10. "Two asses saddled."-The use of the word "saddled," in the Old Testament, is calculated to convey a very erroneoas notion to the English reader. The word (n, chabash) literally means to bind about, and applies to the binding or laying any thing on the back of the animal to make an easy seat. The same word is used to express the swaddling of an infant. Indeed, the word may apply to the binding any thing to the animal as a preparation for riding; and, if bridles were at this time in use, it may as well mean "to bridle" the ass as any thing else. Jahn thinks that this is its meaning. It is certain that any thing approaching to our saddles-that is, a wooden seat variously covered-was not known for ages after the date of the present history; neither were stirrups. We do not find either noticed in any ancient authors, some of whom must have mentioned them if they existed; neither can we detect their presence in the sculptures of Egypt, Persia, Greece, or Rome. When men first began to ride, they sat on the bare back of the animal; but in the course of time, some kind of covering was placed over the back, consisting of a piece of raw hide, leather, or cloth, and, in the end, apparently, a stuffed cushion. Our cut, from Egyptian sculptures, shows what kind of "saddle" the ass had among the people, and there is no question that those of the Hebrews were something similar. Even at the present day, although saddles are used for riding on horseback, the old custom continues with respect to asses, which are almost never saddled, but furnished for riding with a rug, a folded cloth, or a cushion. Now that we are speaking about saddles, it may be well to repeat, that even horses were not anciently saddled; and when they came to be furnished with such coverings and housings as we have mentioned, it continued to be considered more manly to ride on the animal's bare back; and such conveniences were therefore not used in war, until long after the custom was introduced. It was regarded as a piece of luxury and state, fit for old and infirm people, and for parade in processions, but unfit for soldiers and persons of plain and hardy character. Hence the Roman cavalry had no coverings for the backs of their horses until a comparatively late period; and then, what they gained in convenience, they lost in influence upon the barbarians, who continued to ride their horses uncovered. Thus, we are told, that the Germans considered riding on a covering such a shameful effeminacy, that they despised those who so rode, and were never afraid to attack them, however superior might be their numbers. The Roman cavalry must have been allowed this indulgence before the time of Cæsar, to whom we owe this piece of information. The coverings of the Roman war-horses had become very beautiful in the time of Alexander Severus; and, long before that, such coverings had, for the uses of peace, become costly and luxurious. We not only learn this from the old writers, but observe in sculptures that horses are sometimes represented with highly ornamented coverings, hanging down so as to cover the animal's sides. Still the affectation of riding the bare horse long subsisted. The historian Varro (who died A.D. 28) tells us that, when a young man, he rode his horse without a covering. The custom of covering the back of the horse seems to have been finding its way into Europe in the time of Xenophon. He wrote a book on horsemanship, and mentions coverings as in use, but indicates that it was still common to ride on the animal's bare back. His countrymen may have got the custom either from the Egyptians or the Persians. The latter was eminently an equestrian nation, and, even in his time, were studiously luxurious in their horse-coverings. He indeed blames the Persians for putting more clothes upon the backs of their horses than upon their beds, and for thinking more about easy sitting than skilful riding. Some specimens of Persian horse-coverings may be seen in the cuts to the note on Shields and Spears in chap. v. As this nation was so early noted for its attention to the point of rendering the seat of the rider easy and convenient, and as, when saddles came first into use in eastern Europe, Persian saddle-horses were preferred to any other, perhaps because they were early trained to bear a saddle, it is no improbable conjecture of Beckmann (to whom we are indebted for many of the facts contained in this note) that the invention of the saddle may be assigned to that people. No tolerably decided trace of any thing like a proper riding-saddle, can be discovered in Europe earlier than the fourth century. And although it may have been known earlier in Persia, there is not the least probability that it existed within the period which the Scripture history embraces. Pack-saddles are quite different things, and were doubtless used in very ancient times; as something must obviously have been necessary to protect the backs of animals bearing heavy burdens. Our wood-cut will be considered interesting, as exhibiting the only very ancient utensil with which we are acquainted, on the principle of a pannier, obviously for the purpose of conveying, uninjured, on the backs of animals, such goods as could not conveniently or safely be carried in bags. It is very likely that the Hebrews had something of the kind. It must, indeed, have been more necessary to them than the Egyptians, who had carts and other vehicles (which the Hebrews do not appear to have had) in which they could convey from one place to another soft fruits, eggs, and other articles, which in bags would have been bruised, crushed, or otherwise spoiled. 15. "There was no man that took them into his house to lodging."-It seems that, up to this time, no caravanserais or inns, in which travellers now obtain lodging in the East, existed. We have not yet, certainly, found any distinct trace of their existence. Strangers, therefore, relied entirely for accommodation upon the hospitality of the people to whose towns they came; as is still the case in many Oriental towns, particularly in those where no caravanserai has been erected, or other place set apart for their reception. Under these circumstances, such an inhospitable reception as that which the Levite experienced, rarely or never occurs, and can only be explained by a reference to the peculiarly vile character of the people of Gibeah, which rendered them insensible to that honour and distinction which a character for hospitality never fails to procure, and which is in many places so eagerly sought, that when a stranger enters a town, the inhabitants almost come to blows in the sharpness of the contest for having him as a guest. 19. "There is both straw and provender for our asses "-(See the note on Gen. xxiv. 25); “and there is bread and wine also for me," &c. He had provisions for his party and cattle, only wanting lodging for the night. People still carry provisions with them in a journey even through a peopled country. No one calculates on obtaining, unless in very great towns, more than house-room, with the chance of being able to buy bread and fruit. It is not certain that even bread can be procured, and not to leave the matter entirely to chance, the traveller usually takes from one great town to another, so much bread as will serve him intermediately. If he desires better fare than he is likely thus to obtain, he takes with him cooking utensils, rice, vegetables, preserved meat, butter, &c., and at the resting-place for the day has a warm meal prepared by a servant or himself, from his own stores and with his own utensils. We have known a single traveller accompanied by a mule, exclusively laden with his bedding, provisions, and cooking vessels. It is within the writer's own experience, that in a journey of more than a fortnight through a comparatively well-peopled part of Western Asia, it was not possible more than twice (in two great towns) to obtain other food than bread and fruit, and often this not without much difficulty, and sometimes not at all. 20. "Lodge not in the street."—Unless they had bedding, which travellers often carry with them, this would not have been convenient: and it would be thought disgraceful to the character of a town to allow a stranger, accompanied by his wife, to do so even then. But in other respects, lodging in the streets of a town is a less singular circumstance in the East than it would seem to us in England. When the Bedouin Arabs visit a town, they usually prefer sleeping at night in the street to sleeping in a house. So also, when a person walks through the streets of Malta in the nights of summer, he finds the foot-pavement obstructed by beds, occupied by married couples and single people. These belong to shopkeepers and others who rent the ground floors, and, having no right to take their beds to the roof, bring them out into the street to enjoy the luxury of sleeping in the cool open air. 29. "Divided her...into twelve pieces."-See the note on 1 Sam. xi. 7. CHAPTER XX. 1 The Levite in a general assembly declareth his wrong. 8 The decree of the assembly. 12 The Benjamites, being cited, make head against the Israelites. 18 The Israelites in two battles lose forty thousand. 26 They destroy by a stratagem all the Benjamites, except six hundred. THEN all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, with the land of Gilead, unto the LORD in Mizpeh. 2 And the chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword. 3 (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how was this wickedness? 1 Heb, the man the Levite. 4 And 'the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge. 5 And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have they 'forced, that she is dead. 6 And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel: for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel. 7 Behold, ye are all children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel. 8 And all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn to his house. 2 Heb. humbled. the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men. 22 And the people the men of Israel en 9 But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it; 10 And we will take ten men of an hun-couraged themselves, and set their battle dred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and again in array in the place where they put an hundred of a thousand, and a thousand themselves in array the first day. out of ten thousand, to fetch victual for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel. Il So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man. 12 And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you? 13 Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel: 14 But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel. 15 And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men. 16 Among all this people there were seven nundred chosen men 'lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss. 17 And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war. 18 And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first. 19 And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gi beah. 20 And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at Gibeah. 21 And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to Heb. fellows. Chap. 3, 15, 23 (And the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until even, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the LORD said, Go up against him.) 24 And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day. 25 And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword. 26 Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. 27 And the children of Israel enquired of the LORD, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 28 And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD said, Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand. 29 And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah. 30 And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times. 31 And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and kill, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel. 32 And the children of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them from the city unto the highways. 5 Heb. to smiteof the people wounded as at, &c. Or, Beth-el. 663 33 And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and put themselves in array at Baal-tamar: and the liers in wait of Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah. 34 And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them." 35 And the LORD smote Benjamin before Israel: and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty and five thousand and an hundred men: all these drew the sword. 36 So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten: for the men of Israel gave place to the Benjamites, because they trusted unto the liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah. 37 And the liers in wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liers in wait 'drew themselves along, and smote all the city with the edge of the sword. 38 Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel 'and the liers in wait, that they should make a great flame with smoke rise up out of the city. 39 And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began "to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons for they said, Surely they are smitten down before us, as in the first battle. 40 But when the flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and, be hold, "the flame of the city ascended up to heaven. 41 And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed: for they saw that evil was come upon them. 42 Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and them which came out of the cities they destroyed in the midst of them. 43 Thus they inclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode them down with ease "over against Gibeah toward the sunrising. 44 And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valour. 45 And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued hard after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them. 46 So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men that drew the sword; all these were men of valour. 47 1But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months. 48 And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city, as the beast, and all that "came to hand also they set on fire all the cities that they came to. : 7 Or, made a long sound with the trumpets. 8 Or, time. 9 Heb. with. 10 Heb. elevation. 11 Heb. to smite the wounded. 12 Heb. the whole consumption. 13 Heb. touched them. 14 Or, from Menuchah, &c. 15 Heb, unto over against. 16 Chap. 21. 13. 17 Heb. was found. 18 Heb. were found. Verse 1. "The congregation was gathered together."-This chapter contains some interesting information as to the manner in which the Israelites commenced and conducted a war. But as it was a war against one of their own tribes, we must judge, by a comparison with other instances, how far the usages here indicated may be laid down as general practices. In such a case as this, we may expect to find all the more equitable and favourable preliminaries of the ancient Hebrew warfare, more exactly and carefully observed than under ordinary circumstances. We see that the first report of the wrong committed in Israel excited a strong sensation, and produced a general rising of the armed men. There was no divided feeling, as on common occasions. The northern tribes concurred with those of the south, nor were even the tribes beyond Jordan backward in responding to the general feeling. Nevertheless, they did not act hastily. They met at the general place of assembly, and there formally investigated the circumstances of the horrid affair which had so justly provoked their indignation. And even then, instead of at once marching against Gibeah, they sent a deputation to the tribe of Benjamin, complaining of the wickedness which had been committed, and urging the just demand, that the offenders should be given up to justice. When the infatuated Benjamites refused this reasonable request, and by so doing adopted the cause of the criminals, then, and not till then, the Israelites prepare for actual conflict. All this is in exact conformity with what jurists call "the law of nature and nations," and which now continues to be observed among every civilized people. It is interesting to learn that the general principles of this law were recognized at so early a period, even though it should not appear that it was considered necessary to proceed in conformity with it under all circumstances. 10. “To fetch victual for the people.”—The men served at their own expense, finding themselves arms, victuals, and whatever else they wanted; and for this reason, as well as on account of the great numbers that came forward on some occasions, the armies could not keep the field longer than a few days, within which most of the military expeditions recorded in Scripture terminate. When the war was in the enemy's country, the soldiers might live upon what their foraging parties obtained from the enemy; but otherwise, each man probably carried with him a few days' provision, such as travellers usually carry. Under these circumstances, we scarcely think, with some writers, that the present arrangement intimates any general usage, but rather that it was an expedient to meet an unusual emergency. The peculiarities are, that, it was a general rising of the men bearing arms, and not a partial levy for which provision could be more easily obtained than for so vast an army; then, the troops had precluded themselves by oath from returning home till the affair was brought to a conclusion-however much time that might take-and this oath, by the bye, sufficiently indicates the prevalence of the opposite practice; and, lastly, the war was in their own country, and where consequently the men were obliged to live strictly upon their own resources. From all this it seems to us probable that the forty thousand men selected for the service, dispersed themselves over the country, bringing to the soldiers from their own towns and villages, and from their own families, such supplies of food as they required. 16. "Every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss."-This is the first mention of the sling; but we find it noticed by Job, whose time is generally thought to have been much anterior to that of the present history (Job xli. 19). The bow and arrow are mentioned so early as the time of Esau, and there is every reason, in the absence of positive information, to conclude that the sling was of still earlier origin. Stones were unquestionably the first missiles used, and a device for giving increased force to a stone is likely to have been earlier invented than one for increasing the impetus of a dart-for this is the essential character of an arrow. A sling is also a much less complicated instrument than a bow, and this is a circumstance which has weight in fixing the priority of invention. It must be confessed, however, that the sling is not near so generally diffused an instrument as the bow; probably because the latter, from its superior effect, has gradually superseded the more primitive weapon. The ancients generally assign the invention to the Phoenician neighbours of the Jews; and this is so far of importance as to show that the Greeks and Romans derived the instrument from the East. The Greeks and Trojans, according to the descriptions of their warfare left by Homer, often pelted each other heartily with stones, but appear not to have made much use of the sling. It existed among them, however, but would seem to have been used rather by the common soldiers than by the heroes; which is probably the reason why it is not brought much under our notice in the Iliad. It appears that the centre of their slings was wadded with fine wool, which, yielding to the pressure of the stone, afforded it a secure lodgment till the moment of dismission. Thus when Menelaus was pierced through the left hand by a lance, and withdrew "into the centre of his phalanx'd friends,”— "There bold Agenor from the spear releas'd And folded thick his hand with softest wool, By his attendant's quilted sling supplied."-Cowper. There are various indications of the attention which the Hebrews gave to the use of the sling. From the history of David, it seems to have been a usual weapon among the shepherds, as they watched their flocks (1 Sam. xvii. 40); and the effective use to which that famous shepherd applied it, in his combat with Goliath, may be taken as an evidence of their skill. It is very probable that the husbandmen protected their grounds from wild animals with the sling, as well as the shepherds did their flocks from beasts of prey. The Roman husbandmen did so. Thus Virgil describes it as among their employments: "For stalking cranes to set the guileful snare; To persecute from far the flying doe."-Georgic i. (Dryden.) Of all the Hebrews, the Benjamites seem to have had a peculiarly distinguished reputation as slingers. The present verse is not the only passage by which this is demonstrated. The fact here recorded concerning the accuracy of their aim, indicates that they must have undergone a long and careful training to the art. We read something similar of the natives of the Balearic islands (Majorca and Minorca), and of the Achæans in Greece, who were the ancient people most celebrated for the art and dexterity with which they managed the weapon in question. The Balearians were trained to the use of the sling from infancy. It is said that they gave no food to their children in the morning till they had hit a mark, or, as others explain it, that their mothers set their breakfast on the top of a tree or pole, and that before they could have it, they were obliged to bring it down with their slings. In consequence of so much practice they acquired such dexterity that they seldom missed their aim. They could sling larger stones than any other people, and with a force scarcely surpassed by that which some other nations employed engines to produce. When they besieged a town, they marked out, with fatal precision, those that fought upon the walls; and, in pitched battles, they broke to pieces the helmets, shields, and other defensive arms of their opponents. So formidable did their art render them, that when Metellus was approaching the Balearic isles, he ordered the ships to be covered with skins to break the force of the stones thrown from their slings. They were much employed in the armies of the Carthaginians and Romans, and are said to have largely contributed to the gaining of some of their victories. They usually carried three slings of rushes, of different sizes, and adapted to different distances. Some accounts describe them ag wearing these slings tied round their heads; but they are more generally described as wearing one round their head, another round their loins, and a third carried in their hand. Notwithstanding the skill of the Balearians in the use of the sling, they are generally said to have been excelled in this art by the Achæans, whose slings also were of a different kind. The latter were trained to the art from infancy, by slinging from a great distance at a circular mark of moderate circumference. Long practice made their aim so accurate, that they were sure not only to hit their enemies on the head, but to strike what part of the face they chose. Their aim was not only more certain, but they threw to a greater distance than the Balearians, and with at least the same degree of crushing and shattering effect upon defensive armour. Besides, they not only discharged stones but bullets or plummets of lead, some of which weighed an Attic pound, or a hundred drachms, and which could be thrown to twice the distance of stones, and with far greater force and precision. In fact, such things are told of the force and accuracy of aim with which these ancient slingers cast their missiles, after whirling the sling two or three times around their heads, as we are accustomed only to believe possible of shot discharged from a gun. What is quite certain is, that the sling, although so very simple an instrument, was a weapon of astonishing power in skilful and experienced hands. 21. "The children of Benjamin...destroyed...of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men."-On common military principles there is nothing to occasion surprise in the defeat of an army of 400,000 men by one of about 27,000. It has been the great mistake of Orientals generally, in all ages, to calculate their prospects of success rather by the numbers than by the efficiency of the men they can bring into action; and the abundant experience which Oriental history affords, of the frequently disastrous consequences of assembling such vast and unwieldy bodies, has not yet operated in correcting this kind of infatuation, which is not, indeed, peculiar to the Orientals. The difficulty of obtaining subsistence for such vast bodies;-the consequent necessity of entering into immediate action, in order to bring the affair to a conclusion, without waiting for those opportunities and advantages which are of so much im |