March of the Army of Israel about Jericho

MARCH of the Army of Israel about Jericho. The taking and Destruction of Jericho was not a Conquest, upon the which Joshua could assume to himself any great Glory or Reputation. If a General could make an hundred Conquests of this Kind, it would hardly make him be Observations upon the Overthrow of the Walls of Jericho, after the seven Days March of the Israelites about this City, Josh. vi.taken for a great Soldier. And if he had done nothing else but this, we might safely affirm, that he only made a Triumph of six Processions, and that at the seventh God was pleased by an Effect of his Omnipotence to give this General and all his People a miraculous Spectacle of a City whose impregnable Walls were overturned by an invisible Hand, in Sight of a whole Army which surrounded its Walls only to be the Spectators of this great Wonder, and afterwards to enter it on all Sides, to exterminate its Inhabitants, and to burn to Ashes the devoted City.

It cannot be doubted but that the Army of Israel, led by a Captain of such Experience, marched about Jericho in very great Order, in two or three surrounding or circular Columns, with some Space between them, because of the great Number of Troops, and to be sure out of Reach of the Enemies Arrows. Joshua follows, accompanied by the Elders; afterwards came the Ark carried by the Levites, and preceded by the Priests, who sounded the seven Trumpets. The Ark was guarded by the Levites, who encompassed it under Arms. The Residue of the People brought up the Rear, and closed the March.

Masius maintains¹, that in this March the Army was ranged in the same Order as when it marched in the Wilderness, and with all the Parts of the Tabernacle. I am apt to think it marched in the same Order as was observed in the Desert, but to say that it was accompanied by the Tabernacle and all its Utensils, is what the Scripture says nothing of, and what is not at all probable. For the Army returned every Day after its March into the Camp, where no doubt a Detachment was left, to guard the Tabernacle, &c.

The Command given by Joshua to all the People, not to make any Noise or Cry, but to observe a profound Silence for the first six Days, is a Thing not very difficult to account for. Yet the Commentators have said nothing of it, which I wonder at, that they should not think it deserved to be taken Notice of, though it seems to me to be well worth the Trouble. This then is the Reason of it, and Joshua was sensible of it. Had the People been accustomed to make Shouts and Cries, and to turn themselves towards the City, the greatest Part of ‘em might have been less attentive to turn their Eyes towards the City when the general Cry was made, to observe the miraculous and surprizing Fall of the Walls of the City. Joshua knew well, that the seventh Day was to determine the Fate of the City, but it does not appear that the People were informed of it. From whence I make this Conjecture, that the Cry or Shouting which the Israelites had Orders to make, after a Silence of six Days, when the Trumpets were to sound with a longer and stronger Blast, was appointed to make them turn their Faces at that Moment towards the Walls, that they might behold the Downfall of that unhappy City.

The Scripture does not inform us what were the particular Crimes, that drew down this Vengeance upon the Heads of the miserable Inhabitants. But they must necessarily have been very great, since we are told, that Josh. vi. 17.the City shall be accursed, even it and all that are therein, to the Lord; only Rahab the Harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the House, because she hid the Messengers that we sent. This proves that the People of this City had made themselves obnoxious to a greater Degree of Punishment than the other Inhabitants of the Land of Canaan, Deut. vii. 1, 2.since it was entirely devoted and anathematized by the Lord, who commanded the utter Destruction of Jericho, and that every Thing therein should be put to the Sword; to kill every living Thing thereof, even the very Animals, to burn up every Thing else, and preserve nothing of the Booty, but only such valuable Metals as were to be consecrated to the Lord: Whereas at other Times they were used to preserve the Plunder and the Cities of the Land of Canaan.

Observations upon the Marches and Encampments of the Israelites in the Desert, Numb. x.☞ MARCHES and Encampments of the Israelites in the Wilderness. When Moses relates the several Marches and the different Encampments of the Children of Israel in the Desert, we are not to imagine it was always in dry barren Places, without Water, without Pasture, without Trees or Culture, and lastly that they were Places intirely uninhabited, and utterly abandoned. ‘Tis true indeed that such sometimes they found, and were constrained to abide in them; but God there exerted his infinite Power, in the Miracles that he performed in their Favour, in Order to retain them in Submission and Duty. However it appears, that always almost Moses took Care to encamp in inhabited Places, which were not very far from Cities or Villages, whose Territory was cultivated, and might furnish Subsistence for his People. I make this Observation, that no one should imagine from the Word Desart or Wilderness, if literally understood, that this vast Multitude of People always marched through such Sort of Places, and that they were always fed by a perpetual Miracle, such as the Manna, and afterwards the Quails, which grew uneasy to those who were cloyed with always eating the same Food. How many other Prodigies were required to provide for so great a Multitude what was necessary for their Support, for their Carriages and other Things, which an Army cannot subsist without, but must be exposed to the utmost Danger? Moses acquaints us with nothing of all this: But when I observe that a People, who came almost naked and without Arms out of Egypt, that after their Passage through the Red-Sea, they should want nothing in the Wilderness, I find Reason to be surprized. If they lived upon Plunder and Pillage, they must have passed through Countries that were able to furnish them abundantly with such Things as were necessary for the Maintenance and Support of such a Multitude. But what I am most surprized at is, that Moses was able to discipline his People in such Manner, that he made them excellent Soldiers, taught them to march, encamp, and to fight with so much Skill, that I can see nothing that is more to be admired.

The Partizans of Antiquity, I mean those who admire none but the Greeks and Romans in the Art of War, think that none can go beyond them in military Discipline; I should be ready to admit what they contend for, if by Discipline they mean only what belongs to the Art of forming and training up good Soldiers; but to believe that they were the first that marched, encamped, and fought in the strictest Order and Method, this would be to impose on themselves very grossly. Yet for all this the greatest Part of learned Men, not to say all of them, are ready to assure us, that except the Greeks and Romans, all other Nations were without Discipline, without Science, and very ignorant in the Art of War.

We have no Books more antient than those of Moses; yet this does not prove, that in Relation to the Motions and Encampments of Armies, and the Art of marshalling them, and leading them to Battle, that the Hebrews were the first Authors and Inventors of so sublime and difficult a Science, as is that of War. I am thoroughly persuaded, that we must not expect to find its Original in Moses, but that it must be presumed that he had learned it from the Egyptians, whom he had seen put it in Practice; and of this I make no Doubt, whatever Mr. Basnage may say to the contrary⁹. If we attend never so little, says he, to the Laws of Moses, and consider without Prejudice what it contains, it cannot be denied that Policy and the Art of Government derive their Original from this divine Law. But further, says he, I believe the Art Military also proceeds nearly from the same Source. This would be easily proved if the Time would allow me, &c. With all the Respect that is due to so learned a Man, I must take the Liberty to affirm, that were he now alive he would find it a hard Task to prove what he has ventured to assert, and what the Scripture does not once mention. Are we not assured that Egypt was then a great and flourishing Kingdom, where Politicks and the Art of Government, to keep the People in good Order, and to secure them from any Enterprizes of their Neighbours, were studied and well understood by their Governours?

Does not the Scripture tell us expressly, that Exod. xiv. 6, 9.Pharaoh marched against the Israelites at the Head of a powerful Army, composed of Infantry, Cavalry, and a great Number of Chariots of War? These formidable Preparations shew plainly enough, that we must not by any Means place the Origine of this Art in the great Lawgiver, that it was well known by the Egyptians, and that we must not even seek for the Invention of Chariots of War from them, since the Scripture speaks of it as a Thing then well known. Besides, did not Moses meet with Enemies upon his Rout, which gave Opposition to his Passage, and even attacked

356. him with all the Art and Method which were practised in those Times? And on several Occasions he found himself in such perplexing Circumstances by their Means, that Miracles became needful to extricate him, and to prevent the intire Rout and Overthrow of his whole Army.

This great Legislator is very succinct in the Description of his Marches. He has not confined himself to set down all of ‘em, much less his Encampments, except those only which were observable for producing some notable Events. And to say the Truth, he could never have finished his History, if he had obliged himself to take Notice of every Thing, since it took up thirty nine Years in passing through but a small Space of Ground, by infinite Turnings and Windings, which much lengthened his Marches, and multiplied his Encampments, and by the long Abode he made in some of his Camps, where sometimes he spent whole Years. To this we may add those Obstacles he met with on his Way, which contributed not a little to make his People warlike, and by making Conquests, prepared them for waging Wars by War itself, to settle them in the Land of Promise, and to secure the Possession of it to them and their Children, especially by what his Successor also contributed to it. For this Favourite of the Lord did not himself see this wished-for Land, except at a Distance; the Conquest of it was reserved for Joshua, who was a great, skilful, wise, and courageous General. For this Reason God made Choice of him to be Moses’s Successor; and this may be a useful Lesson to Princes, and to such who have the Province of governing a Nation, that the Strength, Power, and Prosperity of a State consists in the Choice of brave and able Ministers, who are to have the Execution and Management of Affairs, whether Civil or Military.

We see every where in Scripture, and this is a Thing too remarkable not to give our Attention to it, that God has always chosen Men of great Courage and great Virtue, to humble the Pride of Princes, when too long a Course of Prosperity has tempted them to undertake unjust Enterprizes, and plunged them into enormous Vices; or to correct the Vices of their People, or lastly to raise up one on the Ruine of another. Moses was not chosen of God for the Conquest of the Land of Promise, and for the Punishment of the Crimes of its Inhabitants; he was only appointed to be the Conductor of his People, and the Dispenser of his Laws, without giving him the Qualities that were necessary for a great Commander, as may be judged from his Conduct. For God’s Design was not to make him a Man of Blood; he intended to take him into his Bosom with pure Hands and without Blemish.

But to return to our present Subject. The Antients so closely adhered to their Maxime, not to relate any Thing but the Substance and Gross of Things, that they give us but little Light into some Practices and Usages, which would be very satisfactory to know. Not one of ‘em have given us a compleat and circumstantial Account of the Marching and Encampment of Armies, by which we may know their Order and Method. Are the Moderns without this Defect? We must not therefore wonder, that the sacred Authors have neglected this Kind of Things; yet however in several Passages of Scripture I seem to collect the Order of the Hebrew Marches, and their Discipline in their Encampments and Decampments; they made Use of Trumpets, to the different Sounds of which they were accustomed, and which intimated the Times of preparing themselves, of packing up their Baggage, of attending at their Standards, and of marching. If they made Use of this Method for their Decampments, they did the same also for their several military Functions, when to fight and when to retreat. See the fourth Chapter of Numbers, where it may be seen how they took down the Tabernacle, and in what Order the Levites marched who carried it.

It can by no Means be doubted, but that the Hebrews marched with a great deal of Order. They had the Pillar of Clouds in their Front, which served them for many Purposes. For besides its being a sensible Signal of the Presence of the Lord, it was bright and luminous in the Night-Time, to give them Light during the Season of Darkness, and by Day it was dark and thick, to defend them from the excessive Heats of the Desarts of Arabia, through which they were to march. Also by its Motions it gave them Notice when to encamp or to decamp. For Numb. ix. 15, 16, 17. x. 34, 35. Exod. xl. 34, 35.when it stopped they encamped, they set up the Tabernacle; when it moved on, they took it down, and packed it up, they put it upon its Carriages, and marched in Order. Their Marches were not much different from ours, and indeed the Thing cannot be otherwise. It is the Opinion of the Rabbins, that they marched in the same Order that they encamped; and this perhaps is the only Opinion in which they seem to me to have Reason on their Side. They marched in several Columns, according to the Nature of the Places, they opened Ways a-cross the Plains, that they might march in a greater Number of Columns, each Tribe to the Post that was assigned it; so that their Army arrived at their Camp without any Confusion.

The heavy and light Baggage marched separately, that it might not encumber the March. The Tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphthali, brought up the Rear, and covered the March of one Body of the People, that is, the Stragglers, the Sick, the Feeble, the old Men, Women, and Children. This was their Post, because of the slow March that the Rear-Band is forced to make, more or less according as the Way is in Length, and according to the Number of Columns, in which an Army is obliged to march.

Mr. Bashage pretends, that this great Army commonly made but a March of a League in a Day and an half. He takes an Estimate from what the Scripture says, that the Israelites parted from Sinai, and came in three Days to Kibrothavah, to the Graves of Lust, the Distance of which places it not above two Leagues. This learned Man must allow me to answer, that this does not prove that the Army always marched so slowly as he affirms; perhaps it was obliged to go through some Passes in the Mountains, where they could only march in File. For in an open Countrey, an Army of six hundred thousand Men may march three or four Leagues a-day, and even a good deal more.

The Order of the March given us by the same Author, is very apposite to convince us, that an Army of six hundred thousand Men may very well march four Leagues in one Day. To speak the Truth, I think his Notion to be pretty imaginary; for the Scripture does not say that this Army marched with several Bodies in Front, by double Lines, with Intervals between these Bodies; and those that followed over against the Intervals of those which preceded them, as he supposes to have been the Case. They marched in Columns, as may be very probably concluded, and in the most open Plains they always marched in Columns to a great Number, except they were approaching towards an Enemy. And when it was perceived they approached near an Enemy, they marched in Order of Battle, when the Ground would allow them. Such was the March of Cyrus against Cræsus in the Plain of Tymbraia.

As to their Marches in hilly Countries, they opened several Routs upon the Eminencies; and in the Valleys, which let into other Valleys, and into Plains. They practised the same Thing in close Countries, marching always in great Order, and with all the Caution imaginable.

I know nothing more to be admired than their Method in their Encampments; and in the Form of their Camps I observe a wonderful Art. It seems probable that the Greeks have imitated them as to their Encampments, and the Romans have followed the Greeks. But the Camps of the Romans were still nearer those of the Jews, for I can perceive no Difference. Both of ‘em used to fortify their Camps with an Intrenchment, with a Ditch, and a Palisade. See the Camp of the Israelites, which we have caused to be engraved under the Article TRIBE. A particular Explication of the March of the Israelites in the Desert.

1. The Column of Clouds that marched before the Army of Israel. 2. The Ark inclosed in its Covering, and carried by the Levites. 3. Moses and Aaron conducting the Ark.

2. The Priests, Levites, and Elders, accompanying the Ark.

3. Judah in the Front of the Army, having under him Issachar and Zebulun.

4. The Tribe of Issachar, whose Post was at the right Hand of Judah.. 7. The Tribe of Zebulun marching at the left Hand of the Tribe of Judah.

5. The Cattle and Baggage belonging to the first Corps of the Army.

6. The Chariots presented by the Heads of the twelve Tribes, upon which were loaded the Curtains, the Boards of the Tabernacle, &c. 10. The right Wing, and left Wing, that covered the Baggage belonging to the first Corps. 11. The Gershonites and Merarites, who carried the other Pieces of the Tabernacle, and who relieved each other from Time to Time. 12. Reuben at the Head of the second Body of the Army, having Simeon and Gad under him. 13. The Tribe of Simeon at the right Hand of Reuben. 14. The Tribe of Gad on the left Hand. 15. The Baggage of the second Corps, ranged behind the Tribes to which it belonged. 16. The Wings that covered the Baggage of the second Corps. 17. The Cobathites who carried the sacred Utensils of the Tabernacle well packed up. 18. A void Space shewing the Place of the Ark, when it marched in the Middle of the Army. Moses, Aaron, the Priests, Levites, and Elders always went along with it. 19. Several Plattoons of Cohathites marching in good Order, and carrying the sacred Utensils by Turns. 20. Ephraim at the Head of the third Body of the Army, having Manasseh and Benjamin under its Conduct. 21. Manasseh at the right Hand of Ephraim. 22. Benjamin at the left. 23. The Baggage of this third Body.

7. The Wings that covered the Baggage of the third Corps. 25. The Tribe of Dan, with Asher and Nephthali under its Command. 26. Asher to the right Hand of Dan.

8. Nephthali to the left. 28. The Baggage of this fourth Corps.

9. The Wings that covered this Baggage. 30. A Body of the Aged, Sick, Feeble, Women, Children, and such others as could not march with the Army. 31. Strangers in the Rear of the Army.

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