THE CENTURY BIBLE HANDBOOKS
Old Testament History
PROF. H. BENNETT, D,D.
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PRINCETON, N. J.
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7 Bennett, W.H.
{ Old Testament history
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CENTURY BIBLE HANDBOOKS
General EmroR
Principal WALTER F. ADENEY, M.A., D.D.
OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
OLD TESTAMENT
HISTORY
* DEC 12 1910
BY
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REV. W. H. BENNETT
M.A. (lOND.), LITT.D. (cAMB.), PROFESSOR, NEW COLLEGE AND
HACKNEY COLLEGE, LONDON, SOMETIME FELLOW OF
ST. John's college, Cambridge
HODDER AND STOUGHTON
NEW YORK
1909
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. INTRODUCTION I
II. ENVIRONMENT 8
III. ORIGIN OF ISRAEL — MOSES AND THE EXODUS 1 7
IV. THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN : I. — JOSHUA
AND THE JUDGES 35
V. THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN : II. — SAMUEL,
SAUL, AND DAVID ..... 54
VI. SOLOMON 82
VII. THE DISRUPTION ..... 88
VIII. WARS BETWEEN ISRAEL AND JUDAH . . 9 1
IX. THE SYRIAN WARS — I. THE HOUSE OF OMRI 95
X. THE SYRIAN WARS — II. THE HOUSE OF JEHU I07
XI. ISRAEL UNDER THE EARLY MONARCHY . II5
XII. THE PROPHETS OF EIGHTH CENTURY, AMOS,
HOSEA, ISAIAH, AND MICAH . . . I20
XIII. THE REFORMS OF JOSIAH .... 133
XIV. THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAH . . • 138
XV. THE CAPTIVITY 150
XVI. THE RESTORATION . . . , . 160
XVII. THE REFORMS OF EZRA AND NEHEMIAH . 166
XVIII. CONCLUSION 1 74
APPENDIX I. THE RETURN FROM THE EXILE . 1 76
„ II. THE REFORMS OF EZRA AND NEHE-
MIAH 177
INDEX - . .178
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1
OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The Importance of the History of Israel. — The history
of the Chosen People has a supreme claim upon our
interest and attention ; it means more to us than the
annals of Greece or Rome, or even of our own country.
For more than a thousand years Israel was the sphere
within which God specially made Himself known to
man, in that Revelation which culminated in the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. The attitude of God both to the
human race and to the individual soul was revealed in
His dealings with Israel and its citizens. The Divine
requirements are set forth in the demands of the inspired
teachers of the Old Testament. The Law and the
Prophets, the Psalms and the Wisdom of Israel, set up
moral standards which even now we do not seriously
attempt to realise. In this sacred literature we also
see how the soul became conscious of its fellowship
A
2 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
with God, and how the mutual action and reaction of
the Divine Spirit with the reHgious experience of man
were gradually understood and interpreted.
This unique religious life was constantly and closely
interwoven with the history ; the religion was a national
religion. To use modern terms, the nation and the
Church were identical ; religion was a matter for the
community, and for the individual as a member of the
community, and on the other hand politics and social
life were equally matters of religion. For the most part
the inspired writers are concerned chiefly and in the
first instance with Israel ; the great utterances of Isaiah,
Jeremiah, and other prophets were directly occasioned
by the historical circumstances of their times.
Moreover, the human character of Jesus and the
circumstances of His early life were the outcome of the
national experience ; and He and His Apostles thought
and spoke in terms of the history of Israel. The Church
has included the Hebrew literature in its Bible, and is
largely indebted to the Old Testament for its ethics.
In a word, there can be no intelligent knowledge of
Christ and Christianity without an acquaintance with
the annals of the Chosen People.
We must also remember that Mohammedanism starts
from the Old Testament, which it accepts as a Divine
Revelation.
Thus the unique glory of Israel is its importance for
INTRODUCTION
religion. In population, extent of territory, political
power, in art and science and commerce, it was insig-
nificant; but it was the parent of three great world-
religions, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
Sources. — Our information as to ancient Israel is mainly
derived from the Old Testament. Josephus, indeed,
wrote in a.d. 95 his " Antiquities of the Jews," giving an
account of the period from the creation of the world
to the Jewish war in a.d. 70 ; but until some time after
the Exile, he had no trustworthy authorities except
those contained in the Old Testament. Hence for the
earlier history he adds little or nothing to our knowledge ;
he merely supplements the BibHcal narrative by fanciful
legends, rhetorical expansions, and more or less plausible
conjectures. A mass of equally worthless material of
a similar character is found in the Apocryphal and
other Jewish and Christian literature of the centuries
immediately before and after Christ.
We do, indeed, learn much from the monuments,
inscriptions, and other ancient records of Assyria,
Babylonia, Egypt, and Moab. They have brought to
light the world to which Israel belonged, and told us
the history of the great empires which were in turn
supreme ; and thus indirectly they enable us to under-
stand the circumstances and conditions of the sacred
story, and to fill in the background of the picture drawn
by the Bible. They also help us with the chronology,
4 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
and supply alternative versions of some of the stories ;
but, so far, they do not provide us with many additional
facts of Hebrew history.
When we remember that, for by far the greater part
of the history of ancient Israel, we have hardly any
other source of information but the narrative portions
of the Old Testament, it will be evident that our data
are extremely meagre. Indeed, they are even less than
they seem at first sight, for most of the narratives in
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Chronicles are repetitions, often
word for word, of material found in the other historical
books. Deducting such repetitions, together with the
legal sections of the Pentateuch, we have left very roughly
280 octavo pages. Or we may leave out Genesis as
concerned with the patriarchs rather than the nation ;
and we have only about 240 pages to tell the story of
some thousand years — about as much as a halfpenny
daily paper gives to the events of three or four days.
And, as a matter of fact, further deductions have to be
made, for reasons to be stated in our next section.
The Interpretation of the Sources. — This might seem
at first sight a very simple matter ; it might be supposed
that we have merely to reproduce the Biblical statements.
Some readers will be surprised to find that this has not
been done ; they will miss familiar features of the sacred
story ; and it may seem that in places the history as
given here is inconsistent with the inspired record.
INTRODUCTION
But in truth the reconstruction of the history of ancient
times from such documents as those contained in the
Old Testament is a most difficult problem. These
documents are not history, but material for history. The
Bible is given us as a means of grace, to show us the
way of salvation, and to move us to faith in Christ ; it
was not intended, in the first instance and directly, to
provide us with information on other matters, especially
on the details of secular history. Being thus provided
for our spiritual edification, the Bible uses any form of
narrative which may serve that end. There are other
kinds of narratives besides scientific reports which are
accurate in every detail — if any such have ever existed.
There are poems, parables, and allegories. There are
stories about tribes written as if they were about indi-
viduals ; we read about Ephraim and his brethren, when
not the patriarchs but the tribes are meant. Then, again,
a writer or a preacher wishing to bring home to his
contemporaries the lessons of ancient events may tell
the story as if it had happened in his own time, in terms
of the customs and circumstances with which he and his
hearers are familiar. He may speak of the Prodigal
Son squandering bank-notes. Much of Chronicles has
been written on that principle.
In fact, almost every possible form of narrative is used in
the Old Testament, and the student has to determine the
character of each ; it is, as we have said, no easy task.
6 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
It is obviously impossible in this little handbook to
give reasons ; one can only state conclusions. Moreover,
in view of the meagre data, the obscurity of numerous
passages, and the contradictions — or at any rate the
prima fade contradictions — in many of the parallel
passages ; in view of all these difficulties, we must be
more or less uncertain about many details. For the
sake of clearness and brevity we have often omitted
qualifications ; we have for the most part avoided " prob-
ably " and " possibly " ; but the reader will understand
that our version of the story is not put forward dogmatic-
ally as absolutely certain throughout. In minor matters
it is one among several possible versions : but for all
the views held there is respectable evidence and strong
authority. The main lines of the history are practically
certain, so far as our present information is concerned ;
and on these more important matters there is something
like a consensus of opinion amongst scholars who hold
moderate modern views.
The history of the Literature and Religion of Israel
are only dealt with briefly ; for further information
on these subjects, including the historical documents
of which we have been speaking, the reader is referred
to two other volumes of this series, " The Books of the
Old Testament" by Professor Whitehouse, and "The
Religion of Israel " by Professor Peake. Similarly,
many of our statements rest upon an examination of
INTRODUCTION
the text and interpretation of the relevant passages — an
examination far too lengthy and elaborate to be repro-
duced in an elementary handbook. The full treat-
ment of such matters may be seen in such works as the
"International Critical Commentary," and Professor
H. P. Smith's " Old Testament History" in the "Inter-
national Theological Library." A good general idea
of these discussions may be obtained from the notes
in the "Century Bible."
CHAPTER II
ENVIRONMENT
Geography of the Ancient East. — The history of ancient
Israel is concerned mainly with Assyria, Babylonia,
Syria, and Egypt ; and in a less degree with the
neighbouring countries. Media, Persia, Elam, Arabia,
and Ethiopia. Most of the events took place within
an area contained by the following boundaries : the
east and south-east coast of the Mediterranean Sea,
a line drawn from the north-east corner of the Mediter-
ranean to the mouth of the Araxes on the west coast
of the Caspian, the coast of the Caspian, a line drawn
from the south-east corner of the Caspian to the head
of the Persian Gulf, a line from the head of the Persian
Gulf to the head of the Gulf of Elath, the coast of the
Red Sea, from there round the Peninsula of Sinai and
then southward about halfway down the Red Sea,
a line from this point westward, and finally the desert
to the west of Egypt (see Map of the Ancient East).
To-day this area is included in Egypt, Turkey in Asia,
and Persia.
The most striking features of this area are : —
ENVIRONMENT
(i.)The two great river systems ; on the one hand the
Euphrates and the Tigris and their tributaries, with vast
plains rendered fertile in ancient times by irrigation, and
on the other the Nile, with the lands about it, like a
fan with a long handle, the handle being a narrow strip
of cultivated soil shut in by mountains, and the extended
portion of the fan being the Delta, a triangle traversed by
numerous arms into which the Nile divides. These lands
are fertilised by the annual inundations of the Nile.
(ii.) A strip of highlands and mountains, extending
from the north-east corner of the Mediterranean to
the Peninsula of Sinai ; interrupted at intervals by
valleys and plains, sometimes fertile, sometimes desert.
(iii.) The maritime plain along the Mediterranean,
sometimes extremely narrow, somietimes extending for
a considerable distance inland.
(iv.) A great triangular wedge of desert, separating
Syria from Mesopotamia and Babylonia.
The International System. — These countries were
the seat of two ancient civilisations, which had reached
an advanced stage of art, science, political and social
organisation, and religion, before Israel appeared upon
the scene. The Egyptian monarchy can be traced
back to about 5000 B.C., and the beginnings of civilisa-
tion in the Nile Valley are thousands of years earlier.
The civilisation of the lands about the Euphrates and
the Tigris is not much less ancient. The earliest people
lo OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
whom we can trace in these countries are the Sumerians ;
later on Semitic invaders established themselves in the
land and became the ruling race. As early as 4000 B.C.
powerful city-states already existed, and in the period
from 4500 B.C. to 2500 B.C. various Semitic kingdoms
rose and fell. About B.C. 2100, the Babylonian Empire
began to flourish under what is called the First Baby-
lonian Dynasty. The greatest king of this dynasty
was Hammurabi, identified with Amraphel the con-
temporary of Abraham (Gen. xiv.). Hammurabi made
Babylon supreme in Western Asia.
Less is known of the early history of Assyria, but
a Semitic monarchy existed there about 3000 B.C.
Nineveh was already a flourishing city in the time
of Hammurabi. For many centuries Assyria was a
province or dependency of Babylon, but in time the
more northerly state asserted its independence, and
became first the rival and then the mistress of Babylonia.
The settled lands of Syria were for the most part
parcelled out amongst a number of small city-states,
while numerous nomad tribes roamed over the pasture-
lands and the desert. Amongst the cities the most
important were the Phoenician ports and Damascus. A
belt of Phcenician cities were dotted along the Medi-
terranean coast from Tyre northwards, and most of
the maritime commerce of South-west Asia was in
the hands of their merchants. The Phoenicians were
ENVIRONMENT t i
Canaanites who had given up agriculture and taken to
trade. We do not know the date at which they settled
on the coast, but Tyre and Sidon were already flourish-
ing in the fifteenth century B.C.
In addition to the greater empires, the Syrian cities,
and the nomads, there were various minor states, some
of which rose to temporary importance. They were some-
times independent, but mostly subject to Egypt, Assyria,
or Babylon : they continually varied in number and
extent of territory.
The area we have defined was frequently invaded by
neighbours outside its boundaries. Great waves of im-
migrants from Arabia repeatedly swept over Syria and
Babylonia, introduced new elements into the population,
and changed the character of society. In Northern Syria
we find between 1600 and 800 B.C. a Hittite Empire or
Confederation, controlling much of Asia Minor and con-
tending on equal terms with Egypt for the supremacy
of Syria.
The nations of our area — which we may speak of, for
the sake of simplicity, as Western Asia and Egypt —
formed an international system, and were as closely
connected as the peoples of Western Europe before the
advent of railways, steamships, and telegraphs. The
dominant races in Western Asia were Semitic; Egypt
was ruled for centuries by a Semitic dynasty, and there
was a Semitic element in the population. There was a
12 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
vigorous commerce between the different countries,
and their inhabitants were brought into contact with
one another by frequent wars. The governments main-
tained diplomatic relations with one another, and the
royal families intermarried. There was one special
feature of ancient life which tended to draw the nations
together and give them a mutual knowledge of each
other. In every country there were numbers of foreign
slaves, of whom a considerable proportion either escaped
or were ransomed. A Syrian lady, for instance, could
learn all about the Israelites from her Jewish maid.
More especially Assyria and Babylon were very
similar in race, language, and religion, and they were
closely connected politically, so that when we speak of
one only it may be generally understood that the other
is included.
All these ancient peoples were deeply and universally
religious ; they were conscious of invisible Powers be-
hind Nature and life, behind experience and history;
and this consciousness led them to believe in an immense
number of supernatural beings of all kinds, gods and
demons, good and evil, great and small, with every
possible variety of function. But practically a family,
a city, or a nation often became attached to some one
deity, who took a special interest in its welfare — a kind
of patron saint. Naturally a people thought highly of
its own particular god, and if a city became prosperous
ENVIRONMENT 13
and powerful, its deity would be extolled as mighty
and beneficent beyond all others. About 1400 B.C. an
Egyptian king, Khuenaten, became a believer in the
Sun-god as the supreme sole deity, and tried to make
monotheism the religion of Egypt. But the new move-
ment entirely collapsed at his death.
The two chief centres of influence for Western Asia
were Egypt and Babylonia; sometimes the Pharaohs,
sometimes the dominant power on the Euphrates, held
sway over Syria for centuries. Of the two. Babylonia, and
especially the city of Babylon, was the more important.
Babylon in the ancient East held a position similar to
that of Rome in Western Europe in the Middle Ages
or to that of Paris to-day. For example, in the fifteenth
and fourteenth centuries, and doubtless at other times,
Babylonian was the language of diplomacy, in which
despatches were written by the governments of Egypt,
Syria, and Cappadocia.
The Geography of Palestine (see Map of Palestine). —
Palestine may be very roughly described as consisting
of four parallel strips of country.
{a) A section of the maritime plain referred to as iii.
on page 9, and immediately eastwards.
{b) A section of the Highlands referred to as ii. on
the same page. This hill country is interrupted to the
south-west of the Sea of Galilee by the Plain of Esdraelon.
In the southern half of Palestine, between the moun-
14 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
tains and the plain, there is a district of low hills, the
Shephelah, the " lowland " of the Revised Version.
(c) The valley of the Jordan.
(d) The high table-land to the east of the Jordan.
In the south, the Highlands drop into a lower
district, still considerably above the sea-level, partly
desert, partly poor pasture-land, the Negeb or " south
country."
On three sides Palestine has well-defined boundaries,
the Mediterranean on the west, the desert on the
south and east. To the north there is no natural
boundary. But the Israelite dominion hardly ever
extended over all Palestine : most of the maritime
plain was usually held by the Philistines and the
Phoenicians ; and the country east of the Dead Sea, and
southwards generally, belonged to Edom and Moab.
Palestine is a very small country ; its length from
Dan to Beersheba is about one hundred and eighty miles,
the breadth from Jordan to the sea is rarely more than
fifty miles. The Israelite frontier, east of the Jordan,
was very indefinite, and continually varied. We might
reckon a breadth of from about twenty miles to possibly
fifty in Bashan. On the one hand, however, the
dominion of Israelite kings was sometimes more exten-
sive; but, on the other, as we have seen, there was
never a time when the whole of this territory was
effectively occupied by an Israelite population. In
ENVIRONMENT 15
view of the uncertainty of the frontier, we can hardly
give exact figures for the area of Palestine, but accord-
ing to Professor Socin in the article " Palestine " in the
EficyclopcBdia Biblica^ the area of Western Palestine is
6040 square miles, while 3800 square miles would be
a liberal estimate for Eastern Palestine. The whole is
less than a sixth of England.
The surface of the country is very varied ; the eleva-
tion ranges from nearly 10,000 feet above the sea-level
on the summit of Hermon, to more than 1000 feet
below the sea level on the shores of the Dead Sea.
Hence the climate is very different in different districts,
and the kinds of vegetable produce are very numerous.
Much of the land is only fit for pasture, and large
numbers of sheep and cattle were reared, especially in
the districts bordering on the southern and eastern
deserts. In some districts, especially on the slopes of
the lower hills, the vine, the fig, and the olive flourished.
Wheat and barley were staple products of Palestine,
growing abundantly in the plains. The country is not
rich in minerals.
As regards commerce, there are no good sea-ports
south of Carmel, and the maritime trade was mostly
in the hands of the Phoenicians. But the most im-
portant caravan routes from Syria and Mesopotamia
to Egypt passed either through Palestine or along its
borders.
i6 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
Early History of Palestine. — When Israel appeared
upon the scene Palestine already enjoyed a civilisation^
which, like that of Egypt and Babylon, had been de-f
veloping for thousands of years. It had been overrun
by successive waves of immigrants, mostly Semites from
Arabia. At the time of the Israelite conquest the
ruling race were the Canaanites, to whom the Phoenicians
belonged. As far as we are acquainted with the
internal politics of the country, it was mainly organised
in small states consisting of cities, or groups of cities,
and their territory, together with a nomad population,
forming small tribes. The number and extent of these
states continually varied, and they were often federated
in all sorts of combinations.
But the culture of the country was largely determined
by the great empires upon which it was usually de-
pendent. Palestine was the bone of contention between
Egypt and its eastern rivals, and often the battle-ground
on which they fought out their quarrels — the Flanders of
the ancient East. Before 1800 B.C. there were periods
when Elam or Babylonia was dominant in Syria and
Palestine; and from about 1700 to 1200 B.C. Palestine
was mostly tributary to the Pharaohs, and some of its
towns were occupied by their garrisons. The Egyptians
held the Sinaitic Peninsula, and worked its mines
from the very earliest times, perhaps as early as
4000 B.C.
J ^ CHAPTER III
, ORIGIN OF ISRAEL— MOSES AND THE
EXODUS
The Pentateuch
The Genealogy of Israel. — Israel first appears as a
nation at the Exodus. It is then described as a con-
federacy of twelve tribes, descended from the twelve sons
of Jacob or Israel. But in the ancient East genealo-
gies with their various features, parents and children,
brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, were used to
set forth the political, geographical, and racial relations
of tribes and districts. Thus series of dry details were
transformed into romantic stories, and history became
picturesque and easy to remember. We still use
similar figures ; England is the mother country and
the colonies her daughters. Thus the only certain
meaning of the statement that the twelve tribes were
the sons of Israel, is that these tribes ultimately formed
a nation called Israel ; it also meant other things, but it
is difficult to discover these other meanings.
Many of the narratives in Genesis are as much tribal
history as the genealogies with which they are inter-
woven, and these passages contain the remnants of the
17 B
i8 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
Israelites' traditions as to the way in which the Con-
federacy of the Twelve Tribes gradually grew up. The
names of the Patriarchs and their wives are chiefly
names of tribes ; the various marriages and births stand
for alliances and combinations of independent tribes,
and for the subdivision of a large tribe into smaller
clans. Personal narratives have been blended with this
tribal history. We cannot say now exactly how much
belongs to each class of material; but many scholars
hold that Abraham, at any rate, was a person and not
merely a tribe ; and that the adventures of Joseph have
a basis in actual facts of personal experience, though
their hero may have been the patron saint, so to speak,
rather than the ancestor of the tribe.
We cannot now decide w^th certainty what was the
original tradition as to the tribal history which led up to
the Confederacy of the Twelve Tribes. Some points
however, are clear.
Genesis x., xi. trace the descent of Israel and many
other nations to Shem ; or, in other words, they regard
them as more closely connected with each other than
with the rest of the world. Amongst these " sons of
Shem " are the Assyrians, Syrians or Aramaeans, and
numerous Arab tribes, besides the ancestors of Israel.
All our information supports the statement that the
main stock of the Assyrians, Aramaeans, Arabs, and
Israelites were cognate peoples and spoke cognate
ORIGIN OF ISRAEL 19
tongues ; hence we speak of Semitic races and languages.
The Babylonians must be included with the Assyrians.
On the other hand Mizraim, i.e. Egypt and Canaan,
are assigned to another group of nations, " the sons of
Ham." This statement, however, merely means that in
ancient times Canaan was a province of Egypt. Canaan
had a very mixed population, but its language, which
chiefly survives in fragments of Phoenician, was
Semitic ; and probably the most important elements in
the population were Semitic.
Thus Israel was closely allied in race and language
with Assyria, Babylon, the Syrians, Canaanites and
Arabs.
According to Genesis xi. 28, Abram, Lot, and Nahor
have a common ancestor, Terah ; later on Abram (or
Abraham) is the father of Isaac and of Ishmael, and of
numerous sons by Keturah (chap. xxv. i ff.). Ishmael
and the sons of Keturah are the ancestors of Arab
tribes. Lot is the father of Moab and Ammon. Nahor
is the ancestor of Aramaean tribes. Isaac is the father of
Jacob and Esau or Edom.
Terah lived originally in " Ur of the Chaldees," but
migrated thence with Abram and Lot to Haran. Later
on Abram and Lot migrated thence to Canaan. Nahor
is not included in this migration, but his son Bethuel
is at Haran in Gen. xxviii. 2.
So far the tradition is clear. The original home of
20 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
the ancestors of Israel was Southern Babylonia, the dis-
trict of Ur of the Chaldees. These ancestors took part
in a great migration north-west of Mesopotamia, about
Haran. Later on they and other kindred tribes moved
south-west into Palestine ; while another migration, the
Aramaeans, followed them to Haran. There is, how-
ever, reason to suppose that the original starting-
point of both these migrations was Arabia.
The later stages of the history are more confused,
because these parts of Genesis are a combination of
divergent traditions, but the course of events seems
to have been somewhat as follows. On the arrival in
Palestine the confederacy divided into two main groups :
one of these, either Abraham or under the leadership
of Abraham, passed over into Western Palestine, while
the other. Lot, Moab, and Ammon, settled east of the
Jordan and the Dead Sea. Abraham, again, or his
followers, again divided into two or three groups, Isaac
on the one hand, and various tribes which returned to
North-west Arabia on the other. Next Edom broke off
and settled to the south and east of the Dead Sea,
leaving Jacob as the ancestor of Israel.
We do not profess to be able to give a satisfactory
explanation of the wanderings and the family history of
Jacob or Israel. But we gather from them that a
branch of the Israelite confederacy as it then existed re-
turned to Mesopotamia, to Haran, and allied itself with
ORIGIN OF ISRAEL
Aramaean tribes, and afterwards returned westward in
company with their new allies and rejoined their kins-
folk in Palestine. Henceforth Israel included an
Aramaean element : thus in Deut. xxvi. 5 the ritual
words to be used by an Israelite offering first-fruits are,
"A Syrian," i.e. Aramaean, "ready to perish was my
father."
The life of the Patriarchs as it is described in Genesis
gives us the traditional Israelite picture of the condition
of their forefathers before the Bondage, the Exodus,
and the Conquest. They were nomad tribes, pasturing
their flocks from the frontier lands of Egypt to the north
of Palestine. They were closely akin to the tribes settled
to the south-east of that country, Ammon, Moab, Edom,
and various Arab or Bedouin nomads ; and also to the
Aramaeans or Syrians of the north-east.
Eeligion of Israel during the Nomad Period. — Genesis
tells us very little on this subject ; it does not even tell
us expressly that Abraham, for instance, worshipped
only one God, still less that he believed that only one
God existed. Joshua xxiv. 14, 15 refers to the gods
which the ancestors of Israel worshipped when they
dwelt beyond the Euphrates, and Gen. xxxv. 2 to
*' the strange gods" belonging to Jacob's followers, and
we know that from the Exodus to the Captivity the
Israelites divided their allegiance between Yahweh and
other deities.
22 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
Hence we naturally conclude that during the nomad
period there was a measure of polytheism amongst the
Israelites, and that their religion had much in common
with that of kindred Bedouin tribes. Sacrifice was the
prominent feature of worship.
On the other hand, each tribe had some one deity to
whom it was specially attached, and any close alliance
of tribes would be placed under the patronage of a god,
often the god of the leading member of the confederacy.
Thus we may accept the impression conveyed by Ge?iesis^
that the leaders of the nomad Israelites were specially
interested in one God, and that for practical purposes
their religion for the most part consisted of their relations
to Him.
Doubtless, too, in this period God gave to Israel a
measure of revelation to prepare the way for the work
of Moses ; speaking then as He spoke later by inspired
teachers or prophets. Many modern scholars regard
Abraham as one of these. We are not, however, at
present in a position to say in what the religion of
Israel at this time differed from that of neighbouring
kindred tribes.
Here and elsewhere we deal very briefly with the
religious history of Israel, because it is the subject of
another volume of this series.
The Bondage in Egypt. — Nomad tribes wandering in
and about Palestine would, in the natural course of
ORIGIN OF ISRAEL 23
things, visit the frontier districts of Egypt to the east of
the Delta. We know from the Egyptian inscriptions
that the Bedouin frequently paid such visits, either as
peaceful traders, or to pasture their flocks, or on
plundering expeditions. According to Gen. xii. 10,
xxi. 21, Abram went down into Egypt, and Ishmael
married an Egyptian wife.
Eventually certain Israelite tribes were permitted to
pasture their flocks in the north-east district of Egypt,
Goshen ; they seem to have become comparatively settled
there, without altogether abandoning the nomad life.
The evidence of the monuments, combined with certain
features of the Bible story, render it probable that only
a portion of the Israelites settled thus ; others remained
in Palestine. There was more than one migration to
Egypt ; first Joseph, then other kindred clans.
At first these nomad guests met with a friendly recep-
tion, and enjoyed the favour of the Eg>'ptian authorities ;
but as time went on their attitude changed, possibly
through a change of dynasty. From about 2 100-1600
B.C. Egypt was ruled by the Hyksos or Shepherd Kings,
Asiatics and possibly Semites. It may have been towards
the close of this dynasty that the Israelite tribes were
encouraged to settle on the Egyptian frontier. When
the Hyksos were expelled, and Egypt was again ruled by
a native dynasty, the new kings would naturally be suspi-
cious of the proteges of the foreign oppressors.
24 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
But even if this theory is not correct, powerful tribes
occupying the north-west frontier were obviously a danger
to Egypt. The numbers of the Israelites increased, partly
through new accessions from the north and east; at
any moment they might be joined by their kinsfolk from
Syria and Arabia; and Joseph might prove to be the
advance guard of Bedouin hordes who would sweep over
Egypt, and again subject the land to foreign rule.
Hitherto the Israelites had been virtually independent,
but now the Pharaohs sought to bring them into entire
subjection to the Egyptian government. Ancient Eastern
monarchs sought to perpetuate the memory of their
greatness by splendid buildings ; and these were chiefly
erected by the forced labour of their poorer subjects, and
especially of dependent races. Thus the services of the
Israelites were requisitioned to erect "store-cities,"
Pithom and Raamses, fortified arsenals, magazines and
depots, to serve as bases for the defence of the north-
west frontier. From being a menace, the Israelites were
to contribute to the security of Egypt. Such labourers
were harshly treated ; the monuments depict them engaged
in heavy toil under the rod of their overseers. Mighty
kings sacrificed lives recklessly in carrying out their
enterprises, especially when the victims were obnoxious
foreigners ; so that the new policy was eminently calculated
to break the spirits, diminish the numbers, and destroy
the power of the Israelites. They, on their part, hitherto
ORIGIN OF ISRAEL 25
free children of the desert, bitterly resented the humilia-
tion, drudgery, and cruelty to which they were subjected.
Their lack of docility provoked greater severity; but
matters seem for a while to have been at a deadlock :
the Israelites were not strong enough to assert their
independence, and yet the Egyptians could not readily
find means to reduce them to harmless insignificance.
The two parties regarded each other with mutual dislike,
distrust, and fear. Such a situation inevitably led to
acts of cruelty and treachery, such as an attempt to
destroy the new-born Israelite children.
Moses. — At this crisis God raised up Moses, one of
those outstanding personalities whose appearance makes
an epoch in history. According to ancient Israelite
tradition preserved in the Pentateuch, he was brought
up at the Egyptian court. His name may be Egyptian,
and the inscriptions show that noble youths belonging
to tributary peoples were sometimes educated thus,
partly as hostages, partly that when they returned home
they might promote loyalty amongst their fellow country-
men. But the feud between Egypt and Israel com-
pelled Moses to choose between the two, and he cast
in his lot with his own people. At once he was a
marked man ; it was impossible for him to remain in
the land; he fled into the deserts to the north-east;
and, like many other refugees from Egypt, sought an
asylum with the Bedouin.
26 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
Yahweh. — The Divine Providence led Moses to a
district to the south or south-east of Palestine, variously
known as Sinai or Horeb, where there was a celebrated
sanctuary of a deity known as Yahweh.^ There he fell
in with the Midianites; was hospitably entertained by
the Priest of Midian, probably a priest of Yahweh ; and
married his daughter. Midian was a tribe akin to
Israel, and was reckoned in the genealogies as a son of
Abraham.
We know little either about the earlier history of
Yahweh or about His attributes at this time. His
special seat was at Sinai, and His main following was
doubtless amongst the nomads who frequented that
district ; but it is quite possible that He was also wor-
shipped amongst other peoples and at other sanctuaries ;
or, again, Yahweh may have been a title or epithet
of some god known elsewhere under other names.
There is much to suggest that He was often thought of
as the god of the thunderstorm and the hurricane.
The Call of Moses. — The critical decision to leave
Pharaoh's court would naturally be taken in early
manhood. At this impressionable age, Moses exchanged
the elaborate and luxurious civilisation of Egypt for the
^ Strictly speaking we are only quite certain of the consonants
YHWH ; but Yahweh is the pronunciation most generally adopted.
The English iorva Jehovah is due to a mediaeval blunder; the
Hebrew Divine Name was never so pronounced.
ORIGIN OF ISRAEL
primitive life of the desert and the desolate grandeur of
the Sacred Mountains. The court page became an
Arab shepherd. He had made a great sacrifice for his
people, and had returned to their old homes and their
ancient manner of life. When such experiences befall
men of noble character and ardent temperament, the soul
is quickened to the supreme acts of faith which grasp
eternal truths, and the will is determined to further
heroic resolutions. So in these days God met him, and
he recognised the Presence in which he stood. God
came to him as Yahweh, of whose name and might
he had heard much during his sojourn in Midian ; and
the purpose of His coming was to send Moses to reaUse
the dreams of his life by delivering his brethren, in the
confidence that henceforth Yahweh was the Champion
of Israel.
The Exodus. — Thus Moses, the prophet of a new
faith, in an ecstasy of religious enthusiasm, betook him-
self to Egypt, announced himself to his brethren as a
heaven-sent deliverer, bearded Pharaoh, and demanded
freedom for Israel in the name of Yahweh. In the East,
then as now, a prophet had to be taken seriously ; yet
the king hardened his heart at first against Moses' appeal.
But that spring the natural plagues with which Egypt
is periodically infested set in with unusual severity;
Egyptian and Israelite alike saw in these troubles the
hand of Yahweh ; and at last the king yielded.
28 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
The Israelite clans set off for Syria, but they were not
allowed to depart unmolested. The king recovered
from his fear of Yahweh ; perhaps the admonitions of
the court chaplains restored his faith in the gods of
Egypt. An army was sent in pursuit of the fugitives,
and succeeded in hemming them in on the shore of an
arm of the Red Sea. Again Yahweh interposed on
behalf of Israel. "Yahweh drove the sea back by a
strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry
land . . . and the Israelites went into the midst of the
sea on dry land." The Egyptian chariots followed, but
their wheels were clogged in the heavy ground ; they felt
that Yahweh was fighting against them, and they turned
to flee. As the wind sunk, the water returned, and the
Egyptians suffered heavy loss; while all the Israelites
got safe across.^ Henceforth we do not hear of any
further danger to them from their former oppressors.
Sinai. — We cannot fix with any certainty the route of
the Israelites after their escape. Somewhat later we
find them encamped for a considerable period at a
Sacred Mountain, i.e. a sanctuary of Yahweh, variously
called Sinai or Horeb ; ^ and again at Kadesh-barnea ^
^ Exod. xiv. 21, 22, 25, 27, mostly from the portions of the
narrative taken from the oldest source of the Pentateuch. Cf.
Professor Whitehouse's volume in this series on " The Books of the
Old Testament."
^ Exod. xix. I and onwards. ^ Num. xiii. 26 ; Deut. i. 46.
ORIGIN OF ISRAEL 29
in the desert just south of Palestine. Evidently various
traditions have been preserved as to the Israelite head-
quarters in this period ; but it is not clear whether the
difference is as to the place, or merely as to its name ; that
is to say, whether Sinai or Horeb are names for the same
mountain in the neighbourhood of Kadesh, or whether
Sinai and Horeb are places quite distinct from Kadesh
and possibly from each other. Kadesh, it must be
remembered, means " Sanctuary."
Without attempting, therefore, to solve the geographi-
cal problem, we may content ourselves with noting that
the Israelites made their way to the Sanctuary of Yahweh
where Moses had received his call, and that for many
years this remained their head-quarters. We must not,
however, think of them as settled all together in one
place during this period ; they resumed the nomad life
which had been only partially interrupted during their
stay in Egypt. In this district they found kindred
tribes, some of which had been confederated with them
before their sojourn in Egypt, and may even then have
shared with them the name Bne Israel, but had not
accompanied them in their migration. The worship of
Yahweh was already known among these tribes.
The religious fervour of Moses and his followers com-
municated itself to some of their kinsfolk and former
allies ; and under its influence a new confederacy was
formed. The Head, Guarantor, so to speak, and Bond
30 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
of this union was Yahweh. Its constitution was a
common allegiance to Him, and to Moses as His
prophet, and mutual loyalty to each other. The allies
became the people of Yahweh by a solemn covenant.
This act was the formation of the Israelite nation ; the
name Israel was older, but now for the first time we
have an organised group of tribes bearing that name
and continuously connected with the Israel of later
days. Some of the tribes dropped out again, fresh
members were added to the alliance, and other changes
took place ; but there was always a confederate people
of Yahweh.
The relation of Yahweh to Israel was similar to that
of other tribal deities to their peoples; similar, for
instance, to that of Chemosh to Moab — the people and
the deity formed an organic unity. But there were also
important differences. Yahweh had chosen Israel to
be His people ; He had intervened on their behalf as
the champion of the weak against the strong, of the
oppressed against the oppressor; He was not merely
the deity of a single tribe, but the ra'lying-point of a
confederacy. His name and His worship stood for free,
spontaneous Divine grace ; for justice to the oppressed,
and succour for the needy ; and for loyalty, co-operation,
and peace amongst allies. Here were the beginnings
of the unique moral and spiritual development of the
religion of Israel.
ORIGIN OF ISRAEL
This new departure had its influence on the forms of
worship and social customs of Israel. Moses, as the
Prophet of Yahweh, declared to the people His will in
such matters. But we cannot now determine exactly
what laws and legal precedents were due to him ; later
tradition made him the author of all ancient ordinances,
and even laws known to be new were regarded as a
development of Mosaic principles and thus having his
authority, just as many things are regarded as " Chris-
tian," with regard to which Christ said nothing, e.g.
the observance of Sunday. The legislation in the
Pentateuch belongs to many periods of Israelite
and Jewish history. Some customs and rites older
than the Exodus, and others instituted at this time,
may claim the direct sanction and authority of Moses ;
but we have not space to attempt to say which
they are.
To speak of Yahweh as the bond and rallying-point
implies a common sanctuary and other sacred objects.
It is possible that for a time the ancient sanctuary of
Kadesh served this purpose, but eventually the Israelites
erected a Sacred Tent, "the Tent of Meeting," some-
thing much simpler than the elaborate Tabernacle de-
scribed in the latest section of the Pentateuch, largely
from recollections of Solomon's Temple.
The Ark or Sacred Chest was as old or older than
Moses. The Ark and the Tent of Meeting symbolised
32 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
the presence of Yahweh with Israel, when they left His
permanent home at Sinai or Kadesh.
The Wanderings. — The marchings, countermarchings,
and encampments of a group of nomad tribes cannot
be set forth in a single consecutive history, and the
Pentateuch makes no attempt to give us such a history.
But two main points may be gathered from the anec-
dotes preserved by tradition.
Israel was involved in quarrels with other tribes occu-
pying the deserts and pasture-lands to the south of
Palestine, notably with the Amalekites. Also the new
confederacy, or more probably some members of it,
made an unsuccessful attempt to penetrate into Palestine
from the south ; we shall return to this in the next
chapter.
Also Moses' authority over Israel was frequently chal-
lenged, and was only maintained with great difficulty;
the Israelites constantly "murmured." Ambitious
sheikhs at the heads of the several tribes were jealous
of the new prophet, and tried to supplant him ; and
representatives of old tribal cults resented the claim of
Yahweh to be the supreme God of Israel. Even Aaron,
who according to late tradition was the brother of
Moses and the Priest of Yahweh, caballed against him.
Nevertheless Moses held his own.
The Death of Moses. — After a time the hostility
of the neighbouring tribes forced Moses and his
ORIGIN OF ISRAEL 33
followers to leave the district of Kadesh and move
eastwards. They skirted the land of Edom, thus
marching to the south and east of the Dead Sea, and
finally established themselves in the Plains of Moab.^
There Moses died.
The very importance of Moses makes it impossible
to discover his character as a man ; the devout reverence
of Israel made him an ideal figure, the incarnation of
all that was good and great — so much so that some
scholars have mistakenly doubted whether there ever
was such a man, whether he was anything but an ideal
figure. All that we can say is that he was a great
personality, supremely endowed with Divine grace and
inspired with Divine wisdom, raised up by God to guide
Israel safely through a crisis in the history' of Revelation.
Chronology. — In spite of the confidence with which
various scholars advocate their pet theories, we are
not yet in a position to fix with certainty the dates
of any of the events in the history of Israel in this
period ; but we may mention one or two of the leading
views on the subject. Abraham and Amraphel are
mentioned as contemporaries in Gen. xiv., and Amraphel
is usually identified with Hammurabi. This might
seem to fix the date of Abraham ; but Assyriologists
are not yet agreed as to the date of Hammurabi ; and
1 Their conquests at this time will be dealt with in the next
chapter.
34 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
some scholars doubt whether the Abraham episodes
in Gen. xiv. are historical.
In Exod. i. and ii. we are told that the Israelites
during the Oppression built Pithom, and Egyptian
inscriptions show that building operations were carried
on there during the reign of Rameses II., about
1 300-1 234 B.C. Hence it is often stated that Rameses
II. was the Pharaoh of the Oppression, and his son
Merenptah, about 12 34-1 214 B.C., the Pharaoh of the
Exodus. Such views, however, cannot be reconciled
with some of the chronological statements in the Old
Testament, or with various items of evidence derived
from Egyptian and Assyrian monuments. Other dates
from 149 1 B.C. to 1200 B.C. or later have been held.
CHAPTER IV
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN: L— JOSHUA
AND THE JUDGES
Joshua, Judges
Early Settlements. — In order that we may consider
the whole process of the IsraeUte settlement in Canaan,
we must retrace our steps somewhat. The Conquest
was long and compUcated; it began before the time
of Moses, and was only completed by David. It was
carried out in divers portions and in divers manners,
sometimes by national migrations and pitched battles ;
sometimes by clan raids on a small scale; sometimes
by peaceful alliances, or by agreements extorted by
threats.
Going back to the beginnings of our history we
may remind ourselves that the great wave of emigration
which carried Abraham and Lot from Ur and Haran
broke up when it reached Canaan, and Edom and Moab
settled down to agricultural life. As time went on
other tribes, practically Israelite, followed their example.
These, together with some of the nomad clans of the
same group, remained in Palestine when the rest went
35
36 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
down into Egypt. Certain inscriptions seem to imply
that, if we accept Rameses II, as the Pharaoh of the
Exodus, there were Israelite tribes in Palestine during
the period of the Sojourn in Egypt. A careful examina-
tion of the Biblical narratives seems to indicate that
the Israelites preserved vague traditions to the same
effect.
In an inscription of Thothmes III., about 1481-1409
B.C., we find Joseph-el and Jacob-el as names of towns in
Palestine. In the Amarna tablets, about 1400 B.C., we
find Palestine invaded by certain Khabiri^ whohi some
scholars identify with the Hebrews. In inscriptions
of Seti I., and of Rameses II., the so-called Pharaoh
of the Oppression, Asher is found as the name of the
district afterwards occupied by the tribe of Asher.
Finally Merenptah, the so-called Pharaoh of the
Exodus, claims in an inscription that he subdued
Israel in Palestine. There is a measure of doubt as to
the contents, especially the names, and the translation
of some of these inscriptions, but the available evidence
points to Israelite settlements in Western Palestine
before the Exodus.
The Conquest of Eastern Palestine. — It is quite
possible that Israelite clans, either as nomads or leading
a settled life, were to be found in Eastern Palestine
from a date even before the Sojourn in Egypt; but
the supremacy of Israel in these lands was due to the
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 37
arrival of Moses and his follo-wers, after the Wanderings.
Earlier the ruling races had been Moab and Ammon ;
but not long before these peoples had been driven
eastwards by the Amorite or Canaanite king, Sihon
(Num. xxi, 26-30). Moab and Ammon not improbably
invited Israel to aid them in recovering their lost terri-
tories. But when the Israelites had overthrown Sihon
and other rulers east of the Jordan, they kept most of
the land for themselves, and thus became involved
in quarrels with Moab and Ammon.
We shall refer later on to various changes which
took place in the relations of Israel to Eastern Palestine.
ConcLuests in Western Palestine. — The Bible pre-
serves conflicting traditions on this subject, which make
it very difficult to arrive at anything like a clear and
certain view of the history. Some of the narratives
in Genesis refer to these events ; Joshua itself combines
inconsistent stories, of which one set is reproduced with
additions in Judges?- The statements^ that united
Israel under the leadership of Joshua conquered the
whole land in two pitched battles and exterminated
the whole population are contradicted by the rest of
the Biblical narratives, and may be set on one side.
^ Judges i. The statement in i. i that these things happened
after the death of Joshua is an unsuccessful attempt at historical
criticism by an editor.
- Joshua.
38 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
On the other hand, Judges i. preserves an ancient and
genuine historic^i tradition. Our information, however,
does not enable us to discover the order and relations
of the various events, and what follows is only given as
probable and approximate.
We are not even sure whether the conquest was made
from one base or from two or more. No doubt the
main strength of Israel was in Eastern Palestine, but
we have seen reasons for supposing that kindred clans
were already established west of the Jordan ; and
further, some scholars hold that certain of the tribes
advanced from Kadesh either before or after the arrival
of Moses and the refugees from Egypt.
For the present we will deal with the Israelites whose
headquarters were in the Plains of Moab. Probably
the main advance across the Jordan was preceded by
more or less successful raids; but after the death of
Moses, a large group of tribes crossed the Jordan under
the Ephraimite Joshua. Two tribes, Reuben and Gad,
remained in permanent occupation of the eastern
districts, but sent contingents to assist their kinsfolk.
Joshua captured and destroyed Jericho, the key to
the passes westward, and advanced into the interior.
Partly by negotiation, partly by force of arms, the tribe
of Joseph established itself in the central Highlands,
and captured and occupied Bethel. At some early
stage of the settlement, the tribes that had accompanied
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 39
Joseph across the Jordan went, each its own way, to
seek a home for itself. What mutual help they gave
each other we cannot say. Neither they nor Joseph
met with any very striking success; they succeeded in
occupying much of the hill country, but the Canaanites
still held most of the plains and valleys, and many of
the cities. " They dwelt among the Canaanites," and
sometimes the one party and sometimes the other had
the upper hand. In this way Zebulun, Issachar,
Naphtali, and Asher found a footing north of the Plain
of Esdraelon ; unless, indeed, Asher was there already.
Dan went westward and tried to occupy a part of the
maritime plain, but was penned into a corner of the
mountains.
Simeon and Levi. — Recollections of another episode
of these tribal wars are preserved in the form of personal
narrative and reference in Gen. xxxiv., xlix. 5-7. The
Israelites in the neighbourhood of Shechem had made
terms with the inhabitants of that city, and were living
in peace with them, when two of the tribes, Simeon and
Levi, made a treacherous attack upon the city. For
the moment they were successful ; but the other tribes
abandoned them to the revenge of the Shechemites,
and Simeon and Levi were destroyed as tribes. The
remnant of Simeon took refuge with Judah, and the
survivors of Levi were scattered amongst the other
tribes.
40 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
Judah. — Judah was only loosely connected with the
rest of Israel. Indeed it is doubtful whether in early
times it was reckoned as strictly belonging to Israel ; it
may have been as much Edomite or Kenite as Israelite,
being bound to the Israelite tribes by the common wor-
ship of Yahweh. At any rate, it went its own way for
many generations. It is not clear when Judah broke
off from the main body, whether at Kadesh, or in the
Plains of Moab, or after the passage of the Jordan.
But from one of these points, the tribe set off on a sepa-
rate expedition to the southern Highlands, being joined,
as we have seen, at some time or other by the remnant
of Simeon. The King of Jerusalem sought to bar their
advance, but was defeated, and Judah established itself
in the hill countrv to the south. The Kenite clan Caleb,
acting in concert with Judah, took Hebron and occupied
the surrounding districts.
Dan. — The Danites, finding themselves intolerably
straitened in their original settlement in the south, cast
about for some better home. They learnt through spies
of a city, Laish, in the extreme north of Palestine ; and
the bulk of the tribe marched thither, captured the city,
changed its name to Dan, and settled there. On the way
they robbed a local shrine of its images and its priest ;
and with them founded the great sanctuary of Dan,
which enjoyed a special prestige from the fact that its
priest Jonathan was a grandson of Moses.
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 41
Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin. — At some time
after the passage of the Jordan, the important Joseph-
tribe became subdivided. Certain clansmen who settled
in the south of the Joseph district, between Bethel and
Jerusalem, became known as the Bfie Ytwiin or Sons of
the South or Southerners, and the clan came to be spoken
of as Ben Yamin, Son of the South, ^ our Benjamin. The
central group of clans took the name Ephraim, " fruitful,"
from the fertile character of their lands. Those further
north were called Manasseh. In time Ephraim,
Manasseh, and Benjamin were reckoned as separate
tribes. Later on some clans of Manasseh recrossed the
Jordan, some distance to the south of the Sea of
Galilee, and occupied Northern Gilead; so that we
speak of Western and Eastern Manasseh.
Reuben. — From the terms in which Reuben is spoken
of in Gen. xlix. 3, 4 and elsewhere, we gather that, at
some time before the reign of Saul, Reuben, like Simeon
and Levi, suffered serious disasters, so tliat as a tribe it
disappears from the history.
The Situation at the Close of the Migration into
Caanan. — In the last section we have passed beyond this
period in order to show the complete development of
the tribal system and the final settlement of each tribe.
We will now briefly indicate the general position when
^ The Hebrew j^wm means literally " right hand," and is used
geographically for " south."
42 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
the migration into Canaan and the first stage of the
Conquest were complete.
The Israelites were established for the most part in
the hill country, and had very largely arrived at a
precarious iiiodus vivendi with the Canaanites, which
depended on a balance of power between the two parties,
and was apt to disappear if either found itself strong
enough to take advantage of the other.
The Israelite settlements were in four distinct groups :
to the east of Jordan, Gad, Reuben, and later on some
Manassite clans; to the north, Issachar, Zebulun,
Asher, and Naphtali, and later on part of Dan ; in the
centre, Joseph, i.e. Ephraim and Manasseh ; in the
south, Judah, with Caleb and the remnant of Simeon.
Two belts of Canaanite cities separated the northern
group from the central, and the central from the
southern ; but the Joseph clans known as Benjamin
partially connected Judah with Joseph. Shechem and
its district remained an enclave in the territory of Joseph ;
and elsewhere, even in the districts coloured in maps as
Israelite, there would be Canaanite towns and districts ;
indeed the Israelite settlements amongst the Canaanite
population might be compared to a number of isles,
islets, and rocks in the midst of a lake.
Israel being thus scattered and divided, its social and
political organisation was necessarily of the slightest.
There was no permanent government beyond the group
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 43
of sheikhs or elders in each town or small district : and
the Israelites were only able to maintain themselves in
the land because the Canaanites were equally divided.
Nevertheless the union which Moses had formed was
not wholly dissolved ; there were still certain spiritual
bonds between the scattered clans — a sense of kinship
and a common faith in Yahweh. Again and again a
revival of religious enthusiasm enabled the Israelites to
combine against their enemies.
The Judges. — We have no continuous consecutive
account ^ of the period between the Settlement in Canaan
and the Monarchy ; but the Book of Judges describes a
number of disconnected episodes which illustrate the
state of affairs at that time. Most of these are connected
with certain men and one woman who are said to have
" judged Israel." Doubtless they were often requested
to settle disputes, but this function was quite secondary,
and the "judges" were essentially bold and skilful
captains who led the people in their wars with their
Canaanite neighbours or amongst themselves. They did
not "judge " Israel as a whole, but usually a single
tribe ; nor did they succeed one another like kings ; two
or more may have been " judging " at the same time in
different parts of the country ; there were periods in which
there were no judges ; and doubtless there were judges
of whom no account has been preserved. Thus the
^ Cf. below, p. 53, on Chronology.
44 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
Moabites had occupied Jericho and its territory ; Ehud
assassinated their king, Eglon, and collecting the Israelites
from the hill country of Ephraim drove out the in-
truders. Gideon led his own clan, Abi-ezer, and his son
Abimelech ruled over Shechem. Jephthah was chief of
Gilead. As for Samson, he was simply a knight-errant :
there is no sign that he ruled over anybody, least of all
over himself.
Before summarising the general characteristics of the
period, we may consider briefly the two most important
episodes connected respectively with Deborah and
Barak, and with Gideon and Abimelech.
Deborah and Barak. — This story is preserved to us
in what is perhaps the most ancient piece of Hebrew
literature now extant, the Song of Deborah, a poem com-
posed shortly after the event it celebrates. Before the
time of Deborah, the northern Israelites had been
reduced to great straits. They were at the mercy of
the Canaanites, who had practically disarmed them,
and plundered and harried them as they pleased. But
helpless as they seemed, Yahweh had not forgotten or
forsaken His people.
Deborah, a prophetess — that is to say, an inspired and
inspiring personality — preached a Holy War in the name
of Yahweh ; the Fiery Cross, so to speak, was sent far
and wide amongst the Israelite tribes. From many quar-
ters they rallied to the help of their kinsfolk, Ephraim,
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 45
Benjamin, and Machir^ came from the central High-
lands ; Zebulun, Issachar, and Naphtali from the north.
But some were recreant — the eastern tribes, Gad ^ and
Reuben ; and in the far north Dan and Asher.
The Canaanites gathered under their leader, Sisera,
to crush the insurrection, and the two armies met in the
Plain of Esdraelon —
" In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo."
Yahweh Himself hastened from His ancient dwelling-
place in storm and tempest to aid His people.
"He went forth from Seir ;
He marched from the lands of Edom.
The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped,
Yea the clouds dropped water_,
The mountains ran with torrents at the presence of
Yahweh.
The stars in their courses fought against Sisera."
Again, as at the Red Sea, Yahweh rescued Israel by
wind, storm, and floods. The deluge of rain turned
the plain into a morass, where the Canaanite chariots
and cavalry became a helpless prey to the light-armed
Israelites. Broken and panic-stricken, they turned to
flee across the Kishon, usually an insignificant brook,
but now swollen into a fierce torrent, by which the
fugitives were swept away.
1 A clan of Joseph, afterwards called, or included in, Manasseh,
^ Here described by the name of its district, Gilead.
46 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
Sisera fled alone, and sought refuge in the tent of
a Kenite sheikh, but there he was treacherously assassi-
nated by Jael, the sheikh's wife.
This victory finally established the Israelite supremacy
in Northern Palestine.
Gideon and Abimelech. — This narrative as it stands
is compiled from various early documents, and has
been freely supplemented and annotated by late editors :
the substance of the oldest tradition is as follows : —
The main scene of these events was the central
Highlands about Shechem; and the chief actors are
the Manassite clan Abi-ezer and its sheikhs, and the
mixed Canaanite and Israelite population of Shechem.
The Eastern Bedouins, here spoken of as " Midianites,
Amalekites, and children of the East," made annual
raids in Western Palestine, driving off the sheep and
cattle, and wasting the land. The inhabitants, Israelites
and Canaanites, disunited and at variance with one
another, could make no head against the raiders, and
hid themselves and the poor salvage of their belongings
in the fastnesses of the Highlands. But at last Yahweh
raised up a deliverer. As He had called Moses, so
now He called Gideon ben Joash of Abi-ezer. His own
brothers had been killed by the Midianites, and the
sacred duty of blood-revenge stirred him to action.
"The Spirit of Yahweh took possession of him," and
he summoned his fellow-clansmen to follow him against
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 47
the Midianites. Three hundred men, the whole fighting
strength of the clan of Abi-ezer, responded to his
summons. It was too small a force to challenge the
Midianites in open battle, and Gideon had recourse
to stratagem. He stationed his three hundred about
the Midianite camp by night, with torches hidden in
pitchers. At a given signal, the Abi-ezrites smashed the
pitchers, waved the torches, and shouted. Roused from
their sleep by this unearthly din, the Midianites broke
into wild cries of terror and dismay, and fled headlong,
with Gideon's three hundred at their heels.
Pursued and pursuers crossed the Jordan, and Gideon
sought provisions from the Israelite cities of Succoth
and Penuel, but the sheikhs were too much afraid of
the Midianites to help him. Doubtless, however, he
was supplied and reinforced from other sources. He
overtook the Midianites, surprised and defeated them,
and avenged his brethren by putting to death the two
Midianite kings who had been captured.
He returned home to his native Ophrah, and cele-
brated his victory by erecting an altar to Yahweh with
an image or ephod made out of the spoil.
His achievements secured him respect, deference,
and authority in his native town and in the neighbour-
hood— so far " he judged Israel."
When he died his family expected that they or some
one of them would succeed to his authority. Shechem,
48 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
a Canaanite city with an admixture of Israelites, had
belonged to the sphere of Gideon's influence; he had
taken a Shechemite concubine, by whom he had a son,
Abimelech. This Abimelech, with the help of his
mother's kinsfolk, massacred all the rest of Gideon's
sons except one, and made himself not merely judge
but king of the district. But his reign was short and
disturbed ; the new title implied a more stringent
authority, and the Shechemites soon became restive.
Abimelech met their turbulence with ruthless cruelty,
but he was struck down in the full career of victory
by a millstone thrown by a woman from the wall of a
besieged tower ; and the kingdom fell with him.
Progress of the Conquest. — It does not seem that
there was any very striking development of Israelite
power in the generations following the settlement. As
we have seen, Dan acquired territory to the north, and
certain Manassite clans in Bashan ; while, on the other
hand, Reuben probably lost some districts to Moab.
As between Israel and the Canaanites, it was a sort of
tug-of-war, in which each party alternately gains and
loses a few inches, the advantage in the long run being
with Israel. The victory of Deborah and Barak must have
added to the territory over which Israel was dominant.
This victory reveals the secret of Israelite success ;
the followers of Yahweh were liable to be seized by
an access of religious fury, which filled the clans with
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 49
a spirit of unity and made them irresistible ; the Spirit
of Yahweh sprang upon their heroes, and endowed them
with superhuman strength.
But the Israelites were also taking root in the country
in more peaceful fashion. After all, they and the
Canaanites were kindred peoples, and spoke dialects of
the same language; so that even a precarious modus
Vivendi prepared the way for the absorption of the
weaker by the stronger. Moreover, they had a very
powerful inducement to union in their common enemies.
The Philistines (of whom more later) and Eastern
Bedouin, like the Midianites, were eager to plunder both
Israelites and Canaanites. Thus in many districts the
two races gradually fused into one people : note, for in-
stance, the marriage of Gideon with a Shechemite, and
the intimate relations between the Shechemites and
their Israelite neighbours.
The Internal Relations of the Israelite Tribes. — The
first effect of the Settlement in Canaan was to break up the
Israelite Confederacy into its component tribes or clans.
No one succeeded to such measure of authority as Moses
and perhaps Joshua had exercised over the whole group
of allies. For the most part each tribe had conquered
a territory for itself, and henceforth it had to hold its
own by itself, against hostile neighbours and invaders.
Simeon, Levi, and Reuben were allowed to succumb
to their enemies without help from the rest of Israel.
D
50 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
Sometimes there was civil war. Gideon sacked Succoth
and Penuel ; Ephraim attacked Jephthah and his
Gileadites, and met with a severe defeat.
But, on the other hand, many causes were working
towards the future unity of the nation. In the desert
a clan might wander from its kindred and allies, and
never join them again, but now such geographical
separation was no longer possible ; the tribes had given
up the nomad life, and setded down permanently as
neighbours. Moreover, the conquest (and absorption
of the Canaanites was gradually filling up the gaps
between the Israelite settlements, and thus facilitating
union and mutual intercourse. But the chief bond which
maintained a sense of kinship was the common loyalty
to Yahweh. In His name Deborah called the tribes
together for the great struggle against Sisera, and in His
name the injured Levite ^ appealed for vengeance to His
people throughout the length and breadth of the land.
But still Judah hardly belonged to the unity of Israel.
It was separated from the other tribes by the important
Canaanite city of Jerusalem, and had more to do with
the Canaanites ^ and Kenites of the south than with the
Israelites northward. Judah is not even mentioned in
the song of Deborah.
Social Changes. — The Settlement in Canaan involved
1 Judges xix. 29-xx. I.
2 Gen. xxxviii. I, 2, read as tribal history of the period after
the Settlement in Canaan.
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 51
a radical change in the life of the people. With the
exception of a few clans in the south and east, they
ceased to be nomad herdsmen, and settled down in
fixed homes to cultivate the land ; the Bedouin encamp-
ment gave place to the homestead, village, and town.
The Sojourn in Egypt had already given some of the
tribes a taste for the luxuries of civilised life — at any
rate so far as flesh and fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks,
onions, and garlick^ were concerned. Now they were
brought into closer and more intimate relations with
another form of civilisation, to which they gradually
assimilated themselves. Their needs became more various
and numerous, and they had to work harder to supply
them. For a time they were largely dependent in such
matters on the Canaanites; the commerce of Pales-
tine remained for centuries chiefly in the hands of
the Phoenicians, but after a while the arts and industries
of civilised life developed among the Israelites.
Religion. — The one article of the Israelite creed was
still that Yahweh was the Champion of Israel, and Israel
was His people; but the Settlement in Canaan had
brought with it a fuller revelation of the powers of
Yahweh. His permanent house was still at Sinai, but His
activity extended far out from that centre ; He could
strike Pharaoh on the Nile and at the Red Sea, and Sisera
in the Plain of Esdraelon. He was still the God of Storm
and Tempest, but He was also Lord of Palestine by
1 Num. xi. 4, 5,
52 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
right of conquest, and therefore He must be the Giver
of the fruits of the earth. As the Deity of a number of
practically independent states scattered over considerable
territory He was manifestly superior to a mere tribal
god worshipped by a single compact people in a small
district like Edom or Moab.
On the other hand, as Lord or Ba'-al of Canaan,
He was inevitably identified or confounded with
Canaanite deities who bore that title. The religious
ideas and worship of Israel were greatly influenced by
those of Canaan. Moreover, the local authority of a
deity was almost an axiom in those days. Israelites
settling in a district of Palestine would find the local
god or Ba'al in possession, so to speak, and would
be honestly puzzled as to whether they could displace
him in favour of Yahweh ; or regard him as in some
mysterious way the same as Yahweh; or whether they
ought to worship him as well as Yahweh, or even in-
stead of Yahweh. Sometimes they followed one, some-
times another of these four courses. But almost always
they retained some measure of allegiance to Yahweh.
The Ark and the Tabernacle are ignored in the
history of the judges ; ^ but we read of sanctuaries and
sacrifices. The Israelites appropriated Canaanite shrines
and instituted new ones of their own. We read of
sanctuaries at Ophrah, Shechem, Mizpah, Dan, Bethel,
and Shiloh, and there must have been a great many
^ Judges XX. 27 is a very late note.
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 53
more. The priesthood and the right of offering sacri-
fices are not confined to any particular family or caste ;
Micah makes his son a priest; Gideon and Manoah
offer sacrifices. But the priesthood of any particular
shrine would be hereditary; thus the priests of Dan
traced their descent to Moses. Moreover, there was
already a feefing that Levites were specially fitted for
priests; but the origin of these Levites is a disputed
point. Some regard them as the survivors of the old
secular tribe, others hold that they had no connection
with it, and that Levite here simply means priest.
Images of Yahweh were used in worship,^ and the
example of Jephthah shows that under stress of a great
emergency a human sacrifice might be offered. The
repeated assassinations and other outrages show that
morality was at a low ebb.
Chronology. — The periods in the detailed scheme of
chronology in Jiidges were intended to be consecutive ;
but the scheme and its figures were not part of the
ancient tradition, but were constructed by authors writing
many centuries after the events happened. They are a
hond-fide attempt at historical criticism ; but the data
at the disposal of these authors were quite insufficient,
so that their scheme has no authority. We are still
unable to say what period is covered by the events in
Judges ; but something will be said later as to the length
of the period between the Exodus and the IMonarchy.
* Judges viii. 27.
CHAPTER V
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN: U.— SAMUEL,
SAUL, AND DAVID
I. AND IL Samuel
The Books of Samuel. — These books include extracts
from very ancient documents which are of great historical
value, notably II. Sam. ix.-xx., an account of David's
court and family written within a generation or so of
the events it narrates. The author has also introduced
other traditions from later sources and less obviously
authentic, e.g. the story of the early life of Samuel, and
has added various notes.
The periods covered by /. and II. Sajnuel d^ndi Judges
probably overlap. Eli and Samson may have been
contemporaries.
The Philistines. — We must now turn our attention to
this people, who appeared upon the scene towards the
close of the period of the judges, and played a large
part in the history of Israel for about a century.
The Philistines, like the Israelites, were settlers in
Palestine, probably coming from Crete or Asia Minor ;
they first appear in the country in the reign of
Rameses III., about 1202-1170 B.C., and probably
effected a permanent settlement in the maritime plain
54
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 55
to the south-west, perhaps while the Israelites were
winning territory for themselves in the Highlands. But
unlike the Israelites, they were in no way akin to the
older inhabitants of Syria and Canaan. The Philistines
were Aryans, perhaps a branch of the Greek stock. The
Greeks — not on this account, but because they first
became acquainted with the south-west of Canaan —
called it Palestine, the land of the Philistines.
These invaders soon formed a compact state, consisting
of the territories of their five chief cities, and occupying
the maritime plain south and east of Joppa, together
with part of the adjoining Shephelah. These five cities,
Ashdod, Askelon, Ekron, Gath and Gaza, formed a
close and permanent confederacy. Though the new
state was of comparatively small extent, its unity and
homogeneity made it for the time being the strongest
military power in Canaan. At this time the maritime
plain northward was in the hands of their kinsfolk and
allies; so the PhiUstines turned their attention to the
southern and central Highlands. There was no under-
standing between them and the Israelites, but up to a
certain point the operations of the two sets of invaders
were mutually helpful : the Canaanites were between two
fires, and were hopelessly divided and distracted. But
two dogs gnawing at the same bone are sure to quarrel
before long; and the time came when the advance
guards of Israel and of the Philistines met. After that
the history of Canaan for generations is the story of the
56 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
struggle between the two for the possession of the land.
At first the Israelites had the worst of it : their westward
advance was arrested once for all, and their southern
settlements became tributary to the Philistines.
Samson. — It is uncertain how far the narratives about
Samson are historical, but we may regard them as a true
picture of the relations of Israel and the Philistines
before the time of Saul.
The first collision between the two rival peoples is
over; the southern Israelites have acknowledged their
inferiority, and have submitted to occupy their lands
as the tributaries of the Philistines. The men of Judah,
who now at last appear upon the scene, admit that the
Philistines are rulers over them.^ The subjects and the
dominant race are on friendly terms ; the Danite Samson
goes to and fro amongst the Philistines unhindered and
unmolested, and marries a Philistine wife. It is only
when his matrimonial troubles lead him into acts of
violence against his wife's kinsfolk, that the Philistines
interfere with him. Samson is a type of the young
Israelite " bloods " who were equally ready to feast with
the Philistines or to fight them, and whose patriotism
was sluggish until it was stung into activity by private
grievances. The sober-minded sheikhs of Judah frowned
upon Samson's escapades, and did not hesitate to hand
him over to the Philistines.
^ Judges XV. II.
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 57
Eli. — In the story of Eli, the scene changes to Shiloh
in the central Highlands in the territory of Ephraim.
Here we find the Ark, now lodged in the permanent
Temple; the Tabernacle, apparently, had finally dis-
appeared. We have a vivid picture of the life of a
sanctuary in ancient Israel : the picture would serve, with
slight changes, for any of the more important shrines of
Yahweh at that time, the Ark being represented at
Dan by the ephod, and elsewhere by similar sacred
objects. The priesthood is a family possession, and is
administered by the venerable Eli and his two sons,
assisted^ by a young Ephraimite named Samuel, who
sleeps in the shrine by the Ark for its better protection ;
just as in Exod. xxxiii. 1 1 the Ephraimite Joshua de-
parted not out of the Sacred Tent. The shrine is
lighted by a lamp which goes out at night. The priest's
dues were a certain share of the sacrifices fixed by
ancient custom. The inhabitants of the neighbouring
district visited Shiloh for worship and sacrifice, especi-
ally at a yearly festival, perhaps after the vintage. At
such times Shiloh was the scene of much social and
family festivity.
Whether from his personal qualities or his official
position or both, Eli exercised considerable influence
in the neighbourhood, and is said to have "judged
Israel."
But the old man had fallen upon evil days ; the Philis-
tines, having subdued the south, were now threatening
58 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
the central Highlands, and the Ephraimites would
look for counsel and guidance to the priests of Yahweh,
the Champion of Israel. But Eli's sons were high-
handed, grasping, dissolute men. They raised the
priestly dues beyond what was sanctioned by ancient
custom, so that the shrine and its ministers were dis-
credited. How could men expect that the Spirit of
Yahweh would spring upon His people and fill them
with the sacred fury that made victory certain ?
Nevertheless the clansmen gathered together and met
the invaders, only to suffer defeat ; but in default of the
Spirit of Yahweh, at any rate there was the Ark : the
sheikhs sent for this sacred symbol, and the two sons of
Eli bore it to the camp. With this Palladium surely
Israel must conquer; but they only suffered a more
severe defeat — the Ark was captured and the sons of Eli
were among the slain. When Eli heard of the disaster,
he fell off his high seat by the door of the Temple,
broke his neck, and died.
This defeat left Ephraim at the mercy of the
Philistines; they probably marched to Shiloh and
destroyed the Temple. At any rate we hear nothing
more of it except that its ruins were still visible in
the time of Jeremiah.^
The Wanderings of the Ark. — The captured Palla-
dium was borne in triumph to Ashdod and placed in the
temple of Dagon. But Yahweh could not be insulted
^ Jer. vii. 12.
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 59
with impunity ; a plague broke out in Ashdod, the Ark
was sent from city to city, and wherever it went the
plague followed it. Then the Philistines sent the
deadly trophy back to Israel, with rich gifts to propitiate
its offended Deity; but still the plague followed it.
The terrified Israelites passed it on to the Canaanite
city of Kirjath-jearim. But now the plague seemed to
have spent its force ; for the present we hear of no more
victims to the awful sanctity of this throne of Yahweh.
At Kirjath-jearim it remained long years in harmless
obscurity.
Samuel. — We must now return to Samuel. Many
scholars hold that the traditions which connect him with
Eli, and later on make him a victorious general, are not
trustworthy. We may, therefore, confine ourselves to
those events of his life which are more certain and more
pubhc; in any case Samuel was an epoch-making
personality.
We meet with Samuel in I. Sam. ix. 6, established in
an unknown city of Ephraim as a Man of God, or
Prophet, or Seer. The profession itself was not par-
ticularly exalted ; the seer was a soothsayer who might
be expected, amongst other things, to discover the
whereabouts of lost property for a small fee. But
Samuel's character and gifts had raised him far above
the level of an ordinary professional prophet. Like
Eli, he was the most influential man of his district ; the
guests did not begin the feast till he had blessed the
6o OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
food.^ A later tradition^ gives him a district in the
south of Ephraim ^ as the sphere of his activity, which
it describes in the conventional phrase as " judging
Israel." His reputation, however, was purely local; he
was unknown to Saul of Gibeah in Benjamin. But
Samuel had a direct influence on the development of
Israel and its religion beyond that of any other judge ; he
was associated with the rise of the prophetical order, and
with the establishment of the monarchy. Both of these
events are closely connected with the struggle against
the Philistines.
The Early Prophets. — The early deliverances, victories,
and conquests of Israel were due to devotion to Yahweh
and confidence in His help. The failure to resist the
Philistines was at once the result and the symptom of
languishing faith. " The word of Yahweh was rare in
those days, and visions were seldom seen." ^ Moreover,
as the older writers would have put it, the Spirit of
Yahweh did not spring upon men. Yet the hope of
Israel lay in the renewed manifestation of His power.
At this time religious fervour began to kindle, not in one
conspicuous leader, but in bands of inspired men, or
rather, perhaps, men who sought inspiration, seeking' to
1 I. Sam. ix. 13.
2 I. Sam. vii. 16 f.
^ Gilgal here is not that near Jericho ; the Mizpah, Gilgal, and
Ramah of this passage are all to be looked for in southern
Ephraim, not far from Bethel.
* I. Sam. iii. i.
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 6i
draw down upon themselves the Spirit of Yahweh.
Parents devoted their children to Yahweh; Samson
and Samuel are spoken of as Nazirites or devotees,
and the Spirit responded and came upon them. Already
amongst the Canaanites there were the NebVhn or
prophets, guilds of dervishes, who excited themselves
to religious fervour by music, song, and dance. Similar
bands appeared amongst the Israelites. From the be-
ginning the movement was patriotic ; it tended to stir
up in the people the ecstasy of devotion to Yahweh
which gave them victory. Samuel put himself at the
head of this movement ; he was no more a mere ecstatic
devotee than he was a mere soothsayer. Even from
the little we are told about him, we may well believe
that he was conscious of an inspiration which we should
now describe as alike moral, spiritual, and rational ; and
that he became a type and ideal of the true prophet, so
that others of the order sought a similar inspiration ; and
that thus another important step was taken in the process
by which religion acquired a moral value. For the
moment, however, the most important result was the
revival of national vigour ; a new spirit was infused into
the people, and the way was prepared for a crusade
against the oppressors. Tradition credited Samuel with
a victory over them.^
Saul. — But the compact organisation and steady
discipline of the Philistines could not be held in check
* I. Sam. vii. 5 ff.
62 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
by spasmodic, sporadic outbursts of enthusiasm. Samuel
saw that rehgious zeal needed to be reinforced by political
unity and secular authority ; and these were commonly
associated with the office and title of " king." He felt
no call to assume such a position himself, but waited
for Divine guidance. A trivial incident brought the
future king before him, in the person of Saul ben Kish
of the tribe of Benjamin, " a man choice and goodly ;
there was no IsraeHte more goodly than he ; from his
shoulders and upward he was taller than any of the
people." ^ After a long and fruitless quest for some
strayed asses he came to consult the Seer as to where
he might find them. He came on the advice of a
servant, not through personal knowlege. Inquiring his
way as a stranger, he met an old man and asked to be
directed to the Seer's house. It was Samuel himself,
and as he looked upon the handsome form and fine
presence of the questioner, the Spirit of Yahweh stirred
within him, and he answered : —
" I am the seer : go up before me unto the high place,
for ye shall eat with me to-day ; and in the morning I
will let thee go, and will tell thee all that is thine heart.
And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, be
not anxious about them, for they are found. And for
whom is all the wealth ^ of Israel ? Is it not for thee
and for all thy father's house ? "
The reference to " all that is in thine heart " and to
^ I. Sam. ix. 2. ^ Lit. ** that which is desirable."
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 63
"the wealth of Israel" shows that Saul had already felt
kindlings of patriotic ambition not unmixed with visions
of personal dignity and splendour. Saul made the usual
conventional reply of the Oriental, that he was too utterly
insignificant to be capable of attaining such distinction.
That night Saul feasted with Samuel, and the next
morning the Seer anointed his guest in the name of
Yahweh to be prince over His inheritance, and gave
him three signs, which duly came to pass ; only the
third has any special significance. It was fulfilled
thus.
As he neared his home at Gibeah ^ he met a band of
prophets "prophesying," i.e. abandoning themselves to
religious ecstasy by music, song, and dance. He was
caught in the contagion of their excitement ; the Spirit
of Yahweh sprang mightily upon him, and he fell into
a like ecstasy.
Soon, however, the Divine possession left him, and
he became, to all appearance, his ordinary self. He
went quietly home, and took up his old life, saying
nothing to any one of his call to a higher destiny. The
man had come, but his hour was not yet.
The Relief of Jabesh-gilead. — He had not long to
wait for his opportunity. The Ammonites, under their
king Nahash, laid siege to Jabesh, a city of Gilead, and
reduced it to extremity. The only terms on which
Nahash would allow the city to surrender were that the
^ R.V., margin.
64 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
right eyes of the inhabitants should be put out. They
promised to submit to this hard condition if they might
be allowed seven days' respite in which to seek help
from their fellow-countrymen. Nahash agreed ; and
the men of Jabesh sent their messengers far and wide
throughout Israel. They met with no response till they
came to Gibeah, and there the people only heard them
with helpless wailing; until in the evening Saul came
from the fields with his oxen, and as he heard the grim
tidings, the Spirit of God sprang mightily upon him ; he
hewed a yoke of oxen in pieces, and sent them through-
out the land, saying —
" Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul, so shall it
be done unto his oxen."
The braver spirits amongst the neighbouring clans
responded to the summons ; Saul led them across the
Jordan, surprised the Ammonite camp shortly before
daybreak, utterly routed them, and delivered the be-
sieged city.
Similar achievements had given Gideon and Jephthah
the vague local authority of a "judge," but now, pro-
bably in obedience to some Divine oracle, directing
and giving definite form to the popular enthusiasm, the
people gathered at the sanctuary of Gilgal,^ and with
solemn sacrifices and much fasting Saul was anointed
king. The exact part taken by Samuel in these pro-
1 Whether in the plain of the Jordan or in Southern Ephraim
is uncertain.
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 65
ceedings is not clear,^ but the formal recognition of
Saul as king may very well have been due to his
influence.
Saul and the Philistines. — But the relief of Jabesh-
gilead was only a prelude to the main task of Saul's
reign, the struggle with the Philistines. Let us glance
for a moment at the situation at the new king's accession.
The Philistines had long been dominant over Judah
and the south, and were probably also supreme in the
central highlands and in the territory of Saul's own
tribe Benjamin. At any rate, there was a Philistine
governor^ in Gibeah, Saul's native town. Indeed,
according to one tradition, the Philistines had com-
pletely disarmed the Israelites, so that amongst Saul's
followers only he himself and Jonathan had swords and
spears. Probably the districts near to the Philistine
territory proper were organised under Philistine officials
and Israelites supposed to be loyal to their masters.
Elsewhere their hold on the country would be slighter,
depending on scattered garrisons and casual raids for
the collection of tribute. Thus the Philistines were
contented with a partial military occupation of the
country ; they did not settle it with colonies of their
^ I. Sam. X. 17-27, xi. 12-14, xii., in their present form are a
reconstruction and interpretation of the history by a late editor.
See "Century Bible."
2 I. Sam. X. 5, R.V. "garrison." The difference is immaterial ;
a garrison would have a commander, and a governor would have
an escort.
66 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
own people. This policy partly accounts both for their
failure to hold the highlands, and for their success in
maintaining their independence in the maritime plain ;
they struck no roots in Israelite territory, but they did
not weaken their home strength.
Saul seems to have lost no time ; immediately after
his election he began to make preparations for a
prolonged struggle. The recovery of Israelite independ-
ence was a different matter from the relief of Jabesh-
gilead ; it could not be effected by a single blow struck
by a levy en ?nasse made for a special emergency ; nor
could the general levy of the tribes be kept together
for continuous warfare. Some sort of standing army
was necessary, and Saul selected 3000 men and sent
the rest home.
It appears that the new king was a man in the prime
of life, having a son, Jonathan, already a fine soldier.
Saul divided his force into two bands ; he kept 2000
about his own person, and placed the remaining 1000
under the command of Jonathan. They took up posi-
tions in the neighbourhood of Bethel, and Jonathan
struck the first blow by slaying the Philistine governor
of the district. The Philistines advanced in force to
suppress the revolt, and occupied positions to the south
of Saul and Jonathan. The Israelite population retired
to strongholds in the mountains, or fled across the
Jordan. Saul's army dwindled down to 600, and he
and his followers, held in check by a detachment of
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 67
the enemy, were compelled to look on while the rest of
the Philistines systematically laid waste the country.
At last an act of desperate valour on the part of
Jonathan brought on a general engagement, in which
the Philistines were routed. Their Israelite auxiharies
and camp-followers turned upon their masters, and
the country rose against them as they fled ; so that the
large Philistine army, probably the bulk of their fight-
ing strength, suffered very heavy loss. Thus, for a time
at any rate, the enemies of Israel were crippled, and most
of the subject territory regained its independence.
The contest was not over: "there was sore war
against the Philistines all the days of Saul," ^ and the
tide of war ebbed and flowed on the frontiers ; but, on
the whole, Israel held its ground and maintained its
independence until the fatal day of Gilboa.
Saul's other Wars. — Indeed, Saul had leisure and
resources to carry other wars to successful issues.
Besides the Ammonites, he " vexed " the Moabites and
the Syrians.- More especially, Saul crushed the Ama-
lekites, with whom Israel had an ancient feud dating
from the time when the nomad tribes disputed about
the pasture lands round Kadesh. Zeal for the God
of Israel called for the destruction of the enemies of the
chosen people; and Samuel, in the name of Yahweh,
* I. Sam. xiv. 52.
^ In I. Sam. xiv. 47, read " Aram" for " Edom " ; the difference
in the Hebrew words is infinitesimal.
68 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
bade Saul march southward and exterminate Amalek
for His greater glory. Saul obeyed, but with culpable
remissness spared the Amalekite king, Agag, and the
sheep and cattle. When Samuel discovered these
omissions, he sternly rebuked Saul, and " hewed Agag
in pieces before Yahweh."
It is possible that Samuel had been inclined to
regard Saul as his nominee, and to dictate to him.
Saul would resent such interference; and so this
incident was the occasion of a final breach between
them. Later writers traced Saul's subsequent mis-
fortunes to Yahweh's displeasure at the king's undue
humanity.
The New Kingdom. — We must briefly consider Saul's
internal administration, remembering throughout that
there was very little administration of any kind in the
modern sense. The idea of kingship in Israel was not
altogether new ; Abimelech, as we have seen, had made
a brief and disastrous experiment on a small scale.
Saul's reign was on an altogether different level ; under
him Israel made a great step towards unity.
At the same time we must not even now think of
Israel as forming a compact state like the Philistine
confederacy. Saul's strength mainly rested on his own
tribe of Benjamin, together with neighbouring clans
belonging to Ephraim and Judah. Contingents and
volunteers would come to him from the other tribes,
especially those in the central highlands and east of
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 69
Jordan ; and all would send him presents and perhaps
make some formal acknowledgment of him as king.
All, too, would seek his aid against hostile neighbours ;
the wars with ]\Ioab and Ammon were undertaken in
the interests of the eastern tribes ; and Saul may have
fought with Aram in defence of either Bashan and
Gilead or Asher, Naphtali and the northern Dan.
The object of the people in electing Saul was to
provide themselves with a military organisation, especi-
ally a permanent commander-in-chief : the only minister
of Saul's that we hear of is Abner, the " captain of the
host " ; and the chief thing that ancient tradition tells
us of his methods of government is that he enlisted in
his following every promising recruit he could find.^
There is no sign that he organised any civil administra-
tion ; the old self-government of the tribes, clans, and
towns continued. So far as Saul exercised any authority
in districts where he was not himself present with an
armed force^ it would be through the local sheikhs, not
through officials of his court. The king would certainly
be called upon to settle disputes.
The Defeat on Mount Gilboa. — A deepening gloom
gathered about Saul's later years ; the long indecisive
war with the Philistines wore out the enthusiasm and
strained the mutual confidence of king and people.
The quarrel with Samuel alienated the zealots through
whom the spirit of Yahweh possessed the warriors of
^ I. Sam. xiv. 52.
70 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
Israel. In Saul himself that spirit was no longer a guide
and an inspiration, but a brooding darkness, goading
him to madness. The music and the friendship of
David of Bethlehem, minstrel and knight-errant, gave
him relief for a time; while David's prowess gave a
more favourable turn to the Philistine war. But Saul's
melancholy returned, and brought with it fits of jealousy
towards the young hero, till at last David fled first to
the wilderness, and then to the PhiHstines. At the same
time the breach between Saul and the devotees of
Yahweh was widened; the king massacred a whole
guild of priests ^ on the charge of aiding and abetting
David, to whom the sole survivor fled. Hence in Saul's
extremity, when he sought to inquire of Yahweh, he
could obtain no answer either by prophets, or by dreams,
or by the sacred lot.
Then the Philistines made a supreme effort to break
down the resistance of Israel. This time they adopted
a new strategy : instead of making a direct attack on
the strongholds of the central highlands, they marched
along the sea-coast and penetrated to the plain of
Esdraelon. Saul marched to meet them, and fought a
pitched battle under Mount Gilboa : the Israelites were
utterly defeated, and Saul and his sons were slain.
Thus the Philistine supremacy over western Palestine
was re-established.
The Character and Work of Saul. — We must re-
'^ I. Sam. xxii.
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 71
member that all the documents which offer us information
about Saul have been edited by writers to whom David
was an ideal saint, poet, and king. Nevertheless the
first king of Israel remains a great and tragic figure.
His success and his ruin were alike due to his suscepti-
bility to religious excitement, which sometimes roused
him to passionate all-conquering zeal for Yahweh and
His people, and at other times plunged him into a
reckless despair in which he struck savagely at real or
imaginary enemies. When we remember that Samuel
called this dangerous gift into action, we may feel that
he was responsible for directing it. The irritable and
suspicious depression of Saul's later years must have
been partly due to the opposition of the prophets ; if
Samuel and his followers had had more patience with
Saul, the crimes and tragedies that closed his reign
might have been averted.
His defeat and death seemed to undo his work, and
to leave matters where they were at his accession. Yet
his failure had made David's success possible. He had
accustomed the people to a monarchy ; for several years
the king had given them independence and a measure
of safety and victory, and had shown them that it was
possible to hold the Philistines at bay. And all this
had been done in the name of Yahweh.
David. — In David and his family the tribe of Judah
reappears as an important factor in the history of Israel.
He seems to have come of a warrior stock ; his brothers
72 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
and cousins were able soldiers and captains. He him-
self was a man of many gifts and graces, a magnetic
personality, winning popularity by a charm of manner,
and maintaining it by kindness and generosity ; a man
of some culture, musician and poet ; at the same time
endowed with personal bravery, some skill as a leader ;
and also possessed of a measure of statesmanship. His
personal charm was perhaps the chief secret of his
success : it inspired his followers with confidence and
enthusiasm ; and it secured the loyalty and devotion of
lieutenants who were sometimes stronger and more
capable than David himself. At the outset of his
career, he won the favour of Saul and the friendship of
his son Jonathan, and made himself popular with the
people. When he fell into disgrace with Saul, he became,
like Jephthah, a captain of banditti in the unsettled
frontier districts. Later on, he took service with the
Philistine leader, Achish, king of Gath, who made him
warden of the southern frontier, and gave him Ziklag
for his headquarters. There David was practically a
tributary prince, with a personal following of his own.
These vicissitudes provided David with an admirable
training for his future career ; the camps of Saul and
of Achish were advanced schools of arms for those days ;
and at the court of Gath he might learn something of
civil administration.
David at Hebron. — The catastrophe of Gilboa found
David in a position to take full advantage of the all but
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 73
extinction of the house of Saul. The opportune jealousy
of the Philistine chiefs had saved David from the necessity
of fighting against his fellow-countrymen. He had used
his position at Ziklag to establish friendly relations with
Judah and the kindred Kenite clans. For this reason,
and because he was a fellow-tribesman, Judah would
naturally look to him as a leader; and on the other
hand the favourite of Achish would be acceptable to the
Philistines. David therefore occupied Hebron, and there
the men of Judah anointed him their king.
Meanwhile the Israelite commander-in-chief, Abner,
had set up Saul's son Ishbaal ^ as king, with his capital
at Mahanaim, east of the Jordan, and there ensued a
long struggle between the rival kings. Probably Ishbaal
and Abner also acknowledged the Philistine supremacy,
and the suzerain power looked on with equanimity at a
civil war which promised to drain Israel of its fighting
strength, and leave it more than ever at the mercy of
its oppressors.
Joab. — In this period Joab first appears in the history,
and remains till the last days of David, " the power be-
hind the throne." Joab, Abishai, and Asahel were the
sons of Zeruiah, David's sister. Abishai, and probably
the other two, joined David after his flight from Saul.
Joab was a commoner, coarser type than either Saul or
David, a brave soldier and an able captain. Besides
^ Ishbosheth, " Man of Shame," is a corruption. The " baal" in
Ishbaal is a title of Yahweh.
74 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
courage, he had the other primitive virtue of loyalty to
his kinsfolk, and he served David with a devotion un-
trammelled by inconvenient scruples.
When we first read of his achievements he is in com-
mand of David's forces, and defeats Abner, Ishbaal's
general ; and in the Hst of David's ministers Joab is
captain of the host — i.e. commander-in-chief. The mili-
tary achievements of David's reign were largely due to
Joab ; the uncle would neither have attained his throne
nor kept it without his nephew's help. Moreover, in
the present form of the story, David has the exceptional
good fortune, that the men who stood in his way, like
Saulj Abner, and Ishbaal, are removed by the spontaneous
action of Joab and others ; the king incurs no responsi-
bility.
David, King of Israel. — As the civil war went on, the
balance inclined more and more in favour of David.
Abner was probably getting old and weary of an end-
less task, and somewhat impatient of the king who was
nominally his master. His overbearing attitude towards
Ishbaal led to a scene of angry recrimination between
them ; and Abner felt it was time to make his peace
with David. He visited the king of Judah at Hebron,
and arranged — doubtless for some suitable reward — that
the tribes which supported Ishbaal should transfer their
allegiance to David. But on his way back he was
treacherously slain by Joab, in revenge for the death
of Asahel, whom Abner had killed in battle. David
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 75
repudiated all responsibility for this act, gave Abner a
state funeral, and composed a lamentation for him ; but
he did not venture to punish Joab.
After the death of Abner, the cause he had so long
supported was hopeless ; and Ishbaal was promptly assas-
sinated by two of his officers, who expected a liberal
recompense from David. This time, however, he not only
repudiated the crime, but also put the assassins to death.
Now all internal obstacles were removed, and the
Israelite sheikhs came to Hebron, and made a "covenant"
with David by which he became king of Israel. This
covenant implies terms and conditions ; we are not told
what they were, but doubtless they safeguarded the rights
and authority of the tribal chiefs and other local leaders.
David and the Philistines. — The collapse of Ishbaal's
power and the reunion of Israel under David came about
so suddenly that it took the Philistines by surprise, and
they had no time to interpose while the negotiations
were going on. Probably, too, David took care to give
them frequent assurances of his continued loyalty, with-
out informing them of the new turn affairs had taken or
asking their consent to the extension of his authority.
His conduct was as much a casus belli as if the ruler of
a native state in India should assume the government
of a neighbouring district without consulting the English
authorities. Hence, when the PhiUstines heard what
had happened, they poured an overwhelming force into
Judah, and David was compelled to retreat to some
76 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
strong position in the highlands, whence he succeeded
in inflicting severe blows upon the enemy.
We are not told much about this war ; but it is clear
that David made Israel permanently independent of the
Philistines ; but that, on the other hand, the Philistines
■did not become subject to Israel. The war was probably
terminated by a treaty ; ^ David's personal relations with
Achish and his court would facilitate some arrangement.
David's other Wars. — David's next most important
achievement was the capture of Jerusalem from the
Jebusites. This does not seem to have taken place till
the chief stress, at any rate, of the Philistine war was
over. 2 The city was carried by an assault, led by Joab,
who was rewarded by being made captain of the host,
David, sometimes in person, sometimes through Joab,
also carried on successful wars with his other neighbours,
Moab, Edom, Ammon, and the Syrians.
David's last years. — The declining years of David's
life were hardly happier than those of Saul. His own
sin with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah, was followed
by similar crimes in his own family. His favourite son
Absalom slew his brother Amnon in revenge for an
outrage against his sister Tamar, and was driven into
exile. After his recall he organised a rebellion, and
succeeded in occupying Jerusalem and western Palestine.
But David escaped across the Jordan : Absalom followed
1 II. Sam. viii. probably does not mean more than this.
- A careful examination shows that the narrative in Samuel is
placed too early.
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 77
him, and was defeated and slain by Joab. The IsraeUtes
were induced to restore David to the throne, and Amasa,
Absalom's general, was given Joab's post. A new revolt,
however, broke out, and Joab took advantage of Amasa's
delay in acting to assassinate him, and resume the office
of captain of the host. He then promptly suppressed
the revolt.
David's last years were further embittered by court
and harem intrigues for the succession. His eldest son,
Adonijah, tried to get himself proclaimed king w^hile
his father was still living, but Bathsheba, supported by
Nathan the prophet, induced David to proclaim her son
Solomon king, and Adonijah's movement collapsed.
David's Dominions. — David completed the political
task which Moses had begun. Moses had formed the
tribes into a confederacy ; David united them in a single
organised state, holding a compact, continuous territory.
Hitherto one great bar to unity had been the Jebusite
possession of the strong fortress of Jerusalem and its
territory. David's capture of this city joined the cen-
tral tribes to Judah. Probably he also brought other
Canaanite districts under his authority. But as the ac-
counts of the Philistine wars are silent as to any trouble
with the Canaanites, it seems that, for the most part, the
Canaanites had felt the new invaders to be their enemies,
and had made common cause with Israel, so that these
wars had assisted the absorption of the old population.
There was, however, no further extension of Israelite
78 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
territory in the strict sense ; no new settlements were
made. The maritime plain remained for the most part
in the hands of the Philistines and Phcenicians. It is
true that Moab, Edom, Damascus, and some other
territories were conquered in the same sense that the
Philistines conquered Israel ; they paid tribute, and the
lands were partly occupied by Israelite garrisons. But such
conquests are lost much more easily than they are made.
David's Army. — Saul had organised a kind of stand-
ing army and appointed a " captain of the host : "
David maintained these, and added to them a corps of
foreign mercenaries, "the Cherethites and Pelethites,"
largely Philistines, whom he formed into a separate
command under a " captain," who seems to rank with
the captain of the host.
Such a body made the king less dependent on popular
favour ; it was largely by means of the mercenaries that
David suppressed the revolts at the close of his reign.
The value of the corps was at once appreciated, and it
became a permanent institution in Judah.
David's Ecclesiastical Policy. — All Israelites reckoned
themselves true worshippers of Yahweh, but we have
seen that Samuel associated himself with the ecstatic
prophets in support of a special tradition as to the
service and worship of Yahweh. We cannot now define
the exact difference between this party ^ — which we may
^ "Party "is too definite, but the matter cannot be put more
accurately in a brief summary.
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 79
call the Zealots — and the rest of Israel, but it probably
stood for a more exclusive devotion to Yahweh and for
more ethical and spiritual views of religion. When the
Zealots broke with Saul, they attached themselves to
David. Even as a captain of banditti and an auxiliary
of the Philistines, David had a priest and oracle of
Yahweh in his camp, when Saul could not obtain an
answer from Him by any of the recognised means.
After the capture of Jerusalem he further strengthened
his position by establishing a royal chapel or shrine in
his new capital, to which he brought the ark, the most
sacred object which Israel possessed. More fortunate
than Saul, David was not overshadowed by any great
ecclesiastics like Samuel controlling the religious forces
of the time ; and he was careful to prevent any central-
ising of sacerdotal authority in a single hand. His
royal chapel was not only served by Abiathar, of the
house of Eli, the priesthood of the ark, but also by
Zadok, of some other family, by some of David's own
sons, and by a certain Ira the Jairite. Moreover there
were two prophets attached to the court, Nathan and
Gad. This royal sanctuary, possessing the ark, and
served by a numerous and influential priesthood, must
at once have become important ; and, for the time
at any rate, it was a bulwark of the throne, as David
intended it should be. Its priests gave him valuable
help against Absalom.
The Internal Administration. — David reigned for forty
8o OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
years, and for a large portion of that time he was able
to keep the territory of Israel free from invaders. Thus
he had leisure, resources, and opportunity to organise
the civil government of the country. There is no reason
to suppose that David attempted to replace the old local
authorities by a centralised administration, but probably
the sheikhs were more really subordinate to the king,
and royal officers were associated with them for special
purposes. This is partly suggested by the list of David's
ministers, which is much more extensive than that of
Saul. In addition to the captains and priests, we meet
with a recorder {mazkir), sometimes supposed to be the
court historian, but more probably a chief adviser or
grand vizier ; with a scribe or secretary {sopher)^ and also
with an officer over the corvee or forced labour.^ The
king also acted as a supreme court of appeal.
David and his Work. — Like most successful rulers,
David owed much to circumstance and to his officers
and ministers. It is even doubtful whether he can be
credited with knowledge of men and wise selection of
agents. These seem to have been mostly provided for
him by family relationship and the conditions of secular
and ecclesiastical politics. Joab was his nephew, and
Abiathar the priest came as a refugee to his camp. When
David acted for himself in such matters, as in the case
of Abner and Amasa, he was not particularly successful.
^ R.V. " tribute"; but the word means labour exacted without
payment, though possibly food was supplied.
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 8i
The great changes, therefore, of this reign were the
work of a group of whom David was the most conspicuous,
but perhaps not the most influential, member. How
much was due to him we cannot say, but a large share
must be ascribed to his wisdom and experience, to his
tact and geniality and patriotism, and to his thorough
sympathy with the zealots in their devotion to the moral
and spiritual interests of Israel. David was the man
after Yahweh's own heart.
These changes were of supreme importance : by suc-
cessful wars, by internal organisation of the state, and
by the establishment of the strong fortress of Jerusalem
as the civil and religious capital, the independence of
the chosen people was secured for centuries ; and thus
Israel was preserved to be the organ of Divine revelation.
David's character was exceptionally high for his times.
It is doubtful whether we can credit him with the mystic
piety of the psalms which a late tradition has associated
with his name ; but he stands in the succession of in-
spired men who welcomed growing light and larger
knowledge on the ways of God. In his private life, his
sins were those of his time and station ; but his penitence
and his virtues were his own. He was a loyal friend
and generous foe. We see him at his best in his
dealings with Saul and Jonathan, when he spares the
sleeping king ; when he laments his fallen prowess ; when
he protects and cherishes the son of Jonathan,
CHAPTER VI
SOLOMON
I. Kings i.~xi.
External Politics and Commerce. — Solomon reaped
the fruit of the long wars waged by David ; he inherited
a strong compact state, assured of its own independence,
and exercising suzerainty over several of its neighbours.
The new king did not attempt any further conquests,
and during the early years of his reign the extent of
the Israelite dominion and its relation to other states
remained substantially unchanged.
The king of Israel was now important enough to be
allowed to marry an Egyptian princess, and her father
captured the Canaanite city of Gezer and presented it
to his son-in-law. This new acquisition completed the
Israelite conquest of Canaan.
Solomon was also allied with Hiram of Tyre, and
bartered the wheat and oil of Palestine for timber and
the services of skilled artisans. A more doubtful bargain
was the sale of twenty cities of Galilee for 120 talents
of gold.^ The two kings were also associated in
trading expeditions by sea to Ophir, perhaps Eastern
' I. Kings ix. 10-14.
82
SOLOMON Ss
Arabia. Moreover, there was active commercial inter-
course with Egypt and elsewhere. The royal ventures
were supplemented by private enterprise ; large quan-
tities of gold, silver, spices, timber, and other foreign
wares were imported, so that the people enjoyed a large
measure of material prosperity.
These peaceful achievements, however, were com-
bined with a relaxation of military vigour ; at some
period in Solomon's reign, two important dependencies,
Edom and Damascus, regained their independence, and
we do not read of any serious effort to reduce them.
Internal Organisation and Buildings. — Solomon took
steps to make the royal authority stronger, more efficient
and more far-reaching, chiefly, as far as our records go, '
with a view to the collection of revenue and the main-
tenance of an army — which latter, apparently, he did
not know how to use.
We have a longer list of ministers. David's govern-
ment ^ included a commander-in-chief, a captain of the
mercenary guard, a superintendent of forced labour, a
recorder, a scribe and priests, and a "king's friend."
In addition to these, Solomon had a superintendent of
prefects, and a master of the household.^
A more striking innovation was the division of the
country into twelve districts, each under a royal re-
1 II. Samuel xx. 23-26, xv. 37.
2 I. Kings iv. s-^, Septuagint. In the Hebrew text there is no
captain of the guard — perhaps Benaiah held both military offices.
84 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
presentative or prefect, charged with the duty of pro-
visioning the court month by month.* This division
largely ignored the ancient tribes, and seems to show-
that the tribal system was passing away.
Like most powerful rulers, Solomon signalised his
reign by numerous splendid buildings, and for this
purpose made extensive use of the corvee or forced
labour. This again led to increased exertion of
authority by the central government ; and, incidentally,
the complete subjugation of the Canaanites was shown
by the fact that they had to endure the main portion
of this burden.-
The king also attempted to maintain his hold on the
country, and to provide for its defence, by fortifying a
number of cities and establishing military depots ; no
doubt both cities and depots were garrisoned by troops
under royal governors.
Naturally the most important work was done in
Jerusalem ; its fortifications were strengthened, and the
city was adorned with a temple of Yahweh and palaces
for Solomon and his harem.
The Temple and Religious Policy. — David's royal
chapel had been merely a tent which served as a shrine
for the ark. This tent Solomon replaced by a per-
manent Temple, which was probably larger and more
splendid than any of the earlier sanctuaries of Israel.
* I. Kings iv. 7 ff.
2 I. Kings ix. 20 f. ; cf, v. 13, xi. 28.
SOLOMON 85
The priesthood of the Temple was now permanently
vested in the family of a certain Zadok ; for the signific-
ance of this fact we must return for a moment to the
circumstances of Solomon's accession. That event was
due to the victory of one party at the court over its
opponents. Both the military and ecclesiastical leaders
were divided; Adonijah was supported by Joab the
commander-in-chief, and by Abiathar, one of the priests
of the royal sanctuary, while the other priest of that
shrine, Zadok, together with the prophet Nathan, and
Benaiah, the captain of the guard, espoused the cause of
Solomon. The victorious party probably represented,
amongst other interests and principles, the more moral
and spiritual views of Yahweh and His relation to Israel,
and the house of Zadok became the depository of the
tradition handed down from Moses and Samuel.
At any rate, the formula uttered by Solomon at the
dedication of the Temple marks an important stage in
the development of revealed religion. Its original form
may be translated thus : ^ —
" The sun has Yahweh set in the heavens ;
He (himself) has resolved to dwell in thick darkness :
Built have I a lofty mansion for thee,
A place for thee to dwell in for all ages."
This short poem does not imply a belief that Yahweh
was the one only deity; it could be paralleled from
^ " Century Bible" on I. Kings viii. 12 f.
86 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
poems and liturgies used by polytheists. But the God
who has set the sun in the heavens is much more than
a mere local, tribal deity.
Probably the people generally did not feel that such
devotion to Yahweh was inconsistent with the erection
of sanctuaries by Solomon to foreign deities for the con-
venience of his foreign wives and their suites. Alliance
with Egypt and Tyre would imply some such toleration
of the worship of these states ; just as, when public
Romanist services were forbidden in England, the am-
bassadors of France and Spain were allowed to have
the mass celebrated in their private chapels. No doubt,
too, the zealous Protestants who were scandalised by such
doings had their parallels in ancient Israel.
The Wise and Splendid King. — The personality of
Solomon, like that of Moses, is obscured, because later
tradition treated him as an ideal figure, the typical
example of a sage, and of a powerful and magnificent
ruler. Thus the section of Chro7iides dealing with his
reign ^ omits all references to his extensive and crowded
harem, to the erection of sanctuaries for foreign gods,
to the loss of Edom and Damascus, and to other dis-
creditable matters. Even in Kings the story has been
influenced by the same idealising tendency, but enough
of ancient tradition has been preserved to show that
Solomon was by no means ideal. Nevertheless he was
a remarkable figure, and an important factor in the
1 II. Chron. i.-ix.
SOLOMON 87
history of his times. It is true that Uttle, if any, of the
contents of the numerous works connected with his
name can be the actual work of Solomon ; but the
rapid development of Israel under its three first kings
would naturally lead to a certain literary activity, in
which Solomon would have his share as author and
patron.
It was a notable achievement to hold together the
various Israelite tribes and their Canaanite dependents
in a single state ; and it is quite possible that Edom and
Damascus were deliberately allowed to maintain the
independence they had recovered, on the ground that
Israel would do better to strengthen its internal re-
sources than to spend its energies in maintaining a
precarious suzerainty over disaffected tributaries.
On the whole, Solomon showed himself a statesman-
like ruler ; there was, however, one great blot upon his
administration, of which we will speak in our next chapter
in dealing with its fatal consequences.
CHAPTER VII
THE DISRUPTION
Rehoboam, c. B.C. 932-916.1
Jeroboam I., c. B.C. 932-912.
Shishak, I. Kings xiv. 25 = Sheshenq I., c. B.C. 950-928
I. Kings xii.-xiv.
The Revolt. — The northern tribes, especially Ephraim,
had long regarded themselves as the chief members of
the Israelite confederation ; only urgent necessity and
the personal gifts of the first three kings and their
ministers induced the northerners to acquiesce in the
rule of a Benjamite or Judahite and in the establishment
of the capital in the south. The new sanctuary, the
Temple, aroused the jealousy of the more ancient shrines ;
and its new priesthood, the house of Zadok, were ob-
noxious to the friends of the house of Eli. Solomon's
policy had aggravated the discontent ; he had drained the
resources of the tribes to adorn his royal city and main-
tain a splendid court, and he had offended the zeal of the
devotees of Yahweh by his tolerance of foreign religions.
His death was the natural occasion for an outbreak.
Several circumstances strengthened the hands of the
hostile party. Rehoboam, the heir to the throne, was
young and inexperienced; but, on the other hand,
^ For these and other dates of the period of the Monarchy, see
Skinner's Kings^ "Century Bible," p. 51.
THE DISRUPTION
the opposition found an able leader, supported by the
power of Egypt. In Solomon's reign, a certain Jeroboam
of Ephraim had shown marked ability, and the king
made him prefect of the tribe. The prophet Ahijah
encouraged Jeroboam to revolt against his master, but
the attempt was nipped in the bud, and Jeroboam fled
to Egypt. Here the dynasty to which Solomon's wife
belonged had fallen, and Shishak, the founder of the
new dynasty, welcomed the refugee. When the Israelite
king died, Jeroboam returned to his native land.
Meanwhile a national assembly had met at Shechem,
ostensibly to recognise Rehoboam as king. The fact
and the place of this gathering show that the northern
tribes claimed a decisive voice in the affairs of Israel.
Solomon's heir was met by a demand for redress of
grievances; the tribes would only recognise him if he
surrendered the right of forced labour, which his father
had exercised with severity. He refused ; the assembly
broke up, and its members returned home to organise
a revolt. An attempt at coercion failed, and Rehoboam
fled to Jerusalem. The Israelites made Jeroboam king.
The Two States. — The revolt was a national move-
ment, supported by the prophets, and its leaders hoped
to transfer to Jeroboam the sovereignty over all Israel
held by David and Solomon ; but for many obvious
reasons Judah and Jerusalem remained faithful to the
Judahite prince, and thus the great southern tribe re-
sumed its old attitude of aloofness from the general
body of Israel.
90 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
So long as the two states both existed side by side,
the Northern Kingdom possessed the bulk of the territory,
population, and resources of Israel. Nevertheless there
were advantages on the side of Judah ; it held a compact
district, with the fortress of Jerusalem for its capital.
Moreover, the Southern Kingdom remained steadily
loyal to the house of David, while Israel suffered from
frequent revolutions, civil wars, and changes of dynasty.
Religious Consequences. — Rehoboam secured the
Temple, which remained the sanctuary of the kings of
Judah. Jeroboam appropriated the ancient sanctuaries
at Bethel and Dan, provided them with new buildings,
more numerous priesthoods, and golden images of Yahweh
in the form of calves. Many other sanctuaries flourished
in both kingdoms.
As usually happens when ecclesiastics promote a revolu-
tion, the prophets did not find the new king as docile
as they wished. It is very doubtful whether the use of
images was regarded as objectionable ; but it is probable
that Jeroboam, relying on the support of the people
generally, countenanced popular superstitions which
more enlightened worshippers of Yahweh condemned.
Chronology. — Our information becomes much fuller
in this period. Many uncertainties, indeed, remain, but
the dates of the reigns given at the head of this and the
following chapters are correct within, say, ten or twenty
years. The references to the Egyptian Shishak do not
help us very much, because the Egyptian documents do
not fix dates with certainty.
CHAPTER VIII
WARS
BETWEEN ISRAEL AND
JUDAH
C. B.C.
C. B.C.
Rehobcam
. 932-916
Jeroboam
, 932-912
Abijam .
. 916-914
Asa
• 914-874
Nadab .
. 912-9II
Baasha .
. 911-888
Elah .
. 888-887
I. Kings xii.-xvi.
Rehoboam and Jeroboam. — Neither party was willing
to acquiesce in the immediate results of the revolution.
Rehoboam made preparations to recover the northern
territory, but seems to have been hindered by the
prophets. Later on he renewed his efforts, at first ap-
parently with some success, for Jeroboam, who had at
first fixed his capital at Shechem, transferred the seat
of government to Penuel, east of the Jordan. But his
patron Shishak intervened, invaded Judah, and effec-
tually crippled Rehoboam's strength, so that Jeroboam
was able to establish himself permanently.^ Later on
his capital was at Tirzah, near Shechem, where it re-
mained for several reigns.
^ This invasion is commemorated in an inscription of Shishak's,
but the exact interpretation of the inscription is a little uncertain.
91
92 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
Their Successors. — From this point onwards, name
succeeds name in the meagre and fragmentary annals.
In most cases they are mere names ; little is told us
of any of them, and that little is merely public and
official; there is nothing that enables us to realise a
distinct individuality. Their historian, who wrote at
the close of the career of the Southern Kingdom,
divides them off into two classes, good and bad,
labelling them with one or other of two monotonous
formulae. Either they "did that which was right in
the eyes of Yahweh," or they "did evil in the sight
of Yahweh." The Israelite kings always did evil, some
not so consistently as others.
We are not told what the "right" and the "evil"
were ; but the epithets are used to denote conformity
with the historian's religious views or opposition to
them, and the occurrence of now the one, now the
other, preserves the tradition of a struggle between
two parties. We shall see later that, as in modern
times, and even more so, certain religious views were
closely associated with a certain attitude on home and
foreign politics.
The unfavourable judgment on the Northern kings
was partly justified by lack of zeal for the more spiritual
development of the service of Yahweh; but is largely
due to the historian's attachment to the Temple and
the house of David.
Let us now turn from these general considerations,
WARS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH 93
and do our best to combine the various fragmentary
references into something like a continuous narrative.
Asa and Baasha. — A tedious undecisive war dragged
on between the two states ; their mutual relation was
similar to that between England and Scotland before the
Tudors. For the most part, doubtless, the fighting was
on a small scale, harassing border warfare, and occa-
sional raids into the interior.
These civil wars encouraged the Philistines to fresh
hostilities, in the course of which they occupied the
frontier city of Gibbethon. We find Jeroboam's son
and successor, Nadab, soon after his accession, engaged
in the siege of this place. Here he was murdered by
a certain Baasha ben Ahijah, of the tribe of Issachar,
who forthwith massacred all the family of Jeroboam.
Baasha also fixed his capital at Tirzah.
Meanwhile Rehoboam had been succeeded by his
son, Abijam, and, after a short reign, Abijam had died
and given place to his son or brother, Asa. In his
days Baasha made a determined attempt to subdue
Judah. He set about converting the frontier town
of Ramah into a strong fortress, the seat of his govern-
ment, and the headquarters of his operations against
Judah. Asa felt himself no match for the resources
of Israel in the hand of a resolute and capable leader ;
as the Scotch kings turned to France for help against
England, Asa sought assistance from Damascus.
The Syrian state of Damascus, restored to independ-
94 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
ence during the reign of Solomon, had now developed
considerable strength. Its king, Ben-hadad, readily
responded to Asa's appeal, and invaded the north of
Israel. Baasha withdrew from Ramah to meet this
new enemy, and Asa availed himself of the opportunity
to destroy the fortifications of Ramah.
After this episode matters reverted to their former
condition ; Baasha returned to his old capital at Tirzah,
where he died, and his son Elah succeeded him.
Under Elah we find "all Israel" again besieging
Gibbethon under his general Omri. In the second
year of his reign, Elah was murdered at Tirzah by
Zimri, one of the generals of his chariots, who pro-
claimed himself king, and massacred the family of
Baasha.
CHAPTER IX
C. B.C.
Asa . .
. 914-874
Zimri, O
Omri .
Ahab .
Jehoshaphat .
. 874-850
Ahaziah
Jehoram
Jehoram
. 850-843
Ahaziah
843
THE SYRIAN WARS— I. THE HOUSE
OF OMRI
C. B.C.
Tibni 887
887-876
876-854
854
854-843
I. Kings xvi.-IL Kings ix.
Date ascertained from Assyrian Inscription.
Ahab takes part in the battle of Karkar, B.C. 854.
Extra-Biblical Sources of Information.
Inscriptions of Shalmaneser II., king of Assyria, B.C. 858-829.
The Moabite Stone, an inscription of Mesha, king of Moab, a con-
temporary of Ahab and his sons.
Omri. — In Omri and his son Ahab we have two of the
most capable of the Israelite kings. Omri had the good
fortune to obtain the crown not as the murderer, but as
the avenger, of his predecessor, Elah. At the time of
Zimri's revolt, Omri was directing the siege of Gibbethon ;
his army proclaimed him king, and he marched upon
the capital. Zimri, feeling that resistance was hopeless,
95
96 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
set fire to the palace and perished in the flames. Another
pretender to the throne, however, arose in the person of
a certain Tibni ; for some time the country was plunged
in civil war, and Omri's authority was only fully estab-
lished after the death of Tibni.
The New Capital. — One great service rendered to
Judah by David and Solomon was the transference
of the capital to Jerusalem ; Omri rendered a similar
service to Israel by his choice of Samaria as the seat
of government. It was a strong position, in the midst
of a fertile district, and remained the permanent capital
of Israel. It was repeatedly besieged, usually to no
purpose ; and the fact that Israel emerged from its
long struggle with Damascus, not only independent,
but victorious, was largely due to the strength of this
fortress.
The Conquest of Moab. — Moab had been conquered
by David, but had since regained his independence.
The Moabite Stone tells us that because Chemosh, the
god of Moab, was angry with his land, he permitted
Omri to oppress it many days, and that Omri annexed
all the land of Medeba, which remained in the posses-
sion of Israel for forty years.
The War with Syria. — The long duel between Israel
and Damascus may be said to have begun with Asa's
appeal for help against Baasha. The contest was
renewed in this reign ; Omri had the worst of it, and
was compelled to cede cities to Damascus, and to
THE SYRIAN WARS 97
grant trading facilities to Syrian merchants in Samaria.^
Nevertheless it is clear that Omri left his kingdom
stronger and more prosperous than he found it. The
Assyrian inscriptions speak of Israel as ''the land of
Omri" long after his death, and even call Jehu,
who massacred Omri's descendants, " the son of
Omri."
Apparently some of the steps which he took to
strengthen his government gave offence to the prophe-
tical party; Micah vi. 16 denounces "the statutes of
Omri."
Ahab. — Omri was succeeded in due course by his
son Ahab. The inspired writers, exclusively concerned
for the interests of revealed religion, have mainly
noted and emphasised this great king's antagonism to
the work of the prophets ; and the popular exponents
of Christianity have exaggerated the discreditable
features of his character and career, and made him
out to be a monster of iniquity. He was a man of
courage, force of character, and sagacity. Apparently
he had not the sympathetic interest in religious affairs
which led David to throw his influence on the side of
progressive spiritual life and thought. But in morality
he was not inferior to Solomon, or even to David ; and
the clemency of the house of Omri was a proverb
amongst the nations — "the kings of the house of Israel
are merciful kings."- The murders of Naboth and of
1 I. Kings XX. 34 ; cf. '* Century Bible." - I. Kings xx. 31.
G
98 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
Uriah were crimes of the same class, and that perpetrated
by David was the more heinous.
The Alliance with Judah and PhcEnicia. — Among
Ahab's many gifts were enhghtened views as to inter-
national diplomacy. We are not told anything as
to the relations of Israel and Judah in the time of
Omri.
Asa reigned forty-one years, and was succeeded by
his son Jehoshaphat, who was like-minded with himself;
" he walked in all the ways of Asa his father . . . doing
that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh." This
continuity of policy would tend to strength and pros-
perity ; and, on the other hand, the revolutions and
civil wars in Israel must have stopped any serious
operations against Judah. Ahab at last ended the long
struggle by a peaceable agreement. The arrangement
virtually involved the suzerainty of Israel over the
weaker state.
Ahab, however, made no attempt to oust the family
of David from their kingdom, but sought to secure their
loyalty by intermarriage between the two houses ; Ahab's
daughter, Athaliah, married Jehoshaphat's son, Jehoram.
It is noteworthy that the last two kings of the house of
Omri, Ahaziah and Jehoram, were contemporary with
two kings of Judah named Jehoram and Ahaziah. In
this direction Ahab's policy was entirely successful ; the
kings of Judah remained firm friends of the house of
Omri till its fall ; and thus Ahab, following in the foot-
THE SYRIAN WARS 99
steps of David, again united Israel and Judah against
their common enemies.
In another direction also Ahab followed the example
of David ; he renewed the old alliance with Phoenicia
by marrying Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of
the Zidonians, an act which doubtless strengthened the
international position of Israel, but had an unfortunate
influence on the internal affairs both of Israel and Judah.
Ahab also attempted to arrive at a peaceable modus
vivefidi with Damascus, but the attempt failed.
The Syrian Wars. — For this Syrian kingdom of
Damascus is constantly found at war with Israel for
about a century. Omri, as we have seen, had been
worsted by his northern neighbour ; and the struggle was
renewed in Ahab's reign. But the contest did not
simply involve Syria, Israel, and Judah. If these powers
had been left to fight it out by themselves, Syria would
have succeeded in conquering the two Israelite states.
Another power, however, intervened at intervals ; in this
period the great empire of Assyria again advanced into
Western Asia, and we must briefly indicate the main
features of its activity.
Just about the time of Omri's accession, an able and
warlike king, Ashur-natsir-pal, ascended the Assyrian
throne. In a series of successful campaigns the monarch
established his authority over an extensive territory ; in
one expedition he occupied Lebanon, and received the
submission of the leading Phoenician cities. His son,
loo OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
Shalmaneser II., who succeeded him towards the close
of Ahab's reign, made a series of determined but unsuc-
cessful attempts to conquer Damascus. This pressure of
the Assyrians on Damascus enabled Israel to maintain
its independence.
It was perhaps about the time of the accession of
Shalmaneser that the Syrian king, Benhadad II., renewed
the war by invading the Northern Kingdom and laying
siege to Samaria. His army, however, was routed by
a successful sally of the besieged Israelites. Later on,
Ahab gained a second victory in the open field ; took
Benhadad prisoner ; and concluded a treaty with him
on advantageous but moderate terms — practically the
restoration of the status quo before the defeat of Omri.
Possibly we may place soon after these events the great
battle of Karkar, of which we learn from an inscription
of Shalmaneser II. Shalmaneser was advancing against
Damascus from the north, when he was met by Benhadad
at Karkar, not far from Hamath. In order to oppose the
Assyrians, the king of Damascus had formed an extensive
confederation, including Hamath, Israel, Arvad, Arabians,
Ammonites, and others. According to the figures given
by Shalmaneser, the two largest contingents were Ben-
hadad's 1200 chariots, 1200 horsemen, and 25,000
infantry, and Ahab's 2000 chariots and 15,000 men.
The numbers of the Israelites suggests that Ahab was
a willing ally. Shalmaneser, in his inscription, claims
the victory for himself; but as he did not attack
THE SYRIAN WARS loi
Damascus, and returned home immediately afterwards,
the substantial advantage lay with the confederates — they
succeeded in stopping the Assyrian advance.
The alliance between Ahab and Benhadad was short-
lived. Amongst the cities taken from Omri which the
Syrian king had promised to restore was Ramoth in
Gilead. So far the promise had not been fulfilled, and
Ahab's patience being exhausted, he determined to take
the city by force. He summoned Jehoshaphat to his
aid, and the two kings marched against Ramoth. In
the battle that ensued, the allies were defeated and
Ahab was slain.
This victory had no permanent military results,
because soon after Damascus was again engaged in
defending itself against Shalmaneser. Moreover, about
this time there was a change of dynasty; Benhadad's
successor was murdered by his general Hazael, who
usurped the kingship. Hence Jehoram, who ruled over
Israel after the brief reign of his brother Ahaziah, was
able to capture Ramoth and hold it against the Syrians.^
The Prophets Elijah and Elisha. — This period was
as critical for religion as for politics ; and it was a purely
^ For II. Kings vi. 24-vii. 20 see next chapter, p. 1 12. The
interpretation of the accounts of the Syrian wars is largely a matter
of controversy. As the various questions are still sub judice, we
have mostly taken the Biblical narrative as it stands. Consequently,
the version of the story in the text in this and the following chapter
is only given as probable.
I02 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
political act which brought religious affairs to a crisis ;
and, as in the case of Solomon, the trouble arose out of
a royal marriage. As we have already explained,^ union
with a foreign princess arose out of an alliance with her
father, and involved the erection of a chapel or sanctuary
to a foreign deity for the worship of the queen and her
suite. Accordingly, Ahab built in Samaria a temple
and altar to Baal — i.e. Melkarth, the god of Tyre. The
religious history of Israel since the conquest gave a
special significance to this act ; the Israelites had com-
bined and confused the cult of Yahweh with that of
the local Canaanite deities or Baals, " Lords " ; and
Yahweh Himself was often worshipped under the title
" Baal." There was a danger lest the distinctive
features of the faith of Moses and of ancient Israel
should be lost — worship of Yahweh sink to the level of
a mere Canaanite superstition. Samuel and David, the
prophets and the kings " who did that which was right
in the eyes of Yahweh," had fought against this tendency.
The prestige of the new royal temple, on the other hand,
would encourage the use of "Baal" as a title of the
deity, and would make foreign rites fashionable.
It is true that Ahab was a zealous worshipper of
Yahweh ; he was served by 400 prophets who spoke in
the name of Yahweh ; and his children bore such names
as "Yahweh upholds," "Yahweh is exalted," "Yahweh
is high." But names and phrases are not everything.
1 P. ■^G.
THE SYRIAN WARS 103
The new danger met with emphatic protest and stern
opposition from the prophets of the purer faith.
At this point we may resume our brief account of the
prophets. We have seen that in the time of Samuel and
Saul there were bands of ecstatic prophets in Israel, and
subsequently we read of individual prophets who appear
as messengers of Yahweh. We now hear of guilds or
bands of prophets, some supporting Ahab, some in
opposition to him. The ordinary prophet was still
probably something of a dervish ; his inspiration moved
him to ecstatic rites ; but it also constituted him at times
a messenger of Yahweh.
At this time there arose a prophet, Elijah, who placed
himself at the head of the opposition to Ahab and
Jezebel, and their ecclesiastical policy. His fierce de-
nunciations of the Baal-worship forced men to realise
that Yahweh could not be contented with the supersti-
tious rites in which the Canaanite Baals were supposed
to delight ; and at the same time they threatened the
very existence of Jezebel's chapel and even the queen's
life ; they endangered the alliance with the Phoenicians,
and weakened Ahab in his contest with Syria. The
struggle was carried on with ruthless cruelty on both
sides — each in turn massacred its opponents. But, in
spite of his various difficulties, including a severe famine
which his opponents interpreted as a Divine judgment,
Ahab held his own against Syria and protected Jezebel
and her temple till his defeat and death. Even then his
I04 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
successor Ahaziah maintained his policy, but Ahaziah's
premature death, following close on his father's tragic
end, seemed conclusive marks of Yahweh's displeasure,
and the new king Jehoram made some partial conces-
sions,^ which served rather to irritate Jezebel than to
conciliate the opposition. Elijah's death about this
time encouraged the court to persevere in its protection
of Baal-worship. But his disciple and successor, the
prophet Elisha, organised conspiracies which led to
changes of dynasty at Samaria and Damascus, and
dealt a fatal blow at the Baal-worship.
Judah and its Southern Neighbours : Jehoshaphat. —
During this period Judah was practically the vassal of
Israel, but the state of affairs was in many respects an
improvement upon the previous years of constant strife
between the two kingdoms. Judah retained a full
autonomy ; the king, Jehoshaphat, enjoyed the confidence
of the prophets, and occupied the throne for twenty-five
years. The peace with Israel and the long continuous
government of a prince sensitive to the higher interests
of his people, tended to prosperity. Tribes which des-
pised Judah when it was struggling for its existence
against Israel, could not safely defy the two allied states.
Edom became subject to Judah ; and Jehoshaphat made
an unsuccessful attempt to revive Solomon's traffic with
Ophir.2 The subjugation of Edom was perhaps a sequel
^11. Kings iii. 2.
2 I. Kings xxii. 47, 48.
THE SYRIAN WARS 105
to an invasion of Judah by Edom, Ammon, and Moab,
which was victoriously repulsed.^
The Revolt of Moab. — This invasion may have been
a sequel of the successful revolt of Mesha, king of Moab,
against Israel in the middle of Ahab's reign.^
Mesha, in his inscription on the Moabite Stone, de-
scribes his victory thus : —
" I fought against the town (of Ataroth) and took it, and
put to death all the people of the town, as a pleasing spec-
tacle for Chemosh and for Moab ; and I removed thence
the altar-hearth^ of (the god) Dodo, and I (presented) it be-
fore Chemosh in Kerioth. . . . And Chemosh said to me,
Take Nebo against Israel, and I went by night and fought
against it from break of dawn till noon, and I took it and
put them all to death. ... for I had devoted it to Ashtar-
Chemosh."
He tells us also of numerous other conquests.
Apparently Ahab was too busy with the Syrian wars to
attend to Moab; but Jehoram had leisure to organise
a joint expedition with Jehoshaphat and Edom. The
enterprise had many vicissitudes, but at last the allies
overran Moab, besieged the Moabite king in Kir-hareseth,
and seemed on the point of completing the subjugation
^ II. Chron. xx.
2 So the Moabite Stone; according to II. Kings i. i, the revolt
took place after Ahab's death, a statement which may only mean
that the annals made no reference to the revolt till they came to
the attempt to reconquer the country after Ahab's death.
3 'Ar'el.
io6 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
of the country by capturing that city. In his dire ex-
tremity the king of Moab sacrificed his son to Chemosh
on the wall of the besieged city, in sight of the hostile
armies. Then the wrath of Chemosh fell upon the in-
vaders,^ and they withdrew to their own land ; they
dared not await the response which the patron deity of
Moab must surely make to such an appeal. In the
reign of Jehoshaphat's successor, Jehoram, Edom finally
established its independence ; and Libnah also revolted,
perhaps to the Philistines.
The Fall of the House of Omri. — This abortive enter-
prise must have damaged Jehoram's prestige and in some
measure contributed to his doom ; but other causes were
more evidently at work. These we have already dealt
with, each in its separate section for the sake of clearness.
In reality their workings were intricately intertwined, and
their close connection is most manifest in the final catas-
trophe. The war with Syria led to Jehoram's wound,
to his retirement from the field army, and the investing
Jehu with an independent command ; thus Jehu got his
opportunity. The signal of revolt was given by the
prophet Elisha. Lastly, owing to the alliance between
Israel and Judah, the kings of both states and their
families shared the same fate.
^ See "Century Bible" on II. Kings iii. 27.
CHAPTER X
THE SYRIAN WARS— 11. THE HOUSE
OF JEHU
C. B.C.
C. B.C
Jehu .
. 843
Athaliah
. 843
Jehcash
. 837
Jehoahaz
. 816
Jehoash
. 800
Amaziah
. 79»
Azariah or Uzziah
. 790
Jeroboam II .
. 785
Regency of Jotham
• 749
Zechariah
. 745
II. Kings ix.-xv.
Date ascertaijted from Assyrian Inscriptions.
Jehu pays tribute to Ass>Tia, B.C. 842.
Extra-Biblical Sources of Information,
The "Black Obelisk" and other inscriptions of Shalmaneser II.,
king of Assyria, B.C. 858-829, and other Assyrian kings.
The Revolution in Israel. — Jehu waded to his throne
through seas of blood. He was in command of the
Israelite army opposing the Syrians at Ramoth-Gilead
when a message from Elisha gave him the signal for
revolt. He at once made a forced march with a handful
of cavalry to Jezreel, where were both Jehoram of Israel
and Ahaziah of Judah ; he surprised them, and slew
Jehoram on the spot ; Ahaziah also was fatally wounded
io8 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
and died shortly afterwards at Megiddo. As Jehu
entered Jezreel, Jezebel's chamberlains, at his bidding,
flung their mistress out of a window of the palace and
killed her. Then Jehu procured the massacre, first
of the family of Ahab, seventy persons, and later on
of forty-two kinsmen of the king of Judah. When
he himself arrived in Samaria, he completed the work
by putting to death "all that remained unto Ahab in
Samaria." ^
So far, he had only carried out the usual policy of
a successful rebel, but his obligations to Elisha and the
otheropponents of Baal- worship required further slaughter.
Here a new character appears upon the scene, a certain
Jehonadab the son of Rechab, the head of a tribe or
sect of fanatics who regarded the developments of civi-
lisation as abominations in the eyes of Yahweh; they
refused to grow grapes or corn, and lived in tents, thus
maintaining the old nomad life. In the same way they
clung to the simpler worship of the nomads, and re-
pudiated the Canaanite superstitions associated with the
title Baal. Jehu and Jehonadab together set to work
to exterminate the Baal-worshippers. Jezebel's temple
to Baal was dismantled and put to ignominious uses,
and Jehu " destroyed Baal out of Israel." ^ That is to
say, men no longer ventured to carry on the Baal-
worship in territory under Jehu's authority. It no doubt
continued in secret in obscure corners and in outlying
^ II. Kings, X. 17. ^ II. Kings x. 28.
THE SYRIAN WARS 109
districts ; and references in Hosea and elsewhere show-
that it revived once more in later times.
Athaliah, Jehoiada, and Joash. — The revolution at
Jezreel had an unexpected sequel in Judah. Doubtless
when Jehu murdered Ahaziah and his kinsfolk, he hoped
to make himself sole king of Israel and Judah. Events
at Jerusalem seemed to further his designs. Ahaziah's
mother, and therefore the " queen-mother," a most
important personage in an ancient Eastern state, was
Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. At the
death of her son, her daughter-in-law would in the usual
course of affairs have become queen-mother, and she
herself would have fallen into a position of insignificance.
In order to avoid this humiliation she massacred all the
remaining members of the royal family that were within
her reach, and herself resumed the crown, and main-
tained her authority for six years. Like Jezebel, Athaliah
was a patroness of Baal-worship, for which she main-
tained a temple and priesthood.
We might have expected that both Jehu's zeal for
Yahweh and his personal ambition would have led him
to overthrow the daughter of Jezebel, and to take ad-
vantage of her massacre of the princes of the house of
David by adding Judah to his kingdom. But he had too
much on his hands elsewhere ; and in spite of religious
differences he may have tolerated Athaliah as a tributary
till he had time and opportunity to get rid of her. In
the sixteenth century, English sovereigns who persecuted
iio OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
Romanists at home were often allied with foreign
Catholic princes.
The fall of Athaliah, however, was due to an internal
revolution. She had not done her work so thoroughly
as Jehu ; for Jehoash, the infant son of Ahaziah, had
been concealed by his aunt in a chamber of the Temple
and had thus escaped the massacre. For six years he
was secretly cared for in the Temple. Then the priest
Jehoiada succeeded in obtaining the support of the
army, especially of the mercenaries who formed the
royal bodyguard and were attached by long-standing
tradition to the house of David. Thus backed by an
armed force, Jehoiada produced the seven-year-old
Joash before the crowds assembled in the Temple on
the Sabbath, and anointed him king amidst popular
acclamation. Athaliah, venturing into the temple un-
attended, was seized and put to death, and the people
sacked her temple and slew her priest, Mattan.
Jehoiada naturally became regent of Judah during
the long minority of Joash, so that he exercised both
royal and priestly authority, obviously to the great
enhancement of the prestige of the Temple, and to the
increase of its privileges and possessions. We can well
believe that when Joash became a man Jehoiada was
still inclined to keep him in leading-strings, and the
young king was anxious to be independent. According
to II. Chronicles xxiii., Joash endured the priestly guid-
ance till the death of Jehoiada ; but when the new priest,
THE SYRIAN WARS iii
Jehoiada's son Zechariah, attempted to take his father's
place as master of the palace^ the king, supported by
his nobles, persisted in going his own way, and put
Zechariah to death — all of which is very probable.
The Chronicler interpreted as a Divine judgment a
disastrous Syrian invasion which happened later on,^
herein doubtless representing the opinion of the priests
and those who sympathised with them, more especially
certain conspirators who murdered Joash.^
The Wars with Syria. — As Elisha, the instigator of
Jehu's rebellion, also suggested the revolution ^ which
placed a new dynasty on the throne of Damascus, we
might have expected that Hazael, the founder of the
new dynasty would have been friendly with Jehu. But
this frail personal bond between the two kings was
snapped by the strain of international politics, and
another long struggle set in between Israel and Syria.
We are only given a bare outline of the main features
of the contest, but its character is illustrated by the
longer narratives. There were raids such as that in
which the " little maid " was carried off to be a slave in
Naaman's household, and those other expeditions by
which the Syrians sought to capture Elisha. Doubtless,
too, the Israelites retaliated in like fashion. Once at
^ II. Kings xii. 17.
2 It is doubtful, however, whether the chronology of the reign
admits of this close connection in time between the various
events. 3 H. Kings viii. 7-15.
112 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
least Samaria was besieged, and was on the point of
being starved out, when some sudden alarm compelled
the Syrians to raise the siege and beat a hasty retreat.^
The general course of this long duel was somewhat as
follows. At the beginning of Jehu's reign the Assyrian
king, Shalmaneser II., made two expeditions into Syria
which had a measure of success, but failed in their main
object, the reduction of Damascus. Hazael held his
own. We learn from statements of Shalmaneser, inscribed
on the Black Obelisk,^ that on the earlier expedition, in
B.C. 842, he received tribute from Jehu ; the Obelisk
depicts, amongst other scenes, the presentation of this
tribute by an Israelite embassy.
But after the second of these two expeditions, the
Assyrian kings seem to have been fully occupied in
the East for more than thirty years, during the rest of
the reign of Jehu, and most of that of his successor,
Jehoahaz. Thus Hazael was at liberty to turn his full
strength against Israel, and Jehu's submission to Shal-
maneser gave him a plausible pretext. The Israelites
were altogether overmatched : Hazael occupied all the
territory of the eastern tribes, and doubtless many
districts of Israel. He even penetrated to the south,
captured the Philistine city of Gath, and was only
1 The narratives in II. Kings iv.-vii. probably belong, for the
most part, to the reigns of Jehu and his successor. See Skinner,
" Century Bible," Kings, pp. 290, 305.
- Now in the British Museum.
THE SYRIAN WARS 113
induced to spare Jerusalem by the payment of heavy
tribute. " In those days Yahweh began to cut Israel
short." 1
At first Jehoahaz fared no better than Jehu, and
Israel was reduced to great extremities. But towards
the end of his reign, renewed Assyrian invasions crippled
the power of Damascus, and Israel began to make head
against her enemy. "Yahweh gave Israel a saviour."^
In the next reign, that of Joash, the Israelites won
several victories, and recovered some of the lost ter-
ritory. At last the Assyrians succeeded in taking
Damascus, and reducing it to a tributary state. Thus
the son of Joash, Jeroboam II., encouraged by the
prophet Jonah ben Amittai, was enabled to recover for
Israel all its old dominions ; he is even said to have
recovered Damascus. So "Yahweh saved Israel by the
hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash." ^
Elisha. — During the most desperate period of the
struggle, the prophet Elisha was the heart and soul
of the Israelite resistance to Syria. He had followed
Elijah in promoting a revival of the exclusive, enthusi-
astic, almost fanatical zeal for Yahweh; and in the
interests of this movement had placed Jehu on the
throne. The Baal-worship had been suppressed. Ac-
cording to ancient ideas such a revival should have
been followed by national prosperity ; and when disasters
1 II. Kings X. 32. 2 II. Kings xiii. 5. ^ II. Kings xiv. ^-j.
H
114 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
came one after another, men's faith in Yahweh, or, at
any rate, in Elisha's views about Him, must have been
sorely tried. Yet he retained his influence, and on his
dying bed Joash addressed him as " My father, my
father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof,'' i
and the prophet was able to promise the king some
measure of deliverance. The man who kept a brave
heart through those many dark days, and maintained the
faith and courage of hfs people must have been one of
the most remarkable personalities produced by Israel.
Joash of Israel and Amaziah of Judah. — The brunt of
the Syrian war fell upon Israel : Judah, indeed, suffered
something from Hazael, but the pre-occupation of the
northern kings with Syria prevented them from harass-
ing Judah, and the southern state seems to have enjoyed
a considerable measure of independence and prosperity,
so much so that Amaziah was able to carry on a success-
ful war with Edom. Elated by this success, he challenged
Joash of Israel, but suffered a severe defeat at his hands,
and Judah again became tributary to Israel.
1 II. Kings xiii. 14.
CHAPTER XI
ISRAEL UNDER THE EARLY MONARCHY
The Book of the Covenant, Exodus xx. 22-
xxin. 19
And the other laws and narratives of the older documents
of the Pentateuch.^
In following the course of the general history, we have
reached a point at which the social and religious de-
velopment of the two kingdoms led to a crisis, which was
the occasion of a new outpouring of Divine revelation.
Before considering this crisis and its causes, we must
glance for a moment at the old order which was about
to disappear. It will be simplest to describe the con-
ditions that arose from the establishment of the monarchy
— that existed, say, under Solomon and his immediate
successors in Israel and Judah, and to reserve the account
of subsequent changes for the next chapter. We are
fortunate in possessing in the laws and narratives of the
older documents of the Pentateuch, and especially the
Book of the Covenant, a first-class authority for our
present subject. It is true that the documents were
1 J. and E. ; see Dr. Whitehouse's volume in this series on the
" Books of the Old Testament."
115
Ti6 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
compiled under the Middle rather than the Early Mon-
archy ; but they are mostly a collection of precedents
and rules derived from the common law of the old order,
and are not innovations connected with the establish-
ment of a new regime.
Social Conditions. — The Israelites were mainly occu-
pied with agriculture. The commerce which had grown
up under Solomon dwindled after the Disruption and
the rapid decay of the military power of Israel. A
certain trade always went on ; its amount and the extent
to which it was in native hands varied with the changing
fortunes of the state. Thus when Damascus was in
the ascendant the Syrians had a trading quarter in
Samaria ; and a similar privilege was granted to Israelites
at Damascus after Ahab's victories. The comparative
silence of our authorities on this subject shows that
during the period after Solomon, commercial activity
was not a prominent feature of the national life — a view
that is confirmed by the prohibition of loans at interest.^
Similarly, manufactures were mostly domestic; an
IsraeHte homestead was sufficient to itself — did its own
spinning and weaving, for instance, and made its own
clothes. In towns there were smiths, potters, carpenters,
and masons ; and a considerable artisan class must have
grown up in the capitals and other large cities. We do
not know how far the country districts had local crafts-
men, and how far they were served by itinerant workers.
^ Exod. xxii. 25.
EARLY MONARCHY 117
Solomon's building was partly done by Phoenician car-
penters, masons, and metal workers.^
The land belonged to the farmers who cultivated it ;
we do not read of the hiring of land. There were large
estates, but they were comparatively few. On the other
hand, there was little extreme poverty amongst freemen.
Slavery existed in Israel as in all ancient communities,
but, on the whole, in a mild form. The Israelite slave
was better off than an unskilled labourer or a worker
in a sweated industry to-day ; and slavery provided a
refuge for the destitute which was less humiliating to the
honest poor than the modern workhouse.
There was not much hired labour on the land, and
the hireling was often a ger or resident alien.
Internal Politics. — The monarchy secured a large
measure of social order, at the expense of a moderate
amount of taxation, and occasional acts of tyranny on
the part of the king and his officials. The administra-
tion of justice was partly tainted by corruption. But we
learn from the "Book of the Covenant" that the Israel
of the Early Monarchy, in common with other Semitic
peoples, sought to apply wise and humane principles,
such as those which inspired the Code of Hammurabi.^
Local affairs still remained largely in the hands of the
local notables, the sheikhs, and the heads of families.
^ I. Kings V. 18, vii. f.
- King of Babylon, c. B.C. 2100, usually identified with Amraphal,
the contemporary of Abraham.
ii8 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
Religion. — We need only say a word or two on this
head, as it is dealt with in another volume of this series.^
In both kingdoms all Israelites, in differing fashions and
with varying degrees of zeal, worshipped Yahweh. The
royal sanctuaries at Jerusalem and Bethel enjoyed a
certain pre-eminence, but there were others of great im-
portance at Gilgal, Beersheba, Dan, and a multitude of
" high places," where sacrifices were offered to the God
of Israel. At the same time, the people generally re-
cognised a number of other supernatural beings ; pro-
bably some sort of ancestor worship prevailed ; and the
less precise did not feel that loyalty to Yahweh was com-
promised by supplementary worship of foreign Baals or
other deities. In previous chapters we have traced the
struggle between these latitudinarians and the champions
of a pure, rational, and exclusive worship of the God of
Israel. A class of professional prophets, organised in
guilds or companies, seem to have played an important
part in the advocacy of such worship; though there
seem also to have been prophetic guilds under royal
patronage who took the opposite side — at any rate in the
Northern Kingdom.
Art, Science, and Literature. — The Israelites of
the monarchy were not distinguished for pictures or
sculpture. The latter art was chiefly applied to making
images of Yahweh and other gods ; and as this practice
was offensive to many of His most devoted worshippers,
^ See The Religion of Israel, by Professor Peake.
EARLY MONARCHY 119
probably they, like some other Puritans, discouraged
art altogether. The architecture of the Temple and
o:her buildings was, no doubt, borrowed from the
Canaanites and other foreign countries. There was
sonae elementary knowledge of arithmetic, geometry,
and medicine, of the most primitive character. As far
as roads and aqueducts were concerned, there was
some acquaintance with engineering. An underground
channel for water has been discovered, probably made
in the time of Hezekiah, which was the work of two
sets of men, starting from opposite ends and meeting
in the middle.^
There was a considerable literature during this period
in the form of poems and popular narratives, embodying
the Israelite versions of Semitic folk-lore, and dealing
with Israelite heroes and the critical events of history.
Collections of customary law were made, and some
sort of annals were compiled by the scribes of the
royal households and of the great temples. What
survives of this literature is either religious, or has been
preserved on account of the light it throws on the nature
and history of the faith and worship of Israel.^
^ So the Siloam Inscription.
' Cf The Books of the Old Testament."
CHAPTER XII
THE PROPHETS OF EIGHTH CENTURY,
AMOS, HOSEA, ISAIAH, AND MICAH
C. B.C.
C. RC
Azariah or Uzziah
. 798
Jeroboam II,
. 7«5
Regency of Jotham
. 749
Zechariah ,
• 745
Shallum
• 745
Menahem
• 745
Jotham sole ruler .
. 739
Pekahiah .
. T^
Ahaz ,
• 735
Pekah .
' 735
Hoshea
• 732
Fall of Samaria .
. 722
Hezekiah
. 720
Manasseh .
. 692
II. Kings xv.-xxi., Amos, Hosea, Isaiah i.-xxiii.,
XXVIII. f,, MiCAH I.-III.
Extra-Biblical Sources of Information.
The inscriptions of the Assyrian kings, from which the following
dates are fixed : —
B.C.
Menahem pays tribute 738
Population of Galilee carried captive by Tiglath-Pileser . 733
Damascus taken by the Assyrians 732
Fall of Samaria 722
Invasion of Sennacherib 701
Social and other Changes. — The Israel sketched in
the last chapter was the starting-point of a process
which was already beginning under Solomon, or even
EIGHTH CENTURY PROPHETS 121
earlier, and which reached a climax in the eighth
century. A central government, maintained continu-
ously for any length of time, creates a governing class
of officials, nobles, and men of wealth, who exploit
the material progress of the country, " the advance of
civilisation," in the interests of themselves, their friends,
and relations. Occasional changes of dynasty and
other revolutions simply change the personnel of this
class. Methods in the ancient East were crude ; sheer
exercise of royal authority could do something ; ^ and
where that failed, the judges were usually amenable to
suitable means of persuasion. At the outset, as we
have said, the Israelite farmers owned their land ; but
as time went on, the number of large estates rapidly
increased; by fair means or foul, great landowners
ousted the yeomen from their farms. These, dispos-
sessed of the inheritance of their fathers, were either
reduced to slavery, or became landless paupers. The
new order had not yet sufficiently developed to provide
a place and a livelihood for them.
At the same time, the advance of civiHsation led to
more luxurious habits of living amongst the wealthy
and their dependants, together with a relaxing of the
more austere moral conventions of primitive times.
The priests of the great sanctuaries, as wealthy and
dignified ecclesiastics, w^ould be associated by many
ties of interest and sympathy with the other notables,
^ I. Sam. viii. 11-18.
122 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
to the detriment of their moral and spiritual influence.
The ritual, no doubt, was profuse, elaborate, and
splendid ; but too often it was a substitute for devotion
to God, for a pure life, and for justice and benevolence
towards men/ The priests were too much concerned
for the comfort and culture they shared with their
wealthy friends to be very strongly moved by the
distress of the poor, or the growing corruption of the
nation. These tendencies to luxury and vice were
reinforced by the influence of international relations,
especially with Assyria, which promoted foreign fashions,
and encouraged the constant inclination of the Israelites
to adulterate the worship of Yahweh with heathen
superstitions. The development of material progress
and social corruption was fostered and brought to a
head by the prosperity of the long reigns of Jeroboam 11.
of Israel and Uzziah of Judah.
Amos and Hosea. — Thus, once more, there was
serious danger lest the ethical and spiritual religion
associated with faith in Yahweh, the fruit of earlier
revelation, should be reduced to the level of neighbour-
ing cults; and the national worship of Israel should
become a mere instrument of government, and the
expression of a narrow and selfish patriotism. The
influential classes were not conscious of anything
wrong; they thought that they were on the best of
^ Amos iv. 4-5, V. 21-24; Isa. i. ; Hosea vi. 9, viii. 11-14;
Micahiii. 11.
EIGHTH CENTURY PROPHETS 123
terms with Yahweh. Were they not assiduous and
munificent in their offerings to Him ? Was not their
prosperity an outward and visible token of His approval ?
At this crisis God raised up a new succession of
prophets, with a new message for the times. Yahweh
was not satisfied with ritual, however exclusive and
correct ; He was no tyrant, hungry for homage and
tribute. Thus saith Yahweh, " I will have benevolence
and not sacrifice."^ Henceforth one of the chief
demands which the prophets and priests, whom we
recognise as the inspired teachers of revealed truth,
made in the name of Yahweh, was for an equitable
social order. History and tradition led them to look
for such a system in a restoration of the old state of
affairs in which the Israelite freeman owned the land
he cultivated ; but the principle for which they con-
tended was that the national resources should be used
to secure a worthy life for all, and not to minister to
the arrogance and self-indulgence of a privileged few.
The new prophets also attacked the sanctuaries, partly
because the worship was external and divorced from any
spirit of justice, purity, and benevolence; partly because
the ritual in itself was corrupt. In earlier times images
of one kind or another, and various symbols of the Deity,
^ Hosea vi. 6. We have no English equivalent of the word
hesedh, represented by " benevolence " ; it includes loyalty, bene-
volence, and beneficence. G. A. Smith renders it by " leal
love."
124 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
had been freely used in the sanctuaries of Yahweh ; but
now they were expressly condemned.-'^
A blow was also struck at a cherished article of faith,
the belief in Yahweh as the Divine champion who would
always protect and deliver His people if only He were
duly propitiated by sacrifices. It was now taught that
to be the people of Yahweh was not only a privilege ; it
was also a heavy responsibility. Yahweh was just and
beneficent, and expected His people to be like Him-
self. "You only have I known of all the families of
the earth : therefore will I visit upon you all your
iniquities." ^
Doubtless these truths belonged in a measure to an
old tradition ; but as they were now stated they came
to most men as unwelcome novelties. We have already
seen traces of division between the prophetic guilds.
From this point onwards the guilds, the professional
prophets as a body, became more and more identified
with the lower forms of the worship of Yahweh, which
were very generally regarded as the established religion,
supported by a conservative tradition. The inspired
prophets, whose words have been recorded for us, had
sympathisers — but they represented a small minority of
their order.^ Most of the prophets were nationalist, and
clung to the faith in the Divine champion.
Another new feature is the combination of literature
1 Isa. X. II. " Amos iii. 2.
^ Amos vii. 14; Hosea ix. 7, 8.
EIGHTH CENTURY PROPHETS 125
and prophecy ; the utterances of the new prophets were
committed to writing either by themselves or their
disciples.
This movement first made itself felt in the Northern
Kingdom in the reign of Jeroboam 11. ; Amos, a herds-
man, or more probably a grazier, of Tekoa in Judah,
appeared at the royal sanctuary at Bethel, and made
a violent attack upon the king, and announced the
coming captivity of the people. Driven from thence,
he continued to denounce the social, moral, and religious
corruption of the times. His efforts were seconded
and continued by Hosea, who had suffered in his own.
family from the prevalent immorality.
The Fall of Samaria. — It was under such conditions
that the Northern Kingdom was called upon to enter on
its death-struggle with Assyria. Up to a certain point,
the Assyrian advance had crippled Damascus, and left
Jeroboam II. free to restore Israel to something of its
ancient power. But the swelling tide would inevitably
sweep onward and swallow up Israel. Submission as
a loyal and faithful tributary might have enabled it to
survive ; this pohcy was tried, but not persisted in.
The dynasty of Jehu perished with Jeroboam's son
and successor, Zachariah ; and after a second revolution
and a bloody civil war a certain Menahem established
himself on the throne, and purchased the support of
Assyria by a heavy tribute, mentioned both in Kings and
in the Assyrian inscriptions. We gather from the details
126 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
in the Old Testament that there were at this time 60,000
men of means — /.<?., probably landowners, in Israel.
Menahem's son, Pekahiah, was murdered after a short
reign by Pekah, apparently a Gileadite. The new king
joined with Rezin of Damascus in revolting against
Assyria, and in an unsuccessful attempt to make Judah
join their confederacy.^ The revolt was speedily sup-
pressed by Tiglath-Pileser, who took Damascus, and
carried off captive the population of Gilead and Galilee.
Pekah was murdered, and the last king of Israel, Hoshea
ben Elah, installed as a tributary of Assyria.
But at this point Egypt reappeared upon the scene.
During the greater part of the period of the monarchy
Egypt had been weakened by internal troubles; now,
however, a new dynasty ^ had arisen, and, having estab-
lished its power at home, began to interfere in the affairs
of Western Asia. The unfortunate Hoshea, tempted by
the prospect of Egyptian help, revolted against Assyria ;
no help came, and he was deposed and imprisoned. His
capital, Samaria, endured a three years' siege before it
surrendered.
With the fall of Samaria, the Northern Kingdom
came to an end. The bulk of the people were transported
to various districts of Assyria, and were lost in the heathen
population. On the other hand, immigrants from
distant regions were settled in Northern Israel, hence-
^ Cf. below, p. 129.
2 Twenty-fifth (Ethiopian).
EIGHTH CENTURY PROPHETS 127
forward known as Samaria. The new-comers eventually
amalgamated with the remnant of the Israelites left be-
hind in the land ; this hybrid race adopted a corrupt
form of the worship of Yahweh, and ultimately became
the people and sect of the Samaritans.
There is evidence which seems to show^ that the terri-
tory, or a portion of it, was again organised as a state
tributary to Assyria after these events.
Isaiah and Micah. — The social and religious condition
of Judah was not materially different from that of Israel ;
and prophets appeared in Judah with substantially the
same message as that of Amos and Hosea. Two names
have come down to us, Isaiah and Micah. Micah is
chiefly known by the fragments of his teaching pre-
served in the book which bears his name ; but we have
something like a biography of Isaiah. He was called
to the prophetic office as a young man, about the time
of the death of Uzziah, 739 B.C., and continued his
ministry for some forty years or more, till after the in-
vasion of Sennacherib, in 701 B.C. While Micah repre-
sented the country districts, Isaiah lived and taught in
Jerusalem, in close relations with the court, and the
Temple and its priesthood. He was a rharried man with
a family, but he was so absorbed in his mission that he
labelled his children with names — " The spoil speedeth,
he prey hasteth," and " The remnant shall return " ^ —
that summed up two leading features of his early
^ Maher-Shalal-hash-baz, Shear -Jashub.
128 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
teaching, the imminence of a disastrous invasion, and
the ultimate salvation of a remnant.
As Elisha had guided with his counsels the earlier
kings of the house of Jehu, so Isaiah sought to direct
the policy of Ahaz and Hezekiah, but with less success.
The later prophet's demands were more exacting, and less
in accordance with what seemed the obvious interests of his
country. The immediate effect of the first years of his
ministry was chiefly confined to a small circle of disciples;^
and it was only towards the end of his career that he
exercised a decisive influence on the fortunes of Judah.-
Isaiah possessed many and varied gifts ; he was a man
of affairs, a statesman, and a patriot ; he was an eloquent
speaker, and one of the world's greatest poets ; he had
a large share in bringing about important and indispens-
able reforms in the ecclesiastical system of Judah.^ He
was equally distinguished as a man of profound spiritual
experience and a theological thinker ; the Divine message
with which he was inspired marks a distinct step in the
development of pure, ethical monotheism.
The Deliverance from Sennacherib. — In considering
the fortunes of Judah, the sphere of Isaiah's work, we
have to retrace our steps somewhat. We have already
brought the history of the Southern Kingdom to the
reign of Uzziah.* In his later years Uzziah was afflicted
with leprosy, and the government was carried on by his
^ Isaiah viii.-xvi. i8. "^ Cf. below, p. 131.
3 Cf. below, p. 132. ^ Cf. p. 122.
EIGHTH CENTURY PROPHETS 129
son Jothara, who succeeded him. The ecclesiastical
policy of these two rulers was in the main favourable to
the higher interests of the national faith. But the next
king, Ahaz, was more lax in his religious views and
practices ; " he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel."^
His refusal to join in the confederacy against Assyria ^
brought upon Judah a devastating invasion and an un-
successful siege of the capital. It was probably in
connection with this siege that Ahaz "made his son to
pass through the fire " — i.e. offered him as a sacrifice to
Yahweh, as the king of Moab on a similar occasion offered
his son to Chemosh.^ The siege was raised, and the
Assyrian campaign against Israel and Damascus relieved
Judah of all further anxiety. Ahaz, as the tributary of
Assyria — a connection against which Isaiah protested
in vain — attended the court of the Assyrian king at
Damascus; and subsequently made various changes in
the equipment of the Temple at Jerusalem which were
probably distasteful to the advocates of pure worship.
During the closing period of the reign of Ahaz, Judah
was the spectator of the last agony of Samaria,^ without
making any attempt to help.^ This attitude may have
been partly due to the persistent hostility of the new
prophet to the government of Israel.
1 II. Kings xvi. 3. ^ qj^ above, p. 126. ' II. Kings iii. 27.
* The chronological data at this point are very difficult to co-
ordinate ; see " Century Bible," Kings ^ p. 385. Here, as elsewhere,
the dates for this period are taken from p. $1 of that volume.
^ As far as our information goes.
I
I30 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
The position of the next king of Judah, Hezekiah,
was extremely difficult ; his realm was tributary to Assyria,
and that empire claimed suzerainty over the whole of
Palestine. But Egypt, a near neighbour, and of late
years again a formidable power, was eager to regain its
old possessions in Asia ; its diplomacy constantly sought
to make trouble for Assyria by stirring up its subjects
to revolt, and at any moment an Egyptian army might
appear upon the scene. Moreover, the Assyrian empire
was become unwieldy through the multiplication of
subject states, always ready to revolt. The political
equilibrium was very unstable, and called for more states-
manship than Hezekiah possessed.
At first things went well; Hezekiah remained loyal
to Assyria, and it was probably the advance southwards
of the Assyrian king, Sargon, and his victory over an
Egyptian army in Philistine territory, that enabled Heze-
kiah to obtain advantage over the Philistines.
But when the Assyrian army had departed, and Sargon
was occupied by troubles at home, the south Palestinian
states, instigated by Egypt, again became restless. At
the same time Babylon, the most important tributary of
Assyria, was in revolt, and its king, Merodach-Baladan,
sent ambassadors to Hezekiah, and doubtless also to his
neighbours, with the obvious intention of forming a con-
federacy against Sargon.^ The cordial reception given
^ This incident is misplaced in Kings and the dependent accounts
in Isaiah and Chronicles.
EIGHTH CENTURY PROPHETS 131
to this embassy lends support to the charge made by
an Assyrian inscription against Judah of joining Edom,
Moab, and Philistia in offering to transfer their allegiance
from Assyria to Egypt. But the movement was speedily
quelled by an Assyrian expedition, and Hezekiah sub-
mitted in time to avoid any serious penalty.
From this time onwards Isaiah and the prophets of his
party, and so later on Jeremiah and Ezekiel, oppose any
alliance with Egypt.
When, in b.c. 705, Sargon was succeeded by Senna-
cherib, there was a general revolt of the Palestinian peoples
against Assyria. Sennacherib was not able to attend to
Palestine till B.C. 701 ; then he conducted a successful
series of operations till he reached Philistia, where he de-
feated an Egyptian army at Eltekeh. Hezekiah, as usual,
submitted when the Assyrians entered Judah. But not
content with levying a heavy fine, Sennacherib demanded
the surrender of Jerusalem. Encouraged by Isaiah, the
Jewish king ventured to refuse, and his faith was rewarded
by a signal deliverance. An unexpected calamity, also
mentioned by the Greek historian Herodotus, compelled
Sennacherib to beat a hasty retreat, and' Jerusalem was
saved.^
^ According to Herodotus, the Assyrian bow-strings were de-
stroyed by mice, a statement understood by some as a figure for a
pestilence. According to 11. Kings xix. 7, Sennacherib's hasty
retreat was due to bad news from home. The silence of the
Assyrian annals as to this disaster is no argument against its
-historicity.
132 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
Although the capital escaped, the country had been
laid waste ; Sennacherib tells us that he captured forty-
six walled towns, and carried away more than two hundred
thousand captives.
The part played by Isaiah in this crisis gave him a
predominating influence in the royal counsels, and Heze-
kiah reformed the public worship at the Temple and else-
where according to the principles advocated by the
prophet and his adherents.^ Amongst other reforms,
the king destroyed an image, possibly of Yahweh, in
the shape of a copper serpent, reputed to have been
made by Moses, and hitherto kept in the Temple as
an object for worship.
^ These reforms are placed by Khigs, &c., earlier in the reign,
probably owing to a very simple misunderstanding of the original
sources.
CHAPTER XIII
THE REFORMS OF JOSIAH
c. B.C.
Manasseh 692
Amon 638
Josiah 637
Jehoahaz 607
II. Kings xxi.-xxiii.
Extra-Biblical Sources of Informatio?j.
Inscriptions of Esarhaddon and Asshurbanipal, kings of
Assyria ; Herodotus, ii. 159.
The Reaction under Manasseh. — The reforms of Hezekiah
rested on royal authority rather than on popular sympathy
and conviction. Under his son Manasseh the party
opposed to Isaiah — a party which no doubt regarded itself
as conservative and orthodox — regained power, and
promptly reversed the policy of Hezekiah by restoring
all the time-honoured superstitions. Moreover, the
tendency to eclecticism,^ which Israel shared with most
ancient peoples, received a fresh stimulus from Judah's
dependence on Assyria. During the earlier part of
Manasseh's reign the supremacy of Assyria in Western
Asia was not seriously challenged ; and Esarhaddon and
1 i.e. the combining of the worship and faith of different religions.
133
134 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
Asshurbanipal conducted successful campaigns against
Egypt, and made its rulers their vassals.
An inscription of Esarhaddon's tells us that he received
tribute from Manasseh. An almost inevitable conse-
quence of Assyrian suzerainty was the recognition of
Assyrian cults at Jerusalem. The Temple, as the royal
chapel, was the natural place in which to give effect to
the official deference to the claims of the dominant
power. Altars to the "host of heaven" — gods of the
sun and of the moon and the astral deities who were
conspicuous in the Assyrian Pantheon — were erected
in the courts of the Temple. Such an encroachment
upon the rights of Yahweh provoked fierce opposition ;
probably there were riots, or even an organised insur-
rection, which were suppressed by ruthless massacres.^
Apparently the religious policy of the court continued
mainly on the lines laid down by Manasseh through
the short reign of his successor Amon, and during the
minority of Josiah.
^ According to II. Chron. xxxiii. 11-13, Manasseh was at one
time a prisoner in Babylon (then subject to Assyria), which is
quite probable. But, as Dr. Skinner says {Kifigs, p. 406), " the
further statement that he repented and reversed the policy of his
earlier reign is harder to believe in face of the silence of Kings."
Kings also implies that Manasseh's eclectic policy prevailed till
Josiah's reforms. Perhaps Manasseh on his return to Jerusalem
made some concessions, without altering the general character of
his policy. He may have removed the obnoxious altars from the
Temple and placed them elsewhere.
THE REFORMS OF JOSIAH 135
The Reforms of Josiah. — Josiah came to the throne at
the age of eight years ; it is not improbable that during
his minority the government was still in the hands of
the anti-prophetic party/ and that, as often happens, the
young sovereign only achieved his independence by
throwing himself into the arms of the opponents of the
Regency — i.e. in this case, by identifying himself with
the prophetic party.
It appears that in the eighteenth year of Josiah
repairs were in progress at the Temple, and the king's
secretary Shaphan went to make arrangements for paying
the work-people. While he was there the priest Hilkiah
said to him, " I have found the book of the law in the
Temple," and gave him the book in question. Shaphan
read it, and took it with him, and read it to the
king.
The book contained more or less of our Deuterono7ny^
more especially the legislative portions.^ This work
confirmed the social and religious teaching of Isaiah
and his supporters, and condemned the abuses that were
current in Judah. It promised blessings to those who
^ It is convenient to use the term "prophetic party" to denote
the adherents of Isaiah and Jeremiah and their teaching, and the
term "anti-prophetic party " to denote their opponents; but as a
matter of fact the professional prophets as a class belonged to what
we call the "anti-prophetic party."
^ The substance of Deut. xii.-xxvi., and probably xxvii., or
something corresponding to it ; but see on Deuteronomy in the
" Books of the Old Testament" in this series.
136 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
obeyed its ordinances, and pronounced curses upon
those who disobeyed.
As the king listened, he felt that he was hearing the
Divine sentence pronounced against his country, and he
rent his clothes. But lest this book should be without
authority, he sent an important deputation to a certain
prophetess Huldah to inquire of Yahweh concerning the
matter. Huldah entirely confirmed the teaching of the
book.
Then Josiah called a general assembly of the people
in the Temple, and read the book to them, and made
them enter into a solemn covenant with Yahweh to ob-
serve its commands. Forthwith he himself set about
making a clean sweep of all that was unworthy and
superstitious in the worship of the people. The cata-
logue shows how extremely slight and partial all previous
reformations must have been : for instance, the temples
which Solomon had built for foreign deities were still
standing on the Mount of Olives.
Now, however, the "high places," the numerous
sanctuaries which had become centres of superstitious
worship, were suppressed ; and the Temple of Jerusalem,
purged of similar corruptions, was henceforth to be the
only legitimate shrine of Yahweh.
Defeat and Death of Josiah. — If time and opportunity
had been given, it is possible that these reforms might
have proved a powerful influence for good on the life of
Judah ; but a great revolution was in progress in inter-
THE REFORMS OF JOSIAH 137
national politics which involved the speedy ruin of king
and people. During the reign of Josiah the Assyrian
empire was rapidly crumbling away; its strength was
shaken by a devastating invasion of hordes of Scythian
barbarians, and its supremacy was challenged by the
growing power of Media and Babylon. Josiah himself
ventured to extend his authority over portions of the
territory of the Northern Kingdom ; and naturally Egypt
sought to regain her dominion in Syria. The Egyptian
king, Necho, marched into Palestine on his way to the
Euphrates ; Josiah, perhaps influenced by the hostility of
the prophetic party towards Egypt, met him in battle,
and was defeated and slain.
CHAPTER XIV
THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAH
C. B.C.
C. B.C
Jehoahaz
. 607
Fall of Nineveh . . 607
Jehoiakim
. 607
Battle of Carchemish . 605
Nebuchadnezzar, king
of Babylon . . 604
Jehoiachin .
. 597
Zedekiah
• 597
Fall of Jerusalem
• 587
II. Kings xxiii. 31-xxv. 30, Jeremiah, Ezekiel
i.-xxiv., Lamentations.
The Egyptian Suzerainty. — On the death of Josiah,
his son Jehoahaz was made king ; but the Egyptians were
now, for the time, masters of Syria, and Jehoahaz, for
some unspecified reason, failed to obtain the favour of
Necho, who deposed him, and carried him a prisoner to
Egypt, where he died.
Necho placed his elder brother Eliakim on the throne
of Judah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. The
new king paid a heavy tribute to his suzerain. We are
told concerning Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim that they "did
evil in the sight of Yahweh," or, in other words, the
religious policy of Josiah was reversed, and the worship
of Yahweh was again adulterated by the corruptions of
heathen superstition.
138
THE LAST DAYS OF JUD AH 139
Probably Josiah had not carried the people with him ;
his reforms had been effected by a high-handed exercise
of royal authority, and his death was followed by a re-
action. Moreover, popular theology would see in his
defeat and death a Divine condemnation of his policy ;
and this sentiment would be reinforced by the influence
of the Egyptian suzerain ; Necho's nominee, Jehoiakim,
would be appointed on condition that he suppressed
the prophetic, anti- Egyptian party — a condition which
he loyally fulfilled to the best of his ability.
Jeremiali. — The main obstacle to the carrying out
of this policy was the prophet Jeremiah. The other
prophets of this period, Nahum, Zephaniah, and Habak-
kuk, are mere names to us; but we know more of
Jeremiah than of most of the characters of the Old
Testament history. He received his call to the prophetic
ministry when a mere youth, in the thirteenth year of
the reign of Josiah,^ c. B.C. 625. About that time the
Scythians were sweeping over Western Asia, and the
young prophet's soul was stirred to deliver a message
of judgment upon his people.
A few years later came the reforms of Josiah, which
may have been partly due to the preaching of Zepha-
niah and Jeremiah, but the reference of the question
of the value of Deuteronomy to the prophetess Huldah
shows that neither of these prophets was regarded
as the chief authority in such matters. Similarly the
1 Jer. i. 2, 6.
T40 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
policy which led to Josiah's ill-fated contest with Necho
was probably more the result of other influences than
of any encouragement the king may have received
from Jeremiah. The religious reaction which ensued
threw the prophet permanently into opposition to the
government. Thus for the next twenty years Jeremiah
waged an incessant war against the religious, social, and
moral corruption of Judah in opposition alike to king,
princes, priests, prophets, and people. The old prophetic
party seems to have been disabled from any open action.
Jeremiah had indeed influential friends who were able to
afford him a measure of personal protection ; as far as
public support was concerned, he could always rely on
his disciple Baruch; otherwise he stood almost alone.
He was hopelessly at variance with national feeling, for
his sense of the religious and political needs of Judah
made him an avowed enemy of Egypt and partisan of
Babylon at a time when Jewish patriots looked to
Pharaoh as their chief ally in a last desperate struggle for
independence against Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah saw
no prospect of salvation for Judah, and his preaching
became more and more gloomy and threatening, a
message of imminent doom. He was naturally con-
fronted with violent opposition ; he was beaten and im-
prisoned, and his life was frequently endangered. The
only wonder is that he survived so long ; doubtless he
owed much to his impressive personality and to the awe
with which religious enthusiasm is regarded in the East.
THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAH 141
Amid his heavy trials he was denied the comfort of
domestic affection ; he was divinely forbidden to marry. ^
In spite of everything he persevered with heroic con-
stancy, the outcome of a life-long spiritual agony, in
which his faith was maintained by frequent wrestling with
God. His career is summed up thus : ^ " Behold, I have
made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar,
and brazen walls, against the whole land, against the
king of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the
priests thereof, and against the people of the land. And
they shall fight against thee ; but they shall not prevail
against thee. For I am with thee, saith Yahweh, to
deliver thee."
The Babylonian Suzerainty. — We shall have occasion
to refer to the activity of Jeremiah, in tracing the subse-
quent history, but for the present we must recur to the
course of international politics after the death of Josiah.
For a while the Egyptians remained masters of Syria ;
but about this time the allied Medes and Babylonians
took Nineveh ; the Assyrian empire utterly collapsed and
finally disappeared, and its place as the dominant power
of Western Asia was taken by Babylon. Pharaoh-Necho
ventured to challenge this new supremacy, but he suffered
a severe defeat at Carchemish on the Euphrates at the
hands of the Babylonian crown-prince, Nebuchadnezzar,
and was compelled to resign his Asiatic conquests and
retire into Egypt. Thus the various states of Syria, in-
^ Jer. xvi. 2. ^ Jer. i. 18, 19.
142 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
eluding Judah, became dependent upon Babylon, though,
as of old, Egypt still cherished hopes of regaining her
ancient possessions, and was always ready to encourage
disaffection amongst the tributaries of her successful rival.
Jehoiakim. — Nebuchadnezzar was recalled from the
pursuit of Pharaoh-Necho by the death of his father,
and the necessity of establishing his own authority at
Babylon ; Syria was left to itself for a time, but after a
while Nebuchadnezzar appeared upon the scene, and
Jehoiakim submitted to him. It argues some adroitness
on the part of the Jewish king that, having been the
nominee of Pharaoh, he succeeded in getting his title
confirmed by Nebuchadnezzar. Indeed, all our infor-
mation indicates that Jehoiakim possessed considerable
ability and force of character.
The change of suzerains did not seriously affect the
religious policy of the Jewish government, and indeed,
in spite of formal submission to Babylon, the sympathies
of Jehoiakim and his ministers were wholly with Egypt.
Nebuchadnezzar's omission to place the anti- Egyptian,
prophetic party in power by replacing Jehoiakim by a
nominee of his own, devoted to the interests of
Babylon, was a serious oversight, which caused him
much trouble, and rendered the fall of the Jewish
kingdom inevitable. Apparently the Babylonian king
had not sufficient leisure to make himself fully acquainted
with the domestic politics of a petty Syrian State.
Probably Jehoiakim, who had managed to derive ad-
THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAH 143
vantages from both Egypt and Babylon, attempted some
sort of compromise between the prophetic and anti-
prophetic parties. At any rate Josiah's reformation still
exercised a certain influence in an unsatisfactory fashion.
That reformation had enhanced the prestige of the
Temple by making it the only legitimate place of
worship ; though Jehoiakim did not maintain its exclu-
sive rights, he would naturally be willing to promote
the supreme importance of a sanctuary which was his
royal chapel, under his personal control. Hitherto the
Temple had enjoyed special Divine protection; when
all the other great Israelite sanctuaries had suffered
from the devastating invasions of the Assyrians, it
alone had escaped. The people had come to regard it
as the national palladium; Yahweh must protect His
chosen dwelUng-place, and therefore Jerusalem w^as safe.
Against this doctrine Jeremiah protested; at the be-
ginning of Jehoiakim's reign he betook himself to the
Temple courts, probably on a feast-day, and announced
that if Judah did not repent, the Temple would be laid
in ruins like the ancient sanctuary of Shiloh. He was
met by an outburst of popular indignation, and only
owed his hfe to the protection of powerful friends.
Another prophet, Urijah ben Shemaiah, who supported
Jeremiah, was less fortunate ; he fled to Egypt, but the
Egyptian authorities gave him up to Jehoiakim, and he
was put to death. 1
1 Jer. vii. 1-15, xxvi.
144 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
Some three or four years later ^ Jeremiah made
another protest : from some cause or other he could not
himself appear in the Temple, but he dictated to Baruch
the various prophecies he had uttered against Israel,
Judah, and other nations ; and by his directions Baruch
read the contents of this document or "roll" to the
people in the Temple. The matter came to the ears of
Jehoiakim's ministers ; they sent for Baruch, made him
read them the roll, and were much disturbed by the
threats it contained. Having bidden Jeremiah and
Baruch hide themselves, they reported the matter to the
king, perhaps hoping that this roll might affect him as
the law-book found in the Temple had moved Josiah.
Jehoiakim had the roll read to him, but he listened with
contemptuous indifference ; and cut the roll in pieces
and burnt it. Then he ordered the arrest of Jeremiah
and Baruch, " but Yahweh hid them."
The prophet occupied his enforced seclusion by dic-
tating to his disciple a new edition of his prophecies,
with suitable additions.
Jeremiah's complaints against Jehoiakim were not
merely on the score of religious practices. " Thine eyes
and thine heart," he declares, " are wholly given up to
thy covetousness, and the shedding of innocent blood,
and to oppression and violence." One particular form
of oppression is singled out for special censure. The
right of the corvee^ of exacting forced labour without
^ Jer. xxxvi.
THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAH 145
wages, has always been exercised by Eastern rulers, and
was freely used by Solomon; it appears that, in spite
of the troubles of the times, Jehoiakim set about build-
ing himself a magnificent palace, and Jeremiah says
of him : " Woe unto him that buildeth his house by
unrighteousness, and his chambers by injustice; that
useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth
him not his hire." ^
Possibly the same grasping spirit led Jehoiakim to
grudge the payment of tribute to his suzerain ; and at
some time when Nebuchadnezzar was occupied else-
where, and there seemed a prospect of help from
Egypt, the Jewish king rebelled. Rebellion, in its
initial stage, was simple, easy, and attractive; it con-
sisted in refraining from sending the tribute-money to
Babylon. In this case, Jehoiakim's calculations were
correct up to a certain point ; the Babylonian king was
too busy to attend to the matter in person. The only
Chaldean forces he could spare to act against Judah
were detachments from neighbouring garrisons. But he
also let loose upon the rebel city such of its neigh-
bours as could be attracted by the prospect of plunder,
or the desire of standing well with Babylon — bands
of Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites. Such enemies
could not take Jerusalem ; but they harassed the Jews^
wore out their strength ; exhausted their resources, and
prevented the revolt from spreading.
^ Jer. xxii. 13-17.
146 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
Before Nebuchadnezzar was able to march against
Judah with a regular army, Jehoiakim died.
The Captivity of Jehoiachin, B.C. 597. — Thus the
penalty of Jehoiakim's rebellion fell upon his son and
successor Jehoiachin, a youth of eighteen. Soon after
his accession a Babylonian army appeared, and formed
the siege of Jerusalem ; somewhat later Nebuchadnezzar
arrived, and took over the command. Whereupon
Jehoiachin surrendered. The Babylonian king took
drastic measures to secure himself against another
revolt. He carried away captive to Babylon the king,
his chief officers, and the elite of the population : and
over the remnant he set up as king another son of
Josiah, Jehoiachin's uncle, Mattaniah, whose name he
changed to Zedekiah.
Zedekiah was amiable, but feeble ; his personal sym-
pathies were with Jeremiah and the prophetic party,
and he desired to keep faith with his suzerain ; but he
was overborne by his officials and nobles, and by the
impracticable nationalism of the people. Nebuchad-
nezzar had not been wisely advised in his selection of
captives to be taken to Babylon; by taking the best
of the leading men, he had removed the influential
members of the prophetic party, who advocated loyalty.
At the same time, he had left behind some of the
leaders of the Egyptian, anti-prophetic party, which
was always looking for an opportunity to rebel.
So far as the religious policy of Jehoiakim was altered,
THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAH 147
it was changed for the worse. In these last desperate
days, fanaticism ran riot. For the time being, the purer
faith in Yahweh represented by Jeremiah was discredited
by the tragic end of its champion Josiah ; and the re-
peated calamities of the nation shook men's faith in
the national God. Therefore some revived the ancient
worship of Baal, some sought the " Queen of Heaven "
or the Sun or other Babylonian deities, and some wor-
shipped forms of creeping things and abominable beasts
like the Egyptians. The Temple itself was the head-
quarters alike of the worship of Yahweh and these other
cults. ^
A sober secular policy was hardly likely to issue from
this confused excitement. After a few years a con-
spiracy against Babylon was formed amongst a number
of Syrian states — Judah, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre
and Zidon. Jeremiah's protests were overborne by the
assertions of Hananiah and other prophets that Yahweh
would prosper the enterprise. ^ However, the conspiracy
came to nothing at the time. Probably the Babylonian
government got wind of the matter, and it collapsed
before the threat of a Chaldean invasion. Zedekiah
seems to have been summoned to Babylon to give an
account of himself, and to have escaped with a warning.^
Later on, however, Judah openly rebelled, buoyed up
by the hope of support from Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar
^ Ezekiel viii. " Jer. xxvii. f.
3 Jer. li. 59.
148 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
marched into Palestine, and, through the influence of
fear, the prophetic party obtained the upper hand for the
moment ; a new reformation was set on foot, and, as an
earnest of repentance, slaves of Hebrew birth who had
served for six years were set free in accordance with the
Deuteronomic law,^ and their freedom was guaranteed
by a . solemn covenant. At this juncture an Egyptian
army advanced into Palestine; and Nebuchadnezzar
raised the siege of Jerusalem in order that he might deal
with these new enemies. Forthwith the Egyptian party
regained control ; the covenant was thrown to the winds ;
the unfortunate slaves were dragged back to their old
servitude. Jeremiah, after protesting in vain against
this iniquity, attempted to leave the city, and betake
himself to his native Anathoth ; but he was arrested at
the gate, beaten, and thrown into prison on a charge of
deserting to the Chaldeans. The princes, who practically
constituted the government, were anxious to do away with
him ; and at one time left him to starve or be suffocated
in the deep mud at the bottom of a disused cistern. But
the king ventured to have him pulled up and confined
in the court of the guard.
Meantime Nebuchadnezzar had driven the Egyptians
out of Palestine, and the Chaldeans returned and re-
formed the siege of Jerusalem. The Jews offered a
desperate resistance, and kept the besiegers at bay for a
year and a half. Zedekiah more than once sent for the
^ Deut. XV. 12-18 ; Exod. xxi. 1-6.
THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAH 149
imprisoned prophet and secretly consulted him. Jeremiah
advised the king to surrender; but Zedekiah had not
courage to take this decisive step.
During this period Jeremiah bought certain land at
Anathoth as a token of the ultimate restoration of the
Jews to their own country ; just as when Hannibal
encamped near Rome, the land he occupied was sold by
auction at its full value.
But Nebuchadnezzar was more fortunate than Han-
nibal ; the supply of food in the city became exhausted,
and a breach was made in the walls ; Zedekiah, with a
small following, broke through the lines of the besiegers,
but was pursued and taken. Later on he was brought
before Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, his two sons were
slain in his presence, his eyes were put out, and he was
carried in chains to Babylon.
We gather from Lamentations that Jerusalem suffered
all the horrors attendant on the sack of a captured city.
Then about a month later, Nebuzaradan, the captain of
Nebuchadnezzar's bodyguard, was sent to superintend
the systematic destruction of the city ; the Temple and
all the more important buildings were destroyed, the
walls were broken down ; what was left of the Temple
treasures, and most of the remaining population, were
removed to Babylon : " So Judah was carried away
captive out of his land." ^ Thus ended the surviving
Israelite monarchy.
^ II. Kings XXV, 21,
CHAPTER XV
THE CAPTIVITY
C. B.C.
Captivity of Jehoiachin 597
Ezekiel 593-571
Fall of Jerusalem 586
Evil-Merodach, king of Babylon 561
Nergal-Sharezer king of Babylon 559
Cyrus, king of Persia 558
Nabonidus, king of Babylon 555
Cyrus conquers the Modes 550
Cyrus conquers Lydia 546
Publication of Isaiah xl.-lv.
"Second Isaiah," about this time.
Cyrus takes Babylon 539
Return of the Jews 538
Jeremiah xl.-xliv., Ezekiel, Isaiah xl.-lv.
II. Kings xxv. 23-28.
Extra-Biblical Authorities.
Inscriptions of the last Babylonian kings, and of Cyrus ;
Herodotus.
The Captivity. — The Captivity really began more than
ten years before the fall of Jerusalem with the deporta-
tion of Jehoiachin and his companions. These were
more numerous and of a higher type than the exiles who
followed them later on. Jeremiah ^ compares the captives
who were carried away with Jehoiachin to " good figs,
very good," while those left behind at Jerusalem were
^ Jar. xxiv.
150
THE CAPTIVITY 151
*'bad, very bad, that cannot be eaten they are so bad."
Thus we may say that even before the fall of the Jewish
monarchy, the centre of gravity of Judaism was trans-
ferred to Babylonia.
The exiles were for 'the most part settled together in
small communities enjoying considerable rights of local
self-government, and were provided with land and other
facilities for earning a livelihood. Thus Jeremiah could
exhort them, " Build ye houses, and dwell in them ; and
plant gardens and eat the fruit of them ; marry and bring
up families ; and let your sons and daughters marry." ^
Naturally, while the kingdom of Judah still existed
these exiles cherished hopes of a speedy return. Recent
years had seen a series of startling changes in the inter-
national system of the Israelite world, notably the sudden
collapse of the old-established power of Assyria, and the
temporary revival of the Egyptian dominion in Western
Asia. Another turn of the wheel, and Babylon might
fall, and a new conqueror might let the exiles go home.
In Babylonia, as in Judah, popular preachers encouraged
these hopes ; and the exiles declared " Yahweh hath
raised us up prophets in Babylon." ^ But the expecta-
tion of deliverance was premature ; Ezekiel, by word of
mouth, and Jeremiah, by letter, testified against these
men, who prophesied smooth things. The hour of
Israel's redemption had not yet come, for "seventy
years," two generations, the Exile would continue.
^ Jer. xxix. 5, 6. 2 jg^.^ ^xix. 15.
152 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
The fall of Jerusalem and the final captivity crushed
these delusive hopes.
II There was no triumphant restoration of Jehoiachin
and his companions ; but instead there appeared upon
the scene another miserable train of Jewish captives,
with gruesome tales of the sack of the city, and the
desecration and destruction of the Temple. The
prophets who promised an immediate deliverance were
discredited, while Jeremiah and Ezekiel were vindicated.
After a time the new-comers also settled down to a
fairly tolerable mode of existence. Years passed on and
brought no striking changes ; the new conditions gradu-
ally became familiar ; regrets for the past and hopes for
the future were alike tempered by the necessary routine
of everyday life. In time most of the original exiles
died, and a generation grew up that had known no other
home but Babylonia.
Under similar circumstances the Ten Tribes had lost
their nationality and their religion, and become merged
in the surrounding heathenism.
Ezekiel. — But the hundred and thirty years since the
fall of Samaria had made revealed religion a power in
Judah ; the work of Isaiah and the prophets of the eighth
century and their successors had borne much fruit.
Although a majority might be indifferent or hostile, there
was an elect remnant of devout souls who held with
intelligent conviction to the teaching of the inspired
prophets. Moreover, believers could now sustain their
THE CAPTIVITY 153
faith by the study of sacred writings ; in the records of
the preaching of Isaiah and his contemporaries, in the
collections of early laws and of narratives concerning the
history, and in the first edition of Deuteronomy, they
had the beginnings of a Bible. Such documents gave
a permanent concrete form to religious faith and practice,
they afforded some protection against corruption, and
could even survive the ruin of the state and the suppres-
sion of public worship. Thus when the Jews went into
exile, they carried with them an embodiment of their
ancient religion, of far more value than altars or golden
candlesticks, tabernacle or ark.
These influences from the past were reinforced by the
living witness of great prophets, whose interpretation of
history enabled the faith in Yahweh to survive the political
ruin of Judah. Usually an ancient tribal deity was organi-
cally connected with his people and their land; if the
people were but torn away from their ancient home and
scattered in strange lands, the deity might disappear, or
at any rate the people might lose all faith in him, or
merely regard him as an inferior being altogether sub-
ordinate to the great gods of conquering nations. But
the inspired prophets had made the coming ruin of Israel
and Judah an article of faith on the part of true believers
in Yahweh ; He was not a petty deity struggling with and
for His people against the overwhelming power of the
gods of Assyria and Babylon ; He Himself controlled
these mighty empires, and used them as the instruments
154 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
by which He disciplined Israel. Therefore when the
final catastrophe came it was a proof of His might and
of the genuine inspiration of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. It
set the seal of Divine approval upon their messages.
Thus, when they announced a coming restoration, the
exiles were encouraged to hold together and wait for the
fulfilment of the promise.
It was largely through the devoted ministry of Ezekiel
that a community of true believers — a Jewish Church —
continued to exist in Babylonia. He was a man of wide
and varied experience, a member of the Temple priest-
hood ; he had grown up to early manhood at Jerusalem
under the influence of Jeremiah ; he had been carried
away to Babylonia with Jehoiachin, and there probably
had married. There, too, he was called to be prophet,
and charged with the same message of doom that was
committed to Jeremiah. Later on, his own personal grief
was mingled with his sorrow for his nation. His wife
died during the last days of the siege of Jerusalem, and
he was forbidden to mourn for her ; the impending catas-
trophe was too overwhelming to allow men to dwell on
private bereavement.
When this crisis was past, Ezekiel set himself anew to
the task of building up an elect and purified society fit to
take part in the restoration of Israel to its own land and
its ancient privileges. He was not merely the prophet
with a message for the nation ; he was also an assiduous
preacher and pastor, winning individuals as citizens of
THE CAPTIVITY 155
the near kingdom of God, and continually confirming
their faith and loyalty. He also was an ecclesiastic and
statesman; and in the last section of his book,^ after
the manner of Eastern seers, he mingles mystical visions
of an ideal future with practical suggestions as to the
plans for rebuilding of the Temple, and the organisation
of its ritual and its priesthood.
The Eemnant in Judah. — We must not, however,
forget that the Jews in Babylonia were not the whole of
Israel. 2 We can defer any special reference to the hybrid
population in Samaria; they do not seem to have exer-
cised any great influence on affairs at the beginning of
the Exile. But a word must be said about the remnant,
mostly of the poorer classes, left behind in Judah. Their
fortunes were closely bound up with those of Jeremiah.
After the sack of the city the prophet was taken with
other captives to Ramah,^ and was there released and
allowed to go where he pleased. Meanwhile Chaldean
authorities had organised Judah as a province under a
Jewish governor, Gedaliah, with his capital at Mizpah ;
and Jeremiah joined him. But as soon as the Chaldean
^ Ezekiel xl.-xlviii.
2 From this point the Old Testament practically ignores the Ten
Tribes, and speaks of Judah and Benjamin, and such remnants of other
tribes as adhered to them, as " Israel." It is convenient to adopt
this nomenclature, as it reminds us that for religious purposes the
ancient Israel was entirely represented by Judah. The people,
however, are usually spoken of as "Jews."
3 Jer. xl. I. According to another account, in xxxix. 14, he was
taken from his prison at Jerusalem and at once released.
156 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
army was gone, a certain Ishmael, of the Jewish royal
family, treacherously assassinated Gedaliah with his Jewish
followers, and the Chaldean officials at Mizpah and their
escort. Ishmael then fled to the king of Ammon with a
train of captives. He was pursued, however, by a Jewish
general, Johanan, and compelled to surrender his prisoners.
Johanan and his officers feared to remain in Palestine ;
the wrath of Nebuchadnezzar was not likely to discrimi-
nate between innocent and guilty. Accordingly the
Jewish remnant, in spite of the protests of Jeremiah,
fled into Egypt. Our last record of the prophet describes
a characteristic scene. Many of the Jews, more especi-
ally the women, attributed the ruin of Judah to the
abandonment of the worship of the Queen of Heaven,
the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. On their arrival in
Egypt, they resumed this cult and that of other heathen
gods. Jeremiah denounced them in a great public
assembly, and was met with open defiance. Thus he
ends^ as he began, a solitary figure, bearing his testi-
mony in the face of a hostile people, and uttering fierce
threats of coming doom.
How far these were fulfilled we cannot tell ; these
Jewish immigrants may have perished as he foretold.
Later on we find Jewish communities in Egypt ; ^ but it
^ As far as the Old Testament is concerned. According to one
legend, the scene we have been describing ended in the stoning to
death of Jeremiah ; according to others, he died in Babylonia or
Palestine.
^ e^. at Elephantine ; see the papyri recently discovered there.
THE CAPTIVITY 157
is not certain that they had any connection with Johanan's
followers.
As for Judah, probably in spite of this flight to Egypt,
and the repeated deportations to Babylonia, a remnant
gathered about their old homes; and throughout the Exile,
a feeble and impoverished community maintained itself
about Jerusalem and in the northern highlands of Judah.
The Second Isaiah. — For a time the Jews, whether in
Babylonia or elsewhere, acquiesced in the new order;
there was no immediate prospect of change. Some fell
away into heathenism, and were lost to Israel. Those
who remained loyal were the more earnest and spiritually
minded, so that the religion of Yahweh was increasingly
identified with Deuteronomy and with the teaching of
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Their doctrine of the
minor importance of ritual was illustrated and enforced
by the fact that the exiles maintained an intense religious
life without Temple or sacrifice. The devout energy which
could not find an outlet in the affairs of State or Temple
was largely devoted to literature. The records of ancient
folklore and tradition; of history, law, custom, and
ritual ; and of prophetic teaching, were carefully studied,
copied and re-copied, edited and supplemented. With
the hope of a restoration ever before their eyes, men were
anxious to preserve the knowledge of the old Israel so
that the new Israel might be constituted according to
time-honoured use and wont. Much that had hitherto
been matter of oral tradition and current habit would
158 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
now be committed to writing, e.g. the arrangements and
rites of the Temple.
But the Exile also had an original literature of its
own, some of which has survived. For the purposes of
the general history, the most important document is
Isaiah xl.-lv., often spoken of as the "Second Isaiah." ^
This work expresses the hopes of faithful Jews towards
the close of the Exile. To understand these we must
revert for a moment to the international situation
created by the fall of Assyria.^ That event was the
work of a confederacy, and no one of the confederates
succeeded to the unquestioned supremacy over Western
Asia enjoyed for long periods by Assyria. For many years
the authority of Babylon was sustained by the personal
ability of Nebuchadnezzar ; but to the east his allies
the Medes formed a powerful state, and the strength of
Egypt was still unbroken. In Asia Minor an important
kingdom of Lydia had arisen under Croesus. On the
death of Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon declined rapidly ; but
its overthrow was not due to Egypt, Media, or Lydia.
There arose at this time one of those great person-
ahties who change the course of history — Cyrus, at
first a petty king of Anzan and Persia.^ From this
1 Cf. the volume in this series on the "Books of the Old
Testament."
2 Cf. p. 141.
3 The early history of Cyrus is matter of great controversy ;
possibly Persia was not part of his original dominions, but one of
his acquisitions.
THE CAPTIVITY 159
subordinate position, he pursued his victorious career
till he became master of Western Asia. His success
was not wholly due to force. He had a gift of winning
affection and rousing enthusiasm ; his character and his
policy appealed to nationalities and classes oppressed
by the monarchs with whom he contended, so that men
hailed him as a deliverer. Thus in quick succession he
added Media and Lydia to his dominions.
Like other subject peoples, the Jews watched with
kindling hopes the career of this great conqueror. As
empire after empire fell before him, men felt that surely
this was a day of Yahweh. What, then, would the God
of Israel do for His people ? As of old, Yahweh made
known His purpose by a prophet, whose name has been
forgotten, but whose teaching is recorded in Isaiah xl.-
Iv. This unknown seer hailed Cyrus as the Shepherd
of Yahweh, the divinely appointed king, the Anointed ^
of Yahweh, by Whose grace he ruled and conquered.
He would soon add the Chaldean empire to his
conquests ; and then he would send the Jews back to
Palestine, to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple ; a new
era of peace and righteousness and prosperity would
begin for Israel.
^ Mdshiak, our *' Messiah " ; Isa. xliv. 28, xlv. I.
CHAPTER XVI
THE RESTORATION!
C. B.C.
Cyrus takes Babylon 539
Return of the Jews 538
Cambyses, king of Persia 529
Persian Conquest of Egypt 525
Darius I. (Hystaspes) S2X
Haggai and Zechariah
The Rebuilding of the Temple .... 516-520
Ezra i.-vi., Haggai and Zechariah
Extra-Biblical Authorities.
Josephus, Herodotus
The Eetum. — At last Cyrus turned his victorious
arms against the Chaldeans ; he defeated the forces
which opposed him in the open field ; Babylon surren-
dered without resistance, and thus the last great empire
of Western Asia became part of his dominions, and
henceforth the Persian monarchs included amongst
their other titles that of " King of Babylon." It was
the policy of Cyrus to extend a sympathetic toleration to
the religions of subject peoples, and in pursuance of
that policy a large number of the Jewish exiles were
allowed to return to Judah under the leadership of the
^ See Appendix I.
160
THE RESTORATION i6i
Davidic prince, Zerubbabel,^ a grandson of Jehoiachin,
and the priest Joshua. They were to settle in Judah,
and to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple, and they
carried with them the sacred vessels which Nebuchad-
nezzar had taken away.
The Samaritans. — When Zerubbabel and Joshua
arrived in Judah, they found that they had a difficult
task before them. They may have met with some
measure of welcome and assistance from the feeble
remnant of Jews which still maintained a precarious
existence in the highlands of Judah. But the neigh-
bouring tribes had looked upon themselves as the heirs
to the derelict inheritance of Israel ; if Jerusalem again
became a powerful and prosperous city and a strong
fortress, it might prove to be the nucleus of a new Jewish
state, that would successfully assert its claims to the
ancient dominion of Israel. Such claims would be
most inconvenient : the Edomites had occupied the
south of Judah ; eastern Palestine was in the hands of
Ammonites, Moabites, and Arabians ; while the territory
of the old tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh was occupied
by the hybrid population who came to be called Samari-
tans. These last presented a special difficulty ; they were
1 In Ezra i. 8, ii, v. 14, 16, we read of a Sheshbazzar who took
a leading part in the Return. He has sometimes been identified
with Zerubbabel, and sometimes supposed to have been a Persian
official or a Jewish prince associated with Zerubbabel in this
mission. In any case the secular headship of the restored com-
munity was soon entrusted to Zerubbabel.
L
i62 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
partly of Israelite blood, and had adopted the worship of
Yahweh. If any prestige or privilege was to be gained by
being the representatives of ancient Israel, the Samaritans
felt that it ought to belong to them, or at any rate that
they should obtain the lion's share. Probably the Jewish
remnant left in the land had become dependent on these
Northern kinsfolk. On the other hand, the exiles who
had returned from Babylon were determined to reserve.the
religious and secular rights of Israel exclusively to them-
selves and their fellow Jews. Quite apart from selfish
motives, there were very valid reasons for such a policy.
At this time the Samaritans worshipped Yahweh after
the corrupt fashion of the unreformed religion of ancient
times ; they still tolerated the abuses denounced by Amos,
Hosea, and Isaiah. Their service to the God of Israel
was tainted by heathen superstitions, and combined with
the worship of foreign gods ; it fell far short of the
ethical and spiritual standard reached by the Babylonian
Jews, who had remained loyal to the faith of their
fathers.
It was clear that the new-comers would not be long
in Judah before they had trouble with their neighbours.
The authority of the Persian government enabled the
Jews to make good their footing at Jerusalem, to provide
themselves with dwellings, to arrange for the cultivation
of the land, to organise the restored community, and to
provide for the revival of the national worship by
erecting an altar to Yahweh. But after the settlement
THE RESTORATION 163
was established, it was left very much to itself, and had
to rely upon its limited resources to hold its own. In
the great empires of the ancient East, in the absence
of railways and telegraphs, the central government often
had little control over distant provinces, and was mostly
satisfied if the revenues were paid punctually. Matters
were in the hands of local governors. In this case no
Persian official was specially responsible for the welfare
of the Jews.^ The neighbouring districts were for the
most part under native authorities, hostile to the returned
exiles, but more or less subordinate to representatives of
the Persian king.
In the year after the Return, the Jewish community
set about rebuilding the Temple. In the first instance,
the foundation was laid amidst great rejoicing ; but
here matters stopped for a time. For at this stage the
Samaritans demanded a share in the work, and, when
this was refused, they "weakened the hands of the
people of Judah and harassed them in their building."
Thus, partly by direct interference, partly by represen-
tations to the Persian authorities, they succeeded in
" frustrating the purpose " - of the Jews for nearly twenty
years.
The Rebuilding of the Temple : Haggai and Zechariah.
— The forces of nature were equally unkind, for the immi-
1 At any rate after Sheshbazzar was no longer on the scene;
cf. note on page 161.
2 Ezra iv. 4, 5.
i64 OLD TESTA]\IENT HISTORY
grants had to wrestle with a series of inclement seasons.
Their depression was deepened by the contrast between
their unhappy conditions and the exalted anticipations
with which they had returned to inaugurate the King-
dom of God. The glowing pictures of Isaiah xl.-lv.
seemed to mock their forlorn estate.
The Jews would find new cause for anxiety in the
death of their patron Cyrus, and the troublous times
of his successor Cambyses. Life became a dull routine,
wherein the present necessities were barely provided for
and no energy was left for any great enterprise.
From this lethargy the Jews were roused by the
excitement due to the revolutions which followed the
death of Cambyses, and by the establishment of a new
dynasty under Darius I. (Hystaspes). As at the time of
the fall of Nineveh, and again at the fall of Babylon,
a great political crisis seemed to have arisen. An un-
certain, restless spirit was abroad. Surely this also was
a day of Yahweh, when He would intervene on behalf
of His people. At Jerusalem two prophets stood forth,
Haggai and Zechariah, and in response to their appeals
and promises, Zerubbabel and Joshua resumed the
building of the Temple. The neighbouring tribes also
renewed their opposition, but an appeal to the Persian
government resulted in a decision in favour of the Jews,
and the Temple was completed.
At this point a veil falls upon the history for about
sixty years. Probably the immediate sequel of the re-
THE RESTORATION 165
building of the Temple was as disappointing as the years
following the Return. Haggai and Zechariah had made
large promises. They had at least suggested that Judah
should not be merely an insignificant province of the
Persian empire, but should become a powerful inde-
pendent state under Zerubbabel as king. It is often
supposed that Zerubbabel was led into conduct that
drew down upon him the wrath of the Persians, and
brought about his deposition, or even his death. At
any rate, the Jews were very far from attaining to the
perfect loyalty to Yahweh and the boundless prosperity
which Haggai and Zechariah had promised.
CHAPTER XVII
THE REFORMS OF EZRA AND
NEHEMIAHi
B.C.
Xerxes, king of Persia (Ahasuerus 2 of Ezra iv. 6 and of
Esther) .485
Artaxerxes 1.3 (Longimanus, king of Persia, Ezra iv. 7-23,
vi. 14, vii., Nehemiah viii.) 465
Malachi c. 460
The Mission of Ezra 458
First Mission of Nehemiah 445-434
Second Mission of Nehemiah 432
Darius II. (Nothus), king of Persia 423
Ezra, Nehemiah (including memoirs written by
Ezra and Nehemiah respectively), Malachi,
Isaiah lvi.-lxvi.. Psalms ii.-xli,
Extra-Biblical A utlwrity. — Jcsephus.
The Jews in Babylonia. — The little community in
and about Jerusalem was only a small portion of the
Jewish people, and not the most important. There
were Jews scattered about the East and in Eg)^pt,
but the communities in Babylonia were still the most
numerous, wealthy, and influential. But for their repeated
intervention, both political and ecclesiastical, the colony
in Judah would have been merged in the surrounding
heathenism. X number of priestly families still re-
mained in Chaldea, and some of them, following in the
1 Cf. Appendix II. - Ibid. » i^id.
166
EZRA AND NEHEMIAH REFORMS 167
footsteps of Ezekiel, were occupied in editing, revising,
and expanding the various codes of ritual laws. Ulti-
mately many of these were combined into a new edition
of the early history and the laws, which is usually spoken
of as the Priestly Code.^
Malachi. — Meanwhile in Judaea the high hopes excited
by Haggai and Zechariah had been followed by a disap-
pointment which led to reaction and depression. The
building of the Temple did not secure prosperity and
freedom for the Jews. Men's interest in the services
flagged; even the priests became careless and perfunc-
tory in the conduct of public worship, and used their
authority for mercenary and partisan purposes. The
nobles, including some of the chief members of the
priesthood, cultivated friendly relations with the leaders of
the Samaritans and other neighbouring tribes ; and Jews
lay and secular, of all ranks, intermarried freely with
heathen or half-heathen wives. The natural result was
the cooling of zeal for the pure worship of Yahweh, and
a fresh outbreak of corrupt superstition. Nevertheless
there was still a party who clung tenaciously to higher
ideals ; their protests against the prevailing laxity of
religion and morals are partly preserved to us in Malachi,
Isaiah Ivi.-lxvi., and some of the Psalms.^
^ The extant portions of this work now constitute large parts of
Genesis^ Exodus^ and Numbers, and the whole of Leviticus.
2 The exact dates of all these documents are matters of contro-
versy, but in every case they represent the spirit and temper of the
loyal Jews in this period.
i68 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
The Mission of Ezra. — Left to themselves, however,
the true believers might have succumbed to the power-
ful influences arrayed against them ; but the Jews in
Babylonia watched with anxious interest the progress
of affairs in Judaea, and rendered decisive help at the
critical moment. Possibly the Priestly Code was com-
piled to meet this emergency.
Towards the beginning of the reign of Artaxerxes I.,
a certain priest named Ezra, doubtless as the representa-
tive of the priests and other Babylonian Jews, and with
the permission of the Persian government, organised a
second migration to Judaea. He collected some 1500
exiles — men, women and children — and led them across
the desert to Jerusalem.
In Ezra we have the first prominent representative
of a new class — the scribes, or students, teachers, and
expounders of the Torah or Pentateuchal Law. He
went on his journey, we are told, with " the wisdom of
God in his hand," ^ and we may safely conclude that
the Priestly Code was a leading feature of that wisdom,
and that Ezra's main object was to reform and regulate
the religious life of the Jewish community according to
that code.
Notwithstanding his numerous followers, his adherents
at Jerusalem, and the support of the Persian government,
Ezra had little success. He directed his efforts chiefly
against the practice of intermarrying with foreigners.
^ Ezra vii. 25.
EZRA AND NEHEMIAH REFORMS 169
He was not content with forbidding such marriages for
the future, but tried to compel all those who had formed
such alliances to divorce their wives. For the time being,
at any rate, he failed.
The First Mission of Nehemiah. — Doubtless Ezra ren-
dered some service to the cause of religion in Jerusalem ;
but for him the growth of corruption might have been
more rapid than it was. On the whole, however, things
went from bad to worse. Whether through neglect to re-
pair the breaches made by Nebuchadnezzar, or through
some new disaster, the walls of Jerusalem were in ruins,
and the city lay at the mercy of its enemies. Great dis-
tress prevailed among the people, and social abuses reap-
peared which had been denounced by Amos and Isaiah.
The nobles took advantage of the necessities of the
farmers to appropriate their land and reduce many of
them to slavery.
But at this time, by the Divine providence, Ezra and
his friends had a powerful advocate at the Persian court.
A Jew, Nehemiah ben Hachaliah, was cup-bearer to the
king, and could thus obtain a favourable hearing for
a petition. Nehemiah's brother, Hanani, came from
Jerusalem to Susa, and reported to him the desperate
straits to which the Jewish community was reduced. For
a while Nehemiah gave himself to fasting and prayer,
and then obtained from the king the governorship of
Judah, with express authority to fortify Jerusalem. He
then set out for Judah with a strong escort of Persian
lyo OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
cavalry. On his arrival, his first care was to secure his
military position against the Samaritan chiefs. Before
Sanballat and Tobiah had properly grasped the situation,
Nehemiah had rallied the Jews to a well-organised, sus-
tained, and strenuous effort to rebuild the walls of the
city — with such success that, when the Samaritan forces
appeared upon the scene, they were compelled to retreat
without effecting anything. Sanballat and his supporters
then had recourse to treachery; they tried to entice
Nehemiah to a conference, doubtless with the intention
of assassinating him ; but he declined to walk into the
trap. " I am doing a great work," said he, "I cannot
come down." ^ The Jewish opponents of Ezra did what
they could to help their Samaritan friends ; and the latter
bribed the prophets, male and female, to bid Nehemiah
in the name of Yahweh to give up his work and take
sanctuary in the Temple. But Nehemiah scornfully
ignored the admonitions of these hireling clerics ; being
a man of much practical common sense, " he discerned
that God had not sent them." ^ So he persevered, and
the walls were finished.
Nehemiah next turned his attention to the social
trouble, and compelled the nobles to disgorge their
plunder, and give back the land to its former owners,
so that the common people again had a chance of
earning a decent livelihood.
^ Nehemiah vi. 3, 12.
2 Ibid.
EZRA AND NEHEMIAH REFORMS 171
Matters were now entirely changed from the time when
Ezra made his futile attempts at reform. The new walls
protected the city from any sudden attack, and cut off
the aristocratic party, lay and clerical, from their
Samaritan allies ; while the social reform secured Nehe-
miah the adherence of the bulk of the people. Thus
strengthened against enemies at home or abroad,
Nehemiah could introduce religious reforms. A solemn
assembly was called, and Ezra came forward with " the
Book of the Law,"^ which he read in public. The reading
and expounding went on for seven days, and was followed
by the Feast of Tabernacles. Later on, the supporters
of Ezra and Nehemiah, "all they that had separated
themselves from the peoples of the lands unto the law
of God," ^ entered into a solemn covenant to observe
the Law. Amongst other things they undertook not to
intermarry with foreigners, but we do not gather that at
this time Nehemiah insisted on divorcing foreign wives.
Nehemiah spent twelve years at Jerusalem as governor
of Judah ; he reorganised the community, and made
provision for the maintenance of the Temple worship.
Then he returned to the Persian court.
As soon as his back was turned, the priests and
nobles regained their ascendency ; went back to their
old evil ways, and resumed their friendly relations with
^ Either the Priestly Code or some larger portion of the Penta-
teuch, inchiding Deuteronotny.
2 Neh. X. 28.
172 OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
the Samaritans. More especially Eliashib, the high
priest, was hand in glove with Nehemiah's two chief
opponents, Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the
Ammonite. He installed Tobiah in a " great chamber "
in the Temple, and married his grandson to Sanballat's
daughter. The Temple services were again neglected ;
the Temple dues were not paid ; the Sabbath became a
sort of market-day. Back came Nehemiah, and made
short work of these abominations ; he bundled Tobiah
and his belongings out of the Temple, and cleansed the
great chamber ; he suppressed the Sabbath trading ; he
chased away Sanballat's son-in-law. Also finding Jews
with foreign wives, whose children could not speak their
own language, to use his own picturesque words, " I
contended with them, and cursed them, and smote
certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made
them swear to God, saying, ' Ye shall not give your
daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters for
your sons, or for yourselves.' " ^
Having remedied these abuses, he restored his former
arrangements for the maintenance of the Temple worship.
The Value of the Work of Ezra and Nehemiah. — But
for some such intervention as that of Ezra and Nehemiah,
the Jewish community at Jerusalem would have lost its
racial and religious characteristics. It would have been
merged in an omnium-gatherum of Moabites, Ammonites,
Arabians, and Samaritans, with a hybrid religion, which
1 Neh. xiii. 25.
EZRA AND NEHEMIAH REFORMS 173
used the authority of Yahweh to support corrupt and
immoral superstition. In such a society the faith in
revealed religion would have dwindled and died. Doubt-
less there would still have been believers in Babylonia,
but the subsequent history of these Eastern Jews does
not suggest that, humanly speaking, their Judaism could
have afforded a starting-point for Christianity. Ezra and
Nehemiah were the divinely appointed agents who secured
the continuous development of revealed religion.
It was through them that orthodox Judaism became
a religion with a single place of sacrifice, the Temple,
with an elaborate ceremonial law controlling not only
public worship but daily life, with an exalted morality,
with a spiritual monotheism, and with sacred writings
which enforced, explained, and illustrated this teaching.
Moreover Ezra and Nehemiah practically founded a
society of earnest and devout believers who preserved
and transmitted the Law and the Prophets, and kept
alive a burning zeal for the true worship of the God
of Israel.
Incidentally their work had another result. They gave
effect to the refusal to allow the Samaritans to share the
religious privileges of Israel. Whereupon the Samaritans,
having in Sanballat's son-in-law a priest of the house
of Aaron,^ built their own Temple to Yahweh on Mount
Gerizim, and organised themselves as the true successors
of ancient Israel, with the Samaritan edition of the Law.
^ But cf. Appendix 11.
CHAPTER XVIII
CONCLUSION
Judaea a province of the Persian empire
Judaea under Greek dominion'.
Antiochus IV. (Epiphanes), king of Syria
The War of Independence under the Maccabees
Judaea independent under the Maccabean princes
Judaea under the Herods
Judaea a Roman province ....
B.C.
538-333
333-167
175-164
167-142
142-41
41-A.D, 6
. A.D. 6
An Old Testament History naturally ends with the re-
forms of Ezra and Nehemiah, and we need only sketch
very briefly the course of subsequent events. The work
of the reformers remained; it is true that there was always
a party which disapproved of any undue enthusiasm for
the Law ; but its zealous champions always constituted
a formidable body, and successfully asserted their claim
to be the true representatives of the religion and of the
national hopes, aspirations, and ideals of the Jews. For
another three hundred years, the political status of the
Jews underwent little change ; the Babylonian Jews still
flourished in subject communities ; and Judaea con-
tinued a province of a great Eastern empire. The con-
quests of Alexander transferred the dominion of Western
Asia and Egypt from the Persians to the Greeks, and
Judaea became a bone of contention between Egyptian
Ptolemies and the Seleucid kings of Syria — sometimes
subject to the one, sometimes to the other. Ultimately
the efforts of Antiochus IV. to promote Greek civilisa-
174
CONCLUSION
^75
tion throughout his dominions provoked a determined
revolt, and Judaea regained its independence under the
Maccabeans, at once high priests and kings. But this new-
found liberty hardly lasted a century ; Judaea fell under
the power of Rome, first as represented by her henchmen
the Herods, and then under actual Roman governors.
But in these last centuries before the coming of Christ,
Jews were dispersed throughout the known world ; the
communities in Babylonia and Judaea grew and flourished;
the Jews occupied Galilee ; and new centres were formed
— notably at Alexandria, And this Dispersion, unlike
that of the Ten Tribes, remained loyal to its people and
its religion. Everywhere the Jews had their synagogues
and their Scriptures ; they kept the Sabbath, and studied
and observed the Law.
At the same time Jewish culture widened ; not only
was the Law expounded and elaborated, but the Book of
Daniel and many similar apocalypses expressed an inter-
pretation of the history of the past and an assured hope
for the future ; while at Alexandria and elsewhere learned
Jewish thinkers like Philo and the author of The Wisdom
of Solomon sought to use the achievements of the Greek
intellect in the service of revealed religion. In many
ways, and at many different points, action and reaction
were going on between Judaism and the two great forces
which were making for unity in the ancient world — Greek
civilisation and the Roman genius for government. It
was reserved for Christianity to co-ordinate the three
under the authority of an universal religion.
APPENDIX I
THE RETURN FROM THE EXILE
Chapter XV. follows the opening sections of Ezra.
Doubts, however, have been cast on the accuracy of this
account of the events immediately following the fall of
Babylon, mainly because there is no reference to such
events in Haggai and Zechariah. Accordingly it is held
by some scholars that there was no Return on any
large scale in or about B.C. 536 ; and that there was no
attempt to rebuild the Temple before B.C. 520 ; and that
the Temple was rebuilt by the remnant who had been
left in Judah, and not by exiles who had returned from
Babylon. But these revolutionary views are only advo-
cated by a minority, although most critics agree that the
story in Ezra should be corrected in some particulars.
Such corrections, however, would not seriously affect
the outline given in Chapter XV.
176
APPENDIX II
THE REFORMS OF EZRA AND NEHEMIAH
These also are the subject of much controversy, and as
the matter is still sub Judice, I have thought it right to
follow in the text substantially the account of Ezra and
Nehemiah^ which is still accepted by many scholars in
its main features. Apart from a few extremists, who
challenge the historicity of Ezra and his mission, the
facts are for the most part accepted; but there is a
great variety of opinion as to the chronology. The
mission of Ezra is sometimes placed before, sometimes
at the same time as, the first mission of Nehemiah ;
sometimes between Nehemiah's two visits to Jerusalem,
sometimes after the second visit.
Also the Artaxerxes of Ezra and Nehetniah is some-
times identified with Artaxerxes II. (Mnemon), B.C. 404-
361.
Again, the formation of the Samaritan sect is sometimes
assigned to a later date.
177
INDEX
Aaron, 32
Abijam, 93
Ablmelech, 44, 46
Abner, 73
Abraham, 18, 33
Absalom, 76
Achish, 72
Adonijah, 77
Ahab, 97
Ahaz, 129
Ahaziah of Israel, 101
,, of Judab, 106
Alexander, 174
Amalekites, 32, 67
Amarna tablets, 36
Amaziah, 114
Ammon, 20, 63
Amon, 134
Amorites, 37
Amos, 122
Amraphel, 10, 117
Antiochus, 175
Aramaeans, see Syria
Ark, 31, 58
Artaxerxes, 166, 177
Asa, 93
Asshurbanipal, 134
Assyria, 10, 99
Athaliah, 109
Baal, 52, 102, 108
Baasha, 93
Babylon, 10
,, suzerainty of,
141
Barak, 44
Baruch, 140, 144
Benhadad, 94
Benjamin, 41
Bondage in Egypt, 22
Brazen serpent, 132
Caleb, 40
Calves, golden, go
Canaan, before Conquest,
16
,, Conquest of, 35
Captivity of Israel, 126
,, of Jehoiachin, 146
,, of Judah, 149
Carchemish, battle of, 141
Century Bible, 7
Chronicles, 4, 5
Chronology, 33, 53, 90
Conquest of Canaan, 35
Corvee, 80
Covenant, Book of, x\^
Cyrus, 158
Damascus, 10, 93
Dan, 40
Daniel, 175
173
Darius, 164
David, 71
Day of Yahweh, 159
Deborah, 44
Deuteronomy, 135
Dispersion, 166, 174
Disruption, 88
Eastern Palestine, con-
quest of, 37
Edom, 19, 20, 78
Egypt, 9, 126
„ bondage in, 22
,, suzerainty of, 138
Ehud, 44
Elah, 94
Elephantine papyri, 156
Eli, 57
Elijah, loi
Elisha, loi, 113
Eltekeh, battle of, 131
Ephraim, 41
Esarhaddon, 133
Esau, 20
Exile, 150
Exodus, the, 27
,, date of the, 34
Ezekiel, 152
Ezra, 169, 178
Gedall^h, 15s
INDEX
179
Genealogy of Israel, 17
Jehoahaz of Judah, 138
Levites, 39
Geography of the ancient
Jehoash, 113
Lot, 19
East, 8
Jehoiachin, 146
„ of Palestine, 13
Jehoiada, 109
Maccabees, 175
Gideon, 44, 46
Jehoiakim, 138, 142
Ma lac hi, 167
Gilboa, battle of, 69
Jehonadab, 108
Manasseh, King, 41
Golden calves, go
Jehoram of Israel, 98, loi
Tribe, 133
,, of Judali, 98, 106
Medes, 141, 158
Habakkuk, 139
Jehoshaphat, 98
Megiddo, battle of, 137
Haggai, 163
Jehovah, 26
Menahem, 125
Hammurabi, 10, 117
Jehu, 106
Menephthah or Mereiip-
Haran, 20
Jephthah, 44
tah, 34
Hazael, 112
Jeremiah, 139
Mephibosheth or Merrlb-
Herods, 175
Jericho, 38
baal, son of Jonathan,
Hezekiah, 130
Jeroboam I., 91
81
High places, 118, 136
n., 113
Merodach-Baladan, 130
History of Israel —
Jerusalem taken by
Mesha, 96, 105
importance of, i
David, 76
Micah, 127
interpretation of sour-
„ taken by Nebu-
Midian, 26, 46
ces of, 4
chadnezzar, 149
Moab, 20, 96, 105
sources of, 3
Jezebel, 99
Moabite Stone, 96, 105
Hittites, 11
Joab, 73
Monarchy, rise of, 48, 61
Horeb, 26, 28
Joash, 109
Monuments, 3
Hosea, 122
Jonah, 113
Moses, 25
Hoshea, 126
Jonathan, 66
Hyksos, 23
Joram, see Jehoram
Naboth, 97
Joseph, 18, 23
Nahash, 63
Inscriptions, 3
Josephus, 3
Nahum, 139
International Critical
Joshua, 35
Nebuchadnezzar, 141
Commentary, 7
,, High Priest, 161
Necho, 137
Isaac, 19
Josiah, 135
Nehemiah, 169, 178
Isaiah, 127
Jotham, 129
Nineveh, fall of, 141
,, "Second," 157
„ Ivi.-lxvi., i66f.
Judah, 40
Judges, 43
Omri, 94
Ishbaal, 73
Palestine, geography
Ishmael, 23
Kadesh, 28
of, 13
Israel, genealogy of, 17
Karkar, battle of, loo
,, early historj', 16
Kenites, 40
Papyri, 156
Jabesh-gilead, 63
Khuenaten, i^
Patriarchs, 18
Jacob, 17, 20
Peake, Religion 0/ Is-
Jael, 46
Lamentations, 149
rael, 6
Jehoahaz of Israel, 112
Law, 31, 135, 169
Pekah, 126
i8o
INDEX
Pekahiah, 126
Pentateuch, 17, 135, 167
Pharaoh of Exodus, 34
„ of Oppression, 34
,, Necho, 137
Philistines, 54, 65, 75
Philo, 175
Pithom, 24
Plagues, Ten, 27
Priestly Code, 167
Prophets, 60, 113
Psalms, 167
Raamses, 24
Ramoth-gilead, lor
Rameses II., 34
Red Sea, 28
Rehoboara, 91
Religion of Israel, 6, 21,
51, 78, 8s, 90, 118
Return, 160, 176
Reuben, 41
Rezin, 126
Samaria, capital, 96
,, fall of, 125
Samaritans, 161, 173
Samson, 44, 56
Samuel, 59
Samuel, 54
Sanballat, 170
Sargon, 130
Saul, 61
Sennacherib, 128
Serpent, brazen, 132
Shalmaneser II., 100, 107
Shechem, 39
Sheshbazzar, 161
Shishak, 91
Simeon, 39
Sinai, 26, 28
Smith, H. P., Old Testa-
ment History, 7
Social conditions, 50, 116,
120
Solomon, 82
Spirit of Yahweh, 58,
63
Syria, 10, 96, 99, iii
Suzerainty of Egypt, 138
,, of Babylon,
141
Tabernacle, 31
Temple, Solomon's, 84
,, restored, 163
Ten plagues, 27
,, Tribes, revolt of, 88
Tent of Meeting, 31
Thothmes III., inscrip-
tion of, 36
Tibni, 96
Twelve Tribes, 18
Ur, 19
Uzziah, 128
Whitehouse, Books of
the Old Testament, 7
Wilderness wanderings,32
Wisdom of Solomon, 175
Yahweh, 26, 29
Zachariah, 125
Zechariah, 163
Zedekiah, 146
Zephaniah, 139
Zerubbabel, 161
Zimri, 94
Printed by Ballantvne, Hanson 6^ Co.
Edinburgh <Sr» London
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