JAkxeaita^bvT] V MEMORIAL^ * COLLtCTION Yale University Library MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY 'h Wit Hwarfr WITH ILLUSTEATIVE POETIC AND PROSE SELECTIONS FROM STANDARD LITERATURE BY MARCIUS WILLSON AND ROBERT PIERPONT WILLSON IN TWO VOLUMES Vol. I.— Old Testament History NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE 1883 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1883, by HARPER & BROTHERS, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. All rights reserved. PREFACE TO VOL. I. It has not been the purpose of the authors, in this and the succeeding volume, to write a commentary on the Bible, nor to enter upon any critical exposition of Bible truths and doctrines ; but our design has been to compile a work that shall be a brief and familiar expo sition of Biblical history and literature, for Bible stu dents, families, and especially for the young. At the same time we have aimed to set forth the plan, purpose, history, and leading characteristics of the several books of the Bible in such a manner that they may be better appreciated than heretofore by the general reader. We might refer to the brief exposition that we have com piled, of the Book of Job, as an illustration of the prin ciple involved in this feature of our work. Almost any one will read that book with increased interest when lie fully comprehends the grandeur of the dramatic scene in which its truths are presented. In this Christian age and Christian country it will be universally admitted that all should be acquainted with at least the general outlines of the Bible record ; and the want of such knowledge must be deemed a serious defect in the education of any one, whatever may be IV PREFACE. his creed or his religious principles. We have sought to make the acquisition of such knowledge additionally attractive by introducing, in connection with the narra tive, such illustrative poetic and prose selections as will throw around the subject some of the charms of general literature ; and we are not without the hope that such a work will be found adapted to the wants of all classes of readers. Is it not probable, also, that those who now pay but little attention to the reading of the Bible, will be apt to read it with much greater interest when they become aware of the vast amount of the world's best literature that clusters around the scenes and incidents of sacred history ? We believe that the more familiar they become with the labors of the great Biblical critics, even in the very condensed form here presented, and with the tributes of regard that have been paid to the great Book itself by the wisest of men, the more they will examine, and be led to appreciate, the great truths which it embodies. CONTENTS OF VOL. I. [The names of authors from whom illustrative prose selections are taken are in small capitals ; those from whom poetic selectious are taken are in italics.] CHAPTER I. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. I. Introductory Page 1 II. Mosaic Account of tlie Creation. 4 Ovid: Kamkb : Micliell ; Whytehead : Addison G Bryant ; Pope : Dryden 9 III. Miltonic Account of the Creation 10 Milton's "Paradise Lost:" DwighVs "Conquest of Canaan" 10 IV. Geological View of the Creation 15 The Primary Geological Period.— Thomas Aird 16 The Vision of Moses. — Hugh Miller 18 Phenomena of Creation. — Bryant 24 V. Adam and Eve.— Disobedience and Punishment 24 Eden without Woman.— Campbell 24 Condition of our First Parents in Paradise Wordsworth 25 The Temptation and the Fall. — Dwight : Milton 2G VI. The History of Cain and Ahel 29 Cain's and Abel's Offering. — Byron's "Cain, a Mystery " 29 Wilton ; Montgomery : Knox : Shakspeare 33 VII. The Descendants of Cain and Seth 34 The City of Enoch. — Macaulay: Dr. Geucie 35 Jubal the First Musician. — Dryden: Marvell: Cowper: Mackay 37 The Traditions concerning Enoch.— Dwight Williams 39 The Translation of Enoch.— Mrs. Alexander 39 VIII. The Death of Adam 41 Montgomery's "World before the Flood" 41 IX. The Wickedness of Mankind, and its Punishment 43 The Wickedness of Mankind.— Montgomery: Milton -44 Their Approaching Destruction. — Byron's drama of "Heaven and Earth" 45 Noah's Ark.— Milton 47 The Warnings of the Coming Deluge.— Byron's drama 48 The Deluge. — DwighVs "Conquest of Cauaan" 48 The Sending forth of the Dove.— Mackay. Paul Allen 50 Noah's Prophecy.— Paul Allen 50 Subsidence. of the Deluge: God's Covenant. — Michelt: Milton 51 X. The Dispersion of Mankind 53 The Tower of Babel: Confusion ofTongnes.-— Trjf.Punsfctm; N.Michell. 54 VI CONTENTS. XI. The Descendants of Ham, Shorn, and Japheth Page BO The Founding of Nineveh.— A therstone 66 Commercial Greatness of the Phoenicians Dionysius of Susiana 6!> The Downfall of the Hamites.— Dr. MoCal'Sland 62 XII. The Call of Abrnm "5 "The Sequel of Abram's Conversion. — Helen Hunt 65 The Promise to Abram.— Cowley .' 6S XIII. The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah 69 The Warning.— G. W. Nind 69 Doom of the Cities of the Plain.— John G. Whittier: Crolij. 71 XIV. Isaac— Ishmael and his Descendants 72 Abram's Dismissal of Hagar aud Ishinael AT. P. Willis 73 Hagar's Wanderings.— Gbaoe Aguii.ak : Milman : J. P. Owen: N. P. Willis : Edwin Arnold. 74 The Descendants of l6hmael Dr. MoCabsland : It. J. Chapman. 76 XV. Abraham offering up Isaac 7S Description of the Scene.— N. P. Willis 79 XVI. Abraham's Death and Character 82 Isaac meeting Rebecca. — Gbaoe Agdilau S3 Character of Abraham. — Dr. Milman : Dr. Geikie S3 XVII. Isaac, and his Sons Jacob and Esau 85 Keble 86 The Sending Away of Jacob— Emily Taylor. 80 Jacob's Wonderful Dream or Vision.— Dean Stanley : George Oroly 87 Jacob, and his Father-in-law Laban. — Dean Stanlky: Dr. Milman 89 The "Wrestling" of Jacob. — Anon 90 The Death of Rachel Nicholas Michell 91 XVIII. The Life of Joseph 92 Joseph's Career in Egypt. — Wilton: Dr. Milman 93 The Meeting of Joseph aud his Brethren. — Dr. Milman 95 XIX. Jacob's Prophetic Blessings upon his Children 97 The Poetical Character of these Prophecies. — llev. J. H. Caun- 97 teb, D.D. : Bishop Patrick : Herder: Bochart: Dr. Clabke 98 XX. The Burial of Jacob 109 The Burial Sqgne. — Mrs. Alexander 110 Death and Character of Joseph.— Dr. Fabsset Ill CHAPTER II. THE BOOK OF EXODUS. I. The Early History or Moses 113 Moses in the Cradle of RuBhes. — Erasmus Darwin 114 His Life Saved by the King's Daughter.— L. M. Dickinson 114 II. God's Message to Moses 115 The Place aud the Scene described. — Dr. Milman : Dwight Williams 115 III. The Plagues of Egypt 117 A General Description of them — Milton 117 The Plagues, in detail.— Cowley 119 The Destruction of the First-boru.— Anon.: Geo. Lansing Taylor.. . 120 IV. Plight of the Israelites, and Passage of the Red Sea 122 The Flight, and the Pursuit Reginald Ileber 122 V. The Song of Moses 125 The Wreck of Egypt's Pride. The Sorig.— Reginald Heber 125 The Song Characterized. — Milman : Lowth 126 CONTENTS. Vii VI. The Onward March.— Marah and Elim Page 127 The Story of Marah andElim Mrs. Charles (author of "The Schon- berg-Cotta Family ") 12S A Battle with the Amalekites John Newton 130 VII. At Mount Sinai.— Promulgation of the law 131 Arrival at Sinai Dr. Dwight i;il Description of the Momitaiu.— J. L. Stephens 131 The First Act in the Mighty Drama Milman 133 The Second Act.— J. T. Heaiiley. 134 The Third Act Milman 135 The Constitution given to the Israelites described.— W. C. Taylob... 136 CHAPTER III. LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, AND DEUTER ONOMY. I. A Partner Record of the taws 138 II. Departure from Mount Sinai 139 The Good lieport brought by Caleb aud Joshua.— H. N. Dunning 140 III. The Death of Aaron 141 The Burial Scene.— Horatius Bonar 142 IV. On the Borders of Moab 143 The Prophet Balaam.— Stanley 144 V. The Meeting of Balaam and Balak 145 The Scene Described.— Stanley : Keble 145 VI. Balaam's Prophecies 146 First Prophecy. — Lowtii 147 Second Prophecy.— Lowtii 147 Third and Fourth Prophecies. — Stanley : Cowley 143 VII. The Last Days of Moses 151 His final Instructions to Israel.— Milman 151 His Prophetic Song or Ode.— Lowtii : Dr. W. M. Taylob 152 His Blessing upon the Twelve Tribes. — Headley 153 VIII. The Death of Moses 154 Montgomery: Headlky : Watts 154 IX. The Burial of Moses 155 Bryant: Mrs. Alexander 156 X. The Writings and Character of Moses 158 Dr. W. M. Taylob 158 CHAPTER IV. JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH. JOSHUA. I. Passage of the Jordan 1G2 The Scene Described. — Small 1C3 II. The Pall of Jericho 164 Milman : Pierpont 164 The Ruins of Jericho.— y. Michell 165 III. The Ratification of the law 165 Account of. — Milman 166 IV. Gibeon, and the War with the Pive Kings 167 Tho Sun and Moon stand Btill. — Wilton: Cowper 167 V1U CONTENTS. V. Conquest of the Country, and Its Division Among the Twelve Tribes Page 16S Last Days, Death, and Character of Joshua. —Dr. MaoLeab: Fads- set : Tennyson 170 JUDGES. I. Apostasies, and their Punishment 171 II. Deborah's Victory.— Fate of Sisera 172 Stanley .' 173 III. Deborah's Song of Victory. 174 /-.'. Dudley Jackson 175 IV. Israel under Gideon 176 V. Jephthah's Rule, and his Rash Vow 177 Jephthah's Grief, and his Daughter's Heroism. — N. P. Willis 178 Comments on the Narrative. — Stanley 182 Its Elements of Nobleness and Tenderness.— Byron : Tennyson 1S3 VI. Samson's Rule 185 VII. The Closing Scenes of his Life 1ST The Tragedy of Samson Agonistes. — Milton 187 Character of Samson.— Stanley 190 KUTH. I. The Story of Ruth, the Moabitish Maiden 192 Scene between Ruth and Naomi. — Mrs. Cleaveland 193 Ruth and Naomi in Bethlehem Charles D. Bell. 194 The Character of Ruth.— Adbeelen : T. Buchanan Read 195 CHAPTER V. THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. I. SAMUEL. I. The Child Samuel 19J II. The Consecration of Samuel 198 Mrs. Hemarm 198 III. The Rule of Eli 201 The Warning to Eli.— Stanley 202 The Ark Captured : The Downfall of Dagon.— Milton 202 IV. The Rule of Samuel 203 End of the Period of the Judges Milman 205 V. The Monarchy under Saul 206 Parting of Samuel aud Saul. — Stanley 207 The Call of David Jno. H. Newman 208 VI. David Playing before Saul 209 Montgomery : Mrs. Sigourney 209-211 VII. David and Goliath 211 The Challenges and the Combat. — Hannah More 212 Saul's Soliloquy. — Hannah More 215 Abner's Account of the Conflict.— Haroiaft More 216 VIII. David's Triumph, and Exile 217 Description of the Cave of Adullam.— Cowley: Dr. Thomson 218 The Three Mighty.— Lyte: Pierpont 219 CONTENTS. IX IX. The Death of Samuel Page 221 Sotheby 221 X. Saul at the Tomb of Samuel 222 Byron 222 XI. The Battle of Mount Gilboa, and Death of Saul 223 The March of Saul aud his Troops.— Sotheby 224 Saul's Address to his Followers.— Byron 225 II. SAMUEL. I. David.— His Lament for Saul and Jonathan 226 George Sandys 228 Characterization of David's Lamentation Dr. Taylob 229 II. Contest for the Succession. — David becomes King of All Israel 229 The Jebusites. — Dryden 231 III. The Establishment of the National Religion at Jerusalem 231 The Great Processional Oratorio Dr. Taylob 232 IV. Farther Conquests.— David's Great Sin 230 David Rebuked by Nathan the Prophet. — George Peele 237 David's Repentance. — Dr. Cuandleb : George Peele 239 The Death of David's Child.—*. P. Willis 240 V. Absalom's Rebellion, and Death 242 David's Flight from Jerusalem.— Milman 242 David's Prayer for Absalom.— iV. P. Willis 243 In the Chamber of the Gate.— Longfellow 245 David's Lament for Absalom.— JV. P. Willis : Campbell 240, 24S VI. David's Return to Jerusalem 249 Barzillai's Request. — Mrs. Sigourney i 249 VII. Rizpah and her Sons 251 Rizpah Watching the Dead. — Bryant 251 CHAPTER VI. FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. I. KINGS. I. last Days and Death of David 256 Characterization of David. — Bishop ^ 256 The Harp of David.— Byron 257 II. Solomon's Keign 258 The Building of the Temple Bishop Heber 259 The Dedication of the Temple.— Henry Rogers 2C0 III. Solomon's Wisdom and Prosperity 261 Tadmor of the Wilderness. — Jesse E. Dow 261 The Visit of the Queen of Sheba.— John Newton 262 The Influences of Solomon's Reign Stanley : Milman 263 IV. Solomon's Apostasy and Death 264 Milton : Milman : Stanley 264, 265 V. The Kingdom of Israel 265 Character of Jezebel Dr. W. M. Taylob 266 X CONTENTS. VI. The Prophet Elijah Page 267 Description of Elijah.— Milman 267 Elijah's Appearance before Ahab. — George Lansing Taylor: WILBER FORCE 268 The Miracles of Elijah.— Eeble: Mrs. Charles 269 VII. Elijah and the Priests of Baal 270 Elijah's Challenge to the Priests George Lansing Taylor 270 The Meeting, and Contest on Mount Carmel. — Anon 271 Elijah's Triumph. — Bayne's " Days of Jezebel " 272 The Prophet's Prayer for Rain Joshua Marsden 274 Elijah in the Wilderness.— Richard Howitt 275 VIII. The Scene on Mount Horeb 275 The Divine Manifestations Krummaohbr 275 Elijah's Interview with God.— Campbell 277 IX. The Doom of the House of Ahab 278 Dean Stanley : Dr. Milman 279, 2S0 X. The Death of Ahab 2S0 Wilton 2S0 II. KINGS. I. The Translation of Elijah 2S1 Apostrophe to Elijah W. Maekworth Praed 282 The Closing Scene. — Stanley : Benjamin Colman 283 II. Elisha the Prophet 2S4 The Syrians Stricken with Blindness George Oroly 2S4-289 III. The Shunamite's Son Restored to Life 289 S. P. Willis 289 IV. The Last Days of the Kingdom of Israel 292 The Assyrian Empire: Sardanapa'lus. — Byron's tragedy of: Freder ick Muller 293 V. The Kingdom of Judah 295 Jehoshaphat's Character.— Dr. Fausbet 296 VI. The Valley of Jehoshaphat 296 Chateaubriand : Mrs. Sigourney 297 King Uzziah Smitten with Leprosy. — Mrs. Sigourney 29S The Wicked Ahaz: The Voices of the Prophets — Dr. Milman 300 VII. The Reign of Hezekiah 300 The Destruction of Senuach'erib's Army. — Byron 301 Hezekiah's Character.— Anon 303 VIII. The Reign of Josiah 304 Battle of Megiddo : Death of Josiah. — Anon 305 IX. The Closing Period of the Kingdom of Judah 306 Zedekiah's Fate : Destruction of Jerusalem. — Cowley : Anon. 307 X. The Captivity of Judah 308 "By the Waters of Babylon." — Byron: Richard Crashaw 309 THE TWO BOOKS OF CHRONICLES. Character and Scope of these Books.— Dr. Milman 312 CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER VII. EZRA, NEHEMIAH, AND ESTHER. I. The Book of Ezra Page 313 The Return to Jerusalem H. Rogers 313 II. The Book of Nehemiah 817 Neliemiah's Appeal to King Artaxerxes.— William Knox: Facsset .. 317 III. The Book of Esther 820 Mordecai, Haman, and Esther.— Dr. Milman : Croly 321-322 CHAPTER VIII. HEBREW POETRY. I. The Views of Ancient Critics 320 II. The Alphabetical Poems 327 Lowtii : Dr. Beard 327-331 III. Hebrew Parallelisms 332 IV. The Song of Israel's Triumph over Babylon 333 Lowth : Sir Aubrey de Vere 334-335 CHAPTER IX. THE BOOK OF JOB, PSALMS, AND PROVERBS. I. The Book of Job 330 A grand Epic and Dramatic Poem. — Lowtii: Henry: Dr. Blair: Young: Campbell: Quarles: Dr. Gardiner Si>eing: Thomas Car lyle : Mrs. M. E. Sangster 339-353 IT. The Book of Psalms 353 De Wettk: Milton 354 Song to David Christopher Smart 356 III. The Book of Proverbs 357 Characterizations of the Proverbs. — Kitto : Dr. Philip Souaff : Dean Stanley 357-361 CHAPTER X. ECCLESIASTES, THE SONG OF SOLOMON, AND ISAIAH. I. Eeclesiastes 362 Ewald : Herder : Dr. Sohaff 363-364 II. The Song of Solomon, or Canticles 365 Lowth: Orioen: Bossuet: Robenmuller: Calmet: Dr. Sohaff. 365-36S III. Isaiah 370 1. Period embraced in the Book : The first Twelve Chapters 370 2. Chapters XIII. to XXIV.— David Mallock : Robert Southey : Bayard Taylor 371-374 3. Chapters XXIV. to XLI.— Milman 375 4. The Style of Isaiah. — Kitto: Dr. Blaie: LowTn: Virgil 376-379 5. Isaiah's Prophecy of the Messiah. — Pope's "Messiah" 380 C. The Prophet's Vision on Mount Carmel. — James Hogg: Montgom ery 383-3S6 XU CONTENTS. CHAPTER XI. JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, AND DANIEL. I. Jeremiah Page 387 Keble: Ewald: Lowth 3SS-392 II. Lamentations 392 Dr. Milman: Sohaff: Lowth 393-395 III. Ezekiel 390 1. Life and Prophecies of Ezekiel.— Isaac Williams: Longfellow: Maundbell: Mary Howitt 396-399 2. Character of Ezekiel.— Dr. Gotoh, in Kitto 400 3. His Merits as a Writer and Poet. — Lowth: Herder: Gorbeb: Haveeniok: Ewald: Newoome 401-403 IV. Daniel 404 1. The Historical Portion of the Book. — Havebniok: Arthur C. Coxe: Hannah More: Michell 404-407 2. The Handwriting on the Wall.— Milman's drama of " Belshazzar :" Byron 408 3. Overthrow of the Babylonian Kingdom : Rule of Darius.— Michell : Newton : Wilton 412-413 4. The Prophecies of Daniel. — Bieuop Newton : Dr. Hales: Havee niok 413 CHAPTER XII. THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS. I. Hosea 419 Dr. Eadie: Bisuop Hoebley : Keil : Ewald: Eiouuorn 420-421 II. Joel 422 Sohmollee : Delitzsch : Fusey : Wunsohe 422-424 III. Amos 424 Milman: Ritokebt: Newcome: Lowtii 425-426 IV. Obadiah 426 Kleinebt: Newton , 426-427 V. Jonah 428 Simeon Tucaer Clark : W. Morley Punshon 429-430 VI. Micah 432 Kleinebt: Pitsey: Wright; Haleb: Lowth: De Wette 432-434 VII. Nahum 435 Jerome: Josepiids: Kleinert: De Wette: Michell 435-437 VIII. Habakkuk 43S Eiohhorn : Lowth 439 IX. Zephaniah 440 Kitto : Kleinebt 440-442 X. Haggai 442 Dr. MoCnEDY 443 XI. Zechariah , 444 Dr. Chambers : Di'.Eadie: De Wette 445_446 XII. Malachi 447 Lowth : Kitto 448 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. CHAPTER I.— THE BOOK OF GENESIS.1 I. INTRODUCTORY. The Book of Genesis, which is the first of the five books of the Old Testament that are called the Penta teuch," reaches back, in its first statement, to that un known period when the universe was called into being; while from the time of the creation of our first parents it extends downward, in human history, according to the commonly received but uncertain chronology, through a period of a little less than twenty-four hundred years. It contains a statement of the creation, and the institu tion of the Sabbath ; of the fall of man, and the geneal ogies, corruptions, and destruction of the antediluvian world ; of the repeopling of the earth ; of the confusion of tongues and the dispersion of mankind; of the call ing of Abraham, and the rise and progress of the He brew nation, down to the death of Joseph. Of the 1 Gen'esis, the name given by the Greek translators to the first book of the Old Testament. This Greek word means generation, i. e., creation and birth of the universe, of man, and the beginning of history. But the Hebrew name of the book is Bereeshith, from its opening word, which means, "In the beginning." 2 Pen'tateuch, from the two Greek words, pente, five, and tmchos (after the Alexandrian age), a book — a term applied by the early Christian writ ers to the first five books of the Bible. The names we give to these books are Greek, not Hebrew. The Jews name each book from its first Hebrew word. I.— 1 2 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTOKY. events succeeding the Flood the account is quite full and comprehensive; while the only records we possess of the antediluvian world are found in the first six chap ters of this book. To this brief history we look in vain for some knowledge of the extent and character of the empires that rose and fell ere the Deluge swept away our guilty race. For many centuries the authorship of the Book of Genesis was universally ascribed to the Jewish priest and law-giver, Moses. But alleged differences of style, and seeming repetitions to be found in portions of the narrative, have led some eminent theologians to believe that writings of an earlier date than the time of Moses were used in the compilation.1 This supposition was extended to the succeeding three books of the Penta teuch ; but Deuteronomy was claimed to be the work of but one writer. Others, still, suppose that the Penta teuch received its present form at a period later than the time of Moses, but admit that some portions of it, espe cially the commandments, are of Mosaic origin. And again, many defend the Mosaic origin of the entire Pen tateuch, on the ground that any other view is inconsist ent with the plenary inspiration of the Bible. The pre vailing opinion, however, now seems to be, that Moses was the author of the entire Pentateuch, although in his account of the early history of mankind he undoubtedly made use of information obtained from records or tradi tions of an age long prior to his own. But notwithstanding the brevity of the Bible record of the period embraced in Genesis, and the dearth of 1 That hooks — that is, writings in manuscript — existed before the time of Moses, is evident from the frequent allusions to writings and to books in the Bible. Thus, Exodus, xvii. 14, "Jehovah said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in the book," etc. Inscriptions on ancient tombs, etc., prove that the Egyptians had writings long before the time of Moses. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 3 materials that might be expected from a subject so remote in time, the account is one from wliich scientific and theological investigation have ga'thered much valua ble aud interesting information. It opens up questions upon whicli volumes have been written, and with the answers to wliich the average student of history, as well as the learned scientist, must have much familiarity. It would be foreign to the character of the present work to attempt to show by what details of investigation, or with what degree of certainty, these questions have been answered. But it is well known that the conviction which once prevailed, alike among Christians and a cer tain class of unbelievers, that the discoveries of geology are at variance with the statements recorded in Genesis, has been in great part removed. It is now conceded by theologians of the highest authority that geology has explained the true meaning of such indefinite portions of Bible narrative as relate to the antiquity of the earth and the antiquity of the human race ; and has proven, as well, that in other important respects, where the most serious variances existed, there is now full and complete harmony between the works of Nature and the truths of Revelation. It has been remarked by an eminent writer, that there cannot be "a conflict between the story which God has written on his works and what he has recorded in his written Word; Although this is true, human reason is not infallible, and differences still exist between the scientist and the theologian. There are yet many mys teries to be solved in each field of inquiry, and one in vestigator may reach conclusions which another cannot reconcile with his honest conceptions of the truth. But experience teaches that, as knowledge advances, these differences will become less and less; and we have every reason to believe that the discoveries of science will in 4 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. time be found to be the true interpreters of all indefi nite records of Holy Writ that relate to the antiquity and formation of the globe that we inhabit, and to the dawn of human history. . IL THE MOSAIC ACCOUNT OF THE CREATION. The Bible account — or Mosaic account, as it is often called — of the great work of creation, opens with the simple but sublime declaration, "/w the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." It is the announce ment of a truth which no human reasoning could have discovered — one that proclaims the omnipotence of the Creator ; and it rises in solitary grandeur above all the theories of ancient philosophy concerning the origin of the universe. It carries the mind back to that period pf creative power whose distance it cannot measure, when nothing existed that now is, except the Deity himself, who alone inhabited the solitudes of eternity. The divine record next opens to us a view of the con dition of the universe as it may have remained for myr iads of ages after the " beginning " already referred to. "We are told that "the earth was without form, and void;" it was a*shapeless, chaotic mass, shrouded in a mantle of darkness ; and as neither sun nor stars had yet appeared, we may conjecture that chaos still reigned throughout the vast expanse of creation. In the lan guage of one of the heathen poets, who was describing the mythological belief of his time, in strange accord with the Bible relation : One was the face of Nature, if a face ; Eather a rude and indigested mass ; A lifeless lump, unfashioned and unframed, Of jarring elements, and Chaos named. Ovid, by Dkyden. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 5 The First Day.— We read that " the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters;" and this is fol lowed by the brief declaration, "And God said, Let there be light, and there was light"1 — a passage which the heathen writer Longinus declares to be the most sublime sentence ever written, and of which Lord Kames says : "It is scarcely possible, in fewer words, to convey so clear an image of the infinite power of Deity." 'Twas done — the Almighty breathed the word, And Nature started as she heard ; Her realms that searching whisper filled, No height but shook, no depth but thrilled. 'Twas done — grim Darkness sullen spread Her late black-mantling wing, and fled. n. Michell. With the distinction of the light and the darkness into Day and Night — caused, as some have supposed, by the revolution of the earth on its axis — the "first day" of creation closes. The Second Day. — It was during the second day that order began to be evolved out of chaos on the earth that we now inhabit ; for God then separated the waters on the earth from the waters or cloudy vapor above it, by placing in their midst a firmament, which he "stretched out as a curtain," to divide the one from the other. We gaze overhead Where his hand hath spread For the waters of Heaven that crystal bed, 1 It is not stated that God created light ; and the declaration, " Let light be," is in full accordance with the advanced scientific view (the undulatory theory) of the phenomena that we call light. Instead of light being a sub stance — composed of infinitely minute material particles — as was long sup posed, it is now believed to be an effect produced upon the organ of vision by the vibratory motion of some subtle fluid that pervades all space. If this theory be the true one, light could not have been created. It exists as a. force, not as a material agent. 6 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. And stored the dew In its deeps of blue, Which the fires of the sun come tempered through. A tapestried tent To shade us meant, From the bare everlasting firmament ; When the blaze of the skies Comes soft to our eyes Through a veil of mystical imageries. Thos. Whttehead. This crystal firmament, through which the sun, moon, and stars are seen, God called Heaven, by which name it is popularly known to this day, and in this sense it is used by the poet when lie says, The spacious firmament on high, With all the blue, ethereal sky, And spangled heavens, a shining frame, Their great Original proclaim. The Third Day. — On the third day, at the command of the same infinite Power, the waters rolled together into tlieir appointed places, forming seas and oceans— and the dry land appeared. Then the mysteries of veg etable life began to start into being ; beautiful shrubs and flowers adorned the fields, lofty trees waved in the forests, and grasses covered the ground with verdure. The Fourth Day. — We learn that, although prior to the fourth day of creation, light existed, yet it was on the fourth day that God said, " Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night;" that is, as some have interpreted the passage, "Let the light of the sun and of the moon now shine upon the earth, which shall no longer be hidden by the mists of cloudy vapor that have hitherto obscured it." Then THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 7 those "two great lights" that rule, the one the day and the other the night, stood forth visible in the heavens; the planets went wheeling on their courses ; and the stars, those gems of evening, shone forth in all their glory. Science has proved that our sun belongs to fhat beautiful zone of stars known as " The Milky Way," but placed near its outer rim- One of that mass of stars which throw A milky blaze across the sky, Curved like the hunter's graceful bow, And stretching tow'rd infinity ; So rich, so beautiful the zone, As if some hand o'er heaven had thrown Myriads of pearls that softly shone ; Or angels, with fine, glittering ore, Had paved the broad, cerulean floor, Down-sloping from the Eternal's throne — One of the lights of that fair band, But burning near the glimmering rim, Where stars spread scantier and more dim — Our sun flashed forth at God's command. Mi'ohell. Then was the harmony of the spheres revealed, when, in the language of the patriarch Job, " the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." These words of Job are beautifully paraphrased in the Song of the Stars, by one of our favorite American poets, after the following descriptive introduction : When the radiant morn of creation broke, And the world in the smile of God awoke, And the empty realms of darkness and death Were moved through their depths by his mighty breath, And orbs of beauty, and spheres of flame, From the void abyss by myriads came, In the joy of youth as they darted away Through the widening wastes of space to play, 8 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Their silver voices in chorus rung — And this was the song the bright ones sung : SONG OP THE STARS. . "Away, away ! through the wide, wide sky, The fair blue fields that before us lie, Each sun, with the worlds that around us roll, Each planet, poised on her turning pole, With her isles of green, and her clouds of white, And her waters that lie like fluid light. " For the Source of glory uncovers his face, And the brightness o'erfiows unbounded space; And we drink, as we go, the luminous tides In our ruddy air and our blooming sides. Lo ! yonder the living splendors play : — Away on our joyous path, away !" After several more verses of this beautiful song, the poet closes with a rapturous address to the stars them selves : Glide on in your beauty, ye youthful spheres, To weave the dance that measures the years. Glide on, in the glory and gladness sent To the farthest wall of the firmament — The boundless visible smile of Him To the veil of whose brow your lamps are dim. Bryant. The Fifth Day. — When the waters had been gath ered into rivers, seas, and oceans — when the clear firma ment was spread abroad over the dry land, and the veg etable world had clothed the hills, the plains, and the valleys with beauty, the fifth great act of creative power was made manifest in the first calling of animal life into being. Then " God created great whales," and other monsters of the deep, whose buried remains are their only history; then the finny tribes sported in their THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 9 native element, and the birds of heaven filled the air with melody. The Sixth Day. — As yet the land itself was tenant- less of inhabitants ;• but a profuse vegetation had already prepared it for those forms of living creatures adapted to its condition ; and we learn that, on the sixth day, God called into being the cattle that pasture on a thou sand hills, the wild beasts of the forest and the desert, and " every thing that creepeth upon the earth after its kind." There were not only monsters of the land and of the waters — "huge leviathan," the mammoth, and the lion, monarch of the wilds— but the infinitely little, also — the minute monads, and creatures of like nature, in count less myriads, whose forms and movements are far be neath the power of unaided vision to discern. Surely, a God is as fully manifest in the least as in the greatest of the works of creation. To Him no high, no low, no great, no small ; He fills, he bounds, connects, and equals all. Pope. Thus the earth, the air, and the waters were filled with busy life. The world was finished : Order's lyre Charmed Nature's soul with notes of fire ; On land, on sea, through realms of air, All was harmonious, all was fair. Michell. But creation, though perfect thus far, was not com plete, and, as its crowning act, at the close of the sixth day " God created Man in his own image ; male and female created he them." And he gave them intelli gence such as he had not given to the beasts that perish; and he made them to discern between good and evil. And God blessed them, and gave them " dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over 1* 10 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. every living thing that moveth upon the earth." In conclusion, we are told that " God saw every thing that he had made ; and behold, it was very good," for crea tion was then one harmonious whole. From harmony — from heavenly harmony — This universal frame began ; From harmony to harmony, Through all the compass of the notes it ran, The diapa'son1 ending full in Man. Dryden. III. THE MILTONIC ACCOUNT OF THE CREATION. In the seventh book of Milton's grand epic of Para dise Lost, one of the noblest monuments of human gen ius — in which the Scripture record is adopted as the ba sis of the story of man's disobedience, and the loss, there upon, of Paradise — the angel Raphael is represented as relating to Adam how and wherefore this world of ours was created. It is the Son, who, with glory and attend ance of angels, is commissioned by the Almighty to be the author of the new creation, and to what the Almighty spake, His WofB, the filial Godhead, gave effect. The following is the angel's august description of the work of the first day, before which time the discordant elements of chaos reigned : Heaven opened wide Her ever-during gates — harmonious sound — On golden hinges moving, to Jet forth The King of Glory, in his powerful Word And Spirit coming to create new worlds. On heavenly ground they stood ; and from the shore 1 Diapa'son, the entire compass of the tones in music. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 11 They viewed tho vast, immeasurable abyss, Outrageous as a sea, dark, wasteful, wild, Up from the bottom turned by furious winds And surging waves, as mountains to assault Heaven's height, and with the centre mix the pole. " Silence, ye troubled waves, and thou deep, peace !" Said then the omnific Word ; " your discord end 1" Nor stayed, but, on the wings of cherubim Uplifted, in paternal glory rode Far into chaos, and the world unborn ; For Chaos hoard his voice : him all his train Followed in bright procession, to behold Creation, and the wonders of his might. Then stayed the fervid wheels, and in his hand He took the golden compasses, prepared In God's eternal store, to circumscribe This universe, and all created things : One foot he centred, and the other turned Bound through the vast profundity obscure, And said, "Thus far extend, thus far thy bounds; This be thy just circumference, O world !" Thus God the heaven created, thus the earth, Matter unformed and void ; darkness profound Covered the abyss; but on the watery calm His brooding wings the Spirit of God outspread, And vital virtue infused, and vital warmth Throughout the fluid mass. Then founded, then conglobed Like things to like, the rest to several place Disparted, and between spun out the air ; And earth, self-balanced, on her centre hung. "Let there be light!" said God; and forthwith light Ethereal, first of things, quintessence pure, Sprung from the deep, and, from her native East, To journey through the airy gloom began, Sphered in a radiant cloud ; for yet the sun Was not : she in a cloudy tabernacle 12 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Sojourned the while. God saw the light was good, And light from darkness by the hemisphere Divided : light the day, and darkness night, He named. Thus was the first day, even aud morn ; Nor passed uncelebrated, nor unsung By the celestial choirs, when orient light Exhaling first from darkness they beheld, Birthday of heaven and earth : with joy and shout The hollow universal orb they filled, And touched their golden harps, and, hymning, praised God and his works : Creator him they sung, Both when first evening was, and when first morn. The angel describes the creation of the firmament as the work of the second day — Partition firm and sure, The waters underneath from those above Dividing ; then the work of the three succeeding days, concluding with the following account of the creation of man on the sixth day, and the re-ascension of the Son — the Creator — into heaven : There wanted yet the master-work, the end Of all yet done ; a creature who, not prone And brute as other creatures, but endued With sanctity of reason, might erect His stature, and, upright, with front serene, Govern the rest, self-knowing ; and from thence Magnanimous to correspond with Heaven, But grateful to acknowledge whence his good Descends, thither with heart, and voice, and eyes Directed in devotion, to adore And worship God supreme, who made him chief Of all his works : therefore the Omnipotent Eternal Father (for where is not he THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 13 Present?) thus to his Son audibly spake: "Let us make now man in our image, man In our similitude ; and let them rule Over the fish and fowl of sea and air, Beast of the field, and over all the earth, And every creeping thing that creeps the ground." This said, he formed thee, Adam, thee, O man, Dust of the ground, and in thy nostrils breathed The breath of life ; in his own image he Created thee, in the image of God Express, and thou becainest a living soul. Male he created thee, but thy consort Female, for race ; then blessed mankind, and said, "Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. Subdue it, and, throughout, dominion hold Over fish of the sea, and fowl of the air, And every living thing that moves on the earth." He brought thee into this delicious grove, This garden planted with the trees of God, Delectable both to behold and taste ; And freely all their pleasant fruit for food Gave thee ; all sorts are here that all the earth yields, Variety without end ; but of the tree Which, tasted, works knowledge of good and evil, Thou may'st not; "in the day thou eatost thou diest." Here finished he, and all that he had made Viewed, and, behold, all was entirely good. So even and morn accomplished the sixth day, Yet not till the Creator, from his work Desisting, though unwearied, up returned — Up to the heaven of heavens, his high abode — Thence to behold this new-created world, The addition of his empire, how it showed In prospect from his throne, how good, how fair, Answering his great idea. Up he rode, Followed with acclamation, and the sound Symphonious of ten thousand harps, that tuned 14 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Angelic harmonies : the earth, the air Resounded (thou rememberest, for thou heard'st) ; •The heavens and all the constellations rung ; The planets in their station listening stood, While the bright pomp ascended jubilant. " Open, ye everlasting gates !" they sung. " Open, ye heavens, your living doors ! let in The great Creator, from his work returned Magnificent, his six days' work a world! Open, and henceforth oft ; for God will deign To visit oft the dwellings of just men, Delighted, and with frequent intercourse Thither will send his winged messengers On errands of supernal grace." Among the many other poetical views of the Creation that take the simple Bible record as their basis, is that of the distinguished American writer and divine, Timo thy Dwight, from whose epic, entitled The Conquest of Canaan, we take the following account of the scene which met the gaze of the Creator as lie cast his eye into chaos, mid of the beginning of the wonder ful changes which his voice produced in that desolate waste : « From realms divine, high raised beyond all height, The Almighty Parent cast his piercing sight; With boundless view he saw the ethereal vast, A clouded gloom, an undelightsome waste : Around the extended wild no sun's broad ray Marked the clear splendor of immortal day ; No varying moon, ordained at eve to rise, Led the full pomp of constellated skies ; No day in circling beauty learned to roll ; No fair spring smiled, nor frost congealed the pole ; Substantial darkness space unmeasured filled, And Nature's realms lay desolate and wild. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 15 He spoke ! At once o'er earth's far distant bounds The heavens, wide-arching, stretched their sapphire rounds ; With hoary cliffs the far-seen hills ascend — Down sink the vales, and wide the plains, extend ; Headlong from steep to steep the billows roar, Fill the broad main, and toss against the shore. IV. A GEOLOGICAL VIEW OF THE CREATION. As the sacred historian declares that, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," and then pro ceeds with an account of the six days' work of creation, the supposition was long entertained that the first act of creative power in calling the materials of the universe into being, immediately preceded the six days' work of ordering, arranging, and beautifying them as they now exist. But it is not stated how long it was after "the beginning," that "the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters," and began the work of creation. More over, the time attributed to the creation of our globe has long been a vexed question, and tlie meaning of the word " days," employed in the Bible record, has not yet been settled beyond doubt in the minds of the learned. While there are many who still adhere to the theory of a creation in six literal days, it is now the general opinion of both scientists and theologians that the mod ern science of geology has unveiled the true meaning of the divine record, and that the "six days" are to be reckoned as so many indefinite periods of time. It is asserted that He who knew all things from the beginning, Who intended to create an abode for man, to be ready for his use at some particular period of time, and with whom " a thousand years are to be reckoned as one day," may have Called the original elements of that abode into being myriads of ages before, and may have been grad- 16 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. ually forming them into a habitable world, instead of ac complishing the whole in a moment of time, or even in six natural days, by the word of his power. In order to prove that the calling of order out of chaos, and the building up of the framework of our globe were gradual, whicli the record in Genesis does not in the least contravene, geology points to the different layers, or strata, of which the earth's crust, to the extent of some ten miles in depth, is composed, and which present the strongest evidence of having been formed by the slow process of causes that were in operation during the un known ages which preceded the creation of man. Ge ology divides the history of our globe into five great periods, which may be classified as follows : The first in the order of time is the " Primary Period," in which we find, far down in the earth, a vast layer, of ¦ unknown depth, of what are called the primary or un- stratified rocks, of which the enduring granite is the most abundant. This rock has the appearance of having been fused by intense heat, and no traces of plants or animals are found in it. By some great convulsion of the globe it has been thrown up from the bowels of the earth, and is now seen rising to the greatest heights, and stretching out into mountain chains. A Scotch poet draws the following picture of that portion of the pri mary period of the world's history, in which he supposes that the earth's crust had cooled down sufficiently to permit the existence of a sea with waves and currents, but before any sun or moon had been made to shine upon the desolate scene: The awful walls of shadows round might dusky mountains seem, But never holy light hath touched an outline with its gleam ; 'Tis but the eye's bewildered sense that fain would rest on form, And make night's thick blind presence to created shapes con form. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 17 No stone is moved on mountain here by creeping creature crossed, No lonely harper comes to harp upon this fiery coast: Here all is solemn idleness — no music here, no jars — Where silence guards the coast ere thrill her everlasting bars ; No sun here shines on wanton isles ; but o'er the burning sheet A rim of restless halo shakes, which marks the internal heat ; As in the days of beauteous earth we see, with dazzled sight, The red and setting sun o'erflow with rings of welling light. Thomas Aird. Above the Primary is what is called the " Transition Period" of rocky strata — a transition from a sterile waste to the first faint traces of the beginnings of animal and vegetable life, such as shells and corals, a few fishes, tri- lobites, and the fragmentary remains of a few plants — all transformed into stone. The next is the " Secondary Period," in which are first found the important coal de posits, and all the evidences of a luxuriant tropical vege tation. Here are also found evidences of the existence of monster reptiles, of which there exist no species at the present time. The fourth in this upward series of rocky formations is tlie " Tertiary Period," of vast and indefinite extent, whose vegetable and animal forms link together the past and the present. The fifth — the upper most of the series — is the " Modern Period," embracing the two eras of Drift and Alluvium, the former of whicli has been described by an eminent geologist as " a foun dering land under a severe sky, beaten by tempests ahd lashed by tides, with glaciers half choking up its cheer less valleys, and with countless icebergs brushing its coasts, and grating over its shallows." In this fifth pe riod are found the first traces of man and his works. Each of the numerous strata found in these several periods bears evidence of having been formed by the slow action of the elements in the wearing away of the rocks, 18 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. and the deposit of their fragments in the waters of the ocean, or in inland seas, where, in the long process of ages, they became hardened into stone. During these indefinite periods numerous species and generations of plants and animals lived and perished ; and thus each great geological division appears to mark an important era in the world's history, when some great convulsion of the' globe, or other cause, destroyed tlie living races, and gave place to a new existence of animal and vegeta ble life ; so that, some half a dozen times at least, the earth appears to have changed its outer form and its inhabitants. It has been supposed by some that the statements given in Genesis as the basis of the narrative of the " six days' " work of creation, may have been imparted to the sacred historian in a connected series of so many prophetic visions — a kind of diorama which passed be fore the prophet Moses — unfolding to him, in this in spired manner, the record of the works of the Almighty. The celebrated geologist, Hugh Miller — a Christian and a scholar — has drawn a portraiture of this supposed vi sion in language so beautiful that it should be inserted here. He supposes the "first day" to represent that " Primary Period," ushered in by the first morn which dawned after a long night of chaos : THE VISION OF MOSES. The First Day. — " Let us suppose that the creative vision took place far from man, in an untrodden recess of the Midian desert, ere yet the vision of the burning bush had been vouchsafed, and that, as in the vision of St. John in Patmos, voices were mingled with scenes, and the ear as certainly addressed as the eye. A 'great darkness7 first falls upon the prophet, like that which in an earlier age fell upon Abraham, but without the 'hor- THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 19 ror;' and, as the Divine Spirit moves on the face of the wildly-troubled waters, like a visible aurora enveloped by the pitchy cloud, the great doctrine is orally enunci ated, that 'in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.' "Unreckoned ages, condensed in the vision into a few brief moments, pass away ; the creative voice is again heard, 'Let there be light,' and straightway a gray dif fused light springs up in the east, and, casting its sickly gleam over a cloud-limited expanse of steaming, vapor ous sea, journeys through the heavens toward the west; One heavy, sunless day is made the representative of myriads : the faint light waxes fainter — it sinks beneath the dim, undefined horizon ; the first scene of the drama closes upon the seer; and he sits awhile on his hill-top in darkness, solitary, but not sad, in what seems to be a calm and starless night." The Second Day. — The second day is supposed to open about the close of the Transition Period, when only a few plants and marine animals had appeared, and the view of the prophet rested upon a dark waste of troubled waters : " The light again brightens : it is day ; and over an expanse of ocean without visible bound the horizon has become wider and sharper of outline than before. There is life in that great sea — invertebrate, mayhap also ich- thyic life; but from the comparative distance of the point of view occupied by the prophet, only the slow roll of its waves can be discerned, as they rise and fall in long undulations before a gentle gale; and what most strongly impresses the eye is the change which has taken place in the atmospheric scenery. "That lower stratum of the heavens occupied in the previous vision by seething steam, or gray, smoke-like fog, is clear and transparent ; and only in an upper 20 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. region, where the previously invisible vapor of the tepid sea has thickened in the cold, do the clouds appear. But there, in the higher strata of the atmosphere, they lie, thick and manifold, an upper sea of great waves, sepa rated from those beneath by the transparent firmament, and, like them too, impelled in rolling masses by the wind. A mighty advance has taken place in creation ; but its most conspicuous optical sign is the existence of a transparent atmosphere, of a firmament stretched out over the earth, that separates the waters above from the waters below. But darkness descends for the third time upon the seer, for the evening and the morning have completed the second day." The Third Day. — The third day is supposed to have dawned upon that early part of the Secondary Period} when the Carboniferous era had covered the earth with a wonderfully gigantic and abundant vegetation : > " Yet again the light rises under a canopy of cloud ; but the scene has changed, and there is no longer an um broken expanse of sea. The white surf breaks, at the distant horizon, on an insulated reef, formed mayhap by the Silurian or old red coral zoophytes ages before, dur ing the by-gong yesterday, and beats in long lines of foam, nearer at hand, against a low, winding shore, the seaward barrier of a widely spread country. For at the Divine command the land has arisen from the deep; not inconspicuously and in scattered islets, as at an ear lier time, but in extensive, though flat and marshy con tinents, little raised over the sea-level ; and a yet farther fiat has covered them with the great Carboniferous flora. " The scene is one of mighty forests of cone-bearing trees — of palms, and tree ferns, and gigantic club mosses on the opener slopes, and of great reeds clustering by the sides of quiet lakes and dark rolling rivers. There is deep gloom in the recesses of the thicker woods, and . THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 21 low, thick mists creep along the dank marsh or sluggish stream. But there is a general lightening of the sky overhead ; and, as the day declines, a redder flush than had hitherto lighted up the prospect falls athwart fern- covered bank and long-withdrawing glade." The Fourth Day. — The fourth day is supposed to have dawned upon the middle of the Secondary Period — perhaps the Saliferous era — and the vision, like that of the second day, pertains not to the earth but to the heavens; as the vast mantle of cloud and dense vapor that had hitherto enveloped the earth had then disap peared, and the sun, moon, and stars may be supposed to have first become visible to the prophet : "And while the fourth evening has fallen on the prophet, he becomes sensible, as it wears on, and the fourth dawn approaches, that yet another change has taken place. The Creator has spoken, and the stars look out from openings of deep unclouded blue; and as day rises, and the planet of morning pales in the east, the broken cloudlets are transmuted from bronze into gold, and anon- the gold becomes fire, and at length the glori ous sun rises out of the sea and enters on his course re joicing. It is a brilliant day ; the waves, of a deeper and softer hue than before, dance and sparkle in the light; the earth, with little else to attract the gaze, has assumed a garb of brighter green ; and as the sun de clines amid even richer glories than those which had encircled his rising, the moon appears full-orbed in the east — to the human eye the second great luminary of the heavens — and climbs slowly to the zenith as night advances, shedding its mild radiance on land and sea." The Fifth Day. — The vision of the fifth day may be supposed to open upon the latter part of the Secondary Period, the "Age of Eeptiles :" "Again the day breaks; the prospect consists, as be- 22 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. fore, of land and ocean. There are great pine woods, reed- covered swamps, wide plains, winding rivers, and broad lakes ; and a bright sun shines over all. But the landscape derives its interest and novelty from a feature unmarked before. Gigantic birds stalk along the sands, or wade far into the water in quest of tlieir ichthyic food ; while birds of lesser size float upon the lakes, or scream discordant in hovering flocks, thick as insects in the calm of a summer evening, over the narrower seas, or brighten with the sunlit gleam of their wings the thick woods. "And ocean has its monsters : great tanninim tem pest the deep as they heave their huge bulk over the surface to inhale the life-sustaining air; and out of their nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a 'seething pot or cal dron.' Monstrous creatures armed in massive scales haunt the rivers, or scour the flat, rank meadows ; earth, air, and water are charged with animal life; and the sun sets on a busy scene, in which unerring, instinct pursues unremittingly its few simple ends, the support and pres ervation of the individual, the propagation of the species, and the protection and maintenance of the young:" The Sixth Day. — The vision of the sixth day may be supposed to <*pen near the close of the Tertiary Pe riod, when gigantic mammals possessed the earth. To the evening of this sixth day, in the eras of the Drift and Alluvium, man belongs — at once the last created of terrestrial creatures, and infinitely beyond comparison tlie most elevated in the scale ; and with man's appear ance on the scene the days of creation end, and the divine Sabbath begins: "Again the night descends, for the fifth day has closed ; and morning breaks on the sixth and last day of creation. Cattle and beasts of the fields graze on the plains; the thick-skinned rhinoceros wallows in the THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 23 marshes ; the squat hippopotamus rustles among the reeds, or plunges sullenly into the river; great herds of elephants seek their food amid the young herbage of the woods ; while animals of fiercer nature — the lion, the leopard, and the bear — harbor in deep caves till the evening, or lie in wait for their prey amid tangled thickets or beneath some broken bank. "At length, as the day wanes and the shadows length en, man, the responsible lord of creation, formed in God's own image, is introduced upon the scene, and the work of creation ceases forever upon the earth. The night falls once more upon the prospect, and there dawns yet another morrow — the morrow of God's rest — that divine Sabbath in which there is no more crea tive labor, and which, 'blessed and sanctified' beyond all the days that had gone before, has as its special ob ject the moral elevation and redemption of man. And over it no evening is represented in tlie record as fall ing, for its special work is not yet complete. " Such seems to have been the sublime panorama of creation exhibited in vision of old to ' The shepherd who first taught the chosen seed In the beginning how the heavens and earth Eose out of chaos ;' and, rightly understood, I know not a single scientific truth that militates against even the minutest or least prominent of its details." But whichever of the foregoing views of the Creation may be deemed the most probable, it is a truth that the general account which we gather from the Bible is cor roborated, in a most striking manner, by numerous an cient legends found in nearly all nations; in addition to which, recent discoveries in ancient Chaldean literature, deciphered from tablets and cylinders brought from the 24 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Iong-buried palaces and public buildings of Assyria, go far to prove that all these accounts must have been an echo from primitive revelation, perhaps in the Garden of Eden. " The glow of these earliest days," says Dr. Geikie, " lingered in the sky long after the sun had set." The works which the great Creator called into being " in the beginning," and brought into order out of chaos during the " days " set apart for the fashioning of our earthly dwelling-place, still bear testimony to his wis dom, his power, and his goodness. " Their sound is gone out into all lands, and their voices into the ends of the world." Reflecting on the phenomena of creation, the mind recalls the impressive words of the poet : My heart is awed within me when I think Of the great miracle which still goes on In silence round me — the perpetual work Of Thy Creation, finished, yet renewed Forever. Bryant. V. ADAM AND EVE.— THEIE DISOBEDIENCE, AND THE PUNISHMENT THAT FELL UPON MANKIND. Resuming, now, the sacred narrative, we find that the Almighty, having created man, placed him in a garden planted in Eden, which seemed to abound in everything that could minister to his happiness. Yet it was "not good that the man should be alone" — without human fellowship — so the Almighty created woman to be his helpmeet and companion. The poet Campbell draws a striking picture of the loneliness that probably prevail ed in Paradise before the advent of woman. He says : Till Hymen brought his love-delighted hour, There dwelt no joy in Eden's rosy bower ! In vain the viewless seraph, lingering there, At starry midnight charmed the silent air ; THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 25 In vain the wild-bird carolled on the steep, To hail the sun, slow wheeling from the deep ; In vain, to soothe the solitary shade, Aerial notes in mingling measure played — The summer wind that shook the spangled tree, The whispering wave, the murmur of the bee ; Still slowly passed the melancholy day, And still the stranger wist not where to stray. The world was sad ! the garden was a wild ! And man, the hermit, sighed — till woman smiled ! The man was named Adam, and the woman Eve. What the exact condition of our first parents was we are not told; but it seems clear that they were exempt from death, and that their personal intercourse with their Creator was frequent and familiar. As Wordsworth expresses it : Upon the breast of new-created earth Man walked ; and when or wheresoe'er he moved, Alone or mated, solitude was not. He heard, borne on the wind, the articulate voice Of God ; and angels to his sight appeared, Crowning the glorious hills of Paradise, Or through the groves gliding like morning mist Enkindled by the sun. He sat and talked With winged messengers, who daily brought To his small island in the ethereal deep Tidings of joy and love. But their purity and innocence were soon succeeded by sin and misery. From those pure heights Fell Humankind, — to banishment condemned, That flowing years repealed not ; and distress And grief spread wide. As a test of the love and obedience of Adam and Eve, the Almighty commanded them not to eat of the tree I.-2 26 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. of the knowledge of good and evil, which grew in the garden, and told them that if they partook of the fruit thereof they should surely die. 'Mid Eden's groves the tree of glory stood, That taught the unaltered bounds of ill and good ; Its fruit, all beauteous to the ravished eye, Denied to man, and sacred to the sky — Denied alone ; a boundless store was given, Food for bright angels, transcript fair of heaven. And thus the law : " If vain desire to taste Prompt thee, rebellious, to the dire repast, Hear, hear, O man ! On that tremendous day Thy life, thy bliss, thy virtue pass away ! No more the heir of endless joys refined, But guilty, wretched, to the dust consigned; Toil here thy lot, thine end the dreary tomb, And hopeless anguish thine eternal doom !" Dwight's Conquest of Canaan. How long Adam and Eve observed this prohibition we are not informed ; but we learn that Satan, called the adversary of souls, tempted Eve in the disguise of a serpent. Deceived by his delusions, and ambitious to know good and evil, she ate of the forbidden fruit, and induced Adam#to eat of it also. Milton, in Paradise Lost, represents that Eve, pleased with the taste of the fruit, urged Adam to partake of it, and that Adam at first refused, but, perceiving that Eve was lost, he re solved to perish with her. In the ardor of his affection he addressed her as follows : O fairest of creation, last and best Of all God's works ! creature in whom excelled Whatever can to sight or thought be formed, Holy, divine, good, amiable, or sweet ! How art thou lost ! how on a sudden lost, Defaced, deflowered, and now to death devote 1 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 27 Rather, how hast thou yielded to transgress The strict forbiddance, how to violate The sacred fruit forbidden ! Some cursed fraud Of enemy hath beguiled thee, yet unknown, And me with thee hath ruined ; for with thee Certain my resolution is to die. How can I live without thee 2 how forego Thy sweet converse and love, so dearly joined, To live again in these wild woods forlorn ? Should God create another Eve, and I Another rib afford, yet loss of thee Would never from my heart. No, no ! I feel The link of nature draw me : flesh of flesh, Bone of my bone thou art, and from thy state Mine never shall be parted, bliss or woe. The awful sentence of condemnation quickly followed the act of disobedience. Unto the woman were appoint ed peculiar sorrows and trials, and upon the man was pronounced this curse : " Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it : cursed is the ground for thy sake ; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life : * * * In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground ; for out of it wast thou taken : for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." But in the midst of judgment God remembered mercy, and, in the words, " The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head," promised for Adam's transgression an atonement that should avert the penal consequences of the fall. The sacred narrative records that the Almighty drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, and placed a flaming sword at its gate, to keep the way of tlie tree of life. Milton represents that God sent the arch angel Michael to execute this decree, who, first leading 28 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Adam up to the summit of a high hill, set before him, in a vision, the events that should take place before the flood should drown a sinful world. Thus Adam, guided by the angel, first beheld The effects which his original crime had wrought In some to spring from him, who never touched The excepted tree, nor with the snake conspired, Nor sinned his sin, yet from that sin derive Corruption to bring forth more violent deeds. The vision presented by the archangel first opens to Adam the event which, in the Bible narrative, next fol lows that of the banishment from, the garden, namely, the memorable sacrificial scene between Cain and Abel", the two sons of Adam, in which Cain rose up against his brother Abel and slew him. Witnessing this scene, and others that present to him the sufferings of human ity through " the inabstinence of Eve," Adam breaks forth, in sorrow and anguish : And have I now seen Death? Is this the way I must return to native dust? O sight Of terror, foul and ugly to behold! Horrid to think ! how horrible to feel ! But is there yet no other way, besides These painful passages, how we may come To death, and mix with our connatural dust? To this Michael makes answer, setting forth the precepts of temperance, and enforcing them with one of the most beautiful figures of speech ever penned : There is (said Michael), if thou wilt observe The rule of not too much, by temperance taught, In what thou eatest and drinkest, seeking from thence • Due nourishment, not gluttonous delight, Till many years over thy head return. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 29 So mayest thou live, till, like ripe fruit, thou drop Into thy mother's lap, or be with ease Gathered, not harshly plucked, for death mature. VI. THE HISTORY OF CAIN AND ABEL. Cain was a tiller of the ground, and Abel was a shep herd. Their dispositions were as different as their occu pations. Cain was haughty, envious, and revengeful; while Abel was meek, humble, and pious. " In process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof." The poet Byron, in his extraordinary and somewhat objectionable drama entitled Cain, a Mystery, puts into the mouth of Abel, as he kneels before the altar he had erected, the sentiments which he supposes that pious and reverent man expressed when he presented his of fering : OGod! Who made us, and who breathed the breath of life Within our nostrils ; who hath blessed us, And spared, despite our father's sin, to make His children all lost, as they might have been, Had not thy justice been so tempered with The mercy which is thy delight as to Accord a pardon like a paradise, Compared with our great crimes ! — Sole Lord of light, Of good, and glory, and eternity, Without whom all were evil, and with whom Nothing can err, except to some good end Of thine omnipotent benevolence — Inscrutable, but still to be fulfilled — Accept from out thy humble first of shepherd's 30 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. First of the first-born flocks — an offering, In itself nothing — as what offering can be Aught unto thee ? — but yet accept it for The thanksgiving of him who spreads it in The face of thy high heaven, bowing his own Even to the dust, of which he is, in honor Of thee and of thy name, for evermore ! The poet then represents the haughty and irreverent Cain, in marked contrast with the humble trust and be lief of Abel, standing erect before the Lord, andjn the spirit of captious reasoning and infidel doubt, thus ad dressing the Deity : Spirit ! whate'er or whosoe'er thou art ; Omnipotent, it may be ; and, if good, Shown in the exemption of thy deeds from evil ; Jehovah upon earth ! and God in heaven ! And it may be with other names, because Thine attributes seem many, as thy works — If thou must be propitiated with prayers, Take them ! If thou must be induced with altars, And soften'd with a sacrifice, receive them ! Two beings here erect them unto thee. If thou loVst blood, the shepherd's shrine, which smokes On my right hand, hath shed it for thy service, In the first of his flock, whose limbs now reek In sanguinary incense to thy skies ; Or, if the sweet and blooming fruits of earth, And milder seasons, which the unstain'd turf I spread them on now offers in the face Of the broad sun which ripen'd them, may seem Good to thee, inasmuch as they have not Suffer'd in limb or life, and rather form A sample of thy works, than supplication To look on ours ; — if a shrine without victim, And altar without gore, may win thy favor, THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 31 Look on it ! and for him who dresseth it, He is — such as thou mad'st him ; and seeks nothing Which must be won by kneeling. If he's evil, Strike him ! thou art omnipotent, and may'st — For what can he oppose ? If he be good, Strike him, or spare him, as thou wilt ! since all Rests upon thee ; and good and evil seem To have no power themselves, save in thy will; And whether that be good or ill I know not, Not being omnipotent, nor fit to judge Omnipotence ; but merely to endure Its mandate — which thus far I have endured. Abel's offering was accepted, but " unto Cain, and to his offering, the Lord had not respect." Filled with rage at the favor thus shown to his brother, Cain, in stead of endeavoring to obtain similar grace by repent ance, rose up against his innocent brother and slew him. Earth shuddered when the cruel deed was done ; Heaven heard that righteous blood in silence crying; By that first death a martyr's crown was won. He died — but, like a vapor upward flying, Caught the slant beams of our Unrisen Sun, And, he being dead, yet speaks of Jesus dying. R. Wilton. The crime of Cain was followed by his immediate punishment. He heard a voice ; he hid among the trees. " Where is thy brother?" From the whirlwind came The voice of God amidst enfolding flame : "Am I my brother's keeper," hoarse and low Cain muttered from the copse, " that I should know ?" Lo ! from the dust the blood of Abel cries : " Curst from the earth that drank his blood ; with toil Thine hand shall plough in vain her barren soil ; 32 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. An exile and a wanderer thou shalt be; A brother's eye shall never look on thee." The shuddering culprit answered, in despair : " Greater the punishment than flesh can bear." "Yet thou shalt bear it; on thy brow revealed Thus be thy sentence and thy safeguard sealed !" Silently, swiftly as the lightning blast, A hand of fire athwart his temples passed ; He ran, as in the terror of a dream, To quench his burning anguish in the stream ; But, bending o'er the brink, the swelling wave Back to the eye his branded visage gave. As soon on murdered Abel durst he look, Yet power to fly his palsied limbs forsook ; There, turned to stone for his presumptuous crime, A monument of wrath to latest time, Might Cain have stood ; but Mercy raised his head In prayer for help ; his strength returned— he fled. James Montgomery. Cain, smitten by the wrath of the Almighty, although Mercy still stayed the avenging rod, "went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden." O, the wrath of *the Lord is a terrible thing ! — Like the tempest that withers the blossoms of spring, Like the thunder that bursts on the summer's domain, It fell on the head of the homicide Cain. And lo ! like a deer in the fright of the chase, With a fire in his heart, and a brand on his face, He speeds him afar to the desert of Nod, A vagabond, smote by the vengeance of God ! Knox. In concluding this sketch of the story of Cain and Abel, we may remark that, while modern literature is full of striking allusions to Bible scenes and incidents, THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 33 perhaps none of them have been oftener used " to point a moral" than this, the first homicide recorded in all history. Shakspeare alone, in a number of instances, alludes to it with very marked effect in giving force to the thought which he wishes to express — the enormity of some deed of violence that he would paint in colors of the deepest dye. Thus, in King Richard II. he makes Bolingbroke say of Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk : That he did plot the Duke of Gloster's death ; And, consequently, like a traitor coward, Sluiced out his innocent soul through streams of blood ; Which blood, like sacrificing Abel's, cries Even from the tongueless caverns of the earth To me for justice. Act I. Scene 1. Again, the curse pronounced upon Cain — "A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth" — is very ob viously in the mind of the poet when he causes Boling broke, now King Henry IV., to address in the following words the courtier Exton, whom he had employed to murder Richard : The guilt of conscience take thou for thy labor, But neither my good word nor princely favor ; With Cain go wander through the shades of night, And never show thy head by day nor light. Act V. Scene 6. In Samlet the King pours forth the strongest feel ings of self-reproach in the following language : O, my offence is rank ; it smells to heaven ; It hath the primal eldest curse upon,t, A brother's murder ! The allusion to the first murderer is again forcibly used in the First Part of King Henry VI, where the poet puts into the mouth of the haughty Cardinal Beau- 2* 34 . MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. fort, in addressing Duke Humphrey, these bold and wrathful lines : Nay, stand thou back ; I will not budge a foot : This be Damascus : be thou cursed Cain, To slay thy brother Abel if thou wilt. It is said that there is a tradition still current among the people of Damascus, that " in that place where Da. mascus was founded Cain slew his brother Abel." It is also said that the name Damascus means "a sack of blood." VII. THE DESCENDANTS OF CAIN AND SETH. The Bible tells us that, in the land to which Cain had fled from the vengeance of the Lord, "he builded a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch." This is the first city of which we have any record; but the Enoch referred to is not 'the Enoch who "walked with God." Poets, deriving their views from some vague traditions, and imagining the land of Nod to have been peopled, in this early period, by a race far advanced in art, have described the first city as vying with the glories of Babylon and Nineveh. Macaulay thus begins his gorgeous descrip tion of the city : From all its threescore gates the light Of gold and steel afar was thrown ; — Two hundred cubits rose, in height, The outer wall of polished stone. On the top was ample space For a gallant chariot race, Near either parapet a bed Of the richest mould was spread, THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 35 Where, amid flowers of every scent and hue, Rich orange-trees, and palms, and giant cedars grew.1 " But this, doubtless," says Dr. Geikie, in his Hours with the Bible, "is mere poetical license. It is much more likely that ' the city ' was simply an aggregate of huts or tents, strengthened against attack from wild beasts by a rude stockade." It is evident, however, that the descendants of Cain were prosperous, and must have acquired some distinc tion in the social arts ; but they lived " without God in the world." One of them, Jabal, was called " the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle," be ing the first, probably, who adopted that mode of life, afterward characteristic of the Eastern nations. Anoth er, Jubal, was " the father of such as handle the harp and organ " — probably the inventor of musical instru ments, and whose skill the poet Dryden pictures in the following lines : When Jubal struck the corded shell His listening brethren stood around, And, wondering, on their faces fell, To worship that celestial sound. Less than a God they thought there could not dwell Within the hollow of that shell, That spoke so sweetly, and so well. And the poet Marvell thus ascribes to him the first use of the powers of music, and the origin of musical instruments : First was the world as one great cymbal made, Where jarring winds to infant Nature played ; 1 "The Marriage of Tirza and Ahirad." Tirzah was the eldest born eon of Seth, and Ahirad was the daughter of Cain. 36 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. All music was a solitary sound, To hollow rocks and murmuring fountains bound. Jubal first made the wilder notes agree, And Jubal tuned Music's jubilee ; Ho called the echoes from their sullen cell, And built the Organ's city where they dwell ; Each sought a consort in that lovely place, And virgin trebles win the manly bass, From whence the progeny of numbers new Into harmonious colonies withdrew : Some to the lute, some to the viol went, And others chose the cornet eloquent ; These' practising the wind, and those the wire, To sing man's triumph, or in heaven's choir. Still another, Tubal - Cain, was " an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron," styled by the poet Cowper " the first artificer of death." He says of him : Soon by a righteous judgment in the line Of his descending progeny was found The first artificer of death ; the shrewd Contriver, who first sweated at the forge, And forced the blunt and yet unblooded steel To a keen edge, and made it bright for war. Him, Tubal named, the Vulcan of old times, The sword and falchion tlieir inventor claim ; And the first smith was the first murderer's son. But Tubal- Cain deserves a higher place in history than that assigned to him by Cowper, for brass and iron may be turned to good as well as to evil purposes, and the later work of the great artificer may have foreshad owed that time of universal peace when " swords shall be beaten into ploughshares, and spears into pfuning- hooks." THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 37 Old Tubal-Cain was a man of might In the days when Earth was young ; By the fierce red light of his furnace bright The. strokes of his hammer rung; And he lifted high his brawny hand On the iron glowing clear, Till the sparks rushed out in scarlet showers, As he fashioned the sword and spear. And he sang : " Hurrah for my handiwork ! Hurrah for the spear and sword ! Hurrah for the hand that shall wield them well, For he shall be king and lord !" To Tubal-Cain came many a one, As he wrought by his roaring fire, And each one prayed for a strong steel blade As the crown of his desire : And he made them weapons sharp and strong Till they shouted loud for glee, And gave him gifts of pearl and gold, And spoils of the forest free. And they sang : " Hurrah for Tubal-Cain, Who has given us strength anew ! Hurrah for the smith, hurrah for the fire, And hurrah for the metal true !" But a sudden change came o'er his heart Ere the setting of the sun, And Tubal-Cain was filled with pain For the evil he had done ; He saw that men, with rage and hate, Made war upon their kind ; That the land was red with the blood they shed, In their lust for carnage blind. And he said: "Alas! that ever I made, Or that skill of mine should plan, The spear and the sword for men whose joy Is to slay their fellow-man !" 38 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. And for many a day old Tubal-Cain Sat brooding o'er his woe ; And his hand forbore to smite the ore, And his furnace smouldered low. But he rose at last with a cheerful face, And a bright, courageous eye, And bared his strong right arm for work, While the quick flames mounted high. And he sang : " Hurrah for my handiwork !" And the red sparks lit the air ; " Not alone for the blade was the bright steel made ;" And he fashioned the first ploughshare. And men, taught wisdom from the past, In friendship joined their hands, Hung the sword in the hall, the spear on the wall, And ploughed the willing lands ; And sang : " Hurrah foi Tubal-Cain ! Our staunch good friend is be ; And for the ploughshare and the plough To him our praise shall be ; But while oppression lifts its head, Or a tyrant would be lord, Though we may thank him for the plough, We'll not forget the sword !" Charles Mackay. In place of the murdered Abel, to Adam was born a son, whom he named Seth — signifying placed or substi tuted — from whom descended the long line of patriarchs whose names appear in the fifth chapter of the Book of Genesis. These and their descendants were styled "the sons of God," to distinguish them from the descendants of Cain, who were called "the sons of men." Among the descendants of Seth, Enoch was pre-eminently dis tinguished for strict righteousness and pure devotion. Tradition ascribes to him a book of prophecy and revela- THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 39 tion, and the New Testament book of Jude refers to a prophecy by him, part of which it cites, apparently in the language of the prophet himself. As Enoch was born when Adam was six hundred and twenty-two years old, and more than three hundred years before the death of Adam, whom he survived, the supposition that Enoch knew Adam, and wrote the history of our first parents, as tradition relates, is not an improbable one. The few fond words of Enoch tell Sublimest chapters in the lore of man ; He saw and knew the father of the race, And he, perhaps, a child at Adam's knee, Climbed up to listen to the tales of old ; And it may be that Eve, in age, took up The tender child and taught him holy prayer, And charmed him with the memories that clung To her sad soul, of Eden and its joy. She told him of the promise, cherished long, Which God, forgiving, gave her in her tears, And knew, perhaps by prophecy, that he Was in the golden chain of royal ones From whom at last Messiah should come forth. Dwight Williams. We read in the sacred narrative that Enoch "walked with God ;" and as to his departure from this world, we are told that "he was not; for God took him." Hast thou not seen, at break of day, One only star the east adorning, That never set or paled its ray, But seemed to sink at once away Into the light of morning? From it the sage no portent drew, It came to light no meteor fires, 40 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. But silver shone the whole night through, On hawthorn hedges steeped in dew, And quiet village spires. Like bim of old who dwelt beneath The tents of patriarchal story, Who passed, without the touch of death, Without dim eye or failing breath, At once into God's glory. The patriarch of one simple spot, The sire of sons and daughters lowly; And this the record of his lot, " He walked with God, and he was not," For the Lord took him wholly. Like a child's voice in sacred song, That, trembling, rises higher and higher, Till, lost at last, it peals along, Swelling the anthem sweet and strong Of sweet cathedral choir — So, year by year, and day by day, In pastoral care and household duty, He walked with God, nor knew decay, But faded* gently, rapt away, Into His glorious beauty. Mrs. C. F. Alexander. After the birth of Seth, Adam lived eight hundred years, and died at the age of nine hundred and thirty. Of his life after the banishment from Eden Ave have no account, but we may assume that, deeply conscious of his guilt, and truly repentant, he found grace in the sight of the Lord, and that his end was peaceful. The poet Montgomery, in his grand poem, The World Before the Flood, puts into the month of Enoch the following beau tiful description of the manner of Adam's death : THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 41 VIII. THE DEATH OF ADAM. The sun, in summer majesty on high, Darted his fierce effulgence down the sky ; Yet dimm'd and blunted were the dazzling rays, His orb expanded through a dreary haze ; And, circled with a red, portentous zone, He looked in sickly horror from his throne. When higher noon had shrunk the lessening shade, Thence to his home our father we conveyed, And stretched him, pillowed with his latest sheaves, On a fresh couch of green and fragrant leaves. Here, though his sufferings through the glen were known, We chose to watch his dying bed alone, Eve, Seth, and I. — In vain he sighed for rest, And oft his meek complainings thus expressed : " Blow on me, wind ! I faint with heat ! Oh, bring Delicious water from the deepest spring ! Your sunless shadows o'er my limbs diffuse, Ye cedars! Wash me cold with midnight dews; Cheer me, my friends ! with looks of kindness cheer ; Whisper a word of comfort in mine ear ! These sorrowing faces fill my soul with gloom — This silence is the silence of the tomb.'; The sun went down amid an angry glare Of flushing clouds that crimsoned all the air; The winds brake loose ; the forest-boughs were torn, And dark aloof the eddying foliage borne ; Cattle to shelter scudded in affright; .The florid evening vanished into night: Then burst the hurricane upon the vale In peals of thunder and thick-volley'd hail ; Prone rushing rains with torrents whelm'd the land ; Our cot amid a river seem'd to stand ; Around its base the foamy-crested streams Flashed through the darkness to the lightning's gleams; 42 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. With monstrous throes an earthquake heaved the ground ; The rocks were rent, the mountains trembled round. Amid this war of elements, within More dreadful grew the sacrifice of sin, Whose victim on his bed of torture lay, Breathing the slow remains of life away. Erewhile victorious faith sublimer rose Beneath the pressure of collected woes ; But now his spirit wavered, went and came, Like the loose vapor of departing flame, Till, at the point when comfort seemed to die Forever in his fix'd, unclosing eye, Bright through the smouldering ashes of the man The saint brake forth, and Adam thus began : "O ye who shudder at this awful strife, This wrestling agony of Death and Life, Think not that He on whom my soul is cast Will leave me thus forsaken to the last. Nature's infirmity alone you see ; My chains are breaking ; I shall soon be free : Though firm in God the spirit holds her trust, The flesh is frail, and trembles into dust. Thou of my faith the Author and the End ! Mine early, late, and everlasting Friend ! The joy that once thy presence gave restore, Ere I am summoned hence and seen no more ! Down to the dust returns this earthly frame — Receive my spirit, Lord, from whom it came !" He closed his eyelids with a tranquil smile, And seemed to rest in silent prayer awhile: Around his couch with filial awe we kneeled, When suddenly a light from heaven revealed A Spirit, that stood within the unopened door. The sword of God in his right hand he bore ; His countenance was lightning, and his vest Like snow at sunrise on the mountain's crest ; THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 43 Yet so benignly beautiful his form, His presence stilled the fury of tho storm : At once the winds retire, the waters cease ; His look was love, his salutation, "Peace!" Our Mother first beheld him, sore amazed, But terror grew to transport while she gazed. " 'Tis he, the Prince of Seraphim ! who drove Our banished feet from Eden's happy grove. Adam, my life, my spouse, awake !" she cried ; " Return to Paradise ; behold thy Guide ! Oh, let me follow in this dear embrace !" She sunk, and on his bosom hid her face. Adam looked up ; his visage changed its hue, Transformed into an angel's at the view. " I come !" he cried, with faith's full triumph fired, And in a sigh of ecstasy expired. The light was vanished, and the vision fled ; We stood alone, the living with the dead. The ruddy embers, glimmering round the room, Displayed the corpse amid the solemn gloom ; But o'er the scene a holy calm reposed — The gate of heaven had opened there, and closed. IX. THE WICKEDNESS OF MANKIND, AND THEIE DESTRUCTION BY THE DELUGE. The Bible narrative tells us that, in the progress of time, " the sons of God " — who were the descendants of Seth — took wives of "the daughters of men"1 — the de scendants of Cain ; and we learn here, as in all the his tory of the Jewish nation, that when the worshippers of Jehovah intermarried with the idolatrous tribes, a relation that was strictly forbidden, the former became 1 Gen. vi. 1, 2. 44 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. corrupted by the evil principles and practices of the latter.1 Ages meanwhile, as ages now are told, O'er the young world in long succession rolled ; For such the vigor of primeval man, Through numbered centuries his period ran, And the first parents saw their hardy race, O'er the green wilds of habitable space, By tribes and kindreds scattered wide and far, Beneath the track of every varying star. But, as they multiplied from clime to clime, Emboldened by their elder brother's crime, They spurned obedience to the Patriarch's yoke, The bond of nature's fellowship they broke ; The weak became the victim of the strong, And earth was filled with violence and wrong. James Montgomery. The gross wickedness that filled the earth led the Lord to declare that he would destroy mankind by a flood of waters. But in the midst of the corruption that prevail ed there was one man who preserved the true faith and "found grace in the -eyes of the Lord." This was the patriarch Noah, "a preacher of righteousness," whom Milton, in his poetical account of the Flood, thus intro duces to us as in vain preaching '? conversion and repent ance" to the guilty race of mortals: At length a reverend sire among them came, And of their doings great dislike declared, And testified against their ways ; he oft Frequented their assemblies, wheresoever met, Triumphs or festivals, and to them preached Conversion and repentance, as to souls In prison under judgments imminent: 1 Deut. vii. 3, 4; 1 Kings, xi. 1-4; Ezra, ix. 1, 2. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 45 But all in vain : which when he saw, he ceased Contending, and removed his tents far off. In the drama, by the poet Byron, entitled Heaven and Firth, an evil spirit, rejoicing, thus foretells the earth's approaching destruction : Rejoice ! The abhorred race Which could not keep in Eden their high place ; But listened to the voice Of knowledge without power, Are nigh the hour Of death ! Not slow, not single, not by sword,"nor sorrow, Nor years, nor heart-break, nor time's sapping motion, Shall they drop off. Behold their last to-morrow ! Earth shall be ocean ! And no breath, Save of the winds, be on the unbounded wave ! Angels shall tire their wings, but find no spot : Not even a rock from out the liquid grave Shall lift its point to save, Or show the place where strong despair hath died, After long looking o'er the ocean wide For the expected ebb which cometh not ; All shall be void, Destroy'd ! Another element shall be the lord Of life, and the abhorr'd Children of dust be quenched, and of each hue Of earth naught left but the unbroken blue ; And of the variegated mountain Shall naught remain Unchang'd, nor of the level plain ; Cedar and pine shall lift their tops in vain : All merged within the universal fountain — 46 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Man, earth, and fire shall die ; And sea and sky Look vast and lifeless in the eternal eye. Upon the foam Who shall erect a home ? As the signs of the approaching desolation grow more apparent the prediction is thus continued by the Spirits, in chorus : Hark ! hark ! already we can hear the voice Of growing ocean's gloomy swell ; The winds, too, plume their piercing wings; The clouds have nearly filled their springs ; The fountains of the great deep shall be broken, And Heaven set wide her windows; while mankind View, unacknowledged, each tremendous token — Still, as they were from the beginning, blind ; We hear the sound they cannot hear, The muttering thunders of the threatening sphere; Yet a few hours their coming is delayed ; Their flashing banners, folded still on high, Yet undisplayed, Save to the Spirit's all-pervading eye. Howl ! howl ! oh Earth ! Thy death is ngarer than thy recent birth ; Tremble, ye mountains ! soon to shrink below The ocean's overflow ! The wave shall break upon your cliffs ; and shells, The little shells of ocean's least things, be Deposed where now the eagle's offspring dwells — How shall he shriek o'er the remorseless sea ! And call his nestlings up with fruitless yell, Unanswered, save by the encroaching swell ; While man shall long in vain for his broad wings, The wings which could not save : Where could he rest them, while the whole space brings Naught to his eye beyond the deep, his grave? THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 47 There is no fact in sacred history of which we have more decisive evidence than of the Deluge. Among the numerous and wide-spread traditions that corroborate the truth of Scripture narrative, none are more satisfac tory than those that relate to the destruction of mankind by a flood ; and we may safely assert that no one can rationally account for the similarity and universality of these traditions, except on the supposition that all were derived from one and the same source — from the posi tive knowledge that mankind once possessed of the act ual drowning of a sinful world. At the command of God, Noah built an ark, in which he and his three sons, and their families, together with the animals that he had been directed to bring with him, took refuge from the destruction that was soon to come upon the earth. It was A vessel of huge bulk, Measured by cubit, length, and breadth, and height, Smeared round with pitch, and in the side a door Contrived, and of provisions laid in large For man and beast. Milton. The sights and sounds that immediately preceded and ushered in the Flood were undoubtedly appalling. As a poet has expressed it, with probable truthfulness, — The gloom of Coming wrath was thickening o'er all the land. The sky was livid, and the sun looked down With a ghastly glare. While Reason slumbered, Instinct stood upon her watch-tower, And warned both man and beast of approaching ill. In a conversation that Byron represents as occurring between Noah and his son Japheth, the warnings of Nature are sublimely pictured : 48 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Japheth. Hark ! hark ! Deep sounds, and deeper still, Are howling from the mountain's bosom. There's not a breath of wind upon the hill, Yet quivers every leaf, and drops each blossom : Earth groans as if beneath a heavy load. Noah. Hark ! hark ! the sea-birds cry ! In clouds they overspread the lurid sky, And hover round the mountain, where before Never a white wing, wetted by the wave, Yet dared to soar, Even when the waters waxed too fierce to brave. Soon it shall be their only shore, And then, no more ! Japheth. The sun ! the sun ! He riseth, but his better light is gone ; And a black circle, bound His glaring disk around, Proclaims earth's last of summer days hath shone ! The clouds return into the hues of night, Save where their brazcn-color'd edges streak The verge where brighter morns were wont to break. Noah. And lo ! yon flash of light, The distant thunder's harbinger, appears ! It cometh ! Hence, away ! Leave to the elements their evil prey ! Hence to where our all-hallowed ark nprears Its safe and reckless sides. The fountains of the great deep were now broken up, the windows of heaven were opened, and the waters pre vailed upon the earth : Borne by the vengeance of His lifted arm, Far rolled the black immensity of storm ; From east to west were poured the glooms on high, And cloudy curtains hung the unmeasured sky. Shook by the voice that rends the immortal plain, In one broad deluge sunk the ethereal main ; THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 49 Huge floods, imprisoned in the vaulted ground, With wide commotion burst the crumbling bound ; O'er earth's broad climes the surging billows driven, Climbed the tall mountains and invaded heaven. The pride of man, the pomp-embosomed tower, Towns wrapped in gold, and realms of mighty power, All plunged at once beneath the unfathomed wave, And nature perished in one boundless grave. Dwight's Conquest of Canaan. Noah felt the ark borne up over the wide waste of a world in desolation. For forty days and forty nights the rain descended upon the earth. At the end of the forty sdays Noah opened the window of the ark and sent forth a dove, which, finding no rest for the sole of her foot, soon returned : Speed thy light course ; fly, wing'd one, fly Along that shoreless sea ; That deluged earth, that clouded sky, Are not a home for thee. The mount, whose towering crest had dwelt 'Mid darkling storms alone, A stranger visitant had felt Invade his cloudy throne. And all beneath is but the grave Of that creation fair ; There gleams no rock above the wave, No port of rest is there. Swift be thy flight : those waters green Can show no home for thee ; Nor yet the mountain-tops are seen, Nor yet the olive-tree. H. W. J. At the end of seven days more, with returning hope Noah again sent forth the dove, which this time return- I.— 3 50 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. ed bearing in her bill an olive-leaf, by which the weary watchers knew that the waters were abating : There was hope in the ark at the dawning of day, When o'er the wide waters the dove flew away ; But when, ere the night, she came wearily back With the leaf she had plucked on her desolate track, The children of Noah knelt down and adored, And uttered in anthems tlieir praise to the Lord. Oh, bird of glad tidings ! Oh, joy in our pain ! Beautiful dove ! thou art welcome again. When peace has departed the care-stricken breast, And the feet of the weary one languish for rest, When the world is a wide-spreading ocean of grief, How blest the return of the bird and the leaf ! Reliance on God is the dove to our ark, And peace is the olive she plucks in the dark. The deluge abates, there is sun after rain — Beautiful dove ! thou art welcome again. Charles Mackay. The probable joy with which the; patriarch put forth his hand and took the dove into the ark has been beau tifully expressed by a poet in language of prophecy that he attributes to Noah at this time : " This lovely plume," he said — and smoothed the neck — "That cannot bear a touch without a speck, Henceforth shall female innocence proclaim ; For even now ye differ but in name. The low, desponding murmur of thy breast, Whene'er thy mate is absent from thy nest, The flutter of thy wing, and sparkling eye To welcome his arrival from the sky, A symbol of domestic love shall be, And all the race be proud to rival thee. Nor shall the sprig of verdure, that thy bill Plucked with such anxious care from yonder hill, THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 51 Be thrown away or cease to win our love ; For God has joined the olive with the dove." Paul Allen. This prophecy of Noah has been fulfilled ; for, from the earliest ages, the dove has been the symbol of inno cence and domestic love, and the olive the emblem of peace. After another seven days of waiting, Noah sent forth the dove a third time, and saw it disappear in the clear blue of heaven, to return to the ark no more. But though it is now lost to Noah's natural sight, in a pro phetic vision which the same poet ascribes to him, the aged man of God sees the dove again, far down in the lapse of ages, still bearing the olive-leaf, and this time as the emblem of "Peace on earth, and good will to men." He knows not the meaning of the prophetic symbols, but is content to wonder and adore : For now the eye of prophecy surveys, Down the long-glimmering track of future days, Modes of existence wonderful and new ; And God himself proclaims the vision true. I see (so Heaven ordains) Almighty Love Embodied in the likeness of a dove : He hovers o'er the heads of sacred men, And pours his inspiration on the pen ; Now in a cloud he vanishes from eye ; Again, he shoots along the clear blue sky ; And while his pinions overcome the gloom, A new-born glory shines in every plume. What meaning these prophetic symbols show, Time must decide : the Prophet does not know. Though splendid the horizon, it appears Far stretching in the depths of future years — So distant, age on age must travel by Ere yet the dove will flutter in the sky. Enough for me : I see, and I adore Thy justice, Heaven ! — The vision. shines no more. 52 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. We are told that the waters remained upon the earth "an hundred and fifty days,"1 after which " God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged. The fountains of the deep, and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained : the waters were abated, and the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat,"2 in Western Asia. To this day it is the common belief with the people of the surround ing region that the ark still rests upon the loftiest sum mit of the mountain, whicli is more than seventeen thou sand feet above the level of the sea ; that celestial forms are often seen there, and that the wood of which the ark was constructed has been converted into stone. Thou, Ararat, though old and hoary, Art circled still with sacred glory ; And when stars roof thy hallowed height, Celestial forms may on thee light, And, flashing from thy peaks of pride, They well may make thy haunted side E'en like that angel-peopled stair To Israel's seer in vision given ; For meet thou art to rise in air, And join our darker world to heaven. Nicholas Michell. The following is Milton's brief account of the going forth' from the ark, and of the perpetual covenant which God made with Noah and his posterity : Dry ground appears ; and from his ark The ancient sire descends, with all his train ; Then, with uplifted hands and eyes devout, Grateful to Heaven, over his head beholds A dewy cloud, and in the cloud a bow, Conspicuous with three striped colors gay, Gen. vii. 24. 2 Gen. viii. 1-4. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 53 Betokening peace with God, and covenant new. So willingly doth God remit his ire, And makes a covenant never to destroy The earth again by flood, nor let the sea Surpass his bounds, nor rain to drown the world, With man therein or beast ; but when he brings Over the earth a cloud, will therein set His triple-colored bow, whereon to look, And call to mind his covenant : day and night, Seed-time and harvest, heat and hoary frost, Shall hold their course till fire purge all things new. "And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth."1 This was a repetition of the blessing bestowed on Adam, and Noah became the second father and repre sentative head of mankind. X. THE DISPERSION OF MANKIND. The history of mankind immediately after the Flood is very briefly related by the sacred writers. About two hundred years after that event we find many of the descendants of Noah assembled on the plains of Shinar, near the banks of the Euphrates. The whole earth was as yet of one language and one speech; but men had now forgotten their dependence upon God, and they re solved to build a city — together with a tower "whose top," they boasted, " should reach unto heaven ;" the meaning probably being that it should be dedicated to the visible heavens, to which it pointed, as an object of worship. " The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men builded,"2 and he con- i Gen. ix. 1. 3 Gen. xi. 1-8. 54 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. founded their language, and scattered them abroad over the whole earth. Stately on Shinar's ancient plain Uprose a mighty thought in stone ; The thinkers scoffed in pure disdain Of forces mightier than their own. Full many a moon had waxed and waned, Full many a brain and hand had striven To pile a tower, which, unrestrained By bound or har, should smite the heaven. Then came the injured Godhead down, And cursed them with an alien speech ; And from the thunder of his frown Afar they wandered, each from each. But in the curse a blessing lurked : From baffled language nations grew ; And thus the wrath of Heaven hath worked The purpose of its mercy too. W. Morley Punshon. To the city which "the children of men" attempted to^build, was given the name Babel — a word signify ing confusion. It is more commonly called Babylon, and became, subsequently, the capital of the first em pire established on the earth. The ruins of the tower, built, as the Scripture tells us, "of brick and slime," exist to this day. Far in the Eastern wild, begirt by sands, A rugged pile, like some grim giant, stands : Rude stones, that once, perchance, with beaming grace, Had glowed in statues, strew its circling base ; Though crushed the halls that time's dread secrets keep, Still, stage on stage, the crumbling platforms sweep : High on its brow a dark mass rears its form, Defying ages, mocking fire and storm : THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 55 Struck by a thousand lightnings, still 'tis there, As proud in ruin, haughty in despair. Oh, oldest fabric reared by hands of man ! Built ere art's dawn on Europe's shores began ! Rome's mouldering shrines and TadmorV columns gray Beside yon mass seem things of yesterday ! In breathless awe, in musing reverence, bow ; 'Tis hoary Babel glooms before you now ; The tower at which the Almighty's shaft was hurled — The mystery, fear, and wonder of the world ! Nicholas Michell. Before the dispersion from the plains of Shinar, and while Noah and his family were assembled near the rest ing-place of the ark, the patriarch uttered a prophecy concerning the destinies of his three sons, Ham, Shem, and Japheth, and their respective descendants.2 Ham having grossly insulted his father, Canaan, the son of Ham, who probably shared in or prompted his father's guilt, was thus cursed by Noah : " Cursed be Canaan : a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren." But on Shem was bestowed this blessing: "Blessed be the Lord God of Shem ; and Canaan shall be his servant ;" and on Japheth this : " God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem ; and Canaan shall be his servant." It is only when time shall end that the fulfilment of this prophecy will be complete. But its accomplishment in many important respects can already be traced on the pages of history ; and of this record a brief outline will here be presented. ' The Tadmor in the desert, founded, or enlarged, by Solomon, is the Palmyra of later times, the latter name signifying "the city of palms." Palmyra became a city of great commercial importance, and carried on the traffic between the Romans and Parthians. It was here that the famous Zenobia ruled in the third century a.d. 2 Gen. ix. 25-27. 56 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. XI. THE DESCENDANTS OF HAM, SHEM, AND JAPHETH. Ham. — The descendants of Ham, known in ancient times under the different names of Cushites, Egyptians, Canaanites, and Phoenicians, have occupied an important position in the history of the world. In corroboration of the record found in the tenth chapter of Genesis, profane history tells us that this branch of the family of Noah was cradled in Mesopotamia, in South-western Asia, and at an early date in their history became pos sessed of the whole region of country extending from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf; and that their possessions included not only Palestine, Arabia, and Babylon, but Egypt also. As they increased in numbers they evinced a high degree of culture and civ ilization, and were surpassed only by their Greek and Roman rivals in the field of progress. In Mesopotamia they built the cities of Nineveh, Babylon, and others mentioned in Genesis, whose wonderful ruins, in the light of modern research, are eloquent of departed power and grandeur. To the greatness, wealth, and magnificence of Nineveh in very early times — long the capital of the great Assyr ian Empire — we figd occasional references in Scripture history ; but we have much fuller accounts in the pages of Diodorus, Herodotus, and other writers. We are told, in the tenth chapter of Genesis, that Nimrod, the "mighty hunter before the Lord," "went forth to1 As- shur and builded Nineveh." But heathen writers attrib ute the founding to Ninus, probably another name for Nimrod. Jonah was sent to preach against that wicked and "exceeding great city," and the prophet Nahum 1 This is now generally considered to be the correct rendering of the passage in Genesis, x. 11, and not that Asshur builded Nineveh. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 57 foretold its downfall and utter destruction. The follow ing description of the founding — or, more probably, the enlargement — of this great city by Ninus, may not be un interesting here ; and it is little more than a record of the statements given by profane historians. The sup posed ruins of the vast tower or mound here referred to are still to be seen on the eastern banks of the Tieris : '»* Close to the palace, in the city's midst, A lofty mound, like to a mountain, stood — Work of Semiramis, long ages back, To honor Ninus, her loved lord and king, Whose ashes slept beneath. The founder he Of that great city which from him took name ; For when, victorious o'er unnumbered lands, From Egypt and Propontis stretching east To Bactria, whose impassable hills awhile Drove back the flood of conquest, he returned, Exulting in his might : " I will build up A city," he exclaimed, " the like of which In earth hath never been, and shall not be." Then by the banks of Tigris he traced out Its boundaries ; a three days' journey round, And oblong square its shape. A million hands Toiled then upon the work. A hundred feet He made the walls in height ; in thickness such, Three chariots on their summit, ranked abreast, With amplest space between, might try the race. Above the walls, and twice their height, arose A thousand and five hundred warlike towers Of massive brass, at every tower a gate. The city with a like magnificence He fashioned : palaces and temples huge ; Fountains, and baths, and gardens high in air Uplifted, where the cedar and the palm, As on the mountain's top deep-rooted, waved 3* 58 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Their giant heads ; and o'er broad Tigris threw A ponderous bridge. Thus in his pride did he ; And never since upon the earth has been A city like to his. But then he died, And was consigned to dust ; and over him This mound, for an eternal monument, Semiramis upthrew. Above the walls, Above the towers high soaring, it arose, A beacon to the traveller far away, Who there at morn the sun's first glory hailed, And blest his latest beam at evening there. Upon the top a rich pavilion stood, Where, in the sultry hours, Assyria's king, To wanton in the cooling breeze, oft went, That still was stirring there, while Nineveh Drew fever breath below. A smooth, firm path, From base to summit, like a serpent train, Around the mountain coiled. Unnumbered shrubs, And trees of graceful form, and every flower That scents the Eastern breeze, were planted there, Making of that huge monument of death A garden of delight. Atherstone, from his FaU of Nineveh. In the city qf Jerusalem, and in Palmyra, Baalbek, Philadelphia, and other cities in Arabia and Phoenicia, the ruins of magnificent temples and other stately edi fices erected by the descendants of Ham bear witness to a genius and enterprise wliich contrast strangely with the degeneracy of those Eastern countries at the present time. In Egypt these people were the designers and builders of the noted Pyramids, and of the great cities of Thebes and Memphis — whose temples and palaces have been fitly characterized as the finest and most pro digious collections of buildings ever erected. The descendants of Ham are also distinguished for a THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 59 practical knowledge of the sciences, and for commercial prosperity. The Scriptures tell us that one of the kings of Phoenicia sent to Solomon, to aid in the building of the great Temple, a workman who was " skilful to work in gold and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crim son ; also to grave any manner of graving."1 Their skill in mining and metallurgy was great, while all their operations were conducted on a stupendous scale, and by means of the most scientific methods. They were the first people to make practical application of the science of astronomy ; and, according to the reports of eminent explorers, the whole sea-coast of Phoenicia (now Syria) was once lined with cities, erected probably for purposes of trade and commerce, whose buildings were of the same colossal type as those of the other cities mentioned, and whose merchants were "princes of the earth." Among these cities was Tyre, referred to in Joshua as "the strong city, Tyre," against whose gates successive besieging armies thundered in vain, until it was at last overthrown by Nebuchadnezzar — a fall that was "the earnest of its final doom." It founded flourishing com mercial colonies in Sardinia, Sicily, and Spain, and its vessels are said to have sailed as far as Madeira to the west, and to have reached the British isles on the north ; while its mighty caravans crossed and recrossed the deserts of Arabia, laden with furs, silks, pearls, and pre cious stones. The prophet Ezekiel gives a vivid descrip tion of the beauty and commercial greatness of Tyre, in the twenty-seventh chapter of his prophecies, beginning, " Thou art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles," etc. This period of the commercial greatness of the Phosnicians is i 2 Chron. ii. 13, 14. 60 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. thus described, nearly a thousand years later, by Diony- siits of Susiana, who wrote an elaborate Greek poem entitled, "A Description of the Habitable World :" Upon the Syrian sea the people live Who style themselves Phosnicians. These are sprung From the true ancient Erythraean stock ; From that sage race who first essayed the deep, And wafted merchandise to coasts unknown ; These, too, digested first the starry choir, Their motions marked, and called them by their names. * H= * * * * These were the first great founders of the world — Founders of cities, and of mighty states — Who showed a path through seas before unknown, And where doubt reigned and dark uncertainty, Who rendered life more certain. They first viewed The starry lights and formed them into schemes. In the first ages, when the sons of men Knew not which way to turn them, they assigned To each his first department; they bestowed Of land a portion, and of sea a lot ; And sent each wandering tribe far off to share A different soil and climate. Hence arose The great diversity, so plainly seen, 'Mid nations widely severed. But there are also evidences of the enterprise of the de scendants of Ham in fields far distant from the localities mentioned. These people seem to have passed to the east of the Euphrates Yalley, to India, and to Cochin China, and even across the wide Pacific to the western shores of the American continent ; where were found, in Mexico, and throughout Central America, by the Eu ropean invaders in the sixteenth century, stupendous pyr amidal structures and tumuli that bear a marked resem blance to the architectural remains of Babylonia and THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 61 Egypt. Many points of resemblance also exist between the traditions of the natives of Mexico and Central America and those of the people of the Hamite race. Both included human sacrifices in their religious rites ; while the accounts that we possess of the origin of the Aztec race, in Mexico, furnish almost indubitable proof " that some of those people, whose forefathers were the architects of the East, at some remote period found tlieir way to America, and have left there those petrified me morials of a once living and vigorous civilization that has long ceased to occupy a place in the world."1 But, after about two thousand years of uninterrupted prosperity, the Hamites lost their influential and impor tant position in the East, and then we find the country of their birth, and the countries extending to the Medi terranean, in the possession of another branch of Noah's family. The beautiful, prosperous, and powerful Phoe nician cities were destroyed forever ; and the single city of Carthage, in the north of Africa, was, during a long period, the abode and only remaining representative of that power which once encircled the earth. Carthage, too, like the cities of which she was the offspring, became renowned for her genius and enterprise, and was a great military and commercial power. " The waters of every sea were white with her sails, and the shores of every land, hospitable or inhospitable, civilized or savage, were planted with her colonies, or frequented by her mari ners." But Carthage, also, like the cities which preceded her, could not escape the fate which prophecy had pro nounced against the impious Hamites; and, after a brill iant but wicked existence of nearly eight hundred years, she fell a prey to Roman ambition. Her walls were levelled to the ground, her buildings were burnt, and i "The Builders of Babel," by Dr. McCausland. 62 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. her inhabitants became the servants of the sons of Ja pheth. With the fall of Carthage, Hamitic civilization met its final doom, and the prophecy of Noah was ful filled. De. McCattsland1 thus reviews the downfall of the Hamites, and gives an insight into their moral nature : "Nimrod and Canaan — the Cushite and the Canaanite — held high position in the ancient world, and are no more. Unblessed and unbelieving, their names and deeds are lost in the mists of mythology. Their tale was told by the patriarch Noah, while they were yet in the loins of their progenitor, Ham, and the history of the world has verified its truth. The monarchs of Egypt and the princes of Tyre were powerful in their day. But servi tude and obscurity were to be the lot of this people, and that lot has been theirs. They founded mighty states ; but their cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wil derness. They instituted and extended commerce and manufactures ; but a spoil has been made of their riches, and a prey of their merchandise. They invented letters, and had a written language of tlieir own ; but no page of their literature, and no legible record of their deeds, remains — their memorials have perished with them. Their power and prosperity were linked to moral quali ties of the lowest description, and religion of the most degrading character. Cruelty and lust were the text of their ritual. No moral considerations guided or re strained their earthly career, which was essentially world ly and materialistic. They were boastful and tyrannical; and the Greeks and Romans, in their myths and histo ries, have pictured the Phoenicians and Carthaginians as notably unprincipled and oppressive. When Aryan" civ- • p i "The Builders of Babel." 2 Aryan, in its origin a Sanscrit term, has been generally applied to the more civilized branches of the posterity of both Shem and Japheth, but THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 63 ilization, which had dawned in Greece, had spread its light into Italy, the doomed race went down. Cradled in Babylon, and nurtured in Arabia, Phoenicia, and Egypt, the Hamites were crushed out of the highways of history by the Aryan Japhethites of Greece and Rome, and were buried in the ruins of Carthage. De- lenda est Carthago1 was a pagan echo of the divine de cree that the Canaanites should be exterminated by their Hebrew invaders." Shem. — The descendants of Shem may be said to be divided into two great classes. One is known as the no mad branch, and comprises the Hebrews and the Arabs. The other is known as the political branch, consisting of the inhabitants of Phoenicia, Mesopotamia, etc., who absorbed their Hamitic brethren in those and other lo calities. But those descendants of Shem to whom special refer ence is made in Noah's prophecy are undoubtedly the Hebrews, descendants of Isaac, the son of Abraham. The words, " Blessed be the Lord God of Shem," dis tinctly indicate a peculiar relationship with the Al mighty, and have been fulfilled in the history of the Hebrews, who were under Divine protection, in a peculiar sense. To them the Lord first revealed himself through Abraham, accompanying the revelation with a promise of divine favor, which was renewed through several suc cessive generations, and then he manifested himself per sonally to the people in signs and wonders which they could comprehend. He chose them to be the deposita ries of his religion, and from them have come the long more especially to the Japhethites, or Indo-Persian branch of the human family, from which the Indo-Germanic or Indo-European races are de rived. 1 " Carthage must le destroyed," a sentence with which Roman orators often closed their speeches. 64 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. line of inspired prophets and teachers, whose words and works have revealed the will and purpose of God to all mankind. The trust that by his peculiar favor he com mitted to them they kept until the coming of Christ, when, as a people, they rejected the Messiah, and since then have been scattered over the face of the earth. But until that period the Almighty was their temporal as well as spiritual sovereign, and their civil and their religions life are inseparable. Hence both are made the subjects of Bible history, in wliich, as we shall see, the fulfilment of Noah's prophecy concerning Shem is clearly set forth. Japheth. — It was the destiny of the Japhethite branch of Noah's family to be enlarged, to colonize the earth, and in time to supersede, in numbers and power, the descendants of both Ham and Shem. It is satisfac torily established that the descendants of Japheth were divided into three bands, of whicli one passed through Asia Minor to Greece, and thence to Italy, and became the founders of Grecian and Roman civilization ; the second passed around the eastern and northern shores of the Black Sea into Europe, and were the pioneers of Celtic and Teutonic civilization ; while a third passed eastward through Persia and Afghanistan to India and Hindostan, and there laid the foundation of that Aryan race so well known and distinguished in ancient history. The Arabian traditions rank Japheth among the proph ets, and enumerate eleven of his sons as the progenitors of that number of Asiatic nations, although only seven are mentioned in Genesis. Noah's prophecy is said to relate to spiritual as well as secular expansion and enlargement, and its full con summation is ascribed to that period when Israel shall be spiritual head of the nations, and the descendants of Japheth shall flock to Jerusalem, where Israel's King shall reign. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 65 XII. THE CALL OF ABRAM. We have now come to that event in the Bible narra tive whicli marks the beginning of the history of the Hebrews or Israelites, both as a nation and as the chosen people of God. It is the call of Abram, who, living at Ur, in Chaldea, seems to have been the only one of a family and tribe of idolaters that worshipped the true God.1 There is a legend which states that at a very early period of his life he was converted from the wor ship of the heavenly bodies to that of Jehovah, and the circumstances of the event are happily related by a mod ern poetess, as follows : At night, upon the silent plain, Knelt Abraham and watched the sky. When the bright evening-star arose He lifted up a joyful cry : " This is the Lord ! This light shall shine To mark the path for me and mine." But suddenly the star's fair face Sank down and left its darkened place. Then Abraham cried, in sore dismay, "The Lord is not discovered yet; I cannot worship gods which set." Then rose the moon, full-orbed and clear, And flooded all the plain with light, And Abraham's heart again with joy O'erflowed at the transcendent sight. " This surely is the Lord," he cried ; " That other light was pale beside This glorious one." But, like the star, The moon in the horizon far » Gen. xi. 31 ; and chap. xii. Chaldea was the country on both banks of the Euphrates, and Ur, the most ancient city of the Chaldees, was about a hundred and twenty-five miles from the mouth of the river. 66 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Sank low and vanished. Then again Said Abraham, "This cannot be My Lord. I am but lost, astray, Unless one changeless guideth me." Then came, unheralded, the dawn, Rosy and swift from east to west ; High rode the great triumphant sun, And Abraham cried, " O last and best And sovereign light ! Now I believe This Lord will change not, nor deceive." Each moment robbed the day's fair grace ; The reddening sun went down apace ; And Abraham, left in rayless night, Cried, " O my people, let us turn And worship now the God who rules These lesser lights, and bids them burn !" Helen Hunt. Abram was commanded by the Almighty to depart to a land which he should show him ; and at Haran,1 whence he removed at the first manifestation of the di vine will, he received a second call to depart from his father's house and go into Canaan.2 This call was ac companied by the*promise that he should be the father of a great nation ; and to this was added the farther- promise that in him and his descendants all the families of earth should be blessed — a promise whose fulfilment we recognize in the person of Christ, the Saviour of the world. "Not knowing whither he went," but with that prompt and certain faith in God wliich characterized his 1 Gen. xii. 4. Ha'ran was north-west of Chaldea proper, in the north western part of Mesopotamia. 2 Canaan is the ancient name of that part of Palestine which lay west of the Jordan. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 67 whole subsequent life, Abram left his kindred and his home, and became a wanderer in strange lands. Accom panied by his household and his nephew Lot, he went into Palestine, and settled first at Shechem,1 described by a modern traveller as " a vale of rich, unfading verdure." Then he passed on to a locality near Bethel/ where he erected an altar, and continued on through the country to Hebron,' where he remained until a famine in the land drove him into Egypt. After having lived there some time he returned to Canaan, " very rich in cattle, in sil ver, and in gold," and again encamped near Bethel. At this time an amicable separation took place between Abram and Lot, the latter going eastward into the rich valley of the Jordan ; while Abram, to whom the Lord here renewed the promise of a race countless "as the dust of the earth," and the possession of all Palestine, moved into the plain of Mamre, and again pitched his tents near Hebron. The tribes of the Jordan, among whom Lot had cast his fortunes, having been for thirteen years subject to the rule of Ched-or-la'o-mer, King of Elam, a part of an cient Persia, undertook to secure their independence. But the king and his allies advanced into the country, and a battle was fought in the Valley of Siddim4 (" whicli is the Salt Sea"), in which the tribes were defeated, and Lot and his family, among others, were seized as pris oners. When Abram heard of Lot's captivity he as sembled three hundred and eighteen of his own people and a few from the neighboring tribes, and, pursuing 1 She'chem, a town of central Palestine, in Samaria, in a narrow valley, south-east of Mount Ebal. 2 Bethel, a town about a dozen miles north of Jerusalem, on the road to She chem. 3 Se-bron, a town about eighteen miles south of Jerusalem. 4 Siddim, Valley of. The southern part of the Dead Sea, which is shal low, is supposed to cover this valley now. 68 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. the enemy unto Dan,1 and even to Hobah, near Damas cus, he there fell upon the camp of Chedorlaomer at night, rescued Lot and the other captives, and recovered all, the spoil. But lie refused all share of the booty for himself, and returned to his tent, there to await, with his characteristic faith, the fulfilment of the divine prom ise, which was once more renewed, and in the most striking manner. He was commanded to look up to the cloudless heavens and to count the stars, if be could, for even so numerous should be his descendants.2 Here all the starry host the heavens display ; And lo ! an heavenly youth, more fair than they, Leads Abram forth ; points upward : " Such," said he, "So bright and numberless, thy seed shall be." Cowley. Then, after he had prepared a sacrifice at the com mand of the Lord, and " as he sat watching, the sun de clined, a deep sleep came over him, and more than com mon darkness spread around. A voice announced the fate of his posterity, their servitude of four centuries in a foreign land, their return and their possession'of the whole country from the Euphrates to the sea. As the sun set — the symbol of the Deity — a cloud of smoke like that of a furnacefa flashing fire like that of a lamp, passed between the severed victims of the sacrifice, and thus solemnly ratified the covenant."3 Soon after this Abram took his wife's handmaid, Ha gar, an Egyptian, and made her his wife, and she bore him a son, who was named Ishmael. But the time was not yet come for the fulfilment of the divine promise, and thirteen years after it was again renewed. . At the 1 San, anciently called Laish, was at the northern extremity of Pales tine ; while Hobah was still farther north, a little beyond Damascus. 2 Gen. xv. 1-6. ? Milman's "Hist, of the Jews," i. p. 59. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 69 same time the name of Abram was changed to Abra ham,1 signifying , the father of many nations, and the name of his wife Sarai was changed to Sarah, signifying the princess. It was then for the first time announced that Sarah, and not Hagar, as the mother of Abraham's heir, should become the " mother of nations." XIII. THE DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH. Ever since his rescue of Lot from captivity, Abraham had lived at his former encampment near Hebron. Here, as he sat in the door of his tent, he was visited by three strangers — "angels unawares" — who renewed the promise of a son, and then announced to him the doom of the wicked cities Sodom and Gomorrah, in the former of which Lot then lived.2 Moved by pity for the guiltless ones who, he supposed, dwelt in Sodom, Abraham passionately interceded for the condemned city, and obtained the promise that it should be spared if ten- righteous men could be found within its walls. Two of the angels proceeded to Sodom, and were met by Lot at the gate, to whom they revealed the destruc tion that was to come upon the city, and warned him to flee. Haste thee, delay not, Thou favored of God ; Haste thee, and stay not His uplifted rod. Lo ! it descendeth On city and plain ; The arm that contendeth Is lifted in vain. i Gen. xvii. 5. 2 Gen. xviii. 16-22. 70 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. The strong in his power, The youth in his bloom, The storm shall devour, The fires consume. On the palace' proud dome, On the false idol fane, That tempest shall come With its fiery rain. It shall come, and the song Shall be hushed in the hall ; For the weak and the strong Together shall fall. To Justice is given His terrible sword ; 'Tis the vengeance of Heaven, The wrath of the Lord. Then haste thee ! delay not, Thou favored of God ; Oh ! haste thee, and stay not His uplifted rod. G. "W. Nind. Lot and his family fled to the city of Zoar.1 Even the small number of ten righteous men could not be found in all Sodom, and " the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from out of heaven ; and he overthrew those cities, aud all the plain." Tradition relates that this destruction fell upon Sodom while the inhabitants were feasting and making merry at a great banquet. The scene has been thus described : 1 Gen. xix. 22, 23. Zoar was one of the five cities of the plain of Siddim. Like the others it was doomed to destruction, but was spared at the inter cession of Lot. Gen. xix. 20. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 71 The warning was spoken ; the righteous had gone, And the proud ones of Sodom were feasting alone ; All gay was the banquet ; the revel was long, With the pouring of wine and the breathing of song. 'Twas an evening of beauty ; the air was perfume, The earth was all greenness, the trees were all bloom ; And softly the delicate viol was heard, Like the murmur of love or the notes of a bird. And beautiful maidens moved down in the dance, With the magic of motion and sunshine of glance ; And white arms wreathed lightly, and tresses fell free As the plumage of bird in some tropical tree. Where the shrines of foul idols were lighted on high, And wantonness tempted the lust of the eye; 'Midst rites of obsceneness, strange, loathsome, abhorred, The blasphemer scoffed at the name of the Lord. Hark ! the growl of the thunder — the quaking of earth ! Woe, woe to the worship, and woe to the mirth ! The black sky has opened — there's flame in the air — The red arm of vengeance is lifted and bare! Then the shriek of the dying rose wild where the song And the low tone of love had been whispered along ; For the fierce flames went lightly o'er palace and bower, Like the red tongues of demons, to blast and devour ! Down — down on the fallen the red ruin rained, And the reveller sank with his wine-cup undrained; The foot of the dancer,-the music's loved thrill, And the shout and the laughter grew suddenly still. The last throb of anguish was fearfully given ; The last eye glared forth in its madness on Heaven ! 72 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. The last groan of horror rose wildly and vain, And death brooded over the Pride of the Plain ! John G. Whittier. Lot's wife, while fleeing from the doomed city, dis obeyed the command not to look back, and was over taken by the terrible destruction. Lot removed from Zoar to the mountains, and became the progenitor of the tribes of Moab and Ammon, so famous in subse quent Jewish history for their enmity to the posteri ty of Abraham. The site of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah is now occupied by the Dead Sea, or, as it is called in the Scriptures, the Salt Sea. Its dense and bitter waters are a fit covering for the wicked cities of the plain. The wind blows chill across those gloomy waves ; Oh ! how unlike the green and dancing main ! The surge is foul, as if it rolled o'er graves : Stranger, here lie the cities of the plain. Crolt. XIV. ISAAC— ISHMAEL AND HIS DESCENDANTS. The promise of the Almighty to Abraham was at length fulfilled in the birth of his son Isaac. As Isaac grew up, the jealous fear of his mother was directed to ward Hagar and her son Ishmael; and, at the request of Sarah, they were sent forth by Abraham, to wander and subsist as best they might, in the wilderness of Be'er- sheba.1 We read that Abraham did this under divine guidance, and only after it had been revealed to him that Ishmael, also, should become the founder of a mighty nation. "And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave 1 Gen. xxi. 14. Be'er-sheba was on the very southern boundary of Ca naan ; and beyond it, on the south, was the wilderness, or desert region. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 73 it unto Hagar and her child, and sent her away." The sad parting of Abraham with the mother and son is thus touchingly related by the poet Willis : Why bends the patriarch as he cometh now Upon his staff so wearily? His beard Is low upon his breast, and his high brow, So written with the converse of his God, Beareth the swollen vein of agony. His lip is quivering, and his wonted step Of vigor is not there ; and though the morn Is passing fair and beautiful, he breathes Its freshness as it were a pestilence. He gave to her the water and the bread, But spoke no word, and trusted not himself To look upon her face, but laid bis hand In silent blessing on the fair-haired boy, And left her to her lot of loneliness. * * jjc * # *- She went her way with a strong step and slow, Her pressed lip arched, and her clear eye undimmed As if it were a diamond, and her form Borne proudly up, as if her heart breathed through. Her child kept on in silence, though she pressed His hand till it was pained ; for he had read The dark look of his mother, and the seed Of a stern nation had been breathed upon. Mother and son wandered into a wilderness entirely destitute of water, "in the way to Shur,"1 probably pur suing the caravan route toward Hagar's own country, Egypt. " Tlie narrative of Hagar's wanderings," says Geace Aguilae, "her maternal suffering and miracu lous relief, is one of the most beautiful and touching 1 Gen. xvi. 7. The wilderness of Shur embraced the whole country between the north-eastern frontier of Egypt and the land of Canaan, or Palestine. I.— 4 74 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. among the many beauties of the Bible." De. Milman says : " History or poetry scarcely presents us with any passage which surpasses in simple pathos the description of Hagar, not daring to look upon her child, while he is perishing with thirst before her face. ' And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.' " She turned away — she could not brook On that beloved face to look — And hid her weeping eye. " Let me not see him die. Alas ! my own, my cherished one, What has thy mournful mother done That thou should'st thus be reft, The only treasure left? How many streams and fountains bright Are flashing in the golden light, With music sweet and clear ! But none, alas ! are near. Oh for a draught from some sweet spring, Upon its bright course murmuring ! Oh for one silver wave Its drooping brow to lave ! O God, to thee I turn, for Thou Alone canst aid and comfort now ; Hear, in this lonely wild, A mother for her child ! How can I bear to see him die ! How can I watch his glazing eye ! Yes, I have erred ; but he — Oh spare him yet to me !" P. J. Owens. This same scene is farther described, with pathos so touching, in the well-known version of the story by the THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 75 American poet already referred to, that the record would hardly be complete without it : But Hagar found No shelter in the wilderness, and on She kept her weary way, until the boy Hung down his head, and open'd his parched lips For water; but she could not give it him. She laid him down beneath the sultry sky — For it was better than the close, hot breath Of the thick pines — and tried to comfort him ; But he was sore athirst, and his blue eyes Were dim and bloodshot, and he could not know Why God denied him water in the wild. She sat a little longer, and he grew Ghastly and faint, as if he would have died. It was too much for her. She lifted him, And bore him farther on, and laid his head Beneath the shadow of a desert shrub ; And, shrouding up her face, she went away, And sat to watch, where he could see her not, Till he should die ; and, watching him, she mourn'd : " God stay thee in thine agony, my boy ! I cannot sec thee die; I cannot brook Upon thy brow to look, And see death settle on my cradle joy. How have I drunk the light of thy blue eye ! And could I see thee die ? " I did not dream pf this when thou wast straying, Like an unbound gazelle, among the flowers ; Or whiling the soft hours, By the rich gush of water-sources playing, Then sinking weary to thy smiling sleep, So beautiful and deep. 76 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. " Oh no ! and when I watched by thee the while, And saw thy bright lip curling in thy dream, And thought of the dark stream In my own land of Egypt, the far Nile, How pray'd I that my father's land might be An heritage for thee ! " And now the grave for its cold breast hath won thee ! And thy white, delicate limbs the earth will press ; And oh ! my last caress Must feel thee cold, for a chill hand is on thee. How can I leave my boy, so pillowed there Upon his clustering hair !" N. P. Willis. The divine record tells us that " God heard the voice of the lad, and said unto Hagar, 'Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand : for I will make him a great nation.' And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water ; and she went and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink." Then on bent knees, with tear and smile at strife, Mother and child, they quaffed the liquid life ; And staid to smile, and drank to smile again, Till sweet and cheerful seemed the silent plain ; And young leaves dancing on the desert trees To the low music of the passing breeze, And birds of passage with their homeward wings, And fireflies wheeling in their lighted rings, And flowers unfolding where the glare was gone, Spake but one tale — Hope ever, and hope on ! Edwin Arnold. In confirmation of the divine message to Hagar, the descendants of her outcast son became a mighty people, and still are so, although wanderers through the deserts of Arabia. In the seventh century they were bound by Mahomet, in the holy league of Islamism, as profes- THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 77 sors of faith in the God of Abraham. De. McCausland says that their religious fanaticism resulted in a career of conquest that has never been equalled in modern times. " They proselytized with the sword. Spoil and Paradise were their battle cry ; and spreading forth, in a few years they subjugated Syria, Persia, and parts of Europe; and within a century from the death of Ma homet, his successors had extended their conquests into Toorkistan, Afghanistan, and Northern India, on the east; and through Africa to the Atlantic, on the west; and crossing into Spain, they colonized the richest prov inces of that country, and occupied Sicily and Malta, in the Mediterranean. But, after living for nearly four centuries in unparalleled splendor and luxury through out their conquered countries, they retired again to their tents in Arabia, and resumed their simple nomadic oc cupations and the predatory habits of their ancestors. The Ishmaelite Arab became again, like his forefathers, 'the wild man, whose hand is against every man, and every man's hand is against him ;' and such he remains to this hour." Amid the wrecks of empire, still unchanged, The Arab ranges where his fathers ranged. Amid the roar of waters stands a rock, O'crtops the surge, and scorns the crested shock ; Like the tall pillars that o'erlook the moor, The Ishmaelite, disdainful, stands secure. Nor Greek, nor Roman, nor the Tartar khan, Nor Parthian, Persian, nor the Turcoman, Has ever turned a master's kindling eye Over the sandy wilds of Araby. Some few have found the joy that conquest yields, For a brief space, in Yemen's flowery fields ; But Ishmael's nation never bowed the neck To conqueror's footsteps or a tyrant's beck. 78 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Oft for their spoil the Centaur robbers roam ; But still Arabia is the Arab's home ; Still is he seen with glistening eyes to trace Each spot that keeps the record of his race ; Still does he hold in legendary lore The names and fortunes of his sires of yore ; For him each Syrian flower that blooms and dies, Stream, hill, aud stone are kindred memories; Still does he haunt the dead and sinful sea, The hill of Jebus, lake of Galilee; To Belkas' pasture loves his flock to drive, And keeps in Paran Ishmael's name alive. M. J. Chapman. XV. ABRAHAM OFFERING UP ISAAC. The most touching incident in the life of Abraham, and the one that furnishes the most complete proof of his perfect faith, is the preparation that he made, in obedience to the command of God, to offer up his only son Isaac as a sacrifice.1 Although human sacrifices were a prominent feature in the religious rites of many, of the tribes by which Abraham was surrounded, we may assume that they were then, as they always have been since, utterly repugnant to the spirit of the He brew religion, of which Abraham was the first living witness. Aside, therefore, from natural feelings of ab horrence at the act, and the seeming impossibility of the fulfilment of the Divine promises if Isaac were slain, it might well perplex Abraham to be called of God to transgress the divine command against human blood- shedding,2 and to violate that spirit of the Hebrew re ligion which subsequently found expression in the com mand forbidding human sacrifices.3 But he was content 1 Gen. xx. = Gen. ix. 5, 6. » Leviticus, xviii. 21 ; xx., S, etc. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 79 to leave with the Almighty the solution of the mystery. He therefore took the unsuspecting Isaac, laid upon him the wood of the burnt-offering, and proceeded to Mount Moriah, afterward the site of the Temple at Jerusalem, where he prepared an altar, and placed Isaac bound upon it. Abraham then took the knife to slay his son ; but the uplifted hand of the father was stayed by an angel of the Lord, and a ram, entangled by its horns in the thicket, was substituted as the victim of the sacrifice. The departure of Abraham for the mount, the journey, and the final scene, have been graphically described in the following lines : Morn breaketh in the east. The purple clouds Are putting on their gold and violet, To look the ineeter for the sun's bright coming. Sleep is upon the waters and the wind ; And Nature, from the wavy forest-leaf To her majestic master, sleeps. As yet There is no mist upon tho deep blue sky, And the clear dew is on the blushing bosoms Of crimson roses in a holy rest. How hallowed is the hour of morning! meet — Ay, beautifully meet — for the pure prayer. The patriarch standeth at his tented door, With his white locks uncovered. 'Tis his wont To gaze upon that gorgeous Orient ; And at that hour the awful majesty Of man who talketh often with his God Is wont to come again, and clothe his brow As at his fourscore strength. But now he seemeth To be forgetful of his vigorous frame, And boweth to his staff as at the hour Of noontide sultriness. And that bright sun — He Iooketh at its pencill'd messengers, Coming in golden raiment, as if all Were but a graven scroll of fearfulness. 80 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Ah ! he is waiting till it herald in The hour to sacrifice his much-loved son ! Light poureth on the world ! and Sarah stands Watching the steps of Abraham aud her child Along the dewy sides of the far hills, And praying -that her sunny hoy faint not. Would she have watched their path so silently If she had known that he was going up, E'en in his fair-haired beauty, to be slain As a white Iamb for sacrifice ? They trod Together onward, patriarch and child — The bright sun throwing back the old man's shade In straight and fair proportions, as of one Whose years were freshly numbered. He stood up, Tall in his vigorous strength ; and, like a tree Rooted in Lebanon, his frame bent not. His thin white hairs had yielded to the wind, And left his brow uncovered ; and his face, Impressed with the stern majesty of grief, Nerved to a solemn duty, now stood forth Like a rent rock, submissive yet sublime. But the young boy — he of the laughing eye And ruby lip — the pride of life was on him. He seemed.to drink the morning. Sun and dew, And the aroma of the spicy trees, And all that giveth the delicious East Its fitness for an Eden, stole like light Into his spirit, ravishing his thoughts With love and beauty. Everything he met, Buoyant or beautiful, the lightest wing Of bird or insect, or the palest dye Of the fresh flowers, won him from his path ; And joyously broke forth his tiny shout As he flung back his silken hair, and sprunc Away to some green spot or clustering vine, To pluck his infant trophies. Every tree THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 81 And fragrant shrub was a new hiding-place ; And he could crouch till the old man came. by, Then bound before him with his childish laugh, Stealing a look behind him, playfully, To see if he had made his father smile. The sun rode on in heaven. The dew stole up From the fresh daughters of the earth, and heat Came like a sleep upon the delicate leaves, And bent them with the blossoms to their dreams. Still trod the patriarch on with that same step, Firm and unfaltering ; turning not aside To seek the olive shades, or lave their lips In the sweet waters of the Syrian wells, Whose gush hath so much music. Weariness Stole on the gentle boy, and he forgot To toss his sunny hair from off his brow, And spring for the fresh flowers and light wings As in the early morning ; but he kept Close by his father's side, and bent his head Upon his bosom like a drooping bud, Lifting it not, save now and then to steal A look up to the face whose sternness awed His childishness to silence. It was noon — • And Abraham on Moriah bowed himself, And buried up his face, and prayed for strength. He could not look upon his son and pray ; But, with his hand upon tho clustering curls Of the fair, kneeling boy, he prayed that God Would nerve him for that hour. He rose up and laid The wood upon the altar. All was done. He stood a moment, and a deep flush Passed o'er his countenance ; and then he nerved 4* 82 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. His spirit with a bitter strength, and spoke : " Isaac ! my only son !" The boy looked up. " Where is the lamb, my father ?" — Oh, the tones, The sweet, familiar voice of a loved child ! What would its music seem at such an hour ! — It was the last deep struggle. Abraham held His loved, his beautiful, his only son, And lifted up his arm, and called on God — And lo ! God's angel stayed him — and he fell Upon his face and wept. N. P. Willis. This was the last trial of Abraham's faith, and its crowning development. His willingness to give up his only son is regarded as a type of God's willingness to give up the Only Begotten Son as a sacrifice for us. And in every respect, except the actual completion of the sacrifice, Isaac is believed by Christians to be the type of Christ, who, near the spot where Abraham built his altar, and eighteen centuries after, purchased by his death upon the cross the redemption of the world. XVI. ABRAHAM'S DEATH AND CHARACTER. Soon after these events Sarah died, and was buried near Hebron, in a field called Machpelah, which Abra ham had purchased from one of the neighboring tribes as a place of sepulture for his family. The remaining incidents in the life of Abraham are of but little in terest. In order to keep his family distinct from the neighboring idolatrous tribes, he chose from his own kindred a wife for Isaac in the person of Rebekah, the granddaughter of his brother Nahor. The narrative of this proceeding contains many interesting particulars of the state of society in that early age. The author of The Women of Israel,^ in alluding to the account of Re- 1 Grace Aguilar, an English authoress, and a Jewess. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 83 bekah's meeting at the well, and drawing water for, the servant whom Abraham had sent to find a wife for Isaac, truly remarks that, " Among the many little ex quisite touches of artless and gentle nature with which the Bible abounds, none surpass this for truth and beauty." After the death of Sarah, Abraham married Keturah. He gave rich gifts to the children of this union, whom he then sent away into "the east coun try," that Isaac might enjoy his inheritance undisturbed. " Then Abraham died, in a good old age, an old man and full of years; and was gathered to his people." Ishmael and Isaac met in perfect friendship to perform the last duty to their common father, and laid him by the side of Sarah, in Machpelah. Such, in brief, is the history of Abraham, "the Father of the Faithful." Commenting on the narrative of his life in the Book of Genesis, De. Milman is led to ob serve that, " It stands in remarkable contrast with the lofty pretensions which the patriarch assumes in the various Oriental traditions, and which describe him as the teacher not merely of religious truth, but of science, arithmetic, mathematics, and astronomy." He adds, . " The genealogies of most nations, particularly the East ern, are lost among their gods ; it is impossible to define where fable ceases and history begins ;. and the earlier we ascend, the more indistinct and marvellous the nar rative. In the Hebrew record it is precisely the con verse : God and man are separated by a wide and im passable interval. Abraham is the sheik of a pastoral ' tribe, migrating from place to place, his stations marked with geographical accuracy, and with a picturesque sim plicity of local description ; here he pitches his tent by some old and celebrated tree, there on the brink of a well-known fountain. He is in no respect superior to his age or country, excepting in the sublime purity of 84 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. his religion. He is neither demi-god nor mighty con queror, nor even sage, nor inventor of useful arts. His distinction is the worship of the One Great God, and the intercourse which he is permitted to hold with this mys terious being — intercourse, it has been observed, through celestial messengers, by vision, and seemingly by men tal impression. The Godhead remains in immaterial se clusion from the world. This is the great patrimonial glory which he bequeaths to bis descendants ; their title to be considered the chosen people of the Almighty is their inalienable hereditary possession. This is the key to their whole history, the basis of their political institu tions, the vital principle of their national character." To this we may add the happy delineation of Abra ham's character by De. Geikie. He says : "Abraham's character merits the tribute paid to it in all ages. Its strength is seen in the choice of Jehovah as bis God when all around were idolaters, and in his grand loyalty to him amid every temptation. Neither disappointment, nor delay, nor the strain of the sternest demands, for a moment shook his faith. Knowing him in whom he believed, he trusted him with an immova ble confidence. Nor was his bearing less worthy toward bis fellow-men. Though the elder, he gives the choice to Lot when the two must part; willing, for peace and kindliness, to take contentedly what his nephew leaves. He is too magnanimous to claim the spoil which war had made his after the defeat of the kings, but renders the great service freely, without reward. If Hagar and Ishmael live ill at ease with Sarah, they have no such feeling toward him ; for they know how unwilling he had been to send them away, and must have seen how the heart clung to them whicli broke out in the fatherly prayer, ' O that Ishmael might live before thee.' " The pity even for the unworthy that marks his in- THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 85 tercession for Sodom is a lesson for every age. His bearing toward the three mystical strangers under the oaks of Mamre is the ideal of patriarchal courtesy and hospitality. He runs to meet them, and bowing low, begs them to let him entertain them, and himself hast ens the meal. That he should have maintained rela tions so friendly with the races among whom he lived at Shechem, Bethel, and Hebron, speaks for his pru dence, integritj', and neighborly worth. No wonder that his descendants, regarding him at once in his rela tions to God and to his fellow-men, should speak of him as 'incomparable in his generation,' or that they have fabled of him that, in Jeremiah's day, when the Temple had been destroyed, Abraham's form was seen over the ruins, his hands uplifted, pleading with God for the sons of his people led off to captivity." XVII. ISAAC, AND HIS SONS JACOB AND ESAU. The life of Isaac was not so eventful as that of Abra ham, but was characterized by the same faith and obe dience, and by a meek and gentle spirit. His two sons, Esau and Jacob, were as unlike in their dispositions and tastes as in their mode of life. Esau " was a cunning hunter, a man of the field ;'" while Jacob " was a plain man, dwelling in tents." Esau, being the first-born, was entitled to the inheritance ; but hunger, and his broth er's craftiness, robbed him of all title to the promises made to his tribe. After a day of unsuccessful hunting he came in from the field faint, impatient with hunger, and at the request of Jacob, who took an ungenerous and selfish advantage of bis necessities, sold him his birthright for a mess of pottage. ' Gen. xxv. 27. 86 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. We barter life for pottage ; sell true bliss For wealth or power, for pleasure or renown ; Thus, Esau-like, our Father's blessing miss, Then wash with fruitless tears our faded crown. Keble. Isaac lived as a husbandman in the vicinity of Ge- rar,1 at peace with his neighbors, and blessed with much wealth. In his old age he sought to bless Esau, but was deceived by Jacob and his mother, and the blessing in tended for Esau was stolen for Jacob.2 In revenge for the wrongs he had suffered, the angry Esau sought his brother's life ; but Jacob was warned of his danger by his mother, and having received from his father a con firmation of his blessing, he was sent from home with instructions to find a wife among his kindred at Haran. My youngest born, my pride of heart, thou must, thou must away; Thy brother's wrathful hand is raised, and here thou canst not stay. Oh, I have deeply sinned for thee ! the chastisement be mine ; And I will bear it all, my son : the blessing shall be thine. Emily Taylor. While the conduct of Rebekah and Jacob presents a painful picture, and is wholly indefensible, it is easy of explanation. It had been foretold to Rebekah, before the birth of her sons, that her offspring should be the founders of two nations, and that tlie elder should serve the younger ;s and to the latter, on his birth, was given tlie name of Jacob, signifying tlie suppldnter. His af fectionate disposition and steady habits were in marked contrast with the character and life of Esau, who added 1 Gen. xxv. 1. Gerar, a city of the Philistines in Abraham's and Isaac's time, in a fertile region between the deserts of Kadesh and Shur, and on the southern border of Canaan, near Gaza and Beersheba. 2 Gen. xxvii. a Gen. xxv. 23. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 87 to the preference that his mother had for his brother Jacob, by contracting a marriage, against the wishes of his parents, with .two women of the idolatrous Canaan ites. The remembrance of the prediction, therefore, the affection that she had for Jacob, and the expressed in tention of the aged Isaac to bless Esau, moved Rebekah to secure for Jacob, by fraudulent means, the blessing that had been appointed to him by the Almighty. In this, and in doubting the fulfilment of the divine prom ise in spite of Isaac's determination to ignore it, Rebekah sinned; "but it should not be forgotten," as a promi nent commentator observes, " that the prospect to her was dark aud threatening which arose when she saw the neglected Esau at the head of the house of Isaac, and his hateful and idolatrous wives in command." On his way to Haran, and at his first resting-place for the night, the promise made to Abraham and Isaac was also made to Jacob in a remarkable dream or vision, in which he saw a ladder uniting earth and heaven, "and the angels of God ascending and descending on it."1 The scene is thus pictured by Dean Stanley : "The first halt of the wanderer revealed his future destinies. The sun went down ; the night gathered round ; he was on the central thoroughfare, on the hard backbone of the mountains of Palestine; the ground was strewn with wide sheets of bare rock; here and there stood up isolated fragments, like ancient Druidical monuments. On the hard ground he lay down to rest, and in the visions of the night the rough stones formed themselves into a vast staircase, reaching into the depth of the wide and open sky, which, without any interrup tion of tent or tree, was stretched over the sleeper's head. On that staircase were ascending and descending the i Gen. xxviii. 10-19. 88 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. messengers of God ; and from above there came the Di vine Voice, which told the homeless wanderer that, little as he thought it, he bad a protector there and every where; that even in this bare and open thoroughfare, in no consecrated grove or cave, ' The Lord was in this place, though he knew it not.' ' This was Bethel, the House of God, and this was the gate of heaven.' " The sun was sinking on the mountain zone That guards thy vales of beauty, Palestine ! And lovely from the desert rose the moon, Yet lingering on the horizon's purple line, Like a pure spirit o'er its earthly shrine ! Up Padan-aram's height, abrupt and bare, A pilgrim toiled, and oft on day's decline Looked pale, then paused for eve's delicious air. The summit gained, he knelt, and breathed his evening prayer. He spread his cloak and slumbered ; darkness fell Upon the twilight hills ; a sndden sound Of silver trumpets o'er him seemed to swell ; Clouds heavy with the tempest gathered round ; Yet was the whirlwind in its caverns hound; Still deeper rolled the darkness from on high, Gigantic volume upon volume round : Above, a pillar shooting to the sky ; Below, a mighty sea, that spread incessantly. Voices are heard — a choir of golden strings, Low winds, whose breath is loaded with the rose ; Then chariot-wheels — the nearer rush of wings ; Pale lightning round the dark pavilion glows ; It thunders — the resplendent gates unclose. Far as the eye can glance, on height o'er height Bise fiery waving wings and star-crowned brows, Millions on millions, brighter and more bright, Till all is lost in one supreme, unmingled light. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 89, But, two beside the sleeping pilgrim stand, Like cherub kings, with lifted, mighty plume, Fixed, sunbright eyes, and looks of high command. They tell the patriarch of his glorious doom ; Father of countless myriads that shall come, Sweeping the land like billows of the sea, Bright as the stars of heaven from twilight's gloom, Till He is given whom angels long to see, And Israel's splendid line is crowned with Deity. George Croly. At Haran, Jacob served his mother's brother, Laban, for seven years, to obtain in marriage his daughter Rachel, when he discovered that his wife was Rachel's elder sister Leah, who had been imposed upon him by the crafty Laban. Then he was compelled by Laban to serve another seven years for Rachel, and six years more for a herd or flock, making a service of twenty years in all, which Dean Stanley has termed " a long contest of cunning and perseverance, in which true love at last wins the game against selfish gain." " There was," says De, Milman, "a continual contest in cunning and sub tlety between Laban and Jacob — the former endeavoring to defraud the latter of his due wages, and at the same time to retain so useful a servant; while the latter, ap parently with the divine sanction, secured all the strong er and more flourishing part of the flocks for his own portion." At God's command Jacob departed, with his wives, children, and possessions, for the land of Canaan. He was pursued and overtaken by Laban, with whom, however, an agreement for a peaceable separation was finally effected. Jacob had crossed the Jordan, on his way eastward to Haran, with nothing but the staff which he carried in his hand ; but he was returning to his father, a chief with a large following, raised to a high place among the tribes of the earth. On his way he sent messengers 90; MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. with gifts to conciliate bis brother Esau, who had become the head of a powerful tribe; and, shortly after, there occurred that mysterious symbolic event — his wrestling with an angel1 — whicli Dean Stanley thus describes : " He was still on the heights beyond the Jordan, and beyond the deep defile where the Jabbok, as its name implies, wrestles with the mountains through which it descends to the Jordan. In .the dead of night he sent his wives and sons, and all that be had, across the defile, and he was left alone ; and in the darkness and stillness, in the crisis of his life, in the agony of his fear for the issue of the morrow, there 'wrestled' with him one whose name he knew not until the dawn rose over the hills of Gilead. They ' wrestled,' and lie prevailed ; yet not without bearing away marks of the conflict. In that struggle, in that seal and crown of his life, he wins his new name. 'Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, the supplanter, but Israel, the prince of God — for as a prince, hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.' Jacob asked, 'Tell me, I pray thee, thy name.' And he said, 'Wherefore is it thou dost ask after my name V And he blessed him there, and Jacob called the name of the place Peniel (' the face of God '). And as he passed over, the sun, of which the dawn had been already breaking, burst upon him." The struggle has been long, And strength is failing ; I know that Thou art strong And all-prevailing ; But terrors thicker grow, And fears oppress me : I will not let Thee go, Except Thou bless me. 1 Gen. xxxii. 24-32 ; at Peniel, a place east of the Jordan. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 91 I know the night is past, And day is breaking; But I upon this cast My all am staking ; I cannot bear the blow If Thou repress me : I will not let Thee go, Except Thou bless me. The morning light will bring Impending danger ; To Thee alone I cling, A lonely stranger ; Protect me from my foe, And now redress me : I will not let Thee go, Except Thou bless me. Anon. " The issue of the morrow," which Jacob so greatly feared, was his meeting with Esau. But it was a most friendly meeting. Esau embraced Jacob, " and fell on his neck and kissed him ; and they wept." They soon parted, and thereafter the two branches of the family were entirely separated. Esau became the father of a mighty nation, the Edomites or Idumeans, dwelling about Mount Seir, south-west of the Dead Sea; and Jacob, after going from place to place in search of a permanent home, finally rejoined his father Isaac in the plains of Mamre. It was during these journeyings that Rachel died, in giving birth to Benjamin, " and was buried in the way to Ephrath.1 And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave : that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day." 1 Gen. xxxv. 19. Ephrath is the same as Bethlehem. Rachel's tomb is still seen, a mile and a half north of Bethlehem. Moslems, Jews, and Christians agree as to the site. 92, MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. What mouldering pile near Ephrath stands alone, With dome-shaped top and base of massy stone ? Bude is the chamber where her bones repose, Yet here, 'tis said, fair Bachel's pillar rose. Ah ! sad her fate in nature's pangs to die ; To sorrowing friends I hear her parting sigh ; I see her husband's woe, his streaming tear, His last fond kiss before he laid her here, His anguished brow, where smiles no more would he, For ne'er was wife, poor Rachel ! loved like thee. Nicholas Michell. It was not long after the death of Rachel that Isaac died, and was buried in Machpelah by the side of Re bekah, who had died some time before Jacob's return. XVIII. THE LIFE OF JOSEPH. The sons of Jacob were twelve in number. Of these Joseph, the first-born of Rachel, was his father's favorite, and was distinguished in his dress from his brothers by a coat of many colors. The story of Joseph1 is univer-, sally conceded to be one of the most interesting portions of the Bible narrative. Jacob's partiality for him ex cited the hatred of the other sons, which was intensified by two prophetic dreams or visions that Joseph had, which foretold his future greatness, and whicli lie frank ly related to his brothers. One was, that while binding sheaves in the field the sheaves bound by bis brothers bowed before his sheaf ; and the other, that the sun, and the moon, and eleven stars bowed in homage to him. So, on one occasion, when Jacob sent him to the place where his brothers were tending their flocks to see if it were well with them, they conspired to kill him. .' Gen. xxxvii., etc. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 93 One of their number urged them to put him into a pit, intending to return and deliver him. They stripped him of his coat of many colors, and cast him into the pit to die ; but, at the suggestion of Judah, they drew him out and sold him to a company of Ishmaelites who were passing by. These carried him into Egypt, and sold him to an officer of the Court of Pharaoh. The brothers returned to Jacob, carrying Joseph's coat steep ed in the blood of a kid they had killed. The father believed that his son had been devoured by a wild beast ; and his intense grief was expressed in the pathetic dec laration : " I will go down into the grave with my son mourning." Joseph prospered in tlie strange land to wliich he had been taken, and in a few years the slave became the all- powerful vizier of the King of Egypt. Heaven's favorite down a darksome pit they cast, His rich-hued robe and lofty dreams deriding ; Then, from his tears their ruthless faces hiding, Sell him to merchants who with spicery past. The changeful years o'er that fair slave fled fast ; Behold him now in glorious chariot riding, Arrayed in shining vesture, and presiding O'er Egypt's councils, owned by Heaven at last. Wilton. Joseph's career in Egypt is briefly sketched by De. Milman, as follows : "Divine Providence watched, even in the land of the stranger, over the heir to the promises made to Abra ham, Isaac, and Jacob. The slave rose with a rapidity surprising, though by no means unparalleled in Eastern kingdoms, and was speedily promoted to the care of the household of his master, whose entire confidence in the prudence and integrity of his servant is described in these 94 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. singular terms : ' He left all that be had in Joseph's hand, and he knew not aught he bad, save the bread which be did eat.' Joseph's virtue in other respects was equal to his integrity, but not so well rewarded. Falsely accused of crime, be was thrown into prison. The dun geon opens a way to still farther advancement. Where- ever he is be secures esteem and confidence. Like his former master, the keeper of the prison intrusts the whole of his. responsible duties to the care of Joseph. But the chief cause of his rapid rise to fortune and dig nity is his skill in the interpretation of dreams. Among his fellow-prisoners were the chief baker and chief but ler of the King. Each of these men was perplexed by an extraordinary vision. The interpretation of Joseph was justified by the fate of both ; one, as he predicted, was restored to his honors ; the other suffered an igno minious death. Through the report of the former the fame of Joseph reached the palace, and when the King himself was in the same manner disturbed with visions which baffled the professed diviners of the country, Joseph was summoned from the prison. " The dreams of Pharaoh the King, according to the exposition of Joseph, under the symbolic forms of seven fat and fleshy kine followed by seven lean and withered ones, seven good ears of corn by seven parched aud blasted by the east wind, prefigured seven years of un exampled plenty, to be succeeded by seven of unex ampled dearth. Joseph, being asked how to provide against the impending calamity, recommends that a fifth part of the produce during the seven abundant years be laid up in granaries built for the purpose. The wisdom of this measure was apparent; and who so fit to carry such plans into effect as he whose prudence had sug gested them? Accordingly, Joseph is at once raised to the office of chief minister over the whole of this great THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 95 and flourishing kingdom. The seven years of unexam pled plenty passed away exactly as the interpreter of the royal dreams had foretold, and during this time Jo seph regularly exacted a fifth of the produce, which was stored up in granaries established by the government." When the famine came, Canaan, in common with other localities, was severely visited, and Jacob sent all his sons but Benjamin — the youngest — into Egypt to buy food. The same writer gives an interesting account of their meeting with Joseph, and of the happy results that finally followed it. He says: " The relation, in Genesis, of the transactions which took place between Joseph and his family is the most exquisite model of the manner in which history, with out elevating its tone, or departing from its plain and unadorned veracity, assumes the language and spirit of the most touching poetry. The brothers are at first received with sternness and asperity, and charged with being spies come to observe the undefended state of the country. They are thrown into prison for three days, and released on condition of proving the truth of their story by bringing their younger brother Benjamin with them. Their own danger brings up before their minds the recollection of their crime, and they express to one another their deep remorse for the supposed murder of their younger brother, little thinking that Joseph, who had conversed with them through an interpreter, under stood every word they said. And Joseph turned about from them and wept. Simeon being bound by Joseph as a hostage, the brothers are dismissed, but on their way home are surprised and alarmed to find their money re turned to them. "The suspicious Jacob will not at first intrust his youngest and best-beloved child to their care ; but their present supply of corn being consumed, they have no 96 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. alternative between starvation and their return to Egypt. Jacob reluctantly, and with many fond admonitions, com mits the surviving child of Rachel to tlieir protection. On tlieir arrival in Egypt they are better received, and the vizier inquires anxiously about the health of their father. 'Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive V The sight of his o.wn brother, Benjamin, overpowers Joseph with emotion. They are feasted, and Benjamin is peculiarly distinguished by a larger portion of meat. Once more the brothers are dis missed with a full supply of corn, but are this time pur sued and brought back on a charge of secreting a silver cup which had been concealed in the sack of Benjamin. At length the great minister of the King of Egypt makes himself known as the brother whom they had sold as a slave. And he said, 'I am Joseph; doth my father yet liveV And his brethren could not answer Mm ; for they were troubled at his presence. And Joseph said unto his brethren, ' Come near to me, I pray you.'' And they came near. And he said, '/ am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved,nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life; and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt! " He sent them, with great store of provisions, and with an equipage of wagons, to transport tlieir father and all tlieir family into Egypt, for five years of the famine bad still to elapse. His last striking admonition to them is, ' See that ye fall not out by the way! When they reach Canaan, and tell their aged father that Jo seph is still alive and governor of all Egypt, Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not. Convinced at length of the surprising change of fortune, he says, iIt is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive, and I will go THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 97 and see him before I die! Thus all the legitimate de scendants of Abraham migrate into Egypt. The high credit of Joseph insures them a friendly reception, and the fertile district of Goshen,1 the best pasture-land of Egypt, is assigned by the munificent sovereign for their residence." XIX. JACOB'S PROPHETIC BLESSINGS UPON HIS CHILDREN. The descendants of Jacob, enjoying undisturbed plen ty and prosperity in Goshen, increased with great rapid ity. At the end of seventeen years Jacob died. Some time before this event he adopted the two sons of Jo seph, Manasseh and Ephraim, for his own, and blessed them, laying his "right hand upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly." He then called all his sons together about him, and the history of his life closes with a series of splendid poetical prophecies, de scribing the character of his sons, and the possessions they were to occupy in the partition of the promised land.a It is conceded that these predictions were sig nally fulfilled in the progress of ages, and that their gradual accomplishment has rendered intelligible the language of the prophecies, which otherwise would have been utterly inscrutable. The poetical character of these prophecies is described by the Rev. John Hobaet Cauntee, B.D., in a work en titled The Poetry of the Pentateuch. He says : "Notwithstanding their extreme obscurity in some parts, they are full of the noblest poetical embellish ment. There is a grandeur, a massive force, a sublime 1 Gen. xiv. 10. The "land of Goshen" was north-east of Lower or Northern Egypt, on the border-land between Egypt and Palestine. 11 Gen. xlix. I.-5 98 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. eloquence, pervading the whole series, that elevates them to the first rank of poetical inspirations, in which human genius is vastly enhanced by those divine communica tions that at once exalt the spirit, refine the understand ing, and purify the heart. They abound iii strong meta phors, bold images, abrupt transitions, startling figures, and other peculiarities which place them entirely out of the pale of prose." Jacob begins his predictions with an appeal to his sons to assemble in brotherly love, and come before him, that he may bestow bis benedictions upon them : Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you That which shall befall you in the last days : Gather yourselves together and hear, ye sons of Jacob, And hearken unto Israel, your father ! With this beautiful opening, the patriarch proceeds to pronounce his first prediction, which is concerning REUBEN. Reuben, thou art my first-born, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power. Unstable as* water, thou shalt not excel, Because thou wentest up to thy father's bed ; Then defilest thou it : he went up to my couch. This prophecy was fulfilled in the posterity of Reu ben, who never rose to eminence as a tribe, and in all respects were inferior to most of tho other tribes, al though descended from the first-born. SIMEON AND LEVI. Jacob's second prediction was upon these two sons, and the following graceful version of it is by Heedee, the distinguished German divine and translator : THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 99 Simeon aud Levi ! they are brethren. Their swords were instruments of murder. My soul came not into their bloody counsel, My heart was not joined in their company. When in anger they slew a hero, And in revenge destroyed a noble ox. Cursed be their revengeful anger, Cursed be their cruel hatred ; I will divide them in Jacob And scatter them in Israel. The crime here referred to is the assault on the She- chemites, as narrated in the thirty-fourth chapter of Gen esis. As Simeon and Levi were united in that act, so the patriarch couples them in his prophecy. With re gard to the prediction, it has been remarked that " Ja cob " and " Israel," in the concluding lines, signify Ca naan and those countries wliich were eventually to be divided among Jacob's sons. Though both Simeon and Levi received the same condemnation, the fate of their descendants was very different. The descendants of Levi attained the highest rank, and occupied stations of the first distinction. Having been set apart for the ser vice of the priesthood, they received no inheritance in the tribal division of the land, but their subsistence was provided for, first, by a compensation for the abandon ment of their right, consisting of forty-eight cities dis tributed among the several tribes ; and, secondly, they received, for their services as priests, one-tenth of the produce of the lands allotted to the other tribes. On the other hand, the descendants of Simeon, although numbering nearly sixty thousand at the time of the cen sus at Sinai, and though at one time powerful enough to subdue the Idume'ans and Am'alekites, soon dwindled into insignificance as a tribe, and became almost extinct. Simeon is omitted in Moses's blessing. 100 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. JUDAH. The patriarch next proceeds to pronounce the follow ing benediction on Judah : Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise ; Thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies: Thy father's children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp ; From the prey, my son, thou art gone up : He stooped down, he couched as a lion, And as an old lion ; who shall rouse him up ? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, Nor a law-giver from beneath his feet, Until Shiloh come, And unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Binding his foal unto the vine, And his ass's colt unto the choice vine ; He washed his garments in wine, And his clothes in the blood of grapes. His eyes shall be red with wine, And his teeth white with milk. This son succeeded to the birthright which the first three sons, by their crimes, had forfeited ; and hia de scendants maintained the distinction of pre-eminence among the other tribes as long as the Jews had a na tional existence. The prediction that "the sceptre should not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between his feet, until Shiloh (the Messiah) come," was fulfilled in the maintenance of the authority of the Jew ish priesthood until the coming and spiritual reign of Christ. Although, before the birth of the Saviour, Her od was the Roman governor, first of Galilee, and then of Judea, yet even Herod was summoned before the Sanhedrim, the supreme judicial council of the Jews, to answer charges against him. After the coming of Christ, the gathering of both Jews and Gentiles was to THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 101 him, as their Prince and Saviour. In him, as the Great High-priest, it was fit that the Jewish priesthood and royalty ' should determine; and at his death the Jews expressly admitted, "We have no king but Csesar." Within, that generation Jerusalem was destroyed, the whole civil and ecclesiastical state was subverted, and the Jews were scattered abroad over the face of the earth. ZEBULUN, ISSACHAR, AND DAN. Next follow the predictions concerning these three sons and their posterity : (1.) Zebulun shall dvvell at the haven of the sea ; And he shall be an haven for ships ; And his border shall be unto Zidon. The portion which fell to Zebulun, in the division of Canaan, extended from the Mediterranean Sea on the west, where there was a haven for ships, to the sea of Tiberias, or Galilee, on the east. Bishop Pateick, an English commentator of note, states that "the Zidon mentioned in the prophecy does not mean the city of Zidon, for the tribe of Zebulun did not extend itself beyond Mount Carmel — certainly not forty miles from thence — but to the country of Zidon, that is, Phoenicia, which the Zebulnnites touched." (2.) Issachar is a strong ass, Couching down between two burdens ; And he saw that rest was good, And the land that it was pleasant ; And bowed his shoulder to bear, And became a servant unto tribute. The inheritance of the tribe of Issachar extended from the mountain range of Carmel to the Jordan, and to Mount Tabor on the north, and comprised the rich 102 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. plain of Jezreel, or Esdraelon. Of its country Josephus says : " It is fruitful to admiration, abounding in past ures and nurseries of all kinds, so that it would make any man in love with husbandry." The descendants of Issachar were industrious husbandmen, who preferred the content of agricultural pursuits to political rule. They submitted to the tribute imposed by various inva ders of their territory, who were attracted thither by the abundant crops. Thus Issachar is fitly compared to "a strong ass," a patient, drudging animal ; as Judah had been compared to a lion, to denote the courage and reso lution of that tribe. But the tribe of Issachar was also robust and courageous, and on many occasions rendered ready and valuable assistance against the enemies of Israel. (3.) Dan shall judge his people, As one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way — An adder in the path, That biteth the horse-heels, So that his rider shall fall backward. I have waited for thy salvation, 0 Lord ! The first limjs of this prophecy undoubtedly refer to Samson, who was of the tribe of Dan, and who judged Israel for twenty years. De. Cauntee observes that the word translated "adder," in the fourth line of this prophecy, means "a venomous snake, called a cerastes, from two horns upon its head. This creature is of a dusty color, is often found in the ruts of the roads ; and biting the horses' legs as they pass, the horses rear with the sudden pang, and their riders consequently fall back ward." The tribe of Dan is, therefore, fitly compared to the serpent and adder, creatures of conceded cunning. It occupied a mountainous country, and became distin guished for its cunning in war, resorting to stratagems THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 103 rather than to open encounters, and suddenly falling upon the rear of an enemy. The last line of this prophecy relating to Dan has greatly perplexed many able commentators, as it seems to be entirely unconnected with what either precedes or follows it. The following expositions of it are, there fore, of interest. The first is by Bishop Patrick, who says : " Jacob, perceiving his approaching death, and his spirits beginning to fail him, in the middle of his speech to his sons breaks off into this exclamation, which ap plies to none of them—' I wait, O Lord, for a happy de liverance out of this world into a better place.' " The other is by Heedee, who translates the line as follows : I hope in thy salvation, 0 Jehovah. He then observes : " These words, which have been thought so obscure, and have been so variously inter preted, seem to me to derive a pretty clear explanation from the connection in which they stand. On the north the land of Judea was exposed to the most powerful and dangerous attacks, as bas been shown by the history of the various conquests and desolating incursions which it has experienced. And there must Dan have his dwelling- place ! There must Jehovah bring deliverance to the na tion, or it must perish ! In such deliverance the patriar chal prophet confided, and by this expression showed how deeply he looked into the condition and wants of the country which his sons were to inhabit."1 GAD, ASHER, AND NAPHTALI. The benedictions pronounced upon these three sons consist of a single couplet each : (1.) Gad, a troop shall overcome him, But he shall overcome at the last. 1 "Spirit of Hebrew Poetry," vol. ii. p. 149. 104 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. The first line probably refers to the frequent incur sions of the Ammonites and other tribes, by whom the descendants of Gad were frequently oppressed. But the latter were never subdued, though often defeated, and the hardships of war made them resolute and brave. The second line of the prophecy is thought by some to refer to the victory achieved by the Gadites, aided by the tribe of Manasseh, over the Hagarites, as related in the first of Chronicles, chapter v. 18-22; while others think it refers to the possession, by the Gadites of the country of the Ammorites, after Israel's victory over Sihon and Og. In the division of the land Gad was allotted a portion east of the Jordan, between that river and the moun tains of Gilead. But, as the tribe was notoriously brave and warlike, it was stipulated that it should aid in the subjugation of the country west of the Jordan. Tlie Gadites were among the best troops of the Israelites, and their valor led Moses to say of them, when he blessed Israel just before his death : Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad : He dwelleth as a lion, And tearejji the arm with the crown of the head j1 and in the time of David they retained their warlike reputation, for they are then spoken of as " men of war fit for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains."2 (2.) Of Asher the patriarch said : Out of Asher — his bread shall be fat, And he shall yield royal dainties. This represents the temporal prosperity of this tribe, 1 Deut. xxxiii. 20. s 1 Chron. xii. 8. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 105 and' was fully realized. The valley immediately be neath Mount Carmel, and likewise the surrounding country, belonged to Asher, and were celebrated for their singular fertility. The table of King Solomon is supposed to have been furnished with all necessaries, and with many of the luxuries, which the appetite of that monarch craved, from the abundant productions of the territory of Asher. (3.) Naphtali is a hind let loose; He giveth goodly words. The meaning of these words is obscure, but the pre vailing opinion seems to be that they are a prediction of the fruitfulness and happy lot of this tribe, which was fully realized in its history. Bochaet, an eminent French Oriental and biblical scholar, renders the passage in this wise : Naphtali is a spreading oak, Producing beautiful branches. De. Adam Claeke, an English scholar of note, says Bochart's translation "is as literal as it is correct," and then observes : " The fruitfulness of this tribe in children may be here intended. From his four sons, Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem, whom Naphtali took down into Egypt, in the course of two hundred and fifteen years there sprung, of effective men, fifty-three thousand four hundred ; but as great increase in this way was not an uncommon thing among the descendants of Jacob, this may refer to the fruitfulness of their soil, and the special providen tial care and blessing of the Almighty ; to which, in deed, Moses seems particularly to refer : O Naphtali ! satisfied with favor, And full with the blessing of the Lord.1 1 Deut. xxxiii. 23. 5* 106 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. So that be may be represented under the notion of a tree planted in a rich soil, growing to a prodigious, size, extending its branches in all directions, and becoming a shade for men and cattle, and a harbor for the fowls of heaven." The territory of this tribe was, in fact, exceedingly rich in pasture, and the soil fruitful in corn and oil. It extended into Upper and Lower Galilee, being bounded by the Jordan on the east, by the portion of Asher on the west, by the spurs of Mount Lebanon and the sources of the Jordan on the north, and by Zebulun on the south. JOSEPH, AND HIS SONS EPHEAIM AND MANASSEH. Of all the blessings conferred by Jacob upon his chil dren, that given to Joseph, his favorite son, is considered the most remarkable, as it is the most, difficult to under stand. Ephraim and Manasseh, the two sons of Josephj were counted as sons of Jacob in the place of their father, and thus the descendants of Joseph formed two of the tribes of Israel, whereas every other of Jacob's sons counted but as one. Joseph is a fruitful bough, Even a fruitful bough by a well ; Whose branches run over the wall. The archers have sorely grieved him, And shot at him and hated him. But his bow abode in strength, And the arms of his hands were made strong By the hands of the mighty God of Jacob, (From thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel), Even by the God of thy Father, who shall help thee, And by the Almighty, who shall' bless thee With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lieth under, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 107 The blessings of thy father have prevailed Above the blessings of my progenitors, Unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills ; They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him That was separate from his brethren. The first portions of this blessing refer to Joseph's posterity, who, in two hundred years from the time of Jacob's death, numbered over seventy- two thousand men. It also contains a metaphorical allusion to the early history of Joseph in the scenes with his brethren. Of the remainder of the prediction Heedee observes as follows : "It serves as a map of the region which Joseph was to- possess in Canaan for the two tribes of his poster ity. He is crowned with the peculiar blessings of high mountains, where the heavens are expanded above and the sea spreads beneath, in which image the wish of the father aspires even to the heights of the primi tive world. What, then, were these ancient mountains? Moses explains the matter in his benediction : ' He shall trample the nations even to the extremity of the land." The posterity of Manasseh, therefore, were to dwell, prob ably on the highest northern elevations of the country, on the skirts of Mount Lebanon. Here they had the heavens above and the sea stretching beneath ; here the blessings of the everlasting hills, the mountains of the primeval world, from which were to be brought spices and precious things, as a diadem and an unction for the head of him who was crowned among his brethren. In this way, every particular of this pregnant benediction becomes, not only consistent, but picturesque and local. " As Lebanon overlooks the land of Canaan, crowned ' Deut. xxxiii. 13-20. 108 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. with white, and lifts itself to the clouds; as the ever lasting cedars stand upon it, and its deep valleys be neath are filled with vineyards around the numerous fountains which flow from them ; so shall this tribe flourish fresh and lively as the vine upon Lebanon, as a fruit tree by the fountains of waters. The mountains abound in trees which yield odorous gums, spices for the bead of Joseph, balsams for the bead of him that was crowned. The pass of Hamath, in wliich Joseph is placed, as the strongest and most expert archer, is the most important for the safety of the whole country ; and according to the figure employed by Moses, the descend ants of Joseph were to guard it with the strength and vigor of a wild bullock. Those who held this most dif ficult pass, the patriarch furnished with all the blessings pertaining to royal dignity, bestowed upon them all the honors of heroism, and the invocation of all good from the great and mighty God, the guardian of Israel upon bis rocky pillow." In connection with this exposition it may be re marked that the portion of territory allotted to the half tribe of Manasseh on the east of the Jordan extended to the mountains gi Lebanon, at the very northern extrem ity of the country, and controlled the pass of Hamath, the point of entrance into the land of Israel for an in vading army ; while the tribe of Ephraim occupied the rich central region of Palestine, and the other half of the tribe of Manasseh a territory north of it, extending to the Carmel range. benjamin. - Jacob's last prophetic blessing was on Benjamin, his youngest son, and is as follows : Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf; In the morning he shall devour the prey, And at night he shall divide the spoil. THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 109 The posterity of Benjamin were not only a warlike, but, likewise, a cruel and profligate race, as the twen tieth chapter of the Book of Judges witnesses. De. Cauntee remarks concerning them : " They were noted alike for tlieir courage and cruelty, for their licen tiousness and want of social integrity as well as for their ferocity in battle, and could not, therefore, have been better represented than by a ravenous animal, notorious for its indomitable treachery, and for the fierce deter mination with wliich it assaults its prey in defiance of danger, when stimulated by hunger. For some time the Benjamites maintained a successful war against all the other tribes,1 overcoming tlieir united forces in two san guinary engagements, though tlieir enemies were nearly sixteen times more numerous, and destroying more men of the combined tribes than they themselves numbered in their whole army. But in their third and last con flict with the united forces of Israel, the Benjamites were nearly annihilated. Their cities were burnt and their fields laid waste, and only six hundred men were left of this once powerful tribe.2 These fled to the wilderness, but subsequently were restored to political independence through an act of treachery,3 and the tribe again became powerful in numbers, and attained to high rank in the nation as the ' beloved of Jehovah.' The tribe of Ben jamin alone survived, with that of Judah, after the car rying away captive of the ten tribes to Assyria, and lasted till Shiloh came, and till Jerusalem was destroyed." XX. THE BURIAL OF JACOB. Jacob had solemnly adjured Joseph to convey his remains to the cave of Machpelah, in Canaan, near He- 1 Judges, xix., xx. 3 Judges, xx. 47. 1 See Judges, the last three chapters. 110 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. bron ; and, " when the days of bis mourning were past," Joseph obtained permission from the King of Egypt to pass into Canaan to bury his father. He was accompa nied by all the Israelites, except "the little ones," and by the servants and elders of the house of Pharaoh, and all the elders of the land. " And it was a great com pany." Arrived in Canaan, at the place of sepulture, they laid Jacob by the side of his kindred. Calm is it in the dim cathedral cloister, Where lie the dead all couched in marble rare, Where the shades thicken, and the breath hangs moister Than in the sunlit air. Sweet is it where the little graves fling shadows In the green church-yard, on the shaven grass, And a faint cowslip fragrance from the meadows O'er the low wall doth pass ! More sweet, more calm, in that fair valley's bosom, The burial-place in Ephron's pasture ground, Where the oil-olive shed her snowy blossom, And the red grape was found ; When the great pastoral prince, with love undying, Kose up in anguish from the face of death, And weighed the silver shekels for its buying Before the sons of Heth. Here, when the measure of his days was numbered — Days few and evil in this vale of tears — At Sarah's side the faithful patriarch slumbered, An old man full of years. Here holy Isaac, meek of heart and gentle, And the fair maid who came to him from far, And the sad sire who knew all throes parental, And the meek-eyed Leah, are ; . THE BOOK OF GENESIS. Ill She1 rests not here, the beautiful of feature, For whom her Jacob wrought his years twice o'er, And deemed them but as one, for that fair creature, So dear the love he bore. Nor Israel's son beloved,2 who brought him sleeping, With a long pomp of woe, to Canaan's shade, Till all the people wondered at the weeping By the Egyptians made. Like roses from the same tree gathered yearly, And flung together in one vase to keep, Some, but not all who loved so well and dearly, Lie here in quiet sleep. What though the Moslem mosque be in the valley, Though faithless hands have sealed the sacred cave, And the red prophet's children shout " El Allah !" Over the Hebrews' grave ; Yet a day cometh when those white walls shaking Shall give again to light the living dead, And Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, re-awaking, Spring from their rocky bed. Mes. C. F. Alexander. - Rachel's tomb is a little north of Bethlehem. See note to p. 91. 2 See the last two verses of Genesis. In due time the embalmed body of Joseph was carried by the Israelites to Shechem, and there buried. See Exod. xiii. 19 ; Josh. xxiv. 32 ; Acts, vii. 16. 112 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. CHAPTER IL— THE BOOK OF EXODUS. This book derives its name from the circumstance of the. exodus, or departure, of the Israelites from Egypt. The portion of history which it embraces, extending through a period of about one hundred and forty-five years, is believed to have been written by Moses him self, from his own knowledge of the important events in wliich he was a principal actor, and not from infor mation obtained from other sources. There are two distinct parts in this book. The first part, wliich gives the history of the Israelites from the beginning 'of tlieir Egyptian bondage to their arrival at Sinai after their deliverance, closes with the nineteenth chapter. The second part, whicli opens with the giving of the Ten Commandments, in the twentieth chapter, contains the beginning of the account of Israel's organi zation as " a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." The details of tke law and the ordinances are continued in the books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Joseph survived his father Jacob several years. He reached his hundred and tenth year, and was permitted to see his descendants of the fourth generation. On his death-bed he prophesied the return of the Israelites to Canaan, and exacted an oath from his children that, when the predicted event should take place, they would carry his remains into the Promised Land.1 The following is a faithful summary of the character of Joseph: "He is one of the most faultless human he- i Gen. 1. 25. THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 113 roes of Scripture. Decision in good, yet versatility in adapting itself to all circumstances, strong sense of duty, strict justice combined with generosity, self-control in adversity and prosperity alike, strength of character, with sensitive -tenderness and delicacy, modesty and magnanimity, strong filial love, above all, abiding faith in God, appear throughout his remarkable history. As a statesman he induced men to place themselves uncon ditionally in his power, that he might benefit them, and in all his official acts he displayed extraordinary admin istrative ability." — Rev. A. R. Fausset. During the century that succeeded the death of Joseph the little band of Israelites in Egypt grew into a nation. Their great numbers excited the fears of the Egyptians, and they were reduced to a state of bondage by a king " who knew not Joseph," and were compelled to per form the most laborious service for their cruel taskmas ters. But the more they were persecuted the more they multiplied and increased in the elements of power; and finally the Egyptians resorted to the most barbarous measures to repress their spirit of freedom and cheek their growth as a people. First, a decree was issued commanding tlie destruction of all Hebrew male chil dren at their birth; but, as this command was success fully evaded, another was promulgated, which directed that every male child of the bond-women should be cast into the Nile.1 I. THE EARLY HISTORY OF MOSES. It was at this period that Moses, the future deliverer of Israel, was born, from the tribe of Levi. His mother, a resident of Memphis, then the capital of Egypt, was so fortunate as to conceal his birth for three months ; but ' Exod. i. 22. 114 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. at the end of this time, not daring to keep him longer, she put him in a cradle of rushes, and laid the cradle in the flags by the river's brink. The sad mother, at the noon of night, From bloody Memphis stole her silent flight; Wrapped her dear babe beneath her folded vest, And clasped the treasure to her throbbing breast ; With soothing whispers hushed its feeble cry, Pressed the soft kiss, and breathed the secret sigh. With dauntless step she seeks the winding shore, Hears unappalled the glimmering torrents roar ; With paper-flags a floating cradle weaves, And hides the smiling boy in lotus leaves. Erasmus Darwin. Here the child was watched at a safe distance by his • sister, Miriam. Meanwhile, the daughter of the Egyp tian king To the Nile repaired, Where she was wont, attended by a train Of damsels fair, beneath a shady palm Whose goodly branches overhung the stream, To lave her limbs in the translucent tide ; And as they walked along the verdant bank She spied, naif hid, the ark among the flags. Here slept, till morning broke, the unconscious babe, By angels guarded — and behold, he wept. L. M. Dickinson. The king's daughter determined to save the life of the child, and through the innocent stratagem of Mir iam a nurse was obtained for him in the person of his own mother. He was adopted by the king's daughter, who called him Moses, from Egyptian words signifying drawn from the water. When Moses had attained to manhood the oppres sions to which his kindred were subjected often excited THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 115 his indignation ; and on one occasion he saw an Egyp tian smite a Hebrew. Moses slew the Egyptian, and then fled to Midian,1 where he married the daughter of a prince of that country, named Jethro, and for forty years followed the humble occupation of a shepherd. At length, when eighty years of age, be and his brother Aaron were commissioned of God to lead up Israel out of Egypt. The circumstances under which the divine message was conveyed to Moses have been thus described by De. Milman : II. GOD'S MESSAGE TO MOSES. "The Sea of Edom, or the Red Sea, terminates in two narrow gulfs, the western running up to the modern Isthmus of Suez, and the eastern extending not quite so far to the north. In the mountainous district between these two forks of the sea stands a remarkable eminence with two peaks, higher than the neighboring ridge, the south-eastern, whicli is much the loftiest, called Sinai, the north-western Horeb. Into the solitudes of the lat ter mount Moses had driven his flocks, when suddenly he beheld a bush kindling into flame, yet remaining un- consumed. A voice was next heard, which announced the presence of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and declared the compassion of the Almighty toward the suffering race of Israel, their opproaching deliver ance, and their restoration to the rich and fruitful land of Canaan. It designated Moses as the man who was to accomplish this great undertaking, and ended by com municating that mysterious name of the great Deity wliich implies, in its few pregnant monosyllables, self-ex istence and eternity : ' I am that I am.' Moses, diffident of his own capacity to conduct so great an enterprise, 1 Midian, that portion of Northern Arabia that lies along both sides of the eastern gulf of the Red Sea, 116 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. betrayed bis reluctance. Two separate miracles — the transformation of his rod, or shepherd's staff, into a ser pent ; the immediate withering of bis hand with leprosy, and its as immediate restoration ; and the promise of power to effect a third — the change of water into blood — inspired hiin with courage and resolution to set forth on his appointed task." The scene on Mount Horeb is farther described in the following lines: It was a lonely desert spot ; and near, Outlined against the clear blue atmosphere, A mountain rose, in bold and towering form ; In sunshine calm, majestic in the storm ; And Moses hither led his peaceful flock, Or paused for rest, by tall o'erhanging rock ; Or still among the mountain dell pursued, For pasturage, his way of solitude ; When, lo ! a sudden flame burst on his sight, An awful brightness of unearthly light; And Moses marvelled at its flashing hue. Still wondering, he near and nearer drew, Until he saw a bush, with wild amaze, Still unconsumed within the fiery blaze ; And then Pie heard with dread a voice that came And broke the silence of the scene of flame ; The voice was in the fire : the mighty one, The angel, spoke, and Moses heard alone : — " Take off thy shoes ; the place is holy ground." And Moses hid his face in fear profound. And then in gentler strain the voice returned, Still from the bush, within the fire unburned ; And God with Moses spake, and gave command, With promise of deliverance by his hand To all his people, still in bondage sore, When he should open wide their prison door. Dwight Williams. THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 117 As Moses complained to the Lord that he was " slow of speech," his brother, Aaron, who had the gift of elo quence, was appointed to assist him. In obedience to the divine command Aaron met Moses "in the Mount of God," and conducted him to Egypt. Here Aaron declared to the people what "the Lord had spoken unto Moses;" and he did, with so much power, the signs and wonders that the Lord had commanded him to do, that the people " believed, bowed their heads, and worship ped." Pharaoh, however, would not consent to a meas ure that would deprive him of so vast a number of ser viceable slaves, and stubbornly refused to let the Israel ites depart. Twice was the demand made by Moses, and haughtily rejected by the king, who imposed addi tional burdens upon the unhappy Israelites. At length the hardness of Pharaoh's heart provoked the vengeance of the Almighty, and he visited the Egyptians with ten judgments, or plagues, each more terrible than the pre ceding, and ending with the destruction of the first-born of the land, man and beast.1 Milton has described these plagues as follows : III. THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT. But first the lawless tyrant, who denies To know their God, or message to regard, Must be compelled by signs, and judgments dire: To blood unshed tho rivers must be turned ; Frogs, lice, and flies must all his palace fill With loathed intrusion, and fill all the land ; His cattle must of rot and murrain die ; Botches and blains must all bis flesh emboss, And all his people. Thunder mjxed with hail, Hail mixed with fire, must rend the Egyptian sky, And wheel on the earth, devouring where it rolls ; 1 Exod. vii.-xi. 118 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. What it devours not, herb, or fruit, or grain, A darksome cloud of locusts swarming down Must eat, and on the ground leave nothing green ; Darkness must overshadow all his bounds, Palpable darkness, and blot out three days. Last, with one midnight-stroke, all the first-born Of Egypt must lie dead. The English poet Cowley describes the plagues of Egypt in detail. Of the plague of the insects which "came into the house of Pharaoh, and into bis servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt," he says : Lo ! the third element does his plagues prepare, And swarming clouds of insects fill the air ; With sullen noise they take their flight, And march in bodies infinite ; In vain 'tis day above, beneath them still 'tis night. Of harmful flies the nations numberless Composed this mighty army's spacious boast ; Of different manners, different languages ; And different habits, too, they wore, And different arms they bore ; And some, like Scythians, lived on blood, And some on»green, and some on flowery food ; And Accaron, the airy prince, led on this various host. The following is from Cowley's description of the plague of hail, and the plague of locusts : Heaven itself is angry next : Woe to man when Heaven is vexed ! With sullen brow it frowned, And murmured first in an imperfect sound : Till Moses, lifting up his hand, Waves the expected signal of his wand ; And all the full-charged clouds in ranged squadrons move, And fill tho spacious plains above ; THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 119 Through which the rolling thunder first does play, Arid opens wide the tempest's noisy way. And straight a stony shower Of monstrous hail does downward pour, Such as ne'er winter yet brought forth From all the stormy regions of the North. ****** The infant corn, which yet did scarce appear, Escaped this general massacre Of everything that grew ; And the well-stored Egyptian year Began to clothe her fields and trees anew, When,lo ! a scorching wind from the burnt countries blew, And endless legions with it drew Of greedy locusts, who, where'er With sounding wings tbey flew, Left all the earth depopulate and bare, As if winter itself had marched by there. Before the last and wide-spread destruction began — the slaughter of the first-born — the head of every He brew family, by the direction of Moses, had sacrificed a lamb to the Lord, and sprinkled the blood over the door-posts of his house. " To your homes," said the leader of Israel's host, " And slaughter a sacrifice ; Let the life-blood be sprinkled on each door-post, Nor stir till the morn arise ; And the angel of vengeance shall pass you by ; He shall see the red stain, and shall not come nigh Where the hope of your household lies." The people hear, and they bow them low — Each to his house hath flown : The lamb is slain, and with blood they go And sprinkle the lintel-stone ; 120 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. And the doors they close when the sun hath set, But few in oblivious sleep forget The judgment to be done. 'Tis midnight — yet they hear no sound Along the lone, still street ; No blast of a pestilence sweeps the ground, No tramp of unearthly feet, Nor rush as of harpy wing goes by, But the calm moon floats in the cloudless sky, 'Mid her wan light clear and sweet. Anon. And yet it was at midnight that the death-angel passed through the homes of the Egyptians. " At midnight the Lord smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sat on his throne, unto the first-born of the captive that was in the dun geon ; and all the first-born of cattle. And there was a great cry in the land of Egypt ; for there was not a house where there was not one dead." What wail was that which rose from Egypt's land? A wild, and long, and heart-appalling cry That smote the brazen arches of the sky Upon that awful morning, when God's hand, In vengeance terrible, had waved the brand, The viewless, soul-dissevering sword of wrath, O'er all her homes, and with its noiseless scath Had touched and sundered every vital band That bound her first-born life, unbound at his command I Egypt stood staggering in that shock of woe, Amazed, o'erwhelmed, till that wild wail went up, As to her quivering lips was pressed a cup Whose withering agony can no man know Who has not reeled in darkness while the throe Of that same great bereavement stabbed his soul With mortal anguish, which, o'er all control, THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 121 Burst in one black, bewildering, whelming flow, That drove him drunk with grief, stunned, stifled by the blow. O Egypt ! Egypt ! such a woe was thine ! And down the dim, long ages, that have sped, I see thee stooping o'er thy prostrate dead, In that dumb agony ; while ominous shine The clouds of morn, all blotched with bloody wine, As though the gory rite were sprinkled there, As though, o'er all the sky, and earth, and air, In blood were written fearfully that sign Of retribution dread, and sufferance divine. Geo. Lansinq Taylor. The destroying angel passed over every house that was marked as Moses bad directed ; and, as a memorial of this signal interposition of the Almighty, the Israel ites instituted the festival of the Passover, which is still observed by every faithful descendant of Abraham. The now thoroughly humbled Pharaoh not only per mitted the Israelites to depart, but urged them to go ; and on the following morning they began their flight from a bondage that had existed nearly four hundred years. Instead of taking the most direct route east ward, through the land of the Philistines, they turned to the south, in the direction of the Red Sea. Pharaoh soon repented of his permission, and pursued them with a mighty host ; but the Israelites, guided by a mysteri ous pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night, hurried onward, and soon reached the sea. Behind them the plain was glittering with the hostile Egyptians, and be fore them lay a seemingly impassable barrier to tlieir es cape. But Moses, suddenly advancing, extended his rod over the waters, which immediately divided. Through the way thus made for them the Israelites passed in safety to the other shore; while the Egyptians, madly L— 6 122 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. pursuing, perished in the returning flood. The circum stances of the flight and the pursuit have been vivid ly portrayed in the following lines by the celebrated Bishop Hebee: IV. FLIGHT OF THE ISRAELITES, AND PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. Soft fell the eve ; but, ere the day was done, Tall waving banners streaked the level sun ; And wide and dark, along the horizon red, In sandy surge the rising desert spread. " Mark, Israel, mark !" On that strange sight intent, In breathless terror, every eye was bent ; And busy faction's fast-increasing hum, And female voices, shriek, " They come, they come !" They come, they come ! in scintillating show O'er the dark mass the brazen lances glow, And sandy clouds in countless shapes combine, As deepens or extends the long tumultuous line; And fancy's keener glance even now may trace The threatening aspects of each mingled race. For many a coal-black tribe and cany spear, The hireling guards of Mizraim's throne, were there. From distant Cush they trooped, a warrior train, Siwah's green isle and Sennaar's marly plain ; On either wing their fiery coursers check The parched and sinewy sons of Amalek ; While close behind, inured to feast on blood, Decked in Behemoth's spoils, the tall Shangalla1 strode. 'Mid blazing helms and bucklers rough with gold Saw ye how swift the scythed chariots rolled? 1 Shangalla. This term is applied to the black tribes of the Nubians, whom the traveller Bruce considers the aboriginal inhabitants of the country. THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 123 Lo ! these are they whom, lords of Afric's fates, Old Thebes hath poured through all her hundred gates — Mother of armies ! How the emeralds glowed Where, flushed with power and vengeance, Pharaoh rode ! And stoled in white, those brazen wheels before, Osiris' ark his swarthy wizards bore ; And still responsive to the trumpet's cry, The priestly sistrum1 murmured " Victory !" Why swell these shouts that rend the desert's gloom ? Whom come ye forth to combat, warriors, whom ? These flocks and herds, this faint and weary train, Red from the scourge, and recent from the chain ? God of the poor, the poor and friendless save ! Giver and Lord of freedom, help the slave ! North, south, and west the sandy whirlwinds fly, The circling horns of Egypt's chivalry. On earth's last margin throng the weeping train ; Their cloudy guide moves on: "And must we swim the main ?" 'Mid the light spray their snorting camels stood, Nor bathed a fetlock in the nauseous flood. He comes, their leader comes ! the man of God O'er the wide waters lifts his mighty rod, And onward treads. The circling waves retreat, In hoarse, deep murmurs, from his holy feet ; And the chased surges, inland roaring, show The hard wet sand and coral hills below. With limbs that falter, and with hearts that swell, Down, down they pass — a steep and slippery dell ; Around them rise, in pristine chaos hurled, The ancient rocks, the secrets of the world ; 1 An Egyptian timbrel, used especially in the worship of the Egyptian goddess isis. 124 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. And flowers that blush beneath the ocean green, And caves, the sea-calves' low-roofed haunt, are seen. Down, safely down the narrow pass they tread; The beetling waters storm above their head, While far behind retires the sinking day, And fades on Edom's hills its latest ray. Yet not from Israel fled the friendly light, Nor dark to them, nor cheerless, came the night. Still in their van, along that dreadful road, Blazed broad and fierce the brandished torch of God. Its meteor glare a tenfold lustre gave On the long mirror of the rosy wave, While its blest beams a sunlike heat supply, Warm every cheek, and dance in every eye — To them alone ; for Mizraim's wizard train Invoke, for light, their monster-gods in vain ; Clouds heaped on clouds their struggling sight confine, And tenfold darkness broods above their line. Yet on they fare, by reckless vengeance led, And range unconscious through the ocean's bed ; Till midway now, that strange and fiery form Showed his dread visage lightening through the storm ; With withering splendor blasted all their might, > And brake their chariot- wheels, and marred their coursers' flight. " Fly, Mizraim, fly !" The ravenous floods they see, And fiercer than the floods, the Deity. " Fly, Mizraim, fly I" — From Edom's coral strand Again the prophet stretched his dreadful wand ; With one wild crash the thundering waters sweep, And all is waves — a dark and lonely deep ; Yet o'er those lonely waves such murmurs passed, As mortal wailing swelled the nightly blast ; And strange and sad the whispering breezes bore The groans of Egypt to Arabia's shore. THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 125 V. THE SONG OF MOSES. It is supposed that it was on the morning following this great deliverance, while the people stood on the shore, with the wrecks of Egypt's pride around them, that Moses composed that noble ode that we find in the fifteenth chapter of Exodus, beginning, " I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously ; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea." It was sung by the whole host of Israel, while Miriam and all the women accompanied them "with timbrels and with dances." Ob, welcome came the morn, where Israel stood In trustless wonder by the avenging flood ! Oh, welcome came tho cheerful morn, to show The drifted wreck of Zo'an's pride below ; The mangled limbs of men, the broken car, A few sad relics of a nation's war — Alas, how few ! Then, soft as Elim's well, The precious tears of new-born freedom fell. And he, whose hardened heart alike had borne The house of bondage and the oppressor's scorn, The stubborn slave, by hope's new beams subdued, In faltering accents sobbed his gratitude, Till, kiudling into warmer zeal, around The virgin timbrel waked its silver sound ; And in fierce joy, no more by doubt suppressed, The struggling spirit throbbed in Miriam's breast. She, with bare arms, and fixing on the sky The dark transparence of her lucid eye, Poured on the winds of heaven her wild sweet harmony. "Where now,'7 she sang, "the tall Egyptian spear? On's sunlike shield, and Zoan's chariot, where? Above their ranks the whelming waters spread: Shout, Israel, for the Lord hath triumphed !" 126 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. And every pause between, as Miriam sang, From tribe to tribe the martial thunder rang, And loud and far their stormy chorus spread : " Shout, Israel, for the Lord hath triumphed !" Heber. Referring to this song of Moses, De. Milman re marks : "What is the Roman arch of triumph, or the pillar crowded with sculpture, compared, as a memorial, to this Hebrew song of victory? Having survived so many ages, it is still as fresh and vivid as ever, and excites the same emotions of awe and piety, in every human breast susceptible of such feelings, that it did so many ages ago in those of the triumphant children of Israel." The celebrated English theologian and writer, Bishop Rob- eet Lowth, characterizes it as follows : " The most perfect example which I know of that species of the sublime ode, possessing a sublimity de pendent wholly upon the greatness of the conceptions and the dignity of the language, without any peculiar excellence in the form and arrangement, is the thanks giving ode of Moses, composed after passing the Red Sea. Through every part of this poem the most per fect plainness sfnd simplicity are maintained ; there is nothing artificial, nothing labored, either in respect to method or invention. Every part of it breathes the spirit of nature and of passion ; joy, admiration, and love, united with piety and devotion, burst forth spon taneously in tlieir native colors. A miracle of the most interesting nature to the Israelites is displayed. The sea divides, and the waters are raised into vast heaps on either side, while they pass over ; but their enemies, in attempting to pursue, are overwhelmed by the reflux of the waves. These circumstances are all expressed in language suitable to the emotions which they produced — • THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 127 abrupt, fervid, concise, animated, with a frequent repeti tion of the same sentiments. To take a strict account of the sublimity of this ode would be to repeat the whole. I will only remark one quality, which is, in deed, congenial to all the poetry of the Hebrews, but in this poem is more than usually predominant- — I mean that brevity of diction which is so conducive to sub limity of style." From the same writer we may also learn how this and other Hebrew odes were sung by the people. " It is evident," he says, " from many examples, that the sacred hymns were alternately sung by opposite choirs, and that the one choir usually performed the hymn itself, while the other sang a particular distich,1 which was regularly interposed at stated intervals, either of the nature of a prelude, or epode, of the Greeks. In this manner we learn that Moses, with the Israelites, chanted the ode at the Red Sea; for 'Miriam the prophetess took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her with timbrels and with dances, and Miriam answered them' — that is, she and the women sang the response to the chorus of men." VI. THE ONWARD MARCH.— MARAH AND ELIM. Freed forever from the yoke of their Egyptian op pressors, the Israelites again took up their march to ward the land "flowing with milk and honey." But worse trials were in store for them. After a three days' march through the wilderness of Shur, suffering in tensely from thirst, they reached a well, called Marah, on account of the bitterness of the water.2 "As they 1 A couplet of verses. 2 Exod. xv. 23. The well of Marah is still found thereabout forty- seven miles from the place where the Israelites crossed the sea. 128 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. rushed forward to slake tlieir burning lips in the stream, they found it unlike the soft and genial waters of tho Nile, and could not drink it. But the water was sweet ened by a branch of a tree which Moses, by divine di rection, cast into it." Thence the wanderers passed on to Elim, in the valley of Girondel, and here they joy fully rested " under seventy palm trees, with twelve springs of water bubbling up around them." The story of Marah and Elim is beautifully told in the fol lowing lines : Three long days of desert sunshine, toiling 'neath those scorch ing beams ; Three long nights of heavy silence, gladdened by no sound of streams. Hear the waters now around us, see them sparkling in the sun ! Surely now our trial ceaseth ! surely now our goal is won ! Lips long parched and sealed in silence press the joyous waves to kiss ; Eyes whose tears were dried by anguish overflow with tears of bliss. Toil-worn men, tBemselves untasting, lift to dearer lips the prize, Drinking draughts of deeper pleasure from the smile of grate ful eyes. But a moment ! but a moment may the rapturous dream re main ; But a moment ! from the nation bursts a sob of wildest pain. Children dash the bitter waters from them with a moaning cry ; Mothers, hy the mocking fountains, lay their little ones to die. THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 129 Hearts that bore the trial bravely with this shatter'd hope have burst ; Streams for which we pray'd and waited, bitter streams, but mock our thirst. Was it but for this the ocean, parting, bent our feet to kiss, Fiercely then our foes o'erwhelming? Were our first-born spared for this ? Better to be slaves in Egypt ! better to have perished there ! Better ne'er a hope have tasted, than to sink in this despair. Israel ! Israel ! hush thy murmurs, hide thy guilty head iu dust ! He who is the joy of heaven feeleth grief in thy distrust. Gently to thy wails He answers, " I am He that healeth thee ;" E'en to-day the streams thou loathest shall thy best refresh ment be. And to-morrow, but to-morrow, He, thy sins so often grieve, Trains thee for, and storeth for thee, joys thy heart can scarce conceive. Coolest waters leaping, gushing, 'neath the shade of many a palm ! Let no memory of murmurs mar for thee that blessed calm. So thy Marah shall be Elim, and thy Elim know no fears, For the fount of deepest gladness springeth near the place of tears. Mrs. Chakles, Authoress of Tlie Schonberg- Cotta Family. From Elim the Israelites struck into the wilderness, their faces turned away from Canaan, and their course directed toward Mount Sinai. By miraculous means they were afforded a constant supply of manna — 6* 130 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Which silently fell, Whence no man might tell, Like good dreams from heaven Unto mortals given, Like a snowy flock Of strange sea-birds alighting on a shore of rock ; Silent thus and bright Fell the manna in the night. Anon. Water, also, to quench their thirst, flowed forth from a rock that Moses smote with his rod. An attack by one of the tribes of the desert, the Am'alekites, was success fully resisted under the leadership of Joshua, of the tribe of Ephraim, a brave and able man, to whom Moses had given the military command. During this conflict the prophet himself stood on an eminence in sight of the people, with his hands raised to heaven, and in ear nest prayer for victory, " When Moses held up his hands Israel prevailed ; and when be let down his bands Am'alek prevailed." While Joshua led the armed bands Of Isjacl forth to war, Moses, apart, with lifted hands, Engaged in humble pray'r. , The armed bands had quickly failed, And perished in the fight, If Moses' prayer had not prevailed To put the foes to flight. When Moses' hands through weakness dropped, The warriors fainted too ; Israel's success at once was stopped, And Am'lek bolder grew. THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 131 A people, always prone to boast, Were taught by this suspense That not a num'rous armed host, But God, was their defence. John Newton. VII. AT MOUNT SINAI.— PROMULGATION OF THE LAW. In the beginning of the third month after the depart ure from Egypt the Israelites reached the plains at the foot of Mount Sinai, where the presence of Jehovah was soon to be peculiarly manifested, and where was to be given to them the sacred code of laws by which they were thenceforth to be ruled under God's immediate government.1 Through spacious climes of fierce and scorching day The clond, expanded, led their lonely way, Till, white with cliffs, and crowned with many a shade, In cloudy pride famed Sinai reared its head. On this lone mount the all-discerning Mind, To teach his name, to unfold his law, designed ; On earth to witness truth and power divine, And bid o'er Jacob's sons his splendor shine : Beneath its haughty brow the thousands lay, And hoped the wonders of the expected day. Dr. Dwight. In his Incidents of Travel in Arabia Petrcea and the Holy Land, Me. J. L. Stephens, an American traveller of note, gives a vivid description of Mount Sinai and its wild and desolate surroundings. He says : " The last was by far the most interesting day of my journey to Mount Sinai. We were moving along a broad valley, bounded by ranges of lofty and crumbling mountains, forming an immense rocky rampart on each 1 Exod. xix. 132 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. side of us. We were moving, the whole day, between parallel ranges of mountains, receding in some places, and then again contracting, and about mid-day Ave en tered a narrow and rugged defile, bounded on each side with precipitous granite rocks more than a thousand feet high. We entered at the very bottom of this de file, moving for a time along the dry bed of a torrent, now obstructed with sands and stones, the rocks on every side shivered and torn, and the whole scene wild to sublimity. We dismounted and passed through the wild defile on foot. At the other end we came sud denly upon a plain table bf ground, and before us tow ered in awful. grandeur, so huge and dark that it seemed close to us, and barring all farther progress, the end of my pilgrimage — the holy mountain of Sinai. "Among all the stupendous works of nature not a place can be selected more fitted for the exhibition of Almighty power. I have stood upon the summit of the giant Etna, and, over the clouds floating beneath it, have surveyed the bold scenery of Sicily and the distant mountains of Calabria; I have stood upon the top of Vesuvius, and looked down upon the waves of lava, and the ruined and half recovered cities at its feet ; but they are nothing compared with the terrific solitude and bleak majesty of Sinai. An observing traveller has well called it a perfect sea of desolation. Not a tree, nor shrub, nor blade of grass is to be seen upon the bare and rugged sides of innumerable mountains, heaving their naked summits to the skies ; while the crumbling masses of granite all around, and the distant view of the Syrian desert, with its boundless waste of sands, form the wild est and most dreary, the most terrific and desolate pict ure that the imagination can conceive." In obedience to the command of God, Moses depart ed, alone, to the summit of the mountain, and soon re- THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 133 turned to his people, bearing a message from Jehovah.1 The purport of this message, and the character of some of the divine manifestations that follow, have been thus described : 1. The First Act in the Mighty Drama. — Milman.2 " The message asserts the universal dominion of the Almighty, and proclaims his selection of the Israelites from all the nations as his peculiar people. The most solemn purifications are enjoined, and a line is drawn and fenced at the foot of the mountain, which, on pain of death, the people are not to pass over. It is an nounced that on the third day the presence of the Al mighty will display itself; and on that day the whole people assemble in trembling expectation. The sum mit of the mountain appears clothed in the thickest darkness; tremendous thunders and lightnings — -phe nomena new to the shepherds of Goshen, whose pastures had escaped the preternatural tempest in Egypt — burst forth, and the terrors are heightened by a wild sound, like that of a trumpet, mingling with, and prolonging, the terrific din of the tempest. The mountain seems to have shown every appearance of a volcanic eruption ; yet so far, I believe, as scientific observation has gone, it is decided, from the geological formation of the moun tain, that it has never been subject to the agency of in ternal fire. " The dauntless leader takes his stand in the midst of 1 The exact locality from which tlie law was given is uncertain. The Book of Deuteronomy, i. 6 ; iv. 10 and 15, makes it to be Horeb ; but in Exodus, xix. 11, and in Numbers, iii. 1, reference is made to Sinai. The two peaks, Horeb and Sinai, however, are only about three miles apart, and the whole was evidently often spoken of as Mount Sinai, or the Sinaitic range. Robinson thinks the law was delivered from Horeb to the people assem bled in the plain below. 2 "History of the Jews," by H. H. Milman, D.D. 2 vols. 134 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. this confusion of the elements; the trumpet peals still louder, and is answered by a voice distinct and audible, but whence it proceeded no man knew. It summons Moses to the top of the mountain ; be returns, and still more earnestly enjoins the people not to break through the prescribed limits. Immediately on his descent, the mysterious voice utters those ten precepts usually called the Decalogue, a summary, or rather the first principles, of the whole law. Moses again enters the darkness, and returns with another portion of the law. The assent of the people to these leading principles of their constitu tion is then demanded; religious rites are performed; twelve altars are raised, one for each tribe ; sacrifice is offered, the law read, and the covenant between God the law-giver, and the whole people, is solemnly ratified by sprinkling the altars and the people with the blood of the sacrifice."1 2. The Second Act in the Mighty Drama. — Headley." " The first act was ended, and Moses was ordered to bring up Aaron and Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders, to worship in the mountain; and God showed himself in his glory to them. "When this strange worship was ended, the voice of Jehovah was again heard issuing from the cloud ; but what a change in the mean time had passed over its dark form ! A serene and pure radiance began to play around it, quivering like a bright light with its own intensity. Brighter and brighter it grew, till the eye turned away dazzled by the sight. Brighter still it gleamed, till it seemed a glowing furnace, shooting forth living fire on every side. Its wrathful beams streamed down the 1 See Exod. xix. to xxiv. 8, inclusive. 2 " Sacred Mountains," by Rev. J. T. Headley. THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 135 mountain, filling the cavities with deeper gloom, touch ing every rock and crag with flame, and bathing the white tents in a lurid light. And when the night came on, and darkness wrapped the world, that mountain was one blaze of glory. It shed a strange lustre on the bar ren scene, revealing every face and form of that im mense host, as if all stood beneath a burning palace, and painting with terrible distinctness, and in lines of fire, the surrounding landscape. The stars went out before its brilliancy, and the moon looked dark in its splendor. "For six days and nights did the glory flame on, shedding such a baptism on the wondering camp as was never before witnessed by mortal eye ; for ' the sight of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.' Little sleep was in the tents of Jacob then, for each one held his breath in awe, wondering what next would hap pen in this succession of strange scenes. At length that voice, before which Nature herself seemed to change, again issued from the cloud, calling Moses to a second interview. He again ascended the hill, and was wrap ped from sight ' forty days and forty nights.' '" 3. The Third Act in the Mighty Drama. — Milman. "For forty days Moses remained on the mountain, neither appearing to the people nor holding any com munication with them. Day after day they expected his return: the gloom and silence of the mountain re mained unbroken. Had he perished ? Had he aban doned the people? Whither shall they wander in the trackless desert ? Who shall guide them ? Their leader and their God seem equally to have deserted them. Still utterly at a loss to comprehend the sublime notions 1 See Exod. xxiv. 9 to 18, inclusive. 136 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. of the Deity, they sink back to the superstitions of the country which they bad left. They imperiously de mand, and Aaron consents to cast, an image of gold under the form of an ox or a calf, and they begin to celebrate this new deity with all the noise, tumult, aud merriment of an Egyptian festival. When Moses de scends be sees the whole people dancing in their frantic adoration around the idol. In the first outburst of in dignation he casts down and breaks the stone tablets on wliich the Law was inscribed. He seizes the image, commands it to be ground or dissolved to powder, throws it into the neighboring fountain, and forces the people to drink the water impregnated with its dust. A more signal punishment awaits this heinous breach of the covenant. The tribe of Levi espouse the cause of God, fall upon the people, and slay the offenders till three thousand men lie dead upon the field. The of fended God threatens to withdraw his visible presence during their approaching invasion of Canaan — that pres ence whicli lie had before promised should attend on their armies and discomfit their enemies. But through the intercession of Moses the divine presence is still vouchsafed to the people, and Moses re-ascends the mountain. After another forty days of secret confer ence with the Almighty, be descends, with two new tables of stone ' like unto the first ;' ' and he gave the people, in commandment, all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai.' '" The constitution given to the Israelites from Sinai, and commonly called the Mosaic Law, has been thus briefly described : " This constitution may be charac terized as a theocracy ; that is, a government in which God himself was the sovereign, communicating his will 1 Exod. xxv. to xxxv. THE. BOOK OF EXODUS. 137 by certain authorized ministers. The priests, through whom the Divine commands were made known, could only be chosen from the descendants of Aaron ; and all the inferior ministers of religion belonged to the tribe of Levi. All the institutions appointed for the people were directed to one great object — the preservation of the purity of religions worship. The Israelites were not chosen to be the most wealthy or most powerful of nations, but to be the guardians of the knowledge of the true God, until the arrival of that Divine Saviour who was to unite both Jews and Gentiles as one flock, under one shepherd."1 By Divine command the people now constructed a beautiful Tabernacle, and within that an Ark, in which were placed the two tablets of stone on which the Law was written by Moses. This structure, on wliich the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire con stantly rested, led the way in all the subsequent wan derings of the Israelites, and was carried from place to place through Palestine, until it was replaced by the great Temple at Jerusalem, which Solomon built dur ing his reign. • W. C. Taylor, LL.D. 138 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. CHAPTER III.— LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, AND DEUTERONOMY. I. A FARTHER RECORD OF THE LAWS. The latter half of the Book of Exodus, which contains an account of the promulgation of the law from Sinai, and the erection of the Tabernacle, recites but a part of the laws that were given for the regulation of the moral conduct, the religions worship, and the judicial and political government of the Israelites. Farther laws on these subjects are recorded in the three suc ceeding Books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronouvy. Leviticus derives its name, probably, from the laws it contains concerning sacrifices, whicli were committed to the charge of the Levitical priesthood. It opens with a statement of the manner in which the worship of the sanctuary shall be conducted, and follows with a de scription of the consecration of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood, and of the disobedience and punishment of Nadab and Abihu. Without detailing its contents, it may be briefly characterized as a code of sacrificial, cere monial, civil, and judicial laws, " well adapted to the time and circumstances under which it was delivered, and to the dull and perverse nation for which it was designed." On this book the apostle Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, is thought by some to have written the best commentary extant, showing the superiority of the Gospel over Judaism, and that the legal priesthood and sacrifices were but a type of the Christian dispensation. The Book of Numbers, whicli takes its name from the LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, AND DEUTERONOMY. 139 numbering of the people, is almost equally divided be tween histories and laws. It continues the account of the laws and ordinances, and relates the story of Israel's wanderings in the desert for thirty-eight years- — from the Law-giving at Sinai to the mustering of the people in the Moabite plains east of the Jordan, just before entering the promised land of Canaan. The Book of Deuteronomy is principally a repetition of both the history and the laws recorded in the three preceding books. "In the former books," says Scott, " Moses spake as a law-giver, merely declaring the stat utes that God had given him. But here he is more generally a preacher, enforcing the laws before given, with illustrations, warnings, exhortations, and persua sions, frequently in the highest style of simple, pathetic eloquence." The only new history in this book is the appointment of Joshua as the successor of Moses, and the account given of the hitter's death. With this brief characterization of the last three books of the Pentateuch, we proceed with the historical narrative. II. DEPARTURE FROM SINAI. The encampment about Mount Sinai was at length broken up, and a year and a month after their departure from Egypt, the twelve tribes of Israel, led by the tribe of Judah, with the Levites bearing the ark, again set forth on their march, like an army, and singing praises to the Lord. The number of fighting men of this vast multi tude has been estimated at over six hundred thousand. These were placed under the command of Joshua. From this time until they reached the border of Ca naan, the history of the Israelites is little else than a repetition of acts of rebellion that provoked the severest chastisements. Even Aaron and Miriam were guilty of 140 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. sedition, " and the anger of the Lord was kindled against them." Miriam was stricken with leprosy, but at the uro-ent prayer of Moses the curse was removed, and, after seven days of purification, she was received into the camp, and the people resumed their journey.1 When on the southern frontier of Canaan, in the neighborhood of Kadesh, about thirty miles south of the Dead Sea, the Israelites sent twelve spies to explore the prom ised land.2 Of the twelve, only two, Joshua and Caleb, brought a good report. They urged the people to put their trust in God, and pass in and conquer the heathen tribes. They cried : Let us go to the land of these fruits divine, Whose clusters of grapes on the vine-branches shine ; Where the apples blood-red 'mid the verdure glow, And the fig-trees loaded with fruitage bend low ; And the beauties and glories which cannot be told Seem to robe the whole as with cloth of gold ! And from bending skies look down the bright eyes Of God as on gardens of paradise ! Ho ye ! One and all ! Hear the wondrous story ! Ho ye ! Let us go to these hills of glory 1 Let us go ! fjet us go to this land of heaven, Whose foretaste in these first fruits is given! Let us conquer the giants that dreadful stand To bar our way to this promised land ! Let us go with faith in our mighty Lord, In his arm of strength and his conquering sword ; In the name of the word which our God hath spoken, In the name of his oath which cannot be broken. In the promise of him who his purpose fulfils, Let us go to possess these eternal hills ! Homek N. Dunning. 1 See Numbers, ch. xii. 2 Numb. xiii. LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, AND DEUTERONOMY. 141 But the other spies gave so alarming an account of the warlike strength of the Canaanites, that the Israel ites were terrified, and refused to enter Canaan. This act of rebellion called forth the divine decree that none of that generation above twenty years of age, except Joshua and Caleb, should enter the promised land ; and that only by forty years of wanderings in the barren and dismal regions through which they had marched from Sinai eould the great national crime be expiated. After thirty-eight years of wanderings, of which the Bible gives us no account, the Hebrew nation appeared a second time at Kadesh.1 Here Miriam died, and was buried with great honor ; and here, also, it was revealed to Moses and to Aaron that, because they had assumed too much glory to themselves in securing water from the rock for the people, they should not enter Canaan.2 After an ineffectual attempt to enter the Land of Prom ise at this point, a circuit was made to the eastward, around the Dead Sea to Mount Hor. III. THE DEATH OF AARON. The time had now come for Aaron to die. We read that the Lord said unto Moses, " Take Aaron, and Elea zer his son, and bring them up unto Mount Hor : and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazer his son ; and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there. And they went up into Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazer his son ; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount : and Moses and Eleazer came down." ¦ Numb. xx. - Instead of speaking to the rock, as commanded, they spoke to the people, saying, " Must we fetch water out of this rock ?" - In this, aud in other ways, probably, they did not believe and sanctify God "in the eyes of the children of Israel." 142 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. They have left the camp, with its tents outspreading, Like a garden of lilies on Edom's plain ; They are climbing the mountain, in silence treading A path which one shall not tread again. Two aged brothers the way are leading, There follows a youth in the solemn train. O'er a sister's bier they have just been bending ; The desert prophetess sleeps hard by : With her toilsome sojourn nearly ending, With Judah's mountains before her eye, The echoes of Kadesh and Canaan blending, She has calmly turned her aside to die ! The king and the priest move on unspeaking, The desert-priest and the desert-king ; 'Tis a grave, a mountain-grave, they are seeking, •Fit end of a great life-wandering ! And here, till the day of the glory-streaking, This desert-eagle must fold his wing. The fetters of age have but lightly bound him ; This bold, sharp steep he can bravely breast; With his six-score wondrous years around him, He climbs like youth to the mountain's crest ; The mortal moment at last has found him Willing to tarry, yet glad to rest. Is that a tear-drop his dim eye leaving, As he looks his last on yon desert-sun ? Is that a sigh his faint bosom heaving, As he lays his ephod in silence down? 'Twas a passing mist, to his sky still cleaving; — But the sky has brightened — the cloud is gone ! In his shroud of rock they have gently wound him : 'Tis a Bethel-pillow that love has given ; LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, AND DEUTERONOMY. 143 I see no gloom of the grave around him, The death-bed fetters have all been riven ; 'Tis the angel of life, not of death, that has found him, And this is to him the gate of heaven. He has seen the tombs of old Mizraim's wonder, Where the haughty Pharaohs embalmed recline; But no pyramid-tomb, with its costly grandeur, Can once be compared with this mountain-shrine ; No monarch of Memphis is swathed in splendor, High-priest of the desert, like this of thine ! Alone and safe, in the happy keeping Of rocks and sands, till the glorious morn, They have laid thee down for thy lonely sleeping, Way-sore and weary and labor-worn ; While faintly the sound of a nation's weeping From the vale beneath thee is upward borne. Alone and safe, in the holy keeping Of Him who holdeth the grave's cold key, They have laid thee down for the blessed sleeping, The quiet rest which His dear ones see ; — And why o'er thee should we weep the weeping, For who would not rest by the side of thee ? HORATIUS BONAR. IV. ON THE BORDERS OF MOAB. After the death of Aaron the Israelites turned south ward again, to the eastern gulf of the Red Sea ; they then passed northward, around the land of the Edomites, and along the borders of Moab, meeting with no special resistance until they reached the territory of the warlike Amorites, where a bloody battle was fought, in which the Israelites won a great victory.1 Og, the gigantic i Numb. xxi. 21-31. 144 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. King of Basban,was the next to offer resistance and to suffer defeat, and Israel soon became the conquerors of the whole country along the eastern borders of the Dead Sea. The victorious Israelites next " pitched their tents in the plains of Moab," nearly opposite to Jericho. The Moabites had made no resistance to the march along their borders, but now, alarmed at the presence of Israel, Balak, King of Moab, induced his neighbors, the Midian ites, descendants of Abraham by Keturah, to join in so liciting Balaam, the son of Beor, to come and curse Is rael, that be might prevail against it. Balaam was a Gentile prophet, whose home was beyond the Euphrates, where the vast streams of Mesopotamia have their rise. Dean Stanley observes of him, that " his fame was known across the Assyrian desert, through the Arabian tribes, down to the very shores of the Dead Sea. He ranked as a warrior-chief (by that combination of soldier and prophet seen in Moses himself) with the five kings of Midian. He was regarded throughout the whole of the East as a prophet, whose blessing or whose curse was irresistible ; the rival, the possible conqueror, of Moses."1 The elders of Moab and of Midian, "with the re wards of divination in their hand," crossed the great desert, and conveyed to the prophet Balak's message. But it is said that the Lord told Balaam that he should not return with the messengers, nor should he curse Is rael. So the messengers returned without him. Again, however, they were sent on the same errand, and this time the Lord permits Balaam to return with them, but accompanies the permission with this special command : " The word whicli I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do." The events that occurred on the journey — "the dreadful apparition on the way, the desperate resistance 1 "Scripture Portraits," by Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, Dean of West minster. LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, AND DEUTERONOMY. 145 of the terrified animal which the prophet rode, the fero cious determination of Balaam to advance, the voice, however explained, which breaks from the dumb animal that saved his life," his interview with the angel of the Lord, and his confession of his sin — as narrated in the last half of the twenty - second chapter of Numbers, make up a scene of the deepest interest. But Balaam is permitted to proceed, and is met and greeted by Balak on the borders of Moab. The meeting of the prophet and the Moabite king, their visit on the following day " to the high places of Baal," and the scene which the prophet witnessed from this point, have been thus vividly described by Dean Stanley : V. THE MEETING OF BALAAM AND BALAK. " The first meeting of the king and the seer enhances the pathos of the struggle which continues through each successive interview. The eye follows the two, as they climb upward, from height to height along the ex tended range, to the ' high places ' dedicated to Baal on the ' top of the rocks ' — ' the bare hill ' close above it — the 'cultivated field' of the watchmen on the top of Pisgah1 — to the peak where stood ' the sanctuary of Peor, that looketh toward the waste.' It is at this point that the scene has been caught in the well-known lines of the poet Keble : ' O for a sculptor's hand, That thou mightest take thy stand, Thy wild hair floating on the eastern breeze, Thy tranced yet open gaze Fixed on the desert haze, As one who deep in heaven some airy pageant sees. 1 Pisgah. A ridge of mountains in the land of Moab, east of the Jor dan. Mount Nebo is one of its summits. I.— 7 146 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. ' In outline dim and vast, Their fearful shadows cast The giant forms of empire on their way To ruin ; one by one They tower, and they are gone ; Yet in the prophet's soul the dreams of avarice stay !' " Behind hitn lay the vast expanse of desert extend ing to the shores of his native Assyrian river. On his left were tho red mountains of Edom and Seir; oppo site were the dwelling-places of the Kenite, and the rocky fastnesses of the Engedi ; farther still was the dim outline of the Arabian wilderness, where ruled the then powerful tribe of Amalek; immediately below him lay the vast encampment of Israel among the acacia- groves of Abel Chittim. Beyond them, on the western side of Jordan, rose the hills of Palestine, with glimpses, through their valleys, of ancient cities towering on. their crested heights. And beyond all, he knew well that there rolled the deep waters of .the great sea, with the Isles of Greece, the Isle of Chittim1 — a world of which the first beginnings of life were just stirring, and of which the very name here first breaks upon our ears." VI. BALAAM'S PROPHECIES. Upon the lofty eminence on which Balaam stood he ordered seven altars to be erected, and a sacrifice to be made upon every altar, in accordance with the form of worship of the Moabites. Meanwhile he retired to a more secluded part of the mountain, where he met the Lord, who "put a word in Balaam's mouth." The prophet then returned to Balak, and delivered the pre- 1 Chittim, the same as the Isle of Cyprus, in the Mediterranean. \ LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, AND DEUTERONOMY. 147 diction1 he had received, and of which the following is the poetic arrangement given by Bishop Lowth : 1. THE FIRST PROPHECY. From Aram I am brought by Balak, By the King of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse me Jacob, And come, execrate Israel. How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed ? And how shall I execrate whom God hath not execrated ? For from the top of the rocks I see him, And from the hills I behold him : Lo ! the people who shall dwell alone, Nor shall number themselves among the nations ! Who shall count the dust of Jacob, Or the number of the fourth of Israel ? Let my soul die the death of the righteous, And let my end be as his. But this message was not the kind that Balak sought, and Balaam, willing to make another attempt to earn the promised rewards, accompanied Balak to the sum mit of Mount Pisgah. Here, at a point from which but a small portion of Israel's camp could be seen, the same sacrificial ceremonies were performed as before, and again did Balaam seek the Lord and receive from him a message. He then returned to Balak, and thus ad dressed him:2 2. THE SECOND PROPHECY. Rise up, Balak, and hear ; Hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor ! God is not a man that he should lie ; Neither the son of man that he should repent : Hath he said, and shall he not do it ? 1 Numb, xxiii. 7-10. » Numb, xxiii. 18-26. 148 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Behold I have received commandment to bless : And he hath blessed ; and I cannot reverse it. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, Neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel : The Lord his God is with him, And the shout of a king is among them. God brought them out of Egypt ; He hath as it were the strength of an unicorn. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, Neither is there any divination against Israel. According to this time it shall be said Of Jacob and of Israel, what hath God wrought ! Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, And lift up himself as a young lion : He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, And drink of the blood of the slain. Although again disappointed and dissatisfied, the King of Moab still hoped that his desire might be accom plished. He accordingly led Balaam to the summit of Mount Peor,1 supposed to be the peak upon which the celebrated temple dedicated to Baal-Peor was erected, and in which the most abominable rites were performed. The narrative "states that here the prophet "went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but set his face toward the wilderness ;" that is, the plain on which the triumphant hosts of Israel lay encamped. The pro phetic visions that appeared to him here have been de scribed as follows : 3. THE TniRD AND FOURTH PROPHECIES. "What was the vision which unrolled itself as he heard the words of God, as be saw the vision of the Al- 1 Peor. A lower mount than Pisgah, a little to the north-east of the Dead Sea. LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, AND DEUTERONOMY. 149 mighty, ' falling ' prostrate in the prophetic trance, ' but having the eyes ; of his mind and spirit ' open V The outward forms still remained. He still saw the tents below, goodly in their array ; he still saw the rocks and hills, and distant desert; but, as his thought glanced from height to height, and from valley to mountain, the future fortunes of the nations who dwelt there unfolded themselves in dim succession, revolving round and from the same central object. From the midst of that vast encampment he seemed to see streams as of water flow ing to and fro over the valleys, giving life to the dry desert and to the salt sea. He seemed to see the form as of a mighty lion, crouched amid the thickets or on the mountain fastnesses of Judah, 'and none should rouse him up;' or the 'wild bull' raging from amid the archers of Ephraim, trampling down his enemies, pierc ing them through with the well-known arrows of the tribe. " And yet again, in the more distant future, he ' be held, but not nigh,' as with the intuition of his Chaldean art, 'a star,' bright as those of the far eastern sky, ' corne out of Jacob ;' and a ' sceptre,' like the shepherd's staff that marked the ruler of the tribe, rise out of ' Israel ;' and then, as he watched the course of the surrounding nations, he saw how, one by one, they would fall, as fall they did, before the conquering sceptre of David, before the steady advance of that star which then, for the first time, rose out of Bethlehem. And, as he gazed, the vision became wider and wider still. He saw a time when a new tempest would break over all these conn- tries alike, from the remote east — from Asshur, from his own native land of Assyria, 'Asshur shall call thee away captive.' But at that word another scene opened before him, and a cry of horror burst from his lips : ' Alas ! who shall live when God doeth this V For his own na- 150 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. tion, too, was to be at last overtaken. 'For ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall crush Asshur, and shall crush Eber,1 the people beyond the Euphrates, and be also shall perish forever.' " — Stanley. The poet Cowley gives the following metrical ver sion of Balaam's third prophecy : " How comely are thy tents, oh Israel !" (Thus he began.) " What conquests they foretell ! Less fair are orchards in their autumn pride, Adorned with trees on some fair river's side ; Less fair are valleys, their green mantles spread ! Or mountains with tall cedars on their head ! 'Twas God himself — thy God, who must not fear? — Brought thee from bondage to be master here. Slaughter shall wear out these, new weapons get, And death, in triumph, on thy darts shall sit. When Judah's lion starts up to his prey, The beasts shall hang their ears and creep away ; When he lies down, the woods shall silence keep, And dreadful tigers tremble at his sleep. Thy cursers, Jacob ! shall twice cursed be ; And he shall bless himself that blesses thee !" The subserfuent history of Balaam, of which we ob tain but a glimpse, seems to show that his mind was perverse and venal, and that bis conduct was little af fected by his predictions. His worldly ambition led him to disregard the warnings of Jehovah, and to resort to more despicable means for effecting the result he had been unable to secure by his prophecies. While the Is raelites lay encamped on the plains, an impious festival of the Midianites occurred, in wliich the people of Is rael were induced to join, and for whicli they were se- i Eber, or Heber, son of Salah, great-grandson of Shem (Gen. x. 21-24), here used to denote the Western descendants of Shem. LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, AND DEUTERONOMY. 151 verely punished. But the Midianites paid a dreadful penalty for this insidious attempt to destroy Israel ; for a terrible slaughter was made of their people, their cit ies were taken and. sacked, and an immense booty was brought into the camp of the Israelites. That Balaam was the base instigator of this attempt to overthrow Is rael, there seems to be no question, for, in a subsequent chapter, we are told that it was " through the counsel of Balaam" that the children of Israel trespassed against the Lord; and we are told, farther, that in the war of vengeance whicli followed he was found among the slain.1 VII. THE LAST DAYS OF MOSES. It was not long after the punishment of the Midian ites that Moses, being admonished of his approaching end, assembled all Israel to receive his final instruc tions.2 He repeated the story of what befell them on their way to' Canaan; he recapitulated the whole Law, and appointed a solemn ratification of it; and, enlarging upon the blessings of obedience, with a dark and melan choly foreboding of the destiny of his people he set be fore them, at length, the consequences of tlieir apostasy and wickedness. "The sublimity of his denunciations," says Milman, " surpasses anything else in the oratory or the poetry of the whole world. Nature is exhausted in furnishing terrific images ; nothing, excepting the real horrors of the Jewish history — the miseries of their sieges, the cruelty, the contempt, the oppressions, the persecutions, which, for ages, this nation has endured — can approach the tremendous maledictions which warned them against the violation of their laws." In closing his admonitions, and his exhortations to ' Numb. xxxi. 8, 16. 2 Numb, xxxvi. 13; Deut. i. 152 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. repentance, Moses delivered the remarkable prophetic song or ode contained in the thirty-second chapter of Deuteronomy, beginning with the beautiful and snblime words : " Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak ; and hear, O earth, the words of my month. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the show ers upon the grass : because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Rock, bis work is perfect : for all his ways are judg ment : a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." Of this sublime composition Bishop Lowth observes : " The exordium is singularly magnificent, and the plan and conduct of the poem are just, natural, and well ac commodated to the subject, for they are almost in the order of an historical narration. It embraces a variety of the sublimest subjects and sentiments ; it displays the truth and justice of God, his paternal love, and his unfailing tenderness to his chosen people ; and, on the other hand, their ungrateful and contumacious spirit. The ardor of divine indignation, and the heavy denun ciations of vengeance, are afterward expressed in a re markable personification, which is scarcely to be paral leled in all the choicest treasures of the Muses. The subject and style of this poem bear so exact a resem blance to the prophetic as well as to the lyric composi tions of the Hebrews, that it unites all the force, energy, and boldness of the latter with the exquisite variety and grandeur of imagery so peculiar to the former." We also give a characterization of this ode by De. Taylor, who says : " There is in it a wondrous combi nation of the strength of manhood with the experience of old age, and of the imaginative force of youth with the wisdom which increasing years supply. Nor is this LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, AND DEUTERONOMY. 153 all : there is in it a marvellous interblending of the vari ous relationships in which Moses stood at once to God and to the people. He praises Jehovah with the fervor of a seraph, and he pleads with the people with the ten derness of a father. He deals with national subjects in the spirit of a statesman, and warns of coming doom with the sternness of a prophet. Now the strains are soft and low, as if they came from the chords of an ^Eo- lian harp stirred by the breeze of a gentle summer eve ; anon they are loud and stormful, as if some gust of passionate intensity had come sweeping over his spirit ; now they are luminous with the recollection of God's mercies, and again they are lowering, as if laden with the electric burden of God's coining wrath."1 Following this ode comes the blessing of Moses upon the twelve tribes, commonly called " the dying benedic tion of Moses upon the children of Israel."" " Behold," says Headley, " the white tents of Israel scattered over the plain, and over the swelling knolls, at' the foot of Mount Nebo. It is a balmy, glorious day. The sun is sailing over the encampment, while the blue sky bends like God in love over all things. Here and there a fleecy cloud is hovering over the top of Pisgah, as if conscious of the mysterious scene about to transpire there. The trees stand green and fresh in the sunlight, and Nature is lovely and tranquil, as if no sounds of grief were to disturb her repose. "Amid thfs beaut}'' and quietness Moses had assem bled the children of Israel for the last time, to take his farewell look, and leave his farewell blessing. He cast his eye over the host, while a thonsand contending emo tions struggled for the mastery in his bosom. Self-col lected and calm, he stood before them and gave them 1 "Moses the Law-giver," by Rev. W. M. Taylor, D.D. * Deut. xxxiii. 7* 154 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. bis last blessing. He made no complaints. He did not even refer to bis death. But, in the magnanimity of his great heart, forgetful of himself, he closed his sublime address in the following touching language : ' The eternal God is thy refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms : He shall thrust out the enemy before thee, And Israel shall then dwell in safety alone. Happy art thou, 0 Israel ! Who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, The shield of thy help, And the sword of thy excellency !' " VIII. THE DEATH OF MOSES. " And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho."1 " From Pisgah's top his eye the prophet threw O'er Jordan's wave, where Canaan met his view," » and a magnificent prospect was unfolded before him. He beheld, also, in prophetic anticipation, his great and happy commonwealth occupying the numerous towns and blooming fields of the promised land. But this, we may believe, was not all that he saw. The vision changed ; and Moses saw The idols overthrown ; God out of Zion giving law, God worshipped there alone. 1 Deut. xxxiv. 1. LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, AND DEUTERONOMY. 155 And still the vision grew more bright ; O'er humble Bethlehem shined The Star of Jacob, and a Light To lighten all mankind. James Montgomery. But soon the scene vanished from his sight : " And Moses laid down to die. No one was with him but his God ; and, though with one hand he smote him, with the other he held his dying head. Of that last scene and its changes we know nothing; but, when it was over, Moses lay a corpse on the mountain top. And God buried hiin. There he slept alone ; the mountain cloud which night hung round him was his only shroud, and the thunder of the passing storm his only dirge." — Headley. Sweet was the journey to the sky The holy prophet tried ; " Climb up the mount," said God, " and die :" The prophet climbed, and died. Softly, with fainting head, he lay Upon his Maker's breast; His Maker soothed his soul away, And laid his flesh to rest. Watts. IX. THE BURIAL OF MOSES. We are told, in the divine record, that " God buried Moses in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor; but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day." When he, who from the scourge of wrong Aroused the Hebrew tribes to fly, Saw the fair region promised long, And bowed him on the hills to die, 156 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. God made his grave, to man unknown, Where Moab's rocks a vale infold, And laid the aged seer alone To slumber while the world grows old. Bryant. A fuller account of this grand burial scene is given in the following lines : By Nebo's lonely mountain, On this side Jordan's wave, In a vale in the land of Moab, There lies a lonely grave. And no man dug that sepulchre, And no man saw it e'er; For the angels of God upturned the sod, And laid the dead man there. That was the grandest funeral That ever passed on earth ; But no man heard the trampling, Or saw the train go forth. Noiselessly as the daylight Comes when the night is done, And Ijje crimson streak on ocean's cheek Grows into the great sun — Noiselessly as the spring-time Her crown of verdure weaves, And all the trees on all the hills Open their thousand leaves — So, without sound of music, Or voice of them that wept, Silently down from the mountain crown The great procession swept. Perchance the bald old eagle, On gray Beth-peor's height, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, AND DEUTERONOMY. 157 Out of his rocky eyrie Looked on the wondrous sight. Perchance the lion, stalking, Still shuns that hallowed spot ; For beast and bird have seen and heard That which man knoweth not. But when the warrior dieth, His comrades in the war, With arms reversed and muffled drum, Follow the funeral car. They show the banners taken, They tell his battles won, And after him lead his masterless steed, While peals the minute-gun. Amid the noblest of the land Men lay the sage to rest, And give the bard an honored place With costly marble dressed. In the great minster transept, Where lights like glories fall, And the sweet choir sings, and the organ rings, Along the emblazoned wall. This was the bravest warrior That ever buckled sword ; This the most gifted poet That ever breathed a word ; And never earth's philosopher Traced, with his golden pen, On the deathless page, truths half so sage, As he wrote down for men. And had he not high honor? The hill-side for his pall ; To lie in state while angels wait With stars for tapers tall ; 158 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. And the dark rock pines, like tossing plumes, Over his bier to wave ; And God's own hand, in that lonely land, To lay him in the grave. In that deep grave, without a name, Whence his uncoffined clay Shall break again — most wondrous thought — • Before the Judgment-day, And stand with glory wrapped around On the hills he never trod, And speak of the strife that won our life With the Incarnate Son of God. Oh, lonely tomb in Moab's land, Oh, dark Beth-peor's hill, Speak to these curious hearts of ours, And teach them to be still. God hath his mysteries of grace — Ways that we cannot tell ; He hides them deep, like the secret sleep Of him he loved so well. Mrs. C. F. Alexander. X. THE WRITINGS AND THE CHARACTER OF MOSES. As a fitting close to the history of the great Jewish prophet and law-giver, we introduce the following ex cellent commentary on his writings and character by the Kev. W. M. Taylor, D.D. : " There are about the narratives of Genesis, and the historical portions of the other books whicli came from bis pen, a simple strength and a quiet power which in dicate that he was a man of mental force. There is no straining after effect. No attempt is made to gild that which is already gold. The narrative is left to speak for itself ; and the author never for a moment stands LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, AND DEUTERONOMY. 159 aside to draw attention either to himself or to the won derful events which he is recording. He has to deal with such lofty themes as the creation, the fall, the flood, the call of Abraham, and the early history of the patriarchs of his nation ; yet throughout there is a quiet naturalness which contrasts most suggestively with the sacred books of other nations, and which, as it seems to me, can be accounted for only by his own familiarity with God's wondrous works. He speaks of God's cre ating might like one who is not surprised thereat. He has no tone of wonder in giving the narrative of the flood. The call of Abraham does not startle him by its singularity, and he does not marvel at the friendship subsisting between the Father of the faithful and his covenant God. No exclamation of wonder escapes from him as he tells of Jacob's vision at Bethel, or of the mysterious wrestling with the angel at Peniel; nor does he stay to moralize over the destruction of the cities of the plain. "Now, all this is not a mere literary excellence; it is the result of his own personal experience in commun ion with God. The vision of Horeb helped him to understand the command which Abram heard in the far land of Uz. Sinai destroyed in him the possibility of being astonished at the burning of Sodom ; and his own vision in the cleft of the rock made the scene at Peniel seem perfectly natural in his eyes. Thus, his personal fellowship with God blended with his mental greatness, and gave to it that princely supremacy where by it dealt with the loftiest things in the simplest and quietest manner. "Nor must we fail to note the perfection of histori cal imagination with which these records are distin guished. He puts us into the midst of the scenes which he describes. We look with Abraham over the 160 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. fields toward the plain of Jordan, and go out with Isaac to meditate at even-tide. Jacob's life at Padan-Aram is as real as if we had ourselves been in the encamp ment at the time ; and the story of Joseph and his brethren is as vivid and pathetic to us as if it told of incidents that occurred but yesterday. Now, to produce such impressions is one of the highest literary achieve ments; and even if be had older documents to work upon, the result proves that he did for these documents what Shakspeare did for the stories on wliich he graft ed some of his most marvellous productions." Of the great and abiding faith of Moses in the prom ises of Jehovah the author just quoted thus writes: "Never more alluring prospects opened up before any man than those" which the world held out to him. The throne of the greatest monarchy of bis age was within his reach. All that wealth could procure, or pleasure bestow, or the greatest earthly power com mand, was easily at his call. But the glory of these things paled in his view before the more excellent character of those invisible honors which God set be fore him ; and so, without a sigh of regret or a thought of sacrifice, he turned liis back upon a position which he could occupy only by proving false to his coun trymen and disloyal to bis Lord. This faith sustained him in the solitudes of Midian, and animated him amid all the conflict attendant on the Exodus, and all the difficulties that confronted him in the wilderness. His intercourse with God was of the closest and most con fidential character. Jehovah, to bim, was no mere ab straction, of whom he might have spoken as ' the Infi nite,' or 'the Absolute;' but he was a living person, as real to him as was his brother Aaron, and more help ful to him than any human friend could be. This faith gave bim courage in the hour of danger, and calmness LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, AND DEUTERONOMY. 161 in the time of trial. Whether he was called to go in before the angry Pharaoh, or to face the mutiny of the murmuring tribes, he was equally sustained by the sight of the invisible God ; and when at length he pass ed in within the veil, he went only into a higher and closer fellowship with one whom he had long known and loved." As God buried Moses, it was fitting that he should write his epitaph, and this we find, in the following words, at the close of the Book of Deuteronomy, placed there as a final seal set to his writings and character: " And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and the wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his ser vants, and to all his land, and in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses showed in the sight of all Israel." 162 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. CHAPTER IV.— JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH. JOSHUA. This book is so named because it relates the achieve ments of Joshua, who was appointed by the Lord to succeed Moses, and by whom the book was probably written. It has also been called " The Doomsday-book of Palestine," because it contains the registry of the division of the land of Canaan among the several tribes of Israel.1 It may be regarded as consisting of three parts: The Conquest of Canaan, the Division of the Land, and Joshua's Farewell ; while its history em braces a period of perhaps seventeen years ; or, as some chronologists think, of twenty-seven or thirty years. I. PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN. For thirty days the children of Israel mourned the death of their great leader and law-giver, and then, under the command of Joshua, they prepared to cross the Jordan and enter the promised land of Canaan. Preceded by the ark of the covenant, the Israelites marched toward the Jordan ; and, as soon as the feet of the priests who carried the ark had touched the stream, the waters miraculously divided, as those of the Red Sea had done, and all the people passed over dry-shod. [1451 B.C.] 1 Doomsday-book. This is a term of doubtful origin; but a book of this name, compiled by order of William the Conqueror, embraced a reg istry of the extent and limits of the lands of England, their proprietors, tenures, value, etc. JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH. 168 The mighty Jordan's flood Bolls on in front, by turbid waters swelled, That long amid the mountain heights had stood, In icy bondage held. But 'tis the Lord's command : "Arise, ye priests, and still move on before, Bearing the ark, even till your feet shall stand On this proud river's shore : " And where the ark shall load, Follow, ye tribes; but move with holy fear; With reverend silence follow, and take heed That ye approach not near. " For ye shall see, this day, The outstretched arm of your protecting God, And he shall lead you in a wondrous way You ne'er before have trod." The tribes, obedient, move; The priests bear on the ark to Jordan's strand ; When lo ! the waters, rushing from above, Heap up and moveless stand ! While, failing more and more, The floods that downward flow subside and die, And Israel finds, to Canaan's promised shore, A passage safe and dry ! Small. To commemorate this important event Joshua caused twelve stones to be set up at Gilgal,1 the first encamp ment in the land of Canaan ; and they were to be " for a memorial unto the children of Israel forever." 1 Gilgal, between Jericho and the Jordan, continued to be, for some time, the head-quarters of the Israelites while engaged in the conquest of the country. 164 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Canaan was at this time governed by a number of petty, independent kings, whose subjects were warlike, remarkable for their personal strength and gigantic stature, and whose towns were well fortified. They had long known of the intended invasion of their do minions by this vast multitude that sought a home there, and had made formidable preparations for the defence of their possessions. The Israelites, having first observed, without disturbance, the feast of the Pass over, marched against the walled city of Jericho, be tween wliich and the Jordan, as a recent writer tells us, " there intervened a vast grove of majestic palms, nearly three miles broad and eight miles long." Hence, Jericho is called the " City of Palms." When the Is raelites had encompassed the doomed city there was no military display, nor any warlike demonstration. The siege was conducted silently and mysteriously, and the city was captured by miraculous interposition. II. THE FALL OF JERICHO. " The inhabitants of Jericho prudently awaited, be hind their walls, the approach of the enemy. To their surprise, no attempt was made to scale the walls or force the gates. They saw what might seem a peace ful procession going regularly round the city. The army marched first, in total silence. In the rear came the ark, escorted by seven priests, blowing seven trump ets made of rams' horns. For six successive days this mysterious circuit took place : no voice was heard from the vast and breathless army — nothing but the shrill wailing of the trumpets. On the seventh day this ex traordinary ceremony was repeated seven times. At the close of the last round the whole army on a sudden set up a tremendous shout, the walls of the city fell, JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH. 165 and the defenceless people found the triumphant en emy rushing along their streets. The slaughter was promiscuous and unsparing; and not merely human life but the beasts of labor were destroyed." — Milman. An American poet briefly relates the history of the fall of this Canaanitish stronghold in the annexed lines: The sons of Levi round that city bear The ark of God, their consecrated care ; And, in rude concert, each returning morn, Blow the long trump, and wind the curling horn. No blackening thunder smoked along the wall ; No earthquake shook it : music wrought its fall. Pierpont.1 Jericho was devoted to perpetual desolation, and a malediction was imprecated upon the head of him who should attempt to rebuild it. Well may the poet ex claim — Where are thy walls, proud Jericho ? The blast Of Israel's horn to earth thy towers might cast, But time more surely lays thy bulwarks low ; Yonder the Jordan sweeps with tireless flow, And Pisgah rears his earth-o'ergazing brow, Defying storm and thunder : where art thou ? Thy towers have left no stone : not e'en a palm Waves on thy site amid the burning calm ; A few green turf-clad mounds alone remain, Like those which rise on Troy's deserted plain. Michell. III. THE RATIFICATION OF THE LAW. The royal Canaanitish city of Ai, which was east of Bethel, " beside Bethaven," next fell, a victim to Joshua's strategy, and its inhabitants were utterly exterminated. 1 " Airs of Palestine," by Rev. John Pierpont. 166 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Immediately thereafter occurred the solemn ratification of the Law, in fulfilment of the command of Moses. This event occurred on Mounts Ebal and Gerizim,1 and bas been thus described : "Never did human imagination conceive a scene so imposing, so solemn, so likely to impress the whole peo ple with deep and enduring awe, as this final ratification of their polity, commanded by the dying law-giver. In the territory afterward assigned to the tribe of Ephra im, a central region, stand two remarkable mountains, separated by a deep and narrow ravine. Here all Israel was assembled — six tribes on one height, six on the other. In the open day, and in a theatre, as it were, created by the God of nature for the express pur pose, the people of Israel testified their free and delib erate acceptance of that constitution which their God had enacted. They accepted it with its inseparable con ditions, maledictions the most awful, which they impre cated on their own heads, in case they should aposta tize from its statutes — blessings, equally ample and per petual, if they should adhere to its holy and salutary provisions. The type of either destiny lay before them. Mount Ebal was a barren, stony, arid, and desolate crag ; Gerizim a lovely and fertile height, with luxuriant verd ure, streanis of running water, and cool and shady grove's. On Mount Ebal, as the Levites read the heads of the prohibitory statutes, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali with one voice re sponded, 'Amen, so be it.' On Gerizim stood the tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin, as the blessings of the law were recited, to give the same unreserved assent." — Milman. 1 Ebal and Gerizim, two mountain heights of Samaria, about thirty miles north-west of Jericho. JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH. 167 IV. GIBEON, AND THE WAR WITH THE FIVE KINGS. Many of the Canaanitish tribes, fearing the power of Joshua, now combined to oppose him. The Gibeon- ites,1 however, a mighty race, sought and obtained from him a treaty of peace, by pretending to be natives of a distant country. When the news of Gibeon's defection reached Adonize'dek, King of Jerusalem, he joined his forces with those of four neighboring kings, and made war against Gibeon. But Joshua went to the latter's assistance, defeated the Canaanites, and pursued them with terrible slaughter, in what was called the battle of Beth-horon. During this pursuit the sun and moon were stayed in their courses, at the command of Joshua, that he might complete the destruction of his enemies. See Israel's conquering captain, spear in hand, As on the surging battle's foremost crest Against those mighty banded hosts he pressed ; With sudden touch of inspiration grand, He cried aloud : " O sun ! I bid thee stand Still upon Gibeon, nor approach the west ; And thou, O moon ! in Ajalon's valley rest." And sun and moon stood still at his command. The world before or since saw no such day, When the Lord hearkened to that strange behest, And deigned the rolling orbs of heaven to stay. Wilton. Of course there are those who doubt the reality of this event. On the other hand, " those who contend for the literal acceptation of the miracle," says a recent writer, "urge, as its obvious purpose, the giving a death-blow to the prevailing superstition of the country — the wor- 1 Gibeon, the seat of the Gibeonites, was a hill about live miles north west of Jerusalem. 168 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. ship of the sun and moon. Npr can it be denied," he adds, " that there is something astonishingly sublime in supposing the deities of the conquered people thus ar rested in their career, and forced to witness the discom fiture, and contribute to the extirpation, of their wor shippers." In referring to this extraordinary event the poet Cowper very happily adds that the Divine power is shown no less in maintaining the sun's undeviating course from age to age. He says : Should God again, As once at Gibeon, interrupt the race Of the undeviating and punctual sun, How would the world admire ! But speaks it less An agency divine to make him know His moment when to sink and when to rise, Age after age, than to arrest his course ? All we behold is miracle ; but, seen So duly, all is miracle in vain. V. CONQUEST OF THE COUNTRY, AND ITS DIVISION AMONG THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL. After the victory over the five kings at Gibeon the Israelites meff with but little resistance, and city after city fell, and tribe after tribe was subdued, until, at the end of about seven years of war, comparative peace was established in Canaan. But the idolatrous tribes were not wholly exterminated, as the Lord had commanded should be done, and the incomplete conquest of the country was the cause of many subsequent disasters to the Israelites. Even in times of peace the tribes of Ca naan were a dangerous hinderance to the prosperity of the chosen people, as they frequently induced the latter to unite with them in the impious and licentious rites of their idolatry. JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH. 169 The location of the several tribes in the territories set apart for them, the setting up of the Tabernacle at Shi loh,1 the appointment of the Cities of Refuge, and the . selection of the priestly and Levitical cities, were the important events that occurred during the remainder of the life of Joshua. These things having been accom plished, the great commander modestly selected for him self a small inheritance in the rugged mountains of his native tribe of Ephraim, where he built the city of Tirn- nath-Serah. His subsequent record has been thus brief ly sketched by a modern writer : " To this city he re tired, and there dwelt in peace for some eighteen years of rest. At length he became aware that he, too, like Aaron on Mount Hor, like Moses on the top of Pisgah, must be gathered to his fathers, and go the way of all the earth. Summoning, therefore, the tribes of Israel, with the elders, and judges, and officers, to Shechem, he gave them his last charge. He reviewed their past his tory as a family, a tribe, a nation. He recounted all the merciful acts of their invisible King, and then he bound them, with his parting words, to an everlastiug covenant of faithfulness to the God who had done such great things for them, and set up a stone pillar under the sa cred oak of Abraham and Jacob, writing out the words of the covenant in ' the Book of the Law of God.' And now all was over. His work of war and his work of peace alike were ended. All that human agency could effect for the well-being of his people had been done. He bade every man depart to his inheritance, and, short ly ' after these things, Joshua, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old ; and they buried him in tlie border of his inheritance in Tim- nath Serah.' "2 [1443 B.C.] 1 Shiloh was about a dozen miles south-east of Mount Gerizim. 2 "The Book of Joshua," p. 14, by the Rev. G. F. MacLear, D.D. I.— 8 170 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Fattsset characterizes Joshua as " a pious warrior, al most without blemish, one who learned to command in advanced age by obeying when a youth, ever looking up to Jehovah with childlike faith, worshipping with devout prostration the Captain of the Lord's host, dispensing kingdoms, yet content at the last with a petty inheri tance, as disinterested and unselfish as he was brave, generous, and patriotic." To him may appropriately be applied the following lines from Tennyson's Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington : Great in council and great in war, Foremost captain of his time ; Kich in saving common-sense, And, as the greatest only are, In his simplicity sublime. Joshua appointed no successor, and for many years Is rael was ruled by Judges, who were appointed through the priests and the agency of the Divine oracle. " Hith erto the will and character of Moses had exercised a per sonal control, and had guarded the unity of the chosen people. The last of that generation had now passed away; and here followed the inevitable period of an archy, disaster, violence, and misrule, which we know as the period of the Judges."1 JUDGES. This book contains the history of the Judges;-who were governors or rulers of the Hebrews from the time of Joshua to that of the Kings of Israel. It was proba bly written by the prophet Samuel, one of the Judges, and its history covers a period of about three hundred 1 Allen's "Hebrew Men and Times." JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH. 171 years. This period has been called the " Heroic Age " of Hebrew history. De. Milman says of it that " it abounds in wild adventure and desperate feats of indi vidual valor. Personal activity, daring, and craft were the qualifications which raised the Judges to their title and eminence. They appear as gallant insurgents, or guerilla leaders, rather than as grave administrators of justice or the regular authorities of a great kingdom." I. APOSTASIES, AND THEIR PUNISHMENT. Although, after the death of Joshua, some of the tribes of Israel were for a time. actively engaged in wars with the surrounding heathen nations, other tribes contracted treaties with their idolatrous neighbors; intermarriages soon followed, and, before a generation had passed away, it is recorded that all Israel repeatedly served false gods, and provoked the Lord to anger. They were punished for their apostasies by being delivered into the hands of their enemies, and were first subdued by the King of Mesopotamia ; but at the end of eight years they were delivered by the valor of Othniel,1 of the tribe of Judah, and under his rule had rest for forty years. A second defection was punished by eighteen years of servitude to the Moabites. From this Israel was de livered by the daring enterprise of Ehud, a Benjamite. He secured an audience with Eglon, the King of Moab, slew him, and fled to the mountains of Ephraim, whence he returned with that powerful tribe, and totally de feated the Moabites. Eighty years of peace followed this deliverance, interrupted only by an unsuccessful attack by the Philistines, of whom it is recorded that Shamgar slew six hundred witli an ox-goad. 1 Judges, iii. 172 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. r A repetition of their evil doings brought the Israel ites in subjection to Jabin, King of the powerful Ca naanitish tribe of Hazor, whose general, Sisera, was a man terrible for his valor. Under this yoke they groaned for twenty years. But once again did they turn to the God of their fathers, who heard their cry, and raised up a deliverer in Deborah, a prophetess of the tribe of Ephraim, who was aided by Barak, a leader of reputation. Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, as well as the northern tribes, responded to the call of Deb orah. Barak achieved a victory that was a crowning event in Jewish history, and Deborah celebrated it in a hymn of triumph, conceded to be the most splendid composition of the kind on record. The battle took place between Megid'do and Mount Tabor, along the sources of the Kishon, in the great plain of Jezreel, or Esdrae'lon.1 [1285 b.c. J II. DEBORAH'S VICTORY.— THE FATE OF SISERA. Dean Stanley gives an "interesting account of the scene and circumstances of this battle. He states, in substance, that Barak with ten thousand men descended from the wooded heights of Mount Tabor, and on the plain below met the advancing Canaanites, who were marching directly in the face of a driving storm of sleet and hail. The " rain descended," the four rivulets of Megiddo were swollen into powerful streams, and the plain became a morass, in whicli the chariots and horses of the Canaanites floundered and became unmanage- 1 Judges, iv. and v. Megid'do, a town on the southern edge of the plain of Esdrae'lon. The rivulets of Megiddo were tributaries of the Kishon. The river Kishon, fed from sources along the whole plain of Jezreel, or Esdraelon, empties into the Bay of Acre, eastward of the northern ex tremity of the Carmel range. Mount Tabor is about a dozen miles south west of the southern extremity of the Sea of Galilee. JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH. 173 able. Far and wide the vast army fled through the eastern branch of the plain by Endor. There, between Tabor and the little Hermon, the carnage was awful. Fierce and rapid was the pursuit, and the destruction was complete. Sisera, the captain of the Canaanitish host, fled on foot over the mountains toward Hazor. Between Hazor and Kadesh Naphtali was a green plain, stud ded with massive trees. Underneath the spreading branches of one of these was an encampment of Bedouin Arabs, between whom and the King of Hazor there was peace. Thither the wearied Sisera turned his steps, confident that Arab fidelity would give him complete security from his enemies. The reception that he met with is best told in the distinguished divine's own words, as follows : " Sisera approached the tent, not of Heber, the hus band and chieftain, but, for the sake of greater securi ty, the tent of the chieftainess, Jael, who was called the ' Gazelle.' It was a fit name for a Bedouin's wife, especially for one whose family had come from the rocks of Engedi, ' the spring of the wild goat,' or ' cha mois.' The long, low tent was spread under the tree, and from under its cover she advanced to meet Sisera, with the accustomed reverence — 'Turn in, my lord, and fear not.' She covered him with a rough wrapper or rug, on the slightly raised divan inside of the tent, and he, exhausted with his flight, lay down, and then, lifting up his head, begged for a drop of water to cool his parched lips. " She offered him more than water. She unfastened the mouth of the large skin, such as stands by Arab tents, which was full of sweet milk from the herds or camels. She offered, as for a sacrificial feast, in the" bowl used for illustrious guests, the thick curded milk, 174 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. frothed like cream ; and the weary man drank. Secure in the Bedouin hospitality, whicli regards as doubly sure the life of one who bas eaten and drunk at the hands of his host, he sank into a deep sleep, as she again drew around him the rough covering she had for a moment withdrawn. " Then she saw that her hour had come. She pulled up from the ground the large pointed peg or nail which fastened down the ropes of the tent, and held it in her left hand ; with her right hand she grasped the ponder ous hammer or wooden mallet of the workmen of the tribe. Her attitude, her weapon, her deed, are described both in the historic and poetic account of the event, as if fixed in the national mind. Step by step we see her advance ; first the dead silence with whicli she ap proaches the sleeper, then the successive blows with which she ' hammers, crushes, beats, and pierces through and through' the temples of the upturned face, till the point of the nail reaches the very ground on which the slumberer is stretched ; and then comes the one convulsive bound, the contortion of agony with which the expiring man rolls over from the low divan, and lies weltering in blood between her feet, as she strides over the lifeless* corpse." III. DEBORAH'S SONG OF VICTORY. Then it was that the prophetess, Deborah, poured forth her triumphant song. "She sung of the glory of Jehovah, who bad revealed his might; she spoke of her self as the mother in Israel who had risen up and come to the rescue ; she praised the tribes that had joined in the battle, and cast bitter taunts upon the cravens ; and then she described the battle, in which the stars of heaven had fought against Sisera, and sung of its clos-. ing scene." JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH. 175 Wake, Deborah ! wake ; and thou, Barak ! arise, And swell the proud chorus which gladdens the skies : Attend, 0 ye kings, and ye princes, give ear ! I, Deborah, speak, but Jehovah is near. O Lord, it was Thou with thy people didst ride, When they conquering burst from rough Edom's dark side. The huge mountains towered in their grandest array, While the hearts of the nations all melted away. But forsaken by Thee, then how triumphed our foes, Till I, mother in Israel, Deborah, rose ; How silent our valleys, how wasted our plains, While we sat down in sackcloth and wept o'er our chains ! Speak, Deborah ! speak ; and thou, Barak ! oh, say, How captivity captive was led on that day ! All honor to you who, inspired by our breath, So bravely did jeopard your lives to the death. But curse ye the cowards who, trembling with fear, Resolved not the summons of rescue to hear; Yes, bitterly curse them who mocked at the word — 'Gainst the Mighty, oh, come ! to the help of the Lord. Oh ! that was a triumph, a glorious sight, When ye came, O ye kings! to Megiddo to fight; Ah, Sisera ! well may your chariots be naught, When against you the stars in their bright courses fought. By the window she sat, of the watch-tower so high — It was Sisera's mother : she looked at the sky : " Why tarries his chariot so long on the way ? Why thus, O my conquering son ! dost thou stay ?" Her wise ladies answered, " The spoil to divide, The glad warriors rest on the steep mountain's side ; They come " — dreamers, hush ! shall I tell you the tale, . How your Sisera died by the sharp-piercing nail ? 176 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Thus perish, consumed, at the flash of thy sword, The madmen who challenge thy honor, O Lord ! But they who love thee, on strong pinions unfurled, Like suns shall mount upward, and tread on the world. E. Dudley Jackson. This battle ranks next, in importance, to that of Beth- horon, where Joshua defeated the five kings that warred against Gibeon. It was, therefore, worthily a theme of rejoicing on the part of Deborah and her general. Al though we turn with a certain feeling of horror and surprise from Deborah's praise of the treacherous and deadly act of Jael, and her mockery, also, of a mother's grief, it must be remembered, as Dean Stanley says, that "Deborah, though a prophetess, was enlightened with only a small portion of the divine light, saw clearly but for a little way, and beyond that the darkness of the time rested upon her vision." As observed by another writer, "such cruelty, treachery, and blood-thirsty tri umph were but the dark background of the patriotism and religious devotion which strengthened the heroes of Israel to. make the heaviest sacrifices, and to brave death itself, in the cause of their people and tlieir people's God." IV. ISRAEL UNDER GIDEON. Having again done evil in the sight of tlie Lord, the children of Israel were next given over a prey to the Midianites and Amalekites, the wild tribes of the desert, who " came up with their cattle and their tents, as grass hoppers for multitude." But, after seven years, the prophet Gideon, chosen by the Lord, in a mysterious visitation,1 to be the liberator of his people, taking with him only three hundred men, made a night attack on 1 Judges, vi. 177 the camp of the enemy, upon whom such fear fell that they slew one another. One hundred and twenty thou sand of them were left dead on the field, and only fif teen thousand escaped by flight. The tribes taking part in the insurrection were Manasseh, Zebulun, Naphtali, and Asher — tho Ephrai mites aiding only when the at tack had been made and the pursuit had begun. In their joy and gratitude the people would have made Gideon king; but he said to them, "Not I, nor my son, but Jehovah shall reign over you." Yet even Gideon violated the law. From the splendid raiment of the conquered kings he made an eph'od, or priestly garment, and set up a worship distinct from that of the one sa cred place in Shiloh, " which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house." Under the administration of Gideon "the land Lad rest for forty years." At his death the people of She'- chem, at the instigation of Abimelech, a natural son of Gideon, slew all his father's sons but Jotham, the young est — who hid himself — and proclaimed Abimelech king. On the summit of Ger'izim Jotham denounced the usurper, and reproved the people in the well-known and interesting fable of the trees and the bramble,1 fore telling a feud between Abimelech and Shechem, which would destroy both. After three years the people of Shechem rebelled, and Abimelech beat down their cit}r, and burnt to death a thousand men and women ; but, in an attack whicli he made on another city, he was slain. JEPHTHAH'S RULE, AND HIS RASH VOW. During the rule of the two succeeding Judges the Israelites served all manner of gods, and were delivered i Judges, ix. 7-23. 178 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. into the hands of the Philistines and Ammonites, by whom they were grievously oppressed. The Israelites and Ammonites were both encamped in the land of Gilead,1 and both were struggling to possess it. The Gileadites united with Israel to drive out their common enemy, and sought and obtained the aid of Jephthah, a Gileadite by descent, but of unfortunate birth, who had been driven from his home, and had become "a mighty man of valor," and the leader of a band of freebooters. This bold warrior smote the Ammonites with very great slaughter, and became the chief of Gilead and a Judge of Israel. The distinguishing feature of the story of Jephthah's rule, and the one that has attracted the most attention, is the terrible fact that he offered up his daughter as a sac rifice for the victory be bad achieved. Just before en gaging in the battle be made the rash vow that, if the Lord would give him the victory, be would, on bis re^ turn to his home, offer as a sacrifice the first living thing that should meet him from his own house. The first creature to come forth to greet him was his only daugh ter and only child, accompanied by her maidens, bear ing instruments of music to welcome his return. The daughter, on being informed of the vow, accepted her fate with true heroism, and it is stated that, after a lapse of two. months, Jephthah "did according to his vow." This sad incident is made the subject of the following poem by the American poet, N. P. Willis, in which the^ grief of Jephthah and the heroism of his daughter are beautifully portrayed : She stood before her father's gorgeous tent To listen for his coming. Her loose hair 1 The land of Gilead was a large district cast of the Jordan, and proba bly comprised the entire possessions of the two tribes of Gad and Reuben, and the southern part of Manasseh. JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH. 179 Was resting on her shoulders, like a cloud Floating around a statue, and tho wind, Just swaying her light robe, revealed a shape Praxiteles might worship. She had clasped Her hands upon her bosom, and had raised Her beautiful, dark Jewish eyes to heaven, Till the long lashes lay upon her brow. Her lip was slightly parted, like the cleft Of a pomegranate blossom ; and her neck, Just where the cheek was melting to its curve With the unearthly beauty sometimes there, Was shaded, as if light had fallen off, Its surface was so polished. She was stilling Her light, quick breath to hear ; and the white rose Scarce moved upon her bosom, as it swelled, Like nothing but a lovely wave of light, To meet the arching of her queenly neck. Her countenance was radiant with love, She looked like one to die for it — a being Whose whole existence was the pouring out Of rich and deep affections. Onward came The leaden tramp of thousands. Clarion notes Rang sharply on the ear at intervals ; And the low, mingled din of mighty hosts Returning from the battle poured from far Like the deep murmur of a restless sea. They came, as earthly conquerors always come, With blood and splendor, revelry and woe. The stately horse treads proudly — he hath trod The brow of death as well. The chariot wheels Of warriors roll magnificently on — Their weight hath crushed the fallen. Man is there — Majestic, lordly man — with his sublime And elevated brow and godlike frame, Lifting his crest in triumph — for his heel 180 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Hath trod the dying like a wine-press down ! The mighty Jephthah led his warriors on Through Mizpeh's streets. His helm was proudly set, And his stern lip curled slightly, as if praise Were for the hero's scorn. His step was firm, But free as India's leopard; and his mail, Whose shekels none in Israel might bear, Was like a cedar's tassel on his frame. His crest was Judah's kingUest, and the look \ Of his dark, lofty eye and bended brow Might quell the lion. He led on, but thoughts Seemed gathering round which troubled him. The veins Grew visible upon his swarthy brow, And his proud lip was pressed as if with pain. He trod less firmly ; and his restless eye Glanced forward frequently, as if some ill He dared not meet was there. His home was near; And men were thronging, with that strange delight They have in human passions, to observe The struggle of his feelings with his pride. He gazed intently forward. The tall firs Before his door were motionless. The leaves Of the sweet aloe, and the clustering vines Which half concealed his threshold, met his eye, Unchanged and beautiful ; and one by one, The balsam, with its sweet-distilling stems, And the Circassian rose, and all the crowd Of silent and familiar things, stole up, Like the recovered passages of dreams. He strode on rapidly. A moment more, And he had reached his home, when lo ! there sprung One with a bounding footstep, and a brow Of light, to meet him. Oh, how beautiful ! — Her proud eye flashing like a sunlit gem — And her luxuriant hair! — 'twas like the sweep Of a dark wing in visions. He stood still, JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH. 181 As if the sight had withered him. She threw Her arms about his neck — he heeded not. She called him " Father " — but he answered not. She stood and gazed upon him. Was he wroth ? There was no anger in that bloodshot eye. Had sickness seized him ? She unclasped his helm, And laid her white hand gently on his brow, And the large veins felt stiff and hard, like cords. The touch aroused him. He raised up his hands, And spoke the name of God in agony. She knew that he was stricken then, and rushed Again into his arms ; and, with a flood Of tears she could not bridle, sobbed a prayer That he would breathe his agony in words. He told her — and a momentary flush Shot o'er her countenance ; and then the soul Of Jephthah's daughter wakened ; and she stood Calmly and nobly up, and said 'twas well — And she would die. * * * * The sun had well-nigh set. The fire was on the altar ; and the priest Of the High God was there. A pallid man Was stretching out his trembling hands to heaven, As if he would have prayed, but had no words — And she who was to die, the calmest one In Israel at that hour, stood up alone, And waited for the sun to set. Her face Was pale, but very beautiful — her lip Had a more delicate outline, and the tint Was deeper; but her countenance was like The majesty of angels. The sun set — And she was dead — but not by violence. The closing lines of the poem express the idea enter tained by many eminent authorities, that, under divine 182 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. direction, Jephthah's daughter was " dead " to the world — that is, was consecrated to the Lord, and doomed to perpetual celibacy ; although Jephthah himself, when he made the vow, evidently contemplated a human sac rifice. It is claimed that this view is sustained by the language of the last four verses of the narrative.1 On the other hand, it is claimed by equally good authorities that she was, in fact, the victim of the sacrificial rite; as it is not in the, least improbable that a fierce freebooter like Jephthah should mistake an act of cruel supersti tion for an act of religion ; and, also, as it is certain that vows of celibacy were totally unknown among the He brews.2 But, whether the darker interpretation given to the act is correct or not, it is certain that the Hebrew religion held human sacrifices in abhorrence; and the case of Jephthah is tho only recorded instance of the kind in Jewish history. Dean Stanley makes some interesting comments on this story of Jephthah and his daughter. He says : " The deep pathos of the original story, and the lesson whicli it reads of the heroism of the father and daugh ter, are to be admired and loved, in the midst of the fierce superstitions across which it plays like a sunbeam on a stormy sea. So regarded, it may still be remem bered with a sympathy at least as great as is given to heathen immolations, wliich awaken a sentiment of com passion wherever they are known. " The sacrifice of Jephthah's daughter, taking it at its worst, was not a human sacrifice in the gross sense of the word — not the slaughter of an unwilling victim, as when the Gaul and Greek were buried alive in the Ro man forum ; but the willing offering of a devoted heart, 1 Judges, xi. 27-40. See also Fausset's " Bible Cyclopaedia," p. 341. 2 See Milman's "History of the Jews," vol. i. p. 300; and Allen's "He- Drew Men and Times," p. 90. JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH. 183 to free, as she supposed, her father and her country from a terrible obligation. It was, indeed, as Josephus says, an act in itself hatefnl to God. But, nevertheless, it contained just that one redeeming feature of pure obedience and love wliich is the distinguishing mark of all true sacrifice, and which communicates to the whole story those elements of tenderness and nobleness well drawn out of it by both Byeon and Tennyson, to each of whom, in their different ways, may be applied what was said by Goethe of the first, ' that at least one func tion committed to him was that of giving life and form to the incidents and characters of the Old Testament.' " The beautiful poem of Byeon, above referred to, in which the Jewish maiden is represented as bowing in humble- but heroic submission to what she believes to be the will of God and her country, is as follows : Since our country, our God, O my sire ! Demand that thy daughter expire ; Since thy triumph was bought by thy vow, Strike the bosom that's bared for thee now ! And the voice of my mourning is o'er, And the mountains behold me no more; If the hand that I love lay me low, There cannot be pain in the blow. And of this, O my father ! be sure — That the blood of thy child is as pure As the blessing I beg ere it flow, And the last thought that soothes me below. Though the virgins of Salem lament, Be the judge and the hero unbent ; I have won the great battle for thee, And my father and country are free. 184 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. When this blood of thy giving has gushed, When the voice that thou lovest is hushed, Let my memory still be thy pride, And forget not I smiled as I died. Byron's Hebrew Melodies. A few lines from the poet Tennyson may appropri ately close the subject : The daughter of the warrior Gileadite, A maiden pure, as when she went along From Mizpeh's tower'd gate with radiance light, With timbrel and with song. ***** " My God, my land, my father — these did move Me from my bliss of life, that Nature gave, Lowered softly with a threefold cord of love, Down to a silent grave. " And I went mourning. No fair Hebrew boy Shall smile away my maiden blame among The Hebrew mothers — emptied of all joy, Leaving the dance and song. " Leaving the olive-gardens far below, Leaving the^ promise of my bridal bower, The valleys of grape-loaded vines that glow Beneath the battled tower. ***** " When the next moon was roll'd into the sky, Strength came to me that equalled my desire. How beautiful a thing it was tc die For God and for my sire ! "It comforts me in this one thought to dwell, That I subdued me to my father's will, Because the kiss he gave me, ere I fell, Sweetens the spirit still." ***** JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH. 185 The sacrifice of Jephthah's daughter was made the subject of an oratorio by Handel, the celebrated Ger man composer, in 1751, and by Beinthaler in 1855. After the defeat of the Ammonites, Jephthah was called upon to defend Gilead against the Ephraimites, who, under tlie false claim of not having been asked to assist in the war with the Ammonites, crossed the Jor dan to give him battle. In the conflict that ensued the jealous and dissembling Ephraimites were completely routed ; and their retreat across the Jordan having been cut off, thousands of them were cruelly slain at the pas sages of that river. Jephthah judged Israel six years, when he died, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead. VI. SAMSON'S RULE. After Jephthah's reign three Judges successively ruled Israel, of whose administrations nothing impor tant is recorded. At the close of these reigns the obsti nate and ungrateful Israelites were delivered into the hands of the Philistines, who had become a powerful nation along the south-western borders of Palestine, and from whom they were destined to encounter the most obstinate and long-continued hostility. But, after a pe riod of about twenty years of the most oppressive rule, that extraordinary Jewish character, Samson, appeared upon the scene, and began the deliverance of Israel. Samson was of the tribe of Dan, of all the tribes the one most severely oppressed by the Philistines, as it ad joined the Philistine country on the north. The birth of Samson was foretold to his parents by an angel of the Lord, and the same agency declared that he should be a Nazarite1 — that is, one consecrated unto the Lord 1 Judges, xiii. 5. For the law of the Nazarites see Numbers, vi. 1-21. See Judges, xiv., xv., and xvi. for the history of Samson. 186 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. — and that he should begin the deliverance of Israel. When he reached manhood Samson was known wher ever he went by the long, shaggy tresses or curls which covered his head aud shoulders, and which, we are told, were a characteristic mark of the Nazarite order. Samson was a prodigy of strength, and to this quality he owed his successes. We are not to suppose, how ever, that he was of great size, like many of his Philis tine enemies, but that his strength was spiritual, and dependent upon the faithful observance of the Nazarite vow, by which be was bound, from bis childhood, not to drink wine, nor suffer the hair of his head to be cut. The first recorded display of his strength occurred while lie was on his way to a Philistine city, to marry a Philis tine woman. He rent with his hands, unarmed, a lion that attacked him; and, to pay the forfeit of a wager that he made with his bridal guests that they could not answer a riddle he proposed to them, he slew thirty men of the Philistine city of Askalon, and brought their garments to their countrymen. Again, when his wife had been taken from him, in revenge he caught three hundred jackals, tied lighted firebrands to them, and drove them into the cornfields and vineyards of the Philistines. Off a third occasion, when the tribe of Judah had basely surrendered bim to the Philistines, bound with the stoutest cords, be snapped his bands apart "as flax that was burnt with fire," and, seizing the jaw-bone of an ass, slew with it one thousand of his en emies. Again captured, and shut up in the strong city of Gaza,1 be arose at midnight, burst through the city gates, " and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of a hill that is before Hebron." 1 Gaza, one of the border cities of the Canaanites (Gen. x. 19), was on the sea-coast, just within the south-western borders of Judah. JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH. 187 But Samson finally fell into a snare set for him by his foes, and the secret of his wonderful strength was discovered. As he slept " the seven locks of his head " were cut off, and he was helpless. His eyes were put out, and he was carried to the Philistine city of Gaza, and bound with fetters of brass ; " and he did grind in the prison-house." 5' VII. THE CLOSING SCENES OF HIS LIFE. The closing scenes of the life of Samson have been made the subject of a tragedy by Milton, entitled Sam son Agonistes, or Samson the athlete or combatant, in allusion to his wonderful strength. The scene opens with Samson, a captive and blind, led forth from his prison at Gaza to a retired spot near by, there to sit awhile and bemoan his condition. Here his Hebrew friends gather around him, and, forming a chorus of singers, in their sympathetic responses to his lamenta tions they seek to comfort him. His old father, Ma- noah, conies and tries to inspire him with hopes of ran som. Then he is waited on by a Philistine officer, who thus addresses him : Officer. Samson, to thee our lords thus bid me say : This day to Dagon is a solemn feast, With sacrifices, triumph, pomp, and games ; Thy strength they know surpassing human rate, And now some public proof thereof require To honor this great feast and great assembly ; Rise, therefore, with all speed, and come along, Where I will see thee heartened and fresh-clad To appear as fits before the illustrious lords. But Samson, true to the interests of his religion, tells the messenger that he is a Hebrew, and that the Jewish 188 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. law forbids his presence at the religious rites of the Philistines. The officer departs, but soon returns with more imperative orders. Samson, at length persuaded that it is of God's ordering, goes with the officer, when the chorus or band of singers, as if catching the inspira tion, breaks forth in song: Go, and the Holy One Of Israel be thy guide To what may serve his glory best, and spread his name Great among the heathen round. While Manoah is relating bis prospects of ransom for his son, a Hebrew messenger comes in haste, and, con fusedly at first, but soon with more distinctness, gives the following account of what he saw at the feast: Messenger. Occasions drew me early to this city, And as the gates I entered with sunrise, The morning trumpets festival proclaimed Through each high street. Little I had despatched, When all abroad was rumored that this day Samson should be brought forth, to show the people Proof of his mighty strength in feats and games. I sorrowed at Ms captive state, but minded Not to be absent at that spectacle. The building was a spacious theatre, Half round, on two main pillars vaulted high, With seats, where all the lords and each degree Of sort might sit in order to behold ; The other side was open, where the throng On banks and scaffolds under sky might stand. I among these aloof obscurely stood. The feast and noon grew high, and sacrifice Had filled their hearts with mirth, high cheer, and wine, When to their sports they turned. Immediately Was Samson as a public servant brought, JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH. 189 In their state livery clad ; before him pipes And timbrels ; on each side went armed guards, Both horse and foot ; before him and behind Archers and slingers, cataphracts and spears.' Samson amuses them for a time with various feats of stupendous strength, and at length requests his guide to lead him where he may lean awhile " on those two massy pillars, that to the arched roof gave main sup port." Besting there, he prays, and then thus addresses the Philistine lords : "Hitherto, lords, what your commands imposed I have performed, as reason was, obeying; Not without wonder and delight beheld ; Now, of my own accord, such other trial I mean to show you of my strength, yet greater, As with amaze shall strike all who behold." This uttered, straining all his nerves, he bowed: As with the force of winds, and waters pent, When mountains tremble, those two massy pillars With horrible convulsion to and fro He tugged, he shook, till down they came, and drew The whole roof after them, with burst of thunder, Upon the heads of all who sat beneath — Lords, ladies, captains, counsellors, or priests, Their choice nobility and flower, not only Of this but each Philistian city round, Met from all parts to solemnize this feast. Samson, with these immixed, inevitably Pulled down the same destruction on himself. The vulgar only 'scaped, who stood without. At the close of the narration by the messenger, the chorus opens with this triumphant song: 190 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. O dearly bought revenge, yet glorious ! Living or dying thou hast fulfilled The work for which thou wast foretold To Israel, and now liest victorious Among thy slain, self-killed, Not willingly, but tangled in the fold Of dire necessity, whose law in death conjoined Thee and thy slaughtered foes, in number more Than all thy life had slain before. Some Bible students assign to Samson a prominent characteristic which comes out only indirectly in the sacred narrative. It is that of joviality, or grim play fulness. " He was full of the spirits and the pranks," says Dean Stanley, " no less than of the strength, of a giant. Nothing could disturb his radiant good-humor. His most valiant, his most cruel actions, were done with a smile on his face and a jest in his mouth. It relieves his character from the sternness of Phoenician fanati cism. As a peal of hearty laughter breaks in upon in dividual sorrow, so the joviality of Samson becomes a pledge of the revival of the greatness of his nation. It is brought out in the strongest contrast with the brute coarseness and stupidity of bis Philistine enemies, here, as throughout the sacred history, the butt of Israelitish wit and Israelitish craft. Look at his successive exploits in this light, and they assume a fresh significance." After pointing out the ludicrous aspect of these ex ploits, the eminent divine concludes as follows : " The closing scenes of his life breathe out the same terrible, yet grotesque, irony. When the captive war rior is called forth, in the merriment of his persecutors, to exercise for tlie last time the well known raillery of his character, he appears as the great jester or buffoon of the nation ; and as he puts forth the last energy of his vengeance, the final effort of his expiring strength, JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH. 191 it is in a stroke of broad and savage humor that his indignant spirit passes away. That grim playfulness, strong in death, lends its paradox even to the act of destruction itself, and overflows into the touch of trium phant satire with wliich the pleased historian closes his story : ' The dead whicli he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.' " The subsequent chapters of the Book of Judges re cord the idolatry of one Micah, of Mount Ephraim, and the adoption of it by the Danites, who conquer the city of Laish, afterward called Dan, on the north-eastern bor der of Canaan, and make it their dwelling-place. Then follows the wickedness of Gibeah, which is aided or ap proved by the tribe of Benjamin, and this tribe is terri bly punished by the other tribes of Israel, as we have heretofore stated. These chapters are commonly called The Appendix; and it is pretty well settled that the events they record occurred long before the days of Samson, and at the earliest part of the period of the Judges. They are of interest only as they help to de pict the disorganized and corrupt condition into which Israel had then fallen. RUTH. The Book of Ruth is a supplement to the Book of Judges, and an introduction to that of Samuel. Its authorship has been attributed to various persons ; but the best-founded opinion is that it was written by the prophet Samuel. It derives its name from the history that it gives of a Moabitess named Buth. The time of the events which it records is involved in much doubt. Josephus refers it to the Judgeship of Eli ; Bishop Pat rick, and Home, to the time of Gideon ; Townsend, to the days of Deborah. The majority of chronologists, 192 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. however, refer it to the time of Shamgar, who judged Israel immediately before Barak.1 This is considered one of the most interesting books in the Bible. It not only gives a biographical sketch of the pious ancestors of King David, from whom later prophecies announced that the Messiah should be de scended, but it conveys a most beautiful picture of fidel ity and affection, and shows the rich reward of choosing the Lord, at the sacrifice of all else. Goethe has said of it, " We have nothing so lovely in the whole range of epic and idyllic poetry." And another writer char acterizes Ruth herself as " a blossom of heathendom stretching its flower-cup desiringly toward the light of xevelation in Israel." I. THE STORY OF RUTH, THE MOABITISH MAIDEN. During a severe famine, while the Judges ruled Is rael, Elim'elech, of the tribe of Judah, taking his wife Naomi and his two sons, removed into the land of Moab., Here his two sons married. Death soon deprived Na omi of her hnsband and her two sons, and at the end of ten years she determined to return to her native coun try. Her daughters-in-law resolved to accompany her; but Naomi, aware of the difficulties and trials they would have to encounter, urged them to return to their kindred. One of them became disheartened, and turned back; but the other, Rnth, insisted on going with Na omi, at tlie sacrifice of home and kindred, and passion ately declared, " Entreat me not to leave thee, or to re turn from following after 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 1 Judges, iii. 81. JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH. 193 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." The scene between Ruth and Na omi bas been very faithfully and beautifully portrayed in the following lines : " Entreat me not to leave thee, but convert me to the truth ;" So spake in sorrow and in tears the gently-chiding Ruth. " Entreat me not to leave thee, nor unclasp thy loosening hand ; I'll follow thee, my mother, to tho far Judean land." But, turning still in grief away from her young, pleading face, And sadly putting back the arms so fondly that embrace, " My daughter," thus Naomi said, in measured tones and deep, " We have our Sabbaths in that laud, and holy days to keep, And there's a bound we cannot pass upon that day, you know." But Ruth said, " Only where thou goest, mother, will I go." Still spake Naomi, " Turn again — thy home is not with me ; For Judah's children must not with the outcast Gentile be." Ruth answered, " In that stranger-land with thee, oh, let me stay, And where thou lodgest I will lodge — I can not go away." And then again Naomi, " We have precepts to observe, And from our fathers' worship are commanded not to swerve." Ruth answered with religious zeal, " I bow to Judah's Lord : Thy people shall my people be — thy God shall be my God." And now the mother's love burst forth, and rose in accents wild: " Turn back, beloved, oh ! turn back, for think you, Ruth, my child, Your fainting heart could ever bear the woes I number now ? They must not dim those gentle eyes, nor darken o'er that brow; For though thy mother yields to them, yet, dearest daughter mine, It were not meet that they should fall on such a head as thine." L— 9 194 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Then Ruth, with sudden brightness in her mild and loving eye, " However hard thy death may be, thus only will I die." But yet once more Naomi spoke, " My daughter, for the dead We have a house of burial ;" but Ruth, still answering, said, "And there will I be buried; and the Lord deal thus by me, If aught, my mother, on the earth, but death part thee and me." Mrs. E. H. J. Cleaveland. It is stated that when Naomi saw that Ruth " was steadfastly minded to go with her, she left speaking unto her, and they two went until they came to Beth lehem." Here Naomi was with difficulty recognized by her relations, who had almost forgotten her: Two sad-faced women, haggard, worn, and wan, Passed wearily through Bethlehem's sun-scorched street ; The city, moved to pity, round them ran, And some with wondering cry the strangers greet, " What ! is this Naomi ?" She quickly broke Upon them, trembling, as they thus began : " Call me not Naomi," she weeping spoke, " For Naomi is numbered with the dead ; My name is Mara, for, 0 friends ! with me The Lord hathtdealt exceeding bitterly ! "The hand of God has touched me, and I mourn; Has robbed me both bf husband and of son ; Woe worth the bitter day that I was born ! My prop, my stay, my life of life, is gone ; I went out full, empty come back to you, A widow, childless, desolate, and forlorn ; The graves in Moab hold my dead heart too ; I left it with them where they sleep in peace. So from my years has gone the sun, the light ; I grope as one through some dark, dreary night." Charles D. Bell. JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH. 195 Naomi was dependent for support on Ruth, who be came a gleaner in the harvest-fields of Boaz, a wealthy Israelite and kinsman of Elim'elech. Boaz, attracted by the beauty and modesty of Ruth, treated her with the most delicate attention, and ere long she became his wife. From this union sprung Obed, the father of Jesse, who was the father of David, the royal progenitor of the Messiah. Referring to this union, Aubeelen remarks: " Ruth the Moabite, great-great-graudmother of David, longed for the God and the people of Israel with all the deep earnestness of her nature, and joined herself to them with all the power of love. Boaz was an Israelite without guile, full of holy reverence for every ordi nance of God and man, and full of benevolent love and friendliness toward the poor heathen woman. From such ancestors was the man descended in whom all the nature of Israel was to find its royal concentration and fullest expression." The following beautiful lines, which give us the poet's conception of the character of Ruth, were sug gested on viewing a statue executed by the sculptor Rogers, in Florence : From age to age, from clime to clime, A spirit bright as her own morn She walks the golden fields of Time, As erst amid the yellow corn. A form o'er which the hallowed veil Of years bequeaths a lovelier light, As when the mists of morning sail Round some fair isle to make it bright. And as some reaper 'mid the grain, Or binder resting o'er his sheaf, Beheld her on the orient plain, A passing vision bright and brief ; 196 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. And while he gazed let fall perchance The sheaf or sickle from his hand — Thus even here, as in a trance, Before her kneeling form I stand. But not as then she comes and goes To live in memory alone; The perfect soul before me glows Immortal in the living stone. And while upon her face I gaze And scan her rarely rounded form, The glory of her native days Comes floating o'er me soft and warm ; Comes floating till, this shadowy place Brightens to noontide, and receives The breath of that old harvest space, With all its sunshine and its sheaves ! Thomas Buchanan Read. THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 197 CHAPTER V.— THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. I. SAMUEL. The authorship of the two Books of Samuel is in much doubt. According to Jewish tradition they form but one book, and derive tlieir name from the prophet Samuel, whose history and acts are recorded in the first book, and by whom the first part of it was written ; while Gad and Nathan, prophets who figured largely in the time of King David, are supposed to have writ ten the latter part of the first book and the whole of the second. Grotius and others have ascribed them to the prophet Jeremiah ; while Nehemiah is said to have " gathered together the acts of the kings and the proph ets." It is the belief of most commentators that these books were compiled by one person ; but as to their date, and the source and character of the materials used in the work, they do not agree. The Books of Samuel contain the history of Israel during the respective ad ministrations of Samuel, Saul, and David, and embrace a period of about one hundred and fifty-five years. I. THE CHILD S.AMUEL. The first Book of Samuel introduces us to that period of Hebrew history when the rule of the Judges was drawing to a close, and when Israel's form of govern ment was to be changed to a monarchy. A number of important events occurred during this transition period, 198 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. and the one prominent person who appears in them is the truly holy Samuel — the last of the Judges, the first of the regular order of Prophets, and the founder of the new government. The mother of Samuel was Hannah, the wife of Elka- nah, a Levite. " She was a holy woman, who sought from God the gift of a child with an earnestness of prayer of which, it has been said, " there is no other exam ple in the Old Testament." The name which she gave the child expresses her recognition of the divine agency in his birth ; the word Samuel meaning " tlie asJced of God," or " the heard of God." Hannah's song of grati tude " and praise, in the second chapter, is the pattern of the song of the Yirgin Mary in the first chapter of Luke, and of the song of the Psalmist in the one hun dred and thirteenth Psalm. At three years of age Sam uel was taken by his mother to the high-priest Eli, in the Tabernacle of the Lord at Shiloh, and there conse crated to the Lord for life. This noble act of dedication, and the probable inci dents connected with it, have been thus poetically de scribed by the English poetess, Mrs. Hemans : • II. THE CONSECRATION OF SAMUEL. The rose was rich in bloom on Sharon's plain, When a young mother with her first-born thence Went up to Zion, for the boy was vowed Unto the Temple service. By the hand She led him, and her silent soul, the while, Oft as the dewy laughter of his eye Met her sweet, serious glance, rejoiced to think That aught so pure, so beautiful, was hers, To bring before her God. So passed they on, O'er Judah's hills ; and whcresoe'er the leaves Of the broad sycamore made sounds at noon, THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 199 Like lulling rain-drops, or the olive-boughs, With their cool dimness, crossed the sultry blue Of Syria's heaven, she paused, that he might rest ; Yet from her own meek eyelids chased the sleep That weighed their dark fringe down, to sit and watch The crimson deepening o'er his cheek's repose, As at a red flower's heart. And where a fount Lay like a twilight-star 'midst palmy shades, Making its banks green gems along the wild, There too she lingered, from the diamond wave Drawing bright water for his rosy lips, And softly parting clusters of jet curls To bathe his brow. At last the fane was reached — The earth's one Sanctuary — and rapture hushed Her bosom, as before her, through the day, It rose, a mountain of white marble, steeped In light, like floating gold. But when that hour Waned to the farewell moment, when the boy Lifted, through rainbow-gleaming tears, his eye Beseechingly to hers, and half in fear Turn'd from the white-robed priest, and round her arm Clung as the ivy clings, the deep spring-tide Of nature then swelled high, and, o'er her child Bending, her soul broke forth, in mingled sounds Of weeping and sad song. " Alas !" she cried — " Alas ! my boy, thy gentle grasp is on me, The bright tears quiver in thy pleading eyes, And now fond thoughts arise, And silken cords again to earth have won me ; And like a vine thou claspest my full heart — How shall I hence depart ? " How the lone paths retrace where thou wert playing So late, along the mountains, at my side ? And I, in joyous pride, By every place of flowers my course delaying, 200 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Wove, e'en as pearls, the lilies round thy hair, Beholding thee so fair ! " And oh ! the home whence thy bright smile hath parted, Will it not seem as if the sunny day Turned from its door away ? While through its chambers wandering, weary-hearted, I languish for thy voice, which past me still Went like a singing rill? " Under the palm-trees thou no more shalt meet me, When from the fount at evening I return With the full water-urn ; Nor will thy sleep's low, dove-like breathings greet me, As 'midst the silence of the stars I wake, And watch for thy dear sake. " And thou, will slumber's dewy cloud fall round thee Without thy mother's hand to smooth thy bed ? Wilt thou not vainly spread Thine arms, when darkness as a veil hath wound thee, To fold my neck, and lift up, in thy fear, A cry which none shall hear? " What havei.1 said, my child ? Will He not hear thee Who the young ravens heareth from their nest? Shall He not guard thy rest, And, in the hush of holy midnight near thee, Breathe o'er thy soul, and fill its dreams with joy ? Thou shalt sleep soft, my boy ! " I give thee to thy God — the God that gave thee, A well-spring of deep gladness to my heart ! And, precious as thou art, And pure as dew of Hermon, He shall have thee, My own, my beautiful, my undefiled ! And thou shalt be His child. THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL, 201 " Therefore, farewell ! I go ; my soul may fail me, As the hart panteth for the water-brooks, Yearning for thy sweet looks — But thou, my first-born, droop not, nor bewail me ; Thou in the shadow of the rock shalt dwell — . The Rock of Strength. Farewell i" The priests clothed Samuel in an eph'od,or sacred gar ment of linen, and from year to year his mother brought hi in a little mantle, similar to that worn by the high- priest, that reached down to his feet. He wore one of like pattern to the end of his life, as a mark of his close spiritual relation to the Lord. III. THE RULE OF ELI. Upon the death of Samson, Eli, the high-priest, suc ceeded him as Judge of Israel, and ruled during a period of forty years. But Eli, though a good man, was weak in the government of his household, and he failed to punish his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, who were guilty of sacrilege and gross immoralities, and allowed them to remain in office as priests. Ho thus incurred the displeasure of Jehovah, who warned him of certain judgments that should come upon him and his house hold, and even upon his remote posterity, " because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not." Samuel was divinely chosen to repeat this warning to Eli. When yet but a child, and while sleeping in the Tabernacle near the high-priest, the Lord called him by name three times. Each time the boy rose, and ran to Eli, thinking it was he who had called. But Eli recog nized the divine voice, and told Samuel that if he heard it again to lie still, and say, " Speak, Lord ; for thy ser vant heareth." Then a fourth time the Lord called, " Samuel, Samuel !" and the child did as Eli had di- 9* 202 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. rected him, and received from the Lord the terrible message of warning that be was to deliver to Eli. Dean Stanley says : " The stillness of the night, the sudden voice, the childlike misconception, the venerable Eli, the contrast between the terrible doom and the gentle creat ure who was to announce it, give to this portion of the narrative a universal interest." He adds that " it is this side of Samuel's career that has been so well caught in the well-known picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds." When the message was delivered by Samuel to Eli, the latter's grace and resignation are seen in the meek ness with whicli he bowed to the divine will : "It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth bim good." From this period the prophetic character of Samuel is established, for " the Lord let none of his words fall to the ground, and all Israel, from Dan to Be'ersheba, knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord." A partial execution of the judgments pronounced upon Eli and his house occurred soon after. A bloody battle was fought at Aphek,1 between the Israelites and Philistines, in which the former were utterly routed; Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain ; and the Ark of the Lord, which had been brought from Shiloh, in the belief that its presence in camp would give Israel the victory, fell into the hands of the Philis tines. When news of the calamity was brought to Eli be fell from bis seat and died. But the vengeance of the Lord followed the Ark in the hands of its captors. • They brought it into the house of Dagon, the Philis tine god, the circumstances of whose downfall are fully detailed in the narrative ; and, though they carried it from place to place, they could not escape the evils that its possession brought upon them. They therefore sent 1 1 Sam. iv. 1-11. Aphek, a city of Central Palestine, in the plain of Esdraelon, a short distance north-west of Jezreel. THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 203 it back to the Israelites, by whom it was received with great joy, and taken to Kirjath-Je'arim,1 where it re mained until the time of David. The poet Milton has graphically sketched Dagon's downfall, as well as some of the leading features of his history, in the following lines : Next came one Who mourned in earnest when the captive ark Maimed his brute image, head and hands lopt off In his own temple, on the grunsel3 edge, When he fell flat, and shamed his worshippers: Dagon his name — sea monster, upward man And downward fish ; yet had his temple high Reared in Azotus, dreaded through the coast Of Palestine, in Gath and Ascalon, And Accaron and Gaza's frontier bounds. IV. THE RULE OF SAMUEL. Upon the death of Eli, Samuel, though yet a boy, was chosen as his successor ; but during a period of at least twenty years there is no record concerning him. At the end of this time, however, he appears among the people, warning them against the idolatrous practices into which they had fallen, and urging them to repent and return unto the Lord, their sole salvation from the oppressive Philistines. Having assembled the Israelites at Mizpeh,3 as he is offering sacrifice and crying aloud unto the Lord in tlieir behalf, they are suddenly at tacked by the enemy. But a violent storm? or earth quake, so terrified the Philistines, that they turned and 1 Kirjath-Je'arim was not far from Gibeon, probably eight or nine miles north-west of Jerusalem. * The same as groundsel ; in a building, the timber that lies next to the ground — the sill. 3 1 Sam. vii. 7. This Mizpeh, where the people were wont to assemble, was a short distance north-west of Jerusalem. 204 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. fled, and on the spot where, twenty years before, they had won their great victory and captured the Ark of God, they were utterly overthrown. There Israel set up a stone to mark the triumph of Samuel, and called it Ebenezee, meaning, " the stone of help!' The name is now sometimes met with in Christian hymns, where it indicates that " Here we raise our standard to the Lord, and here we worship." So complete was the victory of Israel that her borders were enlarged, and peace reigned for many years. We have now reached the time of the change in Israel's form of government. " Down to this point in Samuel's life," says Dean Stanley, " there is but little to distinguish his career from that of his predecessors; and had he died in youth or early manhood, his fame would hardly have been greater than that of Gideon or Samson. But his peculiar position in the sacred narra tive turns on the events which follow." Samuel was not only the founder of the new govern ment, but was also, in a large degree, accountable for it. As age came upon him we are told that he shared his power as Judge. of Israel with his two sons, who "walk ed not in his «ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment."1 Samuel seems to have taken no measures to check or destroy these evils, and so the people became dissatisfied with his administration, and seeing, in the neighboring countries, the superior efficacy of a monarchical government, they demanded a king. Under divine direction Samuel por trayed the many evils of the government they asked for, but they insisted upon having a king to judge them and fight their battles. So the Lord directed Samuel to select one for them ; and he selected Saul, a Benjamite, 1 2 Sam. viii. 1-18. THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 205 and anointed him. He then assembled the people at Mizpeh, warned them that their desire for a king was displeasing to Jehovah, and then proclaimed Saul King of Israel. [1095 b.c.] A short time after, in a solemn assembly of all the tribes at Gilgal, the people renewed tlieir allegiance to the new sovereign. On this occasion Samuel addressed them, and invited their closest scrutiny of his conduct as Judge of Israel. Having given a public account of his acts, he again rebuked the people for desiring a new government without the sanction of the Almighty, but promised to " teach them the good and the right way." It is the mild spirit shown by Samuel all through this trying period, and his quiet submission to the new order of things, that give special interest to the facts narrated. He was opposed to the change of government, because he knew that it displeased the Lord; and he was grieved that the people should prefer an arm of flesh to Jeho vah's spiritual defence under himself. Yet he makes no complaint, but continues to devote his powers to the religious interests of his people. Dean Stanley says : "It is the most signal example afforded in the Old Testament, of a great character reconciling himself to a changed order of things, and of the divine sanction resting on his acquiescence." The surrender, by Samuel, of his judicial authority, ended the period of the Judges ; " a period," says De. Milman, "if carelessly surveyed, of alternate slavery and bloody struggles for independence. Hence may rashly be inferred the total failure of the Mosaic polity in securing the happiness of the people. But, in fact, out of this period of about four hundred and sixty years, as commonly reckoned, not one-fourth was passed under foreign oppression ; and many of the servitudes seem to 206 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY have been local, extending over only certain tribes, not over the whole nation. Above three hundred years of peaceful and uneventful happiness remain, to which History — only faithful in recording the crimes and suf ferings of man — bears the favorable testimony of her silence." V. THE MONARCHY UNDER SAUL. Saul, the first King of Israel, noted for his strength and stature, possessed the proud, fierce, and self-willed spirit of his tribe. The first proof of his military gen ius was shown in a signal victory obtained by him over the Ammonites, who had besieged Jabesh-Gilead.1 A revolt against the Philistine yoke occurred in the sec ond year of his reign, which brought the whole force of the Philistine nation against him, and resulted disas trously to Israel. The people bid themselves in caves, or fled across the Jordan, while Saul's army dwindled away to six hundred men, and all these were deprived of their arms, except Saul and his son Jonathan. In this strait Saul, who was at Gilgal, contrary to the spe cial command of Samuel and against the provisions of the sacred law, offered a solemn sacrifice and asked counsel of the Lord. He sought to justify this self- willed act by the circumstances of his position; but the divine displeasure was denounced against him by Samuel, who declared that his kingdom should come to an end. Meanwhile, by the daring valor of Jonathan and his armor-bearer, who entered the camp of the en emy and smote them with great slaughter, a panic seized the Philistines, and their whole army was over thrown. Saul's rashness is again seen when he consults Jehovah through the priest ; when he erects an altar to 1 1 Sam. xi. 1-11. Jabesh-Gilead was a town east of the Jordan, in the land of Gilead, in the territory assigned to the half-tribe of Manasseh. THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 207 the Lord; and, also, in his command, on the day of an important battle, that no one should eat till evening, which nearly cost the life of his son. Commentators attribute these and other like acts to that insanity or frenzy which made the subsequent years of Saul's life " one long tragedy, and whicli, when it came upon him, almost choked or strangled him with its violence." For many years after the victory of Jonathan, the Israelites, under Saul, carried on a successful warfare against the different nations that harassed the borders of their kingdom. One of their expeditions was against the Amalekites, eastward and southward of the Dead Sea, and was undertaken by the special command of the Lord, who directed Saul to utterly destroy them and all their possessions. He destroyed all their people, hut spared Agag, their king, and retained the spoil.1 This second act of disobedience brought down upon Saul a repetition, by Samuel, of the prophecy that his kingdom should not continue, and the first distinct intimation that it should pass into the hands of another family. The interview between the prophet and Saul on this occa sion is set forth in the latter part of the fifteenth chap ter. Their parting has been thus described : " The part ing was not one of rivals, but of dear though divided friends. The king throws himself on the prophet with all his force ; not without a vehement effort the prophet tears himself away. The long mantle by which he is always known is rent in the struggle ; and, like Ahijah after him, Samuel was in this the omen of the coming rent in the monarchy. They parted, each to his house, to meet no more. But a long shadow of grief fell over the prophet. 'Samuel mourned for Saul.' 'It grieved 1 1 Sam. xv. 1-9. Josephus states the number of Saul's army on this expedition to have been 400,000 men of Israel, and 30,000 of Judah. 208 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Samuel for Saul.' 'How long wilt thou mourn for Saul?'"1— Stanley. At this time the divine choice for the succession fell upon David, the youngest son of Jesse, of the tribe of Judah, then a mere lad, " ruddy, and withal of a beauti ful countenance, and goodly to look upon." At bis fa ther's house the wondering youth was brought before the prophet Samuel, who " took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of bis brethren." Little could the lad then dream of the career that awaited him. But "the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward." THE CALL OP DAVID. (1 Sam. xvi. 12.) Latest born of Jesse's race, Wonder lights thy bashful face, While the prophet's gifted oil Seals thee for a path of toil. We, thy angels, circling round thee, Ne'er shall find thee as we found thee, When thy faith first brought us near In thy lion fight severe. Go ! and 'mid thy flocks awhile At thy doom of greatness smile ; Bold to bear God's heaviest load, Dimly guessing of the road — Rocky road, and scarce ascended, Though thy foot be angel-tended ; Double praise thou shalt attain, In royal court and battle plain. Then come heartache, care, distress, Blighted hope and loneliness ; 1 1 Sam. xv. 2-35 ; xvi. 1. THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 209 Wounds from friend and gifts from foe, Dizzied faith, and guilt and woe, Loftiest aims by earth defiled, Gleams of wisdom sin-beguiled, Sated power's tyrannic mood, Counsels shared with men of blood, Sad success, parental tears, And a dreary gift of years. John H. Newman. VI. DAVID PLAYING BEFORE SAUL. In the mean time Saul became subject to fits of frenzy and melancholy, which his friends thought might be removed by the influence of music. They therefore sent for David, whose skill on the harp was celebrated ; and David's harp and holy hymns soothed the king's madness; for "Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him."1 Some lines which the poet Montgomeky, in his World Before the Flood, applied to the great musician Jubal have been deemed appropriately descriptive of this scene between David and Saul. The name Jubal is changed to that of David :2 David with eager hope beheld the chase Of strange emotions hurrying o'er his face, And waked his holiest numbers to control The tide and tempest of the maniac's soul. Through many a maze of melody he flew ; They rose like incense, they distilled like dew, Passed through the sufferer's breast delicious balm, And soothed remembrance till remorse grew calm. An American poetess has dwelt more at length upon the scene : i 1 Sam. xvi. 23. 2 Thus applied by Blaikie in his " David, King of Israel," p. 37. 210 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. The King of Israel sat in state Within his palace fair, Where falling fountains, pure and cool, Assuaged the summer air. But shrouded was the son of Kish, 'Mid all his royal grace ; The tempest of a troubled soul Swept flashing o'er his face. In vain were pomp, or regal power, Or courtiers' flattering tone ; For pride and hatred basely sat Upon his bosom's throne. He called upon his minstrel-boy, With hair as bright as gold, Reclining in a deep recess, Where drooped the curtain's fold. " Give music," said the moody king, Nor raised his gloomy eye ; " Thou son of Jesse, bring the harp, And wake its melody." The feoy thought of his father's flock, Which long, in pastures green, He led, while flowed, with silver sound, Clear rivulets between. He thought of Bethlehem's starlit skies, Beneath whose liquid rays He gazed upon the glorious arch And sang its Maker's praise. Then boldly o'er the sacred harp He poured, in thrilling strain, The prompting of a joyous heart That knew no care nor pain. THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 211 The monarch, leaning on his hand, Drank long the wondrous lay ; And clouds were lifted from his brow, As when the sunbeams play. The purple o'er his heaving breast That throbbed so wild grew still, And Saul's clear eye glanced out, as when He did Jehovah's will. Mhs. L. H. Sigocknet. VII. DAVID AND GOLIATH. In the next war that occurred with the Philistines, David, being in the camp of Saul, in the valley of Elah,1 accepted the challenge of the gigantic Goliath of Gath, the champion of the Philistines, and distinguished himself by slaying his giant foe. This well-known event forms, the subject of a drama by Hannah More, in which Goliath is first introduced to us, coming out of the ranks of the Philistines. As he advances toward the Israel ites he sends them, in lofty tones, the following boastful challenge : Where is the mighty man of war who dares Accept the challenge of Philistia's chief ? What victor king, what general drenched in blood, Claims this high privilege ? What are his rights ? What proud credentials does the boaster bring To prove his claim ? What cities laid in ashes ? What ruined provinces ? What slaughtered realms ? What heads of heroes, and what hearts of kings, In battle killed or at his altars slain, Has he to boast? Is his bright armory Thick set with spears, and swords, and coats of mail Of vanquished nations, by his single arm ' Valley of Elah. (1 Sam. xvii.) The place where the battle was fought, in this valley, is fifteen or twenty miles south-west of Jerusalem. 212 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Subdued ? Where is the mortal man so bold, So much a wretch, so out of love with life, To dare the weight of this uplifted spear, Which never fell innoxious? Yet I swear I grudge the glory to his parting soul To fall by this right hand. 'Twill sweeten death To know he had the honor to contend With the dread son of Anak. Latest time From blank oblivion shall retrieve his name Who dared to perish in unequal fight With Gath's triumphant champion. Come, advance. Philistia's gods to Israel's. Sound, my herald — Sound for the battle, straight. The youth David then steps out of the ranks of Israel, and, advancing toward the giant, declares that the King of Israel has selected bim to meet, alone, the bold defi ance of the Philistine. Astonished and amused at this announcement, Goliath bids the boy to cease bis trifling and begone ; but David answers ; I do defy thee, Thou foul idolater ! Hast thou not scorned The armies of the living God I serve? By me he *%\l\ avenge upon thy head Thy nation's sins and thine. Armed with his name, Unshrinking, I dare meet the stoutest foe That ever bathed his hostile spear in blood. Still unbelieving, to this bold defiance of his strength Goliath makes the following ironical reply : Indeed ! 'Tis wondrous well. Now, by my gods, The stripling plays the orator ! Vain boy ! Keep close to that same bloodless war of words, And thou shalt still be safe. Tongue-valiant warrior! Where is thy sylvan crook, with garlands hung Of idle field-flowers? Where thy wanton harp, THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 213 Thou dainty-fingered hero ? Better strike Its notes lascivious, or the lulling lute Touch softly, than provoke the trumpet's rage. I will not stain the honor of my spear With thy inglorious blood. Sball that fair cheek Be scarred with wounds unseemly ? Rather go And hold fond dalliance with the Syrian maids ; To wanton measures dance, and let them braid The bright luxuriance of thy golden hair. They for their lost Adonis may mistake Thy dainty form. But at last, his anger aroused by the repeated taunts of David, with a step that shook the earth Goliath ad vanced, and in thunder tones cried out : Now will I meet thee, Thou insect warrior, since thou darest me thus ! Already I behold thy mangled limbs, Dissevered each from each, ere long to feed The fierce, blood-snuffing vulture. Mark me well. Around my spear I'll twist thy shining locks, And toss in air thy head all gashed with wounds, Thy lip yet quivering with the dire convulsion Of recent death ! Art thou not terrified? David. No : True courage is not moved by breath of words, While the rash bravery of boiling blood, Impetuous, knows no settled principle. A feverish tide, it has its ebbs and flows, As spirits rise or fall, as wine inflames, Or circumstances change. But inborn courage, The generous child of fortitude and faith, Holds its firm empire in the constant soul ; And, like the steadfast pole-star, never once From the same fixed and faithful point declines. 214 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Goliath. The curses of Philistia's gods be on thee ! This fine-drawn speech is meant to lengthen out That little life thy words pretend to scorn. David. Ha ! Sayest thou so ? Come on, then. Mark us well. Thou comest to me with sword, and spear, and shield : In the dread name of Israel's God I come, The living Lord of Hosts, whom thou defiest ! Yet, tho' no shield I bring, no arms except These five smooth stones I gathered from the brook, With such a simple sling as shepherds use, Yet, all exposed, defenceless as I am, The God I serve shall give thee up a prey To my victorious arm. This day I mean To make the uncircumcised tribes confess There is a God in Israel. I will give thee, Spite of thy vaunted strength and giant bulk, To glut the carrion kites. Nor thee alone ; The mangled carcasses of your thick hosts Shall spread the plains of Elah, till Philistia, Thro' all her trembling tents and flying bands, Shall own that Judah's God is God indeed ! I dare thee to the trial. It is reasonable to believe that the King of Israel await ed the result of the combat between his young cham pion and the Philistine chief with unwonted anxiety. Having lost, by his rashness, all means of consulting the divine will, bis subsequent history bears out the sup position that he was now a slave to the worst fears and fancies concerning his own future and that of bis king dom. Hence the following soliloquy, which the poetess ascribes to Saul as he sits in bis tent on this occasion, may be deemed a correct description of his melancholy condition : THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 215 SAUL'S SOLILOQUY. Oh ! that I knew the black and midnight arts Of wizard sorcery ! that I could call The slumbering spirit from the shades of hell ! Or, like Chaldean sages, could foreknow The events of things unacted ! I might then Anticipate my fortune. How I'm fallen ! The sport of vain chimeras, the weak slave Of fear and fancy ; coveting to know The arts obscene which foul diviners use. Thick blood and moping melancholy lead To baleful superstition — that fell fiend, Whose withering charms blast the fair bloom of virtue. Why did my wounded pride with scorn reject The wholesome truths which holy Samuel told me? Why drive him from my presence? He might now Raise my sunk soul, and my benighted mind Enlighten with religion's cheering ray. He dared to menace me with loss of empire ; And I, for that bold honesty, dismissed him. "Another shall possess thy throne," he cried : "A stranger!" This unwelcome prophecy Has lined my crown and strewed my couch with thorns. Each ray of opening merit I discern In friend or foe distracts my troubled soul Lest he should prove my rival. But this morn Even my young champion, lovely as he looked In blooming valor, struck me to the soul With jealousy's barbed dart. O jealousy, Thou ugliest fiend of hell ! the deadly venom Preys on ray vitals, turns the healthful hue Of my fresh cheek to haggard sallowness, And drinks my spirit up ! What sounds are those ? The combat is decided. Hark ! again Those shouts proclaim it ! Now, O God of Jacob, 216 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. If yet thou hast not quite withdrawn from Saul Thy light and favor, prosper me this once ! But Abner comes ! I dread to hear his tale ! Fair Hope, with smiling face but lingering foot, Has long deceived me. We read that, " as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him be fore Saul." At the request of the king, Abner gives an account of the combat, which the poetess has put in the following lines : Full in the centre of the camp he stood, The opposing armies ranged on either side In proud array. The haughty giant stalked Stately across the valley. Next the youth With modest confidence advanced. Nor pomp, Nor gay parade, nor martial ornament His graceful form adorned. Goliath straight, With solemn state, began the busy work Of dreadful preparation. In one place His closely jointed mail an opening left For air, and only one : the watchful youth Marked that the beaver of his helm was up. Meanwhile tlie giant such a blow devised As would have crushed him. This the youth perceived, And from his well-directed sling quick hurled, With dext'rous aim, a stone, which sunk, deep lodged, In the capacious forehead of the foe. Then, with a cry as loud and terrible As Libyan lions roaring for their young, Quite stunned, the furious giant staggered, reeled, And fell : the mighty mass of man fell prone. With his own weight his shattered bulk was bruised. His clattering arms rung dreadful thro' the field, And the firm basis of the solid earth Shook. Choked with blood and dust, he curst his gods, THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 217 And died blaspheming ! Straight the victor youth Drew from its sheath the giant's pond'rous sword, And from th' enormous trunk the gory head Furious in death he severed. The grim visage Looked threat'ning still, and still frowned horribly. VIII. DAVID'S TRIUMPH, AND EXILE. The triumph of David was followed by a terrible slaughter of the Philistine hosts, and on his return from the conflict " the women caine out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music. And the women said, as they played, ' Saul hath slain his thousands, and Da vid his ten thousands.'" A sincere friendship sprung up between David and Saul's son, Jonathan ; but Saul, who at first greeted David with gratitude, soon looked upon him with jealousy, and made frequent attempts to take his life, which were thwarted by Jonathan, and by Saul's daughter whom David had married. David sought safety in exile, and for a time lived in a Philis tine city ; but, mistrusting the Philistine king, he feigned madness, and for a time found a hiding-place in the wild cave of Adullam, in the land of Judah. Near to Adullam, in an aged wood, A hill part earth, part rocky stone, there stood, Hollow and vast within, which Nature wrought, As if by nicest art she had been taught. Hither young David with his kindred came, Servants and friends ; many his spreading fame, Many their wants or discontents, did call : Great men in war, and almost armies all ! Cowley. This retreat of David is now generally identified with a cave in the side of a deep ravine some five or six miles south-east of Bethlehem; and De. Thomson, in I.— 10. 218 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. The Land and the Book, gives the following account of a visit which he made to it : " Leaving our horses in tlie charge of wild Arabs, and taking one for a guide, we started for the cave, having a fearful gorge below, gigantic cliffs above, and the path winding along a shelf of rock narrow enough to make the nervous among us shudder. At length, from a great rock hang ing on the edge of this shelf, we sprung, by a long leap, into a low window which opened into the perpendic ular face of the cliff. We were then within the hold of David, and creeping, half doubled, through, a narrow crevice for a few rods, we stood beneath the dark vault of the first chamber of this mysterious and oppressive cavern. Onr whole collection of lights did little more than make the darkness visible. After groping about as long as we bad time to spare, we returned to the light of day, fully convinced that, with David and his lion-hearted followers inside, all the strength of Israel under Saul could not have forced an entrance — would not even have attempted it." It was while at the cave of Adullam that the gal lant exploit of three of David's followers took place, of which we hjive an account in the twenty-third chap ter of the Second Book of Samuel, and also in the elev enth chapter of the First Book of Chronicles. These men broke through the Philistine host at the risk of their lives, and brought to David water wliich he had earnestly desired from a fountain in his native Bethle hem. But David would not drink the water that had been obtained at so great a risk, and poured it upon the ground as an offering to the Lord. With deep emotion David took From their red hands the cup, Cast on its stains a shuddering look, And held it heavenward up. THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 219 " I prize your boon," exclaimed the king, "But dare not taste the draught you bring. " I prize the zeal that perilled life A wish of mine to crown ; I prize the might that in the strife Bore foes by thousands down ; But dare not please myself with aught By Israel's blood and peril bought. "To Heaven the glorious spoil is due, And His the offering be Whose arm has borne you safely through, My brave, but reckless, three !" Then on the earth the cup he poured, A free libation to the Lord. Henry Francis Lyte. The vjhole story is told in the subjoined poem, entitled THE THREE MIGHTY Watch-fires are blazing on hill and plain ; The noonday light is restored again ; There are shining arms in Rephaim's vale, . And bright is the glitter of clanging mail. The Philistine hath fixed his encampment here ; Afar stretch his lines of banner and spear, And his chariots of brass are ranged side by side, And his war-steeds neigh loud in their trappings of pride. His tents are placed where the waters flow ; The sun hath dried up the springs below, And Israel hath neither well nor pool The rage of her soldiers' thirst to cool. In the cave of Adullam King David lies, Overcome with the glare of the burning skies ; 220 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. And his lip is parched, and his tongue is dry, But none can the grateful draught supply. Though a crowned king, in that painful hour One flowing cup might have bought his power. What worth, in the fire of thirst, could be The purple pomp of his sovereignty ? But no cooling cup from river or spring, To relieve his want, can his servants bring ; And he cries, " Are there none in my train or state Will fetch me the water of Bethlehem gate ?" Then three of his warriors, " the mighty three," The boast of the monarch's chivalry, Uprose in their strength, and their bucklers rang, As with eyes of flame on their steeds they sprang. On their steeds they sprang, and with spurs of speed Rushed forth in the strength of a noble deed, And dashed on the foe like the torrent flood, Till he floated away in a tide of blood. To the right — to the left — where their blue swords shine, Like autumn %orn falls the Philistine ; And, sweeping along with the vengeance of fate, The " mighty " rush onward to Bethlehem gate. Through a bloody gap in his shattered array To Bethlehem's well they have hewn their way ; Then backward they turn on the corse-covered plain, And charge through the foe to their monarch again. The king looks at the cup, but the crystal draught At a price too high for his want hath been brought ; They urge him to drink, but he wets not his lip ; Though great is his need, he refuses to sip. THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 221 But he pours it forth to Heaven's Majesty, He pours it forth to the Lord of the sky ; 'Tis a draught of death — 'tis a cup blood-stained — 'Tis a prize from man's suffering and agony gained. Should he taste of a cup that his " mighty three " Had obtained by their peril and jeopardy ? Should he drink of their life? 'Twas the thought of a king; And again he returned to his suffering. John Pierpont. When Saul heard that David was in Judah he set out in pursuit of him, and the fugitive was driven from cave to cave in the mountains. During this pursuit David twice had it in his power to destroy Saul, but "would not lift his hand against the Lord's anointed."1 Though Saul finally relented in his persecution of Da vid, the latter would not trust him, and again went into the country of the Philistines, where he remained until Saul's death. IX. THE DEATH OF SAMUEL. A short time before* David's wanderings ceased, the good prophet Samuel died: "and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah."3 [1060 b.c] Rest, prophet, rest ! Thou hast fulfilled thy mission ! * * * Loud was the lamentation : tears unfeigned, At Ramah, o'er his tomb long time deplored Him, last of those who, righteous, ruled the land, Ere man sat throned in Israel. All deplored The Nazarene, to whose unmingled cup The grape ne'er lent its flavor. Tears unfeigned 1 1 Sam. xxiv. 6 ; xxvi. 9. ' 1 Sam. xxv. 1. This Ramah is believed to have been a few miles north west of Jerusalem. 222 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Wept him, a holy vessel, set apart An offering from the birth ; all spake of him Who, yet a child, in peaceful slumber laid Fast by the altar of Jehovah, thrice Rose at celestial communing, in days When the Lord's word was precious, and no eye Saw open vision. At his voice the brood Of Baalim and Ashtaroth, abashed, Fled with their priests from Israel. At his call, On Ebenezer's plain, celestial fire Consumed the foe. Who, sole, the king withstood? The prophet, sole. Whose arm, before him, slew The Amalekitc ? The prophet's, serving God. Rest, venerable seer ! brow, hoar with age, Rest, in the peace and sabbath of the tomb, Till, from the bonds of death, God call thee forth A spirit unfleshed, once more to rise on earth, And pour Heaven's judgment on the unrighteous king. Sotheby. Upon the death of Samuel the favor of Jehovah was wholly withdrawn from Saul. Again the Philistines invaded Israel with a powerful army, and Saul, having driven away the only man who could have saved him from his enemies, sought to learn something of his fate from a woman who lived in a cave near Endor1 — one of a class of necromancers whom he had once bitterly per secuted. Thither he went, in disguise, and at his re quest the woman evoked the spirit of Samuel, who an nounced to the desperate king his coming defeat and death. The poet Byron thus depicts the scene : X. SAUL AT THE TOMB OF SAMUEL. " Thou whose spell can raise the dead Bid the prophet's form appear." 1 1 Sam. xxviii. Endor, a village about four miles south of Mount Tabor. THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 223 " Samuel, raise the buried head ! King, behold the phantom seer !" Earth yawned ; he stood the centre of a cloud : Light changed its hue, retiring from his shroud. Death stood all glassy in his fixed eye ; His hands were withered and his veins were dry; His foot in bony whiteness glittered there, Shrunken and sinewless, and ghastly bare ; From lips that moved not, and unbreathing frame, Like caverned winds the hollow accents came. Saul saw, and fell to earth, as falls the oak, At once, and blasted by the thunder-stroke. " Why is my sleep disquieted ? Who is he that calls the dead ? Is it thou, O king? Behold, Bloodless are these limbs and cold : Such are mine ; and such shall be Thine to-morrow, when with me ; Ere the coming day is done Such shalt thou be, such thy son. Fare thee well, but for a day ; Then we mix our mouldering clay. Thou, thy race, lie pale and low, Pierced by shafts of many a bow ; And the falchion by thy side To thy heart thy hand shall guide : Crownless, breathless, headless fall, Son and sire, the house of Saul !" XI. THE BATTLE OF MOUNT GILBOA, AND DEATH OF SAUL. On the day following this scene, as it is supposed, Saul led his army into the valley of Jezreel,1 Israel's 1 1 Sam. xxix. 11, and xxxi. ; 1 Chron. x. Jezreel, valley of, is the same as the great plain of Esdrae'lon. The village of Jezreel was at the foot of Mount Gilboa, ten miles south-east of Nazareth. 224 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. great field of battle with invaders, to meet the Philis tine hosts. His march is described in a poem by Sothe by, which also gives the author's conception of the bat tle-attire, and mode of warfare, of that ancient time : Hark ! hark ! the clash and clang Of shaken cymbals, cadencing the pace Of martial movement regular ; the swell Sonorous of the brazen trump of war ; Shrill twang of harps, soothed by melodious chime Of beat on silver bars ; and sweet, in pause Of harsher instrument, continuous flow Of breath through flutes, in symphony with song ; Choirs, whose matched voices filled the air afar With jubilee, and chant of triumph-hymn ; And, ever and anon, irregular burst Of loudest acclamation, to each host Saul's stately advance proclaimed. Before him, youths In robes succinct for swiftness ; oft they struck Their staves against the ground, and warned the throng Backward to distant homage. Next, his strength Of chariots rolled, with each an armed band ; Earth groaned afar beneath their iron wheels ; Part armed with scythes for battle, part adorned For trinmpht Nor was wanting a led train Of steeds in rich caparison, for show Of solemn entry. Round about the king, Warriors, his watch and ward, from every tribe Drawn out. Of these a thousand each selects, Of size and comeliness above their peers, Pride of their race. Radiant their armor : some In silver cased, scale over scale, that played All pliant to the litheness of the limb ; Some mailed in twisted gold, link within link Flexibly ringed and fitted, that the eye, Beneath the yielding panoply, pursued The motion of the muscles as they worked THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 225 In rise and fall. On each left thigh a sword Swung in the 'broidered baldric; each right hand Grasped a long-shadowing spear. Like them their chiefs Arrayed ; save on their shields of solid ore, And on their helm, the graver's toil had wrought Its subtlety in rich device of war ; And o'er their mail a robe, Punicean dye, Gracefully played ; where the winged shuttle, shot By cunuing of Sidonian virgins, wove Broidure of many-colored figures rare. Bright glowed the sun, and bright the burnished mail Of thousands ranged, whoso pace to song kept time ; And bright the glare of spears, and gleam of crests, And flaunt of banners flashing to and fro The noonday beam. Beneath their coming earth Wide glittered. Seen afar amidst the pomp, Gorgeously mailed, but more by pride of port Known, and superior stature, than rich trim Of war and regal ornament, the king, Throned in triumphal car, with trophies graced, Stood eminent. The lifting of his lance Shone like a sunbeam. O'er his armor flowed A robe, imperial mantle, Ijiickly starred With blaze of orient gems ; the clasp that bound Its gathered folds his ample chest athwart, Sapphire ; and o'er his casque, where rubies burned, A cherub flamed and waved his wings in gold. The battle came on, and the Israelites were driven up the side of Mount Gilboa, which was soon covered with the bodies of the slain. Saul was hard pressed by his foes, and at this point is supposed to have made an address to his followers, which Byeon thus epitom izes: Warriors and chiefs ! should the shaft or the sword Pierce me in leading the host of the Lord, 10* 226 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Heed not the corse, though a king's, in your path : Bury your steel in the bosoms of Gath ! Thou who art bearing my buckler and bow, Should the soldiers of Saul look away from the foe, Stretch me that moment in blood at thy feet ! Mine be the doom which they dared not to meet. Farewell to others, but never we part, Heir to my royalty, son of my heart ! Bright is the diadem, boundless the sway, Or kingly the death which awaits us to-day ! The three sons of Saul were slain, and Saul himself was mortally wounded. [1055 b.c. J As his armor-bearer would not kill him, he fell upon his own sword. The defeat of the Israelites was complete, and much spoil fell into the bands of the Philistines, who decapitated Saul and his sons, and carried their bodies and tlieir armor to a Philistine city. But the people of Jabesh- Gilead, in whose behalf, it will be remembered, Saul's first victory was won, crossed the Jordan by night, car ried away the bodies of Saul and his sons, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh. With this interesting in stance of gratitude and affection the history of Saul, and of Israel under his rule, is brought to a close ; and we pass on to the reign of David, who was "a man after the Lord's own heart." II. SAMUEL. I. DAVID: HIS LAMENT FOR SAUL AND JONATHAN. When David fled from Saul into the land of the Philistines he was accompanied by about six hundred warriors from the tribe of Gad ; and these, with many THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 227 others who subsequently joined them, he led in various expeditions against the neighboring wild tribes of the desert. He had just returned from one of these expe ditions, when news of the battle of Mount Gilboa, and the death of Saul and his sons, was brought to him. David, filled with the deepest sorrow, poured forth his grief in a lamentation over Saul and Jonathan, which is the best known, as it is the most beautiful, of his numerous elegies.1 Its beauty and effect are much enhanced when we remember that David laments the death of his persecutor, who stood in his way to the throne. A parenthetical verse, given in connection with David's lament, states that David "bade them teach the children of Israel the use of the bow: behold it is written in the book of Jasher." But the words, " the use of," are not in the original, and the true meaning evidently is, that he bade them teach " The Bow," that is, David's noble elegy known by that name, and which David caused to be written in the book of Jasher, the national song-book of the Jews — a book which was added to from age to age, as great crises moved the Is raelites to mighty deeds, and poets to immortalize them. The only quotations from this book are this lament by David, and the poetical commemoration of the victory of Joshua in the Valley of Ajalon. The appropriate ness of calling this elegy "The Bow" will be apparent when we mark how prominently the bow is mentioned in one of its strains, and remember that the lament was specially designed as a memorial of Jonathan, who was famous for his excellency in the use of that weapon. David's lamentation has been paraphrased by the poet George Sandys in the following lines: ' 3 Sam. i. 17-27. 228 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Thy beauty, Israel, is fled, Sunk to the dead ; How are the valiant fallen ! the slain Thy mountains stain. Oh ! let it not in Gath be known, Nor in the streets of Askelon ! Lest that sad story should excite Their dire delight ! Lest in the torrent of our woe Their pleasures flow : Lest their triumphant daughters ring Their cymbals, and their pseans sing ! Yon hills of Gilboa, never may You offerings pay : No morning dew, nor fruitful showers, Clothe you with flowers : Saul and his arms there made a spoil, As if untouched with sacred oil. The bow of noble Jonathan Great battles won ; His arrows on the mighty fed, " With slaughter red. Saul never raised his arm in vain, His sword still glutted with the slain. How lovely ! oh how pleasant ! when They lived with men ! Than eagles swifter, stronger far Than lions are : Whom love in life so strongly tied, The stroke of death could not divide. Sad Israel's daughters, weep for Saul ; Lament his fall, THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 229 Who fed you with the earth's increase, And crowned with peace; With robes of Tyrian purple decked, And gems which sparkling light reflect. How are thy worthies by the sword Of war devoured ! O Jonathan ! the better part Of my torn heart ! The savage rocks have drunk thy blood : My brother ! Oh how kind ! how good ! Thy love was great ; oh never more To man, man bore ! No woman, when most passionate, Loved at that rate ! How are the mighty fallen in flight ! They, and their glory, set in night ! Dr. Taylor says, of the lamentation whicli David wrote:1 "All after-generations have recognized the lyric grandeur of this noble poem. Over the grave of the Cid, near Burgos, in Spain, its last stanza is engraved, as the most fitting memento of a mighty man ; and to this day, when a great man is carried to his sepulchre, the most appropriate music for the occasion is found in that exquisite composition which seeks to express ih sound this threnody of David, and which is known among us as < The Dead March in Saul.' " II. CONTEST FOR THE SUCCESSION.— DAVID BECOMES KING OF ALL ISRAEL. Soon after the battle of Mount Gilboa David repair ed to Hebron, and, supported by the tribe of Judah, asserted his title to the throne. Here he was again i " David, King of Israel," p. 186, by Rev. W. M. Taylor, D.D. 230 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. anointed, and proclaimed King of Judah ; and it was probably in connection with this ceremony that he com posed the one hundred and first Psalm, of which Dean Stanley thus speaks : " It is full of a stern exclusive- ness, of a noble intolerance ; but not against theological error, not against uncourtly manners, not against politi cal insubordination, but against the proud heart, the high look, the secret slanderer, the deceitful worker, the teller of lies. These are the outlaws from King David's court; these alone are the rebels and heretics that he would not suffer to dwell in bis house or tarry in his sight." Instead of giving their allegiance to David, the north ern tribes,, under the influence of Abner, Saul's most powerful military leader, attached themselves to Ish- bo'sheth, a son of Saul. After a severe contest of two years Abner deserted to David, but was slain by David's best general, Joab, for having killed the latter's brother in a battle that had occurred near Gibeon. . Ishbosheth ¦was soon after murdered by two of his own guards. His death removed the obstacles in the way of a union of the tribes ; and at Hebron, David, in the thirty-eighth year of his ag», was publicly proclaimed King of all Israel.1 After all the conquests whicli the Israelites had made in the land of promise, there still remained large por tions of it of which they had not yet gained possession. On the south-west were the strongholds of the Philis tines ; and bordering on the north-western coast was the "country of the Phoenicians, whose two chief cities were Tyre and Sidon." Even in the very heart of Palestine ' 2 Sam. v. 1-4; 1 Chron. xi. 3. 2 Tyre, the metropolis of Phoenicia, was on the eastern coast of the Med iterranean, near the north-western frontier of Palestine. Sidon, also on the coast, was about twenty miles north of Tyre. THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 231 the Jebusites possessed the stronghold of Jebus, or Je rusalem, on Mount Zion. David, resolved upon the capt ure of this important city, and sent Joab against it with a mighty army ; " and David took the stronghold of Zion," and made it the capital of his kingdom. [1047 b.c.] The poet Deyden quaintly says : The inhabitants of old Jerusalem Were Jebusites ; the town so called from them ; And theirs the native right — But when the chosen people grew more strong, The rightful cause at length became the wrong ; And every loss the men of Jebus bore, They still were thought God's enemies the more. , Thus worn or weakened, well or ill content, Submit they must to David's government : Impoverished, and deprived of all command, Their taxes doubled as they lost their land ; And what was harder yet to flesh and blood, Their gods disgraced, and burnt like common wood. Hiram, King of Tyre, wisely entered into a permanent alliance with the victorious monarch, and supplied him with workmen and materials to erect a palace in the new capital ; but the Philistines,, more rash, when they heard that David had been anointed King over Israel, crossed the frontier to give bim battle. David utterly defeated them, however, and conquered a great part of their dominions. III. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL RELIGION AT JERUSALEM. Having overcome his enemies, David next determined to establish the national religion at Jerusalem, and, accom panied by thirty thousand selected followers, he proceed ed to Kirjath-je'arim, nine miles away, for the purpose of 232 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. bringing the Ark of the Covenant from that city to his capital.1 But the prescribed mode of removing the ark from place to place was so much violated as to cause the death, by divine judgment, of Uzzah, one of the sons of Abinadab ; and David, in fear and distress, left the sa cred chest in the house of one Obed-edom, and returned with bis retinue to Jerusalem. When three months had elapsed he again set out to bring the Ark to Jerusalem, and, escorted by a vast multitude, with instruments of music and with songs, it was this time safely removed and placed in the Tabernacle that had been built for it on Mount Zion. It is generally supposed that several of the Psalms were composed by David for use on this occasion, and that they were sung, by those appointed for the purpose, at intervals during the march to and from Kirjath-je'arim, and at the closing exercises at Mount Zion. The march was "a great processional ora torio," as Dr. Taylor bas well said, and from the vivid account that he has given of the whole scene we will transcribe a few extracts : "It was a great and memorable day in Israel," he says, " and David had composed many odes for the oc casion. When jhe company had been marshalled, and were starting from Jerusalem, I conjecture that, with the judgment that fell on Uzzah still in the minds of all, the Levites broke forth, in solemn tones, with the beautiful fifteenth Psalm : ' Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle ? who shall dwell in thy holy hill ? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speak eth the truth in his heart. Lie that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor.' * * * When they came to the house of Obed-edom, and while arrangements 1 1 Sam. vii. ; 2 Sam. vi. (see p. 203) ; also 1 Chron. xv. and xvi. THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 233 were being made for the removal from it of the ark, they sung the opening verses of the one hundred and thirty-second Psalm, as if to deprecate a repetition of the calamity which had formerly saddened all tlieir hearts : ' Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions : how he sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob ; surely I will not come into the taberna cle of my house, nor go up into my bed ; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah : we found it in the fields of the wood,' *. e., at Kirjath-je' arim. Then, as the priests appointed for the purpose went into the house for the ark, they sang by themselves these words: 'We will go into his tabernacles: we will worship at his footstool.' As they emerged, bearing the sacred burden on tlieir shoulders, and while they took the first six paces in their march, their brethren resumed the strain, and sang, ' Arise, O Lord, into thy rest ; thou, and the ark of thy strength ;' continuing to the close. At this point the procession halted, while a double sac rifice was offered unto the Lord ; and such was the ela tion of feeling among them all, that the king, clothed for the time in a linen ephod like the priests, is said to have danced before the Lord. "But now, again, the march is renewed. At the sound of the trumpet they that bare the ark advanced, and the singers, accompanied by the instruments of mu sic, raised the old wilderness watchword, ' Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered,' and continued at intervals to sing appropriate strophes1 of that grand processional 1 Stro'-phe, from a Greek word, "to turn," was that part of a song or dance which was performed by turning from the right to the left of the orchestra ; while that part in which the singers turned in the opposite direction was called the an-tis'tro-phe. 234 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. hymn, the sixty-eighth Psalm. When they drew near to Jerusalem they sang the twenty-fourth Psalm, which is, perhaps, the most artistic in its structure of all those to which we have referred.. It is antiphonal1 in its nat ure, and was evidently designed to be sung by chorus answering to chorus. Perhaps no more striking idea of the method of its execution on this occasion can be given than that wliich is presented in the following de scription by Dr. Kitto : ' The chief musician, who seems to have been the king himself, appears to have begun the sacred lay with a solemn and sonorous recital of these sentences : " The earth is the Lord's, and the ful ness thereof ; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he bath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods." The chorus of vocal music appears then to have taken up the song, and sung the same words in a more tuneful and elaborate manner; and the instruments fell in with them, raising the mighty dec laration to heaven. We may presume that the chorus then divided, each division singing in its turn, and both joining at the close: "For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods." This part of the music may be supposed to have lasted until the pro cession reachecTthe foot of Zion, or came in sight of it, wliich, from the nature of the enclosed site, cannot be until one comes quite near to it. Then the king must be supposed to have stepped forth and begun again, in a solemn and earnest tone, "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?" to which the first chorus responds, " He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart ; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully." And then the sec ond chorus gives its reply, " He shall receive the blessing 1 An-tiph 'o-nal, pertaining to alternate singing by the two divisions of the choir or chorus. THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 235 from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation." This part of the song may, in like manner, be supposed to have lasted until they reached the gate of the city, when the king began again, in this grand and exalted strain, " Lift up your heads, O ye gates ; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in ;" which would be repeated then, in the same way as before, by the general chorus. The persons having charge of the gates ask, " Who is this King of glory ?' to which the first chorus answers, " It is Jehovah, strong and mighty: Jehovah, mighty in bat tle ;" which the second chorus then repeats in like man ner as before, closing with the grand refrain, " He is the King of glory ; be is the King of glory." We must now suppose the instruments to take up the same notes, and continue sounding them to the entrance of the Taber nacle (or tent) which David had prepared. There the king again begins, " Lift up your heads, 0 ye gates ; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors ; and the King of glory shall come in." This is followed and answered as before — all closing by the instruments sounding, and the people shouting, "He is the King of glory." " " One cannot call up thus before the eye of his im agination such a scene as this," continues De. Taylob, " without having his heart stirred to its very depths ; and we do not wonder that the effects produced upon the actual spectators were of the most thrilling charac ter ; nor are we surprised- that the greatest poets in our language, such as Milton and Young, have appropriated these very words, as the most sublime they could find, to describe the procession of the heavenly hosts ; the one, in his delineation of the Son returning from the work of creation;2 the other, in an attempt to describe » Kitto's " Daily Bible Illustrations," vol. iii. pp. 385, 386. ' See page 14 of this book, from Milton's "Paradise Lost," book vii. 236 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. the glories of the Kedeemer's ascension from Mount Olivet.1 * * * At the close of the singing of the twenty-fourth Psalm the curtains of the tent were folded back, and, amid the reverent silence of the as sembled thousands, the ark was put in its appointed place. Thereafter, as the joyful conclusion of the glad and sacred services, David gave to Asaph and his breth ren, that they might sing it with every possible accom paniment, that song which we have preserved in the sixteenth chapter of the First Book of Chronicles, and which seems to be a combination of portions taken from the one hundred and fifth, ninety-sixth, and one hun dred and sixth Psalms. Then he offered more burnt- offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord ; and hav ing concluded the ceremony by blessing the people in the name of the Lord, he most generously distributed refreshments among them all. So ended this auspicious day." IV. FARTHER CONQUESTS.— DAVID'S GREAT SIN. Having brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusa lem, David now desired to erect a splendid temple for its permanent abode ; but the prophet Nathan, whom he consulted, declared to him that his work was to per manently establish the kingdom that he had founded, and, when this was accomplished, that Solomon, his son and successor, should build the temple in honor of Jeho vah. David therefore directed his attention to the sur rounding nations, whom he compelled to become tribu tary to him, as far as the banks of the Euphrates. Among them were the Syrians, on the north-east, with Damascus their capital; and also the Edomites, the ' Young's "Night Thoughts," Night IV. THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 237 Moabites, and the Ammonites. It was during the siege of Rabbah,1 the Ammonite capital, that David, who re mained in Jerusalem, incurred the wrath of God by tak ing to himself Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, one of his most faithful captains, and exposing her husband to certain death. He was most severely rebuked for this crime by the prophet Nathan, who addressed to him the beautiful and affecting fable of tho rich man, who, while possessed of abundant flocks, took by force the one lamb of the poor man to feast a stranger. The whole story has been dramatized by Geoege Peele, an English poet of some note of the sixteenth century. The drama is entitled The Love of King David and Fair Bethsabe. The poet Campbell terms it " the earliest fountain of pathos and harmony that can be traced in our dramatic poetry." From it we take the following description of portions of the inter view between the prophet and King David : Thus Nathan saith unto his lord the king : There were two men, both dwellers in one town ; The one was mighty, and exceeding rich In oxen, sheep, and cattle of the field ; The other poor, having nor ox, nor calf, Nor other cattle save one little lamb, Which he had bought, arid nourished by his hand ; And it grew up and fed with him and his, And ate and drank as he and his were wont, And in his bosom slept, and was to him As was his daughter or bis dearest child. There came a stranger to this wealthy man, And he refused and spared to take his own, Or of his store to dress or make his meat, But took the poor man's sheep, partly poor man's store ; 1 2 Sam. xi. Rabbah, the Ammonite capital, was about twenty-eight miles north-east of the northern extremity of the Dead Sea. 238 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. And drest it for this stranger in his house. What, tell me, shall be done to him for this? David. Now, as the Lord doth live, this wicked man Is judged, and shall become the child of death ; Fourfold to the poor man he shall restore, That without mercy took his lamb away. Nathan. Thou art the man, and thou hast judged THYSELF. David, thus saith the Lord thy God by me : I thee anointed king in Israel, And saved thee from the tyranny of Saul ; Thy master's house I gave thee to possess, His wives unto thy bosom I did give, And Juda and Jerusalem withal, And might, thou knowest, if this had been too small, Have given thee more. Wherefore, then, hast thou gone so far astray, And hast done evil, and sinned in my sight? Urias thou hast killed with the sword, Yea, with the sword of the uncircumcised Thou hast him slain ; wherefore, from this day forth, The sword shall never go from thee and thine ; For thou hast ta'en this Hethite's wife to thee ; Wherefore, behold, I will, saith Jacob's God, In thine own nouse stir evil up to thee ; Yea, I before thy face will take thy wives, And give them to thy neighbor to possess. This shall be done to David in the day, That Israel openly may see thy shame. For more than a year, probably, " David carried on his conscience, unconfessed and unforgiven, the burden of his heinous iniquities." Though no sign of repentance seems to have escaped bim during this period, it is evi dent that he was troubled, and the unnaturalness of his conduct on several occasions indicates that he was ill at ease, and was trying to escape from the gnawings of re- THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 239 morse. Finally, however, he confessed his sins, and of the sincerity of his repentance we find complete evi dence in the thirty-second and fifty-first Psalm. As De. Chandlee has said of the fifty-first Psalm : " The heart appears in every line ; and the bitter anguish of a wounded conscience discovers itself by the most natural and convincing methods."1 But, though forgiven, Da vid could not escape the consequences of his crime, and the poet represents the prophet as thus continuing his reproof : David, stand up. Thus saith the Lord by me : David the king shall live, for he hath seen The true repentant sorrow of thy heart ; But as thou hast in this misdeed of thine Stirred up the enemies of Israel To triumph, and blaspheme the Lord of Hosts, And say, "He set a wicked man to reign Over his loved people and his tribes," The child shall surely die, that erst was born, His mother's sin, his kingly father's scorn." David. How just is Jacob's God in all his works! But must it die, that David loveth so? Mourn, Israel, and weep in Zion's gates; Wither, ye cedar-trees of Lebanon ; Ye sprouting almonds with your flowing tops, Droop, drown, and drench in Hebron's fearful streams! David's double crime has been appropriately termed the turning-point in his fortunes, as, indeed, it was fore told by the prophet Nathan that it would be. Up to this time unexampled splendor and prosperity had marked his reign ; but henceforth the hand of God was against him, and trial after trial clouded his remaining 1 "Critical History of David," by Samuel Chandler, D.D. 240 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. days. His first punishment was in the death — foretold by the prophet — of the child born to him by Bathsheba, to whom David was devotedly attached. The Scripture narrative tells us that the child became very ill, and that David prayed, with fasting, for its life. But the prophecy must be fulfilled ; and, on the seventh day of its illness, the child died.1 The scene in the palace on the morning of the fatal day has been thus portrayed by the American poet Willis : It was the morning of the seventh day. A hush was in the palace, for all eyes Had woke before the morn ; and they who drew The curtains to let in the welcome light Moved in their chambers with unslippered feet, And listened breathlessly. And still no stir ! The servants who kept watch without the door Sat motionless; the purple casement-shades From the low windows had been rolled away, To give the child air ; and the flickering light That, all the night, within the spacious court Had drawn the watcher's eyes to one spot only, Paled with the sunrise and fled in. • • And hushed With more than stillness was the room where lay The king's son on his mother's breast. His locks Slept at the lips of Bathsheba unstirred — So fearfully, with heart and pulse kept down,' She watched his breathless slumber. The low moan That from his lips all night broke fitfully Had silenced with the daybreak; and a smile — Or something that would fain have been a smile — Played in his parted mouth ; and though his lids Hid not the blue of his unconscious eyes, 1 2 Sam. xii. 18. THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 241 His senses seemed all peacefully asleep, And Bathsheba in silence blessed the morn That brought back hope to her ! But when the king Heard not the voice of the complaining child, Nor breath from out the room, nor foot astir — But morning there — so welcomeless and still — He groaned and turned upon his face. The nights Had wasted ; and the mornings come ; and days Crept through the sky, unnumbered by the king, Since the child sickened ; and, without the door, Upon the bare earth prostrate, he had lain — Listening only to the moans that brought Their inarticulate tidings, and the voice Of Bathsheba, whose pity and caress, In loving utterance all broke with tears, Spoke as his heart would speak if he were there, And filled his prayer with agony. But suddenly the watchers at the door Rose up, and they who ministered within Crept to the threshold and looked earnestly Where the king lay. And still, while Bathsheba Held the unmoving child upon her knees, The curtains were let down, and all came forth, And, gathering with fearful looks apart, Whispered together. And the king arose, And gazed on them a moment, and with a voice Of quick, uncertain utterance, he asked, " Is the child dead ?" They answered, " He is dead !" But when they looked to see him fall again Upon his face, and rend himself and weep — - For, while the child was sick, his agony Would bear no comforters, and they had thought I.— 11 242 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. His heart-strings with the tidings must give way — Behold ! his face grew calm, and, with his robe Gathered together like his kingly wont, He silently went in. And David came, Robed and anointed, forth, and to the house Of God went up to pray. And he returned, And they set bread before him, and he ate — And when they marvelled he said, " Wherefore mourn ? The child is dead, and I shall go to him — But he will not return to me." V. ABSALOM'S REBELLION. Fratricide was the crime that next darkened the life of David. Amnon, bis eldest son, having committed a crime punishable by death, was slain by his younger brother Absalom. The fratricide fled to Geshur,1 and after three years he was pardoned by David, and again taken into favor. This indulgence of parental affection almost cost David his throne, for the ambitious Absa lom, plotting the dethronement of his father, and aided by Ahith'opljfil, a crafty politician, became the head of a conspiracy so formidable that David was obliged to flee from Jerusalem." This sad event has been thus described : "He went forth from the eastern gate, crossed the brook Kedron, and ascended the Mount of Olives, whence he looked back upon the city wliich he had founded or ornamented, the abode, for many years, of all , his power, his glory, and bis happiness. He was leaving it in bis old age, perhaps forever, a miserable fugitive, driven forth by a people whose independence 1 Geshur, a district of Syria, beyond Mount Hermon, on the northern borders of Palestine. a 2 Sam. xv. 13-18. THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 243 as a nation he had established, and by an unnatural son, whose forfeited life had been bis gift. He did not at tempt to disguise his sorrow : with his head covered and bis feet bare, he began his melancholy pilgrimage, amid the tears and lamentations of the people, who could not witness without commiseration this sad example of the uncertainty of human greatness." — Milman. In the following beautiful lines, suggested perhaps by the sad melody of the third and fourth Psalms, which are assigned to this period, the poet Willis represents David as stopping in his flight to rest on the shore of Jordan, and, in the presence of bis followers, kneeling in prayer to Heaven for his misguided Absalom : DAVID'S PEAYER FOR ABSALOM. King David's limbs were weary. He had fled From far Jerusalem ; and now he stood, With his faint people, for a little rest Upon the shore of Jordan. The light wind Of morn was stirring, and he bared his brow To its refreshing breath ; for he had worn The mourner's covering, and he had not felt That he could see his people until now. They gathered round him on the fresh green bank, And spoke their kindly words; and, as the sun Rose up in heaven, he knelt among them there, And bowed his head upon his hands to pray. Oh ! when the heart is full — when bitter thoughts Come crowding quickly up for utterance, And the poor common words of courtesy Are such an empty mockery — how much The bursting heart may pour itself in prayer ! He prayed for Israel — and his voice went up Strongly and fervently. He prayed for those Whose love had been his shield — and his deep tones Grew tremulous. But, oh ! for Absalom — 244 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. For his estranged, misguided Absalom — The proud, bright being, who had burst away In all his princely beauty, to defy The heart that cherished him — for him he poured, In agony that would not be controlled, Strong supplication, and forgave him there, Before his God, for his deep sinfulness. David fled beyond the Jordan to the city of Maha- na'im,1 where he was hospitably received and entertained by one Barzil'la-i, a wealthy Gileadite. A powerful army soon assembled about him, the command of which was given to the brave and able Joab, who marched against the rebellious Absalom, and routed his forces in the forests of Ephraim.2 The king had given the most earnest orders that the life of his son should be spared ; but the unfortunate youth became entangled by his long and beautiful hair in the limbs of an oak, and in this situation was found and slain by the ruthless Joab. [1021 b.c.J Of all his numerous progeny was none So beautiful, so brave, as Absalom. Dbyden. When the vicfory was announced to David he immedi ately asked, " Is the young man Absalom safe ?" When the fatal tidings were given to him his grief was in tense, and is best represented in the declaration of the narrative.3 " The king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept : and as he wept, thus he said, 0 my son Absalom ! my son, my son Ab salom ! Would God I had died for thee, 0 Absalom, 1 2 Sam. xvii. 33-27. Mahana'im was about a dozen miles east of the Jordan, and nearly fifty miles north of the Dead Sea. 2 2 Sam. xviii. 6-8. The Forest of Ephraim, was in the country east of the Jordan; not far from Mahana'im. s 2 Sam. xviii. 33. THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 245 my son, my son!" In the following lines the poet Longfellow has made a beautiful application of Da vid's lamentation: IN THE CHAMBER OF THE GATE. Is it so far from thee Thou canst no longer see In the chamber of the gate That old man desolate, Weeping and wailing sore For his son, who is no more? " O Absalom, my son !" Is it so long ago That cry of human woe From the walled city came, Calling on bis dear name, That it has died away In the distance of to-day ? " O Absalom, my son !" There is no far nor near, There is neither there nor here, There is neither soon nor late, In that chamber over the gate, Nor any long ago To that cry of human woe, " O Absalom, my son !" From the ages that are past The voice comes like a blast Over seas that wreck and drown, Over tumult of traffic and town And from ages yet to be Come like echoes back to me, "O Absalom, my son !" 246 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Somewhere at every hour The watchman on the tower Looks forth and sees the fleet Approach of the hurrying feet Of messengers, that bear The tidings of despair — " O Absalom, my son !" He goes forth from the door Who shall return no more. With him our' joy departs ; The light goes out in our hearts ; In the chamber over the gate We sit disconsolate. " O Absalom, my son !" That 'tis a common grief Bringeth hut slight relief ; Ours is the bitterest loss, Ours is the heaviest cross ; And forever the cry will be, "Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son !" The well-knowli representation, by Willis, of David's lament for Absalom is marked by descriptive powers of a high order, and by much delicacy of feeling. It is as follows : DAVID'S LAMENT FOR ABSALOM. The pall was settled. He who slept beneath Was straightened for the grave ; and, as the folds Sunk to the still proportions, they betrayed The matchless symmetry of Absalom. His hair was yet unshorn, and silken curls Were floating round the tassels as they swayed To the admitted air, as glossy now THE TWO BOOKS OP SAMUEL. 247 As when, in hours of gentle dalliance, bathing The snowy fingers of Judea's daughters. His helm was at his feet ; his banner, soiled With trailing through Jerusalem, was laid, Reversed, beside him ; and the jewelled hilt, Whose diamonds lit the passage of his blade, Rested, like mockery, on his covered brow. The soldiers of the king trod to and fro, Clad in the garb of battle ; and their chief, The mighty Joab, stood beside the bier, And gazed upon the dark pall steadfastly, As if he feared the slumberer might stir. A slow step startled him. He grasped his blade As if a trumpet rang ; but the bent form Of David entered, and he gave command, In a low tone, to his few followers, And left him with his dead. The king stood still Till the last echo died ; then, throwing off The sackcloth from his brow, and laying back The pall from the still features of his child, He bowed his head upon him, and broke forth In the resistless eloquence of woe : " Alas ! my noble boy 1 that thou shouldst die ! Thou, who wert made so beautifully fair ! That death should settle in thy glorious eye, And leave his stillness in this clustering hair ! How could he mark thee for the silent tomb ! My proud boy, Absalom ! "Cold is thy brow, my son ! and I am chill, As to my bosom I have tried to press thee ! How was I wont to feel vay pulses thrill, Like a rich harp-string, yearning to caress thee, And hear thy sweet ' my father !' from these dumb And cold lips, Absalom ! 248 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. " But death is on thee. I shall hear the gush Of music, and the voices of the young ; And life will pass me in the mantling blush, And the dark tresses to the soft winds flung ; But thou no more, with thy sweet voice, shalt come To meet me, Absalom ! " And oh ! when I am stricken, and my heart, Like a bruised reed, is waiting to be broken, How will its love for thee, as I depart, Yearn for thine ear to drink its last deep token ! It were so sweet, amid death's gathering gloom, To see thee, Absalom ! '' And now farewell ! 'Tis hard to give thee up, With death so like a gentle slumber on thee; And thy dark sin ! Oh ! I could drink the cup, If from this woe its bitterness had won thee. May God have called thee, like a wanderer, home, My lost boy, Absalom !" He covered up his face, and bowed himself A moment on his child; then, giving him A look of melting tenderness, he clasped His hand* convulsively, as if in prayer ; And, as if strength were given him of God, He rose up calmly, and composed the pall Firmly and decently— and left him there — As if his rest had been a breathing sleep. The poet Campbell refers to David's lamentation for his son in the following lines : Thus, with forgiving tears, and reconciled, The King of Judah mourned his rebel child ! Musing on days when yet the guiltless boy Smiled on his sire, and filled his heart with joy ! THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 249 " My Absalom !" the voice of Nature cried, " Oh ! that for thee thy father could have died ! For bloody was the deed, and rashly done, That slew my Absalom ! — my son ! my son !" VI. DAVID'S RETURN TO JERUSALEM. On the death of Absalom the nation came back to its allegiance, and David returned to Jerusalem. Barzil'la-i, the Gileadite, who had so kindly cared for David in his exile, was urged by the king to accompany him to Je rusalem, and receive a rich reward for his kind offices. But Barzillai, who was an old man of fourscore years, declined the invitation, giving as a reason his advanced age, and his desire to die in his native land and be buried by the side of his father and mother. Yet he accompanied David across the Jordan, and " the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him ; and he returned unto his own place."1 BARZILLAI'S REQUEST. Son of Jesse — let tne go ; Why should princely honors stay me? Where the streams of Gilead flow, Where the light first met mine eye, Thither would I turn and die — Where my parents' ashes lie, King of Israel, bid them lay me. Bury me near my sire revered, Whose feet in righteous paths so firmly trod, Who early taught my soul with awe To heed the prophets and the law, And to my infant heart appeared Majestic as a God. ' 2 Sam. xix. 33-40. 11* 250 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Oh ! when his sacred dust The cerements of the tomb shall burst, Might I be worthy at his feet to rise To yonder blissful skies, Where angel hosts resplendent shine ; Jehovah ! Lord of hosts, the glory shall he thine. Cold age upon my breast Hath shed a frost-like death ; The wine-cup hath no zest, The rose no fragrant breath ; Music from my ear hath fled, Yet still the sweet tone lingereth there, The blessing that my mother shed Upon my evening prayer. Dim is my wasted eye To all that beauty brings ; The brow of grace — the form of symmetry — Are half -forgotten things ; Yet one bright hue is vivid still, A mother's holy smile, that soothed my sharpest ill. Memory, with traitor tread, . Methinks, doth steal away Treasure^ that the mind hath laid Up for a wintry day. Images of sacred power, Cherished deep in passion's hour, Faintly now my bosom stir : Good and evil, like a dream Half obscured and shadowy seem. Yet with a changeless love my soul remembereth her, Yea — it remembereth her ! Close by her blessed side make ye my sepulchre. Mrs. Sigoubney. The king's return to Jerusalem was soon followed by a famine that lasted three years, and that was attributed THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 251 to a crime of Saul and his family, wliich commentators believe to be the massacre of the priesthood in Gibeah, in which some Gibeonites were slain.1 Consequently, on the demand of the Gibeonites, David was obliged to deliver up to them seven innocent sons and grandsons of Saul ; and they were slain as an expiatory sacrifice, and their bodies were hung up on Gibeah. [1018 b.c.J VII. RIZPAH AND HER SONS. Two of the slain were sons of Bizpah, a concubine of Saul, whose tender fidelity and great courage in protect ing the bodies of her sons and kinsmen from the attacks of bird and beast shed a gleam of light across the dark tragedy. For many months — from the beginning of barley-harvest till the fall of the early rain in October — - she kept her lonely watch — " without tent to screen her from the scorching sun by day and the saturating dews by night, and with only her widow's sackcloth to rest upon on the rocky ground." The particulars of the scene are finely delineated in the following beautiful lines by Beyant : Hear what the desolate Rizpah said, As on Gibeah's rock she watched the dead. The sons of Michal before her lay, And her own fair children, dearer than they : By a death of shame they all had died, And were stretched on the bare rock, side by side. And Rizpah, once the loveliest of all That bloomed and smiled in the court of Saul, All wasted with watching and famine now, And scorched by the sun her haggard brow, 1 See 1 Sam. xxii. 18, 19; 2 Sam. xxi. 1-10. This Gibeah was about half a dozen miles north-east of Jerusalem, and not far from Gibeon. 252' MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Sat mournfully guarding their corpses there, And murmured a strange and solemn air — The low, heart-broken, and wailing strain Of a mother that mourns her children slain : " I have made the crags my home, and spread On their desert backs my sackcloth bed ; I have eaten the bitter herb of the rocks, And drunk the midnight dew in my locks ; I have wept till I could not weep, and the pain Of my burning eyeballs went to my brain. Seven blackened corpses before me lie, In the blaze of the sun and the winds of the sky. I have watched them through the burning day, And driven the vulture and raven away ; And the cormorant wheeled in circles round, Yet feared to alight on the guarded ground. And when the shadows of twilight came I have seen the hyena's eyes of flame, And heard at my side his stealthy tread, But aye at my shout the savage fled ; And I threw the lighted brand to fright The jackal and wolf that yelled in the night. " Ye wert foully murdered, my hapless sons, By the hands of wicked and cruel ones ; Ye fell, in your fresh and blooming prime, All innocent for your father's crime. He sinned — but he paid the price of his guilt ¦When his blood by a nameless hand was spilt; When he strove with the heathen host in vain, And fell with the flower of his people slain ; And the sceptre his children's hands should sway From his injured lineage passed away. " But I hoped that the cottage-roof would be A safe retreat for my sons and me ; THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 253 And that while they ripened to manhood fast, They should wean my thoughts from the woes of the past ; And my bosom swelled with a mother's pride, As they stood in their beauty and strength by my side, Tall like their sire, with the princely grace Of his stately form and the bloom of his face. "Ob, what an hour for a mother's heart, When the pitiless ruffians tore us apart! When I clasped their knees and wept and prayed, And struggled and shrieked to Heaven for aid, And clung to my sons with desperate strength, Till the murderers loosed my hold at length, And bore me breathless and faint aside, In their iron arms, while my children died. The}' died — and the mother that gave them birth Is forbid to cover their bones with earth. " The barley-harvest was nodding white, When my children died on the rocky height ; And the reapers were singing on hill and plain, When I came to my task of sorrow and pain. But now the season of rain is nigh, The sun is dim in the thickening sky, And the clouds in sullen darkness rest Where he hides his light at the doors of the west. I hear the howl of the wind that brings The long, drear storm on its heavy wings ; But the howling wind and the driving rain Will beat on my houseless head in vain ; I shall stay, from my murdered sons to scare The beasts of the desert, and fowls of air." When it was told David what Bizpah bad done, he took the bones of Saul and of Jonathan, and also of those " that were hanged," and gave them an honorable burial. 254 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. The second Book of Samuel closes with an account of an act of David that provoked the anger of the Lord.1 Contrary to the divine command, he took a census of bis vast dominions; and Israel was visited with a terrible pestilence that carried off seventy thou sand persons. It only ceased when David had erected an altar and offered sacrifice on Mount Moriah, the site of the future temple. 1 See, also, 1 Chron. xxi. FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 255 CHAPTER VL— FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. INTRODUCTORY. The Books of Kings, as well as those of Chronicles, were probably compiled by Ezra, " the scribe," from the ancient documents and books of the prophets who Jived and flourished at the times of the events narrated. The first Book of Kings comprises a period of about one hundred and twenty-six years. It begins with the latter days of David, and gives an account of Solomon's reign, and of the separate kingdoms of Judah and Israel down to the beginning of the reign of Ahaziah, King of Israel. The second book contains the contemporary histories of Judah and Israel, during a period of three hundred and eight years, from the reign of Ahaziah to the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and the captivity of the Jews in Babylon. Most of the events that are recorded in the Books of Kings are also found in the Books of Chronicles; the histories being in the main parallel, and drawn from the same sources.. The latter books at times enlarge upon, or add to, the narratives of the former ; and some things which were omitted in the former part of the Script-. ure narrative are here supplied. But the important his toric facts are essentially the same in both Kings and Chronicles, the only real difference between them be ing some discrepancies in the order of the events re corded ; thus making the framing of an exact chronol ogy impossible. 256 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. I. KINGS. I. LAST DAYS AND DEATH OF DAVID. During the latter years of his life King David was chiefly employed in securing the succession to his son Solomon. He was not free from trial, however, even though old and decrepit. Adoni'jah, brother of Absa lom, aided by Joab, rebelled against his father, " saying, I will be king." But through the firmness of David and the prophet Nathan the conspiracy was foiled, and at Gihon1 Solomon was anointed by the prophet and by Zadok, the high-priest, and proclaimed King of Israel. The choice was soon after ratified by the whole people. As his end approached, David enjoined Solomon to per severe in the worship of Jehovah, and gave him many directions concerning the government of bis kingdom. He especially warned him . against the ambition and craft of Joab, and directed him to put to death, as his wisdom should dictate, any one in whom a treasonable intention or act might be discovered.3 The king then breathed bis lastv after a reign of forty years. [1015 b.c] When he succeeded to the kingdom it was disturbed by civil wars, and threatened with destruction by power ful enemies from without. But under his government it became a kingdom of unexampled power and pros perity, and to his wisdom and bravery may be ascribed the long and peaceful reign of his son and successor, Solomon. Thus David slept, the great, the wise, the good ; The man who long, by Heaven's appointment, stood His country's friend ; who met the giant foe, While yet a ruddy youth, and laid him low ; 1 1 Kings, i. 38-40. Gihon, a fountain on the west of Jerusalem, just outside of the walls. 2 1 Kings, ii., and 1 Chron. xxviii., xxix. FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 257 The patriot prince, who guided Israel's bands With firm integrity and skilful hands ; The holy seer, who, rapt to future times, Sang of Messiah dying for the crimes Of countless ages — his illustrious Son, His glorious deeds, his reign on earth begun ; The sacred hand, that oft attuned the lyre To themes prophetic, with a prophet's fire ; He who with Israel's God communed, and wept O'er Israel's wrongs, and Israel's honor kept, A trust inviolate, from men of blood : Great David softly slept — he slept in God, " Of honors, days, and riches full ; a calm release ! And, to his fathers laid," reposed in peace. Bishop. The powerful influence of the songs or psalms of David, both in his own time and upon succeeding ages, has been well set forth in the following lines: THE HARP OF DAVID. The harp the monarch minstrel swept, The king of men, the loved of heaven, Which Music hallowed while she wept O'er tones her heart of heart had given — Redoubled be her tears, its cords are riven ! It softened men of iron mould, It gave them virtues not their own ; No ear so dull, no soul so cold That felt not, fired not to the tone, Till David's lyre grew mightier than his throne. It told the triumphs of our King, It wafted glory to our God ; - It made our gladdened valleys ring, The cedars bow, the mountains nod ; Its sound aspired to heaven, and there abode ! Since then, though heard on earth no more, 258 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Devotion, and her daughter, Love, Still bid the bursting spirit soar To sounds that seem as from above, In dreams that day's broad light cannot remove. Byron. II. SOLOMON'S REIGN. Almost the first act of Solomon as king was to put to death Adoni'jah and Joab.1 Thus secure from internal enemies, and having married the daughter of the Egyp tian Pharaoh, he began a long and peaceful reign, dur ing which, in the language of Scripture, "Judah and Is rael dwelt safely, every man under his vine, and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba."a It is also stated that soon after his accession be offered a costly sacrifice at Gibeon, where the tabernacle then was," and on this occasion Jehovah appeared to him in a dream, and offered him as a gift whatever he should ask.4 Con scious of his need, Solomon asked for "an understand ing heart" to judge the people, and that he might be able to "discern between good and bad." The request was granted; and, with the gift of wisdom, were also bestowed honor, and riches, and length of days; on condition, however, of his continued obedience to the divine will. Among the powerful princes of surrounding nations who courted the alliance of Solomon was Hiram, King of Tyre, with whom the treaty made by David was re newed. This monarch furnished Solomon with mate rials for the building of a great temple to the Lord at Jerusalem, and with skilled workmen, under whose di- » 1 Kings, ii. 25 and 34. " 1 Kings, iv. 25. 3 When David removed the ark to Jerusalem (see p. 232) he erected a tabernacle there for its reception, while the old tabernacle remained at Gibeon until the time of Solomon. (1 Chron. xvi. 39; xxi. 29; and 2 Chron. i. 3.) * 1 Kings, iii. 5-15. FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 259 rections the wonderful work was done.1 This temple was but a small structure in itself, being but thirty feet in width, ninety feet long, and forty-five feet in height ; but its walls were built of hewn-stone, elaborately carved, while inside and outside, it is said, the whole edifice was overlaid with the richest gold in the utmost profusion. Around it were spacious courts, ornamented with pro digious vases of water and sculptured forms of beasts, and enclosed by walls and porches of the costliest mate rial and the finest workmanship. The whole has been described as presenting the appearance of " a fort or cas tle, or a populous and busy little town, sacred by relig ious associations, and gorgeous with the perpetual pomp and splendor of the ritual." Seven years and a half was Solomon occupied in the erection of this magnifi cent structure; and it is said that all the materials used, even those of the most enormous size, were so fitted as to be put together without the sound of any implement whatever : Then towered the palace ; then, in awful state, The temple reared its everlasting gate. No workman's steel, no pond'rous axes rung : Like some tall palm the noiseless fabric sprung. Majestic silence ! then the harp awoke, The cymbal clanged, the deep-voiced trumpet spoke; And Salem spread her suppliant arms abroad, Viewed the descending flame, and blessed the present God. Hebek. Solomon next built for himself a palace of unrivalled splendor, after which the temple was dedicated to the Lord, in a festival of great magnificence, of two weeks' duration.3 [1004 b.c] It was during this festival that 1 1 Kings, v., vi.,vii. ; 2 Chron. ii. a 1 Kings, viii. 260 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. the cloud of glory filled the whole edifice, and thus an nounced the visible presence of Jehovah ; and the peo ple " bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good ; for his mercy endureth forever."1 The scene presented on the appearance of the cloud of glory has been thus described by an Eng lish writer : Each pillar of the temple rang, The trumpets sounded loud and keen, And every minstrel blithely sang, WTith harps and cymbals oft between. And while those minstrels sang and prayed The mystic cloud of glory fell, That shadowy light, that splendid shade, In which Jehovah pleased to dwell. It slowly fell and hovered o'er The outspread forms of cherubim ; The priests could bear the sight no more, Their eyes with splendor dim : The king cast off his crown of pride, And bent him to the ground, And priest and warrior side by side Knelt humbly all around. Deep awe fell down on every soul, Since God was present there, And not the slightest breathing stole Upon the stilly air ; Till he, their prince, with earth-bent eyes, And head uncrowned and bare, And hands stretched forth in reverend guise, To Heaven preferred his prayer. ' 2 Chron. vii. 3. FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 261 That prayer arose from off the ground, Upon the perfumed breath Which steaming censers poured around In many a volumed wreath. That prayer was heard, and heavenly fire Upon the altar played, And burnt the sacrificial pyre Beneath the victim laid. Henky Roqees. III. SOLOMON'S WISDOM AND PROSPERITY Although Solomon loved royal magnificence and dis play, he did not neglect the more solid and important interests of his kingdom. He was a distinguished pa tron of commerce, and from ports on the Bed Sea, in his possession, his subjects carried on a lucrative trade with the rich countries on the shores of the Indian Ocean ; and in order to facilitate commercial intercourse between the eastern and western portions of his posses sions, he founded or rebuilt various cities, one of which, Tadmor, in an oasis of the Syrian desert, is supposed to be identical with the since famous Balmyra, whose re markable ruins are the solitary witnesses of its ancient grandeur. The chief of these ruins are the remains of the grand Temple of the Sun. The entrance to this temple was supported by four fluted Ionic pillars, and adorned with rich carvings of vine leaves and clusters of grapes in bold and spirited relief. And now, behold, from towering hill, The howling city stand, In silver moonlight sleeping still, So beautiful and grand ; No sadder sight has earth than this : 'Tis Tadmor of the wilderness. 262 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Half buried in the flowerless sand Whirled by the eddying blast, Behold her marble columns stand, Huge relics of the past ; And o'er her gates of solid stone The sculptured eagle fronts the sun. Jesse E. Dow. The interest which the reign of Solomon awakened in other countries is illustrated in the remarkable visit of the Queen of Sheba,1 who more than confirmed, in the words which slie addressed to Solomon, all that had been said of him : " Behold the half was not told me : thy wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard." [990 b.c] From Sheba a distant report Of Solomon's glory and fame Invited the queen to his court ; But all was outdone when she came. She cried, with a pleasing surprise, When first she before him appeared, " How much what I see with my eyes Surpasses the rumor I heard !" When once to. Jerusalem come, The treasure and train she had brought, The wealth she possessed at home, No longer had place in her thought ; His house, his attendants, his throne, All struck her with wonder and awe ; The glory of Solomon shone In every object she saw. 1 The Queen of Sheba ruled in Southern Arabia, and hence "she came (a distance of nearly a thousand miles) from the uttermost parts of the earth," as then known, to hear the wisdom of Solomon. (Matt. xii. 42; Luke, xii. 31.) — Fausset. (See 1 Kings, x., and 2 Chron. ix.) FIRST AND. SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 263 But Solomon most she admired, Whose spirit conducted the whole ; His wisdom, which God had inspired, His bounty and greatness of soul. Of all the hard questions she put A ready solution he showed ; Exceeded her wish and her suit, And more than she asked him bestowed. John Newton. Of the influences of Solomon's reign upon his own country and people we find the following interesting view : " The reign of Solomon has sometimes been called the Augustan age of the Jewish nation. But there was this peculiarity, that Solomon was not only its Augustus, but its Aristotle. With the accession of Solomon a new world of thought was opened to the Israelites. The cur tain which divided them from the surrounding nations was suddenly rent asunder. The wonders of Egypt, the commerce of Tyre, the romance of Arabia — nay, it is even possible, the Homeric age of Greece — became visi ble. * * * Not only in his own age, but long afterward, did the recollection of that serene reign keep alive the idea of a just king before the eyes of the people, and enable them to understand how there should once again appear, at the close of their history, a still greater Son of David." — Stanley. Solomon was as conspicuous for his learning and moral wisdom as for his magnificence and success as a ruler : " History recognized in Solomon the great poet, natu ralist, and moral philosopher of his time. His poetry, consisting of one thousand and five songs, has entirely perished, with the exception of his epithalamium,1 and, 1 Ep-i-tlia-W -mi-um, a nuptial soDg, here referring to the Song of Solomon, " the song of songs," which has generally been regarded as a mystical pre figuring of the union of Christ and the Church. 264 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. perhaps, some of the Psalms. His natural history of plants and animals has suffered the same fate. But the greater portions of the Book of Proverbs, and Eecle siastes, have preserved the conclusions of his moral wis dom." — Milman. IV. SOLOMON'S APOSTASY AND DEATH. But even Solomon, with all bis professed moral wis dom, was corrupted by prosperity, and in his latter days was seduced, by bis numerous "strange wives," to for sake the God of his fathers : Women, when nothing else, beguiled the heart Of wisest Solomon, and made him build, And made him bow unto Philistia's gods. Milton. He became an idolater, and then enemies rose up against him on every side. A revolt was organized in Edom : an adventurer seized Damascus, and formed a new kingdom there; and the prophet Ahijah foretold •that the kingdom of Israel should be rent, and the do minion of ten of the twelve tribes be given to Jero boam, of the tribe of Ephraim.' Solomon died after a reign of forty years, aged about sixty. [975 B.C.] His reign was glorious in the glitter and splendor of its magnificence; but it had none of those qualities which form the basis of a prosperous and enduring kingdom. On the contrary, it was corrupt, despotic, and fast tending to an oppressive absolutism. Hence, as Dr. Milman observes, " with Solomon expired the glory and power of the Jewish empire — that empire which had extended from the shores of the Euphrates to the Mediterranean, from the foot of Lebanon to the des ert bordering on Egypt." An Arabian tradition relates 1 1 Kings, xi. 11 and 29-31. FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 265 of Solomon, that in the staff on which he leaned there was a worm that was secretly gnawing it asunder. " The legend is an apt emblem," says Dean Stanley, " of the dark end of Solomon's reign. As the record of his gran deur contains a recognition of the interest and value of secular wisdom and magnificence, so the record of his decline and fall contains the most striking witness to the instability of all power that is divorced from moral and religious principle. As Bacon is, in English history, ' The wisest, greatest, meanest of mankind,' so is Solomon in Jewish and sacred history." On the death of Solomon, his son Behoboam came to the throne ; and, as the prophet had predicted, the ten northern tribes chose Jeroboam for their king.1 Israel and Judah, with which latter was united the tribe of Benjamin, thus became distinct kingdoms. The separa tion thus effected is called "The Bevolt of the Ten Tribes." [975 b.c] These tribes henceforth constitute what is known as the Kingdom of Israel. V. THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL. The history of this kingdom is little else than a repe tition of calamities and revolutions. Its kings were all idolaters, although constantly warned, by the prophets who rose up from time to time, of the consequences of their wickedness. But the cup of Israel's iniquity was not really full until the time of King Ahab, some sixty years or more after the revolt, during whose reign the most abominable idolatries were practised, and the proph ets were persecuted and put to death. Ahab married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, King of Sidon ; and to this stern and fanatical woman may be charged the evil 1 1 Kings, xii. ; 2 Chron. x. I.— 12 266 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. acts of Ahab's reign. She established the Phoenician idolatry on a grand scale at her husband's court,1 main taining at her table four hundred and fifty of tbe proph ets of Baal, and four hundred of "tbe prophets of the groves.'" " Jezebel united in herself," says De. Taylorj " the strongest intellectual powers, the ^fiercest passions, and the most fiery will, while her moral sense was hard ened almost into insensibility. With her 'I dare not? never waited on ' I would ;' and, no matter what stood in the way of the attainment of her designs, she would trample down every obstacle and press . forward, even through a ' mire of blood,' to the object of her ambition; She may be regarded as the Lady Macbeth of history; only, as it seems to me, there was ' less of ' the milk of human kindness ' in her breast than the great dramatist has put into that of bis striking creation ; and Jezebel would not have come back, shivering, with the dry dag ger in her hand, saying, ' Had he not resembled my fa ther as he slept, I'd done it.' Without the least misgiv ing she would have plunged it into the sleeper t6 the hilt ! With such an ally the Baal mission made great progress. The people, indeed, Were largely ready for such idolatiy. Their hearts had long been set on out ward magnificence and power ; aud so, in accepting Baal for their god, they only gave tlieir outward homage where they had long been giving their inward adora tion ; and the mass of the community made no complaint when they saw well-nigh a thousand priests supported from the royal funds."1 ' 1 Kings, xvi. 30-33. 2 That is, the prophets otAstar'te, or Ash'toreth, the chief goddess, moon goddess, or "queen of heaven," of the Phoenicians. See 1 Sam. xxi. 10; 1 Kings, xi. 5; Jer. vii. 18. 6 ' ' With these Came Ashtoreth, whom the Phoenicians called ABtai'te, queen of heaven, with cresccuthorns. Milton. ' "Elijah tbe Prophet," p. 11, by Rev. W. M. Taylor, D.D. FIRST AND. SECOND OF KINGS, AND- CHRONICLES. 267 VI. THE PROPHET ELIJAH. " It is reserved for the heathen Jezebel," says Dean Stanley, " to exemplify the spirit of persecution in its most direct form. The prophets who had hitherto held their own in peril were hunted down as the chief ene mies of the new religion, and now began those hidings in caves and dens of the earth. A hundred fugitives might have been seen, broken up into two companies, guided by the friendly hand of Obadiab, the chief min ister of Ahab's court, the Sebastian of this Jewish Dio cletian, and hid in spacious caverns, probably among the clefts of Carmel." But at this season of crime there ap peared on the stage of Jewish history the very chief of the prophets, who has been characterized as " the loftiest, sternest spirit of the True Faith, raised up face to face with the proudest and fiercest spirit of the old Asiatic paganism." Against Jezebel rose up Elijah the Tishbite. "Elijah was born and bred," observes Milman, "we know not where (of the place from whicli be was called the Tishbite there is no record), but it was in the wild, free mountain pastures of Gilead that the spirit fell upon the seer. He was not of the race of the prophets; he was trained in no school of the prophets; he had not been educated to his spiritual wisdom ; we hear nothing of his powers of music; there is no record of any of those snblime bursts of poetry which distinguished the later prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah. He appears sud denly, abruptly; his language is brief, plain, rude. It should seem that his outward appearance was appalling. He was above the common height of man. His dress was that of the desert herdsman ; he had long, wild hair, the sheepskin and the leathern girdle about his loins, and the coarse mantle of hair -cloth, which fell from and hung in its dark folds around his massy shoulders." 268 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Elijah suddenly appeared before Ahab, perhaps in his ivory palace, and, in the name of Jehovah, announced this impending judgment : " As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word."1 [910 b. o.J The Tishbite dread, Elijah, stood in Ahab's ivory hall : His cloak the skin of mountain-goat, his robe a mohair pall ; His garb around his sinewy loins a raw-hide belt confined ; His hair and beard, like raven plumes, streamed dark along tho wind ; * A strong acacia's spiky stem, scarce smoothed, was in his hand ; His feet were fleshless, callous, bare, and tawny as the sand; His brow, a soaring crag, o'erhung his swart and craggy chest, And 'neath its shades his eyes gleamed keen as eagles' from their nest. Remote from courts, corruption, crime, in that high shepherd land, With God alone, his soul had grown to stature bold and grand. Geobge Lansing Taylob. Having delivered his bold message, Elijah " vanished like an apparition." " It was," as Wilberforce has said, " like the flash of the lightning, sharp as the blazing sword in its sudden vividness, but not tarrying for a mo ment, revealing everything, and gone as it reveals it."a Elijah. fled to his hiding-place at the brook Cherith,3 east of the Jordan, and beyond Ahab's reach, where he was miraculously fed by ravens. Lie next repaired to Zar- ephath, between Tyre and Sidon, where he dwelt with a widow, whose barrel of meal and cruse of oil he mi raculously replenished, and whose dead son he restored 1 1 Kings, xvii. 1. 5 Wilberforce's "Heroes of Hebrew History," p. 328. 3 C/ierith, probably east of the Jordan, although local traditions place it west of that river. FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 269 to life. Eastern tradition states that the widow's son, thus saved, grew up to be the prophet Jonah. The poet Keble refers to these miracles of Elijah, and draws from them a moral for the poor and suffering of all time : •Lo, cast at random on the wild sea sand A child low wailing lies : Around, with eye forlorn aud feeble hand, Scarce heeding its faint cries, The widow'd mother in the wilderness Gathers dry boughs, their last sad meal to dress. But who is this that comes with mantle rude And vigil-wasted air ? Who to the famished cries, "Come, give me food ; I with thy child would share ?" She bounteous gives : but hard he seems of heart Who of such scanty store would crave a part- Haply the child his little hand holds forth, That all his own may be. Nay, simple one, thy mother's faith is worth Healing and life to thee. That handful given, for years insures thee bread ; That drop of oil shall raise thee from the dead. For in yon haggard form He begs unseen, To whom for life we kneel : Que little cake He asks with lowly mien, Who blesses every meal. Lavish for Him, ye poor, your children's store, So shall your cruse for many a day run o'er. A beautiful application of the moral to be drawn from the story has also been made by the authoress of the Schonberg - Cotta Family, in a little poem from which we extract the following; lines : 270 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Is thy cruse of comfort failing? Rise and share it with an other, And through all the years of famine it shall serve thee and thy brother. Love divine will fill thy storehouse, or thy handful still renew ; Scanty fare for one will often make a royal feast for two. For the heart grows rich in giving ; all its wealth is living grain ; Seeds which mildew in the garner, scattered, fill with gold the plain. Is thy burden hard and heavy ? Do thy steps drag wearily ? Help to bear thy brother's burden ; God will bear both it and thee. Numb and weary on the mountains, wouldst thou sleep amidst the snow ? Chafe that frozen form beside thee, and together both shall glow. Art thou stricken in life's battle ? Many wounded round thee moan ; Lavish on their wounds thy balsam, and that balm shall heal thine own. Mrs. Chaeles. VII. ELIJAH AND THE PRIESTS OF BAAL. After three and a half years of drought and famine, Elijah again «boldly appeared before the apostate, Ahab, and challenged the priests of Baal to meet him on Mount Carmel,1 in the sight of all the people, and there determine the respective claims of the prophets of the Lord and those of Baal, the sun-god. a [906 b.c] Then came the word, " Elijah calls !" In haste the monarch turned. " Art thou the troubler of this land ?" in instant rage he cries, " Not I, but thou and all thy house," that iron lip replies ; 1 Mount Carmel, a range of hills of western Central Palestine, that end in a promontory or cape extending into the Mediterranean. 2 For an account of tlie prophet's contest with the priests of Baal see FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 271 "Because1 Jehovah's laws ye scorn, in Baal to delight! Go, bring all Israel now to me, on Carmel's hallowed height ; Bring Baal's seers, four hundred men and fifty, bring them all, And those four hundred more who feast in Jezebel's lewd hall." Gbokge L. Tatlok. The challenge was accepted, aud four hundred and fifty of the false prophets assembled to contend against the one solitary man of God. The test was to be the kind ling, by fire from heaven, of sacrifices laid on two altars. The crowds are met on Carmel ; 'tis a scene Such as again will be not, nor hath been. From utmost Dan to far Be'er-she'ba's bound, Wherever Israel's name and race are found, They gather fast ; and pour their human tide, In swelling waves, on Carmel's grassy side. There sits the monarch on his ivory throne, With eye of evil fire and heart of stone ; Around, the ranks of white-stoled prophets stand, That lift to heathen Baal apostate hand ; While those who consecrate the groves are seen In rival pride to circle round his queen. Silence through all that mighty concourse spread, And stillness,- such as fills the heart with dread, As to the centre of that ring they scan, Slowly advancing still, that single man ! They gaze with awe; and as the lines they trace Of grief and thought upon the well-known face, Dim recollection dawns of former days, Ere Israel left his God for crooked ways ; Of meekest Moses with his rod of might, The guiding cloud by day, the fire by night ; Of strong-armed Joshua conquering in the field, Jephthah and Samson, Israel's sword and shield ; Of David's holy head, God's favorite son, Andall the royal pomp of Solomon. 272 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. And when they heard, in tones so deep and clear The utmost verge of that vast host might hear, That single, coarse-clad, friendless prophet throw A proud defiance on his mighty foe — Dare every friend by magic art or spell, To struggle for the knee of Israel — There was a hush, a throbbing of the heart, A breath suppressed", a half unconscious start, A pang of hope ! a self-convicting prayer, That He, their long-scorned God, might triumph there ! Oh, with what anxious heart and eager eye They watch each spell that Baal's prophets try ! Now every ear is turned to catch the sound Of Baal thundering from the yawning ground; Now every eye is gazing on the pyre, To catch the glance of his consuming fire ; But still no sound is heard, no sight is seen ; The earth is dumb, the elements serene ; And doubt, and grief, and hate the prophets rouse To tenfold energy of prayer and vows — Grief for their shame, and hatred tp have borne Elijah's mockery and the people's scorn ! Anon. All daylong,*goaded by the mockery of Elijah, did the priests of Baal continue to chant their hymns, and, with frantic cries, wild dances, and cutting themselves with knives and lancets, summon their god to reveal his power;' but the sun descended, till at length it sank into the waves of the sea, and their altar remained cold and nnkindled. Then came the grand triumph of the prophet of God : Elijah stood erect, Terrible earnestness and majesty Now sitting on his brow. Twelve stones he took — Mark, twelve ; this challenge was in the full name 273 Of Israel, as it stooped to David's hand, And with one mighty throb the multitude Approved Elijah's purpose ; — twelve smooth stones From Carmel's side, and with them he repaired Jehovah's altar. Then at his command We filled the trench with water, till it ran Around the altar like a surging stream, And washed the stones and soaked the wood beneath The sacrifice. He knelt upon the ridge, Against the golden, placid sky of eve ; Brief, simple, clear, his words arose to heaven : " That God would testify unto himself And to his prophet, and would turn the hearts Of his own people back to him again." Scarce had he spoken when a broad white glare, Scattering earth's light like darkness in his path, Keener than lightning, calmer than the dawn, The sword of God that proveth him by fire, That proveth him by fire in every age, Stooped from above and touched the sacrifice. In the white blaze the sun grew wan, and hung Like a pale moon upon the glimmering sky. The fierce flame licked the water up ; the wood Crackled aloft, the very altar stones Glowed fiery red. The pillared smoke arose Through the flushed air in\towering flawlessness, Then spread out, calm and broad, like God's own face Breathing acceptance. But Baal's prophets shook In utter fear, and smote upon their breasts, And grovelled, moaning, down into the dust. Clear broke the shout from that great multitude, " Jah is the God ! Jehovah he is God !" Bathe' s Bays of Jezebel. By the command of Elijah the people rose against the idolatrous priests, took them down from the mount, and 12* 274 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. put them to death on the banks of the brook Kishon,1 according to the law.2 And Kishon's ancient stream, that erst whelmed Jabin's3 proud array, With impious gore ran red once more on God's great reckoning day. We are next told that "Elijah went up to the top of Carmel," where he bowed himself down upon the earth, and prayed earnestly for the rain that for three long years had been withheld from the guilty land : He bowed, he prayed, but still the sky was clear, Nor sound of gust, nor sight of cloud, was near; Then from the earth on which he leaned his head The prophet rose, and to his servant said, " Haste to the summit, the horizon sweep, And cast thine eye along the distant deep." He went, he gazed upon the sky and main, Still there was nothing — not a sign of rain. Elijah said, " Go seven times," and bowed His face between his knees ; and now a cloud Small as a human hand at first appeared, But quick as thought the mighty column reared, Along the sky — and black and wide it spread, While the wind whistled round the mountain's head. Joshua Marsden. The prayer of the man of God had been heard : the whole country was soon refreshed by abundant rain, and the curse was removed from the land. Elijah returned with Ahab to Jezreel, running before his chariot. But Jezebel was so enraged at his success and the destruction of her prophets, that, through fear 1 1 Kings, xviii. 40. Kishon, etc., see note, p. 172. = Deut. xiii. 6-11, 15 ; xviii. 20. « Judges, iv. 2, 7. See also p. 173. FIRST AND. SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 275 of her, he once more fled into the wilderness. Here he sat down under a juniper -tree, and, in his discourage ment, prayed earnestly for death ; but an angel of the Lord touched him, gave him food and drink, and bade him rise and go to Mount Horeb.1 Thrilled with the seraph's voice, Elijah rose, And from his waking eyes the vision fled : ' No longer, vexed with shame' and Israel's woes, Called he on God to name him with the dead ! But ate and drank, and on his journey sped, Sustained with food the angel had supplied ; And by tho Lord in spirit to Horeb led, A cave he found within the mountain-side, And lonely in his grief did there awhile abide.2 Richard Howitt. VIII. THE SCENE ON MOUNT HOREB. On Horeb, amid wondrous manifestations of Divine power, Elijah received a message from Jehovah. Called forth from the cave by a warning like that which came to Moses on the same spot,3 the prophet took his stand on the mountain-side, and there awaited the signs of the divine presence. The scene that followed has been de scribed by the eloquent German divine, Krummacher, in the following words : "No sooner is the prophet gone forth on the moun tain-side than signs occur which announce to him the approach of the Almighty. The sacred historian de picts in simple language a most sublime scene. The first sign was a tremendous wind. The mountain tem pest breaks forth, and the bursting roeks thunder, as if the four winds, having been confined there, had in an in stant broken from their prisons to fight together. The 1 Horeb, a peak of the Sinaitic range. See p. 133. 2 1 Kings, xix. 4-S. , 3 Exod. iii. 1, 8. 276 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. clouds are driven about in the sky, like squadrons of combatants rushing to the conflict. The sandy desert is like a raging sea, tossing its curling billows to the sky; and Sinai is agitated, as if the terrors of the law-giving were renewing around it. The prophet feels the maj esty of Jehovah ; it is awful and appalling; It is not a feeling of peace, and of the Lord's blissful nearness, wliich possesses Elijah's soul in this tremendous scene, but it is rather a feeling of distressing distance. 'A strong wind went before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.' " The terrors of an earthquake next ensue. The very foundations of the hills shake and are removed. The mountains and the rocks which were rent by the mighty wind threaten now to fall upon one another. Hills sink down, and valleys rise ; chasms yawn, and horrible depths unfold, as if the earth were removed out of his place. The prophet, surrounded by the ruins of nature, feels still more of that divine Majesty which 'looketh upon the earth and it trembleth,' but he still remains without any gracious communication of Jehovah in the inner man. The earthquake was only the second herald of the Deity. Jt went before the Lord, ' but the Lord was not in the earthquake.' " When this had ceased an awful fire passes by. As tbe winds had done before, so now the flames come upon him from every side, and the deepest shades of night are turned into the light of day. Elijah, lost in adoring as tonishment, beholds the awfully sublime spectacle, and the inmost sensation of his heart must-have been that of surprise and dread. But he enjoys, as yet, no delightful sensation of the divine presence, for 'the Lord was not in the fire.' " The fire disappears, and tranquillity, like the still ness of the sanctuary, spreads gradually over all nature; FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 277 and it seems as if every hill and dale, yea, the whole earth and skies, lay in silent homage at the footstool of eternal Majesty. The very mountains seem to worship ; the whole scene is hushed to profound peace; and in the deep stillness of the desert air comes the whisper of a 'still, small voice.' Wrapping his face in the ample folds of his mantle, in token of reverential awe and adoring wonder, Elijah stepped forth from the shelter ing rock, ' and stood at the entrance of the cave ' to re ceive the divine communication." ELIJAH'S INTERVIEW WITU GOD. On Horeb's rock the prophet stood — The Lord before him passed ; A hurricane in angry mood Swept by him strong and fast ; The forest fell before its force, The rocks were shivered in its course — God was not in tbe blast : Announcing danger, wreck, and death, 'Twas but the whirlwind of his breath. It ceased. The air grew mute — a cloud Came, muffling up the sun ; When, through the mountain, deep and loud, ' An earthquake thundered on ; The frighted eagle sprang in air, The wolf ran howling from his lair — God was not in the storm : 'Twas but the rolling of his car, Tho trampling of his steeds from far. 'Twas still again, and Nature stood And calmed her ruffled frame ; When swift from heaven a fiery flood To earth devouring came ; 278 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Down to the depth the ocean fled ; The sickening sun looked wan and dead- Yet God filled not the flame : 'Twas but the terror, of his eye That lightened through the troubled sky. At last a voice all still and small Rose sweetly on the ear, Yet rose so shrill and clear that all In heaven and earth might hear ; It spoke of peace, it spoke of love, It spoke as angels speak above — And God himself was there ; For oh ! it was a Father's voice, That bade the trembling world rejoice. Campbell. The message that Elijah received on this occasion di rected him to anoint Hazael to be King over Syria ; to anoint Jehu to be King over Israel; and to anoint Elisha to be a prophet to succeed Elijah. It was far ther announced to him, to show that his labors for God had not been in vain, that there were left in Israel seven thousand who had not bowed the knee unto Baal. Eli jah found EliSha ploughing in the field, and as he pass ed by him he cast his mantle upon him. " Then Elisha rose and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him." IX. THE DOOM OF THE HOUSE OF AHAB. Israel was now prosperous, and Ahab had been victori ous in two wars with a powerful confederacy of Syrian kings. But he still "worked wickedness in the sight of the Lord," and his final doom was called forth by an act of great injustice that was followed by a worse crime. !Naboth, a Jezreelite of distinguished birth, pos sessed a vineyard adjoining the grounds of the king, FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 279 which the latter desired to purchase, but which N/aboth stubbornly refused to part with. But Jezebel was equal to the emergency. "In the pride. of her con scious superiority to the weakness of. her husband," as one writer has expressed it, she went to her husband and said, " ' Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Is rael?. Arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry ; I will give thee the vineyard of JSTaboth the Jezreelite.' '" She then called an assembly of the chiefs and nobles of the kingdom, at the head of which, by virtue of his high birth and rank, Kaboth himself was placed. Then and there he was charged with a crime punishable by death — treason, or blasphemy against the king — the necessary witnesses were hired to prove the charge, and Naboth and his two sons were taken from the city and were stoned to death. When Jezebel told Ahab of the death of Naboth, Ahab rose up and went in state to visit his new possession, accompanied by the officers of his court. Among the latter was Jehu, who, years afterward, as We shall see, became the avenger of the prophets, and the executioner of Jehovah's wrath upon the house of Ahab. What Ahab saw and heard, as he drew near to the vineyard, Dean Stanley thus describes : " There is a solitary figure standing on the deserted ground, as though the dead Naboth had risen from his bloody grave to warn off the king from his unlawful gains. It is Elijah. The well-known prophet is there to utter tlie doom of the house of Ahab. He comes, we know not whence. He has arisen ; he has come down at the word of the Lord to meet the king, as once before, in this second crisis of his life. Few and short were the words that fell from those awful lips. 1 1 Kings, xxi. 7. For locality of Jezreel see note, p. 223. 280 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. But they must have fallen like tbunder-bolts on that royal company, for they were never forgotten.1 On Ahab himself the curse fell with the heaviest weight, and he burst at once into the familiar cry, 'Hast thou found me, 0 mine enemy ?' " The rest of the scene De. Milman depicts as follows : " ' / have found thee,' answered the prophet. He then denounced the divine vengeance, and proclaimed that the dogs should lick the blood of Ahab as they had licked the blood of Naboth ; that a fate as terrible awaited his queen, Jezebel, near the walls of Jezreel; and that the whole royal family should perish by a vio lent death. Ahab bowed down before the prophet, ar rayed himself in sackcloth, and showed every outward and inward sign of bitter penitence. His proud de meanor was subdued, and the haughty king became meek and gentle." X. THE DEATH OF AHAB. ¦ The apparent penitence and sorrow of Ahab were rec ognized by the Lord, who spared him the grief of wit nessing the destruction of his household, by postponing that event until after his death.8 But as against Ahab himself the prophecy was fulfilled in about three years after its delivery. An alliance had been formed be tween the Kings of Israel and Judah, for the purpose of warring against the Syrians. This war was advised and urged by about four hundred of the prophets of Baal, and opposed by only one voice — not that of the mighty Elijah, but of an obscure prophet named Mica'iah, who foretold the death of Ahab, and for this act was thrown into prison. A great battle was fought at Bainoth-Gil- » See 2 Kings, ix. 24-26. = 1 Kings, xxi. 29. FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 281 ead.1 Ahab went into the battle in disguise; but he was soon mortally wounded by an archer, " who drew his bow at a venture, and smote the King of Israel." [897 b.c] By robe or plume or equipage of king All undistinguished, he eludes the eyes Of captains bent to o'erpower him or surprise ; When lo ! an arrow from an unknown string, Drawn at a venture, on swift, silent wing Right to a crevice in his armor flies. God's word of doom had fallen, and no disguise, No power or wisdom, could a respite bring. Wilton. The king remained on the field, however, until night fall, when, as the sun went down, he expired. The her ald of the army proclaimed his death in these startling words : " Every man to his city, and every man to his country, for the king is dead." The body of the king was carried back, across the Jordan, to Samaria; bis armor and chariot were washed in the pool there, and there, according to the prediction of Elijah, the dogs licked his blood.3 II. KINGS. I. THE TRANSLATION OF ELIJAH. Ahab was succeeded by his son Ahazi'ah, who reigned only two years. The time of Elijah's departure was now at hand. The last public act of his ministry had been to call down fire from heaven to consume the 1 1 Kings, xxii. 34-37. liamoth- Gilead, a town and fortress in Gilead, east of the Jordan, and a little south of "the brook Jabbok." 2 1 Kings, xxi. 19, and xxii. 38. Samaria, the metropolis of the kingdom of Israel, was in Central Palestine, about midway between the Jordan and the Mediterranean. 282 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. bands of armed men that Ahaziah had sent to seize him. His wanderings were now over, and no more was that awful figure to be seen on Carmel, or that stern voice to be heard in Jezreel. Servant of God, thy fight is fought ; Servant of God, thy crown is wrought : Lingerest thou yet upon the joyless earth ? Thy place is now in heaven's high bowers, Far from this mournful world of ours, Among the sons of light, that have a different birth. Thy human task is ended now ; No more the lightning of thy brow Shall wake strange terror in the soul of guilt; As when thou wentest forth to fling The curse upon the shuddering king, Yet reeking with the blood, the sinless blood, he spilt. And all that thou hast braved and borne, The heathen's hate, the heathen's scorn, The wasting famine, and the galling chain, Henceforth these things to thee shall seem The phantoms of a by-gone dream ; And rest shall be for toil, and blessedness for pain. Winthrop Mackworth Praed. Followed by Elisha, the old prophet set out from Gil gal1 for the scene of the closing of his earthly career, which occurred on the east of tbe Jordan.2 [896 b.c] Of his last days, and the manner of his departure from earth, we append the following graphic account : " No dread of the mournful parting could deter Eli sha from seeing with his own eyes the last moments, and of hearing with his own ears the last words, of the prophet of God. ' And they two went on.' They de- 1 Not the Gilgal below Jericho, but one farther north, beyond Bethel. 2 2 Kings, ii. 1-12. AND CHRONICLES. 283 scended the long, weary slopes that lead from Jericho to the Jordan. They stood by its rushing stream ; but they were not to be detained by even this barrier. The aged Gileadite nngirded the rough mantle from around his shaggy frame, and rolled it together as if in a wonder working staff ; he smote the turbid river, as though it were a living enemy: and 'the waters divided hither and thither, and they two went over on dry ground.' Now they were under the shade of those hills of Fisgah and of Gilead, where, in former times, a prophet, greater even than Elijah, had been withdrawn from the eyes of his people. Elijah knew that his hour had come; that he was to go whither Moses had gone before him. 'And they still went on' — upward, it may be, toward the east ern hills, talking as they went — and ' behold there ap peared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder.' Then came a furious storm. 'And Elijah went up in the tempest into heaven.' As in the fiery force and energy of his earthly career, so in its mystery, the end corresponded to the beginning. He had appeared in history we know not whence, and now he is gone in like manner. As of Moses, so of Elijah — 'no man knoweth his sepulchre; no man knoweth his resting-place until this day.' " — Stanley. 'Twas at high noon, the day serene and fair, Mountains of lum'nous clouds rolled in the air, When on a sudden, from the radiant skies, Superior light flashed in Elisha's eyes ; The heavens were cleft, and from th' imperial throne A stream of glory, dazzling splendor, shone : Beams of ten thousand suns shot round about, The sun and every blazoned cloud went out : Bright hosts of angels lined the heavenly way, To guard the saint up to eternal day. Benjamin Colman. 284 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. The close of the career of Elijah was the beginning of that of Elisha. He took up the mantle that fell from Elijah, and turned back to the Jordan, whose waters he smote with it, as Elijah had done, and passed over. The act was witnessed by a number of young prophets, who had beheld, from across the Jordan, the scene of Elijah's departure. Henceforth they accepted Elisha as their teacher and master. II. ELISHA THE PROPHET. Jehoram succeeded Ahaziah as king, and during his reign of twelve years a rebellion of the Moabites was subdued with the aid of Judah, and a severe war with the Syrians resulted favorably, to Israel. During this period the prophet Elisha performed a succession of miracles in aid of Israel. On one occasion the Syrian monarch made an attempt to surprise the camp of the Israelites by night, only to find it deserted. As one of the king's advisers attributed the ill success of the movement to the agency of Elisha, the king sent a body of troops to seize the prophet at Dothan ;' but there the Syrians were^ smitten with blindness, at the prayer of Elisha, who then led the unresisting multitude to Sama ria. Here he would not allow the King of Israel to harm them, but, having furnished them with food, he sent them into tlieir own country. Ceoly's poetical conception of the entire narrative is a graphic one: 'Tis night ! and the tempest Is rushing through heaven ; The oaks on the hills By the lightning are riven : 1 2 Kings, vi. 8-23. Dothan, about ten miles a little east of north from Samaria. FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 285- The rain in the valleys Falls heavy and chill ; And the cataract bursts In the bed of the rill. Wild home for the Syrian On Hermon's white brow ! While the gust bears along The scoff and the song, From Israel's proud tents, In the forest below. 'Tis midnight, deep midnight, The hour for surprise ! From the storm-shattered ridges The warriors arise : Now the Syrian is marching Through storm and through snow, On the revel of Israel To strike the death-blow. No light guides his march But the tempest's red glare ; No ear .hears his tramp In Israel's doomed camp. The hunters have driven The deer to its lair ! Now, wild as the wolf When the sheepfold is nigh, They shout for the charge, " Let the Israelite die !" Still no trumpet has answered, No lance has been flung, No torch has been- lighted, No arrow has sprung. They pour on the rampart — The tents stand alone ! 286. MOSAICS. OF BIBLE HISTORY. Through the gust and the haze The watch-fires still blaze, . But the warriors of Israel Like shadows are gone. Then spake the king's sorcerer : " King, wouldst thou hear How these Israelite slaves Have escaped from thy spear ? Know their prophet Elisha Has spells to unbind The words on thy lips, Nay, the thought in thy mind. Though the secret were deep As the grave, 'twould be known. The serpent has stings, And the vulture has wings, But he's serpent and vulture . To thee and thy throne !" 'Tis morning : they speed Over mountain and plain. 'Tis noon : yet no chieftain Has slackened the rein. 'Tik eve : and the valleys Are dropping with wine, But no chieftain has tasted The fruit bf the vine. To Dothan the horseman And mailed charioteer Are speeding like fire ; Their banquet is ire, For the scorn er of Syria, Elisha, is there ! Hark ! the ramparts are scaled, All rush to the gate; FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 287 'Tis the moment of terror, The moment of fate ! And men tore their garments And women their hair ; But Elisha came forth From the chamber of prayer. Like thunder his voice O'er the multitude rolled : " Jehovah, arise ! Pour thy light on our eyes ; And show Israel the shepherds Who watch o'er thy fold." The mountain horizon Was burning with light ; On its brow stood the Syrian, In glory and might; Proud waved to the sunset The banner's rich fold ; Proud blazed the gemmed turbans, And corselets of gold. And loud rose the taunt Of the infidel's tongue : " Ho ! Israelite slaves, This night sees your graves ; And first from your walls Shall Elisha be flung !" At the word stooped a cloud From the crown of the sky ! In its splendors the sun Seemed to vanish and die. From its depths poured a host Upon mountain and plain ; There was seen the starred helm, And the skv-tinctured vane, , 288 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. And the armor of fire, And the seraph's bright wing ; But no eyeball dared gaze On the pomp of the blaze, As their banner unfolded The name of their king ! But where are the foe ? Like a forest o'erblown, In their ranks, as they stood, Their squadrons are strown ! No banner is lifted, No chariot is wheeled ; On earth lies the turban, On earth lies the shield. There is terror before them, And terror behind. Now, proud homicide, Thou art smote in thy pride, The Syrian is captive, His hosts are struck blind ! There were writhings of agony, Yells of despair, And eyeballs turned up, As if seeking the glare ; And sorcerers howling To Baal in vain, The madness bf tongue, And the madness of brain ! And groups of pale chieftains, Awaiting in gloom, Till the Israelite sword In their bosoms was gored; While the shoutings of Dothan Seemed shoutings of doom ! FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 289 But they know not Elisha, They knew not his Lord ; Unsubdued by the sword, They were spared by the word. Sad, silent, and slow, Like a funeral train, They were led by the hand Over mountain aud plain. Alone by the might Of Jehovah o'erthrown ; No drop of their blood Stained forest or flood, Till the host o'er the borders Of Israel were gone ! III. THE SHUNAMITE'S SON RESTORED TO LIFE. Elisha also performed many miracles of a general character; among which were the healing of the lep rosy of N/aaman, the captain of the Syrian host, and the restoration to life of the son of a Shunamite1 woman. The latter miracle, and some of the incidents that pre cede it, form the subject of a fine descriptive poem by Willis, from which the annexed extracts are taken : It was a sultry day of summer-time, The sun poured down upon the ripened grain With quivering heat, and the suspended leaves Hung motionless. The cattle on the hills Stood still, and the divided flock were all Laying their nostrils to the cooling roots ; And the sky looked like silver, and it seemed As if the air had fainted, and the pulse Of nature had run down and ceased to beat. 1 2 Kings, iv. 8-37. " Shunamite," so called from Shunem, a city eight or nine miles south-west of Mount Tabor, near Nain and Endor. I.— 13 290 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. "Haste thee, my child!" the Syrian mother said; "Thy father is athirst" — and, from the depths Of the cool well under the leaning tree, She drew refreshing water, and with thoughts Of God's sweet goodness stirring at her heart, She blessed her beautiful boy, and to his way Committed him. ' And he went lightly on, With his soft hands pressed closely to the cool Stone vessel, and his little naked feet Lifted with watchful care ; and o'er the hills, And through the light green hollows where the lambs Go for the tender grass, he kept his way, Wiling its distance with his simple thoughts, Till, in the wilderness of sheaves, with brows Throbbing with heat, he set his burden down. Childhood is restless ever, and the boy Stayed not within the shadow of the tree, But with a joyous industry went forth Into the reapers' places, and bound up His tiny sheaves, and plaited cunningly The pliant withes out of the shining straw — Cheering their labor on, till they forgot The heat and weariness of their stooping toil In the begtiiling of his playful mirth. Presently he was silent, and his eye Closed as with dizzy pain, and with his hand Pressed hard upon his forehead, and his breast Heaving with the suppression of a cry, He uttered a faint murmur, and fell back Upon the loosened sheaf, insensible. They bore him to his mother, and he lay Upon her knees till noon — and then he died ! The poet then proceeds to picture the mother's loving care and watchfulness, and her unbelief that her boy was really dead. She had watched every breath, and FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 291 her faith was strong that he softly slept — spared by God to be her pride for many long years to come. As she lifted his soft curls and looked upon his beauty she smiled, as if 'twere mockery to think that one so fair could perish. But at last the truth forced itself upon her : Suddenly Her hand shrunk from him, and the color fled From her fixed lip, and her supporting knees Were shook beneath her child. Her hand had touched His forehead as she dallied with his hair, And it was cold — like clay ! Slow, very slow, Came the misgiving that her child was dead. She sat a moment, and her eyes were closed In a dumb prayer for strength, and then she took His little hand and pressed it earnestly — And put her lip to his — and looked again Fearfully on him — and then, bending low, She whispered in his ear, " My son ! — my son !" And as the echo died, and not a sound Broke on the stillness, and he lay there still — Motionless on her knee — the truth would come ! And with a sharp, quick cry, as if her heart • Were crushed, she lifted him and held him close Into her bosom — with a mother's thought — As if death had no power to touch him there ! The mother laid her child on the bed of the man of God, and went out and found Elisha. The prophet went in where the child lay, and restored it to life. Then — The man of God came forth, and led the child Unto his mother, and went on his wa}r. And he was there — her beautiful — her own — Living, and smiling on her — with his arms Folded about her neck, and his warm breath Breathing upon her lips, and in her ear The music of his gentle voice once more ! 292 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. IV. THE LAST DAYS OF THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL. Shortly after these events a usurper of the Syrian throne invaded Palestine, and defeated the united forces of Judah and Israel. In this battle Jehoram was wounded, when he retired to Jezreel. The doom pronounced upon the house of Ahab by Elijah 'was now to be accomplished. By the direction of Elisha, Jelin, formerly one of Ahab's guards, was raised to the throne of Israel.1 As be rapidly advanced toward Jezreel, for "be drove furiously," he met Jehoram, who was accom panied by Ahaziah, King of Judah. Jehu slew him, and had his body cast into the vineyard of Naboth. He then entered Jezreel without opposition. Here the wicked Jezebel was put to death, and her body was given to the dogs. By the direction of Jehu all the remaining members of the house of Ahab, both in Samaria and Jezreel, including the adherents and court priests, were slain. [884 B.C.] Jehu reigned twenty-eight years, and was succeeded by bis son Jehoahaz, who reigned seventeen years, dur ing whicli time Israel was grievously oppressed by the Syrians. Jehoash, his successor, resisted the Syrians with better success than did his father, and showed a warm attachment to the now aged Elisha, who died in the latter years of this reign, but not until be had prophesied three victories for Israel, which Jehoash won over the Syrians. It was during the reign of Jeroboam II. of Israel, the fourth of Jehu's dynasty, and the son and successor of Jehoash, that both Israel and Judah were enabled to en large their borders far eastward of the Jordan, toward the Euphrates, and even to take Damascus, the Syrian 1 2 Kings, ix. FIRST AND. SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 293 capital ; for this was a period of depression for the East ern nations, and of civil wars in the Assyrian empire. About this time, also, is supposed to have occurred that sacking of the Assyrian capital, Nineveh, by the rebel lious Medes under Arbaces,1 of which there are so many legends in profane history, and on wliich Byeon founded his tragedy of Sardanapa'lus. When it became evident to this effeminate and licentious monarch that the city could be held no longer, he collected all his treasures and his women, and, placing them on an immense funereal pyre, perished with them in the flames. When about to enact this closing scene in the tragedy he is represented as soliloquizing in the following words : " My fathers ! I would not leave your ancient first abode To the defilement of usurping bondmen. If I have not kept your inheritance As ye bequeathed it, this bright part of it — Your treasure, your abode, your sacred relics Of arms and records, monuments and spoils, In which they would have revelled — I bear with me To you in that absorbing element Which most personifies the soul as leaving The least of matter unconsumed before Its fiery working : and the light of this Most royal of funereal pyres shall be Not a mere pillow formed of cloud and flame, A beacon in the horizon for a day, And then a mount of ashes, but a light To lighten ages, rebel nations, and Voluptuous princes. Time shall quench full many A people's records, and a hero's acts ; 1 According to the commonly received chronology, this event occurred about the year 820 B.C.; but writers differ greatly as to the date. But see p. 435. 294 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Sweep empire after empire, like this first Of empires, into nothing ; but even then Shall spare this deed of mine, and hold it up A problem few dare imitate, and none Despise — but, it may be, avoid the life Which led to such a consummation." . Many writers have supposed that this fall of Nineveh is the fulfilment of the prophecy contained in the second chapter of Nahum. This is the view taken of it by a late German poet, from whom we extract the following, which is a translation of a portion of the poet's vivid description of the last scene in the tragedy: And on that pyre they come to die, Beauty and wealth and majesty ! The pile is fired ; in centre there, Amid that jewelled chamber rare, That king, with all his concubines, Where gems and gold around them shine. 'Tis done ; the flame shoots to the sky, Waving like banners out on high ; The foe come on — a mighty throng — Chariot and steed they burst along. The lightning flames, the thunder rolls ADove that grave of mighty souls ; And 'mid that elemental roar Nineveh passes from the shore, A mighty wreck of days gone by, A shadow 'mid eternity. Frederick Muller. From the time of Jeroboam II. down to the accession of Hoshea, the nineteenth and last King of Israel, the kingdom was generally prosperous, although engaged in almost constant warfare with the Syrians, the Assyrians, and with the rival kingdom of Judah. Just before the beginning of the reign of Hoshea, Israel had suffered severely from the attacks of the Assyrians, and Hoshea FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 295 sought to protect his kingdom by an alliance with the King of Egypt. But to the first King of Israel the prophet Abijah had foretold that Jehovah should " root up Israel and scatter it beyond the river."1 The time was at hand for the fulfilment of this prediction. Shal- mane'ser, the then King of Assyria, invaded the kingdom, and made Hoshea tributary [728 b.c] ; a few years later he invaded it a second time with an overwhelming: force. and laid siege to the capital, Samaria. After a brave re sistance of three years the city was captured, the ten tribes were driven out of Palestine, and were carried away captive into a distant region beyond the Eu phrates. [721 b.c] Thus fell the kingdom of Israel, in the ninth year of Hoshea, and in the sixth year of the reign of Hezekiah King of Judah, after an existence of a little more than two hundred and fifty years. The fate of the ten tribes is unknown to this day, and their history remains un written. V. THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH. Turning back, now, to the kingdom of Judah, we find that Behoboam and his subjects soon fell into idolatry, aud were punished by an invasion by Shishak, the King of Egypt, who entered Jerusalem, and carried off the treasures of the Temple and the palace.3 [971 b.c] Be hoboam died after a reign of seventeen years, and was succeeded by his son, Abijah, whose first step was to make war against the kingdom of Israel. He defeated Jeroboam with terrible slaughter, killing five hundred thousand men ; and Bethel, then Israel's sacred city, fell into his hands. [957 b.c] After a short but successful reign of three years, Abijah died, and was succeeded by i 1 Kings, xiv. 15. 2 1 Kings, xiv. 25, 26. ; 2 Chron. xii. 2-4. 296 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. his son Asa, who ruled Judah prudently, checked idola try, and repelled a formidable invasion from Ethiopia. T941 b.c] After forty-one years of peace and prosper ity, the kingdom passed into the bands of the pious and wise Jehoshaphat, who, after a reign of twenty-five years, left it in a more prosperous condition than it had seen since the days of Solomon. But the otherwise accepta ble reign of Jehoshaphat was blurred by his unfortunate alliances with the house of Ahab, the ruling dynasty of Israel. " The character of Jehoshaphat," says Eausset, " stands among the highest, for piety, of Judah's kings, and the kingdom in his reign was at its zenith ; but firm ness and consistency were wanting, and this want be trayed him into the alliance with Israel, which on three occasions brought its penalty." VI. THE VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT. The supposition entertained by many that the "Valley of Jehoshaphat," so-called, derived its name from this King of Judah, is an erroneous one. The name Jehosha phat signifies " Jehovah judgeth ;" and the prophets Zechariah and Joel predict the judgment of the heathen in the "valley of Jehoshaphat;" that is, in a symbolical valley, where the judgments of Jehovah, perhaps by means of some great victory won, should be pronounced on the enemies of Israel. In later times, however, the prophecies having been applied to the final judgment, the ravine between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives has been designated as the "Valley of Jehoshaphat," and, in tbe belief that the final judgment would take place there, the Jews and Moslems have for centuries used this valley as a place of burial. The following beau tiful description of it is from the pen of the eloquent French writer, Chateaubriand : FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 297 " The Valley of Jehoshaphat has in all ages served as the burying-place to Jerusalem : you meet there, side by side, monuments of the most distant times and of the present century. The Jews still come there to die from all the corners of the earth. A stranger sells to them, for almost its weight in gold, the land which contains the bones of their fathers. Solomon planted that valley: the shadow of the Temple by which it was overhung — the torrent, called after grief, which traversed it — the Psalms which David there composed — the Lamentations of Jeremiah, which its rocks re-echoed, render it the fit ting abode of the tomb. Jesus Christ commenced his Passion in the same place: that innocent David there shed, for the expiation of our sins, those tears which the guilty David let fall for his own transgressions. Few names awaken in our minds recollections so solemn as the Valley of Jehoshaphat. It is so full of mysteries, that, according to the prophet Joel, all mankind will be assembled there before the Eternal Judge."1 Mes. Sigoueney has also described this supposed resting-place " of patriarchs, of prophets, and of kings," in the sub joined poem : Come, son of Israel, scorned in every land, Outcast and wandering — come with mournful step Down to the dark vale of Jehoshaphat, And weigh the remnant of thy hoarded gold To buy thyself a grave among the bones Of patriarchs and of prophets and of kings. It is a glorious place to take thy rest, Poor child of Abraham, 'mid those awful scenes, And sceptred monarchs, who, with Faith's keen eye Piercing the midnight darkness that o'erhung 1 "Genius of Christianity," vol. ii. p. 34. Translated by Alison, in "The Modern British Essayists," vol. ii. p. 25. 13* 298 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Messiah's coming, gave their dying flesh Unto the worm, with such a lofty trust In the strong promise of the invisible. Here are damp gales to lull thy dreamless sleep, And murmuring recollections of that lyre Whose passing sweetness bore King David's prayer Up to the ear of Heaven, and of that strain With which the weeping prophet, dirge-like, sung Doomed Zion's visioned woes. Yon rifted rocks, So faintly purpled by the westering sun, Reveal the unguarded walls, the silent towers, Where, in her stricken pomp, Jerusalem Sleeps like a palsied princess from whose head The diadem hath fallen. Still half concealed In the deep bosom of that burial-vale A fitful torrent, 'neath its time-worn arch, Hurries with hoarse tale 'mid the echoing tombs. For many years subsequent to the death of Jehosha phat we find some of the kings of Judah practising the worst idolatries, and suffering therefor the severest pun ishments ; while others, we are told, restored the worship of the true God ; and of the latter it is recorded that " God prospered their undertakings." King Uzziah was one of the prosperous kings during the first half of his long reign of fifty-three years. He dug wells in the desert, planted vineyards, waged suc cessful wars against the surrounding heathen nations, restored and fortified the walls of Jerusalem, and erect ed on them engines for discharging arrows and great stones ; and he organized a military force of more than three hundred thousand men. But his prosperity en gendered the pride wliich caused bis ruin ; for, presum ing to assume the priestly office, and having entered the holy place to burn incense at the golden altar, against the remonstrances of the priest Azariah, he was smitten FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 299 with leprosy in his forehead ; " aud Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death."1 The history of this King of Judah is briefly but well told in the following lines : The star of Judah's king rode high in plenitude and power, And lauded was his sceptre's sway in palace and in bower ; Fresh fountains in the desert waste were at his bidding sprung, And clustering vines o'er Carmel's breast a broader mantle flung. He hied him to the battle-field in all his young renown, And wild Arabia's swarthy host like blighted grass fell down. Yet when within his lifted heart the seeds of pride grew strong, And unacknowledged blessings led to arrogance and wrong, E'en to the temple's holy place with impious steps he hied, And witb a kindling censer stood fast by the altar's side : But he whose high and priestly brow the anointing oil had blest Stood forth majestic to rebuke the sacrilegious guest. "'Tis not for thee," he sternly said, "to tread this hallowed nave, And take that honor to thyself which God to Aaron gave ; 'Tis not for thee, thou mighty king, o'er Judah's realm ordained; To trample on Jehovah's law, by whom thy fathers reigned. Go hence." And from his awful eye there seemed such ire to flame As mingled with the thunder-blast when God to Sinai came. Then loud the reckless monarch stormed, and with a daring hand He swung the sacred censer high above the trembling band ; But where the burning sign of wrath did in his forehead flame, Behold ! the avenging doom of heaven, the livid plague-spot came; And low his princely head declined, in bitterness and woe, While from the temple gate he sped — a leper white as snow ! Mrs. L. H. Siqourney. 1 2 Chron. xxvi. Uzziah smitten with leprosy, 765 B.C. 300 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. At the time when Shalmane'ser, the Assyrian, invaded Israel, and made its king, Hoshea, tributary, tbe notori ously wicked Ahaz was king over Judah. [728 b.c] It is of this period that De. Milman writes, as follows, concerning the efforts of the several prophets to stay the prevailing wickedness : "As the storm darkened over the Hebrew kingdoms, the voices of the prophets became louder and more wild. Those whose writings have been preserved in our sacred volume now come upon the scene. In their magnificent lyric odes we have a poetical history of these momen tous times, not merely describing the fall of the two Hebrew nations, but that of the adjacent kingdoms like wise. As each independent tribe or monarchy was swal lowed up in the great universal empire of Assyria, the seers of Judah watched the progress of the invader, and uttered tlieir sublime funeral anthems over the great ness, tbe prosperity, and independence of Moab and Ammon, Damascus and Tyre. They were like the great tragic chorus to the awful drama wliich was unfolding itself in the Eastern world. As moral, as religious teach ers, as prophets of Jehovah, they struggle with the no blest energy against the corruptions which prevailed in all ranks and classes." VII. THE REIGN OF HEZEKIAH. Ahaz brought Judah to the brink of ruin, but its fall was arrested by the death of the impious monarch and the accession of the good Hezekiah, his son, who, aided by the prophet Isaiah, commenced his reign with a thor ough reformation of abuses. [727 b.c] Lie gained im portant advantages over the Philistines, and also shook off the Assyrian yoke, to which bis father bad submit ted by paying tribute. But Sen-nach'erib,1 the son and 1 Sen-nach'e-rib, or Sen-na-che'rib. FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 301 successor of Shalmaneser, ere long sent an immense army of one hundred and eighty-five thousand men against Jerusalem, and, in the most taunting and insult ing language, demanded its unconditional surrender. Hezekiah sent to the prophet Isaiah for advice, and the latter predicted that the Assyrian army would be de stroyed.1 That very night " the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote, in the camp of the Assyrians, a hun dred and fourscore and five thousand men." [710 b.c] The instrument by which the Lord executed vengeance upon the Assyrians is supposed to have been the hot wind of the desert, inasmuch as Isaiah's prophecy con tained the words, "I will send a blast upon him." This is the event that Byeon commemorates in his well-known poem, entitled— THE DESTEUCTION OF SENNACHERIB. The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold; And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee. Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green, That host with their banners at sunset was seen : Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown, That host on the morrow lay withered and strown. For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed ; And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still ! And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride : And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf, And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf. ¦ 2 Kings, xix. 6, 7, 35, 36. 302 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. And there lay the rider, distorted and pale, With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail ; And the tents were all silent, the banners alone, The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown. And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail, And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal ; And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword, Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord ! Sennacherib escaped the destruction and fled to his capital, but was subsequently assassinated by two of his sons. Another son, Esarhaddon, succeeded to the throne. Soon after this event Hezekiah fell dangerously sick, and was warned by Isaiah that his end was at hand. But the sick monarch prayed earnestly that his life might be spared, and the prophet returned to him with the assurance that he should recover in three days, and that fifteen years more of life should be granted to him. As a pledge of the fulfilment of the promise, the sun went back upon the dial of Ahaz the ten degrees it had advanced, and on the third day Hezekiah recovered.1 The destrucDion of the Assyrians, and the circumstances attending the recovery of Hezekiah, were marvels that soon became widely known. Among others who sent ambassadors to the court of Judah with presents and congratulations, was the independent King of Babylon, who probably sought an alliance with the successful monarch. To these messengers Hezekiah ostentatious ly displayed the riches of bis treasury, and was severely rebuked for his pride and imprudence by the prophet Isaiah, who, at the same time, foretold to him that his treasures should become the possession of the Babylo- 1 2 Kings, xx. 1-11. FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 303 nians, and his family and people be carried into cap tivity. The remainder of Hezekiah's reign was peace ful and prosperous. We are told that, among the im provements which Hezekiah introduced in Jerusalem, he " made a pool, and brought water into the city." The aqueduct, leading from the upper pool of Gihon, and the pool itself within the walls of the city, are still to be seen. He died at the age of fifty-six, having reigned twenty-nine years; "and all Judah and Jeru salem did him honor at his death." [698 b.c] " Great king ! Not less the patriot than the man of faith, How full of prayer and deeds thy noble reign ! Before thy God how lowly and how meek! Before Assyria's captains strong and brave. What did Jerusalem owe thee for thy love, Thy wisdom, and thy faith ! And that old pool, Poor and in ruins, as it now appears, Yet tells of thee and of thy peaceful reign." Manas'seh, the son of Hezekiah, succeeded to the throne at the early age of twelve years. Hezekiah had allied himself with Babylon against Assyria; and Man asseh, influenced by the enemies of the religious re forms that his father had established, introduced into his kingdom the grossest abominations of Babylonish idolatry, and filled Jerusalem with the blood of those who opposed his iniquities. His crimes finally brought down upon him, and upon the nation, the vengeance of Jehovah, who declared that he would bring "such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. And I will wipe Jerusa lem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down."1 Babylon, the cause of his sin, became i 2 Kings, xxi. 12, 13. 304 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY." the scene of Manasseh's punishment. The Assyrians, under Esarhaddon, having first crushed out the rebel lion of Babylon, marched into Judea, captured Manas seh, and carried him in chains to Babylon. [677 b.c] Here, in bis deep affliction, Manasseh bumbled himself before God, sought and obtained forgiveness, and was finally restored to bis kingdom. Thenceforth, to the end of his reign of fifty-five years, the longest in the annals of Judah, he did all in his power to extirpate idolatry, and through his successful government secured peace and tranquillity to the nation. VIII. THE REIGN OF JOSIAH. Passing over the brief, though corrupt and idolatrous, reign of Anion, son of Manasseh, we find the kingdom in the hands of the good Josiah,1 whose reign was an important epoch in the religious history of the king dom. He commenced, at twenty years of age, an open warfare against all forms of idolatry, and superintended in person many of the operations of those employed to break down idolatrous altars and images. One of his acts, to which special attention has been directed, was his causing tfie sepulchres to be ransacked, and the bones of idolatrous priests found in them to be burnt on the heathen altars, before the latter were destroyed. This strange proceeding was an exact fulfilment of a proph ecy that had been made to Jeroboam three hundred and twenty-six years before Josiah was born, in which Jo siah was even named as the person who should offer the priests and burn their bones upon the altars.2 In the eighteenth year of bis reign Josiah, having purified the land from idolatry, repaired and beautified the Temple 1 Josiah began to reign at the age of eight years. [641 B.C.] 2 1 Kings, xiii. 2. FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 305 at Jerusalem. In the course of this work the original copy of the Law was found by the high-priest, and, at a general assembly of the people, the ancient covenant with Jehovah was solemnly renewed. The reformation by Josiah, as the Bible plainly tells us,1 could not turn away from Judah and Jerusalem the impending judgment of Jehovah, although Josiah evi dently hoped that it might. On the contrary, its exe cution was undoubtedly hastened, though unwittingly, by Josiah himself. Pharaoh Necho, King of Egypt, entered Judah on his way to attack an Assyrian city on the Euphrates. Josiah refused to allow the Egyptians to pass through his dominions, and prepared to resist their passage by force of arms. But Necho, though unwilling to fight with Josiah, would not withdraw his forces, and a general engagement was brought on at Me gid'do, in the plain of Esdraelon, the great battle-field of Palestine, where the two kings met face to face, and Jo siah was mortally wounded. [610 b.c] He died before he reached Jerusalem, where he was buried with every honor, and Jeremiah composed a dirge to his memory. Jerusalem ! Jerusalem ! Behold your vanquished king ; The fairest flower of David's stem Is blasted in its spring. Then spare not, spare not of your tears, But let them freely flow, Since sceptreless his hand appears, And laurelless his brow. Jerusalem ! Jerusalem ! Who now shall fill the throne ? Who wear the royal diadem Of Jesse's righteous son ? ' 2 Kings, xxiii. 26. 306 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Oh ! weep for him who hath resigned Thy sceptre, seat, and crown ; For where shalt thou a monarch find Like him of fair renown ? Jerusalem ! Jerusalem 1 Thy gladsome psalms shall cease, And thou shalt be the sport of them Who scoff at Heaven's decrees ; Who laugh at thy Jehovah's name, The great Eternal One, Yet worship an unhallowed flame, And how to wood and stone. Jerusalem ! Jerusalem ! Weep for the royal dead, And cast aside each costly gem That glitters round thy head. In sackcloth and in ashes mourn Thy dark and cheerless gloom ; Behold thy monarch slowly borne To his ancestral tomb. Anon. Thus was the last godly king removed from Judah, and the people were henceforth given over to punish ment. Soon after the death of Josiah Jerusalem was taken by Necho, and Jehoahaz, a younger son of Josiah, who had been elected to the throne by the people, was deposed by ISTecho, and sent a captive to Egypt, where be died. IX. THE CLOSING PERIOD OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH. Not long after these events, and during the reign of Jehoiakim, the Egyptian king, while pursuing his con quests eastward, was utterly defeated by Nebuchadnez zar, the mightiest of all the Assyrian monarchs. This event prepared the way for the Assyrian dominion over FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 307 Judah and the west of Asia. Nebuchadnezzar advanced to Jerusalem, when Jehoiakim submitted without resist ance, and agreed to pay tribute for Judah ; but Jerusa lem was pillaged, and certain of the royal family and of the nobles were carried away captive to Babylon, now the capital of the Assyrian empire. [606 b.c] Among these were Daniel, the subsequent prophet, and three of his companions. Jehoiakim soon rebelled, and his sub jugation was left to the old enemies of Judah — the Syr ians, the Moabites, and the Ammonites. Jehoiakim was slain in one of the conflicts that ensued, and Jechoniah, the next king of Judah, had scarcely mounted the throne when Nebuchadnezzar himself appeared before Jerusa lem, and the city soon surrendered. [598 b.c] Jecho niah was carried away to Babylon, with a multitude of other captives, among whom were Ezekiel, the prophet, aud Mordecai, a distinguished Jew. "None remained save the poorest sort of the people of the land." Over this wreck of a kingdom Zedekiah was placed as king by the Assyrian monarch. But he, also, rebelled, and Jerusalem, after a siege of eighteen months, the miseries of which were heightened by the horrors of famine, was taken by storm at midnight. Dreadful was the carnage that followed : This Zedekiah saw, and this not all ; Before his face his friends and children fall, The sport of insolent victors ; this he views, A king and father once ! Ill Fate could use His eyes no more to do their master spite ; All to be seen she took, and next his sight. Thus a long death in prison he outwears, Bereft of grief's last solace — ev'n his tears. Cowlet. Zedekiah, bound in fetters of brass, and his eyes put out, was carried to Babylon, where he was doomed to a 308 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. wretched captivity.1 Nearly all the people were made companions of his exile. Jerusalem was burnt, the Temple was levelled with the ground, and the very walls of the city were destroyed. [558 B.c] Thus the kingdom of Judah survived the kingdom of Israel only one hundred and thirty-three years. O'er Judah's land thy thunders broke — 0 Lord ! The chariots rattled o'er her sunken gate, Her sons were wasted by the Assyrian sword, Even her foes wept to see her fallen state ; And heaps her ivory palaces became, Her princes wore the captive's garb of shame, Her temple sank amid the smouldering flame, For thou didst ride the tempest-cloud of fate. Thy vengeance gave us to the stranger's hand, And Abraham's children were led forth for slaves ; With fettered steps we left our pleasant land, Envying our fathers in their peaceful graves. The strangers' bread with hitter tears we steep, And when our weary eyes should sink to sleep, 'Neath the mute midnight we steal forth to weep, Where the pale willow shades Euphrates' waves. • X. THE CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH. Thus ended the kingdom of Judah and the reign of tbe house of David ; and for seventy years the Holy City scarcely existed, save in the memory of a captive people, whose history can be learned in the sacred vol ume only from a few notices and references to be found in some of the Psalms, and in some of the books of the Prophets, notably in Ezekiel and Daniel. We know, however, that the captives had free enjoyment of their religion, were permitted to settle quietly on land as- 1 Jer. xxxix. 5-7. ' FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 309 signed to them by their captors, and became possessed of considerable wealth. But, though all enjoyed a cer tain degree of prosperity and comfort, the more pious and patriotic among them could not be consoled for the loss of their beloved Jerusalem, and pined for the land of their nativity, whose picturesque mountains and pas toral landscape presented a striking contrast to the vast and impious splendors of "Babylon the great." Their grief is beautifully expressed in one of the most pa thetic of their national hymns, beginning, By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, Yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.1 Of this hymn the poet Byeon has given us the fol lowing exquisite metrical version : We sat down and wept by the waters Of Babel, and thought of the day When our foe, in the hue of his slaughters, Made Salem's high places his prey ; And ye, oh, her desolate daughters ! Were scattered all weeping away. While sadly we gazed on the river Which rolled on in freedom below, They demanded the song; but, oh, never That triumph the stranger shall know ! May this right hand be withered forever Ere it string our high harp for the foe ! On the willow that harp is suspended, Oh Salem ! its sound should be free ; And the hour when thy glories were ended But left me that token of thee : And ne'er shall its soft tones be blended With the voice of the spoiler by me. 1 Psa. cxxxvii. 1. 310 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. There is also an excellent metrical version of the same hymn, by another English poet, who wrote long before Byron, and whose verses are a more close ren dering of the original : On the proud banks of great Euphrates' flood, There we sate, and there we wept : Our harps, that now no music understood, Nodding on the willows, slept, While unhappy, captived, we, Lovely Sion, thought on thee. They, they that snatched us from our country's breast Would have a song carved to their ears, In Hebrew numbers, then (O cruel jest !) When harps and hearts were drowned in tears : " Come," they cried, " come, sing and play One of Sion's songs to-day." Sing! Play! To whom (ah !) shall we sing or play If not, Jerusalem, to thee ? To thee Jerusalem ! Ah, sooner may This hand forget the mastery Of Music's dainty touch, than I TMie music of thy memory. Which when I lose, O may at once my tongue Lose this same busy speaking art, Unparched, her vocal arteries unstrung, No more acquainted with my heart, On my dry palate's roof to rest, A wither'd leaf, an idle guest. Richard Cbashaw. With the majority of the captives, however, the loyal grief that made it so hard to sing the songs of Zion in a strange land soon found a grave in the new attach ments that were formed ; and these pining exiles be- FIRST AND SECOND OF KINGS, AND CHRONICLES. 311 came prosperous and willing colonists, who preferred a profitable tenure on the plains of Shinar to the hardships of a return to their former homes. Hence, when the day of restoration came, there was but a " remnant," as had been prophesied,1 to return to the Holy Land. The principal events of interest that occurred during the captivity are the visions of King Nebuchadnezzar, the prophetic declarations of Daniel, Belshazzar's feast, and the overthrow of the kingdom of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. As these events form the subject of a great part of the Book of Daniel, they will be con sidered when that book is reached. THE TWO BOOKS OF CHRONICLES. Of the two Books of Chronicles we have already spoken, as having been compiled, in the main, by Ezra, who probably wrote the book of his name, and who is styled a "ready scribe in the law of Moses," and "a scribe of the words of the commandments of the Lord and of his statutes to Israel." The Chronicles are merely supplementary to the Books of the Kings, and add little to their narrative. As the northern kingdom of Israel had passed away, and Samaria, its only repre sentative, was among Judah's bitterest foes, the Chroni cles give to Israel's history only a subordinate place. The first eight chapters of the first book are devoted to genealogies, from Adam down to and including the posterity of Benjamin. Then follow the genealogies of Israel and Judah. We find portions of the genealogies re-inserted in Nehemiah, with additions from the ar- chives as to times succeeding the return from Babylon. The portions of history that are recapitulated were evi- 1 Isaiah, x. 20. 312 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. dently designed to awaken, by the glorious as well as sad memories of the past, a desire in the people to re strain the corruptions which led to the captivity, and to restore the national polity in Church and State. The second Book of Chronicles ends with the decree of Cyrus for the restoration of the Jews to their own country ; tho opening chapter of Ezra repeats the proc lamation, and then the narrative tells how the decree was carried out. The historic differences between the Books of Kings and the Books of Chronicles are thus accounted for: " The Books of Kings are properly so-called. They dwell chiefly on the succession of kings to the two thrones of Judah and Israel, tlieir lives, and their deaths. The Books of Chronicles may be ratlier called the Books of the High-priests, more especially those of the house of Zadok, in the line of Eleazer. Throughout there is a sacerdotal bias ; though relating the same events, and the same royal reigns, wherever power or influence may be attributed to the priesthood it comes forth in the Chronicles into greater importance. Even in the lives of David and Solomon, Zadok the priest is the more prominent character; and this sacerdotalism becomes more apparent as the history darkens to its close. The reason of this seems to be simple. From its own internal evidence, and from its words, the Book or Books of Chronicles cannot have been written before the captivity, nor before the time of Ezra, to wliich they descend. But at that time the high-priesthood was as piring toward the supremacy ; it was gradually acquir ing that kingly power wliich it afterward assumed. The compiler, therefore — one, perhaps, of that order — would adopt that tradition, that version, or that coloring of events, which would give the sanction of antiquity or authority to these sacerdotal claims." — Milman. EZRA, NEHEMIAH, AND ESTHER. 313 CHAPTER VII.— EZRA, NEHEMIAH, AND ESTHER. I. THE BOOK OF EZRA. This and the succeeding book, Nehemiah, were reck oned as one volume by the ancient Jews, though some times called the first and the second Book of Ezra. The authorship of the book, as a whole, has been in consid erable doubt. It has never been disputed that the last four chapters were written by the illustrious Ezra. But the authorship of the first six chapters has been ascribed to some other person ; inasmuch as the author repre sents himself as present in Jerusalem at the time of the events he relates, while it appears that Ezra did not go to Jerusalem until many years after the commencement of the history. * It is claimed, however, by good authori ties, that Ezra was the writer of the whole book. THE RETURN TO JERUSALEM. As had been foretold by the prophets, the captivity lasted about seventy years. Its termination was the act of Cyrus, the founder of the Persian empire, immedi ately after his conquest of Babylon, in the year 538 b.c ; and the Book of Ezra opens with a record of his edict permitting the Jews to return and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. Accordingly, nearly fifty thousand Jews, under the leadership of Zerub'babel, a prince of the house of Judah, bearing with them some of the sacred vessels of the temple that had been carried to Babylon and that Cyrus restored, returned to Jerusalem. I.— 14 314 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. The worship of Jehovah was revived, and in the second year the first stone of the new temple was laid amid the joyful acclamations of a great multitude, but also amid the tears of many, of the priests and Levites and chiefs of the fathers, who were old men that had seen the first house, and who, when the foundation of this new house was laid, " wept with a loud voice :" They wept — those aged patriots wept : The fame of vanquished years, And burning thoughts, which long had slept, Now melted them to tears. They well remembered Salem's state, Ere Babel laid it desolate. They saw the second temple rise, But far less fair and bright ; And e'en their age-enfrozen eyes Dropt sorrow at the sight. They thought of many a vanished scene, Of what they were, and what had been. Captivity hath been their lot For many a lonely day ; Yet §alem cannot be forgot, Or memory pass away ; And memory told the tale too well, For which their bitter tear-drops fell. H. Roqbes. During the captivity the Israelites that remained in Judah had intermarried with the Assyrian colonists, and from these unions sprung the nation of the, Samaritans, that henceforth occupy a prominent place in Bible his tory. The Samaritans professed to have adopted the same creed as the Jews, and, on the restoration of the latter, proposed a union of both nations ; but the Jews recognized no Israelite connection in the Samaritans, 315 and the proposal was contemptuously rejected. For ever thereafter a fierce hatred existed between the two peoples. Baffled in their wish to share in rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple, the Samaritans completely stopped the progress of the work by means of false representations to Cyrus and the two succeeding monarchs ; and it was not until the second year of the reign of Dari'us Hys- tas'pes that the building was resumed. This monarch, through the influence of the prophets Hag'ga-i and Zechariah, re-issued and confirmed the decree of Cyrus, and in the sixth year of his reign the temple was com pleted. [515 b.c] It was dedicated with great joy, and with as much magnificence as the impoverished and de pendent condition of the Jews would allow. The last five of the Psalms are supposed to have been written for the occasion. This temple was larger than Solo mon's, but quite inferior in the splendor of its appoint ments; and it lacked, as commentators tell us, "five glo ries of the former temple." These were the Ark, for which a simple stone was substituted ; the Sacred Fire ; the Shekinah ;¦ the Spirit of Prophecy ; and the Urim and Thummim.2 But we are told, in the Book of Hag' ga-i,3 that the glory of this latter house would be greater than that of the former — an undoubted reference to the actual presence there of the Messiah. Dari'us was succeeded by his son Xerxes [486 b.c], of whose reign the only incidents given in the Bible are to be found in the Book of Esther; the Ahasuerus of that book and Xerxes being probably the same per- 1 She-ki'nah, that miraculous light or visible glory whicli was a symbol of the Divine presence. 2 Urim and Thummim, generally supposed to be a part of the breast plate of tho high-priest, in connection with which Jehovah revealed his will on certain occasions. But there are different views on the subject. » Chap. ii. 9. 316 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. son.1 Between the sixth and seventh chapters of tbe Book of Ezra there is a gap of fifty-eight years, during twenty- one of which Xerxes reigned. The story of Esther bas been assigned, by many good authorities, to this period ; and, if properly so, it should come in here. But, as it appears by itself in another order, it will be considered when reached. Artaxerxes Lonsjim'anus succeeded Xerxes as kins;. He is described by Plutarch as "the first of Persian monarchs for mildness and magnanimity." , In the sev enth year of bis reign he sent Ezra from Babylon to Je rusalem as the leader of a second migration of the Jews, and with full power to establish religious and civil gov ernments in all Judea. Ezra carried with him rich gifts from the Jews in Babylonia and from the king, wliich were to be used in aid of the work he went to accom plish ; and he was also authorized to draw on the royal treasurers for farther supplies if necessary. Among the reformations he effected, in six months after his arrival in Jerusalem, was the purification of the nation from foreign admixture, by causing many of the priests and Levites, and other chief men, to put away their alien wives. It is supposed that he then returned to Baby lon, as nothing more is heard of bim in Jerusalem until some years later. Tradition ascribes to him .the merit of having collected and revised all the sacred books ; and be was undoubtedly the chief agent in effecting the restoration of the Jews to the land of their fathers. 1 It has long been a disputed point whether the Ahasuerus of the Book of Esther was Xerxes, or his successor, Artaxerxes Longim'anns. " The claims of Xerxes are best supported by his character; those of Artaxerxes Longim'anus by the Septuagint and Josephus." See, also, p. 320. 317 II. THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH. To Nehemiah, the author of this book, was assigned the high honor of restoring the desolated city of his an cestors, and the pure worship of their God. He was a captive in Babylon, but, on account of his abilities and many excellences, was chosen by the king to fill one of the most confidential of offices — that of cup-bearer. The walls of Jerusalem still remained in ruins, and the condition of the people was deplorable. Deeply distressed by the news of the insecurity of Jerusalem and the misery of her inhabitants, Nehemiah craved per mission of King Artaxerxes to have the walls of the city rebuilt, and to go in person to superintend the work.1 Neliemiah's appeal to the king, when the king asked him, " Why is thy countenance sad ?" has been re lated in the following lines : ¦=> 'Tis sorrow, 0 king ! of the heart, Not anguish of body or limb, That causes the hue from my cheek to depart, And mine eye to grow rayless and dim. 'Tis the mem'ry of Salem afar, Of Salem, the city of God, In darkness now wrapt like the moon and the star When the tempests of night are abroad. The walls of the city are razed, The gates of the city are burned ; And the temple of God, where my fathers have praised, To the ashes of ruin are turned. The palace of kings is consumed, Where the timbrels were wont to resound ; ' Neh. ii. 1-5. 318 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. And the sepulchre domes, like the bones they entombed, Are mould'riug away in the ground. And the fugitive remnant that breathe In the land that their fathers have trod, Sit in sorrow and gloom ; for a shadow like death O'erhangs every wretched abode. I have wept, I have fasted, and prayed To the great and terrible God, For this city of mine that in ruin is laid, And my brethren who smart by his rod. And now I beseech thee, O king ! If favor I find in thy sight, That I may revisit my home, where the wing Of destruction is spread like the night. And when I to Shushan return From rebuilding my forefathers' tomb, No more shall the heart of thy cup-bearer bum With those sorrows that melt and consume. William Knox. Neliemiah's request was granted. Commissioned by the king he proceeded to Jerusalem. [445 b.c] His mission was completely successful : in the face of the strongest opposition from the Samaritans and other ene mies — one-half of the people working, while the other half, with arms in their hands, watched their enemies — in fifty-two days the city was surrounded by impregna ble walls and towers. At the close of eleven years of faithful administration Nehemiah went back to Baby lon, leaving affairs in the care of his brother Hanani. After an absence of some years Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem, to find that the priests were in alliance with the deadliest enemies of the Jews, that some of the peo- EZRA, NEHEMIAH, AND ESTHER. 319 pie had married into the adjacent tribes, that the Sab bath-day was openly violated, and that general confu sion and disorder prevailed. He applied himself dili gently to remedy these abuses ; many of the apostates were punished, and others banished from the city; and, through the promptness and severity of his judgments, a general and thorough reformation was effected. The book attributed to Nehemiah resembles, in style, Chronicles and Ezra, proving that it is of the age it purports to be. Of the death of Nehemiah there is no account; and with the close of the record of his acts there is a break in the Bible history of the Jews, of more than four centuries, until the advent of the Mes siah. Of the character of this great and good man we append the following summary : " Like Moses, Nehemiah left a splendid court, to iden tify himself with his countrymen in their depression. Disinterestedly patriotic, he ' came to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.' Courageous and prompt as a soldier in a crisis requiring no ordinary boldness, at the same time prudent as a statesman in dealing alike with his adversaries and with the Persian autocrat, rallying about him and organizing his countrymen, he governed without fear or partiality, correcting abuses in high places, and himself setting a bright example of unself ishness and princety liberality ; above all, walking in continual prayerfulness, with eyes ever turned toward God, and summing up all his work and all his hope in the humble prayer at the close, ' Remember me, O my God, for good.' " — Fausset. 320 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. III. THE BOOK OF ESTHER. This book derives its name from the person whose history it chiefly relates. Concerning its authorship there are various opinions : some attribute it to Ezra, and others to Mordecai, a distinguished Jew, captive in Babylon. The events it relates have been assigned by some writers to the reign of Artaxerxes Longim'anus ; but, as already mentioned, the better view is that they occurred in the time of Xerxes. This is the opinion of the learned German writers, and of many others who have given the subject careful investigation, and who, among the evidences which they possess of its truth, point to the many resemblances in the life and charac ter of the Ahasuerus of Scripture and the renowned Xerxes of secular history. They say Ahasuerus was proud, self-willed, impulsive, reckless of violating Per sian principles, and ready to sacrifice human life, though not wantonly cruel. So was Xerxes. On the other hand, they claim that the character of the mild ahd hu mane Artaxerxes Longimanus cannot be traced in the capricious monarch who repudiates his wife because she will not expose herself to the gaze of drunken revel lers ; who raises a favorite vizier to the highest honors one day and hangs him the next; who commands the massacre of a whole people,. and then allows them, in self-defence, to commit a horrible carnage among his other subjects. But they think that all this weak and headstrong violence agrees exactly with that Xerxes who commanded the sea to be scourged because it broke down his bridge over the Hellespont, and who beheaded his engineers because their work was swept away by a storm. But, whoever Ahasuerus was, it seems that during his reign, as the story shows, the Jewish nation was in EZRA, NEHEMIAH, AND ESTHER. 321 danger of total extermination, and was saved through the courage and caution of Esther. From among a general levy of beautiful damsels, who were summoned to appear before the king, Esther, who was a first cousin of the distinguished Jew Mordecai, was selected by the king as the most beautiful and worthy, and proclaimed Queen of Persia. Tlie rest of the story cannot be better told than in the language of Dr. Milmajst, as follows : " Among the rival candidates for the royal favor were Mordecai and Haman, the latter said to be descend ed from the Amalekitish kings. Mordecai had detected a conspiracy against the life of the king, but Haman soon outstripped all competitors in the race of advance ment, and was elevated to the rank of first vizier. Mor decai alone, his rival, refused to pay the accustomed honors to the new favorite. Haman, secretly informed of Mordecai's relationship with the queen, and fearing, therefore, to attack him openly, determined to take his revenge on the whole Jewish people ; and, on represent ing them to the king as a dangerous and turbulent race, and promising to obtain immense wealth for the royal treasury — no doubt by the confiscation of tlieir prop erty — he obtained an edict for the general massacre of the Hebrew people throughout all the provinces of the empire, of whicli Judea was one." The consternation that fell upon the Hebrews when this cruel edict be came known, has been vividly portrayed in the follow ing lines: Morn is come, the purple morn, Yet it looks on shapes forlorn ; On thy glittering roofs, Shushan,' There are mourners wild and wan ; 1 Shu-shan, at this time the Persian capital, where was the king's palace described in Esther, i. 5, 6. 14* 322 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Eyes upturned, dishevelled hair, Brows unturbaned, bosoms bare ; Hands in restless anguish wrung By the grief that knows no tongue ; Dust and ashes on the brow, King of Israel, where art thou ? Through the livelong winter's night, Like the harvest in the blight ; Like the reeds by storms o'erthrown, Rank on rank, lay Israel strown. Prostrate on their naked roofs, Listening to the trampling hoofs, Listening to the trumpet's clang, As to horse the riders sprang, Bearing each the bloody scroll, Slaying all things hut the soul. Every blast that trumpet gave Was a summons to the grave ; Every torch that hurried by Told that myriads were to die ! Myriads, in that midnight sleeping, Where the Arab balms are weeping; Where along th' Ionian hill rfight-dews of the rose distil ; By the Scythian mountain-chain, By the Ethiopian plain, By the Indian Ocean's roar, By the farthest fiery shore Where the foot of man could tread, Where the Jew could hide his head, Where his heart could; heave the groan, On the earth alone, alone ! Son of the captivity, . Vengeance winged that shaft for thee. Judah, scattered, " spent and peeled," In that hour thy doom was sealed ! Cbolt. EZRA, NEHEMIAH, AND ESTHER. 323 " The Jews are in the deepest dismay ; those in Shu- shan looked to Mordecai as their only hope, and he to Esther. The influence of the queen might prevail, if she could once obtain an opportunity of softening the heart of Ahasuerus. But it was death, even for the queen, to intrude upon the royal presence unsummoned, unless the king should extend his golden sceptre in sign of pardon. Esther trembled to undertake the cause of her kindred ; but, of Jewish blood herself, she was in volved in the general condemnation. Having propi tiated her God by a fast of three days, she appeared, radiant in her beauty, before the royal presence. The golden sceptre was extended toward her, and not merely her life, but whatever gift she should demand, was con ceded by the captivated monarch. The cautious Esther merely invited the king, and Haman, his minister, to a banquet. Haman fell into the snare; and, delighted with this supposed mark of favor from the queen, im agined all impediments to the gratification of his ven geance entirely removed, and gave orders that a lofty gallows should be erected for the execution of Mor decai. " The king, in the mean time, during a sleepless night, had commanded the chronicles of the kingdom to be read before him. The book happened to open at the relation of the valuable but unrequited services of Mor decai, in saving the king's life from the conspiracy with in his own palace. The next morning Ahasuerus de manded, from the obsequious Haman, 'in what manner he might most exalt the man whom he delighted to honor?' The vizier, appropriating to himself this sig nal mark of favor, advised that this highly distinguished individual should be arrayed in royal robes, set on the king's horse, with the royal crown on his head, and be led by one of the greatest men through the whole city, 324 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. and be proclaimed to the people as the man whom the king delighted to honor. " To his astonishment and dismay, Haman was him self commanded to conduct, in this triumphant array, his hated rival Mordecai. In terror he consults bis wife and the wise men as to his future course, and is inter rupted by a summons to the banquet of Esther. Here, as usual, the king, enraptured with his entertainment, offers bis queen whatever boon she may desire, even to the half of his kingdom. Her request is the deliver ance of her people from the fatal decree. The detec tion and condemnation of Haman are the inevitable consequences. In bis cry for mercy he throws himself on the couch of the queen, and the king, jealous, or pre tending to be, at this near approach to her person, com mands his instant execution. Haman is hanged on the gallows which he had built for Mordecai, while the Jew is raised to the high position made vacant by his death. " Still, however, the dreadful edict M^as abroad : but messengers were sent on all sides throughout the realm — which extended from India to Ethiopia — on horse back, on mules, and on camels, modifying the decree by permitting tlie Jews to stand on the defensive. In Shu- shan the Jews slew eight hundred of their adversaries, and in the provinces some seventy-five thousand. The act of vengeance was completed by the execution of Hainan's ten sons, who, at the petition of Esther, suf fered the fate of their father. So great was the confu sion and the terror caused by the degree of royal favor wliich Mordecai enjoyed, that the whole Jewish nation became objects of respect, and many of other extractions embraced tlieir religion. " The memory of this signal deliverance has been, and still is, celebrated by the Jews. The festival is called that of Purim, because on that day Haman cast (Pur) EZRA, NEHEMIAH, AND ESTHER. 325 the lot to destroy them. It is preceded by a strict fast on the 13th of the month Adar (February and March) ; the 14th and 15th are given up to the most unbounded rejoicing. The Book of Esther is read in the syna gogue, when all ages and sexes are bound to be pres ent; and whenever the' name of Haman occurs the whole congregation clap their hands and stamp with their feet, and answer, ' Let his memory perish.' " The interesting story of Esther forms the subject of one of the most successful of the oratorios of the great composer Handel, written in 1720. 326 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. CHAPTER VIII.— HEBREW POETRY. I. VIEWS OF ANCIENT CRITICS. Before proceeding to the next book in order, that of Job, which introduces us to a very marked poetical style of composition, it is proper to say something on the sub ject of Hebrew poetry. For a long time it was tbe general belief that the writings of the prophets — and even what are denomi nated songs — and the hymns of David, were not in verse. It has been admitted that the style, the thoughts, the images, and the expressions are poetical in the highest degree ; but it bas not been admitted, until recently, that they were written in measure, in rhythm, or what ever it is that distinguishes, as poetry, such books as Job, the Psalms, and the Proverbs from the historical books of the Old Testament. The opinions of some of the learned of ancient times, on this subject, are thus re- ¦ f erred to by Bishop Lowth, in his Notes on Isaiah: " The learned Vitringa says that Isaiah's composition has a sort of numbers, or measure. He means that it has a kind of oratorial number, or measure, as he after ward explains it ; and he quotes Scaliger as being of the same opinion, and as adding that, ' however, upon this account it could not rightly be called poetry.' About the beginning of this century Herman Von der Hardt, the Llardouin of Germany, attempted to reduce Joel's Elegies, as be called them, to iambic verse ; and, consist ently with his hypothesis, he affirmed that the prophets wrote in verse. This is the only exception I meet with to the universality of the contrary opinion. HEBREW POETRY. 327 "The Jews of early times were of the same belief, that the books of the prophets are written in prose, as far as we have any evidence of their judgment on this subject. Jerome certainly speaks the sense of his Jew ish preceptors as to this matter. Having written his translation of Isaiah from the Hebrew Verity, in lines divided after the manner of verse, which was often done in the prophetic writings for the sake of perspicuity, he cautions his reader not to mistake it for metre, as if it were anything like the Psalms, or the writings of Solo mon ; for it was nothing more than what was -usual in the copies of the prose works of Demosthenes and Cic ero. The later Jews have been uniformly of the same opinion ; and the rest of the learned world seem to have taken it up on their authority, and have generally main tained it." The learned bishop then proceeds to give certain evi dences of the presence of verse in the Hebrew poetical books, as follows : II. THE ALPHABETICAL POEMS. , "The first and most manifest indication of verse in the Hebrew poetical books presents itself in the acrostic or alphabetical poems, of whicli there happily remain many examples, and those of various kinds. The nat ure, or rather the form, of these poems is this : the poem consists of twenty-two lines, or of twenty-two sys tems of lines, or periods, or stanzas, according to the number of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet; and every line, or every stanza, begins with each letter in its order as it stands in the alphabet ; that is, the first line, or first stanza, begins with- the first letter, the second line with the second letter, and so on. This was cer tainly intended for the assistance of the memory, and 328 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. was chiefly employed in subjects of common use, as maxims of morality and forms of devotion. "There are still extant,' in the books of the Old Tes tament, twelve of these poems,1 three of them perfectly alphabetical,* in which every line is marked by its ini tial letter ; the other nine less perfectly alphabetical, in which every stanza only is so distinguished. Of the three former it is to be remarked, that not only every single line is distinguished by its initial letter, but that the whole poem is laid out into stanzas. In all the three poems the pauses of the sentences coincide with tlie pauses of the lines and stanzas. It is also farther to be observed of these three poems, that the lines so de termined by the initial letters in the same poem are re markably equal to one another in length, in the number of words nearly, and probably in the number of sylla bles ; and that the lines of the same stanza have a re markable congruity one with another, in the matter and the form, and in the sense and the construction." After referring to the peculiarities of the other nine poemsj which, though less perfectly alphabetical and containing some irregularities, are still valuable exam ples of the presence of verse, the learned divine thus continues : "In the first place, we may safely conclude that the poems perfectly alphabetical consist of verses, properly so called — of -verses regulated by some observation of harmony or cadence ; of measure, numbers, or rhythm. For it is not at all probable, in the nature of the thing; or from examples of the like kind in other languages^ that a portion of mere prose, in which numbers and har mony are totally disregarded, should be laid out accord ing to a scale of division which carries with it such 1 Psa. xxv., xxxiv., xxxvii., *exi., *exii., cxix., cxlv. ; Prov. xxxi. 10- 81; Lam. i., ii., *iii., iv. HEBREW POETRY. 329 evident marks of study and labor, of art in the contriv ance, and exactness in the execution. And I presume it will be easily granted, in regard to the other poems which are divided into stanzas by the initial letters, that these are of the same kind of composition with the former, and that they equally consist of verses. "In regard to the rest of the poems of the Hebrews, bearing evidently the same marks and characteristics of composition with the alphabetical poems in other re spects, and falling into regular lines, often into regular stanzas, according to the pauses of the sentences, it may be said that these likewise consist of verse — of verse distinguished from prose, not only by the style, the fig ures, the diction, by a loftiness of thought and richness of imagery, but by being divided into lines, and some times into systems of lines ; which lines, having an ap parent equality, similitude, or proportion one to another, were in some sort measured by the ear, and regulated according to some general laws of metre, rhythm, har mony, or cadence. " Farther, we may conclude, from the example of the perfectly alphabetical poems, that whatever it might be that constituted Hebrew verse, it certainly did not con sist in rhyme, or similar and correspondent sounds at the ends of the verses. That the verses had something regular in their form and composition seems probable, from their apparent parity and uniformity, and the re lation that they manifestly bear to the distribution of the sentence into its members. But as to the harmony and cadence, the metre or rhythm, of what kind they were, and by what laws regulated, these examples give us no light, nor afford us sufficient principles on which to build any theory or to form any hypothesis. For harmony arises from the proportion, relation, and cor respondence of different combined sounds; and verse, 330 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. from the arrangement of words, and the disposition of syllables, according to number, quantity, and accent; therefore the harmony and true modulation of verse depend upon a perfect pronunciation of the language, and a knowledge of the principles and rules of versifi cation ; and metre supposes an exact knowledge of the number and quantity of syllables, and, in some lan guages, of the accent. "But the true pronunciation of Hebrew is lost — lost to a degree far beyond what can ever be the case with any European language preserved only in writing ; for the Hebrew language, like most of the other Oriental languages, expressing only its consonants,1 and being destitute of its vowels, has lain now for two thousand years in a manner mute and incapable of utterance ; the number of syllables in a great many words is uncertain ; the quantity and accent wholly unknown. We are ig norant of all these particulars, and incapable of acquir ing any certain knowledge concerning them. How, then, is it possible for us to attain to the knowledge of Hebrew verse? The pursuit is vain; the object of it lies beyond our reach ; it is not within the compass of human reason or invention. The question concerning Hebrew metre is now pretty much upon the same foot ing with that concerning the Greek accents. That there were certain laws of ancient Hebrew metre is very probable ; and that the living Greek language was modulated by certain rules of accent is beyond dispute ; but a man born deaf may as reasonably pretend to ac quire an idea of sound, as the critic of these days to at tain to the true modulation of Greek by accent, and of Hebrew by metre." 1 The Hebrew alphabet consists of twenty-two consonants, called aleph, belh, etc. (alphabet), the vowels being expressed by marks above or be low them. HEBREW POETRY. 331 His conclusion of the whole subject is this : " This much, then, I think, we may be allowed to infer from the alphabetical poems ; namely, that the Hebrew poems are written in verse, properly so called ; that the harmony of the verses does not arise from rhyme — that is, from similar corresponding sounds terminating the verses — but from some sort of rhythm, probably from some sort of metre, the laws of wliich are now alto gether unknown, and wholly undiscoverable ; yet that there are evident marks of a certain correspondence of the verses with one another, and of a certain relation be tween the composition of the verses and the composition of the sentences, so that, generally, periods coincide with stanzas, members with verses, and pauses of the one with pauses of the other ; which peculiar form of composition is so observable as plainly to discriminate, in general, the parts of the Hebrew Scriptures which are written in verse, from those which are written in prose." Since the laborious investigations of Lowtii the ques tion of the nature of Hebrew poetry has been revived by Herder, Gesenius, De Wette, and other German crit ics. De Wette, especially, dissents from tlie views of Lowth as to the supposed versification in Hebrew po etry, and, while admitting that it has a rhythmical form, contends that it is altogether destitute of metre and of feet. He believes, also, that if there were a Hebrew metre, the, vestiges and proofs of it might be discovered. Says De. Beaed : " The poetic forms of the Hebrews are less determinate than those of some other nations ; they had, indeed, a rhythm, but so had their prose ; and their poetic rhythm was more like that of our blank verse than of our rhymed metre. Of poetical feet the Hebrews appear to have known nothing, and, in conse quence, their verse must be less measured and less strict than ours. Its melody was rather that of thought than 332 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. of art and skill — spontaneous, like their religious feel ings, and therefore deep and impressive, but less subject to law, and escaping from the hard limits of exact defi nition. Rhyme, properly so called, is disowned, as well as metre. Yet Hebrew verse, as it bad a kind of meas ured tread, so it had a jingle in its feet, for several lines are found terminating with the same letter. In the main, however, its essential form was in tlie thought. There is a verbal rhythm, in which a harmony is found beyond what prose ordinarily presents ; but as the true pronunciation of the Hebrew has been lost, this quality can be only imperfectly appreciated."1 III. HEBREW PARALLELISMS. The correspondence of one verse or line with another bas been called, since Bishop Lowth's da y, parallelism. Ewald prefers the term thought-rhythm. The two most simple kinds of parallelism are those in which the pe riod contains but two members, and the last either re peats the thought contained in the first, or presents an opposite or contrary assertion, beginning generally with the adversative but. The first kind of parallelism is called synonymous, and the second antithetic. Many examples of both kinds might be given, but the follow ing, as translated by Lowth, will suffice in this connec tion. The first examples are synonymous; that is, the parallel lines are similar in meaning : j O Jehovah, in thy strength the king shall rejoice ; ( And in thy salvation how greatly shall he exult ! j The desire of his heart thou hast granted unto him ; ( And the request of his lips thou hast not denied. Psa. xxi. 1, 2. 1 Article "Hebrew Poetry," in Kitto's "Cyclopaedia." HEBREW POETRY. 333 j Hearken unto me ye that know righteousness ; ( The people in whose heart is my law ; j Fear not the reproach of wretched men ; ( Neither be ye borne down by their reviiings ; j For the moth shall consume them like a garment ; ( And the worm shall eat them like wool : j But my righteousness shall endure forever, ( And my salvation to the age of ages. Isa. li. 7, 8. In the next example occurs a parallel triplet — three lines corresponding together — all of them seeming to be synonymous : I also will laugh at your calamity ; I will mock, when what you feared cometh ; ' When what you feared cometh like a devastation ; And your calamity advanceth like a tempest; When distress and anguish come upon yon. Prov. i. 36, 27. The second kind of parallelism is the antithetic, con sisting of opposition of sentiments, of which the follow ing are examples : The memory of the just is blessed ; But the name of the wicked shall rot. Prov. x. 7. They are brought down and fallen ; But we are risen, and stand upright. Psa. xx. 8. In the original Hebrew tlie foregoing correspondences are far more exact and more apparent than in the Eng lish translation. IV. THE SONG OF ISRAEL'S TRIUMPH OVER BABYLON. This subject of parallelisms might be carried much farther, through a great number and variety of illustra tions,1 all of which would go to show the prevalence of ' See additional illustrations of this subject, p. S58. 334 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. verse, and of some sort of rhythm, or metre, in many portions of the Hebrew Scriptures. Bishop Lowth cites that grand triumphal song in the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah, as replete with poetic imagery, and embracing all that constitutes the sublime in poetical composition : " The 'prophet, after predicting the liberation of the Jews from tlieir captivity in Babylon, and tlieir restora tion to their own country, introduces the song, in which the earth itself triumphs, with the inhabitants thereof; the fir-trees and the cedars of Lebanon exult with joy, and reproach the humbled power of a ferocious enemy. Even the ghosts of princes, and the departed spirits of kings, rise up from Hades to insult and deride the fallen monarch of Babylon, and comfort themselves with the view of his calamity." Bishop Lowth has the follow ing remarks upon the style and composition of this wonderful poem : "How forcible is its imagery, how diversified, how sublime ! How elevated the diction, the figures, the sentiments! The Jewish nation, the cedars of Lebanon, the ghosts of departed kings, the Babylonish monarch, the travellers who find his corpse, and, last of all, Jeho vah himself, are the characters wliich support this beau tiful lyric drama. One continued action is kept up, or rather a series of interesting actions are connected to gether in an incomparable whole. This, indeed, is the principal and distinguished excellence of the sublime ode, and is displayed in its utmost perfection in this poem of Isaiah, which may be considered as one of the most ancient, and certainly the most finished specimen of that species of composition which has been trans mitted to us. " The personifications here are frequent, yet not con fused ; bold, yet not improbable : a free, elevated, and truly divine spirit pervades the whole ; nor is there HEBREW POETRY. '335 anything in this ode to defeat its claim to the character of perfect beauty and sublimity. If, indeed, I may be indulged in the free declaration of my own sentiments on this occasion, I do not know a single instance in the whole compass of Greek and Roman poetry which, in every excellence of composition, can be said to equal, or even to approach it." We find similar sentiments expressed in the following lines : Let those, who will, hang rapturously o'er The flowing eloquence of Plato's page, Repeat, with flashing eye, the sounds that pour From Homer's verse as with a torrent's rage ; Let those, who list, ask Tully to assuage Wild hearts with high-wrought periods, and restore The reign of rhetoric ; or maxims sage Winnow from Seneca's sententious lore. Not these, but Judah's hallowed bards, to me Are dear ; Isaiah's noble energy ; The temperate grief of Job ; the artless strain Of Kuth and pastoral Amos; the high songs Of David ; and the tale of Joseph's wrongs, Simply pathetic, eloquently plain. Slit AUBKEY DE VeBE. 336 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. CHAPTER IX.— THE BOOK OF JOB, PSALMS, AND PROVERBS. I. THE BOOK OF JOB. A GRAND EPIC AND DEAMATIC POEM. The Book of Job, which was probably written in Arabic, and translated into Hebrew, is a grand epic and dramatic poem, whose author is uncertain. It is known to be extremely ancient ; and is generally reputed to be the most ancient of all the poetical books of the Bible. As we meet with no allusion in it to the Exo dus, to the giving of the law from Sinai, or to Lebanon, or to Carmel, its silence on these and other important events and places mentioned in sacred history indicates that its author must have lived prior to the days of Moses, if not before the time of the patriarch Abraham. Job alludes to some of the heavenly bodies in such a manner as to designate, with much probability, the posi tions, relative to the ecliptic, which some of them occu pied in his time ; and the learned chronologist, Dr. Hales, professes to have ascertained, by a very interesting astro nomical calculation on the precession of the equinoxes,1 that the time of Job's trials was in the year 2337 b.c, or eight hundred and eighteen years after the Deluge, and one hundred and eighty-four years before the birth of Abraham. Indeed, the Book of Job seems to have no 1 A movement by which the fixed stars seem to make an entire revolu tion in the heavens once in 25,868 years. THE BOOK OF JOB, PSALMS, AND PROVERBS. 337 connection with the history of the Jews, or Hebrews. As its grand theme indicates, it was evidently written for the purpose of reconciling the afflicted with the moral government of God in this present world ; or, as said by some commentators, to show " that God is su preme, and must be bowed to and adored ; his wis dom is incomprehensible, how vain then to arraign it ; his power omnipotent, how absurd then to resist it ; his goodness universal, how blind then to deny it !" The poetry of this book is not only equal to that of any other of the sacred writings, but is superior to them all. As a modern writer well expresses it : " Like some tall, grand, sublime mountain-peak of inspiration, where storm, and darkness, and flames alternately battle, en shroud, and play, it stands alone in its own inimitable grandeur and sublimity." The general merits of the poem are described by both Lowtii and Henry, in sub stance, as follows : " This poem is, in various respects, the most extraordi nary composition of any age or country, and has an equal claim to the attention of the theologian, the scholar, the antiquary, and the zoologist — to the man of taste, of genius, and of religion. Amid the books of the Bible it stands alone, and though its sacred character is sufficiently attested both by the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, it is isolated in its language, in its manner, and in its matter. Nothing can be purer than its mo rality, nothing sublimer than its philosophy, nothing simpler than its ritual, nothing more majestic than its creed. Its style is the most figurative imaginable ; yet its plan is as regular, its argument as consecutive, as the most finished compositions of Greece and Rome ; and its opening and its close are altogether unrivalled in magnificence. It is full of elevation and grandeur, daring in its conceptions, splendid and forcible in its im- i. — 15 338 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. ages, abrupt in its transitions, and, at the same time, occa sionally interspersed with touches of the most exquisite and overwhelming tenderness." Another writer says of it : " Its general scope and moral, viz., that the troubles and afflictions of the good man are, for the most part, designed as tests of his virt ue and integrity, are common to Eastern poets, and not uncommon to those of Greece. The Odyssey is such. But in various respects the poem of Job stands alone and unrivalled. In addition to every corporal suffering and privation possible for man to endure, it carries for ward the trial, in a manner and to an extent never else where attempted, into the keenest faculties and sensa tions of the mind, and mixes the bitterest taunts and ac cusations with the agonies of family bereavement and despair. The body of other poems consists chiefly of incidents; that of the present poem, of colloquy or ar gument, in which the general train of reasoning is so well sustained, its matter so important, its language so ornamented, the doctrines it develops so sublime, its transitions from passion to passion so varied and abrupt, that the want of incidents is not felt, and the attention is still riveted, as by enchantment." A variety of instances might be given of the figura tive and metaphorical character of this poem. Let us now refer, however, only to those strong and lively col ors witli which, in the following passages, selected by De. Hugh Blair, from the eighteenth and twentieth chapters of the book, the author paints the condition of the wicked. Observe how rapidly his figures rise before us, and how deep the impression they leave on the im agination : " ' Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon the earth, that the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment? THE BOOK OF JOB, PSALMS, AND PROVERBS. 339 Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his bead reach the clouds, yet he shall perish forever. He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found ; yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night. The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; they whicli have seen him shall say, where is he ? " He shall suck the poison of asps ; the viper's tongue shall slay him. In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits; every hand shall come upon him. He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through. All darkness shall be hid in his secret places. A fire not blown shall con sume him. The heaven shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him. The increase of his house shall depart. His goods shall flow away in the day of wrath. "The light of the wicked shall be put out: the light shall be dark in his dwelling. The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and bis own counsel shall cast him down. For he is cast into a net by his own feet. He walketh upon a snare. Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and the robber shall prevail against him. Brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation. His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street. He shall be driven from light into darkness. They that come after him shall be astonished at his day. He shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty." Many have doubted that such a person as Job ever existed, because the book is so highly allegorical. Its allegorical character, however, does not necessarily dis prove either the existence of Job or the truth of the facts narrated concerning him ; while the first two chap ters and a part of the last positively declare his exist ence, and clothe him with all the attributes of a real 340 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. person : as, likewise, do some of the writers of tbe sub sequent Scriptures.1 THE STORY OP JOB. The scene of the story is laid in the land of Uz, or Idumea, which is a part of Arabia. Job was a holy man, " who feared God and eschewed evil." Jehovah had bountifully blessed him. He had a large family, numerous flocks and herds, and "a very great house hold ;" and be was regarded as " the greatest man of all the East." As the English poet Edward Young describes him : Thrice happy Job long lived in regal state, Nor saw the sumptuous East a prince so great ; Whose worldly stores in such abundance flowed, Whose heart with such exalted virtue glowed. But at length a sad change occurred : Misfortunes take their turn to reign, And ills on ills succeed — a dreadful train ! The story is that Satan, having charged that Job's piety was owing to the great temporal blessings that the Lord had bestowed upon him, and that, if these were with drawn, he would curse the Almighty, received permis sion to test his integrity, and immediately subjected him to a series of bitter persecutions. Four messengers came to Job and severally announced to bim that the Arabs from tbe desert bad swept away his herds; tfiat fire from heaven had consumed his flocks ; that the Chaldeans had driven away his camels and slain his servants; and that the house in which bis children were feasting had been destroyed, and they had perished in the ruins. But Job as yet made no complaint. He ex- > Ezekiel, xiv. 14 ; James, v. 2. THE BOOK OF JOB, PSALMS, AND PROVERBS. 341 claimed, " The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord." This portion of the story is well told in the following verses : Burdened with tales of disaster, Pale as the minions of fate, Driven by thunder and whirlwind, Headlong they fall at his gate. Each with his cry of misfortune, Each with his horror of woe ; And alas for the pomp that is blighted! Alas for the beauty laid low ! Never was prince in the purple Richer than this man at morn ; Never at evening was pauper Mark for such pointings of scorn. Lord of an army of vassals, Owner of pastures untold, Who could outnumber his camels, Or muster his flocks in the fold ? Peerless and just and glad-hearted, Lo ! as he sits at the feast, Far in the dawn of world-story, Greatest of men in the East, Fiercely a desert sirocco Blots out the face of his day — All that he hath in a moment Sweeps from the Emir away. Scarce can his ear understand them, Mocking they seem as they shriek — This, how the Sabasans descended, Murder and vengeance to wreak ; That, how the bands of Chaldea Smote like the scourges of God ; And these, of the fire from heaven That scorched them where fearless they trod. 342 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Though the robber have stolen the camels, The lightning have stricken the sheep, For these nor in ashes nor sackcloth The patriarch, mourning, will weep. But that wind from the wilderness cruel — Oh, the sons and the daughters were fair ! And the young men are slain, and what plummet Shall sound.the sea-waves of despair? Sudden and swift and relentless, They hurried with tidings of ill ; Ay, sudden and swift and appalling, The arrows of heart-break come still. ***** He rent from his shoulders the mantle, He shaved the dull weight of his hair, And out of an anguish of silence He broke in a passion of prayer. All the fright and the fury were ended, The bitterest cup had been poured, And childless, and beggared, and lonely, He called on the name of the Lord. Mks. Maegaeet E. Sangsteb. Job was again delivered to Satan, who continued the test in another form. The patriarch was smitten with a painful and loathsome disease, probably leprosy in its worst stage. Even then he did not complain, but said to his wife, who urged him to curse God and die — "What! shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" The news of the evil that had come upon Job soon reached tlie ears of three of bis friends, El'iphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, who went to comfort him. They were accompanied by Eli'hu, the youngest of them all, but of a prophetic mind. So great ¦ was their grief, and their astonishment at the severity of Job's afflictions, that for seven days and nights they remained with him without speaking a word ! The THE BOOK OF JOB, PSALMS, AND PROVERBS. 343 events that first followed this strange scene have been briefly described by the poet Campbell in a fragment of an oratorio. On the eighth day Job gives vent to bis sorrow, and in the bitterness of his soul he thus curses the day of his birth and asks that he may die : My boundless curse be on The day that I was born ; Quenched be the star that shone Upon my natal morn. In the grave I long to shroud my breast, Where the wicked cease to wrong, And the weary are at rest. Job's three friends had hitherto regarded him as "perfect and upright," but his afflictions are so great and extraordinary that they now believe him to have been a hypocrite, and that his calamities are the result of his transgressions. So they severely condemn him. This gives rise to a warm controversy, which is begun by Eliphaz, supposed to be the wisest of the three, who rebukes Job in the following terms : Then Eliphaz rebuked his wild despair : " What Heaven ordains 'tis meet that man should bear. Lately, at midnight drear, A vision shook my bones with fear ; A spirit passed before my face, And yet its form I could not trace ; It stopped — it stood — it chilled my blood, The hair upon my flesh uprose With freezing dread ! Deep silence reigned, and, at its close, I heard a voice that said, ' Shall mortal man be more pure and just Than God, who made him from the dust? Hast thou not learnt of old how fleet Is the triumph of the hypocrite ; 344 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. How soon the wrath of joy grows wan On the brow of the ungodly man ? By the fire of his conscience he perisheth In an unblown flame : The earth demands his death, And the heavens reveal his shame.' " To whom Job thus replies : Is this your consolation ? Is it thus that ye condole With the depth of my desolation, And the anguish of my soul ? But I will not cease to wail The bitterness of my bale. Man that is born of woman, Short and evil is his hour ; He fleeth like a shadow, He fadeth like a flower. My days are passed — my hope and trust Is but to moulder in the dust. Campbell. The debate has three acts, and every act consists of three assaults by the false friends, and as many defences by Job. They accuse him of every species of iniquity, and urge him to repent and turn to God ; while he, stoutly asserting his innocence, bewails bis miserable condition, and expdstulates with God, whose mercy he supplicates. In a passionate weariness of life he still seeks death. Impatient for the grave, That seat of bliss, that mansion of repose, Where rest and mortals are no longer foes ; Where counsellors are hushed, and mighty kings (0 happy turn !) no more are wretched things. Young. He exclaims, "Oh that thou wouldst hide me in the grave, that thou wouldst keep me in secret, until thy THE BOOK OF JOB, PSALMS, AND PROVERBS. 345 wrath be past!"1 This petition of Job has been made the text of, a poem by Feanois Quaeles, an English poet— whom Bishop Willmott describes as of " exalted piety"— in which the futility of seeking to escape from the will of God is beautifully set forth : Ah! whither shall I fly ? What path untrod Shall I seek out to 'scape the flaming rod Of my offended, of my angry God ? Where shall I sojourn ? What kind sea will hide My head from thunder ? Where shall I abide Until his flames be quenched, or laid aside ? What if my feet should take their hasty flight, And seek protection in the shades of night? Alas! no shades can blind the God of light ! What if my soul should take the wings of day, And find some desert? If she springs away, The wings of vengeance clip as fast as they. What if some solid rock should entertain My frighted soul ? Can solid rocks sustain The stroke of justice and not cleave in twain? Nor sea, nor shade, nor shield, nor rock, nor cave, Nor silent deserts, nor the sullen grave, When flame-eyed Fury means to smite, can save. The seas will part, graves open, rocks will split ! The shield will cleave, the fiery shadow flit ; When Justice aims, hor fiery darts must hit. No, no ; if stern-brow'd Vengeance means to thunder, There is no place, above, beneath, or under, So close but will unlock, or rive in sunder. » Chap. xiv. 13. 15* 346 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. 'Tis vain to flee : 'tis neither here nor there Can 'scape that hand, until that hand forbear ; Ah me ! where is He not, that's everywhere ? 'Tis vain to fly : till gentle Mercy show Her better eye, the farther off we go, The swing of Justice deals the mightier blow. The ingenuous child, corrected, doth not fly His angry mother's hand, but clings more nigh, And quenches, with his tears, her flaming eye. Great God ! there is no safety here below ; Thou art my fortress, though thou seem'st my foe. 'Tis thou that strik'st the stroke must guard the blow. Thou art my God — by thee I fall or. stand ; Thy grace hath given me courage to withstand All tortures but my conscience and thy hand. I know thy justice is thyself; I know, Just God, thy very self is mercy too ; If not to thee, where — whither — should I go ? Then work thy will. If passion bid me flee, My reason%hall obey; my wings shall be Stretched out no farther than from thee to thee. The discussion between Job and his three advisers grows more and more intense, and finally ends in a lengthy speech by Job, who again makes a solemn prot estation of his integrity. Then the youthful Eli'hu comes forward, and, in three speeches, administers de served rebuke to both parties, with as little mercy for Job as for his friends, but with a clearer view of suffer ing, whose object he represents to be correction and ref ormation, the reproof of arrogance, and the exercise of THE BOOK OF JOB, PSALMS, AND PROVERBS. 347 humility and faith. At last the Almighty himself, to whom Job had so frequently appealed, comes forward, in a terrible tempest, and, reproving Job for his mur- murings, demonstrates the divine power and wisdom, and demands submission to his will. The leading por tions of this address, and the effects produced by it, can be no better presented than in the following admi rable paraphrase by the poet Young : A pause ensued — when lo ! Heaven interposed, And awfully the long contention closed. Full o'er their heads, with terrible surprise, A sudden whirlwind blackened all the skies. (They saw and trembled !) From the darkness broke A dreadful voice, and thus the Almighty spoke: " Who gives his tongue a loose so bold and vain, Censures my conduct, and reproves my reign? Lifts up his thoughts against me from the dust, And tells the world's Creator what is just ? Of late so brave, now lift a dauntless eye, Face my demand, and give it a reply. "Where did'st thou dwell at nature's early birth? Who laid foundations for the spacious earth? Who on its surface did extend the line, Its form determine, and its bulk confine ? Who fixed the corner-stone ? What hand, declare, Hung it on naught, and fastened it on air? When the bright morning stars in concert sung, When heaven's high arch with loud hosannas rung ? When shouting sons of God the triumph crown'd, And the wide concave thundered with the sound ? Earth's numerous kingdoms — hast thou viewed them all? And can thy span of knowledge grasp the ball?.. Who heaved the mountain, which sublimely stands, And casts its shadow into distant lands ?" 348 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. In farther demonstrating to Job his great power and wisdom, the Almighty appeals to the sea, for whose floods he has provided a basin from the hollowed side of the globe, and whose bounding billows and proud waves are stayed by his decree, and asks: " Hast thou explored the secrets of the deep, Where, shut from use, unnumbered treasures sleep ? Where, down a thousand fathoms from the day, Springs the great fountain, mother of the sea? Those gloomy paths did thy bold foot e'er tread, Whole worlds of waters rolling o'er thy head ? Hath the cleft centre opened wide to thee ? Death's inmost chambers did'st thou ever see? E'er knock at his tremendous gate, and wade To the black portal through the incumbent shade? Deep are those shades, but shades still deeper hide My counsels from the ken of human pride." Then he appeals to the sources of light and darkness, and their places and bounds ; to the formation of mists, and frost, and ice, and thus continues : " Thou know'st me not ; thy blindness cannot see How vast a distance parts thy God from thee. Canst thou^n whirlwinds mount aloft ? Canst thou In clouds and darkness wrap thy awful brow ? And, when day triumphs in meridian light, Put forth thy hand, and shade the world with night ? " Who launched the clouds in air, and bid them roll, Suspended seas aloft, from pole to pole ? Who can refresh the sandy, burning plain, And quench the summer with a waste of rain ? Who, in rough deserts, far from human toil, Made rocks bring forth, and desolation smile? There blooms the rose, where human face ne'er shone, And spreads its beauties to the sun alone. THE BOOK OF JOB, PSALMS, AND PROVERBS. 349 " Hast thou e'er scaled my wintry skies, and seen Of hail and snows my Northern magazine? These the dread treasures of mine anger are, My funds of vengeance for the day of war, When clouds rain death, and storms, at my command, Rage through the world, or waste a guilty land. " Who taught the rapid winds to fly so fast, Or shakes the contre with his eastern blast ? Who from the skies can a whole deluge pour? Who strikes through nature with the solemn roar Of dreadful thunder? Points it where to fall, And in fierce lightning wraps the flying ball ? Not he who trembles at the darted fires, Falls at the sound, and in the flash expires ! " Who drew the comet out to such a size, And poured his flaming train o'er half the skies ? Did thy resentment hang him out? Does he Glare ou the nations, and denounce, from thee ? Who, on low earth, can moderate the rein That guides the stars along tho ethereal plain : Appoint their seasons and direct their course, Their lustre brighten, and supply their force ? Canst thou the skies' benevolence restrain And cause the Ple'iades to shine in vain ? Or, when Ori'on sparkles from his sphere, Thaw the cold season, and unbind the year ? Bid Mazzaroth his destined station know, And teach the bright Arctnrus where to glow ? Mine is the night, with all her stars ; I pour Myriads, and myriads I reserve in store. " Who did the soul with her rich powers invest, And light up reason in the human breast, Tp shine, with fresh increase of lustre, bright, When stars and sun are set in endless night ? 350 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. To these, my various questions, make reply." The Almighty spoke ; and, speaking, shook the sky. Humbled by all these evidences of the greatness of God, Job, with trembling heart and downcast eyes, be gins to realize his guilt, and makes this brief reply : " Once and again, which I in groans deplore, My tongue has erred ; but shall presume no more. My voice is in eternal silence bound, And all my soul falls prostrate to the ground." The Lord again speaks from the whirlwind. He in quires of Job if he has an arm like that of God, or his voice of thunder ; and if in the hollow of his hand he can contain the bulk of waters, when, mad with tem pests, tbe billows rise and dash against the skies? He then sarcastically calls upon Job to put on his omnipo tence and come forth : " Come forth, in beauty's excellence arrayed, And be the grandeur of thy power displayed ; Put on omnipotence, and, frowning, make The spacious round of the creation shake ; Despatch thy vengeance, bid it overthrow Triumphant vice, lay lofty tyrants low, And crumble them to dust. When this is done, I grant thy safety lodged in thee alone ; Of thee thou art, and may'st undaunted stand Behind the buckler of thine own right hand. " Fond man ! the vision of a moment made ! Dream of a dream ! and shadow of a shade ! What worlds hast thou produced ? what creatures framed, What insects cherished, that thy God is blamed? When, pained with hunger, the wild raven's brood Loud calls on God, importunate for food, Who hears their cry, who grants their hoarse request, And stills the clamor of the craving nest?" THE BOOK OF JOB, PSALMS, AND PROVERBS. 351 The Almighty farther reminds Job of bis impotence, by referring to the strength and courage of the war- horse. ; Campbell's versification of this passage is as follows : Hast thou given the horse his strength and pride ? He paws the valley ; with nostril wide He smells far off the battle ; He neighs at the trumpet's sound — ¦ And his speed devours the ground As he sweeps to where the quivers rattle, And the spear and shield shine bright, Midst the shouting of the captains And the thunder of the fight. In Young's paraphrase the address of the Almighty is thus concluded : " Am I a debtor ? ' Hast thou ever heard Whence came the gifts that are on me conferred ? My lavish fruit a thousand valleys fills, And mine the herds that graze a thousand hills ; Earth, sea, and air, all nature is my own ; And stars and sun are dust beneath my throne : And darest thou with the world's great Father vie, Thou, who dost tremble at my creature's eye?" Job now makes a humble confession of his errors, and submits himself to the divine will. Then the Chaldean eased his laboring breast, With full conviction of his crime oppressed : " Thou canst accomplish all things, Lord of might, And every thought is naked to thy sight. But oh ! thy ways are wonderful, and lie Beyond the deepest reach of mortal eye. Oft have I heard of thine almighty power, But never saw thee till this dreadful hour. 352 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. O'erwhelmed with shame, the Lord of life I see, Abhor myself, and give my soul to thee. Nor shall my weakness tempt thine anger more: Man is not made to question, but adore." The Lord accepted the confession of Job, whose repent ance was followed by his restoration to health and pros perity. An abundance of blessings was bestowed upon him, and his latter days were happier than his first. But against El'iphaz, Bildad, and Zophar the Lord's wrath was kindled, because they had not spoken of him the things that were right, and had uttered severe and cruel words concerning Job.. He forgave them, however, through the intercession of Job. After his restoration Job lived one hundred and forty years, "and died, being old and full of days." No description can convey an adequate idea of tbe sublimity and beauty of some of the passages in the Book of Job. They must be carefully read to be ap preciated. "Where, in the compass of human lan guage," remarked the late De. Gaedineb Speing, in one of his discourses, " is there a paragraph which, for boldness and variety of metaphor, delicacy and majesty of thought, strength and invention, elegance and refine ment, equals the passage in wliich ' God answers Job out of the whirlwind ?' What merely human imagina tion, in the natural progress of a single discourse, and, apparently, without effort, ever thus went down to the ' foundations of the earth ;' stood at ' the doors of the ocean ;' visited 'the place where the dayspring from on high takes hold of the uttermost parts of the earth ;' entered into 'the treasures of the snow and the hail;' traced 'the path of the thunder-bolt;' and, penetrating the retired chambers of nature, demanded, ' Hath the rain a father? or who bath begotten the drops of the THE BOOK OF JOB, PSALMS, AND PROVERBS. 353 dew?' And how bold its flights, how inexpressibly striking and beautiful its antitheses, when, from the warm and sweet Bleiades, it wanders to the sterner Orion; and, in its rapid course, hears the 'young lions crying unto God for lack of meat;' sees the war- horse pawing in the valley; descries the eagle on the crag of the rock ; and, in all that is vast and minute, dreadful and beautiful, discovers and proclaims the glory of Him who is 'excellent in counsel, and won derful in working !' " Referring to the Book of Job, the gifted Thomas Caelyle once said : " It is one of the grandest" things ever written by man. A noble book ! All men's book ! Such living likenesses have never since been drawn. Sublime sorrow, sublime reconciliation ; oldest choral melody, as of the heart of manhood ; as soft and great as the summer midnight; as the world with its seas and stars. There is nothing else written, I think, of equal literary merit." II. THE BOOK OF PSALMS. This collection of sacred poetry received its name from the lyrical character of the pieces of wliich it con sists, and which were intended to be sung to stringed and other instruments of music — the word, psalm being derived from a verb that signifies " to play upon a stringed instrument," as a lyre or harp. De. Benjamin Davies says that all the best judges, as Lowth, Heedee, Ewald, De Wette, and others, pronounce the poetry of the Bsalms to be of the lyric order. " ' They are,' saj's De Wette, ' lyric in the proper sense ; for, among the Hebrews, as among the ancients generally, poetry, sing ing, and instrumental music were united, and the in scriptions to most of the Psalms determine their con- 354 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. nection with music, though in a way not always intelli gible to us. Also, as works of taste, these compositions deserve to be called lyric. The essence of lyric poetry is the immediate expression of feeling; and feeling is the sphere in whicli most of the Psalms move. Pain, grief, fear, hope, joy, trust, gratitude, submission to God — everything that moves and elevates the heart — is ex pressed in these songs.' '" Another writer characterizes the Psalms as " the great depository of the religious lyric poetry of the Jewish nation,," and the same thought is expressed by Milton in the following praise of Hebrew song, which the poet puts in the mouth of one of that nation : If I would delight my private hours With music or with poem, where so soon As in our native language can I find That solace ? All our law and story strewed With hymns, our psalms with artful terms inscribed, Our Hebrew songs and harps in Babylon, That pleased so well our victor's ear, declare That rather Greece from us these arts derived ; All imitated, while they loudest sing The vices of their deities and their own In fable, hymn, or song, so personating Their gods ridiculous, and themselves past shame. Remove their swelling epithets, the rest Will be found far unworthy to compare With Zion's songs, to all true taste's excelling, Where God is praised aright, and godlike men, The holiest of holies, and his saints : Such are from God inspired. The early Christian Fathers describe the Psalms as five books in one volume, thus forming a poetical " pen- * See Kitto's "Cyclopaedia of Bible Literature." 355 tateuch," and extending from Moses to the times of Malachi ; and the poet Wordsworth designates them as " the Hebrew history set to music — an oratorio in five parts, with Messiah for its object." Thus, the twenty- second Psalrn is supposed to portray Messiah's death scene ; the twenty-third, his rest in paradise ; and the twenty-fourth, his ascension, as referred to in Acts, ii. 25-37. In the division into five books, the first book, supposed to have been written wholly by David, ends with Psalm xii., and closes with the doxology, " Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting, and to ever lasting. Amen, and amen." The second book ends with Psalm lxxii., and likewise closes with a doxology, as do the remaining three divisions. Book three ends with Psalm lxxxix., book four with Psalm cvi., and book five with Psalm cl., the last in the collection. The ar rangement thus given is not wholly chronological, though David's book of Psalms is first of the five, and the post- captivity book the last. Even Moses' Psalm, the oldest of all, begins the fourth book, and some of David's are in the fifth. The subjects of the Psalms, and their re lation to one another and to the whole, are the general basis of the arrangement. Many of the ancients, both Jews and Christians, at tributed the authorship of all the Psalms to David ; but the titles and the contents of the Psalms most clearly show that they, were composed at different and remote periods, by several poets, of whom David was the chief. To him, " the sweet Psalmist of Israel," are ascribed eighty of the Psalms, while the remainder are divided among Asaph, Solomon, Moses, and many others, most of whom are unknown. The reign of David was the golden age of lyric poetry, and he was the prince of singers in Israel. His compositions, therefore, are the best known, as they are the most tender and pleasing. 356 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. They are sweet, soft, and graceful ; and sometimes they exhibit the sublime. His prevailing strain is plaintive, owing to his multiplied and sore trials, both before and after his occupation of the throne. The wonderful scope, beauty, and grandeur of the Psalms of David have been very fitly characterized in the following tribute to their author by an English poet, Christopher Smaet. This striking production was com posed during the poet's confinement in a mad -house, where, being deprived of pen and ink, be was obliged to "indent bis lines with the end of a key upon tlie wainscot." SONG TO DAVID. Sublime invention, ever young, Of vast conception, towering tongue, To God th' eternal theme ; Notes from your exaltations caught, Unrivalled royalty of thought, O'er meaner strains supreme : His muse, bright angel of his verse, Gives balm for all the thorns that pierce, For all the pangs that rage : Blest light still gaining on the gloom, The more than Michal of his bloom, The Ab'ishag of his age. He sang of God — the mighty source Of all things — the stupendous force On which all things depend ; From whose right arm, beneath whose eyes, All periods, power, and enterprise Commence, and reign, and end ; The world, the clustering spheres he made, The glorious light, the soothing shade, THE BOOK OF JOB, PSALMS, AND PROVERBS. 357 Dale, champaign, grove, and hill ; The multitudinous abyss Where secrecy remains in bliss, And Wisdom hides her skill. " Tell them, I am," Jehovah said To Moses : while Earth heard in dread, And, smitten to the heart, At once above, beneath, around, All Nature, without voice or sound, Replied, " O Lord, Thou art." It is exceedingly difficult to determine when and by whom the Psalms were collected and arranged in their present order, although it is believed that David made the first collection. " It was he," as Heedee says, " who collected the scattered wild field - flowers, and planted them as a royal parterre on Mount Zion ;" but in all probability the final compilation was made by Ezra and his contemporaries about 450 b.c. III. THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. That Solomon, who was eminently endowed with di vine wisdom, and who "spake three thousand proverbs," was the author of the greater portion of this book, is universally acknowledged ; but it is probable that the Proverbs were collected by different persons and at va rious times. Their object and design, as expressed by the author himself in the opening chapter, are " to know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of un derstanding; to receive tlie instruction of wisdom, jus tice, and judgment, and equity ; to give subtilty to the simple, and to the young man knowledge and discre tion." Indeed, as observed by a writer in Kitto, "the Book of Proverbs bas in all ages been regarded as a 358 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. great storehouse of practical wisdom. The early Fa thers were accustomed to call it all-sufficing wisdom; and modern writers have been equally filled with admi ration at the profound knowledge of human nature dis played in it, its accurate delineations of character, and the wonderful richness and appropriateness of its in structions. ' Truly,' says one of the most eminent men of our age, 'in all points of prudence, public and pri vate, we may accommodate to the Royal Preacher his own words in another of his works, What can the man say that cometh after the king? Even that which hath been said already! '" One of the chief characteristics of the Proverbs is the peculiar advantages they possess as a medium of commu nicating truth. On this point the same writer remarks : " A proverb once heard remains fixed in the memory. Its brevity, its appositeness, often aided by antithesis, not only insure its remembrance, but, very probably, its recurrence to the mind at the very time when its warn ing voice may be most needed. It utters in a tone of friendly admonition, of gentle remonstrance, of stern re proof, or of vehement denunciation, its wholesome les son in the ear of the tried, the tempted, and the guilty." As to the style of the book, we find it especially marked by that characteristic which distinguishes the poetry of the Hebrews from their prose compositions, and of whicli we have given some account in a former chapter, under the head of Parallelisms. The following passage in the second chapter, from the first to the fifth verse inclusive, is a beautiful example of synonymous parallelism : My son, if thou wilt receive my words, And hide my commandments with thee ; 1 Eccles, ii. 12. THE BOOK OF JOB, PSALMS, AND PROVERBS. 359 So that thou incline thine ear to wisdom, And apply thy heart to understanding ; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, And liftest up the voice for understanding ; If thou seekest her as silver, And searchest for her as for hid treasures ; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God. As an example of antithetic parallelism, take the fol lowing from the tenth chapter: The fear of the Lord prolongeth days ; But the years of the wicked shall be shortened. The hope of the righteous shall be gladness ; But the expectation of the wicked shall perish. The way of the Lord is strength to the upright ; But destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. Commenting on the merits of these two passages, the writer in Kitto is led to observe, what all the best au thorities concede, that there is a continuity in the former whicli does not appear in the latter. He then adds : " In fact, the first nine chapters of the Book of Prov erbs are remarkably distinguished from the remainder, and constitute a sort of proem or exordium to the work. It is a continuous discourse, written in the highest style of poetry, adorned with apt and beautiful illustrations, and with various and striking figures. The personifica tion of Wisdom in these chapters is universally regarded as one of the most beautiful examples of the kind to be found in the Bible, and it possesses an indescribable grace and majesty. What can be finer than the passage in chapter viii. 22-31, where many eminent critics are of opinion that the Son of God is to be understood as speaking ? In the next chapter the word Wisdom bas a feminine termination in the original ; and Wisdom and 360 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Folly are personified as females. The contrast between their respective pretensions and invitations may be made more evident than it is in our version, by arrang ing the passages in opposition to each other, as follows : Wisdom hath builded her house, She hath hewn out her seven pillars, She hath killed her beasts, She hath mingled her wine, She hath also furnished her table, She hath sent forth her maidens, She crieth upon the highest places of the city, Whoso is simple let him turn in hither. ' To bim who wanteth understanding she saith : Come, eat of my bread, And drink of the wine 'I have mingled, Forsake the foolish and live ; And go in the way of understanding ; For by me thy days shall be multiplied, And the years of thy life shall be increased. Folly is clamorous ; She is simple and knoweth nothing. She sitteth at the door of her house, On a%eat in the high places of the city, To call passengers who go right on their ways : Whoso is simple let him turn in hither. ' To him who wanteth understanding Folly saith : Stolen waters are sweet, And bread eaten in secret is pleasant. But he knoweth npt that the dead are there, And that her guests are in the depths of the grave.' " The Proverbs of Solomon are characterized by De. Philip Schaff in the following terms: " They are far superior to any other collection of the THE BOOK OF JOB, PSALMS, AND PROVERBS. 361 kind, such as the sayings of the Seven Wise Men of Greece, the Aurea Carmina attributed to Pythagoras, or the collections of Arabic proverbs. They bear the stamp of divine inspiration. They abound in polished and sparkling gems. They contain the practical wis dom of Israel, and have furnished the richest contribu tions to the dictionary of proverbs among Christian na tions. They trace wisdom to its true source, the fear of Jehovah. Nothing can be finer than the description of Wisdom in the eighth chapter, where she is personified as the eternal companion and delight of God, and com mended beyond all earthly treasures." We close this brief sketch of the Book of Proverbs with- the following practical view of its teachings by Dean Stanley : "The Book of Proverbs approaches human things and things divine in a way quite different from the Prophets or the Psalms. It has even something of a worldly, prudential look, unlike the rest of the Bible. But this is the very reason why its recognition as a sacred book is so useful. It is the philosophy of practi cal life. It is the sign to us that the Bible does not despise common-sense and discretion. It impresses upon us, in the most forcible manner, the value of in telligence and prudence, and of a good education. It deals, too, in that refined, discriminating, careful view of the finer shades of human character so necessary to any true estimate of human life. 'The heart knoweth its own bitterness, and the stranger doth not intermed dle with its joy.' How much is there, in that single sentence, of consolation, of love, of forethought ! And, above all, it insists, over and over again, upon the doc trine that goodness is 'wisdom,' and that wickedness and vice are 'folly! " L— 16 362 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. CHAPTER X.— ECCLESIASTES, THE SONG OF SOLOMON, AND ISAIAH. I. ECCLESIASTES. While King Solomon's authorship of the Book of Eeclesiastes is supported by the direct assertion, in the second chapter, " I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem," yet it is known that in the book are found Hebrew words rarely employed in the earlier Scriptures, but frequently in those of a later period than the time of Solomon — that words never found in the Hebrew writings till the Babylonian captivity are found here — that the book contains words not found even in the late Hebrew, but only in the Chaldaic corruptions of the time of Daniel and Ezra— and, farther, that tlie grammatical construction of the book accords with this latter period. It is therefore believed by many that, " as the book is poetical, not historical, a later writer, in the person of an idealized Solomon, writes, under inspiration, the les sons that such an experience as that of Solomon would probably afford. Hence, Solomon is not named, and the writer speaks of 'the Preacher' as the author, while, if the book were merely the record of Solomon's penitent confession in old age, he wonld probably have used his own name." To this it has been answered, that " the peculiarities of language may be due to Solomon's long intercourse with foreigners ; and that the Chaldaisms may be fragments preserved from the common tongue ECCLESIASTES, SONG OF SOLOMON, AND ISAIAH. 363 of which Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldee, and Ar'abic were offshoots." So Solomon himself may have been the sole author. The object or purpose of this poem — for a poem it is conceded to be — is clearly discoverable in its contents. Its fundamental idea is contained in the opening sen tence, "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity." But this declaration does not mean that everything is evil in it self, but that only those things are vanity which are pursued regardless of the will of God, such as human wisdom apart from God, self-righteousness, and sensual pleasures generally. Beferring to this fundamental idea, the celebrated critic Ewald strikingly remarks as follows : "There blows throughout this book a piercing chill against every earthly aim and every vain endeavor; a contempt which changes into a bitter sneer against everything Avhich in the usual proceedings of men is one-sided and perverse; an indefatigable penetration in the discovery of all human vanities and fooleries. In no earlier writing has all cause of pride and vain imagi nation so decidedly and so comprehensively been taken from man ; and no other book is pervaded by such an outcry of noble indignation against all that is vain in the world." Whether Solomon was or was not the author of the book itself in its present form, yet that he was the au thor of the wise sayings recorded in it, there is but little doubt. It has been asserted, however, that one so con stantly prosperous as he is said to have been could not have written in so melancholy a manner. On the other hand, it has been well said that from no one could more aptly come a proclamation of the nothingness of all things earthly than from Solomon, who had possessed them all in their fulness, and therefore bad ample op- 364 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. portunity to experience their vanity. And we know that in bis old age he preferred the attractive splendors of this world to godliness, and that the setting of his life was darkened by his follies. As a concise statement of the vanity of human pur suits when made the chief end, and, consequently, as a wise guide to human life, Eeclesiastes has been highly praised, as well by those- who have not been decided be lievers in revelation, as by those within the Christian Church. Among the former class may be mentioned Herder, the German philosopher, who says of it : "I do not know any book in the whole of the Old Testament that describes more fully, more convincingly, or more concisely the whole sum of human life, with all its changes and vanities, in occupations, plans, specula tions, and pleasures; and at the same time that wliich alone is real, lasting, progressive, and rewarding." Among the latter class, De. Sohaff well describes its merits in the following summary : "Eeclesiastes is a philosophic poem, not in broken, disconnected maxims of wisdom, like the Proverbs, but in a series of soliloquies of a soul perplexed and bewil dered by do^ibt, yet holding fast to fundamental truth, and looking from the vanities beneath the sun to the eternal realities above the sun. It is a most remarkable specimen of Hebrew scepticism subdued and moderated by Hebrew faith in God and his holy commandments. It corresponds to the old age of Solomon, as the Song of Songs reflects the flowery spring of his youth, and the Proverbs the ripe wisdom of his manhood. Whether written by the great monarch or not, it personates him, and gives the last sad results of his experience after a long life of unrivalled wisdom and unrivalled folly, namely, the overwhelming impression of the vanity of all things earthly, with tbe concluding lesson of the fear ECCLESIASTES, SONG OF SOLOMON, AND ISAIAH. 365 of God, which checks the tendency to despair, and is the star of hope in the darkness of midnight." II. THE SONG OF SOLOMON, OR CANTICLES. This poem by Solomon is often called the Song of Songs, in token of its superior beauty and excellence. While its subject is confessedly Love, it has been a mat ter of grave dispute as to what kind of love it celebrates, and, also, whether it is to be limited to its obvious and primary meaning, or extended so as to include a latent mystical and allegorical sense. On the first point Bishop Lowth submits the follow ing observations : "The Song of Songs, for so it is entitled, either on account of the excellence of the subject or of the com position, is an epithalamium, or nuptial dialogue; or, ratlier, if we may be allowed to give it a title more agreeable to the genius of the Hebrews, a Song of. Loves. It is expressive of the utmost fervor as well as delicacy of passion ; it is instinct with all the spirit and sweet ness of affection. The principal characters are Solomon himself and his bride, who are represented speaking, both in dialogue, and in soliloquy when accidentally sep arated. Virgins, also, the companions of the bride, are introduced, who seem to be constantly on the stage, and bear a part of the dialogue. Mention is also made of young men, friends of the bridegroom, but they are mute persons. This is exactly conformable to the man ner of the Hebrews, who had always a number of com panions to the bridegroom, thirty of whom were present in honor of Samson at his nuptial feast. (Judges, xiv. 13.) In the New Testament, according to the Hebrew idiom, they are called children, or sons of the bride- chamber, and friends of the bridegroom. There, too, 366 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. we find mention of ten virgins who went forth to meet the bridegroom and conduct him home ; whicli circum stances indicate that this poem is founded on the nup tial rites of the Hebrews, and is expressive of the forms or ceremonial of tlieir marriage." Other writers, among whom are Eichhorn and Jai-ln, , contend that the love of two persons before marriage is here celebrated, because neither in monogamy nor in polygamy is the passion of love so ardent as is here represented. That the poem is intended to represent the union between Christ and his Church, is generally conceded. Few are to be found who deny its allegorical character, and the only difference that exists among those who con sider it a divine allegory is, whether it is a simple alle gory, or one with an historical basis. Oeigen, one of the Fathers of tlie Church, contends that it is founded on the historical fact of the marriage of Solomon with the daughter of Pharaoh, and that either the Church, or the soul of the believer, converses with Christ. He says : "This little book seems to be an epithalamium — that is, a nuptial song — written by Solomon, and sung in the person of a bride to her bridegroom, who is the word of God burning with celestial love. For she loved him passionately, whether we consider her as the soul made after his image, or the Church." And the celebrated Bossuet, among the moderns, ob serves as follows : " Solomon adduces, as an example, bis chaste affection toward Pharaoh's daughter; and while, on the founda tion of a true history, he aptly describes the most pas sionate love, he sings, under the envelope of an elegant fable, celestial loves and the union of Christ and the Church." On the other hand, it is maintained that the song is ECCLESIASTES, SONG OF SOLOMON, AND ISAIAH. 367 but a simple allegory, having no historical basis what ever, but describing the love wliich subsists between Christ and the Church, under figures borrowed from the ardor of human affection. Although there is no direct intimation in the Script ures of the allegorical character of this poem, recourse has been had to the analogy of some of the Psalms, whose application to spiritual objects is expressly recog nized in the New Testament. Chief among these is the forty-fifth, which is conceded to celebrate the excellen ces and praises of the Messiah. The resemblance be tween this Psalm and the Canticles is thus pointed out by Bosenmullee, a distinguished German theologian : " Throughout the latter part of the Psalm this alle gory, in which the Hebrew poets particularly delighted, is maintained. They were accustomed to represent God as entertaining, toward his chosen people, feelings which they compared to conjugal affections; and which they deduced, under this figure, into all their various and even minute expressions. In the illustrating and beau tifying of this allegory the whole of the Song of Songs is occupied. That the subject of that poem, and that of the Psalm before us, is the same, there is no doubt among sound interpreters." The language of this poem is considered by the best judges to be the finest for elegance and variety of im agery that ever came from the pen of man. The emi nent French scholar and theologian, Calmet, says: "Even regarding it as a mere human composition, it has all the beauties of which a piece of this nature is capable. The bride and bridegroom express their senti ments in figurative and enigmatic periods, and by com parisons and similitudes derived from rural scenery. If the comparisons are sometimes too strong, we must al low something to the genius of the Orientals and the 368 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. vivacity of love. The style is tender, lively, animated, and delicate." And the learned and eloquent Bossuet, whom Bishop Lowth calls " a critic whose profound learning will ever be acknowledged, and a scholar whose exquisite taste will ever be admired," gives the following beautiful de scription of its merits : "Every part of the Canticles abounds in poetical beauties : the objects which present themselves on ev ery side are the choicest plants, the most beautiful flow ers, the most delicious fruits, the bloom and vigor of spring, the sweet verdure of the fields, flourishing and well - watered gardens, pleasant streams, and perennial fountains. The other senses are represented as regaled with the most precious odors, natural and artificial ; with the sweet singing of birds, and the soft voice of. the turtle ; with milk and honey, and tbe choicest wine. To these enchantments are added all that is beautiful and graceful in the human form, the endearments, the ca resses, the delicacy of love; and if any object be intro duced which seems not to harmonize with this delightful scene, such as the awfnl prospect of tremendous preci pices, the wildness of the mountains, or the haunts of the lions, its*effect is only to heighten, by the contrast, the beauty of the other objects, and to add the charms of variety to those of grace and elegance." To this may be added the following extract from an article by De. Schaff : " The Song of Solomon presents the Hebrew ideal of pure bridal and conjugal love in a series of monologues and dialogues by different persons : a lover, King Solo mon, a maiden named Shulamith, and a chorus of vir gins, daughters of Jerusalem. The poem is full of the fragrance of spring, the beauty of flowers, and the love liness of love. How sweet and charming is Solomon's ECCLESIASTES, SONG OF SOLOMON, AND ISAIAH. 369 description of spring (ii. 10-14), which a German poet calls a ' kiss of heaven to earth :' ' Rise up, my love, my fair one, and go forth ! For, lo, the winter is past, The rain is over, is gone. Tbe flowers appear on the earth, The time for the singing of birds is come, And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. The fig-tree spices its green figs, And the vines with tender blossoms give fragrance. 'Arise, my love, my fair one, and go forth ! My dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the recess of the cliffs, Let me see thy countenance, Let me hear thy voice ; For thy voice is sweet, And thy countenance is comely.' The Song of Solomon canonizes the love of nature, aud the love of sex, as the Book of Esther canonizes patriotism, or the love of country." It is well known that some writers of considerable prominence have charged that the poem is an encour agement to immorality, and, therefore, is to be held in disrepute. Referring to this charge, De. Schaff pro tests against it as a profane and erotic interpretation that makes the position of the book in the canon an in explicable enigma. In answer to it he submits the fol lowing able and judicious remarks of De. Angus on the subject : "Much of the language of this poem has been mis understood by early expositors. Some have erred by adopting a fanciful method of explanation, and attempt ing to give a mystical meaning to every minute circum stance of the allegory. In all figurative representations 16* 370 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. there is always much that is mere costume. It is the general truth only that is to be examined and explained. Others, not understanding the spirit and luxuriancy of Eastern poetry, have considered particular passages as defective in delicacy — an impression which the English version has needlessly confirmed — and so have objected to the whole, though the objection does not apply with greater force to this book than to Hesiod or Homer, or even to some of the purest of our own authors. If it be remembered that the figure employed in this alle gory is one of the most frequent in Scripture — that in extant Oriental poems it is constantly employed to ex press religious feeling; that many expressions whicli are applied, in our translation, to the person belong, properly, to the dress; that nothing is described but chaste affection ; and that it is the general truth only which is to be allegorized, the whole will appear to be no unfit representation of the union between Christ and true believers in every age. Properly understood, this portion of Scripture will minister to our holiness.' " III. ISAIAH. I. THE PERIOD EMBRACED IN THE BOOK. Isaiah is recognized as the chief of the Hebrew prophets. He prophesied during the reigns of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah— a period of about sixty years ;¦ that is, from about the year 759 to the year 700 b.c. Of his private life but little is known, save that he was married, had two sons, and lived in Jeru salem, near the Temple. Regarding the chronological arrangement and special character of his prophecies, 1 King Uzziali reigned over Judah from 810 to 758 B.C. ; Jothnm from 758 to 742; Aliaz from 743 to 727 ; Hezekiah from 727 to 698. Isaiah be gan to prophesy in the last year of the reign of Uzziah. > ECCLESIASTES, SONG OF SOLOMON, AND ISAIAH. 371 commentators are generally agreed. The first five chapters of the book are held to relate to the later years of the reign of Uzziah. During this reign of nearly fifty-two years Judah had been abundantly prospered, as Israel had been prospered during the reign of Je roboam II. But prosperity was Israel's ruin; so the prophet warns Judah of a similar danger, denounces the judgment of God upon her wickedness, and exhorts the people to fear and obedience. The vision in the sixth chapter, confirmatory of the prophet's message, is sup posed to have occurred in the time of Jotham. What follows next, up to the thirteenth chapter, belongs to the reign of Ahaz, and perhaps the first fifteen years of that of Hezekiah, and consists of three prophetic discourses. In these the prophet refers (1) to the siege of Jerusalem by Israel and Syria, foretells the birth of Immanuel, and predicts the subjugation of Israel and Syria by Assyria ; he foretells (2) the destruction of Sen- nach'erib's army; and thence recites (3) the deliverance of God's people by the Messiah. II. CHAPTERS XIII. TO XXIV. Chapters thirteen to twenty-four, which probably re late-to the reign of Hezekiah, predict the fate of the Babylonians, Philistines, Moabites, Syrians, and other foreign nations. The prophecy against Babylon is most striking. It concludes as follows : " And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excel lency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Go morrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation : neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shep herds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and tlieir houses shall be full 372 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces : and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged."1 How literally and completely have these predictions been fulfilled ! Where, oh ! where is Babylon ? The crown is off her brow, And the queen that ruled o'er many lands Is untia'raed now ! Say, where is haughty Babylon, The home of golden towers ? The serpent hisses in her halls, The dragon in her bowers ! Where is the proud destroyer now ? All desolate and lorn, A mouldering monument she stands, To sate the eye of scorn ! Where is the sceptred city, where ? The bittern's hollow cry Re-echoes round the reedy marsh, Where broken columns lie! Where, where is haughty Babylon ? The deep, pool mantles o'er, With silent wave, her gorgeous domes : Babylon is no more ! David Mallock. Once from her lofty walls the charioteer Looked down on swarming myriads ; once she flung Her arches o'er Euphrates' conquered tide, 1 Isa. xiii. 19-22. ECCLESIASTES, SONG OF SOLOMON, AND ISAIAH. 373 And through her brazen portals when she poured Her armies forth, the distant nations looked As men who watch the thunder-cloud in fear, Lest it should burst above tbem. She is fallen ! The queen of cities, Babylon, is fallen ! Low lie her bulwarks ; the black scorpion basks In the palace-courts; within the sanctuary The she-wolf hides her whelps. Is yonder huge and shapeless heap, what once Hath been the aerial gardens, height on height Rising like Media's mountains crowned with wood, Work of imperial dotage ? Where the fame Of Belus? Where the golden image now, Which, at the sound of dulcimer and lute, Cornet and sackbut, harp and psaltery, The Assyrian slaves adored ? A labyrinth of ruins, Babylon Spreads o'er the blasted plain ; The wandering Arab never sets his tent Within her walls ; the shepherd eyes afar Her evil towers, and devious drives his flock. Alone unchanged, a free and bridgeless tide, Euphrates rolls along, Eternal nature's work. Robert Southey. In the twenty-third chapter the prophet predicts the miserable overthrow of Tyre, and calls upon the ships of Tarshish, that came from the far west, to howl for the destruction that should come upon the world's great commercial emporium — •" the crowning city, whose mer chants are princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth." With this prophecy of Isaiah should be taken that contained in the twenty- sixth and twenty- seventh chapters of Ezekiel, which latter is very full and minute in historical detail. The following lines pre sent a truthful picture of this now desolate city, and are 374 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. an appropriate commentary upon the fulfilment of the prophecies against it : The wild and windy morning is lit with lurid fire ; The thundering surf of ocean beats on the rocks of Tyre — Beats on the fallen columns, and round the headland roars, And hurls its foamy volume along the hollow shores, And calls with hungry clamor, that speaks its long desire : " Where are the ships of Tarshish, the mighty ships of Tyre?" Within her cunning harbor, choked with invading sand, . No galleys bring their freightage, the spoils of every land; And like a prostrate forest, when autumn gales have blown, Her colonnades of granite lie shattered and o'erthrown ; And from the reef the pharos no longer flings its fire, To beckon home from Tarshish the lordly ships of Tyre. Where is thy rod of empire, once mighty on the waves — Thou that thyself exaltedst till kings became thy slayes? Thou that didst speak to nations, and saw thy will obeyed — Whose favor made them joyful, whose anger sore afraid— Who laid'st thy deep foundations, and thought them strong and sure, And boasted 'midst the waters, " Shall I not aye endure?" Where is the wealth of ages that heaped thy princely mart ? The pomp of purple trappings, the gems of Syrian art ? The silken goats of Kedar, Sahara's spicy store ; The tributes of the islands thy squadrons homeward bore, When in thy gates triumphant they entered from the sea With sound of horn and sackbut, of harp and psaltery ? How], howl, ye ships of Tarshish ! the glory is laid waste : There is no habitation ; the mansions are defaced. No mariners of Sidon unfurl your mighty sails ; No workmen fell the fir-trees that grow in Shenir's vales, And Bashan's oaks that boasted a thousand years of sun, Or hew the masts of cedar on frostv Lebanon. ECCLESIASTES, SONG OF SOLOMON, AND ISAIAH. 375 Rise, thou forgotten harlot ! take up thy harp and sing : Call the rebellious islands to own their ancient king : Bare to the spray thy bosom, and, with thy hair unbound, Sit on the piles of ruin, thou throneless and discrowned ! There mix thy voice of wailing with the thunders of the sea, And siug thy songs of sorrow, that thou remembered be ! Though silent and forgotten, yet Nature still laments The pomp and power departed, the lost magnificence. The hills were proud to see thee, and they are sadder now ; The sea was proud to bear thee, and wears a troubled brow ; And evermore the surges chant forth their vain desire — "Where are the ships of Tarshish, the mighty ships of Tyre?" Bayard Taylor. III. CHAPTERS XXIV. TO XLI. Chapters twenty-four to thirty-six of Isaiah foretell the great calamities that should befall the people of God — the preservation of a remnant, their restoration to their own country, their conversion to the Gospel, and the destruction of those who oppose the Messiah. Chap ters thirty-six to thirty-nine inclusive constitute what is termed the historical section. They give an account of the invasion by Sennacherib's army, and of its destruc tion ; of the prolongation of the life of Hezekiah ; of the prophet's rebuke to the king for his foolish display of the royal treasures to the King of Babylon ; and con clude with the prediction of the Babylonish captivity. Then follows the conclusion of Isaiah's work on earth, called his prophetic legacy. It begins with the cheer ing words, " Comfort ye my people. Speak ye com fortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her war fare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins." He then foretells the coming of the Messiah, his 376 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. sufferings, death, and burial, and the establishment, in crease, and perfection of bis kingdom. Many of the prophecies of Isaiah were fulfilled in his lifetime; notably the overthrow of the kingdoms of Syria and Israel, the invasion by the Assyrians under Sennacherib, and the divine deliverance from it. But it is his predictions concerning the Messiah that have given bim his high standing among the prophets. Al though not the first to attain to a knowledge of the per sonality of Christ, he was the first to render that knowl edge clear, comprehensive, and effective. It bas been remarked that, " so explicit and determinate are his pre dictions, as well as so numerous, that he seems to speak rather of things past than of events yet future." For this reason be has been called the evangelical prophet. This characteristic of his prophecies bas been thus described: "Isaiah not only took a great share in all the affairs of the successive reigns from Uzziah to Hezekiah — de scribed or anticipated all the wars, conquests, and con- A'ulsions wliich attended the rise and fall of the Assyr ian and Babylonian dynasties— but penetrated still far ther into futurity. To Isaiah may be traced the first clear and distinct intimations of the importaut influence to be exercised by the Jews on the destiny of mankind — the promise of the Messiah, and the remote prospects of future grandeur which tended so strongly to form tlieir national character, and are still the indissoluble bond which has held together this extraordinary people through centuries of dispersion, persecution, and con- tein pt." — Milman. IV. THE STYLE OP ISAIAH. The style of Isaiah has been universally admired as a model of elegance and sublimity. The following trib ute to the prophet's richness of imagery and his spirit- ECCLESIASTES, SONG OF SOLOMON, AND ISAIAH. 377 ual gifts, is from the pen of a distinguished writer in Kitto: "Isaiah stands pre-eminent above all other prophets, as well in the contents and spirit of his predictions as in tlieir form and style. Simplicity, clearness, sublim ity, and freshness are the never-failing characters of his prophecies. Even Eichhorn mentions, among the first merits of Isaiah, the harmony of his expressions, the beautiful outline of his images, and the fine execution of his speeches. In reference to richness of imagery, he stands between Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Symbolic ac tions, which frequently occur in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, are seldom found in Isaiah. The same is the case with visions, strictly so called, of which there is only one, namely, that in chapter six ;' and even it is distinguished by its simplicity and clearness above that of the later prophets. But one characteristic of Isaiah is, that he likes to give signs — that is, a fact then present, or near at hand — as a pledge for the more distant futurity. The instances in chapters seven and thirty-eight show how much he was convinced of his vocation, and in what in timacy he lived with the Lord. His spiritual riches are seen in the variety of his style, which always befits the subject. When he rebukes and threatens, it is like a storm ; and when he comforts, his language is as tender and mild as (to use his own words) that of a mother comforting her son." And De. Hugh Blaie says of him : "Isaiah is, without exception, the most sublime of all poets. This is abundantly visible in our translation ; and, what is a material circumstance, none of the books of Scripture appear to have been more happily trans- 1 Yet the Book of Isaiah is introduced as "The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz;" so all his prophecies may be called visions; although only one of them is specially mentioned as sueh. 378 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. lated than the writings of this prophet. Majesty is his reigning character ; a majesty more commanding, and more uniformly supported, than is to be found among the rest of the Old Testament poets. He possesses, in deed, a dignity of grandeur, both in bis conceptions and expressions, which is altogether unparalleled, and pecul iar to himself. There is more clearness and order too, and a more visible distribution of parts, in his book, than in any other of the prophetical writings." De. Lowth's views of his style are as follows : " Isaiah, the first of the prophets, both in order and dignity, abounds in such transcendent excellences, that he may be properly said to afford the most perfect model of the prophetic poetiw. He is at once elegant and sublime, forcible and ornamental ; he unites energy with copiousness, and dignity with variety. In bis sen timents we find extraordinary elevation and majesty ; in bis imagery, the utmost propriety, elegance, dignity, and diversity ; in his language, uncommon beauty and en ergy, and, notwithstanding the obscurity of his subjects, a surprising degree of clearness and simplicity. To these we may add, there is such sweetness in the po etical composition of bis sentences, whether it proceed from art or genius, that if- the Hebrew poetry at- present is possessed of any remains of its native grace and har mony, We shall chiefly find them in the writings of Isa iah ; so that the saying of Ezekiel may justly be applied to this prophet : ' Thou art the confirmed exemplar of measures, , Full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.' Ezek. xxviii. 12. Isaiah also greatly excels in all the graces of method, order, connection, and arrangement." Like many other striking portions of the Scriptures, ECCLESIASTES, SONG OF SOLOMON, AND ISAIAH. 379 some of the prophecies of Isaiah, as we have seen, have furnished themes for poetic illustration and description by poets of celebrity. Among these, the poet Pope has written a poem entitled The Messiah, in whicli he embraces the leading revelations of the prophetic bard concerning the Messiah, and in notes appended to the poem points out many striking similarities between the general tenor of these prophecies and the oracular an nouncements of the Cumsean Sibyl respecting the last or golden age of the world, as given by the Roman poet Viegil, in his Fourth Eclogue. Thus Virgil begins, at line five: Comes the last age by Cumffi's maid foretold ;' Afresh the mighty line of years unrolled, The Virgin's now, now Saturn's sway returns; Now the blest globe a heaven-sprung child adorns, Whose genial power shall whelm earth's iron race, And plant once more the golden in its place. This whole eclogue of Virgil was believed by the Ro man Emperor, Constantine the Great, to contain a true prophecy of the Messiah ; but the more general belief now is that Virgil wrote this eclogue to glorify the Emperor Augustus Caesar, by making it appear that the Sibylline oracles had long before foretold the coming of this " Child of the skies, great progeny of Jove 1" and the glories of his reign. In any event, Virgil has evidently borrowed some of bis happiest thoughts and most beautiful passages from the inspired prophet, al though be falls far below the grandeur of the images and descriptions embraced in the divine record. We 1 Cumse's maid was one of the ten Sibyls, whose so-called predictions— derived probably from traditionary fragments of Hebrew prophecy— were jumbled together in one confused aggregate. What are now extant un der the name of Sibylline leaves are generally esteemed spurious. 380 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. give, herewith, Pope's poetic version of this portion of sacred prophecy, with references, in the margin, to the Scriptural passages on which it is founded : V. ISAIAH'S PROPHECY OF THE MESSIAH. Isaiah. vii. 14. Rapt into future times, the bard begun : ix. 6, 7. A virgin shall conceive, a virgin bear a son ! xi. 1. From Jesse's root behold a branch arise, Whose sacred flower with fragrance fills the skies: The ethereal spirit o'er its leaves shall move, And on its top descend the mystic dove. xiv. 8. Ye heavens ! from high the dewy nectar pour, And in soft silence shed the kindly shower ! xxv. 4. The sick and weak the healing plant shall aid, From storms a shelter, and from heat a shade. All crimes shall cease, and ancient fraud shall fail ; ix. 7. Returning Justice lift aloft her scale ; Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend, And white-robed Innocence from Heaven descend. Swift fly the years, and rise the expected morn ! Oh spring to light, auspicious babe, be born ! See^ Nature hastes her earliest wreaths to bring, With all the incense of the breathing spring : xxxv. 2. See lofty Lebanon his head advance, See nodding forests on the mountains dance : See spicy clouds from lowly Sharon rise, And Carmel's flowery top perfume the skies! xl. 3, 4. Hark ! a glad voice the lonely desert cheers; Prepare the way ! a God, a Ood appears ! iv. 23. A G-od, a God ! the vocal hills reply ; The rocks proclaim the approaching Deity. Lo, earth receives him from the bending skies ! xl. 4. Sink down, ye mountains, and ye valleys, rise ; ECCLESIASTES, SONG OF SOLOMON, AND ISAIAH. 381 Isaiah. With heads declined, ye cedars, homage pay ; xliii. 19. Be smooth, ye rocks, ye rapid floods, give way ! The Saviour comes, by ancient bards foretold ! xxxv. 5, 6. Hear him, ye deaf, and all ye blind, behold ! He from thick films shall purge the visual ray, And on the sightless eyeballs pour the day : 'Tis he the obstructed paths of sound shall clear, And bid new music charm the unfolding ear : The dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego, And leap exulting like the bounding roe. No sigh, no murmur, the wide world shall hear, From every face he wipes off every tear. xxv. 8. In adamantine chains shall Death be bound, And Hell's grim tyrant feel the eternal wound. xl. 11. As the good shepherd tends his fleecy care, Seeks freshest pastures, and tho purest air, Explores the lost, the wandering sheep directs, By day o'ersees them, and by night protects ; The tender lambs he raises in his arms, Feeds from his hand, and in his bosom warms; Thus shall mankind his guardian care engage, ix. 6. The promised father of the future age. ii. 4. No more shall nation against nation rise, Nor ardent warriors meet with hateful eyes, Nor fields with gleaming steel be covered o'er, The brazen trumpets kindle rage no more; But useless lances into scythes shall bend, And the broad falchion in a ploughshare end. Then palaces shall rise : the joyful son Shall finish what his short-lived sire begun ; Their vines a shadow to their race shall yield, And the same -hand that sowed shall reap the field. lxv. 21, 22. The swain, in barren deserts, with surprise, Sees lilies spring, and sudden verdure rise ; 382 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Isaiah. And starts, amid the thirsty wilds, to hear New falls of water murmuring in his ear. On rifted rocks, the dragons' late abodes, The green reed trembles, and the bulrush nods; xii. 19. Waste, sandy valleys, once perplexed with thorn, lv. 13. The sprry fir, and shapely box adorn ; To leafless shrubs the flowering palms succeed, And odorous myrtle to the noisome weed. xi. 6, 7, 8. The lambs with wolves shall graze the verdant mead, And boys in flowery bands the tiger lead ; The steer and lion at one crib shall meet, And harmless serpents lick the pilgrim's feet; The smiling infant in his hand shall take The crested basilisk and speckled snake, . Pleased, the green lustre of the scales survey, And with their forky tongues shall innocently play. Ix. 1. Rise, crowned with light, imperial Salem rise ! Exalt thy towery head, and lift thy eyes ! Ix. 4. See a long race thy spacious courts adorn ; See future sons, and daughters yet unborn, In crowding ranks on every side arise, Demanding life, impatient for the skies ! Ix. 3. See barbarous nations at thy gates attend, Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend ; See thy bright altars thronged with prostrate kings, lx. 6. And heaped with products of Sabse'an springs ! For thee Idumea's spicy forests blow, And seeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow. See Heaven its sparkling portals wide display, And break upon thee in a flood of day ! lx. 19, 20. No more the rising Sun shall gild the morn, Nor evening Cynthia fill her silver horn ; ECCLESIASTES, SONG OF SOLOMON, AND ISAIAH. 383 Isaiub. But lost, dissolved in thy superior rays, One tide of glory, one unclouded blaze O'erflow thy courts : the Light himself shall shine Revealed, and God's eternal day be thine ! li. 6. The seas shall waste, the skies in smoke decay, liv. 10. Rocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away ; But fixed his word, his saving power remains ; Thy realm forever lasts — thy own Messiah reigns! VI. THE PROPHET'S VISION ON MOUNT CARMEL. In the sixty-third chapter there is vouchsafed to the prophet a vision of a conqueror "that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah," journeying in triumph, "glorious in his apparel, travelling in the great ness of his strength." In reply to the question, "Who is this ?" the answer is returned, " I that speak in right eousness, mighty to save." In the next chapter the prophet presents the prayer of God's people for the coming of the Redeemer; and in the following chapter, the sixty-fifth, foretells the calling of the Gentiles, and then passes on to the final redemption of Israel, when God says, "I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people ; and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying ;" closing with that beautiful figure emblematic of the era of universal peace and love that is yet to dawn upon the world : " The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord." The following Hebrew melody, by James Hogg, the "Ettrick Shepherd," represents the prophet as looking down from Mount Carmel upon the vales of Palestine, then shorn of their beauty and wasted of tlieir inhabi- 384 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. tants through the desolations whicli war and conquest bad brought upon the land. It beautifully represents the vision of the prophet, and the declarations to which it led him : On Carmel's brow the wreathy vine Had all its honors shed, And o'er the vales of Palestine A sickly paleness spread ; When the old seer, by vision led, And energy sublime, Into that shadowy region sped To muse on distant time. He saw the valleys far and wide, But sight of joy was none ; He looked o'er many a mountain side, But silence reigned alone, Save that a brooding voice sang on, By wave and water-fall, As still, in harsh and heavy tone, Deep unto deep did call. On Kishon's strand and Ephratah The hamlets thick did lie; Nfl wayfarer between he saw, No Asherite passed by ; No maiden at her task did ply, No sportive child was seen ; The lonely dog barked wearily Where dwellers once had been. Oh ! beauteous were the palaces On Jordan wont to be, And still they glimmered to the breeze, Like stars beneath the sea ! But vultures held their jubilee Where harp and cymbal rung, ECCLESIASTES, SONG OF SOLOMON, AND ISAIAH. 385 And there, as if in mockery, The- baleful satyr sung. But who had seen that Prophet's eye On Carmel that reclined ! It looked not on the times gone by, But those that were behind ; His gray hair streamed upon the wind, His hands were raised on high, As, mirrored on his mystic mind, Arose futurity. He saw the feast in Bozrah spread, Prepared in ancient day ; Eastward away the eagle sped, And all the birds of prey. " Who's this," he cried, " comes by the way Of Edom, all divine, Travelling in splendor, whose array Is red, but not with wine?" Blessed be the herald of our king That comes to set us free ! The dwellers of the rock shall sing, And utter praise to thee ! Tabor and Hermon yet shall see Their glories grow again, And blossoms spring on field and tree, That ever shall remain. The happy child in dragon's way Shall frolic with delight ; The lamb shall round the leopard play, And all in love unite ; The dove on Zion's hill shall light, That all the world must see. Hail to the journey er, in his might, That comes to set us free ! I.— 17 386 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. The poet Montgomery, in bis World Before the Flood, attributes a like vision to the prophet Enoch, the seventh from Adam, whom he styles " The great Evangelist before the Flood," and who thus refers to the same events described by Isaiah : Amid the visions of ascending years, What mighty Chief, what Conqueror appears ; His garments rolled in blood, his eyes of flame, And on his thigh the unutterable name? " 'Tis I that bring deliverance ; strong to save, I plucked the prey from Death, and spoiled the grave." Wherefore, O warrior! are thy garments red, Like those whose feet amid the vintage tread ? " I trode the wine-press of the field alone ; I looked around for succor — there was none ; Therefore my wrath sustained me while I fought, And mine own arm my saints' salvation wrought." No mention is made in the Scriptures of the time or place of Isaiah's death, but tradition asserts that, at an advanced age, he fell a victim to the persecutions of the cruel Manasseh. JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, AND DANIEL. 387 CHAPTER XL— JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, AND DANIEL. I. JEREMIAH. The prophet Jeremiah was probably born near Jeru salem, about the beginning of the reign of the good king Josiah. [641 b.c] While yet a mere child, as we are informed in the opening chapter of the book, he was called to be ,a minister of Jehovah, by whom he had been "ordained and sanctified as a prophet unto the nations, to root out, throw down, build and plant." He was soon obliged to remove to Jerusalem, to escape the persecutions of his neighbors, and even of his own family. In that city he uttered his prophetic warnings without molestation 'during the reign of Josiah. On the death of this monarch, however, and in the begin ning of the reign bf Jehoiakim, he was charged " by the priests and the prophets " with being a false teacher, and was taken before the civil authorities by the people, who urged that he should be put to death for his threat- ehings of evil on the city. His life was spared, but he seems to have been placed under restraint or kept in confinement for some time after. He was then directed by the Lord to write out the predictions that had been given through bim, and read them to the people. He deputed Barueh, his friend and amanuensis, to perform this service, and the divine warnings were thus anew made public. When the king learned what had been done he sent for the writing, cut it into pieces, and cast 388 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. it into the fire, where it was consumed. Jeremiah and Baruch escaped the royal violence by concealing them selves. At the command of God Jeremiah procured another roll, in which was written all that was in the roll destroyed by the king, besides many other predic tions of a like character. About the tenth year of the reign of Zedekiah the old charge of false and insane teaching was revived against Jeremiah : be was accused of falling away to the Chaldeans, who were then besieging Jerusalem, and of weakening the hands of tlie men of war of Judah by his false predictions, for whicli he was cast into a dun geon. It is while there that he is represented by tbe poet Keble as thus soliloquizing, in vindication of his call by Jehovah, and in defence of the prophecies which he had uttered in obedience thereto : They say, " The man is false, and falls away :" Yet sighs my soul in secret for their pride ; Tears are mine hourly food, and night and day I plead for them, and may not be denied. They say, " His words unnerve the warrior's hand, And dim the statesman's eye, and disunite The friends of Israel ;" yet, in every land My words to faith are peace and hope and might. They say, " The frenzied one is fain to see Glooms of his own, and gathering storms afar ; But dungeons deep, and fetters strong have we." Alas! heaven's lightning would ye chain and har? Ye scorners of the Eternal ! wait one hour ; In his seer's weakness ye shall see his power. The Lord hath set' me o'er the kings of earth, To fasten and uproot, to build and mar ; Not by mine own fond will : else never war Had stilled in Anathoth the voice of mirth, JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, AND DANIEL. 389 Nor from my native tribe swept bower and hearth ; Ne'er had the light of Judah's royal star Failed in mid-heaven, nor trampling steed and car Ceased from tho courts that saw Josiah's birth. 'Tis not in me to give or take away, But he who guides the thunder-peals on high, He tunes my voice the tones of his deep sway Faintly to echo in the nether sky ; Therefore I bid earth's glories set or shine, And it is so ; my words are sacraments divine. No joy of mine to invite the thunder down, No pride the uprising whirlwind to survey ; How gradual from the north, with hideous frown, It veers in silence round the horizon gray, And one by one sweeps the bright isles away, Where fondly gazed the men of worldly peace, Dreaming fair weather would outlast their day ! Now the big storm-drops fall, their dream must cease, They know it well, and fain their ire would wreak On the dread arm that wields the bolt ; but he Is out of reach, therefore on me they turn ; On me that am but voice, fading and weak, A withered leaf inscribed with Heaven's decree, And blown where haply some in fear may learn. Although Jeremiah seems to have been temporarily released from imprisonment by Zedekiah, be was in prison when Jerusalem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar. He was released by the Chaldean monarch, and given free choice either to go to Babylon or to remain. Not withstanding the wrongs he had suffered from his coun trymen for over forty years, he stayed with the Jews under Gedali'ah. After the latter's murder Jeremiah advised his successor, Johanan, to remain in Judah, warn ing him of the evils of a settlement in Egypt. But his advice and warnings were ignored, and he was carried 390 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. into Egypt by Johanan. Here, for a time, he utters his warning voice, but is soon lost to history. Ancient tra ditions assert that the remainder of his life was passed in Egypt, and that he met a violent death at the bands of bis own countrymen. It is remarked by nearly all commentators that there is a strange disorder in the arrangement of the prophe cies of Jeremiah, and that they appear to have been col lected and put together without any regard to chrono logical order. To remedy this defect, Ewald, Dr. Blay- ney, Dr. Dahler, and other distinguished writers or theo logians, have made various transpositions of the chap ters ; but it is difficult to give these changes within the limits assigned to this article. The subjects of the prophecies are principally the idolatrous and other evil practices of the people of Judah, and the severe judg ments that Jehovah would inflict upon them in conse quence thereof, and a prediction of future deliverance and restoration. To these may be added the prophecies respecting the future of some of the heathen nations, as found in the last chapters of the book, and two distinct revelations of the Messiah. The prophet also wrote a letter to tlie captives at Babylon, advising them to settle down there quietly, as the Captivity must last seventy years. Like Isaiah, Jeremiah denounced the most terrible judgments against Babylon, foretelling the taking of the city by the Medes and Persians under Cyrus, and the deliverance of the Jews from captivity — and, like Isa iah, declaring that the city "shall remain desolate for ever." The predictions of the prophets have been car ried out to the very letter. After the capture by Cyrus the kings of Persia removed their residence to other places in the neighborhood, which they built up, to the neglect of Babylon ; and although, in later times, Alex- r JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, AND DANIEL. 391 ander designed to restore the city, and make it the seat of his empire, the enterprise was defeated by his death. Tlie Euphrates having been turned from its course by- reason of the outlets and canals wliich Cyrus had made, the city itself became filled with "pools of water," as Isaiah had foretold. Jeremiah, speaking in the name of the Lord, declared, " Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her." The very site of the ancient city is now in doubt. Fallen is Babylon ! and o'er The silence of her hidden shore, Where the gaunt satyr shrieks and sings, Hath Mystery waved his awful wings. Concealed from eyes of mortal men, Of angels' more pervading ken, The ruined city lies o'erthrown, Her site to all but God unknown. The character of Jeremiah is well described in the following language, by Ewald : "His whole history convinces us that he was by nat ure mild and retiring, highly susceptible and sensitive, especially to sorrowful emotions, and rather inclined, as we should imagine, to shrink from danger than to brave it. Yet, with this acute perception of injury and natu ral repugnance to being a man of strife, he never in the least degree shrinks from publicity; nor is he at all in timidated by reproach or insult, or even by actual pun ishment and threatened death, when he has the message of God to deliver. Kings and priests, princes and peo ples, are opposed with the most resolute determination, and threatened, if they disobey, in the most emphatic terms. When he is alone we hear him lamenting the hard lot which compelled him to sustain a character so alien to bis natural temper; but no sooner does the di- 392 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. vine call summon him to bear testimony for God and against the evils whicli surrounded him, than he forgets his fears and complaints, and stands forth in the might of the Lord." The character of Jeremiah, as a writer, is thus ably drawn by Bishop Lowtii : "Jeremiah is by no means wanting either in elegance or sublimity, although, generally speaking, inferior to Isaiah in both. St. Jerome bas objected to him a cer tain rusticity in his diction ; of which, I must confess, I do not discover the smallest trace. His thoughts, in deed, are somewhat less elevated, and he is commonly more copious and diffuse in his sentences; but the rea son of this may be, that be is mostly taken up with the gentler passions of grief and pity, for the expressing of which he has a peculiar talent. This is the most evi dent in his Lamentations, where those passions alto gether predominate; but it is often visible, also, in his Prophecies; in tlie former part of the book more espe- ciall}', whicli is principally poetical. The middle parts are, for the most part, historical ; but the last part, con sisting of six chapters, is entirely poetical, and contains several oracles distinctly marked, in which this prophet falls very litfle short of the loftiest style of Isaiah." II. LAMENTATIONS. Jeremiah having lived to behold the accomplishment of his darkest predictions, has left on record, in this book, an expression of his sorrow and sympathy for the forlorn condition of his country. The city of Jerusa lem had been stormed by Nebuchadnezzar, after a long siege, in which famine had terribly wasted its people ; the priests had been slain in the sanctuary ; the citizens made captive; and Zedekiah, the last representative of; JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, AND DANIEL. 393 the throne of Judah, whose eyes had been "dug out," was carried to Babylon. [588 b.c] As De. Milman has observed : "Jeremiah witnessed all the horrors of the famine, and, when that had done its work, the triumph of the enemy. He saw the strongholds of the city cast down ; the palace of Solomon, the Temple of God, with all its courts, its roofs of cedar and of gold, levelled to the earth, or committed to the flames ; the sacred vessels, the ark of the covenant itself, with the, cherubim, pil laged by profane hands. What were the feelings of a patriotic and religious Jew at this tremendous crisis he has left on record in his unrivalled elegies. Never did city suffer a more miserable fate, never was ruined city lamented in language so exquisitely pathetic. Jerusa lem is, as it were, personified, and bewailed with the passionate sorrow of private and domestic attachment ; while the more general pictures of the famine, tlie com mon misery of every rank and age and sex, all the deso lation, the carnage, the violation, the dragging away into captivity, the remembrance of former glories, of the gor geous ceremonies, and of the glad festivals, the awful sense of the Divine wrath heightening the present ca lamities, are successively drawn with all the life and reality of an eye-witness. They combine the truth of history witli the deepest pathos of poetry." This wonderful poem is divided into five chapters, each of them containing a distinct elegy, consisting of twenty-two stanzas, according to the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet; although it is in the first four chapters only that the several stanzas begin after the manner of an acrostic, with the different letters follow ing each other in alphabetical order. In the first two chapters, each verse, or stanza, in the original Hebrew, forms a triplet, except the seventh verse of the first and 394 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. the nineteenth of the second, each of which lias a super numerary line. In the third chapter each stanza con sists of three verses, and all have the same initial let ter, so that the whole alphabet- is thrice repeated. The fourth chapter resembles the three former in metre, but the stanzas are only couplets; and in the fifth chapter, which is not arranged according to the initial letter, the stanzas are also couplets, but of a shorter measure. " The Lamentations of Jeremiah," says De. Philip Schaff, "are the most extensive elegy in the Bible. They are a funeral dirge of the theocracy and tbe Holy City after its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, and give most pathetie utterances to the most intense grief. The first lines strike the key-note. Jerusalem is personified and bewailed as a solitary widow :" How sitteth solitary The city once full of people ! She has become as a widow ! She that was great among the nations, A princess over the provinces, Has become subject to tribute. She weepeth bitterly in the night, And her tears are upon her cheeks; She hath no comforter From among all her lovers; All her friends have turned traitor to her, They have become her enemies. * * * * Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by ? Behold and see If there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, Which is inflicted on me, Wherewith Jehovah hath afflicted me - ¦-¦ - In the day of his fierce anger. JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, AND DANIEL. 395 "The ruin and desolation, the carnage and famine, the pollution of the Temple, the desecration of the Sab bath, the massacre of the priests, the dragging of the chiefs into exile, and all the horrors and miseries of a long siege, contrasted with the remembrance of former glories and glad festivities, and intensified by the awful sense of Divine wrath, are drawn with life-like colors, and form a picture of overwhelming calamity and sad ness. 'Every letter is written with a tear, every word is the sob of a broken heart !' Yet Jeremiah does not forget that the covenant of Jehovah with his people still stands. In the stormy sunset of the theocracy he beheld the dawn of a brighter day, and a new covenant written — not on tables of stone, but on the heart. The utterance of his grief, like the shedding of tears, was also a relief, and left his mind in a calmer and serener frame. Beginning with wailing and weeping, he ends with a question of hope, and with the prayer : Turn us, 0 Jehovah, and we shall turn ; Renew our days of old ! "These Lamentations have done their work very effectually, and are doing it still. They soothed the weary years of the Babylonian exile, and after the re turn they kept up the lively remembrance of the deep est humiliation and the judgments of a righteous God. On the ninth day of the month of Ab (July) of every year they are read, with fasting and weeping, by that remarkable people who are still wandering in exile over the face of the earth, finding a grave in many lands, a home in none." That unquestionable judge in such matters, Bishop Lowth, says of the Lamentations of Jeremiah that " it may be doubted if there be extant any other poem which displays such a happy and splendid selection of imagery 396 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. in so concentrated a state. Never was there a more rich and elegant variety of beautiful images and adjuncts arranged together within so small a compass, nor more happily chosen and applied ; and though there is no ar tificial or methodical arrangement in these incompara ble elegies, yet they are totally free from wild incohe- rency or abrupt transition." III. EZEKIEL. I. LIFE AND PROPHECIES OF EZEKIEL. Ezekiel the priest, who afterward became Ezekiel the prophet, was among those who were carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon, when that monarch the second time entered Jerusalem, about the year 605 B.C., nearly twenty years before the final conquest of the city. Ezekiel had been in captivity five years when he began to prophesy. His age at this time has been put down by some authorities at thirty years; but others claim that the matured character of his writings prove that he was much older. "His earlier prophecies, relat ing to Israel%were given at the river Chebar, in Chal- dea^ where he saw the visions mentioned in the first and third chapters of the book; and after that he passes on to predictions against Jerusalem and against foreign nations : By Chebar's flood around the prophet come Dread speaking faces, peopling all the gloom ; And cherubim with cherubim do ply Their wheeling wings, and fiery shapes pass by ; Or, with the swiftness of a flying star, He in Jerusalem is found afar. Now Egypt, the great dragon, netted lies 'Mid his own waters ; or the seas arise JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, AND DANIEL. 397 O'er Tyre, the princely ship that walked the waves ; Now Lebanon's cedar the strong tempest braves. Isaac Williams. Of the personal history of Ezekiel we have no knowl edge. The only reference that he makes to it is in the twenty-fourth chapter of his prophecies, where he re cords the death of his wife. It gives us an insight into the prophet's character, showing how completely every thing was subordinated to his prophetic work. " There is something inexpressibly touching," says a modern writer, "in this brief narrative — 'the desire of his eyes' taken away with a stroke ; the command not to mourn ; and the simple statement, ' So I spake unto the people in the morning, and at even my wife died, and I did in the morning as I was commanded.' " Ezekiel continued to prophesy during a period of twenty-two years, and it is probable that he remained with the captives, " by the river Chebar," until his death — an event of which we have no account. His book abounds in visions, poetical images, and allegories; and, on this account, he is considered one of the most difficult to comprehend of the Old Testament writers. The burden of the first part of the book (chapters i. to xxiv.) is the impending destruction of Jerusalem, and the great captivity ; the second part (chapters xxv. to xxxii.) contains his predictions against the various for eign nations; and the third part (chapters xxxii. to xlviii.) foretells the deliverance from captivity, and de scribes his prophetic vision of the new city of Jerusa lem and the Temple. The latter part of the book has always been regarded as especially obscure. The best authorities believe that its contents relate to Messianic times, and are intended to represent the triumph of the kingdom of God upon earth. The predictions of Ezekiel concerning the fate of 398 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. different nations are most minute and explicit. This peculiarity appears in contrasting bis prophecy concern ing Tyre, in the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh chap ters, with that of Isaiah in the latter's twenty-third chapter. The glory of Tyre has been described in mag nificent terms in Ezekiel's twenty-seventh chapter, in wliich are enumerated many of the valuable produc tions found in her markets, and the countries whence they were brought. The fir-trees of Senir (Hermon), the cedars of Lebanon, the oaks of Bashan, the ivory of the Indies, the fine linen of Egypt, and the purple and blue of the isles of Elishah (Greece), are specified among the articles used in the building and equipment of the ships of this " Queen of the waters." The in habitants of Sidon and other cities served her as mari ners and carpenters; and antiquity is unanimous in as cribing to the Tyrians the invention and practice of all those arts, sciences, and contrivances that facilitate the prosecution of commercial undertakings. Yet Tyre was to become " the destroyed in the midst of the sea," and Ezekiel's prophecy has been accurately fulfilled. The ages that were to pass away before her complete desolation should be accomplished have gone by. O town in the midst of the seas, With thy rafts of cedar-trees, Thy merchandise and thy ships! Thou too art become as naught — A phantom, a shadow, a thought, A name upon men's lips. Longfellow. "Tliis city," says a prominent traveller, "standing in the sea upon a peninsula, promises at a distance some thing very magnificent; but when you come to it you find no similitude of that glory for which it was so rer iiowned in ancient times, and which the prophet Ezekiel JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, AND DANIEL. 399 describes. On the north side it has an old Turkish un- garrisoned castle ; besides which you see nothing here but a mere Babel of broken walls, pillars, vaults, etc., there being not so much as one entire house left; its present inhabitants are only a few poor wretches har boring themselves in the vaults, and subsisting chiefly upon fishing, who seem to be preserved in this place by Divine Providence as a visible argument how God has fulfilled his word concerning Tyre, viz., ' that it should be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of tlie sea.' " — -Maundeell. In the following beautiful lines her former glory and great promise have been forcibly contrasted with her present abasement and desolation: In thought I saw the palace domes of Tyre ; The gorgeous treasure of her merchandise ; All her proud people, in their brave attire, Thronging her streets for sport or sacrifice. I saw her precious stones and spicories; The singing girl with flower-wreathed instrument; And slaves whose beauty asked a monarch's price. - Forth from all lands all nations to her went, And kings to her on embassy wore sent. I saw, with gilded prow and silken sail, ' Her ships, that of the sea had government. O gallant ships, 'gainst you what might prevail ? She stood upon her rock, and, in her pride Of strength and beauty, waste and woe defied. ' ' I looked again : I saw a lonely shore, A rock amid the waters, and a waste Of trackless sand ; I heard the black seas roar, And winds that rose -and fell with gusty haste. There was one scathed tree, by storm defaced, i .. Round which the sea-birds wheeled with screaming cry. 400 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Ere long came on a traveller, slowly paced ; Now east, then west, he turned with curious eye, Like one perplexed with an uncertainty. Awhile he looked upon the sea, and then Upon a book, as if it might supply The thing he lacked. He read, and gazed again ; Yet as if unbelief so on him wrought, He might not deem that shore the shore he sought. Again I saw him come ; 'twas even-tide ; The sun shone on the rock amid the sea ; The winds were hushed ; the quiet billo\vs sighed With a low swell ; the birds winged silently Their evening flight around the scathed tree; The fisher safely put into the bay, And pushed his boat ashore ; then gathered he His nets, and, hastening up the rocky way, Spread them to catch the sun's warm evening ray. I saw that stranger's eye gaze on the scene : " And this was Tyre !" said he ; " how has decay Within her palaces a despot been ! Ruin and silence in her courts are met, And on her city rock the fisher spreads his net." Mauy Howitt. II. CHARACTER OF EZEKIEL. In character Ezekiel was vigorous and energetic. " The whole of his writings," says De. Gotch, the writer of the article " Ezekiel " in Kitto, " show how admirably he was fitted, as well by natural disposition as by spiritual endowment, to oppose the ' rebellious house,' the 'people of stubborn front and hard heart,' to whom he was sent. The figurative representations which abound throughout bis writings, whether drawn out into lengthened allegory, or expressing matters of fact by means of symbols, or clothing truths in the garb JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, AND DANIEL. 401 of enigma, all testify, by their definiteness, the vigor of his conceptions. Things seen in vision are described with all the minuteness of detail and sharpness of out line which belong to real existences. But this charac teristic is shown most remarkably in the entire subordi nation of his whole life to the great work to which he was called. We never meet with him as an ordinary man ; he always acts, and thinks, and feels as a prophet." The same writer, comparing Ezekiel with his contem porary, Jeremiah, points out the following differences in their characters: "Ezekiel views the condnct of his countrymen as opposed to righteousness and truth, while Jeremiah thinks of it rather as productive of evil and misery to themselves. Ezekiel's indignation is roused at the sins of his people, and Jeremiah's pity is excited by the consequences of their sins. The former takes an objective, the latter a subjective, view of the evils by which both were surrounded." III. HIS MERITS AS A WRITER AND POET. The merits of Ezekiel as a writer and poet are ac knowledged by nearly all the critics. That master among them, Bishop Lowth, thus characterizes his writ ings : " Ezekiel is much inferior to Jeremiah in ele gance; in sublimity he is not even excelled by Isaiah; but his sublimity is of a totally different kind. He is deep, vehement, tragical ; the only sensation he affects to excite is the terrible; his sentiments are elevated, animated, full of fire and indignation ; his imagery is crowded, magnificent, terrific, and sometimes bordering on indelicacy ; bis language is grand, solemn, austere, rough, and at times unpolished; he abounds in repeti tions, not for the sake of grace or elegance, but from vehemence and indignation. Whatever subject he 402 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. treats of, that be sedulously pursues; from that he rarely departs, but cleaves, as it were, to it ; whence the connection is in general evident and well preserved. In other respects he may perhaps be exceeded by tlie other prophets; but, for that species of composition to wliich be seems adapted by nature, the forcible, impetuous, grave, and grand, not one of the sacred writers is supe rior to him. His diction is sufficiently perspicuous; all his obscurity arises from the nature of bis subjects. Visions (as, for instance, among others, those of Hosea, Amos, and Zechariah) are necessarily dark and con fused. The greater part of Ezekiel, particularly to ward the middle of the book, is poetical, whether we regard the matter or the language. But some passages are so rude and unpolished, that we are frequently at a loss to what species of writing we ought to refer them." Heedee called Ezekiel " the JEschylus and Shak- speare of the Hebrews." The views of other promi nent writers concerning this prophet and his writings are as follows : J. Goeees1 says : " Like a flame from heaven Ezekiel blazes up darkly glowing, a great, stormy nature, bis Imagination ,a furnace of seething metal, genuinely Oriental in his whole character." Haveenick says: "Ezekiel is one of the most impos ing organs of the Spirit of God in the Old Covenant, a really gigantic phenomenon. In opposition to the pres ent, he steps forth with all sternness and iron consist ency, an inflexible nature, encountering the abomination with an immovable spirit of boldness, and with words full of consuming tire. Unceasingly he holds up the one thing that was needful before the deaf ears and hard hearts of the people. The overpowering element "History of Myths of tho Asiatic World," vol. ii. JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, AND DANIEL. 403 of his eloquence rests on this union in it alike of im posing strength and indefatigable consistency." Ewald observes: "His mode of representation sel dom falls away, like that of Jeremiah ; it easily recov ers itself, and, as a rule, is beautifully rounded off ; his language has already, scattered here and there, many an Aramaic and otherwise foreign element, the influx of the exile, yet, fortunatety, it leans most on the older models : the discourse is rich in rare comparisons, often charming, and at the same time striking, full of mani fold turnings (which are often beautifully elaborated), and where it rises higher, of genuine dramatic liveli ness: it has also a certain evenness and repose, in con trast with Jeremiah." Archbishop Newcome1 remarks : " Ezekiel is a great poet, full of. originality ; and, in my opinion, whoever censures hiui as if he were only an imitator of the old prophets can never have felt his power. He must not, in genera], be compared with Isaiah and tlie rest of the old prophets. Those are great, Ezekiel is also great ; those in their manner of poetry, Ezekiel in his, which he had invented for himself, if we may form our judg ments from the Hebrew monuments extant." Strictly speaking, Ezekiel was the only prophet at Babylon ; for, although Daniel is called a prophet, he was rather a seer, unveiling the future in the heathen court, but not discharging the prophetical office, as Eze kiel did, among the covenant people in exile. As a prophet Ezekiel, though so difficult of interpretation in many places, must ever occupy a high rank. As a re cent writer has well expressed it : " When time has rolled away the mist of futurity that has rendered much of his prophecies obscure, successive generations will perceive J " New Critical Version of the Miilor Prophets and Ezekiel." 404 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. with what heavenly wisdom this much-neglected prophet has spoken. Even now, however, a great part of his work is free from every obscurity, and is highly edify ing. He has so accurately and minutely foretold the fate of various nations and cities, that nothing can be more interesting than to trace the exact accomplishment of these prophecies in the accounts furnished by histo rians and travellers ; while, under the elegant type of a new temple to be erected, a new worship to be intro duced, and a new Jerusalem to be built, with new land to be allotted to the twelve tribes, may be discovered the vast extent and glory of the New Testament Church." IV. DANIEL I. THE HISTORICAL PORTION OF THE BOOK. Tins book derives its name from the principal actor in it, and also from him as its supposed author. Al though objections to its unity and authenticity have been raised by biblical critics, we shall treat it here on the supposition that it was actually written by the prophet Daniel. It is divided into two parts: the first part (chapters i. fo vii.) being chiefly historical, and the sec ond part (chapters vii. to xii.) prophetical. Daniel was contemporary with Ezekiel, who mentions bis extraor dinary piety and wisdom (chapter xiv. 14, 20), and he lived in Babylon throughout the seventy years' captiv ity. " The object of the book," says Havernick, " is by no means to give a summary historical account of the period of the exile, or of the life of Daniel himself, but the plan or tendency which so consistently runs through the whole book is of a far different character : it is to show the extraordinary and wonderful means which the Lord made use of, in a period of the deepest misery, to JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, AND DANIEL. 405 afford assistance to his people, proving to them that he had not entirely forsaken them, and making them sensi ble of the fact that his merciful presence still continued to dwell with them, even without the Temple and be yond the Land of Promise." Daniel is said to have been a prince of the royal fam ily of David. As we have already seen, he was carried into captivity in the reign of Jehoi'akim, in Nebuchad nezzar's first deportation of captives, the year before that great general became king. In his new home the royal captive was thoroughly instructed in the language and literature of the Chaldeans, and soon became distin guished for his wisdom. He was then appointed to a dignified position in the royal court, and, in consequence of his interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream (chap ter ii.), he was promoted to be governor of the province of Babylon, and chief of the wise men — positions that he retained for many years. Among his companions in exile were three young friends, called by their captors Sha'drach, Me'shach, and Abed'nego. These young men, at Daniel's request, were also assigned to stations of trust in the province of Babylon. In the third chapter we find an account of the dedi cation, by Nebuchadnezzar, on the plain of Dura, of a golden image, to which all persons of every rank and condition were commanded to bow down in adoration. On Dura's plain the portent stood, By Time's first tide, a thing of gold : Vain symbol of its endless flood, Its fates and fortunes manifold, As fashioned by a tyrant's whim, Who deemed all ages were for him. Arthur Cleveland Coxe. The three Jewish captives mentioned disobeyed the 406 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. command; and Nebuchadnezzar, exasperated by their repeated refusals to recognize the heathen god, directed them to be thrown into a fiery furnace. But they emerged from the fire uninjured, and the astounded king thereupon issued a decree forbidding blasphemy against Jehovah under the severest penalties, and raised the three captives to positions of greater responsibility. A second dream, recorded in the fourth chapter, filled the mind of the king with horror and dismay. Daniel was again called upon for an interpretation, when be de clared to the king that, in punishment of his pride and impiety, his reason would be taken from him, and he would be driven from his throne to live for seven years with the beasts of the field. The prophet accompanied the message with an earnest and. loving appeal to the king to break away from his sins, and thus secure con tinued peace and prosperity. But " the king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house pf the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty ?" Daniel's prediction was speedily brought to pass. " While the word was in the king's month, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken : The king dom is departed from thee." * * * "The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and lie was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till bis hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and'his nails like birds' claws." The God he had insulted was avenged: From empire, from the joys of social life, He drove him forth ; extinguished reason's lamp ; Quenched that bright spark of deity within; Compelled him with the forest brutes to roam For scanty pasture ; and the mountain dews JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, AND DANIEL. 407 Fell, cold and wet, on his defenceless head Till he confessed — let men, let monarchs hear — Till he confessed, Pride was not made for man. Hannah More. When the time of his punishment had expired the king recognized the power and goodness of God, and was restored to his kingdom. It would appear, from the Book of Daniel, that Belshazzar was the immediate successor of Nebuchad nezzar as King of Babylon. It is probable, however, that several reigns intervened between those of Nebu chadnezzar and Belshazzar, and that the latter was the last king of the wicked empire. We may assume that he was the worst and most impious of the heathen mon archs. While Babylon was besieged by the united ar mies of the Medes and Persians under Darius — proba bly at that time a general of Cyrus, the Persian — Bel shazzar, relying upon the great strength of his fortifica tions, laughed the enemy to scorn ; and, to farther show his confidence, gave a magnificent banquet or feast to the dignitaries of his court, at which he profaned the sacred vessels taken from the Temple at Jerusalem by drinking from theni in honor of his idols. Oh, ne'er in Babylon did blaze a sight More richly grand, magnificently bright! Bearing his crown, and dressed in robe of state, High on his. throne of gold Belshazzar sate, In shining robes ; and stretching far away, Like billows quivering 'neath the sunset ray, Chiefs, nobles stood, the red lamps flashing o'er The golden chains and purple robes they wore ; In gilded galleries damsels, too, were seen, ¦ Like night thick-set with stars ; their jewels' sheen, With rose-crowned locks, white hands, and radiant eyes, Too fair for earth, too earthly for the skies. 408 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. The banquet speeds ; the harp and psaltery sound, And all is splendor, joy, enchantment round. Wreathed with rich flowers, and crowned with rosy wine, The golden cups from Salem's Temple shine. Joined by his chiefs, the exulting monarch drinks, Nor at thy voice, condemning conscience, shrinks ; But mocks the Hebrews' God, and, with vain boast, Extols their Bel, and Heaven's unnumbered host. Michell. II. THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL. But "the same hour" that witnessed Belshazzars im pious insult to Jehovah witnessed also a supernatural event that suddenly checked the boisterous revelry of the feast, and changed the countenance of the boasting mon arch to a death-like pallor. "Ah ! what means this sud den lull in the noisy revel — this break in the madness of the mirth ? Each eye runs along the hall, and in a moment all are fixed upon the king. Wildly he looks, with fixed and steady glare, upon the wall before him, bis eyeballs almost starting from their sockets. Big bead-like drops of perspiration stand upon bis forehead ; a deathly paleness sits upon his countenance; the up lifted goblet ialls from his palsied hand, and his knees smite one upon the other. 'The king! the king! what aileth him V is now the cry. But be gives no verbal an swer. He simply points, with a new shudder of agony, to the spot on which his gaze is fixed ; and, as they look there with him, they, too, see the fingers of a hand, trac ing, all solemnly and slowly, mysterious characters upon tbe wall."1 The terrified monarch now summons to bis presence the wise men of his court, and, in Milman's drama of 1 "Daniel, the Beloved," p. 99, by Rev. W. M. Taylor, D.D. JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, AND DANIEL. 409 Belshazzar, be is thus represented as apostrophizing, in words of terror, the " dark and bodiless hand," and call ing, but in vain, upon the Chaldean astrologers, no less astonished and terror-stricken than he, to interpret the writing : Oh, dark and bodiless haud, What art thou — thus upon my palace wall Gliding in shadowy, slow, gigantic blackness ? Lo ! fiery letters where it moves break out : 'Tis there — 'tis gone — 'tis there again — no, naught But those strange characters of flame, that burn Upon the unkindled wall. I cannot read them — Can ye ? I see your quivering lips that speak not — Sabaris — Arioch — Captains — Elders — all As pale and horror-stricken as myself ! Are there no wiser? Call ye forth the dreamers, And those that read the stars, and- every priest; And he that shall interpret best shall wear The scarlet robe and chain of gold, and sit Third ruler of my realm. Away ! No — leave me not To gaze alone — alone on those pale signs Of destiny — the unextinguishable, The indelible. — Strew, strew my conch where best I may behold what sears my burning eyeballs To gaze on — and the cold blood round my heart To stand, like snow. No — ache mine eyes, and quiver My palsied limbs — I cannot turn away — Here am I bound, as by thrice-linked brass, Here till the burthen of mine ignorance Be from my loaded soul taken off, in silence Deep as the midnight round a place of tombs. Oh ! Chaldea's worshipped sages — Oh ! men of wisdom, that have passed your years — Your long and quiet, solitary years, I.— 18 410 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. In tracing the dim sources of th' events That agitate this world of man — oh ! ye That in the tongues of every clime discourse; Ye that hold converse with the eternal stars, And in their calm prophetic courses read The destinies of empires: ye whose dreams Are thronged with the predestined images Of things that are to be ; to whom tbe Fates Unfold their secret councils ; to whose sight The darkness of futurity withdraws, And one vast Present fills all Time — behold Yon burning characters! and read, and say Why the dark destinies have hung their sentence Thus visible to the sight, but to the mind Unsearchable ? — Ye have heard the rich reward ; And I but wait to see whose neck shall wear The chain of glory — Ha ! each pale fallen lip Voiceless ! and each upon the other turns His wan and questioning looks. — Kalassan ! thou Art like the rest, and gazest on thy fellows In blank and sulien ignorance. — Spurn them forth ! Ye wise, ye learned ! ye with Fate's mysteries Intrusted^ Spurn, I say, and trample on them ! Let them be outcast to the scorn of slaves ! Let children pluck their beards, and every voice Hoot at them as they pass ! Despair ! Despair ! This is thy palace now ! No throne, no couch Beseems the king, whose doom is on his walls Emblazed — yet whose vast empire finds not one Whose faithful love can show its mystic import ! Low in the dust, upon the pavement stone, Belshazzar takes his rest ! — Ye hosts of slaves, Behold your king! the lord of Babylon ! — JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, AND DANIEL. 411 Speak not— for he that speaks, in other words But to expound those fiery characters, Shall ne'er epeak more!" At this juncture the queen entered the banquet hall, and at once suggested that Daniel, " in whom is the spirit of the holy gods," be summoned to interpret the writing. The prophet soon appeared, and, reading the ominous words, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upiiaesin, his in terpretation of them was as follows: "God hath num bered thy kingdom, and finished it : Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." Belshazzar ! from the banquet turn, Nor in thy sensual fulness fall : Behold ! while yet before thee burn The graven words, the glowing wall. Many a despot, men miscall, Crowned and anointed from on high ; But thou, the weakest, worst of all — Is it not written thou must die ? Go ! dash the roses from thy brow — Gray hairs but poorly wreathe with them: Youth's garlands misbecome thee now More than thy very diadem, Where thou hast tarnish'd every gem — Then throw the worthless bauble by, Which, worn by thee, ev'n slaves contemn, And learn like better men to die. Oh ! early in the balance weighed, And ever light of word or worth, Whose soul expired ere youth decayed, .And left thee but a mass of earth, 412 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. To see thee moves the scorner's mirth : But tears in Hope's averted eye Lament that even thou had'st- birth — Unfit to govern, live, or die. Byron. III. OVERTHROW OF THE BABYLONIAN KINGDOM.— RULE OF DARI'US. That same night the prophecy was fulfilled. The Medes and Persians under Cyrus, having drained the waters of the river by a canal, entered the city through the empty channel. Belshazzar was slain in tbe general massacre that ensued. Babylon, as an empire, was no more. [538 B.C.] Yes, on that night the foe, whose hosts in vain Had fought so long those stately towers to gain, Bowed deep Euphrates from his wonted course, Poured to the city's heart with whirlwind force, Slew the last king ; Assyria's rule was o'er, And Babylon, the mighty, was no more ! Michell. Under Dari'us, who during two years appears to have reigned at Babylon, as viceroy of Cyrus, Daniel was ap pointed " the first of the presidents of the kingdom " — a circumstancesnthat gave great offence to his subordinates, some of whom resolved to effect his destruction. They succeeded in obtaining from Darius the promulgation of a decree that none should offer prayer or petition for the space of thirty days to any. god or man except to the king, under pain of being cast into the den of lions : But vain was the decree Which charged them not to pray : Daniel still bowed the knee, And worshipped thrice a day. Trusting in God, he feared not men, Though threatened with the lions' den. Newton. JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, AND DANIEL. 413 Daniel's enemies reported his disobedience to Darius, who, with great reluctance, pronounced upon him the threatened sentence, and caused him to be thrown into the lions' den. But the angel of God " shut the lions' mouths," and the prophet walked among the beasts without fear or injury. Being drawn forth by the com mand of the king, his accusers were then thrown into the den, and were instantly torn in pieces. Profane his torians make no mention of the reign of Darius, proba bly because he soon surrendered all authority into the hands of Cyrus the Persian. But the sacred narrative tells us that, under both Darius and Cyrus, the prophet filled a high place in the affairs of the empire. He lived to witness the restoration of his countrymen to their own land ; but " his advanced age would not allow him," says Haveenick, "to be among those who returned. Yet did he never for a moment cease to occupy his mind and heart with his people and their concerns:" Imperial Persia bowed to his wise sway, A hundred provinces his daily care ; A queenly city with its gardens fair Smiled round him, but his heart was far away. Forsaking pomp and power, " three times a day " For chamber lone he seeks his solace there; Through windows opening westward floats his prayer Toward the dear distance where Jerusalem lay. Wilton. Of the closing days of his life we have no record. Va rious traditions report his death to have occurred in Palestine, Babylon, or Susa. IV. THE PROPHECIES OF DANIEL. The prophecies of Daniel are embraced, mostly, in the interpretation of the famous dream of Nebuchad nezzar, and in four corresponding visions of the prophet, 414- . MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. all of which are designed to illustrate and explain the same events. In bis interpretation of Nebuchadnez zar's dream Daniel makes the compound image of gold, silver, brass, and iron, that the. king, saw, to denote four successive kingdoms of the earth, whose unexpired his tory he gives, in considerable detail ; and in the first vis ion the same four kingdoms are represented by four, wild beasts rising from the sea (chapters ii., and vii. 2, 3.) Let us examine the dream and tbe visions, and see if history has verified the prophet's interpretation of them. The First Kingdom. — The head of the compound image that Nebuchadnezzar saw was of gold, and Daniel declared that the head of gold represented "the, first kingdom, or that of the Babylonians," of which Nebu chadnezzar was then monarch. In the first vision of the prophet the same kingdom is represented by "the first beast, which resembled a lion with eagle's wings," expressing the fierceness and rapidity of Nebuchadnez zar, the founder of the Babylonian empire. Jeremiah bad before represented him as a lion from the north, that should make Judea desolate" (Jer. iv. 6, 7), and as " an eagle spreading his wings of destruction over Moab " (Jer. xlviii. 40); and Ezekiel as a great eagle, long winged, and full of fdithers" (Ezek. xvii. 3,12); but at the time of Daniel's vision " its wings were plucked," for its ca reer was checked by the victorious arms and encroach ments of Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian. . The Second Kingdom. — In the interpretation of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar the prophet declared that after the first king (or kingdom) should arise another kingdom (Dan. ii. 32, 39), whicli was represented by the breast and arms of the image, which were of silver. Here is a prophetic declaration believed to refer to the Medo-Persian kingdom, whicli lasted two hundred and five years, from the capture of Babylon by Cyrus (538: JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, AND DANIEL. 415 b.c.) to the battle of Arbela (331 b.c). In the first vi sion of Daniel the same kingdom is represented by the second beast, a bear with three ribs in its mouth (Dan. vii. 5); and in the second vision by a ram (Dan. viii. 3), the figure of which, it is known, became, after the time of Daniel, the armorial ensign of the Persian empire. Moreover, in the vision Daniel saw that the ram had two horns, and that " the one which came up last was higher than the other" — the lower horn believed to denote the Median power, and the higher one the Persian, for these two powers constituted the Medo- Persian empire. The Third Kingdom. — The third division of the compound image which Nebuchadnezzar saw (Dan. ii. 32-39) was the " belly and thighs of brass," explained with great historical minuteness as denoting the Mace- do-Grecian kingdom of Alexander and his successors. The Greeks usually wore brazen armor, whence Homer calls them the "brazen-corselet Grecians." In the first vision of Daniel the same kingdom is represented by the third beast — a leopard with two pairs of wings and four heads — the wings aptly denoting the rapidity of the conquests of Alexander; and the four heads the four kingdoms — Macedon, Thrace, Syria, and Egypt — into which the empire of Alexander was divided among his generals. In the second vision of the prophet the same Macedo- Grecian kingdom is represented by "a he goat that came from the west (Macedonia), and touched not the ground" for swiftness. "And the he goat had a notable horn between bis eyes" (Alexander the Great), and "he ran at the ram" (Darius the Persian) "and smote him, and cast him upon the ground." But when "the he goat waxed very great, the great horn was broken" (Alexander's death), " and in its place came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. 416 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. These are Alexander's four successors, among whom his kingdom was divided. The Fourth Kingdom.— The fourth division of the image which Nebuchadnezzar saw, and whicli Daniel declared to represent the fourth kingdom, was " the legs of iron, and the feet part of iron and part of clay " (Dan. ii. 33). This is believed to denote the Rmnan dominion, which reached its full vigor about the time of the conquests of Macedon, Greece, and Carthage, when the republic, under the consular government, was the strongest, as represented by the " legs of iron." Eome, the " Mistress of Nations," the " Mother of Em pires," was the greatest monarchy the world has ever known. Thus, as marked out by prophecy, four times have the nations of the earth gathered themselves into mighty aggregates of power, denoted Universal Empires or Monarchies : none like them went before, and none like have come after them ; and it is upon the warrant of negative Scripture testimony that men believe no other temporal universal empire possible. But still the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, and the interpretation of the prophet, point to a fifth monarchy greater than all the others, that «hall arise when Christianity shall have swallowed up all other forms of religion, and the na tions of the earth shall be gathered into one fold, under one all-conquering Shepherd— the Prince of Peace.1 For Nebuchadnezzar saw a "stone cut out without bands, which smote the image and became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth " (Dan. ii. 34, 35), and this the prophet himself declares to be "the king dom which the God of Heaven should set up, and which 1 Hence the fanatics of 1650, who looked for the immediate advent of the Saviour to rule over the whole earth as a temporal prince, were usu ally called Fifth Monarchists. JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, AND DANIEL. 417 shall never be destroyed." The first and the fourth vision of Daniel contain farther prophecies relating to this kingdom. The eleventh chapter of Daniel contains a remarkable series of prophetic declarations, foretelling the suffer ings and persecutions of the Jews, from Alexander's successors in Syria and Egypt, till the end of the reign of Anti'ochus Epiph'anes, a period of one hundred and sixty years. Bishop Newton, who has given a copious illustration of the historical facts whicli verify the whole of this prophecy, remarks that " there is not in profane history so complete and regular a series of Egyptian and Syrian kings, and so concise and compre hensive an account of their affairs, as is found in this chapter of the prophet Daniel," and that " the prophecy is really more perfect than any one history." De. Hales says that " these prophecies of Daniel are, if possible, more surprising and astonishing than even his grand prophetic period of two thousand three hundred years, and the several successions of empire that were to pre cede the spiritual kingdom of God upon the earth." With reference to the exact fulfilment of these prophe cies he remarks : " Even the infidel Porphyry, who had access to several sources of information now lost, was so confounded by this exactness that he was driven to deny the authenticity of the prophecy relating to the Jews, declaring that it could not have been written be fore, but must have been compiled after, the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes. But the prophecy is so inti mately connected with the preceding and following parts of the vision, which relate to the Macedonians and Romans, that it must have been written by the same hand, and therefore must be esteemed equally genuine with the whole Book of Daniel. The astonishing exact ness, indeed, with wliich this minute prophetic detail 18* 418 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. has been fulfilled furnishes the strongest pledge, from analogy, that the remaining prophecies were, and will be, as exactly fulfilled, each in its proper season." Like many of the earlier and later prophets, Daniel foretold the coming of the Messiah (chap. ix. 24-27), and specified periods (marked according to similar com putations in the Jewish Scriptures, by weeks of years, each day for a year) are designated for bis birth, his death, the duration of the Jewish war, and the destruc tion of Jerusalem. As to the style of the book, Haver- nick observes that "it is more prosaic than poetical. The historical descriptions are usually very broad and prolix in details ; but the prophecies have a more rhe torical character, and their delivery is frequently some what abrupt; their style is descriptive, painting with tbe most lively colors the still fresh impression which the vision has made on the mental eye." Note. — It may he remarked here, that while the unity and authorship of the book of Daniel are sustained by such critics as Hengstenberg, Hav- erriiek, KninicUleld, Kiel, Delitzseh, Pusey, Auhei-len, and Davidson, oth er equally eminent biblical scholars, among them Eichhorn, Bertholdt, Bleek, De Wette, Ewald, Hitzig, and Liicke, believe it was compiled (though, perhaps, in considerable part from Daniel's writings) by a Jew, so late as the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, about the middle of the second century B.C. . The so-cftlled "liberal theologians" base their views chiefly on his torical errors and anachronisms found in the book, and the occurrence of Greek and Persian words unknown to the Jews in the time of Daniel. THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS. 419- CHAPTEE XII. — THE TWELVE MINOE PEOPHETS. The remaining portion of the Old Testament is de- voted to what have been called the twelve minor or lesser prophets, who are so termed, not because their writings are deemed of less authority or usefulness than the others, but because of their brevity. It has been thought not improbable, however, that these prophets preached as much as the others, although they may not have written so much ; nor has so much of their preach ing been preserved to us. I. HOSEA. Although Hosea is placed, in the sacred canon, as the first of the minor prophets, probably because of the length, vivid earnestness, and patriotism of his prophe cies, yet he is generally believed to have been preceded by the prophets Joel, Amos, and Jonah. The most that is known of him is that he was an Ephraimite, and prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of the kingdom of Judah, and of Jero boam IL, King of Israel— a period of perhaps sixty years. [786-726' b.c] His predictions were uttered principally to the ten tribes of Israel, " with side glances, as it were, warning and menacing the kingdom of Judah." Under the strange symbol of an unfaithful wife, the kingdom of Israel is denounced for its apostasy from Jehovah, and is threatened with punishments that increase in severity until the utter destruction of the kingdom is foretold. 420 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. " The vials of the wrath of heaven," says Dr. John Eadie, "were poured out on his apostate people. The nation suffered under the evils of that schism which was effected by the craft of bim who has been branded with the indelible stigma — 'Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin.' The obligations of law had been relaxed, and the claims of religion disregarded ; Baal became the rival of Jehovah, and in the dark recesses of the groves were practised the impure and murderous rites of heathen deities ; peace and prosperity fled the land, which was harassed by foreign invasion and domestic broils ; might and murder became the twin sentinels of the throne; alliances were formed with other nations, whicli brought with them seductions to paganism ; the nation was thor oughly debased, and but a fraction of its population maintained its spiritual allegiance." In Hosea we find clear anticipations of the future blessings of the Gospel and of the glories of the Mes siah's kingdom; but these are of a general character only, his principal subject being the guilt and final con version of the Jewish nation unto Jehovah, and its great prosperity in the latter ages of the world. This special character of his prophecies is thus referred to by Bishop Hoesley : " He wanders not, like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, into the collateral history of the surrounding heathen nations. He meddles not, like Daniel, with the revolutions of the great empires of the world. His own country seems to engross bis whole attention — her priv ileges, her crimes, her punishment, her pardon. He predicts, indeed, in the strongest and clearest terms, the ingrafting of the Gentiles into the Church of God. But be mentions it only generally ; he enters not, like Isaiah, into a minute detail of the progress of the business. He alludes to the calling of our Lord from Egypt ; to the resurrection on the third day ; be touches, but only THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS. 421 in general terms, upon the final overthrow of the Anti- christian army in Palestine, by the immediate inter position of Jehovah ; and he celebrates, in the loftiest strains of triumph and exultation, the Saviour's final vic tory over death and hell. But yet, of all the prophets, he certainly enters the least into the details of the mys teries of redemption, flis. country and his kindred are the subject next his heart. Tlieir crimes excite his in dignation ; tlieir sufferings interest his pity; their future exaltation is the subject on which his imagination fixes with delight." The style of Hosea is peculiar. " His profound sym pathy," says Keil, "gives to his language the character of excitement, so that, for the most part, be merely hints briefly at the thoughts, instead of studiously elaborating them — passes with abrupt changes from one figure or simile to another, and moves forward in short sentences and oracular utterances, rather than in quietly rounded discourse." The critic Ewald observes : " In Hosea there is a rich and lively imagination, a frequent fulness of language, and, in spite of many strong figures, great tenderness and warmth of expression. His poetry throughout is purely original, replete with vigor of thought and purity of presentation. Yet at one time we find the gentle and flowing predominate in bis style, while at another it is violently strained and abrupt, and his irresistible pain causes him to give a hint of his meaning without allowing him to complete it. There is also thrown over the whole language the burden of the times, and of the heart so oppressed by them." Eichhoen's description of Hosea's style is extremely a-raplnc: "His discourse is like a garland woven of a multiplicity of flowers : images are woven upon images, comparison wound upon comparison, metaphor strung 422 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. ' upon metaphor. He plucks oiie flower and throws it down, that be may directly break off another. Like a bee he flies from one flower-bed to another, that he may suck his honey from the most varied pieces. It is a natural consequence that bis figures sometimes form strings of pearls. Often is he prone to approach to alle gory — often he sinks down into obscurity." II. JOEL. The time when the prophecies recorded in the three chapters of this book were uttered is in great doubt. Joel evidently exercised the prophetic office in the king dom of Judah, but whether in the time of Uzziah, or Josiah, or Joram, or Manasseh, is uncertain. Wunsche, the most recent expositor of the Book of Joel, fixes the time of the prophet between 860 and 850 B.C., and makes bim the oldest of the minor prophets. Joel was probably of tlie tribe of Eeuben, but of his personal his tory nothing is known. His prophecies were delivered on the occasion of a terrible visitation of Judah by lo-- custs and drought, which he characterizes as the judg ment of Jehovah — symbolical of the calamities to be inflicted by the Chaldean invasion of Judea, and also of the coming of the great and terrible judgment-day of the Lord. He enjoins the priests and the people to. fast and pray that the curse may be removed ; and then passes to a prediction of the granting of the Holy Spirit under the Gospel, and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation, interspersed with promises of safety to the faithful and penitent. " To this unknown prophet," says a recent writer, "whom in his writings we cannot but love, but of whose history, condition, rank, parent age, birthplace, nothing is known^— to bim God reserved the prerogative, first to declare the outpouring, of tho THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS. 423 Holy Ghost upon all flesh, the perpetual abiding of the Church, the final struggle of good and evil, the last re bellion against God, and the Day of Judgment." The style of Joel bas been characterized as "pure, smooth, rhythmical, periodic, and regular in its parallel isms ; strong as Micah, tender as Jeremiah, vivid as Na- hum, and sublime as Isaiah." De. Schmollee asserts that " it is quite plain that Isaiah used the Book of Joel ; and that other later prophets had the book before them will be obvious to any one who examines a Bible with parallel references." Delitzsch therefore justly says: " Among the prophets who flourished from the time of Uzziah to that of Jeroboam, Joel unquestionably holds the position of a type or model, and, after Amos, there is not one whose writings do not remind us of him." De. Pusey lias observed that the chief characteristic of Joel is his simple vividness. He adds : " Everything is set before us as though we ourselves saw it. This is alike the character of the description of the desolation in the first chapter, the advance of the locusts in the second, or that more awful gathering in the valley of Jehoshaphat described in the third. The prophet adds detail to detail ; each clear, brief, distinct, a picture in itself, yet adding to the effect of the whole. We can without an effort bring the whole of each picture before our eyes. Sometimes he uses the very briefest, form of words — two words, in bis own language, sufficing for each feature in his picture. Then again the discourse flows on in a soft and gentle cadence, like one of those longer sweeps of an ^Eolian harp. This blending, of energy and softness is perhaps one secret why the dic tion of this prophet has been at all times so winning and so touching. Deep and full, he pours out the tide of bis words with an unbroken smoothness, and carries all along with him; yea, like those rivers of the New 424 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. World, bears back the bitter, restless billows whicli op pose him, a pure, strong stream amid the endless heav- ings and tossings of the world." , "The tone of Joel's writings," says Wunsche," indi cates deep religious feelings, heart-felt experience, and warm sympatl^. His moral ideas are lofty and pure, and testify to the religious knowledge and holy life of the prophet. His poetry is distinguished by the soar ing flight of bis imagination, the originality, beauty, and variety of his images and similes. The conceptions are simple enough, but they are at the same time bold and grand. In bis energy, power, and dignity Joel reminds us of Micah ; in bis vivacity and life-like freshness be resembles Nahum ; in his originality and directness, in the bold range and sublime strain of his ideas, he falls but a little below Isaiah ; in his enthusiastic zeal for true religion, and his clear, earnest, penetrating insight into the moral disorders of his times, he resembles Amos." III. AMOS. Of the personal history of this prophet much more is known than of Hosea and Joel. The home of Amos was in Tekoa,1 in the country of Judah, and he was a shepherd whom Jehovah called to prophesy concerning Israel. He seems to have prophesied during the con temporary reigns of Jeroboam II. and Uzziah ; but his prophetic life was of short duration. He was a contem porary of Isaiah and Hosea, but was younger than Joel, of whose prophecies commentators believe he made much use. At the time that Amos was sent into Israel to prophesy, that kingdom was in the zenith of its power, as the conquests of Jeroboam over the neighboring na- 1 Tekoa, about five miles south-east of Bethlehem. THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS. 425 tions bad restored it to its ancient limits. But with prosperity came corruption ; and, as De. Milman ob serves, " when the consequences of these victories were, not a holier worship, purer morals, national virtue, but pride and luxury in ivory palaces, oppression of the poor, unlawful sacrifices at Gilgal and Bethel, and for eign idolatries of Moloch and Chemosh, the honest prophet set his face against ungrateful Israel and ut tered its impending doom." The Book of Amos consists of nine chapters, begin ning with a prophetic denunciation of Syria, Philistia, Tyre, Edom, and other heathen nations, on account of their cruelty to and oppression of Israel. Next, Judah is denounced for its contempt of the divine law; and then Israel is addressed in a similar manner. "The thunder-storm," as Euckeet poetically expresses it, " rolls over all the surrounding kingdoms, touches Ju dah in its progress, and at length settles down upon Israel." Says a writer in Kitto: "In the third chapter the degenerate state of Israel is strikingly portrayed, and the denunciations of divine justice are intermingled, like repeated thunder-claps, to the end of chapter sixth. The seventh and eighth chapters contain various sym bolical visions, with a brief historical episode. In the ninth chapter the majesty of Jehovah and the terrors of his justice are set forth with a sublimity of diction that rivals and partly copies that of the royal Psalmist.1 To ward the close the scene brightens, and from the eleventh verse to the end the promises of the divine mercy and returning favor to the chosen race are exhibited in im agery of great beauty taken from rural life." Amos, as we have seen, was by occupation or profes sion a shepherd or herdsman ; and hence, as Aechbishop 1 Compare verses 3 and 3 with Psa. cix., and verse 6 with Psa. civ. 426 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. ' Newcome observes of his writings, "he borrows many- images from the scenes in Avhich be was engaged ; but be introduces them with skill, and gives them tone and dignity by the eloquence and grandeur of his manner. We shall find in him many affecting and pathetic, many elegant and sublime passages." Referring to the charge made by some critics that the style of Amos " is rude, void of eloquence, and destitute of all the embellish ments of composition," Bishop Lowth remarks: "Let any one, who has candor and perspicuity enough to judge, not from the man, but from his writings, open the volume of bis predictions, and be will, I think, agree that our shepherd 'is not a whit behind the very chief of the prophets.' He will agree that, as in sublimity and magnificence be is almost equal to the greatest, so in splendor of diction and elegance of expression be is scarcely inferior to any. The same celestial spirit, in deed, actuated Isaiah and Daniel in the court and Amos in the sheepfolds." IV. OBADIAH. The short prophecy contained in this book concerns, principally, tffe Edomites, the nation founded by Esau. The prophet Obadiab foretells the subjugation and ruin that were to come upon this people, on account of their cruel conduct toward the Jews when Jerusalem, under Joram, was taken by "strangers and foreigners," proba bly the Philistines and Arabs.1 The following summary of the book is furnished by a celebrated German ex pounder:2 "Jerusalem is distressed by a hostile inva sion ; strangers have entered into her gates, and have plundered and ravaged, so that the population have be- • » 2 Chron. xxi. 16. a Kleinert. THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS. 427 taken themselves to a wild flight. The invaders have carried off many treasures, and divided the inhabitants among them by lot, to sell them as slaves to distant peoples. The Edomites have not only exhibited an unbrotherly and malignant delight in these transactions, but have actively taken part in them. They have shared in the invasion of the city, in the plundering, and in the mad revelry wliich followed; have lain in wait for the fugitives when they escaped from the city, and slain them in part, and in part delivered them up to slavery; The catastrophe which the prophet threatens is the pun ishment of Edom for these deeds; and with this are linked consolatory promises of restitution and prosper ity to Israel." Of the personal history of Obadiah nothing definite is known ; but he evidently belongs to the same cycle of prophets as Joel and Amos. His predictions against the Edomites began to be fulfilled after the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. When that event occurred, the Edomites were in alliance with the Chal deans, and encouraged them utterly to destroy the city, saying, "Raze it, raze it, even to the foundation thereof."1 But about five years after the capture of Jerusalem, Neb uchadnezzar ravaged Idumea, and dispossessed the Edom ites of the greater part of Arabia Petrsea, of which they never recovered the possession. The Jews, also, after the restoration, extended themselves throughout Edom, and the country was afterward several times overrun by them, and finally made tributary. In this connection Bishop Newton observes: "We find that the nation of the Edomites bath at several times been conquered by and made tributary to the Jews, but never the nation of the Jews to the Edomites. We know, indeed, little more of i Psa. cxxxvii. 7. 428 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. the history of the Edomites than as it is connected with that of the Jews ; and where is the name or the nation now ? They were swallowed up and lost, partly among the Nabathse'an Arabs, and partly among the Jews ; and the very name was abolished and disused about the end of the first century after Christ. Thus, in accordance with the words of Obadiah, were they rewarded for insulting and oppressing their brethren the Jews : ' For thy violence against thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever:'1 and again, ' There shall not be any remaining of tbe house of Esau, for the Lord hath spoken it.' "* V. JONAH. Jonah, a native of the town of Gath Hepher, in Zebur lun, near Galilee, probably flourished as a prophet in the reign of Jehu. lie is said to have predicted the success ful conquests of Jeroboam IL, and the brief prosperity of the Israelitish kingdom under that monarch's sway.3 Of these prophecies, however, there is no record. The Book of Jonah, with the exception of the ode in the sec ond chapter, is a simple but striking narrative, the de sign of whicft has been variously interpreted, but which, whatever else it may indicate, beautifully illustrates the divine mercy. The word of the Lord came unto Jonah, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me." For some reason the prophet, instead of complying with the divine command, attempted to escape in a vessel to Tar shish." On the voyage a terrible storm arose, and the • Obadiah, ver. 10. = Obadiah, ver. 18. a 2 Kings, xiv. 25. 4 Jonah embarked at Joppa, on the Mediterranean, for the far-off Tar- tessus, or Tarshish, in Spain ; or perhaps it was the Tarshish iu Cilicia. THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS. 429 alarmed sailors, who prayed " every man unto his god," cast lots to see whose was the secret guilt that had brought the storm upon them. The lot fell upon Jo nah, who acknowledged his sin, and, at his own request, he was forthwith cast into the sea. He was swallowed by a great fish, in whose belly be was miraculously kept alive for three days, and then, upon his repentance, was restored to land. Dark is the night ; The waves run high ; In dread affright The voyagers cry, And muttering thunders make reply. " O Ashtaroth, We love thee well !" "Oh hear ns, Bel! Why art thou wroth ? What power of hell Has sent this storm ? O Baal, tell !" Is it thy crime, O helmsman ? Say What doleful day, What distant clime, What nnpropitious hour of time Has seen thy sin ? Oh tell us, pray ! What oarsman's guile Thus finds him out 3 Who dares defile With scornful smile, With undevout And impious shout, His household gods, and thus defile And wreck the stout, Brave ship, in which he sails, the while 3 430 MOSAICS. OF BIBLE HISTORY. " It is my sin," A voice replies From deep within The ship, where lies A prophet, who from duty flies ! " Let me be cast Where yawns the wave, If there at last Kemains a grave, A Jonah from himself to save !" Vain is the plea ! It cannot be 1 Thou canst not flee From sin that is a part of thee ! Nor wave, nor grave Can ever save A sinner from Divinity ! Repent and live, And God shall give Forgiveness for eternity ! Simeon Tucker Clakk. Jonah was again commanded to announce the threat ened vengeance to the people of Nineveh. This time he obeyed, and proclaimed to Nineveh that within forty days it would be destroyed for its sins. The Ninevites, however, repented of their wickedness, and, seeking for giveness, the threatened calamity was for a time averted. The sun shone bright, o'er Nineveh, and every marble street Was filled with morning greetings, and with fall of hurrying feet ; Aloft the sounding voices swelled through all the slumbrous air, From mart of many traders, and from Nisroch's fane of prayer. But as pale Nature holds her breath beneath the thunder-cloud, By spell of sudden silence was that voiceful city bowed ; THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS. 431 And through the ghostly stillness, like a knell, uprose the tone, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh is humbled or o'erthrown." With eyes that shone with secrets, and with haggard looks and wan, From street to street the prophet passed — a lonely, burdened man ; He passed, and spoke, and vanished, as some spectre of the night, Which lifts one dooming finger, and then mocks the straining sight. But to the city's heart that word leaped like a forked flame, And smote each chord, which, trembling, broke in penitential shame ; And on and on, from hut to throne, the tide of sorrow swept, Till, with a wail which reached to God, that mighty city wept. W. Morley Pdnshost. The respite granted to Nineveh greatly displeased Jonah, who had waited to witness the result of.the prophecy, and who saw in its fulfilment the only way of arousing Israel from its apostate security. He there fore retired in anger to a place at some distanoe from the city, and prayed that be might die. His displeasure and grief were increased by the destruction of a gourd, which had miraculously grown up and afforded him shelter from the heat of the sun. During the night it was destroyed by a worm, and when, on the following day, a scorching wind was added to the burning heat of the sun, Jonah exclaimed, "It is better for me to die than to live." But Jehovah had appointed this incident forlthe purpose of subduing the prophet's petulant and querulous disposition, and said to him: "Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not labored, .neither madest it grow ; wliich came up in a night, and 432 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. perished in a night : and should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than six -score thou sand persons V VI. MICAH. Micah, the sixth of the minor prophets, was a native of Mor'esheth, near Gath, in the south-west of Judea. As we learn from the commencement of this book, his prophecies were uttered against the kingdom of Judah in the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Like those of Isaiah, with whom he was contemporary, Mi- cab's prophecies belong to what some writers call " the critical period in the latter half of tbe eighth century before Christ." "The internal corruption of the na tion," says De. Kleineet, " which under Jotham was still gilded with a superficial splendor, had under Ahab, through the participation in criminality of this morally unripe monarch, everywhere broken out. This condi tion of things Hezekiah found at his elevation to the throne, and although his will was good from the very first, and the bulk of the people showed themselves not unfavorable to his zeal for restoring the old worship and the old f>iety, it was difficult to restrain the inevi table sin of the ruling classes. Isaiah and Micah zeal ously supported the efforts of the king to effect a ref ormation of those faults which must have abounded, especially in the first year of his reign." It was at this latter period that the book seems to have been written. De. Pttsey remarks that, "at the beginning of Llezekiab's reign, Micab collected the sub stance of what God had taught by him, recasting it, so to speak, and retained of his spoken prophecy so much as God willed to remain for us. As it stands it belongs to that early time of Hezekiah's reign in which the THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS. 433 sins of Ahaz still lived on. In Jotham's reign, too, it is said expressly, in contrast with himself, 'the people were still doing corruptly.' Against idolatry and oppression, therefore, the inheritance of those former reigns, the sole residuum of Jotham's might or Ahaz's policy, the breach of the law of love of God and man, Micah con centrated his written prophecy." The contents of Micah's prophecies are briefly sum med up by De. William Weight as follows : " They consist of two parts, the first of wliich termi nates with chapter five. He commences with a majestic exordium (i. 2-4), in which is introduced a solemn the- ophany,1 the Lord descending from his dwelling-place to judge the nations of the earth, who are approaching to receive judgment. There is then a sudden transition to the judgment of Israel, whose captivity is predicted in chapters one and two. That of Judah follows, when the complete destruction of Jerusalem is foretold, with the expatriation of tlie Jews to Babylon, their future return, the glories of Zion, and the celebrity of its temple, with the chastisement prepared for the oppressors of the Jews.2 After this, glorious wars are seen in perspective, attended with great slaughter; and after many calami ties a ruler is seen to arise from Bethlehem. An inva sion of the Assyrians is predicted, to oppose which there will be no want of able leaders. A new monarchy is beheld, attended with wars and destruction. The sec ond part, from this .to the end; consists of an eloquent dialogue, in which the corruption of the morals of the people is reproved and their chastisement threatened ; hut they are consoled by the promise of a return from their captivity." ¦ A manifestation of God to man by actual appearance. 2 Micah, iv. I.— 19 434 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Micah not only foretold the advent of the Messiah, as did nearly all the prophets, but it was given tp him to name Bethlehem as tbe place of his birth. " The proph ecy contained in chapter v. 1-5," says Dr. Hales, " is, perhaps, the most important single prophecy in the Old Testament, and the most comprehensive respecting the personal character of the Messiah, and his successive manifestations to the world. It crowns the whole chain of predictions descriptive of the several limitations of the blessed Seed of the woman to the line of Shem, to the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to the tribe of Judah, and to the royal house of David, here termi nating in his birth at Bethlehem, 'the city of David.' It carefully distinguishes his human nativity from his eternal generation ; foretells the rejection of the Israel ites and Jews for a season ; their final restoration, and the universal peace destined to prevail throughout the earth in the Regeneration." Micah's style has been much admired. Bishop Lowth characterizes it as "compressed, short, nervous, and sharp. It is often elevated, animated, and sublime, and general ly truly poetical, thongh occasionally obscure on account of his sudden transitions from one subject to another. There are, indeed, few beauties or elegancies of com position of which examples may not be found in this prophet; and for strength of expression, and snblime and impressive diction, he is unrivalled." De Wette observes "that Micah has more "round ness^ fulness, and clearness in his style and rhythm than Hosea. He abounds in rapid transitions and elegant tropes, and piquant plays upon words. He is success ful in the use of the dialogue, and his prophecies are penetrated by the purest spirit of morality and piety." THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS. 435 VII. NAHITM. The burden of Nahum's prophecy is the destruction of Nineveh — beheld by the prophet in a vision. It is evident that it was delivered at a time when the Assyr ians ruled over the surrounding nations with uncon trolled power, and had not only destroyed the kingdom of Israel, but had also deeply bumbled Judah. Jerome says: " The prophet's name, by interpretation, is '« com forter;' for, the ten tribes being carried away by tlie King of Assyria, this vision was to comfort them in their captivity : nor was it less consolation to the other two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, who remained in the land and were besieged by the same enemies, to hear that these conquerors would in time be conquered them selves, their city taken and their empire overthrown." This writer places Nairn m in the reign of Hezekiah, King of Judah, while Josephus says that he flourished in the time of Jotham, and that "all the events which he foretold concerning Nineveh came to pass one hun dred and fifteen years afterward." Other expounders contend that Nahum must have been an eye-witness of the splendors of Nineveh that he so vividly depicts, and hence they place him in the time of a powerful mili tary king, probably Esarhaddon, the son of Sennach'erib, about 670 b.c. But the view of Jerome, as to the time and location of the prophet, has been generally accepted as correct. The prophecy of Nahum is a triumphal song or poem in three chapters. The exordium is grand and truly majestic, and the preparations for the destruction of the wicked city, and the description of its downfall, are de picted in the liveliest colors. In the third chapter the prophecy is repeated, with greater particularity, whicli has led to the supposition that the first chapter refers to 436- MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. the sacking of the city by tbe Medes, in the reign of Sardanapa'lus. But many believe that this event oc curred before the time of the prophet, and the best au thorities think that the whole prophecy relates to but one event, namely, the final destruction of the city, about the year 612 b.c. As to the style of Nahum, De. Kleineet observes that, " of all the prophets he has the most impassioned style ; and in none is found the change of numbers, of persons addressed, and of suffix relations, with such frequency and immediateness as in him. At the same time, bis language has wonderful energy and picturesque beauty. The painting does not embrace merely single rhythms (ii. 5), and groups of words (ii. 11), but whole series (ii. 10; iii. 2, 3); and in connecting bis thoughts, he shows, with all bis vehe mence, great and varied skill." From an article in Kit- to's Biblical Cyclopaedia, on the beauty of the style of Nahum, we transcribe the following quotation from De Wette : " The variety in his manner of presenting ideas dis covers much poetic talent in the prophet. The reader of taste and sensibility will be affected by the entire structure of the poem, by the agreeable manner in which the ideas are ftrougbt forward, by the flexibility of the expressions, the roundness of his turns, the delicate out line of his figures, by the strength and delicacy, and the expression of sympathy and greatness, which diffuse themselves over tlie whole subject. He does not come upon you roaring and violent, nor yet softly and lightly. Here there is something sonorous in his language, there something murmuring; and with both there alternates somewhat that is soft, delicate, and melting, as the sub ject demands. This is not possible for a poet of art, but only for the poet of nature." It has been observed by a writer on the different THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS. 437 prophecies of Scripture, that, as the prophecies of both Jonah and Nahum are directed against Nineveh, the latter, book may be considered a supplement to the for mer; the remission of God's judgment being illustrated in the one, and the execution of it in the other. But for the account of the actual destruction of the city we must look beyond the Bible record. It is supposed to have taken place a little more than a century after Na- hum's prophecy, although the time of the city's fall is uncertain,, some placing it in 625, and others in 606 b.c. The manner of its capture and spoliation by the Medes and Babylonians, as related in profane history, and the utter desolation that has reigned there for centuries, as shown by modern researches, fulfil not only the prophe cies of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Nahum, but, likewise, the words of Zephaniah, when he says: "The Lord will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy As syria ; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness. And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; tlieir voice shall sing in the windows ; desolation shall be in the thresholds ; for be shall uncover the cedar work. This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me : how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in ! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand" (chap. ii. 13-15). Meet is the hour thy dreary site to see, City of darkness, vanished Nineveh ! To trace the mounds that mark the barren plain, Where, veiled from view, tombed wonders yet remain. Yes, Ninus' palace, where all glories shone, And rose at once his sepulchre and throne ; 438 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. Thy far encircling walls, and thousand towers, Baffling for ages Asia's leaguered powers ; The streets where princes drove their glittering cars, And traffic's sons were countless as the stars ; Arask's vast shrine, where that dread warrior died, Whose banded myriads — boastful slaves of pride — Fell in one night, when heaven's own lightning came, And death's pale angel waved her sword of flame, Are now but heaps, with rude wrecks scattered o'er, That bear a language writ by man no more ; Where scarce the hermit wild-flower deigns to blow, But coarse, rank grass and plants of poison grow, And jackals lurk, and hooded serpents glide : Monarchs ! approach ye here, and bow your pride ! Empires ! so strong to-day, like change await ! And, laurelled conquerors ! 'weep, and read your fate ! Michell. VIII. HABAKKUK. This short book contains the prophetic writings of Habakkuk, one of the most distinguished of the proph ets, and, next to Isaiah, the most powerful evangelist among them. A supposed member of the tribe of Sim eon, lie prophesied in Judea before the Captivity, proba bly in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, and was contemporary with Jeremiah, but much younger. The book opens with a dialogue between God and the prophet, in which the latter, indignantly complaining of the iniquity of his people, is informed that vengeance will be inflicted upon them by tbe Chaldeans. Then, " agreeably to the general style of the prophets," as a prominent writer observes, " who to lamentations and announcements of divine punishment add consolation and cheering hopes for the future, Habakkuk proceeds to foretell the future humiliation of the conquerors." THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS. 439 Of the remainder of the book another writer remarks : " As in Micah, so here, also, the dialogue falls into a hymn (chap, iii.) artistically arranged after the manner of the Psalms, which, according to the model of the old sacred national songs, and in the form of a wonder fully glorious theophany, celebrates the judgment of God upon the heathen, and, in connection with it, the salvation of Israel." As a poet Habakkuk stands high in the estimation of the critics. Eichhoen says : " He equals the most emi nent prophets of the Old Testament — Joel, Amos, Na hum, Isaiah ; and the ode in chapter iii. may be placed in competition with Psalms xviii. and lxviii. for origi nality and sublimity. His figures are all great, happily chosen, and properly drawn out. His denunciations are terrible, his derision bitter, bis consolation cheering. In stances occur of borrowed ideas, but he makes them his own in drawing them out in his peculiar manner. With all the boldness and fervor of his imagination, his lan guage is pure and his verse melodious." The prayer of Habakkuk, in particular, is considered by the best judges to be a masterpiece of its kind. Says Bishop Lowth : " The prophet illustrates the subject of the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian slavery, throughout, with equal magnificence, selecting from such an assemblage of mi raculous incidents the most noble and important, dis playing them in the most splendid colors, and embel lishing them with the sublimest imagery, figures, and diction ; the dignity of which is so heightened and rec ommended by the superior elegance of the conclusion, that were it not for a few shades, which the hand of time has apparently cast over it in two or three pas sages, no composition of the kind would, I believe, ap pear more elegant or more perfect than this poem." 440 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. IX. ZEPHANIAH. This prophet, also, was probably of the tribe of Sim eon ; but, although he makes mention of his ancestors for no less than four generations, nothing certain is known as to what family he belonged. Some have sup posed that, inasmuch as his descent is traced back to one Hezekiah, he was of royal blood ; while others believe that, if King Hezekiah had been referred to, his official title, " King of Judah," would have been subjoined. It is stated in the outset of the book that Zephaniah deliv ered his predictions in the reign of Josiah, King of Ju dah ; and, from tlieir character, commentators are led to believe that they were uttered in the early part of that monarch's reign, before, the moral and religious reform mation instituted by Josiah had been fully carried out. Again, as a portion of the prophecy foretells tbe de struction of Nineveh and the Assyrian empire, it must have been delivered prior to 625 b.c, the year that many assign to Nineveh's fall, and therefore before the eighteenth year of Josiah. Zephaniah was probably contemporary with Jeremiah, " to whom tbe word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah, King of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign" (Jer. i. 2); and the good king must have had the aid of both these prophets in carrying out his plans for reforming his people. The contents of tbe Book of Zephaniah, and the events to which the prophecies in all probability refer, have been thus summarized by a writer in Kitto: "In the first chapter the sins of the nation are se verely reprimanded, and a day of fearful retribution is menaced. The circuit of reference is wider in the sec ond chapter, and the ungodly and persecuting states in the neighborhood of Judea are also, doomed ; but in the third section, while the prophet inveighs bitterly against THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS. 441 Jerusalem and her magnates, he concludes with the cheering prospect of her ultimate settlement and bliss ful theocratic enjoyment. It has been disputed what the enemies are with whose desolating inroads he threat ens Judah. The ordinary and most probable opinion is, that the foes whose period of invasion was 'a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities and against the high towers ' (chap. i. 16) were the Chaldeans. Hit- zig especially, Cramer too, and Eichhorn, supposed the prophet to refer to a Scythian invasion, the history of which, they imagine, has been preserved by Herodotus. But the general style of the oracle, and the sweeping vengeance which it menaces against Assyria, Philistia, Annnon, and Cush, as well as against Judah, by some great and unnamed power, point to the Chaldean ex pedition which, under Nebuchadnezzar, laid Jerusalem waste, and carried to Babylon its enslaved population. The former part of Zephaniah's prediction is ' a day of clouds and of thick darkness ;' but in the closing section of it light is sown for the righteous : ' The King of Is rael, the Lord, is in the midst of thee; be will rejoice over thee with joy ; he will rest in his love.' " As to the literary character or merit of Zephaniah there has been much difference of opinion. Some of the earlier critics think him heavy and tedious; others concede to him a striking and graphic representation, although admitting that be falls short of most of his predecessors. The writer from whom we last quoted, however, is of the opinion that the writings of this prophet, although they do not possess "the sustained majesty of Isaiah, or the sublime and original energy of Joel, yet form a series of vivid sketches, many of which, in tone and dignity, are not unworthy to be associated with the more distinguished effusions of the Hebrew bards." He adds : " The language of Zephaniah is pure : 19* 442 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. ' it has not the classic ease and elegance of the earlier compositions, but it wants the degenerate feebleness and Aramaic corruption of the succeeding era." De. Klein eet observes, concerning Zephaniah's style, as follows : "His language wants the plastic power and harmony of expression which spring from the powerful intuition of an immediately impending event : it is more suited to things than to events. His prophecy also lacks the sustained poetical character." Referring to the charge made by some writers, that the style of Zephaniah is largely imitative of that of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and other prophets, Dr. Kleinert adds : " Although his style is more pathetic than poetic ; although single figures are constantly occurring, which may appear exaggerated to the more than aesthetic taste of an Eichhorn ; although here and there tbe form, but nowhere the peculiar color, the energetic rhythm of the prophetic parallelism, seems to be preserved ; although, finally, he is well acquainted with the Scripture, and readily leads the spirit, that speaks by him, into turns of expression employed by bis predecessors, yet this spirit, also in bim, is one that is entirely independent and fully conscious. And the im pressive, deeply impassioned, severity of his style well deserves that lfis book should be designated as the dies irw1 of the Old Testament."2 X. HAGGAI. Haggai was one of the prophets of the Restoration — one of those, as we have elsewhere seen, who assisted Ezra in his efforts to build up and purify Jerusalem after the return of the Jews from captivity. Of his private life and circumstances we know nothing; and 1 Dies ires, "days of wrath." * Dr. Elliott's translation, in Lange's Commentary. THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS. 443 the meagre scriptural accounts that we have of him throw but little light upon his prophetic career. He began to prophesy in Jerusalem, in the second year of Dari'us Hystaspes. [520 b.c] He was probably born in Babylon during the exile, whence he went to Jerusalem with Zerub'babel. In his discourses the prophet reproves the Jews for their delay in rebuilding the Temple, and, exhorting them to proceed with the work, he promises them God's returning favor if they push it to comple tion. His addresses cover a period of about four months, and it was through his expostulations and exhortations that the Jews resumed and finished the building of the Temple. For the purpose, probably, of comforting the old men who wept, as stated in the Book of Ezra, when the foundations of the Temple were laid, the prophet predicts that the glory of the New Temple would be greater than that of Solomon's, through the visible pres^ ence in its courts of the Messiah. " The outlines of the addresses of Haggai," says De. McCttrdy, "are arranged in regular chronological order, carefully indicating the dates of their respective delivery. They are presented in a style which, though lacking the poetical qualities of many of the earlier prophecies, is yet marked, in various passages, by great vivacity and impressiveness, to which, among other characteristics, the frequent use of interrogation largely contributes. A strikiug peculiarity of the prophet's style has been re marked in bis habit of 'uttering the main thought with concise and nervous brevity, after a long and verbose introduction.' In addition to these more obvious char acteristics, we can discover both rhetorical and gram matical peculiarities natural to the declining period of the Hebrew language and literature." Bishop Lowth characterizes Haggai as " wholly prosaic." Still another writer says : " The style of the discourses of Haggai is 444 MOSAICS QF BIBLE HISTORY. suitable to their contents: it is pathetic when he exhorts; it is vehement when he reproves; it is somewhat ele vated when he treats of future, events ; and it is not al together destitute of a poetical coloring, though a prophet of a higher order would have depicted the splendors of the Second Temple in brighter hues." XI. ZECHARIAH. This prophet, contemporary with Haggai, was born in Babylon, and he accompanied the first number of exiles who returned to Jerusalem. This is the record we find concerning him in Nehemiah, where it is farther stated that he was one of the heads of " the priests and of their brethren," which would make hiin a priest as well as a prophet. The tribe and family from wliich he was de scended are unknown, farther than their identity is re vealed in the opening verse of the book. This prophet began his office in the second year of Darius Hystaspes, about two months after the first prophecy of Haggai. His mission, like that of Haggai, had special reference to the building up of the nation that had been restored •to its former home ; and he encouraged the Jews to re build the Temple, by unfolding to them their glorious future in contrast with their then depressed condition. Like Ezekiel and Daniel, Zechariah delights in sym bols, allegories, and visions. Hence, in the first six chapters, a series of nine night-visions is introduced, in which the meaning of the various images and scenes witnessed by the prophet is explained to him by an angel. We have not the space to give these visions in full, but append the following very brief statement of them and of their meaning, as given by a recent writer:1 ' Dr. T. W. Chambers, in Introduction to Zechariah, in Lange's Com mentary. THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS. 445 .1. The Man among the Myrtles; or, Successful Intercession for the Covenant People. (Chap. i. 1-11.) 2. The Four Horns and Four Smiths ; or, an Adequate De fender against every Assailant. (Chap. i. 18-21.) 3. The Man with the Measuring Line ; or, the Enlargement and Security of the People of God. (Chap, ii.) " 4. Joshua the High-priest before the Angel of Jehovah.; or, the Forgiveness of Sin and the Coming of the Branch. (Chap, iii.) 5. The. Candlestick with the two Olive-trees ; or, the Posi tive Communication of God's Spirit and Grace. (Chap. iv.) 6. The Flying Roll ; or, the Destroying Curse upon all Sii> ners. (Chap. v. 1-4.) 1. The Woman in the Ephah ; or, the Permanent Exile of the Wicked. (Chap. v. 5-11.) 8. The Four Chariots ; or, Jehovah's Judgments upon the Heathen. (Chap. vi. 1-8.) The last vision is followed by what De. Chambees calls " a symbolical action, the Crowning of Joshua the High-priest ; or, the Functions of the Priest-King whose name is Beanch." In chapter eight, in response to the inquiry of the people, as found in chapter seven — if they should still continue to observe the annual fast wliich commemo rated the overthrow of Jerusalem — the prophet takes occasion to rebuke formal fasting, and to enforce the necessity of obedience. The remaining chapters are prophetical. " The ninth, tenth, and eleventh chapters," says De. Eadie, "contain a variety of prophecies un folding the fortunes of the people, their safety in the midst of Alexander's expedition, and their victories un der the Maccabe'an chieftains, including the fate of the many surrounding nations. The remaining three chap ters graphically portray the future condition of the peo- 446 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. pie, especially in Messian'ic times, and certain allusions to the siege of the city by the Romans, the means of escape by the cleaving of the Mount of Olives, with a symbol of twilight breaking into day, and living water issuing from Jerusalem; concluding with a blissful vi sion of the enlarged prosperity and holiness of the theo cratic metropolis, when upon the bells of the horses shall be inscribed ' holiness unto the Lord.' " Since the middle of the seventeenth century tbe gen uineness of the second part of Zechariah, namely, from chapter nine to the end, has been seriously disputed by some of the most pious and eminent of Biblical scholars. The main ground alleged against its genuineness is, that in the twenty-seventh chapter of Matthew, the ninth and tenth verses, the evangelist attributes to Jeremiah what is unquestionably a citation from tbe twelfth verse of the eleventh chapter of Zechariah. For the arguments in favor of and against the integrity of this part of Zechariah we must refer the reader to Smith's Bible Dictionary, or to the standard Commentaries of the day. A writer in the former work concludes bis review of the subject with the remark : " It is not easy to say which way the weight of evidence preponderates." But from this opinion many eminent theologians dissent; and we think that it may be safely asserted that the "weight of evidence" is in favor of the genuineness of the author ship of Zechariah. Of Zechariah Bishop Lowth observes: "Of all the prophets he is perhaps the most obscure." De Wette says : " The symbols with which he abounds are obscure, and their prosaic structure is diffuse and unvaried. The rhythm of his poetry is unequal, and its parallelisms are inharmonious and disjointed." On the other hand, De. Chambers remarks : " I agree with Pressel that he must have no eyes who does not see and admire the grandeur the twelve minor prophets. 447 of the night-visions, and he no ears who does not hear the heavy tread of the last six chapters. Manifest as is the dependence of Zechariah upon his predecessors in some particulars, he yet has a marked individuality both in thought and expression ; for example, God's protec tion of Jerusalem as a wall of fire round about and glory within (ii. 5) ; the dramatic scene of Joshua and Satan before the angel of the Lord (iii. 1, 2) ; the poetic delin eation of the resistless Spirit (iv. 7) ; the development of the idea in the word Branch (iii. 8 ; vi. 12) ; tlie ex quisite picture of peace and prosperity (viii. 4, 5); the representation of Judah as a bow wliich the Lord bends, and of Ephraim as the arrow fitted on a string (ix. 13) ; the energy in describing the wretchedness of the flock of slaughter (xi. 5); the striking comparisons (xii. 8-10); the amazing conception in the phrase, ' fellow of Jeho vah' (xiii. 7); or the picturesque method of setting forth universal holiness (xiv. 20, 21.) The Hebrew of Zecha riah is now admitted to be pure, and remarkably free from Chaldaisms. There are some orthographic pecu liarities, some singular uses of words, and some unusual constructions ; but in the main the language corresponds to that of the earlier models, and exhibits far fewer traces of linguistic decay than we should expect." XII. MALACHI. This prophet, the last of the series, of whom so little is known that it has been doubted whether his name is a proper one, or only a generic term signifying my an gel or messenger, was probably of the tribe of Zebulun, and a native of the town of Sapha. He prophesied when a young man, after the Temple was rebuilt and the worship re-established, and, as nearly as can be as- 448 MOSAICS OF BIBLE HISTORY. certained, after Nehemiah's second return to Jerusalem — about the year 420 b.c The Book of Malachi consists of four chapters, the contents of whicli are principally of a threatening char acter. Bishop Lowth observes that "the book is writ ten in a mediocre style, wliich seems to indicate that the Hebrew poetry, from the time of the Babylonish captiv ity, was in a declining state, and, being past its prime and vigor, was then fast verging toward the debility of age." On the other hand, Ewald, Kohlee, and others, declare that Malachi does not lack in smoothness and elegance, that bis diction is pure, and his reasoning vig orous and cogent. The prophet, having rebuked the Jews for tlieir offences, threatens them with punishment and rejection, and announces the future calling of the Gentiles — declaring that God would "make his name great among the Gentiles, for that be was wearied with the impiety of Israel." He also foretells the coming of Christ and his harbinger, John the Baptist ; and, " utter;- ing, as it were, the last admonition of the Jewish proph ets, in the solemn close of his exhortation be enjoins to repentance, an observance of the law of Moses till the advent of Elijah— that is, of John tbe Baptist, who came in the spirit a»d power of Elias, and who, before the coming of that 'great and dreadful day of the Lord, should turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to tlieir fathers.' Thus Malachi sealed up the volume of prophecy with the description of that personage at whose appearance the evangelists begin their Gospel history."1 » Kitto's" Cyclopaedia." END OF VOL. I. •- ,:. ¦ ¦¦¦¦.. - ¦ .-.¦¦¦¦¦- :-..>¦ ¦ ¦ -' ' ' ¦