CHAPTER V.

_ABIMELECH AND JEPHTHAH._ JUDG. IX.–XII. B.C. CIRC. 1249–1188.

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 had sent Gideon, they made Baal-Berith, _Baal of the Covenant_, their god, and set up his sanctuary even in Shechem, though hallowed by the memories of the patriarchs[207] and the solemn ratification of the Law[208].

Meanwhile Gideon’s 70 sons appear to have exercised authority over some portion of the country. One of them, whose name was ABIMELECH, the son of a slave a Canaanite native of Shechem, after consultation with his mother’s brethren and her relatives (Judg. ix. 1), suggested that in place of the divided authority of his numerous brothers, he, _their bone and their flesh_ (Judg. ix. 2), should be vested with the supreme authority. The spirit of clanship was strong. _He is our brother_, whispered the family to the Shechemites, who at length fell in with the scheme, and lent Abimelech seventy pieces of silver from the sanctuary of Baal-Berith.

With the money he hired a body of men, and going to his father’s house at Ophrah, murdered all his brethren, save JOTHAM the youngest, who managed to escape. He was now left alone, and was solemnly anointed king by the men of Shechem, who thus formally signified their revolt from the Hebrew commonwealth. Tidings of what was going on reached the ears of Jotham. Emerging from his hiding-place, he stationed himself on one of the rocky inaccessible spurs of Mount Gerizim[209], and taking up his parable from the variegated foliage of the valley below and the neighbouring forest, bade the men of Shechem listen while he addressed to them the earliest Parable, that of the Bramble-King. _Once, he said, the Trees went forth to anoint a king over them. The Olive, the Vine, the Fig were each asked to accept the royal dignity, but each declined; the Olive could not leave his fatness, or the Fig-tree his sweetness, or the Vine the juice of his grapes. Recourse was then had to the Bramble, which not only accepted the proffered honour, but bade the other trees put their trust in its shadow, and threatened, if they did not, that fire should come forth from it and devour even the cedars of Lebanon._ Jotham then reminded the Shechemites of the services his father had rendered to the nation, and rebuked them for their gross ingratitude to his family. If they thought they had done well in electing Abimelech, the Bramble-King, he bade them rejoice in him; if not, he hoped a fire might come forth from the king, in whose shadow they had placed their trust, and destroy him and all who had joined in electing him. With these words the speaker fled.

In a short time his words were fulfilled. For three years Abimelech maintained his supremacy, residing himself at Arumah (Judg. ix. 41), not far from Shechem, while that place was entrusted to Zebul, his viceroy. During the joyous season of the vintage[210] (Judg. ix. 27) Gaal the son of Ebed, a leader of a body of freebooters tried to persuade the people of Shechem to transfer their allegiance from Abimelech, who was but half a kinsman, to the Hivite tribe of Hamor. Intelligence of this movement reached the ears of Zebul, who without delay sent word to Abimelech, bidding him levy his forces and surprise the plotters in the city. After a desperate battle Abimelech captured the place, put the entire population to the sword, and sowed the ruins of the city with salt (Judg. ix. 45). A remnant, however, of the insurgents took refuge in the temple of Baal-Berith. Thither Abimelech pursued them at the head of his followers, whom he commanded on their way to cut down boughs from the trees on the wooded eminence of Zalmon (Ps. lxviii. 14) close to the city. These he piled against the hold, set them on fire, and suffocated and burnt the refugees. From Shechem he repaired to Thebez[211] (_Tûbas_) and speedily captured the town; but again the inhabitants took refuge in one of its strong towers, and there held out. Forcing his way up to it, Abimelech was about to repeat the stratagem he had found so successful at Shechem (Judg. ix. 52), when a woman flung a fragment of millstone at his head[212]. Unwilling to die thus ingloriously, he bade his armour-bearer thrust him through with his sword, and so expired.

Other judges now succeeded, of whom TOLA, of the tribe of Issachar, governed Israel for a space of 23 years at Shamir in Mount Ephraim (Judg. x. 1, 2); he was succeeded by JAIR of Gilead, who during 22 years shared his almost regal honours with his thirty sons (Judg. x. 3, 4).

_Invasion of the Ammonites; Jephthah._

But recent judgments had not the effect of restraining the people from apostasy. To the worship of Baal and Astarte they now added that of the gods of Syria, of Zidon, of Moab and Ammon, as also of the Philistines. The national punishment they thus drew down upon themselves came from two quarters. On the south-west and along the fertile borders of the Shephelah the Philistines rose and reduced a portion of the country to subjection, while the tribes on the east of Jordan fell a prey to the Ammonites, and for 18 years endured the humiliation of irksome oppression. Nor were they the only sufferers, for the Ammonites crossed the Jordan and carried on their ravages even in the territories of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim (Judg. x. 6–9). So terrible was the oppression they now endured, that at length the Israelites were roused to a deep repentance; finding it in vain to cry unto their false gods in the day of tribulation, they put them away, and besought Jehovah if only this once to stretch forth His hand and deliver them. _Grieved for the misery of Israel_ (Judg. x. 16), the Lord raised up a deliverer in the person of JEPHTHAH, a base-born native of Gilead. Driven forth from his father’s house by his legitimate sons, Jephthah had fled into the land of Tob, somewhere on the east of Gilead, where putting himself at the head of brave but lawless men, he lived the life of a freebooter, making incursions from time to time into the territories of neighbouring tribes, and living on the proceeds of the spoil (Judg. xi. 1–3).

Determined to throw off the Ammonitish yoke, the tribes on the east of Jordan now turned to Jephthah, and promised him the chieftaincy, if he would undertake to lead them against the enemy. Jephthah consented, and it was formally agreed that, in the event of success, he should retain the supreme command. His first step was to send an embassy to the Ammonites urging the right of the Israelites to the land of Gilead. This being unsuccessful, he prepared for open war, and traversing Gilead and Manasseh collected warriors from such places as acknowledged his authority. But before entering on the campaign, in imitation probably of heathen customs, and especially of the Ammonites (2 Kin.