descent in order to provide against the anomaly of a man of the twelve lay tribes discharging sacred functions.

But, however this may be, there is no indication of Elkanah, as belonging to the tribe of Levi, taking any part in the duties assigned to them; and, if he was a Levite, he was certainly not a priest, and yet Samuel acts all along as a priest, in direct contradiction to the laws of the L.L., see N.iii.10,38, xvi. 10,40. Nay, if Samuel was a Levite, he belonged to Jehovah from his birth, N.iii.12,13, though he was not competent to do the work In the Tabernacle till he was thirty years old, N.iv.3, 1Ch.xxiii. 3,-twenty-five years old, N.viii.24, twenty years old, 1Ch.xxiii. 24,27, (VI.74, &c.),-whereas here he is given' or 'lent' to Jehovah, i.11,28, ii.20, and begins to minister before Jehovah as a child, 'girded with a linen ephod,' i.24, ii.11,18, iii.1, that is, dressed as a priest. xiv.3, xxii.18, comp. ii.28.

119. i.3. Elkanah goes up only once a year, i.3,7, 'to worship and to sacrifice unto Jehovah of Hosts in Shiloh,' i.3, 'to offer unto Jehovah the yearly sacrifice and his vow,' v.21, ii.19; and he goes up with 'all his house,' i.21, his two wives, his sons, and his daughters, with whom he feasted on the sacrifice, i.4,5,9, ii.19, the meat being boiled, ii.13,15; but they appear to have stayed only one night at Shiloh, i.19. This annual visit to Shiloh was probably made at the Feast of Ingathering (Tabernacles). There is not the least sign here, that in Elkanah's time-perhaps even at the time when this story was written, probably the early part of Solomon's reign, certainly not earlier (122-3)—it was the actual practice for every male (even of pious men like Elkanah) to appear before Jehovah at each of the three great annual festivals, as enjoined in E.xxiii.14, &c., or that the Feast of Tabernacles was kept by all pious persons in that age seven days,' L.xxiii.34, N.xxix.12, D.xvi. 13. It would seem that the three bullocks, the ephah of flour, and the bottle of wine,' in i.24, included a present for the Sanctuary from Hannah-comp. Elkanah's

6

vow,' v.21, probably, a vow of thanksgiving for the birth of Samuel-as well as the sacrifice, v.25, in addition, it would seem, to the yearly sacrifice,' which had been already offered that year, v.21.

120. Eli and his two sons appear to have been the only priests at Shiloh. There is no mention of any multitude of priests or Levites assisting at the Sanctuary; we only read of thepriest's servant,' ii.13,15.

At Shiloh there was a 'House of Jehovah,' i.7,24, which is called the Tent of Meeting,' ii.22, see (121), but also the • Temple of Jehovah,' i.9, iii.3, and it had 'door-posts,' i.9, and 'doors,' iii.15; so that it cannot have been the Tent of Meeting' described in E.xxvi,xxxvi. Moreover, as Joshua apparently slept in the Tent of Meeting' of the O.S., E.xxxiii. 11, so Samuel seems to have slept in this building,* 1S.iii.3, while the ark was in it, contrary to the spirit, if not to the letter also, of N.iv.19,20, even for a Levite; and the lamp was allowed to go out in it, contrary to the law in L.xxiv.2–4.

In i.3 we have, for the first time in the Bible, the expression 'Jehovah of Hosts,'-in full, Jehovah, Elohim of Hosts,' 2S. v.10-which appears again in v.11, iv.4, xv.2, xvii.45, 2S.vi.2, 18, and also in the Deut. passages, 2S.vii.8,26,27(62) being in fact a very common formula in Jeremiah, ii.19, v.14, vi.6,9, &c. (eighty-two times). From the manifest purpose, which is evinced in 1S.iv.4 and more particularly in 2S.vi.2, to connect the ark of the Covenant' with the name 'Jehovah of Hosts,' it seems probable that this latter designation had originated in the age when the ark was brought forward again into

The original should be translated, and ere the lamp of Elohim went-out, and Samuel lying-down in the Temple of Jehovah where the ark of Elohim was,' as in the LXX, Vulg., Arab., and Syr. Vers.-not 'and ere the lamp of Elohim wentout in the Temple of Jehovah, where the ark of Elohim was, and Samuel lyingdown,' as in the Eng. Vers. The Chald. Paraphrast has perceived the incongruity, and writes and Samuel lying-down in the Levites' hall, and a voice from the Temple of the Lord, where the ark of the Lord was.'

greater prominence in the earlier part of David's reign, and 'the name YAHWE was introduced into the religious centre of Israel,' as LAND observes (116). The phrase may very probably refer to the warlike character ascribed to Jehovah as the Elohim of Israel, the Lord and Leader of their hosts, and, in fact, identifying Himself with His people,-more especially in that warlike age. Thus 'Jehovah goes-forth before David to smite the host of the Philistines,' 2S.v.24, Jehovah works a great victory,' 2S.xxiii.10,12, and comp. the expressions in the Pentateuch, Jehovah is a man of war,' E.xv.3, War for Jehovah with Amalek!' E.xvii.16, the book of the wars of Jehovah,' N.xxi.14, 'I will bring-forth My hosts,' E.vii.4, the hosts of Jehovah went-forth,' E.xii.41, 'the host of Jehovah,' J.v.14,15.

121. ii.1-10. This is evidently a Psalm of a later-though, perhaps, (BERTHOLDT, EWALD, THENIUS) not much later—age, put into the mouth of Hannah, and very inconsiderately, since it speaks of Jehovah 'exalting the horn of His anointed,' v.10,. whereas the people only began to ask for a king when Samuel was old, viii.1-5. It was probably selected as suitable for Hannah's circumstances because of the language in v.5,6,7.

ii.13-16. It is obvious that the proceedings of the priests at Shiloh,-e.g. their wishing to 'roast' the flesh, instead of boiling it, as usual (VI.360)—as well as the act of violence described in v.16, were quite at variance with the laws in D. xviii and N.xviii, which assign the particular portions of the sacrifice to be given to the priests, viz. the shoulder, the chops, and the tripe-stomach,' D.xviii.3, replaced in later times by the more sumptuous provision of the 'brisket and hind-leg,' N.xviii.18(VI.380), which could hardly have been surpassed by the perquisite which the dexterity of the priest's servant, with his three-pronged flesh-hook, might bring-up out of the boiler, v.13,14.

ii.22,' and that they lay with the women who did service at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting?'

These words, (which are omitted in the Vat. MS. of the LXX,) are probably an interpolation of the L.L.; comp. E.xxxviii.8, where the women-who were probably supposed to be employed in some work about the Tabernacle, as after wards there were such employed about the Temple, weaving houses for the ashera,' 2K.xxiii.7-are described in precisely similar terms.* In confirmation of this it may be noticed that nowhere else in this story is the House of Jehovah' at Shiloh called the Tent of Meeting,' the term which is so frequently used in the L.L.,-as also that there is no reference whatever to this particular sin of the sons of Eli, as a reason for the Divine displeasure, in v.17, and especially in v.29, where only their misconduct in respect of the sacrifices is mentioned.

122. ii.27-36. Jehovah appeared to the 'House of Levi' in Egypt, v.27, when (according to the O.S.) he appeared to Moses and Aaron, the heads of that House, comp. E.iv.27-31, &c.

He chose Levi out of all the tribes of Israel to be His priest, &c., v.28,-N.B. it is not said 'in Egypt'-at Sinai, according to the O.S., as we suppose (VI. 159).

The whole tribe, the House of Levi,' as here stated, v.28, was then chosen for the priesthood, to 'offer' sacrifice, to burnincense,' to wear an ephod before Jehovah,' to receive all the

6

* Mr. PLUMPTRE says, D.B. iii.p.1415,—' As the religion of Israel sank towards an orgiastic Heathendom, troops of women assembled, shameless as those of Midian, worshippers of Jehovah, and, like the iepódovλos of heathen temples, concubines of the priests.' And he adds in a note—‘The occurrence of the same distinctive word in E.xxxviii.8 implies a recognized dedication of some kind by which women bound themselves to the service of the Tabernacle, probably as singers and dancers. What we find under Eli was the corruption of the original practice.'

Our own view is that the L.L. in both passages had in view women who were employed in some honourable occupation in connection with the Second Temple, and who are accordingly spoken of with commendation as virtuous and pious persons in E.xxxviii.8, but as corrupted by the sons of Levi in 1S.ii.22'; comp. 2K.xi.3, xxii. 14, Luke ii.37.

fire-offerings of the children of Israel,' as in D.xviii.1, J.xiii.14 -nothing being said about any distinction between priests and Levites.

In v.29, 'My sacrifice and My offering, which I have commanded to My dwelling,' may refer to E.xxiii.18 of the O.S.

6

In v.30,31, 'the House of thy father,' can only mean the same as in v.27,28, viz. the House of Levi'-not the House of Ithamar, as the Chronicler would imply, by making Eli a descendant of Ithamar, and Zadok of Eleazar, 1Ch.xxiv.3. And, consequently, the declaration, I will cut-off thine arm and the arm of thy father's House,' v.31, comp. iii.11-14, and that in v.35,

'I will raise Me up a faithful priest; according to what is in My heart and in My soul shall he do; and I will build for him a sure House, and he shall walk before Mine anointed for ever,'

must surely imply that the priesthood-or, perhaps, the chiefpriesthood-was to pass from the line of Levi, represented by Eli, to another line, which 1K.ii.27,35 explains to be that of Zadok. It is plain, however, that v.35 cannot be a genuine utterance of a 'man of Elohim' in Eli's days, since it speaks of Mine anointed' before there was any idea of a king in Israel. The whole narrative would seem to have been written in Solomon's time, with the view of accounting for the violent expulsion of Abiathar, 1K.ii.26,27, doubtless under the advice of Nathan, to make way for Zadok, v.35. But, at the time when it was written, it must have been understood that the line of the Levitical chief-priesthood had come to an end with Abiathar, in spite of the Chronicler's deducing Zadok's descent from Levi, 1Ch.vi.8. And, in fact, Jehoiada, the famous high-priest in the time of Joash, 2K.xi.4,9,15,17, xii.2 -the first that is mentioned after Zadok in the history-does not appear at all in the Chronicler's list of high-priests from Zadok to the Captivity, 1Ch.vi.4-15, nor does Urijah in the time of Ahaz, 2K.xvi. 10, &c.