ISRAEL
P
strata
of
the
book
of
Joshua,
which
form
the
main
portion
of
it,
represent
Joshua
as
gaining
possession
of
the
country
in
two
great
battles,
and
as
dividing
it
up
among
the
tribes
by
lot.
The
J
account
of
the
conquest,
however,
which
has
been
preserved
in
Jg
1
and
Jos
8-10.
13'-
''■
"
15"-"-
^
161-'-
'°
17"-"
19",
while
it
represents
Joshua
as
the
leader
of
the
Rachel
tribes
and
as
winning
a
decisive
victory
near
Gibeon,
declares
that
the
tribes
went
up
to
win
their
territory
singly,
and
that
in
the
end
their
conquest
was
only
partial.
This
representation
is
much
older
than
the
other,
and
is
much
more
in
accord
with
the
subsequent
course
of
events
and
with
historical
probability.
According
to
J,
there
seem
to
have
been
at
least
three
lines
of
attack:
(1)
that
which
Joshua
led
up
the
valley
from
Jericho
to
Ai
and
Bethel,
from
which
the
territories
after-wards
occupied
by
Ephraim
and
Benjamin
were
secured.
(2)
A
movement
on
the
part
of
the
tribe
of
Judah
followed
by
the
Simeonites,
soutn-westward
from
Jericho
into
the
hill-country
about
Bethlehem
and
Hebron.
(3)
Lastly,
there
was
the
movement
of
the
northern
tribes
into
the
hill-country
which
bordera
the
great
plain
of
Jezreel.
J
in
Jos
ll'-
'-'
tells
us
that
in
a
great
battle
by
the
Waters
of
Merom
(wh.
see)
Joshua
won
for
the
Israelites
a
victory
over
four
petty
kings
of
the
north,
which
gave
the
Israelites
their
footnold
there.
In
the
course
of
these
struggles
a
disaster
befell
the
tribes
of
Simeon
and
Levi
in
an
attempt
to
take
Shechem,
which
practically
annihilated
Levi,
and
greatly
weakened
Simeon
(cf
.
Gn
34)
.
This
disaster
was
thought
to
be
a
Divine
punishment
for
reprehensible
conduct
(Gn
49*-').
J
distinctly
states
(Jg
1)
that
the
conquest
was
not
complete,
but
that
two
lines
of
fortresses
,
remaining
in
the
possession
of
the
Canaanites,
cut
the
Israelitish
territory
into
three
sections.
One
of
these
consisted
of
Dor,
Megiddo.
Taanach,
Ibleam,
and
Beth-shean,
and
gave
the
Canaanites
control
of
the
great
plain
of
Jezreel.
while,
holding
as
they
did
Jerusalem,
Aijalon,
Har-heres
(Beth-shemesh)
,
and
Gezer,
they
cut
the
tribe
of
Judah
off
from
their
northern
kinsfolk.
J
further
tells
us
distinctly
that
not
all
the
Canaanites
were
driven
out.
but
that
the
Canaanites
and
the
Hebrews
lived
together.
Later,
he
says,
Israel
made
slaves
of
the
Canaanites.
This
latter
statement
is
perhaps
true
for
those
Canaanites
who
held
out
in
thesef
ortresses,
but
reasons
will
he
given
later
for
believing
that
by
intermarriage
a
gradual
fusion
between
Canaanites
and
Israelites
took
place.
Reasons
have
been
adduced
(5
3)
for
believing
that
the
tribe
of
Asher
had
been
in
the
country
from
about
B.C.
1400.
(The
conquest
probably
occurred
about
1200.)
Probably
they
allied
themselves
with
the
other
tribes
when
the
latter
entered
Canaan.
At
what
time
the
tribes
of
Naphtali
and
Dan
joined
the
Hebrew
federation
we
have
no
means
of
knowing.
J
tells
us
(Jg
I'*-
^)
that
the
Danites
struggled
for
a
foothold
in
the
Snephelah,
where
they
obtained
but
an
insecure
footing.
As
they
afterwards
migrated
from
here
(Jg
17.
18),
and
as
a
place
in
this
region
was
called
the
'Camp
of
Dan'
(Jg
132*
18>2),
probably
their
hold
was
very
insecure.
We
learn
from
Jg
15
that
they
possessed
the
town
of
Zorah,
where
Samson
was
afterwards
bom.
11.
Period
of
the
Judges.—
During
this
period.which
ex-tended
from
about
1200
to
about
1020
b.c,
Israel
became
naturalized
in
the
land,
and
amalgamated
with
the
Canaanites.
The
chronology
of
the
period
as
given
in
the
Book
of
Judges
is
certainly
too
long.
The
Deuter-onomic
editor,
who
is
responsible
for
this
chronology,
probably
reckoned
forty
years
as
the
equivalent
of
a
generation,
and
1
K
6'
gives
us
the
key
to
his
scheme.
He
made
the
time
from
the
Exodus
to
the
founding
of
the
Temple
twelve
generations
(cf.
Moore,
'Judges'
in
ICC,
p.
xxxviii.).
The
so-called
'Minor
Judges'
—
Tola,
Jair,
Ibzan,
Elon,
and
Abdon
(Jg
10'-'
12'-")
—
were
not
included
in
the
editor's
chronology.
The
statements
concerning
them
were
added
by
a
later
hand.
As
three
of
their
names
appear
elsewhere
as
clan
names
(cf.
Gn
46"'
»,
Nu
26^-
»,
Dt
3"),
and
as
another
is
a
city
(Jos
21'!'),
scholars
are
agreed
that
these
were
not
real
judges,
but
that
they
owe
their
existence
to
the
mistake
of
a
late
writer.
Similarly,
Shamgar
(Jg
3^')
was
not
a
real
judge.
His
name
appears
where
it
does
because
some
late
writer
mistakenly
inferred
that
the
reference
to
Shamgar
(probably
a
Hittite
chief)
in
Jg
5"
was
an
allusion
to
an
earlier
judge
(cf.
Moore,
JAOS
xix.
169
ff.).
Some
doubt
attaches
also
to
Othniel,
who
is
ISRAEL
elsewhere
a
younger
brother
of
a
Caleb,
—
the
Calebites,
a
branch
of
the
Edomite
clan
of
the
Kenaz
(cf
.
Jg
1"
with
Gn
36"-
"■
«),
which
had
settled
in
Southern
Judah.
This
doubt
is
increased
by
the
tact
that
the
whole
of
the
narrative
of
the
invasion
of
Cushan-rishathaim,
king
of
Mesopotamia,
is
the
work
of
the
editor,
Rn,
and
also
by
the
fact
that
no
king
of
Mesopotamia
who
could
have
made
such
an
invasion
is
known
to
have
existed
at
this
time.
Furthermore,
had
such
a
king
invaded
Israel,
his
power
would
have
been
felt
in
the
north
and
not
in
Judah.
If
there
is
any
historical
kernel
in
this
narrative,
probably
it
was
the
Edomites
who
were
the
perpetrators
of
the
invasion,
and
their
name
has
become
corrupted
(cf.
Paton,
Syr.
and
Pal.
161).
It
is
difficult,
then,
to
see
how
Othniel
should
have
been
a
deUverer,
as
he
seems
to
have
belonged
to
a
kindred
clan,
but
the
whole
matter
may
have
been
confused
by
oral
trans-mission.
Perhaps
the
narrative
is
a
distorted
remi-niscence
of
the
settlement
in
Southern
Judah
of
the
Edomitic
clans
of
Caleb
and
Othniel.
The
real
judges
were
Ehud,
Deborah,
Gideon,
Jeph-thah,
EU,
and
Samuel.
Samson
was
a
kind
of
giant-hero,
but
he
always
fought
single-handed;
he
was
no
leader
and
organizer
of
men,
and
it
is
difficult
to
see
how
he
can
justly
be
called
a
judge.
The
age
was
a
period
of
great
tribal
restlessness.
Others
were
trying
to
do
what
the
Israelites
had
done,
and
gain
a
foothold
in
Palestine.
Wave
after
wave
of
attempted
invasion
broke
over
the
land.
Each
coming
from
a
different
direction
affected
a
different
part
of
it,
and
in
the
part
affected
a
patriot
would
arouse
the
Hebrews
of
the
vicinity
and
expel
the
invader.
The
Influence
thus
acquired,
and
the
position
which
the
wealth
derived
from
the
spoil
of
war
gave
him,
made
such
a
person
the
sheik
of
his
district
for
the
time
being.
Thus
the
judges
were
in
reaUty
great
tribal
chieftains.
They
owed
their
office
to
personal
prowess.
Because
of
their
character
their
countrymen
brought
to
them
their
causes
to
adjust,
and
they
had
no
authority
except
public
opinion
whereby
to
enforce
their
decisions.
Deborah
and
Barak
delivered
Israel,
not
from
in-vaders,
but
from
a
monarch
whom
up
to
that
time
the
Hebrews
had
been
unable
to
overcome.
It
is
probable
that
this
power
was
Hittite
(cf.
Moore,
JAOS,
xix.
158
fl.).
This
episode,
which
should
probably
be
dated
about
1150,
marks
the
conclusion
of
the
conquest
of
Northern
Palestine.
There
were
four
real
invasions
from
outside
during
the
period
of
the
judges:
that
of
the
Moabites,
which
called
Ehud
into
prominence;
that
of
the
Midianites,
which
gave
Gideon
his
opportunity;
that
of
the
Am-monites,
from
whom
Jephthah
delivered
Gilead;
and
that
of
the
PhiUstines,
against
whom
Samson,
Eli,
Samuel,
and
Saul
struggled,
but
who
were
not
overcome
until
the
reign
of
David.
The
first
of
these
invasions
affected
the
territories
of
Reuben
and
Gad
on
the
east,
and
of
Benjamin
on
the
west,
of
the
Jordan.
It
probably
occurred
early
in
the
period.
The
second
invasion
affected
the
country
of
Ephraim
and
Manasseh,
and
probably
occurred
about
the
middle
of
the
period.
Gideon's
son
Abimelech
endeavoured
to
establish
a
petty
kingdom
in
Shechem
after
Gideon
had
run
his
successful
career,
but
the
attempt
at
kingship
was
premature
(cf.
Jg
9).
The
Ammonite
invasion
affected
only
Gilead,
while
the
Philistine
invasion
was
later,
more
prolonged,
and
affected
aU
of
Central
Palestine.
These
people
came
into
Palestine
from
the
outside
(cf
.
Philistines),
pushed
the
inhabitants
of
the
Maritime
Plain
back
upon
the
Israelites,
made
many
attempts
to
conquer
the
hill-country,
and
by
the
end
of
the
reign
of
Saul
held
the
greater
part
of
the
Plain
of
Jezreel.
The
struggles
with
these
invaders
gradually
called
into
existence
a
national
consciousness
in
Israel.
It
is
clear
from
the
song
of
Deborah
that
when
that
poem
was
written
there
was
no
sense
of
national
unity.
A
dim
sense
of
kinship
held
the
tribes
together,
but
this
