20 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice, 21 I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died; 22 That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD, to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not. 23 Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily: neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua. CHAPTER III. In this chapter, I. A general account of Israel's enemies is premised, and of the NOW these are the nations which the LORD left, 3 Namely, five "lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath. 4 And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. -5 And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites: mischief they did them, v. 1-7. 11. A particular account of the brave exploits done by the first three of the judges. 1. Othniel, whom God raised up to fight Israel's battles, an I plead their cause against the king of Mesopotamia, v. 86 And they took their daughters to be their 11. 2. Ehu1, who was employed in rescuing Israel out of the hands of the Mo-wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and abites, and did it by stabbing the king of Moab, v. 12-30. 3. Shamgar, served their gods. signalized himself in an encounter with the Philistines, v. 31. y Josh. 23. 16. Ps. 66. 10. • suffered. that were made toward reformation; (v. 19,) They corrupted themselves more than their fathers; strove to outdo them in multiplying strange gods, and inventing profane and impious rites of worship, as it were in contradiction to their reformers. They ceased not from, or, as the word is, they would not let fall, any of their own doings; grew not ashamed of those idolatrous services that were most odious, nor weary of those that were most barbarous; would not so much as diminish one step of their hard and stubborn way. Thus they that have forsaken the good ways of God, which they have once known and professed, commonly grow most daring and desperate in sin, and have their hearts most hardened. a Josh. 13. 3. b Deut. 7. 3, 4. rael's foolish connivance and indulgence, were so many, so easy, and so insolent, that the children of Israel are said to dwell among them, as if the right had still remained in the Canaanites, and the Israelites had been taken in by their permission, and only as tenants at will. Now concerning these remnants of the natives, observe, I. How wisely God permitted them to remain. It had been mentioned in the close of the foregoing chapter, as an act of God's justice, that he let them remain for Israel's correction. But here another construction is put upon it, and it appears to have been an act of God's wisdom, that he let them remain for Israel's real advantage, that those who had not known the wars V. God's just resolution hereupon was, still to continue the of Canaan, might learn war, v. 1, 2. It was the will of God rod over them. 1. Their sin was, sparing the Canaanites; that the people of Israel should be inured to war, 1. Because and this, in contempt and violation of the covenant God had their country was exceeding rich and fruitful, and abounded made with them, and the commands he had given them, v. 20. with dainties of all sorts, which, if they were not sometimes 2. Their punishment was, that the Canaanites were spared, made to know hardship, would be in danger of sinking them into and so they were beaten with their own rod. They were not the utmost degree of luxury and effeminacy. They must all delivered into the hand of Joshua while he lived, v. 23. sometimes wade in blood, and not always in milk and honey, Our Lord Jesus, though he spoiled principalities and powers, lest even their men of war, by the long disuse of arms, should yet did not complete his victory at first; we see not yet all things become as soft and as nice as the tender and delicate woman, put under him; there are remains of Satan's interest in the that would not set so much as the sole of her foot to the ground for church, as there were of the Canaanites in the land; but yet tenderness and delicacy; a temper as destructive to every thing Joshua lives for ever, and will in the great day perfect his con- that is good, as it is to every thing that is great, and therefore quests. After Joshua's death, little was done for a long time to be carefully watched against by all God's Israel. 2. Beagainst the Canaanites: Israel indulged them, and grew fami- cause their country lay very much in the midst of enemies, by liar with them, and therefore God would not drive them out any whom they must expect to be insulted; for God's heritage was more, v. 21. If they will have such inmates as these among as a speckled bird, the birds round about were against her, Jer. them, let them take them, and see what will come of it. God 12.9. It was therefore necessary they should be well discichose their delusions, Is. 66. 4. Thus men cherish and indulge plined, that they might defend their coasts when invaded, and their own corrupt appetites and passions, and, instead of mor- might hereafter enlarge their coast as God had promised them. tifying them, make provision for them, and therefore God justly The art of war is best learned by experience, which not only leaves them to themselves under the power of their sins, which acquaints men with martial discipline, but (which is no less will be their ruin: So shall their doom be, themselves have de- necessary) inspires them with a martial disposition. It was cided it. These remnants of the Canaanites were left to prove for the interest of Israel to breed soldiers, as it is the interest Israel, (v. 22,) whether they will keep the way of the Lord or of an island to breed seamen, and therefore God left Canaannot; not that God might know them, but that they might know ites among them, that, by the lesser difficulties and hardships themselves. It was to try, (1.) Whether they could resist they met with in encountering them, they might be prepared the temptations to idolatry which the Canaanites would lay be- for greater; and, by running with the footmen, might learn to fore them. God had told them that they could not, (Deut. 7. contend with horses, Jer. 12. 5. Israel was a figure of the church 4,) but they thought they could; "Well," said God, "I will militant, that must fight its way to a triumphant state. The try you ;" and, upon trial, it was found that the tempter's charms soldiers of Christ must endure hardness, 2 Tim. 2. 3. were quite too strong for them. God has told us how deceit-ruption is therefore left remaining in the hearts even of good ful and desperately wicked our hearts are, but we are not willing to believe it, until, by making bold with temptation, we find it too true by sad experience. (2.) Whether they would make a good use of the vexations which the remaining natives would give them, and the many troubles they would occasion them, and would thereby be convinced of sin and humbled for it, reformed, and driven to God and their duty; whether by continual alarms from them they would be kept in awe, and made afraid of provoking God. NOTES TO CHAPTER III. V. 1-7. We are here told what remained of the old inhabitants of Canaan. 1. There were some of them that kept together in united bodies, unbroken; (v. 34) The five lords of the Philistines, namely, Ashdod, Gaza, Askelon, Gath, and Ekron, 1 Sam. 6. 17. Three of these cities had been in part reduced, (ch. 1. 18,) but, it seems, the Philistines (probably, with the help of the other two, which strengthened their confederacy with each other from thenceforward) recovered the possession of them. These gave the greatest disturbance to Israel of any of the natives, especially in the latter times of the Judges, and they were never quite reduced until David did it. There was a particular nation called Canaanites, that kept their ground with the Sidonians, upon the coast of the Great sea. And in the north the Hivites held much of mount Lebanon, it being a remote corner, in which perhaps they were supported by some of the neighbouring states. But beside these, 2. There were every where in all parts of the country some scatterings of the nations; (v. 5,) Hittites, Amorites, &c. which, by IsVOL. I.-72 Cor Christians, that they may learn war, may keep on the whole armour of God, and stand continually upon their guard. The learned Bishop Patrick offers another sense of v. 2, That they might know to teach them war, that is, they shall know what it is to be left to themselves. Their fathers fought by a divine power, God taught their hands to war and their fingers to fight; but now that they have forfeited his favour, let them learn what it is to fight like other men. II. How wickedly Israel mingled themselves with those that did remain. One thing God intended in leaving them among them, was to prove Israel, (v. 4,) that those who were faithful to the God of Israel might have the honour of resisting the Canaanites' allurements to idolatry, and that those who were false and insincere, might be discovered, and might fall under the shame of yielding to those allurements. Thus in the Christian churches there must needs be heresies, that they which are perfect may be made manifest, 1 Cor. 11. 19. Israel, upon trial, proved bad. 1. They joined in marriage with the Canaanites, (v. 6,) though they could not advance either their honour or their estate by marrying with them. They would mar their blood instead of mending it, and sink their estates instead of raising them, by such marriages. 2. Thus they were brought to join in worship with them; they served their gods, (v. 6,) Baalim and the groves, (v. 7;) that is, the images that were worshipped in groves of thick trees, which were a sort of natural temples. In such unequal matches there is more reason to fear that the bad will corrupt the good, than to hope that the good will reform the bad; as it is in laying two pears together, the one rotten, and the other souad. When they inclined to wor (569) 7. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves. 8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia and the children of Israel served Chushan-rishathaim eight years. 9 And when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenez, Caleb's younger brother. 11 And the land had rest forty years: and Othniel the son of Kenaz died. 12 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD. 13 And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm-trees. 14 So the children of Israel served "Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 15 But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded ;" and by him the children of Israel sent a 10 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the LORD delivered Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand pre-present unto Eglon the king of Moab. vailed against Chushan-rishathaim. 16 But Ehud made him a dagger, which had two c Hab. 3. 7. • Aram-naharaim. d 1 Sam. 12. 10. Neh. 9. 27. Ps. 107. 13, 19. ƒ c. 6. 34. 11. 29. ‡ was. Aram. c. 1. 16. h Deut. 28. 49. or, the son saviour. e c. 1. 13. of Jemini. shut of his right hand. ship other gods, they forgat the Lord their God. In complaisance to their new relations, they talked of nothing but Baalim and the groves; so that by degrees they lost the remembrance of the true God, and forgot there was such a Being, and what obligations they lay under to him. In nothing is the corrupt memory of man more treacherous than in this, that it is apt to forget God; because out of sight, he is out of mind; and here begins all the wickedness that is in the world; they have perverted their way, for they have forgotten the Lord their God. V. 8-11. We now come to the records of the government of the particular judges, the first of which was Othniel, in whom the story of this book is knit to that of Joshua, for even in Joshua's time Othniel began to be famous; by which it appears that it was not long after Israel's settlement in Canaan, before their purity began to be corrupted, and their peace (by consequence) disturbed. And those who have taken pains to inquire into the sacred chronology, are generally agreed, that the Danites' idolatry, and the war with the Benjamites for abusing the Levite's concubine, though related in the latter end of this book, happened about this time, under or before Othniel's government, who, though a judge, was not such a king in Israel, as would keep men from doing what was right in their own eyes. In this short narrative of Othniel's government, we have, I. The distress that Israel was brought into for their sin, v. 8. God, being justly displeased with them for plucking up the hedge of their peculiarity, and laying themselves in common with the nations, plucked up the hedge of their protection, and laid them open to the nations; set them to sale as goods he would part with, and the first that laid hands on them was Chushanrishathaim, king of that Syria which lay between the two great rivers of Tigris and Euphrates, thence called Mesopotamia, which signifies the midst of rivers. It is probable that this was a warlike prince, and aiming to enlarge his dominions, invaded the two tribes first on the other side Jordan that lay next him, and afterward, perhaps by degrees, penetrated into the heart of the country, and, as far as he went, put them under contribution, exacting it with rigour, and perhaps quartering soldiers upon them. Laban was of this country, who oppressed Jacob with a hard service; but it lay at such a distance, that one could not have thought Israel's trouble should have come from such a far country, which shows so much the more of the hand of God in it. II. Their return to God in this distress. When he slew them, then they sought him whom before they had slighted. The children of Israel, even the generality of them, cried unto the Lord, v. 9. At first, they made light of their trouble, and thought they could easily shake off the yoke of a prince at such a distance; but when it continued eight years, they began to feel the smart of it, and then they cried under it, who before had laughed at it. They who in the day of their mirth had cried to Baalim and Ashtaroth, now that they are in trouble, cry to the Lord from whom they had revolted, whose justice brought them into this trouble, and whose power and favour alone could help them out of it. Affliction makes those cry to God with importunity, who before would scarcely speak to him. III. God's return in mercy to them for their deliverance. Though need drove them to him, he did not therefore reject their prayers, but graciously raised up a deliverer, or saviour, as the word is. Observe, I. Who the deliverer was; it was Othniel, who married Caleb's daughter; one of the old stock that had seen the works of the Lord, and had himself, no question, kept his integrity, and secretly lamented the apostacy of his people, but waited for a divine call to appear publicly for the redress of their grievances. He was now, we may suppose, far advanced in years, when God raised him up to this honour; but the decays of age were no hinderance to his usefulness, when God had work for him to do. 2. Whence he had his commission, not of man, or by man; but the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, v. 10. The spirit of wisdom and courage to qualify him for the service, and a spirit of power to excite him to it, so as to give him and others full satisfaction that it was the will of God he should engage in it. The Chaldee says, The spirit of prophecy remained on him. 3. What method he took; he first judged Israel, reproved them, called them to an account for their sins, and reformed them, and then went out to war; that was the right method. Let sin at home be conquered, that worst of enemies, and then enemies abroad will be the more easily dealt with. Thus let Christ be our Judge and Lawgiver, and then he will save us, and on no other terms, Is. 33. 22. 4. What good success he had. He prevailed to break the yoke of the oppression, and, as it should seem, to break the neck of the oppressor; for it is said, The Lord delivered Chushanrishathaim into his hand. Now was Judah, of which tribe Othniel was, as a lion's whelp gone up from the prey. 5. The happy consequence of Othniel's good services. The land, though not getting ground, yet had rest, and some fruits of the reformation, forty years; and it had been perpetual, if they had kept close to God and their duty. V. 12-30. Ehud is the next of the judges whose achievements are related in this history, and here is an account of his actions. I. When Israel sins again, God raises up a new oppressor, v. 12-14. It was an aggravation of their wickedness, that they did evil again, after they had smarted so long for their former iniquities, promised so fair when Othniel judged them, and received so much mercy from God in their deliverance. What, and after all this, again to break his commandments! Was the disease obstinate to all the methods of cure, both corrosives and lenitives? It seems it was. Perhaps they thought they might make the more bold with their old sins, because they saw themselves in no danger from their old oppressor, the powers of that kingdom were weakened and brought low; but God made them know that he had variety of rods wherewith to chastise them, he strengthened Eglon king of Moab against them. This oppressor lay nearer them than the former, and therefore would be the more mischievous to them; God's judgments thus approached them gradually, to bring them to repentance. When Israel dwelt in tents, but kept their integrity, Balak king of Moab, that would have strengthened himself against them, was baffled; but now that they had forsaken God, and worshipped the gods of the nations round about them, (and perhaps those of the Moabites among the rest,) here was another king of Moab whom God strengthened against them, put power into his hands, though a wicked man, that he might be a scourge to Israel; the staff in his hand with which he beat Israel, was, God's indignation; howbeit he meant not so, neither did his heart think so, Is. 10. 6, 7. Israelites did ill, and, we may suppose, Moabites did worse; yet because God punishes the sins of his own people in this world, that, the flesh being destroyed, the spirit may be saved, Israel is weakened, and Moab strengthened against them. God would not suffer the Israelites, when they were the stronger, to distress the Moabites, nor give them any disturbance, though they were idolaters, (Deut. 2. 9;) yet now he suffered the Moabites to distress Israel, and strengthened them on purpose that they might; Thy judgments, O God, are a great deep. The king of Moab took to his assistance the Ammonites and Amalekites, (v. 13,) and that strengthened him; and we are here told how they prevailed. 1. They beat them in the field, they went and smote Israel, (v. 13,) not only those tribes that lay next them on the other side Jordan, who, though first settled, being frontier tribes, were most disturbed; but those also within Jordan, for they made themselves masters of the city of palm-trees, which, it is probable, was a strong hold erected near the place where Jericho had stood, for that was so called, (Deut. 34. 3,) into which the Moabites put a garrison, to be a bridle upon Israel, and to secure the passes of Jordan, for the preservation of the communication with their own country. It was well for the Kenites that they had left this city, (ch. 1. 16,) before it fell into the hands of the enemy. See how quickly the Israelites lost that by their own sin, which they had gained by miracles of divine mercy. 2. They made them to serve, (v. 14,) that is, exacted tribute from them, either the fruits of the earth in kind, or money in lieu of them. They neglected the service of God, and did not pay him his tribute; thus therefore did God recover from them that wine and oil, that silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal, Hos. 2. 8. What should have been paid to the divine grace, and was not, was distrained for, and paid to the divine justice. The former servitude, (v. 8,) lasted but eight years, this eighteen; for if lesser troubles do not do the work, God will send greater. edges, of a cubit length; and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh. 17 And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat 'man. 18 And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people that bare the pre sent. 19 But he himself turned again from the quarries *that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king: who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him. 20 And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer parlour which he had for himself, alone and Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat. í Ps. 73. 7, 19. or, graven images. k Josh. 4. 20. ta parlour of cooling. Am. II. When Israel prays again, God raises up a new deliverer, (v. 15,) his name, Ehud. We are here told, 1. It was a BenJamite. The city of palm-trees lay within the lot of this tribe, by which, it is probable, they suffered the most, and therefore stirred first to shake off the yoke. It is supposed by the chronologers, that the Israelites' war with Benjamin for the wickedness of Gibeah, by which that whole tribe was reduced to six hundred men, happened before this, so that we may well think that tribe to be now the weakest of all the tribes; yet out of it God raised up this deliverer, in token of his being perfectly reconciled to them, to manifest his own power in ordaining strength out of weakness, and that he might bestow more abundant honour upon that part which lacked, 1 Cor. 12. 24. 2. That he was left-handed, as, it seems, many of that tribe were, ch. 20. 16. Benjamin signifies the son of the right hand, and yet multitudes of them were left-handed; for men's natures do not always answer their names. The LXX say, he was an ambidexter, one that could use both hands alike, supposing that that was an advantage to him in the action he was called to; but the Hebrew phrase, that he was shut of his right hand, intimates that, either through disease or disuse, he made little or no use of that, but of his left hand only, and so was the less fit for war, because he must needs handle his sword but awkwardly; yet God chose this left-handed man to be the man of his right hand, whom he would make strong for himself, Ps. 80. 17. It was God's right hand that gained Israel the victory, (Ps. 44. 3,) not the right hand of the instruments he employed. We are here told what Ehud did for the deliverance of Israel out of the hands of the Moabites. He saved the oppressed by destroying the oppressors, when the measure of their iniquity was full, and the set time to favour Israel was come. (1.) He put to death Eglon the king of Moab; I say, put him to death; not he murdered or assassinated him, but, as a judge, or minister of divine justice, executed the judgments of God upon him, as an implacable enemy to God and Israel. This story is particularly related. [I.] He had a fair occasion of access to him; being an ingenious active man, and fit to stand before kings, his people chose him to carry a present in the name of all Israel, over and above their tribute, to their great lord the king of Moab, that they might find favour in his eyes, v. 15. The present is called mincha in the original, which is the word used in the law for the offerings that were presented to God, to obtain his favour; these the children of Israel had not offered in their season to the God that loved them; and now, to punish them for their neglect, they are laid under a necessity of bringing their offerings to a heathen prince that hated them. Ehud went on his errand to Eglon, offered his present with the usual ceremony, and expressions of dutiful respect, the better to colour what he intended, and to prevent suspicion. [2.] It should seem, from the first, he designed to be the death of him, God putting it into his heart, and letting him know also that the motion was from himself, by the Spirit that came upon him, the impulses of which carried with them their own evidence, and so gave him full satisfaction both as to the lawfulness and the success of this daring attempt, of both which he would have had reason enough to doubt. If he be sure that God bids him do it, he is sure both that he may do it, and that he shall do it; for a command from God is sufficient to bear us out, and bring us off, both against our consciences, and against all the world. That he compassed and imagined the death of this tyrant, appears by the preparation he made of a weapon for the purpose; a short dagger, but half a yard long, like a bayonet, which might easily be concealed under his clothes, (v. 10,) perhaps, because none were suffered to come near the king with their swords by their sides. This he wore on his right thigh, that it might be the more ready to his left hand, and might be the less suspected. [3.] He contrived how to be alone with him; which he might the more easily be, now that he had not only made himself known to him, but ingratiated himself by the present, and the compliments, which, perhaps, on that occasion, he had passed upon him. Observe how he laid his plot. First, He concealed his design even from his own attendants; brought them part of the way, and then ordered them to go forward towards home, while he himself, as if he had forgot something behind him, went back to the king of Moab's court, v. 18. There needed but one hand to do the execution; had more been engaged they could 21 And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 And the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dirt came out. 23 Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them. 24 When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlour were locked, they said, Surely he covereth his feet in his summer chamber. 25 And they tarried till they were ashamed; and, 3. 15. or, it came out at the fundament. §or, doeth his casement. I Sam. 24. 3. not so safely have kept counsel, nor so easily have made an escape. Secondly, He returned from the quarries by Gilgal, (v. 19,) from the graven images (so it is in the margin) which were with Gilgal; set up perhaps by the Moabites with the twelve stones which Joshua had set up there. Some suggest that the sight of these idols stirred up in him such an indignation against the king of Moab, as put him upon the execution of that design, which otherwise he had thought to have let fall for the present. Or, perhaps, he came so far as to these images, that, telling from what place he returned, the king of Moab might be the more apt to believe he had a message from God. Thirdly, He begged a private audience, and obtained it in a withdrawing room, here called a summer parlour. He told the king he had a secret errand to him, who, thereupon, ordered all his attendants to withdraw, v. 19. Whether he expected to receive some private instructions from an oracle, or some private information concerning the present state of Israel, as if Ehud would betray his country, it was a very unwise thing for him to be all alone with a stranger, and whom he had reason to look upon as an enemy; but those that are marked for ruin are infatuated, and their hearts hid from understanding; God deprives them of discretion. [4.] When he had him alone, he soon despatched him. His summer parlour, where he used to indulge himself in ease and luxury, was the place of his execution. First, Ehud demands his attention to a message from God, (v. 20,) and that message was a dagger: God sends to us by the judgments of his hand, as well as by the judgments of his mouth. Secondly, Eglon pays respect to a message from God. Though a king, though a heathen king; though rich and powerful; though now tyrannizing over the people of God; though a fat unwieldy man, that could not easily rise, nor stand long; though in private, and what he did not under observation; yet, when he expected to receive orders from heaven, he rose out of his seat; whether it was low and easy, or whether it was high and stately, he quitted it, and stood up when God was about to speak to him, thereby owning God his superior. This shames the irreverence of many who are called Christians, and yet, when a message from God is delivered to them, study to show, by all the marks of carelessness, how little they regard it. Ehud, in calling what he had to do a message from God, plainly avouches a divine commission for it; and God's inclining Eglon to stand up to it, did both confirm the commission, and facilitate the execution. Thirdly, The message was delivered, not to his ear, but immediately, and literally, to his heart, into which the fatal knife was thrust, and was left there, v. 21, 22. His extreme fatness made him unable to resist, or to help himself; probably, it was the effect of his luxury and excess; and when the fat closed up the blade, God would by that circumstance show how those that pamper the body, do but prepare for their own misery. However, it was an emblem of his carnal security and senselessness. His heart was as fat as grease, and in that he thought himself enclosed. See Ps. 119. 70.-17. 10. Eglon signifies a calf, and he fell like a fatted calf, by the knife, an acceptable sacrifice to divine justice. Notice is taken of the coming out of the dirt or dung, that the death of this proud tyrant may appear the more ignominious and shameful. He that had been so very nice and curious about his own body, to keep it easy and clean, shall now be found wallowing in his own blood and excrements. Thus does God pour contempt upon princes. Now this act of Ehud's, 1. May justify itself, because he had special direction from God to do it, and it was agrecable to the usual method, which, under that dispensation, God took to avenge his people of their enemies, and to manifest to the world his own justice. But, 2. It will by no means justify any now in doing the like, No such commissions are now given, and to pretend to them is to blaspheme God, and make him patronise the worst of villanies. Christ bid Peter sheath the sword, and we find not that he bid him draw it again. [5.] Providence wonderfully favoured his escape, when he had done the execution. First, The tyrant fell silently, without any shriek or outery, which might have been overheard by his servants at a distance. How silently does he go down to the pit, choked up, it may be, with his own fat, which stifled his dying groans, though he had made so great a noise in the world, and had been the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. Secondly, The heroic executioner of this vengeance, with such a presence of mind, as discovered not only no consciousness of behold, he opened not the doors of the parlour: therefore they took a key, and opened them: and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth. 26 And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries,' and escaped unto Seirath. 27 And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain "of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them. 28 And he said unto them, Follow after me; for the LORD hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over. 29 And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all *lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years. 31 And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox-goad: and he also delivered Israel. CHAPTER IV. The method of the history of Deborah and Barak, (the heroes in this chapter,) is the same with that before. Here is, 1. Israel revolted from God, v. 1. I. Israel The AND the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead. 2 And the LORD sold them into the hand of c. 4. 1, 3, &c. It seems to concern only the country next to the Philistines. a c. 2. 19. b 1 Sam. 12. 9. It seems to concern only North Israel. I ver. 19. mc. 6, 34. 1 Sam. 13. 3. n Josh. 17. 15. o c. 7. 9, 15. ⚫ fat. Ps. 17. 10. pc.5.6. c. 5. 8. 15. 15. 1 Sam. 17. 47. r So part is called Israel. guilt, but a strong confidence in the divine protection, shut the doors after him, took the key with him, and passed through the guards with such an air of innocence, and boldness, and unconcernedness, as made them not at all to suspect his having done any thing amiss. Thirdly, The servants that attended in the antechamber, coming to the door of the inner parlour, when Ehud was gone, to know their master's pleasure, and finding it locked, and all quiet, they concluded he was lain down to sleep, had covered his feet upon his couch, and was gone to consult his pillow about the message he had received, and to dream upon it, (v. 24,) and therefore would not offer to open the door. Thus by their care not to disturb his sleep, they lost the opportunity of revenging his death. See what comes of men's taking state too much, and obliging those about them to keep their distance; some time or other, it may come against them more than they think of. Fourthly, The servants at length opened the door, and found their master had slept indeed his long sleep, v. 25. The horror of this tragical spectacle, and the confusion it must needs put them into, to reflect upon their own inconsideration in not opening the door sooner, quite put by the thoughts of sending pursuers after him that had done it, whom now they despaired of overtaking. Lastly, Ehud by this means made his escape to Seirath, a thick wood: so some, v. 26. It is not said any where in this story, what was the place in which Eglon lived now; but there being no mention of Ehud's passing and repassing Jordan, I am inclined to think that Eglon had left his own country of Moab, on the other side Jordan, and made his principal residence at this time in the city of palm-church's good, whose extraction, education, and employment, trees, within the land of Canaan, a richer country than his own, and that there he was slain, and then the quarries by Gilgal were not far off him. There where he had settled himself, and thought he had sufficiently fortified himself to lord it over the people of God, there he was cut off, and proved to be fed for the slaughter, like a lamb in a large place. V. 31. When it was said the land had rest eighty years, some think it is meant chiefly of that part of the land which lay eastward on the banks of Jordan, which had been oppressed by the Moabites; but it seems, by this passage here, that the other side of the country which lay south-west, was in that time infested by the Philistines, against whom Shamgar made head. 1. It seems Israel needed deliverance, for he delivered Israel; how great the distress was, Deborah afterward related in her song, (ch. 5. 6,) that in the days of Shamgar the highways were unoccupied, &c. That part of the country which lay next to the Philistines was so infested with plunderers, that people could not travel the roads in safety, but were in danger of being set upon and robbed; nor durst they dwell in the unguarded villages, but were forced to take shelter in the fortified cities. 2. God raised him up to deliver them, as it should seem, while Ehud was yet living, but superannuated. So inconsiderable were the enemies for number, that it seems the killing of six hundred of them amounted to a deliverance of Israel, and so many he slew with an ox-goad, or, as some read it, a plough share. It is probable that he was himself following the plough, when the Philistines made an inroad upon the country to ravage it, and God put it into his heart to oppose them; the impulse being sudden and strong, and having neither sword nor spear to do execution with, he took the instrument that was next at hand, some of the tools of his plough, and with that killed so many hundred men, and came off unhurt. See here, (1.) That God can make those eminently serviceable to his glory and his are very mean and obscure. He that has the residue of the Spirit, could, when he pleased, make ploughmen judges and generals, and fishermen apostles. (2.) It is no matter how weak the weapon is, if God direct and strengthen the arm. An oxgoad, when God pleases, shall do more than Goliath's sword. And sometimes he chooses to work by such unlikely means that the excellency of the power may appear to be of God. NOTES TO CHAPTER IV. V. 1-3. Here is, I. Israel backsliding from God; they again did evil in his sight, forsook his service, and worshipped idols; for that was the sin which now most easily beset them, v. 1. See in this, 1. The strange strength of corruption, which hurries men into sin, notwithstanding the most frequent instances of its fatal consequences. The bent to backslide is very hardly restrained. 2. The common ill effects of a long peace. The land had rest eighty years, which should have confirmed them in their religion; but, on the contrary, it made them secure and wanton, and indulgent of those lusts which the worship of the false gods was calculated for the gratification of. Thus the prosperity of fools destroys them. Jeshurun waxeth fat and kicketh. 3. The great loss which the people sustain by the death of good governors. They did evil, because Ehud was dead. So it may be read. He kept a strict eye upon them, restrained and punished every thing that looked towards idolatry, and kept them close to God's service. But when he was gone, they revolted, fearing him more than God. (2.) Ehud having slain the king of Moab, gave a total rout to the forces of the Moabites that were among them, and so effectually shook off the yoke of their oppression. [1.] He raised an army immediately in mount Ephraim, at some distance from the head-quarters of the Moabites, and headed them himself, v. 27. The trumpet he blew was indeed a jubileetrumpet, proclaiming liberty, and a joyful sound it was to the oppressed Israelites, who for a long time had heard no other trumpets than those of their enemies, [2.] Like a pious man, and as one that did all this in faith, he took encouragement himself, and gave encouragement to his soldiers, from the power of God engaged for them; (v. 28,)" Follow me, for the Lord hath delivered your enemies into your hands; we are sure to have God with us, and therefore may go on boldly, and shall go on triumphantly." [3.] Like a politic general, he first secured the fords of Jordan, set strong guards upon all those passes, to cut off communications between the Moabites that were in the land of Israel, (for upon them only his design was,) and their own country on the other side Jordan; that if, upon the alarm given them, they resolved to fly, they might not escape thither, and if they resolved to fight, they might not have assistance thence. Thus he shut them up in that land as their prison, in which they were pleasing themselves as their palace and paradise. II. Israel oppressed by their enemies. When they forsook [4.] He then fell upon them, and put them all to the sword, ten God, he forsook them; and then they became an easy prey to thousand of them, which, it seems, was the number appointed every spoiler. They alienated themselves from God, as if he to keep Israel in subjection; (v. 29,) There escaped not a man were none of theirs; and then God alienated them as none of of them. And they were the best and choicest of all the king of his. They that threw themselves out of God's service, threw Moab's forces; all lusty men, men of bulk and stature, and not themselves out of his protection. What has my beloved to do only able-bodied, but high spirited too, and men of valour, v. 29. in my house, when she has thus played the harlot? Jer. 11. 15. But neither their strength nor their courage stood them in any He sold them into the hands of Jabin, v. 2. This Jabin reigned stead, when the set time was come for God to deliver them into in Hazor, as another of the same name, and perhaps his ancesthe hand of Israel. [5.] The consequence of this victory was, tor, had done before him, whom Joshua routed, slew, and burned that the power of the Moabites was wholly broken in the land his city, Josh. 11. 1, 10. But it seems, in process of time, the of Israel; the country was cleared of these oppressors, and the city was rebuilt, the power regained, the loss retrieved, and, by land had rest eighty years, v. 30. We may hope that there was degrees, the king of Hazor becomes able to tyrannize over Islikewise a reformation among them, and a check given to idol-rael, who by sin had lost all their advantage against the Canaanatry, by the influence of Ehud, which continued a good part of ites. This servitude was longer than either of the former, and this time. It was a great while for the land to rest, fourscore much more grievous. Jabin, and his general Sisera, did mightily years; yet what is that to the saints' everlasting rest in the oppress Israel. That which aggravated the oppression was, heavenly Canaan? 1. That this enemy was nearer them than any of the former, in Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. 3 And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron: and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. 4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. 5 And she dwelt under the palm-tree of Deborah, between Ramah and Beth-el in mount Ephraim; and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. e Josh. 11. 1, 10. d ver. 13, 16. c. 1. 19. 6 And she sent and called Barak, the son of Abinoam, out of Kedesh-naphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go, and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? 7 And I will draw unto thee, to the river Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand. 8 And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go; but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. f Gen. 35. 8. g Ex. 14. 4. A c. 5. 21. probable, had already signalized himself in some rencounters with the forces of the oppressor, living near him, (for Hazor and Harosheth lay within the lot of that tribe,) and thereby had gained a reputation and interest among his people. Some strugshaking off of the yoke, but could not effect it till he had his commission and instructions from Deborah. He could do nothing without her head, nor she without his hands; but both together made a complete deliverer, and effected a complete deliverance. The greatest and best are not self-sufficient, but need one another. their borders, in their bowels; and by that means, had the more opportunity to do them a mischief. 2. That they were the natives of the country, who bore an implacable enmity to them, for invading and dispossessing them; and when they had them in their power, would be so much the more cruel and mischie-gles, we may suppose, that brave man had used toward the vous toward them in revenge of the old quarrel. 3. That these Canaanites had, when time was, been conquered and subdued by Israel, were of old sentenced to be their servants, (Gen. 9. 25,) and might now have been under their feet, and utterly incapable of giving them any disturbance, if their own slothfulness, cowardice, and unbelief, had not suffered them thus to get head. To be oppressed by those whom their fathers had conquered, and whom they themselves had foolishly spared, could not but be very grievous. III. Israel returning to their God; They cried unto the Lord, when distress drove them to him; and they saw no other way of relief. Those that slight God in their prosperity, will find themselves under a necessity of seeking him when they are in trouble. V. 4-9. The year of the redeemed is at length come, when Israel was to be delivered out of the hands of Jabin, and restored again to their liberty; which, we may suppose, the northern tribes, that lay nearest the oppressor, and felt most the effects of his fury, did in a particular manner cry to God for. For the oppression of the poor, and the sighing of the needy, now will God arise. Now here we have, 1. By God's direction, she orders Barak to raise an army, and engage Jabin's forces, that were under Sisera's command, v. 6, 7. Barak, it may be, had been meditating some great attempt against the common enemy; a spark of generous fire was glowing in his breast, and fain he would do something to the purpose for his people, and for the cities of his God. But two things discouraged him: (1.) He wanted a commission to levy forces; that therefore Deborah here gives him under the broad seal of Heaven; which, as a prophetess, she had a warrant to affix to it. "Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded it? Yes, certainly he has, take my word for it." Some think she intends this as an appeal to Barak's own heart: "Has not God, by a secret whisper to thyself, given thee some intimation of his purpose, to make use of thee as an instrument in his hand to save Israel? Hast not thou felt some impulse of this kind upon thine own spirit?" If so, the spirit of prophecy in Deborah confirms the spirit of a soldier in Barak; Go and draw toward mount Tabor. [1] She directs him what number of men to raise, ten thousand; and let him not fear that those will be too few, when God hath said, he will by them save Israel. [2.] Whence he should raise them; only out of his own tribe, and that of Zebulun next adjoining; those two counties should furnish him with an army sufficient, he need not stay to go further. And, lastly, She orders him where to make his rendezvous; at mount Tabor, in his own neighbourhood. (2.) When he had an army raised, he knew not how he should have an opportunity of engaging the enemy, who, perhaps, declined fighting, having heard that Israel, if they had but courage enough to make head against an enemy, seldom failed of success. thee Sisera and his army." She assures him that the matter should be determined by one pitched battle, and should not be long in the doing. [1] In mentioning the power of the enemy, Sisera, a celebrated general, bold and experienced, his chariots, his iron chariots, and his multitude of soldiers, she obliges Barak to fortify himself with the utmost degree of resolution; for the enemy he was to engage was a very formidable one. It is good to know the worst, that we may provide accordingly. But, [2.] In fixing the very place to which Sisera would draw his army, she gave him a sign, which might help to confirm his faith when he came to engage. It was a contingent thing, and depended upon Sisera's own will: but when afterward he should see that falling out just as Deborah had foretold, he might from thence infer, that certainly in the rest she said she spake under a divine direction, which would be a great encouragement to him; especially because with this, [3.] She gave him an express promise of success; I will (that is, God will, in whose name I speak) deliver them into thy hand. So when he saw them draw up against him, according to Deborah's word, he might be confident, that, according to her word, he should soon see them fallen before him. Observe, God draws them to him only that he might deliver them into his hand. When Sisera drew his forces together, he designed the destruction of Israel; but God gathered them as sheaves into the floor, for their own destruction, Mic. 4. 11, 12. Assemble yourselves, and ye shall be broken to pieces, Is. 8. 9. See Rev. 19. 17, 18. I. The preparation of the people for their deliverance, by the prophetic conduct and government of Deborah, v. 4, 5. Her name signifies a bee; and she answered her name by her industry, sagacity, and great usefulness to the public, her sweetness to her friends, and sharpness to her enemies. She is said to be the wife of Lapidoth; the termination is not commonly found in the name of a man; therefore some make it the name of a place, she was a woman of Lapidoth. Others take it appellatively; Lapidoth signifies lamps. The rabbins say, she had employed herself in making wicks for the lamps of the tabernacle; and having stooped to that mean office for God, she was afterward thus preferred. Or, she was a woman of illuminations, or of splendours: one that was extraordinary knowing and wise, and so came to be very eminent and illustrious. Concerning her sve are here told, 1. That she was intimately acquainted with God she was a prophetess; one that was instructed in divine"Well," says Deborah, "in the name of God, I will draw unto knowledge by the immediate inspiration of the Spirit of God, and had gifts of wisdom, which she attained to not in an ordinary way; she heard the words of God, and probably saw the visions of the Almighty. 2. That she was entirely devoted to the services of Israel. She judged Israel at the time that Jabin oppressed them; and perhaps, for being a woman, she was the more easily permitted by the oppressor to do it. She judged, not as a princess, by any civil authority conferred upon her, but as a prophetess, and as God's mouth to them, correcting abuses, and redressing grievances, especially those which related to the worship of God. The children of Israel came up to her from all parts for judgment, not so much for the deciding of controversies between man and man, as for advice in the reformation of what was amiss in things pertaining to God. Those among them, who before had secretly lamented the impieties and idolatries of their neighbours, but knew not where to apply themselves for the restraining of them, now made their complaints to Deborah; who, by the sword of the Spirit, showing them the judgment of God, reduced and reclaimed many, and excited and animated the magistrates in their respective districts to put the laws in execution. It is said she dwelt, or, as some read it, she sat under a palm-tree, called ever after, from her, the palm-tree of Deborah. Either she had her house under that tree, a mean habitation which would couch under a tree; or she had her judgmentseat in the open air, under the shadow of that tree; which was an emblem of the justice she sat there to administer, which will thrive and grow against opposition, as palms under pressures. Josephus says, that the children of Israel came to Deborah to desire her to pray to God for them, that they might be delivered out of the hand of Jabin: and Samuel is said at one particular time to judge Israel in Mizpeh, that is, bring them back again to God, when they made the same address to him upon a like occasion, 1 Sam. 7. 6, 8. II. The project laid for their deliverance. When the children of Israel came to her for judgment, with her they found salvation. So they that seek to God for grace, shall have grace and peace; grace and comfort, grace and glory. She was not herself fit to command an army in person, being a woman; but she nominates one that was fit Barak of Naphtali, who 2. At Barak's request, she promises to go along with him to the field of battle. (1.) Barak insists much upon the necessity of her presence, which would be to him better than a council of war; (v. 8,) "If thou will go with me to direct and advise me, and in every difficult case to let me know God's mind, then I will go with all my heart, and not fear the chariots of iron;" otherwise not. Some make this to be the language of a weak faith; he could not take her word, unless he had her with him in pawn, as it were, for performance. It seems rather to arise from a conviction of the necessity of God's presence and continual conduct, a pledge and earnest of which he would reckon Deborah's presence to be; and therefore begged thus earnestly r it. "If thou go not up with me, in token of God's going with |