CHAPTER III.
OTHNIEL AND EHUD, DEBORAH AND BARAK.
Judg. ii.–v. B.C. circ. 1406–1296.
THE two incidents just recorded are illustrations of the turbulence and disorder of the period which followed the death of Joshua and of the elders that outlived Joshua. Forgetful of their vocation, the Chosen People intermingled with the heathen Canaanites, conformed to their rites and customs, and so forfeited the protection and blessing of their Invisible King. He therefore delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, He sold them to their enemies round about ... and they were greatly distressed (Judg. ii. 14, 15).
But on the first manifestation of repentance, He regarded their affliction, He heard their cry (Ps. cvi. 44, 45), and raised up Deliverers, who saved them from their enemies. The Hebrew word used to denote these Deliverers, these Saviours of their country, Shofet, Shophetim[178], and which we have translated Judge, is much the same as the Suffes, Suffetes of the Carthaginians at the time of the Punic wars. Raised up on extraordinary occasions, like the Dictators in the historyof Rome, they delivered the nation from some pressing danger, and their power and authority generally terminated with the crisis which had called them forth. Higher than the princes of the tribes, vested with extraordinary powers for the emergency, their office was not hereditary, though we shall see it finally tending in more than one instance towards fixedness and perpetuity, and in the person of Eli united with that of the High-priest (Judg. x. 3, 4; xii. 8–14; 1 Sam. viii. 1–3).
Invasion from the North-east. Othniel.
The crisis, which called forth the first of these Deliverers, was the invasion of the country by Chushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia. From the seat of his dominion between the Euphrates and the Tigris he extended his conquests so far southward, that the Israelites suffered grievously from his oppressions for a space of 8 years. At the close of this period, Othniel, whose valour in attacking Kirjath-sepher and marriage with the daughter of the famous Caleb have been lately recorded[179], went out against him and defeated him, and restored rest to the land for 40 years (Judg. iii. 8–11).
Invasion from the South-east. Ehud.
On his death, the people again fell into idolatry, and the Moabites under Eglon, aided by their old allies the Ammonites and Amalekites, crossed the Jordan and seized the ruined site of Jericho. From this vantage ground, Eglon was enabled to extend his dominion at least over the tribe of Benjamin, from which, if not from other tribes, he exacted annual tribute for a space of 18 years. This was brought to him at Jericho, where he would seem to have constructed a palace. On one occasion, Ehud, the son of Gera, a Benjamite, was selected to command the party deputed to carry this proof of subjection. Having executed his commission, he accompaniedhis men as far back as the quarries, or rather the graven images at Gilgal (Judg. iii. 19, margin), possibly the idol-temples, with which the Moabites had profaned the associations of that sacred spot. Thence he turned back, and on pretence of having a message from God to deliver to him, obtained a private interview with Eglon, as he sat in his summer parlour, or “parlour of cooling” (Judg. iii. 20, margin), probably on the roof of his house, where he might catch the cool breezes that tempered the tropical heat of the Jordan valley. On entering, Ehud repeated the purport of his errand, and Eglon bade the attendants instantly withdraw. Then as he rose from his seat to meet his visitor, Ehud, who was left-handed like many of his tribe, drew a long two-edged dagger, which he had made[180] and hidden under his mantle upon his right thigh (Judg. iii. 16), and stabbed him with such force as to leave the weapon in his body. Without lingering a moment, he then shut and locked the doors of the chamber, and fled “through the porch or gallery that ran round the roof[181],” and passing beyond Gilgal, made for the wooded, shaggy, hills of Seirath, in the mountains of Ephraim. There he blew a horn, and roused the Israelites, who rushed down the hills and followed him in the direction of Jericho. Meanwhile the attendants had opened the door of Eglon’s chamber, and beheld the corpse lying on the floor. Panicstricken at this unexpected death of their leader, and still more by the sudden rising of the Israelites, the Moabites fled towards the fords of the Jordan. But the Israelites had been beforehand with them, and suffering none to cross, slew upwards of 10,000 men.
Rest was now restored at least to the tribe of Benjamin for 80 years, but in the south-west the Philistines, encouraged probably by the success of the Moabites,made an inroad, and reduced the Israelites to great straits (Judg. v. 6). But Shamgar, the son of Anath, was raised up to be a deliverer. Armed with nothing but a long iron-spiked ox-goad[182], he made a sudden and desperate assault upon the Philistines, and slew 600 of them, thus obtaining a temporary respite for his people (Judg. iii. 31).
Invasion from the North. Deborah and Barak.
But a more terrible invasion was in store for the nation, which again on the death of Ehud relapsed into idolatry (Judg. iv. 1). This time the oppressor came from the north, where under a second Jabin, the Canaanites, whom Joshua had defeated in his memorable victory at the waters of Merom, had recovered a portion of their former strength. With his vast hosts, and his 900 chariots of iron commanded by Sisera his captain, who resided at Harosheth of the Gentiles[183], he overran the country of the neighbouring tribes, Asher, Naphtali and Zebulun.