791 
J 1 
on {Tie eaft of Canaan ; and made terrible (laughter of the 
Midianites, for enticing them to uncleannefs and idola¬ 
try. After eroding the Jordan, miraculoully divided, un¬ 
der Jofliua, the fuccelfor of Mofe.s, as their general, they 
folemnly dedicated themfelves to the Lord, by circumci- 
fion,and eating of the paffover; and, in a war of fix years, 
conquered thirty-one kingdoms. On the feventh, the land 
was divided, and the tabernacle of God fet up among them 
at Shiloh; and not long after, they again dedicated them- 
i'elves to the Lord. See Num. xi.-xxxvi. Deut. i.-xxix. Jolh. 
i.-xxiv. Neli.ix. Pfal. lxxviii. cv. cvi. cxiv. See. Gen.xlix. 
Deut. xxxiii. 
On their entrance to Canaan, God, to give the Hebrews 
an horror of idolatry, ordered them to cut off every ido¬ 
latrous Canaanite ; they, however, through finful pity or 
floth, fpared vaft numbers of them, who enticed them to 
wickednefs, and were fometimes God’s rod to punifii them. 
For many ages, whenever the Hebrews enjoyed outward 
p>-ofperity, they relapfed into idolatry, worfhipping Baa¬ 
lim and Alhtaroh, Sec. Micah and the Danites introduced 
it not long after Joflma’s death. About this time the 
lewdnefs of the men of Gibeah occalioned a war of the 
eleven tribes againft their brethren of Benjamin. To pu- 
nifli the tribes for their wickednefs, and their neglefling 
at firft to confult the mind of the Lord, they, though more 
than fourteen to one, were twice routed by the Benja- 
mites, and 4.0,000 of them (lain. In the third, all the 
Benjamites were (lain except 600. Heartily vexed for the 
lofs of a tribe, the other Hebrews provided wives for thefe 
600, at the expence of (laying moft of the inhabitants of 
Jabefh-gilead, and of eluding their oath in the affair of 
the daughters of Shiloh. See Judg. i. ii. xvii.-xxi. 
Their relapfes into idolatry, alfo brought on them re¬ 
peated turns of llavery from the heathen among or around 
them. The dates of thefe, and the names of their deli¬ 
verers, termed Judges, we (hall prefently exhibit in a 
chronological table. From A.M. 2849 to 2889, they were 
oppreffed by the Philiitines, who were haraffed by Samfon, 
and routed by Samuel, after the death of Eli. During 
this laft oppreflion, the Hebrews were almoft ruined ; the 
ark was taken, and for perhaps 130 years afterwards was 
without a fettled abode. See Judg. i.-xxi. i. Sam. ii.-vii. 
When the Hebrews had been governed by judges, di¬ 
vinely railed up, for about 34.0 years after the death of 
Jofliua, they took a fancy to have a king, like the nations 
around them. Saul was their firft fovereign. Under his 
reign, they had almoft perpetual Itruggles with the Am¬ 
monites, Moabites, and Philiftines ; and at his death the 
nation was left on the brink of ruin by the Philiftines. 
After about feven years ftruggling, between the eleven 
tribes that clave to Ifhboflieth the fon of Saul, and the 
tribe of Judah, which eredted themfelves into a kingdom 
under David, David became foie monarch of Ifrael; Un¬ 
der him the Hebrews fubdued their neighbours the Phi¬ 
liftines, Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, and Syrians, and 
took poffeflion of the whole dominion which had been 
promifed them, from the border of Egypt to the banks of 
the Euphrates. Under Solomon they had almoft no war, 
but employed themfelves in buildings, and maritime trade. 
It is plain, however, that they difreliflied the taxes which 
he laid upon them in the end of his reign. To punifh 
his and their idolatry in the latter part of his reign, Re- 
zon the Syrian, and Hadad the Edomite, haraffed them a 
little ; and, after Solomon’s death, ten of the Hebrew tribes 
formed a diftindt kingdom of Ifrael, under Jeroboam the 
ion of Nebat, in oppofition to the kingdom of Judah and 
Benjamin, ruled by the family of David. This divifion, 
which happened about A.M. 3029, and in the 120th year 
of their kingdom, tended not a little to the hurt of both 
parties, by their mutual contefts. The kingdom of Ifra¬ 
el, or of the ten tribes, had never (o much as one pious 
king; and often the royal families were deltroyed, and 
Others took their place. Idolatry, particularly of wor¬ 
shipping the golden calves of Bethel and Dan, was always 
: w. 
their eftablifhed religion, and brought miferies unnum- 
bered on their head. The kingdom of Judah had wicked 
and pious fovereigns by turns; but their frequent relapfes 
into idolatry often occalioned terrible diftrefs to the coun¬ 
try. lo punifh the kingdom of Judah, or the Jews, for 
their apoftafy, God delivered them into the hand of Shi- 
(hak king of Egypt, who ravaged the country ; but ap¬ 
pears to have done no hurt to Jeroboam’s kingdom, as 
perhaps he was in league with him. There was almoft 
perpetual war between Jeroboam and Rehoboam, and 
Abijah his fon. In one battle, Jeroboam had 500,000 of 
his forces cut off by the army of Abijah, which was but 
the half of his own. From A.M. 3049 to 3115, the king¬ 
dom of Judah, for the moft part, followed the true God, 
reformed from their corruptions, and had ccnfiderable prof- 
perity_ and fuccefs againft their enemies, the Ethiopians, 
Edomites, Moabites, Sec. Jehofhaphat had an army of 
1,1603000 men. Meanwhile, the Ifraelites under Nadab, 
Baaflia, Elah, Omri, Ahab, Ahaziah, and Jehoram, were 
generally in a moft wretched condition, efpecially by 
Ahab’s introduction of the worihip of Baal ; and by va¬ 
rious famines, and repeated wars with the Philiftines and 
Syrians; and by civil broils between Omri and Tibnl. See 
1 Sam. viii.-xxxi. 2 Sam. i.-xxiv. 1 Kings i.-xxii. 1 Chron. 
x.-xxix. 2 Chron. i.-xx. 
■ J\ T ot only was the kingdom of Ifrael, but alfo the king¬ 
dom of Judah, the royal family of which had joined in 
marriage and other alliance with the wicked houfe of 
Ahab, brought to the very brink of ruin, after the death of 
Jehofhaphat: nor indeed did his fucceffors, Jehoram and 
Ahaziah, deferve a better fate. From A.M. 3120 to 3232-, 
Jehu and his pofterity governed the kingdom of Ifrael ; 
the worihip of Baal was aboliflied ; but the idolatry of the 
calves was ltill retained. To punifli this, the kingdom 
was terribly ravaged, and the people murdered by the Sy¬ 
rians, during the reign of Jehu, and efpecially of Jehoa- 
haz his fon : but Jehoalh and Jeroboam II. his fon reduced 
the Syrians, and rendered the kingdom of the ten tribes 
more glorious than ever it had been. In the beginning 
of this period, Athaliah for fix years tyrannized over Ju¬ 
dah. After her death, religion was a while promoted un¬ 
der Joafti, by means of his uncle Jehoiada, the high-pried j 
but they quickly relapfed into idolatry; and during the 
reigns of Joafti, Amaziah, Uzziah, as well as of Jotham, 
numbers lacrificed in high places, but to the Lord their 
God. Nor did the kingdom of Judah recover its grandeur 
till the reign of Uzziah. Under the reign of Zachariah, 
Shallum, Menahem, and Pekahiah, the kingdom of the 
ten tribes was reduced to a moft wretched condition, by 
their inteftine broils, murder of fovereigns, and Affyrian 
ravages. Under Pekah, they recovered part of their gran¬ 
deur : but, he being murdered by Hofliea, a civii war of 
nine years feems to have happened; at the end of which, 
Hofliea found himfelf mafter of the crown. Under Jotham 
the kingdom of Judah was moderately happy; but under 
Ahaz they relapfed into idolatry, and were terribly ha¬ 
raffed by the Philiftines, Syrians, and by the ten tribes 
under Pekah. About A. M. 3280, the kings of the He¬ 
brews were better than they had been ever iince the divi¬ 
fion : Hezekiah king of Judah was an eminent reformer, 
and Hofliea was lefs wicked than liis predeceffors. But 
the abounding wickednefs of both kingdoms had ripened 
them for ruin. Provoked with Hofliea for entering into 
a league with So k-ing of .Egypt, Shalmanefer king of Af- 
fyria invaded the kingdom of the ten tribes, befieged and 
took their cities, murdered moft of the people, ripping 
up the women with child, and dafliing infants to pieces j 
and carried almoft all the reft captive to Hara, Halah, and 
Habor, by the river Gozan, and to the cities of the Medes, . 
on the nortli-eaft of the Affyrian empire ; and brought 
the Samaritans and placed them in their ftead. Thus tile 
kingdom of Ifrael was ruined 254 years after its e ref lion. 
Sennacherib king-of Affyria, contrary to treaty, invaded 
the kingdom of Judah, and brought that nation to the 
x . brinjfi. 
