The Bible: what it is Part 15

'"Here ends Master Rogers, of Wendover, and Master Matthew Paris begins." {106} 'Even the supposition of these additions, made by later writers, goes far towards a concession of the fact, which I would establish--namely, that we have not the Hebrew writings in their original state; but that they are a compilation, put together after the nation had returned with fresh lights, and a fresh intellectual impetus from Babylon.'

Verse 33. Phineas was a Levite, and the Levites were forbidden to have any inheritance in the land; in what manner, therefore, did Phineas become ent.i.tled to this hill?

This Book of Joshua simply claims to be a relation of the adventures of the Jews under the leaders.h.i.+p of Joshua. It has evidently been written very long after the occurrences it alleges to have taken place; and the writer must have either compiled from other writings, or from oral tradition; if from the latter, which is the more probable hypothesis, it will, perhaps, account for the anti-astronomical phenomenon, related in chapter x., and for the falling down of the walls of Jericho, and similar absurdities. By tradition, facts are exaggerated and distorted, especially where the people are uneducated ana superst.i.tious. As a history it is of little value, as a romance it is of less; it affords but poor amus.e.m.e.nt, and nought of instruction to peruse the account of the wars of the Jews. A man of martial disposition may feel a degree of interest and pleasure in reading the accounts of the struggles for freedom of a Tell, a Was.h.i.+ngton, a Hampden, or even of the terrific battles under a Napoleon or a Wellington; but of these Jews, whose best fighting was but a sham, who were cowards at heart; who only fought well when the Lord had paralysed the arms of their enemies; who took credit for victories, which the 'hornet' had won for them; who were merciless scoundrels when victorious, and pitiable poltroons when defeated; who fought not in defence of their own land, but to rob their fellow men of their native homes; I say, reading of these, a true man feels disgust and sorrow; disgust at the horrible cruelties related; sorrow that men should have been so ignorant as to imagine that the butcheries took place under the supervision of a G.o.d of love.

Bishop Watson, in his fourth letter, in reply to Paine's remarks on Joshua, writes as follows:--

'You make yourself merry with what you call the tale of the sun standing still upon Mount Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Ajalon; and you say, that "the story detects itself; because there is not a nation in the world that knows anything about it." How can you expect that there should, when there is not a nation in the world whose annals reach this era by many hundred years? It happens, however, that you are probably mistaken as to the fact: a confused tradition concerning this miracle and a similar one in the time of Ahaz, when the sun went back ten degrees, had been preserved among one of the most ancient nations, as we are informed by one of the most ancient historians. Herodotus, in his Euterpe, speaking of the Egyptian priests, says:--"They told me, that the sun four times deviated from his course; having twice risen where he uniformly goes down, and twice gone down where he uniformly rises."'

{107} The Bishop is somewhat incorrect in his criticism. 'There is not (he says) a nation in the world whose annals reach this era by many hundred years.' This is simply untrue. The alleged date of this pretended miracle is variously stated; but it may be taken at the outside at about 3,500 years ago. The Hindus claim to carry their annals back millions of years, and Sir William Jones, after a fair criticism, confesses that he traces back the Indian monarchy to a period upwards of 3,800 years from the present time, and admits an age of 3,000 years for the Vedas, or sacred writings. The age of the xajur Veda, one of the sacred Hindu books, is carried to a period prior to the alleged date of the birth of Moses. The chronicles of Iran (Persia) claim at least an equal antiquity; in fact, the same learned and careful author, speaking on this subject, says:--'If we can rely on evidence, which appears unexceptionable, the Iranian monarchy must have been the oldest in the world.' The Tartar's 'genuine traditional history' commences 4,700 years ago. The Arabian monarchy is traceable back 3,600 years. We have a book of the Chinese, ent.i.tled 'Shuking,' containing the annals of that empire, commencing upwards of 4,100 years from this date. Foh, or Foni, is alleged to have given laws to the Chinese 4,300 years ago. We have their poetry admittedly 3,000 years of age, and professedly of a much more ancient date. A very learned member of the Asiatic Society, who investigated the astronomical computations of the Hindus, as given in an ancient treatise (the Surya Siddhanta), allows it to contain astronomical observations extending over 7,200 years, a period of upwards of 4,800 years of which has pa.s.sed since the birth of one of their most famous astronomers. This will be sufficient to dispose of the Bishop's first a.s.sertion. His second, as to the quotation from Herodotus, fares no better. The four deviations spoken of, by the Egyptian priests, do not correspond to the two alleged miracles, and Paine's argument as quoted on page 100 of this work, remains unanswered.

BOOK VII. JUDGES

'The Book of Judges is anonymous on the face of it; and therefore, even the pretence is wanting to call it the word of G.o.d; it has not so much as a nominal voucher: it is altogether fatherless.

'This book begins with the same expression as the Book of Joshua. That of Joshua begins (chap, i., v. 1)--_Now after the death of Moses_, etc.; and this of Judges begins--_Now after the death of Joshua_, etc. This, and the similarity of style between the two books, indicate that they are the work of the same author; but who he was is altogether unknown; the only point that the book proves is, that the author lived long after the time of Joshua; for though it begins as if it followed immediately after his death, the second chapter is an epitome, or abstract, of the whole book, which, according to the Bible {108} chronology, extends its history through a s.p.a.ce of 306 years--that is, from the death of Joshua, 1426 years before Christ, to the death of Sampson, 1120 years before Christ, and only twenty-five years before Saul went to _seek his father's a.s.ses, and was made king_ (the chronology of this book has been a matter of much debate; and it is stated by various chronologers with very serious difference). But there is good reason to believe, that it was not written till the time of David at least; and that the Book of Joshua was not written before the same time.' ( _Vide_ 'Age of Reason').

*Chapter i., w. 7 and 8, have been noticed on page 103.

Verses 9 to 15. These verses are a mere repet.i.tion of Joshua, chap. xv., w. 13 to 19.

Verse 16. Who were the Kenites? We read in Exodus, that the father-in-law of Moses was a priest of Midian, and by Numbers we learn, that Moses had an Ethiopian (query Egyptian) wife. A Kenite may be a Midianite, or an Ethiopian, or, as in the case of the Trinity, all three may be one. By this verse they appear to be settled in Judah, south of Arad, while by chap, iv., vv. 11 and 17, they are in the north by Napthali.

Verse 17 has been noticed on page 72.

Verse 19. As the verse stands, it is flatly contradicted in Mark, chap, x., v. 27. A devout believer in the omnipotence of the Deity would doubtless wonder how chariots of iron could form serious obstacles to the attainment of any object by Judah, when the Lord was fighting for Judah. The Septuagint renders the verse somewhat differently.

*Chapter ii., vv. 1 to 5. This visit of the angel of the Lord from his residence at Gilgal does not seem to have been attended with any good result; the Jews wept, but they must have shed what are commonly known as crocodiles' tears.

Verses 6 to 10 These verses are simply repet.i.tions of verses 28 to 31, of the last chapter of Joshua, and are inserted here in a confused manner, having no connection with the earlier or later verses of he chapter. The whole of this chapter is confused and incoherent.

Verse 22 contradicts the attribute of foreknowledge, commonly ascribed to Deity.

*Chapter iii., v. 1. 'These are the nations which the Lord had left.'

That is, we are told, that the Lord spared the Canaanites, or rather a portion of them, 'to prove the Israelites.' The omniscient Deity could hardly have needed to prove his people, as he must have known what course of conduct they would pursue. To ordinary readers the matter is surrounded with difficulty. G.o.d had originally issued a series of loving commands with reference to these Canaanites; one was, 'Spare alive nothing that breatheth.' The Jews might well imagine that, as G.o.d had abandoned this portion of the commandments without special directions as to the others, that they (the Jews) were at liberty to make treaties with the Canaanites, and marry amongst them. {109} Verse 3. 'All the Canaanites.' This is not true. The inhabitants of Jericho and Ai were Canaanites, and these were 'utterly destroyed.'

Verses 15 to 26. The Douay says, that 'what Ehud, who was judge and chief magistrate of Israel, did on this occasion, was by a special inspiration from G.o.d; but such things are not to be imitated by private men.' There is no statement in the Book that G.o.d specially inspired Ehud to kill Eglon; yet if Eglon was a tyrant who deserved death, and if the act of Ehud was a praiseworthy act in him, why should it not be so in another? Verger doubtless was equally inspired when he killed the Archbishop of Paris, Felton when he killed the Duke of Buckingham, and Pianori when he tried to kill Louis Napoleon. The question is two-fold--1st. Is it lawful to destroy tyrants? 2nd. If a man is almost unanimously accursed, and accused as a tyrant (as Louis Napoleon for example), is it lawful for one man to const.i.tute himself judge, jury, and executioner?

Verses 29 and 31. These round numbers betray the fallibility of the writer. A revelation from Deity would have been more precise. Shamgar must have been an extremely valiant warrior. To kill 600 men with only an ox-goad is no trifle. The record does not say whether or not they were all killed in one day, or during a lone period; or whether in a ma.s.s together, or separately. They could scarcely have been all killed in one day, and tne probability is, that Shamgar did not attack the 600 men in a ma.s.s. I can only hope that Shamgar did not waylay the Philistines, simply killing them unawares. The Douay says, that the weapon used was a 'plough-share,' not an 'ox-goad.'

*Chapter iv. Voltaire thus comments on this chapter:--

'We have no intention here to inquire at what time Baruch was chief of the Jewish people; why, being chief, he allowed his army to be commanded by a woman; whether this woman, named Deborah, had married Lapidoth; whether she was the friend or relative of Baruch, or, perhaps, his daughter, or his mother; nor on what day the battle of Thabor, in Galilee, was fought between this Deborah and Sisera, Captain-General of the armies of King Jabin, which Sisera commanded in Galilee, an army of three hundred thousand foot, ten thousand horse, and three thousand chariots of war, according to the historian Josephus.

'We shall at present leave out of the question this Jabin, King of a village called Hazor, who had more troops than the Grand Turk. We very much pity the fate of his grand vizier Sisera, who, having lost the battle of Galilee, leaped from his chariot and four that he might fly more swiftly on foot. He went and begged the hospitality of a holy Jewish woman, who gave him some milk, and drove a great cart-nail through his head while he was asleep. We are very sorry for it; but this is not the matter to be discussed. We wish to speak of chariots of war.

'The battle was fought at the foot of Mount Thabor, near the river Kishon. Mount Thabor is a steep mountain, the branches of which, somewhat less in height, extend over a great part of Galilee. Betwixt {110} this mountain and the neighbouring rocks there is a small plain covered with great flint stones, and impracticable for cavalry. The extent of this plain is four or five hundred paces. We may venture to believe that Sisera did not here draw up his three hundred thousand men in order of battle; his three thousand chariots would have found it difficult to manoeuvre on such a field.

'We may believe that the Hebrews had no chariots of war in a country renowned only for a.s.ses; but the Asiatics made use of them in great plains.

'Confucius, or rather Confutze, says positively that from time immemorial each of the viceroys of the provinces was expected to furnish to the emperor a thousand war chariots drawn by four horses.

'Chariots must have been in use long before the Trojan war, for Homer does not speak of them as a new invention: but those chariots were not armed like those of Babylon; neither the wheels nor the axles were furnished with steel blades.

'This invention must at first have been very formidable, in large plains especially, when the chariots were numerous, driven with impetuosity and armed with long pikes and scythes; but when they became familiar it seemed so easy to avoid their shock, that they fell into general disuse.'

*Chapter iv., v. 2. Hazor was burnt and thoroughly destroyed by Joshua.

Verse 4. We have no account of any of the prophecies of Deborah.

Verse 11. 'Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses.' This is an error. Hobab is described in Numbers as the son of Raguel, the latter being the father-in-law of Moses. (See page 49).

Verses 17 to 22. After reading these verses, Professor Newman wrote as follows:--

'In various attempts at compromise--such as conceding the scriptural fallibility in human science but maintaining its spiritual perfection--I always found the division impracticable. At last it pressed on me that it I admitted morals to rest on an independent basis, it was dishonest to shut my eyes to any apparent collisions of morality with the Scriptures. A very notorious and decisive instance is that of Jael.

Sisera when beaten in battle fled to the tent of his friend Heber, and was there warmly welcomed bv Jael, Heber's wife. After she had refreshed him with food and lulled him to sleep, she killed him, by driving a nail into his temples, and for this deed (which now-a-days would be called a perfidious murder), the prophetess Deborah, in an inspired psalm, p.r.o.nounces Jael to be "blessed above women," and glorifies her act by an elaborate description of its atrocity. As soon as I felt that I was bound to pa.s.s a moral judgment on this, I saw that as regards the Old Testament the battle was already lost.'

*Chapter v. This Song of Deborah, like other oriental songs, is strongly figurative.

Verse 8. Instead of 'They chose new G.o.ds, then was war in the gates,'

the Douay has it, 'The Lord chose new wars and himself overthrew the gates of his enemies.' {111} Verse 12. There were no captives to lead--all were killed. (See. chap, iv., v. 16.)

Verse. 23. Where and what was Meroz? Was it a city or a country? Were its inhabitants Israelites or Canaanites? No one knows. It is the only time it is mentioned throughout the whole of the Bible.

Verse 26. The Douay in this Terse says nothing about smiting off Sisera's head, neither does chap, iv., v. 21.

*Chapter vi. On page 79 I remarked on the account of the total destruction of the Midianitish nation, and I have now to submit that one of the accounts must be positively untrue. If 'every male' was killed by the Israelites, there can be no foundation for the statement that the Midianites 'came as gra.s.shoppers for mult.i.tude, for both they and their camels were without number.'

Verses 8 to 10. This prophet was a shrewd fellow; he only related the past, but did not attempt to foretell the future. Why is he called a prophet? The whole of this chapter is very confused. In vv. 11 and 12 the 'angel of the Lord' appears, but in vv. 14 and 16 it is 'the Lord,'

and in vv. 20 and 21 the 'angel of the Lord' again, and this is rendered still more confused by vv. 22 and 23, as it is nowhere said to be death to see an angel.

Verse 21. This is quite a type of modern conjuring--to set on fire the flesh and cakes by touching them with a magic wand. The Douay, to make the matter more complete, says that the angel 'vanished.'

Gideon seems to have been very unbelieving, and to have required many miracles before he would accept G.o.d's message.

*Chapter vii., v. 3. This fact speaks volumes in favour of the Israelites. They must have been a n.o.ble race, when more than two-thirds of an army in the face of an enemy pleaded guilty to the suggestion of cowardice, and ran away.

Verses 13 and 14. This is scarcely probable. If Gideon was an unknown and mean man amongst his own people (see chap, vi., v. 15), it is unlikely that he would be so famous amongst the Midianites; beside which the Midianites wors.h.i.+pped a different G.o.d from the Israelites, and the man would not have used the kind of language here attributed to him. The words are not the words of a Midianite at all, but such as a Jew would be more apt to utter.

Verses 16 to 22. This battle of the 'trumpets, lamps, and pitchers,' is a most glorious one. The Midianites and Amalekites are 'as the sand by the sea sh.o.r.e for mult.i.tude.' 300 men surrounded their camp un.o.bserved by the sentinels, who ought to have been more than ordinarily wakeful, having only just been relieved. These three hundred men, who have each a lamp concealed in a pitcher, suddenly break all their pitchers with a great crash, blow their trumpets, and shout out loudly. The Midianites and Amalekites, who must have been timid and nervous people, are much frightened, and begin to kill one another, and to run away as fast as possible. This is the more remarkable, as the 300 men all held their {112} lamps up, so that it would have been easy to have distinguished friends from enemies.

The 300, not satisfied with their easy victory, pursued the flying enemy, and slew 120,000 of them, being 400 to each man, then attacked their two Princes, Zebah and Zalmunna, who were at the head of an army of 15,000 men. These the 300 Israelites of course routed easily, after which they returned, and on their way back, tore the elders of Succoth (who refused to aid them in their pursuit) with thorns and briars, and cut the men in pieces. (Vide Douay translation, chap, viii., v. 16).

After this they beat down the fortified tower of Penuel, and slew the inhabitants of that city. The 300 did not neglect the plunder, but brought back 1700 shekels of gold, beside the golden chains which were about the camels' necks, and ornaments and jewels, and I do not find that they were stoned to death like Achan for so doing. Although Gideon and his 300 followers were so valiant, yet his first-born son, Jether, did not inherit the bravery of his father (Vide chap, viii., v. 20).

I have, in several places, discussed the commands to extirpate the Canaanites given in the previous books, and in noticing this terrible slaughter, I cannot help quoting a few words in defence from Dr. J. Pye Smith:--

'The extreme cruelty and abominable crimes of those nations were undoubtedly just and sufficient causes, under the righteous government of G.o.d, for their being cut off, as they were (not by pestilence or earthquake, but) by a people sent, and avowedly coming, with this executive commission from the only Sovereign of all men and all nations.