from strong drink, and that his head should on no account be shorn; and in this plight he grew up from infancy to manhood. The consequence was, that in courage and bodily strength he excelled all the warriors of whom mention is any where made, and performed exploits, to which, were they related elsewhere but in the Bible, no one would dream of giving credit.

The first of these was as follows: Having formed an attachment to a woman of Timnath, a town belonging to the Philistines, Samson was on his way to visit her, when a lion rushed out upon him, which he seized, and "rent him," as the Sacred History expresses it, "as he would a kid." He took no notice of the adventure at the time, but passed on, conversed with the damsel, and made arrangements for the wedding; but it happened as he was on his way a second time to fulfil his engagement, that he found a swarm of bees settled in the lion's carcass. He removed the honey, eat a part of it, and gave the remainder to his parents.

It was customary in those days, at marriages and other public festivals, for the host to propose problems or riddles to his guests, with an understanding that should the mystery be explained, they should receive from him a prize; or else that all, on failing to effect that end, should bestow a like gratuity upon him. Samson, at his marriage-feast, advanced the following to his Philistine guests, pledging himself that in case they resolved it, he would bestow upon them thirty sheets and thirty changes of raiment: "Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness." For some time they were absolutely puzzled how to resolve the difficulty; but Samson having improvidently informed his bride of its purport, she was easily prevailed upon by her kindred and countrymen to betray the secret. The consequence was that they explained the problem, and Samson became liable to the penalty. But the Nazarite was too indignant at the mode in which his riddle was made plain, to pay the debt by any ordinary means. He went down to Ashkelon, slew thirty Philistines, and with the spoil which he took from them discharged his obligation.

From that day Samson's constant endeavours were directed to work the enemies of his country evil. His bride having deserted him, he caught three hundred foxes, and tying them in couples by the tail, let them loose, with

blazing firebrands fastened to them, among the Philistines corn; and when the Philistines basely put his wife and her father to death, he carried on war openly against them. Now then they took up arms, and moved in force within the province of Judah, which so alarmed the people of that tribe, that they turned in hostility against Samson. The latter, on receiving an assurance that the men of Judah would not themselves fall upon him, readily permitted himself to be bound; in which plight he was led down to the Philistines' camp: but no sooner had the Philistines rushed out to meet him, than he snapped his cords asunder, and arming himself with the jaw-bone of an ass, which happened to be near, he put to death no fewer than a thousand of

them.

That this was altogether the work, not of man, but of God, was soon demonstrated. Samson, wearied with his exertions, became exceedingly faint; and as there was no water in the place, he prayed that a fountain might be opened. His prayer was heard: God caused a stream to rush from a hollow rock hard by, and Samson, in gratitude, gave to it the name of En-hakkor, a word which signifies "the well of him that prayed," and which continued to be the designation of that stream ever after.

Samson now held the Philistines in such contempt, that he went openly into the city of Gaza, for the purpose of visiting there one Delilah, a woman of loose character, for whom he had formed an unhappy predilection. An attempt. was indeed made forcibly to detain him here, by closing the gates of the place, and making them fast; but Samson broke away bolts, bars, and hinges, and departed, carrying the gates upon his shoulders to the top of a neighbouring hill. After this his enemies strove to entrap him by guile, rather than by violence; and they were too successful in the end. Having more than once deceived Delilah, he at last, in a moment of weakness, disclosed to her that God had been pleased to connect his extraordinary strength with his hair, insomuch that if the latter were cut off, the former would depart with it. The treacherous woman seized the first opportunity of putting the truth of this declaration to the test. She shaved his head, whilst he lay sleeping in her lap; he was instantly arrested by his enemies, and now, being deserted by God, stood before them as a common man. His punishment was severe; though he amply revenged it, as well as redeemed his own honour, by the man.

ner of his death. The Philistines having deprived him of sight, kept him, like a wild beast, for mockery and insult; and brought him, on a certain occasion, into a large amphitheatre, where several thousand persons were assembled to celebrate a feast in honour of their god Dagon. By this time Samson's hair had recovered its growth, his strength was restored, and he used it to destroy both himself and his enemies. Having persuaded the boy, who guided his steps, to place him where he could reach two pillars, upon which the roof of the building rested, he tore them down, and the mass falling upon those who sat under it, crushed them to pieces. Among the number of the slain was Samson, who had, indeed, entreated as an act of mercy from God that he might not survive.

There are few matters related in the preceding chapter which appear to us to stand in need of any particular expla nation or defence. With respect to the miraculous interfe rence, by which God was pleased, from time to time, to manifest his readiness to forgive his repentant people, and the uniformity of his gracious designs towards mankind at large, no more can be said, than has been said already of other, and equally surprising transactions. The personal feats of Samson, the victories of Gideon, Jephthah, and others, were all achieved by that power, which is circumscribed by no laws, and however contrary to the natural order of things some of them may appear, they cannot be rejected, without invalidating the whole testimony of Scripture. It is not so, however, in reference to certain other transactions, whose contrariety to the immutable laws of right, stands conspicuous. The assassination of Eglon, and the murder of Sisera, are both of them deeds, of which no Christian can approve; and which, though they were permitted by Jehovah, and applauded by the people of Israel, we are not justified in supposing that the Almighty regard ed with favour. On the contrary, there cannot be a doubt that here, as in the case of Jacob's treachery, God made guilty persons the instruments by which his ends were attained, exactly as, in our own times, the rebel and the regicide were God's ministers of wrath, to a blinded court and an impious nation. So it is with respect to the intes tine feuds, and terrible punishments, inflicted, as well by one party of Israelites upon another, as by the Israelites upon the heathen. These were the offspring, and the netessary offspring of barbarous times which God could net

hinder, without violently counteracting all the operations of the human mind, and as such never has been, and we may well believe, never will be his mode of guiding man to the truth, there is no ground of disbelief, or even of uneasiness, in the most revolting of these histories. So far indeed are such disclosures from invalidating the testimony of Scripture, that they add to it, inasmuch as the inspired writer, by relating the crimes and follies, not less than the virtues and great actions of his countrymen, establishes a claim upon our confidence, which any other line of conduct must have failed to create, because it is perfectly inconceivable that any one, whilst inventing a fiction, would have interspersed it with so many notices, derogatory from the honour of this

nation.

Abstaining, therefore, from the discussion of points, which, if we regard them impartially, stand in no need of discus sion, we shall content ourselves with the remark, that God does not always select the most perfect moral characters, to be the executioners of his judgments, a truth which is nowhere more distinctly proved, than in the cases of Samson, Ehud, and Jael,

CHAPTER XIV.

Government of the Judges continued-Loss of the Ark-Miraculously restored-Saul anointed King-His History and Death.

A. M. 4259 TO 4341.-B. c. 1152 TO 1070.

WHILE Samson was thus exerting his supernatural strength to harass the external enemies of Israel, its internal affairs, as well civil as religious, were administered by Eli, the high-priest. Pious and upright in his own character, Eli appears, nevertheless, to have permitted the grossest abuses to be practised by his sons Hophni and Phinehas, till the people became at last disgusted with the service of God, who in return denounced against them and their governor the heaviest judgments.

One of the most regular attendants upon the pubB. C. lic festivals at this time was a man named Elkanah, 1142. a Levite of the tribe of Ephraim, who had married two wives, one of whom bore him children, while the other was barren. The latter, doubly distressed on account of the reproaches of her more fortunate rival, prayed earnestly that God would take away her reproach, and was, on a certain occasion, assured prophetically by the high-priest, who noticed her manner, that the prayer which she had uttered would be heard. In due time a son was born to her. She named him Samuel, in commemoration of the circumstances which preceded his birth, and having devoted him to the service of the tabernacle, she brought him up, as soon as he had attained to a proper age, and gave him into the care of Eli.

It happened on a particular night, as the child lay asleep in his bed, that he heard distinctly the voice of some one calling to him by name. As he knew nothing, as yet, of Divine communications, Samuel naturally concluded that he had been summoned by Eli, and running unto the highpriest's chamber, declared himself ready to fulfil his wishes.