Chapter 7

revenged the violation of his sister Dinah by a massacre of the Shechemites, and the dispersion alluded to in Jacob’s blessing (Gen. xlix. 5-7) is mentioned as consequent on this act of barbarism.

*** In the IXth century Mesha of Moab does not mention the Reubenites, and speaks of the Gadites only as inhabiting the territory formerly occupied by them. Tradition attributed the misfortunes of the tribe to the crime of its chief in his seduction of Bilhah, his father’s concubine (Gen. xlix. 3, 4; cf. xxxv. 22)

The Jewish chroniclers attempted by various combinations to prove that the sacred number of tribes was the correct one. At times they included Levi in the list, in which case Joseph was reckoned as one;* while on other occasions Levi or Simeon was omitted, when for Joseph would be substituted his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh.** In addition to this, the tribes were very unequal in size: Ephraim, Gad, and Manasseh comprised many powerful and wealthy families; Dan, on the contrary, contained so few, that it was sometimes reckoned as a mere clan.

* As, for instance, in Jacob’s blessing (Gen. xlix. 5-7) and in the enumeration of the patriarch’s sons at the time of his journey to Egypt (Gen. xlvi. 9-26).

** Numb. i. 20, et seq., where the descendants of Levi are not included among the twelve, and Deut. xxxiii. 6-25, where Simeon is omitted from among the tribes blessed by Moses before his death.

The tribal organisation had not reached its full development at the time of the sojourn in the desert. The tribes of Joseph and Judah, who subsequently played such important parts, were at that period not held in any particular estimation; Reuben, on the other hand, exercised a sort of right of priority over the rest.*

* This conclusion is drawn from the position of eldest son given to him in all the genealogies enumerating the children of Jacob. Stade, on the contrary, is inclined to believe that this place of honour was granted to him on account of the smallness of his family, to prevent any jealousy arising between the more powerful tribes, such as Ephraim and Judah (_Ges. des Vollces Isr._, vol. i. pp. 151, 152).

The territory which they occupied soon became insufficient to support their numbers, and they sought to exchange it for a wider area, such as was offered by the neighbouring provinces of Southern Syria. Pharaoh at this time exercised no authority over this region, and they were, therefore, no longer in fear of opposition from his troops; the latter had been recalled to Egypt, and it is doubtful even whether he retained possession of the Shephelah by means of his Zakkala and Philistine colonies; the Hebrews, at any rate, had nothing to fear from him so long as they respected Gaza and Ascalon. They began by attempting to possess themselves of the provinces around Hebron, in the direction of the Dead Sea, and we read that, before entering them, they sent out spies to reconnoitre and report on the country.* Its population had undergone considerable modifications since the Israelites had quitted Goshen. The Amorites, who had seriously suffered from the incursions of Asiatic hordes, and had been constantly harassed by the attacks of the Aramæans, had abandoned the positions they had formerly occupied on the banks of the Orontes and the Litany, and had moved southwards, driving the Canaanites before them; their advance was accelerated as the resistance opposed to their hordes became lessened under the successors of Ramses III., until at length all opposition was withdrawn. They had possessed themselves of the regions about the Lake of Genesareth, the mountain district to the south of Tabor, the middle valley of the Jordan, and, pressing towards the territory east of that river, had attacked the cities scattered over the undulating table-land. This district had not been often subjected to incursions of Egyptian troops, and yet its inhabitants had been more impressed by Egyptian influence than many others.

Drawn by Paucher-Gudin, from the squeezes and sketches published in the _Zeitschrift ties Palcistina-Vereins_.

Whereas, in the north and west, cuneiform writing was almost entirely used, attempts had been made here to adapt the hieroglyphs to the native language.

The only one of their monuments which has been preserved is a rudely carved bas-relief in black basalt, representing a two-horned Astarte, before whom stands a king in adoration; the sovereign is Ramses II., and the inscriptions accompanying the figures contain a religious formula together with a name borrowed from one of the local dialects.*

*This is the “Stone of Job” discovered by Strahmacher. The inscription appears to give the name of a goddess, Agana- Zaphon, the second part of which recalls the name of Baal- Zephon.

The Amorites were everywhere victorious, but our information is confined to this bare fact; soon after their victory, however, we find the territory they had invaded divided into two kingdoms: in the north that of Bashan, which comprised, besides the Haurân, the plain watered by the Yarrnuk; and to the south that of Heshbon, containing the district lying around the Arnon, and the Jabbok to the east of the Dead Sea.* They seem to have made the same rapid progress in the country between the Jordan and the Mediterranean as elsewhere. They had subdued some of the small Canaanite states, entered into friendly relation with others, and penetrated gradually as far south as the borders of Sinai, while we find them establishing petty kings among the hill-country of Shechem around Hebron, on the confines of the Negeb, and the Shephelah.** When the Hebrew tribes ventured to push forward in a direct line northwards, they came into collision with the advance posts of the Amorite population, and suffered a severe defeat under the walls of Hormah.*** The check thus received, however, did not discourage them. As a direct course was closed to them, they turned to the right, and followed, first the southern and then the eastern shores of the Red Sea, till they reached the frontier of Gilead.****

* The extension of the Amorite power in this direction is proved by the facts relating to the kingdoms of Sihon and Og Gent. i. 4, ii. 24-37, iii. 1-1.7.

** For the Amorite occupation of the Negeb and the hill- country of Judah, cf. Numb. xiii. 29; Bent. i. 7, 19-46; Josh. x. 5, 6, 12, xi. 3; for their presence in the Shephelah, cf. Judges i. 34-36.

*** See the long account in Numb, xiii., xiv., which terminates with the mention of the defeat of the Israelites at Hormah; and cf. Bent. i. 19-46.

**** The itinerary given in Numb. xx. 22-29, xxxi., xxxiii. 37-49, and repeated in Bent, ii., brings the Israelites as far as Ezion-geber, in such a manner as to avoid the Midianites and the Moabites. The friendly welcome accorded to them in the regions situated to the east of the Dead Sea, has been accounted for either by an alliance made with Moab and Ammon against their common enemy, the Amorites, or by the fact that Ammon and Moab did not as yet occupy those regions; the inhabitants in that case would have been Edomites and Midianites, who were in continual warfare with each other.

There again they were confronted by the Amorites, but in lesser numbers, and not so securely entrenched within their fortresses as their fellow-countrymen in the Negeb, so that the Israelites were able to overthrow the kingdoms of Heshbon and Bashan.*

* War against Sihon, King of Heshbon (Numb. xxi. 21-31; Beut. ii. 26-37), and against Og, King of Bashan (Numb. xxi. 32-35; Beut. iii. 1-13).

Drawn by Boudier, from photograph No. 336 of the _Palestine Exploration Fund._

Gad received as its inheritance nearly the whole of the territory lying between the Jabbok and the Yarmuk, in the neighbourhood of the ancient native sanctuaries of Penuel, Mahanaim, and Succoth, associated with the memory of Jacob.* Reuben settled in the vicinity, and both tribes remained there isolated from the rest. From this time forward they took but a slight interest in the affairs of their brethren: when the latter demanded their succour, “Gilead abode beyond Jordan,” and “by the watercourses of Reuben there were great resolves at heart,” but without any consequent action.** It was not merely due to indifference on their part; their resources were fully taxed in defending themselves against the Aramæans and Bedawins, and from the attacks of Moab and Ammon. Gad, continually threatened, struggled for centuries without being discouraged, but Reuben lost heart,*** and soon declined in power, till at length he became merely a name in the memory of his brethren.

* Gad did not possess the districts between the Jabbok and the Arnon till the time of the early kings, and retained them only till about the reign of Jehu, as we gather from the inscription of Mesa.

** These are the very expressions used by the author of the _Song of Deborah_ in Judges v. 16, 17.

*** The recollection of these raids by Reuben against the Beduin of the Syrian desert is traceable in 1 Citron, v. 10, 18-22.

Two tribes having been thus provided for, the bulk of the Israelites sought to cross the Jordan without further delay, and establish themselves as best they might in the very heart of the Canaanites. The sacred writings speak of their taking possession of the country by a methodic campaign, undertaken by command of and under the visible protection of Jahveh* Moses had led them from Egypt to Kadesh, and from Kadesh to the land of Gilead; he had seen the promised land from the summit of Mount Nebo, but he had not entered it, and after his death, Joshua, son of Nun, became their leader, brought them across Jordan dryshod, not far from its mouth, and laid siege to Jericho.

* The history of the conquest is to be found in the _Book of Joshua._

The walls of the city fell of themselves at the blowing of the brazen trumpets,* and its capture entailed that of three neighbouring towns, Aï, Bethel, and Shechem. Shechem served as a rallying-place for the conquerors; Joshua took up his residence there, and built on the summit of Mount Ebal an altar of stone, on which he engraved the principal tenets of the divine Law.**

* Josh, i.-vi.

** Josh, vii., viii. Mount Ebal is the present Gebel Sulemiyeh.

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph brought back by Lortet.

The sudden intrusion of a new element naturally alarmed the worshippers of the surrounding local deities; they at once put a truce to their petty discords, and united in arms against the strangers. At the instigation of Adoni-zedeck, King of Jerusalem, the Canaanites collected their forces in the south; but they were routed not far from Gibeon, and their chiefs killed or mutilated.* The Amorites in the north, who had assembled round Jabin, King of Hazor, met with no better success; they were defeated at the waters of Merom, Hazor was burnt, and Galilee delivered to fire and sword.**

* Josh. x. The same war is given rather differently in Judges i. 1-9, where the king is called Adoni-bezek.

** Josh. xi. As another Jabin appears in the history of Deborah, it has

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph in Lortet.

The country having been thus to a certain extent cleared, Joshua set about dividing the spoil, and assigned to each tribe his allotted portion of territory.* Such, in its main outlines, is the account given by the Hebrew chroniclers; but, if closely examined, it would appear that the Israelites did not act throughout with that unity of purpose and energy which they [the Hebrew chroniclers] were pleased to imagine. They did not gain possession of the land all at once, but established themselves in it gradually by detachments, some settling at the fords of Jericho,** others more to the north, and in the central valley of the Jordan as far up as She-chem.***

* The lot given to each tribe is described in Josh, xiii.-