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and the chains that were on their camels' necks." Now the request of Gideon did not proceed from avarice, but from a love. of idols; for having received this large present of gold, he proceeded to make an ephod, and placed it in Ophrah, the city where he dwelt. And this became a snare not only to himself, but to all Israel; for they were led away to worship this golden ephod.

Midian being completely subdued, the people of Israel enjoyed a long repose; and Gideon continued long among them, even forty years; but he married many wives, and had a numerous offspring; for the sacred historian informs us, that he had no less than seventy sons by his wives; and one, afterwards more distinguished than all the rest, by his concubine, who dwelt in Shechem. The name of this last was Abimelech. Gideon, who was also called Jerubbaal, died in a good old. age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites."

Perhaps Gideon's object in making the golden ephod, which became a snare to Israel, was to draw the people off from the worship of Baalim; for as soon as he was dead, we read "that they made Baal-berith their god. And they remembered not the Lord their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side. Neither showed they kindness to the house of Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had showed unto Israel."

SECTION XXI.

AMBITION OF ABIMELECH THE SON OF GIDEON-HIS CRUELTY-THE PARABLE OF JOTHAM TRANSACTIONS AT SHECHEM-CONTEST OF GAAL AND ZEBUL-ABIMELECH SUDDENLY COMES AND SMITES GAAL AND HIS PARTY-ABIMELECH KILLED BY A WOMAN.

ALTHOUGH Gideon was free from ambition, and refused to be king over his people when they requested it, and promised to make the office hereditary in his family, yet a very different spirit actuated Abimelech, his son by his concubine; for no sooner was his father out of the way, than he began to intrigue with the inhabitants of Shechem, where his mother's friends appear to have had influence, to make him king over them. And as the seventy legitimate sons of Gideon stood in the way of his ambition, he did not cease from his machinations until he accomplished the destruction of all of them except one, who escaped the general massacre of his brothers at Ophrah, by concealing himself. The name of this only survivor of the seventy sons of Jerubbaal was Jotham. The people of Shechem and Millo now proceeded to make Abimelech king, which trans

action took place "by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem." When Jotham heard of this ungrateful proceeding towards his father's house, "he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you." Then he delivered the following apologue or parable, the first composition of this kind of which we have any account, and which contained a cutting sarcasm on the inhabitants of Shechem, for making such a worthless man as Abimelech their king. "The trees," said he, "went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us; but the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, whereby they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou and reign over us; but the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou and reign over us; and the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou and reign over us; and the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon." Jotham having uttered this beautiful but cutting fable in the hearing of the Shechemites, with great severity reproached them for their ungrateful and cruel conduct towards his father's house; putting it to their own consciences to answer whether they had acted "truly and sincerely in making Abimelech king;" and whether they had "dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, according to the deserving of his hands." "For," said he, "my father fought for you, and adventured his life far; and delivered you out of the hand of Midian: and ye are risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten persons upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maid-servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother. If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you; but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech." "And Jotham," having delivered this speech on mount Gerizim, “ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there for fear of Abimelech, his brother."

Men of cruelty and blood are, in the course of a righteous providence, commonly overtaken sooner or later with condign

punishment: "Their sin will find them out." And frequently the very people whom they have made the instruments of their cruelty become the executors of God's vengeance upon them. This was the fact in regard to the Shechemites, whom Abimelech had employed as his agents in putting to a violent death the seventy sons of his father; for these same people began now to conspire against Abimelech their king; or, as it is strongly expressed in the sacred history, "God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech; that the cruelty done unto the three-score and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, who slew them; and upon the men of Shechem who aided him in the killing of his brethren."

Abimelech did not make Shechem his usual place of residence, but Arumah, which was at some distance; and Zebul acted as his deputy at Shechem, where he had been left the governor. But there came into the city a certain man by the name of Gaal, with a number of others, his associates; this man appears to have been of insinuating manners and popular address; for he soon gained the confidence of the Shechemites, which Zebul the deputy of Abimelech could not prevent. At the season of the vintage, which was always a time of joy and festivity, and also of religious services in honour of their gods, this man went out with the people to the vineyards. When the people of Shechem had gathered their grapes, and trode them in the wine-press, and when they were thus feasting in the house of their god, and their hearts were merry; while they did eat and drink, they were induced, no doubt by the influence of Gaal and his associates, to curse Abimelech the king, whom they had placed over them. "And Gaal himself said, who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? Is not he the son of Jerubbaal? and is not Zebul his deputy?" "Would to God the people were under my hand, I would soon remove Abimelech." This seditious discourse of Gaal and the people greatly provoked Zebul the governor; and he sent messengers privily unto Abimelech, and informed the king of the treasonable speeches which had been made; and, moreover, that they were about fortifying the city against him. He advised Abimelech to rise up by night with his people, and to lie in wait in the fields or forests near the city; that as soon as the sun was up, and the gates should be opened, he might attack the city; and when Gaal and the people came forth to repel the assault, and to pursue the assailants, as being ignorant of their number, Abimelech might fall upon them and obtain an easy victory. This course was pursued by Abimelech, and he arose in the night; and dividing his men into four

companies, he laid wait round about Shechem. In the morning Gaal went out and stood in the gate, not being aware of the ambush which was round about the town; and when he saw the men of Abimelech approaching, who had risen up from their ambush, he said to Zebul, the governor of the city, "Behold there come people down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains, as if they were men. And Gaal spoke again, and said, See, there come people down by the middle of the land; and another company comes along by the plain. Zebul well knew who they were that were approaching; and feeling confident that Abimelech would be able to overcome the conspirators, and seize the city, he said, "Where is now the mouth which said, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? Is not this the people whom thou hast despised? Go out, now, I pray thee, and fight with them." Gaal, finding that he must either fight or submit, went out with the men of Shechem who had conspired with him, and fought with Abimelech; but he was unable to withstand him, and fled before him, and many were overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering in of the gate. On the next day, Gaal and the people of Shechem went forth from the city; for Zebul the governor forced them to depart; his party having, by this time, become the strongest. As soon as Abimelech had notice of this movement, he divided his forces into three companies, and laid wait; so that as soon as they came into the field he arose upon them and smote them. And Abimelech and his company rushed forward and stood in the entering of the gate of the city, to cut off the retreat of the conspirators; and then the other companies fell upon those that were in the field, and slew them; and having defeated those that had come out, he now assaulted the city and took it, the same day, and slew the inhabitants who had rebelled against him; and beat down the walls and sowed the place with salt. Part of the people of Shechem, however, had retreated to a hold connected with the temple of the god Berith. When Abimelech was informed that many had taken refuge in this tower, he took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it and laid it on his shoulder, and commanded his men to do likewise, and they set fire to the hold and burnt it, with about a thousand persons who had fled. thither for refuge. Thus the city of Shechem was brought to desolation, and its inhabitants were utterly destroyed; a just punishment for their cruel and ungrateful conduct towards the house of Gideon.

And Abimelech himself did not long escape the vengeance of a righteous Providence; for having obtained such a signal victory over the Shechemites, he went on to besiege another city,

the name of which was Thebez; and he took it; but there was here also a strong tower, into which the inhabitants fled, and into which they carried their most valuable property. While he was pressing on the siege of this tower, and had come near to it to set it on fire, as he had done at Shechem, "a certain woman cast a piece of a mill-stone upon Abimelech's head, and all to break his skull. Then he called hastily unto the young man, his armour-bearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, a woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died." Here we see that the ruling passion of this ambitious man was strong in death. "Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father's house, in slaying his seventy brethren. And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads; and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal."

SECTION XXII.

TOLA JUDGES ISRAEL FOR TWENTY YEARS-IS SUCCEEDED BY JAIR-THE ISRAELITES DECLINE TO IDOLATRY-FALL UNDER THE DOMINION OF AMMON-A REFORMATION COMMENCED-JEPTHAH CALLED TO LEAD THE ARMY.

AFTER the death of Abimelech, the chief power, for twentythree years, was in the hands of Tola, the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, of the tribe of Issachar. His usual place of residence was at Shamir, on mount Ephraim. In this place also was he buried; but of his character, or achievements, no record has been left.

Tola was succeeded by Jair, a Gileadite, who continued in office two and twenty years. The only remarkable thing which is recorded of him, is, that he had thirty sons, who rode on thirty ass-colts, and possessed thirty cities, which for a long time were called Havoth-jair. These cities were situated in the land of Gilead. We are not informed in what city Jair had his residence, but the place of his burial was Camon.

"And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the Lord, and served not him. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon." The oppression which took place bore heaviest on the tribes who inhabited the east side of Jordan, in the land of Gilead; but after a while the Ammonites passed over Jordan, and invaded the territory of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim,

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