wo.s o. tepresento.tion of tho sun upon the the Iara.elites may have quarrelled among tomb of him who caused the sun to eland tbemsel ves, there is not a hint of dissatis- still. Timno.th-semh must not be con- faction with the final distribution of terri • founded with Timnah, or Timnathah, in the tory. Three points may be noticed here- tribe of Dau (ver. 43). For n long time iLs 1. The authenticity of the narrative is con- sito was unlrnown, but within the lo.st 40 firmed by these evidences of the internal years it has been i<lentifierl with Tibm•h, agreement of its parts. 2. We learn the seven holll's north of Jerusalem, among the value of mutual consultation, of open and mountains of Ephraim. Dr. Eli Smith was fair dealing, from this narrative. The par- the first to euggest this, o.nd though it wo.s celling out of the inheritance of Israel under • doubted by Robinson, it has since been ac- God's command was carried ont in such a cepted by Vandevel,le and other high autho- manner as to preclude the slightest sus- rities. Tibneh seems to have anciently been picion of partiality. 3. The dnty of hallow- o. considerable town. It is described in ing all important actions with the sanctions Ritter's 'Geography of Palestine' as a gentle of religion, of uniting prayer and a public hill, crowned with extensive ruins. Opposite recognition of God's authority with every these, on the slope of o. much hlgher emi- event of moment, whether in the life of the nence, are excavations like what are co.lied individual or of the body politic, finds an the Tombs of the Kings at Jerusalem. Jewish illustration here. An age which, like the tradition, however, points to Kefr Haris, present, is disposed to relegate to the closet some distance south of Shechem, as the site all recognition of God's authority, whlch of Joshua's tomb, and several able writers rushes into wars without God's blessing, have advocated its claims in the papers of celebrates national or local ceremonials the Palestine Exploration Fund, on the without acknowledging Him, contracts ground that on such a p_oint Jewish tra- matrimony without publicly seeking His dition was not likely to be mistaken. blessing, receives children from Him without Ver. 51.-At the door of the tabernacle caring to dedicate them formally to Bis of the congregation. The lots were drawn service, can hardly plead that it is acting in under Divine sanction, The ruler of the the spirit of the Divine Scriptures. A well- State and the ruler of the CbUl'ch combined known writer in our age declares that we in this sacred act, hallowed by all the rites have" forgotten God." Though the external 9! religion, and confirmed by the presence and forma.l recognition of Him may be con- and approbation of the beads or representa- sistent with much forgetfulness in the heart, tives of all the tribes. Accordingly, as bas yet the absence of sncb recognition is not been said above, we bear of no murmurings likely to make ns remember Him, nor can it or disputings afterwards. However much be pleaded as proof that we do so.
HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-51.-The completion of the work. The reflections suggested by this chapter are identical with those which have already occurred to us. They are, perhaps, emphasised by ver. 51, in which the solemn public division of the land is once more, and yet more plainly, declared to have taken place with the assent of the heads of Church and State, and to have been attended with a l'eligions ceremony. Without pretending to say whose fault it is, or how such a desirable state of things may be once more attained, we may be allowed to lament that what was the rule with our forefathers before the Norman conquest is impossible now. No doubt the separntion of ecclesiastical from civil jurisdiction which the Conqueror effected has been to a great extent the cause of this, as that measlll'e was also the ca11-".e of an assumption of authority by ecclesiastics which was afterwards found to be llltoler- able. There should be no separ!Ltion between the religious and civil interests of the community. Every man in the kingdom is, or ought to be, intere~ted in its ec~le- siastical arrangements. No single act of the State ought to be considered as outside the sphere of religious influence. At the same time we must remember that the present state of things is the nature.I 1'0sult of reli!l'ious freedom, a freed<;>m which Christ Himself proclaimecl (John xviii. 36), but which was unkno"'.~ to His Cbur~~ for many centuries, as also to the Jews before He came (Gen. xvu. 14; _Exod. =· 15; xxx. 33, 38; xxxi. 14; Levit. vii. 20, 27, &c.). As has been a½·eo.dy lllti1;1.rnted, an example which cannot be fulfilled in the let.ter may be fulfilled m the spmt. Yje may strive to hallow great national events with one heart and soul, though with 28G THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. [cu. XIX. 1-lil,