interpretation is inconsistent with the recorded facts of the case, and is based on no principle either defined or understood. The government of Joshua continued for 18 years after the division of the land; then followed an interval of at least 45 years; and this again was succeeded by a servitude of 8 years-all before the appointment of the first judge and to merge all these years in the 450, has not only no scripture warrant, but is also directly at variance with the obvious signification of the passage before us. The apostle speaks only of the appointment of the judges, and the 450 years he assigns as the period of their administration down to the time of Samuel, the prophet. To suppose, therefore, that these 450 years commenced 71 years before the first judge was appointed, is clearly a perversion, and not an interpretation of the sacred records. On this arbitrary principle of proceeding, the scriptures may be made to say anything that an expositor chooses, and the chronologist may sustain any system of dates that he thinks proper to adopt.

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The other error consists in placing the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth servitudes immediately after the death of the preceding judges, a theory which the sacred history does not sanction, and which is in itself evidently absurd. The various servitudes were the result of the apostacy of the Israelites after the death of several of the judges. This is expressly stated by the inspired writer-" And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, died; and the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord strengthened Eglon, king of Moab, against Israel." And the children again did evil in the sight of the Lord when Ehud was dead: and the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan."-Judges, iii. c. 11, 12 v., and iv. c. 1, 2 v., &c. Now, the apostacy of a people is not the work of a moment, or of a few days; it must require some time— a few years, to say the least; and, therefore, to suppose that the servitude followed immediately upon the death of the judge, is clearly both unscriptural and irrational. What length of time elapsed in each case between the death of the judge and the succeeding servitude the scriptures do not state, and therefore it is impossible to determine: we may, however, arrive at a tolerably correct calculation of these chasms in the aggregate; and this will sufficiently answer our purpose. Josephus tells us, that when Samuel was appointed to the prophetical office he was 12 years of age; and as this accords with the account that is given us in the third chapter of the first book of Samuel, there is no reason why we should not adopt it. Afterwards, when Saul was appointed to the throne of Israel, Samuel, as we are told by the sacred writer, was old and grey-headed, and therefore could not have been less than 60 years of age; Dr. Hales supposes 64; but let us take 62 as a fair and probable estimate. Reckoning backwards, then, from this period to the call of Samuel to the prophetical office, we come to the third year after the termination of the sixth servitude. Now, the reigns of the judges and the duration of the servitudes, from the appointment of Othniel to the call of Samuel, amount, as we shall soon see, to 384 years; which, being deducted from the 450, leaves 66 years as the aggregate of the chasms

or intervals between the death of the judge and the succeeding servitude. Thus we arrive at a common-sense view of the chronology of the period of the judges, and which accords not only with the known principles both of the Divine and of human proceeding, but likewise with all the scripture statements that relate to the period. But, to allow no time whatever for the recorded apostacies; to place the servitudes immediately after the death of the judges, and thus to make the punishment of sin precede the sin itself; and then to antedate the administration of the judges 71 years before the first judge was appointed, in order to quadrate the hypothesis with the statement of St. Paul, as chronologers generally have done,―are modes of proceeding, the inconsistency and absurdity of which are at once obvious to every reflecting mind.

Having, we trust, settled the chronology thus far on a rational and satisfactory basis, it remains that we notice the latter part of the period now under consideration. It has already been observed, that we refer the expression, "until Samuel, the prophet," to the time when Samuel was called to be a prophet, at the age of 12 years; and this is the view adopted by Dr. Hales, and indeed the only view that is sustained by scripture declaration. It is true, that at a subsequent period Samuel was the judge of Israel. Josephus assigns 12 years for what he calls his sole administration, and the scriptures say that he judged Israel all the days of his life; but when he commenced to be a judge the scriptures nowhere state. Beside, the passage before cited does not say, Until Samuel the judge, but, Until Samuel the prophet; which clearly refers to the time when God constituted Samuel a prophet, by an express commission from heaven, respecting the destruction of Eli's house. This was the commencement of Samuel's official career, and there is no other event in Samuel's history which answers to the expression of the apostle Paul.

After the death of Abdon, the eleventh judge, and the apostacy which succeeded his death, we are informed that the Lord delivered the people into the hand of the Philistines. This is called the sixth servitude, and it continued for 40 years.-Judges, xii. c. 15 v., xiii. c. 1 v. From the 13th chapter, we learn that Samson was born in the beginning of the sixth servitude. This servitude continued down to the time of Samson's death and as he had judged Israel in the days of the Philistines 20 years (xv. c. 20 v.), it is evident that the destruction which he inflicted upon the Philistines at the time of his death, by the overthrow of the temple of Dagon, was the termination of the sixth servitude, which had lasted 40 years, i.e., during the whole period of his life.

From the termination of the sixth servitude to the commencement of the seventh, by the terrible defeat of the Israelites and the capture of the ark, which occasioned the death of Eli, Bishop Russell and Mr. Smith reckon an interval of 20 years. This calenlation we adopt; because, it is not only probable in itself, but it also reconciles the conflicting accounts respecting the duration of Eli's administration. The Greek copies of the scriptures, at least many of them,

and also the Alexandrian and Vatican manuscripts, say that his administration was 20 years; while the Hebrew, Josephus, the Latin Vulgate, the Chaldee Paraphrase, and the Syriac and Arabic versions, state his administration at 40 years. This difference seems to have arisen merely from reckoning his administration from two different periods equally correct, and which is not uncommon in ancient documents. The truth, in all probability is, that Eli judged Israel during the last 20 years of the sixth servitude, i.e., during the whole of Samson's administration; and, likewise, for 20 years afterwards, to the commencement of the seventh servitude. The Hebrew, &c., reckon, therefore, from the beginning of Eli's administration, which was cotemporary with that of Samson, and thus make 40 years; whereas the Greek, &c., reckon from the death of Samson, when Eli began his sole administration, and thus make only 20 years. Both, therefore, on this principle of calculation, are correct; and, in the absence of an explicit scripture statement relative to the duration of the interval between the termination of the sixth and the commencement of the seventh servitude, this seems to be the only rational course that can be adopted.

The seventh servitude continued for 20 years and 7 months.1 Sam. vi. c. 1 v., vii. c. 2 v. At the expiration of this period, as we learn from the seventh chapter, the Israelites defeated the Philistines, and drove them out of their coasts. This was followed by the 12 years' sole administration of Samuel, according to Josephus; and which Dr. Hales, Bishop Russell, and Mr. Smith, are agreed in adopting. Then come the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon, which the scriptures state to have been 40 years each.

From the facts which have come before us during the consideration of this period, it is evident that the scriptures were never intended to teach a system of consecutive chronology. The various chasms and the absence of dates which we have noticed, must ever prove a source of embarrassment to the chronologer, and render a definite calculation altogether impossible. Josephus, it is true, in some instances, affords valuable assistance; but, in other instances he misleads, as several of his dates are unquestionably incorrect. Great caution, therefore, is required in the employment of Josephus; and in more cases than one his statements must be entirely rejected, because directly at variance with the word of God. The truth is, that, with regard to the period now in question, conjecture to some extent is inevitable; and to attempt to avoid it, by supplying the absence of scripture dates in every instance by those of Josephus, is to sacrifice both the statements of sacred history and the dictates of common sense. It must be remarked, however, that in those cases where conjecture is necessary, the connected circumstances are such that an approximation may be obtained sufficiently accurate to answer all the purposes of sacred chronology,

The following Table exhibits the chronology of the period, according to the conclusions adopted in the preceding investigation :—

Remainder of the 20 years' interval to the death of Eli ..

VII.-Servitude to the Philistines

Administration of Samuel

Reign of King Saul

David..

Solomon

It will, of course, be observed that the numbers assigned to the apostacies are merely an equal division of the aggregate 66, previously obtained, as we have no means of ascertaining the exact duration of each.

SEVENTH PERIOD.-FROM THE REVOLT OF THE TEN TRIBES TO THE

RETURN OF THE JEWS FROM BABYLON.

On the death of Solomon, his son Rehoboam, being 21 years of age, ascended the throne. Immediately after his accession, however, he committed an act of folly which at once alienated the affections of ten of the tribes, who instantly revolted, and set up Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, to be their king. Instead of only one line of kings, therefore, we have now two; and to make a proper adjustment of their reigns with the dates given in the books of Kings and of Chronicles, is one of the most difficult tasks with which we have to contend. Dr. Hales calls it the gordian knot of chronologers; and so it would seem it is, for not one of them has hitherto succeeded in untying it. In the consideration of the last period, we had to contend with the difficulty arising from the absence of dates; here, however, we have dates in abundance, and yet the difficulties are

felt to be almost, if not altogether, insuperable; and the conflicting conclusions to which chronologers have arrived, together with their variations from the sacred text, present a mass of incongruities perplexing in the extreme. Relative to the length of time that elapsed from the revolt to the captivity of the ten tribes by Shalmanezar, we might give a list of 16 or 18 chronological calculations, each differing from the others, and yet all professing to be founded upon the scriptures, or upon the scriptures and Josephus conjointly. Some of these lists we have examined, and compared them with the dates given in the books of Kings and Chronicles; and the results sufficiently indicate the difficulty of arriving at a correct conclusion. Dr. Hales, for example, calculates 271 years; Professor Wallace gives 269 years; Bishop Russell and Mr. Smith make it 260 years; Dr. Adam Clarke makes it 254 years; Dr. Jahn, 253; and then a writer in Kitto's Journal of Sacred Literature for October, 1849, calculates only 240 years,-thus making a difference from the highest to the lowest of 31 years. Nor is this all: the variations from the scripture text are somewhat startling. Professor Wallace, indeed, has prudently avoided coming in collision with the text, by confining himself to the chronology of the kings of Judah, without taking the slightest notice of the chronology of the kings of Israel. The other authors, however, being less cautious than the Professor, have found themselves under the necessity of differing from the scripture data in not fewer than ten, seventeen, and even more than twenty instances; while the writer in Kitto's Journal proposes the most arbitrary alterations of the scripture text. Dr. Clarke's table is, perhaps, upon the whole, the best, as it does least violence to the text; although it differs from the scriptures in not less than ten of its dates.

Dissatisfied, therefore, with every chronological list of the kings of Judah and Israel that has come under my notice, it seemed necessary to institute a new and independent investigation of the subject, and to try if an arrangement of the reigns of those kings could not be made more agreeable to the statements of the sacred records. Were the Hebrew and Septuagint at variance with each other in their dates of this period, it would be proper for the biblical critic to determine which is the true reading; but, with one exception, they are exactly alike. This exception relates to Jehoash, king of Israel. The Hebrew states that he began to reign in the 37th year of Joash, king of Judah; whereas the best copies of the Septuagint read the 39th; and as this reconciles several other dates, it is evidently the true reading. Assuming, then, that the scripture chronology is correct, notwithstanding all its difficulties, and that the apparent discrepancies must admit of some method of reconciliation, I commenced the perplexing and almost hopeless work. My success, although not complete, has exceeded my expectations. Three slight discrepancies, however, yet remain; one, of two years in the reign of Ahab, king of Israel; and two, of one year each, in the reigns of Asa and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. With these three exceptions, the following table exactly accords with the dates given in the books of Kings and of Chronicles.