CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 3 1924"''095'909''''382 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tiiis book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924095909382 
 
in compliance with current 
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 2001 
 
Ofornell UtiioetHtts Kihtatg 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 rAjt^.Tj. G. Sc>kaa^i-^v-»'»-<j^o'v/ 
 
BIBLE STORIES 
 
STORIES FROM THE BIBLE 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. ALFRED J. CHURCH 
 
 WITH ILLUSTKATIONS AFTER JULIUS SCHNORR 
 
 EonUon 
 
 MACMILLAN AND CO. 
 
 AND NEW YORK 
 I 890 
 
 -^^^ rights reserved 
 
PREFACE 
 
 I HAVE endeavoured to re-tell some of the chief 
 stories of the Old Testament in the hope that what 
 I have written may, with God's blessing, help those 
 who teach and those who learn. To account for 
 and defend the omissions that I have made and 
 the explanations that I have added is impossible 
 within the limits of a preface. They must be left 
 to the kind judgment of my readers, who will not 
 fail to understand that a task which may at first 
 sight seem easy is really very difficult. The 
 language of Scripture has been commonly followed, 
 sometimes imitated to the best of my power. 
 Explanations which could not be so expressed 
 have been put into the shape of notes. 
 
 I hope to follow this volume with a second in 
 which others of the Old Testament Stories will 
 be given. 
 
 I am under obligations which it is impossible 
 to acknowledge in detail to the Speakers Com- 
 
PREFACE 
 
 mentary, to the Old Tesiameni Commentary for 
 English Readers, edited by Bishop Ellicott, to 
 Dean Stanley's Jewish Church, and to the admir- 
 able series of " Men of the Bible," published by 
 Messrs. Nisbet and Co. 
 
 A. J. C. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 The Story of Abraham — 
 
 I. — Abram 
 
 II. — Abraham 
 The Story of Joseph . 
 The Story of Moses — 
 
 I. — In Egypt .... 
 
 II. — The Going Forth . 
 
 III. — In the Wilderness 
 The Story of Joshua . 
 The Story of Ruth 
 The Story of David — 
 
 I. — The Champion . 
 
 II. — The Outcast . 
 
 III.— The King 
 The Story of Ahab and his House 
 The Story of Jeremiah the Prophet 
 The Rebuilding of Jerusalem 
 The Story of Queen Esther 
 The Story of the Maccabees 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I 
 
 12 
 
 27 
 
 52 
 64 
 
 79 
 
 97 
 
 120 
 
 128'' 
 139 - 
 IS9 
 201 
 218 
 
 239 
 257 
 269 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 The Sight of the Promised Land 
 
 " As the Stars of Heaven for Multitude ' 
 
 The Sacrifice of Isaac 
 
 Joseph sold by his Brethren 
 
 Joseph interprets Pharaoh's Dreams 
 
 The Ruler of Egypt . 
 
 Joseph made known to his Brethren . 
 
 The Finding of Moses 
 
 Moses slays the Egyptian . 
 
 The Burning Bush . 
 
 Moses before Pharaoh 
 
 The Passover . 
 
 The Deliverance of Israel . 
 
 Moses overlooking the Battle 
 
 The giving of the Law 
 
 The Broken Tables , 
 
 Moses breaks the Golden Calf 
 
 The New Tables 
 
 Moses on Pisgah 
 
 The Appointment of Joshua 
 
 The Passage of Jordan 
 
 The Walls of Jericho 
 
 Joshua at Beth-horon 
 
 Ruth goeth with Naomi 
 
 Ruth and Boaz 
 
 The Choosing of David 
 
 David and Goliath 
 
 PAGE 
 
 3 
 lo 
 
 19 
 29 
 
 34 
 35 
 45 
 54 
 58 
 60 
 67 
 
 75 
 78 
 82 
 84 
 86 
 
 87 
 
 88 
 
 95 
 
 100 
 
 104 
 
 ig6 
 
 "3 
 121 
 123 
 129 
 134 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 David esciipelh from Saul . 
 
 David spareth Saul . 
 
 Abigail meeteth David 
 
 The Water of Bctlilehem . 
 
 The bringing back of the Ark 
 
 The Angel of Pestilence 
 
 The Anointing of Solomon 
 
 Elijali fed by the Ravens . 
 
 The Slaying of the Prophets of IJaal 
 
 The Death of Ahab 
 
 The End of Jezebel . 
 
 The Mission of Jeremiah 
 
 Jeremiah mourning over Jerusalem 
 
 The Return from Babylon . 
 
 Laying the Foundations of the Temple 
 
 The Rebuilding of Jerusalem 
 
 Ezra blesseth the People . 
 
 The Flight of Mattathias . 
 
 The Purifying of the Temple 
 
 PACK 
 
 136 
 146 
 
 151 
 166 
 168 
 196 
 
 '99 
 203 
 206 
 213 
 217 
 22P 
 
 240 
 241 
 251 
 
 272 
 276 
 
THE STORY OF ABRAHAM 
 
 I.— abram 
 
 In Ur^ of the Chaldees, which was near to the great 
 river Euphrates, dwelt a certain Terah, who was ninth 
 in descent from Shem, the son of Noah. This Terah 
 had three sons, namely, Haran, Nahor, and Abram. 
 Now Haran and Nahor worshipped idols, of which the 
 moon-god was the chief So did also all the people 
 of the land ; but Abram knew the true God, and 
 worshipped Him only.^ 
 
 ^ Ur, or " the city" of the Chaldees, now Mugheir, was at the time of 
 Abram (about 2000 B.C.) near, if not on, the sea, which has greatly 
 receded since that time, owing to the deposits of soil brought down by the 
 Euphrates and the Tigris. It is now as much as eighty miles from 
 the coast. 
 
 2 Jewish and Mahometan legends have much to say about Abram's 
 early faith, and the courage which he showed in maintaining it under 
 persecution. In these legends Nimrod, who must be supposed to have 
 been really of much earlier date (the writer of Genesis apparently puts 
 him very near to the Deluge, as being the grandson of Ham), commonly 
 appears as the wicked and idolatrous prince, who seeks in vain to destroy 
 or silence the young preacher of a pure faith. One of these legends runs 
 as follows : " Abram's birth was foretold by a star, and Nimrod, fearing 
 lest he should become a dangerous rival, sought to kill him. Terah 
 substituted the child of a slave, and hid his own son in a cave. Emerging 
 thence, after years of seclusion, he saw the heavens, and asked himself who 
 made them. The sun rose, and he said, 'It is the sun,' and he prayed 
 to it. It set, and he said, ' That which made all things cannot yield to 
 aught.' The moon appeared, and the stars, and again he thought that he 
 had found the Creator and Ruler ; but these too gave place to the sun. 
 Then said Abram, ' These could not have created the world ; there must 
 be One who created them,' His mother came to meet him, and was 
 <S B 
 
STORIES FJiOM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Haran, son of Terah, had a son, Lot by name, and 
 two daughters, Milcah and Iscah or Sarai ; and Milcah 
 became the wife of Nahor, and Sarai the wife of Abram. 
 After a while God appeared to Abram, and said unto 
 him, " Get thee out of thy country, and from tliy 
 icindred, and go into the land that I shall show thee." 
 So he persuaded Terah his father. And Terah departed 
 from Ur of the Chaldees, taking with him Abram, and 
 Sarai his wife, and Lot his grandson (but Haran, that 
 was father to Lot, had died in the land of the Chaldees), 
 and all that he had. Westward he travelled till he 
 came to Haran.^ This Haran was near to Euphrates, 
 and because the land was rich and fertile, and good for 
 the feeding of flocks and herds, and because he himself 
 also was now old and feeble, Terah would go no 
 farther. So he abode in Haran, and Abram and Lot 
 with him, till the day of his death. Two hundred and 
 five years old was he when he died.^ But before he 
 died there came to Haran out of Ur of the Chaldees 
 Abram's brother Nahor, with Milcah his wife, and their 
 children. So they all dwelt together, and gathered 
 
 astonished at hi.s growth. ' Can you,' she asked, 'be my son who was so 
 little, and are so tall?' — 'Learn from this, mother,' he replied, 'that 
 there is an Almighty God who has made all things.' — 'What ! ' cried she, 
 ' is there any god besides Nimrod ? ' — 'Yes,' he answered ; ' One who is 
 God of heaven and earth, and of Nimrod also.' The report of these 
 words reached Nimrod, and the king sent messengers to arrest the 
 speaker. An angel hid him in a mist. Other marvels followed, and at 
 last the king confessed, ' Thy God is great and mighty, and indeed King 
 of kings.' " 
 
 1 Haran seems to represent the older word Kharran {seen in the Greek 
 Charran), which is supposed to have the meaning of "road," and to 
 have got its name from the fact that it is on the highroad between the 
 east and west. 
 
 2 It is not well to build too much on dates and numbers, things which 
 are almost universally found full of errors in all ancient literature. We 
 may conjecture, however, that Abram was now between seventy and 
 eighty years of age. He was, we know, but a few years older than his 
 wife Sarai, who yet, being the grand-daughter of his father, belonged to a 
 younger generation. 
 
THE STORY OF ABRAHAM 
 
 much wealth in cattle and flocks and men-servants and 
 maid-servants. But Nahor and his family still worshipped 
 idols. 
 
 When Terah was dead, God spake again to Abram, 
 saying, " Get thee out of thy country, and from thy 
 kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that 
 
 THE SIGHT OF THE PROMISED LAND. 
 
 I will show thee : and I will make of thee a great 
 nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great ; 
 and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed." 
 So Abram rose, and took with him Lot, his brother's 
 son, and their two households, and all the slaves that 
 they two had bought in the land of Haran, and all their 
 sheep and oxen — many thousands in alP — and went 
 
 1 We shall see that but a few years after this migration Abram was a 
 powerful prince, who could put more than three hundred armed men into 
 the field. 
 
4 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 into the land of Canaan.^ And having come thither 
 he pitched his tent for the first time in Sichem, in the 
 oak-grove which was called the oak-grove of Moreh. 
 While he sojourned at Moreh the Lord appeared unto 
 him, and said, " This is the land which I promised to 
 give to thee, and to thy children after thee.'' Then 
 Abram built an altar and offered sacrifices unto the 
 Lord. From Moreh he went to Luz^ — there also he 
 built an altar — and from Luz he journeyed into the 
 south country. But while he dwelt there, there was a 
 grievous famine in the land, and he was constrained to 
 go down into Egypt. 
 
 Now as Abram came near to the borders of 
 Egypt, he began to fear for his life. Sarai his wife 
 was a very fair woman, and he thought to himself, 
 " The Egyptians will kill me that they may take my 
 wife." So he said to Sarai, " Say, I pray thee, that 
 thou art my sister ; so wilt thou save my life.'' And 
 Sarai consented ; for they had agreed between them at 
 the first when they set out on their wanderings that at 
 every place whither they should come she should say 
 of him, " He is my brother." When they came to the 
 borders of Egypt the officers that had the charge of 
 these matters sent to tell the king that a stranger had 
 come from the north country, and that he had brought 
 with him an exceedingly fair woman, who was, he said, 
 his sister. So Sarai was taken into the house of 
 
 • Nothing is said in the Bible of the route which Abram followed. 
 The tradition accepted by Josephus is that he went by way of Damascus. 
 In this case he crossed the Euphrates by the ford of Thapsacus (Thipsac/i, 
 or " the Passage "), and followed the caravan route, already, it is probable, 
 well marked and frequented, which skirted the desert by its northern 
 border, till it brought him to Damascus. From Damascus he would take 
 the ordinary route to Egypt, and cross the Jordan into Palestine proper by 
 a ford a few miles south of the lake of Chinnereth or Gennesaret. 
 
 - Luz was afterwards called Beth-cl (house of God). The narrative of 
 how it came to receive that name is told in Gen. .\xviii. 19. 
 
THE STORY OF ABRAHAM 
 
 Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, that she might be added 
 to the number of his wives. And Pharaoh gave many 
 gifts to Abram — men-servants and maid -servants, 
 and camels and asses and oxen and sheep — for Sarai 
 his sister's sake. But the Lord sent sickness into 
 Pharaoh's house, and his wise men told him that it had 
 been sent on account of the stranger woman whom he 
 had taken into his house. Therefore he sent for 
 Abram, and said to him, " What is this thou hast done ? 
 why didst thou not tell me that this woman was thy 
 wife ? why didst thou say that she was thy sister ? I 
 might have taken her to be my wife ; take now there- 
 fore thy wife, and go thy way." 
 
 So Pharaoh sent Abram away. But he took not 
 away from him the gifts that he had given him, nor 
 aught that he had. Also he gave his officers a charge 
 concerning him that he should suffer no harm, but 
 should depart from the land in safety and peace. 
 
 So Abram went back to the land of Canaan — for 
 the famine had ceased — and pitched his tent again at 
 Luz. Now the land had already many inhabitants, for 
 the Canaanities dwelt in the cities, and the Perizzites 
 in the fields and on the hills. And because Abram 
 and Lot had many flocks and herds there was not 
 room enough for the two. When therefore there arose 
 strife between the herdsmen of Abram and the herdsmen 
 of Lot, because the pasture was not sufficient for both, 
 Abram said to Lot, " Let there be no strife, I pray 
 thee, between me and thee, for we are brethren. The 
 whole land is before thee. Choose what thou wilt for 
 thyself. If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go 
 to the right. If thou depart to the right hand, then I 
 will go to the left." Then Lot looked out from Bethel 
 and saw the country. When he looked to the north 
 and to the south and to the west, all seemed barren. 
 
6 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 But eastward he looked on the plain of Jordan, and 
 saw that it was green and well watered, even as a garden 
 of the Lord. So Lot chose for himself the plain of 
 Jordan. And he separated himself from Abram, and 
 journeyed to Sodom. First he pitched his tent outside 
 the city, but afterwards he took up his abode within 
 the walls. But the men of Sodom were wicked, and 
 sinners before the Lord exceedingly. 
 
 After Lot had departed, the Lord appeared again to 
 Abram, and said, " Lift up now thine eyes, and look 
 from the place where thou art northward and south- 
 ward and westward and eastward. For all the land 
 which thou seest I will give to thee, and to thy children 
 for ever. And I will make thy posterity as the dust 
 of the earth ; so that if a man can number the dust of 
 the earth, then shall thy posterity also be numbered. 
 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and 
 the breadth of it, for I will give it unto thee." 
 
 After this Abram removed his tent, and travelled to 
 the place that was called Kirjath-Arba,^ and afterwards 
 Hebron. There he pitched his tent under the oak-tree 
 of Mamre. This Mamre was a great chief among the 
 Amorites. 
 
 While he dwelt under the oak-tree of Mamre there 
 came war in the east country ; and the cause of the 
 war was this. While Abram still dwelt in Ur of 
 the Chaldees, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and other 
 kings of the east with him, had conquered the five 
 cities of the plain of Jordan,^ and had laid a tribute 
 upon them. But now the five cities rebelled, and 
 refused to pay their tribute. Twelve years they had 
 served, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled, and in 
 
 ' Kirjath-Arba means the "city of writings." The name seems lo 
 indicate a certain amoimt of culture among the tribes inliabiting Can.aan. 
 2 Tlie five cities were Sodom, Gomorrah, Adnmh, Zeboiini, and Bcla. 
 
THE STORY OF ABRAHAM 
 
 the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came up against 
 them, having with him Amraphel and Arioch, kings of 
 Babylonia, and Tidal, king of the land of Assyria. 
 First these four kings smote the tribes that dwelt in 
 Haran, and in the land that lies between Arnon and 
 the brook Jabbok, and in the land of Moab. Also 
 they smote the tribes that dwelt in the caves of Mount 
 Her, and the Amalekites and the Amorites that dwelt 
 eastward of Jordan, and so came at last to the Cities 
 of the Plain. Then the kings of the five cities gathered 
 together their army and went out to meet the armies 
 of the east. In the valley of Siddim'' they met them. 
 The valley was full of pits of bitumen, and the five 
 kings hoped that the chariots and horsemen of the 
 eastern army would be ensnared amongst them. But 
 the battle went against the five kings, and many of 
 their people were slain, they that were left escaping 
 to the mountains of Moab. Then Chedorlaomer and 
 his allies spoiled the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, 
 taking away all their possessions, and all their food, 
 and so departed. And they took Lot, that was 
 Abram's nephew, and all his goods with them. 
 
 But one that had escaped from the battle fled to 
 Abram, where he dwelt under the oak-tree of Mamre, 
 and told him how that Lot had been carried away 
 captive by the kings of the east. And when Abram 
 heard that Lot his nephew^ had been carried away, he 
 armed his servants — men born in his house and trained 
 for war. They were three hundred and eighteen in 
 number. Also he had with them certain of the 
 
 1 Siddim would mean the "salt valley." 
 
 2 In the narrative of Genesis Lot is spoken of as Abram's brother. 
 The relationship between Abram and Lot was precisely the same as that 
 between Abram and Sarai (if, as has been supposed, Sarai was Iscah, the 
 daughter of Haran). The statement to Pharaoh, therefore, was not absol- 
 utely false. 
 
8 STOJilES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 people of Mamre and Aner and Eshcol, princes of the 
 Amorites, for these were confederate with him ; with 
 these he pursued after the invaders, and overtook them 
 at Laish (which place was afterwards called Dan, and 
 was near to the springs of Jordan). Here they were 
 encamped, thinking that none would attack them. 
 Then Abram divided the men that were with him into 
 two parts, and attacked the four kings by night from 
 either side of their encampment. So he put them to 
 flight, and pursued them to Hobah, which lies between 
 Damascus and Tadmor of the wilderness. He brought 
 back with him all the goods that they had taken from 
 the five cities, and Lot and his family, and all the 
 prisoners. And as he returned the king of Sodom 
 came out to meet him, and said to him, " Give me back 
 now the prisoners that thou hast taken out of the hand 
 of Chedorlaomer, for they are my own people ; but take 
 all the goods to thyself." But Abram answered him, 
 " I have taken an oath, lifting up my hand, to the Lord, 
 the most high God, whose are the heaven and the 
 earth, that I will not take a thread or a shoe-latchet 
 from thee. Nothing will I take of thine, lest thou say, 
 I have made Abram rich. Nevertheless, that which 
 the young men my servants have eaten on the way 
 that thou shalt give them. These men, too, that have 
 helped me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre ; let them take 
 their portion." 
 
 There also came to meet him Melchizedek,^ king of 
 
 ' We need have little hesitation in concluding that Salem is the same 
 as Jerusalem, and that the name Melchizedek means, as the author of the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews says, king of righteousness. But who Melchizedek 
 himself was, and how he came to receive homage from the Father of the 
 Faithful, is exceedingly doubtful. One conjecture makes liim out to be 
 Shem, who must, indeed, if the chronology of Gen. xi. he correct, have 
 survived to this time. Another, built on the words in Ileb. xii. 3, 
 "Without father, without mother, without descent," makes him out to 
 have been some supernatural person. But these words seem to mean 
 
THE STORY OF ABRAHAM 
 
 Salem, a priest of the most high God, and offered him 
 first-fruits, even bread and wine, and blessed him, 
 saying, "Blessed be Abram of the most high God, 
 whose are heaven and earth ; and blessed be the -most 
 high God, who hath delivered thine enemies into thine 
 hand." Then Abram gave him a tenth part of all 
 the spoil that he had taken. And after these things 
 he returned and dwelt at Mamre. 
 
 Then God appeared to him in a vision and said, 
 " Fear not, Abram : I am thy shield, and thy exceeding 
 great reward." 
 
 Abram answered, " Lord God, what wilt Thou give 
 me, seeing that I am childless, and that one born in 
 my house, even Eliezer of Damascus, is my heir ?" 
 
 Then said the Lord, " He shall not be thine heir ; 
 thine own son shall be thine heir." And He bade him 
 go forth from his tent and look up into the heavens, 
 and said, "Tell the stars, if thou be able to number 
 them. So shall be thy posterity." 
 
 And Abram believed in the Lord, and it was 
 counted to him for righteousness. 
 
 Then the Lord said, " I have brought thee out of 
 Ur of the Chaldees that thou mayest inherit this land." 
 
 Abram said, " How shall I know that I shall in- 
 herit it ? " 
 
 The Lord said, " Take a heifer, and a she-goat, and 
 a ram, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon." 
 
 So Abram took them and divided the beasts into two 
 portions, and laid the two portions over against each 
 
 that he had no title in right of birth to the priestly office, and in this 
 respect differed from the Aaronic priests, though it must be confessed 
 that the following phrases, "Without beginning of days nor end of life," 
 are obscure. We may suppose him to have been a Canaanitish chief, who 
 had presei-ved in a remarkable way the tradition of a pure faith and a 
 pure life, elsewhere so obscured. While there were such as Melchizedek 
 in the land the " iniquity of the Amoriles was not yet full." 
 
STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Other ; but the bu'ds he divided not. And when the 
 sun went down he fell into a deep sleep, and heard a 
 voice that said, " Thy posterity shall dwell in a land 
 that is not theirs, and shall be afflicted four hundred 
 years ; but the nation that shall afflict them I will 
 judge. After that they shall go out from among their 
 
 "as the staks op heaven for multitude." 
 
 oppressors with great riches, and shall come again to this 
 land ; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." 
 And when the sun went down and it was dark, 
 Abram saw a smoking furnace and a burning lamp 
 pass between the portions of the sacrifice, being the 
 tokens of the presence of the Lord. Then, as Abram 
 had passed between the portions, so the Lord passed 
 between them, and a covenant was made between the 
 Lord and Abram ; for the custom was that when 
 
THE STORY OF ABRAHAM 
 
 two thus passed between the portions of a sacrifice a 
 covenant was made between them. And the Lord 
 said, " Unto thy race have I given all this land, from 
 the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river 
 Euphrates." 
 
 After these things Abram took to wife Sarai's maid 
 Hagar, the Egyptian, for Sarai would have it so, be- 
 cause she had no children. When Hagar knew that 
 she should bear a child she despised her mistress, and 
 Sarai was wroth with Abram, and said, " See now, I 
 have given my maid to be thy wife, and she despiseth 
 me." But Abram answered, " She is thine ; do as thou 
 wilt." And Sarai dealt so hardly with her that she 
 fled from the tent. But as she lay by a well in the 
 wilderness the angel of God spake to her, saying, 
 " Hagar, whence earnest thou ? and whither wilt thou 
 go ? " She answered, " I flee from the face of Sarai 
 my mistress." The angel said, " Go back, and submit 
 thyself to thy mistress. Thou shalt bear a son, and 
 shalt call his name Ishmael ' ; because the Lord hath 
 heard thy affliction. He shall be a wild man ; his 
 hand will be against every man, and every man's hand 
 against him." 
 
 Then Hagar said, " Surely, O God, Thou seest all 
 things ; and I too have seen Thee, and yet live." And 
 thereafter the well by which Hagar sat when the angel 
 spake to her was called the well of " Seeing and 
 Living." 2 So Hagar returned to her mistress ; and 
 she bare a son to Abram, who called his name Ishmael. 
 Abram was fourscore and six years old when Hagar 
 bare Ishmael to him. 
 
 1 Ishmael = God heareth. 
 ^ Beer-lahai-roi. 
 
STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 II.— ^braMm 
 
 When Abram was now ninety and nine years old, 
 and Ishmael his son thirteen, the Lord appeared again 
 unto him, and said, " I am the Almighty ^ God ; walk 
 before Me, and be thou perfect." 
 
 Then Abram fell on his face before God ; and the 
 Lord spake to him again, saying, " My covenant is with 
 thee, and I will make thee the father of many nations. 
 Hereafter thy name shall not be any more Abram, but 
 thy name shall be Abraham ; because I have made 
 thee a father of many nations.^ And I will give thee, 
 and thy children after thee, this land of Canaan to be 
 a perpetual possession." At this time God gave to 
 Abraham the law of circumcision, to be the token of 
 the covenant that He had made with him. 
 
 Also He said to him, "As for Sarai thy wife, thou 
 shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah.^ I will bless 
 her, and give her a son of thee. She shall be a mother 
 of nations, and kings shall come from her." 
 
 Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, saying 
 to himself, " Shall I, who am a hundred years old, have 
 a son ? and Sarah, that is ninety years old, be a 
 mother ? " Nevertheless he believed in his heart that 
 this thing should be, "giving glory to God ; and being 
 fully assured that what He had promised Fie ivas able 
 also to perform." '' 
 
 1 El Shaddai. 
 
 2 "Abram," or Abu-ram, means "exalted father,'" which may be 
 taken as equivalent to "father of a clan or tribe." "Abraham," on the 
 other hand, has the meaning of "father of a multitude." The change is 
 effected by the significant addition of the letter h, a letter which appears 
 in the name commonly given as Jehovah, but more correctly repicsentcd 
 by Yahveh. 
 
 •' Sarai= " contention " ; Sarah = " princess." The change of meaning 
 is effected again by tlie introduction of the letter //. 
 * Koni. iv. 21. 
 
THE STORY OF ABRAHAM 
 
 13 
 
 Neither did he forget his son Ishmael, but said, " O 
 that Ishmael might live before Thee ! " 
 
 God said to Abraham, " Sarah thy wife shall indeed 
 bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Isaac ; and I 
 will establish My covenant with him, and with his 
 children after him for ever. And as for Ishmael, I have 
 blessed him, and will multiply him exceedingly, and 
 will make of him a great nation." 
 
 Not many days after, as Abraham sat in his tent- 
 door, where he dwelt under the oak of Mamre, he 
 espied three travellers. And when he saw them he 
 ran from the tent-door to meet them, and bowed him- 
 self to the ground before them, and said to him that 
 seemed chief among them, " My lord, if I have found 
 favour in thy sight, pass not on at once, but turn aside 
 to visit me. Let a little water be fetched that ye may 
 wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, and I 
 will fetch a morsel of bread that ye may refresh your- 
 selves. After that ye shall pass on." 
 
 And the man said, " So do as thou hast said." 
 
 Then Abraham hastened unto Sarah where she sat 
 in the tent, and said, " Make ready quickly three meas- 
 ures of fine meal, and knead it, and bake cakes upon 
 the hearth." This done, he ran to the stalls of the 
 cattle and took thence a calf, tender and good, and 
 gave it to a young man, who hasted to cook it. And 
 he took butter and milk and the calf that had been 
 cooked, and set them before the travellers, and stood 
 by them under the tree as they ate. 
 
 And they said to him, "Where is Sarah thy wife?" 
 
 He answered, " She is in the tent." 
 
 Then he that was chief among them said, " Sarah thy 
 wife shall bear a son when this season of the year shall 
 come again." 
 
 Sarah heard these words where she sat in the tent, 
 
14 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 and laughed to herself, for the thing seemed to her 
 beyond belief. 
 
 Then the Lord said, "Did Sarah laugh, thinking, 
 Shall I that am so old indeed bear a son ? Is any- 
 thing too hard for the Lord ?" 
 
 Then Sarah denied, and said, " I laughed not," for 
 she was afraid. But He said, "Nay, but thou didst 
 laugh." 
 
 After this the men rose up, and departed, having 
 their faces turned towards Sodom. And Abraham went 
 with them to bring them on their way. And the Lord 
 said, " Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I 
 do ; for he shall become a great nation, and all the 
 nations of the earth shall be blessed in him ? For I 
 know him, that he will command his children and his 
 household after him, to do judgment and justice." 
 
 Then the Lord said to Abraham, " Because the 
 report of Sodom and Gomorrah is very evil, and their 
 sin very grievous, I have come to see whether they 
 have altogether sinned according to the report." 
 
 Then two of the three went on towards Sodom, but 
 Abraham stood yet before the Lord. He bethought 
 him of Lot, his brother's son, and of his household, and 
 said to the Lord, " Wilt Thou also destroy the righteous 
 with the wicked ? Peradventure there may be fifty 
 righteous within the city : wilt Thou not spare the 
 place for the sake of the fifty righteous ? That be far 
 from Thee to slay the righteous with the wicked. Shall 
 not the Judge of all the earth do right ? " 
 
 The Lord said, " If I find in Sodom fifty righteous, 
 I will spare all the place for their sake." 
 
 Abraham spake again, " I have taken upon myself 
 to speak to the Lord, though I be but dust and ashes. 
 Peradventure there may lack five of the fifty : wilt 
 Thou destroy all the city for the lack of five ? " 
 
THE STORY OF ABRAHAM 15 
 
 The Lord said, " If I find forty and five, I will not 
 destroy it." 
 
 Abraham said again, " Peradventure forty will be 
 found there." 
 
 And the Lord answered, " I will not do it if there 
 be forty there." 
 
 Then Abraham said, " Let not the Lord be angry, 
 and I will speak. Peradventure there shall be thirty 
 found there." 
 
 The Lord said, "I will not do it, if I find thirty 
 there." 
 
 Abraham spake again, " Peradventure there shall be 
 twenty found there." 
 
 The Lord answered, " I will spare it for twenty's 
 sake." 
 
 Yet once again did Abraham speak. " Let not the 
 Lord be angry, and I will speak but this once only. 
 Peradventure ten shall be found there." 
 
 And the Lord said, " I will spare it for ten's sake." 
 
 After this Abraham returned to his place. But the 
 next day he rose up early in the morning, and looked 
 eastward towards the Cities of the Plain ; and, behold, 
 the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a 
 furnace, for the Lord had not found the ten righteous, 
 and He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all 
 the inhabitants of those cities, and that which grew 
 upon the ground. 
 
 After these things Abraham went down to sojourn 
 in the south country and dwelt among the Philistines. 
 And here again, for fear of the king Abimelech, he said 
 of Sarah his wife that she was his sister, as he had done 
 to Pharaoh, king of Egypt For he said to himself, 
 " There is no fear of God in this place, and they will slay 
 me for Sarah's sake, if they know that she is my wife." 
 And Abimelech would have taken her to be his wife. 
 
1 6 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 desiring to make alliance with Abraham. But when 
 he found that she was indeed Abraham's wife, he 
 said to him, " Why didst thou think so ill of me and 
 my house as to deceive me in this matter?" And to 
 Sarah he said, " Why didst thou not tell me the truth ? 
 Behold, I have given thy brother, as thou calledst him, 
 many gifts, because of the wrong that I might have 
 done him, but it is thou that wast to blame." So Sarah 
 was reproved. 
 
 After this Sarah bare a son, as the Lord had pro- 
 mised to her and Abraham. And Abraham called his 
 name Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, 
 even as the Lord had commanded him. Abraham was 
 a hundred years old when Isaac was born. 
 
 On the day when Isaac was weaned, Abraham made 
 a great feast. Now Ishmael had thought that he 
 should be his father's heir, and when he saw that he 
 was supplanted, he was very wroth, and spake bitter 
 words, and would have done harm to the child. His 
 mother also encouraged him in his misdoing. Then 
 Sarah said to Abraham, " Cast out this bondwoman and 
 her son ; for the son of a bondwoman shall not be heir 
 along with my son, even with Isaac." But the thing 
 was very grievous to Abraham, for he loved his son 
 Ishmael. Then the Lord said to Abraham, " Let not 
 this thing that Sarah asketh of thee be grievous unto 
 thee. Hearken to her words, for indeed the blessing 
 that I have promised to thee, and to thy children after 
 thee, is not in Ishmael but in Isaac. Nevertheless, I 
 will make of Ishmael a great nation." 
 
 Then Abraham believed that no harm should happen 
 to the lad. Therefore he rose up early the next morn- 
 ing, and gave Hagar provision of bread and a bottle of 
 water, putting it on her shoulder, and sent her and her 
 son away. And Ishmael was now sixteen years of 
 
THE STORY OF ABRAHAM 
 
 age or thereabouts. So Hagar departed, and wan- 
 dered in the wilderness of Beersheba. But all the 
 water in the bottle was spent, and the lad lay under a 
 shrub, like to perish of thirst. Then Hagar went and 
 sat herself down a long way off from the lad, even as 
 far as a man may shoot an arrow. For she said to 
 herself, " Let me not see the death of the child." And 
 she lifted up her voice and wept. Then the Angel 
 of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said, 
 " Hagar, what aileth thee ? Arise, lift up the lad, and 
 hold him in thine hand. I will make him a great 
 nation." Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a 
 well of water ; and she went, and filled the bottle with 
 water, and gave the lad drink. 
 
 And God was with the lad, and he grew, and dwelt 
 in the wilderness, and became an archer, and his mother 
 took him a wife out of the land of Egypt. 
 
 While Abraham dwelt at Beersheba, Abimelech, 
 king of the Philistines, with Phichol, who was captain 
 of his host, came to him, and said, " We see that God is 
 with thee in all that thou doest. Now therefore swear 
 unto me that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, or 
 with my son, or with my son's son, but wilt deal truly 
 with me, as I have dealt truly with thee?" And Abraham 
 said, '' I will swear." But he said also, "Thy servants have 
 taken a well by force from my servants." Abimelech 
 answered, " I know not who hath done this thing. 
 Thou hast not told me aught of it till this day, nor 
 indeed have I heard of it at all." Then Abraham set 
 seven ewe lambs by themselves ; and when Abimelech 
 asked him why he had so done, he said, " Thou shalt 
 take these seven ewe lambs from me, and thy taking 
 them shalt be a pledge that indeed my servants have 
 digged this well." So these two, Abraham and 
 Abimelech, made a covenant between them. For 
 
 C 
 
i8 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 many days did Abraham dwell in Beersheba, and he 
 planted a grove there and worshipped the Lord. 
 
 After these things God tried Abraham's faith, saying 
 to him, " Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom 
 thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah,' and 
 offer him there for a burnt -offering upon one of the 
 mountains that I shall show thee." 
 
 So Abraham rose up early in the morning, and 
 saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with 
 him, and Isaac his son, and clave wood for a burnt- 
 offering, and journeyed towards the place of which God 
 had told him. On the third day of his journeying he 
 saw the place afar off. Then he said to the young 
 men, " Abide here with the ass ; and I and the lad 
 will go yonder and worship, and will come again to 
 you." For, indeed, he did not doubt but that the 
 lad should come back again, even though he should 
 slay him for a burnt-offering, for he believed that the 
 Lord would even raise him up from the dead.^ And 
 he took the wood for the burnt-offering, and laid it 
 upon Isaac his son ; he took fire also, and a knife. So 
 they went both of them together. And Isaac said to 
 Abraham, " Behold the fire and the wood ; but where 
 is the lamb for the burnt-offering?" And Abraham 
 
 1 The place where the event about to be related took place has been 
 the subject of much controversy. The mention of Mount Moriah would 
 point to Jerusalem, and to the hill on which the temple was afterwards 
 built. The significance of this is evident. Jerusalem, it may be said, 
 suits so far to the description that it would take about these three days 
 mentioned in the narrative to travel from Beersheba thither. On the 
 other hand, it is argued that there is no distant view of Jerusalem to be 
 obtained from the road by which Abraham must have approached the 
 place. The Samaritans declare that Moriah means Moreh. Another view 
 is that it was Mount Gerizim, but Gerizim could not have been reached in 
 three days' journey. 
 
 2 So the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews : " By faith Abraham 
 when he was tried, offered up Isaac . . accounting that God was able 
 to raise him up, even from the dead ; from whence also he received him 
 in a figure." 
 
THE STORY OF ABRAHAM 
 
 19 
 
 said, " My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a 
 burnt-offering." Then they came to the place of which 
 God had told him ; and Abraham built an altar there, 
 and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, 
 and laid him upon the wood. Then he stretched forth 
 his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. But the 
 Angel of the Lord called to him out of heaven, and 
 
 THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC. 
 
 said, " Abraham, Abraham ! " And he said, " Here am 
 I." Then the Lord said, " Lay not thine hand on the 
 lad, neither do thou anything unto him ; for now I 
 know that thou fearest God, seeing that thou hast not 
 withheld thy son, thine only son, from Me." 
 
 Then Abraham looked behind him, and saw a ram 
 caught in the thicket. by his horns, and he took the ram 
 and offered it up for a sacrifice instead of Isaac his son. 
 
20 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Then the Lord spake again to him, saying, " Because 
 thou hast done this thing, and not withheld thy son, 
 thine only son, from Me ; that in blessing I will bless 
 thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy posterity 
 as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand of the sea- 
 shore for multitude. And in thy posterity shall all the 
 families of the earth be blessed, because thou hast 
 obeyed my voice.'' 
 
 Then Abraham returned to the young men. 
 
 After these things Sarah died. At Kirjath-Arba 
 she died, being one hundred and twenty-seven years 
 old ; and Abraham came to mourn for her, and to 
 weep for her.^ 
 
 And Abraham ceased from mourning for the dead, 
 and spake to the children of Heth, saying, " I am a 
 stranger and a sojourner with you : give me the posses- 
 sion of a burial-place among you, that I may bury my 
 dead out of my sight." 
 
 The children of Heth answered him, " Thou art a 
 prince among us ; choose one of our sepulchres wherein 
 to bury thy dead : none of us shall refuse thee his 
 sepulchre." 
 
 Then Abraham bowed himself to them, and said, 
 " If ye are willing that I should bury my dead out of 
 my sight, intercede for me with Ephron, the son of 
 Zohar, that he may sell me the cave of Machpelah 
 that he hath, which is in the end of his field : for as 
 much money as it is worth shall he' sell it me for a 
 burying-place." 
 
 Then Ephron the Hittite said to Abraham in the 
 audience of the children of Heth — for he and they and 
 
 1 It is not possible to say why, as appears from tlie narrative of 
 Genesis, Abraliam was not at Kirjatli-Arba wlien Sarali died. I'ossibly it 
 had been found necessary to divide the flocks and herds, and Abraham 
 took charge of one, and Sarah — with, it may be, Isaac to help her — of the 
 other. Isaac must have been about thirty-suven years old. 
 
THE STORY OF ABRAHAM 
 
 Abraham stood together in the gate of the city, where 
 assembly was wont to be made — " My lord, I give thee 
 the field and the cave ; here in the presence of all the 
 people I give it thee for a possession : bury thy dead." 
 
 Then Abraham bowed himself down, and said, " If 
 thou art willing that I should have the field, I pray 
 thee, hear me : I will give thee money for the field. 
 Take the money from me, then will I bury my dead." 
 
 Ephron answered him, " My lord, hearken unto me : 
 The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver ; but 
 what is that between me and thee ? " 
 
 Then Abraham weighed to Ephron the four hundred 
 shekels of silver, even the price which he had named in 
 the presence of the people.^ And the field was made 
 over to him in the presence of all the people in this 
 fashion : — 
 
 " The field of Ephron, which is in Machpelah, near to 
 the oak of Marnre, the field and the cave that is therein, 
 and all the trees that are in the field, and that are in the 
 borders of it round about, are made sure to Abraham for 
 a possession, in the presence of the children of Heth." 
 
 After this Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the 
 cave of the field of Machpelah. 
 
 Abraham was now old, and it seemed good to him 
 that he should find a wife for Isaac his son. So he 
 spake to Eliezer of Damascus, who was his steward 
 and the eldest servant of his house, and said, " Swear 
 
 1 Four hundred shekels of silver would be about 200 oz., the shekel 
 being nearly equivalent to half an ounce. At the present worth of silver 
 this would be scarcely £i^o ; but it is impossible to say what it would be 
 actually equivalent to in those days. Probably the value would be some- 
 thing much larger. It is said in the narrative to have been "current 
 money with the merchant." It must not be supposed, however, that the 
 silver was coin. Coined money was not known for many years after 
 Abraham's time. The metal was probably in bars or ingots, stamped 
 with some regular mark, but of course weighed when any commercial 
 transaction took place. 
 
22 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 to me by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that 
 thou wilt not take a wife for Isaac my son of the 
 daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell. 
 Thou shalt go unto my own kindred, and take a wife 
 from among them for my son." 
 
 Now Abraham knew that Nahor, his father's brother, 
 had had sons born to him of Milcah, Sarah's sister, and 
 that they dwelt in Haran, where he himself had dwelt 
 before he came into the land of Canaan. 
 
 Then Eliezer answered, " Haply the woman will not 
 be willing to follow me into this land : must I bring 
 thy son again into the land from which thou camest 
 out .? " 
 
 Abraham said, " Beware that thou bring not my son 
 thither again. The Lord God of heaven, which took 
 me from my father's house, and from the land of my 
 kindred, sware unto me that He would give this land 
 to me, and to my children after me. If the woman 
 will not follow thee, then thou shalt be free of thy oath : 
 but, in any case, thou shalt not persuade my son to go 
 back to that land." 
 
 Then Eliezer sware to his master that he would do 
 his bidding. 
 
 And he took ten camels of his master's — for all Abra- 
 ham's goods were in his hand — and departed to Haran, 
 in Mesopotamia, which was the city of Nahor. 
 
 And when he was come to the city, he made his 
 camels kneel down by a well that was outside the 
 walls ; and it was evening-time, when the women go 
 out to draw water. He prayed, saying, "O Lord God 
 of my master Abraham, I pray Thee, show kindness to 
 my master Abraham. Let this come to pass : if the 
 damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher 
 that I may drink, shall say. Drink, and I will draw 
 for thy camels also ; let the same be she whom Thou 
 
THE STORY OF ABRAHAM 23 
 
 hast appointed for Thy servant Isaac ; then shall I 
 know that Thou hast showed kindness to my master." 
 And while he was yet speaking, Rebekah, that was 
 the daughter of Bethuel, son of Nahor and Milcah, 
 came to the well. And she was a very fair virgin ; 
 and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, 
 and came up again. Eliezer said to her, " Let me, I 
 pray thee, drink a little water out of thy pitcher." So 
 she let down her pitcher from her shoulder, whereon 
 she carried it, to her hand, and gave him to drink. 
 And when he had drunk, she said, " I will draw for thy 
 camels also, till they shall have done drinking." So 
 she hasted and emptied the pitcher into the trough, 
 and went down again to the well, and drew for all the 
 camels. And the man held his peace, wondering 
 whether or not the Lord had prospered his journey. 
 When the camels had done drinking, he gave her an 
 ear-ring of gold of half a shekel in weight, and two 
 bracelets that weighed ten shekels together. And he 
 said to her, " Whose daughter art thou ? Is there room 
 in thy father's house for us to lodge ? " She answered, 
 " I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor." 
 Then the man bowed down his head and worshipped, 
 saying, "Blessed be the Lord God of my master 
 Abraham, for He hath not forgotten His mercy and 
 truth, but hath led me to the house of my master's 
 brethren." 
 
 Meanwhile Rebekah ran and told all these things to 
 her kindred. Now she had a brother, whose name was 
 Laban ; and Laban, when he saw the ear-ring and the 
 bracelets upon his sister's hands, and heard all that his 
 sister said, went out to meet the man, and said, " Come 
 in, thou blessed of the Lord ; wherefore standest thou 
 without ? I have prepared thy lodging, and room for 
 the camels." 
 
24 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Then Eliezer came into the house ; and Laban 
 ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for 
 his camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of 
 the men that were with him. Meat also was set before 
 him to eat ; but he said, " I will not eat, till 1 have 
 told my errand." And Laban said, " Speak on." 
 
 The man said, "I am Abraham's servant. And 
 the Lord hath greatly blessed my master, and he is 
 become great ; for the Lord hath given him flocks and 
 herds, and silver and gold, and men-servants and maid- 
 servants, and camels and asses. Sarah, my master's 
 wife, bare him a son in his old age, and my master 
 hath given him all that he hath. Now my master 
 made me swear that I would not take a wife for his 
 son from the daughters of 'Canaan, but would go to his 
 own kindred to seek among them a wife for his son. 
 So I came hither. And I prayed to God, and said, I 
 will stand by the well ; and when the damsel cometh 
 to draw water from the well, and I say to her. Give 
 me to drink ; if the damsel say, Drink, and I will 
 draw for thy camels also ; let the same be the woman 
 whom the Lord hath appointed for my master's son. 
 And lo ! even before I had done speaking, Rebekah 
 came down to draw water of the well. And she did 
 as I had said. Then I asked her, Whose daughter 
 art thou ? And she said. The daughter of Bethuel, 
 whom Milcah bare to Nahor. Then I put the ear-ring 
 in her ear and the bracelets upon her hands. Then I 
 bowed down my head and blessed the Lord God of 
 my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way 
 to find a wife for my master's son among his own 
 kindred. And now tell me whether ye will deal truly 
 and kindly with my master, that I may go away 7 " 
 
 Laban and Bethuel answered, " The thing is from 
 the Lord : we cannot say bad or good. Behold, 
 
THE STORY OF ABRAHAM 25 
 
 Rebekah is here, take her to be the wife of thy master's 
 son, as the Lord hath spoken." 
 
 Then Eliezer worshipped the Lord, bowing himself 
 to the earth. Also he brought forth jewels of silver 
 and jewels of gold, and gave them to Rebekah. He 
 gave also to her brother and to her mother precious 
 things. After this he and the men that were with him 
 ate and drank, and tarried all night. 
 
 The next morning they rose up, and Eliezer said, 
 " Send me away to my master." 
 
 But the damsel's mother and brother said, " Let 
 Rebekah abide with us a few days, ten at the least." 
 
 But he said, " Hinder me not, seeing that the Lord 
 hath prospered me ; send me away to my master." 
 
 They answered, "We will call the damsel, and ask 
 whether she be willing." 
 
 So they called Rebekah, and asked her, " Wilt thou 
 go with this man ? " 
 
 And Rebekah said, " I will go." 
 
 So they sent away Rebekah and her nurse ^ with 
 Abraham's servant and his men. And they blessed 
 her, saying, " Be thou the mother of thousands of 
 million.s, and may thy children possess the gate of their 
 enemies." 
 
 So Rebekah and her nurse, and the damsels that 
 were with her, departed with Abraham's servant, riding 
 upon camels. Now, when they came near to the place 
 where Isaac dwelt, it chanced that Isaac had gone out 
 into the field at eventide to meditate. When Rebekah 
 saw him, she asked, "What man is that?" Eliezer 
 answered her, " That is my master." Then she alighted 
 from her camel, and covered herself with a veil. And 
 Eliezer told Isaac all that he had done. 
 
 1 The name of the nurse was Deborah. Her death and burial at 
 Beth-el are recorded in Gen. xxxv. 
 
26 STOJilES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 So Rebekah became Isaac's wife, and he was com- 
 forted after his mother's death. Isaac was forty years 
 old when he took Rebekah to wife. 
 
 Abraham lived yet thirty and five years after these 
 things. And he died in a good old age, being one 
 hundred and seventy-five, years old. And his sons 
 Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah,^ 
 which he had bought of Ephron the Hittite. By the 
 side of Sarah his wife they buried him. 
 
 1 The cave of Machpelah is one of the sites in the Holy Land about 
 the identity of which there can be no manner of doubt. It is now 
 covered by a mosque, which itself occupies the site of a Christian church, 
 and indeed contains many remains of the old building. In this mosque 
 are three shrines, which are the monuments respectively of Abraham and 
 Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah. These shrines are supposed 
 to be over the actual tombs of these personages. The mosque has been 
 inspected three times of late years by Christian visitors. These, on the 
 last occasion, were permitted to see what they could of the outermost of 
 the three chambers of the cave by help of a lamp, which was let down 
 through a hole in the floor of the mosque. Nothing of importance, how- 
 ever, could be discovered in this. Possibly this outermost chamber is not 
 part of the cave itself, which indeed was described in early times as having 
 been double. Into the sepulchre itself no one has entered for many years. 
 In fact, it is walled up. But in 1 163, when the crusading forces still held 
 possession of the Holy Land, a certain Benjamin of Tudela inspected the 
 place. He speaks of two empty chambers, and a third in which are six 
 sepulchres, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob on one side, with those of 
 Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah opposite to them. In this inner chamber 
 were also many coffins filled with the bones of Israelites who desired to 
 rest in fhe holy spot. The burial of Isaac is recorded in Gen. xxxv. 
 29. No mention is made of Rebekah 's death or burial, but that she was 
 buried in the cave appears from Gen. xlix. 31. Jacob's body was 
 embalmed (Gen. 1. 2), and probably remains intact to the present day. 
 
THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, married 
 two wives, daughters of Laban the Syrian, Leah and 
 Rachel by name. Of these he loved Rachel the better ; 
 but for many years she bare him no children. At the 
 last, in the twenty-seventh year of her marriage, she 
 bare a son, and called his name Joseph. Seven years 
 afterwards she bare another son, whom she would have 
 called Ben-oni, that is to say, " Son of my sorrow," for 
 she knew that she was dying, but his father called him 
 Ben-jamin, that is, " Son of my right hand." These two 
 Jacob loved more than all his children, because they 
 were the sons of his old age, and because Rachel, his 
 best beloved, had borne them. In these days Jacob 
 dwelt at Hebron with Isaac his father, and Joseph and 
 Benjamin dwelt with him, and his other sons fed his 
 flocks, wandering over the land from place to place, 
 according as they found pasture. 
 
 When Joseph was seventeen years ^ of age, Jacob 
 made for him a dress of honour,^ such as princes wore. 
 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him 
 
 ■ The "coat of many colours'' of the Authorised Version. The 
 general opinion is that it was a long tunic made with sleeves, which may 
 or may not have been ornamented with colours. The other interpreta- 
 tion is supported by a representation on an Egyptian tomb (of the twelfth 
 dynasty, circa 2080 B.C.) in which strangers of race akin to the family of 
 Jacob appear clad in garments of what we should call patchwork. 
 
28 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 more than all his sons, they hated him, and could not 
 speak peaceably to him. Moreover, they hated him for 
 certain dreams which he told them. One of the 
 dreams was this : " Behold, we were binding sheaves in 
 the field, and lo ! my sheaf arose, and stood upright ; 
 and your sheaves stood round about it, and made 
 obeisance to it." And his brethren said to him, " Shalt 
 thou indeed reign over us ? " 
 
 After this he told his brethren another dream, say- 
 ing, " Behold, I have dreamed another dream ; the sun 
 and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to 
 me." His father rebuked him, and said unto him, 
 " Shall I and thy mother ^ and thy brethren indeed bow 
 down before thee ? " 
 
 After these things Jacob's elder sons went to feed 
 the flocks in Shechem, and Jacob said to Joseph, " Go, 
 I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, 
 and with the flocks ; and bring me word again." So 
 Joseph went from Hebron to Shechem.^ And a certain 
 man met him wandering in the open country, and said 
 to him, " What seekest thou ? " Joseph said, " I seek 
 my brethren : tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their 
 flocks." The man said, " They are departed hence ; 
 I heard them say. Let us go to Dothan." So Joseph 
 went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. 
 
 When Joseph's brethren saw him coming, they said 
 one to the other, "Behold, this master of dreams 
 Cometh ; " and they conspired together to slay him. 
 " We will slay him," they said, " and cast him into a 
 pit, and we will say that some savage beast hath 
 devoured him : and we shall see what will become of 
 
 1 " Thy mother " must mean his stepniother Leah, for Rachel must 
 have been long since dead. 
 
 2 Shechem, afterwards Samaria. Dothan (so called from its two wells) 
 was twelve miles to the north. 
 
THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 29 
 
 his dreams." But Reuben said, " Shed no blood ; cast 
 him into this pit, but lay not your hands upon him." 
 This he said that he might save his life, for he had it 
 in his mind to come back and take him out of the pit 
 and deliver him to his father. 
 
 So the men stripped Joseph of his coat, the robe of 
 honour that he wore, and cast him into the pit. But 
 
 JOSEPH SOLD BY HIS BRETHREN. 
 
 the pit had no water in it. After this they sat down 
 to their meat. And as they ate, a caravan of Ishmael- 
 ites came by, travelling from Gilead to Egypt, with 
 camels bearing loads of spices and balm and gum 
 ladanum.^ And Judah said to his brethren, "What 
 profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his 
 blood? Let us not lay hands upon him, for he is 
 I A medicinal gum derived from a variety of the plant cistus. 
 
30 STOJilES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 our brother and our flesh. Let us rather sell him to 
 the Ishmaelites." With this the men were content ; so 
 they drew Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the 
 Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. 
 
 Now Reuben had departed from his brethren, seek- 
 ing how he might save Joseph alive. But when he 
 came again to the pit, thinl<:ing to draw him out of it, 
 lo ! Joseph was not there. \Then he rent his clothes, 
 and returned to his brethren, and said, " The child is 
 not, and I, whither shall I go ? " Then the men took 
 Joseph's- coat, and dipped it in the blood of a kid that 
 they had killed. This hey brought to their father, 
 and said, " This have we found : know now whether it 
 be thy son's coat or no." And he knew it, and said, 
 " It is my son's coat ; a savage beast hath devoured 
 him ; Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces." Then 
 he rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth, and mourned 
 for his son many days. And when his children would 
 have comforted him, he refused to be comforted, 
 saying, " I will go down to the dead for my son 
 mourning." 
 
 Meanwhile the Ishmaelites carried Joseph into 
 Egypt, and sold him to Potiphar, who was the captain 
 of the king's executioners. And the Lord was with 
 Joseph, and made all that he did to prosper In his 
 hand ; and when his master perceived this, he made 
 him overseer of his house, and put all that he had into 
 his care. Now Joseph was fair of form and of face, 
 and his master's wife would have tempted him to sin. 
 But when he refused she accused him falsely to her 
 husband. Then Joseph's master took him, and put 
 him in the prison, where the king's prisoners were 
 bound. But there also the Lord was with Joseph, and 
 showed him mercy, and gave him favour with the 
 keeper of the prisoners, so that the keeper committed 
 
THE STOR V OF JOSEPH 3 1 
 
 to his hand all the prisoners. Whatsoever was done 
 in the prison, Joseph was the doer of it. 
 
 It came to pass after these things that the chief of 
 the cupbearers and the chief of the confectioners had 
 offended their master the king of Egypt, so that 
 he cast them into prison, in the place where Joseph 
 was bound. And the chief of the executioners put 
 them into Joseph's charge ; and they continued there 
 for the space of a year. 
 
 When the year was out each of them dreamed a 
 dream ; and when Joseph visited them in the morning, 
 he perceived that they were sad ; and he asked them, 
 saying, " Wherefore look ye so sadly to-day ? " They 
 answered, " We have dreamed each of us a dream, and 
 there is no interpreter." Joseph said unto them, " Do 
 not interpretations come from God ? tell me your 
 dreams, I pray you." 
 
 Then the chief of the cupbearers told his dream. 
 " In my dream I beheld a vine, and in this vine there 
 were three branches ; and while I looked it budded and 
 blossomed and brought forth grapes, and the grapes 
 grew ripe. And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand ; and 
 I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's 
 cup, and gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand." 
 
 Joseph answered, " This is the interpretation of thy 
 dream : The three branches are three days : within 
 three days Pharaoh shall take thee out of prison, and 
 restore thee to thy place, and thou shalt give the cup 
 into Pharaoh's hand, as thou was wont to do in former 
 days. But think on me when it shall be well with thee, 
 and show kindness unto me, and make mention of me 
 to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this place. For I 
 was stolen away out of the land of my fathers ; and 
 here also I have done no wrong that they should put 
 me into the dungeon." 
 
32 STOA'lES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 When the chief of the confectioners saw that the 
 interpretation of the dream was good, he told his dream 
 also, and said, "In my dream I had on my head three 
 baskets of white bread ; and in the uppermost basket 
 there were all manner of confections for Pharaoh ; and 
 the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my 
 head." 
 
 Joseph answered, " This is the interpretation of thy 
 dream : The three baskets are three days : within three 
 days Pharaoh shall cut off thy head, and hang thy body 
 on a tree ; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off 
 thee." 
 
 And it came to pass the third day, which was 
 Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast to all his 
 servants ; and he took account of the chief of the cup- 
 bearers and the chief of the confectioners. The chief 
 of the cupbearers he restored to his place again ; but 
 he hanged the chief of the confectioners, doing even as 
 Joseph had interpreted their dreams to them. Yet the 
 chief of the cupbearers did not remember Joseph, but 
 forgat him. 
 
 At the end of two years Pharaoh the king dreamed 
 a dream. He stood by the river of Egypt, and, behold, 
 there came up out of the river seven heifers, fair of 
 aspect and fat-fleshed ; and they fed in the seed-grass 
 that was by the river-side. And, behold, seven other 
 heifers came up out of the river, foul of aspect and 
 lean-fleshed, and stood by the other heifers. And the 
 lean-fleshed heifers did eat up the seven that were fat- 
 fleshed, and when they had eaten them up they were 
 still lean-fleshed as at the beginning. So Pharaoh 
 awoke. 
 
 And he slept, and dreamed a second time. He 
 saw seven ears growing on one stalk, fat and good. 
 And, behold, seven cars, thin and blasted with the wind 
 
THE STORY OF JOSEPH 33 
 
 of the desert,^ sprang up after them. And the seven 
 thin ears devoured the seven fat and full ears. Then 
 Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream. 
 
 The next day his spirit was troubled, and he called 
 for all the magicians and all the wise men of Egypt, 
 and told them his dreams ; but there wag no one that 
 could interpret them to him. Then said the chief of 
 the cupbearers, " I do remember my fault this day. 
 Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me and 
 the chief of the confectioners in the prison ; and we 
 both of us dreamed a dream one night. And there 
 was a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of 
 the executioners ; he interpreted our dreams to us. 
 And it came to pass that as he interpreted, so it fell 
 out : me Pharaoh restored to my office, but the chief 
 of the confectioners he hanged." 
 
 Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they brought 
 him hastily out of the dungeon ; and he shaved himself, 
 and changed his raiment, and stood before Pharaoh. 
 Then Pharaoh said unto Joseph, "I have dreamed a 
 dream, and there is no one who can interpret it ; and I 
 have heard say of thee that when thou hearest a dream 
 thou canst interpret it." 
 
 Joseph answered, " It is not in me to interpret a 
 dream : the power is of God." 
 
 Then Pharaoh told his dreams, how that the seven 
 lean heifers and the seven lean ears of corn had de- 
 voured the fat, and were none the better. 
 
 Joseph said, " The dreams of Pharaoh are the same : 
 God hath shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. 
 The seven fat heifers and the seven fat ears are seven 
 years of plenty ; and the seven lean heifers and the 
 seven lean ears are years of famine. Behold, there 
 
 I Not the east wind, but the south-east, or sirocco that blows from the 
 desert, and, if it blows long enough, destroys the grass. 
 
 D 
 
34 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 come seven years of plenty throughout all the land of 
 Egypt ; and after them shall come seven years of 
 famine, so grievous that all the plenty shall be forgotten ; 
 for the famine shall consume the land. And that the 
 dream was doubled signifieth this : the thing is sure, 
 and will come to pass quickly. Now therefore let 
 
 JOSEPH INTERPRETS PHAKAOH's DREAMS. 
 
 Pharaoh do this : let him look out a man discreet and 
 wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh 
 also appoint overseers over the land, who shall take 
 up the fifth part of the harvest in the seven plenteous 
 years, and store it away in granaries, keeping it in the 
 king's possession, that the land be not destroyed 
 through the famine." 
 
 This counsel seemed good to Pharaoh and his 
 servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, " Can we 
 
TI-IE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 35 
 
 find such a man as this, one in whom is the Spirit of 
 God ? " And he said to Joseph, " Forasmuch as God 
 hath showed thee all this, there is none so discreet and 
 wise as thou art : thou shalt be over my house, and 
 over all the land of Egypt ; there shall be none greater 
 than thee save myself only." Then he took off the 
 
 THE RULER OF EGYPT. 
 
 ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand. 
 Also he caused him to be arrayed in fine linen, and 
 put a gold chain about his neck ; and made him ride 
 in his second chariot ; and men cried before him, 
 " Bow the knee." 
 
 Pharaoh gave to Joseph a new name, that is, 
 Zaphnath-paaneah, which is, being interpreted, " Food 
 of life." Also he gave him to wife Asenath, that was 
 daughter of Potipherah, the priest of the sun. And 
 
36 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before 
 _Pharaoh. 
 
 In the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth 
 by handfuls ; and Joseph went through the land of 
 Egypt, and gathered the harvests, and laid them up in 
 the cities. That which was grown in the land round 
 about each city, that he laid up in the city. He 
 gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until 
 he ceased to number it ; for indeed it was without 
 number. 
 
 Asenath bare two sons to Joseph before the years 
 of famine. The first-born he called Manasseh, which, 
 being interpreted, is "forgetting" ; for, he said, "God hath 
 made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house." 
 The younger son he called Ephraim, that is, " doubly 
 fruitful "; for, he said, " God hath caused me to be fruit- 
 ful in the land of my affliction." And the seven years 
 of plenty ended, and the seven years of dearth began. 
 The dearth was in all lands ; but in the land of Egypt 
 there was food — that is to say, in the king's granaries. 
 And the people of Egypt came to the granaries to buy, 
 and from other lands also many came to buy. 
 
 So Joseph gathered up all the money that was in 
 the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the 
 corn which the people thereof bought ; and he brought 
 the money into Pharaoh's house. And when money 
 failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, 
 all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, " Give 
 us bread. Wilt thou see us die? for we have no 
 money left." 
 
 Joseph said, " Give me your cattle ; I will give you 
 corn in exchange for your cattle, if your money hath 
 failed." 
 
 So they brought their cattle unto Joseph, and 
 Joseph gave them corn in exchange for horses, and 
 
7'HE STORY OF JOSEPH 37 
 
 sheep, and cattle, and asses. All that year he fed 
 them with corn in exchange for their cattle. 
 
 The next year they came to him again, and said 
 unto him, " We will not hide from my lord how that all 
 our money is spent ; our cattle also thou hast ; and 
 now there is nought left to us but our bodies and our 
 lands. Wherefore should we die before thine eyes ? 
 Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land 
 will be a possession to Pharaoh." 
 
 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, 
 for the Egyptians sold every man his iield, so sore was 
 the famine. Only the land of the priests did he not 
 buy, for the priests had a portion of corn assigned to 
 them by Pharaoh ; therefore they had no need to sell 
 their lands. 
 
 Then Joseph said to the Egyptians, " Behold, ye 
 and your lands are Pharaoh's. Here is seed for you, 
 and ye shall sow the land. And this shall be the law 
 for you henceforth : the fifth part of the increase of the 
 land shall be Pharaoh's ; the other four parts ye shall 
 keep for yourselves, for the seed that ye shall sow, and 
 for your food." 
 
 The Egyptians answered, " Thou hast saved our 
 lives : let us find favour in thy sight, and in the sight 
 of Pharaoh." 
 
 So it became a law in the land of Egypt that the 
 fifth part of the produce was Pharaoh's.^ 
 
 1 It may be as well to say a few words about the policy which Joseph 
 is here described as pursuing. Its immediate object seems to have been 
 the taking of effectual precautions against the reciirrence of famine in the 
 future. It is clear that the people had made no eflectual provision against 
 the disaster-, though they must have had some warning of its approach 
 when they saw Joseph's preparations. If it had not been for these some- 
 thing like an absolute destruction of the population must have taken place. 
 But, for the future, the rulers of Egypt, entitled as they were to receive 
 the fifth part of the annual produce, would have it in their power to guard 
 against this danger. At the same time it may well be that some evils 
 followed this change in the relation between the people and their sovereign. 
 
38 STOJi/ES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Now the famine was sore in the land of Canaan, as 
 it was in all the lands round about. And when Jacob 
 knew that there was corn in Egypt, he said unto his 
 sons, " Why do ye sit here, and look one upon another, 
 and do nothing ? Behold, I have heard that there is 
 corn in Egypt ; go down thither and buy, that we may 
 live and not die." 
 
 So Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in 
 Egypt. But Benjamin, his mother's son, Jacob sent 
 not with them ; for he said, " Peradventure some mis- 
 chief will happen to him." 
 
 So the sons of Jacob came to buy corn, and it was 
 Joseph who sold the corn to all that came. And 
 Joseph's brethren stood before him, and bowed them- 
 selves down before him with their faces to the earth. 
 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. 
 And he remembered how he had dreamt that they 
 should bow themselves down to the ground before him. 
 Then he said to them, " Ye are spies ; ye are come to 
 see the weak places of the land." 
 
 The men answered, " We are sons of one man ; we 
 are true men ; we are no spies." 
 
 But he said again, " Ye are spies." 
 
 They made answer, " We are twelve brethren ; 
 sons of one man in the land of Canaan ; one, who is 
 the youngest of us, is with our father, and one is not." 
 
 Joseph said to them, " By the life of Pharaoh, yc 
 shall not go home till your youngest brother come. 
 Thus shall ye prove that ye are no spies. Send one of 
 you, and let him bring your brother ; but if not, then I 
 shall know that ye are spies." 
 
 The benefits derived from even the wisest and most benevolent des- 
 potism are not purchased for nothing. Tlie people were safeguarded 
 against famine, but they lost something of their freedom, which, indeed 
 It may be said, they bartered, as the Roman populace bartered it lone 
 afterwards, for bread. ^ 
 
THE STORY OF JOSEPH 39 
 
 So he kept them in prison for three days ; and on 
 the third day he said, " I would not wrong you, for I 
 fear God. This shall ye do, and live. Let one of you 
 remain in prison, and the rest shall carry back corn for 
 the need of your houses. Afterwards ye shall come 
 again, but ye shall bring back your youngest brother 
 with you." 
 
 Then they remembered how they had dealt with 
 Joseph, and they said one to another, " We are verily 
 guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish 
 of his soul when he besought us to spare him, and we 
 would not hear. Therefore is this distress come upon 
 us." And Reuben said, " Did I not speak unto you, 
 saying. Do not sin against the child ? but ye would not 
 hear. Behold, his blood is required of us." 
 
 They knew not that Joseph understood them when 
 they thus spoke among themselves, for he had spoken 
 to them through an interpreter. But Joseph, when he 
 heard these things, turned away and wept. Afterwards 
 he spoke to them again, and took Simeon,^ and bound 
 him before their eyes. 
 
 Then Joseph commanded his servants to fill their 
 sacks. with corn, and to restore to every man his money, 
 and also to find them provision for the way. 
 
 When they rested for the night,^ one of them, opening 
 his sack, found his money in his sack's mouth, and said 
 to his brethren, "See, my money is restored." And 
 they were afraid, saying, " What is this that God hath 
 done to us ? " 
 
 1 There can be little doubt, from what we hear of Simeon's character, 
 that he was chosen as having been a ringleader in the cruel act. 
 
 '^ The word " inn " means nothing more than a resting-place or station 
 on the journey. Inns, in our sense of the word, were unknown in the East ; 
 and even the substitute for them, the khan or caravanserai, providing 
 shelter for the traveller, can scarcely be supposed to have existed at this 
 early time. 
 
40 STORIES FROM! THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 So they returned to Jacob, and told him all that had 
 happened to them. "The man who is the lord of the 
 country," they said, " spake roughly to us, and said. Ye 
 are spies ; and we said, We are true men ; we are no 
 spies : we are twelve brethren, sons of our father ; one 
 is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in 
 the land of Canaan. And the man said unto us. 
 Hereby shall I know that ye are true men ; leave one 
 of your brethren here with me, and take food for the 
 famine of your households, and be gone : and bring 
 your youngest brother unto me ; then shall I know 
 that ye are no spies, but true men ; so will I deliver 
 you your brother whom ye shall leave with me, and ye 
 shall traffic in the land." And when they emptied their 
 sacks, lo ! every man's bundle of money was in his sack. 
 And when they and their father saw the bundles of 
 money they were afraid. 
 
 And Jacob their father said unto them, " Me have 
 ye bereaved of my children. Joseph is not, and 
 Simeon is not, and ye would take Benjamin away ; all 
 these things are against me." 
 
 Then Reuben said to his father, " Slay my two sons 
 if I bring him not back to thee : deliver him into my 
 hand, and I will bring him back to thee again." 
 
 But Jacob said, " My son shall not go down with 
 you ; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone : if 
 mischief shall befall him by the way, then shall ye bring 
 down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave." 
 
 The famine was still sore in the land ; and when 
 they had eaten up the corn which they had brought 
 back out of the land of Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, 
 " Go again, buy us a little food." 
 
 And Judah answered, " The man did solemnly pro- 
 test unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except 
 your brother be with you. If thou wilt send our 
 
THE STORY OF JOSEPH 41 
 
 brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food ; 
 but if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down ; for 
 the man said unto us. Ye shall not see my face, except 
 your brother be with you." 
 
 And Jacob said, " Why did ye deal so ill with me 
 as to tell the man that ye had yet a brother ? " 
 
 They said, " The man questioned us closely of our 
 family, and we told him. Could we know that he 
 would say, Bring your brother down ? " 
 
 Then Judah said to his father, " Send the lad with 
 me, and we will arise and go ; that we may live, and 
 not die. I will be surety for him ; of my hand thou 
 shalt require him : if I bring him not back, then let me 
 bear the blame for ever. And, indeed, had we not 
 lingered, we had now returned a second time." 
 
 Then Jacob said, " If it must be so, do this ; take 
 of the best fruits of the land, and carry down the man 
 a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and 
 gum ladanum, and nuts ^ and almonds : and take 
 double money in your sacks, with the money that was 
 returned to you. Peradventure it was an oversight. 
 And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, 
 that he may send away your other brother, and Ben- 
 jamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved," 
 
 Then the men did as their father had bidden them, 
 and went down into Egypt, and stood before Joseph. 
 
 And when Joseph saw Benjamin, his brother, he 
 said to the steward of his household, " Slay, and make 
 ready : for these men shall dine with me at noon." 
 And the steward brought them into Joseph's house. 
 But they were afraid when they were brought into the 
 house, and said among themselves, " This is on account 
 of the money that was returned to us in our sacks ; he 
 seeketh a pretext to take our asses, and to take us for 
 
 1 Pislachio nuts. 
 
42 SrOHIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 slaves.'' So they told the steward of how they had 
 found the money in their sacks. And he said to them, 
 " Peace be to you ; fear not. Your God, and the God of 
 your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks : I 
 had your money." And he brought Simeon to them. 
 Then he brought them into Joseph's house, and gave 
 them water for their feet and provender for their asses. 
 And the men made ready their present before Joseph 
 should come at noon, for they had heard that they 
 were to dine with him. 
 
 When Joseph came they gave him the present, and 
 bowed themselves before him to the earth. And he 
 asked them of their welfare, and said, " Is your father 
 well, the old man of whom ye spake ? is he yet alive ?" 
 They said, " Thy servant our father is yet alive, and in 
 good health." And they bowed down their heads. 
 And when he saw Benjamin, his mother's son, he said, 
 " Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto 
 me ? " And he said, " God be gracious unto thee, my 
 son." And he turned away in haste, for his heart went 
 out to his brother ; and he sought a place where he 
 might weep ; and entering into his chamber, he wept 
 there. 
 
 Then he washed his face, and went out and refrained 
 himself, and said, " Set on bread." So they set on for 
 him by himself, and for the men by themselves, and 
 for the Egyptians by themselves. And the men sat 
 before him, placed according to their age ; and they 
 marvelled that a stranger should know it. Also Joseph 
 sent messes to them from his own table ; but Benja- 
 min's mess was five times as much as any of theirs. 
 And they drank, and were merry with him. 
 
 And Joseph commanded the steward of his house, 
 saying, " Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as 
 they can carry, and put every man's money in the 
 
THE STORY OFJOSEPFI 43 
 
 mouth of his sack. And put my silver cup in the sack 
 of the youngest, with his corn-money." And the steward 
 did so. 
 
 When it was light in the morning, the men were 
 sent away. But before they had gone far from tlie 
 city, Joseph said unto his steward, " Up, follow them ; 
 and when thou dost overtake them, say to them. 
 Wherefore have ye returned evil for good ? Is not 
 this the cup from which my lord drinketh, and whereby 
 he divineth ?" ^ 
 
 And he overtook them, and spake to them as his 
 master had bidden him. 
 
 Then they answered, " Wherefore saith my lord 
 these words ? God forbid that thy servants should do 
 so. Behold, we brought again the money that we 
 found in our sacks' mouths : wherefore should we steal 
 silver or gold out of thy lord's house ? With whomso- 
 ever of thy servants the cup shall be found, let him die, 
 and we will be thy lord's bondmen." And the steward 
 said, " He with whom the cup shall be found shall be 
 taken as a bondman ; but the rest shall go blameless." 
 
 So the man searched, beginning with the eldest ; 
 and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. Then 
 they rent their clothes, and laded their asses, and 
 returned to the city. And when they came to Joseph's 
 house they fell down before him. And he said, " What 
 deed is this that ye have done? did ye not know that 
 such a man as I can certainly divine ? " 
 
 Then Judah said, " How shall we clear ourselves ? 
 God hath found out our iniquity : behold, we are my 
 lord's servants, both we and he with whom the cup 
 was found." 
 
 But Joseph said, " God forbid that I should deal so 
 
 1 This was done either by dropping articles into the liquor and observ- 
 ing their appearance, or by watching the surface. 
 
44 STOA'IES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 with you : he with whom the cup was found shall be 
 my servant ; but ye shall go in peace to your father." 
 
 Then Judah came near, and said, " Oh my lord, let 
 thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in thine ears, and 
 let not thine anger burn against thy servant ; for thou 
 art as Pharaoh unto us. My lord asked his servants, 
 saying. Have, ye a father, or a brother? And we 
 said unto my lord. We have a father, an old man, and 
 he has a child of his old age ; his brother is dead, and 
 he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him. 
 And thou saidst. Bring him down. And we said, 
 The lad cannot leave his father ; for his father would 
 die. And thou saidst. Except your youngest brother 
 be with you, ye shall not see my face. So when 
 our father said, Go again, buy us a little food, we 
 said. We cannot go down ; for we cannot see the 
 man's face, except our youngest brother be with us. 
 And thy servant my father said, Ye know that my 
 wife bare me two sons : the one went out from me, 
 and I said. Surely he is torn to pieces ; nor have I 
 seen him again : and if ye take this also from me, and 
 mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs 
 with sorrow to the grave. When therefore I shall 
 come to my father, and he shall see that the lad is not 
 with me, he will die : so will thy servants bring down 
 the gray hairs of our father with sorrow to the grave. 
 Now thy servant became a surety to my father for the 
 lad, saying. If I bring him not again to thee, let me 
 bear the blame for ever. For how shall I go up to 
 my father, and the lad be not with me ? " ^ 
 
 1 It is hardly necessary to point out that the seeming hai<ilnicss of 
 Joseph in his dealings with his brothers was simjily designed to put them 
 to a test. He desired to see whether they had really been cliaiiged for 
 the better, and felt a genuine repentance for the wrong done to him. 
 Judah's speech convinces him. He has learnt self-sacrifice. The fierce 
 jealousy of the father's favourite that had almost led to murder in the early 
 
THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 45 
 
 Then Joseph could not refrain himself any longer, 
 and he cried, " Let every man go forth ; " and there 
 stood no man with him when he made himself known 
 to his brethren ; but the Egyptians and the household 
 of Pharaoh heard his weeping, for he wept aloud. 
 
 JOSEPH MADE KNOWN TO HIS BRETHREN. 
 
 Then he said to his brethren, " I am Joseph : doth 
 my father yet live ? " 
 
 And his brethren could not answer him, for they 
 were confounded. 
 
 Then he said to his brethren, " Come near, I pray 
 
 you." 
 
 And they came near. Then Joseph said, "I am 
 Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now 
 
 days is now changed to an affectionate sympathy, which is ready for any 
 sacrifice, so that the fatlier's heart should not be wounded again. 
 
46 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that ye sold 
 me hither ; for God sent me before you to preserve 
 your lives. For the famine hath been in the land two 
 years, and there are yet five years during which there 
 shall be neither ploughing nor harvest. So, therefore, 
 it is not ye that sent me hither, but God ; and He 
 hath made me chief counsellor to Pharaoh, and a ruler 
 throughout all the land of Egypt. Hasten, and go up 
 to my father, and say to him. Thus saith thy son 
 Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt ; come 
 down to me, tarry not : and thou shalt dwell in the 
 land of Goshen,! ^^^ ^g ^^^^ ^^^ ^o^x, and thy children, 
 and thy children's children, and all that thou hast. And 
 there will I nourish thee, for there are yet five years of 
 famine, lest thou and thy household come to poverty. 
 And now ye see, and Benjamin ^ seeth, that it is indeed 
 I that speak to you. And ye shall tell my father of 
 all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen ; 
 and ye shall hasten and bring down my father hither." 
 
 And he fell upon Benjamin's neck and wept ; and 
 Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his 
 brethren, and wept upon them ; and after that they 
 spoke together. 
 
 And it was told Pharaoh that Joseph's brethren were 
 come ; and it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. And 
 Pharaoh said to Joseph, " Bid your brethren lade their 
 asses, and go to the land of Canaan, and bring back 
 thence your father and your households : and I will 
 give you the best part of the land of Egypt, and ye 
 shall eat the fat of the land. Take carriages out of the 
 land of Egypt for your little ones, and your wives, and 
 
 1 Goshen was in Lower Egypt, east of the Nile (which the Israelites 
 had not to cross m leaving Egypt), but more than this it is impossible 
 to say. "^ 
 
 2 Benjamin must have been about nine or ten years old when Toseoh 
 was lost. ' 
 
7'HE STORY OF JOSEPH 47 
 
 bring your father, and come. And do not regard your 
 furniture ; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours." 
 
 And Joseph gave his brethren carriages, according 
 to Pharaoh's commandment, and provision for the way. 
 And to all of them he gave changes of raiment ; but to 
 Benjamin he gave five changes of raiment, and three 
 hundred shekels of silver. To his father he sent ten 
 asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she- 
 asses laden with corn and meat and bread for his father 
 by the way. So he sent his brothers away, and when 
 they were departing he said, " See that ye fall not out 
 by the way."^ 
 
 So they returned into the land of Canaan to their 
 father, and told him, saying, "Joseph is yet alive, and 
 is governor over all the land of Egypt." And Jacob 
 believed them not. Then they told him all the words 
 of Joseph ; and when he saw thfe carriages that Joseph 
 had sent, his spirit revived within him ; and he said, 
 " It is enough ; Joseph my son is alive : I will go and 
 see him before I die." 
 
 So Jacob came down into the land of Egypt, he and 
 his sons and all his family; ^ and Judah went before him 
 to tell Joseph of his coming. Then Joseph made ready 
 his chariot, and went to meet his father in the land of 
 Goshen. And he fell on his father's neck, and wept a 
 long time. Then Jacob said to Joseph, " Now let me 
 die, since I have seen thy face." 
 
 ' They might endeavour to shift the blame one on to the other, 
 especially as they would have to make to their father a painful confession 
 of their past wickedness. But Dr. Kalisch would translate, " Be not afraid 
 by the way." They were not to apprehend any interruption such as had 
 occurred to them twice before on their return journeys to Canaan. 
 
 2 The total is given at seventy, i.e. sixty-six children and grandchildren 
 of Jacob, Joseph and his two sons, born in Egypt, and Jacob himself. 
 The number seems to have been chosen for reasons which cannot be here 
 explained ; but it is clearly arrived at by many omissions. The actual 
 number must have been larger. 
 
48 STOJiISS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Then Joseph said to his brethren, " I will go up and 
 tell Pharaoh that ye are come ; and that ye are 
 shepherds and breeders of cattle, and that ye have 
 brought your flocks and herds with you. And when 
 Pharaoh shall ask you your occupation, say ye. We have 
 been breeders of cattle from our youth up, we and our 
 fathers before us. So will he put you in the land of 
 Goshen, that ye may dwell by yourselves, for the 
 Egyptians have no favour for shepherds." 
 
 Then Joseph presented five of his brethren to 
 Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to them, "What is your 
 occupation ? " 
 
 They said, " We are shepherds, we and our fathers 
 before us. And now we are come to sojourn in thy 
 land ; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks ; 
 for the famine is heavy in the land of Canaan : now, 
 therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the 
 land of Goshen." 
 
 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, " The land of Egypt 
 is before thee. Let thy father and brethren dwell 
 in the best of it ; if they would dwell in the land of 
 Goshen, let it be so : and if thou knowest any men 
 of ability among them, make them overseers of my 
 cattle." 
 
 And Joseph brought his father into Pharaoh's pres- 
 ence ; and Jacob blessed Pharoah. And Pharaoh said 
 to Jacob, " How old art thou ? " Jacob said to Pharaoh, 
 " The years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and 
 thirty : few and evil have been my days, and have not 
 attained to the age of my fathers." * 
 
 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from his 
 presence. 
 
 And Joseph caused his father and his brethren to 
 
 ' Abiaham is said to have died nt the age of one liimdicd and seventy- 
 five, Isaac at that of one hundred and eighty. 
 
THE STORY OF JOSEPH 49 
 
 dwell in the land of Goshen, and supported them during 
 the years of famine. -— — - 
 
 Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. 
 And being now very infirm, he sent for Joseph and said 
 to him, " Swear to me that thou wilt not bury me in 
 Egypt. I will lie with my fathers. Therefore thou 
 shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their bury- 
 ing-place." And Joseph swore that he would do so. 
 
 After this it was told Joseph, " Thy father is very 
 sick." So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh 
 and Ephraim. And when Jacob heard that Joseph 
 was come, he strengthened himself, and sat up on his 
 bed. And Jacob said to Joseph, " God said to me at 
 Bethel that He would make of me a multitude of 
 people, and give me the land for a possession. Now, 
 therefore, thy two sons that were born to thee in Egypt 
 before I came down thither, are mine ; Ephraim and 
 Manasseh shall be as Reuben and Simeon. For they 
 are thy sons, and thou art the son of Rachel, whom 
 I saw die in the land of Canaan, on the way to 
 Ephrath." 
 
 And Jacob saw Joseph's sons, and said, " Who are 
 these ? " Joseph said, " They are my two sons, whom 
 God hath given me here." Then Jacob said, " Bring 
 them to me, and I will bless them." Now Jacob's 
 eyes were dim with age, so that he could not see. And 
 he said to Joseph, " I had not hoped to see thy face : 
 and now God hath permitted me to see thy children." 
 Then Joseph brought the two near to Jacob, setting 
 Manasseh, that was the elder, by Jacob's right hand, 
 and Ephraim, the younger, by his left. But Jacob 
 reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim's 
 head, and put his left hand on Manasseh. Then 
 Joseph was displeased, and he would have removed his 
 father's right hand from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's, 
 
 E 
 
50 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 saying, " Not so, my father : for this is the first-born ; 
 put thy right hand upon his head." But his father 
 refused, saying, " I know it, my son, I know it : he 
 also shall become a people, he also shall be great : but 
 his younger brother shall be greater than he." And 
 he blessed them. To Joseph also he said, " Behold, I 
 die : but God will be with you, and bring you back to 
 the land of your fathers." 
 
 After these things Jacob died, having first blessed 
 his children. And Joseph fell upon his face, and 
 wept upon him, and kissed him. And he com- 
 manded his servants the physicians to embalm him. 
 And after the days of mourning, even seventy days, 
 were ended, Joseph said to Pharaoh, " My father made 
 me swear that I would bury him in the grave of his 
 fathers in the land of Canaan. Now, I pray thee, let 
 me go up and bury my father, and I will return." So 
 Joseph went up to bury his father, and the servants of 
 Pharaoh and the elders of Egypt went up with him ; 
 his brethren also went with him, and all his father's 
 house. And they buried him in the cave of the field 
 of Machpelah, which Abraham had bought as a burying- 
 place of Ephron the Hittite. 
 
 And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father 
 was dead, they said, " Peradventure Joseph will hate us, 
 and fully requite us all the evil that we did unto him." 
 And they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, " Thy 
 father commanded us before he died that we should 
 gi^e thee this message. Forgive, I pray thee, the tres- 
 pass of thy brethren, and their sin ; for they did thee 
 evil." And Joseph wept when they spake to him. 
 His brethren also went and fell down before him, say- 
 ing. " Behold, we are thy servants." And Joseph said, 
 " Fear not : ye meant evil against me, but God meant 
 good, to bring it to pass, as it is this day, that I should 
 
THE STORY OF JOSEPH 51 
 
 preserve alive much people. Now therefore fear not, 
 for I will nourish you and your children." So he spake 
 kindly to them, and comforted them. 
 
 And Joseph dwelt in Egypt. He lived one hundred 
 and ten years, and he saw Ephraim's children of the 
 third generation, and the children of Machir the son 
 of Manasseh he adopted for his own. And he said to 
 his brethren, " I die ; but God will surely remember 
 and bring you to the land which He sware to your 
 fathers." And he made them swear that when this 
 should be they should carry his bones out of the land 
 of Egypt^ So Joseph died, and the physicians em- 
 balmed him, and they put his body in a coffin. 
 
 And when the children of Israel departed out of 
 Egypt they carried with them the bones of Joseph, and 
 buried them in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which 
 Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor, the father of 
 Shechem. 
 
 1 For the question of who was "Joseph's Pharaoh " see the first note 
 in the " Story of Moses." 
 
THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 I-— an Cgffppt 
 
 Not many years after the death of Joseph much 
 trouble and affliction began to fall upon the children of 
 Israel. They multiplied indeed and increased exceed- 
 ingly, so that the land of Goshen, in which Joseph had 
 set them at the first, was too narrow for them, and they 
 were constrained to seek their livelihood elsewhere. 
 Also there arose a king in Egypt that knew not Joseph, 
 nor remembered all the benefits that he had done to 
 the land.^ This man, knowing that there was danger 
 to his kingdom from the nations round about,^ and 
 
 ^ It seems tolerably well established that the migration of the Israelites 
 into Egypt took place during the reign of the last of the Hyksos or Shep- 
 herd Kings — a dynasty which ruled for many years in Lower Egypt. 
 Apepi, the last of this dynasty, was defeated by Aahmes, king of Upper 
 Egypt, and founder of the eighteenth dynasty. The Hyksos were then 
 driven out. It would appear, however, that Joseph did not share the 
 fate of the monarch who had promoted him. The ruler who is described 
 as the " king who knew not Joseph," is supposed to have been Seti I., 
 who ascended the throne at the close of the eighteenth dynasty. As 
 regards the numbers of the Israelites, it has been calculated that the total 
 of the immigrants was about three thousand (including of course the slaves). 
 These had increased at the time of the Exodus to about two millions — if 
 the number can be trusted (numbers are always uncertain). This increase 
 is said to have taken a period of four hundred years. Here again tlie 
 number is very uncertain. 
 
 2 There are reasons for believing that a confederacy of Egypt's neigh- 
 bours on the north and east was threatening her at this time. Her 
 power was certainly much smaller than it had been two or three centuries 
 before. 
 
TIJE STOR Y OF MOSES 53 
 
 seeing that there dwelt in the midst of it this nation of 
 strangers, said to his people, " Behold, the children of 
 Israel are more in number and mightier than we are. 
 Let us, therefore, so deal with them that they may not 
 multiply yet more, lest when our enemies make war 
 against us they give themselves to them, and fight 
 against us, and so escape from the land, and we lose 
 their service." So he oppressed them with heavy tasks 
 of labour, as the building of treasure citieSj,^. and the 
 like. But the more they were afflicted, the more they 
 multiplied, so that the Egyptians were afraid of them. 
 Then the king set them to labour at the making of 
 bricks, and to do all manner of service in the field — 
 planting, and reaping, and drawing water from the 
 river. All their service that they were constrained to 
 render was made hard and grievous. Yet for all this 
 their numbers increased more and more. Then the 
 king commanded that their male children should be 
 killed at the birth, and when he found that this was 
 not done, he commanded that the male children should 
 be cast into the river, but the female children he 
 suffered to live. 
 
 Now there was in those days a certain Amram, who 
 was of the tribe of Levi, who had taken to wife his 
 father's sister,^ Jochebed by name. This Amram had 
 two children, the elder a damsel of some sixteen years. 
 Miriam by name ; and the younger a male child of 
 three years or thereabouts,, whose name was Aaron, 
 And now there was born unto him yet another son. 
 Him, because he was a goodly child, his mother hid in 
 the house for six months. And when she could no 
 
 1 Pithom and Rameses, both in Eastern Egypt, are mentioned as liaving 
 been built by Hebrew labour. 
 
 '•! These marriages, afterwards forbidden, were at that time lawful among 
 Ihe Israelites, as they seem to have been among the Egyptians. They are 
 still allowed, by special dispensation, in the Roman Church. 
 
54 
 
 STOIi/ES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 longer hide him, she made an ark of bulrushes/ and 
 daubed it within with mud and without with pitch. 
 In this she put the child, and laid it in the flags by the 
 brink of the stream. And Miriam, the child's sister, 
 stood afar off to see what should happen to him. 
 
 Now it so chanced that Pharaoh had a daughter 
 that was married, but had no children. She came 
 
 THE FINDING OF MOSES. 
 
 down to bathe in the river, and her maidens walked by 
 the river-side. And when Pharaoh's daughter saw the 
 ark among the flags she sent her maid to fetch it. 
 When she had opened it she saw the child ; and, behold, 
 the child wept. Then she had compassion on the babe, 
 and said, "This is one of the Plebrews' children." 
 
 I The i^apynis, a reed growing in great quantities hy the Nile, and 
 famous as the material out of wliicli tlie Egyptians made /(7/tv. 
 
THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 55 
 
 When Miriam saw what was done to the babe, she 
 drew near, and said to Pharaoh's daughter, " Shall I go 
 and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she 
 may nurse the child for thee ?" 
 
 Pharaoh's daughter said, " Go." 
 
 Then the maid went and called the child's mother. 
 And Pharaoh's daughter said to the mother, " Take this 
 child away and nurse him for me, and I will give thee 
 thy wages." So the woman took the child away, and 
 nursed him. And when he was of a proper age, she 
 brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became 
 the son of Pharaoh's daughter, who called him Moses, 
 " because," she said, " I drew him out of the water." ^ 
 
 Thus did the son of Amram come to be called the 
 son of Pharaoh's daughter.^ 
 
 As the child grew he was taught all that it became 
 a son of the royal house to know. He had such bodily 
 training as it was the custom for youths that were nobly 
 born to receive, being taught to wrestle, and to strike 
 and parry with the sword, and to throw a javelin at the 
 
 1 If the word is Hebrew, it is derived from miis/iM, to draw out. If, 
 on the other hand, it is Egyptian, it is derived, according to Josephus, 
 from two words — mo, " water," and ses or uses, "saved." Tlie first of 
 these two words we Icnow from other sources to have been really one of 
 the Egyptian equivalents for water. 
 
 2 Josephus relates an incident which, if his story be true, must have 
 happened in the early childhood of Moses, very soon after he had been 
 brought back from his iiiother's home. The princess, who bears in the 
 narrative of Josephus the name of Thermuthis, eager to exhibit the beauty 
 and cleverness of her adopted child, brought him into the royal presence- 
 chamber, and set him upon her father's knee. The king took his crown 
 and put it upon the child's head. Thereupon the child got down from 
 the king's lap, closely examined the crown, and putting it on the ground, 
 stood upon it. An Egyptian sage, who had shortly before prophesied the 
 birth of a Hebrew child who should lay the power of Egypt in the dust, 
 cried out, "This is the child, O king, whom the gods bid us slay for our 
 security. See how he bears witness to -the prophecy ! He has put thy 
 sovereignty beneath him, and tramples thy crown under his feet." Ther- 
 muthis thereupon caught up the child and carried him away ; nor did the 
 king attempt to carry out the advice which had been given him. 
 
S6 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 mark. Also he learnt to read and to write,^ and to 
 reckon with numbers,^ and to play on instruments of 
 music. He learnt also concerning- geometry, or the 
 measuring of land, and concerning the motions of the 
 sun and the moon and the stars, and all the knowledge 
 which was found in Egypt in those days.^ Very wise 
 was he, and also mighty in words and deeds. 
 
 - The writing which Moses would learn would be the hieroglyphic. In 
 this the characters were various animals, both birds and beasts, such as the 
 eagle, the owl, the hawk, the ibis, the lion, wild goat, crocodile, etc. 
 Each of these had to be drawn with such distinctness that it could not be 
 mistaken for anything else. A good writer would have, therefore, to be 
 something of an artist. The word hieroglyphic signifies the engraving or 
 drawing of holy objects. The other form of handwriting at that time in 
 "use among the Egyptians was the hieratic, a running hand which was 
 substantially the same as the hieroglyphic. The demotic character was of 
 much later invention. 
 
 2 The Egyptians invented some of the signs for numbers which we still 
 use (the first four). These signs are commonly called Arabic, but it would 
 be more correct to call them Egyptian. Their superiority in point of 
 convenience over the Greek and Roman methods of numeration is very 
 great. 
 
 ' Geometry, or rather trigonometiy, is said to have been invented in 
 Egypt under the pressure of the necessity that there was for the continual 
 remeasurement of the land, altered as it was from year to year by the in- 
 undations of the river. In astronomy the Egyptians had made considerable 
 progress, thanks to the unusual advantages afforded them by an almost 
 rainless climate. They observed eclipses, the motions and occultations of 
 the planets, and other phenomena of the heavens, and they mapped out 
 the fixed stars into constellations. The best proof of their practical know- 
 ledge is that they came very near to a right determination of the length of 
 the solar year, making it to consist of 3651 days ; a calculation so close to 
 the truth that it causes an error of very little more than one day in a hundred 
 years. The Roman year, on the other hand, was so inexact that the 
 calendar came to be quite out of accord with the seasons. The ground for 
 supposing that Moses was instructed in these branches of knowledge is, 
 besides the intrinsic probability, the declaration of St. Stephen in his 
 speech before the Sanhedrin that Moses was " learned in all the wisdom 
 of the Egyptians" (Acts vii. 22). The words "he was mighty in words 
 and in deeds" are not improbably illustrated by the narrative given by 
 Josephus of Moses' military achievements in the Egyptian service, a 
 narrative which may be thus paraphrased. 
 
 Wlien he was grown to man's age, Moses, as some relate, did good 
 service with the armies of Egypt when these fought against the Ethiopians. 
 For the Egyptians, having marched into the land of the Etliiopians, were 
 defeated by them in a great battle, and driven back into their own country. 
 
THE STORY OF MOSES t^-j 
 
 And now came the time when he must needs choose 
 between two things, whether he would suffer affliction 
 with his own people or enjoy the pleasures of sin for a 
 season. For if he still dwelt in the king's court, he 
 must needs do as they of the court were wont to do, 
 following evil ways, and bowing down to false gods. 
 And because he had faith, believing in the things that 
 were unseen, he chose the hard lot of the people of God 
 rather than all the riches and honours that would have 
 come in due course to the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 
 
 Having thus resolved in his heart, he went to visit his 
 brethren, the children of Israel, and to see with his own 
 eyes the burdens of labour that they bare. And he was 
 now full forty years of age. While he was doing this, 
 he spied an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew ; then he 
 looked this way and that way, and when he saw that 
 there was no man near, he smote the Egyptian, and hid 
 his body in the sand, for the place where this was done 
 was near to the borders of the desert. ,— - 
 
 The next day when he went out, he saw two men 
 
 And when the Ethiopians followed them thither, they could not make any 
 head against the invaders, but were driven from city to city, till they 
 came to the very border of their land, even to the shore of the Great Sea. 
 Thereupon, being in the last extremity, they inquired of the oracles what 
 they should do that Egypt might be saved. The oracles made answer, 
 "Use the Hebrew for your helper." Now "the Hebrew" was Moses, 
 whom men knew already to be brave and skilful in arms. So the Egyptians 
 made him captain of their host. Thereupon he led the army into the land of 
 the Ethiopians. The host that was sent against him he defeated in a great 
 battle, and when his men were much troubled by the serpents that abound 
 in those regions, he abated this plague by means of a number of birds 
 which they call the ibis [Herodotus speaks of the ibis as being held in 
 honour by the Egyptians because it destroys serpents] that he had brought 
 with him. Thus he conquered the whole land of the Ethiopians till he 
 came to their chief city, of which the name was Saba and afterwards 
 Meroe. This, they say, Moses and his men assaulted many times in vain. 
 But at the last the daughter of the king of the Ethiopians, whose name 
 was Tharbis, seeing that the captain of the Egyptians was of singular courage 
 and beauty, loved him. And she persuaded her father that he should 
 make peace with the Egyptians. This he did, and Moses took Tharbis to 
 wife, and returned in great honour into the land of Egypt. 
 
S8 
 
 STOHTES FRO^r THE OLD TEST.IJ\fENT 
 
 of the Hebrews striving together, and said to him that 
 did the wrong, " Why smitest thou thy fellow ? " And 
 he said, "Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? 
 Intendest thou to kill me, as thou kiUedst the Egyptian 
 yesterday ? " When Moses heard the man speak thus, 
 he was afraid, for he said to himself, •" Surely the thing 
 
 MOSES SLAVS THE EGYPTIAN. 
 
 that I did in slaying the Egyptian is known." And 
 indeed it was known to Pharaoh, so that Pharaoh 
 sought to slay Moses, and he fled into the land of 
 Midian,^ and sat down by a well. -* 
 
 1 Moses would naturally seek to escape by going eastward. The 
 sea barred his way on the north and the desert on the west, while if he went 
 southward he would have to traverse a thickly populated country under 
 Egyptian rule for a distance of about seven hundred miles. He would 
 therefore cross the isthmus of Suez (which, supposing that he started from 
 Memphis, would not be more than a hundred miles distant). I-Ie would 
 
THE STOR Y OF MOSES 59 
 
 u^ 
 
 As he sat there there came the seven daughters of 
 Reuel, that was priest of Midian, to the well to draw 
 water for their flocks. But while they were filling the 
 troughs, the shepherds came and drove them away. 
 Then Moses stood up and helped them, making the 
 shepherds cease from troubling them, and drawing water 
 for their flocks. 
 
 When they came back to Reuel their father, he said 
 to them, " How is it that ye are come so soon to-day ? " 
 
 They said, "An Egyptian delivered us out of the 
 hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for 
 us and for our fiock." 
 
 Then Reuel said, " Where is he ? why have ye left 
 him ? Call him hither, that he may eat bread with 
 us." 
 
 So they called Moses, and he sat down and ate 
 bread with Reuel and his daughters. And afterwards 
 he was content to dwell with Reuel and to be his 
 servant. After a while Reuel gave him his daughter 
 Zipporah to be his wife, and Zipporah bare him a son, 
 whom Moses called by the name of Gershom, which 
 word signifies " a stranger there," for he said, " I have 
 been a stranger in a strange land." Afterwards she 
 bare him another son. Him he named Eliezer, which, 
 being interpreted, signifies, "My God hath holpen me." 
 As the years went on, Reuel died, and Jethro his son 
 was priest in his stead. 
 
 It came to pass when Moses had dwelt in the land of 
 Midian near upon forty years, that seeking to find new 
 pasture for his flocks, he led them to the far side of 
 the desert, near to H^oreb, the mount of God. And as 
 he walked, leading his flocks, as shepherds are wont to 
 
 avoid the western regions of the Arabian peninsula, as being under the 
 power of Pharaoh, and make his way down to the eastern branch of the 
 Red Sea, the country inhabited by the Midianites. 
 
6o 
 
 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 do in that country/ he saw a little way off a flame of 
 fire coming out of a bush,^ and lo ! the bush burned 
 with fire, and yet was not consumed. Then Moses said 
 to himself, " I will now turn aside, and see this great 
 sight, why the bush is not consumed." 
 
 When the Lord saw that Moses turned aside to see. 
 He called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said. 
 
 THE BURNING BUSH. 
 
 " Moses, Moses ! " And he said, " Behold, here am I." 
 Then God said to him, " Draw not nigh. Put off thy 
 shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou 
 standest is holy ground." And Moses did so. Then 
 
 1 The shepherd of the East goes before his Hock (so our Lord in St 
 John X. 4, " When he putteth forth his sheep, he goeth before them, and 
 the sheep follow him : for they Icnow his voice "). The Western sheoherd 
 follows it. 
 
 2 The bush was an acacia thorn, a plant very common in the desert 
 It is the " shittim " of Scripture. 
 
THE STOR Y OF MOSES 6i 
 
 the Lord spake unto him, " I am the God of thy father, 
 the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of 
 Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to 
 look upon God. 
 
 Then the Lord said, " I have surely seen the afflic- 
 tion of My people which is in Egypt, and have heard 
 their cry which they cry unto Me because of their task- 
 masters, for I know their sorrows ; and I am come 
 down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, 
 and to bring them up out of the land of bondage into 
 a good land and a large, a land that floweth with milk 
 and honey, the land of the seven nations of the 
 Canaanites. Come now, therefore, and I will send thee 
 unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring My people, the 
 children of Israel, out of Egypt." 
 
 And Moses said unto God, " Who am I that I should 
 go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the 
 children of Israel out of Egypt ? " 
 
 Then God said to Moses, "Certainly I will be with 
 thee. And this shall be a token to thee, that in this 
 very mountain thou shalt serve Me when thou shalt 
 have brought the children of Israel out of Egypt." 
 
 And Moses said unto God, " When I shall come to 
 the children of Israel, and shall say to them. The God 
 of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they shall 
 say to me, What is His name ? what shall I answer 
 them ? " 
 
 God said unto Moses, " I AM THAT I AM. Thou 
 shalt say unto the children of Israel, I AM ^ hath sent 
 me to you. Thou shalt say also. The Lord God of your 
 fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God 
 of Jacob, has sent me unto you. And thou shalt gather 
 the elders, and say unto them, The Lord God of your 
 
 1 "I am" is connected with the name "Jehovah" or Jahveh. Com- 
 pare also Isa. xlv. 6, " I am, and there is none beside me." 
 
62 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 fathers, of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared 
 to me, saying, I have surely seen what is done to My 
 people in Egypt, and I will bring them up out of their 
 affliction into the land of the Canaanites, a land that 
 floweth with milk and honey. Thus shalt thou speak 
 to the children of Israel. And afterwards thou shalt 
 go, thou and the elders of the people with thee, into 
 the presence of Pharaoh, and say to him. The Lord 
 God of the Hebrews hath met with us. Let us go 
 therefore three days' journey into the wilderness, that we 
 may sacrifice to the Lord our God. But I know that he 
 will not let you go, but will keep you by force. Then 
 I will stretch out My hand, and smite the land of Egypt 
 with many plagues. After that he will let you go." 
 
 Then Moses answered and said, " Behold, they will 
 not believe me, nor hearken unto me ; but will say, The 
 Lord hath not appeared to thee." 
 
 Then the Lord said to Moses, " What is that in 
 thy hand ?" 
 
 Moses said, " It is a rod.'' 
 
 The Lord said, " Cast it on the ground." And 
 when he cast it on the ground it became a serpent ; 
 and Moses fled for fear of it. 
 
 Then the Lord said to Moses, " Put forth thy hand, 
 and take this serpent by the tail." 
 
 So he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it 
 became a rod as at the first. 
 
 Then said the Lord, " This shalt thou do that they 
 may believe that I have appeared to thee. And now, 
 again, put thy hand into the fold of thy robe." 
 
 So Moses put his hand into the fold, and when he 
 took it out again, it was covered with leprosy, as white 
 as snow. Then the Lord said, " Put it in again." So 
 he put it in again, and when he pulled it out a second 
 time, it was whole as his other flesh. And the Lord 
 
THE STORY OF MOSES 63 
 
 said, " If they will not believe the first sign, then they 
 shall believe the second. But if they will not believe 
 the two signs, thou shalt take water from the river of 
 Egypt, and pour it upon the dry land, and the water 
 shall become blood upon the land." 
 
 Then Moses said, " Behold, Lord, I am not eloquent, 
 nor have ever been, but am slow of speech." 
 
 And the Lord said to him, " It is I only that make 
 men eloquent or dumb, that give them sight or make 
 them to be blind, that cause them to hear or to be 
 deaf ; go, I will be with thee, and teach thee what thou 
 shalt say." 
 
 But Moses said, " Lord, send whom Thou wilt, only 
 that Thou send not me." 
 
 Then was the Lord angry with Moses, and said to 
 him, " Is not Aaron thy brother ? I know that he can 
 speak well. Behold, he cometh forth to meet thee. 
 He shall speak for thee, and thou shalt put the words 
 into his mouth, and he shall be thy spokesman to the 
 people. And thou shalt take this rod in thy hand, 
 that thou mayest do signs therewith." 
 
 Then Moses returned from Horeb to Jethro, his 
 brother-in-law, and said to him, "Let me return to 
 Egypt, to my brethren, that I may see whether they 
 be yet alive." 
 
 And Jethro said, " Go in peace." 
 Then the Lord said to Moses, " Thou shalt say to 
 Pharaoh, Israel is My first-born. If thou wilt not let 
 him go, then will I slay thy first-born." 
 
 So Moses returned to the land of Egypt. And 
 Aaron came out to meet him, and kissed him. Then 
 Moses told him all that the Lord had said unto him. 
 
 After this the two sent to all the elders of the 
 children of Israel wherever they dwelt throughout the 
 land of Egypt, bidding them come together to them. 
 
64 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 And when the elders were assembled, Aaron stood forth, 
 and spake to them all the words that the Lord had 
 spoken to Moses. 
 
 When the elders asked him, " What sign showest 
 thou that the Lord hath sent thee, and that thou 
 speakest not these things of thine own self, then he did 
 in their sight the three signs that the Lord had com- 
 manded. First, he threw down his staff, and it became 
 a serpent in the sight of all the assembly. Then he 
 thrust his hand into his robe and brought it out white 
 with leprosy ; and then, thrusting it in a second time, 
 brought it whole as at the first. And, finally, he took 
 water out of the river, and poured it upon the ground, 
 and it became blood in their sight. When the elders 
 saw these three signs they indeed believed that the 
 Lord had visited His people, and had looked upon 
 their affliction to deliver them. So they bowed their 
 heads, and worshipped. 
 
 II.— 'Elje (IBoine; jfort!) 
 
 After these things Moses and Aaron his brother 
 went in, and stood before Pharaoh,^ king of Egypt, 
 Moses being fourscore years old and Aaron fourscore 
 and three. And they said unto the king, " Thus saith 
 the Lord God of Israel, Let My people go, that they 
 may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness." 
 
 Pharaoh answered, " Who is the Lord that I should 
 
 1 This Phaiaoh was Menepthah, son and successor of Ramcsis II. 
 The titles which this Iting is found assuming to himself on the monuments 
 seem to show a peculiar exaltation of pride. He seems to identify himself 
 with Deity, calling himself " the good god," " the son of the sun," " the 
 Harus rejoicing in truth." Hence the message of the two brothers, as 
 coming from a divinity whom he could have heard of only as the god of a 
 nation of slaves, must have been peculiarly offensive to him. 
 
THE STOK Y OF MOSES 65 
 
 obey His voice to let Israel go ? I know not the 
 Lord ; neither will I let Israel go." 
 
 Aaron said again, " The Lord our God hath sent us : 
 let us go, I pray thee, three days' journey into the 
 wilderness to do sacrifice unto Him, lest He destroy 
 us with pestilence, or with the sword." 
 
 But Pharaoh said, " Why do ye keep the people 
 'from their tasks? Keep them not, and go ye to your 
 own work." 
 
 Also he said to the taskmasters whom he had set 
 over the people in the brick-fields, " Ye shall no more 
 give the people straw for their brick-making : let them 
 go and gather straw for themselves. But ye shall 
 exact from them the same work as before ; ye shall 
 not diminish it at all : for they are idle, and therefore 
 it is that they say. Let us go and sacrifice to our God. 
 Let more work be laid upon them, that they may not 
 heed idle words any more." 
 
 So the taskmasters said to the people, "Thus saith 
 Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. Get ye therefore 
 straw for yourselves where ye can ; but your tasks 
 shall be the same as before." 
 
 Then the people went about the field seeking 
 stubble ^ for lack of straw, where they could find it. 
 
 Now there was set over each company of brick- 
 makers an officer, to whom the taskmasters looked that . 
 the due quantity of bricks should be delivered day by 
 day ; and when the number was not delivered they 
 were beaten ^ by the taskmasters. Then the officers of 
 
 1 Brick chambers, probably built by the Israelites, have been found 
 in which the lower courses of the bricks are made with straw (used to 
 make the Nile mud cohere the better), the middle with reeds, etc. (the- 
 stubble of the text), and the upper with nothing but clay or mud. 
 
 2 Probably with something like the bastinado, still, or until quite 
 recently, used in Egypt to exact from the peasantry the taxes or forced 
 labour due to the government. 
 
 F 
 
66 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 the Israelites cried to Pharaoh, saying, "Why dealest 
 thou thus with thy servants ? We are bidden to make 
 bricks, but there is no straw given us ; and we are 
 beaten, but the fault is in thine own people." 
 
 But Pharaoh answered them, "Ye are idle, ye are 
 idle : therefore ye say. Let us go and sacrifice to the 
 Lord our God. Look now, I will not give you straw, 
 but I will exact the bricks as before." 
 
 And when the officers heard these words they were 
 greatly troubled, so that they reproached Moses and 
 Aaron, saying to them, " The Lord look upon you, and 
 judge you : ye have made us hateful to Pharaoh and his 
 servants, and have put a sword in their hands to slay us." 
 
 Then Moses cried to the Lord, and said, " Why 
 hast Thou treated Thy people so ill? why hast Thou 
 sent me to them ? For since I came to Pharaoh to 
 speak in Thy name, he hath done evil to this people ; 
 neither hast Thou delivered them at all." 
 
 Then the Lord said again unto Moses, " Say again 
 to this people, Verily I will deliver you out of bondage, 
 and will bring you into the land which I promised to 
 your fathers ; for I am the Lord." 
 
 So Moses went again to the people, and spake to 
 them these words ; but they hearkened not unto him 
 for anguish of heart and cruel bondage. 
 
 Then the Lord said to Moses, " Go in to Pharaoh, 
 and bid him send My people out of his land." 
 
 Moses answered, " My own people will not hearken 
 unto me ; how then shall Pharaoh hearken ? " 
 
 But God said, " I have made thee as a god to 
 Pharaoh, and Aaron shall be thy prophet." 
 
 So the two went in to Pharaoh, and spake as 
 before. And when Pharaoh asked for a sign, Aaron 
 threw down his rod upon the ground before Pharaoh, 
 and it became a serpent. 
 
THE STOR Y OF MOSES 
 
 67 
 
 But Pharaoh called the wise men and magicians 
 of Egypt, and they did the same. They cast down 
 every man his rod, and each rod became a serpent ; ^ 
 but Aaron's rod swallowed up all their rods. 
 
 The next day when Pharaoh came down to the 
 river, as was his wont, for the Egyptians honoured their 
 
 MOSES BEFOKE PHAEAOH. 
 
 river greatly, because it nourished their whole land, 
 Moses and Aaron met him, and said to him, " Thus 
 saith the Lord God of Israel, Let My people go, that 
 they may serve Me." And when Pharaoh would not 
 hearken to them, then Aaron took the rod and lifted it 
 
 1 Various explanations are given. One is that the serpents were 
 trained to become stiif, and were held as rods till they were let run down 
 upon the ground. Another is that the serpents were produced by 
 legerdemain, after the fashion of modern conjurors. The words of the 
 writer of Exodus are, " They did the same by their enchantments." 
 
68 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 up, and smote the water of the river therewith in the 
 sight of Pharaoh and his servants. And all the waters 
 of the river were turned to blood, and the fish that 
 were therein died. In the ponds also and the canals, 
 and in the vessels of wood and stone, the water was 
 turned in like manner, so that throughout the land of 
 Egypt there was blood for water. The Egyptians 
 digged by the river for water, for they loathed to drink 
 of the river. Nevertheless, because the magicians did 
 the same with their enchantments, Pharaoh hardened 
 his' heart, and would not let the people of Israel 
 go. This was the first plagu,e, and it endured for 
 seven days. 
 
 After this Aaron stretched forth his hand over the 
 river, and there came up out of it a great plague of 
 frogs, and covered the whole land of Egypt, coming 
 even into the houses. Pharaoh was troubled thereat, 
 and though the magicians did the same with their 
 enchantments, he said to Moses and Aaron, " Entreat 
 the Lord for me, that He may take away the frogs 
 from me, and from my people ; and I will let the children 
 of Israel go, that they may do sacrifice unto Him." 
 Moses answered, " When shall I entreat the Lord to 
 take them away ? " And Pharaoh said, " To-morrow." 
 And so it was ; for on the morrow the frogs died out 
 of the houses, and out of the fields. And the people 
 gathered them in great heaps, so that the whole land 
 stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, 
 he hardened his heart, and would not let the people go. 
 y This was the second plague.'' 
 
 } Canon Rawllnson quotes fi'om the Commentary of Eustathius on 
 Homer a curiously similar stoiy : "In Pseonia and Dardania there 
 appeared once such a multitude of frogs that they filled the houses and the 
 streets. Therefore, as killing them or shutting the doors was of no avail, 
 as even the vessels were full of them, the water infested, and all food 
 uneatable ; as they could scarcely set their foot upon the ground without 
 
THE STORY OF MOSES 69 
 
 / 
 
 The third plague was a plague of lice. Aaron 
 stretched forth his rod, and smote the dust of the land, 
 that it became lice in man and beast throughout all the 
 land of Egypt. And when the magicians sought to do 
 the same with their enchantments, they could not ; and 
 they said to Pharaoh, " This is the finger of God ; " but 
 he would not hearken unto them.* 
 
 Therefore there was sent upon him a fourth plague, 
 even swarms of flies. Throughout the land were the 
 flies found, and in the houses of the Egyptians. The 
 whole land was devoured by them. But in the land of 
 Goshen, where the children of Israel dwelt, they were 
 not found. When Pharaoh saw that this was so, he 
 sent for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, " Ye shall 
 offer sacrifice to the Lord your God, if ye will ; but 
 ye must offer it within the borders of the land." But 
 they said, " Shall we sacrifice the beasts that the 
 Egyptians count to be holy before their eyes? Will 
 they not stone us ? " Then Pharaoh said, " Ye shall go 
 into the wilderness to do sacrifice. Only go not very 
 far away ; and entreat for me." 
 
 So they entreated the Lord for Pharaoh, and the 
 plague of the flies ceased. But when it had ceased, 
 Pharaoh hardened his heart again. 
 
 After this there came a grievous sickness upon all 
 the beasts, upon the horses, and the asses, the camels, 
 the oxen, and the sheep. Throughout all the land of 
 Egypt it prevailed, but not iri the land of Goshen, for 
 
 treading on heaps of them, and as they were greatly vexed by the smell of 
 the great numbers which died, they fled from that region altogether." 
 
 1 The Egyptians, a scrupulously clean people, must have been greatly 
 troubled by this infliction. Herodotus in his description of the countiy 
 and people in the second book of his Histories tells us that the priests are 
 accustomed every other day to shave their entire bodies, so that no louse 
 or other impure creature may adhere to them when they are engaged in 
 serving the gods. 
 
70 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 of the cattle of the Israelites there died not one. This 
 was the fifth plague. But when Pharaoh still hardened 
 his heart, Moses took ashes of the furnace, and standing 
 before Pharaoh sprinkled it towards heaven. And the 
 dust became a boil breaking forth on man and beast. 
 The magicians could not stand before Moses by reason 
 of the boils ; for they were upon the magicians as upon 
 all the Egyptians. This was the sixth plague. 
 
 But when Pharaoh still hardened his heart and 
 would not let the people of Israel go, the Lord said to 
 Moses, " Rise up early in the morning, and stand before 
 Pharaoh, and say to him, Thus saith the Lord God of 
 the Hebrews, Let My people go, that they may serve 
 Me. For if thou wilt not, then will I send all My 
 plagues upon thee, and upon thy people, that thou 
 mayest know that there is none like Me in all the earth. 
 Dost thou still exalt thyself against Me? Behold, 
 to-morrow at this time I will cause it to rain a very 
 grievous rain, such as hath not been in Egypt from the 
 foundation thereof until now. Send therefore and fetch 
 all that thou hast out of the fields, for all men and 
 beasts that shall be found to-morrow in the fields shall 
 die of the hail." 
 
 Then he that feared the Lord among Pharaoh's 
 servants fetched his slaves and his cattle out of the field, 
 but he that regarded Him not, left them there. 
 
 On the morrow at the time appointed Moses stretched 
 forth his rod to heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and 
 hail on the land. There was hail, and lightning mingled 
 with it, and the lightning ran along the ground. Very 
 grievous was the hail, such as there had not been in all 
 the land of Egypt since it became a nation. Every 
 man and every beast that was in the field it slew; 
 every herb of the field it smote, and it brake every tree. 
 The flax also and the barley it destroyed, for the 
 
THE STORY OF MOSES 71 
 
 barley was in the ear, and the seed-vessels were formed 
 in the flax. But the wheat and the rye were not 
 smitten, for they were not yet grown up. So it was 
 throughout the land of Egypt ; but in the land of 
 Goshen only there was no hail. This was the seventh 
 plague. When Pharaoh saw what had befaUen, he sent 
 for Moses and Aaron, and said, " I have sinned. The 
 Lord is. righteous, and I and my people are wicked. 
 Entreat the Lord for me that there be no more mighty 
 thunderings and hail ; and I will let you go, and ye shall 
 stay no longer." 
 
 Moses said, "As soon as I shall have gone out of 
 the city I will stretch out my hands unto the Lord, and 
 the thunder shall cease, and there shall be no more 
 hail, that thou mayest know that the earth is the Lord's. 
 Nevertheless I know that thou and thy servants will 
 not yet fear the Lord." 
 
 So when he had gone forth out of the city Moses 
 stretched out his hands unto the Lord, and the 
 plague ceased. And when Pharaoh saw that it had 
 ceased, he hardened his heart, and would not let the 
 people go. 
 
 Then Moses and Aaron went by the word of the 
 Lord into the presence of Pharaoh, and said unto him, 
 " Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long 
 wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before Me ? let My 
 people go, that they may serve Me. Else, if thou 
 refuse to let My people go, to-morrow I. will bring the 
 locusts into all thy coasts. They shall devour all that 
 has escaped from the hail ; and they shall fill thy house 
 and the houses of all the Egyptians. Such locusts have 
 not thy fathers, nor thy fathers' fathers seen, since 
 the day that they were upon the earth unto this day." 
 
 And when he had so spoken he turned himself, and 
 went out from the presence of Pharaoh. 
 
72 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Then Pharaoh's counsellors said to him, " How long 
 shall this man be a trouble to us ? let the men go, that 
 they may serve the Lord their God : knowest thou not 
 yet that the land of Egypt is destroyed ? " 
 
 So Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, and said to 
 them, " Go, if ye will, and serve the Lord. But who 
 are they that are to go ? " 
 
 Moses said, " We will go with our young and with 
 our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with 
 our flocks and with our herds ; for we must keep a 
 feast unto the Lord." 
 
 Then Pharaoh said, " Go ye that are men, for that 
 was the thing that ye did desire. But your little ones I 
 will not suffer to go with you." For he would have kept 
 their little ones, as a pledge that they should come back. 
 And Moses and Aaron were driven from Pharaoh's 
 presence. Then Moses stretched forth his rod over 
 the land of Egypt, and the Lord caused an east 
 wind to blow all that day and all that night ; and when 
 it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. 
 And the locusts went up over the land of Egypt, and 
 remained in all the coasts of Egypt ; very grievous 
 were they. For they covered the face of the whole 
 earth, so that the land was darkened ; and they did 
 eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees 
 which the hail had left ; and there remained not any 
 green thing among the trees, or among that which grew 
 in the fields, throughout all the land of Egypt.-' 
 
 1 Compare the description of a plague of locusts given by the prophet 
 Joel (ii. 2, 3), " A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and 
 of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains. ... A 
 fire devoureth before them ; and behind them a flame burneth : the land 
 is as the Garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilder- 
 ness ; yea, and nothing shall escape them." Dr. Vwsty (Minor Prophets) 
 quotes an account by a traveller who was an eye-witness of a plague of 
 locusts in Novogorod in 1646 : " The ground was all covered, and the earth 
 was so full of them that I could not eat in my chamber without a candle, all 
 
THE STORY OF MOSES 73 
 
 Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron in haste, 
 and said, " I have sinned against the Lord God, and 
 against you. Forgive, I pray you, my sin this once 
 only, and entreat the Lord your God, that He may 
 take away this death only." 
 
 Then Moses entreated the Lord ; and the Lord 
 caused a mighty west wind to blow, and it carried 
 away all the locusts from the land of Egypt, so that 
 there was not one of them left. So the eighth plague 
 ceased from the land. But Pharaoh still hardened his 
 heart. 
 
 After this Moses stretched forth his hand towards 
 heaven, by the word of the Lord, and there was thick 
 darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days. 
 For three days no man could see another, nor rise from 
 his place. But the children of Israel had light in their 
 dwellings. The thick darkness was the ninth plague. 
 
 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and said, " Go ye, 
 serve the Lord, and let your little ones go with you : 
 only let your flocks and herds remain behind." 
 
 Moses made answer, " Our cattle must go with us ; 
 not a hoof shall be left behind : for we must take of 
 them to sacrifice unto the Lord our God ; and we know 
 not what we must sacrifice until we shall come thither." 
 
 Then Pharaoh said, " Get thee away, and take heed 
 that thou see my face no more ; for in the day that 
 thou seest my face thou shalt surely die." 
 
 . the houses being, full of them, even the stables, barns, chambers, garrets, 
 and cellars. I caused cannon-powder and sulphur to be burnt to expel 
 them, but all to no purpose ; for when the door was opened, an infinite 
 number came in, and the others went fluttering about ; and it was a 
 troublesome thing when a man went abroad to be hit on the face by these 
 creatures — on the eyes, nose, or cheeks — so that there was no opening one's 
 mouth, but some would get in. Yet all this was nothing ; for when we 
 were to eat they gave us no respite ; and when we went to cut a piece of 
 meat, we cut a locust with it ; and when a man opened his mouth to put 
 in a morsel, he was sure to chew one of them." 
 
74 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 And Moses said, " Thou hast spoken well, I will see 
 thy face again no more : but hearken yet once more 
 unto me, for thus saith the Lord, About midnight I 
 will go out into the land of Egypt ; and all the first- 
 born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born 
 of Pharaoh that sitteth upon the throne, to the first-born 
 of the woman that sitteth to grind the mill. And there 
 shall be a great cry throughout the land of Egypt, such 
 as never hath been heard in it before." And when he 
 had so spoken he went out from the presence of Pharaoh 
 in great wrath. 
 
 After these things Moses spake by the word of the 
 Lord to the children of Israel, saying, " Thus saith the 
 Lord, This month shall be the first month ^ in the year 
 to you. On the tenth day every head of a house shall 
 take a lamb for his household, or, if the household be 
 too small, then two shall join together. These ye shall 
 keep ready for killing till the fourteenth day. And on 
 the evening of the fourteenth day ye shall kill them, 
 and sprinkle the blood on the two side-posts and on 
 the lintels of the doors of your houses. And the flesh 
 ye shall eat roasted with fire ; with unleavened bread 
 shall ye eat it, and bitter herbs, having your loins girded 
 for a journey, and with your staves in your hands : ye 
 shall eat in haste.^ On the night of that same four- 
 teenth day the angel of the Lord shall pass through 
 the land of Egypt, and shall smite all the first-born 
 both of man and beast. But when he seeth the blood 
 sprinkled on the door-posts and the lintel, he shall PASS 
 OVER that house. This feast shall ye keep for ever in 
 this fashion, and ye shall call it the Lord's PASSOVER." 
 
 1 It was the month Nisan, roughly corresponding to our April. 
 
 2 Tacitus in his account of the Jews {Hist. v. 4) relates that they still 
 eat bread without leaven at the feast that commemorates their departure 
 from Egypt, as a memorial of the harvests that they hastily gathered. 
 
THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 75 
 
 Moses also bade the Hebrews borrow jewels of gold 
 and silver from the Egyptians, their neighbours ; and 
 God so inclined the hearts of the Egyptians that they 
 gave them without stint or grudging.^ 
 
 At midnight, on the fourteenth day of the month 
 Nisan, the angel of death passed through the land and 
 
 THE PASSOVER, 
 
 smote all the first-born of Egypt, from the first-born of 
 Pharaoh, the prince who should have reigned in his 
 stead, to the first-born of the captive in the dungeon. 
 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his 
 
 1 It is not difficult to defend the morality of the transaction. The 
 Hebrews, invited into the land originally as guests, had been wrong- 
 fully enslaved. The Egyptians must have been largely indebted to them 
 for forced and unpaid labour, and this was a rough-and-ready method, 
 the only one, it must be remembered, practical under the circumstances, of 
 redressing the balance. 
 
76 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 servants ; and there was a great cry in Egypt ; for 
 there was not a house in which there was not one dead. 
 
 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron before it 
 was light, and said, " Rise up, and get you forth from 
 among my people. Go, serve the Lord, as ye have 
 said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye 
 have said, and be gone : but bless me before you go." 
 
 And the Egyptians were urgent with them that they 
 should go in haste ; for they said, " We are all dead 
 men." 
 
 So the children of Israel went forth out of the land 
 of Egypt. At dawn on the fifteenth day they went 
 forth, each man having his kneading-trough with the 
 unleavened dough bound with his clothes upon his 
 shoulder. Six hundred thousand men ^ were there in all. 
 
 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for so 
 Joseph had commanded his brethren when he lay 
 dying. 
 
 Now Moses, by command of the Lord, did not lead 
 the people by the nearest road, that is by the country of 
 the Philistines into the land of Canaan, lest they should 
 repent of their going when they saw the Philistines, for 
 the Philistines were a warlike nation. Their first 
 halting place was at Succoth, and the second at Etham.^ 
 But from Etham they turned again to the southward, 
 the Lord going before them in a pillar of cloud by day 
 and a pillar of fire by night, to guide them on their 
 
 ^ The number has been questioned ; and indeed the difficulty of 
 imagining how so vast a multitude could have found subsistence, not to 
 speak of other difficulties, is veiy great. It must be remembered that the 
 six hundred thousand men would imply a total of two millions and more. 
 But there are instances on record of migrations scarcely less wonderful. 
 Four hundred thousand Tartars made their way out of Russia to the 
 borders of China, as described in a very picturesque paper by De Quincey. 
 
 2 Succoth, or the " Booths," would seem to have been somewhere near 
 the Bitter Lakes. We may conjecture that it was a wooded region, 
 where the emigrants could make shelter for themselves out of the branches 
 of trees. 
 
THE STORY OF MOSES 77 
 
 way. And they pitched their camp between Migdol 
 and the sea. Before them were the mountains and the 
 Red Sea on the one hand, and the wilderness on the 
 other. 
 
 Now Pharaoh and the Egyptians had repented them 
 that they had let the Hebrews go from serving them. 
 And when the king heard that they had encamped 
 between Migdol and the sea, he said to his counsellors, 
 " They are entangled in the land ; they are shut in 
 between the wilderness and the sea." Thereupon he 
 pursued after them, he and all his chariots, and all his 
 host. 
 
 But when the children of Israel saw the army of the 
 Egyptians, they were sore afraid ; they said to Moses, 
 " Were there no graves in Egypt, that thou hast taken 
 us away to die in the wilderness ? Did we not say to 
 thee, Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians ? 
 For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians 
 than to die here in the wilderness." 
 
 Moses said unto the people, " Fear ye not ; stand 
 still and see the salvation which the Lord shall show 
 you to-day ; for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to- 
 day, ye shall see no more for ever. The Lord shall 
 fight for you, and ye shall stand still." 
 
 That night the pillar of the cloud removed from 
 before the host of the children of Israel, and stood 
 behind them. Between the camp of the Hebrews and 
 the camp of the Egyptians it stood ; to the Egyptians 
 it was a cloud of darkness, but to the Hebrews it gave 
 light. So the two came not together all the night. 
 
 And Moses stretched forth his hand across the sea ; 
 and the Lord caused the sea to go back all that night 
 by a strong east wind, and made the sea dry land, and 
 the waters were divided. The children of Israel went 
 into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground ; and 
 
78 
 
 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 the waters were a wall to them on the right hand and 
 on the left.^ 
 
 When the Egyptians saw how that the children of 
 
 THE DELIVERANCE OF ISRAEL. 
 
 Israel went forward, then they pursued after them, and 
 went in after them into the midst of the sea, even all 
 
 ^ Many attempts have been made to explain the passage of the Red 
 Sea by the children of Israel. Canon Rawlinson, to_ whom I am largely 
 indebted in this Story of Moses, writes : "All at once an east, or south- 
 east, wind arose, and drove the upper water of the shallow bay that 
 lay before him towards the north-west, while probably a strong ebb-tide 
 set in at the same time, and drew the lower water southwards, so that the 
 bed of the sea was for a considerable space laid bare." And he adds in a 
 note : "The people of Memphis had a tradition to this effect. They said 
 that Moses, being well acquainted with the district, watched the ebb of the 
 tide, and so led the people across the dry bed of the sea." It is quite 
 impossible to remove all the supernatural incidents from the story of the 
 Exodus. At the same time it is wise, and, it may be added, reverent, not 
 to regard as miraculous whatever may be fairly explained by natural causes. 
 
THE STORY OF MOSES 79 
 
 Pharaoh's horses and chariots. But the wheels of the 
 chariots sank into the sand of the sea, so that they could 
 not be driven forward. Also the Lord looked upon the 
 host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and 
 cloud, and troubled them. So that they said, " Let us 
 flee from before the face of Israel ; for the Lord fighteth 
 against us." 
 
 But as they turned to flee the Lord said to Moses, 
 " Stretch forth thy hand over the sea, that the waters 
 may come up again upon the Egyptians." So Moses 
 stretched forth his hand, and the waters returned, and 
 covered the chariots of Pharaoh, and all his host. There 
 was not one of them left. Thus did the children of 
 Israel come forth out of the land of Egypt, the Lord 
 helping them and saving them. 
 
 III.— g|ti ttie <lflliHiem000 
 
 When the children of Israel saw the great work that 
 the Lord had done for them, they believed in Him and 
 in His servant Moses. And they sang a song of 
 thanksgiving unto the Lord, as Moses taught them ; 
 and Miriam, the prophetess, his sister, with the women 
 of Israel, praised the Lord with timbrels and dances. 
 After this Moses led Israel into the wilderness of Shun 
 Three days did they march through the wilderness, and 
 found no water. And when they came to water, behold 
 it was bitter.^ Therefore they called the name of that 
 place " Marah," for Marah signifieth " bitterness " ; and 
 they said to Moses, " What shall we drink ? " Then the 
 Lord showed unto Moses a tree, which when he had cast 
 1 i.e. Brackish. 
 
So STOHIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 into the waters, they were made sweet. From Marah 
 they journeyed to Elim, where there were twelve wells 
 and seventy palm-trees ; and they encamped there by 
 the waters. From Elim they came to the wilderness of 
 Sin, going eastward and southward towards Mount 
 Sinai ; and it was now a full month since they had 
 come forth from the land of Egypt, for they came to 
 Sin on the fifteenth day of the second month. 
 
 Then all the people murmured against Moses and 
 Aaron, for the provision that they had brought forth 
 out of Egypt failed them, and the land was barren. 
 And they said, " Would to God that we had died in 
 Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, and we had bread 
 in plenty ; for ye have brought us forth into the wilder- 
 ness, to kill this whole assembly in the wildernes.s." 
 
 Then Moses said, by the word of the Lord, " The 
 Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in 
 the morning bread to the full ; for your murmurings are 
 not against us, but against the Lord." 
 
 So it came to pass that in the evening there came 
 up great flocks of quails, and covered the camp ; and 
 in the morning, when the dew was dried up, there lay 
 on the earth a small round thing, small as the hoar- 
 frost on the ground. And the children of Israel called 
 it manna,^ for they said, " This is a gift." And Moses 
 said, " Let every man gather for his household as much 
 as he shall need ; but let no man leave aught against 
 the next day." And when some did so, it became 
 corrupt. But on the sixth day there was a double 
 portion. And when the rulers of the congregation told 
 Moses, he answered, " This is so because to-morrow is the 
 rest of the holy Sabbath. Let every man lay up what 
 is left till the morning." And now that which they laid 
 
 1 Man hu in the Hebrew, words which may mean what is given in 
 the text. 
 
THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 up was not corrupted. And when some went out to 
 gather it on the Sabbath, they found none. 
 
 Then Moses said to Aaron, " Take a pot, and lay in it 
 an omer'^ of manna, to be kept for the generations to 
 come, that they may know how the Lord did feed His 
 people in the wilderness." 
 
 From the wilderness of Sin the people journeyed to 
 Rephidim ; and there was no water for them to drink. 
 And when they murmured against Moses, saying, 
 "Wherefore hast thou brought us up out of Egypt to 
 kill us, and our children, and our cattle, with thirst ? " 
 Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, " What shall I do 
 unto this people ? for they are almost ready to stone me." 
 Then the Lord said, " Thou shalt smite the rock, and there 
 shall come water out of it, that the people may drink." 
 And Moses did so ; and he called the name of that 
 place Massah and Meribah, because of the chiding of 
 the children of Israel, and because they tempted the 
 Lord, saying, " Is the Lord among us, or not ? " 
 
 Now there dwelt in the land of Sinai two tribes, that 
 is to say the Kenites, who were of the kindred of 
 Abraham, and the Amalekites.^ These last were 
 greatly displeased that a strange people should come 
 into their land with many flocks and herds, eating up 
 the pasture that should have been theirs. Therefore 
 they followed the host and smote the hindmost of them, 
 even all that were feeble and weary and halted on the 
 way. Then Moses said to Hoshea, the son of Nun 
 (that was afterwards called Joshua), " Choose out men, 
 
 1 An omer was a measure about equivalent to three quarts. 
 
 2 An Amalek is mentioned among the sons of Esau. On the other 
 hand, the Amalekites appear to be spolcen of (Gen. xiv. 7) as existing in 
 Abraham's time. Places and people are, however, sometimes spoken Of 
 under names which did not belong to them till long afterwards. The 
 offence of the Amalekites in attacking Israel seems to have been considered 
 very grievous, for it is mentioned as the reason for the extermination 
 enjoined upon .Saul (i Sam. xv. 2). 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 and go out, fight with Amalek ; and I will stand on the 
 hill with the rod of God in my hand." And it came 
 to pass that when he held up the rod, Israel prevailed, 
 and when he let it down, Amalek prevailed. Therefore 
 Aaron and Hur held up his hands on either side, till the 
 going down of the sun. So Hoshea smote Amalek 
 with the edge of the sword. 
 
 MOSES OVERLOOKING THE BATTLE. 
 
 And Moses built an altar there, and called it Jehovah- 
 nissi, i.e. the Lord is my banner. 
 
 While the people abode yet by Mount Horeb, Jethro, 
 Moses' brother-in-law, came to him, bringing with him 
 Zipporah and her two sons ; for these Moses had sent 
 back out of the land of Egypt. And Moses went out 
 to meet him and did obeisance to him, and kissed him, 
 and brought him into his tent. And Moses told him 
 
THE STOR Y OF MOSES 83 
 
 of all the deliverance which the Lord had wrought for 
 Israel, which things Jethro greatly rejoiced to hear. 
 And Jethro said, "Blessed be the Lord, who hath 
 delivered you out of the hand of Pharaoh and the 
 Egyptians. Now I know that Jehovah is greater than 
 all gods." And he offered a burnt-offering unto the 
 Lord ; and Aaron and all the elders of Israel sat down 
 with him at the sacred feast. 
 
 On the morrow Moses sat to judge the people, as 
 was his wont, and the people brought their matters 
 before him from morning to night. When Jethro saw 
 this, he said, " Sittest thou thus alone to judge the 
 people?" Moses answered, "The people come to me 
 to inquire of God. When they have a matter they 
 come unto me, and I judge between them." Then 
 Jethro said, "This thing that thou doest is not good. 
 Thou wilt wear out thyself and the people also. The 
 thing is too heavy for thee. Thou canst not do it 
 alone. Hearken now to my counsel. Stand thou to 
 bring the causes of the people before God ; but provide 
 out of the people able men such as fear God, and are 
 men of truth and hate covetousness ; and make them 
 rulers of thousands and hundreds and fifties and tens. 
 Let them judge the people at all seasons. And every 
 great matter they shall bring to thee ; but every small 
 matter they shall judge themselves. Thus shalt thou 
 endure, and the people shall be content, having their 
 matters judged quickly." 
 
 And Moses did so. After this Jethro went his way 
 to his own land. 
 
 On the fifteenth day of the third month the people 
 came to Sinai, and encamped before the mountain. 
 On the third day after their coming, when they had 
 purified themselves, they came out of their camp and 
 stood at the foot of the mountain ; and lo ! Mount Sinai 
 
84 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord^descended 
 upon it in fire ; and the smoke thereof ascended as the 
 smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked 
 greatly. There was also heard the great voice of a 
 trumpet ; and when Moses heard the trumpet he spake, 
 and the Lord answered him, and called him up to the 
 top of the mountain ; but the people stayed below, for 
 
 THE GIVING OF THE LAW. 
 
 it had been strictly charged them that they should not 
 go up into the mountain. 
 
 Then the Lord gave to Moses the Ten Command- 
 ments and other laws that His people should observe. 
 Afterwards Moses came down to the people, and going 
 again into the mountain, he took with him Aaron and 
 his two sons, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders 
 of Israel ; that they might see the glory of the Lord. 
 
THE STORY OF MOSES 85 
 
 After this Moses went up a second time into the 
 mount, and abode there forty days. And there the 
 Lord gave him the law. 
 
 While he tarried in the mount the people came to 
 Aaron and said, " Make us gods who may go before 
 us ; for as for this Moses, who brought us up out of 
 the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of 
 him.' 
 
 Then Aaron said, " Give me the golden ear-rings of 
 your wives and your daughters.'' 
 
 And they gave them ; and he fashioned them into 
 the shape of a calf. Then said the people, " These are 
 thy gods, O Israel, that brought thee up out of the land 
 of Egypt.'' Then the people offered sacrifices, and 
 feasted, and danced. 
 
 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Get thee down; 
 for this people that thou broughtest up out of the land 
 of Egypt have corrupted themselves, making a golden 
 calf and worshipping it." 
 
 Furthermore the Lord said, "This is- a stiff-necked 
 people. Let Me alone, that I may consume them ; and 
 I will make of thee a great nation." 
 
 But Moses said, " Let not Thy wrath wax hot 
 against Thy people. Wherefore should the Egyptians 
 say, He brought them out of His land to destroy them ? 
 Remember also how Thou swarest by Thine own self to 
 Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that Thou wouldst give this 
 land to their children after them." 
 
 And Moses prevailed with God. 
 
 Then Moses turned 'and went down from the 
 mountain, carrying with him the two tables of the 
 Commandments, written with the finger of God. And 
 Hoshea, the son of Nun, was with him. 
 
 When Hoshea heard the voice of the people as they 
 shouted, he said, " There is a noise of war in the camp." 
 
86 STORIES FROM THE OLD TEST.UUENT 
 
 But Moses said, " It is not the voice of them that 
 prevail in battle, or the voice of them that are over- 
 come. It is the voice of them that sing I do hear." 
 
 And when he came near to the camp, and saw the 
 calf and the dancing, his anger waxed hot, and he cast 
 the tables out of his hand and brake them. He took 
 the calf also, and when he had ground it to powder, he 
 
 THE BROKEN TABLES. 
 
 strewed the powder on the water, and made the people 
 drink of the water. And seeing that some of the 
 people had not ceased from their unlawful play, he 
 stood in the gate of the camp, and cried, " Who is on 
 the Lord's side ?" And all the sons of Levi gathered 
 themselves to him. Then he said, " Gird on every man 
 his sword, and go throughout the camp, and slay every 
 man his father, and companion, and neighbour." And 
 
THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 87 
 
 the Levites did so, and there were -slain that day of the 
 people three thousand men. 
 
 The next day Moses spake unto the Lord, " This 
 people have sinned a great sin, and have made them 
 gods of gold. Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their 
 sins — ; and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of the 
 book of the living." 
 
 MOSES BREAKS THE GOLDEN CALF. 
 
 So Moses would have given up himself for his 
 people.^ But the Lord said to Moses, "Whosoever 
 hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My 
 book. Go now, lead this people unto the place whereof 
 I spake unto them ; and Mine angel shall go before 
 thee : nevertheless I will visit their sin upon them." 
 
 1 One cannot but compare the wonderful saying of St. Paul, that he 
 even wished to be accursed from Christ, so that his brethren after the flesh 
 might be saved. 
 
STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 After this Moses went up again into the mountain, 
 and the Lord made other two tables of stone, and 
 wrote on them as before. When he came down from 
 the mountain his face shone, so that all the children 
 of Israel feared to come near him. Therefore he put 
 a veil on his face while he talked with them. 
 
 The people abode at Sinai for all that remained of 
 
 THE NEW TABLES. 
 
 the first year of their coming out of Egypt. On the 
 fourteenth day of the first month of the second year 
 they kept the passover according to the commandment. 
 On the twentieth day of the second month of this year 
 they departed from Sinai, and came to Paran. Here 
 Moses said to Hobab, the son of Jethro, his brother-in- 
 law, " We are journeying to the land which the Lord 
 hath promised to give us : come thou with us, and we 
 
THE STORY OF MOSES 89 
 
 will do thee good ; for the Lord hath spoken good 
 concerning Israel." Hobab answered, " Not so ; but I 
 will return to my own people." But Moses said, 
 " Leave us not ; for thou knowest how we are to 
 encamp in the wilderness, and wilt be as eyes to us. 
 And what goodness the Lord shall do to us, that will we 
 do to thee." Then Hobab consented to go with them. 
 
 When the people had gone a few days' journey they 
 wearied of the manna, saying, " We remember the fish 
 we did eat freely in Egypt ; the cucumbers, and the 
 melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick ; 
 but now there is nothing but this manna." 
 
 Then the Lord said to Moses, " Say to this people, 
 Sanctify yourselves, and ye shall eat flesh. Not one 
 day, nor two days, nor five days shall ye eat it, but 
 many days, till it be loathsome to you." 
 
 Moses said, " The people are six hundred thousand 
 footmen, and Thou hast said that Thou wilt give them 
 flesh to eat for a whole month. Shall the flocks and 
 the herds be slain for them ? or shall all the fish of the 
 sea be gathered to satisfy them ? " 
 
 The Lord answered, " Is the Lord's hand grown 
 short ? thou shalt see whether My word come to pass 
 or not." 
 
 Then there went forth a wind, and brought the 
 quails from the sea. They fell about the camp for the 
 space of a day's journey on either side, and lay to the 
 depth of two cubits ^ on • the face of the earth. But 
 while the flesh was yet in their mouths, the Lord smote 
 them with a great plague, so that many died. Where- 
 fore they called that place Kibroth-hattaavah, or the 
 " Graves of Lust." 
 
 Now Zipporah died in the wilderness, and Moses 
 married a woman of the daughters of Cush ; and 
 ' Between three and four feet. 
 

 90 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Miriam was wroth with him, seeing herself held in less 
 honour than before. Aaron also joined with her in 
 her rebellion, saying, " Hath the Lord indeed only- 
 spoken by Moses ? Hath He not also spoken by us ? " 
 And Moses would have suffered it, being humble 
 beyond all men. But the Lord said to Moses and 
 Aaron and Miriam, " Come ye into the tabernacle." 
 And they came. Then the Lord said, " If 
 prophet among you, to him will I speak in ' 
 dreams. But to Moses will I speak mouth 
 because he is faithful : wherefore then were ye not 
 afraid to speak against My servant Moses ? " 
 
 And the Lord smote Miriam with leprosy. Then 
 Moses cried unto Him that He should heal her. 
 Nevertheless she was shut out from the camp seven days. 
 
 Then the people marched forwards till they came 
 to the border of the south country. Then Moses sent 
 spies to spy out the land,-^ but when these returned 
 with an ill report, saying that the people of the land 
 were too strong for them, the people murmured, saying, 
 " Let us make a captain to take us back into Egypt." 
 Then the Lord said to Moses, " How long will this 
 people provoke Me? how long will it be ere they 
 believe Me, for all the signs that I have showed among 
 them ? I will smite them with the pestilence, and 
 disinherit them, and I will make of thee a greater 
 nation and mightier than they." 
 
 But Moses interceded with the Lord for Israel ; 
 and the Lord said, " I will pardon them. Nevertheless 
 all the men that have murmured against Me from 
 twenty years old and upward shall die in the wilderness." 
 
 Nevertheless the people said, " We will go up and 
 take possession of the land which the Lord promised 
 
 * A fuller account of the matter of the spies is given in the Story of 
 Joshua. 
 
THE STORY OF MOSES 91 
 
 to our fathers ; for we sinned when we were faint- 
 hearted and refused to go." 
 
 But Moses said, " Go not up, lest ye be smitten ; for 
 the Lord is not with you." 
 
 Notwithstanding they went up ; but the Amalekites 
 that dwelt in the hills came out against them, and 
 smote them. 
 
 Afta^this the Lord commanded Moses that he 
 shoi^^flBft back by the way of the Red Sea, and he 
 ^H^^So for eight-and-thirty years they wandered in 
 the wilderness, till all the grown men were dead. Thus 
 were the forty years fulfilled from the day on which 
 they came out of the land of Egypt. 
 
 Once only did the people murmur against Moses, 
 when certain princes of the tribe of Reuben and Korah 
 the Levite joined themselves together against him, for 
 the princes of Reuben, because Reuben was the eldest 
 of the sons of Jacob, sought to claim pre-eminence 
 for their tribe, and Korah was jealous of Aaron and 
 his son, because they only had the priesthood. As for 
 the princes of Reuben, the earth swallowed them up 
 alive ; and Korah and his company, even two hundred 
 and fifty men, were consumed by a fire from the Lord 
 when they offered incense, which thing none but the 
 priests might lawfully do. And when the congregation 
 murmuTed against Moses and Aaron, saying, " Ye have 
 slain the people of the Lord," they were smitten with a 
 great plague. Then Moses said to Aaron, " Take fire 
 in thy censer from the altar, and put on incense." And 
 he did so, standing between the living and the dead, 
 and the plague ceased. 
 
 In the first month of the fortieth year the people 
 came to Kadesh-Barnea, where they had rested when 
 the twelve spies were sent to spy out the land. There 
 Miriam died, and was buried. 
 
■ tl^fe be a 
 1 4Hi^^|j^ 
 th t9«3B^ 
 
 90 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Miriam was wroth with him, seeing herself held in less 
 honour than before. Aaron also joined with her in 
 her rebellion, saying, " Hath the Lord indeed only 
 spoken by Moses ? Hath He not also spoken by us ? " 
 And Moses would have suffered it, being humble 
 beyond all men. But the Lord said to Moses and 
 Aaron and Miriam, " Come ye into the tabernacle.'' 
 And they came. Then the Lord said, " If d: 
 prophet among you, to him will I speak in ' 
 dreams. But to Moses will I speak mouth 
 because he is faithful : wherefore then were ye not 
 afraid to speak against My servant Moses ? " 
 
 And the Lord smote Miriam with leprosy. Then 
 Moses cried unto Him that He should heal her. 
 Nevertheless she was shut out from the camp seven days. 
 
 Then the people marched forwards till they came 
 to the border of the south country. Then Moses sent 
 spies to spy out the land,^ but when these returned 
 with an ill report, saying that the people of the land 
 were too strong for them, the people murmured, saying, 
 " Let us make a captain to take us back into Egypt." 
 Then the Lord said to Moses, " How long will this 
 people provoke Me ? how long will it be ere they 
 believe Me, for all the signs that I have showed among 
 them ? I will smite them with the pestilence, and 
 disinherit them, and I will make of thee a greater 
 nation and mightier than they." 
 
 But Moses interceded with the Lord for Israel ; 
 and the Lord said, " I will pardon them. Nevertheless 
 all the men that have murmured against Me from 
 twenty years old and upward shall die in the wilderness." 
 
 Nevertheless the people said, " We will go up and 
 take possession of the land which the Lord promised 
 
 1 A fuller account of the matter of the spies is given in the Story of 
 Joshua. 
 
THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 91 
 
 to our fathers ; for we sinned when we were faint- 
 hearted and refused to go." 
 
 But Moses said, " Go not up, lest ye be smitten ; for 
 the Lord is not with you." 
 
 Notwithstanding they went up ; but the Amalekites 
 that dwelt in the hills came out against them, and 
 smote them. 
 
 sho 
 
 Aftq^this 
 ba 
 •So for 
 the wilderness, t 
 were the forty 
 they came out < 
 Once only ( 
 when certain pi 
 
 
 G^ 
 
 that he 
 ., and he 
 dered in 
 Thus 
 n which 
 
 ; Moses, 
 d Korah 
 
 the Levite joingj^i^iiicmscivcs lugcuucr agcuiibi him, for 
 the princes of Reuben, because Reuben was the eldest 
 of , the sons of Jacob, sought to claim pre-eminence 
 for their tribe, and Korah was jealous of Aaron and 
 his son, because they only had the priesthood. As for 
 the princes of Reuben, the earth swallowed them up 
 alive ; and Korah and his company, even two hundred 
 and fifty men, were consumed by a fire from the Lord 
 when they offered incense, which thing none but the 
 priests might lawfully do. And when the congregation 
 murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, " Ye have 
 slain the people of the Lord," they were smitten with a 
 great plague. Then Moses said to Aaron, " Take fire 
 in thy censer from the altar, and put on incense." And 
 he did so, standing between the living and the dead, 
 and the plague ceased. 
 
 In the first month of the fortieth year the people 
 came to Kadesh-Barnea, where they had rested when 
 the twelve spies were sent to spy out the land. There 
 Miriam died, and was buried. 
 
92 STOJi/ES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 While the host tarried at Kadesh the water failed, 
 and the people murmured. Then the Lord said to 
 Moses, " Gather the assembly together, and take the 
 rod, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak unto the 
 rock, and it shall give forth water.'' 
 
 So Moses took the rod from where it was laid up 
 in the tabernacle, and he and Aaron gathered all the 
 assembly together, and he said, " Hear now, ye rebels ; 
 must we fetch you water out of this rock ? " And 
 he smote the rock twice with the rod, and the water 
 gushed out. 
 
 Thus did Moses speak unadvisedly with his lips, as if 
 he brought the water out of the rock by his own power. 
 And the Lord said to him and to Aaron, "Because ye 
 have not given Me the glory, ye shall not bring this 
 congregation into the land which I have given 
 them." 
 
 From Kadesh Moses sent unto the king of Edom, 
 saying, " Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest 
 what hath befallen us : how our fathers went down into 
 Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time ; and the 
 Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers. And when we 
 cried unto the Lord, He heard our voice, and sent His 
 angel before us, and brought us up out of Egypt ; and 
 now we are in Kadesh, which is in thy uttermost 
 border. Let us, I pray thee, pass through thy country. 
 We will not pass through the fields, or through the 
 vineyards ; we will not drink of the water of the wells ; 
 we will go by the king's highway ; we will not turn to 
 the right hand or to the left.'' 
 
 But the king of Edom said, " Thou shalt not pass 
 through my land. If thou do I will come out against 
 thee with the sword." 
 
 So they turned to go another way. But while they 
 tarried at Kadesh, Arad the Canaanite, that was king 
 
THE STORY OF MOSES 93 
 
 of the south/ came against them, and took some of 
 them prisoners. But afterwards they prevailed over 
 him, and destroyed all his cities. 
 
 After this the people journeyed to Mount Hor. 
 There it was ordered that Aaron should die. So he 
 went up to the top of the mountain in the sight of all 
 the people, and Moses, and Eleazar, Aaron's son, went 
 with him. And Moses took his priestly garments from 
 Aaron, and put them on Eleazar ; and Aaron died on 
 the top of Mount Hor, and was buried. 
 
 Then Aaron being dead, the people journeyed for- 
 ward, going round the border of Edom, because they 
 were not suffered to go through. And they were dis- , 
 couraged because there were many enemies, and the 
 journey was long, and food and water scarce. And 
 when they murmured, they suffered from a plague of 
 fiery serpents. 
 
 Then Moses, by command of the Lord, made the 
 image of one of the serpents in brass, and put it on a 
 pole, and lifted it up in the sight of all the people. 
 And it came to pass, if a serpent had bitten any man, 
 when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. 
 
 After this the people came in their journeyings to 
 the river of Arnon, which was the border between the 
 Amorites and the land of Moab. Thence they sent to 
 Sihon, king of the Amorites, asking him that he would 
 suffer them to pass through his land, even as they had 
 sent to the king of Edom. But Sihon refused to let 
 them pass, and came out against them with a great 
 host, and fought against them at Jahaz. Then the men 
 of Israel fell upon his host, pressing him hard with 
 their slingers and their archers. King Sihon himself 
 was slain, and his army was scattered over the whole 
 
 1 " Probably the tract about the modern Tel Arad, which is between 
 Beersheba and the southern end of the Dead Sea " (Rawlinson). 
 
94 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 country. Some fled into the cities, but the greater 
 part perished, being overtaken and surrounded in the 
 watercourse, whither they had gone down to drink, 
 being weary with their flight. 
 
 So Israel prevailed over Sihon, king of the Amorites. 
 Then they fought against another prince of the Amor- 
 ites, Og, who was king of Bashan, and had his borders 
 from Jabbok in the south to Hermon in the north. He 
 pitched his camp at Edrei ; and there the children of 
 Israel fell upon him, and though he and many of his 
 people were of the race of the giants, they destroyed 
 him utterly.^ 
 
 Last of all they fought with the Midianites. One 
 thousand out of every tribe did Moses send against 
 them, and Phinehas, the , son of Eleazar the priest, for 
 their captain. They fought against them, and con- 
 quered them, slaying five of their kings, and with them 
 Balaam^ the prophet, whom Balak, king of Moab, had 
 brought from the east to curse Israel. 
 
 When the land that was eastward of Jordan was thus 
 conquered, the two tribes of Gad and Reuben came to 
 Moses and said, " We have many flocks and herds, and 
 this is a good land for pasture. Give us therefore our 
 portion here." But Moses answered, "Shall your 
 brethren go to war and ye sit here ? " They said, 
 " Not so ; we will build here sheepfolds for our flocks, 
 and cities for our little ones ; but we ourselves will go 
 over ready armed before the children of Israel. We 
 
 1 It has been thought that the Israelites were assisted in this war by 
 the Ammonites. We find that the "bedstead," i.e. the sarcophagus of 
 Og, which may be considered to have been one of the trophies of the war, 
 was afterwards kept at " Rabbath of the children of Ammon." It is de- 
 scribed as haying been of gigantic size, "nine cubits long" (13 feet 4 
 inches). Jewish legend gave a marvellous account of Og's stature. 
 
 ^ Balaam seems to have taken service with the rulers of Midian, and to 
 have suggested the temptation to join in the licentious worship of Baal 
 (Num. XXV, ) 
 
THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 95 
 
 will not return into our houses, before they shall have 
 inherited every man his inheritance." Then Moses 
 said, " If ye will do this thing, then shall ye return and 
 possess the land, and be guiltless before the Lord, and 
 before Israel. But if ye will not do so, then ye will 
 
 MOSES ON PISGAH. 
 
 have sinned against the Lord, and be sure that your 
 sin will find you out." 
 
 So the children of Reuben and the children of Gad 
 had the land that was eastward of Jordan to be their 
 inheritance ; and half the tribe of Manasseh with them. 
 
 Then came the time when Moses must die. So he 
 
 called to him Joshua, the son of Nun,^ who had been 
 
 appointed to lead the people in his stead, and gave him 
 
 his charge. This done, he blessed all the people, tribe 
 
 1 The Hoshea mentioned before. 
 
96 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 by tribe. And when he had ended his blessing, he 
 went up from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, 
 that is over against Jericho. There the Lord showed 
 him the land which He had promised to give to Israel ; 
 for He had said to him, " Thou shalt see it with thine 
 eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither." 
 
 So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the 
 land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. 
 And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab ; 
 over against Beth-peor, but no man knoweth of his 
 sepulchre unto this day.^ 
 
 1 Moses' sight of the country is described in Deut. xxxiv. 1-3 in these 
 words : " And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, and 
 all Naphtali, and the land of Ephralm, and Manasseh, and all the land of 
 Judah, unto the utmost sea ; and the south, and the plain of the valley of 
 Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. " Professor Rawlinson thus 
 explains it : " From the highest peak of Nebo, which seems to have borne 
 the name of Pisgah, the natural eye, unhelped, would have ranged over 
 the sylvan scenes of Gilead and Bashan, over the Ghor or Jordan valley 
 from end to end, over the Dead Sea and the hill countiy of the south 
 beyond, over the Judean capital, and over the mountains of Ephraim and 
 Manasseh, — would have had glimpses of the fertile valleys which nestle 
 among the Palestinian hills, and have caught sight of ancient cities, crown- 
 ing many a rocky eminence. Naphtali, if not seen, would have been sug- 
 gested by the snowy peak of Hermon, towering aloft in the far northern 
 sky; and even the 'utmost sea,' though far beyond bodily ken, being 
 shut out by the Judean hills, would have been felt as present- beyond them 
 at no great distance to the west." 
 
THE STORY OF JOSHUA 
 
 Among the children of Israel that came out of Egypt 
 there was a certain Hoshea, the son of Nun, of the tribe 
 of Ephraim. Moses had seen that he was valiant and 
 skilful, and when the Amalekites came out against 
 Israel at Rephidim, to slay them on their journey to 
 Sinai, Moses appointed him to be captain of the host. 
 So he went and defeated the Amalekites in a great 
 battle ; and after that Moses called him by the name 
 of Jehoshua or Joshua, which is, being interpreted, " The 
 Lord's Salvation." And when Moses went up into the 
 mountain of Sinai to receive the law from God, Joshua 
 went with Aaron and the elders so far as it was lawful 
 for them to go ; and while he was in the mount Joshua 
 waited for him. From the day when Moses came down 
 from the mount Joshua became his minister, attending 
 on him continually, and dwelling in his tent. Also he 
 was one of the seventy judges whom Moses appointed 
 to do justice among the people. Very zealous was he 
 for the honour of his chief ; for when two of the seventy, 
 Eldad and Medad by name, tarried in the camp, and 
 prophesied there (but the rest prophesied in the 
 tabernacle), he said, " My lord Moses, forbid them." 
 But Moses answered, " Enviest thou for my sake ? 
 
 H 
 
98 STOJilES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, 
 and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them ! " 
 
 In the second year after the departure of Israel 
 from the land of Egypt, the people approached to the 
 borders of the land which the Lord had promised to 
 their fathers to give them ; and they pitched their camp 
 in the wilderness of Paran. Then Moses chose twelve 
 men, one out of each tribe, that they might go as spies 
 and see the land what it was, and the people that 
 dwelt therein, whether they were strong or weak, levf 
 or many, and whether they dwelt in tents or in strong- 
 holds. " Be of good courage," he said to them, " and 
 bring of the fruit of the land." And the time at which 
 the men were sent was the time of the first ripe grapes. 
 Joshua was chosen from the tribe of Ephraim, and 
 Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, from the tribe of Judah. 
 So these twelve men went throughout the land from 
 the wilderness of the south to Mount Lebanon in the 
 north. And when they came to the brook Eshcol 
 (which is near to Hebron) they cut down one of the 
 clusters of grapes, and carried it upon a staff between 
 two. Also they brought figs and pomegranates from 
 the land. The time which they spent upon their 
 journey was forty days. And when they came back to 
 the place whence they had come, and showed to the 
 people the fruits which they had brought, thus they 
 said to Moses, " We came unto the land whither thou 
 sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey ; 
 and this is the fruit of it. But the people that dwell 
 in the land are strong, great and mighty nations — the 
 Amalekites in the south, and the Amorites in the 
 mountains, and the Canaanites by the sea ^ and by the 
 banks of Jordan, and the children of Anak that are 
 giants. We are but grasshoppers in their sight and in 
 ^ The inland sea afterwards called the Sea of Galilee. 
 
THE STORY OF JOSHUA 99 
 
 our own." But Caleb said, " Let us go up at once and 
 possess the land ; for we are well able to overcome the 
 people that inhabit it." Joshua also said, " Let us go 
 up." But the people believed the ten spies rather than 
 Caleb and Joshua, and they wept, saying, " Would God 
 that we had died in the land of Egypt or in the wilder- 
 ness ! " And they murmured against Moses and Aaron, 
 and said to one another, " Let us make us a captain 
 that he may lead us back into the land of Egypt." 
 But Caleb and Joshua ran among them with their 
 clothes rent, and cried, "The land which we passed 
 through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If 
 the Lord have a favour for us. He will bring us into it ; 
 and as for the people that dwell therein, their strength 
 is gone from them, for the Lord is with us : therefore 
 fear them not." But the people ran upon them, and 
 would have stoned them with stones had they not 
 feared the glory of the Lord, for the glory appeared at 
 that time above the tabernacle. Then the Lord was 
 wroth with the people, and said that all that murmured, 
 from twenty years old and upward, should perish in 
 the wilderness ; and the ten spies that gave the evil 
 report died of the plague. Only Caleb and Joshua 
 were left alive. 
 
 But when forty years were accomplished from the 
 coming out of Egypt, the children of Israel approached 
 the Promised Land, coming to it from the east. First 
 they subdued the country that is eastward of Jordan, 
 the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, the 
 king of Bashan. Then came the time when Moses must 
 die, for the Lord had said to him, " Thou shalt see the 
 land with thine eyes, but thou shalt not enter it. Thou 
 shalt not go over Jordan." But before he died he 
 chose Joshua to be the leader of the people after him, 
 for so the Lord commanded him. And he gave him a 
 
STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 charge, and said, " Be strong and of a good courage, for 
 thou Shalt bring the children of Israel into the land 
 which the Lord sware unto them, and the Lord shall 
 be with thee." Then Moses went up to the top of 
 Pisgah, that he might see the land and die. And 
 Joshua and Phinehas the priest went with him on his 
 
 THE APPOINT.MENT OF JOSHUA. 
 
 way ; but they saw him not when he died, nor did 
 they know where he was buried, save that he was buried 
 in the valley in the land of Moab, over against 
 Beth-peor. 
 
 When Moses was dead, the Lord said to Joshua, 
 " Arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, 
 unto the land which I do give them. Every place 
 that the sole of your feet shall tread upon have I 
 given you, from Lebanon unto the great river, the 
 
THE STORY OF JOSHUA 
 
 river Euphrates, and westward to the great sea.^ Be 
 strong and of a good courage ; be not afraid, for the 
 Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." 
 
 Now the people had pitched their camp in the 
 plains of Moab, at Abel-Shittim (the plain of the acacia- 
 trees), near to the place where Jordan flows into the Dead 
 Sea. And they looked across the river to the great 
 city of Jericho. Then Joshua commanded the chief 
 men of the tribes that they should bid the people make 
 provision of food, for that within three days they should 
 go over Jordan. Also, he spake to the tribes of Reuben 
 and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh — for these had 
 had their portion given to them on the eastern side of 
 Jordan — and said, " Ye shall leave your wives, and your 
 children, and your cattle, on this side of Jordan ; but 
 ye yourselves shall go up armed before your brethren, 
 and help them until the Lord shall have given your 
 brethren rest as He hath given it to you." And they 
 said, "All that thou commandest us, we will do, and 
 whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go." 
 
 After this Joshua sent from the camp two men to 
 spy out the city of Jericho. And the men entered into 
 the city, and lodged in the house of a woman that was 
 called Rahab. But they were seen coming in, and it 
 was told the king of Jericho, " Behold, there came in 
 men of the children of Israel to-night to search out the 
 country." And the king sent to Rahab, saying, " Bring 
 forth the men that are lodging in thy house, for they 
 are come to search out all the country." Rahab said 
 to the king's messengers, " It is true that there came 
 men unto me, but I knew not whence they were. And 
 at the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was 
 dark, they departed ; but whither they went, I know 
 not. Pursue after them quickly, for ye shall overtake 
 1 The Mediterranean. 
 
102 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 them." But she had brought the men up to the roof, 
 and hidden them under the stalks of flax, which she 
 had laid there to dry. As for the king's messengers, 
 they pursued after the spies along the road that led to 
 the fords of Jordan ; and the gate of the city was shut 
 after them. 
 
 But before the spies lay down to sleep Rahab came 
 up to them upon the roof, and said, " I know that the 
 Lord hath given you this land, and that all the inhabit- 
 ants thereof are afraid. We have heard how your God 
 divided the waters of the Red Sea before you, and how 
 you have utterly destroyed the two . kings of the 
 Amorites on the other side of Jordan ; and when we 
 heard it our hearts melted, and there remained no 
 courage in any of us. Now, therefore, swear by the 
 Lord that, as I have showed you kindness, so ye will 
 show kindness to me and to my father's house ; and 
 that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and 
 my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have. 
 And give me a true token that ye will so do." Then 
 the men answered, " We pledge our life for your life, if 
 only ye betray not our business. And when the Lord 
 shall have given us this land, we will deal kindly and 
 truly with you and yours." Then she let them down 
 by the window of her house, for her house was upon 
 the town wall. And she said, " Fly to the mountains, 
 lest the pursuers meet you, for they have pursued after 
 you even to the fords of the Jordan. Hide yourselves 
 in the mountains for three days, until the pursuers shall 
 have returned, and then ye can go to your own people." 
 The men answered her, " We will keep the oath which 
 thou hast made us swear to thee. And this shall be 
 the token. When we shall have come into the land, 
 bind this scarlet cord in the window from which thou 
 lettest us down. Bring also thy father, and thy mother, 
 
THE STORY OF JOSHUA 103 
 
 and thy brethren, and thy sisters, and all thy father's 
 household into the house. If any go out into the 
 street, his blood shall be on his own head if he perish ; 
 but whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood 
 shall be on our heads, if any man do him harm. But if 
 thou makest known our business we are quit of this our 
 oath." And she said, " According unto your words, so 
 be it." And she bound the scarlet line in the window 
 of her house. But the men fled to the mountain, and 
 hid themselves there three days, and after that they 
 returned to Joshua to the camp, and said, " Jericho is a 
 strong city, but the Lord has delivered all the land into 
 our hands, for the inhabitants faint for fear because 
 of us." 
 
 After this the host of the Israelites marched from 
 Shittim to Jordan. Now at this season of the year 
 Jordan is swollen by the melting of the snows of 
 Lebanon, and overflows all his banks.^ And the people 
 encamped by Jordan that night. And Joshua sent 
 officers throughout the host, who commanded the people 
 in these words :. "When ye see the priests take up the 
 ark of the covenant, follow it ; but leave a space of a 
 thousand yards' measure between you and it ; come not 
 nearer to it, that ye may know the way that ye must 
 go, for such a way ye have not gone before." And 
 Joshua said to the people, " Sanctify yourselves, for to- 
 morrow the Lord will do wonders among you." 
 
 When the morrow was come, and the day was the 
 tenth of-Nisan,^ Joshua said to the priests, " Take up the 
 
 1 By the " banks " is meant the ordinary channel of the river. There 
 is a wider channel, known by a name which signifies the "depression," 
 which is filled at such times. But the adjacent country is never flooded 
 by the river, which is almost singular among rivers in not having a valley 
 in the ordinary sense of that term. 
 
 2 About equivalent to the latter end of March and the first part of 
 April in our calendar. 
 
104 STORIES PROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 ark and pass over before the people." Then the priests 
 took up the ark, and went before ; and all the people 
 left their tents and followed them, leaving a space as 
 had been commanded. And when they that bare the 
 ark came to Jordan, and their feet were dipped in the 
 brim of the waters, then the waters, that came from 
 above stood, rising up in a heap, so that the channel 
 
 THE PASSAGE OF JORDAN. 
 
 was dried from the city of Adam 'downwards to Jericho,^ 
 and the waters below, towards the Salt Sea, were wholly 
 cut off. So all the people crossed the river dry-shod, 
 the priests that bore the ark standing in the middle of 
 the river till all the people had crossed over. 
 
 First went the men of Reuben and of Gad and of 
 the half- tribe of Manasseh, ready armed for battle, 
 
 1 A distance of about eighteen miles. 
 
THE STORY OF JOSHUA 105 
 
 about forty thousand soldiers ; and after them the rest 
 of the multitude. And when they had all passed over, 
 Joshua commanded the priests, saying, " Come up out 
 of Jordan." And it came to pass when they had come 
 up out of the river, as soon as their feet touched the 
 dry land, the waters of Jordan returned to their places, 
 and flowed over all their banks as they had done before. 
 
 Of this crossing there were set up, as Joshua com- 
 manded, according to the word of the Lord, two 
 memorials. The first was in this manner : Twelve 
 men, one out of each tribe, took up great stories out of 
 Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet stood firm, 
 and set them up on the other bank, in the place where 
 the host was to lodge that night. And the second 
 memorial was this : There were set up in like manner 
 twelve stones in the midst of the river in the place where 
 the priests had stood with the ark. 
 
 That night the people pitched their camp in the 
 plain that was called Gilgal.'^ This plain was distant 
 five miles from Jordan and two miles eastward from 
 Jericho. Here they fortified a camp, and here on the 
 fourteenth day of the month Nisan they kept the Feast 
 of Passover to the Lord. And this was the second 
 Passover that Israel kept after they came out of the 
 land of Egypt. Once had they kept it when they were 
 encamped under Mount Sinai, but not again during .the 
 eight-and-thirty years of their wanderings in the wilder- 
 ness. And on the morrow after the Passover the people 
 ate unleavened bread of the old corn of the land. From 
 that day they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan, 
 and the manna ceased. 
 
 And Joshua went up to see the city of Jericho, and 
 to devise how it might be taken. And as he looked 
 he had a vision — a man standing over against him with a 
 
 1 The word Gilgal is said to mean "freedom." 
 
io6 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 drawn sword in his hand. Then Joshua went unto him, 
 and said, "Art thou for us or against us?" And the 
 man answered, " Nay, but as captain of the Lord's host 
 am I come." Then Joshua fell on his face to the earth, 
 and did worship, and said, " What saith my Lord unto 
 his servant ? " And the captain of the Lord's host said 
 unto Joshua, " Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for 
 
 THE WALLS OF JERICHO. 
 
 the place- whereon thou standest is holy." And Joshua 
 did so. Then the angel told Joshua how he should take 
 the city of Jericho. The manner of taking it was this. 
 
 On the first day of the week the whole host of 
 Israel, armed and equipped for battle, marched round 
 the wall. After the host came seven priests blowing 
 on rams' horns, and after these, again, the ark, carried 
 on the shoulders of priests. Behind the ark came a 
 
THE STORY OF JOSHUA 107 
 
 company from the tribe of Dan, for the men of Dan 
 furnished always the rear-guard of the army. This was 
 done day after day for six days. No shouting was 
 there or cry of battle. Only the priests blew continually 
 with the trumpets. And on the seventh day, which was 
 the Sabbath,, the host made this compass of the walls 
 seven times. Six times they made it in silence, but the 
 seventh time, when it was now the time of sunset and 
 the Sabbath was near to its end, all the people shouted 
 together, and the wall fell down, so that the army could 
 go up into the city without hindrance. 
 
 Thus Jericho was taken, and all that was in it was 
 destroyed, save only the vessels of gold and silver and 
 brass and iron. These were brought into the treasury 
 of the Lord. And Joshua laid a curse upon any that 
 should build the city again ; and the curse was this : 
 that his eldest son should die when he laid the founda- 
 tion, and his youngest when he set up the gates, and so 
 finished the work.^ But when Jericho and its people 
 were utterly destroyed, Rahab and her household were 
 saved, as the spies whom she saved from death had 
 sworn unto her. This Rahab was married afterwards to 
 Salmon, chief prince of the tribe of Judah, To him she 
 bare a son Boaz, and Boaz was the father of Obed, and 
 Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David. 
 
 Now there stood some eight miles westward from 
 Jericho the city of Ai. This city Joshua had it in his 
 mind to take ; and he sent men to spy out the place. 
 These brought back the report that the place was small, 
 saying to Joshua, " Make not all the people to go up. 
 Let about two or three thousand go up and smite the 
 place, for the inhabitants are but few." This Joshua 
 did, but as the Israelites went up the men of Ai sallied 
 
 1 This curse is said to have fallen on Hiel, a man of Bethel, who rebuilt 
 Jericho when Ahab was king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Jiidah. 
 
io8 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 out upon them. And they, not looking to be attacked, 
 turned and fled, and the men of Ai pursued them, and 
 slew some six -and -thirty as they fled, but the rest 
 escaped to the camp. 
 
 Great was the dismay among the people at this 
 defeat. As for Joshua, he rent his clothes and fell to 
 the earth upon his face before the ark from morning 
 till evening. So did the elders of the people, and they 
 put dust upon their heads. And Joshua cried to the 
 Lord, " Why hast Thou brought this people over Jordan 
 to deliver them into the hands of the Amorites ? For 
 when the people of the land shall hear that we have 
 fled in the battle before the men of Ai, they will sur- 
 round us and destroy us." 
 
 But the Lord answered him thus : " Get thee up ; 
 why liest thou upon thy face? Israel has sinned, for 
 they have taken of the accursed thing." 
 
 So the next day Joshua bade all the people pass 
 before him by their tribes and families and houses.^ 
 From the tribes the tribe of Judah was taken, and from 
 the tribe of Judah the house of the Zarhites, and from 
 the house of the Zarhites the family of Zabdi, and, last, 
 from the family of Zabdi a certain Achan. 
 
 Then Joshua said to Achan, " My son, make con- 
 fession to God, and tell me now what thou hast done. 
 Hide it not from me." 
 
 Achan answered, " I have sinned against the Lord 
 God of Israel. I .saw among the spoils of Jericho a 
 goodly mantle from Babylon, and two hundred shekels 
 of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels.^ 
 
 ' We may illustrate by the divisions of the Roman /o/a/aj. There was 
 ■a. division into Ramus, Tities, and Luceres. Each of these main divisions 
 was subdivided into a number of houses {gentes), and each house again into 
 families [familia). 
 
 "^ A shekel was equal to a weight of half an ounce, and the value of 
 the silver, reckoned according to the standard value of silver and gold at 
 
THE STORY OF JOSHUA 109 
 
 These I hid in the earth under my tent, the garment 
 above, and the gold and silver under it." 
 
 Then Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto 
 the tent, and found the things as Achan had said. 
 Then Joshua said, "Why hast thou troubled us? the 
 Lord shall trouble thee this day." And Israel stoned 
 Achan with stones that he died ; and his whole house 
 and all his possessions were destroyed. In the place 
 where this was done was raised a great heap of stones, 
 and the place was called from that day the Valley of 
 Trouble.^ 
 
 After this Joshua and the people took courage 
 again, and went up against Ai. But first he set an 
 ambush of five thousand men in the valley between Ai 
 and Bethel (for Bethel is two miles to the westward of 
 Ai), and agreed with them that he and the rest of the 
 host should go up against the city openly from the 
 eastward, and make a pretence of flight. " And when 
 we flee," said he, " and the men of Ai pursue us, do ye 
 rise up and take the city." When the king of Ai saw 
 the host of Israel, for it had taken its place on the 
 other side of the valley, he and his people went out 
 against it, knowing nothing of the ambush which had 
 been laid on the other side of his city. And Joshua 
 and all Israel made as if they were beaten before the 
 king of Ai and his people, and fled by the way of the 
 wilderness — that is to say, towards Jericho and Jordan. 
 There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel ; all pursued 
 after Joshua ; and the gates were open. Then Joshua 
 
 the present time, would be for the coined money (the two hundred shekels) 
 £^0, and for the bullion (the wedge of gold) fyf,. What the actual value 
 at that time would have been it is impossible to calculate exactly, but it 
 would probably be much more. 
 
 ' The prophet Hosea (ii. 15) speaks of this valley of trouble as 
 becoming a "door of hope," and Isaiah enumerates among the blessings 
 of a happier age to come the fact that the valley of trouble shall become 
 " a place for the herds to lie down iu " (Ixv. 10). 
 
I lo STOmSS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 lifted up his spear, and pointed it towards Ai ; for this 
 had been agreed upon for a signal. Then the men 
 that lay in ambush rose up and entered the city, and 
 set it on fire. And when Joshua and the host saw the 
 smoke of the city rising up to heaven, they turned 
 against the men of Ai. At the same time they who 
 had taken the city came down against them from 
 behind. So the men of Ai were taken in the midst of 
 Israel, with the host on one side and the men of the 
 ambush on the other. None could escape. As for the 
 king, he was taken alive ; him Joshua hanged upon a 
 tree. When the sun was set Joshua commanded that 
 they should take down his carcase from the tree and 
 cast it before the gate of the city, and raise over it a 
 great heap of stones. 
 
 II 
 
 When the kings of the Canaanites heard how Jericho 
 and Ai had been destroyed, they gathered themselves 
 together with one accord to fight against Israel ; but 
 the men of one of the cities of the Hivites, Gibeon by 
 name, bethought them of a device by which they might 
 save themselves. They sent ambassadors to Joshua at 
 the camp in Gilgal ; for Joshua had led the host back 
 to the camp. The men took old sacks upon their 
 asses, and the bottles of skin in which they carried 
 their wine had been torn and sown again, and their 
 shoes were patched, and their garments old, and their 
 bread dry and mouldy. In this plight they came to 
 Gilgal, and said to Joshua, " We are come from a far 
 country : now therefore make a league with us." 
 
 Joshua said to them, " Peradventure ye dwell near 
 us ; how then shall we make a league with you ? for our 
 
THE STORY OF JOSHUA 
 
 God hath forbidden us to make leagues with the people 
 of this country. Tell us now who are ye, and whence 
 do ye come ? " 
 
 The Gibeonites answered, " Thy servants are come 
 from a very far country because of the name of the 
 Lord thy God. For we have heard the fame of Him 
 and all that He did in Egypt, and all that He did to 
 the two kings of the Amorites beyond Jordan.'- There- 
 fore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country 
 said to us. Take food with you for your journey, and 
 go to meet them, and say to them, We are your 
 servants : therefore now make a league with us. See 
 now this our bread that we took hot for our provision 
 out of our houses on the day we came forth is dry and 
 mouldy ; and these bottles were new, and now they 
 Eire torn ; and our garments and our shoes are become 
 old by reason of our very long journey." 
 
 Then Joshua and the elders took of the food which 
 the Gibeonites offered them in token of friendship ; 
 and Joshua made a league with them, and the elders 
 confirmed it with an oath. 
 
 But three days afterwards they heard that they 
 were their neighbours and dwelt among them. Then 
 Joshua sent an army from the camp to Gibeon, which 
 came to it on the third day. With Gibeon were con- 
 federate three cities — Chephirah, and Beeroth, and 
 Kirjath-jearim. The people were wroth with the 
 princes because they had made a league with these 
 cities. But the princes said, " We have sworn to them 
 by the Lord God of Israel ; therefore we may not 
 touch them. This will we do ; we will let them live, 
 lest wrath come upon us, because of the oath which we 
 
 1 It is to be noted that they keep up their character as strangers from 
 a distant coiintry by making no mention of recent events — the destruction 
 of Jericho and Ai. Of these they could not be supposed to have heard. 
 
112 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 sware unto them. But we will make them hewers of 
 wood and drawers of water to all the people." 
 
 Then Joshua said to the Gibeonites, "Wherefore 
 have ye beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you ; 
 when in truth ye dwell among us ? Therefore ye shall 
 be bondsmen for ever. Ye shall hew wood and draw 
 water for us, especially for the house of our God. 
 
 The Gibeonites answered, "We were afraid. For 
 we had heard that the Lord your God had commanded 
 His servant Moses to destroy all the inhabitants of the 
 land. Therefore we did this thing. But now we are 
 in thy hand ; as it seemeth right and good unto thee 
 to do unto us, do." 
 
 And Joshua did as he had said.^ 
 
 And when Adoni-zedek,^ king of Jerusalem, heard 
 how the Gibeonites had made peace with Israel, he was 
 greatly troubled, for Gibeon was a great city, as one of 
 the royal cities. He sent therefore to the other kings 
 that were confederate with him, that is to say, the kings 
 of Hebron, of Jarmuth, of Lachish, and of Eglon ; and 
 they and all their hosts went up, and encamped against 
 Gibeon, and made war upon it. 
 
 Then the Gibeonites sent in haste to Joshua, saying, 
 " The kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains'* 
 are gathered together against us ; tarry not therefore 
 to come up and save us and help us." So Joshua and 
 
 1 The Gibeonites are spoken of tliroughout the Iiistory of Israel. 
 Saul's attempt to destroy them was evidently regarded as a great crime 
 (see 2 Sara. xv. 1-9). They appear in the genealogies of Chronicles 
 and Ezra. 
 
 2 Adoni-zedek means "Lord of Righteousness.'" The Melchi-zedek 
 of Abraham's time>("King of Righteousness") was probably king of the 
 same city. "King of Salem," the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews 
 (vii. I) calls him. 
 
 ' As a matter of fact the attacking host came in a large measure from 
 the lowlands. But Jerusalem, the chief of the confederacy, maybe said 
 to be among the mountains ; nor were the Gibeonites in their alarm likely 
 to be very exact. 
 
THE STORY OF JOSHUA 
 
 "3 
 
 'the bravest of the host came up from the camp at 
 Gilgal. All night they marched, for Gibeon was distant 
 fifteen miles from Gilgal, but the Amorites knew nothing 
 of their coming. And when they came up from out of 
 the valley on to the plain before Gibeon, the enemy 
 was sore dismayed, and turned their backs, and fled. 
 
 JOSHUA AT BETH-HORON. 
 
 Some of them fled to Beth-horon, and some to their 
 own cities. Those that took the road to Beth-horon 
 fled with all speed down the pass that leads from Beth- 
 horon the Upper to Beth-horon the Lower.^ And as 
 they were on the way, Israel following after them, a 
 great hailstorm fell on them. They were more that 
 died from the hail-stones than they that were slain by 
 
 1 The distance between the two places is two miles, and the pass falls 
 in that space about seven hundred feet. 
 
 I 
 
114 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 the sword. And when Joshua saw the Amorites fleeing 
 down the pass, he feared lest the sun should go down 
 before Israel had made an end of destroying their enemy. 
 Therefore he cried aloud, "Sun, stand thou still upon 
 Gibeon ; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon." 
 And it was so that the light failed not the children of 
 Israel till they had avenged themselves on their enemies. 
 All the way to Azekah did Israel pursue the Amorites ; 
 and as they pursued, it was told Joshua that the five 
 kings had hidden themselves in a cave at Makkedah. 
 But Joshua would not suffer the people to turn aside 
 nor to cease from their pursuit. " Roll," he said, 
 " great stones to the door of the cave, and set a guard 
 over it ; but stay ye not, but pursue after your enemies, 
 and smite the hindmost of them. Suffer them not to 
 enter into their cities, for the Lord your God hath 
 delivered them into your hand." So the people stayed 
 not from the pursuit ; nevertheless some of the Amorites 
 escaped into their fortified cities. After this the people 
 returned to Joshua to the camp at Makkedah in peace. 
 None dared to say a word against any of them. 
 
 Then said Joshua, " Open the mouth of the cave, 
 and bring the five kings out of the cave to me." 
 So they opened the mouth of the cave, and brought 
 them out. And he said to his captains and chief men 
 of war, " Come near and put your feet on the necks of 
 these men." So they came, and put their feet on the 
 necks of the kings. And Joshua said, " Fear not, nor 
 be dismayed, be strong and of good courage ; for thus 
 shall the Lord do unto all your enemies against whom 
 ye fight." Then he commanded that the kings should 
 be slain and hanged upon five trees. At sunset he bade 
 his people take down the dead bodies from the trees, 
 and cast them into the cave wherein they had hidden 
 themselves, and roll a stone to the mouth of the cave. 
 
THE STOR Y OF JOSHUA 1 1 5 
 
 That very day Joshua took Makkedah. And after- 
 wards he took Libnah and Lachish and Eglon and 
 Hebron, which was one of the cities of the children of 
 Anak, and Debir. And when Horam, king of Gezer, 
 came to help the men of Lachish, Joshua smote him 
 and his people till he left him none remaining. Never- 
 theless the children of Israel were longer in the taking 
 of Lachish than the other cities which they destroyed 
 at this time, for the place was very strong. And when 
 Joshua had subdued all the country of the south, 
 he returned to the camp at Gilgal, and all Israel 
 with him. 
 
 When Jabin, king of Hazor, heard these things, he 
 sent to the kings of the north country, and of the plains 
 that lie to the westward of Chinneroth,^ and many 
 others throughout the land, and called them to fight 
 against Israel. So they assembled their armies by the 
 waters of Merom, a very great multitude, even as the 
 sand that is on the sea-shore for multitude. Horses and 
 chariots also had they very many. Now of these the 
 children of Israel had none ; nor indeed had they seen 
 them in battle, for the Canaan ites of the south were 
 wont to fight on foot. And the Lord said to Joshua, 
 " Be not afraid of them, for I will deliver them 
 into thine hand." And Joshua went up suddenly from 
 Gilgal, and all the men of war with him, and he fell 
 upon the host of Jabin as it lay by the waters of Merom, 
 taking them unawares. The Lord delivered them into 
 the hand of Israel. A great multitude were slain, but 
 some escaped to Sidon, and some to Sarepta, and some 
 to Mizpeh, which is under Hermon. All that were 
 overtaken in the flight were slain, and all the chariots 
 burnt with fire, and all the horses houghed ; for so it 
 had been commanded to Joshua, lest perchance the 
 1 Afterwards known as the Sea or Lake of Galilee. 
 
Ii6 STOJilES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Israelites should seek to use them for war to their own 
 harm. 
 
 After this Joshua returned to Hazor, and took it, 
 and burnt it with fire. This only of all the cities of 
 the north did Joshua burn with fire, because in those 
 days it was the head of all the kingdoms of that region. 
 Thus Joshua conquered the Canaanites in two great 
 battles — the tribes of the south in the Pass of Beth- 
 horon, and the tribes of the north by the Lake of 
 Meron. And both these battles were fought in the 
 year in which the children of Israel crossed the Jordan ; 
 but the land was not subdued till seven full years had 
 passed. Nor even then was it wholly conquered ; for 
 the Philistines dwelt in their five cities by the sea,^ and 
 the Jebusites held the citadel of Jerusalem, and the 
 kings of the northern Canaanites set up their dominion 
 again in Hazor,^ and elsewhere also the Canaanites 
 dwelt among the children of Israel. 
 
 At the end of the seven years Joshua divided the 
 land among the tribes ; and while he did so, Caleb the 
 son of Jephunneh came to him, and said, " Thou knowest 
 the thing that the Lord said unto Moses the man of 
 God concerning me and thee in Kadesh-barnea. Forty 
 years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord 
 sent me from Kadesh-barnea to espy out the land ; 
 and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart. 
 Nevertheless my brethren that went with me made the 
 heart of the people melt for fear of their report ; but I 
 wholly followed the Lord my God. And Moses sware 
 on that day, saying. Surely the land whereon thy feet 
 
 ^ Gath, Gaza, Ashdod, Ekron, and Ascalon. 
 
 2 The jebusites were not dispossessed for at least three hundred years 
 after the time of Joshua, when David took the citadel of Jerusalem. We 
 hear of a Jabin, king of Canaan, as the oppressor of Israel in the time of 
 Barak and Deborah (about 1200 B.C.), and as strong in the same chariots 
 as were used in the days of Joshua. 
 
THE STORY OF JOSHUA 117 
 
 have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy 
 children's for ever, because thou hast wholly followed 
 the Lord my God. And now, behold, the Lord hath 
 kept me alive, as He said, these forty-and-five years, 
 even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while 
 the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness ; and 
 now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. 
 And yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day 
 that Moses sent me : as my strength was then, even so 
 is my strength now, to go out and to come in. Now 
 therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lord 
 spake in that day ; for my brethren that went with me 
 to espy the land spake of the children of Anak that 
 were there, and of the strong cities in which they dwelt, 
 and made the heart of the people to melt with their 
 report. But if the Lord be with me, I shall be able to 
 drive them out as the Lord said." Then Joshua blessed 
 Caleb, and gave him Hebron for an inheritance. 
 
 When the land had been divided, Joshua further 
 appointed six cities, three on either side of Jordan, to 
 which any man might flee who should kill another 
 unwittingly and unawares.^ Also to the tribe of Levi 
 forty-eight cities were given out of the portions of the 
 tribes. 
 
 So Joshua rested from his labours, dwelling in Tim- 
 nath-serah in Mount Ephraim, for this had been given 
 to him for his inheritance ; and among all the portions 
 of the children of Israel there was none humbler than 
 his. And when fifteen years had passed, and he knew 
 
 ^ The homicide, on reaching the city, stated his case to the elders, 
 who received him, if he seemed to make it out satisfactorily. When the 
 avenger of blood arrived, the accused man was put on his trial in a more 
 formal way. If he could then show that his act was not done with 
 premeditation, he was permitted to remain in the city. He could be 
 lawfully slain by the avenger if he was found outside its borders. On the 
 death of the high -priest he could return in safety to his home. 
 
iiS STOJi/SS FROM 7'HE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 that his end was now drawing nigh, he sent for the 
 elders of Israel to his house at Timnath, and said to 
 them, " I am old and stricken in age. And ye have 
 seen what the Lord hath done for you, how He has 
 driven out the nations of the land before you, and 
 divided the land unto you for an inheritance. Keep, 
 therefore, all that is written in the book of the law of 
 Moses ; turn not aside from it to the right hand or to 
 the left. Go not ye among the nations that remain ; 
 make no mention of their gods, but cleave unto the 
 Lord your God, as ye have done unto this day. If ye 
 will so do, then one of you shall chase a thousand, for it 
 is the Lord your God that fighteth for you. But if ye 
 go among these nations, and serve their gods, then 
 shall they be snares and traps to you, and scourges in 
 your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish 
 from off the good land which the Lord your God hath 
 given you." 
 
 Also Joshua called an assembly of all Israel to 
 Shechem. And when he had brought to their minds 
 the great things which the Lord had done for them — 
 how He had brought them over the Red Sea, and 
 destroyed the Amorites that dwelt on the other side 
 of Jordan, and caused Balaam to bless them when 
 Balak king of Moab would have had him curse them, 
 and how He had given them the land of the seven 
 nations westward of Jordan — then he said to them, 
 " Choose now whom ye will serve. Will ye serve the 
 Lord, or will ye serve the gods whom your fathers 
 served when they dwelt in Egypt, or the gods of 
 the nations whom the Lord hath driven out before 
 you? As for me and my house, we will serve the 
 Lord." 
 
 All the people answered, "God forbid that we 
 should serve other gods ; we will serve the Lord who 
 
THE STORY OF JOSHUA 119 
 
 drave out the nations from before us, for He is the 
 Lord our God." 
 
 Joshua said, " The Lord is a jealous God ; if ye 
 forsake Him and serve other gods He will consume 
 you, and do you hurt, as He hath done you good." 
 
 And the people answered again, " Nay ; but we will 
 serve the Lord." 
 
 Then Joshua said, "Ye are witnesses against your- 
 selves that ye have chosen the Lord to serve Him." 
 
 And the people said, "We are witnesses." 
 
 So Joshua made a covenant with the people ; and 
 he wrote these words in a book, and laid the book up 
 with the book of the law. Also he took a great stone 
 and set it up under an oak that was by the tabernacle 
 of the Lord, that it might be a memorial of this 
 covenant for ever. " This stone," he said, " shall be a 
 witness unto us ; for it hath heard all the words of the 
 Lord which He spake unto us. It shall be therefore a 
 witness unto you, lest ye deny your God." 
 
 Then Joshua let the people go to their own homes. 
 And after this he died, being an hundred and ten 
 years old. And they buried him in the border of his 
 inheritance in Timnath-serah. 
 
THE STORY OF RUTH 
 
 In the days of the Judges, when Eli was high-priest, 
 there was a famine in the land. So it came to pass 
 that a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to 
 sojourn in the land of Moab, he and his wife and his 
 sons. The name of the man was Elimelech, and the 
 name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons 
 Mahlon and Chilion. And they came into the country 
 of Moab and sojourned there. And Elimelech died, 
 and Mahlon and Chilion took to themselves wives of 
 the women of Moab ; the name of the one was Orpah, 
 and the name of the other Ruth. And after ten years 
 Mahlon and Chilion died, and Naomi was bereaved 
 both of her husband and sons. Then she arose with 
 her daughters-in-law to return to her own country, for 
 she had heard that God had looked upon His people 
 and given them bread. And Naomi said to her 
 daughter-in-law, " Go, return each to her mother's house ; 
 the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt kindly 
 with the dead. The Lord grant that each of you may 
 find rest in the house of her husband." Then she 
 kissed them, and they lifted up their voice and wept, 
 and said to her, " Surely we will return with thee to thy 
 people." But Naomi answered, " Return home, my 
 daughters. For I cannot help you, for the Lord hath 
 dealt hardly with me." And they wept again, and 
 Orpah departed, after she had kissed her mother-in-law. 
 
THE STORY OF RUTH 
 
 but Ruth clave to her. Then Naomi said to her, "Behold 
 thy sister-in-law hath gone back to her people and to 
 her gods ; do thou go after her." But Ruth said, 
 " Entreat me not to leave thee, nor to return from 
 following after thee ; for whither thou goest I will go, 
 and where thou lodgest I will lodge; thy. people shall 
 
 RUTH GOETH WITH NAOMI. 
 
 be my people, and thy God my God ; when thou diest 
 I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so 
 to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee 
 and me." And when Naomi saw that Ruth was stead- 
 fast in her purpose, she sought no more to persuade her. 
 So these two went on till they came to Bethlehem. 
 And' when they came, all Bethlehem was greatly moved, 
 for they asked, " Can this be Naomi ? " She said to 
 
122 STOR/ES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 them, " Call me not Naomi, but call me Mara,^ for 
 the Lord hath dealt very bitterly with me. He 
 sent me forth full, and He hath brought me back 
 again empty." Now the time when Naomi and Ruth 
 came to Bethlehem was at the beginning of barley- 
 harvest. 
 
 There was in Bethlehem a certain man that was a 
 kinsman of Elimelech. His name was Boaz, and he 
 was very rich. Ruth said to her mother-in-law, " Let 
 me now go to the field and glean ears of corn ^ after any 
 one in whose sight I may find favour." And Naomi 
 said to her, "Go, my daughter." So she went and 
 gleaned in the field, after the reapers ; and her hap 
 was to light on that portion of the field ^ which 
 belonged to the man Boaz. And behold Boaz came 
 from Bethlehem, and said to his reapers, " The Lord be 
 with you ! " and they answered him, " The Lord bless 
 thee ! " Then Boaz said to the servant that was over 
 the reapers, " Whose damsel is this ? " The man said, 
 " This is the Moabitish damsel that came back with 
 Naomi out of the land of Moab. She said to me, ' Let 
 me glean after the reapers.' So she came, and hath 
 continued from the morning until now, and hath scarcely 
 rested at all." Then Boaz said to her, " Go not to glean 
 in another field ; abide here, keeping close to my 
 maidens. None shall harm thee. And when thou art 
 thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink of that which the 
 men have drawn." When she heard this, she fell on 
 her face before him on the ground, and said, "Why 
 dost thou take notice of me, seeing that I am but a 
 
 1 Naomi mesjis " gmce," Mara, "bitterness." 
 
 2 It should be noted that only the poorest class in Palestine used bai-ley 
 
 S"^ l°°u , , /^ "" P™"''' ''^"«f°'^e. of the poverty of the two women that 
 
 Ruth should be glad to glean in a barley-field. 
 
 hed^ The field was a common field, divided into portions, but without 
 
THE STORY OF RUTH 
 
 '23 
 
 stranger ? " Boaz answered, " I have heard all that 
 ■ thou hast done to thy mother-in-law, and how that thou 
 hast left thy father and thy mother, and hast come to 
 a people which before thou knewest not. The Lord, 
 under whose wings thou art come to seek refuge, re- 
 compense thee for it ! " 
 
 And when the reapers rested for their meal, Boaz 
 
 KUTH AND BOAZ. 
 
 said to her, " Come hither, and eat of the bread, and 
 
 dip thy morsel in the vinegar.^ 
 
 So she sat beside the reapers, and- Boaz reached to 
 
 her grain that had been roasted in the fire, and she ate 
 
 till she was satisfied ; but there remained something 
 
 over from her portion. And when she rose up to 
 
 glean again, Boaz said to his men, " Let her glean even 
 
 1 The liquor was light and sour wine of the country, the Latin posca. 
 Compare Matt, xxvii. 48. * 
 
124 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 among the sheaves,^ and do not trouble her. Let fall 
 also some handfuls for her, that she may glean them." 
 So Ruth gleaned in the field all the day ; and when she 
 had beat out all that was gleaned, she found that it 
 was an ephah ^ of barley. This she took into the city 
 to her mother-in-law. Also she gave her what had 
 been left over when she ate bread. Naomi said to her, 
 " Where hast thou gleaned to-day ? Blessed be he that 
 took notice of thee."' Ruth answered, "The man in 
 whose field I gleaned is Boaz." Then Naomi said, 
 "Blessed be the Lord, who has not ceased from His 
 kindness both to the living and the dead. For this 
 Boaz is one of our next kinsman." Now it was the 
 law among the Jews that if a man died without children, 
 his nearest kinsman should buy his inheritance and take 
 his widow to wife, so that the name of the dead might 
 not perish out of Israel. Naomi knew that Boaz was 
 near of kin to Elimelech. Whether there was any one 
 nearer she knew not. Ruth said to her mother-in-law, 
 " The man said to me that I should keep by his men 
 till they had ended his harvest." Naomi answered, " It 
 is well ; do so, keep with his maidens, and go not 
 into any other field." So Ruth kept by the maidens 
 of Boaz till both the barley harvest and the wheat 
 harvest were ended. Afterwards Naomi said to Ruth, 
 " My daughter, I must see that you find a home. To- 
 night' Boaz winnows barley in the threshing-floor. 
 Wash thyself, therefore, and anoint thyself, and put on 
 thy best raiment, but take care that the man see thee 
 not until he shall have done eating and drinking. But 
 when he lieth down, mark the place where he shall lie, 
 and go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down ; 
 
 1 Among them not only after tliem. 2 About seven gallons. 
 
 ' Corn was winnowed at night, both for coolness' sake and because the 
 wind was stronger then than in the day. 
 
THE STORY OF RUTH 125 
 
 and he will tell thee what thou shalt do." And Ruth 
 said to her mother-in-law, " All that thou tellest me I 
 will do." When Boaz had eaten and drunk and his 
 heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the 
 heap of corn.^ And Ruth came softly, and lay down 
 at his feet under the covering that was over him. And 
 it came to pass at midnight that the man was afraid, 
 and turned himself; and behold a woman lay at his 
 feet. He said, "Who art thou?" She answered, "I 
 am Ruth thine handmaid. Spread now thy skirt 
 over me, for thou art a near kinsman." " Blessed be 
 thou of the Lord, my daughter. This is well done of 
 thee that thou hast come to me and to none other for 
 help. Fear not, I will do all that thou requirest ; for all 
 the city doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. 
 And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman, but 
 there is one that is nearer than I. Tarry here this 
 night ; and in the morning, if he will perform the 
 part of a kinsman, well ; but if he will not, then will 
 I perform it, as the Lord liveth. Lie down till the 
 morning." So she lay down, and in the morning, 
 before it was light, so that one could not see the other, 
 she rose up. Then he said, " Bring thy veil ^ and hold 
 it." And when she held it, he measured into it six 
 measures of barley, that she might take them to her 
 home. And she told Naomi all that the man had done, 
 and how he had said, " Go not empty to thy mother-in- 
 law." Then said Naomi, "Sit still, my daughter, till 
 thou shalt know how the matter will end. The man 
 will not be at rest until he have finished the thing, and 
 that this very day." 
 
 1 The heap of com was of the newly-winnowed grain. The owner 
 slept by it to keep it from the depredations of thieves. 
 
 2 The veil was a garment which covered the upper part of the body, 
 and could be drawn over the head. 
 
126 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 In the morning Boaz went to the gate ; for there the 
 men of the city were wont to assemble for counsel 
 and converse. And when the kinsman of whom Boaz 
 had spoken to Ruth came by, Boaz called to him, " Ho, 
 thou ! turn aside, and sit down here." So they sat down. 
 And Boaz said unto the kinsman, " Naomi, that has 
 come back from the land of Moab, selleth a portion of 
 land that belongeth to Elimelech that was her husband. 
 If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it ; but if thou wilt not, 
 then tell me, that I may know. For thou art nearest 
 to the dead, and I am next after thee, and there is 
 none beside.'' The man said, " I will redeem it." 
 Then Boaz said, " When thou buyest the land of Naomi, 
 thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, for she 
 is the widow of Elimelech's son. And her must thou 
 take to wife, that the name of the dead may be pre- 
 served in his inheritance." The kinsman said, " This 
 I cannot do, lest I mar my own inheritance. I cannot 
 redeem it: redeem it thyself." Now the custom in 
 Israel was that in a matter of redeeming or exchanging, 
 a man took oiif his shoe and gave it to his neighbour, 
 as a token that he gave over to him the right that was 
 his own in law. Therefore the kinsman drew off his 
 shoe, and gave it to Boaz, saying, " Take the right to 
 redeem the inheritance of Elimelech and his son." 
 And Boaz said to the elders and unto all the people, 
 " Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought this 
 day all that was Elimelech's, and Mahlon's, and Chilion's, 
 and, moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, that was the wife 
 of Mahlon, have I taken to be my wife, that I may raise 
 up the name of the dead in his inheritance. Be ye 
 therefore witnesses of this." The elders and the people 
 answered, " We are witnesses. The Lord make the 
 woman that is come into thy house like Rachael and 
 like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel ; and 
 
THE STORY OF RUTH 127 
 
 do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in 
 Bethlehem." 
 
 And Ruth bare a son. And the women said to 
 Naomi, "Blessed be the Lord, who hath not left thee 
 without a kinsman, to preserve the name of thy husband 
 and thy sons in Israel. For this child shall be unto 
 thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thy old 
 age. For thy daughter-in-law, who loveth thee, and 
 who is better to thee than seven sons, hath borne him." 
 And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, 
 and became nurse unto it. And the women her neigh- 
 bours gave the child a name, saying, "There is a son 
 born to Naomi," and they called him Obed, which is by 
 interpretation " serving." This Obed was the father of 
 Jesse, the father of David. 
 
THE STORY OF DAVID 
 I.— 'STlje Ciiampion 
 
 In the days of King Saul there dwelt at Bethlehem, in 
 the land of Judah, a certain man whose name was Jesse. 
 He was the son of Obed, whom Ruth the Moabitess 
 bare to Boaz, and Boaz again was the son of Salmon 
 and Rahab of Jericho. This Jesse had eight sons and 
 two daughters,^ and the youngest of his sons was David. 
 The Lord, being displeased with Saul, said to 
 Samuel, " Fill thine horn with oil, and go to the house 
 of Jesse in Bethlehem : for I have provided Me a king 
 among his sons." So Samuel went And the elders 
 of Bethlehem, knowing that he and the king were not 
 friends, said to him, " Comest thou peaceably ? " And 
 he said, " Peaceably : I am come to sacrifice to the 
 Lord ; purify yourselves, and come to the sacrifice." 
 He bade also Jesse and his sons purify themselves, and 
 he invited them to the sacrifice. And when they 
 
 ' In I Chron. ii. 13-1S seven sons only are mentioned ; the three 
 whose names occur in the narrative above with Nethaneel, Raddai, Ozem, 
 and "David the seventh." It may be conjectured that the eighth son, 
 whose name is not given, died in youth after Samuel's visit to Bethlehem. 
 The two daughters were Zeruiah and Abigail. The difficulty here is that 
 Abigail is said to have been the daughter of Nahash (2 Sam. xvii. 25). 
 The Jewish explanation is that Nahash is another name for Jesse. Dean 
 Stanley suggests that Abigail was the daughter of Jesse's wife (whose 
 name is not known) by a former husband, who may have been Nahash, 
 king of the Ammonites. Zeruiah was the mother of Abishai, Joab, and 
 Asahel ; and Abigail of Amasa. 
 
THE STORY OF DAVID 
 
 129 
 
 came, and he saw Eliab the eldest, and perceived how. 
 goodly and tall he was, he said, "Surely the Lord's 
 anointed is before Him." But the Lord said, " Look 
 not on his countenance, nor on the height of his stature ; 
 because I have refused him : for the Lord seeth not as 
 man seeth ; for man looketh on the outward appear- 
 ance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." Then Jesse 
 
 THE CHOOSING OF DAVID. 
 
 made Abinadab, his second son, and then Shammah, his 
 third son, pass before Samuel, and after these yet four 
 others. But Samuel said, " The Lord hath not chosen 
 these." He said again, " Are -all thy children here ? " 
 Jesse answered, "There remaineth yet the youngest, 
 and he keepeth the sheep." Then Samuel said, " Send 
 and fetch him ; for we will not sit down till he come." 
 So -Jesse sent for him. Now he was a youth, short of 
 
 K 
 
130 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 stature/ his hair of a ruddy colour, his eyes bright, and 
 he was fair to loolc upon. And when he came, the 
 Lord said to Samuel, " This is he ; arise, and anoint 
 him." So Samuel anointed him in the midst of his 
 brethren, and from that day the Spirit of the Lord 
 came upon him. 
 
 After these things Saul was troubled with' a spirit 
 of madness, and his servants said to him, " Let us seek 
 out a man that is a skilful player upon the harp. When 
 the evil spirit shall come upon thee, he shall play with 
 his hand, and thou shalt be well." Then Saul said to 
 his servants, " Find me now such a man, and bring him 
 to me." One of them answered, " I .have seen a son of 
 Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is skilful in playing, a 
 valiant youth,^ and prudent of speech, and a comely 
 person.'' So Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and 
 said, " Send me David thy son, who is with the sheep." 
 So Jesse sent a present of bread and wine and a kid 
 by David to Saul. And David abode with Saul, and 
 when the spirit of madness came upon the king David 
 took his harp, and played with his hand, and Saul was 
 refreshed and well.^ 
 
 1 We may gather so much from the special mention of the tall stature 
 of Eliab, a characteristic which seems to have attracted the notice of 
 Samuel, used as he was to the commanding presence of Saul ("from his 
 shoulders and upwards he was higher than any of the people "). So, again 
 there is a marked contrast between his small figure and the giant Goliath' 
 But, as Dean Stanley says, "The day was gone when kings were chosen 
 because they were head and shoulders taller than the rest." But his short 
 stature did not prevent his possessing great strength and activity. Psalm 
 xvm. 29-34 IS the passage in which David thanks God for the personal 
 gifts which had been bestowed upon him. He was swift of foot a 
 characteristic shared by his nephew Asahel ("He maketh my feet like 
 hind's feet"), and unusually strong ("a bow of steel [or rather bronze! 
 is broken by my hands "). 
 
 2 His feats of strength in killing wild beasts, mentioned afterwards, 
 may have become known. Possibly he had been engaged in affairs with 
 banditti, of which nothing has been recorded. 
 
 s The narrative of i Sam. xvi. adds that' Saul "loved David greatly 
 and he became his armour-bearer." Perhaps we may suppose that these 
 
THE STORY OF DAVID 131 
 
 After a while, because the king seemed to be healed 
 of his madness, David departed from him and returned 
 to Bethlehem, and fed his father's flocks, as he had done 
 before. And while he was thus employed, the Philis- 
 tines came up against Israel, and pitched their camp 
 in Ephes-dammim,^ and Saul and the men of Israel 
 pitched on the hills over against them, and between 
 them was the valley of the Terebinth. 
 
 There came a champion out of the camp of the 
 Philistines, named Goliath of Gath, whose height was 
 nine cubits and a span.^ And he was clad in a coat 
 of mail that weighed five thousand shekels,* with a 
 helmet of brass upon his head, and greaves of brass 
 upon his legs ; and between his shoulders he carried a 
 javelin of brass. The staff of his spear was like a 
 weaver's beam, and the spear head weighed six hundred 
 shekels.* And one bearing a shield went before. And 
 the man cried to the men of Israel, " Choose you a man for 
 you, and send him to fight with me. If he be able to kill 
 me, then will we be your servants ; but if I prevail over 
 him, and kill him, then shall ye serve us." But Saul 
 and all Israel were dismayed at his words, for there was 
 none that could match him in stature or in the strength 
 of his armour. Forty days, day by day, did Goliath 
 of Gath challenge the men of Israel. 
 
 It came to pass that at this time Jesse said to David 
 his son, " Go now to the camp and carry an ephah ^ of 
 parched corn, and these ten loaves to thy brothers in 
 the camp, and see how they fare, and bring back an 
 
 words express the feelings that afierwards grew up on the part of Saul. 
 It is impossible to suppose that Saul should have entirely forgotten the 
 person of a young man whom he had taken into such favour, as he would 
 seem to have done from the narrative that follows. 
 
 1 The word means " the bound, or end, of bloodshed. " 
 
 2 9 feet 9 inches. ^ 157 lbs. * About 17 lbs. 
 
 * Probably about four gallons and a half; but another calculation 
 makes it nearly double as much. 
 
132 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 answer from them. Carry also these cheeses to the 
 captain of their thousand." For the three eldest sons 
 of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. 
 
 So David rose early in the morning, and left the 
 sheep with a keeper, and came to the waggons with 
 which the men of Israel had fortified their camp, as the 
 host was going forth to the fight and shouted for the 
 battle. Thereupon he left the things that he had 
 brought with the keeper of the baggage, and ran into 
 the army, and saluted his brethren. And as he talked 
 with them the champion of the Philistines came forth 
 from their camp, and cried as he was wont ; and David 
 heard his words. But all the men of Israel fled from 
 the sight of him, for they were sore afraid. They said 
 to David, " Hast thou seen this man that is come up to 
 defy Israel? The man that killeth him the king 
 will enrich with great riches, and will give him his 
 daughter to wife, and will make his father's house free 
 of all tax and tribute." 
 
 Then David said, " What shall be done to the man 
 that killeth this Philistine and taketh away the reproach 
 from Israel ? for who is this Philistine that he should 
 defy the armies of the living God ? " And the people 
 answered him in the same words. When Eliab his 
 eldest brother heard how he spake with the men, his 
 anger was kindled against him, and he said, " Why 
 earnest thou hither? with whom hast thou left those 
 few sheep in the wilderness ? I know thy pride and 
 the naughtiness of thine heart. Thou art come down 
 to see the battle." But David answered, " What harm 
 have I done ? did not my father send me ? " 
 
 The words that David had said were told to Saul, 
 and Saul sent for him. Then David said to Saul, " Let 
 no man's heart fail him because of this Philistine ; 
 behold, thy servant will go and fight with him." Saul 
 
THE STOR y OF DA VID 133 
 
 made answer, " Thou art not able to fight with this 
 Philistine ; for thou art but a youth, and he a man of 
 war from his youth." But David said, " I kept my 
 father's sheep, and behold a bear came and took a lamb 
 out of the flock ; and as he was carrying it away, I over- 
 took him, and slew him ; and as I returned to the flock 
 a lion met me ; him also I took by the beard and slew. 
 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear, and this 
 Philistine shall fare as these, seeing that he hath defied 
 the armies of the living God ; for truly He that delivered 
 me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of 
 the bear, will also deliver me out of the hand of 
 this Philistine." So Saul said, " Go, and the Lord be 
 with thee." And Saul clad him in armour, and put a 
 helmet upon his head, and gave him a sword to gird 
 upon his side. But David had never made trial of such 
 things, and when he endeavoured to go in them, he could 
 not. Therefore he put them off, and took his staff in 
 his hand, and chose five smooth stones out of the brook 
 that ran in the valley, putting them in his shepherd's 
 wallet, and so went, having his sling in his hand, and 
 drew near to the Philistine. The Philistine also came 
 on, and drew near to David ; and when he looked about, 
 and saw David, he despised him, for he- was but a 
 youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. And he 
 said to David, " Am I a dog that thou comest to me 
 with staves ? " And he cursed him by his gods, and 
 said to him, " Come near, and I will give thy flesh unto 
 the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field." Then 
 said David to the Philistine, " Thou comest to me with 
 a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield ; but I 
 come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God 
 of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the 
 Lord deliver thee into mine hand ; and I will smite 
 thee, and take thine head from thee ; and I will give 
 
'34 
 
 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 the carcases of the host of the Phihstines to the beasts 
 of the field and the fowls of the air, that all the earth 
 may know that there is a God in Israel." 
 
 And when the Philistine drew near, David ran to 
 meet him ; and as he ran he put his hand into his 
 wallet, and took thence a stone, and Slang it, and smote 
 the Philistine on the forehead ; and the stone sank into 
 
 DAVID AND GOLIATH 
 
 his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth. 
 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and 
 a stone. But, because he had no sword, he ran and 
 stood upon the Philistine, and drawing the man's 
 sword out of its sheath, smote ofif his head therewith^ 
 And when the Philistines saw that their champion was 
 dead, they fled. And the men of Israel pursued them 
 even to Gath and Ekron ; and when they returned 
 
THE STORY OF DAVID 
 
 135 
 
 from the pursuit they spoiled their tents. And David 
 took the head of the Philistine and his armour.^ But 
 Saul said to Abner, captain of his host, " Abner, 
 whose son is this youth ? " ^ And Abner said, " As 
 thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell." Then the king 
 said, " Inquire whose son the stripling is." And 
 Abner brought David to Saul with the head of the 
 Philistine in his hand. And Saul said to him, " Whose 
 son art thou, young man ? " David said, " I am the 
 son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite." 
 
 That day Saul took him, and would -let him go no 
 more home to his father's house. Also Jonathan, that 
 was Saul's son, and heir of his kingdom, loved him as 
 his own soul ; and he gave him his own robe, and his 
 sword, and his bow, and his girdle. After this Saul 
 made him his armour-bearer, and set him over his 'men 
 of war ; and on whatever errand David was sent he 
 behaved himself wisely, and approved himself in the 
 sight of the king's servants and of all the people. 
 
 But it came to pass one day that as he was return- 
 ing, having made a great slaughter of the Philistines, 
 the women came out of all the. cities of Israel, 
 singing and dancing, and playing on instruments of 
 music to meet him and the king. And one company 
 sang, " Saul hath slain his thousands," and the other 
 company answered, "And David his ten thousands." 
 Thereat Saul was very wroth, for the saying displeased 
 him ; and he said, " They have ascribed to David ten 
 thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands 
 only; now there is only the kingdom left for him." 
 
 1 The mention of Jerusalem in l Sam. xvii. 52 is probablyij/in anticipa- 
 tion. Jerusalem was at that time still in the possession of the Jebusites ; 
 but we may be sure that ultimately the armour would be brought there. 
 
 2 This question does not necessarily imply that Saul had no know- 
 ledge of him, but only that now the young man might very well become 
 a man of importance, it would be well to know what was his parentage. 
 
«36 
 
 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 And from that day forward he looked jealously upon 
 David. 
 
 After a while madness came again upon Saul, and 
 David played upon the harp to soothe him, as he had 
 been wont to do at the first. But Saul sat with a 
 javelin in his hand. Once he made as if he would 
 
 DAVID ESCAPETH FROM SAUL. 
 
 have cast it at David ; but David escaped out of his 
 presence. Again, another time, he struck at David with 
 it ; but David slipped away, and he smote the javelin 
 into the wall. 
 
 After this the king sent David away, making him 
 captain of a thousand, in which command he behaved 
 himself so wisely that all the people loved him. 
 
 Now hitherto Saul had not fulfilled his promise that 
 he would give his daughter to wife to the man who 
 
THE STOR Y OF DA VW 137 
 
 should slay the champion of the Philistines. Therefore 
 he said to David, " Behold my elder daughter Merab ; 
 her will I give thee to wife. Only be thou valiant for 
 me, and fight the Lord's battles." (But he hoped, that 
 David would be slain by the Philistines, being unwilling 
 to lay hands upon him himself.) And David said to 
 Saul, " Who am I, and what is my father's house, that I 
 should be son-in-law to the king ? " But it came to pass 
 at the time when Merab should have been given to 
 David, she was given to Adriel of Meholah. 
 
 Now Michal, Saul's daughter, loved David. And 
 when Saul knew of it, the thing pleased him, for he said 
 to himself, " Now will I make my daughter a snare to 
 David, and he shall be slain by the Philistines." Then 
 he commanded his servants that they should say to 
 David, " Behold the king hath delight in thee, and all 
 men love thee. Why shouldst thou not marry the 
 king's daughter ? " But David said, " It is no easy 
 thing to be a king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor 
 man." Then Saul's servants answered him, " The king 
 requireth no dowry from thee, such as he required of 
 Adriel for his daughter Merab. Only bring him the 
 spoils of a hundred Philistines." But the purpose of 
 the king was that David should fall by the hand of the 
 Philistines. The thing pleased David, and before the 
 time had expired wherein it had been covenanted that 
 the king's daughter should be given him, he went forth, 
 he and his men, and slew two hundred of the Philistines, 
 and brought their spoils to the king. Then Saul gave 
 him his daughter Michal to wife. Nevertheless from 
 that time forward Saul hated David, and sought to 
 slay him. 
 
 For a time, indeed, Jonathan his son, who loved 
 David exceedingly, turned the king from his purpose, 
 for he said unto him, " Let not the king sin against his 
 
138 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 servant David, because he hath not sinned against thee, 
 but hath served thee well. Did he not take his life in 
 his hand, and slay the Philistine, the Lord working 
 great salvation for Israel by him ? Thou sawest it, and 
 didst rejoice. Wherefore then wilt thou shed innocent 
 blood, slaying David without a cause ? " 
 
 Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan his son, 
 and sware, "As the Lord liveth, David shall not be 
 slain." 
 
 Then Jonathan brought David again into the 
 presence of his father, and he abode with him ; and 
 when the Philistines came up again into the land of 
 Israel, David went out against them, and slew them 
 with a great slaughter. 
 
 But when Saul in his madness sought again to slay 
 him with the javelin that he carried in his hand, David 
 escaped by night to his own house. There the mes- 
 sengers of Saul watched him ; and Michal his wife said 
 to him, " If thou save not thy life to-night, to-morrow 
 thou wilt be slain." So that night Michal let David 
 down by a window, and he fled. But she took an 
 image,^ and laid it in the bed, and put a blanket of 
 goat's hair over it, covering it up ; and the spies of 
 Saul thought that it was David's self In the morning 
 the king sent messengers to take David, and Michal 
 said to them, " He is sick." Then he sent them again, 
 saying, " Bring us up to him that we may see him." 
 So Michal brought them up into the chamber ; and 
 behold there was an image in the bed covered with a 
 blanket of goat's hair. 
 
 Then Saul said unto Michal, " Why hast thou 
 
 deceived me thus, and caused my enemy to escape ? " 
 
 1 A teraph, a sort of household god to which a certain worehip was 
 paid, especially by women (as by Rachel, when she stole the tevaphim from 
 iier father's house), though the practice was, of course, a distinct violation of 
 the Second Commandment. 
 
THE STORY OF DA VI D 139 
 
 Michal answered Saul, " He said unto me, Let me 
 go ; why should I kill thee ? " 
 
 Thus David fled from Saul, and became an outcast 
 in the land of Israel. 
 
 \\.—%^z flDutca0t 
 
 When David was escaped from his house he fled to 
 Samuel, to Ramah, where was the school of the prophets. 
 Thither Saul sent .messengers to take him ; but when 
 the men saw the company of the prophets prophesying, 
 the Spirit of God came upon them, and they prophesied. 
 Then the king sent other messengers, and they prophe- 
 sied also ; and he sent a third time, and these also 
 prophesied. Last of all he came himself; and the 
 Spirit came upon him, and, having stripped off his 
 outer garments, he prophesied before Samuel, and lay 
 down all that day and all that night. 
 
 In the meanwhile, David fled from Ramah to the 
 king's court, to Jonathan. And he said to Jonathan, 
 " What have I done ? what is my offence ? what is my 
 sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life ? " 
 
 Jonathan answered him, " God forbid that this 
 should be. My father will not do anything either great 
 or small, but he will show it to me. It is not as thou 
 fearest." 
 
 But David said again, " Thy father certainly knoweth 
 that I have found grace in thy sight ; and he saith. 
 Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. Verily 
 there is but a step between my soul and death, for he 
 hideth his purpose from thee." 
 
 Then Jonathan said, " Whatsoever thou wilt, I will 
 do for thee." 
 
 David said to Jonathan, "To-morrow is the new 
 
HO STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at 
 meat " — for the king had invited him, making as though 
 he were reconciled — " but let me go that I may hide 
 myself for three days, till the feast be finished. If thy 
 father at all miss me, then thou shalt say, David 
 earnestly desired leave of me that he might hasten to 
 Bethlehem, where there is a yearly sacrifice of his 
 family. If thy father shall say. It is well, then shall 
 I have peace ; but if he be very wroth, then be sure 
 that he hath determined evil against me. Deal there- 
 fore kindly with me ; and if there be evil in me, slay 
 me thyself." 
 
 Jonathan answered, " If I knew that my father had 
 determined evil against thee, would I not tell thee?" 
 
 Then David said, " How wilt thou tell me ? " 
 
 Then they went out together into the open country. 
 And Jonathan said to David, " Surely I will tell thee, 
 if my father determine evil against thee. And do 
 thou show me kindness while I live ; and when I am 
 dead, cease not from showing kindness to my children 
 after me, in the days when the Lord shall cut off all 
 thine enemies from the face of the earth." 
 
 So David and Jonathan made a covenant together. 
 Then Jonathan said to David, " Hide thyself by the 
 stone Ezel. And on the third day I will come and 
 shoot three arrows by the stone, as though I shot at 
 a mark ; and I will send a lad to find the arrows. If 
 I say to him. The arrows are on this side of thee, take 
 them ; then come, for there is peace ; no harm is 
 determined against thee. But if I say. The arrows 
 are beyond thee ; then go, for the Lord doth send 
 thee away." 
 
 So David hid himself by the stone Ezel. On the 
 new moon the king sat down to the feast, and Jonathan 
 sat by the king's right hand, and Abner on the other 
 
THE STORY OF DAVID 
 
 141 
 
 side ; but David's place was empty. Nevertheless 
 Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, " Something 
 has befallen him ; he is not clean." ^ But on the morrow 
 of the new moon, when David's place was again empty, 
 Saul said to Jonathan, " Wherefore cometh not the 
 son of Jesse to the feast, either yesterday or to-day ? " 
 
 Jonathan answered, " David earnestly desired leave 
 of me that he might go to the yearly sacrifice of his 
 family at Bethlehem, that he might see his brethren. 
 Therefore he cometh not to the king's table." 
 
 Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, 
 and he said, " Thou son of the rebellious and perverse 
 woman,^ thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine 
 own confusion. Surely as long as he liveth, thou shalt 
 not be established in the kingdom. Wherefore now 
 send and fetch him, that he may die." 
 
 But Jonathan said, " Wherefore should he be slain ? 
 what evil hath he done ? " 
 
 Then Saul would have smitten him with a javelin. 
 And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger, and 
 did eat nothing on the second day of the feast, being 
 grieved for the wrong that his father did to David.* 
 
 On the morrow Jonathan went at the time appointed 
 to the place where David had hidden himself, and shot 
 the arrows as he had said. And he said to the lad, 
 " Run, find out now the arrows that I shoot." And as 
 he ran, he shot an arrow beyond him ; and when the 
 lad came to the place, he cried, "Is not the arrow be- 
 yond thee ? Make haste, speed, tarry not." So the 
 lad gathered up the arrows and returned to his master ; 
 but he knew nothing of the matter. Only David and 
 
 * Some ceremonial defilement, as from happening to touch a dead body. 
 
 2 This reviling of Jonathan's mother was, according to Eastern 
 manners, the greatest insult that his father could have put upon him. 
 
 ' More, it should be noticed, than at the insult and violence offered to 
 himself. 
 
142 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Jonathan knew. Then Jonathan gave his bow and 
 arrows to the lad, and said, "Go, carry them to the 
 city." When the lad was gone, David rose up from 
 his hiding-place,-' and bowed himself before Jonathan 
 three times to the ground. And they kissed one 
 another, and wept one with another, until David ex- 
 ceeded. Then Jonathan said to David, " Go in peace. 
 The Lord be the witness of the covenant that is between 
 me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for 
 ever." So David departed, and Jonathan went back to 
 the city to his father. 
 
 David came to Nob,^ where at this time was the 
 tabernacle and the dwelling of Ahimelech the high- 
 priest. Ahimelech was troubled at his coming, and 
 said, " Why art thou alone ? " for he had no companions, 
 but only the young men his servants. David answered, 
 " The king sent me on an errand, and commanded that 
 none should know it. What provision hast thou? 
 Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever thou hast." 
 The priest said, "There is no bread here but the 
 hallowed bread." For it was the custom that, day by 
 day, certain loaves, that were called the shewbread, 
 were put hot in the tabernacle, and those which had 
 been put there the day before were taken away and 
 given to the priests. The loaves, therefore, that had 
 just been taken from the tabernacle did Ahimelech 
 give to David and his young men. 
 
 Then David said to the priest, " Hast thou here 
 spear or sword ? for I have neither brought sword or 
 any weapons with me, because the king's business 
 required haste." 
 
 The priest said, " The sword of Goliath the Philistine, 
 
 ' It would seem that he was unwilling to go without a leave-taking. 
 The symbol of the arrows had been meant to give him the opportunity of 
 immediate escape. 
 
 ^ A city near Jerusalem. 
 
THE STOR Y OF DA VID 143 
 
 whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, wrapped in 
 his cloak, is behind the ephod. If thou wilt take that, 
 take it ; there is none other here save that." 
 
 And David said, " There is none like that ; give it 
 me." From Nob he fled into the land of the Philistines 
 to Achish, king of Gath. And when the servants of 
 Achish saw him, they said, " Is not this the champion 
 of Israel, of whom the women sang, Saul hath slain his 
 thousands, and David his ten thousands ? " And when 
 David saw that he was known, he was sore afraid of 
 what Achish might do to him. Therefore he feigned 
 himself mad. Then said the king to his servants, " Lo ! 
 ye see the man is mad. Wherefore have ye brought 
 him to me? Have I need of madmen, that ye have 
 brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence ?" 
 and he drave him away. 
 
 Then David fled to the cave of Adullam.^ Thither 
 came to him his father and his mother and his brethren ; 
 the sons also of his sister Zeruiah — Joab, and Abishai, 
 and Asahel. Many also that were in debt or had 
 received injury from Saul, resorted to him ; and certain 
 Canaanites also, and Ahithophel the Hittite. Over these 
 he became a captain ; and there were with him about 
 four hundred men. Also the prophet Gad came to him, 
 and became his seer, delivering to him the oracles of 
 God. Among them that resorted to him at this time 
 were eleven warriors of the tribe of Gad ; men of war, 
 whose faces were like the faces of lions, and who were 
 swift as roes upon the mountains. These were they 
 who swam over Jordan in the first month when he over- 
 flows all his banks, and put to flight the men of the 
 valleys. Some even of the tribe of Benjamin, fellow- 
 
 1 There seems to be some reason for believing that this cavern was 
 about two hours' journey south-east of Bethlehem, at a place now called 
 Khflrtiefln. . This is the locality fixed by monastic tradition ; but others 
 would place it nearer Bethlehem, in the region called the Sephelah. 
 
144 STOHIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 tribesmen of King Saul, joined themselves to his com- 
 pany. These were armed with bows, and could use 
 both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and 
 shooting arrows from a bow.-' But when others of 
 this same tribe came with Amasa, that was son to 
 Abigail, David's sister, David was troubled in mind, 
 and going out to meet them, said, " If ye be come 
 peaceably unto me to help me, my heart shall be one 
 with your hearts ; but if ye come to betray me to mine 
 enemies, seeing that I have done you no wrong, the 
 God of our fathers requite you for it. Then Amasa 
 answered, " We are thine, David : peace be unto thee 
 and thy helpers ; for thy God helpeth thee." Then 
 David received them, and made them captains in his 
 band. 
 
 About this time David went to Mizpeh of Moab, 
 and said to the king of Moab, " Let my father and my 
 mother, I pray thee, abide with thee, till I know what 
 God shall do for me." And they dwelt with the king 
 of Moab as long as David was in the hold. 
 
 After a while the prophet Gad said to David, 
 "Abide not in the hold." So he departed, and dwelt 
 in the forest of Hareth. While he was there, there 
 came some that told him, " Behold the Philistines fight 
 against Keilah, and rob the threshing-floors." And 
 David inquired of the Lord, " Shall I go and smite 
 these Philistines ?" And the Lord said, " Go up and 
 smite them and save Keilah." But David's men were 
 afraid. Therefore he inquired again, and the Lord 
 
 1 This peculiar skill of the Benjamite seems to have been hereditary. 
 Ehud the Benjamite (Judges iii. 15) was "left-handed." This word 
 corresponds to the Greek TrepiWfios, capable of using both hands at once, 
 as the hero Asteropaeus does in his combat with Achilles, throwing two 
 spears at the same time, and slightly wounding the hero with one of them. 
 In the civil war (Judges xx.) we read of "seven hundred chosen men left- 
 handed, every one of whom could sling stones at an hair-breadth, and not 
 miss." 
 
THE STORY OF DAVID 
 
 145 
 
 answered him as before. So David and his men went 
 to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought 
 away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. 
 And he abode in Keilah. 
 
 - While he was there, there came to him Abiathar, 
 the .son of Ahimelech the priest, with the ephod in his 
 hand. He only had escaped when Saul smote Nob, 
 the city of the priests ; for when Saul had heard how 
 Ahimelech had received David, and had given him 
 bread to eat, and also the sword of Goliath, he sent 
 Doeg the Edomite, who also had told him of the 
 matter, to slay him. So Doeg destroyed all that were 
 in Nob — man, woman, and child. Only Abiathar escaped 
 and fled to David. And David said to Abiathar, " I 
 knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, 
 that he would surely tell Saul ; I have occasioned the 
 death of all the persons of thy father's house. Abide 
 thou with me, fear not ; for he that seeketh thy life, 
 seeketh my life ; but with me thou shalt be safe." 
 
 When Saul heard that David was in Keilah, he said, 
 " God hath delivered him into my hand ; for he is shut 
 in a town that hath gates and bars." But David knew 
 that Saul intended mischief against him ; and he said to 
 Abiathar the priest, " Bring hither the ephod." ^ And 
 he asked, " Will Saul come down to Keilah ?" And 
 the Lord said, " He will come down." He asked again, 
 "Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand?" 
 And the Lord said, " They will deliver thee." Then 
 David and his men, six hundred in number, departed 
 from Keilah, and went whithersoever they could ; and 
 
 1 The ephod of the high-priest had the breastplate with the Urim and 
 Thummim attached to it. This was the garment which Abiathar had 
 carried off from the tabernacle at Nob. It was the recognised method of 
 consulting the Divine will (Exodus xxviii. 30). David accordingly appeals 
 to this in cases wherein, before Abiathar's coming, he had appealed to the 
 prophet Gad. 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 the band was scattered, but David abode in the wilder- 
 ness of Ziph that is between Hebron and Engedi. Saul 
 sought him every day, but God delivered him not into 
 his hand. 
 
 The men of Ziph sent to Saul, saying, " David hides 
 himself in our country. Come, therefore ; and our 
 
 DAVID SPARETH SAUL. 
 
 part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand." So 
 Saul went down after him, and came near to taking 
 him; for Saul was on this side of the mountain, and 
 David and his men on the other side of the mountain. 
 But there came a messenger to Saul, saying, " The 
 Philistines have invaded the land." So he left off 
 pursuing David, and went to fight against the 
 Philistines. 
 
THE STORY OF DA VID 147 
 
 After this David dwelt in strongholds of Engedi. 
 When Saul heard of it, he pursued him with three 
 thousand men. Now there was a cave wherein the 
 shepherds kept their sheep, and Saul turned into it. 
 But David and his men were in the back part of the 
 cave. David's men said to him, "Behold, the Lord 
 hath given thine enemy into thy hand ! " Then David 
 cut off the skirt of Saul's robe ; but Saul knew it not. 
 Yet David's heart smote him for having done even so 
 much; for, said he, "He is the Lord's anointed." Nor 
 would he suffer his~ men to do aught against the king. 
 But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his 
 way. 
 
 And when he was gone, David arose also, and cried 
 after him, saying, " My lord the king." And when 
 Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face 
 to the earthy Then David said to Saul, " Wherefore 
 listenest thou to those who say that David seeketh thy 
 hurt. Behold, this day thine eyes see how the Lord 
 delivered thee into my hand ; and some bade me kill 
 thee. But I spared thee ; for I said, I will not put forth 
 my hand against the Lord's anointed. See now, my 
 father, the skirt of thy robe. In that I cut off the skirt 
 of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see 
 that I have no ill purpose, and that I have not sinned 
 against thee. The Lord judge between me and thee ; 
 but my hand shall not be against thee." 
 
 Then Saul said, " Is this thy voice, my son David ? " 
 And he wept aloud. And he said to David, " Thou 
 art more righteous than I ; for thou hast rewarded me 
 good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. To-day the 
 Lord delivered me into thine hand, and thou killedst 
 me not. If a man find his enemy, will he let him go ? 
 And now, behold, I know that thou shalt be king. 
 Swear therefore to me that thou wilt not cut off my 
 
148 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 posterity after me, nor destroy my name out of my 
 father's house." 
 
 David sware this unto Saul ; and Saul returned to 
 his place. 
 
 Nevertheless he came once more pursuing David in 
 this same wilderness of Ziph. And David hid himself 
 in the wood. Then Jonathan, Saul's son, came to him 
 and encouraged him, saying, " Fear not ; for Saul my 
 father shall not find thee ; and thou shalt be king over 
 Israel, and I shall be next unto thee ; and this my 
 father knoweth." Then the two renewed their covenant 
 that they had made between them ; and David abode 
 still in the wood, but Jonathan returned to his house. 
 And these two saw each other no more after that day. 
 And when Saul had pitched his camp, he lay down to 
 sleep behind the rampart of waggons, and the people 
 lay round about him, with Abner the captain of the 
 host. Then said David to Ahimelech and Abishai, 
 " Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp ? " 
 And Abishai said, " I will go down with thee." So 
 they went down ; and behold, Saul lay sleeping. behind 
 the waggons, and his spear was stuck in the ground by 
 his bolster. Then Abishai said to David, " God hath 
 delivered thine enemy into thine hand. Let me now 
 smite him with the spear into the earth ; I will not 
 smite him a second time." But David said to Abishai, 
 " Destroy him not ; for who can stretch forth his hand 
 against the Lord's anointed, and be guiltless ? The 
 Lord shall smite him ; or his day will come to die ; 
 or he shall descend into the battle and perish ; but 
 God forbid that I should stretch my hand against him." 
 Then he took the spear and the cruse of water from 
 Saul's bolster. After this the two got them away ; and 
 no man saw it or knew it, for a deep sleep from the 
 Lord had fallen upon them all. 
 
THE STOR Y OF DA VID 149 
 
 Then David went on the other side of the valley, 
 and cried to Abner, the captain of the host, " Answerest 
 thou not, Abner ? " 
 
 Abner said, " Who art thou that criest to the 
 king ? " 
 
 And David said to Abner, " Art thou not a valiant 
 man? who is like thee in Israel? wherefore then hast 
 thou not kept thy lord the king ? For there came one 
 of the people to destroy the king ; and ye are worthy 
 to die, because ye have not kept your master, the 
 Lord's anointed. For see now where the king's spear 
 is, and the cruse of water that was at his bolster." 
 
 Saul knew David's voice, and said, " Is this thy 
 voice, my son David ? " He answered, " It is my 
 voice, my lord, O king. Wherefore dost thou pursue 
 after thy servant ? for what have I done ? " 
 
 Saul said to David, " I have sinned ; return, my son 
 David ; for I will do thee no more harm, because my 
 life was precious in thine eyes this day. Behold, I have 
 played the fool, and erred exceedingly." 
 
 David said, " Behold the king's spear ;. let one of the 
 . young men come over and fetch it. The Lord render 
 to every man according to his righteousness. Behold, 
 as thy life was precious in mine eyes this day, so may 
 my life be precious in the eyes of the Lord, and let him 
 deliver me out of all tribulation." 
 
 Then Saul said to David, " Blessed be thou, my son 
 David ! Thou shalt do great things, and shalt prevail." 
 So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his 
 place. Neither did these two meet any more. 
 
 Now there dwelt in the south of Carmel a certain 
 rich man whose name was Nabal, of the house of Caleb.^ 
 He had very great flocks — three thousand sheep and a 
 
 1 Possibly this means of a surly temper, a man like a dog, the word 
 Caleb meaning "dog." 
 
I50 S TO HIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 thousand goats. A churlish man he was, and evil in 
 his doings ; but his wife, Abigail by name, was a wise 
 woman, and of a beautiful countenance. While Nabal 
 was shearing his sheep, David sent to him ten young men 
 with this message," Peace be to thee, and to thy house, and 
 to all that is thine. We have not hurt thy shepherds 
 when they were near to us ; neither was there ought miss- 
 ing all the time that they were in Carmel. Ask thy 
 servants whether it be not so. And now, seeing that 
 this is a time of rejoicing with thee, give whatsoever 
 Cometh to thy hand to thy servants, and to thy son 
 David." The young men came to Nabal and spake 
 thus. But Nabal answered, " Who is David ? who is 
 the son of Jesse ? These are slaves that have run away 
 from their master ; for there be many such nowadays. 
 Shall I take my bread, and my water, and the sheep 
 that I have killed for my shearers, and give them unto 
 men of whom I know not whence they be ? " So the 
 messengers came back and told these words to David ; 
 and David said to his men, " Gird ye on every man his 
 sword." And, they did so. And David said, " Surely 
 in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the 
 wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that per- 
 tained to him ; for now he hath returned evil for good. 
 God do so and more also, to all the enemies of David, 
 if I leave him aught remaining by to-morrow's light ! " 
 And he went up with four hundred men after him ; but 
 two hundred abode with the baggage. 
 
 Meanwhile the servants of Nabal went to his wife 
 Abigail and told her, saying, " David sent messengers 
 out of the wilderness to salute our master, and he railed 
 on them. Now the men were very good to us, neither 
 missed we anything, as long as we were in their com- 
 pany. They were as a wall to us by day and by night, 
 so long as we stayed in the wilderness. Consider, there- 
 
THE ST0R7 OF DAVID 
 
 151 
 
 fore, what thou will do ; for there is evil determined 
 against this household." 
 
 Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred 
 loaves, and two skins of wine, and a hundred clusters 
 of raisins, and a hundred cakes of figs. These she 
 laid upon asses, and on another ass she rode herself, 
 
 ABIGAIL MEETETH DAVID. 
 
 and said to her men, " Go on before with the present, 
 but tell not the thing to Nabal." And as she went, 
 she met David and his men. And when she saw him, 
 she hasted, and lighted down from her ass, and fell upon 
 her face, and said, " Let this offence be upon me, my 
 lord. Hearken now to the words of thy handmaid. 
 Regard not this man Nabal ; for as is his name.^ so is 
 
 1 The word Naba,l means "fool." 
 
152 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 he. But I thine handmaid did not see the young men 
 who came to him. But let this present which thine 
 handmaid hath brought be for the young men -that 
 follow thee ; and forgive our trespass, for Jehovah will 
 make of my lord a sure house, because my lord fighteth 
 Flis battles. And it shall be when He shall have done 
 to my lord according to all that He hath said, and shall 
 have made thee ruler over Israel, that thou shalt have 
 ho trouble in thine heart, either that thou hast shed 
 blood without a cause, or hast avenged thine own self" 
 
 Then David said to Abigail, " Blessed be the Lord 
 God of Israel, who hath sent thee this day to meet me ; 
 and blessed be thou, who hast kept me from shedding 
 blood, and from avenging myself with my own hand. 
 For in very deed, except thou hadst hasted and come 
 to meet me, I had not left aught alive to Nabal by the 
 morning light." 
 
 So David received of her hand the present which she 
 had brought, and said to her, " Go to thy house in peace ; 
 behold I have accepted thy request." 
 
 So Abigail returned to Nabal her husband ; and, 
 behold, he held a great feast, as the feast of a king ; and 
 his heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken. 
 Therefore she told him nothing, good or bad, till the 
 morning light. But the next day, when the wine was 
 gone out of him, she told him all, both the danger in 
 which he had been, and the present that she had given 
 to David. And when he heard it, his heart died within 
 him, and he became as a stone. And on the tenth 
 day he died. 
 
 After these things Abigail became David's wife. 
 Now Michal, daughter of Saul, that had been married 
 to him before, had been taken from him, and had been 
 given to another. 
 
 It came, to pass that as Saul pursued hard after 
 
THE STORY OF DA VW 153 
 
 David, David said in his heart, " I shall now perish one 
 day by the hand of Saul ; there is nothing better for 
 me than I should escape into the land of the Philistines ; 
 and Saul shall not seek me any more in the borders of 
 Israel." So he took the six hundred men that were 
 with him, and fled to Achish, the king of Gath. And 
 Achish gave him the town of Ziklag in which to dwell. 
 
 David deceived Achish, making pretence that he 
 invaded the land of Israel, while in truth he had invaded 
 the land of the Amalekites, and of the other tribes that 
 dwelt thereabouts. Achish therefore said, " He hath 
 made his own people utterly to abhor him ; therefore 
 will he be my servant for ever." 
 
 After these things there arose war between Israel 
 and the Philistines. And Achish said to David, " Thou 
 shalt go with me to battle, thou and thy men." And 
 David answered craftily, " Consider in what place thou 
 wilt put me ; " for neither would he fight against his 
 own people, nor would he give offence to the king. 
 And the king said, " Thou shalt be captain of my 
 bodyguards." 
 
 Then the Philistines gathered together all their 
 armies to Aphek, and the men of Israel pitched their 
 camp by a fountain that was in Jezreel. And David and 
 his men were in the rearward of the army with Achish 
 the king. Then said the princes of the Philistines, 
 "What do these Hebrews here ? " Achish answered, " Is 
 not this David, whom Saul his master would have slain ? 
 He hath been with me many days, yea years, and I 
 have found no fault in him since he came to me to this 
 day." But the princes said, "Make this fellow go 
 back to the place which thou hast given him to dwell 
 in, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest he 
 turn against us in the battle. How could he better 
 reconcile himself to his master than with our lives ? 
 
IS4 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 For is not this David of whom they sang one to another 
 in dances — 
 
 " Saul slew his thousands, 
 And David his ten thousands ? " 
 
 Then Achish called David, and said unto him, " As 
 the Lord liveth, I have found thee upright ; no evil 
 have I seen in thee since the day of thy coming unto 
 this day. Nevertheless the princes love thee not. 
 Wherefore now go back to thy place in peace, that thou 
 displease not the princes." 
 
 David answered, " What evil hast thou found in me 
 that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my 
 lord the king ? " 
 
 Achish said, " Thou art good in my sight even as an 
 angel of God. Nevertheless the princes of the Philis- 
 tines have said, He shall not go with us to the battle. 
 Therefore rise up early in the morning with thy men, 
 and so soon as ye have light, depart." 
 
 So David and his men returned to the land of the 
 Philistines, and on the third day they came to Ziklag 
 where they dwelt. And lo, the Amalekites had come 
 up out of the south country,'- and had smitten Ziklag, 
 and had burned it with fire. The women they had 
 carried away captives ; they had slain none, but had 
 taken all and gone their way. And when David and 
 his men came to the city, lo, it was wasted with fire ; 
 and their wives and children had been carried away 
 captives. Then they wept till they had no more power 
 to weep. And the people were very wroth with David 
 because he had provoked the Amalekites,^ and because 
 he had left the town without defence. And they would 
 have stoned him ; therefore was he sorely distressed. 
 So David said to Abiathar the priest, " Bring hither 
 1 The Negeb. a See p. 153. 
 
THE STORY OF DA VW 
 
 ISS 
 
 the ephod." And David inquired of the Lord by the 
 ephod, " Shall I pursue after these robbers ? shall I 
 overtake them?" And He answered, "Pursue after 
 them, for without doubt thou shalt overtake them, and 
 shalt recover all." So David pursued after them, he and 
 his six hundred men with him. But when they came 
 to the brook Besor, two hundred men were so faint that 
 they could go no farther, and they abode by the brook. 
 But David, with the four hundred, pursued after the 
 Amalekites. And they found an Egyptian on the way 
 and brought him to David. The man was nigh to 
 death, so they gave him bread to eat and water to 
 drink, also a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters 
 of raisins they gave him, and the man's spirit revived 
 within him ; for he had eaten no bread and drunk no 
 water for three days and three nights. David asked 
 him, " To whom belongest thou ? and whence art thou ?" 
 The man .said, " I am of Egypt, and am servant to an 
 Amalekite, and three days since my master left me, 
 because I fell sick. We made a raid on the borders of 
 Judah, and burned Ziklag with fire." And David said 
 to him, " Canst thou guide me to this company ?" And 
 he said, " Swear to me by God that thou wilt neither 
 kill me nor deliver me to my master, and I will guide 
 thee to this company." So he guided him ; and lo ! 
 they were spread over all the country, eating and drinking 
 and dancing, because of the great spoil which they had 
 taken out of the borders of the Philistines and out of 
 the land of Judah. At twilight did David come upon 
 them, and he smote them all that night even until the 
 evening of the next day. There escaped not a man of 
 them, save four hundred young men that rode upon 
 camels. And David recovered all that the Amalekites 
 had carried away. He rescued his two wives also ; and 
 there was nothing lacking, to his men, whether small or 
 
156 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 great ; they recovered all, whether it was sons, or 
 daughters, or spoil. Also they took the flocks and 
 herds of the Amalekites ; these were put by themselves, 
 and were counted as David's portion. 
 
 As they returned, the men that had tarried behind 
 for faintness at the brook Besor came out to meet them ; 
 and David saluted them. Then said certain evil-minded 
 men that were of his company, " Because they went not 
 with us, we will not give them aught of the spoil that we 
 have recovered. None shall have aught save his own 
 wife and children. Let them take these away and 
 depart." But David said, "We shall not do so with 
 that which the Lord hath given us ; for it is He that 
 hath rescued us, and delivered the company that came 
 against us into our hands. It shall not be so. He 
 that stayeth with the stuff shall have an equal share 
 with him that goeth down to the battle." 
 
 And this was made a statute and an ordinance in 
 Israel for ever from that day. 
 
 Also David took of the spoil, and sent to all the 
 people of the places which he and his men were wont 
 to haunt. 
 
 Two days did David abide in Ziklag after he had 
 returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites. And 
 on the third day there came a man out of the camp of 
 Saul; for Saul had encamped on Mount Gilboa, and 
 had done battle there with the Philistines. 'And the 
 man had his clothes rent, and earth upon his head. 
 And when he came to David, he fell to the earth 
 and did obeisance. And David asked him, " Whence 
 comest thou ? " The man said, " Out of the camp of 
 Israel have I escaped." And David said, " How went 
 the matter ? I pray thee tell me." He answered, " The 
 people fled before the Philistines, and many are dead ; 
 Saul also is dead, and Jonathan his son." Then David 
 
THE STORY OF DAVID 
 
 157 
 
 said to the young man, " How knowest thou that Saul 
 and Jonathan his son are dead ?" The young man 
 said, " I chanced to be upon Mount Gilboa ; and I saw 
 Saul, and he would fain have slain himself with his 
 spear,^ and the chariots and horsemen of the Philistines 
 were close upon him. And he looked behind him, and 
 saw me, and called me. And when I came, he asked 
 me, Who art thou ? And I answered, I am an 
 Amalekite. And he said unto me again. Stand upon 
 me and slay me ; for I am in great anguish, because I 
 cannot die. So I stood upon him and slew him ; for 
 I knew that he could not live. And I took the 
 crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that 
 was upon his arm, and have brought them unto my 
 lord."= 
 
 Then David rent his clothes ; and so also did all the 
 men that were with him. And they mourned, and wept, 
 and fasted until evening, for Saul, and for Jonathan his 
 son, and for all the people of the Lord, because they 
 were fallen by the sword. 
 
 But David called the young man and said to him, 
 "Who art thou?" He said, "I am an Amalekite." 
 Then David said, " How wast thou not afraid to raise 
 thy hand against the Lord's anointed ?" And he 
 bade one of the young men slay him. So the man 
 smote him that he died. And David said to him, " Thy 
 
 ^ This is the meaning of the words "Saul leaned upon his spear." 
 The account of the historian himself is that "he fell upon his sword." 
 
 ^ It is doubtful whether the story told by the Amalekite was true. 
 The discrepancy on the point of the weapon used is but slight ; but it 
 seems that the historian supposed Saul to have slain himself, for he follows 
 it up with an account of the death of his armour-bearer in these words : 
 "When his armour-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon 
 his sword, and died with him." It is very likely that the Amalekite found 
 the two lying dead together, and, removing the royal ornaments from the 
 corpse of Saul, pretended that he had given him the finishing stroke. 
 Having no notion of David's real feelings and character, he would natur- 
 ally imagine that the act would be a recommendation. 
 
158 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 blood be on thine own head, for thou hast testified 
 against thyself, saying, I have slain the Lord's anointed." 
 
 And David lamented over Saul and Jonathan his 
 son with this lamentation : — 
 " The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places : 
 
 How are the mighty fallen ! 
 
 Tell it not in Gath, 
 
 Publish it not in the streets of Askelon, 
 
 Lest the daughters of the Philistine rejoice. 
 
 Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. 
 
 Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, 
 
 Neither let there be rain upon you ; 
 
 For there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away, 
 
 The shield of Saul, the anointed of the Lord. 
 
 From the blood of the slain. 
 
 From the fat of the mighty. 
 
 The bow of Jonathan turned not back, 
 
 And the sword of Saul returned not empty. 
 
 Jonathan and Saul 
 
 Were lovely and pleasant in their lives. 
 
 And in their deaths they were not divided : 
 
 They were swifter than eagles, 
 
 They were stronger than lions. 
 
 Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, 
 
 Who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights. 
 
 Who put on ornaments of gold on your apparel. 
 
 How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle ! 
 
 Jonathan, thou wast slain. 
 
 1 am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan : 
 Very pleasant hast thou been unto me : 
 
 Thy love to me was wonderful. 
 
 Passing the love of women. 
 
 How are the mighty fallen, 
 
 And the weapons of war perished ! " ' 
 
 ' In the A.V. we have, "Also he bade them teach the children of 
 
THE STORY OF DA VI D 159 
 
 It came to pass when Saul and his sons had fallen 
 on Mount Gilboa, and the army of Israel was destroyed, 
 that those who dwelt in the plains of Jezreel and by 
 the borders of Jordan fled from their cities, and the 
 Philistines came and dwelt in them. Then the men, 
 seeing that they wanted a leader, arose and anointed 
 David to be their king ; and when David inquired of 
 the Lord in which of the cities of Judah he should set 
 up his kingdom, the Lord said that he should set it up 
 in Hebron. But Abner, that was captain of Saul's 
 host, took Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, and made him 
 king over the rest of Israel ; and Ishbosheth reigned in 
 Mahanaim that is on the other side of Jordan eastward. 
 
 After a while Abner went out with a company of 
 men from Mahanaim to Gibeon in the land of Benjamin, 
 for he would have the son of Saul dwell in the midst 
 
 . Judah the use of the bow." This can hardly be correct. Probably the 
 meaning is that this lamentation was called the " Song of the Bow " (from 
 Jonathan's bow as mentioned in v. 22, where it is put before the "sword 
 of Saul " as being the greater of the two), and that it was a regular custom 
 that it should be learnt by heart. 
 
 Note. — It may be as well to put together what we are told about 
 the remains of Saul and his sons. When the body of Saul was found by 
 the Philistines it was stripped of the armour. The head was cut off and 
 fastened on the wall of the temple of Dagon, probably in Ashdod. The 
 armour was hung in the temple of Astarte (Ashtaroth), in Beth-shan, and 
 the bodies of the king and his sons nailed up on the wall of the public square 
 in that town — a place originally belonging to the tribe of Manasseh, but 
 at that time, it would seem, in the hands of the Philistines. The inhabit- 
 ants of Jabesh in Gilead, remembering how the dead king had at the very 
 beginning of his reign rescued them from the Ammonites, crossed the 
 Jordan, and entering Beth-shan by night, stole therefrom the bodies of the 
 dead. These they carried back to Jabesh and burnt, burying the bones 
 (left by the fire) under the great tamarisk-tree of the town, and keeping a 
 fast for seven days. Nearly thirty years afterwards they were removed 
 and buried in the ancestral sepulchre of ICish at Zelah in the region of the 
 tribe of Benjamin. 
 
i6o STOJiISS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 of his father's tribe ; and Joab, the son of Zeruiah, went 
 out against him with the servants of David. These 
 two met by the pool in Gibeon, and encamped, the one 
 on the one side of the pool and the other on the other 
 side of the pool. Then Abner said to Joab, " Let us 
 choose champions from our companies, and let them 
 fight together before us." So they chose champions 
 from each company — twelve of the tribe of Benjamin, 
 which followed Saul, and twelve of the servants of 
 David. And the twelve fought against the twelve. 
 They caught every one his fellow by the head, and 
 thrust his sword into his fellow's side ; so they all died 
 together. Wherefore that place was called in after 
 time, the Field of the Sharp Swords, because the 
 victory had fallen neither to these champions nor to 
 those. After this, there was a very sore battle; and 
 Abner and the men of Israel fled before the servants 
 of David. 
 
 Now there was a certain Asahel, brother to Joab, 
 captain of David's host ; and he was fleet of foot as a 
 wild roe. This Asahel pursued after Abner, turning 
 neither to the right hand nor to the left. Then 
 Abner looked behind him, and said, "Art thou Asahel?" 
 He said, " I am." Then Abner said, " Turn to the right 
 hand or to the left, and fight with some other, and take 
 his spoil." For he was loath to fight with Asahel, 
 seeing that he was David's kinsman. But Asaliel would 
 not. Then Abner said again, " Turn thee aside from 
 following me. Wherefore should I smite thee ? How, 
 if I smite thee, can I hold up my face to Joab thy 
 brother?" But Asahel refused to turn aside. Then 
 Abner, willing to spare him, smote him with the hinder 
 end of the spear ; but the spear pierced him so that he 
 died.^ 
 
 1 Probably, as he was running fast, he impaled himself upon it. 
 
THE STORY OF DAVID i6i 
 
 After this, Abner gathered the men of Benjamin 
 together on the top of a certain hill. And when Joab 
 came near, Abner called to him, saying, " Shall the 
 sword devour for ever ? Knowest thou not that such 
 doings will cause bitterness in the end ? How long 
 shall it be before thou bid the people cease from 
 following their brethren ? " Joab said, " Hadst thou 
 not spoken, the people had not ceased from following 
 them till the morning." Then he blew a trumpet, and 
 the people stood still, neither fought they any more. 
 There fell that day of the servants of David nineteen 
 men and Asahel ; but of the men of Benjamin there 
 died three hundred and threescore. 
 
 After this there was again war between the house 
 of David and the house of Saul ; and David waxed 
 stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed 
 weaker and weaker. And it came to pass that Abner 
 was wroth with Ishbosheth, and said to him, "Dost thou 
 forget what kindness I have showed to thee and to thy 
 father's house? So God do to Abner, and more also, 
 unless I do for David that which the Lord hath sworn 
 to him — to translate the kingdom from the house of 
 Saul, and to set up the throne of David over Israel and 
 over Judah, from Dan even unto Beersheba."^ But 
 Ishbosheth answered him not a word, because he 
 feared him. 
 
 Then Abner sent messengers to David, saying, 
 " Make a league with me, and I will help thee to bring 
 all Israel to thee." David answered, '' I will make a 
 league with thee ; but one thing I first require. Thou 
 shalt not see my face unless thou bring Michal the 
 daughter of Saul." So David sent messengers to 
 Ishbosheth, saying, " Deliver me my wife Michal." 
 
 1 Thfit is, from the extreme north, where the Danites had made a settle- 
 ment, to the extreme south, on the borders of the Negeb or south country. 
 
 M 
 
i62 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 And Ishbosheth sent and took her from Phaltiel her 
 husband. But Phaltiel went weeping behind her to 
 Bahurim in the land of Benjamin. Then said Abner 
 to him, " Go, return." And he returned. 
 
 After this Abner spake to the men of Israel, " Ye 
 sought for David in time past to be king over you. 
 Now then make him king; for the Lord hath spoken of 
 David, saying. By the hand of My servant David will I 
 save My people Israel out of the hand of the Philis- 
 tines, and out of the hand of all their enemies." Abner 
 spake also in like manner to the men of Benjamin ; and 
 when he had so done he went up to Hebron to tell to 
 David what seemed good to Israel and Benjamin. 
 So he came to Hebron, and twenty men with him, and 
 David made him a great feast. And Abner said to 
 David, " I will gather all Israel unto my lord the 
 king, that he may reign over them." So he departed 
 in peace. 
 
 Now Joab had gone out pursuing a troop of robbers, 
 and when he returned they told him, saying, "Abner 
 came to the king, and he has departed in peace." Joab 
 said to David, " What hast thou done ? Why hast thou 
 sent Abner away ? Dost thou not know that he came 
 to deceive thee and to spy out thy ways ? " And he 
 sent messengers after Abner, and they found him resting 
 by a well, and brought him back to Hebron. But 
 David knew nothing of the matter. And when Abner 
 was returned, Joab took him aside in the gate, as if to 
 speak peaceably with him, and smote him so that he 
 died. And this he did for Asahel his brother's sake, 
 whom Abner slew.^ 
 
 When David heard it, he said, " I and my kingdom 
 are guiltless before the Lord for ever of the blood of 
 
 1 Probably this w.is the pretext ; but the real reason was his fear lest 
 Abner should supplant him in the confidence of the king. 
 
THE STORY OF DA VID 163 
 
 Abner. Let it rest on the head of Joab, and on all 
 his father's house." And he said to Joab, and to all the 
 people, " Rend your clothes, and gird 'you with sack- 
 cloth, and mourn for Abner." And he himself followed 
 the bier. They buried Abner in Hebron, and the king 
 lifted up his voice, and wept at the grave of Abner, and 
 all the people wept. And the king lamented over him, 
 saying, " Hath Abner died as some fool dieth ? Thy 
 hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters ; 
 yet wast thou slain ; as a man is slain by children of 
 iniquity, so didst thou fall." 
 
 And all the people wept again over him. And 
 when the people would have had the king eat meal: 
 while it was day, he sware, saying, " So God do to me, 
 and more also, if I taste bread or-aught else, till the 
 sun be down." And all the people tool? notice of it, and 
 it pleased them ; as whatsoever the king did pleased 
 all the people, for they understood that day that it was 
 not of the king that Abner was slain. 
 
 Moreover the king said to his servants, " Know ye 
 not that there is a prince and a great man fallen in 
 Israel ? And I am this day weak, though I be anointed 
 king. These sons of Zeruiah are. too strong for me. 
 But the Lord shall punish the doer of evil according to 
 his wickedness." 
 
 When Ishbosheth heard that Abner was dead he 
 was greatly troubled, and all Israel with him. Now 
 Saul had two captains of bands, men of Beeroth, which 
 is a city of Gibeon. These men came to the house of 
 Ishbosheth ; and they went in with certain men that 
 fetched wheat out of the store, and found Ishbosheth 
 resting on his bed at noon. So they smote him, and 
 cut off his head, and brought it unto David to Hebron, 
 and said to the king, " Behold the head of Ishbosheth 
 the son of Saul, the enemy that sought thy life. Thus 
 
i64 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 hath Jehovah avenged my lord the king this day of 
 Saul, and of his house." 
 
 But David said, "When one told me, saying, Saul 
 is dead, thinking to have brought good tidings, I took him 
 and slew him in Ziklag ; and he looked to have received 
 a reward for his tidings. How much more when wicked 
 men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon 
 his bed ? Shall I not require his blood of your hand, 
 and take you away from the earth ? " So David com- 
 manded his young men, and they slew them. And 
 when they were dead they cut off their hands and their 
 feet, and hanged them up over the pool in Hebron, to 
 the intent that men should not do evil deeds or walk 
 in evil ways. And the head of Ishbosheth they buried 
 in the sepulchre of Abner. 
 
 Then came all the tribes of Israel to David in Judah, 
 saying, " Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. In 
 time past, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he 
 that leddest out Israel and broughtest them back. And 
 the Lord said to thee. Thou shalt feed My people 
 Israel, and be a captain over Israel." 
 
 Then David the king made a covenant with them 
 in Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed him king 
 over Israel. And after he was anointed they abode 
 with David three days eating and drinking, for their 
 brethren that dwelt near to the city had prepared a 
 great store of good things for them ; bringing food on 
 asses and camels and mules and oxen, even meal, and 
 cakes of figs, and bunches of raisins, and wine, and oil, 
 and oxen, and sheep abundantly ; for there was joy in 
 Israel. 
 
 Thirty years old was David when he began to reign. 
 For seven years and six months he reigned in Hebron 
 over Judah, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and 
 three years over all Israel and Judah. 
 
THE STORY OF DA VID 163 
 
 When David had been anointed king over all Israel, 
 he went up to Jerusalem, he and all the men of war 
 with, him, that he might set up his throne therein, for 
 Jerusalem belonged as yet to the children of Jebus.^ 
 Now the citadel, which was called Mount Zion, was so 
 strong that the Jebusites laughed David to scorn, putting 
 the maim and the blind to man the walls. And David 
 was wroth, and said, "Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites 
 shall be captain of the host." Then Joab, the son of 
 Zeruiah, climbed up first and smote the garrison, and 
 David made him captain of the host. 
 
 When Hiram, king of Tyre, heard how David had 
 taken the stronghold of the children of Jebus, he sent 
 an embassy to him. Also he sent cedar trees from 
 Lebanon, and carpenters and masons, that they might 
 build a palace for the king. 
 
 Now the Philistines had heard that David had been 
 anointed king over Israel, and they came up against 
 him with their whole host. David therefore went down 
 to the stronghold that was by the cave of AduUam, and 
 there abode with his men of war ; and the Philistines 
 spread themselves in the valley of the giants.^ And 
 David inquired of the Lord, " Shall I go up against 
 
 1 Jerusalem had been taken shortly after the death of Joshua by the 
 united forces of the tribes of Judah and Simeon. The inhabitants of the 
 district were defeated in a battle at Bezek, and their chieftain Adoni- 
 bezek taken prisoner. The city was then taken and burnt ; but the citadel 
 was so strong that it could not be stormed. The lower city was afterwards 
 abandoned by the Israelites, for in Judges xix. (a narrative that belongs to 
 a somewhat later time) it is spoken of as being "the city of a stranger that 
 is not of the children of Israel." The tribe of Benjamin seems to have 
 .made a. similar attempt a little later, but with no more result. "The 
 children of Benjamin could not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited 
 Jerusalem ; but the Jebusites dwelt with the children of Benjamin in 
 Jerusalem unto this day." (This possibly means, not that the city was 
 jointly occupied, but that the Jebusites retained their settlement within the 
 borders of Benjamin.) It is not mentioned again in the narrative till its 
 capture by David. 
 
 2 Rephaim. It is among the hills to the west of Jerusalem. 
 
i66 
 
 STOJi/ES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 the Philistines ? " And the Lord said, " Go up ; for I 
 will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thy hand." 
 So David went up, and smote them ; and he called the 
 name of the place where he smote them " The Land of 
 the Breaking-forth," " because the Lord," he said, "has 
 broken forth upon mine enemies, even as waters break 
 forth." For so suddenly had they fled that they left 
 
 THE WATER OF HETHLEHliM. 
 
 behind them the images of their gods, and these David 
 and his men burned with fire, 
 
 Nevertheless the Philistines came up against him 
 yet another time, and pitched their camp, as before, in 
 the valley of the giants ; and they set a garrison in 
 Bethlehem, that was David's city. And while they 
 were there, David longed, and said, "Oh that one 
 would give me drink of the water of the well of 
 
THE STORY OF DA VID 167 
 
 Bethlehem, which is by the gate of the tower ! " There- 
 upon three mighty men broke through the host of the 
 PhiHstines and drew water out of the well that was by 
 the gate of Bethlehem, and brought it to David. And 
 these three were Abishai, Benaiah, and another.'^ Never- 
 theless David would not drink the water, but poured 
 it out to the Lord, saying, " Be it far from me, O Lord, 
 that I should do this ; is not this water the blood of 
 these men that went in jeopardy of their lives?" 
 
 After this David inquired again of the Lord, " Shall 
 I go up against the Philistines ? " And the Lord said, 
 " Thou shalt not go up straight against them ; thou 
 shalt go round about by the way of the balsam trees. 
 And when thou shalt hear the sound as of a host 
 marching in the tops of the trees,- then thou shalt fall 
 upon them suddenly." This David did, and smote them 
 from Gibeon, as far as the way that goeth to Gezer.^ 
 
 Not long after David and his men went down into 
 the land of the Philistines, and fought against them. 
 And David waxed faint in the battle ; and one Ishbi- 
 benob, who was of the sons of the giants, whose spear 
 head weighed three hundred shekels, thought to have 
 slain him ; but Abishai succoured him, and slew the 
 Philistine. Then the men of David sware to him, 
 saying, " Thou shalt no more go out with us to battle, 
 lest thou quench the light of Israel." Three times 
 more did the men of Israel fight with the Philistines 
 in their land, and each time did one of David's mighty 
 men slay one of the sons of the giant. 
 
 1 Of Benaiah it is recorded that he slew "two lionUite men of 
 Moab," " an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high " (7 ft. 
 6 in.), and also "a lion in a pit in a snowy day." The lion had taken 
 up its abode, it would seem, in a dry cistern. The name of the third of 
 the three heroes is not mentioned. 
 
 2 Gezer was between Lower Beth-horon and the sea, and was therefore 
 on the road to the country of the Philistines. 
 
1 68 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 When David had rest from his wars, he went, and 
 the chosen men of Israel with him, to fetch the ark 
 from Kirjathjearim,^ where it had been since the time 
 when it was sent back by the Philistines, and he 
 brought it to Jerusalem with great gladness. He and 
 all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord 
 
 THE BRINGING BACK OF THE ARK. 
 
 with shouting and with the sound of a trumpet. After 
 this he said to Nathan the prophet, " See now, I dwell 
 m a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth in a 
 tent. Shall I build a house for it?" And Nathan 
 said, '■ Go, do all that is in thine heart, for the Lord is 
 with thee." 
 
 _ But the next day Nathan came again to David and 
 said, " The Lord appeared to me in a vision of the 
 
 ' City of Forests. 
 
THE STORY OF DAVID 169 
 
 night, and said, Go, tell My servant David, Thus saith 
 the Lord, Shalt thou build Me a house to dwell in ? 
 Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time 
 that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, 
 but have dwelt in a tent. Spake I in time past to any 
 of the tribes from whom I have taken rulers from my 
 people, saying. Why build ye Me not a house of cedar ? 
 Thee have I taken from the sheep-cotes to be ruler over 
 My people, and I have been with thee whithersoever 
 thou wentest, and have cut off thine enemies before 
 thee, and made thee a great name, like unto the name 
 of the great men that are in the earth. And to My 
 people Israel I have given a place that they may dwell 
 in a land of their own, and be moved no more ; neither 
 shall they be afHicted as they were afflicted beforetime 
 in the days of the judges. Nevertheless thou shalt not 
 build Me an house ; but when thou shalt sleep with thy 
 fathers, then thy son that shall reign after thee shall 
 build Me an house, and I will establish the throne of 
 his kingdom." 
 
 Then David went into the Tabernacle of the Lord 
 and said, " Who am I, O Lord, that Thou hast brought 
 me to this honour ? And now, as if this was a small 
 thing. Thou hast promised that the kingdom shall be 
 established in my house. Let it be therefore as 
 Thou hast said, and let the house of Thy servant be 
 blessed with Thy blessing for ever." 
 
 , These are the wars that David had with the nations 
 round about. He took Gath and her towns from 
 the Philistines, and made the Moabites tributary to 
 him. And when Hadadezer, king of Zobah,^ came up 
 against Israel, he smote him, and took from him a 
 thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen, and 
 twenty thousand footmen. All the horses that he took 
 1 Zobah was between Damascus and the Euphrates. 
 
170 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 did David hough, save such as sufficed for a hundred 
 chariots. And the shields of gold that the men of 
 Hadadezer wore David took, and brought them to 
 Jerusalem. And when the Syrians of Damascus came 
 up to succour the king of Zobah, David slew of them 
 two and twenty thousand ; and he put garrisons in 
 their cities, and they became tributaries unto him. 
 
 When the king of'Hamath^ heard how David had 
 smitten the host of Hadadezer he sent Hadoram, his 
 son, to salute him (for Hadadezer had wars with the 
 king of Hamath) with a present of vessels of gold and 
 of silver and of brass. 
 
 Also David fought against the Edomites. Twelve 
 thousand did he slay in the Valley of Salt ; and he 
 set up a monument of his victory. And the Edomites 
 became tributary unto him. So the Lord preserved 
 David whithersoever he went. And David reigned 
 over all Israel, and executed judgment and justice unto 
 all his people. 
 
 When David was at rest from his wars, he said, 
 " Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that 
 I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake ? " Now 
 there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name 
 was Ziba, and they brought him to David, and when 
 David asked him concerning the house of Saul, he said, 
 " Jonathan hath yet a son who is lame in the feet." 
 So David sent and fetched him. And when he came 
 unto David, he fell on his face, and did him reverence. 
 And David said, " Mephibosheth." And he answered, 
 " Behold thy servant." Then David said, " Fear not ; 
 I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy 
 father's sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul 
 
 1 Hamath was a city in Upper Syria, in the valley of the Orontes. It 
 was subdued by Sennacherib. "Where is the king of Hamath?" (Isa. 
 xxxvii. 17). 
 
THE STORY OF DAVID 171 
 
 thy father's father ; and thou shalt eat bread at my 
 table Gontinually." Then Mephibosheth bowed him- 
 self before the king, and said, " What is thy servant, 
 that thou shouldest look on such a dead dog as I am ?" 
 The king called Ziba and said, " I have given unto 
 thy master's son all that pertained to Saul. Now 
 therefore thou and thy sons and thy servants shall 
 till the lands, and shall pay of their produce to 
 Mephibosheth." And Ziba said, "According to all 
 that my lord the king hath commanded, so will thy 
 servant do." 
 
 It came to pass after this that Nahash, king of the 
 children of Ammon, died, and Hanun, his son, reigned 
 in his stead. Then said David, " I will show kindness 
 unto Hanun, the son of Nahash, even as his father 
 showed kindness unto me." So David sent messengers 
 to comfort him. Butt the princes of Ammon said to 
 Hanun, "Thinkest thou that David hath sent his 
 messengers to do honour to thy father ? Rather hath 
 he sent them to spy out thy city." Then Hanun took 
 David's servants and cut off half their beards, and cut 
 short their garments. Therefore David was wroth with 
 the children of Ammon, and came up against them ; 
 and the children of Ammon hired soldiers from the 
 Syrians, and from Maacah, and from Tob.^ The 
 children of Ammon set themselves in array on the hill 
 near to the gates of Rabbah, their city, and the Syrians 
 stood upon the plain. 
 
 Now Joab was the captain of the host of Israel; 
 and when he saw that the Ammonites and Syrians 
 stood facing each other, and that should he go against 
 the one, then the other would be behind him, he 
 divided his army into two parts. The choicest men 
 he took for himself, and put them in array against the 
 1 Maacah and Tob were two Aramite kingdoms near Gilead. 
 
172 STOaiES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Syrians ; and the rest of the people he delivered into 
 the hand of Abishai, his brother, that he might put 
 them in array against the children of Ammon. And 
 he said, "If the Syrians be too strong for me, then 
 shalt thou help me ; but if the children of Ammon be 
 too strong for thee, then I will come and help thee. 
 Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our 
 people, and for the cities of our God ; and let the Lord 
 do what seemeth good to Him." 
 
 Joab and his men drew nigh to the Syrians and 
 fought against, them, and they fled before him. And 
 when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians 
 fled, they also fled before Abishai, and entered into 
 their city. And Joab came back to Jerusalem ; but 
 David went up with all the people against the Syrians, 
 and smote them, taking seven hundred chariots and 
 forty thousand horsemen, and slaying the captain of 
 their host. After that the Syrians feared to help the 
 children of. Ammon any more. 
 
 In the next year, at the time when kings go forth 
 to battle, David sent Joab and the host against the 
 city of Rabbah, but he himself tarried in Jerusalem. 
 And being there he sinned a great sin, for he took 
 Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, and caused 
 that Uriah, her husband, should be slain. The way of 
 his doing it was this. 
 
 He wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand 
 of Uriah, for Uriah had come to Jerusalem, saying, " Set 
 ye Uriah where the battle is hottest, and retire from him, 
 that he may be smitten and die." Then Joab assigned 
 to Uriah a place where valiant men of the city were. 
 These made a sally from the city, and the men of Israel 
 fled before them, and Uriah was left alone, and was 
 slain. Then Joab sent a messenger to David to tell 
 him of that which had happened ; and he said to the 
 
THE STORY OF DAVID 173 
 
 messenger, "If the king's wrath arise, so that he say 
 to thee, Why went ye so near to the city ? knew ye 
 not that they would shoot from the walls ? Did not a 
 woman cast a piece of millstone from the wall of Thebez 
 upon Abimelech, so that he died ? Then shalt thou 
 say, Thy servant Uriah, the Hittite, is dead also." 
 The messenger went and showed David all that Joab 
 had sent him for. And David said unto the messenger, 
 " Say unto Joab, Let not this thing trouble thee, for the 
 sword devoureth one as well as another ; make thy 
 battle strong against the city, and overthrow it." 
 
 When Uriah's wife had mourned for her husband 
 seven days, David took her to be his wife, and she bare 
 him a son. But the thing that David had done dis- 
 pleased the Lord. 
 
 Therefore the Lord sent Nathan the prophet unto 
 David. And he came and said, " Give me thy judgment 
 in this matter. There were two men in one city ; the one 
 rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many 
 flocks and herds ; but the poor man had nothing, save 
 one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished 
 up ; and it grew up in the house with him, and with his 
 children. It did eat of his own bread, and drank of 
 his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him 
 as a daughter. And there came a traveller unto the 
 rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and 
 of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that 
 had come unto him ; but took the poor man's lamb, 
 and dressed it for the man that was come unto him." 
 
 And David's anger was greatly kindled against the 
 man ; and he said to Nathan, " As the Lord liveth, the 
 man that hath done this thing is worthy to die. He 
 shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this 
 thing, and because he had no pity." 
 
 Then Nathan said to David, " Thou art the man. 
 
174 STOJilES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Thus saith the Lord, I anointed thee to be king over 
 Israel, and gave thee all that was Saul thy master's. 
 And if this had been too little, I would have given thee 
 more. Wherefore, then, hast thou despised the com- 
 mandment of the Lord, and taken the wife of Uriah to 
 be thy wife, and slain him with the sword of the 
 children of Ammon ? Now therefore the sword shall 
 never depart from thy house." 
 
 Then David said unto Nathan, "I have sinned 
 against the Lord." 
 
 And Nathan said to David, " The Lord hath put 
 away thy sin ; thou shalt not die. Nevertheless, be- 
 cause by this deed thou hast given to the enemies of 
 the Lord great occasion to blaspheme, the child that 
 has been born unto thee shall surely die." And Nathan 
 departed to his house. 
 
 After this the child that Uriah's wife had borne to 
 David was very sick. And David besought God for 
 the child, and fasted, and went to his chamber, and lay 
 all night upon the ground. And when the elders of 
 his house would have raised him up from the earth, he 
 refused ; neither would he eat bread. On the seventh 
 day the child died. The servants of David feared to 
 tell him that the child was dead ; for they said, 
 "Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto 
 him, and he would not hearken unto our voice ; what 
 hurt will he do to himself if we tell him that the child 
 is dead?" 
 
 But when David saw that his servants whispered 
 together, he perceived that the child was dead. Then 
 he said to his servants, " Is the child dead ?" And 
 they said, " He is dead." Thereupon David arose from 
 the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and 
 changed his apparel, and came into the house of the 
 Lord, and worshipped. Then said his sei-vants unto 
 
THE STOR Y OF DA VID 175 
 
 him, " What thing is this that thou hast done ? Thou 
 didst fast and weep for the child while it was alive ; but 
 when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread?" 
 And he said, " While the child was yet alive, I fasted 
 and wept : for I said, Who can tell whether God will 
 be gracious to me, that the child may live ? But now 
 he is dead, wherefore should I fast ? Can I bring him 
 back again ? I shall go to him, but he shall not return 
 to me." 
 
 After this David's wife Bathsheba bare him another 
 son ; and David called his name Solomon ; and the 
 Lord loved him, and sent by Nathan the prophet that 
 he should have also the name Jedidiah, which is by in- 
 terpretation. Beloved of the Lord. 
 
 Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah, and took 
 it. And he sent to David, saying, " I have fought 
 against Rabbah, and have taken the Lower City.^ 
 Now gather the rest of the people together, and encamp 
 against the Upper City, and take it ; lest I take it, and 
 the glory of its taking be mine." 
 
 So David went up against Rabbah, and took it. 
 The crown that was upon the head of Milcom their 
 god he took and set on his own head ;^ and the people 
 he put to death with fire and sword. 
 
 Now the army of David was ordered in this fashion. 
 First there was the band of the Six Hundred that 
 were called "The Mighty Men."^ These had been 
 with him when he wandered in the wilderness ; and 
 when one died, another was chosen into his place. The 
 Six Hundred were in three bands, and each band again 
 was in ten companies ; and for each band was there a 
 chief, and for each company a leader. The chiefs of 
 
 1 Called the City of Water. 
 
 2 Of course as a formal act. It was too heavy to wear, for it weighed 
 "a talent of gold," — that is, at the least, eighty pounds. 
 
 3 Gibborin. 
 
176 STOJilES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 the bands were the Three, and the leaders of the com- 
 panies the Thirty. But the captain of the Six Hun- 
 dred was Abishai, the brother of Joab. 
 
 Second there was the Body-guard, that was called 
 the Cherethites and Pelethites. Their captain was 
 Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada. 
 
 Third there was the Host, to which every man of 
 the children of Israel was called, being grown to man- 
 hood, nor yet disabled by age. And this host was 
 divided into twelve parts, for each month one, and the 
 number of a part was four and twenty thousand. The 
 leaders of the parts were from the Body-guard or the 
 Six Hundred ; and the captain of the host was Joab. 
 
 It came to pass, when David was growing old, that 
 there arose a great quarrel between two of his sons, 
 namely, Amnon, his eldest born, and Absalom,^ for 
 Absalom hated Amnon, not without cause. After 
 a while Absalom had a shearing of sheep in the land 
 of Ephraim, and he made a petition to the king that he 
 and his servants should come to it. But David said, 
 " Nay, my son, let us not all now go, lest we put thee 
 to a heavy charge." And though Absalom pressed 
 him, he would not go, but he blessed him. Then said 
 Absalom, " If thou wilt not go, let my brother Amnon 
 go with us." David said, " Why should he go ? " But 
 Absalom pressed so that he let Amnon go and all 
 his sons. 
 
 Now Absalom commanded his servants, " Mark ye 
 now when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and 
 when I say unto you. Smite Amnon, then kill him, and 
 fear not." 
 
 And Absalom's servants did so. Then the king's 
 
 1 Amnon was the son of Ahinoam of Jezreel, Absalom of Maachah, 
 daughter of the king of Geshiiv. 
 
THE STORY OF DAVID 177 
 
 sons arose, and every man gat him up upon his mule, 
 and fled. 
 
 But there came tidings to David, " Absalom hath 
 slain all the king's sons ; there is not one left." Then 
 the king arose, and tare his garments, and lay upon the 
 earth ; and all his servants stood by, with their clothes 
 rent. 
 
 Then Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, being a wise 
 man, said, " Let not my lord suppose that they have 
 slain all the young men the king's sons. Amnon only 
 is dead. For Absalom had determined to slay him." 
 And while he spake the young man that stood on the 
 watch-tower lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, 
 there came much people by the hillside. And Jonadab 
 said, " Behold, the king's sons come ; as thy servant 
 said, so it is." 
 
 But Absalom fled to Geshur, to Talmai, his mother's 
 father. 
 
 After a while David was comforted for the death of 
 his son Amnon ; and he longed to see Absalom again ; 
 and would have called him back, but that all his household 
 and his servants were against him in this matter. But 
 when Joab perceived how the king's heart was inclined, 
 he devised means for strengthening him in his purpose ; 
 for he sent for a wise woman of Tekoah, and put into 
 her mouth certain words that she should say to the 
 king. So the woman came to the king, and fell on her 
 face to the ground, and said, " Save me, O king." 
 And the king said, " What aileth thee ? " So she said,. 
 "I am a widow woman. I had two sons, and they 
 strove together in the field, and there was none to part 
 them, and the one smote the other that he died. Now, 
 therefore, the whole family is risen against thy hand- 
 maid, saying, Deliver him that smote his brother, that 
 we may kill him for the life of his brother. So will 
 
 N 
 
178 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 they quench the one coal that is left to me, and shall 
 not leave to my husband either name or remainder 
 upon earth." 
 
 Then the king said, " Go to thine house, and I will 
 give charge concerning thee." 
 
 The woman answered, " If there be iniquity in this 
 matter, because the blood of the dead is not avenged, 
 let it be on me and my father's house ; and the king and 
 his throne be guiltless." 
 
 And the king said, " Whosoever saith ought to thee, 
 bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more." 
 
 The woman spake again, " I adjure thee by the Lord 
 thy God, O king, that thou suffer not the avengers of 
 blood to slay my son." 
 
 Then the king said, " As the Lord liveth, there shall 
 not fall one hair of thy son to the earth." 
 
 Whereupon she said, " If this be so, why hast thou 
 thought to do such a thing against the people of 
 Jehovah ? Surely thou hast thus condemned thyself 
 for that thou dost not fetch home thy banished ; for we 
 must needs die, and are as water spilt upon the ground, 
 which cannot be gathered up again. But God does 
 not punish the sinner with death, but deviseth means 
 by which He may recall His banished unto Him." 
 
 Then the king perceived that the matter was not of 
 the woman's own devising ; and he said, " Is not the 
 hand of Joab with thee in all this?" 
 
 The woman answered, "The king speaketh that 
 which is true. Thy servant Joab put all these words 
 in my mouth. Surely my lord is wise, even as an 
 angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth." 
 
 The king sent for Joab and said, " Let the young man 
 come back to his house, but let him not see my face." 
 
 So Joab went, and fetched Absalom from Geshur, 
 and Absalom returned to his house. 
 
THE STORY OF DAVID 179 
 
 Now in all Israel there was not one to be praised 
 so much for his beauty as Absalom. From the sole of 
 his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish 
 in him. His hair, which he cut every year, for it was 
 heavy upon him, was twenty shekels in weight.^ 
 
 For two years Absalom dwelt in Jerusalem, and saw 
 not the king's face. Therefore he sent for Joab, that 
 Joab might . bring him unto the king. Twice he sent 
 for him, but Joab would not come. Then Absalom 
 bade his servant set fire to a field of barley that was 
 Joab's, and was near to his own. And they set the 
 field on fire. Then Joab came to Absalom, and said, 
 " Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire ? " 
 Absalom said, " Because thou wouldest not come to me. 
 Wherefore am I come from Geshur? It had been 
 good for me to abide there. Let me now therefore see 
 the king's face, and if I have done wrong, let him 
 kill me." 
 
 So Joab brought Absalom before the king, and 
 Absalom bowed himself on his face to the ground before 
 the king, and the king kissed him. 
 
 After these things Absalom thought to make himself 
 king in the room of his father David. First he prepared 
 for himself chariots and horses and fifty men to run before 
 him. Also he rose up early, and stood in the way that 
 led to the gate of the city ; and when any man brought 
 a cause to the king for judgment, Absalom called him, 
 and said, " Of what city art thou ? " And the man 
 would answer, " Thy servant is of such or such a tribe." 
 Then Absalom said, " Thy cause is good and right ; but 
 there is no man deputed of the king- to hear thee." 
 Further he said, " Oh that I were made judge in the land, 
 
 1 I have altered the two hundred of the text into twenty. The former 
 weight is equivalent to 6 lbs., a quite impossible amount. The tenth part 
 of it would be large, but not incredible. 
 
l8o STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 that every man that had any suit or cause might come 
 unto me, and I would do him justice ! " Furthermore, 
 when any man came nigh to him to do obeisance to 
 him, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed 
 him. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. 
 
 After four ^ years he sent to the king, " I pray thee, 
 let me go and fulfil my vow which I have vowed unto 
 the Lord in Hebron. For thy servant vowed a vow 
 when I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If the Lord 
 shall indeed bring me again to Jerusalem, then will I 
 serve the Lord." 
 
 The king said, " Go in peace." 
 
 Now Absalom had sent men secretly throughout 
 all the tribes of Israel, who should cry, when they heard 
 the sound of the trumpet, "Absalom reigneth in Hebron.'' 
 So Absalom arose and went to Hebron, and two hun- 
 dred men with him, that went as guests to his feast. 
 They went in their simplicity, and knew not anything ^ 
 of the matter. Also he sent for Ahithophel, David's 
 counsellor. Now Ahithophel was grandfather to Bath- 
 sheba, that had been wife to Uriah the Hittite, whom 
 David had slain ; and he bare ill-will to David for this 
 matter. 
 
 Then came a messenger to David, saying, "The 
 hearts of the men of Israel are gone after Absalom." 
 Then David said unto his servants that were with him 
 at Jerusalem, « Arise, let us flee ; for we shall not else 
 escape from Absalom ; make speed to depart, lest he 
 overtake us suddenly, and bring evil upon us, and 
 smite the city with the edge of the sword." ^ 
 
 > "Forty" in the text, a clearly impossible number. 
 
 2 Very likely these were kept as hostages. 
 
 3 David was unwilling that Jerusalem should have to undergo the 
 horror of a civil war. We may compare the motives which Cicero declares 
 to have actuated him in going into exile without attempting an appeal to 
 the large party which favoured his policy. 
 
THE STOR V OF DA VID i8i 
 
 The king's servants said unto him, "Behold thy 
 servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king 
 shall appoint." 
 
 So the king went forth, and all the people after 
 him ; and he abode that night in a house that was 
 called the Far House.^ The Six Hundred also went 
 with him under Ittai the Gittite. Then said the king 
 to Ittai, " Wherefore goest thou also with us ? return to 
 thy place, and serve the new king. Thou art but a 
 stranger here, and earnest but yesterday. Why then 
 should I make thee go with me when I am driven 
 forth ? Return thou, and take thy brethren with thee. 
 Mercy and truth be with thee ! " 
 
 Ittai answered the king, and said, "As the Lord 
 liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what 
 place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or 
 life, there shall thy servant be.'' 
 
 Then David said to Ittai, " Pass over Kidron,'' and 
 he passed over with his men. And all the country 
 wept with a loud voice, as the king passed over the 
 brook, going the way of the wilderness. 
 
 And lo ! Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites 
 that were with them, came bearing the ark of the 
 covenant. But David said, " Carry the ark back into 
 the city. If I find favour in the eyes of the Lord, He 
 will bring me back again, and I shall see both it and 
 my own house. But if He say, I have no delight in 
 thee, then lo ! I am here. Let Him do as it seemeth 
 good to Him." 
 
 Then David went up the Mount of Olives. Barefoot 
 he was, and he had his head covered ; and all the 
 people that were with him had their heads covered, and 
 they also wept sore. And it was told David, " Ahith- 
 ophel is among them that are conspirators with 
 
 1 Probably a house where the road to Jericho crosses the Kidron. 
 
i82 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Absalom." And David said, "O Lord God, I pray 
 Thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness." 
 And when he was come to the high place on the top 
 of the mount, Hushai the Architd came to him with 
 his coat rent and dust upon his head. David said 
 unto him, " If thou passest on with me, thou wilt be a 
 burden unto me ; but if thou wilt return to the city, 
 and wilt say to Absalom, As I have been thy father's 
 servant hitherto, so will I be now thy servant, then 
 thou mayest defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel. 
 Lo ! Zadok and Abiathar the priests are with thee 
 there. Therefore whatsoever thou shalt hear in the 
 king's house, tell it to the priests ; and they shall send 
 it unto me by their two sons, Ahimaaz and Jonathan." 
 
 So Hushai returned to Jerusalem ; and Absalom 
 came into Jerusalem. 
 
 When David was now a little past the top of the 
 hill, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, met him, with 
 two asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves 
 of bread, and an hundred bunches of raisins, and an 
 hundred cakes of figs and dates, and a skin of wine. 
 And the king said to Ziba, " What meanest thou by 
 these ? " And Ziba said, " The asses be for the king's 
 servants to ride on ; and the bread and the fruit for the 
 young men to eat ; and the wine, that such as shall be 
 faint in the wilderness may drink." 
 
 And the king said, " Where is thy master's grand- 
 son ? " 
 
 Ziba said unto him, " Behold ! he abideth at Jeru- 
 salem, for he said. To-day shall the house of Israel 
 restore me the kingdom of my father." 
 
 Then David said to Ziba, "Thine be all that is 
 Mephibosheth's." 
 
 Ziba answered, " I humbly beseech that I may find 
 grace in thy sight, my lord, O king." 
 
THE STORY OF DAVID 183 
 
 As David went on by the border of Benjamin, one 
 Shimei, that was of the house of Saul, came forth out 
 of his house, cursing as he came. And he cast stones 
 at David, and at his servants ; the people and the Six 
 Hundred being on his right hand and his left. And 
 Shimei said, " Get thee out, thou man of blood, thou son 
 of Belial ! The Lord hath returned upon thee all the 
 blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou 
 hast reigned ; and hath delivered the kingdom into 
 the hands of Absalom, thy son. Behold, thou art 
 taken in thine own evil, because thou art a man of 
 blood." 
 
 Then said Abishai unto the king, "Why should 
 this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go 
 over the valley and take his head." 
 
 But David answered, " Let him curse, because the 
 Lord hath bidden him curse. Behold, Absalom, my 
 own son, seeketh my life ; how much more may this 
 Benjamite do it ? Let him alone, and let him curse, 
 for the Lord hath bidden him. It may be that the 
 Lord will look upon my affliction, and requite me good 
 for his cursing this day." 
 
 And as David went by the way, Shimei went along 
 by the hillside over against him, and cursed as he went, 
 and threw stones, and cast dust. And the king and 
 all the people came to the inn that is called Weary, and 
 refreshed themselves. 
 
 When Absalom and the men of Israel and Ahith- 
 ophel were come into Jerusalem, Hushai, David's friend, 
 came to Absalom and said, " God save the king ! God 
 save the king ! " 
 
 And Absalom said to Hushai Is this thy kindness to 
 thy friend ? Why wentest thou not with thy friend ? " 
 
 Hushai said to Absalom, " Nay ; but whom the 
 Lord, and this people, and all the men of Israel choose, 
 
i84 STOHIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 his will I be, and with him will I abide. Also, as I 
 have served thy father, so will I serve thee." 
 
 Absalom asked Ahithophel for his counsel. Now 
 the counsel of Ahithophel in those days was esteemed 
 as the oracle of God ; by both David and Absalom 
 was it so esteemed. Ahithophel therefore said, " Let 
 me choose out now twelve thousand men, and I will 
 arise and pursue David this night ; and I will come 
 upon him when he is weary and weak, and take him 
 by surprise. All the people that are with him will flee, 
 and I will smite the king only, and will bring back the 
 people to thee. If we slay David, then wilt thou have 
 thy wish, and the people shall be in peace." 
 
 This counsel pleased Absalom well, and all the 
 elders of Israel. Nevertheless Absalom said, " Call 
 now Hushai, and let us hear likewise what he saith." 
 
 So Hushai came, and when Absalom told him what 
 Ahithophel had counselled, he said, " The counsel of 
 Ahithophel is not good at this time. Thou knowest 
 that thy father and his men are mighty men, and that they 
 are full of wrath, even as a bear that hath been robbed 
 of her whelps. Also thy father is a man of war from 
 his youth. He will not lodge with his people, that 
 thou canst take him by surprise. He is hid now in 
 some pit or in one of the strongholds of the land. 
 There will be a fight for his life, and some of our people 
 will be slain, so that men will say, There is a slaughter 
 among the people that follow Absalom. Then will the 
 heart even of the valiant man, whose heart is as the 
 heart of a lion, melt utterly, for all Israel knoweth that 
 thy father is a mighty man, and that they who are 
 with him are valiant men. Therefore my counsel is 
 this : Gather all Israel together from Dan to Beer- 
 sheba, till the host be as the sand that is by the sea 
 for multitude; and go also to battle in thine own 
 
THE STORY OF DA VI D 185 
 
 person. We shall come upon him in his hiding-place, 
 and overwhelm him, even as the dew covereth the 
 ground ; and of him and of all that are with him 
 there shall not be left so much as one. Moreover, if 
 he be gotten into a city, then shall Israel bring ropes 
 unto that city, and we will draw it into the river, 
 until there be not one small stone found there." 
 
 Then Absalom and all the elders said, " The counsel 
 of Hushai is better than the counsel of Ahithophel." 
 For the Lord had commanded that the good counsel of 
 Ahithophel should be defeated, that He might bring 
 evil upon Absalom. 
 
 Hushai told the whole matter to Zadok and Abia- 
 thar the priests, and said unto them, " Send now to 
 David, and warn him that he tarry not in the wilder- 
 ness this night, but pass speedily over Jordan, lest he 
 and the people that are with him be destroyed." For 
 he feared even yet that the counsel of Ahithophel 
 might be followed. 
 
 Now Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, and Ahimaaz, 
 the son of Zadok, stayed by the Fuller's Fountain that 
 is outside the city ; for they might not be seen to 
 come into the city. And a maid-servant from the 
 priests' house went and told them, and they went 
 to tell it to David. Nevertheless a lad saw them, and 
 told Absalom. The young men went in haste, and 
 came to a man's house in Bahurim, where there was a 
 well in the courtyard. And because they knew that 
 they were pursued,^ they went down into the well. 
 Then the woman of the house spread the curtain of 
 the door over the mouth of the well, and on this she 
 put peeled barley, as if she would dry it in the sun. 
 
 1 Probably their pursuers were on horseback, while they were certainly 
 on foot. Catching sight of the riders, they would find it necessary to hide 
 themselves. 
 
i86 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 But no one knew of the matter save the woman only. 
 When Absalom's servants came up they found the 
 woman in the house ; and they said to her, " Where 
 are Jonathan and Ahimaaz ? " She said, " They are 
 gone over the brook." So the servants of Absalom 
 departed. When they were gone Jonathan and Ahi- 
 maaz came up out of the well, and went and told all 
 the matter to David. 
 
 Then David and all the people that were with him 
 passed quickly over Jordan. By the morning light 
 there was not one that had not passed over. 
 
 But when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not 
 followed, he saddled his ass, and gat him to Giloh, his 
 own city, and put his household in order, and hanged 
 himself 
 
 David came to Mahanaim, and pitched his camp 
 there ; ^ and Absalom and the men of Israel passed 
 over Jordan, and pitched in Gilead. 
 
 When David was come to Mahanaim, Shobi the 
 Ammonite,^ and Machir who had brought up Mephi- 
 bosheth, and Barzillai the Gileadite, brought beds, and 
 basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and 
 flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentils, and 
 honey, and butter, and sheep, and kine, for David and 
 for the people that were with him in the wilderness, 
 for they said, " The people are hungry, and weary, and 
 thirsty in the wilderness." 
 
 Then David mustered the people that were with 
 him, and set over them captains of thousands and 
 captains of hundreds. A third part he gave to Joab, 
 and a third part to Abishai, and a third part to Ittai. 
 And he said to the people, " I will surely go forth with 
 
 1 Mahanaim had been the capital of Ishbosheth's kingdom. Both 
 armies were now on the east side of Jordan. 
 
 2 Possibly Shobi had been appointed governor of the Ammonites after 
 the subjugation of theiv country. 
 
THE STORY OF DA VID 187 
 
 you myself also." But the people answered, " Thou 
 shalt not go forth. If we flee, none will care ; no, nor 
 if the half of us be slain. There are ten thousand like 
 to us, but not one like thee. Therefore let it be thy 
 part to succour us out of the city." 
 
 Then the king said, "What seemeth to you best 
 that will I do." 
 
 And he stood by the gate side, and all the people 
 went out by their hundreds and their thousands. And 
 the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, 
 " Deal gently with the young man Absalom for my 
 sake." And all the people heard him when he thus 
 spake. So the people went out into the field against 
 the men of Israel,^ and the two hosts met in a place 
 that was called the wood of Ephraim.^ And Israel 
 fled before the servants of David, and there was a great 
 slaughter, for the battle was scattered over all the face 
 of the country, and more were lost in the wood than 
 fell by the sword. 
 
 Absalom, as he fled, came upon the servants of 
 David. Now he was riding on the king's mule, and as 
 he rode he went under the boughs of a great terebinth 
 tree, and his hair was caught in the boughs, so that he 
 hanged between heaven and earth ; and the mule went 
 away from under him. And a certain man saw it, and 
 went and told Joab, " I saw Absalom hanging in a 
 terebinth tree." 
 
 Joab said unto the man, " Didst thou see him and 
 not smite him there to the ground ? I would have 
 given thee ten shekels ^ of silver and a girdle." 
 
 The man said, " Though I should receive a thousand 
 
 ' It was practically a war between Judah and Israel. 
 
 2 This, of course, could not have been the great forest which was part 
 of the inheritance of the tribe of Ephraim (Joshua xvii. 15-18), but a wood 
 so called from some circumstance unknown to us. 
 
 ' About five ounces of silver. 
 
i88 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 shekels of silver, yet would I not put forth my hand 
 against the king's son ; for in our hearing the king 
 charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Beware 
 that none touch the young man Absalom. Verily I 
 should have contrived mischief against myself; for 
 nothing is hid from the king, and thou thyself wouldest 
 have set thyself against me." 
 
 Joab answered, " I may not lose time in talking with 
 thee." And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust 
 them into Absalom while he hung yet alive in the tree ; 
 and the young men that bare Joab's armour made an 
 end of him. 
 
 After this Joab blew the trumpet, and called back 
 the people from pursuing after Israel. But Absalom 
 they took, and cast into a great pit in the wood, and 
 piled a great heap of stones over him. 
 
 Now Absalom in his lifetime had reared a pillar for 
 himself in the King's Vale near to Hebron ; for he said, 
 " I have no son to keep my name alive ;"^ and he called 
 the pillar after his own name. 
 
 Then said Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, " Let me now 
 run, and bear tidings to the king, how the Lord hath 
 avenged him of his enemies." 
 
 Joab said, " Thou shalt not bear tidings this day, 
 because the king's son is dead." But he said to a slave 
 that he had, " Run thou and tell the king what thou 
 hast seen."^ So the man bowed himself and ran. 
 
 After which Ahimaaz said again to Joab, " Let me 
 run after thy messenger." 
 
 Joab answered, " Why wouldst thou run, seeing that 
 thou hast nothing more to tell ?" Nevertheless, when 
 he urged him, he let him run. 
 
 1 Me is spoken of before as having three sons. Doubtless they died 
 in infancy. 
 
 '^ I-Ie preferred (hat the bad tidings should not be taken by one who 
 was in favour with David. 
 
THE STORY OF DA VID 189 
 
 Now the slave ran by way of the hills, and Ahimaaz 
 by the way of the valley of Jordan ;^ and Ahimaaz 
 overran the slave. 
 
 The king sat between the two gates ; and the 
 watchman that was on the roof above the gates saw a 
 man running, and told the king. The king said, " If 
 he be alone, he bringeth tidings." And he came apace, 
 and drew near. Then the watchman saw another man 
 running, and he called the porter and said, " Behold 
 another man running alone." And the king said, "He 
 also bringeth tidings." 
 
 The watchman said, " The running of the first is as 
 the running of Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok." 
 
 The king answered, " He is a good man, and cometh 
 with good tidings." 
 
 Then Ahimaaz called unto the king, and said, " All 
 is well." And he fell to the earth on his face before 
 the king, and said, " Blessed be the Lord thy God, 
 which hath held them back that lifted up their hand 
 against my lord the king!" 
 
 And the king said, " Is the young man Absalom 
 safe?" Ahimaaz answered, "When Joab sent thy ser- 
 vant, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not the cause." 
 So the king said, " Turn aside and stand here." So he 
 turned aside and stood still. Then came that other 
 and said, " Tidings, my lord the king ; for the Lord 
 hath avenged thee this day of all that rose up against 
 thee." 
 
 And the king said to the man, " Is the young man 
 Absalom safe ?" 
 
 The man said, " The enemies of my lord the king, 
 and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that 
 young man is." 
 
 And the king was much moved, and went up to the 
 1 The narrow depression through which the Jordan flows. 
 
igo STOIilES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 chamber over the gate and wept ; and as he wept he said, 
 " O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom ! would 
 God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son !'■ 
 It was told Joab, saying, "Behold, the kingweepeth 
 and mourneth for Absalom." And the joy that day 
 was turned into mourning for all the people ; for the 
 people heard say how the king was grieved for his 
 son; and the people gat them by stealth that day into 
 the city, as people being ashamed steal away when 
 they flee in battle. But the king covered his face, 
 and cried with a loud voice, " O my son Absalom, O 
 Absalom, my son, my son !" 
 
 Then Joab came into the house, and said, "Thou 
 hast shamed this day the faces of thy servants, who 
 have saved thee this day, and thy wives and thy sons 
 and thy daughters. For thou lovest thine enemies and 
 hatest thy friends. Surely thou hast declared this day 
 that thou regardest not either princes or servants ; for 
 I perceive that if Absalom had lived, and all we had 
 died, then it had pleased thee well. Now therefore 
 go forth from thy house, and speak kindly to thy 
 servants, for I swear by the Lord, that if thou go not 
 forth, there will not tai-ry one with thee this night ; 
 and that will be worse for thee than all the evil that 
 hath befallen thee from thy youth until now." 
 
 So the king arose, and sat in the gate ; and when 
 it was told that the king sat in the gate, all the people 
 came before him; but the followers of Absalom had 
 fled to their own homes. 
 
 After this David spake to Zadok and Abiathar, 
 " Say to the elders of Judah, Why are ye the last to 
 bring the king back, now that all Israel hath come to 
 him, seeing that ye are of his kindred ? And say to 
 Amasa, Thou shalt be captain of the host before me 
 continually in the room of Joab." 
 
THE STORY OF DA VID 191 
 
 These words bowed the hearts of the men of Judah 
 as the heart of one man. And they sent to the king, 
 saying, " Return." So the king returned and came down 
 to Jordan, and the men of Judah came down to Gilgal 
 to meet the king and conduct him over Jordan. 
 
 Also Shimei, that had cursed the king, came, and a 
 thousand men of Benjamin with him. Ziba also came 
 up with his fifteen sons and twenty servants. And 
 Shimei said, " Let not the king remember what I did 
 perversely on the day when my lord went out of Jeru- 
 salem. I know that I have sinned ; therefore I am 
 come the first of all the tribes to meet my lord the 
 king." 
 
 But Abishai said, " Shall not Shimei be put to 
 death, seeing he has cursed the Lord's anointed ?" 
 
 David answered, "Ye are too hard for me, ye sons 
 of Zeruiah. There shall no man be put to death this 
 day in Israel,- for am I not assured this day that I am 
 king over Israel ?" 
 
 So the king said to Shimei, " Thou shalt not die." 
 And the king confirmed his promise by an oath. 
 
 Now Barzillai the Gileadite, being one of them who 
 nourished the king and his servants when they lay in 
 Mahanaim, came down from his place, to go over 
 Jordan with the king. Now Barzillai was a very age'd 
 man, being fourscore years old, and he was very rich. 
 The king said unto him, " Come over with me, and I 
 will feed thee with me at Jerusalem." 
 
 But Barzillai answered, " How long have I to live, 
 that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem ? I am 
 this day fourscore years old, and can I discern between 
 good and evil ? Can I taste what I eat or what I 
 drink ? - Can I hear any more the voice of singing men 
 and singing women ? Wherefore should I be a burden 
 to my lord the king? I will go a little way over 
 
192 STOHIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Jordan with my lord ; and why should the king re- 
 compense it with so great a reward? Let me turn 
 back again, I pray thee, that I may die in my own 
 city, and be buried by the grave of my father and my 
 mother. But behold thy servant Chimham, my son. 
 Let him go over with my lord ; and do to him what 
 shall seem good unto thee." 
 
 And the king answered, " Chimham shall go over 
 with me, and I will do to him as shall seem good to 
 me. And whatsoever thou shalt require of me, that 
 will I do." 
 
 So Chimham went over with the king, and when 
 they had crossed over Jordan the king kissed Barzillai, 
 and blessed him ; and Barzillai returned to his own 
 place.^ 
 
 When he was come to Jerusalem Mephibosheth 
 met him. He had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed 
 his beard, nor washed his clothes from the day the 
 king departed until the day when he came again in 
 peace. The king said unto him, " Why wentest thou 
 not with us, Mephibosheth ? " 
 
 He answered, " My lord, my servant deceived me. 
 I said to him. Saddle me my ass that I may ride thereon, 
 for I am lame. But he did it not, but went unto the 
 king, and slandered me unto him. But do that which 
 is good in thine eyes, for my lord the king is as an angel 
 of God. For all my father's house were but as dead 
 men before thee ; yet didst thou set me among them 
 that did eat at thine own table. What right have I, 
 therefore, to cry any more unto the king ? " 
 
 The king said, " Why speakest thou any more of thy 
 matters ? I have said. Thou and Ziba divide the land." 
 
 1 Chimham appears to have settled in Bethlehem ; for we hear, five 
 centuries after this time, of a house at that place called the House of 
 Chimham (Jer. xli. 17). 
 
THE STOR Y OF DA VID 193 
 
 But Mephibosheth said, " Yea, let him take all, so 
 that my lord the king is come again in peace unto his 
 own house." 
 
 Now the men of Judah and half the men of Israel 
 were with the king as he returned to Jerusalem. Then 
 came the rest and said, " Why have our brethren, the 
 men of Judah, stolen thee away, and brought thee over 
 Jordan without our knowing ? " 
 
 The men of Judah answered, " Because the king is 
 near of kin to us. Wherefore then are ye angry with 
 us for this matter ? Have we eaten at all at the king's 
 cost ? Hath he given us any gift ? " 
 
 The men of Israel said again, " We have ten parts 
 in the king, and the greater right in him than you. 
 Wherefore then did ye put this slight on us, that our 
 advice was not first had in bringing back our king ? " 
 
 But the words of the men of Judah were fiercer 
 than the words of the men of Israel. 
 
 Now there was a certain evil man, whose name was 
 Sheba, a Benjamite. He blew a trumpet and said, 
 " We have no part in David, neither have we inherit- 
 ance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his house, O 
 Israel." So the men of Israel left following David 
 and went after Sheba, but the men of Judah clave unto 
 their king. Then David said to Amasa, " Gather me 
 the men of Judah within three days, and be thou present 
 thyself." And Amasa went, but he tarried beyond the 
 time. 
 
 Then said David to Abishai, " Now shall Sheba do 
 us more harm than did Absalom. Take thou my 
 servants and pursue him, lest he get into some fenced 
 city, and escape us." 
 
 So Abishai went out with Joab's men, and with the 
 Six Hundred, to pursue after Sheba. 
 
 When they were by the great stone at Gibeon, 
 o 
 
194 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab had on him 
 his soldier's cloak, and beneath it his sword hanging 
 from the belt ; and as he went to greet Amasa, the 
 sword chanced to fall from its sheath. Then Joab 
 picked it from the ground with his left hand, and with 
 his right hand he took hold of Amasa's beard to kiss 
 him, saying, " Art thou in health, my brother ? " But 
 Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's 
 left hand. Then Joab smote him unawares with the 
 sword under the fifth rib, nor needed to smite him 
 again,^ for he fell dead. And Joab and Abishai pur- 
 sued after Sheba. Then one oiF Joab's servants cried, 
 " He that is for David, let him follow after Joab ; " 
 and when he saw that all the people tarried where 
 they saw Amasa lying in his blood in the midst of the 
 highway, he took him from the highway into the field, 
 and cast a cloth over him. After this all the people 
 followed Joab. 
 
 Now Sheba had shut himself up in Abel-Beth- 
 Maachah ; ^ and Joab besieged the city, and cast up a 
 bank against it hard by the wall ; and all the people 
 that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it 
 down. 
 
 Then cried a wise woman from the wall of the city 
 to Joab, " Come near, I pray thee, that I may speak 
 with thee." So he came near. 
 
 Then the woman said, " Art thou Joab ? " 
 
 And he said, " I am." 
 
 She said again, " Hear the words of thine hand- 
 maid." 
 
 He answered, " I hear." 
 
 Then she spake, saying, " They were wont to say 
 
 1 A proof of Joab's strength and dexterity that so deadly a blow should 
 have been delivered with the left hand. 
 
 2 The House of Maachah, 
 
THE STOR V OF DA VID 195 
 
 in old time, Let us ask wise counsel in Abel ; and so 
 they ended the matter. Now we love peace and 
 loyalty. Why then seekest thou to destroy a city and 
 a mother in Israel ? Why wilt thou devour the inherit- 
 ance of the Lord ? " 
 
 Joab answered, " Far be it, far be it from me to 
 destroy or to devour. The matter is not so. A man 
 of Mount Ephraim, Sheba by name, hath lifted up his 
 hand against King David. Deliver him only, and I 
 will depart from the city." 
 
 And the woman said unto Joab, " Behold, his head 
 shall be thrown to thee over the wall." 
 
 So the woman gave her counsel to the people ; and 
 they cut off the head of Sheba, and cast it to Joab ; 
 and Joab left besieging the city. 
 
 After these things David was moved in the pride of 
 his heart to number Israel ; and he said to Joab, " Go 
 through all the tribes and take the number of the 
 people.'' 
 
 Joab said to the king, " The Lord thy God add to 
 the people, how many soever they be, an hundred- 
 fold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it ; 
 but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing ? " 
 
 Nevertheless the word of the king prevailed against 
 Joab. So he and the captains of the host went through 
 all the land numbering the people, and at the end of 
 nine months and twenty days they came again to 
 Jerusalem, and gave the number of the people to the 
 king. Of Israel there were eight hundred thousand 
 fighting men, and of Judah five hundred thousand. But 
 David's heart smote him that he had done this thing. 
 
 Then Gad, David's seer, came to him and said, 
 " Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things. Choose 
 thee one of them that I may do it unto thee. Shall 
 seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land ? or 
 
196 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies ? or 
 shall there be three days' pestilence in the land ? " 
 
 David said unto Gad, " I am in a great strait. Let 
 me fall now into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies 
 are great, and let me not fall into the hand of man." 
 
 So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel, and there 
 died of the people seventy thousand men. 
 
 THE ANCEL OF PESTILENCE. 
 
 And David saw the angel of the Lord by the 
 thrashing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite, that was in the 
 stronghold of Jerusalem. And David said, " Lo, I have 
 smned, and done wickedly; but these sheep, what have 
 they done? Let Thine hand, I pray Thee, be against 
 me, and against my father's house." 
 
 That day came Gad, the seer, to David, and said, 
 
THE STORY OF DAVID 197 
 
 " Go Up, rear an altar to the Lord in the thrashing-floor 
 of Araunah." And David did as the Lord commanded. 
 And Araunah saw the king and his servants coming, 
 and he went out, and bowed himself before the king on 
 his face to the ground. 
 
 Araunah said to the king, " Wherefore is my lord 
 the king come to his servant ? " 
 
 The king answered, " To buy the thrashing-floor of 
 thee, to build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague 
 may be stayed from the people." 
 
 Then Araunah said to David, " Let my lord the 
 king take and offer up what seemeth good to him. 
 Behold, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and thfe 
 thrashing instruments and harness of the oxen for wood." 
 
 All these things did Araunah, as a king, give to the 
 king, saying, " The Lord thy God accept thine offering." 
 
 But the king said, " Nay, but I will buy these things 
 of thee for a price ; neither will I offer burnt-oflFerings 
 to the Lord my God of that which doth cost me 
 nothing." 
 
 So David gave to Araunah for the thrashing-floor 
 and for the oxen and for the instruments fifty shekels 
 of gold.^ And he built there an altar, and offered 
 sacrifice. And after this the plague was stayed. 
 
 When David was old, Adonijah, his eldest son,^ 
 thought in his heart to be king. He was a very goodly 
 man, and his mother bare him after Absalom ; and his 
 father had never thwarted him at any time. And he 
 conferred with Joab and Abiathar, and they followed 
 
 1 About ;^ioo. In 2 Sam. xxiv. 24, the price is given as fifty 
 shekels of silver; in I Chron. xxi. 24, as "six hundred shekels of gold." 
 The explanation given is that there were fifty gold shekels each worth 
 twelve silver shekels. We thus get the two numbers, fifty and six hundred, 
 and the proportion of value between gold and silver is fairly near the truth. 
 
 2 He was the eldest, now that Amnon and Absalom were dead. 
 Probably the second son, Chileah, whose mother was Abigail, died in his 
 youth. 
 
igS STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 him ; but Zadok and Nathan, and the rest of the Six 
 Hundred, were against him. 
 
 Adonijah made a great feast at the Fuller's Fountain, 
 and called all his brethren the king's sons, and all the 
 king's servants, but Nathan and Benaiah and Solomon 
 and the Six Hundred he called not. 
 
 Nathan said to Bathsheba, " Hast thou not heard 
 that Adonijah is king, and David our lord knoweth it 
 not ? Let me, I pray thee, give thee wise counsel, 
 that thou mayest save thine own life, and the life of thy 
 son Solomon. Go, get thee in unto King David, and say. 
 Didst thou not swear unto thine handmaid that Solo- 
 mon, my son, should reign after thee? why then doth 
 Adonijah reign ? Behold, while thou talkest there with 
 the king, I also will come in and confirm thy words." 
 
 So Bathsheba went in unto the king, and did 
 obeisance, and spake as Nathan had bidden her ; and 
 she told him what Adonijah had done. While she yet 
 talked with the king Nathan came in and bowed him- 
 self to the ground before the king, and he said, " My 
 lord, O king, is it thy pleasure that Adonijah should 
 reign after thee? Lo! he hath made a great feast, 
 and called thereto the king's sons and the captains of 
 the host, and they eat and drink before him, and shout, 
 God save King Adonijah." 
 
 Then the king said to Bathsheba, "As the Lord 
 liveth that hath delivered me all my life, even as I 
 sware, saying, Solomon, thy son, shall reign after mc 
 even so will I do this day." 
 
 Then he sent for Zadok the priest, and Nathan 
 and Benaiah, and said, "Take with you the Guard 
 and the Six Hundred, and cause Solomon, my son, 
 to ride upon my own mule, and bring him down 
 to the Valley of Siloam, and let Zadok the priest and 
 Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel ; and 
 
THE STOR Y OF DA VID 
 
 199 
 
 blow ye with the trumpet, and cry, God save King 
 Solomon ! So shall he be king after me." 
 
 So Zadok the priest took a horn of oil out of the 
 tabernacle, and they anointed Solomon to be king. 
 And they blew the trumpet, and all the people cried, 
 "God save King Solomon!" And they played with 
 pipes, and rejoiced with great joy. 
 
 THE ANOINTING OF SOLOMON. 
 
 And Adonijah and his guests heard it when they 
 had made ,an end of eating. When Joab heard the 
 sound of the trumpet, he said, "What meaneth this up- 
 roar in the city ?" 
 
 While he yet spake, Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, 
 came ; and Adonijah said, " Come in, for thou art a 
 good man, and bringest good tidings." 
 
 Jonathan answered and said, " Verily our lord King 
 
200 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 David hath made Solomon king ; and he hath sent with 
 him Zadok, and Nathan, and Benaiah, and the Guard, and 
 the Six Hundred, who have caused him to ride on the 
 king's mule, and have anointed him king in Siloam. 
 Great hath been the rejoicing, so that the city rang 
 again. This is the noise that ye have heard." 
 
 And when Adonijah's guests heard this they were 
 afraid, and rose up, and went their way ; but Adonijah 
 arose and laid hold on the horns of the altar. 
 
 And it was told Solomon, " Behold, Adonijah feareth 
 the king, for he hath laid hold on the horns of the altar, 
 saying, Let King Solomon swear unto me this day 
 that he will not slay me with the sword." 
 
 Solomon said, "If he will show himself a worthy 
 man, there shall not a hair of him fall to the earth ; but 
 if wickedness be found in him he shall die." 
 
 So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down 
 from the altar. And he bowed himself beforetheking,and 
 the king said unto him, " Go now to thine own house." 
 
 So Solomon reigned in the room of David, his 
 father. And David slept with his fathers, and was 
 buried in the city of David. 
 
 These are the last words of David, the son of Jesse : — 
 
 " David the son of Jesse said, and the man who 
 was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of 
 Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, 
 
 " The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word 
 was in my tongue. 
 
 " The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake 
 to me. 
 
 " He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in 
 the fear of God. 
 
 " And he shall be as the light of the morning when the 
 sun riseth,asamorning without clouds; as the tendergrass 
 springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain." 
 
THE STORY OF AHAB AND 
 HIS HOUSE 
 
 ZiMRI and Omri were chief captains of the host to Elah, 
 king of Israel, and the king sent them against Gibbethon 
 of the Philistines, but he himself remained in Tirzah. 
 There Zimri slew him as he was drinking in his steward's 
 house, and made himself king in his stead. But after 
 seven days, Omri and the army that was at Gibbethon 
 marched against Zimri, and besieged him in the palace. 
 Then Zimri, seeing that there was no hope of escape, 
 burnt himself and all that he had in the palace. 
 Thus did Omri become king, and he reigned twelve 
 years. And when he was dead, Ahab, his son, reigned 
 in his stead. 
 
 This Ahab made alliance with Ethbaal, king of the 
 Zidonians, and married Jezebel, his daughter.^ This 
 was the beginning of great evils. For whereas Jeroboam 
 and the kings that came after him had caused Israel 
 to sin against the Lord by worshipping the calves that 
 had been set up in Bethel and in Dan, Ahab con- 
 strained his people to transgress far more grievously, 
 even by following Baal and Ashtaroth. This he did at 
 
 * Very likely the motive of this alliance was the growing power of the 
 Assyrians. But there was a natural disposition between the two nations 
 to make arrangements for mutual support, if only religious obstacles could 
 be removed. Thus Solomon had friendly relations with Hiram. We may 
 compare also the narrative in the Acts (xii. 20), where we see the anxiety 
 of the Phoenicians to be on friendly terms with their Jewish neighbours. 
 
202 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 the bidding of Jezebel, his wife, being ruled in all things 
 by her. And not only did he worship these false gods 
 with much pomp and splendour,^ but he persecuted 
 them that were still faithful to Jehovah. For the armed 
 messengers of the queen went through the land, throwing 
 down the altars of the Lord, and slaying all such as would 
 not bow the knee to Baal. Against the prophets of 
 Jehovah did Ahab and Jezebel, his wife, rage especially. 
 Many were killed with the sword, and they that escaped 
 were content to hide themselves in caves and dens of the 
 earth. Yet there were some that were found faithful 
 even in the king's court ; of such was Obadiah, the 
 king's steward, who took a hundred of the Lord's pro- 
 phets and hid them in two caves, fifty in each, and fed 
 them there. 
 
 Then the Lord sent Elijah of Tishbi, in the land of 
 Gilead, to King Ahab. Elijah stood before him as he 
 sat on his throne, and said, " As the Lord God of Israel 
 liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew 
 nor rain these years, but according to my word." ^ And 
 when he had said this he turned away and was seen no 
 more. But when there had been drought for a long 
 time, and the famine began to be sore in the land, Ahab 
 bethought him of the man that had denounced this 
 judgment against him and his people. And he sent 
 throughout all the land of Israel, and to all the nations 
 round about, seeking for him. To whomsoever he sent 
 he made him swear that Elijah was not with him ; but 
 still he could not find him. But Elijah dwelt by the 
 Brook Cherith, where the ravens fed him witli bread 
 and fliesh ; and when the brook failed for the drought, 
 
 ^ Thus we hear of four hundred and fifty priests of Baal that were fed 
 at Jezebel's table, and of four hundred priests of the grove. 
 
 2 There was a peculiar propriety in this kind of visitation, for the false 
 gods for whom Jehovah had been forsaken were supposed to be peculiarly 
 powers of nature. 
 
THE STORY OF AHAB AND HIS HOUSE 203 
 
 he sojourned with a widow -woman of Sarepta, that 
 belonged to Sidon ; and the Lord, for his sake, so 
 ordered it tliat the woman's cruse of oil and barrel of 
 meal failed not till the famine was ended. 
 
 At the end of the third year the Lord said to 
 Elijah, " Go, show thyself to Ahab, and- I will send 
 
 ELIJAH FED BY THE RAVENS. 
 
 rain upon the earth." Now about this time King Ahab 
 said to Obadiah, his steward, " Go throughout the land 
 to all fountains of water and brooks. Peradventure we 
 may find grass to save such of the horses and mules as 
 are left." So they divided the land between them — 
 Ahab went one way and Obadiah went another. And 
 as Obadiah was on his way, Elijah , met him; and 
 Obadiah knew him for the prophet that had stood 
 before Ahab, and he fell on his face before him, and 
 
204 STOJi/ES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 said, "Art thou that my lord Elijah?" And he 
 answered, "I am ; go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is 
 here." Then Obadiah said, " How have I sinned, that 
 thou wouldst give Ahab occasion to slay me ? There 
 is no nation or kingdom whither he hath not sent to 
 seek thee; and now thou biddest'me say, Behold, 
 Elijah is here. But so soon as I shall have gone from 
 thee, the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I 
 know not ; and when I shall have told Ahab, and he 
 cannot find thee, then will he slay me. Truly I have 
 served the Lord from my youth. Doth not my lord 
 know how I saved a hundred men when Jezebel slew 
 the prophets of the Lord ? " Elijah answered, " As the 
 Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely show 
 myself to Ahab to-day." So Obadiah told Ahab, and 
 Ahab went to meet Elijah. And when Ahab saw him 
 he said, "Art thou he that troubleth Israel?" But 
 Elijah answered, " I have not troubled Israel, but thou 
 and thy father's house. Now gather to Mount Carmel 
 all the prophets of Baal, and the prophets of the groves ; 
 I will be there also. Let all the people also be 
 gathered to the same place, that they may judge 
 between us." And Ahab did so ; and all the people 
 stood round on a level place on the top of Mount 
 Carmel. And Elijah and the prophets of Baal stood 
 in the midst — he by himself and they by themselves. 
 Then Elijah said to the king and the people, " Let the 
 prophets of Baal furnish now two bullocks — for they 
 are four hundred and fifty men, and I but one — and 
 let them cut their bullock in pieces, and put his flesh 
 on their altar, but put no fire under ; and I will do the 
 same with my bullock. They shall call on the name 
 of their god, and I will call on the name of mine ; and 
 the God that answereth by fire, let Him be God." And 
 all the people said, " It is well spoken." 
 
THE STORY OF AHAB AND HIS HOUSE' 203 
 
 Then the prophets of Baal took their bullock and 
 put it on the altar which they had built. And they 
 called on Baal from morning until noon, crying, " O 
 Baal, hear us ! " But there was no voice, nor any that 
 answered ; and they leaped upon the altar. And 
 when it was noon Elijah mocked them, saying, " Cry 
 aloud ; for either he meditateth or is busy with other 
 things, and doth not hear you ; or he is on a journey ; 
 or, perchance, he is asleep, and must be awaked." 
 So they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their 
 manner with knives and lancets till the blood gushed 
 out upon them. Thus they did till it was the time of 
 offering the evening sacrifice ; ^ but there was no voice, 
 nor any that answered or regarded. 
 
 Then Elijah built again the altar of Jehovah that 
 was in the place, and had been broken down. With 
 twelve stones he built it, according to the number of 
 the twelve tribes of Israel. Round about it he made a 
 trench as great as would contain two measures of 
 seed ; ^ and he put the wood in order on the altar, and 
 laid the pieces of the bullock on the altar, and com- 
 manded that water should be poured upon it three 
 times, till the whole was drenched through and through, 
 and even the trench filled with water. And at the 
 time of the evening sacrifice he prayed, and said, 
 " Jehovah, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, hear me. 
 Jehovah, hear me this day in fire, and let all the people 
 know that Thou art Jehovah, the God of this Israel, 
 and that I am Thy servant, and through Thee have 
 done all these things. Hear me, O Jehovah ; hear me, 
 and let this people know that Thou, Jehovah, art the God, 
 and that Thou hast turned their hearts back again." 
 
 And when he had done speaking, the fire of the 
 
 * This would be three o'clock in the afternoon. 
 
 ^ Two measures of seed would be equivalent to six gallons. 
 
206 
 
 STOJilES FKOM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the 
 wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the 
 water that was in the trench. And when the people 
 saw it they fell on their faces, and said, "Jehovah is 
 the God ; Jehovah is the God." 
 
 Then Elijah said to the people, " Take the prophets 
 of Baal ; let not one of them escape." So they took 
 
 THE SLAYING OF THE TKOPHETS OF BAAL. 
 
 them, and Elijah slew them by the Brook Kishon. 
 That night there was a great rain ; and Ahab returned 
 to Jezreel, and Elijah ran before his chariot, even till 
 he came to the gates of Jezreel. 
 
 After these things Benhadad, king of Syria, gathered 
 all his host together. Two-and-thirty kings had he 
 with him that were tributary to him, and many horses 
 and chariots. And he came up against Samaria, and 
 
THE STORY OF AHAB AND HJS HOUSE 207 
 
 besieged it. Then he sent messengers to Ahab, who 
 said to him, " All thy silver and gold is mine, and thy 
 wives and thy children." And Ahab answered, " It is 
 so ; they are the king's." Then Benhadad sent again, 
 saying, " It is not enough that thou shouldst deliver to 
 me thy silver and gold, and thy wives, and thy children. 
 My servants shall search thine house and the houses of 
 thy servants, and whatsoever they shall find that is 
 pleasant in their eyes, that they shall take." 
 
 Then Ahab called the elders of the people, and said 
 to them, " Mark, I pray you, and see how this man 
 seeketh mischief. He sent for my silver and gold, and 
 my wives, and my children, and I refused them not ; 
 and now he demandeth all that shall please him and 
 his servants throughout . the whole land." Then the 
 elders said, " Consent not to his demand." So Ahab 
 said to the messengers of Benhadad, " Tell my lord the 
 king, All that thou didst send for to thy servant at the 
 first, that I will do ; but this I may not do." 
 
 When Benhadad heard this he sent again, saying, 
 " The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of 
 Samaria suffice for handfuls to the people that follow 
 me." 
 
 But Ahab answered, " Let not him that girdeth on 
 his harness boast himself as he that taketh it off." 
 
 Then Benhadad bade his servants set his army in 
 array, and they did so. 
 
 After this there came a prophet to Ahab, who said, 
 " Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou seen this great multi- 
 tude ? Behold, I will deliver it into thine hand." 
 
 Ahab said, "By whom?" He said, "By the 
 servants of the princes." Then Ahab numbered the 
 servants, two hundred and twenty and two ; and all 
 the people were seven thousand. At noon the servants 
 went forth, while Benhadad and the kings were drinking 
 
2o8 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 themselves drunk in the pavilions. And when he heard 
 of their coming forth he said, " Whether they be come 
 for peace or for war, take them alive." But the servants 
 and the army that followed them fell upon the Syrians, 
 and slew every one his man ; and Israel pursued, and 
 Benhadad escaped with the horsemen, but his host was 
 smitten with a great slaughter. 
 
 The next year the servants of the king of Syria 
 said to him, " The gods of Israel are gods of the hills ; 
 therefore they were stronger than we ; let us fight 
 against them in the plain, and we shall be stronger 
 than they ; also put captains to command the host in 
 the place of the kings.'' 
 
 So the next year at the same time the Syrians 
 came up against the land of Israel, and pitched their 
 camp in Aphek, that is on the east side of Jordan. 
 And Ahab went out to meet them. The Syrians filled 
 all the land, but the children of Israel were like two 
 flocks of kids. For seven days the two hosts abode in 
 their camps ; on the seventh day they joined battle, 
 and Israel smote the Syrians with a great slaughter. 
 But Benhadad fled to Aphek, and hid himself in an 
 inner chamber. His servants said to him, " We have 
 heard that the kings of Israel are merciful kings. Let 
 us put sackcloth on our loins and ropes round our 
 necks, and go out to the king of Israel ; peradventure 
 he will spare thy life." And they did so, and went 
 out to King Ahab, and said, " Thy servant Benhadad 
 saith, 'I pray thee, let me live." Ahab answered, " Is 
 he yet alive? He is my brother." Now the men 
 watched diligently for what he should say, and when 
 he said, " He is my brother," they caught up the word, 
 and said, " Thy brother Benhadad." Ahab said, " Go 
 ye and bring him." So Benhadad came forth, and 
 Ahab made him ride in his chariot. And Benhadad 
 
THE STORY OF AHAB AND HrS HOUSE 209 
 
 said, " The cities that my father took from thy father I 
 will restore, and thou shalt make streets ^ for thyself in 
 Damascus, as my father did in Samaria." Then they 
 made a treaty of peace, and Ahab sent him away. 
 
 As the king came back to Jezreel a prophet cried 
 unto him from the roadside (the man had disguised 
 himself, so that none should know that he was a 
 prophet). He said, " Thy servant went out into the 
 midst of the battle, and one brought me a prisoner 
 whom he had taken, and said, Keep this man ; if by 
 any means he be missing, thy life shall be for his life, 
 or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver. But as I was 
 busy here and there, the man was gone." The king said, 
 " So shall thy judgment be ; thou hast thyself decided 
 it" Then the prophet showed himself from under his 
 disguise, and said to the king, " Thus saith the Lord, 
 Because thou hast let go a man who should have been 
 destroyed, therefore thy life shall be for his life, and 
 thy pgople for his people." 
 
 And Ahab went to his house heavy and displeased 
 because of the word that he had heard. 
 
 Now Ahab coveted a vineyard that was hard by his 
 palace in Jezreel, for he was minded to make of it a 
 garden of herbs ; and he said to him whose vineyard it 
 was, a certain Naboth, "Give me thy vineyard, and I 
 will give thee a better vineyard for it ; or else, if thou 
 wilt, I will give thee the worth of it in money." But 
 Naboth said, " God forbid that I should give the inherit- 
 ance of my fathers unto thee ! " And Ahab, when he 
 heard this, was much displeased, so that he lay down 
 on his bed and would eat nothing. But Jezebel, his 
 wife, when she had heard what ailed him, said, " Arise, 
 eat and drink and be merry ; I will give thee the vine- 
 yard of Naboth." So she sent letters to the elders of 
 1 A Hebrew quarter. 
 P 
 
210 STOJilES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Jezreel, that they should suborn false witnesses against 
 Naboth, who should testify against him that he had 
 blasphemed God and the king. And the elders did 
 so. They proclaimed a fast, and called an assembly, 
 and because Naboth was a great man in Jezreel, they set 
 him on high among the people. And as he sat, the false 
 witnesses came, and testified against him. Then sentence 
 was pronounced, and he was carried out of the city, and 
 was stoned with stones, he and his sons with him. 
 
 When Jezebel heard that Naboth was dead, she 
 said to Ahab, " Arise, take possession of the vineyard 
 of Naboth, which he refused to give thee for money; 
 for he is not alive, but dead." 
 
 So Ahab went down to take possession, with 
 Jehu and Bidkar, his captains, riding behind him. But 
 when he was come to the place, lo ! Elijah, the prophet 
 of Tishbi, stood before him, and said to him, " Hast 
 thou killed, and also taken possession ? " And Ahab 
 said to Elijah, " Hast thou found me, O mine enemy ? " 
 And Elijah answered, " I have found thee, because thou 
 hast sold thyself to do evil in the sight of the Lord. 
 Therefore hear the word of the Lord. In the place 
 where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick 
 thy blood. And I will utterly destroy thy house ; and 
 Jezebel the dogs shall eat by the wall of Jezreel." 
 
 But Ahab, when he heard these words, humbled 
 himself, and the sentence against him was delayed for 
 a while. 
 
 Now Benhadad, the king of Syria, had covenanted 
 to restore the cities which his father had taken from 
 Omri, of which cities Ramoth in the land of Gilead 
 was one ; and when three years had passed, and the 
 king of Syria delayed to do the thing which he had 
 promised, it came into Ahab's heart to make war upon 
 him, And when Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, came to 
 
THE STORY OF AHAB AND HIS HOUSE 21 1 
 
 Samaria — for Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram had taken to 
 wife Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab — Abab said to 
 him, " Wilt thou go up with me to battle at Ramoth-in- 
 Gilead ? " Jehoshaphat answered, " I am as thou art; my 
 people as thy people ; my horses as thy horses." Only 
 he would have the king inquire of the Lord whether 
 they should do well to go up. So Ahab called together 
 the prophets of Baal, about four hundred men, and 
 inquired of them, " Shall I go up to Ramoth-in-Gilead, 
 or shall I forbear?" And they answered with one 
 voice, " Go up, and the Lord shall deliver it into the 
 hand of the king." But Jehoshaphat said, " Is there 
 not a prophet of Jehovah by whom we may inquire ? " 
 And Ahab said, " There is one such, Micaiah, the son of 
 Imlah ; but I hate him, for he doth not prophesy good 
 concerning me but evil." Nevertheless he sent an 
 officer to bring Micaiah, the son of Imlah, in haste. 
 Then the two kings sat each in his robes upon his 
 throne in the open space before the gate of Samaria,'^ 
 and the prophets prophesied before them. Then the 
 four hundred cried again as one man, " Go up to 
 Ramoth-in-Gilead, aind prosper." And one of them, 
 Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, made him horns of iron, 
 and said, " With these shalt thou push the Syrians, till 
 thou have consumed them." 
 
 Now the officer that went to call Micaiah said to 
 him, " Behold, now all the prophets prophesy good to 
 the king with one voice. Let thy word, I pray thee, be 
 as theirs." But Micaiah said, " As Jehovah liveth, what 
 Jehovah saith to me, that will I speak." So he came 
 to the king. And the king said, " Micaiah, shall we go 
 up to Ramoth, or shall we forbear?" And Micaiah 
 
 1 As Dean Stanley remarks, it was an unprecedented sight. Only 
 once again (see p. 216) did the heads of the two Hebrew kingdoms meet 
 as friends. 
 
212 STOKIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 said, "Go up, and the Lord shall deliver it into the 
 hand of the king." But Ahab perceived that he mocked 
 him, and said, " How many times shall I adjure thee 
 that thou speak nothing but that which is true in the 
 name of Jehovah ? " Then Micaiah said, " I saw all 
 Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have no 
 shepherd ; and the Lord said. These have no master ; 
 let them return every man to his house in peace." 
 
 Then Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, " Did I not tell 
 thee that he would not prophesy good concerning me, 
 but evil ? " 
 
 Then Micaiah said to the king, " Hear thou the 
 word of Jehovah. I saw Jehovah sitting on His throne, 
 and all the host of heaven standing by Him on the 
 right hand and on the left. And Jehovah said, Who 
 shall deceive Ahab, so that he shall go up to Ramoth- 
 in-Gilead, and fall there ? And some spake one thing 
 and some another. Then there came forth a spirit, and 
 stood before Jehovah, and said, I will deceive him. 
 And Jehovah said, Wherewith ? And the spirit said, 
 I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the 
 mouth of all his prophets. And Jehovah said. Thou 
 shalt deceive him and prevail also ; go forth, and do 
 so. Now, therefore, the Lord hath put a lying spirit 
 in the mouth of all these prophets, and the Lord hath 
 spoken evil concerning thee." But Zedekiah, the son of 
 Chenaanah, smote Micaiah on the cheek, saying, " Which 
 way went the lying spirit from me to speak unto thee ?" 
 Micaiah answered, "Behold, thou shalt know in that 
 day when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide 
 thyself" Then Ahab commanded that they should 
 take Micaiah to the governor of the city, and should 
 say to him, " Thus saith the king, Put this fellow into 
 the prison, and feed him with the bread of affliction, 
 and with the water of affliction, till I come again in 
 
THE STORY OF AHAB AND HIS HOUSE 
 
 213 
 
 peace." But Micaiah said, " If thou come at all in peace, 
 then the Lord hath not spoken by me." And turning to 
 the people he cried aloud, " Hear, O people, every one 
 of you." 
 
 So Ahab went up to Ramoth-in-Gilead, and 
 Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, with him. And Ahab 
 said to Jehoshaphat, "I will disguise myself; but put 
 
 THE DEATH OF AHAB. 
 
 thou on thy robes.'' So he disguised himself and 
 entered into the battle. Now the king of Syria had 
 commanded his captains that they should fight neither 
 with small nor great, but only with the king of Israel. 
 When therefore they saw Jehoshaphat in his robes they 
 turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat 
 cried out. So they knew that he was not the king 
 of Israel, and left pursuing him. Nevertheless Ahab 
 
214 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 did not escape the sentence that had been pronounced 
 against 'him ; for a certain man,i shooting an arrow 
 from his bow at random, smote him where the helmet 
 is joined to the breastplate. Therefore he said to the 
 driver of his chariot, " Turn and carry me out of the 
 battle." Then the battle waxed fiercer and fiercer all 
 that day ; and the king, that his host might make head 
 against the Syrians, bade his servants prop him up in 
 his chariot. At even he died ; and about the going 
 down of the sun there went this proclamation through- 
 out the host, " Every man to his city, and every man to 
 his own country." 
 
 They brought the body of the king to Samaria, and 
 buried him there. His chariot and his armour they 
 washed in the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked his 
 blood. 
 
 Ahaziah, son of Ahab, reigned in his father's stead ; 
 and when he died, having fallen from an upper window 
 in his palace, because he had no son his brother 
 Jehoram became king. And in the twelfth year of 
 Jehoram, Elisha the prophet called a certain young 
 man of the school of the prophets, and said unto him, 
 " Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine 
 hand, and go to Ramoth-in-Gilead ; and when thou 
 comest thither look out Jehu, the son of Nimshi, and 
 take him apart from his brethren into an inner chamber. 
 Then take the box of oil, and pour it upon his head, and 
 say. Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed thee king over 
 Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not." 
 
 This Elisha did that he might fulfil the command- 
 ment which^ the Lord gave to Elijah, his master, in 
 Horeb, the mount of God, saying, " Jehu, the son of 
 Nimshi, shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel." 
 
 Now the host of Israel was encamped before Ramoth- 
 1 Afterwards said to have been Naaman. 
 
THE STORY OF AHAB AND HIS HOUSE 215 
 
 in-Gilead, Jehu being its chief captain ; but King 
 Jehoram had gone back to Jezreel to be healed of the 
 wounds which he had received in battle with the 
 Syrians. The man came to Ramoth, and, behold, the 
 captains of the host were sitting together. And he said, 
 " I have an errand to thee, O captain." And Jehu said, 
 " Unto which of all of us ? " And the young man said, 
 " To thee, O captain." Then Jehu arose, and went into 
 the house ; and the young man poured the oil on his 
 head, and said, " Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,.! have 
 anointed thee king over Israel, and thou shalt destroy the 
 house of Ahab." Then he opened the door and fled. 
 
 Then Jehu came forth from the chamber to where 
 the captains were sitting. And they asked him, saying, 
 " Is all well ? wherefore came this mad fellow unto 
 thee ?" But he, supposing that they were concerned in 
 the matter, said, "Ye know the man, and also his 
 message." They said, " It is false. Tell us now." 
 Then Jehu said : " The man spake thus : The Lord hath 
 anointed thee king over Israel." Then the captains 
 took every man his cloak and put them under Jehu's 
 feet at the top of the staircase, and blew with trumpets, 
 and made proclamation, "Jehu is king." 
 
 Then Jehu said, " If this be your purpose, take care 
 that none escape to tell the matter in Jezreel." And 
 they did so ; but Jehu rode to Jezreel with all speed in 
 his chariot. 
 
 Now there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, 
 and the man said, " I see a company." Then said the 
 king, " Send a horseman to meet them, and let him 
 say. Is it peace?" So there rode a horseman to meet 
 them. And when the man came to them he said, 
 "Thus saith the king. Is it peace?" Jehu answered, 
 " What hast thou to do with peace ? turn thee behind 
 me." The watchman said, " The messenger came to 
 
2i6 STORIES FROM TBE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 them, but he cometh not again." ■ So the king sent a 
 second messenger, and it happened to him as to the 
 first. The watchman said, "The messenger came to 
 them, but he cometh not again ; and the driving is like 
 the driving of Jehu, the son of Nimshi ; for he driveth 
 furiously." Then said the king, " Make ready my 
 chariot." So they made ready his chariot, and he went 
 forth to meet Jehu ; and Ahaziah, king of Judah, 
 went with him, for Ahaziah had come down to see 
 him, because he had been sick. So the two kings went 
 forth, each in his own chariot. Now the place of their 
 meeting was near to the vineyard of Naboth. And when 
 Jehoram met Jehu he said, " Is it peace, Jehu ?" But 
 Jehu answered, " What peace can there be, so long as 
 the wickedness of thy mother Jezebel is so great ? " — for 
 Jezebel ruled the king, her son. Then Jehoram turned 
 his chariot about, crying out, "There is treacheiy, O 
 Ahaziah." Then Jehu drew his bow with all his might, 
 and smote Jehoram between the shoulders ; and the 
 arrow pierced him to the heart, so that he sank down 
 dead in the chariot. Then said Jehu to Bidkar, his 
 captain, " Take up his body, and cast it into the portion 
 of Naboth. Dost thou not remember how, when thou 
 and I rode behind Ahab his father, the Lord laid this 
 sentence upon his house, Surely I have seen the 
 blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons ; and I will 
 requite thee in this portion, saith the Lord ?" 
 
 Then Jehu rode into Jezreel. And when he was 
 come thither Jezebel adorned herself, and painted her 
 face — for she knew that her son was dead, and that she 
 must herself die — and as Jehu passed by, she looked 
 out from a window, and cried, " Had Zimri peace, who 
 slew his master?" Jehu lifted up his face to the 
 window, and cried, " Who is on my side ? who ?" And 
 there looked out to him from one window two of the 
 
THE STORY OF ARAB AND HIS HOUSE 217 
 
 servants of the women's chambers, and from another 
 three. He said to them, " Throw her down." And they 
 threw her down ; and her blood was sprinkled on the 
 wall and on the horses ; and he trampled her under 
 the feet of the horses. 
 
 And when he was come in, he sat down to eat and 
 
 THE ENU OF JEZEBEL. 
 
 drink. Afterwards he said, " Go, see now this cursed 
 woman, and bury her ; for she was a king's daughter." 
 But when they went to bury her, they found no more 
 of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of the 
 hands. When Jehu heard this, he said, " Now is fulfilled 
 that which the Lord spake by the mouth of Elijah, In 
 the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel. 
 For her carcase shall be as dung upon the face of the 
 earth, so that they shall not say. This is Jezebel!' 
 
THE STORY OF JEREMIAH THE 
 PROPHET 
 
 Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, was of the house of 
 Aaron, and he was born in Anathoth, which was a city 
 that belonged to the priests in the land of Benjamin. 
 In the evil days of Manasseh he was born, and in the 
 twelfth year ^ of Josiah he was called by the Lord to be 
 a prophet. Now in the eighteenth year of his reign 
 King Josiah made a great reformation in the land. 
 First he repaired the places that were broken down in 
 the house of the Lord ; for the house had suffered 
 great damage in the days of Amon his father, and of 
 his grandfather Manasseh. And while they repaired 
 the house, it came to pass that they found a book of 
 the law. This book Flilkiah the priest gave to 
 Shaphan the scribe, and Shaphan gave it to the king. 
 When the king read it he was greatly dismayed, seeing 
 how great were the sins which his people had committed 
 against the Lord, and how grievous were the judgments 
 which were written in the law against them that did 
 such things. So he sent Hilkiah and Shaphan, and 
 others with them, to inquire of Huldah the prophetess. 
 And Huldah said, " Tell the man that sent you, Thus 
 saith the Lord, I will bring evil upon this place and 
 upon its inhabitants, even all that is written in the book 
 
 I Josiah came to the throne in 638 B.C., being then eight years of age. 
 Jeremiah may have been born about 650 B.C. 
 
THE STORY OF JEREMIAH THE PROPHET 219 
 
 which the king hath read ; because they have forsaken 
 Me and followed strange gods. But to the king of 
 Judah say, Because thou hast humbled thyself before 
 Me, thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, and 
 thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring 
 upon the land." 
 
 Nevertheless Josiah called together all Judah and 
 Jerusalem, and read in their ears all that was written in 
 the book, and he made a covenant that he would keep 
 the whole law of the Lord, and the people agreed thereto. 
 After this he put away all the idolatries that were in 
 the land. And when he had done this he kept a great 
 passover to the Lord, greater than any of the kings 
 that were before him had made. But the heart of the 
 people was still to do evil, and Jeremiah the prophet knew 
 that it was so. 
 
 For twelve years' Josiah reigned in peace, doing 
 judgment and justice, and ruling in the fear of God ; 
 and Jeremiah was one of his chief counsellors. But in 
 the thirtieth year of his reign Pharaoh-Necho came up 
 out of Egypt to do battle with the king of Assyria at 
 Carchemish that is on the river Euphrates ; and Josiah 
 went out to meet him. Necho sent messengers to him, 
 saying, " What have I to do with thee, thou king of 
 Judah ? Not against thee have I come out this day ; I 
 go to fight with the Assyrians. This the Lord com- 
 manded me by a dream to do. Hinder not thou the 
 word of the Lord." But Josiah turned not away, for 
 he had steadfastly resolved to fight. So Necho met 
 him in the valley of Megiddo, and slew him. Then the 
 servants of Josiah carried back his dead body to Jeru- 
 salem ; and all the people mourned for him ; nor did 
 any mourn more truly than Jeremiah the prophet. 
 
 The people made Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, king in 
 the room of Josiah his father. But he reigned for three 
 
220 
 
 STOJilES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 months only. For at the end of that time Pharaoh- 
 Necho came back from fighting with the Assyrians, and 
 put down Jehoahaz from his place, and carried him into 
 Egypt, and made Eliakim, his brother, king in his stead, 
 changing his name to Jehoiakim.^ 
 
 In the beginning of the reign of 'Jehoiakim, at one 
 
 THE MISSION OF JEKEMIAH. 
 
 of the great feasts, when the people came up from all 
 the cities of Judah, Jeremiah stood in the court of the 
 Lord's house, and cried to all the people that had come 
 up from their cities to worship at Jerusalem, " Thus 
 saith the Lord, If ye will not hearken unto Me to walk 
 in My law which I have set before you, then I will 
 
 1 The difference of the names is the difference between the two names 
 of God. It was changed from " Wliom God will setup" to "Whom 
 Jehovah will set up." 
 
TH£ story of JEREMIAH THE PROPHET 2ii 
 
 make this house like Shiloh/ and this city a curse to 
 all the nations of the earth." 
 
 When Jeremiah had said these words the priests and 
 the prophets — for there were false prophets in those 
 days — and all the people laid hold upon him, crying, 
 " Thou shalt surely die." And there was a great tumult. 
 Thereupon the princes of Judah came from the king's 
 house unto the house of the Lord, and sat down in the 
 new gate. And the priests and prophets accused 
 Jeremiah before them, saying, " This man is worthy to 
 die, for he hath prophesied against this place, as ye 
 have heard with your own ears." Then said Jeremiah 
 to all the princes and all the people, " The Lord sent 
 me to prophesy against this house and this city all the 
 words that ye have heard. Now, therefore, amend your 
 ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord 
 your God ; and the Lord will repent Him of the evil 
 which He hath pronounced against you. As for me, 
 behold I am in your hands ; do with me as seemeth 
 meet and good to you. But know for certain that if ye 
 put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood 
 upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the in- 
 habitants thereof; for the Lord hath sent me to speak 
 all these words in your ears." ■ 
 
 Then the princes and the people said to the priests 
 and the prophets, " This man is not worthy of death ; 
 for he hath spoken in the name of the Lord our God." 
 Also certain of the elders said, " Micah the Morasthite 
 prophesied in the days of King Hezekiah, saying to all 
 the people of Israel, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, 
 Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem 
 shall become heaps. Did Hezekiah and the people put 
 him to death ? Did they not beseech the Lord so that 
 
 1 Shiloh had been, but had ceased to be, the seat of the nation's 
 worship. 
 
222 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 He repented Him of the evil which He had pronounced 
 against them ?" 
 
 And Ahikam, the son of Shaphan the scribe, stood 
 by Jeremiah the prophet, so that he was not delivered 
 into the hands of those who would have put him to 
 death. 
 
 But there was a certain Urijah, the son of Shemaiah, 
 who prophesied against the house of God and against 
 the city the same things that Jeremiah prophesied. And 
 when Jehoiakim the king, with all his great men, heard 
 his words he sought to put him to death. But when 
 Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled into the land 
 of Egypt. Then Jehoiakim the king sent certain men 
 into Egypt, and they brought Urijah from thence, and 
 slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body among 
 the graves of the common people that were in the 
 valley of Hinnom. 
 
 Now in this same first year of Jehoiakim, Nabo- 
 polassar, who was general to the king of Assyria, 
 rebelled against his master, and had made himself king of 
 Babylon, and taken the great city of Nineveh ; and in 
 his third year the son of King Nabopolassar, Nebuchad- 
 rezzar^ by name, conquered Pharaoh- Necho, king of 
 Egypt, by Carchemish that is on the river Euphrates. 
 And in the eighth year of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadrezzar 
 came up against Jerusalem, for he knew that the king's 
 heart turned to the king of Egypt, that had set him 
 upon his throne ; but Jehoiakim was afraid, because the 
 Egyptians could not help him, and he went up to meet 
 the king of Babylon, and submitted himself to him. 
 
 But before he went up, there arose a great enmity 
 between him and the prophet Jeremiah. The king 
 proclaimed a fast for all the people, and many came to 
 
 1 The first name means " Nebo, protect the son " ; the second, " Nebo, 
 protect the crown." 
 
THE STORY OF JEREMIAH THE PROPHET 223 
 
 Jerusalem, both for the fast's sake and because the 
 Chaldean was in the land. Then Jeremiah called 
 Baruch, who was wont to write down the prophecies at 
 his mouth, and bade him write in the roll of a book all 
 the words that he had spoken against Judah and 
 Jerusalem from the first until that day.^ So Baruch 
 wrote them down. Jeremiah said, " I cannot go into 
 the house of the Lord. Go thou and read the words 
 that thou hast written at my mouth in the ears of all 
 the people that are gathered upon the fasting day." 
 So Baruch went to the house of the Lord, and Gemariah, 
 son of Shaphan the scribe,^ bade him come into his 
 chamber, that was hard by the temple. There did 
 Baruch read the words that he had written down at the 
 mouth of Jeremiah. And when Michaiah, Gemariah's 
 son, heard these words he went to the princes where 
 they sat in the scribe's chamber, in the king's palace, 
 and told them the words that he had heard. Then the 
 princes sent Jehudi to Baruch with this message : 
 " Come to us, and bring the roll of the book which thou 
 hast been reading in the ears of the people." So Baruch 
 came and read it to the princes. And when they heard 
 the words, they were sore afraid, and said to one 
 another, " The king must know of these things.'' And 
 they asked Baruch, " How didst thou write these 
 words ?" Baruch answered, " He pronounced all these 
 words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with 
 ink in the book." Then said the princes to him, " Go, 
 hide thee, thou and Jeremiah ; and let no man know 
 where ye be." So Baruch departed, and he and Jere- 
 miah hid themselves. Meanwhile the princes went to 
 the king's palace ; but the roll they took not with 
 
 1 A period of about twenty-six years. 
 
 2 And so brother to Ahikam, of whom we hear as having protected 
 the prophet on a former occasion. 
 
224 STORIES PROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 them, but laid it by in the chamber of Elishama. But 
 the words they told to the king. Now it was winter- 
 time, and the king sat in the winter apartment of the 
 palace, and there was a fire on the hearth burning 
 before him. The king bade Jehudi bring the roll and 
 read it in his ears. So Jehudi read it, and when he 
 had read three or four columns the king stretched out 
 his hand and took the roll from the reader, and cut it 
 into pieces with a penknife that he had in his hand, 
 and threw the pieces into a fire that was burning on 
 the hearth, till the whole roll was consumed. So 
 wickedly did the king, yet none were afraid or rent 
 their garments. Nevertheless three of the princes made 
 intercession to the king that he would not destroy the 
 roll. But he would not listen to them. Rather he 
 sent three of his officers to seize Jeremiah and Baruch ; 
 but they could not find them, for the Lord hid 
 them. While they were thus hidden the prophet com- 
 manded his scribe to take another roll, and to write in 
 it all the words that were written in the former roll, 
 and to add to them many other like words. 
 
 In the eleventh year of his reign Jehoiakim rebelled 
 against the king of Babylon, and the land was over- 
 run with bands of Chaldees, and of Syrians, and of 
 Moabites, and of the children of Ammon. Nor could 
 the Egyptians give any help, for the king of Babylon 
 had taken from them all the land that was between the 
 Nile and the Euphrates. So the people of the land 
 flocked into Jerusalem, and among them the Rechabites, 
 who were of the house of Heber the Kenite. And 
 when Jeremiah saw that the Rechabites had come into 
 the city, he thought to speak to his own countrymen a 
 parable concerning them. 
 
 Now the Rechabites followed the way of life which 
 had been laid upon them by one of their house in time 
 
THE STORY OF JEREMIAH THE PROPHET 225 
 
 past, Jonadab,^ the son of Rechab. And Jeremiah, 
 having it in his mind to try their constancy, sent for 
 them to one of the chambers of the temple, and setting 
 before them cups of wine, bade them drink. But they 
 said, " Not so, for Jonadab, our father, commanded us 
 that we should not drink wine, nor own land, nor dwell 
 in a city. We have indeed come into the city for fear 
 of the Chaldeans, but land we have none, and wine 
 we will not drink." Then said the prophet to his 
 countrymen, " Thus saith the Lord, The word of Jonadab, 
 the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not 
 to drink wine, are performed ; for unto this day they 
 drink none. But I have sent unto you prophets, say- 
 ing, Return from your evil way, and serve not other 
 gods, and ye shall dwell in the land, and ye would not. 
 Therefore Jonadab, the son of Rechab, shall not want 
 a man to stand before Me for ever ; but upon Judah, 
 and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, will I bring all 
 the evil that I have pronounced upon them." 
 
 After these things King Jehoiakim died — a covetous 
 man, and given to oppression and violence, who laid 
 great burdens upon his people that he might build 
 himself splendid palaces and live in luxury.^ How he 
 
 1 We hear of Jonadab, it will be remembered, in the story of the 
 revolution which overthrew the dynasty of Ahab, and with it the Baal- 
 worship, and raised Jehu to the throne. This was about a century and a 
 half earlier in the history. 
 
 2 See the contrast which Jeremiah draws between Josiah, the good king, 
 and his selfish and tyrannical son in chap. xxii. : " Woe unto him that 
 buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; 
 that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for 
 his work ; that saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers ... 
 and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. Shalt thou reign, 
 because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, 
 and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him ? He judged 
 the cause of the poor and needy ; then it was well with him. . . . But 
 thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to 
 shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it " (vv. 
 13-17.) This passage is particularly noteworthy as containing the only 
 reference in all the prophecies of Jeremiah to the good King Josiah. 
 
 Q 
 
226 STOHIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 died is not told for certain. Some say that the king of 
 Babylon caused him to be slain, and some that his own 
 servants conspired against him, and slew him. They 
 say also that his dead body was cast out of the city 
 and suffered to lie unburied, but that afterwards it was 
 taken up and buried in the sepulchre of the kings.^ 
 
 After Jehoiakim was dead, his son Jehoiachim was 
 made king, but he reigned for a hundred days only ; 
 for Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, sent an army 
 against Jerusalem to besiege it. And while they were 
 besieging it, he himself came. Then Jehoiachim the 
 king, and his mother Nehushta,^ and his servants and 
 princes and officers went out to meet him. And Nebu- 
 chadrezzar took him and his family, and the nobles of 
 the land, and seven thousand of the best of his soldiers, 
 and a thousand craftsmen, and carried them away to 
 the land of Babylon. He left none but the poorest in 
 the land. Also he took all the treasures out of the 
 temple, and out of the king's palace, and cut in pieces 
 all the vessels of gold which Solomon had made. And 
 he made Mattaniah, that was son of Josiah, king, and 
 changed his name to Zedekiah.' 
 
 These were evil days for Jerusalem, for the best of 
 the princes had been carried away to Babylon, and the 
 king, though he honoured Jeremiah as a prophet, was 
 weak of purpose, and yielded to evil counsellors. Now 
 
 1 The writer of the Kings (2 Kings xxiv. 6) says only, "So Jehoiakim 
 slept with his fathers. " In the Chronicles we read that Nebuchadrezzar 
 "put him in fetters to carry him to Babylon," the Septuagint adding that 
 he was "buried in the garden of Uzza." We may, perhaps, conjecture 
 that he died in captivity, but before being taken to Babylon, or was 
 executed, that his remains were at first treated by his captors with con- 
 tempt, but afterwards received decent burial. 
 
 2 It is to be observed that Nehushta was the daughter of EInathan, 
 one of the men whom Jehoiakim had sent into Egypt to kidnap the 
 prophet Urijah. 
 
 3 Mattaniah means "Gift of Jehovah," Zedekiah " Righteousness of 
 Jehovah." 
 
THE STORY OF JEREMIAH THE PROPHET 227 
 
 the counsel of Jeremiah had been that the king should 
 put no trust in Egypt, but should be loyal and obedient 
 to the king of Babylon. And so at the first Zedekiah 
 did, for in the fourth year of his reign he himself went 
 to Babylon to pay homage and swear allegiance. But 
 there were many about him who gave other advice, and 
 would have him make alliance with Egypt, and this the 
 more vehemently because there was now another king 
 in Egypt, Hophra -^ by name, and men said that he was 
 wise and brave. 
 
 So it came to pass that in his ninth ^ year King 
 Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. With 
 him Moab and Ammon on the east, and Edom in the 
 south, and Philistia on the west made alliance. Also 
 he sent ambassadors to the king of Egypt, and he also 
 promised to help him. Now Nebuchadrezzar was 
 besieging Tyre in those days, but when he heard that 
 the Jews and all the nations round about had rebelled 
 against him, he came up with all his host. When he 
 came on his march to the place where the roads divided — 
 the one leading to Rabbath, the chief city of the children 
 of Ammon, and the other to Jerusalem — he used divina- 
 tion by arrows* and by sacrifices that he might know 
 which way he should go. And when the signs seemed 
 to show that he should go against Jerusalem, he went 
 up against the city. At first he ravaged all the land 
 of Judah and took the cities, save only Lachish and 
 Azekah. Afterwards he came to Jerusalem, and threw 
 up mounds against it, and brought against it towers and 
 battering-rams and siege-engines, and the slingers and 
 archers went about it, and drove the defenders from off 
 the walls. 
 
 1 The Apries of Herodotus. 
 
 2 589 B.C. 
 
 3 By arrows or rods. Probably they were made to stand upright and 
 then suffered to fall, the answer being given by the manner of their falling. 
 
228 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 But after a while there came news to the king of 
 Babylon that the king of Egypt had come out against 
 him with a great army. Therefore he left besieging 
 Jerusalem, and went out to meet the Egyptians. There 
 was then great joy and confidence among the counsel- 
 lors of the king, for they said, " The Babylonians are 
 gone, and we are delivered." But Jeremiah the prophet 
 was not so deceived, for when the king sent to inquire 
 of him, he said, " Thus saith the Lord, Pharaoh's army, 
 which is come forth to help you, shall return to their 
 own land, and the Chaldeans shall come again, and 
 fight against this city, and burn it with fire." 
 
 After these things Jeremiah would have gone away 
 from Jerusalem to dwell in his own place in the land 
 of Benjamin, apart from the strife of men. But as he 
 was going out from the gate that leadeth to the land of 
 Benjamin, one of the captains laid hold of him and 
 said, " Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans." Jeremiah 
 answered, " It is false ; I fall not away to the Chaldeans." 
 Nevertheless the oiificer brought him to the princes, and 
 the princes were wroth with him, and scourged him, and 
 put him in prison, in the house that was Jonathan the 
 scribe's ; for they had made this into a prison. There 
 Jeremiah remained, shut up in a dungeon, for many days. 
 Not only did the princes do this wrong, but all the 
 bondservants whom they had set free, according to the 
 law of Moses, they made slaves again. 
 
 But before many days had passed, there befell 
 what Jeremiah had prophesied, for the Egyptians dared 
 not abide the coming of the king of Babylon, but broke 
 up their camp, and returned to their own land. And 
 the Chaldeans came again, and besieged Jerusalem as 
 at the first. 
 
 Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah, where he lay in the 
 dungeon of the prison, and asked him, " Is there any 
 
THE STORY OF JEREMIAH THE PROPHET 229 
 
 word from the Lord ? " But he did it secretly, for fear 
 of the princes. Jeremiah answered, " There is : thou 
 shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon." 
 Also Jeremiah said, "What have I offended against 
 thee, or against thy servants, or against the people, that 
 ye have put me in prison ? Where now are your 
 prophets who prophesied, saying, The king of Babylon 
 shall not come up against this city ? But now, my lord 
 the king, send me not back to the house of Jonathan the 
 scribe, lest I die there." So Zedekiah commanded that 
 he should be put into the court of the guard, which was 
 hard by his own palace, and that they should give him 
 a portion of bread out of the bakers' street, so long as 
 there should be any food left in the city. 
 
 While he lay in the court of the guard there came 
 to him Hanameel, that was his uncle's son, and said, 
 " Buy of me the field that is mine in Anathoth." And 
 Jeremiah bought it of him, paying for it seventeen 
 shekels of silver.^ And when he had signed the writing 
 and taken evidence of the purchase according to law 
 and custom, he gave the deeds to Baruch in the presence 
 of Hanameel and of the witnesses, in the presence of 
 all the Jews that sat in the court, and said, " Take this 
 evidence of the purchase, and put it in an earthen 
 vessel, that it may continue safe for many days ; for 
 thus saith the Lord, Houses and fields and vineyards 
 shall be possessed again in this land." 
 
 Nevertheless Jeremiah ceased not to proclaim to all 
 that heard him, " He that remaineth in this city shall 
 die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pesti- 
 lence ; but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall 
 save his life. For thus saith the Lord, This city shall 
 be given into the hand of the king of Babylon." 
 
 When the princes heard that he spake in this 
 1 This would be about two or three pounds. 
 
230 STOJi/jES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 manner, thinking that he would take away all courage 
 out of the heart of the people, they went to the king 
 and said, "We beseech thee, let this man be put to 
 death ; for by these words he weakeneth the hands of 
 the men of war that remain in the city, and the hands 
 of all the people ; for this man seeketh not the welfare 
 of this people, but their hurt." 
 
 Zedekiah said, " Behold, he is in your hand. The 
 king cannot do anything against you." 
 
 Then the princes took Jeremiah and cast him into 
 a cistern. There was no water in the cistern, but much 
 mire ; and Jeremiah sank in the mire. 
 
 When Ebed-melech the Ethiopian heard what the 
 princes had done to Jeremiah, he went to the king, 
 where he sat in the gate of Benjamin,^ and said to him, 
 " My lord the king, these men have done evil in that 
 they have cast Jeremiah the prophet into the dungeon ; 
 for he is like to die there of hunger." Zedekiah said, 
 " Take three men with thee and draw up Jeremiah out 
 of the dungeon before he die." So Ebed-melech took 
 the men with him, and also took old clouts and rags, 
 and let them down with cords to Jei^emiah where he 
 lay in the dungeon. And he said to Jeremiah, " Put 
 these things in thine armholes under the cords." And 
 Jeremiah did so ; then they drew up Jeremiah out of 
 the dungeon. And he was put again in the court of 
 the guard. 
 
 . After this the king sent for Jeremiah, and said to 
 him, " I will ask thee a thing ; hide nothing from me." 
 Jeremiah answered, " If I declare the truth, wilt thou 
 not put me to death ? and if I give thee counsel, wilt 
 thou follow it?" Then the king sware to Jeremiah, 
 saying, "As the Lord liveth, I will not put thee to 
 
 I It seems probable that the assault of the besieging army was fiercest 
 at this point. 
 
THE STORY OF JEREMIAH THE PROPHET 231 
 
 death, nor will I deliver thee into the hand of these 
 men that seek thy life." Then said Jeremiah, " Thus 
 saith the Lord, If thou wilt go forth to the king of 
 Babylon, thou and thy house shall be safe, and this 
 city shall not be burned with fire. But if thou wilt 
 not go forth, this city shall be given into the hand of 
 the Chaldeans, and thou shalt not escape." Zedekiah 
 answered, " I am afraid of the Jews that have before 
 this gone over, lest the Chaldeans deliver me into the 
 hands of them, and these should mock me." The 
 prophet said, " The Chaldeans will not deliver thee to 
 them. Obey, I pray thee, the voice of the Lord. Go 
 forth to the king of Babylon, for otherwise thou shalt 
 not escape thyself, and thou shalt destroy this people 
 also." But the king was afraid to follow the prophet's 
 counsel. " Let no man," he said, " hear that I have 
 been talking with thee about these things. If any man 
 ask thee what thou hast been saying, say that thou 
 hast been making petition to me that thou shouldst not 
 be sent back to the scribe's house." This Jeremiah 
 did, and he abode in the court of the guard till the 
 day wherein the city was taken. 
 
 Now the city had been besieged for nearly a year 
 and six months,^ and the food had long since failed. 
 " They that were brought up in scarlet embraced dung- 
 hills." " The tongue of the sucking child clave to the 
 roof of his mouth for thirst ; the young children asked 
 for bread, and no man broke it unto them." Nay, 
 there was worse than this, "the hands of the pitiful 
 women had sodden their own children." ^ And then 
 it came to pass that the defenders, wasted with hunger, 
 could not defend their city any more. About midnight 
 
 1 The exact time during which the siege lasted was a year, five months, 
 and twenty-seven days. 
 
 2 Lam. iv. 4, 5, 10. The book abounds with pictures of the terrible 
 condition of the city before and after its capture. 
 
232 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 on the ninth day of the fourth month the Chaldeans 
 broke in by the north wall ; ^ and at the same time 
 the king and his men of war fled out of the south gate 
 towards Jordan, for they hoped that they might escape 
 to the mountains. But the army of the Chaldeans 
 pursued after them, and overtook them in the plains of 
 Jericho. 
 
 Then the Chaldeans carried the prisoners to Nebu- 
 chadrezzar at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, which is 
 by Euphrates. Then the king gave judgment upon 
 him. He slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes ; 
 and all the nobles of Judah he slew ; and Zedekiah's 
 eyes he put out, because he had broken his oath that he 
 swore to be faithful to the king of Babylon. 
 
 But Nebuchadrezzar gave charge concerning Jere- 
 miah to Nebuzar-adan, who was captain of the guard, 
 saying, " Take him, and look well to him, and do him 
 no harm ; but do unto him even as he shall say unto 
 thee." But all the houses of the city and the temple 
 and the king's palace Nebuzar-adan burnt with fire, 
 and all the vessels that still remained in the temple 
 were carried away to Babylon. The people also that 
 were left after the siege were carried away. Only the 
 poorest of the land were left to till the soil. 
 
 Then the captain of the guard said to Jeremiah, 
 " Behold I loose thee this day from the chains that were 
 upon thine hand. If it seem good to thee to come 
 with me into Babylon, come ; and I will look well unto 
 thee. But if it seem ill unto thee to come with me to 
 Babylon, forbear. Behold, all the land is before thee ; 
 whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, 
 go thither." Now the king had made Gedaliah, the 
 son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan the scribe, to be 
 
 1 This would be early in July. The day was afterwards observed as 
 a fast. 
 
THE STORY OF JEREMIAH THE PROPHET 233 
 
 governor of the people that were left. . So Nebuzar- 
 adan said to Jeremiah, " Go if thou wilt to Gedaliah, or 
 elsewhere, if it please thee better." And he gave him 
 victuals and money, and let him go. Then Jeremiah 
 went to Gedaliah to Mizpah, where he dwelt, and he 
 abode with the people that were left in the land. 
 
 And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the 
 
 JEREMIAH MOURNING OVER JERUSALEM. 
 
 son of Kareah, and others of the nobles, came to 
 Gedaliah. And he sware to them that they might 
 dwell safely in the land if they would be obedient to 
 the king of Babylon. " As for me," he said, " I dwell 
 at Mizpah, as the king commanded me ; but go ye to 
 your cities and dwell there, and gather in the summer 
 fruits and the oil and the wine. Likewise all the Jews 
 that were in Moab and among the Ammonites, and in 
 
234 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 the other countries round about, when they heard that 
 the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah, and 
 that he had put over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, 
 they came to Mizpah, and gathered the fruits of the 
 land in abundance. 
 
 But Johanan said to Gedaliah, " Knowest thou not 
 that Baalis, king of the Ammonites, hath sent Ishmael 
 to slay thee ?" But Gedaliah believed him not. And 
 Johanan said again, " Let me go, and I will slay Ishmael, 
 and no man shall know it. Wherefore should he slay 
 thee, that all the remnant of the Jews that are gathered 
 to thee should be scattered again ?" But Gedaliah said, 
 " Thou shalt not do this thing. Thou speakest falsely 
 of Ishmael." 
 
 In the seventh month Ishmael, and ten princes with 
 him, came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and ate bread with 
 him. And as they sat at the meal Ishmael and his 
 companions arose and slew Gedaliah, and all the Jews 
 that were with him, and all the Chaldeans that were 
 there, and all the men of war. 
 
 On the second day after that he had slain him, 
 while as yet no man knew it, came fourscore men 
 from Shechem and from Shiloh and from Samaria, 
 for there were some in those parts that feared the 
 Lord. They had their heads shaven and their clothes 
 rent, and they had cut themselves with knives, as 
 men that mourned greatly. They came with offer- 
 ings and incense in their hand to present them 
 at the place where the temple had stood. And 
 Ishmael went out to meet them, making pretence to 
 weep as he went And he said unto them, " Come and 
 tarry this night with Gedaliah." So the men went, pur- 
 posing the next day to go on their way to Jerusalem. But 
 when they came into the midst of the city Ishmael and 
 the men that were with him slew them, and cast their dead 
 
THE STORY OF JEREMIAH THE PROPHET 235 
 
 bodies into a pit that was in the city. This was a pit^ 
 which Asa, king of Judah, had digged when he made war 
 with Baasha, the king of Israel, and the pit was filled with 
 the dead bodies of the slain. Ten of the fourscore he 
 slew not, for they said unto him, " Slay us not, for we 
 have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and 
 of honey, and of oil." And Ishmael carried away cap- 
 tive all the remnant of the people that were with 
 Gedaliah, being minded to cross the Jordan into the 
 land of the Ammonites. And Jeremiah the prophet 
 was among the captives. 
 
 But when Johanan heard what Ishmael had done, 
 he and all the captains of the forces that were with him 
 pursued after him, and overtook him by the great pool 
 of Gibeon. All the people whom Ishmael had carried 
 away were glad when they saw Johanan. As for 
 Ishmael, he escaped into the land of the Ammonites, 
 and eight men with him, for two were slain. 
 
 But Johanan was sore afraid of the wrath of the 
 king of Babylon, and the more because Ishmael, who 
 had slain the Chaldeans, was escaped out of his hand. 
 Therefore he and his company were minded to fly 
 into the land of Egypt. But first they came and dwelt 
 at the habitation of Chimham,^ which is by Bethlehem. 
 
 While they dwelt at the habitation of Chimham, 
 Johanan and the captains and all the people from the 
 greatest to the least, came to Jeremiah, and said to him, 
 " Pray for us to the Lord thy God, even for all this 
 remnant ; for we are left but few out of many, as thou 
 
 1 Possibly this pit was a cistern, made against the contingency of a 
 siege. 
 
 2 This would seem to mean the khan or caravanserai still called after 
 the name of Chimham, the son of Barzillai the Gileadite. It will be 
 remembered ("Story of David") that Barzillai, in refusing for himself 
 the king's offer of maintenance at court, suggested that the royal favour 
 might be transferred to his son Chimham. 
 
236 STOSIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 seest this day ; pray, therefore, that the Lord may show 
 us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we 
 may do." Jeremiah the prophet answered them, " I have 
 heard you ; I will pray unto the Lord your God accord- 
 ing to your words ; and whatsoever the Lord shall say 
 to me, that will I declare to you ; I will keep nothing 
 back." 
 
 The men answered, " Whether it be good or whether 
 it be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God. 
 The Lord be our witness." 
 
 For nine days the prophet sought counsel from the 
 Lord, and on the tenth day he called Johanan and the 
 captains and all the people to him, and said, " Thus saith 
 the Lord, If ye will abide in this land, it shall be well 
 with you. Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, whom 
 ye fear, for I will deliver you out of his hand. But if 
 ye will say. No ; but we will go into the land of Egypt, 
 where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the 
 trumpet, nor lack bread, and there will we dwell ; 
 then it shall come to pass that the sword which ye 
 fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, 
 and the famine whereof ye are afraid shall follow you 
 thither, and ye shall die in the land of Egypt." 
 
 And further the prophet said, " Ye dissembled in your 
 hearts when ye sent me to inquire for you of the Lord, 
 for it was not in your hearts to obey the voice of the 
 Lord, but ye were resolved to go down into Egypt." 
 
 And so it was. Johanan and the people that were 
 with him said to Jeremiah, " Thou speakest falsely ; 
 the Lord thy God hath not sent thee to say, Go not 
 down into Egypt. It is Baruch that setteth thee on to 
 speak thus, that he may deliver us into the hand of the 
 Chaldeans." 
 
 Then they took all the people and carried them 
 down into Egypt, and Jeremiah and Baruch with them, 
 
THE STORY OF JEREMIAH THE PROPHET 237 
 
 and they came to Tahpanhes. And when they were come 
 thither, Jeremiah took great stones and set them in the 
 mortar of the pavement that was before Pharaoh's 
 palace, and said, "Thus saith the Lord, I will bring 
 hither Nebuchadrezzar, My servant, and he shall spread 
 his royal pavilion upon these stones, and he shall smite 
 the land of Egypt, and burn the houses of the people 
 and the temples of the gods with fire, and afterwards 
 he shall return to his own land in peace." ^ 
 
 After these things Jeremiah spake again to the Jews 
 that dwelt in the land of Egypt.: "Ye know what evil 
 the Lord brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the 
 cities of Judah, because of their wickedness in that 
 they went to burn incense and to serve other gods 
 whom they knew not, nor their fathers. Why then do 
 ye commit this same evil in this land also? Surely 
 the Lord will punish them that dwell in the land of 
 Egypt, as He hath punished Jerusalem by the sword, 
 by the famine, and by the pestilence." 
 
 Thus spake Jeremiah to the people, both men and 
 women, in the great assembly which they had made to 
 the Queen of Heaven.^ And the people answered him, 
 " As for this word which thou hast spoken unto us in 
 the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee. 
 We will certainly burn incense to the Queen of Heaven, 
 and pour out drink-oiferings to her, as we have done, 
 we and our fathers in the cities of Judah and in the 
 streets of Jerusalem ; for then we had food in plenty, 
 
 1 Tahpanhes has been identified as Tell Defenneh in Lower Egypt. 
 Mr. Flinders Petrie discovered here the ruins of a fort built by Psam- 
 metichus I., and now called "The palace of the Jew's daughter." 
 
 2 They continued to worship Jehovah, but added to this worship the 
 cult of strange divinities. This "Queen of Heaven" was either the 
 moon or the planet Venus. "The children gathered wood, the fathers 
 kindled the fire, the women kneaded the dough to make sacrificial cakes 
 ... as a propitiatory rite to keep off famine and pestilence " (Professor 
 Cheyae's yeremiaA and his Times). 
 
238 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 and were well off, and saw no evil. But since we left 
 off to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven, and to pour 
 out drink-offerings to her, we have wanted all things, 
 and have been consumed by the sword and famine." 
 
 Jeremiah answered them again, " Because ye have 
 thus burned incense to strange gods, and because ye 
 have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed the 
 voice of the Lord, nor walked in His law, therefore 
 hath all this evil come upon you as it is this day. 
 Hear therefore the word of the Lord, All the men of 
 Judah that remain in the land of Egypt shall be con- 
 sumed. And this shall be a sign : I will deliver 
 Pharaoh- Hophra into the hand of his enemies, even as 
 I delivered Zedekiah, king of Judah." 
 
 Therefore the people rose upon him in their fury, 
 and stoned him with stones that he died.^ 
 
 ' This account of Jeremiah's death does not rest upon any absolute 
 authority, but may be taken as the most probable and satisfactory of the 
 various legends of his death. Another story relates that he and Baruch 
 were carried away into Babylon by Nebuchadrezzar, when this monarch 
 conquered Egypt. The vision of Judas Maccabaeus, as it is related in 
 the Second Book of Maccabees, ought not to be omitted from the " Story 
 of Jeremiah." Judas is represented as having related for the encourage- 
 ment of his countiymen before a battle what he had seen in a dream. He 
 had seen Onias, who had been high-priest, "a virtuous and good man," 
 holding up his hands and praying for the whole body of the Jews. And as 
 he prayed, "in like manner there appeared a man with gray hairs and 
 exceeding glorious, who was of a wonderful and excellent majesty." 
 "This," said Onias to the dreamer, "is a lover of the brethren, who 
 prayeth much for the people, and for the holy city, to wit, Jeremias, the 
 prophet of God. Whereupon Jeremias, holding forth his right hand, gave 
 to Judas a sword of gold, and in giving it spake thus, ' Take this holy 
 sword, the gift of God, wherewith thou shalt wound the adversaries.' " 
 
THE REBUILDING OF JERUSALEM 
 
 Cyrus, king of Persia, when he had taken the city of 
 Babylon, made proclamation throughout all his kingdom 
 to this purpose : " The Lord God of heaven hath given 
 me all the kingdoms of the earth, and hath commanded 
 me to build Him a house at Jerusalem. Let all, there- 
 fore, that are of His people go up to Jerusalem and 
 take their part in the building of this house. I com- 
 mand also that their neighbours help them with money 
 and goods and beasts for their journey, even as I myself 
 have made a freewill -offering for this house." Then 
 many of the Jews went up to Jerusalem, and Cyrus 
 gave into their hands the vessels of gold which Nebu- 
 chadrezzar the king had brought forth out of Jerusalem, 
 and put into the house of his gods. They that went 
 up were forty-three thousand and upwards, and they had 
 of men-servants and maid-servants seven thousand and 
 nine, and two hundred singing men and singing women. 
 The high-priest was Jeshua, son of that Jozadak whom 
 Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive, and the prince 
 of the people was Zerubbabel, of the house of David. 
 On the first day of the seventh month, which is Tisri, 
 all the people came together as one man to Jerusalem, 
 and the priests and the princes built an altar of sacrifice, 
 and began the daily sacrifice, morning and evening. 
 And on the fifteenth day of this month they kept the 
 Feast of Tabernacles, according to the ordinance. 
 
240 
 
 STOR/ES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 After this they began to prepare for the building of 
 the temple, hiring masons and carpenters with money, 
 and exchanging corn arid wine and oil for cedar-trees 
 of Lebanon, which the Tyrians and Sidonians brought 
 by sea to Joppa. In the second month of the second 
 year they laid the foundations of the temple. And 
 
 THE RETURN FROM BABYLON. 
 
 when they laid them, the priests stood in their robes 
 with trumpets in their hands, and the Levites, the sons 
 of Asaph, with cymbals, praising God in the words of 
 King David, as they were sung on the day when the 
 ark was taken into the tent which David had made for 
 it. And all the people shouted with a great shout 
 when the priests and the Levites praised the Lord, 
 because the foundation of the house of the Lord was 
 laid. Nevertheless, certain of the old men, who had 
 
THE REBUILDING OF JERUSALEM 
 
 241 
 
 seen the former house that the Chaldeans burnt with 
 fire, wept aloud when they saw the foundations laid, 
 because they were so small ; and no man could dis- 
 tinguish the shout of joy from the noise of weeping. 
 
 After this the people of Samaria came to them that 
 were building the temple, and said, " Let us build with 
 you ; for we worship your God even as ye do ; and we 
 
 LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS OP THE TEMPLE. 
 
 have done sacrifice unto Him ever since the days of 
 Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who brought us hither." 
 Now these Samaritans were strangers whom the kings 
 of Assyria had brought from Babylon and other cities 
 of their dominions, and had put in the country from 
 which the children of the Ten Tribes had been carried 
 away captive in the days of Hoshea, king of Israel. 
 But Zerubbabel and Joshua and the other chief men 
 
 R 
 
242 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 said to them, " Ye have nothing to do with us, that ye 
 should join in building a house to our God ; we our- 
 selves, and none besides us, will build a house to the 
 Lord God of Israel, as Cyrus, king of Persia, hath com- 
 manded us." Then the Samaritans gave bribes to the 
 counsellors of the king that they should hinder the work. 
 This they did in the days of Cyrus and of Cambyses 
 his son, but the work was not stopped. And when 
 Cambyses was dead, and Gomates the magian reigned 
 in his stead, giving out that he was Smerdis, son of 
 Cyrus — but, in truth, Smerdis had been slain by his 
 brother Cambyses — the governor of the province of 
 Samaria wrote a letter to this purpose : " Be it known 
 unto the king that the Jews which came up from thee 
 to us are come unto Jerusalem, to build again that bad 
 and rebellious city, building the walls and laying the 
 foundations. Be it known also unto the king that if 
 this city be built and the walls set up again, this people 
 will not pay toll, tribute, or custom, and so will his 
 revenue suffer loss. Now it is not meet that we who 
 have our livelihood from the king should see him so 
 dishonoured, and therefore we send this to the king 
 that search may be made in the records of the kings 
 thy fathers concerning this people. Of a truth thou 
 shalt find in the said record that this was ever a rebel- 
 lious city and hurtful to the king, and that for this 
 cause it was destroyed." Now to this letter the false 
 Smerdis made this answer : " The letter which ye sent 
 was read to me. And I commanded that search should 
 be made, and it was found that this city of old time 
 hath made insurrection, and that there have been great 
 kings therein who have ruled over all countries west- 
 ward of the river Euphrates, and that toll and tribute 
 hath been paid to them. Command therefore that 
 these men cease from their building." This letter the 
 
THE REBUILDING OF JERUSALEM 243 
 
 false Smerdis wrote, and all the more willingly because, 
 being a magian, he would not that any man should 
 worship in temples, and the religion of the Jews was 
 hateful to him. When the Samaritans received this 
 letter they went up to Jerusalem, and made the people 
 cease from their building by force. 
 
 But when the false Smerdis was dead, for Darius, 
 the son of Hystaspes, slew him and reigned in his 
 stead, Haggai and Zechariah, who were prophets of the 
 Lord, stirred up the chief men of the Jews that they 
 should begin again to build the walls and the temple. 
 So they began, and when their enemies asked, " Who 
 hath bidden you to build this house and this wall ? " 
 they would not cease till they should receive a com- 
 mandment from King Darius. And when the governor 
 of the province saw this he wrote to the king to this 
 purpose : " Be it known unto the king that the house 
 of the mighty God in the province of Judea is being 
 built with great stones, and that the work goeth on 
 fast. And when we asked the elders of the people, 
 Who commanded you to do this ? they said, We are 
 the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build 
 again His house. Long ago a great king of the land 
 built it ; but when our fathers provoked the God of 
 heaven. He gave us into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar, 
 king of Babylon, who destroyed this house and carried 
 away the people captive. Then in the first year of 
 Cyrus a decree was made that we should build this 
 house again ; and Cyrus gave us also the vessels of 
 gold and silver which Nebuchadrezzar had taken out 
 of the former house. So the Jews answered us. Let 
 the king therefore cause search to be made, that he 
 may know whether King Cyrus made such a decree." 
 
 So Darius caused that they should make a search 
 for this decree, and they found it in the house of the 
 
244 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 rolls at Egbatana. Thereupon Darius sent to the 
 governor of the province, saying, " We have found that 
 it is as had been said by the Jews, that Cyrus gave 
 commandment that this house should be built. Hinder 
 it not therefore, but rather help, giving the people 
 that whereof they are in need — money from the king's 
 tribute, and bullocks and rams for sacrijfice, and wheat 
 and salt and oil and wine for the food of the priests, 
 that they may worship the God of heaven, and pray 
 for the life of the king and his sons. Whosoever shall 
 seek to alter this decree which I, Darius, have made, let 
 timber be taken out of his house, and let him be hanged 
 thereon ; and let his house be made a dunghill." 
 Thereupon the adversaries of the Jews gave help to 
 them according to the king's commands, and on the 
 third day of the month Adar, which is the twelfth month, 
 in the sixth year of Darius the king, the temple was 
 finished. And after this the people kept the feast of 
 the Passover, according to the ordinance, on the four- 
 teenth day of the first month. The whole time from 
 the decree of King Cyrus, which he made in the year of 
 the taking of Babylon, down to the decree of King 
 Darius was two and twenty years.^ 
 
 A long time after these things,^ in the seventh year 
 of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, who was the grandson of 
 King Darius, it came into the heart of a certain Ezra to 
 go up to his brethren at Jerusalem. This Ezra was of 
 the house of Aaron, and he was also learned in the 
 law ; and he had found favour in the eyes of King 
 Artaxerxes, who gave him commission to inquire how 
 the people fared at Jerusalem and in the land of the 
 Jews. Also the king sent by the hand of Ezra and his 
 
 ' Cyrus took Babylon in 538 B.C., and the sixth year of Darius 
 was 516. 
 
 2 Fifty-seven years ; the seventh year of Artaxerxes was 458. 
 
THE REBUILDING OF JERUSALEM ia,S 
 
 companions freewill -offerings of silver and gold, six 
 hundred and fifty talents of silver, and a hundred 
 talents of gold, and silver vessels of which the value 
 was a hundred talents,^ and twenty basons of gold 
 equal to fifty darics apiece, and two vessels of fine 
 brass as precious as gold. Also the king commanded 
 that the treasurers that were beyond the river Euphrates 
 should furnish to Ezra a hundred talents of silver, and 
 of wheat one thousand bushels, and of oil and of wine 
 one hundred gallons of each, and of salt as much as he 
 would. Further, all that were priests or Levites, or 
 porters or singers, or did any work whatsoever in the 
 house of God were to be free of tax and tribute. Ezra 
 also was to judge his people according to the law of 
 his God, and any one that would not obey the law of 
 God and of the king should suffer death or confiscation 
 of goods or imprisonment. On the first day of the 
 first month Ezra went out from Babylon, and in nine 
 days he came to a river that is called Ahava.^ There 
 he abode three days, till the Levites should come, for 
 there were none with him. Also because there were 
 enemies lying in wait by the way, he proclaimed a fast 
 there by the river, that they might pray for a safe 
 journey, for he was ashamed to require of the king a 
 band of soldiers and horsemen to protect them against 
 their enemies, seeing that they had told the king that 
 the hand of their God was upon all that sought Him for 
 good, and against all them that forsook Him. After 
 this, on the twelfth day of the first month, they de- 
 parted from Ahava, and travelling by Carchemish ^ and 
 the river Orontes, came safe to Jerusalem on the first 
 day of the fifth month. 
 
 1 A talent may be taken as equal to £,121 '< a- daiic to £,1 : Ss. 
 
 2 Now Hit, about eighty miles north-west of Babylon. 
 
 3 Bir, on the Upper Euphrates. 
 
246 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 But when Ezra was come to Jerusalem he was told 
 that many of the people had taken wives for themselves 
 and for their sons of the people of the land, of the 
 Canaanites, and of the children of Ammon, and of 
 Moab, and of the Egyptians. And when he heard it 
 he rent his garment and his mantle, and plucked out 
 the hair of his head and his beard, and sat down in 
 sore distress. Thus he remained till the time of the 
 evening sacrifice, and all the people saw him. And at 
 the time of the evening sacrifice he rose up, and when 
 he had again rent his garment and his mantle, he fell 
 upon his knees and prayed, saying, " O my God, I am 
 ashamed to lift up my face to Thee, for our iniquities 
 have gone over our head and our trespass hath pro- 
 voked Thee. Our fathers sinned against Thee, and 
 Thou didst deliver them into the hand of the kings of 
 the nations round about. And now Thou hast showed 
 us mercy for a little space, and suffered a remnant to 
 escape, giving us favour, though we were but bond- 
 men in the eyes of the kings of Persia, that we build 
 again the house of God and the walls of Jerusalem. 
 And now we have sinned yet again in Thy sight, taking 
 to ourselves wives of the people of the land, concerning 
 whom Thou didst command us, saying, Give not your 
 daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters to 
 your sons, and seek not peace with them nor to be en- 
 riched with their wealth! Now, O Lord, we cannot 
 stand before Thee because of this our sin." 
 
 And when Ezra had ended his confession and his 
 prayer he prostrated him upon the ground, weeping, 
 and a great multitude of men and women had assembled 
 before the temple, and they wept a great weeping. 
 Then one of the princes who had taken strange wives 
 stood up, and said, "We have trespassed against our 
 God in this matter ; but yet there is hope, for the 
 
THE REBUILDING, OF JERUSALEM 247 
 
 people repent them of their sin. We will make a 
 covenant to put away these strange wives. The matter 
 is in thy hands. We will obey thy counsel." Then 
 Ezra and the princes made a proclamation that all the 
 people should come to Jerusalem within three days, and 
 that if any man failed so to come, his goods should be 
 confiscated. So the people came, and Ezra said to 
 them, "Ye have transgressed against the law of the 
 Lord by taking to yourselves wives of the heathen. 
 Now therefore separate yourselves from them." And 
 the people answered, " It is so ; and as thou hast said, 
 so must we do. But the people that have transgressed 
 are many, and this a time of much rain,^ and we cannot 
 remain out of doors ; neither is this a work of one day 
 or two. Let there be appointed, therefore, a council of 
 rulers and judges at Jerusalem, who shall inquire into 
 the matter, and bring it to an end." And this was 
 done, for the council sat from the first day of the tenth 
 month till the first of the year following, and so made 
 an end with all the men that had taken strange wives. 
 The number of those that had transgressed was one 
 hundred and eleven, of whom seventeen were priests 
 and ten were Levites. 
 
 But though Ezra and the princes were zealous, 
 nevertheless the work languished till God raised up a 
 new helper, Nehemiah, the son of Hachaliah. This 
 Nehemiah was cupbearer to King Artaxerxes ; and in 
 the twentieth year of the king, Hanani, who was his 
 brother, came up from Jerusalem to Shushan, and 
 Nehemiah asked him concerning the Jews that had 
 returned and. concerning Jerusalem. Hanani answered, 
 " They of the captivity that went up to Jerusalem are 
 in great affliction and reproach ; and the wall is broken 
 down, even as Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, broke 
 1 It was December, or ninth month. 
 
248 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 it down, and the gates are burned with fire." Then 
 Nehemiah fasted, and mourned certain days, confessing 
 his sins and the sins of his people, and praying to the 
 Lord that He would cause him to find mercy in the 
 sight of the king, for he was resolved that he would 
 speak to him and make a petition for his people and 
 his city. In the month Chisleu, which was the ninth 
 month, he heard the evil news concerning Jerusalem, 
 and in the month Nisan, that is the first month, his 
 turn came to serve the king. And when he took the 
 wine to give it to the king, the king saw that he was 
 sad, and he had not been before sad in his presence. 
 Then the king said, " Why is thy countenance sad, 
 seeing thou art not sick ? This is nothing else but 
 sorrow of heart." Nehemiah was sore afraid, for it was 
 held that a Persian could not but be glad when he was 
 with the king, and that to be sad in his presence was a 
 crime. And he said to the king, " Let the king live 
 for ever ! Why should not my countenance be sad 
 when the city, the place where my fathers are buried, 
 lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with 
 fire ? " Then the king said, " For what dost thou 
 make request?" And Nehemiah answered, "If it 
 please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, 
 send me to Judah, to the city where my fathers are 
 buried, that I may build it.'' Then the king said — the 
 queen sitting by him — " For how long shall thy journey 
 be ? and when wilt thou return ? " And Nehemiah set 
 him a time. Also he said, "If it please the king, 
 let letters be given me to the governors beyond the 
 river Euphrates, that they may convey me till I come 
 to the land of Judah ; and a letter also to Asaph, the 
 keeper of the king's park, that he may give me timber 
 for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the 
 walls of the city, and for my own house.'' All this the 
 
THE REBUILDING OF JERUSALEM 249 
 
 king granted to him, God inclining his heart to favour 
 His people. 
 
 Nehemiah set out from Shushan, having an escort of 
 horsemen with him, and, crossing the Euphrates, showed 
 the king's letter to the governors of the province. But 
 Sanballat of Beth-horon, who was the chief man among 
 the Samaritans, and Tobiah his counsellor, who was an 
 Ammonite and a slave, were grieved exceedingly that 
 there was come a man to seek the welfare of the 
 children of Israel. So Nehemiah came to Jerusalem, 
 but he told no man why he had come. After three 
 days he went out by night, riding alone upon a mule 
 to see the city. He went out by the gate that opens 
 into the valley of Hinnom, and turning eastward came 
 to the gate by which the refuse was carried forth from 
 the city ; and he saw as he went that the walls were 
 broken down and the gates burnt with fire. Thence he 
 went on to the gate that is by the pool of Siloam, that 
 is called the " King's Pool " ; but here the beast that 
 he rode could not pass. Therefore he went along the 
 channel of the brook Kidron, and so returned to the 
 gate of the valley of Hinnom. But the rulers knew 
 not whither he went, nor what he did, for he had not 
 told his errand to any man. But the next day he said 
 to them, " Ye see the distress that we are in, and how 
 Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates are burned with 
 fire. Come, let us build up the walls, that we be no 
 more a reproach." Then he told them how he had 
 found favour with God and with the king. And they 
 said, "Let us rise up and build." And they took 
 courage for the work. But Sanballat and Tobiah, and 
 with them Geshem the Arab — for there were Arabs also 
 in Samaria — laughed the Jews to scorn, and said, "What 
 is this thing that ye do? Will ye rebel against the 
 king ? " To them the Jews answered, " The God of 
 
2SO STORIES FSOM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 heaven will prosper us. Therefore we who are His 
 servants will arise and build. But ye have no portion, 
 nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem." Then Nehemiah, 
 and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people 
 built the wall of the city, both the outer wall and the 
 inner — that is to say, the wall of the city of David. 
 
 But when Sanballat heard of it he was very wroth ; 
 and he said to his companions, " What are these feeble 
 Jews doing ? Shall we suffer them to build in this 
 fashion ? " And Tobiah the Ammonite mocked, saying, 
 " As for this wall of theirs, if a fox go up on it, he shall 
 break it down." 
 
 Nevertheless the Jews persevered with their building 
 till the wall had reached to the half of its proper height. 
 But Sanballat gathered together a company of his own 
 people, and of the Ammonites, and Arabs, and Philis- 
 tines, and prepared to come up to Jerusalem and 
 hinder the work ; and there was great discouragement 
 and fear, for some of the people of the city grew weary, 
 and the Jews that were in the country near to the 
 Samaritans would have taken away those whom they 
 had sent to help in the work ; and all the while the 
 enemy threatened that they would come up, and slay 
 the builders, and cause the work to cease. 
 
 Then Nehemiah set guards, with spears and swords 
 and bows, on such parts of the wall as were low and 
 weak ; and he set others where the ground gave them 
 advantage for defence ; and to the nobles and rulers 
 and all the people he said, " Be not ye afraid of them : 
 remember the Lord, for He is great and terrible, and 
 fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, 
 your, wives and your houses." 
 
 From that time forth half the people worked at the 
 building of the wall, and the other half had spears 
 and shields and bows and coats of mail, the rulers 
 
THE REBUILDING OF JERUSALEM 
 
 251 
 
 standing behind them, encouraging them in the work, 
 or ready, if there was need, to lead them against the 
 enemy. Many, indeed, whether they carried the stones 
 or laid them in their places, with one hand wrought the 
 work, and with the other carried his weapon. And the 
 trumpeter stood ever by Nehemiah's side, ready to sound 
 upon his trumpet ; for Nehemiah had said to the nobles 
 
 THE REBUILDING OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 and the rulers, and the rest of the people, " The work is 
 great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, 
 one far from another. In what place therefore ye hear 
 the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us ; 
 our God shall fight for us." 
 
 So the people laboured in the work from the rising 
 of the sun till the stars appeared. And Nehemiah said, 
 " Let none return to his own village or city at night ; but 
 
252 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 let every man lodge within Jerusalem that they may be 
 a guard at night." And neither Nehemiah, nor his 
 brethren, nor his servants, nor his bodyguard put off 
 their clothes save only when they would wash themselves. 
 After this there was a murmuring of many of the 
 people against their brethren ; for some said, " We have 
 pledged our children that we may get food," and others, 
 " We have mortgaged our lands, our vineyards, and our 
 houses for bread because of the famine," and others 
 again, " We have borrowed money upon our lands and 
 vineyards to pay the king's tribute." And Nehemiah 
 was very angry when he heard these complainings, and 
 he said to the nobles, " Ye exact usury, every one of 
 his brother. As for me, I have to the best of my 
 ability redeemed my brethren who had been sold to the 
 heathen ; and shall we, who are saved, cause them to 
 be sold ? Now therefore, I pray you, give back to them 
 their lands and their vineyards and their olive-yards, 
 and the money that ye have taken from them." The 
 nobles answered Nehemiah, " We will take nothing from 
 them ; we will do as thou sayest." And Nehemiah 
 made them swear, calling the priests that they might 
 be witnesses to the oath. And he shook out the pocket 
 of his robe, saying, " So God shake out every man from 
 his house and from his labour that performeth not this 
 promise ; even thus be he shaken out and emptied." 
 And all the congregation said, " Amen." And the rich, 
 men did as they had promised. For twelve years was 
 Nehemiah governor of the land, and all that time he 
 received nothing; but the governors that were before 
 him had received forty shekels of silver day by day. 
 Neither did he take advantage because the people were 
 poor to buy land. But every day he fed at his table 
 one hundred and fifty of the principal men, besides 
 giving entertainment to such as came from the countries 
 
THE REBUILDING OF JERUSALEM 253 
 
 round about. Every day were prepared an ox and 
 six choice sheep and fowls j and once in every ten days 
 his cellar was stored with wine. 
 
 When Sanballat and his allies heard that the walls 
 were finished, and that there was no breach left in 
 them — only the doors were not put into the gates — 
 they Sent to Nehemiah, saying, " Come, let us meet in 
 one of the villages of the plain of Ono." This Ono is 
 in Benjamin ; but they thought to do him a mischief. 
 But Nehemiah sent messengers to them, saying, " I am 
 doing a great work, so that I cannot come down ; why 
 should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down 
 to you ? " Four times they sent to him, and four times 
 he answered in the same way. Then Sanballat sent 
 his servant a fifth time with an open letter wherein was 
 written, " It is reported among the heathen that thou 
 and the Jews think to rebel, and that thou buildest the 
 wall that thou mayest be their king, and that thou hast 
 appointed prophets to declare. There is a king in Judah. 
 Now all this shall be reported to the king at Shushan. 
 Come, therefore, let us take counsel together." But 
 Nehemiah said, " There are no such things done as thou 
 sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart." 
 
 After this Shemaiah said to Nehemiah, " Come into 
 the house of God, and let us shut the doors of the 
 temple, for thine enemies will come to slay thee. Yea, 
 in the night will they come." Now it was not lawful 
 for any man to come into the temple, save for the 
 priests and the Levites only. So Nehemiah answered, 
 " Should such a man as I am flee ? can I go into the 
 temple and live?" So he perceived that Shemaiah 
 had not spoken this of the Lord, but that the e«emies 
 had hired him to terrify him, and cause him to sin, that 
 they might bring an accusation against him. And 
 there were others, calling themselves prophets, and one 
 
2S4 STOJIIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Noadiah, a prophetess, that spoke in this matter seeking 
 to terrify Nehemiah. But the wall was finished on the 
 twenty-fifth day of the sixth month — that is, in fifty-six 
 days from the beginning of the work. The compass of 
 the wall was four miles or thereabouts, and all the 
 people worked at it, being divided into twenty-seven 
 companies. Then Nehemiah made Hanani his brother 
 governor over the city, and he commanded that the 
 gates should not be opened till the sun was hot. The 
 city was large ; but the people were few, and the houses 
 were not built. 
 
 At this time Ezra the scribe came back to Jerusalem 
 — for he had been absent while the wall was being built 
 — and the people pressed him that he would read the 
 book of the law. So Ezra stood upon a pulpit of wood 
 with the priests about him, and he opened the book in 
 the sight of all the people, for he was above them all ; 
 and when he opened it all the people stood up. And 
 Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God ; and all the 
 people answered, " Amen, Amen," lifting up their hands ; 
 and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord 
 with their faces to the ground. Then the Levites 
 explained the words of the law to the people ; but 
 these lamented when they understood them, for they 
 saw how greatly they had transgressed. But Nehemiah, 
 and Ezra, and the priests, and the Levites said unto 
 them, " This day is holy to the Lord your God ; mourn 
 not, nor weep, but go your way, eat the fat, and drink 
 the sweet, and send portions to them for whom nothing 
 is prepared. Be not ye sorry, for the Lord your God 
 is your strength." Then the people did as they were 
 bid. And on the second day the chief of the fathers 
 came to Ezra the scribe ; and it was found that the 
 Lord had commanded Moses that on the fifteenth day 
 of the seventh month the people should dwell in booths, 
 
THE REBUILDING OF JERUSALEM 
 
 255 
 
 which they should make of branches of olive and wild 
 olive, and myrtle and palm, and other trees of which 
 the leaves are. thick. And this the people did, making 
 booths, each man for himself, on the roof of his house, 
 or in the courtyard, or in the courts of the temple, or 
 in the courts that are over against the water-gate and 
 the gate of Ephraim. Such a Feast of Tabernacles 
 
 EZRA BLESSETH THE PEOPLE. 
 
 there had not been in Israel 
 the son of Nun. For seven 
 the eighth day there was a 
 Lord ordained. And on the 
 same month was there a great 
 of Israel assembled clothed in 
 their heads. One-fourth part 
 law, and for one-fourth part 
 
 since the days of Joshua, 
 days they kept it, and on 
 
 solemn assembly as the 
 twenty-fourth day of this 
 fast held, and the children 
 sackcloth, with dust upon 
 
 of the day they read the 
 they confessed their sins. 
 
256 STOJilES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 and worshipped the Lord. And they made a covenant 
 that they would serve Him and obey His command- 
 ments, wherein they vowed that they would not take 
 wives from the people of the land, nor buy or sell on 
 the. Sabbath day ; and that they would pay each the 
 third part of a shekel year by year -for the service of 
 the temple ; and would bring the first-fruits of their 
 lands, and redeem also the first-born of their children, 
 and the first-born of their cattle, and bring the tithes 
 duly to the Levites. And to this all the princes set 
 their seal. 
 
THE STORY OF QUEEN ESTHER 
 
 When Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, carried away 
 from Jerusalem Jehoiachim, king of Judah, and the 
 principal men of the people of the Jews, there was 
 among the captives a certain Kish of the tribe of Ben- 
 jamin. This Kish had a son that was named Shimei. 
 In Shimei's time Cyrus, king of Persia, came up against 
 Babylon and took it, and carried away to the land of 
 Persia many of the Jews, of whom Shimei was one. 
 To Shimei was born a son J air, and to J air again a 
 son Mordecai, who, growing to man's estate, was made 
 a doorkeeper in the king's palace in Shushan, which 
 the Greeks called Susa. With this Mordecai there lived 
 a maiden, the daughter of his father's brother, who had 
 been left an orphan in her childhood. The maiden's 
 name, in the language of her own people, was Hadassah, 
 which word means Myrtle ; but in the Persian tongue 
 it was Esther, which is by interpretation a Star. 
 
 In those days Ahasuerus, whom the Greeks called 
 Xerxes, was king of Persia, a very great and powerful 
 prince, who reigned over one hundred and twenty-seven 
 provinces. He ruled all Asia westward as far as the 
 Great Sea (which is the Mediterranean) and eastward 
 as far as the land of India ; Egypt also was subject to 
 him, and Cyrene and Barca, cities of the Greeks which 
 lay westward of Egypt towards the Great Desert ; and 
 the Ethiopians, who dwelt to the south of Egypt paid 
 
 S 
 
2S8 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 tribute to him. Having so much, he desired to have 
 yet more, and to conquer the land of Greece, To this 
 end he called together to his palace in Shushan the 
 governors of all his provinces, that he might consult 
 with them, and that each might know what preparation 
 he should make in men or horses or ships. These 
 councils were held for the space of an hundred and 
 eighty days, for some of the governors came from very 
 far away. And when they were ended the king made 
 a great feast to all the people in Shushan. In the 
 garden of the palace he made it ; and the guests sat 
 under awnings of white and green and blue, which 
 were stretched from pillars of marble on cords of fine 
 white linen and purple running through rings of silver. 
 The couches on which they lay at meat were of silver 
 and gold, and the pavement of the banqueting-hall was 
 stone of many colours, green and pearl-coloured and 
 white and black. They drank out of cups of gold, and 
 all the cups were of different patterns ; every man drank 
 according to his own pleasure, none compelling him to 
 drink less or more, for the king had commanded that it 
 should be so. And Vashti the queen, at the same time, 
 made a great feast for the women of Shushan in the 
 chambers of the women in the king's palace. 
 
 Thus they feasted for seven days ; and on the 
 seventh day the king, having drunk deep, commanded 
 his chamberlains to bring Vashti the queen, with her 
 crown upon her head, before the princes and the people 
 to show them her beauty, for she was very fair to look 
 upon. But the Queen Vashti, when the chamberlains 
 brought her the king's commandment, refused to come. 
 Thereat Ahasuerus was very wroth ; and he called his 
 counsellors, the seven princes of Media and Persia, who 
 were the first in his kingdom, and who could come freely 
 into his presence, and said unto them (for they were 
 
THE STORY OF QUEEN ESTHER 259 
 
 wise men, and knew the laws and customs of the land), 
 " What shall we do to Queen Vashti, according to the 
 law, for that she has refused to obey the commandment 
 which the king sent her by his chamberlains ?" Then 
 Memucan, who was one of the seven princes, answered 
 before the king and the princes, " Vashti the queen has 
 done wrong not to the king only, but to all the princes 
 and to all the people that are in the provinces of the 
 king. For her deed will become known to all the 
 women of the land, and when they shall hear how King 
 Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought 
 before him, and she refused to come, they will despise 
 their husbands, and will speak to the princes of Persia 
 and Media as Vashti has spoken to the king. There- 
 fore, if it please the king, let there go forth a royal com- 
 mandment that Vashti be no longer queen, and let 
 this be written among the laws of the Medes and Per- 
 sians, so that it be not changed ; and further let her 
 royal estate be given to another that shall be better 
 than she." 
 
 This counsel pleased the king and his princes, and 
 he sent a decree into every province of his dominion, 
 written in the language of its inhabitants, that every 
 man should be the master in his own house. 
 
 After this a search was made throughout the king- 
 dom for the maiden that should be worthiest, for beauty 
 and favour, to be put into the place of Queen Vashti, 
 and in the end Esther, that was the cousig of Mordecai 
 the Jew, was chosen, and the royal crown was set upon 
 her head And Ahasuerus loved her greatly, and made 
 a feast in her honour to all his princes and servants, 
 and gave remission of taxes to the provinces, and sent 
 gifts to their governors. About this time two of the 
 chamberlains of Ahasuerus took offence, and combined 
 against him, and would have slain him, for they kept the 
 
26o STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 door, and had access to the king's person. But the 
 thing came to the knowledge of Mordecai, and Mordecai 
 told it to Esther the queen, and Esther told it to the 
 king. Thereupon inquiry was made, and the plot was 
 discovered, and the conspirators put to death. All this 
 was written in the chronicles of Persia, how these men 
 had conspired against the king, and how the matter 
 had been discovered by Mordecai. 
 
 After these things the king promoted a certain 
 Haman to be his chief minister, and set him above all 
 the princes, and commanded that all the king's servants 
 should do him reverence as he came in and out, pros- 
 trating themselves on the ground before him. And 
 they all did so save Mordecai only, but he refused. 
 And when his fellows asked him, " Why do you not 
 pay reverence to the Lord Haman according to the 
 king's commandment ?" he answered, " Because I am a 
 Jew, and it is not the custom of the Jews to do such 
 honour to men." When they heard this, they told it to 
 Haman, desiring to see whether he would hold Mordecai 
 to be excused. But Haman was full of wrath, and was 
 minded not to slay Mordecai only — for that seemed too 
 small a thing for him to do — but all the people of Mor- 
 decai throughout the whole dominions of the king, for 
 he knew that he was a Jew. When he had determined 
 upon this he set himself to find out a lucky day for the 
 doing of it. So his servants threw dice before him every 
 day from the;beginning of the first month to the end of 
 the twelfth, and the day on which the throws were 
 highest throughout the year was judged to be the most 
 lucky. On this day, therefore, Haman said to the 
 king, " There is a people dispersed throughout the king's 
 dominions in all the provinces. They have laws that 
 are different from the laws of all other nations, and 
 they do not obey the commandments of the king. 
 
THE STORY OF QUEEN ESTHER 261 
 
 Therefore it is not to the king's profit to suffer them. 
 If it please the king, let a decree go forth that this 
 people be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents 
 of silver into the hands of the collectors of the king's 
 revenues that they may pay it into the treasuries of the 
 king.^ The king thereupon gave his ring to Haman, 
 saying, " The people are given to you to do as you will 
 with them, and their goods also." Then the royal 
 scribes were brought in, who wrote letters to the gover- 
 nors of all the provinces with the king's command that 
 on a certain day they should cause all the Jews — men, 
 women, and children — to be slain. These letters were 
 written on the thirteenth day of the first month, and 
 the same day they were given to swift runners, who, 
 having carried them a day's journey, handed them to 
 other runners, and these again to others, till they reached 
 the appointed place. And because to some of the pro- 
 vinces there was a journey of many weeks, the day 
 appointed for the slaughter was the thirteenth day of 
 the twelfth month, being nearly the space of a year. 
 
 This matter of the letters being finished, the king 
 and Haman sat down to drink, but the whole city of 
 Shushan was troubled when it was known what the 
 king had decreed. Then Mordecai the Jew rent his 
 clothes, and put sackcloth on his skin, and sprinkled 
 ashes on his head, and sat down before the gate of the 
 king's palace, and cried as he sat with a very loud and 
 bitter cry. But beyond the gate he could not go, for 
 no man that had any sign of mourning upon him might 
 enter the palace, lest he should give offence to the eyes 
 of the king. Thereupon the maidens that waited upon 
 Queen Esther and her chamberlains told her, " Thy 
 
 1 Ten thousand talents would amount to between two and three million 
 pounds of our money ; and as Herodotus estimates the regular revenues 
 of the Persian king at 14,560 talents of silver, would amount to a little 
 more than two-thirds of the sum coming annually into the treasury. 
 
262 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 kinsman Mordecai sits before the gate of the palace 
 lamenting, with sackcloth and ashes on him." 
 
 Then the queen was exceedingly grieved, and she 
 sent raiment wherewith to clothe Mordecai, and bade 
 her people take away his sackcloth from him. But he 
 would not receive the raiment or put off his sackcloth. 
 Then she sent her principal chamberlain, one Hatach, 
 whom the king himself had appointed to wait upon her, 
 and bade him inquire of Mordecai what was the matter 
 that troubled him. So Hatach went forth into the open 
 space that was before the king's palace and said to 
 Mordecai, " What troubles you ? " Then Mordecai said, 
 " The king has commanded that all the Jews through- 
 out his dominions should be slain, and Haman has 
 promised that if this be done, he will pay into the king's 
 treasury ten thousand talents of silver." And he gave 
 him a copy of the decree to show to the queen, and 
 said, " Bid her go unto the king, and make supplication 
 to him, and pray him that he will spare her people.'' 
 And Hatach came and told Esther the word of Mordecai. 
 Then Esther sent Hatach again to him with this message : 
 " All the king's servants, yea, and all his people even 
 unto the border of his dominions, know that there is a 
 law that any man or woman that shall come unto the 
 king into the inner court, being not called so to come, 
 shall die, except the king shall hold out to him the 
 golden sceptre. But I have not been called to go in to 
 the king these thirty days past." Hatach told these 
 words to Mordecai. Then Mordecai sent again to 
 Esther, saying, "Think not that thou being in the 
 king's palace wilt escape more than the rest of thy 
 people. If thou wilt say nothing, then deliverance shall 
 come to the Jews from some other place, but thou and 
 thy father's house shall perish. Dost thou not rather 
 think that thou hast been called to the place of a queen 
 
THE STORY OF QUEEN ESTHER 263 
 
 in Persia that thou mayest work deliverance for thy 
 people in this time of their peril ? " Then the queen 
 sent to Mordecai this answer : " Go, gather together 
 jail the Jews that are in Shushan, and fast for me, neither 
 eating nor drinking for three days ; I also and my 
 maidens will fast, and so I will go in unto the king. 
 If I perish, I perish." And Mordecai did as Esther 
 had commanded him. 
 
 On the third day of her fasting Queen Esther put 
 on her royal apparel and went into the inner court of 
 the king's house ; and the king sat in his chamber, that 
 was over against the gate of the inner court, and when 
 he saw the queen standing in the court, she found 
 favour in his sight, and he held out to her the golden 
 sceptre. Then she drew near and touched the top of 
 the sceptre. The king said to her, "What ails thee. 
 Queen Esther ? and what is thy request ? For it 
 shall be given thee, even unto the half of my kingdom." 
 And Esther answered, " If it seem good to the king, let 
 the king and Haman come this day to the banquet 
 that I have prepared ; " for she feared to show at that 
 time all that was in her heart. The king sent to 
 Haman, and bade him make haste and come to the 
 banquet that the queen had prepared. So the king 
 and Haman came to the banquet. And as they sat at 
 the wine, the king said to Esther, " What is thy petition ? 
 It shall be granted to thee even unto the half of my 
 kingdom ; " for he knew that she had something that she 
 would ask of him. But Esther yet feared to show the 
 thing. Therefore she said, " If I have found favour in 
 the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant 
 my petition, then let the king and Haman come again 
 to-morrow to the banquet that I shall prepare, and 
 to-morrow I will make known my request." 
 
 Haman went forth from the queen's presence that 
 
264 SrONlES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 day with a joyful heart ; but as he passed by the gate 
 of the king's palace he saw Mordecai ; and Mordecai, 
 as before, refused to prostrate himself on the ground 
 before him ; nay, he did not stand up nor move from 
 his place. And Haman was full of indignation ; never- 
 theless he restrained himself, and went to his house. 
 And when he came thither he called for Zeresh his wife, 
 and for his friends, and boasted to them of his greatness, 
 of his riches, and of the number of his children — for he 
 had ten sons, and the Persians greatly honour those 
 that have many sons — and how the king had honoured 
 him, promoting him above all his princes and servants. 
 " Yea," he said, " this day Esther the queen did let no 
 man save myself come in with the king to the banquet 
 which she had prepared ; and to-morrow also I am 
 invited with the king. But all this avails me nothing, 
 so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's 
 gate." 
 
 Then Zeresh and his friends said to him, " Cause 
 that a cross threescore and fifteen feet high be set up, 
 and to-morrow speak unto the king that Mordecai may 
 be hanged thereon, and then go thou merrily with the 
 king into the banquet." And the thing pleased Haman, 
 and he caused the cross to be made. 
 
 That night the king could not sleep ; so he sent 
 for the book of the records of the kingdom, and bade 
 his servants read to him out of it, for it was not the 
 custom among the Persians that the king should read. 
 And it was found written therein that two of the king's 
 chamberlains that kept the door of his chamber had 
 conspired to slay the king, and that Mordecai had told 
 the matter to the king. Then the king said, " What 
 honour and dignity has been done to Mordecai for 
 this?" Then the king's servants answered, "There has 
 been nothing done to him." Then the king said, " Who 
 
THE STORY OF QUEEN ESTHER 265 
 
 is in the court?" Now Haman had come into the 
 court of the king's house to make request to the king 
 that Mordecai might be hanged on the cross that he 
 had made. So the king's sei-vants said, " Haman 
 standeth in the court." And the king said, " Let him 
 come in." So Haman came in. And the king said, 
 " What shall be done to the man whom the king 
 delighteth to honour?" And Haman thought in his 
 heart, " To whom will the king delight to do honour 
 more than to myself ! " and he answered, " Let apparel 
 which the king is wont to wear be brought for him, and 
 the horse on which the king rides, and the royal crown 
 that is set upon his head ; and let these things be 
 delivered to one of the most noble of the king's princes, 
 that he may array the man with them, and cause him 
 to ride on horseback through the streets of the city, 
 and proclaim before him. Thus shall it be done unto 
 the man whom the king delighteth to honour." Then 
 the king said, " Make haste, and take the apparel and 
 the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai 
 the Jew, that sits at the king's gate." And Haman 
 took the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, 
 and made him ride through the great square, and pro- 
 claimed before him, " Thus shall it be done to the man 
 whom the king delighteth to honour.'' And Mordecai 
 went back to his place at the king's gate, but Haman 
 returned to his house mourning, and with his head 
 covered ; and he told Zeresh his wife and his friends all 
 that had happened to him. And they said to him, " If 
 Mordecai be of, the race of the Jews, thou shalt not 
 prevail against him." And while they were yet talking 
 with him, came the king's chamberlain, and bade him 
 make haste and come to the banquet that Esther had 
 prepared. 
 
 So the king and Haman came in unto the banquet 
 
266 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 that the queen had prepared. And the king said to 
 Esther, for he knew that she had something in her 
 mind, " What is thy petition ? It shall be granted 
 thee even unto the half of my kingdom." 
 
 Then Esther the queen answered and said, " If I 
 have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please 
 the king, let my life and the life of my people be 
 granted to me, for we are sold to be slain. If we had 
 been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, then had I 
 said nothing. But what shall the king profit if he gain 
 ten thousand talents of silver and lose so many of his 
 people?" 
 
 Then the king said, " Who is this that has dared to 
 devise such a thing against thee ? " for he knew not 
 that the queen was of the race of the Jews. 
 
 And the queen answered, " My enemy is that wicked 
 Haman." Then the king in his wrath rose from the 
 banquet and went out into the garden of the palace. 
 And Haman was sore afraid, and fell at the feet of the 
 queen to make supplication for his life. And when the 
 king saw it he said, " Will he dare to touch the queen ? " 
 And as the word went out of the king's mouth, the 
 chamberlains covered Haman's face. And one of them 
 said, " There is a cross threescore and fifteen feet high, 
 which Haman caused to be made for Mordecai." And 
 the king said, " Hang him thereon." So they hanged 
 him upon it, and the king's wrath was pacified. 
 
 That day the king gave to Esther the queen all 
 that Haman had possessed. And when Esther told 
 him that Mordecai was her kinsman, the king gave 
 him his ring, and set him in the office which Haman 
 had had. 
 
 But the decree that had been sent out against the 
 Jews yet stood. Therefore Esther went in again to the 
 king, and when he held out to her the golden sceptre. 
 
THE STORY OF QUEEN ESTHER 267 
 
 she said, " If it please the king, and if I have found 
 favour in his sight, and if I be pleasing in his eyes, 
 then let the decree which Haman caused to be made 
 against the Jews be reversed, for how can I endure to 
 see the evil that shall come unto my own people, or bear 
 to see the destruction of my people ?" 
 
 Then the king said, " Haman have I hanged because 
 he laid his hand upon thy people, and his house have I 
 given to thee, but the writing that is written in the 
 king's name and sealed with the king's ring no man 
 may reverse. Nevertheless ye may write what ye will 
 on behalf of the Jews in the king's name, and seal it 
 with the king's ring." 
 
 So Mordecai wrote in the king's name to the gover- 
 nors of all the provinces throughout the realm of 
 Persia to this effect, that it should be lawful for the 
 Jews that were in every city to gather themselves 
 together, and to stand for their life, and to slay all such 
 as should assault them, and to take their goods for a 
 prey. And because the matter was urgent these second 
 letters were sent out in haste by posts on horseback, 
 and riders upon coursers of the king's stud and on 
 young dromedaries. And Mordecai went out from the 
 presence of the king in royal apparel of purple and 
 white, with a crown of gold upon his head. And the 
 Jews greatly rejoiced both in Shushan and in all the 
 provinces of the realm of Persia. And the fear of 
 them fell upon the people, and many joined themselves 
 to their religion. 
 
 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month the 
 enemies of the Jews assailed them, hoping to prevail 
 against them. But the thing turned to the contrary, 
 for the Jews gathered themselves together throughout 
 all the provinces and defended themselves ; and their 
 enemies could not resist them, for the fear of them was 
 
268 STOJilES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 great, and also the governors helped them, having 
 regard to Mordecai, who was now the chief man in all 
 the kingdom. Therefore the Jews smote their enemies 
 with the sword, and slew in Shushan five hundred men, 
 and among them the ten sons of Haman. This was 
 done on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, and on 
 the fourteenth day also the Jews slew their enemies, so 
 that in Shushan there fell three hundred men, and in 
 the rest of the provinces fifteen thousand. The men 
 they slew, but they laid not their hand on the prey, but 
 put it into the treasury of the king. And because the 
 month was turned for them from sorrow into joy and 
 from mourning into a good day, these days were 
 appointed to the people of the Jews to be a feast for 
 ever, — days of feasting and joy and of sending portions 
 one to another, and of gifts to the poor. And they 
 called the name of the feast Purim, that is to say the 
 "Lots"; because Haman had the lots cast before him 
 day by day that he might find an occasion to destroy 
 the people of the Lord, but the thing turned to his 
 own ruin, so that he was himself destroyed and his 
 house. 
 
THE STORY OF THE MACCABEES 
 
 In the days of Antiochus, surnamed Epiphanes/ king of 
 Syria, there were many among the Jews who followed the 
 customs of the Greeks, the leader being Joshua the high- 
 priest, who called himself by the name of Jason. They 
 wore the garments of the Greeks,^ and made for them- 
 selves a place for wrestling and quoit-playing, and such 
 sports, under Mount Zion itself, where the young men 
 stripped themselves to contend in the games, and even the 
 priests left the service of the temple to cast the quoit. 
 Nay, the high priest Jason so despised his office that he 
 sent an offering of money to the god Melkarth of Tyre. 
 In the fourth year of his reign ^ Antiochus invaded 
 the land of Egypt with a great host, and when the 
 king of Egypt submitted himself, in the next year he 
 came up to Jerusalem, and entered into the sanctuary, 
 and took away the golden altar, and the great candlestick, 
 and the table of the shewbread, and the flagons, and 
 the cups, and the censers of gold, and he stripped off 
 the gold that was on the walls. He slew also many of 
 the people, and so departed. After five years, again, 
 he sent his chief collector of tribute, Apollonius by 
 name, to Jerusalem with a great army. This man 
 
 1 Or "Glorious." The surname was turned into a nickname, "Epi- 
 manes," i.e. the "madman." 
 
 2 The petasus or broad-brimmed hat is especially mentioned. It was 
 associated with the customaiy representations of Hermes (Mercury). 
 
 3 171 B.C. 
 
270 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 pretended to come peaceably, and so was permitted to 
 enter without hindrance into the city. Being there, he 
 waited till the Sabbath day came round ; and when 
 the people were keeping the feast, he bade his soldiers 
 fall upon them, and slew a great multitude of men. 
 He built also a great wall round the city of David, and 
 strengthened it with towers, and put in it a garrison of 
 the heathen. Then was the sanctuary laid Avaste like 
 a wilderness, the feasts turned into mourning, and the 
 Sabbaths into reproach. 
 
 King Antiochus sent letters throughout his kingdom 
 that all his subjects should become one people, every 
 one having their own land. Especially to Jerusalem 
 and the cities of Judah did he send messengers com- 
 manding that they should follow the religion of the 
 heathen. He forbade the offering of sacrifice in the 
 temple, and commanded that the Holy Place should be 
 polluted, and that altars, and groves, and chapels of 
 false gods should be set up, and that swine should be 
 sacrificed. Also he commanded that none should 
 circumcise their children ; and if any would not do 
 after his commandment he was to be put to death. 
 
 On the fifteenth day of the month Chisleu ^ an altar 
 of Olympian Jupiter was set up on the brazen altar that 
 Zerubbabel had made ; and on the fifteenth day of the 
 month they offered sacrifice on the altar. All books of 
 the law that could be found they rent in pieces and 
 burned with fire ; and if they knew of any man that 
 had any holy book or that kept the law, they put him 
 to death. 
 
 Now there dwelt in Modin ^ one Mattathias, a priest 
 of the order of Joarib, which is the first of the orders. 
 He had five sons, namely, John, that was called the 
 
 * About the end of the year 168 B.C. 
 2 A town on the western border of the hill-country of Juden. 
 
THE STORY OF THE MACCABEES 271 
 
 Fortunate, and Simon, called the Wise, and Judas, the 
 Hammer,^ and Eleazar, the Beast-Slayer, and Jonathan, 
 the Dissembler. These men were greatly troubled at 
 what King Antiochus had done. When the king's 
 officers came to Modin to compel the inhabitants to 
 sacrifice, they said to Mattathias, " Thou art a ruler and 
 an honourable man in this city ; come therefore first 
 and fulfil the king's commandment. Then shalt thou 
 and thy house be counted among the king's friends, and 
 be honoured with many rewards." 
 
 But Mattathias answered, " Though all the nations 
 that are under the king's dominion obey him, and fall 
 away from the religion of their fathers, yet I and my 
 sons will walk in the covenant of our God." 
 
 And when one of the Jews came forward to sacrifice 
 at the altar, Mattathias was so inflamed with rage that 
 he slew him there. Also the king's commissioner was 
 slain, and the altar was pulled down. 
 
 Then Mattathias cried, "Whoso is zealous for the 
 law, let him follow me ; " and he and his sons left the 
 city and fled to the mountains, and there abode, enduring 
 great hardships. 
 
 While they were there it so happened that the 
 soldiers of the heathen came on a certain Sabbath day 
 upon a company of them that had broken the king's 
 commandment. The soldiers said to them, " Come forth 
 and do as the king hath commanded, and ye shall live." 
 They answered, " We will not do so, neither will we 
 profane the Sabbath." And when the heathen attacked 
 them they would neither defend themselves nor flee. 
 So they were slain, they and their wives and their 
 children, to the number of a thousand people. When 
 
 1 yWa<-fa*, probably, not certainly, however, meaning" Hammer." These 
 surnames are, of course, afterthoughts. They were not borne by Matta- 
 thias's sons before they had distinguished themselves. 
 
272 
 
 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Mattathias and his people heard this they said, " We 
 will not do as our brethren have done. If any come 
 against us on the Sabbath day, we will fight against 
 them." 
 
 Now Mattathias was old, and the time drew near 
 that he should die ; but before he died he called the 
 people together, and said to them, " Simon is a man of 
 
 THE FLIGHT OF MATTATHIAS. 
 
 counsel ; he therefore shall be your father ; and Judas 
 is mighty and strong ; let him be your captain." So 
 he died ; and his sons buried him at Modin in the 
 sepulchre of his father, and all Israel made lamentation 
 over him. 
 
 After a while ApoUonius, the chief collector of tribute, 
 came against the Jews with an army. But Judas met 
 him, and turned his army to flight. Many of the heathen 
 
THE STORY OF THE MACCABEES 273 
 
 were slain, and Apollonius himself. And Judas took 
 his sword, and ever after used it for his own. 
 
 Next Seron, who was captain of the king's army in 
 Syria, came against him ; but Judas with a small com- 
 pany met him in the pass of Beth-horon. 
 
 Judas's men said to him, " How shall we that are so 
 few fight against this great army, seeing also that we 
 are faint with hunger ? " 
 
 Judas answered, " It is no hard matter for many to 
 be vanquished by few. Victory standeth not in the 
 multitude of a host ; but help cometh of heaven." 
 
 When he had ended his speaking, he leapt suddenly 
 on the enemy, and Seron and his host were overthrown. 
 Eight hundred of them were slain in the Pass of Beth- 
 horon ; and the rest fled into the land of the Philistines. 
 After this the fear of Judas and his brethren fell upon 
 all the nations round about. 
 
 When King Antiochus heard of these things, he was 
 very wroth. But because his treasury was empty he 
 himself purposed to go into the land of Persia, hoping 
 to get great riches therefrom ; and he put one Lysias, 
 who was his kinsman, to be deputy in his stead.. Him 
 he commanded utterly to root Israel from their land, 
 and to plant strangers in it. 
 
 Lysias sent Ptolemy and Nicanor and Gorgias with 
 an army of forty thousand footmen and seven thousand 
 horsemen to make war against the Jews. These came 
 and pitched at Emmaus.^ 
 
 Judas and his brethren and all the people that 
 followed them came to Mizpeh, that is on the hill oh the 
 north side of Jerusalem, from whence they could see the 
 temple where it lay desolate. They fasted that day, 
 and put on sackcloth, and threw dust upon their heads, 
 and rent their clothes. And they laid open before the 
 
 1 In the Philistine plains. 
 T 
 
274 STOJi/ES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Lord the book of the law wherein the heathen had 
 painted the likeness of their false gods.^ Also they 
 showed the priest's garments, and the first-fruits and the 
 tithes, as being ready to be offered, if only they might 
 come to the Holy Place. And the Nazarites came as 
 being willing to perform their vows if only they could 
 come into the temple. Then they cried with a loud 
 voice, saying, " What shall we do with these, and whither 
 shall we carry them away, for thy sanctuary is profaned 
 and trodden down ? " 
 
 After this Judas made captains over thousands, and 
 over hundreds, and over fifties, and over tens. But 
 such as were building houses, or had betrothed wives, 
 or were planting vineyards, or were fearful, these he 
 commanded to return, every man to his house, according 
 to the law. Then he pitched his camp upon the south 
 side of Emmaus ; and he said, " Arm yourselves and be 
 ready to fight in the morning, for it is better for us to 
 die than to see the calamities of our people and our 
 sanctuary. Nevertheless, as is the will of God, so let 
 Him do." 
 
 Gorgias took five thousand men, and went by night 
 that he might fall suddenly upon the camp of the Jews. 
 But Judas heard of it, and he removed from his camp, 
 he and his valiant men, that he might fall upon the 
 enemy in Emmaus, before that the others should have 
 returned to it. In the meanwhile Gorgias came to the 
 camp, and finding it empty, sought for the Jews in the 
 mountains, saying, " These fellows flee from us." But as 
 soon as it was day Judas showed himself in the plain 
 with three thousand men, who were but ill-armed. And 
 though he saw that the camp of the heathen was strong, 
 and compassed about with horsemen expert in war, 
 yet he encouraged his men to the battle. When the 
 1 So Hezekiah laid Sennacherib's blasphemous letter before the Lord. 
 
THE STORY OF THE MACCABEES 275 
 
 heathen saw Judas and his men they went out of their 
 camp to fight with them. Then they that were with 
 Judas sounded the trumpet, and fell upon the heathen 
 and discomfited them, and pursued them, slaying such 
 as they overtook. 
 
 After this Judas returned to the camp. But he said 
 to his people, " Be not greedy of spoils, inasmuch as 
 there is a battle before us ; for Gorgias and his men are 
 in the mountains. But when ye have discomfited these, 
 then ye may boldly take the spoils." 
 
 But when Gorgias and his men saw that the camp 
 was on fire, and that the host of Judas was drawn out 
 on the plain ready to fight, they fled. So Judas and 
 his men got great spoil, gold and silver, and purple and 
 crimson apparel, and much of wealth of many kinds. 
 
 The next year Lysias came with sixty thousand 
 footmen, choice soldiers, and five thousand horsemen, and 
 pitched at Bethsura.^ Now Judas had but ten thousand 
 men, nevertheless he fell boldly on the enemy, and put 
 them to flight. 
 
 When Lysias had fled, Judas and his brethren said, 
 " Behold our enemies are discomfited ; let us go up to 
 cleanse the sanctuary and dedicate it afresh." So all 
 the host went up to Mount Zion. And when they saw 
 how the sanctuary was desolate, and the altar profaned, 
 and shrubs were growing in the court as in a forest, 
 they wept aloud. Judas appointed a force to fight 
 against the fort and its garrison ; and he chose certain 
 priests that were of a blameless life to cleanse the 
 sanctuary. These pulled down tlie altar of sacrifice, 
 because it had been profaned, and laid away the stones 
 till there should arise a prophet who should show what 
 should be done with them. Then they took stones that 
 were not touched with any tool, as the law commanded 
 1 On the border of Idumoea (Edom). 
 
276 
 
 STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 and built an altar with them. They brought also new 
 holy vessels, and an altar of incense, and a table for 
 the shewbread, and ordered all things as they had been 
 before. These things were finished on the twenty-fifth 
 day of the month Chisleu, in the third year after that 
 the altar had been profaned. 
 
 THE PURIFYING OF THE TEMPLE. 
 
 These things being done, they kept the festival of 
 the dedication with great gladness for eight days. 
 
 After this Judas set a garrison in Bethsura to be a 
 defence against the Idumaeans. He fought also against 
 the Idumaeans, and against the children of Ammon, 
 and defeated them. But when he was returned to 
 Jerusalem there came messengers from the land of 
 Gilead with letters, telling how the heathen threatened 
 
THE STORY OF THE MACCABEES 277 
 
 to destroy them. And while these were being read, 
 there came other messengers from Galilee, saying, " They 
 of Tyre and Sidon are assembled together to consume us." 
 
 Then said Judas to Simon, " Choose thee men, and 
 go and deliver our brethren that are in Galilee, and I 
 and Jonathan will go into the country of Gilead." 
 
 And he made Joseph and Azariah captains over the 
 remnant of the host that was left in Jerusalem, saying, 
 " Take charge of the people ; but see that ye make not 
 war against the heathen." 
 
 Simon went with three thousand men into Galilee, 
 and discomfited the heathen, and took their spoil, and 
 brought them that had been taken prisoners by them 
 with great joy to Jerusalem. 
 
 As for Judas and Jonathan, they went over Jordan, 
 and went three days' journey into the wilderness. 
 There they met with the Nabathseans, who told them 
 how it fared with their brethren in Gilead. Then 
 Judas went up suddenly against Bosora, and took it, 
 and burned it with fire. This done, he went to the 
 fortress of Dathema, where many Jews were shut up. 
 The next day there came against the fortress Timotheus 
 with a great host, bringing scaling-ladders and other 
 engines of war. Then said Judas to his host, " Fight 
 this day for your brethren." So he sent them forth in 
 three companies, and when Timotheus and his men 
 knew that it was Maccabseus that came against him, 
 they fled ; and many of them were slain. 
 
 Then Judas went against the other cities of Gilead, 
 and took them ; and when Timotheus gathered another 
 host, having hired the Arabians to help him, Judas 
 defeated him again ; and when he fled to Carnaim, he 
 pursued after him, and took the city, and burned the 
 great temple of Ashtaroth with fire. 
 
 After these things Judas gathered together all the 
 
27S STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 Israelites that were in Gilead, from the least unto the 
 greatest, with their wives and their children and their 
 goods, a very great multitude, that he might bring them 
 into the land of Judah. When they came to Ephron 
 they would have passed through the city. And Judas 
 sent to the inhabitants of Ephron in a peaceable 
 manner, saying, " Let us pass through your land to go 
 into our own country. None shall do you hurt. We 
 will only pass through on foot." But the men of 
 Ephron refused. Then Judas and his men assaulted 
 the city all that day and all that night, till at length it 
 was delivered into their hands. So he brought the 
 people of Gilead safely to Jerusalem. 
 
 But while Judas and his brethren were absent, 
 Joseph and Azariah, that had been left captains of the 
 garrison, hearing of the mighty acts that had been done, 
 said, " Let us also get a name and fight against the 
 heathen." So they went out against the city of Jamnia. 
 But Gorgias and his host came out of the city against 
 them, and put them to flight ; and there were slain that 
 day two thousand men of Israel. 
 
 After these things Judas went and fought against 
 the Idumaeans, and took Hebron ; and he fought 
 against the Philistines, and took Azotus. 
 
 About this time Antiochus the king, having heard 
 that there was in Persia a city greatly renowned for its 
 wealth, and having in it a very rich temple where 
 Alexander, son of Philip, had offered many things, he 
 went against it. But the people had warning of his 
 coming, and drove him away, so that he returned to 
 Babylon. There he heard how his armies had been 
 discomfited in the land of the Jews. Then he laid him 
 down on his bed, and fell sick for grief, till he was on 
 the point to die. So he called for his friends, and said, 
 " I remember the evils that I did at Jerusalem, how I 
 
THE STORY OF THE MACCABEES 279 
 
 took all the vessels of silver and gold, and destroyed 
 all the people without a cause. Now I perceive that 
 for this cause these troubles are come upon me." 
 
 Then he called for Philip, one of his friends, and 
 gave him the crown and his robe and his signet, to 
 keep them for Antiochus his son. So he died in the 
 thirty-second year of his age. 
 
 Meanwhile Judas besieged the fort that was on 
 Mount Zion, and was like to take it. When the coun- 
 sellors of the young king heard thereof they gathered a 
 great army, and coming by way of Idumaea, pitched 
 over against Bethsura, and assaulted it many days. 
 But the garrison fought valiantly, and coming forth 
 from the fort burnt the engines of war with fire. 
 
 Judas came forth to help his brethren, leaving the 
 siege of the fortress in Mount Zion ; and he pitched his 
 camp in Beth-Zacharias. Very early the next morning 
 the army of the king marched against him. Many 
 elephants had they, and these they divided among the 
 armies, appointing for every elephant a thousand men 
 armed with coats of mail and helmets of brass, and 
 also five hundred chosen horsemen. Whithersoever 
 the beast went these went with him. Upon the beasts 
 there were strong towers of wood, covered over, and 
 fastened to them with girths ; and in each tower were 
 two -and -thirty strong men, besides the Indian that 
 drove him. 
 
 Then Judas and his host drew near, and fought 
 against the king's army, and slew of them six hundred 
 men. 
 
 When Eleazar, the brother of Judas, saw that one of 
 the elephants was higher than all the rest, and was 
 armed with royal harness, he supposed that the king 
 was thereon, and ran courageously through the midst of 
 the battle, slaying on the right hand and the left, and 
 
28o STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 making a way through the enemy. This done, he 
 crept under the elephant and slew him ; whereupon the 
 elephant fell down upon him, and he died. But the 
 rest of the Jews, seeing how strong was the king's army, 
 turned away. 
 
 The king took Bethsura, for the garrison surrendered 
 it, having no victuals ; and he besieged Jerusalem. 
 But when the siege had now lasted many days, and 
 Judas and his men were in sore straits for want of food, 
 suddenly, by the counsel of Lysias, the young king 
 agreed to conditions of peace. Nevertheless, when 
 they were come into the city, seeing how strong was 
 the wall, he brake his oath, and caused that a portion 
 of it should be thrown down. 
 
 After these things the young Antiochus was slain, 
 and Demetrius reigned in his stead. 
 
 Demetrius sent Nicanor, a man that bore deadly 
 hate against Israel, with commandment to destroy the 
 people. So Nicanor came with great force. But first 
 he sought to deceive Judas and his brethren, sending to 
 them with friendly words, saying,. " Let there be no 
 battle between us. I will come with a few men, that I 
 may see you in peace." 
 
 So he came to Judas, and they saluted one another 
 peaceably. But Nicanor's men were ready to take 
 away Judas by force, but could not, for the thing was 
 discovered. 
 
 When Nicanor saw that his counsel was in vain he 
 fought against Judas and his brethren in the land of 
 Samaria. Being defeated, he came to Jerusalem, and 
 when the elders of the people and the priests came out 
 to salute him peaceably, and to show how they offered 
 burnt sacrifice for the king, he mocked them and laughed 
 at them and spat on them, and sware in his wrath, 
 " Unless Judas and his men are delivered into my hand. 
 
THE STORY OF THE MACCABEES 281 
 
 if ever I come again in peace, I will burn this house 
 with fire." 
 
 Then the priests stood before the altar weeping, and 
 saying, " O Lord, Thou didst choose this house to be 
 called by Thy name, and to be a house of prayer for 
 Thy people ; be avenged of this man and his host, and 
 let them fall by the sword." 
 
 So Nicanor went out of Jerusalem and pitched in 
 Beth-horon, where there met him another host from 
 Syria. But Judas pitched at Adasa^ with three 
 thousand men. 
 
 On the thirteenth day of the month Adar^ the 
 hosts joined battle ; but Nicanor's host was discomfited, 
 and he himself was first slain. When his host knew 
 that he was dead they cast away their weapons and 
 fled. And Juda^'s men pursued after them. And the 
 people came out of all the cities of Judah and closed 
 them in, turning them back upon their pursuers, so that 
 there was not one of them left. Afterwards they took 
 the spoils, and smote off Nicanor's head and his right 
 hand which he stretched out so proudly, and brought 
 them away, and hanged them up on one of the gates of 
 the temple. 
 
 Moreover they ordained that this day should be 
 kept as a festival year by year. 
 
 Now Judas had heard of the fame of the Romans, 
 that they were mighty and valiant men, and that they 
 would receive with friendship such as would make a 
 league with them. Moreover he heard how that they 
 stayed the Galatians from their plunderings, and had 
 won the land of Spain with its mines of gold and of 
 silver, and how they had discomfited Perseus, king of 
 the Greeks ; and how, when Antiochus the Great came 
 
 1 Adasa is between two and three miles from Beth-horon. 
 2 About 5th March 161 B.C. 
 
282 STOA'IES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 against them with elephants and chariots and a very 
 great army, they discomfited him, and constrained him 
 to make peace with them, and pay them tribute ; and 
 how, notwithstanding this greatness, none of them wore 
 a crown or was clothed in purple. Moreover he heard 
 how they had made for themselves a senate-house, 
 wherein three hundred and twenty men sat in council 
 daily, consulting alway for the people, to the end that 
 they might be well ordered ; and that they were 
 obedient to rule, and there was no envy or ambition 
 among them. Considering these things, Judas sent 
 ambassadors to Rome to make a league of friendship 
 and alliance with them, and to beg that the Romans 
 should deliver them from the Greeks. So the ambas- 
 sadors came and told their errand, and a treaty was 
 made between the two to this purpose : — 
 
 " If there come war upon the Romans or any of 
 their confederates the Jews shall help them, neither 
 shall they give anything to their enemies — of weapons, 
 or victuals, or money, or ships. 
 
 " In the same manner also, if war come upon the 
 Jews, the Romans shall help them, and not give aught 
 to their enemies." 
 
 The Romans sent also to Demetrius, warning him 
 that he should do no harm to the Jews. 
 
 But while these things were being done, Demetrius, 
 having heard how Nicanor had been defeated and slain, 
 sent Bacchides, his lieutenant, and Alcimus, the high- 
 priest, with a great host against Judas. 
 
 Judas pitched his camp at Eleasa, having three 
 thousand men with him, and no more, for many of the 
 zealous men ^ had fallen away from him when they knew 
 that he made a covenant with the Romans. And of the 
 three thousand many fled when they saw how great 
 1 The Chasidim or Puritan party who were opposed to all compromise. 
 
THE STORY OF THE MACCABEES 283 
 
 was the multitude of the enemy, so that there remained 
 with him no more than eight hundred men. Never- 
 theless unto them that remained he said, " Let us arise 
 and go against our enemies ; peradventure we may- 
 prevail over them." But they said, " We shall not be 
 able. Let us rather save our lives, and we will return 
 with our brethren, and fight against them another day, 
 for we are but few." 
 
 But Judas said, " God forbid that I should do this 
 thing, and flee from them. If our time be come, let us 
 die manfully for our brethren, and let us not stain our 
 honour." 
 
 So the two armies went out to battle. And when 
 Judas perceived that Bacchides and the strength of his 
 army were on the right wing, he took with him all 'the 
 most valiant men of his company and discomfited them, 
 and pursued them as far as Mount Azara. But when 
 they of the left wing saw this they fell upon Judas and 
 his men from behind. Thereupon there was a sore 
 battle, insomuch that many were slain ; Judas also was 
 killed, and the remnant fled. 
 
 But Jonathan and Simon took Judas their brother 
 and buried him in the sepulchre of his fathers in Modin. 
 And all Israel made great lamentation over him, 
 mourning many days, and saying, " How IS THE 
 VALIANT MAN FALLEN THAT DELIVERED ISRAEL ? " 
 
 THE END 
 
 Printed ty R. & R. Clark, Edinburgh.