lord  it  shall  be  seen,'  or 
'  In  the  mountain  the  Lord  will  provide  ' — that  is,  '  As  He 
'  had  pity  on  Abraham,  so  He  will  have  pity  on  us.'  Abraham 
reached  the  very  verge  of  an  act  which,  even  if  prompted 
by  noble  motives  and  by  a  Divine  call,  has  by  all  subsequent 
revelation  and  experience  been  pronounced  accursed.  At 
that  moment  his  hand  is  stayed ;  and  the  Patriarchal  religion 
is  rescued  from  this  conflict  with  the  justice  of  the  Law  or 
the  mercy  of  the  Gospel. 

A  few  words  remain  to  be  added  on  the  relation  of  this 
crowning  scene  of  the  beginning  of  sacred  history  to  the 
cro^vning  scene  of  its  close.  The  thoughts  of  Christian 
readers  almost  inevitably  wander  from  one  to  the  other ;  and 
without  entering  into  details  of  controversy  or  doctrine  which 
would  be  here  out  of  place,  there  is  a  common  ground  which 
no  one  need  fear  to  recognise.     The  doctrine  of  the  ty%)es  of 

'  In  his  QiicEstioncs  Hebraicm  on  Gen.  xxii.  14. 


I.ECT.  II.  SACRIFICE    OP    ISAAC.  51 

the  Ancient  Dispensation  has  often  been  pushed  to  excess. 
Bvit  there  is  a  sense  in  which  the  connexion  indicated  thereby 
admits  of  no  dispute,  and  which  may  be  illustrated  even  by 
other  history  than  that  with  which  we  are  now  concerned. 
Not  only  in  sacred,  but  even  in  Grecian  and  Roman  history, 
do  the  earliest  records  sometimes  foreshadow  and  represent 
to  us  the  latest  fortunes  of  the  nation  or  power  then  coming 
into  existence.  Whoever  is  (if  we  may  thus  combine  the 
older  and  the  more  modern  use  of  the  word)  the  type  of  the 
nation  or  race  at  any  marked  period  of  its  course  is  also  the 
type  of  its  final  consummation.  Abraham  and  Abraham's 
son,  in  obedience,  in  resignation,  in  the  sacrifice  of  whatever 
could  be  sacrificed  short  of  sin,  form  an  anticipation,  which 
cannot  be  mistaken,  of  that  last  and  greatest  event  which 
closes  the  history  of  the  Chosen  People.  We  leap,  as  by  a 
natural  instinct,  from  the  sacrifice  in  the  laud  of  Moriah  to 
the  Sacrifice  of  Calvaiy.  There  are  many  differences — there 
is  a  danger  of  exaggerating  the  resemblance,  or  of  confound- 
ing in  either  case  what  is  subordinate  with  what  is  essential. 
But  the  general  feeling  of  Christendom  has  in  this  respect 
not  gone  far  astray.  Each  event,  if  we  look  at  it  well,  and 
understand  it  rightly,  will  serve  to  explain  the  other.  In  the 
very  point  of  view  in  which  I  have  just  been  speaking  of  it, 
the  likeness  is  most  remarkable.  Human  sacrifice,  it  has 
been  well  said,  which  in  outward  form  most  nearly  resembled 
the  death  on  the  Cross,  is  in  spirit  the  furthest  removed  from 
it.  Human  sacrifice,  as  we  have  seen,  which  was  in  outward 
form  nearest  to  the  offering  of  Isaac,  was  in  fact  and  in  spirit 
most  entirely  condemned  and  repudiated  by  it.  The  union 
of  parental  love  with  the  total  denial  of  self  is  held  up  as 
the  highest  model  of  human,  and  therefore  as  the  shadow  of 
Divine,  Love.  *  Sacrifice  '  is  i^ejected,  but  '  to  do  Thy  will, 
'  0  Grod,'  is  accepted.* 

•  Heb.  X.  5,  7. 
£  2 


52  ABRAHAM   AND   ISAAC.  luct.  ii. 

Questions  have  often  arisen  on  the  meaning  of  the  words 
which  bring  together  in  the  Gospel  history  the  names  of 
Abraham  and  of  the  true  and  final  Heir  of  Abraham's  pro- 
mises. But  to  the  student  of  the  whole  line  of  the  Sacred 
history,  they  may  at  least  be  allowed  to  express  the  mar- 
vellous continuity  and  community  of  character,  of  truth, 
of  intention,  between  this,  its  grand  beginning,  and  that,  its 
still  grander  end. 

'  Your  father  Abraham  rejoiced  to  see  My  day,  and  he 
'  saiv  it,  and  ivas  glad.''  ^ 

'  John  viii.  39,  56,  58. 


53 


LECTURE    III. 


JACOB. 


'  Abraham  was  a  hero,  Jacob  was  "  a  plain  man,  dwelling  in  Contrast  of 
'  tents."  Abraham  we  feel  to  be  above  om-selves,  Jacob  to  be  and  Jacob. 
'  like  ourselves.'  So  the  distinction  between  the  two  great 
Patriarchs  has  been  drawn  out  by  a  celebrated  theologian.' 
'  Few  and  evil  have  the  days  of  the  years  of  my  life  been, 
'  and  have  not  attained  unto  the  days  of  the  years  of  the 
'  life  of  my  fathers  in  the  days  of  their  pilgrimage.^  So  the 
experience  of  Israel  himself  is  summed  up  in  the  close  of  his 
life.  Human  cares,  jealousies,  sorrows,  cast  their  shade  over 
the  scene — the  golden  dawn  of  the  Patriarchal  age  is  over- 
cast :  there  is  no  longer  the  same  unwavering  faith ;  we  are 
no  longer  in  communion  with  the  '  High  Father,'  the  '  Friend 
of  Grod ; '  ^  we  at  times  almost  doubt  whether  we  are  not  with 
His  enemy.  But  for  this  very  reason  the  interest  attaching 
to  Jacob,  though  of  a  less  lofty  and  universal  kind,  is  more 
touching,  more  penetrating,  more  attractive.  Nothing  but 
the  perverse  attempt  to  demand  perfection  of  what  is  held 
before  us  as  imperfect  could  blind  us  to  the  exquisite  truth- 
fidness  which  marks  the  delineation  of  the  Patriarch's 
character. 

I.  Look  at  him,  as  his  course  is  unrolled  through  the  long 

*  Newman's  Sermons,  v.  91.  his  hivthright  (Beer' s  Leben  Abrahams, 

^  It  is  a  striking  legend  that  Abra-       84). 
ham  died  on  the  day  that  Esau  sohl 


54  JACOB.  LECT.  III. 

"vicissitudes  which  make  his  life  a  faithful  mirror  of  human 
existence  in  its  most  varied  aspects.  Look  at  him,  as  com- 
Charaeters  pared  with  his  brother  Esau.  Unlike  the  sharp  contrast  of 
and  Esau,  the  earlier  pairs  of  ^Sacred  history,  in  these  two  the  good  and 
evil  are  so  mingled,  that  at  first  we  might  be  at  a  loss  which 
to  follow,  which  to  condemn.  The  distinctness  with  which 
they  seem  to  stand  and  move  before  us  against  tlie  clear 
distance,  is  a  new  phase  in  the  history.  Esau,  the  shaggy 
red-haired  '  huntsman,  the  man  of  the  field,  with  his  arrows, 
his  quiver,  and  his  bow,  coming  in  weary  from  the  chase, 
caught  as  with  the  levity  and  eagerness  of  a  child,  by  the 
sight  of  the  lentile  soup — '  Feed  me,  I  pray  thee,  with  the 
'  "  red,  red  "  ^  pottage,' — yet  so  full  of  generous  impulse,  so 
affectionate  towards  his  aged  father,  so  forgiving  towards  his 
brother,  so  open-handed,  so  chivalrous  :  who  has  not  at  times 
felt  his  heart  warm  towards  the  poor  rejected  Esau ;  and 
been  tempted  to  join  with  him  as  he  cries  with  'a  great  and 
'  exceeding  bitter  cry,'  *  Hast  thou  but  one  blessing,  my 
'  father  ?  bless  me,  even  me  also,  0  my  father  I '  And  who 
does  not  in  like  manner  feel  at  times  his  indignation  swell 
against  the  younger  brother  ?  '  Is  he  not  rightly  named 
'  Jacob,  for  he  hath  supplanted  me  these  two  times  ?  '  He 
entraps  his  brother,  he  deceives  his  father,  he  makes  a 
bargain  even  in  his  prayer ;  in  his  dealings  with  Laban,  in 
his  meeting  with  Esau,  he  still  calculates  and  contrives ;  he 
distrusts  his  neighbours,  he  regards  with  prudential  indiffer- 
ence the  insult  to  his  daughter,  and  the  cruelty  of  his  sons ; 
he  hesitates  to  receive  the  assurance  of  Joseph's  good  will : 
he  repels,  even  in  his  lesser  traits,  the  free  confidence  that 

'  Esau  (hairy),  Arabic  word.     'As  horse  (Zech.  i.  8;  vi.  2).     So  also  of 

'  if  with  a  cloak  of  hair  (Adrath  Seir).'  lentiles  (Gen.  xxv.  30),  or  blood  (Isa. 

— Zcch.  xiii.  4.     Edmoni  (LXX.  irvp-  Ixiii.  2).     Compare  Scott's  description 

ptxKTjs)  is    'red-haired'    here,  and   in  of 'RobEoy'  (ch.  7). 

speaking  of  David.    Edom  (red),  as  of  ^  Gen.  xxv.  30  (in  the  original), 
the  hair  of  a  cow  (Num.  xix.  2),  or 


ixcT.  III.  CONTRAST   WITH    ESAU.  55 

we  cannot  withhold  from  the  Patriarchs  of  the  elder  genera- 
tion. 

But  yet,  taking  the  two  from  first  to  last,  how  entirely 
is  the  judgment  of  Scripture  and  the  judgTnent  of  posterity 
confirmed  by  the  result  of  the  whole  !  The  mere  impulsive 
himter  vanishes  away,  light  as  air :  '  he  did  eat  and  drink, 
'  and  rose  up,  and  went  his  way.     Thus  Esau  despised  his 

*  birthright.'  The  substance,  the  strength  of  the  Chosen 
family,  the  true  inheritance  of  the  promise  of  Abraham,  was 
interwoven  with  the  very  essence  of  the  character  of  'the 

*  plain  ^  man  dwelling  in  tents,'  steady,  persevering,  moving 
onward  with  deliberate  settled  purpose,  through  years  of 
suffering  and  of  prosperity,  of  exile  and  return,  of  bereave- 
ment and  recovery.  The  birthright  is  always  before  him. 
Eachel  is  won  from  Laban  by  hard  service,  '  and  the  seven 

*  years  seemed  unto  him  but  a  few  days  for  the  love  he  had 
'  to  her.'  Isaac,  and  Eebekah,  and  Eebekah's  nurse,  are  re- 
membered with  a  faithful,  filial  remembrance;  Joseph  and 
Benjamin  are  long  and  passionately  loved  mth  a  more  than 
parental  affection — bringing  down  his  grey  hairs  for  their 
sakes  '  in  sorrow  to  the  grave.'  This  is  no  character  to  be 
contemned  or  scoffed  at :  if  it  was  encompassed  with  much 
infirmity,  yet  its  very  complexity  demands  our  reverent 
attention ;  in  it  are  bound  up,  as  his  double  name  ex- 
presses, not  one  man,  but  two ;  by  toil  and  struggle,  Jacob, 
the  Supplanter,  is  gradually  transformed  into  Israel,  the 
Prince  of  Grod ;  the  harsher  and  baser  features  are  softened 
and  purified  away :  he  looks  back  over  his  long  career  with 
the  fulness  of  experience  and  humility.  '  I  am  not  worthy 
'  of  the  least  of  all  the  mercies  and  of  all  the  truth  which 
'  Thou    hast   shown   unto   Tliy    servant.'  ^      Alone   of    the 

'  Gen.  xxT.  27.     The  word  traus-       has  softened,  probably  from  a  sense 
lated  '  plain '  implies  a  stronger  ap-       of  the  difficulty, 
probation,  which  the  English  Version  '  Gen.  xxxii.  10. 


5G  JACOB.  LECT    111. 

Patriarchal  family,  his  end  is  recorded  as  invested  with  the 
solemnity  of  warning  and  of  prophetic  song.  '  Grather  your- 
'  selves  together,  ye  sons  of  Jacob ;  and  hearken  unto  Israel 
*  your  father.'  We  need  not  fear  to  acknowledge  that  the 
God  of  Abraham  and  the  God  of  Isaac  was  also  the  God  of 
Jacob. 
Esau,  the         Most  unworthy  indeed  we  should  be  of  the  gift  of  the 

likeness  of      _,  .  ..„„.,,  ^   •        •        r    ^^ 

the  Edom-   feacred  narrative,  ii  we  failed  to  appreciate  it  in  this,  its  full, 
■''■'^^'  its  many-sided  aspect.     Even  in  the  course  of  the  Jewish 

history,  what  a  foreshadowing  of  the  future !  We  may 
venture  to  trace  in  the  wayward  chieftain  of  Edom  the  like- 
ness of  the  fickle  uncertain  Edomite,  now  allied,  now  hostile 
to  the  seed  of  promise ;  the  wavering,  unstable  dynasty 
which  came  forth  from  Idumsea ;  Herod  the  magnificent  and 
the  cruel;  Herod  Antipas,  who  'heard  John  gladly'  and 
slew  him ;  Herod  Agrippa,  '  almost  a  Christian ' — half  Jew 
and  half  heathen.  '  A  turbulent  and  unruly  race,'  so  Jose- 
phus  describes  the  Idumseans  of  his  day :  *  always  hovering 
'  on  the  verge  of  revolution,  always  rejoicing  in  changes, 
'  roused  to  arms  by  the  slightest  motion  of  flattery,  rushing 
'  to  battle  as  if  they  were  going  to  a  feast.'  ^  But  we  cannot 
mistake  the  type  of  the  Israelites  in  him  whom,  beyond  even 
Abraham  and  Isaac,  they  recognised  as  their  father  Israel.^ 

Jucob,  of      His  doubtful  qualities  exactly  recall  to  us  the  meanness  of 
tlie  Jews.  7-       •   I  5 

character,  which,  even  to  a  proverb,  we  call  in  scorn  '  Jewish,. 

By  his  peculiar  discipline  of  exile  and  suffering,  a  true 
counterpart  is  produced  of  the  special  faults  and  special 
gifts,  known  to  us  chiefly  through  his  persecuted  descend- 
ants in  the  Middle  Ages.  Professor  Blunt  has  with  much 
ingenuity  pointed  out  how  Jacob  seems  to  have  '  learned  like 


'  Josephus,  B.  J.  IT.  4,  1.  'et  Abraham,   et  Israhel  reges  fuere. 

*  Hos.  xii.  3,  4,  5,  12.     Once  only  'Scd   Israhelem  felix  decern  filiorum 

Jacob  is  mentioned  in  Pagan  records :  '  proventus    majoribus  suis  clariorem 

'  Post  Damascum  Azelus,  mox  Adores,  '  fecit.' — Justin,  xxxvi.  2. 


LECT.  III.  COXTEAST   WITH   ESAU.  57 

'  maltreated  animals  to  have  the  fear  of  man  habitually 
'  before  his  eyes.'  ^  In  Jacob  we  see  the  same  timid,  cautious 
watchfulness  that  we  know  so  well,  though  under  darker 
colours,  through  our  great  masters  of  fiction,  in  .Shylock  of 
Venice  and  Isaac  of  York.  But  no  less,  in  the  nobler  side 
of  his  career,  do  we  trace  the  germs  of  the  unbroken  en- 
durance, the  undying  resolution,  which  keeps  the  nation 
alive  still  even  in  its  present  outcast  condition,  and  which 
was  the  basis,  in  its  brighter  days,  of  the  heroic  zeal,  long- 
suffering,  and  hope  of  Moses,  of  David,  of  Jeremiah,  of  the 
Maccabees,  of  the  twelve  Jewish  apostles,  and  the  first 
martyr,  Stephen. 

We  cannot,  however,  narrow  the  lessons  of  Jacob's  his- 
tory to  the  limits  6f  the  Israelite  Church.  All  Ecclesiastical 
History  is  the  gainer  by  the  sight  of  such  a  character  so 
delineated.  It  is  a  character  not  all  black  nor  all  white, 
but  chequered  with  the  mixed  colours  which  make  up  so 
vast  a  proportion  of  the  double  phases  of  the  leaders  of 
the  Church  and  world  in  every  age.  The  neutrality  (so  to  Examples 
speak)  of  the  Scripture  narrative  may  be  seen  by  its  con-  characters, 
trast  with  the  dark  hues  in  which  Esau  is  painted  by  the 
Eabbinical  authors.'*  He  is  hindered  in  his  chase  by  Satan ; 
Hell  opens  as  he  goes  in  to  his  father ;  he  gives  his  father 
dog's  flesh  instead  of  venison ;  he  tries  to  bite  Jacob  on  his 
return ;  he  commits  five  sins  in  one  day.  This  is  the  differ- 
ence between  mere  national  animosity  and  the  high  impar- 
tial judgment  of  the  Sacred  story,  evenly  balanced  and  steadily 
held,  yet  not  regardless  of  the  complicated  and  necessary 
variations  of  human  thought  and  action.  For  students  of 
theology,  for  future  pastors,  for  young  men  in  the  opening 
of  life,  what  a  series  of  lessons,  were  this  the  place  to  en- 
large upon  it,  is  opened  in  the  history  of  those  two  youths, 

'   Veracity  of  the  BooJcs  of  Moses,  ch.  viii.  ^  Otho,  Lex.  Rabh.  207. 


58  JACOB.  LLCT.  III. 

issuing  from  their  father's  tent  in  Beersheba !  The  free,  easy, 
frank  good-nature  of  the  profane  Esau  is  not  overlooked ; 
the  craft,  duplicity,  timidity  of  the  religious  Jacob  is  duly 
recorded.  Yet,  on  the  one  hand,  fickleness,  unsteadiness, 
weakness,  want  of  faith  and  want  of  principle,  ruin  and 
render  useless  the  noble  qualities  of  the  first ;  and  on  the 
other  hand,  steadfast  purpose,  resolute  sacrifice  of  present 
to  future,  fixed  principle,  purify,  elevate,  turn  to  lasting 
good  even  the  baser  qvialities  of  the  second.  And,  yet  again, 
whether  in  the  two  brothers  or  their  descendants,  we  see 
how  in  each  the  good  and  evil  strove  together  and  worked 
their  results  almost  to  the  end.  Esau  and  his  race  cling 
still  to  the  outskirts  of  the  Chosen  People.  '  Meddle  not,' 
it  was  said  in  after  times,  '  with  your  brethren  the  children 
'  of  Esau,  for  I  will  not  give  you  of  their  land,  because  I 
'  have  given  Mount  Seir  ^  to  Esau  for  a  possession.'  Israel, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  outcast,  thwarted,  deceived,  disap- 
pointed, bereaved  — '  all  these  things  are  against  me ; ' 
in  him,  and  in  his  progeny  also,  the  curse  of  Ebal  is 
always  blended  with  the  blessings  of  Grerizim.  Eemember 
these  mingled  warnings  as  we  become  entangled  in  the  web 
of  the  history  of  the  whole  Church.  How  hardly  Esau  was 
condemned,  how  hardly  Jacob  was  saved !  We  are  kept  in 
long  and  just  suspense ;  the  prodigal  may,  as  far  as  human 
eye  can  see,  be  on  his  way  home ;  the  blameless  son,  who 
'  has  been  in  his  father's  house  always,'  may  be  shutting 
himself  out.  Yet  the  final  issue,  to  which  on  the  whole  this 
primitive  history  calls  our  attention,  is  the  same  which  is 
borne  out  by  the  history  of  the  Church  even  in  these  later 
days  of  complex  civilisation.  There  is,  after  all,  a  weakness 
in  selfish  worldHness,  for  which  no  occasional  impulse  can 
furnish    any   adequate    compensation,    even    though   it   be 

^  Deut.  ii.  5. 


Bethel. 


LECT.  III.  HIS   WAXDERrnGS.  59 

the  generosity  of  an  Arabian  chief,  or  the  inimitable  good- 
nature of  an  Enghsh  king.  There  is  a  nobleness  in  principle 
and  in  faith  which  cannot  be  wholly  destroyed,  even  though 
it  be  marred  by  the  hardness  or  the  duplicity  of  the  Jew, 
or  the  Jesuit,  or  the  Puritan. 

II.  Let  us  now  follow  the  Patriarch  through  the  successive 
scenes  of  his  life  ;  again,  as  in  the  case  of  Abraham,  dwelling 
upon  those  special  points  which  admit  of  geographical  or 
historical  elucidation,  or  general  application  of  ecclesiastical 
and  spiritual  truth. 

1.  *  And  Jacob  went  out  from  Beersheba,  and  went  to-  Jacob  at 
'  ward  Haran.'  It  is,  if  one  may  so  say,  the  first  retro- 
grade movement  in  the  history  of  the  Church.  Was  the 
migration  of  Abraham  to  be  reversed  ?  Was  the  west- 
ward tide  of  events  to  roll  back  upon  itself?  Was  the 
Chosen  Eace  to  sink  back  into  the  life  of  the  Mesopotamian 
deserts  ?  The  first  halt  of  the  Wanderer  revealed  his  future 
destinies.  '  The  sun  went  down ; '  the  night  gathered  round ; 
he  was  on  the  central  thoroughfare,  on  the  hard  backbone  ^  of 
the  mountains  of  Palestine ;  the  ground  was  strewn  with 
wide  sheets  of  bare  rock ;  here  and  there  stood  up  isolated 
fragments,  like  ancient  Druidical  monuments.  On  the  hard 
ground  he  lay  down  for  rest,  and  in  the  visions  of  the  night 
the  rough  stones  formed  themselves  into  a  vast  staircase, 
reaching  into  the  depth  of  the  wide  and  open  sky,  which, 
without  any  interruption  of  tent  or  tree,  was  stretched  over 
the  sleeper's  head.  On  that  staircase  were  seen  ascending 
and  descending  the  messengers  of  Grod ;  and  from  above  there 
came  the  Divine  Voice  which  told  the  houseless  wanderer 
that,  little  as  he  thought  it,  he  had  a  Protector  there  and 
everywhere ;  that  even  in  this  bare  and  open  thoroughfare,  in 
no  consecrated  grove  or  cave,  '  the  Loed  was  in  this  place, 

'  See  Sinai  and  Palestine,  220. 


60  JACOB.  LECT.  in. 

'  though  he  knew  it  not.'  '  This  was  Bethel,  the  House  of 
'  God ;  and  this  was  the  gate  of  Heaven.' 

The  monument,  whatever  it  was,  that  was  still  in  after 
ages  ascribed  to  the  erection  of  Jacob,  must  have  been,  like 
so  many  described  or  seen  in  other  times  and  countries, 
a  rude  copy  of  the  natural  featm-es  of  the  place,  as  at 
Carnac  in  Brittany,  the  cromlechs  of  Wales  and  Cornwall, 
or  the  walls  of  Tiryns,  where  the  play  of  nature  and  the 
simplicity  of  art  are  almost  indistinguishable.  In  all  ages  of 
primitive  history,  such  monuments  are,  if  we  may  so  call 
them,  the  earliest  ecclesiastical  edifices.  In  Grreece  there 
were  rude  stones  at  Delphi,  still  visible  in  the  second  cen- 
tury, anterior  to  any  temple,  and,  like  the  rock  of  Bethel, 
anointed  ^  with  oil  by  the  pilgrims  who  came  thither.  In 
Northern  Africa,  Arnobius,  after  his  conversion,  describes  the 
kind  of  fascination  which  had  drawn  him  towards  one  of 
those  aged  stones,  streaming  and  shining  with  the  sacred  oil 
which  had  been  poured  upon  it.^  The  black  stone  of  the 
Arabian  Caaba  reaches  back  to  the  remotest  antiquity  of 
which  history  or  tradition  can  speak. 

In  all  these  rough  anticipations  of  a  fixed  structure  or 
building,  we  trace  the  beginnings  of  what  in  the  case  of 
Jacob  is  first  distinctly  called  '  Beth-el,'  the  house  of  God, 
'  the  place  of  worship ' — the  '  Beit-allah  '  of  Mecca,  the 
'Boetulia'  of  the  early  Phoenician  worship.  When  we  see 
the  rude  remains  of  Abury  in  our  own  country,  there  is  a 
strange  interest  in  the  thought  that  they  are  the  first  archi- 
tectural witness  of  English  religion.  Even  so  the  pillar  or 
cairn  or  cromlech  of  Bethel  must  have  been  looked  upon  by 
the  Israelites,  and  may  still  be  looked  upon  in  thought  by  us, 
as  the  precursor  of  every  '  House  of  God,'  that  has  since 

'  Paus,  vii.  22;  X.  24.  worship  of  'informes  lapides'  by  the 

*  Arnobius  adv.   Gent.  i.   39.     He       Arabs, 
s   also   (vi.    11)  of  the   special 


LECT.  111.  HIS   WAXDERIXGS.  61 

arisen  in  the  Jewish  and  Christian  world — the  temple,  the 
cathedral,  the  church,  the  chapel ;  nay  more,  of  those  secret 
places  of  worship  that  are  marked  by  no  natural  beauty 
and  seen  by  no  human  eye — the  closet,  the  catacomb,  the 
thoroughfare,  of  the  true  worshipper.  There  was  neither  in 
the  aspect  nor  in  the  ground  of  Bethel  any  '  Religio  loci,'' 
but  the  place  was  no  less  '  dreadful,'  '  full  of  awe.'  The 
stone  ^  of  Bethel  remained  as  the  memorial  that  an  all-en- 
compassing Providence  watches  over  its  chosen  instruments, 
however  unconscious  at  the  time  of  what  and  where  they 
are.  '  The  Shepherd  of  the  stone  of  Israel '  was  one  of  the 
earliest  names  by  which  *  the  Grod  of  Jacob '  was  known.^ 
The  vision  of  the  way  reaching  from  open  heaven  to  earth  re- 
ceived its  highest  application  in  a  Divine  manifestation,  yet 
more  universal  and  unexpected.'  Not  in  the  Temple  or  on  the 
High  Priest,  but  on  the  despised  Nazarene,  the  Son  of  man, 
was  Nathanael  to  see  the  fulfilment  of  Jacob's  vision,  '  the 
'  angels  of  God  ascending '  into  the  open  heaven,  and  '  de- 
scending '  on  the  common  earth. 

2.  The  chief  interest  of  the  story  of  Jacob's  twenty  years'  Jacob  in 
service  with  Laban  lies  in  its  reopening  of  the  relations  mi^^''^^^'^" 
between  the  settlers  in  Palestine  and  the  original  tribe  of 
Mesopotamia,  which  appeared  on  Abraham's  migration  to 
have  been  closed.  These  chapters  are  an  instance  of  the 
compensation  which  is  constantly  going  on  in  the  losses 
and  gains  of  theological  study.  If  a  shade  of  uncertainty  is 
thrown  here  and  there  over  the  meaning  and  nature  of  the 
narrative,  which  a  hundred  or  a  thousand  years  ago  would 
not  have  occurred,  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  with  how  far 
deeper  a  pleasure  than  in  any  preceding  age  do  we  enter 

*  The  worship  of  meteoric  stones  of  the  Deity. 

(Tac.  Hist.  ii.   2 ;    Herod,  v.  3 ;  Ge-  -  Gen.  xlix.  24.    Ewald,  Geschichte, 

seuius,  Mon.  Phcen.  387)  refers  rather  i.  523,  note. 

to  their  being  thought  the  habitations  ^  John  i.  61. 


JACOB. 


LECT.    !II. 


into  the  beauty  of  those  primitive  scenes !  We  are  more 
than  interested ;  we  are  refreshed ;  we  are  edified ;  we  become 
again  like  little  children,  as  that  pastoral  life  rises  before  our 
own  worn-out  time.  Like  the  aged  patriarch,  '  whose  eyes 
'  were  dim  that  he  could  not  see,'  and  who  '  longed  for  the 
'  savoury  meat  that  he  loved,  that  he  might  eat  it  before  he 
'  died,'  we  too,  in  the  haze  of  many  centuries  which  surrounds 
our  vision,  '  smell  the  smell  of  the  raiment '  of  those  ancient 
chiefs,  and  we  bless  them,  and  we  feel  that  it  is  '  as  the  smell 
'  of  a  field  which  the  Lord  hath  blessed,'  full  of  the  dew  of 
heaven  and  of  the  fatness  of  the  virgin  earth. 

'  Then  Jacob  "  lifted  up  his  feet "  and  came  into  the  land 
'  of  "  the  children  "  of  the  East.  And  he  looked,  and  behold 
'  a  well  in  the  field ;  and  lo  !  three  flocks  of  sheep  lying  by  it, 
'  and  a  great  stone  was  on  the  well's  mouth.'  The  shepherds 
were  there ;  they  had  advanced  far  away  from  '  the  city  of 
Nahor.'  It  was  not  the  well  outside  the  walls,  with  the 
hewn  staircase  down  which  Kebekah  descended  with  the 
pitcher  on  her  head.  Rachel  ^  comes,  guiding  her  father's 
flocks,  like  the  daughters  of  the  Bedouin  chiefs  at  the  present 
day ;  and  Jacob  claims  the  Bedouin  right  of  cousinship : 
'  And  it  came  to  pass  when  Jacob  saw  Rachel,  the  daughter 
'  of  Laban  his  mother's  brother,  and  the  sheep  of  Laban 
'  his  mother's  brother  [observe  the  simplicity  of  the  juxta- 
*  position],  that  Jacob  went  near  and  rolled  the  stone  from 
'the  well's  mouth,  and  watered  the  flock  of  Laban  his 
'  mother's  brother ;  and  Jacob  kissed  Rachel,  and  lifted  up 
*his  voice  and  wept.'  Everything  which  follows  is  of  the 
same  colour.  Bethuel,  the  aged  head  of  the  family  in  Re- 
bekah's  time,  is  dead ;  and  Laban  has  succeeded,  the  true 
type  of  the  hard-hearted,  grasping  Sheykh  of  an  Arabian 

'  The  spring  at  Orfa  was  pointed  '  seven  years  he  served  his  uncle  La- 
out  by  Jews,  Turks,  and  Armenians  '  ban  for  fair  and  beautiful  Kachel.' 
as    Jacob's    well,   where    'for   twice       Travels,  in  Harkian  Coll.  i.  716. 


LECT.  iH.  HIS    WANDEEIXGS.  C3 

tribe ;  Laban,  the  ordinaiy  likeness  of  one  side  of  the  Arabian 
character,  as  Esau  is  of  the  other.  Then  begins  the  long- 
contest  of  cunning  and  perseverance,  in  which  true  love  wins 
the  game  at  last  against  selfish  gain.  Seven  years,  the  service 
of  a  slave,  thrice  over,  did  Jacob  pay.  He  is  the  faithful 
Eastern  '  good  shepherd ; '  '  that  which  was  torn  of  beasts  he 
'  brought  not  unto  his  master ;  he  bare  the  loss  of  it ;  of  his 
'  hand '  did  his  hard  taskmaster  '  require  it,  whether  stolen 
'  by  day  or  stolen  by  night ;  in  the  day  the  drought '  of  the 
desert  '  consumed  him,  and  the  frost '  in  the  cold  Eastern 
nights ;  '  and  his  sleep  departed  from  him.'  In  Edessa,  as  we 
have  seen,  was  laid  up  for  many  centuries  what  professed  to 
be  the  tent  in  which  he  had  guarded  his  master's  flocks. 
And  at  last  his  fortunes  were  built  up ;  the  slave  became  a 
prince ;  and  the  second  migration  took  place  from  Mesopo-  Jacob  a 
tamia  into  Palestine,  'with  much  cattle,  "with  male  and 
'  female  slaves,"  with  camels  and  with  asses.'  ^  The  hour 
was  come.  As  in  the  earlier  flight  of  Abraham  from  the  same 
region,  the  double  motive  is  put  before  us  :  '  And  Jacob 
'  beheld  the  countenance  of  Laban,  and  behold  it  was  not 
'  towards  him  as  before.'  '  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Jacob, 
'  Eeturn  unto  the  land  of  thy  fathers  and  to  thy  kindred, 
'  and  I  will  be  with  thee.'  ^  '  He  rose  up,'  and  once  again 
high  upon  the  backs  of  camels  he  set  his  sons  and  his  wives, 
and  he  fled  with  all  that  he  had ;  and  Eachel  stole  the 
teraphim,  the  household  gods  of  her  family ;  and  '  he  rose 
'  up  and  passed  over  the '  great  '  river,  and  set  his  face ' — not, 
as  Abraham,  towards  Damascus — but  right  away  to  the 
south-west,  to  the  long  range  of  Gilead,  the  line  of  heights 
on  the  east  of  the  Jordan  which  stand  as  outposts  between 
Palestine  and  the  Assyrian  desert.  On  the  seventh  day  the 
pursuers  overtook  the  fugitives.     On  the  undulating  downs 

'  Gen.  Tvxx.  43,  *  Gtn.  xxxi.  2,  3. 


64 


JACOB. 


i-rcT.  III. 


Jacob  at 

Maha- 

naim. 


of  Gilead  the  two  lines  of  tents  were  pitched ;  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  encampment  of  Jacob  rose  the  five  tents- of 
himself  and  of  his  wives,  the  camels  and  the  cattle  moored 
around,  the  seats  and  furnitm-e  of  the  camels  stowed  within 
the  covering  of  the  tents.  As  in  later  times  the  fortress 
on  these  heights  of  Gilead  became  the  frontier  post  of 
Israel  against  the  Aramaic  tribe  that  occupied  Damascus,  so 
now  the  same  line  of  heights  became  the  frontier  between 
the  nation  in  its  youth  and  the  older  Aramaic  family  of 
Mesopotamia.  As  now  the  confines  of  two  Arab  tribes 
are  marked  by  the  rude  cairn  or  pile  of  stones  erected  at 
the  boundary  of  their  respective  territories,  so  the  pile  of 
stones  and  the  tower  or  pillar  erected  by  the  two  tribes  of 
Jacob  ^  and  Laban,  marked  that  the  natural  limit  of  the 
range  of  Grilead  should  be  their  actual  limit  also.  '  The 
'  Grod  of  Abraham  and  the  God  of  Nahor  ' — here  for  the  first 
and  last  time  mentioned  together — '  was  to  judge  betwixt 
'them.'  The  variation  of  the  dialects  of  the  two  tribes 
appears  also  for  the  first  and  last  time  in  the  two  names  of 
the  memorial.  The  sacrificial  feast  of  the  covenant  was 
made  on  the  mountain  top ;  '  And  early  in  the  morning 
'  Laban  rose  up  and  kissed  his  sons  and  his  daughters,  and 

*  blessed  them ;    and  Laban  departed,  and  returned  to  his 

*  place ; '  and  in  him  and  his  tribe,  as  they  sweep  out  of  sight 
into  the  Eastern  Desert,  we  lose  the  last  trace  of  the  con- 
nexion of  Israel  with  the  Chaldsean  Ur  or  the  Mesopotamian 
Haran. 

3.  It  was  the  termination  also  of  the  dark  and  uncertain 
prelude  of  Jacob's  life.  The  original  sin,  the  exile,  the 
transgression  in  which  the  founder  of  the  Israelites  was  born 
and  bred,  was  held  up  always  before  their  eyes,  a  mixed 
ground  of  warning  and  thanksgiving.     *  Thy  first  father  hath 


>  Gen.  xxxi.  47,  48,  49. 


I.ECT.  HI.  HIS   EETUEN.  65 

*  sinned.' '      '  Thou    wast    called  a  transgressor    from    tlie 

*  womb.'  ^     *  Thou  shalt  say,  A  Syrian  ready  to  perish  was 

*  my  father.'  ^  But  this  is  now  over.  Every  incident  and 
expression  in  the  Sacred  narrative  tends  to  fix  our  attention 
on  this  point  of  the  Patriarch's  story,  as  the  crisis  and  turn 
of  the  whole.  He  is  the  exile  returning  home  after  years  of 
wandering.  He  is  the  chief,  raised  by  his  own  efforts  and 
Grod's  providence  to  a  high  place  amongst  the  tribes  of  the 
earth.  He  stands  like  Abraham  on  the  heights  of  Bethel ; 
like  Moses  on  the  heights  of  Pisgah ;  overlooking  from  the 
watch-tower,  'the  Mizpeh'  of  Gilead,  the  whole  extent  of 
the  land,  which  is  to  be  called  after  his  name.  The  deep 
valley  of  the  Jordan,  stretched  below,  recalls  the  mighty 
change  of  fortune.    '  With  my  staff  I  passed  over  this  Jordan, 

*  and  now  I  am  become  two  bands.'  The  wide  descent  of  the 
valley  southward  towards  the  distant  mountains  of  Seir, 
reminds  him  of  the  contest  which  may  be  in  store  for  him 
from  the  advancing  tribe  of  his  brother  of  Edom.  But  the 
story  sets  before  us  a  deeper  than  any  mere  external  change 
or  struggle.  It  is  as  though  the  twenty  years  of  exile  and 
servitude  had  wrought  their  work.  Every  incident  and 
word  is  fraught  with  a  double  meaning ;  in  every  instance 
earthly  and  spiritual  images  are  put  one  over  against  the 
other,  hardly  to  be  seen  in  the  English  version,  but  in  the 
original  clearly  intended.  Other  forms  than  his  own  com- 
pany are  surrounding  him;  another  Face  than  that  of  his 
brother  Esau^  is  to  welcome  his  return  to  the  land  of  his 
birth  and  kindred.  He  was  become  two  *  bands '  or  *  hosts ; ' 
he  had  divided  his  people,  his  flocks  and  herds  and  camels 
into  two  '  hosts ;'  he  had  sent  *  messengers'  before  to  announce 

'  Isa.  xliii.  27.  the  name  of  the  place  '  the  Face  of 

*  Isa.  xlviii.  8.  '  God :  for  I  have  seen  God  face  to 
^  Dent.  xxvi.  5.  'face,'  xxxii.  30.     'I  have  seen  thy 

*  '  Afterward  I  will  see  his  (Esau's)       'face  (Esan's)  as  though  I  had  seen 
'face.' — Gen.  xxxii.  20.   Jacob  called      'the  face  of  God,  xxxiii.  10. 


66  JACOB.  i>ECT.  HI. 

his  approach.     But  'as  Jacob  went  on  his  way  the  "mes- 

*  seno-ers "  of  God  met  him : '  as  when  he  had  seen  them 
ascending  and  descending  the  stair  of  heaven  at  Bethel ;  and 

*  when  Jacob  saw  them,  he  said,  This  is  God's  host :  and  he 
Jacob  at      '  called  the  name  of  that  place  Mahanaim ; '  that  is,  '  The  Two 

Hosts.'  The  name  was  handed  on  to  after  ages,  and  the 
place  became  the  sanctuary  of  the  Transjordanic  tribes.  He 
was  still  on  the  heights  of  the  Transjordanic  hills,  beyond  the 
deep  defile  where  the  Jabbok,  as  its  name  implies,  '  wrestles ' 
with  the  mountains  through  which  it  descends  to  the  Jordan. 
In  the  dead  of  night  he  sent  his  wives  and  sons,  and  all  that 
he  had,  across  the  defile,  and  he  was  left  alone ;  and  in  the 
darkness  and  stillness,  in  the  crisis  of  his  life,  in  the  agony  of 
his  fear  for  the  issue  of  the  morrow,  there  '  wrestled '  with 
him  one  whose  name  he  knew  not  until  the  dawn  rose  over 
the  hills  of  Gilead.  They  '  wrestled,'  and  he  prevailed ;  yet 
not  without  bearing  away  the  marks  of  the  conflict.'  He  is 
saved,  as  elsewhere,  in  his  whole  career,  so  here ;  '  saved,  yet 

*  so  as  by  fire.'  In  that  struggle,  in  that  seal  and  crown  of 
his  life,  he  wins  his  new  name.^  '  Thy  name  shall  be  called  no 

*  more  Jacob  ("  The  Supplanter  "),  but  Israel  ("  the  Prince  of 
'  God  "),  for  as  a  prince  hast  thou  power  with  God  and  with 
'  man,  and  hast  prevailed.'  The  dark  crafty  character  of  the 
youth,  though  never  wholly  lost — for  '  Jacob  '  he  still  is  called 
even  to  the  end  of  his  days — has  been  by  trial  and  affliction 
changed  into  the  princelike,  godlike  character  of  his  man- 
hood. And  what  was  He  with  whom  he  had  wrestled  in  the 
visions  of  the  night,  and  who  vanished  from  his  grasp  as  the 
day  was  breaking  ?     '  Tell  me,  I  pray  thee,  thy  name.     And 

*  He  said,  "  Wherefore  is  it  that  thou  dost  ask  after  My  name  ?  " 

*  And  He  blessed  him  there.     And  Jacob  called  the  name  of 

*  the  place  Peniel  (that  is,  "  The  Face  of  God  ") ; — for  I  have 

'  Like  the  thorn  in  the  flesh,  2  Cor.       play   on   the   word   sarah,    '  to  be  a 
xii.  7  (Ewald,  i.  461,  note).  prince  '  and  also  '  to  fight '  (Gesenius, 

*  'Israel''   seems   to   be  a  double       Thes.  1338). 


LECT.  III.  HIS   EETUEN.  67 

'  seen  God  face  to  face,  and  my  life  is  preserved.  And  as  he 
'  passed  over  Penuel,  the  sun,'  of  which  the  dawn  had  been 
already  breaking,  '  "  burst "  upon  him ;  and  he  halted  upon 
*  his  thigh.' ' 

Many  memorials,  outward  and  inward,  remain  of  that  vision. 
'  The  children  of  Israel,'  and  the  children  of  Abyssinia  also, 
'  eat  not  of  the  sinew  which  shrank,^  unto  this  day.'  This 
was  one  remembrance  traced  back  to  the  old  ancestral  victory. 
Another  was  the  watch-tower  of  Peniel,  which  years  after- 
wards guarded  the  passes  of  the  Jordan,  when  Gideon  * 
pursued  the  Midianites  who  were  retreating  back  into  their 
eastern  haunts,  by  the  same  approach  through  which  the 
tribe  of  Jacob  was  now  advancing.  But  a  more  enduring- 
memorial  is  the  application,  almost  without  an  allegory,  into 
which  that  mysterious  encounter  shapes  itself,  as  an  image 
of  the  like  struggles  and  wrestlings,  in  all  ages  of  the  Church, 
on  the  eve  of  some  dreadful  crisis,  in  the  solitude  and  dark- 
ness of  some  overhanging  trial.  It  was  already  so  understood 
in  part  by  the  Prophets, — '  He  had  power  over  the  angel  and 
'  prevailed ;  he  wept  and  made  supplication  unto  him.''  ^ 
And  in  modern  times  this  aspect  of  the  story  finds  its  best 
expression  in  the  noble  hymn  of  Charles  Wesley : 

Come,  O  thou  Traveller  unknown, 
Wliom  still  I  hold,  but  cannot  see! 

My  company  before  is  gone, 

And  I  am  left  alone  with  Tliee  r 

With  Thee  all  night  I  mean  to  stay,. 

And  wrestle  till  the  break  of  day. 


1  The  moral  aspects  of  this  story  in  italics  are  independent  of  the  ac- 

are  well  brought  out  by  Mr.  Robert-  count  in  Gen.  xxxii.  27.     Dr.  Wolff 

son  (Sermons,  i.  40).  describes   the    religious   exercises   of 

^  The  Jews  abstain  on  this  account  the  Dervishes  as  resembling  an  actual 

from  the  hacks  of  animals.  See  Eosen-  wrestle,  and  conducted  with  such  ve- 

miiller  ad  loc.  hemence  as  actually  to  dislocate  their 

^  Judges  viii.  8,  9.  joints. — Travels  and  Adventures,  eh. 

*  Hos.  xii.  4.    The  words  quoted  xxii. 

r  2 


08  JACOB,  tECT.  III. 

yield  to  me  now,  for  I  am  weak ; 

But  confident  in  self-despair  : 
Speak  to  my  heart,  in  blessings  speak : 

Be  conquer'd  by  my  instant  prayer. 
Speak  !  or  Thou  never  hence  shalt  move, 
And  tell  me  if  Thy  Name  be  Love. 

My  prayer  hath  power  with  God :  the  grace 

Unspeakable  I  now  receive  ; 
Through  faith  I  see  Thee  face  to  face — 

I  see  Thee  face  to  face  and  live  I 
In  vain  I  have  not  wept  and  strove — 
Thy  Nature  and  Thy  Name  is  Love. 

The  retire-       4.  The  dreaded  meeting  with  Esau  has  passed ;  the  two 
Esau.  brothers  retain  their  characters  through  the  interview :  the 

generosity  of  the  one,  and  the  caution  of  the  other.  And 
for  the  last  time  Esau  retires  to  make  room  for  Jacob ;  he 
leaves  to  him  the  land  of  his  inheritance,  and  disappears  on  his 
way  to  the  wild  mountains  of  Seir.'  In  those  wild  mountains, 
in  the  red  hills  of  Edom,  in  the  caves  and  excavations  to 
which  the  soft  sandstone  rocks  so  readily  lend  themselves,  in 
the  cliffs  which  afterwards  gave  to  the  settlement  the  name 
of  '  Sela '  or  '  Petra,'  lingered  the  ancient  aboriginal  tribe  of 
the  Horites  ^  or  dwellers  in  the  holes  of  the  rock.  These  '  the 
'  children  of  Esau  succeeded,  and  destroyed  from  before  them, 
'  and  dwelt  in  their  stead.'  ^  It  was  the  rough  rocky  country 
described  in  their  father's  blessing :  a  savage  dwelling,  '  away* 
'  from  the  fatness  of  the  earth  and  the  dew  of  heaven ; '  by 
the  sword  they  were  to  live ;  a  race  of  hunters  among  the 
mountains ;  their  nearest  allies,  the  Arabian  tribe  Nebaioth.^ 

•  Seir  =  woody,  hairy.      There  is      ther,  Gen.  xxxvi.  20. 
still  the  cs-Skerah,  or  downs,  sKghtly  ^  Dent.  iL  12,  22, 

tufted   and  possibly  contrasted  with  *  This    seems    the  most  probable 

the   bald  mountains  of  Petra  itself.  rendering  of  Gen.  xxvii.  39  (see  Ka- 

Compare  Josh.  xi.  17;  xii.  7;  Joseph.  liseh  ad  loc);  comp.  Jos.  Ant.  i,  18, 

Ant.  i.  20,  §  3.  §  7. 

*  'Seir'  and  'the  Horite'  go  toge-  ^  Gen.  xxviii.  9;  xxsvi.  3. 


LECT.  111.  HIS   CHAXGE.  69 

Together  dwelt  the  conquering  Edomites  and  the  remnant 
of  the  Horites,  each  under  their  respective  chiefs,*  whose 
names  are  preserved  in  long  lines  down  to  the  time  of  David. 
Petra,  the  mysterious,  secluded  city,  with  its  thousand  caves, 
is  the  lasting  monument  of  their  local  habitation. 

May  we  not  also  trace  their  connexion  with  a  monument  The  Book 
still  more  instructive — the  name  and  the  scene  of  the  book  ^  °  ' 
of  Job  ?  When,  where,  and  by  whom  that  wonderful  book 
was  written,  we  need  not  here  pause  to  ask.  Yet,  as  we  take 
leave  of  Esau  and  his  race,  we  can  hardly  forbear  to  notice 
the  numerous  traces  which  connect  the  scene  of  the  story  with 
the  land  of  Edom,  with  the  mysterious  rocks  of  Petra.  Uz, 
Eliphaz,  Teman,  are  all  names  more  or  less  connected  with 
the  Idumsean  chiefs.  The  description  of  the  aboriginal  tribes, 
expelled  from  their  seats  and  living  in  the  cliffs  and  caves  of 
the  rocks,  well  suits  the  flight  of  the  Horites  before  the 
conquering  Edomites.^  The  description  of  the  wonders  of 
Egypt — the  war-horse,  the  hippopotamus,  and  the  crocodile 
— well  suits  the  dweller  in  Idumsean  Arabia.^  So  the  Sep- 
tuagint  translators  understood  even  the  name  of  Job,  as 
identical  with  the  Edomite  Jobab,  and  fixed  his  exact  place  in 
the  history  of  the  tribe.*  Perhaps,  after  all,  the  position  of 
the  story  is  left  in  designed  obscurity.  But  it  would  be  in 
strict  accordance  with  the  tenderness  which  the  older  Scrip- 
tures exhibit  towards  the  better  qualities  of  Esau,  that  the 
one  book  admitted  into  the  Sacred  Canon,  of  which  the 
subject  is  not  a  member  of  the  Chosen  People,  should  bring 
before  us  those  better  qualities  in  their  pui-est  form — sus- 
pected innocence  frankly  asserting  itself  against  false  religious 
pretensions ;  the  generosity  of  the  Arabian  chief  without  his 

'  Allupk  =  '  ox,'    or    '  companion,'  ^  Job  xxx.  3-8 ;  comp.  Deut.  ii.  22. 

or  'leader  of  a  thousand,'  almost  al-  ^  lb.  xxxix.  18 ;  xli.  34. 

ways  used  of  Edom ;  translated  '  duke '  *  lb.  xlii.  16  (LXX.).     For  Jobab 

(Gen.    xxxvi.  15-19,   21,  29,  30;    1  see  Gen.  xxxA-i,  33.     Comp.  also  Fa- 

Chron.  i.  51).  bricius,  Cod.  fsciidc'iyigr.  796-798. 


70  JACOB.  LECT.  III. 

levity.  '  When  the  ear  heard  him,  then  it  blessed  him ; 
'  when  the  eye  saw  him,  it  gave  witness  to  him.  He  chose 
'  out  their  way,  and  sate  chief,  and  dwelt  as  a  king  in  the 
'  army,  as  one  that  comforteth  the  mourners.'  ^ 

So  we  part  with  the  house  of  Esau,  at  least  for  the  time, 
in  peace,  and  return  to  the  main  stream  of  the  history,  Jacob 
and  his  latter  days. 

5.  He  too  moves  onward.  From  the  summit  of  Mount 
Grerizim  the  eye  rests  on  the  wide  opening  in  the  eastern 
hills  beyond  the  Jordan,  which  marks  the  issue  of  the  Jabbok 
into  the  Jordan  valley.  Through  that  opening,  straight 
towards  Grerizim  and  Shechem,  Jacob  descends  '  in  peace '  ^ 
and  triumph. 
Settlement  At  every  stage  of  his  progress  henceforward  we  are  re- 
chem.  minded  that  it  is  the  second,  and  not  the  first  settlement  of 

Palestine,  that  is  now  unfolding  itself.  It  is  no  longer,  as 
in  the  case  of  Abraham,  the  purely  pastoral  life ;  it  is  the 
gradual  transition  from  the  pastoral  to  the  agricultural. 
Jacob,  on  his  first  descent  from  the  downs  of  Gilead,  is  no 
longer  a  mere  dweller  in  tents ;  he  '  builds  him  an  Jiouse ; ' 
he  makes  '  booths '  or  '  huts '  for  his  cattle,  and  therefore 
the  name  of  the  place  is  called  '  Succoth.'  ^  He  advances 
across  the  Jordan ;  he  comes  to  Shechem  in  the  heart  of 
Palestine,  whither  Abraham  had  come  before  him.  But  it  is 
no  longer  the  uninhabited  '  place '  and  grove ;  it  is  '  the  city ' 
of  Shechem,  and  '  before  the  city '  his  tent  is  pitched.  And 
he  comes  not  merely  as  an  Arabian  wanderer,  but  as  with  a 
fixed  aim  and  fixed  habitation  in  view.  He  sets  his  eye  on 
the  rich  plain  which  stretches  eastward  of  the  city,  now,  as 
eighteen  centuries  ago,  and  then,  as  twenty  centuries  yet 
before,  '  white  already  to  the  harvest ' ''  with  its  waving  corn- 

'  Job  xxix.  1 1,  25.  '  triumph '  see  xlviii.  22. 

^  Gen.    xxxiii.    18,    'to  Shalem  ; '  *  Gen.  xxxiii.  17. 

more  accurately,  '  in  peace.'     For  the  *  John  iv.  35. 


LF.CT.  in.  THE    SETTLEMENT   AT   SHECHEM.  71 

fields.  This,  and  not  a  mere  sepulchre  like  the  cave  of 
Machpelah,  is  the  possession  which  he  purchases  from  the  in- 
habitants of  the  land.  The  very  pieces  of  money  with  which 
he  buys  the  land  are  not  merely  weighed,  as  in  the  bargain 
with  Ephron ;  they  are  stamped  with  the  earliest  mark  of  coin- 
age, the  figures  of  the  lambs  of  the  flocks. •  In  this  vale  of 
Shechem  the  Patriarch  rests,  as  in  a  permanent  home.  Beer- 
sheba,  Hebron,  even  Bethel,  are  nothing  to  him  in  com- 
parison with  this  one  chosen  portion,  which  is  to  descend  to 
his  favourite  son.  Yet  it  is  not  his  altogether  by  the  peaceful 
occupation  which  at  first  seems  implied.  Two  indications 
remain  to  us  of  a  more  warlike  character.  One  is  the  word  of 
the  aged  Patriarch  to  his  son  Joseph,  like  the  expiring  flash  of 
the  spirit  of  an  ancient  conqueror :  '  Moreover  I  have  given 

*  to  thee  one  portion  above  thy  brethren,  which  I  took  out 
'  of  the  hand  of  the  Amorite  with  my  sword  and  with  my 

*  bow.'  ^  It  may  allude  to  the  bloody  conquest  of  Shechem 
by  Simeon  and  Levi;  but  the  turn  of  expression  ('J  have 

*  given  thee  ....  with  'niy  sword  and  my  bow ')  rather 
points  to  incidents  of  the  original  settlement,  not  preserved 
in  the  regular  narrative.  The  other  indication  is  omitted 
altogether  in  the  Hebrew  record,  but  remains  even  unto 
this  day.  Outside  the  green  vale  of  Shechem,  but  in  '  the 
'  portion  of  the  field  east  of  the  city,'  is  the  ancient 
well,  which  can  hardly  be  doubted  to  be  the  one  claimed 
at   the  Christian   era   by  the   Samaritans    as    *the   well   of 

*  their  father  Jacob,  who  drank  thereof  himself,  and  his 
'  children,  and  his  cattle.'  ^  A  natural  question  arises  at 
the  sight  of  this  well,  why  it  was  necessary  to  dig  it  at  all, 
when  so  close  at  hand  in  the  valley  which  falls  into  this 
plain  are  streams  of  living  water,  which  might  have  been 

'  Gen.   xxxiii.    19.      See  Cardinal  '  John  iv.  12.     See  Sinai  and  Pa- 

Wiseman's  Lectures,  ii.  197.  lestine,  ch.  v. 

*  Gen.  xlviii.  22. 


72  JACOB.  I.ECT.  in. 

thought  to  render  it  superfluous  ?  The  answer  has  been  made/ 
with  all  appearance  of  probability,  that  it  could  only  have 
been  so  dug  by  one  who  was  unwilling  to  trust  for  his  supply 
of  water  to  the  stronger  and  hostile  inhabitants  of  the  cul- 
tivated valley.  It  is,  if  so,  an  actually  existing  monument 
of  the  suspicious  attitude  of  the  old  Patriarch  towards  his 
neighbours,  and  of  his  habitual  prudence — '  fearful  lest,  he 
'  being  few  in  number,  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  should 
'  gather  themselves  together,  and  slay  him  and  his  house.'  ^ 

6.  It  is  with  the  latest  portion  of  Jacob's  life  that  are 
most  closely  interwoven  those  cords  of  natural  and  domestic 
affection  which  so  bind  his  name  round  our  hearts.  He 
The  Oak  of  revisits  then  his  old  haunts  at  Bethel  and  Beersheba.  The 
ancient  servant  of  his  house,  Deborah,  his  mother's  nurse, 
the  only  link  which  survived  between  him  and  the  face 
which  he  should  see  no  more,  dies,  and  is  not  forgotten,  but 
is  buried  beneath  the  hill  of  Bethel,  under  the  oak  well- 
known  to  the  many  who  passed  that  way  in  later  times  as 
AUon-bachuth,  'The  Oak  of  Tears.'  He  advances  yet  a 
day's  journey  southward.  They  draw  near  to  a  place  then 
known  only  by  its  ancient  Canaanite  name,  and  now  for  the 
first  time  mentioned  in  history,  '  Ephratah,  which  is  Beth- 
'  lehem.'  The  village  appears  spread  along  its  narrow  ridge, 
but  they  are  not  to  reach  it.     '  There  was  but  a  little  way 

*  to  come  to  Ephrath,  and  Eachel  travailed,  and  she  had  hard 
'  labour.  .  .  .  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  her  soul  was  in  de- 
'  parting,  for  she  died,  that  she  called  the  name  of  the  child 

*  Ben-oni  (that  is, "  the  son  of  sorrow  ") ;  but  his  father  called 

*  him  Ben-jamin  (that  is, "  the  son  of  my  right  hand  ").    And 
The  grave    *  Eachel  died,  and  was  buried  in  the  way  to  Ephrath.     And 

'  Jacob  set  a  pillar  on  her  grave,  that  is  the  pillar  of  Eachel's 
'  grave   unto  this  day.'  ^     The  pillar  has  long  disappeared, 

'  Kobinson,  B.  E.  ii.  286.  2  Gen.  xxxiv.  30. 

3  Gen.  XXXV.  16-20. 


LECT.  III.  DEATH   OF   KACHEL.  73 

but  her  memory  long  remained.  She  still  lived  on,  in 
Joseph's  dreams.^  Her  name  still  clmig  to  the  nuptial  bene- 
dictions of  the  villagers  of  Bethlehem.^  After  the  allotment 
of  the  country  to  the  several  tribes,  the  territory  of  the  Ben- 
jamites  was  extended  by  a  long  strip  far  into  the  south  to 
include  the  sepulchre  of  their  beloved  ancestress.^  When 
the  infants  of  Bethlehem'*  were  slaughtered  by  Herod,  it 
seemed  to  the  Evangelist  as  though  the  voice  of  Eachel 
were  heard  weeping  for  her  children  from  her  neighbouring 
grave.  On  the  spot  indicated  by  the  Sacred  narrative,  a  rude 
cupola,  under  the  name  of  Eachel's  tomb,  still  attracts  the 
reverence  of  Christians,  Jews,  and  Mussulmans. 

Beside  '  the  watch-tower  of  the  flocks,'  ^  in  the  same 
region  where  centuries  afterwards  there  were  still  '  shepherds 
'  abiding  in  the  fields,  watching  over  their  flocks  by  night,' 
Israel  spread  his  desolate  tent ;  and  onward  he  went  yet  again  The  stay  at 
to  Hebron  '  to  bury  his  father  in  the  cave  of  Machpelah,' 
and  to  linger  awhile  at  the  spot  'in  the  land  wherein  his 
'  father  was  a  stranger.'  In  the  mixture  of  agricultural 
and  pastoral  life  which  now  gathers  round  him,  is  laid  the 
train  of  the  last  and  most  touching  incidents  of  Jacob's  story. 
It  is  whilst  they  are  feeding  their  father's  flocks  together, 
that  the  fatal  envy  arises  against  the  favourite  son.  It  is 
whilst  they  are  binding  the  sheaves  in  the  well-known  corn- 
field that  Joseph's  sheaf  stands  upright  in  his  dream.  On 
the  confines  of  the  same  field  at  Shechem,  the  brothers  were 
feeding  their  flocks,  when  Joseph  was  sent  from  Hebron  to 
*  see  whether  it  was  well  with  his  brethren,  and  well  with 
'  the  flocks,  and  to  bring  his  father  word  a^^in.'  And  from 
Shechem  he  followed  them  to  the  two  wells  of  Dothan,^  in 
the  passes  of  Manasseh,  when  the  caravan  of  Arabian  mer- 

'  Gen.  xxxvii.  9,  10.  ■•  Matt.  ii.  18. 

"^  Kuth  iv.  11.  *  Eclar.    Gen.  xxxv.  21 ;  Lulie  ii.  8. 

*  1  Sam.  X.  2.  *  Sinai  and  Falestine,  247. 


74  JACOB.  LECT.  ni. 

cliants  passed  by,  and  he  disappeared  from  his  father's  eyes. 

His   history  belongs    henceforth   to    a  wider  sphere.      The 

glimpse  of  Egypt,  opened  to  us  for  a  moment  in  the  life  of 

Abraham,  now  spreads  into  a  vast  and  permanent  prospect. 

The  de-  7.  This  shall  be  reserved  for  the  consideration  of  the  general 

Jacob  into    relations  of  Israel  to  Egypt.     But  the  story  itself,  though 

sypt-         too  familiar  to  be  repeated   here,  too  simple  to  need  any 

elaborate  elucidation,  is  a  fitting  close  to  the  life  of  Jacob. 

Once  more  he  is  to  set  forth  on  his  pilgrimage.     The  old 

wanderer,  the  Hebrew  Ulysses,  has  still  a  new  call,  a  new 

migration,  new  trials,  and  new  glory  before  him.     The  feeling 

so  beautifully  described  by  the    modern  poet  is  there  first 

shadowed  forth  in  action  : 

Something  ere  the  end, 
Some  work  of  noble  note  may  yet  be  done  .... 
'  Tis  not  too  late  to  seek  a  newer  world  .... 
Made  weak  by  time  and  fate,  but  strong  in  will 
To  strive,  to  seek,  to  find,  and  not  to  yield. 

He  came  to  the  frontier  plain  of  Beersheba ;  he  received 
the  assurance  that  beyond  that  frontier  he  was  to  descend 
yet  further  into  Egypt,  '  Grod  spake  unto  Israel  in  the 
'  visions  of  the  night,  and  said,  Jacob,  Jacob.  And  he  said, 
'Here  am  I.  And  He  said,  I  am  God,  the  God  of  thy 
'  father ;  fear  not  to  go  down  into  Egypt,  for  I  will  there  make 
*  of  thee  a  great  nation.'  He  '  went  down '  from  the  steppes 
of  Beersheba ;  he  crossed  the  desert  and  met  his  son  on  the 
border  of  the  cultivated  land ;  he  was  brought  into  the 
presence  of  the  great  Pharaoh ;  he  saw  his  race  established 
in  the  land  of  Egjypt.  And  then  the  time  drew  near  that 
Israel  must  die ;  and  his  one  thought,  oftentimes  repeated, 
was  that  his  bones  should  not  rest  in  that  strange  land ;  not 
in  pyramid  or  painted  chamber,  but  in  the  cell  that  *  he  had 
'  digged  for  himself,'  in  the  primitive  sepulchre  of  his 
fathers.     '  Bury  me  not,  I  pray  thee,  in  Egypt,  but  I  will 


LECT.  III.  DESCEXT   INTO   EGYPT.  75 

*  lie  with  my  fathers,  and  thou  shalfc  carry  me  out  of  Egypt, 
'  and  bury  me  in  their  burial-place.  .  .  .  Bm-y  me  with  my 

*  fathers,  in  the  cave  that  is  in  the  field  of  Ephron  the  Hit- 

*  tite,  in  the  cave  that  is  in  the  field  of  Machpelah,  which  is 
'before  Mamre,  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  which  Abraham 
'  bought  with  the  field  of  Ephron  the  Hittite  for  a  possession 

*  of  a  burial-place.  There  they  buried  Abraham  and  Sarah 
'  his  wife  ;  there  they  buried  Isaac  and  Eebekah  his  wife ; 
'  and  there  I  buried  Leah.  The  purchase  of  the  field  and 
'  of  the  cave  that  is  therein  was  from  the  children  of  Heth. 

'  And  when   Jacob   had  made  an  end  of  commanding:  his  The  death 

f  T       1 

'  sons,  he  gathered  up  his  feet  into  the  bed  and  yielded  up 
'  the  ghost,  and  was  gathered  to  his  people.'  His  body  was 
embalmed  after  the  manner  of  the  Egyptians.  A  vast  funeral 
procession  bore  it  away;  the  asses  and  the  camels  of  the 
pastoral  tribe  mingled  with  the  chariots  and  horsemen  cha- 
racteristic of  Egypt.  They  came  (so  the  narrative  ^  seems  to 
imply)  not  by  the  direct  road  which  the  Patriarchs  had 
hitherto  traversed  on  their  way  to  Egypt  by  El-Arish,  but 
round  the  long  circuit  by  which  Moses  afterwards  led  their 
descendants,  till  they  arrived  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan. 
Further  than  this  the  Egyptian  escort  came  not.  But  the 
valley  of  the  Jordan  resounded  with  the  loud  shrill  lamenta- 
tions peculiar  to  their  ceremonial  of  mourning,  and  with  the 
funeral  games  with  which,  then  as  now,  the  Arabs  encircle 
the  tomb  of  a  departed  chief.  From  this  double  tradition 
the  spot  was  known  in  after  times  as  '  the  meadow,'  or  '  the  ♦ 

mourning,' '  of  the  Egyptians,'  Abel-Mizraim ;  and  as  Beth- 
hogla,  'the  house  of  the  circling  dance.'  'And  his  sons 
'carried  him  into  the  land  of  Canaan  and  bm-ied  him  in 
'  the  cave  of  the  field  of  Machpelah.  .  .  .  And  Joseph  re- 
'  turned  into  Egypt,  he  and  all  his  brethren,  and  all  that 
'  went  up  with  him,  .  .  .  after  he  had  buried  his  father.' 

>  Gen.  1.  10. 


76 


LECTUKE   IV. 
ISEAEL    IN    EGYPT. 

The  appearance  of  Joseph  in  Egypt  is  the  first  distinct  point 
of  contact  between  sacred  and  secular  history,  and  it  is, 
accordingly,  not  surprising  that  in  later  times  this  part  of 
his  story  should  have  become  the  basis  of  innumerable  fancies 
and  traditions  outside  the  limits  of  the  Biblical  narrative.  His 
arrival  in  Egypt,  his  acquisition  of  magical  art,  his  beauty, 
his  interpretation  of  dreams,  his  prediction  of  the  famine, 
his  favour  with  the  king,  are  told  briefly  but  accurately  in 
the  compilation  of  the  historian  Justin.'  The  feud  of  the 
modern  Samaritans  and  Jews  is  carried  up  by  them  to  the 
feud  between  Joseph  and  his  brethren.^  The  history  of 
Joseph  and  Asenath  is  to  this  day  one  of  the  canonical 
books  of  the  Church  of  Armenia.  To  the  descrij)tion  of 
the  loves  of  Joseph  and  Zuleika  in  the  Koran,  Mahomet 
appealed  as  one  of  the  chief  proofs  of  his  inspiration. 
Christian  pilgrims  of  the  middle  ages  took  for  granted  that 
the  three  or  the  seven  pyramids  which  they  saw  from  the 
Nile  could  be  nothing  else  than  Joseph's  barns.^  The  well 
of  Joseph  and  the  canal  of  Joseph  are  still  shown  to  unsus- 
pecting travellers  by  unsuspecting  guides,  from  a  wild  but 
not  unnatural  confusion  of  his  career  with  that  of  his  great 

>  Justin,   xxxvi,   2.       Comp.    also  ^  Wolff,  Travels,  &c.  ch.  vii. 

iirtapauus,  in  Euseb.  Pr.  Ev.  is.  23.  ^  Maimdeville,  in  Earl^  Trav.  154. 


LECT.  IV.  JOSEPH   IN"   EGYPT.  77 

Mussulman  namesake,  the  Sultan  Yussuf,  or  Joseph,  Saladin  I. 
But  the  most  solid  links  of  connexion  between  the  story 
of  Joseph  and  the  state  of  the  ancient  world,  are  those  which 
are  supplied  by  the  simple  story  itself  on  the  one  hand,  and 
our  constantly  increasing  knowledge  of  the  Egyptian  monu- 
ments on  the  other  hand. 

I.  It  has  been  said  that  Egypt  *  must  have  presented  to  Joseph  in 
the  nomadic  tribes  of  Asia  the  same  contrast  and  the  same  ^^  ' 
attractions  that  Italy  and  the  southern  provinces  of  the 
Eoman  Empire  presented  to  the  Grothic  and  Celtic  tribes 
who  descended  upon  them  from  beyond  the  Alps.  Such  is, 
in  fact,  the  impression  left  upon  our  minds  when  we  are  first 
introduced  into  the  full  view  of  Egypt,  as  we  follow  in  the 
track  of  the  caravan  of  Arabian  merchants  who  carried  off 
Joseph  from  the  wells  of  Dothan.  We  need  only  touch  on 
the  main  incidents  in  the  story  to  see  that  it  is  the  chief  seat 
of  power  and  civilisation  then  known  in  the  world,  and  that 
it  is  the  same  as  that  of  which  the  memorials  have  been  so 
wonderfully  preserved  to  our  own  time.  What  I  have  said  Egypt. 
of  the  retention  of  the  outward  appearance  of  the  Patriarchs 
in  the  unchangeable  customs  of  the  Arabian  tribes,  is  true, 
in  another  sense,  of  the  retention  of  the  outward  appearance 
of  the  Pharaohs  in  the  unchangeable  monuments  of  Egypt. 
The  extraordinary  clearness  and  dryness  of  the  climate,  the 
rare  circumstance  of  the  vicinity  of  the  desert  sands  which 
have  preserved  what  they  have  overwhelmed,  the  passionate 
desire  of  the  old  Egyptians  to  perpetuate  every  familiar  and 
loved  object  as  long  as  human  power  and  skill  could  reach, 
have  all  contributed  to  this  result.  The  wars,  the  amuse- 
ments, the  meals,  the  employments,  the  portraits,  nay  even 
the  very  bodies,  of  those   ancient   fathers  of  the  civilised 

1  The  Biblical  names  of  Egypt  are the  one  in  the  Arabic  name  of  Cairo, 

Mizraim  (possibly  from  the  tivo  banks,  Misr :    the   other  in   the   word    '  al- 

or  the  upper  and  lower  districts),  and  ckeniy,'  '  cke?)iistvy,'   as  derived  from 

Ha77i  (dark).     Traces  of  both  remain  the  medical  fame  of  ancient  Egypt. 


78  JOSEPH   IN   EGYPT.  lect.  iv 

world,  are  still  amongst  us.  We  can  form  a  clearer  image  of 
the  court  of  the  Pharaohs,  in  all  external  matters,  than  we 
can  of  the  court  of  Augustus.  And,  therefore,  at  each  suc- 
cessive disclosure  of  the  state  of  Egypt  in  the  Sacred  narra- 
tive, we  find  ourselves  amongst  old  friends  and  familiar  faces. 
We  know  not  whether  we  may  not  have  touched  a  human 
hand  that  was  pressed  by  the  hand  of  Jacob  or  Joseph. 

We  are  sure,  as  we  gaze  on  the  contemporary  pictures  of  regal 
or  social  life,  that  we  are  seeing  the  very  same  customs  and 
employments  in  which  they  partook ;  we  recognise  in  the  com- 
merce of  the  Arabian  merchants  who  carried  oif  the  Hebrew 
slave,  the  articles  specially  needed  for  Egjrptian  worship — the 
spices  and  myrrh  for  embalment,  the  frankincense  for  the 
temples.  We  see  Pharaoh  surrounded  by  the  great  officers  of 
his  court,  each  at  the  head  of  his  department,  responsible,  as  at 
the  present  day,  for  the  conduct  of  every  one  beneath  him ; 
the  prison,^  the  bakery,  the  vintage,^  the  executioners,^  the  wise 
men,  the  stewards,^  the  priests,  the  high  priest.  The  Nile 
presents  itself  to  us  for  the  first  time  under  its  peculiar 
Hebrew  name,^  which  indicates  its  unique  and  significant 
position  amongst  the  rivers  of  the  earth.  The  papyrus,^ 
which  then  grew  in  its  stream,  is  now  extinct ;  but  the  green 
slip  of  land,  achu, — '  meadow,'  as  it  is  translated,^ — runs  along 
its  banks  now,  as  then.  Out  of  its  waters,  swimming  across 
its  stream,  come  ^  up  the  buffaloes  or  the  sacred  kine,  as  in 

*  '  Chief  of  tlie  roiind  tower '  or  (Apis)  of  the  waters  (mu).  The 
'  castle,'  hence  chief  of  the  gaol.  word    '  Nile  '    is    derived    from    an 

*  '  The  chief  of  the  cup-bearers,'  Egyptian  word  signifying  '  blue.'  Wil- 
translated  the  chief'  butler.'  kinson,  v.  57  ;  Sharpe,  145. 

^  Potiphar,  head  of  the  executioners,  *  Job  viii.  11 ;  Isa.  xviii.  2;  Ex.  ii.  3. 

and  therefore  (according  to  Oriental  ^  Gen.  xli.  2 ;  Ecclus.  xl.  16 ;  Sinai 

usage)  of  the  royal  guards.  and  Palestine,  App.  §  18. 

■•  See  Mr.  Goodwin's  Essay  (Cam-  *  They  are   so  represented  in   the 

bridge  Essays,  1858,  p.  248).  scidptures   of  Beni-Hassan.       There 

*  'lor'  and  'Sichor'  [Sinai  and  were  seven  sacred  cows  in  the  Book  of 
Palestine,  Appendix,  §  36).    In  Egyp-  the  Dead,  c.  148. 

tian   it  was   '  Hapi-Mu,'   the  genius 


LECT.  IV.  JOSEPH   IN  EGYPT.  79 

Pharaoh's  dream,  the  fit  symbols  of  the  leanness  or  the  fer- 
tility of  the  future  years.  The  drought  which  withers  up 
the  herbage  of  the  surrounding  countries,  brings  famine  on 
Egypt  also.  The  Nile  ^  (so  we  must  of  necessity  interpret 
the  vision  of  Pharaoh  and  its  fulfilment),  from  the  failure  of 
the  Abyssinian  rains,  fell  short  of  its  due  level.  Twice  only,  in 
the  eleventh  and  in  the  twelfth  centuries  of  the  Christian  era, 
such  a  catastrophe  is  described  by  Arabian  historians  in  terms 
which  give  us  a  full  conception  of  the  calamity  from  which 
Joseph  delivered  the  country.  The  first  lasted,  like  that  of 
Joseph,  for  seven  years  :  of  the  other  the  most  fearful  details 
are  given  by  an  eye-witness.  '  Then  the  year  presented  itself 
'  as  a  monster  whose  wrath  must  annihilate  all  the  resources 

*  of  life    and   all   the    means    of  subsistence.     The   famine 

*  began  .  .  .  large  numbers  emigrated.  .  .  .  The  poor  ate 
'  carrion,  corpses,  and  dogs.  .  .  .  They  went  further,  devour- 

*  ing  even  little  children.     The  eating  of  human  flesh  became 

*  so  common  as  to  excite  no  surprise.  .  .  .  The  people  spoke 
'  and  heard  of  it  as  of  an  indifferent  thing.  ...  As  for  the 
'  number  of  the  poor  who  perished  from  hunger  and  exhaus- 
'  tion,  Grod  alone  knows  what  it  was.  ...  A  traveller  often 

■ '  passed  through  a  large  village  without  seeing  a  single  li\dng 

*  inhabitant.  ...  In  one  village  we  saw  the  dwellers  of  each 
'  house  extended  dead,  the  husband,  the  wife,  and  the  children. 
' ...  In  another,  where  till  late  there  had  been  four  hundred 
'  weaving  shops,  we  saw  in  like  manner  the  weaver,  dead  in 

*  his  corn-pit,  and  all  his  dead  family  round  him.  We  were 
'  here  reminded  of  the  text  of  the  Koran,  "  One  single  cry  was 

*  heard,  and  they  all  perished."  The  road  between  Egypt 
'  and  Syria  was  like  a  vast  field  sown  with  human  bodies,  or 

*  rather  like  a  plain  which  has  just  been  swept  by  the  scythe 

*  of  the  mower.     It  had  become  as  a  banquet-hall  for  the 

'  It  is  explained  by  Osburn  {Monii-       of  a  great  inland  lake,  and  the  conse- 
mental  Egypt,  ii,  135)  by  the  bursting       quent  reaction. 


Pharaoli's 
viceroy, 


80  JOSEPH    IX   EGYPT.  lect.  iv. 

*  birds,  wild  beasts,  and  dogs,  wbicli  gorged  on  tlieir  flesh.' 
These  are  but  a  few  *  of  the  horrors  which  Abd-el-Latif  details, 
and  which  may  well  explain  to  us  how  '  the  land  of  Egypt 
'  fainted  by  reason  of  the  famine,' — how  the  cry  came  up 
year  by  year  to  Joseph  :  '  Give  us  bread,  for  why  should  we 

*  die  in  thy  presence  ?     Wherefore  shall  we  die  before  thine 

*  eyes,  both  we  and  our  land  ?  Buy  us  and  our  land  for 
'  bread,  and  we  and  our  land  will  be  "  slaves  "  to  Pharaoh ; 

*  and  give  us  seed  that  we  may  live  and  not  die,  and  that  the 
'  land  be  not  desolate.  .  .  .  Thou  hast  saved  our  lives ;  let 
*us  find  grace  in  the  sight  of  my  lord,  and  we  will  be 

Joseph  as  '  Pharaoh's  "  slaves." '  What  were  the  permanent  results  of 
the  legislation  ascribed  to  Joseph,  and  what  its  relations  to 
the  regulations  ascribed  to  others  in  Crentile  historians,  are 
questions  which  belong  to  the  still  obscure  region  of  Egj^tian 
history.  But  there  is  no  difficulty  in  conceiving  from  what 
is  to  be  seen  in  the  past  and  the  present  state  of  Egypt  the 
causes  and  the  nature  of  Joseph's  greatness ;  how  the  Hebrew 
slave,  through  the  rapid  transitions  of  Oriental  life,  became 
the  ruler  of  the  land ;  in  language,  dress,  and  appearance,  a 
member  of  the  great  Egyptian  aristocracy,  'binding  their 
'  princes  at  his  pleasure,  and  teaching  their  senators  wisdom.'" 
He  is  invested  with  the  golden  chain  or  necklace  as  with 
an  order,  exactly  according  to  the  investitiue  of  the  royal 
officers,  as  represented  in  the  Theban  sculptures.^  He  is 
clothed  in  the  white  robe  of  sacred  state,  that  appears  in  such 
marked  contrast  on  the  tawny  figures  of  the  ancient  priests. 
He  bears  the  royal  ring,  such  as  are  still  found  in  the  earliest 
sepulchres.     He  rides  in  the  royal  chariot  that  is  seen  so 

'  The  whole  narrative  is  given  by  of  the  Bihle,  'Famine').      A  famine, 

Abd-el-Latif  {Eolation  de  VEgypte,  ii.  under   Sesnrtason    I.,  in   which    the 

ch.  2,  A.D.  1200).     Large  extracts  are  governor  of  the  district  jirides  himself 

given    in   Miss  Martineau's   Eastern  on  having  preserved  his  own  territoiy, 

Travel,  ch.  20.      The  earlier  famine  is  said  to  be  recorded  in  the  tombs  of 

(A.D.  1064-1071)  is  described  by  El-  Eeni-Hassan. 

Macrizi   (see  Dr.  Smith's  Dictionary  '  See  Willunson,  plate  80. 


XECT.  IV.  JOSEPH   IN  EGYPT.  81 

often  rolling  its  solemn  way  in  the  monumental  processions. 
Before  him  goes  the  cry  of  an  Egjrptian  shout  (^Abrecli  /),'  evi- 
dently resembling  those  which  now  in  the  streets  of  Cairo  clear 
the  way  for  any  great  personage  driving  ^  through  the  crowded 
masses  of  man  and  beast.  His  Hebrew  name  of  Joseph  dis- 
appears in  the  sounding  Egyptian  title,  whichever  version  of 
it  we  adopt,  Zaphnath  Paaneach,  'Eevealer  of  secrets,'  or 
Psonthom  Phanech,^ '  Saviour  of  the  age,'  or  *  Peteseph.'  *  He 
becomes  the  son-in-law  of  the  High  Priest  of  the  Sun-God  in 
the  sacred  city  of  On,  Petephre  or  Potipherah  ('he  who 
belongs  to  the  sun').  He  and  his  wife  Asenath,  the  '  servant 
of  the  goddess  'Neith'  (the  Egyptian  Athene  or  Minerva), 
may  henceforth  be  conceived,  as  in  the  many  connubial  monu- 
ments of  the  priestly  order,  with  their  arms  intertwined  each 
round  the  other's  neck,  each  looking  out  from  the  other's 
embrace  with  the  peculiar  placid  look  which  makes  these  old 
Egyptian  tablets  the  earliest  type  of  the  solemn  happiness 
and  calm  of  a  stately  marriage.  The  multiplication  of  his 
progeny  is  compared,  not  to  the  stars  of  the  ChaldjBan  heavens, 
or  to  the  sand  of  the  Sjo-ian  shore,  but  to  the  countless  fish 
swarming  in  the  great  Egyptian  river.^  Not  till  his  death, 
and  hardly  even  then,  does  he  return  to  the  customs  of  his 
fathers.  He  is  embalmed  with  Egyptian  skill,  and  laid  in 
the  usual  Egyptian  case  or  coffin.  He  rests  not  in  any 
Egyptian  tomb,  but  yet  not,  as  his  father,  in  the  ancestral 
cave  of  Machpelah.  An  Israelite  at  heart,  but  an  Egyptian 
in  outward  form,  '  separate  from  his  brethren,'  by  the  singu- 
lar Providence  that  had  chosen  him  for  a  special  purpose,  he 


•  Gen.  xli.  43.    Comp.  Wilk.  ii.  24,  bel's  Genesis,  284. 

who  says  it  is  the  word  used  by  the  ■*  Chaeieinon,  in  Joseph,   c.   Apion. 

Arabs  to  make  a  camel  kneel.  c.  32. 

^  Compare  1  Sam.  viii.  11  ;  2  Sam.  *  Gen.  xlviii.  20,  Ileb.    (with   Mr. 

XV.  1 ;  1  Kings  i.  5.  Grove's  comments   in   Dictionary   of 

*  This   is   the   form   given   to  the  the  Bible,  'Manasseh'). 
name  in  the  Septuagint.     See  Kno- 


82  ISRAEL    IN    EGYPT.  jlect.  iv. 

was  to  lie  apart  from  the  great  Patriarchal  family  in  the 
fairest  spot  in  Palestine  marked  out  specially  for  himself.  In 
the  rich  corn-field,  hard  by  his  father's  well,  centuries  after- 
wards, 'the  bones  of  Joseph,  which  the  children  of  Israel 

*  brought  up  out  of  Egypt,  buried  they  in  Shechem  in  the 

*  parcel  of  ground  which  Jacob  bought  of  the  sons  of  Hamor 

*  the  father  of  Shechem  for  a  hundred  pieces  of  silver.'  The 
whole  region  round  became  by  this  consecration  '  the  inheri- 
'  tance  of  the  sons  of  Joseph.' '  And  if  the  name  of  Joseph 
never  reached  the  same  commanding  eminence  as  that  of 
Abraham  or  Jacob,  it  was  yet  a  frequent  designation  of 
the  whole  people,  and  a  constant  designation  of  the  larger 
portion.^ 

Stay  of  II.  Thus  ended  the  career  of  the  Hebrew  viceroy  of  the 

^^^^°      Pharaohs.     And  so  'Israel  abode  in  Egypt,  and  Jacob  was 

*  a  stranger  in  the  land  of  Ham.'  In  this  transplantation  of 
the  Chosen  People,  the  vine  was  to  strike  its  first  roots. 
From  the  same  valley  of  the  Nile,  whence  flowed  the  culture 
of  Greece,  was  to  flow  also  the  religion  of  Palestine.  That 
same  land  of  ancient  learning,  which  in  the  schools  of  Alex- 
andria was,  ages  afterwards,  the  first  settled  home  and  shelter 
of  the  wandering  Christian  Church,  was  also  the  first  settled 
home  and  shelter  of  the  wandering  Jewish  nation.  Egypt 
was  the  meeting-point,  geographically  and  historically,  of  the 
three  continents  of  the  ancient  world.  It  could  not  but  bear 
its  part  in  the  nurture  of  that  people  which  was  itself  to 
influence  and  guide  them  all. 

In  considering  the  stay  of  Israel  in  Egypt,  two  complicated 
questions  arise.  The  first  refers  to  the  relation  of  Israel  to 
the  dynasty  of  the  Hyksos,  or  Shepherd  Kings,  of  whom  we 
read  in  Manetho.^  Were  they  the  same  ?  or,  if  different,  did 
the  Shepherd  Kings  precede,  or  accompany,  or  succeed  the 

'  Joshua,  xxiv.  32. 

*  Ps.  Ixxvii.  15 ;  Ixxviii.  67;  Ixxx.  1 ;  Ixxxi.  5. 

'  Joseph,  c.  Apion.  i.  26. 


LECT.  IV.  THE    SHEPHERD    KINGS.  83 

settlement  of  the  Israelites?  The  second  question,  partly 
dependent  on  the  first,  refers  to  the  length  of  the  period  of 
the  Israelite  settlement.  Was  it  two  hundred  and  fifteen 
years '  (according  to  the  Septuagint),  or  foin-  hundred  and 
thirty  years  (according  to  the  Hebrew),  or  a  hundred  or  a 
thousand  years  according  to  the  modern  computations  of 
Egyptian  chronology  ?  We  need  not  enter  on  any  detailed 
answer.  Not  only  are  the  present  materials  too  conflicting 
and  too  scanty  to  justify  any  certain  conclusion,  but  there 
is,  we  may  trust,  a  reasonable  prospect  that  any  conclusion 
now  formed  may  be  modified  or  reversed  by  fresh  discoveries 
in  Egyptian  investigations.  Two  facts,  however,  emerge  oiit 
of  the  obscurity,  essential  to  the  understanding  of  the  future 
history. 

1.  First,  whatever  may  be  the  true  version  of  the  Invasion  The 
of  the  Shepherd  Kings,  the  migration  of  the  Israelites  into  Kins-s*^^ 
Egjrpt  was  undoubtedly  that  of  a  pastoral  people,  distinct  in  and  pasto- 
manners,  customs,  and  origin  from  the  nation  with  whom  Israel, 
they    sojourned.      'The    shepherds,'    even   then,    'were    an 
'  abomination  to  the  Egyptians ; '  and  when  Herodotus  was 
told  that  the  Pyramids  were  built  by  the  shepherd  Philition^^ 
who  used  to  feed  his  flocks  at  their  base,  it  was  an  echo  of 
the  long-pprotracted  hatred  which  the  Egyptians  still  cherished 
against  the  memory  of  the  pastoral  tribe  of  Palestine.     '  Thy 

*  servants  are  shepherds,  thy  servants'  trade  hath  been  about 
'  cattle  from  our  youth,  even  until  now ;  both  we  and  also  our 

*  fathers ;  they  have  brought  their  flocks  and  herds,  and  all 
'  that  they  have.'  ^     They  were  a  Bedouin  tribe  still,  as  truly 

1  For  the  215  years:  (1)  LXX.  and  of  Ex.  xii.  40;  (2)  Gen.  xv.  13-16 ; 

Samaritan   text  of  Ex.    xii.   40 ;    (2)  (3)  Acts  vii  6  ;  (4)  Jos.  B.  J.  ii.  9, 

Jos.  Ant.  ii.  15,  §  2 ;  viii.  3,  §  1  ;  (3)  1 ;  v.  9,  4  ;  (5)  600,000  fighting  iner,; 

the  division  implied   in  Gal.  iii.  17 ;  (6)    Genealogy  of  Joshua,   I   Chron. 

(4)  ireixTrrri  yevea,  Ex.  xiii.  18,  LXX. ;  vii.  27. 

(5)  Genealogy    of    Moses,    Ex.    yi.  ^  Herod,  ii.  127.. 

16-20.  3  Gen.  xlvi.  32,  34 ;  xlvii.  3. 

For  the   430   years :    (1)  Hebrew 

o  2 


84  ISRAEL   IN   EGYPT.  lect.  iv. 

as  the  Arab  tribes  who  now  tend  their  camels  underneath 
the  Pyramids.  The  only  incidents  of  their  history  during 
this  period  belong  to  this  pastoral  state, — the  incursion  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Gath  to  drive  away  the  cattle  of  the 
Ephraimites,  and  the  revenge  of  the  Ephraimites.^  The 
land  of  Goshen  was  the  frontier  land,^  reckoned  as  in  Arabia 
rather  than  in  Egypt ;  on  the  confines  of  the  green  valley, 
yet  on  the  verge  of  the  yellow  desert,  they  fed  their  flocks, 
they  watched  the  royal  herds.  In  one  of  the  most  ancient 
of  all  the  tombs  of  Egypt,  that  called,  from  the  wild  Arab 
tribe  which  once  dwelt  in  it,  Beni-Hassan, — the  children 
of  Hassan, — is  depicted  a  procession  which  used  once  to  be 
called  the  presentation  of  Joseph's  brethren.  This  it  cer- 
tainly is  not.  There  is  no  person  in  the  picture  correspond- 
ing either  to  Joseph  or  Pharaoh.  Nor  is  there  any  exactness 
of  likeness  either  in  the  numbers  of  the  persons  represented, 
or  of  the  produce  which  they  bring.  But,  though  not  bearing 
any  direct  reference  to  this  special  event,  it  is  yet  a  forcible 
illustration  of  the  general  relation  of  tlie  Israelites  to  Egypt. 
The  dresses,  physiognomy,  and  beards  of  the  procession  point 
them  out  to  be  foreigners  ;  ^  whilst  their  attitude  and  appear- 
ance equally  show  that  they  are  not  captives.  The  produce 
they  bring  is  evidently  from  the  desert,  long  herds  of  ostriches. 
The  character  which  pervades  the  whole — children  carried  in 
panniers  on  the  backs  of  asses  ^ — exactly  agrees  with  the 
Patriarchal  nature  of  the  first  Israelite  settlement. 
The  servi-  2.  If  this,  and  like  indications,  illustrate  the  earlier  portion 
Israel.  of  the  stay  in  Egypt,  the  ancient  representations  and  the 
modern  customs,  which  seem  to  have  retained,  through  all 
the  changes  of  government,  a  peculiar  character  of  their  own, 
illustrate  the  second  portion.     When  the  '  new  king  arose 

'   1  Chron.  rii.  21-23  ;  viii.  13.  '  See  Brugsch,  Hist,  de  TEgypte,  i. 

*  El-Arish  is  the  traditional  scene  of  62.  Wilkin,  plate  xiv. 

the  overtaking  of  Joseph's  brethren  by  *  See  below,  p.  96. 
Pharaoh's  officers  (Denon,  ii.  90). 


LECT.  IV.  SERVITUDE    OF   ISEAEL.  85 

'  that  knew  not  Joseph,'  whether  from  change  of  dynasty  or 
character,  they  sank  lower  still ;  they  became,  like  so  many 
ancient  tribes  in  older  times,  the  public  serfs  or  slaves  of  the 
ruling  race.  Like  the  Pelasgians  in  Attica,  like  the  Gibeonites 
afterwards  in  their  own  Palestine,  they  were  employed,  if  not 
in  those  gigantic  works  which  still  speak  of  the  sacrifice  and 
toil  of  the  multitudes  by  whom  they  were  erected,  yet  in 
making  bricks  for  treasure  cities  and  fastnesses,  as  may  be 
seen  in  the  representations  of  the  Theban  tombs,  where 
Asiatics  at  least,  if  not  Jews,  are  shown  working  by  hundreds 
at  this  very  occupation.  Not  only  was  there  the  well-known 
brick  pyramid,  probably  long  anterior  to  the  Israelite  migra- 
tion, but  all  the  outer  enclosures  of  cities,  temples,  and  tombs^ 
were  high  walls '  of  crude  brick.  And  they  were  also  drawn 
away  from  their  free  trade  of  shepherds  to  the  hard  labour 
of  '  service  in  the  field,'  ^  such  as  we  still  see  along  the  banks 
of  the  Nile,  where  the  peasants,  naked  under  the  burning  sun, 
work  through  the  day,  like  pieces  of  machinery,  in  drawing  up 
the  buckets  of  water  from  the  level  of  the  river  for  the  irri- 
gation of  the  fields  above.^  The  cruel  punishment  which  is 
described  as  aggravating  their  bondage,  as  when  Moses  saw 
the  Egyptian  striking  the  Israelite,  and  as  when  the  Israelite 
officers  set  over  their  countrymen  were  themselves  beaten  for 
their  countrjrmen's  shortcomings,  is  the  exact  likeness  of  the 
bastinado,  which  appears  equally  on  the  ancient  monuments 
and  in  the  modern  villages  of  Egypt.  The  complaint  of  the 
Israelites  against  their  own  officers  is  the  same  feeling  which 
in  popular  songs  is  heard  from  modern  Egyptian  peasants, 
for  the  same  reason,  against  the  chiefs  of  their  own  village ; 
'  The  chief  of  the  village,  the  chief  of  the  village,  may  the  dogs 
tear  him,  tear  him,  tear  him  ! '     It  is  said  that  in  the  gangs  of 

'  See  the  engrayings  in  Erugsch,  ^  See    Lane's   Modern    Egyptians, 

106,  174,  176.  ch.  14,  the  Shadoof. 

2  Deut.  xi.  10. 


86 


ISRAEL   IN   EGYPT. 


Effects  of 
their  stay 
in  Egypt. 


Heliopolis. 


boys  and  girls  set  to  work  along  the  Nile  are  to  be  heard  the 
strophe  and  antistrophe  of  a  melancholy  chorus :  '  They 
*  starve  us,  they  starve  us,' — *  They  beat  us,  they  beat  us ; '  to 
which  both  alike  reply,  '  But  there's  some  one  above,  there's 
'  some  one  above,  who  will  punish  them  well,  who  will  punish 
'  them  well.'  ^  This,  with  but  very  slight  changes,  must  have 
been  the  cry  which  went  up  from  the  afflicted  Israelites  '  by 
'  reason  of  their  taskmasters.' 

III.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  precise  length  of  their 
sojourn  or  their  bondage,  it  was  at  any  rate  long  enough  to 
have  rendered  Egypt  thoroughly  familiar  to  them.  They 
seem  indeed  to  have  left  but  slight  traces  of  themselves  on 
Egypt  or  its  monuments.  Memphis,  which  would  have  been 
most  likely  to  retain  indications  of  their  visit  and  of  their 
Exodus,  has  been  buried  or  swept  away ;  and  no  direct  men- 
tion of  the  Jews  occurs  in  any  Egyptian  sculpture  or  picture, 
till  the  representation  of  the  conquest  of  Judah  by  Shishak, 
many  centuries  later.^  But  on  the  Israelites,  whether  by  way 
of  contrast  or  illustration,  the  Egyptian  worship  and  manners 
left  an  impression  almost  as  distinct  and  as  durable  as  that 
which  the  Roman  Empire,  under  analogous  circumstances  in 
long  subsequent  ages,  implanted  on  the  customs  and  feelings 
of  the  early  Christian  Church. 

1.  Take  first  the  scene  with  which  they  were  most  likely 
to  come  into  contact.  We  know  not  with  certainty  what  was 
the  chief  city  of  the  Egyptian  empire  at  the  time  of  the 
entrance  or  of  the  flight  of  the  Israelites.  Memphis  was 
probably  the  capital,  at  least  of  Lower  Egypt;  and  the 
constant  mention  of  the  river  implies  that  Pharaoh  was  then 
living  on  its  banks.     Zoan,  or  Tunis,  is  the  only  town  ^  di- 


'  MS.  Journal  of  a  Stay  in  Egypt, 
by  Mr.  Nassau  Senior:  1856. 

^  In  like  manner  the  camel  never 
appears  in  the  monuments,  though  it 


must    have    been    known    (Sharpe's 
Eyyjpt,  i.  18). 

*  Num.  xiii.  22;  Psalm  Ixxviii.  12. 


LECT.  IV.  HELIOPOLIS.  87 

rectly  mentioned  in  connexion  with  this  early  age.  Its  situa- 
tion in  the  Delta  would  correspond  with  the  neighbourhood 
of  Goshen ;  and  as  it  was  undoubtedly  at  one  period  of 
Egyptian  history  the  seat  of  a  royal  dynasty,  so  it  may  have 
been  at  the  time  of  the  Exodus.  There  is,  however,  another 
city,  not  the  residence  of  the  court,  but  which  is  constantly 
brought  before  us  in  connexion  with  the  whole  history  of 
Israel,  which  still  in  part  remains,  and  which,  with  the  illus- 
trations that  it  receives  from  the  other  Egyptian  monuments, 
may  well  serve  as  a  framework  to  our  whole  conception  of 
Egypt  as  it  appeared  to  the  Israelites.  On,'  Heliopolis,  the 
city  of  the  Sun,  was  the  spot  in  which  heathen  tradition  fixed 
the  residence  of  Abraham,  and,  with  more  certainty,  the 
education — according  to  one  version,  the  birth — of  Moses. 
It  was  undoubtedly  the  dwelling-place  of  Joseph's  bride.  It 
was  near  the  land  of  Goshen.  It  was  close  by  the  later  colony 
of  Leontopolis,  set  up  by  the  second  settlement  of  Israel  in 
Egypt,  after  the  Babylonian  captivity.  It  contains  the  sacred 
fig-tree  shown  to  pilgrims  for  many  centuries  as  that  under 
which  the  Holy  Family  rested  when,  for  the  last  time,  the 
ancient  prophecy  was  fulfilled,  '  Out  of  Egypt  have  I  called 
'  my  Son.'  It  is  thus  connected  with  every  stage  of  the  Sacred 
history ;  but  its  special  concern  is  with  the  period  preceding 
the  Exodus.  Even  if  it  was  not  actually  the  school  of  Moses, 
it  must  have  been  constantly  within  his  sight  and  that  of  his 
countrymen  as  they  passed  to  and  fro  between  their  pastures 
and  the  Nile. 

It  stands  on  the  edge  of  the  cultivated  ground.  The  vast 
enclosure  of  its  brick  walls  still  remains,  now  almost  powdered 
into  dust ;  but,  according  to  the  tradition  of  the  Septuagint, 
the  very  walls  built  by  the  Israelite  bondmen.  Within  this 
enclosure,  in  the  space  now  occupied  by  tangled  gardens,  rose 

*  See  Brugsch,  2o4. 


88  ISEAEL   IN   EGYPT.  lect.  iv. 

the  great  Temple  of  the  Sun,'  which  gave  its  name  and  object 
to  the  city.  How  important  in  Egypt  was  that  worship,  may 
be  best  understood  by  remembering  that  from  it  were  derived 
the  chief  names  by  which  Kings  and  Priests  were  called 
— 'Pha-raoh,'  'The  Child  of  the  Sun,'  ' Potiphe-rah,' 
'The  Servant  of  the  Sun.'  And  what  its  aspect  was 
in  Heliopolis  may  be  known  partly  from  the  detailed  de- 
scription which  Strabo  has  left  of  its  buildings,  as  still 
standing  in  his  own  time ;  and  yet  more  from  the  fact  that  the 
one  ancient  Egyptian  temple  which  to  this  day  retains  its 
sculptures  and  internal  arrangements  almost  unaltered,^ 
that  of  Ipsambul,  is  the  temple  of  Ea,  or  the  Sun.  In 
Heliopolis,  as  elsewhere,  was  the  avenue  of  sphinxes  leading 
to  the  huge  gateway,  whence  flew,  from  gigantic  flagstaffs, 
the  red  and  blue  streamers.  Before  and  behind  the  gateways 
stood,  two  by  two,  the  colossal  petrifactions  of  the  sunbeam, 
the  obelisks,^  of  which  one  alone  now  remains  to  mourn  the 
loss  of  all  its  brethren.  Thither,  it  was  believed,  came  the 
Phoenix  to  die.  Close  by  was  the  sacred  spring  *  of  the  Sun, 
a  rare  sight  in  Egypt,  and  therefore  the  more  precious,  and 
probably  the  original  cause  of  the  selection  of  this  remote 
corner  of  Egypt  for  so  famous  a  sanctuary.  This  too  still 
remains  almost  clioked  by  the  rank  luxuriance  of  the  aquatic 
plants  which  have  gathered  over  its  waters.  Eound  the 
cloisters  of  the  vast  courts  into  which  these  gateways  opened 

'  On  =  Light.     In   Jer.    xliii.    13  a  disparaging  spirit  to  the  great  works 

(LXX.  Ovu)  it  is  called  Bethshemesh  of  Egypt)  is  said  to  be  uhcn-ra,  or 

(the  house  of  the  sun),  as  it  was  and  uben-la  =  'sunbeam,'    or    fitohpkra 

is  still  called  Ain-shems  (the  spring  of  =  '  finger  of    the   sun.'      "With   one 

the  sun).     In  Amos  i.  5,  and  Ezek.  exception,  in   Fayum,  it  only  occurs 

XXX.  17,  it  is  called  'Aven'  (vanity),  on  the  eastern  bank.     Bunsen,  i.  371 ; 

as  a  play  on  the  word  On.  Wilkinson,  iv.  294. 

^  To  this  must  perhaps  be  added,  *  It  is  represented  in  the  Prsenes- 

though  built  in  the  times  of  the  Ptole-  tine  Mosaic.     It  appears  in  Breyden- 

mies,  the  recently  excavated  Temple  of  bach's  plan,  and   in    the  Apocryphal 

Edfou,  dedicated  to  Horus.  Gospels,  as  the  Spring  of  the  Virgin. 

*  The  'obelisk'   (which  is  merely  See  Clarke,  v.  142. 
the  Greek  name  of  'spit,'  applied  in 


I.ECT.  IV.  HELIOPOLIS.  89 

were  spacious  mansions,  forming  the  canonical  residences,  if 
one  may  so  call  tliem,  of  the  priests  and  professors  of  On  : 
for  Heliopolis,  we  must  remember,  was  the  Oxford  of  ancient 
Egypt,  the  seat  of  its  learning  in  early  times,  as  Alexandria 
was  in  later  times ;  the  university,  or  rather  perhaps  the 
college,  gathered  round  the  Temple  of  the  Sun,  as  Christ 
Church  round  the  old  monastic  sanctuary  of  S.  Frideswide. 
Thither  Herodotus  came  to  gather  information  for  his  travels ; 
and  thither,  centuries  later,  the  more  careful  and  accurate 
Strabo.'  The  city  in  his  time  was  in  a  state  of  comparative 
desolation ;  it  had  never  fully  recovered  the  shock  of  the 
fanatical  devastation  of  Cambyses.  A  long  vacancy,  a 
vacation  of  centuries,  had  passed  over  it.  Priests  and 
philosophers,  canons  and  professors,  alike  were  gone,  and 
only  a  few  chaplains  and  vergers  ^  lingered  in  the  sacred 
precincts,  to  carry  on  the  service  of  the  Temple,  and  to 
show  strangers  over  the  silent  quadrangles  and  deserted 
cloisters.  Amongst  these  was  pointed  out  to  Strabo  the 
house  in  which  Plato  had  lived  for  thirteen  years.  Perhaps 
he  may  have  been  also  shown,  or,  had  he  been  there  a  few 
generations  earlier,  would  have  been  shown,  the  house  which 
had  received  Moses  when  he  studied  there  under  the  Egyp- 
tian name  of  Osarsiph.^  In  the  centre  of  all  stood  the  Temple 
itself.  Over  the  portal,  we  can  hardly  doubt,  was  the  figure 
of  the  Sun-Grod ;  not  in  the  sublime  indistinctness  of  his 
natural  orb,  nor  yet  in  the  beautiful  impersonation  of  the 
Grecian  Apollo,  but  in  the  strange  grotesque  form  of  the 
Hawkheaded  monster.  Enter ;  and  the  dark  Temple  opens 
and  contracts  successively  into  its  outermost,  its  inner,  and 
its  innermost  hall ;  the  Osiride  figures  in  their  placid  majesty 
support  the  first,  the  wild  and  savage  exploits  of  kings  and 
heroes  fill  the  second,  and  in  the  sanctuary  itself,  standing  like 

'  xvii.  1.  -  lepoiroioi  Ka\  it,f)fiiTai. 

'  Jos,  c.  Apio7i.  i.  26,  28. 


90  ISKAEL   IN  EGYPT.  lect.  iv. 

the  Holy  House  of  Loretto  or  Assisi,  apart  from  all  the  sur- 
rounding chambers,  underneath  the  carved  figure  of  the  Sun- 
god,  or  beside  the  solid  altar,  sate  in  his  gilded  cage  the  sacred 
hawk,'  or  lay  crouched  on  his  purple  bed  the  sacred  black 
calf,^  Mnevis,  or  Urmer ;  each  the  living  representation  of 
the  deity  of  the  Temple.  Thrice  a  day  before  the  deified 
beast  the  incense  was  offered,  and  once  a  month  the  solemn 
sacrifice.^  Each  on  his  death  was  duly  embalmed  and  de- 
posited in  a  splendid  sarcophagus.  He  was  the  great  rival  of 
the  bull  Apis  at  Memphis ;  and  Hadrian,  when  in  Egypt, 
had  to  determine  a  controversy  respecting  their  precedence.* 
The  sepulchres  of  the  long  succession  of  deified  calves  at 
Heliopolis  corresponded  to  those  of  the  deified  bulls  at 
Memphis.^  It  was  after  seeing  such  a  strange  and  monstrous 
climax  to  so  much  power  and  splendour  and  wisdom,  that  the 
Israelites  were  likely  both  to  need  and  to  feel  the  force  of  the 
warning  voice  :  '  Thou  shalt  not  make  any  likeness  of  any- 
*  thing  that  is  in  the  heaven  above  or  in  the  earth  beneath ; 
'  .  .  .  the  likeness  of  any  beast  that  is  on  the  earth,  the 
'  likeness  of  any  winged  fowl  that  flieth  in  the  air.' "  The 
molten  calf  in  the  wilderness,  the  golden  calves  of  Dan  and 
Bethel,  were  reminiscences,  not  to  be  wiped  out  of  the 
national  memory  for  centuries,  of  the  consecrated  calf  of 
Ea,  the  god  Mnevis. 
Idolatry  of       2.  There  was  yet  another  form  of  idolatry,  never  out  of  sight 

kings. 

in  Egypt,  and  brought  out  with  immense  force  in  the  whole 
Mosaic  description.  What  were  the  dynasties  that  ruled  at 
that  time  over  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  one  or  many,  we  need 
not  determine.     But  the   name    of   '  Pharaoh '    clearly   ex- 

'  "Wilk.  V.  207.     For  its  mode  of  were  shown  the  sacred  lions,   which 

maintenance,    see    Diod.    Sic.    i.    83.  had  songs  sung  to  them  during  their 

Such  a  stone  shrine  remains  at  Edfou.  meals.  jElian,  xii.  7.  Hence  the  name 

^  Brugsch,  257.  of  Leontopolis.     Wilk.  iv.  296,  y.  173. 

s  Wilk.  V.  315.  ^  Brugsch,  259. 

*  In  another  part  of  the  precincts  *  Deut.  iv.  16,  17;  v.  8. 


LECT.  IV.  EFFECTS   OF   THEIR  STAY.  91 

presses  that  the  same  virtue  of  regal  consecration  ran  through 
them  all ;  and  the  name  of  '  Rameses,'  as  applied  to  one  of 
the  treasure  cities  ^  built  by  the  Israelites,  implies,  with  very 
great  probability,  that  this  name  had  already  become  famous 
amongst  the  Egyptian  kings.  The  statue,  found  near  the 
ruins  of  what  is  almost  certainly  the  site  of  Rameses,  points 
without  doubt  to  the  second  of  that  name.  What  then  were 
the  Pharaohs  collectively  in  the  eyes  of  the  nation  ?  and 
what  was  Rameses  in  particular  ?  and  what,  above  all,  was 
Rameses  II.  ?  We  often  hear  it  said  that  Egypt  was  governed 
by  a  theocracy ;  that  is,  as  the  word  is  meant  when  so  applied, 
by  a  priestly  caste.  This  is  not  the  answer  given  by  her  own 
authentic  monuments.  Who  is  the  colossal  figure  that  sits, 
repeated  again  and  again,  at  the  entrance  of  every  temple  ? 
Who  is  it  that  rides  in  his  chariot,  leading  diminutive  nations 
captive  behind  him  ?  To  whom  is  it,  in  the  frontispiece  of 
every  gateway,  that  the  gods  give  the  falchion  of  destruction, 
with  the  command  to  '  Slay,  and  slay,  and  slay '  ?  Whose  sculp- 
tured image  do  we  see  in  the  interior  of  the  Temple,  brought 
into  the  most  familiar  relations  with  the  highest  powers^ 
equal  in  form  and  majesty,  suckled  by  the  greatest  goddess, 
fondled  by  the  greatest  god,  sitting  beside  them,  arm  entwined 
within  arm,  in  the  recesses  of  the  most  holy  place  ?  It  is 
no  priest,  or  prophet,  or  magician,  or  saint,  but  the  king  only 
■ — the  Pharaoh,  the  Child  of  the  Sun,  the  Beloved  of  Ammon. 
And  if  there  is  one  king  who  towers  above  all  the  rest  in 
all  the  long  succession,  it  is  he  whose  name  first  dimly  Kameses 
appears  to  us  in  the  history  of  the  Exodus,  the  great 
Rameses,^  the  Sesostris  of  the  classical  writers.  As  of 
all  objects  of  idolatry,  in  the  natural  world  of  those  early 


'  The  treasure  cities  are:  (1)  Ra-  (i.e.    probably   from    the    Israelites), 

jneses  =  Heroopolis       (Abukeshib).  Brugsch,  i.  156.     (3)  On,  LXX. 
(2)  Pithom  (in  Egyptian  Pachtmm-  ^  By   Brugsch   (i.    166)   identified 

Sarou,    the  fortress   of  the   Tyrians  with  the  Pharaoh  of  Moses. 


92  ISRAEL   m   EGYPT.  lect.  iv. 

times,  the  stars  and  sun  were  the  most  overwhelming  in  their 
fascination,  so,  in  all  the  world  of  man,  there  was  nothing  to 
be  compared  to  those  mighty  kings,  least  of  all  to  the 
mighty  conqueror  who  has  left  his  traces  throughout  all  the 
haunts  of  ancient  civilisation  in  Asia,'  and  from  end  to  end 
of  his  own  country.  With  a  certainty  beyond  that  with 
which  Alexander  was  acknowledged  as  the  greatest  sovereign 
of  the  Grecian,  or  Caesar  of  the  Eoman  world,  must  Ea- 
meses  II.  have  been  hailed  or  feared  as  the  hero  of  the 
primeval  age  before  Grreece  and  Eome  were  born.^  His  very 
form  and  face  are  before  us,  with  a  vividness  which  belongs 
only  to  these  colossal  representations,  that  refuse  to  be  for- 
gotten. We  see  his  profound  yet  scornful  repose,  expressed 
both  in  countenance  and  attitude.  We  see  the  long  profile, 
majestic  and  beautiful  beyond  any  of  his  successors  or  pre- 
decessors. We  see  even  the  peculiar  curl  of  his  nostrils,  and 
the  fall  of  his  under  lip.^  Such  was  the  Pharaoh  who  must 
have  looked  down  on  the  Israelite  sojourners  during  some 
one  period  or  generation  of  their  stay  in  Egypt,  probably 
during  the  time  of  their  oppression. 
Pharaoh.  And  such,  not  in  detail  but  in  its  general  outline,  is  the 

image  presented  to  us  by  the  Pharaoh  of  Scripture.  There 
is  no  other  king  of  the  Patriarchal  times  represented  as 
nearly  on  the  same  level.  Nimrod,  the  mighty  hunter,  has 
been  indeed  invested  by  Oriental  tradition— perhaps  he  ap- 
pears in  Assyrian  sculptures — with  something  of  the  same 
sanctity  and  majesty.  But  he  does  not  so  appear  in  any 
part  of  the  Sacred  narrative.  Pharaoh  is  the  only  potentate 
whom  Abraham  and  Jacob  alike  approach  mth  awful  reve- 
rence.    From  Joseph    and    from  Moses    alike,   whether   as 

'  Near    Sardis,    near    Beyrout,    in  like  Louis  the  Fourteenth.     Brugsch, 

Nubia,  in  Memphis,  in  Thebes.     (See  i.  137. 
Sinai  and  Tahstine,  p.  li.  117.)  ^  On  the  likenesses  of  theEgj-ptian 

*  He   reigned   for  sixty-six  years,  kings,  see  Biinsen,  v.  561. 
coming    to   the   throne   very   young, 


i.ECT.  IV.  EFFECTS   OF   THEIR   STAT.  93 

friend  or  foe,  he  commands  the  submissive  respect  of  a  sub- 
ject who  can  of  himself  do  nothing  against  the  royal  will. 
'  What  Grod  is  about  to  do  He  showeth  unto  Pharaoh.'  '  I 
'  am  of  uncircumcised  lips,  and  how  shall  Pharaoh  hearken 
'  unto  me  ?  '  The  supreme  oath,  by  which  safety  of  person 
and  property  is  secured,  is  '  By  the  life  of  Pharaoh.'  King- 
like and  priestlike,  he  stands  by  the  side  of  the  sacred  river, 
and  sees  in  visions  the  good  and  evil  fortunes  of  Egypt 
coming  up  from  its  stream.  At  sunrise  he  goes  out  to  look 
upon  its  beneficent  waters,  as  if  it  were  all  his  own.  At  a 
word  he  summons  princes,  and  priests,  and  magicians,  and 
wise  men,  and  interpreters  round  him.  At  a  word  he  plants 
a  stranger  over  his  people.  '  See,  I  have  set  thee  over  all 
'  the  land  of  Egypt.  ...  I  am  Pharaoh,  and  without  thee 
'  shall  no  man  lift  up  his  hand  or  his  foot  in  all  the  land  of 
*  Egypt.'  And  when  the  last  great  struggle  comes  on  be- 
tween his  power  and  that  of  a  Grreater  than  himself,  it  is  the 
struggle  rather  of  a  god  against  the  Lord,  than  of  a  man 
against  man.  He  has  hardened  his  heart  like  the  Indian 
Kehama,  rather  than  like  a  mortal  prince  of  modern  days. 
If  there  were  any  prouder  state  or  loftier  dream  in  the  pri- 
meval monarchies  of  Central  Asia,  it  is  remarkable  that  the 
Eastern  traditions  of  these  events  merge  them  in  the  person 
of  the  Egyptian  sovereign ;  and  in  the  Mahometan  version  of 
the  Exodus,  Nimrod  and  Pharaoh,  the  builder  of  the  Tower  of 
Babel  and  the  builder  of  the  Pyramids,  are  blended  together 
in  one  and  the  same  gigantic,  self-sufficing,  Grod-defying  king. 
He  stands  with  one  foot  on  each  of  the  two  great  Pyramids, 
and  darts  his  spear  into  the  sky  in  the  hope  of  killing  the 
Divine  Adversary,  who  from  the  unseen  heavens  laughs 
him  to  scorn.  If  we  take  the  Pharaoh  of  Scripture  from 
first  to  last,  still  the  awful  impression  remains  the  same. 
'  Say  unto  Pharaoh,'  was  the  language  even  of  one  of  the 
latest  Prophets,  how  much  more  of  these  earlier  times, — '  say 


94  ISRAEL   IN   EGYPT.  lect.  iv. 

*  unto  Pharaoh,  "  Whom  art  thou  like  in  thy  greatness  ?  " ' 
Those  who  had  lain  prostrate  under  such  a  monarchy  would 
feel  doubly  the  contrast  of  the  freedom  into  which  they  were 
called.  The  Exodus  was  a  deliverance,  not  only  from  idolatry 
of  false  divinities,  but  from  the  idolatry  of  human  strength 
and  tyranny.  In  the  long  democracy  of  Israel,  and  the  hesi- 
tation with  which  that  democracy,  'where  every  man    did 

*  what  was  right  in  his  own  eyes,'  was  exchanged  even  for 
the  monarchy  which  was  to  produce  a  David  and  a  Solomon, 
we  see  the  protest  against  the  awful  form  of  government 
which  bad  once  bowed  them  down. 

The  evils  of  this  ambiguous  and  degraded  state  fast  de- 
veloped themselves.  The  old  freedom,  the  old  energy,  above 
all,  the  old  religion,  of  the  Patriarchal  age,  faded  away.  Not 
in  the  Pentateuch,  but  in  the  later  books,  the  participation 
of  Israel  in  the  idolatry  of  Egypt  is  expressly  stated.     '  Your 

*  fathers  served  other  gods  .  ,  .  in  Egypt.'  ^     '  They  forsook 

*  not  the  idols  of  Egypt,'  ^  The  Sabbath,  if  it  had  existed 
in  some  shape  amongst  their  fathers,^  as  seems  likely,  was 
forgotten  ;  the  rite  of  circumcision,  by  which  the  covenant 
with  God  had  been  made,  fell  into  disuse ;  its  loss  became 
a  reproach  in  the  eyes  even  of  their  Egyptian  masters,  to 
whom,  as  to  the  rest  of  the  ancient  Eastern  world,  it  was  a 
necessary  sign  of  all  cleanliness  and  of  all  civilisation.'*  Like 
slaves,  too,  like  all  those  wandering  populations  which  hang 
at  the  gates  of  nations  or  classes  more  wealthy  and  more 
stable  than  themselves,  they  learn  to  cling  with  a  kind 
of  sensual  affection  to  the  land  of  their  bondage,  to  the  green 
meadows  of  the  Nile  valley,  to  'the  flesh-pots,  and  melons, 

*  and  cucumbers,  and  onions,'  which  it  gave  them  in  pro- 
fusion ;  to  the  land  '  where  they  sowed  their  seed  and 
'watered   it  with  their  foot,  as   a   garden    of  herbs.'     We 

'  Josh.  xxiv.  2,  14.  ^  Comp.  Ex.  xx. 

«  Ezek.  XX.  8,  .  *  Es.  iv.  24 ;  Josh.  v.  2-9. 


IKCT.  IV.  EFFECTS   OP   THEIR  STAY.  95 

shall  have  to  bear  this  in  mind  during  their  whole  subsequent 
history,  in  order  to  appreciate  both  the  necessity  and  the 
effect  of  the  vicissitudes  which  were  dispensed  to  them.  The 
bare  Desert  and  the  bald  hills  of  Palestine  formed  a  whole- 
some and  perpetual  contrast  to  the  magnificence  and  the 
fertility  of  Egypt.  They  formed,  as  it  were,  a  natural  Monas- 
ticism,  a  natural  Puritanism,  in  which  the  luxuries,  and  the 
superstitions,  and  the  barbarism  of  their  servile  state  were 
set  aside  by  sterner  and  higher  influences.  But  they  were 
always  taught,  with  pathetic  earnestness,  never  to  forget, 
nay,  even,  in  a  certain  sense,  to  feel  for  and  with,  the  con- 
dition of  slavery  which  had  been  their  original  portion. 
'  Eemember  that  thou  wast  a  "  slave  "  in  the  land  of  Egypt.' 
On  this  recollection,  as  on  an  immovable  thought  never  to 
be  erased  from  their  minds,  are  made  to  repose  even  the 
great  institutions  of  the  Sabbath  and  the  Jubilee.' 

3.  There  were  two  other  traces  of  their  dependent  position  Leprosy. 
in  Egypt,  which  may  be  noticed    as    having  left  indelible 
marks  both  on  their  records  and  those  of  the  nation  which 

cast  them  out.  One  is  the  disease  of  leprosy,'^ — which  for 
the  first  time  appears  after  the  stay  in  Egypt, — is  it  too 
much  to  suppose  ? — generated  by  the  habits  incident  to  their 
depressed  state  and  crowded  population.  In  the  Israelite 
annals  it  appears  only  in  individual  though  most  significant 
instances, — the  hand  of  Moses,  the  face  of  Miriam.  But 
the  severe  provisions  of  the  Levitical  law  imply  its  wider 
spread ;  and  in  the  Egyptian  traditions  the  remembrance,  as 
was  natural,  took  a  stronger  and  more  general  colour  of 
aversion  and  disgust,  and  represented  the  whole  people  as  a 
nation  of  lepers,  cast  out  on  that  account. 

4.  The  other  relic  of  repugnance  between  the  two  races,  The  use  of 
though  slight  in  itself,  is  both  more  deeply  seated  in  tlieir        ^*"'" 

>  Deut.  V.  15,  vi.  21 ;  Lev.  xxy.  42,  55. 
*  Jos.  c.  Apion.  i.  26,  34. 


96  ISRAEL   IN   EGYPT.  lect.  iv. 

original  diversity  of  customs,  and  more  lasting  in  its  results. 
There  is  one  animal  which,  even  more  than  the  camel,  is 
from  first  to  last  identified  with  the  history  of  Israel.  With 
he-asses  and  she-asses  Abraham  returned  from  Egypt ;  with 
the  ass  Abraham  went  up  with  Isaac  to  the  sacrifice ; '  on 
asses  Joseph's  brethren  came  thither ;  on  an  ass  Moses  set 
his  wife  and  his  sons  on  his  return  from  Arabia  to  Egypt ;  ^ 
an  old  man  seated  on  an  ass  was  the  likeness  of  him  which, 
according  to  Gentile  traditions,^  his  countrymen  delighted  to 
honour.  On  white  asses  or  mules,  through  the  whole  period  of 
the  early  history  *  till  their  first  contact  with  foreign  nations 
in  the  reign  of  Solomon,  their  princes  rode  in  state ;  the  pro- 
phecy, fulfilled  in  the  close  of  their  history,  was  that  '  their 
'  King  should  come  riding  on  an  ass,  and  a  colt  the  foal  of  an 
'  ass.'  It  was  the  long-continued  mark  of  their  ancient,  pas- 
toral, simple  condition.  The  rival  horse  came  into  Palestine 
slowly  and  unlawfully,  and  was  always  spoken  of  as  the  sign  of 
the  pride  and  power  of  Egypt ;  in  the  funeral  procession  of 
Jacob,  the  chariots  and  horses  of  Egypt  are  specially  con- 
trasted with  the  asses  of  the  sons  of  Israel ;  they  who  in 
later  times  put  their  trust  in  Egypt  founded  that  trust 
in  her  chariots  and  horses.  But  we  know  not  only  the 
Israelite,  but  the  Egyptian  feeling  also.  Whilst  on  the 
Theban  monuments  the  war-horse  is  always  at  hand,  the 
ass,  in  their  minds,  was  regarded  as  the  exclusive,  the  con- 
temned, symbol  of  the  nomadic  race  who  had  left  them. 
On  asses  they  were  described  as  flying  from  Egypt ;  ^  asses, 
it  was  believed,  had  guided  them  through  the  desert ;  ^  in  the 
Holy  of  Holies  (to  such  a  pitch  of  exaggeration  was  the  story 
carried)  the  mysterious  object  of  Jewish  worship  was  held  to 
be   an  ass's   head ;  and   so   generally   was   this   persuasion 

»  Gen.  xxii.  3,  5.  xri.  1,  2 ;  1  Kings  i.  33,  38. 

2  Exod.  iv.  20.  5  Plutarch  de  hide,  cli.  31. 

»  Diod.  Sic.  xxxiv.  1.  «  Tac.  Hist.  t.  3.     See  Lecture  VL 

<  Judg.  V.  10,  X.  4,  xii.  14;  2  Sam. 


LECT.  IV.  EFFECTS  OP   THEIR   STAY.  97 

communicated  to  the  heathen  world,  that  when  a  new 
Jewish  sect,  as  it  was  thought,  arose  under  the  name  of 
'  Christian,'  the  favourite  theme  of  reproach  and  of  caricature 
was  that  they  worshipped  in  like  manner  an  ass,  the  son  of 
an  ass,  even  on  the  Cross  itself.'  So  long  and  far  were  the 
effects  visible  of  this  primitive  diversity  between  the  civilised 
kingdom  of  the  Pharaohs  and  the  pastoral  tribe  of  the  land 
of  Groshen.  So  innocent  was  the  occasion  of  this  lonsf- 
standing  calumny, — a  calumny  not  of  generations  or  cen- 
turies, but  of  millenniums'  growth  before  it  was  dispelled ; 
perhaps  the  most  curious  of  all  the  many  like  slanders  and 
fables  invented,  in  the  course  of  ecclesiastical  history,  by  the 
bitterness  of  national  or  theological  hatred. 

5.  Such  are  some  of  the  points,  greater  or  smaller,  of 
lasting  antagonism  which  their  original  relations  left  between 
Egjrpt  and  Israel.  But  there  are  also  points  of  contact.  It  Points  of 
would  be  against  the  analogy  of  the  whole  history,  to  suppose 
that  this  long  period  was  wasted  in  its  effect  on  the  mind  of 
the  Chosen  People ;  that  the  same  Divine  Providejice  which  in 
later  times  drew  new  truths  out  of  the  Chaldsean  captivity  for 
the  Jewish  Church,  out  of  the  Grecian  philosophy  and  the 
Eoman  law  for  the  Christian  Church,  should  have  made  no 
use  of  the  greatness  of  Egypt  in  this  first  and  most  important 
stage  of  the  education  of  Israel. 

We  need  not  go  to  heathen  records  for  the  assurance  that 
Moses  was  'learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians.' 
Whatever  that  wisdom  was,  we  cannot  doubt  it  was  turned  to 
its  own  good  purpose  in  the  laws  through  him  revealed  to 
the  people  of  God.  The  very  minuteness  of  the  law  implies 
a  stage  of  existence  different  from  that  in  which  the  Patriarchs 
had  lived,  but  like  to  that  in  which  we  know  that  the  Egyp- 
tians lived.     The  forms  of  some  of  the  most  solemn  sacrifices 

'  The  Palatine  inscription  (Dublin  Rev.  April,  1857).  Josephus,  c.  Jp.'ii.  7; 
TertuUian,  A;pol.  ch.  16. 

H 


98  ISRAEL   IN  EGYPT.  lect.  iv. 

— as,  for  example,  the  scapegoat  —  are  almost  identical. 
Circumcision,  the  abstinence  from  swine's  flesh,  the  division 
of  time  by  weeks,  ^  of  the  day  from  sunset  to  sunset,  were 
the  same  in  each  nation,  though  by  each  probably  derived 
from  a  common  source.  The  white  linen  dresses  of  the 
priests,  the  Urim  and  Thummim  on  the  high-priest's  breast- 
plate, are,  to  all  appearance,  derived  from  the  same  source 
as  the  analogous  emblems  amongst  the  Eg3rptians.  The 
sacred  ark,  as  portrayed  on  the  monuments,  can  hardly  fail 
to  have  some  relation  to  that  which  was  borne  by  the  Levites 
at  the  head  of  the  host,  and  which  was  finally  enshrined  in 
the  Temple.  The  Temple,  at  least  in  some  of  its  most 
remarkable  features, — its  courts,  its  successive  chambers, 
and  its  adytum,  or  Holy  of  Holies, — is  more  like  those  of 
Egypt  than  any  others  of  the  ancient  world  with  which  we 
are  acquainted.  In  these  and  in  many  other  instances  we 
may  fairly  trace  a  true  affiliation  of  such  outward  customs 
and  forms  as  in  like  manner,  at  a  later  period,  the  Christian 
Church  took  from  the  Pagan  ritual  of  the  empire  in  which 
it  had  sojourned  for  its  four  hundred  years.  It  is  but  an 
expansion  of  the  one  fact  which  has  always  arrested  the  atten- 
tion of  commentators,  and  which  in  its  widest  sense  is  a 
salutary  warning  against  despising  the  greatness  and  the 
wisdom  of  the  heathen. 

This  world  of  thine,  by  him  usurp'd  too  long, 

Now  opens  all  her  stores  to  heal  thy  servants'  wrong.^ 

Eachel  carried  off  her  father's  teraphim  from  Mesopotamia ; 
the  wives  and  daughters  of  Israel  carried  off  from  Egypt  the 
sacred  gems  and  vestments,  which  afterwards  served  to  adorn 
the  priestly  services  of  the  Tabernacle.  '  When  ye  go,  ye 
*  shall  not  go  empty.     But  every  woman  shall  borrow  of  her 


^  Sharpe's  Egypt,  Book  ii.  §  16.  xii.  45.     Keble's  Christian  Year  (3rd 

«  Ewald,  ii.  87,  8,  on  Exod.  iii.  22 ;       S.  in  Lent). 


liCT.  IV.  EFFECTS   OF   THEIR  STAY.  99 

'  neighbour  .  .  .  jewels  of  silver,  and  jewels  of  gold,  and 
'  raiment,  and  ye  shall  put  them  upon  your  sons  and  upon 
'  your  daughters.  .  .  .  And  the  Lord  gave  the  people  favour 
'  in  the  sight  of  the  Egyptians,  so  that  they  lent  unto  them 
'  such  things  as  they  required,  and  they  spoiled  the  Egyp- 
'  tians.' 

Yet  the  contrast  was  always  greater  than  the  likeness.  Points  of 
'\\Tien  we  survey  the  vast  array  of  ancient  ideas  represented  ^'^^  ^^^ ' 
to  us  in  the  Egyptian  temples  and  sepulchres,  the  thought 
forced  upon  us  is  rather  of  the  fewness  than  of  the  frequency 
of  illustrations  which  they  furnish  to  the  Jewish  history.  Of 
this  absence  of  influence  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  in- 
stance is  that  whilst  the  Egyptian  sculptures  ^  abound  mth 
representations  of  the  future  state,  and  of  the  judgment  after 
death,  the  Jewish  Scriptures,  at  least  in  the  Pentateuch, 
abstain  almost  entirely  from  any  direct  or  distinct  mention  of 
either.^  A  wider  connexion,  indeed,  might  be  maintained  if 
we  could  trust  the  later  descriptions  of  Egyptian  theology  and 
philosophy.  It  was  strongly  believed  in  the  Greek  schools  of 
Alexandria,  that  behind  the  multitude  of  forms,  human, 
divine,  bestial,  grotesque,  which  filled  the  Egyptian  shrines, 
there  was  yet  in  the  minds  of  the  sacred  and  the  learned 
few  a  deep-seated  belief  in  One  Supreme  Intelligence ;  and 
thus  the  distinguishing  mark  of  the  Mosaic  Revelation  would 
have  been,  not  so  much  that  it  disclosed  and  insisted  on  this 

'  If  it  be  true  that  the  Egyptian  be-  see  the  record  of  the  '  Justification  of 

lief  in  a  futiu-e  state  was  inseparably  the  Dead'  {ibid.  v.  545). 
united  with  the  belief  in  transmigra-  -  In    lesser    particulars     may    be 

tion,  and  that  from  this  sprang  the  mentioned    (1)    The  long    hair  and 

■worship  of  animals,  then  the  exclusion  beards  of  the  Israelite  as  contrasted 

of  the  true  doctrine  from  the  Mosaic  with    the    closely   shaven    Egj'ptian 

theology  may  have  been  occasioned  by  priests.  Lev.  xxi,  5  ;  Herod,  ii.  36.  (2) 

the  necessity  of  getting  rid  of  this  false  The  prohibition  of  the  Egyptian  usage 

excrescence — a   remarkable    instance  of  offering  food  to  the  dead.    Deut. 

of  primeval  Protestantism.  (Bunsen's  xxxvi.  13,    14.     (3)   The  prohibition 

Egypt,  iv.  649.)    For  the  good  side  of  of  trees  round  the  altar.     Deut,  xvi. 

the  Egyptian  belief  in    immortality,  21.   See  Sharpe's  Egypt,  book  ii.  §  16. 

H  2 


100  ISRAEL    IN   EGYPT.  lect.  iv. 

fundamental  truth,  but  that  what  had  been  hitherto  confined 
to  a  priestly  caste  was  for  the  first  time  made  the  common 
property  of  a  whole  people.  Such  may  possibly  have  been 
the  case.  But  it  is  not  the  natural  impression  left  by  the 
monuments.  The  crowd  of  gods  and  goddesses,  above  all,  the 
overwhelming  deification  of  the  Pharaohs,  of  which  I  have 
before  spoken,  seems  almost  impossible  to  reconcile  with  any 
strong  Monotheistic  belief  in  Egypt,  however  far  withdrawn 
into  the  recesses  of  schools  or  priesthoods.  One  ever-recur- 
ring symbol,  however,  of  such  a  belief  appears  in  colour  and 
sculpture  on  the  Egyptian  monuments,  as  in  the  Hebrew 
records  it  appears  also  both  in  word  and  act.  Everywhere, 
but  especially  under  the  portal  of  every  temple,  are  stretched 
out  the  wide-spread  wings, — blue,  as  if  with  the  cloudless 
blue  of  the  overarching  heavens, — covering  the  sanctuary,  as 
if  with  the  shelter  of  some  invisible  protector.  This  recur- 
rence of  a  symbol  so  simply  and  naturally  expressive  of  a 
beneficent  overruling  Power  may  be  merely  accidental.  But 
it  is  the  nearest  authentic  approach  which  the  Egyptian 
monuments  furnish  to  such  an  idea.  It  is  the  image  to 
which,  in  one  sublime  passage  at  least,  the  Divine  presence 
is  compared,  '  as  it  were  a  paved  work  of  a  sapphire  stone, 
'as  it  were  the  body  of  heaven  in  his  clearness.' '  It  is  an 
exact  likeness  of  the  wino-s  which  formed  the  covering^  of  the 
ark  in  the  Tabernacle  and  the  Temple, — a  direct  expression 
of  the  feeling  which  has  been  made  immortal  in  the  words, 
'  Under  the  shadow  of  Thy  wings  shall  be  my  refuge.'  ^ 

'  Ex.  xxiv.  10.     Compare  our  own       of  the  detailed  relations  of  Egyptian 

use  of  the  word  '  Heaven.'  to    Israelite   history,    see    Hengsten- 

^  Ps.  Ivii.  1.     For  the  amplification      berg's  Egypt  and  the  Books  of  Moses. 


MOSES. 


V.  THE    EXODUS. 

VI.  THE    ■WILDERNESS. 

VII.  SINAI    AND    THE    LAW. 

VIII.  KADESH    AND    PISGAH. 


SPECIAL   AUTHORITIES   FOR   THIS   PERIOD. 


1.  (fl)   The  last  four   books  of  the  Pentateuch    (Hebrew  and  Sep- 

tuagint). 
(b)   Ps.  Ixxvii.  12-20 ;  Ixxviii.  12-54 ;  Ixxxi.  5-16  ;  xc. ;  xcv.  8-11 ; 
cv.  23-44 ;  cvi.  7-33 ;  cxiv.;  cxxxv.  8-9 ;  cxxxvi.  10-16 :  Isa. 
Ixiii.  11-14 :  Hos.  xii.  13 :  Micali  vi.  4-9 :  Ecclus.  xlv.  1-22 : 
2  Mace.  ii.  10. 

2.  The  Jewish  traditions,  preserved 

(a)   In   the  New  Testament  (Acts  vii.  20-38;    2  Tim.   iii.   8,  9; 

Heb.  xi.  23-28 ;  Jude  9)  :  in  Josephus  (A9it.  ii.  9— iv.  8,  49)  : 

and  Philo  (De  vita  Moysis), 
(6)   In  the  Talmud,  the  Targum  Pseudojonathan,  and  the  Midrashim : 

extracted  in  Otho's  Lexicon  rabhinicmn. 

3.  The  Heathen  traditions   of  Eupolemus,  Ai-tapanus,  Ezekielus,  and 

Demetrius  (Eusebius,  Prap.  Ev.  ix.  26-29)  :  Manetho,  Chseremon, 
Lysimachus    (Josephus,  c.  Apiotif  i.  26-34)  :  Apion  (ib.  ii.  2) 
Strabo  (xvi.  2)  :  Diodorus  Siculus  (xxxiv.  1,  xl.  from  Hecatseus)  : 
Tacitus  (Ifist.  v.  3,  4)  :  Justin  (xxxvi.  2)  :  Clemens  Alexandrinus, 
Stromata,  i.  22-25. 

4.  The  Mussulman  traditions  in  the  Koran,  ii.  v.  vii.  x.  xi.  xviii.  xx. 

xxviii.  xl. ;  collected  in  Lane's  Selections  from  the  Kur-an,  §§  xv. 
xvi. ;  Weil's  Biblical  Legends,  p.  91 ;  D'Herbelot's  Mbl.  Orien- 
tale  ('Moussa,'  'Caroun'  i.e.  Korah,  'Feraoun')j  and  Jalal- 
addin,  ch.  xvi. 

5.  The   Christian  traditions  in  Apocrjrphal    books :  —  (1)   Prayers  of 

Moses,  (2)  Apocalypse  of  Moses,  (3)  Ascension  of  Moses,  (4) 
Prophecy  of  Balaam,  Book  of  Jannes  and  Jambres,  &c.,  in  Fa- 
bricius,  Cod.  Pseudejnp'.  Vet.  Test,  i.  801-871. 


MOSES. 

LECTUEE    V. 

THE   EXODUS. 

The  History,  strictly  speaking,  of  the  Jewish  Church  begins 
with  the  Exodus.  In  one  sense,  indeed,  'History  herself 
'  was  born  on  that  night  when  Moses  led  forth  his  country- 
'  men  from  the  land  of  Goshen.'  ^  Traditions,  genealogies, 
institutions,  isolated  incidents,  isolated  characters,  may  be 
discovered  here  and  there,  long  before.  But  in  Pagan 
records  there  is  no  continuous  narrative  of  events  ;  in  the 
Sacred  records,  whatever  history  exists  is  the  history  of  a 
man,  of  a  family,  of  a  tribe,  but  not  of  a  people,  a  nation,  a 
commonwealth.  This  marked  beginning,  visible  even  in  the 
Jewish  annals  themselves,  is  yet  more  clearly  brought  out, 
when  considered  from  an  external  point  of  view.  To  the  outer 
heathen  world  the  earlier  period  of  the  HebrcAv  race,  with 
the  single  exception  of  Abraham,  was  an  entire  blank.  Their 
origin  in  the  far  East,  their  first  settlement  in  Canaan,  the 
name  of  their  first  father,  whether  Jacob  or  Israel,  these  were 
all  but  unknown  to  Greeks  and  Eomans.  It  is  the  Exodus 
that  reveals  the  Israelite  to  the  eyes  of  Europe.  Egypt  was 
the  only  land  which  the  Gentile  inquirers  recognised  as  the 
birthplace  of  the  Jews.     Moses  is  the  character  who  first 

•  Bimsen's  Egypt,  i.  23. 


104  THE   EXODUS.  lect.  v. 

appears,  not  only  as  the  lawgiver,  but  as  the  representative 
of  the  nation.  In  many  wild,  distorted  forms,  the  rise  of 
this  great  name,  the  apparition  of  this  strange  people,  was 
conceived.  Let  us  take  the  brief  account — the  best  that  has 
been  handed  down  to  us — by  the  careful  and  truth-loving 
Strabo. 

'Moses,  an  Egyptian  priest,  who  possessed  a  consider- 
'  able  tract  of  Lower  Egypt,  unable  longer  to  bear  with  what 
'  existed  there,  departed  thence  to  Syria,  and  with  him  went 
'  out  many  who  honoured  the  Divine  Being  (to  Qslov).  For 
'  Moses  maintained  and  taught  that  the  Egyptians  were 
*  not  right  in  likening  the  nature  of  Grod  to  beasts  and  cattle, 
'  nor  yet  the  Africans,  nor  even  the  Greeks,  in  fashioning 
'their  gods  in  the  form  of  men.  He  held  that  this  only 
'was  God, — that  which  encompasses  all  of  us,  earth  and 
'  sea,  that  which  we  call  Heaven,  and  the  Order  of  the  world, 
'  and  the  Nature  of  things.  Of  this  who  that  had  any  sense 
'  would  venture  to  invent  an  image  like  to  anything  which 
'  exists  amongst  ourselves  ?  Far  better  to  abandon  all  statu- 
'  ary  and  sculpture,  all  setting  apart  of  sacred  precincts  and 
'  shrines,  and  to  pay  reverence,  without  any  image  whatever. 
'  The  course  prescribed  was,  that  those  who  have  the  gift  of 
'  good  divinations,  for  themselves  or  for  others,  should  com- 
'  pose  themselves  to  sleep  within  the  Temple ;  and  those  who 
'livetemperately  and  justly  may  expect  to  receive  some  good 
'  gift  from  God, — these  always,  and  none  besides.'  ^ 

These  words,  unconsciously  introduced  in  the  work  of 
the  Cappadocian  geographer,  occupying  but  a  single  section 
of  a  single  chapter  in  the  seventeen  books  of  his  voluminous 
treatise,  awaken  in  us  something  of  the  same  feeling  as  that 
with  which  we  read  the  short  epistle  of  Pliny,  describing 

'  Strabo,  xTi.   760.     He   probaLly       further   and   less   acciu'ate  details  in 
takes  his  account  from  Hecatseus  (see       Diodorus  (xl.). 
Ewald,  ii.    74),  which  is  given  with 


LECT.  V.  THE    BIRTH    OF   JIOSES.  105 

with  equal  unconsciousness,  yet  with  equal  truth,  the  first 
appearance  of  the  new  Christian  society  which  was  to  change 
the  face  of  mankind.  With  but  a  few  trifling  exceptions, 
Strabo's  account  is,  from  his  point  of  view,  a  faithful  sum- 
mary of  the  mission  of  Moses.  What  a  curiosity  it  would 
have  roused  in  our  minds,  had  this  been  all  that  remained 
to  us  concerning  him !  That  cuiiosity  we  are  enabled  to 
gratify  from  books  which  lay  within  Strabo's  reach,  though 
he  cared  not  to  read  them.  Let  us  unfold  from  their  ancient 
pages  the  leading  points  of  the  signal  deliverance,  when 
'Israel  came  out  of  Egypt,  and  the  house  of  Jacob  from 
'  among  the  strange  people.' 

The  life  of  Moses,  in  the  later  period  of  the  Jewish  history, 
was  divided  into  three  equal  portions  of  forty  years  each.^ 
This  agrees  with  the  natural  arrangement  of  his  history  into 
the  three  parts,  of  his  Egyptian  education,  his  exile  in  Arabia, 
and  his  government  of  the  Israelite  nation  in  the  Wilderness 
and  on  the  confines  of  Palestine.  The  first  two  will  be  con- 
tained in  the  present  Lecture. 

I.  The  early  period  of  the  life  of  Moses,  as  related  in  the 
Pentateuch,  is  so  closely  bound  up  with  the  later  traditions 
concerning  it,  that  it  may  be  well  to  present  it  in  the  form 
in  which  it  appeared  to  his  nation  at  the  time  of  the  Chris-  The  birth 
tian  era.  His  birth  ^ — so  ran  the  story — had  been  foretold 
to  Pharaoh  by  the  Egyptian  magicians,  and  to  his  father 
Amram  by  a  dream,  as  respectively  the  future  destroyer  and 
deliverer.  The  pangs  of  his  mother's  labour  were  alleviated 
so  as  to  enable  her  to  evade  the  Egyptian  midwives.  The 
beauty  of  the  new-born  babe — in  the  later  version  of  the 
story  amplified  into  a  beauty  and  size  almost  divine  ^ — in- 
duced the  mother  to  make  extraoi-dinary  efforts  for  its  pre- 
servation from  the  general  destruction  of  the  male  children 

»  Acts  vii.  23,  30.  '  lb.  ii.  9,  §  1,  5.    'Acruos  tw  0€f, 

«  Job.  Ant.  ii.  9,  §  2-4.  Acts  vii.  20. 


106  THE    EXODUS.  LEcr,  v. 

of  Israel.  For  three  months  the  child,  under  the  name  of 
Joachim,  was  concealed  in  the  house.  Then  his  mother 
placed  him  in  a  small  boat  or  basket  of  papyrus  (perhaps 
from  a  current  Egyptian  belief  ^  that  that  plant  was  a  protec- 
tion from  crocodiles),  closed  against  the  water  by  bitumen. 
This  was  placed  among  the  aquatic  vegetation  by  the  side  of 
one  of  the  canals  of  the  Nile.  The  mother  departed  as  if 
unable  to  bear  the  sight.  The  sister  lingered  to  watch  her 
brother's  fate.  The  basket  "^  floated  down  the  stream. 
His  educa-  The  princess  ^  came  down,  in  primitive  simplicity,  to  bathe 
in  the  sacred  river.  Her  attendant  slaves  followed  her.  She 
saw  the  basket  in  the  flags,  or  borne  down  the  stream,  and 
despatched  divers  after  it.  The  divers,  or  one  of  the  female 
slaves,  brought  it.  It  was  opened,  and  the  cry  of  the  child 
moved  the  princess  to  compassion.  She  determined  to  rear 
it  as  her  own.  The  sister  was  then  at  hand  to  recommend 
a  Hebrew  nurse.  The  child  was  brought  up  as  the  princess's 
son,  and  the  memory  of  the  incident  was  long  cherished  in 
the  name  given  to  the  foundling  of  the  water's  side — whether 
according  to  its  Hebrew  or  Egyptian  form.  Its  Hebrew  form 
is  Mosheh,  from  7)iasah,  'to  draw  out' — 'because  I  have 
'drawn  him  out  of  the  water.'  But  this  is  probably  the 
Hebrew  termination  given  to  an  Egyptian  word  signifying 
'  saved  from  the  water.' *  The  '  Child]  of  the  water  '  was 
adopted  by  the  childless  princess.  Its  beauty  came  to  be 
such,  that  passers-by  stood  fixed  to  look  at  it,  and  labourers 

*  Plut.  Is.  et  Os.  358.  the    LXX.,    Mcovittjs,   and  thence  in 

*  Jos.  Ani.  ii.  9,  §  4.  the  Vulgate,  Moi/ses  (French  Mdise). 
^  Thermuthis  (Jos.  Ibid.   §  5),  or       This   form    is    retained   in   the   Au- 

Merrhis  (Artap.  in  Eusebius),  daugh-  thorised  Version  of  1611,  in  2  Mac- 

ter  of  the  king  of  Heliopolis,  wife  of  cabees  —  '  Moises.'        In     the    later 

the  king  of  Memphis.  editions  it  is  altered.     Brugsch  {His- 

*  In  Coptic,  «io^  water,  and  iishc  toire  cVEgypte,  157,  173)  renders  the 
=  saved.  This  is  the  explanation  name  Mcs  or  Messon  =  child,  borne 
given  by  Josephus  {Ant.  ii.  9,  6  ;  c.  by  one  of  the  princes  of  Ethiopia 
Afion,  i.  31),  and  confirmed  by  the  under  Eameses  II.,  appearing  also  in 
Greek  form  of  the  word  adopted  in  the  names  Amosis  and  Thvith.- 3fosis. 


LECT.  V.  MOSES   IN  EGYPT.  107 

left  tbeir  work  to  steal  a  glance.^  Such  was  the  narrative, 
as  moulded  by  successive  generations,  and  finally  adopted  by 
Josephus  and  Clement  of  Alexandria,  from  the  simpler, 
but  still  thoroughly  Egyptian  incidents  of  the  BibHcal  story. 

From  this  time  for  many  years  Moses  must  be  considered 
as  an  Egyptian.  In  the  Pentateuch,  whether  from  absence 
of  authentic  information,  or  stern  disdain,  or  native  simpli- 
city, this  period  is  a  blank.  But  the  well-known  words  of 
Stephen's  speech,  which  described  him  ^  as  '  learned  in  all 
'  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians,^  and  '  mighty  in  words  and 
'  deeds, ^  are  in  fact  a  brief  summary  of  the  Jewish  and  Egyptian 
traditions  which  fill  up  the  silence  of  the  Hebrew  annals. 
He  was  educated  at  Heliopolis,^  and  grew  up  there  as  a  priest, 
under  his  Egyptian  name  of  Osarsiph  ^  or  Tisithen.^  '  He 
'  learned  arithmetic,  geometry,  astronomy,  medicine,  and 
'  music.  He  invented  boats  and  engines  for  building — instru- 
*  ments  of  war  and  of  hydrauKcs — hieroglyphics — division  of 
'  lands.'  He  taught  Orpheus,  and  was  hence  called  by  the 
Grreeks  Musseus,^  and  by  the  Egyptians  Hermes.  He  was  sent 
on  an  expedition  against  the  Ethiopians.  He  got  rid  of  the 
serpents  of  the  country  to  be  traversed,  by  letting  loose  bas- 
kets full  of  ibises  upon  them.^  The  city  of  HermopoHs  was 
believed  to  have  been  founded  to  commemorate  his  victory.^ 
He  advanced  to  the  capital  of  Ethiopia,  and  gave  it  the  name 
of  Meroe,  from  his  adopted  mother  Merrhis,  whom  he  buried 
there.  Tharbis,  the  daughter  of  the  king  of  Ethiopia,^  fell 
in  love  with  him,  and  he  returned  in  triumph  to  Egypt  with 
her  as  his  wife.^° 

The  original  account  reopens  with  the  time  when  he  was 

'  Jos.  Ant.  ii.  9,  §  6.  ^  Artapaiuis,  in  Eusebius.      Prep. 

2  Acts  vii.  22.  Ev.  ix.  26-29. 

'  Compaxe  Strabo,  xvii.  1.  '  Jos.  Ant.  ii.  10,  §  2. 

♦  '  Osarsiph '  is  derived  by  Mane-  *  Artapanus. 

tho  from  Osiris.     Jos.  c.  Ap,  i.  26,  31.  °  Comp.  Num.  xii.  1. 

*  Chiieromon,  Ibid.  32.  '«  Jos.  Ant.  ii.  10,  §  2. 


108  THE    EXODUS.  lect.  v. 

resolved  to  reclaim  his  nationality.  Here,  again,  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  following  in  the  same  track  as  Stephen's 
speech,  preserves  the  tradition  in  a  distincter  form  than  the 
narrative  of  the  Pentateuch-     '  Moses,  when  he  was  come  to 

*  years,  refused  to  be  called  the  son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter ; 
'  choosing  rather  to  suffer  affliction  with  the  people  of  God 
'  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season  ;  esteeming 

*  the  reproach  of  Christ  greater  riches  than  the  treasures '  (the 
ancient  accumulated  treasures  of  Ehampsinitus  and  the  old 
kings)  '  of  Egypt.'  ^  In  his  earliest  infancy  he  was  reported  to 
have  refused  the  milk  of  Egyptian  nurses,  and,  when  three 
years  old,  to  have  trampled  under  his  feet  the  crown  which 
Pharaoh  had  playfully  placed  on  his  head.^  According  to  the 
Egyptian  tradition,  although  a  priest  of  Heliopolis,  he  always 
performed  his  prayers  according  to  the  custom  of  his  fathers, 
outside  the  walls  of  the  city,  in  the  open  air,  turning  towards 
the  sun-rising.^  The  king  was  excited  to  hatred  by  his  own 
envy,  or  by  the  priests  of  Egypt,  who  foresaw  their  destroyer,'* 
Various  plots  of  assassination  were  contrived  against  him. 

His  escape,  which  failed.  The  last  was  after  he  had  already  escaped 
across  the  Nile  from  Memphis,  warned  by  his  brother  Aaron, 
and  when  pursued  by  the  assassin  he  killed  him.  The  same 
general  account  of  conspiracies  against  his  life  appears  in 
Josephus.*  All  that  remains  of  these  traditions  in  the  Sacred 
narrative  is  the  single  and  natural  incident,  that,  seeing  an 
Israelite  suffering  the  bastinado  from  an  Egyptian,  and  think- 
ing that  they  were  alone,  he  slew  the  Egyptian  (the  later 
tradition  said,^  '  with  a  word  of  his  mouth '),  and  buried  the 
corpse  in  the  sand — the  sand  of  the  desert,  then,  as  now, 
running  close  up  to  the  cultivated  tract.  The  same  fire  of 
patriotism  which  thus  roused  him  as  a  deliverer  from  the 

>  Heb.  xi.  24-26.  *  Artapanus. 

'  Jos.  Ant.  ii.  9,  §  5,  7.  *  Ant.  ii.  10,  §  1. 

"  Id.  c.  Apion.  ii.  2.  *  Clem.  Alex.  Strom,  i.  23. 


LECT.  V.  MOSES   IN   THE    DESERT.  109 

oppressors,  turns  him  into  the  peacemaker  of  the  oppressed. 
It  is  characteristic  of  the  faithfulness  of  the  Sacred  records 
that  his  flight  is  occasioned  rather  by  the  malignity  of  his 
countrymen  than  by  the  enmity  of  the  Egyptians.  And  in 
Stephen's  speech  ^  it  is  this  part  of  the  story  which  is  drawn 
out  at  greater  length  than  in  the  original,  evidently  with  the 
view  of  showing  the  identity  of  the  narrow  spirit  which  had 
thus  displayed  itself  equally  against  their  first  and  their  last 
deliverer. 

II.  Where  these  later  traditions  end,  the  Sacred  history  The  Call  of 
begins.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  preparation  provided 
by  Egyptian  war  or  wisdom,  it  is  in  the  unknown,  unfre- 
quented wilderness  of  Arabia, — in  the  same  school  of  solitude 
and  of  exile,  which  in  humbler  spheres  has  so  often  trained 
great  minds  to  the  reception  of  new  truths, — that  the  mission 
of  Moses  was  revealed  to  him.  In  that  wonderful  region  of 
the  earth,  where  the  grandeur  of  mountains  is  combined,  as 
hardly  anywhere  else,  with  the  grandeur  of  the  desert, — 
amidst  the  granite  precipices  and  the  silent  valleys  of  Horeb, 
— as  to  his  people  afterwards,  so  to  Mcjses  now  was  the  great 
truth  to  be  made  manifest,  of  which,  as  we  have  seen,  he  was 
recognised  even  by  the  heathen  world  to  have  been  the  first 
national  interpreter.  '  Now  Moses  kept  the  flock  of  Jethro, 
'  his  father-in-law,  the  Priest  of  Midian  :  and  he  led  the  flock 
'  to  the  back  of  the  wilderness,'  far  from  the  shores  of  the  Red 
Sea,  where  Jethro  seems  to  have  dwelt,  '  and  came  to  the 
'  mountain  of  God,  even  to  Horeb.'  We  know  not  tlie  precise 
place.  Tradition,  reaching  back  to  the  sixth  century  of  the 
Christian  era,  fixes  it  in  the  same  deep  seclusion  as  that  to 
which  in  all  probability  he  afterwards  led  the  Israelites.  The 
convent  of  Justinian  is  built  over  what  was  supposed  to  be 
the  exact  spot  where  the  shepherd  was  bid  to  draw  his  sandals 

>  Acts  vii.  23-39. 


110  THE   EXODUS.  lect.  v. 

from  off  his  feet.  The  valley  in  which  the  convent  stands  is 
called  by  the  Arabian  name  of  Jethro.'  But  whether  this,  or 
the  other  great  centre  of  the  peninsula,  Mount  Serbal,  be  re- 
garded as  the  scene  of  the  event,  the  appropriateness  would  be 
almost  equal.  Each  has  at  different  times  been  regarded  as  the 
sanctuary  of  the  desert.  Each  presents  that  singular  majesty, 
which,  as  Josephus  tells  us,^  and  as  the  Sacred  narrative 
implies,  had  already  invested  '  The  Mountain  of  Grod '  with 
an  awful  reverence  in  the  eyes  of  the  Arabian  tribes,  as 
though  a  Divine  Presence  rested  on  its  solemn  heights. 
Around  each,  on  the  rocky  ledges  of  the  hill-side,  or  in  the 
retired  basins,  withdrawn  within  the  deep  recesses  of  the 
adjoining  mountains,  or  beside  the  springs  which  water  the 
The  bum-  adjacent  valleys,  would  be  found  pasture  of  herbage  or  of 
aromatic  shrubs  for  the  flocks  of  Jethro.  On  each,  in  that 
early  age,  though  now  found  only  on  Mount  Serbal,  must 
have  grown  the  wild  acacia,  the  shaggy  thornbush  of  the 
Seneh,  the  most  characteristic  tree  of  the  whole  range.  So 
natural,  so  thoroughly  in  accordance  with  the  scene,  were 
the  signs,  in  which  the  call  of  Moses  makes  itself  heard  and 
seen.  Not  in  any  outward  form,  human  or  celestial,  such 
as  the  priests  of  HeUopolis  were  wont  to  figure  to  themselves 
as  the  representatives  of  Deity,  but  out  of  the  midst  of  the 
spreading  thorn,  the  outgrowth  of  the  desert  wastes,  did 
'  the  Lord  appear  unto  Moses.'  A  flame  of  fire,  like  that 
which  seemed  to  consume  and  waste  away  His  people  in  the 
furnace  of  affliction,^  shone  forth  amidst  the  dry  branches  of 
the  thorny  tree,  and  '  behold  !  the  bush,'  the  massive  thicket, 
'  burned  with  fire,  and  the  bush  was  not  consumed.'  And 
when  the  question  arose,  with  what  he  should  work  the  signs 
by  which  his  countrymen  shall  believe  and  hearken  to  his 

>  Shoaib  =  Hobab  (Ewald,   Gesch.  '  See    Philo,    Vita   Mosis,    i.    91. 

ii.  58,  note).  Compare  Sinai  and  Palestine,  17,  20, 

2  Ant.  ii.  12,  §  1.  45,  46. 


LECT.  V.  THE   CALL   OF   MOSES.  Ill 

voice,  the  same  character  recurs.  No  sword  of  war,  such  as 
was  wielded  by  Egyptian  kings,  no  mystic  emblem,  such  as 
was  borne  by  Egyptian  gods,  but  — '  "  What  is  that  in  thine 
'  hand  ?  "  And  he  said,  "  A  rod  " ' '  a  staff,  a  shepherd's  crook,  The  shep- 
the  staff  which  indicated  his  return  to  the  pastoral  habits  of  g^ff.^ 
his  fathers,  the  staff  on  which  he  leaned  amidst  his  desert 
wanderings,  the  staff  with  which  he  guided  his  kinsman's 
flocks,  the  staff  like  that  still  borne  by  Arab  chiefs — this  was 
to  be  the  humble  instrument  of  Divine  power.  '  In  this,'  as 
afterwards  in  the  yet  humbler  symbol  of  the  Cross,  in  this, 
the  symbol  of  his  simplicity,  of  his  exile,  of  his  lowliness, 
'  the  world  was  to  be  conquered.'  These  were  the  outward 
signs  of  his  call.  And,  whatever  the  explanation  put  on  their 
precise  import,  there  is  this  undoubted  instruction  conveyed 
in  their  description,  that  they  are  marked  by  the  peculiar 
appropriateness  to  the  circumstances  of  the  Prophet,  which 
marks  all  like  manifestations,  through  every  variety  of  form, 
to  the  Prophets,  the  successors  of  Moses,  in  each  succeeding 
age.  In  grace,  as  in  nature,  Grod,  if  we  may  use  the  well- 
known  exjaression,  abhorret  saltum,  abhors  a  sudden  unpre- 
pared transition.  '  The  child  is  father  of  the  man  : '  the  man 
is  father  of  the  prophet — the  days  of  both  are  '  bound  each 
'  to  each  by  natural  piety.'  It  is  the  first  signal  instance  of 
the  prophetic  revelations.  Its  peculiar  form  is  the  key  of  all 
that  follow. 

But,  as  in  all  these  Eevelations,  it  is  the  substance  and  The  Name 
spirit  of  the  message,  rather  than  its  outward  form,  which 
carries  with  it  the  most  enduring  lesson,  and  the  surest 
mark  of  its  heavenly  origin.  '  Behold,  when  I  shall  come 
'  to  the  children  of  Israel,  and  shall  say  unto  them.  The  Grod 
'  of  your  fathers  hath  sent  me  unto  you,  and  they  shall  say, 


^  In  the   Mussulman  traditions  it       that   worked   the   ■wonders.     D'Her- 
was  the  white  shining  hand  of  Moses      belot  ('  Moussa  '). 


112  THE    EXODUS.  leot.  v. 

'  "  What  is  His  name  ?  "  what  shall  I  say  unto  them  ?  And 
'  Grod  said  unto  Moses,  I  am  that  I  am.     .     .     .     Thus  skalt 

*  thou  say  unto  the  children  of  Israel^  "  I  AM  hath  sent  me 
'  unto  youJ^ ' 

It  has  been  observed,  that  the  great  epochs  o^  the  history 
of  the  Chosen  People  are  marked  by  the  several  names,  by 
which  in  each  the  Divine  Nature  is  indicated.  In  the  Patri- 
archal age  we  have  already  seen  that  the  oldest  Hebrew 
form  by  which  the  most  general  idea  of  Divinity  is  expressed 
is  '  El,'  '  Elohim,' '  The  Strong  One,'  '  The  Strong  Ones,'  '  The 
Strong.'  '  Beth-El,'  '  Peni-El,'  remained  even  to  the  latest 
times  memorials  of  this  primitive  mode  of  address  and 
worship.  But  now  a  new  name,  and  with  it  a  new  truth, 
was  introduced.  '  I  am  Jehovah  ;  I  appeared  unto  Abraham, 
'Isaac,  and  Jacob,  by  the  name  of  El-Shaddai  (God  Al- 
'  mighty) ;   but  by  my  name  JEHOVAH  was  I  not  kno^vn 

*  unto  them.'  ^  The  only  certain  use  of  it  before  the  time  of 
Moses  is  in  the  name  ^  of  '  Jochebed,'  borne  by  his  own 
mother.  It  has  been  beautifully  conjectured  ^  that  in  the 
small  circle  of  that  family  a  dim  conception  had  thus  arisen 
of  tlie  Divine  Truth,  which  was  through  the  son  of  that  family 
proclaimed  for  ever  to  the  world.  It  was  the  rending  asunder 
of  the  veil  which  overhung  the  temple''  of  the  Egyptian  Sais. 
'  I  am  that  which  has  been,  and  which  is,  and  which  is  to  be  ; 
'  and  my  veil  no  mortal  hath  yet  drawn  aside.'  It  was  the 
declaration  of  the  simplicity,  the  unity,  the  self-existence  of 
the  Divine  Nature,^  the  exact  opposite  to  all  the  multiplied 

'  Ex.  vi.  2,  3.  translation  of  Adonai,  the  word  used 

^  Ibid.  20.     Jochebed  is  a  contrac-  by   the    excessive   reverence   of    the 

tion  of  Jeho-chebed  ^  '  Jehovah  my  hiter  Jews  in  the  place  of  Jehovah. 

glory.'     (Gesenius,  sub  voce.)  The   only  modern  translation  which 

'  Ewald,  ii.  204,  5.  has  preserved   the  true  rendering  of 

*  Phitareh,  Be  hid.  et  Os.  c.  9.  Jehovah   is  the  French  'L'Eternel,' 

*  The   word   Lord,    by  which   we  whence    Bunsen    has   taken,    in    his 
render  it,  is  the  translation  of  Kvpios,  liihdwerJc,  '  der  Ewige.' 

in   the   LXX.,    which    again   is    the 


LECT.  V.  THE    EETUKN   OF   MOSES.  ]13 

forms  of  idolatry,  human,  animal,  and  celestial,  that  prevailed, 
as  far  as  we  know,  everywhere  else.  '  The  Eternal.'  This 
was  the  moving  spring  of  the  whole  life  of  Moses,  of  the 
whole  story  of  the  Exodus.  In  viewing  the  history,  even  as 
a  mere  national  record,  we  cannot,  if  we  would,  dispense 
with  the  impulse,  the  elevation,  of  which  the  name  of 
'  Jehovah '  was  at  once  the  cause  and  the  symbol.  Slowly 
and  with  difficulty  it  won  its  way  into  the  heart  of  the  people. 
We  can  trace  it  through  its  gradual  incorporation  into  the 
proper  names,  beginning  with  the  transformation  of  Hoshea 
into  Jehoshua.  We  can  trace  its  deep  religious  significance 
in  the  distinction  between  those  portions  of  the  Sacred  records 
where  the  name  '  Jehovah '  occurs  and  those  which  con- 
tain only  or  chiefly  the  older  name  of  '  Elohim.'  The  awe 
which  it  inspired  went  on,  as  it  would  seem,  increasing  rather 
than  diminishing  with  the  lapse  of  years.  A  new  turn  was 
given  to  it  under  the  monarchy,  when  it  becomes  encompassed 
with  the  attributes  of  the  leader  of  the  armies  of  earth  and 
heaven,  '  Jehovah  Sabaoth,'  '  The  Lord  of  Hosts.'  And  in 
later  times  it  lies  concealed,  enshrined,  behind  the  word 
which  the  trembling  reverence  of  the  last  age  of  the  Jewish 
people  substituted  for  it,  and  which  appears  in  the  Greek 
and  in  the  English  version  of  the  Scriptures, — 'Adonai,' 
'  Kyrios,'  '  the  Loed,' — a  substitution  which,  whilst  it  effaced 
the  historical  meaning  of  the  name,  prepared  the  way  for  the 
still  nearer  and  closer  revelation  of  Grod  in  Him  whom  we 
now  emphatically  acknowledge  as  '  Our  Lord.' 

But  we  must  return  to  the  original  circumstances  under  The  return 
which  the  Revelation  was  first  made.  It  is  characteristic  of  ^^^o^®**- 
the  Biblical  history  that  this  new  name,  though  itself  pene- 
trating into  the  most  abstract  metaphysical  idea  of  Grod,  yet 
in  its  effect  was  the  very  opposite  of  a  mere  abstraction. 
Closes  is  a  prophet, — the  first  of  the  Prophets, — but  he  is  also 
a  Deliverer.     Israel,  indeed,  through  him  becomes  '  a  chosen 

I 


114  THE    EXODUS.  lect.  v. 

'  people,' '  a  holy  congregation ' — in  one  word,  a  Church.  But 
it  also  through  him  becomes  a  nation :  it  passes,  by  his  means, 
from  a  pastoral,  subject,  servile  tribe,  into  a  civilised,  free, 
independent  commonwealth.  It  is  in  this  aspect  that  the  more 
human  and  historical  side  of  his  appearance  presents  itself. 
It  is  true  that  even  here  we  see  him  very  imperfectly.  In 
him,  as  in  the  Apostles  afterwards,  the  man  is  swallowed  up 
in  the  cause,  the  messenger  in  the  message  and  mission  with 
which  he  is  charged.  Yet  from  time  to  time,  and  here  in 
this  opening  of  his  career  more  than  elsewhere,  his  outward 
and  domestic  relations  are  brought  before  us.  He  returns  to 
Egypt  from  his  exile.  In  the  advice  of  his  father-in-law  to 
make  war  upon  Egypt,^  in  his  meeting  with  his  brother  in 
the  desert  of  Sinai,  may  be  indications  of  a  mutual  under- 
standing and  general  rising  of  the  Arabian  tribes  agaiDst  the 
Egyptian  monarchy.^  But  in  the  Sacred  narrative  our  attention 
is  fixed  only  on  the  personal  relations  of  the  two  brothers,  now 
His  per-  first  mentioned  together,  never  henceforth  to  be  parted.  From 
pearance  ^^^^  meeting  and  cooperation  we  have  the  first  indications  of 
^"^  his  individual  character  and  appearance.    We  are  accustomed 

character. 

to  invest  him  with  all  the  external  grandeur  which  would 

naturally  correspond  to  the  greatness  of  his  mission.  The 
statue  of  Michael  Angelo  rises  before  us  in  its  commanding 
sternness,  as  the  figure  before  which  Pharaoh  trembled. 
Something,  indeed,  of  this  is  justified  by  the  traditions  respect- 
ing him.  The  long  shaggy  hair  and  beard,^  which  enfold  in 
their  vast  tresses  that  wild  form,  appear  in  the  heathen  re- 
presentations of  him.  The  beauty  of  the  child  is,  by  the 
same  traditions,  continued  into  his  manhood.  'He  was,' 
says  the  historian  Justin  ^  (with  the  confusion  so  common 

'  Artapanus.  or  tall   and  dignified  in  appearance, 

2  Ewald,  ii.  5-9,  60.  with  long  streaming  hair,  of  a  reddish 

^  An   old  man  with  a  long  beard,  hue,    tinged  with  grey,   as  given  by 

seated   on   an   ass,  was   the  idea   of  Artapanns. 

Moses,  as  given  by  Diodorus  (xxxiv.) ;  *  xxxvi.  2. 


LECT.  V.  AAEON.  115 

in  Gentile  representations),  '  both  as  wise  and  as  beautiful 
'  as  his  father  Joseph.'  But  the  only  point  described  in 
the  Sacred  narrative  is  one  of  singular  and  unlooked-for 
infirmity.  '  0  my  Lord,  I  am  not  eloquent,  neither  here^ 
'  tofore,  nor  since  thou  hast  spoken  to  thy  servant ;  but  I 
'  am  slow  of  speech,  and  of  a  slow  tongue ;  .  .  .  .  how  shall 
'  Pharaoh  hear  me,  which  am  of  uncircumcised  lips  ? ' — that 
is,  slow  and  without  words,  '  stammering  and  hesitating '  (so 
the  Septuagint  strongly  expresses  it),  like  Demosthenes  in  his 
earlier  youth,— slow  and  without  words,  like  the  circuitous 
orations  of  the  English  Cromwell,'— '  his  speech  contemp- 
tible,' like  the  speech  of  the  Apostle  Paul.  How  often  has 
this  been  repeated  in  the  history  of  the  world — how  truly  has 
the  answer  been  repeated    also  :  '  Who    hath    made  man's 

*  mouth  ?  .  .  .  Have    not  I  the  Lord  ?  .  .  .  I  will  be  thy 

*  mouth,  and  teach  thee  what  thou  shalt  say.' 

And  when  the  remonstrance  went  up  from  the  true  disin-  Eektions 
terested  heart  of  ]Moses,  *  0  my  Lord,  send,  I  pray  thee,  by  ^ud  Aaron. 
'  the  hand  of  him  whom  thou  wilt  send '  ('  Make  any  one 
'thine  Apostle  so  that  it  be  not  me'),  the  future  relation 
of  the  two  brothers  is  brought  to  light.  '  Is  not  Aaron  the 
'  Levite  thy  brother  ?  I  know  that  he  can  speak  well.  And 
'  also,  behold,  he  cometh  forth  to  meet  thee,  and  when  he 
'  seeth  thee  he  will  be  glad  in  his  heart..  And  thou  shalt 
'speak  unto  him,  and  put  words  in  his  mouth.  .  .  .  And 
'  he  shall  be  thy  spokesman  unto  the  people,  and  he  shall 
'  be,  even  he  shall  be  to  thee  instead  of  a  mouth,  and  thou 

*  shalt  be  to  him  instead  of  Grod.'  In  all  outward  appear- 
ance,— as  the  Chief  of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  as  the  head  of  the 
family  of  Amram,  as  the  spokesman  and  interpreter,  as  the 
first  who  '  spake  to  the  people  and  to  Pharaoh  all  the  words 
'  which  the  Loed  had  spoken  to  Moses,'  and  did  the  signs 

'  See  Carlyle's  Cromwell,  ii.  219. 
I  2 


116  THE   EXODUS.  lect.  v. 

in  the  sight  of  the  people,  as  the  permanent  inheritor  of  the 
sacred  staff  or  rod,  the  emblem  of  rule  and  power, — Aaron, 
not  Moses,  must  have  been  the  representative  and  leader  of 
Israel.  But  Moses  was  the  inspiring,  informing  soul  within 
and  behind ;  and,  as  time  rolled  on,  as  the  first  outward 
impression  passed  away,  and  the  deep,  abiding  recollection 
of  the  whole  story  remained,  Aaron  the  prince  and  priest  has 
almost  disappeared  from  the  view  of  history ;  and  Moses,  the 
dumb,  backward,  disinterested  Prophet,  continues  for  all  ages 
the  foremost  leader  of  the  Chosen  People,  the  witness  that 
something  more  is  needed  for  the  guidance  of  man  than  high 
hereditary  office  or  the  gift  of  fluent  speech, — a  rebuke  alike 
to  an  age  that  puts  its  trust  in  priests  and  nobles,  and  an  age 
that  puts  its  trust  in  preachers  and  speakers. 
His  wife  As  his  relations  with  Aaron  give  us  a  glimpse  into  his 

djpu,  personal  history,  so  his  advance  towards  Egypt  gives  us  a 

glimpse  into  his  domestic  history.  His  wife,  whom  he  had 
won  by  his  chivalrous  attack  on  the  Bedouin  shepherds  by 
'  the  well '  of  Midian,  and  her  two  infant  sons,  are  with 
him.  She  is  seated  with  them  on  the  ass, — the  usual  mode 
of  travelling,  for  Israelites  at  least,  in  those  parts.  He 
walks  by  their  side  with  his  shepherd's  staff.  On  the  journey 
a  mysterious  and  almost  inexplicable  incident  occurs  in  the 
family.  The  most  probable  explanation  seems  to  be,  that 
at  the  caravanserai  either  Moses  or  his  eldest  child  was 
struck  with  what  seemed  to  be  a  mortal  illness.  In  some 
way,  not  apparent  to  us,  this  illness  was  connected  by  Zip- 
porah  with  the  fact  that  her  son  had  not  been  circumcised — 
whether  in  the  general  neglect  of  that  rite  amongst  the 
Israelites  in  Egjrpt,  or  in  consequence  of  his  birth  in  Midian. 
She  instantly  performed  the  rite,  and  threw  the  sharp  in- 
strument, stained  with  the  fresh  blood,  at  the  feet  of  her 
husband,  exclaiming  in  the  agony  of  a  mother's  anxiety  for 
the  life  of  her  child,  '  A  bloody  husband  thou  art  to  cause 


LECT.  V.  THE   DELIVERANCE.  117 

'  the  death  of  my  son.'  Then,  when  the  recovery  from  the 
illness  took  place  (whether  of  her  son  or  her  husband),  she 
exclaims  again :  '  A  bloody  husband  still  thou  art,  but  not 
*  so  as  to  cause  the  child's  death,  but  only  to  bring  about 
'  his  circumcision.'  ^ 

It  would  seem  as  if,  in  consequence  of  this  event,  what- 
ever it  was,  the  wife  and  her  cliildren  were  sent  back  to 
Jethro,  and  remained  with  him  till  Moses  joined  them  at 
Rephidim.^  Unless  Zipporah  is  the  Cushite  wife  '  who  gave 
such  umbrage  to  Miriam  and  Aaron,  we  hear  of  her  no  more. 
■  The  two  sons  also  sink  into  obscurity.  Their  names, 
though  of  Levilical  origin,  relate  to  their  foreign  birthplace. 
Gersliom,  the  '  stranger,'  and  Eli-ezer,  '  Grod  is  my  help,' 
commemorated  their  father's  exile  and  escape.'*  Their  pos- 
terity lingered  in  obscurity  down  to  the  time  of  David.^ 

From  the  Deliverer  we  proceed  to  the  Deliverance.  We 
need  not  repeat  what  has  been  already  said  of  the  condition 
of  Egypt  at  this  time,  and  of  the  peculiar  oppression  of  the 
Israehtes. 

The  deliverance,  in  its  essential  features,  is  the  likeness  of  The  Deli- 
all  such  deliverances.  '  When  the  tale  of  bricks  is  doubled, 
'  then  comes  JMoses.'  This  is  the  proverb  which  has  sustained 
the  Jewish  nation  through  many  a  long  oppression.  The 
truth  contained  in  it,  the  imagery  of  the  Exodus,  have  doubt- 
less been  more  than  the  types,  they  have  often  been  the 
sustaining  causes  and  consolations,  of  the  many  successful 


'  So  Ewald  {Alterthilm.  105),  and  Ethiopians  derived  circumcision  from 

Bunsen  (Ilibelwerk,  i.  112).  taking  the  Moses. 

siclaiess  to  have  visited  Moses.  Kosen-  *  Ex.  xviii.  2-6. 

miLUer    makes    Gershom   the   victim  ^  Num.  xii.  1.     Compare  the  jioxta- 

(see  Ex.  iv.  25),  and  makes  Zipporah  position   of   '  Cushan '  and  'Midian' 

address    Jehovah,    the    Arabic   word  in  Hab.  iii.  7. 

for  '  man-iage '  being  a  synonjTne  for  *  Ex.  xviii.  3,  4. 

'circumcision.'      It   is   possible   that  *  1    Chr.  xxiii.  16,  17;  xxiv.  24; 

on  this  story  is  founded  the  tradition  xxvi.   25-28.     See   also   Judg.    xviii. 

of   Artapanus   (Eusebius),   that    the  30, 


118  THE   EXODUS.  lect.  v. 

struggles  which  from  that  day  to  this  the  oppressed  have 
waged  against  the  oppressor.  But  that  which  is  peculiar  in 
the  story  of  the  Exodus  is  the  mode  by  which  it  was  effected. 
First,  it  was  not  a  mere  case  of  ordinary  insurrection  of  a 
slave  population  against  their  masters.  The  Egyptian  version 
of  the  event  represents  it  as  a  dread,  an  aversion  entertained 
by  the  oppressors  towards  the  oppressed  as  towards  an  ac- 
cursed and  polluted  people.  It  was  a  mutual  hatred.  The 
king,  according  ^  to  the  constant  Egyptian  tradition,  was 
troubled  by  dreams,  and  commanded  by  oracles  to  rid  him- 
self of  the  nation  of  lepers.  And  this,  from  another  point 
of  view,  is  also  the  prevailing  sentiment  of  the  Egyptians,  as 
given  in  the  Sacred  writers.  '  Rise  up,  and  get  you  forth 
'from  among  my  people.  .  .  .  Egypt  was  glad  at  their 
'  departing — for  they  were  afraid  of  them.' 
The  And  it  is  impossible,  as  we  read  the  description  of  the 

Pla<nies. 

^  Plagues,  not  to  feel  how  much  of  force  is  added  to  it  by  a 

knowledge  of  the  peculiar  customs  and  character  of  the 
country  in  which  they  occurred.  It  is  not  an  ordinary  river 
that  is  turned  into  blood ;  it  is  the  sacred,^  beneficent,  soli- 
tary Nile,  the  very  life  of  the  state  and  of  the  people,  in  its 
streams  and  canals  and  tanks,  and  vessels  of  wood  and  vessels 
of  stone,  then,  as  now,  used  for  the  filtration  of  the  delicious 
water  from  the  sediment  of  the  river-bed.  It  is  not  an 
ordinary  nation  that  is  struck  by  the  mass  of  putrefying 
vermin  lying  in  heaps  by  the  houses,  the  villages,  and  the 
fields,  or  multiplying  out  of  the  dust  of  the  desert  sands  on 
each  side  of  the  Nile  valley.  It  is  the  cleanliest  of  all  the 
ancient  nations,  clothed  in  white  linen,  anticipating,  in  their 
fastidious  delicacy  and  ceremonial  purity,  the  habits  of 
modern  and  northern  Europe.  It  is  not  the  ordinary  cattle 
that  died  in  the  field,  or  ordinary  fish  that  died  in  the  river, 

»  Jos.  c.  Apion.  i.  26,  32,  34.  «  Philo,  V.M.  i.  17. 


LECT.  V.  THE   DELIVERANCE.  119 

or  ordinary  reptiles  that  were  overcome  by  the  rod  of  Aaron. 
It  is  the  sacred  goat  of  Mendes,  the  ram  of  Amnion,  the  calf 
of  Heliopolis,  the  bull  Apis,  the  crocodile '  of  Ombos,  the 
carp  of  Eshneh.  It  is  not  an  ordinary  land  of  which  the 
flax  and  the  barley,  and  every  green  thing  in  the  trees,  and 
every  herb  of  the  field  are  smitten  by  the  two  great  calamities 
of  storm  and  locust.  It  is  the  garden  ^  of  the  ancient  Eastern 
world, — the  long  line  of  green  meadow  and  corn-field,  and 
groves  of  palm  and  sycomore  and  fig-tree,  from  the  Cataracts 
to  the  Delta,  doubly  refreshing  from  the  desert  which  it 
intersects,  doubly  marvellous  from  the  river  whence  it  springs. 
If  these  things  were  calamities  anywhere,  they  were  truly 
'  signs  and  wonders,' — speaking  signs  and  oracular  wonders, 
— in  such  a  land  as  '  the  land  of  Ham.'  In  whatever  way 
we  unite  the  Hebrew  and  the  Egyptian  accounts,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Exodus  was  a  crisis  in  Egyptian 
as  well  as  in  Hebrew  history,  '  a  nail  struck  into  the  coffin  of 
'  the  Egyptian  monarchy.'  ^ 

But,  secondly,  the  Israelite  annals,  unlike  the  records  of 
any  other  nation,  in  ancient  or  modern  times,  which  has 
thrown  off  the  yoke  of  slavery,  claim  no  merit,  no  victory  of 
their  own.  There  is  no  Marathon,  no  Eegillus,  no  Tours,  no 
Morgarten.  All  is  from  above,  nothing  from  themselves.* 
In  whatever  proportions  the  natural  and  the  supernatural 
are  intermingled,  this  result  equally  remains.  The  locusts, 
the  flies,  the  murrain,  the  discoloured  river,  the  storm,  the 
darkness  of  the  sandy  wind,  the  plague,  are  calamities 
natural  ^  to  Egypt,  though  rare,  and  exhibited  here  in  ag- 
gravated and  terrible  forms.     But  not  the  less  are  they  the 


'  The    'serpent'    of  Exod.   vii.    9,  °  Bunsen,  Bibelurkunden,  i.  107. 

10,  12  (a  different  ■word  from  that  in  *  See   the   version    of  the  plagues 

iv.  3  ;  vii.  15),  is  evidently  a  'croco-  given  by  Artapanus  (Eusebius). 
dile.'  ^  This  is  the  view  taken  in  Heng- 

-  Gen.  xiii.   10;  'a  garden  of  the  stenberg's    Ec/ypt   and  the  Books  of 

'  Lord,  the  land  of  Egj-pt.'  Moses. 


1-20  THE   EXODUS.  i,ect.  v. 

interventions  of  a  Power  above  the  power  of  man, — not 
the  less  did  they  call  the  mind  of  the  Israelite  from  dwelling 
on  his  own  strength  and  glory,  to  the  miglity  Hand  and  the 
stretched-out  Arm,  on  which  alone,  through  his  subsequent 
history,  he  was  to  lean. 

It  is  in  the  final  issue  of  the  Exodus  that  this  most  clearly 
appears,  and  here  we  can  approach  more  nearly  to  the  events 
as  they  actually  presented  themselves;  especially  with  the 
additional  light  thrown  upon  it  by  the  allusions  in  the 
Psalms,  by  the  parallel  story  of  Josephus,  and  by  the  cus- 
toms through  which  it  was  commemorated  in  after  times. 
The  There  are  some  days  of  which  the  traces  left  on  the  mind 

Exodus.  ^£  ^  nation  are  so  deep  that  the  events  themselves  seem  to 
live  on  long  after  they  have  been  numbered  with  the  past. 
Such  was  the  night  of  the  month  Nisan  in  the  eighteenth 
century  before  the  Christian  era.  '  It  is  a  night  to  be  much 
'  observed  unto  the  Lord,  for  bringing*  them  out  of  the  land 
I  '  of  Egypt ;  this  is  that  night  of  the  Lord  to  be  observed  of 

'  the  children  of  Israel  in  their  generations.'  Dimly  we  see 
and  hear,  in  the  darkness  and  the  confusion  of  that  night,  the 
stroke  which  at  last  broke  the  heart  of  the  king  and  made 
him  let  Israel  go.  'At  midnight  the  Lord  smote  all  the 
'  first-born  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  from  the  first-born  of  Pha- 
'  raoh  that  sate  on  his  throne,  to  the  first-born  of  the  captive 
'  that  was  in  the  dungeon ;  and  all  the  first-born  of  cattle. 
'  And  Pharaoh  rose  up  in  the  night,  he,  and  all  his  servants, 
'  and  all  the  Egyptians ;  and  there  was  a  great  cry  in  Egypt,' 
— the  loud,  frantic,  funeral  wail  characteristic  of  the  whole 
nation, — 'for  there  was  not  a  house  where  there  was  not 
'  one  dead.'  In  the  Egyptian  accounts  this  destruction  was 
described '  as  effected  by  an  incursion  of  the  Arabs.  The 
Jewish  Psalmist  ascribes  it  to  the  sudden  visitation  of  the 
plague.  '  He  spared  not  their  soul  from  death,  but  gave 
'  Jos.  c.  Apion.  i.  27. 


LECT.  V.  THE    PASSOVER.  121 

'  their  life  over  unto  the  pestilence.'  ^  Egyptian  and  Israelite 
each  regarded  it  as  a  divine  judgment  on  the  worship,  no  less 
than  the  power,  of  Egypt.  '  The  Egj^tians  biu-ied  their  first- 
'  born  whom  the  Lord  had  smitten ;  upon  their  gods  also  did 
'  the  Lord  execute  judgment.'  ^ 

But  whilst  of  the  more  detailed  effect  of  that  night  on 
Egypt  we  know  nothing,  for  its  effects  on  Israel  it  might 
almost  be  said  that  we  need  not  go  back  to  any  written 
narrative.     It  still  moves  and  breathes  amongst  us. 

Amongst  the  various  festivals  of  the  Jewish  Church,  one  The  Pass- 
only  (till  the  institution  of  those  which  commemorated  the  ^'^^^' 
much  later  deliverances  from  Haman  and  from  Antiochus  Epi- 
phanes)  was  distinctly  historical.  In  the  feast  of  the  Pesach, 
Pascha,  or  Passover,  the  scene  of  the  flight  of  the  Israelites, 
its  darkness,  its  hurry,  its  confusion,  was  acted  year  by  year, 
as  in  a  living  drama.  In  part  it  is  still  so  acted  throughout 
the  Jewish  race ;  in  all  its  essential  features  (some  of  which 
have  died  out  everywhere  else)  it  is  enacted,  in  the  most 
lively  form,  by  the  solitary  remnant  of  that  race  which,  under 
the  name  of  Samaritan,  celebrates  the  whole  Paschal  sacrifice, 
year  by  year,  on  the  summit  of  jNIount  Grerizim.^  Each  house- 
holder assembled  his  family  round  him ;  the  feast  was  within 
the  house ;  there  was  no  time  or  place  for  priest  or  sacred 
edifice, — even  after  the  establishment  of  the  sanctuary  at 
Jerusalem,  this  vestige  of  the  primitive  or  the  irregular  cele- 
bration of  that  night  continued,  and  not  in  the  Temple  courts, 
but  in  the  upper  chamber  ■*  of  the  private  houses,  was  the  room 
prepared  where  the  Passover  was  to  be  eaten.  The  animal 
slain  and  eaten  on  the  occasion  was  itself  a  memorial  of  the 
pastoral  state  of  the  people.  The  shepherds  of  Goshen,  with 
their  flocks  and  herds,  whatever  else  they  could  furnish  for  a 
hasty  meal,  would  at  least  have  a  lamb  or  a  kid, — '  a  male 

'  Psalm  Lxxviii.  51.  '  For  this  ceremony,  see  Appendix  III. 

^  Num.  xxxiii.  4.  *  Mark  xiv.  15,  sqq. 


122  THE   EXODUS.  lect.  v. 

*  of  the  first  year  from  the  sheep  or  from  the  goats.'  As 
the  sun  set  behind  the  African  desert,  they  were  to  strike 
its  blood  on  the  door-posts  of  the  house  as  a  sign  of  their 
deliverance.  At  Grerizim,  amidst  the  wild  recitation  of  the 
narrative  of  the  original  ordinance,  the  chiefs  of  the  Samari- 
tan community  rush  forward,  and,  as  the  blood  flows  from 
the  throat  of  the  slaughtered  sheep,  they  dip  their  fingers 
in  the  stream;  and  each  man,  woman,  and  child,  even  to 
the  child  in  arms,  was,  till  recently,  marked  on  the  forehead 
with  the  red  stain.  On  the  cruciform  wooden  spit — this 
we  know  from  Justin  Martyr  ^  was  the  practice  in  ancient 
times — the  lamb  is  left  to  be  roasted  whole,  after  the  manner 
of  Eastern  feasts. 

Night  falls ;  the  stars  come  out ;  the  bright  moon  is  in  the 
sky:  the  household  gathers  round,  and  then  takes  place  the 
hasty  meal,  of  which  every  part  is  marked  by  the  almost 
frantic  haste  of  the  first  celebration,  when  Pharaoh's  messengers 
were  expected  every  instant  to  break  in  with  the  command, 
'  Get  you  forth  from  among  my  people ;  Go  !  Begone ! ' 
The  guests  of  each  household  at  the  moment  of  the  meal  rose 
from  their  sitting  and  recumbent  posture,  and  stood  round 
the  table  on  their  feet.  Their  feet,  usually  bare  within  the 
house,  were  shod  as  if  for  a  journey.  Each  member  of  the 
household,  even  the  women,  had  staffs  in  their  hands,  as  if 
for  an  immediate  departure ;  the  long  Eastern  garments  of 
the  men  were  girt  up,  for  the  same  reason,  round  their 
loins.  The  roasted  lamb  was  torn  to  pieces,  each  snatch- 
ing and  grasping  in  his  eager  fingers  the  morsel  which 
he  might  not  else  have  time  to  eat.  Not  a  fragment  is 
left  for  the  morning,  which  will  find  them  gone  and  far 
away.  The  cakes  of  bread  which  they  broke  and  ate  were 
tasteless  from  the  want  of  leaven,  which  there  had  been 
no  leisure  to  prepare ;  and,  as  on  that  fatal  midnight  they 

'  Dial.  c.  Triji^lwne ;  Bochart,  Hicros.  '  de  Agno  Paschali.' 


lECT.  V.  THE    PASSOVEE.  123 

'took  their  dough  before  it  was  leavened,  their  kneading 
'  troughs  being  bound  up  in  their  clothes  on  their  shoulders,' 
so  the  recollection  of  this  characteristic  incident  was  stamped 
into  the  national  memory  by  the  prohibition  of  every  kind 
of  leaven  or  ferment,  for  seven  whole  days  during  the  cele- 
Ijration  of  the  feast — the  feast,  as  it  was  from  this  cause 
named,  of  unleavened  bread.  And,  finally,  in  the  subse- 
quent union  of  later  and  earlier  usages,  the  thanksgiving  for 
their  deliverance  was  always  present.  The  reminiscence  of 
their  bondage  was  kept  up  by  the  mess  of  bitter  herbs, 
which  gave  a  relish  to  the  supper.  That  bitter  cup  again 
was  sweetened  by  the  festive  character  which  ran  through 
the  whole  transaction  and  gave  it  in  later  generations  what 
in  its  first  institution  it  could  hardly  have  had, — its  full 
social  and  ecclesiastical  aspect.  The  wine-cups  were  blessed 
amidst  the  chants  of  the  long-sustained  hymn  from  the 
113th  to  the  118th  Psalm,  of  which  the  thrilling  parts  must 
always  have  been  those  which  sing  how  '  Israel  came  out  of 
'  Egypt ; '  *  how  '  not  unto  them,  not  unto  them,  but  unto  Je- 
'  hovah's  name  was  the  praise  to  be  given  for  ever  and  ever.'  ^ 
So  lived  on  for  centuries  the  tradition  of  the  Deliverance 
from  Egypt ;  and  so  it  lives  on  still,  chiefly  in  the  Hebrew 
race,  but,  in  part,  in  the  Christian  Church  also.  Alone  of  all 
the  Jewish  festivals,  the  Passover  has  outlasted  the  Jewish 
polity,  has  overleaped  the  boundary  between  the  Jewish 
and  Christian  communities.  With  the  other  festivals  of  the 
Israelites  we  have  no  concern  :  even  the  name  of  the  weekly 
festival  of  the  Sabbath  only  continues  amongst  us  by  a  kind 
of  recognised  solecism,  and  its  day  has  been  studiously 
changed.  But  the  name  of  the  Paschal  feast  in  the  largest 
proportion  of  Christendom  is  still,  unaltered,  the  name  of 
the  greatest  Christian  holiday.  The  Paschal  Lamb,  in  deed 
or  in  word,  is  become  to  us  symbolical  of  the  most  sacred  of 
'  Ps.  cxiv.  1.  ^  Ps.  cxv.  1. 


124  THE    EXODUS.  lect.  v. 

all  events.  The  Easter  full  moon,  which  has  so  long  regu- 
lated the  calendars  of  the  Christian  world,  is,  one  may  say, 
the  lineal  successor  of  the  bright  moonlight  which  shed  its 
rays  over  the  palm  groves  of  Egypt  on  the  fifteenth  mght  of 
the  month  Nisan ;  Jew  and  Christian,  at  that  season,  both 
celebrate  what  is  to  a  certain  extent  a  common  festival :  even 
the  most  sacred  ordinance  of  the  Christian  religion  is,  in  its 
outward  form,  a  relic  of  the  Paschal  Supper,  accompanied  by 
hymn  and  thanksgiving,  in  the  upper  chamber  of  a  Jewish 
household.  The  nature  of  the  bread  which  is  administered 
in  one  large  section  of  the  Christian  Church  bears  witness, 
by  its  round  unleavened  wafers,  to  its  Jewish  origin,  and  to 
the  disorder  of  the  hour  when  it  was  first  eaten.  And  as,  in 
the  course  of  history,  ecclesiastical  as  well  as  civil,  events  the 
most  remote  and  the  most  trivial  constantly  ramify  into 
strange  and  unlooked-for  consequences, — the  attempt  of  the 
Latin  Church  to  perpetuate,  and  of  the  Eastern  Church  to 
cast  off,  this  historical  connexion  with  the  peculiar  usage  of 
the  ancient  people  from  which  they  both  sprang,  became  one 
of  the  chief  causes  or  pretexts  of  their  final  rupture  from 
each  other. 
TheFlight.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  the  migration  of  a  whole  nation 
under  such  circumstances.  This  difficulty,  amongst  others, 
has  induced  the  well-kno^vn  French  commentator  ^  on  the 
Exodus,  with  every  desire  of  maintaining  the  letter  of  the 
narrative,  to  reduce  the  numbers  of  the  text  from  600,000  to 
600  armed  men.  The  great  German  scholar  defends  the 
correctness  of  the  original  numbers.^  In  illustration  of  the 
event,  a  sudden  retreat  is  recorded  of  a  whole  nomadic 
people — 400,000  Tartars— under  cover  of  a  single  night, 
from  the  confines  of  Russia  to  the  confines  of  China,  as  late  as 
the  close  of  the  last  century.^     We  may  leave  the  question  to 

*  Laborde  on  Exodus  and  Numbers.  '  See  Bell's  History  of  JRussia,  ii. 

Ewald,  ii.  253,  sqq.  App.  C.     De  Quincey's  Wor/cs,  iv.  112. 


LECT.  V.  THE   FLIGHT.  125 

the  critical  analysis  of  the  text  and  of  the  general  probabilities 
of  the  case,  and  confine  ourselves  to  what  remains  equally  true 
under  either  hypothesis.  Those  who  have  seen  the  start  of 
the  great  caravans  of  pilgrims  in  the  East,  may  form  some 
notion  of  the  silence  and  order  with  which  even  very  large 
masses  break  up  from  their  encampments,  and,  as  in  this 
instance,  usually  in  the  darkness  and  the  cool  of  the  night, 
set  out  on  their  journey,  the  torches  flaring  before  them,  the 
train  of  camels  and  asses  spreading  far  and  wide  through  the 
broad  level  desert. 

From  Rameses  the  first  start  was  made.  This  the  Septua-  Kameses. 
gint  fixed  on  the  north-east  skirts  of  the  Delta,  and  to  the  same 
locality  we  are  directed  by  the  most  recent  discoveries.^  All 
that  follows  is  wi'apt  in  too  great  an  obscurity  to  justify  any 
detailed  description.  The  spots  are  indeed  named  with  an 
exactness  which  provokes  and  tantalises  in  proportion  to  the 
certainty  with  which  they  must  once  have  been  known,  and 
the  uncertainty  which  has  rested  upon  them  since.  Still  the 
general  direction  of  the  flight,  and  the  general  features  of  the 
resting-places,  may  be  gathered.  South-eastward  they  went, 
— not  by  the  short  and  direct  road  to  Palestine,  but  by  the 
same  circuitous  route,  through  the  wilderness  of  the  Red  Sea, 
which  their  ancestors  had  followed  in  bearing  away  the  body 
of  Jacob,  as  now  they  were  bearing  off,  with  different  thoughts 
and  aims,  the  coffin  which  contained  the  embalmed  remains 
of  Joseph.  The  nomenclature  of  the  several  halts  indicates 
something  of  the  country  through  which  they  passed.  The 
first  was  'Succoth,' — the  place  of  'booths^  or  ^  leafy  Jiuts,^  Succoth. 
— the  last  spot  where  they  could  have  found  the  luxuriant 
foliage  of  tamarisk  and  sycomore  and  palm,  'branches  of 
'  thick  trees  to  make  booths,  as  it  is  written.'  How  deeply 
that  first  resting-place  was  intended  to  be  sunk  into  their 

'  Lcpsius,  Letters  from  Egy])t  and  Ethiopia,  p.  438. 


126 


THE   EXODUS. 


Feast  of 
Taberna- 
cles. 


Etham. 


Passage  of 
the  Eed 
Sea. 


remembrance  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact,  that  this,  rather 
than  any  of  the  numerous  halts  in  their  later  wanderings,  was 
selected  to  be  represented  after  their  entrance  into  Palestine, 
as  a  memorial  of  their  stay  in  the  wilderness.  The  Feast  of 
Tabernacles,  or  Succoth,  was  a  feast  not  of  tents, — but  of 
huts  woven  together  from  'the  boughs  of  goodly  trees, 
'  branches  of  palm-trees,  and  the  boughs  of  thick  trees,  and 
'  willows  of  the  brook,'  that  '  all  their  generations  might 
'  know  that  the  Lord  made  the  children  of  Israel  to  dwell  in 
*  booths,  when  He  brought  them  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt.' ' 
It  was  the  first  step  that  involved  the  whole ;  it  was  the  first 
step,  therefore,  the  last  lingering  on  the  confines  of  Egyptian 
vegetation  and  civilisation,  the  first  step  into  the  wandering 
state  of  the  desert,  that  was  to  be  henceforward  commemo- 
rated. The  next  halt  was  Etham,  on  'the  edge  of  the 
wilderness.'  Cities  they  had  left  behind  them  at  Rameses, 
the  groves  and  villages  they  had  left  behind  at  Succoth ;  the 
green  land  of  Egypt,  cut  off  as  with  a  knife  from  the  hard 
desert  tract  on  which  they  now  entered,  they  left  behind  at 
Etham.     They  were  now  fairly  in  the  wilderness. 

And  now  came  the  command  '  to  turn,'  not  to  go  straight 
forward,  as  they  would  have  expected,  round  the  head  of  the 
gulf,  but  '  to  turn '  and  '  encamp  between  Migdol  and  the 
'  sea,  beside  the  sea,  before  Pi-hahiroth,  over  against  Baal- 
'  zephon.'  Here  is  exactly  a  case  of  that  precision  which 
guarantees  to  us  that  the  spot  was  once  well  known,  yet 
which  now  serves  us  but  little.^  Could  we  but  discover  the 
site  of  .the  "pastures  of  Pi-hahiroth  (such  must  be  the  meaning 
of  that  Egyptian  word)  or  the  sanctuary  of  Typhon  (such 
must  be  the  meaning  of  Baal-zephon),  the  controversy  re- 
specting the  locality  and  the  nature  of  the  passage  of  the  Eed 
Sea  would  be  at  an  end.    As  it  is,  we  are  led  in  two  opposite 


'  Lev.  xxiii.  40-43. 


*  Sbuxi  and  Talestine^  34-37. 


LECT.  V.  PASSAGE   OF   THE   EED   SEA.  127 

directions, — on  the  one  hand,  the  extreme  northern  point 
(beyond  the  spot  where  the  present  gulf  terminates,  but  to 
which  it  must  anciently  have  extended)  ^  is  indicated  by  the 
mention  of  Migdol,  which  can  hardly  be  any  other  than  the 
well-known  town  or  tower  called  by  the  Greeks  JMagdolon ; 
on  the  other  hand,  the  narrative  of  Josephus  speaks  distinctly 
of  '  the  mountain '  as  that  which  '  entangled  and  shut  them 
'  in,'  which  can  be  no  other  than  the  lofty  range  of  the  Jebel 
Attaka,  the  Mountain  of  Deliverance,  south  of  the  modern 
Suez.  But  whichever  of  these  it  be,  the  narrative  compels 
us  to  look  for  the  passage  somewhere  near  the  head  of  the 
then  gulf,  whence  the  width  would  be  such  as  to  allow  the 
host  to  pass  over  in  a  single  night,  and  the  waters  to  be  parted 
by  the  means  described,  namely,  by  a  strong  wind,^  or  by 
the  shortness  of  the  distance  required  for  the  Israelites  to 
escape  the  pursuers.  The  ancient  theory  adopted  by  the 
Kabbinical  and  early  Christian  writers,  that  the  Israelites 
merely  performed  a  circuit  in  the  sea  and  returned  again  to 
the  Egyptian  shores,  will  now  be  maintained  by  no  one  who 
has  any  regard  to  the  dignity  of  the  story  or  the  grandeur 
of  the  event  described.  Dismissing,  therefore,  these  geo- 
graphical considerations,  we  may  fix  our  minds  on  the 
essential  features  of  this  great  deliverance,  as  it  will  be 
acknowledged  without  dispute  by  every  reader. 

The  Israelites  were  encamped  on  the  western  shore  of  the 
Eed  Sea,  when  suddenly  a  cry  of  alarm  ran  through  the 
vast  multitude.  Over  the  ridges  ^  of  the  desert  hills  were  seen 
the  well-known  horses,  the  terrible  chariots  of  the  Egyptian 
host :  '  Pharaoh  pursued  after  the  children  of  Israel,  and 
'  they  were  sore  afraid,' 


'  Sharpe  (i.  136)  and  the  French  in-  Suez  and  the  Bitter  Lakes, 
vestigators  suppose  that    it  was   the  ^  Not  necessarily  '  east.'    See  LXX. 

neck  of  land  ('the  tongue'  alluded  to  (Ex.  xiv.  21),  and  Philo,  V.  M.  i.  32. 
in  Isa.  xi.   15)  between  the  Gulf  of  ^  Philo,  V.  M.  i.  30. 


128 


THE   EXODUS. 


Passage 
from 
Africa  ' 
to  Asia: 


from  sla- 
very to 
freedom. 


'  They  were  sore  afraid ; '  and  in  that  terror  and  per- 
plexity the  sun  went  down  behind  the  huge  mountain  range 
which  rose  on  their  rear,  and  cut  off  their  return  to  Egypt ; 
and  the  dark  night  ^  fell  over  the  waters  of  the  sea  which 
rolled  before  them  and  cut  off  their  advance  into  the  desert. 
So  closed  in  upon  them  that  evening ;  where  were  they  when 
the  morning  broke  over  the  hills  of  Arabia?  where  were 
they,  and  where  were  their  enemies  ? 

They  stood  in  safety  on  the  further  shore ;  and  the  cha- 
riots, and  the  horsemen,  and  the  host  of  Pharaoh  had 
vanished  in  the  waters.  Let  us  calmly  consider,  so  far  as 
our  knowledge  will  allow  us,  the  extent  of  such  a  deliverance 
effected  at  a  moment  so  critical. 

First,  we  must  observe  what  may  be  called  the  whole  change 
of  the  situation.  They  had  passed  in  that  night  from  Africa 
to  Asia ;  they  had  crossed  one  of  the  great  boundaries  which 
divide  the  quarters  of  the  world  ;  a  thought  always  thrilling, 
how  much  more  when  we  reflect  on  what  a  transition  it  in- 
volved to  them.  Behind  the  African  hills,  which  rose  beyond 
the  Eed  Sea,  lay  the  strange  land  of  their  exile  and  bondage, 
— the  land  of  Egypt  with  its  mighty  river,  its  immense  build- 
ings, its  monster-worship,  its  grinding  tyranny,  its  overgrown 
civilisation.  This  they  had  left  to  revisit  no  more  :  the  Eed 
Sea  flowed  between  them ;  '  the  Egyptians  whom  they  saw 
'yesterday  they  will  now  see  no  more  again  for  ever.'  And 
before  them  stretched  the  level  plains  of  the  Arabian  desert, 
the  desert  where  their  fathers  and  their  kindred  had  wan- 
dered in  former  times,  where  their  great  leader  had  fed  the 
flocks  of  Jethro,  through  which  they  must  advance  onwards 
till  they  reach  the  Land  of  Promise.  Further,  this  change 
of  local  situation  was  at  once  a  change  of  moral  condition. 
From  slaves  they  had  become  free;  from  an  oppressed  tribe 

'  Being  the  18th  or  19th  of  the  month,  the  moon  would  not  rise  till 
some  hours  after  nightfall. 


LF.CT.  V.  PASSAGE    OF   THE   RED    SEA.  129 

they  had  become  an  independent  nation.  It  is  their  de- 
liverance from  slavery.  It  is  the  earliest  recorded  instance  of 
a  great  national  emancipation.  In  later  times  Eeligion  has 
been  so  often  and  so  exclusively  associated  with  ideas  of 
order,  of  obedience,  of  submission  to  authority,  that  it  is  well 
to  be  occasionally  reminded  that  it  has  had  other  aspects 
also.  This,  the  first  epoch  of  our  religious  history,  is,  in  its 
original  historical  significance,  the  sanctification,  tlie  glorifica- 
tion of  national  independence  and  freedom.  Whatever  else 
was  to  succeed  to  it,  this  was  the  first  stage  of  the  progress 
of  the  Chosen  People.  And  when  in  the  Christian  Scriptures 
and  in  the  Christian  Church  we  find  the  Passage  of  the  Eed 
Sea  taken  as  the  likeness  of  the  moral  deliverance  from  sin 
and  death, — when  we  read  in  the  Apocalypse  of  the  vision  of 
those  who  stand  victorious  on  the  shores  of  '  the  glassy  sea 
'  mingled  with  fire,  having  the  harps  of  Grod  and  singing  the 
'  song  of  Moses  the  servant  of  God,  and  the  song  of  the  Lamb,' 
— these  are  so  many  sacred  testimonies  to  the  importance,  to 
the  sanctity  of  freedom,  to  the  wrong  and  the  misery  of 
injustice,  oppression,  and  tyranny.  The  word  '  Eedemption,' 
which  has  now  a  sense  far  holier  and  higher,  first  entered  into 
the  circle  of  religious  ideas  at  the  time  when  Grod  '  redeemed 
'  His  people  from  the  house  of  bondage.' 

But  it  was  not  only  the  fact  but  the  mode  of  their  de-  Its  myste- 
liverance  which  made  this  event  so  remarkable  in  itself,  in  ehar^ter. 
its  applications,  and  in  its  lasting  consequences.  We  must 
place  it  before  us,  if  possible,  not  as  we  conceive  it  from 
pictures  and  from  our  own  imaginations,  but  as  in  the  words 
of  the  Sacred  narrative,  illustrated  by  the  Psalmist,  and  by 
the  commentary  of  Joseplius  and  Philo.'  The  Passage,  as 
thus  described,  was  effected  not  in  the  calmness  and  clear- 
ness of  daylight,  but  in  the  depth  of  midnight,  amidst  the 

"  Jos.  Ant.  ii.  16,  §  3.     Philo,  Vii.  Mas.  i.  32. 
K 


130  THE    EXODUS.  lect.  v. 

roar  of  the  hurricane  which  caused  the  sea  to  go  back — amidst 
a  darkness  lit  up  only  by  the  broad  glare  of  the  lightning  as 
'  the  Lord  looked  out '  from  the  thick  darkness  of  the  cloud. 
'  The  waters  saw  Thee,  0  God,  the  waters  saw  Thee  and  were 
'  afraid ;  the  depths  also  were  troubled.  The  clouds  poured 
'  out  water ;  the  air  thundered ;  Thine  arrows  went  abroad ; 
'the  voice  of  Thy  thunder  was  heard  round  about;  the 
'  lightnings  shone  upon  the  ground ;  the  earth  was  moved 
'  and  shook  withal.'  ^  We  know  not,  they  knew  not,  by 
what  precise  means  the  deliverance  was  wrought :  we  know 
not  by  what  precise  track  through  the  gulf  the  passage 
was  effected.  We  know  not,  and  we  need  not  know;  the 
obscurity,  the  mystery,  here  as  elsewhere,  was  part  of  the 
lesson.  '  Grod's  way  was  in  the  sea,  and  His  paths  in  the 
'  great  waters,  and  His  footsteps  were  not  hioivnJ  All  tliat 
we  see  distinctly  is,  that  through  this  dark  and  terrible  night, 
with  the  enemy  pressing  close  behind,  and  the  driving  sea 
on  either  side,  He  '  led  His  people  like  sheep  by  the  hand  of 
'Moses  and  Aaron.' 

Long  afterwards  was  the  recollection  preserved  in  all  their 
religious  imagery.  Living  as  they  did  apart  from  all  mari- 
time pursuits,  yet  their  poetry,  their  devotion,  abounds  with 
expressions  which  can  be  traced  back  only  to  this  beginning 
of  their  national  history.  They  had  been  literally  '  baptized 
'  unto  Moses  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea.'  And  as,  in  the 
case  of  the  early  Christians,  the  plunge  in  the  baptismal 
bath  was  never  forgotten,  so  even  in  the  dry  inland  valleys  of 
Palestine,  danger  and  deliverance  were  always  expressed  by 
the  visions  of  sea  and  storm.  '  All  Thy  waves  and  storms 
'  are  gone  over  me.'  '  The  springs  of  waters  were  seen,  and 
'  the  foundations  of  the  round  world  were  discovered  at  Thy 

'  That  the  storm  of  rain,  thunder,       ancient    Hebrew    traditions,    aj^pears 
and    liglitning,  as  given  by  Josephus       from   Ps.  Ixxvii.  12-21. 
and  Philo,  is  a  genuine  part  of  the 


LECT.  V.  PASSAGE    OF   THE   RED    SEA.  131 

'  chiding,   0   Lord,   at  the    blasting  of  tlie  breath  of  Thy 

'  displeasure He  drew  me  out  of  many  waters.'    Their 

whole  national  existence  was  a  thanksgiving,  a  votive 
tablet,  for  their  deliverance  in  and  from  and  through  the 
Eed  Sea. 

But  another  and  a  still  more  abiding  impression  was  that  Its  provi- 
this  deliverance — the  first  and  greatest  in  their  history —  character, 
was  effected,  not  by  their  own  power,  but  by  the  power  of 
Grod.  There  are  moments  in  the  life  both  of  men  and  of 
nations,  both  of  the  world  and  of  the  Church,  when  vast 
blessings  are  gained,  vast  dangers  averted,  through  our  own 
exertions — by  the  sword  of  the  conqueror,  by  the  genius  of 
the  statesman,  by  the  holiness  of  the  saint.  Such,  in  Jewish 
history,  was  the  conquest  of  Palestine  by  Joshua,  the  de- 
liverances wrought  by  Gideon,  by  Samson,  and  by  David. 
Such,  in  Christian  history,  were  the  revolutions  effected  by 
Clovis,  by  Charlemagne,  by  Alfred,  by  Bernard,  and  by 
Luther.  But  there  are  moments  of  still  higher  interest,  of 
still  more  solemn  feeling,  when  deliverance  is  brought  about 
not  by  any  human  energy,  but  by  causes  beyond  our  own 
control.  Such,  in  Christian  history,  are  the  raising  of  the 
siege  of  Leyden  and  the  overthrow  of  the  Armada ;  and  such, 
above  all,  was  the  Passage  of  the  Ked  Sea. 

Whatever  were  the  means  employed  by  the  Almighty — 
whatever  the  path  which  He  made  for  Himself  in  the  great 
waters,  it  was  to  Him,  and  not  to  themselves,  that  the  Israelites 
were  compelled  to  look  as  the  source  of  their  escape.  '  Stand 
'  still  ^  and  see  the  salvation  of  Jehovah,'  was  their  only  duty. 
'  Jehovah  hath  triumphed  gloriously,'  was  their  only  song  of 
victory.  It  was  a  victory  into  which  no  feeling  of  pride  or 
self-exaltation  could  enter.  It  was  a  fit  opening  of  a  history 
and  of  a  character  which  was  to  be  specially  distinguished 


J  Seethe  celebrated  sermon  of  Dr.  Pusey  on  tliat  text,  Not.  o,  1837.. 

K  2 


132  THE   EXODUS.  lect.  v. 

from  that  of  other  races  by  its  constant  and  direct  dependence 
on  the  Supreme  Judge  and  Ruler  of  the  world.  Greece  and 
Eome  could  look  back  with  triumph  to  the  glorious  days 
when  they  had  repulsed  their  invaders,,  had  risen  on  their 
tyrants,  or  driven  out  their  kings.  But  the  birthday  of 
Israel, — the  birthday  of  the  religion,  of  the  liberty,  of  the 
nation,  of  Israel, — was  the  Passage  of  the  Red  Sea;— the 
likeness  in  this,  as  in  so  many  other  respects,  of  the  yet 
greater  events  in  the  beginnings  of  the  Christian  Church,  of 
which  it  has  been  long  considered  the  anticipation  and  the 
emblem.^  It  was  the  commemoration,  not  of  what  man  has 
wrought  for  God,  but  of  what  God  has  wrought  for  man. 
No  baser  thoughts,  no  disturbing  influences,  could  mar  the 
overwhelming  sense  of  thankfulness  with  which,  as  if  after 
a  hard-won  battle,  the  nation  found  its  voice  in  the  first 
Hebrew  melody,  in  the  first  burst  of  national  poetry,^  which 
still  lives  on,  through  Handel's  music,  to  keep  before  the  mind 
of  all  Western  Christendom  the  day  *  when  Israel  came  out 
'  of  Egjrpt,  and  the  house  of  Jacob  from  a  strange  land.'  On 
the  Arabian  shore  of  the  Red  Sea,  Moses  and  the  sons  of 
Israel,  we  are  told,  met  Miriam  the  Prophetess,  the  sister  of 
Aaron,  at  the  head  of  the  long  train  of  Israelite  women,  with 
the  sounding  timbrels  and  the  religious  dances  which  they 
had  learned  in  Egypt,  coming  forth,  as  was  the  wont  of  Hebrew 
women  after  some  great  victory,  to  greet  the  triumphant 
host.  She,  the  third  member,  the  eldest  born,  of  that  noble 
family,  whose  name  now  first  appears  in  the  history  of  the 
Church,  afterwards  to  become  so  renowned  through  its 
Grecian  and  European  forms  of  Maria  and  Mary, — she,  who 
had  watched  her  infant  brother  by  the  river-side,  now  hailed 
him  as  the  deliverer  of  her  people,  or  rather,  if  we  may  with 
reverence  say  so,  hailed  the  Divine  Deliverer,  by  the  new 

'  Ewakl,  ii.  94.  Moral  and  Metaj^hysical  Philosophy, 

"  Compare    Maurice's    History   of      11, 


lECT.  V.  PASSAGE    OF   THE   EED   SEA.  133 

and  awful  Name,  now  first  clearly  proclaimed  to  her  family 
and  her  nation  : 

Sing  unto  Jehovah,  for  He  is  '  lifted  up  on  high,  on  high.' 

The  horse  and  his  rider  hath  He  thrown  into  the  sea. 

My  strength  and  song  is  Jah,  and  He  is  become  my  salvation. 

He  is  my  God,  and  I  will  praise  Him  ;  my  father's  God,  and  I  will 

exalt  Him. 
Jehovah  is  a  man  of  war,  Jehovah  is  His  name. 
Pharaoh's  chariots  and  his  host  hath  He  cast  into  the  sea. 
His  chosen  captains  also  are  drowned  in  the  Eed  Sea. 
The  depths  covered  them,  they  sank  to  the  bottom  as  a  stone. 
Thy  right  hand,  Jehovah,  is  become  glorious  in  power  :  Tliy  right 

hand,  Jehovah,  hath  dashed  in  pieces  the  enemy. 
And  in  the  greatness  of  Thy  height  Thou  hast  overthrown  them 

that  rose  up  against  Thee. 
Tliou  sentest  forth  Thy  wrath,  which  consumed  them  as  stubble : 
And  with   the   blast   of  Thy    nostrils  the    waters   were   gathered 

together : 
The  floods  stood  upright  as  a  heap ;  the  depths  were  congealed  in 

the  heart  of  the  sea  : 
The  enemy  said,  I  will  pursue,  I  will  devastate,   I  will  divide  the 

spoil :  my  desire  shall  be  satisfied  upon  them :  I  will  draw  my 

sword,  my  hand  shall  destroy  them. 
Thou  didst  blow  with  Thy  blast ;  the  sea  covered  them  :  they  sank 

as  lead  in  the  mighty  waters. 
Who  is  like  unto  Thee,  Jehovah,  amongst  the  gods  ?     Who  is  like 

unto    Thee,    glorious    in    holiness,    fearful   in   praises,    doing 

wonders  ?     Thou    stretchedst  out   Thy  riglit  hand  ;  the  earth 

swallowed  them  :  .   .  .  , 
Jehovah  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever.* 

'  I  have  quoted  all  those  parts  of  other  parts,  as  has  been  often  conjec- 
the  Song  which  refer  indisputably  to  tured,  may  refer  to  the  subsequent 
the   Passage   of  the   Ked  Sea.     The       settlement  at  Shiloh. 


134 


LECTUKE   VI. 

THE    WILDERNESS. 

The  com-  Fkom  tlie  Exodus  begins  the  great  period  of  the  life  of 
Moses.  INIoses.  On  that  night,  he  is  described  as  first  taking  the 
decisive  lead.  Up  to  that  point  he  and  Aaron  and  Miriam  * 
appear  almost  on  an  equality.  But  after  that,  Moses  is 
usually  mentioned  alone.  Aaron  still  held  the  second  place, 
but  the  character  of  interpreter  to  Moses  which  he  had  borne 
in  speaking  to  Pharaoh  is  withdrawn,  and  it  would  seem  as 
if  Moses  henceforth  became  altogether,  what  hitherto  he  had 
only  been  in  part,  the  Prophet  of  the  people.  Miriam,  too, 
though  always  holding  the  independent  position  to  which  her 
age  entitled  her,  no  more  appears  as  lending  her  voice  and 
song  to  enforce  her  brother's  prophetic  power.  Another  who 
occupies  a  place  nearly  equal  to  Aaron,  though  we  know  but 
little  of  him,  is  Hur,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  husband  of 
Miriam,  and  grandfather  of  the  artist  Bezaleel.  The  guide 
in  regard  to  the  route  through  the  wilderness  was,  as  we 
shall  see,  Jethro :  the  servant,  occupying  the  same  relation 
as  Elisha  afterwards  to  Elijah,  or  Grehazi  to  Elisha,  was  the 
youthful  Hoshea,  afterwards  Joshua. 
Importance  But  Moses  is  incoutestably  the  chief  personage  of  the 
whole  history.  In  the  narrative,  the  phrase  is  constantly 
recurring,  '  The  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,'  '  Moses  spake  unto 
'  the  children  of  Israel.'     In  the  traditions  of  the  desert, 

'  '  I  sent  before  thee  Moses  and  Aaron  and  Miriam '  (JMicah  vi.  4). 


iECT.  VI.  :M0SES   as   a   leader.  135 

whether  late  or  early,  his  name  predominates  over  that  of 
every  one  else :  '  The  Wells  of  Moses '  (Ayun  Musa)  on  the 
shores  of  the  Eed  Sea, '  The  Mountain  of  Moses '  ( Jebel  Musa) 
near  the  convent  of  S.  Catherine,  '  The  Ravine  of  Moses ' 
(Shuk  Musa)  at  Mount  S.  Catherine,  '  The  Valley  of  Moses  ' 
(Wady  Musa)  at  Petra.  '  The  Books  of  Moses'  are  so  called 
(as  afterwards  the  books  of  Samuel),  in  all  probability,  from 
his  being  the  chief  subject  of  them.  The  very  word  '  JMosaic ' 
has  been  in  later  times  applied,  in  a  sense  not  used  of  any 
other  saint  of  the  Old  Testament,  to  the  whole  religion  of 
which  he  was  the  expounder.' 

It  has  sometimes  been  attempted  to  reduce  this  great 
character  into  a  mere  passive  instrument  of  the  Divine  Will, 
as  though  he  had  himself  borne  no  conscious  part  in  the 
actions  in  which  he  figures,  or  the  messages  which  he  de- 
livers. This,  however,  is  as  incompatible  with  the  general 
tenor  of  the  Scriptural  account,  as  it  is  with  the  common 
language  in  which  he  has  been  described  by  the  Church  in 
all  ages.  The  frequent  addresses  of  the  Divinity  to  him  no 
more  contravene  his  personal  activity  and  intelligence,  than 
in  the  case  of  Elijah,  Isaiah,  or  S.  Paul.  In  the  New  Testa- 
ment the  legislation  of  the  Jews  is  expressly  ascribed  to  him. 

*  Moses  gave   you  circumcision.'  ^     '  Moses,  because  of  the 

*  hardness  of  your  hearts,  suffered  you.'  ^  '  Did  not  Moses  give 
'  you  the  law  ?  '  *  Moses  '  accuseth  you.'  ^  S.  Paul  goes  so  far 
as  to  speak  of  him  as  the  founder  of  the  Jewish  religion : 
'They  were  all  baptized  unto  Moses.' ^  He  is  constantly 
called  '  a  Prophet.'  In  the  ancient  language  both  of  Jews 
and  Christians,  he  was  known  as  '  the  great  Lawgiver,'  '  the 


'  The -word 'Mosaic' (»n/su'!<?«,  |Uou-  Zeitschrift  der  Beutsch.  Morgenl.  Ge- 

aelov,  fiovadiKhv),  as  applied  to  varie-  sells,  xiv.  663). 
gated  pavement,  was  probably  derived  *  John  vii.  22. 

from  a  Phoenician  word,  unconnected  ^  Matt.  xix.  8.  *  John  \ii.  19. 

with  Moses  (see  an  Essay  of  Eedslob,  ^  John  v.  45.  ^  1  Cor.  x.  2. 


•136  THE    WILDERNESS.  lect.  vi. 

great  Theologian,'  '  the  great  Statesman.'  ^  He  must  be  con- 
sidered, like  all  the  saints  and  heroes  of  the  Bible,  as  a  man 
of  marvellous  gifts,  raised  up  by  Divine  Providence  for  the 
highest  purpose  to  which  men  could  be  called ;  and  so,  m 
a  lesser  degree,  his  name  has  been  applied  in  later  times : 
Peter  was  called  after  him  the  Moses  of  the  Christian 
Church ;  Ulfilas,  the  Moses  of  the  Goths ;  Almos,  the  Moses 
of  the  Hungarians ;  Benedict,  the  Moses  of  the  Monastic 
Orders.  The  union  of  the  Leader  and  the  Prophet  was 
such  as  Eastern  religion  has  always  admitted  more  easily  than 
Western.  Mahomet,  Abd-el-kader,  Schamyl,  are  all  illus- 
trations of  its  possibility.  But,  amongst  the  heroes  and  saints 
of  the  true  religion,  no  such  union  occurs  again  after  Moses. 
This  double  career  may  be  divided  into  three  parts  :  the 
approach  by  Kephidim  to  Sinai ;  the  stay  at  Sinai ;  the  march 
from  Sinai  to  Palestine  by  Kadesh  and  by  Moab.  In  the 
first  and  third  of  these  he  appears  chiefly  as  the  Leader ;  in 
the  second,  as  the  Prophet.  Whatever  is  to  be  said  on 
minute  matters  of  topography  has  been  said  elsewhere ;  and, 
with  regard  to  all  the  details  of  the  Israelite  journey,  there 
are  many  reasons  why  we  should  be  content  to  remain  in 
suspense  for  the  present.  Long  as  the  desert  of  Sinai  has 
been  known  to  Christian  pilgrims,  yet  it  may  almost  be  said 
never  to  have  been  explored  before  the  beginning  of  this 
century.  We  are  still  at  the  threshold  of  our  knowledge 
concerning  it.  The  older  pilgrims  never  troubled  themselves 
to  compare  the  general  features  of  the  desert  with  the 
indications  of  the  Sacred  narrative,  and  therefore  they  usually 
Uncertain-  missed  the  cardinal  points  of  dispute.  A  signal  instance  of 
Desert.  ^  ^^^^  ^^7  ^®  s&Q^  in  the  travels  of  Pococke,  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  who  gives  an  account  of  the  Sinaitic  desert,  such 

'  All  these   terms  are  freely  used  laws  is  by  Joseplius  (Ani.  iii.  15,  3) 

in  Euseb.  Pr^p.  Evang.  vii.  8 ;  Philo,  ascribed  to  the  respect  felt  for    his 

V.  M.  1.  80;  Clem.  Alex.  Strom,  i.  22,  character. 
24.     The  tenacious  adherence  to  his 


LECT.  VI.  ITS    UNCERTAINTIES.  137 

as  entirely  conceals  from  us  the  very  localities  which  are 
most  important  for  the  whole  comparison  of  the  history  and 
geography.  He  passes,  almost  without  notice,  the  plain  at  the 
foot  of  one  of  the  claimants  to  the  name  of  Sinai ;  he  says 
nothing  of  the  commanding  mountain  which  from  early 
times  has  been  the  other  claimant.  He  went  through  the 
sacred  localities  with  his  eyes  closed  to  the  impressions 
which  all  now  see  to  be  most  important.  We  are  still,  there- 
fore, in  the  condition  of  discoverers,  but  if  we  are  thus  com- 
pelled to  abstain  from  positive  conclusions,  it  is  an  abstinence 
which  in  this  instance  is  the  less  inconvenient,  because  the 
very  uniformity  of  nature  by  which  it  is  occasioned  also 
enables  us  to  imagine  the  general  framework  of  the  events, 
even  where  the  particular  scene  is  unknown  ;  and  many  will 
feel  at  a  distance,  what  many,  I  doubt  not,  have  felt  on  the 
spot,  that,  in  speaking  of  such  sacred  events,  uncertainty  is 
the  best  safeguard  for  reverence ;  and  that  suspense  as  to  the 
exact  details  of  form  and  locality  is  the  most  fitting  approach 
for  the  consideration  of  the  presence  of  Him  who  has  '  made 
'  darkness  His  secret  place.  His  pavilion  round  about  Him 
'  with  dark  water,  and  thick  clouds  to  cover  them.' 

1 .  In  the  flight  from  Egypt,  the  people  of  Israel  disappear 
once  more  from  the  view  of  the  Gentile  world.  The  notices, 
scanty  as  they  were,  which  we  have  of  their  earlier  history, 
almost  entirely  cease  on  their  entrance  into  the  desert.  A 
solitary  glimpse  of  their  wanderings,  recorded  by  Tacitus, 
is  all  that  Pagan  records  disclose.  He  relates  '  how,  in 
the  absence  of  water,  they  threw  themselves  on  the  grormd 
in  despair,  when  a  herd  of  wild  asses  guided  them  to  a 
rock  overshadowed  by  palm  trees,  where  Moses  discovered 
for  them  a  copious  spring.  A  seven  days'  journey  brought 
them    to    Palestine ;    and   the    sabbath    was    instituted   to 

>  Hist.  V.  3. 


138  THE   WILDEENESS.  xect.  vi. 

commemorate  their  safe  arrival  within  that  period,  as  their 
deliverance  from  thirst  in  the  desert  was  commemorated  by  the 
erection  of  the  image  of  an  ass  in  their  most  holy  place.  On 
this  scene  the  curtain  falls,  and,  as  far  as  the  Western  world 
is  concerned,  it  is  no  more  lifted  up,  till  Pompey  entered  the 
Holy  of  Holies,  and  found,  not,  as  he  doubtless  expected,  this 
strange  memorial  of  the  wilderness,  but  'vacuam  sedem, 
inania  arcana.'  ^ 
The  im-  To  US,  on  the  other  hand,  the  history  which  fills  this  space, 

the  Wilder-  ^^'^  especially  the  earlier  portion  of  it,  has  become  almost  a 
ptf ^-  r  P^^^  °^  *^^^"  minds.  The  onward  march  of  the  history,  the 
history;  successive  localities  through  which  it  takes  us,  at  least  till 
the  conquest  of  Canaan,  are  an  epitome  of  human  life  itself. 
The  reaction  which  followed  at  the  Waters  of  Strife,  upon 
the  exultation  of  the  Passage  of  the  Red  Sea,  has  been  fitly 
described  as  the  likeness  of  the  reaction  which,  from  the  days 
of  Moses  downwards,  has  followed  on  every  great  national 
emancipation,  on  every  just  and  beneficent  revolution;  when 
'  the  evils  which  it  has  caused  are  felt,  and  the  evils  which 
'  it  has  removed  are  felt  no  longer.'  -  The  wilderness,  as 
it  intervenes  between  Egypt  and  the  Land  of  Promise,  with 
all  its  dangers  and  consolations,  is,  as  Coleridge  would  have 
said,  not  allegorical,  but  tautegorical,  of  the  events  which  in 
almost  unconscious  metaphor  we  designate  by  those  figures. 
It  is  startling,  as  we  traverse  it  even  at  this  day,  to  feel  that 
the  hard  stony  track  under  our  feet,  the  springs  to  which  we 
look  forward  at  the  end  of  our  day's  march,  the  sense  of 
contrast  with  what  has  been  and  with  what  is  to  be,  are  the 
very  materials  out  of  which  the  imagination  of  all  ages  has 
constructed  its  idea  of  the  journey  of  life. 

But  this  period  had  a  special  bearing  on  the  history  of 
to  Jewish     Israel.     It  was  their  beginning  as  a  people :  it  was  their 

history. 

'  Tacitus,  Hist.  y.  9.  ^  Maeaulay's  History  of  England,  ch,  xL 


LECT.  VI.  ITS   PECULIAEITIES.  139 

conversion  or  their  reconversion  to  the  true  faith ;  it  had  • 

all  the  faults  and  all  the  excellences  which  such  a  new  start 
of  life  always  presents.  With  all  its  faults  and  shortcomings, 
it  was  the  spring-time  of  their  national  existence.  'I  re- 
*  member  thee,  the  kindness  of  thy  youth,  the  love  of  thine 
'  espousals,  when  thou  wentest  after  ]Me  in  the  wilderness, 
'  in  a  land  that  was  not  sown.'  ^  '  When  Israel  was  a  child, 
'  then  I  loved  him.'  ^  The  Law,  we  ar^  told,  was  '  a  school- 
'  master  to  bring  men  to  Christ.'  ^  '  Mount  Sinai  in  Arabia ' 
is  opposed,  both  in  preparation  and  in  contrast,  to  the 
heavenly  and  free  Jerusalem  which  is  above.  But,  even  in 
the  earlier  stages  of  tbe  history  of  the  Jewish  Church,  the 
Law  was  a  schoolmaster,  and  Mount  Sinai  was  a  school,  for 
the  dispensation  and  for  the  possession  even  of  the  earthly 
Jerusalem. 

2.  It  is  difficult,  under  the  circumstances,  to  imagine  a  fitter  Its  pecu- 
scene  for  a  new  revelation  than  was  the  wilderness  of  Sinai 
to  the  Israelites.  They  had  left  the  land  of  Egypt :  they 
had  come  out  of  the  house  of  bondage,  into  a  land  as  dif- 
ferent, into  a  life  as  new,  as  it  was  possible  to  conceive.  In- 
stead of  the  green  valley  of  the  one  abundant,  beneficent 
river,  where  water  and  vegetation  never  failed,  they  were 
in  'the  great  and  terrible  Avilderness,'  where  a  spring  in 
each  day's  march, — the  bitter  waters  of  JNIarah  here,  the  iso- 
lated grove  of  Elim  there, — was  all  that  they  could  expect 
to  cheer  them.  Instead  of  the  endless  life  and  stir  which 
ran  through  the  teeming  population  of  Egjrpt,  the  song  and 
dance  and  feast;  the  armies  passing  through  the  hundred 
gates ;  the  flags  with  their  brilliant  colours  flying  from 
the  painted  gateways ;  the  king  at  the  head  of  vast  proces- 
sions with  drum  and  cymbal,  and  the  rattle  of  his  thousand 
chariots ;  there  was  the  deep  silence  of  the  desert  broken  by 

>  Jer.  ii.  2.  ^  Hos.  xi.  1.  »  Gal.  iii.  24,  iv.  25 ;  Heb.  xii.  18. 


140  THE    WILDERNESS.  lect.  vi. 

no  echo  of  human  voice,  by  no  cry  of  innumerable  birds,  by 
no  sound  of  rushing  waters — broken  only  by  the  trumpet, 
which  at  early  dawn  and  fall  of  day  roused  the  tribes  from 
their  slumbers,  or  called  them  to  their  rest.  For  a  time  the 
Eed  Sea  was  in  sight.  Once,  after  they  had  struck  far  into 
the  desert,  the  hills  opened  before  them  ^  (we  may  be  allowed  to 
dwell  upon  it  as  the  most  authentic  spot  ascertainable  in  their 
wanderings),  and  the  familiar  sea,  their  ancient  enemy  and 
their  ancient  friend,  burst  with  its  flashing  waters  upon  them, 
and  they  encamped  once  more  upon  its  shining  beach,  and 
looked  once  more  upon  the  distant  range  of  the  African  hills, 
the  hills  of  the  land  of  their  captivity.  It  was  a  moment, 
such  as  occurs  from  time  to  time  in  the  history  of  men  and  of 
nations  to  remind  them  from  what  dangers  and  by  what  means 
they  have  escaped.  Onwards  they  went,  and  the  desert  itself 
now  changed  into  vaster  and  stranger  shapes  than  they  had 
ever  known  before.  Here  and  there,  it  may  be,  amongst  the 
host,  was  an  Israelite  who  had  seen  the  granite  hills  of 
Ethiopia;  but,  taking  them  generally,  the  ascent  of  these 
tremendous  passes,  the  sight  of  those  towering  peaks,  must 
have  been  to  them  as  the  awful  retreats  of  Delphi  to  the 
invaders  of  Greece,  as  the  Alps  to  the  invaders  of  Italy. 
Eumours  of  these  mysterious  moimtains  no  doubt  had  reached 
them  even  in  their  house  of  bondage,  '  A  three  days'  journey 
'  into  the  desert  to  sacrifice  to  the  Lord '  was  a  proposal  not 
unfamiliar  to  the  ears  of  Pharaoh ;  and,  as  they  now  mounted 
into  the  higher  region  of  that  desert,  they  would  perceive 
traces  that  the  Egyptians  had  been  there  before  them.  Here, 
they  might  see  a  lonely  hill,  surrounded  by  ancient  monu- 
ments,— sepulchres,  temples,  quarries, — unquestionably  the 
work  of  Egyptian  hands.^  There,  they  might  see,  in  a 
retired  valley,  hieroglyphics  carved  deep  in  the  soft  sandstone 

'  Num.  xxxiii.  10.     See  Sinai  and  Palestine,  38,  70. 
*  Sinai  and  Palcstiru,  24,  49. 


lECT.  VI.  EEPHIDIM.  141 

rock,  extending  back  to  the  builder  of  the  great  pyramid, 
whose  figure  can  be  traced  here  in  the  desert  cliffs,  when 
it  has  perished  everywhere  in  his  own  tomb  and  country. 
But  no  report,  no  experience  of  individuals,  could  have  pre- 
pared them  for  the  scene,  as  it  must  have  presented  itself 
to  a  whole  host  (taking  it  at  its  largest  or  its  smallest  num- 
bers) scaling  that  fortress,  that  towering  outpost  of  the  Holy 
Land.  Staircase  after  staircase,  formed  by  no  human  hand 
in  the  side  of  the  rocky  walls,  brought  them  (by  whatever 
approach  they  came)  into  the  loftier  and  still  loftier  regions 
of  the  mountain  platform.  Well  may  the  Arab  tribes  ^  sup- 
pose that  these  rocky  ladders  were  called  forth  by  the  rod  of 
Moses,  to  help  their  upward  progress. 

3.  And  now  they  approach  the  first  great  halting-place,  Kephidim. 
known  by  that  special  name  Rephidim,  '  the  places  of  rest.' 
We  know  not  the  spot  with  certainty.  Yet  of  all  localities 
hitherto  imagined,  that  which  was  believed  to  be  so  in  the 
fifth  century  at  least  answers  the  requirements  well;— the 
beautiful  palm  grove,  now  and  for  many  ages  past  called  the 
valley  of  Paran  or  Feiran. 

At  any  rate  some  such  spot  is  implied  both  by  the  name 
and  by  the  twofold  encounter  which  here  for  the  first  time 
occurs  with  the  native  tribes  of  the  desert.  We  are  too  much 
accustomed  to  think  that  the  Peninsula  of  Sinai,  when  the 
Israelites  passed  through,  was  entirely  uninhabited.  This, 
however,  is  not  the  case  even  now,  still  less  was  it  so  then. 
Two  main  streams  of  population  at  present  occupy  the  pas- 
tures of  the  wilderness,  and  two  also  appear  at  the  time  of 
the  Israelite  migration.  The  first  was  the  great  tribe  of 
Amalek,  ruled,  as  it  would  seem,  by  a  chief  who  bore  the  Amalek, 
title  of  king,  and  the  hereditary  name  of  Agag;^  them- 
selves a  wide-spreading  clan;  'first  of  the  nations;'^  and, 
like  the  feebler  Bedouins  of  modern  days,  extending  their 
'  Sinai  and  Palestine,  71.        *  Num.  xxiv.  7;  1  Sam.  xv.        ^  Niim.  xsiv.  20. 


142  THE    WILDERNESS.  lect.  vr. 

excursions  far  into  Palestine,  and  leaving  their  name,  even 
before  history  commences,  on  mountains  in  the  centre  of  the 
country.'  This  fierce  tribe,  occupying  as  it  would  seem  the 
whole  north  of  the  peninsula,  were,  as  might  naturally  be 
expected,  the  first  to  contest  the  entrance  of  the  new  people. 
Eattle  of  "WTierever  Eephidim  may  be,  it  was  evidently  a  place  of  suf- 
ep  lie  im.  ^g^g^^  importance  to  induce  the  Amalekites  to  defend  it  to 
the  uttermost.  According  to  the  account  of  Josephus,  they 
had  gathered  to  this  spot  all  the  forces  of  the  desert  tribes 
from  Petra  to  the  Mediterranean,  and,  according  to  a  frag- 
mentary notice  in  Deuteronomy,^  they  began  the  attack  by 
harassing  the  rear  of  the  Israelite  host.  It  is  a  scene  of 
which  the  significance  is  indicated,  not  so  much  by  the  de- 
scription of  the  event  itself,  as  by  its  accompaniments  and 
its  consequences.  The  battle  is  fought  and  won  by  the 
youthful  warrior  who  here  appears  for  the  first  time,  Joshua, 
the  Ephraimite.  But  Moses  is  on  'the  hill,'  overlooking 
the  fight;  he  stands,  in  the  Oriental  attitude  of  prayer, 
his  hands  stretched  out,  as  if  to  draw  down  and  receive 
blessings  from  above.  Beside  him,  holding  up  his  arms 
as  they  fail  from  weariness,  are  his  brother  and  (if  we 
may  trust  Josephus  ^)  his  brother-in-law,  one  whose  name 
occurs  but  seldom,  yet  always  so  as  to  show  a  high  im- 
portance beyond  what  we  are  actually  told  concerning  him, 
Hur,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  grandfather  of  the  builder  of  the 
Tabernacle,  husband  of  the  prophetess  Miriam.  The  victory 
is  gained;  and  on  the  summit  of  the  hill  was  erected  a 
rude  altar,  named  or  inscribed  by  two  words  signifying 
'  Jehovah  is  my  banner ; '  and  a  fragment  of  the  hymn  of 
victory  was  transmitted  through  Joshua  to  after  ages,  pro- 


'  Judg.  V.  14;  xii.  15.  Compare  also  Bcs.  iii.  287. 

the  'Tombs  of  the  Amalekites,'   an-  ^  xxv.  18. 

cient  monuments  so  called,  a  few  miles  *  Jos.  Ant.  iii.  2,  4. 
north  of  Jerusalem.     Eobinson,  J3ib, 


LECT.  VI.  THE   KENITES.  143 

bably  in  the  book  of  the  Wars  of  Jehovah,  '  As  the  hand  is 
'  on  the  throne  of  Jehovah,^  so  there  shall  be  war  between 
'  Jehovah  and  Amalek  from  generation  to  generation.'  The 
situation  well  accords  with  the  spot  consecrated  in  Christian 
times  as  the  sanctuary  of  Paran.  In  the  fifth  century,  a  city, 
a  church,  an  episcopal  palace,  had  gathered  round  it;  and 
pilgrims  flocked  to  it  in  considerable  numbers.  In  the  Jewish 
Church,  the  memory  of  the  first  enemy  of  the  Chosen  People 
was  long  preserved ;  and  the  slaughter  which  Joshua  had 
begun  was  carried  out  to  extermination,  first  under  Saul  and 
then  under  David.  Its  last  trace  appears  in  the  offensive 
name  of  '  Agagite,'  applied  to  Haman  in  the  book  of 
Esther. 

This  was  the  first  hostile  encounter.     Immediately  in  con-  The 
nexion  with  this  we  read  of  the  friendly  encounter  with  that  ■^®"^^^^- 
other  tribe,  which  is  here  frequently  mentioned  in  the  same 
close  contact  and  contrast  with  Amalek.     On  the  shores,  as 
it  would  seem,  of  the  Gulf  of  Akaba,  dwelt  the  Kenites,  a 
clan  of  the  vast  tribe  of  Midian.     We  have  already  seen  its  Jethro. 
Chief  or  Priest,  variously  named  Jethro,  Jether,  probably 
Hobab,  and  Shouaib,  possibly  Eeuel.^     Of  all  the  characters 
that  come  across  us  in  this   stage  of  their  history,  he    is 
the  purest  type  of  the  Arabian  chief.     In  the  sight  of  his 
numerous  flocks  feeding  round  the  well  in  Midian,  in  his 
courtesy    to    the    stranger    who   became  at    once   his    slave 
and  his  son-in-law,  we  seem  to  be  carried  back  to  the  days 
of  Jacob  and   Labaji.     And   now  the   old  chief,  attracted 
from  far  by  tlie  tidings  of  his  kinsman's  fame,  finds  him 

'  Exod.  xvii.  16  ;  see  a  similar  ex-  at  the  present  day,  and  in  the  Miissul- 

pression  as   an   adjuration    in    Gen.  man   traditions    he  is  further  repre- 

xiv.  22,  and  Deut.  xxxii.  40.  sented  as  the  mysterious  El  Khudr. 

^  These  various  names  are  given  in  (See  D'Herhelot,  'Moussa.')     The  in- 

(1)  Ex.  iii.  1,  xviii.  5  ;  (2)    Ex.  iv.  tention  of  the  narrative  will  remain 

18;  (3)  Num.  x.  29;  (4)  Ex.  ii.  18.  the  same,  if,  as  has  been  sometimes 

Shouaib   (evidently  another  foi-m   of  supposed,  Jethro  and  Hobab  are  father 

Hobab)  is  liis  usual  Arab  designation  and  son. 


144  THE   WILDERNESS.  lect.  vi. 

out  in  the  heart  of  the  mountains  of  Sinai,  '  encamped  by 
'  the  Mount  of  God.'  '  I,  Jethro,  thy  father-in-law,  am 
'  come  unto  thee,  and  thy  wife,  and  her  two  sons  with 
*  her.  And  Moses  went  out  to  meet  his  father-in-law, 
'  and  did  obeisance,  and  kissed  him,' — gave  the  full  Arab 
salutation  on  each  side  of  the  head, — '  and  they  asked  each 
'  other  of  their  welfare,' — the  burst  of  question  and  answer, 
which  renders  these  meetings  so  vociferous  at  first,  rapidly 
subsiding  into  total  silence,  as  then,  hand  in  hand,  '  they 
'  come  into  the  tent,'  and  confer  privately  concerning  the  mat- 
ters of  real  interest  to  either  party.  He  listens,  and  acknow- 
ledges the  gTeatness  of  his  kinsman's  Gfod  ;  he  officiates  (if  one 
may  so  say)  like  a  second  Melchizedek,  the  High  Priest  of  the 
Desert ;  '  he  took  a  burnt  offering  and  sacrifices  for  God ; 
*and  Aaron  came,'  even  Aaron  the  future  priest  of  Israel, 
'and  all  the  elders  of  Israel,  to  eat  bread,'  to  join  in  the 
solemn  feast  of  thanksgiving,  'with  Moses'  father-in-law, 
'  before  God.'  He  is  the  first  friend,  the  first  counsellor,  the 
first  guide,  that  they  have  met,  since  they  cut  themselves  off 
from  the  wisdom  of  Egjrpt,  and  they  hang  upon  his  lips  like 
children.  He  sees  Moses  wearing  himself  away  by  under- 
taking labour  that  is  too  heavy  for  him ;  and  he  suggests  to 
him  the  same  subordination  of  rulers  and  judges,  of  elders 
or  sheykhs,  that  still  forms  the  constitution  of  the  Arabs  of 
the  peninsula :  and  '  Moses  hearkened  to  the  voice  of  his 
'  father-in-law,  and  did  all  that  he  had  said.'  And  out  of 
this  simple  arrangement  sprang  the  gradations  that  we 
trace  long  afterwards  in  the  constitution  of  the  Hebrew 
commonwealth.  'And  when  he  was  to  depart  to  his  own 
'  land  and  to  liis  own  kindred,  Moses  prayed  him  not  to  leave 
'  them ; '  in  the  trackless  desert,  he,  with  his  Bedouin  instincts 
and  his  knowledge  of  the  wilderness,  would  '  know  how  they 
'  were  to  encamp,  and  would  be  to  them  instead  of  eyes.'  '  The 

'  Num.  X.  29,  30. 


LECT.  VI.  ITS    DIFFia^LTIES.  145 

alliance  so  formed  was  never  broken.  In  subsequent  ages, 
when  Israel  had  long  since  become  a  settled  and  civilised 
people,  in  their  own  land  a  stranger's  eye  would  have  at 
once  discerned  little  groups  of  settlers  here  and  there  retain- 
ing their  Arabian  customs,  yet  one  with  the  masters  of  the 
soil.  In  the  caverns  of  Engedi,  on  the  southern  frontier  of 
Judah,  the  '  children  of  the  Kenite '  were  to  be  seen  dwelling 
among  the  people.  The  valley  opening  down  from  the  east 
to  the  Jordan,  opposite  Jericho,  still  bears  the  name  of 
Hobab,  Far  in  the  north,  by  Kedesh-Naphtali,  a  grove  of 
oaks  was  called,  from  the  nomad  encampment  hard  by,  '  the 
'  oak  of  the  unloading  of  tents.'  It  is  the  tent  of  Heber  the 
Kenite,  whose  wife  Jael  will  make  use  of  the  show  of  Ara- 
bian hospitality  to  slay  the  enemy  of  Israel.  In  the  streets 
of  Jerusalem,  during  the  final  siege,  a  band  of  wild  Arabs 
will  be  seen,  dwelling  in  tents,  drinking  no  mne.  They 
are  '  the  children  of  Jehonadab  the  son  of  Eechab,'  '  the 
^  Kenites  that  came  of  Hemath  the  father  of  the  house  of 
Eechab.'  ^ 

4.  Besides  the  dangers  from  the  desert  tribes,  tliis  earlier  The  diffi- 
stage  of  the  wanderings  also  brings  out  those  natm-al  diffi-  ^^^^^"^  ^^. 
culties  of  the  desert-journey,  which,  through  the  guidance 
of  Moses,  were  to  be  overcome.  It  is  not  here  intended  to 
enter  upon  the  vexed  question  of  the  support  of  Israel  in 
the  wilderness.  There  are  two  classes  of  readers  to  whom 
it  presents  no  perplexity — those  who  are  disposed  to  treat 
the  whole  as  poetry  rather  than  as  history,  and  those  who 
have  no  scruple  in  inventing  miraculous  interferences  which 
have  no  foundation  in  the  Sacred  narrative.^  It  concerns 
those  only  who  feel  the  truth  and  soberness  of  the  narrative 
too  strongly  to  venture  on  either  of  these  expedients.  They, 
be  they  few  or  many,  may  be  content  to  withhold  a  hasty 

'  Jiidg.  i.  16,  iv.  11 ;  Jir.  xxxv.  2  ;  1  Clirou.  ii.  55. 
«  Sinai  and  Falestine,  24-27. 


water. 


146  THE   WILDERNESS.  lect.  vi. 

judgment  on  points  which  the  Scripture  has  left  undeter- 
mined, and  to  which  the  localities  and  the  phenomena  of  the 
desert  give  no  certain  clue.  We  cannot  repudiate  altogether 
the  existence  of  natural  causes,  unless  we  go  so  far  as  to 
maintain  that  mountains  and  palm-trees,  quails  and  waters, 
wind  and  earthquake,  were  mere  creations  of  the  moment  to 
supply  momentary  wants  ;  we  cannot  repudiate  altogether 
the  intervention  of  a  Providence,  strange,  unexpected,  and 
impressive  in  the  highest  degree,  unless  we  are  prepared  to 
reject  the  whole  story  of  the  stay  in  the  wilderness. 

In  the  case  of  each  of  the  main  supports  of  the  Israelites, 
there  have  been  memorials,  preserved  down  to  our  own  time, 
of  the  recollections  which  the  Jewish  and  the  Christian  Church 
'1.  The  retained  of  those  times.  The  flowing  of  the  water  from  the 
rock  has  been  localised  in  various  forms  by  Arab  traditions. 
The  isolated  rock  in  the  valley  of  the  Leja,  near  Mount  S. 
Catherine,  with  the  twelve  mouths,  or  fissures,  for  the  twelve 
tribes,  was  pointed  out  as  the  monument  of  the  wonder,  at 
least  as  early  as  the  seventh  century.  The  living  streams  of 
Feiran,  of  Shuk  Musa,  of  Wady  Musa,  have  each  been  con- 
nected with  the  event  by  the  names  bestowed  upon  them. 
The  Jewish  tradition  amplified  tha  simple  statement  in  the 
Pentateuch  to  the  prodigious  extent  of  supposing  a  rock  or  ball 
of  water  constantly  accompanying  them.^  The  Apostle  took 
up  the  tradition  in  one  of  his  forcible  allegorical  allusions : 
'  They  drank  of  the  spiritual  Eock  which  followed  them,  and 
*  that  Eock  was  Christ.'  ^  This  again  passed  on  into  the 
Christian  imagery  of  the  Eoman  Catacombs,  where  Peter, 
'  the  rock  of  the  Church,'  under  the  figure  of  Moses,  strikes 
the  Eock,  and  brings  out  its  living  water ;  and  it  has  found 
its  final  and  most  elevated  application  in  one  of  the  greatest 
of  English  hymns, — 

'  See  the  article  'Beer,'  in  the  Dictionary  of  the  Bible. 
*  1  Cor.  X.  4. 


LECT.  VI.  THE   M.iXXA.  147 

Rock  of  Ages,  cleft  foi-  me, 
Let  me  hide  myself  in  Thee. 

The  manna,  in  like  manner,  according  to  the  Jewish  tra-  2.  The 
dition  of  Josephus,  and  the  belief  of  the  Arab  tribes,  and  of 
the  Greek  Church  at  the  present  day,  is  still  found  in  the 
droppings  from  the  tamarisk  bushes  which  abound  in  this 
part  of  the  desert.'  The  more  critical  spirit  of  modern  times 
has  been  led  to  dwell  od  the  distinction  between  the  existing 
manna,  and  that  described  in  the  Book  of  Numbers ;  ^  and 
the  identification  is  further  rendered  precarious  by  the  ap- 
parent insufficiency  of  the  present  supply  ^  in  the  Desert  of 
Sinai.  In  the  New  Testament,''  and  in  subsequent  Chris- 
tian writings,  the  literal  meaning  of  the  incident  is  almost 
lost  in  its  high  spiritual  application  to  the  heavenly  suste- 
nance of  the  soul,  either  in  the  Eucharist  or  in  our  religious 
life  generally.  Of  all  the  typical  scenes  represented  in  the 
celebrated  Ammergau  Mystery,  none  is  more  natural  or 
touching  than  that  in  which  the  whole  multitude  of  the 
Israelites,  in  every  variety  of  age,  sex,  and  character,  appear 
looking  up  with  one  ardent  expectation  to  the  downward 
flight  of  the  celestial  food,  fluttering  over  the  hundreds  of 
upturned  heads,  according  to  that  fanciful  and  childlike 
but  beautiful  conception  of  the  descent  of  the  manna.  But, 
in  the  Jewish  Church,  the  historical  origin  of  this  sacred 
figm-e  was  always  carried  back  beyond  Palestine  to  the  de- 
sert ;  a  portion  of  it  was  laid  up  as  a  relic  by  the  Ark  for 
this  very  piu-pose, '  that  they  might  see  the  bread  where-vnth 
'■  their  fathers  were  fed  in  the  wilderness.'  ^  And  a  Christian 
poet  has  well  caught,  in  '  The  Song  of  the  Manna-Gratherers,' 
the  freshness,  the  monotony,  and  the  transitional  character 
of  the  whole  passage  through  the  desert,  and  at  the  same  time 

'  Sinai  and  Palestine,  26,  note.  this  kind  of  manna  is  said  to  he  rery 

-  Num.  xi.  7,  8.  considerable. 

^  In  Persia,  however,  and  in  South  ■*  John  \\.  31,  49 ;  1  Cor.  x.  3. 

Africa,    the    sustenance    afforded   by  ^  Ex.  xvi.  32-34  ;  Heb.  ix,  4. 

L  2 


148  THE   WILDEKXESS.  lect.  vi. 

has  blended  together  the  natural  and  the  supernatural  in 
that  union  which  is  at  once  most  Biblical  and  most  philo- 
sophical : — 

Comrades,  haste  !  the  tent's  tall  sloading 

Lies  along  the  level  sand, 
Far  and  faint  :  the  stars  are  fading 
'  O'er  the  gleaming  western  strand, 

Airs  of  morning 
Freshen  the  bleak  biirning  land. 

Haste,  or  e'er  the  third  hour  glowing 

With  its  eager  thirst  prevail, 
O'er  the  moist  pearls,  now  bestrowing 

Thymy  slope  and  rushy  vale. 

Comrades — what  our  sires  have  told  us, 
Watch  and  wait,  for  it  wiU  come. 

Not  by  manna  show'rs  at  morning 

Shall  our  board  be  then  suppHed, 
But  a  strange  pale  gold,  adorning 

Many  a  tufted  mountain's  side, 
Yearly  feed  iis. 

Year  by  year  our  murmurings  chide. 

There,  no  prophet's  touch  awaiting, 

From  each  cool  deep  cavern  start 
Rills,  that  since  their  first  creating 

Ne'er  have  ceased  to  sing  their  part ; 
Oft  we  hear  them 

In  our  dreams,  with  thirsty  heart.  ^ 

'  Keble's  Lyra  Iiinocentium. 


149 


LECTUEE  VII. 

SINAI    AND    THE     LAW. 

Eephidim  was  but  the  threshold  of  Sinai.  'In  the  third  March 
'month  they  departed  from  Eephidim,  and  pitched  in  the  phidin/' 
'  wilderness  of  Sinai.'  Onwards  and  upwards,  after  their  long 
halt,  exulting  in  their  first  victory,  they  advanced  deeper  and 
deeper  into  the  mountain  ranges,  they  knew  not  whither. 
They  knew  only  that  it  was  for  some  great  end,  for  some 
mighty  sacrifice,  for  some  solemn  disclosure,  such  as  they 
had  never  before  witnessed.  Onwards  they  went,  and  the 
mountains  closed  around  them  ;  upwards  through  winding- 
valley,  and  under  high  cliff,  and  over  rugged  pass,  and 
through  gigantic  forms,  on  which  the  marks  of  creation  even 
now  seem  fresh  and  powerful ;  and  at  last,  through  '  all  the 
different  valleys,  the  whole  body  of  the  people  were  as- 
sembled. On  their  rio-ht  hand  and  on  their  left  rose  lono- 
successions  of  lofty  rocks,  forming  a  vast  avenue,  like  the 
approaches  which  they  had  seen  leading  to  the  Egyptian 
temples  between  colossal  figures  of  men  and  of  gods.  At 
the  end  of  this  broad  avenue,  rising  immediately  out  of 
the  level  plain  on  which  they  were  encamped,  towered  the 
massive  cliffs  of  Sinai,  like  the  huge  altar  of  some  natu- 
ral temple ;  encircled  by  peaks  of  every  shape  and  height, 

'  With  regard  to  the  locality,  I  have  expressions  sufficiently  wide  to  include 

seen   no   cause   to   alter  the  opinion  any  sj^ot  which   may  be   selected  in 

maintained   in    Sinai   and  Palestine,  the  neighbourhood  of  Jebel  Musa. 
43,  44  ;  but  I  have  purposely  left  the 


150  SINAI   AND   THE    LAW.  lect.  vii. 

the  natural  pyramids  of  tlie  desert.  In  this  sanctuary, 
secluded  from  all  earthly  things,  raised  high  above  even 
the  wilderness  itself,  arrived,  as  it  must  have  seemed  to 
them,  at  the  very  end  of  the  world — they  waited  for  the 
Eevelation  of  Grod.  How  would  He  make  Himself  known 
to  them  ?  Would  it  be,  as  they  had  seen  in  those  ancient 
temples  of  Egypt,  under  the  similitude  of  any  figm-e,  '  the 
'  likeness  of  male  or  female,  the  likeness  of  any  beast  that 
'  is  upon  the  earth,  or  the  likeness  of  any  fowl  that  flieth 
'  in  the  air,  or  the  likeness  of  anything  that  creepeth  on 
'  the  ground,  or  the  likeness  of  any  fish  that  is  in  the  waters 
'  under  the  earth  ? '  Would  it  be  any,  or  all  of  these  forms, 
under  which  they  would  at  last  see  Him,  who,  with  a  mighty 
hand,  had  brought  them  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  ? 

These  questions,  or  the  like  of  these,  are  what  must  have 
occurred  to  the  Israelites  on  the  morning  of  the  mighty  day 
when  they  stood  beneath  the  Mount. 
Sinai.  The  outward  scene  might  indeed  prepare  them  for  what 

was  to  come.  They  stood,  as  I  have  described,  in  a  vast 
sanctuary,  not  made  with  hands — a  sanctuaiy  where  every 
outward  shape  of  life,  animal  or  vegetable,  such  as  in  Egypt 
had  attracted  their  wonder  and  admiration,  was  withdrawn. 
Bare  and  unclothed,  tlie  mountains  rose  around  them ;  their 
very  shapes  and  colours  were  such  as  to  carry  their  thoughts 
back  to  the  days  of  primeval  creation,  '  from  everlasting  to 
'  everlasting,  before  the  mountains  were  brought  forth,  or  ever 
'  the  earth  and  the  world  were  made.' '  At  last  the  morning 
broke,  and  every  eye  was  fixed  on  the  summit  of  the  height. 
Was  it  any  earthly  form,  was  it  any  distinct  shape,  that 
unveiled  itself?  ....  There  were  thunders,  there  were 
lightnings,  there  was    the  voice    of  a  trumpet^  exceeding 

'  See  Ps.  xc.  2,  ascribed  to  Moses.  ^  It  is  well  known  that  no  volcanic 

For  this  aspect  of  the  mountains,  see  phenomena  exist  in  the  desert  to  ae- 
Sinai  and  Palestine,  pp.  12,  13.  count  for  these  appearances.     In  fact, 


LECT.  vii.  DARKNESS    OF   SINAI.  151 

loud;  but  on  the  Mount  itself  there  was  a  thick  cloud — 
darkness,  and  clouds,  and  thick  darkness.  It  was  '  the  secret  * 
'  place  of  thunder.'  On  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  on  the 
skirts  of  the  dark  cloud,  or  within  it,  was  Moses  himself  with- 
drawn from  view.  It  is  this  which  represents  to  us  the  seclu- 
sion so  essential  to  the  Eastern  idea — .within  certain  limits, 
so  essential  to  any  idea — -of  the  Prophet ;  that, 

Separate  from  the  world,  his  breast 

Might  deeply  take  and  strongly  keep 
The  print  of  Heaven. 

I.  This  was  the  first  and  chief  impression,  which  the  Israel-  Negativp 
ites  and  their  leader  alike  were  intended  to  receive  at  Mount   o/siuai"^° 
Sinai.     They  saw  not  Grod ;  and  yet  they  were  to  believe  that 
He  was  there.     They  were  to  make  no  sign  or  likeness  of 
Grod,  and  yet  they  were  to  believe  that  He  was  then  and 
always  their  one  and  only  Lord. 

How  liard  it  was  for  them  to  receive  and  act  on  this,  may 


all  the  expresfsions  used  in  the  Sacred  '  up  the  Mount  as  if  it  had  been  day  ; 

writers  are  those  which  are  usually  'then,    after   the    interval   of  a   few 

employed  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptiires  '  seconds,  came  the  peal  of  thunder, 

to  describe  a  thunderstorm.     For  the  '  bursting  like  a  shell,  to  scatter  its 

effects  of  a  thunderstorm  at  Mount  'echoes   to  the  four  quarters  of  the 

Sinai,    compare    Dr.   Stewart's    Tent  '  heavens,    and    overpowering    for  a 

and  Khan,  139,  140:  ' Every  bolt,  as  'moment   the   loud  bowlings  of  the 

'  it  burst  with  the  roar  of  a  cannon,  '  wind.'        Mr.     Drew     witnessed     a 

'  seemed   to  awaken  a  series  of  dis-  thunderstorm     at    Serbal,    and    was 

'  tinct   echoes    on    every  side ;  .  .  .  .  struck  by  its  likeness  to  the  sound  of 

'they  swept  like  a  whirlwind  among  a  trumpet  {Scripture  Lands,  66,  424). 

'  the     higher     mountains,     becoming  Compare  the  descriptions  of  the  event 

'faint    as    some   mighty    peak    inter-  in  Jos.  Ant.  iii.  5,  2;  Judg.  v.  4;  Ps. 

'  vened,    and  bursting  with   undimi-  Ixviii.  7,  8,  9 ;  in  each  of  which,  to 

'  nished  volume  tluough  some  yawn-  the  other  images  of  a  storm,  are  added 

'  ing  cleft,  tdl  the  very  ground  trembled  the   torrents  of  rain — '  The    heavens 

'with  the  concussion.  .  .  .  It  seemed  '  dropped ;"  The  clouds  dropped  water ; ' 

'  as  if  the  mountains    of  the    whole  '  A    plentifid    rain  ;  '    '  Violent    rain.' 

'  peninsula  were   answering    one  an-  A   like  description  occurs  in  Hab.  iii. 

'other  in  a  chorus  of  the  deepest  bass.  3-11.    Compare  Ps.  xviii.  7-16  ;  xxix. 

'  Ever  and  anon  a  flash  of  lightning  3-9. 

'  dispelled  the  pitchy  darkness  and  lit  '  Ps.  Ixxxi.  7. 


152  SINAI   AND    THE    LAW.  lect.  vii. 

be  imagined  from  what  has  been  said  of  their  previous  state 
— may  be  seen  from  their  subsequent  history.  Even  on  that 
very  plain,  beneath  that  very  Mount,  they  could  not  bear  to 
think  that  they  were  to  serve  a  God  who  was  invisible :  they 
returned  to  Egypt  in  their  hearts.  Then  ensued  a  scene 
which  Josephus,  after  the  manner  of  much  Ecclesiastical 
History  of  later  times,  shrinks  from  describing,  but  which 
the  Sacred  historian  does  not  fear  to  relate  at  length. 
Aaron,  the  great  High  Priest,  in  the  absence  of  his  greater 
The  wor-  brother,  was  shaken.  He  framed  a  visible  form,  the  likeness 
Culf°  ^'^  ^^  ^^^®  sacred  beast  of  Heliopolis,  and  proclaimed  it  as 
'the  God,'  which  had  brought  them  up  from  the  land  of 
'  Egypt.'  An  altar  rose  before  it,  like  that  which  still  exists 
beneath  the  nostrils  of  the  Sphinx;  a  three  days'  festival 
was  proclaimed,  with  all  the  licentious  rites  of  song  and 
dance  which  they  had  learned  in  Egypt.  And  not  then 
only,  but  again  and  again,  in  the  history  both  of  the  Jewish 
and  of  the  Christian  Church,  has  the  same  temptation  re- 
turned. The  Priest  has  set  up  what  the  Prophet  has  de- 
stroyed. Graven  images  have  been  set  up  in  deed  or  in 
word,  to  make  the  Unseen  visible,  and  the  Eternal  temporal. 
But  the  Revelation  of  Sinai  has  prevailed.  Slowly  and 
with  many  reverses  did  the  great  truth  then  first  imparted 
gain  possession  of  the  hearts  of  Israel,  and,  through  them,  of 
the  whole  world — that  we  are  neither  to  imagine  that  we  see 
God  when  we  do  not,  nor  yet,  because  we  do  not  see  Him, 
to  doubt  that  He  has  been,  and  is,  and  yet  shall  be. 
This  was  the  marvel  which  the  Jewish  worship  presented, 
even  to  the  best  and  wisest  heathens  who  were  perplexed  by 
what  seemed  to  them  a  Eeligion  without  a  God.  It  is  to 
us  the  declaration  that  there  must  be  a  void  created  by 
the  destruction  of  errors,  by  the  removal  of  false  images 

'  That   '  Elohim  '    is   singular   ap-       xxxii.  4,  and  also  from  the  parallel  in 
pears  both  from  the   context   in  Ex.       Neh.  ix.  18. 


LECT.  vn.  PROPHETIC   MISSION    OF   MOSES.  153 

of  God,  before  we  can  receive  the  true  image  of  the  Truth 
itself.' 

II.  But  it  was  not  only  a  negative  form  that  the  Revelation  Positive 
of  Sinai  assumed.  This  blank,  this  void,  this  darkness  with-  ^f  gi^ai. 
out  a  similitude,  this  vague  infinity,  as  a  heathen  would 
have  called  it,  supplied  the  enthusiasm,  the  ardour,  the  prac- 
tical basis  of  life,  which  most  nations  in  the  old  world,  and 
many  in  the  modern  world,  have  believed  to  be  compatible 
only  with  the  most  elaborate  imagery  and  the  most  definite 
statements. 

The  idea  of  God  in  the  Jewish  Church,  which  can  be 
traced  to  nothing  short  of  Mount  Sinai,  was  the  very  reverse 
of  a  negation  or  an  abstraction.  It  was  the  absorbing  thought 
of  the  national  mind.  It  ^  was  not  merely  the  Lord  of  the 
Universe,  but  '  the  Lord  who  had  brought  them  out  of  the 
'land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage.'  In  the 
reception  and  .promulgation  of  this  Eevelation  the  pro- 
phetic character  of  Moses  is  chiefly  brought  out.  He  had 
been  called  to  his  prophetic  mission,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the 
vision  of  the  Burning  Bush.  But  the  mission  itself,  properly 
speaking,  dates  from  this  time,  and  is  indicated  in  a  form 
nearly  corresponding  to  that  of  his  original  call.  '  I  beseech 
'  Thee,  show  me  Thy  glory,'  was  the  petition  which  bm-st 
from  the  Prophet  in  the  hour  of  bitter  disappointment 
and  isolation,  when  he  found  that  his  brother  and  his  people 
had  fallen  away  from  him.  The  same  wish  is  recorded  of 
the  heroes  and  kings  of  Egypt.^  But  tlie  difference  in  the 
answer  to  the  two  prayers  well  expresses  the  difference 
between  the  Egjrptian  and  the  Mosaic  religion.  To  the 
Egyptian  hero  the  Divinity  was  revealed    in  the  grotesque 


•  I  cannot  forbear  to  refer,  for  the  am-  ^  Ewald,  Geschichte,  ii.  93-122. 

plifieation  of  this  idea,  to  Mr.  Clough's  '  Manetho  in  Josephus,  c.  Ap.  i.  26. 

remarkable  verses,   '  The  New  Sinai '  Herod,  ii.  42. 
{Poems,  p.  27). 


154  SIXAI    AND    THE    LAW.  lect.  vii. 

form  of  the  ram.  To  the  Israelite  Prophet  the  reply  was : 
'  Thou  canst  not  see  My  face,  for  there  shall  no  man  see  Me 
'  and  live.'  He  was  commanded  to  hew  two  blocks  like  those 
which  he  had  destroyed.  He  was  to  come  absolutely  alone. 
Even  the  flocks  and  herds  which  fed  in  the  neighbouring- 
valleys  were  to  be  removed  out  of  sight  of  the  mountain. 
He  took  his  place  on  a  well-known  or  prominent  rock — 
'the'  rock.'  The  legendary  locality  is  still  shown,  and  the 
importance  of  the  incident,  told  equally  in  the  Bible  and 
the  Koran,^  is  attested  by  the  fact  that  from  this,  rather 
than  from  any  more  general  connexion,  the  mountain  derives 
its  name  of  the  '  Mount  of  Moses.'  It  was  a  moment  of 
his  life  second  only  to  that  when  he  received  the  first  reve- 
lation of  the  Name  of  Jehovah.  '  The  Lord  passed  by  and 
'  proclaimed.  The  Lord,  the  Lord  God,  merciful  and  gracious, 
'  long-suffering  and  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth,  keeping 
*  mercy  for  thousands,  forgiving  iniquity  and  transgression 
'  and  sin,  and  that  will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty.'  The 
union  of  the  qualities  so  often  disjoined  in  man,  so  little 
thought  of  in  the  gods  of  old,  'justice  and  mercy,'  'truth 
and  love,'  became  henceforward  the  formula,  many  times 
repeated — the  substance  of  the  Creed  of  the  Jewish  Church. 
And  this  union,  which  was  disclosed  as  the  highest  revelation 
to  Moses,  was  exactly  what  received  its  fullest  exemplification 
in  the  final Eevelation, to  which  Moses  led  the  way:  when,  in 
the  most  literal  sense  of  the  words,  'grace  and  truth' — 
the  tenderness  of  grace,  the  sternness  and  justice  of  truth 
— '  came  by  Jesus  Christ.' 
Prophetic         How  marked  an  epoch  is  thus  intended  appears  from  the 

mission  of    j^Q^jg  Qf  ^\^q  Divine  manifestations,  which  are  described  as 

Moses.  ' 

commencing  at  this  juncture,  and    perpetuated  with  more 
or  less  continuity  through  the  rest  of  his  career.     Imme- 

'  Exod.  xxxiii.  18,  20,  21;  xxxiv,  "^  vii.  139.   See  Sinai  and  Palestine, 

1,  3.  30. 


LECT.  VII.  PEOPHETIC   MISSION   OF   MOSES.  153 

diately  after  the  catastrophe  of  the  worship  of  the  calf,  and 
apparently  in  consequence  of  it,  Moses  removed  the  chief 
tent — his  own  tent,  according  to  the  Septuagint  ^ — outside 
the  camp,  and  invested  it  with  a  sacred  character  under  the 
name  of  '  The  Tent  or  Tabernacle  of  the  Congregation.' 
This  tent  became  henceforth  the  chief  scene  of  his  com- 
munications with  Grod.  He  left  the  camp,  and  it  is  described 
how,  as  in  the  expectation  of  some  great  event,  all  the 
people  rose  up  and  stood  every  man  at  his  tent  door,  and 
looked — gazing  after  Moses  until  he  disappeared  within  the 
Tabernacle.  As  he  disappeared  the  entrance  was  closed 
behind  him  by  the  cloudy  pillar,  at  the  sight  of  which  the 
people  prostrated  themselves.^  The  communications  within 
the  Tabernacle  were  still  more  intimate  than  those  on  the 
mountain.  'Jehovah  spake  unto  Moses  face  to  face,  as  a 
*  man  speaketh  unto  his  friend.'  ^  He  was  apparently 
accompanied  on  these  mysterious  visits  by  his  attendant 
Hoshea  (or  Joshua),  who  remained  in  the  Tabernacle  after 
his  master  had  left  it.* 

It  was  during  these  prophetic  visions  that  a  peculiarity  is 
mentioned  which  apparently  had  not  been  seen  before.  On 
his  final  descent  from  Mount  Sinai,  after  his  second  long 
seclusion,  a  splendour  shone  on  his  face,  as  if  from  the 
glory  of  the  Divine  Presence ;  ^  which  gradually  faded  away, 

'  Exod.  xxsiii.  7.    Ewald,  Alterthii-  thorised  Version  reads,  Exod.  xxxir. 

oner,  p.  329.  33,     '  And    [tiW]    Moses    had    done 

*  Exod.  xxxiii.  10,  speaking    with    them  ;  '    and    other 

*  Ibid,  xxxiii.  11.  versions,    'he    had  put  on    the   veil.' 

*  Ibid.  But,  in  the  Vulgate  and  Septuagint, 

*  It  is  from  the  ^ilgate  trans-  he  is  said  to  put  on  the  veil,  not 
lation  of  keren — 'cornutara  habens  during,  but  after,  the  conversation 
faciem,'  that  the  Western  Church  has  with  the  people, — in  order  to  hide, 
adopted  the  conventional  representa-  not  the  splendour,  but  the  vanishing 
tion  of  the  horns  of  Moses.  In  the  away  of  the  splendour,  and  to  have 
English  and  most  Protestant  transla-  worn  it  till  the  moment  of  his  return 
tions,  Moses  is  said  to  wear  a  veil  to  the  Divine  Presence,  in  order  to 
in  order  to  hide  the  splendour.  In  rekindle  the  light  there.  With  this 
order  to  produce  this  sense,  the  Au-  reading  agi-ecs  the  obvious  meaning 


156  SIXAI   AND    THE    LAW.  lect.  vii. 

till,  concealing  its  extinction  by  a  veil,  he  returned  to  the 
Divine  Presence,  once  more  to  rekindle  it  there.  It  is  from 
this  incident,  that,  by  no  very  remote  analogy,  the  Apostle 
draws  the  contrast  between  the  fearlessness,  the  openness,  of 
the  New  Dispensation,"  and  the  concealment  and  doubtfulness 
of  the  Old.  '  We  have  no  fear,  as  Moses  had,  that  our  glory 
'  will  pass  away.' 

It  is  only  by  thus  looking  forwards  to  the  end,  that  we  see 
the  general  importance  of  the  Prophetic  Mission  of  Moses. 
But  it  is  only  by  looking  back  to  the  beginning,  that  we 
understand  its  peculiar  significance  in  the  Jewish  history. 

That  the  consciousness  of  a  present  Ruler,  in  the  closest 
moral  relation  with  man,  as  above  described,  was  a  part  of 
the  Mosaic  Eevelation,  properly  so  called, — that  it  had  its 
origin  in  the  solitudes  of  Sinai,  and  not  in  any  later  growth 
of  the  people  of  Israel,— seem  proved  by  the  place  which  it 
holds  as  the  basis  of  their  most  striking  peculiarities.     Two 
may  be  selected  as  illustrations  of  this  position. 
Absence  of       First,  the  Jewish  religion  is  characterised  in  an  eminent 
tion  of  a      degree  by  the  dimness  of  its  conception  of  a  future  life, 
future  life.    Fj-qj^  time  to  time  there  are  glimpses  of  the  hope  of  immor- 
tality.    But,  for  the  most  part,  it  is  in  the  present  life  that 
the  faith  of  the  Israelite  finds  its  full  accomplishment.     '  The 
'grave  cannot  praise  thee;  death  cannot  celebrate  thee,  .  .  . 
'  the  living,  the  living,  he  shall  praise  thee,  as  I  do  this  day.' ' 
It  is  needless  to  repeat  here  the  elaborate  contrast  drawn 
out  by  Bishop  Warburton  in  this  respect  between  the  Jewish 
Scriptures  and  the  religions   of   Paganism.      Nor  need  we 
adopt  the  paradoxical  expedient  by  which,  %Dm  this  apparent 
defect,  he  infers  the  Divine  Legation  of  Moses.    But  the  fact 
becomes  of  real  religious  importance,  if  we  trace  the  ground 

of  the  Hebrew  ■words,  and  it  is  this       13,  14. 

rendering    of    the    sense     which    is  '    Isaiah     xxxviii,     18,     19;     Ps. 

followed  by  St.   Paul  in   2   Cor.  iii.        xxxviii.  12. 


I.ECT,  VII.  THE   THEOCRACY.  157 

on  which  this  silence  respecting  the  Future  state  was  based. 
Not  from  want  of  religion,  but  (if  one  might  use  the  expres- 
sion) from  excess  of  religion,  was  this  void  left  in  the  Jewish 
mind.  The  Future  Life  was  net  denied  or  contradicted, — 
but  it  was  overlooked,  set  aside,  overshadowed,  by  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  living,  actual  presence  of  God  Himself. 
That  truth,  at  least  in  the  limited  conceptions  of  the  youth- 
ful nation,  was  too  vast  to  admit  of  any  rival  truth,  however 
precious.  When  David  or  Hezekiah,  as  in  the  passages  just 
quoted,  shrank  from  the  gloomy  vacancy  of  the  grave,  it  was 
because  they  feared  lest,  when  death  closed  their  eyes  on  the 
present  world,  they  sliould  lose  their  hold  '  on  that  Divine 
Friend,  with  whose  being  and  communion  the  present  world 
had  in  their  minds  been  so  closely  interwoven.  Such  a  sense 
of  the  overwhelming  greatness  and  nearness  of  Grod,  the  root 
of  feelings  so  peculiar  as  those  which  I  have  described,  must 
have  lain  too  deep  in  the  national  belief  to  have  had  its 
beginning  in  any  later  time  than  the  epoch  of  Moses.  It  is 
the  primary  stratification  of  the  Eeligiom  We  should  invert 
the  whole  order  of  the  history,  if  we  placed  it  amongst  the 
secondary  formations  of  subsequent  ages. 

Secondly,  it  is  to  this  period  that  we  must  refer  in  its  full  The  Theo- 
extent,  in  its  most  literal  meaning,  what  is  often  called  the  ^^^''^' 
Theocracy  of  the  Jewish  people.  The  word  is  derived  from 
Josephus's  account  of  this  time.  He,  as  it  would  seem, 
invented  the  phrase  to  express  an  idea  for  which  ordinary 
Grreek  could  furnish  no  adequate  term.  '  Our  lawgiver,'  he 
says,^  '  had  no  regard  to  monarchies,  oligarchies,  democracies, 
*  or  any  of  those  forms  ;  but  he  ordained  our  government  to  be 
'  what,  by  a  forced  expression,  may  be  called  "  a  Theocracy."  ' 
It  is  a  term  which  has  been  often  employed  since ;  usually 
in  the  sense  of  a  sacerdotal  rule,  which  is  almost  exactly  the 

'  Ewald,  Gcschichte,  ii.  121.  ^  C.  Apion,  ii.  17. 


158 


SIXAI    AND   THE    LAW. 


LECT.  vir. 


reverse  of  that  in  which  it  was  used  by  its  first  inventor. 
Eeligious     The  '  Theocracy '  of  Moses  was  not  a  government  by  priests, 
the  nation^.  ^^  opposed  to  kings ;  it  was  a  government  by  God  Himself, 
as  opposed  to  the  government  by  priests  or  kings.     It  was 
indeed,  in  its  highest  sense,  as  appeared  afterwards  in  the 
time  of  David,  compatible  both  with  regal  and  sacerdotal 
rule :  but,  in  the  first  instance,  it  excluded  all  rule,  except 
the  simplest  forms  which  the  freedom  of  desert  life  could 
furnish.     The  assembly  of  all  the  tribes  in  the  armed  con- 
gregation, the  chieftains  or  elders  of  the  various  tribes  as 
established  by  Jethro,  were  the  constituent  elements  of  the 
primitive  Hebrew  commonwealth  in  its  ordinary  social  re- 
lations. But  there  was  one  point  by  which  it  was  distinguished 
from  the  other  nations  of  antiquity,  namely,  its  comparative 
Subordina-  absence  of  caste,  its  equality  of  religious  relations.  An  heredi- 
priesthood.  tary  priesthood,  it  is  true,  was  established,  after  the  manner 
of  Egypt,  in  the  tribe  of  Levi,  in  the  family  of  Aaron.    But  it 
was  a  subsequent '  appendage  to  the  fundamental  precepts, 
to  the  first  declaration  of  the  religion :    in  its  hereditary 


'  Some  eminent  divines  have  sup- 
posed that  the  Levitical  ritual  was  an 
after-gi'owth  of  the  Mosaic  system, 
necessitated  or  suggested  by  the  in- 
capacity of  the  Israelites  to  retain  the 
higher  and  simpler  doctrine  of  the 
Divine  Unity, — as  proved  by  their 
return  to  the  worship  of  the  Hcliopo- 
litan  calf  under  the  sanction  of  the 
brother  of  Moses  himself.  There  is  no 
direct  statement  of  this  connexion  in 
the  Sacred  narrative  :  but  there  are  in- 
direct indications  of  it,  sufficient  to 
give  some  colour  to  such  an  explanation. 
The  event  itself,  as  we  have  seen,  is  de- 
scribed as  a  crisis  in  the  life  of  Moses, 
almost  equal  to  that  in  which  he  re- 
ceived his  first  call.  In  an  agony  of 
vexation  and  disappointment  he  de- 
stroyed the  monument  of  his  first  reve- 
lation (Ex.  xxxii.  19).     He  tlu-ew  up 


his  sacred  mission  (ib.  32).  He  craved 
and  he  received  a  new  and  special  re- 
velation of  the  attributes  of  God  to 
console  him  {ih.  xxxiii.  18).  A  fresh 
start  was  made  in  his  career  {ih.  xxxiv. 
29).  His  relation  with  his  countrymen 
henceforth  became  more  awful  and 
mysterious  {ib.  32-35).  In  point  of 
fact,  the  greater  part  of  the  details  of 
the  Levitical  system  were  subsequent 
to  this  catastrophe.  The  institution 
of  the  Levitical  tribe  grew  directly 
out  of  it  {ib.  xxxii.  28).  And  the  in- 
feriority of  this  part  of  the  system  to 
the  rest  is  expressly  stated  in  the 
Prophets,  and  expressly  connected 
with  the  idolatrous  tendencies  of  the 
nation — '  Wherefore  I  gave  them  sta- 
'  tutes  that  were  not  good,  and  jiidg- 
'mcnts  whereby  they  should  not 
'live'(Ezek.  xx.  25). 


LECT.  VII.  THE   THEOCRACY.  159 

functions,  in  its  sacred  dress,  in  its  minute  regulations,  rather 
a  part  of  the  mechanism  of  the  religion,  than  its  animating 
spirit.  The  Levitical  caste  never  corresponded  to  what  we 
should  call  'the  clergy.'  The  fact  that  the  Levites  were 
collected  in  single  cities  is  of  itself  a  fatal  objection  to  so 
regarding  them.'  They  never  claimed  or  were  intended  to 
govern  the  nation.  They  hardly  claimed  even  to  teach.  Levi 
was  not  the  ruling  tribe,  even  though  the  two  great  leaders 
belonged  to  it :  its  consecration  dated  from  no  essential 
ordinance  of  the  Law,  but  from  the  sudden  emergency  which 
arose  out  of  the  apostasy  at  the  time  of  the  molten  calf. 
Aaron,  though  the  head  of  that  tribe,  and  the  founder 
of  the  sacerdotal  family,  was  not  the  ruling  spirit  of  the 
people.  He  was  but  the  weaker  erring  helpmate  of  Moses, 
who  was  the  Guide,  the  Prophet,  but  not  the  Priest. 

We  shall  see  how,  like  the  equality  of  the  primitive  Chris- 
tian Church,  this  first  development  of  Israelite  independence 
gradually  passed  into  other  forms ;  to  what  disorders  it  gave 
rise  when  every  man  did  what  was  right  in  his  own  eyes,  and 
there  was  no  king  in  Israel ;  how,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Christian  Church  of  later  times,  all  the  complicated  relations 
of  state  and  of  hierarchy  afterwards  sprang  up  within  the 
framework  of  a  society  at  its  beginning  so  simple.  But  the 
twin  truths  which  seem  incorporated  with  the  very  localities 
of  Sinai — the  Unseen  Euler  in  the  thick  clouds  on  the  top 
of  the  awful  Mountain,  and  the  sacredness  of  the  whole  Con- 
gregation as  it  lay  spread  over  the  level  Plain  beneath — were 
never  lost  to  the  Jewish  Church,  and  have  been  the  constant 
springs  of  religious  freedom  and  responsibility  to  the  Chris- 
tian Church.  Even  at  the  very  outset  of  the  Eevelation  was 
announced  the  great  principle — the  Gospel,  as  it  has  been 
well  called,^  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation — so  new  to  the  nation 

'  Micliaelis,  Laws  of  Moses,  art.  52.  -  Ewald,  Gcschlchtc,  ii.  126. 


160 


SINAI   AND   THE    LAW. 


Universa- 
lity of 
prophetic 
inspira- 
tion. 


of  slaves,  who  had  hitherto  seen  truth  only  through  the  long- 
vista  of  mystical  emblems  and  sacred  incorporations.     '  Thus 

*  shalt  thou  say  to  the  house  of  Jacob,  and  tell  the  children 

*  of  Israel ;  Ye  have  seen  what  I  did  to  the  Egyptians,  and 
'  how  I  bare  you  on  eagles'  wings,  and  brouglit  you  unto 

*  Myself.  Now  therefore,  if  ye  will  obey  My  voice  indeed, 
'  and  keep  My  covenant,  then  shall  ye  be  a  peculiar  treasure 

*  unto  Me  above  all  people ;  for  all  the  earth  is  Mine.  And 
*ye  shall  be  unto   Me   a  kingdom  of  priests,  and   a  holy 

*  nation.'  ^     '  Ye  shall  be  holy,  for  I  am  holy.'  ^ 

Inspiration,  communion  with  God,  in  the  case  of  the  Pagan 
religions,  was  for  the  most  part  only  claimed  for  sacred 
families  or  local  oracles ;  in  the  case  of  the  Mussulman 
religion,  was  confined  to  its  first  founder  and  his  sacred 
volume.  But  in  the  case  of  Israel  it  extended  to  the  whole 
nation.  The  history  of  Israel,  from  Moses  downwards,  is 
not  the  history  of  an  inspired  book,  or  an  inspired  order,  but 
of  an  inspired  people.  When  Joshua,  in  his  youthful  zeal, 
entreated  Moses  to  forbid  the  prophesying  of  Eldad  and 
Medad,  because  they  remained  in  the  camp,  Moses  answered : 

*  Enviest  thou  for  my  sake  ?  Would  that  all  the  Lord's 
'  people  were  prophets,  and  that  the  Lord  would  put  His  Spirit 
'  upon  them  ! '  ^  In  different  forms  and  in  different  degrees, 
that  noble  wish  was  fulfilled.  The  acts  of  the  hero,  the  songs 
of  the  poet,  the  skill  of  the  artificer— Samson's  strength,  the 
music  of  David,  the  architecture  of  Bezaleel  and  Solomon, 
are  all  ascribed  to  the  inspiration  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  It 
was  not  a  holy  tribe,  but  holy  men  of  every  tribe,  that  spake 
as  they  were  moved,  carried  to  and  fro,  out  of  themselves, 
by  the  Spirit  of  Grod.  The  Prophets,  of  whom  this  might  be 
said  in  the  strictest  sense,  were  confined  to  no  family  or  caste, 
station  or  sex.     They  rose,  indeed,  above  their  countrymen ; 


'  Ex.  xix.  3-6, 


'  Lev.  xix.  2. 


"  Num.  xi.  26-30. 


LECT.  VII.  THE    THEOCKACY.  161 

their  words  were  to  their  countrymen,  in  a  peculiar  sense,  the 
words  of  God.    But  they  were  to  be  found  everywhere.    Like 
the  springs  of  their  own  hmd,  there  was  no  hill  or  valley  where 
the    prophetic  gift  might  not  be   expected  to  break  forth. 
Miriam  and  Deborah,  no  less  than  Moses  and  Barak ;  in  Judah 
and  in  Ephraim,  no  less  than  in  Levi ;  in  Tekoah  and  Gilead, 
and,  as  the  climax  of  all,  in  Nazareth,  no  less  than  in  Shiloh 
or  Jerusalem,  G-od's  present  counsel  might  be  looked  for.    By 
this  constant  attitude  of  expectation,  if  one  may  so  call  it,  the 
ears  of  the  whole  nation  were  kept  open  for  the  intimations  of 
the  Divine  Ruler  under  whom  they  lived.    None  knew  before- 
hand who  would  be  called.    As  Strabo  well  says,  in  his  descrip- 
tion of  the  Mosaic  dispensation  which  I  have  before  quoted, 
'  all  might  expect  to  receive  the   gift  of  good  dreams '   for 
themselves  or  their  people,  '  all  who  lived  temperately  and 
'justly — those  always  and  those  only.'    In  the  dead  of  night, 
as  to  Samuel ;  in  the  ploughing  of  the  field,  as  to  Elisha ;  in 
the  gathering  of  the  sycomore  figs,  as  to  Amos ;    the  call 
might  come.     '  Speak,  Lord,  for  thy  servant  heareth,'  was  to 
be  the  ready  and  constant  answer.     And  thus,  even  in  its 
first  establishment,  the  Theocracy,  in  its  true  sense,  contained 
the  warrant  for  its  complete  development,     Moses  was  but 
the  beginning ;  he  was  not,  he  could  not  be,  the  end.     The 
light  on  his  countenance  faded  away,  and  had  to  be  again 
and  again  rekindled  in  the  presence  of  the  Unseen.     But  his 
appearance,    his    character,    his   teaching,    familiarised    the 
nation  to  this  mode  of  revelation ;  and  it  would  be  at  their 
peril,  and  against  the  whole  spirit  of  the  education  received 
from  him,  if  they  refused  to  receive  its  later  manifestations, 
from  whatever  quarter.     '  The  Lokd  tliy  God  will  raise  up 
'  unto  thee  a  Prophet,  from  themidst  of  thee,  of  thy  brethren, 
'  like  unto  me.    Unto  him  shall  ye  hearken.^    The  same  event, 
it  has  been  truly  remarked,  never  repeats  itself  in  history. 
Yet  a  like  event  in  one  age  is  always  a  preparation  for  a  like 

M 


162  SIXAI   AND    THE    LAW.  lect.  vii. 

event  in  another,  especially  when  the  first  event  is  one  which 
involves  the  principle  of  the  second.  Moses, — the  expounder 
of  the  Theocracy,,  the  founder  of  the  Hebrew  Prophets,  the 
interpreter  between  God  on  Mount  Sinai  and  Israel  in  the 
plain  below, — was  the  necessary  forerunner,  because  the  im- 
perfect likeness,  of  the  Last  Prophet  of  the  last  generation 
of  the  Jewish  theocracy.  In  the  fullest  sense  might  it  be 
said  to  that  generation :  '  There  is  one  that  accuseth  you, 
'  even  Moses,  in  whom  ye  trust ;  for,  had  ye  believed  Moses, 
'  ye  ivould  have  believed  Me ;  but,  if  ye  believe  not  his  ivritings, 
'  how  will  ye  believe  My  words  /* '  ^ 
The  Law.  III.  There  was  another  point  in  the  Revelation  of  Sinai  not 
less  permanent,  and  equally  characteristic.  We  speak  of  it  as  a 
revelation  of  '  Eeligion.'  But  this  was  not  the  name  by  which 
it  was  known  in  ancient  times.  The  Israelite  spoke  not  of  the 
'  Eeligion '  but  of  the  '  Law  '  of  Moses.  Moses  was  a  Law- 
giver ^  even  more  tlian  he  was  a  Prophet.  In  this  aspect  tlie 
Eevelation  presented  itself,  and  from  this  were  derived  some 
of  its  most  important  features.  At  first  sight  it  might  ap- 
pear as  if  '  the  Law '  was  not  the  form  of  truth  for  which 
the  wild  desert  and  the  return  to  the  wandering  Arab  life 
would  have  predisposed  them  ;  and  as  regards  the  minuteness 
of  many  of  the  enactments,  Egypt,  as  I  have  before  observed, 
and  not  Sinai,  must  be  considered  the  fitting  school  of  pre- 
paration. But  those  who  have  studied  the  Bedouin  tribes 
know  that  there  is  no  contradiction  between  their  wild  habits 
and  an  elaborate  though  purely  traditional  system  of  social  and 
legal  observances.  Such  a  system  has  been  carefully  collected 
and  expounded  by  the  traveller  Burckhardt,  who  thus  closed 
the  first  portion  of  his  remarkable  work :  *  The  present  state 
'  of  the  great  Bedouin  commonwealth  of  Arabia  .  .  offers 
'the  rare  example  of  a  nation  which,  notwithstanding  its 

'  John  T.  45-47.  Pentateuch,    Num.    xxi.     18  ;    Deut. 

*  He    is   tvdce    so    called    in    the       xxxiii.  21. 


LECT.  VII.  THE    LAW    IN   THE    DESERT.  163 

'perpetual  state  of  warfare,  without  and  within,  has  pre- 
'  served,  for  a  long  succession  of  ages,  its  primitive  laws  in 
'  all  their  vigour.  .  .  .  But,'  he  adds,  '  of  the  origin  of 
'these  laws  nothing  is  known.  .  .  .  The  ancient  code  of 
'  one  Bedouin  tribe  only  has  reached  posterity.  .  .  .  The 
'  Pentateuch  was  exclusively  given  to  the  Beni-Israel.'  ' 

It  is  this  code  of  the  Beni-Israel — the  '  sons  of  Israel '  (tlie 
name  itself  is  an  enduring  mark  of  their  first  Patriarchal 
state), — this  one  extant  code  of  an  ancient  Bedouin  tribe, 
which,  bearing  in  mind  this  peculiarity  of  its  first  appearance, 
we  have  now  to  examine.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  it  is  only  by 
remembering  what  there  was  immediate,  historical,  and  local, 
that  we  shall  be  able  fully  to  appreciate  what  there  is  of 
the  eternal  and  universal. 

It  has  been  a  question  often  debated  amongst  scholars, 
how  far  the  code  of  the  Pentateuch  was  a  collection  of 
earlier,  later,  or  contemporaneous  customs,  under  one 
general  system.  It  will  here  suffice  to  name  those  portions 
of  the  Law  which,  by  direct  connexion  with  the  life  of  the 
Desert,  can  be  traced  back  to  the  Sinaitic  period. 

1.  There  is  no  express  enactment  of  any  form  of  government  Constitu- 
in  the  Mosaic  law.  But  the  '  elders  '  or  chiefs  of  the  tribes,  Desert, 
who  appear  as  the  background  of  the  primitive  constitution, 
are  distinctly  Arabian,  and  in  part  existed  before  the  Exodus,^ 
in  part,  at  least,  may  be  ascribed  to  Jethro.  The  word  is 
almost  identical  with  the  '  Sheykh  '  ^  of  modern  times,  and  is 
the  same  which  designates  the  chiefs  of  the  Bedouin  tribes  of 
Midian.  Their  original  names  are  preserved.'*  Together  they 
formed  a  council  of  seventy,  of  which,  as  it  would  seem, 
Hur  was  the  head.'^  They  were  chosen  by  the  people,  and 
dedicated  by  Moses.     The  priests  were  not  part  of  them.^ 

'  Notes  on  tlia  Bedouins,  i.  381.  ''  Num.  ii.  3-29  ;  x.  14-27. 

^  Ex.  iv.  29.  5  Num.  xi. ;  Ex.  xxiv.  9,  14.. 

^  Za/cen,  Num.  xxii.  4 ;   see  Gese-  "  2  Chron..  xxxi.  2. 

nius,  sud  voce, 

W  2 


164  SINAI   AND   THE    LAW.  i.ect.  vii. 

Through  all  the  changes  of  the  office,  the  name  still  con- 
tinued.    From  time  to  time  it  appears  in  the  settled  period 
of  the  monarchy.'     On  the  dissolution  of  the  kingdom  it 
reasserts  something  of  its  original  importance.^     Out  of  the 
elders  or  Sheykhs  of  the  desert  grew  the  elders  of  the  syna- 
gogues ;  and  out  of  the  elders  of  the  synagogues,— with  no 
change  of  name  except  that  which  took  place  in  passing  from 
Hebrew  to  Grreek  and  from  Grreek  to  the  languages  of  modern 
Europe, — the  '  Presb3i:ers,' '  Prestres,'  and '  Priests  '  of  Chris- 
tendom.     That  word  and  that  office,  so  limited  in  its  pre- 
sent meaning,  is  the  direct  descendant  of  the   rudest  and 
most  pastoral  forms  of  the  Jewish  nation.     The  Christian 
Presbyter  represents,  not  the    high    priest  Aaron,  but   the 
Bedomn    Jethro,— not    the    sacerdotal,    but   the    primitive 
nomadic  element  of  the  ancient  Church. 
Encamp-  2.  The  Encampment  and  its  movements  were  peculiar  to 

the  desert.  Never  again,  after  the  first  settlement  in  Canaan, 
could  the  sight  have  been  witnessed  of  the  detailed  arrange- 
ments which  called  forth  the  passionate  burst  of  Balaam's 
admiration :  '  How  goodly  are  thy  tents,  0  Jacob,  and  thy 
'  tabernacles,  0  Israel ! '  Many  usages  mentioned  in  con- 
nexion with  it  must  have  perished  at  once  on  their  entrance 
into  settled  life.  But  relics  of  such  a  state  are  long  to  be 
traced  both  in  their  lanjyuao^e  and  in  their  monuments.  The 
very  words  'camp'  and  'tents'  remained  long  after  they 
had  ceased  to  be  literally  applicable.  '  The  tents  of  the 
'Lord'  were  in  the  precincts  of  the  Temple.  The  cry  of 
sedition,  evidently  handed  down  from  ancient  times,  was, 
'  To  your  tents,  0  Israel.'  '  Without  the  cam/p  '  ^  was 
the  expression  applied  even  to  the  very  latest  events  of 
Jerusalem.  In  like  manner,  the  national  war-cries,  always 
the  oldest  of  national   compositions,  go  back  to  this  early 

'  For  instance,  1  Ks.  viii.  1 ;  2  Ks.  ^  Jer.  xxix.  2  ;  Ezek.  viii.  11,  12  ; 

xxiii.  1.  1  Mac.  xii.  1,  35.  ^  Heb.  xiii.  13, 


LECT.  VII.  RELICS   OF   THE   WANDERINGS.  165 

state.  The  shout,  '  Else  up,  0  Lord,  and  let  Thine  enemies 
*be  scattered;  let  them  also  that  hate  Thee  flee  before  Thee,' 
was  incorporated  into  the  Psalms  of  the  monarchy ;  but  its 
first  force  came  from  the  time  when,  morning  by  morning,  it 
was  repeated  as  the  ark  was  slowly  and  solemnly  raised  on  the 
shoulders  of  the  Levites,  and  went  forth  against  the  enemies 
of  God  in  the  desert.'  '  Arise,  0  Lord,  into  Thy  resting-place  ! 
'  Thou  and  the  ark  of  Thy  strength.'  '  Give  ear,  0  Shepherd 
'  of  Israel,  Thou  that  leadest  Joseph  like  a  flock  ;  Thou  that 
'  dwellest  between  the  cherubim,  shine  forth  !  Before  Ephraim, 
'Benjamin,  and  Manasseh,  stir  up  Thy  strength  and  come 
*  and  help  us.'  ^  Grand  and  touching  as  is  this  address,  taken 
in  its  application  to  the  latest  decline  of  the  Jewish  kingdom, 
it  is  still  more  so,  when  we  see  in  it  the  reflected  image  of  the 
order  of  the  ancient  march,  when  the  Ark  of  God  went  forth, 
the  pillar  of  fire  shining  high  above  it,  surrounded  by  the 
armed  Levites,  its  rear  guarded  by  the  warrior  tribes  of 
Ephraim,  Benjamin,  and  Manasseh,  the  brother  and  the  sons 
of  Joseph,  doubtless  intrusted  with  the  embalmed  remains  of 
their  mighty  ancestor. 

And  if  from  these  fragments  of  sacred  speech  we  turn  to 
the  actual  relics  of  antiquity  (in  the  literal  sense  of  relics), 
their  desert  lineage  can  be  yet  more  clearly  traced. 

Down  to  the  latest  times  of  the  monyrchy  was  preserved,  in  The  ArV. 
the  innermost  sanctuary  of  the  Temple,  the  ancient  Ark  or 
coffer  of  wood,  purporting  to  be  the  same  which  had  been 
made  at  Mount  Sinai  and  carried  through  all  their  Avander- 
ings.  Its  form,  as  we  4iave  seen,  possibly  its  religious  sig- 
nificance, was  derived  from  Egypt.  But  its  material  was 
such  as  can  hardly  be  explained,  except  by  the  account 
given  of  its  first  appearance.  It  was  not  of  oak,  the  com- 
mon   wood  of   Palestine,  nor    of   cedar,^  the  wood    usually 

'  Num.  X.  35,  3G ;  Ps.  Ixriii.  1.  '  Rabbinical  writers,  in  their  igno- 

-  Ps.  Ixxx.  1  ;  Ps.  cxxxii.  8.  ranee,    interpret   shittim   as    '  cedar.' 


166  SIXAI   AXD    THE    LAW.  iect.  vii. 

employed  in  Palestine  for  sacred  purposes,  but  of  shittmi  or 
acacia,  a  tree  of  rare  growth  in  Syria,  but  the  most  frequent, 
not  even  excepting  the  palm,  in  the  Peninsula  of  Sinai. 

What  lay  within  the  Ark,  also  of  this  period,  shall  be  men- 
tioned hereafter.     Two  lesser  objects  of  interest  were  laid  up, 

The  pot  of  we  know  not  for  how  long  a  time,  in  front  of  it,  both  relics  of 
Sinai.  One  was  the  pot  of  manna.  Many  a  perplexed  con- 
troversy on  the  nature  of  the  food  which  sustained  the  Is- 
raelites in  the  desert  would  have  been  spared,  could  we  have 
but  caught  one  glance  at  this  its  authentic  perpetuation.  It 
has  been  conjectured  by  Eeland  (and,  in  a  matter  of  such 
obscurity,  even  the  conjecture  of  so  great  a  scholar  may  be 
worth  notice),  that  the  existence  of  this  vessel,  with  the 
handles  or  ears  by  which  it  was  supported,  may  have  lent  a 
pretext  to  the  strange  fable  already  quoted  from  Tacitus,  that 
the  Jewish  sanctuary  contained  the  figure  of  an  ass's  head, 
in  commemoration  of  the  events  in  the  wilderness.     Another 

The  staff  object  which  lay  beside  the  vessel  of  manna  was  the  staff  or 
rod  of  almond  wood, — the  sceptre  of  the  tribe  of  Levi, — 
sometimes  borne  by  Moses, ^  sometimes  by  Aaron,  the  emblem 
of  the  ancient  shepherd  life,  when  sceptre  and  crook  were 
one  and  the  same.  The  hke  staff  is  still  carried  by  the 
present  chiefs  of  the  Sinaitic  Peninsula. 

TheTaber-       But  the  most  remarkable  vestige  of  the  nomadic   state 

nacle.  ^£  ^j^^  nation  was  the  Tabernacle  or  Tent,  which  was  the 

shelter  of  the  Ark  long  after  the  entrance  into  Canaan, 
and  which  was  finally  laid  aside  and  treasured  up  in  the 
chambers  of  the  Temple,  when  the  erection  of  that  stately 
building  rendered  its  further  use  superfluous.  The  Temple 
itself  was    in    some  important   respects    but    a   permanent 


If   we    translate    shittim   as    '  cedar,'  in   Lecture  VI.,   exchange  the  histo- 

and    tachash    (vide    infra)    as    '  had-  rical  ground  of  the  narrative  for  two 

ger,'   neither    of    which  is   found  in  imaginary  miracles, 
the  desert,  we  must,  as  was  observed  '  See  Num.  xvii.  6  ;  xx.  8-10. 


lECT.  VII.  RELICS    OF   THE   WANDERINGS.  167 

and  enlarged  copy  of  the  Tabernacle.  The  name  of  the 
Sacred  Tent  was  thus  used  for  the  Temple  long  after 
it  had  itself  been  discontinued.*  In  these  its  later  imi- 
tations and  reminiscences,  much  more  whilst  it  stood  as 
the  one  Sanctuary  of  the  nation,  it  was  a  constant  me- 
morial of  the  wandering  state,  in  which  they  received 
their  earliest  forms  of  architecture  and  of  worship.  No 
Gothic  or  Byzantine  style  can  reveal  to  us  more  clearly 
the  dates  of  the  churches  and  cathedrals  of  modern 
Europe,  than  those  rough  boards  of  acacia  wood,  those 
coarse  tent-cloths  of  goat's-hair  and  ram-skin,  dyed  red  after 
the  Arabian  fashion,  indicated  the  epoch  of  the  primitive 
Jewish  sanctuary.  Not  a  Druidical  cromlech,  like  the  Pa- 
triarchal Bethel,  not  a  fixed  house  like  the  palatial  struc- 
tures of  Pharaoh  or  of  Solomon,  but  a  tent,  distinguished 
only  by  its  larger  dimensions  and  more  costly  materials 
from  the  rest  of  the  Israelite  encampment,  was  'the  Ta- 
*bernacle  of  the  Lord,  which  Moses  made  in  the  wilder- 
*ness.'  On  this  simple  dwelling,  as  of  the  Unseen  Chief  and 
Euler  of  the  host,  was  lavished  all  the  art  and  treasure  that 
the  region  could  supply ;  skins  of  seals  or  fishes  ^  from  the 
adjoining  gulfs  of  the  Eed  Sea,  linen  coverings  from  the 
Egyptian  spoils,  to  clothe  the  tent  as  though  it  were  itself  a 
living  object — almost  as,  at  the  present  day,  the  sanc- 
tuary of  Mecca  is  year  by  year  clothed  and  reclothed  with 
sumptuous  velvets,  the  gifts  of  Mussulman  devotion.^  The 
names  of  the  architects  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon  have 
perished,  but  the  names  of  the  builders  of  the  Tabernacle, 
the  first  founders  of  Jewish  architecture,  the  rude  beginners 
of  Israelite  Art,  are   emphatically  recorded;    Bezaleel,  the 


'  Ezek.  xli.  1 ;  Ps.  Ixxvi.  2  ;  Ixxxiv.  the   word  translated    '  badger.'      See 

1 ;  '  a  resemblance  of  the  Holy  Taber-  Geseniiis  under  Tachash.    Also  Robin- 

naele,'  Wisdom  ix.  8.  sou,  Bih.  Eescarches,  i.  116. 

^  Such  is  the  probable  meaning  of  ^  Burton's  Pilgrimage,  iii.  295. 


1C8  SINAI   AND    THE    LA\7.  lect.  vii. 

grandson  of  tlie  great  but  mysterious  Hur,  and  his  com- 
panion Alioliab  of  the  tribe  of  Dan.  '  See,  the  Lord  hath 
'  called  by  name  Bezaleel  the  son  of  Uri,  the  son  of  Hur,  of 
'  the  tribe  of  Judah  :  and  He  hath  filled  him  with  the  Spirit 
'  of  God,  in  wisdom,  in  understanding,  and  in  knowledge,  and 
'  in  all  manner  of  workmanship ;  and  to  devise  curious  works, 
'to  work  in  gold,  and  in  silver,  and  in  brass,  and  in  the 
'  cutting  of  stones  to  set  them,  and  in  carving  of  wood,  to 
'  make  any  manner  of  cunning  work.  And  He  hath  put  in 
'  his  heart  that  he  may  teach,  both  he  and  Aholiab,  the  son 
'  of  Ahisamach,  of  the  tribe  of  Dan. ' ' 
Sacrifice.  3.  Amidst  the    various    elements  of  worship  which  were 

to  be  carried  on  in  and  around  the  Tabernacle,  the  most 
conspicuous  was,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  peculiarly  fitted 
to  the    mind    of   an    Arabian   tribe.      We    may  indulge  in 
philosophical  or  theological  speculations  concerning  the  in- 
stitution of  Sacrifice ;  but,  historically  (and  this  is  the  only 
point  of  view  in  which  we  are  now  to  consider  it),  we  can- 
not   overlook  its  adaptation  to  the  peculiar  period    of  the 
Israelitish  existence,  in  which  we  find  it  first  described  at 
length.    Some  of  the  forms  are  identical  with  those  of  Egypt 
and  of  India.     But  it  is  remarkable  that  the  institution  (taken 
in  its  most  general    aspect),  after  having  perished   every- 
where else  among  the  worshippers  of  One  Grod,  still  lingers 
among  that  portion  of  the  Semitic  nations  which  more  than 
any  other  represent  the  condition  of  Israel  at  Sinai.     Extinct 
almost  entirely  in  the  Jewish  race  itself,  it  is  still  an  im- 
portant part  of  the  worship  of  the  Bedouin  Arabs.     In  the 
desert  of  Sinai  itself,  sacrifice  is  still  almost  tlie  only  form 
which  Bedouin  religion  takes,  at  the  chief  sanctuary  of  the 
peninsula,  the  tomb  of  Sheykh  Saleh,^  and  on  the  summit 
of  Serbal.^   When  Burckhardt  wished  to  penetrate  into  the 

'  Ex.  XXXV.  30-34.  ^  Drew's  Scrrpturc  Lmuls,  61.     A 

*  Sinai  and  Palestine,  57.  sheep   is   sacrificed   ou    the    summit, 


LECT.  VII.  EELICS    OF   THE   WANDERINGS.  JG9 

then  inaccessible  fastness  of  Petra,  the  pretext  which  afforded 
him  the  greatest  security  was  that  of  professing  a  desire  to 
sacrifice  a  goat  at  the  tomb  of  Aaron.  In  the  pilgrimage 
to  Mecca,  'the  sacrifices  in  the  valley  of  Muna  are  so 
'  numerous  and  so  intricate,  that  it  is  believed  that  none  but 
'  the  Prophet  knew  them.'  ^  Whatever  difficulty  we  have  in 
analysing  the  feelings  of  an  ancient  Israelite  when  he  shed 
the  blood  of  a  bull  or  a  goat,  or  wrung  the  neck  of  a  pigeon 
before  the  altar,  exists  equally  in  the  case  of  the  like  rites  of 
a  modern  Mussulman.  Simple  as  we  may  suppose  the  reli- 
gion of  that  earliest  stage  of  the  national  life  of  the  Israelites 
to  have  been,  Sacrifice  is,  by  what  we  know  of  the  Arabian 
religion,  one  of  the  most  necessary  forms  which  it  could 
have  assumed.'^ 

And  as   the  sacrificial    system  was  one  which  would  be  The  tribe 

f  T     -' 

specially  understood  and  felt  at  this  early  period,  so  also 
historically  did  the  Levitical  priesthood  spring  from  the 
then  existing  framework  of  events.  The  '  tribe '  of  Levi 
of  itself  indicates  the  nomad  division.  It  has  even  down  to 
this  day  preserved  the  recollection  of  that  division,  when  all 
the  other  like  distinctions  of  the  Jewish  nation  have  perished. 
The  tribe  of  Levi,  the  family  of  Aaron,  are  almost  the  only 
permanent  signs  of  the  personal  greatness  of  Moses  and  his 
brother.     The  supremacy  of  Israel  was  in  later  times  shifted 

and  thrown  over  the  rocks.     Compare  Amos  (v.  25)  seems  distinctly  to  deny 

the  scapegoat.     (Lev.  xvi.  22.)  that    sacrifices    were    offered '  in    the 

'  Burton's  Pilgrimage,  iii.  226,  303  desert    except    to  heathen  gods,  and 

-313.  Jeremiah    (vii.    22)    goes    so    far   as 

^  It  is  true  that  on  tliis  point  the  almost   to    deny    that   the    sacrificial 

statements  of  the  Sacred  Books  are  ordinances  were  given  at  all  in  the 

not  uniform.     The  natural    inference  time  of  the  Exodus.  Perhaps  the  safest 

from    the    Pentateuch,   even  acknow-  inference  from  those  conflicting  state- 

ledging  the  probability  that  the  laws  ments   would  be  to  suppose  that  the 

did  not  assume  their  present  shape  sacrifices  of  the    desert   had   a   real 

till  a  much  later  period,  would  be  that  existence,  but  stood  on  a  much  lower 

the  sacrificial  system  was  already  in  level   than    the   rest   of  the   Mosaic 

full  force.    But  the  Prophetical  teach-  institutions.    See  pp.  158,  176. 
ing   points  to   a  different  conclusion. 


170  SIXAI   AXD    THE    LAW.  lect.  vii. 

from  one  tribe  to  another,  Epbraim,  Benjamin,  Judab.  But 
tbis  is  tbe  only  period  in  wbicb  tbe  leading  spirits  of  tbe 
nation  came  from  tbe  tribe  of  Levi ;  and  in  wbicb,  tberefore, 
its  moral  preeminence  gave  a  ground  for  its  ceremonial  pre- 
eminence also.  Sucb  a  ground,  implied  doubtless  in  tbe 
case  of  Aaron,  is  expressly  stated  in  tbe  case  of  tbe  tribe  at 
large,  wben  we  are  told  tbat  tbe  origin  of  tbeir  consecration 
was  to  be  found  in  tbe  fierce  zeal  witb  wbicb  tbey  rallied 
round  Moses  at  tbe  time  of  tbe  Grolden  Calf,  and  '  slew  every 
'  man  bis  brotber,  and  every  man  bis  companion,  and  every 
'  man  bis  neigbbour.' '  Tbe  triple  benediction,  tbe  especial 
function  of  tbe  sacerdotal  office,  seems  to  belong  to  tbe 
earliest  forms  of  tbe  Israelite  ritual;  and  tbe  outward 
symbol  of  it  in  tbe  triple  division  of  tbe  fingers  is  carved  on 
tbe  gravestones  of  tbose  wbo  are  supposed  to  be  Aaron's 
descendants,  and  is  preserved  to  tbis  day  as  tbe  mark  of  bis 
family.^ 
The  dis-  4.  Tbe  distinction  between  various  kinds  of  food  is  one 

food  ^'^  wbicb  furnisbed  tbe  earliest  questions  of  casuistry  in  tbe 
transition  from  tbe  Jewisb  to  tbe  Cbristian  Cburcb,  and 
wbicb  lingers  in  tbe  remnants  of  tbe  Jewisb  race  to  tbis  day. 
It  may  be  difficult  to  account  entirely  for  tbe  grounds  of  tbe 
selection,  but  tbey  may  be  traced  witb  tbe  greatest  proba- 
bility to  tbe  peculiarities  of  tbe  condition  of  Israel  at  tbe 
time  of  tbe  giving  of  tbe  Law.  Tbe  animals  of  wbicb  tbey 
migbt  freely  eat  were  tbose  wbicb  belonged  especially  to  tbeir 
pastoral  state — tbe  ox,  tbe  sbeep,  and  tbe  goat,  to  wbicb 
were  added  tbe  various  classes  of  cbamois  and  gazelle. 
As  we  read  tbe  detailed  permission  to  eat  every  class  of 
wbat  may  be  called  tbe  game  of  tbe  wilderness—'  tbe  wild 
^  goat,  and  tbe  roe,  and  tbe  red  deer,  and  tbe  ibex,  and  tbe 


'  Ex.    xxxii.    27.     Compare   Deut.  -  Num.  vi.  24.     See  the  gravestones 

xxaiii.  9.  in  the  Jewish  cemetery  at  Prague. 


i.ECT.  VII.  EELICS    OF   THE   WAXDERIXGS.  171 

'  antelope,^  and  the  chamois,' — a  new  aspect  is  suddenly 
presented  to  us  of  a  hirge  part  of  the  life  of  the  Israelites  in 
the  desert.  It  reveals  them  to  us  as  a  nation  of  hunters ; 
it  shows  them  to  us,  clambering  over  the  smooth  rocks, 
scaling-  the  rugged  pinnacles  of  Sinai,  as  the  Arab  chamois- 
hunters  of  the  present  day,  with  bows  and  arrows  instead 
of  guns.  Such  pursuits  they  could  only  in  a  limited 
degree  have  followed  in  their  own  country.  The  permission, 
the  perplexity  implied  in  the  permission,  could  only  have 
arisen  in  a  place  where  the  animals  in  question  abounded. 
High  up  on  the  cliffs  of  Sinai  the  traveller  still  sees  the 
herds  of  gazelles  standing  out  against  the  sky;  and  no 
image  was  more  constantly  before  the  pilgrims,  of  whatever 
age  they  may  be,  who  wrote  the  mysterious  inscriptions  in 
the  Wady  Mukatteb,  and  on  the  rock  of  Herimat  Haggag, 
than  the  long-horned  ibex.  In  every  form  and  shape  of  ex- 
aggeration it  is  there  to  be  seen.  What  makes  the  enume- 
ration more  exclusively  ^  Arabian  in  its  character  is  the  omis- 
sion of  the  '  reem  '  ^  or  buffalo,  so  frequently  mentioned  in 
connexion  with  the  wild  pastures  east  and  north  of  Palestine. 
In  like  manner  the  strict  prohibitions  may  almost  all  be 
traced  either  to  the  intention  of  drawino-  some  slight  distinc- 
tion  between  Israel  and  the  mere  wanderers  of  the  desert,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  camel  and  jerboa,  or  to  the  strong  recoil 
from  Egypt,  as  in  the  case  of  the  leprous  swine  and  the 
serpent,  in  all  its  forms  and  shapes,  so  closely  connected  in 
Egypt  with  the  mystical  or  obscene  ceremonial  from  which 
they  were  now  set  free.  We  are  accustomed,  in  the  French 
and  Saxon  names  used  in  our  lano'uase  for  the  various  kinds 


»  Its  name,  Dishon,  is  that  of  the  585,  587,  595,  596,  673,  1098. 

Bon  of  Seir  (Gen.  xxxvi.  21,  30).  ^  Unless    the  word    ttoh,  IND,  oc- 

2  The    spots    on    the  cliti's   of  the  cuiTing   only    in    Dent.    xiv.    5,'   and 

Dead  Sea,  east  and  west,  where  the  translated    '  wild    ox,'   is    so    to   be 

ibex  is  to  be  found,  are  enumerated  in  taken. 
Eitier,  ii.    534,  560,   562,  580,   584, 


rcverige. 


172  SIXAI    AND    THE    LAW.  lect.  vii. 

of  food,  to  trace  the  relative  social  position  of  the  Normans 
and  Saxons  after  the  Conquest.  A  similar  inference  as  to  the 
original  condition  of  the  Israelites,  may,  in  like  manner,  be 
deduced  from  the  permission  or  prohibition  of  clean  and 
unclean  food,  which  must  have  long-  outlived  the  practical 
occasion  whence  they  derived  their  first  meaning  and  in- 
tention. 
Blood  5.  A  whole  class  of  laws  appears  to  be  explained,  on  the 

one  hand,  by  the  peculiar  state  against  which  they  are 
aimed ;  on  the  other  hand,  by  their  high  elevation  above 
that  state,  indicating  the  higher  than  any  merely  national 
source  from  whence  they  came.  Of  all  the  virtues  of  civi- 
lisation, the  one  which  most  incontestably  follows  in  its  train, 
and  is  most  rarely  anticipated  in  earlier  ages,  is  humanity. 
And  rare  as  this  is  everywhere  in  barbarous  nations,  it  is 
rarest  in  the  East.  In  the  East  and  West  the  value  of 
animal  and  of  human  life  is  exactly  reversed.  An  Arab,  who 
will  be  shocked  at  the  notion  of  shooting  his  horse,  will  have 
no  scruple  in  killing  a  man.  And  what  was  the  fierceness  of 
the  ancient  Semitic  race,  especially,  is  apparent  both  from 
the  later  Jewish  history,  and  from  that  of  the  kindred 
nations  of  Phoenicia  and  Carthage.  Against  this,  the  laws  of 
Moses,  in  war,  in  slavery,  and  in  the  social  relations  of  life, 
stand  out,  as  has  been  often  observed,  in  marvellous  con- 
trast. But  there  was  one  form  of  ferocity,  then  as  now, 
peculiar  to  tlie  Bedouin  tribes,  that  of  revenge  for  blood. 
To  the  fourth  generation  (it  is  the  exact  limit  laid  down  both 
in  the  Bedouin  custom  and  in  the  Mosaic  law),  the  lineal 
descendant  of  a  murdered  man  is  to  this  day  charged  with 
the  duty  of  avenging  his  blood.^  This  institution,  so  deeply 
seated  in  the  Arab  race  as  to  have  defied  the  course  of  cen- 
turies, and  the  efforts  of  three  religions,  was  assumed  and 

'  The    Goel    ('redeemer')   of    the       the  Arab.     Michaelis,  Laws  of  Moses, 
Hebrew  is  the  Tair  (' sxirvivor ')  of      art.  131. 


LECT.  VII.  THE   LAW.  173 

tolerated,  like  slavery,  polygamy,  or  any  of  the  other 
ancient  Asiatic  usages,  which  more  or  less  lasted  through  the 
Jewish  times.  But  it  was  restrained  by  the  establishment  Cities  of 
of  the  cities  of  refuge.  If,  for  the  hardness  of  the  Bedouin  ''*'' 
heart,  Moses  left  the  Avengers  of  Blood  as  he  found  them, 
yet,  for  the  tenderness  of  heart  infused  by  a  'more  ex- 
cellent way,'  he  reared  those  barriers  against  them.  The 
common  law^  of  the  desert  found  itself  kept  in  check  by 
the  statute  law  of  Palestine,  and  the  six  cities  became  (as 
far  as  we  know  from  history)  rather  monuments  of  what 
had  been,  and  of  what  might  have  been,  than  remedies  of 
what  was. 

6.  These  are  the  most  obvious  instances  of  a  direct  con-  The  Law. 
nexion  of  any  part  of  the  Mosaic  Law  with  the  code  of  the 
desert.  Of  the  rest  of  the  Law  there  is,  for  the  most  part, 
nothing  which  specially  connects  itself  with  the  desert  life, 
though  its  general  savour  of  antiquity  throws  it  back  to  the 
earhest  period  of  which  criticism  will  admit.  The  growth  of 
general  laws  or  customs  out  of  particular  occasions, — as,  for 
example,  the  rule  for  the  marriage  of  heiresses  within  their 
own  tribe  arising  out  of  the  case  of  the  daughters  of  Zelo- 
phehad,^  and  the  dispensation  for  accidental  defilement  from 
the  incident  of  the  dead  body  in  the  camp,^ — is  precisely  the 
primitive  stage  of  ancient  law  which  we  recognise  in  the 
'  Themis '  or  '  Themistes '  of  the  Homeric  age.'*  '  He  cast  a 
'  tree  into  the  waters,   and  the  waters  were  made   sweet : 

*  there  he  made  for  them  a  statute  and  an  ordinance.'  This 
indication  of  the  origin  of  the  first  Mosaic  law  at  the  w^ell  of 
Marah,  though  left  unexplained,  is  probably  a  sample  of  the 
rise  of  many  others.  Again,  the  mode  in  which  the  religious, 
civil,    moral,  and   ceremonial  ordinances  '  are    mingled   up 

*  together,  without  any  regard  to  differences  in  their  essential 

'  Num.  xxxvi.  8-11.  '  Xiim.  ix.  6. 

^  See  Maine,  Ancient  Law,  p.  4. 


174  SIXAI   AND    THE    LAW.  lect.  vii. 

*  character,'  lias  been  well  observed  ^  to  be  consistent  only 
with  that  early  stage  of  thought,  when  law  was  not  yet 
severed  from  morality,  nor  religion  from  law,  nor  ceremony 
from  religion.  It  is,  in  fact,  this  primitive  blending  of 
heterogeneous  elements  which  has  given  rise  to  the  peculiar 
relations  occupied  by  the  Mosaic  Law  towards  the  Christian 
Chui'ch.  'No  law,'  says  Michaelis,^  'of  such  high  antiquity 
'  has,  in  one  connected  body,  reached  our  times,  and  it  is,  on 
'  this  account  alone,  very  remarkable  ....  and,  so  long  as 
'  it  remains  unknown,  the  genealogy  of  our  existing  laws  may 
'  be  said  to  be  incomplete.'  Beyond  this  general  descent  of 
all  modern  laws  from  the  code  of  the  Jewish  legislator,  it 
is  extremely  difficult  to  point  out  any  principle  on  which 
parts  have  been  retained,  and  parts  abolished.  The  JNIosaic 
prohibition  of  usury  continued  in  force  throughout  Chris- 
tendom till  the  seventeenth  century.  The  ]\Iosaic  sanction 
of  slavery  is  still  a  strong  support  of  that  institution  in  the 
Southern  States  of  North  America.  Oiu-  own  marriage  laws  are 
mainly  based  on  theLevitical  code;  andthe  question  of  Henry's 
divorce,  which  formed  the  occasion  of  the  separation  of  the 
English  from  the  Eoman  Church,  turned  on  a  minute  point 
of  Levitical  casuistry.  Even  in  its  most  general  aspect,  the 
relation  of  the  JNIosaic  Law  to  the  Gospel  presents  questions 
hardly  yet  answered  by  History  or  Theology.  What  was 
the  Law,  of  which  the  Psalmist  spoke  as  that  in  the  keeping 
of  which  he  found  light,  and  life,  and  peace,  and  comfort, 
and  salvation  ?  ^  or  what  the  Law,  of  which  the  Apostle  spoke 
as  though  it  were  his  personal  enemy,  the  cause  of  death  and 
the  strength  of  sin  ?  ■*  What  was  that  Law  of  which  '  not  one 
'jot  or  tittle  should  pass  away  till  all  was  fulfilled?'  or  that, 


'  Maine's  Ancient  Law,  p.  16.  See  Professor  Jowett's  Essaj'  on  'The 

^  Laws  of  Moses,  p.  2.  Law,  the  Strength  of  Sin' (C'o«?«ew<ary 

^  Ps,  xix.  cxix.  on    S.   Paul's    Epistles,    2nd   ed.,   ii. 

♦  Kom.  vii.    7-11;    1   Cor.  xv.  56.       493-502). 


LECT.  VII.  THE   TEX   COMMAXDMEXTS.  175 

which  with  all  its  ordinances  was  '  blotted  out,'  '  taken  out  of 
*  the  way,' '  abolished  ?  '  ^  The  solution  of  these  problems  must 
be  sou<j^ht  elsewhere.  It  is  enough  here  to  indicate  them. 
They  point  to  the  remote  antiquity  of  the  code  and  the 
institution,  which  could  thus  be  personified,  idealised,  and 
applied  in  senses  so  different.  They  are  proofs,  also,  of  the 
freedom  with  which  these  various  senses  are  used  in  the 
Sacred  records  both  of  the  Jewish  and  Christian  Churches. 
It  was  this  most  ancient  and  venerable  of  all  the  parts  of  the 
Old  Dispensation  that  furnished  the  antithesis,  now  become 
almost  proverbial,  between  the  '  letter  that  kills,'  and  '  the 
'  spririt  that  quickens.' 

There  is  one  portion  of  the  Law,  however,  which  claims 
especial  attention,  both  from  its  evident  connexion  with  this 
earliest  period  of  the  history,  and  from  its  position  as  the 
kernel  of  tlie  whole  institution. 

We  read  that  when  the  Ark  was  carried  in  the  reign  of  The  Ten 
Solomon  to  its  last  retreat  within  the  newly  erected  Temple,  men™'^^ 
it  was  opened  for  the  first  time  within  the  memory  of  man, 
to  examine  its  sacred  contents.  It  is  impossible  not  to  feel 
the  interest  of  the  moment,  when  the  ancient  lid  of  acacia 
wood  was  lifted  up,  and  those  who  had  heard  of  its  hidden 
wonders  saw  its  dark  interior.  '  There  was  nothincr  in  the 
'  Ark  save  the  tivo  tables  of  stone,  which  Moses  put  there  at 
'  Horeb  when  the  Lord  made  a  covenant  with  the  children 
'  of  Israel  when  they  came  out  of  Egypt.'  Nothing  save  these. 
We  know  not  their  form  or  size.  But  we  know  the  hard, 
imperishable  granite  out  of  which  they  were  hewn  ;  we  know 
its  red  hue ;  the  style  of  engraving  must  have  been  such  as 
can  be  still  discerned  in  the  Desert  Inscriptions.  These 
venerable  fragments  of  the  rock  of  Sinai,  seen  then,  were 
seen,  as  far  as  we  know,  for  the  last  time.     They  must  have 

>  Matt.  V.  18;  Col.  ii.  14  ;  Eph.  ii.  15. 


ward  ap- 
pearance, 


176  SINAI   AXD    THE    LAW.  lect.  vii. 

perished,  or  at  least  disappeared,  when  the  Ark  itself  perished 
or  disappeared  in  the  caj)ture  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar. But  their  contents  have  survived  the  wreck,  not 
only  of  the  Ark  and  Temple,  but  of  the  whole  system  of 
worship  of  which  they  were  the  basis.  The  Ten  Command- 
ments delivered  on  Mount  Sinai  have  become  imbedded  in 
the  heart  of  the  religion  which  has  succeeded.  Side  by  side 
with  the  Prayer  of  Our  Lord,  and  with  the  Creed  of  His 
Church,  they  appear  inscribed  on  om-  churches,  read  from 
our  altars,  taught  to  our  children,  as  the  foundation  of  all 
morality. 
Their  out-  The  form  in  which  they  were  presented  to  Israel  in  the 
wilderness  is  but  of  slight  importance.  Yet  five  points  may 
be  observed  as  indicating  their  primitive,  impenetrable  sim- 
plicity. First,  the  number.  Ten,  as  drawn  from  the  most 
obvious  form  of  calculation,  becomes,  as  if  in  imitation  of 
this  sacred  code,  the  form  in  which  many  pf  the  lesser  enact- 
ments are  cast.  As  many  as  six  groups  of  this  kind  may  be 
traced  ^  in  the  dijBferent  parts  of  the  Pentateuch.  Secondly, 
the  fact  that  they  were  on  two  blocks  of  stone,  probably  of 
nearly  equal  size,  and  the  variations  in  the  versions  of  Exodus 
and  Deuteronomy,  almost  necessarily  lead  to  the  inference 
that  the  Commandments  alone  must  have  been  engraven 
without  the  reasons  for  their  observance.  Thirdly,  the  same 
general  consideration,  combined  with  the  form  in  which  the 
Commandments  run,  indicates  that  the  original  division  of 
the  Tables  differed  from  that  of  all  modern  churches.  Five 
Commandments  were  in  all  probability  on  the  first,  and  five 
on  the  second  table ;  amongst  those  on  the  first  would  thus 
be  included  that  which  now  usually  ranks  at  the  head  of  the 
second,   but   which  then  was  placed  amongst  the  general 

»  (1)  Ex.  xxi.  2-11.  (2)  Ex.  xxii.  (6)  Levit.  vii.  11-21.  Ewald,  ii.  157- 
6-26  (3)  Ex.  xxiii.  1-9.  (4)  Ex.  159.  He  gives  others,  but  they  seem 
xxiii.    10-19.      (5)   Levit.  vii.    1-10.       too  uncertain  to  deserve  notice. 


LECT.  VII.  THE   TEX   COMMANDMENTS.  177 

commandments  of  reverence  to  superiors  whether  divine  or 
human.'  Fourthly,  unlike  our  modern  idea  of  the  Com- 
mandments, but  like  the  written  rocks  of  the  desert,  the 
inscriptions  run  over  both  sides  :  '  the  tables  were  written  on 
'  both  their  sides ;  on  the  one  side  and  the  other  were  they 
'  written.'  ^  This  was  probably  to  give  the  impression  of 
their  completeness.  Fifthly,  they  are  not  properly  '  the  Ten 
Commandraents,^  but '  the  Ten  Words '  ^^ — Decalogue.  Hence 
the  first  of  them  is,  in  the  Jewish  division,  not  a  command- 
ment at  all. 

This  was  the  form :  what  was  the  substance  of  the  Ten 
Commandments  ?    .    .     .    What  has  the  human  race  gained 
by  its  adoption  of  what  Burckhardt  called  '  the  code  of  the 
Beni-Israel  ? '     It  is,  in  one  word,  the  declaration  of  the  Theiriden- 
indivisible  unity  of  morality  with  religion.     It  was  the  boast  of^morality 
of  Josephus,"*  that,  whereas  other  legislators  had  made  religion  ^"^  ^^" 

.  °  ligion. 

to  be  a  part  of  virtue,  Moses  had  made  virtue  to  be  a  part 
of  religion.  Of  this,  amongst  all  other  indications,  the  Ten 
Commandments  are  the  most  remarkable  and  enduring  ex- 
ample. Delivered  with  every  solemnity  of  which  place  and 
time  could  admit,  treasured  up,  with  every  sanctity  which 
Religion  could  confer,  within  the  holiest  shrine  of  the  holiest 
of  the  holy  places,  more  sacred  than  altar  of  sacrifice  or 
altar  of  incense,— they  yet  contain  almost  nothing  of  local 
or  ceremonial  injunction.  However  sacred  the  ritual  with 
which  they  and  the  other  moral  laws  were  surrounded,  yet 
we  have  the  highest  authority  for  distinguishing  between 
what  was  essential  and  non-essential  in  the  Mosaic  institu- 
tions, and  for  believing  that  even  the  whole  sacrificial  system 
was  as  nothing  compared  with  the  Decalogue  and  its  enforce- 
ments.    *I  spake  not  unto  your  fathers,   nor  commanded 

'  As  Pietas  amongst  the  Romans.  ^  Ex.  xxxii.  15. 

Ewald,  ii.  151.     So  Philo  and  Jose-  "  See  margin  of  Exod.  xxxir.  28. 

phus,  and  Irenaeus  {Har.  ii.  13).  *  C.  Apion.  ii.  17. 


178  SINAI   AND    THE    LAW.  lect.  vii. 

*  them,  in  the  day  that  I  brought  them  out  of  the  land  of 
'  Egypt,  concerning  burnt  offerings  or  sacrifices.     But  this 

*  thing  commanded  I  them,  saying,  Obey  my  voice,  and  I 
'  will  be  your  Grod,  and  ye  shall  be  my  people.'  ^ 

If  there  was  in  the  Fourth  commandment  the  injunction  to 
consecrate,  by  unbroken  rest,  the  seventh  day  of  every  week, 
yet  experience  has  shown  how  widely  adapted  the  principle  of 
this  observance  has  been  to  all  times  and  countries.     Even 
those  who  most  zealously  repudiate  the  obligation  of  the 
Mosaic  Law,  and  who  dwell  most  justly  on  the  wide  distinc- 
tion between  the  Jewish  Sabbath  and  the  Christian  Sunday, 
acknowledge  that  no  other  ancient  ceremony  has  so  main- 
tained its  hold  on  the  world,  and  that  without  its  antecedent 
support  the  observance  of  Sunday  would  hardly  have  exercised 
the  beneficial  influence  which  none  deny  to  it.     The  Patri- 
archal rites  of  Circumcision  and  of  Sacrifice  have  vanished 
away,  but  the  name  of  the  Sabbath  of  the  Decalogue,  the 
Sabbath  of  Mount  Sinai, — as  if  it  partook  of  the  universal 
spirit  of  the  code  in  which  it  is  enshrined, — is  still,  as  though 
by  a  natural  anomaly,  revered  by  thousands  of  Grentile  Chris- 
tians.    If  this  be  so  even  in  the  one  exception  to  the  spiritual 
and  moral  character  of  the  Decalogue,  much  more  is  it  with 
the  remaining  nine  of  these  fundamental  laws.     '  Thou  shalt 
'  have  none  other  gods  but  Me,'  '  Thou  shalt  do  no  murder,' 
*Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery,'  'Thou  shalt  not  steal,' 
are  still  as  impressive  and  as  applicable  as  when  first  heard 
and  written.    The  Second  commandment  is  full  of  the  recoil 
against  the  idolatry  of  Egypt ;  the  Fourth  commandment,  in 
one  version,  grounds  itself  on  the  recollection  of  the  servi- 
tude in  Egypt ;  the  Fifth  rests  its  rewards  on  the  possession 
of  the  yet  unconquered  Land  of  Promise.     But  these  local 
and  temporary  allusions,  whilst  they  effectually  show  that 

'  Jer.vii.  21-23. 


LECT.  VII.  THE    TEN   COilMAXDMENTS.  179 

the  letter  of  the  commandments  is  a  thing  of  the  past,  serve 
as  proofs  of  the  enduring  force  of  the  spirit  which  has  come 
down  to  us,  thus  imbedded  in  the  blocks  of  Sinai.  And,  if 
there  is  a  profound  spiritual  sense  in  the  declaration  that  the 
words  were  '  written  by  the  finger  of  God,'  there  is  also  a 
grave  trutli,  both  historical  and  spiritual,  in  the  fact  tliat 
'  the  tables '  were  the  solid  fragments  hewn  out  of  the  rock 
of  Horeb.  Hard,  stiff,  abrupt  as  the  cliffs  from  which  they 
were  taken,  they  remain  as  the  firm,  unyielding  basis  on 
which  all  true  spiritual  religion  has  been  built  up  and  sus- 
tained. Sinai  is  not  Palestine ;  the  Law  is  not  the  Gfospel ; 
but  the  Ten  Commandments,  in  letter  and  in  spirit,  remain 
to  us  as  the  relic  of  that  time.  They  represent  to  us,  both  in 
fact  and  in  idea,  the  granite  foundation,  the  immovable 
mountain  on  which  the  world  is  built  up ;  without  which 
all  theories  of  religion  are  but  as  shifting  and  fleeting  clouds ; 
they  give  us  the  two  homely  fundamental  laws,  which  all 
subsequent  Eevelation  has  but  confirmed  and  sanctified — 
the  Law  of  our  duty  towards  Grod,  and  the  Law  of  our 
duty  towards  our  neighbour. 


M  2 


180 


LECTUEE   VIII. 
KADESH    AND    PISGAH. 

The  close  of  the  history  of  the  Wanderings  bears  on  its  face 
the  marks  of  confusion  and  omission. 

Two  stages  alone  of  the  journey  are  distinctly  visible,  from 
Sinai  to  Kadesh,  and  from  Kadesh  to  Moab. 
Journey  I.  I  have  elsewhere  '  pointed  out  the  profound  obscurity  in 

to  Kadesh.  which  the  Mosaic  narrative  has  wrapt  the  first  of  these  two 
periods.  Not  merely  are  the  names  of  nearly  all  the  en- 
campments still  lost  in  uncertainty,  but  the  narrative  itself 
draws  the  mind  of  the  reader  in  different  directions ;  and  the 
variations  of  the  text  itself  ^  repel  detailed  inquiry  still  more 
positively. 

To  this  outward  confusion  corresponds  the  inward  and 
spiritual  aspect  of  the  history.  It  is  the  period  of  reaction 
and  contradiction  and  failure.  It  is  chosen  by  S.  Paul  ^  as 
the  likeness  of  the  corresponding  failure  of  the  first  efforts  of 
the  primitive  Christian  Church  ;  the  one  '  type '  of  the  Jewish 
History  expressly  mentioned  by  the  writers  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament. It  left  hardly  any  permanent  trace  on  the  history 
of  the  people,  and,  therefore,  according  to  the  plan  laid  down 
in  these  Lectures,  may  be  passed  with  the  same  rapidity  with 
which  it  is  passed  by  the  Sacred  Eecord  itself.     Some  few 

*  Sinai  and  Palestine,  92,  '  types '  in  the  original.     This  is  the 

*  Comp.  Deut.  x.  6,  7,  with  Num.  true  meaning  of  the  word ;  and  it  is 
xxxiii.  .30-36.  the  only  case  in  which  it  is  applied  in 

*  1  Cor.  X.  11.     '  These  things  hap-  the   New  Testament  to   the    Jewish 
'  prned   unto   them    for  examples ' —  Histoiy. 


LECT.  vni.  JOURNEY    TO    KADESII.  181 

institutions',  however,  or  fragments  of  institutions,  come  down 
to  the  Jewish  and  even  into  the  Christian  Church,  from  that 
time;  and  some  few  saUent  points  emerge  full  of  eternal 
siofnificance. 

The  brazen  plates  which  covered  the  ancient  wooden  altar.  The  brazen 
and  which  were  perpetuated  in  '  the  brazen  altar  '  of  Solo-  f]^g  .^^[^.^^y. 
mon's  temple,  were  traced  back  to  the  rehcs  of  the  censers 
of  brass  which  had  belonged  to  the  chiefs  of  the  great  con- 
spiracy of  the  tribes  of  Levi  and  Eeuben  against  the  rule  of 
the  two  prophet -brothers  of  the  family  of  Aaron.  Never  Conspiracy 
again  did  Levi  make  the  attempt  to  gam  the  possession  oi  Eeuben. 
the  priesthood,  nor  Eeuben  to  seize  the  reins  of  government. 
The  two  tribes  afterwards  became  entirely  parted  asunder  in 
their  characters  and  fortunes  :  the  one  was  incorporated  into 
the  innermost  circle  of  the  settled  civilisation  of  Palestine ; 
the  other  hovered  on  the  very  outskirts  of  the  Holy  Land 
and  chosen  people,  and  dwindled  away  into  a  Bedouin  tribe. 
But  the  story  of  Korah  belongs  to  a  time  when  they,  with 
Simeon,  still  breathed  the  same  fierce  and  uncontrollable 
spirit  of  their  Arabian  ancestry ;  when  Levi  was  still  fresh 
from  the  great  crisis  in  Sinai,  by  which  their  tribe  had  been 
consecrated  and  divided  from  the  rest ;  when  the  recollection 
of  the  birthright  of  Reuben  still  lingered  in  the  minds  of 
his  descendants.  In  the  desert  they  marched  side  by  side ; 
and  their  joint  conspiracy  naturally  grew  out  of  their  joint 
neighbourhood.^  It  was  the  last  expiring  effort  of  the  old 
traditions  of  the  Beni-Israel  against  the  constitution  of  the 
new  order  of  things,  which  every  generation  would  more 
firmly  establish.  '  Thou  leddest  thy  people  like  sheep  by 
'  the  hand  of  Moses  and  Aaron.'  ^ 

Another  relic  of  that  dark  time  was  one  which  remained  The 
till  the  time  of  Hezekiah  in  the  Jewish  Church,  but  which,  gerpgnt. 

'  See  Blunt's  Undesigned  Coincidences,  Pt.  i.  §  xx. 
^  Ps.  Ixxvii.  20. 


182  KADESH.  lect.  viii. 

» 

partly  in  symbol  and  partly  in  pretensions  to  the  reality,  has 
prevailed  even  to  our  own  day  in  the  Christian  Church.  '  The 
*  serpent  of  brass  that  Moses  had  made  '  was  long  cherished 
as  a  sacred  image  in  the  sanctuaries  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem. 
Incense  was  offered  to  it,  and  a  name  conferred  on  it ;  ^  and 
even  after  its  destruction  by  Hezekiah  the  recollection  of  it 
was  still  so  endeared  to  the  nation,  that  from  it  was  drawn 
one  of  the  most  sacred  similitudes  of  the  New  Testament ;  and 
even  the  Christian  Church  claimed  for  centuries  to  have 
preserved  its  very  form  intact  in  the  church  of  S.  Ambrose, 
at  Milan.  The  snakes  against  which  the  brazen  serpent  was 
originally  raised  as  a  protection,  were  peculiar  to  the  eastern 
portion  of  the  Sinaitic  desert.  There  and  nowhere  else,  and 
in  no  other  moment  of  their  history,  could  this  symbol  have 
originated. 

Amidst  the  general  obscurity  and  doubts  of  this  period  of 
the  Wanderings,  one  spot  emerges,  if  not  into  certainty,  at 
least  into  unmistakable  prominence.  It  is  in  this  stage  of 
the  history  almost  what  Sinai  was  in  the  first.  '  He  brought 
Kadesh.  '  them  to  Mount  Sinai  and  to  Kadesh  Barnea.'  ^  It  is  the 
only  place  dignified  by  the  name  of  a  '  city.'  Its  very  name 
implies  its  sanctity — '  the  Holy  Place ; '  as  if,  like  Mount 
Sinai  itself,  it  had  a  sacredness  of  its  own  before  the  host  of 
Israel  encamped  within  its  precincts  :  possibly  from  the  old 
oracular  spring  of  judgment^  described  in  the  earliest  times 
of  the  Canaanitish  history.  The  encampment  there  is  distinct 
in  character  from  any  other  in  the  wilderness,  except  the 
stay  at  Sinai.  Once,  if  not  twice,  '  they  abode  there  many 
days.'     Situated  as  it  was  on  the  border  of  the  Edomite  ter- 

'  2  Kings  xviii.  4.     Our  translation  The  name  seems  to  combine  the  signi- 

treats  the  name  Nehushtan  as  a  title  fications  of  '  serpent,'  '  brass,'   '  divi- 

of  contempt  applied  to  it  by  Hezekiah,  nation.' 

but  it  is  more  accurate  to  render  the  -  Judith  v.  14. 

words   '  one  called     it,'   i.  e.    '  it  was  ^  Eu-Mishpat,    '  Spring    of    Judg- 

commonly  called,'     See   Mr.    Wright  ment,'  —  '  which    is   Kadesh.'    Gen. 

in  Diet,   of  the  Bible,    '  Nehushtan.'  xiv.  7. 


LECT.  viu.  ITS   SITUATION.  183 

ritory,  its  close  connexion  with  Israel  invested  with  a  kind  of 
Sinaitic  glory  the  whole  range  of  the  Idumean  mountains. 
'  0  Jehovah,  when  Thou  wentest  out  of  Seir,  when   Thou 

*  marchedst  out  of  Edom.'' '  '  Grod  came  from  Teman,  and 
'  the  Holy  One  from  Mount  Paran.'  ^     '  Jehovah  came  from 

*  Sinai  and  rose  up  from  Movmt  Sevr  unto  them :  He  shined 
'  forth  from  Mount  Paran,  and  He  came  with  the  ten  thou- 
'  sands  "  of  Kadesh." '  ^ 

On  what  precise  spot  amongst  the  rocks  of  Edom  this  Petra. 
'  Holy  Place '  was  enshrined,  is  a  question  even  more  un- 
certain than  that  which  regards  the  exact  locality  of  Sinai. 
But  nothing  has  been  yet  discovered  to  shake  the  substantial 
credibility  of  the  Jewish,  Mussulman,  and  Christian  tradi- 
tions, which  have  fixed  it  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  city 
afterwards  known  by  the  name  of  the  '  Cliff'  or  '  Eock.'  That 
huge  sandstone  '  cliff,'  through  which  the  most  romantic  of 
ravines  admits  the  stream  of  livings  water  to  fertilise  the 
basin  of  Petra,  and  which,  doubtless,  was  the  origin  of  the 
later  Hebrew  and  Greek  title  of  the  city,  still  bears  the  name 
of  Moses,  and  in  its  rent  the  Arabian  tribes  still  believe  that 
they  see  the  mark  of  his  wonder-working  staff. 

It  is  this  scene  of  the  giving  of  water  to  the  angry  Israelites 
and  '  their  beasts '  ('The  Thirst '  of  Murillo's  famous  picture), 
on  which  our  attention  is  chiefly  fixed,  and  which  is  identified 
either  with  the  new  name,  or  the  new  turn  given  to  the 
old  name  of  the  place,  '  Meribah  Kadesh,'  *  *  Strife  and 
Sanctity.^  But  there  are  two  other  events  which  more  dis- 
tinctly mark  the  stage  of  the  history  at  wliich  we  have  arrived. 
In  Kadesh  passed  away  the  eldest  born  of  the  ruling  family 
of  Israel.  '  Miriam  died  there  and  was  buried  there,'  in  one  Death  and 
of  the  rock-hewn  tombs  which  perforate  the  whole  range  of  Mi\am. 

'  Judg.  V.  4.  2  Hab.  iii.  3. 

'  So  the  LXX.  in  Deut.  xxxiii.  2.     See  Ewald,  ii.  257. 
*  Num.  XX.  12,  13. 


184  KADESH.  i.ect.  viit. 

the  hills  surrounding-  Petra ;  it  may  be,  in  that  secluded  spot 
still  known  *  by  the  sacred  name  of  the  '  Convent,'  still  scaled 
by  the  long  ascent  cut  out  of  the  rock  for  the  approach  of 
pilgrims  in  ages  beyond  the  reach  of  history.    The  mourning 
for  her  death,  according  to  Josephus,^  lasted  for  thirty  days, 
and  was  terminated  ^  by  the  ceremony  which  remained  to  the 
last  days  of  the  Commonwealth,  the  sacrifice,  as  if  in  special 
allusion  to  the  departed  Prophetess,  of  the  red  heifer.    Close 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Kadesh  passed  away  the  second  of 
Death  and  the  family.     On  the  summit  of  Mount  Hor,  immediately 
Aaron.        facing  that  other  sanctuary  of  which  we  just  now  spoke,  has, 
for  at  least  two  thousand  years,  been  shown  the  grave   of 
Aaron.     From  that  craggy  top,  he,  like  his  younger  brother, 
forbidden  to  enter  the  Promised  Land,  surveyed,  though  in 
a  far  more  distant  view,  the  outskirts  of  Palestine.     He  sur- 
veyed too,  in  its  fullest  extent,  the  dreary  mountains,  barren 
platform,  and  cheerless  valley,  of  the  desert  through  which 
they  had  passed.     It  was  a  Pisgah,  not  of  prospect,  but  of 
retrospect :  it  was,  if  we  may  venture  so  far  to  draw  out  its 
meaning,  the  appropriate  end  of  the  chief  representative  of 
the  sacerdotal  order  of  his  nation,  clinging  to  the  past,  look- 
ing back  to  Egypt,  with  no  encouraging  word  for  the  future ; 
the  opposite  of  that  wide  and  varied  vista  which  opened 
before   the  first  of  the  Prophets.     The    succession  of  the 
Priesthood,  that  link  of  continuity  between  the  past  and  pre- 
sent, now  first  introduced  into  the  Jewish  Church,  and  amidst 
all  changes  of  form  never  entirely  lost   in  the  Christian 
Church,  was  continued  to  his  son  Eleazar.     It  was  made 
through  that  singular  usage,  preserved  even  to  the  latest  days  * 
of  the  Jewish  hierarchy, — the  transference  of  the  vestments 
and  drapery  of  the  dead  High  Priest  to  the  living  successor. 

'  See  Sinai  and  Palestine,  96.  of  Mount  Sin. 

2  He  states  {Ant.  iv.  4,  §  6)  that  ^  Josephus,  Ant.  iv.  4,  §  6. 

she  was   buried   in  state  on   the  top  *  Ewald,  Geschichte,  v.  13. 


LECT.  VIII.  DOUBTS    OF   MOSES.  185 

'  Moses  stripped  Aaron  of  his  garments  and  put  them  upon 
'  Eleazar  his  son,  and  Aaron  died  there  in  the  top  of  the 
'  mount ;  and  Moses  and  Eleazar  came  down  from  the  mount, 
*  and  when  all  the  congregation  saw  that  Aaron  was  dead, 
'  they  mourned  for  Aaron  thirty  days,  even  all  the  house  of 
'  Israel.'  In  this,  their  first  great  national  sorrow,  they 
parted  from  Kadesh,  from  Mount  Hor,  and  from  the  inhos- 
pitable race  of  their  kindred  tribe  of  Esau ;  under  the  now 
undivided  sway  of  the  youngest,  and  greatest,  and  only  re- 
maining child  of  the  family  of  Amram. 

Even  he  had  borne  his  share  in  the  gloom  of  this  period.  Doubts  of 

jVXoSGS 

In  the  incident  of  the  calling  forth  of  the  water  from  the 
cliff  of  Kadesh,  occurs  the  expression  of  distrust  on  the  part 
not  only  of  Aaron  but  of  Moses.^  It  is  but  a  single  blot  in 
the  career  of  the  Prophet,  and  it  is  but  slightly  touched  by 
the  Sacred  narrative.  Still  it  was  thought  sufficiently  im- 
portant for  Josephus,  after  his  manner,  to  suppress  all 
mention  of  it;  and  it  just  reveals  that  shade  of  weakness  in 
the  character  of  Moses,  which  adds  so  much  to  our  impression 
of  its  general  strength. 

He  doubted,  and  his  doubt  is  not  concealed.  He  doubted 
once  in  a  moment  of  gloom  and  irritation ;  but  he  did  not, 
therefore,  doubt  everything  and  always ;  and  he  is  not  less 
revered  as  the  chief  Prophet  of  the  Jewish  Church.  To 
this  side  of  his  character,  in  the  Koran,  is  attached  the 
remarkable  story  of  the  message  sent  to  repress  his  murmurs 
against  the  inscrutable  ways  of  Providence.  He  met  (so  runs 
the  legend),  by  the  shores  of  the  Eed  Sea,  the  mysterious 
visitant  from  the  other  world,  El  Khudr,  'The  Gfreen  or  Im-  Story  of  El 
'  mortal  One,'  '  One  of  the  servants  of  God.'  And  Moses  said 
unto  him,  '  Shall  I  follow  thee,  that  thou  mayest  teach  me 

'  'Shall  ■we,'  i.e.  'can  we'  (not  Num.  xxtH.  12-14-,  Deut.  xxxii.  51, 
'  shall  we ' )  fetch  water  out  of  this  that  it  appears  as  the  ground  of  his 
'"cliff?"'  Num.  XX.  10.    It  is  only  in       exclusion  from  Palestine. 


186 


KADESH. 


LECT.    VIII. 


Journey 
from 

Kadesh  to 
Moab. 


*  part  of  that  which  thou  hast  been  taught,  for  a  direction  unto 
'  me  ? '  He  answered, '  Verily  thou  canst  not  bear  with  me ;  for 
'  how  canst  thou  patiently  suffer  those  things  the  knowledge 
'  whereof  thou  dost  not  comprehend  ? '  Moses  replied,  '  Thou 
'  shalt  find  me  patient  if  Grod  please ;  neither  will  I  be 
'  disobedient  unto  thee  in  anj^hing.'     He  said,  '  If  thou  fol- 

*  low  me,  therefore,  ask  me  not  concerning  anything  until  I 
'  declare  the  meaning  thereof  unto  thee.'  They  proceed  on 
their  journey.  The  stranger  successively  makes  a  hole  in 
a  ship  on  the  sea,  slays  an  innocent  youth,  and  rebuilds  a 
tottering  wall  in  a  city  where  they  had  been  unjustly  treated. 
At  each  transaction  Moses  asks  the  reason  and  is  rebuked. 
At  the  conclusion  the  explanation  is  given.  '  The  vessel 
'  belonged  to  certain  poor  men,  and  I  was  minded  to  render 
'  it  unserviceable,  because  there  was  a  certain  King  behind 
'  them,  who  took  every  sound  ship  by  force.  The  youth,  had 
'  he  grown  up,  would  have  vexed  his  parents  by  ingratitude 
'  and  perverseness.  The  wall  belonged  to  two  orphan  youths, 
'  and  under  it  was  hidden  a  treasure ;  and  their  father  was  a 
'  righteous  man ;  and  thy  Lord  was  pleased  that  they  should 

*  attain  to  their  full  age,  and  take  forth  this  treasure  by  the 
'  mercy  of  thy  Lord.  And  I  did  not  what  thou  hast  seen  by 
'  my  own  will,  but  by  God's  direction.     This  is  the  interpre- 

*  tation  of  that  which  thou  couldest  not  hear  with  patience.' ' 

II.  From  this  point  the  geography  and  the  history  at  once 
begin  to  clear  up.  We  trace  the  course  of  the  host  with  the 
utmost  distinctness  down  the  Arabah  to  the  Grulf  of  Elath. 
At  the  head  of  the  Grulf — to  be  no  more  revisited  by  Israel- 
itish  wanderers  till  it  became  the  exit  of  Solomon's  commerce 
— they  turned  the  southern  corner  of  the  Idumean  range  by 
the  Wady  Ithm,  and  then,  skirting  the  eastern  frontier  of 


'  Koran,  c.  xviii.  64-81.  This  is 
the  story  adopted  in  Parnell's  Hermit. 
I   have  incorporated  it  here,  as  the 


most   universally   interesting   of  the 
traditions  concerning  Moses. 


LECT.  vnr.  JOURNEY   TO    PISGAII.  187 

Edom,  finally  crossed  into  what  became  their  home  for  many 
months,  perhaps  years, — the  vast  range  of  forest  and  pasture 
on  the  east  of  the  Jordan. 

It  was  a  marked  epoch  in  their  journeyings — almost  an  Passage  of 
anticipation  of  the  passage  of  the  Jordan  itself — when  they 
crossed  the  two  streams  which  formed  the  boundary  of  the 
desert-  The  first  was  the  watercourse  or  torrent  that  took  its 
name  from  its  willows  overhanging.^  The  second  was  the  rush-  Passage  of 
ing  river  Arnon,  which,  as  its  name  indicates,  dashes  through 
a  deep  defile  of  sandstone  rocks,  and  parts  with  a  decisive 
barrier  the  cultivated  land  of  Moab  from  the  wild  mountains 
of  Edom.  Two  fragments  of  ancient  song  remain,  celebrating 
with  triumphant  strains  these  two  memorable  fords, — 

Now  rise  up, 

And  get  you  over  the  watercourse  of  Zered.^ 

And  again,  in  still  more  emphatic  language, — 

What  he  did  in  the  flags  by  the  river-side, 
And  in  the  torrents  of  Arnon, 
And  at  the  poui'ing  forth  of  the  brooks 
That  goeth  down  to  the  dweUings  of  Ar 
And  heth  on  the  border  of  Moab.^ 

Their  first  halt  brings  before  us  a  scene,  such  as  had  The  well  of 
before,  doubtless,  been  witnessed  in  their  desert  encampments, 
but  now  with  an  indication  that  they  were  approaching  the 
cultivated  land.  It  was  no  longer  by  the  natural  springs,  as 
of  Elim  or  Marah,  nor  by  the  living  stream  gushing  out  of 
the  rock,  as  at  Horeb  and  Kadesh,  that  they  rested.  Here, 
as  on  the  southern  frontier  of  Palestine,  i?eer-sheba,  and 
i?eer-lahai-roi,  we  find  '  the  well,'  the  deep  cavity  sunk  in  the 
earth  by  the  art  of  man.     Long  afterwards  the  spot  was 

'  The  watercourse  of  Zered,   '  the  tier  of  Moab. 

abundant  tree  '  (Deut.  ii.  13, 18),  or  of  -  Dcut.  ii.  13. 

'the  willows'  (Isa.  xv,  7  ;  Amos  vi,  ^  Num.  xxi,  14,  15. 
14),  is  spoken  of  as  the  southern  frou- 


188  PISGAH.  LECT.  VIII. 

known,  from  tliis  the  first  visit,  as  Beer-elim,^  '  the  well  of 
the  heroes.' 

Rabbinical  tradition  represented  it  as  the  last  appearance 
of  the  spring  or  well  of  Miriam,  that  had  followed  them 
through  their  wanderings,  and  bubbled  up  once  more  before 
it  finally  plunged  into  the  Lake  of  Gennesareth.  But  the 
original  account  of  it  is  more  touching  even  than  this 
picturesque  legend,^ — 

'  That  is  the  well  whereof  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses — 

Gather  the  people  together, 
I  will  give  them  water.' 

The  nation  long  preserved  the  song  addressed,  as  if  with 
a  passionate  invocation,  to  the  water  which  lay  hid  in  this 
well,  by  those  who  came  to  draw  from  it. 

Spring  up,  0  well !  sing  ye  unto  it ! 
The  well  which  the  princes  digged, 
The  nobles  of  the  people  digged  it 
With  the  sceptre  of  the  Lawgiver, 
With  the  '  staves  of  their  tribes.' 

It  was  the  expression  of  the  thankful  feeling  that  in  that 
simple  but  precious  gift  of  water  all  had  borne  their  part 
from  the  least  to  the  greatest :  that  it  was  no  ordinary  tool, 
no  staff  of  divination,  but  the  rod  of  their  great  leader  Moses, 
the  sceptres  of  the  chiefs  of  the  tribes,  that  had  wrought  this 
homely  work,  and  left  the  refreshing  boon  to  posterity. 
We  can  hardly  forbear  to  hail  this  clear,  undoubted  burst  of 
primitive^  Hebrew  poetry  out  of  the  disjointed  structure  of 
the  Sacred  History,  almost  as  gratefully  as  the  event  which 
it  commemorates  was  hailed  by  the  Israelites  themselves. 
The  last  From  their  entrance  into  the  territory  of  Moab  the  history 

days  of       presents  itself  under  two  distinct  aspects.     The  first  is  that 

'  Isa.  XV.  8 ;  see  Sinai  and  Pales-  tionary  of  the  Bible, 
tine,  Appendix,  §  56.  *  Compare  Herder  {Spirit  of  He- 

2  See  Lecture  VI.,  and  Mr.  Grove  brew  Poetry,  vol.  xxxiv.  p.  225). 
on    '  Beer '  and  '  Beer-elim,'  in  Bic- 


1.ECT.  viu  BALAAM.  189 

of  the  earKest  stage  of  the  conquest  of  Palestine.  The 
second  is  that  of  the  last  days  of  Moses.  The  first  of  these 
will  be  most  conveniently  considered  in  detail  in  the  next 
Lecture.  But  the  general  results  of  this  conquest  introduce 
a  scene  in  the  history  which  can  only  be  considered  in  this 
place,  because  it  suddenly  gives  us,  before  we  finally  take 
farewell  of  the  great  Prophet  of  Israel,  a  glimpse  of  another 
Prophet,  who  for  a  moment  fills  our  whole  view,  and  who, 
though  he  leaves  no  enduring  mark  on  the  history  of  the 
Jemsh  Church,  has  occupied  so  large  a  place  in  Christian 
theology  as  to  rank  amongst  the  most  interesting  characters 
of  the  Old  Dispensation. 

A  unity  of  place  links  together  the  Two  Prophets,  else 
so  wide  apart ;  and,  as  if  with  a  consciousness  of  this,  the 
shadow  of  the  great  mountain,  which  connects  their  careers 
together,  is  thrown  before  at  the  very  beginning  of  this  portion 
of  the  narrative.  '  They  came  from  Nahali-el,  "  the  torrents 
'  of  Grod,"  to  Bamoth,  "  the  high  places,"  and  from  Bamoth 
'  to  the  "  ravine  "  that  is  in  the  field  of  Moab,  to  the  top  of 
'  "PiSGAH  which  looketh  towards  Jeshimon,^  the  waste."  ' 

1.  It  is  one  of  the  striking  proofs  of  the  Divine  univer-  Balaam, 
sality  of  the  Old  Testament,  that  the  veil  is  from  time  to 
time  drawn  aside,  and  other  characters  than  those  which 
belonged  to  the  Chosen  People  appear  in  the  distance, 
fraught  w^  an  instruction  which  transcends  the  limits  of 
the  JewislFTChurch,  and  not  only  in  place,  but  in  time,  far 
outruns  the  teaching  of  any  peculiar  age  or  nation.  Such  is 
the  discussion  of  the  profoundest  questions  of  religious  phi- 
losophy in  the  book  of  the  Grentile  Job.  Such  is  the  appear- 
ance of  the  Gentile  Prophet  Balaam.  He  is  one  of  those 
characters  of  whom,  whilst  so  little  is  told  that  we  seem  to 
know  nothing  of  him,  yet  that  little  raises  him  at  once  to  the 

'  Num.  xxi.  20. 


190  PISGAH.  LECT.  vnr. 

His  posi-  highest  pitch  of  interest.  His  home  is  beyond/  the  Euphrates, 
amongst  the  mountains  where  the  vast  streams  of  Mesopo- 
tamia have  their  rise.  But  his  fame  is  known  across  the  " 
Assyrian  desert,  through  the  Arabian  tribes,  down  to  the  very 
shores  of  the  Dead  Sea.  He  ranks  as  a  warrior  chief  (by 
that  combination  of  soldier  and  prophet,  already  seen  in 
Moses  himself)  with  the  five  kings  of  Midian.^  He  is 
regarded  throughout  the  whole  of  the  East  as  a  Prophet, 
whose  blessing  or  whose  curse  is  irresistible,  the  rival,  the 
possible  conqueror  of  Moses.  In  his  career  is  seen  that 
recognition  of  Divine  Inspiration  outside  the  Chosen  People, 
which  the  narrowness  of  modern  times  has  been  so  eaefer 
to  deny,  but  which  the  Scriptures  ^  are  always  ready  to 
acknowledge,  and,  by  acknowledging,  admit  within  the  pale 
of  the  teachers  of  the  Universal  Church  the  higher  spirits 
of  every  age  and  of  every  nation. 

His  clia-  His   character.   Oriental    and  primeval  though    it  be,   is 

delineated  with  that  fineness  of  touch  which  has  rendered  it 
the  storehouse  of  theologians  and  moralists  in  the  most  recent 
ages  of  the  Church.  Three  great  divines  have  from  different 
points  of  view  drawn  out,  without  exhausting,  the  subtle 
phases  of  his  greatness  and  of  his  fall.  The  self-deception 
which  persuades  him  in  every  case  that  the  sin  which  he 
commits  may  be  brought  within  the  rules  of  conscience  and 
revelation ;  ^  the  dark  shade  cast  over  a  noble .  course  by 

'  Num.  xxii.   5,  xxiii.  7,  xxiv.  6;  the  spirit  of  it  is  perfectly  just,  and 

'  the  river '  ==  Euphrates.  applies  to  the  Bible  generally.  Bnlaam 

lb.  XXXI.  8.  -^Yras  no  more  a  member  of  the  Jewish 

3  Josephus  {Ant.  iv.  6,  §  13)  consi-  Church  than  was  Socrates.     He  was 

ders  it  a  special  matter  of  commenda-  r^^  g^eat  an  enemy  of  the  Church  as 

tion  on  Moses  that,  in  spite  of  Balaam's  Julian.   But  not  the  less  has  the  sacred 

hostility  to  the  chosen  people,  he  yet  historian  done  that  justice  to  the  alien 

'  rightly  honoured  him  by  thus  record-  ^j^d  the  enemy,  which  many  Christian 

ing  his  prophecies,'  which  he  might  theologians  have  made  it  a  point  of 

have  appropriated  to  himself.       The  honour  to  deny, 
form  of  this  statement  is  conceived  in  4  Butler's  Sermons  vii. 

the  prosaic  fashion  of  Josephus.     But 


racter. 


LECT.    VIII.  BALAAjM.  191 

standing  always  on  the  ladder  of  advancement,  and  by  the 
suspense  of  a  worldly  ambition  never  satisfied ; '  the  com- 
bination of  the  purest  form  of  religious  belief  with  a  standard 
of  action  immeasurably  below  ^  it ;  these  have  given  to  the 
story  of  Balaam,  the  son  of  Beor,  a  hold  over  the  last  hundred 
years  which  it  never  can  have  had  over  any  period  of  the 
human  mind  less  critical  or  less  refined. 

One  feels  a  kind  of  awe  in  tlie  gradual  preparation  with 
which  he  is  brought  before  us,  as  if  in  the  foreboding  of  some 
great  catastrophe.  The  King  of  the  civilised  Moabites  unites 
with  the  Elders,  or  Sheykhs,  of  the  Bedouin  Midianites,  to 
seek  for  aid  against  the  powerful  nation  who  (to  use  their  own 
peculiarly  pastoral  image)  '  licked  up  all  that  were  round 
'  about  them,  as  the  ox  licked  up  the  grass  of  the  field '  ^  of 
Moab.  Twice,  across  the  whole  length  of  the  Assyrian  desert, 
the  messengers,  with  the  Oriental  bribes  of  divination  in 
their  hands,  are  sent  to  conjure  forth  the  mighty  seer  from  his 
distant  home."*  In  the  permission  to  go  when,  once  refused, 
he  presses  for  a  favourable  answer,  which  at  last  comes,  though 
leading  him  to  ruin,  we  see  the  peculiar  turn  of  teaching 
which  characterises  the  purest  of  the  ancient  heathen  oracles. 
It  is  the  exact  counterpart  of  the  elevated  rebuke  of  the 
Oracle  at  Cumge  to  Aristodicus,  and  of  the  Oracle  of  Delphi 
to  Gflaucus.^  Eeluctantly,  at  last  he  comes.  The  dreadful  His  jour- 
apparition  on  the  way,  the  desperate  resistance  of  the  terrified 
animal,  the  furious  determination  of  the  Prophet  to  advance, 
the  voice,  however  explained,^  which  breaks  from  the  dumb 
creature  that  has  saved  his  life,  all  heighten  the  expectation 
of  the   messaofe  that  he  is  to  deliver.     When  Balaam  and 


>  Newman's  Sermons,  iv.  21.  *  Herod,  i.  158  ;  vi.  86.     Compare 

-  Arnold's  Sermons,  -v-i.  55,  56.  1  Kings  xxii.  22 ;  Ezek.  xiv.  5. 

*  Num.  xxii.  4.  ^  'H.engiitenherg(GeschichieBileams, 

*  Compare,  for  this  extended  inter-  50-54)  represents  it   as  a  dream  or 
course  between  such  distant  localities,  trance. 

Blunt' s  Coincidences,  Pt.  r.  §  xxiii. 


192 


PISGAH. 


LECT.    VIII. 


The  first  Balak  first  meet,  the  short  dialogue,  preserved  not  by  the 
of  Ealaam  Mosaic  historian  but  by  the  Prophet  Micah/  at  once  exhibits 
and  jjalak.  ^^^q  agouy  of  the  King  and  the  lofty  conceptions  of  the  great 
seer.  '  0  my  people,  remember  what  Balak,  king  of  Moab, 
'  consulted,  and  what  Balaam,  the  son  of  Beor,  answered. 
'  "  Whereivith  shall  I  come  before  the  Lord,  and  bow  myself 
' "  before  the  High  God  ?  Shall  I  come  before  Him  with 
'  "  burnt  offerings,  with  calves  of  a  year  old  f  Will  the  Lord 
' "  be  pleased  with  thousands  of  rams,  or  with  ten  thou- 
* "  sands  of  rivers  of  oil  f  Shall  I  give  my  Jirst-born  for  my 
' "  transgression,  the  fruit  of  my  body  for  the  sin  of  my 
'  "  soul  ?  "  '  So  speaks  the  superstitious  feeling  of  all  times, 
but,  in  a  literal  sense,  of  the  royal  house  of  Moab,  always 
ready,  in  a  national  crisis,  to  ajDpease  offended  Heaven  by 
the  sacrifice  ^  of  the  heir  to  the  throne.  The  reply  is  such 
as  breathes  the  very  essence  of  the  Prophetic  spirit,  such  as 
had  at  that  early  time  hardly  expressed  itself  distinctly  even 
within  the  Mosaic  Revelation  itself.  '  He  hath  shoived  thee, 
'  0  man,  what  is  good;  aud  tvhat  doth  the  Lord  require  of 
'  thee  but  to  do  justly,  and  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk 
'  humbly  with  thy  God  t ' 

If  this  is,  indeed,  intended  to  describe  the  first  meeting  of 
the  King  and  the  Seer,  it  enhances  the  pa,thos  of  the  struggle 
which  continues  through  each  successive  interview.  Some- 
times the  one  only,  sometimes  both  together,  are  seen  striving 
to  overpower  the  voice  of  conscience  and  of  Grod  with  the  fumes 
of  sacrifice,  yet  always  failing  in  the  attempt,  which  the 
Prophet  had  himself  at  the  outset  declared  to  be  vain.  The 
eye  follows  the  Two,  as  they  climb  upwards  from  height 
to  height  along  the  extended  range,  to  the  '  high  places '  ^ 


The  dm- 

iiatious. 


'  Mieah  y\.  5,  &c. 

-  Comp.  2  Kings  iii.  27  (see  Mr. 
Grove  on  '  Moab '  in  Diet,  of  Bible). 
This  coincidence  seems  of  itself  suf- 
ficient to  show  that   this  passage  of 


Mieah  vi.  is  not,  as  some  have  sup- 
posed,   a   merely   general    statement, 
but  is  intended  for  the  dialogue  be- 
tween Balaam  and  Balak. 
^  Bumoth,  Num.  xxii.  41. 


LECT.  VIII.  BALAAM.  193 

dedicated  to  Baal,  on  the  '  top  of  the  rocks,' — '  the  bare  hill ' ' 
close  above  it, — the  'cultivated  field '^  of  the  Watchmen 
( Zophim)  on  the  top  of  Pisgah,^ — to  the  peak  where  stood 
'  the  sanctuary  of  Peor,  that  looketh  toward  the  waste.'  It 
is  at  this  point  that  the  scene  has  been  caught  in  the  well- 
known  lines  of  the  poet — 

O  for  a  sculptor's  liand, 

That  thou  mightst  take  thy  stand, 
Thy  wild  hair  floating  on  the  eastern  breeze, 

Thy  tranced  yet  open  gaze 

Fix'd  on  the  desert  haze, 
As  one  Avho  deep  in  heav'n  some  airy  pageant  sees. 

In  outline  dim  and  vast, 

Their  fearful  shadows  cast 
The  giant  forms  of  Empire  on  their  way 

To  ruin  :  one  by  one 

They  tow'r  and  they  are  gone. 
Yet  in  the  Prophet's  soul  the  di-eams  of  avarice  stay.^ 

Behind  him  lay  the  vast  expanse  of  desert  extending  to  the 
shores  of  his  native  Assyrian  river.  On  his  left  were  the  red 
mountains  of  Edom  and  Seir :  opposite  were  the  dwelling- 
places  of  the  Kenite,  in  the  rocky  fastnesses  of  Engedi ; 
further  still  was  the  dim  outline  of  the  Arabian  wilderness, 
where  ruled  the  then  powerful  tribe  of  Amalek ;  immediately 
below  him  lay  the  vast  encampment  of  Israel,  amongst  the 
acacia  groves  of  Abel  Shittim, — like  the  watercourses  ^  of  the 
mountains,  like  the  hanging  gardens  beside  his  own  river  ^ 
Euphrates,  with  their  aromatic  shrubs,  and  their  wide-spread- 
ing cedars.  Beyond  them,  on  the  western  side  of  Jordan,  rose 
the  hills  of  Palestine,  with  glimpses  through  their  valleys 
of  ancient   cities  towering    on  their  crested  heights.     And 

'  Shrfi,  lb.  xxiii.  3,  9.  *  Keble's      Christian     Year,     2iid 

^  Sadch,  lb.  xxiii.  14.  Sunday  after  Easter. 

*  Num.    xxiii.    28 ;    Deuteronomy  ^  JSachal,  Num.  xxiy.  6. 

xxxiv.  1.  *  Nahar  (ibid.) 

0 


194  PISGAII.  LECT.  VIII. 

beyond  all,  though  he  could  not  see  it  with  his  bodily  vision, 
he  knew  well  that  there  rolled  the  deep  waters  of  the  great 
sea,  with  the  Isles  of  Greece,  the  Isle  of  Chittim, — a  world 
of  which  the  first  beginnings  of  life  were  just  stirring,  of 
which  the  very  name  here  first  breaks  upon  our  ears. 

These  are  the  points  indicated  in  the  view  which  lay  before 
the  Prophet  as  he  stood  on  the  Watchers'  Field,  on  the  top  of 
Pisgah.  What  was  the  vision  which  unrolled  itt^elf  as  he 
heard  the  words  of  Grod,  as  he  saw  the  vision  of  the  Almighty, 
'  falling '  ^  prostrate  in  the  prophetic  trance,  '  but  having 
'  the  eyes  '  of  his  mind  and  his  spirit  '  open  ?  '  The  out- 
ward forms  still  remained.  He  still  saw  the  tents  below,  goodly 
in  tlieir  array ;  he  still  saw  the  rocks,  and  hills,  and  distant 
desert :  but,  as  his  thought  glanced  from  height  to  height, 
and  from  valley  to  mountain,  the  future  fortunes  of  the 
nations  who  dwelt  there  unfolded  themselves  in  dim  succes- 
sion, revolving  round  and  from  the  same  central  object. 
TheVision.  From  the  midst  of  that  vast  encampment  he  seemed  to 
see  streams,  as  of  water  flowing  to  and  fro  over  the  valleys, 
giving  life  to  the  dry  desert  and  to  the  salt  sea.^  He  seemed 
to  see  a  form  as  of  a  mighty  lion^  couched  amidst  the 
thickets,  or  on  the  mountain  fastnesses  of  Judah,  '  and  none 
'  should  rouse  him  up ; '  or  the  '  wild  bull '  ^  raging  from 
amidst  the  archers  of  Ephraim,  trampling  down  his  ene- 
mies, piercing  them  through  with  the  well-known  arrows  ^  of 
the  tribe.  And  yet  again,  in  the  more  distant  future,  he  '  saw, 
'  but  not  now,' — he  '  beheld,  but  not  nigh,' — as  with  the  in- 
tuition of  his  Chaldsean  art, — '  a  Star,'  bright  as  those  of  the 
far  Eastern  sky, '  come  out  of  Jacob ; '  and  '  a  sceptre,'  like  the 
shepherd's  staff  that  marked  the  ruler  of  the  tribe, '  rise  out  of 
'  Israel : '  and  then,  as  he  watched  the  course  of  the  surrounding; 


'  The  same  word  as  in  1  Sam.  xix.  ^  Ibid.  9. 

24;  comp.  Jos.  Aiit.  iv.  6,  §  12.  ■•  Ibid.  8,  Auth.  Vers,  'unicorn. 

^  Num.  xxiv.  7,  as  in  Ezek.  xlvii.  8.  *  Compare  Ps.  Ixxviii.  9. 


LECT.  VIII.  BALAAM.  195 

nations,  he  saw  how,  one  by  one,  they  would  fall,  as  fall  they 
did,  before  the  conquering  sceptre  of  David,  before  the  steady 
advance  of  that  Star  which  then,  for  the  first  time,  rose  out 
of  Bethlehem.  And  as  he  gazed,  the  vision  became  wider 
and  wider  still.  He  saw  a  time  when  a  new  tempest  would 
break  over  all  these  countries  alike,  from  the  remote  East, 
— from  Assur,  from  his  own  native  land  of  Assyria.  '  Assur 
'  shall  carry  thee  away  captive.'  But  at  that  word  another 
scene  opened  before  him,  and  a  cry  of  horror  burst  from  his 
lips :  '  Alas !  who  shall  live  when  Grod  doeth  this  ?  '  For  his 
own  nation,  too,  was  to  be  at  last  overtaken.  '  For  ships 
'shall  come  from  the  coast  of  Chittim,' — from  the  island 
of  Cyprus,  which,  as  the  only  one  visible  from  the  heights  of 
Palestine,  was  the  one  familiar  link  with  the  Western  world — 
'  and  shall  crush  Assur,  and  shall  crush  Eber,  "  the  people 
' "  beyond  the  Euphrates,"  and  he  also  shall  perish  for  ever.' 

We  know  not  to  what  precise  events  '  these  words  allude. 
But  they  indicate  the  first  rise  of  the  power  of  Grreece  and 
of  Europe, — .the  first  conviction,  as  it  has  been  well  expressed, 
ut  valesceret  Occidens, — the  first  apprehension  that  the  tide  of 
Eastern  conquest  was  rolled  back,  and  that  at  last  from  the 
Western  Isles  would  come  a  power,  before  which  Asshur  and 
Babylon,  Assyria  and  Chaldaea,  and  Persia,  no  less  than 
the  wild  hordes  of  the  desert,  would  fade  and  'perish  for 
ever '  from  the  earth,^ 

It  has  often  been  debated,  and  no  evidence  now  remains  to 
prove,  at  what  precise  time  this  grandest  of  all  its  episodes 

'  The  earliest  known  event  to  wWeh  general  sense  of  'the  West'   is  still 

this  could  refer  was  the  attack  on  the  preserved.     But  the  exchange  of  the 

colony  of  Sardanapalus  in  Cihcia  by  familiar    island   of    Cyprus    for    the 

the  Cyprian  fleet.  EiLseb.  Chron.  Arm.  country,  at  that   time  unknown  and 

i.  pp.  26,  27.  For  the  general  relations  unintelligible   to   the  East,  of  Itah/, 

of  Cyprus  to  the  East,   see  Sharpe's  well  illustrates  the  difference  between 

Egypt,  i.  193.  Prophecy  as  it  appears  in  the  Bible, 

*  For  '  ships  of  Chittim '  the  Vul-  and  as  it  appears  in  the  theories  oi 

gate  reads  '  galleys  from  Italy.'     The  later  ages.     See  Lecture  XX. 

o  2 


196  PISGAH.  LECT.  viii. 

was  introduced  into  the  Mosaic  narrative.  But,  however 
this  may  be  determined,  the  magnificence  of  the  vision  re- 
mains untouched ;  and  it  stands  in  the  Sacred  record,  the 
first  example  of  the  Prophetic  utterances  respecting  the 
destinies  of  the  world  at  large ;  founded,  like  all  such 
utterances,  on  the  objects  immediately  in  the  range  of  the 
vision  of  the  seer,  but  including  within  their  sweep  a  vast 
prospect  beyond.  Here  first  the  Grentile  world,  not  of  the 
East  only  but  of  the  West,  bursts  into  view ;  and  here  is 
the  first  sanction  of  that  wide  interest  in  the  various  races 
and  empires  o?  manl^ind,  not  only  as  bearing  on  the  fortunes 
of  the  Chosen  People,  but  for  their  own  sakes  also,  which 
the  narrow  spirits  of  the  Jewish  Church  first,  and  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church  since,  have  been  so  slow  to  acknowledge.  Here, 
too,  is  exhibited,  in  its  most  striking  form,  the  irresistible 
force  of  the  Prophetic  impulse  overpowering  the  baser  spirit 
of  the  individual  man.  The  spectacle  of  the  host  of  Israel, 
even  though  seen  only  from  its  utmost  skirts,  is  too  much  for 
him.  The  Divine  message  struggling  within  him,  is  delivered 
in  spite  of  his  own  sordid  resistance.  Many  has  been  the 
Balaam  whom  the  force  of  truth  or  goodness  from  without, 
or  the  force  of  genius  or  conscience  from  within,  has  com- 
pelled to  bless  the  enemies  whom  he  was  hired  to  curse, 

Like  the  seer  of  old, 
Who  stood  on  ZopHm,  heav'n-controll'd. 

'  And  Balaam  rose  up  and  went  and  returned  to  his  own 
'place.'  The  Sacred  historian,  as  if  touched  with  a  feeling 
of  the  greatness  of  the  Prophet's  mission,  drops  the  veil  over  its 
dark  close.  Only  by  the  incidental  notice  ^  of  a  subsequent 
part  of  the  narrative,  are  we  told  how  Balaam  endeavoured  to 
effect,^  by  the  licentious  rites  of  the  Arab  tribes,  the  ruin 

*  Josephus  amplifies  the  single  word       Ant.  iv.  6,  §  5-8. 
of  the  Biblical  narrative  into  another  a  Numb.  xxxi.  8,  16. 

elaborate  embassy  to  the  Euphrates. — 


LECT.  viii.  FAREWELL    OF   MOSES.  197 

which  he  had  been  unable  to  work  by  bis  curses ;  and  how, 
in  the  war  of  vengeance  which  followed,  he  met  with  his 
mournful  end. 

2.  The  intermino-lino-  of  the  narratives  of  the  Book  of  Farewell 
Numbers,  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy,  the  Book  of  Joshua, 
the  rise  of  new  names,  Eleazar,  Phineas,  Jair,  indicate  that 
we  are  approaching  the  confines  of  another  generation,  and 
another  stage  of  the  history.  But  the  main  interest  still 
hangs  round  Moses,  and  round  the  heights  of  Pisgah.  We 
need  not  here  discuss  the  vexed  question  of  the  precise  time 
when  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy  ^  assumed  its  present  form.  Deutero- 
It  is  enough  to  feel  that  it  represents  to  us  the  long  farewell  ™" ' 
of  the  Prophet  and  Lawgiver,  as  he  stood  amongst  the  groves 
of  Abel  Shittim,  and  recapitulated  the  course  of  his  career 
and  of  his  legislation.  Parts,  at  least,  have  every  appearance 
of  belonging  to  that  stage  of  the  history  and  to  no  other ; 
when  they  were  still  beyond  the  Jordan,  when  the  institu- 
tions of  the  Conquest  and  the  Monarchy  were  still  undeve- 
loped. And,  if  the  features  of  the  earlier  Law  are  in  other 
parts  transfigured  with  a  softer  and  a  more  spiritual  light, 
this  change,  whilst  it  may  indicate  the  influence  of  the 
later  spirit  of  the  great  Prophetic  age,  yet  is  also  in  close 
harmony — hardly  the  less  remarkable  if  it  be  a  dramatic,  and 
not  an  historic,  harmony — with  the  soothing  and  widening 
process  which  belongs  to  the  old  age,  not  merely  of  every 
nation,  but  of  every  individual.  Deuteronomy  has  been 
sometimes  said  to  be  to  the  earlier  books  of  the  Law,  as  the 
Fourth  Grospel  to  the  earlier  Three.  The  comparison  may 
hold  good  in  regard  no  less  to  the  actual  advance  in  the 
character  of  Moses  the  Lawgiver  and  Moses  the  expiring 

'  At  the  time  of  the  Christian  era,  8,  §  48  ;  Phil.  V.  M.  iii.  39.)  This  hy- 
and  probably  long  afterwards,  the  ac-  pothesis  is  worth  recording  as  an  ex- 
count  of  the  death  and  burial  of  Moses  ample  of  interpretation  now  entirely 
was  supposed  to  have  been  written  by  superseded, 
himself  as  a  prediction.   (Jos.  Ant.  iv. 


198  PISGAH.  LECT.  viir. 

Prophet,  and  the  character  of  the  Son  of  Thunder  and  the 
aged  Evangelist. 

In  this  last  representation  of  Moses,  one  feature  is  brought 
out  more  forcibly  than  ever  before.  The  poetic  utterances, 
regarded  as  an  indispensable  accompaniment  of  the  prophetic 
gift,  now  come  forth  in  full  strength ;  the  vox  cycnea  of  the 
departing  seer. 
The  two  Two  of  these,  at  least  in  their  general  conception,  belong 

MoS  "^  exclusively  to  this  epoch,  the  Eve  of  the  Conquest :  the  Song 
of  battle  and  of  warning  by  which  Joshua  was  to  be  cheered, 
and  the  Blessing,  it  might  almost  be  said  the  war-cry,  of  the 
several  tribes.  In  some  minute  points,  also,  we  seem  to  trace 
the  feeling  of  this  particular  crisis  of  the  history.  The  name 
by  which,  in  the  Song  of  Moses,  the  God  of  Israel  is  called, 
must,  in  the  first  instance,  have  been  suggested  by  the  Desert- 
wanderings- — *  The  Rock.''  Nine  times  in  the  course  of  this 
single  hymn  is  repeated  this  most  expressive  figure,  taken 
from  the  granite  crags  of  Sinai,  and  carried  thence,  through 
psalms  and  hymns  of  all  nations,  like  one  of  the  huge  frag- 
ments which  it  represents,  to  regions  as  remote  in  aspect  as 
in  distance  from  its  original  birth-place.  If  '  The  Kock ' 
carries  us  back  to  the  desert,  the  pastoral  riches  to  which  the 
Song  refers  confine  us  to  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Jordan. 
'  The  butter  of  kine,  and  milk  of  sheep,  with  fat  of  lambs, 
'  and  rams  of  the  breed  of  Bashan,  and  goats,  with  the  fat  of 
*  kidneys  of  wheat.'  ^  It  would  be  too  bold  to  say  that  these 
words  could  not  have  occurred  to  any  one  in  Western  Pales- 
tine ;  but  they  are  so  far  more  appropriate  to  the  Eastern 
downs  and  forests,  that  we  may  fairly  see  in  them  a  stamp 
of  that  peculiar  locality. 
The  Prayer  The  third  hymn,  which,  by  its  title,  belongs  to  this  period, 
of  Moses,     is  of  far  more  universal  interest.    '  The  Prayer  of  Moses  the 

'  Deut.  xxxii.  13,  14. 


LECT.  viii.  THE    LAST   VIEW   FROM    PISGAH.  199 

man  of  God,'  ^  which  contrasts  the  fleeting  generations  of  man 
with  the  mountains  at  whose  feet  they  wandered,  and  the 
eternity  of  Him  who  existed  '  before  ever  those  mountains 
'  were  brought  forth,'  has  become  the  funeral  hymn  of  the 
world,  and  is  evidently  intended  to  be  treated  as  the  funeral 
hymn  of  the  Prophet  himself.  The  most  recent  criticism, 
whilst  hesitating  to  receive  it  as  actually  the  composition  of 
Moses,  rejoices  to  see  in  it  his  spirit  throughout.  '  The  Psalm 
'  has  something  in  it  unusually  arresting,  solemn,  and  sink- 

*  ing  deep  into  the  depths  of  the  Divinity.  Moses  might 
'  well  have  been  seized  by  these  awful  thoughts  at  the  close 

*  of  his  wanderings,  and  the  author,  whoever  he  be,  is  clearly 
'  a  man  grown  grey  with  vast  experience,  who  here  takes  his 
'  stand  at  the  end  of  his  earthly  course.'  ^ 

The  end  was  at  last  come.  It  might  still  have  seemed  The  last 
that  a  triumphant  close  was  in  store  for  the  aged  Prophet,  pisgah. 
'His  eye  was  not  dim  nor  his  natural  force  abated.'  He 
had  led  his  people  to  victory  against  the  Amorite  kings  ;  he 
might  still  be  expected  to  lead  them  over  into  the  land  of 
Canaan.  But  so  it  was  not  to  be.  From  the  desert  plains 
of  Moab  he  went  up  to  the  same  lofty  range,  whence  Balaam 
had  looked  over  the  same  prospect.  The  same,  but  seen 
with  eyes  how  different !  The  view  of  Balaam  has  been  long 
forgotten ;  but  the  view  of  Moses  has  become  the  proverbial 
view  of  all  time.  It  was  the  peak  dedicated  to  Nebo  on 
which  he  stood.  '  He  lifted  up  his  eyes  westward,  and 
'  northward,  and  southward,  and  eastward.'  ^  Beneath  him 
lay  the  tents  of  Israel  ready  for  the  march ;  and  '  over 
against'  them,  distinctly  visible  in  its  grove  of  palm  trees, 
the  stately  Jericho,  key  of  the  Land  of  Promise.  Beyond 
was  spread  out  the  whole  range  of  the  mountains  of  Palestine, 
in   its   fourfold   masses ;    '  all    Gilead '    with   Hermon   and 

>  Ps.  xc.  -  Ewald,  Fsalmcn,  p.  91.  '  Deut.  iii.  27. 


200  PISGAH. 


LECT.   VIII. 


Lebanon  in  the  east  and  north ;  the  hills  of  Gralilee,  over- 
hanging the  Lake  of  Grennesareth ;  the  wide  opening  where 
lay  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  the  future  battle-field  of  the 
nations ;  the  rounded  summits  of  Ebal  and  Gerizim ;  im- 
mediately in  front  of  him  the  hills  of  Judsea,  and,  amidst 
them,  seen  distinctly  through  the  rents  in  their  rocky  walls, 
Bethlehem  on  its  narrow  ridge,  and  the  invincible  fortress 
of  Jebus.  To  him,  so  far  as  we  know,  the  charm  of  that 
view — pronounced  by  the  few  modern  travellers  who  have 
seen  it  to  be  unequalled  of  its  kind — lay  in  the  assurance 
that  this  was  the  land  promised  to  Abraham,  to  Isaac,  and  to 
Jacob,  and  to  their  seed,  the  inheritance — with  all  its  varied 
features  of  rock  and  pasture,  and  forest  and  desert — for  the 
sake  of  which  he  had  borne  so  many  years  of  toil  and  danger, 
in  the  midst  of  which  the  fortunes  of  his  people  would  be 
unfolded  worthily  of  that  great  beginning.  To  us,  as  we 
place  ourselves  by  his  side,  the  view  swells  into  colossal  pro- 
portions, as  we  think  how  the  proud  city  of  palm  trees  is  to 
fall  before  the  hosts  of  Israel ;  how  the  spear  of  Joshua  is  to 
be  planted  on  height  after  height  of  those  hostile  mountains  ; 
what  series  of  events,  wonderful  beyond  any  that  had  been 
witnessed  in  Egypt  or  in  Sinai,  would  in  after  ages  be 
enacted  on  the  narrow  crest  of  Bethlehem,  in  the  deep  basin 
of  the  Gfalilean  lake,  beneath  the  walls  of  '  Jebus  which  is 
'  Jerusalem.' 

All  this  he  saw.  He  '  saw  it  with  his  eyes,  but  he  was 
'  not  to  go  over  thither.'  It  was  his  last  view.  From  that 
height  he  came  down  no  more.  Jewish,  Mussulman,  and 
Christian  traditions  crowd  in  to  fill  up  the  blank.  '  Amidst 
'  the  tears  of  the  people,  the  women  beating  their  breasts, 
'and  the  children  giving  way  to  uncontrolled  wailing,  he 

*  withdrew.  At  a  certain  point  in  his  ascent  he  made  a  sign 
'to  the  weeping  multitude  to  advance  no  further,  taking 

*  with  him  only  the  elders,  the  high  priest  Eliezer,  and  the 


XECT.  VIII.  THE    EXD    OF   MOSES.  201 

'  general  Joshua.     At  the  top  of  the  mountain  he  dismissed 

*  the  elders,  and  then,  as  he  was  embracing  Eliezer  and 
'  Joshua,  and  still  speaking  to  them,  a  cloud  suddenly  stood 
'  over  him,  and  he  vanished  in  a  deep  valley.'  So  spoke 
the  tradition  as  preserved  in  the  language,  here  unusually 
pathetic,  of  Josephus.  Other  wilder  stories  told  of  the  Divine 
kiss  which  drew  forth  his  expiring  spirit ;  others  of  the  '  As- 

*  cension  of  Moses '  ^  amidst  the  contention  of  good  and  evil 
spirits  over  his  body.  The  Mussulmans,  regardless  of  the 
actual  scene  of  his  death,  have  raised  to  him  a  tomb  on  the 
western  side  of  the  Jordan,  frequented  by  thousands  of  Mus- 
sulman devotees.  But  the  silence  of  the  Sacred  narrative 
refuses  to  be  broken.  '  In  '  that  strange  land,  '  the  land  of 
'  Moab,  jNIoses  the  servant  of  the  Lord  died  according  to  the 
'  word  of  the  Lord.'  '  He  buried  him  in  "  a  ravine  "  in  the 
'  land  of  Moab,  over  against  the  idol  temple  of  Peor.'  Apart 
from  his  countrymen,  honoured  by  no  funeral  obsequies, 
visited  by  no  grateful  pilgrimages,  '  no  man  knowetli  of  his 
'  sepulchre  unto  this  day.' 

Two  impressive  truths  are  involved  in  this  representation 
of  the  death  of  Moses,  truths  which  hardly  occur  again  \vith 
equal  force  in  the  history  till  we  meet  them  again  in  the 
end  of  Him,  of  whom,  in  the  New  Testament,  Moses  is  so 
often  made  the  illustration  and  likeness.  First,  the  mystery.  The  grave 
the  uncertainty,  which  overhangs  the  burial-place  of  the 
greatest  character  of  the  Jewish  Church,  is  a  sample  of  the 
2:eneral  feelincr  with  which  these  local  sanctuaries  were  re- 
garded.  Doubtless,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Patriarchal  sepul- 
chres at  Hebron,  and  the  royal  sepulchres  at  Jerusalem,  the 
natural  instinct  of  reverence  for  the  tombs  of  the  illustrious 
dead  often  asserted  its  own  rights.  But,  as  if  to  show  that 
this  is  a  secondary  and  not  a  primary  element  of  religious 

»  Jude  9.     Fabricius,  Cod.  Fseudcp.  i.  839-846. 


of  Moses. 


202  PISGAH.  LECT.  VIII. 

sentiment,  when  we  come  to  tlie  highest  cases  of  all,  the 
grave  on  Mount  Nebo,  the  grave  on  Grolgotha,  the  darkness 
closes  upon  the  sacred  spot :  *  no  man  knoweth  of  his  sepul- 
'  chre  until  this  day.' 
The  End  Secondly,  the  scene  on  Pisgah  is  at  once  the  fitting  end 

of  the  life  of  Moses,  and  the  exemplification  of  a  general 
law.  In  one  sense  it  might  seem  mournful,  incomplete, 
disappointing  ;  but  in  another  and  higher  sense,  how  fully 
in  accordance  with  his  whole  career,  how  truly  the  crowning 
point  of  his  life  ! 

The  personal  characteristics  of  the  Prophet  are  too  faintly 
drawn  to  admit  of  any  fuller  delineation.  But  one  feature 
is  indisputably  marked  out.  No  modern  word  seems  exactly 
to  correspond  to  that  which  our  translators  have  rendered 
*  the  meekest  of  men  ' — but  which  rather  expresses  '  endur- 
ing '  '  afflicted,'  '  heedless  of  self.'  This,  at  any  rate,  is  the 
trait  most  strongly  impressed  on  all  his  actions  from  first  to 
last.  So  in  Egypt  he  threw  himself  into  the  thankless  cause 
of  his  oppressed  brethren ;  at  his  earliest  call  he  prayed  that 
Aaron  might  be  the  leader  instead  of  himself;  at  Sinai  he 
besought  that  his  name  might  be  blotted  out  if  only  his 
people  might  be  spared ;  in  the  desert,  he  wished  that  not 
only  he  but  all  the  Lord's  people  might  prophesy.  He 
founded  no  dynasty ;  his  own  sons  were  left  in  deep  obscurity ; 
his  successor  was  taken  from  the  rival  tribe  of  Ephraim. 
He  himself  receives  for  once  the  regal  title  '  the  King  ^  in 
Jeshurun ; '  but  the  title  dies  with  him.  It  is  as  the  highest 
type  and  concentration  of  this  endurance  and  self-abnegation, 
that  the  last  view  from  Pisgah  receives  its  chief  instruction. 

To  labour  and  not  to  see  the  end  of  our  labours ;  to  sow 
and  not  to  reap ;  to  be  removed  from  this  earthly  scene 
before  our  work  has  been  appreciated,  and  when  it  will  be 

'  Deut.  xxxiii.  5. 


LECT.  vni.  THE   END    OF   MOSES.  203 

carried  on  not  by  ourselves,  but  by  others, — is  a  law  so 
common  in  the  highest  characters  of  history,  that  none  can 
be  said  to  be  altogether  exempt  from  its  operation.  It  is 
true  in  intellectual  matters  as  well  as  in  spiritual ;  and  one 
of  the  finest  applications  of  any  passage  in  the  JNIosaic  his- 
tory, is  that,  first  made  by  Cowley,  and  enlarged  by  Lord 
Macaulay,  to  the  great  English  philosopher,  who 

Did  on  the  very  border  stand 

Of  the  blessed  Promised  Land; 

And  from  the  mountain's  top  of  his  exalted  wit 

Saw  it  himself,  and  show'd  us  it ; 

But  life  did  never  to  one  man  allow 

Time  to  discover  worlds  and  conquer  too. 

*In  the  first  book  of  the  Novwrn  Organum  we  see  the 
'  great  Lawgiver  looking  round  from  his  lonely  elevation  on 
'  an  infinite  expanse ;  behind  him  a  wilderness  of  dreary 
'sands  and  bitter  waters,  in  which  successive  generations 
'  have  sojourned,  always  moving,  yet  never  advancing,  reap- 

*  ing  no  harvest  and  building  no  abiding  city :  before  him  a 
'  goodly  land,  a  land  of  promise,  a  land  flowing  with  milk 
'  and  honey.  While  the  multitude  below  saw  only  the  flat 
'  sterile  desert  in  which  they  had  so  long  wandered,  bounded 
'  on  every  side  by  a  near  horizon,  or  diversified  only  by  some 
'  deceitful  mirage,  he  was  gazing  from  a  far  higher  stand, 
'  on  a  far  lovelier  country,  following  with  his  eye  the  long 
'  course  of  fertilising  rivers,  through  ample  pastures,  and 
'  under  the  bridges  of  great  capitals,  measuring  the  distances 
'  of  marts  and  harbours,  and  portioning  out  all  those  wealthy 

*  regions  from  Dan  to  Beersheba.'  ^ 

The  imagery  thus  nobly  used  to  describe  the  promise  and 
the  self-denial  of  intellectual  labour,  is  still  more  true  of 
the  many  reformers,  martyrs,  and  missionaries,  John  Huss, 
Tyndale,  Francis  Xavier,  Howard,  who,  in  all  times  of  the 

'  Macaulay'a  Essay  on  Bacou,  p.  413. 


204  PISGAH.-  LECT.  VIII. 

Church,  have  died  on  the  threshold  of  their  reward,  in  hope, 
not  in  possession.  Events  have  moved  too  slow,  and  the 
generation  passes  away  which  should  have  supported  the  saint 
or  the  chief;  or  events  have  moved  too  fast,  and  the  strength 
of  the  rising  generation  has  superseded  the  want  of  a  leader ; 
or  a  word  has  been  spoken  unadvisedly  with  his  lips,  and 
his  prospects  are  suddenly  overcast;  or  he  is  struck  by  decay 
of  power,  or  by  sudden,  untimely  death  ;  again  and  again  the 
Moses  of  the  Church,  of  tlie  comnionwealth,  lingers  there, 
'  dies  there  in  the  land  of  Moab,  and  goes  not  over  to  possess 
'  that  good  land ; '  and  Canaan  is  won,  not  by  the  first  and 
greatest  of  the  nation,  but  by  his  subordinate  minister  and 
successor,  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun. 


THE 

CONQUEST    OF    PALESTINE 


IX.    THE    CONQUSST    OF    THE  EAST    OP   THE  JORDAN. 

X.    THE    CONQUEST    OF   "WESTERN   PALESTINE— THE 
FALL    OF    JERICHO    AND    AI. 

XI.    THE    CONQUEST    OF    WESTERN    PALESTINE.-THE 
BATTLE    OF    BETH-HORON. 

XII.  THE  CONQUEST  OF  "WESTERN  PALESTINE.-THE 
BATTLE  OF  MEROM,  AND  SETTLEMENT  OF 
THE    TRIBES. 


THE   AUTHOEITIES   FOR    THIS   PAKT    OF    THE    HISTORY. 


1.  (1.)  Num.  xxi.  21-35  ;  xxv.,  xxxi.,  xxxii.,  xxxiv. ;  Deut.  ii.  9,  iii.  20 

iv.  41-49 ;  xxix.  7,  8  ;  Joshua  i.-xxiv.  ;  Judg.  i.  1-36  ;  xi.  15-26 
xviii.  1-31 ;  1  Cliron.  ii.  20-24.     (2.)  Ps.  xliv.  1-4 :  Ixxviii.  55 
cxiv.  3,  5  ;  cxxxvi.  17-22  ;  Ecclus.  xlvi.  1-12.     (3.)  The  Charac- 
teristics of  the  ti-ibes,  Gen.  xlix.  ;  Deut.  xxxiii. 

2.  Je-wish  traditions.  (1.)  Josephus,  Jjit.  iv.  5,  6,  7 ;  v.  1.  (2.)  Rabbinical 

legends,  in  Otho's  Lex  rabbin.  332 ;  Fabricius'  Codex  pseude- 
piffraph.  Vet.  Test.  871-873.  (a.)  Joshua's  Prayer.  (6.)  Joshua's 
Ten  Decrees.  (3.)  Philo,  De  Caritate.  (4.)  Samaritan  Book  of 
Joshua,  edited  by  Juraboll,  1848.  [It  was  \vi-itten  in  Arabic — 
probably  in  the  12th  centuiy — in  Egypt,  and  is  chiefly  vahi- 
able  as  representing  the  traditions  and  feelings  of  the  Samaritan 
community.] 

3.  Heathen  traditions,  mentioned  by  Suidas  (sub  voce  Xaj'adi'),  Moses 

Choren.  {Rkt.  Arm.  i.  18)  ;  Procopius  {Bell.  Vand.  ii.  4.) 


THE 

CONQUEST   OF    PALESTINE. 

LECTUEE   IX. 

THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  EAST  OF  THE  JORDAN. 

'  The  Conquest  of  Palestine '  introduces  us  to  one  of  the  most  The  Con- 
secular  portions  of  the  Sacred  History.  The  very  phrase  is  "^^^^ ' 
to  some  minds  an  offence.  It  suggests  the  likeness  of  other 
conquests.  It  compels  us  to  regard  the  geography,  the 
battles,  the  settlement  of  Israel,  as  we  should  consider  the 
like  circumstances  in  other  countries.  Such  an  offence  is,  in 
a  certain  degree,  inevitable.  But  this  stage  of  the  history, 
secular  as  it  is,  presents  also  a  religious  aspect,  on  which, 
according  to  the  plan  of  these  Lectures,  it  will  be  my  object 
to  lay  the  chief  stress,  though  not  to  the  omission  of  those 
general  considerations  which  here,  as  in  other  ecclesiastical 
history,  are  necessary  to  the  understanding  of  the  purely 
religious  incidents  intertwined  with  them. 

The  period  of  the  Conquest,  properly  speaking,  commences  Its  stages. 
before  the  time  of  Joshua  and  extends  far  beyond  it.     It 
began  from  the  passage  of  the  brook  Zered  under  Moses :  it 
was  not  finally  closed  till  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  by  David. 

But,  in  a  more  limited  sense,  it  may  be  confined  to  the 
period  during  which  the  territory,  afterwards  known  by  the 


208  CONQUEST   OF   THE   EAST   OF   JORDAN.        lect.  ix. 

name  of  Palestine,  was  definitively  occupied  as  their  own  by 
the  Israelites.  This  divides  itself  into  two  stages :  the  first 
including  the  occupation  of  the  district  east  of  the  Jordan ; 
the  second,  and  most  important,  including  the  occupation  of 
Western  Palestine  in  its  three  great  divisions,  the  valley  of 
the  Jordan,  the  southern  and  central  mountains  afterwards 
known  as  Judsea  and  Samaria,  and  the  northern  mountains 
afterwards  known  as  Gralilee. 

The  Israelite  conquest  of  Palestine,  although  it  stands 
above  all  other  like  events  from  its  intrinsic  grandeur,  yet  is 
in  itself  but  one  amongst  a  succession  of  waves  which  have 
swept  over  the  country,  and  each  of  which  may  be  used  as 
an  illustration  of  those  that  have  gone  before  and  after.  The 
Egyptians,  Assyrians,  Babylonians,  Grreeks,  Komans,  Arabians, 
Turks,  Crusaders,  French,  English,  have  followed  in  their 
wake ;  the  Philistines,  the  Canaanites,  the  aboriginal  inhabi- 
tants, accompanied  or  preceded  them. 
The  early  It  is  of  these  earlier  conquests  alone  that  we  need  here 
tants  of  speak.  The  aboriginal  inhabitants  have  already '  been  briefly 
Palestke  described.  They  belonged  so  entirely  to  the  dim  distance, 
that  their  name,  '  Eephaim,'  was  used  in  after  times  to 
designate  the  huge  guardians  or  the  shadowy  ghosts^  of  the 
world  below.  But  we  can  just  discern  their  forms  before 
they  vanish,  and  some  remnants  of  them  lingered  till  later 
times.  Their  lofty  stature  is  often  noticed.  It  is  possible 
that  this  impression  may  be  partly  derived  from  the  contrast 
between  them  and  the  diminutive  Hebrews,  in  like  manner 
as  a  similar  description,  from  the  like  contrast  between  the 
northern  races  of  Europe  and  the  small  limbs  and  features 
of  the  Italians,  is  given,  by  Roman  historians  and  poets,  of 
the  gigantic  Grauls.  On  the  west  of  the  Jordan  this  race 
appears   chiefly  under    two    names ;   the   '  Anakim '   in  the 

'  Lecture  II.  10;    Prov.    ii.  18;    ix.  18;    xzi.    16; 

^  See  Gesenius,  in  voce;  Ps.  Ixxxyiii.       Isa.  xxvi.  14,  19. 


PiVL]:STINE   BEFORE    THE    CONQT^EST 


LECT.  IX.  THE   CANAANITES.  209 

southern  mountains,  and  the  '  Avites  '  on  the  maritime  plain.  ^ 
The  centre  of  the  race  of  Anak  was,  as  we  have  seen,  Hebron 
or   Kirjath-Arba.      The    Avites,  it    would    seem,  were    still 
comparatively  secure  in  their  western  corner.     Their  con- 
querors, the  Philistines,^  had  not  yet  appeared ;  at  least  not 
in  any  overwlielming  force.     But,  in  all  the  rest  of  Palestine, 
already  in  the  Patriarchal  age  the  '  ancient  solitary  reign '  of  The  Ch- 
these  aboriginal  tribes  had  been  disturbed  by  the  appearance  "'^^"^  '^^' 
here  and  there  of  powerful  chiefs  belonging  to  the  Phoenician 
or  Canaanite  branch  of  the  Semitic  race.     The  variations  in 
the  usage  of  the  words,  sometimes  the  variations  of  the  text, 
prevent  us  from  accurately  fixing  the  mutual  relations  of  the 
several  Canaanite  tribes  to  each  other.     Thus  much,  however, 
is   clear.^      The  Canaanites,*  or  '  Lowlanders,'  properly  so 
called,   occupied  the   sea-coast  as  far  south  as  Dor,  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  and  some  spots 
in  the  valley  of  the  Jordan.    The  Amorites,  or  mountaineers, 
occupied  the  central  and  southern  hills  with  the  Hittites  and 
Hivites.      Of  these  intruders,  the  Amorites  seem  to    have 
been  the  most  ancient  and  the  most  warlike,  perhaps  allied 
to  the  old  gigantic  race  with  which  from  time  to  time  they 
appear   in    connexion.^     The   Hittites   belong  to   the   more 
peaceful  occupants,  and  their  name  is  that  by  which  Pales- 
tine in  these  early  ages  was  chiefly  knowu  in  foreign  countries. 
The  Hivites,  like  the  Phoenicians  of  the  north,  inclined  to  a 
more  regvilar  form  of  political  organisation.     Of  the  lesser 
subdivisions,  the  Jebusites  are  attached  to  the  Amorites,  the 
Perizzites  to  the  Hittites,  and  the  Grirgashites  to  the  Hivites, 
If,  from  the  bare  enumeration  of  names  and  geographical 
situations,  we  pass  to  the  outward  appearance,  or  the  moral 

'  Deut.  ii.  21,  23.  Ewald,  i.  301-342. 

*  See  Lectxire  XVI.  ••  Deut.  i.  7. 

*  The   most   exact  account  of  the  *  Deut.  iv.  47;  xxsi,  4;  Jos.  is.  10- 
relations  of  these  tribes  is  in  Num.  Amos  ii.  9. 

xiii.  29 ;    and   compare,    throughout, 

P 


210  CONQUEST   OF   THE    EAST   OF   JORDAN.        lf.ct.  ix. 

and  social  condition  of  the  inhabitants  of  Syria,  when  the 

Israelites  broke  in  upon  them,  the  task  is  far  more  difficult. 

They  seem  to  rise  before  us  only  to  vanish  away.     Hardly  a 

dying  word  escapes.     The  Sacred  historian  turns  away  as  if 

in  silent  aversion.     Yet  the  picture,  which  from  the  Israelite 

point  of  view  is  so  dark  and  shadowy,  receives  a  sudden  light 

The  Phce-    from  a  quarter  then  unknown  and  unthought  of.     It  is  start- 

nicians  or  ^  -nii  ,  r^  -^-i 

Canaan-       bug"  to  be  reminded  that  '  Canaanite    is  but  another  name 

^*^^"  for  '  Phoenician ; '  ^  that  the  detested  and  accursed  race,  as  it 

appears  in  the  Books  of  Joshua  and  Judges,  is  the  same  as 
that  to  which  from  Greece  we  look  back  as  the  parent  of 
letters,  of  commerce,  of  civilisation.  The  Septuagint  trans- 
lators wavered  between  preserving  the  original  Hebrew  word, 
and  adopting  the  name  of  '  Phoenician,'  as  already  recognised 
by  the  Grreek  language.  Had  they  chosen  in  all  cases,  as 
they  have  in  some,'^  the  latter  of  these  two  alternatives,  it  is 
curious  to  reflect  how  essentially  our  ideas  of  the  ancient 
inhabitants  of  Palestine  might  have  been  modified.  Yet, 
in  fact,  the  illustrations  of  the  Phosnician  or  Canaanite  history 
from  Grentile  sources  coincide  substantially  with  what  we 
learn  from  the  Jewish  annals.  In  both,  we  see  the  same 
dusky  complexion  of  the  race,*  distinguished  alike  from  the 
western  Grreeks  and  the  eastern  Israelites.  In  both,  we  track 
them  advancing  into  Palestine  from  the  extreme  south.^  In 
both,  the  coexistence,  side  by  side,  of  monarchical,  federal,^ 
and  aristocratic  institutions  can  be  traced.  In  both,  their 
general  equality,  if  not  superiority,  in  social  arts  to  the  sur- 
rounding nations  and  to  the  Israelites  themselves,  is  acknow- 
ledged.    They  are  in  possession  of  fortified  towns,  treasures 

'  For  the  name  of  '  Canaanite '  as  the    arguments   adduced    both   from 

coextensive    -with    '  Phoenician,'    see  Gen.  x.  6,  and  from  Strabo,  xii.  144, 

Kenrick's  Vhanicia,  42,  52.  in  Kenrick's  Phmiicia,  50,  52. 

2  The  word  is  so  translated  by  the  ■*  Kenriek,  50. 

LXX.  in  Ex.  xvi.  35 ;  Josh.  v.  1.  *  See  Ewald,  ii.  337,  and  Lecture 

'  For  the  dark  colour  of  the  race  see  XV. 


LECT.  IX.  CANAANITE    EACES.  211 

of  brass,  iron,  gold,  and  foreign  merchandise.     They,  no  less 
than  the  Egyptians  and  Israelites,  retain  the  mark  of  a^ 
ancient  sacred  civilisation  in  the  rite  of  circumcision,'     And 
in  both  accounts,  their  religious  rites  are  described  in  the 
same  terms, — human  sacrifices,  licentious  orgies,  the  worship 
of  a  host  of  divinities.     But  the  difference  between  the  two 
representations,  which  has,  in  fact,  almost  blinded  us  to  the 
fact    of  the   identity   of  the   nation  described  by  the  two 
authorities,   is   more  instructive   than   their    likeness.     The 
Israelite  version,  on  the  one  hand,  we  must  freely  grant, 
takes  no  heed  of  the  nobler  aspect  which  this  great  people 
presented  to  the  Western  world ;  or,  at  least,  not  till  the 
wider  prophetic  view  of  Isaiah  and  Ezekiel  comprehended 
within   the    spripathy  of  the    Jewish   Church  the   grander 
elements  of  Sidonian  power  and  Tyrian  splendour.     But,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  Gentile  accounts  are  insensible  to  the 
cruel,  debasing,  and  nameless  sins  which  turned  the  heart  of 
the  Israelite  sick,  in  the  worship  of  Baal,  Astarte,  and  JMoloch. 
It  is  true  that  these  are  but  the  same  divinities,  whom  we 
regard  leniently,  if  not  indulgently,  when  we  find  them  in  the 
forms  of  Jupiter,  Apollo,  Venus,  Hercules,  Adonis.     But  the 
other  phase  is  not  to  be  forgotten ;  and  when  Milton  ^  took 
these  names  of  Syrian  idols  to  represent  the  evil  spirits  of 
Pandemonium,  and  thus  renewed,  as  it  were,  to  them  a  lease 
of  existence  which  seemed  long  since  to  have  died  out,  he 
did  but  place  us,  though  but  for  a  moment,  in  the  condition 
of  the  soldiers  of  the  first  conquest  of  Palestine,  to  whom 
Beelzebub  and  Moloch  were  living  powers  of  evil,  as  hateful 


'  The   argument  from   the  excep-  circumcised, 

tional  case  of  the  Philistines,  1  Sam.  "  '  Before  Milton,  if  Moloch,  Belial, 

xviii.     25-27,    2    Sam.    i.    20,    com-  Mammon,    &c.,  were   not   absolutely 

bined  with   the  historical  statement  unknown  tohistory-,  they  had  no  proper 

in    Herod,     ii.    104,    is    convincing.  and  distinct  poetic  existence.' — Mil- 

From  Gen.  xxxiv.  15,  it  would  appear  man's  Latin    Christianiti/,  book   xiv. 

that  the  early  Shechemites  were  not  ch.  2. 

P  2 


212  CONQUEST   OF   EASTERN   PALESTINE.  lect.  ix. 

as  though  they  actually  personified  the  principles  with  which 
1^  has  identified  them.     The  bright  side  of  Polytheism  is  so 
familiar  to  us  in  the  mythology  of  Grreece,  that  it  is  well  to 
be  recalled  for  a  time  to  its  dark  side  in  Palestine. 
Conquest  From  the  general  consideration  of  the  Conquest,  we  turn 

Palestine  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^  stage  of  it  in  the  territory  east  of  the  Jordan, — 
that  mysterious  eastern  frontier  of  the  Holy  Land,  so  beauti- 
ful, so  romantic,  so  little  known,  whether  we  look  at  it 
through  the  distant  glimpses  and  hasty  surveys  of  it  obtained 
by  modern  travellers,  or  the  scanty  notices  of  its  first  con- 
quest in  the  Book  of  Numbers. 

On  the  eastern  side  of  the  Jordan  valley  two  fragments  of 
the  aboriginal  race  had  existed  under  the  name  of  '  Emim,' 
and  '  Zamzummim  '  or  '  Zuzim.'  ^  These  old  inhabitants  had 
been  expelled  by  the  kindred  tribes  of  ]Moab  and  Ammon. 
But  they  in  turn  had,  just  before  the  point  of  the  history  at 
which  we  have  now  arrived,  been  dispossessed  by  two  Canaan- 
ite  chiefs  of  a  considerable  portion  of  the  territory  which  they 
had  themselves  acquired. 

On  this  motley  ground  the  Israelites  appeared  in  the 
double  light  of  conquerors  and  deliverers.  The  story  is 
briefly  told;  but  its  main  features  are  discernible,  and  it 
illustrates  in  many  points  the  greater  conquest  for  which  it 
prepared  the  way. 

The  attack  on  the  two  Canaanite  kings  was  assisted  by  a 
strange  visitation  which  had  just  befallen  the  Transjordanic 
territory.  Immense  swarms  of  hornets,^  always  common  in 
Palestine,^  burst  upon  the  country  with  unusual  force.  The 
chiefs  were  thus  probably  driven  out  of  their  fastnesses,  and 
forced  into  the  plain  where  the  final  conflict  took  place. 

'  Gen.  xiv.  5;  Deut.  ii.  10,  20.  the   most    natural.       See   Mr.    Cyril 

*  Dent.  i.  44  ;  Ps.  cxviii.  12,  and  the  Graham's  'Ancient  Bashan'  in  Cam' 

name  of  Zoreah  (^  hornet).  Josh.  xv.  bridge  Essaijs.,  j).  147. 

33.     These   passages   make  a  literal  '  Ex.  xxiii.  28;  Dent.  rii.  20  ;  Josh. 

acceptation  of  tlie  texts  above  citpd  xxiv.  12;  Wisd,  xii.  8. 


LECT.  IX.  CONQUEST   OF   HESHBOX.  213 

The  first  onslaught  was  upon  Sihon.  He  occupied  the  Sihon, 
whole  district  between  the  Arnon  and  Jabbok,  through  which  Heshbon. 
the  approach  to  the  Jordan  lay.  He  had  wrested  it  from  the 
predecessor  of  Balak,  and  had  established  himself,  not  in  the 
ancient  capital  of  Moab — Ar,  but  in  the  city,  still  conspicu- 
ous to  the  modern  traveller  from  its  wide  prospect  and  its 
cluster  of  stone  pines — Heshbon.  The  recollection  of  his 
victory  survived  in  a  savage  war-song,^  which  passed  into  a 
kind  of  proverb  in  after  times  :  — 

Come  home  to  Heshbon ; 

Let  the  city  of  Sihon  be  built  and  prepared,. 

For  there  is  gone  out  a  fire  from  Heshbon, 

A  flame  fi'om  the  city  of  Sihon. 

It  hath  consumed  Ar  of  Moab, 

And  the  lords  of  the  high  places  of  Arnon  : 

"VVoe  to  thee,  Moab  :   thou  art  undone,  thou  people  of  Chemosh  ! 

He  hath    given    his    sons    that  escaped,  and  his  daughters,  into 

captivity 
To  the  King  of  the  Aiuorites,  Sihon. 

The  decisive  battle  between  Sihon  and  his  new  foes  took  Battlo  of 

,  Jahaz. 

place  at  Jahaz,  probably  on  the  contines  of  the  rich  pastures 

of  Moab  and  the  desert  whence  the  Israelites  emerged.     It 

was  the  first  engagement  in  which  they  were  confronted  mth 

the  future  enemies  of  their  nation.     The  slingers  and  archers 

of  Israel,  afterwards  so  renowned,  now  first    showed  their 

skill.     Sihon  fell ;  the  army  fled  ^  (so  ran  the  later  tradition), 

and,  devoured  by  thirst,  like  the  Athenians  in  the  Assinarus 

on  their  flight  from  Syracuse,  were  slaughtered  in  the  bed 

of  one  of  the  mountain  streams.     The  memory  of  this  battle 

was  cherished  in  triumphant  strains,  in  which,  after  reciting, 

in   bitter   irony,    the   song  just    quoted    of  the    Amorites' 

triumph,  they  broke  out  into  an  exulting  contrast  of  the  past 

greatness  of  the  defeated  chief  and  his  present  fall : — 

'  Num.  xxi.  27-29,  repeated,  as  if  well  known,  in  Jer.  xlviii.  4o,  4G. 
^  Jos.  Ant.  iv.  5,  §  2. 


214  CONQUEST    OF   EASTEKN   PALESTINE.  lect.  ix. 

We  have  shot  at  them  :  Heshbon  is  perished  : 
We  have  laid  them  waste  :   even  unto  Nophah  : 
With  fire  :  ^  even  unto  Medeba. 

Defeat  of  Subject  to  Sihon,  as  vassals,^  were  five  Arabian  chiefs,  of 
the  great  tribe  of  Midian.  Their  names  are  preserved  to  us,^ 
— Evi,  Eekem,  Zur,  Hur,  and  Eeba.  It  was  they  who, 
doubtless  terrified  at  the  fall  of  their  sovereign,  persuaded 
the  King  of  Moab  to  rid  himself  of  the  dangerous,  though  at 
first  welcome  intruders,  by  the  curse  of  Balaam.  \Mien  this 
failed,  and  when  the  more  sure  and  fatal  ruin  of  the  con- 
tagion of  the  licentious  rites  of  Midian  provoked  the  religious 
and  moral  feeling  of  the  better  spirits  of  the  nation  to  that 
terrible  retribution  of  which  the  later  conquest  was  one  long 
exemplification,  a  sacred  war  was  proclaimed.  It  was  headed, 
not  by  the  soldier  Joshua,  but  by  the  priest  Phinehas.  The 
ark  went  with  the  host.  The  sacred  trumpets  were  blown. 
The  chiefs  of  Midian  were  slain :  "*  the  great  prophet  of  the 
East  fell  with  them.'^  Their  stone  enclosiu-es  ^  were  taken.^ 
Their  pastoral  wealth  fell  to  their  conquerors,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  second  great  defeat  of  their  tribe  achieved  by  Gideon  * 
— ornaments  of  gold,  and  thousands  of  oxen,  sheep,  and 
asses.  And  then  took  place  the  first  wholesale  extermination 
of  a  conquered  tribe.^ 

Og,  Kino;  The  way  was  now  clear  to  the  Jordan.  But  the  career  of 
conquest  opened  on  its  eastern  bank  was  not  easily  closed. 
It  is  possible  that  the  thought  of  pushing  forward  in  this 
direction  was  suggested  to  them  by  the  neighbouring  and 

*  Num.  xxi.  30  (LXX.).  he  is  dragged  out  of  the  temple  by 
^  The  word  translated 'dukes,' Josh.       Joshua,   who    wislies    to    spare    him; 

xiii.  21.    Comp.  Ps.  Ixxxiii.  11,  where  but   the    fierce    Simeonites   insist   on 

the  same  word  is  used  of  the  Midianite  his  being  put  to  death,  lest  he  should 

chiefs  Oreb  and  Zeeb.  They  are  called  fascinate  them  by  his  spells. 

'  kings,'    Num.    xxxi.    8  ;     '  princes,'  *  Translated  '  castles '  in  Gen.  xxt. 

Josh.  xiii.  21;  'elders,'  Num.  xxii,  4.  16. 

'  Num.  xxxi.  8.  '  Num.  xxxi.  10. 

*  Dnd.  6,  7,  8.  '  Judg.  viii.    26 ;    Num.  xxxi.  36, 

*  lu  the  Samaritan  Joshua  (ch.  8),  37-39.                '  See  Lecture  XI. 


LECT.  IX.  CONQUEST   OF   BASH  AN.  215 

kindred  tribe  of  Ammon,  'too  strong'  to  be  subdued,  and 
even  more  interested  than  themselves  in  the  expulsion  of  the 
second  Canaanite  chief,  who  had  occupied  the  territory  north 
of  Ammon,  apparently  at  the  same  time  that  Sihon  had 
occupied  the  territory  east  of  Moab. 

This  was  Og,  king  of  the  district  which,  under  the  name 
of  Bashan,  extended  from  the  Jabbok  up  to  the  base  of  Her- 
mon.  There  is  no  direct  notice,  as  in  the  case  of  Sihon,  of 
his  having  invaded  the  country,  and  this  omission,  combined 
with  the  mention  of  his  gigantic  stature,  warrants  the  con- 
jecture that  he  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  aboriginal  race, 
for  which  Bashan  had  always  been  renowned. 

In  this  joint  expedition  of  Israel  and  Ammon,  the  com- 
manders were  two  heroes  of  the  tribe  of  Manasseh,  Jair  and 
Nobah.' 

The  fastness  of  Og  was  the  remarkable  circular  district  Battle  of 
formerly  known  by  the  name  of  Argob,  or  the  '  stony,' 
rendered  by  the  Grreeks  '  Trachonitis ; '  or  Chebel,  '  rope,'  as 
if  from  the  marked  character  of  its  boundary,^  rendered  by 
the  corresponding  Arabic  word  'Leja.'  It  is  described  as 
suddenly  rising  from  the  fertile  plain,  an  island  of  basalt : 
its  rocky  desolation,  its  vast  fissures,  more  resembling  the 
features  of  some  portions  of  the  moon  than  any  formation 
on  the  earth.  At  the  entrance  of  this  fastness,  as  if  in  the 
Thermopylae  of  the  kingdom,  is  Edrei.  Here  Og  met  the 
invaders.^  The  battle  was  lost,  and  Bashan  fell.  Ashtaroth- 
Karnaim,  the  sanctuary  of  the  Horned  Astarte,^  and  perhaps 
the  same  as  the  capital  Kenath,  surrendered.  It  had  been 
already  the  scene  of  a  signal  defeat  in  still  more  primitive 

'  111     Num.    xxxii.     39-42,    Josh.  ^  j^^j^^   ^g^[    33^     jji..   Cyril  Gra- 

xvii.    1,  '  Macliir'  is  mentioned,  but  ham    in    Cambridge    Essai/s,  i.  145. 

it  would  seem  that  this  (like  Judah  Porter's  Damascus,  ii.  220. 

and  Simeon  in  Judg.  i.  17)  is  a  per-  *  Figures  and  coins  with  a  crescent 

Bonification  of  the  tribe.  have  been  found  at  Kenath.  Porter's 

^  See   article    'Argob,'   Dictionary  Da7nascus,  ii.  106-lli. 
of  the  Bible,  p.  42. 


216  CONQUEST   OF    EASTERN   PALESTINE.  lect.  ix. 

times,  when  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  were  attacked  by  the 
Assyrian  invaders  from  the  East.^ 

Settlement  The  Ammonites  "^  carried  off  as  their  trophy  the  '  iron  bed- 
stead '  (perhaps  the  basaltic  coffin,  like  that  of  Esmunazar 
recently  found  at  Sidon)  of  the  gigantic  Og.  The  Israelites 
occupied  the  whole  country,  remarkable  even  then  for  its  sixty 
cities,^  strongly  walled  and  fortified.  Here,  as  throughout 
the  Transjordanic  territory,  the  native  names  were  altered, 
and  new  titles  imposed  by  the  Israelites,  as  if  at  once  de- 
termined on  making  a  permanent  settlement.  The  basaltic 
character  of  the  country  lent  itself  to  these  cities,  as  naturally 
as  the  limestone  of  Palestine  and  sandstone  of  Edom  opened 
into  habitations  in  holes  and  caves.  The  country  which  thus 
fell  into  their  hands  was  that  known  by  the  name  of  Gilead 
— a  name  which*  is  never  lost,  and  which  outlived  and  super- 
seded the  divisions  of  the  three  conquering  tribes.  The  two 
Israelite  chiefs  took,  as  it  would  seem,  different  portions. 
Jair"*  occupied  the  more  pastoral  part,  and  founded  thirty 
nomadic  villages,  called  after  his  name,  '  the  villages  of  Jair.'^ 
Nobah  took  possession  of  Kenath,  the  capital,  of  which  he 
must  have  been  the  captor,  and  to  this  he  also  gave  his 
name,  though  the  old  one,  as  so  often  in  Syria,  returned. 
Of  these  two  chiefs  we^know  but  little  more.     It  is  possible 

.lair.  that  Jair  is  the  same  as  the  stately  head  ^  of  a  vast  family 

mentioned  amongst  the  Judges.  His  name  lingered  down 
to  the  time  of  the  Christian  era;  when,  in  the  same  region  as 
that  which  he  conquered,  we  find  '  a  ruler  of  the  synagogue 
named  Jair,'  '  whose  daughter  "^  was  at  the  point  of  death.' 

'  Gen.  xiv.  5.        ^  Dent.  iii.  3-11.  *  .Tair  was  in  some  way  allied  with 

^  Porter's  Damascus,  ii.    196,  206.  the  family  of  Caleb,  1  Clu-.  ii.  23  ;  but 

Graham   in    Cambridge  Essays,   160.  the  statement  is  too  confused  to  fur- 

Lengerke's  Kenaan,  392.  I  do  not  pre-  nish  any  basis  of  additional  informa- 

tend  to  pronounce  an  opinion  on  the  age  tion. 

of  the  cities  as  thus  described.    But  *  Num.  xxxii.  41 ;  Josh.  xiii.  30 ; 

their    existence    unquestionably  illus-  Ewald,  ii.  298. 

trates  those  mentioned  in  Deut.iii.  4,  5.  «  .Tudg.  x.  3-5.          '  Luke  viii.  41. 


LECT.  IX.  CAUSES    OF   THE    SETTLEMENT.  217 

Nobah  occurs  nowhere  else  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  Nobah 
But  a  certain  grandeur  must  have  attached  to  his  career  to 
cause  his  selection  as  the  representative  of  the  Transjor- 
danic  tribes  in  the  Samaritan  Book  of  Joshua.^  There, 
under  the  name  of  Nabih,  he  receives  from  Joshua  the  solemn 
investiture  of  royalty  over  the  eastern  tribes,  and  sits  in 
state,  clothed  in  green,  on  his  throne  of  judgment.  The 
portion  of  the  Manassite  tribe  which  he  represented,  and  - 
which  lay  beyond  the  limits  of  Gilead,  must  have  furnished 
the  more  civilised  and  settled  part  of  the  Transjordanic  popu- 
lation, which  dwelt  in  the  walled  cities  left  by  the  expelled 
Canaanites. 

Whether    the    settlement    of     the    eastern    territory    of  Causes  of 
Palestine  was  accomplished,  as  the  Book  of  Numbers  would  uient. 
lead  us  to  infer,  within  a  few  months,  or,  as  the  Books  of 
Joshua  and  Judges  would  imply,  in  a  period  extending  over 
many  years,  must  be  left  uncertain.     But  the  causes  which 
led  to  it  are  natural  in  themselves,  and  are  expressly  pointed 
out  in  the  Biblical  narrative.     The  Transjordanic  territory  Natural 
was  the   forest-land,    the    pasture-land   of   Palestine,      The  the  Trans- 
smooth  downs  received  a  special  name,^  'Mishor,'  expressive  "Jf/gtricr 
of  their  contrast  with  the  rough  and  rocky  soil  of  the  West. 
The  '  oaks  '  of  Bashan,  which  still  fill  the  traveller  with  ad- 
miration, were  to  the  prophets  and  psalmists  of  Isi-ael  the 
chief  glory  of  the  vegetation  of  their  common  country.     The 
vast  herds  of  wild  cattle  which  then  wandered  through  the 
woods,  as  those  of  Scotland  through  its  ancient  forests,  were, 
in  like  manner,  at  once  the  terror  and  pride  of  the  IsraeUte, 
— '  the  fat  bulls  of  Bashan.'     The  King  of  Moab  was  but  a 
great  '  sheep-master,'  and  '  rendered  '  for  tribute  '  an  hundred 
'  thousand  lambs,  and  an  hundred  thousand  rams  with  the 
'  wool.'     And   still  the   countless  herds  and  flocks  may  be 

'  Chap.  12,24.  *  Sinai  mid  Palestine,  A'^'p.  §  6. 


218  SETTLEMEXT    OF   EASTERN   PALESTINE.         lect.  ix. 

seen,  droves  of  cattle  moving  on  like  troops  of  soldiers, 
descending  at  suDset  to  drink  of  the  springs — literally,  in 
the  language  of  the  Prophet,  '  rams  and  lambs,  and  goats, 
and  bullocks,  all  of  them  fatlings  of  Bashan.' 

In  the  encampment  of  Israel,  two  tribes,  Eeuben  and 
Grad,  were  preeminently  nomadic.  They  had  '  a  very  great 
'  multitude  of  cattle.'  For  this  they  desired  the  land,  and 
for  this  it  was  given  to  them,  '  that  they  might  build  cities 
'  for  their  little  ones,  and  folds  for  their  sheep.'' '  In  no  other 
case  is  the  relation  between  the  territory  and  its  occupiers  so 
expressly  laid  down,  and  such  it  continued  to  be  to  the  end. 
From  first  to  last  they  alone  of  the  tribes  never  emerged 
from  the  state  of  their  Patriarchal  ancestors.  Gad  and 
Eeuben  accordingly  divided  the  kingdom  of  Sihon  between 
them,  that  is,  the  territory  between  the  Arnon  and  the  Jabbok, 
and  the  eastern  side  of  the  Jordan  valley  up  to  the  Lake  of 
Chinnereth,^  or  Gennesareth. 
Reuben.  Eeuben  was  the  more  purely  pastoral  of  the  two,   and 

therefore  the  more  transitory.  '  Unstable  as  water,'  ^  he 
vanishes  away  into  a  mere  Arabian  tribe ;  '  his  men  are 
'  few ; '  ■*  it  is  all  that  he  can  do  '  to  live  and  not  die.'  The 
only  events  of  their  subsequent  history  are  the  multiplication 
of  '  their  cattle  in  the  land  of  Gilead ; '  their  '  wars '  with  the 
Bedouin  '  sons  of  Hagar ; '  ^  their  spoils  of  '  camels  fifty 
'  thousand,  and  of  sheep  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  and 
'  of  asses  two  thousand.'  In  the  chief  struggles  of  the  nation 
Eeuben  never  took  part.  The  complaint  against  him  in  the 
song  of  Deborah  is  the  summary  of  his  whole  history.  '  By 
*  the  "  streams  "  of  Eeuben,'  ^ — that  is,  by  the  fresh  streams 
which  descend  from  the  eastern  hills  into  the  Jordan  and  the 

'  Num.  xxxii,  16,  24.  *  Deut.    xxxiii.    6.       The   English 

*  Josh.   xiii.    15-28  ;    Num.  xxxii.  version,  without  any  authority,  adds 

34-38.     See    Mr.    Gi-ove's  article  on  the  word  '  not.' 
Gad '  in  Diet,  of  the  Bible.  *  1  Chron.  v.  10. 

Gen.  xlix.  4.  «  Judg.  v.  15,  16, 


LECT.  IX.  TE.INSJORDANIC   TEIBES.  219 

Dead  Sea,  on  whose  banks  the  Bedouin  chiefs  then,  as  now, 
met  to  debate — 'by  the  "streams"  of  Reuben,  great  were 
'  the  "  debates."  Why  dwellest  thou  among-  the  sheep 
'  "  troughs  "  to  hear  the  "  pipings  "  of  the  flocks  ?  By  the 
*  "  streams  "  of  Reuben  great  were  the  searchings  of  heart.' 

Grad  has  a  more  distinctive  character.  In  the  forest  regfion  Gad. 
south  of  the  Jabbok,  '  he  dwelt  as  a  lion.'  ^  Out  of  his 
tribe  came  the  eleven  valiant  chiefs  who  crossed  the  fords  of 
the  Jordan  in  flood-time  to  join  the  outlawed  David,  '  whose 
'  faces  were  like  the  faces  of  lions,^  and  were  as  swift  as  the 
' "  gazelles  "  upon  the  mountains.'  These  heroes  also  were 
the  Bedouins  of  their  own  time.  The  very  name  of  Grad  ex- 
pressed the  wild  aspect  which  he  presented  to  the  wild  tribes 
of  the  East.  '  Grad  is  "  a  troop  of  plunderers ; "  ^  a  troop  of 
'  plunderers  shall  "  plunder  "  him,  but  he  shall  "  plunder  "  at 
'  the  last.' 

The  northern  outposts  of  the  eastern  tribes  were  intrusted  Manasseh. 
to  that  portion  of  Mauasseh  which  had  originally  attacked 
and  expelled  the  Amorite  inhabitants  from  Grilead.  The 
same  martial  spirit  which  fitted  the  western  Manasseh  to 
defend  the  passes  of  Esdraelon,  fitted  'Machir,  the  first-born 
'  of  Manasseh,  the  father  of  Gilead,'  to  defend  the  passes  of 
Hauran  and  Anti-Libanus ;  '  because  he  was  a  man  of  war, 
'therefore  he  had  Gilead  and  Bashan.'  The  pastoral 
character  common  to  Gad  and  Reuben  was  shared,  but  in 
a  much  less  degree,  by  these  descendants  of  the  ruling  tribe 
of  Joseph. 

It  is  evident  that  with  a  country  so  congenial,  and  a 
geographical  separation  so  complete,  a  disruption  might  be 
at  once  anticipated  between  these  pastoral  tribes  and  their 
western  brethren,  similar  to  that  which  some  centuries  later, 
from  other  causes,  dismembered  the  monarchy  of  David. 

'  Deut.  xxxiii.  20.  ^  1  Chron.  xii.  8-13.  '  Gen.  xlix.  19. 


220  SETTLEMEXT   OF   EASl'EEN   PALESTINE.  lect.  ix. 

One  of  the  most  famous  texts  in  the  Bible  is  founded  on 
the  apprehension  of  this  probable  calamity,    when    Moses 
warned  the  Transjordanic  tribes  that  they  were  bound  to 
follow  their  brethren  to   assist  in  the  conquest  of  Western 
Palestine.     '  If  ye  will  not  do  so,  behold,  ye  have  sinned 
'  against  the  Lord :    and  he  sure  your  sin  ivill  find  you 
'  ouf  '    How  it  would  have  found  them  out,  we  can  see  from 
Contro-       the  fate  of  Eeuben.     The  nearest  actual  approach  to  a  breach 
tweeii  the     ^^^  ^^  t,he  return    of   the  eastern  tribes  after  the  western 
*^^*!f !"  ^      conquest,  when  their  simple  pastoral  monument  of  stones  was 
tribes.  mistaken  by  the  other  tribes  for  an  altar.     It  was  put  up, 

apparently,  by  Bohan  the  Eeubenite,  and  called  after  his 
name,  between  the  fords  and  the  mouth  of  the  Jordan.^ 
They  were  pursued  by  Phinehas,*  ready  for  another  sacred 
war,  like  that  in  which  he  had  destroyed  the  Midianites.  The 
whole  transaction  is  an  instance  of  what  has  often  occurred 
afterwards  in  ecclesiastical  history.  What  was  meant  in- 
nocently, though,  perhaps,  without  due  regard  for  the  conse- 
quences, is  taken  for  a  conspiracy,  a  rebellion,  an  attempt 
'  to  overthrow  the  faith.  There  are  always  theologians  keen- 
sighted  to  see  heresy  in  the  simplest  orthodoxy,  and  supersti- 
tion in  the  most  harmless  ceremony.  There  have  been  places 
where  it  has  been  impossible,  without  incurring  dangerous 
suspicions  of  idolatry,  to  mention  the  Cross  of  Christ.  There 
have  been  those,  from  the  first  ages  of  the  Church  dowmwards, 
before  whom  it  has  been  impossible,  without  incurring  dan- 
gerous suspicions  of  Atheism,  even  to  profess  the  Christian 
religion.  The  solution  of  the  controversy  between  the  two 
pastoral  eastern  tribes  and  their  western  brethren  in  the  Jewish 
Church  is  one  which  might  have  saved  the  schism  of  the 

'  Num.  xxxii.   23.     In  the  LXX.  excellence   by   the   late   Rev.    J.    H. 

'Ye  shall  know  yoiir  sin  when  it  finds  Giirney. 

you  out.'    Amongst  the  many  sermons  -  Josh.  xv.  6,  xxii,  11. 

which   have  been   published    on   this  '  Josh.  xxii.  13. 
text,  I  may  refer  to  one  of  remarkable 


LECT.  IX.  COXTROVERSY   OF   EAST   AND    WEST.  221 

Eastern  Church  from  the  Western,  and  have  prevented  many 
bitter  controversies  and  persecutions  in  all  Churches. 

On  the  one  hand,  the  Eeubenites  and  their  companions 
said :  '  The  Lord  Grod  of  Gods,  the  Lord  God  of  Gods, 
'  He  knoweth,  and  Israel  he  shall  know.  If  it  be  in  rebel-  '* 
'lion,  or  if  in  transgression  against  the  Lord,  save  us  not 
'  this  day.' '  It  is  a  text  invested  with  a  mournful  interest — 
for  it  is  that  on  which  Welsh,  the  minister  of  the  army  of 
the  Covenanters,  preached  before  the  battle  of  Bothwell  . 
Bridge.  Whether  or  not  it  was  sincerely  used  in  that  later 
application,  on  this,  its  first  occasion,  it  truly  expressed 
the  absence  of  any  sinister  intention,  and  it  was  accepted  as 
such  even  by  the  fierce,  uncompromising  Phinehas.  '  This  Its  inten- 
'  day  we  perceive  that  the  Lord  is  among  us,  because  ye  have 
'  not  committed  this  trespass  against  the  Lord :  now  ye  have 
'  delivered  the  children  of  Israel  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Lord.'  ^ 
He  did  not  push  matters  to  extremities- — he  was  thankful  to 
have  been  spared  the  great  crime  of  attacking  as  a  moral  sin 
what  was  only  an  error  (if  so  be)  of  judgment.  Alas  !  how 
seldom  in  the  history  of  religious  divisions  have  thanks  been 
returned  for  a  deliverance  from  a  crime  which  many  religious 
leaders  have  regarded  as  a  duty  and  a  blessing ! 

The  eastern  tribes  returned  to  their  distant  homes.  Their 
reward  was  that,  in  after  ages,  slight  as  the  connexion  might 
be  with  the  rest  of  the  nation,  it  was  never  entirely  broken. 

One  reminiscence  of  this  connexion  is  preserved  in  a  Legend  of 
splendid  legend  of  the  Samaritans.  It  records  how,  when, 
at  the  close  of  his  campaigns,  Joshua  was  beset  not  merely 
with  the  armies,  but  with  the  enchantments,  of  the 
Canaanites  and  Persians,  and  imprisoned  within  a  seven- 
fold wall  of  iron,  a  carrier  pigeon  conveyed  the  tidings  of 
his  situation  to  Nobah,  who  sprang  from  his  judgment-seat, 
and,  with  a  shout  that  rang  to  the  ends  of  the  universe,  sum- 
»  Josh.  xxii.  22.  -  Ibid.  31. 


222  SETTLEMENT   OF   EASTERN    PALESTINE.  lect.  ix. 

moned  his  Transjordanic  troops  around  him.  They  came  in 
thousands.  One  band,  clothed  in  white,  rode  on  red  horses. 
Another,  clothed  in  red,  rode  on  white  horses ;  a  third  in 
green,  on  black  horses ;  a  fourth  in  black,  on  spotted  horses. 
^  Nobah  himself  rode  at  their  head  on  a  steed  beautiful  as  a 
panther,  fleet  as  the  winds.  He  approaches,  under  cover  of 
a  hurricane,  which  drives  the  birds  to  their  nests,  and  the 
wild  beasts  to  their  lairs,  and  enters  the  plain  of  Esdraelon. 
The  mother  of  the  Canaanite  king,  like  the  mother  of  Sisera, 
or  like  the  watchman  on  the  walls  of  Jezreel,*  goes  up  to  the 
tower  to  worship  the  sun.  She  sees  the  advancing  splen- 
dours, and  she  rushes  down  to  announce  to  her  son  that  '  the 
'  moon  and  the  stars  are  rising^  from  the  East :  woe  to  us, 
'  if  they  be  enemies !  blessed  are  we,  if  they  are  friends  I ' 
A  single  combat  takes  place  between  Nobah  and  the 
Canaanite  king,  each  armed  with  his  mighty  bow.  At  last 
the  king  falls — by  the  spring  that  gushed  forth,  'known 
*  even  to  this  day  as  the  Spring  of  the  Arrow.'  At  Joshua's 
bidding,  the  priests  within  the  seven  iron  walls  blow  their 
trumpets— the  walls  fall — the  sun  stands  still,  and  the  winds 
fly  to  his  aid,  and  the  horses  of  the  conquerors  plunge  up  to 
their  nostrils  ^  in  the  blood  of  the  enemy. 

This  wild  story  points  no  doubt  to  the  bond  of  union 

which  in  the  great  extremities  of  war  was  kept  up  between 

the  two  banks  of  the  Jordan.     The  battle-cry  of  the  eastern 

portion  of  Manasseh  seems  to  have  extended  to  the  whole 

tribe — 'Whosoever  is   fearful    and    afraid,    let    him    depart 

'  from  Mount  Grilead.'  ^     But  their  usual  relations  belong  to 

a  more  touching  class  of  recollections  and  anticipations. 

The  East         Those  eastern    hills  were    to  the  Western  Israelites   the 

of  the^"^^'    land  of  exile, — the  refuge  of  exiles.     One  place  there  was 

West.  in   its   beautiful  uplands  consecrated   by   tlie   presence   of 

'  Judg.  T.  28;  2  Kings  ix.  17.  ^  Samaritan  Joshua,  eh.  37. 

^  Judg.  rii.  3. .  See  Lectiu-e  XV. 


LECT.  IX.  ITS   CONNEXION   WITH    THE   WEST.  223 

God  in  primeval  times.  '  Mahauaim '  marked  the  spot 
where  Jacob  had  divided  his  people  into  'two  hosts,'  and 
seen  the  '  Two  Hosts '  of  the  angelic  vision.'  To  this  scene 
of  the  great  crisis  in  their  ancestor's  life  the  thoughts  of 
his  descendants  returned  in  after  years,  whenever  foreign 
conquest  or  civil  discord  drove  them  from  their  native 
hills  on  the  west  of  Jordan — when  Abner  fled  from  the 
Philistines,  when  David  fled  from  Absalom,  when  the 
Israelite  captives  lingered  there  on  the  way  to  Babylon, 
when  David's  greater  Son  found  tliere  a  refuge  from  the  busy 
world  which  filled  Jerusalem  and  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  when  the 
infant  Christian  Church  of  Palestine  escaped  to  Pella  from 
the  armies  of  Titus.  From  these  heights,  one  and  all  of 
these  exiles  must  have  caught  the  last  glimpse  of  their 
familiar  mountains.  There  is  one  plaintive  strain  which 
sums  up  all  these  feelings, — the  42nd  Psalm.  Its  date 
and  authorship  are  uncertain,  but  the  place  is  beyond 
doubt  the  Transjordanic  hills,  which  always  behold,  as 
they  are  always  beheld  from,  Western  Palestine.  As, 
before  the  eyes  of  the  exile,  the  '  gazelle  '  of  the  forest  of 
Gilead  panted  after  the  fresh  streams  of  water  which 
thence  descend  to  the  Jordan,  so  his  soul  panted  after 
God,  from  whose  outward  presence  he  was  shut  out.  The 
river,  with  its  winding  rapids,  '  deep  calling  to  deep,'  lay 
between  him  and  his  home.  All  that  he  could  now  do  was 
to  remember  the  past,  as  he  stood  '  in  the  land  of  Jordan,' 
as  he  saw  the  peaks  of  '  Hermon,'  as  he  found  himself  on 
the  eastern  heights  of  Mizar,  which  reminded  him  of  his 
banishment  and  solitude.  The  Peraean  hills  are  the  '  Piso-ah ' 
of  the  earlier  history.  To  the  later  history  they  occupy  the 
pathetic  relation  that  has  been  immortalised  in  the  name 
of  the  long  ridge  from  which  the  first  and  the  last  view  of 

'  See  Lecture  III. 


224  THE    EASTEKN   HILLS.  lect.  ix. 

Granada  is  obtained ;  they  are  '  the  Last  Sigh '  of  the 
Israelite  exile.  In  our  own  time,  perhaps  in  all  times  of 
their  history,  they  have  furnished  to  the  familiar  scenes  of 
Western  Palestine  a  shadowy  background,  which  imparts 
to  the  tamest  features  of  the  landscape  a  mysterious  and 
romantic  charm,  a  sense  as  of  another  world,  to  the  dweller 
on  this  side  of  the  dividing  chasm  almost  inaccessible,  yet 
always  overhanging  the  distant  view  with  a  presence  not  to 
be  put  by.  And  with  this  thought  there  must  have  been 
blended,  in  large  periods  of  the  Jewish  history,  ,a  feeling 
which  has  now  long  since  died  away-^that  from  these 
Eastern  mountains,  and  from  the  desert  beyond  them,  would 
be  the  great  Eeturn  of  the  scattered  members  of  the  race. 
'  Mine  own  will  I  bring  again  from  Bashan,' — '  How  beau- 
'tiful  on  the  mountains  [of  the  East]  are  the  feet  of  him 
'  that  bringeth  good  tidings.' — '  Make  straight  in  the  desert 
'  [beyond  the  Jordan]  a  highway  for  our  Grod,'  ^ 

•  Ps.  Ixviii.  22  ;  Isa.  Hi.  7,  xl.  3, 


225 


LECTUEE  X. 

THE  CONQUEST  OF  WESTERN  PALESTINE  — THE 
FALL  OF  JERICHO. 

The  Conquest  of  Eastern  Palestine  has  been  drawn  out  at 
length  in  the  preceding-  Lecture,  because,  from  the  scanty 
and  fragmentary  notices  of  it  in  the  narrative,  we  are  in 
danger  of  losing  sight  altogether  of  a  remarkable  portion 
both  of  the  Holy  Land  and  of  the  Sacred  history.  But  it  is 
a  true  feeling  which  lias  caused  the  chief  attention  to  be  fixed 
on  the  conquest  of  the  western  rather  than  of  the  eastern 
shores  of  the  Jordan,  as  the  turning-point,  in  this  stage,  of 
the  fortunes  of  the  Jewish  Church  and  nation. 

We  have  seen  what  the  Eastern  territory  was, — how  con-  Conquest 

of^VcstGrii 

genial  to  the  nomadic  habits  of  a  hitherto  pastoral  people :   Palestine. 

a  land  in  some  respects  so  far  superior,  both  in  beauty  and 

fertility,  to  the  rugged  mountains  on  the  further  side.     '  The 

'  Lord  had  made  them  ride  on  the  high  places  of  the  earth, 

'  that  they  might  eat  the  increase  of  the  fields  ;  and  he  made 

'  them  to  suck  honey  out  of  the  "  cliff,"  and  oil  out  of  the 

'  flinty  rock ;  butter  of  kine,  and  milk  of  sheep ;  with  fat  of 

'  lambs,  and  rams  of  the  breed  of  Bashan,  and  goats ;  with 

'  the  fat  of  kidneys  of  wheat  and  .  .  .  the  pure  blood  of  the 

'  grape.'  '    So,  we  are  told,  spoke  their  Prophet-leader,  whilst 

they   were   still  in    enjoyment   of   this    rich   country.     Yet 

forwards  they  went.     It  was  the  same  high  calling — whether 

'  Deut.  xxxii.  13,  11. 


226  CONQUEST   OP   WESTEKN    PALESTINE.  lect.  x. 

we  give  it  the  name  of  destiny  or  Providence — which  had 
already  drawn  Abraham  from  Mesopotamia,  and  Moses  from 
the  court  of  Memphis.  They  knew  not  what  was  before 
them ;  they  knew  not  what  depended  on  their  crossing  the 
Jordan,— on  their  becoming  a  settled  and  agricultural,  instead 
of  a  nomadic  people,  — on  their  reaching  to  the  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  and  from  those  shores  receiving  the  in- 
fluences of  the  Western  world,  and  sending  forth  to  that 
Western  world  their  influences  in  return.  They  knew  not, 
but  we  know ;  and  the  more  we  hear  of  the  beauty  of  the 
Transjordanic  territory,  the  greater  is  the  wonder  —  the 
greater,  we  may  say,  should  be  our  thankfulness — that  they 
exchanged  it  for  Palestine  itself;  inferior  as  it  might  natu- 
rally have  seemed  to  them,  in  every  point,  except  for  the  high 
purposes  to  which  they  were  called,  and  for  which  their  per- 
manent settlement  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Jordan  would, 
humanly  speaking,  have  wholly  unfitted  them. 

It  was  to  inaugurate  this  new  era,  of  a  dangerous  present 
and  a  boundless  future,  that  a  new  character  appears  on 
the  scene.  In  the  Eastern  conquest,  we  have  but  faintly 
perceived  the  hands  by  which  the  victory  was  won,  and  the 
people  guided.  Moses,  indeed,  is  still  living ;  but  his  com- 
mand in  battle  is  hardly  noticed.  Of  Jair  and  Nobah  we 
know  scarce  anything  but  the  names.  The  most  remarkable 
leader  of  that  transitional  period,  whose  career  overlaps  also 
Phinehas.  that  on  which  we  are  now  entering,  is  the  famous  son  of  the 
High  Priest  Eleazar,  who  in  his  Egyptian  ^  name  bore  the 
last  trace  of  their  Egyptian  sojourn.  Phinehas,  rather  than 
his  father,  figures  throughout  this  period  as  the  leading- 
member  of  the  hierarchy.  In  the  conflict  with  Midian,^ 
in  the  dispute  with  tlie  Eeubenites,  in  the  war  with  the 
Benjamites,^  he  is  the  chief  oracle  and  adviser.  On  him  is 
pronounced  the  blessing  which  secured  to  his  descendants  the 
'  Brugsch,  Egypt,  174.  ^  See  Lecture  IX.  *  See  Lecture  XIII. 


tECT.  X.  JOSHUA.  227. 

inheritance  of  the  priesthood,  as  though  up  to  that  time  the 
succession  had  been  in  uncertainty.  He  was  long  known  as 
the  ruler  or  commander  of  the  Levite  guard,'  and  as  the 
type  of  indomitable  zeal.  In  later  Jewish  traditions,  he  is 
supposed  to  have  received,  through  the  blessing  upon  his 
zeal,  the  gift  of  immortality,'^  and  to  have  continued  on  the 
earth  till  he  reappeared  as  Elijah ;  and  thus,  in  Mussulman 
fancy,  he  claims,  with  Elijah,  Jethro,  and  S.  George,  to  be  iden- 
tified with  the  mysterious  Wanderer,  who  goes  to  and  fro '  on 
the  earth,  to  set  right  the  wrong  and  to  make  clear  the  dark. 

But  the  fierce  Priest  was  not  to  be  the  successor  of  the 
first  of  the  Prophets.  It  was  from  another  tribe,  and  from  Joshua. 
another  class  of  character,  that  Moses  had  chosen  his  constant 
companion,  his  ministering  servant.  Every  great  Prophet  had 
such  an  attendant,  and  the  attendant  of  Moses  was  Joshua 
the  son  of  Nun.  He,  according  to  Jewish  tradition,"*  was  the 
bosom  friend,  the  first  example  of  pure  and  dear  friendship 
in  the  Jewish  Church ;  and  to  him,  rather  than  to  any  he- 
reditary kinsman,  was  the  gviidance  of  the  nation  intrusted. 

Never,  in  the  history  of  the  Chosen  People,  could  there 
have  been  such  a  blank  as  that  when  they  became  conscious 
that  'Moses  the  servant  of  the  Lord  was  dead.'  He  who 
had  been  their  leader,  their  lawgiver,  their  oracle,  as  far  back 
as  their  memory  could  reach,  was  taken  from  them  at  the 
very  moment  when  they  seemed  most  to  need  him.  It  was 
to  fill  up  this  blank  that  Joshua  was  called.  The  narrative 
labours  to  impress  upon  us  the  sense  that  the  continuity  of 
the  nation  and  of  its  high  purpose  was  not  broken  by  the 
change  of  person  and  situation.  *  As  I  was  with  Moses,  so 
*  will  I  be  with  thee.  I  will  not  fail  thee,^  nor  forsake  thee.' 
There  was,  indeed,  as  yet,  no  hereditary  or  fixed  succession. 

'  Num.  XXV.  13  ;  Ps.  cvi.  30 ;  1  Chr.  ^  See  Lecture  VIII. 

ix.  20.  *  Philo,  De  Caritatc,  ii.  384,  385. 

^  Fabricius,  Cod.  Pscxulcp,   i.   893,  s  Jogh.  i.  5. 
894. 

Q  2 


228  JOSHUA.  LECT.  x. 

But  the  germ  of  that  succession  is  better  represented  by  the 
very  contrast  between  Moses  and  Joshua,  than  in  any  other 
passage  in  the  Sacred  History. 

The  voice  that  from  the  glory  came, 

To  tell  how  Moses  died  unseen, 
And  waken  Joshua's  spear  of  flame 

To  victory  on  the  mountains  green, 
Its  trumpet  tones  are  sounding  still, 

When  kings  or  parents  pass  away  ; 
They  greet  us  with  a  cheering  thrill 

Of  power  or  comfort  in  decay. ^ 

The  difference,  indeed,  was  marked  as  strongly  as  possible. 
His  cha-  Joshua  was  the  soldier, — the  first  soldier,  consecrated  by  the 
Sacred  history.  He  was  not  a  teacher,  not  a  Prophet.^  He, 
one  may  say,  hated  the  extension  of  Prophecy  with  a  feeling 
which  recalls  a  well-known  saying  of  the  great  warrior  of  our 
own  age.  He  could  not  restrain  his  indignation  when  he 
heard  that  there  were  two  unauthorised  prophesiers  within 
the  camp.  '  My  lord  Moses,  forbid  them.'  ^  He  was  a 
simple,  straightforward,  undaunted  soldier.  His  first  appear- 
ance is  in  battle.  '  Choose  out  men,  go  out,  fight  with 
'  Amalek.'  *  He  is  always  known  by  his  spear  or  javelin, 
slung  between  his  shoulders  or  stretched  out  in  his  hand.^ 
The  one  quality  which  is  required  of  him,  and  described  in 
him,  is  that  he  was  *  very  courageous.'  He  was  *  strong  and 
of  a  good  courage.'  ^    '  He  was  not  afraid  nor  dismayed.'    He 

'  This  poem  in  Keble's  Christian  ground  in  the  narrative,  and  the  Mus- 

Yiar  is  suggested  by  the  Service  for  sulman  traditions    expressly   exclude 

the  Accession  of  the  English  Sove-  him  from  that  rank.     (Weil's  Bihlical 

reigns,  on  which  day  this  portion  of  Legends,  p.  144.)     It  is  probably  on 

the   Book   of  Joshua   is   read.     The  other  grounds  that  the  Book  of  Joshua 

whole    poem    well    carries    out    the  is  placed  amongst  the  '  Prophets '  in 

thought.  the  Jewish  canon.     Sec  Lecture  XIX. 

2  In   the   Eastern  Church    Joshua  ^  Num.  xi.  28. 

is  sometimes  reckoned  as  a  prophet.  *  Ex.  xvii.  9. 

Josephus  {Ant.  v.  1,  §  4)  seems  to  im-  *  Josh.  viii.  18,  26.  It  was  thechidan 

ply  that  he  had  an  attendant  prophet,  or  light  javelin  ;  see  the  article  'Arms,' 

through  whom  tlie  divine  commands  in  Diet,  of  Bible. 

weje  giveii  to  him.     But  this  has  no  ''  Josh.  i.  7,  9,  18. 


i-ECT.  X.  HIS   NAME.  229 

turned  neither  to  the  right  hand  nor  to  the  left ;  but  at  the 
head  of  the  hosts  of  Israel  he  went  right  forward  from  Jordan 
to  Jericho,  from  Jericho  to  Ai,  from  Ai  to  Gibeon,  to  Beth- 
horon,  to  Merom.  He  wavered  not  for  a  moment;  he  was 
here,  he  was  there,  he  was  everywhere,  as  the  emergency 
called  for  him.  He  had  no  words  of  wisdom,  except  those 
which  shrewd  ^  common  sense  and  public  spirit  dictated.  To 
him  the  Divine  Eevelation  was  made  not  in  the  burning  busli 
nor  in  the  still  small  voice,  but  as  '  the  Captain  of  the  Lord's 
'  host,  with  a  drawn  sword  in  his  hand ; '  ^  and  that  drawn  and 
glittering  sword  was  the  vision  which  went  before  him  through 
the  land,  till  all  the  kings  of  Canaan  were  subdued  beneath 
his  feet. 

It  is  not  often,  either  in  sacred  or  common  history,  that  His  name. 
we  are  justified  in  pausing  on  anything  so  outward  and 
(usually)  so  accidental  as  a  name.  But,  if  ever  there  be  an 
exception,  it  is  in  the  case  of  Joshua.  In  him  it  first  appears 
with  an  appropriateness  which  the  narrative  describes  as 
intentional.  His  original  name,  Hosliea,  'salvation,'  is  trans- 
formed into  JeJioshua  or  Joshua, '  God's  salvation ; '  and  this, 
according  to  the  modifications  which  Hebrew  names  under- 
went in  their  passage  through  the  Greek  language,  took,  in 
the  later  ages  of  the  Jewish  Church,  sometimes  the  form  of 
Jason,  but  more  frequently  that  which  has  now  become 
indelibly  impressed  upon  history  as  the  greatest  of  all  names 
— JESUS.3 

Slight  as  may  be  this  connexion  between  the  first  and  the 
last  to  whom  this  name  was  given  with  any  religious  signifi- 
cance, it  demands  our  consideration  for  the  sake  of  two  points 
which  are  often  overlooked,  and  which  may  in  this  relation 
catch  the  attention  of  those  who  might  else  overlook  them 
altogether.     One  is  the  prominence  into  which  it  brings  the 

'  See  Lecture  XII,  '  LXX.  throughout,  and,  iii  the  N.T., 

*  Josh.  V.  13.  Acts  vii.  45 ;  Heb.  iv.  8. 


230  THE    PASSAGE   OF   THE    JORDAN.  lect.  x. 

true  meaning  of  the  Sacred  name,  as  a  deliverance,  not  from 
'  imputed '  or  '  future '  or  '  unknown '  dangers,  but  from 
enemies  as  real  and  intelligible  as  the  Canaanitish  host.  The 
first  Joshua  was  to  save  his  people  from  their  actual  foes. 
The  Second  was  to  '  save  His  people  from  their '  actual 
'  sinsJ'  ^  Again,  the  career  of  Joshua  gives  a  note  of  prepara- 
tion for  the  singularly  martial,  soldierlike  aspect — also  often 
forgotten — under  which  his  Namesake  is  at  times  set  forth. 
The  courage,  the  cheerfulness,  the  sense  of  victory  and  of 
success,  which  runs  both  through  the  actual  history  of  the 
Grospels,  and  through  the  idealisation  of  it  in  '  the  Conqueror ' 
of  the  writings  of  S.  jGhn,^  finds  its  best  illustration  from  the 
older  Church  in  the  character  and  career  of  Joshua. 
The  Pas-  The  first  stage  of  Joshua's  Conquest  was  the  occupation  of 

Jordan.  ^^6  vast  trench,  so  to  speak,  which  parted  them  from  the 
mass  of  the  Promised  Land.  Between  it  and  them  lay  the 
deep  valley  of  the  Jordan  with  its  mysterious  river.  '  To 
'  pass  over  the  Jordan  and  go  in  and  possess  the  land,'  was 
a  crisis  in  their  fate,  such  as  they  had  not  experienced  since 
the  crossing  of  the  Eed  Sea. 

The  scene  of  the  passage  of  the  Jordan  is  presented  to  us 
in  the  Sacred  narrative  in  a  form  so  distinct,  and  at  the 
same  time  so  different  from  that  which  is  usually  set  forth 
in  pictures  and  allegories,  that  it  shall  here  be  given  at 
length,  so  far  as  it  can  be  made  out  from  the  several  notices 
handed  down  to  us,  namely,  the  two  separate  accounts  in  the 
Book  of  Joshua,^  further  varied  by  the  differences  between 
the  Eeceived  Text  and  the  Septuagint,  the  narrative  of 
Josephus  and  the  114th  Psalm. 

*  Matt.  i.  21.  iv.  4;  v.  4,  5).     'The  Captain  of  our 

2  Not  only  in  tho  Apocalypse  (li.  7,  salvation '    (Heb.    ii.   10)]  derives   its 

11,  17,  26  ;  iii.  5,  12,  21  ;  v.  5  ;  vi.  2 ;  martial  sound  only  from  the  English, 

xi.  7  ;  xii.  11  ;  xiii.  7  ;  xv.  2  ;  xvii.  14;  not  from  tho  original. 

xxi.  7),  but  in  the  Gospel  (John  xvL  ^  Josh.  iii.  3-17;  iv.  1-24. 

33)  and  Epistles  (I  John  ii.  13,  14; 


tECT.  X.  THE   PASSAGE   OF   THE   JORDAN'.  231 

Now  at  last  tliey  descended  from  the  upper  terraces  of  the 
valley,  they  '  removed  from  the  acacia  groves  and  came  to 
'  the  Jordan  and  "  stayed  the  night "  there  before  they  passed 
over.'  ^ 

It  was  probably  at  the  point  near  the  present  southern  The  river. 
fords,  crossed  at  the  time  of  the  Christian  era  by  a  bridge.^ 
The  river  was  at  its  usual  state  of  flood  at  the  spring  of 
the  year,  so  as  to  fill  the  whole  of  the  bed,  up  to  the 
margin  of  the  jungle  with  which  the  nearer  banks  are  lined. 
On  the  broken  edge  of  the  swollen  stream,  the  band  of 
priests  stood  with  the  Ark  on  their  shoulders.  At  the  dis- 
tance of  nearly  a  mile  in  the  rear  was  the  mass  of  the  army. 
Suddenly  the  full  bed  of  the  Jordan  was  dried  before  them. 
High  up  the  river,  '  far,  far  away,'  ^  '  in  Adam,  the  city 
'  which  is  beside  Zaretan,'  ■*  '  as  far  as  the  parts  of  Kir- 
'  jath-jearim,'  •''  that  is,  at  a  distance  of  thirty  miles  from 
the  place  of  the  Israelite  encampment,  'the  waters  there 
'  stood  which  "  descended  "  "  from  the  heights  above," — stood 
'  and  rose  up,  as  if  gathered  into  a  waterskin ;  ^  as  if  in  a  bar- 
'  rier  or  heap,^  as  if  congealed ;  *  and  those  that  "  descended  " 
'  towards  the  sea  of  "  the  desert,"  the  salt  sea,  failed  and  were 
'  cut  off.'  Thus  the  scene  presented  is  of  the  '  descending 
'  stream '  (the  words  employed  seem  to  have  a  special  re- 
ference to  that  peculiar  and  most  significant  name  of  the 
'  Jordan ')  not  parted  asunder,  as  we  generally  fancy,  but, 

'  Josh.  iiL  1.  *  So   Symmachus's  rersion,  as  the 

*  So  we  may  infer  from  Jos.  Ant.       LXX.  in  Ps.  xxxiii,  7. 

V.  1,  §  3.  '  The  ■word  here  used,  ncd,  is  only 

^  IxaKpav    (Tcpobpa  acpoSpus,  LXX. ;  used  of  '  water '  with  regard  to  the 

Josh.  iii.  16.  Jordan  river,  and   the  waves  of  the 

*  Josh.  iii.  16.  Not '  from  Adam,'  seapoetically  (Ps.  xxxiii.  7;  Ex.  xv.  8). 
but  '  in  Adam.'  See  KeU  ad  loc.  The  Vulgate  makes  this  to  be  '  as 
Zaretan  is  near  Suceoth,  at  the  mouth  high  as  a  mountain.'  The  Samaritan 
of  the  Jabbok,  1  Kings  vii.  46.  Joshua   makes  it  '  wave  rising  upon 

*  Josh.  iii.  16  (LXX.),  unless  this  be  'wave  till  it  reached  the  height  of  a 
another  reading  for  Kirjath-Adam  (the  '  lofty  mountain.' 

city  of  Adam).   Comp.  Kiriathaim,  in  *  Hijyfia,  LXX.;  Josh.  iii.  16. 

the  same  neighbourhood.  Gen.  xiv.  5. 


sage. 


232  THE    PASSAGE    OP   THE    JORD.O".  lect.  x. 

as  the  Psalm  ^  expresses  it,  '  turned  backwards ; '  the  whole 
bed  of  the  river  left  dry  from  north  to  south,  through  its 
long  windings ;  the  huge  stones  lying  bare  here  and  there,^ 
imbedded  in  the  soft  bottom ;  or  the  shingly  pebbles  ^  flrifted 
along  the  course  of  the  channel. 
The  Pas-  The  Ark  stood  above.      The  army  passed  below.      The 

women  and  children,  according  to  the  Jewish  tradition,* 
were  placed  in  the  centre,  from  the  fear  lest  they  should  be 
swept  away  by  the  violence  of  the  current.  The  host,  at 
different  points  probably,  rushed^  across.  The  priests  re- 
mained motionless,  their  feet  sunk  ^  in  the  deep  mud  of  the 
channel.  In  front,  contrary  to  the  usual  ^  order,  as  if  to 
secure  that  they  should  fulfil  their  vow,  went  the  three 
Transjordanic  tribes.  They  were  thus  the  first  to  set  foot  on 
the  shore  beyond.  Their  own  memorial  of  the  passage  was 
the  monument  already  ®  described.  But  the  national  memo- 
rial was  on  a  larger  scale.  Carried  aloft  ^  before  the  priests 
as  they  left  the  river-bed,  were  '  twelve  stones,'  selected  by 
the  twelve  chiefs  of  the  tribes.  These  were  planted  on  the 
upper  terrace  of  the  plain  of  the  Jordan,  and  became  the 
centre  of  the  first  sanctuary  of  the  Holy  Land, — the  first 
place  pronounced  '  holy,'  the  '  sacred  place '  of  the  Jordan 
valley,^"  where  the  Tabernacle  remained  till  it  was  fixed  ^'  at 
Shiloh.  Grilgal  long  retained  reminiscences  of  its  ancient 
sanctity.  The  twelve  stones  taken  up  from  the  bed  ^^  of  the 
Jordan  continued  at  least  till  the  time  of  the  composition  of 
the  Book  of  Joshua,  and  seem  to  have  been  invested  with  a 

'  Ps.  cxiv.  3.  '  Lecture  IX. 

^  As  implied  in  Josh.  iv.  9,  18.  ^  The  LXX.  reads  in  Josh,  iv.  11 

'  Jos.  Ant.  V.  1,  §  3.  '  the  stones,'  instead  of  'the  priests.' 

*  Rid.  '»  Josh.  T.  13-15. 

*  'Hasted,'  Josh.  iv.  10.  •'  Josh,  xviii.  1. 
"  This  is  implied  in  the  word  trans-  '-  Josh.  iv.  5.     For  the  question  of 

lated  '  lifted  up ; '  but  more  properly  the   double   memorial,  see    the   com- 
as in  the  margin,  '  plucked  up.'    Josh.  mentators  on  this  place.     The  LXX. 
iv.  IS.  text  (iv.  9)  supposes  two. 
'  Xum.  xxxii.  20;  Josh.  iv.  12. 


LECT,  X.  GILGAL.  233 

reverence  wliich  came  to  be  regarded  at  last  as  idolatrous.^ 
The  name  was  joined  with  that  of  the  acacia  groves  on 
the  further  side,  in  the  title,  as  it  would  seem,  given  in 
popular  tradition  or  in  ancient  records  to  this  passage  of  the 
history :  '  From  Shittim  to  Gilgal.'  ^ 

But  its  immediate  connexion  was  with  the  first  stage  of  the  GilgaL 
Conquest.  The  touching  allegory  by  which  in  the  '  Pilgrim's 
Progress '  the  passage  of  the  Jordan  is  made  the  likeness 
of  the  passage  of  the  river  of  Death  to  the  land  of  rest  beyond, 
has  but  a  slight  ground  in  the  language  of  the  Bible,  or  the 
course  of  the  history.  The  passage  of  the  Jordan  was  not 
the  end,  but  the  beginning  of  a  long  and  troubled  conflict. 
Of  this,  the  first  step  was  the  occupation  of  Grilgal.  It  be- 
came immediately  the  frontier  fortress,  such  as  the  Greeks 
under  the  name  of  epiteichisma,  and  the  Eomans  under  the 
name  of  colonia,  always  planted  as  their  advanced  posts  in  a 
hostile  country,  such  as  at  Kufa  the  Arab  conquerors  founded 
before  the  building  of  Bagdad,^  and  at  Fostat  before  the 
building  af  Cairo.  It  was  also,  as  Josephus''  well  says, 
the  'place  of  freedom.'  There  they  cast  off  the  slough  of 
their  wandering  life.  The  uncircumcised  state,  regarded  as  The  cir- 
a  deep  reproach  by  the  higher  civilisation  of  the  East,  was 
now  to  be  '  rolled  away.'  The  ancient  rite  was  performed 
once  more,  and  the  knives  of  flint  used  on  the  occasion 
were  preserved  as  sacred  relics.  The  hill  where  the  ceremony 
had  taken  place — one  of  the  many  argillaceous  hills  on  the 
terraces  of  the  valley— was  called  by  a  name  commemorating 
the  event,  as  was  Gilgal  ^  itself.  A  Jewish  sect  is  repoi'ted 
still  to  exist  at  Bozra,  which  professes  to  have  broken  off  from 
Israel  at  this  time.  They  are  said  to  abhor  not  only  circum- 
cision, but  everything  which  can    remind   them  of  it — all 

'  Judg.  iii.  26;  Hosea  iv.  15;  is.  ^  Ewakl,  ii.  244, 

15  ;  xii.  11 ;  Amos  iv.  4;  v.  5.  *  Ant.  v.  1,  §  4. 

==  JVIicah  Ti.  5.  ^  lb.  v.  3,  §  7. 


cumcision. 


234  FALL    OF   JEEICHO.  lect.  x. 

cutting  with  knives,  even  at  meals.  One  other  sign  of  the 
desert  ceased  at  the  same  time.  For  the  first  time  since 
leaving  Sinai,  the  Passover  was  celebrated,  and  the  cakes  were 
made  no  longer  of  manna,  but  of  the  corn  of  Palestine, 
bread  found  in  the  houses  of  the  old  inhabitants. 
Jericho.  It  was  on  Jericho  that  the  attention  of  Joshua  had  been 

already  fixed  before  the  Passage  of  the  Jordan.  Following 
the  plan  which  seems  to  have  been  universal  in  the  warfare 
of  those  times,  he  sent  two  spies,  as  he  and  his  eleven  com- 
panions had  once  gone  before  from  the  south,  as  the  spies 
were  afterwards  sent  to  explore  Ai  ^  and  Bethel.^  They,  like 
the  wild  Gradites  in  David's  time,  swam  the  flooded  river,  and 
out  of  their  adventure  grew  the  one  gentle  incident  of  this 
part  of  the  history — the  kindness  and  honour  dealt  to  Kahab, 
the  first  convert  to  the  Jewish  faith. 

Jericho  was  the  most,  indeed  the  only,  important  town  in 
the  Jordan  valley.  Not  only  was  it  conspicuous  amongst  the 
other  Canaanitish  towns,  for  its  walls  and  gates,  and  its  rich 
temple,  filled  with  gold,  silver,  iron,  brass,  and  even  Meso- 
potamian  drapery,^  but  its  situation  was  such  as  must 
always  have  rendered  its  occupation  necessary  to  any  invader 
from  that  quarter.  It  was  the  key  of  Western  Palestine,  as 
standing  at  the  entrance  of  the  two  main  passes  into  the  cen- 
tral mountains.  From  the  issues  of  the  torrent  of  the  Kelt 
on  the  south,  to  the  copious  spring,  afterwards  called  'the 
fountain  of  Elisha,'  on  the  north,  the  ancient  city  ran  along 
the  base  of  the  mountains,  and  thus  commanded  the  oasis  of 
the  desert  valley,  the  garden  or  park  of  verdure,  which  clus- 
tering round  these  waters  has,  through  the  various  stages  of 
its  long  existence,  secured  its  prosperity  and  grandeur. 

Beautiful  as  the  spot  is  now  in  utter  neglect,  it  must 
have  been  far  more  so  when  it  was  first  seen  by  the  Israelite 
host  at  Gilgal.     Gilgal  was  about  five  miles  distant  from 
»  Josh.  vii.  2.  '  Judff.  i.  23.  ^  Josh.  vii.  21. 


LECT.  X.  JERICHO.  235 

the  river  banks ;  at  the  eastern  outskirts,  therefore,  of  the 
great  forest.  Jericho  itself  stood  at  its  western  extremity, 
immediately  where  the  springs  issue  from  the  hills.  From 
that  scene  of  their  earliest  settlement  in  Palestine,  the 
Israelites  looked  out  over  the  intervening  woods  to  what  was 
to  be  the  first  prize  of  the  conquest.  The  forest  itself  did 
not  then  consist,  as  now,  merely  of  the  picturesque  thorn, 
but  was  a  vast  grove  of  majestic  palms,  nearly  three  miles 
broad,  and  eight  miles  long.  It  must  have  recalled  to  the  few 
survivors  of  the  old  generation  the  magnificent  palm-groves 
of  Egypt,  such  as  may  now  be  seen  stretching  along  the  shores 
of  the  Nile  at  Memphis.  Amidst  this  forest — as  is,  to  a 
certain  extent,  the  ease  even  now — would  have  been  seen, 
stretching  through  its  open  spaces,  fields  of  ripe  corn ;  for  it 
was  '  the  time  of  barley  harvest.'  Above  the  topmost  trees 
would  be  seen  the  high  walls  and  towers  of  the  city,  which 
from  that  grove  derived  its  proud  name,  '  Jericho,  the  city  of 
'  palms,'  '  high,  and  fenced  up  to  heaven.'  Behind  the  city 
rose  the  jagged  range  of  the  white  limestone  mountains  of 
Judaea,  here  presenting  one  of  the  few  varied  and  beautiful 
outlines  that  can  be  seen  amongst  the  southern  hills  of 
Palestine.  This  range  is  '  the  mountain '  to  which  the  spies 
had  fled  whilst  their  pursuers  vainly  sought  them  on  the  way 
to  the  Jordan. 

The  story  of  the  Fall  of  Jericho  and  the  Passage  of  the  its  fall. 
Jordan  carries  with  it  the  same  impression  as  that  of  the 
Exodus ;  that  it  was  not  by  their  own  power,  but  by  a  Higher, 
that  the  Israelites  were  to  effect  their  first  entrance  into  the 
Promised  Land.  Whatever  might  be  their  own  part  in  what 
followed — whatever  might  be  their  own  even  in  tlus — the 
sagacity  of  Joshua,  the  venturesomeness  of  the  spies,  the 
fidelity  of  Eahab,  the  seven  days'  march,  the  well-known  and 
terrible  war-cry  j  yet  the  river  is  crossed,  and  the  city  falls, 
by  other  means.     It  may  be  that  these  means  were  found 


236  FALL   OF   JERICHO.  lect.  x. 

in  the  resources  of  the  natural  agencies  of  earthquake  or 
volcanic  convulsion,^  which  mark  the  whole  of  the  Jordan 
valley,  from  Grennesareth  down  to  the  Dead  Sea,  and  which 
are  perpetually  recurring  in  its  course,  not  only  during 
the  sacred  history,  but  to  our  own  time.  If  so,  we  have  a 
remarkable  illustration  and  confirmation  of  the  narrative,  the 
more  so,  because  the  secondary  causes  of  these  phenomena 
must  have  been  to  the  sacred  historians  themselves  unknown. 
But,  if  we  are  denied  this  external  testimony  to  the  events, 
the  moral,  which  the  relation  of  them  is  intended  to  teach, 
and  which  no  doubt  it  did  teach,  remains  the  same,  and  is 
well  expressed  in  the  Psalm  ^  of  later  days  : 

We  have  heard  with  our  ears,  0  God ; 

Our  fathers  have  told  us  what  Thou  didst  in  tlaeir  days,  in  the 
times  of  old  : 

How  Thou  didst  drive  out  the  heathen  Avith  Thy  hand,  and 
plantedst  them  ; 

How  Thou  didst  afflict  the  people,  and  cast  them  out. 

For  they  got  not  the  land  in  possession  by  their  o"\vn  sword, 

Neither  did  their  own  arm  save  them ; 

But  Thy  right  hand,  and  Thine  arm,  and  the  light  of  Thy  coim- 
tenance, 

Because  Thou  hadst  a  favoxu-  unto  them. 

The  ultimate  importance  of  the  fall  of  Jericho  is  marked 
by  the  consecration  of  its  spoil,  and  by  the  curse  on  its  re- 
builder.  But  its  immediate  consequences  lay  in  the  opening 
which  it  afforded  for  penetrating  into  the  hills  above.  It 
was  a  critical  moment,  for  it  was  exactly  at  the  similar  stage 
Fall  of  Ai.  of  their  approach  to  Palestine  from  the  south,  that  the  Israel- 
ites had  met  with  the  severe  repulse  at  Hormah,  which  had 
driven  them  back  into  the  desert  for  forty  years.  Joshua 
accordingly  '  sent  men  from  Jericho  to  Ai,  which  is  beside 

*  Instances — obvious,  indeed,  with-  tion   of  these  events,  by  Dr.    King, 

out  any  special  enumeration  —  of  the  in  his  Morsels  of  Criticism,  iii.  287, 

effect  of  earthquakes  both  on  waters  305. 
and  on  cities,    are  given  in  illustra-  ^  Ps.  xliv.  1-3. 


LECT.  X.  FALL   OF   AI.  237 

'  Bethaven,  on  the  east  side  of  Bethel,  and  spake  unto  them, 
'  saying,  Go  up  and  view  the  country.'  The  precise  position 
of  Ai  is  unknown ;  but  this  indication  points  out  its  probable 
site  in  the  wild  entanglement  of  hill  and  valley  at  the  head 
of  the  ravines  running  up  from  the  valley  of  the  Jordan. 
The  two  attempts  of  the  Israelites  that  followed  upon  the 
report  of  tlie  spies,  are  quite  in  accordance  with  the  natural 
featiues  of  the  pass.  In  the  first  attempt  the  inhabitants  of 
Ai,  taking  advantage  of  their  strong  position  on  the  heights, 
drove  the  invaders  'from  before  the  gate,'  .  .  .  and 
smote  them  in  '  the  going  down '  of  the  steep  descent.  In 
the  second  attempt,  after  the  Israelites  had  been  reassured 
by  the  execution  of  Achan  '  in  the  valley  of  Achor,'  probably 
one  of  the  valleys  opening  into  the  Ghor,  the  attack  was 
conducted  on  different  principles.  An  ambush  was  placed 
by  night  high  up  in  the  main  ravine  between  Ai  and  Bethel. 
Joshua  himself  took  up  his  position  on  the  north  side  of 
'  the  ravine,'  apparently  the  deep  chasm  through  which  it 
joins  the  plain  of  Jericho.  From  this  point  the  army  de- 
scended into  the  valley,  Joshua  himself,  it  would  seem, 
remaining  on  the  heights ;  and,  decoyed  by  them,  the  King 
of  Ai  with  his  forces  pursued  them  as  before  into  the  '  desert ' 
valley  of  the  Jordan ;  whilst  the  ambush,  at  the  signal  of 
Joshua's  uplifted  spear,  rushed  down  on  the  city ;  and  then, 
amidst  the  mingled  attack  at  the  head  of  the  pass  from 
behind,  and  the  return  of  the  main  body  from  the  desert  of 
the  Jordan,  the  whole  population  of  Ai  was  destroyed.  A 
heap  of  ruins  on  its  site,  and  a  huge  cairn  over  the  grave  of 
its  last  king,'  remained  long  afterwards  as  the  sole  memorials 
of  the  destroyed  city. 

The  passes  were  now  secured,   and  the  interior    of  the 
country  was  accessible.     Two  peaceful  memorials  remained 

'  Joshua  viii.  28,  29. 


238  LEAGUE   WITH    GIBEOX.  lect.  x. 

of  this  stage  of  the  conquest.  The  first  was  the  adoption  of 
Kahab.  Eahab  into  the  community.  '  She  dwelleth  among  the  people 
'  to  this  day.'  The  stringency  of  the  Mosaic  law  prohibiting 
intermarriage  with  the  accursed  race  was  relaxed  in  her 
favour.  To  her  was  traced  back  the  princely  lineage  of 
David,'  and  of  a  greater  than  David.  Her  trust  in  Grod,  and 
her  friendly  hospitality  whilst  yet  a  heathen,  were  treasured 
up  by  the  better  spirits^  of  the  later  Jewish  and  early  Christian 
Church,  as  a  signal  instance  of  the  universality  of  Divine 
mercy  and  of  religious  faith. 
The  The    other   was   the   league   with   the   Gibeonites.     The 

1  eom  es.  j^j^g^Qj-^gg^l  peculiarities  of  this  transaction  explain  themselves. 
The  situation  and  character  of  Gibeon  at  once  placed  it  in 
an  exceptional  position.  Planted  at  the  head  of  the  pass  of 
Beth-horon,  and  immediately  opposite  the  opening  of  the 
pass  of  Ai,  it  would  have  been  the  next  prey  on  which  the 
Israelite  host  would  have  sprung.  On  the  other  hand,  its 
organisation,  being  apparently  aristocratic  or  federal, — itself 
at  the  head  of  a  small  band '  of  kindred  cities, — separated  it 
from  the  interests  of  the  royal  fortresses  of  the  rest  of  Pales- 
tine. Their  device  is  full  of  a  quaint  humour  which  marks 
its  antiquity.  It  is  observable  that  they  represent  themselves 
as  not  having  yet  heard  of  the  aggression  on  Western  Pales- 
tine, only  of  the  bygone  conquest  of  the  Amorite  kings  beyond 
the  Jordan. 
The  The  remembrance  of  the  league  was  kept  up  through  the 

eague.  whole  course  of  the  subsequent  history.  The  massacre  of 
the  Gibeonites  by  Saul  was  not  excused  by  the  fact  that 
they  were  an  alien  race.     David  was  faithful  to  the  vow 

'  Matt.  i.  5.  to  forcft  the  fearless  siaiplicity  of  the 

^  Heb.  xi.  31;  James  ii.  25;  Clem.  Biblical  narrative  into  confoimity  with 

Ep.   ad  Cor. ;   Lightfoot,  Hor.     Heb.  a    preconceived    hypothesis   of    the 

ad  Matt.  i.  5.     The  change  of  '  har-  perfection  of  everything  to  which  it 

lot '    into    '  hostess '    is    one    of    the  relates. 

many  attempts  made  in  later  times  *  Josh.  ix.  17. 


LECT.  X.  '    LEAGUE    WITH   GIBEON.  239 

which  Joshua  had  first  made.  That  vow  aud  its  observance, 
even  though  darkened  by  its  sanguinary  consequences  in  the 
sacrifice  of  the  sons  of  Saul,  stands  out  in  the  careers  of 
Joshua  and  of  David  as  an  example,  raj^  in  the  history  of 
the  Christian  Church,  of  faith  kept  with  heretics  and  infidels. 
When  in  the  fifteenth  century  Ladislaus  of  Hungary  had 
made  a  solemn  treaty  with  Amurath  II.,  and  when  tidings 
arrived  of  unlooked-for  succours  to  the  Christian  host,  no  less 
a  personage  than  Cardinal  Julian  Cesarini,  in  an  elaborate 
argument,  urged  the  king  to  break  the  league.^  The  chief 
of  the  Polish  clergy,  in  a  spirit  more  worthy  both  of  the  Old 
and  the  New  Dispensation,  protested  against  the  treacherous 
act.  But  he  protested  alone,  and  king  and  cardinal  broke 
their  plighted  faith,  and  hurried  on  the  Christian  army  to 
what  proved  its  destruction.  Not  so  the  leaders  of  Israel 
under  Joshua,  when  public  opinion  clamoured  for  vengeance 
on   the   Gibeonite  deceivers.      'All  the  congregation  mur- 

*  mured  against  the  princes.  But  all  the  princes  said  unto  all 
*the  congregation.  We  have  sworn  unto  them  by  the  Lord 
'  Grod  of  Israel ;  now,  therefore,  we  may  not  touch  them. 

*  This  we  will  do  to  them :  we  will  even  let  them  live,  lest 
'  wrath  be  upon  us,  because  of  the  oath  which  we  sware  unto 
'  them.'  2 

Their  lives  were  spared.  They  willingly  undertook  the 
tributary  service  which  was  levied  upon  them.  Under  'the 
'  great  high  place '  on  which  the  Tabernacle — at  least  during 
part  of  the  subsequent  history — was  raised,  they  remained  in 
after  times  a  monument  of  this  early  league.  With  what 
fidelity  the  promise  was  observed,  and  with  what  important 
consequences,  will  be  best  seen  by  describing  the  great  event 
to  which  it  directly  led, — the  Battle  of  Beth-horon. 

'  Life  of  Cardinal  Julian,  pp.  329-341.  ^  Josh.  ix.  18-20. 


240 


LECTUEE    XI. 

THE    CONQUEST    OF    WESTERN     PALESTINE- 
BATTLE     OF    BETH-HORON. 


Battle  of     The  battle  of  Beth-horon  or  Gribeon  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant in  the  history  of  the  world ;  and  yet  so  profound  has 


ron. 


been  the  indifference,  first  of  the  religious  world,  and  then 
(through  their  example  or  influence)  of  the  common  world, 
to  the  historical  study  of  the  Hebrew  annals,  that  the  very 
name  of  this  great  battle  is  far  less  known  to  most  of  us 
than  that  of  Marathon  or  Cannae. 

It  is  one  of  the  few  military  engagements  which  belong 
equally  to  Ecclesiastical  and  to  Civil  History — which  have 
decided  equally  the  fortunes  of  the  world  and  of  the  Church. 
The  roll  will  be  complete  if  to  this  we  add  two  or  three 
more  which  we  shall  encounter  in  the  Jewish  History ;  and, 
in  later  times,  the  battle  of  the  Milvian  Bridge,  which  in- 
volved the  fall  of  Paganism ;  the  battle  of  Poitiers,  which 
sealed  the  fall  of  Arianism ;  the  battle  of  Bedr,  which  secured 
the  rise  of  Mahometanism  in  Asia ;  the  battle  of  Tours,  which 
checked  the  spread  of  Mahometanism  in  Western  Europe ; 
the  battle  of  Lepanto,  which  checked  it  in  Eastern  Europe ; 
the  battle  of  Lutzen,  which  determined  the  balance  of  power 
between  Roman  Catholicism  and  Protestantism  in  Grermany. 

The  kings  of  Palestine,  each  in  his  little  mountain  fastness, 
— like  the  kings  of  early  Gfreece,  crowded  thick  together  in 
the  plains  of  Argos  and  of  Thebes,  when  they  were  summoned 
to   the  Trojan  war, — were  roused   by   the  tidings  that   tlie 


LECT.  XI.  BATTLE    OF   BETH-HOEOX.  241 

approaches  to  tlieir  temtory  in  the  Jordan  valley  and  in  the 
passes  leading  from  it  were  in  the  hand  of  the  enemy.  Those 
who  occupied  the  south  felt  that  the  crisis  was  yet  more 
imminent  when  they  heard  of  the  capitulation  of  Gribeon. 
Jehus,  or  Jerusalem,  even  in  those  ancient  times^  was  recog- 
nised as  their  centre.  Its  chief  took  the  lead  of  the  hostile 
confederacy.  The  point  of  attack,  however,  was  not  the 
invading  army,  but  the  traitors  at  home.  Gribeon,  the  .Siege  of 
recreant  city,  was  besieged.  The  continuance  or  the  raising 
of  the  siege,  as  in  the  case  of  Orleans  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
and  Vienna  in  the  seventeenth,  became  the  turning  question 
of  the  war.  The  summons  of  the  Gribeonites  to  Joshua  was 
as  urgent  as  words  can  describe,  and  gives  the  key-note  to 
the  whole  movement.  '  Slack  not  thy  hand  from  thy  ser- 
'  vants ;  come  up  to  us  quickly,  and  save  us,  and  help  us ; 
'  for  all  the  kings  of  the  Amorites  that  dwell  in  the  mountains 
'  are  gathered  together  against  us.'  Not  a  moment  was  to 
be  lost.  As  in  the  battle  of  Marathon,  everything  depended 
on  the  suddenness  of  the  blow  which  should  break  in  pieces 
the  hostile  confederation.  On  the  former  occasion  of  Joshua's 
visit  to  Gribeon,  it  had  been  a  three  days'  journey  from 
Grilgal,  as  according  to  the  slow  pace  of  eastern  armies  and 
caravans  it  might  well  be.  But  now,  by  a  forced  march, 
'  Joshua  came  unto  them  suddenly,  and  went  up  from  Gilgal 
'  all  night.'  When  the  sun  rose  behind  him,  he  was  already 
in  the  open  ground  at  the  foot  of  the  heights  of  Gribeon, 
where  the  kings  were  encamped  (according  to  tradition')  by 
a  spring  in  the  neighbourhood.  The  towering  hill  at  the 
foot  of  which  Gribeon  lay,  rose  before  them  on  the  west.  The 
besieged  and  the  besiegers  alike  were  taken  by  surprise. 

As   often  before  and  after,  so  now,   '  not  a  man  could  First  stage 
'  stand  before '  the  awe  and  the  panic  of  the  sudden  sound  battle. 

'  Josephus,  Ant.  v.  1,  §  17. 
R 


242 


BATTLE   OF   BETH-HOEOK 


of  that  terrible  shout' — the  sudden  appearance  of  that  un- 
daunted host,  who  came  with  the  assurance  not  '  to  fear,  nor 

*  to  be  dismayed,  but  to  be  strong  and  of  a  good  courage,  for 
*the  Lord  had  delivered  their  enemies  into  their  hands.' 
The  Canaanites  fled  down  the  western  pass,  and  '  the  Lord 
'  discomfited  them  before  Israel,  and  slew  them  with  a  great 
'  slaughter  at  Gibeon,  and  chased  them  along  the  way  that 
'  goeth  up  to  Beth-horon.'  This  was  the  first  stage  of  the 
flight.  It  is  a  long  rocky  ascent,^  sinking  and  rising  more 
than  once  before  the  summit  is  reached.  From  the  summit, 
which  is  crowned  by  the  village  of  Upper  Beth-horon,  a  wide 
view  opens  over  the  valley  of  Ajalon,  of  '  Stags '  or  '  Grazelles,' 
which  runs  in  from  the  plain  of  Sharon.  Jaffa,  Ramleh, 
Lydda,  are  all  visible  beyond. 

'  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  they  fled  before  Israel,  and  were 
'  in  the  goirCg  down  to  Beth-horon,  that  the  Lord  cast  down 
'  great  stones  from  heaven  upon  them  imto  Azekah.'  This 
was  the  second  stage  of  the  flight.  The  fugitives  had  out- 
stripped the  pursuers ;  they  had  crossed  the  high  ridge  of 
Beth-horon  the  Upper;  they  were  in  full  flight  to  Beth- 
horon  the  Nether.  It  is  a  rough,  rocky  road,  sometimes 
over  the  upturned  edges  of  the  limestone  strata,  sometimes 
over  sheets  of  smooth  rock,  sometimes  over  loose  rectangular 
The  storm,  stones,  sometimes  over  steps  cut  in  the  rock.  It  was  as  they 
fled  down  the  slippery  descent,  that,  as  in  the  fight  of  Barak 
against  Sisera,  a  fearful  tempest,  '  thunder,  lightning,  and  a 
'  deluge  of  hail,'  ^  broke  over  the  disordered  ranks ;  '  they  were 
'  more  which  died  of  the  hailstones  *  than  they  whom  the 

*  children  of  Israel  slew  with  the  sword.' 


Second 
stage  of 
the  battle. 


'  In  the  Samaritan  tradition  the 
war-cry  was,  '  God  is  mighty  in  battle : 
'  God  is  His  name'  (Samaritan  Joshua, 
ch.  20,  21). 

-  The  actual  amount  of  elevation  in 
this  ascent  is  perhaps  doubtful. 

^  Jos.  Ant.  V.    1,   §   17.     Compare 


Judg.  iv.  15;  V.  20;   1  Sam.  vii.  10. 

*  The  stones  have  been  interpreted 
as  meteoric  stones ;  but  the  explana- 
tion of  them  in  the  Hebrew  text,  and 
the  tradition  in  the  LXX.  and  Jose- 
phus,  are  decisive  in  favour  of  the 
hailstorm. 


LECT.  XI.  BATTLE    OP    BETH-HOROX.  243 

So,  as  it  would  seem,  ended  the  direct  narrative  of  this 
second  stage  of  the  flight.  But  at  this  point,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  defeat  of  Sisera,  we  have  one  of  those  openings,  as  it 
were,  in  the  structure  of  the  Sacred  history^  which  reveal  to 
us  a  glimpse  of  another,  probably  an  older,  version,  lying 
below  the  surface  of  the  narrative.  In  the  victory  of  Barak, 
we  have  the  whole  accoimt,  first  in  prose  and  then  in  verse. 
Here  we  have,  in  like  manner,  first,  the  prose  account ;  and 
then,  either  the  same  events,  or  the  events  immediately  fol- 
lowing, related  in  poetry — taken  from  one  of  the  lost  books 
of  the  original  canon  of  the  Jewish  Church,  the  book  of 
Jasher.^ 

On  the  summit  of  the  pass,  where  is  now  the  hamlet  of  Joshua's 
the  Upper  Beth-horon,  looking  far  down  the  deep  descent  of 
the  Western  valleys,  with  the  green  vale  of  Ajalon  stretched 
out  in  the  distance,  and  the  wide  expanse  of  the  Mediterranean 
Sea  beyond,  stood,  as  is  intimated,  the  Israehte  chief.  Below 
him  was  rushing  down,  in  ^^ald  confusion,  the  Amorite  host. 
Around  him  were  '  all  his  people  of  war  and  all  his  mighty 
'  men  of  valour.'  Behind  him  were  the  hills  which  hid 
Gibeon — the  now  rescued  Gibeon — from  his  sight.  But  the 
sun  stood  high  above  those  hills,  '  in  the  midst  of  heaven,'  ^  for 
the  day  had  now  far  advanced,  since  he  had  emerged  from 
his  night  march  through  the  passes  of  Ai ;  and  in  front,  over 
the  western  vale  of  Ajalon,  may  have  been  the  faint  form  of 
the  waning  moon,  visible  above  the  hailstorm  driving  up 
from  the  sea  in  the  black  distance.  Was  the  enemy  to  escape 
in  safety,  or  was  the  speed  with  which  Joshua  had  '  come 
'  quickly,  and  saved  and  helped '  his  defenceless  allies,  to  be 

'  "We  know  this  book  only  from  the  departed  'heroes'  or  'just  ones.' 
two  fragments  (Josh. s.  12—14,  2  Sam.  '■^  If  the  expression  'upon  Gibeon,' 

).     17-27)    which   have   come    down  in  Joshua  x.  12,  be  exact,  then  the 

to  us.     But,  according  to  a  probable  early  morning  must  be  intended;    if 

conjecture,  first  started  by  Theodoret  'the    midst    of    heaven'    in    x.    13» 

{Qucpstiones  in  Jesum  filium  Nave),  it  then  it  must  be  the  noon, 
was  a  volume  containing  songs  of  the 

R  2 


244  BATTLE    OF   BETH-HOROX.  lect.  xi. 

rewarded,    before   the    close   of  that  da}^,   by  a   signal   and 
decisive  victory  ? 

It  is  doubtless  so  standing  on  that  lofty  eminence,  with 
outstretched  hand  and  spear,  as  on  the  hill  above  Ai,  that 
the  Hero  appears  in  the  ancient  song  of  the  Book  of  Heroes. 

Then  spake  Joshua  unto  Jehovah 

In  the  day  '  that  God  gave  up  the  Amorite 

Into  the  hand  of  Israel,'     (LXX.) 

When  He  discomfited  them  in  Gibeon, 

'  And  they  Avere  discomfited  before  the  face  of  Israel.'     (LXX.) 

And  Joshiia  said  : 

'  Be  thou  still,'  O  Sun,  upon  Gibeon, 

And  thou,  Moon,  upon  the  valley  of  Ajalon  ! 

And  the  Sun  was  still, 

And  the  Moon  stood. 
Until  'the  nation'  (or  LXX.   'until  God')  had  avenged   them 

upon  their  enemies. 
And  the  sun  stood  in  '  the  very  midst '  of  the  heavens, 
And  hasted  not  to  go  down  for  a  whole  day. 
And  there  was  no  day  like  that  before  it  or  after  it, 
That  Jehovah  heard  the  voice  of  a  man. 
For  Jehovah  fought  for  Israel.  • 
And  Joshua  returned,  and  all  Israel  with  him,  unto  the  camp  in 

Gilgal. 

Third  So  ended  the  second  stage  of  the  flight.  In  the  lengthened 

the^Little     ^^y^  thus  given  to  Joshua's  prayer,  comes  the  third  stage. 

'  The  Lord  smote  them  to  Azekah  and  unto  Makkedah,  and 

'  these  five  kings  fled  and  hid  themselves   in  the  cave  at 

'  I  have  given  at  length  what  leaves  out  the  closing  verse  of  the 
appears  to  be  the  extract  from  the  extract  (verse  15),  from  the  just  feel- 
Poetical  Book  (Josh.  X.  12-15).  In  ing  that  it  interrupts  the  historical 
some  respects  it  seems  to  be  better  pre-  narrative  ;  but  apparently  overlooking 
served  in  the  LXX. ;  in  others,  in  its  connexion  with  the  distinct  docu- 
the  Received  Text.  The  LXX.  has  ment  from  Jasher.  Besides  the  metre 
given  the  first  portion  (verse  12)  in  of  the  passage,  some  of  the  phrases 
the  metrical  form,  which  the  Re-  seem  to  indicate  its  poetic  cha- 
ceived  Tex.t  has  reduced  to  prose  ;  racter.  For  examj^le,  the  unusual  use 
and  has  left  out  the  reference  to  the  of  the  word  Goi  (nation),  for  the  peo- 
Book  of  Jasher,  which  the  Received  pie  of  Israel  (inverse  13),  and  the  ex- 
Text  inserts  in  the  middle  of  the  ex-  pression  of  the  sun  '  being  silent,'  as 
tract.     Oii  the  other  hand,  the  LXX.  if  awe-struck. 


LECT.  XI.  THE    CAVE    OF   MAKKEDAH.  245 

*Makkedah.'  But  Joshua  halted  not  when  he  was  told; 
the  same  speed  was  still  required — the  victory  was  not  yet 
won.  Tlie  mouth  of  the  cave  was  blocked  by  huge  stones, 
and  a  guard  stationed  to  watch  it  whilst  the  pursuit  was 
continued.  We  know  not  precisely  the  position  of  Makkedah  ;  The 
but  it  must  have  been,  probably,  at  the  point  where  the  ^/^ifg 
mountains  sink  into  the  plain,  that  this  last  struggle  took  kings. 
place ;  and  thither,  at  last,  '  all  the  people  of  Israel  returned 
'  in  peace ;  none  moved  his  tongue  against  any  of  the  people 
'  of  Israel.'  A  camp  was  formed  round  the  royal  hiding- 
place.  It  was  a  well-known  cave,  '  the  cave,"  ^  overshadowed 
by  a  grove  of  trees.  The  five  kings  were  dragged  out  of  its 
recesses  to  the  gaze  of  their  enemies.  Their  names  and 
cities  were  handed  down,  in  various  versions,^  to  later  times. 
Hoham  or  Elam,  of  Hebron ;  Piram  or  Phidon,  of  Jarmuth ; 
Japhia  or  Jephtha,  of  Lachish;  Dabir  or  Debir,  either  of 
Eglon  or  Adullam  ;  and  their  leader,  Adoni-zedek  or  Adoni- 
bezek,  of  Jerusalem.  If  the  former  ('  the  Lord  of  Eighteous- 
'  ness ')  is  the  name,  it  suggests  a  confirmation  of  the  tradition 
that  the  Salem  where  Melchi-zedek, '  the  King  of  Eighteous- 
'  ness,'  reigned,  was  Jerusalem,  thus  conferring  on  its  rulers 
a  kind  of  hereditary  designation.  If  the  latter,  he  must  have 
had  a  connexion,  more  or  less  close,  with  the  terrible  chief  ^ 
who  had  seventy  captive  princes  grovelling  under  his  table, 
after  the  savage  custom  of  Oriental  despots.  An  awe  is  de- 
scribed as  falling  on  the  Israelite  warriors,  when  they  saw  the 
prostrate  kings.  At  the  Conqueror's  bidding,  they  drew  near ; 
and,  according  to  the  usage  portrayed  in  the  monuments 
of  Assyria  and  Eg}^t,  planted  their  feet  on  the  necks  of 
their  enemies.  It  was  reserved  for  Joshua  himself*  to  slay 
them.     The  dead  bodies  were  hung  aloft,  each  on  its  own 

'  The  cave  in  the  Hebrew  and  in  *  The    variations    appear    in    the 

the  LXX.     Josh.  x.  16,  17.     For  the       LXX. 
trees  see  x.  26.  *  Judg.  i.  7. 


246  BATTLE    OF   BETH-HORON.  lect.  xi. 

separate  tree,  beside  the  cave,  and  remained  (so  it  would 
seem)  *  until  the  evening,'  when,  at  last,  that  memorable  sun 
'  went  down.'  The  cave  where  they  had  been  hid  became 
the  royal  sepulchre.  The  stones  which  on  that  self-same 
day  '  had  cut  them  off  from  escape,  closed  the  mouth  of  their 
tomb ;  and  the  destruction  of  the  neighbouring  town  of  Mak- 
kedah  '  on  that  day,'  completed  their  dreadful  obsequies. 

So  ended  the  day  ^  to  which,  in  the  words  of  the  ancient 
sacred  song,  *  there  was  no  day  like,  before  or  after  it.'  The 
possession  of  every  place,  sacred  for  them  and  for  all  future 
ages,  through  the  whole  centre  and  south  of  Palestine, — 
Sheehem,  Shiloh,  Gribeon,  Bethlehem,  Hebron,  and  even,  for 
a  time,  Jerusalem, — was  the  issue  of  that  conflict.     '  And  all 

*  these  kings  and  their  land  did  Joshua  take  at  one  time, 
'  because  the  Lord  God  fought  for  Israel.'  *  And  Joshua  re- 
'  turned,  and  all  Israel  with  him,^  unto  the  camp  to  Gilgal.' 
It  is  the  only  incident  of  this  period  expressly  noticed  in  the 
later  books  of  the  Old  Testament,     '  The  Lord  shall  rise  up 

*  as  in  Mount  Perazim  ;  He  ■*  shall  be  wroth  as  in  the  valley 
'  by  Giheon.^     The  very  day  of  the  week  was  fixed  in  later 


'  See  Keil  on  Josh.  x.  27.  nessed   the   first    and   the  last  great 

-  This   first  victory  of  their   race  victory    that    crowned    the    Jewish 

may  well  have  inspirited  Judas  Mac-  arms  at  the  interval  of  nearly  fifteen 

caheus,  who,  himself  a  native  of  the  hundred    years.      From    their   camp 

neighbouring   hills,  won  his   earliest  at  Gibeon,   the  Romans,  as  the   Ca- 

fame   in   this   same    'going   up    and  naanites  before  them,  were  dislodged; 

coming  down  of  Beth-horon,'  where  they  fled  in  similar  confusion  down 

in  like  manner  '  the  residue '  of  the  the  ravine  to  Beth-horon,  the  steep 

defeated  army  fled  into   'the  plain,'  cliflfs  and  the  rugged  road  rendering 

'  into   the    land   of  the   Philistines.'  cavalry  unavailable  against  the  mer- 

And  again  over  the  same  plain  was  ciless   fury   of  their   pursuers :    they 

carried  the  great  Roman  road  from  were   only  saved — as  the  Canaanites 

Cc«sarea  tcT  Jerusalem,  up  which  Ces-  were   not   saved — by   the    too   rapid 

tius   advanced   at  the   first  onset  of  descent  of  the  shades  of  night  over 

the  Roman  armies  on  the  capital  of  the  mountains,  and  under  the  cover 

Judiea,  and  down  which  he  and  his  of  those  shades  they  escaped  to  An- 

whole  force  were  driven   by  the  in-  tipatris,  in  the  plain  below, 
surgent   Jews.     By   a  singular  coin-  '  Josh.  x.  28-43. 

cidence    the    same    scene   thus    wit-  ■*  Isa.  xsviii.  21. 


LECT.  XI.  ITS  IMPORTANCE.  247 

traditions.    With  the  Samaritans  ^  it  was  Thursday ;  with  the  Impor- 
Mussulmans  ^  it  was  Friday ;  and  this  has  been  given  as  a  ^J^g  battle. 
reason  for  that  day  being  chosen  as  the  sacred  day  of  Islam. 

Immediately  upon  its  close  follows  the  rapid  succession  of 
victory  and  extermination  which  swept  the  whole  of  Southern 
Palestine  into  the  hands  of  Israel.  It  is  probable,  indeed, 
from  the  subsequent  narrative,^  either  that  the  subjugation 
and  destruction  were  less  complete  than  this  story  would 
imply,  or  that  the  deeds  of  Joshua's  companions  and  succes- 
sors are  here  ascribed  to  himself  and  to  this  time.  But  the 
concentration  of  the  interest  of  the  conquest  on  this  one 
event,  if  not  chronologically  exact,  yet  no  doubt  justly  re- 
presents the  feeling  that  this  was  the  one  decisive  battle, 
involving  all  the  other  consequences  in  its  train. 

There  are  two  difficulties  which  have  been  occasioned  by  Diffi- 

CllltlPS 

this  event,  or  rather  by  its  interpretation,  which  have  not 
been  without  influence  on  the  history  of  the  Christian 
Church. 

I.  The  first  has  arisen  from  the  words  of  Joshua, '  Sun,  "  be  The  sun 
'  thou  still "  on  Gibeon,  and  thou.  Moon,  over  the  valley  of  ^^^^  '"° 
'Ajalon:'  or,  as  read  in  the  Vulgate,  which  first  gave  the 
offence,  '  Sun,  move  not  thou  towards  Gibeon,  nor  thou, 
'  Moon,  towards  the  valley  of  Ajalon.'  These  words  in  the 
Book  of  Jasher  were  doubtless  intended  to  express  that  in 
some  manner,  in  answer  to  Joshua's  earnest  prayer,  the  day 
was  prolonged  till  the  victory  was  achieved.  How,  or  in 
what  way,  we  are  not  told :  and  if  we  take  the  words  in  the 
popular  and  poetical  sense  in  which  from  their  style  it  is 


'  Sam.    Joshua,  ch.   21,  where  the  Compare  also   Joshua     xi.       18-21; 

news  of  the  victory  was  brought  to  '  Joshua  made  war  a  long  time  with  all 

Eleazar  by  a  carrier  pigeon.  '  those  kings  ....  and  at  that  time 

-Buckingham's    Travels,    p.    302.  '  came  Joshua  and  cut  off  the  Anakims 

Jelaleddin,  Tenqde  of  Jerusalem,  287.  'from   the   mountains,  from   Hebron, 

^  For  example,  Hebron  and  Debir  'from  Dehir,  &c.' 
are   taken   or  retaken  (Judg.  i.  10). 


248  BATTLE    OF    BETH-HORON.  lect,  xi. 

clear  that  they  are  used,  there  is  no  occasion  for  inquiry. 
That  some  such  general  sense  is  what  was  understood  in  the 
ancient  Jewish  Church  itself,  is  evident  from  the  slight 
emphasis  laid  upon  the  incident  by  Josephus  '  and  the  Sa- 
maritan Book  of  Joshua,  and  from  the  absence  of  any  subse- 
quent allusion  to  it  (unless,  indeed,  in  a  similar  poetic  strain  ^) 
in  the  Old  or  New  Testament.  But  in  later  times  men  were 
not  content  without  taking  them  in  their  literal,  prosaic 
sense,  and  supposing  that  the  sun  and  the  moon  actually 
stood  still,  and  that  the  system  of  the  universe  was  arrested. 
It  was  this  interpretation  which  invested  the  passage  with  a 
new  and  alarming  importance  when  the  Copernican  system 
was  set  forth  by  Gralileo ;  when  it  appeared  that  the  sun, 
being  always  stationary,  could  not  be  said  to  stand  still  or  to 
move.  Eound  this  famous  prayer  was  fought  a  battle  of 
words  in  ecclesiastical  history  hardly  less  important  than  the 
battle  of  Joshua  and  the  Canaanites.  It  raged  through  the 
lifetime  of  Gralileo  ;  its  last  direct  traces  appear  in  the  preface 
of  the  Jesuits  to  their  edition  of  Newton's  Principia,  de- 
fending themselves  for  their  apparent,  but  (as  they  state)  only 
hypothetical,  sanction  of  a  theory  which,  by  supposing  the 
earth's  motion,  runs  counter  to  the  Papal  decrees.  It  conti- 
nues still  in  the  terrors  awakened  in  many  religious  minds  by 
the  analogous  collisions  between  the  letter  of  Scripture  and 
the  advances  of  science  in  geology,  ethnology,  and  philology. 
But,  in  fact,  the  victory  was  won  in  the  person  of  Gralileo. 
Even  the  court  of  Eome  has  since  admitted  its  mistake.  It 
is  now  universally  acknowledged  that  on  that  occasion  '  the 


'  Ant.  T.  1,  §  17.     'He  then  heard  '  increase,  and  was  longer  than  usual, 

'  that  God  was  helping  him,  by  the  '  is  told  in  the  books  laid  up  in  the 

'  signs  of  thunder,  liglitning,  and  \m-  '  Temple.'     The  Samaritan  book  sim- 

'  usual  hailstones  ;   and  that  the  day  ply  says,  '  that  the  day  was  prolonged 

'  was  increased,  lest  the  night  should  '  at  his  prayer'  (ch.  20). 

'  check  the  zeal  of  the  Hebrejvs.  ...  *  Hab.  iii.  11. 
'  That  the  length  of  the  day  did  then 


^y 


LccT.  XI.  THE  ASTRONOMICAL   DIFFICULTY.  249 

'  astronomers  were  right  and  the  theologians  were  wrong.' 
The  principle  was  then  once  for  all  established,  that  the  Bible 
was  not  intended  to  teach  scientific  truth.  This  incident  in 
the  Sacred  narrative  has  thus,  instead  of  a  stumbling-block, 
become  a  monument  of  the  reconciliation  of  religion  and 
science;  and  the  advance  in  our  knowledge  of  the  Bible 
since  that  time  has  still  further  tended  to  diminish  the  col- 
lision which  then  seemed  so  frightful,  because  it  has  shown 
us  far  more  clearly  than  could  be  seen  in  former  times,  that 
the  language  employed  is  not  only  popular,  but  poetical  and 
rhythmical ; '  and  that  the  attempt  to  interpret  it  scientifically 
is  based  on  a  total  misconception  of  the  intention  of  the 
words  themselves.  But,  even  with  the  imperfect  knowledge 
of  Biblical  criticism  then  possessed,  the  defence  of  their 
position  by  the  two  great  astronomers  sums  up  the  question 
in  terms  which  not  only  meet  the  whole  of  this  case,  but 
apply  to  any  further  questions  of  the  kind  which  may  meet 
us  hereafter. 

Gralileo,  with  the  caution  which  belonged  to  his  character  Answer  of 
and  situation,  mainly  relies  on  the  authority  of  others.     But 
these  were  almost  the  highest  that  he  could  have   named. 
The  first  is  Baronius,  the  chief  ecclesiastical  historian  of  the 
Roman  Church  :   '  The  intention  of  Holy  Scripture  is  to  show 

'  It   is   well    known  that   various  will  be  superfluous.     But,  if  there  be 

scientific    expedients   have   been   in-  any  to  whom  such  explanations   ap- 

Tented  to  solve  the   question.     Some  pear    not  only  improbable    in   them- 

have  imagined  a  long-prepared  scheme  selves,    but    contrary    to    the    plain 

for  the  arrest  of  the  solar  system,  and  a  tenor    of     the    Sacred    narrative,     it 

succession  of  secret  miracles  to  avoid  may  be   a  satisfaction   to  adopt  the 

the  consequences  of  such  a  universal  statement    given  above,  which  is,  in 

shock.      Others  have  supposed    a  re-  fact,    the    unanimous    opinion    of    all 

fi'action,   a  parhelion,  or  a  multipli-  German     theologians     of     whatever 

cation  of  parhelions.    Others  have  seen  school.     The    expression,    '  the    stars 

in  the   passage   the   intimation  of  a  'in     their     courses     fought    against 

suspended  deluge.    To  those  who  may  '  Sisera '    (Judg.    v.    20),    has    never 

regard    any    of    these    explanations  been  distorted  fi-om  its  true  poetical 

as    authorised    either    by   reason    or  character,    and    has,    therefore,   given 

Scripture,  what   has  here  been   said  rise  to  no  alarms  and  no  speculations. 


250  BATTLE    OF   BETH-HORON'.  lect.  xi. 

'  us  how  to  go  to  heaven,  not  to  show  us  how  the  heaven 

'  goeth.'  ^     The  second  was  Jerome,  the  author  of  the  most 

venerable  translation  of  the  Bible  :  '  Many  things  are  spoken 

'  in  Scripture    according  to   the  judgment    of   those    times 

'  wherein  they  were  acted,  and  not  according  to  that  which 

'  truth  contained.'  ^ 

Answer  of        Kepler,  with  that  union  of  courage  and  piety  which  marks 
Kepler. 

his  whole  career,  explains  the  text  himself.     '  They  will  not 

'  understand  that  the  only  thing  which  Joshua  prayed  for, 

'  was  that  the  mountains  might  not  intercept  the  sun  from 

'  him.     Besides,  it  had  been  very  unreasonable  at  that  time 

*  to  think  of  astronomy,  or  of  the  errors  of  sight ;  for  if  any 
'  one  had  told  him  that  the  sun  could  not  really  move  on 
'the  valley  of  Ajalon,  but  only  in  relation  to  sense,  would 
'  not  Joshua  have  answered  that  his  desire  was  that  the  day 

*  might  be  prolonged,^  so  it  were  by  any  means  whatsoever  ?  ' 

So  far  the  wise  astronomer  speaks  of  the  actual  historic 
incident.  But  I  may  be  excused  for  adding  the  conclusion 
of  his  treatise,  in  words  equally  profitable  to  the  learned  and 
the   unlearned   student.     '  He  who   is   so   stupid  as    not  to 

*  comprehend  the  science  of  astronomy,  or  so  weak  as  to  think 
'it   an    offence    of  piety   to   adhere  to    Copernicus,  him  I 

*  advise — that,  leaving  the  study  of  astronomy  and  censur- 
'ing  the  opinions  of  philosophers  at  pleasure,  he  betake 
'  himself  to  his  own  concerns,  and  that,  desisting  from  fur- 
'  ther  pursuit  of  those  intricate  studies,  he  keep  at  home  and 
'  manure  his  own  ground ;  and  with  those  eyes  where- 
'  with  alone  he  seeth,  being  elevated  towards  this  much-to- 
'  be-admired  heaven,  let  him  pour  forth  his  whole  heart  in 
'  thanks  and  praises  to  Grod  the  Creator,  and  assure  himself 
'  that  he  shall  therein  perform  as  much  worship  to  God  as 

'  Galileo's  Tract  cm  rash  Citations  -  Jerome  {ihid.  448). 

from  Scripture  (Salusbiiry's   Mathe-  ^  Kepler's  Tract  {ibid.  463). 

matical  Tracts,  i.  436). 


LECT.  XI.  THE    MORAL    DIFFICULTY.  251 

'  the  astronomer  on  whom  God  hath  bestowed  this  gift,  that 

*  though  he  seeth  more  clearly  with  the  eye  of  his  under- 

*  standing,  yet  whatever  he  hath  attained  to  he  is  both  able 
'  and  willing  to  behold  his  Grod  above  it. 

'  Thus  much  concerning  Scripture.  Now  as  touching  the 
'  authority  of  the  Fathers.  Sacred  was  Lactantius,  who  denied 
*the  earth's  rotundity:  sacred  was  Augustine,  who  admitted 

*  the  earth  to  be  round  but  denied  the  antipodes :  sacred  is 
'  the  liturgy  of  our  moderns,  who  admit  the  smallness  of  the 
'  earth  but  deny  its  motion.  But  to  me  more  sacred  than  all 
'  these  is — Truth.'  ^ 

II.  The  second  difficulty  is  that    which    belongs    to  the   The 
general  question  of  the  extermination   of  the   Canaanites ;  of  the 
but  which  is  brought  out  so  much    more  forcibly  by  the   9^^^^^' 
detail    of    the    successive    massacres    which    followed    the 
battle    of  Beth-horon,   that  this    seems  the  best    place  for 
considering  it. 

There  are  few  who  hear  the  closing  scenes  of  the  10th 
chapter  of  the  Book  of  Joshua  read  without  asking  how  such 
a  total  extirpation  could  have  been  carried  out  wdthout  the 
demoralisation  of  those  concerned,  or  how  any  sanction  to  it 
could  be  given  in  a  book  claiming  to  be,  at  least,  one  stage 
in  the  Divine  revelations. 

]Many  explanations  have  been  given — the  denial  of  the 
fact,  the  treatment  of  the  whole  as  an  allegory,  the  alleged 
parallels  in  the  promiscuous  destruction  of  human  life  by 
earthquake  and  pestilence. 

It  is  believed,  however,  that  most  reflecting  minds  will  Answer  of 
acquiesce  in  the  general  truth  of  an  answer  given  long  ago  stom.^°" 
by  Chrysostom,  and  founded  on  the  express  and  fundamental 
teaching  of  Christ  and  His  Apostles. 

He  is  speaking  of  the  verse  in  the   139th  Psalra,^ — 'I 

>  Keplep  (SaKisbmys  Mathc7natical  Tracts,  i.  437). 
*  Chrysost.  on  1  Cor.  siii. 


252  BATTLE    OF    BETII-HORON.  lect.  xi. 

'  hate  them  with  a  perfect  hatred,'  and  wishes  to  reconcile 
it  with  the  duty  of  Christian  charity.  ^  Noiv,''  he  says, 
'  a  higher  philosophy  is  required  of  us  than  of  them.  .  .  . 

*  For  thus  they  are  ordered  to  hate  not  only  impiety,  but  the 

*  persons  of  the  impious,  lest  their  friendship  should  be  an 

*  occasion  of  going  astray.  Therefore  he  cut  off  all  inter- 
'  course,  and  freed  them  on  every  side.' 

Answer  of  The  difference  in  this  respect  between  the  Old  and  New 
dispensation  is  laid  down  in  the  strongest  manner  by  our 
Lord  himself. 

'  Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said.  An  eye  for  an  eye, 
'  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth  :  but  I  say  unto  you,  That  ye  resist 
'  not  evil :  but  whosoever  shall  smite  thee  on  thy  right  cheek, 
'  turn  to  him  the  other  also.' ' 

'  Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said.  Thou  shalt  love 
'  thy  neighbour  and  hate  thine  enemy.  But  I  say  unto  you, 
'  Love  your  enemies,  bless  them  that  curse  you,  do  good  to 

*  them  that  hate  you,  and  pray  for  them  which  despitefully 
'use  you  and  persecute  you;  that  ye  may  be  the  children 
'  of  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven :  for  he  maketh  his  sun 
'  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the 
'just  and  on  the  unjust.'  ^ 

'  And  when  his  disciples  James  and  John  saw  this,  they 

'  said,  Lord,  wilt  thou  that  we  command  fire  to  come  down 

'from    heaven,    and    consume   them,    even    as    Elijah  did? 

'But  he  turned,   and  rebuked   them,^  and  said,   Ye  know 

'not  what  manner  of  spirit  ye  are  of.       For  the  Son  of 

'man   is   not   come   to   destroy   men's    lives,   but   to    save 

'  them.' 

Answer  of        j,^^^  further,  that  this  inferiority  of  the  Old  dispensation 

to  the         was  an  acknowledged  element  in  the  'gradualness  and  par- 
Hebrews. 

'  Matt.  V.  38,  39.  words  are  omitted  in  the  best  MSS. 

2  Matt.  V.  43-45.  But  they  must  represent  a  very  early 

^  Luke  ix.  54,  55,    56.     The  Last      tradition. 


LECT.  XI.  THE    MORAL   DIFFICULTY.  253 

'  tialuess '  of  Revelatior,  inevitably  flows  from  the  definition 
of  Revelation  as  given  by  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews.  '  God  who  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners 
'  spake  in  times  past  to  our  fathers,'  ^ 

How  necessary  this  accommodation  may  have  been  to  that  lUustra- 
rude  age,  we  see  from  analogous  instances  in  later  history. 
Not  only  in  the  ancient  world  do  we  read,  even  ap- 
provingly, of  like  conduct  in  the  Homeric  or  the  early 
Roman  heroes,  but  even  in  Christian  times  we  can  point 
to  cases  in  which  no  shock  has  been  given  to  the  general 
moral  sense  by  an  impulse  or  command  of  this  destructive 
character,  and  in  which  the  general  moral  character  has 
risen  above  this  particular  depression  of  its  humaner 
instincts.  I  refer  not  merely  to  the  darker  periods  of 
Christendom,  more  nearly  resembling  the  Judaic  spirit  of 
the  age  of  Joshua,  but  even  to  our  own.  We  have  no  right 
to  find  objections  to  these  portions  of  the  Old  Testament, 
when  we  acknowledge  the  same  feelings  in  ourselves  or  others 
without  reprobation-     Two  instances  may  suffice. 

(1.)  In  the  late  Indian  mutiny,  at  the  time  when  the  From  the 
belief  in  the  Sepoy  atrocities  (since  exploded)  prevailed  u^uthiy 
throughout  India,  it  will  be  in  the  memory  of  some  that 
letters  were  received  from  India,  from  conscientious  and 
religious  men,  containing  phrases  to  this  effect.  '  The  Book 
'  of  Joshua  is  now  being  read  in  church '  (in  the  season 
when  this  chapter  forms  one  of  the  first  Lessons  of  the 
services  of  the  Church  of  England).  '  It  expresses  exactly 
'  what  we  are  all  feeling.  I  never  before  understood  the 
'  force  of  that  part  of  the  Bible.  It  is  the  only  rule  for  us 
*  to  follow.'  I  do  not  quote  this  sentiment  to  approve  of  it. 
I  quote  it  to  show  that  what  could  be  felt,  even  for  a  moment, 
by   civilised    Christendom    now,    might    well    be    pardoned, 

1  Heb.  i.  1. 


254  BATTLE    OF   BETH-HOEON.  lect.  xt. 

or    even    commended,   in   Jewish    soldiers   three   thousand 

years  ago. 

From  (2.)    Oliver    Cromwell,   in   the    storming   of    Drogheda, 

massacres      Ordered  an  almost  promiscuous  massacre  of  the  Irish  inhabi- 

Dv  o-heda     ^^^^s.     Of  the  act  itself  I  do  not  speak.     It  is  now  generally 

admitted  that  the  Puritans  attached  an  undue  authority  to 

the  details  of  the  Jewish  Scriptures.     But  the  point  to  be 

observed  is,  that  Cromwell's  act  has  received  a  high  eulogy 

in  our  own  time  from  one  who,  as  well  by  his  genius  and 

learning  as  by  his  command  of  the  sympathies  of  the  rising 

generation,  in  a  great  measure  represents  the  most  advanced 

intelligence  of  our  age. 

'  Oliver's  proceedings  here  have  been  the  theme  of  much 
'loud  criticism,  and  sibylline  execration,  into  which  it 
*is  not  our  plan  to  enter  at  present.  Terrible  surgery 
'this;  but  is  it  surgery  and  judgment,  or  atrocious  murder 
'  merely  ?  That  is  a  question  which  should  be  asked,  and 
'answered.  Oliver  Cromwell  did  believe  in  Grod's  judg- 
'  ments ;  and  did  not  believe  in  the  rose-water  plan  of 
'  surgery ; — which,  in  fact,  is  this  editor's  case  too  ! 

'  The  reader  of  Cromwell's  Letters,  .  .  .  who  still  looks  with 
'  a  recognising  eye  on  the  ways  of  the  Supreme  Powers 
'  with  this  world,  will  find  here,  in  the  rude  practical  state, 
'  a  phenomenon  which  he  will  account  noteworthy.  An 
'  armed  soldier,  solemnly  conscious  to  himself  that  he  is  the 
'soldier  of  God  the  Just, — a  consciousness  which  it  well 
'beseems  all  soldiers  and  all  men  to  have  always, — armed 
'  soldier,  terrible  as  Death,  relentless  as  Doom ;  doing  Grod's 
'judgments  on  the  enemies  of  God!  It  is  a  phenomenon 
'not  of  joyful  nature;  no,  but  of  awful,  to  be  looked  at 
'  with  pious  terror  and  awe.'  ^ 

Finally,    whether   we   justify    this    or    any   like  applica- 

'  Carlyle's  Cromwell,  ii.  453,  45-4. 


LECT.  xr.  MORAL   LESSOX.  255 

tion  of  Joshua's  example  in  later  times,  there  remains  (as, 
indeed,  is  implied  in  the  passage  just  quoted)  one  per- 
manent lesson, — the  duty  of  keeping  alive  in  the  human  The  moral 
heart  the  sense  of  burning  indignation  against  moral  evil, —  lesson. 
against  selfishness,  against  injustice,  against  untruth,  in  our- 
selves as  well  as  in  others.  That  is  as  much  a  part  of  the 
Christian  as  of  the  Jewish  dispensation.  In  this  case,  the 
severe  curse  of  the  psalm  on  which  Chrysostom  comments  is 
still  true.     '  Do  not  I  hate  them  that  hate  thee  ?  yea,  I  hate 

*  them  with  a  perfect  hatred,  even  as  though  they  were  mine 

*  enemies.'  It  is  important  to  divide  between  the  evil  prin- 
ciple and  the  person  in  whose  mixed  character  the  evil  is 
found.  To  make  such  a  distinction  is  one  main  peculiarity 
of  the  Gospel.  But  it  is  also  important  to  hate  the  evil  with 
an  undivided  and  perfect  hatred.  '  A  good  hater,'  in  this 
sense,  is  a  character  required  alike  by  the  Grospel  and  the 
Law.  And  the  evil,  which,  according  to  the  imperfect 
twilight  of  those  times,  was  confounded  with  those  in  whom 
it  was  personified,  was  one  which  even  at  this  distance  we 
see  to  have  been  of  portentous  magnitude.  It  has  been  well 
shown  ^  that  the  results  of  the  discipline  of  the  Jewish  nation 
may  be  summed  up  in  two  points — a  settled  national  belief 
in  the  imity  and  spirituality  of  Grod,  and  an  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  paramount  importance  of  purity  as  a  part  of 
morality;  and  further,  that  these  two  ideas  are  cardinal 
points  in  the  education  of  the  world.  It  was  these  two 
points  especially  which  were  endangered  by  the  contact  and 
contamination  of  the  idolatry  and  the  sensuality  of  the 
Phoenician  tribes.  '  It  is  better ' — so  spoke  a  theologian  of 
no  fanatical  tendency,^  in  a  strain,  it  may  be,  of  excessive, 
but  still  of  noble  indignation — '  it  is  better  that  the  wicked 
'  should  be  destroyed  a  hundred  times  over  than  that  they 

'  See   Dr.  Temple's  Essay  on   the  ^  Arnold's     Sermons,    \i.     35-37, 

Education  of  the  World,  11-13.  '  "Wars  of  the  Israelites.' 


256  BATTLE    OF   BETH-HORON.  lect.  xi. 

'should  tempt  those  who  are  as  yet  innocent  to  join  their 
'  company.  Let  us  but  think  what  might  have  been  our 
'  fate,  and  the  fate  of  every  other  nation  under  heaven  at  this 
'hour,  had  the  sword  of  the  Israelites  done  its  work  more 
'  sparingly.  Even  as  it  was,  the  small  portions  of  the  Canaan- 
'  ites  who  were  left,  and  the  nations  around  them,  so  tempted 
'the  Israelites  by  their  idolatrous  practices  that  we  read 
'  continually  of  the  whole  people  of  Grod  turning  away  from 
'  his  service.  But,  had  the  heathen  lived  in  the  land  in  equal 
'  numbers,  and,  still  more,  had  they  intermarried  largely  with 
'  the  Israelites,  how  was  it  possible,  humanly  speaking,  that 
'  any  sparks  of  the  light  of  Grod's  truth  should  have  survived 
'  to  the  coming  of  Christ  ?  Would  not  the  Israelites  have 
'  lost  all  their  peculiar  character ;  and  if  they  had  retained 
'  the  name  of  Jehovah  as  of  their  Grod,  would  they  not  have 
'  formed  as  unworthy  notions  of  his  attributes,  and  worshipped 
'  him  with  a  worship  as  abominable  as  that  which  the  Moab- 
'  ites  paid  to  Chemosh  or  the  Philistines  to  Dagon  ? 

'But  this  was  not  to  be,  and  therefore  the  nations  of 
'  Canaan  were  to  be  cut  off  utterly.  The  Israelites'  sword, 
'  in  its  bloodiest  executions,  wrought  a  work  of  mercy  for  all 
'  the  countries  of  the  earth  to  the  very  end  of  the  world. 
'  They  seem  of  very  small  importance  to  us  now,  those  per- 
'  petual  contests  with  the  Canaanites,  and  the  Midianites, 
'  and  the  Ammonites,  and  the  Philistines,  with  which  the 
'  Books  of  Joshua  and  Judges  and  Samuel  are  almost  filled. 
'  We  may  half  wonder  that  God  should  have  interfered  in 
'  such  quarrels,  or  have  changed  the  course  of  natm^e,  in 
'order  to  give  one  of  the  nations  of  Palestine  the  victory 
'  over  another.  But  in  these  contests,  on  the  fate  of  one  of 
'these  nations  of  Palestine  the  happiness  of  the  human  race 
'  depended.  The  Israelites  fought  not  for  themselves  only, 
'  but  for  us.  It  might  follow  that  they  should  thus  be 
'  accounted  the  enemies  of  all  mankind, — it  might  be  that 


LECT.  XI.  THE    MORAL    LESSON.  257 

'they  were  tempted  by  their  very  distinctness  to  despise 
'other  nations;  still  they  did  God's  work, — still  they 
'preserved  unhurt  the  seed  of  eternal  life,  and  were  the 
'ministers  of  blessing  to  all  other  nations,  even  though 
'they  themselves  failed  to  enjoy  it.' 


258 


LECTURE   XII. 

THE    BATTLE    OF    MEROM    AND    SETTLEMENT    OF 
THE     TRIBES. 

The  battle  of  Beth-horon  is  represented  as  the  most  impor- 
tant battle  of  the  Conquest,  because,  being  the  first,  it  struck 
the  decisive  blow.  But,  in  all  such  struggles,  there  is  usually 
one  last  effort  made  for  the  defeated  cause.  This,  in  the 
subjugation  of  Canaan,  was  the  battle  of  Merom. 

It  was  a  tradition  floating  in  the  Grentile  world,  that,  at 
the  time  of  the  irruption  of  Israel,  the  Canaanites  were  under 
the  dominion  of  a  single  king.^  This  is  inconsistent  with 
the  number  of  chiefs  who  appear  in  the  Book  of  Joshua. 
But  there  was  one  such,  who  appears  in  the  final  struggle, 
in  conformity  with  the  Phoenician  version  of  the  event.  High 
Hazor.  vip  in  the  north  was  the  fortress  of  Hazor ;  and  in  early  times 
the  king^  who  reigned  there  had  been  regarded  as  the  head 
of  all  the  others.  He  bore  the  hereditary  name  of  Jabin  or 
'the  Wise,'  and  his  title  indicated  his  supremacy  over  the 
whole  country,  '  the  King  of  Canaan.'  ^  Its  most  probable 
situation  is  on  one  of  the  rocky  heights  of  the  northernmost 
valley  of  the  Jordan.  The  name  still  lingers  in  various 
localities  along  that  region.  One  of  these  spots  *  is  naturally 
marked  out  for  a  capital  by  its  beauty,  its  strength,  as  well 
as  by  the  indispensable  sign  of  Eastern  power  and  civilisation 
— an  inexhaustible  source  of  living  water ;  and  there  in  later 

1  Suidas,  171  voce  Canaan.  '  Judg.  iv.  2,  23. 

*  Josh.  xi.  10.  *  See  Sinai  and  Palestine,  397. 


LECT.  XII.  THE   BATTLE    OF   MEROM.  259 

times  arose  the  town  of  Csesarea  Pbilippi,  from  which,  in 
Jewish  tradition,  Jabin  was  sometimes  called  the  King  of 
Csesarea.  On  the  other  hand,  the  place  which  Hazor  holds 
in  the  catalogues  of  the  cities  of  Naphtali  ^  points  to  a  situa- 
tion farther  south,  and  on  the  western  side  of  the  plain. 
Wliichever  spot  be  regarded  as  the  residence  of  Jabin,  it  was 
under  his  auspices  that  the  final  gathering  of  the  Canaanite 
race  came  to  pass.  Eound  him  were  assembled  the  heads  of  Gathering 
all  the  tribes  who  had  not  yet  fallen  under  Joshua's  sword.  Canalnite 
As  the  British  chiefs  were  driven  to  the  Land's  End  before  ^"8^- 
the  advance  of  the  Saxon,  so  at  this  Land's  End  of  Palestine 
were  gathered  for  this  last  struggle,  not  only  the  kings  of  the 
north,  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood,  but  from  the  desert 
valley  of  the  Jordan  south  of  the  sea  of  Gralilee,  from  the 
maritime  plain  of  Philistia,  from  the  heights  above  Sharon, 
and  from  the  still  unconquered  Jebus,  to  the  Hivite  who 
dwelt  'in  the  valley  of  Baalgad  under  Hermon;'  all  these 
'went  out,  they  and  all  their  hosts  with  them,  even  as  the 
'  sand  that  is  upon  the  sea-shore  in  multitude,  .  .  .  and 
'when  all  these  kings  were  met  together,  they  came  and 
'  pitched  together  at  the  waters  of  ]\Ierom  to  fight  against 
'  Israel.' 

The  new  and  striking  feature  of  this  battle,  as  distinct 
from  those  of  Ai  and  Gribeon,  consisted  in  the  '  horses  and 
'chariots  very  many,'  which  now  for  the  first  time  ap- 
pear in  the  Canaanite  warfare ;  and  it  was  the  use  of  these 
which  probably  fixed  the  scene  of  the  encampment  by  the 
lake,  along  whose  level  shores  they  could  have  full  play  for 
their  force.  It  was  this  new  phase  of  war  which  called  forth 
the  special  command  to  Joshua,  nowhere  else  recorded :  '  Thou 
'  shalt  hough  their  horses,  and  burn  their  chariots  with  fire.' 

Nothing  is  told  us  of  his  previous  movements.  Even  the 
scene  of  the  battle  is  uncertain.     'The  waters  of  Meroni' 

»  Josh.  xix.  35-37  ;  2  Kings  xv.  29.     See  Robiaason,  Bibl.  Ecs.  iii.  365. 

s  2 


260  THE    BATTLE    OF   MEROM.  ttcx.  xii. 

have  been  usually  identified  with  the  uppermost  of  the  three 
lakes  in  the  Jordan  valley,  called  by  the  Greeks  '  Samacho- 
nitis,'  and  by  the  Arabs  '  Huleh.'  Its  neighbourhood  to 
what  imder  any  hypothesis  must  be  the  site  of  Hazor 
renders  this  probable.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  expres- 
sions both  of  Josephus '  and  of  the  Sacred  narrative  point  in 
a  somewhat  different  direction ;  and  it  is  therefore  safer  to 
consider  it  as  an  open  question  whether  the  fight  actually 
took  place  on  the  shores  of  the  lake,  or  by  a  spring  or  well 
The  Battle  on  the  upland  plain  which  overhangs  it.  The  suddenness  of 
Joshua's  appearance  reminds  us  of  the  rapid  movement  by 
which  he  raised  the  siege  of  Gribeon.  He  came,  we  know 
not  whence  or  how,  within  a  day's  march  on  the  night 
before  ;  and  then,  on  the  morrow,  '  dropped '  like  a  thunder- 
bolt upon  them  '  in  the  mountain '  ^  slopes  before  they  had 
time  to  rally  on  the  level  ground.  Now  for  the  j&rst  time 
was  brought  face  to  face  the  infantry  of  Israel  against  the 
cavalry  and  war-chariots  of  Canaan.  No  details  of  the 
battle  are  given — the  results  alone  remain.  '  The  Lord  de- 
'  livered  them  into  the  hand  of  Israel,  who  smote  them  and 
'  chased  them,'  by  what  passes  we  know  not,  westward  to 
the  friendly  Sidon,  and  eastward  to  the  plain,  wherever  it 
be,  of  Massoch  or  Mizpeh.^  The  rout  was  complete,  and 
the  dumb  instruments  of  Canaanite  warfare  were  here 
visited  with  the  same  extremities  which  elsewhere  we  find 
applied  only  to  the  living  inhabitants.  The  chariots  were 
burnt  as  accursed.  The  horses,^  only  known  as  the  fierce 
animals  of  war  and  bloodshed,  and  the  symbols  of  foreign 

'    Josephus,    who     mentions     the  ^  Josh,  xi,  7.  (LXX.) 

Lake   Samachonitis   in  Ant.  v.  5,  1,  ^  Josh.  xi.  8.  (LXX.) 

omits   all  mention    of    it   here,    and  *  This  is  the  first  appearance  of  the 

speaks  of  the  battle  as  fought  at  Beer-  horse  in  the  Jewish  history.     What 

oth  (the  wells),  near  Kedesh  Naph-  is  here  said  is  borne  out  by  almost 

tali  {Ant.  r.  1,  §  18).    The  expression  every  subsequent  mention  of  it.     See 

'waters'  (Josh.  xi.  7)  is  never  used  ''S.oxsq'  in  Bictlonarij  of  the  Bible. 
elsewhere  for  a  lake. 


LECT.  xii.  SETTLEMENT    OF   THE   TEIBES.  261 

dominion,  were  rendered  incapable  of  any  further  use.  The 
war  was  closed  with  the  capture  of  Hazor.  Its  king  was 
taken,  and,  unlike  his  brethren  of  the  south,  who  were 
handed  or  crucified,  undenvent  the  nobler  death  of  behead- 
ing.^  This  city,  chief  of  all  those  taken  in  this  campaign, 
was,  like  Ai,  burnt  to  the  ground.^ 

II.    And  now  came  the  apportionment  of  the   territory  Settlement 
among  the  tribes,  which  has  made  the  latter  half  of  the  Book  tribes. 
of  Joshua  the  geographical  manual  of  the  Holy  Land,  the 
Domesday  Book  of  the  Conquest  of  Palestine. 

Two  principles  have  been  adopted  in  the  division  of  land 
by  the  conquerors  of  a  new  territory — one,  specially  charac- 
teristic of  the  modern  world,  and  exemplified  in  the  Norman 
occupation  of  England,  by  which  the  several  chiefs  appropri- 
ated portions  of  the  newly  conquered  country,  according  to 
their  own  power  or  mil ;  the  other,  specially  characteristic  of 
the  ancient  world,  and  exemplified  in  Greece  and  Kome, 
where  an  equal  assignment  to  the  different  portions  of  the 
conquei'ing  race  took  effect  by  the  deliberate  act  of  the  State. 
Both  of  these  modes  were  adopted  in  the  allotment  of  land 
in  Palestine ;  though,  as  might  be  expected,  the  latter  prin- 
ciple prevailed.' 

The  first  of  these  methods  is  seen  in  the  predatory  expedi-  Separate 
tions  of  individuals  to  occupy  particular  spots  hitherto  un- 
conquered,  or  to  reclaim  those  of  which  the  inhabitants  had 
again  revolted.     Of  this  kind  were  apparently  the  conquests 
in  the  Trans-Jordanic  territory,  already  mentioned,'*  by  Jair  Jair  and 
and  Nobah.     Another  instance,  which  belongs  more  properly 
to  the  next  Lecture,  and  which  was  the  last  wave  of  the 
Israelite  migration,  is  that  of  the  Danite  expedition  ^  to  the  Dan. 
north.     A  third  is  the  attack  of  the   Ephraimites   on  the 

'  Josh.  xi.  10.  *  See  Lecture  IX. 

*  Ibid.  11.  *  See  Lecture  XIIL 

*  See  Arnold's  Rome,  i.  265. 


262 


SETTLEMENT   OF   THE    TRIBES. 


liECT.    XII. 


Attack  on  ancient  sanctuary  of  BetlieL  Its  capture,  briefly  told,  is  a 
repetition  of  the  capture  of  Jericho.  The  spies  go  before ; 
a  friendly  Canaanite  encounters  them ;  the  town  is  stormed 
and  sacked  ;  the  betrayer  of  the  place  escapes,  like  Rahab  ; 
and,  like  her,  has  a  portion  assigned  to  his  inheritance  '  in 

Judah.  '  the  land  of  the  Hittites.'  But  the  chief  instance  is  in  the 
tribe  of  Judah.  It  is  in  these  early  adventures  that  this 
great  tribe  first  appears  before  us.  Its  vast  prospects  are 
still  in  the  distant  future,  beyond  the  limits  of  the  period 
comprised  in  this  volume.  Yet  to  this  first  appearance  of 
Judah  belongs  the  beginning  of  the  Jewish  Chuech,  properly 
so  called.  It  is  by  a  pardonable  anachronism  that  we  extend 
the  word  to  the  whole  of  the  nation.  But  we  must  not  the 
less  distinctly  mark  the  point  when  the  name  of  '  Judah '  or 
'  Jew '  first  rises  above  the  horizon,  destined  to  bear  in  after 
years  so  vast  an  alternate  burden  of  honour  and  of  shame. 

Caleb.  The  founder,  so  to  speak,  of  the  glories  of  Judah  was  not 

unworthy  of  its  later  fame.  Caleb,  in  the  Desert,  is  hardly 
known.  It  may  be,  as  has  been  conjectured  from  some  of 
the  links  in  his  descent,  that,  though  occupying  this  exalted 
place  in  the  tribe  of  Judah,  he  obtained  it  in  the  first  instance 
by  adoption  rather  than  by  birth.  He  is  said  to  *  have  his 
'  part  and  his  inheritance  among  the  children  of  Judah,'  not 
as  by  right,  but  '  because  he  wholly  followed  Jehovah  the 
*  Grod  of  Israel.'  ^  And  the  names  of  Kenaz,  Shobal,  Hezron, 
Jephunneh,  amongst  his  forefathers  or  his  progeny,  all  point 
to  an  Idumean  rather  than  an  Israelite  origin^^  jf  go^  -v^e 
have  a  breadth  given  to  the  name  of  Judah,  even  from  its  very 
first  start,  such  as  we  have  ah'eady  noticed  in  the  case  of 
Abraham.  But,  Israelite  or  prosel3i:e,  he  was  the  one  tried 
companion  of  Joshua,  and  his  claims  rested  on  a  yet  earlier 


'  Josh.  xiv.  9-'14;  xv.  13.  on  '  Caleb'  in  Dictionary  of  the  Bihlc  \ 

2  See  Lord  Arthur  Hervey's  article       and  Ewald,  i.  338. 


LECT.  XII.  CONQUEST   OF   HEBRON.  263 

and  greater  sanction,  that  of  Moses  himself.     He  was  to  have 
a  portion  of  the  land,  on  which  '  his  feet  had  trodden.' ' 

The  spot,  on  which  Caleb  had  set  his  heart,  was  the  fertile  Hebron. 
valley  of  Hebron.  Of  all  the  country  which  the  twelve  spies, 
with  Joshua  and  Caleb  at  their  head,  had  traversed,  this  is 
the  one  scene  which  remains  fixed  in  the  Sacred  narrative,  as 
if  because  fixed  in  the  memory  of  those  who  made  their 
report.  There  was  the  one  field  in  the  whole  land  which 
they  might  fairly  call  their  own — the  field  which  contained 
the  rocky  cave  of  Machpelah,  with  the  graves  of  their  first 
ancestors.  But  it  was  not  even  this  sacred  enclosure  which 
had  most  powerfully  impressed  the  simple  explorers  of  that 
childlike  age.  It  was  the  winding  valley,  whose  terraces 
were  covered  with  the  rich  verdure  and  the  golden  clusters 
of  the  Syrian  vine,  so  rarely  seen  in  Egypt,  so  beautiful  a 
vesture  of  the  bare  hills  of  Palestine.  In  its  rocky  hills  are 
still  to  be  seen  hewn  the  ancient  wine-presses.  Thence  came 
the  gigantic  cluster,^  the  one  token  of  the  Promised  Land, 
which  was  laid  at  the  feet  of  Moses.  Thither,  now  that  he 
found  himself  within  that  land,  Caleb  was  resolved  to  return. 
In  that  valley  of  vineyards — in  that  primeval  seat,  as  it  was 
supposed,  of  the  vine  itself — *  by  the  choice  vine,  Judah  was 
'  to  bind  his  foal ;  he  was  to  wash  his  garments  in  wine,  his 
*  clothes  in  the  blood  of  grapes.'  This  was  the  prize  for 
Caleb.  This  he  claimed  from  Joshua.  But  he  was  to  win  it 
for  himself,  and  it  was  no  easy  task.  It  was  the  main  fastness 
of  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  the  South.  Even,  as  it  might 
seem,  after  the  Canaanites  had  fled,  the  chiefs  of  the  older 
race  still  lingered  there.  It  was  the  city  of  'the  Four 
Griants  ' — Anak  and  his  three  gigantic  sons.  Within  its  walls 
the  Last  of  the  Anakim  held  out  against  the  conquerors. 
But  thrice  over  the  old  warrior  of  Judah  insists  on  the  claims 

'  Joshua  xiv.  9.  '  Num.  xiii.  22-24. 


264  SETTLEMENT    OF    THE    TRIBES.  lect.  xir. 

of  his  unbroken  *  strength.'  A  pitched  battle  takes  place  '  out- 
side the  walls ;  he  drives  them  out ;  and  Kirjath-arba,  with  all 
its  ancient  recollections,  becomes  '  Hebron,'  the  centre  of  the 
mighty  tribe,  which  was  there  to  take  up  its  chief  abode. 
Far  and  wide  his  name  extended,  and,  alone  of  all  the  con- 
querors on  the  west  of  the  Jordan,  he  succeeded  in  identify- 
ing it  with  the  territory  which  he  had  won.^  But  this  was 
but  the  nucleus  of  a  circle  of  the  like  spirit  of  adventure. 
South  of  Hebron  lay  a  sacred  oracular  place,  as  it  would 
seem,  '  The  Oracle,'  '  the  city  of  books,'  Debir,^  Kirjath- 
Kirjath-  sepher.  On  this  too  Caleb  fixed  his  heart ;  and  announced 
teep  er.  ^^^^^  ^^^  daughter  Achsah  should  be  the  reward  of  the  suc- 
cessful assailant.  From  his  own  family  sprang  forth  the 
champion,  his  nephew  or  his  younger  brother  Othniel,  who 
won  the  ancient  fortress.  And  yet  again  from  the  same 
family  another  claim  was  put  forth.  Achsah,  worthy  of  her 
father  and  her  husband,  demands  some  better  heritage  than 
the  dry  and  thirsty  frontier  of  the  desert.  Underneath  the 
hill  on  which  Debir  stood  is  a  deep  valley,  rich  with  verdure, 
from  a  copious  rivulet,  which,  rising  at  the  crest  of  the  glen, 
falls,  with  a  continuity  unusual  in  the  Judsean  hills,  down  to 
its  lowest  depth.  On  the  possession  of  these  upper  and 
lower  '  bubblings,'  so  contiguous  to  her  lover's  prize,  iVchsah 
had  set  her  heart.  The  shyness  of  the  bridegroom  to  ask, 
the  eagerness  of  the  bride  to  have,  are  both  put  before  us. 
She  comes  to  Othniel's  house,  seated  on  her  ass,  led  by  her 
father.  She  will  not  enter.  According  to  our  Version,  she 
gently  descends  from  her  ass  :  according  to  the  Septuagint, 
she  screams,  or  she  murmurs,  from  her  seat.  Her  father 
asks  the  cause,  and  then  she  demands  and  wins  *  the  bless- 
ing '  of  the  green  valley ;  the  gushing  stream  from  top  to 

'  Judg.  i.  10 :   '  And  Hebron  came  '  Like    Byblos    afterwards.       See 

'forth  against  Jndah.'     (LXX.)  Ewald,  i.  286. 

^  1  Sam.  XXV.  3 ;  xxx.  14. 


LECT.  XII.  EPHRAIM.  265 

bottom,  which  made  the  dry  and  barren  hill  above  a  rich 
possession.' 

On  one  more  entei-prise  the  active  spirit  of  Jiidah  entered. 
This  time  we  see  it  not  in  any  individual,  but  personified 
in  the  name  of  the  two  ancestors  of  the  kindred  tribes,  Judah 
and  Simeon.  Whoever  may  have  been  the  chiefs  of  the 
tribes  thus  intended,  they  aimed  at  yet  one  greater  prize  than 
all  besides,  and  had  almost  won  the  glory  which  was  reserved 
for  their  descendant  centuries  afterwards.  Jerusalem,  as  it  Jcmsalem. 
would  seem,  for  a  time,  but  only  for  a  time,  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  warrior  tribe.  When  next  it  appears,  it  is  still 
in  the  possession  of  the  old  inhabitants.  We  must  not  anti- 
cipate the  future.  It  is  enough  to  have  seen  the  series  of 
simple  and  romantic  incidents  which  gave  to  Judah  the 
desert  frontier,  the  southern  fastnesses,  and  the  choice  vine- 
yards, which  play  so  large  a  part  in  the  History  of  the  Jewish, 
in  the  imagery  of  the  Christian  Church,  hereafter. 

2.  The  second,  or  more  regular  mode  of  assignment,  which,  Assigna- 
as  has  been  well  observed,^  places  the  conquest  of  Palestine,  tribes, 
even  in  that  remote  and  barbarous  age,  in  favourable  con- 
trast with  the  arbitrary  caprice  by  which  the  lands  of  England 
were  granted  away  to  the  Norman  chiefs,  was  inaugurated,  so 
to  speak,  by  Joshua's  quaint  but  decisive  answer  to  his  own 
tribe  of  Ephraim,  when  they  claimed  more  than  their  due.  Epiiraim. 
The  apportionment  of  this  great  tribe  was,  in  fact,  a  union  of 
the  two  principles.    One  lot,  and  one  only,  they  were  to  have ; 
the  rest  they  were  to  carve  out  for  themselves  from  the  hills 

'  Josh.  XV.  18  ;  Judg.  i.  14.  In  pp.  50-64),  and  under  his  guidance 
the  former  passage,  the  LXX.  makes  I  saw  it  in  1862,  The  v/ovdi  gulloth, 
Achsah  (as  in  the  E.  V.)  the  moving  translated  '  springs,'  but  more  pro- 
cause  ;  in  the  latter,  Othniel.  In  both,  perly  '  waves  '  or  '  bubblings,'  well 
Aehsah  is  represented,  not  as  '  light-  applies  to  this  bean,tiful  rivulet.  The 
'  ing  off,'  but  as  'shouting'  or  'mm--  spots  are  now  called  Ain-Nunkur  and 
'muring'  'from  the  ass.'  The  scene  Dewtr-Ban,  about  one  hour  S.W.  of 
of  this  incident  was  first  discovered  Hebron, 
by  Dr.  Rosen  (Zdtschr.  I).  M.  G.  1857,  ^  Arnold's  Hist,  of  Rome,  i.  266. 


266  SETTLEMENT    OF   THE   TRIBES.  lect.  xii. 

and  forests  of  their  Canaanite  enemies.  '  "WTiy  hast  thou 
'  given  me  but  one  lot  and  one  portion  to  inherit,  seeing  I 
'  am  a  great  people,  forasmuch  as  the  Lord  hath  blessed  me 
'  hitherto  ?  '  Their  public-spirited  leader  replied  : — '  If  thou 
'  be  a  great  people,  get  thee  up  to  the  wood  country,  and 
'  cut  down  for  thyself  there.  The  mountain  shall  be  thine, 
'  for  it  is  a  wood,  and  thou  shalt  cut  it  down ;  and  the 
'  outgoings  shall  be  thine ;  for  thou  shalt  drive  out  the 
'  Canaanites,  for  they  have  iron  chariots,  and  "  for "  they 
'  are  strong.'  ^  The  wild  bull  or  buffalo  of  the  house  of 
Joseph  ^  was  to  guard  the  north,  as  the  lion  of  Judah  was 
to  guard  the  south.^  One  half  of  the  tribe  of  Manasseh, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  had  that  post  on  the  east  of  the 
Jordan :  the  other  half,  with  Ephraim,  had  the  same  on  the 
west. 

The  two  great  tribes  being  thus  provided,  the  remaining 
seven  had  their  property  assigned  according  to  the  strictest 
rule  of  the  ancient  '  assignation.' 
Benjamiii.  The  warlike  little  band  of  Benjamites,  which  had  marched 
in  the  desert  side  by  side  with  the  mighty  sons  of  Joseph, 
was  not  parted  from  them  in  the  new  settlement.  It  hung 
on  the  outskirts  of  Ephraim.  Thus  a  group  was  formed  in 
the  centre  of  Palestine,  firmly  compacted  of  the  descendants 
of  Eachel,  cut  off  on  the  north  by  the  broad  plain  of  Esdrae- 
lon,  and  on  the  south  by  the  precipitous  ravine  of  Hinnom. 
Hemmed  in  as  it  was  between  the  two  powerful  neighbours 
of  Ephraim  and  Judah,  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  nevertheless, 
retained  a  character  of  its  own,  eminently  indomitable  and 
insubordinate.  The  wolf  which  nursed  the  founders  of  Rome 
was  not  more  evidently  repeated  in  the  martial  qualities  of 
the  people  of  Eomulus,  than  the  wolf,  to  which  Benjamin  is 
compared   in   his   father's   blessing,    appears   in   the   eager, 

•  Josh.  xvii.  14-18;  Ewald,  ii.  315.  ^  Deut  xxxiii.  17. 

'  Josh,  rviii.  6, 


LECT.  XII.  THE   NORTHERX   TRIBES.  267 

restless  character  of  his  descendants.  *  After  thee,'  0 
'  Benjamin,'  was  its  well-known  war-cry.  It  furnished  the 
artillery  (so  to  speak)  of  the  Israelite  army,  by  its  archers 
and  slingers.'^  For  a  short  time  it  rose  to  the  highest  rank 
in  the  commonwealth,  when  it  gave  birth  to  the  first  king. 
Its  ultimate  position  in  the  nation  was  altered  by  the  one 
great  change  which  affected  the  polarity  of  the  whole  political 
and  geographical  organisation  of  the  country,  but  of  none 
more  than  that  of  Benjamin,  when  the  fortress  of  Jebus, 
hitherto  within  its  territory,  was  annexed  by  Judah,  and  be- 
came the  capital  of  the  monarchy. 

In  the  -svild  aspect  which  Simeon  henceforward  assumes  on  Simeon, 
the  edge  of  the  southern  desert,  we  trace  the  perpetuation  of 
the  fierce  temper  which  had  drawn  down  the  curse  of  Jacob. 
It  has  been  ingeniously  conjectured  that  the  first  blow  which 
broke  the  numbers  and  the  spirit  of  the  tribe  was  the  pesti- 
lence^ that  visited  the  camp  after  the  Midianite  orgies, 
and  which  would  naturally  fall  with  peculiar  force  on 
Simeon,  the  tribe  of  the  chief  offender;  and  that  this 
accounts  for  its  total  omission,  at  least  in  one  version,  in 
the  blessing  of  Moses.  But  this  is  hardly  needed.  Simeon 
is  the  exact  counterpart  of  Eeuben.  With  Eeuben  he 
marched  through  the  desert:  with  Eeuben  he  is  joined  in 
another  version  of  the  Mosaic  benediction.*  As  Eeuben  in 
the  east,  so  Simeon  in  the  west,  blends  his  fortunes  with 
those  of  the  Arab  hordes  on  the  frontier,  and  dwindles  away 
accordingly,^  and  only  reappears  in  the  dubious,  but  charac- 
teristic, exploits  of  his  descendant  Judith.^ 

The  four  tribes  of  Zebulun,  Issachar,  Aslier,  and  Naphtali, 

'  Judg.  V.  14  ;  Hosea  V.  8.  andrian    MS.   the    reading  is,    'Let 

*  Judg.  xxi.  '  Reuben  live  and   not   die,   and  let 
'  Blunt's   Undesigned  Coincidences,       '  Simeon  be  many  in  number.' 

93-98,  founded  on  a  comparison  of  *  1  Chron.  iv.  39-43, 

Num.  i.  23;  xxvi.  1,  14;  xxv,  14.  s  Judith  ix.  2, 

*  In  Deut.  xxxiii,  6.     In  the  Alex- 


268  SETTLEMENT   OF   THE    TRIBES.  lect.  xii. 

Zebulun,      obtain  contiguous  portions  in  the  north  of  Palestine,  as  they 

Asher,  and  were  allied  in  birth,  and  as  they  marched  through  the  desert. 

Naphtah.  They  formed,  as  it  were,  a  state  by  themselves.  A  common 
sanctuary  seems  to  have  been  intended  for  them  in  Mount 
Tabor.  The  forests  of  Lebanon,  the  fertility  of  the  plain  of 
Esdraelon,  the  port  of  Accho,  even  the  glassy  deposit  of  the 
little  stream  of  Belus,'  figure  in  the  blessings  pronounced 
upon  them.  But,  with  the  exception  of  the  transient  splen- 
dour of  the  days  of  Barak  and  of  Grideon,  they  hardly  affect 
the  general  fortunes  of  the  nation.  It  is  not  till  the  Jewish 
is  on  the  point  of  breaking  into  the  Christian  Church  that 
these  northern  tribes  acquire  a  new  interest.  '  Gralilee ' 
then,  by  the  very  reason  of  its  previous  isolation,  springs 
into  overwhelming  importance.  '  The  land  of  Zebulun. 
'  the  land  of  Naphtali,  by  the  way  of  the  sea,  beyond  Jordan. 
'  GaHlee  of  the  Gentiles ;  the  people  which  sat  in  darknesiS 
'  saw  great  light,  and  to  those  who  sat  in  the  region  and 
'  shadow  of  death  ^  light  is  sprung  up.' 

Dan  The  last  of  the  tribes  that  received  its  due  was  Dan,  the 

smallest  of  all;  at  times  overlooked,  and,  in  the  last 
catalogue  of  the  tribes  that  appears  in  the  Sacred  volume,' 
dropped  out  altogether.  It  was,  as  it  were,  squeezed  into 
the  narrow  strip  between  the  mountains  and  the  sea,  in  the 
plain  already  occupied  by  the  expelled  races,*  as  if  in  the 
only  spot  that  was  left  for  it.  Its  energies  were  great 
beyond  its  numbers ;  and  hence,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  next 
generation,  it  broke  ^  out  from  its  narrow  territory  and  won  a 
seat  in  the  distant  north,  on  the  confines  of  Naphtali,®  with 
which  it  appears  blended  in  the  later  history.  There  was, 
indeed,  an  outlet  for  its  powers  on  the  west ;  for  it  held  the 

>  Gen.  xlix.    14;  Dent,  xxxiii.   18.  *  Jmlg.  i.  34. 

See  Sinai  and  Palestine,  348  ;  Ewald,  *  Jiulg.  xviii. ;  see  Lecture  XIIL 

ii.  379,  &c.  *  See   Blvmt'a    Undesigned   Coinci- 

2  Isa.  ix.  1,  2  ;  Matt.  iv.  15,  16.  dences,  119. 

»  Rev.  vii.  4-8. 


LixT.  XII.  LEVI.  .       269 

port  of  Jaffa,  and  thither  retired  '  to  abide  in  its  ships,' ' 
when  the  surrounding  territory  was  too  hot  to  hold  it.  But 
it  is  characteristic  of  the  essentially  inland  tendencies  of  the 
Israelite  nation,  that  this  possession  never  raised  the  tribe  to 
any  eminence.  The  privilege  of  Dan  was,  that  he  was  to  lie 
in  wait  for  the  invader  from  the  south  or  from  the  north. 
'  A  serpent,'  ^  an  indigenous,  home-born  '  adder,'  to  '  bite 
'  the  heels '  of  the  invading  stranger's  horse ;  a  '  lion's 
'  whelp,'  ^  small  and  fierce,  '  to  leap  from  the  heights  of 
'Bashan,'  on  the  armies  of  Damascus  or  Nineveh.  'For 
'  thy  salvation,  0  Lord,  have  I  waited,'  *  seems  to  have 
been  his  war-cry,  as  if  of  a  warrior  in  the  constant  attitude 
of  expectation.  Once  only  in  the  history  of  the  tribe,  so 
far  as  we  know,  was  this  expectation  fully  realised, — in  the 
life  of  Samson. 

Levi,  alone,  had  no  regular  portion.  Its  original  character  Levi, 
of  a  tribe  without  a  fixed  home,  was  preserved.  It  remained, 
as  we  have  seen,  a  monument  of  the  early  age  of  the  desert, 
in  which  its  consecration  originated-  Four  cities  were  al- 
lotted to  it  in  each  tribe,  if  possible  (with  the  exception  of  the 
great  central  sanctuaries  of  Shiloh  and  Bethel)  the  holy  places 
of  earlier  times.  The  lands  *  round  those  cities,  however, 
were  not  fields  for  agriculture,  but  pastures  for  cattle.  The 
old  Ufe  was,  in  their  case,  never  entirely  to  subside  into  the 
new.  They  were  still  to  keep  up — in  their  dress,  in  their 
separation,  in  their  sacrificial  ministrations,  in  their  pastoral 
employments,  in  their  wild,  barbarian  habits — an  image  of 
the  past.  In  the  curses  of  Jacob,  there  is  no  distinction 
drawn  between  them  and  the  nomadic  Simeon.  *  Cursed  be 
'  their  anger,  for  it  was  fierce,  and  their  wrath,  for  it  was  cruel. 
'  I  will  divide  them  in  Jacob  and  scatter  them  in  Israel.'  ^ 

'  Judg.  V.  17.        ^  Gen.  xlix.  17.  *  Joshua   xxi.    2,    11.      The  word 

^  Deut.  xxxiii.  22.  translated  'suburbs.' 

*  aen.  xlix.  18.  «  Gen.  xlix.  7. 


270  EFFECTS   OF  THE   CONQUEST.  lect.  xii. 

The  uncompromising  zeal,  which  had  first  procured  their 
consecration  in  the  wilderness,  and  which  ultimately  insured 
their  perpetuity,  even  beyond  that  of  any  other  of  the  tribes, 
is  just  visible  here  and  there  in  that  early  period.  '  They 
'  shall  teach  Jacob  Thy  judgments,  and  Israel  Thy  law.    They 

*  shall  put  incense  before  Thee,  and  whole  burnt  sacrifice 
'upon  Thine  altar.  Bless,  Lord,  his  substance,  and  accept 
'  the  work  of  his  hands.     Smite  through  the  loins  of  them 

*  that  rise  against  him,  and  of  them  that  hate  him,  that  they 
'  rise  not  again.'  ^  So  the  brighter  side  is  brought  out  in 
the  blessing  of  Moses ;  but  its  realisation  must  be  reserved 
for  the  change  of  their  position  in  the  altered  state  of  the 
Jewish  Church  and  nation  under  the  monarchy. 

Efifects  of  III.  With  the  conquest  of  Canaan  and  the  settlement  of 
quest°"'  ^^®  tribes,  Jewish  history  entered  on  a  new  jjhase. 
Settlement  1.  The  Conquest  was  the  final  settlement  of  the  Chosen 
People  as  a  nation.  It  was  the  entrance  into  the  Land  of 
Promise — the  oasis  of  that  portion  of  Asia.  From  a  wandering 
Arabian  tribe,  they  were  now  turned  into  a  civilised,  and,  in 
a  considerable  degree,  an  agricultural  commonwealth.  The 
feeling  of  repose,  of  enjoyment,  of  thankfulness,  which 
breathes  through  the  104th  and  105th  Psalms,  now  first 
became  possible.  The  festivals  of  the  harvest  and  the 
vintage,  in  the  Feast  of  Weeks,  and  (to  a  large  extent)  in  the 
Feast  of  Tabernacles,  were  commemorations  of  this  con- 
sciousness of  permanent  possession.  '  Begin  to  number  the 
'  seven  weeks  from  such  time  as  thou  beginnest  to  put  the 
'sickle  to  the  corn.  .  .  .  Thou  shalt  observe  the  Feast  of 
'  Tabernacles  seven  days,  after  that  thou  hast  gathered  in  thy 
'corn  and  thy  wine :  and  thou  shalt  rejoice  in  thy  feast, 
'  thou,  and  thy  son,  and  thy  daughter,  and  thy  manservant, 
'  and  thy  maidservant,  and  the  Levite,  the  stranger,  and  the 

*  fatherless,  and  the  widow,  that  are  within  thy  gates  ...  in 

'  Dent,  xxxiii.  10,  11. 


ofth 
nation 


LECT.  XII.  THE   HOLY   L.-LN^D.  271 

'  tlie  place  which  the  Lord  shall  choose :  because  the  Lord 

*  thy  Grod  shall  bless  thee  in  all  thine  increase,  and  in  all  the 

*  works  of  thine  hands,  therefore  thou  shalt  surely  rejoice.'  ^ 
The  name  of  one  of  these  feasts, '  Pentecost,'  has  passed  into 
our  Whitsuntide ;  ^  the  spirit  of  the  other,  in  many  respects, 
corresponds  to  our  Christmas ;  and  even  the  spiritual  si^ifi- 
cation  of  both  the  Christian  festivals  might  gain  from  a 
recollection  of  the  actual  enjoyment  which  marked,  and 
which  still  marks,  those  ancient  Israelite  solemnities.  When 
the  modern  Jew,  in  whatever  part  of  the  world  he  may  be, 
puts  together  the  branches  in  the  court  of  his  house,  and  with 
his  whole  family  partakes  of  his  meal  underneath  their  shade, 
it  is  a  literal  perpetuation  of  the  gaiety  of  heart  with  which 
his  ancestors  sate  down,  each  under  his  fig-tree  and  his  vine, 
in  their  newly-acquired  homes, — an  ever-recurring  anniver- 
sary of  the  triumph  of  the  Conquest. 

And  when  their  wondrous  march  was  o'er, 

And  they  had  won  their  homes, 
Where  Abraham  fed  his  flocks  of  yore 
Among  their  fathers'  tombs  : 
A  land  that  drinks  the  rain  of  heav'n  at  will, 
Wliere  waters  kiss  the  feet  of  many  a  vine-clad  hill. 

Oft  as  they  watch'd  at  thoughtful  eve 

A  gale  from  bowers  of  balm 
Sweep  o'er  the  billowy  corn,  and  heave 

The  tresses  of  the  palm ; 
It  was  a  fearful  joy,  I  ween, 

To  trace  the  heathen's  toil. 
The  limpid  wells,  the  orchard  green, 

Left  ready  for  the  spoil.^ 

»  Deut.  xvi.  9,  13-15.  »  Keble's    Christian    Year,   3rd  S. 

*  The  68th  Psalm,  used  in  the  ser-  in    Lent.       I    have    omitted   a   few 

vices   of    the    Christian   Church    for  lines  which  contain  a  slight  inaccuracy 

Whitsunday,   forms   the    Jewish  ser-  of  expression ;  but  the  general  feeling 

vice  for  Pentecost  (Form  of  prayer  is  as  true  to  geogi'aphy  as  it  is  to 

according  to  the  custom  of  the  Spanish  history. 
and  Portuguese  Jews). 


272  EFFECTS   OF   THE    CONQUEST.  lect.  xii. 

Contact  2.  It  was,  further,  the  occupation  of  a  country  hitherto 

Canaan-       inhabited,  and  still  in  a  great  degree,  by  an  alien  race.     The 
^^^-  contest  was  severe,  and  its  traces  still  remained.     The  whole 

subsequent  history,  down  to  the  Captivity,  was  coloured  by 
the  wars,  by  the  customs,  by  the  contagion  of  Phoenician  and 
Canaanite  rites,  to  which,  for  good  or  evil,  they  were  hence- 
forth exposed.     It  was  truly,  though  on  a  smaller  scale,  like 
the  entrance  of  the  Christian  Church  on  the  inheritance  of 
the  Pagan  classical  world,  at  the  conversion  of  the  Eoman 
empire,  at  the  revival  of  letters,  and,  it  may  be,  on  the  pos- 
session of  still  wider  treasures  hereafter. 
Occupation       3.  It  was  the  occupation  of  '  the  Holy  Land ' — the  land  set 
of  the  Holy  q^q^j.^  ^qj.  ^j^g  i  Holy  People.'     I  have  described  elsewhere  what 
may  be  called  the  geographical  evidence  for  the  Providence 
which  guided  the  steps  of  Israel.^     By  its  absolutely  unique 
conformation, — by  the  unparalleled  peculiarity  of  the  Jordan 
valley, — by  its  seclusion,  through  sea,  and  land,  and  desert, 
and  river,  from  the  surrounding  world, — the  country  has  a 
mark  set  upon  it,  corresponding  to  those  features  which  have 
caused  the  Jews  to  '  dwell  alone  '  among  the  nations.     And 
yet  also  its  central  situation  between  Assyria  and  Egypt,  and 
its  opening  to  the  Mediterranean,  gave  it  the  power  of  at  last 
bursting  its  bonds.     Its  smallness  and  narrowness  gave  it  the 
compactness,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  outward  insigni- 
ficance, which,  as  in  the  case  of  Greece,  so  highly  enhances 
the  moral  grandeur  of  the  Church  and  State  that  rose  within 
its  boundaries.     And,  within  these  bounds,  the  variety  and 
diversity  of  features, — sea,  mountains,  plains,  desert,  tropical 
vegetation,  springs,  earthquakes,   perhaps   volcanoes,   sharp 
divisions  between  one  state  and  another, — made  it  the  fit 
receptacle  of  a  nation  which  was  to  give  birth  to  the  Sacred 
book  of  all  lands ;  which  was  to  be  the  parent  and  like- 

'  Sinai  and  Palestine,  eh.  ii. 


LECT.  XII.  LAWS   OP    PKOPEETY.  273 

ness  of  a  Church  whose  name  was  to  he  '  Catholic,'  and 
whose  chief  distinction  was  to  be  its  variety  of  gifts  and 
diversity  of  character, 

4.  From  this  time,  also,  for  the  Israelite  commonwealth,  Laws  of 
sprang  up  by  degrees  that  state  of  society  for  which,  as  has  P^'^P*^^  ^  ■ 
been  often  observed,  the  country  was  so  well  suited,  and 
which,  in  time,  so  well  favoured  the  growth  of  individual 
liberty,  of  national  independence,  and  of  general  purity  of 
domestic  life.  To  Joshua,  a  fixed  Jewish  tradition  ascribed  Decrees  of 
ten  decrees,'  laying  down  precise  rules,  which  were  instituted 
to  protect  the  property  of  each  tribe,  and  of  each  householder, 
from  lawless  depredation.  Cattle,  of  a  smaller  kind,  were  to 
be  allowed  to  graze  in  thick  woods,  not  in  thin  woods ;  no 
kind  of  cattle  in  any  woods,  without  the  owner's  consent. 
Sticks  and  branches  might  be  gathered  by  any  Hebrew,  but 
not  cut.  Herbs,  of  any  kind,  might  be  gathered,  with  the 
exception  of  pease.  Woods  might  be  pruned,  provided  that 
they  were  not  olives  or  fruit-trees,  and  that  there  was 
sufficient  shade  in  the  place.  Each  district  or  town  was  to 
have  its  river  and  its  spring  for  its  own  use.  Fish  might 
be  caught  in  the  Lake  of  Grennesareth  with  hooks,  but  nets  or 
fishing-boats  were  only  to  be  used  by  the  members  of  those 
tribes  who  lived  on  its  shores.  The  roads  were  to  be  kept 
free  from  public  nuisance.  Any  one  lost  in  a  vineyard  might 
proceed  in  it  without  trespass,  till  he  reached  his  home.  If 
the  roads  became  impassable,  they  might  be  left  for  by-paths. 
A  dead  body  might  be  buried  wherever  found,  provided  that 
it  were  not  near  or  in  a  town. 

These  rules,  whatever  may  be  their  date,  both  show  the  Jewish 
traditional  estimate  of  Joshua,  as  the  founder  of  the  common  ]|y}j^j!g 
law  of  property  in  Palestine,  and  also  the  general  framework 
of  society  at  least  in  some  early  period  of  the  history.     The 

'  Selden,  De  Jure  Naturali,  book  vi. ;  Fabricius,  Cod.  Pscudcj).  V.  T.  i.  87-1. 

T 


274  REMAINS    OF   THE    CONQUERED   RACES.      lect.  xii. 

glimpses  into  the  private  life  of  the  Jewish  householders  are 
naturally  so  few  that  we  can  hardly  form  any  conclusion  as 
to  the  extent  to  which  the  intentions  of  the  Mosaic  law  and 
of  the  settlements  of  Joshua  were  carried  out.  Some  in- 
stances, however,  remain  to  us  in  later  times,  which,  bearing 
as  they  do  on  their  face  every  appearance  of  long-inherited 
usage,  may  be  fairly  taken  as  samples  of  the  rest.  Boaz,' 
the  owner  of  the  cornfields  of  Bethlehem,  in  the  midst  of  his 
reapers  and  gleaners ;  Nabal,^  the  rich  shepherd  on  the  slopes 
of  the  southern  Carmel ;  Barzillai,^  the  powerful  chief  beyond 
the  Jordan,  with  his  patriarchal  possessions  of  sheep  and  cattle ; 
Naboth,^  the  independent  owner  of  the  vineyard  on  the  hill  of 
Jezreel — all,  in  their  different  forms,  present  the  same  picture 
of  the  force  of  established  usages  in  individual  and  family 
life ;  and  the  reluctance  even  of  kings  to  break  through  these 
usages,  and  the  vehemence  with  which  the  Prophets  denounce 
any  such  attempt  on  the  part  either  of  kings  or  of  nobles, 
showed  the  firm  hold  that  the  traditions  of  the  Conquest  kept 
on  the  national  mind. 
Remains  ^^^'  The  survoy  of  this  great  event  would  not  be  complete 

of  the  con-  -^iti^o^it  a  last  fflauce  at  the  fate  of  the  conquered  inhabitants. 

quered  °  '■ 

races.  The  disturbed  state  of  the  whole  subsequent  period,  re- 

served for  the  next  Lecture,  shows  how  far  less  sweeping  than 
at  first  would  appear  was  the  extirpation  of  the  vanquished 
race.  It  will  be  sufficient  here  briefly  to  indicate  the  traces 
of  them  which  were  permanently  left  in  the  country. 

The  usual  relation  of  the  conquering  and  the  conquered 
occupants  was,  as  a  general  rule,  reversed.  We  find  the  old 
inhabitants  taking  refuge  not  in  the  mountains  but  in  the 
plains ;  the  invaders  repelled  from  the  plains,  but  victorious 
in  the  mountains.     This,  we  are  expressly  told,^  arose  from 

»  Ruth  ii.  4.  ■•1  Kings  xxi.  1-3. 

«   1  Sam.  XXV.  2.  *  Judg.  i.  19. 

«  2  Sam.  xvii.  28. 


LECT.  XII.      REMAINS    OF    THE   COXQUERED    RACES.  275 

the  respective  forces  of  the  combatants.  The  strength  of  the 
Canaanites  was  in  their  chariots  and  horses  ;  of  the  Israelites, 
in  their  invincible  infantry.  In  one  instance  only,  the  battle 
of  Merom,  the  victory  was  won  on  level  ground  against  the 
formidable  array  of  Jabin's  cavalry.  Another  resource  in 
the  hands  of  the  old  inhabitants  was  the  strengfth  of  their 
fortresses.  '  The  cities,  great  and  fenced  up  to  heaven,'  ^  had 
always  been  a  subject  of  alarm  to  their  less  civilised  invaders ; 
and,  though  in  the  first  onset  some  had  fallen,  yet,  after  the 
fervour  of  the  Conquest  was  passed  away,  the  native  inhabi- 
tants, especially  when  on  the  edge  or  in  the  midst  of  the 
friendly  plains,  recovered  spirit,  and  maintained  their  ground 
for  generations,  if  not  centuries,  after  the  time  of  Joshua. 

Amono:st  these  the  five  cities  of  Philistia,'*  althouofh  three  Philistine 
of  them  (Gaza,  Askelon,  and  Ekron)  were  for  a  short  time 
in  the  hands  of  the  Israelites,  resisted  the  attempts  of  Judah. 
The  aboriginal  Avites  also  lingered  beside  them.  Jebus,  the  Jebus. 
only  instance  of  a  completely  motmtain  fastness  which  re- 
mained untaken,  was  conspicuous  for  its  defiance  of  the  same 
great  tribe,  defended  by  the  steep  natural  trench  of  its  deep 
valleys. 

Along  the  sea-coast  were  all  the  Phoenician  cities  from  Dor  The  sea- 
and  Accho  as  far  as  Sidon,'  not  to  speak  of  Arvad  in  the 
farther  north.  In  the  plain  between  Beth-horon  and  the  sea 
was  the  little  kingdom  of  Grezer,*  which  remained  indepenuent 
till  it  was  conquered  by  the  king  of  Egypt,  and  given  as  a 
dowry  to  Solomon's  queen. 

In  the  north  the  strong  towns  along  the  plain  of  Esdraelon  ^  Fortressps 
held  out  against  even  the  vigour  of  Manasseh,  though  ex-  elon. 
pressly  charged   with   the   duty  of   expelling   them,    which 
properly  belonged  to  the  less  warlike  tribes  of  Issachar  and 

'  Deut.  i.  28.  "•  1  Kings  ix.  16 ;  Judg.  i.  29. 

*  Josh.  xiii.  2  ;  Judg.  i.  21.  ^  Judg.  i.  27 ;  Josh.  xvii.  11-13. 

3  Judg.  i.  31. 

T  2 


276  KEMAINS    OF    THE    COXQUEEED    KACES.       lect.  xii. 

Asher.  These  were  Taanach  and  Megiddo,  the  future  en- 
campments of  Sisera's  army ;  Endor,  hence  naturally  the 
abode  of  the  witch  whom  Saul  consulted ;  Ibleam  in  the  same 
region ;  Bethshan,  with  its  temple  of  Astarte,  the  Jebus  of 
the  north,  which  remained,  under  the  name  of  Scythopolis, 
a  heathen  and  Grentile  city,  even  to  the  Christian  era. 

On  the  northern  frontier,  four  remnants  of  the  ancient 
inhabitants  survived  both  the  shock  of  the  invasion  of  Machir, 
and  also  of  the  battle  of  Merom.  At  the  source  of  the  Jordan 
was  the  Phoenician  colony  of  Laish,'  Beyond  this  was  the 
fortress  of  Maacah.  Its  situation  in  the  upland  plain,  above 
the  sources  of  the  Jordan,  and  thus  beyond  the  actual  frontier 
of  Palestine,  gave  it  a  natural  independence,  which  was  still 
further  sustained  by  the  oracular  reputation  of  the  wisdom 
of  its  inhabitants.  It  was  known  from  its  position  in  that 
well-watered  plateau  as  Abel-beth-Maacah,  '  the  Meadow  of 
the  House  of  Maacah.'  ^  On  the  east  of  the  same  plateau 
was  the  tribe  of  the  Geshurites,'  ruled  by  a  race  of  inde- 
.  pendent  kings.  Still  more  remote,  but  yet  within  contact  of 
Israel,  was  the  Hivite  settlement  on  Lebanon  and  round  the 
sanctuary  of  Baalgad  on  the  sacred  heights  of  Hermon.^ 
Tributary  These,  till  David's  time,  were  independent.  Others  re- 
mained either  in  friendly  relations  or  tributary.  Amongst 
the  friendly  tribes  may  be  reckoned  the  Kenites,  or  Arabian 
kinsmen  of  Jethro,  in  the  south  and  north ;  the  Gribeonites, 
with  the  towns  in  their  league ;  the  second  Luz,  founded  by 
the  secret  ally  who  had  betrayed  the  first ;  and  a  remnant  of 
Hittites  in  or  near  Shechem.  Amongst  the  tributaries  were 
tlie  four  comparatively  obscure  towns  of  Kitron,  Nahalol, 
Bethshemesh,^  and  Bethanath ;  and  the  general  population 
who  appear  in  that  capacity  in  the  reign  of  Solomon.'' 

'  See  Lecture  XIII.  *  Judg.  iii.  3. 

^  Josh.  xiii.  13;  2  Sam.  xx.  15,  *  Ibid.  i.  30,  33. 

*  Joah.  xiii.  11-13  ;  2  Sam.  xr,  8.  «  1  Kings  ix.  20,  21. 


LECT.  xir.  THE    CAPITALS.  277 

Less  conspicuous  vestiges  of  the  Canaanite  race  may  be 
found  in  the  names  of  towns,  struggling  for  existence  -vvdth 
the  new  names  imposed  by  the  conquerors — Kirjath-arba 
with  Hebron,  Kirjath-sepher  with  Debir,  Kenath  with  Nobah, 
Luz  Avith  Bethel,  Ephratah  with  Bethlehem ;  and  yet  again, 
in  a  more  striking  form,  in  the  few  individuals  who,  from 
time  to  time,  appear  in  the  service  or  alliance  of  the  Israelite 
kings, — Uriali  the  Hittite,  Ittai  of  Grath,  Araunah  the 
Jebusite. 

That  any  escaped  by  migration,  is  never  expressly  said,  Migration, 
but  is  so  probable,  that  we  may  well  accept  even  very  slight 
confirmations  of  it  from  other  sources.  Two  traditions  are 
preserved  to  this  effect.  When  Procopius  was  in  Africa,  in 
the  army  of  Belisarius,  two  pillars  of  white  marble  were 
pointed  out  to  him  near  Tangier,  bearing  an  inscription  in 
Phoenician  characters  which  was  thus  explained  to  liim  :  '  We 
*  are  they  that  fled  from  before  the  face  of  the  robber  Joshua, 
'the  son  of  Nun.'  ^  The  genuineness,  or  even  the  antiquity, 
of  the  monument  may  be  more  than  doubtful;  but  it 
shows  the  belief  which  lingered  amongst  the  remnant  of 
the  Phoenician  colonies  on  the  coast  of  Afi'ica.  Another 
story,  preserved  in  Eabbinical  legends,  represented  that 
when  Alexander  arrived  in  Palestine,  the  Grergesenes,  or 
Girgashites,  who  had  fled  to  Africa,  came  to  plead  their 
cause  before  him  against  the  Israelites,^  for  unlawful  dispos- 
session. Trivial  as  these  traditions  may  be  in  themselves, 
they  have  some  interest,  as  showing  the  last  lingering  remi- 
niscences— if  not  in  the  conquered,  at  least  in  the  conque- 
rors— of  the  old  race  which  had  been  cast  out  and  superseded. 

'  Procopius    {Bell.    Vand.    ii.  10),  strong.   But  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt 

supported  by  Suidas  (in  voce  Canaan)  that   such  a  monument  was  seen  by 

and  Moses  Chorenensis  (i.  18).     The  Procopius,  and  the  inscription  inter- 

argimients  against  the  genuineness  of  preted  to  him,  as  he  states.    (See  Kaw- 

this  inscription  by  Keurick  {Phoenicia,  linson's  Bampton  Lectures,  p.  381.) 

p.  67),  and  Ewald  (ii.  298),  are  very  ^  otho,  Lex  Rabb.  25. 


278 


SHECHEM. 


lECT.    XII. 


The 
Capitals. 


Shiloh. 


Shechem. 


V.  One  final  efifect  of  this  epoch  must  be  noticed,  the  esta- 
blishment of  the  first  national  sanctuary  and  the  first  na- 
tional capital  in  Palestine.  Bethel — which  by  its  sacred 
name  and  associations  would  have  been  naturally  chosen — 
was,  at  this  early  stage  of  the  Conquest,  still  in  the  hands  of 
the  Canaanites.  Shiloh,  therefore,  became  and  remained  the 
seat  of  the  Ark  till  the  establishment  of  the  monarchy ;  and 
thus  was,  as  long  as  it  lasted,  a  memorial  of  the  peculiar 
accidents  of  the  Conquest  in  which  it  first  originated.  The 
general  appearance  of  the  sanctuary  and  its  ultimate  fate 
belong  to  the  ensuing  period  of  the  history.  But  the  selection 
of  the  site  belongs  to  this  period,  and  could  belong  to  no 
other.  The  place  of  the  sanctuary  was  naturally  fixed  by  the 
place  of  the  Ark.  This,  as  we  have  seen,  was,  in  the  first 
instance,  Gilgal.  But,  as  the  conquerors  advanced  into  the 
interior,  a  more  central  situation  became  necessary.  This 
was  found  in  a  spot  unmarked  by  any  natural  features  of 
strength  or  beauty,  or  by  any  ancient  recollections ;  recom- 
mended only  by  its  comparative  seclusion,  near  tlie  central 
thoroughfare  of  Palestine,  yet  not  actually  upon  it.  Its 
ancient  Canaanite  name  '  seems  to  have  been  Taanath.  The 
title  of  '  Shiloh '  was  probably  given  to  it  in  token  of  the 
'  rest '  which  the  weary  conquerors  found  in  its  quiet  valley. 

But  Shiloh — although  it  succeeded  to  Gilgal  as  the  Holy 
Place  of  the  Holy  Land,  and  although  from  thence  was 
made  the  survey  and  apportionment  of  the  territory — was 
intended  only  as  a  temporary  halt.  It  was  still  not  the  city, 
but  the  '  camp  of  Shiloh.'  *  The  spot  which  the  conquerors 
fixed  as  the  capital  was  Shechem,  the  ancient  city  before 
which  Jacob  had  first  encamped,  and  now  the  centre  of  the 
great  tribe  of  Ephraim,  the  tribe  of  Joshua  himself.  "WTien 
he  first  arrived  at  this  his  future  home,  is  uncertain.     In  the 


>  Josh.  xvi.  6 ;  xviii.  1.    This  is  the  view  of  Kurtz  (ii.  70). 
^  Judg.  xii.  12. 


LECT.  XII.  THE   END   OF    JOSHUA.  279 

variations  '  of  the  Hebrew  and  Septuagint  texts,  we  may  be 
allowed  to  follow  the  guidance  of  Josephus,  and  conjiect  the 
celebration  of  this  marked  event  in  his  life  with  its  closing 
scenes,  which  unquestionably  took  place  in  that  most  beau- 
tiful of  all  the  sites  of  Western  Palestine.  In  that  central 
valley  of  the  hills  of  Ephraim,  which  commands  the  view  of 
the  Jordan  valley  on  the  east,  and  the  sea  on  the  west — a 
complete  draught  through  the  heart  of  the  country— was  the 
fit  seat  of  the  house  of  Joseph,  the  ancient  portion  of  their 
ancestor,  given  by  Jacob  himself.  Here  were  the  two  sacred 
mountains,  Ebal  and  Gerizim,  marked  out  for  the  curses  and 
blessings  of  the  Law.  From  the  lower  spurs  of  those  hills, 
all  but  meeting  across  the  narrowest  part  of  the  valley,  those 
curses  and  blessings  were  first  chanted,  and  the  loud  Amen 
from  the  vast  multitudes  below  echoed  back  by  the  sur- 
rounding hills.  Ebal,  stretched  along  the  northern  side  of 
the  valley,  became,  as  its  many  rock-hewn  tombs  still  indicate, 
the  necropolis  of  the  new  settlement.  Gerizim,  the  oldest 
sanctuary  in  Palestine,  reaching  back  even  to  the  days  of 
Abraham  and  Melchizedek,  became  the  natural  slielter  of 
the  capital.  From  its  steep  sides  and  slopes  burst  forth  the 
thirty-two  springs  which  have  filled  the  valley  with  a  mass 
of  living  verdure.  Here  the  two  tribes  of  the  house  of 
Joseph  deposited,  at  last,  the  sacred  burden  they  had  borne 
with  them  through  the  wilderness — the  Egyptian  cofiin  con- 
taining the  embalmed  body  of  Joseph  himself,  to  be  buried 
in  the  rich  cornfields  which  his  father  had  given  to  the 
favourite  son  of  his  favourite  Eachel.^ 

This  was  *the  border  of   the    sanctuary,  the   mountain^ 

'  In  the  Received  Text  lie  arrives  Sinai  and  Palestine,  ch,  ^. ;  Dr.  Rosen 

immediately  after  the  full  of  Jericho  ;  (Zdtschrift    Dcutsch.    Morg.     Gcacll- 

in  the  LXX.  after  the  fall  of  Ai;  in  schaft,  xiv.  634);  Mr.  Grove,  '  Nablus 

Josephus  {Ant.  v.  1,  §  19,  20),  at  the  and    the   Samaritans'    (in    Vacation 

close  of  his  life.  Tourists,  1861). 

*  For  Shechem  (now  Nablus),  see  '  Ps.  Ixxviii.  54. 


280  THE    END    OF   JOSHUA.  lect.  xti. 

*  which  the  right  hand  of  Grod  had  purchased,'  for  the  tribe 
which  now  through  its  victorious  leader  stood  foremost 
amongst  them  all,  and  which  henceforth  retained  its  supre- 
macy till  it  fell,^  in  the  fall,  though  but  for  a  time,  of  the 
nation  itself.  How  closely  the  grandeur  of  Ephraim  and  the 
selection  of  this  seat  of  their  power  are  connected  with  the 

Joshua.  career  of  Joshua,  may  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  he  alone,  of 
all  the  Jewish  heroes  after  the  time  of  Moses,  is  enshrined  in 
the  traditions  of  the  Samaritans.  He  is  *  King  Joshua : ' 
he  takes  up  his  abode  on  the  *  Blessed  Mountain,'  as  Grerizim 
is  always  called ;  on  its  summit  are  still  pointed  out  the 
twelve  stones  which  he  laid  in  order :  he  builds  a  citadel  on 
the  adjacent  site  of  Samaria:  he  confers  once  a  week  with 

His  fare-  the  high  priest  Eleazar :  he  leaves  his  power  to  his  son 
Phinehas,  and  in  this  confusion  the  history  of  Israel  abruptly 
terminates.^  But  the  connexion  of  Joshua  with  Sliechem 
and  with  Ephraim,  though  more  soberly,  is  not  less  clearly 
marked  in  the  Sacred  narrative.  He  appears  there  as  the 
representative  of  his  tribe;  yet,  .as  we  have  seen,  check- 
ing that  overbearing  pride  which  at  last  caused  their  ruin. 
Beneath  the  old  consecrated  oak  of  Abraham  and  Jacob,^  of 
which  the  memory  still  lingers  in  a  secluded  corner  of  the 
valley  under  the  north-eastern  flank  of  Grerizim,  he  made 
his  farewell  address  and  set  up  there  the  pillar  which  long 
remained  as  his  memorial.^  In  and  around  Shechem  arose 
the  first  national  burial-place,  a  counterpoise  to  the  patri- 

His  grave,  archal  sepulchres  at  Hebron.  Joseph's  tomb  was  already 
fixed :  its  reputed  site  is  visible  to  this  day.     A  tradition,^ 

'  Lpcture  XVII.  of  Moreh,'  from  a   supposition    that 

*  Samaritan  Joshua,  cc.  24,  42.  in  a  vault  imderneath  is  buried  the 
'  Josh.  xxiv.  26.  Ark.    The  Mussulmans  call  it '  Rigad 

*  Ibid.  27;  Judg.  ix.  6,  37.  This  d  Amad,"  'the  place  of  the  pillar; 
spot,  called  in  Gen.  xii.  6,  and  xxxv.  or  '  Shey\ih.-el-Amad;  '  the  saint  of 
4,  '  AUon-Moreh;  '  the  oak  of  Moreh  '       the  pillar; 

or    of    Shechem,    is    called    by    the  '  Acts  vii.  15,  16. 

Samaritans  Ahron-Moreh,   '  the   Ark 


LECT.  XII.  HIS   GRAVE.  281 

current  at  the  time  of  the  Christian  era,  ascribed  the  pur- 
chase of  this  tomb  to  Abraham,  and  included  within  it  the 
remains,  not  only  of  Joseph,  but  of  the  twelve  Fathers  of  the 
Jewish  tribes,  and  of  Jacob  himself.  Eleazar  '  was  buried  in 
the  rocky  sides  of  a  hill  which  bore  the  name  of  his  more 
famous  son,  Phinehas,  who  was  himself,  doubtless,  interred  in 
the  same  sepulchre.  It  is  described  as  being  in  the  mountains 
of  Ephraim,  and  is  pointed  out  by  Samaritan  tradition  on  a 
height  immediately  east  of  Gerizim.  The  grave  of  Joshua 
has  been  by  the  Mussulmans  claimed  for  a  far-distant  spot. 
On  the  summit  of  the  Giant's  Hill,  overlooking  the  Bos- 
phorus  and  the  Black  Sea,  his  vast  tomb  is  shown,  with 
the  gigantic  proportions  in  which  Orientals  delight.  But 
the  reverence  of  his  own  countrymen  cherished  the  remem- 
brance of  it  with  a  more  accurate  knowledge,  in  the  inherit- 
ance which  had  been  given  to  him — as  though  he  were  a 
sole  tribe  in  himself — in  Timnath-serah,  or  Heres,^  '  on  the 
'  north  side  of  the  hill  of  Gaash  ; '  and  in  the  same  grave  (ac- 
cording to  a  very  ancient  tradition)  were  buried  the  stone 
knives  ^  used  in  the  ceremony  of  circumcision  at  Gilgal, 
which  were  long  sought  out  as  relics  by  those  who  came  in 
after  years  to  visit  the  tomb  of  their  mighty  Deliverer. 

'  Josh.  xxiv.  33.     His  tomb  is  still  Beth-horon.     But  it  is  probably  only 

shown  in  a  little  close  overshadowed  the    transposition   of    the   letters    of 

by  venerable  terebinths,  at  Awcrtah,  Serah. 
a  few  miles  S.E.  of  NabKis.  ^  Josh.  xxiv.  29  (LXX.).    The  spot 

^  Ibid.  xix.   44-50 ;    xxiv.   30.      A  is   not   known  with  certainty,  but   is 

Rabbinical  tradition  supposes  it  to  be  probably    in   the  hills    southward   of 

called  Hires,  from   an   image  of  the  Shechem.     See  Ritter's  Palestitie,  iii. 

sun   to   commemorate    the   battle    of  563,  564. 


THE    JUDGES. 


XIII.  ISBAEL    UNDER    THE    JUDGES. 

XIV,  DEBORAH. 
XV.  GIDEON. 

XVI.  JEPHTHAH    AND    SAMSON. 

XVII.  THE    FALL    OP    SHILOH. 


SPECIAL   ATJTHORITIES    FOR    THIS    PERIOD. 


1.  (a)  The  Book  of  Judges ;  the  Book  of  Ruth  ;  1  Sam,  I.-vii.  (Hebrew 

and  LXX.)  (b)  Ps.  Ixxviii.  56-66 ;  Ixxxiii.  9-^12 ;  Isa.  ix.  4 ; 
X.  26;  xx\'iii.  21;  Jer.  vii.  12;  xxvi.  6 ;  Ecclus.  xlvi.  11-20; 
Heb.  xi.  32-34. 

2.  The  Jewish  Traditions  preserved  in  Josephus  (Ant  v.  2 — vi.  1),  and 

the  Jewish  Chronicle  Seder  01am  (c.  11,  12,  13). 

3.  The  Heathen  Traditions  (Sanchoniathon  ?  in  Eus.  Prtr]).  Ev.  i.  9). 


THE    JUDGES. 

LECTURE  XIII. 

ISRAEL    UNDER    THE    JUDGES. 
We  are  now  arrived  at  the  last  stage  of  the  first  period  of  the  Character- 

istics  of 

history  of  the  Chosen  People.  We  have  seen  the  nation  of  ^i^g  period, 
slaves  turned  into  a  nation  of  freemen  in  the  deliverance  from 
Egypt.  We  liave  seen  them  become  the  depositaries  of  a 
new  religion  in  Mount  Sinai.  We  have  seen  them  in  their 
first  flush  of  conquest  in  the  Promised  Land.  We  have  now 
to  see  tlie  gradual  transition  from  their  primitive  state,  and 
to  track  them  through  the  interval  between  the  death  of 
Joshua  and  the  rise  of  Samuel — between  the  establishment 
of  the  sanctuary  at  Shiloh  on  the  first  occupation  of  the 
country,  and  its  final  overthrow  by  the  Philistines. 

The  characteristics  of  this  period  are  such  as  especially 
invite  our  critical  and  historical  inquiries.  Other  portions 
of  Scripture  may  be  more  profitable  '  for  doctrine,  for  correc- 
'  tiou,  for  reproof,  for  instruction  in  righteousness  ; '  but  for 
merely  human  interest — for  the  lively  touches  of  ancient 
manners — for  the  succession  of  romantic  incidents — for  the 
consciousness  that  we  are  living  face  to  face  with  the  persons 
described — for  the  tragical  pathos  of  events  and  characters — 
there  is  nothing  like  the  liistory  of  the  Judges  from  Othniel 
to  Eli.  Hardly  any  portion  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures, 
whether  by  its  actual  date  or  by  the  vividness  of  its  repre- 


2S6  ISRAEL   UNDER   THE    JUDGES.  lect.  xiti. 

sentations,  brings  us  nearer  to  the  times  described ;  and  on 
none  has  more  light  been  thrown  by  the  German  scholar,  to 
whose  investigations  we  owe  so  much  in  the  study  of  the 
Older  Dispensation.  It  would  seem,  if  one  may  venture  to 
say  so,  as  if  the  Book  of  Judges  had  been  left  in  the  Sacred 
Books,  with  the  express  view  of  enforcing  upon  us  the  ne- 
cessity, which  we  are  sometimes  anxious  to  evade,  of  recog- 
nising the  human,  national,  let  us  even  add  barbarian  element 
which  plays  its  part  in  the  Sacred  history.  In  other  portions 
of  the  Hebrew  annals,  the  Divine  character  of  the  Kevelation 
is  so  constantly  before  us,  or  the  character  of  the  human 
agents  reaches  so  nearly  to  the  Divine,  that  we  may,  if  we 
choose,  almost  forget  that  we  are  reading  of  men  of  like 
passions  with  ourselves.  But,  in  the  history  of  the  Judges, 
the  whole  tenor  of  the  book,  especially  of  its  concluding 
chapters,  renders  this  forgetfulness  impossible.  The  angles 
and  roughnesses  of  the  Sacred  narrative,  which  elsewhere  we 
endeavour  to  smooth  down  into  one  uniform  level,  here  start 
out  from  the  surface  too  visibly  to  be  overlooked  by  the  most 
superficial  observer.  Like  the  rugged  rock  which,  to  this 
day,  breaks  the  platform  of  the  Temple  area  at  Jerusalem, 
and  reminds  us  of  the  bare  natural  features  of  the  mountain 
that  must  have  protruded  themselves  into  the  midst  of  the 
magnificence  of  Solomon, — so  the  Book  of  Judges  recalls  our 
thoughts  from  the  ideal  which  we  imagine  of  past  and  of 
sacred  ages,  and  reminds  us,  by  a  rude  shock,  that,  even  in  the 
heart  of  the  Chosen  People,  even  in  the  next  generation  after 
Joshua,  there  were  irregularities,  imperfections,  excrescences, 
which  it  is  the  glory  of  the  Sacred  Historian  to  have  recorded 
faithfully,  and  which  it  will  be  our  Avisdom  no  less  faithfully 
to  study. 

'In  those  days  there  was  no  king  in  Israel,*  but  every  man 

■  Judg.  xvii.  6  ;  xviii.  1  ;  xix.  1 ;  xxi.  25. 


LECT.  XIII.  THE    DISORDERS,  287 

*  (lid  that  which  was  right  in  his  own  eyes.'  '  In  those  days 
'  there  was  no  king  in  Israel.'     *  It  came  to  pass  in  those  days 

*  when  there  was  no  king  in  Israel.'     *  In  those  days  there 

*  was  no  king  in  Israel ;  every  man  did  that  which  was  right 
*in  his  own  eyes.'  This  sentence,  thus  frequently  and 
earnestly  repeated,  is  the  key-note  of  the  whole  book.  It 
expresses  the  freedom,  the  freshness,  the  independence — the 
license,  the  anarchy,  the  disorder,  of  the  period.  It  tells  us 
that  we  are  in  a  period  of  transition,  gradually  drawing  near 
to  that  time  when  there  will  be  a  '  king  in  Israel,'  when  there 
will  be  'peace  on  all  sides  round  about  him,  Judah  and 
'  Israel  dwelling  safely,  every  man  under  his  vine  and  under 
'  his  fig-tree,  from  Dan  unto  Beersheba.'  But  meantime  the 
dark  and  bright  sides  of  the  history  shift  with  a  rapidity 
unknown  in  the  latter  times  of  the  story—*  The  children  of 
'Israel  did  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,'  and  'The  children 
'  of  Israel  cried  unto  the  Lord.'  ^  Never  was  there  a  better 
instance  than  in  these  two  alternate  sentences,  ten  times 
repeated,  that  we  need  not  pronounce  any  age  entirely  bad 
or  entirely  good. 

I.  First,  then,  look  at  the  outward  relations  of  the  country.  Outward 
The  Conquest  was  over,  but  the  upheaving  of  the  conquered  ^^^"^^  ^^' 
population  still  continued.  The  ancient  inhabitants,  like 
the  Saxons  under  the  Normans,  still  retained  their  hold  on 
large  tracts,  or  on  important  positions  throughout  the 
country.  The  neighbouring  powers  still  looked  on  the  new- 
comers as  an  easy  prey  to  incursion  and  devastation,  if  not  to 
actual  subjugation.  Against  these  enemies,  both  from  with- 
out and  from  within,  but  chiefly  from  within,  a  constant 
struggle  had  to  be  maintained ;  with  all  the  dangers,  adven- 
tures, and  trials  incident  to  such  a  state — a  war  of  indepen- 
dence such  as  was  not  to  occur  again  till  the  struggle  of  the 

'  Judg.  ii.  4,  11,  18,  19  ;  iii.  7,  9,  12,  15  ;  iv.  1,  3  ;  vi.  1,  7  ;  s.  6,  10;  xiii.  1. 


tioii  of  the 
Conquest 


288  ISRAEL    UXDER   THE    JUDGES.  lect.  xiii. 

Maccabees  against  the  Greek  kings,  or  even  of  tlie  last 
insurgents  against  the  Komans.  A  glance  at  the  first 
chapter  of  the  Book  of  Judges  will  show  in  a  moment  the 
motley,  particoloured  character  which  Palestine  must  have 
presented  after  the  death  of  Joshua.  Nearly  the  whole  of 
the  sea-coast,'  all  the  strongholds  in  the  rich  plain  of  Esdraelon, 
and,  in  the  heart  of  the  country,  the  invincible  fortress  of 
Continua-  Jebus,  were  still  in  the  hands  of  the  unbelievers.  Every 
one  of  these  spots  was  a  focus  of  disaffection,  a  bone  of  con- 
tention, a  natural  field  of  battle.  Or  look  at  the  relations  of 
conquerors  and  conquered  as  they  appear  in  the  story  of 
Abimelech,^  The  insurrection,  which  then  was  nearly  suc- 
cessful, of  the  ancient  Shechemites — the  '  sons  of  Emmor  the 
father  of  Sychem  '-—reveals  the  fires  which  must  have  been 
smouldering  everywhere  throughout  the  land,  and  which 
would  have  broken  out  more  frequently  had  the  government 
oftener  fallen  into  worthless  hands.  Or  look  at  the  migration 
of  the  sons  of  Dan.  It  is  like  the  story  of  the  whole  nation 
epitomised  over  again  in  the  portion  of  a  single  tribe.  '  In 
'  those  days  the  tribe  of  the  Danites  sought  them  an  inheri- 
'  tance  to  dwell  in,'  ^  They  were  still  unprovided.  Spies 
were  sent  forth,  as  formerly  by  Moses  and  by  Joshua.  They 
returned  with  the  account  of  a  land  '  very  good,'  '  a  place 
'  where  there  is  no  want  of  anything ; '  and  their  kinsmen 
follow  their  guiding.  They  leave  the  trace  of  their  encamp- 
ment on  their  road,'*  like  a  second  Gilgal,  and  they  track  the 
Jordan  to  its  source,  and,  in  the  secluded  corner  under  Mount 
Hermon,  fall  on  the  easternmost  of  the  Phoenician  colonies, 
and  establish  themselves  in  that  beautiful  and  fertile  spot, 
with  a  sanctuary  of  their  own  and  a  priesthood  of  their  own, 
during  the  whole  period  of  which  we  are  speaking. 

Slowly,  gradually,  the  dominion  of  the  Chosen  People  was 

>  See  Lecture  XII.  *  Josh.  xix.  47  ;  Judg.  xviii.  1-31. 

«  See  Lecture  XV.  *  Judg.  xiii.  25;  xviii.  12. 


lECT.  XIII.  STATE    OF    CONFLICT.  289 

left  to  work  its  way.  First,  they  repel  distant  invaders  from  Successive 
Mesopotamia.  This  is  the  special  work  of  the  Lion  of  the 
tribe  of  Judah — of  the  last  hero  of  the  old  generation.  Then, 
under  Deborah  and  Barak,  they  encounter  the  final  rising  of 
the  Canaanites.^  The  battle  of  Merom  is  repeated  over  again 
by  the  waters  of  Megiddo.  In  that  central  conflict  of  the 
period,  Israel  and  Canaan  met  together  for  the  last  time  face 
to  face  in  battle.  Then  follows  the  most  trying  invasion 
to  which  the  country  had  ever  been  subjected  ^— the  wild 
Midianite  hordes  from  the  desert.  How  great  was  the  crisis 
is  proved  by  the  greatness  of  the  champion  who  was  called 
forth  to  resist  it.  In  Grideon  and  his  family  we  see  the 
nearest  approach  to  a  king  that  this  epoch  produces.  Finally, 
they  are  brought  into  collision  with  the  new  enemies — the 
race  of  strangers — who,  as  it  would  seem,  had  barely  settled 
in  Palestine  at  the  time  of  the  first  conquest—  the  '  Philis- 
tines '  * — and  amidst  the  death-struggle  with  them  under 
Samson,  Eli,  and  Samuel,  ends  this  period  of  the  history. 

It  was  a  hard  discipline  ;  it  must  have  checked  the  progress  Military 
of  arts,  of  civilisation,  of  refinement.     But  it  was  the  fitting  of  the  na- 
school  through  which  they  were  to  pass.    It  was  the  formation  *^'"^' 
of  the  military  character  of  the  people.     It  prepared  the  way 
for  the  inauguration  of  the  new  name  by  which,  in  the  next 
period  of  their  history,  God  would  be  called — -the  '  Lord  of 
'  Hosts.'    Through  a  succession  of  failures  they  stumbled  into 
perfection.     Amidst   these    struggles  for    independence  was 
nourished  no  less  a  youth  than  tliat  of  David.     '  Therefore 
'  the    Ijord    left   those    nations,   without   driving    them    out 
'  hastily : '  to  prove  '  Israel  by  them ;  even  as  many  as  had 
*  not  known  the  wars  of  Canaan ;  only  that  the  generations 
'  of  Israel  might  know  to  teach  them  war,  at  the  least  such  as 
'  before  knew  nothing  thereof,'  •*  Without  this  discipline,  they 

•  See  Lecture  XIV.  ^  Sec  Lecture  XVI. 

*  See  Lecture  XV.  ■•  Judg.  ii.  23  ;  iii.  1,  2. 


290  ISEAEL   UNDEE   THE   JUDGES.  lect.  xiii. 

might  have  sunk  into  mere  Phoenician  settlements,  like  the 
'  people  of  Laish,  dwelling  ^  careless,  after  the  manner  of  the 
'  Zidonians,  quiet  and  secure,'  having  no  business  with  any 
man,  '  in  a  large  land,  where  there  was  no  want  of  anything 
'  that  is  in  the  earth.'  Like  their  Phoenician  neighbours, 
like  their  own  descendants  in  later  times,  they  might  have 
become  a  mere  nation  of  merchants  :  '  Dan  would  have  abode 
*  in  his  ships,  and  Asher  would  have  remained  in  his  creeks 
'by  the  sea-shore,'  and  not  'a  shield  or  spear  would  have 
'been  seen  amongst  forty  thousand  in  Israel.'  But  their 
spirit  rose  to  the  emergencies.  Faithful  tribes,  like  Zebulun 
and  Naphtali,  were  always  found  amongst  the  faithless,  ready 
to  jeopardise  their  lives  for  the  nation.  Reversing  the 
Prophetic  visions  of  an  ideal  future,  their  pruning-hooks 
were  turned  into  spears,  and  their  ploughshares  into  swords. 
They  had  '  files  to  sharpen  their  coulters,  their  mattocks,'^  and 
'  their  goads ; '  and  Shamgar,  the  son  of  Anath,  came  with  his 
rude  ox-goad,  and  Samson  with  his  quaint  devices — the 
jawbone  of  an  ass,  and  the  firebrands  at  the  tails  of  jackals 
—devastating  the  country  of  their  enemies. 

II.  But  it  is  chiefly  in  their  internal  relations  that  tliis 
transitional  state  appears.  'There  was  no  king  in  Israel,' 
no  fixed  capital,  no  fixed  sanctuary,  no  fixed  government.  It 
was  a  heptarchy,  a  dodecarchy,  of  which  the  supremacy 
passed,  as  in  the  early  ages  of  our  own  country,  first  to  one 
tribe  and  then  to  another. 
Internal  Even  from  a  religious  point  of  view,  now  one,  now  another 

place  presents  itself  as  the  rallying  point  of  the  nation. 
The  sacred  solitary  palm-tree  was  the  spot  to  which  ^  at 
one  time  the  children  of  Israel  came  up  for  judgment. 
Another  was  the  sanctuary  of  Micah,''  visited  as  an  oracle 
by  wandering  travellers  and  pilgrims.    A  third  was  the  green 

'  Judg.  xviii.  7-9.  *  See  Lecture  XIV. 

2  1  Sam.  xiii.  21.  *  See  p.  296. 


disorder. 


LECT.  XIII.  THE    OFFICE    OF   THE   JUDGES.  291 

sward '  on  the  broad  summit  of  Tabor,  the  gathering'  place 
of  the  northern  tribes.  A  fourth  was  the  little  capital  of  the 
northern  Dan,  already  mentioned,  beside  the  sources  of  the 
Jordan.  Doubtless,  amidst  all  these  variations,  the  national 
feeUng  still  turned  chiefly  to  two  spots,  the  old  primeval 
stone  or  structure  called  'the  House  of  Grod' — 'Bethel;' 
and  the  modern  sanctuary  of  Shiloh,  set  up  by  Joshua.  But 
even  these  were  tokens  of  division  and  independence.  At 
the  close  of  the  period,  the  High  Priesthood,  the  one  great 
office  which  had  been  bequeathed  by  the  Mosaic  age,  appears 
at  Shiloh.  But,  in  its  earlier  years,  we  find  it  established  at 
Bethel ;  and  the  Ark  itself,  as  if  suffering  in  the  general  dis- 
integration of  the  people,  reposed  not  within  the  sacred  tent 
of  Shiloh,  but  within  the  primitive  sanctuary  of  Bethel. 

In  like  manner,  no  one  tribe  exercises  undisputed  pre- 
eminence. Ephraim,  on  the  wliole,  retains  the  primacy,  but 
not  exclusively.  Judah,  after  the  death  of  Othniel,  disappears 
almost  entirely.  '  There  was  no  king  in  Israel,'  there  was  no 
succession  of  Prophets.  Long  blanks  occur  in  the  history, 
of  which  we  know  nothing.  From  time  to  time  deliverers  The  office 
were  raised  up,  as  occasion  called,  and  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  judges.' 
came  upon  them ;  and  again,  on  their  death,  the  central  bond 
was  broken,  and  the  thread  of  the  history  is  lost.  The  office, 
which  gives  its  name  to  the  period,  well  describes  it.  It  was 
occasional,  irregular,  uncertain,  yet  gradually  tending  to 
fixedness  and  perpetuity.  Its  title  is  itself  expressive.  The 
Euler  was  not  regal,  but  he  was  more  than  the  mere  head  of 
a  tribe  or  the  mere  judge  of  special  cases.  We  have  to  seek 
for  the  origin  of  the  name  not  amongst  the  Sheykhs  of  the 
Arabian  desert,  but  amongst  the  civilised  settlements  of 
Phoenicia.  Slwjjhet^  Shophetim,'^  the  Hebrew  word  which  we 
translate  '  Judge,'  is  the  same  as  we  find  in  the  '  Suffes,' 

'  Lectures  XIV.  XV.  scribes  judges  (SiKaarai)  as   suceeed- 

*  Josephus   {c.   A'pion.    i.    21)    de-       ing  to  the  Tyrian  kings. 

u  2 


292  ISRAEL    UXDER   THE   JUDGES.  lect.  xiii. 

'  Suffetes,' '  of  the  Carthaginian  rulers  at  the  time  of  the  Punic 
Wars.  As  afterwards  the  office  of  '  king '  was  taken  from  the 
nations  round  about,  so  now,  if  not  the  office,  at  least  the 
name  of  'judge '  or  '  shophet,'  seems  to  have  been  drawn  from 
the  Canaanitish  cities,  with  which  for  the  first  time  Israel 
came  into  contact.  It  is  the  first  trace  of  the  influence  of 
the  Syrian  usages  on  the  fortunes  of  the  Chosen  People,  the 
first  fruits  of  the  Pagan  inheritance  to  which  the  Jewish  and 
the  Christian  Church  has  succeeded.  Gradually  the  office  so 
formed  consolidates  itself.  Of  Othniel,  Ehud,  and  Shamgar, 
we  know  not  whether  they  ruled  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
special  crisis  which  called  them  forth.  But  in  Deborah  and 
Gideon  we  see  the  indications  of  a  rule  for  life.  In  Gideon,  we 
find  the  attempt  at  a  regular  monarchy  made  and  rejected, 
yet  still  virtually  maintained  in  his  lifetime,  and  formally 
revived,  after  his  death,  by  his  son  Abimelech.  In  the  suc- 
cession of  obscure  rulers  who  follow,  the  hereditary  principle 
has  established  itself.  Sons  and  grandsons  inherit,  if  not 
the  power,  at  least  the  pomp  and  state  of  their  father  and 
grandfather.^  And,  finally,  the  two  offices,  which  in  the 
earlier  years  of  this  period  had  remained  distinct— the  High 
Priest  and  the  Judge— were  united  in  the  person  of  Eli ; 
and  Samuel,  who  acted  as  the  interpreter  between  the  old 
and  the  new  order  of  his  people,  had  actually  transmitted 
the  office  by  hereditary  succession  to  his  sons,  and  they  for 
the  first  time  appear  exercising  those  '  j  udicial '  ^  functions 
which  alone  are  expressed  in  the  modern  translation  of 
Shophet  into  '  Judge.' 
Phoenician  III.  In  connexion  with  this  Phoenician  origin  of  the  name 
of  these  rulers,  other  customs,  as  might  be  expected  from  the 


'  Liv.  XXX.  7  ;  xxviii.  37.    In  xxxiii.  netes  '  in  Greek  history.  See  Aristotle, 

46,  xxxiv.  61,  they  are  called  'judices.'  Politico,  iii.  9,  §  5  ;   iv.  8,  §  2. 
The  office  most  nearly  corresponding  *  Judg.  x.  3,  4  ;  xii.  8-14. 

to  it  in  the  We^.t  was  that  of  '  Jisym-  ^  I  Sam.  viii.  3. 


influences. 


LECT.  XIII.  PHCENICIAX   INFLUENCES.  293 

near  neighbourhood,  now  first  appear,  in  every  shade  of  good 
and  evil,  from  the  same  source.  The  temptations  to  idolatry 
are  no  longer  of  the  same  kind  as  in  Mesopotamia  or  in 
Egypt.  Two  forms  of  worship  rise  above  all  others,  the  two 
Phoenician  deities,  Baal  and  Astarte,  as  seducing  the  Israelites  The  name 
from  their  allegiance,  marked  everywhere  by  the  image  and 
altar,  or  the  grove  of  olive  or  ilex  round  the  sacred  rock 
or  stone  on  wliich  the  altar  was  erected.  Eelics  of  such 
worship  continued  long  afterwards  in  the  names,  probably 
derived  from  this  period,  both  of  places  and  persons.  Every- 
where throughout  the  land  lingered  tlie  traces  of  the 
old  idolatrous  sanctuaries — Baal-Gad,  Baal-Hermon,  Baal- 
Tamar,  Baal-Hazor,  Baal-Judah,  Baal-Meon,  Baal-Perazim, 
Baal-Shalisha,  like  the  memorials  of  Saxon  heathenism,  or 
of  mediaeval  superstition,  which  furnish  the  nomenclature  of 
so  many  spots  in  oiu:  own  country.  And  even  in  families,  as 
in  that  of  Saul,^  vre  find  that  the  title  of  the  Phoenician  god 
appears,  as  in  the  names  so  common  in  Tyre  and  Carthage 
— Maherbal,  Hannibal,  Asdrubal. 

But  the  most  distinct  and  peculiar  mark  of  the  Phoenician  The  wor- 
worship  at  this  time — and  not  unnaturally  adopted  in  the  ^aal  Be- 
license  given  to  every  form  of  independent  organisation  and  "'^^^• 
association — is  that  of  cities  congregated  in  leagues  round 
such  a  temple  of  Baal,  hence  called  Baal  Berith,^  '  Baal  of 
*  the  League ; '  as  in  the  combination  of  Tyre,  Sidon,  and 
Arvad  to  found  Tripolis,  as  in  the  Carthaginian  settlements 
which   in   Sicily  formed   themselves   round   the   Temple   of 
Astarte  at  Eryx,  as  in  the  Canaanitish  League  of  Gibeon. 
The    chief   instance   of  it  is    the  League   of  Shechem  and 
Thebez  round  the  Temple  of  the  League  at  Shechem,  under 
the  half-Canaanite  king  Abimelech,  the  first  organised  form 


•  Baal,  Eshbaal,  and  Meribbaal,  1  Cbron.  Tiii.  30,  33,  34. 
See  Ewald,  ii.  445  ;  Lecture  XV. 


294 


ISRAEL   UNDER   THE    JUDGES. 


LECT.    XIIX. 


Phcenician 

vows. 


Primitive 
.simplicity 
of  life. 


of   Canaanite  polity  and   worship   within  the   precincts   of 
Israel. 

Another  practice,  which  falls  in  with  the  wild  usages  of 
the  time,  has  also  a  direct  affinity  with  Phoenician  customs 
— the  frequent  use  of  vows.  One  memorable  instance  of  a 
Phoenician  vow  has  been  handed  down  to  us,  so  solemn  in 
its  origin,  so  grand  in  its  consequences,  that  even  the  vows 
of  the  most  sacred  ages  may  well  bear  comparison  with  it. 
The  impulse  ^  from  his  early  oath,  which  nerved  the  coui'age 
and  patriotism  of  Hannibal  from  childhood  to  age  in  his 
warfare  against  Eome,  may  fitly  be  taken  as  an  illustration  of 
the  feeling  which,  in  its  highest  and  noblest  forms,  led  to  the 
consecration  of  Samson  and  Samuel,  and,  in  its  unauthorised 
excesses,  to  the  rash  vows  of  the  whole  nation  against  the 
tribe  of  Benjamin,  of  Jephthah  against  his  daughter,  of  Saul 
against  Jonathan.  These  spasmodic  efforts  after  self-restraint 
are  precisely  what  we  sliould  expect  in  an  age  which  had  no 
other  mode  of  steadying  its  purposes  amidst  the  general 
anarchy  in  which  it  v/as  enveloped ;  and  accordingly  in  that 
age  they  first  appear,  and  within  its  limits  expire. 

IV.  But,  whatever  traces  there  may  be  of  foreign  influence, 
the  heart  of  the  people  and  their  manners  remained  essen- 
tially Israelite,  and  the  disorders  of  the  time  breathe  always 
the  air  rather  of  the  desert  than  of  the  city.  We  see  the 
princes  and  the  judges  riding  in  state  on  their  asses,  the 
asses  of  the  Bedouin  tribe,  abhorred  of  Eg5rpt.  '  Speak,  ye 
'  that  ride  on  she-asses  dappled  with  white,'  is  the  address  of 
Deborah  to  the  victorious  chiefs  returning  from  battle.  The 
thirty  sons  of  Jair  ride  on  their  thirty  ass  colts,  which  the 
play  ^  on  the  word  connects  with  their  thirty  cities.  As  in 
the  wilderness,  the  assemblies  of  the  people  are  still  gathered 


'  See  Arnold's  Boine,  iii.  33. 
'^  Judg.  X.  4.      The  word    for    'aps 
colts'  and  'cities'  (Arim)is  the  same. 


The  LXX.  keep  up  the  ambiguity  by- 
rendering  it  7r<5Aeis  and  TrwAoys, 


LECT.  XIII.  SIMPLICITY   OF    LIFE.  295 

by  the  fresh  springs  or  the  running  streams.  '  At  the 
'  places,' '  or  '  amongst  the  companies  of  the  drawing  of  water, 
'  are  rehearsed  the  righteous  acts  of  the  Lord.'  '  By  the 
'  streams  of  Reuben  are  the  divisions  and  searchings  of  heart.' 
Tents  may  still  be  seen  beside  the  settled  habitations.  The 
Arab  Kenites  still  linger  in  the  south.  A  settlement  of  the 
same  tribe  is  planted  far  north  also,  under  the  ancient  oak, 
called  from  their  encampment  '  the  oak  of  the  unloading  of 
'  tents,'  ^  and  underneath  the  tent  of  Jael,  the  wife  of  Heber, 
every  Bedouin  custom  was  as  purely  preserved  as  in  the  time 
of  Abraham.  The  sanctuary  of  Shiloh  itself  was  still  a  tent, 
or  rather,  according  to  the  Rabbinical  representations,  which 
have  every  appearance  of  truth,  a  low  structure  of  stones 
with  a  tent  drawn  over  it,  exactly  like  the  Bedouin  village, 
an  intermediate  stage  between  a  mere  collection  of  tents  and 
a  fixed  precinct  of  buildings.  And  although  a  city  grew 
round  it,  and  a  stone  gateway  rose  in  front  of  it,  yet  it  still 
retained  its  name  of  the  '  camp  of  Shiloh  ; '  and  the  sanctuary 
was  only  known  as  the  '  tabernacle  or  tent  that  Grod  had 
'  pitched  among  men.'  ^ 

Accordingly  the  whole  period  breathes  a  primitive  sim- 
plicity whicli  peculiarly  belongs  both  to  the  crimes  and  the 
virtues  of  this  earliest  stage  of  the  occupation  of  Canaan. 
The  Book  of  Judges  closes  with  three  pictures,  of  which  the 
two  first,  at  least,  appear  to  have  been  inserted  with  the 
express  purpose,  so  unusual  in  the  Sacred  history — so  un- 
usual, one  may  add,  in  any  history,  till  within  the  most 
recent  times — of  giving  an  insight  into  what  we  should  call 
the  state  of  society  in  Judaea.  How  precious  to  us  would 
be  any  details  of  the  private  life  and  incidental  customs  of 
Greece  or  Rome,  equal  to  what  are  afforded  in  the  stories 

'  Judg.  V.  11,  15,  16.  Seder  01am,   c.   11.     Ps.  Ixxviii.   60. 

2  See  Lecture  XIV.  See  Lecture  XVII. 

*  Mishna  (Surenhusius),  vol.  v.  59  ; 


296  ISRAEL   UNDER   THE   JUDGES.  lect.  xni. 

of  Micah,  of  the  war  with  Benjamin,  and  of  Euth  !     Though 
appended  to  the  close  of  the  book,  they  form,  both  by  their 
style  and  by  the  actual  order  of  the  events  which  they  relate, 
its  natural  preface.' 
The  story  1.  Take  the  expedition  of  the  Danites.     They  start,  as  we 

Danites  have  seen,  once  more  to  seek  new  settlements — they  track 
and  Mica  i.  ^^^  Jordan  to  its  source,  and  then  mark  out  for  their  prey 
the  easy  colonists  from  Sidon  in  the  rich  and  beautiful 
seclusion  of  that  loveliest  of  the  scenes  of  Palestine.  It  is 
the  exact  likeness  of  the  Frankish  or  Norman  migrations, 
reopening  the  path  of  conquest  and  discovery  when  it  had 
seemed  all  closed  and  ended  with  the  final  settlement  of 
Europe.  And  still  more  characteristic  is  the  incident  which 
is  interwoven  with  their  expedition,  and  which  opens  another 
vista  into  the  mingled  superstition  and  religion  which  swayed 
the  feelings  of  the  time.  We  are  introduced  to  the  house  of 
Micah,  on  the  ridge  of  the  hills  of  Ephraim ;  we  hear  the  frank 
disclosure  of  Micah  to  his  mother,  how  he  was  the  thief  who 
had  carried  off  her  shekels — and  we  see  the  mother's  grateful 
dedication  of  her  restored  property.  Their  isolation  from 
the  central  worship  of  Palestine  soon  manifests  itself.  The 
house  becomes  a  castle ;  and  not  only  a  castle,  but  a  temple. 
The  Sane-  Like  the  sanctuary  of  Shiloh  itself,  it  stands  in  a  court,  entered 
^"^  by  a  spacious   gateway.     Round  about  it  gather  houses  of 

those  who  take  a  common  interest  in  this  worship,  and  a 
caravanserai  for  strangers.  Within  is  a  chamber  called  '  the 
House  of  God,'  and  in  this  chamber  are  two  silver  images, 
one  sculptured,  one  molten,  clothed"  in  a  mask  and  priestly 


'  This     arrangement     is     actually  tic  Ephod.      Such  images  were  used 

adopted  by  Josephus(^«<.v.  2,  §  8-12  ;  as  oracles,  Zeeh.  x.  2,  and  as  appurte- 

3,  §  1).  nances  of  public  worship,  Hos.  iii.  4  ; 

^  Judg.    XTii.    4.       Of    these    two  and  the  custom  was  finally  put  down 

images,  one  (apparently  as  large  as  a  by  Jo&iah,  2   Kings  xxiii.  24.      (See 

man,  1  Sam.  xix.  16),  from  its  mask  Ewald,  Alterth.  256-8.) 
was  called  Tera^him,  from  its  man- 


LECT.  xiir.  THE    STORY   OF    MICAIL  297 

mantle,  so  as  to  represent  as  nearly  as  possible  the  Priestly 
Oracle  at  Shiloli.  And  wlien  we  inqnire  further  into  the 
worship  of  this  little  sanctuary,  still  stranger  scenes  disclose 
themselves.  The  five  Danite  warriors,  as  they  pass  by,  and 
lodge  in  the  caravanserai,  are  arrested  by  the  sound  of  a  well- 
known  voice.  It  is  tlie  voice  of  a  Levite  of  Bethlehem, 
whom  they  had  known  whilst  in  their  southern  settlement. 
They  ask  him,  '  Who  brought  thee  hither  ?  and  what  makest 

*  thou  in  this  place  ?  and  what  hast  thou  here  ?  '  They  ask 
him,  and  we,  with  our  precise  notions  of  Levitical  ritual,  may 
well  ask  him  too.  He  tells  his  own  wild  story.  He,  like 
them,  had  been  a  wanderer  for  a  better  home  than  he  found 
in  the  little  village  of  Bethlehem.  He,  like  them,  liad  halted 
by  the  house  of  Micah,  on  the  ridge  of  Ephraim ;  and 
the  superstition  of  Micah  and  the  interest  of  the  Levite 
combined.  The  one,  like  many  a  feudal  noble,  was  eager  to 
secure  the  services  and  sanction  of  a  regular  chaplain  for  his 
new  establishment.  The  other,  like  many  a  feudal  priest, 
was  willing  to  secure  '  ten  shekels  of  silver  by  the  year,  and 
'  a  suit  of  apparel,  and  his  victuals.'  So  the  Levite  went  in, 
and  '  was  content  to  dwell  with  the  man,'  was  unto  him  as 
one  of  his  sons ;  and  Micah  consecrated  the  Levite,  a>nd  the 
young  man  became  his  priest,  and  occupied  one  of  the  dwell- 
ings '  by  the    house  of   Micah.     Then    said    Micah,    '  Now 

*  know  I  that  the  Lord  will  do  me  good,  seeing  I   have  a 

*  Levite  to  my  priest.' 

But,  as  the  story  unravels  itself,  still  further  does  it  lead 
us  into  the  manners  and  the  spirit  of  the  time.  The  same 
feelings  which  had  prompted  Micah  to  secure  the  wandering 
treasure,  were  shared  by  the  Danite  warriors,  who  had  re- 
cognised in  him  their  old  acquaintance.  They  had  received 
liis  blessing  on  their  enterprise  as  they  passed  by  on  their 

'  Judg.  xviii.  15. 


298  ISKAEL   UNDER   THE   JUDGES.  lect.  xiii. 

first  expedition.     They  suggested  to  their  coimtrymen,  on 
their  advance  to  accomplish  their  design,  that  here  was  the 
religious  sanction  which  alone  they  needed  to  render  it  suc- 
The  theft     cessful.     '  Do   ye  know,'  they  said  as  they  approached  the 
relics.  well-known  cluster  of  houses  on  the  hill-side — '  do  ye  know 

'  that  there  is  in  these  houses  an  ephod,  and  teraphim,  and  a 
'  graven  image,  and  a  molten  image  ?  Now  therefore  con- 
*sider  what  ye  have  to  do.'  In  the  centre  of  the  settlement 
rose  the  house  of  Micah,  and  at  its  gateway  was  the  dwelling 
of  the  Levite.  By  the  gateway  the  six  hundred  armed  war- 
riors stood  conversing  with  their  ancient  neighbour,  whilst 
the  five  men  stole  up  the  rocky  court,  and  into  the  little 
chapel,  and  fetched  away  the  images  with  teraphim  and 
ephod;  and,  long  before  they  were  discovered,  were  far 
along  their  northern  route.  The  priest  has  raised  his  voice 
^  against  the  theft  for  a  moment.     '  What  do  ye  ?  '     But  there 

is  a  ready  bribe.  '  Hold  thy  peace,  lay  thine  hand  upon  th}'^ 
'  mouth,    and  go    with    us ;    and  be  to  us  a  father  and  a 

*  priest :  is  it  better  for  thee  to  be  a  priest  unto  the  house  of 
'  one  man,  or  that  thou  become  a  priest  unto  a  tribe  and 

*  family  in  Israel  ? ' ' 

'  Hold  thy  peace,  lay  thine  hand  upon  thy  mouth ' — so, 
in  almost  the  same  words,  was  the  like  bribe  offered  by  one  of 
the  greatest  religious  houses  of  England  to  the  monk  who 
guarded  the  shrine  of  one  of  the  most  sacred  relics  in  the 
adjacent  cathedral  of  Canterbury — 'Give  us  the  portion  of 

*  S-  Thomas's  skull  which  is  in  thy  custody,  and  thou  shalt 

*  cease  to  be  a  simple  monk ;    thou  shalt  be  Abbot  of   S. 

*  Augustine's.'  ^  As  Eoger  accepted  the  bait  in  the  twelfth 
century  after  the  Christian  era,  so  did  the  Levite  of  Micah's 
house  in  the  fifteenth  century  before  it.     '  And  the  priest's 

*  heart  was  glad,  and  he  took  the  ephod,  and  the  teraphim, 

'  Jiidg.  Kviii.  14-19.  *  Thome's  Chronicle,  1176. 


LECT.  XIII.  THE   STOKY   OF   MICAII.  299 

'  and  the  graven  image,  and  went  in  the  midst  of  the 
'  people.'  The  theft  was  so  adroitly  managed,  that  the  soldiers 
were  far  away  before  Micah  and  his  neighbours  overtook 
them,  and  uttered  a  wail  of  grief  and  rage.  The  whole  ' 
neiglibourhood  had  a  common  interest  in  the  sanctuary ;  and 
Micah,  in  particular,  felt  that  his  importance  was  gone.  '  Ye 
*  have  taken  away  my  gods,  which  I  made,  and  the  priest,  and 
'  ye  are  gone  away ;  and  what  have  I  more  ?  '  But  they  are 
too  strong  for  him,  and  they  advance  to  the  easy  conquest 
which  gives  them  their  new  home. 

In  the  biography  of  this  one  Levite,  thus  accidentally,  as  The  Sane- 
it  were,  brought  to  view,  we  have  a  sample  of  the  darker  ^^'^^^  '^^ 
side  of  his  tribe,  as  brought  out  in  the  curse  of  Jacob — '  I 
'  will  divide  tbem  in  Jacob  and  scatter  them  in  Israel ' — 
lending  himself  to  the  highest  bidder,  to  Micah  first  for  ten 
shekels  a  year  and  food  and  clothing,  to  the  Danites  after- 
wards, that  he  might  become  a  Priest  of  a  tribe  and  family 
in  Israel  rather  than  to  the  house  of  one  man.  He  had  his 
reward ;  he  became  a  Father  and  Patriarch  to  the  new  com- 
monwealth. Under  his  auspices,  on  the  green  hill  by  the  sources 
of  the  Jordan  a  new  sanctuary  was  established ;  the  graven 
image  remained  there  undisturbed  during  the  whole  period 
of  the  Judges,  *  all  the  time  that  the  House  of  God  was  in 
'  Shiloh ; '  and  he  and  his  sons  founded  a  long  line  of  Priests, 
for  the  same  period,  '  Priests  to  the  tribe  of  Dan  until  the 
'  day '  of  the  captivity  of  the  land.'  And  who  was  this 
stranger  Levite — this  founder  of  a  schismatical  worship? 
Was  he  of  some  obscure  family,  that  might  be  thought  to  have 
escaped  the  higher  influences  of  the  age  ?  So  from  the  larger 
part  of  the  narrative,  so  from  the  dexterous  alteration  of  the 
text  by  later  copyists  in  the  one  passage  which  reveals  tbe 
secret,  it  might  have  been  inferred.     But  that  one  passage, 

'  Judg.  xviii.  30,  31.     For  these  expressions,  see  Lectui-e  XVII. 


soo 


ISRAEL   UNDEE   THE    JUDGES. 


LECT.  xiir. 


The  grand- 
son of 
Moses. 


according  to  the  reading  of  several  Hebrew  manuscripts  and 
of  the  Vulgate,  and  according  to  an  ancient  Jewish  tradition, 
and  to  the  almost  certain  conjecture  both  of  Kermicott  and  of 
Ewald,  tells  us  who  he  was  : — '  Jonathan,  the  son  of  Gershom, 
— the  son ' — not,  as  we  now  read,  of  Manasseh,'  but '  of  Moses.' 
¥/hether  it  was  from  the  general  laxity  of  the  time,  or  from 
the  obscurity  which  throughout  envelopes  the  family  of  the 
great  lawgiver,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  this  type  of  the 
wandering,  ambitious,  lawless  Priest  of  this  and  so  many 
after  ages,  was  no  less  than  the  grandson  of  the  Prophet 
Moses.  What  Jewish  copyists  have  done  here  by  endeavour- 
ing to  change  the  honoured  name  of  Moses  into  the  hated 
name  of  Manasseh,  is  what  has  been  often  attempted  in  the 
later  history  of  the  Church,  by  endeavouring  to  conceal,  or 
to  palliate,  the  excesses  or  errors  or  irregularities  of  the  in- 
ferior successors  of  noble  predecessors.  Let  the  s-tory  of  the 
grandson  of  Moses  be  at  once  an  illustration  of  the  fact,  and 
a  warning  to  us  not  to  make  too  much  of  it.  A  profligate 
and  heretical  Pope  in  a  profligate  or  heretical  age,  a  turbulent 
or  timeserving  Eeformer  in  a  turbulent  or  timeserving  age, 
are  not  of  such  importance  for  the  succeeding  or  preceding 
history,  as  that  we  should  be  very  eager  either  to  conceal  or 
to  affirm  the  fact  of  their  existence.  Each  age  has  its  o'wn 
errors  and  sins  to  bear.  Jonathan  the  son  of  Grershom,  and 
the  long  succession  of  the  priesthood  which  he  transmitted, 
are  indeed  illustrative  of  the  time  to  which  they  belonged, — 
are  exact  likenesses  of  what  has  occurred  again  and  again  in 
like  confusions  of  the  Christian  Church,— but  prove  nothing 
beyond  themselves,  and  need  not  either  be  kept  out  of  sight, 
on  the  one  hand,  or  made  into  standing  arguments,  on  the 


'  Judg  xviii.  30.     The  word  Mosch  Skebuel,  son  of  Gershom,  son  of  Moses, 

is  in  the  Hebrew  text,  hy  the  insertion  • — Jerome  (Qn.  Hcb.  ad  L)  says  that 

of  a  single  letter,  turned  into  Manas-  he  was  Micah's  Levite.     (See  Diet,  of 

eeh.     In  1  Chron.  xxiii.  15,  16,  occurs  Bible,  'Jonathan,'  'Manasseh.') 


LECT.  XIII.      STORY    OF   THE    LEVITE    OF   BETHLEHEM.  301 

other   hand,  against  the  Church  which,  for  the  time,  they 
represented. 

2.  No  less  characteristic  of  the  good  and  evil  of  the  period  The  stoiy 

PIT  -T  •  1     •      of  the  war 

IS  the  story  of  the  war  oi  the  eleven  tribes  against  their  of  Ben- 
brother  Benjamin  for  the  outrage  committed  by  the  in-  J^"^^^ 
habitants  of  Gibeah.  Here,  again,  is  a  roving  Levite  of 
irregular  life.  Every  step  of  his  journey  shows  us  a  glimpse 
of  the  state  of  the  country.  His  father-in-law  entertains 
him  with  true  Arabian  hospitality,  day  after  day,  night  after 
night.  Amidst  the  shadows  of  the  evening  'when  the 
'  day  is  far  spent,'  we  see  the  towers  of  '  Jebus  which  is 
'Jerusalem,'  still  in  the  hands  of  the  Canaanites.  The 
apprehension  of  the  travellers  as  they  find  themselves  over- 
taken by  darkness  is  exactly  that  which  still  attends  the 
fall  of  night  in  any  country  where  the  unsettled  state  of 
the  government  makes  itself  felt  in  robbers  and  outlaws. 
Outside  the  town  of  Gribeah,  in  the  open  space  beneath  the 
walls,  on  what  in  the  '  Arabian  Nights '  are  so  often  called 
'the  mounds,'  the  little  band  encamps.  Then  comes  the 
aged  countryman  from  the  fields,  and  the  dark  crime  which 
follows,  and  the  ferocious  summons  of  the  whole  people 
to  vengeance  by  the  signal  of  the  divided  ^  bones  of  the 
outraged  woman.  Both  the  atrocity  and  the  indignation 
which  it  excites  belong  to  the  primitive  stage  of  a 
people,  when,  as  the  historian  observes,  tanto  acrior  apud 
majores  ut  virtutibus  gloria,  ita  flagitUs  joosnitentia. 
There  is  nothing  in  later  times  like  the  original  out- 
rage.    But  neither  is  there  anything  in  later  times  like  the 


'  Judg.  xix.  29.     A  like  summons  is  tore  her  body  open   in  the  presence 

issued  within  this  same  period,  1  Sam.  of  the  tribe,  and  found  that  she  was 

xi.  7.  A  similar  incident  is  said  to  have  innocent.      The    slanderer    was    then 

occuiTed  recently  in  the  tribes   near  judged.     Her  tongue  was  cut  out,  and 

Damascus.     An  Arab  woman  having  she  was  hewn 'into  small  pieces,  which 

be^  n  accused  of  unchastity  by  another,  were  sent  all  over  the  desert. 
was  killed  by  her  father,  who  then 


302  ISRAEL   UNDER   THE    JUDGES.  lect.  xiir. 

universal  burst  of  horror.  '  We  will  not  any  of  us  go  to  his 
'  tent,  neither  will  we  any  of  us  turn  into  his  house ;  but  now 

*  this  shall  be  the  thing  which  we  will  do  unto  Gribeah  .  .  . 

*  according  to  the  folly  that  they  have  wrought  in  Israel. 
'  So  all  the  men  of  Israel  were  gathered  together  against 
'  the  city,  knit  together  as  one  man.'  There  are  many  wars 
in  Israel  after  this,  civil  and  foreign,  but  none  breathing  so 
ardent  a  spirit  of  zeal,  excessive,  extravagant  zeal  it  may  be, 
against  moral  evil.  As  in  the  former  story,  so  here,  we 
meet  with  one  who  had  known  the  old  generation.  Before 
it  was  the  grandson  of  JMoses ;  here  it  is  the  grandson  of 

Phinehas.  Aaron.  But  Phinehas  the  son  of  Eleazar  was  made  of 
sterner  and  better  stuff  than  Jonathan  the  son  of  Gershom. 
He  was  *  before  the  Ark  in  those  days,'  and  in  the  fierce, 
unyielding,  yet  righteous  desire  for  vengeance  which  ani- 
mated the  whole  people,  we  seem  to  see  the  same  spirit 
which  appeared  when,  in  the  matter  of  Baal-Peor,  '  Phi- 
*nehas  arose  and  executed  judgment,  and  that  was  counted 

*  unto  him  for  righteousness  among  all  generations  for  ever- 

*  more ; '  '  because  he  was  zealous  for  his  Grod,  and  virrought 

*  an  atonement  for  the  children  of  Israel.'  And  the  sudden 
change  of  feeling,  no  less  primitive  and  natural,  the  return 
of  compassion  towards  the  remnant  of  the  Benjamites, 
is  still  in  accordance  with  the  only  other  trait  which  we 
know  of  the  character  of  the  aged  Priest.  They  wept  sore 
and  said,  '  0  Lord  Grod  of  Israel,  why  is  this  come  to  pass 
'  in  Israel,  that  there  should  be  to-day  one  tribe  lacking  in 

*  Israel?  And  the  children  of  Israel  repented  them  for 
'Benjamin  their  brother.'  Even  so,  when,  for  the  fancied 
offence  of  the  Trans-Jordanic  tribes,  the  rest  of  the  nation 
with  Phinehas  at  their  head  had  set  off  to  exterminate  them, 
the  same  tender  brotherly  feeling  revived,  when  the  same 
Phinehas  heard  and  accepted  the  explanation  of  the  act. 
It  is  the  same  union  of  a  wild  sense  of  justice  and  religion. 


LECT.  xiii.  THE   WAR   OF   BENJAMIN.  303 

combined  with  a  keen  sense  of  national  and  family  union, 
such  as  marks  an  early  age,  and  an  early  age  only.  In  the 
later  dissensions  of  the  nation,  we  find  no  such  hasty  vows, 
no  such  measures  of  sudden  and  total  destruction.  But 
neither  do  we  find  such  ready  and  eager  forgiveness,  such 
frank  acknowledgment  of  error.  The  early  feuds  of  nations 
and  churches  are  more  violent,  but  they  are  often  less  in- 
veterate and  malignant  than  the  sectarianism  and  party-spirit 
of  later  years.  The  one  is  a  fitful  frenzy,  the  other  is  a 
chronic  disorder.  Doubtless  there  was  something  fierce  and 
terrible  in  the  oracles  of  the  ancient  Phinehas,  Priest  and 
Warrior  in  one ;  but  he  was  in  the  end  a  milder  counsellor 
than  the  High  Priest  who,  in  the  latest  days  of  the  nation, 
in  all  the  fulness  of  civilisation  and  of  statesmanship,  gave 
his  counsel  that  '  it  was  expedient  that  one  man  should  die 
'  for  the  people,  that  the  whole  nation  perish  not.' 

The  details  of  the  story  agree  with  its  general  character. 
The  resolute  determination  of  the  Benjamites  not  to  give 
up  the  guilty  city  is  a  trait  of  the  bond  of  honour  and  of 
clanship  which,  in  an  early  age,  outweighs  the  ties  of 
country  and  public  interests.  We  catch  here,  too,  the  first 
glimpse  of  the  romantic,  and,  as  it  were,  secret  alliance 
between  Jabesh-gilead  and  Benjamin.  Hence  their  absence 
from  the  fatal  massacre ;  hence  the  chase  of  their  maidens 
for  the  future  wives  of  Benjamin;  hence,  in  a  later  genera- 
tion, their  application  for  help  to  the  great  chief  of  the 
Benjamite  tribe ;  hence  their  fidelity  to  him  after  defeat 
and  death.'  The  remnant  of  the  tribe,  entrenched  on  the 
cliff  of  '  the  Pomegranate,'  ^  reveals  to  us  the  fierce  daring 
of  the  time.  The  dances  in  the  vineyards  of  Shiloh  reveal 
to  us  its  simplicity  and  tenderness. 

3.  Thirdly,   the   story   of  Ruth   (in  the    ancient  editions  Tlie  story 

of  Kuth. 

'  Judg.  xxi.  9-14;   1  Sam.  xi.  4  ;  xxxi,  11,  12.        *  Eimmon  ;  Judg.  xx.  47. 


304  ISEAEL   UNDER   THE   JUDGES.  l£ct.  xiii. 

of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  always  joined  to  the  Book  of 
Judges)  reveals  to  us  a  scene  as  primitive  in  its  simple  repose 
as  the  others  are  in  their  violence  and  disorder.'  It  is  one 
of  those  quiet  corners  of  history  which  are  the  green  spots  of 
all  time,  and  which  appear  to  become  greener  and  greener  as 
they  recede  into  the  distance.  Bethlehem  is  the  starting- 
point  of  this  story,  as  of  the  two  which  preceded,  but  now 
under  different  auspices.  We  see  amidst  the  cornfields, 
whence  it  derives  its  name,  '  the  House  of  Bread,'  the  beau- 
tiful stranger  gleaning  the  ears  of  corn  after  the  reapers.^ 
We  hear  the  exchange  of  salutations  between  the  reapers  and 
their  master  :  '  Jehovah  be  with  you,'  '  Jehovah  bless  thee.'  ^ 
We  are  present  at  the  details  of  the  ancient  custom,  which 
the  author  of  the  book  describes  almost  with  the  fond  regret 
of  modern  antiquarianism,  as  one  which  was  '  the  manner  of 
'  Israel  in  former  times,'— the  symbolical  transference  of  the 
rights  of  kinsmanship  by  drawing  off  the  sandal.*  We  have 
the  first  record  of  a  solemn  nuptial  benediction ;  with  the 
first  direct  allusion  to  the  ancient  patriarchal  traditions  of 
Eachel  and  Leah,^  of  Judah  and  Tamar.  And  whilst  these 
touches  send  us  back,  as  in  the  two  dark  stories  which  pre- 
cede  this  tranquil  episode,  to  the  earlier  stage  of  Israelite 
existence,  there  is  in  this  the  first  germ  of  the  future  hope 
of  the  nation.  The  Book  of  Kuth  is,  indeed,  the  link  of 
connexion  between  the  old  and  the  new.  There  was  re- 
joicing over  the  birth  of  the  child  at  Bethlehem  which  Euth 
bare  to  Boaz :  '  and  Naomi  took  the  child  and  laid  it  in 
'  her  bosom,  and  became  nurse  to  it.'  °  It  would  seem 
as  if  there  was  already  a  kind  of  joyous  foretaste  of  the 

'  It  is  useless  (with  so  few  data)  '  Ruth  ii.  2. 

to  attempt   to  iix  the   exact  time  of  '  Ihid.  ii.  4. 

the   events    related    in    the  Book    of  *  IhkJ.  iv.  7. 

Ruth.    Its  general  character,  however,  *  Ibid.  iv.  11,  12. 

agrees  with  the  seclusion  of  the  tribe  °  Ibid,  iv.  16. 
of  Judah  throughout  this  period. 


LECT.  XIII.  THE   STORY   OF   RUTH.  305 

birth  and  infancy  which,  in  after  times,  was  to  be  for  ever 
associated  with  the  name  of  Bethlehem.     It  was  the  first 
appearance  on  the  scene  of  what  may  by  anticipation  be 
called  even  then  the  Holy  Family,  for  that  child  was  Obed, 
the  father  of  Jesse,  the  father  of  David.     Nor  is  it  a  mere 
genealooical  connexion  between  the  two  generations.     The 
very  license  and  independence  of  the  age  may  be  said  to 
have    been  the  means  of  introducing   into  the  ancestry  of 
David  and    of  the  Messiah  an  element   which   else   would 
have  been,  humanly  speaking,  impossible,     '  An  Ammonite  or 
*  a  Moabite  shall  not  enter  into  the  congregation,'  *     This  was 
the  letter  of  the  law,  and  in  the  greater  strictness  that  pre- 
vailed after  the  return  from  the  captivity,  it  was   rigidly 
enforced.     But  in  the  isolation  of  Judah  from  the  rest  of 
Israel,  in  the  doing  of  every  man  what  was  right  in  his  own 
eyes,  the  more  comprehensive  spirit  of  the  whole  religion 
overstepped  the  letter  of  a  particular  enactment.     The  story 
of  Ruth  has  shed  a  peaceful  light  over  what  else  would  be 
the  accursed  race  of  Moab.     We  strain  our  gaze  to  know 
something  of  the  long  line  of  the  purple  hills  of  Moab,  which 
form  the  background   at  once   of  the   history    and  of  the 
geography  of  Palestine.     It  is   a  satisfaction   to    feel   that 
there  is  one  tender  association  which  unites  them  with  the 
familiar   history  and   scenery    of  Judeea — that   from    their 
recesses,   across   the   deep    gulf    which   separates   the   two 
regions,  came  the  gentle   ancestress  of  David  and  of  the 
Messiah. 

V.  '  And  now '  (if  I  may  venture  for  a  moment  to  use  the 
language  of  the  sacred  book  ^  which  in  the  New  Testament 
has  thrown  itself  with  the  greatest  ardour  and  sympathy  into 
this  troubled  period),  '  what  shall  I  more  say  ?  for  the  time 

'  Deut.  xxiii.  3 ;  Ezra  ix.  1 ;  Neh.  xiii.  1.  -  Heb.  xi.  32. 

X 


306  ISEAEL   UNDER   THE   JUDGES.  lect.  xin. 

'  would  fail  me  to  tell  of  Gideon,  and  of  Barak,  and  of  Samson, 
'  and  of  Jephthah.' 
Mixed  cha-  Eeserving  the  details,  let  me  say  thus  much  by  way  of  pre- 
the  period.  ^^^®  ^^  ^^^  these  characters.  I  have  dwelt  on  the  unsettled, 
transitory,  unequal  state  of  the  time  in  which  they  lived, 
because  only  in  the  light  of  that  time  can  they  be  fairly 
considered.  Mixed  characters  they  are,  as  almost  all  the 
characters  in  Scripture  are — but  in  them  the  ingredients 
are  mixed  more  closely,  more  strongly  than  in  any  others,  in 
proportion  to  the  mixed  character  of  the  period  which  pro- 
duced them.  It  is  this  which  gives  to  the  narrative  of  the 
Book  of  Judges  its  peculiar  charm.  And,  although,  as  I  have 
said,  it  stands,  by  its  own  confession,  on  a  lower  moral  level 
than  other  portions  of  the  Sacred  record,  although  it  portrays 
a  time  when  '  every  man  did  what  was  right  in  his  own  eyes,' 
and  when  '  the  children  of  Israel  did  that  which  was  evil  in 
'  the  sight  of  the  Lord,'  yet  there  is  in  this  very  circum- 
stance a  lesson  which  we  should  sorely  miss  if  it  were  lost  to 
us.  It  represents  a  period  of  ecclesiastical  history,  with  all  the 
chequered  colours  of  real  life.  It  gives  a  play  to  those  natural 
qualities  which,  though  not  strictly  religious,  are  yet  too  noble, 
too  lively,  too  attractive,  to  be  overlooked  in  any  true,  and 
therefore  (in  the  highest  sense)  any  religious,  view  of  the 
world.  We  cannot  pretend  to  say  that  Samson  and  Jephthah, 
hardly  that  Gideon  or  Barak,  are  characters  which  we  should 
have  selected  as  devout  men,  as  servants  of  God.  If  we  had  met 
with  them  in  another  history,  we  should  have  regarded  them 
as  wild  freebooters,  as  stern  chieftains,  at  best  as  high-minded 
patriots.  They  are  bursting  with  passion,  they  are  stained 
by  revenge,  they  are  alternately  lax  and  superstitious.  Their 
virtues  are  of  the  rough  kind,  which  make  them  subjects  of 
personal  or  poetic  interest,  rather  than  of  sober  edification. 
Their  words  are  remarkable,  not  so  much  for  devotion  or 
wisdom,    as    for    a   burning    enthusiasm,   like    the    song  of 


LECT.  XIII.  ITS   MIXED    CHARACTERS.  307 

Deborah  ;  for  a  chivalrous  frankness,  as  in  the  acts  of  Phinehas 
and  of  Jephthah ;  for  a  ready  presence  of  mind,  as  in  the 
movements  of  Gideon ;  for  a  primitive  and  racy  humour,  as 
in  the  repartees  of  Samson.    Yet  these  characters  are  without 
liesitation  ranked  amongst  the  lights  of  the  Chosen  People : 
the   world's  heroes   are    fearlessly  enrolled    amongst    God's 
heroes  ;  the  men  in  whom  we  should  be  inclined  to  recognise 
only  the  strong  arm  which  defends  us,  and  the  rough  wit 
which  amuses  us,  are  described  as  '  raised  up  by  God.'     No 
modern  theory  of  '  inspiration '  checks  the  sacred  writers  in 
speaking  of  '  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord '  as  '  clothing '  Gideon  ' 
as  mth  a  mantle  for  his  enterprise,  as  '  descending '  upon 
Othniel  and  Jeplithah  ^  for  their  wars,  as  ^  striking '  the  soul  of 
Samson  like  a  bell  or  drum,^  or  as  '  rushing '  upon  him  with 
irresistible  force  for  his  heroic  deeds.^     In  a  lower  degree, 
doubtless,  and  mingled  with  many  infirmities,  the  wild  chiefs 
of  this    stormy   epoch,  with   their    Phoenician   titles,  their 
Bedouin  lives,  and  their  '  muscular '  religion,  partook  of  the 
same  Spirit  which  inspired  Moses  and  Josliua  before  them, 
and  David  and  Isaiah  after  them.     The  imperfection  of  their 
characters,  the  disorder  of  their  times,  set  forth  the  more 
clearly  the  one  redeeming  element  of  trust  in  God  that  lurked 
in  each  of  them,  and,  through  them,  kept  alive  the  national 
existence.     '  By  faith,''  as  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  is  not  afraid  to  say,  they,  too,  in  their  unconscious 
energy  '  subdued  kingdoms  ....  obtained  promises,  stopped 
'  the  mouths  of  lions  ....  escaped  the  edge  of  the  sword, 
'  out  of  weakness  were  made  strong,  waxed  valiant  in  fight, 
'  turned  to  flight  the  armies  of  the  aliens.' 

Such  an  acknowledgment  of  these  characters  is  a  double 
boon.  Nothing  should  be  lamented,  nothing  should  be  de- 
spised, which  brings  within  the  range  of  our  religious  sympathy, 

'  Judg.  Ti.  34  (Hebrew).  '  .Tudg.  xiii.  25  (Hebrew). 

*  Bid.  iii.  10 ;  xi.  29.  ■•  Ibid.  xiv.  6 ;  xv.  14. 

X  2 


308  ISRAEL   UNDEE   THE    JUDGES.  i.ect.  xiii. 

within  the  sanction  of  Eevelation,  qualities  and  incidents 
which  in  common  life  we  cannot  help  admiring,  which  history 
and  common  sense  command  us  to  admire,  but  which  yet, 
from  our  narrow  construction  of  Grod's  Providence,  we  are 
afraid  to  recognise  in  our  theological  or  ecclesiastical  systems. 
We  gain  by  being  made  at  one  with  ourselves :  Scripture 
^       gains  by  being  made  at  one  with  us.     Had  the  history  of  the 
Chosen  People  been  framed  on  the  principle  of  many  a  later 
history  of  the  Church,  who  can  doubt  that  these  inestimable 
touches  of  human  life  and  character  would  have  been  alto- 
gether lost  to  us  ?     How  would   Samson  have    fared  with 
Milner  ?  to  what  would  Deborah  have  been  reduced  in  the 
refined  speculations  of  Neander  ? 
The  classi-       And  there  is  a  yet  further  affinity  between  us  and  them, 
in  tle'his'-    which  the  Sacred  history  impresses  upon  us.     Is  it  not  the 
*°^-  case  that,  in  this  period,  we  see  for  tlie  first  time,  and  more 

distinctly  than  elsewhere,  that  approximation  which  is  de- 
veloped, irregularly,  obscurely,  but  still  perceptibly,  as  time 
goes  on,  between  some  elements  of  the  Hebrew  character  and 
those  of  the  Western  and  European  world  ?  It  is  a  matter 
which  must  be  stated  carefully  and  cautiously,  lest  we  seem 
to  encourage  the  extravagant  theories  which,  on  the  right  hand 
and  on  the  left,  have  beset  every  such  view  of  the  question. 
But  the  very  fact  of  such  theories  having  arisen  implies  a 
common  ground,  which  is  really  a  matter  of  solid  interest 
and  instruction.  Few,  if  any,  will  now  maintain  the  hypo- 
tliesis  of  our  old  divines  of  the  last  century,  that  the  stories 
of  Iphigenia  and  Idomeneus  are  stolen  from  the  story  of 
Jephthah's  daughter,  or  the  labours  of  Hercules  from  the 
labours  of  Samson ;  few,  if  any,  will  now  maintain,  with  some 
Grermans  of  the  last  generation,  the  reverse  hjrpothesis  that 
Samson  and  Jephthah  are  mere  copies  of  Hercules  and 
Agamemnon.  But  the  resemblance  between  the  two  sets  of 
incidents  is  an  undoubted  indication  that  there  was  something 


LECT.  XIII.  ITS   CLASSICAL   ELEMENT.  309 

in  the  Hebrew  race  which  did  more  readily  produce  incidents 
and  characters,  if  we  may  use  the  expression,  of  a  classical, 
Western,  Grecian  type,  than  we  find  in  any  other  branch  of 
the  Semitic,  we  might  almost  add,  of  the  Oriental  world. 
It  is  a  likeness,  which,  as  I  have  said,  goes  on  increasing 
from  this  time  forward.  It  is  as  if,  from  the  moment  that 
the  tribes  of  Israel  caught  sight  of  the  Mediterranean  waters 
— of  the  ships  of  Chittim — of  the  isles  of  the  sea— the  spirit 
of  the  West  began  to  be  mingled  with  the  spirit  of  their 
native  East,  and  they  began  to  assume  that  position  in  the 
world  which  none  have  occupied  except  the  inhabitants  of 
Palestine— links  between  Asia  and  Europe,  between  Shem 
and  Japhet,  between  the  immovable  repose  of  the  Oriental, 
and  the  endless  activity  and  freedom  of  the  Occidental 
world. 

We  may,  as  we  read  the  story  of  the  Judges,  feel  that  the 
sacred  characters  are  gradually  drawing  nearer  to  us,  flesh 
of  our  flesh,  and  bone  of  our  bone.  The  figures  of  speech 
which  they  use  are  familiar  to  us  in  the  imagery  of  our  own 
West.  In  the  parable  of  Jotham — the  earliest  known  fable — 
we  fall  upon  the  first  instance  of  that  peculiar  kind  of  com- 
position, in  which  the  Eastern  and  Western  imagination 
coincide.  The  fables  of  -^Esop  are  alike  G-reeian  and  Indian. 
The  fable  of  Jotham  might,  as  far  as  its  spirit  goes,  have 
been  spoken  in  the  market-place  of  Athens  or  of  Eome  as 
appropriately  as  on  the  height  of  Gerizim.  Of  the  classical 
elements  in  the  stories  of  Jephthah  and  Samson  we  shall  have 
to  speak  in  detail.  In  the  case  of  Samson  especially,  the 
classical  tendency  has  been  put  to  the  severest  conceivable  test, 
for  it  has  been  chosen  by  the  most  classical  of  all  English 
poets  as  the  framework  of  a  drama,  which,  even  after  all  that 
has  been  done  since  in  our  own  day  for  finished  imitations  of 
the  Grecian  style,  with  Grecian  scenery  and  Grecian  mytho- 
logy for  their  basis,  must  yet  be  considered  the  most  perfect 


310  ISEAEL    UNDEE   THE   JUDGES.  xect.  xiii. 

likeness  of  an  ancient  tragedy  that  modern  literature  has 
produced. 
Analogy  of       VI.  Finally,  there  is,  perhaps,  no  period  of  the  Jewish 
to  the  history  which  so  directly  illustrates  a  corresponding  period  of 

Middle  Christian  history.  It  is,  no  doubt,  a  grave  error,  both  in  taste 
and  in  religion,  to  institute  a  too  close  comparison  between 
sacred  history  and  common  history.  There  is  a  barrier 
between  them  which,  with  all  their  points  of  resemblance, 
cannot  be  overleaped.  But  we  are  expressly  told  that  the 
things  which  'were  written  aforetime'  happened  to  them 
for  '  ensamples,'  that  they  were  '  written  for  our  admonition, 
'  upon  whom  the  ends  of  the  world  are  come.'  If  so,  we 
cannot  safely  decline  to  recognise  the  undoubted  likenesses 
of  ourselves  and  of  our  forefathers  which  those  examples 
contain.  And,  in  this  case,  I  know  not  where  we  shall  find  a 
better  guide  to  conduct  us,  with  a  judgment  at  once  just  and 
tender,  through  the  mediaeval  portion  of  Christian  ecclesias- 
tical history,  than  the  sacred  record  of  the  corresponding 
period  of  the  history  of  the  Judges.  The  knowledge  of  each 
period  reacts  upon  our  knowledge  of  the  other.  Tlie  difficulties 
of  each  mutually  explain  the  other.  We  cannot  be  in  a  better 
position  for  defending  mediaeval  Christianity  against  the 
indiscriminate  attacks  of  one-sided  Puritanical  wi'iters,  than 
by  pointing  to  its  counterpart  in  the  sacred  record.  We 
cannot  wish  for  a  better  proof  of  the  general  truth  and 
fidelity  of  this  part  of  the  Biblical  narrative,  than  by  ob- 
serving its  exact  accordance  with  the  manners  and  feelings 
of  Christendom  under  analogous  circumstances.  We  need 
only  claim  for  the  doubtful  acts  of  Jephthah  and  of  Jael  the 
same  verdict  that  philosophical  historians  have  pronounced 
on  the  like  actions  of  Popes  and  Crusaders — a  judgment  to 
be  measured  not  by  our  age,  but  by  theirs,  not  by  the  light 
of  full  Christian  civilisation,  but  by  the  license  of  a  time 
when  '  every  man  did  what  was  right  in  his  own  eyes ' — and 


UECT.  XIII.         AXALOGT   TO    THE   MIDDLE   AGES.  31 1 

when  the  maxim  of  them  of  old  time  still  prevailed  over 
every  other  consideration, — '  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbom-, 
'and  hate  thine  enemy.'  We  need  only  claim  for  the 
3Iiddle  Ages  the  same  favourable  hearing  which  religious 
men  of  all  persuasions  are  willing  to  extend  to  the  Judges 
of  Ifaracl.  The  difficulty  which  uneducated  or  half-educated 
classes  of  men  find  in  rightly  judging,  or  even  rightly  con- 
ceiving, of  a  state  of  morals  and  religion  different  from  their 
own,  is  one  of  the  main  obstacles  to  a  general  diffusion  of 
comprehensive  and  tolerant  views  of  past  history.  What  we 
want  is  some  common  ground,  on  which  the  poor  and  un- 
learned can  witness  the  application  of  such  views  no  less 
than  the  highly  cultivated.  Such  a  ground  is  furnished  by 
many  parts  of  the  sacred  narrative ;  but  by  none  so  much  as 
the  Book  of  Judges.  If  we  urge  that  the  Middle  Ages  must  be 
judged  by  another  standard  than  our  own — that  the  excesses 
which  are  now  universally  condemned  were  then  united  with 
high  and  noble  aspirations — to  half  the  world  we  shall  be 
saying  words  without  meaning.  But  if  we  can  show  that 
the  very  same  variation  of  judgment  is  allowed  and  enforced 
in  the  sacred  and  familiar  instance  of  the  Judges,  we  shall, 
at  any  rate,  have  a  chance  of  being  heard.  Here,  as  else- 
where, the  Bible  will  discharge  its  proper  function  of  being 
the  one  book  of  all  classes — the  one  history  and  literatm-e 
in  which  rich  and  poor  can  meet  together  and  understand 
each  other. 

These  resemblances  between  the  mediaeval  history  of  the 
Jewish  Church  and  the  mediaeval  history  of  the  Christian 
Church  are  seen  at  every  turn,  and  perhaps  more  felt  than 
seen.  Take  any  scene,  almost  at  random,  from  this  period ; 
and,  but  for  the  names  and  Eastern  colouring,  it  might  be 
from  the  tenth  or  twelfth  century.  The  house  of  Micah 
and  his  Levite  set  forth  the  exact  likeness  of  the  feudal  castle 
and  feudal  chieftain  of  our  early  civilisation.     The  Danites, 


312  THE    PEEIOD    OF    THE   JUDGES.  lect.  xiii. 

eager  to  secure  to  their  enterprise  the  sanction  of  a  sacred 
personage  and  of  sacred  images,  are  the  forerunners  of  that 
strange  mixture  of  faith  and  superstition,  which  prompted 
in  the  Middle  Ages  so  many  pious  thefts  of  relics,  so  many- 
extortions  of  unwilling  benedictions.     The  Levite  bribed  by 
the  promise  of  a  higher  office  is,  as  we  have  already  ob- 
served, the  likeness  of  the  faithless  guardian  of  a  venerated 
shrine  tempted  by  the  vacant  abbacy  in  some  neighbouring 
monastery  to  betray  the  sacred  treasure  committed  to  him. 
In  Micah  and  his  armed  men  pursuing  their  lost  teraphim, 
and  repulsed  with  rough  taunts  by  the  stronger  band,  we 
read  the   victory  obtained   by  the   successful   relic-stealers 
over  their  less  ready  or  less  powerful   rivals.      The  whole 
story   of    the   Benjamite   war    has    been    introduced   as   a 
mediaeval  tale  into  a  celebrated  historical  romance,'  perhaps 
with  questionable  propriety,  but  in  such  exact  conformity  to 
the  costume  and  fashion  of  the  time  as  to  furnish  of  itself  a 
proof  of  the  graphic  faithfulness  of  the  sacred  narrative,  which 
could  lend  itself  so  readily  to  the  metamorphosis.     The  sum- 
mons of  the  tribes  by  the  bones  of  the  murdered  victim,  and 
of  the  slaughtered  animal,  is  the  same  as  the  summons  of  the 
Highland  clans  by  the  fiery  cross  dipped  in  blood.    The  vows 
of  monastic  life,  the  vows  of  celibacy,  the  vows  of  pilgrimage, 
which  exercise  so  large  an  influence  over  mediseval  life,  have 
their  prototypes  in  the  vows  already  noticed  in  the  early 
struggles  of  Israel — the  same  excuses,  the  same  evils,  and 
many  of  the  same  advantages.     The  insecurity  of  communi- 
cation— the  danger  of  violence  by  night — is  the  same  in  both 
periods.    The  very  roads  fall,  if  one  may  so  say,  into  the  same 
track.    '  The  highways  become  unoccupied,  and  the  travellers,' 
alike  in  Judasa  and  in  England,  '  walk  along  the  byways,'  ^ 
under  the  skirt  of  the  hills  and  through  the  dark  lanes  which 

>  See  Scott's  Ivanhoc,  c.  xt.  *  Judg.  v.  6. 


LECT.  XIII.         AXALOGY   TO    THE   MIDDLE    AGES.  313 

may  screen  tliem  from  notice.  "We  are  struck  at  Ascalon 
and  in  the  plains  of  Pliilistia  Ly  finding"  the  localities  equally 
connected  with  the  history  of  Kichard  Coeur-de-Lion  and  of 
Samson ;  but  they  are,  in  fact,  united  by  moral  and  historical, 
far  more  than  by  any  mere  local,  coincidences.  In  both  ages 
theie  is  the  same  long  crusade  against  the  imbelievers.  The 
Moors  in  Spain,  the  Tartars  in  Eussia,  play  the  very  same 
part  as  the  Canaanites  and  Philistines  in  Palestine.  The 
caves  of  Palestine  furnish  the  same  refuge  as  the  caves  of 
Asturias.  Priests  and  Levites  wander  to  and  fro  over  Pa- 
lestine :  mendicant  friars  and  sellers  of  indulgences  over 
Europe.  Hophni  and  Phinehas  become  at  Shiloh  the  proto- 
types of  the  bloated  pluralists  of  the  Mediaeval  Church  of 
Europe.  '  In  those  days  there  was  no  king  in  Israel,'  there 
was  no  settled  government  in  Christendom — all  things  were 
as  yet  in  chaos  and  confusion.  Yet  the  germs  of  a  better  life 
were  everywhere  at  work.  In  the  one,  the  Judge,  as  we 
have  seen,  was  gradually  blending  into  the  hereditary  King. 
In  the  other,  the  feudal  chief  was  gradually  passing  into  the 
constitutional  sovereign.  The  youth  of  Samuel,  the  childhood 
of  David,  were  nursed  under  this  wild  system.  The  schools 
of  the  prophets,  the  universities  of  Christendom,  owe  their 
first  impulse  to  this  first  period  of  Jewish  and  of  Christian 
History. 

The  age  of  the  Psalmists  and  Prophets  was  an  immense 
advance  upon  the  age  of  the  Judges.  Yet  Psalmists  and 
Prophets  look  back  with  exultation  and  delight  to  the  day 
when  the  rod  of  the  oppressor  was  broken,'  when  the  hosts 
of  Sisera  perished  at  Endor,  when  Zeba  and  Zalmunna  were 
swept  away  as  the  stubble  before  the  wind.  Our  age  is  an 
immense  advance  upon  the  age  of  chivalry  and  the  Crusaders ; 
but  it  is  well,  from  time  to  time,  to  be  reminded  that  there 

'  Isaiah  ix.  4,  x.  26  ;  Ps.  Lxxxiii.  9-11. 


314  THE    PERIOD    OF   THE   JUDGES.  lect.  xiii. 

are  virtues  in  chivalry  and  in  barbarism,  as  well  as  in  reason 
and  civilisation ;  and  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
has  taught  us  that  even  the  most  imperfect  of  the  champions 
of  ancient  times  may  be  ranked  in  the  cloud  of  the  witnesses 
of  faith, — '  God  having  provided  some  better  thing  for  us, 
'  that  they  without  us  might  not  be  made  perfect.' ' 

'  Heb.  xi.  40. 


315 


LECTUEE   XIV. 

DEBORAH. 

The  great  war  of  the  earlier  period  of  the  history  is  heralded 
by  two  or  three  lesser  conflicts. 

Othniel  may  be  said  to  be  the  last  of  the  generation  of  con-  Otlmiel. 
querors.^  In  him  the  Lion  of  Judah,  which  had  won  the 
southern  portion  of  Palestine  under  Caleb,  appears  for  the 
last  time,  till  the  resuscitation  of  the  warlike  spirit  of  the 
tribe  by  David.  All  the  other  indications  of  its  history  during 
this  period  are  peaceful;  the  pastoral  simplicity  of  Boaz 
and  Euth,  its  absence  from  the  gathering  under  Barak,  its 
retiring  demeanour  in  the  story  of  Samson.  The  enemy 
whom  Othniel  attacked  is  also  a  solitary  exception.  Chushan- 
Eishathaim  is  the  only  invader  from  the  remote  East  till  the 
decline  of  the  monarchy,  and  his  name  has  as  yet  received 
no  illustration  from  the  Assyrian  monuments  or  history. 

The  story  of  Ehud  throws  a  broader  light  over  the  dark-  Ehud, 
ness  of  the  time.  The  Moabite  armies,  the  most  civilised 
of  the  Transjordanic  nations,  exasperated,  perhaps,  by  the 
increasing  inroads  of  Gad  and  Eeuben,  place  themselves 
at  the  head  of  the  more  nomadic  tribes  of  Ammon  and 
Amalek,  cross  the  Jordan,  and  (like  the  Israelites  on  their 
first  passage)  establish  themselves  at  Gilgal  and  Jericho. 
Beyond  the  mountain  barrier  they  did  not  reach ;  ^  but  their 
dominion  extended  itself  over  the  neighbouring  tribe  of 
Benjamin,^  and  a  village  bearing  the  name  of  the  *  hamlet 

"  Judg.  iii.  9.  »  Ibid.  13.  »  Ibid.  26. 


316  EHUD.  LECT.  XIV. 

'  of  the  Ammonites '  ^  was  probably  the  memorial  of  this  con- 
quest. From  Benjamin,  accordingly,  a  yearly  tribute  was 
exacted.  There  was  in  the  tribe  a  youth  ^  of  the  name  of 
Ehud,  who  seems  (from  what  follows)  to  have  acquired  a 
fame  for  prophetic  power  in  the  country.  He  was  naturally 
intrusted  with  the  charge  of  carrying  the  tribute  to  the 
Moabite  fortress.  After  he  had  delivered  the  gifts,  he  paid 
a  visit  to  the  sacred  enclosure  ^  or  *  images '  at  Grilgal,  left 
his  two  attendants,*  and  returned,  with  his  increased  know- 
ledge of  the  localities,  to  the  presence  of  the  king.  The 
whole  scene  is  full  of  the  contrast  between  the  slight,  wily, 
agile  Israelite,  and  the  corpulent,^  credulous,  unwieldy 
Moabite.  The  king  is  seated  in  a  chamber  on  the  roof  of 
the  house,  for  the  sake  of  catching  a  cool  air  in  the  sultry 
atmosphere  of  the  Jordan  valley,  with  his  attendants  around 
him.  Ehud  announces  that  he  has  a  secret  oracle  to  dis- 
close. The  king,  with  an  instantaneous  '  Hush ! '  ^  orders 
his  attendants  to  withdraw.  Ehud,  still  fearing  lest  his  blow 
should  miss  its  aim,  repeats  the  announcement  of  the  divine 
message.  This  was  to  raise  the  king  from  his  sitting  pos- 
ture, and  expose  him  to  the  stroke  more  easily.  Eglon  falls 
into  the  snare.  With  the  respect  always  paid  in  the  East  to 
a  sacred  personage,  he  rises  and  comes  towards  the  assassin. 
In  that  moment,  from  the  long  mantle  ^  which  as  the  leader 
of  the  tribe  he  wore  round  him,  Ehud,  left-handed  like  so 
many  ^  of  his  tribesmen,  drew  the  long  dagger  concealed  on 
his  right  thigh.  Its  flash  ^  is  seen  for  an  instant,  before  the 
flesh  of  the  portly  king  closes  in  upon  it.     Ehud  escapes  by 

'  Josh,  xviii.  24.  ^  Juclg.  Hi.  17. 

^  Joseph.  Ant.  y.  4,  §  2;  vtavias,  *  Ib/d.  19  (Hebrew). 

p(avl(TKos.  '  The   word   translated  '  raiment,' 

^  This  seems  to  be  the  meaning  of  Jl/id.  16. 

the  word  translated  'quarries,'  Judg.  *  Ibid.  xx.  16;  1  Chron.  xii.  2. 

iii.  19,  26.  ^  LXX.  'p\6ya.     Comp.  Nahum  iii. 

*  .Joseph.  Ant.  v.  4,  §  2  :  aiiv  dvoiv  3  ;  Judg.  iii.  22  ;  Job  xxxix.  23. 
oiKirais. 


rKOT.  XIV.  DEBORAH.  317 

the  gallery  round  the  roof,  locking  the  door  behind  him. 
He  regains  the  sanctuary  at  Grilgal,  then  darts  into  the  moun- 
tains, and  rouses  his  countrymen  by  the  rude  blasts  of  his 
cow-horns,  blown  in  every  direction  over  the  hill-side.  The 
upper  chamber  at  Jericho,  meanwhile,  remains  shut.  The 
attendants  stand  outside.  They  cannot  account  for  the  long 
closing  of  the  door,  except  on  the  supposition  that  their  lord 
had  retired  there  for  purposes  which  Oriental  delicacy  re- 
serves for  seclusion.  At  last  their  hope  fails. ^  They  find 
the  huge  corpse  stretched  on  the  ground.  They  fly  panic- 
stricken  ;  but,  by  the  time  they  reach  the  ford  of  the  Jordan, 
they  find  it  intercepted  by  the  Israelite  warriors,  and  the 
narrative  ends  as  it  had  begun,  with  its  half-humorous  allu- 
sion to  the  well-fed  ^  carcases  of  those  who,  corpulent  like 
their  chief,  lay  dead  along  the  shore  of  the  river. 

But  the  crowning  event  of  this  period,  both  in  its  in-  Deborah, 
trinsic  interest  and  our  knowledge  of  it,  is  the  victory  of 
Deborah  and  Barak.  It  is  told  both  in  prose  and  poetry, 
and  the  poem  is  one  of  the  most  incontestable  remains  of 
antiquity  that  the  Sacred  records  contain,  and  the  increased 
pleasure  and  instruction  with  which  we  are  enabled  to  read 
it  furnish  a  signal  proof  of  the  gain  added  to  our  Biblical 
knowledge  by  the  advance  of  Biblical  criticism.  If,  in  the 
story  of  Ehud  and  Eglon,  we  trace  something  of  what  may 
be  called  the  comic  vein  of  the  Sacred  History,  in  the  story 
of  Deborah  and  Sisera  we  come  across  the  tragic  vein  in  its 
grandest  style. 

The  power  of  the  northern  kings,  which  Joshua  had 
broken  down  at  the  waters  of  Merom,  revived  under  a 
second  Jabin,  also  king  of  Hazor.  The  formidable  chariots, 
as  before,  overran  the  territories  of  the  adjacent  tribes.     The 


'  Judg.  iii.  25  (Hebrew). 

"  Ibid.  29.     The  word  translated  '  lusty,'  always  elsewhere  '  fat.' 


318  DEBORAH.  i,ect.  xiv. 

whole  country  was  disorganized  with  terror.  The  obscure  ' 
tortuous  paths  became  the  only  means  of  communication.  As 
long  afterwards  in  the  time  of  Saul,  regular  weapons  disap- 
peared from  the  oppressed  population.  '  There  was  not  a  spear 
*  or  shield  seen  among  forty  thousand  in  Israel.'  ^  Shamgar, 
the  son  of  Anath,  defended  himself  against  the  enemies  of  the 
south  with  the  long  pole  armed  at  the  end  with  a  spike 
still  used  by  the  peasants  of  Palestine.  In  this  general 
depression,  the  national  spirit  was  revived  by  one  whose 
appearance  is  full  of  significance.  On  the  heights  of 
Ephraim,  on  the  central  thoroughfare  of  Palestine,  near 
the  sanctuary  of  Bethel,  stood  two  famous  trees,  both  in 
after  times  called  by  the  same  name.  One  was  '  the  oak- 
tree,'  or  '  Terebinth '  '  of  Deborah,'  underneath  which  was 
buried,  with  many  tears,  the  nurse  of  Jacob.^  The  other  was 
a  solitary  palm,  which,  in  all  probability,  had  given  its 
name  to  an  adjacent  sanctuary,  Baal-Tamar,**  'the  sanctuary 
'  of  the  palm,'  but  which  was  also  known  in  after  times 
as  '  the  palm-tree  of  Deborah.'  ^  Under  this  palm,  as 
Saul  afterwards  under  the  pomegranate-tree  of  Migron,^  as 
S.  Louis  under  the  oak-tree  of  Vincennes,  dwelt  Deborah 
the  wife  of  Lapidoth,  to  whom  the  sons  of  Israel  came  up  to 
receive  her  wise  answers.  She  is  the  magnificent  imperso- 
nation of  the  free  spirit  of  the  Jewish  people  and  of  Jewish 
life.  On  the  coins  of  the  Roman  Empire,  Judffia  is  represented 
as  a  woman  seated  under  a  palm-tree,  captive  and  weep- 
ing. It  is  the  contrast  of  that  figure  which  will  best 
place  before  us  the  character  and  call  of  Deborah.     It  is  the 


'  Judg.  V.  6.  Bee   or    '  Queen   Bee '    of  Palestine, 

^  Ibid.  8.  may    be    perhaps    derived   from    her 

^  Gen.  XXXV.  8,  and  possibly  '  the  patriarchal  namesake,  by  whose  tomb 

oak  of  Tabor,'  1  Sam.  x.  3.  she  sate.     Compare  Donaldson's  Latin 

*  Judg.  XX.  33.  Dissertation  on  the  Song  of  Deborah. 

^  Her  name,    on   •which   Joscphus  "  1  Sam.  xiv.  2. 

{Ant.  V.  3)  lays  stress,  as  the  Sacred 


LECT.  XIV.  KEDESH-NAPHTALI.  319 

same  Judoean  palm,  under  whose  shadow  she  sits,  but  not 
with  downcast  eyes  and  folded  hands,  and  extinguished  hopes  ; 
with  all  the  fire  of  faith  and  energy,  eager  for  the  battle, 
confident  of  the  victory.  As  the  German  prophetess  Velleda 
roused  her  people  against  the  invaders  from  Kome,  as  the 
simple  peasant  girl  of  France,  who  by  communing  with 
mysterious  angels'  voices  roused  her  countrymen  against  the 
English  dominion,  when  princes  and  statesmen  had  wellnigh 
given  up  the  cause, — so  the  heads  of  Israel '  ceased  and  ceased, 
'  until  that  she,  Deborah,  arose,  that  she  arose,  a  mother  in 
*  Israel.'  Her  appearance  was  like  a  new  epoch.  They 
chose  new  chiefs  that  came  as  new  gods  *  among  them.  It 
was  she  who  turned  her  eyes  and  the  eyes  of  the  nation  to 
the  fitting  leader.  As  always  in  these  wars,  he  was  to  come 
from  the  tribe  that  most  immediately  suffered  from  the 
yoke  of  the  oppressor.  High  up  in  the  north,  almost  within 
sight  of  the  capital  of  Jabin,  was  the  sanctuary  of  the  tribe 
of  Naphtali — Kedesh-Naphtali.  It  is  a  spot  which,  though  Kedesh- 
mentioned  nowhere  else  in  direct  connexion  with  the  sacred 
history,  retained  its  sanctity  long  afterwards.^  Planted  on  a 
hill  overlooking  a  double  platform,  or  green  upland  plain, 
amongst  the  mountains  of  Naphtali,  its  site  is  covered  with 
ancient  ruins  beyond  any  other  spot  in  Western  Palestine, 
if  we  except  the  ancient  capitals  of  Hebron,  Jerusalem, 
and  Samaria.  Tombs  of  every  kind,  rock-hewn  caves, 
stone  coffins  thrust  into  the  earth,  elaborate  mausoleums, 
indicate  the  reverence  in  which  it  must  have  been  held  by 
successive  generations  of  the  Jewish  people.  In  this  remote 
sanctuary  lived  a  chief,  who  bore  the  significant  name — which 
afterwards  reappears  amongst  the  warriors  of  Carthage — 
'  Barak ' — '  Barca ' — '  Lightnino;.'  ^       His    fame    must    have 

>  Judg.  V.  8.  *  Josephus  {Atit.  v.  5,  §  2)  dwells 

^  It  is  described   in  Eobinson,  iii.       on  this. 
367.     I  saw  it  in  1862. 


320  DEBORAH.  lect.  xiv. 

been  wide-spread  to  have  reached  the  prophetess  in  her  remote 
dwelling  at  Bethel.  From  his  native  place  she  summoned 
him  to  her  side,  and  delivered  to  him  her  prophetic  command. 
He,  as  if  oppressed  by  the  presence  of  a  loftier  spirit  than 
his  own,  refuses  to  act,  unless  she  were  with  him  to  guide 
his  movements,  and  (according  to  the  Septuagint  version) 
to  name  ^  the  very  day  which  should  be  auspicious  for  his 
effort :  *  For  I  know  not  the  day  on  which  the  Lord  will 
*send  his  good  angel  with  me.'  She  replies  at  once  with 
the  Hebrew  emphasis  :  '  I  will  go,  I  will  go  ! '  adding  the  re- 
servation, that  the  honour  should  not  rest  with  the  man 
who  thus  leaned  upon  a  woman,  but  that  a  woman  should 
reap  the  glory  of  the  day  of  which  a  woman  had  been  the 
The  adviser.     It   was  from  Kedesh  that   the  insurrection,  thus 

gathermg  organised,  spread  from  tribe  to  tribe.  The  temperature  of 
tribes.  the  zeal  of  the  different  portions  of  the  nation  can  be  traced 
almost  in  proportion  to  their  nearness  to  the  centre  of  the 
agitation.  The  main  support  of  the  cause  was  naturally 
derived  from  the  northern  tribes,  who  were  the  chief  sufferers 
from  the  oppressor,  and  who  fell  most  immediately  within 
the  range  of  Barak's  influence.  The  leading  tribe,  conjointly 
with  Barak's  own  clan  of  Naphtali,  but  even  more  con- 
spicuously, was  Zebulun,^  as  though  the  spirit  of  the  neigh- 
bouring population  was  less  crushed  than  that  which  lay 
close  under  the  walls  of  Jabin's  capital.  The  sceptres  or 
standards  of  Zebulun  stamped  themselves  on  the  mind  of 
the  beholders,  as  the  two  kindred  tribes  drew  near  to 
'  the  high  places  of  the  field '  ^  of  the  upland  plain  of  Kedesh, 

'  Judg.  iv.  9.  The  ambiguity  which  *  Judg.  v.  18.     The  '  high  places  of 

appears  in   the  present  text  is  still  the  field,'  here  more  especially  asso- 

more  discernible  in  Josephus,  A7ii.  v.  ciated  with  Naphtali,  may  be  either 

6,  §  3.     The  empliasis  is  on  '  ihou.' —  Kedesh  or  Tabor.     The  comparison  of 

'The  way  which  thou  goest.'  iv.  14  with  ver.  10,  rather  favours  the 

^  The  two  occur  together,  Judg.  iv.  former.      The   Vulgate   translates   it 

10  ;    V.  18  ;    but  Zebulun  first ;   and  m  regione  Merom. 
Zebulun  also  appears  in  chap.  v.  14. 


J.ECT.  XIV.        TnE    GATHEKIXG    OF   THE   TEIBES.  321 

ready  '  to  throw '  their  lives  headlong  into  the  mortal  struggle. 
With  them,  but  in  a  subordinate  place,  were  the  chiefs 
of  Issachar,'  roused  apparently  by  Deborah  herself,  as  she 
passed  over  the  plain  of  Esdraelon  on  her  way  to  Kedesh. 
To  her  influence  also  must  be  ascribed  the  rising  of  the 
central  tribes  around  her  residence  at  Bethel.  From  the 
mountain  which  bore  the  name  of  Amalek  came  a  band  of 
Ephraimites.  The  war-cry  of  Benjamin,  'After  thee,  Ben- 
jamin!'* was  raised,  and  from  the  north-eastern  portion  of 
Manasseh  came  representatives  bearing  some  high  title  ^  which 
distinguished  them  from  the  surrounding  chiefs. 

Three  portions  of  the  natioa  remained  aloof.  Of  Judah 
nothing  is  said.  Dan  and  Asher,  the  two  maritime  tribes, 
clung  the  one  to  his  ships  in  the  harbour  of  Joppa,  the 
other  to  his  sea-shore  by  the  bay  of  Acre.  The  Trans- 
Jordanic  tribes  met  by  one  of  the  rushing  streams  of  their 
native  hills — the  Arnon  or  the  Jabbok — to  decide  on  their 
course.  '  Great  was  the  debate.'  The  pastoral  Eeuben  pre- 
ferred to  linger  among  the  sheepfolds,  among  the  whistling 
pipes  ■*  of  the  shepherds.  '  Great  was  the  wavering '  that 
followed.  And  the  nomadic  Gileadites  abode  in  their  tents 
or  their  cities  safe  beyond  the  Jordan  valley. 

These,  however,  were  exceptions.  It  was  a  general  re- 
vival of  the  national  spirit,  such  as  rarely  occurred.  The 
leaders  are  described  as  filling  their  places  with  an  ardour 
worthy  of  their  position.  'The  chiefs  became  the  chiefs,' 
in  deed,*  as  well  as  in  name.  '  The  lawgivers  of  Israel 
'  willingly  offered  themselves  for  the  people.'  ^  '  The  Lord 
'  came  down  amongst  the  mighty.'  And  to  this  the  nation 
responded  with  a  readiness,  unlike  their  usual  sluggishness, 

'  Judg.  v.  15.  goatherds  singing  in   chorus   to  the 

*  Pnd.  14.  music   of  a   well-played   reed    pipe.' 

»  Ibid.  14  (Hebrew).  (Miss  Beaufort's  Travels,  i.  283.) 

<  See  Ewald,  iii.  88,  note.    '  On  Le-  ^  Judg.  v.  15,  16  (Hebrew), 

banon  we  met  a  troop  of  goats,  the  ^  End.  9,  13  (Hebrew). 


322  DEBORAH.  lect.  xiv. 

as  under  Gideon  and  Saul.  '  The  people  willingly  offered 
'  themselves.'  *  '  They  that  rode  on  white  asses,  they  that 
'  sate  on  rich  carpets  of  state,  they  that  humbly  walked  by 
'  the  way,'  ^  all  j  oined  in  this  solemn  enterprise. 
The  meet-  The  muster-place  was  Mount  Tabor.  The  marked  isola- 
l^°  °^.  tion  of  the  mountain,  the  broad  green  sward  on  its  summit, 
TaLor.  possibly  the  first  beginnings  of  the  fortress  which  crowned  its 
height  in  later  times,  pointed  it  out  as  the  encampment  of 
the  northern  tribes,  in  the  centre  of  which  it  stood.  It 
has  been  already  noticed  that,  in  all  probability,  this  was  the 
mountain  to  which  the  people  of  '  Zebulun  and  Issachar ' 
are  called  by  Moses  '  to  offer  sacrifices  of  righteousness.'  ^ 
There  two  at  least  of  the  tribes,  Zebulun  and  Naphtali, 
waited  under  their  leaders  for  the  appearance  of  the  enemy. 
A  village  on  the  wooded  slope  of  the  hill  still  bears  the  name 
of  Deborah,  possibly  from  this  connexion  with  her  history. 

The  enemy  were  not  without  tidings  of  the  insurrection. 
Close  beside  Kedesh-Naphtali  was  a  tribe,  hovering  between 
Israel  and  Canaan,  which  we  shall  shortly  meet  again,  through 
which  (so  we  are  led  to  infer  ^)  this  information  came. 
From  Harosheth  of  the  Grentiles — the  '  woodcuttings '  or 
*  quarries '  of  the  mixed  heathen  population  on  the  out- 
skirts of  Lebanon — came  down  the  Canaanite  host,  with  the 
chariots  of  iron,  in  which,  after  the  manner  of  their  country- 
men, they  trusted  as  invincible.  Their  leader,  the  first, 
indeed  the  only,  commander  of  whom  we  hear  by  name  on 
the  adverse  side  of  these  long  wars,  was  himself  a  native 
of  Harosheth,  and  a  potentate  of  sufficient  grandeur  to 
have  his  mother  recognised  in  the  surrounding  tribes  as 
a  kind  of  queen-mother  of  the  place;  and  whose  family 
traditions  had  struck  such  root,  that  the  name  of  '  Sisera ' 
occurs  long  afterwards  in  the  history,  and  the  great  Jewish 

'  Judg.  V.  2.  *  Deut.  xxxiii.  19. 

»  Ibid.  10.  *  Judg.  iv.  11. 


LECT.  XIV.  BATTLE    OF   MEGIDDO.  323 

Eabbi  Akiba '  claimed  to  be  descended  from  him.     Jabin 
himself  seems  not  to  have  been  present.       But,  as  in  the 
former  battle  by  the  waters  of  Merom,  so  now  several  kings 
of  the    Canaanites    had  joined   him;^    and  they,  with    all 
their  forces,  encamped  in  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  now  for 
the  first  time  the  battle-field  of  Israel,  where  their  chariots 
and  cavalry  could  act  most  effectively.     They  took  up  their 
position  in  the  south-west  corner  of  the  plain,  where  a  long 
spur,  now    clad   with    olives,    runs    out   from   the    hills    of 
Manasseh.     On  this  promontory  still   stands  a  large  stone 
village.    Its  name,  Taanak,^  marks  the  site  of  the  Canaanitish  Taanaeh. 
fortress  of  Taanaeh,  beside    which,  doubtless,  as    occupied 
by  a  kindred  unconquered  population,  the  Canaanite  kings 
were  entrenched.     It  is  just  at  tliis  point  that  the  traveller 
catches  the  first    distinct   view    of  the    arched    summit    of 
Tabor.     From  that  summit  Deborah  must  have  watched  the 
gradual  drawing  of  the  enemy  towards  the  spot  of  her  pre- 
dicted triumph.     She  raised  the  cry,  which  twice  over  occurs 
in  the  story  of  the  battle,  '  Arise,  Barak.'  ^     She  gave  with 
unhesitating  confidence  to  the  doubting  troops  the  augury 
which  he  had  asked  before  the  insurrection  began — '  This.'' 
this  and  no  other,  '  is  the  day  when  the  Lord  shall  deliver 
Sisera  into   thy  hand.'  ^     Down  from    the  wooded    heights 
descended  Barak  and  his  ten  thousand  men.     The  accounts 
of  his  descent  emphatically  repeat  ^  that  he  was  '  on  foot,' 
and  thus  forcibly  contrast  his  infantry  with  the  horses  and 
chariots  of  his  enemies. 

From  Tabor  to  Taanaeh  is  a  march  of  about  thirteen 
miles,  and  therefore  the  approach  must  have  been  long 
foreseen  by  the  Canaanitish  forces.  They  moved  west- 
wards   along   the    plain,  which    here    forms,  as   it   were,  a 

'  See  Milman's  Hist,  of  the  Jews,  *  Ibid.  iv.  14  (Hebrew) ;  v.  12. 

iii.  115.  5  ji,i^_  i^_  8  (LXX.),  14 ;  Joseph. 

2  Jiidg.  T.  3,  19.  Ant.  V.  5,  §  3. 

'  Ibid.  i.  27 ;  V.  19.  «  Bid.  iv.  10  ;  v.  1-5. 


324  DEBOKAH.  lect.  xiv. 

large  bay  to  the  south,  between  the  projecting  promon- 
tory of  Taanach  and  the  first  beginnings  of  Carmel.  The 
plain  is  luxuriant  with  weeds  and  corn.  One  solitary  tree 
rises  from  the  midst  of  it.  The  great  caravan  route  from 
Damascus  to  Egypt  passes,  and  probably  at  that  time  already 
passed,  across  it.  At  the  head  of  this  curve  stood  another  un- 
rpjjg  subdued  Canaanitish  fortress,  Megiddo,  afterwards  the  station 

waters  of  ^^  ^  Eoman  '  Legion,'  whence  its  present  name  Ledjun.  To- 
wards the  cover  of  this,  it  may  be,  securer  fastness,  but  still 
keeping  along  the  level  plain,  the  Canaanitish  army  moved. 
Its  final  encampment  was  beside  the  numerous  rivulets  which, 
descending  from  the  hills  of  Megiddo  into  the  Kishon,  as 
it  flows  in  a  broader  stream  through  the  cornfields  below, 
may  well  have  been  known  as  '  the  waters  of  Megiddo.'  ^ 
It  was  at  this  critical  moment  that  (as  we  learn  directly  from 
Josephus,^  and  indirectly  from  the  song  of  Deborah)  a 
tremendous  storm  of  sleet  and  hail  gathered  from  the  east, 
and  burst  over  the  plain,  driving  full  in  the  faces  of  the 
advancing  Canaanites.  'The  stars ^  in  their  courses  fought 
'  with  Sisera.'  As  in  like  case  in  the  battle  of  Cressy,  the 
slingers  and  the  archers  were  disabled  by  the  rain,  the  swords- 
men were  crippled  by  the  biting  cold.  The  Israelites,  on  the 
other  hand,  having  the  storm  on  their  rear,  were  less  troubled 
by  it,  and  derived  confidence  from  the  consciousness  of  this 
Providential  aid.  The  confusion  became  great.  The  '  rain 
descended,'  the  four  rivulets  of  Megiddo  were  swelled  into 
powerful  streams,  the  torrent  of  the  Kishon  rose  into  a  flood, 
tlie  plain  became  a  morass.  The  chariots  and  the  horses, 
which  should  have  gained  the  day  for  the  Canaanites,  turned 

'  Judg.  V.  19.     The  -wliole  of  this  repetition  of  the  word  'foiight'  from 

scene  I  traversed  in  1862,  the  previous  verses,  suggests  the  pos<- 

*  Ant.  V.  5,  §  4.  sibility  that  what  is  meant  is  the  con- 

'  Judg.  V.  20.     I  have  taken  this  trast  between  the  fighting  of  the  stars 

verse,  as  it  is  usually  rendered,  as  if  for  Sisera,  and  the  flood  of  the  Kishoa 

'  against.'     But  the  ambiguity  of  the  against  him. 

original   'with,'   combined  with    the 


LECT.  XIV.  FLIGHT    OF  SISERA.  325 

against  them.     They  became  entangled  in  the  swamp ;  the 

torrent    of    Eashon — the    torrent   famous    through    former 

ages — swept  them  away  in  its  furious  eddies;  and  in  that 

wild    confusion    '  the    strength '    of    the    Canaanites    *  was 

*  trodden  down,'  and  '  the  horsehoofs  stamped  and  struggled 

'  by  the    means    of  the    plungings    and   plungings    of    the 

'  mighty    chiefs '    in   the    quaking    morass    and    the    rising 

streams.     Far  and  wide  the  vast  army  fled,  far  through  the  Tlie  fiight. 

eastern  branch    of  the    plain  by  Endor.       There,  between 

Tabor  and  the  Little  Hermon,  a  carnage  took  place,  long 

remembered,  in  which  the  corpses  lay  fattening  '  the  ground. 

Onwards  from  thence  they  still  fled  over  the  northern  hills  to 

the  eity  of  their  great  captain — Harosheth  of  the  Gentiles.^ 

Fierce  and  rapid  was  the  pursuit.     One  city,  by  which  the 

pursuers    and    pursued   passed,  gave  no  help.       '  Curse  ye 

'  Meroz,    curse    ye    with    a    curse    its    inhabitants,    because  Tlie  Ml  of 

'  they  came  not  to  the  help  of  Jehovah.'     So,  as  it  would  ^  *^^'°^- 

seem,^  spoke  the    prophetic    voice    of   Deborah.       We    can 

imagine  what  was  the  crime  and  what  the  punishment  from 

the  analogous  case  of   Succoth  and  Penuel,  which,  in  like 

manner,  gave  no  help  when  Gideon  pursued  the  Midianites. 

The  curse  was  so  fully  carried  out,  that  the  name  ^  of  Meroz 

never  again  appears  in  the  sacred  history.     Of  the  Canaanite 

fugitives,  none  reached  their  own  mountain  fortress :  even 

the  tidings  of  the  disaster  were  long  delayed.      From  the 

high  latticed  windows  of  Harosheth,  the  inmates  of  Sisera's 

harem,  his  mother,  and  her  attendant  princesses,  are  on  the 

stretch  of  expectation  for  the  sight  of  the  war-car  of  their 

champion,  with  the  lesser  chariots  around  him.     They  sustain 

their  hopes  by  counting  over  the  spoils  that  he  will  bring 

*  'Which  perished  at  Endor,  and  (Judg.  v.  23.) 
became  as  dung  for  the  earth.'     (Ps.  ■*  Eusebius  and   Jerome,   however, 

Ixxxiii.  10.)  mention  a  spot  near  Dothan,  of  this 

^  Judg.  iv.  16.  name.     {Onomasticon  de  Locis  Htb.) 

^  '  The    messenger   of    the    Lord.' 


326  DEEOEAH.  lect.  xiv. 

home, —  rich  embroidery  for  themselves ;  female  slaves  for 
each  of  the  chiefs.     The  prey  would  never  come.     That  well- 
known  chariot  of  iron  would  never  returru     It  was  left  to 
rust   on   the  banks  of  the  Kishon,  like  Roderick's  by  the 
shores   of  the  Gruadelete.     In  the  moment  of  the   general 
panic,  Sisera  had  sprung  from  his  seat  and  escaped  on  foot 
over   the    northern    mountains    towards    Hazor.       It    must 
have  been  three  days  after  the    battle    that   he  reached    a 
spot,  which  seems  to  gather  into  itself,  as  in  the  last  scene 
of   an  eventful   drama,  all  the  characters   of  the  previous 
acts.     Between  Hazor,  the  capital  of  Jabin,  and  Kedesh- 
Naphtali,  the    birth-place    of  Barak — each  within   a  day's 
journey    of  the    other — lies,  raised    high    above    the   plain 
of  Merom,  amongst  the  hills  of  Naphtali,^  a  green  plain, 
which  joins    almost  imperceptibly  with  that    overhung  by 
Kedesh-NaphtaU  itself.     This  plain  is  still,  and  was  then. 
The  oak  of  studded  with  massive  terebinths.     Naphtali  itself  seems  to 
Zaauaim.     ]ja,ve  derived  from  them  the  symbol  of  its  tribe,  '  a  tov/er- 
ing   terebintli.'  ^      These  trees  were  marked   in  that  early 
age  by  a  siglit  unusual  in  this  part  of  Palestine.     Under- 
neath the  spreading  branches  of  one  of  them  there  dwelt, 
unlike  the  inhabitants  of  the  surrounding  villages,  a  settle- 
ment  of  Bedouins,  living,  as  if  in  the  desert,  with  their  tents 
pitched,  and  their  camels  and  asses  around  them,  whence  the 
spot  had  acquired  the  name  of   '  the  Terebinth,'  or  '  Oak, 
of  the  Unloading  of  Tents.'    Between  Heber,  the  chief  of 
this  little  colony,  and  the  king  of  Hazor,  there  was  peace. 
It  would  even  seem  that  from  him,  or  from  his  tribe,  thus 
planted  on  the  debatable  ground  between  Kedesh  and  Hazor, 
Sisera  had  derived  the  first  intelligence  of  the  insurrection.^ 
Thither,  therefore,  it  was  that,  confident  in  Arab  fidelity,  the 

'  Josk    xix,    33,   AUon-Zaananim.  ^  Gen.  xlix.  21  (Hcl)re^y). 

Judg.  iv.  11,  mistranslated  'Plain  of  '  Judg.  iv.  12. 

Zaanaim.' 


iECT.  XIV.  THE   MUKDER   OF   SISERA.  327 

wearied  general  turned  his  steps.  He  approached  the 
tent,  not  of  Heber,  but,  for  the  sake  of  greater  security,^ 
the  harem  of  the  chieftainess  Jael,  the  '  Grazelle.'  It  was 
a  fit  name  for  a  Bedouin's  wife — especially  for  one  whose 
family  had  come  from  the  rocks  of  Engedi,  '  the  spring  of 
*  the  wild  goat '  or  '  chamois.'  The  long,  low  tent  was 
spread  under  the  tree,  and  from  under  its  cover  she  advanced  eJ. 
to  meet  him  with  the  accustomed  reverence.  '  Turn  in,  my 
'lord,  turn  in,  and  fear  not.'  She  covered  him  with  a 
rough  wrapper  or  rug,  on  the  slightly  raised  divan  inside  the 
tent ;  and  he,  exhausted  with  his  flight,  lay  down,  arid  then, 
lifting  up  his  head,  begged  for  a  drop  of  water  to  cool  his 
parched  lips.  She  brought  him  more  than  water.  She  un- 
fastened the  mouth  of  the  large  skin,  such  as  stand  by  Arab 
tents,  which  was  full  of  sweet  milk  from  the  herds  or  the 
camels.  She  offered,^  as  for  a  sacrificial  feast,  in  the  bowl  ^ 
used  for  illustrious  guests,  the  thick  curded  milk,  frothed  like 
cream,  and  the  weary  man  drank,  and  then  (secure  in  the 
Bedouin  hospitality  which  regards  as  doubly  sure  the  life  of 
one  who  has  eaten  and  drunk  at  the  hand  of  his  host)  he  sank 
into  a  deep  sleep,  as  she  again  drew  round  him  the  rough  co- 
vering which  for  a  moment  she  had  withdrawn.  Then  she  saw  The  mur- 
that  her  hour  was  come.  She  pulled  up  from  the  ground  the  '  '^^'' 
large  pointed  peg  or  nail'*  which  fastened  do\^Ti  the  rojjes  of 
the  tent,  and  held  it  in  her  left  hand ;  with  her  right  hand 

'  From  the  security  of  the  ■wife's  a  Bedouiu  chief,  between  Tiberias  and 

tent,  the  valuables,  culinary  utensils,  Tabor,  in  1862,  we  had  both  these  beve- 

&c.,  are  kept  in  it.  rages.  The  sour  milk  {Lcbban)  was  in  a 

*  The    word    translated    'brought  large  pewter  vessel,  lilie  a  small  barrel; 

forth,'  Judg.  V.  25,  has  this  meaning.  a  cup  floated  in  it  to  skim  and  di-ink 

^  '  The  milk  was  presented  to  us  in  the  contents.    The  sweet  milk  {Hallb) 

a  wooden  bowl ;  the  liquid  butter  in  an  was  in  a  smaller  pewter  vessel,  round 

earthenware  dish  '  (Irby  and  Mangles,  like  a  pan,  to  be  drunk  by  raising  it 

481).     'Once  we  had  milk  sweetened  to  the  lips.    In  both  were  dipped  the 

and   curdled    to    the   consistency   of  large   flexible   cakes   of  Arab   bread, 

liquid  jelly,  too  thick  to  be  drunk,  and  which  lay  in  profusion  on  the  carpets, 
only  to  be  taken  up  with  the  hands '  *  Iron,  in  Jos.  A7it.  v.  5,  §  4. 

(482).     In  a  meal  with  Aghyle  A.ga, 


3-28  DEBOEAH.  lect.  xiv. 

she  grasped  the  ponderous  hammer  or  wooden  mallet  of  the 

workmen  of  the  tribe.     Her  attitude,  her  weapon,  her  deed, 

are  described  both  in  the  historic  and  poetic  account  of  the 

event,  as  if  fixed  in  the  national  mind.      She  stands  like  the 

personification  of  the  figure  of  speech,  so  famous  in  the  names 

of  Judas  the  Afaccabee,^  and  Charles  3Iartel;  the  Hammer 

of  her  country's  enemies.     Step  by  step  we  see  her  advance ; 

first,  the  dead  silence  with  which  she  approaches  the  sleeper, 

'  slumbering:    with    the  weariness  of   one  who    has    run  far 

'  and  fast,'  then  the  successive  blows  with  which  she  '  ham- 

'  mers^  crushes,  beats,  and   pierces    through    and  through ' 

the  forehead  of  the  upturned  face,  till  the  point  of  the  nail 

reaches  the  very  ground  on  which  the  slumberer  is  stretched  ; 

and  then  comes  the  one  convulsive  bound,  the  contortion  of 

agony,  with  which  the  expiring  man  rolls  over  from  the  low 

divan,  and  lies  weltering  in  blood  between  her  feet  as  she 

strides  over  the  lifeless  corpse.^ 

At   this   moment   Barak,   the    conqueror,   appeared.     He 

might  be  in  direct  pursuit  of  the  fugitive  chief.     He  might 

be  approaching  his  native  place,  now  hard  by.     Out  from 

the   tent,  as   before,  came  the   undaunted  chieftainess,  and 

showed  the  dead  corpse  as  it  lay  with  the  stake  or  tent -pin 

fixed  firm  in  the  shattered  head.     With  this  ghastly  scene 

of  the  Three  Neighbours  of  the  hills  of  Naphtali,  thus  at 

last  brought  face  to  face,  under  the  Terebinth  of  Kedesh,  the 

direct  narrative  suddenly  closes,  as  though  its  work  were  done. 

But  Deborah's  song  of  victory  breaks  in,  and  continues  in  its 

The  Song     highest  strains  the  echo  of  that  day.     In  company  with  the 
of  Debo- 
rah, returning  conqueror,  or  herself  leading  the  chorus,  after  the 

manner  of  Hebrew  women,  the  Prophetess  poured  forth  the 

liymn  which  marks  the  greatness  of  the  crisis.     It  could  be 

•  The   -word    Maccab  ('Hammer')       examining  word  by  word  the  original 
is  the  very  one  used  in  Judg.  iv.  21.  of  Judg.  iv.  21 ;  v.  26,  27. 

'  All  these  details  may  be  seen  by 


LECT.  XIV.  EFFECT    OF   THE   BATTLE.  329 

compared  to  nothing  short  of  the  day  when  Israel  passed 
through  the  desert.  The  storm  which  had  been  sent  to 
discomfit  the  Canaanite  host,  recalled  the  trembling  of  the 
earth,  the  heavens  and  the  clouds  dropping  water,  the 
mountains  melting  from  before  the  Lord.  Barak,  with 
his  long  train  of  spoils  and  prisoners,  had  '  led  captivity 
captive.'  The  sentiment  even  of  the  woman's  delight  in 
the  dresses  won  in  the  spoils  transpires  through  the  war- 
like rejoicing:  the  pieces  of  embroidery  are  counted  over  in 
imagination  as  they  are  torn  away  from  the  mother  and  the 
harem  of  Sisera  for  the  women  of  Israel.  The  feelings  and 
the  words  of  the  song  rang  on  through  subsequent  times,  and 
in  the  Prophet  Habakkuk,  and  still  more  in  the  68th  Psalm, 
we  catch  again  the  very  same  strains ;  the  march  through 
the  desert ;  the  flight  of  kings ;  the  dividing  of  the  spoil  by 
those  who  tarried  at  home.^  It  was,  as  the  close  of  the 
hymn  expresses  it,  like  the  full  burst  of  the  sun  out  of  the 
darkness  of  the  night  or  the  blackness  of  a  storm,  '  a  hero  in 
'  his  strength.'  ^ 

The  likeness  of  the  outward  features  of  this  decisive  battle  Effect  of 

t  r    r^  111-1  ^^^  Battle. 

to  that  of  Cressy  has  been  already  pointed  out :  the  storm, 
the  cold,  the  burst  of  sunlight,  are  all  in  each.  A  still  m&re 
striking  resemblance  is  the  defeat  of  the  Carthaginians,^  by 
Timoleon,  at  the  battle  of  the  Crimesus,  in  Sicily.  It  opens 
with  the  spirit-stirring  and  prophet-like  speech  of  Timoleon, 
'  as  though  a  god  were  speaking  with  him.'  His  encamp- 
ment, like  Barak's,  is  on  the  hill  above  the  river.  The 
chariots  of  his  opponents  are  broken  by  the  Grreek  infantry. 
The  violent  storm  of  wind,  rain,  hail,  thunder  and  lightning, 
beating  in  the  faces  of  the  Carthaginians,  but  only  on  the 
backs  of  the  Grreeks ;  the  confusion  in  the  river,  becoming 

•  Habak.   iii.    3,   10,   13,   14  ;    Ps.  ^  Grote's  Hist,  of  Greece,  xi.  246. 

Ixviii.  7,  8,  12,  13.  The  likeness  was  pointed  out  to  me 

^  Judg.  Y.  31.  by  a  friend. 


330  DEBORAH.  lkct.  xiv. 

every  moment  fuller  and  more  turbid  through  the  violent  rain, 
so  that  numbers  perished  in  the  torrent ;  the  total  rout,  the 
capture  of  the  chariots — the  spoils  of  ornamented  shields — 
are  the  exact  counterparts  of  the  victory  of  Barak  over  Sisera. 
But,  in  its  moral  aspect,  the  triumph  of  Barak  was  far 
greater  even  than  the  triumph  of  Grreek  civilisation  over 
Carthaginian  barbarism.  It  was  the  enemies  of  Jehovah 
who  had  perished.  It  was  the  securing  of  the  true  religion 
from  the  attempt  of  the  old  Paganism  to  recover  its  ascen- 
dency in  the  Holy  Land.  It  ranks,  in  the  Sacred  History, 
next  after  the  battle  of  Beth-horou,  amongst  the  religious 
battles  of  the  world. 

And,  therefore,  not  unworthily  of  this  object  in  the  song 
of  Deborah  we  have  the  only  prophetic  utterance  that  breaks 
the  silence  between  Moses  and  Samuel.  Hers  is  the  one 
voice  of  inspiration  (in  the  true  sense  of  the  word)  that 
breaks  out  in  the  Book  of  Judges.  In  her  song  are  gathered 
up  all  the  lessons  which  the  rest  of  the  book  teaches  in- 
directly. Hers  is  the  life,  both  in  her  own  history  and  in 
the  whole  period,  that  expresses  the  feelings  and  thoughts  of 
thousands,  who  were  silent  till  '  she,  Deborah,  arose  a  mother 
*  in  IsraeL'  Hers  is  the  prophetic  word  that  gives  an  utter- 
ance and  a  sanction  to  the  thoughts  of  freedom,  of  indepen- 
dence, of  national  unity,  such  as  they  had  never  had  before 
in  the  world,  and  have  rarely  had  since. 

In  this  religious  aspect  of  the  battle,  this  prophetic  cha- 
racter of  its  chief  leader,  lies  the  difficulty,  or  the  instruction 
suggested  by  her  benediction  of  the  assassination  of  Sisera. 
Tlie  bless-        Few  persons  read  the  chapter  without  a  momentary  per- 
Jael.  plexity.     Even  in  the  humblest  classes,  and  holiest  hearts,  a 

question,  not  of  sinful  doubt,  but  of  pious  inquiry,  arises — 
What  is  the  purpose  of  thus  recording  and  of  thus  blessing 
an  act  which  is  so  repugnant  to  our  notions  of  Christian  and 
European  morality  ? 

There  have  been  numerous  answers  given  to  this  question ; 


LEf)T.  XIV.  THE    BLESSING    ON   JxVEL.  331 

that,  for  example,  of  the  Eabbis,  that  the  act  of  Jael  was 
in  self-defence  against  a  personal  outrage  of  Sisera ;  or  of 
Augustine,'  that  it  was  dictated  by  a  sudden  divine  impulse  or 
revelation.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  of  both  these  solutions  that 
they  are  gratuitous  inventions,  equally  without  the  slightest 
foundation  in  the  narrative  itself.  And  in  the  case  of  the 
latter  hypothesis  the  difficulty  would  not  be  removed,  but 
would  be  greatly  increased  by  this  attempt  to  push  it  back 
into  a  still  more  sacred  region. 

It  has  been  argued,  again,  that  the  act  of  Jael  is  not 
commended  in  the  Sacred  History.  But  though  this  is  a 
true  answer  to  many  so-called  difficulties  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, which  arise  merely  from  investing  with  an  imaginary 
perfection  every  subject  which  it  treats,  it  does  not  avail  here. 
Even  if  this  act  is  not  commended  by  the  words  of  the  nar- 
rative, it  is  commended  by  its  general  sjiirit ;  and  also  both 
by  the  spirit  and  the  words  of  the  song  of  Deborah.  That 
song,  as  has  just  been  observed,  is  the  one  prophecy  of  the 
period ;  and,  therefore,  if  we  do  not  find  the  inspiration  of  the 
Book  of  Judges  here,  we  find  it  nowhere.  It  gives  the  key- 
note to  the  whole  book,  and  must  be  regarded  as  the  fittest 
exponent  of  its  meaning. 

But,  in  fact,  the  same  answer  is  to  be  given  which  covers 
not  only  this,  but  hundreds  of  similar  cases.  Deborah,  it 
is  true,  spoke  as  a  prophetess,  but  it  was  as  a  prophetess 
enlightened  only  with  a  very  small  portion  of  that  Divine 
Light  which  was  to  go  on  brightening  ever  more  and  more 
unto  the  perfect  day.  She  saw  clearly  for  a  little  way— but 
it  was  only  for  a  little  way.  Beyond  that,  the  darkness  of 
the  time  still  rested  upon  her  vision. 

' "  Curse  ye  Meroz,"  said  the  angel  of  the  Lord ;  curse  ye 
'  bitterly  the  inhabitants  thereof,'  sang  Deborah.  '  Was  it,' 
asks  our  eminent  philosophic  theologian,  '  that  she  called  to 

'   Opi).  iii.  pp.  1,  603. 


S32  DEBORAH.  i.ect.  xiv. 

'  mind  any  personal  wrongs — rapine  or  insult— that  she,  or 
'  the  house  of  Lapidoth,  had  received  from  Jabin  or  Sisera  ? 

*  No,  she  had  dwelt  under  her  palm-tree  in  the  depth  of  the 
'  mountains.     But  she  was  a  "  Mother  in  Israel ;  "  and  with  a 

*  mother's  heart,  and  with  the  vehemency  of  a  mother's  and  a 
'  patriot's  love,,  she  had  shot  the  light  of  love  from  her  eyes, 

*  and  poured  the  blessings  of  love  from  her  lips,  on  the  people 
'that  had  "jeoparded  their  lives  unto  the  death  "  against  the 
'  oppressors ;  and  the  bitterness,  awakened  and  borne  aloft  by 

*  the  same  love,  she  precipitated  in  curses  on  the  selfish  and 
'  coward  recreants  who  "  came  not  to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  to 
*the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty."  As  long  as  I 
'  have  the  image  of  Deborah  before  my  eyes,  and  while  I 

*  throw  myself  back  into  the  age,  country,  and  circumstances 
'  of  this  Hebrew  Boadicea,  in  the  yet  not  tamed  chaos  of  the 
'  spiritual  creation ;  as  long  as  I  contemplate  the  impassioned, 

*  high-souled,  heroic  woman,  in  all  the  prominence  and  indi- 
'  viduality  of  will  and  character,  I  feel  as  if  I  were  among 
*the  first  ferments  of  the   great  affections — the  proplastic 

*  waves  of  the  microcosmic  chaos,  swelling  up  against  and 
*yet  towards  the  outspread  wings  of  the  Dove  that  lies 
'  brooding  on  the  troubled  waters.  So  long  all  is  well,  all 
'  replete  with  instruction  and  example.  In  the  fierce  and 
'  inordinate  I  am  made  to  know  and  be  grateful  for  the 
'  clearer  and  purer  radiance  which  shines  on  a  Christian's 

*  path,  neither  blunted  by  the  preparatory  veil,  nor  crimsoned 

*  in  its  struggle  through  the  all-enwrapping  mist  of  the  world's 
'  ignorance :   whilst  in  the  self-oblivion  of   these  heroes  of 

*  the  Old  Testament — their  elevation  above  all  low  and  indi- 
'  vidual  interests,  above  all,  in  the  entire  and  vehement  devo- 
'  tion  of  their  total  being   to  the    service  of  their  Divine 

*  Master — I  find  a  lesson  of  humility,  a  ground  of  humiliation, 

*  and  a  shaming,  yet  rousing,  example  of  faith  and  fealty.'  ^ 

'  Coleridge's  Confessions  of  an  Inquiring  Spirit,  pp.  33,  34,  35. 


LECT.  XIV.  THE   BLESSING   OX   JAEL.  333 

And  when,  from  the  inspiration  of  Deborah,  we  pass  to  the 
deed  of  Jael,  we  must  be  content  there  also  to  admit  the 
same  imperfection  of  moral  perceptions,  which  the  Highest 
authority  has  already  recognised  in  the  clearest  terms. 

'  Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said.  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
'  neighbour  and  hate  thine  enemy.' '  Jael  did  hate  her  enemy 
with  a  perfect  hatred.  For  the  sake  of  destroying  him,  she 
broke  through  all  the  bonds  of  hospitality,  of  gratitude,  and 
of  truth.  But  then  it  must  not  be  forgotten,  that  if  there 
is  any  portion  of  the  Sacred  History,  where  we  should  expect 
these  bonds  to  be  loosened,  and  a  higher  light  obscured,  it 
would  be  in  this  period  of  disorder  '  when  there  was  no  king 
'  in  Israel,  and  when  every  one ' — the  Israelite  warrior  here — 
the  Arabian  chieftainess  there — '  did  what  was  right  in  his 
'  or  her  eyes.'  The  allowance  that,  according  to  our  Saviour's 
rule,  we  make  for  Ehud,  for  Jael,  for  Deborah,  is  precisely 
the  same  that,  if  it  were  not  Sacred  History,  we  should 
at  once  acknowledge.  We  do  not  condemn  the  Greeks,  ac- 
cording to  the  light  which  they  had,  for  praising  Harmodius 
and  Aristogiton  in  their  plot  against  the  tyrant  of  Athens. 
We  ourselves  are  almost  inclined,  in  consideration  of  the 
greatness  of  the  necessity,  and  the  confusion  of  the  time,  to 
praise  the  murder  of  Marat  by  Charlotte  Corday,  'the  angel 
'  of  assassination,'  as  she  has  been  termed  by  an  historian  of 
un(][uestioned  humanity.  Why  should  we  not  be  as  indul- 
gent to  the  characters  of  Sacred  History,  as  we  are  to  those 
of  common  history?  Why  should  not  a  blessing,  even  a 
Divine  blessing,  according  to  the  only  light  which  they  were 
then  able  to  bear,  be  bestowed  on  an  act,  such  as  the  most 
pliilosophic  observer  does  not  scruple  to  commend,  as  he  looks 
back  on  the  various  imperfect  acts  of  heroism  and  courage 
that  have  been  wrought  in  troubled  and  violent  times  ? 

'  Matt.  V.  43  ;  see  Lecture  XL 


334  DEBORAH.  lect.   xiv. 

And,  if  we  ask  further,  what  can  we  learn  from  it  ?  and 
why  should  this  deed  and  this  commendation  of  it  still  be 
read  in  our  churches  ?  the  answer  is  this  : — 

*  The  spirit  of  the  commendation  of  Jael  is  that  God 
'  allows  largely  for  ignorance  where  He  finds  sincerity ;  that 
'  they  who  serve  Him  honestly  up  to  the  measure  of  their 
'  knowledge   are,  according   to   the   general  course  of  His 

*  Providence,  encouraged  and  blessed ;  that  they  whose  eyes 
'  and  hearts  are  still  fixed  on  duty  and  not  on  self,  are 
'  plainly  that  smoking  flax  which  He  will  not  quench,  but 

*  cherish  rather  until  it  be  blown  into  a  flame.  .  .  .  When 

*  we  read  some  of  those  sad  but  glorious  martyrdoms  where 
'  good  men — alas,  the  while,  for  human  nature  ! — were  both 
'  the  victims  and  the  executioners,  amidst  all  our  unmixed 
'  admiration  for  the  sufferers,  may  we  not  in  some  instances 
'  hope  and  believe  that  the  persecutors  were  moved  with  a 
'most  earnest  though  an  ignorant  zeal,  and  that  like  Jael 
'  they  sought  to  please  God,  though  like  her  they  essayed  to 

*  do  it  by  means  which  Christ's  Spirit  condemns  ?  .  .  .  Right 
'  and  good  it  is  that  we  should  condemn  the  acts  of  many  of 
'those  commended  in  the  Old  Testament;  for  we  have  seen 

*  what  prophets  and  righteous  men  for  many  an  age  were  not 

*  permitted  to  see ;  but  no  less  right  and  needful  it  is  that 
'  we  should  imitate  their  fearless  zeal,  without  which  we  in 
'  our  knowledge   are  without  excuse ;  with  which   they,  by 

*  means  of  their  unavoidable  ignorance,  were  even  in  their 

*  evil  deeds  blessed.'  * 

THE    SONG   OF    DEBORAH.^ 

PRELUDE. 

For  the  leading  of  the  Leaders  in  Israel, 
For  the  free  self-oiFering  of  the  People. 
Praise  Jehovah  ! 

'  Arnold's  Sermons,  vi.  86-88.  have  here  inserted  the  Song.    A  well- 

^  For   the   sake   of  convenience   I       known  and  spirited  translation  of  it 


J.ECT.  XIV.  THE    SOXG    OF   DEBORAH.  335 

Hear,  O  Kings  ;  give  ear,  O  Princes  ; 

I  to  Jehovah,  even  I  will  sing, 

Will  sound  the  harp  to  Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel. 

THE    EXODUS. 

O  Jehovah,  when  Thou  wentest  out  of  Seir, 
When  Thou  marchedst  out  of  the  field  of  Edom, 
The  earth  trembled,  the  skies  also  di'opped, 
The  clouds  also  dropped  water. 

The  mountains  melted  from  before  the  face  of  Jehovah, 
Sinai  itself  from  before  the  face  of  Jehovah,  the  God  of 
Israel. 

THE    DISMAY. 

In  the  days  of  Shamgar,  the  son  of  Anath, 
In  the  days  of  Jael,  ceased  the  roads ; 
And  they  that  walked  on  highways,  walked  through  crooked  roads. 

There  ceased  to  be  heads  in  Israel,  ceased  to  be, 
Till  I,  Deborah,  arose, 
Till  I  arose,  a  mother  in  Israel. 


THE    CHANGE. 

They  chose  gods  that  were  new. 

Then  there  was  war  in  the  gates : 
Shield  was  there  none  or  spear, 

In  forty  thousand  of  Israel. 

My  heart  is  towards  the  lawgivers  of  Israel, 
Who  offered  themselves  willingly  for  the  -peojAe. 
Praise  Jehovah  ! 


is  to  be  found  in  Milman's  Hist,  of  version  of  Ewald  {Hehrdische  Poeste, 

the  Jews,  i.  194.     In  my  o-vra  imper-  p.  125),  following  always  the  order  of 

feet  knowledge  of  Hebrew,    I   have  the  words,  and  their  exact  force  in 

adhered,  as  closely  as  I  could,  to  the  the  original. 


336  DEBORAH.  lect.  xiv. 

Ye  that  ride  on  white  dappled  she-asses, 
Ye  that  sit  on  rich  carpets, 
Ye  that  walk  in  the  way. 

Meditate  the  song ! 

From  amidst  the  shouting  of  the  dividers  of  spoils. 

Between  the  water-troughs. 

There  let  them  rehearse  the  righteous  acts  of  Jehovah, 

The  righteous  acts  of  His  headship!  in  Israel ; 

Then  went  down  to  the  gates  the  people  of  Jehovah. 

Awake,  awake,  Deborah  ! 

Awake,  awake,  utter  a  song  ! 
Arise,  Barak  !  and  lead  captive  thy  captives. 

Thou  son  of  Abinoam. 


THE    GATHERING. 

Then  came  down  a  remnant  of  the  nobles  of  the  people, 
Jehovah  came  down  to  me  among  the  heroes. 

Out  of  Ephraim  came  those  whose  root  is  in  Amalek, 

After  thee,  O  Benjamin,  in  thy  people  ; 
Out  of  Machir  came  down  lawgivers, 

And  out  of  Zebulun  they  that  handle  the  staff  of  those  that 
number  the  host ; 
And  the  princes  in  Issachar  with  Deborah,  and  Issachar  as 
Barak, 
Into  the  valley  he  was  sent  on  his  feet. 


THE    RECREANTS. 

By  the  streams  of  Reuben  great  are  the  debates  of  heart. 

Why  sittest  thou  between  the  sheepfolds  ? 

To  hear  the  piping  to  the  flocks  ? 
At  the  streams  of  Reuben  great  are  the  searchings  of  heart. 

Gilead  beyond  the  Jordan  dwells. 
And  Dan,  why  sojourns  he  in  ships  ? 
Asher  sits  at  the  shore  of  the  sea, 
And  on  his  harbours  dwells. 


LECT.  XIV.  THE   SONG   OF   DEBORAH.  337 


THE  BATTLE  AND  THE  FLIGHT. 

Zebnliin  is  a  people  throwing  away  its  soul  to  death, 
And  Naphtali  on  the  high  places  of  the  field. 

There  came  kings,  and  fonght ; 

Then  fought  kings  of  Canaan — 
At  Taanach,  on  the  waters  of  Megiddo ; 

Gain  of  silver  took  they  not. 
From  heaveu  they  fought ; 
The  stars  Irom  their  courses 

Fought  with  Sisera.  " 

The  torrent  of  Kishon  swept  them  away, 

The  ancient  torrent,  the  torrent  Kishon. 
Trample  down,  O  my  soul,  their  strength. 
Then  stamped  the  hoofs  of  the  horses, 
From  the  plungings  and  plungings  of  the  mighty  ones. 

THE    FLIGHT. 

Curse  ye  Meroz,  said  the  messenger  of  Jehovah ; 
Curse  ye  with  a  curse  the  inhabitants  thereof; 
Because  they  came  not  to  the  help  of  Jehovah, 
To  the  help  of  Jehovah,  with  the  heroes. 


THE    DESTROYER. 

Blessed  above  Avomen  be  Jael, 

The  wife  of  Heber  the  Kenite, 

Above  women  in  the  tent,  blessed ! 

Water  he  asked,  milk  she  gave ; 

In  a  dish  of  the  nobles  she  offered  him  curds. 

Her  hand  she  stretched  out  to  the  tent-pin, 

And  her  right  hand  to  the  hammer  of  the  workmen  ; 

And  hammered  Sisera,  and  smote  his  head, 

And  beat  and  struck  through  his  temples. 

Between  her  feet  he  bowed,  he  fell,  he  lay. 

Between  her  feet  he  bowed,  he  fell ; 

Where  he  bowed,  there  he  fell  down  slaughtered. 


338 


DEBORAH. 


LECT.    XIV. 


THE    MOTHER. 

Through  the  window  stretched  forth  and  lamented 
The  mother  of  Sisera  through  the  lattice  : 
'  Wherefore  delays  his  car  to  come  ? 

*  Wherefore  tarry  the  wheels  of  his  chariots  ? '  ^ 

The  wise  ones  of  her  princesses  answer  her, 
Yea,  she  repeats  their  answer  to  herself: 

*  Surely  they  are  finding,  are  dividing  the  prey, 

*  One  damsel,  two  damsels  for  the  head  of  each  hero. 
'  Prey  of  divers  colours  for  Sisera, 

'  Prey  of  divers  colours,  of  embroidery, 

*  One  of  divers  colours,  two  of  embroidery,  for  the  neck 

'  [of  the  prey  2].' 


THE   TRIUMPH. 

So  perish  all  Thy  enemies,  O  Jehovah  ; 

But  they  that  love  Thee  are  as  the  sun,  when  he  goes  forth 
like  a  giant. 


'  A  remarkable  parallel  to  this  vain 
hope  of  the  mother  for  the  return  of 
her  son  is  to  be  seen  in  the  Greek 
Klephtie  songs,  belonging  to  a  some- 
what similar  stage  of  society. 


^  Shelled,  '  ijrey,'  is  the  reading 
of  the  Eeceived  Text,  for  which  Ewald 
proposes  to  substitute  shegetl  (the 
queen).  Otherwise  the  connexion  of 
the  word  '  prey '  must  be  supplied. 


339 


LECTUEE   XV. 
GIDEON. 

In  the  defeat  of  Sisera  the  last  attempt  of  the  old  inhabitants 
to  recover  their  sway  was  put  down.  The  next  event  is 
wholly  different.  It  is  the  invasion  of  the  tribes  of  the 
adjoining  desert.  The  name  of  Midian,  though  sometimes  The  Midi- 
given  peculiarly  to  the  tribe  on  the  south-east  shores  of  the 
Gulf  of  Akaba,'  was  extended  to  all  Arabian  tribes  on  the 
east  of  the  Jordan —  *  the  Amalekites  and  all  the  children  of 
'  the  East.'  They  have  already  appeared  at  the  time  of  the 
first  passage  of  Israel  through  the  Trans-Jordanic  territory. 
In  this,  as  on  the  former  occasion,  they  are  governed  by 
Princes  or  Chiefs  whose  names  are  preserved.  Two  superior 
chiefs  having  the  title  of  '  king,'  Zeba  ^  and  Zalmunna ;  two 
inferior,  Oreb  and  Zeeb — '  the  Eaven  and  the  Wolf — bearing 
the  title  of  *  princes.'  ^  Their  appearance  is  brought  vividly 
before  us.  Like  the  Arab  chiefs  of  modern  days,  they  are 
dressed  in  gorgeous  scarlet  robes ;  ^  on  their  necks  and  the 
necks  of  their  camels  are  crescent-like  ornaments,  such  as 
were  afterwards  worn  by  Jewish  ladies  of  high  rank."  All  of 
them  wore  rings,  either  nose-rings  or  ear-rings  of  gold.^ 

When  these  wild  tribes,  taking  advantage  perhaps  of  the 
weakening  of  the   intervening   kingdoms    of  Amnion    and 

'   1  Kings  xi.  18.  See  Ewald,  ii.  435,  *  Ibid.  viii.  26. 

&c.  ^  Ibid.  \\\\.  26  ;  and  Isa.  iii.  16,  18. 

^  Judg.  riii.  5.  *  Gen.  xxiv.  47;  xxxv.  4. 

•''  Ibid.  vii.  2-5. 

z  2 


340  GIDEON.  lect.  xv. 

Moab,  burst  upon  the  country,  their  fierce  aspect  struck 
consternation  wherever  they  went.  '  Let  us  take  to  ourselves 
'  the  pastures  of  Grod  '  ^ — so  in  true  nomadic  phrase  they  are 
supposed  to  speak.  They  overran  the  whole  country.  Like 
the  Bedouins,  who  now  make  incursions  into  the  plains  of 
Esdraelon  and  Philistia;  like  the  Scythians,  who  in  the 
reign  of  Josiah  spread  southward  '  as  far  as  Gaza ; '  ^  so  they, 
reaching  to  the  same  limits,  were  to  be  seen  everywhere, 
with  their  innumerable  tents  and  camels,  like  the  sand  ^  in 
the  bay  of  Acre, — -like  one  of  those  terrible  armies  of  locusts 
described  by  the  Prophet  Joeh* 
The  flight  The  panic  was  proportionably  great.  The  Israelite  popu- 
raelites.  lation  left  the  plains  and  took  refuge  in  the  hills.  Three 
places  of  refuge  are  specially  mentioned.  First,  the  cata- 
combs or  galleries  which  they  cut  out  of  the  rock,  which  are 
mentioned  only  in  this  place,  and  which,  apparently,  were 
pointed  out,  in  after  times,  as  the  memorials  of  these 
troubled  days.-^  Secondly,  the  craggy  peaks,  such  as  the  rock 
of  Rimmon  and  the  inaccessible  Masada.  Thirdly,  the  lime- 
stone caves,  here  first  mentioned,  and  afterwards  often  used, 
like  the  Corycian  cave  in  Grreece  during  the  Persian  invasion, 
and  the  caves  of  the  Asturias  in  Spain  during  the  occupation 
of  the  Moors.  It  was  returning  to  the  old  Troglodyte  habits 
of  the  Horites  and  Phoenicians.^ 

From  this  great  calamity  Israel  was  rescued  by  a  great 
Gideon.       deliverer — the   most   heroic   of  all   the   characters   of  this 
period. 

Just  as  in  the  other  invasions  and  oppressions,  so  here,  the 
deliverer  is  to  be  sought  in  the  locality  nearest  to  the  chief 
scene  of  the  invasion.     Overhanging  the  plain  of  Esdraelon, 

'  Ps.  Ixxxiii.  12.  *  Jiidg,  vi.  2;  Roseumiiller  ad  loc. 

'  Zeph.  ii.  5,  6  ;  Judg.  vi.  4.  Comp.  Job  xxviii.  10. 

^  Judg.  vii.  12.  *  Job  xxx.  6.      Herder,    Sjpirit  of 

*  Joel  ii.  1-11 ;  Judg.  vi.  5,  vii.  12.  Hebrew  Poetry,  p.  74. 


LECT.  XV.  THE   MASSACRE    OX   MOUNT   TABOE.  341 

where  the  vast  army  of  the  Midianites  was  encamped,  were 
the  hills  of  the  Western  Manasseh.  It  was  from  a  small 
family '  of  this  proud  tribe  that  the  champion  of  Israel  un- 
expectedly rose.  There  had  already  been  collisions  between  The  mas- 
them  and  the  invaders.  The  northern  tribes  seem  to  have  Mount  ^ 
met,  as  in  the  time  of  Barak,  at  the  sanctuary  of  Mount  Tabor. 
Tabor,  and  there  the  elder  sons  of  Joash  the  Abiezrite  had 
been  overtaken  and  slain  by  the  Midianite  kings.^  They  were 
a  magnificent  family — every  one  of  them  was  like  a  Prince. 
And  not  the  least  regal  was  the  sole  survivor,  Grideon.  He  was 
apparently  the  youngest ;  but  had  already  one  high-spirited 
son — the  boy  Jether.*  Even  in  the  depressed  state  of  his 
country  and  family,  he  kept  up  a  dignity  of  his  own.  He  had 
his  ten  slaves  ^  and  his  armoiur-bearer,  whose  name,  Pliurah, 
has  been  preserved  to  us  in  the  celebrity  of  his  master.'^ 
His  name  was  already  great,  as  a  '  mighty  hero,'  ^  both 
amongst  the  Israelites  and  their  invaders.  It  was  whilst  he 
was  brooding  over  the  wrongs  of  his  family  and  his  country 
that  the  call  came  upon  him.^  The  scene  was  long  preserved, 
and  the  manner  of  the  call  carries  us  back  to  the  visions  of 
the  Patriarchal  age. 

There  were  vineyards  round  his  native  Ophrah,^  and  by  Tim  vision 
the  winepress,  in  which  the  grapes  would  be  trodden  out 
in  the  coming  autumn,  he  now,  in  the  summer  months, 
doubtless  with  his  father's  bullocks,^  was  threshing  out  the 
newly  gathered  wheat.  Close  by  the  smooth  level  was  a  cave, 
into  which  the  juice  of  the  grapes  ran  off  through  a  channel 
cut  in  the  rocky  reservoir,  and  which  Gideon  now  used  to 
hide  the  corn  from  the  rapacious  invaders.     Above  this  cave, 

'  Judg.  vi.  15  ;  viii.  2.     'My  thoxi-  *  Ihid.  vi.  27. 

sand  is  the  poor  one.'     Comp.  Deut.  ^  Ibid.  yii.  10. 

xxxiii.  17  (the  thows-Aivis,  i.e. families,  ^  Ibid.  vi.  12,  29  ;  vii.  14. 

of  Manasseh).  '  7?«V7.  15;  viii.  19. 

2  Judg.  viii.  18.  »  Ibid,  viii,  2. 

'  Ibid.  20.  »  Ibid.  vi.  25,  26. 


342  GIDEON.  lect.  xv. 

as  it  would  seem,  stood  a  rock,  in  the  midst  of  a  grove  of 
trees,  amongst  which  the  most  conspicuous  was  a  well-known 
terebinth,  spreading  its  wide  branches  alike  over  the  rock 
and  the  winepress.     The  grove  was  dedicated  (so  deeply  had 
the  Canaanitish  worship  spread  even  into  the  purest  families) 
to  Astarte.     The  rock,  with  an  altar  on  its  summit,  was  con- 
secrated to  Baal,  and  was  venerated  as   a  stronghold  ^   or 
asylum  by  the  neighbourhood.     A  Prophet,^  whose  name  is 
not  preserved  to  us,  had  already  been  amongst  the  people, 
with  warnings  and  encouragements.     The  message  to  Grideon 
is  described  in  language  of  a  more  mysterious  and  solemn 
kind.     '  A  messenger  of  the  Lord ' — a  youth,  according  to 
the  tradition  in  Josephus  ^ — suddenly  appears,  leaning  on  a 
staff.    The  meal  which  Gideon  had  prepared  for  him  beneath 
the  terebinth  becomes  a  sacrifice.     The  sacrifice  is  laid  on 
the  summit  of  the  consecrated  rock,  as  upon  a  natural  altar. 
At  the  touch  of  the  wayfarer's  staff  it  is  consumed  in  flames, 
and  the  heavenly  messenger  vanishes    amidst  the  cries   of 
alarm  which  the  terrified  Gideon  utters  at  the  consciousness 
of  the  Divine  Presence,   till  he  receives  the   assurance   of 
'  the  Peace  of  Jehovah.' 

There  may  be  difficulties  in  the  details  of  this  narrative. 
But  it  faithfully  exhibits  the  twofold  call  to  Gideon  which 
forms  the  framework  of  the  rest  of  his  history. 
The  over-         1.  The  first  call,  which  is  less  distinctly  described,  is  the 
the'wor-      mission — almost  of  a  prophetic  character — to  strike  a  de- 
ship  of        cisive  blow  at  the  growing  tendency  to  Phoenician  worship 
in  the  central  tribes  of  Palestine.     On  the  morning,  we  are 
told,*  of  the  following  day,  the  villagers  assembled  for  their 
worship.     They  found  that  the  consecrated  trees  were  cut 


'  The  word  Maoz,  used  for  it  in  -  Judg.  vi.  8. 

Judg.  vi.  26,  though  employed  in  the  '  Jos.  Ant.  v.  6,  §  8. 

poetical  books,  occurs  here  aloue  iu  ••  Judg.  vi.  28. 
prose. 


LECT.  XV.  THE    CALL    OF   GIDEON.  343 

down.  Their  aslies  were  seen  on  the  rock.  A  bullock  had 
been  consumed  whole  in  the  flames  of  the  pile  that  had 
been  heaped  up.  The  altar  had  been  swept  away,  and 
another  new  altar  reared  in  its  place  to  receive  the  sacri- 
ficial pile.  The  answer  of  Joash  to  those  who  charged  his 
son  with  this  act  of  sacrilege,  is  based  on  that  grand  principle 
which  runs  through  so  large  a  part  of  the  history  of  the 
Jewish  Church — that  the  real  impiety  is  in  those  who  be- 
lieve that  God  cannot  defend  Himself.  *  Will  ye  take  upon 
'  yourselves  to  plead  Baal's  cause  ?  Let  Baal  plead  for 
'  himself.'  ^  Of  tliis  struggle,  and  of  this  iconoclasm,  two 
distinct  memorials  remained.  One  was  the  new  altar  which 
continued,  into  the  times  of  the  monarchy,  on  the  sacred 
rock,  bearing  in  its  name  an  allusion  to  the  events  which 
caused  its  erection  ^ — Jehovah,  Peace.  The  other  was  the 
name  adopted  by  Grideon,  and  perpetuated  in  different  forms 
as  Jerub-baal,  Jerub-bosheth,  Hierobaal,  and  Hierombal. 
Either  as  the  destroyer  of  the  old,  or  the  constructor  of  the 
new  sanctuary,  of  which  he  afterwards  became  the  Priest  and 
Oracle,  this  name  remained  side  by  side  with  that  which  he 
bore  as  the  deliverer  from  Midian,^  and  was  the  one  which, 
alone  of  the  names  of  this  period,  penetrated  into  the  Gentile 
world.* 

2.  The  second  call  is  that  by  which  in  later  times  Gideon  The  insur- 
has  been  chiefly  known — the  war   of  insurrection   against  acrainst 
Midian.     His  own  character  is  well  indicated  in  the  sign  of  ^l^'^'''"- 
the  fleece  ^ — cool  in  the  heat  of  all  around,  dry  when  all 
around    were  damped  by  fear.     Throughout  we    see    three 
great  qualities,  decision,   caution,   and  magnanimity.     The 
summons,  as  usual,  by  the  well-known  horn,  first  convenes 

'  Judg.  vi.  31.    Compare  Gamaliel's  ''  For   Hierobaal,  see   LXX.      For 

speech,  Acts  v.  38,  39.  Hierombal,  see  Euseb.  Fr.  Ev.  i.  9 

2  Judg.  vi.  23,  24.  Ewald,  ii. 

3  Judg.  vii.   1 ;    viii.  29 ;    1   Sam.  *  Ewald,  ii.  500. 
xii.  11, 


344  GIDEON.  lect.  xv. 

his  own  clan  of  Abiezer ;  next,  his  own  tribe  of  Manasseh ; 
and  lastly,  the  three  northern  tribes.  Zebulun  and  Naphtali 
are  still  the  faithful  amongst  the  faithless,  the  nucleus  of 
independence,  as  in  the  war  of  Deborah,  as  in  the  final  war 
of  Jewish  patriotism  against  Rome.  Asher  has  this  time 
left  his  home  by  the  shores  of  Accho ;  but  Issachar,  overrun 
by  the  Arab  tribes,  is  absent* 

The  career  of  Grideon  is  more  than  a  battle :  it  is  a  cam- 
paign or  war,  which  divides  itself  into  three  parts. 
The  battle       The  first  is  the  battle  of  Jezreel.     The   Midianite   en- 
ot  Jezree .    ^ampment  was  on  the  northern  side  of  the  valley,  between 
Grilboa  and  Little  Hermon.     The  Israelite  encampment  was 
on  the  slope  of  Mount  Grilboa,  by  the  spring  of  Jezreel,  called, 
The  Spring  from  the  incident  of  this  time,  '  the  Spring  of  Trembling.' 
blino-.  There  had  been  the  usual  war-cry — -'  What  man  is  there  that 

'  is  fearful  and  faint-hearted  ?  Let  him  go  and  return  unto 
'  his  house,  lest  his  brethren's  heart  faint  as  well  as  his  heart.' ' 
It  was  modified  on  this  occasion  by  its  adaptation  either  to  the 
peculiar  war-cry  of  Manasseh,  or  to  the  actual  scene  of  the 
encampment^*  Whosoever  is  afraid,  let  him  return  from 
*  Mount  Gilead,'  ^  or  (according  to  another  reading)  '  from 
'  Mount  Gilboa.'  This  had  removed  the  cowards  from  the 
army.  The  next  step  was  to  remove  the  rash.^  At  the  brink 
of  the  spring,  those  who  rushed  headlong  down  to  quench 
their  thirst,  throwing  themselves  on  the  ground,  or  plunging 
their  mouths  into  the  water,  were  rejected;  those  who  took 
up  the  water  in  their  hands,  and  lapped  it  with  self-restraint, 
were  chosen. 

Gideon,  thus  left  alone  with  his  three  hundred  men, 
now  needed  an  augury  for  himself.  This  was  granted 
to  him.  It  was  night,  when  he  and  his  armour-bearer 
descended  from  their  secure  position  above  the  spring  to  the 

'  Deut.  XX.  8.  '  This,  in  the  Koran  (ii.  250-252), 

*  Judg.  vii.  3.      See  Lecture   IX.       is  ascribed  to  Saul. 


LECT.  XV.  THE    BATTLE    OF   JEZEEEL.  345 

vast  army  below.  They  reached  the  outskirts  of  the  tents 
amidst  the  deep  silence  which  had  fallen  over  the  encamp- 
ment, where  the  thousands  of  Arabs  lay  wrapt  in  sleep  or 
resting  from  their  plunder,  with  their  innumerable  camels 
moored  in  peaceful  repose  around  them.  One  of  the 
sleepers,  startled  from  his  slumbers,  was  telling  his  dream  to 
his  fellow.  A  thin  round  cake  of  barley  bread,  of  the  most  The  panic, 
homely  bread, ^  from  those  rich  cornfields,  those  numerous 
threshing-places,  those  deep  ovens  sunk  in  the  ground,  which 
they  had  been  plundering,  came  rolling  into  the  camp,  till  it 
reached  the  royal  tent  in  the  centre,  which  fell  headlong 
before  it,  and  was  turned  over  and  over,  till  it  lay  flat  upon 
the  ground.  Like  the  shadow  of  Eichard,  which,  centuries 
later,  was  believed  to  make  the  Arab  horses  start  at  the  sight 
of  a  bush,  one  name  only  seemed  to  occur  as  the  interpreta- 
tion of  this  sign :  '  The  sword  of  Gideon,  the  son  of  Joash.' 
The  Awful  Listener  heard  the  good  omen,  bowed  himself 
to  the  ground  in  thankful  acknowledgment  of  it,  and  dis- 
appeared up  the  mountain  side.  The  sleepers  and  the 
dreamers  slept  on  to  be  waked  up  by  the  blast  of  the  pas- 
toral horns,  and  at  the  same  naoment  the  crashing  of  the 
three  hundred  pitchers,  and  the  blaze  of  the  three  hundred 
torches,  and  the  shout  of  Israel,  always  terrible,  which  broke 
through  the  stillness  of  the  midnight  air  from  three  opposite 
quarters  at  once.  In  a  moment  the  camp  was  rushing  hither 
and  thither  in  dark  confusion,  with  the  dissonant  '  cries 
peculiar  to  the  Arab  race.  Every  one  drew  his  sword  against 
every  other,  and  the  host  fled  headlong  down  the  descent  to 
the  Jordan,  to  the  spots  known  as  the  House  of  the  Acacia, 
and  the  margin  of  the  Meadow  of  the  Dance. 

Their  effort  was  to  cross  the  river  at  the  fords  of  Beth-  Tlie  battle 
barah.   It  was  immediately  under  the  mountains  of  Ephraim,  Eock^of 

Oreb. 
'  Josephus,  Ant.  v.  6,  §  4.     Thomson's  Lajjd  and  Book,  p,  449. 


346  GIDEON.  lect.  xv. 

and  to  the  Ephraimites  accordingly  messengers  were  sent  to 
interrupt  the  passage.  The  great  tribe,  roused  at  last,  was 
not  slow  to  move.  By  the  time  that  they  reached  the  river, 
the  two  greater  chiefs  had  already  crossed,  and  the  encounter 
took  place  with  the  two  lesser  chiefs,  Oreb  and  Zeeb.  They 
were  caught  and  slain  :  one  at  a  winepress,  known  afterwards 
as  the  winepress  of  Zeeb,  or  the  Wolf;  the  other  on  a  rock, 
which  from  him  took  the  name  of  the  Eock  of  Oreb,  or 
the  Raven  ;  round  which,  or  upon  which,  the  chief  carnage 
had  taken  place, —  so  that  the  whole  battle  was  called  in 
after  times,  '  The  Slaughter  of  Midian  at  the  Rock  of  Oreb.'  ^ 
The  Ephraimites  passed  the  Jordan,  and  overtook  Gideon, 
and  presented  to  him  the  severed  heads.  Their  remonstrance 
at  not  having  before  been  called  to  take  part  in  the  struggle, 
is  as  characteristic  of  the  growing  pride  of  Ephraim,  as  his 
answer  is  of  the  forbearance  and  calmness  which  places  him 
at  the  summit  of  the  heroes  of  this  age.  The  gleaning  of 
Ephraim  in  the  bloody  heads  of  those  chieftains,  he  told 
them,  was  better  than  the  full  vintage  of  slaughter,  in  the 
unknown  multitudes  by  the  little  family  of  Abi-ezer. 

He,  meantime,  was  in  full  chase  of  his  enemies.  *  Faint, 
yet  pursuing,'  is  the  expressive  description  of  the  union  of 
exhaustion  and  energy  which  has  given  the  words  a  place 
in  the  religious  feelings  of  mankind.  Succoth  and  Penuel, 
the  two  scenes  of  Jacob's  early  life,  on  the  track  of  his  en- 
trance from  the  East,  as  of  tlie  Midianites'  return  towards  it, 
were  Grideon's  two  halting-places — the  little  settlement  in  the 
Jordan  valley,  now  grown  into  a  flourishing  town,  with  its 
eighty-seven  chiefs, — the  lofty  watch-tower  overlooking  the 
The  battle  country  far  and  wide.  At  Karkor,  far  in  the  desert,  beyond  the 
usual  range  of  the  nomadic  tribes,  he  fell  upon  the  Arabian 
host.     They  had  fled  ^  with  a  confusion  which  could  only  be 

'  Isa,  X.  26. 

«  Ps.  Ixzxiii.  9-11.     Sep  Mr.  Grove,  on  'Oreb,'  in  the  Diet,  of  Bible. 


LECT.  XV.  THE    IMPOETAXCE    OF   THE    CRISIS.  347 

compared  to  clouds  of  chaff  and  weeds  flying  before  the  blast 
of  a  furious  hurricane,  or  the  rapid  spread  of  a  conflagration 
where  the  flames  leap  from  tree  to  tree  and  from  hill  to  hill 
in  the  dry  forests  of  the  mountains  ;  and  in  the  midst  of  this 
were  taken  the  two  leaders  of  the  horde,  Zeba  and  Zalmunna. 
Then  came  the  triumphant  return,  and  the  vengeance  on  the 
two  cities  for  their  inhospitalities.  The  tower  of  the  Divine 
Vision  was  razed,  the  chiefs  of  Succoth  were  beaten  to  death 
with  the  thorny  branches  of -the  neighbouring  acacia  groves. 
The  two  kings  of  Midian,  in  all  the  state  of  royal  Arabs, 
were  brought  before  the  conqueror  on  their  richly  caparisoned 
dromedaries.  They  replied  with  all  the  spirit  of  Arab  chiefs 
to  Grideon,  who  for  a  moment  almost  gives  way  to  his  gentler 
feelings  at  the  sight  of  such  fallen  grandeur.  But  the 
remembrance  of  his  brothers'  blood  on  jNIount  Tabor  steels 
his  heart,  and  when  his  boy,  Jether,  shrinks  from  the  task 
of  slaughter,  he  takes  their  lives  with  his  own  hand,  and 
gathers  up  the  vast  spoils,  the  gorgeous  dresses  and  orna- 
ments, with  which  they  and  their  camels  were  loaded. 

How  signal  the  deliverance  was,  appears  from  its  many 
memorials :  the  name  of  Grideon's  altar,  of  the  spring  of 
Harod,  of  the  rock  of  Oreb,  of  the  winepress  of  Zeeb ;  •  whilst 
the  Prophets  and  Psalmist  allude  again  and  again  to  details 
not  mentioned  in  the  history — '  The  rod  of  the  oppressor 
'  broken  as  in  the  day  of  Midian '  ^ — the  wild  panic  of  '  the 
*  confused  noise  and  garments  rolled  in  blood ' — the  streams 
of  blood  that  flowed  round  '  the  rock  of  Oreb ' — the  insult- 
ing speeches,  and  the  desperate  rout,  as  before  fire  and 
tempest,  of  the  four  chiefs  whose  names  passed  even  into  a 
curse —  *  INIake  thou  their  nobles  like  Oreb  and  Zeeb,  yea,  all 
'  their  princes  like  Zeba  and  Zalmunna.' 

But  the  most  immediate  proof  of  the  importance  of  this 

'  Judg.  vi.  24 ;  Tii.  2,  25. 

"  Isa.  ix.  4;  x.  26;  Vs.  Ixxxiii.  9-11. 


348  GIDEON.  lect.  xv. 

victory  was  that  it  occasioned  the   first  direct   attempt  to 
Royal  establish  '^the  kingly  office,  and  render  it  perpetual  in  the 

Grideou.  house  of  Gideon.  '  Rule  thou  over  us,  both  thou  and  thy 
*  son,  and  thy  son's  son :  for  thou  hast  delivered  us  from 
'  the  hand  of  Midian.'  Gideon  declines  the  office.  But  he 
reigns,  notwithstanding,  in  all  but  regal  state.  His  vast 
military  mantle  •  receives  the  spoils  of  the  whole  army.  He 
combines,  like  David,  the  sacerdotal  and  the  regal  power. 
An  image,  clothed  with  a  sacred  ephod,  is  made  of  the 
Midianite  spoils,  and  his  house  at  Ophrah  becomes  a  sanc- 
tuary, and  he  apparently  is  known  even  to  the  Phoenicians 
as  a  priest.^  He  adopts,  like  David,  the  unhappy  accom- 
paniment of  royalty,  polygamy,  with  its  unhappy  conse- 
quences. It  is  evident  that  we  have  reached  the  climax  of 
the  period.  We  feel  '  all  the  goodness  '  ^  of  Gideon.  There 
is  a  sweetness  and  nobleness,  blended  with  his  com-age,  such 
as  lifts  us  into  a  higher  region ;  something  of  the  past 
greatness  of  Joshua,  something  of  the  future  grace  of  David. 
But  he  was,  as  we  should  say,  before  his  age.  The  attempt 
to  establish  a  more  settled  form  of  government  ended  in 
disaster  and  crime.  He  himself  remains  as  a  character 
apart,  faintly  understood  by  others,  imperfectly  fulfilling 
his  own  ideas,  staggering  under  a  burden  to  which  he  was 
not  equal.  In  his  union  of  superstition  and  true  religion, 
in  his  mysterious  loneliness  of  situation,  he  recalls  to  us 
one  of  the  greatest  characters  of  heathen  history,  with  the 
additional  interest  of  the  high  sacred  element.  '  His  mind 
«  rose  above  the  state  of  things  and  men  ; '  so  we  may  apply 
to  him  what  has  been  said  of  Scipio  Africanus — '  his   spirit 

*  was  solitary  and  kingly ;  he  was  cramped  by  living  amongst 

*  those  as  his  equals  whom  he  felt  fitted  to  guide  as  from 

*  a  higher  sphere ;  and  he  retired  to  his  native '  Ophrah  to 

>  Judg.  viii.  25  (Hebrew).  ^  j;us.  Pr.  Ev.  i.  9. 

'  Judg.  viii.  35. 


lECT.  XV.  THE    USURPATION   OF   ABIMELECH.  349 

'  breathe  freely,  since  he  could  not  fulfil  his  natural  calling 

*  to  be  a  hero-king.' ' 

The  career  of  Grideon,  so  poetical,  so  elevated,  so  complete 
in  itself,  seems  at  first  sight  but  unevenly  combined  with 
the  impotent  conclusion  of  the  prosaic  and  almost  secular 
story  of  Abimelech.  But  this  story  has  an  interest  of  its 
own,  in  the  liveliness  of  its  details,  independently  of  the 
grander  narrative  to  which  it  is  a  close  sequel. 

We  are  suddenly  introduced  for  the  first  and  only  time  in 

the  Book  of  Judges  to  the  ancient  capital  of  the  nation  in 

Shechem.      In  that  beautiful  and  venerable  city,   the  old  Rise  of 

Abimelech. 
inhabitants  had  still  lingered,  after  the  conquest.     One  oi 

the  maidens  of  the  city  had  become  a  slave  ^  of  the  great 

Gideon,  and  by  her  he  had  added  another  son  to  his  already 

numerous  offspring.     Abimelech  inherited  the  daring  energy 

of  his    father,    without   his   self-control   and    magnanimity. 

He  determined,  on  the  one  hand,  to  avail  himself  of  the 

growing  tendency  to  a  monarchical  form  of  government  ('  Is 

*  it  better  that  threescore  and  ten  persons  or  that  one  reign 
*over  you?');  and,  on  the  other  hand,  he  appealed  to  the 
common  element  of  race  between  himself  and  the  subject 
Shechemites,  like  our  Henry,  the  first  Norman  son  of  a  Saxon 
mother ;  '  Eemember  that  I  am  your  bone  and  your  flesh.'  ^ 
To  this  appeal  they  at  once  responded,  '  He  is  our  brother.' 
From  the  treasury  of  the  sanctuary,*  which  they  in  league 
with  the  neighbouring  cities  had  established,  they  granted 
him  a  subsidy;  and  with  this  and  a  body  of  insurgents  he 
marched  on  Ophrah,  where  his  seventy  brothers  still  held 
their  aristocratic  court,  and  slew  the  whole  family  on  '  one 
stone,'  probably  on  that  same  consecrated  rock  whence, 
years  before,  his  father  had  thrown  do^vn  the  altar  of  Baal.  It 
is  the  first  recorded  instance  of  the  dreadful  usage  of  Oriental 

»  Arnold's  Borne,  iii.  314.  ^  Ihid.  ix.  2. 

*  Judg.  viii.  31.  *  See  Lecture  XIII. 


350  GIDEON.  lect.  xv. 

monarchies — '  the  slaughter  of  the  brothers  of  kings,'  which 
has  continued  down  to  our  own  days  in  the  Turkish  Empire, 
and  has  passed  long  ago  into  Bacon's  famous  proverb. 
To  Shechem,  his  birthplace,  and  the  seat  of  the  ancient 
government  of  Joshua,  of  the  future  monarchy  of  Israel, 
Abimelech  retired  in  triumph ;  and  there,  beside  the  oak 
whence  Joshua  had  addressed  the  nation,  where  probably  in 
after  days  the  princes  of  Israel  were  inaugurated,  Abimelech 
received,  the  first  in  the  sacred  history,  the  name  of  King. 
It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  festive  solemnity  that  a  voice 
was  heard  from  the  heights  of  Gerizim,  memorable  in  this 
crisis  of  Shechem,  but  memorable  also  in  the  history  of  the 
Parable  of  Church,  for  it  is  the  first  recorded  Parable.  One  only  child 
of  the  family  of  Grideon  had  escaped — Jotham,  who  in  this 
quaint  address  developes  the  quiet  humour  and  sagacity  of 
his  father  and  grandfather,  who  had  each  turned  away  the 
wrath  of  their  hearers  by  a  short  apologue.  He  from  his 
concealment  suddenly  presented  himself  on  one  of  the  rocky 
spurs  that  project  from  Gerizim  over  the  valley,  probably 
from  the  conspicuous  cliff  that  rises  precipitously  above 
what  must  have  been  the  exact  situation  of  the  ancient 
Shechem.  From  that  lofty  pulpit,'  inaccessible,  but  audible 
from  below,  he  broke  forth,  no  doubt  in  the  chant  or  loud 
lament  in  which  Eastern  story-tellers  recite  their  tales,  with 
the  fable,  intended  to  describe  the  disadvantages  of  govern- 
ment and  of  monarchy  in  all  countries,  but  drawn  from  the 
very  imagery  which  lay  beneath  him  at  the  moment.  Like 
all  the  parables  of  the  earlier  times  of  the  Jewish  nation,  it 
turns  on  the  vegetable  world.  The  vine,'^  the  cedar,  the 
thistle,  in  the  fables  of  Palestine,  take  the  place  which,  in 
the  fables  of  India  or  of  Greece,  is  occupied  by  the  talking 
beasts  or  birds.     His  eye  rested  on  that  unparalleled  mass 

'  This  was  pointed  out  to  me  by  -  Judg.  ix.  12  ;  Isa.  v.  1 ;  2  Kings 

Dr.  Eosen,  in  1862.  xiv.  9. 


i.ECT.  XV.  PAEABLE    OF   JOTIIAM.  351 

of  living  verdure  in  which,  alone  of  all  the  cities  of  Pales- 
tine, Shechem  is  embosomed.  He  imagined  the  ancient 
days  of  the  earth  when  all  those  trees  Avere  endued  with 
human  instincts  and  human  speech,  and  bade  his  hearers 
listen  to  them  as  they  gathered  themselves  together  in  that 
green  council  to  elect  their  king.  First  (so  we  may  fill  up 
the  outline  which  then  must  have  been  supplied  by  the 
actual  sight  of  the  hearers)  came  all  the  lower  trees  to  the 
chief  of  all  that  grow  in  that  fertile  valley — the  venerable 
Olive.  But  the  Olive  could  not  leave  his  useful  and  noble 
task  of  supplying  the  sacred  purposes  of  Grod  and  man,  and 
remained  rooted  in  his  ancient  place.  Next  they  approached 
the  broad  green  shade  of  the  Fig-tree.  But  he,  too,  had  the 
delicious  sweetness  of  liis  good  fruit  to  care  for,  and  his 
answer  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  Olive.  Then  they 
addressed  the  luxuriant  Vine,  as  he  threw  his  festoons  from 
tree  to  tree,  along  the  side  of  the  hill.  But  the  Vine  clings 
to  his  appointed  work  of  '  cheering  Grod  and  man,'  and  he, 
too,  abjm-ed  the  idle  state  of  monarchy.  One  and  all  the 
nobler  trees  were  the  true  likenesses  of  the  noble  race  of 
Grideon — in  his  usefulness,  his  sweetness,  and  his  gaiety  of 
speech  and  life.  The  Trees  must  descend  to  a  lower  growth 
before  they  could  find  any  that  would  undertake  the  thank- 
less task  of  ruler.  The  Briar,  the  Bramble,  the  Thorn  that 
crept  along  the  barren  side  of  the  mountain,  or  under  the 
cover  of  the  walls  of  the  vineyard  or  the  orchard,  had  no 
loftier  cares  to  distract  him  from  the  calling  they  proposed. 
It  was  the  Briar,  with  which,  doubtless  then,  as  now,  in  the 
sacrificial  feast  on  Mount  Grerizim,  huge  fires  were  kindled ; 
and  from  him,  useless  and  idle  as  he  seemed  to  be,  a  blaze 
would  come  forth  in  which  friends  and  foes  alike  would  burn 
— a  wide-spreading  conflagration  which  would  fly  from  hill 
to  hill,  till  it  swept  within  its  range  the  distant  cedars  of 
Lebanon.     This  was  the  true  likeness  of  the  worthless  but 


352 


GIDEON. 


LECT.    XV. 


Internal 
state  of 
Shechem. 


fierce  Abimelech,  of  the  first  tyrant  of  the  Jewish  nation. 
So,  from  the  rock,  the  youthful  Seer  pronounced  his  curse — 
in  that  faithful  picture  of  the  degraded  politics  of  a  degene- 
rate or  half-civilised  state,  when  only  the  worst  take  any 
concern  in  public  interests,  when  all  that  is  good  and  noble 
turns  away  in  disgust  from  so  thankless  and  vulgar  an 
ambition.  He  spoke  like  the  Bard  of  the  English  Ode,  and 
before  the  startled  assembly  below  could  reach  the  rocky 
pinnacle  where  he  stood,  he  was  gone.  Immediately  behind 
him  (if  we  have  rightly  conjectured  the  spot  where  he  stood) 
vast  caverns  open  in  the  mountain  side.  There  he  might 
halt  for  the  moment.  But  he  stayed  not  till  he  was  far  away 
in  the  south,  perhaps  beyond  the  Jordan.^ 

The  three  years'  reign  of  Abimelech  which  follows  discloses 
to  us  the  interior  of  society  in  this  centre  of  Palestine. 
That  light  which  the  inventive  genius  of  Walter  Scott  and 
the  brilliant  exaggeration  of  Thierry  threw  on  the  compli- 
cated relations  of  Anglo-Saxon  and  Norman  long  after  the 
Conquest  of  England,  is  thrown  by  this  simple  and  vivid 
narrative  on  the  like  relations  of  Canaanite  and  Israelite  after 
the  Conquest  of  Palestine.  The  supporters  of  Abimelech,  as 
we  have  seen,  were  the  native  Shechemites^the  '  lords '  of 
Shechem,  as  they  are  called,  by  a  name  specially  appro- 
priate to  the  native  races  of  Canaan.^  This  remnant  of  \he 
original  population,  with  the  adherents  gained  from  amongst 
the  conquerors,  had  elevated  Shechem  into  a  kind  of  metro- 
politan dignity  amongst  the  neighbouring  towns ;  who  thus 
formed  a  religious  league,  of  which   the    Temple   was   at 


'  '  He  fled  to  Beer.'  Ewald  conjec- 
tures that  it  was  the  Beer  of  Num.  xxi. 
16,  on  the  frontier  of  Moab.  If  this 
seems  too  remote,  it  may  be  Beeroth, 
in  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  (the  modern 
Birch),  or  Baalath-Beer,  in  Judah. 

^  Baali- Shcche7n, trdUtil'dted  'men  of 


Shechem.'  It  is  thus  used  of  Jericho, 
Josh.  ii.  4;  xxi  v.  11:  and  of  Uriah 
the  Hittite,  2  Sam.  xi.  26.  The  word 
elsewhere  is  only  applied  to  the  war- 
riors of  Jabesh-G-ilead,  2  Sam.  xxi. 
12  ;  and  the  ruffians  of  Gibeah,  Judg. 
XX.  5.     (See  Did.  of  Bible,  i.  146.) 


LECT.  XV.  THE    FALL   OF   ABIMELECH.  353 

Sliechem,  under  the  name  of  Baal-Berith,  or  Baal  of  the 
League.  Beth-Millo,  Arumah,  Thebez,  are  named  as  amongst 
the  dependent  cities.  The  Temple  itself^  was  a  fortress,^ 
containing  the  Sacred  Treasury.^ 

Over  this  entangled  system,  Abimelech,  the  Bramble  King, 
undertook  to  rule.  He  himself  seems  to  have  lived  at  one 
of  the  lesser  towns  of  the  League,  Arumah,*  leaving  his  vice- 
gerent, Zebul,  to  govern  his  unruly  kinsmen  of  Shechem. 
Zebul  took  advantage  of  the  disorganized  state  of  the  country 
to  place  troops  of  banditti  along  the  tops  of  the  neighbour- 
ing mountains  to  plunder  the  travellers  through  Central  Fall  of 
Palestine.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  union  of  despotism 
and  anarchy,  that  the  Feast  of  the  Vintage — chief  among  the 
festivals  of  Palestine — came  on,  with  the  usual  religious  pomp 
and  merriment  *  with  which  it  was  celebrated  in  the  Jewish 
Church  during  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles ;  but  at  Shechem, 
in  the  precincts  of  the  Grod  of  the  League.  In  a  population 
tlms  excited,  the  words  of  a  native  Shechemite  fell  with  still 
greater  force  than  those  of  Abimelech  himself  at  the  com- 
mencement ^  of  what  may  be  called  this  movement  of  the 
oppressed  nationality.  He  pointed  out  to  them  that 
Abimelech  was  but  half  a  kinsman — '  Is  he  not  the  son  of 

*  Jerubbaal  ? ' — and  called  upon  them  to  choose  their  own 
native   rulers — 'Serve   the    men    of   Hamor   the    father    of 

*  Shechem  ;  why  should  tue  serve  him  ?  ' 

Zebul  gives  the  alarm.  By  three  desperate  onslaughts  the 
insurrection  is  quelled.  In  the  first,  we  see  the  troops  of 
Abimelech  stealing  over  the  mountain-tops  at  break  of  day, 
by  the  well-known  terebinth,  and  by  some  sacred  spot  called 
'  the  navel  of  the  land.'     In  the  second,  the  main  battle  is 


'  See  Lecture  XIII.,  and  compare  *  Judg.  ix.  4. 

the  parallel  case  of  Jupiter  Latialis  *  ^bi^-  41. 

at  Rome.  '  Ibid.  27. 

2  Judg.  ix.  46.  «  Ibid.  28.     Ewald,  ii.  335. 

A  A 


354  GIDEON.  lect.  xv. 

fought  in  the  wide  cornfields  at  the  opening  ^  of  the  valley  of 
Shechem.  This  ends  in  the  rout  of  the  native  party,  now 
deprived  of  their  chief,  and  the  total  destruction  of  the  city 
of  Shechem,  to  appear  no  more  again  till  the  time  of  the 
monarchy.  In  the  third  and  last  conflict,  the  remnant  of  the 
insurgents  takes  refuge  in  the  lofty  tower  in  the  stronghold 
of  the  Temple  of  the  League.  Not  far  off  was  the  moun- 
tain of  Zalmon,^  famous  in  the  winter  for  its  snow,  in  the 
summer  for  its  shady  forests.  Thither  the  new  king,  with 
an  energy  worthy  of  his  father,  led  his  followers,  axe  in 
hand.  Like  a  common  woodcutter,  he  hewed  down  a  bough 
and  threw  it  over  his  shoulder.  The  whole  band  followed  the 
royal  example ;  and  in  the  smoke  and  flames  kindled  round 
the  fortress,  the  insurgents  perished.  One  other  stronghold 
of  the  mutiny  remained — a  similar  fortress  at  Thebez ;  ^  and 
there,  too,  the  same  expedient  was  tried.  Men  and  women 
alike,  as  at  Shechem,  were  crowded  within  the  tower,  and 
mounted  to  the  top.  From  this  eminence  they  commanded 
a  full  view  of  the  besiegers ;  and  when  the  fearless  king  ran 
close  to  the  gate  to  fire  it  with  his  own  hands,  one  of  the 
women  above  seized  her  opportunity  and  dashed  upon  his 
head  a  fragment  of  a  millstone.  He  fell;  but  in  his  fall 
remembered  the  dignity  of  himself  and  of  his  race;  and, 
like  his  next  successor  in  the  regal  office,  invoked  the  friendly 
sword  of  his  armour-bearer  to  give  him  a  soldier's  death.  In 
this  violent  end  of  a  noble  house,  the  nation  recognised  the 
Divine  Judgment  on  the  murderer  of  his  brothers ;  in  the 
sweeping  destruction  of  the  ancient  Shechem,  and  the  confla- 
gration of  its  famous  sanctuary,  was  recognised  no  less  the 
fulfilment  of  the  Curse  of  Jotham."*      The   disaster   itself 


'  '  The  jidd^  Judg.  ix.  42-44.  survives    in    the   modern   village   of 

^  Zalmon, '  shady,'  Judg.  is.  48  ;  Ps.  Tubas,  on  a  mound  among  the  hills, 

Ixviii.  14  (mis-spelt  Salmon).  ten  miles  N.  E.  of  Nablus. 

«  Judg.  ix.  50.     Thebez  probably  *  Judg.  ix.  56,  57. 


LECT.  XV.  THE   FALL   OF  ABIMELECH.  855 

passed  into  a  kind  of  proverb  in  the  military  service  of 
Israel,  as  a  warning '  against  a  near  approach  to  the 
enemy's  walls.  With  Abimelech  expired  this  first  abortive 
attempt  at  monarchy.  In  the  obscure  rulers  who  follow,  the 
same  tendency  is  still  perceptible.  Jair  and  Ibzan  cause 
their  state  to  descend  to  the  numerous  sons  of  their  wives  or 
concubines ;  and  the  dignity  of  Abdon  reaches  even  to  his 
grandsons.^  But  the  true  King  of  Israel  is  still  far  in  the 
distance. 

'  This  appears  from  the  repetition  thenby  David  himself  (2  Sam.  xi.  21, 

of  the  story  t^nce  over,  first  by  Joab,  23,     LXX.). 
as  what  the  king  -would  say  when  he  ^  Judg.  x.  9;  xii.  9-14. 

heard  of  the  catastrophe  at  Eabbah, 


A  A  2 


356 


LECTURE   XVI. 
JEPHTHAH     AND     SAMSON. 

As  Gideon  is  the  highest  pitch  of  greatness  to  which  this 
period  reaches,  Jephthah  and  Samson  are  the  lowest  points 
to  which  it  descends.     In  them,  in  dififerent  forms,  the  vio- 
lence of  the  age  breaks  out  most  visibly. 
Jephthah.         I.  Jephthah  is  the  wild,  lawless  freebooter.     His  irregular 
birth,  in  the  half-civilised  tribes  beyond  the  Jordan,  is  the 
keynote  to  his  life.     The  whole  scene  is  laid  in  those  pastoral 
uplands.     Not  Bethel,  or  Shiloh,  but  Mizpeh,  the  ancient 
watch-tower  which  witnessed  the  parting  of  Jacob  and  Laban, 
is  the  place  of  meeting.     Ammon,  the  ancient  ally  of  Israel 
against  Og,   is  the  assailant.     The  war  springs  out  of  the 
disputes  of  that  first  settlement.     The  battle  sweeps  over 
The  Trans-  the  whole  tract  of  forest  ^   from   Grilead  to  the  borders  of 
di![ricter     Moab.     The  quarrel  which  arises  after  the  battle  between 
of  the  ^]^g  Trans- Jordanic  tribe  and  the  proud  western  Ephraimites, 

quaiTel. 

is  embittered  by  the  recollection  of  taunts  and  quarrels, 
then,  no  doubt,  full  of  gall  and  wormwood,  now  hardly 
intelligible.  '  Fugitives  of  Ephraim  are  ye  :  Grilead  is  among 
'the  Ephraimites  and  among  the  Manassites.'  Was  it,  as 
Ewald^  conjectures,  some  allusion  to  the  lost  history  of  the 
days  when  the  half  tribe  of  Manasseh  separated  from  its 

'  '  From  Aroer ' — to  the  '  Meadow  The  same  sentiment  appears  in  an- 

of  the  Vineyards,'  Judg.  xi.  33.     The  other  form,  if  we  adopt  the  version  of 

intervening  links  are  lost  in  a  hopeless  the   LXX. — '  Ye  are   Gilead   in   the 

confusion  of  the  text.  '  midst  of  Epliraim  and  in  the  midst  of 

-  Ewald,  ii.  419,  on  Judg.  xii.  4.  'Manasseh.' 


LECT.  XVI.  JEPHTHAH  S  VOW.  357 

Western  brethren  ?  If  it  was,  the  Grileadites  had  now  their 
turn — '  the  fugitives  of  the  Ephraimites,'  as  they  are  called 
in  evident  allusion  to  the  former  taunt,  are  caught  in  their 
flight  at  the  fords  of  the  Jordan,  the  scene  of  their  victory 
over  the  Midianites,  and  ruthlessly  slain.  The  test  put 
to  them  was  a  word  of  which  the  very  meaning  is  now 
doubtful,  but  which,  familiar  then  from  its  allusion  to 
the  '  harvests '  or  '  floods '  ^  of  Palestine,  has  revived  in 
the  warfare  of  Christian  controversy,  Shibboleth.  Many  a  Shib- 
party  watchword,  many  a  theological  test  has  had  no  better 
origin  than  this  difference  of  pronunciation  between  the  two 
rough  tribes,  which  has  thus  appropriately  become  the  type 
and  likeness  of  all  of  them. 

In  the  savage  taunt  of  Jephthah  to  the  Ephraimites, 
compared  with  the  mild  reply  of  Gideon  to  the  same 
insolent  tribe,  we  have  a  measure  of  the  inferiority  of 
Eastern  to  Western  Palestine — of  the  degree  to  which 
Jephthah  sank  below  his  age,  and  Gideon  rose  above  it. 
But  in  his  own  country,  as  well  as  in  the  Church  at  large, 
it  is  the  other  part  of  Jephthah's  story  which  has  been  most 
keenly  remembered.  The  fatal  vow  at  the  battle  of  Aroer  The  vow. 
belongs  naturally  to  the  spasmodic  efforts  of  the  age ;  like 
the  vows  of  Samson  or  Saul  in  the  Jewish  Church  of  this 
period,  or  of  Clovis  or  Bruno  in  the  Middle  Ages.  But  its 
literal  execution  coidd  hardly  have  taken  place  had  it  been 
undertaken  by  any  one  more  under  the  moral  restraints, 
even  of  that  lawless  age,  than  the  freebooter  Jephthah, 
nor  in  any  other  part  of  the  Holy  Land  than  that 
separated  by  the  Jordan  valley  from  the  more  regular  in- 
stitutions of  the  country.  Moab  and  Ammon,  the  neigh- 
bouring tribes  to  Jephthah's  native  country,  were  the 
parts  of  Palestine  where  human  sacrifice  lingered  longest. 

'  Both  explanations  are  given  ot  Shibboleth.     Judg.  xii.  6. 


358  JEPHTHAH.  xect.  xvi. 

It  was  the  first  thought  of  Balak '  in  the  extremity  of  his 
terror.  It  was  the  last  expedient  of  Balak's  successor  in 
the  war  with  Jehoshaphat.^  Moloch,  to  whom  even  before 
they  entered  Palestine  the  Israelites  had  offered  human 
sacrifices,^  and  who  is  always  spoken  of  as  the  deity  who 
was  thus  honoured,  was  especially  the  Grod  of  Ammon. 
It  is  but  natural  that  a  desperate  soldier  like  Jephthah, 
breathing  the  same  atmosphere,  physical  and  social,  should 
make  the  same  vow,  and,  having  made  it,  adhere  to  it. 
The  Sacri-  There  was  no  High  Priest  or  Prophet  at  hand  to  rebuke  it. 
They  were  far  away  in  the  hostile  tribe  of  Ephraim.  He 
did  what  was  right  in  his  own  eyes,  and  as  such  the  trans- 
action is  described.  Mostly  it  is  but  an  inadequate  account 
to  give  of  these  doubtful  acts  to  say  that  they  are  mentioned 
in  the  Sacred  narrative  without  commendation.  Often  where 
no  commendation  is  expressly  given,  it  is  distinctly  implied. 
But  here  the  story  itself  trembles  with  the  mixed  feeling  of 
the  action.  The  description  of  Jephthah's  wild  character  pre- 
pares us  for  some  dark  catastrophe.  The  admiration  for  his 
heroism  and  that  of  his  daughter  struggles  for  mastery  in 
the  historian  with  indignation  at  the  dreadful  deed.  He  is 
overwhelmed  by  the  natural  grief  of  a  father.  '  Oh !  oh  I 
*my  daughter,  thou  hast  crushed  me,  thou  hast  crushed 
'  me  ! '  She  rises  at  once  to  the  grandeur  of  her  situation, 
as  the  instrument  whereby  the  victory  had  been  won.  If 
the  fatal  word  had  escaped  his  lips,  she  was  content  to  die, 
'  forasmuch  as  the  Lord  hath  taken  vengeance  of  thee  upon 
*  thine  enemies,  even  the  children  of  Ammon.'  It  is  one  of 
the  points  in  Sacred  History  where,  as  before  said,  the  like- 
ness of  classical  times  mingles  with  the  Hebrew  devotion.  It 
recalls  to  us  the  story  of  Idomeneus  and  his  son,  of  Agamem- 
non and  Iphigenia.     And  still  more  closely  do  we  draw  near, 

>  Micah  vi.  7.  '2  Kings  iii.  27.  *  Ezek.  us..  26 ;  Jer.  xlix.  1. 


LECT.  XVI.  HIS   VOW.  .  359 

as  our  attention  is  fixed  on  the  Jewish  maiden,  to  a  yet  more 
pathetic  scene.  Her  grief  is  the  exact  anticipation  of  the 
himent  of  Antigone,  sharpened  by  the  peculiar  horror  of  the 
Hebrew  women  at  a  childless  death — descending  with  no 
bridal  festivity,  with  no  nuptial  torches,  to  the  dark  chambers 
of  the  grave  — 

at  TVHJJOC,   (!)   VVyU(^f7o)',    W  KClTCKTICaCp^Q 

OLicrjffiQ  aei^povpoQf  oi  Tropevofiai  ,  .  . 
Kui  vvv  ayei  fit  Cia  yipwv  ovtw  Xajjioy 
aXei:r()oy,  a.vvjj.ivaiov,  oWe  rov  yafiov 
fiipOQ  Xa-^ovaar,  vvre  TruiOtiov  rpo^j/S-^ 

Into  the  mountains  of  Grilead  she  retires  for  two  months  — 
plunging  ^  deeper  and  deeper  into  the  gorges  of  the  mountains, 
to  bewail  her  lot,  with  the  maidens  who  had  come  out  vnth 
her  to  greet  the  returning  conqueror.  Then  comes  the  awful 
end,  from  which  the  sacred  writer,  as  it  were,  averts  his  eyes. 
'  He  cHd  with  her  according  to  his  vow.'  In  her  the  house 
of  Jephthah  became  extinct.  *  She  knew  no  man.'  But 
for  years  afterwards,  even  to  the  verge  of  the  monarchy,  the 
dark  deed  was  commemorated.  Four  days  in  every  year 
the  maidens  of  Israel  went  up  into  the  movmtains  of  Grilead 
— and  here  the  Hebrew  language  lends  itself  to  the  am- 
biguous feeling  of  the  narrative  itself, — 'to  praise'^  or  'to 
lament '  '  the  daughter  of  Jephthah  the  Grileadite.' 

The  record  which  thus  transparently  represents  the  waver- 
ing thought  of  the  Sacred  Historian,  has  received  also  the 
reflections  of  the  successive  stages  of  feeling  with  which  the 
Church  has  subsequently  regarded  the  act.  As  far  back  as 
we  can  trace  the  sentiment  of  those  who  read  the  passao-e, 
in  Jonathan  the  Targumist,  and  Josephus,  and  through  the 
whole  of  the  first  eleven  centuries  of  Christendom,  the  story 
was  taken  in  its  literal  sense  as  describing  the  death  of  the 

»  Soph.  Aiit.  890.  2  Judg.  xi.  38  (Hebrew).  »  3id.  40. 


360  JEPHTHAH.  lect.  xvi. 

Explana-  maiden,  although  the  attention  of  the  Church  was,  as  usual, 
Sacrifice,  diverted  to  distant  allegorical  meanings.^  Then,  it  is  said, 
from  a  polemical  bias  of  Kimchi,  arose  the  interpretation  that 
she  was  not  killed,  but  immured  in  celibacy.  From  the  Jewish 
theology  this  spread  to  the  Christian.  By  this  time  the 
notion  had  sprung  up  that  every  act  recorded  in  the  Old 
Testament  was  to  be  defended  according  to  the  standard  of 
Christian  morahty;  and,  accordingly,  the  process  began  of 
violently  wresting  the  words  of  Scripture  to  meet  the  pre- 
conceived fancies  of  later  ages.  In  this  way  entered  the 
hypothesis  of  Jephthah's  daughter  having  been  devoted  as  a 
nun ;  contrary  to  the  plain  meaning  of  the  text,  contrary 
to  the  highest  authorities  of  the  Church,  contrary  to  all  the 
usages  of  the  Old  Dispensation.  In  modern  times,  a  more 
careful  study  of  the  Bible  has  brought  us  back  to  the  original 
sense.  And  with  it  returns  the  deep  pathos  of  the  original 
story,  and  the  lesson  which  it  reads  of  the  heroism  of  the 
father  and  the  daughter,  to  be  admired  and  loved,  in  the 
midst  of  the  fierce  superstitions  across  which  it  plays  like  a 
sunbeam  on  a  stormy  sea. 

So  regarded,  it  may  still  be  remembered  with  a  sympathy 
at  least  as  great  as  is  given  to  the  heathen  immolations,  just 
cited,  which  awaken  a  sentiment  of  compassion  wherever 
they  are  known.  The  sacrifice  of  Jephthah's  daughter, 
taking  it  at  its  worst,  was  not  a  human  sacrifice  in  the  gross 
sense  of  the  word — not  a  slaughter  of  an  unwilling  victim, 
as  when  the  Graul  and  Greek  were  buried  alive  in  the  Eoman 


'  After  a  reasonable  exposition,  by  nation  of  Jeplithah  as  '  opener '  ('  He 

Augustine   (III.  Part  i.    613),  of  the  opened  their  hearts');  the  land  of  Tob 

general  commendation  implied  in  Heb.  ('good' — the    land    of    the   resurrec- 

xi.  32,  33,  Judg.  xi.  39,  as  compatible  tion) ;    his  daughter,    'the  Church;' 

with   great   faults   ('Sacra    Scriptura  60  days,  the   6  ages;  4  days,  the   4 

quorum  fidem  et  justitiam   veraciter  quarters  of   the  world;  42,000  Eph- 

laudat,non  hincimpeditur  eorumetiam  rairaites,  6   times  7;  and  Jephthali's 

peccata,  si  quanoritetoporterejudicet,  6  years,  also  the  6  ages. 
notare  veraciter'),  follows  an  expla- 


LECT.  XVI.  HIS   VOW.  361 

Forum;  but  the  willing  offering  of  a  devoted  heart,  to  free, 
as  she  supposed,  her  father  and  her  country  from  a  terrible 
obligation.  It  was,  indeed,  as  Josephus  says,  an  act  in  itself 
hateful  to  God.  But,  nevertheless,  it  contained  just  that  one 
redeeming  feature  of  pure  obedience  and  love,  which  is  the 
distinguishing  mark  of  all  true  Sacrifice,  and  which  commu- 
nicates to  the  whole  story  those  elements  of  tenderness  and 
nobleness  well  drawn  out  of  it  by  two  modern  poets,  to  each  of 
whom,  in  their  different  ways,  may  be  applied  what  was  said 
by  Goethe  of  the  first — that  at  least  one  function  committed 
to  him  was  that  of  giving  life  and  form  to  the  incidents  and 
characters  of  the  Old  Testament. 

Though  the  virgins  of  Salem  lament, 
Be  the  judge  and  the  hero  unbent ; 
I  have  won  the  great  battle  for  thee, 
And  my  father  and  country  are  free. 

When  this  blood  of  thy  giving  has  gush'd, 
When  the  voice  that  thou  lovest  is  hush'd, 
Let  my  memory  still  be  thy  pride, 
And  forget  not  I  smiled  as  I  died.* 

Or,  in  the  still  more  exact  language  of  the  more  recent 
poet  ^ — 

The  daughter  of  the  warrior  Gileadite, 

A  maiden  pure ;  as  Avhen  she  went  along 
From  Mizpeh's  tower'd  gate  with  radiance  light, 
With  timbrel  and  with  song. 

'  My  God,  my  land,  my  father — these  did  move 
'  Me  from  my  bliss  of  life,  that  Nature  gave, 
'  Lower'd  softly  with  a  threefold  cord  of  love, 
'  Down  to  a  silent  grave. 

'  Lord  Byron's  Hthrcw  Melodies.  '  Tennyson's  Poems,  197. 


362  SAMSON.  lect.  xvi. 

*  And  I  went  mourning,    "  No  fair  Hebrew  boy 

'  Shall  smile  away  my  maiden  blame  among 
'  Tbe  Hebrew  mothers  ;  "  emptied  of  all  joy, 
'  Leaving  the  dance  and  song, 

'  Leaving  the  olive-gardens  far  beloAv, 

*  Leaving  the  promise  of  my  bridal  bower, 
'  The  valleys  of  grape-loaded  vines  that  glow 
'  Beneath  the  battled  tower. 


'  When  the  next  moon  was  roU'd  into  the  sky, 

'  Strength  came  to  me,  that  equall'd  my  desire- 
'  How  beautiful  a  thing  it  was  to  die 
'  For  God  and  for  my  sire  ! 

'  It  comforts  me  in  this  one  thought  to  dwell, 

'  That  I  subdued  me  to  my  father's  will ; 
'  Because  the  kiss  he  gave  me,  ere  I  fell, 
'  Sweetens  the  spirit  still. 


'  IMoreover,  it  is  Avritten  that  my  race 

'  Hew'd  Amnion,  hip  and  thigh,  from  Aroer 
*  On  Arnon  unto  Minnith  '     .     .     . 


Samson.  H.  From  the  lawlessness  of  Jephthah  on  the  extreme  eastern 

frontier  of  Palestine,  we  pass  to  a  manifestation  of  the  same 
tendency  in  a  different,  but  not  less  incontestable  form,  on 
the  extreme  western  frontier.  At  the  same  time  the  new 
enemies,  in  whose 'grasp  we  now  find  the  Israelites,  re- 
mind us  that  we  are  approaching  a  new  epoch  in  their 
history ;  that  wMch  is  to  close  the  period  on  which  we  are 
engaged. 

The  Phi-  '  The  Philistines '  now  present  themselves  to  our  notice,  if 

not  absolutely  for  the  first  time,  yet  for  the  first  time  as  a 
powerful  and  hostile  nation.  In  the  original  conquest  by 
Joshua,  they  are  hardly  mentioned.     Their  name  appears  to 


listini^s. 


LECT.  XVI.  THE   PHILISTINES.  363 

indicate  their  late  arrival — '  the  Strangers ; ' '  and  the  scat- 
tered indications  of  their  origin  lead  to  the  conclusion  that 
they  were  settlers  from  some  foreign  country,  from  Asia 
Minor  ^  and  its  adjacent  islands,  probably  from  Crete. 

With  this  agree  the  notices  of  their  character  and  pursuits. 
Like  the  Cretans,  they  were  employed  as  mercenaries.  Like 
the  Cretans,  too,  they  were  distinguished  amongst  the  ma- 
rauding tribes  for  the  strength  and  variety  of  their  armour. 
The  most  complete  vocabulary  of  arms  that  exists  in  the  Old 
Testament  is  taken  from  the  panoply  ^  of  a  Philistine  warrior. 
Unlike  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants  of  Canaan,  they  were 
uncircumcised,  and  appear  to  have  stood  on  a  lower  level  of 
civilisation.  They  were  almost,  it  may  be  said,  the  laughing- 
stock of  their  livelier  and  quicker  neighboiu-s,  from  their  dull, 
heavy  stupidity;  the  easy  prey  of  the  rough  humour  of 
Samson,  or  the  agility  and  cunning  of  the  diminutive  David. 

The  older  Avites  whom  they  dispossessed  probably  occupied 
the  southern  part  of  the  country,*  generally  called  in  the 
Patriarchal  History  *  the  valley  of  Gerar.'  Possibly  the  Phi- 
listines may  have  been  called  in  by  them  as  allies  against  the 
invading  Israelites,  and  then,  as  in  the  ancient  fable,^  made 
themselves  their  masters.  Possibly,  also,  they  may  have  be- 
come so  closely  incorporated  with  them,  as  to  produce  that 
interchange  of  names  which,  in  some  of  the  Sacred  Books,^ 

'  The  LXX.  throughout  the  Pen-  16,  1   Sam.  xxx.   14,  and  apparently 

tateuch  and  Joshiia  keep  the  Hebrew  2  Sam.  xx.  23,  2  Kings  xi.  4,  19,  are 

word   *i/Aio-Ti6(ju,  but  in   all  the  sub-  used  as  synonymous  terms ;  and  this 

sequent  books  translate  it  aWorpvKoi,  is  confirmed  not  only  by  the  charae- 

'  aliens.'     Comp.  aWoTpiwv,  Heb.  xi.  teristies  mentioned  in  the  text,  but  by 

34.     (Ewald,  i.  292-294.)  the  confused  statement  of  Tacitus  that 

"^  In  Gen.  x.  14,  1  Chron.  i.  12,  they  the  Jews  themselves  came  from  Crete 

are  derived,  together  with  Capktorim,  {Hist.  v.  2),  and  by  the  name  of  Mima 

from  Casluhim,  son  of  Mizraim ;  and  given  to  Gaza  (Steph.  Byz.). 

in  Amos  ix.  7,  Deut.  ii.  23,  Jer.  xlvii.  ^  1  Sam.  xvii.  5-7. 

4,  from   Caphtoi-.      Caphtor  by   the  *  Deut.  ii.  23  ;  Josh.  xiii.  3, 

LXX.  is  rendered  Cappadocia.     But  ^  Comp.  Ewald,  i.  310. 

probably  the  country  directly  or  in-  °  As  in  Gen.  xxi.  34,  xxvi.  18  •  Ex. 

directly  intended  is  Crete.     Cherdhite  xv.  14 ;  xiii.  17. 
and  Philistine,  in  Zeph.  li.  5,  Ezek.  xxv. 


364  SAMSON. 


lECT.    XVI. 


has  identified  the  earUer  with  the  later  race.  The  gigantic 
stature,  too,  which  marks  some  of  the  Philistine  families, 
may  have  arisen  from  their  connexion  with  the  aboriginal 
giants,  who  lingered '  in  the  maritime  plains  after  their  ex- 
pulsion from  the  mountains. 

In  these  maritime  plains,  the  '  Shefela '  ^  or  '  Low  Country,' 
as  it  was  called,  on  the  south-west  of  Canaan,  was  their  original 
seat  after  their  first  settlement;  and  in  this  situation  lay 
their  security,  as  that  of  the  northern  Phoenicians,  against  the 
mountain  infantry  of  Israel.  They,  like  their  Phoenician 
neighbours  on  the  north,  and  their  Egyptian  neighbours  on 
the  south,  chiefly  relied  in  war  on  chariots  and  horses.  The 
Phoenician  spirit  of  commercial  enterprise  never  seems  to  have 
penetrated  into  the  Phihstine  system.  Of  the  three  possible 
harbours  on  their  unbroken  line  of  sandy  coast  near  Graza, 
Ascalon,  and  Jabneel,  they  made  no  use.  The  only  traces 
of  their  maritime  ^  origin  and  situation  were  to  be  found  in 
their  worship.  Their  chief  deity  was  the  fish-god  Dagon,* 
whose  image  was  that  of  the  trunk  of  a  fish  with  the  head  and 
hands  of  a  man.  Some  slight  indications  of  the  architecture 
of  his  chief  temple  are  given,  its  doorway,"^  and  its  two  mas- 
sive pillars,^  supporting  the  roof  and  standing  sufficiently 
close  together  to  be  embraced  at  once.  The  traces  of  his 
worship  were  scattered  throughout  the  country ;  in  the  nu- 
merous '  houses  of  Dagon,'  ^  of  which  the  names  still  linger 
in  diff"erent  parts  of  the  south  of  Palestine.  A  similar  form 
was  ascribed  to  the  female  divinity,  Derceto,''  who  in  their 
mythology  took  the  place  of  Astarte.  The  only  other  special 
deity  of  the  Philistines  known  to  us  ^  is  Baal-Zebub,  '  the 

*  Josh.  xi.  22.  same  as  in  the  river  Tagus. 

*  Sinai  and  Palestine,  256.  *  1  Sam.  v.  5. 

3  In  the  LXX.  version  of  1  Sam.  «  j^jg^  ^.vi.  25-29. 

v.  6,  it  i.s  said  that  '  the  hand  of  the  '  Josh.  xv.  41 ;    and  see  Bid.   of 

'  Lord  brake  out  against  their  ships.'  Bihle,   '  Beth-Dagon.' 
But  this  may  be  a  misreading.  *  Diod.  Sic.  ii.  4. 

*  1  Sam.  V.  4.     The  word  is  the  "  2  Kings  i.  2-16. 


LECT.  XVI.  HIS   BIRTH.  365 

'  Lord  of  the  Flies,'  who  had  a  sanctuary  in  Ekron,  as  Dagon 
and  Derceto  had  theirs  in  Ashdod,  Gaza,  and  Ascalon.^  These, 
with  Grath,  formed  the  original  federation  of  the  nation  ; 
each  raised  on  its  slight  eminence  above  the  plain,  and  ruled 
by  its  own  king  or  prince.  Their  main  support,  and  the 
inain  value  of  their  country,  lay  in  the  vast  cornfields,  which, 
almost  without  a  break,  reached  from  the  sandy  shore  to  the 
foot  of  the  Judajan  hills,  and  which  even  to  the  Israelites 
furnished  a  resource  in  case  of  famine.^  Such  were  the 
Philistines,  the  longest  and  deadliest  enemies  of  the  Chosen 
People,  whose  hostilities,  commencing  in  the  close  of  the 
period  of  the  Judges,  lasted  through  the  two  first  reigns  of 
the  monarchy,  and  were  not  finally  extinguished  till  the  time 
of  Hezekiah ;  ^  and  who  yet,  by  a  singular  chance,  have, 
through  the  contact  of  the  Western  world  with  their  strip  of 
coast,  succeeded  in  giving  their  own  name  of  '  Philistia '  or 
'  Palestine,' ''  properly  confined  mthin  that  narrow  strip,  to 
the  whole  country  occupied  by  Israel. 

Of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel,  that  on  which  these  new-comers 
pressed  most  heavily,  was  the  small  tribe  of  Dan,  already 
straitened  between  the  mountains  and  the  sea,  and  commu- 
nicating with  its  seaport  Joppa  only  by  passing  through  the 
Philistine  territory.  Out  of  this  tribe,  accordingly,  the  de- 
liverer came.  It  was  in  Zorah,^  planted  on  a  high  conical  Birth  of 
hill  overlooking  the  plain,  which,  from  its  peculiar  relation  ^^°^®*^"- 
to  these  hills,  was  called  '  the  root  of  Dan,'  ^  that  the  birth  of 
the  child  took  place,  who  was  by  a  double  tie  connected  with 
the  history  of  this  peculiar  period,  as  the  first  conqueror  of 
the  Philistines,  and  as  the  first  recorded  instance  of  a  Nazarite. 
In  both  respects  he  was  the  beginner  of  that  work  which  a 

'  Judg.  xvi.   23;  1  Chron.  x.   10;  for  the  Holy  Land.     In  the  A.  V.  it 

1  Mace.  X.  84.  is  always   used    for  Philistia.      (See 

^  2  Kings  viii.  2.  '  Palestine,'  in  Bid.  of  Bible.) 

^  Ibid,  xviii.  8.  ^  Robinson,  B.  B.  iii.  153. 

*  'Palestine  '  was  the  Gentile  name  ^  See  Sinai  and  Palestine,  278. 


rites. 


366  SAMSON.  LECT.  svi. 

far  greater  than  he,  the  Prophet  Samuel,  carried  to  a  com- 
pletion. But  what  in  Samuel  were  but  subordinate  functions, 
in  Samson  were  supreme,  and  in  him  were  further  united 
with  an  eccentricity  of  character  and  career  that  gives  him 
his  singular  position  amongst  the  Israelite  heroes. 
The  Naza-  It  was,  as  we  have  remarked,  the  age  of  vows,  and  it  is 
implied  in  the  account  that  such  special  vows  as  that  which 
marked  the  life  of  Samson  were  common.  The  order  of 
Nazarites,  which  we  find  described  in  the  code  of  the 
Mosaic  Law,  was  already  in  existence.  It  was  the  nearest 
approach  ^  to  a  monastic  institution  that  the  Jewish  Church 
contained.  It  was,  as  its  name  implies,  a  separation  from 
the  rest  of  the  nation,  partly  by  the  abstinence  from  all 
intoxicating  drink,  partly  by  the  retention  of  the  savage 
covering  of  long  flovsdng  tresses  of  hair.  The  order  thus 
begun  continued  till  the  latest  times.  Not  only  was  Samuel 
thus  devoted,  but  Elijah  in  outward  appearance  was  under  the 
same  rule;  in  the  time  of  Amos,^  there  was  a  flourishing 
institution  of  Nazarites ;  and  at  the  very  close  of  the  Jewish 
Church  there  were  at  least  two  who  bore  in  their  habits  and 
aspect  the  likeness  of  the  earliest  of  these  ascetics — John,' 
the  son  of  Zachariah,  the  austere  preacher  in  the  wilderness, 
and  Jacob,'*  or  James,  the  Bishop  of  the  Christian  Church 
at  Jerusalem.  It  was  as  the  first  fruits  of  this  institution,  no 
less  than  as  his  country's  champion,  that  the  birth  of  Samson 
is  ushered  in  with  a  solemnity  of  inauguration  which,  whe- 
ther we  adopt  the  more  coarse  and  literal  representation  of 
Josephus,^  or  the  more  shadowy  and  refined  representation  of 
the  Sacred  narrative,  seems  to  announce  the  coming  of  a 
greater  event  than  that  which  is  comprised  in  the  merely 
warlike  career  of  the  conqueror  of  the  Philistines. 

'  See  Ewald,  Alterthilmcr,  97,  &c.  sents  '  the  angel '  or  '  man  of  God  '  as 

^  Amos  ii.  11.  *  Luke  i.  15.  a  youth  of  transcendent  beauty,  who 

*  Hegesippus,  in  Euseb.  H.E.  ii.  23.  excites  the   frantic  jealousy  of  Ma- 

*  Josephus  {Ant.  v.  8,  §  2,  3)  repre-  noah. 


LECT.  xvr.  HIS   AUSTEraTY  A^D   HUMOUE.  3&7 

Wherever  the  son  of  Manoah  appeared  in  later  life,  he  His  aus- 
was  always  known  by  the  Nazarite  mark.  As  in  the  case  of 
the  Merovingian  kings,  whose  long  tresses  were  the  sign  of 
their  royal  race,  which  to  lose  was  to  lose  royalty  itself;  as  in 
the  hierarchy  of  the  Eastern  Church,  whose  long  beards  are  in 
like  manner  the  inalienable  sign  of  their  priestly  functions ;  so 
the  early  vow  of  Samson's  mother  was  always  testified  by  his 
shaggy,  untonsured  head,  and  by  the  seven  sweeping  locks,  ^ 
twisted  together,  yet  distinct;  which  hung  over  his  shoulders  ; 
and  in  all  his  wild  wanderings  and  excesses  amidst  the  vine- 
yards of  Sorek  and  Timnath  he  is  never  reported  to  have 
touched  the  juice  of  one  of  their  abundant  grapes. 

But  these  were  his  only  indications  of  an  austere  life.  It  His  hu- 
is  one  of  the  many  distinctions  between  the  manners  of 
the  East  and  West,  between  ancient  and  modern  forms  of 
religious  feeling,  that  the  Jewish  chief  whose  position  most 
nearly  resembles  that  of  the  founder  of  a  monastic  order 
should  be  the  most  frolicsome,  irregular,  uncultivated  crea- 
ture, that  the  nation  ever  produced.  Not  only  was  ceHbacy 
no  part  of  his  Nazarite  obligations,  but  not  even  ordinary 
purity  of  life.  He  was  full  of  the  spirits  and  the  pranks,  no 
less  than  of  the  strength,  of  a  giant.  His  name,  which 
Josephus  interprets  in  the  sense  of  '  strong,'  was  still  more 
characteristic.  He  was  '  the  Sunny,' — the  bright  and  beam- 
ing, though  wayward  likeness  of  the  great  luminary  which  the 
Hebrews  delighted  to  compare  to  a  'giant  rejoicing  to  run  his 
'  course,'  '  a  bridegroom  coming  forth  out  of  his  chamber.'  ^ 
Nothing  can  disturb  his  radiant  good-humour.  His  most 
valiant,  his  most  cruel  actions,  are  done  with  a  smile  on  his 
face,  and  a  jest  in  his  mouth.  It  relieves  his  character  from 
the  sternness  of  Phoenician  fanaticism.  As  a  peal  of  hearty 
laughter   breaks   in   upon   the   despondency   of   individual 

'  Judg.  xvi.  13.  *  Psalm  xix.  5. 


368  SAMSON.  lect.  xvi. 

sorrow,  so  the  joviality  of  Samson  becomes  a  pledge  of  the 
revival  of  the  greatness  of  his  nation.  It  is  brought  out  in  the 
strongest  contrast  with  the  brute  coarseness  and  stupidity  of 
his  Philistine  enemies,  here,  as  throughout  the  Sacred  History, 
the  butt  of  Israelitish  wit  and  Israelitish  craft. 

Look  at  his  successive  acts  in  this  light,  and  they  assume 
a  fresh  significance.  Out  of  his  first  achievement  he  draws 
the  materials  for  his  playful  riddle.  His  second  and  third 
achievements  are  practical  j  ests  on  the  largest  scale.  The 
mischievousness  of  the  conflagration  of  the  cornfields,  by 
means  of  the  jackals,  is  subordinate  to  the  ludicrous  aspect 
of  the  adventure,  as,  from  the  hill  of  Zorah,  the  contriver  of 
the  scheme  watched  the  streams  of  fire  spreading  through 
cornfields  and  orchards  in  the  plain  below.  The  whole 
point  of  the  massacre  of  the  thousand  Philistines  lies  in  the 
cleverness  with  which  their  clumsy  triumph  is  suddenly 
turned  into  discomfiture,  and  their  discomfiture  is  celebrated 
by  the  punning  turn  of  the  hero,  not  forgotten  even  in  the 
exultation  or  the  weariness  of  victory.  *  With  the  jawbone 
'  of  an  ass  have  I  slain  one  mass,  two  masses ;  with  the 
*  jawbone  of  an  ass  I  have  slain  an  oxload^  of  men.'  The 
carrying  off  the  gates  of  Gaza  derives  all  its  force  from  the 
neatness  with  which  the  Philistine  watchmen  ^  are  outdone, 
on  the  very  spot  where  they  thought  themselves  secure.  The 
answers  with  which  he  puts  off  the  inquisitiveness  of  Delilah 
derive  their  vivacity  from  the  quaintness  of  the  devices 
which  he  suggests,  and  the  ease  with  which  his  foolish 
enemies  fall  into  trap  after  trap,  as  if  only  to  give  their 
conqueror  amusement.  The  closing  scenes  of  his  life  breathe 
throughout  the  same  terrible,  yet  grotesque,  irony.  When 
the  captive  warrior  is  called  forth,  in  the  merriment  of  liis 
persecutors,  to  exercise  for  the  last  time  the  well-known 

'  So  the  original  may  be  represented  :  Judg.  xv.  16. 
2  Judg.  xvi.  2,  3. 


LECT.  XVI.  THE   CHAMPION   OF   DAN.  369 

raillery  of  bis  character,  he  appears  as  the  great  jester  or 
buffoon  of  the  nation;  the  word  employed  expresses  alike 
the  roars  of  laughter  and  the  wild  gambols  with  which  he 
'  made  them  sport ; '  and  as  he  puts  forth  the  last  energy 
of  bis  vengeance,  the  final  effort  of  his  expiring  strengih,  it 
is  in  a  stroke  of  broad  and  savage  humour  that  his  indignant 
spirit  passes  away.  '  0  Lord  Jehovah,  remember  me  now ; 
'  and  strengthen  me  now,  only  this  once,  0  God,  that  I  may 
*  be  avenged  of  the  Philistines '  [not  for  both  of  my  lost 
eyes — but]  '  for  one  of  my  two  eyes.'  That  grim  playful- 
ness, strong  in  death,  lends  its  paradox  even  to  the  act  of 
destruction  itself,  and  overflows  into  the  touch  of  triumph- 
ant satire  with  which  the  pleased  historian  closes  the  story ; 
'  The  dead  which  he  slew  at  his  death  were  more  than  they 
'  which  he  slew  in  his  life.' 

These  are   the  general   features   of  Samson's   life.     The  Local  co- 
sudden  breaks  in  the  narrative,^  showing  more  clearly  than  j^^^^^^f  ° 
elsewhere  the  imperfect  state  in  which  the  history  of  these 
times  has  come  down  to  us,  warn  us  off  from  a  too  close 
scrutiny  of  its  details.     But  there  is  no  portion  of  the  sacred 
story  more  stamped  with  a  peculiarly  local  colour.    Unlike  the 
heroes  of  G-recian,  Celtic,  or  Teutonic  romance,  whose  deeds 
are  scattered  over  the  whole  country  or  the  whole  conti- 
nent where  they  lived — Hercules,  or  Arthur,  or  Charlemagne, 
— the  deeds  of  Samson  are  confined  to  that  little  corner  of 
Palestine  in  which  was  pent  up  the  fragment  of  the  tribe  to 
which  he  belonged.     He  is  the  one  champion  of  Dan.     To  The  cham- 
him,  if  to  any  one,  must  be  the  reference  in  the  blessing  of  Dan. 
Jacob ;  '  Dan  shall  judge  his  people  as  one  of  the  tribes  of 
'  Israel.'     In  his  biting  mt  and  cunning  ambuscades,  which 
baffled  the  horses  and  chariots  of  Philistia,  may  probably 


'  Such  are  the  gaps  between  Judg.  xiii.  24  and  25;  between  xv.  20  and  xvi.  1 
(Ewald,  ii.  529,  &e.). 

B  B 


370 


SAMSON. 


I.ECT.   XVI. 


His  first 
inspira- 
tion. 


His  local 
exploits. 


be  seen  '  the  serpent  by  the  way,  the  adder  in  the  path,  that 
'  biteth  the  horse's  heels,  so  that  his  rider  shall  fall  back- 
'  wards.'  ^ 

It  was  at  a  spot  well  known  in  the  history  of  his  tribe — in 
Mahaneh-Dan,  or  the  '  Camp  of  Dan ' — that  the  first  aspira- 
tions of  his  career  showed  themselves.  There,  underneath  the 
mountains  of  Judah,  the  little  band  which  broke  away  to  the 
north  at  the  commencement  of  this  stormy  period,  had  pitched 
their  first  encampment,^  and  there  also  was  the  ancestral 
burial-place  ^  of  his  family.  Amongst  his  fathers'  tombs,  and 
amidst  the  recollections  of  his  fathers'  exploits,  '  the  Spirit  of 
'  Jehovah  began  to  move  him  ' — to  strike,  as  the  expression 
implies,  on  his  rough  nature  *  as  on  a  drum  or  cymbal,  till  it 
resounded  like  a  gong  through  his  native  hills. 

Then  began  what  were  literally  his  '  descents '  of  love  and 
of  war  upon  the  plain  of  Philistia  from  Zorah  on  the  hills 
above.  The  vines  on  the  slopes  of  these  hills,  the  vineyards 
of  Timnath  and  of  Sorek,  were  famous  throughout  Palestine. 
It  was  probably  amongst  these,  as  the  maidens  of  Shiloh  were 
surprised  by  the  Benjamites  amongst  their  vineyards,  that 
he  met  both  his  earliest  and  his  latest  love.  The  names  of 
the  surrounding  villages  bear  traces  of  the  wild  animals 
whom  he  encountered,  and  used  as  instruments  of  his  great  ex- 
ploits— Lebaoth  (' the  lionesses  '),^  Shaalbim  ('the  jackals  '  ) ® 
Zorah  ('the  hornets').  The  cornfields  of  Philistia — then, 
as  now,  interspersed  with  olive-groves,^  then,  also,  with 
vineyards — lay  stretched  in  one  unbroken  expanse  before 
him,  to  invite  his  facetious  outrage.      Once  he  wandered 


>  Gen.  xlix.  16,  17. 
^  Judg.  xiii.   25;   xriii.   12;  Josh. 
XV.  33.     See  Lecture  XIII. 
^  Judg.  xvi.  31. 

*  Ibid.  xiii.  25  (Hebrew). 

«  Josh.  XV.  32,  33  ;  Judg.  i.  35. 

*  It  18  said  that  jax-kals  exist,  or 
did  exist,  in  great  numbers,  in  the 


plain  of  Kamleh,  where  they  were 
hunted  down  and  tlirown  into  the 
sea.  (Hasselquist,  115,  277.)  To  set 
fire  to  the  harvest  of  an  enemy  is 
in  Arab  warfare  a  mortal  outrage. 
(Burckliardt,  331.) 
'  Judg,  sv.  5. 


LECT.  XVI.  HIS   GRAVE.  371 

beyond  the  territory  of  his  own  tribe,  and  that  of  his  enemies, 
but  it  was  only  into  the  neighbouring  hills  of  Judah.  In 
some  deep  cleft,  such  as  doubtless  could  easily  be  found  in 
the  limestone  hills  around  the  vale  of  Etam  (the  Wady 
Urtas),  he  took  refuge.  The  Philistines  then,  as  afterwards 
in  David's  time,  had  planted  a  garrison  '  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. The  Lion  of  Judah  was  cowed  by  their  presence. 
*  Knowest  thou  not  the  Philistines  are  rulers  over  us  ?  '  Out 
of  the  cleft  he  emerges,  and  sweeps  them  away  with  the 
rude  weapon  that  iirst  comes  to  hand.  The  spring  and 
the  rock  ^  which  witnessed  the  deed,  though  now  lost,  were 
long  pointed  out  as  memorials  of  the  history.  The  scene  His  grave. 
of  his  death  is  the  great  Temple  of  the  Fish-god  at  Graza, 
in  the  extremity  of  the  Philistine  district.  But  his  grave 
was  in  the  same  spot  which  had  nourished  his  first  youthful 
hopes.  From  the  time  of  Grideon  downwards,  the  tombs 
of  the  Judges  have  been  carefully  specified.  In  no  case, 
however,  does  the  specification  suggest  a  more  pathetic  image 
than  in  the  description  of  the  funeral  procession,  in  which 
the  dead  hero  is  borne  by  his  brothers  and  his  kinsmen, 
'up'  the  steep  ascent  to  his  native  hills,  and  laid,  as  it 
would  seem,  beside  the  father  who  had  watched  with  pride 
his  early  deeds,  '  between  Zorah  and  Eshtaol,  in  the  burial- 
'  place  of  Manoah  his  father.' 

The  arrangement  of  the  narrative  into  its  separate  parts — 
the  manner  in  which  the  humour,  the  strength,  the  head- 
strong rashness  of  Samson  are  worked  up  to  the  catastrophe 
— have  not  unnaturally  suggested  to  the  great  Hebrew  critic 
of  our  age  the  supposition  that  the  story  may  even  in  early 
times  have  been  wrought  into  a  dramatic  poem.  But  it  is 
a  remarkable  proof  of  the  latent  force  of  the  Biblical  history, 

'  Judg.  XV.  7  ;  2  Sam.  xxiii.  14.  '  Lehi,'  or  '  Jawbone,'  Judg.  xv.  9,  15, 

2  The  connexion  between  the  story       16,  17,  19. 
and  the  phiee  is  indicated  in  the  name 

B  B   2 


372  SAMSON.  lect.  xvi. 

that  a  series  of  incidents  and  characters  so  peculiarly  local, 
so  abruptly  and  faintly  depicted,  should  yet  have  furnished 
to  our  own  poet  the  materials  for  a  drama,  which  not  only 
is  the  best  modern  likeness  in  modern  form  of  the  ancient 
classical  tragedies,  but  is  also,  beyond  any  other  of  his  works, 
interwoven  with  the  modern  experiences  of  his  own  eventful 
Hfe. 
Milton's  Even  in  Milton's  earlier  days  he  seems  to  have  dwelt  with 

stOTv  unusual  pleasure  on  the  grandeur  and  the  fall  of  Samson,  as 

the  image  of  what  he  most  admired  and  most  cherished  in 
the  troubled  world  of  English  politics ;  as  when  he  thinks 
that  he  'sees  in  his  mind  a  noble  and  puissant  nation 
'  rousing  herself  like  a  strong  man  after  sleep  and  shaking 
'  her  invincible  locks  ;  '•*  or  as  when,  in  more  elaborate  style, 
he  draws  out  the  fine  allegory,  specially  suitable  to  his  own 
times,  but,  with  slight  modifications,  applicable  also  to  the 
general  relations  of  rulers  and  Churches  :  ^ — '  I  cannot  better 

*  liken  the  state  and  person  of  a  king  than  to  that  mighty 
'  Nazarite,  Samson ;  who,  being  disciplined  from  his  birth  in 
'  the  precepts  and  the  practice  of  temperance  and  sobriety, 
'  grows  up  to  a  noble  strength  and  perfection,  with  those  his 
'  illustrious  and  sunny  locks,  the  Laws,  waving  and  curling 
'about  his  godlike  shoulders.     And,  while   he  keeps  them 

*  undiminished  and  unshorn,  he  may  with  the  jawbone  of  an 
'  ass,  that  is,  with  the  word  of  his  meanest  officer,  suppress 
'  and  put  to  confusion  thousands  of  those  that  rise  against 
*his  just  power.     But  laying   down  his  head  amongst  the 

*  strumpet  flatteries  of  prelates,  while  he  sleeps  and  thinks 
*no  harm,  they,  wickedly  shaving  off  all  those  bright  and 
'  weighty  tresses  of  his  laws  and  just  prerogatives,  which 
'  were  his  ornament  and  his  strength,  deliver  him  over  to 


'  '  Speech  for  the  Liberty  of  un-  '  '  Reasons  of  Chxirch  Government,' 

licensed  Printing,'  i.  324.  i.  149. 


1.ECT.  XVI.  MILTOX  3    USE    OF   THE   STORY.  373 

'indirect  and  violent  counsels,  which,  as  those  Philistines, 
'  put  out  the  fair  and  far-sighted  eyes  of  his  natural  mind, 
'  and  make  him  grind  in  the  prison-house  of  their  sinister 
'ends,  and  practise  upon  him;  till  he,  knowing  this  pre- 
'  latical  razor  to  have  bereft  him  of  his  wonted  might,  nourish 
'  again  his  puissant  hair,  the  golden  beams  of  law  and  right, 
'  and  they,  sternly  shook,  thunder  with  ruin  upon  the  heads 
'  of  those  his  e\dl  counsellors,  but  not  without  great  affliction 
'  to  himself.' 

In  this  conception,  as  well  as  in  the  more  elaborate  treat-  The 
ment  of  it  in  the  Samson  Agonistes,  Milton  has,  no  doubt,  ^™ni"es 
bound  down  the  lawless  grotesqueness  of  the  original  character 
and  exploits  of  the  champion  of  Dan  to  the  austere  simplicity 
and  majesty  of  a  classical  hero.  Even  Dalila  comes  in  for 
a  share  of  grandeur  hardly  her  own.  '  He  has  done  her  jus- 
tice,' exclaimed  Groethe,  on  hearing  the  passage  read  aloud. 
Eather  he  has  done  both  her  and  Samson  more  than  jus- 
tice. But  still  it  is  a  proof  of  the  richness  of  the  story  that, 
changed  or  unchanged,  it  was  able  to  minister  true  consolation 
to  the  great  poet  amidst  his  own  peculiar  trials  of  blindness, 
and  poverty,  and  age,  and  the  indignant  sense  of  public  and 
private  wrong : — 

O  loss  of  sight,  of  thee  I  most  complain  ! 
Blind  among  enemies,  O  worse  than  chains, 

I,  dark  in  light,  exposed 
To  daUy  fraud,  contempt,  abuse,  and  wrong. 

0  dark,  dark,  dark,  amid  the  blaze  of  noon, 
Irrecoverably  dark,  total  eclipse, 
Without  all  hope  of  day  ! 

God  of  our  fathers  !  what  is  man. 

That  Thou  towards  him  with  hand  so  various, 

Or,  might  I  say,  contrarious. 

Temper' st  Thy  Providence  through  his  short  course, 


374  SAMSON.  iJicT.  xvi. 

Not  evenly,  as  Thou  rul'st 

The  angelic  orders  and  inferior  creatures  mute, 

Irrational  and  brute ; 

Nor  do  I  name  of  men  the  common  rout, 

That  wandering  loose  about 

Grow  up  and  perish,  as  the  summer  fly. 

Heads  without  name,  no  more  remembered ; 

But  such  as  Thou  hast  solemnly  elected, 

With  gifts  and  graces  eminently  adorned, 

To  some  great  work.  Thy  glory, 

And  people's  safety,  which  in  part  they  effect : 

Yet  toward  those  thus  dignified,  Thou  oft. 

Amidst  their  height  of  noon, 

Changest  Thy  countenance,  and  Thy  hand    . 

Nor  only  dost  degrade  them,  or  remit 

To  life  obscured,  which  were  a  fair  dismission, 

But  throw'st  them  lower  than  Thou  didst  exalt  them  high.' 

And  we  may  well  end  this  troubled  period  with  that  grand 
conclusion,  with  which,  after 

Samson  hath  quit  himself 
Like  Samson,  and  heroically  hath  finished 
A  life  heroic, 

the  Chorus  consoles  his  sorrowing  kindred : — 

All  is  best,  though  we  oft  doubt, 

What  the  Unsearchable  dispose 

Of  Highest  Wisdom  brings  about. 

And  ever  best  found  in  the  close. 

Oft  He  seems  to  hide  His  face. 

But  imexpectedly  returns. 

And  to  His  faithful  champion  hath  in  place 

Bore  witness  gloriously ;  whence  Gaza  mourns, 

And  all  that  band  them  to  resist 

His  uncontrollable  intent ; 

His  servants  He,  with  new  acquist 

Of  true  experience  from  this  great  event, 

With  peace  and  consolation  hath  dismissed, 

And  calm  of  mind  all  passion  spent. 


375 


LECTURE   XVIL 

THE     FALL     OF     SHILOH. 

To  the  crash  of  the  Philistine  Temple,  and  the  silent  burial 
of  Samson,  succeeds  a  blank  in  the  Sacred  history,  such  as 
well  serves  to  indicate  its  fragmentary  character.  When  we 
again  take  up  the  thread,  the  existing  condition  of  the 
nation  gives  us  a  backward  glimpse  into  some  of  the  unre- 
corded incidents  of  the  lost  interval.^ 

We  find  at  the  head  of  the  nation  a  man,  of  whose  rise 
nothing  has  been  told  :  Eli,  at  once  Judge  and  High  Priest, 
already   far   advanced    in    years.      This    sudden    apparition 
reveals,  that,  in  the  dark  period  preceding,  there  has  been  The 
a  change  in  the  order  of  the  Priesthood.     Eli  is  not  of  the  of '1)1^ 
regular  house  of  Eleazar,'^  the  eldest  son  of  Aaron,  in  which  ^'"^jj^*^" 
the  succession  ought  to  have  continued.     There  has  been  a 
transfer   to   the  house   of  the  younger    and  comparatively 
obscure  Ithamar,  which  had  struck  such  deep  root,  that  it 
continued,  in  spite  of  the  agitations  of  the  period,  till  its 
final  overthrow  in  the  reign  of  Solomon.     The  transfer  had 
been  made  since  the  appearance  of   Phinehas,  who  is  the 
last  leo-itimate  High  Priest  we  can  trace.     The  Rabbinical 
commentators  allege  that  the  change  took  place  because  of 
the  share  of  Phinehas  in  the  sacrifice  of  Jephthah's  daughter. 

'  I  have  forborne  to  enlarge  on  the  Ewald  (ii.  475)  with  Jael  of  Judg.  t. 

history  of  the  obscurer  Judges,  Tola,  6,  and  with  Jair  of  Eastern  Manasseh. 

Jair   (Judg.    x.    1-5),    Elon,    Abdon,  Bedan  has  been  variously  connected 

{Ibid.  xii.  11-15),  Bedan  (1   Sam.  xii.  with  Barak,  Abdon,  and  Samson. 

.11).      Jair   has   been    identified    by  ^  1  Chron.  vi.  4-15;  xxiv.  4. 


376  THE   FALL   OF   SHILOH.  lect.  xvii. 

Can  this  be  possibly  some  faint  reminiscence  of  a  tradition 
indicating  tbe  submersion  of  the  house  of  Eleazar  in  the 
general  disorder  of  the  age,  of  which  that  dark  event  was 
undoubtedly  a  consequence  ?  It  appears,  further,  that  the 
Philistines  had  been  repulsed  from  the  position  which  they 
had  occupied  in  the  time  of  Samson.^  Was  this  effected 
through  some  heroic  deed  of  Eli's  youth  ?  And  did  this 
raise  him  to  the  office  of  High  Priest  or  of  Judge  ?  Such 
a  supposition  is  rendered  probable  by  the  union  of  Warrior 
and  Priest  in  Phinehas  ;  and  a  like  transference  of  the  Pon- 
tificate from  a  like  cause  appears  in  the  only  other  time  of 
the  history  when  it  reaches  to  a  like  eminence, — when  the 
priestly  house  of  the  Maccabees  became  also  the  rulers  of 
their  countrymen. 
Union  of  ^^  the  union  of  Judge  and  Priest  in  Eli  we  have  a 
Jiuige  aud  fuptlier  step  towards  the  consohdation  of  power  in  the 
monarchy.  It  was  the  only  part  of  what  is  commonly  called 
'  the  Theocratic  period,'  in  which  the  government  was  theo- 
cratic in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word— that  of  Priestly 
government,  of  ecclesiastical  supremacy  and  independence 
such  as  has  been  occasionally  advocated  in  the  Christian 
Church.  But  this  very  peculiarity  is  not  the  culmination  of 
the  Mosaic  period,  so  much  as  a  temporary  transition  to  the 
next  stage  of  the  history,  when  the  powers  of  Priest  aud 
Euler  were  indeed  united,  not  however  in  the  person  of  the 
High  Priests,^  but  of  the  Kings  and  Princes  of  Judah. 

The  reign  of  Eli,   therefore,  combines  in  a  remarkable 
manner  the  fall  of  the  old  and  the  rise  of  the  new  order. 

Of  all  portions  of  the  sacred  history  this  is  the  one  which 

most  clearly  sets  before  us,  in  the  light  which  precedes  its 

Shiloh.        final  overthrow,  the  sanctuary  of  Shiloh.     The  ancient  tent 

of  Shiloh — memorial  of  the  old  nomadic  state,  containing 

>  1  Sam.  iv.  1.  ^-i.  14,  17,   18;  2  Sam.   xx.  26;  viii. 

»  See  (in  Hebrew  and  LXX.)1  Kings       17,  18;  Ps.  ex.  1-11. 


LECT.  XVII.  THE   WORSHIPPERS   OF   SHILOH.  377 

the  Ark,  the  relic  of  Mount  Sinai — has  been  already 
described.  Tombs,  which  still  remain  in  a  rocky  valley 
near  the  site  of  the  ancient  town,  had  been  hewn  in  the 
steep  sides  of  the  hill.  A  city  (as  in  the  case  of  Micah's 
rival  sanctuary,  but  here  doubtless  on  a  larger  scale) 
had  sprung  up  round  it.^  The  sanctuary  itself  was  so 
encased  with  buildings,  as  to  give  it  the  name  and  ap- 
pearance of  '  a  house '  or  '  temple.'  ^  As  in  Micah's  sanc- 
tuary,^ there  was  a  gateway,  with  a  seat  inside  the  doorposts 
or  pillars  which  supported  it.*  It  was  '  the  seat,'  or 
'  throne,'  of  the  ruler  or  judge,  as  afterwards  in  the  Palace 
of  Solomon.  Here  Eli  sat  on  days  of  religious  or  political 
solemnity,  and  surveyed  the  worshippers  as  they  came  up 
the  eminence  on  which  the  sanctuary  was  placed. 

To  this  consecrated  spot  pilgrims  and  worshippers  were  The  wor- 
attracted,  as  to  the  religious  centre  of  their  country,  at  the 
yearly  feast,  the  chief  feast  of  the  year — that  of  'The 
Bowers,'  or  'Tabernacles,'  which  coincided  with  the  Fes- 
tival of  the  vintage.  The  sides  of  the  valley  in  which  Shiloh 
lay  were  clothed  with  vineyards,  and  in  those  vineyards  the 
maidens  of  Shiloh  came  out  to  dance,  and  the  whole  popu- 
lation, pilgrims  and  inhabitants,  men  and  women  alike,  gave 
themselves  up  to  the  usual  merriment  of  eating  and  drinking.^ 

In  this  miscellaneous  assemblage  were  to  be  seen  wor- 
shippers of  the  most  various  characters.  One  group  of  fre- 
quent occurrence,  year  by  year,  was  that  of  Elkanah,  from  the  Eltanah. 
neighbouring  hills  of  Ephraim,  with  his  numerous  family. 
He  is  a  rare  instance  of  polygamy  amongst  the  common 
ranks  of  the  nation.     It  may  have  been  one  of  the  results  of 

'  1  Sam.  iv.  13.  are  used  witli  intentional  exactness. 

^  Ibid.  i.  9 ;  iii.  3.  They  may,  however,  have  been  (like 

^  Judg.  xviii.   16,   17.      The  word  the  phrase  in  1  Sam.  iv.  4)  transferred 

used  in  1  Sam.  i.  9  for  '  post '  is  the  from  the  later  Temple. 

same  as  that  in  Ex.    xii.  7,  xxi.  6,  ^1  Sam.  i.  9  ;  iv.  13,  18. 

Dent.  vi.  9,  for  'doorpost.'     This  is  *  Judg.  xxi.    19-21;   1   Sam.  i.  9, 

on   the   supposition  that    the  words  13,  14. 


378 


THE    FALL   OF   SIIILOH. 


XECT.   XVII. 


Hannah. 


Samuel. 


Hoplini 
and  I'lii- 
nehas. 


the  disordered  state  of  the  times.  It  may  have  arisen  (as 
still  in  the  Samaritan  sect)  from  the  barrenness  of  one  of 
his  two  wives.  His  sacrifice  on  these  occasions  was  looked 
forward  to  in  his  house  as  a  grand  feast  in  which  every 
member  of  the  family  had  a  portion  of  the  sacrificial  offerings. 

But  it  is  on  one  individual  of  the  house  that  our  attention 
is  specially  fixed;  his  best  beloved  but  childless  wife,  who 
bears  the  Phoenician  name  ^  which  now  first  appears, 
'  Hannah,'  or  '  Anna ; '  afterwards  thrice  consecrated^  in  the 
sacred  story.  She  was  herself  almost  a  prophetess  and  Na- 
zarite.^  Hers  is  the  first  instance  of  silent  prayer.  Her  song 
of  thanksgiving  is  the  first  hymn,  properly  so  called,  the  direct 
model  of  the  first  Christian  hymn  of  '  the  Magnificat,'  the 
first  outpouring  of  individual  as  distinct  from  national  de- 
votion, the  first  indication  of  the  coming  greatness  of  the 
anointed  king,''  whether  in  the  divine  or  human  sense. 

To  this  group  is  at  last  added  the  child,  who,  though  of  no 
Priestly  tribe,  was  consecrated  to  a  more  than  Priestly  office,^ 
with  the  offerings  of  three  bullocks,  flour,  and  a  skin  of 
wine,  and  who  from  his  earliest  years  ministered  in  the  sacred 
vestments  within  the  Tabernacle  itself,  the  future  inaugu- 
rator  of  the  new  period  of  the  Church. 

Other  pilgrims  were  there  of  a  far  other  kind;  and  the 
eyes  of  others  than  the  aged  Eli  were  fixed  upon  them. 
Hophni  and  Phinehas,  his  two  sons,  are,  for  students  of  eccle- 
siastical history,  characters  '  of  great  and  instructive  wicked- 
ness.' They  are  the  true  exemplars  of  the  grasping  and 
worldly  clergy  of  all  ages.  It  was  the  sacrificial  feasts  that 
gave  occasion   for  their  rapacity.     It  was   the  dances  and 


*  '  Anna,'  the  sister  of  Dido. 

2  Anna,  the  wife  of  Tobit  (Tobiti.9); 
Anna,  the  daughter  of  Phanuel  (Luke 
ii.  36);  Anna,  the  wife  of  Joachim, 
the  traditional  mother  of  the  Virgin. 

'  1  Sam.  i.  15  ;  ii.  1. 

*  Ibid.  ii.  10.     The  first  mention  of 


the  Messiah.  It  is  probable  that  the 
hymn  has  been  adapted  to  some  later 
occasion  of  victory  in  war.  But  there 
is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  original 
germ  of  it  is  from  this  time. 
*  2  Chron.  xiii.  9 ;  1  Sam.  i.  24. 


LECT.  XVII,  THE   WORSHIPPERS   OP   SHILOH.  379 

assemblies  •  of  the  women  in  the  vineyards,  and  before  the 
sacred  tent,  that  gave  occasion  for  their  debaucheries.  They 
were  the  worst  development  of  the  lawlessness  of  the  age ; 
penetrating,  as  in  the  case  of  the  wandering  Levite  of  the  Book 
of  Judges,  into  the  most  sacred  offices.  But  the  coarseness  of 
their  vices  does  not  make  the  moral  less  pointed  for  all  times. 
The  three-pronged  fork  which  fishes  up  the  seething  flesh 
is  the  earliest  type  of  grasping  at  pluralities  and  church- 
preferments  by  base  means ;  the  open  profligacy  at  the  door 
of  the  Tabernacle  is  the  type  of  many  a  scandal  brought  on 
the  Christian  Church  by  the  selfishness  or  sensuality  of  its 
ministers.  An  additional  touch  of  nature  is  given  by  the 
close  connexion  of  these  Priestly  vices  with  the  weak  in- 
dulgence of  Eli  and  the  blameless  purity  of  Samuel.  The 
judgment  which  falls  on  the  house  of  Ithamar  is  the  likeness 
of  the  judgment  which]  has  followed  the  corruption  and  the 
nepotism  of  the  clergy  everywhere.  It  was  to  begin  with 
the  alienation  of  the  people  from  the  worship  of  the  sanctuary ; 
it  was  to  end  in  a  violent  revolution  which  should  over- 
throw with  bloodshed,  confiscation,  and  long  humiliation,  the 
ancient  hereditary  succession  and  the  whole  existing  hierarchy 
of  Israel.^  '  Men  abhorred  the  offerings  of  the  Lord.'  .  .  . 
'  I  said  indeed  that  thy  house  an4  the  house  of  thy  father 
'  should  walk  before  me  for  ever.  But  now  the  Lord  saith, 
'  Be  it  far  from  me.'  '  All  the  increase  of  thy  house  shall 
'  die  "  by  the  sword."  '  '  Every  one  that  is  left  in  thine  house 
'  shall  crouch  to  him  for  a  piece  of  silver,  and  a  morsel  of 
'  bread,  and  shall  say,  Put  me,  I  pray  thee,  into  one  of  the 
'  priests'  offices,  that  I  may  eat  a  piece  of  bread.' 

The  judgment,  of  which  the  earliest  indication  comes 
from  some  unknown  prophet,  is  first  solemnly  announced 
from  an  unexpected  quarter,  and  in  a  form  which  shows  that 
the  thunders  and  lightnings,  the  oracular  warnings,  of  the 

'  Judg.  xxi.  21 ;  1  Sam.  ii.  22,  ^  i  gam.  ii.  17,  29,  30,  33,  36  (LXX.). 


380 


THE   FALL   OF   SHILOH. 


LECT.    XVII. 


The  doom 
of  the 
house  of 
Ithamar. 


older  period,  are  about  to  be  superseded  by  '  a  still  small 
voice '  of  a  wholly  different  kind. 

It  was  night  in  the  sanctuary.  The  High  Priest  slept  in 
one  of  the  adjacent  chambers,  and  the  attendant  ministers  in 
another.  In  the  centre,  on  the  left  of  the  entrance,  stood 
the  seven-branched  candlestick,'  now  mentioned  for  the  last 
time  ;  superseded  in  the  reign  of  Solomon  by  the  ten  separate 
candlesticks,  but  revived  after  the  Captivity  by  the  copy  of 
the  one  candlestick  with  seven  branches,  as  it  is  still  seen  on 
the  Arch  of  Titus.  It  was  the  only  light  of  the  Tabernacle 
during  the  night,  was  solemnly  lighted  every  evening,  as  in 
the  devotions  of  the  Eastern  world,  both  Mussulman  and 
Christian,  and  extinguished  just  before  morning,  when  the 
doors  were  opened.^ 

In  the  deep  silence  of  that  early  morning,  before  the  sun 
had  risen,  when  the  sacred  light  was  still  burning,  came, 
through  the  mouth  of  the  innocent  child,  the  doom  of  the 
house  of  Ithamar. 

The  first  blow  in  the  impending  tragedy  came  from  the 
now  constant  enemy  of  Israel.  The  Philistines  revived  their 
broken  strength.  The  conflict  took  place  at  a  spot  near  the 
The  battle  western  entrance  of  the  Pass  of  Beth-horon,  known  by  the 
name  of  Aphek,  but  in  laj^r  times — from  the  memory  of  a 
victory  which  effaced  the  recollection  of  this  dark  day — 
'  Eben-ezer.'  ^  A  reverse  roused  the  alarm  of  the  Israelite 
chiefs.  In  that  age,  as  in  the  mediseval  period  of  the  Christian 
Church,  to  which  we  have  so  often  compared  it,  the  ready 
expedient  was  to  turn  the  sacred  relics  of  religion  into  an 
enfrine  of  war.  The  Philistines  themselves  were  in  the  habit 
of  bringing  the  images  of  their  gods  to  the  field  of  battle.^ 
To  these  must  be  opposed  the  symbol  of  the  Divine  Presence 


of  Aphek. 


>  Ex.  XXV.  31 ;  xxxvii.  17,  18  ;  Lev. 
xxiv.  3  ;  2  Chron.  xiii.  11. 

*  1   Sam.  iii.  15  j  1  Chron.  ix.  27- 


^  See  Lecture  XYIJI. 
*  2  Sam.  V.  21. 


LECT,  XVII.       THE    DOOM    OF   THE   HOUSE    OF   ITHA^IAE.      381 

in  Israel,  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant.  Such  an  application  of 
the  Ark  was  not  without  example  before  or  after ;  but  it  is 
evidently  described  as  against  the  higher  spirit  of  the  religion 
which  it  was  intended  to  support.  Hophni  and  Phinehas 
were  with  it  as  representatives  of  the  Priestly  order.  To  the 
profligate  vices  of  their  youth  they  joined  the  sin  of  super- 
stition also.  Their  appearance  with  the  Ark  roused  as  with 
a  spasmodic  effort  the  sinking  spirit  of  the  army.  The  well- 
known  cheer  of  the  Israelites — terrible  to  their  enemies  at 
all  times — ran  through  the  camp  so  that  'the  earth  rang 
again,'  ^  and  the  Philistines  were  roused  to  the  last  pitch  of 
desperate  courage  in  resisting,  as  they  thought,  this  new  and 
Divine  enemy. 

On  that  day  the  fate  of  the  house  of  Eli  was  to  be  deter- 
mined. It  was  also,  as  the  Philistines  expressed  it,  to  decide 
whether  the  Philistines  were  to  be  the  slaves  of  the  Hebrews, 
or  the  Hebrews  of  the  Philistines.  On  the  success  of  this 
wager  of  battle,  the  Priestly  rulers  of  the  nation  had  staked 
the  most  sacred  pledge  of  their  religion.  The  whole  city 
and  sanctuary  of  Shiloh  waited  for  the  result  in  breathless 
expectation.  Two  above  all  others,  Eli  and  the  wife  of 
Phinehas,  were  wrapt  in  dreadful  expectation — he  blind  and 
feeble  with  age — she  near  to  the  delivery  of  her  second 
child.  In  the  evening  of  the  same  day  there  rushed  through  The 
the  vale  of  Shiloh  a  youth  from  the  camp,  one  of  the  active  tiig  defeat. 
tribe  of  Benjamin, — his  clothes  torn  asunder,  and  his  hair 
sprinkled  with  dust,  as  the  two  Oriental  signs  of  grief  and 
dismay.^  A  loud  wail,  like  that  which,  on  the  announcement 
of  any  great  calamity,  runs  through  all  Eastern  towns,  rang 
through  the  streets  of  the  expectant  city.  The  aged  High 
Priest  was  sitting  in  his  usual  place  beside  the  gateway  of  the 
sanctuary.  He  caught  the  cry;  he  asked  the  tidings.  He 
heard  the  defeat  of  the  army ;  he  heard  the  death  of  his  two 

»  1  Sam.  iv.  5.  ^  Ibid.  iv.  12. 


382  THE    FALL    OF   SHILOH.  lect.  xvii. 

sons ;  he  heard  the  capture  of  the  Ark  of  God.     It  was  this 

last  tidings,  '  when  mention  was  made  of  the  Ark  of  Grod,' 

The  death    that  broke  the  old  man's  heart.     He  fell  from  his  seat,  and 

of  Eli. 

died  m  the  fall. 

The  birth         The  news  spread  and  reached  the  home  of  Phinehas.     The 

pangs  of  labour  overtook  the  widow  of  the  fallen  Priest.    Not 

even  the  birth  of  a   living    son    could    rouse    her.     '  Their 

*  Priests,' '  as  the  Psalmist  long  afterwards  expressed  it,  '  had 

*  fallen,  and  their  widows  made  no  lamentation.'  With  her 
as  with  her  father-in-law,  her  whole  soul  was  absorbed  in 
one  thought,  and  with  her  last  breath  she  gave  to  the  child 
a  name  which  should  be  a  memorial  of  that  awful  hour, — 

*  I-chabod,'  '  The  glory  is  departed ;  for  the  Ark  of  God  is 
'  taken.' 

The  Cap-  '  The  Ark  of  God  was  taken.'  These  words  expressed  the 
the  Ark.  whole  significance  of  the  calamity.  It  was  known,  till  the 
era  of  the  next  great,  and  still  greater  overthrow  of  the 
nation,  at  the  Babylonian  exile,  as  '  the  Captivity.'  '  The 
day  of  the  captivity '  was  the  epoch  which  closed  the  irre- 
gular worship  of  the  sanctuary  at  Dan.^  *He  delivered  his 
strength  into  captivity,  and  his  glory  '  ^  (that  '  glory '  of  the 
Divine  Presence,  which  was  commemorated  in  the  name  of 
I-chabod)  '  into  the  enemy's  hand.'  The  Septuagint  title  of 
the  96th  Psalm,  '  when  the  house  of  God  was  built  after  the 
captivity,''  and  the  allusion  in  the  68th  Psalm,^  '  Thou  hast 
led  captivity  captive,'  most  probably  refer  to  the  period  of 
these  disasters. 

The  grief  of  Israel  may  be  measured  by  the  triumph,  not 
unmingled  with  awe,  of  the  Philistines.  It  was  to  them  as 
if  they  had  captured  Jehovah  Himself;  and  a  custom  long 
continued  in  the  sanctuary  of  Dagon  in  their  chief  city  of 

'  1  Sam  iv.   19,    20 ;    Ps.    Ixxviii.  ^  Ps.  Lxxviii.  Gl.     The  word,  how- 

64.  ever,  is  diiFerent. 

2  Judg.  xviii.  30.  *  Ps.  Ixviii.  18. 


LECT.  xvTi.  THE    EETURX   OF   THE   ARK  383 

Ashdod,  to  commemorate  the  tradition  of  the  terror  which 
this  new  Presence  had  excited.  The  priests  and  the 
worshippers  of  Dagon  would  never  step  on  the  threshold,' 
where  the  human  face  and  human  hands  of  the  Fish-god 
had  been  found  broken  off  from  the  body  of  the  statue  as  it 
lay  prostrate  before  the  superior  Deity. 

The  elaborate  description,  too,  of  the  joy  of  the  return  TheEe-' 
marks  the  deep  sense  of  the  loss.  In  the  border-land  of  the  Ark. 
two  territories,  in  the  vast  cornfields  ^  under  the  hills  of 
Dan,  the  villagers  of  Beth-shemesh  at  their  harvest  see  the 
procession  winding  through  the  plain,  the  Philistine  princes 
moving  behind,  the  cart  conveying  the  sacred  relic,  drawn 
by  the  two  cows,  lowing  as  they  advance  towards  the  group 
of  expectant  Israelites,  who  *  lifted  up  their  eyes  and  saw  the 
*  ark,  and  rejoiced  to  see  it.'  The  great  stone  ^  on  which 
the  cart  and  the  cows  were  sacrificed,  was  long  pointed  out 
as  a  monument  of  the  event.  But  even  the  restoration  of 
the  Ark  was  clouded  with  calamities ;  and  when  from  Beth- 
shemesh  it  mounted  upwards  through  the  hills  to  Kirjath- 
jearim,  and  was  lodged  there  in  a  little  sanctuary,  with  a 
self-consecrated  Priest  of  its  own,  there  was  still  a  longing 
sense  of  vacancy :  whilst  it  remained  '  in  the  fields  of  the 
'  wood,'  '^  there  was  *  no  sleep  to  the  eyes  or  slumber  to  the 
'  eyelids '  of  the  devout  Israelite.  *  It  came  to  pass,  while 
'the  ark  was  at  Kirjath-jearim,  that  the  time  was  long;  for 
'  it  was  twenty  years ;  and  all  the  house  of  Israel  lamented 
'  after  the  Lord.'  ^ 

It  was  the  first  pledge  of  returning  hope ;  but  the  hope 
was  still  long  deferred ;  and  meanwhile  the  catastrophe  was 
branded  into  the  national  mind  by  the    overthrow  of  the 

'  1  Sam.  V.  5.      According  to   the  servations  on  1  Sam.  vi.  19.     He  re- 

LXX.  '  they  leaped  over  it.'  duces  them  from  50,070  to  70. 

^  Robinson,  B.  B.  ii.  225-9.  *  Ps.  cxxxii.  5,  6  (yeamM  =  woods). 

^  1  Sam.  yi.  18.     For  the  numbers  ^  1  Sam.  vii.  2. 
of  Beth-shemesh,  see  Kennicott's  Ob- 


384  THE    FALL   OF   SHILOH.  lect.  xvji. 

Overthrow  sanctuary  itself  of  Shiloh,  in  which  the  Ark  had  since  the 
conquest  found  its  chief  home.  We  catch  a  distant  glimpse 
of  massacre  with  fire  and  sword ;  of  a  city  sacked  and  plun- 
dered by  ruthless  invaders.  '  He  gave  his  people  over  to  the 
'  sword ;  and  was  wroth  with  his  inheritance.     The  fire  con- 

*  sumed  ^  their  young  men,  their  maidens  were  not  given  to 
'  marriage.'  The  details  of  the  overthrow  are  not  given ; 
partly,  perhaps,  because  the  sanctuary  gradually  decayed 
when  the  glory  of  the  Ark  was  departed ;  partly  from  the 
imperfect  state  of  the  narrative,  which  may  itself  have  been 
caused  by  the  silent  horror  of  the  event.  Shiloh  is  casually 
mentioned  twice  or  thrice^  in  the  later  history.  But  the 
reverence  had  ceased.  The  Tabernacle,  under  which  the  Ark 
had  rested,  was  carried  off,  first  to  Nob,  and  then  to  Gribeon, 
with  the  original  brazen  altar  ^  of  the  wilderness.  The  place 
became  desolate,  and  has  remained  so  ever  since.  '  Thou 
'shalt  see  thine  enemy  in  my  habitation.'  The  name  became 
a  proverb  for  destruction  and  desolation.  '  I  will  do  to  this 
'  house  as  I  have  done  to  Shiloh.'  '  Go  now  unto  my  place 
'  which  was  at  Shiloh ;  .  .  .  and  see  what  I  did  to  it  for  the 
'  wickedness  of  my  people  Israel.'  '  I  will  make  this  house 
'  like  Shiloh.  ...  a  curse  to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.'  '^ 
The  very  locality  became  so  little  known  that  it  had  to  be 
specified  carefully  in  the  following  centuries  in  order  to  be 
recognised.     '  Shiloh,   ivhich  is  in  the   land   of   Canaan,'' 

*  which  is  on  the  north  side  of  Bethel,  on  the  east  side  of  the 

*  highway  that  goeth  up  from  Beth-el  to  Shechem,  and  on  the 

*  south  of  Lebonah.'  ^  It  is  only  this  exact  description,  thus 
required  by  the  very  extremity  of  its  destruction,  which 

•  Ps.  Ixxviii.  62,  63.     May  not  this  5).     Possibly  '  Ahijah  .  .  .  priest  in 

be  taken  literally  of  the  Philistines  Shiloh.'     (1  Sam.  xiv.  3,  LXX,). 

burning  their  Israelite  prisoners  alive?  ^  1  Sam.  xxi.  1;  vii.  1;  2  Chron.  i. 

That  this  was  a  Philistine  custom  ap-  6 ;  v.  5. 

pears  from  Judg.  xv.  6.  *  Jer.  vii.  12,  14;  xxvi.  6. 

^  Ahijah  the  Shilonite  (1  Kings  xi.  *  Judg.  xxi.  12,  19.     See  Ewald,  ii. 

29).    Pilgrims  '  from  Shiloh '  (Jer.  xli.  423. 


LECT.  XVII.        OVERTHROW    OF   THE    SANCTUARY.  385 

enabled  a  traveller  from  America,^  within  our  own  memory, 
to  rediscover  its  site,  to  which  the  sacred  name  still  clung 
with  a  touching  tenacity  forgotten  for  centuries,  and  known 
only  to  the  savage  peasants  who  prowl  about  its  few  broken 
ruins. 

So  ended  the  period,  defined  as  that  during  which  *the 
'  house  of  Grod  was  in  Shiloh.'  ^     So  ended  the  period  of  the 
supremacy  of  the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  whose  fall  is  described, 
in  the  Psalm  which  unfolds  their  fortimes,  as  involved  in  the 
fall  of   Shiloh — '  He  forsook  the  tabernacle  of  Shiloh,  the 
'  tent  that   Pie  had  pitched  among  men.     He   refused  the 
'  tabernacle  of  Joseph,^  and  chose  not  the  tribe  of  Ephraim.' 
So   ended  the   first  division  of  the  history  of  the   Chosen 
People,  in  the  overthrow  of  the  first  sanctuary  by  the  Phi- 
listines, as  the  second  division  was  to  terminate  in  the  fall 
of  the  second  sanctuary,  the  Temple  of  the  Jewish  monarchy, 
by  the  armies  of  Babylon ;  and  the  third  in  the  still  vaster 
destruction  of  the  last  Temple  of  Jerusalem  by  the  armies 
of  Titus.     The  revival  of  the  nation  from  the  ruins  of  the 
first  sanctuary  must  be  reserved  for  the  rise  of  the  Second 
Period  of  the  Jewish  Church,  when  '  the  Lord  was  to  awake 
'  as  one  out  of  sleep  "*  .  .  .  and  choose  the  tribe  of  Judah, 
'the    Mount   Zion  which  He    loved.'     Only   we    may   still 
include  within  this  epoch  the  great  name  of  Samuel,  and 
the  great  office  of  Prophet,  which  was  to  unite  the  old  and 
the  new  together,  under  the  shelter  of  which  was  to  spring 
up  the   new  institutions  of  the  Monarchy — a  new  tribe,  a 
new  capital,  a  new  Church,  with  new  forms  of  communion 
with  the   Almighty,  now  for  the  first  time  named  by  the 
name  of  '  the  Lokd  of  Hosts.' 

*  Seilun  was  first  rediscovered  by  ^  Ps.  Ixxviii.  60,  67. 

Dr.  Robinson  in  1838.  "  Ihid.  65,  68. 

^  Juds;.  xviii.  31. 


C  C 


SAMUEL    AND 
THE    PROPHETICAL    OFFICE. 

XVIII.  SAMUEL. 

XIX.  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  PROPHETICAL  ORDER. 
XX.  THE  NATURE  OP  THE  PROPHETICAL  TEACHING. 


C  C  2 


SPECIAL   AUTHORITIES    FOR   THE   LIFE   OF  SAMUEL. 


1.  1  Sam.  i.-xxviii.  (Hebrew  and  LXX.) ;  1  Chron.  xxix.  29  ;  Ps.  xcix.  6 ; 

Jer.  XV.  1;  Ecclua.  xlvi.  13-20  ;  Acts  iii.  24,  xiii.  20;  Heb.  xi.  32. 

2.  Jewish  traditions  (Jos.  Ant.  v.  10 — vi.  14) ;  Fabiicius,  Cod.  Pseiidepigr. 

Vet.  Test.  895-903. 

3.  Mussulman  traditions  (D'Herbelot,  under   AschmovyT) ;    and  Weil's 

Biblical  Legends,  144-151. 

4.  Christian  traditions  (^Acta  Sanctorum,  under  the  20th  of  August). 


SAMUEL    AND 
THE    PROPHETICAL    OFFICE. 


LECTUEE  XVIII. 

SAMUEL. 

The  fall  of  the  sanctuary  of  Shiloh  was  the  termination  of  Close 
the  first  period  of  Jewish  history,  which  had  lasted  from  Theocrucy. 
Moses  to  Eli.  It  had  been  a  period  varied  and  shifting  in 
detail,  but  with  this  common  feature — that  it  was  a  time  of 
wandering  and  of  strife,  of  danger  and  of  deliverance,  of 
continual  and  direct  dependence  on  the  help  of  God  alone, 
with  no  regular  means  of  government,  or  law,  or  army,  or 
king,  to  ward  off  the  enemies  that  were  constantly  assailing 
them  from  without,  or  to  repress  the  disorders  that  were 
constantly  disturbing  them  from  within.  The  Judges  them- 
selves were  regarded  as  invested  with  something  of  a  divine 
or  god-like  character ;  the  more  so  perhaps  from  their  solitary 
and  strange  elevation  above  all  around  them.  A  new  selec- 
tion of  Judges  is  described  as  '  a  choosing  of  new  gods ; ' ' 
and  the  two  last  of  the  series  are  especially  dignified  with  the 
name  of  '  God.'  ^  This  period,  called  on  these  accounts  by 
Josephus  ^  '  the  Theocracy '  or  '  Aristocracy,'  was  now  at  an 

*  Judg.  V.  8.  saw    gods    {Elohim).'      Compare  Ps. 

"  Eli,  in  1  Sam.  ii.  25— The  Judge  Ixxxii.  1,  2,  6. 

(Heb.  '  the  God,'  Elohim)  shall  jiidge  ^  j^g  ^,^(  yi   3^  g  2,  3. 
him.    Samuel,  in  1  Sam.xxviii.  13, '  I 


390  SAMUEL.  lect.  xvin. 

end.      The  wanderings  were  at  last  over,  and  the  battle 
was  at  last  won.     The  desire  of  the  people  was  stimulated  by 
its  nearer  insight  into  the  customs  of  the  surrounding  nations 
to  have  a  ruler  like  to  them ;  the  coming  change  had  already, 
Eeginniug    as  we  saw  in  the  times  of  the  Judges,  made  itself  felt  by  the 
Monarchy,   gradual  approximation  to  such  an  institution  in  the  lives 
of  Jair  and  Abdon,  Gideon  and  Abimelech,  Eli  and  Samuel. 
All   these    indications    were    at    last    to    receive    their    full 
accomplishment  in  the  inauguration  of  a  fixed,  hereditary, 
regal  government,  in  the  person  of  the  first  king — '  Behold 
'  the  king  whom  ye  have  chosen  and  whom  ye  have  desired. 
*  Behold,  the  Lord  hath  set  a  king  over  you.'     Now,  there- 
fore, was  to  begin  that  second  period,  that  new  and  untried 
future,  which  was  to  last  for  another  five  hundred  years — the 
period  of  the  Monarchy.     Was  it  possible  that  an  institution 
which  had  begun  in  wilfulness  and  distrust  would  ripen  into 
a  just  and  holy  law  ?  would  the  establishment  of  armies,  and 
oflScers  of   state,  and  king  succeeding  king,  as  a  matter  of 
course,    without    any    sudden    call    or   mission — would   the 
growth  of  poetry,  and  architecture,  and  music,  and  all  the 
other  arts  which  spring  up  under  an  established  rule — would 
the  secure  dwelling  of  every  man  under  his  own  vine  and 
fig-tree — would    these  and    many   like    changes  destroy  or 
confirm,  diminish  or  expand,  the  faith  which  had  hitherto 
been  the  safety  of  the  Chosen  People  ?     Would  the  true 
Theocracy,  the  government  of  God,  be  weakened  or  strength- 
ened, now  that  in  name  it  was  withdrawn  ?     Was  this  great 
stride  in  earthly  civilisation  inconsistent  with  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  ancient  primeval  religion  of  Abraham,  and  Moses, 
and  Joshua  ? 
Transition.       Such  were  the  questions  which  naturally  would  arise  in 
the  mind  of  any  thoughtful  Israelite  at  this  crisis.     They  are 
questions  which,  in  some  form  or  other,  arise  at  every  like 
crisis  in  the  progress  of  the  Church.     It  must  be  reserved  for 


LECT.  xviii.  EPOCH    OP   HIS    APPEAKAXCE.  391 

the  discussion  of  the  history  of  the  Monarchy  to  point  out 
how  these  natural  fears  were  in  part  justified,  but  yet  on 
the  whole  belied,  by  the  actual  results  of  the  change.  In  the 
Kings  of  Israel  and  Judah  we  shall  see  the  first  exhibition 
of  that  union  of  regal  and  priestly  excellence,  whicli  was  to  be 
completed  in  a  yet  diviner  sense,  only  in  the  final  stage  of  the 
sacred  history.  We  shall  trace  in  tlie  victories  of  the  hosts  of 
Israel  the  first  complete  estabKshment  of  the  new  and  great 
name  of  God — '  The  Lord  of  Hosts,'  '  Jehovah  Sabaoth.' 
In  the  Psalms  of  David,  in  the  Temple  of  Solomon,  and 
in  the  Prophecies  of  Isaiah,  we  shall  recognise  a  fuller 
communion  with  Grod  even  than  on  the  holy  mountain  of 
Sinai,  or  in  the  speaking  face  to  face  with  Moses  as  with 
a  friend. 

But  those  blessings  were  still  in  the  distance.  We  are 
yet  on  the  threshold.  It  will,  however,  be  useful  here  to 
describe  the  influences  first  of  the  individual  and  then  of 
the  office,  which  were  raised  up  to  guide  the  Jewish  Church 
(and,  by  example,  the  Cliristian  Church)  through  this  or  any 
like  transitions. 

In  this  crisis  of  the  Chosen  People,  second  only  in  import- 
ance to  the  Exodus,  there  appeared  a  leader,  second  only  to 
Moses.  Amidst  the  wreck  of  the  ancient  institutions  of  the 
country,  amidst  the  rise  and  growth  of  the  new,  there  was 
one  counsellor  to  whom  all  turned  for  advice  and  support — 
one  heart  to  which  '  the  Lord '  especially  '  revealed  Him-  Eiso  of 
self.'  The  life  and  cliaracter  of  Samuel^  covers  the  whole  of  ' 
this  period  of  perplexity  and  doubt.  The  two  books  which 
give  an  account  of  the  first  establishment  of  the  INIonarchy 
are  called  by  his  name,  as  fitly  as  the  books  which  give  an 
account  of  the  establishment  of  the  Theocracy  are  called  by 

'  This  name  has  been  variously  ex-  vii.  9).     Josephiis  (Ajit.  \.  10,  §  3)  in- 
plained.     The  sacred  narrative  seems  geniously   translates  it    Ly   the  well- 
to  waver  between  'asked  of  God'  (1  known  Greek  name  of  '  Thesetetus.' 
Sam.  i.  20)  and  '  heard  of  God '  (1  Sam. 


892  SAMUEL.  lect.  xviii. 

the  na,me  of  Moses.  At  this  close  of  the  first  period  of  the 
Jewish  history,  and  on  the  eve  of  the  second  period,  it  will 
be  necessary  to  draw  forth  those  points  in  his  character  and 
appearance  which  specially  fitted  him  for  this  position.  As 
in  the  case  of  all  the  earlier  characters  of  the  Jewish  Church, 
we  must  be  content  with  an  uncertainty  and  dimness  of  per- 
ception ;  we  must  not  expect  to  form  a  complete  portraiture 
of  either  the  man  or  his  history.  But  the  general  effect  of 
the  whole  career  is  sufficiently  clear,  and  on  that  alone  I 
propose  to  dwell. 

I.  First,  then,  observe  what  his  position  was,  and  how  he 
filled  it.     He  was  not  a  Founder  of  a  new  state  of  things  like 
Moses,  nor  a  champion  of  the  existing  order  of  things  like 
His  con-      Elijah  or  Jeremiah.     He  stood,  literally,  between  the  two — 
withThe      between  the  living  and  the  dead,  between  the  past  and  the 
past.  future,  between  the  old  and  the  new,  with  that  sympathy  for 

each  which,  at  such  a  period,  affords  the  best  hope  of  any 
permanent  solution  of  the  questions  which  torment  it.     He 
had  been  brought  up  and  nurtured  in  the  ancient  system. 
His  childhood  had  been  spent  in  the  Sacred  Tent  of  Shiloh, 
the  last  relic  of  the  Wanderings  in  the  Desert.     His  early 
dedication  to  the  sanctuary  belonged  to  that  age  of  vows,  of 
which  the   excess  appears  in  the  rash   and  hasty   vows    of 
Jephthah,  of  Saul,  and  of  the  assembly  at  IMizpeh ;  in  the 
more  regular,  but  still  peculiar  and  eccentric,  devotion  of 
Samson  to  the  life  of  a  Nazarite.     As  he  grew  up,  devoted 
by  his  mother,  herself  almost  a  Nazarite,  •  secluded  from  the 
world,  dressed  in  his  linen  ephod,  his  long  locks  flowing  over 
his  shoulders,  on  which  no  razor  was  ever  to  pass,^  perhaps, 
we  may  add,  abstaining  from  all  mne  and  strong  drink,^  he 
must  have  presented  a  likeness,  civilised  and  tamed  indeed, 
but    still    a   likeness,    of   the    wild    Danite    champion    who 

'  See  Lecture  XVII.  «  1  Sam.  i.  11. 

»  LXX. ;  ibid. 


rrcT.  xviii.  THE    LAST    OP    THE   JUDGES.  393 

rent  the  lion,  and  smote  the  Philistines  with  the  jawbone 
of  an  ass — he  must  have  been  a  living  memorial  of  past 
times,  far  into  a  new  generation  which  knew  such  things 
no  more. 

He  was  also  a  Judge,  of  the  ancient  generation,  the  last  of  The  last  of 
the  Judges.  In  him  was  continued  and  ended  the  Ions:  sue-  ^  "^ 
cession  who  had  been  raised  up  from  Othniel  downwards  to 
effect  special  deliverances.  In  the  overthrow  of  the  sanc- 
tuary of  Shiloh,  and  the  disasters  which  followed,  we  hear 
not  what  became  of  Samuel.^  He  next  appears,  after  an 
interval  of  many  years,  suddenly  amongst  the  people,  warn- 
ing them  against  their  idolatrous  practices.  He  convened 
an  assembly  at  Mizpeh — probably  the  place  of  that  name  in 
the  tribe  of  Benjamin — and  there  with  a  symbolical  rite, 
expressive  partly  of  deep  humiliation,  partly  of  the  libations 
of  a  treaty,,,  they  poured  water  on  the  ground,  they  fasted, 
and  they  entreated  Samuel  to  raise  the  piercing  shrill  cry, 
for  which  his  prayers  were  known,  in  supplication  to  God  for 
them.  It  was  at  the  moment  when  he  was  offering  up  a 
sacrifice,^  and  sustaining  this  loud  cry,  that  the  Philistine 
host  suddenly  burst  upon  them.  A  violent  thunderstorm,  Tlie  battle 
and  (according  to  Josephus  ^)  an  earthquake,  came  to  the  gzer. 
timely  assistance  of  Israel.  The  Philistines  fled,  and,  exactly 
at  the  spot  where  twenty  years  before  they  had  obtained  their 
great  victory,  they  were  totally  routed.  A  huge  stone  was 
set  up,  which  long  remained  as  a  memorial  of  Samuel's 
triumph,  and  gave  to  the  place  its  name  of  Eben-ezer,  '  the 
Stone  of  Help,'  which  has  thence  passed  into  Christian 
phraseology,  and  become  a  common  name  of  Puritan  saints 

'  According  to  the  Mussulman  tra-  the  letter,  is   true   to   the   spirit   of 

dition,  Samuel's  birth  is   granted  in  Samuel's  life. 

answer  to  the  prayers  of  the  nation  ^  Compare   the   situation   of  Pau- 

on  the   overthrow  of  the    sanctuary  sanias  before  the   battle  of    Plataea, 

and    loss    of    the    ark    (D'Herbelot,  Herod,  ix.  11. 

Aschmouyl).      This,  though  false   in  '  Ant.  vi.  2,  §  2. 


894  .    SAMUEL.  lect.  xviii. 

and  Nonconformist  chapels.^  The  old  Canaanites,  whom  tlie 
Philistines  had  dispossessed  in  the  outskirts  of  the  Judsean 
hills,  seem  to  have  helped  in  the  battle,  and  'there  was 
'  peace  between  Israel  and  the  Amorites.'  ^  A  large  portion 
of  lost  territory  in  the  plain  of  Philistia  was  recovered.  The 
battle  of  Eben-ezer — the  first,  and,  as  far  as  we  know,  the 
only  direct  military  achievement  of  Samuel — marked  as  it 
was  by  the  first  return  of  victory  to  the  arms  of  Israel  after 
the  fall  of  Shiloh,  was  apparently  the  event  which  raised 
him  to  the  office  of  'Judge.'  There,  in  the  same  way  as 
*  Jerubbaal,  and  Bedan,  and  Jephthah,'  ^  with  whom  he  is 
thus  classed,  he  won  his  title  to  that  name,  then  the  highest 
in  the  nation.  He  dwelt  in  his  own  birthplace,  and,  like 
Gideon,  or  like  Micah,  made  it  a  sanctuary  of  his  own.  There 
was  still  no  central  capital.  Shiloh  was  gone,  Shechem  was 
gone,  and  Jerusalem  was  not  yet  come.  All  was  as  of  old, 
yet  uncertain  and  unfixed.  The  personal,  family  bond  was 
stronger  than  the  national.  He  went  from  year  to  year, 
indeed,  in  solemn  circuit  to  the  ancient  sanctuaries'*  within 
his  own  immediate  neighbourhood — '  Bethel,  and  Grilgal,  and 
'Mizpeh'  —  and  'judged  Israel  in  all  those  places.'  But 
'  his  return '  was  always  to  Rarnah ;  '  for  there  was  his  house, 
'  and  there  he  judged  Israel,  and  there  he  built  an  altar  unto 
'  the  Lord.'  As  yet  '  there  was  no  king  in  Israel — he  did 
'  what  was  right  in  his  own  eyes.'  His  sons,  as  in  the  case  of 
those  of  Jair  and  Abdon,  shared  the  power  witli  him,  though 
at  the  remote  southern  sanctuary  of  Beersheba ;  ^  and  in  their 
corrupt  practices  he  lived  to  see  a  repetition  of  the  scandals 
of  Hophni  and  Phinehas.  He  was,  as  it  might  have  seemed, 
but    as    one    of    the    old    chiefs    of    the    bygone    age — half 

'   1  Sam.  vii.  12.  fj.evots  tovtois,  LXX. 

-  1  Sam.  vii.   14  ;    comp.   Judg.  i.  ■'  1  Sam.  viii.  1-4.     This  is  a  re- 

34,  35.  markable  instance  of  the  fairness  of 

3  I/iid.  xii.  11.  the  narrative. 
■•  Ibid.  vii.  IG.      eV  iraai  to7s  ijyiacr- 


LECT.  xviii.  THE   LAST   OF   THE   JUDGES.  395 

warrior,  half  sage.  Like  the  Levite  who  dwelt  in  the  sanc- 
tuary of  Micah,  but  on  a  grander  scale,  he  was  consulted  ^ 
throughout  the  neighbourhood  as  an  oracle  for  any  of  the  His  oracu- 
vexations  or  difficulties  of  common  life.  In  him  we  see  the 
last  example  of  the  custom  which  was  'beforetime  in  Israel 
*  when  men  went  to  inquire  of  God '  ^  about  these  matters. 
An  ass  would  have  gone  astray  on  the  mountains,  or  an  expe- 
dition in  search  of  a  settlement  would  need  to  be  blessed, 
and  the  inquirers  would  come  with  the  ever-recurring  present 
(bakhshtsh)  of  the  Oriental  supplicant — loaves  of  bread,  or 
the  fourth  part  of  a  shekel  of  silver,^  or  tbe  offer  of  a  good 
place  in  the  new  settlement.* 

An  awful  reverence  for  the  ancient  times  thus  grew  up 
around  him.  His  long-protracted  life  was  like  the  shadow  of 
the  great  rock  of  an  older  epoch  projected  into  the  level  of 
a  modern  age.  '  He  judged  Israel  all  his  life :  '  even  after 
the  Monarchy  had  sprung  up,  he  was  still  a  witness  of  an 
earlier  and  more  primitive  state.  Whatever  murmurs  or 
complaints  had  arisen,  were  always  hushed  for  the  moment 
before  his  presence.  They  leaned  upon  him,  they  looked 
back  to  him  even  from  after  ages,  as  their  fathers  had  leaned 
upon  Moses.  A  peculiar  virtue  was  beHeved  to  reside  in  his 
intercession.  In  later  times  he  was  conspicuous  amongst 
those  that  '  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord,'  ^  and  was  thus 
placed  with  Moses  as  '  standing '  (in  the  special  sense  of  the 
attitude  for  prayer  ^)  '  before  the  Lord.'  It  was  the  last  con-  His  prayer 
solation  that  he  left  in  his  parting  address,  that  he  would  fiol^^^^^'^'^' 
'■]pra;y  to  the  Lord  '  ^  for  the  people.  With  the  wild  scream  or 
shriek  of  supplication  which  has  been  already  noticed  on  the 
eve  of  his  first  battle,  he  would  '  crij^  in  agitated  moments, 
'  all  night  long  unto  the  Lord,'  and  thus  seem  to  draw  down, 

*  1  Sam.  ix.  6.  *  Ps.  xcLs.  6 ;  comp.  2  Sam.  xii.  IG. 

*  Ihid.  ix.  9.  "  Jer.  xv.  1. 

*  Bnd.  ix.  7,  8.  »  1  Sam.  xii.  17,  23. 
^  Judg.  xviii.  19. 


396 


SAMUEL. 


LECT.  xvin. 


His  out- 
ward ap- 
pearance. 


The  first 
of  the 
Order  of 
Prophets. 


as  if  by  force,  the  Divine  answer.  '  Cease  not  to  cry  to  the 
'  Lord  for  us.'  *  And  Samuel  cried  unto  the  Lord  .  .  .  and ' 
(as  if  with  a  special  reference  to  the  meaning  of  his  name, 
'asked'  or  'heard'  of  God)  'the  Lord  heard  him.''  No 
festive  or  solemn  occasion  was  complete  without  his  presence. 
'The  people  will  not  eat  until  he  come,  because  he  doth 
'  bless  the  sacrifice ;  and  afterwards  they  eat  that  be  bidden.'  ^ 
His  coming  was  a  signal  for  mingled  fear  and  joy.  The 
elders  of  Bethlehem  'trembled  at  his  coming,  and  said, 
' "  Comest  thou  peaceably  ?  "  And  he  said,  "  Peaceably :  I 
'  "  am  come  to  sacrifice  unto  the  Lord.  Sanctify  yourselves, 
'  "  and  come  with  me  to  the  sacrifice."  '  ^ 

When  we  read  of  that  apparition,  in  which  he  was  evoked 
after  death,  as  he  had  been  known  in  life,  there  is  some- 
thing terrific,  yet  venerable,  in  his  aspect;  'I  see  a  god 
'  ascending  out  of  the  earth.'  ■*  His  long  Nazarite  hair,^  now 
white  with  age,  marked  him  from  a  distance  to  be  the  old 
grey-headed  seer.  The  little  mantle  ^  which  his  mother  gave 
him,  reaching  doAvn  to  his  feet,  had  from  his  earliest  years 
marked  him  out  as  an  almost  royal  personage ;  and  the  same 
peculiar  robe,  in  extended  proportions,  wrapped  round  him, 
was  his  badge  to  the  end.  On  its  skirts  Saul  had  laid  hold 
when  he  had  last  parted  from  Samuel  at  Gilgal.  By  its 
folds  he  recognised  him  in  the  vision  at  Endor. 

II.  Such  was  Samuel,  as  the  last  representative  of  the  ancient 
mediaeval  Church  of  Judaism.  But  there  was  another  relation 
inseparably  blended  with  this,  in  wliich  he  must  be  regarded 
as  the  first  representative  of  the  new  epoch  which  was  now 
dawning  on  his  country.  He  is  explicitly  described  as 
*  Samuel   the   Prophet.'      '  All  the  prophets   from   Samuel 


>    1  Sam.  XV.  11  ;  vii.  8,  9. 
2  md.  ix.  13. 
'  ll)ld.  xvi.  4,  5. 
*  Tliid.  xxviii.  13. 
^  Ibid.  xii.  2. 


*  The  Hebrew  word  inc-il,  persis- 
tently used  throughout  for  Samuel's 
dress,  1  Sam.  ii.  19  ;  xv.  27 ;  xxviii.  14. 
See  '  Mantle  '  in  Diet,  of  Bible. 


lECT.  XVIII.  THE    FIRST   OF   THE    PKOPHETS.  397 

'  and  those  that  follow  after.''  '  He  gave  them  judges  ^  until 
'  Samuel  the  prophet,^  We  have  already  seen  the  lower 
and  more  limited  sense,  in  which  he  might  be  so  called, 
as  the  oracle  of  his  neighbourhood  or  of  his  country  in  the 
various  difficulties,  great  or  small,  which  drove  them  to 
consult  him.  We  are  even  enabled  to  observe  the  special 
means  by  which  he  received  the  revelations  which  thus  first 
gained  for  him  the  reverence  of  his  countrymen.  'By 
'  dreams,  by  Urim,  and  by  Prophets,'  we  are  told,^  were  the 
three  especial  channels  by  which,  in  those  days,  '  the  Lord 
answered '  to  those  that  inquired  of  Him.  By  the  first  of 
these,  we  can  hardly  doubt  it  is  intended  to  be  intimated  that 
Samuel  received  and  delivered  his   early  warnings.     'The 

*  word  of  the  Lord  ^  was  precious  in  those  days — there  was  no 

*  open  vision.'     It  was  in  the  stillness  of  the  night,  just  before 
the  early  dawn,  that  Samuel  first  heard  the  Divine  Voice. 
That  voice  and  those  visions  still  continued.      'The  Lord  Eeve- 
'  revealed  himself  to  Samuel.'  '*     It  is,  with  perhaps  one  ex- 
ception, the  earliest  instance  of  the  use  of  the  word  which 

has  since  become  the  name  for  all  Divine  communication. 
On  one  or  two  occasions  the  idea  is  conveyed  in  a  more  precise 
form,  '  The  Lord  uncovered  the  ear^  ^ — a  touching  and  sig- 
nificant figure,  taken  from  the  manner  in  which  the  possessor 
of  a  secret  moves  back  the  long  hair  of  his  friend,  and 
whispers  into  the  ear  thus  laid  bare  the  word  that  no  one 
else  may  hear.  The  term  '  Revelation^  thence  appropriated 
in  the  theological  language  both  of  East  and  West,  when 
thus  seen  in  its  primitive  form,  well  expresses  the  truly  philo- 
sophical and  universal  idea  which  ought  to  be  conveyed  by  it. 
'  The  Father  of  Truth  '  (says  an  eminent  scholar,  vindicating  his 
own  use  of  this  phrase  to  describe  the  mission  of  the  Semitic 
races)  '  chooses  His  own  prophets,  and  He  speaks  to  them  in 

'  Acts  iii.  2-1 ;  xiii.  20.  -  1  Sam  xxviii.  6.  '  Ibid.  iii.  1. 

"  Pnd.  iii.  21.  *  2^,/^_  j^.  15. 


398  SAMUEL.  lect.  xviii. 

'  a  voice  stronger  than  the  voice  of  thunder.  It  is  the  same 
'  inner  voice  through  which  Grod  speaks  to  all  of  us.  That 
'  voice  may  dvsdndle  away,  and  become  hardly  audible  ;  it  may 
'  lose  its  divine  accent,  and  sink  into  the  language  of  worldly 
*  prudence ;  but  it  may  also  from  time  to  time  assume  its  real 
'  nature  with  the  chosen  of  God,  and  sound  into  their  ears  as 
'  a  voice  from  Heaven.  A  "  divine  instinct "  would  neither  be 
'  an  appropriate  name  for  what  is  a  gift  or  grace  accorded 
'  but  to  few,  nor  would  it  be  a  more  intelligible  word  than 
' "  special  revelation."  '  ^ 
'Samuel  Throug^h  these  revelations,  the  child  first,  and  then  the 

the  Seer.'  *=  \  '         , 

man,  became  '  Samuel   the    Seer.'     By  that  ancient   name, 

older  than  any  other  designation  of  the  Prophetic  office,  he 
was  known  in  his  own  as  in  after  times.  '  I  am  the  Seer,'' 
was  his  answer  to  those  who  asked,  '  Is  the  Seer  here  ?  ^ 
'  Where  is  the  Seer's  house  ?  '  '  Samuel  the  Seer '  is  the  name 
by  which  he  is  known  in  the  Books  of  Chronicles,  as  the 
counsellor  of  Saul  and  David.^  And,  as  if  in  a  distorted 
reminiscence  of  his  peculiar  gift  of  second  sight, — of  insight 
into  the  secrets  of  Heaven,  and  of  the  future, — Samuel  is 
the  character  selected  in  Mussulman  traditions  as  the  first 
revealer  of  the  mysteries  of  the  nocturnal  flight  of  Mahomet 
from  Mecca  to  Jerusalem.*  But  it  was  in  a  much  higher 
and  more  important  sense  than  as  a  mere  '  seer '  of  visions, 
that  Samuel  appears  as  preeminently  'the  Prophet.'  The 
passages  already  quoted  from  the  New  Testament  indicate  to 
us,  and  Augustine  in  his  '  De  Civitate  Dei'  ^  has  well  caught 
the  idea,  that  he  is  the  beginning  of  that  Prophetical  dispen- 
sation, which  ran  parallel  with  the  Monarchy  from  the  first 
to  the  last  king,  and  together  with  it  forms  the  essential 
characteristic  of  the  whole   of  the  coming  period.      '  Hoc 

*  Quoted  from  the  same  Essay  of  '1  Chron.  ix.  22 ;  xxvi.  28. 
Professor    Miiller    already    cited    in  *  Weil's  Legends,  145. 
Lecture  I.  p.  16.  *  Civ.  Dei,  xvii.  1. 

*  1  Sam.  ix.  11,  18,  19. 


LECT.  XVIII.   FOUNDEK  OF  THE  SCHOOLS  OF  THE  PROPHETS.    399 

'  itaque  tempus,  ex  quo  Sanctus  Samviel  prophetare  coepit, 
'  et  deinceps  donee  populus  Israel  in  Babyloniam  captivus 
'  duceretur  ....  totum  est  tempus  Prophetarum.' ' 
It  was  from  Samuel's  time  that  the  succession  was  never 
broken.  Even  the  Mussulman  legends  delight  to  make  him 
the  herald  of  all  the  Prophets,  down  to  the  last,  that  were  to 
come  after  him. 

In  many  ways  does  this  origination  of  the  line  of  Prophets 
centre  in  Samuel.  We  may  trace  back  to  him  the  institution 
even  in  its  outward  form  and  fashion.  In  his  time  we  first  The 
hear  of  what  in  modern  phraseology  are  called  the  Schools  ^^g  p^j^. 
of  the  Prophets.  Whatever  be  the  precise  meaning  of  the  P^®*^- 
peculiar  word,  which  now  came  first  into  use  as  the  designation 
of  these  companies,  it  is  evident  that  their  immediate  mission 
consisted  in  uttering  religious  hymns  or  songs,  accompanied 
by  musical  instruments — psaltery,  tabret,  pipe  and  harp,  and 
cymbals.^  In  them,  as  in  the  few  solitary  instances  of  their 
predecessors,  the  characteristic  element  was  that  the  silent 
seer  of  visions  found  an  articulate  voice,  gushing  forth  in  a 
rhythmical  flow,  which  at  once  riveted  the  attention  of  the 
hearer.^  These,  or  such  as  these,  were  the  gifts  which  under 
Samuel  were  now  organised,  if  one  may  so  say,  into  a  system. 
The  spots  where  they  were  chiefly  gathered,  even  in  latter 
times,  were  more  or  less  connected  with  their  founder; 
Bethel  and  Gilgal.  But  the  chief  place  where  they  appear 
in  his  own  lifetime  is  his  own  birthplace  and  residence, 
Eamah,  Eamathaim-zophim,  *the  height,'  *the  double 
'  height  of  the  watchmen.'  From  this  or  from  some 
neighbouring  height  they  might  be  seen  descending,  in  a 
long  line  or  chain,'*  which  gave  its  name  to  their  com- 
pany, with  ^psaltery,  harp,  tabret,  pipe,  and  cymbals.'     Or 

'  See  Lecture  XIX.  *  The  word  used  is  Chebel,  '  rope,' 

-  1  Sam.  X.  5  ;  1  Chron.  xxv.  1-8.       '  string'(LXX.  x<^/'os);  1  Sam.  x.  5, 10. 
'  See  Lecture  XLX. 


400  SAMUEL.  lect.  xviii. 

by  the  dwellings,  the  leafy  huts  as  they  were  in  later  times, 
on  the  hill-side — '  Naioth  in  Eamah  ' — they  were  settled 
in  a  congregation  ^  (such  is  tlie  word  in  the  original),  a 
church  as  it  were  within  a  church,  and  '  Samuel  stood 
appointed  over  them.'  ^  Under  the  shadow  of  his  name 
they  dwelt  as  within  a  charmed  circle.  From  them  went 
forth  an  influence  which  awed  and  inspired  even  the  wild  and 
reckless  soldiers  of  that  lawless  age.^  Amongst  them  we 
find  the  first  authors  distinctly  named,  in  Hebrew  literature, 
of  actual  books  which  descended  to  later  generations,^  and 
gathered  up  the  recollections  of  their  own  or  of  former  times. 
Song,  and  music,  and  dance  were  interwoven  in  some  sacred 
union,  difficult  for  us  to  conceive  in  these  western  or  northern 
regions,  yet  not  without  illustrations,  even  at  the  present 
day,  from  the  religious  observances  of  Spain  and  of  Arabia. 
But,  unlike  the  dances  of  Seville  and  Cairo,  the  mystical 
songs  and  ecstasies  of  these  Prophetic  schools  were  trained  to 
ends  much  nobler  than  any  mere  ceremonial  observance. 
Thither  in  that  age  of  change  and  dissolution  Samuel  gathered 
round  him  all  that  was  generous  and  devout  in  the  people  of 
Grod.  David,  the  sliepherd  warrior  and  wandering  outlaw — 
Saul,  the  wild  and  wayward  king — Heman,  the  grandson  of 
Samuel  himself,^  chief  singer,  afterwards,  in  David's  court, 
and  known  especially  as  the  king's  seer — Gad,  the  devoted 
companion  of  David  in  his  exile — Nathan,  his  stern  reprover 
in  after  times,  and  the  wise  counsellor  of  David's  wise  son — 
all,  liowever  different    their  characters   and   stations,   seem 

*  LXX.  rrjv  fKK\-r}ffiav,  1  Sam.  xix.        Judges,   Euth,   the  Pentateuch,    and 
20.  even  the  two  books  which  bear  his  name. 

-  EldTiyiei  Ka.Qeary\Khs ;    1  Sara.  xix.  But  of  the  authorship  of  these  writings 

20.  there    is    no    express    mention,    and 

*  1  Sam.  xix.  20,  21.  therefore  no  decisive  proof,  however 

*  The  Psalms  of  David,  and  the  much  he  maj^  with   probability,    be 
biographies  written  by  Samuel,  Gad,  sTipposed  to  have  contributed  towards 
and  Nathan.      (1   Chron.  xxix.  29.)  the  composition  of  some  of  them. 
Various  books  of  the  Old  Testament  *  Son  of  Joel,  1  Chron.  vi.  33;  xv, 
have  been  ascribed   to    Samuel — the  1 7  ;  sxv.  5. 


LECT.  xviii.        THE    SCHOOLS   OF   THE    PROrHETS.  401 

to  have  found  a  home  within  those  sacred  haunts,  all  caught 
the  same  divine  inspiration ;  all  were,  for  the  time  at  least, 
drawn  together  by  that  invigorating  and  elevating  atmo- 
sphere. 

I  may  be  forgiven,  if  for  a  moment,  before  dwelling  in 
detail  on  what  belongs  to  the  special  age  and  country,  I  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  this  is  the  first  direct  mention, 
the  first  express  sanction,  not  merely  of  regular  arts  of  in- 
struction and  education,  but  of  regular  societies  formed  for 
that  purpose — of  schools,  of  colleges,  of  universities. 

Long  before  Plato  had  gathered  his  disciples  round 
him  in  the  olive  grove,  or  Zeno  in  the  Portico,  these 
institutions  had  sprung  up  under  Samuel  in  Judsea.  It 
is  always  interesting,  whether  in  common  or  in  ecclesias- 
tical history,  to  indicate  the^  successive  moments  at  which 
the  successive  ideas  and  institutions,  afterwards  to  be  de- 
veloped, first  came  into  existence.  And  here,  in  Oxford, 
it  is  impossible  not  to  note  with  peculiar  interest  the  rise 
of  these,  as  they  may  be  truly  called,  the  first  places  of  regu- 
lar religious  education.  They  present  to  us  the  same  fixed- 
ness of  local  continuity,  which  so  remarkably  distinguishes 
our  schools  and  universities  from  the  shifting  philosophical 
societies  of  Grreece ;  at  Bethel  and  at  Grilgal,  if  not  at  Eamah, 
the  schools  of  the  Propjiets  are  found  in  the  time  of  Elijah 
where  they  were  in  the  time  of  Samuel,  even  as  our  own 
University,  and  our  own  Colleges,  still  flourish  on  the  ground 
chosen  ages  ago  by  Alfred  and  by  Walter  de  Merton.  They 
present  to  us  also,  so  far  as  we  know  anything  of  their  con- 
stitution, something  of  the  same  large  influence,  so  often 
observed  amongst  ourselves,  the  effect  exercised  rather  by  the 
general  atmosphere  and  society  of  the  place,  than  by  its  spe- 
cial instructions.  Of  the  information  imparted  by  Samuel,' 
or  by  the  fathers  of  the  school  of  the  Prophets,  we  know 

J  See  Lecture  XIX. 
D  D 


402  SAMUEL.  lect.  xviii. 

hardly  anything.  We  see  only  that  there  was  a  contagion 
of  goodness,  of  enthusiasm,  of  energy,  which  even  those  who 
came  with  liostile  or  indifferent  minds,  such  as  Saul  and  the 
messengers  of  Saul,  found  it  almost  impossible  to  resist ; 
they,  too,  were  rapt  into  the  vortex  of  inspiration,  and  the 
bystanders  exclaimed  with  astonishment,  '  Is  Saul  also  among 
'  the  prophets  ?  '  How  like  to  the  spell  exercised  by  the  local 
genius  of  our  English  Universities,  insensibly,  unaccountably 
exercised  over  many,  who  would  not  be  able  to  say  how  or 
whence  they  had  gained  it ;  how  like  to  the  influences  passing 
to  and  fro  amongst  us,  for  good  or  evil,  from  the  example, 
the  characters,  the  spirit  of  our  companions ;  far  more  potent 
than  lectures,  or  precepts,  or  sermons.  '  I  have  learned 
'  much  from  my  Masters,  more  from  my  companions,  most 
'  of  all  from  my  scholars.'  ^  And  further,  if  this  be  so,  the 
The  Pro-  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  rise  of  the  Prophetic  Schools  of 
phetic  mis-  jgj.rj^g]^  j^^j  ^qW  point  out  to  US  one  special  object,  at  least,  of 
Samuel.  all  such  seats  of  education  everywhere.  To  mediate  between 
the  old  and  the  new ;  to  maintain  a  standard  of  independent 
thought  and  feeling  amidst  the  pressure  of  lower  influences ; 
to  distinguish  between  that  which  is  temporal  and  that  which 
is  eternal — this  is  the  mission  of  institutions  like  ours ;  this 
was  the  mission  of  Samuel,  and  of  the  schools  of  which  he 
was  the  Founder. 

Let  us  take  these  points  in  their  order. 
His  media-       1.  To  mediate  between  the  old  and  the  new. — This,  as  I 
tween  the    have  before  intimated,  was  indeed  the  peculiar  position  of 
old  and  the  gj^j^^^i^     jje  was  at  once  the  last  of  the  Judges  and  the 

new.  o 

inausfurator  of  the  first  of  the  Kings.  Take  the  whole  of 
the  narrative  together  ;  take  the  story  first  of  his  opposition, 
and  then  of  his  acquiescence,  in  the  establishment  of  the 
monarchy.  Both  together  bring  us  to  a  just  impression  of 
the  double  aspect  in  which  he  appears ;  of  the  two-sided 
'  Sayings  of  a  Eabbi,  quoted  in  Cowley's  Davideis,  Notes,  p.  40. 


LECT.  XVIII.  HIS    MEDIATIOX.  403 

sympathy  which  enabled  him  to  unite  together  the  passing 

and  the  coming  epoch.    The  misdemeanors  of  his  own  sons — 

the  first   appearance  in   them  of   the    grasping    avaricious 

character  ^  which  in  later  ages  has  thrown  so  black  a  shadow 

over  the  Jewish  character — precipitated  the  catastrophe  which 

had   been  long  preparing.     The  people  demanded  a  king. 

Josephus  ^  describes  the  shock  to  Samuel's  mind,  '  because  of 

'his  inborn  sense  of  justice,  because  of  his  hatred  of  kings, 

'  as  so  far  inferior  to  the  aristocratic  rule,  which  conferred  a 

'  godlike  character  on  those  who  lived  under  it.'     For  the 

whole  night  he  lay,  we  are  told,  fasting  and  sleepless,  in  the 

depths  of  doubt  and  perplexity.     In  the  visions  of  that  night,'^ 

and  the  announcement  of  them  on  the  following  day,  is  given 

the  dark  side  of  the  new  institution.     On  the  other  hand,  his 

acceptance  of  the  change  is  no  less  clearly  marked  in  the 

story  of  his  reception  of  Saul.     In  the  first  meeting  no  word 

is  breathed  to  break  the  impression  that  God  is  with  the 

new  Euler,*  and,  in  his  final  coronation  as  king,  there  is  no 

check  to  the  joy  with  which  the  whole  nation,  and,  according 

to  the  Septuagint,  Samuel  himself,  'rejoiced  greatly.'^     In 

the  final  address  is  represented  the  mixed  feeling  with  which, 

after  having  forewarned,  and  struggled,  and  resisted,  he  at 

last   bows  to  the  inevitable  course   of   events,   and  retires 

gradually  to  make  room  for  a  new  order,  of  which  he  could 

but  partially  understand  the  meaning.     He  parted  from  the 

people,  not  with   curses,  but  with  blessings :   '  Grod  forbid 

'  that  I  should  sin  against  the  Lord  by  ceasing  to  pray  for 

'  you ;    but  I  will  teach  you  the  good  and  the  right  way.' 

He  parted  from  Saul,  not  in  anger,  but  in  sorrow.     '  Never- 

'  theless  Samuel  mourned  for  Saul.'  ^    He  who  had  begun  by 

denouncing  the  Monarchy  as  fraught  with  evil,  ended,  by 

'  Their   crimes  were   bribery  and  '  Ihid. 

exorbitant    usury,    1     Sam.    viii.    4  *  1  Sam.  x.  7. 

(LXX.).  =  Ibid.  xi.  15. 

■  Ant.  vi.  3,  §  3.  «  Ibid.  xii.  23 ;  xv.  35, 

D  D   2 


404  SAMUEL.  lect.  xviii. 

becoming  the  protector  and  counsellor  of  him  who  was  to  be 
its  chief  glory  and  support.  Out  of  the  dark  period  in  which 
his  early  years  had  been  spent,  arose  through  his  interposition 
a  higher  and  a  nobler  life.  To  Saul  succeeded  David  and 
Solomon ;  and  in  their  reigns  was  seen  a  fulfilment  of  God's 
kingdom  such  as  could  not  be  understood  by  those  to  whom 
there  was  no  king  in  Israel,  who  did  what  was  right  in  their 
own  eyes ;  to  whom  the  Psalms  were  as  yet  unknown  ;  to 
whom  Prophecy  came  only  by  imperfect  and  distant  glimpses  ; 
to  whom  the  highest  type  of  the  Messiah's  reign  in  the 
person  of  David  and  his  son  was  a  thing  inconceivable. 

Such  an  epoch  of  perplexity,  of  transition,  of  change,  as 
that  which  witnessed  the  passage  from  the  first  age  of  the 
Jewish  Church  to  the  second,  has  been  rarely  experienced 
in  any  age  of  the  Church  since.  Yet  there  have  been  times 
more  or  less  similar ;  the  passage  from  every  generation  to 
the  one  that  succeeds  has  difficulties  more  or  less  correspond- 
ing. In  every  such  passage  there  may  be,  or  there  ought  to 
be,  characters  more  or  less  like  that  of  Samuel,  if  the  transi- 
tion is  to  be  safely  effected.  Of  all  the  characters  in  the 
old  dispensation,  Samuel  has  in  later  times,  both  by  friends 
and  opponents,  been  the  most  often  misrejjresented  and 
misunderstood.  In  all  ages,  those  who  undertake  the 
difficult  task  of  Samuel  are  still  liable  to  the  same  kind 
of  misunderstanding  and  misrepresentation.  They  are  at- 
tacked from  both  sides ;  they  are  charged  with  not  going 
far  enough,  or  with  going  too  far ;  they  are  charged  with 
saying  too  much,  or  with  saying  too  little ;  they  are  regarded 
from  either  partial  point  of  view,  and  not  from  one  which 
takes  in  the  whole.  They  cannot  be  comprehended  at  a 
glance  like  Moses  or  Elijah  or  Isaiah,  and  therefore  they  are 
thrust  aside.  There  have  been  those  who  have  undertaken 
the  same  task  in  former  times  of  the  Christian  Church. 
Athanasius,  in  the  moderate  counsels  of  his  old  age,  in  his 


LECT.  xviir.  HIS   MEDIATION.  405 

attempts  to  reconcile  the  contending  factions  of  Christians 
in  the  Council  of  Alexandria,  was,  for  this  reason,  fitly 
regarded  by  Basil  ^  as  the  Samuel  of  the  Church  of  his  days. 
In  later  times,  even  in  our  own,  many  names  spring  to  our 
recollection,  of  those  who  have  trodden  or  (in  different  de- 
grees, some  known,  and  some  unknown)  are  treading  the 
same  thankless  path  in  the  Church  of  Germany,  in  the 
Church  of  France,  in  the  Church  of  Russia,  in  the  Church 
of  England.  Wherever  they  are,  and  whosoever  they  may 
be,  and  howsoever  they  may  be  neglected,  or  assailed,  or 
despised,  they,  like  their  great  prototype  and  likeness  in 
the  Jewish  Church,  are  the  silent  healers  who  bind  up  the 
wounds  of  their  age  in  spite  of  itself;  they  are  the  good 
physicians  who  knit  together  the  dislocated  bones  of  a  dis- 
jointed time;  they  are  the  reconcilers  who  turn  the  hearts 
of  the  children  to  the  fathers,  or  of  the  fathers  to  the  children. 
They  have  but  little  praise  and  reward  from  the  partisans 
who  are  loud  in  indiscriminate  censure  and  applause.  But, 
like  Samuel,  they  have  a  far  higher  reward,  in  the  Davids 
who  are  silently  strengthened  and  nurtured  by  them  in 
Naioth  of  Eamah, — in  the  glories  of  a  new  age  which  shall 
be  ushered  in  peacefully  and  happily  after  they  have  been 
laid  in  the  grave. 

In  two  important  ways,  this  character  of  mediation,  if  I 
may  so  call  it,  was  discernible  in  the  Prophetical  office 
generally,  and,  as  far  as  we  can  see,  was  specially  exemplified 
in  Samuel. 

First,  we  observe  in  his  position  and  character  that  inde-  His  inde- 
pendence of  spirit  which  has  sometimes  caused  the  Prophets,  ^^^^ 
and  himself  in  particular,  to  be    regarded    almost    as   the 
demagogues,  the  tribunes  of  the  Jewish  people.     The  song 
ascribed  to  his  mother  at  his  birth  well  expresses  the  new 
element,  which  was  in  him  to  break  out  and  run  across  the 

'  Basil,  Ep.  82. 


406  SAMUEL.  lect.  xviit. 

usual  tenor  of  Jewish  society.  '  The  bows  of  the  mighty 
'  men  are  broken,  and  they  that  stumbled  are  girded  vnth 
'  strength.'  '  The  Lord  maketh  poor  and  maketh  rich ; ' 
'  He  bringeth  low  and  lifteth  up.'  Stern  rebuke  of  the 
popular  will,  stern  defiance  of  regal  tyranny,  stern  denuncia- 
tion of  sacerdotal  corruption,  marked  the  entrance  of  the 
Prophetic  dispensation  into  the  Church.  To  be  above  the 
world,  to  derive  courage  and  strength  from  a  higher  source 
than  the  world,  was  the  first  guarantee  for  a  due  discharge 
of  the   Prophetic  mission.       '  There    is    none   holy  as    the 

*  Lord ;  for  there  is  none  beside  thee ;  neither  is  there 
'  any  rock  like  our  Grod.'  ^ 

But,  secondly,  in  Samuel  as  afterwards,  this  attitude  of 
solitary  defiance  was  not  the  attitude  of  Priestly  interest 
His  anti-  or  ambition.  Of  all  the  '  vulgar  errors '  in  sacred  history, 
character  iione  is  greater  than  that  which  represents  the  conflict  of 
Samuel  with  Saul  as  a  conflict  between  the  regal  and 
sacerdotal  power.  It  is  doubtful  even  whether  he  was 
of  Levitical  descent ;  ^  it  is  certain  that  he  was  not  a  Priest. 

*  Samuel  Propheta  fuit,  Judex  fuit,  Levita  fuit,  non  Pontifex, 

*  ne  Sacerdos  quidem.'  *  And  in  accordance  with  this  we 
may  observe  that  Samuel  himself,  after  the  fall  of  Shiloh, 
dwelt  not  at  Gribeon  or  Nob,  the  seat  of  the  Tabernacle  and 
the  Priesthood,  but  at  Ramah.  At  Ramah,  and  at  Bethel, 
and  at  Grilgal,  not  in  the  conse^ated  precincts  of  Hebron  or 
Anatlioth,  were  the  Prophetic  schools.  He  reproved  Saul 
the  King,  only  in  the  same  way  as,  m  his  early  childhood, 
he  had  reproved  Eli  the  Priest.  The  guilt  of  Saul's  sacrifice 
at  Grilgal  was  not  that  it  infringed  on  the  province  of  the 

'  1  Sam.  ii.  4,  7.  Ps.  Ixxviii.  1)  and  Ewald  (ii.  549)  by 

^  Rid.  ii.  2.  supposing  that  the  Levites  were  oeca- 

^  Elkanah,  in   1  Sam.  i.   1,   is  an  sionally  incorporated  into  the  tribes 

Ephrathite  or  Ephraimite ;  in  1  Chron.  amongst  which  they  lived. 

vi.  22,  23,  he  is  a  Levite.     This  has  *  Jerome,  adv.  Jovinianum. 

been  explained  by  Hengstenberg  (on  ^ 


LECT.  XVIII.  HIS   GRADUAL   GROWTH.  407 

Priest :  Saul  as  king  had  the  same  right  to  sacrifice  as  David 
and  Solomon  had  afterwards.  It  was  that  he  in  his  rash 
superstition  broke  through  the  moral  restraint  imposed  upon 
him  by  the  Prophet.  And  in  the  yet  more  memorable  scene, 
where  Samuel,  as  the  stern  executioner  of  judgment  on  the 
captive  Agag,  protests  against  the  misplaced  mildness  of  Saul, 
his  words  rise  far  above  the  special  occasion,  and  contain  the 
keynote  of  the  long  remonstrance  of  the  Prophets  in  all  sub- 
sequent times  against  an  exaggerated  estimate  of  ceremonial 
above  obedience.  The  very  flow  of  the  words  recalls  to  us 
the  form  as  well  as  the  spirit  of  Amos  and  Isaiah.  '  Hath 
'  the  Lord  as  great  delight  in  burnt  offerings  and  sacrifices 
'  as  in  obeying  the  voice  of  the  Lord  ?  Behold,  to  obey  is 
'  better  than  sacrifice,  and  to  hearken  than  the  fat  of  rams. 
'  For  the  sin  of  witchcraft  is  rebellion,  and  iniquity  and 
'  idolatry  are  stubbornness.  .  .  .  The  Strength  of 
'  Israel  will  not  lie  nor  repent ;  for  He  is  not  a  man  that 
'  He  should  repent.'  ^ 

There  is  one  more  aspect  in  which  Samuel's  life  may  be 
viewed.  It  was  not  merely  as  the  chief  leader  of  the  People 
when  they  passed  into  the  second  stage  of  their  national 
history,  nor  as  the  Founder  of  the  Schools  of  the  Prophets, 
that  he  is  especially  known  as  '  Samuel  the  Prophet.'  It  was 
because,  unlike  Moses  or  Deborah,  or  any  previous  saint  or  His 
teacher  of  the  Jewish  Church,  he  grew  up  for  this  office  from  ^ro^yth. 
his  earliest  years.  He  was  '  the  Prophet '  from  first  to  last. 
Even  in  his  parentage,  we  find  a  slight  but  significant  indi- 
cation of  his  preparation  for  it.  His  mother,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  almost  a  prophetess ;  the  word  ZopJdm,  as  the 
affix  of  his  birthplace  Rainathaim,  has  been  explained,  not 
unreasonably,  to  mean  '  seers  '  or  '  watchmen ; '  and  Elkanah 
his  father  is,  in  ancient  Jewish  tradition,^  called  '  a  disciple 

'  1  Sam.  XT.  22,  23,  29.  *  Targum  of  Jonathan  on  1  Sam.  i.  1. 


408  SAMUEL.  lect.  xvm. 

'  of  the  Prophets.'  This  early  education  for  his  office  is,  in- 
deed, the  picture  of  Samuel  most  familiar  to  our  thoughts.  It 
is  not  the  terrible  figure  which  rose  up  before  the  apostate 
king  in  the  cave  of  Endor — the  stern  old  man,  ascending 
like  a  god  from  the  earth,  with  threatening  and  disquieted 
countenance,  with  the  fearful  aspect  of  him  who  had  pre- 
sented the  mangled  remains  of  Agag  as  a  sacrifice  at  Gilgal, 
who  had  called  down  thunder  from  heaven,  who  had  shaken  off 
Saul  from  the  skirts  of  that  prophetic  mantle  with  which  his 
face  was  veiled.  It  is  not  this  shape,  grand  and  striking 
though  it  be,  in  which  Samuel  usually  rises  to  our  recollections. 
It  is  as  the  little  child  in  his  linen  ephod,  and  in  the  little 
'  mantle  '  which  his  mother  brought  him  from  year  to  year ; 
the  child  Samuel  sleeping  in  the  Tabernacle  of  Shiloh,  in  the 
simple  sleep  of  innocence,  unknowing  of  the  sins  which  went 
on  around  him ;  roused  by  the  mysterious  voice,  listening  in 
deep  reverence  to  its  awful  message.  This  is  the  image  of 
Samuel  which  is  enshrined  to  us  in  Christian  art ;  this  is  the 
image  which  most  appeals  to  our  general  sympathy,  and  on 
which  the  Sacred  Text  lays  the  most  peculiar  stress.  On  these 
early  chapters  of  the  Books  of  Samuel,  we  are  told  that  in 
his  gentler  moments  Luther  used  to  dwell  with  the  tender- 
ness which  formed  the  occasional  counterpoise  to  the  ruder 
passions  and  enterprises  of  his  general  life.  Ever  and 
anon  amidst  the  crimes  and  terrors  of  the  narrative  of  that 
troubled  time ;  athwart  the  sins  and  corruptions  of  the 
Priesthood,  and  the  passions  and  the  calamities  of  the 
nation,  the  scene  of  the  Sacred  Story  is,  as  it  were,  drawn 
back,  and  reveals  to  us,  in  successive  glimpses,  the  one 
peaceful,  consoling,  hopeful  image,  and  we  hear  the  same 
gentle  undersong  of  childlike,  devoted,  continuous  goodness. 
'  His  mother  said,  I  will  bring  him  that  he  may  appear 
'before  the  Lord,  and  there  abide  for  ever.''      'And  she 

>  1  Sara,  i.  22. 


LECT.  xvui.  HIS    GRADUAL   GEOWTH.  409 

brought  him  unto  the  House  of  the  Lord  in  Shiloh,  and 
the  child  was  young.''  ^  And  she  said,  '  For  this  child  I 
prayed ;  and  the  Lord  hath  given  me  the  petition  which  I 
asked  of  him.  Therefore  also  I  have  lent  him  to  the  Lord  ; 
as  long  as  he  liveth,  he  shall  he  lent  to  the  Lord.  And 
he  tuorshipped  the  Lord  there.''  ^  '  And  the  child  did, 
Tninister  unto  the  Lord  before  Eli  the  Priest.'  ^  ('  The 
sons  of  Eli  were  men  of  Belial ;  .  .  .  and  the  sin  of  the 
young  men  was  very  great  before  the  Lord.  •  .  .  )  But 
Samuel  ministered  before  the  Lord,  being  a  child.'  *  *  And 
the  child  Samuel  grew  before  the  Lord.''  ('  Now  Eli  was 
very  old,  and  heard  all  that  his  sons  did  to  all  Israel ;  and 
said  unto  them,  Why  do  ye  such  things  ?  .  .  .  Notwith- 
standing they  hearkened  not  unto  the  voice  of  their  father, 
because  the  Lord  would  slay  them.')  *And  the  child 
Samuel  grew  on,  and  was  in  favour  both  with  the  Lord  and 
with  men.'^  ('There  came  a  man  of  God  unto  Eli  and 
said  .  .  .  Wherefore  honourest  thou  thy  sons  above  me,  to 
make  yourselves  fat  with  the  chiefest  of  all  the  offerings  of 
Israel  my  people?)  .  .  .  And  the  child  Samuel  minis- 
tered unto  the  Lord  before  Eli,'  ^  '  And  Samuel  greiv, 
and  the  Jjord  was  with  him,  and  did  let  none  of  his 
words  fall  to  the  ground,  and  all  Israel  from  Dan  to 
Beersheba  knew  that  Samuel  ivas  established  to  be  a 
prophet  of  the  Lord.'  ^ 
It  is  this  contrast  of  the  silent,  inward,  unconscious 
growth  of  Samuel,  with  the  violence  and  profligacy  of  the 
times,  that  renders  this  narrative  the  first  example  of  the 
like  characteristic  of  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church,  in 
so  many  stages  of  its  existence.     It  is  also  the  expression  of 

»  1  Sam.  i.  24.  *  Pnd.  12,  17,  IS. 

*  Ibid.  27,28.     This  act  of  worship  '  *  Ibid.  21-26. 

on  the  part  of  the  child  is  omitted  in  ^  Ihid.  27-36  ;  iii.  1. 

the  LXX.  '  Ibid.  iii.  19,  20. 

»  Ibid.  ii.  11. 


410  SMIUEL.  LECT.  xrai. 

a  universal  truth.  Samuel  is  the  main  example,  as  we  have 
seen,  of  the  moderator  and  mediator  of  two  epochs.  He  is, 
also,  the  first  instance  of  a  Prophet  gradually  raised  for  his 
office  from  the  earliest  dawn  of  reason.  His  work  and  his 
life  are  the  counterparts  of  each  other.  With  all  the  recol- 
lections of  the  ancient  sanctuary  impressed  upon  his  mind — 
with  the  voice  of  Grod  sounding  in  his  ears,  not,  according 
to  the  experience  of  the  elder  leaders  and  teachers  of  his 
people,  amidst  the  roar  of  thunder  and  the  clash  of  war,  but 
in  the  still  silence  of  the  Tabernacle,  ere  the  lamp  of  God 
went  out — he  was  the  more  fitted  to  meet  the  coming  crisis, 
to  become  the  centre  of  new  institutions,  which  should  them- 
selves become  venerable  as  those  in  which  he  had  been  him- 
self brought  up.  Because  in  him  the  various  parts  of  his 
life  hung  together  without  any  abrupt  transition ;  because 
in  him  *  the  child  was  father  of  the  man,'  and  his  days  had 
been  'bound  each  to  each  by  natural  piety,'  therefore  he 
was  especially  ordained  to  bind  together  the  broken  links  of 
two  diverging  epochs ;  therefore  he  could  impart  to  others, 
and  to  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  the  continuity  which  he 
had  experienced  in  his  own  life ;  therefore  he  could  gather 
round  him  the  better  spirits  of  his  time  by  that  discernment 
of  *  a  pure  heart,  which  sees  through  heaven  and  hell.'  In 
that  first  childlike  response,  '  Speak,  Lord,  for  thy  servant 
'  heareth,'  was  contained  the  secret  of  his  strength.  When  in 
each  successive  stage  of  his  growth  the  call  waxed  louder 
and  louder,  to  duties  more  and  more  arduous,  he  could  still 
look  back  without  interruption  to  the  first  time  when  it  broke 
his  midnight  slumbers ;  when,  under  the  fatherly  counsel 
His  end.  of  Eli,  he  had  obeyed  its  summons,  and  found  its  judgments 
fulfilled.  He  could  still,  as  he  stood  before  the  people  at 
Grilgal,  appeal  to  the  unbroken  purity  of  his  long  eventful 
life.  Whatever  might  have  been  the  lawless  liabits  of  the 
chiefs  of  those  times, — Hophni,  Phinehas,  or  his  own  sons, — 


LECT.  xviir.  HIS   DEATH.  4J1 

lie  had  kept  aloof  from  all.  '  Behold,  I  am  old  and  grey- 
'  headed,  and  I  have  walked  before  you  from  my  childhood 
'  unto  this  day.  Behold,  here  I  am ;  witness  against  me 
'  before  the  Lord.'  No  ox  or  ass  had  he  taken  from  their 
stalls;  no  bribe  to  obtain  his  judgment ' — not  even  so  much 
as  a  sandal.^  It  is  this  appeal,  and  the  universal  response  of 
the  people,  that  has  caused  Grrotius  ^  to  give  him  the  name  of 
the  Jewish  Aristides.  And  when  the  hour  of  his  death  came, 
we  are  told,  with  a  peculiar  emphasis  of  expression,  that  '  all 
the  Israelites  '—not  one  portion  or  fragment  only,  as  might 
have  been  expected  in  that  time  of  division  and  confusion— 
'were  gathered  together,'  round  him  who  had  been  the 
father  of  all  alike,  and  '  lamented  him  and  buried  him ; ' 
not  in  any  sacred  spot  or  secluded  sepulchre,  but  in  the  midst  His  grave. 
of  the  home  which  he  had  consecrated  only  by  his  own  long 
unblemished  career,  '  in  his  house  at  Kamah.'  ^  We  know 
not  with  certainty  the  situation  of  Ramah.  Of  Samuel  as 
of  Moses  it  may  be  said,  '  No  man  knoweth  of  his  sepulchre 
'  unto  this  day.'  But  the  lofty  peak  ^  above  Gibeon,  which 
has  long  borne  his  name,  has  this  feature  (in  common,  to  a 
certain  extent,  with  any  high  place  which  can  have  been  the 
scene  of  his  life  and  death),  that  it  overlooks  the  whole  of 
that  broad  table-land,  on  which  the  fortunes  of  the  Jewish 
monarchy  were  afterwards  unrolled.  Its  towering  emi- 
nence, from  which  the  pilgrims  first  obtained  their  view  of 
Jerusalem,  is  no  unfit  likeness  of  the  solitary  grandeur  of  the 
Prophet  Samuel,  living  and  dying  in  the  very  midst  of  the 
future  glory  of  his  country. 

'  f^i\afffjia  (LXX.) ;  1  Sam.  xii.  tion,  which  reaches  back  as  far  as  the 

*  vTr6Sr]fj.a  (LXX.) ;  1  Sam.  xii.  seventh  centm-y,  is  the  needless  hy- 

*  Eec'lus.  xlvi.  19.  pothesis   which   has   endeavoured  to 

*  1  Sam.  XXV.  1.  identify    Eamah    with    the    nameless 

*  Samuel's  grave  is  pointed  out  in  a  city  in  1  Sam.  ix.  6.  See  Mr.  Grove's 
cave  underneath  the  floor  of  the  Mus-  article  on  Kamathaim-zophim  in 
sulman  mosque  of  Nebi  Samwil.     The  Dictionary  of  the  Bible. 

only  serious  objection  to  this  tradi- 


412  SAMUEL.  lect.  xviii. 

The  Is  it  possible  to  evade  or  to  forget  the  illustration  which 

Samuel's      ^^^^  story  derives  from  the  experiences  of  education  every- 
life.  where  ?     The  venerable  sanctuary  which  Joshua  had  planted, 

and  where  Eleazar  had  ministered,  the  monument  of  what 
I  have  before  termed  the  mediaeval  age  of  the  Jewish  Church, 
is  but  the  likeness,  many  times  repeated  in  the  Christian 
Church — but  nowhere  more  strikingly  than  in  England  and 
in  Oxford — of  the  ancient  seats  of  education,  the  cathedrals, 
the  monasteries,  the  colleges  blending  both  together,  where 
generation  after  generation  is  trained  for  the  future  exercise 
of  the  pastoral  office.  Under  such  auspices,  both  in  the 
Jewish  and  in  the  Christian  Church,  grow  up  Hophni  and 
Phinehas,  the  profligate  sons  of  Eli,  and  the  blameless  youth 
of  the  child  of  Elkanah.  Sacred  associations,  religious  ser- 
vices, are  as  deadening  and  hardening  to  the  one,  as  they  are 
elevating  and  purifjdng  to  the  other. 

In  this  atmosphere,  so  charged  with  good  and  evil  for 
the  future,  not  less  impressive  is  the  lesson  of  the  connexion 
between  Samuel's  character  and  Samuel's  mission.  Wild 
excesses  in  youth  are  often  followed  by  energy,  by  zeal,  by 
devotion.  We  read  it  in  the  examples  of  Augustine,  of 
Loyola,  of  John  Newton.  Sudden  conversions  of  cha- 
racter such  as  these  are  amongst  the  most  striking  points 
of  ecclesiastical  history.  But  no  less  certain  is  it  that 
they  are  rarely,  very  rarely,  followed  by  moderation,  by 
calmness,  by  impartial  wisdom.  Count  the  eager  partisans 
of  our  own  or  of  other  times.  How  often  shall  we  find  that 
their  early  discipline  was  one  of  headstrong  and  violent 
passion !  How  often  shall  we  find  that  the  conversion  of 
a  lawless  and  reckless  youth  issues  in  the  one-sided  and 
superstitious  zeal  which  hurries  the  ark  of  God  into  battle, 
after  the  example  of  Hophni  and  Phinehas, — which  would 
oppose  to  the  death  the  erection  of  the  monarchy  and  the 
rise  of  the  Prophets,  as  Hophni  and  Phinehas  in  all  proba- 


LECT.  sviii.  HIS   CHARACTER.  413 

bility  would  have  opposed  it,  had  they  been  converted  and 
spared  ! 

Whatever  else  is  gained  by  sudden  and  violent  conversions, 
this  is  lost.  Whatever  else,  on  the  other  hand,  is  lost  by  the 
absence  of  experience  of  evil,  by  the  calm  and  even  life 
which  needs  no  repentance,  this  is  gained.  The  especial 
work  of  guiding,  moderating,  softening,  the  jarring  counsels 
of  men,  is  for  the  most  part  the  especial  privilege  of  those 
w^ho  have  grown  up  into  matured  strength  from  early  begin- 
nings of  purity  and  goodness — of  those  who  can  humbly  and 
thankfully  look  back  through  middle  age,  and  youth  and 
childhood,  with  no  sudden  rent  or  breach  in  their  pure  and 
peaceful  recollections. 

Samuel  is  the  chief  type,  in  ecclesiastical  history,  of 
holiness,  of  growth,  of  a  new  creation  without  conversion ;  and 
his  mission  is  an  example  of  the  special  missions  which  such 
characters  are  called  to  fulfil.  In  proportion  as  the  different 
stages  of  life  have  sprung  naturally  and  spontaneously  out  of 
each  other,  without  any  abrupt  revulsion,  each  serves  as  a 
foundation  on  which  the  other  may  stand ;  each  makes  the 
foundation  of  the  whole  more  sure  and  stable.  In  proportion 
as  our  own  foundation  is  thus  stable,  and  as  our  own  minds 
and  hearts  have  grown  up  gradually  and  firmly,  without  any 
violent  disturbance  or  wrench  to  one  side  or  to  the  other, 
in  that  proportion  is  it  the  more  possible  to  view  with  calm- 
ness and  moderation  the  difficulties  and  differences  of  others 
— to  avail  ourselves  of  the  new  methods  and  new  characters 
that  the  advance  of  time  throws  in  our  way — to  return  from 
present  perplexities  to  the  pure  and  untroubled  well  of  our 
early  years — to  preserve  and  to  communicate  the  childlike 
faith,  changed  doubtless  in  form,  but  the  same  in  spirit,  in 
which  we  first  knelt  in  humble  prayer  for  ourselves  and 
others,  and  drank  in  the  first  impressions  of  God  and  of 
Heaven.     The  call  may  come  to  us  in  many  ways ;  it  may 


414  SAMUEL.  lect.  xviii. 

tell  us  of  the  change  of  the  priesthood,  of  the  fall  of  the 
earthly  sanctuary,  of  the  rise  of  strange  thoughts,  of  the 
beginning  of  a  new  epoch.  Happy  are  they  who,  here  or 
elsewhere,  are  able  to  perceive  the  signs  of  the  times,  and  to 
answer  without  fear  or  trembling,  'Speak,  Lord,  for  thy 
'  servant  heareth.' 


415 


LECTURE   XIX. 
THE    HISTORY    OF    THE    PROPHETICAL    ORDER. 

The  life  of  Samuel  is  so  marked  an  epoch  in  the  history  of 
the  Prophetical  Office,  that  this  seems  the  fittest  place  for  the 
consideration  of  an  institution,  which,  though  it  bore  its  chief 
fruits  in  the  periods  following  on  that  just  brought  to  a  close 
in  the  foregoing  Lectures,  may  yet  be  viewed  as  a  whole  in 
this  critical  moment  of  its  existence. 

It  will  accordingly  be  my  endeavour  to  describe,  first,  the 
Prophetical  Order  or  Institution,  in  its  original  historical 
connexion,  and,  secondly,  the  nature  of  the  Prophetical 
Teaching  in  its  relations  to  the  moral  and  spiritual  condition 
of  the  Jewish,  and,  indirectly,  of  the  Christian  Church. 

I.  Before  entering  on  the  history  of  the  order,  the  meaning  The  word 
of  the  word  '  Prophet,'  in  the  two  sacred  languages,  must  be 
exactly  defined. 

The  Hebrew  word  Nahi  is  derived  from  the  verb  naba,  Nabi. 
which,  however,  never  occurs  in  the  active,  but  only  in  the 
passive  conjugations  of  the  vei'b,  according  to  the  analogy  of 
the  deponent  verbs  in  Latin  :  — loqui,  fari,  vociferari,  vati- 
cinari,  where  the  passive  form  seems  to  indicate  that  the 
speaker  is  swayed  by  impulses  over  which  he  has  not  himself 
entire  control.  The  root  of  the  verb  is  said  to  be  a  word 
signifying  '  to  boil  or  bubble  over,'  and  is  thus  based  on  the 
metaphor  of  a  fountain  bursting  forth  from  the  heart  of 
man,  into  which  God  has  poured  it.'     Its  actual  meaning  is 

'  See  Gesenius,  in  voce  Nabi:     Comp.  Prov.  i.  23. 


416     THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  PROPHETICAL  ORDER.      lect.  xix. 

to  pour  forth  excited  utterances,  as  appears  from  its  occa- 
sional use  in  the  sense  of  raving.^  Even  to  this  day,  in  the 
East,  the  ideas  of  prophet  and  madman  are  closely  connected. 
The  religious  sense,  in  which,  with  these  exceptions,  the  word 
is  always  employed,  to  which  the  peculiar  form  of  the  word, 
as  just  observed,  lends  itself,  is  that  of  '  speaking '  or  '  singing 
under  a  divine  afflatus  or  impulse.^  The  same  seems  to  be 
the  general  sense  of  the  Arabic  nebi.  It  is  this  word  that  the 
Seventy  translated  by  a  Grreek  term  not  of  frequent  usage  in 
classical  authors,  but  which,  through  their  adoption  of  it,  has 
passed  into  all  modern  European  languages ;  namely,  the 
'  Prophet.'  word  irpocprJTTjs,  '  PuoPHET.'  The  sense  of  this  word  in 
classical  writers  is  not  less  clearly  defined  than  that  of  Nabi 
in  Hebrew,  and,  though  not  exactly  the  same  in  sense,  is 
sufficiently  analogous  to  justify  its  employment  by  the 
Alexandrine  translators.  It  is  always  an  interpreter  .or 
medium  of  the  Divine  will.  Thus  Apollo  is  the  Prophet  of 
Jupiter,  the  Pythia  was  the  Prophetess  of  Apollo,  and  the 
attendants  or  expounders  of  her  ejaculations  were  the  Prophets 
of  the  Pythia.  It  is  possible  that  the  Seventy  may  have 
derived  their  use  of  the  word  from  its  special  application  in 
Egypt  to  the  chief  of  the  Sacerdotal  order  in  any  particular 
temple.  His  duties  were  to  walk  at  the  close  of  the  sacred 
processions,  bearing  in  his  bosom  an  urn  of  sacred  water ;  to 
control  the  taxes,  and  to  teach  the  sacred  books.  It  was 
probably  in  this  last  capacity  that  the  Grreek  name  of 
'  Prophet '  was  applied  to  him,  and  that  we  hear  of  the  office 
being  held  by  Sonches  and  Sechnuphis,  the  reputed  masters 
of  Pythagoras  and  of  Plato.'^ 

The  Grreek  preposition  pro  (Trpo),  as  compounded  in  the 
word  Pro-phet,  has,  as  is  well  known,  the  threefold  meaning 

'  1  Sam.  xviii.  10.     Comp.  2  Kings  ^  Clem.  Alex.  Strom,,  i.  15,  vi.  4,  and 

ix.  11,  and  the  connexion   of  fxavTis       Valesius'    notes    on   Eusebius,    H.E. 
and  nalvofiai.  iv.  8. 


LECT.  XIX.  THE   WORD   '  PROPHET.  417 

of  'beforehand,'  'in  public,'  and  'in  behalf  of  or  'for.'  It 
is  possible  that  all  these  three  meanings  may  have  a  place  in 
the  word.  But  in  its  original  meaning  the  second  and  third 
predominate :  '  one  who  speaks  out  publicly  the  thoughts 
of  another.'  ^  As  applied  therefore  by  the  Septuagint, 
in  the  Old  Testament,  and  by  the  writers  of  the  New 
Testament,  who  have  taken  the  word  from  the  Septuagint,  it 
is  used  simply  to  express  the  same  idea  as  that  intended  in 
the  Hebrew  Kabi:  not  foreteller,  nor  (as  has  been  said  more 
truly,  but  not  with  absolute  exactness)  ' forth-teller,''  but 
'  spokesman,'  ^  and  (in  the  religious  sense  in  which  it  is 
almost  invariably  used)  'expounder,'  and  'interpreter,'  of  the 
Divine  Mind. 

The  English  words  '  prophet,'  '  prophecy,'  '  prophesying,'  Modern 
originally  kept  tolerably  close  to  the  Biblical  use  of  the  ^^®°^^^^ 
word.  The  celebrated  dispute  about  '  prophesyings,'  in  the 
sense  of  'preachings,'  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  and  the 
treatise  of  Jeremy  Taylor  on  The  Liberty  of  Prophesying, 
i.  e.  the  liberty  of  preaching,  show  that  even  down  to  the 
seventeenth  century  the  word  was  still  used,  as  in  the  Bible, 
for  '  preaching,'  or  '  speaking  according  to  the  will  of  Grod.' 
In  the  seventeenth  century,  however,  the  limitation  of  the 
word  to  the  sense  of  '  prediction '  had  gradually  begun  to 
appear ;  ^  founded  partly  on  a  misapprehension  of  the  true 


'  This   appears    clearly   from    the  would  seem  that  he  took  the  preposi- 

■words   irp6i.i.avTis  and   vwo(pnrr,s   used  tion  as  signifying   beforehand.      But 

synonymously  with  it  (see  Liddell  and  there  is  hardly  any  appearance  of  this 

Scott  in  voce).  usage  either  in  the  LXX.  or  the  New 

2  ThusinExod.  iv.  16;  yii.  1.    '  Aa-  Testament.     The  nearest  approaches 

ron  shall  be  thy  prophet,' — 'instead  in    the    Biblical    use    of    the   word 

of  a  mouth.'  'Prophet '  to  the  sense  of  prediction 

^  It  is  true  that  Clement  of  Alex-  are  in  the  speeches  and  epistles   of 

andria  occasionally  dwells  on  the  word  S.  Peter.      (Acts  ii.  30;  iii.  18,  21; 

(Strom,  ii.  12)  as  equivalent  to  irpo-  i  Pet.  i.  10;  2  Pet.  i.  19,  20;  iii.  2.) 
Oi<riri^eii/  and  irpoyivwaKuv,  whence  it 

E  E 


418      THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  PROPHETICAL  ORDER,      lect.  xix. 

meaning  of  the  Greek  preposition,  partly  on  the  attention 
attracted  by  the  undoubtedly  predictive  parts  of  the  pro- 
phetical writings. 

This  secondary  meaning  of  the  word  had  by  the  time  of  Dr. 
Johnson  so  entirely  superseded  the  original  Scriptural  signi- 
fication, that  he  gives  no  other  special  definition  of  it  than 
' to  predict,  to  foretell,  to  prognosticate ; '  'a  predicter,  a 
'  foreteller ; '  '  foreseeing  or  foretelling  future  events  ; '  and  in 
this  sense  it  has  been  used  almost  down  to  our  own  day,  when 
the  revival  of  Biblical  criticism  has  resuscitated,  in  some 
measure,  the  Biblical  use  of  the  word. 

A  somewhat  similar  divergence  of  sentiment  has  sprung 
up  in  the  Mussulman  world.  The  Sonnites  or  orthodox 
Mussulmans  still  use  the  word  in  its  original  sense,  as  a 
divinely  instructed  teacher,  whilst  the  Shiahs  or  heretical 
Mussulmans  use  it  as  equivalent  to  one  who  has  the  power 
of  prediction.  It  is  even  said  that  this  difference  as  to  the 
meaning  of  the  Prophetic  office,  far  more  than  the  dispute 
respecting  the  succession  to  the  Caliphate,  lies  at  the  root  of 
that  great  schism  in  the  Mussulman  community. 

How  far  the  modern  limitation  of  the  word  is  borne  out 
by  the  unquestionable  prevalence  of  Prediction  in  the  Pro- 
phetical Office  of  the  Jewish  Church,  will  best  appear  in  the 
next  lecture.  Meanwhile  it  is  important  at  the  outset,  and 
in  the  history  of  the  Order,  to  adliere  to  the  ancient  and  only 
Biblical  use  of  the  term,  the  more  so,  as  the  contracted  sense 
in  which  it  is  now  popularly  employed  would  exclude  from 
oiu-  consideration  the  most  remarkable  and  characteristic 
instances  of  it, — Moses,  Samuel,  and  Elijah,  in  the  Old 
Testament,  John  the  Baptist  and  St.  Paul  in  the  New. 

The  Prophet,  then,  was  '  the  messenger  or  interpreter  of 
the  Divine  will.'  Such  is  the  force  of  all  the  synonyms 
employed  for  the  office.     The  Prophet  is  expressly  called  '  the 


LECT.  XIX.  THE   OFFICE.  419 

interpreter,'  ^  and  '  the  messenger  of  Jehovah.'  ^  He  is  also 
called  '  the  man  of  spirit,'  ^  and  '  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah ' 
enters  into  him,''  and  '  clothes '  *  him.  These  expressions  thus 
correspond  almost  exactly  to  our  words  '  inspired '  and  '  inspi- 
ration.' The  greater  Prophets  are  called  *  men  of  Grod.'  ^ 
Their  communications  are  called  *  the  word  of  Jehovah,'  and  a 
peculiar  term  is  used  for  the  Divine  voice  in  this  connexion, 
cliiefly  in  Ezekiel  and  Jeremiah.'^  In  the  New  Testament 
this  meaning  is  still  continued.  The  detailed  descriptions  of 
'prophesying,'  by  S.  Paul,^  are  hardly  distinguishable  from 
what  we  should  call  '  preaching ; '  the  word  '  exhortation,'  ^ 
or  '  consolation,'  is  used  as  identical  with  it ;  and  the  same 
stress  as  in  the  Old  Testament  is  laid  on  the  force  of  the 
Divine  impulse,  whence  it  sprang.  '  Prophecy  came  not 
'  in  old  time  by  the  will  of  man ;  but  holy  men  of  old 
'  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Grhost.'  ^°  '  Grod 
'spake  by'  (or  'in')  'the  Prophets ;'^^  whence  the  phrase 
in  the  Nicene  Creed,  '  The  Holy  Grhost  .  .  .  spoke  by  the 
'  Prophets.' 

Two  points  thus  distinguish  the  Prophets  from  first  to  last. 
The  first  is  their  consciousness  of  deriving  their  gift  from  a 
Divine  source.  No  other  literature  so  directly  appeals  to 
such  an  origin.  The  impulse  was  irresistible.^'^  '  Woe  is  me 
'  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel.' '"  Secondly,  the  Divine  communi- 
cation is  made  through  the  persons  of  men.  The  rustling 
leaves  of  Dodona,  or  the  symptoms  of  the  entrails  in  Eoman 
sacrifices,  were  thought  '  oracular,'  or  '  predictive,'  but  would 

'  Isa.  xliii.  27.    Translated  '  teach-  '  DX3     See  Gesenius,  in  voce. 

ers.'  8  1  Cqj.  ^^  3^  4_  24,  25. 

2  Haggai  i.  13  ;  Mai.  i.  1  (the  word  '  Bar-waJas  ('  the  son  of  prophesy- 

'  Malachi ') ;  Judg.  ii.  1.  ing ')  is  expressly  translated  v'los  vapa- 

^  Hos.  ix.  7.  KKriaews,   '  the  son  of  exhortation,'  or, 

*  Ezek.  li.  2.  as  in  our  version,  '  consolation,'  Acts 

*  Judg.  vi.  34;    1  Chron.  xii.  18  ;  iv.  36.     Comp.  1  Cor.  xiv.  3. 

2  Chron.  xxiv.  20.  lo  2  Pet.  i.  21.  "  Heb.  i.  1. 

8  Comp.   1   Sam.  ii.  27  ;    ix.  6 ;  1  's  Num.  xxiv.  1 . 

Kings  xii.  22 ;  xiii.  1,2.  is  i  Cor.  ix.  16. 

E  E  2 


420      THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  PROPHETICAL  ORDER,      lect.  xix. 

never  have  been  called  '  prophetic'  The  '  Urim  and  Thum- 
mim '  on  the  High  Priest's  breastplate  might  be  the  medium 
of  a  Divine  Revelation,  but  whatever  intimations  they  con- 
veyed were  not  made  through  the  mind  and  mouth  of  a  man, 
and  were  therefore  not  '  prophecies.'  ^ 

II.  Such  being  the  meaning  of  the  word,  I  proceed  to  give 

a  brief  history  of  the  institution  in  the  Jewish  Church.     The 

life  and  character  of  each  individual  prophet  will  belong  to 

the  period  in  which  he  appeared.     But  a  general  survey  of 

.  ,  all  is  necessary  to  a  just  understanding  of  each. 

Strictly  speaking,  the  name  and  office  of  a  Prophet  was 
not  confined  to  the  Jewish  people.     Not  to  speak  of  the 
origin  of  the  name  as  derived    from   Greek   and   Egyptian 
The  heathenism,  the  Bible  itself  recognises  the  existence  of  '  Pro- 

Prophets,  phets '  outside  the  pale  of  the  true  religion.  The  earliest 
and  greatest  instance  of  a  heathen  prophet  ^  is  Balaam ;  and 
the  form  as  well  as  the  substance  of  his  prophecies  is  cast  in 
the  same  mould  as  that  of  the  Hebrew  prophets  themselves. 
'  The  prophets  of  Baal '  are  also  frequently  mentioned  during 
the  history  of  the  monarchy,  and  '  false  prophets '  ^  are 
described  as  abounding.  S.  Paul  also  recognises  Epimenides 
the  Cretan  as  a  'prophet;'*  perhaps  merely  as  an  equivalent 


•  Two  or  three  other  phrases   in  The  last  trace  of  the  seer  is  in  'Ha- 

connexion     with     the     oflS.ce     must  nani  the  seer'  in  the  reign  of  Asa,  2 

be    briefly    noticed: — 1.    The  word  Chron.  xvi.  7;  the  last  of  the  gazer 

nataph  Pl63  rendered  '  prophesy '  and  in  the  reign  of  Manasseh,  2  Chron. 

'prophet,'  in  Micah  ii.  6,  11,  has  the  xxxiii.  19. 

force  of  dropping,  as  gum  from  a  tree,  ^  So  called  2  Pet.  ii.  16,  and,  by 
and  thus  falls  in  with  the  original  implication.  Num.  xxiv.  2,  4.  In 
signification  of  INabi.  2.  The  ancient  Josh.  xiii.  22,  he  is  called  '  the  sooth- 
word   for   'prophet,'    superseded    by  s&yev' {koscm). 

Nabi  shortly  after  Samuel's  time,  is  ^  The  names  of  some  have  been  pre- 

'Seer'  (Eoch),  1  Sam.  ix ;  1   Chron.  served.    Hananiah  (Jer.  xxviii.  1,  17; 

ix.  22;  xxvi.  28;  xxix.  29.     3.  An-  LXX.),   Zedekiah    (Jer.    xxix.    21), 

other  antique  title  was  'Gazer'  (Ho-  Ahab    {ibid.),    Shemaiah    (ibid.  24), 

zch),  1   Chron.  xxv.  5;  xxi.  9;  xxix.  Zedekiah  (1  Kings  xxii.  11,  24). 

29;  2   Chron.  xxxiii.   19;  Hab.  i.  1  ;  *  Tit.  i.  12. 
Isa.  i.  1 ;  ii.  1 ;    xiii.  1 ;  Amos  i.  1. 


LECT.  XIX.  UNDER   MOSES.  421 

to  '  poet,'  or  votes,  but  probably  in  allusion  to  the  mysterious 
and  religious  character  with  which  Epimenides  was  invested. 
S.  Jude  also  speaks  of  the  apocryphal  book  of  Enoch  as  a 
prophecy.^  These  instances  are  important,  both  as  illustrating 
the  meaning  of  the  word  and  the  nature  of  the  office,  and  also 
showing  the  freedom  with  which  the  Bible  recognises  '  revela- 
tion '  and  '  inspiration '  outside  the  circle  of  the  Chosen 
People.  Still  it  is  within  that  circle,  and  as  a  special 
characteristic  of  the  Jewish  Church  and  nation,  that  the 
office  must  be  considered. 

(1.)  There  is  no  direct  mention  of  a  prophet  before  the  The  rise 
time  of  Moses.  The  name  is  indeed  incidentally  given  to  Prophetic 
Abraham  when  Abimelech  is  warned  to  restore  Sarah,^  '  for  ^^'^®'^- 
'  he  is  a  'prophet,  and  he  shall  pray  for  thee ;.'  and  probably 
the  Psalmist  makes  the  same  allusion  in  the  expression, 
*  Do  my  prophets  no  harm.'  ^  But  Abraham  never  utters 
what  would  be  called  '  prophecies ; '  and  those  promises  and 
predictions  which  are  made  to  him,  or  which  occur  in  the 
earlier  chapters  of  Grenesis,  in  the  primeval  narrative  of  the 
Fall,  though  often  classed  by  modern  divines  as  '  the  first 
prophecies,'  are  never  so  called  in  the  Bible,  which,  as  we 
have  seen,  only  recognises  under  the  name  of  '  prophecies ' 
those  which  are  delivered  through  the  personal  agency  of 
men.  A  nearer  apprjDach  is  in  the  Blessing  of  Jacob.^  This, 
however,  is  never  in  the  Bible  directly  called  a  prophecy, 
nor  is  Jacob  called  a  Prophet. 

But   Moses   receives  the    name    repeatedly,   and  in    one  Under 

IVToSGS. 

famous  passage  ^  is  made  the  type  or  Ukeness  of  the  whole 
order,  even  of  the  Last  and  Greatest  of  all.  The  expo- 
sition of  the  Law  is  what  most  peculiarly  marks  his  position. 
The   poetical   gift    displayed   in    the   three    Songs   of    the 

'  Verse  14.  *  Gen.  xlix. 

'  Gen.  XX.  7.  *  Deut.  xviii.  15-18.     See  Lecture 

'  Ps.  CT.  15.  VIL 


422      THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  PROPHETICAL  ORDER,     lect.  xix. 

Pentateuch  *  and  the  90th  Psalm,  belongs  to  him  '^  in 
common  with  the  Prophets  of  a  later  time.  Such  a  burst 
of  prophecy,  as  is  contained  in  the  acts  and  words  of  Moses, 
of  itself  marks  his  appearance  as  the  first  Prophetical 
epoch  in  the  Jewish  Church,  and,  as  might  be  expected, 
indications  of  its  lesser  manifestations  elsewhere  at  this 
time  are  faintly  discerned.  Aaron  is  described  as  '  a 
prophet'  in  relation  to  Moses  himself.^  Miriam  is  almost 
always  designated  as  '  the  prophetess,'  and  on  one  occasion 
not  only  the  seventy  elders,  but  two  youths  outside  the  sacred 
circle,  are  described  as  catching  the  Divine  afflatus ;  and  the 
great  Prophet,  in  despite  of  the  narrower  spirit  of  the  soldier 
Joshua,  wishes  that  it  should  extend  to  the  whole  people.* 
Under  the  (2.)  With  the  generation  of  Moses  the  gift  seems  for  a 
time  to  have  expired.  Joshua  has  sometimes  been  reckoned 
as  a  Prophet,  and  his  address-  to  the  people  before  his  death 
may,  in  the  Hebrew  sense  of  the  word,  perhaps  be  regarded 
as  a  prophecy.  But  this  is  not  a  usual  view  of  his  position. 
Josephus  thinks  that  he  was  accompanied  by  a  Prophet. 
And  on  one  occasion,  just  before  his  death,  a  *  messenger 
of  the  Lord,'  an  earlier  '  Malachi,'  is  described  as  addressing 
the  people  at  Bochim.'^  Two  more  such  nameless  Prophets 
appear  in  the  days  of  Gideon^  and  of  Eli.  Ehud  apparently 
had  that  character  at  the  court  of  Moab.'  But  these  are 
doubtful  and  isolated  instances.  The  only  detailed  and 
characteristic  prophecy  of  the  time  of  the  Judges,  is 
that  of  '  the  Prophetess '  Deborah.^  The  other  Judges, 
if  Prophets  at  all,  are  Prophets  only  in  action.  They  were 
'  clothed  with  the  Divine  Spirit,'  or  '  struck '  by  it,^  but  only 
to  perform  acts  of  strength,  not  to  utter  words  of  wisdom. 

'  Ex.  XV.  1- 19  ;  Deut.xxxii.,  xxxiii.  ^  Ibid.  -d.  8  ;  1  Sam.  ii.  27. 

2  Lecture  VIII.  '  Ibid.  iii.  20. 

3  Ex.  iv.  16 ;  vii.  1.  »  Ibid.  iv.  4 ;  v.  7. 
*  Num.  xi.  25-29.  »  See  Lecture  XII. 
'  Judg.  ii.  1. 


LECT.  XIX.  UNDEE  SAMUEL.  4ii3 

It  is  at  the  close  of  the  period  of  the  Judges  that  the 

office    of  Prophet  first   becomes    not  merely  an   occasional 

manifestation,  but  a  fixed  institution  in  the  Jewish  Church. 

Samuel  is  the  true  founder  of  the  Order  of  Prophets.  '  Until  Under 

,       -1  r,  Samuel. 

'  Samuel  the  prophet,'  '  !•  rom  Samuel  and  those  that  follow 

'  after,'  *  '  Samuel  and  the  Prophets,'  ^  are  expressions  which 

exactly  agree  with  the  facts  of  the  history.     In  his  time  the 

name  of  '  Prophet '  {Nahi)  first  came  into  use,  in  place  of  the 

ancient  and  less  exalted  title  of  *  Seer  '  ^  {Roeh),  or  *  Grazer  ' 

{Hozeh).     In  his  time  first  appear  the  companies  of  the '  sons 

'  of  the  prophets.'  *    From  his  time  the  succession  continues,  in 

every  generation,  unbroken  down  to  Malachi.    He,  like  Moses, 

appears  not  alone,  but  as  the  centre  of  a  circle  of  Prophets  ; 

bat,    unlike    Moses,    of  a    circle    ^ome    of  whom  were    as 

highly  endowed  with  prophetic  gifts  as  he  himself.      Without 

dwelling  on  the  doubtful  case  of  his  father  Elkanah  and  his 

mother  Hannah,  there  were  certainly  Grad,  Nathan,  David, 

Saul,  and  Heman,  Samuel's  grandson,  amongst  those  who, 

if  they  were  not  actually  educated  by  him,  all  marked  the 

epoch  of  his  appearance.     Amongst  these,  Samuel,  Gad,  and 

Heman,  as  if  still  belonging  in  a  measure  to  the  older  state 

of  things,  are  called  '  Seers,'  whereas  Nathan  and  David  bear, 

without  variation,  the  new  name  of  '  Prophet.'  * 

(3.)  From  the  two  most  remarkable  of  this  age,  Nathan  Under 

and    David,  flowed,  in    all    probability,  the    two    proplietic  Nathan. 

schools,    which    never   entirely   ceased    out   of    the    Jewish 

Church  as  long  as  the  prophetic  gift  lasted  at  all,  but  which 

may  be  noticed  especially   on  this   their    first  appearance. 

David,  in    continental   nations,    is  always  termed  not  'the 

Royal  Psalmist,'    but    'the    Prophet   King,'    and   in    Mus- 

'  Acts  iii.  24  ;  xiii.  20.  28;  xxix.  29,  '  the  seer'  (Boek) ;  Gad, 

2  Heb.  xi.  32.  1    Chron.  xxix.  29 ;  xxi.  9  ;  Heman, 

^  1  Sam.  ix.  9.  1  Chron.  xxv.  5  ;  '  the  gazer'  (Hozeh); 

*  See  Lectui-e  XVIII.  Nathan  'the prophet'  (A^abi),  1  Chron. 

*  Samuel,  1   Chron.  ix.  22 ;   xxn.       xxix.  29. 


424      THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  PROPHETICAL  ORDER,     xect.  xix. 

sulman  traditions  is  especially  known  as  '  the  Prophet  of 
Grod,'  as  Abraham  is  the  '  Friend,'  and  Mahomet  '  the 
Apostle '  of  Grod.  He  gave  to  his  prophetic  utterances  the 
peculiar  charm  of  song  and  music,  which  has  procured  him 
amongst  ourselves  the  name  of  '  the  Psalmist,'  and  to  his 
prophecies  and  those  that  are  formed  on  their  model,  the 
name  of  'Psalms,'  or  'songs.'  Nathan  (who  probably  is 
the  first  '  seer '  that  received  distinctly  the  name  of  '  Pro- 
phet '),  in  one  of  the  only  two  prophecies  directly  ascribed  to 
him,  adopts  the  form  of  an  apologue  or  proverb,  that  of  the 
ewe-lamb ;  and  being  as  he  was  the  main  supporter,  if  not 
instructor,^  of  Solomon,  may  be  considered  as  the  first  example 
of  that  kind  of  moral  instruction  in  which  the  gifts  of 
Solomon,  though  not  expressly  called  prophetic,  found  their 
chief  vent. 
In  the  (4.)  It  was  in  the  disorders  at  the  close  of  Solomon's  reign 

Kingdom,  ^hat  the  Prophetic  Order  assumed  an  importance  in  the  State 
such  as  it  had  never  acquired  before.  Samuel  had  trans- 
ferred the  crown  from  Saul  to  David ;  Nathan  from  Adonijah 
to  Solomon.  But  Ahijah,  in  transferring  it  from  Eehoboam 
to  Jeroboam,  created  not  merely  a  new  dynasty,  but  a  new 
kingdom.  The  northern  kingdom  was,  during  the  first 
period  of  its  existence,  the  kingdom  of  the  Prophets.  The 
Priests  took  refuge  in  Judah.  But  the  Prophets,  for 
the  first  two  centuries  after  the  disruption,  were  almost  en- 
tirely confined  to  Israel.  All  the  seats  of  prophetic  in- 
struction (with  the  possible  exception  of  Eamah)  were 
within  the  kingdom  of  Samaria, — Bethel,  Jericho,  Gilgal, 
Carmel. 

We  hear  of  these  by  fifties,^  and  by  hundreds  at  once,  and 
the  names  of  many  have  come  down  to  us  :  Ahijah  of  Shiloh,' 


'  2  Sam.  xii.  25  (LXX.) ;   1  Kinga  «  1  Kings  xviii.  4;  2  Kings  ii.  3. 

10.  *  1  Kings  xi.  29. 


LECT.  XIX.  UNDER   THE   MONAECHY.  425 

Iddo '  the  seer,' '  Jehu  the  son  of  Hanani,^  Obadiah,^  Micaiah,'' 
Oded/  and,  chiefest  of  all,  Elijah  and  Elisha.  A  few  Pro- 
phets of  the  southern  kingdom  are  mentioned  as  contem- 
porary with  these :  Azariah,^  Hanani  ^  '  the  seer,'  Eliezer.^ 
But  neither  in  numbers  nor  in  influence  can  these  be  com- 
pared with  those  who  had  their  sphere  of  action  in  the  north, 
of  whom  Elijah  stands  forth  as  the  great  representative.  In 
this  arduous  position,  sometimes  at  variance,  sometimes  in 
close  harmony,  with  the  Kings  of  Israel,  they  maintained  the 
true  religion  in  the  northern  tribes,  at  times  when  in  Judah 
it  was  crushed  to  the  ground,  and  when  in  Israel  it  had 
to  struggle  against  severe  persecution  or  sluggish  apathy. 
And  by  their  free  passage  to  and  fro  between  the  rival 
kingdoms,  and  their  endeavours  on  both  sides  to  keep  up  a 
sentiment  of  humanity,^  the  Prophets  of  this  epoch  must  be 
regarded  as  important  instruments  for  upholding  not  only 
the  religious  but  the  national  unity. 

(5.)  This  is  the  great  epoch  of  the  Prophetic  action  as  dis-  In  the 
tinct  from  the  Prophetic  writings  of  the  Jewish  Church.    It  is  of  Judah, 
true  that  during  this  time  the  main  historical  literature  of  ^^  ^^iters. 
the  country  was  formed  under  the  Prophetic  guidance.     We 
have  distinct  notices  of  the  works  in  which  Samuel,  Gad, 
and  Nathan  described  the  life  of  David,'"  and  in  which  Nathan 
and  Iddo  described  the  lives  of  Solomon  and  Jeroboam." 
These  unfortunately  have  all  perished.     Their  historical  as 
well  as  their  poetical  writings,  no  less  than  those  of  the  still 
earlier  period  of   Moses   and  the  Judges,  are  only  handed 
down  in  the  compositions  or  compilations  of  others.     The 

»  2   Cliron.  ix.   29.      Identified  by  *  2  Chron.  xxviii.  9, 

Josephus  and  Jerome  with  the  pro-  °  Ibid.  xv.  1-8. 

phet  of  Judah,  1  Kings  xiii.  1.  '  Ibid.  xvi.  7. 

2  1  Kin2s  xvi.  7.  »  Ibid.  xx.  37. 

'  1  Kings  xviii.  3  ;  and  2  Kings  iv.  '  Ibid,  xxviii.  9.     See  Lecture  XX. 

1,  according  to  Josephus  {Ant.  ix.  4,  '"   1  Chron.  xxix.  29. 

§  2).  n  2  Chron.  ix.  29. 

*  1  Kings  xxii.  8. 


426      THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  PROPHETICAL  ORDER,     lect.  xix. 

writings  of  David  alone  have  been  preserved  in  an  inde- 
pendent and  original  form.  But  about  the  time  of  the 
destruction  of  the  northern  kingdom,  a  new  phase  passed 
over  the  Prophetic  Order.  Probably  in  consequence  of  the 
increasing  cultivation  of  the  people  that  had  set  in  during  the 
reign  of  Solomon,  and  had  gradually  penetrated  all  classes, 
the  Prophets,  or  their  immediate  disciples,  seem  to  have 
committed  to  writing  the  greater  part  of  their  prophecies. 

Of  these  written  prophecies,  the  earliest  is  probably  that  of 
Joel ;  and  in  him  the  man  of  action  is  still  visible  athwart 
the  written  record.  Close  following  upon  him,  are  the  last 
Prophets  of  the  declining  kingdom  of  the  north, — Jonah, 
Hosea,  and  Amos. 

Immediately  succeeding  to  these,  but  now  confined  to  the 
southern  kingdom,  under  Uzziah  and  his  three  successors, 
rises  the  great  school  of  Prophets,  Isaiah,  Micah,  Nahum,  and 
'  Zechariah  ^  who  had  understanding  in  the  visions  of  God.' 
Following  upon  these,  in  fainter  strains,  as  the  external 
dangers  increased,  and  the  internal  strength  of  the  kingdom 
declined,  were  Zephaniah,  probably  Habakkuk,  Obadiah, 
and  the  nameless  *  seer '  or  '  seers '  ^  in  the  reign  of  Manasseh. 
The  series  is  concluded  by  the  most  mournful,  and  in  some 
respects  the  greatest,  of  the  older  Prophets,  Jeremiah,  with 
the  circle  of  inferior  Prophets  round  him,  Huldah  the  Pro- 
phetess,^ Urijah,''  and  Hanan. 
In  the  (6.)  Jeremiah  is  the  last  of  the  Prophetic  Order  who  is 

Captivity,     actively  concerned  in  moving  the  affairs  of  the  State  and 
Church.   In  the  Prophets  jf  the  Captivity,  and  of  the  Eeturn, 


'  2  Cliron.  xxvi.  5.     This  is  pro-  Jeremiah,  and  now  contained  in  the 

bably  the  same  as  Zechariah,  the  son  writings  of  the  later  Zechariah  (Zech. 

of  Jebercchiah  (Isa.  viii.  2),  to  whom  ix.-xiii.). 

have  been  often  ascribed,  with  much  ^  2  Chron.  xxsiii.  19. 

probability,  portions,  if  not  the  whole,  ^  2  Kings  xxii.  14. 

of  the  prophecies  quoted  by  S.  Mat-  ''  Jer.  xxvi.  20 ;  xxxv.  4. 
thew  (xxvii.  9,  10)  under  the  name  of 


JLECT.  XIX.  IN   THE   CAPTIVITY.  427 

the  character  of  authors  goes  far  to  supersede  the  character  of 
their  older  mission.  Their  works  are  for  the  most  part,  as 
those  of  their  predecessors  had  never  been,  arranged  in 
chronological  sequence,  and  their  style  becomes  continuous 
and  fixed.  Amongst  these,  three  names  are  conspicu6us : 
Ezekiel,  who  connects  the  close  of  the  Monarchy  with  the 
commencement  of  the  Captivity ;  the  Evangelical  Prophet,^ 
who  heralds  the  return  from  the  Capti\dty;  and  Daniel,^ 
%Svhatever  be  the  exact  date   or  character  we  assign  to  the 

book  which  bears  his  name.  The  group  following  the  Cap-  And  the 
tivity  consists  of  Haggai,  Zechariah,^  and  the  imknown  *^  ^°' 
'  messenger,'  whom  we  call  Malachi.  These  three,  probably, 
alone  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  stand  in  the  canons 
in  the  order  in  which  they  were  originally  published.  The 
only  other  indications  of  the  prophetic  spirit  in  this 
period  are  amongst  the  Samaritans,  namely,  '  the  prophetess 
Noadiah,'  and  'the  rest  of  the  Prophets.'*  Ezra^  is  once 
called  a  Prophet  in  one  of  the  later  books  to  which  his  name 
is  affixed ;  but  this  is  not  his  usual  designation. 

(7.)  With  Malachi,  accordingly,  the  succession,  which  had 


'  By  this  term  may  be  designated  writer.     In  the  corresponding  passage 

the   author  of  Isa.  xl.-lxvi.,  whether,  in  Matt.  xxiv.  15,  the  Syriac  version 

with  most  continental  scholars,  he  is  omits  the  name  of  the  writer.     But 

regarded  as  a  separate  prophet  from  still,  as  the  word  'prophet'  is  in  that 

the  Isaiah  of  Hezekiah,  or,  with  most  text  associated  with  the  book,  and  as 

English  divines,  he  is  regarded  as  the  Daniel  is  so  reckoned  by  the  Eastern 

older  Isaiah,  transported  into  a  style  world  at  the  present  day,  and  as  the 

and  position  later  than  his  own  time.  book  unquestionably  contains  a  special 

*  The    Jewish    Canon    refuses    to  prophetic  element  of  the  highest  A'alue 

acknowledge  the  prophetic  character  (on  which  I  shall  enlarge  in  my  next 

of  this  Book,  and   places   it  in   the  Lecture),  we  may  so  far  follow  the 

Hagiographa.     The  title,  as  it  stands  received  opinion  of  the  present  day  as 

in  our  own  version,  is  not  the  '  Book  to  rank  him  amongst  the  Prophets,  of 

of  Daniel  the  Prophet,'  but '  the  Book  this  or  of  the  succeeding  period,  ac- 

of  Daniel.'     Ecclesiasticus    (xlix.    9,  cording  to  the  view  taken  of  the  date 

10)  omits,  in  like  manner,  all  mention  of  the  book. 
of  it.      In  the  quotation  from  it   in  *  See  especially  Zech.  i.-viii. 

Mark  xiii.  14,  the  best  MSS.  omit  all  *  Neh.  vi.  14. 

mention  of  the  name  or  office  of  the  *  2  Esdras  i.  1. 


428      THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  PROPHETICAL  ORDER,     lect.  xix. 


Extinction 
of  Pro- 
phecy. 


Revival 
at  the 
Christian" 


The  Bap- 
tist. 


CHRIST. 


continued  unbroken  from  the  time  of  Samuel,  terminates,  and 
a  host  of  legends,  Jewish  and  Mussulman,  commemorate  the 
extinction  of  the  prophetic  gift.  *  We  see  not  our  signs : 
'  there  is  no  more  any  prophet.'  ^  It  is  true  that  the  Books 
of  Baruch,  Wisdom,  and  Ecclesiasticus,  lay  claim,  more  or  less, 
both  to  the  prophetic  form  and  prophetic  character.  Still 
the  impassioned  poetic  flow  of  the  earlier  Prophets  is  greatly 
abated,  and  the  name  is  rarely  used.  The  Eeligion  of  the 
Old  Dispensation  was  fully  revealed  and  constituted ;  no^ 
prophets  were  needed  to  declare  it,  but  '  scribes '  to  expound 
and  defend  it.^ 

It  is  this  long  silence  or  deterioration  of  the  gift  that 
renders  its  resuscitation  more  remarkable.  It  was  '  in  the 
'  days  of  Herod  the  king '  that  the  voice  of  a  .Prophet  was 
once  more  heard.  We  shall  never  understand  the  true 
appearance  of  the  Baptist,  or  of  Him  whose  forerunner  he 
'  was,  nor  the  continuity  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
unless  we  bear  in  mind  that  the  period  of  the  Christian 
era  was  the  culminating  point  of  the  Prophetic  ages  of 
the  Jewish  Church.  '  The  word  of  Grod  came  unto  John 
'  the  son  of  Zechariah,'  as  it  had  come  before  to  Isaiah  the 
son  of  Amoz.  '  The  people  counted  him  as  a  prophet.'  '  He 
*  was  a  prophet,  and  more  than  a  prophet.'  ^  In  appearance, 
in  language,  in  character,  he  was  what  Elijah  had  been  in 
the  reign  of  Ahab.  And  yet  he  was  only  the  messenger  of 
a  Prophet  greater  than  himself.  The  whole  public  ministry 
of  our  Lord  was  that  of  a  Prophet.  He  was  much  more 
than  this.  But  it  was  as  a  Prophet  that  He  acted  and  spoke. 
It  was  this  which  gave  Him  His  hold  on  the  mind  of  the 
nation.     He  entered,  as  it  were  naturally,  on  an  office  vacant. 


>  Ps.  Ixxiv.  9. 

*  This  is  well  brought  out  in  Nicolas' 
Doctrines  licUffieuscs  des  Juifs,  25. 
'  Luke  iii.  2 ;  Matt.  xi.  9 ;  xiv.  5. 


Zacharias  and  Anna  also  indicate  the 
return  of  the  prophetic  gift  (Luke  i. 
67;  ii.  36). 


LECT.  XIX.  IX   THE   APOSTOLIC   AGE.  429 

but  already  existing.     His  discourses  were  all,  in  the  highest 
sense  of  the  word,  '  prophecies.' 

And,  when  He  was  withdrawn  from  the  earth,  He,  like  The 
Moses  and  Samuel,  left  a  circle  of  Prophets  behind  Him,  ^°^  ^' 
through  whom  the  sacred  gift  was  continued  and  diffused. 
It  was  one  of  the  expected  marks  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom 
that  the  prophetic  inspiration  should  become  universal.^ 
This  expectation  S.  Peter  saw  realised  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost ;  and  from  S.  Paul's  allusions  ^  it  is  evident  that 
the  possession  of  tlie  gift  throughout  the  Christian  community 
was  the  rule  and  not  the  exception.  Some  there  were  more 
eminent  than  others,  whose  names,  sayings,  or  writings,  have 
been  preserved  to  us.  Agabus,^  Simeon  Niger,  Lucius, 
Manaen,  Philip's  daughters,  Joseph,'*  who  derived  from  this 
gift  the  name,  by  which  he  was  usually  known,  of  '  Barnabas,' 
Saul,  who  was  called  Paul,  John ;  ^  and  to  these  we  may 
probably  add,  though  not  expressly  bearing  the  name, 
Cephas,  or  Peter,  Jacob  or  James  the  Younger,  Judas  or 
Thaddeus,  and  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews. 
yV^ith  John,  as  far  as  we  know,  the  name  and  the  thing 
ceased.  There  have  been  great  men  to  whom  the  title  has 
been  given  in  later  times.  There  have  been  others  who  have 
claimed  it  for  themselves.  But  in  the  peculiar  Biblical, 
Hebrew  sense  of  the  word,  and  certainly  within  the  circle  of 
the  Jewish  Church,  S.  John  was  the  last  of  the  Prophets. 

III.  This  rapid  sketch  suffices  to  give  a  connected  view  of  The  Insti- 
the  history  of  the  Order.     I  now  proceed  to  describe  some  of    ^  ^°°'' 
its  characteristics  as  an  Institution. 

(1.)  The  first  call,  in  most  instances  of  which  there  are 
records,  seems  to  have  been  through  a  vision  or  apparition, 
resembling  those  which  have  in  Christian  times  produced 

'  Joel  ii.  28,  29.  *  Acts  iv.  36;  xiii.  2,  7. 

2  1  Cor,  xii.,  xiv.  *  Eev.  x.  11 ;  xxii.  7,  9,  10,  18,  19. 

"  Acts  xi.  28  ;  xiii.  1 ;  xxi.  8,  9,  10. 


430      THE  HISTOET  OP  THE  PROPHETICAL  ORDER,      lect.  xix. 


Prophetic 
call 

through 
Visions ; 


celebrated  conversions,  as  of  the  Cross  to  Constantine,  and 
to  Colonel  Grardiner,  and  of  the  voice  to  S,  Augustine.  The 
word  '  Seer,'  by  which  '  the  prophet ' '  was  originally  called, 
implies  that  visions  were  the  original  mode  of  revelation  to 
the  Prophets.  These  visions,  in  the  case  of  the  Prophets  of 
the  Old  Testament,  were  almost  always  presented  in  images 
peculiarly  appropriate  to  the  age  or  the  person  to  whom  they 
appear,  and  almost  always  conveying  some  lofty  conception 
of  the  Divine  nature.  Such  are  the  vision  of  the  Burning 
Bush  to  Moses,  of  the  Throne  in  the  Temple  to  Isaiah,  of 
the  complicated  chariot-wheels  to  Ezekiel,  and  (although  not 
at  the  commencement  of  his  mission)  of  the  still  small  voice 
to  Elijah.  The  highest  form  of  vision  in  the  Old  Testament 
is  that  mentioned  in  the  case  of  Moses,  who  is  described  as 
something  even  above  a  Prophet.  'If  there  be  a  prophet 
*  among  you,  I  the  Lord  will  make  myself  known  unto  him 
'in  a  vision,  and  will  speak  unto  him  in  a  dream.  My 
'  servant  Moses  is  not  so,  who  is  faithful  in  all  mine  house. 
'  With  him  will  I  speak  mouth  to  moutli,  even  visibly,  and 
'  not  in  dark  speeches ;  and  the  similitude  of  the  Lord  shall 
'  he  behold.'  ^ 

To  the  great  Prophets  of  the  New  Testament,  the  purpose 
of  these  Divine  visions  seems  to  have  been  effected  by  the 
intercourse  of  the  Apostles  with  Christ.  '  Have  I  not  seen 
'  Christ  the  Lord  ?  '  ^  is  S.  Paul's  account  of  his  own  qualifi- 
cations, which  would  apply  to  all  of  them. 

These  visions  or  communications  are  described  as  taking 
place  sometimes  through  dreams,  as  in  the  case  of  Samuel, 
Nathan,  Elijah  at  Horeb;  sometimes  through  an  ecstatic 
trance,  as  in  the  case  of  Balaam,  S.  John,  and  S.  Peter ; 
sometimes  both,  as  in  the  case  of  S.  Paul.  But  the  more 
ordinary  mode  through  which  '  the  word  of  the  Lord,'  as  far 
as  we  can  trace,  came,  was  through  a  Divine  impulse  given  to 
'  1  Sam.  ix.  9.  *  Num.  xii.  6-8.  *  1  Cor.  ix.  1. 


LECT.  XIX.  ITS   UNIVERSALITY.  431 

the  Prophet's  own  thoughts.     This  may  be  seen  partly  from  through 
the  absence  of  any  direct  mention  of  an  external  appearance  phet's 
or  voice,  partly  from  the  fact  that  the  message  as  delivered  D^J^^i- 
is  expressed  in  the  peculiar  style  of  the  individual  Prophet 
who    speaks.      This    close    connexion    between   the   Divine 
message  and  the  personal  thoughts  and  affections   of  tlie 
Prophet  is  still  more  apparent  in  the  New  Testament  than  in 
the  Old,  and  reaches  its  highest  point  in  the  utterances  of 
the  Greatest  of  all  the  Prophets,  Christ  Himself.     In  Him, 
the  Divine  is  so  closely  united  with  the  human,  that  the 
passage  from  the  one  to  the  other  is  imperceptible.     He  is 
Himself  '  the    Word.^     In   three    cases    only,  but  then   for 
special  purposes,^  is  there  any  indication  of  a  communication 
external  to  himself.     '  He  speaks  that  which  He  knows,  and 
'  testifies  that  which  He  has  seen.' 

(2.)  In  accordance  with  this  intimate  relation  between  the  Absence  of 
Prophets  and  their  Divine  call,  is  the  fact  that  of  all  the  ^j^q^^^'^'*' 
offices  of  the  Jewish  Church  and  State,  this  alone  appears  to 
be  the  direct  result  of  the  call,  without  any  outward  or 
formal  consecration.  Kings  and  Priests,  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, are  anointed ;  bishops  (or  presbyters)  and  deacons  in 
the  New  Testament,  have  an  imposition  of  hands.  But  there 
is  no  instance  (or  but  one  ^)  of  the  anointing  of  a  Prophet  in 
the  Old  Testament,  or  of  the  consecration,  by  laying  on 
hands,  of  a  Prophet  or  Apostle  in  the  New  Testament.  It 
was  a  '  call,'  corresponding  to  the  call  of  natural  gifts,  or 
inward  movements  of  the  Divine  Spirit  through  the  con- 
science, in  our  own  times. 

(3.)  The  Prophetic  office,  thus  dependent  entirely  on  the  Univer- 
personal  relation  of  the  Prophet  to  his  Divine  Instructor,  ^^^^^y* 
was,  unlike  any  of  the  other  sacred  offices  of  the  ancient 
world,  confined  to  no  one  circle  or  caste  of  men.     Its  uni- 

'  Mat.  iii.  17  ;  xvii.  5  ;  John  xii.  28.        anoint  Elisha.'    But  there  is  no  record 
'''  1    Kings   xix.   16:    'Thou  shalt       that  this  was  done. 


432      THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  PROPHETICAL  ORDER,      lect.  six. 

versality  is  everywhere  part  of  its  essence.  Although  a  few, 
such  as  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel,  and  John  the  Baptist,  were 
priests,  although  Moses  and  Samuel  belonged  to  the  tribe  of 
Levi,  yet  there  was  nothing  sacerdotal  even  in  these ;  in  this 
respect  forming  a  remarkable  contrast  to  the  Egyptian 
'Prophets,'  as  described  by  Clement  of  Alexandria.  Most 
of  them  belonged  to  other  tribes ;  the  Greatest  of  all  was  of 
the  tribe  of  Judah.  They  came  from  every  station  of  life. 
Moses,  Deborah,  and  Samuel,  were  warriors  and  leaders  of 
the  people ;  David  and  Saul  were  kings ;  Amos  was  a  herds- 
man; Elijah  a  Bedouin  wanderer.  Women  as  well  as  men 
were  seized  by  the  gift, — Miriam,  Deborah,  Huldah,  Anna, 
the  four  daughters  of  Philip.  This  universal  diffusion  of  the 
gift  answered  the  double  purpose  of  keeping  the  minds  of 
the  people  alive  to  the  constant  expectation  of  some  new 
Prophet  appearing  in  the  most  secluded  or  unwonted  situa- 
tion ;  ^  and  also  of  maintaining  a  constant  protest  against  the 
rigidity  of  caste  and  ceremonial  iastitution,  into  which  all 
religion,  especially  all  Eastern  religion,  is  likely  to  fall.  In 
a  certain  degree  the  institution  of  the  Christian  clergy  fulfils 
the  same  end,  as  being  open  to  all  comers  from  whatever 
rank.  But  even  here  the  effect  is  less  striking  than  in  the 
case  of  the  Jewish  Prophet ;  partly  because  in  some  branches 
of  Christendom,  as  in  the  Russian  Church,  the  clergy  have 
virtually  become  an  hereditary  caste;  partly  because  in 
raodern  times  they  have  practically  been  drawn  from  one 
stratum  of  society,  and  have  been  animated  by  a  professional 
feeling,  such  as  must  have  been  impossible  in  the  Jewish 
Prophets,  who  included  within  their  number  functions  so 
different  as  those  of  king  and  peasant,  characters  so  different 
as  Saul  and  Isaiah. 

(4.)  But  although  the    office    was   characterised  by  this 
universal  spirit,  the  Prophets  still    constituted  a  separate 

*  See  Lecture  VII. 


LECT.  XIX.  SCHOOLS    OF   THE    PROPHETS.  433 

order  in  the  State,  which,  at  least  during  the  time  of  the 

monarchy,  can  be  reproduced  in  some  detail,  and  compared 

to  like  institutions    elsewhere.     From  Samuel's   time   they 

appear   to    have  been    formed  into    separate  companies,  to 

which  modern  divines  have  p'iven  the  name  of  '  schools  of  Schools  of 

1-111  J    thcPro- 

'  the  prophets.  '     These  companies  are  described  by  a  word  phets. 

signifying  '  chain '  or  '  cord.'  They  were  called  '  sons  of  the 
'  prophets ; '  and  their  chief  for  the  time  being  was  (like  the 
'  abbot '  of  a  monastery)  called  '  father.'  "^  Music  and  song 
were  among  the  instruments  of  their  education.^  They  . 
were  congregated  chiefly  at  Ramah  (during  Samuel's  life), 
and  afterwards  at  Bethel,  Gilgal,  Jericho,  and  finally  Jeru- 
salem. At  Jerusalem  many  of  them  lived  in  chambers 
attached  to  the  court  of  the  Temple.''  They  wore  a  simple 
dress ;  perhaps,  since  Elijah  introduced  it,  a  sheepskin  cloak.^ 
In  Samuel's  time  (according  to  Josephus^)  long  hair  and 
abstinence  from  wine  were  regarded  as  signs  of  a  Prophet. 
They  had  their  food  in  common.^  They  lived  in  huts  made  of 
the  branches  of  trees.®  In  one  such,  probably,  John  lived 
in  the  same  neighbourhood  of  Jericho.  They  were  to  be  found 
in  considerable  numbers — fifty,^  or  even  four  hundred  at  a 
time.'"  Not  to  have  been  brought  up  in  these  schools  was 
deemed  an  exceptional  case."  Some,  like  Isaiah  in  Jeru- 
salem, or  Elisha  in  Samaria,  lived  in  great  towns,  in  houses 
of  their  own.  The  higher  Prophets  had  inferior  Prophets 
or  servants  attendant  upon  them,  whose  duty  it  was  to  pour 

•  The  word  '  schools '  nowhere  oe-  ^  2  Kings  ii.  12. 

curs  in  the  Authorised  Version,  nor  *  1  Sam.  x.  5. 

has  it  any  corresponding  term  in  the  *  Jer.  xxxv.  4. 

original.     '  Sons  of  the  prophets  '   is  *  Zech.  xiii.  4. 

the   nearest  approach  to  a  collective  *  Ant.  t.  10,  §  3. 

name,  as  in  2  Kings  ii.  3  ;  iv.  1,  38,  43.  '  2  Kings  iv.  40. 

The  fullest  account  of  them  is  in  1  *  Dnd.  vi.  1-5. 

Chron.  XXV.    To  these  passages  should  '  Ibid.  ii.  16. 

probably  be  added  Eccles.  xii.  8-11.  '"  1  Kings  xxii.  6. 

There  is  an  ingenious  description  of  "  Amos  vii.  14. 
them  in  Cowley's  Davideis. 

F  F 


434      THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  PROPHETICAL  ORDER,      lect.  xix. 

water  on  their  hands,  and  secure  provisions  for  them.^  Thus 
Moses  had  Joshua  and  others;  Elijah  had  Elisha;  Elisha 
had  Gehazi.  Many  of  them  were  married,  and  had  families ; 
for  example,  Moses,  Miriam,  Deborah,  Samuel,  David, 
Nathan,  Ahijah,  Hosea,  Isaiah,  Ezekiel.  The  wife  was 
sometimes,  as  in  the  case  of  the  wife  of  Isaiah,  called  '  the 
Prophetess.'  ^  This  continued  to  the  prophetical  office  in 
the  New  Testament,  when  all  the  greater  Prophets  claimed, 
and  most  of  them  enj  oyed,  the  privilege  of  married  life ; 
Zacharias,  Anna,  and  all  of  the  Apostles,  it  is  said,  except 
Paul  and  John.^  To  this  manner  of  life  several  parallels 
suggest  themselves  in  later  times.  The  rule  of  inmates  of 
colleges  and  of  monasteries  in  some  points  resembles,  and 
has  perhaps  imitated,  the  outward  forms  of  the  prophetic 
schools.  But  the  Christian  and  Western  notions  of  celi- 
bacy have  made  a  material  difference ;  and,  on  the  whole, 
the  nearest  approach  is  that  of  dervishes  in  the  East ;  in 
their  wandering  life,  in  their  symbolical  actions,  in  their 
scanty  dress,  in  their  succession  of  disciples,  and  their 
collegiate  institutions."* 
Manner  of  (5.)  Their  manner  of  teaching  varied  with  the  age  in 
which  they  lived.  The  expression  of  thoughts  in  the  form 
of  poetry  seems  to  have  been  part  of  the  conception  of  the 
prophetic  office  from  the  very  first.  It  is  involved,  as  we 
have  seen,  in  the  sense  of  the  Hebrew  word  Nabi.  It  appears 
first  in  the  songs  of  Moses  and  Miriam.^  It  is  also  implied 
by  the  mention  of  the  musical  instruments  in  the  schools  of 
Samuel  and  of  Asaph.^  It  is  illustrated  by  the  incident 
in  the  life  of  Elisha,  who,  though  he  has  left  no  poetical 
writings,  yet  required  a  minstrel  and  harp  "^  to  call  forth  his 

>  2  Kings  iii.  11 ;  v.  22.  ^  Ex.  xv.  1,  20,  21 ;  Deut.  xxxii., 

*  Isa.  viii.  3.  xxxiii. ;  Ps.  xe. 
^  See  Notes  on  I  Cor.  ix.  5.  *  1  Sam.  x.  5 ;  I  Chron.  xxv.  1. 

*  See  Dr.  Wolff's  Travels,  ch.  xvii.,  '  2  Kings  iii.  15. 
xviii.,  xxxiv. 


teaching. 


LECT.  XIX.  MANNER   OF   TEACHING.  435 

powers.  It  is  forcibly  exemplified  by  tbe  grand  burst  of 
sacred  poetry  and  music  in  David ;  and  from  that  time  most 
of  the  Prophets,  whose  writings  have  come  down  to  us, 
wrote  in  verse.  The  historical  chapters  in  Isaiah  and 
Jeremiah  are  however  in  prose ;  and  it  is  therefore  probable 
that  this  was  also  the  case  with  the  lost  works,  on  which  the 
sacred  history  of  the  Jewish  Monarchy  is  founded ;  such  as 
the  biographies  of  David  by  Samuel,  Grad,  and  Nathan ;  of 
Solomon  by  Nathan,  and  Ahijah,  and  Iddo;  of  Eehoboam, 
by  Iddo  and  Shemaiah ;  of  Jehoshaphat,  by  Jehu.'  It  is, 
perhaps,  from  the  connexion  between  these  lost  writings  and 
the  present  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings,  that  those  books  are 
in  the  Jewish  Canon  reckoned  amongst  the  '  Books  of  the 
Prophets.'  But  these  were  the  exceptions.  The  general 
style  of  the  Jewish  Prophets  was  poetical,  and  it  is  this  which 
made  the  divines  of  the  last  century  speak  of  the  Prophets 
as  the  Poets  of  the  Jewish  nation.  If  we  no  longer  dare 
to  use  the  name,  on  account  of  the  offence  created  by  it, 
at  least  the  fact  is  a  sanction  to  us  that  poetry  was  regarded 
as  a  prophetic  gift,  and  as  the  fittest  vehicle  of  Divine 
Eevelation,  and  that  a  book  is  not  the  less  divine,  or  the 
less  canonical,  or  the  less  true,  because  it  is  poetical.  Even 
in  the  New  Testament,  there  are,  in  the  more  directly  pro- 
phetical parts,  many  lingering  traces  of  the  ancient  poetic 
style.  The  Hebrew  parallelism  may  be  discovered  in  several 
of  the  Gospel  discourses.  Some  of  the  parables,  particularly 
of  the  Prodigal  Son,  and  the  Eich  Man  and  Lazarus,  are 
almost  poems.  The  Epistles  have  their  first  model  in  the 
prophetic  epistles  of  Elijah,  Jeremiah,  and  Baruch;  and 
though  they  are  mostly  in  prose,  yet  there  are  portions  of 
which  the  highly  rhythmical  character  ^  flows  entirely  in  the 

'  1  Chron.  xxis.  29  ;  2  Chron.  ix.        1-8,    xv.  35-58 ;    2   Cor.   vi.    3-10 ; 
29  ;  xii.  15  ;  xx.  34 ;  xiii.  22.  James  v.  1-6. 

2  Rom.  viii.    29-39;    1   Cor.  xiii. 

F  F  2 


436      THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  PROPHETICAL  ORDER,      lect.  xix. 


Parables, 


Written 
down. 


ancient  mould.  The  Apocalypse  is  also  thoroughly  poetical 
in  structure,  as  well  as  in  spirit. 

The  styles  which  this  poetry  assumes  are  various.  It  is 
sometimes  lyrical,  sometimes  simply  didactic,  at  other  times 
dramatic.  The  form  which  is  selected  by  the  Grreat  Prophet 
of  Nazareth  is  that  of  parable  or  apologue.  Of  this  only  a 
very  few  instances  occur  in  the  writings  of  the  earlier  Pro- 
phets, as  of  Nathan  on  the  ewe-lamb,^  and  Isaiah  on  the 
vine.^  But,  in  an  acted  or  symbolical  shape,  this  kind  of 
teaching  is  of  constant  recurrence.  The  rending  of  the 
cloak  of  Samuel  and  of  Ahijah,  the  concealment  of  the  girdle 
of  Jeremiah,  Hananiah's  breaking  the  yoke,  are  obvious 
instances ;  to  which  in  later  times  we  may  add  the  taking  of 
Paul's  girdle  by  Agabus,  and  many  of  the  miracles  of  our 
Lord,  which,  as  has  been  well  pointed  out,  have  almost  all 
of  them  a  didactic  purport.^  There  are  some  of  these  acted 
parables  which  enter  so  deeply  into  the  life  of  the  Prophet 
himself,  as  to  show  that  he  was  himself  entirely  identified 
with  his  mission.  Such  are  the  marriage  of  Hosea  with  the 
adulteress,  Isaiah's  walking  naked  and  barefoot  for  three 
years,  the  names  of  Isaiah's  children,  and  the  death  of 
Ezekiel's  wife,  with  its  effect  on  himself. 

All  the  earlier  prophecies  were,  in  the  first  instance, 
delivered  orally.  But,  like  the  effusions  of  Mahomet,  they 
were  no  doubt  written  down  soon  afterwards  by  disciples 
— such  as,  in  the  case  of  Jeremiah,  was  Baruch.  In  some 
instances,  as  in  that  of  Ezekiel,  and  in  isolated  examples  in 
the  life  of  Isaiah,"*  they  were  written  down  by  the  Prophet 
himself.  The  historical  works  above  alluded  to  were  also 
probably  actually  written  by  the  authors  themselves.  Moses 
is  said  to  have  written  the  Decalogue  ^  in  its  second  form. 


'  2  Sam.  xii.  1. 

^  Isa.  V.  1. 

*  Dean  Trench  on  the  Miracles. 


*  Isa.  Tiii.  1. 

*  Ex.  xxxiT.  28. 


LECT.  XIX.       COMMUNITY   OF   PEOPHETIC   WRITINGS.  437 

and  the  register  of  the  Israelite  wanderings.^  In  the  New 
Testament,  the  utterances  of  Christ,  who  in  this  respect 
conformed  Himself  to  the  greatest  type  of  the  ancient 
Prophets,  were  never  written  by  Himself.  The  only  excep- 
tions (and  these  are  more  than  doubtful)  were  that  unknown 
'  writing  on  the  ground,'  ^  and  the  traditional  letter  to 
Abgarus.^  The  utterances  of  the  Apostles  were  for  the 
most  part  taken  down  by  scribes,  such  as  Tertius,  Silvanus, 
Tychicus,  who  thus  corresponded  to  Baruch  or  Gehazi.  The 
only  certain  cases  in  the  New  Testament  where  the  Prophets 
were  themselves  '  the  sacred  penmen '  (to  employ  a  modern 
expression  commonly  but  very  inexactly  used)  are  the  Epistle 
to  the  Galatians,*  and  the  Epistles  of  S.  John.^  Most  of 
their  utterances,  like  those  of  their  Master,  were  delivered 
on  public  occasions  in  synagogues,  or  in  assemblies  of  Chris- 
tians, as  those  of  the  older  Prophets  had  been  in  the  Temple 
courts  or  on  the  mountains  of  Judsea  and  Samaria.  A 
peculiar  name,  by  our  translators  rendered  burden,  is  given 
to  the  Divine  messages  delivered  by  the  Prophets  on  these 
special  occasions.  It  appears  that  in  the  time  of  Jeremiah  ^ 
this  phrase  had  been  so  much  abused  by  the  Prophets  as  to 
have  lost  its  meaning,  and  Jeremiah  therefore  refuses  to 
employ  it ;  a  striking  instance  of  the  duty  of  discarding  even 
a  sacred  formula  when  it  has  been  perverted  or  exhausted. 

(6.)  Different  as  were  the  forms  of  the  Prophetic  Teaching,  Commu- 
there  was  also  an  identity  in  them  which  largely  contributes  prophetie 
to  the  general  unity  of  the  Prophetic  Order,  and  of  the  Bible  Writings. 
itself.     It  is  evident  that  each  one  looked  upon  his  prede- 
cessor's teaching  as,  in  a  manner,  common  property,  on  which 
he  modelled  his  own,  and  from  which  he  adapted  and  imitated 
without  reserve.     It  is  difficult  to  say  in  these  cases  whether 

'  Num.  xxxiii.  2.  *  Gal.  vi.  11. 

2  John  viii.  6.  *  3  John  13. 

3  Eus.  H.  E.  i.  13.  *  Jer.  xxiii.  30-40. 


438      THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  PROPHETICAL  ORDER,     lect.  xix. 

the  imitation  is  direct,  or  whether  each  of  the  similar  passages 
was  taken  from  a  common  source.  On  either  hypothesis, 
however,  the  result  is  the  same  as  to  the  community  of  the 
prophetic  literature.  Thus  Amos  ^  refers  back  to  Joel, 
Hosea^  to  some  unknown  prophet,  Isaiah^  to  Micah,  Oba- 
diah  and  Jonah  to  each  other  or  to  some  unknown  prophet."* 
In  the  New  Testament  the  same  practice  still  to  a  certain 
extent  continued.  The  Second  Epistle  of  S.  Peter  and 
S.  Jude  ^  either  borrow  from  each  other,  or  from  a  common 
source.  This  usage  illustrates,  and  in  some  degree  ex- 
plains, the  corresponding  phenomenon  of  the  first  three 
Gospels.  The  best  key  to  the  difficulties  of  the  Apocalypse 
is  to  be  found  by  tracking  back  to  their  sources  the  numerous 
images  and  passages  which  it  has  taken  from  the  older  Pro- 
phets. And  the  principle  finds  its  highest  exemplification 
and  sanction  in  the  appropriation  of  the  existing  traditions  of 
the  Eabbinical  schools,  as  well  as  the  texture  of  the  ancient 
Prophetic  writings,  by  Christ  Himself. 

These  are  some  of  the  most  striking  characteristics  of  the 
outward  appearance  of  this  vast  institution.  Even  in  the  dry 
enumeration  of  facts  which  I  have  just  made,  it  is  impossible 
not  to  see  its  importance  to  the  fortunes  of  the  Jewish 
Church,  and  thence  to  the  world  at  large. 
Impor-  The  very  name  is  expressive  of  its  great  design.     If  the 

tf^'offi  derivation  of  the  word,  as  given  above  from  Gresenius,  be 
correct  —  the  '  boiling  or  bubbling  over '  of  the  Divine 
Fountain  of  Inspiration  within  the  soul — we  can  hardly 
imagine  a  phrase  more  expressive  of  the  truth  which  it 
conveys.  It  is  a  word  which,  like  many  others  in  the  Bible,  is 
a  host  of  imagery  and  doctrine  in  itself.     In  the  most  signal 

'  Amos  i.  2  ;  Joel  iii.  16.  xv.  1-4  ;  xxiv.  17,  18;  Num.  xxi.  28  ; 

*  Hosea  vii.  12  ;  viii.  14.  xxiv.  17. 

»  Isa.  ii.  2,  4 ;  Micah  iv.  1-4.  *  2  Pet.  ii.  1-22 ;  Jude  4-16. 

*  Comp.  also  Jer.  xlviii.  1,  2  ;  Isa. 


tECT.  XIX.  ITS   IMPORTAIfCE.  439 

instances  of  the  sites  chosen  for  the  Grecian  oracles,  we  find 
that  they  were  marked  by  the  rushing  forth  of  a  living  spring 
from  the  recesses  of  the  native  rocks  of  Greece,  the  Castalian 
spring  at  Delphi,  the  rushing  stream  of  the  Hercyna  at 
Lebedea.  It  was  felt  that  nothing  could  so  well  symboUse 
the  Divine  voice  speaking  from  the  mysterious  abysses  of  the 
unseen  world,  as  those  inarticulate  but  lively  ebullitions  of 
the  life-giving  element  from  its  unknown  mysterious  sources. 
Such  a  figure  was  even  more  significant  in  the  remoter  East. 
The  prophetic  utterances  were  indeed  the  bubbUng,  teeming 
springs  of  life  in  those  hard  primitive  rocks,  in  those  dry 
parched  levels.  '  My  heart,'  to  use  the  phrase  of  the  Psalmist 
in  the  original  language,^  '  is  bursting,  bubbling  over  with 
'  a  good  matter.'  That  is  the  very  image  which  would  be 
drawn  from  the  abundant  crystal  fountains  which  all  along 
the  valley  of  the  Jordan  pour  forth  their  full-grown  streams, 
scattering  fertility  and  verdure  as  they  flow  over  the  rough 
ground.  And  this  is  the  exact  likeness  of  the  springs  of 
Prophetic  wisdom  and  foresight,  containing  in  themselves 
and  their  accomplishments  the  fulness  of  the  stream  which 
was  to  roll  on  and  fertilise  the  ages.  Even  in  the  other 
great  class  of  languages — the  Indo-Grermanic — the  same 
figure  appears,  and  may  fairly  be  taken  to  illustrate  the 
Eastern  metaphor.  Ghost  —  Geist  —  the  moving,  inspiring 
spirit,^ — is  the  same  as  the  heaving,  fermenting  yeast,  the 
boiling,  steaming  geyser.  The  Prophetic  gift  was  to  the 
Jewish  Church  exactly  what  these  combined  metaphors 
imply ;  the  fennenti7ig,  the  living  element,  which  made  the 
dead  mass  move  and  heave,  and  cast  out  far  and  wide  a  life 
beyond  itself. 

The  existence  of  such  an  institution  in  the  midst  of  an 
Eastern  nation,  even  if  we  knew  nothing  of  its  teaching,  must 

•  Ps.  xlv.  1.  Professor    Miiller   (Lectures    on   the 

^  See    this   well  brought   out    by       Sciaice  of  Langzcage,  2Qd  ed. -p.  386). 


440      THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  PROPHETICAL  ORDER,     lect.  xix. 

be  regarded  as  a  rare  guarantee  for  liberty,  for  progress,  for 
protection  against  many  a  falsehood.  Even  of  the  modern 
Dervishes,  with  all  their  drawbacks,  it  has  been  said,  that 
'  without  them  no  man  would  be  safe.  They  are  the  chief 
'  people  in  the  East,  who  keep  in  the  recollection  of  Oriental 
'  despots  that  there  are  ties  between  heaven  and  earth.  They 
'restrain  the  tyrant  in  his  oppression  of  his  subjects;  they 
'are  consulted  by  courts  and  by  the  councillors  of  state  in 
'  times  of  emergency  ;  they  are,  in  fact,  the  great  benefactors 
'  of  the  human  race  in  the  East.'  ^ 

Such,  in  relation  to  the  mere  brute  power  of  the  kings 
of  Judah  and  Israel,  were  the  Jewish  Prophets, — constant, 
vigilant  watch-dogs  "-^  on  every  kind  of  abuse  and  crime,  even 
in  the  highest  ranks,  by  virtue  of  that  universal,  and  at  the 
same  time  elevated  position,  which  I  have  described.  But 
they  were  much  more  than  this.  A  great  philosophical 
writer  of  our  own  time,  Mr.  John  Stuart  Mill,^  has  thus  set 
forth  the  position  of  the  Hebrew  Prophets  : — 

'  The  Egyptian  hierarchy,  the  paternal  despotism  of  China, 
'  were  very  fit  instruments  for  carrying  those  nations  up  to 

*  the  point  of  civilisation  which  they  attained.  But  having 
'  reached  that  point,  they  were  brought  to  a  permanent  halt, 
'  for  want  of  mental  liberty  and  individuality, — requisites  of 
'  improvement  which  the  institutions  that  had  carried  them 

*  thus  far  entirely  incapacitated  them  from  acquiring ;  and 
'  as  the  institutions  did  not  break  down  and  give  place  to 
'  others,  further  improvement  stopped.  In  contrast  with 
'these  nations,  let  us  consider  the  example  of  an  opposite 
'  character,  afforded  by  another  and  a  comparatively  in- 
'  significant  Oriental  people — the  Jews.  They,  too,  had 
'an  absolute  monarchy  and  a  hierarchy.  These  did  for 
'them    what   was  done    for    other    Oriental  races  by    their 

>  Dr.  Wolff's  Travels.     *  Isa.  Ivi.  10.     '  Representative  Government,  41,  42. 


tECT.  XIX.  ITS   IMPOETANCE.  441 

'  institutions — subdued  them  to  industry  and  order,  and  gave 
'them    a  national  life.     But  neither  their  kings  nor  their 

*  priests  ever  obtained,  as  in  those  other  countries,  the  ex- 
'  elusive  moulding  of  their  character.     Their  religion  gave 

*  existence  to  an  inestimably  precious  unorganised  institution, 
'  the  Order  (if  it  may  be  so  termed)  of  Prophets.  Under 
'  the  protection,  generall}'-  though  not  always  effectual,  of 
'their  sacred  character,  the  Prophets  were  a  power  in  the 
'  nation,  often  more  than  a  match  for  kings  and  priests,  and 
'  kept  up,  in  that  little  corner  of  the  earth,  the  antagonism 
'  of  influences  which  is  the  only  real  security  for  continued 
'progress.  Keligion  consequently  was  not  there — what  it 
'has  been  in  so  many  other  places — a  consecration  of  all 
'that  was  once  established,  and  a  barrier  against  further 
'  improvement.  The  remark  of  a  distinguished  Hebrew,  that 
'  the  Prophets  were  in  Church  and  State  the  equivalent  of  the 
'  modern  liberty  of  the  press,  gives  a  just  but  not  an  adequate 
'  conception  of  the  part  fulfilled  in  national  and  universal 
'  history  by  this  great  element  of  Jewish  life ;  by  means  of 
'  which,  the  canon  of  inspiration  never  being  complete,  the 
'  persons  most  eminent  in  genius  and  moral  feeling  could 
'  not  only  denounce  and  reprobate,  with  the  direct  authority 

*  of  the  Almighty,  whatever  appeared  to  them  deserving  of 
'  such  treatment,  but  could  give  forth  better  and  higher 
'  interpretations  of  the  national  religion,  which  thenceforth 
'became  part  of  the  religion.  Accordingly,  whoever  can 
'  divest  himself  of  the  habit  of  reading  the  Bible  as  if  it  was 
'one    book,  which    until   lately  was    equally  inveterate   in 

*  Christians  and  in  unbelievers,  sees  with  admiration  the  vast 
'interval  between  the  morality  and  religion  of  the  Penta- 
'teuch,  or  even  of  the  historical  books,  and  the  morality 
'and  religion  of  the  Prophecies,  a  distance  as  wide  as 
'between  these  last  and  the  Gospels.  Conditions  more 
'  favourable  to  progress  could  not  easily  exist ;  accordingly, 


442      THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  PROPHETICAL  ORDER,     lect.  xix. 

'  the  Jews,  instead  of  being  stationary,  like  other  Asiatics, 
*were,  next  to  the  Grreeks,  the  most  progressive  people  of 

*  antiquity,  and,  jointly  with  them,  have  been  the  starting- 

*  point  and  main  propelling  agency  of  modern  cultivation.' 

In  what  way  tliis  grand  result  was  produced,  not  merely 
by  their  office,  but  by  their  teaching,  and  in  what  that  teaching- 
consisted, — how  it  is  that  this  prophetic  element,  pervading 
as  it  does  the  whole  literature  of  the  Hebrew  nation,  that  is, 
the  whole  Bible,  renders  it  the  storehouse  of  instruction  to 
the  clergy  and  the  teachers  of  all  ages,  and  at  the  same  time 
the  one  inestimable  Book,  dear  to  all  true  lovers  of  human 
progress  and  religious  freedom,  to  be  studied,  understood, 
and  reverenced,  through  good  report  and  evil, — will  be  the 
subject  of  the  concluding  discourse. 


443 


NOTE  TO   LECTUEE  XIX. 

In  the  foregoing  Lecture  the  Biblical  enumeration  of  the  Prophets 
alone  has  been  alluded  to.  But  it  may  be  well  to  add  briefly 
the  enumerations  in  the  Jewish,  Mussulman,  and  Early  Christian 
traditions. 

I.  In  the  Jewish  Canon  the  Prophetical  Books  are  thus  given  :  — 

1.  Joshua.  2.  Judges.  3.  The  Books  of  Samuel.  4.  The  Books 
of  Kings.  5.  The  three  Greater  Prophets  (not  Daniel,  or  Lamenta- 
tions).    6.  The  twelve  minor  Prophets. 

In  the  Eabbinical  traditions, ^  there  are  reckoned  48  Prophets  and 
7  Prophetesses. 

The  48  Prophets  : — '  1.  Abraham.  2.  Isaac?  3.  Jacob.  4.  Moses. 
5.  Aaron.  6.  Joshua.  7.  Phinehas.  8.  Elkanah.  9.  Eli.  10.  Samuel. 
11.  Gad.  12.  Nathan.  13.  David.  14.  Solomon.  15.  Iddo. 
16.  Micaiah.  17.  Obadiah.  18.  Ahijah.  19.  Jehu.  20.  Azariah. 
21.  Jahaziel  (2  Chr.  xx.  14).  22.  Eleazar.  All  these  were  in  the 
days  of  Jehoshaphat.  And  in  the  days  of  Jeroboam,  son  of  Joash, 
23.  Hosea.  24.  Amos.  In  the  days  of  Jotham,  25.  Micah.  In  the 
days  of  Amaziah,  26.  jItoo^  (Isaiah's  father).  27.  Elijah.  28.  Elisha. 
29.  Jonah.  30.  Isaiah.  In  the  days  of  Manasseh,  31.  Joel. 
32.  Nahum.  33.  Habakkuk.  In  the  days  of  Josiah,  34.  Zephaniah. 
35.  Jeremiah.  In  the  Captivity,  36.  Uriah.  37.Ezekiel.  38.  Daniel. 
In  the  second  year  of  Darius,  39.  Baruch.  40.  Neriah.  41.  Seraiah. 
42.  Maaseiah  (Jer.  li.  59).  43.  Haggai.  44.  Zechariah.  45.  Malachi. 
46.  Mordecai.  In  this  list,  by  some  Shemaiah  (2  Chr.  xi.  2, 
xii.  15)  is  substituted  for  Daniel,  and  some  add,  47.  Hanameel, 
and  48.  Shallum  (Jer. -xs^i.  7).     The  7  Prophetesses  : — 1.  Sarah. 

2.  Miriam.  3.  Deborah.  4.  Hannah.  5.  Abigail.  6.  Huldah. 
7.  Esther.' 

•  Given,  from  the  Seder  Olam,  by  *  Those  names   which   vary  from 

Fabricius,  Codex  Pseude^pigraphus  the  Biblical  enumeration  are  in 
V.  T.  896-901.  italics. 


444      THE   HISTORY  OF  THE  PROPHETICAL  ORDER,     lect.  xix. 

II.  The  Mussulman  authorities '  reckon  from  Adam  to  Mohammed 
124,000  Prophets,  of  whom  40,000  were  Gentiles,  and  40,000 
Israelites;  of  these,  however,  only  314  or  315  possess  super- 
natural illumination  or  '  apostleship.'  Of  these  again  25  are 
specially  distinguished : — Adam,  Seth,  Idris  (Enoch),  'Noah,  Saleh 
(father  of  Heber),  Abraham,  Ishmael,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Lot,  JosejjJi,  Job, 
Moses,  Aaro7i,  Khudr  (the  mysterious  Immortal  2),  Shuaib  ( Jethro), 
Jonah,  David,  Solomon,  I^ohnan  (contemporary  of  David,  author  of 
the  Fables),  Elijah,  Daniel,  Zachariah  (father  of  the  Baptist),  Dsiil 
Kefr  (Ezekiel),  Jahia  Ben  Zachariah  (the  Baptist),  IsA  (Jesus), 
Mohammed.  The  6  pre-eminent  names  are  of  those  Prophets  who 
proclaimed  a  new  Revelation.'  Four  of  those  who  united  the  office 
of  Prophet  and  Apostle  were  Greeks, — Adam,  Seth,  Enoch,  Noah  ; 
4  Arabians, — Hud,  Shuaib,  Saleh,  and  Mohammed.* 
III.  The  Ecclesiastical  enumeration  : — 

1.  Clement  of  Alexandria  {Strom,  i.  21)  ; — Adam  (from  his  giving 
names  to  the  animals  and  to  Eve),  Noah  (as  preaching  repentance), 
Moses,  Aaron,  Samuel,  Gad,  Nathan,  Abijah,  Shemaiah,  Jehu, 
Elijah,  Michaiah,  Obadiah,  Elisha,  Abdadonai  (?),  Amos,  Isaiah, 
Jonah,  Joel,  Jeremiah,  Zephaniah,  Ezekiel,  Uriah,  Habakkuk, 
Nahum,  Daniel,  Misael,  the  Angel  or  Messenger  (Malachi). 

2.  Epiphanius:  — 1.  Adam.  2.  Enoch.  3.  Noah.  4.  Abraham. 
5.  Isaac.  6.  Jacob.  7.  Moses.  8.  Aaron.  9.  Joshua.  10.  Eldad. 
11.  Medad.  12.  Job.  13.  Samuel.  14.  Nathan.  15.  David. 
16.  Gad.  17.  Jeduthun.  18.  Asaph.  19.  Heman.  20.  Ethan. 
21.  Solomon.  22.  Ahijah.  23.  Shemaiah.  24.  The  Man  of  God, 
Hoseth.  25.  Eli  of  Shiloh.  26.  Joab.  27.  Addo  (Iddo). 
28.  Azariah.  29.  Hanani.  30.  Jehu.  31.  Micaiah.  32.  Elijah. 
33.  Oziel(l).  M.  Eliud.  35.  Joshua  (Jehu?),  the  son  of  Hananiah. 
36.  Elisha.  37.  Jonadab.  38.  Zachariah  or  Azariah.  39.  Another 
Zachariah.  40.  Hosea.  41.  Joel.  42.  Amos.  43.  Obadiah. 
44.  Jonah.  45.  Isaiah.  46.  Micah.  47.  Nahum.  48.  Habak- 
kuk. 49.  Obed.  50.  Abdadoni  51.  Jeremiah.  52.  Baruch. 
53.  Zephaniah.    54.  Urijah.    55.  Ezekiel.    56.  Daniel.    57.  Ezra. 

»  Jelaladdin,  281.  ^  See  Lecture  VIII. 

3  ZdUchrift  der  Morgenldndischen  Gesellschaft,  vol.  iv.  14,  22. 
«  Jelaladdin,  280. 


LECT.  XIX.  NOTE.  445 

58.  Haggai.  59.  Zachariah.  60.  Malachi.  61.  Zachariah  (father 
of  the  Baptist).  62.  Symeon.  63.  John  the  Baptist.  Lesser 
Prophets : — 64.  Enos.  65.  Methuselah.  66.  Lamech.  67.  Balaam. 
68.  Sail].  69.  Abimelech  or  Ahimelech.  70.  Amasai  (1  Chr.  xii. 
18).     71.  Zadok.     72.  Old  Prophet  of  Bethel.     73.  Agabus. 

Prophetesses  : — 1.  Sara.  2.  Bebekah.  3.  Miriam.  4.  Deborah. 
5.  Huldah.  6.  Hannah.  7.  Judith.  8.  Elizabeth  (mother  of 
John).     9.  Anna.     10.  Mary. 

In  conventional  pictures  in  Eastern  churches,  Joshua,  Gideon, 
Baruch,  David,  and  Solomon  are  usually  styled  Prophets. 


446 


LECTUEE   XX. 

ON    THE    NATURE    OF     THE    PROPHETICAL 
TEACHING. 

In  the  well-known   description   of  the  Revelations  of  the 

Old  Testament  by  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,^ 

the  essence  of  these  Eevelations  is  summed  up  in  the  words, 

Impor-        '  God  spake  hy  the  Prophets.^     He  had  in  the  words  im- 

the  Pro-      mediately  preceding  spoken  of  the  various  and  multiform 

phetical       gradations  of  Revelation,  and  he  fixes  our  attention  on  the 

Inspira-        °  ^ 

tion.  special  instructors   or   revealers   of  the   Divine   Will,    who 

stood  on  the  highest  step  of  these  gradations.  These  are, 
in  one  word,  not  the  historians,  geographers,  ritualists, 
poets,  of  the  Jewish  Church,  valuable  as  each  may  be  in 
their  several  ways,  but  '  the  Prophets.'  And  again,  although 
it  is  well  known  that  the  only  full  sense  of  the  word  '  Inspi- 
ration '  is  that  in  which  alone  it  is  used  by  the  Church  of 
England,^  and  the  ancient  Church  generally,  namely,  for  the 
influence  of  the  Divine  Spirit  on  the  universal  mind  of  the 
whole  Church,  and  in  the  good  feelings  and  thoughts  of  the 
human  heart  and  intellect,  yet  there  is  a  deep  truth  in  the 
clause  of  the  Nicene  Creed,  which  says,  '  The  Holy  Ghost 
spake '  (not  by  bishops  or  presbyters,  or  General  Councils,  or 
General  Assemblies,  or  even  saints,  but)  '  by  the  Prophets.'' 
This  limitation  or  concentration  of  the  Divine  Inspiration 

'  Heb.  i.  1.  Church  Militant.     The  Veni  Creator 

^  The  Collect  before  the  Communion  Spiritus.   The  13th  Article.  These  are 

Service.     The  Collect  for  the  oth  Sun-  the  only  passages  in  the  Anglican  for- 

day  after  Easter.     The  Prayer  for  the  mnlaries  in  which  the  word  occurs. 


LECT.  XX.  ITS   IMPORTANCE.  447 

to  the  Prophetic  spirit  is  in  exact  accordance  with  the  facts 
of  the  case.  The  Prophets  being,  as  their  name  both  in 
Greek  and  Hebrew  implies,  the  most  immediate  organs  of 
the  Will  of  Grod,  it  is  in  their  utterances,  if  anywhere,  that 
we  must  expect  to  find  the  most  direct  expression  of  that 
Will.  However  high  the  sanction  given  to  King  or  Priest, 
in  the  Old  Dispensation,  they  were  always  to  bow  before  the 
authority  of  the  Prophet.  The  Prophetic  teaching  is,  as  it 
were,  the  essence  of  the  Eevelation,  sifted  from  its  accidental 
accompaniments.  It  pervades,  and,  by  pervading,  gives  its 
own  vitality  to  those  portions  of  the  Sacred  Volume  which 
cannot  strictly  be  called  Prophetical.  Josephus  ^  speaks  of 
the  succession  of  the  Prophets,  as  constituting  the  main 
framework  and  staple  of  the  sacred  canon  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. What  has  been  beautifully  said  of  the  Psalms  as 
compared  with  the  Levitical  and  sacrificial  system  is  still 
more  true  of  the  Prophets.  *  As  we  watch  the  weaving  of 
'the  web,  we  endeavour  to  trace  through  it  the  more 
'  conspicuous  threads.  Long  time  the  eye  follows  the 
'  crimson :  it  disappears  at  length ;  but  the  golden  thread 
'  of  sacred  prophecy  stretches  to  the  end.'  ^  It  stretches  to 
the  end ;  for  it  is  the  chief  outward  link  between  the  Old 
and  the  New  Testament ;  and,  though  the  New  Testament 
has  its  own  peculiarities,  and  though  the  spirit  of  Prophecy 
expresses  chiefly  the  spirit  of  the  Old  Testament,  yet  it  may 
also  fitly  be  called  the  spirit  of  the  whole  Bible. 

It  is  the  substance  of  this  teaching,  extending  from  Moses 
the  First  to  John  the  Last  of  the  Prophets,  that  I  here 
propose  to  set  forth;  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  what 
there  was  in  it  which  gave  to  the  Jewish  people  that  pro- 
gressive   movement    of  which    I    spoke    in   the    preceding 

'  Contra  Apion.  i.  8.     This  is  well  ^  ^j^^  -^^^   -g-_  -g_  Wilson's    Three 

put  in  Oehler's   Treatise  on  the   Old       Sermons,  p.  6. 
2\stament. 


448       ON  THE  IfATURE  OF  PROPHETICAL  TEACHING,    lect.  xx. 

Lecture, — that  elevation  and  energy,  which  has  given  to  all 
the  Prophetic  writings  so  firm  a  hold  on  the  sympathies  of 
the  Church  and  of  the  world. 

The  Prophetic  teaching  may  be  divided  into  three  parts, 
according  to  the  three  famous  words  of  S.  Bernard — Respice, 
Aspice,  Prospice.     The  interpretation  of  the  Divine  Will 
respecting  the  Past,  the  Present,  and  the  Future. 
The  Pro-  I.  Of  the  Prophets  as  teachers  of  the  experience  of  the 

Teachers  Past,  we  know  but  little.  It  is  true  that  we  have  references 
of  the  Past,  ^q  many  of  the  books  which  they  thus  wrote;  the  acts  of 
David,  by  Samuel,  Gad,  and  Nathan ;  ^  of  Solomon  and  Jero- 
boam, by  Nathan  and  Iddo ;  of  Eehoboam,  by  Iddo  and 
Shemaiah.  But  these  unfortunately  have  all  perished.  Alas  ! 
.  of  all  the  lost  works  of  antiquity,  is  there  any,  heathen  or 
sacred,  to  be  named  with  the  loss  of  the  biography  of  David 
by  the  Prophet  Nathan?  We  can,  however,  form  some 
notion  of  these  lost  books  by  the  fragments  of  the  historical 
writings  that  are  left  to  us  in  the  Prophetical  Books  of  Isaiah 
and  Jeremiah,  and  also  by  the  likelihood  that  some  of  the 
present  canonical  books  were  founded  upon  the  more  ancient 
works  which  they  themselves  must  have  tended  to  super- 
sede. And  it  is  probably  not  without  some  ground  of  this 
sort,  that  the  Prophetical  Books  of  the  Old  Testament,  in 
the  Jewish  Canon,  include  the  Books  of  Joshua,  Judges, 
Samuel,  and  Kings.  From  these  slight  indications  of  the 
mission  of  the  Prophets  as  Historians,  we  cannot  deduce  any 
detailed  instruction.  But  it  is  important  to  have  at  least 
this  proof  that  the  study  of  history,  so  dear  to  some  of  us, 
and  by  some  so  lightly  thought  of,  was  not  deemed  beneath 
the  notice  of  the  Prophets  of  God.     And,  if  we  may  so  far 

'  It  is  doubtfal  whether  the  word  be  the   biographies   written,  not   by 

transhited  '  book,'  in  1  Chrou.  xxix.  29,  these  three  Prophets,  but  concerning 

ought  not  rather  to  be  rendered  '  acts.'  them. 
In  that  case,  the  works  described  would 


LECT.  XX.  OF  THE   PAST.  449 

assume  the  ancient  Jewish  nomenclature  as  to  embrace  the 
historical  books  of  the  Canon  just  enumerated  within  the 
'Prophetical  circle,'  their  structure  furnishes  topics  well 
worthy  of  the  consideration  of  the  theological  student.  In 
that  marvellously  tesselated  workmanship  which  they  present ; 
in  the  careful  interweaving  of  ancient  documents  into  a  later 
narrative ;  in  the  editing  and  re-editing  of  passages,  where 
the  introduction  of  a  more  modern  name  or  word  betrays 
the  touch  of  the  more  recent  historian,  we  trace  a  research 
which  may  well  have  occupied  many  a  vacant  hour  in  the 
prophetic  schools  of  Bethel  or  Jerusalem,  and  at  the  same 
time  a  freedom  of  adaptation,  of  alteration,  of  inquiry,  which 
places  the  authors  or  editors  of  these  original  writings  on  a 
level  far  above  that  of  mere  chroniclers  or  copyists.  Such  a 
union  of  research  and  freedom  gives  us,  on  the  one  hand,  a 
view  of  the  office  of  an  inspired  or  prophetic  historian,  quite 
different  from  that  which  would  degrade  him  into  the  lifeless 
and  passive  instrument  of  a  power  which  effaced  his  indivi- 
dual energy  and  reflection ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  presents 
us  with  something  like  the  model  at  which  an  historical 
student  might  well  aspire,  even  in  our  more  modern  age. 
And  if,  from  the  handiwork  and  composition  of  these 
writings,  we  reach  to  their  substance,  we  find  traces  of  the 
same  spirit,  which  will  appear  more  closely  as  we  speak  of 
the  Prophetical  Office  in  its  two  larger  aspects.  By  compar- 
ing the  treatment  of  the  history  of  Israel  or  Judah  in  the 
four  prophetical  Books  of  Samuel  and  of  Kings,  with  the 
treatment  of  the  same  subject  in  the  Books  of  Chronicles,  we 
are  at  once  enabled  to  form  some  notion  of  the  true  charac- 
teristics of  the  Prophetical  office  as  distinguished  from  that 
of  the  mere  chronicler  or  Levite.  But  this  will  best  be 
understood  as  we  proceed. 

II.  I  pass  therefore  to  the  work  of  the  Prophets  as  inter-  Of  the 
preters  of  the  Divine  Will  in  regard  to  the  Present.  Present. 

G  G 


450      ON  THE  NATUEE  OF  PROPHETICAL  TEACHING,     lect.  xx. 

Their  1.    First,  what    was    the  characteristic  of   their  directly 

aJ-     religious  teacliing  which  caused  the  early  Fathers  to  regard 
them  as,  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word,  '  Theologians  ?  ' 

It   consisted    of  two  points.     Their  proclamation  of  the 
Unity  and  of  the  Spirituality  of  the  Divine  Nature.     They 

The  Unity  proclaimed  the  Unity  of  Gfod,  and  hence  the  energy  with 
which  they  attacked  the  falsehoods  and  superstitions  which 
endeavoured  to  take  the  place  of  God.  This  was  the  nega- 
tive side  of  their  teaching,  and  the  force  with  which  they 
urge  it,  the  withering  scorn  with  which  Elijah  and  Isaiah  ' 
speak  of  the  idols  of  their  time,  however  venerable,  however 
sacred  in  the  eyes  of  the  worshippers,  is  a  proof  that  even 
negative  statements  of  theology  may  at  times  be  needed,  and 
have  at  any  rate  a  standing  place  amongst  the  Prophetic  gifts. 
The  direct  object  of  this  negative  teaching  virtually  expired 
with  the  extinction  of  the  Polytheistic  tendencies  in  the  Jewish 
Church.  But  the  positive  side  of  their  teaching  was  the  asser- 

TheSpiri-    tion  of  the  Spirituality,  the  morality  of  Grod,  His  justice, 

God.  ^  °  His  goodness,  His  love.  This  revelation  of  the  Divine  Essence, 
the  moral  manifestation  of  God  in  some  impressive  form, 
constituted,  as  we  have  already  seen,  and  shall  see  further  as 
we  advance,  at  once  the  first  call  and  the  sustaining  force  of 
every  Prophetic  mission.  This  continued  to  the  very  end, 
and  received  its  highest  development  in  the  Prophets  of  the 
New  Testament.  Then  the  Prophetic  teaching  of  the  moral 
attributes  of  God  was  brought  out  more  strongly  than  ever. 
Then  Grace  and  Truth^  were  declared  to  be  the  only  means 
of  conceiving  or  approaching  to  the  Divine  Essence.  Then 
He,  who  was  Himself  the  Incarnation  of  that  Grace  and 
Truth,  was  enabled  to  say  as  no  Prophet  before  or  after  could 
have  said,  '  Ye  believe  in  God,  beheve  also  in  if<3.'  ^  To  that 
crowning   point    of  the  Prophetic  Theology,  the   Apostolic 

*  1  Kiugs  xviii.  27 ;  Isa.  xliv.  16.  -  John  i.  14,  17.  '  Il>icl.  xiv.  1. 


LECT.  XX.  IN   THE   PRESENT.  451 

Prophets  direct  our  attention  so  clearly,  that  no  more  needs 

to  be  said  on  this  subject.     The  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation 

of  Christ  as  taught  by  the  last  of  the  Prophets,  S.  John,  is 

the  fitting  and  necessary  close  of  the  glimpse  of  the  moral 

nature  of  the  Divinity  as  revealed  to  the  first  of  the  Prophets, 

Moses. 

2.  And   now    how  is  this    foundation   of    the  Prophetic 

Teaching  carried  out  into  detail?     This  brings  us  to  the 

main  characteristic  of  the  Prophetic,  as  distinguished  from  Moral 

all  other  parts  of  the  Old  Dispensation.     The  elevated  con-  ^^  .  , 

^  J-  ceremonial 

ception  of  the  Divinity  may  be  said  to  pervade  all  parts  of  tluties. 
the  Old  Testament,  if  not  in  equal  proportions,  yet  at  least  so 
distinctly  as  to  be  independent  of  any  special  office  for  its 
enforcement.     But  the  Prophetical  teaching  contains  some- 
thing yet  more  peculiarly  its  own. 

The  one  great  corruption,  to  which  all  Eeligion  is  exposed, 
is  its  separation  from  morality.  The  very  strength  of  the 
religious  motive  has  a  tendency  to  exclude,  or  disparage,  all 
other  tendencies  of  the  human  mind,  even  the  noblest  and 
best.  It  is  against  this  corruption  that  the  Prophetic  Order 
from  first  to  last  constantly  protested.  Even  its  mere  out- 
ward appearance  and  organisation  bore  witness  to  the  great- 
ness of  the  opposite  truth,— the  inseparable  union  of  morality 
with  religion.  Alone  of  all  the  high  officers  of  the  Jewish 
Church,  the  Prophets  were  called  by  no  outward  form  of 
consecration,  and  were  selected  from  no  special  tribe  or 
family.  But  the  most  effective  witness  to  this  great  doctrine 
was  borne  by  their  actual  teaching. 

Amidst  all  their  varieties,  there  is  hardly  a  Prophet,  from 
Samuel  downwards,  whose  life  or  writings  do  not  contain  an 
assertion  of  this  trutli.  It  is  to  them  as  constant  a  topic,  as 
the  most  peculiar  and  favourite  doctrine  of  any  eccentric  sect 
or  party  is  in  the  mouths  of  the  preachers  of  such  a  sect  or 
party  at  the  present  day ;  and  it  is  rendered  more  forcible  by 

G  G  2 


452      ON"  THE  NATURE  OF  PROPHETICAL  TEACHING,     lect.  xx. 

the  form  which  it  takes  of  a  constant  protest  against  the 
sacrificial  system  of  the  Levitical  ritual,  which  they  either, 
in  comparison  with  the  Moral  Law,  disparage  altogether,  or 
else  fix  their  hearers'  attention  to  the  moral  and  spiritual 
truth  which  lay  behind  it. 

Listen  to  them  one  after  another : — 

SaTYhuel. — '  To  obey  is  better  than  sacrifice,  and  to  hearken 
^than  the  fat  of  rams.'  ^  David. — 'Thou  desirest  not  sacri- 
'  fice ;  else  would  I  give  it.  Thou  delightest  not  in  burnt 
'  offering.  The  sacrifices  of  Grod  are  a  broken  spirit.  Sacri- 
'  fice  and  burnt  offering  thou  didst  not  desire.  Then  said 
'I,  Lo,  I  come,  to  do  thy  will,  0  Grod.'^  Hosea. — 'I 
'  desired  mercy,  and  not  sacrifice.' '  Amos. — '  I  hate,  I 
*  despise  your  feast  days,  and  I  will  not  smell  in  your 
'solemn  assemblies.  Though  ye  offer  me  burnt  offerings, 
'and  your  meat  offerings,  I  will  not  accept  them,  neither 
'  will  I  regard  the  peace  offerings  of  your  fat  beasts.  But 
'let  judgment  run  down  as  waters,  and  righteousness  as  a 
'  mighty  stream.'  ■*  Mlcah. — '  Shall  I  come  before  the  Lord 
'  with  burnt  offerings,  with  calves  of  a  year  old  ?  Will  the 
'  Lord  be  pleased  with  thousands  of  rams,  or  with  ten  thou- 
'  sands  of  rivers  of  oil  ?  shall  I  give  my  first-born  for  my  trans- 
'  gression,  the  fruit  of  my  body  for  the  sin  of  my  soul  ?  He 
'  hath  shewed  thee,  0  man,  what  is  good ;  and  what  doth  the 
'  Lord  require  of  thee,  but  to  do  justly,  and  to  love  mercy, 
'  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God  ?  '  ^  Isaiah. — '  Your 
'  new  moons  and  your  appointed  feasts  my  soul  hateth  :  they 
'  are  a  trouble  unto  me ;  I  am  weary  to  bear  them.  Wash 
'  you,  make  you  clean ;  cease  to  do  evil ;  learn  to  do  well. 
'  Is  not  this  the  fast  that  I  have  chosen,  to  loose  the  bands 
'  of  wickedness,  to  undo  the  heavy  burdens,  and  to  let  the 
'  oppressed  go  free  ?  '  ^     EzeJciel. — '  If  a  man  be  just,  and  do 

'  1  Sam.  XV.  22.  '  Hosea  vi.  6.  ^  Micali  vi.  6-8. 

'  Ps.  li.  16,  17  ;  xl.  6-8.         *  Amos  t.  21-24.         «  Isa.  i.  14-17  ;  Iviii.  6. 


LECT.  XX.  IX   THE    PEESE^'T.  453 

'that  which  is  lawful  and  right  ...  he  shall  surely  live. 
'  The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die.  .  .  .  When  the  wicked 
'  man  doeth  that  which  is  lawful  and  right,  he  shall  save  his 
'  soul  alive ;  he  shall  surely  live  and  not  die.'  ^ 

Mercy  and  justice,  judgment  and  truth,  repentance  and 
goodness — not  sacrifice,  not  fasting,  not  ablutions — is  the 
burden  of  the  whole  Prophetic  teaching  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. And  it  is  this  which  distinguishes  at  once  the  Pro- 
phetical from  the  Levitical  portions  even  of  the  historical 
books.  Compare  the  exaltation  of  moral  duties  in  the  Books 
of  Kings  \vdth  the  exaltation  of  merely  ceremonial  duties  in 
the  Books  of  Chronicles,  and  the  difference  between  the  two 
elements  of  the  Sacred  history  is  at  once  apparent. 

In  the  New  Testament  the  same  doctrine  is  repeated  in 
terms  slightly  altered,  but  still  more  emphatic.  In  the  words 
of  Him  who  is  our  Prophet  in  this  the  truest  sense  of  all,  I 
need  only  refer  to  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,^  and  to  the 
remarkable  fact  that  His  chief  warnings  are  against  the 
ceremonial  narrowness,  the  '  religious  world,'  of  that  age.^  In 
His  deeds,  I  need  only  refer  to  His  death,  wherein  is  pro- 
claimed, as  the  very  central  fact  and  doctrine  of  the  New 
Eeligion,  that  Sacrifice,  henceforth  and  for  ever,  consists  not 
in  the  blood  of  bulls  and  goats,*  but  in  the  perfect  surrender 
of  a  perfect  Will  and  Life  to  the  perfect  Will  of  an  All-just 
and  All-merciful  God.  In  the  Epistles,  the  same  Prophetic 
strain  is  still  carried  on  by  the  elevation  of  the  spirit  ^  above 
the  letter,  of  love  above  all  other  gifts,^  of  edification  above 
miraculous  signs,^  of  faith  and  good  works  ^  above  the  out- 
ward distinction  of  Jews  and  Gentiles.  With  these  accents 
on  his  lips,^  the  last  of  the  Prophets  expired. 

>  Ezek.  xviii.  5-9  ;  20-28.  «  1  Cor.  xiii.  1,  2. 

*  Matt,  v.-vii.  '  Ibid.  xiv.  5. 

3  Ibid.  XV.  1-20,  xxiii,  ;  Luke  xv.  *  Rom.  ii.  29;  Gal.  ii.  16,  20,  ti. 

*  Heb.  X.  7.  15  ;  Tit.  ii.  8. 

*  2  Cor.  iii.  6.  *  1  John  ii.  3,  4 ;  Jerome,  on  Gal.  Ti. 


454      ON  THE  NATURE  OF  PROPHETICAL  TEACHING,     lect.  xx. 


Example 
to  the 
Cliristiau 
clergy. 


It  is  this  assertion  of  the  supremacy  of  the  moral  and 
spiritual  above  the  literal,  the  ceremonial,  and  the  dogmatical 
elements  of  religion,  which  makes  the  contrast  between  the 
Prophets  and  all  other  sacred  bodies  which  have  existed  in 
Pagan,  and,  it  must  even  be  added,  in  Christian  times. 
They  were  religious  teachers  without  the  usual  faults  of 
religious  teachers.  They  were  a  religious  body,  whose  only 
professional  spirit  was  to  be  free  from  the  usual  prejudices, 
restraints,  and  crimes  by  which  all  other  religious  profes- 
sions have  been  disfigured.  They  are  not  without  grievous 
shortcomings ;  they  are  not  on  a  level  with  the  full  light  of 
the  Christian  Eevelation.  But,  taken  as  a  whole,  the  Pro- 
phetic order  of  the  Jewish  Church  remains  alone.  It  stands 
like  one  of  those  vast  monuments  of  ancient  days — with 
ramparts  broken,  with  inscriptions  defaced,  but  stretching 
from  hill  to  hill,  conveying  in  its  long  line  of  arches  the  rill 
of  living  water  over  deep  valley  and  thirsty  plain,  far  above 
all  the  puny  modern  buildings  which  have  grown  up  at  its 
feet,  and  into  the  midst  of  which  it  strides  with  its  massive 
substructions,  its  gigantic  height,  its  majestic  proportions, 
unequalled  and  unrivalled. 

We  cannot  attain  to  it.  But  even  whilst  we  relinquish  the 
hope,  even  whilst  we  admire  the  good  Providence  of  God, 
which  has  preserved  for  us  this  unapproachable  memorial  of 
His  purposes  in  former  ages,  there  is  still  one  calling  in  the 
world  in  which,  if  any,  the  Prophetic  spirit,  the  Prophetic 
mission,  ought  at  least  in  part  to  live  on, — and  that  is, 
the  calling  of  the  Christian  clergy.  We  are  not  like  the 
Jewish  priests,  we  are  not  like  the  Jewish  Levites,  but  we 
have,  God  be  praised,  some  faint  resemblance  to  the  Jewish 
Prophets.  Like  them,  we  are  chosen  from  no  single  family 
or  caste ;  like  them,  we  are  called  not  to  merely  ritual  acts, 
but  to  teach  and  instruct ;  like  them,  we  are  brought  up  in 
great  institutions  which  pride  themselves  on  fostering  the 


LECT.  XX.  IN   THE   PRESENT.  455 

spirit  of  the  Church  in  the  persons  of  its  ministers.^  0  glo- 
rious profession,  if  we  would  see  ourselves  in  this  our  true 
Prophetic  aspect !  We  all  know  what  a  powerful  motive  in 
the  human  mind  is  the  spirit  of  a  profession,  the  spirit  of 
the  order,  the  spirit  (as  the  French  say)  of  the  body, 
to  which  we  belong.  0  if  the  spirit  of  our  profession,  of 
our  order,  of  our  body,  were  the  spirit,  or  anything  like  the 
spirit,  of  the  ancient  Prophets !  or  if  with  us,  truth,  charity, 
justice,  fairness  to  opponents,  were  a  passion,  a  doctrine,  a 
point  of  honour,  to  be  upheld,  through  good  report  and  evil, 
with  the  same  energy  as  that  with  which  we  uphold  our 
position,  our  opinions,  our  interpretations,  our  antipathies ! 
A  distinguished  prelate  ^  has  well  said,  '  It  makes  all  the 
'  difference  in  the  world  whether  we  put  the  duty  of  Truth 
*  in  the  first  place,  or  in  the  second  place.'  Yes !  that  is 
exactly  the  difference  between  the  spirit  of  the  world  and 
the  spirit  of  the  Bible.  The  spirit  of  the  world  asks  first,  '  Is 
it  safe.  Is  it  pious  ?  '  secondly, '  Is  it  true  ?  '  The  spirit  of  the 
Prophets  asks  fii^st,  '  Is  it  true  ? '  secondly,  '  Is  it  safe  ?  '  The 
spirit  of  the  world  asks  first,  '  Is  it  prudent  ?  '  secondly, '  Is  it 
right  ?  '  The  spirit  of  the  Prophets  asks  first,  '  Is  it  right  ?  ' 
secondly,  '  Is  it  prudent  ?  '  It  is  not  that  they  and  we  hold 
different  doctrines  on  these  matters,  but  that  we  hold  them 
in  different  proportions.  WTiat  they  put  first,  we  put  second ; 
what  we  put  second,  they  put  first.  The  religious  energy 
which  we  reserve  for  objects  of  temporary  and  secondary  im- 
portance, they  reserved  for  objects  of  eternal  and  primary 
importance.  When  Ambrose  closed  the  doors  of  the  church 
of  Milan  against  the  blood-stained  hands  of  the  devout  Theo- 
dosius,  he  acted  in  the  spirit  of  a  prophet.  \Mien  Ken,  in 
spite  of  his  doctrine  of  the  Divine  right  of  Kings,  rebuked 
Charles  II.  on  his  death-bed  for  his  long  unrepented  vices,  those 

'  See  Lecture  XVIII.  ^  Archbishop  Whately. 


456      OiST  THE  NATUES  OF  PROPHETICAL  TEACHING,     lect.  xx. 

■who  stood  by  were  justly  reminded  of  the  ancient  Prophets. 
When  Savonarola,  at  Florence,  threw  the  whole  energy  of  his 
religious  zeal  into  burning  indignation  against  the  sins  of  the 
city,  high  and  low,  his  sermons  read  more  like  Hebrew  pro- 
phecies than  modern  homilies. 

We  speak  sometimes  with  disdain  of  moral  essays,  as  dull, 
and  dry,  and  lifeless.  Dull,  and  dry,  and  lifeless,  they  truly 
are,  till  the  Prophetic  spirit  breathes  into  them.  But  let 
religious  faith  and  love  once  find  its  chief,  its  proper  vent  in 
them,  as  it  did  of  old  in  the  Jewish  Church — let  a  second 
Wesley  arise  who  shall  do  what  the  Primate  of  his  day 
wisely  but  vainly  urged  as  his  gravest  counsel '  on  the  first 
Wesley — that  is,  throw  all  the  ardour  of  a  Wesley  into  the 
great  unmistakeable  doctrines  and  duties  of  life  as  they  are 
laid  down  by  the  Prophets  of  old,  and  by  Christ  in  the 
Grospels — let  these  be  preached  with  the  same  fervour  as 
that  with  which  Andrew  Melville  enforced  Presbyterianism 
or  Laud  enforced  Episcopacy,  or  Whitfield  Assurance,  or 
Calvin  Predestination,  then,  perchance,  we  shall  under- 
stand in  some  degree  what  was  the  propelling  energy  of  the 
Prophetic  order  in  the  Church  and  Commonwealth  of  Israel. 
Appeal  3.  This  is  the  most  precious,  the  most  supernatural,  of  all 

*onsdences  ^^  Prophetic   gifts.     Let  me   pass  on  to  the  next,  which 

of  the  brings  out  the  same  characteristic  in  another  and  equally 

hearers.  °  . 

peculiar  aspect.     The  Prophets  not  merely  laid  down  these 

general  principles  of  theology  and  practice,  but  were  the 
direct  oracles  and  counsellors  of  their  countrymen  in  action ; 
and  for  this  was  required  the  Prophetic  insight  into  the 
human  heart,  which  enabled  them  to  address  themselves  not 
merely  to  general  circumstances,  but  to  the  special  emergen- 
cies of  each  particular  case.  Often  they  were  consulted  even 
on  trifling  matters,  or  on  stated  occasions.    So  Saul  wished  to 


'■b 


See  Wesley's  Life,  i.  222. 


LECT.  xs.  IX    THE   TEESEXT.  457 

ask  Samuel  after  his  father :  '  When  men  went  to  inquire  of 
'  God,  then  they  spake,  Come,  let  us  go  to  the  Seer.'  *  So 
the  Shunamite  went  at  new  moons  ^  or  Sabbaths,  to  consult 
the  man  of  God  on  Carmel.  But  more  usually  tliey  ad- 
dressed themselves  spontaneously  to  the  persons  or  the  cir- 
cumstances which  most  needed  encouragement  or  warning. 
Suddenly,  whenever  their  interference  was  called  for,  they 
appeared,  to  encourage  or  to  threaten :  Elijah,  before  Ahab, 
like  the  ghost  of  the  murdered  Naboth  on  the  vineyard  of 
Jezreel;  Isaiah,  before  Ahaz  at  the  Fuller's  Gate,  before 
Hezekiah,  as  he  lay  panic-struck  in  the  palace;  Jeremiah, 
before  Zedekiah ;  John,  before  Herod ;  the  Greatest  of  all, 
before  the  Pharisees  in  the  Temple.  Whatever  public  or 
private  calamity  had  occurred,  was  seized  by  them  to  move 
the  national  or  individual  conscience.  Thus  Elijah  spoke,  on 
occasion  of  the  drought ;  Joel,  on  occasion  of  the  swarm  of 
locusts ;  Amos,  on  occasion  of  the  earthquake.  Thus,  in  the 
highest  degree,  our  Lord,  as  has  been  often  observed,  drew 
His  parables  from  the  scenes  immediately  around  Him. 
What  the  ear  received  slowly  was  assisted  by  the  eye.  What 
the  abstract  doctrine  failed  to  effect,  was  produced  by  its 
impersonation  in  the  living  forms  of  nature,  in  the  domes- 
tic incidents  of  human  intercourse.  The  Apostles,  in  this 
respect,  by  adopting  the  written  mode  of  communication,  are 
somewhat  more  removed  from  personal  contact  with  those 
whom  they  taught  than  were  the  older  Prophets.  But  S.  Paul 
makes  his  personal  presence  so  felt  in  all  that  he  writes, 
fastens  all  his  remarks  so  closely  on  existing  circumstances, 
as  to  render  his  Epistles  a  means,  as  it  were,  of  reproducing 
himself.  He  almost  always  conceives  himself  'present 
with  them  in  spirit,'  ^  as  speaking  to  his  reader  '  face  to 
face.'  *     Every  sentence  is  full  of  himself,  of  his  readers,  of 

•  1  Sara.  ix.  9.  '  1  Cor.  y.  3,  4. 

*  2  Kings  iv.  23.  "  2  Cor.  xiii.  2. 


458      ON  THE  JS^ATURE  OF  PROPHETICAL  TEACHING,     lect.  xx. 

his  circumstances,  of  tlieirs.  And  in  accordance  with  this  is 
his  description  of  the  effect  of  Christian  prophesying  :  '  If 
'  all  prophesy,  and  there  come  in  one  that  believeth  not,  or 
'  one  unlearned,  he  is  convinced  of  all,  he  is  judged  of  all.'  ^ 
That  is,  one  prophet  after  another  shall  take  up  the  strain, 
and  each  shall  reveal  to  him  some  fault  which  he  knew  not 
before.  One  after  another  shall  ask  questions  which  shall 
reveal  to  him  his  inmost  self,  and  sit  as  judge  on  his  inmost 
thoughts,  '  and  thus '  (the  Apostle  continues)  '  the  secrets  of 
*  his  heart  are  made  manifest,  and  so  falling  down  on  his 
'  face '  (awe-struck)  '  he  will  worship  Grod,  and  report  that 
'  Grod  is  in  you  of  a  truth.'' 

This  is  the  true  definition,  by  one  of  the  mightiest  Pro- 
phets, of  what  true  Prophesying  is — what  it  is  in  its  effects, 
and  why  it  is  an  evidence  of  a  Keal  or  Divine  Presence 
wherever  it  is  found.  It  is  this  close  connexion  with  the 
thoughts  of  men,  this  appeal  to  their  hearts  and  consciences, 
this  reasoning  together  with  every  one  of  us,  which,  on  the 
one  hand,  makes  the  interpretation  of  Scripture,  especially 
of  the  Prophetic  Scriptures,  so  dependent  on  our  knowledge 
of  the  characters  of  those  to  w^hom  each  part  is  addressed ; 
which,  on  the  other  hand,  makes  each  portion  bear  its  own 
lesson  to  each  individual  soul.  '  Thou  art  the  man.'  ^  So 
in  the  fulness  of  the  Prophetic  spirit  Nathan  spoke  to  David, 
and  so  in  a  hundred  voices  God  through  that  goodly  company 
of  Prophets  still  speaks  to  us,  and  '  convinces  us '  of  our  sin 
and  of  His  Presence. 

And  has  this  Prophetic  gift  altogether  passed  away  from 
our  reach?  Not  altogether.  That  divine  intuition,  that 
sudden  insight  into  the  hearts  of  men,  is,  indeed,  no  longer 
ours,  or  ours  only  in  a  very  limited  sense.  Still  it  fixes  for 
us  the  standard  at  which  all  preachers  and  teachers  should 

«  1  Cor.  xiv.  24,  25.  ^  2  Sam.  xii.  t 


iECT.  XX.  IN   THE   PRESENT.  459 

aim.  Not  our  thoughts,  but  the  thoughts  of  our  hearers,  is 
what  we  have  to  explain  to  ourselves  and  to  them.  Not  in 
our  language,  but  in  theirs,  must  we  speak,  if  we  mean  to 
make  ourselves  understood  by  them.  By  talking  with  the 
humblest  of  the  poor  in  the  parishes  where  our  lot  as  pastors 
is  cast,  we  shall  gain  the  best  materials — materials  how  rich 
and  how  varied ! — for  our  future  sermons.  By  addressing 
ourselves,  not  to  any  imaginary  congregation,  or  to  any 
abstract  and  distant  circumstances,  but  to  the  actual  needs 
which  we  know,  in  the  hearts  of  our  neighbours  and  our- 
selves, we  shall  rouse  the  sleeper,  and  startle  the  sluggard, 
and  convince  the  unbelievers,  and  enlighten  the  unlearned.  So 
the  great  Athenian  teacher,  the  nearest  approach  to  a  Jewish 
or  Christian  Prophet  that  the  Gentile  world  ever  produced, 
worked  his  way  into  the  mind  of  the  Grrecian,  and  so  of  the 
European  world.  '  To  him,'  as  has  been  well  said  by  his 
modern  biographer,'  'the  precept  ^/ioi^^%5e(/was  the  holiest 
of  texts.'  He  applied  it  to  himself,  he  applied  it  to  others, 
and  the  result  was  the  birth  of  all  philosophy.  But  not  less 
is  it  the  basis  of  all  true  prophesying,  of  all  good  preaching, 
of  all  sound  preparation  for  the  pastoral  office, 

4.  Another  characteristic  of  the  teaching  of  the  Prophets  Relations 
to  be  briefly  touched  upon  is  to  be  found  in  their  relation  country. 
not  to  individuals,  but  to  the  State.  At  one  time  they 
were  actually  the  leaders  of  the  nation,  as  in  the  case  of 
Moses,  Deborah,  Samuel,  David ;  in  earlier  times  their 
function  in  this  respect  was  chiefly  to  maintain  the  national 
spirit  by  appeals  to  the  Divine  help  and  to  the  past  recol- 
lections of  their  history.  This  function  became  more  complex 
as  the  Israel  itish  affairs  became  more  entangled  with  those 
of  other  nations.  But  still,  throughout,  three  salient  points 
stand  out.     The  first  is,  that,  universal  as  their  doctrine  was, 

*  Grote's  History  of  Greece,  viii.  602. 


ism 


4G0      OX  THE  NATUEE  OF  PROPHETICAL  TEACHING,     lect.  xx. 

and  far  above  any  local  restraints  as  it  soared,  they  were 
thoroughly  absorbed  in  devotion  to  their  country.  To  say 
that  they  were  patriots,  that  they  were  good  citizens,  is  a 
very  imperfect  representation  of  this  side  of  the  Prophetic 
Patriot-  character.  They  were  one  with  it,  they  were  representatives 
of  it;  they  mourned,  they  rejoiced  with  it,  and  for  it,  and 
through  it.  Often  we  cannot  distinguish  between  '  the 
Prophet  and  the  people  for  whom  he  speaks.  Of  that 
uneasy  hostility  to  the  national  mind,  which  has  sometimes 
marked  even  the  noblest  of  disappointed  politicians  and  of 
disaffected  churchmen,  there  is  hardly  any  trace  in  the 
Hebrew  Prophet.  And,  although  with  the  changed  relations 
of  the  Jewish  Commonwealth,  the  New  Testament  Prophets 
could  no  longer  hold  the  same  position,  yet  even  then  the 
national  feeling  is  not  extinct.  Christ  Himself  wept  over 
His  country.^  His  Prophecy  over  Jerusalem '  is  a  direct 
continuation  of  the  strain  of  the  older  Prophets.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  S.  Paul's  passionate  allusions  to  his  love  for 
the  Jewish  people  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Eomans,^  which  are 
almost  identical  with  those  of  Moses.^  I  will  not  go  further 
into  the  enlargement  of  this  feeling,  as  it  followed  the  ex- 
pansion of  the  Jewish  into  the  Christian  Church.  It  is 
enough  that  our  attention  should  be  called  to  this  example 
for  the  teachers  of  every  age.  Public  spirit,  devotion  to  a 
public  cause,  indignation  at  a  public  wrong,  enthusiasm  in 
the  national  welfare, — this  was  not  below  the  loftiest  of  the 
ancient  Prophets :  it  surely  is  still  within  the  reach  of  the 
humblest  of  Christian  teachers. 

Again,  they  laboured  to  maintain,  and  did  in  a  consider- 
able degree  maintain,  in  spite  of  the  divergence  of  tribes, 
and  disruption  of  the  monarchy,  the  state  of  national  unity. 

'  See  especially   Isa.  xl.-liv. ;    La-  '  Matt.  xxiv. 

mentations,  iii.  1-66.  *  Kom.  ix.  3,  x.  1,  xi.  1. 

^  Luke  xix.  41.  *  Ex.  xxxii.  32. 


LECT.  XX.  IN   TKE    PRESENT.  461 

The  speech  of  Oded  reproaching  the  northern  kings  for  the 
sale  of  the  prisoners  of  the  south  is  a  sample  of  the  whole 
prophetic  spirit.  *Now  ye  purpose  to  keep  under  the  chil- 
'  dren  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem  for  bondmen  and  bondwomen 
*  unto  you :  but  are  there  not  with  you,  even  with  you,  sins 
'  against  the  Lord  your  God  ? '  ^  To  balance  the  faults  of  Unity. 
one  part  of  the  nation  against  the  other  in  equal  scales, 
was  their  difficult  but  constant  duty.^  To  look  forward  to 
the  time  when  Judah  should  no  more  vex  Ephraim,  nor 
Ephraim  envy  Judah,^  was  one  of  their  brightest  hopes.  If 
at  times  they  increased  the  bitterness  of  the  division,  yet  on 
the  whole  their  aim  was  union,  founded  on  a  sense  of  their 
common  origin  and  worship,  overpowering  the  sense  of  their 
separation  and  alienation. 

And  thirdly,  and  as  a  consequence  of  this,  we  are  struck 
by  the  variety,  the  moderation  of  the  Prophetical  teaching, 
changing  with  the  events  of  their  time. 

It  is  instructive  to  see  how  at  different  epochs  different  Simplicity 

abuses  attracted  their  attention;  how  the  same  institutions,  and  variety 

which  at  one  time  seemed  good,  at  another  seemed  fraught  °.^  applica- 

°       '  *=       tion. 

with  evil.  Contrast  Isaiah's  denunciation  of  the  hierarchy 
■svith  Malachi's  support  of  it.^  Contrast  Isaiah's  confidence 
against  Assyria  with  Jeremiah's  despair  before  Chaldsea.® 
There  is  no  one  Shibboleth  handed  down  through  the  whole 
series.  Only  the  simple  faith  in  a  few  great  moral  and 
religious  principles  remains ;  the  rest  is  constantly  changing. 
Only  the  poor  are  constantly  protected  against  the  rich ; 
only  the  weaker  side  is  always  regarded  with  the  tender 
compassion  which  belongs  especially  to  Him  to  whom  all 
the  Prophets  bare  witness.     To  the  poor,^  to  the  oppressed, 


*  2  Chron.  xxviii.  10.  Arnold's  Life,  i.  259). 

*  Ezek.  xvi.  *  Isa.  xxxvii.  6  ;  Jer.  xxxvii.  8. 

'  Isa.  xi.  13.  «  Isa.  iii.  14,  v.  8,  xxxii.  o;    Jer. 

*  Isa.  i.    10;    Malachi  i.    8   (See       v.  5.  xxii.  13;  Amos  vi.  3;  James  r.  1. 


462      ON  THE  NATURE  OP  PROPHETICAL  TEACHING,    lect.  xx. 

to  the  neglected,  the  Prophet  of  old  was  and  is  still  the 
faithful  friend.  To  the  selfish,  the  luxurious,  the  insolent, 
the  idle,  the  frivolous,  the  Prophet  was  and  is  still  an  im- 
placable enemy. 

This  is  the  ground  of  the  well-known  likeness  of  the 
Prophets  both  to  ancient  orators  and  modern  statesmen.' 
The  often  quoted  lines  of  Milton  ^  best  express  both  the 
resemblance  and  the  difference  : — - 

Their  orators  tliou  then  extoU'st,  as  those 
The  top  of  eloquence  ;   statists  indeed, 
And  lovers  of  their  country,  as  may  seem ; 
But  herein  to  our  Prophets  far  beneath, 
As  men  divinely  taught,  and  better  teaching 
The  soHd  rules  of  civil  government, 
In  their  majestic,  unaffected  style. 
Than  all  the  oratory  of  Greece  and  Rome. 
In  them  is  plainest  taught,  and  easiest  learnt, 
What  makes  a  nation  happy,  and  keeps  it  so, 
What  ruins  kingdoms,  and  lays  cities  flat ; 
These  only  with  our  law  best  form  a  king. 

Indepen-  5.  One  point  yet  remains  in  connexion  with  their  teach- 

ing ;  and  that  is  their  absolute  independence.  Most  of  them 
were  in  opposition  to  the  prevailing  opinion  of  their  country- 
men for  the  time  being.  Some  of  them  were  persecuted, 
some  of  them  were  in  favour  with  God  and  man  alike.  But 
in  all  there  was  the  same  Divine  Prophetic  spirit  of  eleva- 
tion above  the  passions,  and  prejudices,  and  distractions  of 
common  life.     *  Be  not  afraid  of  them ;  ^  be  not  afraid  of 

*  their   faces ;    be    not    afraid    of  their    words.     Speak    my 

*  words  unto  them,  whether  they  will  hear,  or  whether  they 


See  Arnold's  Letters  on  this  subject,  Sir  E.  Strachey ;    also    The  Vrophets 

Nov.  1830  {Life  and  Corresp.  i.  234,  of  the  Old  Testament ;  in  Tracts  for 

235).  Priests  and  People,  No.  8. 

'  Comp.    Hebrew    Politics    in    the  '^  Parad.  Reg.  iv.  353. 

time  of  Sennacherib  and  Sargon,  by  '  Ezek.  ii.  6,  7 ;  iii.  8,  9. 


LECT.  XX.  IN   THE    rRESENT.  463 

'  will  forbear.'     '  I  have  made  thy  face  strong  against  their 

*  faces,  and  thy  forehead  strong  against  their  foreheads :  as 

*  an  adamant  harder  than  flint  I  have  made  thy  forehead ; 
'  fear  them  not,  neither  be  dismayed.'  This  is  the  position 
of  all  the  Prophets,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree ;  it  is  the 
position,  in  the  very  highest  sense  of  all,  of  Him  whose  chief 
outward  characteristic  it  was  that  He  stood  high  above  all 
the  influences  of  His  age,  and  was  the  Eock  against  which 
they  dashed  in  vain,  and  on  which  they  were  ground  to 
powder.  This  element  of  the  Prophetical  Office  deserves 
special  consideration,  because  it  pervades  their  whole  teach- 
ing, and  because  it  is  in  its  lower  manifestations  within  the 
reach  of  all.  What  is  it  that  is  thus  recommended  to  us  ? 
Not  eccentricity,  not  singularity,  not  useless  opposition  to  the 
existing  framework  of  the  world,  or  the  Church  in  which  we 
find  ourselves.  Not  this,  which  is  of  no  use  to  any  one ;  but 
this,  which  is  needed  by  every  one  of  us, — a  fixed  resolution 
to  hold  our  own  against  chance  and  accident,  against  popular 
clamour  and  popular  favour,  against  the  opinions,  the  con- 
versation, of  the  circle  in  which  we  live :  a  silent  look  of 
disapproval,  a  single  word  of  cheering  approval,  an  even 
course,  which  turns  not  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left, 
unless  with  our  own  full  conviction,  a  calm,  cheerful,  hopeful 
endeavom-  to  do  the  work  that  has  been  given  us  to  do, 
whether  we  succeed  or  whether  we  fail. 

And  for  this  Prophetic  independence,  what  is,  what  was, 
the  Prophetic  ground  and  guarantee  ?  There  were  two.  One 
was  that  of  which  I  will  proceed  to  speak  presently — that 
which  has  almost  changed  the  meaning  of  the  name  of  the 
Prophets,  their  constant  looking  forward  to  the  Future. 
The  other  was  that  they  felt  themselves  standing  on  a  rock 
that  was  higher  and  stronger  than  they— the  support  and 
the  presence  of  Grod.  It  was  this  which  made  their  inde- 
pendent elevation  itself  a  Prophecy,  because  it  spoke  of  a 


464      OX  THE  XATURE  OF  PKOPHETICAL  TEACHING,     lect.  xx. 

Power  behind  tbem,  unseen,  yet  manifesting  itself  tbrough 
them  in  that  one  quality  which  even  the  world  cannot  fail  at 
last  to  recognise.  Grive  us  a  man,  young  or  old,  high  or  low, 
on  whom  we  know  that  we  can  thoroughly  depend,  who  will 
stand  firm  when  others  fail ;  the  friend  faithful  and  true, 
the  adviser  honest  and  fearless,  the  adversary  just  and 
chivalrous ;  in  such  an  one  there  is  a  fragment  of  the  Eock 
of  Ages,  a  sign  that  there  has  been  a  Prophet  amongst  us. 

The  consciousness  of  the  presence  of  God.  In  the  Mus- 
sulman or  the  Hindoo  this  makes  itself  felt  in  the  entire 
abstraction  of  the  mind  from  all  outward  things.  In  the 
fanatic,  of  whatever  religion,  it  makes  itself  felt  in  the  dis- 
regard of  all  the  common  rules  of  human  morality.  In  the 
Hebrew  Prophet  it  makes  itself  felt  in  the  indifference  to 
human  praise  or  blame,  in  the  unswerving  fidelity  to  the  voice 
of  duty  and  of  conscience,  in  the  courage  to  say  what  he 
knew  to  be  true,  and  to  do  what  he  knew  to  be  right.  This 
in  the  Hebrew  Prophet — this  in  the  Christian  man — is  the 
best  sign  of  the  near  vision  of  Almighty  God ;  it  is  the  best 
sign  of  the  Keal  Presence  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Faithful  and 
True,  the  Holy  and  the  Just,  the  Power  of  Grod,  and  the 
Wisdom  of  God. 
rpjjg  III.  This  brings  us  to  the  Prophetic  teaching  of  the  Future. 

teaching  j^  jg  y^^w  known  that,  in  the  popular  and  modern  use  of  the 
Euture.  word  since  the  seventeenth  century,  by  a  '  Prophet '  is  meant 
almost  exclusively  one  who  predicts  or  foretells ;  and  the 
assertion  of  the  contrary  has  even  been  thought  heretical.  We 
have  already  seen  that  this  assumption  is  itself  a  grave  error.' 
It  is  wholly  unauthorised,  either  by  the  Bible  or  by  our  own 

*  See  Lecture  XIX.     '  It  is  simply  '  words  for  prophecy  all  refer  to  a 

'  a   mistake  to  regard   prediction   as  '  state  of  mind,   an  emotion,  an   in- 

'  synonymous  with  prophecy,  or  even  '  fluence,  and  not  to  prescience.'    (Mr. 

'  as  the  chief  portion  of  a  prophet's  Payne  Smith's  Messianic  Intevpreta- 

'  duties.      Whether   the  language  be  ^w?j  0/ /s«m/i,  Introd.  p.  xxx. ) 
'  Hebrew,  Greek,  or  Latin,  the  ancient 


r.ECT.  xv.  OF   THE    FUTURE.  465 

Church.  It  has  drawn  off  the  attention  from  the  fundamental 
idea  of  the  Prophetical  office  to  a  subordinate  part.  It  has 
caused  us  to  seek  the  evidence  of  Prophecy  in  those  portions 
of  it  which  are  least  convincing,  rather  than  in  those  which 
are  most  convincing — in  those  parts  which  it  has  most  in 
common  with  other  systems,  rather  than  in  those  parts  which 
distinguish  it  from  all  other  systems. 

But  this  error,  resting  as  it  does  on  an  etymological 
mistake,  could  never  have  obtained  so  wide  a  diffusion,  with- 
out some  ground  in  fact ;  and  this  ground  is  to  be  found 
in  the  vast  relation  of  the  Prophetic  office  to  the  Future, 
which  I  shall  now  attempt  to  draw  forth — dwelling,  as  before, 
on  the  general  spirit  of  the  institution. 

It  is,  then,  undoubtedly  true  that  the  Prophets  of  the  Old  Prospec- 

-r\-  1-  T  1   •  111  •    1  11^  tive  and 

Dispensation  did  m  a  marked  and  especial  manner  look  for-  predictive 
ward  to  the  Future.  It  was  this  which  gave  to  the  whole  tendencies. 
Jewish  nation  an  upward,  forward,  progressive  character, 
such  as  no  Asiatic,  no  ancient,  I  may  almost  say,  no  other 
nation,  has  ever  had  in  the  same  degree.  Eepresenting  as 
they  did  the  whole  people,  they  shared  and  they  personated 
the  general  spirit  of  tenacious  trust  and  hope  that  distin- 
guishes the  people  itself.  Their  warnings,  their  consolations, 
their  precepts,  when  relating  to  the  past  and  the  present,  are 
clothed  in  imagery  drawn  from  the  future.  The  very  form 
of  the  Hebrew  verb,  in  which  one  tense  is  used  both  for  the 
past  and  the  future,  lends  itself  to  this  mode  of  speech. 
They  were  conceived  as  shepherds  seated  on  the  top  of  one 
of  the  hills  of  Judaea,'  seeing  far  over  the  heads  of  their 
flocks,  and  guiding  them  accordingly ;  or  as  watchmen  stand- 
ing on  some  lofty  tower,  with  a  wider  horizon  within  their 
view  than  that  of  ordinary  men.  '  Watchman,  what  of  the 
night  ?     Watchman,  what  of  the  night  ?  '  ^   was  the  question 

»  Isa.  Ivi.  10,  11.  «  Isa.  xxi.  11. 

H  H 


466      OX  THE  NATUKE  OF  PROPHETICAL  TEACHING,     lect.  xx. 

addressed  to  Isaiali  by  an  anxious  world  below.     '  I  will  stand 

*  upon  my  watch,'  is  the  expression  of  Habakkuk,^  '  and  set 
'  me  upon  the  tower,  and  will  watch  to  see  what  He  will  say 

*  unto  me.  Though  the  vision  tarry,  wait  for  it :  it  will 
'  surely  come ;  it  will  not  tarry.'  Their  practical  and  reli- 
gious exhortations  were,  it  is  true,  conveyed  with  a  force 
which  needed  no  further  attestation.  Of  all  of  them,  in  a 
certain  sense,  it  might  be  said  as  of  the  Greatest  of  all,  that 
they  spoke  '  as  one  having  authority  and  not  as  the  scribes.' 
Still  there  are  special  signs  of  authority  besides,  and  of  these, 
one  of  the  chief,  from  first  to  last,  was  their  ^speaking 
things  to  come.^  ^  And  this  token  of  Divinity  extends  (and 
here  again  I  speak  quite  irrespectively  of  any  special  fulfil- 
ments of  special  predictions)  to  the  whole  Prophetic  order, 
in  Old  and  New  Testament  alike.  To  any  reflecting  mind 
there  is  no  more  signal  proof  that  the  Bible  is  really  the 
guiding  book  of  the  world's  history,  than  its  anticipations, 
predictions,  insight  into  the  wants  of  men  far  beyond  the 
age  in  which  it  was  written.  That  modern  element  which 
we  find  in  it,  so  like  our  own  times,  so  unlike  the  ancient 
framework  of  its  natural  form ;  tliat  Oentile,  European  turn 
of  thought,  so  unlike  the  Asiatic  language  and  scenery  which 
was  its  cradle ;  that  enforcement  of  principles  and  duties, 
which  for  years  and  centuries  lay  almost  unperceived,  because 
hardly  ever  understood,  in  its  sacred  pages,  but  which  we 
now  see  to  be  in  accordance  with  the  utmost  requirements  of 
philosophy  and  civilisation ;  those  principles  of  toleration, 
chivalry,  discrimination,  proportion,  which  even  now  are  not 
appreciated  as  they  ought  to  be,  and  which  only  can  be  fully 

'  Hab.  ii.  1,  3.  uttered  either  no  predictions  or  only 
*  It  is  observaLle  that  although  the  such  as  were  very  subordinate),  the 
power  of  prediction  is  never  made  the  failure  of  a  prediction  is  in  one  re- 
test  of  a  true  prophet  (some  of  the  markable  passage  made  the  test  of  a 
greatest  of  them,  Samuel,  for  example,  false  prophet  (Deut.  xviii.  22). 
Elijah,  and  John  the  Baptist,  having 


lECT.  XX.  OF   THE    FUTURE.  467 

realised  in  ages  yet  to  come ;  these  are  the  unmistakeable 
predictions  in  the  Prophetic  spirit  of  the  Bible,  the  pledges 
of  its  inexhaustible  resources. 

Thus  much  for  the  general  aspect  of  the  Prophets'  office  as 
they  looked  to  the  future.  Its  more  special  aspects  may  be 
considered  under  three  heads. 

1.  First,  their  contemplation  and  prediction  of  the  poli-   Political 

prcdic- 

tical  events  of  their  own  and  the  surrounding  nations.  It  is  tions. 
this  which  brings  them  most  nearly  into  comparison  with 
the  seers  of  other  ages  and  other  races.  Every  one  knows 
instances,  both  in  ancient  and  modern  times,  of  predictions 
which  have  been  uttered  and  fulfilled  in  regard  to  events  of 
this  kind.  Sometimes  such  predictions  have  been  the  result 
of  political  foresight.  'To  have  made  predictions  which 
'have  been  often  verified  by  the  event,  seldom  or  never 
'  falsified  by  it,'  has  been  suggested  by  one  well  competent  to 
judge,^  as  a  sign  of  statesmanship  in  modern  times.  'To 
'  see  events  in  their  beginnings,  to  discern  their  purport 
'  and  tendencies  from  the  first,  to  forewarn  his  countrymen 
*  accordingly,'  was  the  foremost  duty  of  an  ancient  orator,  as 
described  by  Demosthenes.^  Many  instances  will  occur  to 
students  of  history.  Even  within  our  own  memory  the  great 
catastrophe  of  the  disruption  of  the  United  States  of  America 
was  foretold,  even  with  the  exact  date,'  several  years  before- 
hand. Sometimes  there  has  been  an  anticipation  of  some 
future  epoch  in  the  pregnant  sayings  of  eminent  philosophers 
or  poets ;  as  for  example  the  intimation  of  the  discovery  of 
America  by  Seneca,  or  of  Shakspere  by  Plato,  or  the  Refor- 
mation by  Dante.  Sometimes  the  same  result  has  been  pro- 
duced by  a  power  of  divination,  granted,  in  some  inexplicable 


'  M.in.' s  Representative  Government,  Testament,  pp.  2,  29. 
224.  ^  Spence  en  the  American    Union, 

2  De    Corona,    73.       See    Sir    E.  p.  7. 
SU'achey  on  the  Prophets  of  the  Old 

H   H   2 


468      ON  THE  NATUKE  OF  PEOPHETICAL  TEACHING,    lect.  xx. 

manner,  to  ordinary  men.     Of  such  a  kind  were  many  of 
the  ancient  oracles,  the  fulfilment  of  which,  according  to 
Cicero,^  could  not  be  denied  without  a   perversion   of  all 
history.     Such  was  the  foreshadowing  of  the  twelve  centuries 
of  Roman  dominion  by  the  legend  of  the  apparition  of  the 
twelve  vultures  to  Romulus,^  and  which  was  so  understood 
four  hundred  years  before  its  actual  accomplishment.^    Such, 
but  with  less  certainty,  was  the  traditional  prediction  of  the 
conquest  of  Constantinople  by  the  Mussulmans ;  the  alleged 
predictions  by  Archbishop  Malachi,   whether    composed  in 
the  eleventh  or  the  sixteenth  century,  of  the  series  of  Popes 
down  to  the  present  time ;  not  to  speak  of  the  well-known 
instances  which  are  recorded  both  in  French  and  English 
history.*     But  there  are  several  points  which  at  once  place 
the  Prophetic  predictions  on  a  different  level  from  any  of 
these.     It  is  not  that  they  are  more  exact  in  particulars  of 
time  and  place ;    none  can  be   more  so  than  that  of  the 
twelve  centuries  of  the  Roman  Empire ;  and  our  Lord  Him- 
self   has    excluded    the    precise    knowledge    of    times    and 
seasons  from  the  widest  and  highest  range  of  the  Prophetic 
vision.     The  difference  rather  lies  in  their  close  connexion 
with  the  moral   and   spiritual   character  of  the   Prophetic 
mission,  and  their  freedom  (for  the  most  part)  from  any  of 
those  fantastic  and  arbitrary  accompaniments  by  which  so 
many  secular  predictions  are  distinguished.    They  are  almost 
always  founded  on  the  denunciations  of  moral  evil,  or  the 
exaltation  of  moral  good,  not  on  the  mere  locahties  or  cities 
concerned.     The  nations  whose   doom  is  pronounced,  thus 
become  representatives  of  moral  principles  and  examples  to 


'  Be  Divinatione,  i.  19.  collection  in  Das  Buck  der  Wahr-und 

^  Gibbon,  ch.  35.  W'e/s-&_9'i<?2_(7e«,  published  at Ratisbon, 

'  ]l)id.  ch.  52.  1850,  or  in  the  smaller  French  work, 

*  For  theiJe,   and   many  other   in-  Le  Livre  de  tautcs   Im  Prophities   et 

stances  of  more  or  less  value,  see  a  Predictions,  Paris,  184  9. 


iECT.  XX.  OF   THE   FUTURE.  469 

all  ages  alike.  Israel,  Jerusalem,  Egypt,  Babylon,  Tyre,' 
are  personifications  of  states  or  principles  still  existing,  and 
thus  the  predictions  concerning  them  have,  as  Lord  Bacon 
says,  constantly  germinant  fulfilments.  The  secular  events 
which  are  thus  predicted,  are  (with  a  few  possible  excep- 
tions'*) within  the  horizon  of  the  Prophet's  age,  and  are  thus 
capable  of  being  turned  to  the  practical  edification  of  the 
Prophet's  own  age  and  country.  As  in  the  vision  of  Pisgah, 
the  background  is  suggested  by  the  foreground.  No  object 
is  introduced  which  a  contemporary  could  fail  to  appreciate 
and  understand  in  outline,  although  its  remoter  and  fuller 
meaning  might  be  reserved  for  a  far-distant  future.  These 
predictions  are  also,  in  several  striking  instances,  made 
dependent  on  the  moral  condition  of  those  to  whom  they 
are  addressed,  and  are  thus  divested  of  the  appearance  of 
blind  caprice  or  arbitrary  fate,  in  which  the  literal  pre- 
dictions of  both  ancient  and  modern  divination  so  much 
delight.  '  Yet  forty  days  and  Nineveh  shall  be  overthrown.' 
No  denunciation  is  more  absolute  in  its  terms  than  this ;  and 
of  none  is  the  frustration  more  complete.  The  true  Prophetic 
lesson  of  the  Book  of  Jonah  is,  that  there  was  a  principle 
in  the  moral  government  of  God,  more  sacred  and  more 
peremptory  even  than  the  accomplishment  of  the  most 
cherished  prediction.  '  Grod  saw  their  works,  that  they 
'  turned  from  their  evil  way ;  and  Grod  repented  of  the  evil, 
'  that  He  had  said  that  He  would  do  unto  them ;  and  He  did 
'  it  not.'  ^  What  here  appears  in  a  single  case  is  laid  down  as 
a  universal  rule  by  the  Prophet  Jeremiah.  '  At  what  instant 
'  I  shall  speak  concerning  a  nation  ...  to  destroy  it ;    if 

'  This    is    well    brought    out    in  else    admit    (on    quite    independent 

Arnold's    Sermons  on  Prophecy,  45-  grounds)    of      another     explanation, 

49.  Other  occasions  will  occur  for  treating 

^  The  cases  referred   to  are   such  them  in  detail, 

as  need  not  be  here  discussed.     They  '  Jonah  iii.  10. 
are  either  confessedly  exceptional,  or 


470      OX  THE  NATURE  OF  PROPHETICAL  TEACHIXG.     lect.  xx. 

'  that  nation  .  .  .  turn  from  their  evil,  I  will  repent  of  the 
'  evil  that  I  thought  to  do  unto  them.  And  at  what  instant 
'  I  shall  speak  concerning  a  nation  ...  to  build  and  to  plant 
'  it ;  if  it  do  evil  in  my  sight,  that  it  obey  not  my  voice,  then 

*  I  will  repent  of  the  good  wherewith  I  said  I  would  benefit 
'  them.' » 

With  these  limitations,  it  is  acknowledged  by  all  students 
of  the  subject,  that  the  Hebrew  prophets  made  predictions 
concerning  the  fortunes  of  their  own  and  other  countries 
which  were  unquestionably  fulfilled.^  There  can  be  no 
reasonable  doubt,  for  example,  that  Amos  foretold  the  cap- 
tivity and  return  of  Israel ;  and  Micah  the  fall  of  Samaria ; 
and  Ezekiel  the  fall  of  Jerusalem ;  and  Isaiah  the  fall  of 
Tyre ;  and  Jeremiah  the  limits  of  the  Captivity.  But,  even 
if  no  such  special  cases  could  be  proved,  the  grandeur  of  the 
position  which  the  Prophets  occupy  in  this  respect  is  one 
which  it  needs  no  attestation  of  any  particular  prediction 
to  enhance,  and  which  no  failure  of  any  particular  prediction 
can  impair.  From  those  lofty  watch-towers  of  Divine  spe- 
culation, from  that  moral  and  spiritual  height  which  raised 
them  far  above  the  rest  of  the  ancient  world,  they  saw  the 
rise  and  fall  of  other  nations,  long  before  it  was  visible 
to  those  nations  themselves.  '  They  were  the  first  in  all 
'  antiquity,'  it  has  been  well  said,^  '  to  perceive  that  the 
'  old  East  was  dead ;  they  celebrated  its  obsequies,  in  ad- 
'  vance  of  the  dissolution  which  they  saw  to  be  inevitable.' 
They  were,  as  Dean  Milman*  has  finely  expressed  it,  the 

*  great  Tragic  Chorus  of  the  awful  drama  that  was  unfolding 
'  itself  in  the  Eastern  world.  As  each,  independent  tribe  or 
'  monarchy  was  swallowed  up  in  the  universal  empire  of 
'  Assyria,  the  seers  of  Judah  watched  the  progress  of  the 
'  invader,  and  uttered  their  sublime  funeral  anthems  over 


'  Jer.  xviii.  7-9.  '  Quinet,  Genie  des  Eeligions,  p.  372. 

2  See  Ewald  (1st  ed.),  iii.  303.  ■•  History  of  the  Jews,  i.  298. 


LECT.  XX.  OF    THE   FUTURE.  471 

'  the  greatness  and  prosperity  of  Moab  and  Ammou,  Da- 
'  mascus  and  Tyre.'  And  in  those  funeral  laments  and  wide- 
reaching  predictions  we  trace  a  foretaste  of  that  universal 
sympathy  with  nations  outside  the  chosen  circle, — of  that 
belief  in  an  all-embracing  Providence, — which  has  now  be- 
come part  of  the  belief  of  the  highest  intelligence  of  the 
world.  There  may  be  many  innocent  questions  about  the 
date,  or  about  the  interpretation^  of  the  Book  of  Daniel,  and 
of  the  Apocalypse.  But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they 
contain  the  first  germs  of  the  great  idea  of  the  succession  of 
ages,  of  the  continuous  growth  of  empires  and  races  under 
a  law  of  Divine  Providence,  the  first  sketch  of  the  Educa- 
tion of  the  world,  and  the  first  outline  of  the  Philosophy  of 
History.^ 

2.  I  pass  to  the  second  grand  example  of  the  predictive  Messia 
spirit  of  the  Prophets.  It  was  the  distinguishing  mark  of  W^  ^^' 
the  Jewish  people  that  their  golden  age  was  not  in  the  past, 
but  in  the  future ;  that  their  greatest  Hero  (as  they  deemed 
Him  to  be)  was  not  their  founder,  but  their  founder's  latest 
descendant.  Their  traditions,  their  fancies,  their  glories,  ga- 
thered round  the  head  not  of  a  chief,  or  warrior,  or  sage  that 
had  been,  but  of  a  King,  a  Deliverer,  a  Prophet  who  was  to 
come.  Of  this  singular  expectation  the  Prophets  were,  if  not 
the  chief  authors,  at  least  the  chief  exponents.  Sometimes 
He  is  named,  sometimes  He  is  unnamed  ;  sometimes  He  is 
almost  identified  with  some  actual  Prince  of  the  comingf  or 
the  present  generation,  sometimes  He  recedes  into  the  distant 
ages.^  But  again  and  again,  at  least  in  the  later  Prophetic 
writings,  the  vista  is  closed  by  His  person,  His  character.  His 
reign.  And  almost  everywhere  the  Prophetic  spirit,  in  the 
delineation  of  His  coming,  remains  true  to  itself.  He  is  to 
be  a  King,  a  Conqueror,  yet  not  by  the  common  weapons  of 

^  See  Liicke,  On  S.  John,  iv.  154.  «  See  Ewald,  iii.  428-9. 


472      ON  THE  NATURE  OF  PROPHETICAL  TEACHING,     lect.  xx. 

earthly  warfare,  but  by  those  only  weapons  which  the  Pro- 
phetic order  recognised — by  justice,'  mercy,  truth,  and 
goodness, — by  suffering,  by  endurance,  by  identification  of 
Himself  with  the  joys,  the  sufferings  of  His  nation,  by  open- 
ing a  wider  sympathy  to  the  whole  human  race  than  had 
ever  been  opened  before.  That  this  expectation,  however 
explained,  existed  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  amongst  the 
Prophets,  is  not  doubted  by  any  theologians  of  any  school 
whatever.  It  is  no  matter  of  controversy.  It  is  a  simple 
and  universally  recognised  fact,  that,  filled  with  these  Pro- 
phetic images,  the  whole  Jewish  nation — nay,  at  last  the 
whole  Eastern  world — did  look  forward  with  longing  expec- 
tation to  the  coming  of  this  future  Conqueror.  Was  this 
unparalleled  expectation  realised  ?  And  here  again  I  speak 
only  of  facts  which  are  acknowledged  by  Germans  and 
Frenchmen,  no  less  than  by  Englishmen,  by  critics  and  by 
sceptics  even  more  fully  than  by  theologians  and  ecclesiastics. 
There  did  arise  out  of  this  nation  a  Character  by  universal 
consent  as  unparalleled  as  the  expectation  which  had  pre- 
ceded Him.  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was,  on  the  most  superficial 
no  less  than  on  the  deepest  view  we  take  of  His  coming,  the 
greatest  name,  the  most  extraordinary  power,  that  has  ever 
crossed  the  stage  of  History.  And  this  greatness  consisted 
not  in  outward  power,  but  precisely  in  those  qualities  on 
which  from  first  to  last  the  Prophetic  order  had  laid  the 
utmost  stress — justice  and  love,  goodness  and  truth. 

I  push  this  argument  no  further.  Its  force  is  weakened 
the  moment  we  introduce  into  it  any  controverted  detail. 
The  fact  which  arrests  our  attention  is,  that  side  by  side  with 
this  great  expectation  appears  the  great  climax  to  which  the 
whole  History  leads  up.  It  is  a  proof,  if  anything  can  be  a 
proof,  of  a  unity  of  design,  in  the  education  of  the  Jews,  in 

>  Ps.  xlv.  4,  Ixxii.  11-14;  Isa.  xl.  1-9,  liii.  1-9  ;  Jer.  xxxii.  15,  16. 


LECT.  XX.  OF   THE    FUTURE.  473 

the  history  of  the  world.  It  is  a  proof  that  the  events  of  the 
Christian  Dispensation  were  planted  on  the  very  centre  of 
human  hopes  and  fears.  It  is  a  proof  that  the  noblest  hopes 
and  aspirations  that  were  ever  breathed,  were  not  disap- 
pointed ;  and  that  when  '  Grod  spake  by  the  Prophets '  of  the 
coming  Christ,  He  spake  of  that  which  in  His  own  good 
time  He  was  certain  to  bring  to  pass. 

3.  There  is  one  further  class  of  predictions  which  still 
more  directly  connects  itself  with  the  general  spirit  of  the 
Prophetic  writings,  and  of  which  the  predictions  I  have 
already  noticed  only  form  a  part— those  which  relate  to  the 
P^uture,  as  a  ground  of  consolation  to  the  Church,  to  indi- 
viduals, to  the  human  race.  It  is  this  which  gives  to  the 
Bible  at  large  that  hopeful,  victorious,  triumphant  character, 
which  distinguishes  it  from  the  morose,  querulous,  narrow, 
desponding  spirit  of  so  much  false  religion,  ancient  and 
modern.  The  'power  of  the  Future. — This  is  the  fulcrum  by 
which  they  kept  up  the  hopes  of  their  country,  and  on  its 
support  we  can  rest  as  well  as  they. 

The  Future  of  the  Church. — I  need  not  repeat  those  Piedic- 
glorious  predictions  which  are  familiar  to  all.  But  their  of  the 
spirit  is  applicable  now  as  well  as  then.  Although,  in  this 
sense,  we  prophesy  and  predict,  as  it  were  at  second-hand 
from  them,  yet  our  anticipations  are  so  much  the  more 
certain  as  they  are  justified  and  confirmed  by  the  experience, 
which  the  Prophets  had  not,  of  two  thousand  years.  We 
may  be  depressed  by  this  or  that  failure  of  good  projects,  of 
lofty  aspirations.  But  the  Prophets  and  the  Bible  bid  us 
look  onward.  The  world,  they  tell  us,  as  a  whole  tends 
forwards  and  not  backwards.  The  losses  and  backslidings 
of  this  generation,  if  so  be,  will  be  repaired  in  the  advance 
of  the  next.  '  To  one  far-off  Divine  event,'  slowly  it  may 
be  and  uncertainly,  but  still  steadily  onwards,  '  the  whole 
creation  moves.'     Work  on  in  faith,  in  hope,  in  confidence : 


Church. 


Individual. 


474      OX  THE  NATURE  OF  PROPHETICAL  TEACHING,     lect.  xx. 

the  future  of  the  Church,  the  future  of  each  particular 
society  in  which  our  lot  is  cast,  is  a  solid  basis  of  cheerful 
perseverance.  The  very  ignorance  of  tlie  true  spirit  of  the 
Bible,  of  which  we  complain,  is  the  best  pledge  of  its  bound- 
less resources  for  the  future.  The  doctrines,  the  precepts, 
the  institutions,  which  as  yet  lie  undeveloped,  far  exceed  in 
richness,  in  power,  those  that  have  been  used  out,  or  been 
fully  applied. 
Predic-  The  Future  of  the  Individual. — Have  we   ever  thought 

tions  111  .  .    1 

of  the  of  the  immense  stress  laid  by  the  Prophets  on  this  mighty 

thought?  What  is  the  sentence  with  which  the  Church 
of  England  opens  its  morning  and  evening  service,  but  a 
Prophecy,  a  Prediction,  of  the  utmost  importance  to  every 
human  soul  ?  '  When  the  wicked  man  shall  turn  away  from 
'  his  wickedness,  and  doeth  that  which  is  lawful  and  right, 
^  he  shall  save  his  soul  alive.''  So  spoke  Ezekiel,^  advancing 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  Mosaic  law.  So  spoke  no  less 
Isaiah  ^  and  Micah  :  ^  '  Though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they 
'  shall  be  as  white  as  snow.'  '  He  will  turn  again ;  He  will 
'  have  compassion  upon  us.  He  will  subdue  our  iniquities. 
'  Thou  wilt  cast  all  their  sins  into  the  depths  of  the  sea.' 
So  spoke,  in  still  more  endearing  accents,  the  Prophet  of 
Prophets,  Jesus  Christ  Himself,  when  He  uttered  His  world- 
wide invitation,  '  Him  that  cometh  to  me,  I  will  in  no  wise 
*  cast  out.'  *  Her  sins,  which  are  many,  are  forgiven.'  '  Go 
'  and  sin  no  more.'  The  Future  is  everything  to  us,  the  Past 
is  nothing.  The  turn,  the  change,  the  fixing  our  faces  in 
the  right  instead  of  the  wrong  direction — this  is  the  diffi- 
culty, this  is  the  turning-point,  this  is  the  crisis  of  life. 
But,  that  once  done,  the  Future  is  clear  before  us.  The 
despondency  of  the  human  heart,  the  timidity  or  the  austerity 
of  Churches  or  of  sects,  may  refuse  this  great  Prophetic 

'  Ezek.  xviii.  27.  *  Isa.  i.  18.  »  Micah  vii.  19. 


Life. 


L£CT.  XX.  OF   THE   FUTURE.  475 

absolution ;  may  cling  to  penances  and  regrets  for  the 
past;  may  shrink  from  the  glad  tidings  that  the  good 
deeds  of  the  Future  can  blot  out  the  sorrows  and  the 
sins  of  the  Past.  But  the  whole  Prophetic  teaching  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testament  has  staked  itself  on  the  issue ; 
it  hazards  the  bold  prediction  that  all  will  be  well  when 
once  we  have  turned ;  it  bids  us  go  courageously  forward,  in 
the  strength  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  in  the  power  of  the  life  of 
Christ. 

There  is  yet  one  more  Future,  a  future  which  to  the  Predic- 
Prophets  of  old  was  almost  shut  out,  but  which  it  is  the  j7x,tui.e 
glory  of  the  Prophets  of  the  New  Dispensation  to  have 
predicted  to  us  with  unshaken  certainty — the  Future  life. 
In  this  respect,  the  predictions  of  the  latest  of  the  Prophets 
far  transcend  those  which  went  before.  The  heathen  phi- 
losophers were  content  with  guesses  on  the  immortal  future  of 
the  soul.  The  elder  Hebrew  Prophets  were  content,  for  the 
most  part,  with  the  consciousness  of  the  Divine  support  in 
this  life  and  through  the  terrors  of  death,  but  did  not  venture 
to  look  further.  But  the  Christian  Prophets,  gathering  up 
the  last  hopes  of  the  Jewish  Church  into  the  first  hopes  of 
the  Christian  Church,  throw  themselves  boldly  on  the  undis- 
covered world  beyond  the  grave,  and  foretell  that  there  the 
wishes  and  fears  of  this  world  will  find  their  true  accomplish- 
ment. To  this  Prediction,  so  confident,  yet  so  strange  at  the 
time,  the  intelligence  no  less  than  the  devotion  of  mankind 
has  in  the  course  of  ages  come  round.  Powerful  minds, 
which  have  rejected  much  besides  in  the  teaching  of  the 
Bible,  have  claimed  as  their  own  this  last  expectation  of  the 
simple  Prophetic  school,  which  founded  its  hopes  on  the 
events  of  that  first  Easter  day,  that  first  day  of  the  week, 
'when  life  and  immortality  were  brought  to  light.'  And 
it  is  a  prediction  which  shares  the  character  of  all  the  other 
truly  Prophetic  utterances,  in  that  it  directly  bears  on  the 


476      ON  THE  NATURE  OF  PEOPHETICAL  TEACHING,    lect.  xx. 

present  state  of  being.  Even  without  dwelling  on  the  special 
doctrine  of  judgment  and  retribution,  the  mere  fact  of  the 
stress  laid  by  the  Prophets  on  the  certainty  of  the  Future  is 
full  of  instruction,  hardly  perhaps  enough  borne  in  mind. 
Look  forwards,  we  sometimes  say,  a  few  days  or  a  few  months, 
and  how  differently  will  all  things  seem.  Yes ;  but  look 
forwards  a  few  more  years,  and  how  yet  more  differently 
will  all  things  seem.  From  the  height  of  that  Future,  to 
which  on  the  wings  of  the  ancient  Prophetic  belief  we  can 
transport  ourselves,  look  back  on  the  present.  Think  of 
our  troubles,  as  they  will  seem  when  we  know  their  end. 
Think  of  those  good  thoughts  and  deeds  which  alone  will 
survive  in  that  unknown  world.  Think  of  our  controversies, 
as  they  will  appear  when  we  shall  be  fain  to  sit  down  at 
the  feast  with  those  whom  we  have  known  only  as  opponents 
here,  but  whom  we  must  recognise  as  companions  there.  To 
that  Future  of  Futures  which  shall  fulfil  the  yearnings  of  all 
that  the  Prophets  have  desired  on  earth,  it  is  for  us,  wherever 
we  are,  to  look  onwards,  upwards,  and  forwards,  in  the  con- 
stant expectation  of  something  better  than  we  see  or  know. 
Uncertain  as  to  '  the  day  and  hour,'  ^  and  as  to  the  manner 
of  fulfilment,  this  last  of  all  the  Predictions  still,  like  those 
of  old,  builds  itself  upon  the  past  and  present.  *It  doth 
'  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be ;  but  we  know  that  when 

*  He  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  Him ;  for  we  shall  see  Him 

*  as  He  is.'  * 

>  Mark  xiii.  32.  "  1  John  iii.  2. 


APPENDIX  I. 

THE    TRADITIONAL    LOCALITIES    OP    ABRAHAM'S 
MIGRATION. 


APPENDIX   II. 
THE    CAVE    OP    MACHPELAH. 

APPENDIX   III. 
THE    SAMARITAN    PASSOVER. 


479 


APPENDIX  I. 


NOTE  A.  OX  LECTURE  I. 

TRADITIONAL  LOCALITIES   OF  ABRAHAMS   MIGRATION. 


I.   Wliere  vms  Ur  of  the  Chaldees  ? 

There  are  four  claimants  : — 

1.  Ur,  a  fortress  on  the  Tigris  nearHatra,  mentioned  only  Kaieh 
by  Ammianus  Marcellinus  (xxv.  8),  apparently  the  modern      ^^^^  '^*' 
Kaleh  Sherghat,  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Tigris,  between 

the  Greater  and  Lesser  Zab.^  To  this  no  traditional  sanctity 
is  attached.  The  arguments  in  its  favour  are,  (L)  The  identity 
of  its  ancient  name.  (2.)  The  distance  from  Haran  east- 
wards, which  agrees  better  than  that  of  the  other  three 
situations  with  the  indications  of  the  Sacred  narrative.  For 
the  authorities  in  its  behalf  see  Chwolson's  Sabier,  i.  313. 

2.  Warka,  on  the  present  eastern  bank  of  the  Euphrates,  Warka. 
above  the  junction  with  the  Tigris.    It  was  formerly  identified 

with  Ur  by  Sir  H.  Rawlinson,  on  the  grounds,  (1.)  Of  Arabic 
and  Talmudic  traditions,  of  which  he  gives  an  example  from 
a  MS.  in  his  possession.^  (2.)  Of  the  likeness  of  its  name  to 
Orchue,  one  of  the  Grecian  forms  of  Ur.  See  a  good  descrip- 
tion of  it  in  Loftus's  Ghcddoea  and  Susiana,  163. 

3.  Mugheyr,  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Euphrates,  close  Mugheyr. 
to  the  confluence  of  the  Two  Rivers.     It  is  now  identified  ^ 

'  Journal  of  Geog.  Society,  xi.  7.  '  AthoKBinn,     January    20,    1855, 

^  Journal   of  Asiatic   Socicti/,   xii.       pp.  84-95. 
48L 


480  UE   OF    THE    CHALDEES.  app.  i. 

with  Ur  by  Sir  H,  Rawlinson,  on  the  grounds,  (1.)  Of  the 
name  of  Uruhh  or  Hur^  found  on  cylinders  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. (2.)  *0f  the  remains  of  a  Temple  of  the  Moon,' 
whence,  perhaps,  tne  name  of  Camnarina  given  to  Ur  by 
Eupolemus.'  (3,)  Of  the  existence  of  a  district  called  Ibra, 
whence  he  derives  the  name  of  Hebrew.^  To  these  arguments 
may  be  added  the  apparent  identification,  by  Josephus,  of 
Chaldsea  with  Babylonia ;  — '  Terah  migrated  from  Chaldcea 
into  Mesopotamia.^ 
Orfa.  (4.)  Or/a  or  Urfa.  The  place  has  been  sufficiently  described 

in  Lecture  I.  p.  6. 

The  arguments  in  favour  of  its  identity  with  Ur  are  as 
follows : — 

(1.)  It  is  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Euphrates,  a  qualifi- 
cation of  Ur  required  not  only  by  the  usual  interpretation 
of  the  word  '  Hebrew,'  but  by  Josh.  xxiv.  3,  '  beyond  the 
river ; '  whereas  Mugheyr  now,  and  Warka  probably  in 
ancient  times,''  was  on  the  western  side. 

(2.)  The  general  tenor  of  the  narrative  closely  connects 
Ur  with  Haran  and  Aram.^  These  were  in  the  north- 
western portion  of  Mesopotamia  within  reach  of  Orfa. 

(3.)  Whatever  may  be  the  later  meanings  of  the  name 
Chasdim  or  Chalda'ans,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  Ar- 
pha-Chesed  (Arphaxad)  must  be  the  Arrapachitis  of  the 
north  ,^  and  that  in  this  connexion,  therefore,^  the  Chasdim 
spoken  of  must  be  in  the  north.* 

(4.)  The  local  features  of  Orfa,  as  above  described,  are 
guarantees  for  its  remote  antiquity  as  a  city. 

(5.)  The  traditions  are  at  least  as  strong  as  those  elsewhere, 
which    may  have  originated  in  the  anxiety  of  the  Jewish 

•  Eusob.  Pr(pp.  Ev.  ix.  17.  *  Gen.  xi.  27,  28,  31 ;  xii.  1-4. 

*  f^fe'Loitxis's  C/iald(eaand  Susiana,  *  Ptol.  Gcoq.  vi.  1. 
p.  131.  ■>  Gen.  xi.  10,  11,  28. 

*  Ant.  i.  6,  §  5.  »  See  Ewald,  Gcsch.  i.  378. 

♦  Loftus,  13i. 


APP.  I.  HARAN.  481 

settlement  of  Babylonia  to  claim  the  possession  of  their 
ancestor's  birthplace,  and  in  the  shifting  of  the  name  of 
Chaldaea. 

II.  Where  was  Haran  ? 

Till  within  the  last  year,  the  identity  of  the  Patriarchal 
Haran  with  that  in  the  north  of  Mesopotamia  (indicated  in 
Lecture  I.  p.  8)  had  never  been  doubted. 

Within  the  last  twelve  months,  Dr.  Beke  (in  letters  to  Haran. 
the  AthenaiUTYi ')  has  urged  the  claims  of  a  small  village 
called  Hdrrdn-el-Aivamid,  about  four  hours'  j  ourney  east  of 
Damascus,  on  the  western  border  of  the  lake  into  which  the 
Barada  and  the  Awaj  empty  themselves.  His  argument,  which 
further  requires  the  identification  of  Mesopotamia  (^Aram- 
NaJiaraim,  Aram  of  the  Two  Elvers)  with  the  plain  of 
Damascus  between  the  Barada  and  the  Awaj,  is  based,  (1.)  on 
the  identity  of  name,  '  Haran ; '  (2.)  on  the  supposed  likeness 
of  natural  features,  wells,  &c. ;  (3.)  on  the  journey  of  seven 
days  taken  by  Laban  between  Haran  and  Grilead';  which, 
though  suitable  for  a  journey  from  Damascus  to  Grilead,  seems 
too  short  a  time  for  a  journey  of  350  miles  from  the  Eu- 
phrates. The  first  and  second  arguments  prove  nothing  more 
for  the  Haran  of  Damascus  than  for  that  of  Mesopotamia. 
But  the  last  must  be  allowed  to  have  its  weight.  No  doubt 
the  natiu"al  construction  of  the  passage  in  Gren.  xxxi.  23,  is 
(as  given  in  Lecture  I.  p,  10),  that  seven  days  was  the  time 
usually  consumed  in  the  journey.  But,  in  the  face  of  the 
powerful  arguments  brought  by  Mr.  Porter,  Mr.  Ainsworth, 
and  Sir  Henry  Eawlinson,  in  favour  of  the  Mesopotamian 
Haran,^  this  single  expression  can  hardly  be  thought  to  turn 
the  scale.  The  number  may  be  a  round  number — the  start 
of  the  journey  may  be  from  some  intermediate  spot — or  the 
dromedaries  of   Laban  may  be  supposed  to  have  travelled 

'  Nov.  23, 1861 ;  Feb.  1,  15;  March  ^  Athenceum,  Nov.  30,  Dec.  7,  1861  ; 

1,  29  ;  and  May  24,  1862.  March  22  ;  April  6, 19  ;  May  24,  1862. 

I  I 


482  HARAN.  apf.  i. 

with  the  speed  of  'the  regular  Arab  post,  which  consumes 
'  no  more  than  eight  days  in  crossing  the  desert  from 
*  Damascus  to  Baghdad,  a  distance  of  nearly  500  miles.'  ' 
The  only  other  argument  which  might  be  adduced  seems  to 
me  to  be  that  Josephus,^  whilst  he  dwells  much  on  Abraham's 
stay  at  Damascus,  does  not  mention  Haran.  This  miglit  con- 
fcm  the  notion  that  Haran  and  Damascus  were  virtually  in 
the  same  region.  But  the  uniformity  of  tradition  in  favour 
of  the  Eastern  Haran,  the  absence  of  any  in  favour  of  the 
Western,  the  more  remarkable  from  the  abundance  of  other 
Patriarchal  and  Abrahamic  legends  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Damascus — the  difficulty  of  supposing  the '  Aram-Naharaim ' 
of  the  Hebrew  text  and  the  '  Mesopotamia '  of  the  LXX. 
to  be  the  country  of  the  Barada  and  Awaj,  and  'the  river' 
('the  Nahar'')  of  Gren.  xxxi.  21,  to  have  other  than  its 
usual  signification  of  the  Euphrates — are,  it  appears  to  me, 
almost  decisive  in  favour  of  the  old  interpretation. 

I  subjoin  a  narrative  of  an  excursion  taken  by  the  Rev.  S. 
Robson  (the  excellent  Protestant  Missionary  at  Damascus)  to 
Harran-el-Awamid,  in  the  spring  of  this  year,  at  my  request, 
to  examine  the  columns  which  remain  on  the  spot,  and 
which  have  given  it  its  present  name. 

*  Last  month,  Mr.  Sandwith,  Mr.  Crawford,  and  I  went  to 
'Harran-el-Awamid.  We  started  at  five  o'clock  in  the 
'  morning,  and  rode  there  at  a  walking  pace  in  four  hours 
'  and  a  quarter.     We  returned  to  the  city  in  the  evening. 

'We  could  not  form  an  opinion  as  to  the  kind  or  the 
'  form  of  the  building,  to  which  the  three  columns  now 
'  standing  had  belonged.  In  different  parts  of  the  village 
*  there  are  pieces  of  columns  of  the  same  black  stone,  but 
'  of  small  diameters,  and  there  are  large  dressed  stones  of 
'  the  same  material,  which  evidently  were  in  ancient  build- 
'  ings.  The  first  house,  in  the  west  of  the  village,  is  the 
»  Athenmm,  April  19,  p.  530.  ^  Ant.  i.  7,  §  2. 


APF.  I.  HARAN.  483 

'  Mosque.  Attached  to  it  is  a  large  yard,  in  which  is  a  well, 
'  with  two  or  three  stone  troughs,  used  for  ablutions.  The 
'  well  and  the  troughs  are  in  a  small  building,  and  here 
'  is  the  Greek  inscription.  It  is  on  a  piece  of  a  column 
'  five  or    six   feet  long,  and    fourteen    or    fifteen  inches  in 

*  diameter.  It  lies  horizontally,  in  the  angle  between  the 
'  wall  and  the  ground — one  side  a  little  in  the  wall,  and 
'  another  a  little  in  the  ground.  The  beginnings  of  the 
'lines  of  the  inscription  are  visible,  but  the  ends  are  on 
'the  lower  side  of  the  stone  in  the  ground.     Apparently 

*  there  had  been  four  lines.     The  whole  is  greatly  worn  and 

*  defaced,  but  several  letters  in  the  first  line,  and  two  in  the 

*  second,  are  legible  as  below  : — 

AAUA  (CONSn  .... 
.  A  .  O    . 


'The  mark  (  between  A  and  C  in  the  first  line  I  do  not 
'  understand,  and  the  11  was  doubtful  to  us.  We  could  not 
'  guess  at  a  single  letter  in  the  third  and  fourth  lines.  The 
'  inscription  had  not  been  carefully  cut ;  the  letters  were  not 
'  well  formed,  nor  of  the  same  size,  and  the  lines  were  not 
'  quite  straight. 

'  The  people  showed  great  unwillingness  to  have  the  stone 
'  moved.  The  inscription  is  so  much  defaced,  that  we  could 
'  not  read  even  the  first  line  as  far  as  it  is  exposed,  and  it 
'  seemed  most  likely  that,  if  the  whole  were  uncovered,  we 
'  would  find  hardly  another  letter  legible.  I  confess  also 
*  that  I  doubted  much  whether  the  inscription  would  prove 
'  of  any  consequence  if  we  had  the  whole  of  it.  The  result 
'  was  that  we  gave  up  our  design  of  moving  the  stone.  The 
'  water  in  the  well  stood  only  five  or  six  feet  below  the 
'  surface  of  the  ground,  and  the  supply  is  evidently  abundant, 
'  It  is  used  chiefly  for   ablutions  and  for  drinking,  by  the 

112 


484  HARAN.  a  pp.  i. 

'  people  when  in  the  Mosque,  but  never  for  watering  cattle. 
'  It  tasted  to  us  slightly  brackish.  There  is  another  well 
'  outside  the  yard  of  the  Mosque.  The  water  in  it  was  only 
'  two  or  three  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  ground,  but  it  is 
'  stagnant,  and  is  never  used  now  for  any  purpose.  There 
'  are  no  wells  in  or  around  the  village  except  these  two. 

*  The  whole  region  is  remarkably  level,  and  is  well  culti- 
'  vated.  There  were  very  large  fields  of  wheat  all  around.  I 
'  do  not  know  that  any  land  near  the  village  is  now  used  only 
'  for  pasture.  There  is  abundance  of  water  for  irrigation  and 
'  other  purposes.     The  cattle  drink  from  ponds,  of  which 

*  there  are  several  near  the  village.  Water  for  drinking  and 
'  cooking  is  taken  from  what  the  people  call  "  the  river,"  an 
'  artificial  stream  constructed  in  the  mode  described  in 
'  Porter's  Five  Years  in  Damascus.  The  Barada  is  distant 
*"  more  than  half  an  hoiu-  to  the  north,  and  the  lakes  some  two 
'  hours  to  the  east.    Probably  the  artificial  river  did  not  exist 

*  in  the  time  of  Eebekah,  but  the  water  now  abundant  on  or 
'  near  the  surface  of  the  ground,  was  perhaps  even  more  so 
'  then.     But  the  Harran  near  Orfah  in  Mesopotamia  has  also, 

*  it  is  said,  an  abundant  supply  of  water  from  several  small 
'  streams  near  it. 

'  Is  it  in  the  least  probable  that  the  Grreek  inscription  could 

*  throw  any  light  on  the  question  about  this  place  ?  At  most 
'  it  could  only  give  an  ancient  tradition,  and  if  such  a  tra- 
'  dition  ever  existed,  how  have  all  traces  of  it  disappeared 

*  from  books  and  from  among  the  people  ?  Do  not  the  tra- 
'  ditions  of  Jews,  Moslems,  and  Christians  point  to  one  place 
'  in  the  region  between  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris  still  called 

*  "  Mesopotamia  "  ("  between  the  rivers,"  bem-en-naharein) 
'  in  Arabic,  as  it  appears  to  have  been  called  in  Hebrew. 

*The  name  Harran  has  not  a  form  usual  in  Arabic, 
'  and  native  scholars  tell  me  the  name  is  not  Arabic. 
'  Hdrrdn,  the  Arabic  name  of  the  town  beyond  the  Euphrates, 


App.  I.  BIRZEH.  485 

'  has  an  Arabic  form  as  if  from  Jiarar,  heat,  and  may  mean  a 
'  hot  or  burned  place.' 

For  the  whole  history  of  the  Mesopotamian  Haran,  see  the 
learned  chapter  in  Chwolson's  Sahier,  Book  i.  ch.  x. — Harran 
und  die  Hdrranier. 

III.  The  Place  of  Abraham,  at  Birzeh  near  Damascus.         Birzoh. 

'  The  name  of  Abraham  is  still  famous  at  Damascus, 
'  and  there  is  shown  a  village  named  from  him  called 
*  "  the  habitation  of  Abraham  " '  {otK-qaris  ^A/Spafiov).  So 
Josephus  ^  concludes  a  quotation  from  the  lost  work  of 
Nicolaus  of  Damascus,  whether  in  his  own  words,  or  those  of 
Nicolaus,  does  not  appear.  Mr.  Porter  ^  first  called  attention 
to  this  passage  in  connexion  with  the  fact  that  'in  the 
'  village  of  Birzeh,  one  hour  north  of  Damascus,  there  is 
'  a  chapel  known  by  the  name  of  the  Patriarch,  Mesjid 
'  Ibrahim,  held  in  high  veneration  by  the  Moslems,  Pilgrim- 
'  ages  are  made  to  it  at  a  certain  season  every  year,'  at  which 
takes  place  a  miraculous  procession — like  that  of  the  Doseh 
at  Cairo — of  a  Dervish  riding  over  the  bodies  of  his  followers. 
He  adds  that  Ibn  'Asaker  (in  his  history  of  Damascus,  written 
before  the  sixth  century  of  the  Hejra)  gives  a  long  account 
of  it,  and  says,  that  '  here  Abraham  worshipped  God,  when 
'  he  turned  back  from  the  pursuit  of  the  kings  who  had 
'  plundered  Sodom,  and  had  carried  away  Lot.' 
%•  In  consequence  of  this  notice,  I  visited  the  spot  in  the 
spring  of  1862.  The  village  lies  at  the  entrance  of  tlie 
defile  which  penetrates  into  the  hills  at  the  N.W.  corner  of 
the  Damascus  plain  on  the  road  to  Helbon.  Through  the 
defile  rushes  out  a  rivulet  lined  with  verdure.  A  large 
walnut-tree  stands  in  front  of  the  irregular  homely  mosque 
which  is  built  on  the  craggy  side  of  the  barren  range.  Its 
upper   story  is   occupied  by  the  chamber  opening  into  the 

'  Ant.  i.  7,  §  2.  *  Five  Years  in  Damascus,  i.  82. 


486  TRADITIONS   OF    ABRAHAM.  app.  i. 

sacred  cavern ;  its  lower  story  serves  for  the  accommodation 
of  pilgrims.  I  subjoin  the  account  of  it,  and  of  the  legend 
attached  to  it,  from  a  letter  of  Mr.  Eobson,  who  afterwards 
kindly  explored  the  mosque  for  me  in  detail : — 

'  We  crossed  a  very  small  court,  and  entered  a  very  plain 

*  mosque  about  thirty  feet  long  and  eighteen  or  twenty  feet 
'  wide.  It  stands  against  the  side  of  the  mountain,  and  the 
'  north  part  of  the  west  wall  is  partly  formed  of  the  native 

*  rock.     At  that  part  is  a  small  square  gallery,  from  which 

*  we  walked  into  a  narrow  crooked  passage  in  the  rock.     It 

*  is  a  natural  cleft  from  two  to  three  feet  wide,  and  extend- 

*  ing  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  into  the  hill.  At  the  end  of  it, 
'  where  it  is  quite  dark,  there  is  some  reddish  clay,  which  is 
'  regarded  as  peculiarly  sacred,  and  visitors  usually  carry 
'  away  a  little  of  it.     There  were  inscriptions  on  the  walls  of 

*  the  mosque  of  the  kind  usually  found  in  such  places. 

*  The  legend  I  shall  briefly  give  as  we  heard  it  on  the 
'  spot.  Nimrod  was  warned  that  a  child  to  be  born  and  to 
'  be  named  Abraham  would  overthrow  his  power,  and  he 
'  ordered  his  Wezeer  to  cause  all  women  with  child  in  his 
'  dominions  to  be  seized,  and  the  infants  destroyed.  The 
'Wezeer's  daughter  was  married  to  Abraham's  father,  and 
'  he  desired  his  son-in-law  to  take  care  that  his  wife  did  not 
'  become  pregnant.  She  became  pregnant  notwithstanding, 
'  but  she  successfully  concealed  her  state  from  her  father  and 
'  every  one.     When  the  time  of  her  delivery  came,  she  fled 

*  from  her  home  in  Bethlehem,  and  wandered  on  till  she  came 
'  to  Birzeh,  when  the  cleft  we  saw  opened  before  her,  and 
'  she  entered  and  Abraham  was  born.  It  was  then  that  the 
'  clay  was  tinged  red.  Fearing  Nimrod,  she  concealed  the 
'  infmt  in  the  hole  for  a  long  time,  coming  occasionally  from 
'  Bethlehem  to  nurse  him. 

'This  story  seems  to  be  implicitly  believed  by  the  at- 
'  tendants   and  visitors  at  the  mosque,  the   villagers,  and 


App.  I.  BIKZEH.  487 

'  the  common  people  of  the  city.  It  is,  however,  only  a 
'  vulgar  legend.     Literary  Moslems  disavow  it.     With  them 

*  the  Makam  Ihralivm  is  simply  a  Mesjid  to  Ibrahim — 
'  a  mosque  or  place  of  worship  sacred  or  consecrated  to 
'  Abraham.  This  is  all  the  learned  say  of  the  place.  I 
'  lately  saw  an  Arabic  MS.  account  of  the  Moslem  holy 
'  places  in  Syria,  composed  by  a  man  who  was  judge  (kady) 
'  of  Erzeroum,  two  or  three  hundred  years  ago.  In  this 
'  book  the  place  at  Birzeh  is  described  just  as  I  have  stated 

*  above.  Neither  in  it,  nor  in  conversation,  have  I  found 
'  any  reason  assigned  for  the  connexion  of  the  name  of  the 

*  patriarch  with  the  place,  or  any  tradition  of  his  having 
'  ever  visited  it. 

*  Learned  Moslems  are  very  strict  and  critical  in  judging 
Hhe  claims  of  sacred  graves  and  other  holy  places.      For 

*  instance,  the  grave  of  Mohammed  is  attested  by  a  series 
'  of  legal  documents,  a  new  one  being  drawn  up  every  year ; 
'and  this  is  the  only  grave  of  a  prophet  which  they  will 
'  admit  to  be  certainly  known.  Even  the  graves  of  the 
'patriarchs  at  Hebron  are  regarded  as  only  the  supposed  and 
'  probable  resting-places  of  those  whose  name  they  bear.' 

Note  to  p.  484. 

Since  this  was  printed,  Dr.  Beke  has  commimicated  an  account  of 
his  journey  to  Harran-el-Awamid  to  the  Geographical  Society.  His 
description  of  the  strongly-marked  character  of  the  hills  of  Gilead, 
as  the  easternmost  boundary  of  Palestine,  is  well  worthy  of  notice. 


488 


APPENDIX  II. 

THE    CAVE    OP    MACHPELAH. 

In  my  Lecture  on  the  History  of  Abraham  (p.  35),  I  enlarged 
on  the  interest  attached  to  the  Cave  of  Machpelah.  At  that 
time  I  little  thought  that  I  should  ever  be  enabled  to  pene- 
trate within  the  inaccessible  sanctuary  which  surrounds  it. 
This  privilege  I  owe  to  the  effort  made  by  His  Koyal  High- 
ness the  Prince  of  Wales,  in  1862,  to  obtain  an  entrance  into 
the  Mosque  of  Hebron ;  •  the  success  of  which  gave  to  his 
Eastern  journey  a  peculiar  value,  such  as  has  attached  to  the 
visit  of  no  other  European  Prince  to  the  Holy  Land. 
The  Cave  The  Cave  of  Machpelah  is  described  in  the  Book  of  Genesis 
°^i  V,  "  "^th  a  particularity  almost  resembling  that  of  a  legal  deed. 
The  name  of  'Machpelah,'  or  rather  'the  Machpelah,' 
appears  to  have  belonged  to  the  whole  district  or  property,^ 
though  it  is  applied  sometimes  to  the  cave,^  and  some- 
times to  the  field.^  The  meaning  of  the  word  is  quite 
uncertain,  though  that  of  '  double,'  ^  which  is  adopted  in 
all  the  ancient  versions  (almost  always  as  if  applied  to 
the  cave),  is  the  most  probable.  In  this  *  Machpelah'  was 
a  field,  '  a  cultivated  field,'  which  belonged  not  to  one  of 
the  Amorite   chiefs — Aner,  Eshcol,  or   Mamre — but   to   a 

'  For  a  more  complete  account  of  the  (the)  Machpelah.' 

incidents  of  this  visit,  see  Appendix  I.  ■*  Gen.  xxiii.  19;    xlix.   30;  1.   13. 

to  Sermons  f  reached  in  the  East  before  '  The  field  of  (the)  Machpelah.' 

the  Prince  of  Wales.  *  '  Spelunca  duplex,'  Vulgate,      rh 

^  Gen.    xxiii.    17.       'The    field    of  (nnj\atov,  rh  SiirXovu,    LXX.  passim. 

Ephron,  which  was  in  Machpelah.'  Syriac,  passim,  except  in  Gen.  1.  13, 

'  Ibid.  9  :    xxv.  9.      '  The   cave  of  where  it  is  '  the  double  field.' 


APP.  11.  THE   CAVE    OF   MACHPELAH.  489 

Hittite,  Ephron  the  son  of  Zobar.^  The  field  was  planted,  as 
most  of  those  around  the  vale  of  Hebron,  with  trees ;  olives, 
terebinths,  or  ilexes.  At  one  '  end,'  ^  probably  the  upper  end, 
was  a  cavot  The  whole  place  was  *  in  the  face  of  Mamre,'  ^ 
that  is,  as  it  would  seem,  opposite  the  oaks  or  terebinths  of 
Mamre  the  Amorite,  where  Abraham  had  pitched  his  tent.  In 
this  case,  it  would  be  immediately  within  view  of  his  encamp- 
ment ;  and  the  open  mouth  of  the  cave  may  be  supposed  to 
have  attracted  his  attention  long  before  he  made  the  proposal 
which  ended  in  his  purchase  of  this,  his  first  and  only  pro- 
perty in  the  Holy  Land.  '  There  they  buried  Abraham  and 
'  Sarah  his  wife ;  there  they  buried  Isaac  and  Eebekah  his 
^  wife ;  and  there,'  according  to  the  dying  speech  of  the  last 
of  the  Patriarchs,  '  Jacob  buried  Leah ; '  and  there  he  him- 
self was  buried*  'in  the  cave  of  the  field  of  Machpelah, 
'which  Abraham  bought  for  a  possession  of  a  burial-place 
'  from  Ephron  the  Hittite  before  Mamre.'  ^ 

This  is  the  last  BibHcal  notice  of  the  Cave  of  Machpelah. 
After  the  close  of  the  Book  of  G-enesis,,no  mention  is  made 
of  it  in  the  Scriptures.  In  the  speech  of  Stephen,^  by  a 
singular  variation,  the  tomb  at  Shechem  is  substituted  for 
it.  It  is  not  even  mentioned  in  the  account  of  Caleb's  con- 
quest of  Hebron,  or  of  David's  reign  there.  The  only 
possible  allusion  is  the  statement  in  Absalom's  life,^  that  he 
had  vowed  a  pilgrimage  to  Hebron. 

But  the  formal  and  constant  reference  to  it  in  the  Book  of 


'  Gen.  xxiii.  8 ;  xxv.  9.  of  Abraham,  or  (what  is  more  im- 

^  Gen.  xxiii.  9.  portant)  of  the  place  of  the  sacred 

'  This  interpretation  of  the  words  '  terebinth '   worshipped    as  the  spot 

'before'  or  'in  the  face  of  '  Mamre,  of  his  encampment,  five  miles  to  the 

would  require  that  Mamre  should  be  north  of  Hebron.    The  Vulgate  trans- 

on  the  hill  immediately  to  the  south  lates  the  words,  '  e  regionc' 

of  the  modern  town  of  Hebron.     It  *  Gen.  xlix.  30. 

must  be  admitted  that  such  a  position  *  Ibid.  1.  13. 

is   inconsistent   with   the   traditional  ^  Acts  vii.  16. 

locality  either  of  the  existing  '  oak  '  '  2  Sam.  st.  7. 


490  THE    CAVE   OF   MACHPELAH.      •  app.  ii. 

Genesis  is  a  sufficient  guarantee  not  only  for  a  spot  of  that 
name  having  existed  from  early  times,  but  also  for  its  having 
been  known  at  the  time  of  the  composition  of  the  book  and 
of  its  introduction  into  the  Jewish  Canon.  That  cannot  be 
earlier,  on  any  hypothesis,  than  the  time  of  Moses,  nor  later 
than  the  times  of  the  Monarchy. 
The  En-  We  are  not  left,  however,  entirely  in  the  dark.     Josephus, 

in  his  Antiquities,  tells  us  that  there  were  'monuments 
built  there  by  Abraham  and  his  descendants  ; '  ^  and  in  his 
Jeivish  War,  that  'the  monuments  of  Abraham  and  his 
sons'  (apparently  alluding  to  those  already  mentioned  in 
the  Antiquities)  'were  still  shown  at  Hebron,  of  beautiful 
marble,  and  admirably  worked.'  ^  These  monuments  ^  can 
hardly  be  other  than  what  the  'Bourdeaux  Pilgrim,'  in 
A.D.  333,  describes  as  '  a  quadrangle  of  stones  of  astonishing 
beauty ; '  and  these  again  are  clearly  those  which  exist  at 
the  present  day — the  massive  enclosure  of  the  Mosque.  The 
tradition,  thus  carried  up  unquestionably  to  the  age  of 
Josephus,  is  in  fact  carried  by  the  same  argument  much 
higher.  For  the  walls,  as  they  now  stand,  and  as  Josephus 
speaks  of  them,  must  have  been  built  before  his  time.  The 
terms  which  he  uses  imply  this ;  and  he  omits  to  mention 
them  amongst  the  works  of  Herod  the  Great,  the  only  poten- 
tate who  could  or  would  have  built  them  in  his  time,  and 
amongst  whose  buildings  they  must  have  occupied,  if  at  all, 
a  distinguished  place.  But,  if  not  erected  by  Herod,  there  is 
then  no  period  at  which  we  can  stop  short  of  the  Monarchy. 
So  elaborate  and  costly  a  structure  is  inconceivable  in  the 
disturbed  and  impoverished  state  of  the  nation  after  the 
Return.  It  is  to  the  kings,  at  least,  that  the  walls  must  be 
referred,  and,  if  so,  to  none  so  likely  as  one  of  the  sovereigns  to 
whom  they  are  ascribed  by  Jewish  and  Mussulman  tradition, 

'  Ant.  i.  14.  '  For  the   later  list   of   witnesses 

«  B.  J.  iv.  9,  §  7.  see  Robinson's  B.  R.  ii.  77,  78. 


Apr.  II.  THE   ENCLOSUEE.  491 

David  or  Solomon.'  Beyond  this  we  can  hardly  expect  to 
find  a  continuous  proof.  But  by  this  time,  we  have  almost 
joined  the  earlier  tradition  implied  in  the  reception  of  the 
Book  of  Genesis,  with  its  detailed  local  description,  into  the 
Jewish  Sacred  Books. 

With  this  early  origin  of  the  present  enclosure  its  ap- 
pearance fully  agrees.^  With  the  long  continuity  of  the 
tradition  agrees  also  the  general  character  of  Hebron  and  its 
vicinity.  There  is  no  spot  in  Palestine,  except,  perhaps. 
Mount  Gerizim,  where  the  genius  loci  has  been  so  slightly 
disturbed  in  the  lapse  of  centuries.  There  is  already  a 
savour  of  antiquity  in  the  earliest  mention  of  Hebron, 
'  built  seven  years  before  Zoan  in  Egjrpt.'  ^  In  it  the  names 
of  the  Amorite  inhabitants  *  were  preserved  long  after 
they  had  perished  elsewhere ;  and  from  the  time  that  the 
memory  of  Abraham  first  began  to  be  cherished  there  it 
seems  never  to  have  ceased.  The  oak,  the  *  antediluvian 
oak,'  ^  '  the  Terebintli,  as  old  as  the  Creation,'  ^  were  shown 


'  The  Mussulman  name  at  the  pre-  wide,  and  5  feet  apart,  running  the 

sent  day  for  the  enclosure  is  '  the  wall  entire    height    of    the    ancient   wall, 

of  Solomon.'  There  are  eight  of  these  pilasters  at 

^  The  peculiarities  of  the  masonry  the  ends,  and  sixteen  at  the  sides  of 

are  these: — (1.)  Some  of  the  stones  the  enclosure.    These  observations  are 

are  very  large ;  Dr.  Wilson  mentions  taken   partly  fi'om   Mr.    Grove,    who 

one  38  feet  long,  and  3  feet  4  inches  visited  Hebron  in   1859,  partly  from 

deep;  others  are  16  feet  long,  and  5  feet  Dr.  Eobinson  {B.E.  ii.  75,  76).     The 

high.     The  largest  in  the  Haram  wall  length  and  breadth  are  given  by  Dr. 

at  Jerusalem  is  24|^  feet.    But  yet  (2.)  Eobinson    respectively    at    200    and 

the  surface,  in  splendid  preservation,  150  feet,  by  Signor  Pierotti  at  198|- 

is  very  finely  worked,  more  so  than  and   113^  feet,  who  also  makes  the 

the  finest  of  the  stones  at  the  south  ancient  wall  48  feet  high,  and  6^  feet 

and   south-west   portion   of   the   en-  thick, 

closure    at   Jerusalem ;    the    sunken  ^  Num.  xiii.  22. 

part  round  the  edges  (sometimes  called  *  Judg.  i.  10. 

the    'bevel')    very    shallow,   with  no  ^  Ant.i.  10,  §  A:,  t})v  '  Ci-y  vyriv  KaXov- 

resemblance  at    all  to  more  modern  fxevriv   Spvv.      Dr.   Rosen    conjectures 

'rustic  work.'     (3.)  The  cross  joints  that  this  is  the  oak  stCJ  shown  under 

are  not  always  vertical,  but  some  are  the  name  of  Sibteh. 

oblique.      (4.)  The   wall   is   divided  «  B.  J.  iv.  9,  §  7. 
by  pilasters   about   2  feet  6  inches 


492  THE    CAVE    OF   MACHPELAH.  app.  ii. 

in  the  time  of  Josephus.  The  Terebinth  gave  to  the  spot 
where  it  stood  the  name  which  lingers  there  down  to  the 
present  day,^  centuries  after  the  tree  itself  has  disappeared. 
The  fair  held  beneath  it,  the  worship  offered,  show  that  the 
Patriarch  was  regarded  almost  as  a  Divinity.  His  name 
became  identified  not  only  with  the  sepulchral  quadrangle, 
'  The  Castle  of  Abraham,'  but  with  the  whole  place.  The 
Mussulman  name  of  *El-khalil,'  'The  Friend'  (of  God), 
has  as  completely  superseded  in  the  native  population  the 
Israelite  name  of  '  Hebron,'  as  the  name  of  '  Hebron '  had 
already  superseded  the  Canaanite  name  of  '  Kirjath-arba.' 
The  town  itself,  which  in  ancient  times  must  have  been  at 
some  distance  (as  is  implied  in  the  original  account  of  the 
purchase  of  the  burial-place)  from  the  sepulchre,  has  de- 
scended from  the  higher  ground  on  which  it  was  formerly 
situated,  and  clustered  round  the  tomb  which  had  become 
the  chief  centre  of  attraction.  A  similar  instance  may  be 
noted  in  the  name  of  El-Lazarieh,  applied  to  Bethany,  from 
the  reputed  tomb  of  Lazarus,  round  which  the  modern  village 
has  gathered.  In  our  own  country  a  parallel  may  be 
observed  at  St.  Alban's.  The  town  of  Vervilam  has  crossed 
the  river  from  the  northern  bank  on  which  it  formerly  stood, 
and  has  climbed  the  southern  hill  in  order  to  enclose  the 
grave  of  S.  Alban,  whose  name,  in  like  manner,  has  entirely 
superseded  that  of  the  original  Verulam. 

For  the  sake  of  this  sacred  association,  the  town  has  become 
one  of  the  Four  Holy  Places  of  Islam  and  of  Judaism — the 
other  three  in  the  sacred  group  being,  in  the  case  of  Islam, 
Mecca,  Medinah,  and  Jerusalem ;  in  the  case  of  Judaism, 
Jerusalem,  Safed,  and  Tiberias.  The  Mosque  is  said  to  have 
been  founded  and  adorned  in  the  successive  reigns  of  Sultan 

'  The  field  immediately  north-east       katli-el-Butm,'    '  Field   of    the    Tere- 
of  the  building  called  Ramet-el-Khalil,       binth.' 
is  known  by  the  name  of  the  '  Hal- 


APP.  II.         THE   VISIT   OF   THE   PRIXCE    OF   WALES.  493 

Kelaoun,  and  of  his  son  Naser-Mohammed,  in  the  thirteenth 
and  fourteenth  centuries.  Its  property  consists  of  some  of 
the  best  land  in  the  plains  of  Sharon  and  Philistia. 

But  of  all  the  proofs  of  the  sanctity  of  the  place  the  most 
remarkable  is  the  impenetrable  mystery  in  which  the  sanc- 
tuary has  been  involved,  being  in  fact  a  living  witness  of  the 
unbroken  local  veneration  with  which  the  three  religions  of 
Jew,  Christian,  and  Mussulman  have  honoured  the  great 
Patriarch.  The  stones  of  the  enclosure  have,  as  has  been 
said,  been  noticed  from  the  time  of  Josephus  downwards.  The 
long  roof  of  the  Mosque,  the  upper  part  of  its  windows,  the 
two  minarets  at  the  south-west  and  north-east  corners  rising 
above  the  earlier  and  later  walls  of  the  enclosure,  have  been 
long  famihar  to  travellers.  But  what  lay  within  had,  till 
within  the  present  year,  been  a  matter,  if  not  of  total  igno- 
rance, yet  of  uncertainty  more  provoking  than  ignorance 
itself.  There  were  confused  accounts '  of  an  early  Christian 
Church,  of  a  subsequent  mosque,  of  the  cave  and  its 
situation,  which  transpired  through  widely  contradictory 
statements  of  occasional  Jewish  and  Christian  pilgrims, 
Antoninus,  Arculf,  and  Ssewulf,  Benjamin  of  Tudela,  and 
Maundeville,  For  the  six  hundred  years  since  the  Mussul- 
man occupation,  in  A.n.  1187,  no  European,  except  in  dis- 
guise, was  known  to  have  set  foot  within  the  sacred  precincts. 
Three  accounts  alone  of  such  visits  have  been  given  in  modern 
times ;  one,  extremely  brief  and  confused,  by  Giovanni  Finati, 
an  Italian  servant  of  jNIr.  Bankes,  who  entered  as  a  Mus- 
sulman;^ a  second,  by  an  English  clergyman,  Mr.  Monro, 
who,  however,  does  not  profess  to  speak  from  his  own  tes- 
timony ;  ^  a  third,  by  far  the  most  distinct,  by  the  Spanish 

'  Of  these  there  is  a  collection  in  part  ii.  pp.  239-242. 

the  Appendix  to  Quatremere's  Trans-  -  Travels  of  Finati,  1830,  ii.  236. 

lation  of  the  History  of  the  Mamelook  ^  Summer  Bamhle  in  Syria,  1835, 

Sultans  of  Egypt,   published  by  the  i.  242. 
Oriental   Translation    Fund,    vol.    i. 


,  494  THE    CAVE    OF   MACHPELAH.  app.  ii. 

renegade  Badia,  or  '  Ali  Bey.'  ^  While  the  other  sacred  places 
in  Palestine — the  Mosque  at  Jerusalem  within  the  last  ten 
years,  the  Mosque  of  Damascus  within  the  last  two  years 
- — have  been  thrown  open,  at  least  to  distinguished  travellers, 
the  Mosque  of  Hebron  still  remained,  even  to  royal  per- 
sonages, hermetically  sealed. 

To  break  through  this  mystery,  to  clear  up  this  uncer- 
tainty, even  irrespectively  of  the  interest  attaching  to  the 
spot,  was  felt  by  those  most  concerned  to  be  an  object 
not  unworthy  of  the  first  visit  of  a  Prince  of  Wales  to  the 
Holy  Land. 
The  Visit  From  the  moment  that  the  Eastern  expedition  was  defini- 
Prino;  of  lively  arranged  in  January  1862,  it  was  determined  by  His 
Wales.  Royal  Highness  and  his  advisers  that  the  attempt  should  be 
made,  if  it  were  found  compatible  with  prudence,  and  with 
the  respect  due  to  the  religious  feelings  of  the  native  popu- 
lation. On  arriving  at  Jerusalem,  the  first  inquiry  was  as  to 
the  possibility  of  accomplishing  this  long-cherished  design. 
Mr.  Finn,  the  English  Consul,  had  already  prepared  the  way, 
by  requesting  a  Firman  from  the  Porte  for  this  purpose. 
The  Grovernment  at  Constantinople,  aware  of  the  susceptible 
fanaticism  of  the  population  of  Hebron,  sent,  instead  of 
a  direct  order,  a  Vizierial  letter  of  recommendation  to  the 
Governor  of  Jerusalem,  leaving  in  fact  the  whole  matter  to 
his  discretion.  The  Governor,  Suraya  Pasha, — partly  from 
the  natural  difficulties  of  the  proposed  attempt,  partly,  it 
may  be,  from  his  own  personal  feeling  on  the  subject, — held 
out  long  and  strenuously  against  taking  upon  himself  the 
responsibility  of  a  step  which  had  hitherto  no  precedent. 
Even  as  lately  as  the  preceding  year,  he  had  resisted  the 
earnest  entreaty  of  a  distinguished  French  scholar  and  anti- 
quary, though  armed  with  the  recommendations  of  his  own 
government  and  of  Fuad  Pasha,  then  Turkish  Commissioner 

>  Travels  of  Ali  Bey  (1S03-1807),  ii.  232. 


APP.  II.         THE   VISIT   OF    THE    PRINCE   OF   WALES.  495 

in  Syria.  The  negotiation  devolved  on  General  Bruce,  the 
Governor  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  assisted  by  the  interpreter 
of  the  party,  Mr.  Noel  Moore,  son  of  the  Consul-General  of 
Beyrut.  It  may  truly  be  said, — as  it  was  in  enumerating 
the  qualifications  of  the  lamented  General  after  his  death, — 
that  the  tact  and  firmness  which  he  showed  on  this  occasion 
were  worthy  of  the  first  ranks  of  diplomacy. 

Suraya  Pasha  offered  every  other  civility  or  honour  that 
could  be  paid.  The  General  took  his  position  on  the  ground, 
that,  since  the  opening  of  the  other  Holy  Places,  this  was  the 
one  honour  left  for  the  Turkish  Government  to  award  on 
the  rare  occasion  of  a  visit  of  the  Prince  of  Wales.  He  urged, 
too,  the  feeling  with  which  the  request  was  made :  that  we, 
as  well  as  they,  had  a  common  interest  in  the  Patriarchs 
common  to  both  religions ;  and  that  nothing  was  claimed 
beyond  what  would  be  accorded  to  Mussulmans  themselves. 
At  last  the  Pasha  appeared  to  give  way.  But  a  new  alarm 
arising  out  of  a  visit  of  the  Eoyal  party  to  the  shrine  com- 
monly called  the  Tomb  of  David,  in  Jerusalem,  complicated 
the  question  again,  and  the  Pasha  finally  declared  that  the 
responsibility  was  too  serious,  and  that,  unless  the  General 
actually  insisted  upon  it,  he  could  not  undertake  to  guarantee 
the  Prince's  safety  from  the  anger  either  of  the  population 
or  of  the  Patriarchs  themselves.  '  So  strong  is  our  sentiment 
'on  this  subject,'  he  said,  'that  when  some  time  ago  the 
'  Prophet's  tomb  at  Medina  needed  repairs,  and  a  recompense 
'  was  offered  to  any  one  who  would  undertake  the  repairs, 
'  a  man  was  with  difficulty  found  for  the  task ;  he  went  in, 

*  he  performed  his  work,  he  returned, — and  was  immediately 
'  put  to  death :  that  was  considered  to  be  the  only  adequate 

*  recompense  for  so  sacrilegious  an  errand.'  It  was  an 
anxious  moment  for  the  Prince's  advisers.  On  the  one  hand, 
there  was  the  doubt,  now  seriously  raised,  as  to  the  personal 
safety  of  the  attempt,  which,  though  it  hardly  entered  into 


496  THE    CAVE    OF   MACHPELAH.  app.  ii. 

the  Prince's  own  calculation,  was  a  paramount  question  for 
those  who  were  charged  with  the  responsibility  of  the  step. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  point,  having  been  once  raised, 
could  not  be  lightly  laid  aside ;  the  more  so,  as  it  was  felt 
that  to  allow  of  a  refusal  in  the  case  of  the  Prince  of  Wales 
would  establish  an  impregnable  precedent  against  future 
relaxations,  and  close  the  doors  of  the  Mosque  more  firmly 
than  ever  against  all  inquirers.  General  Bruce  adopted  a 
course  which  ultimately  proved  successful.  He  announced 
to  the  Pasha  the  extreme  displeasure  of  the  Prince  at  the 
refusal,  and  declared  his  intention  of  leaving  Jerusalem 
instantly  for  the  Dead  Sea ;  adding  that,  if  the  sanctuary  at 
Hebron  could  not  be  entered,  the  Prince  would  decline  to 
visit  Hebron  altogether.  We  started  immediately  on  a 
three  days'  expedition.  On  the  evening  of  the  first  day,  it 
was  found  that  the  Pasha  had  followed  us.  He  sent  to 
reopen  the  negotiations,  and  offered  to  make  the  attempt,  if 
the  numbers  were  limited  to  the  Prince  and  two  or  three  of 
the  suite,  promising  to  go  himself  to  Hebron  to  prepare  for 
the  event.  This  proposal  was  guardedly,  but  decisively 
accepted.  And  accordingly,  on  our  return  to  Jerusalem, 
instead  of  going  northwards  immediately,  the  plan  was  laid 
for  the  entei"prise. 

It  was  early  on  the  morning  of  Monday,  the  7th  of  April, 
that  we  left  our  encampment,  and  moved  in  a  southerly 
direction.  The  object  of  our  journey  was  mentioned  to  no 
one.  On  our  way,  we  were  joined  by  Dr.  Rosen,  the 
Prussian  Consul  at  Jerusalem,  well  known  to  travellers  in 
Palestine,  from  his  profound  knowledge  of  sacred  geography, 
and,  in  this  instance,  doubly  valuable  as  a  companion, 
from  the  special  attention  whicli  he  had  paid  to  the  topo- 
graphy of  Hebron  and  its  neighbourhood.  ^     Before  our  arrival 

'  See  his  two  Essays  in  the  ZcUschrift  der  Morgenltindischcn  GcsdUcJiaft, 
xi.  50  ;  xii.  489. 


App.  II.  THE    VISIT    OF   THE    PRINCE    OF   WALES.  497 

at  Hebron,  the  Pasha  had  made  every  preparation  to  insure 
the  safety  of  the  experiment.  What  he  feared  was,  no  doubt, 
a  random  shot  or  stone  from  some  individual  fanatic,  some 
Indian  pilgrim,  such  as  are  well  known  to  hang  about  these  • 
sacred  places,  and  who  might  have  held  his  life  cheap  in 
the  hope  of  avenging  what  he  thought  an  outrage  on  the 
sanctities  of  his  religion.  Accordingly,  as  our  long  cavalcade 
wound  through  the  narrow  valley  by  which  the  town  of 
Hebron  is  approached,  underneath  the  walls  of  those  vine- 
yards on  the  hill-sides,  which  have  made  the  vale  of  Eschol 
immortal,  the  whole  road  on  either  side  for  more  than  a 
mile  was  lined  with  soldiers.  The  native  population,  which  The  ap- 
usually  on  the  Prince's  approach  to  a  town  streamed  out  to  P^^"-'^"- 
meet  him,  was  invisible,  it  may  be  from  compulsion,  it  may 
be  from  silent  indignation.  We  at  length  reached  the  green 
sward  in  front  of  the  town,  crowned  by  the  Quarantine  and 
the  Grovernor's  residence.  There  Siiraya  Pasha  received  us. 
It  had  been  arranged,  in  accordance  with  the  Pasha's  limi- 
tation of  the  numbers,  that  His  Eoyal  Highness  should  be 
accompanied,  besides  the  General,  by  the  two  members  of 
the  party  who  had  given  most  attention  to  Biblical  pursuits, 
so  as  to  make  it  evident  that  the  visit  was  not  one  of  mere 
curiosity,  but  had  also  a  distinct  scientific  purpose.  It  was, 
however,  finally  conceded  by  the  Governor  that  the  whole  of 
the  suite  should  be  included,  amounting  to  seven  persons 
besides  the  Prince.  The  servants  remained  behind.  We 
started  on  foot,  two  and  two,  between  two  files  of  soldiers, 
by  the  ancient  pool  of  Hebron,  up  the  narrow  streets  of  the 
modern  town,  still  lined  with  troops.  Hardly  a  face  was 
"\dsible  as  we  passed  through ;  only  here  and  there  a  solitary 
guard,  stationed  at  a  vacant  window,  or  on  the  flat  roof  of  a 
projecting  house,  evidently  to  guarantee  the  safety  of  the 
party  from  any  chance  missile.  It  was,  in  fact,  a  complete 
military  occupation  of  the  town.     At  length  we  reached  the 


498  THE    CAVE    OF   MACHPELAH.  app.  ii. 

south-eastern  corner  of  the  massive  wall  of  enclosure,  the 
point  at  which  inquiring  travellers  from  generation  to  gene- 
ration have  been  checked  in  their  approach  to  this,  the 
most  ancient  and  the  most  authentic  of  all  the  Holy  Places 
of  the  Holy  Land.  '  Here,'  said  Dr.  Eosen,  '  was  the  furthest 
*  limit  of  my  researches.'  Up  the  steep  flight  of  the  exterior 
staircase — gazing  close  at  hand  on  the  polished  surface  of  the 
wall,  amply  justifying  Josephus's  account  of  the  maYble-like 
appearance  of  the  huge  stones  which  compose  it — we  rapidly 
mounted.  At  the  head  of  the  staircase,  which  by  its  long 
ascent  showed  that  the  platform  of  the  Mosque  was  on  the 
uppermost  slope  of  the  hill,  and  therefore  above  the  level 
where,  if  anywhere,  the  sacred  cave  would  be  found,  a  sharp 
turn  at  once  brought  us  within  the  precincts,  and  revealed 
to  us  for  the  first  time  the  wall  from  the  inside.  A  later 
wall  of  Mussulman  times  has  been  built  on  the  top  of  the 
Jewish  enclosure.  The  enclosure  itself,  as  seen  from  the 
inside,  rises  but  a  few  feet  above  the  platform.^ 
The  en-  Here  we  were  received  with  much  ceremony  by  five  or  six 

o/the  persons,  corresponding  to  the  Dean  and  Canons  of  a  Christian 

Mosque.       cathedral.     They  were  the  representatives  of  the  Forty  here- 
ditary guardians  of  the  Mosque. 
The  We  passed  at  once  through  an  open  court  into  the  Mosque. 

osqne.  '^m^  regard  to  the  building  itself,  two  points  at  once  became 
apparent.  First,  it  was  clear  that  it  had  been  originally  a 
Byzantine  church.  To  any  one  acquainted  with  the  Cathedral 
of  S.  Sophia  at  Constantinople,  and  with  the  monastic  churches 
of  Mount  Athos,  this  is  evident  from  the  double  narthex  or 
portico,  and  from  the  four  pillars  of  the  nave.  Secondly,  it 
was  clear  that  it  had  been  converted  at  a  much  later  period 
into  a  mosque.     This  is  indicated  by  the  pointed  arches,  and 

'  The  expression  of  Arciilf  {Early  tnuro)  might  be  explained  if  we 
Travellers,  p.  7)  that  the  precinct  suppose  tluit  he  was  speaking  of  it  as 
was  surrounded  by  a  low  wall  (Immili       seen  from  the  inside. 


SKETCH  PLAN  OF  THE  MOSQUE  AT  HEBRON. 


REFERENCE  TO  FIGURES. 


,  Shrine  of  Abraham 
,  Surah. 


„  Rebekah. 


.  Fountain. 

,  Baised  platform, 

,  Mihrab. 

,  Mtrhala*  (or  platform  for  thi 

Preacher). 
.  Circular  aperture    leailing 


14.  Minbar  (or  pulpit). 


N.B. — The  deep  black  lines  mark  the  aocient  Jewish  wall.     The  shaded  paria  are  unkuown. 


REFERENCE  TO  LETTERS. 


Fliglit  of  Steps  to  outer  door. 

Long  narrow  passagfi  of  easy 
steps,  bounded  on  the  lui't 
by  fliicieut  Jewish  walL 

Here  Shoes  are  left  at  the 
door  of  a  ceiled  room. 

Passage  Chamber, 

Moflque,  containing  two 
Shrines. 

Outer  Court. 

Cloister    of   round    arches, 
with     domed    roof. —  The 
Outer  Nartbei. 
Inner  Narthex. 

Nave  of  Byzantine  Church. 
Long,  lofty  Room,  leading  to 
circular  Chambers,  contain- 
ing Shrines  of  Jacob  and 

Do,,  to  that  containing  Shrine 
of  Joseph. 

Minaret. 

Windows. 

^VLinaret. 

The  J&waliyeh  Mosque,  built 
by  JfLwali, 

Supplementary  Stairease  run- 
ning up  the  N.W.  wall. 


The  accompanying  Plan  waa  drawn  up  by  my  friend  and  fellow-traveller,  the  Hon.  R.  II.  Meade,  with  the  assistance  of  Dr.  Rosen,  immediately 
after  the  visit  to  the  Mosque.  It  may  be  compared  ^vith  the  Sketches  of  the  Mosque,  given  from  the  information  of  Mussulmans,  in  Osbum's  Palestine 
Past  and  Present,  and  in  the  Travels  of  Alt  Ht-i/.  I  have  also  compared  it  with  an  unpublished  Plan  shown  to  me  by  the  kindness  of  M.  Pierotti. 
Between  these  various  sketches  there  are  several  points  of  ditVeience.  But  it  has  been  thought  best  to  give  Mr.  Meade'a  Plan  as  it  was  drawn  up  at 
the  time,  independently  of  any  other  authority. 


•  This  platform  in  Egyptm 


>)KpWflns.  i.  116).    The  word  Merhala  (or,  i 


V  UiJC<l  for  the  plntfori 


n  the  TraveU  o/Ali  Beii,  Meherel)  ia. 
Hebron  )iy  tlio  Guardianti  of  the  Mot 


win  of  the  tribe  Metlek,  east  of  the  Haur&D,  who  hold  very  holy  the  Merhalat  of  a 


APP.  11.      THE   VISIT   OF   THE    PKIXCE    OF   WALES.  499 

by  the  truncation  of  the  apse.  The  transformation  was  said 
by  the  guardians  of  the  Mosque  to  have  been  made  by  Sultan 
Kelaoun.  The  whole  building  occupies  (to  speak  roughly) 
one-third  of  the  platform.  The  windows  are  sufficiently  high 
to  be  visible  from  without,  above  the  top  of  the  enclosing 
wall. 

I    now    proceed    to    describe    the    Tombs    of    the    Pa-  The 
triarchs,  premising  always  that  these  tombs,  like  all  those  of  the 
in  Mussulman  mosques,   and  indeed   like    most   tombs    in  ^'^t^^^'^'i^- 
Christian  churches,  do  not  profess  to  be  the  actual  places 
of  sepulture,  but  are  merely  monuments   or  cenotaphs    in 
honour  of  the   dead  who  lie  beneath.      Each    is    enclosed 
within  a  separate  chapel  or  shrine,  closed  with  gates  or  rail- 
ings similar  to  those  which  surround  or  enclose  the  special 
chapels   or  royal  tombs  in  Westminster  Abbey.      The   two 
first  of  these  shrines  or  chapels  are  contained  in  the  inner 
portico  or  narthex,  before  the  entrance  into  the  actual  build- 
ing of  the  Mosque.     In  the  recess  on  the  right  is  the  shrine 
of  Abraham,  in  the  recess  on  the  left  that  of  Sarah,  each 
guarded  by  silver  gates.      The   shrine  of  Sarah   we   were  The  Shrine 
requested  not  to  enter,  as  being  that  of  a  woman.    A  pall  lay 
over  it.     The  shrine  of  Abraham,  after  a  momentary  hesita-  The  Shrine 
tion,  was  thrown  open.     The  guardians  groaned  aloud.     But  ham. 
their  chief  tui-ned  to  us  with  the  remark,  '  The  princes  of 
'  any  other  nation  should  have  passed  over  my  dead  body 
'  sooner  than  enter.     But  to  the  eldest  son  of  the  Queen  of 
'  England  we  are  willing  to  accord  even  this  privilege.'     He 
stepped  in  before  us,  and  offered  an  ejaculatory  prayer  to  the 
dead  Patriarch,  '  0  Friend  of  God,  forgive  this  intrusion.' 
We  then  entered.     The  chamber  is  cased  in  marble.     The 
so-called  tomb  consists  of  a  coffin-like  structure,  about  six 
feet  high,  built  up  of   plastered  stone  or  marble,  and  hung 
with  three  carpets,'  green  embroidered  with  gold.     They  are 

'  In  Ali  Bey's  time  there  were  nine  carpets. — Travels:,  ii.  233. 

K   K  2 


500  THE   CAVE   OF   MACHPELAH.  app.  ii. 

said  to  have  been  presented  by  Mohamed  II.  the  conqueror 
of  Constantinople,  Selim  I.  the  conqueror  of  Egypt,  and  the 
late  Sultan  Abdul  Mejid.  As  we  stood  round  this  conse- 
crated spot,  the  guardian  of  the  Mosque  kept  repeating  to 
us,  '  that  it  would  have  been  opened  to  no  one  less  than  the 

*  representative  of  England.' 

Within  the  area  of  the  church  or  Mosque  were  shown 
the  tombs  of  Isaac  and  Eebekah.  They  are  placed  under 
separate  chapels,  in  the  walls  of  which  are  windows,  and  of 
which  the  gates  are  grated  not  with  silver,  but  iron  bars. 
Their  situation,  planted  as  they  are  in  the  body  of  the  Mosque, 
may  indicate  their  Christian  origin.  In  almost  all  Mussul- 
man sanctuaries,  the  tombs  of  distinguished  persons  are 
placed,  not  in  the  centre  of  the  building,  but  in  the  corners.' 
The  Shrine  To  Rebekah's  tomb  the  same  decorous  rule  of  the  exclusion  of 
bekah  male  visitors  naturally  applied  as  in  the  case  of  Sarah's.    But, 

on  requesting  to  see  the  tomb  of  Isaac,  we  were  entreated  not 
The  Shrine  to  enter ;  and  on  asking,  with  some  surprise,  why  an  objection 
o  saac.  -^i^ich  had  been  conceded  for  Abraham  should  be  raised  in 
the  case  of  his  far  less  eminent  sou,  were  answered  that  the 
difference  lay  in  the  characters  of  the  two  Patriarchs — 
'  Abraham  was  full  of  loving-kindness ;  he  had  withstood  even 

*  the  resolution  of  God  against  Sodom  and  Gromorrah ;  he 

*  was  goodness  itself,  and  would  overlook  any  affront.     But 

*  Isaac   was    proverbially  jealous,    and   it   was   exceedingly 

*  dangerous  to  exasperate  him.  When  Ibrahim  Pasha  [as 
'  conqueror  of  Palestine]  had  endeavoured  to  enter,  he  had 
'  been  driven  out  by  Isaac,  and  fallen  back  as  if  thunder- 
'  struck.' 

The  chapel,  in  fact,  contains  nothing  of  interest ;  but  I 

'  The   arrangement,   however,    de-  slabs  of  stone.      The   tombs  of  the 

scribed  by  Arculf  is  somewhat  dif-  wives  he  also  describes  as  apart,  and 

ferent.     He  speaks  of  the  bodies  of  of    a    meaner    construction. — Early 

the  Patriarchs  (probably  meaning  the  Travellers,  p.  7. 
tombs)  lying  north  and  south,  under 


APP.  II.       THE   VISIT   OF   THE   PKINCE    OF   WALES.  501 

mention  this  story  ^  both  for  the  sake  of  the  singular  senti- 
ment which  it  expresses,  and  also  because  it  well  illustrates 
the  peculiar  feeling  which  has  tended  to  preserve  the  sanctity 
of  the  place — an  awe,  amounting  to  terror,  of  the  great 
personages  who  lay  beneath,  and  who  would,  it  was  supposed, 
be  sensitive  to  any  disrespect  shown  to  their  graves,  and 
revenge  it  accordingly. 

The  shrines  of  Jacob  and  Leah  were  shown  in  recesses,  The  Shrine 

.  of  Leah, 

corresponding  to  those  of   Abraham  and  barah — but  m  a 

separate    cloister,    opposite   the    entrance    of  the    Mosque. 

Against  Leah's  tomb,  as  seen  through  the  iron  grate,  two 

green  banners  reclined,  the  origin  and  meaning  of  which  was 

unknown.     They  are  placed  in  the  pulpit  on  Fridays.     The  The  Shrine 

gates  of  Jacob's  tomb  were  opened  without  difficulty,  though 

with  a  deep  groan  from  the  bystanders.     There  was  some 

good  painted  glass  in  one  of  the  windows.     The  structure 

was  of  the  same  kind  as  that  in  the  shrine  of  Abraham, 

but  with  carpets  of  a  coarser  texture.     Else  it  calls  for  no 

special  remark. 

Thus  far  the  monuments  of  the  Mosque  correspond  exactly 
with  the  Biblical  account  as  given  above.  This  is  the  more 
remarkable,  because  in  these  particulars  the  agreement  is 
beyond  what  might  have  been  expected  in  a  Mussulman 
sanctuary.  The  prominence  given  to  Isaac,  whilst  in  entire 
accordance  with  the  sacred  narrative,  is  against  the  tenor  of 
Mussulman  tradition,  which  exalts  Ishmael  into  the  first 
place.  And  in  like  conformity  with  the  sacred  narrative, 
but  unlike  what  we  should  have  expected,  had  mere  fancy 
been  allowed  full  play,  is  the  exclusion  of  the  famous  Kachel, 
and  the  inclusion  of  the  insignificant  Leah. 

The  variation  which  follows  rests,  as  I  am  informed  by 
Dr.  Kosen,  on  the  general  tradition  of  the  country  (justi- 

'  I  have  been  unable  to  discover  the  or'  nn  of  this  legend. 


502  THE    CAVE    OF   MACHPELAH.  app.  ii. 

fied,  perhaps,  by  an  ambiguous  expression  of  Josephus ') 
TheSlirine  that  the  body  of  Joseph,  after  having  been  deposited  first 
at  Shechem,  was  subsequently  transported  to  Hebron.  But 
the  peculiar  situation  of  this  alleged  tomb  agrees  with  the 
exceptional  character  of  the  tradition.  It  is  in  a  domed 
chamber  attached  to  the  enclosure  from  the  outside,  and 
reached,  therefore,  by  an  aperture  broken  through  the 
massive  wall  itself,  and  thus  visible  on  the  exterior  of  the 
southern  side  of  the  wall.^  It  is  less  costly  than  the  others, 
and  it  is  remarkable  that,  although  the  name  of  his  wife 
(according  to  the  Mussulman  version,  Zuleika)  is  inserted 
in  the  certificates  given  to  pilgrims  who  have  visited  the 
Mosque,  no  grave  having  tliat  appellation  is  shown.  A  staff 
was  hung  up  in  a  corner  of  the  chamber.  There  were 
painted  windows  as  in  the  shrine  of  Jacob.  According  to 
the  story  told  by  the  guardian  of  the  Mosque,  Joseph  was 
buried  in  the  Nile,  and  Moses  recovered  the  body,  1005  years 
afterwards,  by  marrying  an  Egyptian  wife  who  knew  the 
secret. 

No  other  tombs  were  exhibited  inside  the  Mosque.  In 
a  mosque  on  the  northern  side  of  the  great  Mosque  were 
two  shrines,  resembling  those  of  Isaac  and  Eebekah,  which 


'  '  The  bodies  of  the  brothers  of  '  the  sepulchre  that  Abraham  bonght 
'  Joseph  after  a  time  were  buried  by  '  for  a  sum  of  money  from  the  sons  of 
'  their  descendants  in  Hebron  ;  but  the  '  Emmor  the  father  of  Shechem.'  The 
'  bones  of  Joseph  afterwards,  when  the  burial  of  Joseph  at  Shechem  is  dis- 
'  Hebrews  migrated  from  Egypt,  were  tinctly  mentioned  in  Josh.  xxiv.  32. 
'  taken  to  Canaan.' — Ant.  ii.  8,  2.  This  '  The  bones  of  Joseph,  which  the  chil- 
may  be  intended  merely  to  draw  a  '  dren  of  Israel  brought  up  out  of 
distinction  as  to  the  time  of  removal,  '  Egypt,  buried  they  in  Shechem,  in 
but  probably  it  refers  also  to  a  differ-  '  "  the  parcel  of  the  field  "  which  Jacob 
ence  in  the  places  of  burial,  and  ex-  'bought  of  the  sons  of  Hamor  the 
presses  nothing  positive  on  tlie  subject.  'father  of  Shechem  for  a  hundred 
In  Acts  vii.  15, 16,  the  sons  of  Jacob  are  'pieces  of  silver;  and  it  became  the 
represented  as  all  equally  buried  at  '  inheritance  of  the  sous  of  Joseph.' 
Shechem  ;  but  then  it  is  with  the  per-  ^  This  aperture  was  made  by  Dahar 
plexing  addition  that  they  were  buried  Barkok,  a.  D.  1382 — 1389.  Quatra- 
in the  same  place  as  Jacob,  and  'in  mere,  247. 


APP.  11.       THE   VISIT   OF   THE    PRIXCE    OF   WALES.  503 

were  afterwards  explained  to  us  as  merely  ornamental.  On 
a  platform  immediately  outside  the  Jewish  wall  on  the  north 
side,  and  seen  from  the  hill  rising  immediately  to  the  north- 
east  of    the    Mosque,    is    the    dome    of  a   mosque    named 

Jawaliyeh,  said  to  have  been  built  by  the  Emir  Abou  Said  The 

...  Mosque  of 

Sandjar  Jawali,  from  whom,  of  course,  it  derives  its  name,  j^-nrali. 

in  the  place  of  the  tomb  of  Judas,  or  Judah,  which  he  caused 
to  be  destroyed.^ 

These  are  the  only  variations  from  the  catalogue  of  tombs 
in  the  Book  of  Genesis.  In  the  fourth  century,  the  Bour- 
deaux  PilgTim  saw  only  the  six  great  patriarchal  shrines.  But 
from  the  seventh  century  downwards,  one  or  more  lesser 
tombs  seem  to  have  been  shown.  Arculf  speaks  of  the  tomb 
of  Adam,^  *  which  is  of  meaner  workmanship  than  the  rest, 
'  and  lies  not  far  off  from  them  at  the  farthest  extremity  to 
'  the  north.'  If  we  might  take  this  direction  of  the  compass 
to  be  correct,  he  must  mean  either  '  the  tomb  of  Judah '  or 
one  of  the  two  in  the  northern  Mosque.  This  latter  conjec- 
ture is  confirmed  by  the  statement  of  Maundeville  that  the 
tombs  of  Adam  and  Eve  were  shown :  ^  which  would  thus 
correspond  to  these  two.  The  tomb  of  Joseph  is  first  dis- 
tinctly mentioned  by  Ssewulf,  who  says  that  '  the  bones  of 
'  Joseph  were  buried  more  humbly  than  the  rest,  as  it  were  at 
'  the  extremity  of  the  castle.'  *     Mr.  Monro  describes  further 

'  A.  D.    1319,    1320.       Qiiatremere,  Enaeim   situs   est.'     That  there  was 

i.  part  ii.  p.  248.  a    fixed    tradition    about    Adam    in 

^  The  tomb  of  Adam  was  shown  as  Hebron    appears    from     the    legend 

the   '  Fourth '    of    the    '  Four,'    who,  which   represents    a    natural   well   in 

with  the  three  Patriarchs,  were  sup-  the  hill  facing  the  Mosque  as  that  in 

posed  to  have  given  to  Hebron  the  which  Adam  and  Eve  hid  themselves 

name    of   Kirjath-arba,    'the  city    of  after  the  flight  from   Paradise;   and 

the   Four.'      By    a   strange  mistake,  Hebron    is    also    represented   as    the 

which  Jerome  has  perpetuated  in  the  place  of  his  creation.  This  was  pointed 

Vulgate  translation,  the  word  Adam  out  to  Maundeville  {Early  Travellers, 

in    Joshua    xiv.    15,    'a    great    7)ian  p.  161). 

among  the  Anakims,'  has  been  taken  ^  Maundeville    {Early    Travellers, 

by  some  of  the  Eabbis  as  a  proper  p.  161). 
name.       'Adam   maximus    ibi    inter  *  h..T>.\l^2  [Early  Travellers,  ijyA^)^ 


504  THE   CAVE    OF   MACHPELAH.  app.  ii. 

*  a  tomb  of  Esau,  under  a  small  cupola,  with  eight  or  ten 
'  windows,  excluded  from  lying  with  the  rest  of  the  Patri- 
'  archs.' '  Whether  by  this  he  meant  the  tomb  of  Joseph,  or 
the  tomb  of  Judah,  is  not  clear.  A  Mussulman  tomb  of 
Esau  was  shown  in  the  suburb  of  Hebron  called  Sir.^ 

The  tomb  of  Abner  is  shown  in  the  town,  and  the  tomb  of 

Jesse  on  the  hill  facing  Hebron  on  the  south.     But  these 

have  no  connexion  with   the   Mosque,   or   the   patriarchal 

burying-place. 

The  We  have  now  gone  through  all  the  shrines,  whether  of  real 

Sacrpcl 

Cave.  or  fictitious  importance,  which  the  Sanctuary  includes.    It  will 

be  seen  that  up  to  this  point  no  mention  has  been  made  of 
the  subject  of  the  greatest  interest,  namely,  the  sacred  cave 
itself,  in  which  one  at  least  of  the  patriarchal  family  may 
possibly  still  repose  intact — the  embalmed  body  of  Jacob. 
It  may  be  well  supposed  that  to  this  object  our  inquiries 
were  throughout  directed.  One  indication  alone  of  the 
cavern  beneath  was  visible.  In  the  interior  of  the  Mosque, 
at  the  corner  of  the  shrine  of  Abraham,  was  a  small  circular 
hole,  about  eight  inches  across,  of  which  one  foot  above  the 
pavement  was  built  of  strong  masonry,  but  of  which  the 
lower  part,  as  far  as  we  could  see  and  feel,  was  of  the  living 
rock.^  This  cavity  appeared  to  open  into  a  dark  space 
beneath,  and  that  space  (which  the  guardians  of  the  Mosque 

'  Summer  Eamble,  i.  243.  '  Hence  the  common  expression  among 

*  Quatremere,  i.  pt.  ii.  p.  319.  'the  people,  "the  Lord  of  the  vault 

^  This  hole  was  not  shown  to  Ali  'and  the  lamp'"  (Quatremere,  i.  pt. 

Eey,  perhaps  as  being  only  an  ordi-  ii.  p.  247).     '  Near  the  tomb  of  Abra- 

nary  pilgrim.      It  is  thus  described  '  ham  is  a  vault,  where  is  a  small  gate 

by  Mr.  Monro  or  his  informant : — '  A  '  leading  to  the  minhar  (pulpit).    Into 

'  baldachin,  supported   on    four  small  '  this  hole  once  fell  an  idiot,  who  was 

'  columns  over   an   octagon   figure  of  '  followed    by   the    servants    of    the 

'  black  and  white  inlaid,  round  a  small  '  Mosque.     They  saw  a  stone  staircase 

'hole  in  the   pavement'  (i.  264).     It  'of  fifteen  steps,   which    led   to   the 

is  also  mentioned  by  the  Arab  histo-  '  mmhar.'    {Ibid.)     [.The  lamp  is  also 

rians.     'There  is  a  vault  that  passes  mentioned  by  Mr.  Monro  (i.  p.  244), 

'  for  the  burial-place  of  Abraham,  in  and  ^by  Benjamin  of  Tudela  (see  p. 

'which  is    a    lamp   always    lighted.  607). 


APP.  II.       THE   VISIT   OP   THE   PRINCE    OF   WALES.  505 

believed  to  extend  under  the  whole  platform)  can  hardly  be 
anything  else  than  tlie  ancient  cavern  of  Machpelah.  This 
was  the  only  aperture  which  the  guardians  recognised.  Once, 
they  said,  2,500  years  ago,  a  servant  of  a  great  king  had 
penetrated  through  some  other  entrance.  He  descended  in 
full  possession  of  his  faculties,  and  of  remarkable  corpulence ; 
he  returned  blind,  deaf,  withered,  and  crippled.  Since  then 
the  entrance  was  closed,  and  this  aperture  alone  was  left, 
partly  for  the  sake  of  suffering  the  holy  air  of  the  cave  to 
escape  into  the  Mosque,  and  be  scented  by  the  faithful ; 
partly  for  the  sake  of  allowing  a  lamp  to  be  let  down  by  a 
chain  which  we  saw  suspended  at  the  mouth,  to  burn  upon 
the  sacred  grave.  We  asked  whether  it  could  not  be  lighted 
now  ?  '  No,'  they  said ;  '  the  saint  likes  to  have  a  lamp  at 
'  night,  but  not  in  the  full  daylight.' 

With  that  glimpse  into  the  dark  void  we  and  the  world 
without  must  for  the  present  be  satisfied.  Whether  any 
other  entrance  is  known  to  the  Mussulmans  themselves,  must 
be  a  matter  of  doubt.  The  original  entrance  to  the  cave,  if 
it  is  now  to  be  found  at  all,  must  probably  be  on  the  southern 
face  of  the  hill,  between  the  Mosque  and  the  gallery  contain- 
ing the  shrine  of  Joseph,  and  entirely  obstructed  by  the 
ancient  Jewish  wall,  probably  built  across  it  for  this  very 
purpose. 

It  seems  to  our  notions  almost  incredible  that  Christians 
and  Mussulmans,  each  for  a  period  of  600  years,  should 
have  held  possession  of  the  sanctuary,  and  not  had  the 
curiosity  to  explore  what  to  us  is  the  one  object  of  interest — 
the  cave.  But  the  fact  is  undoubted  that  no  account  exists 
of  any  such  attempt.  Such  a  silence  can  only  be  explained 
(but  it  is  probably  a  sufficient  explanation)  by  the  indif- 
ference which  prevailed  throughout  the  Middle  Ages  to 
any  historical  spots,  however  interesting,  unless  they  were 
actually  consecrated  as  places  of  pilgrimage.     The  Mount 


506  THE    CAVE    OF   MACHPELAH.  app.  ii. 

of  Olives,  the  site  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon,  the  Kock  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre  itself,  were  not  thought  worthy  of  even 
momentary  consideration,  in  comparison  with  the  chapels 
and  stations  which  were  the  recognised  objects  of  devotion. 
Thus  at  Hebron  a  visit  to  the  shrines,  both  for  Christians  and 
Mussulmans,  procures  a  certificate.  The  cave  had  therefore 
no  further  value.  In  the  case  of  the  Mussulmans  this 
indifference  is  still  more  general.  Suraya  Pasha  himself, 
a  man  of  considerable  intelligence,  professed  that  he  had 
never  thought  of  visiting  the  Mosque  of  Hebron  for  any 
other  purpose  than  that  of  snuffing  the  sacred  air,  and  he 
had  never,  till  we  arrived  at  Jerusalem,  seen  the  wonderful 
convent  of  Mar  Saba,  or  the  Dead  Sea,  or  the  Jordan.  And 
to  this  must  be  added,  if  not  in  his  case,  in  that  of  Mussul- 
mans generally,  the  terror  which  they  entertain  of  the  effect 
of  the  wrath  of  the  Patriarchs  on  any  one  who  should 
intrude  into  the  place  where  they  are  supposed  still  to  be  in 
a  kind  of  suspended  animation.  As  far  back  as  the  seven- 
teenth century  it  was  firmly  believed  that  if  any  Mussulman 
entered  the  cavern,  immediate  death  would  be  the  conse- 
quence.^ 

It  should  be  mentioned,  however,  tliat  two  accounts  are 
reported  of  travellers  having  obtained  a  nearer  view  of  the 
cave  than  was  accomplished  in  the  visit  of  the  Prince  of 
Wales. 
Beniamin  The  first  is  contained  in  the  pilgrimage  of  Benjamin  of 
of  Tudela.  rj^^^^i^^  the  Jewish  traveller  of  the  twelfth  century :— '  The 
'  Grentiles  have  erected  six  sepulchres  in  this  place,  which 
'  they  pretend  to  be   those  of  Abraham   and   Sarah,   Isaac 

*  and    Kebekah,  Jacob    and   Leah.     The    pilgrims   are  told 

*  that  they  are  the  sepulchres  of  the  fathers,  and  money  is 
'  extorted  from  them.     But  if  any  Jew  comes,  who  gives  an 

'  Quaresmius,  ii.  772. 


APP.  II.      THE    ACCOUNT   OF   BENJAMIN   OF   TUDELA.  507 

*  additional  fee  to  the  keeper  of  the  cave,  an  iron  door  is 

*  opened,  which  dates  from  the  time  of  our  forefathers  who 
'  rest  in  peace,  and  with  a  burning  candle  in  his  hands,  the 
'  visitor  descends  into  a  first  cave,  which  is  empty,  traverses  a 
'  second  in  the  same  state,  and  at  last  reaches  a  third,  which 
'  contains  six  sepulchres,  those  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob, 
'  and  of  Sarah,  Eebekah,  and  Leah,  one  opposite  the  other. 

'  All   these  sepulchres  bear  inscriptions,   the    letters  being        ' 
'  engraved.     Thus,  upon  that  of  Abraham  we  read  : — "  This 
* "  is  the  sepulchre  of  our  father  Abraham  ;  upon  whom  be 
' "  peace,"  and  so  on  that  of  Isaac,  and  upon  all  the  other 

*  sepulchres.  A  lamp  burns  in  the  cave  and  upon  the  sepul- 
'  chres  continually,  both  night  and  day,  and  you  there  see 

*  tombs  filled  with  the  bones  of  Israelites — for  unto  this  day 
'  it  is  a  custom  of  the  house  of  Israel  to  bring  hither  the 
'  bones  of  their  saints  and  of  their  forefathers,  and  to  leave 

*  them  there.' 

In  this  account,^  which,  as  may  be  observed,  does  not 
profess  to  describe  Benjamin's  own  experience,  there  are  two 
circumstances  (besides  its  general  improbability)  which  throw 
considerable  doubt  on  its  accuracy.  One  is  the  mention  of 
inscriptions,  and  of  an  iron  door,  which,  as  is  well  known,  are 
never  found  in  Jewish  sepulchres.  The  other  is  the  mention 
of  the  practice  of  Jews  sending  their  bones  to  be  buried  in  a 
place,  which,  as  is  evident  from  the  rest  of  the  narrative, 
could  only  be  entered  with  the  greatest  difficulty. 

The  second  account  is  that  of  M.  Ermete  Pierotti,  who,  m.  Ermete 
having  been  an  engineer  in  the  Sardinian  army,  acted  for 
some  years  as.  architect  and  engineer  to  Suraya  Pasha,   at 
Jerusalem,  and  thus  obtained,  both  in  that  city  and  at  Hebron, 

'  A  somewhat    similar   account  is  bodies,    preserved    without     change, 

given  by  Moawiyeh  Ishmail,  Prince  of  and  that  in  the  carern  were  arranged 

Aleppo, — that  in  a.d.  1089  the  tombs  lamps  of  gold  and  silver  (Quatremere, 

of  Abraham,   Isaac,  and  Jacob  were  245). 
found ;   that   many  persons   saw  the 


Pierotti. 


508  THE    CAVE    OF   MACHPELAH.  app.  ii. 

access  to  places  otherwise  closed  to  Europeans.  The  fol- 
lowing account  appeared  in  the  Times  of  April  30,  1862, 
immediately  following  on  the  announcement  of  the  Prince's 
visit : — 

'  The  true  entrance  to  the  Patriarchs'  tomb  is  to  be  seen 
'  close  to  the  western  wall  of  the  enclosure,  and  near  the 
'  north-west  corner ;  it  is  guarded  by  a  very  thick  iron  railing, 
'  and  I  was  not  allowed  to  go  near  it.  I  observed  that  the 
'  Mussulmans  themselves  did  not  go  very  near  it.  In  the 
'  court  opposite  the  entrance  gate  of  the  Mosque,  there  is 
'  an  opening,  through  which  I  was  allowed  to  go  down  for 
'  three  steps,  and  I  was  able  to  ascertain  by  sight  and  touch 
'  that  the  rock  exists  there,  and  to  conclude  it  to  be  about 
'  five  feet  thick.     From  the  short  observations  I  could  make 

*  during  my  brief  descent,  as  also  from  the  consideration  of 
'  the  east  wall  of  the  Mosque,  and  the  little  information  I 
'  extracted  from  the  Chief  Santon,  who  jealously  guards  the 
'  sanctuary,  I  consider  that  a  part  of  the  grotto  exists  under 
'the  Mosque,  and  that  the  other  part  is  under  the  court, 
'  but  at  a  lower  level  than  tliat  lying  under  the  Mosque. 
'  This  latter  must  be  separated  from  the  former  by  a  vertical 
'  stratum  of  rock  which  contains  an  opening,  as  I  conclude, 
'  for  two  reasons  :  first,  because  the  east  wall,  being  entirely 
'  solid  and  massive,  requires  a  good  foundation ;  secondly, 
'  because  the  petitions  which  the  Mussulmans  present  to  the 
'  Santon  to  be  transmitted  to  the  Patriarchs  are  thrown, 
'  some  through  one  opening,  some  through  the  other, 
'  according  to  the  Patriarch  to  whom  they  are  directed ; 
'  and  the  Santon  goes  down  by  the  way  I  went,  whence  I 
'  suppose  that  on  that  side  there  is  a  vestibule,  and  that  the 
'  tombs  may  be  found  below  it.  I  explained  my  conjectures 
'  to  the  Santon  himself  after  leaving  the  Mosque,  and  he 

*  showed  himself  very  much  surprised  at  the  time,  and  told 
'  the  Pasha  afterwards  that  I  knew  more  about  it  than  the 


APP.  II.  ACCOUNT   OF   M.    PIEROTTI.  509 

*  Turks  themselves.     The  fact  is,  that  even  the  Pasha  who 

*  governs  the  province  has  no  right  to  penetrate  into  the 
'  sacred  enclosure,  where  (according  to  the  Mussulman 
'  legend)  the  Patriarchs  are  living,  and  only  condescend  to 

*  receive  the  petitions  addressed  to  them  by  mortals.'  ^ 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  statement  of  the  entrance  of  the 
Santon,  or  Sheykh  of  the  Mosque,  into  the  cave,  agrees  with 
the  statement  given  in  my  Lectm-es,^  '  that  the  cave  consists 
'  of  two  compartments,  into  one  of  which  a  dervish  or  sheykh 
'is  allowed  to  penetrate  on  special  emergencies.'  Against 
this  must  be  set  the  repeated  assertions  of  the  guardian  of 
the  Mosque,  and  of  the  Grovernor  of  Jerusalem  (which,  as 
has  been  seen,  are  substantially  confirmed  by  the  Arab  his- 
torians), that  no  Mussulman  has  ever  entered  the  cave  within 
the  memory  of  man.  Of  the  staircase  and  gate  described  by 
M.  Pierotti  there  was  no  appearance  on  our  visit,  though  we 
must  have  walked  over  the  very  spot — being,  in  fact,  the 
pavement  in  front  of  the  IMosque.  Of  the  separate  apertm-es 
for  throwing  down  the  petitions  we  also  saw  nothing.  And 
it  would  seem,  from  Finati's  account,^  that  the  one  hole 
down  which  he  threw  his  petition  was  that  by  the  tomb  of 
Abraham. 

The  result  of  the  Prince's  visit  will  have  been  disappointing  Results 
to  those  who  expected  a  more  direct  solution  of  the  mysteries  pence's 

visit. 

'  M.  Pierotti  adds  (what  has  often  founded  on   the   information   of  our 

been  observed  before)  that  '  the  Jews  Mussulman    servants    in    1853.      In 

'who  dwell  in  Hebron,    or   visit  it,  1862  I  was  unable  to  gain  any  con- 

'  are   allowed  to   kiss   and    touch    a  lirmation  of  the  story. 
'  piece  of  the  sacred  rock  close  to  the  ^  '  I  went  into  a  mosque  at  Hebron 

'  north-west   corner,  which   they  can  '  and  threw  a  paper  down  into  a  hole 

'  reach  through  a  smaU  aperture.     To  '  that  is  considered  to  be  the  tomb  of 

'  accomplish  this  operation  they  are  '  Abraham,  and  according  as  the  paper 

'  obliged   to  lie  flat  on   the  ground,  '  lodges  by  the  way,   or  reaches  the 

'  because  the  aperture  is  on  the  ground  '  bottom,  it  is  looked  upon  as  a  sign  of 

'  level.'     This,  however,  is  merely  an  '  good  or  ill-luck  for  the  petitioner.' — 

access  to  the  rock,  not  to  the  cave.  Travels  of  Finati,  ii.  p.  236. 

*  Lecture    II.   p.   35.      This    was 


510  THE   CAVE    OF   MACHPELAH.  afp.  ii. 

of  Hebron.  But  it  has  not  been  without  its  indirect  benefits. 
In  the  first  place,  by  His  Royal  Highness's  entrance,  the 
first  step  has  been  taken  for  the  removal  of  the  bar  of 
exclusion  from  this  sacred  and  interesting  spot.  The  relax- 
ation may  in  future  times  be  slight  and  gradual,  and  the 
advantage  gained  must  be  used  with  every  caution ;  but  it  is 
impossible  not  to  feel  that  some  effect  will  be  produced  even 
on  the  devotees  of  Hebron,  when  they  feel  that  the  Patriarchs 
have  not  suffered  any  injury  or  affront,  and  that  Isaac 
rests  tranquilly  in  his  grave.  Indeed,  on  our  return  to  our 
encampment  that  evening,  and  in  our  rides  in  and  around 
Hebron  the  next  day,  such  an  effect  might  be  discerned. 
Dr.  Eosen  had  predicted  beforehand,  that,  if  the  entrance 
were  once  made,  no  additional  precautions  need  be  provided. 
*  They  will  be  so  awestruck  at  the  success  of  your  attempt, 
'  that  they  will  at  once  acquiesce  in  it.'  And  so,  in  fact,  it 
proved.  Although  we  were  still  accompanied  by  a  small 
escort,  yet  the  rigid  vigilance  of  the  previous  day  was 
relaxed,  and  no  indications  appeared  of  any  annoyance  or 
anger.  And  Englishmen  may  fairly  rejoice  that  this  advance 
in  the  cause  of  religious  tolerance  (if  it  may  be  so  called) 
and  of  Biblical  knowledge,  was  attained  in  the  person  of  the 
heir  to  the  English  throne,  out  of  regard  to  the  position 
which  he  and  his  country  hold  in  the  Eastern  world. 

In  the  second  place,  the  visit  has  enabled  us  to  form  a 
much  clearer  judgment  of  the  value  of  the  previous  ac- 
counts, to  correct  their  deficiencies,  and  to  rectify  their 
confusion.  The  narrative  of  Ali  Bey,  in  particular,  is  now 
substantially  corroborated.  The  existence  and  the  exact 
situation  of  the  cave  underneath  the  floor  of  the  Mosque,  the 
appearance  of  the  ancient  enclosure  from  within,  the  precise 
relation  of  the  different  shrines  to  each  other,  and  the  general 
conformity  of  the  traditions  of  the  Mosque  to  the  accounts  of 
the  Bible  and  of  early  travellers,  are  now  for  the  first  time 


APP.  n.  GEXEEAL   EESULTS.  511 

clearly  ascertained.     To  discover  the  entrance  of  the  cave, 

to  examine  the  actual  places  of  the  patriarchal  sepulture, 

and  to  set  eyes  (if  so  be)  on  the  embalmed  body  of  Jacob,  the 

only  patriarch  the   preservation  of  whose  remains   is  thus 

described, — must  be  reserved  for  the  explorers  of  another 

generation,  for  whom  this   visit  will   have   been   the   best 

preparation. 

Meanwhile,  it  may  be  worth  while  to  recall  the  general  General 

results 
instruction  furnished  by  the  nearer  contemplation  of  this 

remarkable  spot.  The  narrative  itself  to  which  it  takes  us 
back,  stands  alone  in  the  patriarchal  history  for  the  precision 
with  which  both  locality  and  character  are  delineated.  First, 
there  is  the  death  of  Sarah  in  the  city  of  Kirjath-arba,  whilst 
Abraham  is  absent,  apparently  at  Mamre.^  He  comes  to 
make  the  grand  display  of  funeral  grief,  '  mourning  aloud 
and  weeping  aloud,'  such  as  would  befit  so  great  a  death. 
He  is  filled  with  the  desire,  not  Eg}^tian,  not  Christian, 
hardly  Greek  or  Eoman,  but  certainly  Jewish,  to  thrust  away 
the  dark  shadow  that  has  fallen  upon  him,  '  to  bury  his  dead 
out  of  his  sight.'  ^  Then  ensues  the  conference  in  the  gate 
— the  Oriental  place  of  assembly,^  where  the  negotiators  and 
the  witnesses  of  the  transaction,  as  at  the  present  day,  are 
gathered  from  the  many  comers  and  goers  through  '  the  gate 
of  the  city.'  As  in  the  Grentile  traditions  of  Damascus,  and 
as  in  the  ancient  narrative  of  the  pursuit  of  the  five  kings, 
Abraham  is  saluted  by  the  native  inhabitants,  not  merely  as 
a  wandering  shepherd,  but  as  a  '  Prince  of  Grod.'  *  The  in- 
habitants are,  as  we  might  expect,  not  the  Amorites,  but  the 
Hittites,  whose  name  is  that  recognised  by  all  the  surround- 
ing nations.^  They  offer  him  the  most  sacred  of  their 
sepulchres  for  the  cherished  remains.^     The  Patriarch  main- 

»  Gen.  xxiii.  2.  ■*  Ibid.  6  ;  comp.  Lecture  I.  10,  II.  43. 

^  Ibid.  4.  *  See  Lecture  XL  28. 

3  Ibid.  10.  *  Gen.  xxiii.  6. 


512  GENERAL  RESULTS.  app.  ii. 

tains  his  determination  to  remain  aloof  from  the  Canaanite 
population,  at  the  same  time  that  he  preserves  every  form  of 
courtesy  and  friendliness,  in  accordance  with  the  magnificent 
toleration  and  inborn  gentleness  which  pervade  his  character.^ 
First,  as  in  the  attitude  of  Oriental  respect,  '  he  stands,'  and 
then,  twice  over,  he  prostrates  himself  on  the  ground,  before 
the  heathen  masters  of  the  soil.^  Ephron,  the  son  of  Zohar, 
is  worthy  of  the  occasion ;  his  courtesy  matches  that  of  the 
Patriarch  himself : — '  The  field  give  I  thee,  the  cave  .... 
*  give  I  thee ;  in  the  presence  of  the  sons  of  my  people  give 
'  I  it  thee.'  '  What  is  that  betwixt  thee  and  me  ?  '  ^  It  is 
precisely  the  profuse  liberality  with  which  the  Arab  of  the 
present  time  places  everything  in  his  possession  at  the 
disposal  of  the  stranger.  But  the  Patriarch,  with  the  high 
independence  of  his  natural  character  (shall  we  say,  also, 
with  the  caution  of  his  Jewish  descendants?),  will  not  be 
satisfied  without  a  regular  bargain.  He  '  weighs  out '  *  the 
coin.  He  specifies  every  detail  in  the  property ;  not  the 
field  only,  but  the  cave  in  the  field,  and  the  trees  ^  in  the 
field,  and  on  the  edge  of  the  field,  '  were  made  sure.'  The 
result  is  the  first  legal  contract  recorded  in  human  history, 
the  first  known  interment  of  the  dead,  the  first  assignment 
of  property  to  the  Hebrew  people  in  the  Holy  Land.^ 

To  this  graphic  and  natural  scene,  not  indeed  by  an  abso- 
lute continuity  of  proof,  but  by  such  evidence  as  has  been 
given  above,  the  cave  of  Machpelah  carries  us  back.  And  if 
in  the  long  interval  which  elapses  between  the  description  of 
the  spot  in  the  Book  of  Grenesis  (whatever  date  we  assign 
to  that  description),  and  the  notice  of  the  present  sanctuary 
by  Josephus,  so  venerable  a  place  and    so   remarkable   a 

'  See  Lecture  IL  40.  *  Several  of  the  above  details  are 

*  Gen.  xxiii.  7-12.  suggested  by  an  excellent  passage  on 
'  Ibid.  13-15.  this  subject  in  Thomson's  Land  and 

*  Ibid.  16.  Book,  pp.  377-579. 
">  Ibid.  17. 


APP.  II.  GEXEEAL   RESULTS.  513 

transaction  are  passed  over  without  a  word  of  recognition, 
this  must,  on  any  hypothesis,  be  reckoned  amongst  the  many 
proofs  that,  in  ancient  literature,  no  argument  can  be  drawn 
against  a  fact  from  the  mere  silence  of  authors,  whether 
sacred  or  secular,  whose  minds  were  fixed  on  other  subjects, 
and  who  were  writing  with  another  intention. 


L  L 


517 


APPENDIX   III. 
THE    SAMARITAN    PASSOVER. 

The  illustration,^  which  I  have  endeavoured  to  furnish  of  the 
original  Jewish  Passover  from  the  Samaritan  Passover,  was 
drawn  from  a  description  given  to  me  in  1854  by  Mr. 
Rogers,^  now  Consul  at  Damascus.  During  my  late  journey 
with  the  Prince  of  Wales,  I  was  enabled  myself  to  be  present 
at  its  celebration,  and  I  am  induced  to  give  a  full  account  of 
it,  the  more  so  as  it  is  evident  that  the  ceremonial  has  been 
considerably  modified  since  the  time  when  it  was  first 
recounted  to  me.  Even  to  that  lonely  community  the  influ- 
ences of  Western  change  have  extended ;  and  this  is  perhaps 
the  last  generation  which  mil  have  the  opportunity  of  wit- 
nessing this  vestige  of  the  earliest  Jewish  ritual. 

The  Samaritan  Passover  is  celebrated  at  the  same  time  as 
the  Jewish — namely,  on  the  full  moon  of  the  month  of  Nisan. 
In  the  present  instance,  either  by  design  or  by  a  fortunate 
mistake,  the  Samaritan  community  had  anticipated  the  14th 
of  the  month  by  two  days.  It  was  on  the  evening  of  Satur- 
day the  13th  of  April  that  we  ascended  Mount  Gerizim,  an4 
visited  the  various  traditional  localities  on  the  rocky  plat- 
form which  crowns  that  most  ancient  of  sanctuaries.  The 
whole  community — amounting,  it  is  said,  to  one  hundred  and 

'  See  Lecture  V.  p.  122.  account    is   also   given    in   Professor 

"  His  account  has  since  been  printed  Petermann's  Z>aye/s  (i.  236-239).    He 

in  his  sister's  interesting  work,  Do-  witnessed  it  in  1853. 

mestic  Life  in  Palestine,  281.      An 


518  THE   SAMARITAN   PASSOVER.  app.  in. 

fifty-two,  from  which  hardly  any  variation  has  taken  place 
within  the  memory  of  man — were  encamped  in  tents  on  a 
level  space,  a  few  hundred  yards  below  the  actual  summit  of 
the  mountain,  selected  on  account  of  its  comparative  shelter 
The  and  seclusion.'    The  women  ^  were  shut  up  in  the  tents.    The 

tioif.'  nien  were  assembled  on  the  rocky  terrace  in  sacred  costume. 

In  1854  they  all  wore  the  same  sacred  costume.  On  this 
occasion  most  of  them  were  in  their  ordinary  dress.  Only 
about  fifteen  of  the  elder  men,  amongst  whom  was  the  Priest 
Amram,^  were  clothed  in  long  white  robes.  To  these  must  be 
added  six  youths,*  dressed  in  white  shirts  and  white  drawers. 
The  feet  both  of  these  and  of  the  elders  were  at  this  time  of 
the  solemnity  bare.  It  was  about  half  an  hour  before  sunset, 
that  the  whole  male  community  in  an  irregular  form  (those 
attired  as  has  been  described  in  a  more  regular  order) 
gathered  round  a  long  trough  that  had  been  previously  dug 
in  the  ground ;  and  the  Priest,  ascending  a  large  rough  stone 

'  It  is  only  within  the  last  twenty  mestic  Life  in  Palestine  (249)  that 
years  that  the  Samaritans  (chiefly  Amram  is  not  properly  a  priest  (the 
through  the  intervention  of  the  English  legitimate  high  priest — the  last  de- 
Consul)  have  regained  the  right,  or  scendant,  as  they  allege,  of  Aaron 
rather  the  safety,  of  holding  their  festi-  — having  expired  some  years  ago), 
vat  on  Mount  Gerizim.  For  a  long  time  and  that  he  is  only  a  Levite.  He  is, 
before,  they  had  celebrated  the  Pass-  however,  certainly  called  '  the  priest ' 
over  like  the  modern  Jews,  and,  as  in  (Cohen).  He  has  two  wives.  The 
the  first  celebration  of  the  institution  children  of  the  fii'st  died  in  infancy, 
in  Egypt,  in  their  own  houses.  The  and  he  was  therefore  entitled,  by  Sa- 
performanee  of  the  solemnity  on  Ge-  maritan  usage,  to  take  a  second.  By 
rizim  is  in  strict  conformity  with  the  her  he  has  a  son,  Isaac.  But,  accord- 
principle  laid  down  in  Deut.  xvi.  15  ing  to  the  Oriental  law  of  succession, 
— '  Thou  shalt  keep  a  solemn  feast  he  will  be  succeeded  in  his  office  by 
"I'm  the  place  which  the  Lord  thy  God  his  nephew  Jacob,  as  the  oldest  of  the 
'  shall  choose ' — and  with  the  practice  family. 

which  prevailed  in  Judaea  till  the  fall  *    These    youths    were     evidently 

of  Jerusalem,  of  celebrating  the  Pass-  trained  for  the  purpose  ;  but  whether 

over  at  the  Temple.  thej-  held  any  sacred  office,  I  could 

^  Those  women   who,   by  the   ap-  not  learn.     In  the  Jewish  ritual,  the 

proach  of  childbirth  or   other  cere-  lambs  were  usually  slain  by  the  house- 

monial  reasons,  were  prevented  from  holders,    but   on    great   occasions   (2 

sharing  in  the  celebi-ation,  remained  Chron.  xxxv.    10,  11)  apparently  by 

in  Nablus.  the  Levites. 

'  It  is  stated  in  Miss  Rogers's  Do- 


APP.  III.  THE   SACRIFICE.  519 

in  front  of  the  congregation,  recited  in  a  loud  chant  or 
scream,  in  which  the  others  joined,  prayers  or  praises  chiefly 
turning  on  the  glories  of  Abraham  and  Isaac,  and  contained 
in  alphabetical  poems  of  ancient  Samaritan  poets,^  Abu'l 
Hassan  and  Marqua.  Their  attitude  was  that  of  all  Orientals 
in  prayer ;  standing,  occasionally  diversified  by  the  stretching 
out  of  the  hands,  and  more  rarely  by  kneeling  or  crouching, 
with  their  faces  wrapt  in  their  clothes  and  bent  to  the  ground,'^ 
towards  the  Holy  Place  on  the  summit  of  Gerizim.  The 
Priest  recited  his  prayers  by  heart ;  the  others  had  mostly 
books,  in  Hebrew  and  Arabic. 

Presently,  suddenly,  there  appeared  amongst  the  wor-  Tlie 
shippers  six  ^  sheep,  driven  up  by  the  side  of  the  youths 
before  mentioned.  The  unconscious  innocence  with  which 
they  wandered  to  and  fro  amongst  the  bystanders,  and  the 
simplicity  in  aspect  and  manner  of  the  young  men  who  tended 
them,  more  recalled  a  pastoral  scene  in  Arcadia,  or  one 
of  those  inimitable  patriarchal  tableaux  represented  in  the 
Ammergau  Mystery,  than  a  religious  ceremonial.  The  sun, 
meanwhile,  which  hitherto  had  burnished  up  the  Mediter- 
ranean in  the  distance,  now  sank  very  nearly  to  the  farthest 
western  ridge  overhanging  the  plain  of  Sharon.  The  reci- 
tation became  more  vehement.  The  Priest  turned  about, 
facing  his  brethren,  and  the  whole  history  of  the  Exodus 
from  the  beginning  of  the  Plagues  of  Egypt  was  rapidly, 
almost  furiously,  chanted.  The  sheep,  still  innocently 
playful,  were  driven  more  closely  together.  The  setting 
sun  now  touched  the  ridge.  The  youths  ■*  burst  into  a  wild 
murmur  of  their  own,  drew  forth  their  long  bright  knives. 


'  Petermann,  i.  236.  *  '  The  whole  assembly  shall  kill  it 

^  Compare   the  attitude  of  Elijah  '"between  the  two  evenings'"  (Ex. 

(1  Kings  xviii.  42  ;  xix.  13).  xii.  6).    '  Thou  shalt  sacrifice  the  Pass- 

^  Seven  sheep  is  the  usual  number.  '  over  at  evening,  at  the  going  down 

— Domestic  Life  in  Palestine,  250.  'of  the  sun '  (Deut.  xvi.  6). 


520  THE    SAMARITAN   PASSOVER.  app.  hi. 

and  brandished  them  aloft.  At  this  instant  ^  the  recitation 
from  the  Book  of  Exodus  had  reached  the  account  of  the 
Paschal  Sacrifice ;  and  the  Priest  recited  in  a  louder  key, 
to  be  heard  distinctly  by  the  sacrificers,  'And  the  whole 
'  assembly  of  the  congregation  of  Israel  shall  kill  it  in  the 
'  evening.'  In  a  moment,  the  sheep  were  thrown  on  their 
backs,  and  the  flashing  knives  rapidly  drawn  across  their 
throats.  Then  a  few  convulsive  but  silent  struggles, — 
'as  a  sheep — dumb — that  openeth  not  his  mouth," — and 
the  six  forms  lay  lifeless  on  the  ground,  the  blood  stream- 
ing from  them ;  the  one  only  Jewish  Sacrifice  lingering 
in  the  world.  In  the  blood  the  young  men  dipped  their 
fingers,  and  a  small  spot  was  marked  on  the  foreheads  and 
noses  of  the  children.  A  few  years  ago,  the  red  stain  was 
placed  on  all.  But  this  had  now  dwindled  away  into  the 
present  practice,  preserved,  we  are  told,  as  a  relic  or  emblem 
of  the  whole.  Then,  as  if  in  congratulation  at  the  comple- 
tion of  the  ceremony,  they  all  kissed  each  other,  in  the 
Oriental  fashion,  on  each  side  of  the  head.  Whilst  this  was 
going  on,  the  first  stanza  of  an  alphabetical  poem  was  recited, 
and  the  account  of  the  original  ordinance  continued.'-^ 

The  next  process  was  that  of  the  fleecing  ^  and  roasting  of 
the  slaughtered  animals,  for  which  the  ancient  Temple  fur- 
nished such  ample  provisions.  On  the  mountain-side  two 
holes  had  been  dug,  one  at  some  distance,  of  considerable 
depth,  the  other,  close  to  the  scene  of  the  Sacrifice,  com- 
paratively shallow.  In  this  latter  cavity,  after  a  short 
prayer,  a  fire  was  kindled,  out  of  a  mass  of  dry  heath, 
juniper,  and  briars,  such  as  furnish  the  materials  for  the 
conflagration  in  Jotham's  Parable,  delivered  not  far  from 

'  I  have  taken  this  incident  from  countries  (2  Chron.  xxxv.  11  ;  Mishna, 

Professor  Petermann  (i.  238).  Pesaehim,  eh.  v.  9).     The  process,   as 

^  Ihid.  above  described,  was   like  our  mode 

'  In  the  ancient  Jewish  ritual  the  of  taking  off  the  hair  from  pigs  after 

lambs   were   skinned,    as   in  western  they  have  been  killed. 


APP.  III.  THE   SACRIFICE.  521 

this  very  spot.  Over  the  fire  were  placed  two  cauldrons  full 
of  water.  Whilst  the  water  boiled,  the  congregation  again 
stood  round,  and  (as  if  for  economy  of  time)  continued  the 
recitation  of  the  Book  of  Exodus,  and  bitter  herbs  were 
handed  round  wrapt  in  a  strip  of  unleavened  bread :  '  with 
'  unleavened  bread  and  with  bitter  herbs  shall  they  eat  it.'  ^ 
Then  was  chanted  another  short  prayer.  After  which  the 
six  youths  again  appeared,  poured  the  boiling  water  over 
the  sheep,  and  plucked  off  their  fleeces.  The  right  fore- 
legs^ of  the  sheep,  with  the  entrails,  were  thrown  aside 
and  burnt.  The  liver  was  carefully  put  back.  Long- 
poles  were  brought,  on  which  the  animals  were  spitted; 
near  the  bottom  of  each  pole  was  a  transverse  peg  or 
stick,  to  prevent  the  body  from  slipping  off.  As  no  part 
of  the  body  is  transfixed  by  this  cross-stake — as,  indeed, 
the  body  hardly  impinges  on  it  at  all — there  is  at  pre- 
sent but  a  very  slight  resemblance  to  a  crucifixion.  But 
it  is  possible  that  in  earlier  times  the  legs  of  the  animal  may 
have  been  attached  to  the  transverse  beam.  So  at  least  the 
Jewish  rite  is  described  by  Justin  Martyr — 'The  Paschal 
'  Lamb,  that  is  to  be  roasted,  is  roasted  in  a  form  like  to  that 
'  of  the  Cross.  For  one  spit  is  thrust  through  the  animal 
'  from  head  to  tail,  and  another  through  its  breast,  to  which 
'  its  forefeet  are  attached.'^  He  naturally  saw  in  it  a  likeness 
of  the  Crucifixion.  But  his  remark,  under  any  view,  is 
interesting :  first,  because,  being  a  native  of  Nablus,  he 
probably  drew  his  notices  of  the  Passover  from  this  very 
celebration,  which,  as  it  would  thus  appear,  has,  even  in  this 
minute  particular,  been  but  very  slightly  modified  since  he 
saw  it  in  the  second  century ;  and  also  because,  as  he  draws 
no  distinction  between  this  rite  and  that  of  the  Jews  in 


»  Ex.  xii.  8. 

«  The  right  shoulder  and  the  hamstrings  {Domestic  Life  in  Palestine,  250). 

*  Dial,  cum  Tri/ph.  c.  40. 


roasting. 


522  THE   SAMAEITAN    PASSOVER.  app.  hi. 

general,  we  have  a  right  to  infer  that  the  Samaritan  Passover 
is  on  the  whole  a  faithful  representation  of  the  Jewish.  That 
the  spit  was  run  right  through  the  body  of  the  animal  in  the 
Jewish  ritual,  and  was  of  wood,  as  in  the  Samaritan,  is  clear 
from  the  account  in  the  Mishna.' 
The  The    sheep  were  then  carried  to  the  other  hole  already 

mentioned,  which  was  constructed  in  the  form  of  the  usual 
oven  {tannur)  of  Arab  villages — a  deep  circular  pit  sunk  in 
the  earth,  with  a  iire  kindled  at  the  bottom.  Into  this  the 
sheep  were  thrust  down  (it  is  said,  but  this  I  could  not  see), 
with  care,  to  prevent  the  bodies  from  impinging  on  the  sides, 
and  so  being  roasted  by  anything  but  the  fire.^  A  hurdle  was 
then  put  over  the  mouth  of  the  pit,  well  covered  with  wet 
earth,  so  as  to  seal  up  the  oven  till  the  roasting  was  completed. 
'  They  shall  eat  the  flesh  in  that  night  roast  with  fire.  Eat 
'  not  of  it  raw,  nor  sodden  at  all  with  water,  but  roast  with 
'fire.' 3 

The  ceremonial  up  to  tliis  time  occupied  about  two  hours. 
It  was  now  quite  dark,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  com- 
munity and  of  our  company  retired  to  rest.  Five  hours  or 
more  elapsed  in  silence,  and  it  was  not  till  after  midnight 
that  the  announcement  was  made  that  the  feast  was  about 
to  begin.  The  Paschal  moon  was  still  bright  and  high  in  the 
heavens.  The  whole  male  community  was  gathered  round 
the  mouth  of  the  oven,  and  with  reluctance  allowed  the  in- 
trusion of  any  stranger  to  a  close  inspection ;  a  reluctance 
which  was  kept  up  during  the  whole  of  this  part  of  the 
transaction,  and  contrasted  with  the  freedom  with  which 
we  had  been  allowed  to  be  present  at  the  earlier  stages  of 

'  Pesachvn,  ch.  vi.  7.     It  was  to  be  faring  with   the  roasting.      Wliether 
wood,    not   iron,  in    order  that   the  the  spits  on  Gerizim  were  of  pome- 
roasting  might  be  entirely 'by  fire,'  granate  I  did  not  observe, 
and  not  by  the  hot  iron  ;    and   the  ^  Ibid. 
wood  was  to  be  pomegranate,  as  not  '  Ex.  xii.  8,  9. 
emitting  any  water,  and  so  not  inter- 


APF.  III.  THE    FEAST.  523 

the  ceremony.  It  seemed  as  if  the  rigid  exelusiveness  of 
the  ancient  Paschal  ordinance  here  came  into  play  — '  A 
'foreigner  shall  not  eat  thereof;  no  uncircumcised  person 
'  shall  eat  thereof.'  ^ 

Suddenly  the  covering  of  the  hole  was  tord  off,  and  up 
rose  into  the  still  moonlit  sky  a  vast  column  of  smoke  and 
steam ;  recalling,  with  a  shock  of  surprise,  that,  even  though 
the  coincidence  may  have  been  accidental,  Eeginald  Heber 
should  have  so  Well  caught  this  striking  feature  of  so  remote 
and  unknown  a  ritual — 

Smokes  on  Gerizim's  mount,  Samaria's  sacrifice. 

Out  of  the  pit  were  dragged,  successively,  the  six  sheep,  on 
their  long  spits,  black  from  the  oven.  The  outlines  of  their 
heads,  their  ears,  their  legs,  were  still  visible — '  his  head  with 
'  his  legs,  and  with  the  inward  parts  thereof.'  ^  They  were 
hoisted  aloft,  and  then  thrown  on  large  square  brown  mats,  pre- 
viously prepared  for  their  reception,  on  which  we  were  carefully 
prevented  from  treading,  as  also  from  touching  even  the  extre- 
mities of  the  spits.  The  bodies  thus  wrapt  in  the  mats  were 
hurried  down  to  the  trench  where  the  Sacrifice  had  taken  place, 
and  laid  out  upon  them  in  a  line  between,  two  files  of  the 
Samaritans.  Those  who  had  before  been  dressed  in  white  robes 
still  retained  them,  with  the  addition,  now,  of  shoes  on  their 
feet,  and  staves  in  their  hands,  and  ropes  round  their  waists — 
'  Thus  shall  ye  eat  it ;  with  your  loins  girded,  your  shoes  on 
'  your  feet,  your  staff  in  your  hand.'  ^  The  recitation  of 
prayers  or  of  the  Pentateuch  recommenced,  and  continued, 
till  it  suddenly  terminated  in  their  all  sitting  down  on  their 
haunches,  after  the  Arab  fashion  at  meals,  and  beginning  to 
eat.  This,  too,  is  a  deviation  from  the  practice  of  only  a  few 
years  since,  when  they  retained  the  Mosaic  ritual  of  standing 

'  Ex.  xii.  45,  48.  «  Ibid.  9.  »  Ibid.  11. 


524  THE   SAMAKITAN   PASSOVER.  app.  hi. 

whilst  they  ate.  The  actual  feast  was  conducted  in  rapid 
silence  as  of  men  in  hunger,  as  no  doubt  most  of  them  were, 
and  so  as  soon  to  consume  every  portion  of  the  blackened 
masses,  which  they  tore  away  piecemeal  with  their  fingers — 
*  Ye  shall  eat  in  haste.'  ^  There  was  a  general  merriment, 
as  of  a  hearty  and  welcome  meal.  In  ten  minutes  all  was 
gone  but  a  few  remnants.  To  the  Priest  and  to  the  women, 
who,  all  but  two  (probably  his  two  wives),  remained  in  the 
tents,  separate  morsels  were  carried  round.  The  remnants 
were  gathered  into  the  mats,  and  put  on  a  wooden  grate  or 
hurdle  over  the  hole  where  the  water  had  been  originally 
boiled;  the  fire  was  again  lit,  and  a  huge  bonfire  was 
kindled.  By  its  blaze,  ^and  by  candles  lighted  for  the 
purpose,  the  ground  was  searched  in  every  direction,  as  for 
the  consecrated  particles  of  sacramental  elements ;  and  these 
fragments  of  the  flesh  and  bone  were  thrown  upon  the 
burning  mass.  *  Ye  shall  let  nothing  remain  until  the 
'  morning  ;  and  that  which  remaineth  until  the  morning  ye 
'shall  burn  with  fire.'  'There  shall  not  anything  of  the 
'  flesh  which  thou  sacrificest  the  first  day  at  even  remain  all 
'  night  until  the  morning.'  '  Thou  shalt  not  carry  forth 
'  ought  of  the  flesh  abroad  out  of  the  house.'  ^  The  flames 
blazed  up  once  more,  and  then  gradually  sank  away.  Perhaps 
in  another  century  the  fire  on  Mount  Grerizim  will  be  the 
only  relic  left  of  this  most  interesting  and  ancient  rite.  By 
the  early  morning  the  whole  community  had  descended  from 
the  mountain,  and  occupied  their  usual  habitations  in  the 
town.  'Thou  shalt  turn  in  the  morning,  and  go  unto  thy 
'  tents.'  3 

With    us    it  was    the  morning  of  Palm   Sunday,  and  it 
was  curious  to  reflect  by  what  a  long  gradation  of  centuries 

'  Ex.  xii.  11.     The  hasty  snatching  *  Ex.  xii.  10,  46;  Deut.  xvi.  4. 

which  I  had  heard  described,  I  was  *  Deut.  xvi.  7. 

unable  to  recognise. 


App.  III.  THE   FEAST.  525 

the  simple  ritual  of  the  English  Church — celebrated  then, 
from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  with  more  than  its  ordinary 
simplicity — had  grown  up  out  of  the  wild,  pastoral,  bar- 
barian, yet  still  elaborate,  commemoration  which  we  had 
just  witnessed  of  the  escape  of  the  sons  of  Israel  from  the 
yoke  of  the  Egyptian  King. 


526 


NOTE   ON  LECTUEE  VI. 

Nearly  tlie  "whole  of  this  work  was  in  substance  written,  and  a 
large  portion  of  it  printed,  before  the  spring  of  1862,  when  it 
was  suddenly  interrupted  by  the  unexpected  suspension  of  my 
Professorial  duties,  consequent  on  my  journey  to  the  East.  It  is 
thus  altogether  irrespective  of  any  of  the  works  which  have  been 
recently  published  on  the  criticism  and  the  history  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament ;  and  it  would  have  been  beside  the  jjurpose  of  the  work, 
as  laid  down  in  the  Preface,  to  engage  in  any  personal  controversy 
or  detailed  investigation  arising  out  of  the  topics  which  may  have 
been  there  discussed.  It  may,  however,  be  due  to  the  interest 
excited  by  one  of  the  works  to  which  I  allude,  to  state  in  a  very 
few  words  its  bearing  on  the  subject  of  the  present  volume. 

The  arithmetical  errors  which  have  been  pointed  out  (with  greater 
force  and  in  greater  detail  than  heretofore,  but  not  for  the  first 
time,  by  eminent  divines  and  scholars)  in  the  narrative  of  the  Old 
Testament,  are  unquestionably  inconsistent  with  the  popular  hypo- 
thesis of  the  uniform  and  undeviating  accuracy  of  the  Biblical 
history,  or  with  the  ascription  of  the  whole  Pentateuch  to  a  contem- 
poraneous author.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  recognition  of  such 
errors  would  remove  at  one  stroke  some  of  the  main  difficulties  of 
the  Mosaic  narrative,  and  would  give  us  a  clearer  insight  into  the 
structure  of  the  sacred  books.  By  such  a  reduction  of  the  numbers 
as  Laborde,  for  example,  or  Kennicott  propose, '  many  of  the  per- 
plexities ^  in  the  Jewish  history  at  once  disappear,  and  the  incredibility 
of  one  part  of  the  narrative  thus  becomes  a  direct  argument  in 
favour  of  the  probability  of  the  rest.  And  the  parallel  instance 
of  a  like  tendency  to  the  amplification  of  numbers  in  Josephus's 
'  Wars  of  the  Jews '  is  a  decisive  proof  of  the  compatibility 
of  such  amplifications,  not,  indeed,  with  an  exact  or  literal,  but 
with  a  substantially  historical,  narrative  of  the  series  of  events  in 

'  See  Lecture  V.  p.  124,  and  Lecture  XVII.  p.  383.  *  See  Lecture  VL 


NOTE.  527 

■which  these  errors  are  imbedded.  "We  should  also  (as  in  the  case  of 
S.  Stephen's  speech  in  the  Acts)  learn  to  contrast  the  literal  and 
mechanical  theories  of  later  ages  on  the  subject  of  Inspiration  with 
the  freedom  with  which  the  sacred  writers  themselves  treated  their 
sacred  materials,  '  having  regard,'  as  S.  Jerome  says,  '  to  the  mean- 
ing rather  than  to  the  words.'  No  doubt,  to  those  who  regard 
the  least  error  in  the  Sacred  History  as  fatal  to  the  credibility  and 
value  of  the  whole  of  the  Bible,  and  to  the  Christian  Faith  itself, 
such  discoveries  are  full  of  alarm.  But,  if  we  extend  to  the  narra- 
tive of  the  different  parts  of  the  Old  Testament  the  same  laws  of 
criticism  Avhich  we  apply  to  other  histories,  especially  to  Oriental 
histories,  its  very  errors  and  defects  may  be  reckoned  amongst  its 
safeguards,  and  at  any  rate  are  guides  to  the  true  apprehension  of 
its  meaning  and  its  intention.  From  an  honest  inquiry,  such  as 
that  which  has  suggested  these  remarks,  and  from  a  calm  discussion 
of  the  points  which  it  raises  (wherever  such  a  calm  discussion  can 
be  secured),  the  cause  of  Truth  and  Religion  has  everything  to  gain 

and  nothing  to  lose. 

-Si 


INDEX. 


AAR 

AARON,  his  relation  to  Moses,  115, 
152 

—  his  death,  184 
Ahimelech,  349-355 
Abdon,  355,  375 
Abraham,  his  biu'ial,  34,  489 

—  his  call,  14 

—  his  migration,  5 

—  his  'place'  at  Damascus,  485 

—  his  tomb  at  Hebron,  499 

—  his  wanderings,  29 

—  legends  respecting  him,  14,  17,  21 
Achsah,  264 

Ai,  fall  of,  237 

Alexander  Severus'  worship  of  Abra- 
ham, 21 
Amalek,  141,  321 
Aphek.  battle  of,  380 
Ark,  165,  381,  382 
Arnold  quoted,  255,  261 
Asher,  267,  321 
Ass,  use  of  the,  95 
Avenger  of  blood,  172 


BAAL,  293 
Baal-berith,  293,  353,  354 
Balaam,  189-197 
Earak,  319 
Eashan,  215 
Beer,  352 
Beer-elim,  188 
Beersheba,  35 
Benjamin,  266,  301 
Bethel,  Abraham's  halting-place,  30 
—  conquest  of,  262 
— Jacob's  sanctuary,  59 
Beth-horon,  battle  of,  240 
Birzeh,  485 
Biu-ckhardt,  162 
Byron  quoted,  361 


EPH 

CALEB,  262 
Canaan,  Canaanite,  same  as  Phoe- 
nician, 210 

—  extermination  of,  251 

—  migration  of  277 

—  relations  to  Abraham,  39 
Carlyle  quoted,  254 
Chrysostom's  opinion  on  the  massacre 

of  the  Canaanites,  251 
Circumcision,  23.  211,  233 
Conquest  of  Palestine,  207 

—  of  Eastern  Palestine,  212 

—  of  Western  Palestine,  225 
Controversy,  31,  220 


DAGON,  364,  383 
Damascus,  Abraham's  connexion 
with,  10,  485 
Dan,  the  town  of.  291,  299 

—  the  tribe  of,  268,  321,  369 
Daniel,  427 

Debir,  264 

Deborah,  318,  323,  328,  331,  334 

—  oak  of,  72 


EBENEZER,  battle  of,  393 
Edom,  character  of,  56,  68 
Ech-el,  battle  of,  215 
Egypt,  Abraham  in,  41 

—  Israel  in,  82 

—  Jacob  in,  74 

—  Joseph  in,  77 

—  Moses  in,  107 

—  plagues  of,  118 
Ehud,  316 

Eli,  375,  381 

Eloliim,  use  of  the  name  for  God,  22 

— —  —  the  Judges,  389 

Ephraim,  265,  385 

M  M 


530 


INDEX. 


ESA 
Esau,  character  of,  54 

—  history  of,  68 

—  his  tomb,  SO-t 
Etham,  126 


FAITH,  justification  by,  18 
Future  life,  156 


GAD,  219 
Galileo,  249 
Gerizim,  49,  121,  279,  351,  517 

—  plan  of,  515 
Geshurites,  276 
Gibeah,  301 

Gibeon,  league  with,  238,  276 

—  siege  of,  241 
Gideon,  his  call,  343 

—  his  femily,  341 

—  his  royal  state,  348 
Gilead,  63 

Gilgal.  233 

HAEAN,  8,  481 
Hazor,  258 
'Hebrew,'  the  name,  10 
Hebron,  32,  73,  263,  488,  491 
Heliopolis,  87 

Hophni  and  Phinehas,  378,  381 
Horeb.     See  Si7iai. 
Hut,  134,  168 

ICHABOD,  382 
Ibzan,  355 
Isaac,  offering  of,  47 

—  his  character,  39,  500 

—  his  tomb,  500 
Isaiah,  426,  427 
Ishmael,  37 
Issachar,  267 


JABESH-GILEAD,  303 
Jabin,  258,  317 
Jacob,  character  of,  54 

—  his  charge,  63 

—  his  death,  75 

—  his  tomb,  501 

—  his  wanderings,  59 
Jael,  327 

Jahaz,  battle  of,  213 
Jair,  216,  355,  375 
Jasher,  book  of,  244 
Jebus,  275,  301 
Jehovah,  name  of,  111 
Jephthah,  310,  356-359 


MEG 

Jeremiah,  426 
Jericho,  234 
Jethi-o,  143 
Jews,  56 

—  name  of,  262 
Job,  book  of,  69 
John  the  Baptist,  428 

—  the  Evangelist,  430,  453 
Jonathan  the  Levite,  299,  300 
Jordan,  passage  of,  230 
Joseph  in  Egypt,  77 

—  his  tomb,  279,  502 
Josephus,  XXXV 
Joshua,  his  character,  228 

—  his  prayer,  243 

—  his  decrees,  273 

—  his  death,  280 

—  his  first  appearance,  142 

—  name  of,  229 
Jotham,  309,  350 
Judah,  262,  315,  321 
Judges,  book  of,  286 

—  name  of,  291,  389 

—  office  of,  291 


KADESH,  182 
Keble  quoted,  98,  147,  193,  228, 
271 
Kedesh-Naphtali,  319 
Kenites,  143,  326 
Kepler,  250 
Khudr,  El,  185,  227 
Kings,  rise  of,  in  Israel,  202,  348,  349 
—  worship  of,  16,  90 


LAW,  the,  162,  173 
Leah,  her  tomb,  501 
Leprosy,  95 
Levi,  169,  269 
Levites,  297,  299,  301 
Lot,  32 


MAACAH,  276 
Macaulay  quoted,  138,  203 
Machpelah,  34,  75,  488 
Mahanaim,  64 
Mahaneh-Dan,  370 
Makkedah,  cave  of,  245 
Mamre,  32,  489 
Manasseh,  Eastern,  219 
—  Western,  266 
Manna,  147 
Marah,  139 
Megiddo,  276,  324 


INDEX. 


531 


MEL 

Melchizedek,  44 

Merom,  battle  of,  260 

Meroz,  325,  331 

Mesopotamia,  5,  61 

Micah,  296 

Middle  ages,  310 

Midian,  214,  339,  343,  347 

Milman,  Dean,  11,  14,  211,  470 

Milton,  211,  372,  373,  462 

Mill,  John  Stuart,  440 

Miriam,  deatli  of,  183 

—  song  of,  133 
Moab,  47,  187,  315 

Moses,  birth  and  education,  105,  106 

—  caU,  109 

—  character  and  appearance,  114 

—  death,  201 

—  family,  115 

—  grandson,  300 

—  importance,  134 

—  legends,  107,  185,  201 

—  mission,  154,  421 
• —  name  of,  106 

—  psalm,  198 

—  songs,  198 

—  Strabo's  account  of,  104 

Midler,  Professor,  on  Abraham,  16,  22 

—  on  Eevelation,  397 


ATAPHTALI,  267 
IM  Nazarites,  366 
Nobah,  217,  221,  261 


OG,  214 
On,  87 
Orfa.  6,  480 
Oreb,  339,  347 
Othniel,  264,  315 


PALESTINE,    inhabitants    of,    28, 
208 

—  conquest  of,  207,  212,  225,  270 

—  name  of,  365 
Passover,  121,  517 
Paid,  S.,  457 
Peniel,  66 
Pharaoh,  92 

Philistines,  their  origin  and  character, 
362-365 

—  fortresses,  275 

Phinehas  I,  220,  226,  280,  302,  375 
Phinehas  II.,  378,  381 


SHA 

PhcEnicians,  210,  292 
Pisgah,  189,  193,  199 
Plagues  of  Egypt,  118 
Predestination,  14 
Predictive  prophecy,. 4 17,  465 
Priest,  39,  45,  164 
Prophetic  office.  111,  160,  415 
Prophets,  schools  of,  399 

—  catalogues  of,  443-445 

—  order  of,  teaching  in  the  present,  449 

in  the  past,  448 

in  the  future,  464 

— -  the  word,  415 


f)ACHEL,  grave  of,  72 
I     Rahab,  238 
Eamah,  394,  411 
Rameses  II.,  91 
Rameses,  the  city,  125 
Rebekah,  her  character,  38 
—  her  tomb,  500 
Redemption,  129 
Red  Sea,  passage  of,  126 
Rephidim,  141 
Reuben,  218 
Revelation  to  Abraham,  24 

Moses,  110,  151,  153 

Samuel,  397-398 

'  Revelation,'  meaning  of,  397 
Robson,  Mr.,  letter  from,  482,  486 
Rock,  the,  146,  198 
Rosen,  Dr.,  496 
Ruth,  303 


SABBATH,  178 
Sacrifice,  168 
Sacrifice  of  Isaac,  47 

—  of  Jephthah's  daughter,  359-362 

—  Paschal,  520 
Samaritan  passover,  121,  517 
Samson,  his  birth,  365 

—  his  character,  367 

—  his  death,  368 

—  his  history,  290,  369 

—  his  name,  367 
Samson  Agouistes,  373 
Samuel,  his  birth,  392 

—  his  death  and  grave,  411 

—  his  judgeship,  393 

—  his  mission,  402 

—  his  name,  391 

—  his  prayers,  395,  407 

—  his  revelations,  397 
Shamgar,  290 


532 


INDEX. 


SHE 

.Shechom,  Abimeleeli,  352 

—  Abraham  at,  29 

—  Jacob,  70 

—  Joshua,  278 
Shepherd  kings,  83 
Shibboleth,  357 
Shiloh,  278,  295 

—  the  sanctuary,  295,  376,  380 
faU  of,  384 

Shittim  wood,  166 

Sihon,  213 

Simeon,  267 

Sinai,  109,  150 

Sisera,  322-328 

Sodom,  29,  4-1 

Succoth  in  Palestine,  70 

Egypt,  125 

Sun,  ■worship  of,  15,  88 


TAANACH,  276,  323 
Taanath,  278 
Tabernacle,  166 
Tabernacles,  Feast  of,  270 
Tabor,  291,  322,  341 
Taylor,  Jeremy,  21 


ZUL 

Tennyson  quoted,  74 
Ten  Commandments,  175 
Teraphim,  296 
Thebez,  354 
Theocracy,  157,  389 
Tribes,  163,  261 

—  central,  266 

—  eastern,  219 

—  northern,  267 

—  southern,  263,  267 


u 


R  of  the  Chaldees,  5,  479 


T70AVS,  294 


ZAANAIM,  326 
Zeba  and  Zalraunna,  339,  347 
Zebulun,  267,  320 
Zeeb,  339,  346 
Zuleika,  76 


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