Altogether, Joshua conquered thirty-one kings and took possession of their territories. These kingdoms could not have been very large affairs, since the whole land is not very large. The presumption is that superior numbers and better leadership in reality won the day.
When the strong hand of Moses and Joshua has disappeared (Jehova is no longer the stronghold) quarrels, outrages, and discontent arise. Eleven tribes retire from the field of action. Judah, the warrior tribe, does the fighting. The Levites, this aristocratic tribe, watch and guide the nation, dwelling in the forty cities assigned to them. I mention these two tribes especially on account of the important role they play hereafter.
A few statements of the mere facts will suffice. Joshua dies in 1443 B.C. Othniel succeeds. Judah’s military force fights and beats the Canaanites. Discord and fighting continue, until Eglon the king of Moab enslaves them, 1343 B.C. When Eglon is killed they are freed for a short period, when Jabin the Canaanite subdues them. They are again freed and again enslaved, and so on. Meantime they have their heroes, as Shamgar, who kills six hundred Philistines with an ox-goad, and Samson, who kills one thousand Philistines with a jawbone of an ass, etc.
I will append to this chapter a description of some events of Moses’s career from Tacitus, Chapter III: “Many authors agree, that when once an infectious distemper was arisen in Egypt and made men’s bodies impure, Bocchorius, their king, went to the oracle of (Jupiter) Hammon and begged he would grant him some relief against this evil, and he was enjoined to purge his nation of them, and to banish this kind of men into other countries, as hateful to the gods. That when he had sought for, and gotten them all together, they were left in a vast desert; that hereupon the rest devoted themselves to weeping and inactivity; but one of those exiles, Moses by name, advised them to look for no assistance from any of the gods or from any of mankind, since they had been abandoned by both, but bade them believe in him, as in a celestial leader, by whose help they had already gotten clear of their present miseries. They agreed to it; and though they were unacquainted with every thing, they began their journey at random: but nothing tried them so much as want of water; and now they laid themselves down on the ground to a great extent, as just ready to perish, when a herd of wild asses came from feeding, and went to a rock overshadowed by a grove of trees. Moses followed them, as conjecturing that there was (thereabouts) some grassy soil, and so opened large sources of water for them.”
Chapter IV: “As for Moses, in order to secure the nation firmly to himself, he ordained new rites, and such as were contrary to other men. All things are with them profane which with us are sacred; and again, those practices are allowed among them which are by us esteemed most abominable. They sacrifice rams by way of reproach to (Jupiter) Hammon. An ox is also sacrificed, which the Egyptians worship under the name of Apis,” etc.
CHAPTER XI.
SAMUEL THE KINGMAKER—THE WARWICK OF ANTIQUITY.
Our forefathers of antiquity, no matter to what nation they belonged, dressed every important event with a halo of mystery—fable, myth, and miracle. They knew no better.
The mind, the brain, the senses, had reached a stage of development that might well be called childish, with sensuality and selfishness predominating. Fighting, cruelty, and lust were the leading actions prompted. And as in the case of children, ghosts and hobgoblins scared them, shadows and darkness frightened them, unusual sights and noises surprised and alarmed them. And in their calmer moments they wondered. And any natural phenomenon was interpreted as miraculous if it aided any undertaking, and resulted favorably to them.