then all the Israelites returned to Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword. And all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai. For Joshua drew not back his hand wherewith he stretched out the spear, until all the inhabitants of Ai were utterly destroyed. Then Joshua burnt Ai and made it a heap forever, a desolation unto this day.

Now when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said to Joshua: We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them: Who are ye? and whence come ye? And they said unto him: From a very far country are thy servants come; and our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said unto us: Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants. So Joshua made peace with them. But it came to pass at the end of three days, that they heard that they were their neighbors. Then Joshua summoned them and spake unto them, saying: Why have ye deceived us? And they answered Joshua and said: Behold, we are in thy hand; do unto us what seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us. And so did he unto them, and delivered them out of the hand of the Children of Israel that they slew them not. But Joshua made them hewers of wood and drawers of water.

Now when the people of Jerusalem heard how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, they feared greatly; because Gibeon was a great city like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai and all her men were warriors. So the king of Jerusalem sent to the kings of the Amorites, saying: Come up unto me and help me, that we may smite Gibeon; for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the Children of Israel. Then the five kings of the Amorites went up and made war against it. And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua, saying: Come up to us quickly and help us; for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill-country are gathered together against us. So he went up from Gilgal that night. And Yahweh discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon; and they chased them by the way of Beth-horon. And as they fled from the face of Israel, while they were on the descent of Beth-horon, Yahweh cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died. They were more who died from the hailstones, than they whom the Children of Israel slew with the sword. And Joshua and all Israel with him returned unto Gilgal.

Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for all the elders of Israel and for their chiefs and for their judges and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people: Thus saith Yahweh, the God of Israel. Your fathers dwelt of old beyond the River, and they served their gods. But I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him through all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. And I gave Isaac, Jacob and Esau; and I gave unto Esau mount Seir; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. Then I sent Moses and Aaron; and when I had plagued Egypt according to what I did among them, afterward I brought you out. And ye came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and with horsemen unto the Red Sea. And when they cried unto Yahweh, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And ye dwelt a long time in the wilderness. Then I brought you into the land of the

Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan, and they fought with you; but I gave them into your hand that ye might possess the land, and I destroyed them before you. Then Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel; and he sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you; but I would not hearken to Balam, and he blessed you instead. So I delivered you out of his power. Then ye came across the Jordan, even unto Jericho; and the men of Jericho fought against you, and I delivered them into your hand. And I sent before you the hornet, even the two kings of the Amorites, which drave them out before you.

Now, therefore, fear Yahweh and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River [Euphrates] and in Egypt, and serve Yahweh. If, however, it seem evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose for yourselves whom ye will serve― whether the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.

And the people answered and said: God forbid that we should forsake Yahweh to serve other gods. For Yahweh, our God, He it is that brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through which we passed. And Yahweh drove out before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land. Therefore will we also serve Yahweh, for He is our God.

And Joshua said unto the people: Ye cannot serve Yahweh, for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. If ye forsake Yahweh and serve strange gods, then He will turn and do you hurt and consume you, after that He hath done you good. But the people said unto Joshua: Nay, but we will serve Yahweh.

Then Joshua said unto the people: Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen for yourselves Yahweh, to serve Him. (And they said: We are witnesses.) Now therefore, put away the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto Yahweh, the God of Israel. And the people said unto Joshua: Yahweh our God will we serve, and His voice will we obey. Thus Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

Then Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and he took a great stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Yahweh. And Joshua said unto all the people: Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us, for it hath heard all the words of Yahweh which He hath spoken unto us; therefore it shall be a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God. Then Joshua sent away the people, each to his own possession.

And after these things, Joshua the son of Nun died, being an hundred and ten years old. And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, in Timmath-serah which is in Mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash. And the bones of Joseph, which the Children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hazor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred pieces of silver; and they became the possession of the sons of Joseph. And Eleazar the son of Aaron died, and

they buried him in the hill of Phinehas, his son, which was given him in Mount Ephraim.

VI

OF DEBORAH, BARAK AND JAEL

Deborah summons Barak from Naphtali to head an uprising of the central tribes against Jabin, King of Canaan. Sisera heads the Canaanite host against them. He is defeated at the River Kishon, and flees on foot and alone, and takes refuge in the tent of Heber the Kenite. Jael, the wife of Heber, slays Sisera, and delivers him to Barak. A preface to the tale giving the political situation is prefixed by D, a writer of the 7th Cent. (Judges, iv, 1-3, [the preface] iv, 4-23; by E. Verse 24, a comment by D..)

(Preface by D2. The Israelites offended Yahweh when Ehud was dead, and He sold them into the hand of Jabin, the King of Canaan who reigned in Hazor, the captain of whose host was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. And the Israelites cried unto Yahweh for help; for Jabin had nine hundred iron chariots, and for twenty years he mightily oppressed the Children of Israel. Now a prophetess, Deborah, wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time.)

She sent and summoned Barak, the son of Abinoam, from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said unto him: Hath not Yahweh, the God of Israel, commanded, saying: Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and the children of Zebulon? And I will draw unto thee to the brook Kishon Sisera with his chariots and his multitudes, and I will deliver him into thy hand. And Barak said unto her: If thou wilt go with me, I will go; but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. And she said: I will surely go with thee; notwithstanding, the journey shall not be for thine honor, for Yahweh shall sell Sisera into the hands of a woman. Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.

And

Then Barak called Zebulon and Naphtali to Kedesh; and there went up with him ten thousand men, and Deborah went with him.

Now Heber the Kenite had severed himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent as far away as the tree of Zaannaim which is near Kedesh.

And they told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to Mount Tabor. And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the brook Kishon. And Deborah said unto Barak: Up, for this is the day in which Yahweh hath delivered Sisera into thy hand. Is not Yahweh going before thee? So Barak went down from Mount Tabor and ten thousand men after him. And Yahweh discomfited Sisera1 and all his chariots and all his host with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot, and fled away on foot.

But Barak pursued after the chariots and after the host unto Harosheth of the Gentiles; and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge

1 In the great Ode of Deborah given in J's History, this discomfiture is attributed to a great hail-storm and rain that filled the brook Kishon to overflowing.

of the sword; there was not a man left. Howbeit, Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite.

And Jael went out to meet Sisera and said unto him: Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in to her in the tent, she covered him with a rug. And he said unto her: Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink, for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk and gave him drink, and covered him. Again he said unto her: Stand in the door of the tent; and it shall be when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say: Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No. Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a nail of the tent and a mallet in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples and fastened it into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.

And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him: Come in, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came in lo, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.

(Comment by D2. Thus God on that day enabled the Israelites to subdue Jabin, the King of Canaan. And the power of the Israelites prevailed more and more until they had destroyed Jabin, King of Canaan.)

VII

OF GIDEON1

(Judg. vi, 1-5b, 33, 36-40; vii, 2-8, 16a, 17b-20, 24-25b; viii, 1-3, 22-23, 30-31.)

Preface by D2.-The Israelites again did evil in the sight of Yahweh, and Yahweh delivered them into the hands of Midian seven years. And because of the Midianites, the Israelites made themselves hiding-places in the mountains and caves and fastnesses. For, when Israel had sown, the Midianites and Amalekites and the eastern Bedouin would come up and encamp against them, and destroy the increase of the earth till thou comest to Gaza, and they left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor ass. For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude, and their camels were without number.

Now all Midian had gathered together and crossed the Jordan, and encamped in the plain of Jezreel. Then Gideon said unto God: If Thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as Thou hast spoken, behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing-floor; if there be dew on the fleece only and it be dry on all the ground, then shall I know that Thou wilt save Israel by my hand as Thou hast spoken. And it was so; for he rose up early on the morrow and wrung out dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. And Gideon said unto God: Let not Thine anger be kindled against me; let me make trial, I pray Thee, with the fleece but this once more; let it be dry only upon the fleece, and upon the ground let there be dew. And God did so that night; for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground. . . . Then Yahweh 1 Called also Jerubbaal, who freed Israel from the annual raids of the Midianites (Bedouin). Possibly E here combines the exploits of two different men.

said to Gideon: The people who are with thee are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hand; lest Israel vaunt itself against Me, saying: Mine own power hath saved me. Now, therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people: Whosoever is afraid and timid, let him return and depart early from Mount Gilead. And there returned twenty and two thousand; but there remained ten thousand. And Yahweh said unto Gideon: There are yet too many; bring them down to the water, and I will try them for thee there; and it shall be that of whom I shall say unto thee; This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee. And of whomsoever I say unto thee: This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought the people down to the water; and Yahweh said unto Gideon: Every man that lappeth of the water with his tongue as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And Yahweh said unto Gideon: By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and will deliver Midian into thy hand; let all the rest of the people go home. So they took victuals of the people in their hands, and their horns; and he sent all the men of Israel to their tents; and retained only the three hundred men.

Then he divided his three hundred men into three companies, and furnished them all with horns. And he said: When I come to the outmost edge of the camp, it shall be that as I do, so shall ye do. When I blow the horn, I and all that are with me, then do ye also blow the horns on every side of the camp. Now Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, and they blew their horns; then the three companies blew their horns; and Yahweh set every man's sword against his fellow, throughout all the host. And the men of all Manasseh were called out, and pursued Midian. Gideon also sent messengers through all the hill-country of Ephraim, saying: Come down to meet Midian and hold the streams against them as far as Beth-barah; so all the men of Ephraim were called out, and held the waters as far as Beth-barah. And they took the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and slew Oreb at the Rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the wine-press of Zeeb. Then the Ephraimites said to Gideon: Why hast thou served us thus, that thou didst not call us when thou wentest to fight with Midian? And they did chide with him sharply. But he answered them: What have I now done? Is not the gleaning of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abi-ezer? God hath given into your hand the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What was I able to do in comparison with you? When he had said that, their anger was appeased.

Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon: Rule thou over us, both thou and thy son, and thy son's son; for thou hast saved us out of the hand of Midian. And Gideon said unto them: I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you; Yahweh shall rule over you. So Jerubbaal son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.1

1 ["Now Gideon had seventy sons, all begotten by him, for he had many wives. And his concubine also, who lived in Shechem, bore him a son whom he named Abimelech." Added by P. The additions of pre-exilic editors are given with due notice in the text.]