The wandering in the wilderness, during which
the generation born in Egypt dies out, lasts for 40 years; the
land has 40 years of rest under Othniel, Deborah, and again under
Gideon; it has 80 under Ehud; the domination of the Philistines
lasts for 40 years, the duration also of David's reign. On the
necessary assumption that the period of the Philistines
(Judges xiii. 1), which far exceeds the ordinary duration of the
foreign dominations, coincides with that of Eli (1Samuel iv. 18),
and at the same time includes the 20 years of Samson (Judges
xvi. 31), and the 20 of the interregnum before Samuel (1Samuel
vii. 2), we have already 8 x 40 accounted for, while 4 x 40 still
remain. For these we must take into account first the years of
the two generations for which no numbers are given, namely,
the generation of Joshua and his surviving contemporaries
(Judges ii. 7), and that of Samuel to Saul, each, it may be
conjectured, having the normal 40, and the two together
certainly reckoning 80 years. For the remaining 80 the most
disputable elements are the 71 years of interregna or of
foreign dominations, and the 70 of the minor judges.
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