Part 9 (1/2)
3. =The Conquest of Northern Palestine.= (Josh. 11.) This region was also occupied by a number of independent chiefs, of whom the most powerful was Jabin, the king of Hazor, a t.i.tle which afterward reappears in the history. (Judges 4, 2.) They ruled over small tribes of various races, from Mount Hermon to Mount Carmel, especially on the Plain of Esdraelon. The king of Hazor called together the a.s.sociated tribes, and their camp was pitched near Lake Merom. Joshua made one of his characteristic swift marches, up the Jordan Valley, attacked them suddenly, and utterly defeated and scattered them. He burned the many war chariots, and so cut the sinews of their horses as to make them useless; since these animals were never used by the Israelites. After the battle he marched through the northern regions, capturing the cities and slaying their rulers, a number of whom are mentioned in the catalogue of Josh. 12:9-24. This campaign closed the active operations, so that ”the land rested from war” (Josh. 11:23); but for many years the strife was feebly continued, and it was not entirely finished until the reign of David.
III. SUPPLEMENTARY CONQUESTS.
Although the struggle of the conquest was over, yet in most of the land the task of expulsion or destruction was yet to be accomplished, and in many places was never entirely wrought. The entire section of the maritime plain remained in the hands of the Philistines; in almost every tribe were fortresses, which long resisted the Israelites, and formed centres of rebellion, and sometimes of oppression. And many of the cities taken by Joshua were soon reoccupied by their original inhabitants, and once more fortified. The book of the Judges relates briefly three campaigns after the conquest.
1. =The Campaign of the Judaites and Simeonites.= (Judges 1:1-8.) This was undertaken against Adoni-bezek, the king of Bezek, a place in or near the tribe of Judah, not positively identified. Adoni-bezek was a petty chieftain, who had cruelly mutilated no less than 70 local chiefs whom he had taken in battle. He was surprised by the allied forces of Judah and Simeon, and ten thousand of his warriors were slain. He was taken prisoner, and treated as he had treated other captive kings; his thumbs and great toes being cut off, thus making him helpless. After this, the allied tribes marched down upon the maritime plain, and took the Philistine cities of Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron. But their conquests were not permanent; they withdrew to the mountains, and the Philistines were soon in possession of their cities, which long stood as a menace to Israel. Another campaign was directed against the cities of the Negeb, or South Country, and resulted in the destruction of Zephath and Hormah, both south of Hebron.
2. =The Campaign of Caleb and Othniel.= Caleb was the oldest man in Israel, having accompanied Joshua and the other spies, thirty-eight years before the entrance of Israel into the Promised Land. (Num.
13-14.) For his faithfulness when so many were overcome with terror, he received a promise of inheritance in the land. At least 45 years afterward, Hebron, in the south of Judah, was allotted to him. It had been taken by Joshua (Josh. 10:36, 37), but afterward reoccupied by the Anakim (see page 38), and the Amorites, its original possessors. Caleb led an army against it, once more won the city, and made it his own. He promised his daughter, Achsah, to the warrior who should take Debir, or Kirjath-sepher, south of Hebron, which had also been reoccupied by the enemy. His younger brother (perhaps nephew) Othniel, won the city and his bride. (Josh. 14:1-15; 15:13-19; Judges 1:10-15.) This campaign was probably about the same time with the one narrated above, and may have been in connection with it.
3. =The Danite Campaign.= (Judges 18.) The tribe of Dan found themselves unable to overcome their Philistine neighbors, and were straitened for room in their narrow possessions. They sent out a body of men to search for a new home. These spies traversed the country as far to the north as Laish, or Leshem, a Phoenician city, near one of the sources of the Jordan. The Danite spies returned to their people at Zorah and Eshtaol, and made their report. A part of the tribe agreed to migrate to this northern region. Their first encampment on the journey, near Kirjath-jearim, in Judah, long bore the name of ”the camp of Dan.” At a village in Mount Ephraim they plundered Micah of his idols and carried away their priest, who was a degenerate grandson of Moses the prophet.
At Laish they fell suddenly upon the defenseless Phoenicians, destroyed their city, and built in its place one which they called Dan. It was the northern landmark of the land, as Beersheba was its southern, giving rise to the term ”from Dan to Beersheba.” Dan remained an idol sanctuary, and a place of corrupting influence during all the after history of Israel.
Upon the map are noted: 1. The six campaigns of the conquest, three on each side of the Jordan. The precise route of travel cannot be identified, but the general direction is shown by a red line. The ”supplementary conquests” are not indicated, in order to avoid confusion, but can be easily traced. 2. The important battle-fields are indicated by flags. These were at (1) Jahaz, (2) Edrei, (3) the land of Midian, (4) Jericho, (5) Ai, (6) Beth-horon, (7) Hazor. Besides these were many cities captured by Joshua during his campaign in Southern Canaan. 3. The royal cities captured by Moses and Joshua are each indicated on the map by a crown. These were, on the east of Jordan: Heshbon, the capital of Sihon's kingdom, and Ashtaroth, the capital of Og's kingdom; and on the west of Jordan, 31 cities, whose kings were taken and slain by Joshua. (Josh. 12:9-24.) The places identified are the only ones marked upon the map. 4. The four cities of the Hivite league, which alone made a treaty with Israel, are shown by clasped hands, the token of peace. 5. At the close of the conquest a large part of the country was left in the possession of the native races. This region is indicated by the yellow color. 6. Many towns remained in the hands of the Canaanite and Philistine races. Some were taken by Israel, but afterward reoccupied by their original inhabitants; others held out against the Israelites, and were a constant source of danger, both by their opposition, and still more by their friends.h.i.+p. The ceasing of the war before the native races were either utterly exterminated or driven away, was a mistaken mercy, which cost Israel centuries of strife, the infection from their idolatry, and the corrupt influence of their morals. The sparing of the Canaanites imperiled and well nigh thwarted the destiny of Israel as the depositary of religious truth for all the world.
OUTLINE FOR REVIEW.
I. _Conquest of Eastern Palestine._ 1. Gilead. (Amorites, Sihon, Jahaz.) 2. Bashan. (Amorites, Og, Edrei; n.o.bah, Kenath.) 3. Midian. (Phinehas.)
II. _Conquest of Western Palestine._ 1. Central. (Gilgal, Jericho, Ai, Shechem, Gibeon.) 2. Southern. (Beth-horon, Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Hebron, Debir.) 3. Northern. (Hazor.)
III. _Supplementary Conquests._ 1. Judah and Simeon. (Adoni-bezek, Bezek; Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron; Zephath, Hormah.) 2. Caleb and Othniel.
(Hebron, Debir.) 3. Dan. (Laish.)
[Ill.u.s.tration: CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION.]
PALESTINE AMONG THE TWELVE TRIBES.
THE division of the land among the Twelve Tribes took place in three stages. 1. After the conquest of Eastern Palestine, during the lifetime of Moses, the two tribes of Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Mana.s.seh received their portion, on condition that their warriors should aid their kinsmen in the war for the rest of the land. (Num. 32.) 2.
After the campaigns in Western Palestine (see last map and explanations), the two leading tribes of Judah and Ephraim and the remaining half of Mana.s.seh received their inheritance, and took possession of it, as far as conquered: Judah in the south, Ephraim a small but choice portion in the centre, and Mana.s.seh immediately north of it. (Josh. 15-17.) 3. The remaining seven tribes delayed long in obtaining their portions in the land, but at last, after a rebuke from the aged Joshua for their slowness, made the division by lot, and entered upon their inheritance. (Josh. 18, 19.) The cities of refuge, and those for the priests and Levites, were last of all appointed, late in the life of Joshua, and then ”the land had rest from war,” and Israel entered upon its history in its own land.
It is not easy to fix the tribal boundary lines, since some tribes possessed cities within the domain of other tribes, and the boundaries, if not entirely indeterminate, varied greatly in different ages.
Geographers are agreed upon the general position, but not upon the precise boundary lines. We follow the map of Dr. James Strong, in McClintock and Strong's Cyclopedia.
[Ill.u.s.tration: VIEW IN THE EASTERN TABLE-LAND--BASHAN.]
I. =The Tribe of Reuben= (Num. 32:1-38; Josh. 13:15-23) had the river Arnon for its southern border, this river separating it from Moab. It was bounded on the east by the Syrian desert, and on the west by the Dead Sea and the lower end of the Jordan. Its northern line began at Beth-jes.h.i.+moth, and extended northeasterly to near Rabbath Ammon. Its territory consisted of a low region by the sea and the river, a precipitous mountain range, and a rolling plateau eastward, well adapted for pasture. Among its prominent localities were: Heshbon, the capital of the Amorite king, Sihon; Dibon, where recently the Moabite stone was discovered; Mount Nebo, where Moses died; Bezer, a city of refuge; Aroer, Ataroth, Medeba, Kiriathaim, and Kedemoth.
II. =The Tribe of Gad= (Num. 32:34-36; Josh. 13:24-28) was located north of Reuben. Its boundary on the west was the river Jordan, from the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee) almost to its mouth. Its eastern border was the desert, from Rabbath Ammon to Mahanaim, from which point its line ran northwest to the Sea of Chinnereth. Like the land of Reuben, its territory embraced portions of the Jordan Valley; the eastern mountains, divided by the torrent Jabbok; and the table-land, a rich and well-watered district. The part in the Jordan Valley was, however, never possessed by the Israelites, but remained in the hands of the native Canaanites. In the valley, its cities were Beth-nimrah and Succoth. Among the mountains the places were: Jazer, near the border of Reuben; Ramoth-gilead, a famous fortress, often the scene of war; Penuel, the place of Jacob's wrestling with the angel (Gen. 32:24-32); Jabesh-gilead, whose warriors rescued the bodies of Saul and Jonathan (1 Sam. 31:11-13); Mahanaim, a place of refuge both for the son of Saul, and afterward for David (2 Sam. 2:8; 2 Sam. 17:24); and Gadara, a foreign city, on the northern frontier.
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Mana.s.seh, (East) 2,590 Sq. M.
(_Partly Desert_)
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Judah, 1,400 Sq. M.
(_Exclusive of Philistia and
Desert by Dead Sea_)
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Gad,
1,300 Sq. Miles.
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Simeon, 1,000 Sq. M.
(_Partly Desert_)
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Mana.s.seh, (West)
800 Sq. M.
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Naphtali,
800 Sq. M.
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Reuben,
700 Sq. M.
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Ephraim,
600 Sq. M.
COMPARATIVE SIZE
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