JUDÆA.
73. The history of the Hebrew race is better known to us than that of any other people equally ancient, because it has been carefully preserved in the sacred writings. The separation of this race for its peculiar and important part in the world’s history, began with the call of Abraham from his home, near the Euphrates, to the more western country on the Mediterranean, which was promised to himself and his descendants. The story of his sons and grandsons, before and during their residence in Egypt, belongs, however, to family rather than national history. Their numbers increased until they became objects of apprehension to the Egyptians, who tried to break their spirit by servitude. At length, Moses grew up under the fostering care of Pharaoh himself; and after a forty years’ retirement in the deserts of Midian, adding the dignity of age and lonely meditation to the “learning of the Egyptians,” he became the liberator and law-giver of his people.
74. The history of the Jewish nation begins with the night of their exodus from Egypt. The people were mustered according to their tribes, which bore the names of the twelve sons of Jacob, the grandson of Abraham. The sons of Joseph, however, received each a portion and gave their names to the two tribes of Ephraim and Manas´seh. The family of Jacob went into Egypt numbering sixty-seven persons; it went out numbering 603,550 warriors, not counting the Levites, who were exempted from military duty that they might have charge of the tabernacle and the vessels used in worship.
75. After long marches and countermarches through the Arabian desert—needful to arouse the spirit of a free people from the cowed and groveling habits of the slave, as well as to counteract the long example of idolatry by direct Divine revelation of a pure and spiritual worship—the Israelites were led into the land promised to Abraham, which lay chiefly between the Jordan and the sea. Two and a half of the twelve tribes—Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh—preferred the fertile pastures east of the Jordan; and on condition of aiding their brethren in the conquest of their more westerly territory, received their allotted portion there.
76. Moses, their great leader through the desert, died outside the Promised Land, and was buried in the land of Moab. His lieutenant, Joshua, conquered Palestine and divided it among the tribes. The inhabitants of Gibeon hastened to make peace with the invaders by a stratagem. Though their falsehood was soon discovered, Joshua was faithful to his oath already taken, and the Gibeonites escaped the usual fate of extermination pronounced upon the inhabitants of Canaan, by becoming servants and tributaries to the Hebrews.
77. The kings of Palestine now assembled their forces to besiege the traitor city, in revenge for its alliance with the strangers. Joshua hastened to its assistance, and in the great battle of Beth-horon defeated, routed, and destroyed the armies of the five kings. This conflict decided the possession of central and southern Palestine. Jabin, “king of Canaan,” still made a stand in his fortress of Hazor, in the north. The conquered kings had probably been in some degree dependent on him as their superior, if not their sovereign. He now mustered all the tribes which had not fallen under the sword of the Israelites, and encountered Joshua at the waters of Merom. The Canaanites had horses and chariots; the Hebrews were on foot, but their victory was as complete and decisive as at Beth-horon. Hazor was taken and burnt, and its king beheaded.
78. The nomads of the forty years in the desert now became a settled, civilized, and agricultural people. Shiloh was the first permanent sanctuary; there the tabernacle constructed in the desert was set up, and became the shrine of the national worship.
79. Jewish History is properly divided into three periods:
| I. | From the Exodus to the establishment of the Monarchy, | BC 1650–1095. | (See Note, page 47.) |
| II. | From the accession of Saul to the separation into two kingdoms, | BC 1095–975. | |
| III. | From the separation of the kingdoms to the Captivity at Babylon, | BC 975–586. |
80. During the First Period the government of the Hebrews was a simple theocracy, direction for all important movements being received through the high priest from God himself. The rulers, from Moses down, claimed no honors of royalty, but led the nation in war and judged it in peace by general consent. They were designated to their office at once by revelation from heaven, and by some special fitness in character or person which was readily perceived. Thus the zeal and courage of Gideon, the lofty spirit of Deb´orah, the strength of Samson, rendered them most fit for command in the special emergencies at which they arose. The “Judge” usually appeared at some time of danger or calamity, when the people would gladly welcome any deliverer; and his power, once conferred, lasted during his life.
After his death a long interval usually occurred, during which “every man did that which was right in his own eyes,” until a new invasion by Philis´tines, Ammonites, or Zidonians called for a new leader. The chronology of this period is very uncertain, as the sacred writers only incidentally mention the time of events, and their records are not always continuous. The system of chronology was not settled until a later period.
Rulers and Judges of Israel.
Under the Theocracy.
| Moses, liberator, law-giver, and judge, | 40 | years |
| Joshua, conqueror of Palestine, and judge, | 25 | ” |
| Anarchy, idolatry, submission to foreign rulers, | 20 or 30 | ” |
| Servitude under Chushan-rishathaim of Mesopotamia, | 8 | ” |
| Othniel, deliverer and judge, | 40 | ” |
| Servitude under Eglon, king of Moab, | 18 | ” |
| {Ehud, | ||
| {Shamgar. In these two reigns the land has rest, | 80 | ” |
| Servitude under Jabin, king of Canaan, | 20 | ” |
| Deborah, | 40 | ” |
| Servitude under Midian, | 7 | ” |
| Gideon, | 40 |