notwithstanding, by means of an extraordinary and supernatural supply of sap. In this there was a clear and expressive symbol of the position and essential character of the priesthood in Israel; both of the priesthood to which the whole nation was called (§ 9), but for which it had declared itself as yet unqualified (§ 10, 1), and also of the special (Levitical) priesthood, which took the place of the hitherto undeveloped universal priesthood. That which took place in the priestly rod was the very thing to which Israel had been set apart, and still continued to be set apart. Israel was naturally a nation like all the rest,-cut off along with all the rest of the human family, from the Eternal Fountain of life by the universality of sin,-torn out by the roots from the soil, in which alone a true national life can blossom and bear fruit. But from the saving counsel of God, who chose it out of all nations to be a holy people and a kingdom of priests, and from a fostering revelation by which it was nourished and matured, it constantly received fresh sap of a supernatural kind, by virtue of which it sprouted, flourished, and bore fruit. The relation in which the family of Aaron stood to the other families of Israel, and the priestly character of Aaron to the unpriestly character of the priestly nation, was the same as that in which the nation of Israel stood to the other nations of the earth. Aaron and his sons were no more qualified by nature for the true priesthood than the rest of the nation; but, from the call and election of Jehovah, they received those streams of life by which they were fully qualified. Israel, through the full enjoyment of Divine revelation, was (or at least could and ought to have been) the fruitful nation among the barren nations of the earth;—so was the family of Aaron the one fruitful family among the comparatively barren families of Israel,—not, however, by any merit of its own, but by the call and grace of Jehovah.-It was not without significance that the rods were of almond-wood. W. Neumann has the following excellent remarks on the subject: "py is the almond-tree; so called as being the waking tree (Ezra viii. 29; Prov. viii. 34; Is. xxix. 20), which blossoms in January, and the fruit of which is ripe by March (Pliny Nat. hist. 46, 25); the tree which is awake when the rest of nature is still deeply sunk in the sleep of death, and which seems to shout to all the rest the call of God, Awake" (Jeremias v. Anathoth, i. 134 sqq., Leipzig 1854).

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(3.) It is nowhere affirmed that Aaron's rod, which was carried back into the Holy of Holies, budding and blossoming, to be preserved there as a memorial of the election of Jehovah, continued henceforth to bud and blossom; and we are not warranted in looking for miracles in the Scriptures, where they themselves do not expressly furnish either the warrant or obligation.

THE THIRTY-SEVEN YEARS' BAN.

§ 41. (Num. xxxiii. 19-36.)-We left the Israelites at Kadesh towards the end of the second year; and at Kadesh we find them in the first month of the fortieth year (Num. xx. 1). As Rithmah (Num. xxxiii. 18) coincides geographically with Kadesh (vid. § 30), the seventeen stations whose names occur in Num. xxxiii. 19–36, must have lain between the first and second visits to Kadesh. And as these seventeen stations, the last of which, Eziongeber, is situated at the northern extremity of the Elanitic Gulf, intersect the desert from north to south, we may reckon pretty nearly the same number of intermediate stations, consisting for the most part of the very same places, on the road back from Eziongeber to Kadesh, although no stations at all are named between the two; and the silence of the author must be attributed to the fact that, as the circumstances continued precisely the same, it was not in accordance with his plan to repeat the names of stations which had been visited before. In this case, the number of stations would correspond very nearly to the number of years spent in the desert, and the average stay at each station would be a year. Now, if we call to mind the necessities and circumstances of the people during the period of the thirty-seven years' ban, which rested upon them, we shall soon see that it must have been utterly impossible, even during this period, for a close connection to be maintained throughout the whole congregation. It was only here and there that the general barrenness of the desert was broken by fertile and watered oases, and nowhere did it present a sufficiently extensive tract of meadow-land to meet the wants of the cattle of the whole congregation. We are therefore forced to the conclusion (to

which many allusions throughout the Bible would otherwise have brought us), that shortly after the sentence of rejection was pronounced, the congregation dispersed, in larger or smaller parties, over the entire desert, and settled down in the oases which presented themselves, until the time arrived when Moses summoned them, at the end of the thirty-seven years of punishment, to meet again at Kadesh. The stations mentioned in Num. xxxiii. 19–36 would in this case be merely the places selected in succession as the head-quarters, in the midst of which were Moses and the sanctuary. It is not difficult to understand the reason, why the head-quarters did not remain in the same place throughout; for it was absolutely necessary that the scattered parties should be visited by Moses and the sanctuary, to prevent their connection with one another, and more especially their connection with Moses and the sanctuary, from being entirely dissolved during so long a period as thirty-seven years. Hence the stations named in Num. xxxiii. 19-36 must be regarded in the light of a circuit, which was made through the desert by Moses and the tabernacle.

(1.) It will be sufficient simply to record Hitzig's opinion, that the sojourn of Israel in the desert did not last longer than four years (Urgeschichte und Mythologie der Philister, p. 172 sqq.). He arrives at this result by observing, that forty is a round number, and that the length of their stay at the eighteen stations mentioned in the catalogue (Num. xxxiii. 19-35), which are passed over in the history, must be measured by the stay made at the other twenty-five stations. This gives a period of not less than one year, and not more than two. But the stay in the desert closed altogether before chap. xx. 1, and terminated with the year itself; it embraced the whole of this year, therefore, and what yet remained of the second year, when the Israelites left Hazeroth, that is, not quite ten months. We should thus have four years in all. But in a popular legend four could easily become forty. That the myth has "violently" exaggerated, is confirmed by the fact, that "in this desert the amount of space is inconsiderable (?!), and that it was to some extent already occupied, so that it could not possibly afford nourishment to a tenth part of the number" (in answer to this, see § i. 3);

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consequently the natural impulse to self-support would very early have excited a desire, and even made it a necessity, to escape from the desert at any cost." Another proof of the exaggerated character of the myth is the fact, that the giants, "who lived at Hebron in the second year of the journey (Num. xiii. 22), are said to have been all three found there (Josh. xv. 14; Judg. i. 10) no less than forty-five years afterwards (Josh. xiv. 7, 10).” Such empty arguments as these are truly not worth refuting.

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GOTHE, however, has acted more foolishly still (West-östlicher Divan: "Israel in der Wüste"). The compilation of the Pentateuch is "extremely sad, confused, and incomprehensible," aiming, as it evidently does, in so trivial a manner to multiply the quantity of religious ceremonies." The journey through the desert, he says, did not occupy quite so long as two years; the eighteen stations in Num. xxxiii. 19-35 are pure inventions, intended to give some colour to the fable, which is served up, of a forty years' sojourn in the desert.—The reader would probably like to see a brief sketch of the leading ideas of this remarkable treatise. Any further criticism we must beg to be spared.— According to Göthe, Moses was of a wild character, shut up himself, muddy in his brains, extremely contracted, quite unable to think; and the careful training which he received at the Egyptian court was entirely thrown away upon him. Under all circumstances, he continued just what he was-boorish, powerful, reserved, incapable of sympathy, not born for thought and meditation, unable to project a sensible plan, unskilful in everything he took in hand, etc., etc. When Pharaoh had refused the application of Moses that he would let the people go, some land plagues accidentally came in to favour his enterprise, and he and his people immediately broke through all their obligations. "Under the pretence of celebrating a general festival, they obtained vessels of gold and silver from their neighbours ; and at the very moment, when the Egyptians believed the Israelites to be partaking of a harmless meal, an inverted Sicilian vesper was in hand. The foreigner murdered the native, the guest the host; and, under the influence of a cruel policy, they slew none but the first-born, in order that, in a country where primogeniture has so many privileges, the selfish feelings of the younger might be excited, and their immediate revenge avoided

by a rapid flight. The scheme was successful; the murderers were thrust out instead of being punished. It was not till some time afterwards that the king collected an army; but his horsemen and scythe-chariots fought at a great disadvantage on a marshy soil with the light-armed rear. Under the difficulties of a journey through the desert, Moses was always at a loss how to satisfy his discontented followers. He felt that he was "born to act and govern, but nature had refused him the necessary materials for so dangerous an occupation." He imagined that, as ruler, he ought to trouble himself about the smallest trifles. "It was Jethro who first suggested the plan, which he ought to have thought of himself, of classifying the people and appointing inferior officers." The only road that any reasonable man would have thought of taking from Sinai to Palestine, was the one which goes along the east of the land of the Edomites, and passes through the cultivated country of the Midianites and Moabites to the Jordan. But Moses was blockhead enough to listen to the crafty Midianite, who persuaded him to lead the people right across the desert, from one corner to the other. "Unfortunately, Moses possessed even less military than administrative talent." Hence he was altogether at a loss what to do, when there was a division of opinion at Kadesh. He first of all gave orders for the attack; and then afterwards, even he discovered that there were dangers in an attack from this side. He then applied for a free passage through the Edomites' country; but the Edomites were too wise for this, and gave him a direct refusal. The Israelites were now compelled to turn back, and take the route which a very little reflection would have induced their leader to. decide upon when first they set out from Sinai. Henceforth everything went well. "In the meantime Miriam had died, and Aaron had disappeared, shortly after their opposition to Moses." The Midianites were exterminated, and the country to the east of the Jordan conquered, But instead of hurrying forwards in their course of victory, laws were given and fresh arrangements made, in precisely the old style. "In the midst of all this work, Moses himself disappeared, just in the same way in which Aaron had disappeared before; and we are "ery much mistaken if Joshua and Caleb were not glad to see the government of a man of contracted mind, which they had borne for so many years, brought to an end, and to send him after the many whom he had been