returning from Bethlehem in Judah to his house in Mount Ephraim. They passed Jerusalem, unwilling to stay over night in a town which was still in the hands of the hostile Jebusites; so they pressed on northwards and arrived at dusk in Gibeah, a city of the Benjamites. No one offered them shelter or hospitality. They were sitting despondingly in the street, when an old man, who was himself but a sojourner in Gibeah, while his home was also in a town of Mount Ephraim, seeing the strangers, bid them come with him, and rest for the night in his house. He feasted them plentifully, and showed them every attention they so much required after their long and weary journey. When still at their repast, they were suddenly aroused by the wild clamour of angry voices. They saw the house surrounded by the frantic Benjamites, threatening instant destruction unless the Levite was delivered up to them. In fact, a scene was repeated resembling that which called down the Divine vengeance upon Sodom. Fearful for the safety of all the inmates of the house, the host sent out the Levite's wife. A terrible fate awaited her; she was ill-treated by the impious crowd, until she returned to the house, and fell dead on the threshold. There the Levite found her on the following morning. In an agony of revengeful grief, he placed her body on his ass, and returned to his home. He had determined upon an awful means of retribution. Dividing the body of the unfortunate woman into twelve parts, he sent one part to each tribe, and appealed for help and vengeance. A cry of horror ran from city to city: this time all Israel rose as one man from Dan to Beer-sheba; nor did the eastern tribes fail to send their aid. The warriors, 400,000 in number, assembled at Mizpah, where they held a council. The Levite there publicly recounted the details of the horrible crime. Α shout of detestation was raised against the Benjamites;

and all agreed that there was no such deed done, nor seen, from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt.' The men of Israel sent messengers to Gibeah, and sternly demanded the immediate surrender of the perpetrators of the outrage. But the haughty Benjamites, dead to all sentiments of justice, refused the request, and thus became accomplices of the atrocious deed. They boldly marched out to do battle with the united tribes of Israel, numbering 26,000 soldiers, and among them 700 chosen men, lefthanded, but such dexterous slingers that they could sling stones at a hair's breadth without missing. They poured down upon their enemies, and defeated them on two successive days, killing 40,000 men. Mourning and terror spread in the camp of the Israelites; but praying, and fasting, and offering sacrifices, they took courage, and on the third day, by well-devised stratagems, they gained a decisive victory, and a scene of fearful carnage ensued. The splendid army of the Benjamites was completely cut to pieces, and pursued to the mountains and rocky districts; Gibeah and many other towns of Benjamin were burnt, and men and beasts killed by the sword. A small remnant of the Benjamites, six hundred men, found refuge in the caves of Rimmon, north of Gilead.

When the first heat of vengeance had cooled down, when the terrible punishment with all its ghastly results became clear, despair and horror seized the Israelites; for their arms and their wrath had exterminated a whole tribe of their own brethren. Six hundred Benjamites were left, it was true; but at Mizpah, all the children of Israel had sworn that none of their daughters should ever marry a man of Benjamin. Again they met in council, trying to find a remedy for the misfortune. Now, among all the cities, one, Jabesh in Gilead, had refused to obey the general summons, and had not joined their fellow-citizens

in chastising the Benjamites. For this offence the people of Jabesh were to be punished. An army of the Israelites marched out against the city, besieged and took it, and slew all the inhabitants. Four hundred maidens alone were saved, and brought back to the camp at Shiloh. The 600 Benjamites who still held out on their rock at Rimmon, were forgiven, and invited to return, and finally the four hundred virgins were given to them in marriage. But there were yet two hundred who had no wives. How was the difficulty to be overcome? The Israelites adopted a very curious device. On the day of a festival celebrated annually in Shiloh, the Benjamites were to lay in wait within the vineyards, and as they saw the virgins pass by singing and dancing, they were suddenly to emerge from their retreats, and each of them was to select a maiden and to carry her off to be his wife. This extraordinary measure succeeded: the fathers and brothers of the captured virgins were at first vehemently opposed to it; but when their anger subsided, they gave their consent, and were glad to think that the extinction of a brothertribe would thus be prevented.

What a picture of the time is reflected in the story of the Levite and its sequel--the outrage and cruel murder, the fierce revenge, the impetuous fury of the Israelites, their apparently implacable hatred, and the final pardon of the Benjamites concluding with the strange scene in the vineyards of Shiloh! These are curious glimpses of that barbarous age, and, together with similar incidents narrated in the Book of Judges, form a fitting background for the deeds of the great warriors of Israel.

69. OTHNIEL-EHUD-SHAMGAR.

[JUDG. III.]

The first generation of the conquerors passed away, and was succeeded by a race of men who, careless of the Law and the word of Moses, soon fell into dangerous intimacy with the surrounding nations. The Hebrews adopted the rites of the heathen, in spite of the stern warnings they had received. The Hebrew maid left her people to become the pagan's wife, and the Canaanite's daughter brought her idols and her superstitions into the tent of the Israelite. The sacred groves, dotted everywhere over the country, were visited by the Hebrew no less than by the heathen, and countless images were worshipped by both in common. The belief in the one omnipotent God of heaven and earth had hardly yet taken root among the chosen people. In this sad and degenerate condition, they easily fell a prey to powerful neighbours. Thus they had soon to feel the arms of Cushan-Rishataim, the king of Mesopotamia, who completely subdued them, and forced them to pay tribute for eight years. In their shame and despair they prayed to the Lord for deliverance. Their cries were heard, and God imbued with His spirit Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's youngest brother. He was the first prominent champion or 'Judge' of the Hebrews in a troubled and helpless time. He shook off the yoke of the foreigner, and secured peace for forty years.

After Othniel's death, the Israelites relapsed into their old sin of idolatry, bringing in its train, as usual, anarchy and disunion, of which the surrounding nations never failed to take advantage. The Moabites, under the leadership of their king Eglon, in alliance with the Amalekites and the Ammonites, attacked and captured Jericho, the beautiful city with its famous groves of palm

trees. Thus possessed of the key to the whole country, they forced the Hebrews into bondage, in which they held them for eighteen years. Loud and incessant were the lamentations of the oppressed people. At last, there sprung from the tribe of Benjamin a man fearless and resolute, but no less cunning and dexterous, Ehud the son of Gera, who removed the disgrace from his country. He was, with others, selected to carry the tribute to Egion, the king of Moab, who after receiving the money and presents, politely accompanied him a part of his way homeward, and then returned. When Ehud had arrived near Gilgal, he sent word to the king, that he had a secret message to deliver to him. He wore a long cloak, under which he concealed, at his right side-for he was left-handed-his double-edged sword a yard long. The king, a large and fat man, was ready to receive him. When he was reclining in his summer parlour, probably some spacious, breezy room on the roof of the house, Ehud entered and exclaimed, 'I have a message from God to thee'; and drawing his sword with his left hand, thrust it into the king's body, and pressed it forward till it came out at the opposite side. He then escaped in haste, shrewdly managed to delay suspicion, and eluded his pursuers till he arrived safely in Mount Ephraim. Here he assembled the Hebrew army by the blast of his trumpet. When the affrighted servants of Eglon found him lying dead in the chamber, they gave the alarm, and the Moabite hosts, certain of victory, and now burning for battle, marched out to avenge their king. In the meantime, the army of the Israelites had advanced to Jericho; they occupied and closely watched the fords of the Jordan; they prevented all Moabites from crossing; and by Ehud's skilful leadership and daring, they slew on one day 10,000 men of the enemy. Thus the Moabites were expelled from the territory of the Hebrews, who now enjoyed peace and prosperity for eighty years.