If we suppose that the oppression of the Israelites by the Philistines, described in the beginning of the first book of Samuel, is the same as the forty years’ oppression mentioned in the book of Judges, and that the judgeship of Samson falls within the same period (Judges 15:20), it is easy to make out the four hundred and fifty years of the apostle’s reckoning.  From the beginning of the first servitude under Cushan-rishathaim to the close of the last under the Philistines, we have, reckoning the years of servitude and rest in succession, and allowing three years for the reign of Abimelech, three hundred and ninety years.  For the remaining sixty years we have (1) the time from the division of the land by lot to the death of the elders who overlived Joshua; (2) the time from the close of the last servitude to the establishment of the kingdom; and possibly (3) a further period for Shamgar’s judgeship, though it is more probable that this falls within the eighty years of rest after the oppression of the Moabites.  Those who adopt a shorter chronology, assume that the forty years’ dominion of the Philistines was contemporaneous with the oppression of the northeastern tribes by the Ammonites and the period during which Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon judged Israel; their jurisdiction being, as they suppose, restricted to the northeastern part of the land.  For both the longer and shorter chronology, there are several variously modified schemes, the details of which the student can find in works devoted to the subject of biblical chronology.

10.  The incidents of the book of Ruth belong to the period of the Judges, so that it may be regarded as in some sort an appendix to the book of Judges, though probably not written by the same author.  It contains a beautiful sketch of domestic life in the early period of the Theocracy, written with charming simplicity and graphic vividness.  Yet it is not on this ground alone or chiefly that it has a place in the sacred canon.  It records also the sublime faith of Ruth the Moabitess, which led her to forsake her own country and kindred to trust under the wings of the Lord God of Israel (ch. 2:12), and which was rewarded by her being made the ancestress of David and of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Thus the book connects itself immediately with “the house and lineage of David,” and may be regarded as supplementary to the history of his family.  It was evidently written after David was established on the throne.  Further than this we have no certain knowledge respecting its date; nor can its author be determined.

III.  THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL.