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liecn long, on account of his great age when he obtained it. 

 The 80 years attributed to Ehud are liable to the same objec- 

 tions, on grounds as irrefragable and evident, but more parti- 

 cularly on tlie hypothesis of Marsham and his followers, which 

 admits, as we have seen, that during this 5i//?poAt'^ jurisdiction, 

 the servitude under Jabin and the government of Barak took 

 ])lace, contrary to the express words of Scri])tiire, that (Judg. 2. 

 17-18.) " the Lord delivered them from their enemies all the 

 (Uiijs of the Judge," whom he had raised to defend them. 

 Happily for the authority of the system I have adopted, the 

 spirit and expression of Scripture itseli', unite in this last in- 

 stance, to confirm and establish it. The text (Judg. 3. 30 ) 

 informs us, that after the death of Eglon, " the land had 

 rest 80 years ;" and afterwards, in the first verse of the en- 

 suing chapter, proceeds to relate, " and the children of Israel 

 again did evil in the sight of the Lord, when Ehud was dead." 

 This should seem to be after the expiration of the 80 years 

 mentioned before, as many have understood it, and accord- 

 ingly have attributed that whole period to the jurisdiction of 

 Ehud; but the last verse (v. 31.) of the preceding chapter 

 expressly overthrows this supposition : it inforn)s us, " And 

 after him, (Ehud) was Shamgar, the son of Anath, which 

 slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox-goad, and 

 he also delivered Israel." Here are all the requisite and usual 

 jdescriptive terms, which are applied to the earlier Judges; 



succession 



