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The Antiquities of the Jews - Table of Contents
The Antiquities of the Jews
Written by Flavius Josephus
Translated by William Whiston
Book Five
Chapter 7
That The Judges Who Succeeded Gideon Made War
With The Adjoining Nations For A Long Time
1. Now Gideon had seventy sons that were legitimate, for he had
many wives; but he had also one that was spurious, by his
concubine Drumah, whose name was Abimelech, who, after his
father's death, retired to Shecbem to his mother's relations,
for they were of that place: and when he had got money of such
of them as were eminent for many instances of injustice, he came
with them to his father's house, and slew all his brethren,
except Jotham, for he had the good fortune to escape and be
preserved; but Abimelech made the government tyrannical, and
constituted himself a lord, to do what he pleased, instead of
obeying the laws; and he acted most rigidly against those that
were the patrons of justice.
2. Now when, on a certain time, there was a public festival at
Shechem, and all the multitude was there gathered together,
Jotham his brother, whose escape we before related, went up to
Mount Gerizzim, which hangs over the city Shechem, and cried out
so as to be heard by the multitude, who were attentive to him.
He desired they would consider what he was going to say to them:
so when silence was made, he said, That when the trees had a
human voice, and there was an assembly of them gathered
together, they desired that the fig-tree would rule over them;
but when that tree refused so to do, because it was contented to
enjoy that honor which belonged peculiarly to the fruit it bare,
and not that which should be derived to it from abroad, the
trees did not leave off their intentions to have a ruler, so
they thought proper to make the offer of that honor to the vine;
but when the vine was chosen, it made use of the same words
which the fig-tree had used before, and excused itself from
accepting the government: and when the olive-tree had done the
same, the brier, whom the trees had desired to take the kingdom,
(it is a sort of wood good for firing,) it promised to take the
government, and to be zealous in the exercise of it; but that
then they must sit down under its shadow, and if they should
plot against it to destroy it, the principle of fire that was in
it should destroy them. He told them, that what he had said was
no laughing matter; for that when they had experienced many
blessings from Gideon, they overlooked Abimelech, when he
overruled all, and had joined with him in slaying his brethren;
and that he was no better than a fire himself. So when he had
said this, he went away, and lived privately in the mountains
for three years, out of fear of Abimelech.
3. A little while after this festival, the Shechemites, who had
now repented themselves of having slain the sons of Gideon,
drove Abimelech away, both from their city and their tribe;
whereupon he contrived how he might distress their city. Now at
the season of vintage, the people were afraid to go out and
gather their fruits, for fear Abimelech should do them some
mischief. Now it happened that there had come to them a man of
authority, one Gaal, that sojourned with them, having his armed
men and his kinsmen with him; so the Shechemites desired that he
would allow them a guard during their vintage; whereupon he
accepted of their desires, and so the people went out, and Gaal
with them at the head of his soldiery. So they gathered their
fruit with safety; and when they were at supper in several
companies, they then ventured to curse Abimelech openly; and the
magistrates laid ambushes in places about the city, and caught
many of Abimelech's followers, and destroyed them.
4. Now there was one Zebul, a magistrate of the Shechemites,
that had entertained Abimelech. He sent messengers, and informed
him how much Gaal had irritated the people against him, and
excited him to lay ambushes before the city, for that he would
persuade Gaal to go out against him, which would leave it in his
power to be revenged on him; and when that was once done, he
would bring him to be reconciled to the city. So Abimelech laid
ambushes, and himself lay with them. Now Gaal abode in the
suburbs, taking little care of himself; and Zebul was with him.
Now as Gaal saw the armed men coming on, he said to Zebul, That
some armed men were coming; but the other replied, They were
only shadows of huge stones: and when they were come nearer,
Gaal perceived what was the reality, and said, They were not
shadows, but men lying in ambush. Then said Zebul, "Didst not
thou reproach Abimelech for cowardice? why dost thou not then
show how very courageous thou art thyself, and go and fight
him?" So Gaal, being in disorder, joined battle with Abimelech,
and some of his men fell; whereupon he fled into the city, and
took his men with him. But Zebul managed his matters so in the
city, that he procured them to expel Gaal out of the city, and
this by accusing him of cowardice in this action with the
soldiers of Ahimelech. But Abimelech, when he had learned that
the Shechemites were again coming out to gather their grapes,
placed ambushes before the city, and when they were coming out,
the third part of his army took possession of the gates, to
hinder the citizens from returning in again, while the rest
pursued those that were scattered abroad, and so there was
slaughter every where; and when he had overthrown the city to
the very foundations, for it was not able to bear a siege, and
had sown its ruins with salt, he proceeded on with his army till
all the Shechemites were slain. As for those that were scattered
about the country, and so escaped the danger, they were gathered
together unto a certain strong rock, and settled themselves upon
it, and prepared to build a wall about it: and when Abimelech
knew their intentions, he prevented them, and came upon them
with his forces, and laid faggots of dry wood round the place,
he himself bringing some of them, and by his example encouraging
the soldiers to do the same. And when the rock was encompassed
round about with these faggots, they set them on fire, and threw
in whatsoever by nature caught fire the most easily: so a mighty
flame was raised, and nobody could fly away from the rock, but
every man perished, with their wives and children, in all about
fifteen hundred men, and the rest were a great number also. And
such was the calamity which fell upon the Shechemites; and men's
grief on their account had been greater than it was, had they
not brought so much mischief on a person who had so well
deserved of them, and had they not themselves esteemed this as a
punishment for the same.
5. Now Abimelech, when he had aftrighted the Israelites with the
miseries he had brought upon the Shechemites, seemed openly to
affect greater authority than he now had, and appeared to set no
bounds to his violence, unless it were with the destruction of
all. Accordingly he marched to Thebes, and took the city on the
sudden; and there being a great tower therein, whereunto the
whole multitude fled, he made preparation to besiege it. Now as
he was rushing with violence near the gates, a woman threw a
piece of a millstone upon his head, upon which Abimelech fell
down, and desired his armor-bearer to kill him lest his death
should be thought to be the work of a woman: who did what he was
bid to do. So he underwent this death as a punishment for the
wickedness he had perpetrated against his brethren, and his
insolent barbarity to the Shechemites. Now the calamity that
happened to those Shechemites was according to the prediction of
Jotham, However, the army that was with Abimelech, upon his
fall, was scattered abroad, and went to their own homes.
6. Now it was that Jair the Gileadite, (16) of the tribe of
Manasseh, took the government. He was a man happy in other
respects also, but particularly in his children, who were of a
good character. They were thirty in number, and very skillful in
riding on horses, and were intrusted with the government of the
cities of Gilead. He kept the government twenty-two years, and
died an old man; and he was buried in Camon, a city of Gilead.
7. And now all the affairs of the Hebrews were managed
uncertainly, and tended to disorder, and to the contempt of God
and of the laws. So the Ammonites and Philistines had them in
contempt, and laid waste the country with a great army; and when
they had taken all Perea, they were so insolent as to attempt to
gain the possession of all the rest. But the Hebrews, being now
amended by the calamities they had undergone, betook themselves
to supplications to God; and brought sacrifices to him,
beseeching him not to be too severe upon them, but to be moved
by their prayers to leave off his anger against them. So God
became more merciful to them, and was ready to assist them.
8. When the Ammonites had made an expedition into the land of
Gilead, the inhabitants of the country met them at a certain
mountain, but wanted a commander. Now there was one whose name
was Jephtha, who, both on account of his father's virtue, and on
account of that army which he maintained at his own expenses,
was a potent man: the Israelites therefore sent to him, and
entreated him to come to their assistance, and promised him the
dominion over them all his lifetime. But he did not admit of
their entreaty; and accused them, that they did not come to his
assistance when he was unjustly treated, and this in an open
manner by his brethren; for they cast him off, as not having the
same mother with the rest, but born of a strange mother, that
was introduced among them by his father's fondness; and this
they did out of a contempt of his inability [to vindicate
himself]. So he dwelt in the country of Gilead, as it is called,
and received all that came to him, let them come from what place
soever, and paid them wages. However, when they pressed him to
accept the dominion, and sware they would grant him the
government over them all his life, he led them to the war.
9. And when Jephtha had taken immediate care of their affairs,
he placed his army at the city Mizpeh, and sent a message to the
Ammonite [king], complaining of his unjust possession of their
land. But that king sent a contrary message; and complained of
the exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt, and desired him to go
out of the land of the Amorites, and yield it up to him, as at
first his paternal inheritance. But Jephtha returned this
answer: That he did not justly complain of his ancestors about
the land of the Amorites, and ought rather to thank them that
they left the land of the Ammonites to them, since Moses could
have taken it also; and that neither would he recede from that
land of their own, which God had obtained for them, and they had
now inhabited [above] three hundred years, but would fight with
them about it.
10. And when he had given them this answer, he sent the
ambassadors away. And when he had prayed for victory, and had
vowed to perform sacred offices, and if he came home in safety,
to offer in sacrifice what living creature soever should first
meet him, (17) he joined battle with the enemy, and gained a
great victory, and in his pursuit slew the enemies all along as
far as the city of Minnith. He then passed over to the land of
the Ammonites, and overthrew many of their cities, and took
their prey, and freed his own people from that slavery which
they had undergone for eighteen years. But as he came back, he
fell into a calamity no way correspondent to the great actions
he had done; for it was his daughter that came to meet him; she
was also an only child and a virgin: upon this Jephtha heavily
lamented the greatness of his affliction, and blamed his
daughter for being so forward in meeting him, for he had vowed
to sacrifice her to God. However, this action that was to befall
her was not ungrateful to her, since she should die upon
occasion of her father's victory, and the liberty of her fellow
citizens: she only desired her father to give her leave, for two
months, to bewail her youth with her fellow citizens; and then
she agreed, that at the forementioned thee he might do with her
according to his vow. Accordingly, when that time was over, he
sacrificed his daughter as a burnt-offering, offering such an
oblation as was neither conformable to the law nor acceptable to
God, not weighing with himself what opinion the hearers would
have of such a practice.
11. Now the tribe of Ephraim fought against him, because he did
not take them along with him in his expedition against the
Ammonites, but because he alone had the prey, and the glory of
what was done to himself. As to which he said, first, that they
were not ignorant how his kindred had fought against him, and
that when they were invited, they did not come to his
assistance, whereas they ought to have come quickly, even before
they were invited. And in the next place, that they were going
to act unjustly; for while they had not courage enough to fight
their enemies, they came hastily against their own kindred: and
he threatened them that, with God's assistance, he would inflict
a punishment upon them, unless they would grow wiser. But when
he could not persuade them, he fought with them with those
forces which he sent for out of Gilead, and he made a great
slaughter among them; and when they were beaten, he pursued
them, and seized on the passages of Jordan by a part of his army
which he had sent before, and slew about forty-two thousand of
them.
12. So when Jephtha had ruled six years, he died, and was buried
in his own country, Sebee, which is a place in the land of
Gilead.
13. Now when Jephtha was dead, Ibzan took the government, being
of the tribe of Judah, and of the city of Bethlehem. He had
sixty children, thirty of them sons, and the rest daughters; all
whom he left alive behind him, giving the daughters in marriage
to husbands, and taking wives for his sons. He did nothing in
the seven years of his administration that was worth recording,
or deserved a memorial. So he died an old man, and was buried in
his own country.
14. When Ibzan was dead after this manner, neither did Helon,
who succeeded him in the government, and kept it ten years, do
any thing remarkable: he was of the tribe of Zebulon.
15. Abdon also, the son of Hilel, of the tribe of Ephraim, and
born at the city Pyrathon, was ordained their supreme governor
after Helon. He is only recorded to have been happy in his
children; for the public affairs were then so peaceable, and in
such security, that neither did he perform any glorious action.
He had forty sons, and by them left thirty grandchildren; and he
marched in state with these seventy, who were all very skillful
in riding horses; and he left them all alive after him. He died
an old man, and obtained a magnificent burial in Pyrathon.
Continue on to
Book
Five,
Chapter 8,
The Antiquities of the Jews
by
Flavius Josephus
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The Antiquities of the Jews - Table of Contents
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