THE CENTURY BIBLE HANDBOOKS 
 
 Old Testament History 
 
 PROF. H. BENNETT, D,D. 
 
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 { 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 
 
 '^ 
 
 ^' 
 
 ^5/3AL SEW-A^}^' 
 
 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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