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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Untitled Article
With respect to civil constitution , it appears that in every tribe there was a chief called the prince of the tribe , or the head of thousands , and under him the princes of families , or commanders of hundreds . " Most probably the first-born of the senior family of each tribe was usually received as the prince of that tribe , and that the eldest son of every
family succeeded his father in the honours and duties which belonged to the rank of a patriarch . The prince of the tribe presided over its affairs , administered justice in all ordinary cases , and leu the troops in time of war . He was assisted in these important duties by the subordinate officers , the chiefs of families , who formed his council in such matters of policy as affected their particular district , supported his decisions in civil or criminal inquiries , and commanded under him in the field of battle . "
The system of polity was not confined to the government of separate tribes ; some traces are to be found , even in the disorderly period which immediately followed the settlement in the promised land , of a general government , a great council or senate of elders , to decide in cases of difficulty and danger . Sometimes a judge was invested with a high degree of executive authority , and lastly the concurrence of the congregation of Israel appears to have been at all times necessary to give vigour and effect to the resolutions
of the leaders ; but in no case could any measure of importance be determined upon without the voice of Jehovah , revealed by Urim and Thumraim , to sanction it . Neither the general council nor the judge , how extensive soever might be their powers , possessed the privilege of making laws ; this was retained by the Divine Head of the nation . The occasional meetings of the princes of tribes and patriarchal chiefs were the only national council , and had no resemblance to the Council of Seventy established by Moses in
the wilderness , nor to the Sanhedrim , which most probably had no existence prior to the Babylonish captivity . This council only met occasionally on great emergencies , having no stated times of assembling . The Judges were magistrates differing considerably from the public officers of every other country . They were like the Carthaginian Suffetes in scarcely any thing but the name O > DDlttf . They bear scarcely any resemblance to the Greek Archon or the Roman Consul , or to the Roman
Dictator ; except that the latter was invested with power only when the exigence of affairs required the aid of superior talents or the weight of a supernatural appointment . But the Hebrew Judge retained his high authority during his life . The Dictator resigned his office when the crisis which called for him was over . There are no means of determining how the Judges were elected ; they appear in general to have derived their appointment from a divine commission impressed upon their minds by a supernatural impulse , or conveyed to them formally by the mouth of a prophet . Provision was
made by Moses , and established by Joshua , for the due administration of justice throughout the land , u Judges and officers , said Moses , shait thou establish in all thy gates . " There was doubtless a distinction between judges and officers , but the sacred recoids afford no definite description of their several functions . We find that all the Israelites were either shepherds or agriculturists , from the princes of Judah down to the meanest famil y of Benjamin , nor can we observe any distinction of rank springing from wealth , office , or profession .
The Levites were not wholly confined to spiritual offices . They supplied the whole nation of the Israelites with judges , lawyers , scribes , teachers and p hysicians . The learned professions were made hereditary fa tfae several families of Levi , who had no inheritance in the laad , butw * we to receive
Untitled Article
558 Review . —Russell's Sacred and Profane History .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1828, page 558, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2563/page/46/
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