are fugitives of Ephraim." But their insolence met with a signal chastisement; for in the battle which ensued, they were beaten, and fled: but the Gileadites seized the fords of Jordan, and intercepted and slew the fugitives. It was difficult, however, for the men who guarded the fords to distinguish, in all cases, between friends and foes; therefore, when any one asked. permission to go over, "they said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said Nay, then said they unto him, Say now shibboleth; and he said sibboleth, for he could not frame to pronounce it aright." Then they took him and slew him, at the passages of Jordan; and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand. This was a severe stroke on this proud tribe; but they had nobody to blame but themselves: they engaged in this war without the shadow of a reason, and God in just displeasure gave the victory to Jephthah, who trusted in him. From this narrative it appears, that by this time some difference had arisen in the pronunciation of the Hebrew language; at any rate, a difference in the sound of one letter; and, as is often the case, the men of Ephraim were unable to frame their organs so as to give the true sound to the word selected as a test. Hence, probably, the origin of the double sound which that letter has to this day.

The government of Jephthah lasted no more than six years. He seems to have died a natural death, as we read that he "was buried in one of the cities of Gilead."

SECTION XXVI.

IBZAN OF BETH-LEHEM-NATURE OF THE THEOCRACY-ELON OF ZEBULON NEXT JUDGES ISRAEL-ABDON OF EPHRAIM-GREAT INCREASE OF POPULATION AND THE NUMBER IN THEIR ARMIES.

THE next judge or ruler in Israel, was Ibzan of Beth-lehem. This man seems to have lived in peaceable times, as there is no account of any enemy infesting Israel in his days: the successful war against the Ammonites, under Jephthah, seems to have, for a while, intimidated the foes of Israel. The only thing which the sacred historian has thought proper to relate of this Beth-lehemite is, the remarkable fact, that he was the father of thirty sons and thirty daughters; and by means of these he formed an extensive connexion, and thus enlarged his influence; for he sent abroad his daughters, giving them in marriage to the men of the land; and sent and took wives to his sons from abroad. The period of Ibzan's government was also short; he judged Israel only seven years, and died, and was buried at Beth-lehem.

The rulers of Israel, during the period of which we are now

treating, were not taken from any particular family or tribe, but were brought forward by the providence of God, or by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The government of Israel, so far as the enacting of laws was concerned, was a theocracy: no rulers, prophets, judges, or priests, had any authority to alter these laws. The elders of the people, seventy in number, and the officers of different degrees of authority, who were established by Moses, were regularly continued, and in all that related to the ritual law and the worship of the tabernacle, the high priest and other priests had the right to regulate every thing agreeably to the commandments of the Lord by Moses. But when the country was invaded by a foreign foe, or fell under the power of some oppressive tyrant, there was need of an extraordinary ruler, with something of the power of a dictator, who might concentrate the forces of the tribes, and lead them out to battle. Or, when disputes arose between the tribes themselves, there was required a judge, whose authority would be respected on account of his tried wisdom and public services; or more especially, because he gave evidence that he was acting under the direction, and as the vicegerent of God.

The next judge raised up by the providence of God, was Elon, a Zebulonite. I do not remember that mention is made of any prophet or other distinguished man beside, arising out of this tribe. To this fact reference seems to have been had, when it was said, "Search and see, whether any prophet ariseth out of Galilee." Elon judged Israel ten years, and died, and was buried in Ajalon, in the country of Zebulon: and this is the only circumstance left on record concerning him.

The next judge or ruler was of the tribe of Ephraim. His native place, which was also the place of his burial, was Pirathon. His name was Abdon, and that circumstance by which he was chiefly distinguished, was, that he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode upon seventy ass-colts. The duration of his reign was eight years. His father's name was Hillel, and his native town was in the mount of the Amalekites.

From the number of children which are frequently mentioned in the sacred history as belonging to one family, we are led to believe that the increase of population among the Israelites was extraordinary. A former judge had thirty sons, and as many daughters; and Abdon had no less than forty sons. It is by no means necessary to suppose, nor, indeed, is it at all probable, that all these were born of one mother. The custom or polygamy, to a greater or less extent, prevailed through all the period of which we are now treating. Though never expressly sanctioned by divine authority, like divorce, it was permitted to exist. From these instances of a numerous progeny, we may account for the greatness of the population, the accounts of

which have appeared to some altogether extravagant, and incommensurate with the narrow limits of the country; and it must be remembered, that, in those days, every man was a soldier, and was expected to turn out when an enemy invaded the country.

SECTION XXVII.

AN ANGEL APPEARS TO THE WIFE OF MANOAH-AND AGAIN TO HER AND HER HUSBAND-SAMSON IS BORN-A NAZARITE FROM THE WOMB-ISRAEL UNDER THE YOKE OF THE PHILISTINES-SAMSON SEEKS A WIFE OF THIS RACE AT TIMNATH -SLAYS A LION ON HIS WAY TO VISIT HER-HIS MARRIAGE-HIS RIDDLE-ITS MEANING DISCOVERED BY HIS WIFE-HIS METHOD OF PAYING THE FORFEIT-HIS WIFE GIVEN TO ANOTHER.

THE children of Israel furnish a striking proof of the proneness of human nature to depart from God. They were probably no worse than any other nation would have been in the same circumstances; and yet they were for ever disposed to revolt against the Divine government, although, in the providence of God, they uniformly suffered for their disobedience. The surrounding nations, through whose influence they were led astray, were also the instruments made use of by a just sovereign, to chastise them for their sins. For forty years they were under the grinding oppression of the Philistines. At the close of this long period of affliction the angel of the Lord appeared unto the wife of Manoah, of the tribe of Dan, who had never borne a child, and said unto her, "Thou shalt conceive and bear a son. Now, therefore, beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing. For lo, thou shalt conceive and bear a son: and no razor shall come on his head; for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible; but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name." "Then Manoah entreated the Lord, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born. And God hearkened unto the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again unto the woman, as she sat in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her. And the woman made haste, and ran, and showed her husband, and said unto him, behold the man hath appeared unto me that came unto me the other day. And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am. And Ma

noah said, Now let thy words come to pass: how shall we order the child? and how shall we do unto him? And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman, let her beware. She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe. And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee. And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread; and if thou wilt offer a burnt-offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord: for Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the Lord. And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour? And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, secing it is secret? So Manoah took a kid with a meat-offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the Lord. And the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. For it came to pass when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar: and Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. But the angel of the Lord did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Lord. And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. But his wife said unto him, If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt-offering and a meat-offering at our hands; neither would he have showed us all these things; nor would, as at this time, have told us such things as these.

"And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him." When he became a man, he was, at certain seasons, under a divine impulse from the Spirit of the Lord, in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Samson was a man of supernatural strength of body, which endowment was connected with his condition as a Nazarite; but he seems to have been also a man of strong passions, over which he did not exercise that control which the principles of virtue and piety required. One of the evils arising to the Israelites. from their subjection to the Philistines was, the intermarriages to which it gave rise, between their young people. Samson, among others, fell into this snare. Happening, at Timnath, to see a young woman of the daughters of the Philistines, with whom he was greatly pleased, he requested his parents to procure her as a wife for him. In vain did they remonstrate against his purpose, for his passion had obtained the complete mastery over him, and he insisted that his father should get.

this woman for him. His parents, finding it useless to oppose the headstrong inclination of their son, yielded to his wishes with great reluctance; not knowing that Providence was ordering and disposing of this event to bring about a deliverance of the people from the yoke of the Philistines. They, however, judged it expedient to go down with their son to Timnath.

And when Samson came to the vineyards of Timnath, a young lion came roaring against him: "and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand." At this time his parents were not present with him, and he did not inform them when they came up of the event which had occurred. This visit to the woman of Timnath served to rivet his attachment, and at this time all matters were agreed upon between the parties. Accordingly, at the appointed time, Samson returned to Timnath to celebrate his nuptials; and feeling a curiosity to see what had become of the carcass of the lion which he had slain on his former visit, he turned aside, and "behold there was a swarm of bees, and honey in the carcass of the lion. And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat; but he told them not that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion." From this account it is evident that some months must have elapsed between these two visits; for that was required to render it practicable for a swarm of bees to build their combs and prepare their honey in the carcass of the lion. In that warm region, where it rains but seldom in the summer season, it is probable that the carcass had become dry, and so, the intestines being taken out, and the body suspended on the limb of a tree, might furnish a very convenient receptacle for a swarm of bees.

The marriage feast was celebrated for seven days, according to the custom of the place; and thirty companions were provided to attend on the bridegroom. "And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me, within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments: but if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's wife, entice thy husband that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire. Have ye called us to take that we have? Is it not so? And Samson's wife wept