""nie Anuar Sohili, ahove-mentioned, about the year 1540 was rendered into the TStrkiA language; and the translator is said to have bestowed twenty yean' labour upon it. In the year 1724, this edition M. Gattandbegan to translate into French, and rtw four first chapters were then published; but, in the year 1778^ H. Cardoima pleted the work, in three volumau giving it the nane of Contaa at tVMaa IntHmnts de BiapiU at de Ij^omm s Iraduiies tC AH T\Aelelty ben Satek, auitur T^rJc: ' Indian IViles and Fables of Bidpay and Lockman, translated from Aly Tchelby ben Saleh, a Turkirfi author.' "
The Fables of Lotkman were published in Arabic and Latin, with notes, by Erpenius, 4to. Amatel. 1636: and by the celebrated Gmuw, at the end of hia edition of Er~ ptit'a Arabic Grammar, Ludg. BaL 1656, with additioml notes i and alao in the edition of the same grammar, bjr AtbeH SAultetu, Ludg. Bat 1748, 4to. lliey are on^ thirty-seven in number.
Or the Hitopadeaa, or Fables of VithTioo Soma, wa have two very elegant English translations from tlie original Sanscreet: one by Sir WiUiam Jones, printed in hia Works, 4to. vol. vi. bond. 1799 1 the other by the father of Sanscreet literature in Burope,'I>r. dutrles WiUana. of the India House, Qvo. Bath, 1737, with a eollectitn of v^ important notes.
"nie Bahar Danusk, or Sea of Wiadom, abounds with maxims, apothegms, &c.^ similar to those in the preceding works i rhis was most faithfully translated from the Persian, by Dr. Jonathan ScoU, late Peman secretary to his excellency Warren Bastings, published in three voU. 12mo. with notes. Shrewsbury, 1799: lliis is the most correct version of any Persian work jret ofiered to dw public The original is by Bimatt Ullah. Of these wmka it may be said; they contain ihe wisdom of the Orienlai world; and many oT the numerous maxims interspersed ihrou^ ihem yield in importance only to those in the Sacred Writings. The febles attributed to ySaop have been repeatedly published in Greek and Latins as well as in all the languages of Europe; and are well known. Those of Phtcdrus are in general only a metrical version of dhe Fables of jGaop. The compoaitions of Im.fVntofss, in Frencli; and those of Mr. Ctoy, in English, are very vitli^ able.
Verse 1. 7^ the son qf Puah] As this Toht continued twenty-three years a judge of Israel after the trtmbles of Abimeletdi's reign, it ia likely that the land had rest, and that the enemies of the Israeliiea had made no hostile tncursiona into the land during his presidency and that of Jair; which, t<^ether, continued forty- five yeusL
Verse 4. He had ffitrly sans, Ac.J It appeoia that there was both peace and prosperity during the time thai Jair governed Israel: he liad, it seems, orovided for his lainify, and given a village to each of his tnirty son; which were, in conseqaeikce, called MamOh Jair, or (Kb viUagas ^ Jatr, llieir rioiog on thirty oMcotia seems to inUmale dnt tbqr were pervons of consideration, and kept up a certain ^gai^ in dieir different departments.
Verse 6. And served BaaHw\ Hiey became tmuersot idolaters; adopting every god of the surrounding nstioas, Baal^ and Aahtaroth may signify gods and goddeassm
Verse 7. The anger of Ae Loan was hot] His divin* displeasure was muiifested in delivering them into ihs bands of the Philistines and the Ammonites. He Conner dwelt, on the weaiem side ot Jordan; llw latter, on the east s
the children of Israel eighteen Tears, all the chUdren of Israel that were on the other side Jordan in the land pf the Amorites, which ie in Gilead.
9 Moreover the children of Ammon pasaed over Jordan to fight also Eigain&t Judan, and against Beojanitn, and against the house of Kphraim: so that Israel was sore distressed.
10 1!" t And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our Qod, and also served Baalim.
11 And the Lord said onto the chudren of Jsrael, /hd not / deliver you ■ from the Egyptians, and ' from the Amorites, * from the cmldren of Ammon, ' and from the PhQistines 7
12 ' The Zidonians also, ■ and the Amalekites. and the Maoniles, * did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you oat of their hand.
~ 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 Y And the children of Israel said unto the Lord, We have sinned: <* do thou unto us what-
. soever 'seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day.
16 'And they put away the 'strange gods from among them, and served the Lord: and k his soul ' was grieved for the misery of Israel.
17 T]" Then the children of Ammon were 'gathered together, and encamped in Gilead. And the children 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 asainst the children of Ammon? he aHali
■ltd it appears that they joined their forces on Utia occamon to distreaa and niin the In-aelites, tbou^ the Amnumitea were the moat aciive.
Verae 1 1. And the Lobd aaid] By what means these reproofa were conveyed to dke Imelitea, we know not: it must have been by an ongtl, apnjAe^ or tame hety man, iDKtircd for the occaiion.
verae 15. We have aittned] TVo reprehension of thia people was kind, pointed, and solemn; and their repentance deep. And they gave proofs that Uieir repentance was (femniMu by putting away all their idalai but ibey were •ver Jtekte and uncertain.
Verse 18. And hit mouI wu grieved for ike miaery qf Amef] What a proof of the jJUtanihrom/ of God I Here bia CDoapaasionB moved on a amaU taue; but it was the mu3 principle that led him to give his Son Jesus Christ to be a sacrifice for the sins of the wholi world. Ood griwtt for the miseries to which his creatures are reduced W their own sins 1 Be astonished, ve heavens, at this I and nout tor joy, all ye inhabitants ot the earth: for, throu^ the love whence this compassion flowed, Qod has visited and redeemed a lost worldt
Terae 17. Tlu children tif Ammon vers gathered togeth*r] Literally, they cried againat larael; theyaent out crier* in different directions, to stir up all the enemies Israel; and, vrhm they had made a mighty collection, they encamped in Qilead.
vpears Aat, although the aiHrit otpalriMMm bod excited £e people at large to come forward against their enemies, a they had no general; none to lead tbam fortfi lo battle. I, however, who had accepted their sineere repentance,
2 And Gilead's wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust ont Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house; for thou art the son of a strange woman.
3 Then Jephthah fied i from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered <* vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.
4 TI And it came to pass * in process g ^ ^ of time, that the children of Ammon ^s»<i-iv.m made war against Israel. loSS^m
5 And it was so, that when the chil- •
dren of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fhtch Jephthah out of the land of Tob:
6 And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may nght with the children of Ammon.
7 And Jephthah said unto the children of Gilead, t Did not ye hate me, and expd me out of my father's house? and why are ye come onto me now when ye are in distress 1
8 " And the elders of Gilead said tmto Jephthah, Therefore we ' turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight againet the children of Ammon, and he * our heaa over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
9 And Jephthah said tmto 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 1
10 And the elders of Gilead said tmto Jephthah, ' The Lord ' be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words.
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 ir 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 ficht in mr land?
13 And the ung of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, ** Because Israel took away my lEind, when they came up out of Eeypt, from Arnon even unto " Jabbok, and unto Jordaii: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably.
raised them an able captain in the person of Jephthah; and in him the suffrages of the people were concentratMl, aa we shall see in the folldwing chwter.
In those ancient times, much depended on the onset; a war was generally terminated in one^ttle: the first impression was, therefore, of great consequence, and it required a person ekHfulj vaiorou*, and atrong, lo head the attack. Jephthah was & peraon in whom all these qualificatiou appear to have met. When Qod purposes to deliver, hei In the course of his providence, will find out, emplt^, and dirseb the proper mean*.
Verse 1. Nov Jephthah was — the ton qf a harlot] I think the word rm xonah, which we here render harlot, should be translated, as is contended for on Josh. iL 1. rts. a hoateaa, keeper of an inn at tavern, for the accommodation of travellers: and thus it is understood by the Torgum of Jonathan on this place, Kn>]n!it) Knrw -u mm vehu bar Utetha pundekitka, "and he was the son of a woman, a tavern-keeper." See the note referred to above. She was very probably a Canaanite, as she is called, ver. 2. a ttrange ieoman, n'^rw nVK mAoA aAer^h, a voman qf another mee; and on this account his brethren drove hun from the family, as he could not have a full right to the inheritance, his mother not being an Israelite.
Verse 3. 7%ere vtere gathered vain men to JephAaK^ 0'>pn QiBf JM anaahim reykim, "empty men;" persona destitute of good sense, awl profligate in their manners. The word may, however, mean in this plaoe, poorpermui without property, and without employment. The venoms, in eeneml, consider them as »/unaerers.
14 And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the kin? of the children of Amnion:
15 And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, ^ Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:
16 But when Israel came up from Egypt, and ■ walked through the wiidcrness unto the Red sea, and ' came to Kadesh;
17 Then ' Israel sent meesengers unto the king of Edom, Baying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through ihy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Monb: but he would not conaent: and Israel ' abode in Kadesh.
18 Then they went alona through the wilderness, and >■ compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and i came by the east side of the land of Moab, " and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon -was the border of Moab.
19 And "Israel ^ent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amoritea, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, ' Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land unto my place.
20 PBut Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: Sihon gathered all his people togeuer, and pitched inJahaz, and foughtagainst
21 And the Lord God of Israel delivered Sihon, eund all his people, into the hand of Israel, and they ■■smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the AmoriteSj the inhabitants of that country.
22 And they possessed ' all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan.
23 So now the Lord God of Israel hath di»-
Keseseed the Amoritea from betore his peojde 'acl, and shouldest thou possess it 1
24 Wilt not thou possess that which *Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess % So whomsoever I the Lord our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.
25 And now, art thou an_y thing belter than " Balak, the son of Zippor. lung of Moab? did he ever strive agEunst Israel, or did he ever fight against them,
26 While Israel dwelt in * Heshbon and her towns, and in * Arocr and her towns, and io all the cities that he along by the coasts of Anion, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time 1
27 Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the Lord ' the Judge i be judge this <5y between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.
28 Howbeitthekingofthechildrenof Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah iriueh he sent him.
29 11 Then 'the Spirit of the Lord came upon ■ Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Ma< nasseh. and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over wtto the children of Ammon.
30 And Jephthcdi ''vowed a tow onto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fa3 deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,
31 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 Loan's, ■ and ' I will offer it up for a burnt-ofiering.
had invaded the land of Imel, Rnd wen ncnr encamped in Oilead. See chap. x. 17.
Verae 6. Come, and be our captain] The laraelitea were aaaembled in Mizpeh, but were without a captain to lead ibem against the Ammoniteo. And we find, from the eonslusioD of the preceding ohspter, that they offered the eommasd to any that would acei^ it.
Terse 8. Tkirtfore m turn again to 8tce now] We are convinced that we have dealt unjustly by thee; and we wish now to repair our bult, and give Uiee thia sincere proof of enr regret, for having acted unjustly; and of our eonfidence in thee.
Terse 11. Jephiliah went xeith tkt eider*) The eld^rt bad dioaen him for their head; but, to be valid, this dioice nuist be confirioed by the people; therefore, it is said, the people made him head. But even this dia not complete the buBtnesa: Ood must be brought in a party to this transaction, and therefore Jephthah uttered all kit words b^ore the Lord; the terms made with the elders and the people, on which be had accepted the command of the army; and, being sure of the divine i^tprobatioo, he entered on the work with eonfidenee.
Terse 12. Jephthah ami vuoamgen] He wished the Ammonites to explain their owd motives for undertaking B WOT against Israel; as then the justice of bti cause would appear more forcibly to the people.
Terw 13. From Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan] "FhaX is, all the land that had formerly belonged to the Amoritea, and to the Moabitea; who> it seems, were confederales on this occasion.
Terse 22. FVom the witdemeu eem unto Jordan.] From Arabia Deserta on the east to Jordan on the west.
Terse 23. TVie Loan God qf Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites] Jephthah shows that the Israelites did not take the land of me Moabitea or Ammonites, but that of the Amorites, which th^ bad cooqtiered from Silion their king, who had, without cause or provocation, attacked them: and although the Amorites had taken the lands in <|uestion from (he Ammonites, yet the title by which Israel held them was good; because ilicy took tiicm not from the Ammonites, but conquered Uictn from the Amorites.
So now the Lobd — hath dispossessed the Amorites] The circumstances in which ihe Israelites were when they were attacked by the Amoritea plajnly proved that, unless Jehovah had helped them, they must have been overcome. Ooi defeated the Araoritcp, ant) mode a Rront of their lands to the IsraeUtes; and they had in coDsequcnce poasesaed them for three hundred years,- ver. 26.
Verse 24. Wilt not thou possess that uAi<k ChsmwA thy god gizeth thee] As if he had said, " It ts a maxim with you, OS it is among all nations, that the lands which they conceive to be nven them by their gods diey have an absolute riffht to, and should not reKnttoish them to aoy kind of claunont. Tou suppose that the land which you possess was e^iven you by your god Chemosk; and, therefore, you will not relinquish what you believe you sold b* a divine rifdit Now, we know toat Jehovah, our Goi^ who is the Lord of heaven and earth, has given the Issaelites the land of the Amorites; and. therefore, we wiU not give it up." He ground of Jephthab's rentonsuaaea was sound and good.
2. The Israelites conquered these lands from the Amoritee, who had waged a most unprincipled war agaisoi
3. Ood, who is the Maker of heaven aud eaid^ had given those very lands as a divioe grant Io the IsndttaSi
6. Titeae lands wera never reclaimed by the AmmfliuM% diough they had repeated opportunities of doing it, while the Droeliies dwelt in Heshbon, in Aroer, and in ihe ctMria of Arnon; but ihey did not reclaim them, because tbey knew that the Israelites held diem legally. The ^resMl pretauutma of Ammon were unsuj^rted, and unjr *-»^*'
Terse 2T. The Loon the Judge be judge bkmtmjk* (hildren qf Israel] If you be right, and tct be vtMft An Jehovah, who is ihe ^vercign and incorn^gtMl JoJy^ shall determine in your tavuur \ and to him I srfaut tb* righteousness of my cause.
Verse 29. Then the Spirit of the Loan erne upon JepkOuA] TV Lord qualified hun for the weak he bad called him to do i and thus gave him the most c«iv'mciag testimony that his cause was good.
Verse 31. Shalt surely be Uu Loan's, ond Iwillttfkr it up fur a bvrnl-ojering.] The teJtt is, ^ct^ tttb rh-iy irr-ni'MiTTi vehaiyah Layhotah, vclta&liihihu Slak; the translation of whicli, according to the most accurate Hebrew achnlars, is ihisi / will consecrate it to the Lonil Or, / will WTcr U for a burnt-offering i that is, " If it »« a tiling fit for a lurnl qfcring, it shall be mad« out; a
S3 So J«i^thah paMed over unto the children of Ammon to fight aeainst them; and the LoHD dMivered them into hie hands.
33 And he emote them from Aroer, even till thou come to > Minnlth, even twenty cities, and unto ^ the plain of the vineyards, with a very great elau^ter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
34 ^ And Jephthah came to > Mizpeh unto his house, and, benold, ■'his daughter came out to meet nim with timbrels and with dances: and she vas his onlv child; ■ besides " 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
36 And she said unto him, My lather, <f thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, v do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy moutn; forasmach as ""the Lohd hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, eom of the chiloren of Ammon.
37 And she said unto her father. Let this thing be done for me; let rae alone two months, that I may • go up and down upon the mountaios, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows,
38 And he said, €!o. And he sent her away Jot two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.
fit for the *enrice Ood, it aball bo eooNcraled to Unw" TTwtt eonditioiM <n tbiii kind must have bean implied in tbe vow, ia evident enough; to have been nutde wiAout tfaem, it must have been the vow of a hea&m or a madman. If a dog imi met him, ttua could not have been made a hvml-^^ering; and if faia neig^bottr or fnend*> wf/fl^ am^ or aa^hter, Ac had been returning from a viait u> hu bmily, hie vow gave him no right over them. Beaidee, human »acrifUa were ever an abomination to tt)e Lord; and thie was one of the grand reasons why Ood drove out the Canaaniiee, Ac berauae they oSered their •one and duifditers to Moleeh, in the fire, i. 6. made bumtoffBriflga of Ui^m, as is genemlly auppoeed. Tbal Je^ ttnA vaa a deeply now man. ^ipeara m the whole of nia conduct; sad that he waa well* acouainted with the Zouo/* Jhfcflw, ^rtiidi pnAtibited all aucn aecrifice^ and ataleid what waa to be ofiisred in norifice, is evident enough from hia expoatulation with the king end people of Ammon, ver. 14 to 27. "Hierefore it most be grwited, that be never mads dwt laah vww viuth several mippoee be did) nor was hs eqMbl^ if be ba^ of executing it in that moat dioding manoer which aome CAiriatisn wiiiBra (tell it not in Oath) have contended for. He eould not ctmunit a erime^ which himjwlf hod just now bean sn executor of Ood's justice to punish in others. - -
It baa been supposed that "the text itself might have been reed differently in former times: i^ instead of the wotda n^jp vm^pm IwiU tfftr it a Inimt-tiftring, we read rfy>9 Kin >rn]pn I wiU qfer him (i. si the Lord) a bumt^JTering; this will make a widely different aenae, mora eonatatent with every thing that is sacred; and it ia formed by the addition of only a »ingU ietter, (n aj«nA,) and lite sepejation of the tmmoun from the vert>.. Now the letter N ia so like the letter p ain, which immediately follows it in the word r^np dlah, that the one might easily have been lost in die other, and Ihua the pronounbc joined to ^ ttrb, as at preaent, where it ezpraaaes the Imng to be aacrifieed, inatMd of the ptnon to vAom the aaenfice was to be made. With this emendation the paaaage will read thus: Whaiwper eomtlh forth cf the oootb of my houMt to meU vu — «AaU bttiu ZjortPs; and IwiUt^er ■Uf a banU-nfftring*' For this critieiBm dure is no absolute need, oeeause die pronoun m hu. in the above versb nay, with as much propriety, be translated kirn as it. Hie latter part of the verse is literally, And I wUi offer him a himt-qfering, rfyy diah, not iryvfi ltdlah, ros a bunU-^eringi which is the common Hebrew form when ^ftr is miendea to be expreued. This is strong presumplioa that the text should be thus understood; and this ■ iiliila the very disputable construction which ia put on tfMi > wnij in wrr^pm vehaolititM, oa I wiU qffh" it up, loalMd 01 Am IwiU t(fer nui a oumt-^triMg.
"From ver. 39. it appears evident that Jepbthah'adaugbiVlBMturf SACBiFicso to Ood, but Gonaeerafed to him in ft state of ptrpetuai virginity; for the text says, S/u knam no man, jar thia wu a tlatute in braU, Srir^a pn iren iMtAi cftw bwiakratl; vi*. that ptraooa thus deiUcattd m tonMoraltato God, should live in a state of unchange- ■Ua ettUfoejf. Tbtu thia celebrated plsoe ii^ without viq. lenee to any part of the text, or to any proper rule of con- •truction, cleared of all dinieuity, and caused to speak a Isuruage coosisuat with itself and with the nature of Ood," TTkoee who uaert that Jephthah did sacrifice his daughter, attempt to justify the opinion from the barbarous aaagea of those times: but in answer to this, it may be joauy observed, that Jephthah waa now under the indaeaea of the Spirit of Ood, ver. 29., and that Spirit could aotpenmt him to embnie his hsiRb in the blood of his own child; and especially under die pretenoe of offering B.jdaa*ing sacrifice to that Ood who is the Father of mankmd, ana the fountain of love, mercy, and compassion.
lie wution* give ua but little assistance in clearing the diffieultiea of the text In die Targum of Jonathan ^lere is a remarkable glota, which should be menUiHied, and frcnn which it will appear that the l^ugumist auppoaed that the daughter of Jephthah waa acmally aacnnced: "And he fumlled the vow, which he bad vowed, upon her; aiKl she knew no man; and it was made a stamte in Israel, [that no man should offer his son or hia daughter for abumtH^aringt as did Jephthah the Oileadite^ vriM did not eoaault Mimehai^ ibepnest; fi>r, if he had eonaolted Phioehaa the pries^ be WoukI have rederawd her wim money."]
The la^^umist refera here to the km, Lev. xzvii. 4. where the Lord prescribes the price at which either malea or females, who had been vomd to tha Lord, might bo rtdavrtud What a man AaU make a aingviar vou, fit* pertmit Aatt ba Jortke Lord at ihy ttUmation: (Ae nuU* from tventy ytara aid even vnio aixtjf, tkali beAffy ^ukel» tf nuer; and ^ it baa female, mat thy eattmortion dtaU be thirty Aekel*; and from fve yeart old unto twrntyyear*, the male twmty ahakela, and for the female ten. lius also is an argument that the daughter of Jephthah was not sacrificed; ea the father had it in his power, at a very moderate price, to have redeemed her: ana surely the bk>od of his daughter must have been of more value m his su^t dtSQ Oiirty sbekela of ailver 1
Dr. Bales has eotmd largely into the subject: hia observations may be seen at the end of this chapter.
Terse 33. Tvemty eiOea] That is, he either took or daalroyed twenty cities of the Ammonites, and completely routed their whole army.
Terae 34. With timbreU and wUK trances] From thia instance, we find (hat it waa an ancient custom that women went out to meat fetuming eonqoerors with murieal inatruments, songs, and dsnees: sod that it was omtiinied afterward is evident, from the instance given 1 Sam. xviii. 6. when David waa met (on his return from the defeat Ooliaih and the I^liatines) hy women from all the cities of Israel, with singing and dancing, and various inatrti* ments of music
Verae 36. Thou haat brought me very low\ He was greatly distressed to think that his daughter, who waa hia only child, ahould be, in consequence of his vow^ prevented from continuing his bamj in Israel; fbr it is evident that he had not any other child; {oT,be»ideahtr, says the text, he had neither eon nor daughter, ver. 34. He might, therefore, be well grieved that thus his fbmily was to become extinct in laraeT.
Terse 96. And aha mid mia him] What a pattern of filial pierir sad obedieiwe I Sha was at once obedient, piow^ and patnotie. Awoman to have no offapring, waa ee»> sidned to be in a state of the utmoat degradatioa amoog the Hebrews; but rite ia regardlesa of cdl thi% seeing her fiidier is in safety, and her country delivered. Verae 37. / and myfeltowa'] Whether she meant the
Cig women of her own acquaintance, or thoee who had eMMeeialed to Ood in the same way, (hough on different aceounts, is not quite clear; but it is likely Me mens her own eomfMtttona.* and hergoing tip and down tgwit Ate mountaina may signify no more than her paying each of them a visit at theu- own houses, previously to her being shut up at the labsmaelet and ibia viaittng of eaoh, at their own home, might nqoirs the spaoa oTftmnoniika. This, I am uHlbKd to Aink, ia the mesnhig of thii difficult clsuae.
^ And it came to paai, at the and of two mtniths, that she returned unto her lather, who • did with her according to tak tow which he
Terse 4U. 7^ lammt the daughter ((f JejihAah] 1 am wtisfied that this ii not a correct tranaluton of the ori^oal
Mnriatra the wiiole verse thus; Sea ule moe ajntd Israel inviUuit, vt virgitua laraA, temporibtu dtvereu, irent ad JUiam Jtplhe — ui earn qutitannie tUea qttaiuor, eontatarmUur; " But thu cuitom prevailed in larwl, that the Tii^ios of Israel went at dinerent' timM, four da^i in the TOar, to the dau^Ur of Jepbthah, that they might eon&ut Dcr/' This ver>e also evidoDca that the oaufdttar of Jephthah was not lacnfieed: nor doM it ttppNr u»t the custom, or statute referred to here, lasted after the death of Jephthab'i dauriiler. The foUomag n Dr. Baiaia BxpoiitioB ft JqAthih*i
"When JlqrikOaft went forth to battle against the -AmflWHufe^ he Towed a vow unio thi Lou, and aid, If thou vilt rarely give the children oC Ammon into mt bancL tben itBhauEelhaticAafwwrMWtlfcwil^f fte Jaaraqr my AoMM to wxeet me, iriwn I reura in peM* from me children of ilmmon, tnaU eiiker be the ijimP; or I wHl qfcr it u]t Qor) a burtU-cghing, Jndg. xi. 3£^ 30. Ao- Mffdingto tnie rendering of the two eonjunetioos, >raH, in ttu laMclauw, 'mM«>% or, wbidk ii jtMtified by the u»- trm idkoin. thuei 'He that euraeth hie fiuber mnd hie aMHhar,' Sxod. zxi. 17. ia necesMrily rendered diqiiaettvely, ('His father or his nodier,') by the Sepbt^ghU, VtUkate, Chaidee, and Siigliek, oonfirswd by HaU. xv. 4. (the)wucity of oonoectiof; putiolea in that language, laeking it neceanry that this eoi^iuBotian ibould onan oe Udeistood diquactivcly,) the vow eoiMialed of two pute:
tlbat what pereon soever nwt him dMuU be nu H^a, or be dedicated to hiaeervioe) and, Z Tkat what fr«M( soever met him (if daon,) ahould be oArad up for a iurmt-aff^tring aaXOTHM Loan.
"Hub renoering, and tbia intarpntation, ia warraaied by the LeMiaU law about vawa.
" Ti> ruder, or votst in geoerml, iaduded either feraen% fteost^ or Ainge, dedicated to tba Loan for pious iMeit irtiich, if it waea dmple vow, was redeemable at eertain prices, if ibo person Mrpenied of his vow, and widied to conunuM it ror money, according to the age or TCJC of the person, xxviL I — B.: this was a wise regulation to remedy rash vows. But if the vow waa ooeomponied with Dtn cAertm, devotement, it was inedeemafale, as in tlie following case, Lev. xxvii. 28.
"NotwUulaadin& no devotament, which a man shall devote onto tbb Loan, (either) of man, or isosf, or of land of hit om propertg, ehall be sold or rcMemed. Every thing devoted ie moat holy unto the Lord.
"Here the three ^ votu, in the origiaaL diould necnaaarily be renderad disjunctively! or, as the last actually is in our iraiulationi because there are three distinct sufaiecM of devotement to be applied to distinct usca, the -man to be dadioalad to the servic* of the Lord, aa iSmitu^ by Ua nodier Uannak, 1 Sam. i. 11.: the caUJa, if dean, auch aa oxen, akeep, goat; turfle-davee, or pigeooM, to be aacrifteed 1 and tf uncwan, «a eomala^ Aorasa, oaaea, to be employed for canving burdena in the aerviee rfthe labcmade, or templa i ana the landa to be aaared proper^.
*' Th^ law, therefore, tfpremly uplied in iia firatbraildi to Jepltikali!* case, who bad dmoUd hia daughter to the L«di or, opened JUa ntMitt U tht Lord, and dwiribre emUdnot gohaetf aaba deeland in fail gria^ at eeeiiv his daughter, and only child, eoning M meM him with timbnU and danoee: sha wm^ tbacwore, neeeaaarily d*- votad, bat with her owncouent, to perpetnal virgtnity in the service of tha tnbemaole, dns. zi. 9^ 37.: ud auch aarviea waa outoowryt for, in tne diviaion of tha apoila taken m the first MidKoito war, of tha whole number of captive virgina, raa Loan'a tribute waa ikirtjt'lwo per. aooa, Nonto. xxzL 35~40. lUa inatBDoe nppmn to be deeisivs of the nature of her derotamettt.
" Uar fathBr'B extreme grief on #H oceaaioo, and her iiM[iMailifin of a respite for two nwodia to bewail her »irrtaifK are both perieetlynabintl. Having no other issue, haooiiild only laok tonrud to tha extinetion of hia nana or fiuni^; and a atau of edibaiy, which ia reproachful among women every when, vraa peealiarly so amoi^ the Jaraafites; aitd was, therefore) no ordinary aaeriiloe on bar partt who^ thou^ sha ganaroualy Sva no^ ooald itot but tagrai, the low cf baeomag^a wiofter ia Ararf.* AndAM
did wiA her aecording to hie ww, which be had vowed | and 'ehe knew no nan,' or roaiaiaed a virgin all heg iifiu
"There was also anoOter ease of dewteawni; wfaid) was irredeemable, and follows the former, xxvii. 2i. Tbia caae differa materially from the former.
" 1. It ia confined u pbiboits devoted, omitting beatU and latide. 2. It doea not relate to private jM-operfy, aa fn the forgoing. And, 3. The aubject of it waa to be utterfy deetroyed, inatead of being meal My vnio rmm Lom»y lliia uiw, therefore, related to oijena, or jntbHe enemieo, devoted to deainwiiod aMIar by Ckw, tba paopli^ or by Oh MrMrolfc OfaUthaaavreuvBiBBtaneaaiaSariMM ■a. The 4w«fa«IH» aod CraMnifat vm devMad hr Ood bimaeli Smt waa, Awrefore, guilty of a bread oc dtis tew for qHuing A^ag, the king of the AnalMtee, aa Samtiel laproaeheQ him, 1 8am. xxv. S3. *And Samd hewed Agag ia^pMeoa before die Lead:* not aa a am rfllia
to Fottosrs; but aa a erfnMiia^ whoae had naaa maay wmnen chjMlaai. By Aia lawt ft* Ifr diaaita womaiL who bai bean naced B baldb wwa rilii^ Nan*. xxSTi*. 17. '
In mount Hor, whea du IsnelilBa wwa aWaihnl W Arad, king of the southern Canaanilaa, who took aoaaa M them priacmers, tboy vowad a vow unw m Loan tbat tbn would utterly dtaliey the Oonaaaitea and tb(^ aitla% if ibe Lord should deliver tben into ibeir head, irlach m I^na latifiadi whenea tha plaee waa aalUd iiai malt, baoanae dto vow waa aooompaiiied by durem, cr dovainMal to deatruetion. Numb. xxi. 1—3. and the vow waa aetB» pliAed, Jodg. i. 17.
"3. Inihaf«iJia<uMwar, SsMfadiareddiepec^iaad ooreed any one who ahauld tnato food nil the evanaag. Bis own eon, Jmathm, inadvert«Mty ato a liiaiiijunab. not knowiogbia fother'a oath, for whicit Saul acuooed Kni to die. Hut the pec^e iniarposed, sod reooood him, for haa public services: thus aastimiag the power of dUpmetnKt in their collective capacity, with an anreaaooama oa»» This latter aaiae, iberefore, is utterly irrekutva to Jt^klMfa vow, which did not regard a foreign enemy, or a arwaaatia tronagreaaor, devoted to destruction; but, on the oontnay, waa a vow of dumksgiviag; and, dierefov& properly enaia under tha former case. And, that JijiUkah eouM bUm^ aibly have sacrificed hia daughter (aecording to the vaigar (^niou^Btay appear from ihie following coaaidcvations >— " 1. llie aaonfice of children to Me&A, waa aa abonii> natfon to the Lord, of which, in numberleaa pamago^ ha ezpreaaeo hia deteatation; and it waa prohibited by an express law, under pain of death, aa a deJiUmmt if Aeifa coaeteoryv and a pr^/bnolfoit hio hotjf nam*, Lev. xiii.2,3. Such a sacrifice, therabn^uato die Laid Ub^ ael^ muat baa atill higher ahominaiwot aad tharaiano praoedent of any auch under the lav, in dto Ol» Tista-
"2. Theoaaeof iMKK^befaradMlaw.iaiirdavaBLfcr Jatmc waa not aacrifioed t and it vm auj piaptiaed tar a trial of AbraJtavie fmtb.
"3. No fother, merely by his own authority, could put am ofioiding (much lea an imioaent) child to death,upon emr aoconnt, vrithaitt dM aaiitanoe of Jhe inagiantt, Dam. x^ 1S~21. and dit eooatnt of dw peo|^ M in JbaaClaa^ eaae.
"4. Iha Afiadhia, or tiaditiond law ct dw Jawa^ ia pointed^ againal it var. 212. *tf a Jew dMuld davoiB hia aoa or daughter, im aum or maid Mrtami, who are ftrw^ the dcvoiamantwoaldba void; beeanaanomaafln davoto vkolia n«< Ait own, or wAoaa ha har mI Aa abeobUe diepoeal lliese argnmenta appear to ha deciaive againat the aaorifioe) and Biat JepUhak eaati aot have devoted hia daagfater to celibacy a|;ainat bar vil^ ia evident from the histoiv, and from die high eaiimaiiaB ■■ which die waa alwaya held by tha daoghterv of Iwaal for her filial duty and bar haphoa fiua; whteh they eahtraied by a reguhu- annivenary eomnKmorati<m,four daya hi tha year." Judg. xL 40. New Anafyeie Oiromoloey,-^ lii. p. 319.
The celebrated sacrifice of I^ikraia baa been aufipMed, by many learned men, tobeanUafoiadedondiiBaBeamn of Jepbthah'a dauduer} and X. Da Lavaar, Onrilnne* de la F\au oMcl'KiMra fihfaf%hM thn tnaad Aa parallel t— *
"The foble of fyklgenia^ offored in aacrifiee by4» menuum, her (aiher, aung by ao many poeta, rehded ahnr dmnbyao nuugr hMorianis and caMratad hi Aaifr
• to lament the daughter of Jcvh tfaah the OUead- Ue four d^s in a year.
• thered themeelvei together, and
Lormf-m northwud, and nid onto Jephtkah, Wber^re poaaedet then over to fight
Rul fVmcA dmtrea, baa bees aaloMmledged by all tboae wlut knnr ttn Saond WriliiM aad who nave paid a partioakr attantion to dwn. aa a cnaoged copy of tbo biMoiy of the dw^ter cS JtpltAak, offisred in aacrifice by her fctbar. Let m cotMidor the ■cv«rai parte nartieularlv, and bafin with aa expoeitioo of the original, tuao from Ote 9th efanaUr of the book of Jtuitees.
'<Tite«uiced hiatoriao inftinna tu^ that Jepkihah, the aon of ffilaw^waa a great and valiant eutti^n. The InwI- Ufj againat whom Qod was irritated, beingfbread to go to mr widi the AmnumitM, (nearly about the ttme en the •lege Troy,) aaaembled uwmeelvee together, to <Mige J^Uhah to come to their wccour, and choeo him for their captain agaioat the AmvumiUt. He aceepted the comlaand on condition that, if God iboald give him the vic- Uiry, they would acknowledse him for their prinoe. "niia ihcy promiacd by oelh i ana all the people elected him in the city of JUtxpcA, in the tribe of Juauk. He flrM aaot ambaaeadors to the king of the Ammonitn, to_ know the reaaonwhy he had committed ao many acta in injuatioe, and ■o many tavag«a on the coaata of braeL 'Rtt other made a pretext trf aoma ancient damagea hia people had auffered hy the primitive Irraetitai, to countenance the raragea be flommitud; uxl would not accord with the reaaonable propoaitiona made by Iheamioaaadora of JiEpUAoA. Having now supplicated the Lord, and being filled with hia Spirit, he inarched agunat the Ammoniteti and being sealoualy deairoua to acquit himedf nobly, and to enaure the aoceeaa of ao tmportaat a war, he made a vow to the Lord to offiw in aacrific& or aa a bumt-offering, the &rat thing that ahould eome ontm dw houae to meet him, at hia return irom victory.
**H« then fought with, and utterly diaeorofited the ^mnumiiet t and returning victorioua to hia houae, Odd ao Bermioed that hia only daughter waa the firm who met him..ApUAoAwoaatruck with terror at the eiriit of A«r; and, teariiw hia earmenta, he exclaimed, AUt*l aieu t my 4aighUr,Buni doH excetdingly trouble nui Jar I have apmtd my fiumlh agaiiutOietunto Ou Lord, and lownot go baik. Hia daughter, ftill of courage and piety, undermnding the purport of hia vow, exhorted him to accompli:^ what ne had vowed to the Lord, which to her would M exceedingly agreeable, aeeing the Lord had avenged him of hia and h» country'a enemies i desiring liberty only to go on the mountains with her companion^ and to bewail mo dishonour with which sterility was accompanied in Jorad; beeaose each hoped lo see the Meooiak bom oS hia or ber family. Jtfhthak could not deny her this reqnest. She aeewdingly went; and at the end of two nootha rotnraed, and put heraelf into the haoda of her fiuher, who did with her according to hie vow.
"Several of the rabbino, and many very learned Christian expositors, believe diat Je^hOtak't daughter was not really sacrifieed; but that her vn-ginity was conseorated to Ood, and rite aeparated from all connexion with the world; vUh^ indeed, aeema to be implied in the saered hiatorian'a ■Omwiiit And the knew no man. Thia waa a kind of myvterioua death, beeouae it caused her to lose all hope of Aa ^ory of a posteri^ from which the MtMiaA might deaDBOd. Prom thia originated the custom, ciMerved afier- WUd in Mtratl, that on a certain aeaaon of the year, the virgfaia aaaembled themselvea on the mountain! to bewail Ab daoghter of Jephthah, (or the apace of four daya. Let m BOW ooiuider the leading chafactera of the fable of hMgonta. According to good chroootogieat reckonings the bme of die one and of the other -nrj nearlv agree. The opinion that the name of fyk^en ta is taken from the danghter of Jephthab, appears wellfbunded: yea, the conformity ia palpable. Br a very inconsiderable transpoaitioi fyhlgonia mskea fyhihyifeniaf whidt aignifiea, literail^, the daughter ijf JefUkiA, A^imemnon, who ii described us a valiant warrior, and admirable captain, waa dmeo bf the OreaAa for dteir praica aod general againat ttm TV^foiu, by the united conaont of all Oreoee, aaaem- Uod logMber at AiMo, in AmHs.
againat the children of Amnion, and didat not call UB to go with thee? we wiU bum thina house upon thee with fire.
2 And Jephthah eaid unto them, I and mr peoi^e were at great strife with the children of Ammon; aitd when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands.
S And when I aaw that ye delivered me not, I <■ put my life in my bands, and pasaed orer against the children of Ammon, and the Lord delivered them into my hand: wherefore thea are ye come up unto me this day, to ftght againat me?
"Aa aoon aa he had aceepted the eommand. he aent ambaaaadora to PHam, king or JVoy, to demand aatiafaetion for the rape of AUen, (rfwhiehtlie Oretkt complained. Hie Tn^au raftudng to grant diia, Agameianoti. to gain over to hia aide the goda. who appeei^ irritated againat the Orteko, and oppoaea to the auoceaa of their enterpriae, after having aacrificed to tbeuL went to consult their interpreter ChaMuu, who declared that the goda, and particularly Diana, would not be iqipeased but by the aacrifioe of ^Aifenia, the daoa^ttar of ^^amenmon.
** Cieero, in hia Qfieeo, says, that Agamemnon, ni order to engage the jmtection of the goda in nis war againsttha "PrtHane, vowed to aacrifice to them the moat beautifVil of ^1 that should be bom in his kingdom; and as it waa found that his daughter fyMgenta surpassed all the reat in
Aave commuted jtarHcido. 'EYam accaunt of Cteero, renders the fable entirely conformable to the history.
" Agamemnon was at first ntraA with and troubled at (his order, nevertheless consented to it; yet afterward regretted the loss of his daughter. He is repreaented by the poeta aa delibmting, and being in doubt whelher the gods oould require eueh a jtarrioidei but, at laat, a aepte of hia du^ and honour overcome bis patemid adection; and hia datwfatar, who had warmly exhorted him toftilfil hia vow to the goda, waa led to this altar amidit the kunentatknn of her compamona; aa Ortd and Etirlptdoo relate, aea Mel. lib. 13.
" Some authors have thought ibe really waa aaerifiaed } bat othera, more humane, aay, Ae waa caught up in a cloud by the gods, who^ contented with the intended sacrifice, aabstituted a hind in her place, with which the aacrifioe waa completed. Diett/o Creteneio aaya, that thia animal was substituted to save JjpMgenia,
" 'Hie chronology of times so remote eensoL in many reapeota but be uncertain. Both the 0r«ab aod Aomons grut, that there waa nothing else than febles before the first OhrmpCoci; the beginning of which waa at least four huodroi and fif^ years after the destruction of TVoy, and two hundred and forty yean after Solomon. As toiha time of Solomon, nothing can be more certain than wbaC is related in the sixth chapter of die First Book of Einn that from the going out of Egypt, under JMbaea, till the timein which he b^ian to build the temple, waa four fauadred and etrii^ yeara.
*'AeeordtngtodieoommonofMnion, the taking of TVmp ia plaeed one nuodred and eighty years before the reign tc Solomoni but hia reign preceded ^fijiiwr Araa eanterfa^ according to some learned men, and alwaya at leaM ana c«nlury by those who rehttcd it lowaaL indee^ there ia mnch uwwrtain^ in fixing the expiw time n wbieh Homer fiouriahea.
" PmuttnioM fiiund so much difference concemiiw thia in authors, that he waa at a loss how to judge of it. However, it is sufficient for us that it waa granted, that SolofiuM waa at least a century before fitmun, who wrote more than two ceoturiea after die taking of 7>oy, and who ia the moat ancient hiatorian of this mmous siege."
NOTES ON CHAPTER XU. Verse 1. 7^ mm nf FMiraim gaOtertd themeelveo together] pyti vayttoacki «ey oaitedeaA other toarme; aummoniiu all their tribe and frienda to arm dtemaelvea to deatrayjephthah and the Oitcaditea, being jealoua leai they ^ould acquire too much power- Terse 3. IjMi my Vfe in my hando\ I ezpeaed rayaelf to the greatest difliailties and dangan. But whrace did ' this form of speech arise "i Probably from a man's laying bold of hia awOTd, spear, or bow. " Thia ia the defender of my life I on tm^ wad my proper use of it, my life dependa." When a mm draws bis sword againat hia fob niaoKmy will naturally aim at hia life; and hia sword In hia hand is then hia aole no*) ^ht and
4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the meQ of Gileadi and lought with Sphraira: and the men ol' Gilead emote Ephraim, because they said, Ye * Gileaditea are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, wiaainoiig the Maoassites.
5 And the Gileaditea took * the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Eporaimites which were escaped said. Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nav,
6 Then said they mito him, Say now ' Shib* boleth; and he said, Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, anid slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraiautes forty and two thousand.
7 If And Jephthah judged Israel ux years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead..
eonqoer, or die. Thtu Jophthath took hii lift in his hand. ThiR phnun occurs in Mme other places of Scriputre, see 1 Sam. xijc. 6. xxviii. 21. And the words of the conqueror, ba. liiii. 6. seem to c«nfirm the above view of the subject: Hooked, and there vas none to kelp: and /loondcred there was none to up/mld: Iker^ort, miru own arm brought talvalim unto mtJ i. ft By mioe own arm I savea ay life, and brought destruction on mine enemies;
Vene 4. And ftmgU with Epkraim] Some commentators suppoM that there were tvo battles in which the Ej^iraimiiaa were defeated; the first, mentioned in die above clause; and the seeoiid, occasioned by the tauntiiu' bagUBxe mentioned in the conclmion of ihe verse i Ye OiieaMu* art JugitiMt ^ Sptiraim. Where the point <rf this repmw lie^ or what is the reason of cannot be easiiy nseertaineiL
Verse 6. Sm note SSUMofsft; and h* mtid SibboteA] TtM original (uTers only in the first letter d tamedt, instead of V theen; n^ao 'vhc^ r/tav ni *^DN tmar na Shibboleth, vaiyomer Sibboleth. The difference between » teen, without a p<»nt, which when pointed is pronounced ahem, and mikccA is supposed by many to be imperceptible. But there can be no doubt then was, to the ears of frHBbmw, a most sensiUe distinction. Host Eurt^Mans^ and, indeed, most wba have written gfammars of the lan- Kuue, pernive scarcely any difference between the Aia- Kg Xm* teen, and rwad; but as both those letters are radical, aoi only in Arabic, but to Hebrew, the difference of enunciation must be such as lo be plainly perceivable by the ear; else it would be impossiDle to determine the root of a word into which either of these letters entered, exoepl bjr goeariag, unless by pronunoiaiion the sounds were distinot One to whom the Arabic is vomacular, bearing a native speak, discerns it in a moment; but the delicate enunciation of the characteristic difference between those letters, r eheen, and o sanMcA, and theen, and nead, is seldom cau|^ by an European. Had there been do distinetion between the teen and »ame<A bat what the Masoratie point given now, then o santecA would not have been nsea in the word r/tx tibboUth, but m seen, thus nSav: but there must have been a very remarkable dtSerence in the pnMiunciatioD of the Ephraimilci^ when instewl of r/jM thibboleih, an ear of corn, (see Job xziv. 24.) they said n^ao tibboUth, which signifies a hurdm: Exod. vL 6. and a heavy burden were they obliged lo bear, who could not pronounce this test letter. It is likely that the Eidiraimilea were, in reference to the pronupciaiioo af sA, as different boa the Qileodiies as the people is some parts of the north of England are, in the prononciiuion of the letter B, from all the other inhabitanu of the land, ^te sovmd of Ih cannot be pronounced by the Persians in general; and yet it is a common sound amone the Arabians. To this day, multitudes of the German Jews cannot pronounce n A, but put m in the stead of it: thus, for rr>a beilh, (a house,) they say be$». ' Mr. Richardson, in his " DiMertation on the Language^ Literature, and Manners, of the Eastern Nation^*' prefixed to his Persian and Arabic Dictionary, p. ii. 4to. edition, makes some lAservaiions on the different dialects which prevailed in Arabia Felix, the chief of which were (he Mamyaret and KoreisA; and, to illustrate the point in band, he produces the foltowiiw story from the Hohammedan writers: — " An envoy from one of the feudatory, havbBg been sent to the tol6a, (the sovmigi^) ihu
9 AnrI he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his soni. And he judged Israel seven years.
10 Then died Ibzao, and was buried JSat Beth-lehem. trj&^
12 And Elon the Zebulonite died, 1%SS and was burled in Aijalon, in the couo- tc^gt^ try of Zebulnn.
14 And he had fnr^ BOBS uid thirty 'nephfiWi. that 1 rode on threescore and ten asa vAta: ana
15 And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Firathon, in the
prince, when he was introduced, pronounced the word T'heb, which in the Hemyaret inuilied Bt seated; unhappily it signified, in the native dialect of the nmhassaJor, precifHiate thyee^i and he, with a singular deference for the orders of his sovereini, threw himself instantly from the castle wall and periuted." Though the Ephraimites had not a diferent dtaUd, they bad, it appean, a diHerent pronunciation, which confounded, to others, letters of the same organ j and thus i^oduced not only a different sount^ but even an omKMile meaning. lUs was a sufficient test to find out an Ephraimite; and he who spake noc as be was commandet^ at the fords of Jordan, ^tiat against his own life.
For he amid not frame to pronounce it righfl Hus is not a bad renderii^ of the original, p laVr i6t vela yakin Udabber ken i *' aitd they did not direct to qieak il Uius." But instead of r» VS*^ dired, thirteen t£ Kennieotfa and Da IbssPsMSS. with two sneiant editions, read ps* yabin, " dtey did not uadentand to ^eak it thus."
The versions take great latitude in this vetae. Iha Fu^golemakesapar^mrase: Die ergo SchMoleA, quod interpretatttr tptca: qui rttpondebal SibboUth $ emiem Uteri epica exprimere non valetts. " Say, thereiw^ Shtbbolelh; which, interpreted, is an ear qf com: but bs answered Sibboleth. not being able lo express an ear of com by that letter." In my very ancient copy of the Vuigate, probably the editio princme, there is tebboUth, in Uie first instance, as the test word; and ihebboltth, as Aa Ephraimite pronunciation. But cet> boleth is the reading of the Coa^tutensian Ptdyelott} and is snpptmed byons of my own MS3., yet the mnner readiiu^ IbMoleth, m found in dm of my MSS. The C^aldee baa tir/rsm akubbaUha, tor the Qileaditish pronunciation i and imSso eubbaliha, for that of Ef^iraim. He i^rtac has ehebla, and >&am aebla. TJw Arabic has the same woc^ with OSi ahecn, and (J** teen; and adds, " He said Sehla, for the Ephraimites could not pronounce the letter Mmiu" ThMC notices, however trivial al first view, will not be thought unimpoilant by the biblical critic
Verse S. And ^ler him Axan] It appears that during the administmtion of Jephthah, six years; tbxan, seven yews; Eton, ten years) and Abdon, eight yean; in dM whole thirty-one years; the Isiaeliiea bad peace in all their borders: and we shall find, by the following chapter, that, in this time of rest, they corrupted themselves and wen afterward delivered into the power of the Philistiiwi.
1. We find that Ibzon bad a nnmerous fctnily, six^ chiklren; and AMon had fbr^ sons and thirty giandsoM.- and that they lived splendidly, which is here expreaied by their ridii^ on seventy young asses; — what we could expresatnr A^a/iA:<pf Unrcarri^ei: for the ridisgoo fine asses, m those days, was not len dignified than nding ia coaches in ours.
2. Itdoesnotmearlbataay tbingparticulartodkplaett Ihe oivil state of the Isnetitea duriiig the time of thsse latter judges; nothing is said eonceming diair administrap tion,wheUter it was eood orbed; nor is any thing raeiatiao* ed of the slate of religion. It is likely that they enjoyed peace without, and their judges were capable ofpreventiog discord and sedition within. Yet, doubtless, Ood was at work among them, though there were none to record the operaUoDs either of bis haikd or his Spirit i but the peofde who feared him no doubt bors testinoitjr to the word or his giaesL
^ t.l llii Mnn itiiii r ul an iklnfml Into Urn hunk ol tbt Pbl»» — - bti nm. 1, Ab uttl Rwcan to tba wtb MuhaIi, ud teMilb (ia of liv KB, ud slnt hv dtnakw how to Inu both ba^ ■ol I-* <>»U<>,
^ c uS" A the children of Israel » did " evil Am. End i«..cl. again in the sight of the Lord;
fJT'tmit i>and the Lord delivered them ^into LotTi» ""—thB hand of the PhiljBtineBibrty years.
2 IT And there was a certain man of ' Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name vas Manoah; and his wife vae barren, and bare sot.
3 And the ' angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and Baid unto her, Behold'now, thou art tnrren, and bearest not; but thou dialt conceire, and bear a son.
4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and • drink not wine nor strong drink, and ea t not any unclean thing:
5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son: and no " razor shall come on his head; for the child shaU be ■ a Nazarite unto God from the W(Hd>} and be shall * be£^ to deliver Israel out of the band of the Philistmea.
6 IT Then the woman came and told her hnsbanci. saying, ■ A man of God came unto me, and his 7 countenance va$ like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but ' I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me bis name;
7 But be said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong'drink. neither eat any unclean tAing-.- fbr the ctuld shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.
8 If Tben Manoah entreated the Lord, and •aid, O my Lord, let the man of God, which thou didst send, come again onto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.
9 And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the wo-
Ver«el. DtKvered ihem into the hand qf the Pkai^net] It doet not appear that after Shamgar, to the preaent time, Iba PhiliatiDea were in a condition to oppren larael; or Clod had not permitted them to do it: but now they have a eommiMion, the Inaelitea having departed from the Lord. Nor ia it evident that the PhilistineB had entirely nibjected the Ivaelitea, aa there still appeara lo have been a son of conunerce between the two people, l^ey had often vexed and made inroada upon them; but iheybad them not in sntite aubjection: see chap. xv. 21.
Tene 2. A certain man qf Zorah} A town in the tribe of Jndah, but afterward siven to Dan.
Tene 3. TJu angel qf the Lono] Generally auppoaed to have been the tame that appeared to Mosea, Joshua, Gideon, dx. and no other than ine Second Peraon of the evet bkmed Trinity.
Verse 4. Bewart — drink not mnt] Aa Samson was Mgned to be ft Naxarit* from the womK it was necessary dnt whOe his mother carried and mirsea him, she should live die life of a Nazarite I neither drinUog wine dot any iaebriating liquor; nor catiiig any kind of forbidden meat. See the account of the Naxarile and his vow, in the notes on Numb. vi. 2, Ac.
Terse 6. Be Aall b^n to deliver I$rael\ Sameon onhr began this deliverance; for it was not till the dajn of David that the laraelilea were completely redeemed from dHpowar of the Pbilistinei.
Verae 6. But I a^ud him not leftanee he wm, netthar Ittd htmthU name} Thin clause ia rendered vei7 differently by the Tdloatz, the negative xot being omitted; Qtum. atn inierrog&ttem viiM eMtet, «t unde vmisae^ et M iiamiiu i)0Mrefui\ noMl mi&( dfcsra; sed Am rupmaUi "WhMn.whenraakedtrtMhevi^aDdwbeDee be
10 And the woman made haste, and ran. and showed her husband, and said tmto him, Benokl, the man hath appeared unto me that came unto me the other day.
11 And Mancnh arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him. Art thou the man that spakest imto the woman? And he said, I am.
12 And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. ■ How shall we order the child? and
13 And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Of all that 1 said unto woman let her beware.
14 She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, ^ neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all thatlcommanded her let her observe.
15 ll* And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord. I pray thee, Met us detain thee nntf we shall have made ready a kid ' for thee.
16 And the angel of the Lord said unto Ma> noah, Though thou detain roe, I will not eat of thy bread; and if thou wilt offer a burnt-ofiiu-inf, thou muBt offer it unto the Lord. For Manocui knew not that he wo* an angel of the Loan.
18 And Manoah said unto the aiwel of the Lord, What is thy name, that when tny sayings come to pass we may do thee honour ^
18 And the angel of the Lord said unto him, ' Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it M secret?
19 So Manoah took a kid with a meat-offering. I and offered it upon a rock unto the Lord: and the angel did woodrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.
SO For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flarae of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the grotmd.
21 But the angel of the Lord did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. ■ Then Manoah knew that he wa» an angel of the Lord.
22 And Manoah said unto his wife, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
The negative ia also wanting is the Septttagint, aa it atanda in the Comphitenaian PofyghM: Koi q^rw ««ttc> mSw (rtf, Ml m aivf<« ovrvv, ow onryyTiW fiai: and " ] Baked him whence he was, and his name; biU he did not lell me." Tbia ia also the reading of the Codex AUxandrinus; but the Septuaginl, in the LtHidon Polyglott, together with the Cnatdee, Smiae, and Arabic, rmd lbs negative parttele with the Hwrew text, / aeked mot kU name, Ac.
Terse 9. Tlu angd Ood oanu again[ Tliia second uipearance of the angel was probably eaaential to the peace 01 Hanoah, who mi^t have been jealoua of hia wif^ bad be not had ihia proof that the thing was of the Lord.
Terae 15. ISnlU ^e ^aUhavemaderu^ ai^C} Not knowing hia quality, Manoah wished to do this aa an act of hospitality.
Andy" thmi wiU t^ffer a bumt-qferingi Neither shall I receive that homage which belongs to God: thou roust, therefor^ offer diy bumt-olTering to Jehovah.
Terse 18. Seeing it is tteret} It was because it was »^ eret that they willed to know IL The sngel does not aay that it was aecra^ but ^n Km hu peti, it is wOHDUFm.: die very character that is given to Jesus Christ. laa. iz. 6. His nam* thall be tailed k^s Wondei^fUli ana it is sop* posed by some that the angel gives this as his name, and consequently that thia waa our blessed Lord.
Terse 19. Hie angel did wondroutlt/] He acted according to his name: be, being •amderful, performed wonder* Au thingii probably causing fire to anse out of the lo^, and eonsume (be neriflce, and then aseendiMin die flaoM
S3 But his wife «aid unto him. If tha Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have reeeived a burnt-offerinK and a meat-offering at our handfl; neither would he have showed us all tiiese tkin^, nor would at this time have told us such tlun^s as these.
24 ^ And the woman bare a B<m. te^iPm suod called his name " Samsoa: aiu
35 P And the Sjarit of the Lobd to KmL farm began to more him at times in ^ the camp of Dan, ' between Zorah and Eshtaol
AND Samson went down *to Mil^brw. jt\. Thnnath, apd > saw a woman in loStilw. Timnath of the daoghtera of the Philistines.
3 And he came up, and told his fhther and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the dangnters of the Philistines; now therefore ■ get fier for me to wife.
3 Thui his father and his mother said unto him, Jb there never a woman among the daughters <^ * Uiy Ivethren, or amons aU mr peo^e, that thou goest to t^e a wUe of the tribe m the
TemSS. y flU Losp wuflmaiUkiU a#, Ao.] is excelleat reaaomn^ and may be of Brest use to everr mir religloiii viaA, m doody snd darii diipeiuMioiu of divvM itrondcBee. It it not likely tbst God, who bM pneerred thee so long, borne with thee lo long, and fed sad Htpported thee all thy life long, girding thee vhon thou knew«l>t him not, ie len willing to save wad provide tot ibee oAd thine now, thsn be was when probably thou tnuledft lew in htm. He who made, and gave hi> Sdn to ndeem thee^ cut osver be indifferent to thy welbre; and if lie giTs mea power to prw to and tnut in hum, is it at an IDnly that he ia now seeldog an oeeasion against thee, is order to destroy dteef Add to thie, the wrt Ught that ■bowi thee thy wretcbedneae, ingraiitude, and duobedience, ia, in itael^ a proof that he ia waiting to be gractoue to due; and the penitential panga thou feeleat, and thy Intter ic^t for tl^ unbidifulneea, argue that the %U and /re are of God'a own IcindUngi and are aent u direct and reflne^ not to drive thee out of dw wai^ and deatroy diee. Nor wotJd k« ka»9 tetd Out mh mingt of hia love, nec^, and kindnest, and unvrtllingneaa to oeBtrov ainners, aa he oaa told thee in his SacrM Word, if be nad been d^rmined not to extend his mercy to thee.
Tarae 24. And ealUd kU name Samson] The origina] pVDP iSObtnuAon, which is Irom the root vuv ehanuuH. to Borveu (whanoe Msmssft, the sun,} probably means either a ttlus am. or a tUtU atnanti ana this latter is so likely a name to w imposed on an only sot), by maternal fondneai^ diat it leavea but litda doubt of the propriety of the s^mology.
And uU Lord hle—td him.\ Gave evident proofs that the child was under the peculiar raoleetion of the Most Hiji^; causing him to inovaae daily in statore, and extra- nary strength. Torse23. Tlu SptrU iff tktXjom began to vmehim\ He felt the degndiog boodage of his countrymen, and a strong derire to accomplish somethiiu for their deHverance. 1%Bae feeliw and motions he had fiom the Divine Spirit Camp <^ Z>an] Probably the plaoe where his parenu dwelt, Kir they were Danites: aiM the place is supposed to have its name from its being the n>ot where the Danitea stopped when they saot aome men of their company to rob IGeah of hia teraj^im, dec See chap, xviii.
As he had these inflnencea between Zorah and Kahtsol, it ia evident that this waa tchild he dwelt at home with bis parsnti } for Zorah waa the place where his father dwelt: see ver. 2. "nins Qod began, from his inhncy, to qualify him for the work to which he had called him.
Terse 1. Want davon to 7Vtnnat&] A frontier town of the PhitiaiiDin the bc^^ing of the lands bdonging to
UHfrcomeisedPhiUsCBiesI And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me, for ■ she i^ea^ eth me well.
4 But his father and his mother knew not that it was ' of the Lobo, that he sought an oeoafon against the Philistines: for at time 'tha Fhilistines had dominion over Israel
5 IT Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to ttia vineyards of Timnath; and, behold, a young lion roared • against him.
6 And ^ the Spirit of the Lou came mMitflf apon htm, and be rent him as he wmdohave rent a kid, and As had nothing in hk hand: but he told not his fother or hii mother vtbat he had
7 And he went down, and talked tcSS' with the wnnan} and she pleased s*.E»dbrB. Samson well. i^SCliJV
8 IT And afler a time he returned • to take her, and he ttirned aside to see the carcass of the lion: and, behold, tAcremz* a swarm of bees and hooey in tlie carcass of the lion.
9 And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.
10 IT So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for m used the young men to do.
the tribe <rf Jadah, Jodk xv. 67. but aftanmd given up to Don, Josh. zix. 41. David took this place trooa ihio PhilistiDeai but they again got poiMioa ol it ia dw reifn of Aha:^ 2 Chroo. xzviii. IB.
Vvrm 3. Is there luver a w>man\ To marry with any that did not belong to the Israeliliah stock was oeotrwy to the law, Bzod. xzxiv. 16. DeuL vii S. But this marriage of Samson was said to be of As Lord, vcr. 4. that IS, Ood jtermUted it, <ror ta no oOier sense can we understand the phnse,) that it miriH be a means of bsiagingabout die deliverance of laraeL r^raiuj>Ua»eAwuveU\ ^Tv^rriv^tm-okihiyoekrdk bHnij *' for ahe is right in my eyes." lliis is what is sippoaed to be a sufficient reason to justify either man ov woman in their random choice of wifeor htKbaadi ibemsaiBt ia the same with that of the poet — are its own rule of right. That will should be pure and well directed, that says, it thall be eo, because I will U Aauld be m>. A reason of this kind is simitar to tfau which I have seen in a motto on the brass ordnanee oT Lewis XIV. OLTiMA RATIO BiGUii, Ou tutn o/ regal U>f^; i. e. My will, backed by these iiiKruments of dntructmi, shall be the rule of ri^t and wrong, lite rules and PriiH ciples of this togic ara now suspected; and it is sot Inely to be generally received, without violent danoiutratton.
Verse 6. A young lion roared ogaiTut Aim.] Cams fiercely out upon him, ready to tear hun in pieces.
Verse 6. He rent him aene would hate rent a kid] Kow it ia not intimated that he did this by his own naturml ■trength, but by the Spirit qf tht Xjord eovUng mifMSI^ upon him t wo (hat hia ilrength does iM appear to ne his own, nor to be at bis command: his mignt was, Iw tte wU qf Ood, attached to his hair and to his nozoreal*.
Verse 7. And talked wUh the woman] ITiai i% < ing marriage; thus forming the espousals.
Verse a Arui ({/ter a time'\ Probably aboid oas as this was the time that goierally elapsed betweoi pousing and wedding.
A marm^btn and Aoitey <n As esnsst] By length of time the flem had been entirely consumed off the bones, and a swarm of bees had formed their combs within iba region of the thorax; — nor vras It an im|Hoper place, nor was the thing unfrequent, if we may credit ancient writers; the carcasses of slam beasts becoming a reeepcncle for wild bees. The beautiftil episode in the fourth Georgie of Virgi^ proves that the aneienu believed that ben might beaugenderedinthebodyofadaadta. See partieulaTfy Geoii^ iv. ver. BSO.
Terse IOl iSsmson mods fiUre a fiaot) "Hte marriags fcaa^ when be went to stany his espoused wife.
11 And H came to paw, wben tiu^ law him, that th^ brongbt thirty eompamoiu to be with hiiD.
12 ^ And 8 am ion aaid unto them, I will now ' put ktrth a riddle unto jou: if ve can certainly deetare icmu ' within theaevendaysoftfaefeast, and find it out. then 1 will give you thirty * Bheets, and thirty ' cntuige of garments:
13 Bui if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye ffive me thirty sheets, and thirty change of Sarmeots. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, tlmt we may hear it.
14 And he said oolo them. Oat of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth BweetneM. And they could not in three dva expound the riddle.
15 And it eame to paaa on tlw serenth day,
VoraaU. 7%^ frrM? JU tttrto MVUMiifoiw] Tlun-an called in Scnpwre Mldrm of At brid»-tkamb«r, and JrUnda ^the bridegroom. Se» the whole of tliii wbject particularly illiuUated in tha obtervations at the end of John, chap. iii. - -
VacaelZ. /tfU/ nowjiu^/trrft aridtfie] Probably thii was one part of the amuwmeota at a tnarriiige feael; each, in his tun, proposuig a riiliU«^ to be aolved by any of the test oa a pameular forfcitt the pwpoeei forfeiting, if sotvad, the aamc wfaioh die essqpa^ nust JbrfUt if uhbj •mid not aolve it.
TVHm theMt\ I hare no doubt that the Arab)»ayk, or ^Ic, IB here meant } a dren in which the nativea of the But wrap teeoBelvea, as a SeottiA highlander does in Us pIdidL la Anatie oountriea ^ dnas scarcely ever that they said unto Samson's wife, i Bntiee thy husband, that he may declare unto us the rid^a, leet we burn thee aoA thy father's house with 6re: have ye ctdted ua i to take that we bare? is it not so 7
16 And Samson's wife wept before him, and said,' *■ Thou dost but bate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of ray people^and hast not told it me. And he said unto her. Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?
17 And she wept before him ■ the seven days, while their feast lasted; and it came to pass oa the seventh day, that be told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people.
16 And the men of the city stud unto hiffl on
It being nearly aanis now that it waa 2000 veanai^ Mr. Jackaon, in hia aeeotmt of dte empire of liorooeo, diui mentkme the Mooriab dreaa; "It resemb)s%" nja he, *'tfaat of the annent patriarchy aa represented in peiniiiga} (but painimga mretakmjnm AtiatU midtk;) (nMof die meneoaaiaUofa rodeap and turban, a (/bta^) dkirt, whidi hanga outside of the dmrois, ■■d asHss dswn below the knee: a (oo/Son.) eoat, vUtit buttons ckwe before, and down to the Mttoan, wim large •MB aleevea; ever which, when they go oat of deon, they umvw careleeaty, and sameiintea elMutly, a hajfk, or flarsaent of white oMton, ailk, or wool, ftre or aix yarda Rtng, and five feet wide. Tbe Araba Mum dt^wnae with oaftan, and even with tha ahtrt, veering nottting bat lha hayfc." When aa Anfc doea not cboooe lo wiap himself in ihe hayk, he throws it over hia left ahoulder, where it hangs till iha weather, dbc ebUges him to wrap it round him. Hie hyke ia eithn mtan or eUgani, according to tbe ^ualiqr of iba eloth, and ol the person who weara it. I have Myaelf aeaD.the aaiivaa ai Fez, with baykea^ or bykea, bath oMant and eoatly. % the ekangtt garmetU*, it ia very ukely that tbe kumfu and c^flon are meant; or, at kaa^ the eafian; but, moat IBcely, both, fbc tbe Hebrew has snn na^n dkoltoatft htgadim. dmogee, or eaooessiaa, ti ganneDta. Sanaoi^ therenn, engaged to gist «r reraise tfatr^ hoj^ttSt and thkty lamjaa mod oo/unc, OB the iaaus of the inleipretatioD or rinii iiillii|i»ilstiisi of llis riddle: these were eomplete awta.
Inatead of airoRg, tha Striae and ArabU have frtttor, 1 bav* oo doubt that (he riddle waa in pottry t sndperhapa the two t>emiati^ above pfeaerve tta order. Tnia waa seareelj a (air riddle; for, unleaa the liw^ to which it refera were known, there ia no rule of interpretati<Hi by whidi it eaokl be found ouL We learn from the Seholiaiat, on ArislOf^anea, Feapci, v. 20. that it waa a coaton anmig the aaeiant Greaka to propoae, at their featiraly what ware called griphoi, y^<#ai, riddlea, eragmaa, or very ofaacure aayinga, both ouriouaand dtfficaU; and to give a recampaosc to ihoae who fmnd them out | which generally cooailed in either a feative crown, or a goUet Aill of wine. Tboae who lailed to aolve them were condemned to drink a lai^ portion of freah water, or of wine mingled with aaa water, which they were compelled to take down at one tei^it, wilhout drawing their nreadi, dieir hands being tied bdaind thsir backs. Sometamea tncy gave the crown to the deity in honour of whom the featinl waa made: and if none eoaU aolve tlM riddlci tbe reward waa given to him who propoaed iL
Of thsaa eaignuMs proposed at Bntertaiamwita, Ac wa have munanm sni^lv in AiBHiuBtM, thi^mimfk^ Uk
X. c. IS. p. 142. edit. Argentorat, and aome of them very liiw thia (A Samson { for example — lliis may be nokea of an enigma and its ixwoser: hs givM bat he diMa not grra dn sense: tha ether ns bat haanotAe meanii^
'Ots AXci Ontrw ni( tmpmrnm aeaaam
Efcrt' «Mf tf f MOW M«9nai» wx/nmir, **'niei« ia a feminine nature, fcaterioff her ohiktres in her bosom; who, although they ore dumb, aend forth a diatioet voice over every wuicin of the earth, and every aeat to whomaoevBT they please. Itispoaaiblefbrthoaewhoara dbaemtohear; and fisr dtoae who are deal| to hear abo.** The relater bringa in Sappho, interpreting it thus:— >
** "Hie nature which ia feminine, aignifiea an epialle; and her children whom ahe beara axe alphabeticaj charaotera: and tbes& being dumb, apeak and give counsal to any, even at a distance; thou^ he who atanda to him who is eilendy reading, heara do voice."
^^Hcto ia aaodier altribuled by tbeaaiaa audwr to 71k«-
AXX' f fuir ytMri wptnmwoffi rrt fMyirra, Kv It fitraif Mf^aii fititpa, yjfuf it rpot ovry Kop^g »at f^yitt% fUi^Mf nXiv fj-ir tivaiTM'. "Neidter doea the nouririiing earth eo bear by nature) DOT the aea; nor ia there among morlaja a like inemaae of parts I ftir, at the period of its birth it tasreateat} bat ID ita middle it la aaall i and in ita old ags, It is BgaiD greater in form and aixe than all." Thia ia spoken of a Aadow. At the riaing of the ann in the east, the ahadow of an object ia projected inimitably acroaa the earth, toward the weat: at noon, if the aun be vertical to that place, tbe ahadow of the object is entirely Joat; at auoaetiing, the ahadow ia projected toward the eaat, aa it waa in tha morning toward the weat. Here ia anodier from the aame author: — Em Konywrtrai jirrai, Igu h ftta rurtt Tq* infw, earq it ruaav' in nirlt rMMVrai. '"Hiereare twoaiatera, dw one of whom begets dtsoihari and ahe who ia begotten produoea her who begat her."
Dm and night mcAvt this enigma. The following 1 have taken from TTieognis: — "Bin fmf ft aaaAsae SsXorrwt «iit»ii Mapar, TAapmc gwy ^yyajwat rrajtan.
Thia dead aeamon ia a conch, or large ahellfiah, of which the poet was about to eat The mouth by whidi it iptdES rigmflea ita being uaed aa a horn f aa it ia well known to produce, when opened at the apinJ end and blown, a very powtfful aound.
Verae 17. And tlu wept btfort him] Not tbrouEb any, knra to him, for it appeara she had none; but to obflga hn panmom; andof thia be soon had amplewoof.
the seventh day, before the sun went down, What i# sweeter than hoiiey? and what it stronger than a lion 1 And he said unto them. If yenad not ploughed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.
19 1[ And "the Spirit ofthe Loan came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and stew thJrtr men of them, and took their " spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the ridole. And his anger was kindled and he went up to hia father's house.
20 But Samson's wife " was given to his companion, whom he had used as >* his friend.
, |ii(n( to lUt bit vifc. flnk txr b«it<ml so uakm, 1.1. Bi!• iOMiMd, TDWt nnnff, ud bom Uie D«a of thr PhiliMkMi 1— A. 'nnj bm Bunu^i wHflMid her [kUicr, & H* is lUll liica«l» nuka a cnAt ^mii|hlfT iinoni Umo, T, 9. The PhibMinH pitbv iBCIhtT uiioM IncTi unl, w ■PIMM lUfn, tin ■HofJndata biod 8mBa,iiD(r<kLinr him IbU Ukb buda, 0-13. Tfa* Spirit of ite Lard cma upsn him i ht Imaki hta bsodc. lab ih* jaw-lHa* wi ■Dd ilBmiifa hlHi > Uou«ud>aa,14-U. He It ncair lail|«d) Md, bsiiig (UntT, God BurmoitaalT woJww waur taa «inl»g of Ua gooml in Lohli ud he li nfniliid,n-UL B> Jadpi Ind io Ultai « UN VUlh-
K am T^UT it came to pass vithin a while i>.Egd.i«.JJ ^er, in the time of wheat har- amoum vest, that Samson visited his ^wife Lotr^» withaludj and he said, I will go in to
VeraelS. ffytkadnat^aaghtdtriA my ke^fer] If my wife had DM beea un&idtAU to my bed, she would ttot have been unfiulhiul to my weret: and you, being har paramoun, your interest was more preciouB to her than that of her hiuband. She hai betrayed me through her attachment Co you.
Calmet has properly remarked, in quoting the Stptuagint, ^ut to fiough with otufa lUiftr, ottoplou^in antthM- man'* ground, are detiealetunwof expeMon, tiaed both by the Ghreeka and Latins, aa wdl as the Hwrev^ to Boint out a wife'i infidelities. *niu8 llieogniB, Gnom. v. 681.— air«lMUarH,Hl«MtMoUiMfMr«iJ. Omt. ULi.Iig. In this sense Samson's words were uDderstood by the S^>tuagitU, by the Syriac, and by Rabbi t^eBi. See BocHAax, Hiennoio, p. 1. lib. iL cuf. 41. eoL 406.
"Rm metaphor was a oommoa one i and we need seek fcr no other interpretation of the words of Samson.
Verse 19. T/u Spirit iff tJu Loan conu upon him\ "The spirit of fortitude from before the Lord." — TarguTJi. He was inspired with unusual courage; and be felt strength proportioned to his wishes.
He—*lew thirly mat— and took their jmfb] He took dteir Ajnte^ their kmi^<u, and caflaiit, ano gave them to the thirty persons who, by nafeir meui^ had solved his ttddle; UKH they had what our verrion calls thirty sheeU, and Ihirlyehanget qfraimtnt. See the note on ver. 12.
Terse 20. But Samam'a wife loa* given to hi» comjMnimi] This was the same kind of perstm who is called the friend of the bridegroom, John iii. 29. And it is very likely that sho loved this perstm better than loved her husband; ud went to him as soon as Samson had gone to his feiher'i bouse at Zocah. She mi^i, however, nave Omu^ herself abandoned by him; and, therefore, took •nMber: tiua appears to have been the persuasion of her father, chap. xv. 2. But her betraying his secret and his interests to his enemies was a full prm>f he was not very dear to her; though, to persuade hun to the contranr, she And many eroeraite tears; see ver. 16. He could not keep fail own secret; and he was fool enough to suppose that another would be more faithful to him than he was to himsdC Hultitudca complain of the treachery of friends betraying their secrets, ae. never considering that they themselves luve beea their first betrayers, in confiding to
2 And her father said, I ' verily thought tbaC thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy ■ companion: is not her younger nater fairer than she 1 • take her, I pray tbee^ instead of her.
3 IT And Samson said concerning them, " Now shall I be more blameless than the Phiustines, thou^ I do them a displeasure.
4. And Samson went and caught three hmdred foxes, and took * firebrands, and toniail tail to tail, and put a firebrand m the midst between two tails.
5 And when he had set the brands on fire^ be let them go into the standing corn of the Philiatinea, and burnt up both tne ahoeks, and alao the standing corn, wHh the vineTarda and olives.
6 Then the Philistines said, Who hath dona this 1 And they answered, Samaon, the son-inlaw of the Timnite, because he had takai hir wifb, and given her to his companion. *And the Philistmea came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.
othnrs what they pretend to wiib should be a secret to tha whole world! If a man never let his secret oat of his own boBMtt, it ii imposiiUe dwt he should ever be beuayad.
Verse 1. Vititad hit i^t vith a kid] On ber batr^- ing Um, he had, no doubt, left ber in great disuse Aiier some time his affeedon appears to uve tetumed; and, taking a kid, or perhaps a /awn, as a present, be gom to make reconciliation, and finds her given to his brioenMai probably the persoD to whom she betrayed his riddle:.
Verse 2. Thmi hadat utteriy bM htr) Am he wm conscious she had given him «reat cause so m do.
Her younger sistor] Hie lather ^>pears to bave beea perfectly sincere in this ofier.
Verse4. Wmt and caught thrtekimdrtd foxm^ 'n^n has been nwAi controvert ctmoeming die "■■g <■( the term o>^>7>v jAud/tm; some supposing it to neaa foxe*, or jaekaU j and others, katui^id, or ehsameo of com. Huch of the force of the objeetions sgaimR ttk common vermioB will be diminished by the foUowng considerations:
2. It is not hinted tet Saaooi csUectid dtan alwsaf be might have onployed sevenl hands in this work.
3. It is not said he collected them all in one day g bs might have employed several day*, aa well aa many persons, to furnish him with these means of vengeanee.
4. In other countries, where lerocioua beasts wetw Um namerous, great multitudes have been exhSiited mt
SyUa, in a publie show to the R«man oiliien exhAiisi on«Aundrs(f Uoos) Cmaarjhitr laindredi ana Pimm^m nearly six kundrtd. Hie emperor /Vote* let loose m the theatre, at one time, ons thatioand ostriches, on* thomeand stags, one Ihoumtd wild boar^ one thoiomtd doe^ and a countless multitude of other wild aaintals: at another time he ezhiUted on« hundred leopards froai Libya, one hundred from Syria, and three kmndrod Wan. See JF^iettM ^pieetu, in the life of JProtue, euk beginning with Uedii Itovumit eHamtoluplatea, Aa
That foxes, or the creature called thuai, were plnity in Judea, is evident, from their frequent mention in 8txi^ ture, and from several places beering th^ name. 1. It appears they were so numerous, t&t even their aahm rumed the vin^ards, see CanL ii. 16. "Pake ut Ikejlunof the Uitlefosee, that epoU our «iiMa. Jeremiah '"—ffriiw that tfae^re«had occupied the mo—lains of Jodea, Lena. V. 18. They are mentioned as nuking ineaivofM into mdoeurtt, Ac Neb. iv. 3. Esekiel compares the rrnmn rous felse mophets to these animals, disp. xiii. 4. Jm Josh. XV. 28. we find a {dace called Hater SUial, lha court of the foxee: and io chap. xix. 42. a place rallnd Shaalobim, " the foxes;" no doubt from the number «f those animals in that district And mentiwi i* made of Aa land nf ^nal, or of the,^, 1 Sam. xiii. 17.
The creature called sJma/ is represented by trKvellen and naturalists who have been in Jodeo, as an s"iwi>l between a wolf and a fox. AusslMtis^ who was ea A* spot, and wnr many of them, calls it the IHH* eamtm-mfmx.
7 ^ And fiamaon nid unto them, Thoo^ ye hsve done this, pet will I be avenged of you, eukI after that I wili cease.
8 Aod he smote them hip and thigh with a Kfeat slaughter: and he went down arfd dwelt U the top of the rock Etam.
9 If Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Jiraah, and spread themselves ' in Leni.
10 And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To ^d Stemson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.,,..
11 Then three thousand men of Judah ' went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are ■ rulers orer us 7 what this thai thou haat done unto ml And he said unto them, As they M unto me, so have I done unto them.
13 And they said uiUo him. We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the PUUstinee. And Samson said unto tbem, Swear unto me, that y« will not &1I upon meyourselvea.
13 And they spake unto him, saying. No; but
Dc Kmnieott, bow«ver, objeett to the common interpretation i and gives reasMML smis of which sr* fw from Ming deatituto of vewht. "Tb» &ra kitndradfaxe^" mtno*, " eaught by siuiuoD, have been w fnquontly um ■object of banter and ri^euJer that we ehould cratsider whether the wordi may not admit a more rational interpMation: for, beaidea the impiobsbiU^ aheiw here from ikamnnber of these yom^ tns um lOMetrf wen is also wyatrwue. If Aeee aainals wsra tied teiJ laU, th^ would probably pull contrary ways, and coneequeDtly scmd still; whereoe a firriirand, tied to the tail of each fox ■sngly, would have been far more likely to answer the p«nmse here imonded. To obviate these diffioutiiea, it has beea well remarked, (hat the word a^fyv thuaiim, here trandoiad/arM, aignifiee alao hand^fid, Ezek. xiii. 19. hand^xU iff barUy, iI we iMve out that one letter i rau, wUieh has been inaerted or omitted elaewhere, almost at risswue. No leea than aacen Hebrew HSS. want that kuer here, and rend ahotUim. AdmiUing thia ver-
MOB, w« see that Samaon took Ihreekttmtred handffuLor a*aagM ^ eom, and otu hundred and ffty ftrdtranda; that he tumed the afaeavea and lo end, and put a firebnnd hsiweea the two enda, in the midst; and then, setting the bnads so flretsent the fire into the sUnding oora or the Philistines. tIh mum word is dow used twice in one ciiaple^ (EzdL zitL 4. and 19.) in the former verse aignityia^jaxa, in the Utter, handaful: and in 1 Kings zx. Jo. where we render it hand^uif it ia aJkunfi, foxea, in ihs Ondc varskML" — Aemorxa on &Uct Panaga. '
The rcsBoning of Dr. Kenniootl, in the firat part of this ctritieiBm has already been answered { other nuis shall be rcasMewd below. Tbaa^ ihsra ve seven nSS, whieh agne in the reading contewded for by Dr. Kennjeott, yet all the seratoiu are on the other side. I see do improDaliiiUr In the common version.
"Pumtd tail lo tml] Had he put a firebrand to each, wUeb Dr. Eenaicott thinks mora reasonable, the ereotuie, ■MlonUy tsnifisd at fira^ would have inatantly token to e&owt and thus the deoign of S&maon would have been frustrated; but tying too of them tofitthtr by tkar tail*, dksy wonld frequently dtwart each other in running, pull hither and dtitner, ud thua moke the greater derastatioo. Had he tied tbem all together, the confusion would have been so great that no execution con Id have been dsns.
Vsrss 6. BvnU Jtsr amid iurfaOt0r\ lUs was probably done to apptaae SontaoD: as they saw he had been unjastly treated both by his wife and her father t therefore they destroyed them both, that they mi^t eeuse his wraifa to easM from them. And this iiraeed aeems intimated in Oh foUowing vsrse: AndSamtmaaidr-'Hioufhyehaot imHUMf ^ wOl I htanmgad layout that is,- 1 am not yetsatisftedi ye have done m great wronn I most bavs propordoBate redress i then I lutll mt sabsacd.
vans 8. Ut imoU lA«m Hp and thiKh.] Thia also is Wiousty understood; but the gensral msoning seems ^oiai he ^>peara to have hod no kind of defieosoe weopQB, ihersfote he was tddiged to grapple with Oisn t aad. aeeoiding to the enstom 9t wrekUra, trip up Otdrfiaf,
we will hind thee fast, and deliver thee into their band: but surely we wili not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.
14 IF And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and * the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him; and the cords that were upou bis arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from ofl' his hatids.
15 And he found a * new jaw-bone of an ass, and put forth his band and took it, and *'alew a thousand men therewith.
16 And Samson said, With the jaw-bime of an aES, * heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
17 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jaw-bone out of his hand,and called that place 'Ramath-IebL
18 And he was sore athirst, and called on the Lomi, and said, * Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and &I1 mto the hand of the uncircumcised?
and then bruiae them to death. Some tranalate Aco^m upon luapai ethera, he rmoU hortenxm and footmen t others, he vxntndtd them from Uuir legt to their thigh*, &e. Ac See the different veraiona. Some think, in their running away from hin, he kicktd them down, and then trod Ihem to ocalb; lhiisnis^orlhig&,wasa^iuR dieir kip.* hence the exwesaion.
TTw top qf the roek Etam.] It ia very likely that this is the same place as that mentioned 1 Chiron, iv. 32. i it was in the tribe of Simeon, and on the bordsrs of Dan; and probably a fortified place.
Vecae lO. "To bind Sammm are w wme up] It aeems they did not wiah to eome to an open rupture widi the Itnraehiea; provided they would deliver up him who was the cause m their diaoatera.
Veree 11. Three thmuand men qf Jadak lemf] Itappeora evidently from ibii that Samaon wss st^»lgly posted; and they inought diat no less than Arts Aensona mm were neeesaary to reduce him.
Verae 12. That ye viU not fall -upon ma youracfvet.] He could not bear the thought of contending with, and slaying hia own countrymen; for there ia no doubt that be could nave as easily rescued himself from their bonds, as from those of the Pniliatinea.
Verse 13. Thoy bound kim wiih two new ospila} Prob* aUr bisAand!* with ones and his wiOt the ottier.
verse 14. When he eanu unto LAi) "Riis was tbs name of the place to whieh they brought him, eidier to Tpat him lo death, or keep him in perpetuol confinement,
Verae 16. £feyimnd(itt«fi>iat0-bona^aaa«a1 Iradier think that the word tenah, which ws translate nete, and the maqfia noiat, shonld be nnderatood sa snniftr^ ibe tabid, xit putrid atate of the oaa from which mis jawbone waa taken. He found there a dead asa, in a state of putrefaction; on vdiich account he could the more ea/uly aeparate the jaw from ita integuments; this was o cirotunetance proper to be reoorded by dte historian, and a mark of the providence of God. But, were we to ooderaiand b of a freth jawbone, very lately separated from the head ofan aas, ifaeeiieumstanoedossaot seem worlby of beiag recorded.
With the Jttuhboneitf an aaa,haapo upon keapa] loai^ not aee the propriety of thia rendwing of the Hebrew words D'n'iDn -non 'ngnn mVa MeeAt AtwAamor, ehamor, Awmoratayim: 1 believe it should be translMed thns:—
This oppeora to have been a triumphal song on dw oeea- •i(M); and die words are vsnously rendered bodl by the vetsions and by expositors.
Verse 17. Ramaa^ML) lite l^ng up, or eaating away, of tha jawbone. Lehi was the name of the plaes b^re; Bam^ waa now added to it here: he if/tad tip tbejow-bane againat hia enemtea, and alew them.
19 But God clare a hollow place that veu ia ^ the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunic, < his Bpirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof ^ En-hakkore, which » in Lehi unto this iaj.
■nBWon oORH to Oual ibfj In mil fuc hua; >« riat Jv alfbl, >b] ouilt* >nr llu dir gMH, t— 3. IVUl* fiilcni wiib DcliUh, f. 1^ lonii a( ih* FhUlMli.M pomln ho dun^ ICtht will ctMiii rnio Sumoa Aa leent In wMch lih •umiili imaiif unto her. i.(»o»3ti 2 And it loaa told the Gmites. saying, Samson is come hither. And they * com-
Verse 19. Chd clave a hollow place that wu in thejaip] frta ifK oxA^r bo^t, " that vai in Lehi i" ihai is, there wu a koUow pl(tc« in ihit Lehi, and God cHused a foontain to ■priikg up in it. BecouM the place was luMov, it was capaole of containing the water that rose up in it, and thus ufberoming a loeU.
En-hakkore] TTie wtU nf the implortr: this name be gave to the spot where the watar roa& in order to perpetuate the bouDQr of God in affording bin this muaoalous
^ideft is *R I^Ai unto thi» doy,\ Conwquoitly not itt thaiow-Aone of Hit an; a most untbrtunale reodering.
Verse 20. He judged braei—itDtnty yeara.'\ In the nuu^n it is said, Ht eeema to havt judged toulhwut laraef during heenty yeara qf th«ir tercUude qf th» Pkifiififus, chfip xiii.l. Instead of niv D^»p d«rim sAoaoA, "twenty years," the Jerusalem Talmud has mo o^aw arbAim, ahanak, "forty years;" but this reading is not ac- Imowledged by any MS. ot version. According to Calmet, the twenty years of the judicature of Samson began the eighteenth vear of the sulgsetioa of Israel to the Philistines \ and these twenty yean aie included in the jndicaiure of the high prieat Eli.
TfU miming of the Philistines' eora by the means of fazes and firebrands, is a very remarkable circumstance; eiul there is a story told by Ovid, in ihe 4th book of his F\isti, that bears a striking similitude to thisi and ts mppoaed by some learned men to allnde to Samton and hia foxa. The poet is at a loss to aeoount this custom; out brings in an old man of Corseolam, with what must hue appeared to himself a very unaatisfaetoty aolntien. The paesege begins as foUows: —
The substance of the whole account, which is too long to ba traDeeribed, is this: it was a custom in Rome, celebrUed in the month of April, to let loose a number ot/oxia in the oiroas, mth lighted flambeaux on thnrbaokai and the Roman people took pleaeure in seeing these aainala run eboul till roasted to death 1^ the flames with which they were envdoped. Hie poet wishes to know what the origin of this oastom was; uid is thus informed by an old man of the diy of Cairseolum: " A frolicksome young lad, about ten years of Bge, found a fox near a thicket, who hod stolen away many fowls from the neigMiourtng roosts. Having •avuoped nia body with higr and straw, he set it on fire, and let the fox loose. TTie animal, in order to avoid the flames, took to die standinx oom which was then ready for the sickle; and the wind driving the flames with double violence, the crops were every -when consumed. Hou^ ttas transaetion ia long since gone by, tlte ooramemomdon of it sdll remains; for, by a law of this city, every fox that is adun is burnt to dmth. Urns the nation awards lo the fosse the punishment of being burnt olive, for the deatruction of the ripe com formerly occasioned by one of theae
Both Strrariut end Boehart rejeet tlits origin of Ihe custom givra by Ovidi and inaat that the ouaWm took its rise from the burning of the Philistinee* oom by Samaoa'a foaes. IIm origtn ascribed to tba eustom by the' Ckneo- Uan, d)sy oonsider as too frivoloua and uninmoriant to be passed kim In, and laid wait for him aH lught in the gate of the city, and were * quiet d th« night, saying. In the moraiogrWhenitiBday, wa shall kill him.
3 And Samson lay tBI midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went awsy with them, 3 bar and aU, and put'fA«fn upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of a hill that tif before Hebron.
4 IT And it came to pass aflerward, that ha loved a woman ' in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
5 And the lords of the Philistines came ap uoito her, and said unto her, *Entice him, ana see wherein bis great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against htm, that we may bind him to > afilia him; and we witt give thee, every one of us, eleven hundred pieeet of silver.
6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray
observation does not accord with the time of harxut about Rome, and in Italy; but it perfecdy accords with the time of harvest in Palestine, which was at least as esriy as April. Not does the circumstance of the fox wraffeJ in hay, which being set on fire, and he let looac^ bev mf proaer reaembknce to the foxes let loose in the ebsni^ witn bumii^ brands oa their ba^s^
These learned men, therefore, conclude, that it is nwulk more natural to suppose that the Romans derived the eu»- torn fi^ Judea: wnere, probably, the burning of the Philistines? com mi^t, for aooM time, have been annually commemorated.
The whole account ts eertunly very stngnlar; anl hm not a very satisfactory solutioa u the old mai^s tale, nn r^ted by the Roman poeL
All public institutions have had tbeir origin in^ocfsf and i^ through the lapse of time, or loss of recorda the original boisM loeti we may legitinalehr look for then in cases wfane ifaero is so nesr a fesenUsnee ss in that above.
Verse 1, TAm wnt Savuoi to QtuM, and saw Ocrw a harlot} The Chaldee, as in the former case, render the clause thus c Sammm taw Asrc a woman, a$t imn^ knptr: periiaps the word rum zonah is to be talren hers itt iu (fou&M sense I one who ke«M a bouee for Ihe entenaiament of travellers, and who ateo pcoedmtas her poraoa.
Gaza was situated near the Medjterrmaeaa aea, mai wm one of the most souihem cities of Palestine. It baa beea supposed by some to have derived its name from the trtamra deposited ihm by Cambyses, king of the Peraians; because, they say, Ctaza, in Pertiav, si^ifiea treasars; so Pomponius Mela, and others. But it is more likely to be a Hebrew word, and diis city to hare derived its nsinck nnip a^aiha, from rwy osoA, sHengtb) it being a strong or well -fortified place.
The Hebrew p atn, in this word, is, W ttte S^tuagimt, the Arobtc, and the Vulgate, rendered O; bence^ inslijad of ^oAo, with a eir(ugguttuiral breathing, w« have Omxa^ a name hr wfaidi this town oould notbe reeognised by na ancient Hrtrew.
Verse2. T^nr ocni^aassif him tn] They diut up all the avenues, secured the gatea, and set persons in anmiik near them, that they mi^t attaek him on his leaving the ci^ early the next morning.
Verse 1 Took Ou doart qf A4 gate] Though Saaaaoa was a very strong man, yet we do not find thathewMn riant t eoneequently, we may csDjaetare that dw gmie» of the iri^ were not very luge, as he todt at oaee die dpon^ the tw pooU, and me bar with him. llie nKse at ihom days woold ^ipoar to diadvaatsge smong aodsm wU^ lagtMt
A klll~~be/or4 BAnm] Possibly there were two Habroos; it could not be the diy generally undentood tn* word Hcbnm, as that was about twenty miles distant trooi Oesa; unless we suppose dwt p'^an at p««y C3Utron, is to be understood of the road leading to A&rcst. Hecorriod all to the top of diat hill '«dud!i was on the roftd leading to Hebron.
Verse 4. Bt hmd a wman ia Vu 9atUfef Sbrdt) SonM think Sanson took this woman for his viji; otfaer^ thathehadbernsaeencubins. Itqipearsriawna nm. listtne; and, however BtrOf^ hit love was for hCT.aheaeeM to hn»a hsd Bons for hfan. Hs shn^ aatdad iKugt^ thee, wherein thy ereat Btren^h Heth, and wherewith thou nuchtest be bonnd to afflict
7 And Sameon said unto her. If they bind me with seven "green "withes that were never dried, then shSl I be weak, and be as * another inan.
S Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withea which had not been dried, and she bound htm with them.
9 Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto The Pliilistines be upon thee, Samson.
And he brake the withes, as a thread of tow is broken when it ■ toucheth the fire. So bis Btreneth was not known.
10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou haat mocked me, and told me lies: now tell tae, I pray thee, n^erewith thou mi^htest be bound.
11 And he said nnto her, If thou bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then gh^H I be weak, and be as another man.
12 DelUah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him. The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were IJers in wait abiding in the chamber. And be brake them off his arms like a thread.
13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou haat mocked me. and told me Hes: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he
perly; and he was curted in all hii matches Where the valit^, or brook, of Sorek vas, ia not easy to be ascertained. EuKbius and Jerom say, it lay aouihward of EleutJuropolU — but where was EleutberopoltB? Ancient writers take all their measurements from this city { but, as it ia nowhere mentioned in the Scripturea, il ia impossible to &X its flation, for we know not ita ancient name.
Vene S. Se» lAtntn kU great atrmgth liedi] They Mw that his atatura was not remarkable, and thau nevertheless, he had moat extraordinary strength; therefore they, nuposed that it was the effect of some charm, or amultL The lords of the Philistines were the five following: Gaza. Gaih, Askelon, Ekron, and Ashdod. AJl these considered SamaoQ as a public enemy; and they promise this bad woman a laige sum of money if ahe will obtain from bim the iopmlaBt SBcrat ^larnn hit strength lay, that, depiiving Um of this wupematanU power, ^bej might be able to reduce him to boiidage.
Verse 7. S evert great viitka] That is, any kind of jiiaiU, bmgh wood, twisted in the form of a cord, or rope. Such are gaed 1d~ many countriea formed out of otUr; ia*U, iuD. Aad is Ireland, very long and atrong ropea are made of dte Jbres qf bog wood, or the larger rootj of the fir, wtudt ia often disgeaup in the bogs, or mM*ev>f that country. But the Septaagint, by tranalattng the Hebrew tvrtt tyvei yetherim, ladiim bv rtvpats iypait, and (he VuigaU by nervUeit Jitnibut, unaerslaad these bonds to ho cords maiUqft}unerte»i^<aUU J or perhaps rather out ofraubida: ttut also makeaea exceeding atrong cord. In aone countries (hey lake the skin of the horae, cut it lengthwise from the aide into ihoaga about two inchea broad; and, after having laid them in salt for some time^ take theaa out for naa. Hiis practice ia frequent in (he oountiy parU of Ireland; aad bodt customs, the wooden cord, wn that made of the raw or green hide, are among the moat ancient perhaps in the world. Among (he Irish peaaaatry (hia latter species of cord ia called the tug; aad w chiefly uaed for agiicultural purposes; particularly for (bawing the ptoxgk and the harrov, itiatead of the iron douu used in other countries.
Verae 9. Mat lying in wait] "Hiey probably did not appear, aa Samson immediately broke his bonds wlien thta bad woman said, T/u Philitttna be upon ttite.
Verse 11. ff^ meybindma/iutwitk new ropeg) Samson wiahoa to keep up the opinion which the Philistinea held: tint hia mighty strength waa the effect of some charm; and therefore he says, Seven green viiiKea whidt had not ftaca dried; new rope* thai were neter occupied; weaee lha leven looka <if my hair icUh the web, &c. the green witbe% tlie neia ropes, aad the Dumtwr aeven, are such mtlara aa would naturally be expected in a charm or *pM.
Versa 13. 7%a aeten loeka nfmy keatf] Probably Samson had bis low luir plaited into tawau divitima; and, aa Us T9ir of a nasariH obliged Him to wmp Ma nofr, ao
BBid unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.
14 And she fastened it with the pin, and saiA 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.
15 If And she said unto him, ■ How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart ia not with me7 thou haat mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy fcreat strength lieth.