1 # V t". X university of Connecticut libraries '"^ o^ cP"^ 3 11S3 D1DS73^^ 3 05. < The Woman's Bible FIRST EDITION-TEN THOUSAND PART II JUDGES, KINGS, PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 'Who ever knew Truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter?" —Milton. NEW YORK: EUROPEAN PUBLISHING COMPANY, 68 Broad Street. PRICE 50 CENTS The Woman's Bible PART II Comments on the Old and New Testaments FROM Joshua to Revelation 'OhI rather give me commentators plain. Who with no deep researches vex the brain; Who from the dark and doubtful love to run. And hold their glimmering tapers to the sun." —The Parish Register, NEW YORK: EUROPEAN PUBLISHING COMPANY, 68 Broad Street. 1898. V. 1 COPYRIGHT, 1898. BY EUROPEAN PUBLISHING COMPANV. Revising Committee. 'We took sweet counsel together." — Ps. Iv., 14. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford, Clara Bewick Colby, Rev. Augusta Chapin, Ursula N. Gestefeld, Mary Seymour Howell, Josephine K. Henry, Mrs. Robert G. Ingersoll, Sarah A. Underwood, Ellen Battelle Dietrick,* Lillie Devereux Blake, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Rev. Olympia Brown, Frances Ellen Burr, Clara B. Neyman, Helen H. Gardener, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, Lucinda B. Chandler, Catharine F. Stebbins, Louisa Southworth. Foreign Members. Baroness Alexandra Gripenberg, Finland, Ursula M. Bright, England, Irma von Troll-Borostyani, Austria, Priscilla Bright McLaren, Scotland, Isabelle Bogelot, France. *Deceased. COMMENTS ON THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS FROM JOSHUA TO REVELATION, BY Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Ellen Battelle Dietrick, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Louisa Southvvorth, Frances Ellen Burr, Lucinda B. Chandler, Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford, 'Anonymous, Clara B. Neyman. APPENDIX. LETTERS AND COMMENTS BY Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Josephine K. Henry, Frances E. Willard, Eva A. Ingersoll, Mary A. Livermore, Irma von Troll-Borostyani, Mrs. Jacob Bright, Rev. Antoinette Brown Blackwell, Anonymous, Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford, Ednah D. Cheney, Sarah A. Underwood, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, Alice Stone Blackwell, Ursula N. Gestefeld, E. M., Matilda Joslya Gage, Sarah M. Perkins, and Catharine F. Stebbins. RESOLUTION OP National-American Woman Suffrage Association repudiating "The Woman's Bible," and Speech of SUSAN B. ANTHONY. DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OP ELLEN BATTELLE DIETRICK, IN WHOSE DEATH WE LOST THE ABLEST MEMBER OF OUR REVISING COMMITTEE. PREFACE TO PART 11. THE criticisms on "The Woman's Bible" are as varied as they are unreasonable. Both friend and foe object to the title. When John Stuart Mill wrote his "Subjection of Woman" there was a great outcry against that title. He said that proved it to be a good one. The critics said: "It will suggest to women that they are in subjection and make them rebellious." "That/' said he, "is just the effect I wish to produce." Rider Haggard's "She" was denounced so universally that every one read it to see who "She" was. Thus the title in both cases called attention to the book. The critics say that our title should have been "Commentaries on the Bible." That would have been misleading, as the book simply contains short comments on the passages referring to woman. Some say that it should have been "The Women of the Bible;" but several books with that title have already been published. The Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage says: "You might as well have a 'Shoemakers' Bible' ; the Scriptures apply to women as well as to men." As the Bible treats women as of a different class, inferior to man or in sub- jection to him, which is not the case with shoemakers, Mr. Talmage's criticism has no significance. "There's nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness and humility." ~ Another clergyman says : "It is the work of women, and the devil." This is a grave mistake. His Satanic Majesty was not in- vited to join the Revising Committee, which consists of women alone. Moreover, he has been so busy of late years attending Synods, Gen- eral Assemblies and Conferences, to prevent the recognition of 8 PREFACE. women delegates, that he has had no time to study the languages and "higher criticism," ■** Other critics say that our comments do not display a profound knowledge of Biblical history or of the Greek and Hebrew languages. As the position of woman in all religions is the same, it does not need a knowledge of either Greek, Hebrew or the works of scholars to show that the Bible degrades the Mothers of the Race. Further- more, "The Woman's Bible" is intended for readers who do not care for, and would not be convinced by, a learned, technical work of so- called "higher criticism," The Old Testament makes woman a mere after-thought in crea- tion; the author of evil; cursed in her maternity; a subject in mar- riage; and all female life, animal and human, unclean. The Church in all ages has taught these doctrines and acted on them, claiming divine authority therefor. "As Christ is the head of the Church, so is man the head of woman." This idea of woman's subordination is reiterated times without number, from Genesis to Revelations; and this is the basis of all church action. Parts 1. and H. of "The Woman's Bible" state these dogmas in plain English, as agreeing fully with Bible teaching and church ac- tion. And yet women meet in convention and denounce "The Woman's Bible," while clinging to the Church and their Scriptures. The only difference between us is, we say that these degrading ideas of woman emanated from the brain of man, while the Church says that they came from God. Now, to my mind, the Revising Committee of "The Woman's Bible," in denying divine inspiration for such demoralizing ideas, shows a more worshipful reverence for the great Spirit of All Good than does the Church. We have made a fetich of the Bible long enough. The time has come to read it as we do all other books, ac- cepting the good and rejecting the evil it teaches. "There lives more faith in honest doubt. Believe me, than in half the creeds." Hon. Andrew D. White, formerly President of Cornell Univers- PREFACE. 9 ity, shows us in his great work, "A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology," that the Bible, with its fables, allegories and end- less contradictions, has been the great block in the way of civiliza- tion. All through the centuries scholars and scientists have been imprisoned, tortured and burned alive for some discovery which seemed to conflict with a petty text of Scripture. Surely the im- mutable laws of the universe can teach more impressive and exalted lessons than the holy books of all the religions on earth. January, 1898. Elizabeth Cady Stanton. THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. Joshua u. 1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into a harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there. 2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to-night of the children of Israel to search out the country. 3 And the king of Jericho sent unto Ra- hab, saying. Bring forth the men that are come to thee which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country. 4 And the woman took the two men, and hid them and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were. 5 And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate when it was dark, that the men went out; whither the men went I wot not; pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them. THIS book gives an account of the final entrance of the children of Israel into the Promised Land. Joshua was the successor of Moses, and performed the same miracle in parting the waters of the Jordan that Moses did to enable his people to pass through the Red Sea. He was seven years fighting his way into the land of Canaan, where he spent the closing years of his life in peace. There is mention of two women only in this book, though a casual reference is again made to the daughters of Zelophehad, as described in a former chapter. In saving the spies from their pursuers, Rahab made them prom- ise that when Jericho fell into the hands of Joshua, they would save her and her kinsmen. From the text, it seems that Rahab fully un- derstood the spirit of her time, and with keen insight and religious fervor, marked characteristics of women, she readily entered into the plans of the great general of Israel. Rahab was supposed to have been a great sinner, her life in many respects questionable; but seeing that victory was with the Israelites, she cast her lot with them. From the text and what we know of hu- manity in general, it is difficult to decide Rahab's real motive, whether to serve the Lord by helping Joshua to take the land of Canaan, or 11 12 THE WOMAN'S BIBLE. to save her own life and that of her kinsmen. It is interesting to see that in all national emergencies, leading men are quite willing to avail V themselves of the craft and cunning of women, qualities uniformly condemned when used for their own advantage. There is no more significance, as one of our critics says, in com- menting on the myths of the Bible than on yEsop's fables. The dif- ference, however, is this: that in the latter case we admit that they were written by a man ; while in the former, they are claimed to have been inspired by God. Though at variance with all natural laws, it is claimed that our eternal salvation depends on believing in the plen- ary- inspiration of the myths of the Scriptures; as the "higher criti- cisms," written by learned scholars and scientists, are not familiar to women, our comments in plain English may rid them of some of their superstitions. Though the injustice to woman is the blackest page in sacred his- tory, the distinguished Biblical writers take no note of it whatever. Even Hon. Andrew D. White, though he devotes several pages of ^ his work to the statue of Lot's wife in salt, vouchsafes no criticism on the position of Lot's wife in the flesh, nor of Lot's outrageous treatment of his daughters. The wonder is that women themselves should either believe that such unholy proceedings were inspired by God, or make a fetich of the very book which is responsible for their civil and social degradation. Joshua X. 11 And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword. 12 Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amor- ites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. 13 And the Sun stood still, and the Moon stayed, until the people had avenged them- selves upon their enemies. Is not this writ- ten in the book of Jasher? So the Sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. 14 And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man: tor the Lord fought for Israel. According to the sacred fabulist, Joshua surpassed Moses in COMMENTS ON JOSHUA. 13 the wonders which he performed. In taking the city of Jericho, as recorded in Chapter viii., he did not use the ordinary enginery of war, but told his soldiers to blow a simultaneous blast upon their trumpets, while all the people with united shouts should pro- duce such a violent concussion of the air as to bring down the walls of the city. He not only subsidized the atmosphere to over- power his enemies, but he commanded the sun and the moon to stand still to lengthen the day and to lighten the night until this victory was complete. It seems that the Lord was so well pleased with Joshua's refined military tactics that he suspended the laws of the vast solar system to vindicate the superior prowess of one small tribe on the small planet called the earth. The Lord also resorted to more material and forci- ble means, sending down tremendous hailstones from heaven, and thus with one fell blow destroyed more of his enemies than the chil- dren of Israel did with the sword. There are no events recorded in secular history that strain the faith of the reader to such a degree as the feats of Joshua. Moses, with his manna and pillar of light in the wilderness and his dazzling pyrotechnics on Mount Sinai, fades into insignificance before these marvellous manifestations by Joshua, with the Canaanites, Jericho, and the sun and moon under his feet. Though teaching the people that all these fables are facts, still the Church condemns prestidigi- tators, soothsayers, fortune tellers, Spiritualists, witches, and the as- sumptions of Christian Scientists. Joshua XV. i6 And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kir- jathesepher and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife. 17 And Othniel, tiie son of Kenez, the brother of Caleb, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. 18 And it came to pass, as she came unto him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted oflE her ass; and Caleb said unto her. What wouldest thou? 19 Who answered, Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs. In giving Achsah her inheritance it is evident that the Judges of 14 THE WOMAN'S BIBLE. Israel had not forgotten the judgment of the Lord in the case of Zelophehad's daughters. He said to Moses, "When a father dies leaving no sons, the inheritance shall go to the daughters. Let this henceforth be an ordinance in Israel." Very good as far as it goes; but in case there were sons, justice demanded that daughters should have an equal share in the inheritance. As the Lord has put it into the hearts of the women of this Re- public to demand equal rights in everything and everywhere, and as He is said to be immutable and unchangeable, it is fair to infer that Moses did not fully comprehend the message, and in proclaiming it to the great assembly he gave his own interpretation, just as our judges do in this year of the Lord 1898. Achsah's example is worthy the imitation of the women of this Republic. She did not humbly accept what was given her, but bravely asked for more. We should give to our rulers, our sires and sons no rest until all our rights — social, civil and political — are fully accorded. How are men to know what we want unless we tell them? They have no idea that our wants, material and spiritual, are the same as theirs; that we love justice, liberty and equality as well as they do; that we believe in the principles of self-government, in in- dividual rights, individual conscience and judgment, the fundamental ideas of the Protestant religion and republican government. E. C. S. THE BOOK OF JUDGES. Chapter I. Judges i. 19 And the Lord was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain: but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. Judges a. 6 And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto bis inheritance to possess the land. 7 And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the el- ders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that he did for Israel. 8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being a hundred and ten years old. THIS book, supposed to have been written by Samuel the Prophet, covers a period of 300 years. During all of this time the chil- dren of Israel are in constant friction with the Lord and neigh- boring tribes, never loyal to either. When at peace with the Lord, they are fighting with their neighbors; when at peace with them, worshiping their gods and giving them their daughters in mar- riage, then the Lord is angry, and vents His wrath on them. Thus, they are continually between two fires; now repenting in sackcloth and ashes, and now, with the help of the Lord, blessed with victories. Life with them was a brief period of success and defeat. It seems that the Lord, according to their ideas, had His limitations, and could not fight tribes who had iron chariots. What could iron chariots be in the way of that Great Force which creates cyclones, hurricanes and earthquakes, or the pyrotechnics of a thunderstorm. How little these people knew of the Great Intelli- gence behind the laws of the universe, with whom they pretended to talk in the Hebrew language, and from whom they claimed to have received directions as to their treatment of women? In the opening of this book Joshua still governs Israel. After 15 i6 THE WOMAN'S BIBLE. his death, the Lord raised up a succession of Judges, remarkable for their uprightness and wisdom; but they found it impossible to keep the chosen people in the straight and narrow path. The children of Israel did not learn wisdom by experience. They tired of a rigid code of morals, of a mystical system of theology, and of the women of their own tribe. There was a fascination in the manners and the appearance of a new type of womanhood which they could not resist. There should have been some allowance for these human proclivities. If the Jews of our day had followed this tendency of their ancestors and intermarried with other nations, there would have been by this time no peculiar people to persecute. The most important feature of this book is the number of re- markable women herein described; six in number, Achsah, Deborah, Jael, Jephthah's daughter, Delilah, and two whose names are not mentioned — she who slew Abimelech, and the concubine of a Levite, whose fate was terrible and repulsive. There are many instances in the Old Testament where women have been thrown to the mob, like a bone to dogs, to pacify their passions; and women sufifer to-day from these lessons of contempt, taught in a book so revered by the people. E. C. S. The writer of the Book of Judges is unknown. Professor Moore, of Andover Theological Seminary, supposes that the author used as a basis for his work an older collection of tales wherein the heroes of Israel and the varying fortunes of the people were related, and which, like all good tales, pointed a moral. In all Jewish litera- ture is to be found the same moral — namely, that the prime cause of all of the evils which befell the Jewish people was unfaithfulness to Jehovah. "Adherence to the written law brings God's favor, while disobedience is followed by God's wrath and punishment." It is not obedience to the inner truth of the individual soul that is made the spring of action, but obedience to an external authority, to a book, to a prophet, to a judge or to a king. In Judges, to woman in various ways is given an exalted position; she is not the abject COMMENTS ON JUDGES. ly slave or unclean vessel, the drudge, the servile sinner, the nonentity, as depicted in other parts of the Bible. Woman has at no time of the world's history maintained the high position which she commands to-day in the hearts of the best and most enlightened; but there were stages when her independence was an assured fact. With Christianity came the notion of man's dual nature ; the physical was looked upon as sinful ; this earth was merely preparatory for a life beyond. Woman, as the mother of the race, was not honored and revered as such, the monastic idea being considered more God-like, she was made the instrument of sin. To be born into this life was not a blessing so long as ascetism ruled supreme. The Bible has been of service in some respects ; but the time has come for us to point out the evil of many of its teachings. It now be- hooves us to throw the light of a new civilization upon the women who figure in the Book of Judges. We begin with Achsah, a woman of good sense. Married to a hero, she must needs look out for ma- terial subsistence. Her husband being a warrior, had probably no property of his own, so that upon her devolved the necessity of pro- viding the means of livelihood. Great men, heroic warriors, generally lack the practical virtues, so that it seems befitting in her to ask of her father the blessing of a fruitful piece of land; her husband would have been satisfied with the south land. She knew that she required the upper and the nether springs to fertilize it, so that it might yield a successful harvest. C. B. N. ,X i8 THE WOMAN'S BIBLE. Chapter II. Judges iv. 4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, judged Israel at that time. 5 And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah, between Ramah and Beth-el in Mount Ephraim; and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 And she sent and called Barak, the son of Abinoam, out ot Kedesh-naphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying. Go and draw to- ward Mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? 7 And I will draw unto thee, to the river Kishon, Sisera the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand. 8 And Barak said unto her. If thou wilt go with me, then I will go; but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. 9 And she said, I will surely go with thee; notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be tor thine honor; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 And Barak called Zebulon and Naph- tali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at bis feet; and Deborah went up with him. SOME commentators say that Deborah was not married to a man by the name of Lapidoth, that such a terminology is not cus- tomary to the name of a person, but of a place. They think that the text should read, Deborah of Lapidoth. Indeed, Deborah seems to have had too much independence of character, wisdom and self-reliance to have ever filled the role of the Jewish idea of a wife. "Deborah" signifies "bee;" and by her industry, sagacity, useful- ness and kindness to her friends and dependents she fully answers to her name. "Lapidoth" signifies "lamps." The Rabbis say that De- borah was employed to make wicks for the lamps in the Tabernacle; and having stooped to that humble office for God's service, she was afterward exalted as a prophetess, to special illumination and com- munion with God — the first woman thus honored in Scripture. Deborah was a woman of great ability. She was consulted by the children of Israel in all matters of government, of religion and of war. Her judgment seat was under a palm tree, known ever after as "Deborah's Palm." Though she was one of the great judges of Israel for forty years, her name is not in the list, as it should have COMMENTS ON JUDGES. 19 been, with Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah. Men have always been slow to confer on women the honors which they deserve. Deborah did not judge as a princess by any civil authority con- ferred upon her, but as a prophetess, as the mouthpiece of God, re- dressing grievances and correcting abuses. The children of Israel appealed to her, not so much to settle controversies between man and man as to learn what was amiss in their service to God; yet she did take an active part in the councils of war and spurred the generals to their duty. The text shows Barak hesitating and lukewarm in the last event- ful battle with Sisera and his host. He flatly refused to go unless Deborah would go with him. She was the divinely chosen leader; to her came the command, "Go to Mount Tabor and meet Sisera and his host." Not considering herself fit to lead an army, she chose Barak, who had already distinguished himself. He, feeling the need of her wisdom and inspiration, insisted that she accompany him; so, mounted on pure white jackasses, they started for the field of battle. The color of the jackass indicated the class to which the rider be- longed. Distinguished personages were always mounted on pure white and ordinary mortals on gray or mottled animals. As they journeyed along side by side, with wonderful insight Deborah saw what was passing in Barak's mind; he was already pluming himself on his victory over Sisera. So she told him that the victory would not be his, that the Lord would deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman. It added an extra pang to a man's death to be slain by the hand of a woman. Fortunately, poor Sisera was spared the knowledge of his humiliation. What a picture of painful con- trasts his death presents — a loving mother watching and praying at her window for the return of her only son, while at the same time Jael performs her deadly deed and blasts that mother's hopes forever! What a melancholy dirge to her must have been that song of triumph, chanted by the army of Deborah and Barak, and for years after, by generation after generation. We never hear sermons pointing women to the heroic virtues of Deborah as worthy of their imitation. Nothing is said in the pulpit to rouse them from the apathy of ages, to inspire them to do and dare 20 THE WOMAN'S BIBLE. great things, to intellectual and spiritual achievements, in real com- munion with the Great Spirit of the Universe. Oh, no ! The lessons doled out to women, from the canon law, the Bible, the prayer-books and the catechisms, are meekness and self-abnegation; ever with covered heads (a badge of servitude) to do some humble service for man; that they are unfit to sit as a delegate in a Methodist confer- ence, to be ordained to preach the Gospel, or to fill the office of elder, of deacon or of trustee, or to enter the Holy of Holies in cathedrals. Deborah was a poetess as well as a prophetess, a judge as well as a general. She composed the famous historical poem of that period on the eventful final battle with Sisera and his hosts ; and she ordered •the soldiers to sing the triumphant song as they marched through the the land, that all the people might catch the strains and that genera- tions might proclaim the victory. Judges iv. i8 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my Lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. 19 And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink: for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him to drink, and covered him. 20 Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No. 21 Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a nail of the tent, and took a hammer in her hand and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. 22 And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in bis temples. The deception and the cruelty practised on Sisera by Jael under the guise of hospitality is revolting under our code of morality. To decoy the luckless general fleeing before his enemy into her tent, pledging him safety, and with seeming tenderness ministering to his wants, with such words of sympathy and consolation lulling him to sleep, and then in cold blood driving a nail through his temples, seems more like the work of a fiend than of a woman. The song of Deborah and Barak, in their triumph over Sisera, has been sung in cathedrals and oratorios and celebrated in all time for its beauty and pathos. The great generals did not forget in the COMMENTS ON JUDGES. 2Z hour of victory to place the crown of honor on the brow of Jael for what they considered a great deed of heroism. Jael imagined her- self in the line of her duty and specially called by the Lord to do this service for his people. Nations make their ideal gods like unto themselves. At this period He was the God of battles. Though He had made all the tribes, we hope, to the best of His ability; yet He hated all, the sacred fabulist tells us, but the tribe of Israel, and even they were objects of His vengeance half the time. Instead of Midianites and Philis- tines, in our day we have saints and sinners, orthodox and heterodox, persecuting each other, although you cannot distinguish them in the ordinary walks of life. They are governed by the same principles in the exchanges and the marts of trade. E. C. S. Judges V. Then sang Deborah and Barak, the son of Abinoam, on that day, saying, 2 Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves. 3 Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I will sing unto the Lord; I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel. 4 Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water. 5 The mountains melted from before the Lord even that Sinai from before the Lord God of Israel. 6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied and the travellers walked through byways. 7 The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I, Deborah, arose, that I arose a mother in Israel. The woman who most attracts our attention in the Book of Judges is Deborah, priestess, prophetess, poetess and judge. What woman is there in modern or in ancient history who equals in loftiness of position, in public esteem and honorable distinction this gifted and heroic Jewish creation? The writer who compiled the story of her gifts and deeds must have had women before him who inspired him with such a wonderful personality. How could Christianity teach and preach that women should be silent in the church when already among the Jews equal honor was shown to women? The truth is that Christianity has in many instances circumscribed woman's sphere of action, and has been guilty of great injustice toward the whole sex. 22 THE WOMAN'S BIBLE. Deborah was, perhaps, only one of many women who held such high and honorable positions. Unlike any modern ruler, Deborah dispensed justice directly, proclaimed war, led her men to victory, and glorified the deeds of her army in immortal song. This is the most glorious tribute to woman's genius and power. If Deborah, way back in ancient Judaism, was considered wise enough to advise her people in time of need and distress, why is it that at the end of the nineteenth century, woman has to contend for equal rights and fight to regain every inch of ground she has lost since then? It is now an assured fact that not only among the Hebrews, but also among the Greeks and the Germans, women formerly maintained greater freedom and power. The struggle of to-day among the advanced of our sex is to regain and to reaffirm what has been lost since the establishment of Christ- ianity. Every religion, says a modern thinker, has curtailed the rights of woman, has subjected her to man's ruling; in emphasizing the life beyond, the earthly existence became a secondary consideration. We are learning the great harm which comes from this one-sided view of life; and by arousing woman to the dignity of her position we shall again have women like Deborah, honored openly and publicly for political wisdom, to whom men will come in time of need. Genius knows no sex; and woman must again usurp her Divine prerogative as a leader in thought, song and action. The religion of the future will honor and revere motherhood, wifehood and maidenhood. Asceticism, an erroneous philosophy, church doc- trines based not upon reason or the facts of life, issued out of crude imaginings; phantasms obstructed the truth, held in check the wheel of progress. Let our church women turn their gaze to such char- acters as Deborah, and claim the same recognition in their different congregations. The antagonism which the Christian church has built up between the male and the female must entirely vanish. Together they will slay the enemies — ignorance, superstition and cruelty. United in every enterprise, they will win; like Deborah and Barak, they will clear the highways and restore peace and prosperity to their people. Like Deborah, woman will forever be the inspired leader, if she will COMMENTS ON JUDGES. 23 have the courage to assert and maintain her power. Her aspira- tions must keep pace with the demands of our civilization. "New times teach new duties." God never discriminates; it is man who has made the laws and compelled woman to obey him. The Old Testament and the New are books written by men; the coming Bible will be the result of the eflforts of both, and contain the wisdom of both sexes, their com- bined spiritual experience. Together they will unfold the mysteries of life, and heaven will be here on earth when love and justice reign supreme. C. B. N. Judges via. 30 And Gideon had three score and ten sons: for he had many wives. 31 And his concubine that was in She- chem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech. Judges ix. 52 And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. 53 And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to break his skull. 54 Then he called hastily unto the young man, his armour-bearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died. Abimelech destroyed the city of Thebez, drove all the people into a tower and then tried to set it on fire, as he had done in many places before in his war on other tribes ; but here he lost his life, and at the hand of a woman, which was considered the greatest disgrace which could befall a man. Commentators say that as Sisera and Abimelech were exceptionally proud and lofty, they were thus de- graded in their death. Sisera was spared the knowledge of his fate by being taken oflf when asleep; but Abimelech saw the stone coming and knew that it was from the hand of a woman, an added pang to his death agony. He had no thoughts of his wicked life nor his eternal welfare, but with his dying breath implored his armor-bearer to thrust him through with his sword, that it might not be said that he was slain by the hand of a woman. Abimelech had three score and ten brethren. It is said that his mother roused his ambition to be one of the judges of Israel. To at- 24 THE WOMAN'S BIBLE. tain this he killed all his brethren but one, who escaped. He enjoyed his ill-gotten honors but a short space of time. We find many such stories in the Hebrew mythology which have no foundation in fact. Judges xi. 30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, 31 Then it shall be that whatsoever Com- eth forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the chil- dren of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's; and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. 33 And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the chil- dren of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel. 34 And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances; and she was his only child; beside her be had neither son nor daughter. 35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter 1 thou has brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: tor I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back. 36 And she said unto him. My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath pro- ceeded out of thy mouth ; forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon. 37 And she said unto her father. Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows. A woman's vow, as we have already seen, could be disallowed at the pleasure of any male relative; but a man's was considered sacred even though it involved the violation of the sixth commandment, the violation of the individual rights of another human being. These loving fathers in the Old Testament, like Jephthah and Abraham, thought to make themselves specially pleasing to the Lord by sacri- ficing their children to Him as burnt offerings. If the ethics of their moral code had permitted suicide, they might with some show of justice have offered themselves, if they thought that the first-born kid would not do; but what right had they to offer up their sons and daughters in return for supposed favors from the Lord? The submission of Isaac and Jephthah's daughter to this violation of their most sacred rights is truly pathetic. But, like all oppressed classes, they were ignorant of the fact that they had any natural, in- alienable rights. We have such a type of womanhood even in our day. If any man had asked Jephthah's daughter if she would not like to have the Jewish law on vows so amended that she might dis- COMMENTS ON JUDGES. 25 allow her father's vow, and thus secure to herself the right of life, she would no doubt have said, "No; I have all the rights I want/' just as a class of New York women said in 1895, when it was proposed to amend the constitution of the State in their favor. The only favor which Jephthah's daughter asks, is that she may have two months of solitude on the mountain tops to bewail the fact that she will die childless. Motherhood among the Jewish women was considered the highest honor and glory ever vouchsafed to mor- tals. So she was permitted for a brief period to enjoy her freedom, accompanied by young Jewish maidens who had hoped to dance at her wedding. Commentators differ as to the probable fate of Jephthah's daugh- ter. Some think that she was merely sequestered in some religious retreat, others that the Lord spoke to Jephthah as He did to Abra- ham forbidding the sacrifice. We might attribute this helpless con- dition of woman to the benighted state of those times if we did not see the trail of the serpent through our civil laws and church disci- pline. This Jewish maiden is known in history only as Jephthah's daughter — she belongs to the no-name series. The father owns her absolutely, having her life even at his disposal. We often hear peo- ple laud the beautiful submission and the self-sacrifice of this name- less maiden. To me it is pitiful and painful. I would that this page of history were gilded with a dignified whole-souled rebellion. I would have had the daughter receive the father's confession with a stern rebuke, saying: "I will not consent to such a sacrifice. Your vow must be disallowed. You may sacrifice your own life as you please, but you have no right over mine. I am on the threshold of life, the joys of youth and of middle age are all before me. You are in the sunset; you have had your blessings and your triumphs; but mine are yet to come. Life is to me full of hope and of happiness. Better that you die than I, if the God whom you worship is pleased with the sacrifice of human life. I consider that God has made me the arbiter of my own fate and all my possibilities. My first duty is to develop all the powers given to me and to make tlie most of myself and my own life. Self-development is a higher duty than 26 THE WOMAN'S BIBLE. self-sacrifice. I demand the immediate abolition of the Jewish law on vows. Not with my consent can you fulfill yours." This would have been a position worthy of a brave woman. E. C. S. The ideal womanhood portrayed by ancient writers has had by far too much sway. The prevailing type which permeates all litera- ture is that of inferiority and subjection. In early times Oriental poets often likened woman to some clear, flawless jewel, and made them serve simply as ornaments, while, on the other hand, they were made subordinate by the legislation of barbarous minds; and men, because of their selfish passion, have inflicted woe after woe upon them. Ancient literature is wholly against the equality of the sexes or the rights of women, and subordinates them in every relation of life. The writings of the Bible, especially the Old Testament, are no exception to this rule. The reference, "The sons of God and daugh- ters of men," while it admits of many interpolations, legendary or mythical as it may be, portrays the real animus of the Scriptures. To what extent the sentiment of the Hebrews favored sons rather than daughters, and the injustice of this distinction is fully exemplified by the stories of Abraham and Isaac, and of Jephthah and his daughter. Abraham was commanded by his God to sacrifice his son Isaac, after the manner of the Canaanites, who often slew their children and burnt them upon their altars in honor of their deities. But when all was made ready for the sacrifice an angel of Jehovah appeared, the hand of Abraham was stayed, and a ram was made a substitute for the son of promise. The conditions were quite different in the case of Jephthah and his daughter. The Israelites had been brought very low in their contest with the Ammonites, and they chose the famous warrior, Jephthah, to lead them against their foe, who with warlike zeal sum- moned the hosts to battle. The risk was enormous, the enemy pow- erful, and the general, burning for victory, intent on securing the as- sistance of the Deity, made a solemn and fatal vow. COMMENTS ON JUDGES. 27 In the first case it was a direct command of God, but means were found to revoke this expHcit command with regard to a son; in the second case it was only a hasty and unwise promise of a general going to war, and the prevailing sentiment of the age felt it unnecessary to evade its fulfillment — the victim was only a girl. The unhappy father must sacrifice his daughter! What a masculine coloring is given to the rest of the narrative : "A maiden who did not mourn her death, but wandered up and down the mountain mourning her virginity." So much glamor has been thrown by poetry and by song, over the sacrifice of this Jewish maid- en, that the popular mind has become too benumbed to perceive its great injustice. The Iphigenias have been many and are still too numerous to awaken compassion. We must destroy the root of this false and pernicious teaching, and plant in its place a just and right- eous doctrine. What women have to win for the race is a theory of conduct which shall be more equitable. The unalterable subserviency of woman in her natural condition can never be overcome and social develop- ment progress so long as there is a lack of distributive justice to every living soul without discrimination of sex. L. S. 28 THE WOMAN'S BIBLE. Chapter III. Judges xiii. 2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah ; and his wife was barren. 3 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren; but thou shalt con- ceive, and bear a son. 4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wme nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: 5 For, lo, thou shalt bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines. 6 Then the woman came and told her hus- band, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the counten- ance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name: 7 But he said unto me. Behold, thou shalt bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God to the day of his death. 8 Then Manoah entreated the Lord, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born. 9 And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah: and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day. 11 And Manoah arose, and went after hig wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am. 12 And Manoah said. Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him? 13 And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. WE come now to a very interesting incident, giving proof of the remarkable knowledge which the writers had of some intrinsic laws and the power of transmission which, even to-day, are known and adhered to only by a very small minority of wise, thoughtful mothers. However, the wife of Manoah, the future mother of Samson, is visited by an angel, giving her instructions as to her way of living during pregnancy. It appears that the writer was acquainted with some pre-natal influences and their effect upon the unborn. We are just now beginning to investigate the important problem of child culture. Many good thoughts have been given on this sub- COMMENTS ON JUDGES. 29 ject by earnest thinkers. A knowledge of these important laws of life will do away with the most harassing evils and sins which human flesh is heir to. Intelligent, free mothers will be enabled to forecast not only the physical, but also the psychical, traits of their offspring. How and why this once recognized knowledge was lost we know not. We may, however, rightly infer that so long as woman was not the arbiter of her own destiny she had no power to make use of this knowledge. Only the thoughful, independent wife can administer the laws and the rules necessary for her own wellbeing and that of her offspring. Freedom is the first prerequisite to a noble life. Observe how simple and trustful the relation is between this hus- band and wife. Manoah is thoughtful and ready to unite with his wife in all that the angel had commanded. There is no trace of disunion or of disobedience to the higher law which his wife had been in- structed to follow. To her the law was revealed, and he sustained her in its observance. Mark, however, one difference from our in- terpretation of to-day, and how the omission of it worked out the de- struction of the child. All the injunctions received were of a physical nature ; strength of body and faith in God were to be the attributes through which Samson was to serve his people. The absence of moral traits is very evident in Samson ; and this is the reason why he fell an easy prey to the wiles of designing women. It was not moral, but physical heroism which distinguished Samson from his com- batants. Vengeance, cruelty, deceit, cunning devices were prac- tised not only by the Philistines, but likewise by the Nazarite. The angel who appeared to Manoah's wife was probably her own inner sense, and the appearance is to be understood rather as a figure of speech than as an actual occurrence, although there may have been, as there are to-day, people who were so credulous as to believe that such things actually occurred. The angel who whispers into our ears is knowledge, foresight, high motive, ideality, unselfish love. A conscious attitude towards the ideal still unattained, a lofty stand- ard of virtue for the coming offspring, an intelligent, pure father- hood, and a wise, loving motherhood must take the place of a mys- terious, instinctive trust — the blind faith of the past. C. B. N. 30 THE WOMAN'S BIBLE. One would suppose that this woman, so honored of God, worthy to converse with angels on the most delicate of her domestic rela- tions, might have had a name to designate her personality instead of being mentioned merely as the wife of Manoah or the mother of Samson. I suppose that it is from these Biblical examples that the wives of this Republic are known as Mrs. John Doe or Mrs. Richard Roe, to whatever Roe or Doe she may belong. If she chance to marry two or three times, the woman's identity is wholly lost. To make this custom more ludicrous, women sometimes keep the names of two husbands, clinging only to the maiden name, as Dolly Doe Roe, ignoring her family name, the father from whom she may have derived all of her talent. Samson's wife had no name, nor had the second woman on whom he bestowed his attentions ; to the third one is vouchsafed the name of Delilah, but no family name is mentioned. All three represented one type of character and betrayed the "conse- crated Nazarite," "the canonized Judge of Israel." It would be a great blessing to the race, if parents would take heed to the important lesson taught in the above texts. The nine months of ante-natal life is the period when the mother can make the deepest impression in forming future character, when she has absolute power for weal or for woe over the immortal being. Locke, the philosopher, said, "Every child is born into the world with a mind like a piece of blank paper, and we may write thereon whatever we will ;" but Descartes said, "Nay, nay; the child is born with all its possibili- ties. You can develop all you find there, but you cannot add genius or power." "Nascitur, non fit," although our learned blacksmith, Elihu Burritt, always reversed this motto. E. C. S. No body of ecclesiastics has taught the message of the angel of the Lord to Manoah's wife as a message of direction from the Lord to save the race from the disastrous results of strong drink and im- pure food. And although the degree of enlightenment attained shows that science and the instructions of the angel to Manoah's wife agree, this knowledge does not protect the unborn child from the COMMENTS ON JUDGES. 31 effects of the use by the mothers of to-day of wine, strong drink and unclean food. Could the light which reveals to the mother what would be a saving power to her child, be followed carefully by both herself and the father during ante-natal life, the race would more rapidly be brought to the full stature of its destined perfection. Not only is physical endowment available to the child through the wholesome sustenance of the mother, but the qualities of the higher nature may also be transmitted, and moral grandeur be an inheritance equally with grand physical powers. The theological teaching that has made human nature depraved and cut off from the divine source of all perfection, has hindered the development of the higher faculties of understanding. It has led to a misapprehension of the creative power of parenthood. From the idea that the creation of humanity was finished "in the beginning," and that man fell from his high estate as the image of God, has result- ed a demoralized race. The instruction of the angel to Samson's mother, was in accord with the dominant spirit that wrought the victories of Israel over enemies, and the reign of physical force that characterized the people of that age. The woman, having had no experience of motherhood, had not been subject to the deep soul-stirring that belongs to the mystery of life in a developed womanhood. Nor did that experience evi- dently transmit to Samson a high degree of moral strength. He was but a well developed physical organism, which the spirit of life could act through without limitation. He consorted with the harlot, but it was the woman whom he loved who succeeded in wringing from him the secret of his strength, and thus the possibility of de- livering him to his enemies. In the relation of women to this man of might there is illus- trated the dominant characteristics of the purely animal man. The father of Samson's first wife gave her to another man after Samson had gone in anger to his father's house, and when he returned and proposed to resume his conjugal relations, this father proposed that he should take the younger sister, who "was fairer than she." It is a significant suggestion of the quality of the relation that 32 THE WOMAN'S BIBLE. Samson's first wife (who had also no name of her own) and Delilah, whom he loved, were both more loyal to their own people, and had more regard for them, than for the man to whom they had been "given." L. B. C. Judges xiv. 1 And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daugh- ters of the Philistines. 2 And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philis- tines: now therefore get her for me to wife. 3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Sam- son said unto his father. Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. So the father and the mother, much against their wishes, went down to Timnath and secured for Samson the desired wife. He conformed to the custom of the Philistines; and on the occasion of the nuptial solemnities he made a great feast, and invited thirty young men to join in the festivities, which lasted seven days. These feasts were enlivened with interesting discussions, stories and riddles. Samson propounded one, with promises of valuable gifts to those who guessed the riddle: "Out of the eater came forth meat, out of the strong came forth sweetness." It seems that on one occasion, being attacked by a lion, Sam- son, without any weapon of defense, tore the lion to pieces. Pass- ing the vineyard some time after, he went in to see if the lion still rested there; and lo! the skeleton was a hive of bees. He partook freely of the honey and carried some to his parents. Being proof against the lion's paws, he had no fear of the bees. Day after day passed, and the young men could not guess the riddle. So they per- suaded the wife to coax him for the answer, with promises of silver if she succeeded, and threatenings of wrath if she failed. So, with constant weeping and doubts of his love, she at last worried the answer out of him, with promises of secrecy. As soon as Samson saw that he was betrayed he sent his wife back to her father's house, who gave her at once to one of the leaders at the festivities. As Samson loved the woman, he forgave her, and sought to bring her back to his own home. The father informed him that he had already given her to another, and that he might have COMMENTS ON JUDGES. 33 the younger daughter, if he chose, who had far more grace and beauty. The commentators say that it was very generous in Samson to make this concession, as he was the party offended. But Sam- son was himself a riddle and a paradox of a man. "He saw some- thing in her face which pleased him well." "He that in the choice of a wife is guided by his eye, and governed by his fancy, must after- wards blame himself if he find a Philistine in his anns." It is a great calamity that even able men are so easily influenced by weak and wicked women to do what they know is dangerous; and yet they feel it a disparagement to follow the advice of a good wife in what is virtuous and praiseworthy. Samson was most unfortunate in all his associations with women. It is a pity that the angel who impressed on his parents the im- portance of considering everything that pertained to the physical development of the child, had not made some suggestions to them as to the formation of his moral character. Even his physical prowess was not used by him for any great purpose. To kill a lion, to walk off with the gates of the city, to catch three hundred foxes and to tie them together by their tails two by two, with firebrands to burn the cornfields and the vineyards — all this seems more like the frolics of a boy, than the military tactics of a great general or the statesmanship of a Judge in Israel. Samson does not seem to have learned wisdom from experience in his dealings with women. He foolishly trusted another woman, "whose face pleased him," with the secret of his great strength, which she, too, worried out of him with tears and doubts of his affec- tion. For the betrayal of his secret the Philistines paid her eleven hundred pieces of silver. In the last act of this complicated tragedy, it is said that Samson at his death killed more people than in all his life before. After De- lilah betrayed him into the hands of the Philistines, they put out his eyes, and left him to grind in the prison house. As was their custom, they brought him out to make sport for the people assembled in a spacious building. As his hair had begun to grow, he braced him- self against the door posts, overturned the building, and killed all of it? occupants, and himself, gladly ending his own sad life. 34 THE WOMAN'S BIBLE. The name Delilah is fitly used to describe those who with flattery bring destruction on those whom they pretend to love. Many a strong man has been slain by this type of designing woman. Com- mentators do not agree as to whether Delilah was an Israelite or a Philistine, probably the latter, as Samson seemed to be more pleased with the women of that tribe than with those of his own. One hesi- tates to decide which is most surprising — Samson's weakness or De- lilah's wickedness. E. C. S. The writer of the Book of Judges would fail in his endeavor to present a complete picture of his time, did he omit the important characteristic of a woman and her influence upon man therein por- trayed. In Delilah, the treacherous, the sinister, the sensuous side of woman is depicted. Like Vivian, in the Idyls of King Arthur, De- lilah uses — nay, abuses — the power which she had gained over Sam- son by virtue of her beauty and her personal attractions. She uses these personal gifts for a sinister purpose. They serve her as a snare to beguile the man whose lust she had aroused. What a lesson this story teaches to men as well as to women! Let man overcome the lust of his eyes and prostitution will die a natural death. Let woman beware that her influence is of the purest and highest; let her spiritual nature be so attractive that man will be drawn toward it. Forever "the eternal womanly draweth man" onward and upward. Soul unity will become the rule when the same chastity and purity are demanded of the sexes alike. Woman's chastity is never secure as long as there are two standards of morality. C B. N. "Colonial days" is the felicitous term given by Rev. Dr. Lyman Abbott to the period of nearly three centuries following the cam- paign against the inhabitants of Canaan, when the Israelites took possession of their land. The Book of Judges is a record of those "colonial days;" and they are described also in the first part of the COMMENTS ON JUDGES. 3S book which bears the name of the prophet Samuel. During those Hebrew "colonial days," as Dr. Abbott states, "there was no true Capital — indeed, no true Nation. There were a variety of separate provinces, having almost as little common life as had the American colonies before the formation of the Constitution of the United States. In war these colonies united; in peace they separated from each other again." But in one thing they were united. They clung to the teachings of their great law-giver, Moses, and emphasized a belief in one righteous God. Whether expressed by priestly ritual or in prophetic declaration, the truth was clearly revealed that the Jews were a peo- ple who worshiped one God, and that they accorded to Him the at- tribute of righteousness. He was a sovereign, but a just one. And to this belief they clung tenaciously, believing themselves justified in conquering the nations about them, because their God was the only ruler. The Book of Judges contains the record of many harrowing events; but what besides savagery can be expected of a warring people whose Deity is invoked as the "God of battles," and who be- lieved themselves Divinely commissioned to drive other tribes from off the face of the earth ! The book is as sensational as are our news- papers; and if each chapter and verse were illustrated as are the papers of what is termed the "New Journalism," they would present an appearance of striking and painful similarity. The fate of Adoni-besek, an example of retributive justice; the treacherous act of the left-handed Ehud, causing the death of the fat King Eglon of Moab ; the inhospitable cruelty — or cruel inhospital- ity — of Jael, the wife of Heber, whose hammer and nail are welded fast in historical narration with the brow of the sleeping guest, Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army; the famous exploits of Gideon, who, if he was a superior strategist and warrior, gave little evidence, by his seventy sons, of his morality according to Christian standards; the death of Abimelech, which was half suicidal lest it should be said that a woman's hand had slain him; these, and more also of the same sort, leave the impression on the mind that those "colonial days" of the Hebrew nation were far from days of peace or of high morality; ^e THE WOMAN'S BIBLE. and the record of them is certainly as unfit for the minds of children and of youth as aie the illustrated and graphic accounts of many un- holy acts which are to found in our daily newspapers. General Weyler, in his Cuban warfare, has, in many respects, a prototype in General Gideon, and also in General Jephthah, "a mighty man of valor" and "the son of a harlot," as the author of the Book of Judges declares him to have been. We deprecate the savage butchery of the one — what ought we to say of the renown of the others? War is everywhere terrible, and "deeds of violence and of blood" are sad reminders of the imperfections of mankind. The men of those "colonial days" were far from being patterns of excel- lence; and the women "matched the men," in most instances. De- iiorah, as a "mother in Israel," won deserved renown, so that her song of victory is even now rehearsed, but it is a query that can have but one answer, whether her anthem of triumph is not a musical re- hearsal of treacherous and warlike deeds, unworthy of a woman's praise? In the Book of Judges Delilah appears, and if the mother of her strong lover, Samson, was not a perfect woman, in the modern sense, she has helped to make some readers feel that the law of heredity is a revealer of secrets, and that the story of the angel of the Lord may be received with due caution. The name "Delilah" has become a synonym for a woman tempting to sin, and the moral weakness and physical strength of Samson show the power of hered- ity. But whether the stories should be in the hands of our youth, without sufificient explanation and wise commentaries, is a question which coming days will solve to the extent of a wise elimination. Solemn lessons, and those of moral import, are given in the Book of Judges ; yet, as a whole, the book does not leave one with an ex- alted opinion of either the men or the women of those days. But it certainly gives no evidence that in shrewdness, in a wise adaptation of means to ends, in a persistent effort after desired objects, in a successful accomplishment of plans and purposes, the women were the inferiors of the men in that age. They appear to have been their equals, and occasionally their superiors. P. A. H. THE BOOK OF RUTH. Ruth i. t Now it came to pass in the days when the Judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Beth- lehem-judah went to sojourn in the coun- try of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. 2 And the name of the man was Elim- elech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. 3 And Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. 4 And they took them wives of the wo- men of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelt there about ten years. 5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them ; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. 6 Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab ; for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread. 7 Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her. 8 And Naomi said imto her daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother's house; The Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me. 10 And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people. 14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave to her. 15 And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law. 16 And Ruth said. Entreat me not to leave thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: 19 So they two went until they came to Beth-lehem. And it came to pass, wher^ they were come to Beth-lehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said. Is this Naomi? 20 And she said unto them. Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went out fu'i, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me. 22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her. COMMENTATORS differ as to the exact period when this book was written and as to the Judge who ruled Israel at that time. It must have been, however, in the beginning of the days when the Judges ruled, as Boaz, who married Ruth, was the son of Rahab, who protected the spies in Joshua's reign. Some say that it was in the reign of Deborah, Tradition says that the Messiah was descended! from two Gentile maidens, Rahab and Ruth, and that Ruth was the 37 38 THE WOMAN'S BIBLE. daughter of Eglon, King of Moab ; but this is denied, as Boaz, whom Ruth married, judged Israel two hundred years after Eglon's death. However widely the authorities differ as to Ruth's genealogical tree, they all agree that s^he was a remarkably sincere, refined, discreet maiden, a loving daughter and an honored wife. Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, is severely criticised by Bibli- cal writers for leaving his people and his country when in distress and seeking his fortune among the heathen Moabites, thus leading his sons into the temptation of taking strange wives. They say that the speedy deaths of the father and the sons were a proof of God's disapprobation. Naomi manifested such remarkable goodness and wisdom as a widow, that one wonders that she did not use her in- fluence to keep her husband in his native land to share the trials of his neighbors. The tender friendship between Ruth and Naomi, so unusual with a mother-in-law, has been celebrated in poetry, in prose and in art the world round. The scene between Naomi and her daughters in parting was most affectionate. As soon as Naomi decided to return to her own country, her daughters assisted her in making the neces- sary preparations. Ruth secretly made her own, having decided to go with Naomi to the land of Judea. When the appointed day arrived, mounted on three gray jack- asses, they departed. A few miles out Naomi proposed to rest by the roadside and to say farewell, and, after thanking them for all the love and kindness they had shown her, advised them to go no farther, but return to their home in that land of plenty. She told them frankly that she had no home luxuries to ofifer, life with her would for them be poverty and privation in a strange land, and she was not willing that they should sacrifice all the pleasures of their young lives for her. Sad and lonely with the loss of their husbands, parting with Naomi seemed to intensify their grief. United in a common sorrow, the three women stood gazing in silence into each other's faces, until Naomi, with her usual self-control and common sense, again pointed out to them all the hardships involved in the change which they proposed. Her words made a deep impression on Orpah. She hesitated, COMMENTS ON RUTH. 39 and at last decided to abide by Naomi's advice; but not so with Ruth. Naomi had a pecuHar magnetic attraction for her, a charm stronger than kindred, country or ease. Her expressions of steadfast friend- ship in making her decision were so tender and sincere that they have become household words. She said: "Entreat me not to leave thee; for whither thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God; where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me." (These words are on a bronze tablet on the stone over the grave of Robert Louis Stevenson at Samoa.) Having bade farewell to Orpah, they journeyed together and made a home for themselves in Bethlehem. Naomi owned a small house, lot and spring of water on the outskirts of the town. After a few days of rest, Ruth said to Naomi, I must not sit here with folded hands, nor spend my time in visiting neighbors, nor in search of amusement, but I must go forth to work, to provide food and clothes, and leave thee to rest. As it was the season for the wheat and barley harvests, Ruth heard that laborers were needed in the fields. It was evident that Ruth believed in the dignity of labor and of self-support. She thought, no doubt, that every one with a sound mind in a sound body and two hands should earn her own liveli- hood. She threw her whole soul into her work and proved a blessing to her mother. So Naomi consented that she might go and glean in the fields with other maidens engaged in that work. When Naomi was settled in Bethlehem she remembered that she had a rich kinsman, Boaz, whose name means strength, a man of great wealth as well as wisdom. Ruth was employed in the field of Boaz; and in due time he took note of the fair maiden from Moab. In harvest time he needed many extra hands, and he came often among the reapers to see how the work went forward. He heard such good accounts of Ruth's industry, dignity and discretion that he ordered his men to make her work as easy as possible, to leave plenty for her to glean and to carry home in the evening. This she often sold on the way, and bought something which Naomi needed. Naomi and Ruth enjoyed their evenings together. Naomi did 40 THE WOMAN'S BIBLE. not spend the day in idleness either. She had her spinning-wheel and loom to make their garments; she worked also in her garden, raising vegetables, herbs and chickens; and they talked over their day's labor as they enjoyed their simple supper of herb tea, bread and watercresses. Their menu was oft times more tempting, thanks to Ruth's generous purchases on her way home. Being busy, prac- tical women, their talk during the evening was chiefly on "ways and means;" they seldom rose to the higher themes of pedagogics and psychology, subjects so familiar in the clubs of American women. E. C. S. Ruth ii. 1 And Naomi had a kinsman of her hus- band's, a mighty man of wealth, of the fam- ily of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Nao- mi, Let me now go to the field, and glean cars of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter. 4 And, behold, Boaz came from Bethle- hem . . . 7 And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came. 8 Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, hut abide here fast by my maidens: .... It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband; and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother. ip And her mother-in-law said vmto her. Where hast thou gleaned to-day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. . . . And Ruth said, the man's name is Boaz. . . . And Naomi said unto her. The man is near of kin unto ns, one of our next kinsmen. It was a custom among the Israelites, in order to preserve their own line, that the nearest kinsman should marry the young widow on whom their hopes depended. So when Naomi remembered that Boaz was her kinsman, and that as age made marriage with her un- desirable, Ruth would be the proper person to fill her place. With great tact on their part Naomi's wishes were accomplished. Boaz was the son of Salmon and Rahab, and according to the Chaldee was not only a mighty man in wealth but also in wisdom, a most rare and excellent conjunction. Boaz was of the family of Elimelech, of which Ruth, by marriage, was a part also. Moreover, as she had adopted the country of Naomi and was a proselyte to her faith, her marriage with Boaz Vv^as in accordance with Jewish custom. Naomi was told by the spirit of prophecy, says the Chaldee, that from COMMENTS ON RUTH. 41 her line should descend six of the most righteous men of the age, namely, David, Daniel, his three compeers and the King Messiah. Commentators say that Boaz was probably himself one of the elders, or the aldermen, of the city, and that he went up to the gates as one having authority, and not as a common person. They say that Ruth was neither rich nor beautiful, but a poor stranger, "whose hard work in the fields" had withered her "lilies and roses." But Boaz had heard her virtue and dignity extolled by all who knew her. The Chaldee says, "house and riches are the inheritance from fathers; but a prudent wife is more valuable than rubies and is a special gift from heaven." Boaz prized Ruth for her virtues, for her great moral qualities of head and heart. He did not say like Samson, when his parents objected to his choice, "her face pleaseth me." In narrating the story of Ruth and Naomi to children they in- variably ask questions of interest, to which the sacred fabulist gives no answer. They always ask if Ruth and Naomi had no pets when living alone, before Obed made his appearance. If the modern historian may be allowed to wander occasionally outside of the re- ceived text, it may be said undoubtedly that they had pets, as there is nothing said of cats and dogs and parrots, but frequent mention of doves, kids and lambs, we may infer that in these gentle innocents they found their pets. No doubt Providence softened their solitude by providing them with something on which to expend their mother love. Ruth iv. 1 Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there; and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said. Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down. 2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. 3 And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's: 4 And I thought to advertise thee, saying. Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt re- deem it, redeem it; but if thou wilt not re- deem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it. 5 Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. 6 And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inherit- ance; redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot. Boaz was one of the district judges, and he held his court in the THE WOMAN'S BIBLE. town hall over the gates of Bethlehem. The kinsman who was sum- moned to appear there and to settle the case readily agreed to the proposal of Boaz to fill his place, as he was already married. He Avas willing to take the land; but as the widow and the land went to- gether, according to the Jewish law of inheritance, Boaz was in a position to fill the legal requirements; and as he loved Ruth, he was happy to do so. Ruth was summoned to appear before the grave and reverend seigniors; the civil pledges were made and the legal documents duly signed. The reporter is silent as to the religious observances and the marriage festivities. They were not as vigilant and as satisfying as are the skilled reporters of our day, who have the imagination to weave a connected story and to give to us all the hidden facts which we desire to know. Our reporters would have told us how, when and where Ruth was married, what kind of a house Boaz had, how Ruth was dressed, etc., etc., whereas we are left in doubt on all of these points. The historian does vouchsafe to give to us further information on the general feeling of the people. They all joined in the prayer of the elders that the Lord would "make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel;" they prayed for Boaz that he might be more fa- mous and powerful; they prayed for the wife that she might be a blessing in the house, and the husband in the public business of the town; that all of their children might be faithful in the church, and their descendants be as numerous as the sands of the sea. In due time one prayer was answered, and Ruth bore a son. Naomi loved the child and shared in its care. But Ruth said: "The love of Naomi is more to me than that of seven sons could be." Naomi was a part of Ruth's household to the day of her death and shared all of her luxuries and her happiness. The child's name was Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David. The name Obed signifies one who serves. The motto of the Prince of Wales is {ich dien) "1 serve." It is to be hoped that Obed was more profoundly interested in the problems of industrial economics than the Prince seems to be, and that he spent a more useful and practical life. If the Bethlehem newspapers had been as COMMENTS ON RUTH. 43 enterprising as our journals they would have given us some pictorial representations of Obed on Naomi's lap, or at the baptismal font, or in the arms of Boaz, who, like Napoleon, stood contemplating in si- lence his firstborn. Some fastidious readers object to the general tenor of Ruth's courtship. But as her manners conformed to the customs of the times, and as she followed Naomi's instructions implicitly, it is fair to assume that Ruth's conduct was irreproachable. E. C. S. BOOKS OF SAMUEL. Chapter I. /. Samuel i. 1 Now there was a certain man of Ra- tnathaim-zophim, of mount Ephraira, and his name was Elkanah. 2 And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah ; and Peninnali had children, but Hannah had no children. 3 And this man went up out of his city- yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. 4 And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions: 5 But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah; but Penin- nah mocked her. 7 And as he did so year by year, when she went " up to the house of the Lord; so she provoked her, therefore she wept, and did not eat. 8 Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not 1 better to thee than ten sons? Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord. 10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore. 11 And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and wilt give unto me a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life. ly Then Eli answered and said. Go in peace; and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. And she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying. Because I have asked him of the Lord. 26 And she said, O my lord, as thy soul liveth, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. 27 For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him. 28 Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord, as long as he liveth. THESE books contain the history of the last two of the judges of Israel. Eli and Samuel were not as the rest, men of war, but priests. It is uncertain who wrote these books. Some say that Samuel wrote the history of his times, and that Nathan the Prophet continued it. Elkanah, though a godly man, had sore family trials, the result of having m.arried two wives, just as Abra- ham and Jacob did before him. It is probable that Elkanah mar- ried Hannah from pure love; but she had no children, and as at that time every man had great pride in building up a family, he married Peninnah, who bare him children, but in other respects was a con- stant vexation. 44 COMMENTS ON SAMUEL. 45 Peninnah was haughty and insolent because she had children, while Hannah was melancholy and discontented because she had none, hence Elkanah had no pleasure in his daily life with either. He had a difficult part to act. Hoping much from the consolations of religion, he took his wives and children annually up to the temple of the Lord in Shiloh to worship. Being of a devout spiritual na- ture, he thought that worshiping at the same altar must produce greater harmony between his wives. But Penninah became more peevish and provoking, and Hannah more silent and sorrowful, weeping most of the time. Elkanah's love and patience with Han- nah was beautiful to behold. Pie paid her every possible attention and gave her valuable gifts. Appreciating his own feelings, he said to her one day in an exu- berant burst of devotion, "Am I not more to thee than ten sons?" He made peace offerings to the Lord, gave Hannah the choice bits at the table, but all his delicate attentions made Hannah more melan- choly and Peninnah more rebellious. He and Hannah continued to pray earnestly to the Lord to remove her reproach, and their prayers were at last answered. Eli was presiding at the temple one day when he noticed Hannah in a remote corner wrestling in prayer with the Lord. Though her manner was intense, and her lips moved, he heard no sound, and in- ferred that she was intoxicated. Hannah, hearing of his suspicion, said that naught but the debauchery of his own sons could have made such a suspicion possible. But Eli made atonement for his rash, un- friendly censure by a kind of fatherly benediction. With all these adverse winds in this visit to Shiloh, Elkanah must have felt as if his family had been possessed by the spirit of evil. When the sons of God come "to present themselves before the Lord, Satan will be seen to come also." Peninnah behaved worse during these religious fes- tivities because she saw more of Elkanah's devotion to Hannah. Hannah became more sad because she was losing faith in prayer. "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick." An endless discord in the harmony of the family joys was a puzzling problem for the sweet tempered Elkanah. But the ever- turning wheel of fortune brought peace and prosperity to his do- 46 THE WOMAN'S BIBLE. mestic altar at last. Hannah bore a son and named him Samuel, which signifies "heard of the Lord/' or given by the Lord. Hannah was very modest in her petition; she said, "O Lord, give me a son," while Rachel said, "give me children." The one sorrow which overtopped all others with these Bible women was in regard to children. If they had none, they made everybody miserable. If they had children, they fanned the jealous- ies of one for the other. See how Rebekah deceived Isaac and de- frauded Esau of his birthright. The men, instead of appealing to the common sense of the women, join in constant prayer for the Lord to do what was sometimes impossible. Hannah in due time took Samuel up to the temple at Shiloh. In presenting Samuel to Eli the priest she reminded him that she was the woman on whom he passed the severe comment; but now she came to present the child the Lord had given to her. She offered three bullocks, one for each year of his life, one for a burnt offering, one for a sin offering and one for a peace offering. So Hannah dedicated him wholly to the Lord and left him in Shiloh to be edu- cated with the sons of the priests. Although Samuel was Hannah's only child and dearly loved, she did not hesitate to keep her vow unto the Lord. I Samuel it. II And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest. i8 But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, girded with a linen ephod. 19 Moreover his mother made him a lit- tle coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her hus- band to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20 And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife. And they went unto their own home. 21 And Hannah bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the Lord. The historians and commentators dwell on the fact that Hannah made her son "a little coat," and brought one annually. It is more probable that she brought to him a complete suit of clothes once in three months, especially trousers, if those destined to service in the temple were allowed to join in any sports. Even devotional genu- flections are severe on that garment, which must have often needed Hannah's care. Her virtue and wisdom as a mother were in due time rewarded by five other children, three sons and two daughters. COMMENTS ON SAMUEL. 47 And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. Saul was made king at the request of the people. The ark of the Lord fell into the hands of the Philistines. This event, with the death of Eli and his sons, had most tragic results, viz., in the killing of thirty thousand people and the death of the wife of Phinehas, who was said to have been a woman of gracious spirit, though the wife of a wicked hus- band. Her grief for the death of her husband and father-in-law proved her strong natural affection, but her much greater concern for the loss of the ark of the Lord was an evidence of her devout af- fection to God. Her dying words, "the glory has departed from Israel," show that her last thought was of her religion. She named her son Ichabod, whose premature birth was the result of many calamities, both public and private, crowning all with the great bat- tle with the Philistines. Samuel was the last judge of Israel. As the people clamored for a king, Saul was chosen to rule over them. The women joined in the festivities of the occasion with music and dancing. I Samuel xviii. 6 And it came to pass when David was returned irom the slaughter of the Philis- tines that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tabrets and instru- ments of music. 7 And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slaia his thousands, and David his ten thou- sands. 8 And Saul was very wroth, and the say- ing displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands ; and what can he have more than the kingdom? It was the custom among women to celebrate the triumphs of their warriors after a great battle in spectacular performances. Decked with wreaths, they danced down the public streets, singing the songs of victory in praise of their great leaders. They were specially enthusiastic over David, the chorus, "Saul hath killed his thousands, but David his ten thousands," chanted with pride by beautiful maidens and wise matrons, stirred the very soul of Saul to deadly jealousy, and he determined to suppress David in some way or to kill him outright. It is not probable that any of these battle hymns, so much admired, emanated from the brain of woman; the blood and thunder style shows clearly that they were all written by 48 THE WOMAN'S BIBLE. the pen of a warrior, long after the women of their respective tribes were at rest in Abraham's bosom. David was a general favorite; even the Philistines admired his courage and modesty. The killing of Goliath impressed the people generally that David was the chosen of the Lord to succeed Saul as King of Israel. But on the heels of his triumphs David's troubles soon began. Saul was absorbed in plotting and in planning how to circumvent David, and looked with jealousy on the warm friendship maturing between him and his son Jonathan. 17 And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab; her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight the Lord's battles. For Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him. 18 And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king? 19 But it came to pass at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel, the Meholathite, to wife. 20 And Michal, Saul's daughter, loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. 21 And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son in law in the one of the twain. 22 And Saul commanded his servants, saying. Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee: now there- fore be the king's son-in-law. 24 And Saul's servants spake those worda in the ears of David. And David said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed? 25 And Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him. Saul thought if he could get David to marry his daughter he would make her a snare to entrap him. He promised David his daughter, and then married her to another to provoke him to some act of violence, that he might have an excuse for whatever he chose to do. But when Saul offered to give him Michal, David modestly replied that he belonged to a humble shepherd family and was not worthy to be the son-in-law of a king. In due time David did marry Miclial, who loved him and proved a blessing rather than a snare. On one occasion when Saul had made secret plans to capture David, Michal with her diplomacy saved him. Saul surrounded his house with guards and ordered them to kill David the moment he appeared in the morning. Michal, seeing their preparations, knew their significance, and at night, when all COMMENTS ON SAMUEL. 49 was still, she let David down through a window and told him to flee. In the morning, as David did not appear, they searched the house. Michal told them that David was ill and in bed. She had covered the head of a wooden image with goat's hair and tucked the sup- posed David up snug and warm. The guards would not wake a sick man in order to kill him, and they reported what they saw to Saul, but he ordered them to return and to bring David, sick or well. When Saul found that he had escaped, he was very wroth and up- braided Michal for her disrespect to him. Though she had saved tlie man she loved, yet she marred her noble deed by saying that David would have killed her if he suspected she had connived with her father to kill him. But alas! the poor woman was between two fires — the husband whom she loved on one side, and the father whom she feared on the other. Most of the women in the Bible seem to have been in a quandary the chief part of the time. Saul made a special war on the soothsayers and the fortune- tellers, because they were divining evil things of him. But losing faith in himself and embittered Ijy many troubles, he went to the witch of Endor to take counsel with Samuel, hoping to find more comfort with the dead than with the living. The witch recognized him and asked him why he came to her, having so cruelly perse- cuted her craft. However, she summoned Samuel at his request, who told him that on the morrow, in the coming battle with the Philistines, he and his sons would be slain by the enemy. When the witch saw Saul's grief and consternation she begged him to eat, placing some tempting viands before him, which he did, and then hastened to depart while it was yet dark, that he might not be seen coming from such a house. Commentators say it was not Samuel who appeared, but Satan in the guise of the prophet, as he especially enjoys all psychical mysteries. Josephus extols the witch for her courtesy, and Saul for his courage in going forth to the battle on the next day to meet his doom. The poet says that the heart from love to one grows bountiful to all. This seems to have been the case with David as he adds wife to wife, Michal, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess. His meeting vvith Abigail in the hills of Carmel was quite romantic. 50 THE WOMAN'S BIBLE. She made an indelible impression on his heart, and as soon as her husband was gathered to his fathers David at once proposed and was accepted. Though the women who attracted David were "beauti- ful to look upon," yet they had great qualities of head and heart, and he seemed equally devoted to all of them. When carried ofif cap- tives in war he made haste to recapture them. Michal's steadfast- ness seems questionable at one or two points of her career, but the historian does not let us into the secret recesses of her feelings. David's time and thoughts seem to have been equally divided between the study of government and social ethics, and he does not appear very wise in either. His honor shines brighter in his psalms than in his ordinary, everyday life. E. C. S. COMMENTS ON SAMUEL. SI Chapter II. 1 Samuel xxv. 2 And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail; and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings. 4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep. 5 And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men. Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name: 6 And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast. 8 . . . Give, I pray thee, whatsover Cometh to thine hand unto thy servants. 10 And Nabal said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? 11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give unto men, whom I know not whence they be? 12 So David's young men came and told him all these sayings. 13 And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword ; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff. 14 But one of the young men told Abi- gail, Nabal's wife, saying. Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them. 18 Then Abigail made haste, and too!: two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred case? of figs, and laid them on asses. 23 And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell be- fore David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground. 25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. 32 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: 35 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said uato her. Go up in peace to thine house; 38 And it came to pass about ten days after, that the Lord smote Nabal, that he died. 39 . . . And David sent and com- muned with Abigail, to take her to him to wife. 4J And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that went after her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife. THE chief business of the women in the reigns of Kings Saul and David seems to have been to rescue men from the craft and the greed of each other. The whole interest in this story of Nabal centres in the tact of Abigail in saving their lives and possessions from threatened destruction, owing to the folly and the ignorance of her husband. His name, Nabal, signifying folly, describes his char- acter. 52 THE WOMAN'S BIBLE. It