The Pulpit Commentary — Joshua — Section 353

Eleaznr is p!1tccd first here, because, as the "the tree of life," with He" twelve mnnnet acknowledged head of the t1ibc, be was the of fruits," which were "yielded • every proper person to prefer its request to the month" (Rev. xxi. 12, 14, 16, 19, 21; leader. But the whole history show• how xxii. 2). eutireli- Joshua and Eleazar a~ted in con- 0 Ver. 4.-And the lot ea.me out. As in cert. And unto Joahue. the son of Nun. the distribution of the land among the In a matter of ecclesiastical orgauiso.tion tribes, so in the division ol the cities among the ecclesiastical t,ook precedence of the the tribes of Levi, the whole matter we.a cinl leader. And unto the hee.ds. The referred to the j udgmeut of God. Thus position of J oshn1t wits that of a chief solemnly placed in His hands, the division magistrate ruling by constituti0111tl methods. would not nfterwards become the occasion The representatives of the tJ.ibes were of jealousy or dispute. The di vision was in.-ariably consulted in all matters of first me.de between the descendants of the moment. Such appe1tr to have been the three sous of Levi, Gershon, Kohatb, and original constitution of all early communi- Merari (see Exod. vi. 16-25), and then, as ties, whether ArYan or Semitic. We find it regards the Kohathltes, between the priests, in existenc<! among Homer's heroes. It the descendants of Aaron, and the rest of meets us in the early history of Germanic the Levites. We have remarked above (eh. peoples. It took a form precisely analogous xix. 50) on the disinterestedness of Joshua. to the Jewish in the old English Witan, We have now to remark on the se.me where the chief men in Church and State characteristic as displayed by Moses. There took counsel with the monarch on all was no attempt on the part of Moses to matters affecting the commonweal of the "found a family," the object of ambition realm ; and the remains of this aristocratic with most men, whether kings or private system still meet us in om· own House of persons possessed of wealth. No specie.I Lords. privileges belonged to his descendants., Yer. 2.-At Shiloh. Another instance of They merged in the undistinguished herd exact accuracy. Shiloh was now the place of the Levites generally. In this Moses of assembly in Israel (see eh. xviii. 1). The contrasts favourably with most public men Lord commanded. The command is given in our own day ; be stands out prominently in Num. u:xv. We have here, therefore, before nearly all the great leaders and con- another qnotation from the books of Moses. querors before or even after the Christian If we refer to it we find bow exactly the era. The same may be said of Joshua, hie pree<!pts were carried out. First, the six successor. Cincinnatus may be in some mea- cities of refnge were to be appointed, and sure compared with them, but as a dictator then forty-two more were to be added to simply in time of danger, his power was by them. Cal.-in, not noticing this, has com- no means sn absolute, nor were his tempta- plained that this narrati,·e is not in its tions so great as those of the two successive proper place, and that it should he.ve been leaders of the Isra.elites. Thirteen cities. inserted before the dete.ils in eh. xx. The It has been contended by Maurer and very reverse is the fact. These cities of others that this number of cities was refuge are included, in whe.t follows, among largely in excess of what could possibly be the number of forty-eight cities in all, required for the descendants of Aaron in so assigned to the Lent<!s. Suburbs. See eh. short a time. But we have to consider (1) xi.-. 4. And so throughout the chapter. that the cities were probably not, at least at Ver. 3.-Out of their inherita.nce. Out first, inhabited exclusively by the priests ; of that of Israel (see note on ver. 1). These (2) that the Isra.elites multiplied rapidly, cl.ties. The number we.s forty-eight, i.e., and that the number of descendants in the four times twelve. Bahr (' Symbolik des fourth generation would probably be nearly Al ten Teataments,' i. 221) remarks on the a thousand, and in the fifth, above five symbolical meaning of this number. He thousand ; (3) that all the cities were not, as compares it, first, to the twelve tribes march- yet, actually taken from theCanaanites at all, ing in four detachments, the ark of God and so therefore were in all probability only and its guard in the centre (S<!e Num. ii.). intended e.s an eventual possession of the Four, he says, is the number of the world, priests, and (4) that the cities themselves and three the sign of God, and twelve of were probably not of any very great size. the combination of the two. Thns we are It may be worthy of remark, as a proof of reminded of the heavenly city which " lieth the accuracy of the writers of the Old four-square," which has "twelve founda- Testament, e.nd as e. means of approximately tions of precious stones," "twelve gates of aseertaining the date of the Book of J oshne. pee.rls, e.nd at the ge.tes twelve angels," that Nob, mentioned as e. priestly city in and the names of "the twelve tribes of 1 Sam. xxii. 11, 19, is not found in the list Israel " written thereupon, and wherein was given here. For the number of priests Cd. XXI, 1-4/i.] THE BOOK OF JOSH1.JA. 301