The Ark was again set up by Joshua at Shiloh, but when the Israelites fought against Benjamin at Gibeah, they had the Ark with them and consulted it after their defeat.

The accents of the tribes were distinctive enough even at the time of the confederacy so that when the Israelites of Gilead, under the leadership of Jephthah, fought the Tribe of Ephraim, their pronunciation of shibboleth as sibboleth was considered sufficient evidence to single out individuals from Ephraim, so that they could be subjected to immediate death by the Israelites of Gilead.

The Israelites fought Amorites in a battle, gaining complete victory.

The Valley of Elah, " the valley of the oak or terebinth " ( Emek HaElah ) ( Arabic Wadi es-Sunt ), best known as the place described in the Bible where the Israelites were encamped when David fought Goliath ( 1 Sam.

This encounter ends with Elijah victorious over the official Baal prophets of Israel in a contest held for the sake of the Israelites and their king, Ahab.

The covered ark with golden staves carried by the priesthood ( Ancient Israel ) | priests, and seven priests with rams ' horns, at the siege of Jericho, in an eighteenth-century artist's depiction. The biblical account relates that during the Israelites ' exodus from Egypt, the Ark was carried by the priests some 2, 000 cubits in advance of the people and their army, or host.

After their first defeat at Eben-ezer, the Israelites had the Ark brought from Shiloh, and welcomed its coming with great rejoicing.

After the Ark had been among them for seven months, the Philistines, on the advice of their diviners, returned it to the Israelites, accompanying its return with an offering consisting of golden images of the tumors and rats wherewith they had been afflicted.

The Old Testament story of Judith illustrates how a woman frees the Israelites by tricking and assassinating Holofernes, a warlord of the rival Assyrians, with whom the Israelites were at war.

Joshua forms part of the biblical history of the emergence of Israel which begins with the exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, continues with their conquest of Canaan under their leader Joshua ( the subject matter of the book of Joshua ), and culminates in Judges with the settlement of the tribes in the land.

The Gibeonites trick the Israelites into entering into an alliance with them by saying they are not Canaanites ; this prevents the Israelites from exterminating them, but they are enslaved instead.

Joshua charges the leaders of the Israelites to remain faithful to Yahweh and the covenant, warning of judgement should Israel leave Yahweh and follow other gods ; Joshua meets with all the people and reminds them of Yahweh's great works for them, and of the need to love Yahweh alone.

Decree of Cyrus, first version: Cyrus, inspired by God, returns the Temple vessels to Sheshbazzar, " prince of Judah ", and directs the Israelites to return to Jerusalem with him and rebuild the Temple.

The book ends with the new generation of Israelites in the plain of Moab ready for the crossing of the Jordan River.

As such it draws to a conclusion the themes introduced in Genesis and played out in Exodus and Leviticus: God has promised the Israelites that they shall become a great ( i. e. numerous ) nation, that they will have a special relationship with Yahweh their god, and that they shall take possession of the land of Canaan.

Miriam and Aaron insult Moses at Hazeroth, which angers God ; Miriam is punished with leprosy and is shut out of camp for seven days, at the end of which the Israelites proceed to the desert of Paran.

Joshua and Caleb, two of the spies, tell that the land is abundant and is " flowing with milk and honey "; the other spies say that it is inhabited by giants, and the Israelites refuse to enter the land.

The book opens with the Israelites in the land which God has promised to them but worshiping " foreign gods " instead of Yahweh, the god of Israel, and with the Canaanites still present everywhere.

By the end of Judges the Israelites are in a worse condition than they were at the beginning, with Yahweh's treasures used to make idolatrous images, the Levites ( priests ) corrupted, the tribe of Dan conquering a remote village instead of the Canaanite cities, and the tribes of Israel making war on the Benjamites, their own brothers.

Scholars agree that the Deuteronomists ' hand can be seen in Judges through the book's cyclical nature: the Israelites fall into idolatry, God punishes them for their sins with oppression by foreign peoples, the Israelites cry out to God for help, and God sends a judge to deliver them from the foreign oppression.

The Philistines are afflicted with plagues and return the ark to the Israelites, but to the territory of the tribe of Benjamin rather than to Shiloh.

When the Israelites, led by Joshua toward the Promised Land, arrived at the banks of the River Jordan, the Ark was carried in the lead preceding the people and was the signal for their advance ( Joshua 3: 3, 6 ).

After the settlement of the Israelites in Canaan, the Ark remained in the Tabernacle at Gilgal for a season before being removed to Shiloh until the time of Eli, between 300 and 400 years ( Jeremiah 7: 12 ), when it was carried into the field of battle, so as to secure, as they had hoped, victory to the Hebrews.

The book is structured in two roughly equal parts, the story of the campaigns of the Israelites in central, southern and northern Canaan and the destruction of their enemies, followed by the division of the conquered land among the twelve tribes ; the two parts are framed by set-piece speeches by God and Joshua commanding the conquest and at the end warning of the need for faithful obedience of the Law ( torah ) revealed to Moses.

The Israelites cross the Jordan through the miraculous intervention of God and his ark and are circumcised at Gibeath-Haaraloth ( translated as hill of foreskins ), renamed Gilgal in memory ( Gilgal sounds like Gallothi, I have removed, but is more likely to translate as circle of standing stones ).

* Joshua and the Israelites were able to defeat the people at Ai because Joshua followed the divine instruction to extend his sword ( Josh 8: 18 ), just as the people were able to defeat the Amalekites as long as Moses extended his hand that held " the staff of God " ( Ex.

Numbers begins at Mount Sinai, where the Israelites have received their laws and covenant from God and God has taken up residence among them in the sanctuary.

The Israelites begin the journey, but immediately they " murmur " ( complain or kvetch ) at the hardships along the way.

They arrive at the borders of Canaan and send spies into the land, but on hearing the spies ' report the Israelites refuse to take possession of Canaan and God condemns them to death in the wilderness until a new generation can grow up and carry out the task.

Miriam dies at Kadesh Barnea and the Israelites set out for Moab, on Canaan's western border.

Moses recalls the stations at which the Israelites halted during their forty years ' wanderings and instructs the Israelites to exterminate the Canaanites and destroy their idols.

The cyclic pattern set out in the prologue is readily apparent at the beginning, but as the stories progress it begins to disintegrate, mirroring the disintegration of the world of the Israelites.

The Philistines attack the Israelites gathered at Mizpah in Benjamin.

Polygyny, or men having multiple wives at once, is one of the most common marital arrangements represented in the Old Testament, yet scholars doubt that it was common among average Israelites because of the wealth needed to practice it.

Dwelling in caves near the Dead Sea is recorded in the Hebrew Bible as having taken place before the Israelites came to Canaan, and extensively at the time of King David.

The Israelites, enumerated at 603, 550 able-bodied adult males ( not counting Levites ) and their families, with their flocks and herds, set out for the mountain of God.

* Carew, Mairead, Tara and the Ark of the Covenant: A Search for the Ark of the Covenant by British Israelites on the Hill of Tara, 1899-1902.

* Joshua led the Israelites out of the wilderness into the Promised Land, crossing the Jordan River as if on dry ground ( 3: 16 ), just as Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt through the Red Sea, which they crossed as if on dry land ( Ex.

* Joshua successfully intercedes on behalf of the Israelites when Yahweh is angry for their failure to fully observe the " ban " ( herem ), just as Moses frequently persuaded God not to punish the people ( Ex.

The vision in first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus ( 9: 1 ) concerning seventy weeks, or seventy " sevens ", apportioned for the history of the Israelites and of Jerusalem ( 9: 24 ) This consists of a meditation on the prediction in Jeremiah that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years, a lengthy prayer by Daniel in which he pleads for God to restore Jerusalem and its temple, and an angelic explanation which focuses on a longer time period-" seventy sevens "-and a future restoration and destruction of city and temple by a coming ruler.

: * Masei, on Numbers 33-36: Stations of the Israelites ’ journeys, instructions for conquest, cities for Levites

The Israelites arrive on the plains of Moab.

The first Christians were, like Jesus, Israelites resident in Roman Israel who worshiped on occasion in the Temple in Jerusalem and weekly in local synagogues.

Judaism places emphasis on the right conduct ( or orthopraxy ), focusing on the Mosaic Covenant that the God of Israel, made with the Israelites, as recorded in the Torah and Talmud.

The book consists of three sermons or speeches delivered to the Israelites by Moses on the plains of Moab, shortly before they enter the Promised Land.

The first sermon recapitulates the forty years of wilderness wanderings which have led to this moment, and ends with an exhortation to observe the law ( or teachings ); the second reminds the Israelites of the need for exclusive allegiance to one God and observance of the laws he has given them, on which their possession of the land depends ; and the third offers the comfort that even should Israel prove unfaithful and so lose the land, with repentance all can be restored.

:* Vayakhel, on Exodus 35-38: Israelites collect gifts make the Tabernacle and furnishings

The structure, which was also used by the Israelites, was based on lunar months with the intercalation of an additional month to bring the cycle closer to the solar cycle.

The religion of the Israelites of Iron Age I, like many Ancient Near Eastern religions, was based on the cult of the ancestors and the worship of family gods ( the " gods of the fathers ").

In Exodus, God commanded that the Israelites not make any graven image ; but soon afterwards, he commanded that they make graven images of cherubim and other like things, both as statues and woven on tapestries.

* Shavuot (" Pentecost " or " Feast of Weeks ") celebrates the revelation of the Torah to the Israelites on Mount Sinai.

* Sukkot (" Tabernacles " or " The Festival of Booths ") commemorates the Israelites ' forty years of wandering through the desert on their way to the Promised Land.