CHAPTER VIII.
The Hebrews Prior to Their Occupation of Canaan.
Regarding the earliest period of Israel's existence there has been wide difference of opinion. Until recently there have been many who have accepted literally the early books of the Old Testament, composed hundreds of years after the events recorded took place, and the product of several writers, all of whom were filled with a desire to show the favor of God exemplified in every detail of Hebrew progress. If one takes the position that the history of the Hebrews is different from that of every other people in the world's history, if it be held that their development cannot be traced as the unfolding of all other peoples has been traced, then there is nothing more to be said—one can merely chronicle the wonders and marvel. If, on the other hand, one accepts the absolutely established historical fact that these people began as other nations began, in a very crude and primitive state, and came slowly into enlightenment as did nations contemporaneous with them, then the progress of the early Hebrews can be similarly followed. The conclusions which seem to be best substantiated are the ones we shall consider, noting at the same time that among authorities and scholars many differences of opinion still exist.
It is generally conceded that about 1500 B.C. a company of Semitics, originally inhabiting Arabia, but for some years settlers in Mesopotamia, set out from the Euphrates valley—probably from Ur—and journeyed westward. The name Abraham is the one tradition gives as the leader of this company, which after the fashion of nomads, sought new pastures in districts less crowded than those of Chaldea. Among those who attached themselves to this migration appear to have been the ancestors of the tribes later known as the Moabites, Ammonites and Edomites. By slow stages this band of emigrants passed into Syria and reached at length the country we know as Palestine. At that time it was known as Canaan, and was the home of Semitics more or less closely related to the people we know as Phœnicians. The Canaanites and Phœnicians are often identified. As a matter of fact, the Canaanites were Phœnicians who occupied the country districts and, save for a common heritage, had little in common with those merchantmen who filled the great sea-ports of Phœnicia.
The Moabites and Ammonites immediately settled the most fertile places in the plateaus of the Eastern Range, and continued the sheep-raising and cattle grazing to which they had long been accustomed. The Edomites also found homes for themselves. The few followers of Abraham appear to have continued their life as tent-dwellers in the southern part of Canaan. In course of time, they were re-enforced by a second company from Mesopotamia,—a tribe bearing the name of Jacob. The word Jacob means re-enforcement, and he is represented in the Old Testament as the father of twelve children, later spoken of as the twelve tribes of Israel. It was quite customary for Hebrew writers of a late period to treat the names of tribes as individuals, and to attribute to the individuals thus created characteristics peculiar to the patriarchal, or heroic age. "However plastic and distinct the individualities of Ishmael and Edom, Israel and Joseph may seem to us, they are all only personifications and representations of the races of tribes whose names they bear.... When Jacob and Laban together set up a boundary-stone upon Mount Gilead and make a solemn and sworn covenant that neither of them henceforth will pass this boundary with evil intent, it is perfectly plain that this is not a private agreement between father-in-law and son-in-law, but a legal regulation of tribal boundary rights between Israel and Aram."[1]
Leadership of the whole band of Israelites was desired by the tribe of Joseph, which, failing to secure it, departed from the rest and journeyed to Egypt. Here, after some time, the other tribes gathered and settled a fertile district northeast of the Delta, and known by the name of Goshen.
When these Israelites first came into Egypt, a great Semitic upheaval had taken place in the ancient world, and there seem to be reasons for thinking that the welcome given them was due to the fact that a Semitic pharaoh ruled in Egypt. In any event, they lived peaceably for two or three generations—how much longer we do not know—when the aspect of matters changed. The native rulers were restored and because Egypt was having difficulty with tribes in Western Asia, foreigners within her immediate borders were looked upon with suspicion. A large number of laborers were needed to carry on gigantic building projects, and the Israelites were suddenly impressed as public slaves, and set to work under armed guards.
It was against all nature that desert nomads, accustomed to the freedom of the wide world, would long endure this servitude. The instincts of their ancestors would live on for many generations, although temporarily overpowered. After being ground down by the heel of the oppressor for a considerable number of years, they were at length incited by Moses to depart for the land still known to them by stories handed down from father to son—the land of Canaan.
Moses, by birth a Hebrew, had been educated in the family of an Egyptian, but became an outlaw upon killing an Egyptian while defending one of his own kinsmen. Escaping to the land of the Midianites, he had drunk in the air of freedom and the instincts of his forefathers were stimulated into activity. He took on the religion of the Midianites and accepted Jahweh as his God. He grieved over the condition to which his people had fallen, and brooding over it, experienced a divine commission to restore them to freedom. Rallying them in the name of Jahweh, he led them out of the land of bondage. According to the Hebrew account, Egypt was at that particular time stricken by plagues, and the people, naturally superstitious, attributed their afflictions to the foreigners within their land. So incensed against them did they become that the ruler, in a moment of weakness, consented to their exodus. No sooner had they departed, however, than he bethought him of the laborers he had lost, and dispatched the flower of his cavalry to compel their return.