Let us now direct our attention to the tribes themselves in their individual capacity, in their relation to one another, and in their legislative functions.
It is agreed, on all hands, by those who have written on the Hebrew institutes, that each tribe formed a separate state. Each composed an entire political community, in some respects independent of the others. Each was under its own proper government, administered its own affairs by its own representative assemblies and magistrates, and claimed and exercised many of the rights of sovereignty. Its local legislation and municipal arrangements were in its own hands. "Dan," says the venerable patriarch Jacob, "shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel." On this, bishop Sherlock, an author of great learning and judgment, observes, "It is evident that every tribe had its own prince and judge, and that every prince or head of a tribe judged his own people; consequently every tribe had a scepter and lawgiver, as well as the tribe of Judah." In other words, every tribe had its own proper staff of command and a distinct administration of justice. The princes of the tribes, chiefs of families, judges, and genealogist governed the tribes of Israel, as distinct and independent sovereignties. The tribes were all equal in respect of political dignity and right. The sovereignty of Simeon, which numbered but 22,000 men capable of bearing arms, was as complete as that of Judah, which had 76,000. No one tribe had any political superiority or right of command over any other. This is plain from the fact that, on the death of Joshua, the people inquire of God, "Who should go up for them against the Canaanites?"1 This question could not have been asked if any one tribe had the right of precedency and government over the rest. The answer was, "Judah shall go up."2 Judah thus acquired the right of leading by a decision of the oracle, a clear proof that such a right did not otherwise belong to that tribe.
The powers reserved to the separate tribes, and freely exercised by them, were very great. We find them often acting like independent nations. This was the case not only when there was neither king nor judge in the land, but even under the government of the kings. They levied war and made peace whenever it seemed good to them. Thus we find Joshua exhorting his brethren, the children of Joseph, to make war against the Perizzites,3 and Zebulon and Naphtali uniting to fight against Jabin.4 We see the tribe of Dan, singly and of its own proper motion, attacking and destroying the people of Laish, and afterwards taking possession of their city and the surrounding country. A very remarkable record of this kind is contained in the fifth chapter of 1 Chronicles.5 It is there related that the tribes beyond Jordan, even in the reign of Saul, carried on, upon their own responsibility, a most important war. Yet so little interest was taken in it by the other tribes that the author of the book of Samuel has not so much as alluded to it in his history of that prince, though, in a military point of view, it was a far more brilliant affair than all his martial achievements together. Four nations were leagued together against the trans-Jordanic tribes in this war. The booty taken from the enemy was immense--50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep, 2,000 asses, 100,000 prisoners of war; and of slain, the historian says, "There fell down many." The entire territories of these nations came into the possession of the Hebrews as the fruit of this contest, "and they dwelt in their steads until the captivity." As late as the reign of Hezekiah, we see the tribe of Simeon waging two successful wars--one against the inhabitants of Gedor, and the other against the remnant of the Amalekites--and that without aid or authority from its neighbor republics.6
Some occurrences of a different kind in the history of the kings will further illustrate the powers which the constitution conferred upon the separate tribes. By divine direction David had been anointed king in the lifetime of Saul.7 That unction, however, did not inaugurate him as king, nor confer any authority upon him. It was rather a prophecy in action, foreshadowing his future elevation to the throne. Therefore, when Saul had fallen in battle, David returned, as a private person, to one of the cities of Judah. There he awaited the action of the people in his behalf. At first he became king of Judah alone, and that by the free choice of the citizens of that tribe.8 In the message which he sent to the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead, thanking them for their kindness to Saul, he does not arrogate any right of command over them, nor address them in quality of sovereign. He simply informs them that the men of Judah had chosen him for their king, thus virtually inviting them to follow the example.9 Meanwhile, the other eleven tribes had anointed Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, as their king.10 It is evident that David did not regard that as an illegal act on their part, for he limited his hostile movements simply to defending himself, when attacked by the armies of Ishbosheth. Joab, his general-in-chief, had no orders to attack the troops of his rival, or to maintain his own claim to the throne by force of arms. Ishbosheth reigned two years without any rupture with David or his men, nor did the civil war commence till Abner, captain of his host, crossing over Jordan with his forces, provoked an encounter. Joab, in a conference with Abner, intimated that he would not have attacked the adherents of David's rival, unless he had been provoked to it, thus clearly showing that his orders were to act only on the defensive.11 One after another, the eleven tribes came into the interest of David, and at length the whole nation chose him for their king, and made a league with him, that is, proposed a capitulation limiting the royal prerogative, to which he solemnly assented--after which he was anointed sovereign of all Israel, as having been elected by the voice of the people to that high dignity.12
The many and heavy exactions to which the people had been subjected during the reign of Solomon had greatly exasperated their minds. Towards the close of his life, their complaints became loud and bitter. On his death, they proposed to his son Rehoboam certain new stipulations, with a view to lighten the public burdens. Their request, though reasonable, was insolently and contemptuously rejected by the fiery young monarch. Thereupon ten of the tribes refused their allegiance to the new government, and chose a king of ;heir own. It would almost seem as if this was not an act of rebellion but the exercise of a reserved right, for Judah was forbidden by the Lord to make war upon the ten tribes. At any rate, an instantaneous revolt of this kind could not have occurred, unless the Israelites had been governed, as Michaelis expresses it, "tribe-wise," each tribe being a little republic, and having its own leading men, according to whose views the rest of the people regulated their conduct.
From the above detail it appears that "the Hebrew constitution authorized each tribe to provide for its own interests; or, if the strength of any one of them was insufficient for the purpose, to unite with some of the other tribes, and make common cause with them. We frequently find several tribes thus acting in concert. Judah and Simeon united in their war against the Canaanites, as did also Ephraim and Manasseh. The tribes of Zebulon and Naphtali united with Barak to oppose the army of Jabin. Manasseh, Asher, Zebulon, and Naphtali chose Gideon for their leader against the Midianites. the tribes east of Jordan made choice of Jephthah for their general to carry on a war against the Ammonites. In later times, and during the reign of Saul, the same tribes made war upon the Hagarites, the Ituraeans, the Nobadites, and the Naphishites. Upon the death of Saul, eleven tribes remained faithful in their allegiance to his family, and seven years intervened before they submitted to David. After the death of Solomon, ten tribes revolted from the house of David, and elected Jeroboam for their king. In short, any tribe, or any number of tribes united, exercised the power of convening legislative assemblies, passing resolves, waging wars, making treaties, and electing for themselves chiefs, generals, regents, and kings."
In such a constitution of the tribes, various disturbing forces could not but exist, and the history informs us of the action of these antagonistic forces upon several occasions. Rivalries would naturally spring up among twelve sovereign states so closely connected with each other. Lesser interests would sometimes stand in the way of the general welfare. Hence arose jealousies, which sometimes issued in fierce, sanguinary, and protracted civil wars.13 All this we may readily believe from the examples of Holland, Switzerland, the United states, and especially of the German empire, which, from the equality of its constituent parts, is perpetually distracted by divisions, and has often been the scene of intestine hostilities. Nothing, then, could be more probable than sectional jealousies and rivalries among the constituent members of the Hebrew commonwealth, and Michaelis has well remarked that two cases may be supposed, in which they would certainly break out and display all their mischievous effects: (1) if any two tribes became more powerful than the others, in which event they would regard each other with suspicion and hatred; and (2) if any one tribe acquired considerable ascendancy over the rest, of which the consequence would be the excitement of their universal envy and opposition. The learned commentator adds that both these cases actually occurred in the Israelitish republic--a fact of so much importance that it may be said to form the key to the whole Hebrew history.
The Israelites entered Palestine with a force of 600,000 citizens capable of bearing arms, exclusive of the tribe of Levi. Of course, the medium strength of the tribes would be about 50,000. Those tribes, which exceeded that number, would be accounted strong, and, in like manner, those which fell below it would be deemed weak. It may gratify the reader to see the comparative strength of the tribes, at this time, brought into one view. This is done in the following statement, in which fractions of thousands are omitted for the sake of brevity. The tribe of Joseph numbered 85,000; Judah, 76,000; Issachar, 64,000; Zebulon, 60,000; Asher, 53,000; Naphtali, 45,000; Reuben, 43,000; Gad, 40,000; and Simeon, 22,000.14 It will not escape the notice of the reader that one tribe, that of Simeon, was very weak; that two, Joseph and Judah, were very powerful; while the others did not vary materially from the average strength. The tribe of Joseph was, indeed, divided into two half-tribes; but it was still, and even as late as near the close of Joshua's administration, regarded and spoken of as one tribe.15 Ephraim, however, in consequence of the prophetic blessing of Jacob, and the predictions concerning his future extraordinary increase,16 though as yet numerically weak, in comparison with Manasseh, was regarded as his superior, and, indeed, obtained a certain preeminence over all the other tribes.
From this time, therefore, we find a perpetual emulation and rivalry existing between the two tribes of Ephraim and Judah. This sentiment of jealousy, sometimes reaching even to hatred, displayed itself on all occasions; and allusions to it are not infrequent in the prophetical writings.17 It is very distinctly recognized by Isaiah,18 when, foretelling the peaceful effect of Messiah's reign, he says, "And the envy of Ephraim shall depart, and the enemies of Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim." The prophet predicts a state of harmony and peace by declaring that the hereditary and proverbial enmity of Judah and Ephraim shall cease. Throughout the entire Hebrew history, from the exodus to the captivity, these two were regarded as the leading tribes of Israel. In the wilderness, Moses gave the precedence of all the tribes to Judah, in assigning to it the most honorable place in the army, whether in the camp or on the march.19 But after his death, two events occurred, which tended greatly to the exaltation and preeminence of Ephraim. That tribe had the good fortune to give to the nation a chief magistrate in the person of Joshua, and also to have the tabernacle, the palace of their invisible, heavenly king, set up in Shiloh, a place within the territory of Ephraim.20 Both these circumstances advanced the honor of the tribe; and the latter, by promoting trade and marriages, gave it no considerable advantages, in respect of the increase of wealth and population. From time, the ambition of Ephraim knew no bounds. The jealousy of the Ephraimites towards the other tribes appears in their conduct to Gideon and Jephthah.21 Their special jealousy of Judah showed itself in their refusal to submit to David, after the death of Saul;22 in their adherence to Absalom, when he revolted against his father;23 and in the readiness with which they joined in the revolt of Jeroboam, who was himself of the tribe of Ephraim.24 The author of the seventy eighth Psalm25 represents Ephraim as having been the chief tribe, and God has having rejected it for its political and religious apostasy, when the tabernacle and the kingdom were transferred to Judah. Even while Ephraim continued the most influential tribe, Judah enjoyed a more extensive sway than the other tribes to the West of the Jordan. When the monarchy was substituted for the democracy, a king was elected from Benjamin, the youngest and weakest of all the tribes. This seems to be a perfect leveling of the tribes. Apparently no preference was given to any of them on account of any preeminence in dignity, or power, supposed or real. If, however, we look a little below the surface of things, we shall judge otherwise. We must bear in mind how exceedingly genealogical and clannish was the way of thinking among the Hebrews. This will throw no little light upon the point. As Benjamin and Joseph were sons of the same mother, the Benjamites regarded themselves as in some sense belonging to the tribe of Joseph. Of this we have a certain proof in the fact that Shimei, though a Benjamite, said that he was the first man of all the house of Joseph to meet King David, when he returned victorious after crushing the rebellion of Absalom.26 Hence, even when Benjamin was advanced in the person of Saul to the leadership of Israel, Ephraim still enjoyed a certain preeminence. In the eightieth Psalm, composed about this time, Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh are mentioned as the chief tribes, Ephraim being placed before the other two.
The rivalship between the tribes continued, with unabated force, during the reign of Saul. That king had but little authority in the tribe of Judah, for, when he was pursuing David with the bitterest enmity to take his life, David had little difficulty in eluding him, by fleeing from place to place within the limits of that tribe. And when at last he fled into the land of the Philistines, there does not appear to have been any necessity for his doing so. He might have remained where he was, without much peril of a capture. On the other hand, Saul, as king, was very partial to his own kindred, including, beyond a doubt, the children of Joseph, as well as those of Benjamin. Upon them he conferred most of the offices within the gift of the crown. This he openly acknowledged, and made it the ground of a claim to their gratitude and support.27 When Saul fell in battle, eleven of the tribes, doubtless under the lead of Ephraim, adhered to his family, and chose Ishbosheth for their king. Judah alone recognized David as their sovereign. But David was a man of consummate ability and great nobleness of character. He acted with prudence, moderation, and magnanimity. These are qualities which never fail to excite the admiration and love of the people. They so won upon the tribes of Israel, that, by degrees, they all voluntarily submitted themselves to his rule. It was the surrender of their hearts rather than of their arms. The civil and military talents of David were equal to each other, and both were of the highest order. Under his administration, the territories of the state were greatly enlarged; its wealth and power were increased; and its renown was spread far and wide. Its name struck terror, not only into the petty tribes in its immediate neighborhood, but into the great nations dwelling on the shores of the distant Euphrates. The tribe of Judah now became exceedingly powerful. Its numbers were incredibly multiplied, the effect not merely of the natural increase of population, but also of the multitude of foreigners who flocked to its capital and became proselytes to the Jewish religion. Even before this time, the other tribes had begun to be called by the common name of Israel.28 Thenceforward Israel came to be their ordinary designation, and they were animated by a common jealousy of the tribe of Judah.29 It was in this sentiment that the roots of that unnatural rebellion excited by Absalom found a congenial soil. The extraordinary success of that patricidal revolt has been the puzzle of many, and is wholly inexplicable, except as the result of a deeply seated and long cherished animosity on the part of the other tribes towards the tribe of Judah. This animosity even broke out, and raged violently, on the king's return. A strife arose between Judah and the other tribes, as to which should recall him to the throne, and it came near ending in a revolt of the eleven tribes from David.30
The power and splendor of the tribe of Judah culminated in the reign of Solomon. David and Solomon, kings of the house of Judah, were no common men. For seventy three years did the other tribes submit to their government, awed by the splendor of their genius, the force of their character, and the vigor of their rule. But the fire was all the while glowing under the ashes, and waited but an occasion to burst forth in fierce and devouring flames. That occasion was found in an imprudent declaration of Rehoboam, the son and successor of Solomon, on his accession to the throne. Ten of the tribes, led by Jeroboam, an Ephraimite, revolted, shook off their allegiance to the kings of Judah, and set up a separate kingdom, with Jeroboam for their king.31 He takes but a superficial view of the Hebrew history, who regards the conduct of Rehoboam, however unwise or even unjust it might have been, as the cause of this schism. It was but the occasion, the pretext. The cause was the old grudge of Ephraim against Judah. The separation was not a sudden occurrence; it was not fortuitous; it was but the natural result of causes, which had long been working. It is very remarkable, that, of all the kings who reigned over Israel, although they were very far from succeeding one another in the line of hereditary descent, there was not one that did not belong to Ephraim; so that, with the single exception of Saul, all the Hebrew kings were natives of one or other of the two rival tribes.
As the result either of an admirable stroke of policy on the part of David, or of an equally admirable good fortune, Benjamin, after the separation, remained united to Judah, and the two tribes ever afterwards formed one kingdom. The event to which I refer was the choice by David of the city of Jerusalem for his residence and capital. This city was within the territory of Benjamin, but it lay close to the confines of Judah, and had long been inhabited by members of the latter tribe, as well as of the former. David's selection of it for the royal residence was well calculated to flatter the pride of the Benjamites, and unite them more closely to his family. It appears to have had the effect to extinguish the jealousy which Benjamin, in common with Ephraim, had felt towards the tribe of Judah. At all events, its issue was, as stated above, to link the fortunes of these two tribes together in indissoluble bonds.
Such, then, were the jealous rivalries, which, sometimes more and sometimes less active, we find always subsisting among the tribes of Israel, and such the bitter fruits which they produced. But it was not ambition alone which disturbed the peace of the nation, and caused the blood of the citizens to stream forth in civil strife. Great as the reserved rights of the tribes were, they occasionally magnified them beyond their just bounds and betrayed a strong disposition to nullify the laws of the general government. But such a procedure was at the peril of the tribe engaging in it. In the book of Judges32 we have a painfully interesting account of an act of nullification on the part of Benjamin, wherein we see that the authority of the national law was vindicated by the other tribes with a severity bordering on barbarism. The tribe of Benjamin was prophetically described as a ravening wolf33--a figure highly descriptive of its fierce and warlike character. The case to which I refer was this. A Levite and his wife were traveling peaceably through the territories of Benjamin. At Gibeah, some demons in the form of men, called by the historian "sons of Belial," abused the latter in such a way as to cause her death. The Levite appealed for retribution to the tribes in a general court. With the exception of Benjamin, they assembled at once in convention at Mizpeh. There, the states-general, in regular session, heard the appeal to their justice. They carefully examined into the facts of the case. They found certain of the inhabitants of Gibeah guilty, not only of a violation of the rights of hospitality and humanity, and of a riotous breach of the peace, but moreover, which, in a national point of view, was of greater importance, of a breach and violation of the common right of the tribes to a safe passage through the whole country. It was, therefore, not so such an injury to any private persons, as to the tribes of Ephraim and Judah, to which the Levite and his wife belonged. Indeed, it was an injury to all the tribes in common, since the case of Ephraim and Judah might become the case of any of them. No man in all Israel could have any security in traveling, if such open outrage and violence were suffered to go unpunished. But the tribes were independent of each other. No one tribe had jurisdiction over any of the rest. Benjamin was a sovereign state. Neither Judah nor Ephraim could, by the constitution, call the inhabitants of Gibeah to account. This was, therefore, a case calling for the interposition of the states-general. Yet even they could not proceed directly against the guilty parties. That would have been in derogation of the sovereignty of Benjamin. Therefore, having by investigation satisfied themselves of the facts in the case, they sent a summons to the tribe of Benjamin to deliver up the delinquents, that they might be dealt with according to law. Benjamin declined a compliance with this summons, and determined rather to dissolve the union of the states than submit to the will of the nation, though expressed in a deliberate, dispassionate, and constitutional manner. This changed the entire case. It was no longer the murder of a private person by some ill-disposed individuals of the city of Gibeah, but an open rebellion of the whole tribe of Benjamin. The authority of the national union was opposed and set at naught. And, not content with refusing to give up the murderers to justice, Benjamin raised an army to protect them, and levied war against all Israel. The rest of the tribes declared them in a state of rebellion, and proceeded against them accordingly. So stubborn and unbending was the spirit of the nullifying tribe, that the national army was twice defeated. But in the third battle Benjamin was routed, with the loss of 25,000 men; and there was no danger of the offense being repeated, for the offending city was leveled with the ground, the country was made a wilderness, and six hundred men, posted on the inaccessible rock of Rimmon, were all that remained of the contumacious tribe.
From this history of the Benjamite rebellion the passage is natural to a consideration of the union of the tribes in a general government; for, while the history illustrates the distinct nationality and independent spirit--I might almost add, the turbulent temper--of the separate tribes, it affords, at the same time, a proof and an example of the reality, strength, and vigor of the national administration. The central government was not a mere confederacy of states. Such an organization would have been too feeble, and too tardy in its action for the elements which it was intended to control. It was government the proper sense of the term, and not a confederation. Moses drew up a constitution which applied, not merely to each tribe as a distinct political body, but also to the individuals in the tribe. He made it bear on every individual in every tribe, thus giving to each a personal interest in the national concerns, and making him as much a member of the nation, as he was of his own tribe. The tribes formed but one nation. And though they had separate interests, as being in some respects independent states, they had also general interests, as being united in one body politic. They had much in common to draw them together in bonds of brotherhood, and strengthen the ties of political union--a common ancestor; the illustrious depository of promises appertaining to all the tribes alike; a common God, who was their chosen and covenanted king; a common tabernacle and temple, which was the royal palace; a common oracle, the urim and thummim; a common high priest, the prime minister of the king; a common learned class, who possessed cities in all the tribes; a common faith and worship, which at the same time differed fundamentally from that of all other contemporaneous nations; and a common law of church and state. Thus, while each Hebrew was strongly concerned to maintain the honor of his tribe, the constitution of the general government gave him an equal interest in the honor of his country.
Thus we see, that the constitution was so contrived, that, notwithstanding the partial independence and sovereignty of the separate vibes, each, as constitution a part of the national union, had a kind of superintendence over all the rest, in regard to their observance of the law. Any of the tribes could be called to an account by the others for an infraction of the organic law, and, if they refused to give satisfaction, they might be punished by war. Obedience to the states-general, in whom the tribes were united into one government, was a fundamental obligation of every member of the national union. On this point the constitution was imperative. Disobedience to their orders, a rebellious opposition to their authority, was an act of high treason, the greatest crime that can be committed, since it is an injury, not to any one man or any number of private persons, but to the whole society, and aims at subverting the peace and order of the government, on which the property, liberty, happiness, and life of the citizens depend.
Let me adduce two proofs of this obligation on the part of the tribes to submit to the will of the nation, as embodied in the resolves of the general government.
The first is taken from a record, which I find in the thirty-sixth chapter of Numbers.34 By a law, passed some time before, constituting daughters, in default of sons, the legal heirs of their fathers, it would happen that the inheritance of the daughters of Zelophehad, who belonged to the tribe of Manasseh, if they married into another tribe, would be transferred from their own to their husband's tribe. This, should it ever occur, Manasseh thought would be a hardship and a wrong. What course did that tribe pursue? She did not attempt to rebel against the authority of the nation and nullify the laws of the land. She brought the case before the national legislature and sought relief through its action. She appealed to the justice of the nation in congress assembled, just as the states of our union do. Her petition was respectfully considered, and a law was enacted in accordance with its prayer. By this law, heiresses were required to marry in their own tribes, that no part of the ancient inheritance might be alienated from the original family. It is plain, that, if the decree of the nation had been different from what it was, Manasseh's duty would have been submission. Resistance and nullification would have been in derogation and contravention of rightful authority.
The second proof of the duty of obedience on the part of the tribes to the decrees of the general government, I derive from the history of the wrong done by certain Benjamites to a Levite, who was passing through their territory, taken in connection with the national proceedings which followed thereupon.35 The states-general immediately convened at Mizpeh, and passed a resolve, calling upon the local government of Benjamin to deliver up the offenders, that they might be dealt with as their conduct deserved. This order Benjamin refused to obey. What said the national government? Did it say that Benjamin, being a sovereign state, had a right to interpret the constitution for herself, and to act her own pleasure in the matter? Far from it. It declared that she had been guilty of an infraction of the organic law and an act of treason against the state. And the nation proceeded at once to vindicate her own sovereignty and supremacy. There was no coaxing, no truckling, no faltering. Not honeyed words, but hard blows, promptly administered, and with a terrible energy and rapidity of repetition, were the means employed to sustain the majesty of the government and the authority of the law.
It thus appears that the Hebrew tribes were, in some respects, independent sovereignties, while, in other respects, their individual sovereignty was merged in the broader and higher sovereignty of the commonwealth of Israel They were independent republics, having each a local government, which was sovereign in the exercise of its reserved rights; yet they all united together and formed one great republic, with a general government, which was sovereign in the highest sense. The constitution of Israel had, in this respect, a similitude to our own, which will strike every reader. It may also be considered as in some measure resembling that of Switzerland, where thirteen cantons, of which each has a government of its own, and exercises the right of war, are nevertheless united into one great state under a general government. Thus all the Israelitish tribes formed one body politic. They had one common weal. They held general diets. They were bound to take the field against a common enemy. They had at first general judges, and afterwards general sovereigns. And even when they had no common head, or, as the sacred historian expresses it, when there was neither king nor judge, a tribe guilty of a breach of the fundamental law might be accused before the other tribes, who, as we have seen, were authorized to carry on war against it as a punishment. It is evident that the tribes were sometimes without a general chief magistrate. The constitution, as explained above, makes it quite conceivable that the state might have subsisted and prospered without a common head. Every tribe had always its own chief magistrate, subordinate to whom again were the chiefs of clans, the judges, and the genealogist; and if there was no general ruler of the whole people, there were twelve lesser commonwealths, whose general convention would deliberate together, and take measures for the common interest. The head might be gone, but the living body remained. Its movements would be apt to be slower and feeler; yet, as the history of the Benjamite rebellion36 teaches us, they did not always want either promptness or energy.
NOTES:
1 Judges 1:1. 2 Judges 1:2. 3 Joshua 17:15. 4 Judges 4:10. 5 1 Chronicles 5:18-23. 6 1 Chronicles 4:41-43. 7 1 Samuel 26:13. Dr. Clarke, in his note on 2 Samuel 2:4, remarks, "David was anointed before by Samuel, by which he acquired, jus ad regnum, a right TO the kingdom; by the present anointing he had, jus in regno, authority OVER the kingdom. ... The invisible king directed the prophet Samuel to assure the throne privately by a prophetic anointing to David, the youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem." (Jahn's Heb. Com. B. 4. S. 28.) It will be seen that the views of these eminent scholars accord with those expressed in the text as to the nature and object of David's unction by Samuel. 8 2 Samuel 2:1-4. 9 2 Samuel 2:5-7. 10 2 Samuel 2:8-9. 11 2 Samuel 2:12-29. See especially v. 27, as confirming the last statement in the text. 12 2 Samuel chapters 3, 4, 5, and 12--particularly the last. 13 Judges 12:1-6, 20:1-48; 2 Samuel 2:1; 1 Kings 12:16-24. 14 Numbers 26. 15 Joshua 17:17. 16 Genesis 48:15-20. 17 Judges 8:1, 12:1; 1 Kings 11:26, 14:30, 15:16; Psalm 78:11,60,67,68; Isaiah 11:13; Jeremiah 3:18; Ezekiel 37:16-19; Hosea 1:11. 18 Isaiah 11:13. 19 Numbers 2:3, 10:14. 20 Joshua 18:1, 1 Samuel 4:3. 21 Judges 8:1, 12:1. 22 2 Samuel 2:8-9. 23 2 Samuel 18:6. 24 1 Kings 11:26, 12:16. 25 Psalm 78:9-11,60,67,68. 26 2 Samuel 19:20. 27 1 Samuel 22:7. 28 2 Samuel 2:9. 29 2 Samuel 19:11,40-43, 20:1-2. 30 2 Samuel 19:9-14,40-43, 20:1-2. 31 1 Kings 12:1-20. 32 Judges, chapters 19-20. 33 Genesis 49:27. 34 The critical reader who examines the references to see whether they sustain the text, might, on a cursory perusal of the chapter here cited, be inclined to think that in the view presented in this paragraph too much is rested on assumption. A deeper study of the subject, however, will be apt to change such an impression, for, first, either the first eleven verses of the 27th chapter should come in before this chapter, or this chapter should come in immediately after those eleven verses, since, as Dr. Clarks says, both certainly make parts of the same subject, and there it is expressly said that the matter was brought "before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes, and before all the congregation," and by them referred to the oracle. Secondly, even in this chapter, the chiefs of Manasseh are related to have laid their petition before Moses and the princes, who may here very well be taken, in a general sense, to mean the whole diet. And thirdly, even if this chapter stood wholly disconnected with the 27th chapter, and neither the diet nor any part of it had been mentioned at all, still the analogy of numerous other cases in the Hebrew history would authorize us to assume that the matter had been, to due form, laid before the states-general of Israel, and by them solemnly adjudicated. 35 Judges 19:20. 36 This is said to have happened (Judges 19:1) when "there Has no king in Israel," i.e., when the tribes had no common head, no general chief magistrate.
