(17:67) In order that the question may be thoroughly understood, I will duly
set forth the administration of the whole state.

(68) First, the people were commanded to build a tabernacle, which should
be, as it were, the dwelling of God - that is, of the sovereign authority of
the state. (69) This tabernacle was to be erected at the cost of the whole
people, not of one man, in order that the place where God was consulted
might be public property. (70) The Levites were chosen as courtiers and
administrators of this royal abode; while Aaron, the brother of Moses, was
chosen to be their chief and second, as it were, to God their King, being
succeeded in the office by his legitimate sons.

(17:71) He, as the nearest to God, was the sovereign interpreter of the
Divine laws; he communicated the answers of the Divine oracle to the people,
and entreated God's favour for them. (72) If, in addition to these
privileges, he had possessed the right of ruling, he would have been neither
more nor less than an absolute monarch; but, in respect to government, he
was only a private citizen: the whole tribe of Levi was so completely
divested of governing rights that it did not even take its share with the
others in the partition of territory. (73) Moses provided for its support by
inspiring the common people with great reverence for it, as the only tribe
dedicated to God.

(17:74) Further, the army, formed from the remaining twelve tribes, was
commanded to invade the land of Canaan, to divide it into twelve portions,
and to distribute it among the tribes by lot. (75) For this task twelve
captains were chosen, one from every tribe, and were, together with
Joshua and Eleazar, the high priest, empowered to divide the land into
twelve equal parts, and distribute it by lot. (76) Joshua was chosen for the
chief command of the army, inasmuch as none but he had the right to consult
God in emergencies, not like Moses, alone in his tent, or in the
tabernacle, but through the high priest, to whom only the answers of God
were revealed. (77) Furthermore, he was empowered to execute, and cause the
people to obey God's commands, transmitted through the high priests; to
find, and to make use of, means for carrying them out; to choose as many,
army captains as he liked; to make whatever choice he thought best; to
send ambassadors in his own name; and, in short, to have the entire control
of the war. (78) To his office there was no rightful successor - indeed, the
post was only filled by the direct order of the Deity, on occasions of
public emergency. (79) In ordinary times, all the management of peace and
war was vested in the captains of the tribes, as I will shortly point out.
(80) Lastly, all men between the ages of twenty and sixty were ordered to
bear arms, and form a citizen army, owing allegiance, not to its general-in-
chief, nor to the high priest, but to Religion and to God. (81) The army, or
the hosts, were called the army of God, or the hosts of God. (82) For this
reason God was called by the Hebrews the God of Armies; and the ark of the
covenant was borne in the midst of the army in important battles, when the
safety or destruction of the whole people hung upon the issue, so that the
people might, as it were, see their King among them, and put forth all their
strength.

(17:83) From these directions, left by Moses to his successors, we plainly
see that he chose administrators, rather than despots, to come after him;
for he invested no one with the power of consulting God, where he liked and
alone, consequently, no one had the power possessed by himself of ordaining
and abrogating laws, of deciding on war or peace, of choosing men to fill
offices both religious and secular: all these are the prerogatives of a
sovereign. (84) The high priest, indeed, had the right of interpreting laws,
and communicating the answers of God, but he could not do so when he liked,
as Moses could, but only when he was asked by the general-in-chief of the
army, the council, or some similar authority. (85) The general-in-chief and
the council could consult God when they liked, but could only receive His
answers through the high priest; so that the utterances of God, as reported
by the high priest, were not decrees, as they were when reported by Moses,
but only answers; they were accepted by Joshua and the council, and only
then had the force of commands and decrees {Like the separation of powers in
the United States of America.}

(17:86) The high priest, both in the case of Aaron and of his son Eleazar,
was chosen by Moses; nor had anyone, after Moses' death, a right to elect to
the office, which became hereditary . (87) The general-in-chief of the army
was also chosen by Moses, and assumed his functions in virtue of the
commands, not of the high priest, but of Moses: indeed, after the death of
Joshua, the high priest did not appoint anyone in his place, and the
captains did not consult God afresh about a general-in-chief, but each
retained Joshua's power in respect to the contingent of his own tribe,
and all retained it collectively, in respect to the whole army. (88) There
seems to have been no need of a general-in-chief, except when they were
obliged to unite their forces against a common enemy. (89) This occurred
most frequently during the time of Joshua, when they had no fixed dwelling.
place, and possessed all things in common. [17:7] (90) After all the tribes
had gained their territories by right of conquest, and had divided their
allotted gains, they, became separated, having no longer their possessions
in common, so that the need for a single commander ceased, for the
different tribes should be considered rather in the light of confederated
states than of bodies of fellow-citizens. (91) In respect to their God and
their religion, they, were fellow-citizens; but, in respect to the rights
which one possessed with regard to another, they were only confederated:
they, were, in fact, in much the same position (if one excepts the Temple
common to all) as the United States of the Netherlands {or United States of
America}. (92) The division of property, held in common is only another
phrase for the possession of his share by each of the owners singly, and the
surrender by the others of their rights over such share. (93) This is why
Moses elected captains of the tribes - namely, that when the dominion was
divided, each might take care of his own part; consulting God through the
high priest on the affairs of his tribe, ruling over his army, building and
fortifying cities, appointing judges, attacking the enemies of his own
dominion, and having complete control over all civil and military affairs.
(94) He was not bound to acknowledge any superior judge save God
[Endnote 32], or a prophet whom God should expressly send. (95) If he
departed from the worship of God, the rest of the tribes did not arraign him
as a subject, but attacked him as an enemy. (95) Of this we have examples in
Scripture. (96) When Joshua was dead, the children of Israel (not a fresh
general-in-chief) consulted God; it being decided that the tribe of Judah
should be the first to attack its enemies, the tribe in question contracted
a single alliance with the tribe of Simeon, for uniting their forces, and
attacking their common enemy, the rest of the tribes not being included in
the alliance (Judges i:1, 2, 3). (97) Each tribe separately made war against
its own enemies, and, according to its pleasure, received them as subjects
or allies, though it had been commanded not to spare them on any conditions,
but to destroy them utterly. (98) Such disobedience met with reproof from
the rest of the tribes, but did not cause the offending tribe to be
arraigned: it was not considered a sufficient reason for proclaiming a civil
war, or interfering in one another's affairs. (99) But when the tribe of
Benjamin offended against the others, and so loosened the bonds of peace
that none of the confederated tribes could find refuge within its borders,
they attacked it as an enemy, and gaining the victory over it after three
battles, put to death both guilty and innocent, according to the laws of
war: an act which they subsequently bewailed with tardy repentance.

(17:100) These examples plainly confirm what we have said concerning the
rights of each tribe. (101) Perhaps we shall be asked who elected the
successors to the captains of each tribe; on this point I can gather no
positive information in Scripture, but I conjecture that as the tribes were
divided into families, each headed by its senior member, the senior of all
these heads of families succeeded by right to the office of captain, for
Moses chose from among these seniors his seventy coadjutors, who formed with
himself the supreme council. (102) Those who administered the government
after the death of Joshua were called elders, and elder is a very common
Hebrew expression in the sense of judge, as I suppose everyone knows;
however, it is not very important for us to make up our minds on this point.
(103) It is enough to have shown that after the death of Moses no one man
wielded all the power of a sovereign; as affairs were not all managed by one
man, nor by a single council, nor by the popular vote, but partly by one
tribe, partly by the rest in equal shares, it is most evident that the
government, after the death of Moses, was neither monarchic, nor
aristocratic, nor popular, but, as we have said, Theocratic.
(104) The reasons for applying this name are:

(17:105) I. Because the royal seat of government was the Temple, and in
respect to it alone, as we have shown, all the tribes were fellow-citizens,

(106) II. Because all the people owed allegiance to God, their supreme
Judge, to whom only they had promised implicit obedience in all things.

(17:107) III. Because the general-in-chief or dictator, when there was need
of such, was elected by none save God alone. (108) This was expressly
commanded by Moses in the name of God (Deut. xix:15), and witnessed by the
actual choice of Gideon, of Samson, and of Samuel; wherefrom we may conclude
that the other faithful leaders were chosen in the same manner, though it is
not expressly told us.

(17:109) These preliminaries being stated, it is now time to inquire the
effects of forming a dominion on this plan, and to see whether it so
effectually kept within bounds both rulers and ruled, that the former were
never tyrannical and the latter never rebellious.

(17:110) Those who administer or possess governing power, always try to
surround their high-handed actions with a cloak of legality, and to persuade
the people that they act from good motives; this they are easily able to
effect when they are the sole interpreters of the law; for it is evident
that they are thus able to assume a far greater freedom to carry out their
wishes and desires than if the interpretation if the law is vested in
someone else, or if the laws were so self-evident that no one could be in
doubt as to their meaning. [17:8] (111) We thus see that the power of evil-
doing was greatly curtailed for the Hebrew captains by the fact that the
whole interpretation of the law was vested in the Levites (Deut. xxi:5),
who, on their part, had no share in the government, and depended for all
their support and consideration on a correct interpretation of the laws
entrusted to them. (112) Moreover, the whole people was commanded to come
together at a certain place every seven years and be instructed in the law
by the high-priest; further, each individual was bidden to read the book of
the law through and through continually with scrupulous care. (Deut. xxxi:9,
10, and vi:7.) (113) The captains were thus for their own sakes bound to
take great care to administer everything according to the laws laid down,
and well known to all, if they, wished to be held in high honour by, the
people, who would regard them as the administrators of God's dominion, and
as God's vicegerents; otherwise they could not have escaped all the
virulence of theological hatred. (114) There was another very important
check on the unbridled license of the captains, in the fact, that the army
was formed from the whole body, of the citizens, between the ages of twenty
and sixty, without exception, and that the captains were not able to hire
any foreign soldiery. (115) This I say was very, important, for it is well
known that princes can oppress their peoples with the single aid of
the soldiery in their pay; while there is nothing more formidable to them
than the freedom of citizen soldiers, who have established the freedom and
glory of their country, by their valour, their toil, and their blood. (116)
Thus Alexander, when he was about to make wax on Darius, a second time,
after hearing the advice of Parmenio, did not chide him who gave the advice,
but Polysperchon, who was standing by. (117) For, as Curtius says
(iv. Para. 13), he did not venture to reproach Parmenio again after having
shortly, before reproved him too sharply. (118) This freedom of the
Macedonians, which he so dreaded, he was not able to subdue till after the
number of captives enlisted in the army, surpassed that of his own people:
then, but not till then, he gave rein to his anger so long checked by, the
independence of his chief fellow-countrymen.

(17:119) If this independence of citizen soldiers can restrain the princes
of ordinary states who are wont to usurp the whole glory of victories, it
must have been still more effectual against the Hebrew captains, whose
soldiers were fighting, not for the glory of a prince, but for the glory of
God, and who did not go forth to battle till the Divine assent had been
given.

(17:120) We must also remember that the Hebrew captains were associated only
by the bonds of religion: therefore, if any one of them had transgressed,
and begun to violate the Divine right, he might have been treated by the
rest as an enemy and lawfully subdued.

(17:121) An additional check may be found in the fear of a new prophet
arising, for if a man of unblemished life could show by certain signs that
he was really a prophet, he ipso facto obtained the sovereign right to rule,
which was given to him, as to Moses formerly, in the name of God, as
revealed to himself alone; not merely through the high priest, as in the
case of the captains. (122) There is no doubt that such an one would easily
be able to enlist an oppressed people in his cause, and by trifling signs
persuade them of anything he wished: on the other hand, if affairs were well
ordered, the captain would be able to make provision in time; that the
prophet should be submitted to his approval, and be examined whether he were
really of unblemished life, and possessed indisputable signs of his mission:
also, whether the teaching he proposed to set forth in the name of the Lord
agreed with received doctrines, and the general laws of the country; if his
credentials were insufficient, or his doctrines new, he could lawfully be
put to death, or else received on the captain's sole responsibility and
authority.

(17:123) Again, the captains were not superior to the others in nobility or
birth, but only administered the government in virtue of their age and
personal qualities. (124) Lastly, neither captains nor army had any reason
for preferring war to peace. (125) The army, as we have stated, consisted
entirely of citizens, so that affairs were managed by the same persons both
in peace and war. (126) The man who was a soldier in the camp was a citizen
in the market-place, he who was a leader in the camp was a judge in the law
courts, he who was a general in the camp was a ruler in the state. (127)
Thus no one could desire war for its own sake, but only for the sake of
preserving peace and liberty; possibly the captains avoided change as far as
possible, so as not to be obliged to consult the high priest and submit to
the indignity of standing in his presence.

(17:128) So much for the precautions for keeping the captains within bounds.
[17:9] (129) We must now look for the restraints upon the people: these,
however, are very clearly indicated in the very groundwork of the social
fabric.

(17:130) Anyone who gives the subject the slightest attention, will see that
the state was so ordered as to inspire the most ardent patriotism in the
hearts of the citizens, so that the latter would be very hard to persuade to
betray their country, and be ready to endure anything rather than
submit to a foreign yoke. (131) After they had transferred their right
to God, they thought that their kingdom belonged to God, and that they
themselves were God's children. (132) Other nations they looked upon as
God's enemies, and regarded with intense hatred (which they took
to be piety, see Psalm cxxxix:21, 22): nothing would have been more
abhorrent to them than swearing allegiance to a foreigner, and promising him
obedience: nor could they conceive any greater or more execrable crime than
the betrayal of their country, the kingdom of the God whom they adored.

(17:133) It was considered wicked for anyone to settle outside of the
country, inasmuch as the worship of God by which they were bound could not
be carried on elsewhere: their own land alone was considered holy, the rest
of the earth unclean and profane.

(17:134) David, who was forced to live in exile, complained before Saul as
follows: "But if they be the children of men who have stirred thee up
against me, cursed be they before the Lord; for they have driven me out this
day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go, serve other
gods." (I Sam. xxvi:19.) (135) For the same reason no citizen, as we should
especially remark, was ever sent into exile: he who sinned was liable to
punishment, but not to disgrace.

(17:136) Thus the love of the Hebrews for their country was not only
patriotism, but also piety, and was cherished and nurtured bv daily rites
till, like their hatred of other nations, it must have passed into their
nature. (137) Their daily worship was not only different from that of other
nations (as it might well be, considering that they were a peculiar people
and entirely apart from the rest), it was absolutely contrary. (138) Such
daily reprobation naturally gave rise to a lasting hatred, deeply implanted
in the heart: for of all hatreds none is more deep and tenacious than
that which springs from extreme devoutness or piety, and is itself cherished
as pious. (139) Nor was a general cause lacking for inflaming such hatred
more and more, inasmuch as it was reciprocated; the surrounding nations
regarding the Jews with a hatred just as intense.

(17:140) How great was the effect of all these causes, namely, freedom from
man's dominion; devotion to their country; absolute rights over all
other men; a hatred not only permitted but pious; a contempt for their
fellow-men; the singularity of their customs and religious rites; the
effect, I repeat, of all these causes in strengthening the hearts of the
Jews to bear all things for their country, with extraordinary constancy and
valour, will at once be discerned by reason and attested by experience.
(141) Never, so long as the city was standing, could they endure to remain
under foreign dominion; and therefore they called Jerusalem "a rebellious
city" (Ezra iv:12). (142) Their state after its reestablishment (which was a
mere shadow of the first, for the high priests had usurped the rights of the
tribal captains) was, with great difficulty, destroyed by the Romans, as
Tacitus bears witness (Hist. ii:4):- "Vespasian had closed the war against
the Jews, abandoning the siege of Jerusalem as an enterprise difficult
and arduous rather from the character of the people and the obstinacy of
their superstition, than from the strength left to the besieged for meeting
their necessities." (143) But besides these characteristics, which are
merely ascribed by an individual opinion, there was one feature
peculiar to this state and of great importance in retaining the affections
of the citizens, and checking all thoughts of desertion, or abandonment of
the country: namely, self-interest, the strength and life of all human
action. (144) This was peculiarly engaged in the Hebrew state, for
nowhere else did citizens possess their goods so securely, as did the
subjects of this community, for the latter possessed as large a share in the
land and the fields as did their chiefs, and were owners of their plots of
ground in perpetuity; for if any man was compelled by poverty to sell his
farm or his pasture, he received it back again intact at the year of
jubilee: there were other similar enactments against the possibility of
alienating real property.

(17:145) Again, poverty w as nowhere more endurable than in a country where
duty towards one's neighbour, that is, one's fellow-citizen, was practised
with the utmost piety, as a means of gaining the favour of God the King.
(146) Thus the Hebrew citizens would nowhere be so well off as in their own
country; outside its limits they met with nothing but loss and disgrace.

(17:147) The following considerations were of weight, not only in keeping
them at home, but also in preventing civil war and removing causes of
strife; no one was bound to serve his equal, but only to serve God, while
charity and love towards fellow-citizens was accounted the highest piety;
this last feeling was not a little fostered by the general hatred with which
they regarded foreign nations and were regarded by them. (148) Furthermore,
the strict discipline of obedience in which they were brought up, was a very
important factor; for they were bound to carry on all their actions
according to the set rules of the law: a man might not plough when he liked,
but only at certain times, in certain years, and with one sort of beast at a
time; so, too, he might only sow and reap in a certain method and season -
in fact, his whole life was one long school of obedience (see Chap. V. on
the use of ceremonies); such a habit was thus engendered, that conformity
seemed freedom instead of servitude, and men desired what was commanded
rather than what was forbidden. (149) This result was not a little aided by
the fact that the people were bound, at certain seasons of the year, to give
themselves up to rest and rejoicing, not for their own pleasure, but in
order that they might worship God cheerfully.

(17:150) Three times in the year they feasted before the Lord; on the
seventh day of every week they were bidden to abstain from all work and to
rest; besides these, there were other occasions when innocent rejoicing and
feasting were not only allowed but enjoined. (151) I do not think any better
means of influencing men's minds could be devised; for there is no more
powerful attraction than joy springing from devotion, a mixture of
admiration and love. (152) It was not easy to be wearied by constant
repetition, for the rites on the various festivals were varied and recurred
seldom. (153) We may add the deep reverence for the Temple which all most
religiously fostered, on account of the peculiar rites and duties that they
were obliged to perform before approaching thither. (154) Even now, Jews
cannot read without horror of the crime of Manasseh, who dared to place au
idol in the Temple. (155) The laws, scrupulously preserved in the inmost
sanctuary, were objects of equal reverence to the people. (156) Popular
reports and misconceptions were, therefore, very little to be feared
in this quarter, for no one dared decide on sacred matters, but all
felt bound to obey, without consulting their reason, all the commands given
by the answers of God received in the Temple, and all the laws which God
had ordained.

(17:157) I think I have now explained clearly, though briefly,, the main
features of the Hebrew commonwealth. (158) I must now inquire into the
causes which led the people so often to fall away from the law, which
brought about their frequent subjection, and, finally, the complete
destruction of their dominion. (159) Perhaps I shall be told that it sprang
from their hardness of heart; but this is childish, for why should this
people be more hard of heart than others; was it by nature?

[17:A] (160) But nature forms individuals, not peoples; the latter are
only distinguishable by the difference of their language, their customs, and
their laws; while from the two last - i.e., customs and laws, - it may arise
that they have a peculiar disposition, a peculiar manner of life, and
peculiar prejudices. (161) If, then, the Hebrews were harder of heart than
other nations, the fault lay with their laws or customs.

(17:162) This is certainly true, in the sense that, if God had wished their
dominion to be more lasting, He would have given them other rites and laws,
and would have instituted a different form of government. (163) We can,
therefore, only say that their God was angry with them, not only, as
Jeremiah says, from the building of the city, but even from the founding of
their laws.

(17:164) This is borne witness to by Ezekiel xx:25: "Wherefore I gave them
also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not
live; and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass
through the fire all that openeth the womb; that I might make them desolate,
to the end that they might know that I am the Lord."

(17:165) In order that we may understand these words, and the destruction of
the Hebrew commonwealth, we must bear in mind that it had at first been
intended to entrust the whole duties of the priesthood to the firstborn, and
not to the Levites (see Numb. viii:17). (166) It was only when all the
tribes, except the Levites, worshipped the golden calf, that the
firstborn were rejected and defiled, and the Levites chosen in their stead
(Deut. x:8). (167) When I reflect on this change, I feel disposed to break
forth with the words of Tacitus. (168) God's object at that time was not the
safety of the Jews, but vengeance. (169) I am greatly astonished that the
celestial mind was so inflamed with anger that it ordained laws, which
always are supposed to promote the honour, well-being, and security of a
people, with the purpose of vengeance, for the sake of punishment; so that
the laws do not seem so much laws - that is, the safeguard of
the people - as pains and penalties.

(17:170) The gifts which the people were obliged to bestow on the Levites
and priests - the redemption of the firstborn, the poll-tax due to the
Levites, the privilege possessed by the latter of the sole performance of
sacred rites - all these, I say, were a continual reproach to the people, a
continual reminder of their defilement and rejection. (171) Moreover, we may
be sure that the Levites were for ever heaping reproaches upon them: for
among so many thousands there must have been many importunate dabblers in
theology. (172) Hence the people got into the way of watching the acts of
the Levites, who were but human; of accusing the whole body of the faults of
one member, and continually murmuring.

(17:173) Besides this, there was the obligation to keep in idleness men
hateful to them, and connected by no ties of blood. (174) Especially would
this seem grievous when provisions were dear. What wonder, then, if in times
of peace, when striking miracles had ceased, and no men of paramount
authority were forthcoming, the irritable and greedy temper of the people
began to wax cold, and at length to fall away from a worship, which, though
Divine, was also humiliating, and even hostile, and to seek after something
fresh; or can we be surprised that the captains, who always adopt the
popular course, in order to gain the sovereign power for themselves by
enlisting the sympathies of the people, and alienating the high priest,
should have yielded to their demands, and introduced a new worship? (175) If
the state had been formed according to the original intention, the rights
and honour of all the tribes would have been equal, and everything would
have rested on a firm basis. (176) Who is there who would willingly violate
the religious rights of his kindred? (177) What could a man desire more than
to support his own brothers and parents, thus fulfilling the duties of
religion? (178) Who would not rejoice in being taught by them the
interpretation of the laws, and receiving through them the answers of God?

(17:179) The tribes would thus have been united by a far closer bond, if all
alike had possessed the right to the priesthood. (180) All danger would have
been obviated, if the choice of the Levites had not been dictated by anger
and revenge. (181) But, as we have said, the Hebrews had offended their God,
Who, as Ezekiel says, polluted them in their own gifts by rejecting all that
openeth the womb, so that He might destroy them.

(17:182) This passage is also confirmed by their history. As soon as the
people in the wilderness began to live in ease and plenty, certain men of no
mean birth began to rebel against the choice of the Levites, and to make it
a cause for believing that Moses had not acted by the commands of God, but
for his own good pleasure, inasmuch as he had chosen his own tribe before
all the rest, and had bestowed the high priesthood in perpetuity on his own
brother. (183) They, therefore, stirred up a tumult, and came to him, crying
out that all men were equally sacred, and that he had exalted himself above
his fellows wrongfully. (184) Moses was not able to pacify them with
reasons; but by the intervention of a miracle in proof of the faith, they
all perished. (185) A fresh sedition then arose among the whole people, who
believed that their champions had not been put to death by the judgment of
God, but by the device of Moses. (186) After a great slaughter, or
pestilence, the rising subsided from inanition, but in such a manner that
all preferred death to life under such conditions.

(17:187) We should rather say that sedition ceased than that harmony was re-
established. (188) This is witnessed by Scripture (Deut. xxxi:21), where
God, after predicting to Moses that the people after his death will fall
away from the Divine worship, speaks thus: "For I know their imagination
which they go about, even now before I have brought them into the land which
I sware;" and, a little while after (xxxi:27), Moses says: For I know thy
rebellion and thy stiff neck: behold while I am yet alive with you this
day, ye have been rebellious against the Lord; and how much more after my
death!"

(17:189) Indeed, it happened according to his words, as we all know.
(190) Great changes, extreme license, luxury, and hardness of heart grew up;
things went from bad to worse, till at last the people, after being
frequently conquered, came to an open rupture with the Divine right, and
wished for a mortal king, so that the seat of government might be the Court,
instead of the Temple, and that the tribes might remain fellow-citizens in
respect to their king, instead of in respect to Divine right and the high
priesthood.

(17:191) A vast material for new seditions was thus produced, eventually
resulting in the ruin of the entire state. Kings are above all things
jealous of a precarious rule, and can in nowise brook a dominion within
their own. (192) The first monarchs, being chosen from the ranks of private
citizens, were content with the amount of dignity to which they had risen;
but their sons, who obtained the throne by right of inheritance, began
gradually to introduce changes, so as to get all the sovereign rights into
their own hands. (193) This they were generally unable to accomplish, so
long as the right of legislation did not rest with them, but with the high
priest, who kept the laws in the sanctuary, and interpreted them to the
people. (194) The kings were thus bound to obey the laws as much as were the
subjects, and were unable to abrogate them, or to ordain new laws of equal
authority; moreover, they were prevented by the Levites from administering
the affairs of religion, king and subject being alike unclean. (195) Lastly,
the whole safety of their dominion depended on the will of one man, if that
man appeared to be a prophet; and of this they had seen an example, namely,
how completely Samuel had been able to command Saul, and how easily, because
of a single disobedience, he had been able to transfer the right of
sovereignty to David. (196) Thus the kings found a dominion within their
own, and wielded a precarious sovereignty.

(17:197) In order to surmount these difficulties, they allowed other temples
to be dedicated to the gods, so that there might be no further need of
consulting the Levites; they also sought out many who prophesied in the name
of God, so that they might have creatures of their own to oppose to the true
prophets. (198) However, in spite of all their attempts, they never
attained their end. (199) For the prophets, prepared against every
emergency, waited for a favourable opportunity, such as the beginning of a
new reign, which is always precarious, while the memory of the previous
reign remains green. (200) At these times they could easily pronounce by
Divine authority that the king was tyrannical, and could produce a champion
of distinguished virtue to vindicate the Divine right, and lawfully to claim
dominion, or a share in it. (201) Still, not even so could the prophets
effect much. (202) They could, indeed, remove a tyrant; but there were
reasons which prevented them from doing more than setting up, at great cost
of civil bloodshed, another tyrant in his stead. (203) Of discords and civil
wars there was no end, for the causes for the violation of Divine right
remained always the same, and could only be removed by a complete
remodelling of the state.

(17:204) We have now seen how religion was introduced into the Hebrew
commonwealth, and how the dominion might have lasted for ever, if the just
wrath of the Lawgiver had allowed it. (205) As this was impossible, it was
bound in time to perish. (206) I am now speaking only of the first
commonwealth, for the second was a mere shadow of the first, inasmuch as the
people were bound by the rights of the Persians to whom they were subject.
(207) After the restoration of freedom, the high priests usurped the rights
of the secular chiefs, and thus obtained absolute dominion. (208) The
priests were inflamed with an intense desire to wield the powers of the
sovereignty and the high priesthood at the same time. (209) I have,
therefore, no need to speak further of the second commonwealth. (210)
Whether the first, in so far as we deem it to have been durable, is capable
of imitation, and whether it would be pious to copy it as far as possible,
will appear from what fellows. (211) I wish only to draw attention, as a
crowning conclusion, to the principle indicated already - namely, that it is
evident, from what we have stated in this chapter, that the Divine right, or
the right of religion, originates in a compact: without such compact,
none but natural rights exist. (212) The Hebrews were not bound by their
religion to evince any pious care for other nations not included in the
compact, but only for their own fellow-citizens.




[18:0] CHAPTER XVIII - FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE HEBREWS, AND
THEIR HISTORY,  CERTAIN POLITICAL DOCTRINES ARE DEDUCED.

[18:1] (1) Although the commonwealth of the Hebrews, as we have conceived
it, might have lasted for ever, it would be impossible to imitate it at the
present day, nor would it be advisable so to do. (2) If a people wished to
transfer their rights to God it would be necessary to make an express
covenant with Him, and for this would be needed not only the consent of
those transferring their rights, but also the consent of God. (3) God,
however, has revealed through his Apostles that the covenant of God is no
longer written in ink, or on tables of stone, but with the Spirit of God in
the fleshy tables of the heart.

(18:4) Furthermore, such a form of government would only be available for
those who desire to have no foreign relations, but to shut themselves up
within their own frontiers, and to live apart from the rest of the world; it
would be useless to men who must have dealings with other nations; so that
the cases where it could be adopted are very few indeed.

(18:5) Nevertheless, though it could not be copied in its entirety, it
possessed many excellent features which might be brought to our notice, and
perhaps imitated with advantage. (6) My intention, however, is not to write
a treatise on forms of government, so I will pass over most of such points
in silence, and will only touch on those which bear upon my purpose.

(18:7) God's kingdom is not infringed upon by the choice of an earthly ruler
endowed with sovereign rights; for after the Hebrews had transferred their
rights to God, they conferred the sovereign right of ruling on Moses,
investing him with the sole power of instituting and abrogating laws in
the name of God, of choosing priests, of judging, of teaching, of
punishing - in fact, all the prerogatives of an absolute monarch.

(18:8) Again, though the priests were the interpreters of the laws, they had
no power to judge the citizens, or to excommunicate anyone: this could only
be done by the judges and chiefs chosen from among the people. (9) A
consideration of the successes and the histories of the Hebrews will bring
to light other considerations worthy of note. To wit:

(18:9) I. That there were no religious sects, till after the high priests,
in the second commonwealth, possessed the authority to make decrees, and
transact the business of government. (10) In order that such authority might
last for ever, the high priests usurped the rights of secular rulers, and
at last wished to be styled kings. (11) The reason for this is ready to
hand; in the first commonwealth no decrees could bear the name of the high
priest, for he had no right to ordain laws, but only to give the answers of
God to questions asked by the captains or the councils: he had, therefore,
no motive for making changes in the law, but took care, on the contrary, to
administer and guard what had already been received and accepted. (12) His
only means of preserving his freedom in safety against the will of the
captains lay in cherishing the law intact. (13) After the high priests had
assumed the power of carrying on the government, and added the rights of
secular rulers to those they already possessed, each one began both in
things religious and in things secular, to seek for the glorification of his
own name, settling everything by sacerdotal authority, and issuing every
day, concerning ceremonies, faith, and all else, new decrees which he sought
to make as sacred and authoritative as the laws of Moses. (14) Religion thus
sank into a degrading superstition, while the true meaning and
interpretation of the laws became corrupted. (15) Furthermore, while the
high priests were paving their way to the secular rule just after the
restoration, they attempted to gain popular favour by assenting to
every demand; approving whatever the people did, however impious, and
accommodating Scripture to the very depraved current morals. (16) Malachi
bears witness to this in no measured terms: he chides the priests of his
time as despisers of the name of God, and then goes on with his invective as
follows (Mal ii:7, 8): "For the priest's lips should keep knowledge,
and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of
the Lord of hosts. (17) But ye are departed out of the way; ye have
caused many to stumble at the law, ye have corrupted the covenant of
Levi, saith the Lord of hosts." (18) He further accuses them of interpreting
the laws according to their own pleasure, and paying no respect to God but
only to persons. (19) It is certain that the high priests were never so
cautious in their conduct as to escape the remark of the more shrewd among
the people, for the latter were at length emboldened to assert that no
laws ought to be kept save those that were written, and that the decrees
which the Pharisees (consisting, as Josephus says in his " Amtiquities,"
chiefly, of the common people), were deceived into calling the traditions of
the fathers, should not be observed at all. (20) However this may be, we can
in nowise doubt that flattery of the high priest, the corruption of religion
and the laws, and the enormous increase of the extent of the last-named,
gave very great and frequent occasion for disputes and altercations
impossible to allay. (21) When men begin to quarrel with all the ardour of
superstition, and the magistracy to back up one side or the other, they can
never come to a compromise, but are bound to split into sects.

(18:22) II. It is worthy of remark that the prophets, who were in a private
station of life, rather irritated than reformed mankind by their freedom of
warning, rebuke, and censure; whereas the kings, by their reproofs and
punishments, could always produce an effect. (23) The prophets were often
intolerable even to pious kings, on account of the authority they assumed
for judging whether an action was right or wrong, or for reproving the kings
themselves if they dared to transact any business, whether public or
private, without prophetic sanction. (24) King Asa who, according to
the testimony of Scripture, reigned piously, put the prophet Hanani into a
prison-house because he had ventured freely to chide and reprove him for
entering into a covenant with the king of Armenia.

(18:25) Other examples might be cited, tending to prove that religion
gained more harm than good by such freedom, not to speak of the further
consequence, that if the prophets had retained their rights, great
civil wars would have resulted.

(26) III. It is remarkable that during all the period, during which the
people held the reins of power, there was only one civil war, and that one
was completely extinguished, the conquerors taking such pity on the
conquered, that they endeavoured in every way to reinstate them in their
former dignity and power. (27) But after that the people, little accustomed
to kings, changed its first form of government into a monarchy, civil war
raged almost continuously; and battles were so fierce as to exceed all
others recorded; in one engagement (taxing our faith to the utmost)
five hundred thousand Israelites were slaughtered by the men of Judah, and
in another the Israelites slew great numbers of the men of Judah (the
figures are not given in Scripture), almost razed to the ground the walls of
Jerusalem, and sacked the Temple in their unbridled fury. (28) At length,
laden with the spoils of their brethren, satiated with blood, they took
hostages, and leaving the king in his well-nigh devastated kingdom, laid
down their arms, relying on the weakness rather than the good faith of their
foes. (29) A few years after, the men of Judah, with recruited strength,
again took the field, but were a second time beaten by the Israelites, and
slain to the number of a hundred and twenty thousand, two hundred thousand
of their wives and children were led into captivity, and a great booty again
seized. (30) Worn out with these and similar battles set forth at length in
their histories, the Jews at length fell a prey to their enemies.

(18:31) Furthermore, if we reckon up the times during which peace prevailed
under each form of government, we shall find a great discrepancy. (32)
Before the monarchy forty years and more often passed, and once eighty years
(an almost unparalleled period), without any war, foreign or civil. (33)
After the kings acquired sovereign power, the fighting was no longer for
peace and liberty, but for glory; accordingly we find that they all, with
the exception of Solomon (whose virtue and wisdom would be better displayed
in peace than in war) waged war, and finally a fatal desire for power gained
ground, which, in many cases, made the path to the throne a bloody one.

(18:34) Lastly, the laws, during the rule of the people, remained
uncorrupted and were studiously observed. (35) Before the monarchy there
were very, few prophets to admonish the people, but after the establishment
of kings there were a great number at the same time. (36) Obadiah saved a
hundred from death and hid them away, lest they should be slain with the
rest. (37) The people, so far as we can see, were never deceived by false
prophets till after the power had been vested in kings, whose creatures many
of the prophets were. (38) Again, the people, whose heart was generally
proud or humble according to its circumstances, easily corrected it-self
under misfortune, turned again to God, restored His laws, and so freed
itself from all peril; but the kings, whose hearts were always equally
puffed up, and who could not be corrected without humiliation, clung
pertinaciously to their vices, even till the last overthrow of the city.

[18:2] (39) We may now clearly see from what I have said:-

(40) I. How hurtful to religion and the state is the concession to ministers
of religion of any power of issuing decrees or transacting the business of
government: how, on the contrary, far greater stability is afforded, if the
said ministers are only allowed to give answers to questions duly put
to them, and are, as a rule, obliged to preach and practise the received and
accepted doctrines.

(18:41) II How dangerous it is to refer to Divine right matters merely
speculative and subject or liable to dispute. (42) The most tyrannical
governments are those which make crimes of opinions, for everyone has an
inalienable right over his thoughts - nay, such a state of things leads to
the rule of popular passion.

(18:43) Pontius Pilate made concession to the passion of the Pharisees in
consenting to the crucifixion of Christ, whom he knew to be innocent. (44)
Again, the Pharisees, in order to shake the position of men richer than
themselves, began to set on foot questions of religion, and accused the
Sadducees of impiety, and, following their example, the vilest - hypocrites,
stirred, as they pretended, by the same holy wrath which they called zeal
for the Lord, persecuted men whose unblemished character and distinguished
virtue had excited the popular hatred, publicly denounced their opinions,
and inflamed the fierce passions of the people against them.

(18:45) This wanton licence being cloaked with the specious garb of
religion could not easily be repressed, especially when the sovereign
authorities introduced a sect of which they, were not the head; they were
then regarded not as interpreters of Divine right, but as sectarians - that
is, as persons recognizing the right of Divine interpretation assumed by the
leaders of the sect. (46) The authority of the magistrates thus became of
little account in such matters in comparison with the authority of sectarian
leaders before whose interpretations kings were obliged to bow.

(18:47) To avoid such evils in a state, there is no safer way, than to make
piety and religion to consist in acts only - that is, in the practice of
justice and charity, leaving everyone's judgment in other respects free.
(48) But I will speak of this more at length presently.

[18:3] (49) III. We see how necessary it is, both in the interests of the
state and in the interests of religion, to confer on the sovereign power the
right of deciding what is lawful or the reverse. (50) If this right of
judging actions could not be given to the very prophets of God without great
injury, to the state and religion, how much less should it be entrusted to
those who can neither foretell the future nor work miracles! (51) But this
again I will treat of more fully hereafter.

(18:52) IV. Lastly,, we see how disastrous it is for a people unaccustomed
to kings, and possessing a complete code of laws, to set up a monarchy. (53)
Neither can the subjects brook such a sway, nor the royal authority submit
to laws and popular rights set up by anyone inferior to itself. (54) Still
less can a king be expected to defend such laws, for they were not framed to
support his dominion, but the dominion of the people, or some council which
formerly ruled, so that in guarding the popular rights the king would seem
to be a slave rather than a master. (55) The representative of a new
monarchy will employ all his zeal in attempting to frame new laws, so
as to wrest the rights of dominion to his own use, and to reduce the people
till they find it easier to increase than to curtail the royal prerogative.
(56) I must not, however, omit to state that it is no less dangerous to
remove a monarch, though he is on all hands admitted to be a tyrant. (57)
For his people are accustomed to royal authority and will obey no other,
despising and mocking at any less august control.

(18:58) It is therefore necessary, as the prophets discovered of old, if one
king be removed, that he should be replaced by another, who will be a tyrant
from necessity rather than choice. (59) For how will he be able to endure
the sight of the hands of the citizens reeking with royal blood, and to
rejoice in their regicide as a glorious exploit? (60) Was not the deed
perpetrated as an example and warning for himself?

(18:61) If he really wishes to be king, and not to acknowledge the people as
the judge of kings and the master of himself, or to wield a precarious sway,
he must avenge the death of his predecessor, making an example for his own
sake, lest the people should venture to repeat a similar crime. (62) He will
not, however, be able easily to avenge the death of the tyrant by the
slaughter of citizens unless he defends the cause of tyranny and approves
the deeds of his predecessor, thus following in his footsteps.

(18:63) Hence it comes to pass that peoples have often changed their
tyrants, but never removed them or changed the monarchical form of
government into any other.

[18:4] (64) The English people furnish us with a terrible example of this
fact. (65) They sought how to depose their monarch under the forms of law,
but when he had been removed, they were utterly unable to change the form of
government, and after much bloodshed only brought it about, that a new
monarch should be hailed under a different name (as though it had been a
mere question of names); this new monarch could only consolidate his power
by completely destroying the royal stock, putting to death the king's
friends, real or supposed, and disturbing with war the peace which might
encourage discontent, in order that the populace might be engrossed with
novelties and divert its mind from brooding over the slaughter of the king.
(66) At last, however, the people reflected that it had accomplished nothing
for the good of the country beyond violating the rights of the lawful king
and changing everything for the worse. (67) It therefore decided to retrace
its steps as soon as possible, and never rested till it had seen a
complete restoration of the original state of affairs.