PERIODIII.THE THEOCRACY TO THE JUDGES.CHAPTERI.THE ISRAELITES IN EGYPT.1. How long after the deathof Joseph the Israelites remained in Goshen until they were enslaved has not as yet been determined. The account in the book of Exodus opens with the significant expression that “there arose up a new king over Egypt who knew not Joseph.” It has been supposed that Joseph was governor under the last of the Shepherd Kings, but this supposition is uncertain, and perhaps wrong, for the long life of Joseph after he came into Egypt, namely 80 years, added to the necessarily advanced age of the Pharaoh who was upon the throne on the arrival of Joseph, would, with greater probability, lead us to suppose that Joseph’s sojourn in Egypt was extended through more than one reign of the Shepherd Kings.2. But at the endof the happy, quiet Shepherd era, among the descendants of Jacob in Goshen there came a change. The Israelites became enslaved,for the mandate of the Pharaoh of the period went forth to set over them taskmasters and to afflict them with burdens, the object being to put a stop to their excessive growth in numbers.3.As we have said,the Shepherd Kingsruled Egypt for about 500 years. Towards the close of their rule and, as it is generally supposed, under a king whose name is recorded as Apopi, or, as the Greek historians spell the name, Aphobis, Joseph came into Egypt, and the long war between the legitimate kings and the uprising rulers was continued for about 80 years.Finally these Shepherd Kings were driven out of the Delta by a Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty,64and from that period about 400 years transpired, during which the 18th dynasty passed away and a new dynasty, the 19th, came into power. Of this 19th dynasty two kings passed away before the celebrated SetiI.began to reign. RamesesII.was the son of SetiI., and his reign (67 years) was the longest of any of this dynasty.4. Moses, at the age of forty, was driven into the desert of Sinai, on the east of Egypt, where he escaped from the wrath of the reigning Pharaoh, and where he remained 40 years, until the death of the king. The Pharaoh with whom Moses’ name is thus associated must have reigned a long time, and the reign of RamesesII.meets the conditions of the history,not only as to time, but also as to the name. It is for these reasons that the Egyptian RamesesII.is supposed to be the Pharaoh alluded to in the first chapter of the book of Exodus, as the Scripture Rameses.5. After the death of Rameses, Moses returned to Egypt from his 40 years’ residence in the desert of Sinai. As his life in those parts was spent in the shepherd occupation, he was well acquainted with the region, and in a large degree fitted for the work to which he was called by the Lord, to take charge of the deliverance of the Israelites from the bondage in Egypt.By divine command he appeared before the reigning Pharaoh and demanded, in the name of Jehovah, the release of his brethren, who, in all, must have been about 2,000,000. This number, though not stated, may be supposed to be correct as based upon the fact that at the departure from Egypt the able men numbered 600,000.6. The unwillingness of the kingto let the people go was finally subdued by a series of remarkable plagues. The most singular feature of these inflictions is found in the fact that in every case they seem to have attacked the Egyptians in the most important elements of either their national greatness or in the direction of their greatest comforts and reliance. Another singular feature in the whole course of affliction was their progressive seriousness.7. The first plagueappeared in the sudden change of the waters of the Nile into blood. The Nile was not only the great source of water supply, but was supposed to be under the immediate care of the gods of Egypt. Hymns have come down to us composed in the honor of the personified Nile. These were composed before the time of Moses, and give the names of their chief gods to the waters of the great river. The Nile was “the representative of all that was good.” This plague made it necessary that the people should begin digging wells near the banks of the river and elsewhere throughout all Egypt.8. The second plague, of frogs, attacked in like manner, but more directly, the religious superstitions. The frog-headed deity Heki was the wife of the god of the cataracts of the Nile, who also was represented with a frog’s head. The frog was the symbol of renewed life after death, and was worshipped as such.9. The third plaguewas more intense; it afflicted man and brute alike. The ground brought forth insects, “lice” so called, in such abundance that even the priests could not cleanse themselves. The priests were not allowed to use woollen in any of their garments, because of the likelihood that it would harbor this vile evil, which was one greatly abhorred. Insects of every kind, even gnats, were considered unclean. Priests and people were alike unclean.10. The fourth plague, of flies, was somewhatsimilar, being an insect curse, but now the curse was winged.11. The fifth plague, of “murrain,” was far more serious, as it not only touched the honor of the Egyptian faith in the worship of Isis and Osiris, to whom the cattle were sacred, but caused the death of the cattle throughout Egypt. It troubled in yet more serious degree the temple and the market, the priest and the people.12. The sixthwas yet more distressing, for it sent boils and “blains” upon man and beast, not even the magicians being able to stand in the presence of Moses “because of the boils.”13. The seventh plaguewas one not only of hail, but of fearful displays of lightning and peals of thunder, such as were never before known in the land.14. The eighthwas a terrific visitation of locusts which began, in unprecedented numbers, to eat up all vegetation left by the hail.15. The ninthwas intense darkness, in which plague not only was there an exceeding discomfort felt throughout the land, but the sun, which was the most sacred object of reverence, the supreme god of Egypt, withdrew his light before the command of Moses, as servant of the most high God.16. The tenth plaguewas by far the most fearful of all. It was to the Egyptians both distressing and ominous. The first-born was, in a most loving sense, the most important member of the family—the one, above all the rest, upon whom the privileges of birthright were laid and who was, accordingly, regarded with special attention and love. Besides, in this fearful and sudden death of the first-born in every place there was felt, as never before, the presence of some awful power immediately back of this plague, which seemed to them to presage the approach of the destruction of the entire nation, and hence their outcry, “We be all dead men,”Exod.12:33.The Exodus, or the “departure,” began immediately, and Moses and Aaron, who had anticipated the result of this last plague, had prepared all the Israelites by giving them sufficient notice for a hurried flight.
1. How long after the deathof Joseph the Israelites remained in Goshen until they were enslaved has not as yet been determined. The account in the book of Exodus opens with the significant expression that “there arose up a new king over Egypt who knew not Joseph.” It has been supposed that Joseph was governor under the last of the Shepherd Kings, but this supposition is uncertain, and perhaps wrong, for the long life of Joseph after he came into Egypt, namely 80 years, added to the necessarily advanced age of the Pharaoh who was upon the throne on the arrival of Joseph, would, with greater probability, lead us to suppose that Joseph’s sojourn in Egypt was extended through more than one reign of the Shepherd Kings.
2. But at the endof the happy, quiet Shepherd era, among the descendants of Jacob in Goshen there came a change. The Israelites became enslaved,for the mandate of the Pharaoh of the period went forth to set over them taskmasters and to afflict them with burdens, the object being to put a stop to their excessive growth in numbers.
3.As we have said,the Shepherd Kingsruled Egypt for about 500 years. Towards the close of their rule and, as it is generally supposed, under a king whose name is recorded as Apopi, or, as the Greek historians spell the name, Aphobis, Joseph came into Egypt, and the long war between the legitimate kings and the uprising rulers was continued for about 80 years.
Finally these Shepherd Kings were driven out of the Delta by a Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty,64and from that period about 400 years transpired, during which the 18th dynasty passed away and a new dynasty, the 19th, came into power. Of this 19th dynasty two kings passed away before the celebrated SetiI.began to reign. RamesesII.was the son of SetiI., and his reign (67 years) was the longest of any of this dynasty.
4. Moses, at the age of forty, was driven into the desert of Sinai, on the east of Egypt, where he escaped from the wrath of the reigning Pharaoh, and where he remained 40 years, until the death of the king. The Pharaoh with whom Moses’ name is thus associated must have reigned a long time, and the reign of RamesesII.meets the conditions of the history,not only as to time, but also as to the name. It is for these reasons that the Egyptian RamesesII.is supposed to be the Pharaoh alluded to in the first chapter of the book of Exodus, as the Scripture Rameses.
5. After the death of Rameses, Moses returned to Egypt from his 40 years’ residence in the desert of Sinai. As his life in those parts was spent in the shepherd occupation, he was well acquainted with the region, and in a large degree fitted for the work to which he was called by the Lord, to take charge of the deliverance of the Israelites from the bondage in Egypt.
By divine command he appeared before the reigning Pharaoh and demanded, in the name of Jehovah, the release of his brethren, who, in all, must have been about 2,000,000. This number, though not stated, may be supposed to be correct as based upon the fact that at the departure from Egypt the able men numbered 600,000.
6. The unwillingness of the kingto let the people go was finally subdued by a series of remarkable plagues. The most singular feature of these inflictions is found in the fact that in every case they seem to have attacked the Egyptians in the most important elements of either their national greatness or in the direction of their greatest comforts and reliance. Another singular feature in the whole course of affliction was their progressive seriousness.
7. The first plagueappeared in the sudden change of the waters of the Nile into blood. The Nile was not only the great source of water supply, but was supposed to be under the immediate care of the gods of Egypt. Hymns have come down to us composed in the honor of the personified Nile. These were composed before the time of Moses, and give the names of their chief gods to the waters of the great river. The Nile was “the representative of all that was good.” This plague made it necessary that the people should begin digging wells near the banks of the river and elsewhere throughout all Egypt.
8. The second plague, of frogs, attacked in like manner, but more directly, the religious superstitions. The frog-headed deity Heki was the wife of the god of the cataracts of the Nile, who also was represented with a frog’s head. The frog was the symbol of renewed life after death, and was worshipped as such.
9. The third plaguewas more intense; it afflicted man and brute alike. The ground brought forth insects, “lice” so called, in such abundance that even the priests could not cleanse themselves. The priests were not allowed to use woollen in any of their garments, because of the likelihood that it would harbor this vile evil, which was one greatly abhorred. Insects of every kind, even gnats, were considered unclean. Priests and people were alike unclean.
10. The fourth plague, of flies, was somewhatsimilar, being an insect curse, but now the curse was winged.
11. The fifth plague, of “murrain,” was far more serious, as it not only touched the honor of the Egyptian faith in the worship of Isis and Osiris, to whom the cattle were sacred, but caused the death of the cattle throughout Egypt. It troubled in yet more serious degree the temple and the market, the priest and the people.
12. The sixthwas yet more distressing, for it sent boils and “blains” upon man and beast, not even the magicians being able to stand in the presence of Moses “because of the boils.”
13. The seventh plaguewas one not only of hail, but of fearful displays of lightning and peals of thunder, such as were never before known in the land.
14. The eighthwas a terrific visitation of locusts which began, in unprecedented numbers, to eat up all vegetation left by the hail.
15. The ninthwas intense darkness, in which plague not only was there an exceeding discomfort felt throughout the land, but the sun, which was the most sacred object of reverence, the supreme god of Egypt, withdrew his light before the command of Moses, as servant of the most high God.
16. The tenth plaguewas by far the most fearful of all. It was to the Egyptians both distressing and ominous. The first-born was, in a most loving sense, the most important member of the family—the one, above all the rest, upon whom the privileges of birthright were laid and who was, accordingly, regarded with special attention and love. Besides, in this fearful and sudden death of the first-born in every place there was felt, as never before, the presence of some awful power immediately back of this plague, which seemed to them to presage the approach of the destruction of the entire nation, and hence their outcry, “We be all dead men,”Exod.12:33.
The Exodus, or the “departure,” began immediately, and Moses and Aaron, who had anticipated the result of this last plague, had prepared all the Israelites by giving them sufficient notice for a hurried flight.
CHAPTERII.THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF SINAI AND THE DESERT.1. It is necessarythat we should obtain a general knowledge of the country over which the Israelites were now to travel. The land of Goshen, where the great majority of the Israelites were stationed, was included, probably, in the greater district of Rameses, as we have said. They left some general rendezvous early in the morning for Succoth, which was twenty or twenty-five miles southeast of the district of Goshen. The treasure city Pithom, mentioned with Rameses in the first chapter of Exodus (verse 11), was in Succoth, as a recent discovery has shown. The west arm of the Red Sea was about sixty miles farther south. The triangular district of the country between the two northern arms of the Red Sea, to which they were going, is a mountainous tract gradually ascending from the Gulf of Suez, or western arm, to the mountainous region of Horeb,of which Sinai was a chief mountain.65These mountains are entirely of granite. The large plain at the base of Sinai is 400 feet above the sea. The Sinai mountain seems to rise directly up from thisplain to the height of from 1,200 to 1,500 feet, and in some parts, at its base, the rock is for a long distance almost perpendicular, like a high bluff above the level soil. Parts of the rocky heights are 2,000 feet above the plain.2. North of this region, about 50 miles, a sandy stretch of country comes abruptly to a general rise of sandstone cliffs, which extend many miles east and west, and the granite rocks disappear, having been left behind in Horeb.It is 200 miles, a little east of north, fromMt.Sinai to the south end of the Dead Sea and to the lower limits of the land of Canaan, whither the Israelites were journeying.Mt.Sinai is about 35 miles from the western and about 25 from the eastern arm of the Red Sea.THE ISRAELITES IN THE DESERT.3. The recent discovery of Succothand the treasure city Pithom fixes this place as that of the first encampment of the Israelites at the Exodus. One inscription calls the place Petum (the “abode” of Tum) in the city of Thuku, or “Pithom in the city of Succoth.”The great desert now begins, stretching eastward from Succoth for about 200 miles, a very desolate and barren region, to the country of Edom and the great valley of Arabah, which valley runs northward directly from the eastern arm of the RedSea to the Dead Sea, a distance of 115 miles. The chief divine object in directing the course of the Israelites southeast from Egypt to the region of Horeb and then around by the Gulf of Akabah, rather than by the short course to Canaan by the coast, is expressed in the Scripture, and was one of discipline,Exod.13:17, and preparation for the new life they were destined to live.4. Many misapprehensionsof the real difficulty of this long travel have resulted from a failure to comprehend the largeness of the company. It must be remembered that so large a number as 2,000,000 people, with their herds and flocks, their tents, the Tabernacle, and other baggage, must have covered a much larger space than is sometimes allowed by some readers of this history. Thus in crossing the Red Sea and stopping at stations and fording the Jordan on their arrival at Canaan, and in settling upon plains, before and after, it must be always kept in mind that no narrow line or small surface less than several square miles would in any way represent that necessary area over which the moving body travelled, or rested when it came to a halt. In its course at evening the advanced officers would soon lay out upon the area to be occupied the plan for encampment, and in a short time that space of land, which an hour before was the prowling-ground for a few wild beasts of the desert, would become the site of a city of 2,000,000 inhabitants, with long streets and squares lighted with the magnificentand mysterious flame which accompanied them during all their wanderings.5. The habits of eating and drinkingin that day were very different from anything now customary in our midst. The plainest food, and frequently only one meal a day and one draught of water in 24 hours, is sufficient for the Bedouin of the desert. We are therefore wrong in comparing the habits of the times of the Exodus with those of the present day.6. Very few of the stationsnamed after crossing the Red Sea can be certainly located. But after leavingMt.Sinai, at three days’ journeyProf.Palmer discovered the evidences of an ancient camp, surrounded by an immense number of graves, and this place is generally supposed to mark the site of a station called Kibroth-hattaavah, or “the graves of gluttony,” the history of which is found inNum.11:31–35. A day’s journey north of this the same explorer discovered other extensive remains of stone heaps and circles covering the hillsides in every direction. As the next station of the Israelites is called Hazeroth, which means “the circles,” and as the Arabs still call this place the “look-outs of Hazeroth,” it seems that the site of another station is known.7.After this it is difficult to trace their course until they reachedKadesh, which is 140 miles due east of their first camping-ground in Egypt, namely, Succoth, and at present seems identical with the spot called Ain Gadis, or the spring of Kadesh, 170 milesnorth by east from Sinai, and 65 miles southwest of the Dead Sea.There is evidence that anciently a great population was scattered over this region of Ain Gadis, and considerable verdure exists even at present. This appears to have been the general camping-ground of the Israelites for a large part of the thirty-seven years before they finally started to enter the promised land. The sad history of the event which brought this long delay is recorded inNum.14.
1. It is necessarythat we should obtain a general knowledge of the country over which the Israelites were now to travel. The land of Goshen, where the great majority of the Israelites were stationed, was included, probably, in the greater district of Rameses, as we have said. They left some general rendezvous early in the morning for Succoth, which was twenty or twenty-five miles southeast of the district of Goshen. The treasure city Pithom, mentioned with Rameses in the first chapter of Exodus (verse 11), was in Succoth, as a recent discovery has shown. The west arm of the Red Sea was about sixty miles farther south. The triangular district of the country between the two northern arms of the Red Sea, to which they were going, is a mountainous tract gradually ascending from the Gulf of Suez, or western arm, to the mountainous region of Horeb,of which Sinai was a chief mountain.65These mountains are entirely of granite. The large plain at the base of Sinai is 400 feet above the sea. The Sinai mountain seems to rise directly up from thisplain to the height of from 1,200 to 1,500 feet, and in some parts, at its base, the rock is for a long distance almost perpendicular, like a high bluff above the level soil. Parts of the rocky heights are 2,000 feet above the plain.
2. North of this region, about 50 miles, a sandy stretch of country comes abruptly to a general rise of sandstone cliffs, which extend many miles east and west, and the granite rocks disappear, having been left behind in Horeb.
It is 200 miles, a little east of north, fromMt.Sinai to the south end of the Dead Sea and to the lower limits of the land of Canaan, whither the Israelites were journeying.Mt.Sinai is about 35 miles from the western and about 25 from the eastern arm of the Red Sea.
3. The recent discovery of Succothand the treasure city Pithom fixes this place as that of the first encampment of the Israelites at the Exodus. One inscription calls the place Petum (the “abode” of Tum) in the city of Thuku, or “Pithom in the city of Succoth.”
The great desert now begins, stretching eastward from Succoth for about 200 miles, a very desolate and barren region, to the country of Edom and the great valley of Arabah, which valley runs northward directly from the eastern arm of the RedSea to the Dead Sea, a distance of 115 miles. The chief divine object in directing the course of the Israelites southeast from Egypt to the region of Horeb and then around by the Gulf of Akabah, rather than by the short course to Canaan by the coast, is expressed in the Scripture, and was one of discipline,Exod.13:17, and preparation for the new life they were destined to live.
4. Many misapprehensionsof the real difficulty of this long travel have resulted from a failure to comprehend the largeness of the company. It must be remembered that so large a number as 2,000,000 people, with their herds and flocks, their tents, the Tabernacle, and other baggage, must have covered a much larger space than is sometimes allowed by some readers of this history. Thus in crossing the Red Sea and stopping at stations and fording the Jordan on their arrival at Canaan, and in settling upon plains, before and after, it must be always kept in mind that no narrow line or small surface less than several square miles would in any way represent that necessary area over which the moving body travelled, or rested when it came to a halt. In its course at evening the advanced officers would soon lay out upon the area to be occupied the plan for encampment, and in a short time that space of land, which an hour before was the prowling-ground for a few wild beasts of the desert, would become the site of a city of 2,000,000 inhabitants, with long streets and squares lighted with the magnificentand mysterious flame which accompanied them during all their wanderings.
5. The habits of eating and drinkingin that day were very different from anything now customary in our midst. The plainest food, and frequently only one meal a day and one draught of water in 24 hours, is sufficient for the Bedouin of the desert. We are therefore wrong in comparing the habits of the times of the Exodus with those of the present day.
6. Very few of the stationsnamed after crossing the Red Sea can be certainly located. But after leavingMt.Sinai, at three days’ journeyProf.Palmer discovered the evidences of an ancient camp, surrounded by an immense number of graves, and this place is generally supposed to mark the site of a station called Kibroth-hattaavah, or “the graves of gluttony,” the history of which is found inNum.11:31–35. A day’s journey north of this the same explorer discovered other extensive remains of stone heaps and circles covering the hillsides in every direction. As the next station of the Israelites is called Hazeroth, which means “the circles,” and as the Arabs still call this place the “look-outs of Hazeroth,” it seems that the site of another station is known.
7.After this it is difficult to trace their course until they reachedKadesh, which is 140 miles due east of their first camping-ground in Egypt, namely, Succoth, and at present seems identical with the spot called Ain Gadis, or the spring of Kadesh, 170 milesnorth by east from Sinai, and 65 miles southwest of the Dead Sea.
There is evidence that anciently a great population was scattered over this region of Ain Gadis, and considerable verdure exists even at present. This appears to have been the general camping-ground of the Israelites for a large part of the thirty-seven years before they finally started to enter the promised land. The sad history of the event which brought this long delay is recorded inNum.14.
CHAPTERIII.THE ENTRANCE INTO CANAAN.1. After the long residencein the region of Kadesh the Israelitestook up their marchto Canaan. The generation now existing had been almost altogether born in the desert, and had been raised under the tutelage of Moses and his brother Aaron. Miriam, the sister, had undoubtedly added much to the influence which her brothers exerted by her nearer relation to the female population. The discipline had had its full effect during this long period, and there had grown up a vigorous and well-ordered race, totally different from the race that had left Egypt forty years before.2. It is probablethat during this long periodMoses had writtenout much, if not all, of the Scriptures usually attributed to him under the title of “the books of Moses.” Although there is no definite statement in Scripture that all of these books, called the Pentateuch, are the composition of Moses, certain parts are spoken of as those of his personal writing. But of the five books the parts spoken of are only in the closing chapters of the last book, namely, Deuteronomy, and as the five have never been known except as forming one roll or volume, the general belief and tradition attribute the wholefive to Moses as author. The impression that Moses was the author of Genesis, and that this book of Genesis was the beginning of “The Law,” is apparent in the writings of Longinus, the Greek author, A. D. 270,who quotesGen.1:3 as “the beginning of Moses’ law.”663. The census of the nationat this time shows that nearly 2,000 men had disappeared, and perhaps this lessening of the population was due to the deaths of the strangers and aliens who had become mixed in the vast crowd at the time of their departure from Egypt.The first census was taken at Sinai in the second year after the crossing of the Red Sea,Num.1:46, and was 603,550. The second census was taken nearly 40 years afterwards, just before the entrance into the promised land,Num.26:51, and was 601,730, the difference being 1,820. The census included only the able-bodied men fit for war and over 20 years of age.4. Moses dieduponMt.Pisgah without crossing the Jordan, Aaron died onMt.Hor, and Miriam died at Kadesh. These leaders being dead, the authority to take charge was vested in Joshua.MT.HOR,MT.NEBO,MT.PISGAH.5.Mt.Horis 45 miles south of the Dead Sea, having the ruins of the city Petra near its eastern base. Wandering Arab tribes control all access tothese two places, but a small chapel marks the spot, according to tradition, where Aaron died on the top of the mountain.Pisgahis supposed to be a high plateau ten miles east of the mouth of the Jordan, andMt.Nebo a higher portion of the same general range, but it is at a short distance east of that part where the high table-land of Moab begins to descend to the Dead Sea. From this elevation very extensive views of the land west of the Jordan may be had.THE ERA OF JOSHUA.6. From the high table-landof Moab the Israelites descended to the eastern Jordan plains a few miles north of the Dead Sea, and soon crossed the river and landed upon the wide plain west of the banks. The crossing must have occupied the bed of the river for a long distance.On entrance upon the land of Canaan proper the hosts of Israel renewedly consecrated themselves to the service of Jehovah at Gilgal. They accepted Joshua as their commander, and began their first attempt at subduing the Canaanites by an attack on Jericho.GILGAL AND JERICHO.7. The first of these namesrepresents simply a gathering-place of the Israelites when the dedication of themselves to the Lord took place. Its position is supposed to have been at a place still called Gilgal, in the Arabic Jiljulieh, nearly three miles westof the Jordan and six miles north-northwest of its mouth. Jericho at this time was near the present Ain es Sultan, a very fine spring one and a quarter miles northwest from the present little Arab village called Er Riha or Jericho by travellers, and five miles west of the river. After its destruction at this time it was rebuilt B. C. 918,1 Kin.16:34, at the mouth of the valley of the Kelt, which is the ancient valley of Achor, and existed at that place in the time of our Saviour. The present miserable Arab village Er Riha and the tower near it were built during the crusades.The name Gilgal signifies a “rolling” and also a “circle,” and probably the twelve stones taken from the bed of the Jordan were placed in the form of a circle, making the real significance more emphatic, but the true significance of the name is given in the passage,Josh.5:9, as a rolling off “the reproach of Egypt,” as described in that chapter. There were two other towns bearing this name of which mention is made hereafter.THE SETTLEMENT IN CANAAN.8. Jerichowas inhabitedat this timeby a luxurious people and one that evidently had profited greatly by the richness of the vast plain of the Jordan. The mention of the precious metals, “the silver and gold and vessels of brass and iron,”Josh.6:19, the “goodly Babylonish garment,” the 200 shekels of silver, the wedge of gold of 50 shekels’weight stolen by Achan,Josh.7:21, and the references to Baal-peor in the historic connection, prove their wealth and suggest the nature of their idolatry. Recent historic discoveries show the cruelty and fearful depravity of the people with whom they were associated. They were therefore given over to destruction in accordance with the customs of that time.The name Jericho seems to mean the “city of the moon,” a name given to the city because of the early worship of the moon at that place under the title Ashtoreth, which doubtless was derived from the earlier title of the Babylonian Astarte, the goddess of love. It was given about this time to a city in Bashan called Ashteroth Karnaim, meaning Ashtoreth of the two horns,Gen.14:5.CANAAN.9. This was the nameof the land which the Israelites were now to conquer. The name was well known to the Egyptians, and we find it upon the monuments in Egypt and in Assyria. A description of this land occurs in Egyptian records as early as the time of ThothmesIII.(1600 B. C., Brugsch), also in the reign of RamesesII., “the Pharaoh of the oppression” (1350 B. C., Brugsch), and from these descriptions it is plain that the land was settled by numerous tribes who were well provided with the comforts of living.They were not only numerous, but many of their cities were strongly defended by fortresses. Thelist of articles recovered by RamesesII.after his battles in Canaan bore testimony to the wealth of the people and to the luxuries of their times, for among many other articles were ivory, ebony, chariots inlaid with gold and silver, suits of armor, fragrant woods, gold dishes with handles, collars and ornaments oflapis lazuli, silver dishes, vases of silver, precious stones, brazen spears, etc.,“the plunder in fact of a rich and civilized country.”67THE AMORITES.10. The land of Canaan at the time of Joshuawas no barbarous or ill-defended region.In the assault upon the Canaanitish city of Dapur68by RamesesII.the standard of the Amorites appears hoisted on the highest tower of its citadel.69From the pictures of the Amorites upon the monuments in Egypt they were armed with the bow and the oblong shield, and used chariots of solid construction fit for rough ground,and it is probable that the “sons of Anak,”Num.13:33, were a distinguished clan among the Amorites and not a distinct people.70They were selected for their size and strength.THE HITTITES.11.It has been only recently that the history of the Hittites has come to light.The earliest referencesto this people in secular history are those which are found in the history of Assyria. They are first mentioned in Scripture as the sons of Heth,Gen.23:3, in connection with the purchase by Abraham of the cave of Machpelah at Hebron. But fifty-three years before that event the Amorites seem to have been an important tribe, and fought under the direction of Abraham the first battle recorded in Scripture,Gen.14.The tribe of Hittites grew to be a strong and remarkable nation of warriors, extending their conquests into Assyria and far into Asia Minor.Their name occurs in Homer71under the form of “Ketaioi” and in the Egyptian annals in the time of the great conqueror, ThothmesIII., B. C. 1600, wherein it is recorded that he received the tribute from the “chief of the great Kheta,” or Hittites, which tribute consisted in gold, slaves, and cattle. Thus it appears that in a few centuries after the time when Abram bought the cave of Machpelah of the sons of Heth, B. C. 1860, they had become a great people. Before the Exodus they were the powerful rivals of Egypt.12.Until recentlythe expression in the book of Joshua(1:4) that the land of the Hittites extended “from Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates,” seemed to be an exaggeration. But the recent discovery of the ruins of their great capital, Carchemish, situated upon the Euphrates,and the mention of another city not far off, namely Pethor, where Balaam dwelt, beside many remains extending far into Asia Minor, all prove that it was no exaggeration, but historic truth, which is recorded in the book of Joshua concerning their extended empire. They were finally conquered by the Assyrians, and their great cities, Carchemish and Pethor, captured, 719 years before the Christian era, and they never again rose to power.The other Canaanitish tribes were unimportant.THE LANGUAGE OF CANAAN.13. The discoveryin A. D. 1868 of the Moabite stone, at Dibon, the ruins of which city are twelve miles east of the Dead Sea, shows that the Moabites in that region spoke a language similar to the Hebrew.The date of this stone is about 900 B. C. Its inscription is a remarkable corroboration of the history contained in2Kings 3.Discoveries at Sidon, a Phœnician town on the Mediterranean, and at other places, show that a modified Hebrew was very generally the language of all the Canaanites.14. The pertinacitywith which the more devout and learned of the Israelites held to the Hebrew during the captivity in Assyria, and ever since amid all nations and lands, proves that they never forgot the language which Abraham spoke,but cherished it during their residence in the land of Egypt, and it is probable that before their entrance into Canaan they had entirely ceased to speak what little they knew of the Egyptian tongue. They were the more able and ready, therefore, to receive the ten commandments and all the rest of those laws which were written in the Hebrew. And, moreover, there could have been very little if any difficulty in their understanding the language of the inhabitants into whose land they had now come.THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF CANAAN.15. The land of Canaanwas bounded on the west by the Mediterranean, on the east by the Jordan, on the south by the desert, and on the north by the mountains of Lebanon. This was the land of promise.At Jericho the valley of the Jordan is a depressed plain about 850 feet below the Mediterranean, and the surface of the Dead Sea on the south is still lower, being 1,293 feet below the Mediterranean, so that from ancient Jericho to the Dead Sea, six miles distant, the valley of the Jordan falls rapidly.Jerusalem is very nearly due west of the mouth of the Jordan, and is placed on the highest land, with the exception of the Mount of Olives, between the Jordan and the Mediterranean on that line of latitude, being about 2,600 feet higher than the sea.16. About 60 milesin a straight line duenorth of the Dead Sea the Jordan issues from the Sea of Galilee, the waters of which were called, in our Saviour’s time, the Sea of Tiberias and the Lake of Gennesaret. The shape of the lake is oval, but broader in the northern half, its length north and south being nearly thirteen miles and greatest breadth about seven miles. Its surface is 682 feet below the level of the Mediterranean and the hills on the eastern shore rise to the height of the great eastern plateau of the table-land of ancient Bashan, which is 2,000 feet above the Mediterranean. The waters are fresh and abound with fish.17. In the times of Joshuaand of the early occupation of the land by the Israelites, the lake was called Chinnereth (Num.34:11) and Chinneroth (Josh.11:2), [pron.Kin´nereth and Kin´neroth], and a city of the same name existed on its western shore very near the present site of Tiberias. Traces of this ancient city have been recently (1887) discovered just outside the southern walls.Ten miles north of the Sea of Galilee is a smaller reedy lake four miles long, which is supposed to be the “waters of Merom” (Josh.11:5), but now known as Huleh by the Arabs. Into the northern end the upper Jordan finds its way as it descends from the lower parts ofMt.Hermon. The surface of this lake is seven feet above the Mediterranean, and extended plains are on the west and for several miles northward, beyond which the land rapidly rises into the mountains.18. The country is upliftedmidway between the Jordan and the Mediterranean and forms an irregularly broad mountainous ridge stretching from the far south to the borders of the plain of Esdraelon, called in Scripture “the valley of Megiddo.” This plain is the largest in Palestine and extends from near the Mediterranean on the west to a valley plain near the Jordan valley on the east, where it is called the valley of Jezreel. It is generally about 100 feet above the sea level, or 150 in its highest average level.In various parts it has been the chosen battle-ground of several of the fiercest contests in Biblical and in modern warfare.North of the plain of Jezreel the land rises again into the broken and irregular hill country of Galilee until the region of the Lebanon Mountains appears.
1. After the long residencein the region of Kadesh the Israelitestook up their marchto Canaan. The generation now existing had been almost altogether born in the desert, and had been raised under the tutelage of Moses and his brother Aaron. Miriam, the sister, had undoubtedly added much to the influence which her brothers exerted by her nearer relation to the female population. The discipline had had its full effect during this long period, and there had grown up a vigorous and well-ordered race, totally different from the race that had left Egypt forty years before.
2. It is probablethat during this long periodMoses had writtenout much, if not all, of the Scriptures usually attributed to him under the title of “the books of Moses.” Although there is no definite statement in Scripture that all of these books, called the Pentateuch, are the composition of Moses, certain parts are spoken of as those of his personal writing. But of the five books the parts spoken of are only in the closing chapters of the last book, namely, Deuteronomy, and as the five have never been known except as forming one roll or volume, the general belief and tradition attribute the wholefive to Moses as author. The impression that Moses was the author of Genesis, and that this book of Genesis was the beginning of “The Law,” is apparent in the writings of Longinus, the Greek author, A. D. 270,who quotesGen.1:3 as “the beginning of Moses’ law.”66
3. The census of the nationat this time shows that nearly 2,000 men had disappeared, and perhaps this lessening of the population was due to the deaths of the strangers and aliens who had become mixed in the vast crowd at the time of their departure from Egypt.
The first census was taken at Sinai in the second year after the crossing of the Red Sea,Num.1:46, and was 603,550. The second census was taken nearly 40 years afterwards, just before the entrance into the promised land,Num.26:51, and was 601,730, the difference being 1,820. The census included only the able-bodied men fit for war and over 20 years of age.
4. Moses dieduponMt.Pisgah without crossing the Jordan, Aaron died onMt.Hor, and Miriam died at Kadesh. These leaders being dead, the authority to take charge was vested in Joshua.
5.Mt.Horis 45 miles south of the Dead Sea, having the ruins of the city Petra near its eastern base. Wandering Arab tribes control all access tothese two places, but a small chapel marks the spot, according to tradition, where Aaron died on the top of the mountain.
Pisgahis supposed to be a high plateau ten miles east of the mouth of the Jordan, andMt.Nebo a higher portion of the same general range, but it is at a short distance east of that part where the high table-land of Moab begins to descend to the Dead Sea. From this elevation very extensive views of the land west of the Jordan may be had.
6. From the high table-landof Moab the Israelites descended to the eastern Jordan plains a few miles north of the Dead Sea, and soon crossed the river and landed upon the wide plain west of the banks. The crossing must have occupied the bed of the river for a long distance.
On entrance upon the land of Canaan proper the hosts of Israel renewedly consecrated themselves to the service of Jehovah at Gilgal. They accepted Joshua as their commander, and began their first attempt at subduing the Canaanites by an attack on Jericho.
7. The first of these namesrepresents simply a gathering-place of the Israelites when the dedication of themselves to the Lord took place. Its position is supposed to have been at a place still called Gilgal, in the Arabic Jiljulieh, nearly three miles westof the Jordan and six miles north-northwest of its mouth. Jericho at this time was near the present Ain es Sultan, a very fine spring one and a quarter miles northwest from the present little Arab village called Er Riha or Jericho by travellers, and five miles west of the river. After its destruction at this time it was rebuilt B. C. 918,1 Kin.16:34, at the mouth of the valley of the Kelt, which is the ancient valley of Achor, and existed at that place in the time of our Saviour. The present miserable Arab village Er Riha and the tower near it were built during the crusades.
The name Gilgal signifies a “rolling” and also a “circle,” and probably the twelve stones taken from the bed of the Jordan were placed in the form of a circle, making the real significance more emphatic, but the true significance of the name is given in the passage,Josh.5:9, as a rolling off “the reproach of Egypt,” as described in that chapter. There were two other towns bearing this name of which mention is made hereafter.
8. Jerichowas inhabitedat this timeby a luxurious people and one that evidently had profited greatly by the richness of the vast plain of the Jordan. The mention of the precious metals, “the silver and gold and vessels of brass and iron,”Josh.6:19, the “goodly Babylonish garment,” the 200 shekels of silver, the wedge of gold of 50 shekels’weight stolen by Achan,Josh.7:21, and the references to Baal-peor in the historic connection, prove their wealth and suggest the nature of their idolatry. Recent historic discoveries show the cruelty and fearful depravity of the people with whom they were associated. They were therefore given over to destruction in accordance with the customs of that time.
The name Jericho seems to mean the “city of the moon,” a name given to the city because of the early worship of the moon at that place under the title Ashtoreth, which doubtless was derived from the earlier title of the Babylonian Astarte, the goddess of love. It was given about this time to a city in Bashan called Ashteroth Karnaim, meaning Ashtoreth of the two horns,Gen.14:5.
9. This was the nameof the land which the Israelites were now to conquer. The name was well known to the Egyptians, and we find it upon the monuments in Egypt and in Assyria. A description of this land occurs in Egyptian records as early as the time of ThothmesIII.(1600 B. C., Brugsch), also in the reign of RamesesII., “the Pharaoh of the oppression” (1350 B. C., Brugsch), and from these descriptions it is plain that the land was settled by numerous tribes who were well provided with the comforts of living.
They were not only numerous, but many of their cities were strongly defended by fortresses. Thelist of articles recovered by RamesesII.after his battles in Canaan bore testimony to the wealth of the people and to the luxuries of their times, for among many other articles were ivory, ebony, chariots inlaid with gold and silver, suits of armor, fragrant woods, gold dishes with handles, collars and ornaments oflapis lazuli, silver dishes, vases of silver, precious stones, brazen spears, etc.,“the plunder in fact of a rich and civilized country.”67
10. The land of Canaan at the time of Joshuawas no barbarous or ill-defended region.In the assault upon the Canaanitish city of Dapur68by RamesesII.the standard of the Amorites appears hoisted on the highest tower of its citadel.69From the pictures of the Amorites upon the monuments in Egypt they were armed with the bow and the oblong shield, and used chariots of solid construction fit for rough ground,and it is probable that the “sons of Anak,”Num.13:33, were a distinguished clan among the Amorites and not a distinct people.70They were selected for their size and strength.
11.It has been only recently that the history of the Hittites has come to light.The earliest referencesto this people in secular history are those which are found in the history of Assyria. They are first mentioned in Scripture as the sons of Heth,Gen.23:3, in connection with the purchase by Abraham of the cave of Machpelah at Hebron. But fifty-three years before that event the Amorites seem to have been an important tribe, and fought under the direction of Abraham the first battle recorded in Scripture,Gen.14.
The tribe of Hittites grew to be a strong and remarkable nation of warriors, extending their conquests into Assyria and far into Asia Minor.Their name occurs in Homer71under the form of “Ketaioi” and in the Egyptian annals in the time of the great conqueror, ThothmesIII., B. C. 1600, wherein it is recorded that he received the tribute from the “chief of the great Kheta,” or Hittites, which tribute consisted in gold, slaves, and cattle. Thus it appears that in a few centuries after the time when Abram bought the cave of Machpelah of the sons of Heth, B. C. 1860, they had become a great people. Before the Exodus they were the powerful rivals of Egypt.
12.Until recentlythe expression in the book of Joshua(1:4) that the land of the Hittites extended “from Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates,” seemed to be an exaggeration. But the recent discovery of the ruins of their great capital, Carchemish, situated upon the Euphrates,and the mention of another city not far off, namely Pethor, where Balaam dwelt, beside many remains extending far into Asia Minor, all prove that it was no exaggeration, but historic truth, which is recorded in the book of Joshua concerning their extended empire. They were finally conquered by the Assyrians, and their great cities, Carchemish and Pethor, captured, 719 years before the Christian era, and they never again rose to power.
The other Canaanitish tribes were unimportant.
13. The discoveryin A. D. 1868 of the Moabite stone, at Dibon, the ruins of which city are twelve miles east of the Dead Sea, shows that the Moabites in that region spoke a language similar to the Hebrew.
The date of this stone is about 900 B. C. Its inscription is a remarkable corroboration of the history contained in2Kings 3.
Discoveries at Sidon, a Phœnician town on the Mediterranean, and at other places, show that a modified Hebrew was very generally the language of all the Canaanites.
14. The pertinacitywith which the more devout and learned of the Israelites held to the Hebrew during the captivity in Assyria, and ever since amid all nations and lands, proves that they never forgot the language which Abraham spoke,but cherished it during their residence in the land of Egypt, and it is probable that before their entrance into Canaan they had entirely ceased to speak what little they knew of the Egyptian tongue. They were the more able and ready, therefore, to receive the ten commandments and all the rest of those laws which were written in the Hebrew. And, moreover, there could have been very little if any difficulty in their understanding the language of the inhabitants into whose land they had now come.
15. The land of Canaanwas bounded on the west by the Mediterranean, on the east by the Jordan, on the south by the desert, and on the north by the mountains of Lebanon. This was the land of promise.
At Jericho the valley of the Jordan is a depressed plain about 850 feet below the Mediterranean, and the surface of the Dead Sea on the south is still lower, being 1,293 feet below the Mediterranean, so that from ancient Jericho to the Dead Sea, six miles distant, the valley of the Jordan falls rapidly.
Jerusalem is very nearly due west of the mouth of the Jordan, and is placed on the highest land, with the exception of the Mount of Olives, between the Jordan and the Mediterranean on that line of latitude, being about 2,600 feet higher than the sea.
16. About 60 milesin a straight line duenorth of the Dead Sea the Jordan issues from the Sea of Galilee, the waters of which were called, in our Saviour’s time, the Sea of Tiberias and the Lake of Gennesaret. The shape of the lake is oval, but broader in the northern half, its length north and south being nearly thirteen miles and greatest breadth about seven miles. Its surface is 682 feet below the level of the Mediterranean and the hills on the eastern shore rise to the height of the great eastern plateau of the table-land of ancient Bashan, which is 2,000 feet above the Mediterranean. The waters are fresh and abound with fish.
17. In the times of Joshuaand of the early occupation of the land by the Israelites, the lake was called Chinnereth (Num.34:11) and Chinneroth (Josh.11:2), [pron.Kin´nereth and Kin´neroth], and a city of the same name existed on its western shore very near the present site of Tiberias. Traces of this ancient city have been recently (1887) discovered just outside the southern walls.
Ten miles north of the Sea of Galilee is a smaller reedy lake four miles long, which is supposed to be the “waters of Merom” (Josh.11:5), but now known as Huleh by the Arabs. Into the northern end the upper Jordan finds its way as it descends from the lower parts ofMt.Hermon. The surface of this lake is seven feet above the Mediterranean, and extended plains are on the west and for several miles northward, beyond which the land rapidly rises into the mountains.
18. The country is upliftedmidway between the Jordan and the Mediterranean and forms an irregularly broad mountainous ridge stretching from the far south to the borders of the plain of Esdraelon, called in Scripture “the valley of Megiddo.” This plain is the largest in Palestine and extends from near the Mediterranean on the west to a valley plain near the Jordan valley on the east, where it is called the valley of Jezreel. It is generally about 100 feet above the sea level, or 150 in its highest average level.
In various parts it has been the chosen battle-ground of several of the fiercest contests in Biblical and in modern warfare.
North of the plain of Jezreel the land rises again into the broken and irregular hill country of Galilee until the region of the Lebanon Mountains appears.
CHAPTERIV.THE BATTLES OF CONQUEST.1. The capture of Jerichowas not the result of battle, but was due to the divine interference in behalf of the Israelites. Jericho was a strong city and well defended by strong walls, and the destruction of these walls under the simple process described in the text was not only a lesson of great significance to the Israelites, but it indicated to the Canaanitish tribes the mystery of that power with which they were now called to deal.Under Joshua three great battles completed the general conquest of Canaan and transferred to the Israelites the cities of thirty kings,Josh.12:9–24, and if we include the king of Jericho the number will be thirty-one.Nearly all of the book of Joshua is composed of the history of these battles and of the division of the land among the tribes after the conquest.2. The firstof these battles took place on the high land west of Jericho, at a town called Ai (pronounced A´-i). The site of this ancient town is known, and it was not far off from the site of Bethel, which is 13 miles west by north from the position of Jericho at that time. Ai, now called Haiyan, was two miles, or a little more, east of Bethel.Just north of Ai is a high elevation, 2,570 feet above the Mediterranean,whereas the site of Jericho at the fountain of Elisha72is 700 feet below, so that the troops of Joshua had a march of about 1,500 feet ascent up a rocky ravine. Bethel is still higher (2,890 feet).3. The first great battle of Aiwas preceded by defeat in what may be called a mere skirmish, as only 3,000 were engaged. This defeat seems to have been divinely allowed, to place a terrible emphasis upon the truth that disobedience to the commands of God, even of a small part of the people, would certainly be followed by punishment.The result was terrible, not only in the national mortification consequent upon the defeat, but in the lesson that no transgressor could escape either by hiding himself or his stolen spoils, which in this case had been buried in the ground and covered by the tent,Josh.7:11–26.4. The valley of Achor, where the fearful punishment was inflicted, is, without question, the present Wady Kelt, near the opening of which, upon the plain of Jordan, was the city of Jericho.The battle was renewed, all the people of war were engaged, and the victory was complete.5. The next eventof great importance was the gathering of all the people in a central part of the land at two mountains called Ebal and Gerizim. This gathering was in execution of the commandof Moses,Deut.27, and was intended to cause them to renew their covenant with God and to set before them the blessings which should be granted upon obedience and the curses which should follow disobedience.EBAL AND GERIZIM.6. The location for this great gatheringwas admirably chosen. Ebal is a mountain whose highest point is 3,077 feet above the Mediterranean. Gerizim, right opposite, and southward, is 2,849 feet, and between them is the valley, whose surface is about 1,600 feet above the sea. In this valley, which runs east and west, is Shechem, on the southern side and partly built upon the ascent ofMt.Gerizim. The gathering may have taken place on the west of the city, where the valley is bounded on the north by that part of the western extent of the Ebal range which slightly recedes from the line of the valley and takes the form of an amphitheatre. But there is ample room on the east, where the elevations of both sides are far greater. The valley opens eastward upon the great level plain of Moreh, several square miles in extent. Where the valley opens upon this plain is the well of Jacob (John 4:6), and not far north of this well is the traditional tomb of Joseph,Josh.24:32, whose embalmed body they buried there after they had conquered the country.7. The vicinity of this welland the former historymade this ground sacred to the Israelites, for here was Jacob’s first settlement and property, purchased of the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, 280 years before. Even before that purchase by Jacob it was sacred, because that 189 years before Jacob’s time Abraham built here an altar to the Lord after that He had appeared to him and promised to give this land unto his seed,Gen.12:6, 7.The altar built here by Joshua,Josh.8:30, was therefore the third altar erected in this vicinity, the first by Abraham and the second by Jacob,Gen.33:20.It is very probable that the great battle at Ai was fought with the view of clearing the way for the uninterrupted passage of the entire hosts of Israel to the plain just spoken of, called the plain of Moreh, which stretches out eastward from the bases of Ebal and Gerizim, and was 20 miles north of Ai.8. Shechemnever was a large town before the conquest. After it was despoiled by the sons of Jacob and all the inhabitants destroyed or taken captive,Gen.34, it does not appear as re-settled until after the arrival of the Israelites at their first great national convention at Ebal, as described in the eighth chapter of the book of Joshua.9. The second great battleor campaign began at Gibeon. This place has been identified with an elevated ruin five and a half miles northwest of Jerusalem. It should be remembered that the Israelites returned to the camp at Gilgal near the ford of theJordan, this being their first great camping-place,and remaining such during their first seven73years, until they removed to Shiloh and set up the Tabernacle in that place,Josh.18:1.During the second campaign Joshua conquered nearly all the southern half of Palestine.10. The third great campaignbegan with the greatest battle of the conquest, at the waters of Merom,Josh.11:5. Here a great plain exists eight or nine miles in extent north and south, having the waters of the lake with a part of the upper stream of the Jordan on the east border. In this battle the Israelites came off victors, and then followed a series of reprisals, which with previous wars consumed about five years.During all these years the women and children, with the herds and flocks, remained at Gilgal on the plains of the Jordan near Jericho.11. The next great movewas toShiloh. This place was upon the highland 2,230 feet above the sea, nineteen miles north of Jerusalem and about the same distance from the camping-ground at Gilgal. We suppose that the Gilgal of this time was about three miles southeast of ancient Jericho and at the pool now called that of Jiljulieh.Some remains of Shiloh, now called Seilun, yet appear, partly on a low hill surrounded by higher hills. Jerome says that in his time, A. D. 340–420, it was in ruins. The top of the hill has been levelledfor several hundred feet, where are found some ancient foundations and hewn stones, and here, as is supposed, was the site of the Tabernacle. A little over a half-mile to the northeast is a spring called the spring of Seilun, and a pool where the seizure of the young women described inJudg.21:19–23 might very easily have taken place.12. Shiloh remainedthe religious capital and the city where the Ark and the Tabernacle rested for about 300 years, until the Ark was removed to the battlefield,1 Sam.4:3, and captured by the Philistines, after which it was never returned to Shiloh. The Tabernacle and the brazen altar were also removed and set up at Gibeon before the Temple at Jerusalem was built,1 Chron.16:39; 21:29, 30. Gibeon was five and a half miles northwest of Jerusalem and 2,535 feet above the sea.For the history of the capture of the Ark, its restoration to Israel, and its remaining at Kirjath-jearim many years before its placement in the Temple at Jerusalem, read1 Sam.4 and 6 with 7:1, and2 Sam.6, also1 Kin.8:1–8.The tradition that the Ark was hidden by the prophet Jeremiah in a cavern inMt.Pisgah has arisen from a statement in the second book of Maccabees,2 Mac.2:4, written about B. C. 144.But before this time there was a tradition among the Jews, which was recorded in the Babylonian Talmud,74that the Ark was hidden in a chamber of the Templebuildings, and out of this seems to have grown the other and later tradition. The Ark was probably burned at the destruction of the Temple under Nebuchadnezzar, B. C. 588,2 Chron.36:19.13. Kirjath-jearim, where the Ark remained so long,1 Sam.7:2, was seven miles west by north of Jerusalem. In this connection it is necessary to say that, while the statement in1 Sam.7:2 leaves the impression in the English translation that 20 years was the whole time during which the Ark remained at that place, yet“the sense clearly expressed in the original” is that from the first placing of the Ark at Kirjath-jearim 20 years transpired of anxious expectation that Jehovah would interpose for the deliverance of his people before that Samuel gave them any hope.75The Ark remained at Kirjath-jearim from about the time of Eli’s death through the reign of Saul and until David took it from thence to Jerusalem, with the exception of the three months during which it was at the house of Obed-edom,2 Sam.6. That was from about B. C. 1140 to B. C. 1042, or nearly one hundred years.14. The next great workperformed at Shiloh was the division of the land among the tribes of Israel. At this time, about 1444 B. C., we have the first recorded survey, and this was described by the cities then existing and “in a book,” which was probably attended with the first map of the land.Of the twelve tribes, the Levites received no district in the division, they having been devoted to the service of the Tabernacle. Of the remaining eleven tribes, Manasseh had a section of land east of the Jordan as well as one west.15. After this divisionthe appointment ofsix cities of refugewas made both east and west of the Jordan, and very nearly equally distributed north and south. Of these six cities only the three west of the Jordan have been identified with present towns. One wasKedesh, now called Kades, four miles west by north of the “waters of Merom.” It was on a hill overlooking the plain on the west of the “waters,” which are now known by the name of the Lake of el-Huleh. The second city of refuge west of the Jordan wasShechem, sixty-three miles towards the south; and the thirdHebron, eighteen miles south of Jerusalem and about fifty south of Shechem. Those east of Jordan were probably very nearly on the same latitude, namely,Golan, east of Kedesh;Ramothin Gilead, east of Shechem, probably identified with the town now called es Salt, twelve miles east of Jordan on an elevation 2,500 feet above the Mediterranean and twenty miles north of the Dead Sea; andBezer, not yet identified, but east of the Dead Sea, on the plains of Reuben.16. The object of this appointmentof cities of refuge was to protect the unintentional manslayer from the vengeance of his pursuer. Any one who had “unwittingly”Josh.20:3, slain a man might flyto the nearest city of refuge and “declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city,” and dwell there until his case was decided by “the congregation for judgment” and until the death of the high-priest. The guilty party, if an intentional manslayer, was delivered up to the avenger. SeeDeut.19:11.The cities of refuge, as we have seen, were as equally distributed throughout the land as the positions of important and accessible cities would admit.17. The blood feudhad existed for centuries under the traditionary demand of “a life for a life,” and this demand, without the slightest regard to the intention of the manslayer, was customary and even obligatory, so that the nearest relative of the slain man was charged with the duty of destroying the manslayer whenever a favorable opportunity presented itself. This custom was modified by the appointment of the cities of refuge and by the institution of laws associated with their appointment, so that thereafter the innocent slayer should not suffer equally with the guilty, although the fact that he had shed blood even unintentionally would subject him to the inconvenience of separation from his family for a time.18. The rehearsal of the Lawat the great convention at Shechem, the division of the land among the tribes,and the appointment of cities of refuge76were equally in accordance with the directions ofMoses, and they followed upon the entrance and conquest as soon as it was possible to carry them into execution. The three events are therefore in accordance with the spirit of the times and the provisions of the law, and are properly connected with the age of Joshua, although some writers have thought that the appointment of the cities of refuge took place some centuries later.
1. The capture of Jerichowas not the result of battle, but was due to the divine interference in behalf of the Israelites. Jericho was a strong city and well defended by strong walls, and the destruction of these walls under the simple process described in the text was not only a lesson of great significance to the Israelites, but it indicated to the Canaanitish tribes the mystery of that power with which they were now called to deal.
Under Joshua three great battles completed the general conquest of Canaan and transferred to the Israelites the cities of thirty kings,Josh.12:9–24, and if we include the king of Jericho the number will be thirty-one.
Nearly all of the book of Joshua is composed of the history of these battles and of the division of the land among the tribes after the conquest.
2. The firstof these battles took place on the high land west of Jericho, at a town called Ai (pronounced A´-i). The site of this ancient town is known, and it was not far off from the site of Bethel, which is 13 miles west by north from the position of Jericho at that time. Ai, now called Haiyan, was two miles, or a little more, east of Bethel.
Just north of Ai is a high elevation, 2,570 feet above the Mediterranean,whereas the site of Jericho at the fountain of Elisha72is 700 feet below, so that the troops of Joshua had a march of about 1,500 feet ascent up a rocky ravine. Bethel is still higher (2,890 feet).
3. The first great battle of Aiwas preceded by defeat in what may be called a mere skirmish, as only 3,000 were engaged. This defeat seems to have been divinely allowed, to place a terrible emphasis upon the truth that disobedience to the commands of God, even of a small part of the people, would certainly be followed by punishment.
The result was terrible, not only in the national mortification consequent upon the defeat, but in the lesson that no transgressor could escape either by hiding himself or his stolen spoils, which in this case had been buried in the ground and covered by the tent,Josh.7:11–26.
4. The valley of Achor, where the fearful punishment was inflicted, is, without question, the present Wady Kelt, near the opening of which, upon the plain of Jordan, was the city of Jericho.
The battle was renewed, all the people of war were engaged, and the victory was complete.
5. The next eventof great importance was the gathering of all the people in a central part of the land at two mountains called Ebal and Gerizim. This gathering was in execution of the commandof Moses,Deut.27, and was intended to cause them to renew their covenant with God and to set before them the blessings which should be granted upon obedience and the curses which should follow disobedience.
6. The location for this great gatheringwas admirably chosen. Ebal is a mountain whose highest point is 3,077 feet above the Mediterranean. Gerizim, right opposite, and southward, is 2,849 feet, and between them is the valley, whose surface is about 1,600 feet above the sea. In this valley, which runs east and west, is Shechem, on the southern side and partly built upon the ascent ofMt.Gerizim. The gathering may have taken place on the west of the city, where the valley is bounded on the north by that part of the western extent of the Ebal range which slightly recedes from the line of the valley and takes the form of an amphitheatre. But there is ample room on the east, where the elevations of both sides are far greater. The valley opens eastward upon the great level plain of Moreh, several square miles in extent. Where the valley opens upon this plain is the well of Jacob (John 4:6), and not far north of this well is the traditional tomb of Joseph,Josh.24:32, whose embalmed body they buried there after they had conquered the country.
7. The vicinity of this welland the former historymade this ground sacred to the Israelites, for here was Jacob’s first settlement and property, purchased of the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, 280 years before. Even before that purchase by Jacob it was sacred, because that 189 years before Jacob’s time Abraham built here an altar to the Lord after that He had appeared to him and promised to give this land unto his seed,Gen.12:6, 7.
The altar built here by Joshua,Josh.8:30, was therefore the third altar erected in this vicinity, the first by Abraham and the second by Jacob,Gen.33:20.
It is very probable that the great battle at Ai was fought with the view of clearing the way for the uninterrupted passage of the entire hosts of Israel to the plain just spoken of, called the plain of Moreh, which stretches out eastward from the bases of Ebal and Gerizim, and was 20 miles north of Ai.
8. Shechemnever was a large town before the conquest. After it was despoiled by the sons of Jacob and all the inhabitants destroyed or taken captive,Gen.34, it does not appear as re-settled until after the arrival of the Israelites at their first great national convention at Ebal, as described in the eighth chapter of the book of Joshua.
9. The second great battleor campaign began at Gibeon. This place has been identified with an elevated ruin five and a half miles northwest of Jerusalem. It should be remembered that the Israelites returned to the camp at Gilgal near the ford of theJordan, this being their first great camping-place,and remaining such during their first seven73years, until they removed to Shiloh and set up the Tabernacle in that place,Josh.18:1.
During the second campaign Joshua conquered nearly all the southern half of Palestine.
10. The third great campaignbegan with the greatest battle of the conquest, at the waters of Merom,Josh.11:5. Here a great plain exists eight or nine miles in extent north and south, having the waters of the lake with a part of the upper stream of the Jordan on the east border. In this battle the Israelites came off victors, and then followed a series of reprisals, which with previous wars consumed about five years.
During all these years the women and children, with the herds and flocks, remained at Gilgal on the plains of the Jordan near Jericho.
11. The next great movewas toShiloh. This place was upon the highland 2,230 feet above the sea, nineteen miles north of Jerusalem and about the same distance from the camping-ground at Gilgal. We suppose that the Gilgal of this time was about three miles southeast of ancient Jericho and at the pool now called that of Jiljulieh.
Some remains of Shiloh, now called Seilun, yet appear, partly on a low hill surrounded by higher hills. Jerome says that in his time, A. D. 340–420, it was in ruins. The top of the hill has been levelledfor several hundred feet, where are found some ancient foundations and hewn stones, and here, as is supposed, was the site of the Tabernacle. A little over a half-mile to the northeast is a spring called the spring of Seilun, and a pool where the seizure of the young women described inJudg.21:19–23 might very easily have taken place.
12. Shiloh remainedthe religious capital and the city where the Ark and the Tabernacle rested for about 300 years, until the Ark was removed to the battlefield,1 Sam.4:3, and captured by the Philistines, after which it was never returned to Shiloh. The Tabernacle and the brazen altar were also removed and set up at Gibeon before the Temple at Jerusalem was built,1 Chron.16:39; 21:29, 30. Gibeon was five and a half miles northwest of Jerusalem and 2,535 feet above the sea.
For the history of the capture of the Ark, its restoration to Israel, and its remaining at Kirjath-jearim many years before its placement in the Temple at Jerusalem, read1 Sam.4 and 6 with 7:1, and2 Sam.6, also1 Kin.8:1–8.
The tradition that the Ark was hidden by the prophet Jeremiah in a cavern inMt.Pisgah has arisen from a statement in the second book of Maccabees,2 Mac.2:4, written about B. C. 144.But before this time there was a tradition among the Jews, which was recorded in the Babylonian Talmud,74that the Ark was hidden in a chamber of the Templebuildings, and out of this seems to have grown the other and later tradition. The Ark was probably burned at the destruction of the Temple under Nebuchadnezzar, B. C. 588,2 Chron.36:19.
13. Kirjath-jearim, where the Ark remained so long,1 Sam.7:2, was seven miles west by north of Jerusalem. In this connection it is necessary to say that, while the statement in1 Sam.7:2 leaves the impression in the English translation that 20 years was the whole time during which the Ark remained at that place, yet“the sense clearly expressed in the original” is that from the first placing of the Ark at Kirjath-jearim 20 years transpired of anxious expectation that Jehovah would interpose for the deliverance of his people before that Samuel gave them any hope.75
The Ark remained at Kirjath-jearim from about the time of Eli’s death through the reign of Saul and until David took it from thence to Jerusalem, with the exception of the three months during which it was at the house of Obed-edom,2 Sam.6. That was from about B. C. 1140 to B. C. 1042, or nearly one hundred years.
14. The next great workperformed at Shiloh was the division of the land among the tribes of Israel. At this time, about 1444 B. C., we have the first recorded survey, and this was described by the cities then existing and “in a book,” which was probably attended with the first map of the land.
Of the twelve tribes, the Levites received no district in the division, they having been devoted to the service of the Tabernacle. Of the remaining eleven tribes, Manasseh had a section of land east of the Jordan as well as one west.
15. After this divisionthe appointment ofsix cities of refugewas made both east and west of the Jordan, and very nearly equally distributed north and south. Of these six cities only the three west of the Jordan have been identified with present towns. One wasKedesh, now called Kades, four miles west by north of the “waters of Merom.” It was on a hill overlooking the plain on the west of the “waters,” which are now known by the name of the Lake of el-Huleh. The second city of refuge west of the Jordan wasShechem, sixty-three miles towards the south; and the thirdHebron, eighteen miles south of Jerusalem and about fifty south of Shechem. Those east of Jordan were probably very nearly on the same latitude, namely,Golan, east of Kedesh;Ramothin Gilead, east of Shechem, probably identified with the town now called es Salt, twelve miles east of Jordan on an elevation 2,500 feet above the Mediterranean and twenty miles north of the Dead Sea; andBezer, not yet identified, but east of the Dead Sea, on the plains of Reuben.
16. The object of this appointmentof cities of refuge was to protect the unintentional manslayer from the vengeance of his pursuer. Any one who had “unwittingly”Josh.20:3, slain a man might flyto the nearest city of refuge and “declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city,” and dwell there until his case was decided by “the congregation for judgment” and until the death of the high-priest. The guilty party, if an intentional manslayer, was delivered up to the avenger. SeeDeut.19:11.
The cities of refuge, as we have seen, were as equally distributed throughout the land as the positions of important and accessible cities would admit.
17. The blood feudhad existed for centuries under the traditionary demand of “a life for a life,” and this demand, without the slightest regard to the intention of the manslayer, was customary and even obligatory, so that the nearest relative of the slain man was charged with the duty of destroying the manslayer whenever a favorable opportunity presented itself. This custom was modified by the appointment of the cities of refuge and by the institution of laws associated with their appointment, so that thereafter the innocent slayer should not suffer equally with the guilty, although the fact that he had shed blood even unintentionally would subject him to the inconvenience of separation from his family for a time.
18. The rehearsal of the Lawat the great convention at Shechem, the division of the land among the tribes,and the appointment of cities of refuge76were equally in accordance with the directions ofMoses, and they followed upon the entrance and conquest as soon as it was possible to carry them into execution. The three events are therefore in accordance with the spirit of the times and the provisions of the law, and are properly connected with the age of Joshua, although some writers have thought that the appointment of the cities of refuge took place some centuries later.