ftranger to be sacrificed to their brutish luft, which they made no difficulty to exprefs in the ftrongest terms. This gives one reason to believe, that it was no unufual thing among them. The Levite found no way of saving himself, but by delivering up his concubine to them; and, on the next morning, found her dead at the threshold of the door, either of fhame, or of the grievous abufe fhe had fuffered that night. It was in vain to complain of this cruelty in fuch an abandoned place: he took therefore the dead body with him, and brought it to his own houfe, where he divided it into twelve pieces, and fent one of them to each tribe, with an account of the occafion of it. The surprised ✰ribes affembled from all parts of Ifrael to Mizpeh, to the number of four hundred thousand fighting men: and there the Levite gave them a further account of the injury; but cunningly concealed his cowardice in facrificing her to his own fatety. The whole people had scarce heard his ftory out, when they rofe up as one man, and resolved not to return to their respective homes, till they had punished the authors of that unheard-of action with the utmost severity; and fent deputies to the heads of the tribe of Benjamin, to demand the delivery of the profligate Gibeathites. But that haughty tribe, instead of complying with their request, armed twenty-five thoufand of their beft warriors, befides feven hundred of the inhabitants of Gibeah, to go out against them. This unexpected ftubbornnefs made them vow to take a fuller revenge on the tribe of Benjamin. They confulted the LORD, which of the tribes fhould go against them; and were answered, by the mouth of Phinchas the then high-priest, that Judah should go first. They gave them battle accordingly on the next morning, not doubting of a complete victory; but it proved quite otherwife; for Judah was repulfed, with the lofs of twentytwo thousand men. They were again repulfed, with almoft the fame lofs, in a fecond onfet; but, upon applying to GOD with fafting and prayer, they obtained at length a favourable answer; and the high-prieft promised them, that the LORD would, on the next onfet, deliver the Benjamites into their hands. This anfwer infpired them with fresh courage and policy; upon which a ftratagem was put in execution, which had its defired effect. They divided themselves into three bodies, one of which was to lie in ambush, and be ready to enter and fet fire to the city, as toon as the men were fallied out; another body was to Jud. xx. 5, & feq. make make a sham affault, on purpose to draw them out of the place, whilft the third and main body lay concealed in the neighbourhood of Baaltamar, ready to fall upon them. The children of Benjamin eafily gave into the fnare; and, finding themselves unwarily furprised in their pursuit by the main body, were thinking to retreat into the town, when, upon turning themselves about, they faw it all in flames, and were fo difheartened with the fight, that twenty-five thoufand of them were cut in pieces, only about fix hundred faving themselves by flight, who fortified themselves upon the tops of the rocks of Rimmon, and there abode four months, that is, till they were called down by the other tribes in an amicable manner. THIS victory only whetted the fury of the other tribes, which did not cool till they had burnt down all their cities and villages, killed all the inhabitants without diftinction, and made, as they thought, an utter end of that unfortunate tribe. It was then indeed that they began to reflect, with fome remorfe, upon what they had done, and to bewail the lofs of one of their tribes. They went up to Shiloh again; and, having been informed, that the fix hundred, who were escaped from the flaughter, were still upon the rocks of Rimmon, they intreated GOD to direct them how to recall them peaceably, and to restore the loft tribe by their means. There was indeed one main impediment to it; namely a rash oath they had made at Mizpeh, that none of them would give their daughters to any of that tribe. The oath, being unlawful in itself, might have been diffolved by the high-prieft, who was there prefent; but, their confcience being perhaps become more tender, they bethought themfelves of another expedient, which would anfwer their end, though it was fcarcely fo juftifiable as the breach of fuch an oath would have been, though they had had no Phinehas to have abfolved them from it. They caused a strict search to be made in their mufter-rolls, whether any of the tribes had failed to come to the camp at Mizpeh; and found, that the inhabitants of Fabefh-gilead, belonging to the half-tribe of Manasch, on the other fide Jordan, had not come to the general affembly. One would expect therefore, that, as they had had no fhare in the oath with the other tribes, they would only have obliged them to furnish those fix hundred men with wives; but they went a more cruel way to work, and fent twelve thousand armed men, with orders to destroy all the inhabitants of the place, except the vir gins. These foon went, and executed this bloody com mand, Othniel the firft judge. mand, and brought four hundred virgins captive, which were given to as many of the remaining men of Benjamin. There were ftill two hundred unprovided for, and no more towns to be condemned to the fate of Jabeh. However, rather than break their oaths for their fakes, they bethought themselves of a way of evading it, by giving them leave to take that by force, which they thought not lawful to give them of their own accord. The men took their advice, and lay concealed in the vineyards about Shiloh; and, when the young damfels came out of it with tabrets and dances, from fome folemn feaft, as is fuppofed, every man feized upon one of them, and took them home, whilst the rest of the tribes returned also every man to his habitation °. These fix hundred men foon reftored the loft tribe to its former valour and strength, which ever after continued attached to that of Judah, and gave the second judge, and first king, to Ifrael (B). THE first flavery which their defection brought upon them, was under Cufhan-rifhathaim, king of Mefopotamia, who held them in fubjection about eight years; at the end of which, the warlike Othniel found means to raife an army against him, with which he gained a fignal • Jud. xix. & xx. per tot. (B) By these two inftances, the reader may judge into what degree of degeneracy the whole nation was fallen in that little interval between the death of Caleb, and that of his fon-inlaw's being chofen judge. What is ftill more furprifing is, that the prefence of one good man in authority fhould be able to put a ftop to fuch a vehement propenfity to idolatry, which, immediately after his death, could not be contained within any bounds, but broke out, like a torrent, with double force: yet this was the cafe of the Ifraelites, during all the time of their judges; the fame that delivered them from thraldom, freed them alfo from idolatry; and he was no fooner dead, than their innocence and obedience were at an end, tho' their peace and happiness were sure to end with it. Thus, every epoch is only an alternate fucceffion of finning and repentance, of fervitude and deliverance. What those nations were, whom they fuffered to live amongst them, and by whom they were so often corrupted, enflaved, and delivered from by turns, we have already seen in the history of Canaan (4), to which we shall refer the reader once for all, to avoid, as much as the series of this hiftory will permit, all unneceffary repetitions. (4) Vide fup. vol. ii. p. 209. victory, victory, and freed Ifrael from the yoke of that potent Year of prince. The text gives us no further account of that war, the flood which could not but be much to the Hebrew general's ho- 943nour, confidering the ftrength of his enemy. All that it Bef. Chr. adds is, that his fuccefs obtained them a peace, which lafted 1405. forty years; that is, till the death of their judge and deliverer P. This victory happened about thirty-eight years after Joshua's death. As for that of Othniel, it is not eafy to fix it 9. SOON after it, they fell again under fervitude to the Ehud, Moabites; and, at the end of eighteen years, Ehud their the fecond fecond judge, who was of the tribe of Benjamin, being judge. deputed to carry the yearly tribute to Eglon their king, Year of freed them, by the death of that prince, whom he pri- the flood vately ftabbed, whilft he was delivering a pretended meffage 1023. from God to him; and, having efcaped undiscovered, blew the trumpet, and raised a sufficient army, with which he fhook off the Moabitifh yoke, and procured his people another forty years peace r. Bef. Chr. 1325. SHAMGAR, their third judge, delivered them from fome Shamgar, fmall oppreffion which they fuffered from the Philistines. third The text gives us no further particulars about him, than judge. that he flew fix hundred of them with an ox-goad, or, as Year of the Latin and Greek verfions render it, with a plough- the flood fhares (B). How long he judged Ifrael, is not to be determined. He was fucceeded by P Jud. iii. 8, & feq. 9 Vide annal. USSER. ann. 2599 Jud. iii. 12, & feq. See vol. ii. p. 134. ult. See vol. ii. p. 133, & feq. & 231. (B) The words are pa malmad babakar, which fignifies any inftrument by which oxen are broken to labour. We fhall take notice in the sequel, that the Philifines were more careful than any other nation to ftrip the Jews of all their weapons of war, whenever they had them in fubjection: and, if this was the cafe at present, it is likely that expreffion means only fuch ruftical inftruments as he and his men could lay their hands on. S Jud. iii. ver. But, as the text mentions no- (5) Vol. ii. p. 231, (S), 1044. Bef. Chrift 1304. THE Deborah, fourth judze. Year of the flood THE prophetess Deborah, foon after the fmart of a fourth fervitude, worfe and longer than any of the three former, had brought them to a sense of their fins and ingratitude. Ifrael was for every market; and, as ready as they were to fell themselves to fome new crimes, fo 1063- was Providence to fell them to new lords. The text Bet. Chr. takes notice, that, after the death of their judge, they fell 1285. into new crimes; and GOD, to punish them for it, raised up a more powerful adverfary against them, Jabin king of Canaan, whofe ftrength, befides a numerous army, and a valiant general, confifted in an incredible number of iron chariots, whereby he held them in severe fubjection twenty years: yet, when their crimes and repentance had obtained a promife of a speedy deliverance, left they should arrogate to themfelves any fhare in the glory of their future victory, two women are chofen to be the main inftruments of it, and Jael completes what Deborah had concerted; and Barak, at the head of ten thousand men, difcomfited Sifera, and his numerous army, though ftrengthened with nine hundred chariots of iron; and the land of Ifrael, from a difmal folitude w, began to refume its former fertility and fplendor. We have given an account of this famous action in a former chapter, which gave occafion to that noble fong of deliverance, which Deborah compofed immediately after it, and which procured them a refpite of forty years . THE ungrateful Ifraelites, having by that time forgot this fignal deliverance, were plagued with a fresh bondage, and with which that under fabin being compared, might be called freedom. Under the laft, Deborah was allowed to judge Ifrael in the face of the fun; but now they are not only without judge, but even without habitation, except what they are forced to feek for among the clefts and caverns of the rocks; and, if they find time and convenience to fow, their enemies pour in upon them, and reap the fruit of their labours 2. Under this miferable bondage they were groaning, when GoD firft fent a prophet to convince them how juftly they fuffered this hard Midianitish flavery; after which, he made choice of a proper perfon to undertake their deliverance. Gideon was privately threshing his corn, to fave it from becoming a prey either to u Ibid. ver. 11, & feq. ́ w See * See before, vol. ii. p. 211, & feq. z Ibid. vi. 3, & feq. a Ibid. ver. 8, 8. Judg. iv. 1. v. chap. v. ver. 6, and 7. y Judg. v. ver. ult. & feq. |