The goddess Ashtoreth was, according to Naville, the patroness of war-chariots, and although the chariots taken by Joshua were drawn by horses, Josh. 11:6, we find them on some of the monuments represented as drawn by oxen, and it is said that oxen have been trained to run fast.
It should be remembered that the use of scythes or swords attached to the wheels or sides of chariots does not appear to have been in vogue until after this period.[79]
9. The Israelites had no war chariots until the time of David, 2 Sam. 8:4, and it is highly improbable that at that time they were used for war purposes, but only as baggage or forage wagons, and the remaining number taken in battle were disjointed, crippled, or destroyed, as the Hebrew text is translated in the Septuagint,and not that the horses were “houghed,”[80] as in our English version.
10. Solomon, B. C. 992, gathered chariots from Egypt and horses, although he was a man of peace,and it does not appear for what purpose the chariots were used except for display; but the act was certainly in direct violation of the law, Deut. 17:14–20, and marked the beginning of that king’s departure from the service of Jehovah.
11. The chronology of the times of the Judges is not clearly made out. It cannot be determined that the Judges all reigned consecutively or that any one Judge had authority over any larger district than that of a few tribes. The Scriptural order seems to be as follows:
| Conquerors. |
Duration of servitude | The Judge. |
Duration in office, or “Rest.” |
Began to rule B. C. (Ussher). |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chushan-rishathaim | 8 years. | 1402 | ||
| Othniel | 40 years. | 1394 | ||
| Eglon | 18 years. | 1354 | ||
| Ehud | 80 years. | 1336 | ||
| Philistines | ? | Shamgar | ? | ? |
| Jabin, a Canaanite king at Hazor | 20 years. | 1316 | ||
| Deborah and Barak | 40 years. | 1296 | ||
| Midianites and Amalekites, etc. | 7 years. | 1256 | ||
| Gideon | 40 years. | 1249 | ||
| Civil war | Abimelech | 3 years. | 1209 | |
| Tola | 23 years. | 1206 | ||
| Jair | 22 years. | 1183 | ||
| Philistines and Ammon | 18 years. | 1161 | ||
| Jephthah | 6 years. | 1143 | ||
| Ibzan | 7 years. | 1137 | ||
| Elon | 10 years. | 1130 | ||
| Abdon | 8 years. | 1120 | ||
| Philistines | 40 years. | 1112 | ||
| Samson | 20 years. | |||
| Eli | 40 years. | |||
| Samuel | All the days of his life, 1 Sam. 7:15. | dies 1060 | ||
| SAUL | 1095 FIRST YEAR OF REIGN. |
The period of the Judges closed at the time when Saul was appointed king, B. C. 1095. Joshua died B. C. 1426, as is supposed,but some[81] have thought that at least thirty years passed between the death of Joshua and the first servitude, and the general opinion is that at least four hundred years, or even four hundred and fifty, must be taken as the length of time from Joshua to Saul, the first king. By adding the time of the servitudes and those of the rules of the Judges, including the time from the death of Joshua, we have about the sum stated in Acts 13:20.But it is difficult to reconcile the chronology of this period with that of other periods because of the want of sufficient fulness of statement in the history of the Judges.[82]
CHAPTER II.
THE SCRIBES OF THE AGE.
1. It should be remembered that during these ages in all prominent nations the office of scribe or historian was a very important one, the existence of which was very general. Before the Exodus the historians accompanied the kings of Egypt and Assyria in their expeditions. Several references to such persons are found in the Scriptures, 2 Kin. 25:19; 2 Chron. 26:11, as especially belonging to the army. They are called “remembrancers” and “writers of chronicles” or “recorders” in the time of David, 2 Sam. 8:16. There were also poets, who described the events of the national history or the prowess of the king, not only in Egypt and Assyria, long before David, but also in Israel. The book of Jasher referred to in Josh. 10:13 and 2 Sam. 1:18 was probably a poetic history of heroic acts, very similar to one discovered in Egypt, called the poem of Pentaur, celebrating the courage of the Pharaoh, Rameses II., who was contemporary with Moses.