faith in God, these men encouraged the people to go up immediately and take possession of the country. While by a solemn oath Jehovah declared that none of the rest of the people who came out of Egypt at adult age, should enter Canaan, it was promised that this honour and reward should be conferred on Joshua and Caleb. In this respect, they had the preference to Moses himself and Aaron the saint of the Lord, both of whom were excluded from this privilege, on account of improper conduct at Meribah. When Joshua and Eleazar, and the heads of the fathers, had come together to make a division of the land, the venerable patriarch Caleb presented himself before them, and delivered the following speech: "Thou knowest the thing that the Lord said unto Moses, the man of God, concerning thee and me, in Kadesh-barnea. Forty years old was I when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh-barnea to to spy out the land, and I brought him word again, as it was in my heart. Nevertheless, my brethren that went up with me, made the heart of the people melt; but I wholly followed the Lord my God. And Moses sware, on that day, saying, surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's for ever; because thou hast wholly followed the Lord thy God. And now, behold the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old: and yet I am strong this day, as I was in the day that Moses sent me; as my strength was then, even so now is my strength for war, both to go out and to come in. Now, therefore, give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day, (for thou heardest in that day, how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced,) if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said." "And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, Hebron, for an inheritance.' This city was therefore established to his family, and was possessed by them for a long period; "because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel." The original name of Hebron, was Kirjath-arba, which Arba was a great man among the Anakims. Caleb, however, had to dispossess the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, who had their residence. in Hebron. And as Debir, the former name of which was Kirjath-sepher, belonged to his inheritance, Caleb promised his daughter Achsah, to whomsoever would smite this city and take it out of the hands of the inhabitants. And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, enterprised the conquest of this place, and accomplished it, and received the prize which had been offered. Achsah was probably the only daughter of this

venerable patriarch; and she seems to have possessed a great influence over her father; for although he had given her a possession, called the "South land," yet she requested another, which contained springs of water. "And he gave her the upper springs and the nether springs." The inheritance of Caleb fell within the limits of the tribe of Judah. The land which was allotted to this numerous and important tribe, was bounded on the west by the great, or Mediterranean sea, on the south by the river of Egypt, which was the southern boundary of the Holy Land; on the east by the salt, or Dead sea, and by a line running north from this sea to Jerusalem, which passed through the valley of the son of Hinnom, and terminated in the midst of Jebus or Jerusalem, where it met the possession of Benjamin; and the northern boundary passed off to the great sea, in a line somewhat circuitous. This was an exceedingly fertile and populous region, and was crowded with strongholds and walled towns. The sacred historian mentions nearly a hundred cities which fell within the inheritance of Judah. Many of these were large and populous; but we should remember, that every town which was enclosed by a wall, and entered by gates, is, in the language of Scripture, called a city.

The next tribe which received its inheritance was that of Ephraim, which included a large territory, extending from Jordan to the Mediteranean; and contained within its limits the inheritance of some of the lesser tribes; as did also that of Judah.

Manasseh had received on the east of Jordan, the one-half part of their inheritance; the remaining part was allotted to them along-side of the territory of Ephraim.

In regard to one family in this tribe, there occurred a case which was brought for decision "before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes." The case was, that Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but daughters. Their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. These laid claim to the inheritance of their father; and indeed, Moses had determined by Divine direction, that when there were no sons, the daughters should inherit; so that the land might be kept within its proper tribe. These heiresses were, however, required to contract marriages only with men of their own tribe.

Several of the cities allotted to Manasseh, were situated within the limits of Ephraim; for the sacred historian says, "Manasseh had the land of Tappuah, but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh, belonged to the children of Ephraim. And the coast descended unto the river Kanah, southward of the river; these cities of Ephraim are among the cities of Manas

seh." This must mean that some of the cities which were allotted to Manasseh lay within the borders of Ephraim. And the river Kanah was the dividing line on one part between these tribes; for it is said, "southward it was Ephraim's and northward it was Manasseh's; and the sea is his border; and they met together in Asher on the north, and in Issachar on the east. And Manasseh had also several towns within the borders of Issachar and Asher.

On account of this mixtnre of the tribes, in their possessions, it is rendered impossible, to delineate distinctly, the geography of the habitations of the several tribes. Most maps are in this respect very inaccurate, and the possessions of the tribes laid down by mere conjecture. That territory which included Bethshean, Ibleam, Dor, Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, with the towns and villages which lay in these districts, was the principal part of the inheritance of the tribe of Manasseh. But although this fine country was allotted to them, they possessed really only a small portion of it; for they "could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land;" yet when the Israelites waxed strong, they put the Canaanites to tribute, but did not utterly drive them out.

The children of Joseph, although they obtained the best of the land, yet were not well satisfied with their portion, therefore, they spake to Joshua, saying, "Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as the Lord hath blessed me hitherto? And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there, in the land of the Perizzites and the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee. And the children of Joseph said, the hill is not enough for us; and all the Canaanites that dwell in the valley have chariots of iron. And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and Manasseh, saying, Thou art a great people and hast great power, thou shalt not have one lot only, but the mountain shall be thine, and thou shalt cut it down; and the outgoings of it shall be thine; for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong."

SECTION XI.

SHILOH THE RESIDENCE OF THE ARK-SEVEN TRIBES YET DESTITUTE OF AN INHERITANCE THE LOTS OF BENJAMIN-OF SIMEON-OF ZEBULUN-OF ISSACHAR-OF ASHER-OF NAPHTALI-OF DAN-JOSHUA'S INHERITANCE.

ABOUT this time Shiloh was selected as the place to which the tribes of Israel should resort for divine worship; and at this place the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation.

"But there remained among the children of Israel, seven tribes which had not received their inheritance." And as they seemed reluctant to go forward to take possession of the land allotted to them, Joshua exhorted them earnestly, and said, "How long are ye slack to go to possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you." And he directed them to select three men from each tribe, to go through the land and describe it, according to the inheritance of each; and to divide it into seven parts, not interfering with the allotments already made. These men went forth through the land, and described it by cities, into seven parts, in a book, and brought it to Joshua, who cast lots for them, in Shiloh, before the Lord.

As we have seen, Judah had a large territory in the south of Palestine, and the sons of Joseph to the north. Now, upon casting lots, the inheritance of Benjamin came up between these two; that is, between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph. Their possession extended from Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea, but was very narrow, being a mere slip of land, running along the north border of the tribe of Judah. Jerusalem was partly within the lot of Benjamin, and partly within the tribe of Judah. The inheritance of Benjamin was of an irregular shape, for while it lay along the northern limit of Judah, it also included a slip of land on the east of Judah, extending from Jericho to the mouth of the Jordan. The number of cities which fell to this tribe was twenty-six.

The next lot came forth to Simeon, whose inheritance was entirely included within the limits of Judah; for it was found, that the children of Judah had an undue proportion allotted to them; therefore, seventeen cities were given to the Simeonites, out of their inheritance. This was by far the smallest tribe of the twelve, and owing to a destruction caused by the divine judgments upon them, when they entered Canaan, their number was not half as great as when they left Egypt. And as these cities were not contiguous to each other, but scattered through various parts of the tribe of Judah, that prophecy by the mouth of Jacob was fulfilled, which saith of Simeon and Levi, "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel."

The next lot which came up was for Zebulun. The inheritance of this tribe was in a very fertile country, near the sea of Cinneroth or Galilee, as it was afterwards called; and, indeed, the territory of this tribe formed a part of the district of country, which, in after times, obtained the name of Galilee. The number of cities allotted to Zebulun was only twelve, but the soil was exceedingly fertile, and they could extend their border northward without restriction.

The inheritance of Issachar touched upon that of Manasseh, and extended from mount Tabor on the west, to the river Jordan. The number of their cities was sixteen.

The inheritance of Asher lay along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, including mount Carmel on the south, and the "strong city of Tyre," and "great Zidon," on the north. This territory though small in extent, was the richest of all, on account of the very lucrative trade which was carried on within its borders; answering to Jacob's prophecy, "Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties."

Naphtali had a fertile inheritance along the Jordan, and on the sea of Cinneroth, along-side of Zebulun. These two tribes are therefore commonly mentioned together, in the prophets. "The land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles." This prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled, when the Lord Jesus Christ came and dwelt in Capernaum, which city was on the borders of these two tribes. And by his preaching and miracles, in that dark region, was fulfilled the other part of the prophecy, which is thus applied by the evangelist Matthew: "The people which sat in darkness saw great light, and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up."

Dan was the last tribe which received their inheritance. Their territory lay on the extreme north, and the land which was left from the other lots was too small for Dan, which was a numerous people. They were, however, an enterprising and warlike tribe, and therefore, they marched against a place called Leshem, which they took, and having put the inhabitants to the sword, they dwelt in their place; but changed its name from Leshem to Dan, after the name of their father. This name has given rise to an infidel objection to the sacred Scriptures; for it is alleged, that this place was called Dan as early as the time of Abraham, for it is related in Genesis, that he pursued the army who had taken Lot, unto Dan. To this objection, bishop Watson answers, first, that there is no proof that by the word Dan a city is intended; that in ancient maps the river Jordan is laid down, as formed by two streams in this very region, the one of which was named Jor, and the other