Период пятый. О вступлении евреев в Палестину

After the fulfillment of the days of mourning for Moses, the son of Nun from the tribe of Ephraim, who was once renamed from Absia by Jesus 371, as a sign that he would save his people from their enemies, becoming from a servant or, better, a co-worker of Moses, his full successor, reinforced by God in his service with a conversation - instructions on practicing the law and a promise of heavenly help; and at the same time received a command to enter the land of Canaan. Therefore, he first sent two spies there. They arrived at Jericho and went in to Rahab, the harlot, and the innkeeper 372 . The king of Jericho, having learned about this, sent them to look for them, but Rahab hid them. Afterwards, having revealed to them how afraid her compatriots were from the glory of the Jewish people, and how confident she herself was of God’s favor towards them 373, she took an oath from them to spare her family during the capture of Jericho 374, and released them from the window of her house, which was located above the wall of the city. To evade persecution, they hid for three days in the mountains, and then returned to their militia with good news. After three days of preparation for the journey and after choosing forty thousand auxiliary troops from those tribes that already owned the land, Jesus commanded everyone else to remove the camp, and when they approached the Jordan, he ordered a general cleansing in anticipation of a miracle. The next day - it was the tenth of the first month - the priests with the Ark of the Covenant opened a passage across the river, which at that time had the highest water. Having wet their feet, they stopped, the upper part of the river also stopped, and the one in front of them flowed down, the people crossed on dry land 375. Before the ark left the bottom of the Jordan, twelve men chosen from all the tribes carried out twelve stones from it to build a monument in the next camp, and the other twelve were placed in the very place where the feet of the priests stood 376. This miraculous transition gained the new leader the confidence of the people, and increased the timidity of his enemies. The First Works of Piety in Palestine As soon as the Jewish camp was established between the Jordan and Jericho, God wanted to tempt and sanctify His people for a worthy entry into the sacred inheritance of His promises. On the fields of enemies who, expecting an attack, were no doubt ready for war themselves, He ordered the painful rite of circumcision to be performed. Almost the entire male sex must have been subjected to it, because in previous travels it was completely abandoned, probably due to repeated and unexpected changes in location. By unquestioningly fulfilling the commandment, the Jews proved their faith, and the Lord told Jesus that now He would overthrow the Egyptian reproach from them. According to the power of these words, the name of the place was given: Gilgal. Soon after this, Easter was restored at the time specified by law, for it, too, had not been celebrated for a long time, both due to uncircumcision and the lack of other accessories. On this holiday the whole family tasted the fruits of the promised land; and from that time on, manna no longer appeared, which, of course, set the final limit to the continuous miracles of wandering. Conquest of the Promised Land by Jesus Jesus was encouraged by God to conquer the promised land by a special revelation near Jericho, which was closed in anticipation of a siege; he accidentally saw in front of him a man with a sword in his hand, who, when asked about his condition, called himself the leader of the forces of Jehovah. Hearing this, the earthly leader, falling to the ground, asked for his commands, and was ordered to take off his shoes. Then the Lord revealed to him the way in which he should take the city. According to this instruction, Jesus commanded that the ark of the covenant be carried around Jericho; seven priests were to blow trumpets before him, and the army preceded and followed in silence. This treatment was repeated for six days. On the seventh day it was done seven times; and at the last of them, when combined with the sound of trumpets of popular exclamations, the walls of the city fell. After taking it, Jesus did not allow anyone to use the spoils; but he commanded that it be completely destroyed with sword and fire, and that the metals be brought into the treasure of the tabernacle. Joseph rightly notes that through this he brought to God the firstfruits of his conquests 377. To make the excommunication of the gift more perfect, and the miracle of the conquest more remarkable for posterity, he also swore an oath of childlessness against the one who dared to restore Jericho. However, from the environment of consumption, Rahab with her kinship, but by an agreement made with the spies, was not only kept safe, but was also honored to be introduced into the tribe of promise through marriage with Salmon. The conquest of Ai was not so easy. Having learned through spies about the small population of this city, Jesus sent no more than three thousand soldiers against it, but his detachment returned defeated. All the people fell into fear because of this, and Jesus and the elders, tearing their vestments, fell to the ground in front of the tabernacle 378. God revealed to Jesus that the cause of this misfortune was the violation of the Covenant by the sacrilege committed during the capture of Jericho, but in order to give the people time to turn from the fear of enemies to the fear of crime, He did not name the culprit. The next day, by some kind of popular lot, Ahar was indicated, who immediately confessed to the theft of clothes, silver and a golden vessel 379. He was expelled from the militia with his family and wealth, stoned, burned, and a stone hill 380 was raised over his remains. Having thus quenched the wrath of God, Jesus went around Ai with all his army and took it by cunning; he put twelve thousand inhabitants to the sword, and hanged their king; He gave the estate to the victors, and destroyed the dwellings with fire. Then the imminent danger awakened most of the Canaanite peoples from timid bewilderment, they began to unite among themselves against the Jews. But the inhabitants of Gibeon and three neighboring cities found another reliable way to their safety. They sent ambassadors to Gilgal, who, saying they were strangers from a distant country, and showing the Jewish elders dry bread and old clothes on themselves as proof of a long journey, asked them for an alliance with their people, and they hastened to conclude it without asking God. The deception was discovered three days later, and the Jewish people grumbled at the carelessness of their elders, but the oath they took saved the lives of the Gibeonites 381, and as punishment for their deceit they were assigned slave positions. In subsequent times, they were counted at the tabernacle and church after the Levites, under the name of the Nitenites, that is, the data. Adonizedek, king of Jerusalem, hearing that Gibeon had given himself over to the Jews, besieged him with four allies. Jesus, at the request of the besieged, went to their aid. Having marched all night, he unexpectedly attacked the enemy, defeated him, pursued him, captured five kings, and, ordering his military commanders to step on their necks, hanged them. This battle is famous for the fact that in it more Canaanites perished from the stone hail than from the weapons of the Jews; that these did not lose a single person; and that Jesus, in order to have time to complete the defeat, ordered the sun and the moon to stand still. Some unfairly think that their standing here means only the speed of victory, and not the continuation of the day: it was a true miracle that was supposed to testify to the heroic faith of the Jewish leader, strengthen the faith of his people, and tell other languages ​​the glory of the God of Israel. Continuing such a happy victory, Jesus, with the same campaign 382, ​​acquired the southern half of the promised land from Gibeon to Cadiz-Barnea, and returned to Gilgal. In the northern part of the land of Canaan, Jabin, king of Hazor, ruled. He summoned all the kings under his control from both sides of the Jordan against the Jews, and united with them at Lake Mappon or Samokhonitsky. But Jesus, encouraged by God's help, prevented their attack, burned Hazor and many other cities, leaving only the strong ones; and from the spoils he killed the horses and burned the chariots, because God did not want His people to rely on anything other than Him. In these and other wars, over the course of six years after crossing the Jordan River, Jesus destroyed thirty-one kings and cleared the land for the Jews, excluding some cities that were again occupied by the former inhabitants, and some border, especially coastal countries, which were not conquered at all. This is how the promises of God were fulfilled on Israel and the curse of Noah on Canaan: the sins of the pagans were punished, and the kingdom of faith occupied the most convenient position for its spread on the globe. Division of the land of Canaan The first Sabbath year 383 came, when God commanded that the land of Canaan should begin to be divided into nine and a half tribes of Israel by lot 384. The division began at Gilgal, and the descendants of Judah and Joseph received their inheritance first, either by the consequence of lot, or by respecting the preferential blessing of their ancestors and the merits of Jesus and Caleb. This latter, relying on the promise of Moses 385, asked for Hebron, in which he had been a spy for forty-five years; and received it in order to destroy the Anakim 386 who were still nesting there. After this, the people's assembly together with the tabernacle was transferred to the tribe of Ephraim in Shiloh. Here Jesus, having reproached the other seven tribes for their slowness in destroying the remains of the Canaanites, forced them to give three men from each to survey the land, and gave them lots. The special work of providence in these lots was that through them the predictions of Jacob about the location of each tribe were accurately fulfilled. At the conclusion of the section, by general agreement, the city of Timnath - Sarai was given to Jesus himself, and a certain number of cities were assigned to the tribe of Levi. It is worthy of note that the lot of the priests fell in the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Simeon, closest to the place which God later chose to serve Himself. Return of the Trans-Jordanian troops Since the auxiliary army that came from beyond the Jordan was now no longer needed, Jesus, having thanked him, instructed and blessed him, sent him away to his inheritance. It crossed the Jordan with great wealth and erected a great altar on its banks so that it would be a monument to the unity of the people and faith. This monument almost caused an internecine war, because the tribes that settled on the right bank of the river considered it idolatrous, but they calmed down and rejoiced when they learned the true intention of those who built it through the embassies of Phineas and the ten elders. Jesus' Care for the Promotion of Godliness Jesus was no less active in spreading piety as he was in expanding the dominions of the Jewish people. In the midst of the war, he found time to perform the rites prescribed by Moses on Mount Garazin and Ebal. He celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles on the Sabbath year with such splendor that it was remembered even after the captivity of Babylon 387 . Approaching death, he convened the people 388 twice to remind them of the good deeds 389 and the laws of God; He offered him a choice between God and idols, and through this arousing zeal for the true faith, he renewed the covenant, and left this renewal in a book and in a stone monument, which he placed in front of the tabernacle. He died at the age of one hundred and ten and was buried in the city he created. Condition of the Jews around the time of Jesus' death The Jews continued to enjoy the fruits of Jesus' exploits both during the rest of his old age and after his death until the elders who witnessed his and Moses' miracles were alive. By example and the respect they acquired from the people, they supported the service of the true God, and on this basis created public welfare. Therefore, when the tribes occupied their appanage lands, some of them successfully waged private wars against the remaining or revived Canaanite peoples. Having previously asked God about this, Judas had to show others the example. Taking Simeon to help him, probably under the leadership of Caleb, he took possession of Bezek and cut off the fingers and toes of its king Adonizek, because he had previously shown the same cruelty to seventy kings. Then Jerusalem and Hebron were conquered, and Debir was taken by Othniel, at the challenge of Caleb. Having become the inheritance of the Simeons, both tribes destroyed Sepheth and took possession, albeit for a short time, of several Philistine cities. Joseph's descendants occupied Bethel, having been introduced into it by one of its inhabitants 390. An important error in the occupation of destinies Meanwhile, when the wars had to continue, and the trust in God, together with the supports of him, the companions of Jesus little by little, gradually became impoverished, all the tribes, contrary to the command of God and their own benefits, instead of completely exterminating the Canaanites, were content to have them as tributaries and allies. Even the fortress of the city of Jerusalem remained in the hands of the Jebusites. God exposed this error through His messenger, who appeared to all the people near Gilgal and threatened with temptations and disasters from the Canaanites. At this prediction, the people cried and made a sacrifice. The circumstances of this incident are not well known, 391 but from the consequences it is clear that the tears shed at the so-called place of mourners did not bear the fruits of repentance. The next few centuries represent a long series of crimes by which the Jews attracted social disasters upon themselves, and disasters, after which they hastened back to crimes. The beginning of the evils was communication with the pagans, especially through marriages. It was followed by: apostasy from God, abandonment by God, corruption of morals, weakening of social ties, repeated anarchy, mutual envy and strife between different tribes, and six or seven times enslavement from different nations. Meanwhile, God raised up one Judge after another, who saved Israel with weapons, justice and an example of faith. There were twelve of them, if you do not include Elijah in this number, who after all combined the power of a judge with the title of high priest. Incidents during the time of anarchy after Jesus During the time of anarchy that followed the death of Jesus and the elders of his day, the house of Micah in the tribe of Ephraim showed an example of the most harmful superstition, because it introduced idolatry under the guise of serving the true God 392 . Micah's mother, using the money stolen from her by this son, but returned out of fear of the oath, made a teraphim and efud (an image and a cast idol), and Micah first appointed a priest from among his children, then hired one wandering Levite to this position. It happened that spies from the tribe of Dan, which was oppressed in its lot by the Amorites, sent to look for land for settlement, passing by Micah’s house, learned about his imaginary divine service and asked the priest about the success of their journey. Then passing through the same places with six hundred warriors and their families to conquer Lais, they revealed to their companions about Micah who was in the house. The idols were stolen, and the priest allowed himself to be persuaded. When this part of the tribe of Dan settled in Laish, which was renamed Dan, this idolatry became public and continued through all the times of Judges 393. Another incident of the same time shows to what extreme the corruption of morals reached then. One Levite, going with his concubine from Bethlehem, the place of her birth, to his house, which was in the tribe of Ephraim, stopped to spend the night in Gibeon and was brought into the house by some elder, who also came from the tribe of Ephraim. Noticing this, a crowd of lawless people, looking for bestial pleasure, forced this stranger to save himself by giving them his wife to mock, and after the night he found her dead at the door of the house. Taking the corpse, he cut it into twelve pieces and sent it to all the tribes of Israel, inciting them to take revenge on the lawless city. The people gathered in the number of 400,000 in Mizpeth, 394, on the borders of the inheritances of Judah and Benjamin, in which Gibeon was located, and, having listened to the Levite, unanimously decided to punish this city with weapons, and the tribe of Benjamin, instead of handing over the guilty upon request, prepared to defend it. Both sides angered God: one with crime and defense, and the other with admiration and pride, with which it decided to punish the crime, relying on its own strength and without asking God. Therefore, at the opening of the war, the eleven tribes, although they had already asked God, and did not receive a prohibition to wage it, despite the fact that in two days they lost forty thousand troops. But on the third day, when they had cleansed themselves of their sin by fasting and making sacrifices before the tabernacle, they took Gibeon, killed 25,000 Benjaminites, and passed through all their cities with fire and sword. In the heat of indignation, they swore not to give their daughters to this tribe, but, taking pity, they themselves delivered to him 400 maidens from Jabesh-gilead, whose inhabitants were beaten for non-participation in this war, and on top of this they allowed their daughters to be kidnapped during the holiday in Selom, thinking in this way to free themselves from the severity of the oath. When the Jews internally humiliated themselves before the pagans with widespread idolatry and pagan morals, God punished them with external humiliation, delivering them into the hands of Husarsafem, king of Mesopotamia. Eight years of enslavement taught them to turn to the true God, and then the Spirit of God raised up for them a savior and judge, Othniel, Caleb’s son-in-law. He returned their freedom by defeating Husarsafem. After the death of Othniel, when the Jews turned to their former errors, Eglom, the king of Moab, defeated them with the help of the Ammonites and Amalekites and ruled over them for eighteen years. Finally, God, in order to show them His and, uniquely, His help, moved them to deliver them from the tribe of Benjamin, Eod, who did not control his right hand. This, having been sent to Eglom with gifts, after completing the embassy’s business, released his retinue and asked the king for permission to speak with him without witnesses. But when the king took him into a secluded room and approached him, thinking to hear the word of God, Ehud thrust a knife into his belly, which was hidden under his clothes, and, going out, locked the door behind him, and through this he had time to hide before the court learned about the murder. Having then called together his compatriots in the tribe of Ephraim with a trumpet, and having occupied the crossings of the Jordan with them, he attacked the army of the Moabites located on this side of the river, destroyed them up to ten thousand, and thus overthrew their yoke. After Ehud, Samghar rebelled 395. He delivered the Jews not so much from enslavement as from the robbery of the Philistines, beating them with six hundred oxen. The new crimes of the Jews were the reason that they were enslaved by Jabin, who reigned in Hazor, undoubtedly one of the successors of the king of the same name, defeated by Jesus. In addition to a strong army, he had nine hundred iron chariots. For twenty years the Jews bore his heavy yoke. At this time she prophesied, and through this Divine gift Deborah, who lived in the tribe of Ephraim, judged Israel. When the time for deliverance arrived, she called Varan to her from the tribe of Naphtali; and she commanded him in the name of God to gather ten thousand soldiers from this tribe and Zebulun and attack Sisera, the commander of Jabin, whom she promised to deliver into his hands with the whole army. Barak agreed to this undertaking, but on the condition that the prophetess herself would accompany him. Deborah accepted his proposal, but as punishment for the weakness of faith that he discovered, she immediately announced to him that the honor of victory would belong to a woman. In fact, when Barak defeated and pursued Sisera, Jael, the wife of Heber, one of the descendants of Jethro, who settled among the Jews during the time of Joshua, because of the alliance between her house and the king of Hazor, accepted the defeated commander into her tent; but when he fell asleep from exhaustion, she pierced his church with a bush stake and hammer. This victory ended in the death of the king of Asor himself. Deborah and Barak glorified her with a song of thanksgiving to God. After several years of peace, the Midianites and Amalekites, in conjunction with some other Arabian peoples, oppressed the Jews for seven years. Leading a nomadic life, they destroyed agriculture and cattle breeding with annual invasions and forced the Jews to take refuge in the mountains and caves. When these cried out to God for help, He sent the Prophet to convict them of treason and ingratitude. It must be thought that this sermon produced sincere repentance in them, since soon after this God called for the deliverance of Gideon from the descendants of Manasseh 396. The angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon while he was threshing wheat in a secret place 397, preparing to flee from the enemy. “The Lord is with you, mighty in strength,” says the Angel. "Alas!" - Gideon answered, “if the Lord had been with us, these misfortunes would not have befallen us.” After these words, the Lord revealed to him that he must save Israel, reassured him with His help, and allowed him, at his request, to immediately make a sacrifice; He ignited it with the touch of the rod, which he had in His hand, and departed. At that moment Gideon expressed fear, having learned that he had seen the Angel of the Lord, but the Lord, moving away, proclaimed peace to him. In memory of this appearance, Gideon dedicated an altar to the God of peace 398. The next night, God commanded Gideon, before fighting the enemies, to defeat idolatry. With the help of ten slaves, he destroyed the altar of Baal, which was located near his father’s house, cut down the oak grove that belonged to it, built a new altar to the true God and sacrificed two calves, probably for his father’s house and for the Jewish people. In the morning, the inhabitants of Ephrath approached Joash, the father of Gideon, demanding his son to death for the offense he had committed against Baal. But Joash replied that if Baal was a god, then he could avenge himself, and according to the power of these words, he named Gideon, in honor of his deed, Jerobaal. When the enemy appeared on this side of the Jordan, Gideon, stirred up by the Spirit of God, summoned an army from the tribe of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali through the trumpet and ambassadors. For greater reinforcement and faith of himself and his colleagues, he twice asked God for a sign of the fleece, which, according to his desire, received abundant dew on one night, while the earth was dry, but remained dry on the other, when the earth had dew. There were more than 30,000 people in Gideon's army, but God did not want to give victory to such a large number of people that it would not be attributed to human strength. First, He commanded that the fearful ones be released from this army, and it decreased by two-thirds. Then he ordered those who remained to be led to the water and to separate those who would drink by the handful from those who would fall on their knees to do so. The latter had to return to the camp, and the first, numbering only three hundred, stopped with Gideon near the enemy’s militia in the inheritance of Issachar. At night, God revealed to Gideon that the time of victory had come, and for assurance he commanded him to enter the enemy camp with one slave. There Gideon heard a conversation between two warriors about a dream that foreshadowed his victory. Returning to his companions, he divided them into three parts, with the command to go around the enemy camp, suddenly open the lamps that they were supposed to carry in the vessels, blow the trumpets, and exclaim: “The Sword of Jehovah and Gideon!” When this was done, the enemies were in such confusion that they struck each other, and then fled. The nearest tribes of Israel rushed after them. Gideon himself pursued them beyond the Jordan, and with another unexpected attack destroyed the rest of their regiment. He captured and killed two kings of Midian, Zebah and Salman; and the Ephraimites brought him the heads of two other princes, Oreb and Zib. The number of the entire enemy army exterminated in this war extended to 135,000 people. While Gideon fought for the Jews, he also had to fight with them themselves. The tribe of Ephraim, out of ambition, quarreled with him because he did not invite him to the beginning of the war. He defeated him with his meekness, humiliating himself before him and giving him the honor of exterminating the two princes of Midian. On the contrary, he showed great severity to the inhabitants of Succoth and Phanuel, who treacherously refused food to his weary army simply because they were still afraid of the kings of Midian, whom he was persecuting. Returning in victory, he showed them these captive kings, and, as he had said before, he flogged the elders of Succoth with thistles and thorns, beat the inhabitants of Phanuel and dug up his pillar. The Jews, as a reward for their deliverance, offered Gideon the throne, but received the answer: “The Lord rule over you.” He was content with the gifts that were given to him from the booty, but only had the imprudence to make an efud (idol) out of them, which gave rise to idolatry. However, throughout his life he was consoled by the peace that he acquired for his compatriots, and he died in old age, leaving seventy sons. The blessing of God did not last over the house of Gideon after his death, perhaps because he, especially being obliged to destroy idolatry, himself paved the way for it. It is not enough that his children are forgotten by the people; they almost all fell by fraternal hands. Abimelech, the son of his concubine, who lived in Shechem, having decided, at all costs, to seek the throne that was offered to his father, inspired through his relatives the Shechemites that they had to choose one of two things: either allow the seventy sons of Gideon to rule over them, or it is better to surrender to one, and one who came from their city. The deceived citizens gave him auxiliary money from the church of Baalverif for his enterprise. Having hired an army from idle people, he went to Ephrath and on one stone beat his brothers with a sword, except for the youngest named Jotham, who hid. The Shechemites gathered at the place 399 where Jesus had once renewed the Covenant of God, and they installed the impostor as king. But Jotham, having learned about this, appeared on the nearby Mount Garazin and with a parable about the trees, which in vain asked to be king over the olive, fig tree and vine, and finally chose thorns, depicted to the people his ingratitude towards his father and the insolence of Abimelech 400. He concluded his speech by predicting the destruction of the Shechemites from Abimelech, and Abimelech from the Shechemites, and hastily departed. The prediction came true three years later. The Shechemites hated Abimelech and, during his absence, plotted against him. He was informed of this from Zebul, who was appointed prince of Shechem by him; he fought with the rebels, destroyed the city, and sowed salt in it. He also burned the fortifications of the church of Baalverif, along with the people imprisoned in them. But when he wanted to do the same with the tower of the city of Teves, one woman wounded him in the crown with a millstone. Ashamed to die by a woman, he asked his armor bearer to stab himself, and thus accepted execution with the two things that served his crime in Ephrath. After the death of Abimelech, Tholas, who was descended from the tribe of Issachar, but lived in Ephraim, was judge of Israel. Jairus followed him 401. He had thirty sons, who owned the same number of cities in the land of Gilead. As these two reigns calmed down, idolatry again spread throughout the Holy Land and attracted new disasters to it. On one side the Philistines, and on the other the Ammonites, oppressed it and devastated it for eighteen years. The suffering ones cried out to God and admitted their sin to Him, but He, through an unknown intermediary, told them that since they had left Him after repeated help, now let them ask for it from their new deities. The people, touched by this reproach, overthrew the idols, turned to true worship, and the time of deliverance approached. The inhabitants of the lands beyond the Jordan, hearing about the approach of the Ammonite army, gathered in Mizpah of Gilead and decided that he should be the prince of them all, who would dare to lead them against the enemy. But since no one volunteered for this, their elders went to the land of Tob and invited Jephthah to this position. He was the natural son of one of the inhabitants of Mizpah, who was expelled from his father's house by his legal heirs, and, having gathered people like him who had no refuge, he lived with them, probably raiding enemy lands. He came to Mizpeh, and the people solemnly made him their head. Without taking military action, he tried with a double embassy to present to the Ammonite king the injustice of his attack 402; but his ideas, with all their justice, were not respected. Then, inspired by the Spirit of God, Jephthah fought with the Ammonites, defeated them, entered their borders and took twenty cities. Going into this battle, Jephthah made a vow that, if it ended well, he would bring to God what upon his return would come out to meet him from his home. When he came to Mizpah in victory, his only begotten daughter met him with a solemn face. The winner was embarrassed and tore his vestments. But she, having learned the reason for his sudden sadness, said that she willingly submitted to the fulfillment of his promise, being pleased with his happiness and the freedom of the fatherland, and only asked him for two months to mourn her virginity. Many ancient interpreters of the sacred books claim that she was offered as a burnt offering, but some of the newest think that she remained only in virginity, and was dedicated to the tabernacle for some service in accordance with her sex. Civil strife and punishment of the Ephraimites The fate of Jephthah's daughter was some foreshadowing of another equally pitiful sacrifice, which he was soon forced to make to his victory over the Ammonites. The Ephraimites, jealous of his glory or booty, crossed the Jordan in great numbers, and threatened to burn his house and himself under the pretext that he did not invite them to the last war. Jephthah represented to them that he had to fight, that he asked for their help, but did not receive it, that he acquired the victory by his own danger and the favor of God; and that they should not attack those of the same tribe, without daring to oppose those of foreign origin; but the rebels did not calm down, and for their part called the inhabitants of Gilead fugitives who had evaded the true descendants of Joseph. It came to a battle, Jephthah defeated and scattered them. Not content with this, the inhabitants of Gilead, irritated by the reproach made to them, occupied the crossings of the Jordan; and when those defeated separately and under the name of other tribes wanted to return to their inheritance, they were recognized by some difference in their pronunciation and killed 403. Thus 42,000 people died: an immoderate act of human vengeance, but at the same time the righteous punishment of God on the daring disturbers of public peace. After Jephthah's peaceful death, the Jews also ruled peacefully. Heshbon, a native of Bethlehem, had thirty sons and as many daughters. Elon, who came from the tribe of Zebulun, and Abdon, an Ephraimite, with whom forty sons and thirty grandsons shared his power and abundance. The iniquities again subjected the Jews to oppression from the Philistines, which lasted for forty years. Samson finally took revenge on these old enemies and was the judge of the fatherland he defended; only he did not acquire perfect peace for him. Samson's homeland was the city of Saraa in the inheritance of Dan, neighboring the Philistines. God prepared in him a deliverer for His people even before he was born. An angel of God appeared to his mother, who was barren, and told her that she would give birth to a son who would be a Nazarite to God and the savior of Israel, and that for this she herself, like the Nazarenes, should abstain from wine and strong drink and everything unclean. Through the prayer of Manoah, her husband, who was not at this first vision, the Angel appeared another time, confirmed his instructions, and when Manoah, considering him to be a Prophet, wanted to treat him, he demanded a burnt offering. Manoah asked him, meanwhile, about his name and received the answer that it was: Wonderful. The angel was recognized when he ascended to heaven along with the flame of the sacrifice. Manoah was horrified, but his wife reassured him with the favor of God, which turned out to be in accepting the sacrifice. The Angel's instructions were followed and the prediction was fulfilled. The son of Manoah grew up and soon showed signs of the Spirit and power of God present in him. Once Samson came to Timnatha, and, seeing a Philistine woman, he wished to have her as his wife. In vain did his parents persuade him to despise the daughter of the uncircumcised. They were finally forced to go with him to Timnafa to propose this marriage to the bride and her relatives. On the way, a young lion attacked Samson. The Spirit of God came upon him, and he tore the beast to pieces with his hands. Passing the same way another time to celebrate his marriage, he went to look at the corpse he had thrown and found bees and honey in its mouth. This incident gave him the opportunity to thirty friends, whom the Philistines, according to custom, and perhaps, due to some fear of him, gave him at the wedding, to propose the following riddle: from the eater comes the poisonous, and from the strong the sweet. He promised them thirty full clothes if they guessed it in the seven days of the feast, and they agreed to give him the same amount if they didn’t guess it. The cunning wife extracted the secret from him and betrayed it to her fellow tribesmen. Then it was revealed that Providence allowed weakness in Samson in order to arouse him to punish the enemies of the Jewish people. He went to Ascalon, killed thirty Philistines, and with their clothes paid off his debt to his treacherous friends. In anger, Samson left his wife for some time. But when he came to her father to reconcile with her, she had already been given to another. Her father offered him her sister, but he, despite this beauty, rejected his offer. At this time, he himself felt that God was calling him to avenge his people, and therefore declared himself an enemy not of his father-in-law or his relatives, but of the Philistines. Having caught three hundred foxes, and tying them two by two with their tails, he sent them with fire into the fields of the Philistines, and thus burned out their harvest and gardens. The Philistines, perhaps, thought to satisfy him by destroying the house that was the cause of his grief, but Samson took revenge on those who avenged him with a great defeat. After this, the Philistines entered the inheritance of Judah with weapons. The inhabitants of this region, wanting to ward off their rage, sent 3,000 people to Samson, who was hiding in a cave at that time, in order to tie him up and hand him over to the enemies. He himself agreed to this. When they brought him to the Philistine army, and when they saw him, they exclaimed for joy, then, overwhelmed by the Spirit of God, he broke his bonds and beat a thousand soldiers with the jawbone of a donkey that came his way. After completing this feat, Samson felt mortal thirst. He called out to God, and immediately a source opened before him, which was later called the Source of the Caller. Thus, having shown himself to be both an ascetic of war and an ascetic of faith, Samson subsequently proved by his example that great people can also have great weaknesses. The conqueror of so many husbands was defeated by his wives. Once he came to Gaza and spent the night in a dishonest house. The inhabitants of the city, having learned about this, placed a secret guard at its gates, so that when morning came they would capture and kill their enemy. However, Samson not only got rid of this danger, but also laughed at it. At midnight he left the city, carrying the gate along with the ropes on his shoulders, and left them on a nearby mountain. The passion that he later felt for Dalida completely blinded him. The Philistine princes bribed this woman to learn the secret of his extraordinary strength. Three times he deceived her, and three times she revealed his deception; finally, he told her that the source of his strength was the Nazarene vow, and that the taking away of the hair dedicated to God would deprive him of God’s miraculous help. In fact, when he was shaved while sleeping, grace departed from him. He was taken by the Philistines, and according to secret heavenly justice, first of all, he was deprived of his eyes, which were the cause of his fall, then in prison, in chains, put to the millstones. It is very likely that in this state Samson cleared his previous errors with repentance. His powers grew along with his hair. On the festival of Dagon, the Philistines called him into their assembly to enjoy the spectacle of their humiliated enemy, and to praise the god to whom they attributed their victory. While in this meeting, Samson, touching the pillars of the building, cried out to God for help for the last time, and shook them with such force that the entire building collapsed, and he killed more enemies with his death than in his life. His relatives took his body and buried him in his father's coffin. After the death of Samson, the power of the Judge was united with the title of High Priest in the person of Eli, a descendant of Ithamar. It is not known how he received both, only it was not a kidnapping 404. The distinguishing characteristic of his reign seems to have been meekness, but during his old age it turned into weakness, which was accompanied by the fall of his house and the destruction of the welfare of the church and civil. Elijah's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, on whom he entrusted the service of the tabernacle, violated the order of sacrifices, which they made the food of their greed and luxury, used worship as a means to serve their voluptuousness, and through this brought religion into contempt among the people. Elijah, having learned about the disorder of his children, punished them with a reprimand, but with such success as should have been expected from a punishment so disproportionate to their crimes 405. God twice declared His wrath to him for this through His messengers 406. The elder surrendered himself to His will, but did not think to correct his mistake. The Philistines were the instrument of God's wrath. They attacked the Jews and killed 4,000 people in the first battle. The Jewish elders, like bad doctors, wanted to heal this ulcer without thinking about its cause. They demanded that the Ark of the Covenant be brought into the army, as if God had to work miracles and show His help not when He pleases, but when they please. Eli agreed to this, having neither the command nor the permission of God, and sent his children away with the ark. The Jewish army received him with a joyful cry, and the enemies were afraid, but soon, encouraged, they eagerly entered the battle. The Jews were defeated again and lost 30,000 soldiers, Hophni and Phinehas were killed. The Ark of the Covenant was taken by the pagans. Elijah, having listened to the messenger about this battle, fell from the seat on which he was sitting at the entrance of the tabernacle, and was killed to death. Fineesov's wife died in childbirth at the same news. These incidents showed that God rejects the very worship of the chosen people in order to punish them for the impoverishment of internal piety. The times of the Judges, taken together with the reign of Joshua and Eli, according to some, do not have a complete chronology 407. According to the usual calculation done following the example of Joseph, who takes the times of enslavement and the times of the reign of the Judges, indicated in the Holy Books, as separate and consecutive, they amount to about 477 years 408; but this number does not include the time of anarchy that occurred after the death of Jesus, which the same writer puts at 18 years 409, and probably several other anarchy after the death of some Judges. But others, accepting as a strict sign that in the third book of Kings 410 the creation of the temple of Solomon is supposed to be in the four hundred and eightieth year of the exodus of the sons of Israel from Egypt, separate from this date 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, the same number of years of the reign of Samuel and Saul 411, the same number of David 412 and the three years of Solomon that elapsed before the founding of the church; and thus determine the period of the Judges at 356 years, which, according to the book of Judges, should be divided so that the times of anarchy and enslavement coincide with the chronology of peace and rule 413. The shortest chronology of this period is also confirmed by the fact that in the genealogy of David, between him and Nahshon, a contemporary of Moses, there are only four people left 414. Among the famous people of these times, some of whom, especially Joshua and Samson, imagined images of the Messiah 415, Ruth 416 deserves a place, whose adventures represent, as it were, the beginning of the conversion of the pagan church to God. She was a Moabite who married a Jew who came to her land due to famine. After the death of her husband, when Naomi, her mother-in-law, returned to her native city of Bethlehem, Ruth vowed not to leave her and to have one fatherland with her and one God with her. Upon arrival in Bethlehem, she became known to Boaz, a relative of her deceased husband, for her virtues, and, on the instructions of her mother-in-law, asked him to raise a seed for herself. He offered this to another closest relative, but when he renounced his right, Ruth became the wife of Boaz and from him the foremother of David. The true doctrine of faith preserved during the time of the Judges the same image that it received under Moses, and was spread both through the established reading of the Law and through the instruction and example of pious men. The Son of God Himself, as the Head and guardian of the Church, was repeatedly known in appearances to His chosen ones, such as: Jesus, Gideon and Samson’s parents. Legal worship was performed in these times at the Tabernacle in Gilgal and in Shiloh, however, it was not entirely inseparable from it. In some extreme cases, sacrifices were made in other places and by people not dedicated to this ministry, as can be seen from the examples of Gideon and Manoah. There are no synagogues in sight. About family status The family fortune remained as before, but was also subject to the same disadvantages. An example of polygamy is presented in Gideon. The same can be concluded about some other judges from their numerous offspring. In the civil state, God's government continued through the Judges. Their power, which was not autocratic, but was not always within the same limits and did not have a known and continuous succession, necessarily presupposed another unlimited power, and, obviously, depended on the appeal and favor of God. The lower city governments were composed of elders, but in these times there is no sign of the existence of the great Sanhedrin 417. Little reliable information is known about the enlightenment of the Jews during the time of the Judges. The name Kiriathsepher, or, according to the translation of seventy interpreters, the city of letters 418, and some similar names of places 419 cannot be indisputable evidence that there were schools in these places. However, it is likely that the descendants of Jethro, known as the Canites, were distinguished for their learning, for the book of Chronicles calls them scribes 420. The Book of the Righteous One, known in these times, according to some, contained a collection of historical songs, but we are left with only its name in the book of Joshua 421. Holy book of this time The most reliable monument of these times is the book of Joshua itself, containing the history of the faith and the Jewish people during his reign. Its writer, except for some additions 422, is definitely Joshua. For tradition could not provide another later writer with such numerous details of persons and places as are found in this book. Moreover, the description of the division of lands contained in it had to be made by Jesus himself in order to prevent dangerous disputes about this division, which was supposed to be hereditary. False worship in the time of the Judges appears both in new strength and in new variety. At the time of Jesus himself, not all Jews were completely pure from idolatry 423; after that they not only accepted from other nations, but sometimes they themselves invented a new worship service, as evidenced by the idols of Micah and the monument to Gideon’s victory, consecrated by superstition. The most famous deities of the peoples neighboring them, whom they partly worshiped, are: 1. Baal. His name means lord and is common to several types of idols. He is revered in fables as Jupiter 424, in nature as the sun 425, and in History as Neurod or Ham. In its worship they used: dancing around the altar, flagellation, cutting with knives, kneeling and kissing the idol 426. 2. Astarte, Sidonian deity. Lucian honors her as the Moon 427. 3. Baal - Berith. A special deity, whose name, according to the most likely explanation, means the lord of alliances or oaths. 4. Dagon. According to the different meanings of this name, some take it for the god of fruits, and others for the god of fish and seas. The latter opinion is confirmed by the fact that he was worshiped in the coastal countries, also by the fact that his idol, but according to some 428, had half a human body and the tail of a fish. In contrast to the imitation of Jews by pagans, a remarkable, although also distorted, imitation of Sodomite worship is found by some in the Delphic temple that opened in these times and the oracle, the beginning of which is attributed to the Canaanite settlers. This guess is favored by: the building of the church, which had the appearance of a tabernacle, the inscription above its entrance EI close to the Hebrew name of God Egye li Jag, unquenchable fire 429, a tripod bound in gold, which constituted the main accessory of the church, like the purification in the tabernacle; and, finally, the Pythian holiday, which took place first after seven days, and then after seven years, of which the solemn song began and ended with the exclamation: E λελεύ ίή or E λελεύ ίά, very similar to the Jewish alleluia. Modernity of pagan peoples From the history of pagan peoples, Bela, Nina and Semiramis in Assyria are attributed to the time of the Judges, but the silence of the Holy Books about this empire does not allow one to believe its glory. Among the Egyptian kings of these times, Wuzirides and Sesothris are glorified. Sanhopiaton flourished among the Phoenicians, to whom we owe the antiquities of this people. According to Porfiry, he borrowed a lot from Ieromval, the priest of God Ievi 430. It is very likely that it was Jerovaal, that is, Gideon, a worshiper of Jehovah. Greece, in the Jewish chronology around the time of Jesus, received from Cadmus a new colony and letters that were similar in name, style and number to the Phoenician and Hebrew. Not far away are Orpheus, his teacher Lin and his student Museum, who embodied the teachings of nature in rituals and sacraments. The greatest part of the glorious Greek fables and superstitions also arose about the time of the Judges. The Trojan War corresponds to the time of Jephthah. This period is concluded on the one hand by the construction of Lacedaemon 431, and on the other by the death of Codrus. History of the Jews among the Gentiles Traces of Jewish history of modern times are found among the pagans in the fable of Hercules. Of the three or four heroes whom the Greeks confuse under this name, Hercules of Egypt, according to some, is Joshua. In addition, many legends about Hercules are very conveniently attached to Samson. From its history they derive the pagan custom of dedicating hair to deities and the Roman rite of the Vulpinarium. Procopius gives historical evidence that belongs here when, having spoken about the flight of the Phoenicians to Africa, he mentions two pillars they erected in Numidia, on which they placed a Phoenician inscription: we flee from the face of Jesus the robber, the son of Nun 432. Number XIII, 17. The first name means save, and the second means save. The first is proved by the ordinary meaning of the names ן ׳ נח and πόρνη, Heb. XI, 31; also by silence about her husband, Jesus. II, 18. But the Chaldean interpreter calls it παντοκευτρία; and Joseph has her house καταγώγιον. This faith forbids calling her act treason against the fatherland. She also agreed on a security sign by which the winners would distinguish her house. In the details of this treaty, what is most worthy of note is the extreme respect of the Israelites for the oath. Joseph, who is afraid of miracles, says, Ancient. in the book V, that the water had just receded, and that the Jews had crossed the ford. But he tries in vain to bring this action to nature. The Holy Writer, on the contrary, notes. Jesus III:15, that the Jordan was in flood at that time. For the snows of Anti-Lebanon were melting. Not only the first, but also this second monument was visible in shallow water for many centuries, Eus. Loc, Alberi, in. Mat. III, 9. Is the loss of 36 people really that terrible? So. Since the Jews relied not on their own strength, but on God, any loss was equally great, because it meant the absence of God’s help. Seeing the punishment of an entire people for the crime of one person, we must notice here what purity God requires from the people He protects. Grotius thinks that the children of Achara were only spectators of his execution; but the words of Jesus. VII, 15, 21, 20, do not allow this explanation. They were probably punished because they knew about his sin, but it was not revealed, since it was impossible to hide stolen things in the bush without the knowledge of the household. It is doubtful whether this action is consistent with the law, which does not allow the making of a covenant with the Canaanites, Exod. XXXIV, 12 neither let them live, Deut. XX, 16. But in this last together, Art. 13, in any general war, it is commanded to make peace proposals with a demand for submission, and in case of persistence, to beat the male sex, Art. 13, and especially the Canaanites to kill everyone. In other places, such as Ex. XXIII, 32, and XXXI-40;, 12, 13, 34, 15, the covenant is prohibited not so much with the Canaanite peoples as with their deities. From this it is clear that these laws could remain without effect under the following circumstances: 1) if any Canaanite tribe willingly punished the Jews, and 2) if it was not stubborn in paganism. Therefore it is said of the Canaanites that God hardened their hearts, so that mercy would not be given to them, Jesus. XI, 20. But in the Gibeonites we notice both of these conditions. So, if their union was not completely firm, it was only because its special condition - the remoteness of their land - turned out to be unfair. This time is counted according to the years of Caleb’s life, Joshua. XIV, 10. The division had to be done not only by lot, but also by the number of people. Number XXVI, 54, 55. To combine both; one must think that the lot determined only the position of one tribe in relation to the other, and not the space of the earth. The conquest of Caleb is narrated in Iis. XV, 13 et seq. Judgment, 1, 13 et seq. The Jews hold the first meeting in Thamiath, but others in Shiloh in front of the tabernacle. The second according to the Biblical text and according to Joseph was in Shechem. This place was chosen either because here Abraham made his first sacrifice in the promised land, or in order to bury the bones of Joseph at the same time. Jesus. XXVI, 32, Iit. The tabernacle was, of course, transferred from Shiloh to this meeting, v. 1, 25. Among the blessings of God, Jesus mentions that two Amorite kings were driven out from before the Jews by hornets. Jesus. XXIV, 12. Some understand through this the fear sent by God. The writer of comparative passages in the Slavic Bible had something similar in mind. But it is probable that this was a real incident, omitted in the order of history, but foretold by Moses, Deut. VII, 20. From the Court. 1, 1, one could conclude that these wars happened after the death of Jesus. But since they are mentioned partly in the book of Joshua XV, 14, et seq., then, of course, they began during his lifetime. The author of the book of Judges speaks about them in order to show the cause of the disasters that befell the Jews during the time of the Judges, which he was supposed to describe. Why can the beginning of this book be understood as follows: “After the death of Jesus, the following events happened: even before that, the Jews asked God, and so on. The conquest of Hebron described here should not be confused with the first conquest of Jesus, Jesus. XI, 21, but it does not need to be distinguished from the conquest of Caleb. Ibid. XV, 14: for it is attributed to Caleb only as the leader of the tribe of Judah and his army. Joseph believes the meeting place to be near Jerusalem, being deceived by the similarity of the names, 2 Sam. V, 23; seventy interpreters outshine; the original text shows near Gilgal. The reason for the meeting is completely unknown. The Messenger of God was either an Angel or a Prophet. Some assign the time of the event during the time of Jesus, others after him. The latter is more likely, because Jesus either would not have allowed sin to increase, or would have taken upon himself the office of reproof. But what after this is mentioned about Jesus. Court. II, 7 et seq., this should not be considered an indication of time. The writer here again turns to the past in order to briefly show the state of faith under this leader and after him. This and the following incident are described at the end of the book of Judges, XVII - XXI. But their true time is known from the fact that the tribe of Dan was still looking for an inheritance, XVIII, 1. that Phinehas was still alive, XX, 28, and the anarchy continued, XVII, 6. XXI, 25. He stood before the face of the Lord, Judgment. XX, 2. But since the tabernacle, as can be seen from this very story, XX, 26. XXI, 2, was then in Shiloh, then these words, of course, depict only the reverence of the people. However, Mizphath was a special place of prayer, 1 Kings, VII, 6 - 11; Makk. III, 46. Some exclude him from the number of judges because the Holy Writer does not indicate the time for him, and after him mentions the death of Ehud. Court. IV, 1. But the reason for this could be the brevity of his reign. We affirm that he, like the others, is called the savior of Israel, III, 31, Joseph gives him less than a year. He lived in Ephrath, Judgment. VI, 11. But as a city of this name it is considered in the inheritance of Benjamin, Is. XVIII, 23; then we must conclude that either Gideon, due to unfortunate circumstances, was forced to occupy land for a while in someone else’s inheritance, or there were two cities of the same name. Court. VI, 11. Not on the threshing floor, as the translation of the Seventy says, but in the winepress. Court. IX, 6; See Jesus. XXIV, 1 26. It should not be confused with others mentioned in Deut. III, 14. It is likely that he returned the possessions acquired by his ancestor and lost in unfortunate times, and called them as before the cities of Jairus. They were forced to pronounce the word shibboleth, which means ear; but they, according to the special dialect of their tribe, said: Sibboleth. It seems that before him the high priesthood continued in a direct line in the tribe of Eleazar, through Phinehas, Abihu, Bochiah and Uzziah. See 1 Sam. VI, 30, 31. Jos. Ancient books. V, ch. 12. The fact that it has now temporarily passed to the Ithamara tribe, despite the Covenant of God with Fieees. Number XXV, 13, this is the work of God’s judgment, hidden from us, 1 Sam. II, 30. 1 Sam. II, 23. Here the inattention of the children of Eli is attributed, apparently, to the unconditional determination of God. But the particle יכ can be translated by the particle that, or because. 1 Samuel II, 27 et seq. III, II et seq. Attached here is a table of known and unknown times that are taken into account for this chronology. See Ancient. book V, and book. 8, 11. For this number of years of the world should be attributed to the beginning, and not to its continuation; for example, what is said about the peace of Othniel, Judg. III, 11, means that the earth received peace after 40 years from the previous world, Jesus. XIV, 15, or from the death of Jesus. To the objection to this short calendar, borrowed from Acts. XIII, 20, where, apparently, about 450 years are assigned to the times of the Judges, they answer: that these years should be counted from the election of the Fathers, Art. 17. i.e. the birth of Isaac before the Judges. There are no exact signs of the time in which she lived, except that this was when the Judge died. Ruth I, 1, and that Boaz, her second husband, was the grandson of Nahshon. Otherwise there would be no beginning. See Court. XXI, 25. Iis. XIX, 47, XXIV, 29 – 36. Iis. XXIV, 14, 23; XXII, 17. Sanchoniaton by Eusebius Praep. Ev. L, 1, c. 10. 1 Kings XVIII, 26, 28; XIX, 18. It was called έςία, יח אש fire of God. Euseb. Praep. Ev. L, 1, c. 9. On the origin of the Lacedaemonians See 1 Mac, xii, 25. You might be interested in: