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LECTURE XXXIII.

THE HOUSE OF JEHU.

THE SYRIAN WARS, AND THE PROPHET JONAH.

WITH the overthrow of the house of Omri, the main interest of the history of Samaria is brought to an end. The long struggle was finished, and the good cause, in however imperfect a form, and by instruments however rude, triumphed at last. The scenes of that struggle have been described as they are given in the sacred narrative itself, not softening any of their horrors, nor extenuating their intense charm. Ulphilas, the apostle of the Goths, and author of the first version of the Scriptures in the German languages, omitted from his translation the Books of Kings, lest descriptions like these should rouse or confirm the savage spirit of the barbarian tribes. It is an advantage of our more civilised times, that we can now read these interesting narratives without any such fear. They are not Christian; they belong to that state of crude morality which our Lord condemned.' But as illustrations of the Jewish Church, and as masterpieces of the historical art, if I may so say, of the Hebrew Scriptures, they are invaluable.

Of the less important period of the House of Jehu, the Syrian wars form the main outward framework. Down to the time of the disruption of the kingdom, the people of Israel had on the whole maintained its independence of

Matt. v. 27, &c. See Lecture XI.

wars.

foreign powers. Its contests and alliances had for the most part been with the nations enclosed within the limits of The Syrian Palestine. The conquests of David, the commerce of Solomon, had not entangled them in any close political relations with the more distant of the surrounding nations. But the separation of the two kingdoms made each of them a more easy prey, and the riches acquired during the empire, previously united, excited the ambition of the neighbouring countries, now that the strong hand of David and Solomon was removed.

Damascus.

Damascus, as soon as it threw off the yoke of Judah, became naturally the capital of the new Aramaic kingdom thus formed. Aram (Syria) of Damascus' was the title by which it was known, to distinguish it from those which had preceded it at Zobah, Hamath, or other places in the highlands of the north of Palestine. Rezon, the outlaw, was its founder.' Hader or Hadad, and Rimmon, were the chief divinities of the race, and from them the line of its kings derived their names-Hadad, Ben-hadad, Hadad-ezer, Tabrimmon; and sanctuaries in their honour were established even in the heart of Palestine.3

How entirely the Syrian wars belonged to the northern, and not to the southern kingdom, appears from the fact that the first incursion, which ended in the devastation of the rich country round the sources of the Jordan, by Benhadad, was at the direct instigation of the King of Judah. This seems to have been temporary. But in Omri's reign the demands. of Syria were bolder. 'Cities' were taken from himamongst them Ramoth-Gilead and probably other fortresses on the eastern bank of the Jordan-and a quarter or bazaar, in the capital of Samaria, for settlers from Damascus.

11 Kings xi. 23; perhaps also called Hezion, 1 Kings xv. 18. LXX. Esrom, Rason, Hazael.

* 1 Kings xv. 18.

Still more imperious demands were made on Ahab. His harem and his treasures were to be surrendered, and after them the treasures of his nobles. The army of Syria was so numerous, that the dust of Samaria, when it was ground to powder, would not fill their hands. The King of Syria treated the siege of Samaria as a pastime-sitting with his subject kings in rural banquets, under leafy arbours, made for the occasion. Two-and-thirty 2 of these vassal chiefs followed Benhadad's camp, each with his chariots and horses. Chariots and horses' innumerable were the symbol of the strength of Syria. In spite of all the changes introduced by Solomon, the Israelites were still far inferior in this branch of military service. 'The chariots 3 and horsemen ' and horses' passed almost into a proverb to express strength beyond their own. The Israelite host, with the allied army of Judah, encamped on their hillsides, and overlooking the vast army of the Syrians in the plain below, were but like two little flocks of mountain kids. Another strong arm of war, although here the Israelites were more equally matched, was their archery. Twice over, an arrow from the Syrian bowmen decided the fate of battles."

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Gilead.

Ramoth-Gilead, the great frontier fortress, was in the Ramhothhands of Syria, even after many reverses, a constant menace against Israel. As it was now the point of contention between Syria and Israel, so formerly it had been the frontier between the tribes of Laban and Jacob. A lofty watchtower gave it the name of Mizpeh, and it was known from far as the rallying-place of the Trans-Jordanic tribes, and the city of refuge for the Gadites. Campaign after campaign was formed against it. Know ye that Ramoth-Gilead is

11 Kings xx. 12-16.

Ibid. xx. 1, 16; xxii. 31. The advantage of chariots over infantry or even cavalry in the unenclosed plains of Syria is well given in Mr. Newman's Hebrew Monarchy,

p. 183.

2 Kings ii. 11, 12, vi. 17, vii. 6, xiii. 14.

1 Kings xx. 27.

Ibid. xxii. 34; 2 Chron. xxii. 5 (LXX. and Josephus).

Siege of
Samaria.

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ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hands of the King of Syria?' was the standing remonstrance of the Kings of Israel. Shall I go up against Ramoth-Gilead, or shall I 'forbear?' was the standing question.2 Ahab lost his life in trying to recover it; Joram received there the wounds which laid him long on a bed of sickness. There the captains of the host formed a separate community by themselves--from the protracted siege. The first question raised when a cloud of dust was seen approaching Jezreel from the east was, Is it peace in Ramoth-Gilead ?' 3

Twice in Ahab's reign, and once in that of his son, the Syrians met with signal reverses, which saved the northern kingdom from utter extinction. The first was a panic in the Syrian camp, during the preparations against Samaria, occasioned by the sudden appearance of a body of young Israelite nobles. The second was the battle of Aphek. The victorious result was the more conspicuous from its being fought on the plain and not in the hills. Benhadad was reduced to beg for his life and kingdom, but was let off on easy terms, through the feeling of brotherhood even then existing amongst crowned heads."

The most remarkable incident of the war was the siege of Samaria. It was the first of that succession of sieges which have left such awful scars on the history of Israel. Now for the first time, but not for the last, was the dreadful curse fulfilled, contained in the ancient law-The tender and 'delicate woman devouring her own offspring.' The surrounding hills were occupied by the Syrian army, who could watch the condition of the besieged city, reaching as it did down the slopes of the mountain of Samaria.

11 Kings xxii. 3.

2 Ibid. 6, 15.

* 2 Kings ix. 18; Josephus, Ant.

ix. 6, §3.

1 Kings xx. 23.

1 Kings xx. 33.

Below was

Deut. xxviii. 56, 57; 2 Kings vi. 28; Lam. iv. 10; Joseph. B. J. vi 3, §4.

the house where Elisha held his councils; on the summit was the palace. On the broad wall the King passed to and fro, and received the complaints of the besieged. The sudden panic which delivered the city is the one marked intervention in behalf of the northern capital. No other incident could be found in the sacred annals so appropriately to express, in the church of Gouda, the pious gratitude of the citizens of Leyden for their deliverance from the Spanish army, as the miraculous raising of the siege of Samaria.

In the midst of these merely military and political movements there are four names which unite them to the religious history of the nation-Elisha, Hazael, Jeroboam II., and Jonah.

Of Elisha we have already spoken at length, as the successor of Elijah, and as the supporter of the dynasty of Jehu. But there is another aspect of the Prophetical office in which he appears, and of which he is the first representative.

On the one hand he is the support and champion of his countrymen, in this time of their need, against their foreign enemies. He conveys to the King of Israel secret intelligence of all the movements of the Syrians. He takes up his abode in Samaria during the siege. The nobles of the city hold their councils in his house. He is so identified with the resistance to the enemy, that, on hearing of the frightful effects of the famine, the King sends an executioner to behead him. He is the life and soul of the patriotic party in the invaded kingdom. The Syrian King finds that he is baffled in his schemes by constant revelations of them to the King of Israel through Elisha, who tells the words that he speaks ' in his bedchamber.' He is in this respect the forerunner

of Micah and Isaiah.

On the other hand, it is from his time that the Prophets of Israel appear as the oracles, as the monitors, not only of Israel but of the surrounding nations.

12 Kings vi. 10, 12, 31, 32.