It appears, however, that within this period the Hebrews were molested and enslaved by the Philistines; how long they sighed under the yoke, our annals do not record; nor do they enter into details on the manner of their deliverance, briefly narrating: And after Ehud was Shamgar, the son of Anath, who slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox-goad, and he also rescued Israel.'

70. DEBORAH.

[JUDG. IV. V.]

Again, however, the Israelites turned to idolatry, and despised the Law which they had sworn to obey. When their vigilant Judge Ehud was dead, they followed their sinful ways unchecked. From the north of Palestine, with nine hundred iron chariots, came Jabin, the powerful king of Hazor, whose famous general Sisera was the terror of his enemies. He easily defeated and subjected the Hebrews, and forced them to pay tribute for twenty years. Grievous was the oppression, and the piteous cry of despair rose to the Lord, who mercifully raised up a deliverer.

There lived at that time between Ramah and Beth-el, in the mountain of Ephraim, a wise and God-fearing woman, Deborah, the wife of Lapidoth, renowned as a prophetess. In the midst of sin and idolatry, she had remained true to God and His word, and inspired all who saw and heard her with love and reverence. She was

recognised and appealed to as the supreme judge by the whole nation. Under a palm-tree which remained famous in after ages, she sat, and there uttered advice, warning, and judgment.

Seeing the oppression of the people, and feeling their misery, she sent for Barak, the son of Abinoam, who dwelt in Kadesh-Naphtali, a city in the far north, and who was

probably known as a bold and valiant warrior. Him she selected as the champion of the nation. She bade him, in the name of God, call an army of 10,000 men from amongst the people of Naphtali and Zebulun, who lived at the northern frontier of Palestine, and assemble them on Mount Tabor; she would cause Sisera to pitch his camp at the river Kishon, so that the two armies would be confronted in the plain of Esdraelon; there, she confidently predicted, the chosen people would rout the Canaanites. Barak was afraid that this daring scheme, if undertaken by him alone, would not succeed; he believed that it required the assistance and authority of Deborah, to guide and inspire the soldiers; he, therefore, sent her this reply: "If thou wilt go, then will I go, but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.' Deborah rejoined promptly: 'I will surely go with thee, but the journey that thou takest shall not be for thy honour, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hand of a woman.' Then sounded the muster call throughout the land. But the days for a general answer to such a summons had passed; the disunion among the tribes became sadly manifest. The Ephraimites were the first to respond; Benjamin sent their slingers and archers; Manasseh followed with chosen men; Zebulun and Naphtali came boldly forward, ready to conquer or to die; and Deborah herself, traversing the land from Beth-el to Kadesh and Mount Tabor, aroused the people of Issachar, and bade them follow her to the battle-field. But the powerful tribe of Judah did not appear; Asher preferred his tranquil life on the sea-shore; Dan could not be induced to leave his ships, and risk his gains; Reuben, wavering and irresolute, remained idly among his sheep-folds; and the other tribes of Gilead continued unmoved in their peaceful pursuits. So many, indifferent to the dangers of their brethren, kept aloof both meanly and unwisely!

The Hebrew warriors, not numerous but singularly inspired by courage, assembled at Mount Tabor. When Sisera was informed of their advance, he felt that a great struggle for deliverance was imminent, and he determined to crush what he considered an audacious rebellion by the whole strength of his army assisted by his nine hundred iron war-chariots. He drew up his troops along the river Kishon, that was soon to become renowned as 'the river of battles.'

But Deborah knew that the Lord's help was near; she exclaimed to Barak: Up, for this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into thy hand; is not the Lord gone out before thee?' Barak with his 10,000 men hastened promptly from the high-lands of Tabor, and rushed valiantly onward against the horsemen of Sisera. A fearful carnage ensued: the corpses of the slain enemies filled the plain, or were swept away by the waters of the Kishon; the formidable chariots were of no avail; Sisera himself, seeing every chance lost and abandoning all hope, leapt from his chariot, and fled on foot for his life. He escaped probably northwards, wandering among his well-known mountain refuges, until he came to the settlement of Heber the Kenite, who had severed himself from the Hebrews, and lived in the plain of Zaanaim and Kadesh, like an independent chief. As Jabin the king of Hazor and Heber the Kenite were at peace, Sisera felt that he had at last found a safe retreat. He went to one of the tents, a worn-out fugitive. Jael, the wife of Heber, came out to meet him. She was a true Hebrew woman at heart, although she dwelt in friendship with the idolaters, and she exulted to find that the powerful general had fallen into her hands. Shrewdly dissembling her feelings, she said, 'Turn in to me, my lord, turn in to me, fear not.' When he had entered, she showed him the most studied attention. He was thirsty and asked for water, she offered

him a draught of sweet milk. He was weary and desired to rest, she covered him with a mantle; but he cautiously bade her, Stand in the door of the tent, and when anyone comes and enquires of thee and says, Is there any man here? thou shalt say, No.' She promised to do as he had requested. Then she waited a while until she was certain that he was asleep. Now the moment for executing her design had arrived. She drew one of the large tent-nails from the ground, and took a hammer in her hand; then advancing softly to the sleeping man, she struck the nail into his temples, and without fear or mercy, she fastened it firmly to the ground!

In the meantime Barak had hotly continued his pursuit of Sisera. Following his traces, he breathlessly approached Heber's tent. Jael came out to meet him in all the flush of triumph, and exclaimed, 'Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest.' She led Barak into the tent, and there lay the great captain murdered, with the nail in his temples.

In verse and in plain narrative the deed of Jael has been extolled as one of supreme merit. And yet, can we really admire that deceitful and relentless woman, who profaned and disgraced the sacredness of hospitality, knew of no pity or tenderness to a wearied soldier, a fallen enemy, and perfidiously lured him to a terrible death? Her contemporaries saw in her only the most patriotic lover of her people, and therefore revered her as a heroine. They looked upon Sisera not as a trembling fugitive, but as the representative of heathen might and hatred, and therefore glorified his destroyer as the great instrument that decided the destiny of the chosen people. Though we, in our happier times and with our better experience, justly revolt from an act of treason and ferocity, we can at least understand how it was accepted and even praised by an oppressed and struggling people in that early dawn

of civilisation. Did not the same age bring forth a Deborah, a true heroine endowed with a great and manly soul, but also with the same admixture of unwomanly sternness? In what light did the deed appear to her? Let us see.

Returning, after the victory, to her peaceful abode in the mountain of Ephraim, she immortalised the recent war and herself by a poem of singular and almost unequalled beauty. But second only to its literary merit is its historical importance. It is not merely a jubilant song of triumph, of remarkable vividness of colouring, force of expression, and wealth of imagery, but a precious and faithful reflex of its time, especially with regard to the condition and mutual relation of the Hebrew tribes. So rich and so complete a picture has rarely been compressed within so small a compass.

The very commencement introduces us into the midst of the busy scene so full of excitement: "That leaders led Israel, that the people followed willingly, therefore praise ye the Lord. Hear, O kings, give ear, O princes; I will, yea, I will sing to the Lord, I will offer praise to the Lord, the God of Israel.' Then, in attempting to describe the power of God and His mercy towards Israel, she recalls to her mind that event, ever present to Hebrew poets and patriots, the miraculous deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, followed by the grand revelation on Mount Sinai; she describes it with a few vigorous touches, and leaves us to infer that a similar instance of power and mercy had been witnessed in her own time. 'Lord, when Thou camest out of Seir, when Thou didst step out of the land of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens overflowed, and the clouds poured forth waters. Mountains quaked before the Lord, even that Sinai before the Lord God of Israel.'

Now turning to her own time, she portrays its dangers,