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to the end.

title to the service of the tabernacle, and to prevent their latest posterity from being From Josh. i. excluded from it. Which when Phineas and the rest of the deputies heard, they ex-. pressed no small satisfaction; and as they related the account of the whole matter upon their return, the people were infinitely pleased with the result of their embassy, and changed their angry thoughts of war into the tender affections of brotherly love and peace: While the Reubenites, on the other hand, to take away all farther umbrage of suspicion, called the altar by the name of Ed, as being intended for a standing witness (for so the word signifies), that though they lived at a distance from the rest of their brethren, yet had they both but one origin, and one God, who was the common God and father of all Israel.

Thus were the Israelites, on both sides of the river Jordan, settled in a quiet possession of their conquests; when Joshua, being now grown old, and perceiving the time of his death approaching, called a general assembly of the princes and magistrates, and as many of the common people as could be got together upon this occasion, to Shechem; and having, in a very tender and affectionate speech, enumerated the many blessings which God's providence had bestowed upon them and their ancestors; how he had preserved them in all their dangers and distresses, and relieved them in all their wants; had made them victorious over all their enemies, and, from a mean beginning, raised them to the highest degree of reputation, and brought them into the quiet possession of a land that abounded with all manner of plenty; in gratitude to so great a protector and benefactor, he exhorted them to a faithful observance of his laws, and invited them to a solemn renewal of the covenant which their forefathers had made with him. Which, when they had done, he not only recorded the covenant in the book of the law, but set up a great stone likewise, under an oak, near a place of religious worship, as a testimony against them, in case they should prevaricate from God's service; and being now in the hundred and tenth year of his age, * not long after this he died, and was buried at Timnah-serah, in Mount Ephraim, a place which the Israelites, in acknowledgment of his great services, had given him.

In a short time after, Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, who lived near Joshua,

Jesus the son of Sirach gives us a long commendation of Joshua, Ecclus. xlvi. 1, &c. but Josephus is more concise in his character, where he tells us,"That he was a man of political prudence, and endued also with a singular felicity of popular eloquence in expressing his thoughts; brave and indefatigable in war; and no less just and dexterous in peace; and in short, that he was a person qualified for all great purposes." He is generally reputed to be the author of the book that goes under his name. In the 26 verse of the last chapter, it is expressly said that he wrote these things. Ecclus. xlvi. 1. The son of Sirach has made him successor to Moses in the prophetic ministry. And both the church and synagogue have all along looked upon the book as canonical. The truth is, Joshua was the only sacred penman we know of that the Israelites had in his age. After he had finished the division of the land, it is said, chap. xxiii. 1. that he had many years of great leisure, which he very probably employed in giving an account of the death and burial of Moses, and from thence continued a narrative of what had been transacted under his own administration, fill ing it up with a general terrier of the settlements of the tribes, which was highly expedient for the Israelites to have recorded, in order to prevent confusions about their inheritances in future ages.

Now if this supposition be right, the work of Joshua
must begin where that of Moses ended, viz. at the
xxxivth chapter of Deuteronomy, and ended at the
27th verse of the xxivth chapter of Joshua. For as
Johua, at the end of Deuteronomy, added an account
of Moses's death, so what we find from the 28th
verse of the xxivth chapter of Joshua to the end of
that book, was unquestionably not written until Joshua
and all the elders his contemporaries were gone off the
stage, and was therefore added to the end of the book
of Joshua by some sacred penman, (most probably by
Samuel) who was afterwards employed to record the
subsequent state of affairs of Israel. Shuckford's
Connection, vol. iii. lib. 12. and Patrick's Commen
tary, on Josh. xxiv. 33. But there is not the like cer-
tainty of another book of Joshua's, which the Samari-
tans preserve with much respect, and make great use
of, in the support of their pretensions against the
Jews; neither can we tell, whether Joshua was the
author of that prayer, which the Jews repeat as oft as
they go into the synagogues, and which begins thus,---
"It is our duty to praise thee Lord of the universe, and
to celebrate the creation of the world; for he hath
not made us like unto the nations of the earth, but
hath prepared for us an inheritance infinitely richer
and greater, &c. Wagenseil's Tela Ignea Satanæ, p
223. and Calmet's Dictionary, under the word.

&c. or 3803.

or 1508.

A. M. 2553, and died soon after him, was buried not far from him, in one of the hills of Ephraim; Ant. Christ a place which the Israelites had in like manner presented him with, and which after1451, &c. wards descended to Phineas, his son and successor in the priesthood. And as the funerals of these two great men, so near the same time and place, called to remembrance the bones of Joseph, which, at his request, had been brought out of Egypt, but not yet interred, the two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh took this opportunity to perform their obsequies to the remains of their great progenitor, in a parcel of ground near Shechem, which Jacob having formerly bought, had (a) given to his son Joseph, and was now become the inheritance of his posterity.

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THE OBJECTION.

JOSHUA, no doubt, was a very expert general, and the success of his arms against the Canaanites makes no mean figure in history; but a great deal of this may be resolved into the treachery and perfidiousness, the folly and infatuation, of those that pretended to oppose him. How despicable an instrument soever an harlot may be, yet certainly Rahab stood Joshua in no small stead, when she concealed the spies, and (as we may suppose) helped them to the best intelligence that she could. In the New Testament indeed, she is ranked among very good company, and her character and commendation (b) is twice commemorated, but for what reason we cannot tell, unless it be (c) for lying to the government, and betraying her country into the hands of its most cruel enemies; which is surely an example that deserves our detestation rather than praise.

The Israelites were commanded by God (whose injunctions we are not to dispute) (d) to have no mercy upon the inhabitants of Canaan, but to smite and utterly destroy them; and therefore it looks like mere madness and infatuation, that a people, who knew themselves devoted to destruction, (instead of going over to the enemy, or opposing them by piece-meal) did not confederate all together, either to expel those in

This place is in the Hebrew called the Hill of Phineas, it being customary in those days for men to call places by the names of their eldest son. But then the question is, to whom did the Israelites give this hill? The most probable answer is, that they gave it to Eleazar; for he being the high priest, at the time of the division of the land, they thought proper to give him a peculiar portion distinct from other cities of the priests, which were all in the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Simeon, and none in the tribe of Eph raim, Josh. xxi. 9, 17, 19. And they made choice of this country the rather, that he might be near the tabernacle, which was at Shiloh, and near to Joshua, who lived at Shechem, to be ready on all occasions to advise him, and consult the oracle for him. But then against this there lies an objection, viz. that no Levite or priest was to have any portion in the division of the land; and therefore it is a received opinion among the Jews, that either Eleazar or Phineas had this inheritance in right of his wite: Though we cannot see, why the high priest especially, who was certainly the second person in the government, might not have a mansion-house, and some domains allot

ted him, for the greater state and dignity of his li ving, without any great infringement upon the gene. ral laws. Patrick's Commentary on Josh. xxiv. 33.

* It may reasonably be thought, that the bodies of the rest of the sons of Jacob, from whom the twelve tribes descended, were brought into Canaan to be there interred, as Josephus relates from ancient tradition, Antiquities lib. 2. c. 4. and as St Stephen confirms it, Acts vii. 16. For though Joseph excelled them all in dignity, and gave this special charge about his body, yet every tribe, no doubt, had as great a regard for their progenitor, and would be inclined to do the same for their fathers that Joseph's descendants did for him: But whether they buried them in the sepulchre of Machpelah, or in some eminent place in their own tribe, as Joseph was buried, there is no one that gives us any account. Patrick's Comment. on Josh. xxiv 32.

(a) Gen. xlviii. 22.

(b) Heb. xi. 31. and James ii. 25.

(c) Christianity as old as the Creation, p. 263. (a) Deut. vii. 2.

vaders from their countries, or to sell their own lives and liberties at as dear a price as From Josh. i. possible*.

Some of these nations were accounted a bold and warlike people; but certainly the inhabitants of Jericho acted like mere poltrons, when they cooped themselves up within the walls of the city, and never once thought of disputing the pass over the river Jordan. For, whatever we may talk of that wonderful passage, it is evident (a) from the testimony of travellers, that the river was no more than a brook in comparision, and fordable in several places, as (b) the Scripture itself allows. But even suppose it was not, it is no uncommon thing (c) in history, to read of rivers larger than this, by the force of some contrary wind, driven back, and their channels laid dry.

For a people observant of his laws, God, no doubt will, and often does, work wonders, in order to give them an advantage over their enemies; but it is hard to conceive what reason there should be for exerting any miraculous power in behalf of those who, as if ashamed of the covenant made with their forefather Abraham, had now omitted the sacrament of circumcision so long; and, in a short time after, had no manner of regard to God's sabbath, when they went sounding their horns about Jericho, or rather (as some think) assaulted the town, and imbrued their hands in the blood of so many innocents, on that sacred day.

Instead of rams horns, which are a little improper, one would think, to make musical instruments of, a soldier would be tempted to say, that the Israelites made use of battering-rams upon this occasion: But those who have studied the philosophy of sounds, will tell us, that they have a certain natural fitness to break and demolish solid bodies; or if this was not the case, from the violent effects of subterraneous eruptions, or the blowing up some magazines of powder, one would really imagine, that the fall of the walls of Jericho was occasioned by some natural cause.

Joshua, as an old experienced general, was doubtless master of many stratagems, which the ignorant herd knew nothing of; and therefore he might give the word of command for them to shout aloud, when, at the same time, he ordered the match to be laid to the train, that led to the mine under the walls, and so they, poor creatures, might imagine, that it was either their noise, or some miraculous stroke that made them fall; when, in reality, the whole was affected by nothing else but some new device in war. But by what means soever he vanquished the city, it seems a little extravagant, if not brutal in him, after he had laid it in ashes, to load it with such heavy imprecations, when he had lost no men, and met with so little molestation in taking it. What the mysterious oracle of Urim and Thummim may be, it is past the skill of man perhaps to know; but be it what it will, it seems to have done the Israelites no great service, when it could not hinder Joshua and the other princes, no not even Eleazar himself, who wore it, from being imposed on by the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites indeed acted the crafty part, and since it was to save themselves, were not much to be discommended; but certainly the Israelites might have known better, than to think themselves bound by an oath, that was not only drawn from them by wile and artifice, but was repugnant likewise to that Divine injunction which previously obliged them to extirpate all the Canaanites, even though they sued for peace never so earnestly, and

Had our author lived in the present age, he would hardly have made his deist urge the supine infatuation of the different nations of Canaan, as an objection to the credibility of the sacred narrative. We have seen the nations of Europe look, with perfect indifference for twenty years, on one great power subdu ing them all one by one, without uniting in a body to repel the unjust invader; and, among the petty nations of Canaan, there may have been as much muVOL. II

tual jealously as there undoubtedly was as much cor-
ruption in the days of Joshua, as there is at present
among the great nations of Europe.]

(a) Sandys's Travel's, lib. iii. p. 141.
(b) Josh. ii. 7.

(c) Vid. Pliny's Hist. lib. ii. cap. 102. Dionys.
Halicarn. Antiq. Roman. lib. vi. p. 351, and lib. vii.
p. 409.

C

to the end.

A. M. 2553, (a) to make no covenant with them, even though they offered to become proselytes ne&c. or 3883. ver so sincerely.

Ant. Chris.

1451, &c. or 1608.

ANSWER.

The Israelites indeed, according to the representation which Joshua gives us of them, were at the best but a giddy, thoughtless kind of people, elated with successes, dejected with any misfortunes, and wild and boisterous in the prosecution of their passions; for to insult over one poor city with imprecations and curses, when it already lay in ashes (as was the case at Jericho), to droop in their courage, and utterly despond, upon a small defeat given them at another (as was the case of Ai), and to fly into a flame, take up arms, and vow revenge, though they knew not well for what (as was the case between them and their brethren beyond Jordan), argues such a baseness of mind, and barbarity of temper, and rudeness of manners, as but badly become the elect people of God.

But well may the author of this book make thus free with his people, when he is not afraid to record such things as cannot but reflect dishonour upon the sacred attributes of God himself. Achan indeed was a wicked man in purloining some part of the plunder to himself; but what had his poor children done that they must be committed to the same flames? The city of Ai had given the Israelites some molestation, and was to be subdued at all adventures; but what necessity was there for God to make use of stratagem and artifice (means which seem below the greatness of the Almighty, and * which some nations and generals have rejected, as unworthy brave men) to give the victory to his own creatures.

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To these people of his indeed, he had been very kind in giving them what he did of the land of Canaan; but since his promise extended to the whole, since (b) from_the wilderness, and this Lebanon, unto the great river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea, towards the going down of the sun (as he assured Joshua), was to be their coast,' it looks a little strange, that God should falsify his promise (for all these territories they never possessed), and thus cut them short.

Other slips in our author may be excuseable; his talking of the (c) sanctuary's being at Shechem, when indisputably it was at Shiloh, may charitably be imputed to some small defect of memory; but it really shocks one, and is enough to impeach the authority of the book itself, to find recorded in it such passages as seem to leave an imputation of cruelty, craft, and breach of promise upon God, whom all mankind must allow to be the fountain and foundation of all honour, truth, and goodness."

(d) "WHO is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like unto thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Thou, in thy mercy, has led forth the people, whom thou hast redeemed; thou hast guided them in thy strength, unto thy holy habitation. The people shall hear, and shall be afraid; sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitatants of Palestina. The elders of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab shall tremble, and all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. Fear and dread shall fall upon them. By the greatness of thy arm they shall be as still as a stone, till thy people pass over, O Lord, till thy people pass over, whom thou hast purchased. Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheri tance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for them to dwell in; in the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hand hath established."

(a) Deut. vii. 2, &c.

It was the expression of Alexander the Great, that he would not steal a victory. The ancient Greeks gave notice to their enemies, when and where they should engage them. The old Romans knew not what cunning and subtle wiles in carrying on war meant: Non fraude, neque occultè, sed palàm, et armatum populum Romanum hostes suos ulcisci."

They sought victory only by force and honest fight. ing, desiring that their enemies might be convinced of their valour, and submit to them without regret, because they were the stronger. Calmet's Comment. on Josh. viii.

(b) Josh. i. 4.

(c) Ibid. xxiv. 25, 26.
(d) Exod. xv. 11, &c.

These words are part of that triumphant song, which Moses made upon the destruc- From Josh. i. tion of the Egyptians in the Red Sea. They are plain predictions of what befel the Is- to the end. raelites forty years after, and a declaration they are, that the conquest of their country' was not only by the order and appointment, but by the immediate help and assistance of God; (a)" for (as the Psalmist expresses it) they got not the land in possession through their own sword, neither was it their own arm that helped them; but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hast a favour unto them." And if God so immediately concerned himself in the conquest of the country, we need not wonder that we hear of the people, who were to defend it, being amazed and trembling, and melting away for fear. The Jewish doctors have a tradition, that the vast heaps of waters, piled upon one another, while the Israelites passed over the river Jordan, being seen by the people of Jericho, and other adjacent places, occasioned so general a consternation that they never once thought of maintaining the pass. And indeed their consternation must have been very great, when we find them enclosing themselves within their walls, and suffering the Israelites to surround them seven days successively, without even once attempting to make a sally. They saw, in short, that a power, superior to all human opposition, was engaged against them; and therefore, whatever prior measures they had taken for their mutual defence, upon the approach of an army commanded by one who, when he pleases, (b) "maketh the devices of the people ineffectual, and casteth out the counsels of princes," they were all broken and disconcerted.

It cannot be denied indeed, but that, in ancient times, there was a great affinity between the business of an hostess and an harlot. Those who kept inns, or public houses for the entertainment of strangers, made no scruple of prostituting their bodies; and for this reason perhaps it is, that, in the Hebrew tongue, there is but one word, viz. zonah, to denote persons of both professions. For this reason very likely it was, that the Septuagint, speaking of Rahab, gives her the appellation of an harlot, and (as the Septuagint was at this time the common translation of the Jews) for this very reason the two apostles, (c) St Paul and (d) St James, as they found it in the translation, might make use of the same expression. It is to be observed, however, that as the expression is capable of another sense, the Chaldee paraphrast calls her by a word, which comes from the Greek Пardoxturgía, or a woman that kept a public house, without any work of infamy; and therefore charity should incline us to think the best of a person, whom both these apostles have ranked with Abraham, the father of the faithful, and propounded as an example of faith and good works; who was admitted into the society of God's people; married into a † noble family of the tribe of Judah; and of whose posterity Christ, the Saviour of the world, was born. [At the same time let it be remembered, that, supposing her to have been a harlot in the worst sense of the word, the licentiousness of her life was probably the offspring of the false religion, in which she had been educated, and that when she was admitted into the true church, her sins might be forgiven her, and her mind purified by the spirit of God, just as was, long afterwards, the case of the Gentile converts to the religion of Christ. Abraham had been an idolater in his youth; and who will take it upon him to say, that his life was then purer than Rahab's? Though the father of the faithful became the greatest character of his age.]

To save the lives of the innocent is certainly a very commendable thing; but whether it may be done by the help of dissimulation and falsehood, or whether Rahab, in concealing the spies, and pretending to the king's messengers that they were just gone,

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