VII., VIII. =From Kadesh-barnea to Elath and Jordan.= The Israelites were now ready to enter their Land of Promise. But, as the entrance by the south was found impracticable, and the Edomites would not permit them to cross their mountains, a long detour became necessary; so for a third time they took their journey through the Arabah. This we have indicated on the map as No. VII. They paused before Mount Hor, while Aaron left them, to ascend the mountain and to die. The peak still bears his name, _Jebel Haroun_. So according to most travelers; but Trumbull locates Mount Hor in the Negeb. At Ezion-geber and Elath (stations 43 and 44), they saw once more the Red Sea, at its eastern arm. On this journey, too, but whether before or after pa.s.sing the Red Sea, is uncertain, they were plagued by serpents, and "the brazen serpent" was lifted up by Moses. (Num. 21:4-9.) At last the southern point of Mount Seir was reached and pa.s.sed, and now for the last time (Journey VIII.) the Israelites turned their faces northward. They traveled through the land of Teman, between Edom and the Arabian desert. At the brook Zered (_Wady el Ahsy_), station 49, they entered the land of Moab, which they crossed in safety (Num. 21:11); and at the brook Arnon they came into the country of Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who came against them, and was defeated and slain at Jahaz. (Num. 21:12-31.) The Amorites of Bashan on the north were ruled by the giant Og, a descendant of the ancient Rephaim. (See page 37.) His land was conquered and himself slain in a decisive battle at Edrei. From the heights of Abarim (station 57) they descended to the Jordan Valley, and encamped at their last station (No. 58) before entering the Land of Promise, on the eastern bank of the Jordan, opposite Jericho. Here occurred: 1. The episode of Balaam"s prophecy. (Num. 22-24.) 2. The iniquity of Israel with the women of Moab, and the plague on the people as a result. (Num. 25:1-18.) 3. The numbering of Israel. (Num. 26.) 4. The campaigns against the Moabites and Midianites. (Num. 31.) 5. The allotment to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half the tribe of Mana.s.seh. (Num. 32.) 6. The repet.i.tion of the law and the recapitulation of the journeys, in the book of Deuteronomy.
7. Last of all, the ascent of Moses up the height of Nebo, his prophetic view of the Promised Land, and his lonely death. (Deut. 34.)
[Ill.u.s.tration: KADESH-BARNEA AND VICINITY.
(According to DR. TRUMBULL.)]
STATIONS OF THE ISRAELITES DURING THEIR JOURNEY FROM EGYPT TO CANAAN.
I. FROM RAMESES TO THE RED SEA.
+============================+=================+======+======+======+STATION.IDENTIFICATION.EXOD.NUM.DEUT.+----------------------------+-----------------+------+------+------+1. RamesesAbu Kesheib12:3733: 32. SuccothUnknown12:3733: 53. EthamUnknown13:2033: 64. Pi-hahirothBir Suweis14: 233: 75. Red Sea14:2233: 8+----------------------------+-----------------+------+------+------+
II. FROM THE RED SEA TO MOUNT SINAI.
+============================+=================+======+======+======+STATION.IDENTIFICATION.EXOD.NUM.DEUT.+----------------------------+-----------------+------+------+------+6. Desert of Shur,Sh.o.r.e of Red Sea15:2233: 8or of Etham7. MarahAin Hawarah15:2333: 88. ElimWady Ghurundel15:2733: 99. Red SeaWady Taiyibeh33:1010. Desert of SinEl Murkiyeh(?)16: 133:1111. DophkahAin Markha(?)33:1212. AlushUncertain33:1313. RephidimWady Feiran17: 133:1414. SinaiPlain er Rahah19: 133:15+----------------------------+-----------------+------+------+------+
III. FROM MOUNT SINAI TO KADESH-BARNEA.
+=============================+=================+======+======+======+STATION.IDENTIFICATION.NUM.NUM.DEUT.+-----------------------------+-----------------+------+------+------+15. TaberahWady Saal(?)11: 39:2216. Kibroth-hattaavahErweis el Ebeirig11:3433:1617. HazerothAin Hudherah11:3533:1718. Mount of the AmoritesJebel Magrah(?)1:1919. Kadesh-barneaAin el Weibeh(?)13:261:19+-----------------------------+-----------------+------+------+------+
IV. FROM KADESH-BARNEA TO MOUNT HOR.
+=============================+================+======+======+======+STATION.IDENTIFICATION.NUM.NUM.DEUT.+-----------------------------+----------------+------+------+------+20. RithmahUncertain33:1821. Rimmon-parezUncertain33:1922. LibnahUncertain33:2023. RissahUncertain33:2124. KehelathahUncertain33:2225. Mount ShapherJebel Araif(?)33:2326. HaradahUncertain33:2427. MakhelothUncertain33:2528. TahathUncertain33:2629. TarahUncertain33:2730. MithcahUncertain33:2831. HashmonahUncertain33:2932. MoserothMount Hor33:30+-----------------------------+----------------+------+------+------+
V. FROM MOUNT HOR TO EZION-GEBER.
+=============================+================+======+======+======+STATION.IDENTIFICATION.NUM.NUM.DEUT.+-----------------------------+----------------+------+------+------+33. Bene-jaakanArabah33:3134. Hor-hagidgadWady Ghudhaghidh33:3235. JotbathahEmshash(?)33:3336. EbronahUncertain33:3437. Ezion-geberGulf of Akabah33:35+-----------------------------+----------------+------+------+------+
VI. FROM EZION-GEBER TO KADESH-BARNEA.
+=============================+================+======+======+======+STATION.IDENTIFICATION.NUM.NUM.DEUT.+-----------------------------+----------------+------+------+------+38. Kadesh-barneaAin Quadis20: 133:36+-----------------------------+----------------+------+------+------+
VII. FROM KADESH-BARNEA TO ELATH.
+=============================+================+======+======+======+STATION.IDENTIFICATION.NUM.NUM.DEUT.+-----------------------------+----------------+------+------+------+39. Bene-jaakanArabah10: 640. MoseraMount Hor20:2233:3710: 641. GudG.o.dahWady Ghudhaghidh10: 742. JotbathUncertain10: 743. Ezion-geberGulf of Akaba21: 42: 844. ElathAkabah2: 8+-----------------------------+----------------+------+------+------+
VIII. FROM ELATH TO JORDAN.
+=============================+================+======+======+======+STATION.IDENTIFICATION.NUM.NUM.DEUT.+-----------------------------+----------------+------+------+------+45. ZalmonahWady Amran(?)33:4146. PunonUncertain33:4247. ObothUncertain21:1033:4348. Ije-abarimUncertain21:1133:4449. ZeredWady el Ahsy21:1210:1350. ArnonWady Mojeb21:1310:2451. Dibon-gadDhiban33:4552. Almon-diblathaimUncertain33:4653. BeerUncertain21:1654. MattanahUncertain21:1855. NahalielUncertain21:1956. BamothUncertain21:1957. Abarim, Nebo, or PisgahJebel Neba21:2033:4758. Plains of Moab, or JordanGhor en Nimrin22: 133:48+=============================+================+======+======+======+
[Ill.u.s.tration: GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Beth-horon and Vicinity.
CONQUEST OF CANAAN.]
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN.
AFTER the forty years of the Wandering came the seven years of the Conquest. Yet it is true, that in the complete sense the conquest began before the Israelites crossed the Jordan under Joshua, and was not finished until long after the period of the Judges. As Dean Stanley says: "The conquest began from the pa.s.sage of the brook Zered, under Moses; it was not finally closed till the capture of Jerusalem by David.
But in a more limited sense it may be confined to the period during which the territory, afterward known by the name of Palestine, was definitively occupied as their own by the Israelites." The map on page 36 shows us the territorial divisions of the land before the conquest; the one which we are now studying presents the campaigns by which it was won. These may be divided into three sections. 1. The conquest of the territory on the east of the Jordan, in three campaigns, during the rule of Moses. 2. The conquest of that on the west of the Jordan, under the leadership of Joshua, in three campaigns. 3. A series of supplementary conquests completing the work of subjugation.
[Ill.u.s.tration: SHECHEM.]
I. THE CONQUEST OF EASTERN PALESTINE.
This region was occupied, at the time of the arrival of the Israelites, by the Moabites between the brooks Zered and Arnon, and by the Amorites north of the Arnon. The latter people were divided into two kingdoms.
The land of Gilead was ruled by King Sihon, whose capital was at Heshbon; and the table-land of Bashan by Og, a remnant of the old race of the Rephaim. Tributary to Sihon, and on the border of the Arabian desert, were the Midianites (Josh. 13:21); and near the Moabites were their nomadic kinsmen, the Ammonites.
1. =The Conquest of Gilead.= (Num. 21:21-31.) The Amorites, under Sihon, had wrested from the Moabites the land between the Arnon and the Jabbok, a short time before the coming of Israel. Moses sent messengers, requesting the privilege of journeying through their land; but they refused to permit the pa.s.sage of such a vast host, and came out to meet the Israelites in battle at Jahaz, near their border, at the brook Arnon. They were defeated, and their whole land was conquered, including their own territory north of the Jabbok, as well as their Moabite possessions south of it. Thus the Israelites obtained, as their first foothold, the rich region of the eastern table-land, from the Arnon to the Hieromax.
2. =The Conquest of Bashan.= (Num. 21:32-35.) The success of the war with one nation of the Amorites encouraged the Israelites to cross the Hieromax and undertake the conquest of the rich pasture fields of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, whose capital was at the ancient city of his race, Ashteroth Karnaim. There is some evidence to indicate that the leader in this campaign was n.o.bah, of the tribe of Mana.s.seh. (Num.
32:42.) A decisive battle was fought at Edrei, at the entrance to the _Ledja_, or mountainous district; and Og was slain, and his kingdom possessed by Israel. Its western portion, including Kenath and its vicinity, was given to n.o.bah, who named the region after himself. (Num.
32:42; Judges 8:11.)
3. =The Conquest of Midian.= (Num. 25 and 31.) While the Israelites were encamped on the plain of Jordan, opposite Jericho, their last station, called s.h.i.ttim (Num. 25:1), a league was formed by the Moabites and Midianites to resist their advance. Balaam, the Mesopotamian seer, was summoned to aid them by his curses against Israel; but his words were turned to blessing. (Num. 22-24.) Fearing the result of open war, the allied nations now undertook to corrupt Israel by their friendship and the seductions of their women; and they succeeded to such an extent that mult.i.tudes of the people perished by a plague which fell upon the nation as a penalty. The Moabites were punished by exclusion for ten generations from the privileges of Israel (Deut. 23:3, 4), and by the loss of that portion of their territory already taken from the Amorites.
The Midianites, evidently the guiltier nation, were doomed to utter destruction. The campaign against them was regarded as a sacred war, and Phinehas the priest took command of the army. The entire people were laid under the ban, and the portion of them east of the Jordan were thoroughly annihilated. This was, however, only a small section of the great tribe of Midian, whose princ.i.p.al home was on the eastern sh.o.r.e of the Red Sea, south of the Edomites; and their former home near Moab was again repopulated, and, some centuries afterward, gave new trouble to Israel.
The entire country east of the Jordan and north of the brook Arnon was thus conquered by the Israelites before the death of Moses. It was a.s.signed to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half the tribe of Mana.s.seh, as their home, upon condition that their warriors should accompany the rest of the tribes in the conquest of Western Palestine.
(Num. 32.) Their boundaries will be noticed in connection with the map of Israel, as divided among the Twelve Tribes.
II. THE CONQUEST OF WESTERN PALESTINE.
This was undertaken by Joshua after the death of Moses, and, as far as can be ascertained from the record, was accomplished in three campaigns.
The war began with the pa.s.sage of the Jordan, B.C. 1210, and, so far as active hostilities were concerned, was finished in seven years. But the great ma.s.s of the native population remained upon the soil, to plague the Chosen People by the influence of their wickedness, so that the conquest was never thoroughly completed. Indeed, some writers think that the inhabitants of Palestine at the present time belong mainly to the old Canaanite stock, which has perpetuated itself under all the changes of government.
1. =The Conquest of Central Palestine.= (Josh. 3-8.) According to the account in the book of Joshua, this was a brief campaign; but the Samaritan records relate a series of supplementary sieges and battles, which would indicate that the war may have been longer than appears.
Still, there are evidences that the Hivites and Perizzites, who occupied most of this district, were peaceful peoples, readily yielding to the conquerors, so that the resistance was less stubborn than in other sections. The war began with the pa.s.sage of the Jordan, an event ever kept in mind as the entrance of the people upon their own land. They pitched their camp at Gilgal, in the Jordan Valley, and fortified the place as a permanent headquarters during the entire period of conquest.
(Josh. 5.) Jericho was first taken, by supernatural aid, and devoted to G.o.d as the first fruits of conquest. (Josh. 6.) An act of trespa.s.s against G.o.d by Achan, caused a defeat at Ai (near Bethel), the next place attacked; but the sin was punished, and, by a stratagem and ambush, Ai was taken. They then marched northward to Shechem, an ancient Hivite city, of which the last previous account is its destruction by the sons of Jacob. (Gen. 34.) It may not have been rebuilt, as we find at this time the Hivites occupying a number of towns at a distance from it (Gibeon and others, Josh. 9); or it may have submitted to the overwhelming power of Israel. In the Vale of Shechem, between the mountains Ebal and Gerizim, all the Israelites were a.s.sembled, the law was read in their hearing, and memorial stones were erected. After this, the Hivites of four villages, of which Gibeon was the most important, by means of a deception made a treaty of peace with the Israelites, and obtained a pledge of protection; being the only nation in all the land formally spared from destruction. Their deceit was soon discovered; but the word of Israel was kept, though the people of the four villages were reduced to the condition of "servants of the sanctuary," _i. e._, employed in the menial duties of the Tabernacle. The central portion of the land was now possessed by Israel, from Jericho and Gibeon northward to the Carmel range of mountains, and the army returned to the fortified camp at Gilgal. (Josh. 9.)
2. =The Conquest of Southern Palestine.= (Josh. 10.) The conquest had thus far been easy; mainly because there was no union among the native tribes, but each city and village was ruled by its own "king," or sheikh, and all were jealous of one another, so that they were readily conquered in detail. Warned by the fate of Jericho and Ai, and alarmed at the defection of Gibeon, the kings of five cities formed a league to resist the invading host. The head of the confederation was Adoni-zedek, the king of Jerusalem, and a.s.sociated with him were the rulers of Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon, and perhaps other subordinate chiefs. They began by an attack on the city of Gibeon, as a tributary of Israel. Joshua at once called forth his warriors, left the camp at Gilgal, made a swift night march through the mountain pa.s.ses, and came suddenly upon the enemy near Beth-horon. Here was fought perhaps the most important battle in all human history, and one at which "the sun and moon" might well "stand still," since the religious destiny of all the world was at stake in its result. In this one battle the conquest of Canaan was made certain, though it was not fully accomplished until long afterward. The flying host were pursued to Makkedah, on the border of the plain, where the five kings were captured and slain. Then in succession, the strongholds of Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Hebron, and, last of all, Debir, were taken by storm. From the list of the kings captured (Josh. 12:9-24), it would appear that Joshua carried his conquests through the South Country, as far as Arad and Hormah, places where the Israelites had suffered defeat during the period of the wandering (Num.
21:1-3); though these kings may have been captured at Hebron or Debir.
But, though all may not have been ravaged by the Israelites, all was certainly conquered, from Jerusalem to the great desert on the south.
The conquest was afterward made complete by the aged Caleb, who with his nephew Othniel took possession of the very cities of which the name had filled the Israelites with terror a generation before. (Num. 13.)
[Ill.u.s.tration: PALESTINE AS PROMISED AND POSSESSED.]