PALESTINE UNDER THE JUDGES.
The map on [page 60] is intended to illustrate the history of Palestine from the division of the land (about 1170 B.C.) to the accession of David (B.C. 1010.) This period may be noticed under three topics. 1. The movements among the tribes supplementary to the conquest. 2. The oppressions and the Judges. 3. The reign of the first king, Saul. (See The Kingdom of Saul, [page 64].)
I. SUPPLEMENTARY TO THE CONQUEST.
1. The Conquests of Judah and Simeon. (Judges 1.) These were made by the two southern tribes in alliance, and were accompanied by decisive victories at Bezek, Hebron, Debir, and Zephath (afterward known as Hormah, "destruction"). These places are marked with flags upon the map. Jerusalem, Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron were also attacked and taken; but the conquest was not permanent, since these places were soon reoccupied by the native races.
2. The Danite Migration, related in Judges 17, 18, took place about the same time. The tribe of Dan was crowded by the Philistines into two towns, Zorah and Eshtaol. A part of the warriors went upon an expedition northward, and finding Laish, at one of the sources of the Jordan, undefended, slew its Zidonian inhabitants, and made it their home and a sanctuary of idols, under a new name, Dan. This formed the northern outpost of the land of Israel.
3. The Civil War. (Judges 19-21.) This was caused by a crime among the people of one city, Gibeah, whose part was taken by the entire tribe, according to the Oriental view of honor among members of a clan. It led to a war between Benjamin and the rest of the tribes, at the end of which, by the battle of Gibeah, the one tribe was almost annihilated.
MOUNT TABOR.
II. THE OPPRESSIONS AND THE JUDGES.
From the times of Joshua to those of Saul, the Israelites were ruled by men raised up to meet the needs of the hour, not by succession or appointment, but by personal character and influence. Most of them ruled over a limited region, and more than one doubtless was in authority at the same time, in different parts of the land. They were called forth by a series of oppressions, which were sometimes invasions by foreign tribes, and sometimes the uprising of the native peoples against their Israelite conquerors, reversing the relation for a time. The judges were, in most instances, men who led the Israelites in throwing off the yoke of these foreign races. The oppressions are generally reckoned as seven, though the third was rather an invasion than an oppression; and the judges, as fifteen in number, though several were not judges, in the strict sense of the word.