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food enough in the whole of Canaan for such a host of men and beasts. And as tradition magnified the numbers of the enemy, so it under-estimated the means by which they were defeated, to the glory alike of Gideon's faith and Yahweh's power. Indeed, the desire to make Gideon accomplish everything with the smallest possible number of men leads the tradition to contradict itself. For we are told that after the night on which Gideon had raised a panic in the Midianite army by the aid of his three hundred men, the warriors of the surrounding tribes were called to the pursuit. But when he himself crossed the Jordan and fell upon Zebah and Zalmunna, he was only accompanied by his faithful three hundred. The victory at Raven-rock was won by the Ephraimites alone. What were these warriors of the northern tribes

doing all the while? Are we to suppose that they did nothing but despatch the fugitives?

It is in the nature of popular traditions not only to exalt the fame of their heroes by depicting their exploits on a magnificent scale, but also to clothe them as far as possible in the garments of a later age. It is exceedingly difficult for most men to imagine the great ones of a former age entirely different from themselves in manners, religion, ways of thought and customs. So, too, certain facts which seemed to the faith of posterity unworthy, or even infamous, were gradually removed from the history of the conqueror of the Midianites. The writer who collected the popular traditions concerning him, and assigned him his place in the series of Israelite judges, carried this process still further, and transformed his Gideon into a man after his own heart. It is to him, of course, that we owe the statement of the number of years during which Israel was oppressed by the Midianites, and the forty years' rest enjoyed by the land after the triumph. It is he, too, who represents the whole of Israel as having taken part in Gideon's struggle, and offered him the regal crown; whereas all the tribes of the South, including Dan, Judah, Benjamin, Simeon, Reuben, and Gad, are passed over entirely without mention in the narrative itself. But in other and more interesting respects the character of this conqueror has been disguised almost past recognition.

In the first place, what was his real name? Not Gideon. This word means "hewer," and was a title of honor. In the same way the Hasmonean, who delivered the Jews from Syrian King,1 was called Judas Macca

the power of the

1 See p. 30.

bæus, or "the war-mace," and the Frankish hero who drove the Arabs back across the Pyrenees was called Charles Martel, that is, "the hammer." The real name of the conqueror of the Midianites was Jerubbaal,1 or "Baal contends." In the narrative itself, however, this name occurs but once.2 Everywhere else the hero is called Gideon, and the writer makes a surname of Jerubbaal, which he translates, "let Baal contend against him!" It is easy to see why he did so. He could not bear to think that Israel's deliverer should have had a name in which Baal's might was celebrated; for it suggested the question whether he was not a worshipper of Baal. The fact is that he was. No doubt he was also a worshipper of Yahweh, in whose name he called the tribes to battle; his family, too, evidently worshipped the same god, for the first syllable of the name of his father Joash is an abbreviation of Yahweh, who was indeed acknowledged by every Israelite as the god of his people. But in the time of the Judges numerous Baals were worshipped as well as Yahweh. It is exceedingly difficult to make out the relation in which these Baals stood to each other and to Yahweh; but this is only what we should expect, for "baal" means "lord,” and is, therefore, a common name of deity, as well as a proper name of certain special gods. Now the Israelites, before the time of Moses, worshipped a number of Baals, and the service of these gods was by no means superseded by that of Yahweh. Moreover, the Canaanites, amongst whom the Israelites settled, had their own Baals to whom they consecrated sanctuaries, stones, and trees, or offered sacrifices. The fresh settlers mingled with the old inhabitants, and entered into alliances with them at their holy places. Only think what confusion this would cause! For instance, suppose a tribe, whose special god was called Baal-Gad, went to battle in the name of Yahweh, and finally concluded an alliance with a Canaanite tribe whose sanctuary was dedicated to Baal-Peor, at this shrine Yahweh, Baal-Gad, and Baal-Peor would all be invoked by the same persons. Now were they three gods, or only three names for the same god? One can easily believe that the worshippers themselves did not exactly know, and that Joash, for instance, though a faithful subject of Yahweh, might call his son "Jerubbaal." In doing so he did not for a moment suppose that he was insulting the majesty of Yahweh.

1 Judges viii. 29, 35, ix. 1, 2, 16, 28, 57; 1 Samuel xii. 11; 2 Samuel xi. 21. ? Judges vii. 1.

But in a later age a war against all these Baals was waged in the name of Yahweh, and his servants were passionately convinced that the worship of these gods tarnished the glory of the god of gods, the one only god, Yahweh. To find a champion of Israel with such a name as Jerubbaal could not fail to perplex and mortify them, and our author attempts to get rid of the scandal by making Jerubbaal a surname, and explaining it in such a way as to render it harmless, while he employs the title of honor, "Gideon," as a proper name. Others, however, seeking the same end by different means, slightly changed the name Jerubbaal. They altered "baal" into "besheth " 66 bosheth," which means or 66 shame," and so made the name into "Jerubbesheth."1 There are other examples of exactly the same thing. Two of Saul's sons were called Meribaal, that is, “Baal's warrior ;" and Ishbaal, that is, man of Baal;" and David himself gave one of his sons the name of Beeljada, that is, "Baal knows." But in the book of Samuel the names are always given as Mephibosheth, Ishbosheth, and Eljada, that is, "God knows,” 2 so that we should never have known the idolatrous sound of the real names of these men if they had not been preserved in their original forms in the book of Chronicles, which was not in such frequent use among the Jews, and therefore escaped alteration."

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Tradition plainly declared that idolatry was practised in Gideon's neighborhood, and that he himself was not free from responsibility for the existence of a kind of worship which was very far indeed from reaching the standard of orthodoxy recognized in our author's day. But he could not believe that an idolater and breaker of the law could ever have received such aid from Yahweh; so he said that it was not until after he had won the victory that Gideon set up an image at Ophrah. Oddly enough he styles this image an ephod, though the word is always used of a priestly garment elsewhere. Gideon's conduct appears to have departed in some respects from the rules laid down, even in his own day, by those who were most zealous for the worship of Yahweh according to the principles of Moses. These points can still be made out with tolerable certainty from the history of Gideon's son, and we shall, therefore, speak of them in the next chapter. We shall also return in another connection to the subject of Gideon's declining the crown.

And now one word on the most remarkable trait in Gideon's

1 2 Samuel xi. 21.

3 1 Chronicles viii. 33,

2 2 Samuel ii. 8, iv. 4, v. 16, and elsewhere.

ix. 39, 40, xiv. 7 (iii. 8).

character, as sketched in the book of Judges, I mean his faith. It is at Yahweh's command that he stands up to deliver Israel; it is on the help of this god that he relies when he makes ready for the fight, and at his command, therefore, he makes his attack upon the Midianites with no help but that of his little band of three hundred men. It is quite in the spirit of the prophets of Judah of the eighth and following centuries highly to commend this conduct; but are we to imitate them? With reference to Gideon's call, we must notice that in reality no such thing ever takes place. No one is ever called to any work by God in a supernatural way. Jerubbaal was a brave man, and it happened when numbers of heroes were longing for the fight, but none of them dared as yet to begin it, that he had special cause to come forward and call his tribesmen to arms. For the Midianites had murdered his brothers, and the duty of avenging them and slaying the murderers devolved upon him.1 This was to him a call from God. We shall not blame On the contrary,

him for girding on his sword in such a cause. courage is a virtue-even military courage. Love of his people and his family places the warrior, whom it urges to venture his very life in their cause, high above the craven. But it can never be easy for the Christian to feel any great admiration for a man whose hands are stained with the blood not only of armed foemen but of defenceless captives; nay, a shudder comes over us if we try vividly to realize that scene in which the hero says to his son, Slay these princes!" and, when he is afraid, does it in cold blood himself! In ancient times people looked upon such an act with admiration; but, thank God, we cannot.

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As for attacking a numerous enemy with a small force, we must bear in mind that it is not as a successful stratagem but as an act of faith that Gideon's conduct is held up to admiration. But we cannot let it pass as such, and should simply call it recklessness. "Gideon's band" has become a proverbial expression for a small but valiant knot of warriors; and a small nation fighting for its altars and hearths against the overpowering forces of a mighty foe, preferring an honorable death to a life of shameful slavery, does indeed excite our admiration. We honor the heroes whose love of their fatherland and their relatives inspires them with courage to take up arms without so much as counting their foes. Nay, sometimes even a small army, by dint of superior valor and determination, gains a victory over a large one. But, as a rule, ten are vic1 Compare pp. 81, 82.

torious over one, without reference to the virtue or vice of either, or the respective merits of their causes. The shafts and bullets of the godless find the mark as well as those of the pious. The highest virtue is no protection against a sabre cut or a bayonet thrust. It is mere recklessness, therefore, deliberately to throw three hundred men into an engagement which careful consideration assures us would tax the powers of ten thousand. To do this on religious principles, and thus systematically to neglect the proper means of securing victory, is simply fanatical.

But Gideon's band" is justly used as a term of honor when it is applied to those who fight for God and the truth against sin, against wrong, and against misery. For in this battle it is not by their own wish that the champions of the good cause are so few. Their numbers are small from the nature of the case, and sorely against their will, and they always have to face a foe that outnumbers them a hundredfold. If the battle were fought with earthly weapons their chance would be small indeed; and when their enemies have recourse to the sword the little band does often sink for a time: but in the long run it must always triumph. Its soldiers only fight with the spiritual weapons of their word and their example. Their object is not to slay their foes, but to raise them to higher virtue and greater happiness, and thus to convert them from enemies into allies. The power which inspires these "Gideon's bands" is faith in the irresistible force of truth, that is, of God, and in this faith they overcome the world.

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CHAPTER XVIII.

ABIMELECH.

JUDGES VIII. 29-IX.; GEN. XXXIV.

IDEON had seventy sons, says the book of Judges, for the number of his wives was great. And besides all these, he had a son whom he called Abimelech, by his mistress in Shechem. Now, after his death, the Israelites not only returned to their idolatrous practices, but forgot all the benefits they had experienced at his hands, and repaid them

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