The Judges period as a whole has an important place in the development of Bible religion. Yahweh, the god of the brotherhood mishpat, was clearly set off in contrast with the local Baals of the Amorites. This initial emphasis upon the distinction between the gods would have been lost if the Israelites had all promptly settled down, and adopted the gods and the standpoint of advanced, oriental civilization. Although at a subsequent period the worship of Yahweh was brought more closely into contact with the cults of the local deities, the historical memories of the Judges epoch, charged with the idea of Yahweh's distinction from the gods of the land, influenced the mind of later generations.'

At the close of the Judges period there was a treaty of peace between Israelites and Amorites.-As the time of the monarchy draws near, there comes before us a highly significant notice touching the relations between the newer and the older inhabitants of Canaan. This notice occurs in the midst of the disjoined stories about the Philistine wars, and is as follows: 'And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites" (I Sam. 7:14). The two races were thus laying aside their hatred, and making treaties of peace. With this happy suggestion of concord, the age of the Judges draws on to a close.

The name Jerubbaal, identified with Gideon, has been cited to show that the term Baal was applied to Yahweh at this time. But there are many more instances of names containing Yahweh than there are of names containing Baal. Gideon himself had a son whose name was Jotham (Judg. 9:5). The name Jonathan, meaning "Yahweh has given," was borne by a Danite priest (Judg. 18:30). The sons of Samuel were called Joel and Abijah, signifying respectively "Yahweh is god" and "Yahweh is father" (I Sam. 8:2).

CHAPTER XII

SAUL'S KINGDOM IN THE HILLS

The Israelite monarchy was at first a highland organization, having no capital city, and standing apart from the Amorites.One of the forces leading to the development of the Hebrew nation was the pressure of hostile groups outside the territory of Israel. Chief among these were the Philistines. In the same way, the American colonies were brought together by the pressure of England. Likewise, Germany was consolidated by the hostility of Austria and France. This principle is of wide application in the development of social groups. Saul's kingdom was an Israelite undertaking, carried through without reference to the Amorites. This was in sharp contrast with the earlier movement under Abimelek, in which the two races came together, but failed to make a permanent organization. The kingdom of Abimelek was, indeed, an abortive undertaking, "born out of due time." But Saul's kingdom was a less ambitious project than Abimelek's, for it was limited to the Israelite clans of the hill-country. Abimelek had his capital in the Amorite walled city of Shechem; but the simple headquarters of Saul were at a country village in the Israelite highlands. Although a treaty of peace had been recently made between the two races, the hour for their union had not yet struck. The kingdom of Saul is interestingly treated by the First Book of Samuel, from chap. 8 forward to the close of the book.

The peace treaty with the Amorites was broken by King Saul.The first Israelite king was unable to overcome his prejudice against the Amorite, as the following passage indicates: "Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but

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of the remnant of the Amorites. And the children of Israel had sworn unto them. But Saul sought to slay them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah" (II Sam. 21:-).1 The perfidy of Saul and his followers had, of course, the effect of delaying the union of the races. Once more the news of Israelite vindictiveness was carried through the lowlands, and heard by the Amorites with horror. The Israelite clans had begun the trouble in the first place by attacking the country and seizing the highlands (Judg., chap. 1). The feud had been emphasized by the great Deborah battle at Esdraelon (Judg., chaps. 4 and 5). The Israelites had been faithless to their covenant and burned Shechem (Judg., chap. 9; Gen., chap. 34). They had also destroyed the city of Laish (Judg., chap. 18). And now, in disregard of a solemn treaty, their king had led an attack on Gibeon (II Sam., chap. 21). The peace covenant between the two races did, indeed, pave the way for constructive results; but Saul was not the kind of statesman to deal with the problem.

The Philistine policy was to break Saul's kingdom, and to hold the Israelites and Amorites apart. The progress of the national movement in Israel interested the Philistines greatly, for they dreaded the rise of a strong neighboring state. They did not approve of the highland kingdom under Saul; and they looked with apprehension upon the peace treaty between Israel and the Amorites. Hence the Philistines once more took the field against the highlanders, and shattered the power of Saul decisively at he battle of Gilboa. The scene was a memorable one, long talked about at the firesides of Israel. Gilboa stands among the northern hills of Ephraim, abutting upon the plain of Esdraelon; and in the important action occurring at this place, King Saul and his three sons were slain.

This violation of the treaty seems to have been more extensive than at first appears. The city of Gibeon was in league with a number of Amorite places, among which was Beeroth (Josh. 9:17). It is said that "the Beerothites fled to Gittaim," and that two of the Beerothites murdered one of Saul's grandsons (II Sam. 4:1-7).

A fact of large meaning is found in the treatment of the royal corpses by the Philistines. The victors carried the bodies of Saul and his sons across the eastern end of the plain, and fastened them to the wall of the Amorite city of Beth-shan (I Sam. 31:8-10). This important city was one of the many fortified places which the Israelites had failed to reduce at the time of the original invasion (Judg. 1:27; see Table II, p. 106). Beth-shan had stood behind its fortifications, grim and hostile, through the rough times of the Judges period; and the feelings of its people must have been very mixed as they saw the Philistines draw near and fasten the corpses of the Israelite royal family to the city wall. By this act, the Philistines virtually said to the Amorites: "When you make treaties with Israel, you are dealing with a people who are too weak to defend themselves, and who will not respect their treaty obligations."

The Israelite outlook was very dark when the star of Saul's kingdom sank in the dust of Gilboa.

In the period of the highland kingdom, Yahweh remained a local deity; and the hill-country became his "inheritance."— The Israelite view of Yahweh in this epoch is interestingly shown by certain words attributed to David when he fled away from the anger of King Saul: "They have driven me out this day that I should not cleave unto the inheritance of Yahweh, saying, Go, serve other gods. Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of Yahweh" (I Sam. 26:19-20). In this passage the hill-country has become the "inheritance of Yahweh." To leave the highlands of Israel was to go into the territory of "other gods," who must be served by all persons that entered their domains. To depart from Israel was thus the same as going away from the "presence," or the "face," of Yahweh.'

The American Revised Version translates the passage from David as we give it; but the King James Version translates it in words that are out of sympathy with the meaning of the Hebrew and the sense of the context.

In the reign of Saul, Yahweh continued to be identified with the "mishpat" of the clan brotherhood. The highland kingdom was little more than a loose, weak federation; and in spite of their national movement, the Israelites remained in the clan stage of progress all through the reign of Saul. In brief, they had not yet come to terms with civilization in general, nor with Amorite civilization in particular. This primitive community, with its ideas of what was "right" between man and man, worshiped Yahweh as its divine patron and the judge of its morality. Thus we see that three successive historical epochs emphasized the character of Yahweh as a god of the primitive, brotherhood mishpat—(1) the nomadic period in the Arabian wilderness, (2) the period of the Judges, (3) the period of the highland kingdom. Throughout all this time, from days immemorial straight up to the death of Saul at Gilboa, the clan chiefs presided over the administration of justice in the name of Yahweh. The courts operated not primarily to manufacture law, but simply to guarantee the application of old customs to all cases. Every man who had reached the years of discernment knew in a general way what the clan morality demanded. Therefore we must fix clearly in mind that, in the very nature of the situation, the mishpat of Yahweh was no secret. It was the common property of the clan conscience.

Yahweh therefore continued apart from the Amorite Baals during the time of Saul.-We have seen that the final "puttingaway" of Amorite gods is placed in the time just prior to the establishment of the monarchy (I Sam. 7:4). "The contest with the Canaanite religion," says Marti, "naturally played an important part in the struggle for the possession of the country." In line with the same view, Kuenen has observed that the struggle for nationality must have been coupled with a more or less pronounced aversion to the local Canaanite cults, 'Marti, Religion of the Old Testament (London, 1907), p. 98.