tection of a special statute to the DEAF and the BLIND, in Levit. xix. 14., which prohibits reviling the one or putting a stumbling-block in the way of the other. In Deut. xxvii. 18. a curse is denounced against him who misleads the blind.

III. With regard to those whom misfortune or other circumstances had reduced to poverty, various humane regulations were made: for though Moses had, by his statutes relative to the division of the land, studied to prevent any Israelite from being born poor, yet he nowhere indulges the hope that there would actually be no poor. On the contrary, he expressly says (Deut. xv. 11.), "THE POOR shall never cease out of thy land;" and he enjoins the Hebrews to open wide their hands to their brethren, to the poor and to the needy in their land. He exhorts the opulent to assist a decayed Israelite with a loan, and not to refuse even though the sabbatical year drew nigh (Deut. xv. 7-10.); and no pledge was to be detained for the loan of money that served for the preservation of his life or health (Deut. xxiv. 12, 13.), or was necessary to enable him to procure bread for himself and family, as the upper and nether mill-stones. During harvest, the owner of a field was prohibited from reaping the corn that grew in its corners, or the after-growth: and the scattered ears, or sheaves carelessly left on the ground, equally belonged to the poor. After a man had once shaken or beaten his olive-trees, he was not permitted to gather the olives that still hung on them: so that the fruit, which did not ripen until after the season of gathering, belonged to the poor. (Lev. xix. 9, 10.; Deut. xxiv. 19, 20, 21.; Ruth ii. 2-19.) Further, whatever grew during the sabbatical year, in the fields, gardens, or vineyards, the poor might take at pleasure, having an equal right to it with the owners of the land. Another important privilege enjoyed by the poor was, what were called second tenths and second firstlings. "Besides the tenth received by the Levites, the Israelites were obliged to set apart another tenth of their field and garden produce; and, in like manner, of their cattle, a second set of offerings, for the purpose of presenting as thank offerings at the high festivals." Of these thank offerings only certain fat pieces were consumed on the altar: the remainder, after deducting the priest's portion, was appropriated to the sacrifice-feasts, to which the Israelites were bound to invite the stranger, the widow, and the orphan. "When any part of these tenths remained, which they had not been able to bring to the altar or to consume as offerings, they were obliged every three years to make a conscientious estimate of the amount, and, without presenting it as an offering to God, employ it in benevolent entertainments in their native cities." (Deut. xii. 5-12. 17-19., xiv. 22-29., xvi. 10, 11., xxvi. 12, 13.)'

But though Moses had made such abundant provisions for the poor, yet it does not appear that he has said any thing respecting beggars. The earliest mention of beggars occurs in Psal. cix. 10. In the New Testament, however, we read of beggars, blind, distressed, and maimed, who lay at the doors of the rich, by the waysides, (as they

'Michaelis's Commentaries, vol. ii. pp. 254-259.

still do in India ',) and also before the gate of the temple. (Mark x. 46.; Luke xvi. 20, 21.; Acts iii. 2.)2 But " we have no reason to suppose, that there existed in the time of Christ that class of persons called vagrant beggars, who present their supplications for alms from door to door, and who are found at the present day in the East, although less frequently than in the countries of Europe. That the custom of seeking alms by sounding a trumpet or horn, which prevails among a class of Mohammedan monastics, called Kalendar or Karendal, prevailed also in the time of Christ, may be inferred from Matt. vi. 2.; where the verb oaλnions, which possesses the shade of signification that would be attached to a corresponding word in the Hiphil form of the Hebrew verbs, is to be rendered transitively, as is the case with many other verbs in the New Testament. There is one thing characteristic of those orientals, who are reduced to the disagreeable necessity of following the vocation of mendicants, which is worthy of being mentioned; they do not appeal to the pity, or to the alms-giving spirit, but to the justice of their benefactors." (Job xxii. 7., xxxi. 16.; Prov. iii. 27, 28.)"3

CHAP. IX.

OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF THE JEWS AND OTHER NATIONS MENTIONED IN THE SCRIPTURES.

SECT. I.

ON THE MILITARY DISCIPLINE OF THE JEWS.

I. THERE were not wanting in the earliest ages of the world men who, abusing the power and strength which they possessed to the purposes of ambition, usurped upon their weaker neighbours. Such was the origin of the kingdom founded by Nimrod (Gen. x. 8-10.), whose name signifies a rebel; and it is supposed to have been given him, from his rejection of the laws both of God and man, and supporting by force a tyranny over others. As mankind continued to increase, quarrels and contests would naturally arise, and spreading from individuals to families, tribes, and nations, produced wars. the military affairs of those times we have very imperfect notices in the Scriptures. These wars, however, appear to have been nothing more than predatory incursions like those of the Modern Bedouin Arabs, so often described by oriental travellers. The patriarch Abraham, on learning that his kinsman Lot had been taken captive

Of

1 Roberts's Oriental Illustrations, p. 558. Sturdy beggars (the same intelligent observer states) not unfrequently make use of expressions similar to that uttered by the unfaithful steward in Luke xvi. 3. Ibid. p. 564.

2 Michaelis's Commentaries, vol. ii. p. 249.

3

Jahn's Archæologia, by Upham, p. 198,

by Chedorlaomer and his confederate emirs or petty kings, mustered his trained servants, three hundred and eighteen in number; and coming against the enemy by night, he divided his forces, and totally discomfited them. (Gen. xiv. 14-16.) The other patriarchs also armed their servants and dependants when a conflict was expected. (Gen. xxxii. 7-12. xxxiii. 1.)1

II. Although the Jews are now the very reverse of being a military people (in which circumstance we may recognise the accomplishment of prophecy 2), yet anciently they were eminently distinguished for their prowess. But the notices concerning their discipline, which are presented to us in the Sacred Writings, are few and brief.

The wars in which the Israelites were engaged, were of two kinds, either such as were expressly enjoined by divine command, or such as were voluntary and entered upon by the prince for avenging some national affronts, and for the honour of the sovereignty. Of the first sort were those undertaken against the seven nations of Canaan, whom God had devoted to destruction, viz. the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites (strictly so called), the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites. These the Israelites were commanded to extirpate, and to settle themselves in their place. (Deut. vii. 1, 2. and xx. 16, 17.) There were indeed other nations who inhabited this country in the days of Abraham, as may be seen in Gen. xv. 19, 20. But these had either become extinct since that time, or being but a small people were incorporated with the rest. To these seven nations no terms of peace could be offered; for, being guilty of gross idolatries and other detestable vices of all kinds, God thought them unfit to live any longer upon the face of the earth. These wars, thus undertaken by the command of God, were called the wars of the Lord, of which a particular record seems to have been kept, as mentioned in Numb. xxi. 14.

In the voluntary wars of the Israelites, which were undertaken upon some national account, such as most of those were in the times of the Judges, when the Moabites, Philistines, and other neighbouring nations invaded their country, and such as that of David against the Ammonites, whose king had violated the law of nations by insulting his ambassadors, there were certain rules established by God, which were to regulate their conduct, both in the undertaking and carrying on of these wars. As, first, they were to proclaim peace to them, which, if they accepted, these people were to become

This section is chiefly translated from Calmet's Dissertation sur la Milice des anciens Hébreux, inserted in the third volume of his Commentaire Littérale sur la Bible, and also in vol. i. pp. 205-240. of his "Dissertations qui peuvent servir de Prolegomènes de l'Ecriture;" which, in the judgment of the celebrated tactician, the Chevalier Folard, discusses the military affairs of the Hebrews with so much accuracy and knowledge as to leave scarcely any room for additions. (Dissertation on the Military Tactics of the Hebrews, in vol. iii. p. 535. of the folio English translation of Calmet's Dictionary.) The Dissertation of the Chevalier Folard has also been consulted; together with Alber's Inst. Herm. Vet. Test. tom. i. pp. 239-247.; Schulzii Archæologia Hebraica, pp. 132-146.; Jahn, Archæologia Biblica, §§ 266-296.; Ackermann, Archæologia Biblica, §§ 260-288.; Home's Hist. of the Jews, vol. ii, pp. 303–316.; Bruning, Antiq. Hebr. pp. 74-91.; Carpzovii Antiquitates Gentis Hebrææ, pp. 665–671.

2 See Levit. xxvi. 36.; Deut. xxviii. 65, 66.

tributaries to them; but if they refused, all the males, upon besieging the city, were allowed to be slain, if the Israelites thought fit; but the women and little ones were to be spared, and the cattle with the other goods of the city were to belong, as spoil, to the Israelites. (Deut. xx. 10-15.) Secondly, in besieging a city, they were not to commit unnecessary waste and depredations; for though they were allowed to cut down barren trees of all sorts, to serve the purposes their approaches, yet they were obliged to spare the fruit trees, as being necessary to support the lives of the inhabitants in future times, when the little rancour, which was the occasion of their present hostilities, should be removed and done away. (Deut. xx. 19, 20.)

of

The Israelites, in the beginning of their republic, appear to have been a timorous and cowardly people; their spirits were broken by their bondage in Egypt; and this base temper soon appeared upon the approach of Pharaoh and his army, before the Israelites passed through the Red Sea, which made them murmur so much against Moses. (Exod. xiv. 10, 11, 12.) But in no instance was their cowardice more evident, than when they heard the report of the spies concerning the inhabitants of the lands, which threw them into a fit of despair, and made them resolve to return into Egypt, notwithstanding all the miracles wrought for them by God. (Numb. xiv. 1-6.) It was on this account that David, who was well acquainted with their disposition, says, that they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them, but thy right hand and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them. (Psal. xliv. 3.)

After their departure from Egypt, the whole of the men, from twenty years and upwards, until the age of fifty (when they might demand their discharge if they chose), were liable to military service, the priests and Levites not excepted. (Numb. i. 3. 22.; 2 Sam. xxiii. 20.; 1 Kings ii. 35.) Like the militia in some countries, and the hardy mountaineers of Lebanon at this day', they were always ready to assemble at the shortest notice. If the occasion were extremely urgent, affecting their existence as a people, all were summoned to war; but ordinarily, when there was no necessity for convoking the whole of their forces, a selection was made. Thus Joshua chose twelve thousand men, in order to attack the Amalekites (Exod. xvii. 9, 10.): in the war with the Midianites, one thousand men were selected out of each tribe (Numb. xxxi. 4, 5.), and in the rash assault upon the city of Ai, three thousand men were employed. (Josh. vii. 3, 4.) The book of Judges furnishes numerous instances of this mode of selection. Hence we read in the Scriptures of choosing the men, not of levying them. In like manner, under the Roman republic,

A recent traveller in the Holy Land, describing the present state of Mount Lebanon, says, that "of the peasants, great numbers carry arms. In fact, every young man may in some sense be called a soldier, and would in case of need muster as such: the gun which serves him for field sport and sustenance is ready for the call of war; and his discipline consists in the bracing, hardy habits of a mountaincer." Rev. W. Jowett's Christian Researches in Syria, p. 74. (London, 1825, 8vo.)

all the citizens of the military age (seventeen to forty-six years) were obliged to serve a certain number of campaigns, when they were commanded. On the day appointed the consuls held a levy (delectum habebant), by the assistance of the military or legionary tribunes; when it was determined by lot in what manner the tribes should be called. The consuls ordered such as they pleased to be cited out of each tribe, and every one was obliged to answer to his name under a severe penalty. On certain occasions some of the most refractory were put to death. To the above described mode of selecting troops, our Saviour probably alluded, when he said that many are called, but few chosen (Matt. xx. 16.); the great mass of the people being convened, choice was made of those who were the most fit for service.

This mode of selecting soldiers accounts for the formation of those vast armies, in a very short space of time, of which we read in the Old Testament. The men of Jabesh Gilead, who, in the beginning of Saul's reign, were besieged by the Ammonites, had only seven days' respite given them to send messengers to the coasts of Israel, after which, if no relief came to them, they were to deliver up the city and have their eyes put out, which was the best condition, it seems, they could procure. (1 Sam. xi. 1, 2, 3.) As soon as Saul was informed of it, he, by a symbolical representation of cutting a yoke of oxen in pieces, and sending them all over Israel, signified what should be done to the oxen of such as did not appear upon this summons. In consequence of this summons, we find that an army of three hundred and thirty thousand men was formed, who relieved the place within the seven days allowed them. In like manner, when the children of Israel had heard of the crime that was committed by the inhabitants of Gibeah against the Levite's concubine, it is said, that they resolved not to return to their houses till they had fully avenged this insult (Judg. xx. 8.), and accordingly, upon the tribe of Benjamin refusing to deliver up these men, an army was soon gathered together of four hundred thousand men of war. (verse 17.) Nor was the providing of their armies with necessaries any impediment to these sudden levies; for in the beginning of the Jewish republic, their armies consisting altogether of infantry, every one served at his own expense, and ordinarily carried his own arms and provisions along with him. And thus we find that Jesse sent a supply of provisions by David to his other three sons that were in Saul's camp (1 Sam. xvii. 13. 17.), which gave David an opportunity of engaging Goliath; and this was the chief reason why their wars in those days were ordinarily but of a short continuance, it being hardly possible that a large body could subsist long upon such provisions as every one carried along with him. After the time of Solomon, their armies became vastly numerous we read that Abijah king of Judah had an army of four hundred thousand men, with which he fought Jeroboam king of Israel, who had double that number (2 Chron. xiii. 3.), and it is said there were five hundred thousand killed of Jeroboam's army.

! Dr. Adams Roman Antiquities, pp. 362, 363. fifth edit.