OF THE BOOK OF JUDGES WITH NOTES CRITICAL, HISTORICAL, AND GEOGRAPHICAL; ALSO MAP AND EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. BY LEWIS HUGHES, B. A., CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE (FORMERLY ONE OF THE PRINCIPALS OF THE BOLTON HIGH SCHOOL FOR BOYS), AND REV. T. BOSTON JOHNSTONE, ST. ANDREWS UNIVERSITY, AUTHORS OF ANALYSES OF THE BOOKS OF JEREMIAH, EZRA, NEHEMIAH, CHIEFLY INTENDED FOR CANDIDATES PREPARING FOR THE OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE LOCAL, PREFACE. IN studying Scripture History, a great difficulty is often experienced by young students, in not being able to have a simple and connected view of the whole narrative, before entering upon the minute details. Being well aware of the existence of this difficulty, we have endeavoured to give the student, in a simple manner, such a view of the period of history contained in the Book of Judges, as will make the study interesting. The plan of study we recommend is to read the narrative portion of this Analysis first, and after this is done to take the Bible and study the book, chapter by chapter, with the aid of the Notes, &c., as contained in the second portion of the Analysis. The student will thus have clearer notions of the subject than he had before. We also feel sure that it would be a good practice for the student to answer on paper, as home or class work, the questions set at the end of each chapter. He would thus get into the habit of thinking for himself before coming to the class, and the lesson would also be better prepared. We hope that this little work will be useful, not only to those preparing for the Oxford and Cambridge Local Examinations, but also to Sunday School Teachers and Scholars, and to others interested in Scripture study. We shall be obliged to Teachers and others for notifying to us any errors they may discover. L. H. AND T. B. J. JUDGES. GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE PERIOD.-Joshua had been the instrument employed by God in defeating the Canaanites, and in dividing their possessions among the victorious Israelites. During the years that elapsed between the division of the land and his death, some seventeen,— Joshua would doubtless be looked up to by the tribes of Israel as their guide and counsellor, perhaps even as their divinely-appointed ruler and judge. At his death a new state of matters was introduced; a transition period began, which only ended about 450 years afterwards with the appointment of a king over Israel. Joshua had no immediate successsor. During the eventful and critical period when the nation was taking root in the land given to it by God as an inheritance, and was being taught to familiarize itself with the theocratic government,—the direct government by God himself,-under which it was placed, "there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes." It was a time of freedom and independence, and, as we find in the Book of Judges, which gives us an account of about 350 years of the period,--a time of anarchy and disorder. No one was universally acknowledged as leader or governor; there was no one round whom gathered the loyalty and affection of the people; and, though Bethel or Shiloh might contain the Ark of God, which was the symbol of national union and privilege, there was no metropolis, no city which could be reckoned the |