The Bible: what it is Part 16

Yet there was also another and a weighty reason in the case. It was the universal belief that the greatness and honour of a Deity were to be judged of by the standard of great and signal victories which he gave to the nation which he had taken under his protection. The conquest of Canaan, therefore, was a demonstration to the Canaanites of the feebleness, and even nothingness, of their own G.o.ds, and of the superior power of the G.o.d of Israel. And this impression would be strengthened by the fact of success and reverses occurring in exact proportion to the faithfulness or the disobedience of the Israelites towards their G.o.d, their natural leader, protector, and king.'

Where is the record of the 'extreme cruelty' and 'abominable crimes'

of these nations? Were they more cruel than the Israelites, or did they commit more abominable and cruel crimes than those of Lot, of Onan, of Jacob, of Judah, of Reuben, of Simeon, and Levi, of the people of Benjamin, or of the many other Israelitish men and women whose names we fortunately cannot pollute our pages with, but the record of whose horrible and detestable enormities are still to be found in the legislative enactments which the Deity found it necessary to make for the guidance of his chosen people? And why did the Deity give way to the 'universal belief' of an ignorant and vicious people? Cannot the great Jehovah win men by his mighty and irresistible will rather than by sword and fire? 'The conquests,' says Dr. Smith,' were a demonstration to the conquered of the power of the Deity.' Not so, for in a wholesale ma.s.sacre, they took away from the {113} Canaanites the capability for appreciating any demonstration however clear; logic has little effect on a man whose throat is cut from ear to ear.

*Chapter ix., v. 5. By chap, viii., verses 30 and 31, we find that Gideon had seventy sons, besides Abimelech; yet here are seventy killed by order of Abimelech, and the youngest escapes, and this youngest son makes the confusion worse confounded, when speaking against Abimelech; for he mentions his seventy brethren slain on one stone (verse 18); and the number is again repeated in verses 24 and 56.

It is evident that Jotham entertained very different ideas of the Deity from those held by John the Evangelist, for he speaks of the olive, of whose fatness both G.o.ds and men make use (_vide_ Douay), and of wine which cheereth G.o.d and man.

Verse 23. 'G.o.d sent an evil spirit.' Out of perfect good, evil cannot come, yet perfection is alleged to be an attribute of the Deity, who sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem.

*Chapter xi., v. 1. According to Deuteronomy, chap, xxiii., v. 2, Jephtha was debarred from entering into the congregation of the Lord.

Verse 15. 'Thus saith Jephtha, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Amnion;' yet according to Joshua, chap, xiii., v. xxv., Moses gave to the tribe of Gad 'half the land of the children of Ammon.'

Verse 24. Here we have the fact revealed, that each tribe or nation had a G.o.d peculiar to itself: one worshipped Chemosh, another Baal, another Jehovah, and each tribe believed that its particular Deity fought its battles, and that when a battle was lost, then the G.o.d was displeased, and a sacrifice was wanting to restore favour.

Verses 30 to 40. Voltaire says:--

'It is evident from the text, that Jephtha promised to sacrifice the first person that should come out of his house to congratulate him on his victory over the Ammonites. His only daughter presented herself before him for that purpose; he tore his garments, and immolated her, after having permitted her to go and deplore, in the recesses of the mountains, the calamity of her dying a virgin. The daughters of Israel long continued to celebrate this painful event, and devoted four days in the year to lamentation for the daughter of Jephtha.

'In whatever period this history was written, whether it was imitated from the Greek history of Agamemnon and Idomeneus, or was the model from which that history was taken; whether it might be anterior or posterior to similar narratives in a.s.syrian history, is not the point I am now examining. I keep strictly to the text. Jephtha vowed to make his daughter a burnt offering, and fulfilled his vow.

'It was expressly commanded by the Jewish law to sacrifice men devoted to the Lord:--"Every man that shall be devoted shall not be redeemed; but shall be put to death without remission." The Vulgate translates it: "He shall not be redeemed but shall die the death."

'It was in virtue of this law that Samuel hewed in pieces King {114} Agag, whom, as we have already seen, Saul had pardoned. In fact, it was for sparing Agag that Saul was rebuked by the Lord, and lost his kingdom.

'Thus, then, we perceive sacrifices of human blood clearly established; there is no point of history more incontestable: we can only judge of a nation by its own archives, and by what it relates concerning itself.

'What is the natural meaning of the phrase, "he did to her as he had vowed."

'What had Jephtha vowed? What had he promised by an oath to perform? To kill his daughter; to offer her up as a burnt offering; and he did kill her.

'Read Calmet's dissertation on the rashness of Jephtha's vow, and its fulfilment; read the law which he cites, that terrible law of Leviticus, in the twenty-seventh chapter, which commands, that all which shall be devoted to the Lord shall not be ransomed, but shall die the death. _Non redimetur, sed morte morietur_.

'Observe the mult.i.tude of examples by which this most astonishing truth is attested. Look at the Amalekites and Canaanites; look at the King of Arad and all his family, subjected to the law of devotion; look at the priest Samuel slaying King Agag with his own hands, and cutting him into pieces as a butcher cuts up an ox in his slaughterhouse?

Verse 39. 'And it was a custom in Israel.' What meaning can we attach to these words? Our translators have prefixed the word '_That_' to the next verse, to make people believe the custom to refer to the weeping for Jephtha's daughter; if this were the correct reading, then the phrase is incorrect; it is in the past tense, and after relating the fulfilment of Jephtha's vow, adds 'it was a custom.' What? The only answer is, that human sacrifice was a custom. In feet, if it had not been an established custom, the whole nation would have cried out as one man against the murder of Jephtha's daughter. (See also page 54.)

*Chapter xiii., v. 5. 'No razor shall touch his head;' yet despite this imperative command of the Omnipotent Deity, a razor did touch Samson's head. (_Vide_ chap. xvi. v. 19.)

Verse 9. G.o.d hearkened to the voice of Manoah. (See Joshua, ehap. x., v.

14, which contradicts this.)

Verse 19. This is a repet.i.tion of the conjuring referred to on page 111; here the angel vanishes in the flame.

*Chapter xiv., vv. 8 and 9. Bees do not usually rest on carrion at all, much less store honey in a rotting carca.s.s; but it is not more surprising that this should happen, than that Samson should tear a young lion asunder with nothing to aid him but his naked hands.

*Chapter xv., v. 4. Foxes must have been very plentiful in the country, where Samson then was; but they must have taken some time to catch. The following is a foot-note to the Douay, 'Being judge of the people, he might have many to a.s.sist him to catch with nets or otherwise a number of these animals.' It is difficult to conceive why the Philistines so neglected their own interests, and quietly {115} allowed Samson to capture and turn loose these 300 foxes amongst their crops; and I confess that I cannot quite discover the utility and morality of the course pursued by Samson in burning the corn fields. Verses 14 and 15. Shamgar's feat, commented on in page 109, sinks into utter insignificance beside this. 1000 men all killed with the new jaw-bone of an a.s.s--these evidently slain at one time as they fell in 'heaps upon heaps.' If Samson killed the Philistines at the rapid rate of one per minute, which would be good work considering the weapon employed, the slaughter, if conducted without cessation, would then occupy nearly seventeen hours; and we cannot wonder that Samson was 'sore athirst.'

The water flowing from the jaw-bone is a miracle. As to miracles, see pages 74 and 75.

*Chapter xvi., v. 1. If the rulers of the Israelites were so immoral, the Israelitish people must have been similar in character.

Verses 7 and 11. Truthfulness does not seem to have been one of Samson's qualifications.

Verse 27. I should like to have seen the house which Samson threw down; it must have been a curious specimen of ancient architecture. We are informed that it had an immense roof, supported by two pillars, rather close together, between which Samson stood, and we are also informed, that 3,000 men and women were on that roof 'beholding Samson's play'

(_vide_ Douay translation), although, unless the 3,000 could see through the roof, this must have been another miracle, as Samson would be entirely hidden from their sight by the roof and pillars.

I cannot discover the most remote moral connected with the history of Samson; nothing but robbery, wanton destruction of property, immorality, and murder. 1st. He enters into a wager with his wife's friends; having lost his wager, he robs and murders thirty men, to enable him to pay his loss. This career of useless crime and bloodshed is continued, but his own profligacy is ultimately the cause of his being taken prisoner, and punished by the Philistines; yet this is a judge of G.o.d's chosen people.

*Chapter xix. The number 'nineteen' is badly connected in this book. The remarks on page 36 apply here, but I cannot pa.s.s the matter thus. These are G.o.d's chosen people, men of the tribe of Benjamin, people whom G.o.d has visited personally, men for whom he has slaughtered the unfortunate Canaanites by thousands, and yet so horribly, basely depraved. Where was the fire from heaven this time? Fathers! do you place this book in the bands of your sons and daughters, and tell them that it is the Holy Bible? If you do, will they not learn the horrible state of society amongst G.o.d's own selected people? Will they be elevated and improved by the knowledge thus conferred? Will it make them better men and women?

I say, no; and every man who devotes thought to the subject will be compelled to echo my denial.

Is it possible that events, so similar as those related in Genesis, chap. xix., vv. 7 and 8, and w. 23 and 24 of this chapter, could have twice happened in the world's history? It cannot be true. If it be true, {116} surely there could never have been a G.o.d regulating the affairs of the universe, predestining and permitting such terribly disgusting obscenities and cruelties as those here detailed.

Verse 29. If the twelve pieces were intended for the twelve tribes, this would include the offending tribe of Benjamin, which does not seem to be the meaning of the text.

*Chapter xx., v. 28. Phinehas, the grand-son of Aaron, could not have been alive at this period, if we suppose the occurrences related in chronological order. Divines overcome the difficulty by alleging that the last chapters of the book should be the first, as they refer to events immediately succeeding the death of Joshua. A devout believer would reverently admire the mysterious manner in which G.o.d revealed his Holy Word upside down; but a thinking man would recognise in this error conclusive evidence against the a.s.sertion that the book is a revelation from G.o.d.

'The name of this Book is taken from the t.i.tle of the functionaries, whose actions and administration it princ.i.p.ally relates. This name is [------] _shophetim_, plural of [------] _shophet_, a judge. This word designates the ordinary magistrates, properly called judges; and is here also applied to the chief rulers, perhaps because _ruling_ and _judging_ are so intimately connected in the East that sitting in judgment is one of the princ.i.p.al employments of an Oriental monarch.

'The book is easily divisible into two parts; one ending with chap.

xvi., contains the history of the Judges, from Othniel to Samson, and the other, which occupies the rest of the book, forms a sort of appendix, relating particular transactions, which the author seems to have reserved for the end. If these transactions had been placed in order of time, we should, probably, have found them in a much earlier portion of the work, as the incidents related seem to have occurred not long after the death of Joshua.

'The author of the Book is unknown. Some ascribe it to Samuel, some to Hezekiah, and others to Ezra. The reason which has princ.i.p.ally influenced the last determination of the authorship is found in chap, xviii., v. 30:--"He and his son were priests to the tribe of Dan, until the day of the captivity of the land." But this may have referred to the captivity of the ark among the Philistines, or to some particular captivity of the tribe of Dan; or rather of that part of the tribe settled in the north; or the reference may have been to both circ.u.mstances. It is also possible that the clause, "until the day of the captivity of the land," may actually have been added after the captivity. That the book itself was written after the establishment of the monarchical government, appears from the habit which the author has of saying,that the event he is relating happened in the time when "

there was no king in Israel," which renders it evident that there was a king when he wrote.' ( _Vide_ 'Hebrew Records.')

The recital of the adventures of Samson, of Micah, etc., with so many slight particulars fully enlarged upon, is conclusive evidence against this Book as a history, for it is impossible to conceive such minute particularity of detail in individual cases, and yet such an utter neglect of even the most general dates in the history of the nation.

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BOOK VIII. RUTH

In the Hebrew Bible this book, as mentioned on page 1 occupies a later place.

'The Book of Ruth is properly part of the Book of Judges, from which it has been separated for no very obvious reason. From its brevity it is not likely to contain many pa.s.sages to aid us in our present inquiry.

Those which I have discovered are the following:--

'"Chap. i., v. 1. Now it came to pa.s.s in the days when the Judges ruled that there was a famine in the land."

'This was written after the Judges had ceased to rule; and consequently the work is not contemporary with Ruth, who lived "when the Judges ruled."

'"Chap, iv., v. 21, 22. And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David."

'Bishop Patrick's note to this is worthy of notice:--

'"Salmon married Rahab, and therefore lived at the time of the Israelites' first entrance into Canaan. Now between this period and the birth of David are computed 366 years. Thus, as only four generations are mentioned, we must either suppose that some names of persons who come between are omitted (for which we have no warrant), or that, as is more probable, Salmon, Boaz, Obed, and Jesse all had their children born to them at a very advanced period of their lives."