Baal-berith their God." They loved a religion which permitted whoring as a part of the worship. The words in this passage, "went a whoring," must be taken in this sense:-The corruption of doctrine causes a corruption of morals. The ceremonial becomes more corrupt, the rites more depraved, and the morals more degenerate as time rolls on. In the conduct of Gideon there may be seen a disposition for revenge in his treatment of the men of Succoth and of Penuel who had refused to give provisions to his wearied army when they were in pursuit of Zebah and Zalmunna. With the briars of the wilderness he taught the elders of Succoth, or he tore the men of Succoth. He beat down the tower of Penuel and slew the men of the city. He declared to Zebah and Zalmunna, "If ye had spared the men whom ye slew at Tabor, they were my brethren, the sons of my mother; as the Lord liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you." Gideon slew Zebah and Zalmunna. He ordered Jether, his eldest son, to slay them. The youth drew not his sword. He feared, because he was a youth.

The son of the concubine manifested a disposition worthy of Jehu, son of Nimshi. He conspired with his mother's relatives in Shechem. The Shechemites consented to follow Abimelech. They said, he is our brother. They gave to him three score and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith. With this money he hired vain and light persons who followed him. He and his companions went to his father's house in Ophrah, and slew his brethren, the sons of Jerubbaal, upon one stone. The youngest hid himself, Jotham, and thus escaped. The house of Millo, perhaps a family of influence in Shechem, and the men of Shechem made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar which was in Shechem. When Jotham heard this report of Abimelech's successful villany, he stood on Mount Gerizim and addressed the Shechemites, "The trees went forth to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive tree, Reign thou over us. But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith, by me, they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? And the trees said to the figtree, Come thou and reign over us. But the figtree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou and reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said all the trees unto the bramble (thistle), Come thou and reign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If, in truth, ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon." Jotham forcibly applied this parable, 16-17-18-19 verses; and in verse 20 concluded his address-" But if not (if ye have not dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house) let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and the house of Millo; and let the fire

come out from the men of Shechem and devour Abimelech." Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.

"When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel, God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech." God so ordered matters that a punishment should be inflicted upon Abimelech and the men of Shechem on account of their murder and their consent to the murder of the sons of Jerubbaal-Gideon.

Gaal

The Shechemites received Gaal, the son of Ebed, with his brethren who had come over to Shechem. The men of Shechem put their confidence in Gaal. The men of Shechem had set liars in wait for Abimelech in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all who passed in that way. This was told to Abimelech. The men of Shechem gathered their grapes, made wine, drank, and were merry, went into the house of their God and cursed Abimelech. increased in confidence and prepared to meet Abimelech in the field. He challenged Abimelech. Zebul sent a message to Abimelech, directing him to form an ambuscade. The result was the defeat of Gaal and his army. They were forced to retreat, and to find shelter in Shechem. Zebul, the ruler of Shechem, "thrust out" Gaal and his brethren from Shechem. Abimelech dwelt at Arumah. Abimelech laid wait for the Shechemites a second time, defeated them, took the city, slew the inhabitants, beat down the city, and "sowed it with salt." They who escaped fled into a hold of the house of their god Berith. These men had been in the tower of Shechem. This was told to Abimelech. He went to Mount Zalmon, having an axe. He ordered his men to do as he did. Abimelech and his men cut each of them a branch from a tree, and carried it every one of them on his shoulder. They laid these branches in a heap near to the hold in which the men of Shechem had taken refuge. They set the branches on fire. Thus all the men of the tower of Shechem died; also, about a thousand men and women. Pyrrhus, at the siege of Thebes, was killed by a piece of a tile thrown by a woman.

Abimelech went to Thebez, encamped against it, and took it. There was a strong tower in the city. The men and the women fled into it, shut it, and went up to the top of the tower. Abimelech intended to burn the tower and came near to the door. A woman cast a piece of a mill-stone from the top of the tower upon Abimelech's head, and thus fractured his skull. The dying man called on his armour-bearer to slay him, lest it should be said "a woman slew me. The young man thrust him through with his sword. The men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, and, according to custom, dispersed, and returned to their own homes. The explanation of this extraordinary conduct of Abimelech and of the men of Shechem towards the house of Gideon, and of the dispute between the Shechemites and Abimelech is given so that we may understand that God permitted

the crime, and caused the murderers to punish themselves. "Upon them came the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerubbaal."-Judges ix.

VII. B.C. 1206.-1ola, the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, arose after Abimelech. He dwelt in Shamir in Mount Ephraim. He judged Israel twenty and three years. He died and was buried at Shamir.

VIII. B.C. 1183.-Jair, a Gileadite, succeeded in the Government of Israel. He judged Israel twenty and two years. He had thirty sons who rode on thirty ass colts. They had thirty cities, which are called Havoth-Jair, villages of Jair, unto this day (when the writer or transcriber was writing the account), which are in the land of Gilead. Jair died and was buried in Camon, a city of Manasseh, east of the Jordan, in the country of Gilead. Thebez, where Abimelech was killed, was a city of Ephraim, on the west of the Jordan.

IX. B.C. 1161.-The children of Israel again forsook the Lord, and again did evil in his sight. They ceased to serve God. They multiplied their deities. They served-1. Baalim; 2. Ashtaroth; 3. The gods of Syria; 4. The gods of Zidon; 5. The gods of Moab; 6. The gods of Ammon; 7. The gods of the Philistines. The Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines and of the children of Ammon. This oppression continued for eighteen years upon the two tribes and a half-1. Reuben; 2. Gad; 3. The half tribe of Manasseh. The people, in their sufferings, cried unto the Lord. They put away the strange gods from among them, and served the Lord. The Ammorites were encamped in Gilead. The Israelites were encamped in Mizpeh. The Israelites had no leader. They offered to him who could lead them against the Ammorites that he should be over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

Jephthah was a mighty man of valour. He was a Gileadite. He was the son of a harlot. His father's name was Gilead. Gilead's wife had sons. They thrust out Jephthah-" Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house, for thou art the son of a strange woman." Jephthah fled to Tob, a country in the most northern part of Manasseh's portion. Vain persons came to him. He became their leader and lived by plunder. His brethren learned that his skill and discipline were celebrated. They sent to him messengers who should invite him to take command of their army against the Ammorites. He reminded his brethren of their conduct towards him. The elders and his brethren uniting in opinion that Jephthah should be their leader against the Ammorites, influenced Jephthah to think himself safe amongst his brethren. He accepted the leadership of the army, and returned to Gilead. He had received the promise of the headship if he had success against the Ammorites, and if he returned in safety from the field of battle. Jephthah and all the people and their elders agreed; and Jephthah uttered all his words before the Lord in Mizpeh.

Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon. The message which they delivered

shews how skilful a statesman Jephthah was. Chapter xi., verses 12-27 inclusive, contain the message. The statement is clear. The knowledge of the history of his country proves that he had very carefully read the writings of Moses. The king of Ammon did not regard the message of Jephthah. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. He passed over Gilead, Manasseh, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over to the children of Ammon. On this occasion Jephthah made his rash vow. Whatever came out of the doors of his house, upon his victorious return from the battle-field, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering."

66

He did obtain the victory. He smote the Ammonites from Aroer to Minnith, twenty cities, and into the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. "Then the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel." Jephthah came to Mizpeh to his house. His daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances. She was his only child. Jephthah rent his clothes. He told to his daughter the cause of his grief. She exhorted her father to keep his promise in remembrance of the deliverance which God had given to Israel by his hand. The vow was fulfilled or performed. The victim was offered in sacrifice. Such was the result of the worship of Moloch and of his bloody ritual among the Israelites. "The daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah, the Gileadite, four days in a year."

The Ephraimites passed over Jordan to fight against Jephthah. The result was in favour of Jephthah and adverse to Ephraim. All who said Sibboleth, and could not pronounce Shibboleth, were slain at the fords of the Jordan. The pride of Ephraim was humbled. Forty-two thousand were slain at the fords of the Jordan. Jephthah judged Israel on the east side of the Jordan, northwards, six years. "Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

X. B.C. 1137.-Ibzan, of Bethlehem, judged Israel. He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He sent the daughters abroad, no doubt provided for their welfare by having them married according to his best wishes. He brought thirty daughters from abroad, no doubt from other fathers, and gave them as wives to his sons. He judged Israel seven years. Ibzan died, and was buried at Bethlehem.

XI. B.C. 1130.-Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel. He judged Israel ten years. Elon, the Zebulonite, died, and was buried in Ajalon, in the country of Zebulon.

XII. B.C. 1120.-Abdon, the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, a native of Pirathon, a city of Ephraim, in Mount Amelek, judged Israel. He had forty sons and thirty nephews (sons' sons), who rode on three score and ten ass colts. He judged Israel eight years. Abdon, the son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, died, and was buried in Pirathon, in the land of Ephraim, in the Mount of the Amalekites.

XIII. B.C. 1161.-Samson.-The children of Israel

again did evil in the sight of the Lord. The Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines forty years. A certain man of Zorah (a town in the tribe of Judah, but afterwards given to Dan), of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manōah, had a wife who was barren, and bare not. The angel of the Lord appeared to this woman and assured her that she should bare a son. She must not drink wine nor eat anything unclean. No razor must come on the head of her son. He shall be a Nazzarite unto God from the womb. He shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines. The woman told to her husband what she had heard and whom she had seen. She said, "But I asked him not whence he was, neither told he to me his name." Manōah prayed to God that the messenger might come again and teach them the will of God. The prayer was answered. The angel came to the woman as she sat in the field. She hastened to her husband. Manoah's wife returned in company with her husband. The angel repeated to Manoah the instruction which he had given to Manoah's wife. Manoah said, "I pray thee let us detain thee until we shall have made ready a kid for thee." "I will not eat bread with thee. If thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord." Manōah knew not that he was an angel of the Lord. He therefore inquired his name. He received this reply, "Why askest thou my name, seeing it is secret (wonderful)?" Monoah offered a kid and a meat offering upon a rock unto the Lord. The angel did wondrously. Manoah and his wife looked. The flame from the fire on the altar went upward toward heaven. The angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. Manoah and his wife saw him no more. Then Manōah knew he was an angel of the Lord.

Manōah said unto his wife, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God." His wife replied-" 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 to us all these things, nor would, as at this time, have showed to us such things as these."

The woman, Manoah's wife, bare a son and called his name Samson. The child grew and the Lord blessed him. The Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan (Heb. Manasseh-Dan), probably the place where his parents dwelt. They were Danites. These influences of the Spirit came upon him between Zorah and Eshtaol. Zorah was the place in which his father lived. Eshtaol was a town of Dan. It belonged to Judah at first. Timnath was a frontier town of the Philistines, given at first to Judah, afterwards given to Dan.-Josh. xv. 57. Josh. xix. 43. David took this place from the Philistines. They again got possession of it in the reign of Ahaz. 2nd Chr.

xxviii. 18.

B.C. 1141. Samson was now twenty years of age. He went to Timnath and saw a daughter of the Philistines in Timnath. He returned to his father and mother, told to them whom he had seen in Timnath,

and said, "Now, therefore, get her for me to wife." His father and his mother reasoned with him, endeavouring to persuade him to have a wife of the daughters of his own country. All in vain. "Get her for me, for she pleaseth me well." His father and mother knew not that this was of the Lord. Samson sought an occasion against the Philistines, who then held the southern part of Canaan, on the western side of the Jordan, under their dominion. (a). Samson and his father and mother went down to Timnath. On their way a young lion roared against him. Samson rent him as he would have rent a kid. He did not tell to his father and mother what he had done. He visited this woman in Timnath. She pleased him well. He went again to see her. On his way he viewed the carcase of the lion. He found a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion. He took some of the honey and ate it as he walked. He gave some to his father and mother, but did not tell them how he had obtained it.

Samson and his father and mother (no doubt) went down to Timnath. Samson made a feast. So the young men were accustomed to do. The Philistines brought thirty young men to be his companions. Samson told to them that he should propose a riddle. He would give to them thirty sheets (shirts) and thirty changes of garments if they could explain the riddle within the seven days of the feast. But, if they failed to explain his riddle within that time, they must give to him thirty sheets (shirts) and thirty changes of raiment. He told his riddle-"Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness." On the seventh day they threatened Samson's wife with the burning of her house and father and herself if she would not entice Samson and prevail on him to explain his riddle and then make known to them the secret. She had endeavoured to persuade him to tell to her the secret during the seven days. On the seventh day he told the secret to her, and she told the riddle to the children of her people. They answered Samson on the seventh day: "What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?" Samson said to them: "If ye had not ploughed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle."

Samson went down to Askelon-the Spirit of the Lord had come upon him-and slew thirty men of the Philistines and took their spoil (garments) and gave these garments to the men who had expounded his riddle. Samson's anger was kindled. He returned to his father's house. xiv. c.

(b). B.C. 1140. In the time of wheat harvest (Pentecost-barley harvest being in Passover) Samson visited his wife with a kid. Her father would not allow him to see her, and told him that he thought he hated her and that he had given her to his companion. Her father offered to him her younger "Take her, I pray

sister, fairer than she, and said,

thee, instead of her." Samson said to himself"Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines (Now shall I be blameless from the Philistines), though I do to them a displeasure." "Samson went

-:

and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails." He set the brands on fire. He let the foxes go into the standing corn of the Philistines. The stocks and the standing corn were burnt up; the vineyard and olives also were burnt up. The objection made to the number of the foxes caught by Samson is rendered useless by the following facts:"In other countries, where ferocious beasts were less numerous, great multitudes of them have been exhibited at once. Sylla, in a public show to the Roman citizens, exhibited one hundred lions; Cæsar, four hundred; Pompey, nearly six hundred. The Emperor Probus let loose in the theatre, at one time, one thousand ostriches, one thousand stags, one thousand wild boars, one thousand does, and a countless multitude of other wild animals. At another time he exhibited one hundred leopards from Libya, one hundred from Syria, and three hundred bears.". "Flavius Vopiscus in the life of Probus, cap. xix., beginning Dedit Romanis etiam Voluptates, &c."-Dr. A. Clarke.

1. Foxes or jackals abounded in that country. 2. Samson may have had assistants. 3. He may have waited patiently. That the foxes were numerous is evident from the following passages of Holy Scripture:-(1). Cant. ii. 15. (2). Lam. v. 18. (3). Neh. iv. 3. (4). Ezekiel xiii. 4. (5). Josh. xv. 28-Hazar-Shual, the court of the foxes; xix. 42 Shaalabbin, the foxes. (6). 1 Sam. xiii. 17; the land of Shual-the land of the fox. Naturalists represent the shual as an animal between a wolf and a fox. Hasselquist calls it the little eastern fox. Dr. Kennicott thinks that Samson tied two sheaves together, tied the firebrand between them, and threw these burning sheaves into the corn. The tied foxes would run to the right and to the left in various directions, and thus secure the greatest amount of damage.-Dr. A. Clarke.

The Philistines inquired, Who hath done this? They received the answer, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he had taken Samson's wife and given her to his companion. The Philistines came up and burnt her and her father with fire. Samson told them he would be avenged of them, " and after that I will cease." "He smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter," may, after all disputing, mean that Samson took vengeance on the Philistines by slaying a large number of their men. He went down and dwelt on the top of the rock Etam (see 1 Chr. iv. 32) in the tribe of Simeon, and on the borders of Dan, probably a fortified place.

(c). The Philistines went up and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. The men of Judah inquired the cause of their coming, and learned in reply that they had come to bind Samson, and to do to him as he hath done to us. Three thousand men of Judah went up to the rock Etam and conferred with Samson. He agreed to deliver himself up to his friends, the men of Judah, demanding from them an oath, "Swear unto me that ye will not fall on me yourselves." They sware unto him that they would

not fall on him themselves, but told to him that they would bind him fast and deliver him to the Philistines. They bound him with two new cords and brought him up from the rock. He came into Lehi. The Philistines shouted against him. The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him. The cords on his arms became like flax burnt by fire, and his bonds loosed from off his hands. He found a new jawbone of an ass. He took it and slew a thousand men with it. He was not a poet, as was David, nor gifted, as was Deborah; yet he had a notion that he must say something in the form of a triumphal song. He said, "With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of an ass have I slain a thousand men." He cast away the jawbone of the ass and called that place Ramath-Lehi (the lifting up of the jawbone, or the casting away of the jawbone). Samson was thirty years of age. He had some religion, if not in form yet in heart. the Lord, "Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant, and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised ?" God clave a hollow place which was in the jaw. Water came from it; Samson drank; his spirit revived. He called the well En-hak-kore (the well of the implorer) which is in Lehi unto this day (when the writer revised or transcribed the original manuscripts). Samson judged Israel twenty years.

He cried unto

The

(d). Samson went to Gaza. B.C. 1120. He saw a harlot in Gaza and became her companion. Gazites laid wait for Samson all night in the gates of the city. They hoped to kill him when the day came. Samson arose at midnight, took the doors of the gates of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all (with the bar), put them upon his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill which is before Hebron.

(e.) Samson loved another woman in the valley (or by the brook) Sorek. Her name was Delilah. The lords of the Philistines promised to Delilah that each of them would give to her eleven hundred pieces of silver, if she would entice Samson and prevail on him to make known to her that in which his great strength was or lieth. They said they intended to bind him and to afflict him. Delilah was treacherous. She betrayed Samson. First, she obtained this answer from Samson: "If they bind me with seven green (or moist) withs which were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man." The lords of the Philistines brought up these withs to Delilah. She bound Samson with them as he slept. She wakened him and told him, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." There were of the Philistines liers in wait in the chamber. The withs were as tow burnt by the fire, or when it toucheth or smelleth the fire. So his strength was not known. Second, she reproached Samson for having mocked her. He told to her, "If they bind me with new ropes which never were occupied or used in work, I shall be weak, and be as another man." She bound him with new ropes as he slept. She cried, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." There were liers in

ropes

wait in the chamber. He awoke and brake the off his arms, as if the ropes were threads. Third, she reproached Samson for having mocked her, and with having told to her lies. "Tell to me wherewith thou mightest be bound." He replied, "If thou weavest the seven locks of my hair with the web. She fastened it with the pin. She cried as before, "The Philistines be upon thee Samson." He awoke out of his sleep and went away with the pin of the beam and with the web." Fourth, she said to him, "How canst thou say, I love thee? Thy heart is not with me. Thou hast mocked me these three times. Thou has not told to me wherein thy great strength lieth." She pressed him daily. His soul was vexed unto death. He told to her that no razor had come upon his head. I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb. If I be shaven, my strength will go from me. I shall become weak, and be like to any other man. Delilah invited the Philistines. The lords of the Philistines came and brought money in their hands. She made Samson sleep upon her knees. She called for a man and caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head. She began to afflict him. His strength went from him. She awoke him, saying, "The Philistines be upon thee Samson." "I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself." "He knew not that the Lord had departed from him." The Philistines took him, put out his eyes, brought him down to Gaza, bound him with fetters of brass, and he did grind in the prisonhouse. The hair of his head began to grow again.

(f) The lords of the Philistines made a public festival in honour of their god Dagon. During the feast they became merry. They ordered that Samson should be brought from the prison "to make sport" before them. Samson came. He made sport or performed tasks which shewed his strength. He was placed between the two pillars which supported the roof of the building. Samson asked the lad who attended him to bring him to the pillars that he might feel them and lean against them. The house was full of men and women. The lords of the Philistines were there. Upon the roof there were three thousand men and women, who beheld Samson while he made sport. Samson called unto the Lord and said, "O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes." Samson took hold of the two middle pillars, on which the house stood and was supported, holding the one with his right and the other with his left hand. Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines." He bowed himself with all his might. The house fell. The lords and the assembled Philistines perished by the fall. Samson shared their fate. "So the dead whom he slew at his death were more than they whom he slew in his life."

Samson's brethren, and all the house of his father, came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtãol in the burying place of Manōah, his father. Samson judged [the south west part of] Israel twenty years, B.C. 1120.

Chapters iii. - xvi. of the book Judges contain the history of the Jews under thirteen Judges, during the period of 305 years from B.C. 1425 to B.C. 1120.

Chapters xvii. - xxi. of the book of Judges contain detached narratives-1, Michah's idolatry; 2, The insult and death of the Levite's concubine; 3, The war against Benjamin; 4, Jabesh Gilead destroyed; 5, The rape of the daughters of Shiloh. These things happened в.c. 1406, a period of nineteen years from the rise of Othniel to be Judge of Israel. Othniel became Judge B.c. 1425.

1. Micah's idolatry, B.C. 1406.-(a.) Micah, a man of Mount Ephraim, said to his mother, "The eleven hundred shekels of silver which were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my son." His mother, when she had received the money, confessed that she had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord (who did not require this service at her hand) to make a graven image and a molten image; now, therefore, I will restore it unto thee. Yet he restored the money to his mother. She gave two hundred shekels of silver to the founder who made a graven image and a molten image. These images were in the house of Micah. Micah had a house of gods. He male an ephod and a teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons (filled the hand of one of his sons), who became his priest. There was no king in Israel in those days. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

(b.) A young man out of Bethlehem-judah, of the family of Judah, a Levite, sojourned there. Micah asked, Whence comest thou? He replied, I am a Levite of Bethlehem-judah. I go to sojourn where I may find a place. Micah agreed to give to him ten shekels of silver by the year (per annum), a suit of apparel (a double suit of apparel-an order of garments) if he would be unto him a father and a priest. The Levite consented. Micah consecrated the Levite, and he became his priest. He dwelt in Micah's house. Micah said, "Now know I that the Lord will do to me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest."

(c.) All the inheritance of the tribe of Dan had not in that day (B.c. 1406) fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel. The children of Dan sent five men from their coasts to spy and to search the land. These men came to Mount Ephraim, and lodged in Micah's house. These men knew the Levite's voice. They inquired of him why he came there, and what he was doing. He told to them that he was Micah's priest. They said, "Ask counsel of God whether we may have prosperity in our present undertaking." The reply was favourable, "Go in peace. the Lord is your way, wherein ye go." The five men departed. They came to Laish. They discovered that the inhabitants, after the custom of the Zidonians, lived carelessly, having no magistrate to find fault with them, and having no business with any man. They came home and reported to their brethren in Zorah and Eshtaol the result of their search.

Before

They