Jewish heroes, whose birth and prowess were miraculously foretold to both his parents. During his life he harassed the Philistines, slaughtering them with wonderful displays of strength; and by his last act, in pulling upon himself and upon his enemies the temple of their national god, in which a general assembly of the people were gathered, the dead which "he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life."

The Israelites were too disorganized to take advantage of this extraordinary slaughter of the Philistine lords; E'li, their judge, was nearly one hundred years old, and his two sons, Hoph'ni and Phin'ehas, who acted under him, took advantage of his weakness to commit the most profligate abominations. Samuel, whom God had called in his youth to become a prophet and the future judge of Israel, was commanded by the Lord to denounce divine vengeance against E'li; after which he became generally known as an inspired person, divinely chosen to be E'li's successor.

Samuel, though still a youth, was chosen judge of Israel after the death of E'li. He assembled the people, and impressed upon them the criminality and folly of their idolatry; they were convinced by his reasoning, and put away their strange deities, promising to serve the Lord alone. They were rewarded by a signal victory over the Philistines; after which the land had rest during the remainder of Samuel's administration.

When Samuel had judged Israel twenty years, he appointed his two sons to assist him; but these young men, like the sons of E'li, perverted justice, and the elders of Israel unanimously demanded a king to rule over them like other nations. Samuel remonstrated with them for thus abandoning their peculiar distinction of having the Lord for their king; but when the demand was renewed more urgently, on a threatened invasion of the Ammonites, he was directed by the Lord to comply with the popular request. According to the divine instructions he selected Saul, the son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, to be the first monarch of the Israelites (B. c. 1095). He was presented to the tribes at Miz'peh, "and Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted and said, God save the king!"

SECTION V.-History of the United Kingdom of Israel.

MANY of the Israelites were discontented with the choice that had been made of a monarch. But these symptoms of discontent were soon checked by the signal proof which Saul gave of his military qualifications. Náhash, king of the Ammonites, invaded Israel, and laid siege to Jábesh-Gil'ead; the inhabitants proposed to capitulate, but Náhash sternly replied, "On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it as a reproach upon Israel." When this intelligence reached the general assembly of the Israelites, they burst into loud lamentations; but Saul commanded an instant levy of the people. A numerous body of soldiers obeyed the summons; Saul marched against the Ammonites, and defeated them so effectually, that not two of them were left together.

So delighted were the people with this victory, that they proposed to punish with death all who had resisted the elevation of their young monarch; but Saul said, "There shall not be a man put to death this day; for to-day the Lord hath wrought salvation in Israel." A solemn assembly of the tribes was then convoked at Gil'gal, in order that the people should renew their allegiance. Here Samuel resigned his office. Saul was aided in his government by his son Jonathan, a young man of heroic valor and the most generous disposition. With a select band, he attacked and stormed the Philistine garrison at Géba, which necessarily led to war. The Israelites were badly prepared for hostilities, and when the tribes met at Gil'gal, they showed the greatest timidity and confusion. They were also disheartened by the absence of Samuel, whose duty it was to offer the solemn sacrifice, and began to disperse; Saul, alarmed lest he should be entirely deserted, offered the solemn sacrifice himself; but the ceremony was not concluded when Samuel appeared, and aunounced to the too hasty monarch, that for this wilful violation of the law, the kingdom should not be hereditary in his family. The Philistines, advancing with an immense army, blockaded Saul, who had only about six hundred men under his command in the mountains of Gib'eah, but he was unexpectedly liberated from his difficulties by the daring valor of his son Jonathan, who, accompanied only by his armor-bearer, attacked a Philistine outpost, and spread such a panic through the whole army that they were easily routed by Saul.

After this victory, Saul led his forces against the different nations that harassed the frontiers of his kingdom; when these had been restrained from their incursions, Samuel, by the direction of the Lord, commanded Saul to execute divine vengeance on the Amalekites, who nad been long the most bitter enemies of the chosen people. Saul smote the Amalekites with great slaughter; but, in direct violation of the Divine prohibitions, he spared the life of A'gag, their king, and brought away with him a vast booty of cattle. Samuel bitterly reproached the king for his ingratitude to God, and announced to Saul that his disobedience should be punished by the loss of his kingdom, which the Lord would transfer to a more worthy person.

Samuel departed from Saul, whom he never again visited directed by God, he went to the family of Jes'se, in Bethlehem of Judah, where he anointed David, Jes'se's youngest son, who thenceforth was gifted with supernatural endowments. In the meantime, Saul became subject to fits of phrensy and melancholy, which his servants supposed could be best dispelled by the influence of music: they therefore sent for David, whose skill on the harp was already celebrated, and his exquisite skill frequently enabled him to dispel the gloom that depressed the king's spirits. The Philistines, probably encouraged by secret information of Saul's unhappy condition, renewed the war against Israel, and Saul led out an army to protect the frontiers. While the hostile forces were encamped in sight of each other, the gigantic Golíath of Gath came forth as champion of the Philistines, and challenged any Israelite warrior to contend against him; all were daunted by the stature, strength, and ferocity of the giant. At length David presented himself to the combat, armed only with his staff and a sling: the vaunting Philistine treated the young hero with contempt, but a stone from

the sling, striking him full in the forehead, penetrated to the brain, and laid him prostrate on the earth. Disheartened by the loss of their champion, the Philistines fled in confusion, and were pursued with great slaughter beyond the frontiers of their own country.

David's distinguished valor led to a warm and sincere friendship between him and Jonathan, but it excited bitter jealousy in the mind of Saul. The marriage of David to Míchal, Saul's daughter, did not allay the king's jealous hatred; he openly declared his intention of putting his son-in-law to death, and took active measures for the purpose. Once David was saved by the stratagem of his wife, and again by the vigilant friendship of Jonathan; but he saw that he was no longer sure of his life, if he remained within the reach of Saul, and therefore sought safety in exile. After a brief residence among the Philistines, he returned to Palestine, and became the leader of a band of men of broken fortunes, compelled to endure all the vicissitudes of such a perilous life. He was closely pursued by his vindictive enemy, Saul, and twice had it in his power to destroy his persecutor. But he was too loyal "to lift his hand against the Lord's anointed;" he therefore only informed Saul of the danger to which he had been exposed, and thus proved his own innocence. These events led to a temporary reconciliation; but David, having reason to fear that Saul meditated treachery, withdrew to the court of A'chish, one of the kings of the Philistines.

The death of Samuel left Saul in a most wretched condition; the prophets fled from him, the priests were slaughtered, "and when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urím, nor by prophets." At this crisis, the Philistines invaded the country with a numerous army. Saul was encamped on Mount Gil boa, with forces far inferior to the enemy. Eager to learn something of his fate, he resolved to consult one of those unlawful diviners who had been in better times severely proscribed; he was conducted by his servants to a woman residing near En'dor, "who had a familiar spirit," and he persuaded her to evoke Samuel from the tomb. The image of the prophet appeared, and predicted to the terrified monarch the fatal news of his approaching defeat and death (B, c. 1055). On the second morning after this vision, Saul entered the last of his fields; the Israelites had long neglected the use of the bow, and to their superiority in this weapon the Philistines chiefly owed their victory: "the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him, and he was sore wounded of the archers." Afraid of falling alive into the hands of his enemies, he fell upon his own sword; his gallant sons had previously fallen, and the overthrow of the Hebrew army was complete.

David had just returned to Zik'lag from pursuing the Amalekites, when he heard of the calamitous result of the battle on Mount Gilboa. Having consulted the Lord as to his future proceedings, he was directed to go to Heb'ron, where he was anointed king over the tribe of Judah, who regarded him as the champion of their race. In the meantime, Ab ́ner, Saul's general, prevailed upon the northern tribes to elect Ish'bosheth, Saul's son, their monarch, and he removed him to Mahanáim, which was beyond Jordan, in order that he might have time to recruit his shattered army. One of David's earliest measures was to

send a message of thanks to the inhabitants of Jábesh-Gil'ead, for their honorable conduct to the deccased king and his sons: he next caused the young men of Judah to be instructed in the use of the bow, and they soon rivalled the Philistines in archery.

War was soon declared between the kings of Israel and Judah: Jóab, who commanded David's forces, inflicted a severe defeat on Ab'ner, Ish'bosheth's general, and from that time David's power began rapidly to increase. Ab'ner, while exerting himself to strengthen Ish'bosheth, incurred the displeasure of that prince; he therefore resolved to seek a reconciliation with David, whom he visited in the character of a mediator, but on his return he was treacherously slain by Joab, who probably feared that Ab'ner would become a powerful rival. The death of Ab'ner disheartened the supporters of Ish'bosheth; two of his captains murdered him in his bed, and brought the news to David, but instead of being rewarded as they hoped, they suffered the punishment of treason. No other claimant appearing for the throne, the heads of all the tribes of Israel came to Heb'ron, and recognised David as their sovereign. But the breach which had taken place between the northern and southern tribes was never completely healed; they continued to regard themselves as distinct in policy and interest, until they were finally divided into separate states by the folly of Rehoboam.

The city of Jerúsalem had long been held by the Jebusites, who, according to the traditions of the east, were a tribe of the wandering and plundering Hyk'sos. David resolved to besiege this important city with all the forces of his kingdom; the place was carried by storm, and David was so pleased with the situation of the place that he made it the capital of his dominions.

The Philistines were alarmed at the increasing power of David; assembling all their forces, they crossed the frontier, took Bethlehem by storm, and compelled David for a while to seek shelter in the cave of Adul'lam; but the Hebrew king soon gathered his forces, and he so utterly routed the Philistines in two successive engagements that they never more were able to compete with him or any of his successors. Híram, king of Tyre, entered into a firm alliance with the victorious monarch, and supplied him with workmen and materials to erect a palace in his new city. David's next care was to remove the ark from Kir'jath-jeárim to Jerusalem. The pious monarch was also anxious to build a temple for the national worship, but the prophet Náthan declared to him that it was not fit for a warrior, whose hands were so often stained with blood, to erect a temple to the God of peace, but that this glorious duty would devolve upon his son and successor.

David now directed his attention to the surrounding nations; he overthrew the Philistines, the Moabites, and the Amalekites; he compelled the Syrians and Edomites to become tributary, and he amassed a prodigious quantity of spoil, a large portion of which he dedicated as a sacred treasure to defray the future expenses of building the temple. The Ammonites and Syrians soon renewed the war, but they were again vanquished, and the dominions of David were extended to the Euphrátes. But while this war was continued David provoked the anger of the Lord, by taking Bath'sheba, the wife of Uríah, one of his bravest captains, to himself, and exposing her husband to certain death.

The prophet Náthan was sent to reprove his guilt; David humbly confessed his sin, and his remorse and repentance procured him pardon from his offended God. Domestic calamities interrupted the prosperity of David's reign; Amnon, his eldest son, was slain by his brother Ab'salom, in revenge for a gross insult offered to his sister, and the young prince was no sooner pardoned and taken into favor, than he began to plot the dethronement and probable death of his indulgent father. The standard of revolt was raised; but a numerous army headed by Jóab and his brothers marched against Ab'salom, and completely routed his forces in the forest of Ephraim. The unfortunate prince, attempting to escape, was entangled by his long hair in the branches of an oak; in this situation he was slain by Jóab, contrary to the express commands of David, who was fondly attached to his rebellious son. The northern tribes again revolted, under the command of Shéba, but they were soon subdued, and their leader punished with death.

David next turned his arms against the Philistines, whom he overthrew in four successive battles; but the joy inspired by these victories was soon changed into mourning, for David, having presumed "to number the people," was punished by a pestilence, which swept away seventy thousand of his subjects. Shortly afterward, David, being informed that his son Adoníjah was tampering with some of the nobles, in order to obtain the throne, gave orders that Solomon, his son by Bath'sheba, should be proclaimed king. When this ceremony was performed, David tranquilly prepared to meet the approach of death. He died after a troubled but glorious reign of forty years.

Solomon commenced his reign by putting to death Adoníjah and Jóab. In order to strengthen himself against foreign enemies, he married the daughter of the Egyptian Pharaoh, receiving as her dowry a portion of Canaan which had been subdued by that monarch. The Lord appeared to Sol'omon in a dream, and promised to grant him whatever he should ask; the young king chose wisdom, and not only was his request granted, but riches, honor, and length of days, were added, on condition of his persevering in obedience to the divine commandments. The proofs which Solomon gave of his wisdom and discernment were so celebrated throughout the east, that the most powerful monarchs entered into alliance with him; thus tranquillity was established, and leisure afforded for the erection of the temple. Seven years and a half were spent in the building of this magnificent edifice; the costliness of its materials could only be surpassed by the beauty of the workmanship; all the resources of wealth and ingenuity were exhausted on the wondrous structure. When completed it was dedicated to Jehovah in a solemn festival, and the Shekinah, or cloud of glory, which announced the visible presence of the Lord, overspread the entire edifice.

Opposite Mount Moríah, on which the temple stood, Solomon erected a magnificent palace, and furnished it with unrivalled splendor. He was the first who introduced the use of chariots and horses for warlike purposes in Israel; these he procured from Egypt, through his alliance with the Pharaoh; and as cavalry was then scarcely known in western Asia, his power appeared so formidable that his authority was recognised in all the countries between the Nile and the Euphrátes.

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