with a considerable number of sheep, oxen, and servants, giving him free permission at the same time to settle in any part of his dominions. Abimelech the second reigned also at Gerar, and had almost the same transaction with Isaac and Rebecca, as his father had with Abraham and Sarah. He seems to have been actuated by the very same principles as his righteous predecessor, and certainly merited the epithet of a just and righteous prince. Isaac continued without molestation in the land till his increasing power began to give umbrage to the Philistines, who gave him no small disturbance, by filling up his wells as fast as his servants dug them, and by various other ill offices. He was then compelled to remove from place to place, till at length Abimelech renewed the covenant, that had subsisted between his father and Abraham. Nothing further worthy of notice is recorded of these people, till after the decease of Joshua, when they were dispossessed of Gaza, Askelon, and Ekron, by the united tribes of Simeon and Judah, which however they soon recovered, but whether by gift or conquest is uncertain. B. C. 1305. About one hundred and twenty years after the reduction of these cities, the Philistines oppressed the children of Israel, and retained them in subjection till their delivery was effected by the valour of Shamgar, who is said to have killed six hundred men with an ox goad. A second time they oppressed the Israelites, in conjunction with the Ammonites, in the days of Jephthah: and a third time they reduced them, by the permission of God, and held them in subjection for the space of forty years. B. C. In this interval, Samson was born to check the pride of the Philistines. He 1137. fell in love with a damsel who resided at Timnath, and, at the celebration of his marriage, proposed a riddle to thirty young Philistines, promising to give a suit of apparel to each man, if within seven days they should explain it. For three successive days they puzzled themselves with the solution of his enigma; but finding themselves totally at a loss, and knowing that Samson would demand thirty changes of apparel from them, if they could not resolve it, they threatened their countrywoman, Samson's bride, with the most dreadful effects of their fury, if she did not extricate them from their trouble. She accordingly wearied her husband by continual intreaties, till at length she prevailed on him to disclose the ambiguity, which she communicated to her guests. This transaction proved a misfortune to Askelon, as Samson went thither and slew thirty men, whose garments he carried home to fulfil his engagement. This marriage was productive of many B. C. misfortunes to the Philistines; for Sam- 1136. son's father-in-law, apprehending that his daughter was not possessed of the Israelite's heart, gave her to another, and denied Samson, who had been absent a twelvemonth, all access to his wife; but at the same time offered him another daughter, whom he highly extolled for her youth and personal accomplishments. But this proposal did not pacify Samson, who, in revenge, sent three hundred foxes with fire-brands at their tails into the fields, so that the standing corn was consumed, together with all the other fruits of the earth. The Philistines, confounded at so unexpected a disaster, and understanding the cause of Samson's VOL. II. anger, anger, looked on his father-in-law as the chief incendiary, and therefore burnt him, together with his daughter. Many of them were afterward smitten by Samson, whom they pursued to the rock Etam, and received, bound, from the men of Judah. The Philistines shouted aloud at sight of their enemy, but their joy was soon converted into mourning, for Samson, breaking his bonds, found the jaw-bone of an ass, and with that weapon killed a thousand of his adversaries. At the expiration of twenty years the Gazites thought they had this formidable enemy within their power, and fastened their gates, with an intention to put him to death in the morning. But their precaution was frustrated by Samson, who, quitting his lodging at midnight, took the city gates, with their posts and bars, and carried them away to Hebron. He was however at length subdued through the treachery of his mistress Delilah, who consented to deliver him to the lords of the Philistines for a considerable sum of money. Samson, thus betrayed through his own folly and incontinence, was deprived of his sight, bound in fetters of brass, and compelled to grind in the prison at Gaza: but, in consequence of his repentance and earnest prayer to God, he was finally enabled to revenge himself in the most ample manner, by overturning the temple of Dagon, and crushing three thousand persons beneath the ruins. Soon after this extraordinary event the Philis tines obtained a signal victory over Israel, and took the ark of God, after having slain the two priests who attended it: but experiencing some severe afflictions while they retained it in their possession, possession, they sent it back again to the Israelites, and appear to have been thoroughly sensible of the hand that chastised them. They soon, however, forgot this manifestation of the divine anger; for about twenty years after, they marched against the chosen people, who were assembled at Mizpeh, but they were dispersed by so dreadful a storm of thunder and lightning, that the Israelites pursued them with great slaughter as far as BethCar, and emancipated themselves from their tyrannical yoke. B. C. The Philistines soon recovered this loss, and in a few years became more powerful 1096. than ever; for being informed that one of their fortresses had been surprised by Jonathan the son of Saul, they assembled thirty thousand chariots of war, six thousand horse, and an incredible number of foot soldiers, to fight with the Israelites, who were at this time destitute of arms, through the political precautions of their tyrannical oppressors. B. C. In the midst of their cruel depredations they received a check from Jonathan, 1095. who, inspired by a divine impulse, and accompanied by his armour-bearer, made a considerable slaughter of one of their out guards; the noise of which spreading to the whole body, occasioned so universal a tumult, that they fell upon each other with great fury, and the earth is expressly said to have shaken beneath them. The Israelites, perceiving this confusion, sallied out against them under the command of Saul, and pursued them with unremitting slaughter from Michmash to Ajalon. Notwithstanding this misfortune, visibly effected by the hand of Heaven, they recovered C 2 their their former spirit in a few years, and resolved once more to try the strength of the Israelites in arms. They accordingly pitched their tents on an eminence in front of the Jewish camp, and sent a giant, one Goliath of Gath, to challenge any individual of their enemies to single combat. He presented himself before the intimidated tribes for forty days successively, without receiving any answer to his proposals, or his menaces; but at last he was attacked and slain by David, who at that time was a ruddy youth, and used no other weapons than a sling and a smooth stone chosen from a brook. The haughty Philistine no sooner fell, than David severed his head from his body, and carried it off in triumph, while the Philis tines fled with the utmost precipitation, and were pursued with great slaughter to the gates of their own cities, Gath and Ekron. Soon after this event they were overthrown in battle by David, and some great change seems to have been effected in their government, for about this time the Scripture speaks of a king whose name was Achish, and who resided at Gath. David, being compelled by the urgency of his affairs to seek an asylum in Gath, was brought before this monarch; but he, supposing from his behaviour that he was insane, would take no further notice of him than to command, that he should no more be brought into the presence. Achish, the son of Maoch, afterward B. C. 1060. received David and all his followers into his protection; allotted him Ziglag for his particular dwelling; and proposed to entrust him. with an honourable command in the army: but this design was overruled by the lords of the Philistines. |