[451] 2 Sam. xx. 1.

[452] Or, "Now feed thine own house" (LXX., βόσκε, reading רעה for ראה); and the LXX. adds, "For this man is not (fit) to be a ruler, nor to be a prince." Evidently the revolt was the culmination of those jealousies which the haughty tribe of Ephraim had already manifested in the lives of Gideon, Abimelech, and David.

[453] Heb., "strengthened himself."

[454] In fact, the δωδεκάφυλον became more of a reminiscence than anything else. Simeon, for instance, practically disappeared (1 Chron. iv. 24-43).

[455] 1 Kings xii. 17.

[456] In 1 Kings xix. 3 it is reckoned as belonging to Judah (comp. Josh. xv. 28), being really a town of Simeon (Josh. xix. 2); but from Amos v. 5, viii. 14, we should infer that it was at any rate largely frequented by Israelites.

[457] 1 Kings xvi. 34; 2 Kings ii. 4.

[458] See Stanley, Lectures on the Jewish Church, ii. 269-71.

[459] Amos v. 11, vi. 4-6.

[460] 2 Kings iv. 18, 22, viii. 1-6; Stanley, ii. 271.