THE AGE OF THE J UDGEB. Although, in one sense, we are still in the same period of Jewish history, that which is commonly called the Theocracy, yet we feel that we have passed into a dif. ferent atmosphere when we pass from the rule of Joshua to the rule of the Judges. It is something like passing from the age of heroism to the age of chivalry; from e.n age in which the chief figures seem to be far above us, and almost to belong to another world, to one in which we feel at home, because the prominent characters both in their strength and in their weakness are like ourselves. Where they are great, it is not ari unapproachable grandeur, but one that we could imagine to belong to our own generation ; and they are not always great. When they fall th~y prove to us that the age of chivalry is not very far removed from that of barbarism, and even contains some taint of savagery in itself, Something of this kind may be in JOSHUA TO NEHEMIAit. ix
our thoughts when we leave the calm, majestic guidance of Moses and Joshua fur the turbulent rule of Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson. Of all the books in the Bible the Book of Judges is perhaps the most hUII1an. In most of the books the Divine element is so strong, or we are in the habit of keeping it so constantly in view, that we are apt to forget that the actors in the various scenes are not merely instruments in the hands of the Almighty, but men and women with wills and passions like ourselves. In the history of the Judges it is impossible to forget this. The difficulty is rather the other way: viz., to understand how men so faulty, so barbarous, one might al.most say, so brutal, came to be chosen by Almighty God as the deliverers and rulers of His people. In this respect the Book of Judges and the Book of Ruth may go together. The one gives the roughness and wildness, the other the sweetness ancl tenderness of life ; but both in their way are intensely human. There is manifest gain in this, and it may be one of the special lessons intended to be conveyed by these two writings. Just as in the case of Jesus Chris~ Himself it is possible to lay so much emphasis on His Divinity as to lose sight of His perfect humanity; so also in the revelation which He has granted to us, of His dealings with mankind, it is easy to fix our eyes so continually on the Divine decrees and their fulfilment, as to forget that throughout it all man's will was free, and that God worked not with, soulless machines, but with persons who had the terrible privilege of being able to follow their own wills rather than His, if they so pleased. Thls is everywhere apparent in the Book of Judges. Not only is God's Chosen People as a whole frequently in rebellion against Him, but those who were specially selected out of them (i<:\,m;;:11 ••:\•~r6r,po,), as agents peculiarly set apart to carry out His purposes, are wayward to a degree that makes the question, '' Qui& custodit ipsos custvdes," eminently pertinent respecting them. There is a wild freshness about the Book of Judges which tells of youth and independence, and freedo!ll from restraint and care : the freshness of nature and the freshness of human life. It is mountain and woodland scenery filled with the thrilling incidents of the romances of chivalry. It is a tale of ancient times, and therefore it has all the interest of what lays outside our own everyday experience. It is a tale of men and women like ourselves, and, therefore, we can realise it all. But the freshness and the independence have their dark side. It is an age in whlch freedom too often means license, and anarchy, and violence. What is human is too often barbarous, even savage and bestial. The lower part of man's nature is ever coming to the front and often takes the upper hand. Hence the story is no mere idyll of pastoral brightness, no mere epic of the triumph of what is noble 0,nd pure. The cry of suffering alternates with the cry of victory, and the tragic element is not wanting ; the right is too often o. "random right," ancl there is abundance of "rr:adom wrong." Thus the pathos of tragedy and the brilliancy of rom=ce go h-:.nd in hand. There is yet another element, not prominent but distinctly present here and there, which must not be passed over, because it makes the picture all the more true to life. A vein of humour, almost of drollery, comes to the surface at times, making us feel still more at home with those of whose doings we read. We almost see the •twinkle in the eyes of the men of Dan as they so.y to their brethren, " Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, a graven image, o.nd a molten image? now, therefo1·e, consider what ye have to do" (eh. xviii. 14). And, again, when they have carried off these things, and the owners come after them to complo.in, there is the same spirit of fun in their ques- tion, "What a.ileth thee that thou comest with such a company?" (ver. 23). This J: INTRODUCTION TO TRE RISTOlUCAL BOOKS: