elites had summoned to their aid
a powerful ally in "these (or this) mighty Elohim"--elsewhere called
Jahve-Sabaoth, the Jahveh of Hosts. If the "temple" at Shiloh was
the pentateuchal tabernacle, as is suggested by the name of "tent of
meeting" given to it in 1 Samuel ii. 22, it was essentially a large
tent, though constituted of very expensive and ornate materials; if, on
the other hand, it was a different edifice, there can be little doubt
that this "house of Jahveh" was built on the model of an ordinary house
of the time. But there is not the slightest evidence that, during the
reign of Saul, any greater importance attached to this seat of the cult
of Jahveh than to others. Sanctuaries, and "high places" for sacrifice,
were scattered all over the country from Dan to Beersheba. And, as
Samuel is said to have gone up to one of these high places to bless the
sacrifice, it may be taken for tolerably certain that he knew nothing of
the Levitical laws which severely condemn the high places and those who
sacrifice away from the sanctuary hallowed by the presence of the ark.

There is no evidence that, during the time of the Judges and of Samuel,
any one occupied the position of the high priest of later days. And
persons who were neither priests nor Levites sacrificed and divined or
"inquired of Jahveh," when they pleased and where they pleased, without
the least indication that they, or any one else in Israel at that
time, knew they were doing wrong. There is no allusion to any special
observance of the Sabbath; and the references to circumcision are
indirect.

Such are the chief articles of the theological creed of the old
Israelites, which are made known to us by the direct evidence of the
ancient record to which we have had recourse, and they are as remarkable
for that which they contain as for that which is absent from them.
They reveal a firm conviction that, when death takes place, a something
termed a soul or spirit leaves the body and continues to exist in Sheol
for a period of indefinite duration, even though there is no proof of
any belief in absolute immortality; that such spirits can return to
earth to possess and inspire the living; that they are, in appearance
and in disposition, likenesses of the men to whom they belonged, but
that, as spirits, they have larger powers and are freer from physical
limitations; that they thus form a group among a number of kinds of
spiritual existences known as Elohim, of whom