19. And one shall rule from Jacob,

And destroy the remnant from the city.'

20.1 And he saw Amalek, and he began his rhythm and said'Amalek is the first of nations,

But his latter end shall be destruction.'

21. And he saw the Kenite, and began his rhythm and said—

Strong is thy dwelling-place,

And thy nest is set in the rock.

22. Nevertheless Kain shall be wasted.

How long? Assyria shall carry thee away captive.'

23. And he began his rhythm and said

Alas, who shall live, when God does this?

24. But ships [shall come] from the coast of Kittim,

And they shall afflict Assyria and shall afflict Eber,2

And he also shall come to destruction.'

25. And Balaam rose up and went and returned to his place, and Balak also went his way.

XXV. 1. And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. 2. And they called the people to the sacrifices of their god, and the people ate and bowed down to their god. 3. And Israel joined himself to Baal Peor, and the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel. 4. And Yahweh said to Moses, 'Take all the chiefs of the people

1 20-24. It is generally admitted that these verses have been interpolated by a later hand. Hitherto we have had general description of Israel's glory and the splendour of David's dynasty; here we have three prophecies relating to Amalekites, Kenites, and Assyrians. The last prophecy enters most into detail. Cyprus (Kittim) had been subject to the Assyrian kings, Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal (i.e. in the seventh century B.C.); and the author expects that from this very quarter a fleet will come and land an army for the destruction of Assyria itself. The particular event to which he alludes is unknown. The Assyrian empire fell at the end of the seventh century B.C., and the author of the interpolated prophecies can scarcely have written long before this event. In his time the dependencies of Assyria seem to have been rising in revolt.

2 Eber, probably not a proper name. The word means 'across,' i.e. the people across the river' [Euphrates].

and impale them 1 [?] for Yahweh before the sun, that the heat of Yahweh's anger may turn away from Israel.' 5. And Moses said to the judges of Israel, 'Slay ye every one his man, that have joined themselves to Baal Peor.'

XXXII. 1.2 Now the children of Gad and Reuben had a very great multitude of cattle, and when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead that, behold, the place was a place for cattle, 2.a the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake to Moses, [saying], 3. Ataroth and Dibon and Jazer and Nimrah and Heshbon and Elealeh and Sebam and Nebo and Beon, 4.b is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle.' 5. And they said, 'If we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given to thy servants: bring us not over Jordan.' 20. And Moses said to them, 'If you will do this thing, if you will arm yourselves to go before Yahweh to the war, 21. and if every armed man of you will pass over Jordan before Yahweh, until he has driven out his enemies from before him, 22.b then afterward you shall return and be guiltless towards Yahweh and

1 'Impale them.' 'Hanging, though a mode of suicide, was not a mode of execution in antiquity, either in the East or in the West.' See Frazer, Golden Bough, i. p. 222.

2 xxxii. 1-41. A difficult chapter, because it supplies another of the few instances in which the final editor has mingled the 'Oldest Book of Hebrew History' with the 'Priestly' record. Still the main features of our narrative are quite distinct from those of the Priestly Writer.' It speaks of Gad and Reuben (not like the 'Priestly Writer' of Reuben and Gad). It knows nothing of Eleazar the priest or the half tribe of Manasseh (33). The 'Priestly Writer' describes Moses as simply bestowing the vacant territories of Sihon and Og on the two and a half tribes. The 'Oldest Book of Hebrew History,' on the contrary, has preserved genuine historical recollection. It represents Machir and Jair, sons of Manasseh, as conquering the northern territory west of the Jordan, nor does it say that this happened in the lifetime of Moses. The geographical notices of the territory occupied by Gad and Reuben differ from those of the Priestly Writer' in Josh. xiii. 15 seq., and as, according to the Priestly Writer,' Machir was the only son of Manasseh (xxvi. 29 seq.), it cannot be he who makes 'the children of Machir' settle to the east of Jordan, for in this case he would have contradicted the notorious fact assumed by himself no less than by the 'Oldest Book of Hebrew History,' viz., that the Manassites had settlements on both sides of the river. The account before us represents the settlements of the Israelites east of Jordan

Israel, and the land shall be yours before Yahweh.

23. But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against Yahweh, and be sure your sin will find you out. 24. Build yourselves cities for your little ones, and enclosures for your flocks, and do that which has proceeded out of your mouth.' 25. And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, 'Thy servants will do, as my lord commands. 26. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead, 27. but thy servants will pass over, every man that is armed for war, before Yahweh to battle, as my lord says.'

34. So the children of Gad built Dibon and Ataroth and Aroer 35. and Atroth-Shophan and Jazer and Jogbehah 36. and Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran, fortified cities and enclosures for sheep. 37. And the children of Reuben built Heshbon and Elealeh and Kiriathaim, 38. and Nebo and Baal-Meon1 and

in the time of the kings, perhaps from that of Solomon to that of Omri. Deborah's Song speaks of Gilead (i.e. Gad) and Reuben as settled east of the Jordan and Mesha's Stone (about 900 B. C.) states that Gad had 'dwelt from of old in the land of Ataroth.' On the other hand, Deborah's Song (Judges v. 14) speaks of Machir as still living west of the Jordan. Probably they went east of the Jordan, when Gad and Reuben were pressing south in the time of the early kings and extended their domain by conquest. But the statement that Gad, Reuben, and the Manassites assisted the other tribes in conquering the land west of Jordan, rests on the late fiction that Israel won Canaan in a single generation, and formed a national unity under Moses and Joshua.

In determining the text of the 'Oldest Book of Hebrew History' in this chapter, I have adopted the conclusions of Stade (Gesch. Isr. i. p. 148 seq.). With him Dillmann agrees on the whole, except that he adds 6-15, which is, as Kuenen has shown (Theol. Tijd. xi. p. 559 seq.), a late interpolation. Dillmann himself allows that it has been seriously tampered with. In ver. I I have restored 'Gad and Reuben' for 'Reuben and Gad,' and have removed expressions which have been admittedly interpolated by the final editor who borrowed the characteristic words and phrases of the 'Priestly Writer.' There must, of course, be considerable doubt as to the details. Verses 39, 41, 42 are almost certainly by the Jahvist, and should be read between Joshua xvii. 14-18, and xiii. 13. But' Amorite' seems to have been substituted for 'Canaanite,' and the parentage of Nobah omitted.

1 'Nebo and Baal-Meon.' A late gloss is here added, viz., 'their names being changed.' This was meant to remove the scandal that ‘Nebo' and 'Baal' are both names of gods. The scribe who showed such monotheistic zeal did not know that Gad also was a deity, viz., the god of luck, worshipped all over Syria. See Cheyne on Isaiah lxv. 11, and Bäthgen, Semit. Relig. p. 76 seq.

Sibmah, and they gave other names to the cities which they built. 39. And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh, went to Gilead and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites which were in it. 41. And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took their tent-villages, and called them the tent-villages of Jair. 42. And Nobah1 went and took Kenath and its dependencies, and called it Nobah, after his own name.

Deut. XXXI. 14.2 And Yahweh said to Moses, 'Behold, the time draws near that thou shouldst die: call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting that I may give him a charge.' And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. 15. And Yahweh appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood by the door of the tent. 16. And Yahweh said to Moses, 'Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers and this people will rise up and go a whoring after the strange gods of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me and break my covenant which I have made with them. 17. Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them and they shall be devoured and many evils and troubles shall come upon them, so that they will say in that day, "Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not in the midst of us?" 18. And I will surely hide my face because of all the evil

1 Deut. xxxi. 14-23. It is clear, and has been pointed out long ago (see e.g., Knobel's commentary on the passage), that this section in the Book of Deuteronomy does not belong to the original structure of the book. The Deuteronomist, as Dillmann points out, never speaks of 'the tent of meeting,' 'the pillar of cloud,' 'breaking the covenant,'' strange gods,' 'to go a whoring after,' 'imagination' (yeşer), etc., and all these expressions are so many signs that we have the ‘Oldest Book of Hebrew History' before us. The section has been compiled from two sources. Verses 14, 15, 23 refer to the appointment of Joshua in place of Moses. The intermediate verses are the introduction to the Song' in chap. xxxii. Hence the obscurity in ver. 23. The subject is evidently 'Yahweh,' and all is in order, if we read ver. 23 immediately after ver. 15. But in ver. 22 Moses is the subject, and when we come to read ver. 23 in its present position, we are obliged to supply a new subject in the most unnatural way.

they have done, in that they have turned to other gods. 19. And now write this song for yourselves, and teach thou it to the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. 20. For when I shall have brought them to the land which I sware to their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they shall have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then will they turn to other gods and serve them and despise me and break my covenant. 21. And it shall come to pass when many evils and troubles are come upon them, that this song shall testify before them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed; for I know their imagination which they go about even now, before I have brought them to the land which I sware to their fathers.' 22. So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the children of Israel. 23. And he [Yahweh] commanded Joshua the son of Nun and said, 'Be strong and of good courage, for thou shalt bring the children of Israel to the land which I sware to them: and I will be with thee.'

1

XXXII. 1.2 'Give ear, ye heavens, and I will speak,

And let the earth hear the words of my mouth :

2. My doctrine shall drop as the rain,

My speech shall distil as the dew;

1 To their fathers,' added from Sam., LXX.

2 xxxii. The Song of Moses.' This poem depicts the calamities of the Hebrews under foreign invasion, which has reduced them to the point of extinction, but from which Yahweh promises them final deliverance. Το what period does the poet refer? Three answers have to be considered. Dillmann attributes the poem to a poet of the northern kingdom who lived about the time of Elijah and Elisha, i.e. in the ninth century B.C., when Israel suffered much from the Aramæans of Damascus. Others (e.g. Reuss, Gesch. § 226) refer the poem to the period preceding the taking of Samaria by the Assyrians in B.C. 722. Lastly, Kuenen and others are inclined to believe that the foes intended are the Babylonians, in which case the poet must have written shortly before the final catastrophe of 586 B.C., which was the date of the exile. The strength of Kuenen's argument lies in his list of the words and phrases (Onderz. i. § 13, 30) which occur in the poem, but are never found even in writers of the eighth century B.C. In language and style the poem 'stands on one line with Jeremiah and Ezekiel.' This argument is