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tions see Voi. 1. p. 42. The Judges frequently acted by a divine suggestion, and were endowed with preternatural strength and fortitude (compare ii. 18. vi. 14. 34. xi. 29. and xiv. 6. 19.): it is necessary to bear this in mind when perusing the relation of some of their achievements, which were justifiable only on the supposition of their being performed under the sanction of a divine warrant, which supersedes all general rules of conduct. Besides, "in some cases (such as that of Samson's suicide) they may have abused their endowments, since the preternatural gifts of God are equally liable to abuse with those which he bestows in the ordinary course of nature."

II. From the expression recorded in Judg. xviii. 30. some have imagined that this book was not written till after the Babylonish captivity, but this conjecture is evidently erroneous; for, on comparing Psal. lxxviii. 60, 61. and 1 Sam. iv. 11. with that passage, we find that the captivity intended by the historian was a particular captivity of the inhabitants of Dan, which took place about the time the ark was taken by the Philistines. Besides, the total absence of Chaldee words sufficiently proves the date of the book of Judges to have been many centuries anterior to the great Babylonish captivity. This book, however, was certainly written before the second book of Samuel (compare 2 Sam. xi. 21. with Judg. ix. 53.), and before the capture of Jerusalem by David. (Compare 2 Sam. v. 6. with Judg. i. 21.)

There is a considerable diversity of opinion as to the person by whom this book of Judges was written; it being, by some writers, ascribed to Phinehas, Hezekiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, or Ezra, who compiled it from the memoirs of his own time which were left by each Judge; while others think that it was compiled by some prophet out of the public registers or records that were kept by the priests and Levites. But the best founded opinion seems to be, that it was written by the prophet Samuel, the last of the Judges; and in this opinion the Jews themselves coincide.

(iv.) The thanksgiving song of Deborah and Barak.2 (v.)
B. c. 1285.

SECT. 4. The Eastern and Northern Israelites, being for their
sins delivered into the power of Midian, are delivered by
Gideon.-History of Gideon and his family, including the
judicature of Abimelech. (vi.-ix.) B. c. 1252-1233.
SECT. 5. History of the administrations of Tola and Jair. The
Israelites, being oppressed by the Ammonites, are delivered
by Jephthah. The administrations of the Judges, Ibzan,
Elon, and Abdon. (x.—-xii.) в. c. 1233––1157.

SECT. 6. The birth of Samson.-Servitude of the Israelites to
the Philistines, and their deliverance by Samson, with an
account of his death. (xiii.-xvi.) B. c. 1155-1117.

PART III. An Account of the Introduction of Idolatry among the Israelites, and the consequent Corruption of Religion and Manners among them; for which God gave them up into the hands of their enemies. (xvii.—xxi.)

SECT. 1. Account of the idol of Micah and its worship, at first privately in his family (xvii.) and afterwards publicly in the tribe of Dan. (xviii.) B. c. 1413.

SECT. 2. Account of a very singular violence and detestable murder, committed by the Benjamites of Gibeah (xiv.); the war of the other tribes with them, and the almost total extinction of the tribe of Benjamin. (xx. xxi.) в..c. 1413. history of the Israelites, and is very properly inserted between IV. The book of Judges forms an important link in the the books of Joshua and Samuel, as the Judges were the intermediate governors between Joshua and the kings of Israel. unsettled nation; a striking picture of the disorders and danIt furnishes us with a lively description of a fluctuating and gers which prevailed in a republic without magistracy; when the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through by-ways (v. 6.); when few prophets were appointed III. The book of Judges comprises the history of about in his own eyes. (xvii. 6.) It exhibits the contest of true to control the people, and every one did that which was right three hundred years: it consists of three parts; the first embraces the history of the Elders, who ruled the Israelites after religion with superstition; displays the beneficial effects that the death of Joshua, and the subsequent transactions, to the flow from the former, and represents the miseries and evil commencement of their troubles. (ch. i.-iii. 4.) The second consequences of impiety; it is a most remarkable history of part contains the history of the Judges from Othniel to Eli the long-suffering of God towards the Israelites, in which we (ch. iii. 5.-xvi.); and the third, which narrates several see the most signal instances of his justice and merey altermemorable actions performed not long after the death of nately displayed. The people sinned and were punished; Joshua (ch. xvii. 21.), is thrown to the end of the book, that find in every page: and these things are written for our warnthey repented and found mercy. Something of this kind we it might not interrupt the thread of the narrative. "This history," observes Dr. Priestley, "abundantly verifies the fre- ing. None should presume, for God is JUST; none need quent warnings and predictions of Moses; according to despair, for God is MERCIFUL. From the scenes of civil diswhich, the people, being under the immediate government of cord and violence which darken this history, St. Paul has God, were in the most exemplary manner to be rewarded for presented us with some illustrious examples of faith, in the their obedience, and punished for their disobedience, and characters of Gideon, Burak, Samson, and Jephthah. Indeespecially for their conformity to the religions of their neigh-pendently of the internal evidences of its authenticity which bours, whom God had devoted to destruction on account of are to be found in the style of this book, the transactions it their polytheism and idolatry." There is considerable diffi- records are not only cited or alluded to by other sacred culty in settling the chronology of this book, several of the writers besides St. Paul, but are further confirmed by the facts related in it being reckoned from different æras, which traditions current among the heathen writers. Thus, we find cannot now be exactly ascertained; many of the Judges also the memorial of Gideon's actions preserved by Sanchoniatho, are generally supposed to have been successive who in all a Tyrian writer who lived soon after him, and whose antiprobability were contemporaries, and ruled over different dis-quity is attested by Porphyry, who was perhaps the most tricts at the same time. In the following synopsis it is attempted to reduce the chronology to something like order, and also to present a correct analysis of the book.

PART I. The State of the Israelites after the death of Joshua, until they began to turn aside from serving the Lord. (i.—iii. 4.) B. C. 1443-1413.

PART II. The History of the Oppressions of the Israelites, and tended by impetuous showers of rain; and Mount Sinai was in such agita their Deliverances by the Judges. (iii. 5.-xvi.)

SECT. 1. The subjection of the Eastern Israelites to the king
of Mesopotamia, and their deliverance by Othniel. (iii. 5—11.)
B. C. 1413-1405.
SECT. 2. The subjection of the Eastern Israelites to the king
of Moab, and their deliverance by Ehud. The Western
Israelites delivered by Shamgar. (iii. 12—31.) B. c. 1343-
1305.

SECT. 3. The Northern Israelites, after being oppressed by
Jabin, king of Canaan, are delivered by Deborah and Barak.

1 Prof. Turner's translation of Jahn's Introduction, p. 243. note.
2 The triumphal Ode of Deborah is analyzed at considerable length by
Bishop Lowth (Lect. no. 28.), who considers it as a specimen of the per-
fectly sublime ode. In the fourth and fifth verses, the extraordinary dis-
plays of the Divine Majesty, which the Israelites had witnessed at Mount
VOL. II.
2 E

inveterate enemy to Christianity that ever fived. The Vulpinaria, or feast of the foxes, celebrated by the Romans in the month of April (the time of the Jewish harvest, in which they let loose foxes with torches fastened to their tails), was derived from the story of Samson, which was conveyed into Sinai, are described in very poetical language, and compared with the Divine interposition in behalf of Israel. The presence of God had thrown all nature, as it were, into convulsions, the thunders and lightnings were at tion that it seemed to be melted from before the Lord. (Scott. in loc.) The transaction at Mount Sinai, which furnished this magnificent and sublime passage, took place B. c. 1491; the deliverance of the Israelites, under De that is, nearly two hundred years before. Yet, misled by the neologian borah and Barak, B. C. 1285, or according to some chronologers, E. c. 1296, interpretation of the late Professor Eichhorn, Professor Jahn has gravely ascribed the victory of Barak over Sisera, to his taking advantage of a raging tempest. (Introd. in Libros Vet. Fæd. part ii. § 37.) This section is ham have exposed the fallacy of these mischievous interpretations in the almost a servile transcript of Eichhorh. Prof. Turner and Mr. Whittingnotes to their translation of Jahn. (pp. 243–215.) Dr. Ackermann in his prizing the reader of such omission.

expurgated edition of Jahn has altogether omitted this section, without apBp. Gray's Key, p. 157. Dr. A. Clarke's Pref. to Judges, p. vi. Compare Psal. lxxviii. 56-66. lxxxiii. 11, 12. cvi. 34-46. 1 Sam. xii. 9-11. 2 Sam. xi. 21. Isa. ix. 4. and x. 26.

related in his history, x Tv on spμxu, from the memoirs of Ile expressly affirins Sanchoniatho to have derived many of the facts Jerumbalus, or Jerubaal, another name for Gideon. Bocharti l'haleg. lib. ii. c.7.

6 Ovid, Fasti, lib. iv. 684. et seq.

Italy by the Phoenicians and to mention no more, in the history of Samson and Delilah, we find the original of Nisus and his daughters, who cut off those fatal hairs, upon which the victory depended.1

SECTION IV.

ON THE BOOK OF RUTH.

Boaz is represented as the great grandfather of the royal Psalmist, it is evident that the date of the history of Ruth cannot be so low as the time of Eli assigned by Josephus, nor so high as the time of Shangar: the most probable period, therefore, is that stated by Bishop Patrick, viz. during the judicature of Gideon, or about the year of the world 2759,

B. C. 1241.

III. Like the book of Judges, Ruth has been ascribed to Hezekiah, and also to Ezra; but the most probable, and, in deed, generally received opinion, is that of the Jews, who state it to have been written by the prophet Samuel. From

I. Title and argument.-II. Date and chronology.-III. Au- the genealogy recorded in iv. 17-22. it is evident that this thor.-IV. Scope.-V. Synopsis of its contents.

I. THE book of Ruth is generally considered as an appendix to that of Judges, and an introduction to that of Samuel; it is therefore placed, and with great propriety, between the books of Judges and Samuel. In the ancient Jewish canon of the Old Testament,2 Judges and Ruth formed but one book, because the transactions which it contained happened in the time of the Judges; although the modern Jews separate it from both, and make it the second of the five Megilloth or volumes which they place together towards the end of the Old Testament. It is publicly read by them in the synagogues on the feast of weeks or of Pentecost, on account of the harvest being mentioned in it, the first-fruits of which were offered to God on that festival. This book derives its name from Ruth the Moabitess, whose history it relates, and whom the Chaldee paraphrast supposes to have been the daughter of Eglon king of Moab; but this conjecture is utterly unsupported by Scripture; nor is it at all likely that a king's daughter would abandon her native country, to seek bread in another land, and marry a stranger.

II. Augustine3 refers the time of this history to the regal government of the Israelites; Josephus the Jewish historian, and some others of later date, to the time of Eli; Moldenhawer, after some Jewish writers, assigns it to the time of Ehud; Rabbi Kimchi and other Jewish authors conceive Boaz, who married Ruth, to have been the same person as Ibzan, who judged Israel immediately after Jephthah; Junius, comparing the book of Ruth with Matt. i., is of opinion, that the events recorded in this history took place in the days of Deborah; and the learned Archbishop Usher, that they happened in the time of Shamgar. As the famine which caused Elimelech to leave his country, "came to pass in the days when the Judges ruled" (Ruth i. 1.), Bishop Patrick has referred the beginning of this history to the judicature of Gideon, about the year of the world 2759, at which time a famine is related to have happened. (Judg. vi. 3-6.) Considerable difficulty has arisen in settling the chronology of this book, in consequence of its being mentioned by Saint Matthew (i. 5, 6.),-that Salmon the father of Boaz (who married Ruth) was married to Rahab (by whom is generally understood Rahab the harlot, who protected the spies when Joshua invaded the land of Canaan): and yet that Boaz was the grandfather of David, who was born about three hundred and sixty years after the siege of Jericho,-a length of time, during which it is difficult to conceive that only three persons, Boaz, Obed, and Jesse, should have intervened between Rahab and David. But this difficulty may readily be solved, either by supposing that some intermediate names of little consequence were omitted in the public genealogies copied by the evangelist (as we know to have been the case in some other instances); or by concluding, with Archbishop Usher, that the ancestors of David, being men of extraordinary piety, or designed to be conspicuous because the Messiah was to descend from them, were blessed with longer life and greater strength than ordinarily fell to the lot of men in that age. It is certain that Jesse was accounted an old man when his son David was but a youth (see 1 Sam. xvii. 12.); and, since 1 Ovid, Metam. lib. viii. fab. 1. M. de Lavaur in his Conference de la Fable avec l'Histoire Sainte, tom. ii. pp. 1-13., has shown that Samson, the judge of the Israelites, is the original and essential Hercules of pagan mythology; thus furnishing an additional proof how much the heathens have been indebted to the Bible. As his treatise is by no means of common occurrence, the reader will find an abridged translation of the pages 2 Jerome expressly states that this was the case in his time.-Deinde subtexunt Sophetim, id est Judicum librum, et in eundem compingunt; quia in diebus Judicum facta ejus narratur historia. (Prologus Galeatus.) Eusebius, when giving Origen's catalogue of the sacred books, confirms

cited in Dr. A. Clarke's commentary on Judg. xvi.

Jerome's account. Eccl. Hist. lib. vi. c. 25.

3 De Doct. Christ. lib. ii. c. 8.

Josephus, Ant. Jud. lib. v. c. 9. § 1. Seder Olam, c. 12. Moldenhawer, Introd, ad Libros Canonicos Vet. et Nov. Test. p. 43. Kimchi on Ruth, c. i. Junius, Annotat. in Ruth i. Bishop Patrick on Ruth i. 1. Leusden,

Philol. Heb. pp. 18. 86.

Chronologia Sacra, part i. c. 12. pp. 69, 70. ed. Geneva, 1722, folio.

history could not have been reduced into its present form before the time of Samuel.

alogy of king David through the line of Ruth, a heathen IV. The SCOPE of this book is partly to deliver the geneproselyte to the Jewish religion, and the wife of Boaz, whose adoption into the line of Christ has generally been considered Christian church. It had been foretold to the Jews that the as a pre-intimation of the admission of the Gentiles into the Messiah should be of the tribe of Judah, and it was afterwards further revealed that he should be of the family of David: and, therefore, it was necessary, for the full understanding of these prophecies, that the history of the family, in that tribe, should be written before these prophecies were revealed, this book, these prophecies, and their accomplishment, serve to prevent the least suspicion of fraud or design. And thus to illustrate each other. A further design of this book is to evidence the care of Divine Providence over those who sincerely fear God, in raising the pious Ruth from a state of the deepest adversity to that of the highest prosperity.

V. The book of Ruth, which consists of four chapters, may be conveniently divided into three sections; containing,

SECT. 1. An account of Naomi, from her departure from Ca

naan into Moab, with her husband Elimelech, to her return thence into the land of Israel with her daughter-in-law Ruth. (ch. i.) B. c. 1241-1231.

SECT. 2. The interview of Boaz with Ruth, and their marriage. (ii. iii. v. 1.—12.)

SECT. 3. The birth of Obed, the son of Boaz by Ruth, from whom David was descended. (iv. 13—18.)

The whole narrative is written with peculiar simplicity; and the interviews between Boaz and Ruth display the most unaffected piety, liberality, and modesty; and their reverent observance of the Mosaic law, as well as of ancient customs, is portrayed in very lively and animated colours.

I.

SECTION V.

ON THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL.

Title.-II. Authors.-III. Argument, scope, and analysis of the first book of Samuel.-IV. Argument, scope, ana analysis of the second book of Samuel.-V. General observations on these two books.

I. In the Jewish canon of Scripture these two books form but one, termed in Hebrew the Book of Samuel, probably because the greater part of the first book was written by that prophet, whose history and transactions it relates. The books of Samuel appear to have derived their appellation from 1 Chron xxix. 29.: where the transactions of David's reign are said to be written in the book (Heb. words) of Samuel the seer. In the Septuagint version they are called the first and second books of Kings, or of the Kingdoms; in the Vulgate they are designated as the first and second books of Kings, and, by Jerome, they are termed the books of the Kingdoms; kings of Israel and Judah is related. as being two of the four books in which the history of the

II. Jahn is of opinion, that the books of Samuel and the two books of Kings were written by one and the same person, and published about the forty-fourth year of the Babylonish captivity: and he has endeavoured to support his conjecture with much ingenuity, though unsuccessfully, by the uniformity of plan and style which he thinks are discernible in these books. The more prevalent, as well as more probable opinion, is that of the Talmudists, which was adopted by the most learned fathers of the Christian church (who unquestionably had better means of ascertaining this point than we have): viz. that the first twenty-four chapters of the • Bedford's Scripture Chronology, book v. c. 5.

first book of Samuel were written by the prophet whose name they bear; and that the remainder of that book, together with the whole of the second book, was committed to writing by the prophets Gad and Nathan, agreeably to the practice of the prophets who wrote memoirs of the transactions of their respective times. That all these three persons were writers is evident from 1 Chron. xxix. 29.; where it is said: Now the acts of David, first and last, behold they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and of Gad the seer: the memoirs of these prophets are here referred to as distinct books: but it would be natural for Ezra, by whom the canon of Jewish Scripture was completed, to throw all their contents into the two books of Samuel. It is certain that the first book of Samuel was written before the first book of Kings; a circumstance related in the former book being referred to in the latter. (1 Sam. ii. 31. with 1 Kings ii. 27.)

The first acts of David declared in 1 Chron. xxix. 29. to have been recorded by Samuel, were such as happened before the death of Samuel; and these end with the twenty-fourth chapter of the first book of Samuel. What parts of the remaining history of David were written by Nathan, and what by Gad, is at present very difficult to distinguish with exactness. Mr. Reeves has conjectured, with great probability, that as it appears from 1 Sam. xxii. 5. that Gad was then with David in the hold or place where he kept himself secret from Saul; and since it is thought that Gad, being bred under Samuel, was privy to his having anointed David king, and had, therefore, resolved to accompany him during his troubles; it has, from these circumstances, been supposed that the history of what happened to David, from the death of Samuel to his being made king at Hebron over all Israel, was penned by the prophet Gad. He seems the most proper person for that undertaking, having been an eye-witness to most of the transactions.

The first mention of the prophet Nathan occurs in 2 Sam. vii. 2. a short time after David was settled at Jerusalem. Nathan is frequently mentioned in the subsequent part of David's reign; and he was one of those who were appointed by David to assist at the anointing of Solomon. (1 Kings i.32.) As this event took place not long before David's death, it is probable Nathan might survive the royal Psalmist; and, as he knew all the transactions of his reign from his settlement at Jerusalem to his death, it is most likely that he wrote the history of the latter part of David's reign; especially as there is no mention of Gad, after the pestilence sent for David's numbering the people, which was about two years before his death, during which interval Gad might have died. Gad must have been advanced in years, and might leave the continuation of the national memoirs to Nathan. For these reasons, it is probably thought that Nathan wrote all the remaining chapters of the second book of Samuel, after the first five.1

III. The FIRST BOOK of Samuel contains the history of the Jewish church and polity, from the birth of Samuel, during the judicature of Eli, to the death of Saul, the first king of Israel; a period of nearly eighty years, viz. from the year of the world 2869 to 2919. Its SCOPE is, first, to continue the history of the Israelites under the two last Judges, Eli and Samuel, and their first monarch Saul, and the reason why their form of government was changed from an aristocracy to a monarchy; thus affording a strong confirmation of the authenticity of the Pentateuch, in which we find that this change had been foretold by Moses, in his prophetic declaration to the assembled nation, a short time before his death, and upwards of four hundred years before the actual institution of the regal government. This book also exhibits the preservation of the church of God amidst all the vicissitudes of the Israelitish polity; together with signal instances of the divine mercy towards those who feared Jehovah, and of judgments inflicted upon his enemies. It consists of three parts: viz.

PART I. The Transactions under the Judicature of Eli. (ch. i.—iv.)

SECT. 1. The birth of Samuel (ch. i.), with the thanksgiving and prophetical hymn of his mother Hannah. (ii.) The tenth verse of this chapter is a prediction of the Messiah. "This admirable hymn excels in simplicity of composition, closeness of connection, and uniformity of sentiment; breathing the pious effusions of a devout mind, deeply impressed with a conviction of God's mercies to herself in particular, and of his providential government of the world in general;

Mr. Reeves, Preface to 1 Sam.

exalting the poor in spirit or the humble-minded, and abasing the rich and arrogant; rewarding the righteous, and punishing the wicked."2

SECT. 2. The call of Samuel, his denunciations against Eli by the command of God, and his establishment in the prophetic office. (iii.)

SECT. 3. The death of Eli, and the capture of the ark of God by the Philistines. (iv.)

PART II. The History of the Israelites during the Judicature of Samuel.

SECT. 1. The destruction of the Philistines' idol Dagon (v.);
the chastisement of the Philistines, their restoration of the
ark, and the slaughter of the Bethshemites for profanely
looking into the ark. (vi.)

SECT. 2. The reformation of divine worship, and the repent-
ance of the Israelites at Mizpeh, with the discomfiture of the
Philistines, who were kept under during the remainder of
Samuel's judicature. (vii.)

SECT. 3. The Israelites' request for a regal government; the
destination of Saul to the kingly office (viii. ix.); his inau
guration (x.); and victory over the Ammonites. (xi.)
SECT. 4. Samuel's resignation of the supreme judicial power
(xii.); though, in a civil and religious capacity, he "judged
Israel all the days of his life." (1 Sam. vii. 15.)
PART III. The History of Saul, and the Transactions during
his Reign.

SECT. 1. The prosperous part of Saul's reign, comprising his war with the Philistines, and offering of sacrifice (xiii.), with his victory over them. (xiv.)

SECT. 2. The rejection of Saul from the kingdom in conse-
quence of his rebellion against the divine command in
sparing the king of Amalek, and the best part of the spoil.
(xv.)

SECT. 3. The inauguration of David, and the events that took
place before the death of Saul (xvi.-xxviii.); including,
§i. The anointing of David to be king over Israel (xvi.); his combat
and victory over Goliath. (xvii.)

§ ii. The persecutions of David by Saul;-his exile and covenant with
Jonathan (xviii.); his flight (xix.); friendship with Jonathan (xx.);
his going to Nob, where he and his men ate of the shew-bread, and
Goliath's sword was delivered to him; his flight, first to the court of
Achish king of Gath, and subsequently into the land of Moab (xxi.
xxii. 1-4.); the slaughter of the priests at Nob, with the exception
of Abiathar. (xxii. 5-23.)

Siii. The liberation of Keilah from the Philistines by David (xxiii. 1—
6.); his flight into the wilderness of Ziph and Maon (xxiii. 7-29.)
Saul's life in David's power at Engedi, who spares it (xxiv.); the in-
human conduct of Nabal (xxv.); Saul's life spared a second time
(xxvi.); David's second flight to Achish king of Gath. (xxvii.)
SECT. 4. The last acts of Saul to his death; including,
§ i. Saul's consultation of the witch of Endor. (xxviii.)

Sii. The encampment of the Philistines at Aphék, who send back
David from their army. (xxix.)

$ iii. David's pursuit and defeat of the Amalekites who had plundered
Ziklag, and from whom he recovers the spoil. (xxx)

$ iv. The suicide of Saul, and total discomfiture of the Israelites. (xxxi.)

IV. The SECOND BOOK of Samuel contains the history of David, the second king of Israel, during a period of nearly forty years, viz. from the year of the world 2948 to 2988; and, by recording the translation of the kingdom from the tribe of Benjamin to that of Judah, it relates the partial accomplishment of the prediction delivered in Gen. xlix. 10. The victories of David, his wise administration of civil government, his efforts to promote true religion, his grievous sins, and deep repentance, together with the various troubles and judgments

2 Dr. Hales's Analysis of Chronology, vol. ii. book i. p. 332. 3 Few passages of Scripture have been discussed with more warmth than the relation contained in this 28th chapter of the first book of Samuel: some commentators have conjectured that the whole was a juggle of the Pythoness whom Saul consulted; others, that it was a mere visionary scene; Augustine and others, that it was Satan himself who assumed the appearance of Samuel; and others, that it was the ghost of Samuel, raised by infernal power, or by force of magical incantation. All these hypotheses, however, contradict the historical fact as related by the author of this book: for it-is evident from the Hebrew original of 1 Sam. xxviii. 14. more closely translated, and compared throughout with itself, that it was "Samuel himself" whom Saul beheld, and who (or his spirit) was actually raised immediately, and before the witch had any time to utter any incantations, by the power of God, in a glorified form, and wearing the appear. ance of the ominous mantle in which was the rent that signified the rend ing of the kingdom from Saul's family. The reality of Samuel's appearance Ecclus. xlvi. 20.), and was also thus understood by Josephus, who has not on this occasion was a doctrine of the primitive Jewish church (compare only translated the original passage correctly, but likewise expressly states that the soul of Samuel inquired why it was raised. Antiq. Jud. lib. vi. 14. $2. Dr. Hales's Analysis of Chronology, vol. ii. book i. pp. 355-360., where the subject is fully discussed and proved. See also Calmet's Dissertation sur l'Apparition de Samuel, Commentaire Littéral. tom. ii. pp. 331-336 of the prediction (which could only come from God); for "on the morrow, That it was Samuel himself is further evident from the clearness and truth

that is, very shortly after, Saul and his sons were slain.

V. Independently of the important moral and religious instruction to be derived from the two books of Chronicles, as illustrating the divine dispensation towards a highly favoured but ungrateful people, the second book is extremely valuable in a critical point of view; not only as it contains some historical particulars which are not mentioned in any other part of the Old Testament, but also as it affords us many genuine readings, which, by the inaccuracy of transcribers, are now lost in the older books of the Bible. The discrepancies between the books of Kings and Chronicles, though very numerous, are not of any great moment, and admit of an easy solution, being partly caused by various lections, and partly arising from the nature of the books; which being supplementary to those of Samuel and Kings, omit what is there related more at large, and supply what is there wanting. It should further be recollected, that, after the captivity, the Hebrew language was slightly varied from what it had formerly been; that different places had received new names, or undergone sundry vicissitudes: that certain things were now better known to the returned Jews under other appellations, than under those by which they had formerly been distinguished; and that, from the materials to which the author had access (and which frequently were different from those consulted by the writers of the royal histories), he has selected those passages which appeared to him best adapted to his purpose, and most suitable to the time in which he wrote. It must also be considered, that he often elucidates obscure and ambiguous words in former books by a different mode of spelling them, or by a different order of the words employed, even when he does not use a distinct phraseology As the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles relate the same histories, they should each be constantly read and collated together; not only for the purpose of obtaining a more comprehensive view of Jewish history, but also in order to illustrate or amend from one bock what is obscure in either

of narration, which he sometimes adopts.2

of the others.

The following table of the more remarkable parallel passages of the books of Chronicles and those of Samuel and Kings will assist the reader in his collation of these books :

[blocks in formation]

1 Sam. xxxi.

2 Sam. v. 1-10.

1 Sam. xxiii. 8-39.

2 Sain. vi. 3-11.

2 Sam. v. 11-25.

2 Sam. vii.

I.

SECTION VIII.

ON THE BOOK OF EZRA.

Title and author.-II. Argument, scope, and synopsis of its contents.-III. Observations on a spurious passage ascribed to Ezra.

I. THE books of Ezra and Nehemiah were anciently them into the first and second books of Ezra. The same direckoned by the Jews as one volume, and were divided by vision is recognised by the Greek and Latin churches: but the third book, assigned to Ezra, and received as canonical by the Greek church, is the same, in substance, as the book which properly bears his name, but interpolated. And the fourth book, which has been attributed to him, is a manifest forgery, in which the marks of falsehood are plainly discerneither by the Greek or by the Latin church, although some ible, and which was never unanimously received as canonical of the fathers have cited it, and the Latin church has borrowed some words out of it. It is not now extant in Greek, and never was extant in Hebrew.

It is evident that the author of the book of Ezra was personally present at the transactions recorded in it, the narrative being in the first person. It also bears upon the face of it every character of natural simplicity, and contains more particulars of time, persons, and places, than could have been introduced by any other individual. That the last four chapters of this book were written by Ezra himself there can be no doubt, as he particularly describes himself in the beginning of the seventh chapter, and likewise frequently introduces himself in the subsequent chapters. The Jews, indeed, ascribe the whole of this book to Ezra, and their opinion is adopted by most Christian commentators. But as the writer of the first six chapters appears, from ch. v. 4., to have been at Jerusalem in the reign of Darius Hystaspes, and it is evident from the beginning of the seventh chapter that Ezra did not go thither until the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus (a distance of sixty years), some persons have ascribed the first six chapters to a more ancient author. This, however, does not necessarily follow: and we apprehend it will appear that these chapters were written by Ezra as well as the last

four:

In the first place, from the intimate connection of the sixth chapter with the seventh: for the diversity of speech and narration observable in them may readily be accounted for by the circumstance of Ezra's having copied, or extracted from, 2 Sam. xi. 1. xii. 30. et seq. the authentic memoirs, which he found on his arrival at Jeru

2 Sam. viii.

2 Sam. x.

2 Sam. xxi. 13-22.

2 Sam. xxiv.

1 Kings iii. 4-14.

1 Kings x. 26-29.

1 Kings v. 15-32.

1 Kings vi. vii.

1 Kings viii.

1 Kings ix. 1-9.

1 Kings xi. 15-28.

1 Kings x. 1-13.

1 Kings x. 14-29.

1 Kings xii. 1-21. 1 Kings xiv. 25-28.

1 Kings xv. 17-22.

1 Kings xxii. 2-35.

1 Kings xxii. 41-50.

2 Kings viii. 17-24.

2 Kings viii. 26-29.

2 Kings xi.

2 Kings xii. 1-16.

salem, of the transactions that had happened since the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity.

Secondly, the same method of narration prevails in both parts: for, as in the second part (ch. vii. 12-26.), the royal decree is inserted, entire, in the Chaldee dialect; so, in the first part, the edict of Cyrus, the epistle of the Samaritans to the Pseudo-Smerdis, and his reply to them, together with part of the fourth chapter, are also given in Chaldee.

And, lastly, in the third place, it is not likely that a short historical compendium, like the book of Ezra, should be the work of more than one author: nor ought we to assign it to several authors, unless we had either express declarations or internal evidence that they were concerned in it; all these evidences are wanting in the book of Ezra.

This book is written in Chaldee from chapter iv. 8. to 2 Kings xiv. 1-14, 19, 20. chapter vi. 18. and chapter vii. 12-26. As this portion of

2 Kings xiv. 21, 22.

2 Kings xv. 33. 35.

2 Kings xvi. 2-4.

2 Kings xviii. 2, 3.

2 Kings xviii. 17-37

2 Kings xx. 1-19.

2 King's xxi. 1-10.

2 Kings xxii.

2 Kings xxiii. 1-20.

2 Kings xxiii. 22, 23. 2 Kings xxiii. 29, 30. 2 Kings xxiii. 31-34.

The above remark will be clearly illustrated by comparing 2 Kings xxiv. 6. with 2 Chron. xxxvi. 6. and Jer. xxxvi. 30.; 1 Kings xv. 2. with 2 Chron. xv. 19.; 1 Kings xxii. 44. with 2 Chron. xvii. 6.; 2 Kings ix. 27. with 2 Chron. xxii. 9. See also Professor Dahler's learned Disquisition "De Librorum Paralipomenov auctoritate atque fide historica" (8vo. Argentorati et Lipsiæ, 1819); in which he has instituted a minute collation of the books of Chronicles with the books of Samuel and of Kings; and has satisfactorily vindicated their genuineness and credibility against the insinuations and objections of some recent sceptical German critics. 2 Calmet's Dictionary, article Chronicles, in fine. This table is copied from Prof. Turner's and Mr. Whittingham's translation of Jahn, p. 272. note.

Ezra chiefly consists of letters, conversations, and decrees, expressed in that language, the fidelity of the historian probably induced him to take down the very words which were used. The people, too, having been accustomed to the Chaldee during the captivity, were in all probability better acquainted with it than with the Hebrew; for it appears from Nehemiah's account that they did not all understand the law of Moses as it had been delivered in the original Hebrew tongue.

II. The book of Ezra harmonizes most strictly with the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah, which it materially elu cidates. (Compare Ezra v. with Hagg. i. 12. and Zech. iii. iv.) It evinces the paternal care of Jehovah over his chosen people, whose history it relates from the time of the edict issued by Cyrus, to the twentieth year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, a period of about seventy-nine or, according to some chronologers, of one hundred years. This book consists of two principal divisions: the first contains a narrative of the return of the Jews from Babylon under the conduct of Zerub

first book of Samuel were written by the prophet whose name they bear; and that the remainder of that book, together with the whole of the second book, was committed to writing by the prophets Gad and Nathan, agreeably to the practice of the prophets who wrote memoirs of the transactions of their respective times. That all these three persons were writers is evident from 1 Chron. xxix. 29.; where it is said: Now the acts of David, first and last, behold they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and of Gad the seer: the memoirs of these prophets are here referred to as distinct books: but it would be natural for Ezra, by whom the canon of Jewish Scripture was completed, to throw all their contents into the two books of Samuel. It is certain that the first book of Samuel was written before the first book of Kings; a circumstance related in the former book being referred to in the latter. (1 Sam. ii. 31. with 1 Kings ii. 27.)

The first acts of David declared in 1 Chron. xxix. 29. to have been recorded by Samuel, were such as happened before the death of Samuel; and these end with the twenty-fourth chapter of the first book of Samuel. What parts of the remaining history of David were written by Nathan, and what by Gad, is at present very difficult to distinguish with exactness. Mr. Reeves has conjectured, with great probability, that as it appears from 1 Sam. xxii. 5. that Gad was then with David in the hold or place where he kept himself secret from Saul; and since it is thought that Gad, being bred under Samuel, was privy to his having anointed David king, and had, therefore, resolved to accompany him during his troubles; it has, from these circumstances, been supposed that the history of what happened to David, from the death of Samuel to his being made king at Hebron over all Israel, was penned by the prophet Gad. He seems the most proper person for that undertaking, having been an eye-witness to most of the transactions.

The first mention of the prophet Nathan occurs in 2 Sam. vii. 2. a short time after David was settled at Jerusalem. Nathan is frequently mentioned in the subsequent part of David's reign; and he was one of those who were appointed by David to assist at the anointing of Solomon. (1 Kings 1.32.) As this event took place not long before David's death, it is probable Nathan might survive the royal Psalmist; and, as he knew all the transactions of his reign from his settlement at Jerusalem to his death, it is most likely that he wrote the history of the latter part of David's reign; especially as there is no mention of Gad, after the pestilence sent for David's numbering the people, which was about two years before his death, during which interval Gad might have died. Gad must have been advanced in years, and might leave the continuation of the national memoirs to Nathan. For these reasons, it is probably thought that Nathan wrote all the remaining chapters of the second book of Samuel, after the first five.1

III. The FIRST BOOK of Samuel contains the history of the Jewish church and polity, from the birth of Samuel, during the judicature of Eli, to the death of Saul, the first king of Israel; a period of nearly eighty years, viz. from the year of the world 2869 to 2919. Its SCOPE is, first, to continue the history of the Israelites under the two last Judges, Eli and Samuel, and their first monarch Saul, and the reason why their form of government was changed from an aristocracy to a monarchy; thus affording a strong confirmation of the authenticity of the Pentateuch, in which we find that this change had been foretold by Moses, in his prophetic declaration to the assembled nation, a short time before his death, and upwards of four hundred years before the actual institution of the regal government. This book also exhibits the preservation of the church of God amidst all the vicissitudes of the Israelitish polity; together with signal instances of the divine mercy towards those who feared Jehovah, and of judgments inflicted upon his enemies. It consists of three parts: viz.

PART I. The Transactions under the Judicature of Eli. (ch. i.-iv.)

SECT. 1. The birth of Samuel (ch. i.), with the thanksgiving and prophetical hymn of his mother Hannah. (ii.) The tenth verse of this chapter is a prediction of the Messiah. "This admirable hymn excels in simplicity of composition, closeness of connection, and uniformity of sentiment; breathing the pious effusions of a devout mind, deeply impressed with a conviction of God's mercies to herself in particular, and of his providential government of the world in general; Mr. Reeves, Preface to 1 Sam.

1

exalting the poor in spirit or the humble-minded, and abasing the rich and arrogant; rewarding the righteous, and punishing the wicked."2

SECT. 2. The call of Samuel, his denunciations against Eli by the command of God, and his establishment in the prophetic office. (iii.)

SECT. 3. The death of Eli, and the capture of the ark of God by the Philistines. (iv.)

PART II. The History of the Israelites during the Judicature of Samuel.

SECT. 1. The destruction of the Philistines' idol Dagon (v.); the chastisement of the Philistines, their restoration of the ark, and the slaughter of the Bethshemites for profanely looking into the ark. (vi.)

SECT. 2. The reformation of divine worship, and the repentance of the Israelites at Mizpeh, with the discomfiture of the Philistines, who were kept under during the remainder of Samuel's judicature. (vii.)

SECT. 3. The Israelites' request for a regal government; the destination of Saul to the kingly office (viii. ix.); his inau guration (x.); and victory over the Ammonites. (xi.) SECT. 4. Samuel's resignation of the supreme judicial power (xii.); though, in a civil and religious capacity, he "judged Israel all the days of his life." (1 Sam. vii. 15.) PART III. The History of Saul, and the Transactions during his Reign.

SECT. 1. The prosperous part of Saul's reign, comprising his war with the Philistines, and offering of sacrifice (xiii.), with his victory over them. (xiv.)

SECT. 2. The rejection of Saul from the kingdom in consequence of his rebellion against the divine command in sparing the king of Amalek, and the best part of the spoil. (xv.)

SECT. 3. The inauguration of David, and the events that took place before the death of Saul (xvi.-xxviii.); including, §i. The anointing of David to be king over Israel (xvi.); his combat and victory over Goliath. (xvii.)

§ ii. The persecutions of David by Saul;-his exile and covenant with Jonathan (xviii.); his flight (xix.); friendship with Jonathan (xx.); his going to Nob, where he and his men ate of the shew-bread, and Goliath's sword was delivered to him; his flight, first to the court of Achish king of Gath, and subsequently into the land of Moab (xxi. xxii. 1-4.); the slaughter of the priests at Nob, with the exception of Abiathar. (xxii. 5-23.)

§ iii. The liberation of Keilah from the Philistines by David (xxiii. 1-
6.); his flight into the wilderness of Ziph and Maon (xxiii. 7-29.)
Saul's life in David's power at Engedi, who spares it (xxiv.); the in-
human conduct of Nabal (xxv.); Saul's life spared a second time
(xxvi.); David's second flight to Achish king of Gath. (xxvii.)
SECT. 4. The last acts of Saul to his death; including,
§ i. Saul's consultation of the witch of Endor. (xxviii.)

Sii. The encampment of the Philistines at Aphek, who send back
David from their army. (xxix.)

$ iii. David's pursuit and defeat of the Amalekites who had plundered
Ziklag, and from whom he recovers the spoil. (xxx)

§ iv. The suicide of Saul, and total disconfiture of the Israelites. (xxxi.)

IV. The SECOND BOOK of Samuel contains the history of David, the second king of Israel, during a period of nearly forty years, viz. from the year of the world 2948 to 2988; and, by recording the translation of the kingdom from the tribe of Benjamin to that of Judah, it relates the partial accomplishment of the prediction delivered in Gen. xlix. 10. The victories of David, his wise administration of civil government, his efforts to promote true religion, his grievous sins, and deep repentance, together with the various troubles and judgments

2 Dr. Hales's Analysis of Chronology, vol. ii. book i. p. 332. 3 Few passages of Scripture have been discussed with more warmth than the relation contained in this 28th chapter of the first book of Samuel: some commentators have conjectured that the whole was a juggle of the Pythoness whom Saul consulted; others, that it was a mere visionary scene; Augustine and others, that it was Satan himself who assumed the appearance of Samuel; and others, that it was the ghost of Samuel, raised by infernal power, or by force of magical incantation. All these hypotheses, however, contradict the historical fact as related by the author of this book: for it-is evident from the Hebrew original of 1 Sam. xxviii. 14. "Samuel himself" whom Saul beheld, and who (or his spirit) was actually more closely translated, and compared throughout with itself, that it was raised immediately, and before the witch had any time to utter any incantations, by the power of God, in a glorified form, and wearing the appearance of the ominous mantle in which was the rent that signified the rend ing of the kingdom from Saul's family. The reality of Samuel's appearance Ecclus. xlvi. 20.), and was also thus understood by Josephus, who has not on this occasion was a doctrine of the primitive Jewish church (compare only translated the original passage correctly, but likewise expressly states that the soul of Samuel inquired why it was raised. Antiq. Jud. lib. vi. 14. $2. Dr. Hales's Analysis of Chronology, vol. ii. book i. pp. 355-360., where the subject is fully discussed and proved. See also Calmet's Dissertation sur l'Apparition de Samuel, Commentaire Littéral. tom. ii. pp. 331–336 of the prediction (which could only come from God); for "on the morrow,” That it was Samuel himself is further evident from the clearness and truth that is, very shortly after, Saul and his sons were slain.

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