INTELLIGENCE of the decisive battle of Beth-horon before long reached the ears of that powerful chief in northern Palestine, who has been already mentioned, Jabin, the Wise, whose capital Hazor was the principal fortress in that part of the country. Determined to make a last effort to defeat the Israelites he rallied round his standard160 not only the chiefs in his own immediate neighbourhood, but from the plains south of the sea of Galilee, or, as it was then called, the sea of Chinnereth, from the valley of the Jordan, the maritime plain of Dor, and the as yet unconquered fortress of Jebus.
Again encouraged by the Lord with the promise of a decisive victory, Joshua did not shrink from encountering this formidable confederacy. Setting forth on a forced march, he burst upon the combined armies of the northern chiefs, as they were encamped by the waters of Merom. As before, his attack was irresistible. The Lord delivered the vast hosts of the foe into the hands of Israel, who smote them with great slaughter, and chased them as far as the friendly city of great Zidon on the west, and the valley of Mizpeh on the east. This was the first occasion on which the Israelites encountered the horses and iron chariots of the Canaanites. According to the special command of their leader (Josh. xi. 6), they cut the ham-strings of their horses, so as to render them unfit for further use, and burnt the chariots with fire. Hazor, the stronghold of Jabin, was captured and burnt, its king and all its inhabitants were put to the sword, the flocks and herds only being reserved as spoil for the people.
The battle of Merom was the last of Joshua’s recorded engagements, but a long war, considered to have lasted nearly seven years, now occupied his energies, during which he proved his fidelity to the instructions given by the great Lawgiver of the nation. As the Lord commanded Moses His servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua, till by the time he had completed his campaigns, six nations and thirty-one kings had swelled the roll of his triumphs (Josh. xi. 18–23; xii. 24).
At length, when he was old and stricken in years, he was commanded to divide the conquered territory among the nine tribes and the half tribe of Manasseh.
The mode adopted was twofold.
1. In some cases individual chiefs claimed particular spots on the score of their own prowess, or putting themselves at the head of armed predatory expeditions conquered certain portions with the sword. The chief instance of this was afforded by the aged compeer of Joshua, Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who now won distinction and renown for his own tribe of Judah. Forty-five years had elapsed since as one of the twelve spies in company with Joshua he had come down the Valley of the Cluster to Hebron, the fortress of the giant Arba, where they gathered the enormous bunch of Syrian grapes. On that memorable day Moses had rewarded his eminent faithfulness by promising him the land whereon his feet had trod as an inheritance for himself and his children for ever (Num. xiv. 23, 24; Josh. xiv. 9). This winding Valley, then, of the Cluster, this mountain (Josh. xiv. 12) on which rose the stronghold of the Anakims, was the portion Caleb desired for himself, and hence with the Divine aid he vowed to drive forth its gigantic possessors, and take it for his own.
Joshua willingly granted his request, and the great warrior of the tribe of Judah went up against the city of Arba, and drove out the sons of Anak, Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. Thence he proceeded southward to Debir or Kirjath-sephir161, the City of Books, probably a sacred oracular place, and promised to give to its successful assailant his daughter Achsah in marriage. Thereupon Othniel his nephew, or according to others his younger brother, attacked and took the fortress, and won the promised prize. On the way to Othniel’s house, Achsah dismounted from the ass on which she rode, and begged her father to give her some “better heritage than the dry and thirsty frontier of the desert.” Below the spot on which rose the newly captured fortress was a bubbling rivulet, falling into a rich valley. Thou hast given me, said she, a south land, give me also the bubbling rills, and he gave her the upper and lower bubblings, and thus Hebron and Debir with the rich valley below became the inheritance of the great warrior of Judah, and was long after known by his name (1 Sam. xxv. 3; xxx. 14).
2. But the more general mode of dividing the conquered land, in accordance with the Divine instructions, was by casting lots before the Tabernacle at Shiloh162, in the presence of Joshua, the High-priest, and the elders of the nation. As the distribution of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh on the east of the Jordan has been already described, we may confine ourselves to those on the western side, under the threefold division of (a) The South, (b) the Centre, (c) the North.
(a) The South.
i. The most southerly frontier was assigned first to Judah but afterwards to Simeon (Josh. xix. 9), and is often called in Scripture the South (Josh. x. 40; Judg. i. 9). Like Reuben on the east of Jordan, Simeon was destined to have little influence on the subsequent history, to be divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel (Gen. xlix. 5–7), and to be constantly exposed to the attacks of the Amalekites and other nomadic tribes on its frontier (comp. 1 Chron. iv. 39–43).
ii. Next to Simeon on the North was the territory of the lion tribe of Judah, comprising the undulating pasture country of the South, the fertile lowland of the West, the hill fortresses of the centre, and the wild desert bordering on the Dead Sea. Part of his inheritance was fertile, and covered with corn fields and vineyards (Gen. xlix. 11), part was a wild country, “the lair of savage beasts,” where amidst caverns, ravines and mountains, Judah, true to the description in the blessing of Jacob, could stoop down and couch as a lion, guarding the southern frontier of the Promised Land.
iii. North-east of Judah was the warlike little tribe (Ps. lxviii. 27; 1 Sam. ix. 21) of Benjamin, famous for its archers (2 Sam. i. 22), slingers (Judg. xx. 16), and left-handed warriors (Judg. iii. 15; xx. 16). Its territory was small, being hardly larger than the county of Middlesex, but its position was of great importance. Containing numerous rounded hills163, which presented favourable sites for strong fortresses, it commanded the chief passes leading down from the central hills to the Jordan on the one side, and the plains of Philistia on the other. In this broken and hilly country the tribe became warlike and indomitable, ravening as a wolf (Gen. xlix. 27).
iv. Compressed into the narrow space between the north-western hills of Judah and the Mediterranean was the tribe of Dan, containing within the 14 miles from Joppa to Ekron one of the most fertile tracts in the land, the corn-field and garden of southern Palestine. But for this rich prize it had to contend first with the Amorites (Judg. i. 34), and afterwards with the Philistines (Judg. xiv. &c.), and eventually, as we shall see, was obliged to seek a new home in the North (Judg. xviii. 27–29).
(b) The Centre.
The central portion of the Holy Land, the Samaria of after ages, was assigned to the two brother tribes of the house of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh. Of this territory, which may be roughly estimated at 55 miles from E. to W., and 70 from N. to S., and which was about equal in extent to the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk combined164, (i) the more southerly portion was assigned to Joshua’s own tribe of Ephraim. It extended as far south as Ramah and Bethel within a few miles of Jerusalem, and was rich in fountains and streamlets, in “wide plains in the hearts of mountains, and continued tracts of vegetation,” in corn-fields and orchards, the precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof, which the Lawgiver invoked on the ten thousands of Ephraim (Deut. xxxiii. 13–17), and of whose father Jacob had said that he should be a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well (Gen. xlix. 22). (ii) And as the duty of guarding the northern outposts on the east of Jordan had been assigned to one half of the tribe of Manasseh, so to the remaining half on the west was assigned the duty of defending the passes into the great plain of Jezreel. Its territory stretched westwards to the Mediterranean and the slopes of Carmel, but did not quite reach the Jordan on the East.
(c) The North.
The northern portion of the Holy Land, the Galilee of after times, extending from the range of Carmel to the mountains of Lebanon, was assigned to four tribes “allied by birth, and companions on the desert march,” Issachar, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali.
i. The territory of Issachar lay above that of Manasseh, and exactly consisted of the plain of Esdraelon (the Greek form of the Hebrew Jezreel, = the seed-plot of God). The luxuriance of this plain,—the battle-field of Palestine165—is the theme of every traveller. The soil yielded corn and figs, wine and oil (1 Chr. xii. 40), the stately palm waved over the villages, and the very weeds to this day testify to its extraordinary fertility. Here Issachar rejoiced in his tents (Deut. xxxiii. 18, 19), couched down as the strong he-ass (Gen. xlix. 14, 15) used for burden and field-work, and seeing that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant, bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant to the tribute, which various marauders, Canaanites (Judg. iv. 3, 7), Midianites, Amalekites (Judg. vi. 3, 4), Philistines (1 Sam. xxix. 1; xxxi. 7–10) exacted, bursting through his frontier open both on the east and west, and tempted by his luxuriant crops166.
ii. Immediately north of Issachar was the allotment of Zebulun, extending from the Sea of Chinnereth167 (afterwards the Lake of Gennesareth) on the east, towards the Mediterranean on the west. Besides the fertile plain near the fisheries of the lake, this tribe possessed the goings out (Deut. xxxiii. 18), the outlet of the plain of Akka, where it could suck of the abundance of the seas.
iii. The land of Naphtali stretched from the Sea of Chinnereth to the valley which separates the ranges of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, and was one of the most densely wooded districts of the country; its forests surpassed even those of Carmel, and the land has been described as a “natural park of oaks and terebinths.” Its soil also was rich and fertile, full with the blessing of the Lord (Deut. xxxiii. 23).
iv. To the West of Naphtali and resting on the sea-shore was the lot of the tribe of Asher. It was an important position, including the creeks and harbours (Judg. v. 17, 18) on the coast, and commanding all approaches to Palestine from the sea on the north. Its soil was pre-eminently fertile, and well fulfilled the blessings of Jacob and Moses. Here Asher could dip his foot in the oil of his luxuriant olive-groves (Deut. xxxiii. 24), fatten on the bread, the fruit of his rich plains, and the royal dainties (Gen. xlix. 20), the produce of his vineyards and pastures, while for or under his shoes (Deut. xxxiii. 25) was the iron ore of Lebanon, and the brass, or copper, of the neighbouring Phœnician settlements168.
One tribe alone received no share in this allotment. Like Simeon, but in a different sense, the tribe of Levi was to be divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel (Gen. xlix. 7). Devoted to the service of the sanctuary and sacrificial and other ministrations, this tribe depended for its maintenance on the tithes of the produce of land and cattle (Num. xviii.); but besides this, from each tribe, four cities and their suburban pastures, or forty-eight in all, were set apart for it, and amongst these were included the six cities of Refuge, three on each side of the Jordan,
On the West.
1. Kedesh in Naphtali.
2. Shechem in Mt Ephraim.
3. Hebron in Judah.
On the East.
4. Golan in Bashan.
5. Ramoth-Gilead in Gad.
6. Bezer in Reuben.
The division of the Promised Land being thus concluded, and his own inheritance having been assigned to him at Timnath-serah in Mount Ephraim, where he built a city and settled amongst the people he had led so prudently, Joshua summoned the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and having commended them for their bravery and fidelity, gave them his blessing, and bade them return to their own settlements beyond the Jordan (Josh. xxii. 1–6).
Accordingly these tribes departed. But while yet on the western side of the river they set up a great Altar, not indeed for burnt-offering or for sacrifice, which could only be presented at the Brazen Altar of the Tabernacle at Shiloh (Lev. xvii. 8, 9; Deut. xii. 4–29), but as a standing witness to all generations, that though parted by that river, they were not sundered in religion or national interests from their western brethren. No sooner, however, was the erection of this altar announced to the other tribes, than they assembled at Shiloh, and made war upon their brethren, whom they deemed guilty of apostasy. But first, they prudently resolved to send an embassy, with Phinehas and ten princes at its head, to try the effect of a friendly expostulation. Phinehas accordingly set out and laid before them the complaint of their brethren. What trespass, he asked, was this of which they were guilty in building this altar? Had they forgotten the judgments the nation had incurred by their sin in the matter of Baal-Peor, or the trouble the nation suffered in consequence of the trespass of Achan? What, then, did they mean by this turning away from following the Lord, and exposing the whole people to His deserved wrath?
Startled at this suspicion of faithlessness, the two tribes and a half reiterated the most solemn protestations of their innocence. The Altar they had erected was not intended for any sacrificial purposes whatsoever. It was simply an Altar of Memorial, a Testimony to future generations that they had the same part and lot in the interests of the nation as their brethren on the west of Jordan. Even the zealous Phinehas could not but be satisfied with this explanation. It was no apostasy or rebellion, but at the worst an error in judgment. And the embassy returned with the joyful intelligence that there were no grounds for a quarrel or an appeal to arms, while the two tribes and a half, having named the altar Ed, or a Witness, continued their journey to their eastern homes, where they settled down in the territories assigned them by Moses.
And now at length the land had rest. The tribes east and west of Jordan established themselves in the lands of the heathen, and inherited the labour of the people (Ps. cv. 44). Before long Joshua, already stricken in age, became aware that the day was at hand when he must go the way of all the earth. Summoning, therefore, the tribes of Israel, with their elders, their judges, and their officers to Shechem, a spot consecrated by the remains of Joseph (Josh. xxiv. 33), and the national acceptance of the blessings and cursings of the law (Josh. viii. 30–35), he for the last time exhorted the nation to faithfulness to Jehovah. He reviewed their history from the day that their fathers dwelt on the other side of the Euphrates in the old time until now, when the Lord had given them cities which they builded not, vineyards and oliveyards which they planted not. The call of Abraham, the descent of Jacob into Egypt, the wonders of the Exodus, the desert wanderings, the conquest of the Amorites on the east of Jordan, of the Canaanites on this, all these great events in their history were reviewed, and then the aged Chief solemnly bade them choose whom they would serve, Jehovah who had done so great things for them, or the gods of their fathers and of the nations in whose land they dwelt. Thereupon the people solemnly renewed the Covenant they had before made on the same spot, and as an abiding memorial of their promise Joshua set up a Stone Pillar under a sacred oak of Abraham and Jacob169, and wrote out the words of the Covenant in the Book of the Law of God (Josh. xxiv. 26). This done, he bade every man depart unto his inheritance, and shortly afterwards, at the age of 110, this devout, blameless, fearless warrior died, and was buried in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah170 (Josh. xxiv. 30).
THE position of the Israelites at the death of Joshua was eminently favourable. A nation of freemen, entrusted at Sinai with the “Oracles of God,” they were now in possession of the Promised Land. Though their late leader had not appointed any successor to those extraordinary functions he had retained throughout his life, a complete form of government had always obtained amongst them ever since they became a nation in Egypt. This was mainly kept up by the chiefs of the several tribes, the heads of the great families or clans, and the heads of houses. (Comp. Josh. viii. 33; xxiii. 2; xxiv. 1.) God Himself was their King, and in a sensible and living presence manifested Himself at the Tabernacle now set up at Shiloh, and revealed His will through the mediation of the High-priest.
But though their position was one of great privileges and blessings, it was none the less one of trial and probation. The purposes for which the Vine of Israel had been called out of Egypt (Ps. lxxx. 8) and planted in this goodly land could not be fulfilled without trouble and exertion. There were enemies without and within their newly-acquired territory, ready at the first opportunity to attempt its recovery from their hands. If they were secure from their old oppressors the Egyptians, yet on the south and south-east the Midianites and Amalekites were only too likely to attack a people, whose late victories must have been a continual source of jealousy; while on the north-east were formidable chiefs, who might, as in the days of their forefather Abraham171, sweep down upon the country beyond the Jordan, and grievously harass the eastern tribes. Moreover, extensive as the conquests of Joshua had been, they had not achieved nor were they intended to achieve the entire extirpation of the Canaanites. The conquered population retained large tracts and important positions in the very heart of the country. The Philistines retained the fertile plain of the Shephelah in the south-west; the almost impregnable fortress of Jebus still remained unconquered on the very border of Judah; well nigh the entire sea-coast from Dor to Sidon was in the hands of the Phœnicians; the strong towns of Beth-shean, of Taanach, and Megiddo were still held by the Canaanites in the fertile plain of Jezreel; while on the north still lingered formidable remnants of the great confederacy under Jabin. These nations had not been driven out hastily, but had been left to test and prove the fidelity of the generation that had not known the wars of Canaan (Judg. ii. 22), and the duty of subjugating them had been solemnly enforced by Joshua in his last address to the assembled tribes (Josh. xxiii. 5–10).
Accordingly we find that all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, the nation did not forget its vocation, but carried on the work to which it had been called (Judg. ii. 7).
1. Thus Judah, whose conquest of Hebron and its vicinity has been already related, in alliance with the neighbouring tribe of Simeon, attacked Bezek, slew 10,000 of its Canaanite and Perizzite inhabitants, and captured its ferocious king Adoni-bezek, whose cruel mutilation of seventy vassal princes gives us an insight into the character of the native chiefs, whom Israel was commissioned to expel (Judg. i. 6, 7). As he had done to others, so Judah did to him. They cut off his thumbs and his great toes, and carried him captive to Jerusalem, i.e. to the Lower City, which was taken, and set on fire. But the Upper City resisted all their efforts, as afterwards those of the tribe of Benjamin (Judg. i. 21172). They were more successful, however, in other places, and reduced numerous cities of the Canaanites in the central mountains, the southern desert, and the low country of the west (Judg. i. 17, 18).
2. The powerful house of Joseph was not behind-hand in following the example of the lion-tribe of Judah. They sent spies to descry the town of Luz, who seeing a man coming from thence, seized him, but consented to spare his life and that of his family on condition that he shewed them the entrance, on ascertaining which, they smote the place with the edge of the sword. Thus in addition to Shechem, the house of Joseph became possessed of another spot consecrated by the most sacred associations, even the town, near which was the stone Pillar their father Jacob had set up on his way to Padan-Aram, and called the place Beth-el, the House of God (Judg. i. 22–26). But they were not similarly successful in expelling the Canaanites from Gezer near lower Beth-horon (Judg. i. 29), or from their strongholds in the plain of Jezreel, Taanach, Megiddo, and Beth-shean. Instead of utterly driving them out, they put them under tribute, as also the Amorites, who succeeded in thrusting the children of Dan from the fertile lowland of the sea-coast into the mountains, to be themselves dispossessed in turn by the Philistines (Judg. i. 34, 35).
3. Similar declensions from the strict line of duty marked the conduct of other tribes. Zebulun contented itself with merely imposing tribute on the nations within its borders; Asher made no attempt to expel the powerful Phœnicians on the sea-coast from Accho to Zidon, or from their more inland settlements; and Naphtali spared the inhabitants of the fenced cities of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath (Judg. i. 30–33). This neglect of an obvious duty soon led to worse results. Contrary to the express commands of the Law, and the repeated exhortations of Moses and Joshua, the Israelites began to make leagues with the heathen nations. Leagues with nations led to marriages with individuals, and these to their natural consequences. Their new relatives invited the Israelites to their idolatrous festivals, where the consecrated licentiousness gratified their sensual appetites, and before long there arose a generation, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which He had done for Israel (Judg. ii. 10). Forgetting Him who had done so great things for them, they bowed themselves to strange gods, and practised the worst abominations, even sacrificing their sons and their daughters to Baal and Ashtaroth (Ps. cvi. 37, 38; Judg. ii. 13).
This gradual spread of idolatry, and as a natural consequence, of moral and social degeneracy, is strikingly illustrated by two incidents recorded in the last five chapters of the Book of Judges, which seem to have been inserted for this very purpose as a kind of appendix to that Book173.
THERE was living about twenty years after the death of Joshua in Mount Ephraim in central Palestine a man named Micah, whose mother one day lost 1100 shekels of silver. So terrible was the curse she imprecated on the thief, that her son in alarm confessed that he had abstracted the money. Instead of reproaching him, his mother thereupon informed him that she had dedicated this sum, probably the savings of a lifetime174, to the Lord, to make a graven and a molten image. Upon this Micah restored the money to his mother, who sent 200 shekels to a founder for the purpose of fashioning the idol. When made, it was set up in Micah’s house, and he consecrated one of his sons as priest, and arrayed him in a sacred vestment, probably made in imitation of the ephod of the High-priest. Not satisfied, however, with the ministrations of his son, on the arrival of a young Levite of Bethlehem in Judæa, travelling, probably, in search of employment as a teacher of the Law, he persuaded him also to become his priest, and agreed to give him 10 shekels of silver a-year, suitable sacerdotal vestments, and his living. On these terms the Levite was content to dwell with him, became his priest, and was unto him as one of his sons.
Soon after this it happened that the tribe of Dan being still hard pressed by the Amorites175, and desirous of an addition to their territory, sent five spies from two towns in the low country to discover a new and advantageous settlement. The spies set out, and on their way came to Mount Ephraim, where they obtained a lodging in the house of Micah. Recognizing the voice of the young Levite, they enquired the cause of his presence there, and on ascertaining the position he held, begged him to ask counsel of Jehovah as to the success of their expedition. The Levite did so, and the answer was propitious. Thereupon the spies resumed their journey, and tracking the Jordan to its source beyond the waters of Merom, came to an eminence on which rose the town of Laish (Tell el-Kâdy), a colony from Sidon, whose inhabitants, “separated from their mother-city176 by the huge mass of Lebanon and half of Anti-Lebanon,” dwelt quiet and secure (Judg. xviii. 7) in the enjoyment of the warm climate and exquisite scenery, and tilling the fertile soil irrigated by many streams.
The spies marked the spot, and on their return bade their brethren arise, and take possession of a place where there was no want of anything that is in the earth (Judg. xviii. 10). Upon this, six hundred Danites from Zorah and Eshtaol girded on their weapons of war, and went up and encamped at a spot behind Kirjath-jearim, which though it belonged to Judah, they named Mahaneh-Dan, or the Camp of Dan. Thence they ascended into the mountain-range of Ephraim, and like the spies before them, drew near the house of Micah. Informed that here there was an ephod and teraphim, a graven image and a molten image, the six hundred warriors took their stand by the gateway leading into the court, and engaged the Levite in conversation, while the spies ascended into the sanctuary, and stole away the images with the sacerdotal vestments. On re-appearing, the Levite tried to expostulate, but was speedily bidden to hold his peace, and without much difficulty suffered himself to be persuaded that it would be better to accompany them, and instead of being a priest unto one man, to become a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel (Judg. xviii. 19). With such secrecy was their departure effected, that the Danites had got a good way from the house of Micah, before the latter became aware of the grievous wrong he had sustained. Gathering together the inhabitants of the houses, which had gradually clustered round his idolatrous sanctuary, he pursued after the roving warriors. But it was in vain that he gave vent to his grief and rage. The spoilers only mocked him, and bade him take care he did not lose his life as well as his gods; consequently he was fain to return to his rifled sanctuary, while the six hundred held on their way northward.
Reaching the source of the Jordan far up in the northern mountains, they found the town of Laish just as the spies had described it. Far from its mother-city, the careless colony had no deliverer in its hour of peril. Without warning the spoilers burst upon it, scaled its walls, set it on fire, and massacred its inhabitants, men, women and children without mercy. They afterwards rebuilt it, called it Dan after the name of Dan their father, and there set up the images they had taken from Micah. There too the young Levite, who, it seems, was no unimportant personage, but no other than Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of the great lawgiver Moses177, ministered at this new sanctuary, and his descendants remained till the Captivity (Judg. xviii. 14–31).
If any proof were wanting of the association of religious with moral declension at this period, it is supplied by the biography of another Levite, which is also given in these concluding chapters of the Book of Judges.
2. This Levite, who, like the other, dwelt on the edge of Mount Ephraim, took him a concubine out of Bethlehem-Judah, who proved faithless, and returned to her father’s house. On this her husband went in quest of her, and was received by her father with true Eastern hospitality. As the fifth day declined after his arrival, resisting the importunities of his father-in-law who would have had him stay longer, he rose up to return, and as night fell drew near the town of Jebus, which still remained in the hands of its Canaanite inhabitants. Rejecting the advice of his servant to lodge there during the night, he pressed on, and it was already dark when he reached Gibeah in Benjamin.
As he was sitting in the streets of the town awaiting an offer of shelter, an old man approached coming from his work in the fields. His home, too, was in Mount Ephraim, but he was sojourning at Gibeah, and taking compassion on the homeless condition of the Levite he brought him into his house, and gave him a lodging for the night. As they sat at meat, certain of the lowest inhabitants of the place set upon the house, and treated the Levite’s concubine with such violence, that in the morning when he arose he found her lying dead before the door. Enraged at this savage act he took her home, and there with his knife divided her together with her bones into twelve pieces, and sent them among the twelve tribes. This ferocious summons to vengeance roused all Israel as one man (Judg. xx. 1). Even the tribes beyond the Jordan assembled with the rest of their brethren, and 400,000 warriors met at Mizpeh in Benjamin, a fortified eminence a little to the north of Jebus, and listened to the Levite while he recounted the dark tale of outrage (Judg. xx. 2–6).
The recital excited still greater indignation, and all the people knit together as one man bound themselves by a solemn vow never to return to their homes till they had taken deep vengeance on the inhabitants of Gibeah for the disgrace they had brought upon Israel. Messengers were accordingly sent through the territory of Benjamin demanding their surrender. This the Benjamites absolutely refused, and making the cause of Gibeah their own, prepared to encounter the men of Israel with all their forces, amounting to 26,000, together with the 700 warriors of Gibeah, chosen men, left-handed, every one of whom could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss (Judg. xx. 16).
In this juncture, instead of consulting the Divine Will whether they should embark in this war at all, the indignant tribes having already decided on the campaign only sought to know who should take the lead. Judah was the tribe indicated by the Divine response, and in the engagement that ensued, the Israelites were defeated with a loss of upwards of 22,000 men. On the day following they renewed the attack, but only to sustain a second reverse and a loss of 18,000 of their best troops. In the greatest distress at this double defeat, the eleven tribes assembled at Bethel, fasted the whole day until the evening, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord. Then Phinehas, who had led the sacred war against the Midianites, enquired whether a third engagement should be hazarded, and in reply was bidden to go up, for this time the Lord would deliver Benjamin into their hand (Judg. xx. 28).
Thereupon it was resolved to repeat the tactics so successful at Ai. An ambuscade was planted behind Gibeah, and on the descent of the Benjamites a flight was feigned to draw them from the town towards a spot, where the road divided into two paths, the one leading to Bethel, the other to Gibeah-in-the-Field, probably the modern Jeba. Unconscious of their danger the Benjamites suffered themselves to be decoyed from the town, and slew about 30 of their foes. Meanwhile the ambuscade arose, and bursting on the defenceless town, put the inhabitants to the sword. A great pillar of flame and smoke signalled to the rest of the army the success of the stratagem, and the Benjamites at last awakened to their danger fled eastward to the desert region bordering on the Jordan valley. But their foes now turned, and inclosing them round about (Judg. xx. 43), trode them down, and slew 25,000.
From this indiscriminate massacre only 600 of the Benjamites effected their escape to the cliff of Rimmon, an inaccessible natural fortress situated about 7 miles north-east of Gibeah, and overhanging the wild region bordering on the Jordan. Here they entrenched themselves for a space of four months, while the eleven tribes not content with firing and ravaging every town in the territory of Benjamin, bound themselves by a vow to abstain from all intermarriage with them. Regret, however, for the almost entire extinction of a tribe in Israel subsequently softened their hearts, and by a curious stratagem characteristic of this troubled period, when there was no king in Israel, and every man did that which was right in his own eyes (Judg. xxi. 25), they enquired whether any city had failed to take part in the late tribal war. Thereupon it was discovered that Jabesh-gilead, a city on the east of the Jordan, had sent no forces to aid their brethren. Thither, therefore, 12,000 men were despatched, with instructions utterly to destroy the recreant city and massacre every man and married woman. This ruthless order was executed to the letter, and the entire population was put to the sword, save 400 virgins, who were given in marriage to the remnant of Benjamin. These not sufficing for wives, the Benjamites took advantage of a yearly festival at the sanctuary of Shiloh, when the daughters of the place assembled to take part in the sacred dances, and concealing themselves in the neighbouring vineyards, burst forth upon the unsuspecting maidens and carried off each one a wife for himself, with whom they returned, repaired their towns, and dwelt in them (Judg. xxi. 23–25).