第25章

(21)If anyone pays attention to the way in which all the histories and precepts in these five books are set down promiscuously and without order, with no regard for dates; and further, how the same story is often repeated, sometimes in a different version, he will easily, I say, discern that all the materials were promiscuously collected and heaped together, in order that they might at some subsequent time be more readily examined and reduced to order. (22) Not only these five books, but also the narratives contained in the remaining seven, going down to the destruction of the city, are compiled in the same way. (23) For who does not see that in Judges ii:6 a new historian is being quoted, who had also written of the deeds of Joshua, and that his words are simply copied? (24) For after our historian has stated in the last chapter of the book of Joshua that Joshua died and was buried, and has promised, in the first chapter of Judges, to relate what happened after his death, in what way, if he wished to continue the thread of his history, could he connect the statement here made about Joshua with what had gone before?

(25) So, too, 1 Sam. 17, 18, are taken from another historian, who assigns a cause for David's first frequenting Saul's court very different from that given in chap. xvi. of the same book. (26) For he did not think that David came to Saul in consequence of the advice of Saul's servants, as is narrated in chap. xvi., but that being sent by chance to the camp by his father on a message to his brothers, he was for the first time remarked by Saul on the occasion of his victory, over Goliath the Philistine, and wasretained at his court.

(27) I suspect the same thing has taken place in chap. xxvi. of the same book, for the historian there seems to repeat the narrative given in chap.

xxiv. according to another man's version. (28) But I pass over this, and go on to the computation of dates.

(29)In I Kings, chap. vi., it is said that Solomon built the Temple in the four hundred and eightieth year after the exodus from Egypt; but from the historians themselves we get a much longer period, for: Years. Moses governed the people in the desert 40Joshua, who lived 110 years, did not, according to Josephus and others' opinion rule more than . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 26 Cusban Rishathaim held the people in subjection . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Othniel, son of Kenag, was judge for . . . . . . . . . . . [Endnote 15] 40 Eglon, King of Moab, governed the people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Ehucl and Shamgar were judges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Jachin, King of Canaan, held the people in subjection . . . . . . . . . 20 The people was at peace subsequently for . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . 40 It was under subjection toMedian . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 7 It obtained freedom under Gideonfor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 It fell under the rule ofAbimelech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Tola, son of Puah, wasjudge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Jair wasjudge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 22 The people was in subjection to the Philistines and Ammonites . . . . . 18 Jephthah was judge . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Ibzan, the Bethlehemite, was judge . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 7 Elon, theZabulonite . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Abclon, thePirathonite . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 The people was again subject to the Philistines . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Samson was judge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [Endnote 16] 20 Eli wasjudge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 The people again fell into subjection to the Philistines, till they were delivered by Samuel . . . . . . ..........20David reigned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Solomon reigned before he built the temple4(30)All these periods added together make a total of 580 years. (31) But to these must be added the years during which the Hebrew republic flourished after the death of Joshua, until it was conquered by Cushan Rishathaim, which I take to be very numerous, for I cannot bring myself to believe that immediately after the death of Joshua all those who had witnessed his miracles died simultaneously, nor that their successors at one stroke bid farewell to their laws, and plunged from the highest virtue into the depth of wickedness and obstinacy.

(32) Nor, lastly, that Cushan Rishathaim subdued them on the instant; each one of these circumstances requires almost a generation, and there is no doubt that Judges ii:7, 9, 10, comprehends a great many years which it passes over in silence. (33) We must also add the years during which Samuel was judge, the number of which is not stated in Scripture, and also the years during which Saul reigned, which are not clearly shown from his history. (34) It is, indeed, stated in 1 Sam. xiii:1, that he reigned two years, but the text in that passage is mutilated, and the records of his reign lead us to suppose a longer period. (35) That the text is mutilated I suppose no one will doubt who has ever advanced so far as the threshold of the Hebrew language, for it runs as follows: "Saul was in his -- year, when he began to reign, and he reigned two years over Israel." (36) Who, I say, does not see that the number of the years of Saul's age when he began to reign has been omitted? (37) That the record of the reign presupposes a greater number of years is equally beyond doubt, for in the same book, chap. xxvii:7, it is stated that David sojourned among the Philistines, to whom he had fled on account of Saul, a year and four months; thus the rest of the reign must have been comprised in a space of eight months, which I think no one will credit. (38) Josephus, at the end of the sixth book of his antiquities, thus corrects the text: Saul reigned eighteen years while Samuel was alive, and two years after his death. (39) However, all the narrative in chap. Xiii. is in complete disagreement with what goes before.