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Web Development & Design Foundations with HTML5, 8th Edition
Instructor Materials Chapter 6 Test Bank
Multiple Choice. Choose the best answer.

1. To apply a style to one or more elements on a web page, configure a CSS

_____________.
a. group
b. id
c. class
d. None of the above

2. The box model consists of a content area surrounded by:

a. a border
b. padding, border, and margin
c. border and margin
d. spacing, border, and margin

3. The _______ is the area between the content and the border.
a. border
b. spacing
c. padding
d. none of the above

4. _________ flow displays the elements on the page in the order they appear in the
web page source code.
a. default
b. source code
c. browser
d. normal

5. Use ___________ positioning to slightly change the location of an element in relation

to where it would otherwise appear when rendered by a browser.
a. absolute
b. float
c. relative
d. display

6. The CSS to create the class called myfloat that floats to the right of the other page
content, has a 10px margin, and a solid border is:
.myfloat { float:right; margin:10px; border: 1px solid #000000; }
#myfloat { right:float: margin 10px; border: 1px solid #000000; }
.myfloat { float:right; 10px:margin; border: 1px solid #000000; }
.myfloat { float:right; margin:10px; border: on; }

7. The default value for the border property for an element is:
a. 1 pixel
b. 0 pixels
c. 3 pixels
d. 10 pixels

Page 1
Web Development & Design Foundations with HTML5, 8th Edition
Instructor Materials Chapter 6 Test Bank

8. When using the box model, the _____ is always transparent.

a. border
b. content
c. spacing
d. margin

9. Use an id to configure a style when:

a. the style could apply to more than one element on a page.
b. the style will apply to only one element on a page.
c. the style is used for all elements on a page.
d. None of the above

10. If an element is configured with ___________ the other content on the page will
appear to its left.
a. position:left;
b. position:relative;
c. float:left;
d. float:right;

11. Which of the following configures a margin for an element with the following values:
top margin 30 pixels, left margin 150 pixels, right margin 0 pixels, and bottom margin 0
pixels?
a. margin: 150px 20px 0 300px;
b. margin:top-30, left-150, right-0, bottom-0;
c. margin:30px 0 0 150px;
d. none of the above

12. Use the ________ property along with the left, right and/or top property to precisely
configure the position of an element.
position:absolute;
position:relative;
position:float;
absolute:position;

13. Use the ________ or _______ property to clear a float.

a. float or clear
b. clear or overflow
c. position or clear
d. overflow or float

14. Choose the example below that configures a comment in CSS.

a. <! comment !>
b. // comment //
c. /* comment */
d. << comment >>

Page 2
Web Development & Design Foundations with HTML5, 8th Edition
Instructor Materials Chapter 6 Test Bank

15. Choose the example below of a descendent selector that configures the anchor tags
with the nav element.
a. nav a
b..navigation a
c. #nav a
d. a nav

16. Select the example below that could be used to clear a right float.
a. clear: right;
b. clear: left;
c. right: clear;
d. overflow: right;

17. Select the example below that configures a container to clear all floated elements
that are within the container.
a. clear: both;
b. overflow: all;
c. overflow: auto;
d. clear: all;

18. When configuring the background color of an element, the background color is
applied to both the content and ______ areas.
a. border
b. padding
c. margin
d. extra

19. Use the _______________ property to configure an image to use as a bullet point in
an unordered list.
a. bullet-image
b. image-style
c. list-style-image
d. bullet-style-image

20. From the choices below select the correct order to code CSS pseudo-classes.
a. link, hover, visited, active
b. hover, link, active, visited
c. link, visited, hover, active
d. link, hover, active, visited

21. Set list-style-type to the value ___________ to hide the display of the list markers on
an ordered list.
a. none
b. hide
c. invisible
d. nodisplay

Page 3
Web Development & Design Foundations with HTML5, 8th Edition
Instructor Materials Chapter 6 Test Bank
22. The _______ pseudo-class configures the styles that will apply when the mouse is
on a hyperlink.
a. hover
b. click
c. active
d. over

23. The _____ pseudo-class configures the appearance of the hyperlink before it is
clicked.

24. Choose the HTML5 element below that is used to configure an area on a web page
that can stand on its own and could potentially be syndicated.
a. div
b. section
c. article
d. aside

25. The ________ HTML5 element is used to contain tangential or supplemental

content.
a. header
b. main
c. aside
d. section

26. Choose the item below that is not an HTML5 element.

a. footer
b. figure
c. wrapper
d. article

27. Choose the example below of a descendant selector that configures the anchor tags
within the element assigned to an id named special.
a. #special a
b. .special a
c. a#special
d. special#a

28. Use ___________ positioning to configure the location of an element to remain the
same and to not move even when the web page is scrolled within the browser viewport.
a. absolute
b. static
c. relative
d. fixed

29. The CSS universal selector is indicated by which of the following symbols?
a. %
b. #
c. ?
d. *

Page 4
Web Development & Design Foundations with HTML5, 8th Edition
Instructor Materials Chapter 6 Test Bank
Answers.

1. c

2. b

3. c

4. d

5. c

6. a

7. b

8. d

9. b

10. d

11. c

12. a

13. b

14. c

15. a

16. a

17. c

18. b

19. c

20. c

21.a

22. a

23. b

24. c

25. c

Page 5
Web Development & Design Foundations with HTML5, 8th Edition
Instructor Materials Chapter 6 Test Bank
26. c

27. a

28. d

29. d

Page 6
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23, 24; Josh. xiv. 9). This winding Valley, then, of the Cluster, this
mountain (Josh. xiv. 12) on which rose the stronghold of the
Anakims, was the portion Caleb desired for himself, and hence with
the Divine aid he vowed to drive forth its gigantic possessors, and
take it for his own.

Joshua willingly granted his request, and the great warrior of the
tribe of Judah went up against the city of Arba, and drove out the
sons of Anak, Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. Thence he proceeded
southward to Debir or Kirjath-sephir 161, the City of Books, probably a
sacred oracular place, and promised to give to its successful
assailant his daughter Achsah in marriage. Thereupon Othniel his
nephew, or according to others his younger brother, attacked and
took the fortress, and won the promised prize. On the way to
Othniel’s house, Achsah dismounted from the ass on which she rode,
and begged her father to give her some “better heritage than the
dry and thirsty frontier of the desert.” Below the spot on which rose
the newly captured fortress was a bubbling rivulet, falling into a rich
valley. Thou hast given me, said she, a south land, give me also the
bubbling rills, and he gave her the upper and lower bubblings, and
thus Hebron and Debir with the rich valley below became the
inheritance of the great warrior of Judah, and was long after known
by his name (1 Sam. xxv. 3; xxx. 14).

2. But the more general mode of dividing the conquered land, in

accordance with the Divine instructions, was by casting lots before
the Tabernacle at Shiloh 162, in the presence of Joshua, the High-
priest, and the elders of the nation. As the distribution of the tribes
of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh on the east of the
Jordan has been already described, we may confine ourselves to
those on the western side, under the threefold division of (a) The
South, (b) the Centre, (c) the North.

(a) The South.

i. The most southerly frontier was assigned first to Judah but

afterwards to Simeon (Josh. xix. 9), and is often called in Scripture the
South (Josh. x. 40; Judg. i. 9). Like Reuben on the east of Jordan,
Simeon was destined to have little influence on the subsequent history, to
be divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel (Gen. xlix. 5–7), and to be
constantly exposed to the attacks of the Amalekites and other nomadic
tribes on its frontier (comp. 1 Chron. iv. 39–43).

ii. Next to Simeon on the North was the territory of the lion tribe of
Judah, comprising the undulating pasture country of the South, the fertile
lowland of the West, the hill fortresses of the centre, and the wild desert
bordering on the Dead Sea. Part of his inheritance was fertile, and
covered with corn fields and vineyards (Gen. xlix. 11), part was a wild
country, “the lair of savage beasts,” where amidst caverns, ravines and
mountains, Judah, true to the description in the blessing of Jacob, could
stoop down and couch as a lion, guarding the southern frontier of the
Promised Land.

iii. North-east of Judah was the warlike little tribe (Ps. lxviii. 27;
1 Sam. ix. 21) of Benjamin, famous for its archers (2 Sam. i. 22), slingers
(Judg. xx. 16), and left-handed warriors (Judg. iii. 15; xx. 16). Its
territory was small, being hardly larger than the county of Middlesex, but
its position was of great importance. Containing numerous rounded
hills 163, which presented favourable sites for strong fortresses, it
commanded the chief passes leading down from the central hills to the
Jordan on the one side, and the plains of Philistia on the other. In this
broken and hilly country the tribe became warlike and indomitable,
ravening as a wolf (Gen. xlix. 27).

iv. Compressed into the narrow space between the north-western hills
of Judah and the Mediterranean was the tribe of Dan, containing within
the 14 miles from Joppa to Ekron one of the most fertile tracts in the
land, the corn-field and garden of southern Palestine. But for this rich
prize it had to contend first with the Amorites (Judg. i. 34), and
afterwards with the Philistines (Judg. xiv. &c.), and eventually, as we shall
see, was obliged to seek a new home in the North (Judg. xviii. 27–29).

(b) The Centre.

The central portion of the Holy Land, the Samaria of after ages, was
assigned to the two brother tribes of the house of Joseph, Ephraim and
Manasseh. Of this territory, which may be roughly estimated at 55 miles
from E. to W., and 70 from N. to S., and which was about equal in extent
to the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk combined 164, (i) the more southerly
portion was assigned to Joshua’s own tribe of Ephraim. It extended as far
south as Ramah and Bethel within a few miles of Jerusalem, and was rich
in fountains and streamlets, in “wide plains in the hearts of mountains,
and continued tracts of vegetation,” in corn-fields and orchards, the
precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof, which the Lawgiver
invoked on the ten thousands of Ephraim (Deut. xxxiii. 13–17), and of
whose father Jacob had said that he should be a fruitful bough, a fruitful
bough by a well (Gen. xlix. 22). (ii) And as the duty of guarding the
northern outposts on the east of Jordan had been assigned to one half of
the tribe of Manasseh, so to the remaining half on the west was assigned
the duty of defending the passes into the great plain of Jezreel. Its
territory stretched westwards to the Mediterranean and the slopes of
Carmel, but did not quite reach the Jordan on the East.

(c) The North.

The northern portion of the Holy Land, the Galilee of after times,
extending from the range of Carmel to the mountains of Lebanon, was
assigned to four tribes “allied by birth, and companions on the desert
march,” Issachar, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali.

i. The territory of Issachar lay above that of Manasseh, and exactly

consisted of the plain of Esdraelon (the Greek form of the Hebrew
Jezreel, = the seed-plot of God). The luxuriance of this plain,—the battle-
field of Palestine 165—is the theme of every traveller. The soil yielded corn
and figs, wine and oil (1 Chr. xii. 40), the stately palm waved over the
villages, and the very weeds to this day testify to its extraordinary
fertility. Here Issachar rejoiced in his tents (Deut. xxxiii. 18, 19), couched
down as the strong he-ass (Gen. xlix. 14, 15) used for burden and field-
work, and seeing that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant,
bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant to the tribute, which
various marauders, Canaanites (Judg. iv. 3, 7), Midianites, Amalekites
(Judg. vi. 3, 4), Philistines (1 Sam. xxix. 1; xxxi. 7–10) exacted, bursting
through his frontier open both on the east and west, and tempted by his
luxuriant crops 166.

ii. Immediately north of Issachar was the allotment of Zebulun,

extending from the Sea of Chinnereth 167 (afterwards the Lake of
Gennesareth) on the east, towards the Mediterranean on the west.
Besides the fertile plain near the fisheries of the lake, this tribe possessed
the goings out (Deut. xxxiii. 18), the outlet of the plain of Akka, where it
could suck of the abundance of the seas.
 iii. The land of Naphtali stretched from the Sea of Chinnereth to the
valley which separates the ranges of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, and was
one of the most densely wooded districts of the country; its forests
surpassed even those of Carmel, and the land has been described as a
“natural park of oaks and terebinths.” Its soil also was rich and fertile, full
with the blessing of the Lord (Deut. xxxiii. 23).

iv. To the West of Naphtali and resting on the sea-shore was the lot of
the tribe of Asher. It was an important position, including the creeks and
harbours (Judg. v. 17, 18) on the coast, and commanding all approaches
to Palestine from the sea on the north. Its soil was pre-eminently fertile,
and well fulfilled the blessings of Jacob and Moses. Here Asher could dip
his foot in the oil of his luxuriant olive-groves (Deut. xxxiii. 24), fatten on
the bread, the fruit of his rich plains, and the royal dainties (Gen.
xlix. 20), the produce of his vineyards and pastures, while for or under
his shoes (Deut. xxxiii. 25) was the iron ore of Lebanon, and the brass, or
copper, of the neighbouring Phœnician settlements 168.

One tribe alone received no share in this allotment. Like Simeon, but
in a different sense, the tribe of Levi was to be divided in Jacob and
scattered in Israel (Gen. xlix. 7). Devoted to the service of the sanctuary
and sacrificial and other ministrations, this tribe depended for its
maintenance on the tithes of the produce of land and cattle (Num. xviii.);
but besides this, from each tribe, four cities and their suburban pastures,
or forty-eight in all, were set apart for it, and amongst these were
included the six cities of Refuge, three on each side of the Jordan,

On the West.

1. Kedesh in Naphtali.

2. Shechem in Mt Ephraim.

3. Hebron in Judah.

On the East.

4. Golan in Bashan.

5. Ramoth-Gilead in Gad.

6. Bezer in Reuben.
 The division of the Promised Land being thus concluded, and his
own inheritance having been assigned to him at Timnath-serah in
Mount Ephraim, where he built a city and settled amongst the
people he had led so prudently, Joshua summoned the tribes of
Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and having
commended them for their bravery and fidelity, gave them his
blessing, and bade them return to their own settlements beyond the
Jordan (Josh. xxii. 1–6).

Accordingly these tribes departed. But while yet on the western

side of the river they set up a great Altar, not indeed for burnt-
offering or for sacrifice, which could only be presented at the Brazen
Altar of the Tabernacle at Shiloh (Lev. xvii. 8, 9; Deut. xii. 4–29), but
as a standing witness to all generations, that though parted by that
river, they were not sundered in religion or national interests from
their western brethren. No sooner, however, was the erection of this
altar announced to the other tribes, than they assembled at Shiloh,
and made war upon their brethren, whom they deemed guilty of
apostasy. But first, they prudently resolved to send an embassy, with
Phinehas and ten princes at its head, to try the effect of a friendly
expostulation. Phinehas accordingly set out and laid before them the
complaint of their brethren. What trespass, he asked, was this of
which they were guilty in building this altar? Had they forgotten the
judgments the nation had incurred by their sin in the matter of Baal-
Peor, or the trouble the nation suffered in consequence of the
trespass of Achan? What, then, did they mean by this turning away
from following the Lord, and exposing the whole people to His
deserved wrath?

Startled at this suspicion of faithlessness, the two tribes and a

half reiterated the most solemn protestations of their innocence. The
Altar they had erected was not intended for any sacrificial purposes
whatsoever. It was simply an Altar of Memorial, a Testimony to
future generations that they had the same part and lot in the
interests of the nation as their brethren on the west of Jordan. Even
the zealous Phinehas could not but be satisfied with this explanation.
It was no apostasy or rebellion, but at the worst an error in
judgment. And the embassy returned with the joyful intelligence that
there were no grounds for a quarrel or an appeal to arms, while the
two tribes and a half, having named the altar Ed, or a Witness,
continued their journey to their eastern homes, where they settled
down in the territories assigned them by Moses.

And now at length the land had rest. The tribes east and west of
Jordan established themselves in the lands of the heathen, and
inherited the labour of the people (Ps. cv. 44). Before long Joshua,
already stricken in age, became aware that the day was at hand
when he must go the way of all the earth. Summoning, therefore,
the tribes of Israel, with their elders, their judges, and their officers
to Shechem, a spot consecrated by the remains of Joseph (Josh.
xxiv. 33), and the national acceptance of the blessings and cursings
of the law (Josh. viii. 30–35), he for the last time exhorted the
nation to faithfulness to Jehovah. He reviewed their history from the
day that their fathers dwelt on the other side of the Euphrates in the
old time until now, when the Lord had given them cities which they
builded not, vineyards and oliveyards which they planted not. The
call of Abraham, the descent of Jacob into Egypt, the wonders of the
Exodus, the desert wanderings, the conquest of the Amorites on the
east of Jordan, of the Canaanites on this, all these great events in
their history were reviewed, and then the aged Chief solemnly bade
them choose whom they would serve, Jehovah who had done so
great things for them, or the gods of their fathers and of the nations
in whose land they dwelt. Thereupon the people solemnly renewed
the Covenant they had before made on the same spot, and as an
abiding memorial of their promise Joshua set up a Stone Pillar under
a sacred oak of Abraham and Jacob 169, and wrote out the words of
the Covenant in the Book of the Law of God (Josh. xxiv. 26). This
done, he bade every man depart unto his inheritance, and shortly
afterwards, at the age of 110, this devout, blameless, fearless
warrior died, and was buried in the border of his inheritance in
Timnath-serah 170 (Josh. xxiv. 30).
 BOOK VII.

PERIOD OF THE JUDGES.

CHAPTER I.

EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE DEATH

OF JOSHUA.
Judg. I. B.C. circ. 1425.

T
HE position of the Israelites at the death of Joshua was
eminently favourable. A nation of freemen, entrusted at Sinai
with the “Oracles of God,” they were now in possession of the
Promised Land. Though their late leader had not appointed any
successor to those extraordinary functions he had retained
throughout his life, a complete form of government had always
obtained amongst them ever since they became a nation in Egypt.
This was mainly kept up by the chiefs of the several tribes, the
heads of the great families or clans, and the heads of houses.
(Comp. Josh. viii. 33; xxiii. 2; xxiv. 1.) God Himself was their King,
and in a sensible and living presence manifested Himself at the
Tabernacle now set up at Shiloh, and revealed His will through the
mediation of the High-priest.

But though their position was one of great privileges and

blessings, it was none the less one of trial and probation. The
purposes for which the Vine of Israel had been called out of Egypt
(Ps. lxxx. 8) and planted in this goodly land could not be fulfilled
without trouble and exertion. There were enemies without and
within their newly-acquired territory, ready at the first opportunity to
attempt its recovery from their hands. If they were secure from their
old oppressors the Egyptians, yet on the south and south-east the
Midianites and Amalekites were only too likely to attack a people,
whose late victories must have been a continual source of jealousy;
while on the north-east were formidable chiefs, who might, as in the
days of their forefather Abraham 171, sweep down upon the country
beyond the Jordan, and grievously harass the eastern tribes.
Moreover, extensive as the conquests of Joshua had been, they had
not achieved nor were they intended to achieve the entire
extirpation of the Canaanites. The conquered population retained
large tracts and important positions in the very heart of the country.
The Philistines retained the fertile plain of the Shephelah in the
south-west; the almost impregnable fortress of Jebus still remained
unconquered on the very border of Judah; well nigh the entire sea-
coast from Dor to Sidon was in the hands of the Phœnicians; the
strong towns of Beth-shean, of Taanach, and Megiddo were still held
by the Canaanites in the fertile plain of Jezreel; while on the north
still lingered formidable remnants of the great confederacy under
Jabin. These nations had not been driven out hastily, but had been
left to test and prove the fidelity of the generation that had not
known the wars of Canaan (Judg. ii. 22), and the duty of
subjugating them had been solemnly enforced by Joshua in his last
address to the assembled tribes (Josh. xxiii. 5–10).

Accordingly we find that all the days of the elders that outlived
Joshua, the nation did not forget its vocation, but carried on the
work to which it had been called (Judg. ii. 7).

1. Thus Judah, whose conquest of Hebron and its vicinity has

been already related, in alliance with the neighbouring tribe of
Simeon, attacked Bezek, slew 10,000 of its Canaanite and Perizzite
inhabitants, and captured its ferocious king Adoni-bezek, whose
cruel mutilation of seventy vassal princes gives us an insight into the
character of the native chiefs, whom Israel was commissioned to
expel (Judg. i. 6, 7). As he had done to others, so Judah did to him.
They cut off his thumbs and his great toes, and carried him captive
to Jerusalem, i.e. to the Lower City, which was taken, and set on
fire. But the Upper City resisted all their efforts, as afterwards those
of the tribe of Benjamin (Judg. i. 21 172). They were more successful,
however, in other places, and reduced numerous cities of the
Canaanites in the central mountains, the southern desert, and the
low country of the west (Judg. i. 17, 18).

2. The powerful house of Joseph was not behind-hand in

following the example of the lion-tribe of Judah. They sent spies to
descry the town of Luz, who seeing a man coming from thence,
seized him, but consented to spare his life and that of his family on
condition that he shewed them the entrance, on ascertaining which,
they smote the place with the edge of the sword. Thus in addition to
Shechem, the house of Joseph became possessed of another spot
consecrated by the most sacred associations, even the town, near
which was the stone Pillar their father Jacob had set up on his way
to Padan-Aram, and called the place Beth-el, the House of God
(Judg. i. 22–26). But they were not similarly successful in expelling
the Canaanites from Gezer near lower Beth-horon (Judg. i. 29), or
from their strongholds in the plain of Jezreel, Taanach, Megiddo, and
Beth-shean. Instead of utterly driving them out, they put them
under tribute, as also the Amorites, who succeeded in thrusting the
children of Dan from the fertile lowland of the sea-coast into the
mountains, to be themselves dispossessed in turn by the Philistines
(Judg. i. 34, 35).

3. Similar declensions from the strict line of duty marked the

conduct of other tribes. Zebulun contented itself with merely
imposing tribute on the nations within its borders; Asher made no
attempt to expel the powerful Phœnicians on the sea-coast from
Accho to Zidon, or from their more inland settlements; and Naphtali
spared the inhabitants of the fenced cities of Beth-shemesh and
Beth-anath (Judg. i. 30–33). This neglect of an obvious duty soon
led to worse results. Contrary to the express commands of the Law,
and the repeated exhortations of Moses and Joshua, the Israelites
began to make leagues with the heathen nations. Leagues with
nations led to marriages with individuals, and these to their natural
consequences. Their new relatives invited the Israelites to their
idolatrous festivals, where the consecrated licentiousness gratified
their sensual appetites, and before long there arose a generation,
which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which He had done for
Israel (Judg. ii. 10). Forgetting Him who had done so great things
for them, they bowed themselves to strange gods, and practised the
worst abominations, even sacrificing their sons and their daughters
to Baal and Ashtaroth (Ps. cvi. 37, 38; Judg. ii. 13).

This gradual spread of idolatry, and as a natural consequence, of

moral and social degeneracy, is strikingly illustrated by two incidents
recorded in the last five chapters of the Book of Judges, which seem
to have been inserted for this very purpose as a kind of appendix to
that Book 173.
 CHAPTER II.

MICAH AND THE DANITES, THE

TRIBAL WAR.
Judg. xvii.–xxi. B.C. circ. 1406.

T
HERE was living about twenty years after the death of Joshua
in Mount Ephraim in central Palestine a man named Micah,
whose mother one day lost 1100 shekels of silver. So terrible
was the curse she imprecated on the thief, that her son in alarm
confessed that he had abstracted the money. Instead of reproaching
him, his mother thereupon informed him that she had dedicated this
sum, probably the savings of a lifetime 174, to the Lord, to make a
graven and a molten image. Upon this Micah restored the money to
his mother, who sent 200 shekels to a founder for the purpose of
fashioning the idol. When made, it was set up in Micah’s house, and
he consecrated one of his sons as priest, and arrayed him in a
sacred vestment, probably made in imitation of the ephod of the
High-priest. Not satisfied, however, with the ministrations of his son,
on the arrival of a young Levite of Bethlehem in Judæa, travelling,
probably, in search of employment as a teacher of the Law, he
persuaded him also to become his priest, and agreed to give him 10
shekels of silver a-year, suitable sacerdotal vestments, and his living.
On these terms the Levite was content to dwell with him, became
his priest, and was unto him as one of his sons.
 Soon after this it happened that the tribe of Dan being still hard
pressed by the Amorites 175, and desirous of an addition to their
territory, sent five spies from two towns in the low country to
discover a new and advantageous settlement. The spies set out, and
on their way came to Mount Ephraim, where they obtained a lodging
in the house of Micah. Recognizing the voice of the young Levite,
they enquired the cause of his presence there, and on ascertaining
the position he held, begged him to ask counsel of Jehovah as to the
success of their expedition. The Levite did so, and the answer was
propitious. Thereupon the spies resumed their journey, and tracking
the Jordan to its source beyond the waters of Merom, came to an
eminence on which rose the town of Laish (Tell el-Kâdy), a colony
from Sidon, whose inhabitants, “separated from their mother-city 176
by the huge mass of Lebanon and half of Anti-Lebanon,” dwelt quiet
and secure (Judg. xviii. 7) in the enjoyment of the warm climate and
exquisite scenery, and tilling the fertile soil irrigated by many
streams.

The spies marked the spot, and on their return bade their
brethren arise, and take possession of a place where there was no
want of anything that is in the earth (Judg. xviii. 10). Upon this, six
hundred Danites from Zorah and Eshtaol girded on their weapons of
war, and went up and encamped at a spot behind Kirjath-jearim,
which though it belonged to Judah, they named Mahaneh-Dan, or
the Camp of Dan. Thence they ascended into the mountain-range of
Ephraim, and like the spies before them, drew near the house of
Micah. Informed that here there was an ephod and teraphim, a
graven image and a molten image, the six hundred warriors took
their stand by the gateway leading into the court, and engaged the
Levite in conversation, while the spies ascended into the sanctuary,
and stole away the images with the sacerdotal vestments. On re-
appearing, the Levite tried to expostulate, but was speedily bidden
to hold his peace, and without much difficulty suffered himself to be
persuaded that it would be better to accompany them, and instead
of being a priest unto one man, to become a priest unto a tribe and
a family in Israel (Judg. xviii. 19). With such secrecy was their
departure effected, that the Danites had got a good way from the
house of Micah, before the latter became aware of the grievous
wrong he had sustained. Gathering together the inhabitants of the
houses, which had gradually clustered round his idolatrous
sanctuary, he pursued after the roving warriors. But it was in vain
that he gave vent to his grief and rage. The spoilers only mocked
him, and bade him take care he did not lose his life as well as his
gods; consequently he was fain to return to his rifled sanctuary,
while the six hundred held on their way northward.

Reaching the source of the Jordan far up in the northern

mountains, they found the town of Laish just as the spies had
described it. Far from its mother-city, the careless colony had no
deliverer in its hour of peril. Without warning the spoilers burst upon
it, scaled its walls, set it on fire, and massacred its inhabitants, men,
women and children without mercy. They afterwards rebuilt it, called
it Dan after the name of Dan their father, and there set up the
images they had taken from Micah. There too the young Levite,
who, it seems, was no unimportant personage, but no other than
Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of the great lawgiver
Moses 177, ministered at this new sanctuary, and his descendants
remained till the Captivity (Judg. xviii. 14–31).

If any proof were wanting of the association of religious with

moral declension at this period, it is supplied by the biography of
another Levite, which is also given in these concluding chapters of
the Book of Judges.

2. This Levite, who, like the other, dwelt on the edge of Mount
Ephraim, took him a concubine out of Bethlehem-Judah, who proved
faithless, and returned to her father’s house. On this her husband
went in quest of her, and was received by her father with true
Eastern hospitality. As the fifth day declined after his arrival, resisting
the importunities of his father-in-law who would have had him stay
longer, he rose up to return, and as night fell drew near the town of
Jebus, which still remained in the hands of its Canaanite inhabitants.
Rejecting the advice of his servant to lodge there during the night,
he pressed on, and it was already dark when he reached Gibeah in
Benjamin.

As he was sitting in the streets of the town awaiting an offer of

shelter, an old man approached coming from his work in the fields.
His home, too, was in Mount Ephraim, but he was sojourning at
Gibeah, and taking compassion on the homeless condition of the
Levite he brought him into his house, and gave him a lodging for the
night. As they sat at meat, certain of the lowest inhabitants of the
place set upon the house, and treated the Levite’s concubine with
such violence, that in the morning when he arose he found her lying
dead before the door. Enraged at this savage act he took her home,
and there with his knife divided her together with her bones into
twelve pieces, and sent them among the twelve tribes. This
ferocious summons to vengeance roused all Israel as one man
(Judg. xx. 1). Even the tribes beyond the Jordan assembled with the
rest of their brethren, and 400,000 warriors met at Mizpeh in
Benjamin, a fortified eminence a little to the north of Jebus, and
listened to the Levite while he recounted the dark tale of outrage
(Judg. xx. 2–6).

The recital excited still greater indignation, and all the people knit
together as one man bound themselves by a solemn vow never to
return to their homes till they had taken deep vengeance on the
inhabitants of Gibeah for the disgrace they had brought upon Israel.
Messengers were accordingly sent through the territory of Benjamin
demanding their surrender. This the Benjamites absolutely refused,
and making the cause of Gibeah their own, prepared to encounter
the men of Israel with all their forces, amounting to 26,000, together
with the 700 warriors of Gibeah, chosen men, left-handed, every one
of whom could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss (Judg.
xx. 16).

In this juncture, instead of consulting the Divine Will whether

they should embark in this war at all, the indignant tribes having
already decided on the campaign only sought to know who should
take the lead. Judah was the tribe indicated by the Divine response,
and in the engagement that ensued, the Israelites were defeated
with a loss of upwards of 22,000 men. On the day following they
renewed the attack, but only to sustain a second reverse and a loss
of 18,000 of their best troops. In the greatest distress at this double
defeat, the eleven tribes assembled at Bethel, fasted the whole day
until the evening, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings
before the Lord. Then Phinehas, who had led the sacred war against
the Midianites, enquired whether a third engagement should be
hazarded, and in reply was bidden to go up, for this time the Lord
would deliver Benjamin into their hand (Judg. xx. 28).

Thereupon it was resolved to repeat the tactics so successful at

Ai. An ambuscade was planted behind Gibeah, and on the descent of
the Benjamites a flight was feigned to draw them from the town
towards a spot, where the road divided into two paths, the one
leading to Bethel, the other to Gibeah-in-the-Field, probably the
modern Jeba. Unconscious of their danger the Benjamites suffered
themselves to be decoyed from the town, and slew about 30 of their
foes. Meanwhile the ambuscade arose, and bursting on the
defenceless town, put the inhabitants to the sword. A great pillar of
flame and smoke signalled to the rest of the army the success of the
stratagem, and the Benjamites at last awakened to their danger fled
eastward to the desert region bordering on the Jordan valley. But
their foes now turned, and inclosing them round about (Judg.
xx. 43), trode them down, and slew 25,000.

From this indiscriminate massacre only 600 of the Benjamites

effected their escape to the cliff of Rimmon, an inaccessible natural
fortress situated about 7 miles north-east of Gibeah, and
overhanging the wild region bordering on the Jordan. Here they
entrenched themselves for a space of four months, while the eleven
tribes not content with firing and ravaging every town in the territory
of Benjamin, bound themselves by a vow to abstain from all
intermarriage with them. Regret, however, for the almost entire
extinction of a tribe in Israel subsequently softened their hearts, and
by a curious stratagem characteristic of this troubled period, when
there was no king in Israel, and every man did that which was right
in his own eyes (Judg. xxi. 25), they enquired whether any city had
failed to take part in the late tribal war. Thereupon it was discovered
that Jabesh-gilead, a city on the east of the Jordan, had sent no
forces to aid their brethren. Thither, therefore, 12,000 men were
despatched, with instructions utterly to destroy the recreant city and
massacre every man and married woman. This ruthless order was
executed to the letter, and the entire population was put to the
sword, save 400 virgins, who were given in marriage to the remnant
of Benjamin. These not sufficing for wives, the Benjamites took
advantage of a yearly festival at the sanctuary of Shiloh, when the
daughters of the place assembled to take part in the sacred dances,
and concealing themselves in the neighbouring vineyards, burst forth
upon the unsuspecting maidens and carried off each one a wife for
himself, with whom they returned, repaired their towns, and dwelt in
them (Judg. xxi. 23–25).
 CHAPTER III.

OTHNIEL AND EHUD, DEBORAH AND

BARAK.
Judg. ii.–v. B.C. circ. 1406–1296.

T
HE two incidents just recorded are illustrations of the
turbulence and disorder of the period which followed the
death of Joshua and of the elders that outlived Joshua.
Forgetful of their vocation, the Chosen People intermingled with the
heathen Canaanites, conformed to their rites and customs, and so
forfeited the protection and blessing of their Invisible King. He
therefore delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled
them, He sold them to their enemies round about ... and they were
greatly distressed (Judg. ii. 14, 15).

But on the first manifestation of repentance, He regarded their

affliction, He heard their cry (Ps. cvi. 44, 45), and raised up
Deliverers, who saved them from their enemies. The Hebrew word
used to denote these Deliverers, these Saviours of their country,
Shofet, Shophetim 178, and which we have translated Judge, is much
the same as the Suffes, Suffetes of the Carthaginians at the time of
the Punic wars. Raised up on extraordinary occasions, like the
Dictators in the history of Rome, they delivered the nation from
some pressing danger, and their power and authority generally
terminated with the crisis which had called them forth. Higher than
the princes of the tribes, vested with extraordinary powers for the
emergency, their office was not hereditary, though we shall see it
finally tending in more than one instance towards fixedness and
perpetuity, and in the person of Eli united with that of the High-
priest (Judg. x. 3, 4; xii. 8–14; 1 Sam. viii. 1–3).

Invasion from the North-east. Othniel.

The crisis, which called forth the first of these Deliverers, was the
invasion of the country by Chushan-rishathaim, king of
Mesopotamia. From the seat of his dominion between the Euphrates
and the Tigris he extended his conquests so far southward, that the
Israelites suffered grievously from his oppressions for a space of 8
years. At the close of this period, Othniel, whose valour in attacking
Kirjath-sepher and marriage with the daughter of the famous Caleb
have been lately recorded 179, went out against him and defeated
him, and restored rest to the land for 40 years (Judg. iii. 8–11).

Invasion from the South-east. Ehud.

On his death, the people again fell into idolatry, and the Moabites
under Eglon, aided by their old allies the Ammonites and Amalekites,
crossed the Jordan and seized the ruined site of Jericho. From this
vantage ground, Eglon was enabled to extend his dominion at least
over the tribe of Benjamin, from which, if not from other tribes, he
exacted annual tribute for a space of 18 years. This was brought to
him at Jericho, where he would seem to have constructed a palace.
On one occasion, Ehud, the son of Gera, a Benjamite, was selected
to command the party deputed to carry this proof of subjection.
Having executed his commission, he accompanied his men as far
back as the quarries, or rather the graven images at Gilgal (Judg.
iii. 19, margin), possibly the idol-temples, with which the Moabites
had profaned the associations of that sacred spot. Thence he turned
back, and on pretence of having a message from God to deliver to
him, obtained a private interview with Eglon, as he sat in his
summer parlour, or “parlour of cooling” (Judg. iii. 20, margin),
probably on the roof of his house, where he might catch the cool
breezes that tempered the tropical heat of the Jordan valley. On
entering, Ehud repeated the purport of his errand, and Eglon bade
the attendants instantly withdraw. Then as he rose from his seat to
meet his visitor, Ehud, who was left-handed like many of his tribe,
drew a long two-edged dagger, which he had made 180 and hidden
under his mantle upon his right thigh (Judg. iii. 16), and stabbed
him with such force as to leave the weapon in his body. Without
lingering a moment, he then shut and locked the doors of the
chamber, and fled “through the porch or gallery that ran round the
roof 181,” and passing beyond Gilgal, made for the wooded, shaggy,
hills of Seirath, in the mountains of Ephraim. There he blew a horn,
and roused the Israelites, who rushed down the hills and followed
him in the direction of Jericho. Meanwhile the attendants had
opened the door of Eglon’s chamber, and beheld the corpse lying on
the floor. Panicstricken at this unexpected death of their leader, and
still more by the sudden rising of the Israelites, the Moabites fled
towards the fords of the Jordan. But the Israelites had been
beforehand with them, and suffering none to cross, slew upwards of
10,000 men.

Rest was now restored at least to the tribe of Benjamin for 80

years, but in the south-west the Philistines, encouraged probably by
the success of the Moabites, made an inroad, and reduced the
Israelites to great straits (Judg. v. 6). But Shamgar, the son of Anath,
was raised up to be a deliverer. Armed with nothing but a long iron-
spiked ox-goad 182, he made a sudden and desperate assault upon
the Philistines, and slew 600 of them, thus obtaining a temporary
respite for his people (Judg. iii. 31).

Invasion from the North. Deborah and Barak.

But a more terrible invasion was in store for the nation, which
again on the death of Ehud relapsed into idolatry (Judg. iv. 1). This
time the oppressor came from the north, where under a second
Jabin, the Canaanites, whom Joshua had defeated in his memorable
victory at the waters of Merom, had recovered a portion of their
former strength. With his vast hosts, and his 900 chariots of iron
commanded by Sisera his captain, who resided at Harosheth of the
Gentiles 183, he overran the country of the neighbouring tribes,
Asher, Naphtali and Zebulun.

Such was the general prostration and terror that, as had already
been the case in the days of Shamgar, the highways were
unoccupied, and the travellers stole from place to place by crooked,
tortuous by-paths (Judg. v. 6). Village life ceased in Israel, and the
peasantry, abandoning the cultivation of the ground, retired for
refuge to the walled towns. But even here they were not secure.
There was war in the gates, the place usually devoted to the
administration of justice, and even in the places of drawing water
the noise of the archers could be heard twanging their terrible bows
(Judg. v. 8, 11). No resistance could be offered, for according to a
common policy (1 Sam. xiii. 19–22) there had been a general
disarmament of the people, and not a spear or shield was to be seen
among forty thousand in Israel (Judg. v. 8). The spirit of the nation
was completely crushed, and the second Jabin and Sisera his captain
carried on unchecked for upwards of 20 years those measures,
whereby they reduced the Israelites to a condition of degrading
servitude (Judg. iv. 3).

At length, however, a Deliverer appeared. Under a solitary palm-

tree in the mountain-range of Ephraim between Ramah and Bethel,
lived a prophetess named Deborah, who was or had been the wife of
Lapidoth. In the failure of all other leaders she was now regarded by
the oppressed people with the utmost reverence, and they went up
to her for judgment (Judg. iv. 5). Like Joan of Arc in after times, her
whole soul was fired with indignation at the sufferings endured by
her people, and at length from Kadesh-naphtali, a City of Refuge,
not far from Jabin’s capital (Josh. xx. 7; xxi. 32), and therefore
peculiarly animated with hostility to the oppressor, she summoned
Barak 184 (lightning) the son of Abinoam. On the strength of a Divine
commission, she then enjoined him to gather 10,000 men from his
own and the neighbouring tribe of Zebulun to the green summit of
Tabor 185, and promised to draw to the river Kishon in the plain of
Esdraelon the great captain of Jabin’s army with his chariots and his
host, and there deliver them into his hand. Barak declined to
undertake the arduous enterprise, unless the Prophetess promised
to accompany him. To this she assented, but distinctly warned him
that the expedition would not be for his honour; as he was thus
willing to lean upon a woman’s aid, so into the hands of a woman
would the Lord deliver the leader of his enemy’s forces.

Leaving her seat of judgment, Deborah then accompanied Barak

to Kedesh, and he employed himself in rousing his own tribe of
Naphtali and that of Zebulun to join in the insurrection. Having at
length gathered 10,000 men around his standard he marched, still
attended by the Prophetess, to the high places of Tabor. There he
was joined by portions of other tribes, whom the influence of
Deborah had roused to take part in the great struggle, consisting of
the princes of Issachar, a body of Ephraimites, and detachments
from Benjamin and north-eastern Manasseh (Judg. v. 14, 15). Other
tribes, however, came not thus zealously to the help of the Lord
against the mighty. Of the two maritime tribes, Dan on the south
clung to his ships in the port of Joppa, and Asher forgat the perils of
his fellows in the creeks and harbours of his Phœnician allies (Judg.
v. 17). The name of Judah is not even mentioned among the patriot
forces. Amongst the tribes across the Jordan great was the debate
as to the course to be pursued. Reuben preferred to abide secure
among his sheepfolds 186, and to listen to the bleating of his flocks,
and Gad to linger beyond Jordan in his grassy uplands (Judg. v. 17).
But amidst the wavering of many hearts, Zebulun and Naphtali
remained firm, and prepared to jeopardize their lives unto the death
on the high places of Tabor (Judg. v. 18).

Meanwhile certain of the Kenites 187, who had separated from the
rest of their tribe in the hill country of Judah (Judg. i. 16), and now
dwelt under the oaks of Zaanaim 188 near Kedesh, informed Sisera of
the sudden movement of Barak towards Tabor (Judg. iv. 11, 12).
Thereupon, without delay he gathered all his forces, and encamped
on the level plain of Esdraelon, between the friendly towns of
Taanach and Megiddo 189, where he was also joined by other
Canaanite chiefs anxious to quell the sudden insurrection (Judg. v.
3, 19).

At length the heroic Deborah gave the encouraging command to

Barak, Up, for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera
into thine hand. Probably long before it was light 190 the camp of
Barak’s little army was struck, and the patriot tribes rapidly
descending the winding mountain-path fell upon the hosts of Sisera
and threw them into wild confusion. As they fled in utter dismay
along the plain, not only the troops of Barak, but the stars in their
courses (Judg. v. 20), the elements of heaven, began to fight
against the Canaanites. A furious storm of rain and hail 191 gathered
from the east, and bursting right in their faces, rendered useless the
bows of their archers 192, and swelled into a mighty torrent the
rivulets, springs, and spongy marshes near Megiddo. Before long the
ancient torrent of the Kishon (twisted or winding) rose in its bed,
and the plain became an impassable morass 193. The chariots of
Sisera were now utterly useless. The hoofs of the horses vainly
plunging in the tenacious mud and swollen streams were broken by
means of their pransings (Judg. v. 22). The torrent of the Kishon,
now rushing fast and furious, swept them away, and the strength of
the Canaanites was trodden down. Stuck fast, entangled,
overwhelmed they could not stand for a moment before the
avenging Barak, and not a man made good his escape to the city of
their great leader, Harosheth of the Gentiles, before their pursuers
had smitten them with the edge of the sword (Judg. iv. 16).

Meantime, while his mother and her attendants were vainly

awaiting the return of his triumphal chariot (Judg. v. 28), Sisera
himself fled away on foot to the friendly tribe of Heber the Kenite
beneath the oaks of Zaanaim, where he hoped for safety from his
remorseless pursuers. After a while he drew near the tent of Jael,
Heber’s wife, and chieftainess of the tribe. She herself had descried
him approaching, and went forth to meet him. Turn in, my lord, said
she, turn in to me, fear not. And he turned in, and she covered him
with a rug or blanket (Judg. iv. 18). Spent and weary, before he lay
down, he asked for a little water to drink; but she gave him
something better than water. She opened the skin bottle of milk,
such as always stands by Arab tents, she brought forth butter, or
“thick curdled milk” in a lordly dish 194, or the bowl used for
illustrious strangers, and covered him again with the rug.

Thus doubly assured of hospitality Sisera bade her deny his

presence if any enquired after him, and then laid him down and
slept. But as she stood at the tent-door, other thoughts than those
of kindness towards the slumbering chief came over Jael. At length
taking one of the wooden sharp-pointed tent-nails in one hand and a
mallet in the other, she went softly unto him, and smote him with
such force that the nail entered into his temples, and fastened his
head to the ground, for he was fast asleep and weary, and so he
died. Meanwhile the pursuing Barak drew near. Him too Jael went
forth to meet, and taking him within, showed him his terrible foe,
the captain of the nine hundred iron chariots, lying dead upon the
ground, with the nail driven through his temples.

Thus on that day, as the Prophetess had said, God delivered

Sisera into the hand of a woman. Together she and Barak returned
from the battle-field, and chanted responsively a sublime Triumphal
Hymn, celebrating the recent victory over the northern Canaanites,
which now secured to the land rest for 40 years (Judg. v.).
 CHAPTER IV.

INVASION OF THE MIDIANITES.

GIDEON.
Judg. vi.–viii. B.C. circ. 1256–1249.

A
S so often before, the effects of this last great deliverance
were but transitory. Again the Israelites relapsed into idolatry,
and in consecrated groves practised all the abominations that
disgraced the worship of Baal. The national punishment they thus
drew down upon themselves was more severe than anything they
had yet endured. Since the sacred war led by Phinehas against the
Midianites 195 (Num. xxxi. 1–13), that people had recovered much of
their ancient strength, and now in concert with the Amalekites, and
the children of the East (Judg. vi. 3), or the Arabian tribes beyond
the Jordan, they determined to invade the territory of Israel. Led by
two superior chiefs, having the title of king, Zebah and Zalmunna, and
two inferior chiefs, Oreb and Zeeb (the Raven and the Wolf), they
poured into the country with their herds, their flocks, and their
camels, like locusts for multitude, and gradually overran it from the
plain of Jezreel down the valley of the Jordan, and southward as far
as Gaza in the fertile Lowlands of the west. Here they established
themselves, destroyed the crops 196, and for a period of seven years
reduced the Israelites to the greatest straits, so that they left the
plains, and fled for refuge to dens or catacombs, which they cut out
of the rocky mountains, to inaccessible strongholds, and the
limestone caves with which Palestine abounds 197 (Judg. vi. 2).

As so often before, the Deliverer came from the quarter most

exposed to the ravages of the invaders. At Ophrah, in the hills of
western Manasseh, not far from Shechem, and overlooking the plain
of Jezreel, the head-quarters of the Midianitish host, lived a high-
born Abi-ezrite, a descendant of one of the princely families of
Manasseh (Josh. xvii. 2; Num. xxvi. 30), named Joash. The invasion
had brought not only impoverishment but dire bereavement into his
home. In a skirmish near the heights of Tabor the Midianite kings,
Zebah and Zalmunna, had slain all his noble sons save one, Gideon
(Judg. viii. 18, 19).

On one occasion, as Gideon was threshing wheat, not in the

open summer threshing-floor, but by the winepress 198 near his
native Ophrah, to hide it from the Midianites, an Angel appeared and
saluted him with the words, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man
of valour. In reply Gideon contrasted the present degraded condition
of the nation with the glorious days when Jehovah brought them out
of Egypt, and complained that He had now deserted them, nor was
there any hope of deliverance. Thereupon the Angel informed him
that he was the destined Saviour of his people, that the Lord would
be with him, and that he should smite the Midianites as one man
(Judg. vi. 16). Unable to believe that such a mission could be
designed for himself, Gideon requested a sign to assure him that the
Speaker was a messenger of Jehovah, and by direction of the Angel
made ready a kid, and cakes of unleavened bread, and presented
them under the oak. The Angel then bade him lay the flesh and
unleavened cakes upon the rock and pour the broth over them, and
when he had done so touched them with a rod he bore in his hand.
Instantly there rose up fire from the rock, and consumed the
offering, in the midst of which the Angel suddenly disappeared. The
fact that he had thus been permitted to converse face to face with
Deity filled Gideon with alarm, but the Lord reassured him, and he
built an altar there which he called Jehovah-Shalom, or, the Lord
send Peace, in memory of the salutation of the Angel (Judg. vi. 24).

i. Thus solemnly called to be the Deliverer of his countrymen,

Gideon was first commissioned to testify against the idolatrous
practices which had caused the present national degradation. The
Lord appeared to him in a dream, and bade him throw down an altar
which his father had erected in honour of Baal, and cut down a
grove he had set up, and then to build in an orderly manner an altar
to Jehovah on the rock where his meat-offering had been accepted,
and sacrifice thereon his father’s second bullock of seven years old.
With the assistance of his servants, Gideon during the night-time
executed this commission, and on the morrow the townspeople were
surprised to find that both altar and grove had disappeared. Enquiry
led to the detection of the offender, and Joash was bidden to bring
forth his son that he might be put to death for the sacrilege of which
he had been guilty. But Joash replied with much irony that he was
truly guilty of impiety who believed that Baal could not defend
himself. Will ye take upon yourselves, said he, to plead Baal’s cause?
let him plead for himself. A new name, which Gideon henceforth
bore, Jerub-Baal, or the Tryer of Baal, attested the national
acquiescence in the wisdom of his father’s reply (Judg. vi. 32).

ii. Tried and not found wanting in moral courage, Gideon was
now directed to carry out the second part of his commission.
Blowing a trumpet he first gathered around him his own clan of Abi-
ezer, and then sending messengers throughout Manasseh, Asher,
Zebulun, and Naphtali 199, invited the aid of these tribes against the
common enemy. With characteristic caution, however, he requested
a further sign from Jehovah before actually entering upon his
arduous task. A double sign was vouchsafed to him. A fleece of
wool, first dripping with dew while all the soil around was hot and
dry, then dry while all the soil around was damp, convinced him that
the Lord would indeed deliver Israel by his hand.
 By this time upwards of 32,000 of his countrymen had gathered
around him, and with this force he encamped on the slope of Gilboa,
near the spring of Jezreel, henceforth known as the Spring of Harod
or Trembling, overlooking the plain of Jezreel covered with the tents
of the Midianites. But the host was too many and too great for God
to give victory thereby. If they were successful with their present
numbers they might vaunt that their own hand had saved them.
Proclamation was, therefore, made that from the Spring of Trembling
all who were afraid to persevere in their arduous enterprise might
return to their homes. Of this permission 22,000 at once availed
themselves and went their way. But another trial was to test the
qualifications of the rest. By Divine command Gideon took the
remaining 10,000 of his forces to the spring, and watched them as
they asswaged their thirst. While all the rest bowed down upon their
knees, three hundred putting their hand to their mouth, lapped of
the water with their tongues as a dog lappeth (Judg. vii. 5, 6).

These three hundred Gideon set by themselves, the rest he sent

away. Night now drew on, and with his little band, like the same
famous number at Thermopylæ, he was left alone on the brow of
the steep mountain which overlooks the vale of Jezreel, where
Midian and Amalek and all the children of the east lay along like
locusts for multitude, their camels gaily caparisoned, numerous as
the sand on the seashore (Judg. vii. 12). To confirm the faith of
Gideon in this great crisis, God now bade him, attended by Phurah
his armour-bearer, drop down from the height where he was, and go
to the host of his enemy. Accordingly the two crept down cautiously
from rock to rock 200 in the still night to the outskirts of the
Midianitish tents, where Gideon overheard a man tell his fellow how
he had dreamt a dream, and lo! a cake of common 200 barley bread
tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it
that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. To this recital
the other replied, showing the reputation Gideon had gained even
amongst his foes, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the
son of Joash, a man of Israel: into his hands hath God delivered
Midian, and all the host (Judg. vii. 13, 14).
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