594 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



that the conflict of testimony which we have thus far noticed, affect- 

 ing as it does some of the leading events of ancient Hebrew history, 

 does not diminish as we proceed in the narrative. In 1 Samuel vii. 

 it is said that the Philistines ceased to harass the land of Israel all 

 the days of Samuel. Immediately thereupon we read of new Philis- 

 tine incursions more direful than ever in their consequences. 1 The 

 popular proverb, " Is Saul among the prophets ? " is variously ex- 

 plained, 1 Sam. x. and xix. Two discrepant accounts are given of 

 Saul's rejection from the kingdom, 1 Sam. xiii. and xv. ; of David's 

 introduction to Saul, 1 Sam. xvi. and xvii. The charming story of 

 David's encounter with the giant Goliath told in 1 Sam. xvii. is 

 contradicted in 2 Sam. xxi. 19, where, not David, but some person 

 otherwise unknown to fame, is reported to have slain the giant Goli- 

 ath, and also the time, place, and attendant circumstances, are differ- 

 ently related. 2 



It thus appears that the compiler of the Pentateuch has admitted 

 a variety of view r s, not only on the ancient history of his people, 

 but also on the general subject of religion and morals, into his work; 

 and that the discordant opinions of diverse authors and of diverse 

 stages of human progress are reflected in its pages. It is the monu- 

 ment of a grand religious movement extending over many centuries 

 of gradual development. It is the image of a nation's struggles and 

 growth. As contained in the books of the Pentateuch, the Mosaic 

 religion is a religious mosaic. 



In the foregoing sketch we have observed how deep a mist of un- 

 certainty hangs over the earliest period, the golden age of the history 

 of the Hebrews. All is in a state of flux, and what appeared com- 

 pact and coherent at a distance yields to our touch upon closer con- 

 tact. To gain terra Jirma, let us turn to the period which immedi- 

 ately succeeded the settlement of the Israelites in Palestine; a period 

 in which the outline of historical events begins to assume a more 

 definite and tangible shape. 



It was a dismal and sorrowful age. The bonds of social order 

 were loosened ; the current conceptions of the Deity and the rites of 

 his worship were gross and often degrading. Mutual jealousies kin- 

 dled the firebrand of war amonsr the contending clans. Almost the 

 whole tribe of Benjamin is extirpated. Abimelech slays seventy 

 princes upon one stone. Lust and treachery run riot. A wilder 

 deed has never been chronicled in the annals of mankind than that 

 related in chapter xix. of Judges, nor ever has a terrible deed been 

 more terribly avenged. Now, looking backward, we ask, Is it to be 

 believed that in the fourteenth century b. c. not only the leader of 



1 Compare 1 Sam. vii. 13, and 1 Sam. xiii. 19. 



s In 1 Chron. xx. 5 we read, " the brother of Goliath." The purpose of the change 

 is clear, and accords well with the apologetical tendencies of the author of Chronicles. 

 Vide De Wette, " Einleitung," etc., p. 370. Geigcr, " Urachrift." 



