5 and xxii. 48 (where it is pointed
niccab), "governor", seems the best translation, and this is the
only rendering consistent with the expression in 1Samuel xiii. 3
("Jonathan slew the _necib_," &c.).
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But the assertion that they had confiscated all weapons and
removed all smiths must be regarded as an unhistorical
exaggeration; under their regime at all events it was possible
for the messengers of a beleaguered city on the east of Jordan
to summon their countrymen in the west to their relief.
The shame of the Israelites under the reproach of Philistine
oppression led, in the first instance, to a widespread exaltation
of religious feeling. Troops of ecstatic enthusiasts showed
themselves here and there, and went about with musical
accompaniments in processions which often took the shape of wild
dances; even men of the most sedate temperament were sometimes
smitten with the contagion, and drawn into the charmed circle.
In such a phenomenon, occurring in the East, there was nothing
intrinsically strange; among the Canaanites, such "Nebiim"--for
so they were styled--had long been familiar, and they continued
to exist in the country after the old fashion, long after their
original character, so far as Israel was concerned, had been wholly
lost.
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