After these conquests there still remained a considerable part of the country unsubdued; but when the tabernacle was set up in Shiloh, a city assigned to the tribe of Ephraim, to which Joshua belonged, as a sign of rest unto the peo1445. ple, Joshua was commanded to divide the whole land among the Israelites by lot, both that part which was, and that which was not subdued,

according as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses." Seven of the tribes had not then received their inheritance. Joshua therefore" sent three men from each tribe to go through the land, and describe it into seven parts;" and ordered them "to bring the description (s) to him, to cast lots for the tribes before the Lord." No allotment, except forty-eight cities to dwell in, was made to the tribe of Levi, because they were appropriated to the services of religion, and the tithes of the whole country were given them for a maintenance; and the priests had also a part of the sacrifices: but the whole country was divided into twelve parts, as the descendants of Joseph were separated into two tribes, which from his two sons were called the tribe of Ephraim, and the tribe of Manasseh.

The

(s) If this description were a chart or map, this people must have been farther advanced in knowledge, than they are usually supposed to have been.-Josh. e. 18.

The kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and of Og, king of Bashan, and the land of Gilead, all on the eastern side of Jordan, which had been given by Moses to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, upon conditions which they exactly fulfilled, were confirmed to them by Joshua. He divided the land on the western side of the river between the other nine tribes and a half; and Jerusalem, a city of the Jebusites, fell to the lot of the children of Judah (t). The twelve tribes went to take possession of their several allotments; and the death of Joshua happened about eighteen 1426. years after this distribution of the land.

No person was at first appointed to succeed Joshua in the general command and government of the Israelites; but acting in separate tribes, each having a head or governor, called in Scripture "the princes of the people," they proceeded in the conquest of the remaining part of the country, and were for a few years faithful in the service of God; they then, in opposition to the divine commands delivered by Moses and Joshua, suffered the antient inhabitants of Canaan to remain tributary among them, and were seduced to join them in the idolatrous worship of

(t) Josh. c. 15. v. 63. Judg. c. 1. v. 8. 21.

of their false gods. Upon this provocation God gave them up into the hands of Cushan, king of 1413. Mesopotamia, who reduced them to a state of subjection, in which they continued eight years. God was then pleased to listen to their earnest prayers; and for the purpose of delivering them, he appointed Othniel (u) to be their leader, who 1405. defeated Cushan, restored the Israelites to liberty, and established peace, with the enjoyment of promised blessings, for forty years. Othniel was the first of those persons, who governed Israel under the name of Judges. These judges were twelve in number, and their government continued rather more than 300 years (a). During this time the Israelites frequently provoked the anger of the Almighty, and being guilty of many heinous sins, especially idolatry, were often severely punished. Upon their relapses into wickedness, they were successively enslaved by Eglon, king of Moab, Jabin, king of Canaan, by the Midianites, by the Ammonites, and by the Philistines. the time of Eli, the last judge but one, the ark of the Lord was taken by the Philistines, but

In

was

(u) From the death of Joshua to the appointment of Othniel, was probably about twenty-one years.— Judges, c. 3.

(x) The different opinions concerning the chronology of these judges may be seen in Dufresnoy's Chronology.

was miraculously preserved from injury, and after seven months was brought back to the Israelites, who might have been taught the necessity of keeping the terms of the covenant by this temporary deprivation of "their glory."

The judges do not appear to have succeeded each other in regular order. They were appointed as the instrument of Divine interposition upon great emergencies, and more particularly when the repentance and supplications of the Israelites induced God to relieve them from their sufferings (y).

When Samuel, the prophet and judge of Israel, who succeeded Eli, was grown old, he appointed his sons to administer justice in his room; and upon their misconduct, the Israelites desired that, like other nations, they might have a king. The government of the Israelites, from their departure out of Egypt to the time of Samuel, was a Theocracy, that is, a government by God himself, who not only gave them general laws and regulations, but authorized them to apply to him in all cases of doubt and emer

gency.

(y) It is to be remembered, That Moses had appointed judges to each tribe, who were called princes of the tribe, and "who sat in the gate," or place of justice, to judge the people. The judges here mentioned were in the place of Moses and Joshua, chief judges and generals.

gency. His "glory" resided, as it were, among them, and, from time to time, as particular occasions required, he issued his decrees, and signified his will from the tabernacle. To desire, therefore, a king, was to reject this Theocracy, and to declare, "that they would not have God to reign over them (z)" in that peculiar manner in which he had hitherto condescended to be their king. Samuel, by the command of God, expostulated with the Israelites, upbraided them with their ingratitude, and represented to them the evils which would follow the establishment of regal authority among them; but they obstinately persevered in their request, and at length God was pleased to direct Samuel to anoint 1095. Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin, to be king of Israel. He was accepted by the people, and reigned over them forty years; but because of his disobedience to the divine commands, God did not suffer the kingdom to remain in his 1055. family (a). Saul was succeeded by David, who

had been secretly anointed by Samuel, at the command of God, as the successor of Saul. He was of the tribe of Judah, and had greatly distinguished himself in the reign of Saul, by his faith in God, by repeated instances of courage and