describes as a thong of leather, or of string plaited, broad in the middle, and having a loop at one end, by which it was fixed upon and firmly held with the hand; the other extremity terminated in a lash, which escaped from the fingers as the stone was thrown; and when used the slinger whirled it three or four times over his head, to steady it and to increase the impetus. The Egyptian slingers employed round stones for this purpose, which they carried in a small bag, hanging from a small belt over the shoulder. The Greeks and Trojans, according to the descriptions of their warfare left by Homer, often pelted each other heartily with stones, but appear not to have made much use of the sling. It existed among them, however, but would seem to have been used rather by the common soldiers than by the heroes; which is probably the reason why it is not brought much under our notice in the Iliad. It appears that the centre of their slings was wadded with fine wool, which, yielding to the pressure of the stone, afforded it a secure lodgment till the moment of dismission.

There are various indications of the attention which the Hebrews gave to the use of the sling. From the history of David, it seems to have been a usual weapon among the shepherds, as they watched their flocks (1 Sam. xvii. 40); and the effective use to which that famous shepherd applied it in his combat with Goliath, may be taken as an evidence of their skill. It is very probable that the husbandmen protected their grounds from wild animals with the sling, as well as the shepherds did their flocks from beasts of prey. The Roman husbandmen did so, as still do those of modern Egypt. Of all the Hebrews, the Benjamites seem to have had a peculiarly distinguished reputation as slingers. The present verse is not the only passage by which this is demonstrated. The fact here recorded concerning the accuracy of their aim, indicates that they must have undergone a long and careful training to the

art.

21. The children of Benjamin... destroyed... of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men.'-On common military principles there is nothing to occasion surprise in the defeat of an army of 400,000 men by one of about 27,000. It has been the great mistake of Orientals generally, in all ages, to calculate their prospects of success rather by the numbers than by the efficiency of the men they can bring into action; and the abundant experience which Oriental history affords, of the frequently disastrous consequences of assembling such vast and unwieldy bodies, has not yet operated in correcting this kind of infatuation, which is not, indeed, peculiar to the Orientals. The difficulty of obtaining subsistence for such vast bodies; the consequent necessity of entering into immediate action, in order to bring the affair to a conclusion, without waiting

for those opportunities and advantages which are of so much importance to a successful result;-the difficulty of making such vast numbers act in concert against the enemy, or for mutual support; the tumultuary character of their operations, under the imperfect organization of Oriental armies; and the facility with which a panic spreads among large masses-all these, and more, are circumstances which concur not to illustrate the probability, but to explain the historical fact, that enormous masses of men have so often been defeated by comparatively small, but compact and vigorous, bodies, animated by one spirit, quick to perceive, and alert to seize the advantages which cannot fail to offer; and, as being more easily directed and controlled, more capable of concerted action, and not equally obliged, by the difficulty of keeping their army on foot, to hurry into conflict, and thus forego the advantages which might be obtained by manœuvre and delay. If the Lord had been consulted at the commencement of this undertaking (and it is well to remember that he was not, as it helps us better to understand the result), he would probably have directed, as in the case of Gideon, that this vast host should be reduced to a small body of resolute men; but as HE was not consulted, except partially and apparently as an afterthought, they seem in the first instance to have been left to their own ill-advised plans, and no divine power was interposed to prevent the very natural result of a conflict of 400,000 against 27,000 men of valour' (v. 44).

33. Baal-tamar.'-Tamar means a palm-tree; and the place perhaps had its name from a grove of palm-trees in which Baal was worshipped. We know nothing of the place beyond what the context shows, that it was near Gibeah. Jerome mentions a village as existing, in his time, in this neighbourhood, under the name of Bethamari; and this looks like a variation or corruption of the same

name.

34. Ten thousand chosen men.'-These ten thousand seem to form a third body, distinct from the ambuscade and from the army engaged with the Benjamites at Baal

tamar.

35. The Lord smote Benjamin.'-In this verse the sacred writer relates the event of the battle in general terms. In the sequel he resumes the narrative, giving the particulars of the battle and the consequences of victory more in detail.

45. The rock of Rimmon.'-The escaped Benjamites probably remained in a cave or caves of this rock, or rocky mountain. Of the mountain itself we know nothing distinctly; but some have thought it was the same as the exceeding high mountain' which was the scene of Christ's temptation, and concerning which see the note to Matt. iv. 8.

CHAPTER XXI.

1 The people bewail the desolation of Benjamin. 8 By the destruction of Jabesh-gilead they provide them four hundred wives. 16 They advise them to surprise the virgins that danced at Shiloh.

Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.

2 And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore;

3 And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel?

4 And it came to pass on the morrow,

that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

5 And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death.

6 And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.

7 How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD

Bethel.'-This is a particular indication of the situation, not of Shiloh, but of the place in the neighbourhood where the young women were likely to come to dance. It is probably thus precisely described, that the Benjamites might not mistake the place. It was not certain that the young women would come there (see v. 21); but it was probable, the custom being common. The Orientals generally have no places in their towns where assemblies may be held for festivity and dancing. It is therefore customary to hold such assemblies in some pleasant places in the neighbourhood, in the gardens and plantations, or in small valleys, if there be any. This is a favourite plan of the women when they desire to enjoy themselves. There are certain occasions of annual recurrence (as the religious festival of Bairam among the Moslems) in which the women are allowed this indulgence in the fullest extent, and thus they form large parties which go out to amuse themselves with music, dancing, and such other recreations as are common among females. The approaches of the place where they assemble are now usually guarded by eunuchs to prevent intrusion. The different sexes never participate in each other's amusements: and this was the case in the times of the Bible; for we never read of any amusement or festivity in which they mingled: and if men had in this instance been present with the daughters of Shiloh, the Benjamites would not so easily have secured their prey. The Oriental women have a great passion for suburban festivities, and have many contrivances for securing its enjoyment. It is the custom at Aleppo to send the women out into the neighbouring gardens and plantations when an earthquake is apprehended, on which occasions they enjoy themselves to the utmost. Not long since, in order to secure this indulgence, the women conspired together, and raised money to hire an astrologer to go to the pasha and foretell an earthquake. He was believed; and the women were sent out of town, and passed two or three days in all sorts of festivity. But as the earthquake did not happen, and the contrivance transpired through the exultation of the ladies at the success of their plan, they were recalled, and the subservient astrologer lost his head. In the island of Malta, the women indicate their Oriental descent by the same attachment to rural festivity in the open air. On the feast of St. Paul, in particular, they resort from all parts of the island to the pleasant valley of Boschetto, and spend the day in feasting, dancing, and music. It is true that some of the males of the respective families are now usually present; but it is properly the women's festival; and so bent are they on securing its enjoyment, that it is one of the strictest stipulations which they make before marriage, "that they shall be allowed to spend St. Paul's day, every year, in the valley of Boschetto. We the rather allude to this custom, because it is the celebration of a religious festival, as was that at which the daughters of Shiloh danced their dances; and because it is the relic of a more ancient religious celebration in honour of Melkart (the Tyrian Hercules) which the Phoenician colonists, who settled in Malta, brought with them from Tyre. Indeed there are circumstances which approximate it to the feast of tabernacles, at which the present transaction is supposed to have taken place; for on this occasion it is usual for the people, on their return to Boschetto, to cover the vehicles in which they are conveyed with branches of trees-chiefly of poplar, which was also used in the more ancient festival, that tree having been sacred to the ancient Melkart of Tyre.

12. The daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances.' -The preceding note may be taken to illustrate the custom, for the women to go out of the towns to hold the festivities in the open air. It will be recollected that the women of Israel were not required, like the men, to attend at the place of the tabernacle during the three annual festivals; whence it is that the daughters of Shiloh' only are mentioned in the present text. We also intimated, in the former note, that the ancient religious festivals were often celebrated with dances--not always so much as a religious act in itself, as an amusement in a season of general festivity; and such, perhaps, were the dances of the daughters of Shiloh. We must not always conclude an act to

have a religious intention because it takes place in the season of a religious festival, any more than the festal observances of Easter and Christmas may be considered to form any essential part of the celebration. A festival occurs; and after attending to its prescribed observances, people fall upon their customary recreations, particularly when the festal season is of several days' duration. Dancing seems to have been a very general recreation among the Jews-the sexes dancing apart-both in their ordinary entertainments and greater festival occasions. Dances were also sometimes performed more distinctly on a religious account, than seems to have been the case in the instance before us. Thus Miriam and the women of Israel celebrated with music, songs, and dancing, the overthrow of the Egyptians (Exod. xv. 20, 21); and thus David ⚫ danced before the ark with all his might,' when it was conveyed to Jerusalem in triumph from the house of Obed-edom (2 Sam. vi. 14). Dancing accompanied with music was, in fact, among the Jews and other ancient nations, a general mode of expressing joy and exultation, whether religious, secular, or domestic: but among some other nations it was more formally and distinctly associated with religious worship than among the Jews, whose dances did not form any part of their worship, but was an act of joy on particular occasions, some of which were religious. The distinction is important. We do not know of any authority which Bishop Patrick has for saying, that the Hebrew virgins only danced at the feast of tabernacles; and we have no doubt of its being a mistake. Perhaps it arose from the fact that there was, in later times, more dancing at this than at any other feast; perhaps because it included the harvest-home and vintage festival. In the time of our Saviour, all the elders, the members of the Sanhedrim, the rulers of the synagogues, and the doctors of the schools, and other persons deemed venerable for their age and piety, danced together in the court of the temple, to the sound of the temple music, every evening while this feast lasted. The balconies around the court were crowded with women, and the ground with men, as spectators. This, however, conveys no intimation of earlier usage, as the ceremony was professedly in imitation of David's dancing before the ark.

CHRONOLOGY.-The chronology of the period in which the Judges ruled is beset with great and perhaps insuperable difficulties. There are intervals of time the extent of which is not specified; as, for instance, that from Joshua's death to the yoke of Chushan-rishathaim (iii. 8); that of the rule of Shamgar (iii. 31); that between Gideon's death and Abimelech's accession (viii. 31-32); and that of Israel's renewal of idolatry previous to their oppression by the Ammonites (x. 6, 7). Sometimes round numbers seein to have been given, as forty years for the rule of Othniel, forty years for that of Gideon, and forty years also for the duration of the oppression by the Philistines. Twenty years are given for the subjection to Jabin, and twenty years for the government of Samson; yet the latter never completely conquered the Philistines, who, on the contrary, succeeded in subduing him. Some judges, who are commonly considered to have been successive, were in all probability contemporaneous, and ruled over different districts. Under these circumstances, it is impossible to fix the date of each particular event in the book of Judges; but attempts have been made to settle its general chronology, of which we must in this place mention the most successful.

The whole period of the Judges, from Joshua to Eli, is usually estimated at 299 years, in order to meet the 480 years which (1 Kings vi. 1) are said to have elapsed from the departure of the Israelites from Egypt to the foundation of the Temple by Solomon. But St. Paul says (Acts xiii. 20) God gave unto the people of Israel judges for the space of about 450 years until Samuel the prophet.' Again, if the number of years specified by the author of our book in stating facts, is summed up, we have 410 years, exclusive of those years not specified for certain intervals of time above mentioned. In order to reduce these 410 years

and upwards to 299, events and reigns must, in computing their years of duration, either be entirely passed over, or, in a most arbitrary way, included in other periods preceding or subsequent. This has been done by Archbishop Usher, whose peculiarly faulty system has been adopted in the Authorized Version of the Scriptures. He excludes the repeated intervals during which the Hebrews were in subjection to their enemies, and reckons only the years of peace and rest which were assigned to the successive judges. All this arises from the obligation which Usher unfortunately conceived himself under of following the scheme adopted by the Masoretic Jews, who, as Dr. Hales remarks, have by a curious invention included the four first servitudes in the years of the Judges who put an end to them, contrary to the express declarations of Scripture, which represents the administrations of the Judges, not as synchronising with the servitudes, but as succeeding them. The Rabbins were indeed forced to allow the fifth servitude to have been distinct from the administration of Jephthah, because it was too long to be included in that administration; but they then deducted a year from the Scripture account of the servitude, making it only six instead of seven years. They sank entirely the sixth servitude of forty years under the Philistines, because it was too long to be contained in Samson's administration; and, to crown all, they reduced Saul's reign of forty years to two years only.

The necessity for all these tortuous operations has arisen from a desire to produce a conformity with the date in

1 Kings vi. 1, which, as already cited, gives a period of only 480 years from the Exode to the foundation of Solomon's temple. As this date is incompatible with the sum of the different numbers given in the Book of Judges, and as it differs from the computations of Josephus, and of all the ancient writers on the subject, whether Jewish or Christian, it is not unsatisfactory to find grounds which leave this text open to much doubt and suspicion. We cannot here enter into any lengthened proof; but that the text did not exist in the Hebrew and Greek copies of the Scripture until nearly three centuries after Christ, seems evident from the absence of all reference to it in the works of the learned men who composed histories of the Jews from the materials supplied to them in the sacred books.

It may also be remarked, that even the ancient versions, as they at present exist, do not agree in the number. The present copies of the Septuagint, for instance, have 440, not 480 years: on which, and other grounds, some scholars, who have hesitated to regard the text as an interpolation, have deemed themselves authorized to alter it to 592 years instead of 480, producing in this way the same result which would be obtained if the text had no existence. This, it has been already remarked, is the number given by Josephus (Antiq. viii. 3. 1), and is in agreement with the statement of Paul. There would then be for the period from Moses's death to Saul's accession 468 years, and the whole period of the Judges, from the death of Joshua to that of Samuel, might be estimated at 450 years, agreeably to Acts xiii. 20. If we add to these 450 years,

Besides the 20 years under the sixth servitude.

forty years for the march in the Desert, eighty-four years for the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon, until the foundation of the Temple, the amount would be 574 years. For the time when Joshua acted as an independent chieftain, eighteen years may be counted, which, added to 574, would make up the above number of 592 years. It must, however, be observed, that the number of 450 years represents only the sum-total of all chronologically specified facts of our book down to the death of Eli, and does not include the intervals of time in which the years are not given. The statement of Josephus, above referred to, rests only on his own individual computation, and is contrary to another statement of the same author.

It only remains to arrange the different systems of the

chronology of this period so as to exhibit them in one view to the eye of the reader. It has been deemed right, for the better apprehension of the differences, to make the table embrace the whole period from the Exode to the foundation of Solomon's Temple. The authorities whose views are embodied in this table are, Josephus, Antiq. v. 1-10; Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch (330 A.D.), Epist. ad Autolycum, iii.; Eusebius (330 A.D.), Præp. Evangelica, x. 4; Usher (165 A.D.), Chronologia Sacra, p. 71; Jackson (175 A.D.), Chronological Antiquities, p. 145; Hales (1811 A.D.), Analysis of Chronology; Russell (1827 A.D.), Connection of Sacred and Profane History.

[See on the Chronology of Judges, APPENDIX, No. 21.]