when he describes,“The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and the rocks for the conies.”[26] The dweller at the poles is conscious of a fellow-feeling when he reads those sublime words:“He giveth snow like wool; he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes: he casteth forth ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?”[27]
The nomad of the desert finds his own country portrayed in the graphic allusions to a“dry and thirsty land where no water is;”[28] to the“shadow of a great rock in a weary land;”[29]and feels himself kindred to the patriarchs in his predatory life.[30] They that dwell upon the equator comprehend that grand but terrific passage descriptive of the earthquake and volcano,“He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth; he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.”[31] And to the denizens of all lands are familiar those impressive references to the sun, moon, and stars; to the “thunder of his power;” to the “lightnings that lighten the world;” to the storm of hail and rain; to the shepherd on the mountain, to the husbandman in the field, and to the merchant in the marts of commerce.
But the correspondence between the prophetic descriptions of the several tribeships, as given by Jacob and Moses, and the land as it now appears, is even more exact; and in recalling the former and in surveying the latter, one knows not which to admire most, the adaptation of the soil for various products, or the unanswerable argument afforded for the inspiration of those who wrote. In the final and permanent division of the territory the portion fell to each tribe by lot, just as Jacob had foretold in the last moments of his life, 250 years before, and just as Moses had predicted immediately prior to his demise.Though it was not possible for the former, with his extraordinary powers of observation and penetration, to have passed and repassed through the whole length of the land without observing the peculiarities of each section, and though equally impossible for the latter, with his capacious mind, and with the means of information at his command, to have remained ignorant of the chorography of the several parts, yet the knowledge of those eminent men had no influence upon the ultimate settlement of the tribes. Human foresight is never equal to the uncertainties of the lot; only superhuman knowledge can foretell to whom the lot will fall. In their prophetic visions they saw the Land of Promise mapped out into tribal possessions, and on each they read the name of the future inheritor. Years after, when the lots were drawn by Joshua and Eleazer at Shiloh, each tribe received its portion exactly on the spot which had been foretold.
Pre-eminently pastoral, Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh received the vast pasture-fields of Ammon, Gilead, and Bashan, extending from the River Arnon on the south to the base of Hermon on the north, and from the Jordan on the west to the desert of Arabia and the Haurân on the east. Called by the Arabs Belka, they can pronounce no higher praise upon its rich plains and green sloping hills than in their pastoral proverb to declare, “Thou canst not find a country like the Belka.” Deprived of the “excellency of dignity”—the priesthood; of the “excellency of power”—the kingdom; and of the “double portion” of wealth and temporal blessings which, by the rights of primogeniture, belonged to the first-born son of Jacob, here, between the Arnon and the Jabbok,Reuben was “unstable as water” in the rapid diminution of his numbers, and in being the first of the tribes to be carried into captivity by Tiglath Pileser of Assyria;[32] and never producing a great man to honor his name, and never rising to dignity and influence in the councils of the nation, here also a father’s curse was fulfilled,“Thou shalt not excel.”[33] His tribeship extending from the Jabbok to the Sea of Galilee, and from the Jordan to the desert, and harassed by the Arabian plunderers on his eastern border, but in turn driving them from his dominion, it was said of Gad,“A troop shall overcome him, and he shall overcome at last.”[34]
Occupying the Hills of Bashan, together with the rich and picturesque regions along the eastern shore of Gennesaret as far north as Mount Hermon, and rising to distinction in rank and numbers, and in giving to the nation three eminent characters—“the pious Gideon, the opulent Jair, and the valiant Jephtha”[35]—the prophetical benediction on Manasseh was here accomplished:“He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great.”[36]
Omitted by Moses from the list of the blessed, and sentenced by his father to be “divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel,”Simeon occupied with Judah the extreme south; and in one generation after the exodus from Egypt to Canaan his posterity had decreased more than 37,000 souls.[37] Destined to rule rather than to serve, to be cunning rather than brave,“Dan shall judge his people; and he shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse-heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.”[38] Unable to subdue the Philistines, whose lands were allotted to them from the Hills of Judah to the Mediterranean, the Danites were compelled to conquer new territory for their rapidly increasing numbers. Described by Moses to be “a lion’s whelp,” and foretold by him that “Dan shall leap from Bashan,” a colony of the tribe passed northward to the sources of the Jordan, and, taking the city of Laish by surprise, 600 armed men, like a young lion pouncing upon its prey, “leaped from Bashan,” captured and burnt the town, and upon its ruins founded another city, calling it “after the name of Dan, their father.” Thus, while at a later period the southern branch of the tribe gave to the nation Samson, who “judged Israel twenty years,”the new colony stamped its tribal name upon the utmost limit of Palestine, which has since passed into the proverbial saying, “From Dan to Beersheba.”[39] Foretold that “his eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk,” to Judah fell that mountain region from Jerusalem southward to Arabia, and from the Dead Sea to the hills which overhang the Mediterranean, and which for vineyards and pasturage is unsurpassed in all the Holy Land. Here, in the days of his prosperity, he was seen “binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; andhere he washed his garments in wine, and his cloths in the blood of grapes.” Selected to be the tribe whence the Messiah should come, “Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise.” Ordained to retain his tribeship, his ensigns, his government “until Shiloh come,” his home was amid the fastnesses of the Judean Hills, from which, till the appointed time, when God abandoned him to his enemies, he could not be dislodged. Ascending to his mountain lair from the swellings of Jordan, “Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up;” and after the Ten Tribes had been scattered, and the identity of Benjamin lost, and when the foe approached, the “Lion of the tribe of Judah,” confident of his security, “stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?”[40]
By nature a martial people, cruel in war, and ambitious to be free, the children of Benjamin received that wild highland tract from the Jordan to Bethhoron, and from Jerusalem to Bethel. Here, on his impregnable heights, with a courage, an independence, a ferocity, at one time successfully resisting the combined attack of all the tribes,“Benjamin shall raven as a wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.”[41] The Vale of Hinnom being his southern frontier, Jerusalem originally belonged to Benjamin, but, failing to dispossess the Jebusites,it was reserved for David, with the warriors of Judah, to capture the strong-hold of Jebus, and elevate it to the dignity of an imperial city.[42] It was to this proximity to the Holy City that Moses refers in those remarkable words, “The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him.”The Temple being Jehovah’s dwelling-place, “The Lord shall cover or protect Benjamin all the day long;” and as Zion represents the throne and Moses the church—God’s two shoulders—“he shall dwell between his shoulders.”[43] There is an air of freedom and an aspect of defiance about the bold, rugged summits of Benjamin; and moulded among the crags of Gibeon and Gibeah, of Ramah and Ophrah, of Geba and Michmash, and the mind partaking of the features of the place of birth,it is no marvel that this tribe gave to the nation Ehud, the judge;[44] Saul, the king;[45] Jonathan,the warrior;[46]the inflexible Mordecai,[47]the resolute Esther,[48]and the heroic Paul.[49]
Rewarded for the most exalted virtues, and possessing the privileges of the birthright which had been transferred from Reuben, the powerful house of Joseph, represented by the tribe of Ephraim and the half tribe of Manasseh, received the heart of Palestine—the garden of the Holy Land. Stretching its verdant lines from the waters of the Jordan along the northern boundary of Benjamin to the Mediterranean, and with the river on the east and the sea on the west, it extended northward to the Plain of Esdraelon, including the Hills of Samaria. Eminently deserving the benedictions of two worlds, Joseph was blessed with unbounded goodness by his dying father and by the Prophet of Abarim.Promised a numerous posterity, in two and a half centuries from the time Jacob placed his hands upon the heads of Ephraim and Manasseh, his descendants had increased to nearly half a million of souls.[50]“Joseph is a fruitful bough—even a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall;”[51] and in anticipation of the fact, Moses breaks forth in that sublime strain,“They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”[52] Occupying a section of land on both sides of the Jordan, the present richness of which is beyond dispute,Joseph had “the precious things of heaven from above”—gentle showers, a serene sky, a sublime atmosphere; “the blessings of the deep that lieth under”—the springs and wells,[53] “the precious fruits brought forth by the sun,” which come to perfection once a year; “the precious things put forth by the moon,” such as mature in a month; “the chief things of the ancient mountains”—the forests that cover their summits; “the precious things of the lasting hills”—the metals and minerals which abound within them; “and his glory is like the firstling of his bullocks, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns”[—]the inspired symbols of his strength, sovereignty, and renown.[54]
Agricultural in his taste and habits, to Issachar fell the immense and rich Plain of Esdraelon, including the mountains of Carmel, Gilboa, and Tabor. Patient in labor and invinciblein war, but weary in bearing such burdens, like the overloaded ass lying down with the two panniers on his back, “Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens.” Charmed with his possession, and unable to expel the powerful Canaanites from all his plains and mountains, but convinced that peace with taxation was better than war,“He saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant, and he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.”[55] Valiant in arms when the tyranny of Sisera became intolerable,“The princes of Issachar were with Deborah;”[56] and having broken the power of a flaunting foe,“Issachar shall rejoice in his tents.”[57]
Chosen to be the maritime tribe of the nation, the portion of Zebulun extended from the Lake of Gennesaret on the east to the Mediterranean on the west, and trafficking on both waters,“Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea, and he shall be for an haven of ships.”[58] As Issachar was to rejoice in his “tents”—in the abundance of his harvests, “so Zebulun was to rejoice in his going out”—in his successful voyages. By a mutual interest in agriculture and commerce, both were to “suck of the abundance of the seas;” and manufacturing glass from the vitreous sand found on the Mediterranean coast, or exporting it in large quantities to other countries, both were to grow rich from the “treasures hid in the sand.” Dealing largely with the Gentiles, who were attracted to their shore and inland cities by commercial interests, these favored tribes“shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness.”[59]