Nor can this judgment be shattered by the arguments which are brought forward by L. Seinecke (Gesch. d. Volke,s Israel, i. 243-245). Neither (a) are the political presuppositions of the Song wanting in historical reality, nor do (/3) its form or (7) its contents render a high antiquity impos,sil)le for it. For (a) even if the northern Canaanites sustained a defeat in the time of Joshua (see below, 8 a, on Jos ll'""), their strength mi^'ht have recovered itself. (/3) The use of v for the relative (5') has analogies in OT passages of a more northern Palestine origin (see further, 6 d). The plur. ending -in (5'°) may have the same origin, or it may be an element in the poetical dialect as in Pr 31' etc. (see Konig, Lekrgebiiude, ii. 434). To the same category belong also n;,i (5" : (?) ' im Wechselge.«an{j vortragen,' ' repeat,' ' relate ' ; cf. the Aram. •;? in the Targ. on Ps 9" etc., and the Assyr. iunnu, 'communicate' (Del. Assyr. U'orterb. 1896, p. 674"). (7) The heights of Seir (5*), which lay north of tlie Peninsula of Sinai, are named as the starting-point of Jahweh who manifested Himself on Sinai (v.°). This tallies with the ancient conception that the seat of the gods was in the nortliem region of the earth, Lv 1" 4-' etc.. Is 14" (Jer 1"), Ezk 1^ (28'^), Ps 4S' (133»), cf. Job 26'. This theophany is also intended as a past one. For the temporal sphere of an inCn. depends upon its context (Gn 28"'' etc. ; see Konig's Syntax, § 216), and "lipxs?, etc. (Jg o**") is followed by the perfects ■■f;';^-;, etc. Then S*-; (v.*) may, coming after 'C's, have arisen from Sy (cf. [mtt n] '71' 1 Ch 7**), the name of a descendant of Asher. It is probable that, as a parallel to ■!;:•», a man is intended (cf. Bertheau, ad luc.).' But even if the words ^T. "5'5 are a gloss (Moore, Marquart, Budde), the antiquity of the poem itself is not thereby endangerecf. Finally, the assertion that ' from heaven forces took part in the battle' (5*), contains a religiopoetical clothing of the conception that God assisted the Israelites (cf. Ex 14", Jos 10"). The assertion is not then to be called a 'gross exaggeration' of a later author.t
* Marquart (.PundamenU, etc, 1896. p. 2) take* Shuiignr to be 'dor tremdo OberkuniK,' and combines him with 'Soiikiira of Carchfinish, in the time of Asurnazinibal, c, B.c. 880,' and Sisora with ' I'iiiri the I.'i-st king of Can^hemiah' (c. B,c Ho), Wliat an amount of error in tlie Hebrew trmdition Is thus assumed wiHunit any sutHcient rt-ason I
t II. Winclilcr in liis Altoritnt. Funchungm (1893-18ST) oSers the followinR remarks on Jg 6 : .lis' In v.* »• height' (p. lih;, ct. Assj-r. iadu, ' to be high 'X Tliis is possible. But It is more probable that "I'D .It in v,» is an intermediate exclamation (see Konig, Syntax, t 4Ha) than that .11 has arisen from \y\ (p. l;)2). The substitution of Tifr 'row' for T-iy in i.>» (p. 281) is not prolable. In y.'<*. ho reads (p. 103), pova 'I? D'lEK ';? ' from Ephralm they came down (cf. Tr) into the valley.' and he dibl<« V ""^ entirely. We would ralb.r suoniit that the gUll::•r^m of \M" are 'heroes Irvini Eiihraim,' aiid that then O'riCD is meant to signify 'enulicantes, i.«. delentn inltr Amalek ' (ct. L.\.X U-'^-"')- Also the rea.ling ni^l CV '3 IV] 'and there came d'i\»-n In Issachar the people of l>abrat (p 'ifl") is eiUcmilv precarious. For it would be unnatur:U 11 afti'r'the prince*, etc. (v.u'l, the p<.pulation of a siiiirle city (Jos l»i») should l>e mentioned. Finally, instead of C';)-p ^-J (V «•) WInckler suia-ests (p. IKO the sentence, ' U>e stream of Kishon was Idyed, or the like! with hloo<> ' (O'O^X But the oir
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JUDGES, BOOK OF
JUDGES, BOOK OF
M. Vernes (Pricis (Thistoire juive, p. 210) holds that at tlie very outset (p(remptoirement) it must be regarded as a settled point that at tliis epoch we have to do, not with a campaign undertaken liy the tribes of Israel in common. But why might not an extraordinary danger have brought about an extraordinarj' coalition of many tril)es of Israel for common defence against the enenij' ? Some tribes, indeed, declined to be stirred up from their phlegmatic condition (5"'"). Further,Vernes finds in the mention of Sinai and of Seir ' I'ignorance ou, si Ton prifire, la negligence de I'homme qui icrit librement h, grande distance de son sujet.' But he has himself failed to observe that the mention of Mt. Seir had reference to a northern starting-point of the theophany of Jahweh (see above, regarding the idea of the northern sphere as the seat of deity). Again, the days of Shamgar, although he defeated the Pliilistines (3"), might still be a time of oppression (4*), and, besides, the note in 4* may be primary, and tliat in 3" secondary. Further, if the Kishon is called in 5*' 'I'antique fleuve ' (but see Kdnig's Syntax, § 261d), this ex- pression could be used even in the days of Deborah. According to Vernes, the sentence ' Dan nvjx -,\y ' (v.") is also an unnatural one, for 'jamais les Danites n'ont touch6 h la mer.' But even if we are not to think, with Mikhlal Jophi, of lt!"|:n nVjs, the Danites might ' dwell ' as strangers, i.e. serve on board ships. Finally, Vernes will have it tliat even the address to kings and princes in v.' 'indique une ipoque de relations intemationales. ' Well, such an epoch was to hand already at tlie date pf the Tel el-Amama letters ! In tne Rev. des Etudes jtdives, xxiv. (1892), p. 249, Vernes calls sarai (v.") an 'itatconstruitou (!)pluriel de forme aram^enne,' and co-ordinates w ith it ' tsavri, plus exactment, tsavrai' I (v.*"). He denies the existence of ' mar- ques du dialecte h6breu septentrionale ' (p. 249-) ; but see below, 6 d. He thinks ' que la terminologie famiiifcre au Cantique est celle des li\Tes de la Bibie dont on admet le plus volontieis I'origine post-exilienne.' But he has failed to notice that poetry, even in the earliest times, may have pre- lerrea expressions which, owing to their rarity or their more foreign cast, lend to the Song of Deborah a special charm. Thus, e.g., the verb V"Q (v.') will not have been 'emprunte aux Nombres et au L6vitique ' (p. 249), even if is not to be translated with M.Lambert (p. 141), 'sedipouiller(pour Dieu), ofJrir gin6reusement (cf. en himyarite la locution ills y-is ' faire une oflrande').'