by the care of so wayward and ungrateful a people. He felt that notwithstanding the relief which he had gained from the appointment of rulers to aid him, as described, Deuteronomy, 1:9-18, yet there was an oppressive amount of care and responsibility still resting upon him. "Small matters were decided by them; but every "great matter," every "hard cause," the people were still allowed to bring to him; and such were the constantly multiplying concerns of the people, that, as he here says, it had become too heavy for him to act "alone" as the highest authority for the judg ment of "hard causes" or "great matters." He needed men for his aid to whom should be given "the Spirit" which had been given to him, a Spirit qualifying them to judge in matters which he alone had heretofore held under his jurisdiction. Accordingly he was told that the needful relief should be given: "The Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto you seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. And I will come down and talk with thee there; and I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone." Now, observe how these seventy are to be selected for this high office.

1. They were to be taken out of the Elders or Senators of Israel-must be men who had held the office and knew its duties. Elders or Senators, I say; for, as all scholars know, these terms are of similar import. Both of them originally refer to qualifications of age, but in time became terms of office, properly of such offices as could be best filled by men who had reached maturity of years.

2. They must have acquired acknowledged character and distinction among the elders-" Whom thou knowest to be elders." And then, besides this,

3. They must also have reputation as officers b over the people. This is a title generally denoting preeminence or superior influence and authority, for whatever purpose the office was held. It is applied, for instance, to the commander-in-chief of an army.

4. They are described also, verse 26, as "those that were written;" implying that their names had been enrolled on a distinctive record, perhaps in this way to be submitted to some constituency for an election.

5. The number, seventy, of which the council was composed, is worthy of note. "Seven" and "seventy" are of ten called the sacred numbers, or numbers of perfection, in Scripture language; and with reference to this general idea, the Sanhedrim was made to consist of seventy, the more fully to denote its high rank.

Such were the origin, rank, and character of the Sanhedrim or Senate of Seventy, created by Divine appointment in the Hebrew Commonwealth. It seems, in some respects, to have been like an Upper House, as the Senate in our own Government; or, in other respects, like a High Court of Appeal, whose decisions and ordinances were final, and whose character for wisdom and integrity would give weight to their proceedings and their acts. So far from such a Senate being of no use in crushing a rebellion, as Michaelis intimates, its influence must have been most effective, not only in quelling rebellions that might arise, but in preventing those which might be threatened. Especially was it of use for this purpose at the time of its creation, when God gave his sanctions to its decisions by such a marked bestowment

of His Spirit on its members as made itself obvious to all the people. Whether assembled at "the tabernacle of the congregation," or whether "remaining at the camp," we are told, "they prophesied and did not cease."

As to future mention of this distinguished or higher body of elders or senators, it may be found on several occasions in the history of the nation. In Joshua, 9: 13–21, when the treaty was made with the Gibeonites, which created much murmuring among the people, we find a body of men acting with Joshua as his council, who were called "Princes " or "Principal men of the Congregation," whose rank or authority evidently corresponded with that of the Senate or Council of Seventy, as described on the occasion of their original appointment. It is the same body of men who seem to have been referred to, Judges, 21: 16, under the title, "Elders of the Congregation," who gave their judgment on the great national question of preventing "a tribe from being destroyed out of Israel." It is not unlikely that this Senate was at times of defection from God, both "in the days of the Judges" and during the times of the Kings, allowed to fall into neglect. And if we look carefully at the reforms accomplished by Jehoshaphat, as described, Second Chronicles, 29: 8-11, we may learn that one of his chief measures was the restoration of this very Council to its rightful place and authority. That Ezra acted with it and through it in his administration, seems to be admitted on all hands. It is to these Judges or Senators he is supposed to refer, Ezra, 10:8.

NOTE F-LECTURE 2, p. 70.

A cursory perusal of the Book of Judges may have led some readers to a different conclusion, respecting the condition of the nation, while "the Judges ruled over Israel,” from what I have described. The references, however, to this period of history which I have quoted from subsequent parts of the Bible, are decisive on the point. It should be remembered that this Book, short as it is, spreads over a period of about three hundred years; and, as a venerable commentator remarks, in a history so succinct, historians. generally select the startling events of wickedness and violence, while they pass by in silence the more unobtrusive occurrences, which are the fruits of piety towards God and righteousness towards man. "And the land had rest fourscore years," is the brief language in which is described a period of unbroken peace and prosperity which lasted for nearly three generations, as we would term it. Besides, the crimes that stain these brief pages are exceeded by those which were committed after "the time of the Judges." Amidst the worst extremities of guilt and suffering to which reference is here made, there is nothing so atrocious and revolting as parents devouring their own children, or offering them in sacrifice to Moloch, which are recorded as sins committed during the reign of the Kings. It is true that during the reign of Solomon the nation acquired wealth, refinement, and distinction, never known till that day. But this arose chiefly from the unparalleled wisdom of the man who then wore the crown; and the disasters which followed Solomon's death soon showed how very unstable are the power and prosperity of a nation if it rests on the wisdor

and virtue of any one man, rather than on the intelligence and integrity of the people themselves.

But whatever else may be left in uncertainty as to the comparative welfare of the people, under the two respective governments, one thing is certain-the union of the nation was preserved during the four hundred, or rather four hundred and fifty (see Acts, 13:20) years of the Republic; whereas, but one hundred and twenty years had passed under the government of the Kings, till the nation was rent in twain by a breach that never was healed, and which led to bloody and disastrous wars. It is also to be observed, that the greatest evils which transpired during the Commonwealth are described as springing from the want of a supreme Government over the entire nation. In connection with the disorders that resulted in the fatal war with the tribe of Benjamin, it is said: "In those days there was no King in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes." Commentators, very much with one consent, interpret these words, not as referring to the want of a monarch with royal power and prerogatives, but to the want of that supreme authority over the whole people, which God had taught them how to provide and to perpetuate; which, after the days of Moses, is described as vested in Joshua and the Elders or Senators who were his contemporaries, and during whose administration Israel obeyed the Lord and "dwelt safely." That such is a just interpretation of the word "King," may be seen by referring to several passages, as Deut. 33: 5, where Moses is said to have been "king in Jeshurun."