The story of the settlement of the national and tribal ancestors in Palestine is interrupted by an account of the southward move ment of Jacob (or Israel) and his sons into a district under the immediate influence of the kings of Egypt. After an interval of uncertain duration we find in Exodus (q.v.) a numerous people subjected to rigorous oppression. No longer "sons" of Jacob or Israel, whole tribes were led out by Moses and Aaron ; and, of ter a series of incidents extending over 4o years, the "children of Israel" invaded the land in which their ancestors had lived. The traditions embodied in the books Exodus–Joshua are considerably later than the ostensible date of the events themselves. For the details of their conflict see EXODUS, (THE). The story of the "exo dus" is that of the religious birth of "Israel," joined by covenant with the national god, Yahweh (see JEHOVAH; TETRAGRAMMATON), whose aid in times of peril and need proved his supremacy. In Moses (q.v.) was seen the founder of Israel's religion and laws; in Aaron (q.v.) the prototype of the Israelite priesthood. Yahweh had admittedly been the God of Israel's ancestors, but his name was only now made known (Exod. iii. 13 sqq., vi. 2 seq.), and this conception of a new era in Yahweh's relations with the people is associated with the family of Moses and with small groups from the south of Palestine who reappear in religious movements in later history (see KENITES ; RECHABITES). Amid a great variety of motives the prominence of Kadesh in south Palestine is to be recognized ; but it is uncertain what clans or tribes were at Kadesh, and it is possible that traditions, originally confined to those with whom the new conception of Yahweh is connected, were subse quently adopted by others who came to regard themselves as the worshippers of the only true Yahweh. Two quite distinct views can be distinguished. The one associates itself with the settlement of the ancestors of the Hebrews and has an ethnic character. The other, part of the religious history of "Israel," is essentially bound up with the religious genius of the people, and is partly connected with clans from the south of Palestine whose influence reappears later.
4. The Monarchy of Israel.—The book of Joshua continues the fortunes of the "children of Israel" and describes a successful occupation of Palestine by the united tribes, in striking contrast to other records of the partial successes of individual groups (Judges i.). It is, however, based upon the account of victories by the Ephraimite Joshua over confederations of petty kings to the south and north of central Palestine, apparently the traditions of Ephraim describing from its own standpoint the conquest of Pales tine. The book of Judges represents a period of unrest after the settlement of the people. External oppressions (Moab, Ammon, Philistines, etc.) and internal rivalries rent the Israelites; and the religious philosophy of a later (Deuteronomic) age represents the period as one of alternate apostasy from and of penitent return to the Yahweh of the "exodus," and their deliverance by "judges." The best narratives relate to Israel and Gilead; Judah scarcely ap pears, and in an old poetical account of a great fight of the united tribes against a northern adversary lies outside the writer's horizon or interest (Judges v., see DEBORAH). Stories of successful war fare and of temporary leaders (see ABIMELECH ; EHUD; GIDEON; JEPHTHAH) form an introduction to the institution of the Israel ite monarchy, an epoch of supreme importance in biblical history.
The heroic figure who stands at the head is Saul ("asked"), and there are conflicting accounts of his rise. (See SAMUEL, BOOKS oF.) The Philistines (q.v.) newly settled in the land, held the people in subjection; and their defeat is ascribed by the later account to the godly prophet-judge, Samuel, and by the earlier to Saul. The first of a series of annals of the kings of Israel ascribes to Saul con quests over the surrounding peoples to an extent which implies that the district of Judah formed part of his kingdom (1 Sam. xiv.
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47 seq.). His might is also attested by the fine elegy (2 Sam. 17 sqq.) over the death of two great Israelite heroes, Saul and Jona than, knit together by mutual love, inseparable in life and death, whose overthrow by the Philistines on the plain of Jezreel was a national misfortune. The court was removed across the Jordan to Mahanaim, where Saul's son, Ishbaal (Ish-bosheth), thanks to his general, Abner, recovered some of the lost prestige, and reigned two years over Israel and Gilead (2 Sam. ii. 8-1o; contrast the figure in v.I I ). But at this point the scanty annals are suspended and the history of the age is given in more popular sources. Israel ite national history has come down to us through Judaean hands, with the result that much of it has been coloured by late Judaean feeling, and the Judaean account of the beginning of the monarchy.
5. David and Solomon.—Certain traditions of Judah and Jerusalem appears to have looked back upon a movement from the south, traces of which underlie the present account of the "exo dus." The land was full of "sons of Anak," giants who had ter rified the scouts sent from Kadesh. Caleb alone had distinguished himself by his fearlessness, and the (semi-Edomite) clan Caleb drove them out from Hebron in south Judah (Josh. xv. 14 sqq.; cf. also xi. 21 seq.). David and his followers are found in the south of Hebron, and as they advanced northwards into a hostile district they encountered wondrous heroes between Gath and Jerusalem (2 Sam. xxi. 15 sqq. ; xxiii. 8 sqq.). (See PHILISTINES.) After stren uous fighting the district was cleared, and Jerusalem, taken by the sword, became the capital. Tradition saw in David the head of a lengthy line of kings, the founder of the Judaean monarchy, the psalmist and the priest-king who inaugurated religious institu tions now recognized to be of a distinctly later character. As a result of this backward projection of later conceptions the re covery of the true historical nucleus is difficult. The rise of Jeru salem, the centre of post-exilic Judaism, demanded explanation. Israelite tradition had ascribed the conquest of Jerusalem, Hebron and other cities of Judah to the Ephraimite Joshua ; Judaean tra dition, on the other hand, relates the capture of the sacred city from a hostile people (2 Sam. v.). The famous city, within easy reach of the southern desert and central Palestine (to Hebron and to Samaria the distances are about 18 and 35 m. respectively), had entered into Palestinian history in the "Amarna" age and had an old religious history (see HEBREW RELIGION). But Judaean tra dition dated the sanctity of Jerusalem from the installation of the Ark (q.v.), a sacred movable object, the symbol of the presence of Yahweh. It is associated with the half-nomad clans in the south of Palestine, or with the wanderings of David and his own priest, Abiathar (I Ki. ii. 26). It is ultimately placed within the newly captured city. But canonical tradition associates it with the invasion of all the tribes of Israel from beyond the Jordan.