Category: History - Religious
CHAP. I. The Call of Abraham CHAP. II. Life of Abraham continued CHAP. III. The History of Isaac CHAP. IV. Life of Jacob CHAP. V. History of Joseph CHAP. VI. Jacob’s Descent into Egypt, and Death of Joseph NOTE. _Survey of the Patriarchal Age_
CHAP. I. The Call of Abraham CHAP. II. Life of Abraham continued CHAP. III. The History of Isaac CHAP. IV. Life of Jacob CHAP. V. History of Joseph CHAP. VI. Jacob’s Descent int...
3. BOOK III.CHAP. I. The Birth and Call of Moses CHAP. II. Signs and Wonders in Egypt CHAP. III. The Last Plague――The Passover――The Exodus CHAP. IV. The Journey from the Red Sea to Rephidim...
4. BOOK IV.CHAP. I. The Tabernacle NOTE. _History of the Tabernacle_ CHAP. II. The Priests CHAP. III. The Sacrifices and Offerings CHAP. IV. Holy Times and Seasons CHAP. V. The Great Festi...
5. BOOK V.CHAP. I. Kadesh-Barnea and the Mission of the Spies CHAP. II. The Wanderings――Death of Miriam and Aaron CHAP. III. Conquest of the East of Jordan――Balaam and Balak CHAP. IV. War...
6. BOOK VI.CHAP. I. The Passage of the Jordan, and Fall of Jericho CHAP. II. Conquest of the Southern and Central Mountains CHAP. III. Battle of Merom, and Division of the Land
7. BOOK VII.CHAP. I. Events subsequent to the Death of Joshua CHAP. II. Micah and the Danites――The Tribal War CHAP. III. Othniel and Ehud, Deborah and Barak CHAP. IV. Invasion of the Midian...
8. BOOK VIII.CHAP. I. Eli and Samuel CHAP. II. Samuel’s Judgeship CHAP. III. Election of the First King CHAP. IV. The Battle of Michmash CHAP. V. Saul and the Amalekites――David and Goliath C...
9. BOOK IX.CHAP. I. David’s Reign at Hebron CHAP. II. David’s Reign at Jerusalem CHAP. III. David’s Army, his Conquests, his Sin CHAP. IV. The Rebellion of Absalom CHAP. V. Close of David’...
10. PART I.11. PART II.CHAP. I. Accession of Ahab――Era of Elijah CHAP. II. Wars of Ahab and Benhadad CHAP. III. Murder of Naboth――Battle of Ramoth Gilead CHAP. IV. Wars of Jehoshaphat. Translation of...
12. PART III.CHAP. I. Accession of Jehu CHAP. II. Athaliah and Joash; Death of Elisha CHAP. III. Amaziah and Jeroboam II.; Era of Jonah CHAP. IV. Decline and Captivity of the Kingdom of Isra...
13. BOOK XI.CHAP. I. Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar CHAP. II. Reigns of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, and Darius CHAP. III. Rebuilding of the Temple――Esther and Ahasuerus CHAP. IV. Times of Ezra a...
14. CHAPTER I._IN the beginning God created the heavens and the earth._ With these simple but sublime words commences the History contained in the Scriptures of the Old Testament, teaching us...
15. CHAPTER II.OF the life of the first human pair in Paradise we are told but little. We know, however, that it was not only a state of innocence, and therefore of happiness, but also, like a...
16. CHAPTER III.THOUGH thus assured of ultimate restoration, the first man, as a fallen being, could not be permitted to remain in the region, which had been the scene of his trial and his fail...
17. CHAPTER IV.THE first act of Noah on leaving the Ark was to build an altar, and offer burnt-offerings unto the Lord _of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl_. His sacrifice was accept...
18. CHAPTER V.SACRED History does not record many facts connected with the immediate descendants of Noah. The scene of the Confusion of Tongues continued to attract around it a large number o...
19. CHAPTER I.THERE will always, perhaps, be a doubt as to the exact period after the Flood when Job lived, but there can be no doubt that neither his constancy nor his faithfulness to the on...
20. CHAPTER II.WE now enter on another and a different scene in the history of Abram. He had been victorious over the Assyrian kings; he had gotten him honour as the prompt avenger of injustic...
21. CHAPTER III.FOR nineteen years after their marriage Isaac and Rebekah were childless. But at length, in answer to earnest prayer, Rebekah became the mother of twin sons, ESAU (_hairy, rough...
22. CHAPTER IV.THUS solemnly assured of the Covenant Blessing, JACOB bade farewell to his mother, whom he was never to see again, and set out a solitary traveller for the Eastern uplands of Ar...
23. CHAPTER V.IT was while he was sojourning in the neighbourhood of Hebron, where, like his father, he united agricultural with pastoral occupations (Gen. xxxvii. 7) that the saddest trial o...
24. CHAPTER VI.BUT as time went on, and the corn the Brothers had brought from Egypt was consumed, it became absolutely necessary to go thither a second time, if they would live and not die. W...
25. xxxii. 24); Joseph believes in His invisible but ever-presenthelp in prison and in a strange land, and ascribes to Him all his wisdom in the interpretation of dreams (Gen. xli. 16). The Divine Promise of a great future Abraham believed un...
26. BOOK III.27. CHAPTER I.THE district of GOSHEN (_frontier_), also called the _Land of Rameses_ (Gen. xlvii. 11), where the Israelites were settled during the period of their sojourn in the land of the...
28. CHAPTER II.THE first step Moses took towards fulfilling the trust thus confided to him was to request of his father-in-law permission to revisit his brethren in Egypt. Jethro gave his cons...
29. CHAPTER III.HITHERTO the elements of nature had each in their turn been commissioned to fight against Pharaoh. In all the preceding plagues there had been human intervention. The rod or the...
30. CHAPTER IV.AND now the ransomed people commenced their journey. Skirting the eastern shore of the Red Sea, they “entered” the wilderness of Shur (or Etham, Num. xxxiii. 8), on the western...
31. CHAPTER V.32. xix. 1), the Israelites once more set out in a southerly direction,and after ascending winding valleys and rugged passes and staircases of lofty rocks rising one above the other in long succession, reached a level plain (probably _Er-Raheh_)[69...
33. CHAPTER VI.THUS the Covenant was formally ratified, and the nation solemnly devoted itself to the service of the God of Israel. Further revelations, however, awaited Moses, and after commi...
34. CHAPTER I.THE encampment of the Israelites before Sinai continued for more than a year (Num. i. 1). At this point, then, it will be convenient to group together and consider the most impo...
35. xxxiv. 13); they were to deem accursed the precious metals of whichtheir idols were composed (Deut. vii. 25), and on no pretence whatever were they to conclude any treaty or make any marriage with them (Deut. vii. 2, 3). Relapse into idolatry w...
36. i. During the wanderings in the wilderness it was the one place,where Jehovah “met His people,” and where from the ineffable glory above the mercy-seat He revealed His Will. There the Spirit came upon the 70 elders and they prophesied (Num....
37. ii. During the conquest of Canaan it was, probably, moved fromiii. Afterwards it was brought to _Shiloh_ (Josh. ix. 27; xviii. 1; xix. 51), on account, doubtless, of its secluded and central position, and as being within the territory of t...
38. iv. But in the time of Eli, the licentiousness of his sonsstained the sanctity of Shiloh, and degraded the Tabernacle almost to the level of a heathen temple (1 Sam. ii. 22), while the capture of the ark by the Philistines (1 Sam. iv....
39. CHAPTER II.PRIOR to the Mosaic period, as has been already noticed[83], the head of each family and the firstborn appear to have exercised all kinds of government, ecclesiastical as well a...
40. xviii. 12); (iv) the redemption-money for the firstborn of man or41. xviii. 14, 15); (v) the perquisites of the sacrifices, the flesh ofthe burnt-offerings, peace-offerings, and trespass-offerings, and especially the heave-shoulder and the wave-breast (Num. xviii. 8–14; Levit. x. 12–15); (vi) a fixed portion of...
42. xxi. 13), and as illegitimacy was an absolute bar to the office, the43. CHAPTER III.THE rite of sacrifice so universal in the ancient world came down to the Israelites from the earliest times, from the days of their forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and th...
44. CHAPTER IV.(a) The observance of the weekly Sabbath, or day of Rest, is not improbably thought to have been known to the Israelites before the giving of the Law (Ex. xvi. 22, 23), as, inde...
45. CHAPTER V.THE great Historical Festivals, at which all males amongst the Israelites were required to appear before the Lord, were, as has been said already, (i) _The Passover_; (ii) _The...
46. x. 22), and lasted eight days, being distinguished by the offering ofIn Scripture, dates are often fixed by a reference to the seasons or productions (Num. xiii. 20; 2 Sam. xxi. 9). The following Table, therefore, is here given, in which the civi...
47. CHAPTER VI.HITHERTO we have been concerned with those portions of the Mosaic Law, which instructed the Israelite in his duty towards God, and the mode in which He was to be worshipped. We...
48. xii. 6); but a still heavier fine was exacted if he had not only sold,but killed and injured. If unable to pay the fine, he was to be sold into slavery to a Hebrew master, and serve him till he could pay (Ex. xxii. 1–4). A night-thief might be res...
49. BOOK V.50. CHAPTER I.THE period of the encampment of the Israelites at Sinai had now occupied upwards of a year. The Covenant had been concluded, the Law had been given, the Tabernacle had been erec...
51. CHAPTER II.AFTER this signal defeat it was clear that the sentence pronounced upon the existing generation was irrevocable, and the host remained for a considerable time at Kadesh (Deut. i...
52. CHAPTER III.THE country north of the present encampment of the Israelites from the Arnon to the Jabbok was at this time possessed by the Amorites. We have already met with this tribe on the...
53. CHAPTER IV.BUT though his tongue had pronounced eloquent blessings upon the people he found he could not curse, Balaam’s heart was filled with malice against them. Dismissed by the king of...
54. CHAPTER I.JOSHUA, the son of Nun, of the powerful tribe of Ephraim, had, as we have seen, been already selected as the successor of Moses, and the leader of the Israelitish forces. When,...
55. CHAPTER II.THE passes into the central hills being thus secured, Joshua without delay sent men to reconnoitre the position of AI, a royal city, strongly posted beside Beth-aven, on the eas...
56. CHAPTER III.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_, w...
57. i. The most southerly frontier was assigned first to Judah butafterwards 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 littl...
58. ii. Next to Simeon on the North was the territory of the liontribe 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...
59. iv. Compressed into the narrow space between the north-westernhills 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 gard...
60. i. The territory of ISSACHAR lay above that of Manasseh, andexactly 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 Palestine[165]...
61. ii. Immediately north of Issachar was the allotment of ZEBULUN,extending from the _Sea of Chinnereth_[167] (afterwards _the Lake of Gennesareth_) on the east, towards the Mediterranean on the west. Besides the fertile plain near the fisheri...
62. iii. The land of NAPHTALI stretched from the Sea of Chinnerethto 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...
63. iv. To the West of Naphtali and resting on the sea-shore wasthe 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 th...
64. CHAPTER I.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...
65. CHAPTER II.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 terri...
66. CHAPTER III.THE two incidents just recorded are illustrations of the turbulence and disorder of the period which followed the death of Joshua and of the elders that outlived Joshua. Forgetf...
67. CHAPTER IV.AS so often before, the effects of this last great deliverance were but transitory. Again the Israelites relapsed into idolatry, and in consecrated groves practised all the abom...
68. i. Thus solemnly called to be the Deliverer of his countrymen, Gideonwas first commissioned to testify against the idolatrous practices which had caused the present national degradation. The Lord appeared to him in a dream, and bade him throw dow...
69. ii. Tried and not found wanting in moral courage, Gideon was nowdirected to carry out the second part of his commission. Blowing a trumpet he first gathered around him his own clan of Abi-ezer, and then sending messengers throughout Manasseh...
70. CHAPTER V.AFTER the death of Gideon, Jehovah, whose minister he had been for the deliverance of the people, was again forgotten by the Israelites. Forgetting Gideon, forgetting Him who ha...
71. iii. 27), he solemnly vowed to offer as a burnt-offering to Jehovahwhatever should first come forth from his house to meet him on his return from battle. The engagement took place in the forests of Gilead, and the Ammonites were utterly routed....
72. CHAPTER VI.MEANWHILE the Philistines[215] on the south-west had not only established themselves in the Shephelah, or Low Country, but now commenced that long and deadly hostility to the Is...
73. BOOK VIII.74. CHAPTER I.DURING the twenty years that Samson judged Israel, the High-priesthood, diverted for reasons not revealed from the line of Eleazar to the younger line of Ithamar (1 Chron. vi. 4...
75. CHAPTER II.MEANWHILE the Ark was carried by the Philistines in triumph to Ashdod[228], one of their five confederate cities, and placed in the Temple of Dagon. But there its sanctity was r...
76. CHAPTER III.THE elders of Israel had not long to wait for the king they so earnestly desired. Shortly after Samuel’s return to Ramah he received Divine intimation that on the morrow one wou...
77. CHAPTER IV.IN dismissing Saul from Ramah after their first interview, Samuel, it will be remembered, had told him that he would pass _a garrison of the Philistines_ (1 Sam. x. 5; xiii. 3)...
78. CHAPTER V.THIS signal victory materially confirmed Saul’s supremacy. Acting no longer merely on the defensive, he now directed expeditions against Moab, Ammon, Edom, and even the king of...
79. CHAPTER VI.THE victory over Goliath was the turning-point in David’s life. He was now no longer the obscure shepherd of Bethlehem, but the recognised deliverer of Israel, and the chief of...
80. CHAPTER VII.FROM Keilah David now removed to a stronghold in the wilderness of Ziph[258], in the highlands of Judah, between Carmel and Juttah, about three miles south of Hebron. Hither Sau...
81. CHAPTER I.THE hour which the prophet of Ramah had long ago foretold was now come. The long period of trial and discipline was over. The brave shepherd, the conqueror of Goliath, the darin...
82. iv. 6), and finding Ishbosheth lying on his bed they stabbed him tothe heart, and cut off his head. Then hurrying all that afternoon and all night (2 Sam. iv. 7) down the valley of the Jordan, they presented themselves before David at Hebron wi...
83. CHAPTER II.EVERY obstacle was thus removed that had hitherto prevented David’s assuming the royal power over all the tribes. Ishbosheth was dead, Abner was dead, Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s o...
84. vi. 16), and when at the conclusion of all the gorgeous ceremonialhe entered his house to bless his family (2 Sam. vi. 20), she came out to meet him, but in place of congratulations taunted him with his indecorous appearance that day. David re...
85. CHAPTER III.THUS assured of the continuance of his kingdom, David began by a series of conquests to extend his power beyond the immediate boundaries of his own people, and to found an imper...
86. CHAPTER IV.THE reduction of Rabbah was the last of David’s conquests. His kingdom had reached the limits foretold to the patriarch Abraham, and vied in extent with some of the great empire...
87. CHAPTER V.SHORTLY after David’s restoration, his kingdom was visited for three years with a grievous famine. Enquiry was made of the Divine Oracle, and it was discovered to be a punishmen...
88. CHAPTER VI.THE new king was hardly seated on the throne before he was called upon to repress with a high hand a second and dangerous attempt of Adonijah to obtain the kingdom. As is usual...
89. CHAPTER VII.MINDFUL of the repeated instructions of his father, Solomon no sooner received the congratulations of Hiram, king of Tyre, upon his coming to the throne, than he sent to that mo...
90. CHAPTER VIII.BEFORE the Temple was thus completed, Solomon had proceeded to construct other magnificent buildings. Amongst these was a sumptuous palace for himself, surrounded with beautiful...
91. i. The quarter, whence danger first threatened, was on the south,in the land of Edom. When Joab invaded that country during the late reign, and for six months directed an indiscriminate massacre of the male population, HADAD, who was of the b...
92. ii. A second adversary appeared in the north-eastern provinces ofthe empire. ♦REZIN, the Syrian, the son of Eliadah, flying from the defeat which his feudal lord Hadadezer, king of Zobah, had sustained at the hands of David, put himself at th...
93. CHAPTER I.REHOBOAM, the successor of Solomon, was 41 years of age when he came to the throne. Though his title does not seem to have been disputed at Jerusalem, he deemed it right to obta...
94. CHAPTER II.THIS warning, however, though confirmed by signs and wonders, had little or no effect on Jeroboam himself. He persisted in his evil courses, and his dynasty was destined to pass...
95. xiii. 20), and soon after died, bequeathing his throne to his son96. CHAPTER III.THE reign of NADAB was very brief, lasting only two years. As he was besieging Gibbethon, a town allotted to Dan (Josh. xix. 44), and afterwards given to the Kohathite Levites (...
97. CHAPTER I.THE first act of JEHOSHAPHAT, who succeeded Asa on the throne of Judah, was to fortify and garrison the fenced cities in his dominions, as well as the towns in Ephraim, which hi...
98. CHAPTER II.OF the three commands thus laid upon him, Elijah straightway proceeded to execute the last. From Horeb he journeyed to Abel-meholah[364] (_the Meadow of the Dance_), in the nort...
99. CHAPTER III.SHORTLY after these events an incident occurred, which brought down upon Ahab and his house an awful doom. Adjoining his palace at Jezreel was a vineyard belonging to a native o...
100. CHAPTER IV.ON his return from a campaign, in which he had so nearly lost his life, JEHOSHAPHAT was sternly rebuked by one of the prophets (2 Chr. xix. 2) for the guilty alliance he had for...
101. CHAPTER V.FOR a time Elisha tarried at the now rebuilt Jericho, and here he performed his second miracle. “Of the two perennial springs which, rising at the base of the steep hills behind...
102. i. A widow of one of the sons of the prophets was in debt, and hercreditor was coming on the morrow to take her two sons and sell them as slaves. In her extremity she applied to the prophet, and told him that the only thing she had in her hous...
103. ii. The little village of Shunem, in the tribe of Issachar, was afrequent resort of the Prophet, and a rich woman of the place, at whose house he stayed, on one occasion, persuaded her husband to permit a little chamber to be prepared for him...
104. iii. Elisha is next found at Gilgal, at a time when there was a dearthin the land. The sons of the prophets sat before him, and he bade the great caldron be set on, and pottage be seethed. Into the caldron one of the company shred wild gourds and...
105. iv. While still at Gilgal, Elisha was visited by a man fromBaal-shalisha (See 1 Sam. ix. 4), with 20 barley-loaves, and roasted ears of corn in his scrip or bag[386]. This moderate supply he ordered to be distributed amongst the people...
106. CHAPTER VI.BUT Elisha’s fame was soon to overstep the limits of his own country. The captain of the army of Ben-hadad, king of Syria, at this time was named NAAMAN (See Lk. iv. 27). He had...
107. PART III.108. CHAPTER I.AFTER this signal discomfiture Ben-hadad returned to Damascus, and before long lay prostrate with his last illness. At this time Elisha was present in the city, and the king bei...
109. CHAPTER II.THUS, after scenes hitherto unparalleled in the history of the Chosen Nation, Jehu established himself upon the throne, and reigned upwards of 28 years. Those years are almost a...
110. CHAPTER III.MEANWHILE AMAZIAH had succeeded to the throne of Judah. His first care after his accession was to punish the murderers of his father, which he did with unusual lenity, sparing t...
111. CHAPTER IV.THE death of Jeroboam II., B.C. 783, was the signal for a frightful state of anarchy in the kingdom of Israel. At length, after an interregnum of 11 years, ZACHARIAH his son suc...
112. CHAPTER V.WHILE the kingdom of Israel thus came to an end, that of Judah seemed to have taken a fresh lease of vitality. At the close of the wicked reign of Ahaz, his son HEZEKIAH succeed...
113. CHAPTER VI.ON the death of Hezekiah, his son MANASSEH succeeded to the throne at a very early age, having been born in all probability twelve years before his father’s death, B.C. 710. His...
114. lviii. 13), and under the influence of the king and his idolatrousMeanwhile the voice of the prophets was not hushed. Heedless of the doom they incurred, the Lord’s true servants bore their faithful testimony against the deeds of the king. The...
115. CHAPTER VII.BUT the religious reformations of the pious king could not ward off the destined destruction of his kingdom. At this period the great Assyrian empire had considerably declined[4...
116. CHAPTER I.“Nothing,” it has been remarked, “could present a more striking contrast to their native country than the region into which the Hebrews were now transplanted. Instead of their i...
117. CHAPTER II.THOUGH from the incident just recorded Nebuchadnezzar had learnt to know the greatness of the God of Israel, a still sterner lesson was needed to teach him his own position in r...
118. CHAPTER III.AT the time when Cyrus thus became the ruler of an empire greater even than Assyria itself, seventy[462] years had elapsed since the capture of Jerusalem in the reign of Jehoiak...
119. CHAPTER IV.IN the year B.C. 464 Artaxerxes Longimanus succeeded to the Persian throne. His reign was favourable to the Jews, and was signalised, B.C. 458, by a fresh migration to Jerusalem...
120. xxxiii. 36), a desert tract between the Dead Sea and the70 – “If I were to make a model of the end of the world, it would be from the valley of the convent of Mount Sinai.” Quoted in Stanley, _S. and P._ 43, n.
121. xiii. 11)79 – In Heb. ix. 4, it is mentioned among the objects within the _second veil_, and in 1 Kings vi. 22 is said to belong to the _Oracle_ or _Holy of Holies_. Possibly, from its p...
122. xx. 28), as also the grandson of Moses; (iii) the iniquity176 – Mr Thomson compares it with the soil of the lower portion of the Mississippi; “even now the region produces large crops of wheat, barley, maize, sesame, rice, and other pl...
123. ii. 23) had in the time of Abraham and Isaac established akingdom, the capital of which was at Gerar, and possessed a standing army (Gen. xxi. 22; xxvi. 26). After the Exodus, Gerar disappears from history, and the power of Philistia i...
124. xxv. 1, is the height, most conspicuous of all in theneighbourhood of Jerusalem, immediately above the town of Gibeon, known to the Crusaders as ‘Montjoye,’ being the spot from whence they first saw Jerusalem, now called _Neby Sam...
125. xxiii. 34), and was doubtless well aware of the sad fate308 – “Now for the first time called _Israel_, as distinct from Judah. But it is likely that, although it now first appears, this distinction had actually grown up while David r...
126. xxvii. 10, 14), but the restoration of the king after therebellion of Absalom was the signal for an outburst of the old rivalry, which well-nigh precipitated a disruption (2 Sam. xx. 1), and when the smouldering feelings of jealousy w...