gious leaders and that chief among the outstanding figures in Hebrew history we should find the prophets of Jehovah. Regarding themselves as the direct representatives of Jehovah, they fought with tongue and pen, and even life itself, to save the nation from the attacks of its outward foes, and from the social and religious dissensions which disturbed it within.

The office of prophet was not peculiar to Israel. Among all ancient nations the gods, deemed too remote and terrible to permit the approach of common mortals, were supposed to communicate their will to men through a special class of persons whose privilege it was to act as intermediaries between the god and his people, interpreting the one to the other. Seers, soothsayers, the interpreters of the Greek oracles, and the Roman haruspices are familiar illustrations of this primary principle. In Israel the Hebrew word Nabi, translated prophet, designated a man who interpreted the will and communicated the messages of Jehovah to the people. The following passage which presents the answer which Jehovah was said to have made to the hesitancy of Moses, when he was called upon to lead the captive Hebrews out of the land of Egypt, gives a clear idea of the early thought of the office of the prophet in Israel.

And Moses said unto Jehovah, "Oh, Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue." And Jehovah said unto him, "Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh a man 5 dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? is it not I, Jehovah? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt speak." And he said, "Oh, Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send." And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Moses, and he said, "Is there not Aaron, thy Io brother the Levite? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. And thou shalt speak unto him, and put the words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy 15 spokesman unto the people; and it shall come to pass, that he shall be to thee a mouth, and thou shalt be to him as God."

The word here translated "spokesman" is the word regularly rendered "prophet" elsewhere in the English Bible.'

In its beginnings the religion of the Hebrews, while differing from other religions in certain vital ethical principles, resembled the religion of the surrounding nations in its outward manifestations. Its prophets, in their appearance and methods of work, were very like the prophets of neighboring gods, Chemosh of the Moabites, or Baal of the Phoenicians. On every hand in nature and in human life were insoluble mysteries, all of which were attributed to the gods. It was deemed inevitable that the persons speaking for Jehovah, as well as those who represented other gods, should be clothed in mystery. Accordingly we find that in early times the prophets were subject to mysterious states of ecstasy or trance, the cultivation of these states being frequently preparatory to the act of prophecy. For this purpose there were employed such means as the monotonous whirling dance, still seen in Arabia among the dervishes, musical instruments, weird sounds and cries, strange actions which caused the term "mad fellow" to be applied not infrequently to the early prophet. It was supposed that when in this excited state the prophet, possessed by the spirit of the god, could divine his will and communicate his message, and that he spoke in the very person of the god. Only occasionally in the Old Testament and in the early days do we find evidences of these customs and superstitions as prevalent among the Hebrews. We should doubtless find many more instances had not our literature come from the hands of later prophets, who, in accordance with a more intelligent conception of Jehovah, eliminated those elements of the stories of which they did not approve. A striking illustration is furnished by II Kings 3:15, where music is employed to bring on the prophetic trance. When three kings came to Elisha, one of the early prophets of Israel, to ask advice in an important crisis he said, "But now, bring me a minstrel," and the author continues, "and it used to be that when the minstrel played that the hand of Jehovah

I The stories which cluster around the conviction of Moses that he was called to lead his people out of bondage are found in Exod., chaps. 3, 4, of which this selection is from 4: 10-16.

came upon him." The effect of this self-engendered excitement, like intoxication of any sort, varied in different individuals. Some persons might be rendered, for the time being, "mad," others silent, while to some would come eloquence and lofty inspiration not possible to them in a quieter state of mind.

But even in these early days while the Hebrew prophets, regarded by the people with superstitious awe, struggled in spiritual darkness to discern and to interpret the God who was so dimly revealed to them, a great human motive-loyalty to their land-drove them to band themselves together in the cultivation of the spirit of prophecy. Jehovah and the land of Palestine were regarded as inseparable. The future of the land was of the deepest concern to his representatives. We know little of the bands or guilds of the prophets in their daily life, but we find them gathered together wherever battles were in progress, war threatened, or a crisis in government was at hand.

During the wars with the Philistines close to the garrison of the enemy was a “high place," a sanctuary held by a band of prophets,3 where doubtless, day by day, they practiced all their arts to overawe the enemy, to encourage the Hebrews, and to induce Jehovah to drive the opposing army out of the land.a

Not all the prophets in these groups were great men, not all were wholly sincere, as we shall see in the study of later centuries in Israel, and it will be necessary for us to devote our attention to the great outstanding men upon whose word, many times, the nation depended for strength in danger, and against whom they as fre

For other mention of music in connection with the act of prophesying see I Sam. 10:5.

2 High-places: In ancient times it was the custom to establish places of worship upon hills or mountains, as being both remote from disturbing elements, and thus favorable to religious devotion, and also nearer to the gods, who were supposed to inhabit the regions above the earth. When the Hebrews came into Canaan they found many high-places already in use, and doubtless not a few of these were appropriated as centers for the worship of Jehovah, with very little if any changes in the methods of worship.

3 The grouping of prophets in bands or guilds is referred to also in I Sam. 10:9-12; as "sons of the prophets" in I Kings 20: 35a; II Kings 2:15-18.

4 See I Sam. 10:5.

quently turned in bitter hatred. Gradually, as we shall see, the external characteristics which allied the Hebrew prophets with those of other ancient religions were outgrown and fell away. The spirit of God, which they at first believed had manifested itself in them in such strange and even grotesque ways, came to be represented in these greater men by clear political insight, lofty ethical ideals, and a passionate zeal for the perfection of Israel as a state, believing that if it could fulfill the conditions of a fit dwelling-place for Jehovah, he would one day come to earth, and establish his sovereignty over all the world. In our consideration of the messages of a chosen few of these men we shall as frequently as possible study their own words.

Stories of the heroism which produces great deeds, the love of country which leads to great service, regard for the rights of one's fellow-man, high ideals of morality, and noble conceptions of God and the universe are never so old as to lose their power to produce like deeds and character. For this reason as well as for their historical interest it is worth while to spend time and thought in becoming familiar with these great characters of Old Testament times.

CHAPTER II

THE PROPHETS FOUNDING A KINGDOM

The Spirit of the Conquest.-It will be desirable to get before us a picture of conditions in Palestine at the time when the Hebrews appeared as invaders. The land was not a land of savages as America was before the coming of its conquerors, but already a garden spot on the edge of the desert. Its inhabitants were civilized. They cultivated the land, lived in cities, shared the civilization of both Egypt and Phoenicia, were in constant intercourse with both, through trade and commerce, and were vassals of Egypt for long periods. To wrest such a land from its citizens by force seems like a wild dream indeed for a group of tribes without organization, or experience in the arts of war. Yet such was the purpose and the ideal of the invading Hebrews, trusting implicitly in the co-operation of Jehovah.

Century by century the process of expulsion went on, the Hebrews pushing their way, first in one direction, then in another, frequently defeated and despondent, then victorious, and intrenched in new territory. Each victory served to draw the weaker tribes1 toward the stronger in a union of faith in Jehovah, and to add to the roll of heroes another leader whose faith in ultimate victory was even greater than that of his fellows. Meanwhile from her more civilized foes Israel was acquiring more than the arts of war-she was learning to cultivate the land, to engage in trade, to build altars and homes, to make herself no longer a barbarous foe. Giving by

There was a tradition among the Hebrews that the number of their tribes was twelve, and that these tribes became associated with special sections of the land. The Book of Joshua contains an account of an allotment of the tribes to special territory upon their entrance to the land, but the circumstances of the conquest seem to indicate that the location of only a few of the best-known tribes is at all certain, the accounts which we have being of late origin. Upon the map for this period will be found indicated as much as we can find basis for. The period of the conquest is generally supposed to have extended over some two hundred years or more, perhaps hastened at the end by the more vigorous campaigns of Saul against the Philistines. The death of Saul is placed approximately at 1000 B.C.

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