in Assyria had power to crush Hebrew liberty, and by a man who knew the secret of all authority, as recorded in his own words (2 Sam. xxiii. 3):—

"He that ruleth over men justly,

Ruling in the fear of God,

Is as the light of morn at sunrise,

A morn without a cloud,

With green grass from out of earth,
And flowers after rain."

The close of the Books of Samuel marks a period in Hebrew literature, and the end of the earlier chronicles of the history of Israel. The Book of Kings, as now existing, dates from four centuries later, and the gap is only filled by Isaiah and the prophets preceding Ezekiel. We have so far considered history, religion, civilisation, and language, down to the reigns of David and Solomon ; and we have found no reason to doubt that the history is real, or that the Law existed in the earliest ages of Joshua and the Judges, however little regarded by Israel at large. We see that it is probably to ancient scribes, in the days of Samuel, David, and Solomon, that we must attribute the first transcription of the earlier tablets on rolls written in alphabetic letters, together with the history of Israel from the conquest to the first years of Solomon's reign. The Pentateuch itself clearly contains passages at least later than the times of Moses, to whom, however, the Law itself is ascribed. The mutilation of such records by a later compiler is not found to be proven by any evidence of language or of teaching.

TOPOGRAPHY OF THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL.

141

NOTE TO CHAPTER VIII.

Topography of the Books of Samuel. This topography has been illustrated by the exploration of Palestine, and the discovery of newly found sites. Among the more important instances are the recovery of Kirjath-jearim ('Erma) close to Bethshemesh (1 Sam. vi. 19, 20), and of Gilgal (Tell Jiljúlich) east of Jericho. Bezek (1 Sam. xi. 8) is found at Ibzik, northeast of Shechem and opposite Jabesh Gilead-a place distinct from the southern Bezek (Bezkah) noticed in Judges (i. 4). Ramah of Samuel is probably er Râm, close to Gibeah of Saul (Jeba'), although the "Ramathites of the Zuphite clan" are noticed as living in "Mount Ephraim" (1 Sam. i. 1)—a term of vague application. The site of the contest of David and Goliah in the valley of Terebinths is indicated by the position of Shochoh (Shuweikeh, 1 Sam. xvii. 1), and Gath appears to be fixed at Tell es Safi at the mouth of the same valley by an allusion in the Tell Amarna letters, while Ekron ('Akir) lay to the west near the same valley (verse 52). Adullam is fixed at 'Aid el Mia immediately east of Shochoh (1 Sam. xxii. 1), and a cave still exists by the ruins. Hareth and Keilah (Khards and Kileh) are on the east slopes of the same valley (xxii. 5, xxiii. 1), whence David retreated south of Hebron to Ziph (Tell Zif) and Maon (Tell Ma'in), and to the Jeshimon or desert west of the Dead Sea (xxiii. 14, 24, 29) at Engedi ('Ain Jidy). Carmel (Kurmul) was close to Maon (xxv. 2). The Aphek or "stream" in Shunem (xxviii. 4, xxix. 1) is immediately opposite the spring of Jezreel, which lay on Mount Gilboa. The site of the well Sirah ('Ain Sârah) is immediately north of Hebron (2 Sam. iii. 26). Baal Hazor (xiii. 23) is the lofty summit of Tell 'Asûr in Mount Ephraim. The Cherethites (xv. 18), a people often mentioned in connection with Philistia, appear to have inhabited the town of Keratiya in that region. Mahanaim is at no great distance (at Mukhmah) from one of the chief oak woods of Gilead (xviii. 9): finally, the site of Kadesh of the Hittites (the

true reading in 2 Sam. xxiv. 6 for Tahtim Hodshi) was discovered by the present writer in 1881, at Kedes, a mound on the Orontes south of Emesa, in a position, between the river and the tributary stream to the west, which exactly answers to the representation of this city at the Ramesseum.

The exactitude of this topography shows the intimate acquaintance of the author of the Book of Samuel with all parts of Palestine, from Gath to Rabbath Ammon, and from Ziklag to Kadesh on the Orontes; and the wanderings of David on the Philistine border, and in the extreme south of Saul's dominions, can now be traced by aid of the new discoveries of places like Adullam, Hareth, &c., not previously known.

CHAPTER IX.

KINGS.

THE Book of Kings was written four centuries after Solomon's time, and is believed to date in Jeremiah's

age, if indeed it was not written by Jeremiah himself. The latest date mentioned is 562 B.C. The author tells us that his materials included two ancient chronicles of the kings of Israel and of Judah, to which he refers us for further details. He also repeats the historic chapters concerning Hezekiah's reign which are found in Isaiah. He further adds accounts of Elijah, Elisha, and other prophets, but does not state his authority, and these may have been preserved only by oral tradition for the three centuries between their lifetime and that of the author. Their style differs from that of the Royal Chronicles, and agrees with the author's own style in other parts. According to the Greek translation (1 Kings viii. 12), a "Book of Odes" contained Solomon's song at the opening of the Temple, and this is thought to represent the Book of Jasher, already mentioned as being at least as late as the time of David. It is to be noted that in this chapter and elsewhere the author gives the names of the months,

Ethanim, Bul, and Zif (1 Kings vi. 1, 38), according to the ancient Hebrew calendar, which the Phoenicians continued to use till the Greek age. So also in Exodus the old name of the month Abib appears. After the Captivity these months were called by their Assyrian names, Nisan for Abib, Iyar for Zif, Marchesvan for Bul, Tisri for Ethanim. In the Pentateuch Abib stands alone without explanation, as though well known, but in Kings it is thought needful by the author to explain what month of the year is meant. The Assyrian calendar differed from that of the Hebrews, and came, no doubt, into use after the destruction of the kingdom by Nebuchadnezzar. author of Kings found in the older chronicles the native month names, and this slight indication serves to show us the reality of his reference to older sources.

The

In Chronicles we have a much later account of the kingdom, by an author who carries down the history six generations later than Zerubbabel (1 Chron. iii. 21) if rightly understood. That he was a priest well versed in the Law, in the earlier books of Joshua and Judges, and in the history of the kings of Judah and Israel, is clear ; but the Hebrew of Chronicles is a later language which contains many features not found in earlier books. of the words he uses are early known in Assyrian, but the syntax of his sentences resembles that of Esther, Ezra, and other later books, while the singers and porters to whom he refers are not mentioned as distinct classes before the Captivity. There can be little doubt that Chronicles is a book written in the Greek age, or in the

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