is mm ting in the Hebrew), the sense is good. forced. Others, therefore, follow the Peschi to The lsraelites acknowledge their own fault in and read, "because TREY received not eacl: not reserving women enough to be wives to me,n his wife," &c., which makes very good the Benjamites, and ask the fathers and sense, but has not MS. authority. Ye did brothers of the daughters of Shiloh to do no~ give, &c., i. e. you need not fear the them a favour by enabling them to repair gmlt of the broken oath, because you did their fault. But it is rather a strain upon not give your daughters, so aJ1 to violate the the words. The omission of the to is not oath (ver. 7), but they \'l'ere taken from you natural in such a phrase (Numb. xxvi. M by f~r<'.e. The A. V. gives the probe,ble is hardly to the point, nor is Gen. xli. 12, meamng of the passage, though it 1s somo- where the to had been expressed before the whe,t obscure. tts), and re-served is a forced interpretation of Ver. 23.-According to their number, i. e. the ..-crb. If the words were spoken by the so as to provide the 200 with wives. The Benjamites, all would be plain and easy : cities, as in eh. xx. 16, 42. "·we received not each man his wife in the Ver. 24.-Every man to hls inheritance. war." Hence some put the speech into the Compare the breaking up of the national mouth of Benjamin, as tho.1gh the Israel- assembly in the days of Joshua (Josh. xxiv. ites .meant, We will say in your names, in 28 ; Judges ii. 6). your persons, as your attorneys, so to speak, Ver ...~5.-In those days, &c: See eh. xvii. "Grant them to us," &c. But this is rather 6 ; XVlll, 11 &c.
HOMILETICS. Vcrs. 1-25.-War. Who can think of the flourishing tribe of Benjamin reduced to a handful of 600 men, clinging for life to an inaccessible rock, but having to mourn the loss of wfres and daughters, and sisters and children, all ruthlessly slaughtered with the edge of the sword, and not shudder at the horrors of war? It is a distressing picture to bring before the mind, bat the picture must be looked at in its details if we would form a right judgment on the subject. Well, then, in war there is first the snapping asunder of the bonds of neighbourhood and friendship which once existed between the parties. There is the exchange of hatred, and ill-will, and the desire to injure and destroy, for amity and kindness and benevolence. The word "the enemy" takes the place of that of "friend," and the change of conduct correspond8 to the change of name ; for there soon follow the acts of destruction and venge- ~nce. Precious life, that mysterious gift of God, is spilt like water on the ground. The bleeding wonnds, the mangled limb~, the lifeless corpse, take the place of the buoyant spirits, the active frame, and the healthful vigour, of youth and manhood. The happy home where affection and socio.I mirth and bright hopes and schemes made happiness and light, becomes the house of mourning where all hope is put out. The husband, the betrothed, the brother, the darling son, is laid low in dust and blood; and what is life any longer to the wife, to the expecting bride, to the sister, to the bereaved mother? And in such a war as this "".ith Benjamin there are still more revolting images to be contemplated. The ground strewed with innocent babes and little children unconscious of wrong, and unsuspicious of harm. Merry youths and laughing maidens cut down in the spring-time of their life. Homesteads, orchards, gardens, whole streets, whole cities, reduced to heaps of rubbish and ali!hee. All the works of men's hands, the fruit of their labours, the product of their skill, the ornament, the comfort, the very shelter and food needful for human life, spoiled, wasted, and destroyed ; human progress thrown back for a century, and seeds of hatred sown to bring forth a crop of bitterness in times to come. Thank God war has been shorn in our days of its savage cruelty. Soldiers no longer slaughter women and children and defenceless men, nor destroy in the mere wanton- ness of power. Most true also is it that in war some of the noblest qualities of men are de'l'eloped, and..that kindness, mercy, am:f gen~rositJ:, are the frequent companions of daring courage, resolute _endurance, and rnflex1blt: will. :r~e brave leader of men is deserving of all the gratitude and all the enthusiasm of his fellow-men ; and ae long as war is a necess\ty, !1e who co nduct_s it to a successful e~d for his country's good will always ment lus country1B praise. But for all that, It must be acknow- ledged that ,..-ar, even in its mitigated form, is a blight upon humanity, and that it~ coutinuance is 11 blot upon civilisation, and still more upon the national profession of llTI. XXI. 1--25.] THE BOOK OF JUDGES. 211