'We have no intention here to inquire at what time Baruch was chief of
the Jewish people; why, being chief, he allowed his army to be commanded
by a woman; whether this woman, named Deborah, had married Lapidoth;
whether she was the friend or relative of Baruch, or, perhaps, his
daughter, or his mother; nor on what day the battle of Thabor, in
Galilee, was fought between this Deborah and Sisera, Captain-General of
the armies of King Jabin, which Sisera commanded in Galilee, an army
of three hundred thousand foot, ten thousand horse, and three thousand
chariots of war, according to the historian Josephus.
'We shall at present leave out of the question this Jabin, King of a
village called Hazor, who had more troops than the Grand Turk. We very
much pity the fate of his grand vizier Sisera, who, having lost the
battle of Galilee, leaped from his chariot and four that he might fly
more swiftly on foot. He went and begged the hospitality of a holy
Jewish woman, who gave him some milk, and drove a great cart-nail
through his head while he was asleep. We are very sorry for it; but this
is not the matter to be discussed. We wish to speak of chariots of war.
'The battle was fought at the foot of Mount Thabor, near the river
Kishon. Mount Thabor is a steep mountain, the branches of which,
somewhat less in height, extend over a great part of Galilee. Betwixt
{110} this mountain and the neighbouring rocks there is a small plain
covered with great flint stones, and impracticable for cavalry. The
extent of this plain is four or five hundred paces. We may venture to
believe that Sisera did not here draw up his three hundred thousand
men in order of battle; his three thousand chariots would have found it
difficult to manoeuvre on such a field.
'We may believe that the Hebrews had no chariots of war in a country
renowned only for asses; but the Asiatics made use of them in great
plains.
'Confucius, or rather Confutze, says positively that from time
immemorial each of the viceroys of the provinces was expected to furnish
to the emperor a thousand war chariots drawn by four horses.
'Chariots must have been in use long before the Trojan war, for Homer
does not speak of them as a new invention: but those chariots were
not armed like those of Babylon; neither the wheels nor the axles were
furnished with steel blades.
'This invention must at first have been very formidable, in large plains
especially, when the chariots were numerous, driven with impetuosity
and armed with long pikes and scythes; but when they became familiar
it seemed so easy to avoid their shock, that they fell into general
disuse.'
*Chapter iv., v. 2. Hazor was burnt and thoroughly destroyed by Joshua.
Verse 4. We have no account of any of the prophecies of Deborah.
Verse 11. 'Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses.' This is an error. Hobab
is described in Numbers as the son of Raguel, the latter being the
father-in-law of Moses. (See page 49).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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