Adoni-bezek.-This is not a proper name, but a title, meaning "lord of Bezek," as Adoni-zedek, in Josh. x. 1, and perhaps Melchi-zedek, in Gen. xiv. 18. They slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites. -This seems to refer to a second battle, or perhaps to the slaughter in the city after the battle described in the last verse.

(6) Cut off his thumbs and his great toes.The cutting off of his thumbs would prevent him from ever again drawing a bow or wielding a sword. Romans who desired to escape conscription cut off their thumbs (Suet. Aug. 24). The cutting off of his great toes would deprive him of that speed which was so essential for an ancient warrior, that "swift-footed" is in Homer the normal epithet of Achilles. Either of these mutilations would be sufficient to rob him of his throne, since ancient races never tolerated a king who had any personal defects. This kind of punishment was not uncommon in ancient days, and it was with the same general object that the Athenians inflicted it on the conquered Eginetans. Mohammed (Koran, Sur. viii. 12) ordered the enemies of Islam to be thus punished; and it used to be the ancient German method of punishing poachers (Ælian, Var. Hist. ii. 9). The peculiar appropriateness of the punishment in this instance arose from the Lex talionis, or " law of equivalent punishment," which Moses had tolerated as the best means to limit the intensity of those blood-feuds (Lev. xxiv. 19, 20; Deut. xix. 21; comp. Judges xv. 10, 11), which, "because of the hardness of their hearts," he was unable entirely to abolish.

(7) Threescore and ten kings.— The number might seem incredible, were it not that the title "king was freely given to every petty Emir, and even to village Sheykhs. The "seventy "kings may have been the rulers of the towns which Adoni-bezek had taken in extending the territory of Bezek. Josephus says seventytwo kings (Antt. v. 2, § 2), and this common variation is found in some MSS. of the LXX. The Persians treated their Greek captives in this way (Curtius, v. 5, 6). Mutilation in the East was so common that it was hardly accounted cruel (Xen. Anab. i. 9—13). Cutting off the hand or foot was the prescribed Mohammedan punishment for theft in British India (Mill, iii. 447), and many mutilated persons are still to be seen in Northern Scinde (see Grote's Greece, xii. 235).

Gathered their meat under my table.— The

words " their meat" are wanting in the original.

Adoni-bezek, with cruel insolence, treated these subject Sheykhs like dogs "which eat of the fragments that fall from the table of their lords" (Matt. xv. 27). Posidonius says that the king of Parthia used to fling food to his courtiers, who seized it like dogs (Athen. iv. 152). The existence of these feuds among the Canaanites would render the task of the Israelites more easy.

As I have done, so God hath requited me.Comp. chap. viii. 19; 1 Sam. xv. 33, "As thy sword hath

(8) Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.

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made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women;" Judg. xv. 11, "As they (the Philistines) did unto me, so have I (Samson) done unto them;" Jer. li. 56, The Lord God of recompences shall surely requite thee;" Ex. xviii. 11, For the thing wherein they sinned came upon them." (See Matt. vii. 2; Gal. vi. 7; Jas. ii. 13.) The word used for God is Elohim. In Greek theology this punishment of like by like is called "the retribution of Neoptolemus," who murdered Priam at an altar, and was himself murdered at an altar (Pausan. v. 17, 3). The fate of Phalaris, burnt in his own brazen bull (Ovid, De Art. Am. i. 653), and of Dionysius (Ælian, Var. Hist. ix. 8), were also prominent illustrations of the law. We must not suppose that this Canaanite prince worshipped Jehovah, but only that he recognised generally that a Divine retribution had overtaken him. It is one of the commonest facts of history that

"Even-handed justice

Commends the ingredients of the poisoned chalice
To our own lips.'

This truth, "that wherewithal a man sinneth, by the same also shall he be punished," is magnificently, if somewhat fancifully, worked out in Wisd. xi., xvii.,

xviii.

They brought him to Jerusalem.-Rabbi Tanchum, author of the celebrated traditional Midrash (or "exposition"), says that this notice must be prospective, i.e., it must refer to a time subsequent to the conquest of Jerusalem mentioned in the next verse. It may, however, merely mean that they kept him with them in their camp when they advanced to the siege of Jerusalem; or the "they" may refer to his own people. The Israelites may have contemptuously spared his life, and suffered him to join his own people, as a living monument of God's vengeance. In any case the name Jerusalem is used by anticipation, for it seems to have been called Jebus till the days of David. As it is also called Jebusi (i.e., "the Jebusite") in Josh. xv. 8, xviii. 16, probably the name of the town comes from that of the tribe, and the derivation of it is unknown. The meaning "dry" suggested by Ewald is very uncertain. (8) Now.-Rather, And.

Had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it. Our version here most unwarrantably interpolates the word "had," meaning it perhaps as a sort of explanatory gloss to imply that the conquest took place before the fact mentioned in the last verse. If we are right in supposing that these chapters refer in greater or less detail to events already touched upon in the Book of Joshua, we must then supplement this brief notice by Josh. xii. 8-10, xv. 63, from which it appears that though the people of Jerusalem were slaughtered, the king conquered, and the city burnt, yet the Jebusites either secured the citadel (as Josephus implies) or succeeded in recovering the city. In chap. xix. 11, 12, the city is called Jebus (with the remark, which is Jerusalem "), and the Levite expressly re

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Hebron and Debir

they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. (11) And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir: and

sepher:

With the edge of the sword.-Literally, with the mouth of the sword (Gen. xxxiv. 26; Josh. viii. 24, x. 28. Comp. chaps. iv. 15, xx. 37). It seems to mean that no quarter was given.

Set the city on fire. Literally, sent the city into fire, as in chap. xx. 48; 2 Kings viii. 12; Ps. lxxiv. 7. The phrase does not occur elsewhere. And at a later period Josephus tells us that the siege occupied a long time, from the strength of the position (2 Sam. v. 7).

(9) Went down to fight.-" Went up" is the phrase applied to military expeditions (see verse 2); "went down" is the phrase for special battles (1 Sam. xxvi. 10, xxix. 4), like the Latin descendere in aciem. No doubt the phrase arose from the custom of always encamping on hills when it was possible to do so.

In the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley. These are three marked regions of Palestine -the "hill-country" (ha-Har, Josh. ix. 1), in which were Hebron and Debir (verses 10, 11); the south or Negeb (Josh. xv. 21), in which were Arad and Zephath; and the valley, or rather low lands (Shephelah, Josh. xi. 16, xv. 33), in which were the three Philistian towns of Gaza, Askelon, and Ekron (verse 18). The Har is the central or highland district of Palestine, which runs through the whole length of the country, broken only by the plain of Jezreel. The Negeb, derived from a root which means 66 dry," was the region mainly occupied by the tribe of Simeon. The Shephelah, or low maritime plains (of which the root is perhaps also found in Hi-Spalis, Seville-see Stanley, Sin. and Pal. 485), is Palestine proper, i.e., the region of Philistia, the sea-coast south of the Plain of Sharon. In the E.V. the name is sometimes rendered as here, "the valley" (Deut. i. 7; Josh. ix. 1, &c.), sometimes we find it as "the plain" (Obad. 19, &c.), or "the low plains " (1 Chron. xxvii. 28).

(10) That dwelt in Hebron.-See Josh. x. 36, 37. Hebron is midway between Jerusalem and Beersheba, and twenty miles from either. The first name of the city, which is one of the most ancient in the world (Num. xiii. 22), was Mamre (Gen. xiii. 18), from the name of its chief (ib. xiv. 24). It is now called El-Khulil (“ the friend"), from Abraham. It was a city of refuge (Josh. xxi. 11-13). If the view taken as to the chronology of this chapter is correct, this assault is identical with those touched upon in Josh. xi. 21, xiv. 6—15, xv. 13, 14. The LXX. have, "Hebron came forth against Judah." For later references to Hebron, see Neh. xi. 25; 1 Macc. v. 65.

Kirjath-arba.-That is, "the city of Arba." The word afterwards became archaic and poetical (Ps. xlviii. 2; Isa. xxv. 2). All the cities thus named (Kirjath-huzoth, Kirjath-jearim, &c.) existed before the conquest of Palestine. We find the root in Iskariot (i.e., man of Kerioth, a town in the south of Judah). Arba was the father of Anak (Josh. xv. 13, xiv. 15), and Fürst interprets the name "hero of Baal." Some,

(12) And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher, and taketh it, to him

however, take Arba for the numeral "four," so that Kirjath-arba would mean Tetrapolis; and connect the name Hebron with the Arabic "Cherbar," a confederation, "the cities of Hebron ” (2 Sam. ii. 3).

Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.-Possibly the names of three clans of the Anakim (Num. xiii. 22, 23). The Anakim are connected with the Nephilim-giant races sprung from the union of the sons of God with the daughters of men. Josephus says that giant bones of the race were shown in his day (Antt. v. 2, § 3). They were doubtless the bones of extinct animals, and being taken for human remains might well lead to the conclusion of Josephus, that these giants had bodies so large, and countenances so entirely different from other men, that they were surprising to the sight."

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(11) Debir.-See Josh. xv. 15, 49. In Josh. x. 38, 39, its conquest is assigned to Joshua. The name means "the oracle." It afterwards became a Levitic town. There seem to have been two other Debirs (Josh. xv. 7, xiii. 26). This one is identified by Dr. Rosen with Dewirban, near the spring Ain Nunkûr, south-west of Hebron.

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It was

Kirjath-sepher.-The name is curious and interesting. It means 'the city of the book," and is rendered in the LXX. by "city of letters." also called Kirjath-sannah (Josh. xv. 49), which, according to Bochart, means city of learning." Perhaps, therefore, we may consider that it was a famous centre of Canaanite culture and worship. All further attempts to explain its three names must be purely conjectural. We may compare with it the name of the Egyptian Byblos (Ewald). The LXX. here fall into mere confusion.

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(12) And Caleb said.-See Josh. xv. 16. Caleb was a “Kenizzite,” which seems to imply that he was descended from Kenaz, a grandson of Esau (Gen. xxxvi. 11). In Num. xiii. 6 he is mentioned as being a prince (nasi, or chief, rosh) of the tribe of Judah. He was certainly affiliated to that tribe; but if the name "Caleb" means dog," it would seem a very unlikely name for a pure Jew, for I cannot think that the effort to trace a sort of totem system (or naming of tribes from animals) among the ancient Jews (Journ. of Philology, June, 1880) is successful. His father's name, Jephunneh, is of uncertain derivation. Fürst and Meier derive Caleb from a root meaning "valiant;" but the peculiarity of the expressions used respecting him in Josh. xv. 13, xiv. 14, together with certain marked names and features in the genealogies of his family, at least give some probability to the conjecture that he was of foreign origin.

Will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.— Comp. 1 Sam. xvii. 25 and xviii. 17. So the Messenian hero Aristomenes gave a peasant woman, who had saved his life, in marriage to his son. This story shows the strength and importance of this fastness of the south, which is also proved by the fact that Caleb has to refer to his unbroken strength before he gains permission to win the region by the sword (Josh. xiv. 11).

(13) Othniel.-Josh. xv. 15-17. It is here added that he was Caleb's younger brother. (See chap. iii. 9.) The Hebrew may mean either that Othniel was "son of Kenaz and brother of Caleb" (in which case he married his niece); or "son of Kenaz, who was Caleb's brother" (as in "Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother,” 2 Sam. xiii. 3), in which case Achsah was his cousin. The Masoretes, to whom is due the punctuation, &c., of our Hebrew Scriptures, show by their pointing that they understood the words in the former sense. But though Ben-kenaz may simply mean Kenezite (Josh. xiv. 6; Num. xxxii. 12), it is strange in that case that Othniel should never be called a son of Jephunneh. was a brother of Caleb's, he must have lived to extreme old age, and have been an old man when he married Achsah. For the importance of Caleb's family, see 1 Chron. xxvii. 15. The Rabbis identify Othniel with the Jabez who is so abruptly introduced in 1 Chron. iv. 9, 10, and connect Achsah's petition with the prayer there recorded; and they suppose that he founded the school of scribes at Jabez (1 Chron. ii. 55), and was a teacher of law to the Kenites.

If he

(14) When she came to him.-When she first reached his house as a bride.

She moved him.-He was too modest to ask for himself, and he declined her request; but she will not enter till she has gained her way.

A field.-Rather, the field. In the passage in Josh. xv. 18 there is no definite article, but by the time this book was written the field then obtained by Achsah had become historical.

The

Lighted. Not merely in sign of reverence (like Rebecca in Gen. xxiv. 64, and Abigail in 1 Sam. xxv. 25), but leaped off" with eager impetuosity. Hebrew verb tsanach here used occurs in chap. iv. 21, where it is rendered "fastened," i.e., "drove it firmly by a blow.' The LXX. render it "screamed " or "shouted from the ass; the Vulg., "sighed as she was sitting on the ass;" but they probably had a different reading. Suddenly," says Ewald, as if some accident had happened to her, she fell from her ass, and on being embraced by her anxious father, she adjured him as if in words of inspiration" (Hist. Isr. ii. 366).

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What wilt thou ?-Caleb was unable to understand her conduct in refusing to enter the house of her bridegroom.

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(15) A blessing-i.e., "a present " (Gen. xxxiii. 11). A south land.-The word also means a dry and barren land" (Ps. cxxvi. 4). The LXX. read "hast given me (in marriage) into a south land."

Springs of water.-In thus asking for the fertile land which lay at the foot of the mountain slope, she showed herself at once more provident and less bashful than her husband.

The upper springs and the nether springs. -The word here rendered "springs" is gulloth, i.e.,

Movements of the Kenites.

she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.

(16) And the children of the Kenite, Moses' father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah,

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"bubblings." Probably the district for which she asked was called " the upper Gulloth" and "the lower Gulloth," just as we have "the upper and the nether Beth-horon (Beit-ur el-foka and el-tahti). The addition of "the deep green glen" to the arid mountain tract of Debir enormously increased the value of her portion. "The source of this incident," says Dean Stanley, was first discovered by Dr. Rosen. The word gulloth well applies to this beautiful rivulet. The spots are now called Ain-Nunkûr and Dewîr-ban, about one hour south-west of Hebron. Underneath the hill on which Debir stood is a deep valley, rich with verdure from a copious rivulet, which, rising at the crest of the glen, falls with a continuity unusual in Judean hills down to its lowest depth (Jewish Church, ii. 264, and Sin. Palest., p. 165. Mr. Wilton, in his Negeb, p. 16, identifies it with Kurnuil). Othniel had a son, Hathath (1 Chron. iv. 13), and his posterity continued to late times (Judith vi. 15).

(16) The children of the Kenite, Moses' father in law. It is difficult to disentangle the names Jethro, Reuel, or Raguel, and Hobab (chap. iv. 11); but in my article on Jethro in Kitto's Bible Cyclopædia I have shown that Jethro and Reuel are identical, the latter name ("friend of God") being his local title as a priest of Midian; and that he was the father of Zipporah and Hobab. When Jethro refused to stay with the Israelites (Ex. xviii. 27), Hobab consented to accompany them as their hybeer or caravan-guide. He is well known in the Mohammedan legends as Schoeib, but is confounded with Jethro.

The Kenites were the elder branch of the tribe of Midianites. They lived in the rocky district on the shores of the gulf of Akabah (Num. xxi. 1, xxiv. 21; 1 Sam. xv. 6). They seem to have been named from a chieftain Kain (Gen. xv. 19; Num. xxiv. 22; Heb., where there is a play on Kenite and Kinneku, "thy rest"). They were originally a race of troglodytes or cave-dwellers. The Targum constantly reads Salmaa for Kenite, because the Kenites were identified with the Kinim of 1 Chron. ii. 55. Jethro, they say, was a Kenite, who gave to Moses a house (Beth) and bread (lehem) (Ex. ii. 20, 21). They identify Jethro with Salmaa, because in 1 Chron. ii. 5 Salma is the father of Bethlehem. They also identify Rechab, the ancestor of the Rechabites-who were a branch of the Kenites-with Rechabiah, the son of Moses.

Went up.-Probably, in the first instance, in a warlike expedition.

The city of palm trees.-Probably Jericho (see chap. iii. 13; Deut. xxxiv. 3; 2 Chron. xxviii. 15). When Jericho was destroyed and laid under a curse, it would be quite in accordance with the Jewish feeling, which attached such "fatal force and fascination" to words, to avoid even the mention of the name. The Kenites would naturally attach less importance to the curse, or at any rate would not consider that they were

braving it when they pitched their nomad tents among those beautiful groves of palms and balsams, which once made the soil a divine country" (Jos. B. J. i. 6. § 6; iv. 8, § 3; Antt. v. 1, § 22), though they have now entirely disappeared. Rabbinic tradition says that Jericho was assigned to Hobab. From the omission of the name Jericho, some have needlessly supposed that the reference is to Phaenico (a name which means "palm-grove"), an Arabian town mentioned by Diod Sic. iii. 41 (Le Clerc, Bertheau, Ewald); but there is no difficulty about the Kenites leaving Jericho when Judah left it.

The wilderness of Judah.-The Midbar-not a waste desert, but a plain with pasture was a name applied to the lower Jordan valley and the southern hills of Judea (Gen. xxi. 14; Matt. iii. 1, iv. 1; Luke xv. 4). The Kenites, like all Bedouins, hated the life of cities, and never lived in them except under absolute necessity (Jer. xxxv. 6, 7).

In the south of Arad.-Our E.V. has, in Num. xxi. 1, King Arad; but more correctly, in Josh. xv. 14, "the king of Arad." It was a city twenty miles from Hebron, on the road to Petra, and the site is still called Tell-Arad (Wilton, Negeb, p. 198). They may have been attracted by the caves in the neighbourhood, and, although they left it at the bidding of Saul (1 Sam. xv. 6), they seem to have returned to it in the days of David (1 Sam. xxx. 29).

Among the people.-It seems most natural to interpret this of the Israelites of the tribe of Judah; but it may mean "the people to which he belonged," i.e., the Amalekites (Num. xxi. 21), and this accords with 1 Sam. xv. 21. For the only subsequent notices of this interesting people, see chap. iv. 11; 1 Sam. xv. 6; 1 Chron. ii. 55; Jer. xxxv. They formed a useful frontier-guard to the Holy Land.

(17) Zephath.-This name is only mentioned elsewhere in 2 Chron. xiv. 10, as the scene of Asa's battle with Zerah the Ethiopian.

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The

Hormah—i.e., "a place devoted by ban." name Chormah is derived from Cherem (anathema or ban), and the verb rendered "utterly destroyed" means executed the ban upon it." By their conquest the Israelites fulfilled the vow which they had made in consequence of the " 'defeat inflicted on them by the king of Arad," as a punishment for their disobedient attempt to force their way into Palestine (see Num. xiv. 45, xxi. 1-3). The town belonged to Simeon (Josh. xix. 4; 1 Chron. iv, 28–32), and was close to the lands of the Kenites (1 Sam. xxx. 29, 30).

(18) Took Gaza.. Askelon.. Ekron.-Three of the five Philistian lordships, to which the LXX. add Ashdod (Azotus). In Josh. xiii. 3 these five townships are mentioned as still unconquered, and here the LXX. put in a negative—“ Judah did not inherit Gaza, nor,” &c. St. Augustine had the same reading. It is, however, possible that "not" may have been conjecturally added because of the apparent discrepancy

between this passage and chap. iii. 8; or, again," did not inherit" may be a sort of explanatory gloss on the "took." Josephus (Antt. v. 2, § 4) says that Askelon and Ashdod were taken in the war, but that Gaza and Ekron escaped, because their situation in the plains enabled them to use their chariots; yet in 3, § 1, he says that the Canaanites re-conquered Askelon and Ekron. In any case, the conquest was very transitory. (See Josh. xi. 22; Judg. iii. 3, xiii. seq.)

(19) The Lord was with Judah.-The Targum here has "The Word of the Lord." The expression is frequently used to imply insured prosperity (Gen. xxxix. 23; 1 Sam. xviii. 14; 2 Kings xviii. 7. Comp. Matt. xviii. 20).

But.-Rather, for (ki): i.e., they only dispossessed their enemies of the mountain, for, &c.

Could not.-The Hebrew seems purposely to avoid this expression, and says "there was no driving out." Judah could have driven them out; but their faith was cowed by the (verse 19) iron chariots.

The valley.-Here Emek, not Shephelah. "Broad sweeps between parallel ranges of hills," like, e.g., the valley of Jezreel," i.e., the plain of Esdraelon. It differs from Gi, which means a gorge or ravine.

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Chariots of iron.-See chap. iv. 3; Josh. xi. 6—9, xvii. 16; 1 Sam. xiii. 6. R. Tanchum makes it mean very strong chariots;" but the phrase means either "chariots with iron-bound wheels," or "scythed chariots." Ktesias attributes scythed chariots to Ninus, but none are seen on the Nineveh sculptures, and it is doubtful whether they were known so early. Xenophon says that scythed chariots were invented by Cyrus, which would not be till five centuries after this period. For this clause the LXX. have, "because Rechab resisted them," mistaking rekeb, "chariot," for a proper name (as they often do with other words). Hence the notion of Theodoret that the Kenites, to which Rechab belonged (2 Kings x. 15-23; Jer. xxxv. 2), secretly helped the Philistines, is quite groundless. We see a reason for the partial failure of the Israelites in the fact that at this time they had not attained to the same level of civilisation as the Canaanites in arts and arms. This advantage could only have been rendered unavailing by more faith and faithfulness than they showed in their conduct. "Their warriors often rather overran than subdued the land. The chariots and better arms of the Canaanites rendered the conquest of the valleys and plains long and laborious, especially to Joseph, Judah, and Dan. The Hebrews 'walked upon the high places of the land' (Ps. xviii. 33; 2 Sam. xxii. 34; Hab. iii. 19; Is. lviii. 14; Deut. xxxii. 13, 29, 33); but these heights were often encompassed like islands by the inhabitants of the valleys" (Ewald, ii. 264).

The Tribe of Joseph

produced no judge, with the possible exception of Ibzan (see chap. xii. 8), nor is it mentioned in the song of Deborah. Perhaps we may see a reason for this in the strength which had won for Judah so secure a position. On the other hand, their conduct towards Samson was of the most abject kind (chap. xv. 13). "As the nation gained in settled position and command of the soil it lost in unity and strength of external action. Each tribe looked out for itself" (Ewald, ii. 264).

(21) The children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites.-In Josh. xv. 63 we find the same statement respecting the children of Judah. (See verse 8.) Jerusalem was on the borders of Judah (Josh. xvi. 8) and Benjamin (chap. xviii. 28). It belongs more properly to the latter, but the conquest of Zion by David (2 Sam. v. 7) naturally caused its closer identification with Judah. The Jebusites were tolerated inhabitants ever after this conquest, and had their own prince-Araunah (2 Sam. xxiv. 18)" Araunah the king." We even find traces of them after the exile (Ezra ix. 1). Jerusalem is a remarkable exception to the rule that the Israelites conquered " the hill-country," but not the plain.

Unto this day. The assignment of Jerusalem to Benjamin shows that this narrative, though not contemporaneous, is older than the conquest of Jerusalem by David.

(22) The house of Joseph. Ephraim and Manasseh. The narrative now leaves the conquest of southern for that of central Palestine (Josh. xvi., xvii.). Beth-el.-The position of this town on the "highway" between Hebron and Shechem-the main thoroughfare of Palestine (chaps. xx. 31, xxi. 19)-gave it great importance, as did also its sacred connection with events in the life of Abraham (Gen. xii. 8, 9, xiii. 3, 4, xii. 8) and Jacob (Gen. xxviii. 10-17). For its subsequent history, see chap. xx. 18-26, and the history of the northern kingdom, Hos. x. 8; Amos v. 21-23, vii. 10; 1 Kings xii., xiii.; 2 Kings ii. 3, &c. It is now the wretched village of Beitin. Bethel belonged properly to Benjamin (Josh. xviii. 22), but possibly, as in the case of Jerusalem, the border of Ephraim and Benjamin separated the upper from the lower town.

(23) To descry Beth-el.-The word perhaps implies a regular siege, and it is so understood by the LXX. (Cod. Alex.) and the Vulgate.

Luz.-We are also told that this was the original name of the city in Gen. xxviii. 19; but there seems to be in that verse a distinction between the city and the place of Jacob's dream. (Comp. Josh. xvi. 2.) The name means either “hazel,” or “sinking," i.e., a valleydepression.

take Bethel.

out of the city, and they said unto him, Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will shew thee mercy. (25) And when he shewed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family. (26) And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which is the name thereof unto this day.

(27) Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and her

(24) The spies. Perhaps, rather, the scouts of the blockading squadron. The Israelites, like most ancient nations, were little able to take cities by storm, and relied either on blockade or on internal treachery.

Saw a man come forth.-Probably he stole out secretly, and was seized by the scouts. Similarly the Persians took Sardis by seizing a path used by a man who had dropped his helmet, and descended the hillfortress to pick it up (Herod. i. 84).

We will shew thee mercy.-They bribed him. with the promise of personal safety. (Compare Josh. ii. 12, vi.)

(26) Into the land of the Hittites.-Probably the inhabitants of Bethel belonged to this tribe of Canaanites. In Josh. i. 4 their name is used for all the inhabitants of Canaan, but probably it means the coastdwellers. They are often conjecturally classed with the inhabitants of Citium, in Cyprus. They first appear as "children of Heth," in Gen. xxiii. 19, but seem at that time to have been only a small tribe. Abraham, as Ewald observes, went to the Amorites for his allies, but to the Hittites for his grave. The Talmud says that this Luz was famous for its purple dye, and partly on this account Thomson identifies it with Kulb Louzy, not far from Antioch. It was not uncommon in ancient days for the fugitives from a city to build another city elsewhere of the same name. Thus Teucer, when driven from Salamis, built a new Salamis in Cyprus:

"Ambiguam tellure novâ Salamina futuram" (Hor. Od. i. 7). Although the site of this new Luz has not been certainly identified, it was probably in some northern district on the Phoenician frontier (Ewald).

Unto this day. This formula implies the lapse of some time between the event and this record of it.

(27) Neither did Manasseh.-The sacred historian is glancing at the conquest of Canaan, advancing from the southern tribes upwards to central and northern Palestine. (See Josh. xvii. 11—13.)

Beth-shean.-The town to the walls of which the victorious Philistines nailed the bodies of Saul and Jonathan after the battle of Gilboa, and from which they were recovered by the gratitude of the brave people of Jabesh Gilead (1 Sam. xxxi. 8; 2 Sam. xxi. 12). It is again mentioned in 1 Kings iv. 12, and in later days was well known under the name of Scythopolis, or "city of Scythians" (2 Macc. xii. 29), a name contemptuously given to it from the barbarism of its inhabitants (Jos. Vit. 6). Though conquered by Manasseh, it was in the lot of Issachar (Josh. xvii. 11). It is now called Beisan. It was in a district so rich