Heinrich Graetz - History of the Jews, Vol. 1 (of 6)

At the same time four other tribes acquired their settlements in the south; and they relied upon their own efforts unaided by the entire army of the people. The small tribe of Benjamin, more closely connected with the children of Joseph, was probably assisted by the latter in obtaining a narrow and not very fertile strip of land near the southern frontier line. This was the district of the Gibeonites, with some additions on the east and the west.

The Canaanites, who dwelt in the western plain towards the seaboard, also had iron chariots, on which account the Israelites did not venture to attack them soon after their invasion. Still there was no alternative for the rest of the tribes, but to seek their homes in the western region. Judah was the most numerous and the mightiest of these tribes, and was joined by the children of Simeon, who subordinated themselves like vassals to a ruling tribe.

At the southern extremity, near the desert, the Kenites, kinsmen and allies of the Israelites, had been domiciled since the days of Israel's wandering through the wilderness. By the friendly aid of this people the Judæans hoped to succeed more easily in gaining new dwelling-places. They avoided a war with the Jebusites, with whom possibly they had made a compact of peace, and spared the territory in which Jerusalem, the subsequent capital, was situated.

The first place they captured was the ancient town of Hebron, where Caleb distinguished himself by his bravery. Hebron became the chief city of the tribe of Judah. Kirjath-Sepher, or Debir, was taken by Othniel, Caleb's half-brother. Other leaders of this tribe continued the conquest of various other cities. In the earlier days, the tribe of Judah seems to have lived on friendly terms with the original inhabitants of the land and to have dwelt peaceably by their side. The extensive settlement of Judah was better suited for pasture than for agriculture. The new settlers and the old inhabitants had therefore no inducements for displacing each other, or for indulging in a deadly strife. The large tract of land was parcelled out into small plots, and the Canaanites and the Amalekites retained their homesteads.

The tribe of Simeon had no independent possessions, not even a single town which it could claim as its own, and was altogether merged in the tribe of Judah. The Simeonites dwelt in towns of Judah, without, however, having a voice in the deliberations of the tribe. The scantiest provision seems to have been made for the tribe of Dan, the number of families belonging to this tribe being apparently very small. Nor does it appear to have received such aid from a brother tribe as was given to Issachar and to Simeon. The Danites seem to have been followers of the tribe of Ephraim. This tribe selfishly allowed the Danites to acquire an insecure portion in the south-west of its own territory, or, rather, a small portion in the land of the Benjamites. It now devolved upon the Danites to conquer for themselves the land on the plain of Saron, which extends towards the sea, and to establish themselves there. The Amorites, however, prevented them from accomplishing this design, and forced them to retreat into the mountains; but here the sons of Ephraim and the Benjamites refused them the possession of permanent dwelling-places. The Danites were therefore during a long time compelled to lead a camp-life, and at last one section of this tribe had to go in search of a settlement far away to the north.

The conquest of Canaan had proceeded with such rapidity as to impress the contemporaries and the posterity of the people with the opinion that this success was the work of a miracle. Not quite half a century before the Israelites had been scared away from the borders of Palestine, after the spies had spread the report that the inhabitants of the land were too strong to be vanquished. The same inhabitants were now in such dread of the Israelites as to abandon their possessions without attempting to make any resistance, or if they did take up a defensive position they were easily routed. On this account the conviction gained ground amongst the Israelites that the Deity Himself had led the warriors, and had scattered their opponents in utter confusion. This great conquest became, therefore, the natural theme of spirited poetry.

Although insufficient portions had been allotted to a few of the tribes, such as the Simeonites and the Danites, they still owned some lands which might afford a partial subsistence, and become the nucleus for a further extension of property. The Levites alone had been left altogether unprovided with landed possessions. This was done in strict conformity with the injunctions of Moses, lest the tribe of priests, by misusing its rights of birth, should become affluent agriculturists, and be drawn away from their holy avocations by the desire of enriching themselves – like the Egyptian priests, who, under the pretext of defending the interest of religion, despoiled the people of its property, and formed a plutocratic caste.

The Levites were to remain poor and content themselves with the grants made to them by the owners of lands and herds, they being required to devote all their attention to the sanctuary and the divine law.

During Joshua's rule the camp of Gilgal, between the Jordan and Jericho, was the centre of divine worship and of the Levitical encampment; here also the tabernacle of the covenant had been erected, and sacrifices were offered up. But Gilgal could not permanently serve as the place for assembling the people, for it lay in an unproductive and unfrequented district. As soon as the affairs of the people were more consolidated, and after the Trans-Jordanic warriors had returned to their homes, another locality had to be selected for the sanctuary. As a matter of course, it was expedient that the sacred place should be situated within the confines of Ephraim. Joshua likewise had his seat amongst the Ephraimites, namely at Timnath-Serah, a town which that tribe had gratefully allotted to him.

Shiloh (Salem) was chosen as the spot for the establishment of the sanctuary. When the ark of the covenant arrived there, an altar was, as a matter of course, erected by its side. Here the public assemblies were held, if not by all the tribes, certainly by those of Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin. Phineas, the high priest of the house of Aaron, and the priests who succeeded him in office, took up their abode in Shiloh. It is highly probable that many of the Levites resided in that town whilst others were dispersed throughout the towns of the several tribes; but on the whole they led a wandering life.

Through the immigration of the Israelites, the land of Canaan not only received a new name, but assumed a different character. It became a "Holy Land," "the Heritage of God," and was regarded as favourable to the people's destination of leading a holy life.

Foreign countries, contrasted with Palestine, appeared to them to be profane, and utterly unadapted for perpetuating the devout worship of the One Spiritual God, or for enforcing the observance of His law. The Holy Land was imagined to be sensible of the pious or of the wicked conduct of its inhabitants. There were three iniquities which the land was supposed to spurn as the most heinous. These were murder, licentiousness, and idolatry. The conviction was general that on account of such misdeeds the land had cast out its former inhabitants, and that it would not retain the Israelites if they indulged in similar crimes. These ideas took deep root amongst the people of Israel, and they regarded Palestine as surpassing, in its precious qualities, every other country. It was, indeed, an undeniable fact that the Land of Israel (so it was named from the time when this people took possession of it) had striking distinctions, which were unequalled in any other portion of the globe. Within the small expanse of territory, one hundred and fifty miles by sixty, if the Trans-Jordanic region be included, contrasting peculiarities are crowded together, which give a marvellous character to that country. The perpetual snow-tops of Lebanon and Hermon in the north overlook the ranges of mountains and valleys far away to the sandy desert in the south, where scorching heat, like that of tropical Africa, burns up all vegetation. In close proximity to each other, trees of various kinds are found to thrive, which elsewhere are separated by great distances. Here is the slender palm tree, which shoots up only under a high temperature, and there grows the oak tree, which cannot endure such heat. If the heat of the south fires the blood, and fills man with violent passions, the wind sweeping over northern snow-fields, on the other hand, renders him calm, thoughtful, and deliberate.