101 



of the gratuitous assumption of its principle, wc shall find, 

 in the sequel, positively contradicted by facts. I trust it is 

 now clear, that the jurisdiction of the Judge is not ahvays 

 to be understood as s^'nonimous with the term of the repose. 

 If it is, why does the sacred historian deviate from the con- 

 sistency of his expression, and inform us that the land had 

 rest forty years, " in the. days of Gideon?" (Jud. 8. 28.) If 

 the forty years repose was synonimous with tiie term of juris- 

 diction in every case, surely the additional sentence was in- 

 applicable and redundant ; evidently, at least, calculated to 

 inspire hesitation and distrust, whether it ought to be under- 

 stood in the former instances or not, which is quite incon- 

 sistent with the usual precision, clearness, and accuracy of 

 the Jewish writings. But upon the hypothesis we adopt, 

 which does not, until the time of Gideon, assign the periods 

 of the Judges' authority, all this obscurity, misapprehension, 

 and mistake is cleared away, every period becomes definite, 

 harmonious and consistent, and the sense and expression of 

 the sacred historian, is adhered to with scrupulous attention 

 and fidelity : we discover a clear reason for his apparent de- 

 viation from usual terms ; the precision of the text receives 

 new demonstration and evidence; and the term "repose" ac- 

 quires its natural and obvious meaning, as an interval between 

 the epochs of warfare and hostility. And it is peculiarly ob- 

 servable, that, upon our system, we assign a period succeeding 

 every deliverance, equivalent to the length of a generation, 



before 



