earth, enter into the peace of heaven. "We which have believed do enter into

rest." Thus the song of faith is to contribute to a life of faith.

OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE PARAGRAPH.*-Verses 29-43. Verse 30. Of Makkedah and Libnah, and of the remaining cities whose destruction is recorded in this chapter, it is particularly said that Joshua smote" all the souls that were therein." Joshua did this under the special and emphatic commandment of the Lord. In the overthrow of Jericho, in the hail storm and the miraculous extension of the day at Beth-horon, God made this war manifestly His own. These solemn records seem to have a special claim to notice, and a peculiar value at the present time. In days when so many are disposed to make the wrath of the Lord unreal, we shall do well to remember that this wrath has a history. It is not merely a doctrine of that which is to come; it is also recorded as that which has been. When the arguments which go to depreciate the anger of Jehovah have been urged to the utmost, these terrible histories will still remain. If they serve to warn any who are too prone to believe in unlimited mercy, and thus to bring them to Him through whom alone mercy is proclaimed, they will prove, as undoubtedly they will, that they also are a part of the good tidings of the God of love.

Some men are typical both in sin and punishment. They are ensamples unto them who believe not. Thus, for the second time, we read of these acts of Joshua, "as he did unto the king of Jericho." Great grace causes some men to be known as pillars of the Church; great infamy in the rejection of grace makes the names of others to become by-words in the way of wickedness.

ruin.

Verse 33. It is not enough to help men; we must help them in the way of righteousness. Compassion and sympathy may be misplaced, and may but lead to Sin has its patriots and its volunteers, as well as righteousness. How hard is the yoke of Satan, under which even generous service, like this rendered by Horam, leads to death! how easy is the yoke of Christ, where even a cup of cold water, given in the name and spirit of a disciple, shall in no wise lose its reward!

Verses 36, 37. PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE.

I. The fame of the past has no guarantee against degradation in the present. A great history of godly names, even in these early days, already stood connected with Hebron. The city itself was famed for its antiquity (Numb. xiii. 22); better still, the names of holy men of old were associated with its history. Nearly four hundred and seventy years before, Abraham came and dwelt here, and fifty years after his settlement he purchased of Ephron the Hittite the field of Machpelah. Here Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah, were all buried. Not far from Hebron was Mamre, beneath the famous terebinth of which Abraham had entertained the angels unawares. Near to this very Hebron Abraham had poured forth his holy prayer for Sodom, and long before that he had built in the outskirts of the city an altar to the Lord (Gen. xviii., xiii. 18). Formerly the place was redolent of God; now it was the seat of an abominable idolatry. This degeneration which stands associated with a city, is no less true of individual men. man can afford to rely on his past. That which has been offers but small assurance of that which will be.

No

• We are now entering on a part of this book in which many passages occur not likely to be chosen as texts for sermons. Some of these, like the remaining verses of this chapter, are brief historical chronicles; others are merely geographical records. Verses of this description can hardly be thought suitable for any extended homiletic treatment, and will be dealt with principally in brief comments, or only in the "Critical Notes."

JI. The degradation of the present is no sufficient reason for despairing of an honourable future. 1. Hebron again became great. It was given as an inheritance to one of the godliest of the Israelites (chap. xv. 13), and was made one of the six cities of refuge (chap. xx. 7). Later in the history it became the capital from which David ruled over Judah for seven years and a half (2 Sam. ii. 11). Under the guidance of men like Caleb and David, Hebron would have often resounded with the voice of prayer and praise, instead of echoing to the orgies of the old idolatry. 2. Hebron became great and honourable only through the intervention of God. It is because God is merciful, and loves to interpose His saving arm, that there is hope even for "the dark places of the earth which are full of the habitations of cruelty." It is because of this Divine mercy that no degraded man need despair of himself, and no good man of the most degraded community. III. The honourable history of the past should stimulate us in attempting to redeem the present. Right before these Israelites, as they pressed upon Hebron in the battle, was the cave of Machpelah, wherein lay the bodies of the fathers and mothers of all the host of Israel. Dean Stanley says, "The cave of Machpelah is concealed, beyond all reasonable doubt, by the mosque at Hebron. . . . . And marvellous, too, to think that within the massive enclosure of that mosque lies possibly, not merely the last dust of Abraham and Isaac, but the very body-the mummy-the embalmed bones of Jacob, brought in solemn state from Egypt to this (as it then was) lonely and beautiful spot." [Sinai and Palestine, pp. 149, 102.] At the time of this assault on the city, no mosque covered the cave; but there, close by these Israelites in their strife, was the cave, and in the cave all that was left of the bodies of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. How the very thought of that, doubtless made known to them all, must have nerved their arms for the fight! In his "Lays of Ancient Rome," Macaulay has made Horatius ask with thrilling patriotism,

"And how can man die better

Than facing fearful odds

For the ashes of his fathers
And the temples of his gods?"

Similarly must these warriors of Israel have been moved against their foes, as they pressed upon them at Hebron. Every man in the army of Joshua might feel that the grave of the fathers of all the host was almost beneath his feet; and as to the religious inspiration, the place all around was sacred by the prayers of Abraham, the altar of Mamre had stood hard by, and the very God whom Abraham had worshipped there now bade these children of Abraham to "be of good courage, and fear not." While the history of the past is insufficient, in itself, to keep us, yet should the memories and traditions of what has been greatly honourable make us thirst to see old glory re-established. To a true heart, "Ichabod" should be nothing less than a trumpet call to earnest prayer and holy strife.

IV. The victory of to-day gives no certain promise of peace to-morrow. Caleb had this city of Hebron to take a second time (chap. xv. 14; Judges i. 10). No sooner had Joshua withdrawn than the fugitive Canaanites seem to have re-established themselves in the city. This was the case in other towns taken by the Israelites. Our present victories, however apparently complete, are never more than partial. "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." All our earthly victories must go with watchfulness. He who would have us to triumph finally, says, "Hold fast that which thou hast; let no man take thy crown."

Verses 40-43. THE RAPID PROWESS OF THE OBEDIENT. The secret of Joshua's invincible prowess and rapid victories lay in the fact that he was doing the will of God, and that God was with him. So, if we fight the good fight of faith in full accord with the will of our heavenly Father, we may look for victory no less certainly, and, perhaps, no less rapidly. God Himself says, "I change not." We have the same Heart on our side that Joshua had-a heart loving us, and hating our

sins; we have, no less, the same Arm of power to contend for us. Why should we not go forth to victory with equal confidence? "Just so far as a Christian is led by the Spirit," said F. W. Robertson, "he is a conqueror. A Christian in full possession of his privileges is a man whose very step ought to have in it all the elasticity of triumph, and whose very look ought to have in it all the brightness of victory." It is because we so often go to our conflicts with doubting hearts and trembling steps, that our victories are so slowly won; it is because we so often go unled of God, that we have so repeatedly to mourn defeat. God is as potent in the spiritual realm as in the physical; it is only because we fail to get thoroughly into accord with His will and His aims that we fall short of Joshua's rapid and continuous victories. The more marvellous are our victories for God, the more readily shall we give glory to God (ver. 40). Those who do but little are tempted to call their triumphs their own; the man of many victories cannot but confess that in all cases the battle has been the Lord's.

CHAPTER XI.

THE OVERTHROW OF THE CITIES OF THE NORTH, AND GENERAL RETROSPECT.

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CRITICAL NOTES.-1. Hazor] In ver. 11, Hazor is described as the head" of all the kingdoms named in verses 1-3. It was in his capacity of principal monarch of North-West Canaan that Jabin summoned the other kings. Hazor was burned by Joshua (ver. 13), but was afterwards rebuilt (Judges iv. 2; 1 Sam. xii. 9); it was fortified by Solomon (1 Kings ix. 15), and its inhabitants, in the time of Pekah, were carried into captivity by Tiglath-Pileser (2 Kings xv. 29). Jabin" the wise," "the intelligent." It is uncertain if Judges iv. 2 shews merely a coincidence of names, or whether the recurrence of the word points to the term as a title given to the kings of Hazor. Madon] Only mentioned here and in chap. xii. 19. The site is unknown. Shimron] In chap. xii. 20, called Shimron-Meron; it was probably situated near the Waters of Merom. It became part of the lot of Zebulon (chap. xix. 15). Achshaph] Not identified. It fell to the lot of Asher (chap. xix. 25). 2. On the north of the mountains] Heb.=" in the north on the mountains;" i.e., on the mountains of Naphtali (cf. chap. xx. 7). The plains south of Chinneroth] Chinneroth may be used here for the Lake of Gennesareth itself (Numb. xxxiv. 11; Josh. xii. 3); the Arabah, or desert (not "plains ") on the south, indicates the Ghor, or Jordan valley, immediately below the lake. In the valley] Lit. in "the Shephelah," or lowlands. 'Probably the strip bordering the sea between Akko and Sidon, to which the following Naphoth-Dor on the sea directs us (chap. xii. 23)." [Fay.] The lowlands, south of Cape Carmel, situated on the sea coast, may, however, be intended. 3. Land of Mizpeh] Gesenius traces several places bearing this and the similar name Mizpah." Both words signify "a watch-tower," a lofty place,' "an outlook." "The land of Mizpeh (here intended) cannot be any other than the tract of country at the foot of the Jebel-esh-Sheikh between the Jebel Heisch and Nahr Hasbeya, through which a broad arm or line of hills of inconsiderable height runs southwards from the foot of the loftiest part of the Jebel-esh-Sheikh, forming the high land which shuts in Lake Huleh on the east. This tract is called Jebel Heisch according to Burckhardt (cf. Robinson iii. 344)." [Keil.] Descriptive names are always liable to be duplicated; hence tho Newtons and Moretons, the Sandfords and Uptons, the Fairfields and Stokes of our own country." [Groser.] 4. Horses and chariots very many] The Israelites were not strangers to the use of war chariots. They had seen them in Egypt. They had been pursued by Pharaoh and his host with this rude kind of cavalry. These were not chariots with scythes. Keil has shewn that these were first introduced by Cyrus, being quite unknown at any earlier period. 5. Waters of Merom] The only places in which the name Merom occurs in the Scriptures are verses 5, 7, of this chapter. It has been almost universally identified with the Bahr-el-Hûleh of the modern Arabs, which is called by Josephus, Semechonitis and Samochonitis; but the identification is supported by no documentary evidence, and has been disputed recently by two or three careful expositors. 6. Thou shalt hough their horses] The LXX. translate by veUpoкownσeis. To hough means to hamstring, to sever the tendons of the hind legs. It seems by no means certain that this was done on this occasion by Joshua. "The Heb. akar' is used in 2 Sam. viii. 4, and in 1 Chron. xviii. 4, of chariots (horses' is inserted in the English version), and in Zeph. ii. 4 it is used (in a paronomasia it is true) of the city of Ekron. In the passage in Gen. xlix. 6, if we read 'shur' instead of shor' (as is done by some, and as seems to be the most probable reading), the word 'akar' is used of a wall. The word seems to be of the same stock with 'achar' (compare the roots 'kanan' and 'chanan,' and many other examples), and the primary idea seems to be 'to strike' or to smite.' Proof is wanting that the ordinary translation of 'hough' is a correct one.

It

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would have been a difficult and useless task to hamstring an enemy's horse in battle, when a blow on the head or body would be easy and efficacious. And, moreover, there would have been a cruelty in it utterly at war with the kindly care enjoined upon the Jews in the law with respect to dumb animals (Deut. xxv. 4)." [Crosby.] 8. Great Zidon] Called "the great," both here and in chap. xix. 28, not to assert its superiority over any other city of the same name, but to indicate its large number of inhabitants, and that it was the chief city of Phoenicia. In the time of David and Solomon, Tyre had become the superior city of the two. Misrephothmaim] Various meanings have been given to the word. The place, though evidently near to Sidon, has not been satisfactorily identified. 13. Stood still in their strength] Heb.=“stood upon their hill; marg.=" on their heap." This does not mean that Joshua spared the cities which stood on hills, and destroyed cities which were not on hills. The historian simply points to the fact that the customary situation of the cities of the neighbourhood was upon some eminence. Freely paraphrased, the sense is: "Of the cities which stood each upon its hill, Israel burned," etc. (Cf. Jer. xxx. 18.) 17. From the mount Halak] Marg." The smooth mountain ;" or the bare or bald" mountain: thought by Robinson and others to be a row of white cliffs, from sixty to eighty feet high, a few miles south of the Dead Sea, and supposed to be identical with the "ascent of Akrabbim." Unto Baal-gad] Schwarz supposes this to be identical with the modern Banias (Cæsarea Philippi). These two extreme points are given to mark the extent, southwards and northwards, of Joshua's conquest. 18. A long time] Comparing chap. xiv. 7, 10, and the date of sending the spies from Kadesh-Barnea (which Fay seems to forget was between one and two years after the exodus), the war of Joshua with the Canaanites must have lasted between six and seven years. Perhaps about a year was employed in the first general overrunning of the south, the remaining period of somewhat more than five years being spent in subduing the north, and in rendering the southern conquests more complete. Verse 21 obviously points to a return of the campaign to the southern part of the land, and is not to be read as merely a supplementary account of the same conflict recorded in chap. x. 36-41. 21. Anab] Mentioned also in chap. xv. 50. "It has retained its ancient name, and lies among the hills about ten miles S.S.W. of Hebron, close to Shoco and Eshtemoa (Robinson i. 494)." [Smith's Bib. Dict.] 22. Gaza] This was one of the five chief cities of the Philistines. It was the frontier city on the way towards Egypt. It sustained for five months a siege by Alexander the Great, whose character, says Dean Stanley, suffers severely in the history of that event. (Cf. Grote's "Hist. Greece," xii. 193.) The coast line from Gaza to Cæsarea is remarkable in connection with the ministry of the apostles. Gath] Another of the five principal cities of Philistia. Mr. Porter concluded that it was situated on the hill now known as Tell-es-Safieh. Goliath, whose home was here, may have been a descendant of the Anakim. Ashdod] Now called Ashdud; the Azotus of Acts viii. 40. It was in the lot of Judah (chap. xv. 47), but seems never to have been entirely subdued. It preserved a language distinct from that of the Jews, till after the return from the captivity (Neh. xiii. 23, 24). The siege by Psammetichus, the longest on record, lasted twenty-seven years, and is thought to be alluded to in Jer. xxv. 20. It was destroyed by the Maccabees (1 Macc. v. 68; x. 84). 23. And the land rested from war] This marks the close of the first division of the book. In a general sense, it is said that Joshua had taken "the whole land;" in the details given in the second part of the book we learn that this is not to be understood absolutely; thus Jehovah Himself says (chap. xiii. 1), "There remaineth yet very much land to be possessed."

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.-Verses 1-14.

THE VICTORY AT THE WATERS OF MEROM.

I. The multiplied number of Joshua's enemies. The great battle at Gibeon had been against five kings; this was against many kings. It was the largest force that the Israelites had yet encountered. Josephus (Ant. v. 1. 18), in what seems to be merely his own estimate, says: "The number of the whole army was three hundred thousand armed footmen, and ten thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand chariots; so that the multitude of the enemies affrighted both Joshua himself and the Israelites." While this statement must not be taken as proved, the Scripture reference to "all these kings," with an army "even as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many," plainly shews that the force was the largest which had yet confronted the army of Joshua.

God leads His people on to increasingly difficult conflicts: 1. For severer discipline; 2. For greater trust; 3. For higher victories. The path of the just shines more and more, through conflicts which are sterner, through dependence which is humbler, and through victories which are nobler. The number of our foes,