Produced by David Widger





              THE DORE GALLERY OF BIBLE ILLUSTRATIONS

                  Illustrated by Gustave Dore

                          Volume 3.



DEBORAH'S SONG OF TRIUMPH.


Then sang Deborah and Barak, the son of Abinoam on that day, saying:--

Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel, When the people willingly
offered themselves. Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I,
will sing unto the Lord; I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.
Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, When thou marchedst out of the field
of Edom, The earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also
dropped water. The mountains melted from before the Lord, Even that Sinai
from before the Lord God of Israel.

              . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be; Blessed
shall she be above women in the tent. He asked water, and she gave him
milk; She brought forth butter in a lordly dish. She put her hand to the
nail, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer; And with the hammer she
smote Sisera, She smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken
through his temples. At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: At her
feet he bowed, he fell: Where he bowed, there he fell down dead. The
mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice,
Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his
chariots? Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to
herself, Have they not sped? Have they not divided the prey; To every man
a damsel or two; To Sisera a prey of divers colours, a prey of divers
colours of needlework, Of divers colours of needlework on both sides,
meet for the necks of them that take the spoil? So let all thine enemies
perish, O Lord: But let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth
forth in his might. Judges v, 2-5, 24-31




JEPHTHAH MET BY HIS DAUGHTER.


Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed over
Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh
of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon.

And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without
fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, then it shall be,
that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I
return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's,
and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.

So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them;
and the Lord delivered them into his hands. And he smote them from Aroer,
even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of
the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon
were subdued before the children of Israel.

And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter
came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only
child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. Judges xi, 29-34.




JEPHTHAH'S DAUGHTER AND HER COMPANIONS


And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said,
Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of
them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I
cannot go back.

And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the
Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth;
forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies,
even of the children of Ammon. And she said unto her father, Let this
thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down
upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows.

And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with
her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.

And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her
father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she
knew no man.

And it was a custom in Israel, that the daughters of Israel went yearly
to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.
Judges xi, 35-40.




SAMSON SLAYING THE LION.


Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and
came to the vineyards of Timnath; and, behold, a young lion roared
against him. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he
rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand; but
he told not his father or his mother what he had done. Judges xiv, 5-6.




SAMSON AND DELILAH.


And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of
Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her,
Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means
we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we
will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.

And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great
strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. And
Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were
never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. Then the lords
of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been
dried, and she bound him with them. Now there were men lying in wait,
abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines
be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is
broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.

And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me
lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he
said unto her, If they bind me fast with clew ropes that never were
occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. Delilah therefore
took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The
Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in
the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.

And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me
lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If
thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web. And she fastened it
with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson.
And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam
and with the web.

And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart
is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told
me wherein thy great strength lieth. And it came to pass, when she
pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was
vexed unto death; that he told her all his heart, and said unto her,
There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite
unto God from my mother's womb if I be shaven, then my strength will go
from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.

And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and
called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for
he hath showed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came
up unto her, and brought money in their hand. And she made him sleep upon
her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the
seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength
went from him. And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he
awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before,
and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.
Judges xvi, 4-20.




THE DEATH OF SAMSON.


But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down
to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the
prison house.

Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.

Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a
great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our
God hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. And when the people
saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered
into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew
many of us. And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they
said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for
Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him
between the pillars. And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the
hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth,
that I may lean upon them. Now the house was full of men and women; and
all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof
about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.

And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I
pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I
may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. And Samson
took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on
which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other
with his left. And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he
bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and
upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his
death were more than they which he slew in his life.

Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took
him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the
burying-place of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty
years.--Judges xvi; 21-31




NAOMI AND HER DAUGHTERS IN LAW.


Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a
famine in the land. And a certain man of Beth-lehem-judah went to sojourn
in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. And the name
of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of
his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth-lehem-judah. And
they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. And Elimelech
Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. And they took
them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the
name of the other Ruth: and they dwelt there about ten years. And Mahlon
and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two
sons and her husband.

Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the
country of Moab for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the
Lord had visited his people in giving them bread. Wherefore she went
forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with
her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah.

And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her
mother's house the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the
dead, and with me. The Lord grant you that ye may find rest, each of you
in the house of her husband.

Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept. And they
said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people.

And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are
there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn
again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have a husband. If
I should say, I have hope, if I should have a husband also to night, and
should also bear sons; would ye tarry for them till they were grown?
would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it
grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out
against me.

And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her
mother in law but Ruth cleave unto her.

And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and
unto her gods return thou after thy sister in law.

And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following
after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I
will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou
diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and
more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

When she saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with her, then she
left speaking unto her.

So they two went until they came to Beth-lehem.--Ruth i, 1-19.




RUTH AND BOAZ.


And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the
family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.

And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and
glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she
said unto her, Go, my daughter. And she went, and came and gleaned in the
field after the reapers; and her hap was to light on a part of the field
belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.

And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The
Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee. Then said
Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is
this? And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It
is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of
Moab: and she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers
among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning
until now, that she tarried a little in the house.

Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean
in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my
maidens: let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou
after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch
thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that
which the young men have drawn.

Then she fell on her face and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto
him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take
knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?

And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all
that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine
husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land
of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not
heretofore. The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee
of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.

Then she said, Let me find favor in thy sight, my lord; for that thou
hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine
handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens.

And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the
bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers:
and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and
left. And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men,
saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not: and
let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them,
that she may glean them and rebuke her not.

So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had
gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.--Ruth ii, 1-17.




THE RETURN OF THE ARK.


And the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven
months. And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners,
saying, What shall we do to the ark of the Lord? tell us wherewith we
shall send it to his place. And they said, If ye send away the ark of the
God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass
offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his
hand is not removed from you. Then said they, What shall be the trespass
offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden
emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of
the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.
Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice
that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel:
peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your
gods, and from off your land. Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as
the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? when he had wrought
wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and they
departed? Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on
which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring
their calves home from them: and take the ark of the Lord, and lay it
upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a
trespass offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away,
that it may go. And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to
Beth-shemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we
shall know that it is not his hand that smote us; it was a chance that
happened to us.

And the men did so; and took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart,
and shut up their calves at home: and they laid the ark of the Lord upon
the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their
emerods. And the kine took the straight way to the way of Beth-shemesh,
and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to
the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went
after them, unto the border of Beth-shemesh. And they of Beth-shemesh
were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley: and they lifted up their
eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. And the cart came into the
field of Joshua, a Beth-shemite, and stood there, where there was a great
stone: and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered the kine a burnt
offering unto the Lord.

And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord, and the coffer that was
with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great
stone: and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed
sacrifices the same day unto the Lord.--1 Samuel vi, 1-5.




SAUL AND DAVID.


And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that
the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved
him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no
more home to his father's house.

Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own
soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and
gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow,
and to his girdle.

And David went out withersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself
wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the
sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants.

And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the
slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of
Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy,
and with instruments of music. And the women answered one another as they
played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten
thousands.

And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said,
"They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have
ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?"  And
Saul eyed David from that day and forward.

And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came
upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played
with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand.
And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the
wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.--1 Samuel
xviii, I-II.




DAVID SPARING SAUL.


And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the
Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the
wilderness of Engedi. Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all
Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild
goats. And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and
Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the
sides of the cave.

And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the Lord said
unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou
mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and
cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily. And it came to pass afterward,
that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt. And he
said unto his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my
master, the Lord's anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him,
seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.

So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to
rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.
David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after
Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David
stooped with his face to the earth and bowed himself.

And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying,
Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how
that the Lord had delivered thee to-day into mine hand in the cave: and
some bade me kill thee; but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not
put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the Lord's anointed.
Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for
in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou
and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I
have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it. The
Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord avenge me of thee: but mine
hand shall not be upon thee. As saith the proverb of the ancients,
Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon
thee. After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou
pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea. The Lord therefore be judge, and
judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me
out of thine hand.

And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words
unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul
lifted up his voice, and wept. And he said to David, Thou art more
righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded
thee evil. And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well,
with me: forasmuch as when the Lord had delivered me into thine hand,
thou killedst me not. For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go
well away? wherefore the Lord reward thee good for that thou hast done
unto me this day. And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be
king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand.
Swear now therefore unto me by the Lord, that thou wilt not cut off my
seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's
house.

And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat
them up unto the hold.--2 Samuel xxiv, 2--22.