Abimelech is slain.

Before CHRIST

about 1206.

|| Or, deliver.

↑ Heb. save.

55 And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place.

56 Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren:

57 And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

СНАР. Х.

1 Tola judgeth Israel in Shamir. 3 Jair, whose thirty sons had thirty cities. 6 The Philistines and Ammonites oppress Israel. 10 In their misery God sendeth them to their false gods. 15 Upon their repentance he pitieth them.

2 And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir.

3¶ And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years.

4 And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called || Havoth-jair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead.

5 And Jair died, and was buried about 1161. in Camon.

& 3.7. &

b Chap. 2. 13.

son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man

Spenser, and in later writers, as in Milton also. T. Warton. See Judg. ix. 53. "And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his scull:" for so it should be printed. Some editions of the Bible corruptly read, "all to break," placing the verb improperly in the infinitive mood. Todd.

56. Thus God rendered &c.] Here is the concluding lesson of the preceding story: that thus Providence returned upon the head of this man the proper reward of his insatiable ambition and cruelty towards the house of his own father; causing him, and the ungrateful and vain people which set him up, to become in a short space of time the instruments of each other's ruin and destruction. Pyle. How sure and just are the retaliations of God! Gideon's ephod is punished with the blood of his sons; the blood of his sons is shed by the procurement of the Shechemites; the blood of the Shechemites is shed by Abimelech; the blood of Abimelech is shed by a woman. The tyrant now has his payment; and that time, which he should have bestowed in calling for mercy on God, and in washing his soul with the last tears of contrition, he vainly spends in deprecating an idle reproach," Slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him ;"- -a fit conclusion for such a life. Bp. Hall.

The whole history of the manner in which "God | rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, &c." supplies a further striking instance of the method of the Divine administration, now carried on towards his people. The apparent severity in some of these instances arose from the operation of human passions in the agents employed, or permitted, to execute the judgments, without being directly controlled in their conduct; or if in any case the severity was directly commanded, we may be well assured it was indispensably necessary to effect

Ammon.

the purposes of the Divine economy, when even that severity was not sufficient entirely to prevent subsequent offences. Dr. Graves.

Chap. X. ver. 1.—after Abimelech there arose &c.] Abimelech was no judge or governour of God's appointment, but an usurper and a tyrant: these, who succeeded, appear to have arisen by Divine instigation and appointment; keeping the Israelites in the worship of the true God, maintaining their laws, and defending them from their enemies, without assuming over them a monarchical power. Dr. Wells, Pyle.

4.- that rode on thirty ass colts,] It is probable that this circumstance is here mentioned, because these persons were ordered by their father to ride circuit up and down the country, to administer justice according to the law, as Samuel did when he judged Israel, 1 Sam. vii. 16. Bp. Patrick. As in those days the Israelites had but few chariots, and were not allowed to keep many horses; the most honourable of them were used to be mounted on asses, which, in Eastern countries, were much higher and more beautiful than they are with us. Stackhouse. See the note on Numb. xxii. 21.

Havoth-jair] Other towns had been called by the same name, Numb. xxxii. 41; Deut. iii. 14; by a former Jair, an ancestor probably of the person here mentioned. Bp. Patrick.

7.- Philistines,-children of Ammon.] The Ammonites vexed them on the east, and the Philistines on the west: thus, by the invasion of their enemies on both sides, their punishment increased with their idolatry. The two oppressions seem to have happened at the same time; but, to avoid confusion, Scripture first gives an account of the war with the Ammonites, managed by Jephthah, ch. xi. xii. then of that with the Philistines, ch. xiii. Bp. Patrick.

c Deut. 32. 15.

Jer. 2. 13.

+ Heb. is good in thine eyes.

9 Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed.

10 And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.

11 And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?

12 The Zidonians also, and the

Amalekites, and the Maonites, did

oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I'delivered you out of their hand.

C

13 Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.

14 Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.

15 ¶ And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever + seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day.

12.—the Maonites,] Another nation of the children of the East, that, together with the Amalekites, assisted the Midianites. Dr. Wells.

14. Go and cry unto the gods] After reproaching them for their vile stupidity and ingratitude, under the course of his mercies, forgivenesses, and deliverances; He bids them go and seek their refuge from the senseless idols, which they had worshipped so long, and so often. Pyle. It was an argument of a most perverse and incorrigible temper, and that which made the sin of the children of Israel so sinful above all measure, that, after so many signal deliverances, and so many terrible judgments, they fell into the same again. This circumstance it was which incensed God against them so highly on this occasion, and made Him upbraid them so severely. Abp. Tillotson.

16. And they put away the strange gods] This is the most remarkable repentance and reformation, of which we read in the history of the judges; and it seems to be so serious, that, in the time of the three judges who succeeded Jephthah, we read nothing of their relapsing into idolatry. As their repentance was sincere, so the expression of the Divine compassion towards them, namely, "that his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel," is the strongest that we meet with; although every one knows that the Divine nature is not capable of grief, properly so called; but the meaning is, that He

God pitieth them.

Before

16 And they put away the strange the strange CHRIST gods from among them, and served about 1161. the LORD: and his soul + was grieved Heb.gods for the misery of Israel.

of strangers. + Heb. was shortened.

17 Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and en- † Heb. cried camped in Gilead. And the children together. of Israel assembled themselves together, and encamped in Mizpeh.

18 And the people and princes of Gilead said one to another, What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabit- d Chap. 11. 6. ants of Gilead.

quite altered his former intention, and in much mercy resolved, upon their repentance, to deliver them. Stackhouse. See the note from Stackhouse on Gen. vi. 6.

his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.] God had compassion on the miseries which the Israelites brought on themselves by their idolatry. Bp. Hall.

17.-in Mizpeh.] There were several towns of this name in Canaan; this was on the east of Jordan, in Gilead, under mount Hermon; mentioned before at Josh. xi. 3. Dr. Wall, Bp. Patrick.

18.

the people and princes of Gilead] Meaning the Gadites and Manassites, who inhabited the land of Gilead. Bp. Patrick.

Chap. XI. ver. 1.—of an harlot :] Called "a strange woman," ver. 2, a concubine-wife, or one who was a stranger, of a different nation. Pyle, Dr. Wells. Among the Jews, if persons of a foreign nation embraced the law, their children were not stained; and on this account Jephthah_ complains of the injustice of his expulsion, ver. 7. Bp. Patrick.

-the land of Tob:] This name occurs only here, and at ver. 5: it is conjectured to be the same with Ishtob, mentioned at 2 Sam. x. 6: according to which, the country would lie not far from Gilead, the country of Jephthah. Dr. Wells.

Jephthah is chosen captain.

Before CHRIST

c

His fruitless embassy

Before CHRIST

+ Heb. after days.

5 And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob: 6 And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.

7 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my father's house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?

8 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

9 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your head?

10 And the elders of Gilead said Heb. be the unto Jephthah, The LORD + be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words.

hearer between us.

about 1143.

13.

11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them: and Jephthah uttered all his words before the LORD in Mizpeh.

12 ¶ And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land?

13 And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the mesb Numb. 21. sengers of Jephthah, b Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably.

14 And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon:

Rather, poor and needy men. Bp.

vain men] Patrick. 11.-uttered all his words before the Lord] He appears to have laid before God, in a solemn address or prayer, all that he had said to the Gileadites, imploring, probably, his approbation and direction. Bp. Patrick. 12. And Jephthah sent messengers] Jephthah was noted for his valour, yet he treated with Ammon before he fought; it was only when reason would not prevail,

16 But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh;

d

c Deut. 2. 9.

14.

17 Then Israel sent messengers d Numb. 20. unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab but he would not consent: and Israel abode in Kadesh.

18 Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within e Numb. 21. the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.

e

13. & 21. 24.

19 And Israel sent messengers f Deut. 2. 26. unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place.

20 But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

21 And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.

22 And they possessed all the 5 coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon g Deut. 2. 36. even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan.

23 So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?

24 Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the

that he betook himself to the sword. To make war any other than our last remedy, is not courage, but cruelty and rashness. Bp. Hall.

24. Will not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god &c.] He appeals to themselves, whether, as they ascribed their victories and possessions to their supposed deity Chemosh, the Israelites have not the same right and duty to what their God had bestowed upon them. Pyle.

LORD our God shall drive out from about 1143. before us, them will we possess.

h Numb. 22. 2.

Deut. 23. 4.
Josh. 24. 9.

25 h And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,

26 While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time?

27 Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon. 28 Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him. 29 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpel of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon.

30 And Jephthah vowed a VOW unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,

It cannot possibly be thought that Jephthah, a judge in Israel, intended by these words to acknowledge the real divinity of the Ammonitish idol. He is evidently using an argument formed upon the principles of his adversaries, and therefore conclusive to them. As if he had said, "You deem yourselves entitled to any possession, acquired, as you imagine, by the assistance of him whom you call your God; and you cannot reasonably expect us to yield that, which we know the Lord our God has awarded to us." Jephthah, in a negotiation with the Ammonites, had no occasion to discuss the subject of their idolatry, or to tell them what he thought of Chemosh; but states the matter according to their own ideas, supposing them, for a moment, to be true, although he knew them to be false. Bp. Horne.

Chemosh thy god] Otherwise Chamos, the god of the Ammonites, supposed by some to be the sun. Calmet.

27.the Lord the Judge be judge &c.] He concludes by committing his cause to God, the righteous Judge of the whole world, who, he had no doubt, would decide, by the event of the war, on the justice of his cause. Bp. Patrick.

29. Then the Spirit of the Lord came] God now publickly declared his approbation of the people's choice, by making Jephthah their judge, as He had done others before, chap. iii. 10; and by endowing him with an extraordinary measure of courage, wisdom, and all other qualities necessary to render him fit to be the ruler of his people. Bp. Patrick.

30. And Jephthah vowed a vow] He appears not to have had any doubt of the victory, but still to have thought he might be the more assured of it, if he made

Jephthah's rash vow.

CHRIST

+ Heb. that

31 Then it shall be, that + what- Before soever cometh forth of the doors about 1143. of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of which cometh Ammon, shall surely be the LORD'S, shall come || and I will offer it up for a burnt forth. offering.

32 So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.

forth, which

|| Or, or I will offer it,

&c.

33 And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto || the plain of the or, Abel. vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

34 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.

35 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.

36 And she said unto him, My

Or, he had

not of his own either

daughter.

Heb. of

himself.

a religious vow beforehand, of being very grateful to God for it. Bp. Patrick.

If thou shalt-deliver the children of Ammon] Jephthah began his war, in craving victory from God, and pouring out his vow to Him: while his hand took hold of his sword, his heart cleaved to God. He who is especially commended for his strength, dared trust in none but the arm of God. If Jephthah had not looked upwards for his victory, in vain had the Gileadites looked up to him. And this is the disposition of all good hearts: they look to their sword or their bow as servants, not as patrons: and, while they use them, trust in God. If men would do so in all their actions, they would have more joy in their success, and less discomfort in their miscarriage. Bp. Hall.

31.- shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up] The more true translation of these words may be, "Shall be the Lord's, or else I will offer it up for a burnt offering," for so the Hebrew particle is often used. See the margin. The sense of the vow will then be, Whatsoever cometh out of the house to meet me shall be the Lord's; if it be a human person, servant, &c. it shall be dedicated to his service; or, if it be a beast fit to be offered, it shall be offered for a burnt offering. Pyle, Dr. Wall.

34.came out to meet him] To congratulate him on his victory, with musick and dancing: such was the ancient custom, Exod. xv. 20, which continued afterwards, 1 Sam xviii. 6. Bp. Patrick.

35.-thou hast brought me very low, for I have opened my mouth &c.] Thou art unwittingly a cause of much sorrow and affliction to me: for I have made a vow unto God, and cannot reverse it. Bp. Hall.

The issue of Jephthah's rash vow.

Before CHRIST

Before

+ Heb. go, and go down.

37 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.

38 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.

39 And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto

36. do to me according to &c.] Many a daughter would have dissuaded her father with tears, and would have wished rather her father's impiety than her own prejudice; but she sues for the performance of her father's Vow. We learn how obsequious children ought to be to their parents, when we see this holy maid willing to abandon the world on the rash vow of a father. Bp.

Hall.

It has been the subject of endless controversy, whether Jephthah did really offer up his daughter "for a burnt offering" to the Lord, or only devote her to perpetual virginity, which might be considered as a sacrifice in those times, especially when every woman looked forward to the production of the promised Seed. The Jews, and early Christian Church, believed that Jephthah actually sacrificed his daughter; and the compilers of the Homilies of our Church agree in substance with the same opinion. On the other hand, there are some strong objections to this opinion: for the terms of the vow do not necessarily imply that he really sacrificed her: see note on ver. 31: also human sacrifices were so forbidden by the Jewish law, and declared so abominable to God, that it is scarcely possible to believe Jephthah would have been guilty of so great a crime. Again, the consequence of the vow recorded at ver. 39, that “she knew no man," seems to imply that she was devoted to perpetual virginity; and the excessive lamentations on the occasion may be sufficiently accounted for, by the prevailing ideas in those times respecting a state of celibacy. Stackhouse, Dr. Grey, Pyle.

Jephthah's extreme grief on the occasion, and the request of his daughter for a respite of two months to bewail her virginity, are both perfectly natural. Having no other issue, he could only look forward to the extinction of his name or family; and a state of celibacy, which is reproachful among women every where, was peculiarly so among the Israelites, and was therefore no ordinary sacrifice on her part, who, though she generously gave up, could not but regret the loss of becoming a mother in Israel." That Jephthah could not possibly have sacrificed his daughter, (according to the vulgar opinion founded on incorrect translation,) may appear from the following considerations, among others, 1. The sacrifice of children to Moloch was an abomination to the Lord, of which, in numberless passages, He expresses his detestation; it was also prohibited by an express law, under pain of death, Lev. xx. 2, 3. 2. No

66

40 That the daughters of Israel went +yearly || to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.

CHAP. XII.

The Ephraimites, quarrelling with Jephthah, and discerned by Shibboleth, are slain by the Gileadites. 7 Jephthah dieth. 8 Ibzan, who had thirty sons and thirty daughters, 11 and Elon, 13 and Abdon, who had forty sons and thirty nephews, judged Israel.

|| Or, ordinance.

+ Heb. from or, to talk

year to year.

with.

father, merely by his own authority, could put an offending, much less an innocent child to death, upon any account, without the sentence of the magistrates, and the consent of the people, Deut. xxi. 18-21. Dr. Hales.

However the more disputable points be determined, it can never be inferred that the God of Israel commanded or countenanced human sacrifices. Those that interpret the vow in the harshest sense, call it rash, and censure Jephthah as ignorant of the Law of God. Others, who think the vow capable of a milder construction, acquit the Scripture and Jephthah of an imputation in the affair. What is most probable is, that Jephthah did not sacrifice his daughter, nor intend any such thing. Dr. Waterland.

From this history of Jephthah's vow, we should be led to copy after the faith, the piety, the strict sense of honour, and religion, so eminently conspicuous in Jephthah and his daughter. As, on the one hand, we should be cautious how we make rash vows, which may involve us in difficulty and perplexity; so, on the other hand, let us neither seek nor admit of any pretences for dispensing with our duty. Let no distresses or difficulties shake our constancy, or prevail with us to go back from the paths of virtue and religion; but let us prefer our duty and our honour to all considerations of interest or affection. Let us 66 ever follow that which is good,” abstaining from all appearance of evil," and " keeping a conscience void of offence towards God and man." Dr. Randolph.

66

40.-went yearly to lament] Went yearly to talk with, as in the margin; or, as the Hebrew word may also be rendered, to make presents to, the daughter of Jephthah. And according to either of these significations, it will be evident that she must have survived the completion of her father's vow. Dr. Randolph.

Chap. XII. ver. 1. And the men of Ephraim &c.] The Ephraimites at this time seem to have been a haughty and quarrelsome people; they had before envied Gideon his glory, chap. viii. 1, &c. though it tended so much to their common advantage: and now, when Jephthah returned victorious, quarrelled with him on the pretence of his not having consulted them in the war. Pyle.

went northward,] To the country of Manasseh, east of Jordan, towards the north. Bp. Patrick.