“By him, accordingly, the conquest of the land of promise was accomplished. The terror of the Lord went before him; the swelling Jordan divided itself to let him and the people pass; Jericho and Ai fell before him, in a manner equally wonderful and terrific, and the march of the victorious army proceeded without a check to Sichem, which Jacob had given to Joseph. The craft of the Gibeonites and their neighbours saved their lives, but furnished Israel with the _Nethinim_, the hewers of wood and drawers of water.[34] Thus he smote one and thirty kings, and divided the land among the tribes, established cities of refuge, and built Timnath-Serah, on the hills of Ephraim.[35] The tribes of Gad and Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh, received their inheritance on the eastern side of Jordan; but, on condition that 40,000 men from among them should assist in the conquest of the country on the other side, and on their return should erect, near the Jordan, a monument of their having partaken in the war with their brethren. A short time before his death, he held a general assembly of the people, in which he made Israel renew the covenant with Jehovah.[36] When he died, he bequeathed to fourteen judges, who ruled Israel in succession, the difficult duty of upholding what he had established. The people, not yet sufficiently confirmed in the law, since more was necessary for this purpose than the mere possession of the land, allowed themselves to be seduced into the idolatry of the Canaanites. From without, the Mesopotamians, Moabites, Canaanites of the north, Midianites, Amalekites, Amonites, and Philistines, harassed and subdued the yet unconsolidated nation. In this way nearly 500 years elapsed, in which fourteen heroes and sages, whom we call Judges, arose, and each, in their time, employed their energies in opposing the universal corruption, or delivering the people from oppression. So much did it cost to secure the possession of the portion which Jehovah had given to his people! Samuel closes this list of heroes, a man on whom, in a peculiar manner, the spirit of the Lord rested, and who, under the influence of this spirit, established schools of the prophets, to perpetuate the knowledge of the law. Footnote 34: Josh. ix. Footnote 35: Josh. xix. 49. Footnote 36: Josh. xxiii. xxiv.