territory of the Philistines and of Geshur, of the Avites, of the Giblites, and of all the Lebanon.

At last the Israelites began earnestly to long for peace; and the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh implored Joshua to be allowed to return to their wives and their children on the eastern side of the Jordan.

66. THE SETTLEMENT IN PALESTINE.

[JOSH. XIII-XXII.]

But the land was first to be divided between the tribes of Israel. It was of small extent and comparatively narrow, about 190 miles long, and about 80 wide in the middle (varying considerably in other parts), containing about 15,000,000 acres. On the eastern side, it stretched towards the great empires of the Euphrates and Tigris, the regions of magnificent despotism; on the west, it was bathed by the waters of the Mediterranean, which connected it with the Grecian isles, the cradle of taste, learning, and philosophy; the southern boundary was that large tract of waste sand, which lay like a barrier between Palestine and Egypt, the land of idolatry and priestcraft; while to the north it reached to the high range of Lebanon, those tall mountain-peaks which separated it from Syria. This small country was singularly endowed by nature; it could boast of rich pasture lands large enough to feed thousands of flocks and herds; it abounded in woods of oak and sycamore, in groves of pine and olive, in the stateliest cedar-forests, luxuriant vineyards, and blooming gardens. Its small compass embraced mountains and rocks, sea-coasts, lakes, and rivers, teeming valleys and breezy table-land, but also sandy wastes and stony deserts.

The equitable division of such a country was no easy task. The difficulty was evaded by leaving the issue to be decided by lot, which the Hebrews and other eastern nations believed to reveal the Divine will.

To the share of Judah, the lion of Israel, the most numerous of the tribes, fell one of the southern provinces of Palestine, bordered on the east by the shores of the Salt Sea up to the influx of the Jordan; on the west by the territory of the Philistines, and extending almost to the Mediterranean; on the south by the mountains and deserts of Edom; and on the north by the extensive plains of Dan and the blooming districts of Benjamin. It was a cool hill country, on whose rugged heights the warlike tribe could dwell in security. The high eminences were crowned with fenced cities, destined to become famed in after-ages. The valleys were rich in corn, and the mountain sides in vineyards. As to the luxuriant growth of the vine, it is only necessary to recall to mind Eshcol, the halting-place of the spies sent by Moses, whence they brought back the colossal grapes. But the town of Hebron, associated with the name of the early patriarchs, though lying within the boundaries assigned to the tribe of Judah, was not to come into its exclusive possession; it was permitted as a residence to one man and his descendants for ever. Caleb, the tried and faithful servant of Moses and Joshua, asked for this beautiful spot as a reward of his long services. Joshua granted the request upon the condition that he would wrest it at the point of the sword from the giant race of the Enakim who still inhabited it. Caleb succeeded, and obtained his coveted prize. South-west of Hebron lay Debir, or, as it was anciently called, Kirjath Sepher. Caleb, wishing to take it from the heathen and to annex it to his own territory, promised to give his daughter Achsah to the man who should win it. His own nephew Othniel came boldly forward, and the city of Debir was added to the

possessions of Caleb. Thither he conducted his daughter, who, however, apparently looking with apprehension on the sandy plain around the city, begged and obtained from her father the springs that were in the neighbourhood. But Jebus, the future Jerusalem, lying on impregnable heights, remained the stronghold of the Jebusites, who, like some less important populations, dwelt unhurt in the very midst of the land of Judah.

Next in importance to the tribe of Judah was that of Joseph; it had so much increased in influence and strength that it was divided into two branches, Ephraim and Manasseh, each sufficiently powerful to form an independent tribe. The Ephraimites especially grew in authority and weight; they received a portion of Palestine north of Judah, but separated from it by the provinces of Dan and Benjamin-the Jordan in the east, the Mediterranean in the west. It included the beautiful plain of Sharon; the old town of Shiloh, so long the home of the Tabernacle; Shechem, a second capital of Palestine, and almost forming its centre; and the famous mountains of Ebal and Gerizim, which were to give rise to rival sects. The men of Manasseh again separated in two parts: one division settled in the north of Ephraim; the other, as has been related, in the east of the Jordan, in the pasture lands of Gilead and Bashan.

The tribe of Ephraim, not contented with the districts. at first allotted to it, demanded of Joshua more land: Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people, for the Lord has blessed me hitherto?' Joshua replied: "If thou be a great people, then go up to the wood country and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim, if Mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee. The mountain shall be thine, for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down, and the outgoings of

it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.'

Five tribes had now received their territories-Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, Judah and Ephraim. Then Joshua summoned the whole nation to Shiloh to make arrangements for the allotment of abodes to the remaining tribes. Three men from each tribe were sent out to furnish an accurate account of all the land that had been conquered; and when they returned, lots were cast for its distribution. It was portioned out in the following manner. The tribe of Benjamin was closely hemmed in between Judah and Ephraim, but extending only about half-way between the Jordan and the Mediterranean, enclosing within its borders. the holy town Bethel and the fertile plain of Jericho, Gilgal and Gibeon, Anathoth and Michmash and Ramah -all famous in later times. The western part of the intervening country, up to the coast, was assigned to the small tribe of Dan, perpetually threatened by the dangerous vicinity of the Philistines, whose cities Gath and Ekron were never conquered. To the tribe of Simeon was given the most southern part of Palestine, which lost itself in the wilderness of Kadesh, and which, by its very situation, as later by its political insignificance, was necessarily protected, if it was not absorbed, by Judah. It enclosed Beer-sheba, the southern boundary town of the land, once hallowed by Abraham's sojourn. At the extreme north, between Mount Lebanon, the Jordan, and the seacoast with its Phoenician settlements, were domiciled side by side, and forming the northern barrier of the kingdom, the four tribes of Naphtali and Zebulon, Asher and Issachar, the two latter bordering on the Mediterranean Sea. Though the Levites were to have no connected territorial possessions in the land, they received for their maintenance forty-eight cities, four as a rule in

every tribe, together with strips of land around each, as pastures for their cattle.

Thus the conquered territory was portioned out in the new commonwealth of the Hebrews. A people of nomads was from that time to dwell in towns and villages, or to pitch their tents permanently in the forest land or the wide pasture plains. But in order to remind the nation that the entire country in reality belonged to the Lord, who had but temporarily granted it to His chosen people, it was, in every fiftieth year, reclaimed by Him; and then all the land that had within that period been sold or given up, was restored to the original proprietors or their heirs. Thus no tribe could enlarge its extent to the injury of other tribes; no one family could seriously disturb the virtual equality of all members of the community; there could neither be excessive wealth nor helpless poverty, neither despotism nor slavery.

6

When the land was fairly allotted amongst the tribes, Joshua permitted the men of Reuben, Gad, and a portion of Manasseh, to return to the trans-Jordanic districts they had chosen. He blessed them, bade them depart rich with the spoils of the cities they had helped to conquer, but exhorted them: Take diligent heed to do the commandment and the Law, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, charged you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments, and to cling to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul.' Upon their arrival on the eastern side of the Jordan they erected a great altar to the Lord. When the Israelites heard of it, their anger was kindled, and they resolved to march out against them with a large army; for they thought those eastern tribes guilty of rebellion against God and His Law, which severely forbids the offering of sacrifices at any altar except that of the common Sanctuary. But they sent first Phinehas, the