eastern side of the sea of Galilee; and "the Hivites" in Mount Lebanon, under Hermon, in the land of Mispeh, or Gilead, northwards. Compare Numb. xiii. 29; Josh. xi. 3; Judg. iii. 3; and Matt. viii. 28.

The Canaanites, as distinguished by the family name from the other tribes, called after the sons of Canaan, probably were a mixture of the descendants of the other sons of Canaan, who were driven out of their original settlements by the Philistines, who occupied Gaza, which belonged to them, Gen. x. 15—20. and forced to settle farther backwards, towards the coasts of Jordan, according to the conjecture of Wells, Vol. II. p. 256-267.

Of all these nations, the Amorites grew the most powerful, so as to extend their conquests, beyond the river Jordan, over the Kadmonites, or "Easterns." Hence they are sometimes put for the whole: "The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full, Gen. xv. 16. "The gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell," Josh. xxiv. 15. "The Gibeonites were of the remnant of the Amorites," 2 Sam. xxi. 2.

The departments of Canaan, lying nearer to Egypt, were more corrupt than the northern, and of course received severer chastisement. For "Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings. He left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel commanded. So Joshua smote them from Kadesh Barnea, (eastwards) even unto Gaza, (westwards) and all the country of Goshen, (southwards) even unto Gibeon, (northwards.") Josh. x. 40, 41.

The Divine command, indeed, was most express: "Of the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth, but thou shalt utterly destroy them." Deut. xx. 16, 17.

Still, however, the command was not absolute; it admitted of exceptions; it was to be literally inflicted only on those who opposed the Israelites.

Thus, 1. Amidst the general slaughter of the inhabitants of Jericho, Rahab, the harlot, and all her family, were spared; and she was even married to one of the princes, the prince of Judah (Salmon) the progenitor of CHRIST, Matt. i. 5. though intermarriages with the devoted nations were most expressly prohibited, in order to prevent seduction to idolatry. Deut. vii. 3, 4. 2. The Gibeonites, after the destruction of Jericho and Ai, in

their neighbourhood, would not oppose the Israelites, but made a fraudulent league with them, under pretext that they came from a distant country, lying beyond the devoted pale, and yet, notwithstanding the fraud, the princes of the congregation adhered to the treaty, and let them live, lest wrath should be upon them if they violated it; but they degraded them to a state of slavery.

3. The "cities which stood still in their strength," or did not attack the Israelites, " Israel burned none of them," Josh. xi. 13. Hence, the strong fort of Jebus, at Jerusalem, was maintained by the Jebusites, the original proprietors, and was not reduced until David's reign, 2 Sam. v. 5-9. and the remnant who escaped the slaughter in battle entered into fenced cities. Josh. x. 20.

4. How soon the conquered countries recruited their strength, is evident from the several servitudes of the Israelites to the Moabites, Canaanites, and Midianites. Jabin, king of Canaan, only fifty-six years after Joshua's death, had no less than 900 chariots of iron, and mightily oppressed the children of Israel for twenty years. Judg. iv. 2, 3.

5. The Philistines, on the sea-coast southwards, were not subdued till David's days; and the Sidonians and Tyrians, northwards, never were subdued at all.

6. The case of the reprobate Canaanites, whose hearts GOD is said to have hardened to fight against the Israelites, that He might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, Josh. xi. 20. plainly intimates, that they might have had favour, had they repented, and submitted.

7. But when the reprobates were destroyed, the survivors might, and probably did, in many instances, repent and reject their idolatries, and turn to the LORD GOD OF ISRAEL. And this seems to be implied in the remark, that "none moved his tongue against the children of Israel," Josh. x. 20. But if so, every principle of religion and sound policy forbad their extermination, when they might become proselytes to the true religion, and faithful subjects. Uriah, the Hittite, was as brave and loyal an officer as any in David's army; and Araunah, the Jebusite, as religious as David himself, when he surrendered, as a king," or as proprietor, his threshing-floor on Mount Moriah, to build thereon an altar of sacrifice, on the future site of the temple. 2 Sam. xxiv. 23.

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Hence we do not find any censure passed on Solomon, when "he levied a tribute of bond service upon all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel were not able utterly to destroy," 1 Kings ix. 20, 21. as specified of the Jews, Benjamites, Manassites, Ephraimites, Zebulonites, Asherites, Naphthalites, and Danites, Judg. i. 19-34.

There is no foundation, therefore, for the charges of extreme cruelty and injustice, brought idly and blasphemously against the God of Israel, and his chosen people, as if the case of the devoted nations of Canaan was irreconcileable with the Divine Attributes, and with the rights of nations, by Deists, Infidels, and false Philanthropists. If blame is to attach any where, it is to the Israelites; when able, they were not willing to inflict the Divine sentence on the justly-devoted nations, who " served Baalim and Ashteroth," or the sun, moon, and stars; who made their children pass through the fire, or burnt them alive as sacrifices to Moloch; who worshipped obscene idols, as Baalpeor, Chemosh, &c. who practised the most execrable vices and impurities, not fit to be named, of which a frightful catalogue is exhibited, Levit. xviii. and elsewhere; and whose abominations were so enormous, that the land itself, in the energetic language of Scripture, vomited forth her inhabitants! And from this criminal neglect and false compassion," these nations were left to be pricks in their eyes, and thorns in their sides," so as by tempting the Israelites to follow their abominations, to transfer that vengeance to themselves which was intended for the others. Numb. xxxiii. 53–56.

OTHER NATIONS OF CANAAN.

Besides these devoted nations, there were others settled in the land at the arrival of the Israelites. In addition to the Moabites and Ammonites, the descendants of the incestuous sons of Lot, Gen. xix. 37, 38. and the Midianites, descended from Midian, a son of Abraham, by Keturah, Gen. xxv. 4. who lived together on the east side of Jordan; the Edomites, or descendants of Esau, settled southwards of the former in Mount Hor, or Seir; the Amalekites settled in the south coast, westwards of Jordan, descended from Amalek, grandson of Esau, Gen. xxxvi. 12. who

soon became "the first," or most powerful, "of these nations," Numb. xxiv. 20. and first opposed the Israelites after the Exode, but were defeated and doomed to destruction, Exod. xvii. 8-16. which was begun by Saul, and finished by David; the Kenites, a small mountainous tribe, their neighbours, who were at peace with the Israelites, and seem to have been a branch of the Midianites, for the father-in-law of Moses was a Kenite, Judg. i. 16. and also a Midianite, Numb. x. 29. they were, therefore, spared in the destruction of the Amalekites, 1 Sam. xv. 6; the Kenizzites, another small neighbouring tribe, descended probably from Kenaz, a grandson of Esau, Gen. xxxvi. 11; and the Avims, or Avites, on the south-west coast, in Abraham's days, of whom was Abimelech, king of Gerar, who were afterwards subdued by the Philistines, "or Shepherds," expelled from Caphtor, or the Lower Egypt, from the land of Goshen, in Jacob's days. The Philistines became a powerful nation, and the most formidable opponents of the Israelites, and rescued from them Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron, which had been allotted to, and taken by the tribe of Judah, after Joshua's death. They had constant wars with the Israelites, and were not subdued till David's days. Compare Deut. ii. 23; Josh. xiii. 3; Gen. xxvi. 1; Judg. i. 18, &c.

On the north-west coast was Great Zidon, as it is styled, Josh. xi. 8. founded by the eldest son of Canaan, Gen. x. 15. whom the Asherites could not expel nor reduce, Judg. i. 31. And "the strong city of Tyre," a colony from Zidon, which they were also not able to reduce, Josh. xix. 29. not even in David's days, 2 Sam. xxiv. 7. These entered into treaties with the Israelites, and greatly corrupted them by their idolatries and abominations. Ahab, king of Israel, married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians, who introduced the worship of Baal, or the Sun, 1 Kings xvi. 31. And even Solomon introduced the worship of Ashtoreth or the Moon, the goddess of the Zidonians, 1 Kings xi. 5.

DIVISION OF THE PROMISED LAND.

The whole land appears to have been called Palestine in the days of Moses, Exod. xv. 14. probably from Palisthan, signifying Shepherd land," in the Sanscrit language, which is a dialect of the ancient Syriac. By Herodotus it was called Palestine

Syria, to distinguish it from Cole-Syria, northward of Mount Libanus.

It was styled, in general, "the pleasant land," Ps. cvi. 24; Dan. viii. 9. and is described by Moses, as "a good land, a land of hills and valleys, a land of brooks and waters, and depths, (or lakes) springing out of valleys and hills; a land flowing with milk and honey; a land of wheat and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates, and oil olives; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass." Deut. viii. 7—9; xi. 9-11. And Rabshakeh, the Assyrian, describes it as like his own, 66 a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards," Isa. xxxvi. 17. It must, indeed, have been a wonderfully rich and fertile land to produce its immense population, both before and after the conquest of the Israelites.

Before the death of Moses, the region eastward of Jordan was assigned to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Half-Manasseh, in order, proceeding from south to north.

After the conquests of Joshua, the region westward of the river Jordan, and its lakes, was allotted to the tribes of Simeon, Judah, and Benjamin, in order, from south to north, of which Judah's portion was the most considerable.

The northern region, midland, was allotted to the tribes of Ephraim, the other half of Manasseh, Issachar, and Naphthali; of which the lot of the sons of Joseph, especially Ephraim, was the richest and most considerable, reaching from Jordan, eastwards, to the Mediterranean Sea, westwards.

The remainder of the maritime coast, westwards, was allotted to Dan, Zebulon, and Asher; from the Philistine border, southwards, to Zidon, northwards; for Zebulon was foretold to be a maritime tribe by Jacob, Gen. xlix. 13. "Zebulon shall dwell at the haven of the sea, and he shall be for a haven for ships, and his border shall be unto Zidon." And Dan and Asher are declared to be so by Deborah, Judg. v. 17. "Dan remained in ships, Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches."

Of the southern tribes, the most powerful was Judah; of the northern, Ephraim; whence originated a jealousy and rivalship between the two, which broke out early, and laid the foundation of that fatal schism which took place on the death of Solomon, by the revolt of the ten tribes, brought about by Jeroboam, the Ephraimite, who revived the Egyptian idolatry of the golden calf, and stationed one at each end of the new kingdom, at