16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, ao that his soul was ■ vexed unto death,
17 That he "told her all his heart, and said unto her, ' There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shatt become weak, ana be like any other man.
18 And when Denlah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath showed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.
19 And she made him sleep upon her knees: and she called for a man, and caused him to shave off the seven locks of nis head; and she began to afflicthim, and his stren^h wentfiromfaim.
20 And she said, The PhilistiDes be upon
■even being a number of perfection among the Hebrew^ his hair being divided into eeven locJce, might more pai^ ticularly point out the pe/fectlon designed byoia iSfaaarifc aiate.
Every person must see that this verae enda abruptly, and doea not contain a lull aense. Houbi^ant haa particularly noticed this, and corrected the text from the Septuagint, the readmg of which I shall here subjoin: Ew e^oi'iK rat Iwra atipaf rqi «tf oXqf fiov m> nj* Itma/tart, arai cyitpovnt; Tif vatraaXu ci{ rew reixQW, 'Bi tfa/tai Itt lit rcov ovdpujrur ovSt»ns' l^ai i)^(T« t¥ Tb) jc«ifia»Sai enrov, koi t\affi&aX.i3a ras Iwra attpas rqf H^a>qt avrov, xai ifarti' n riy itaofian, Kot nrjifiv no waaaaXif tis m rAivov— If diou ahalt weave the seven locka of my head with die web, and AaU fatten than with the pin in the wall, I sAoU become wcm, Hkt other man: vid to it waa. that, when he atq^, DaHda took the aevm loeka nf hia heady and wove them with the web, andjaalentd it with the pin to the wall, and said unto him, &c All tlie words printed here in italic, ara wanting in thie present Hebrew copiea; but are preaenred in ititS^tuagint, and are moat obviously necesaary to complete the aense: else Delilah appears to do ■omeibing that ahe ia not ordered to do^ end to omit what she waa commanded.
Verse 16..^aoiUwuresedwdodeiaOi] Whataeon> Bummate/oo{ waa thie atrong man I Higiit he not have seen, from what already took place, that Delilah intended his ruini After (rifling with her, and lyine thrice, he at last commits to her hia fatal secret; and uiua became a trutor to himael^ uwl to hia Ood. Well may we adopt the aensible obaervation of Calmet on this passage: — La foibleaae 4u cceur da Samaon, dana tauta eetteniatoire, eat encore jptuMetmnanieqiue la force daaoneorpa, "7^ weakness of Samaon's heart, in the whole of thta hiatory, is yet more astoniahing than the atrength of his body."
Verse 17. J(flbe ahaten, then my atrength will gofivm nie] Hie mu^culoua strength of Samson must not be supposed to reside either in hia Aoir, or in hia muaeUa; tut in that relation in which he stood lo Ood, aa a Nazaritai audi a person being bound, by a solemn vow, to walk In a strict eooformity to the taws of hia Haker. It was a part of the Nazarite's vow to permit no rasor to pass on his head t and his long hair waa the mark of his Nazareate, and of hia vow to God. When Samaon permitted his hair 10 be ahom ofi| be renounced and broke hia Naxar vow I in etawequenee of which Ood abandoned him t and, therefore, we are told, in ver. 30. that the Lord waa departed from Aim,
Verae 19. iSAe bagan to affiixt Aim] She had probably tied hia hands, alily, while he waa aalaep t and after hav. ing cut off hu hair, ahe beg^n to innilt nim, before aba caUed the Pfailiatinas, to try whether he were really reduced to a Btats of weakness. Finding be oould not dls* engage hiauel( she called the FhilisUimj and ha, being thee, SamBon. And he awoke out of hi* «leep, and said, I will eo out as at other timeB before, and shake tnyselt' And he, wist not thai the Lord * was departed from him.
21 If But the Fhilistioes took him, and '' put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bouno him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prieon-houee.
22 Howbeit the hair of hia head began to grow again, < aAer he was shaven.
23 il Then the lords of the Philistines gather- Ad them together for to offer a great sacrifice nnto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they Mud; Our god hath delivered Samson our enemr into our hand.
S4 And when the peojde saw him, thev ^ praised their god; fbr they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, t which slew many of us.
25 And it came to pass, when their hearts vere ' merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison-house; and he I made them sport: and they set hira between the pillars.
26 IT And Samson acid unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the
slormed, rou up, thinkiae he could exert biniBelf as before, mad ihaiie himself; i. e. aisengage biaueir from hia)x»ida and hii eneniea; — but ht tr>i*t net Ikat tha Lord teat <Ufarted JroM him; for, u Delilah bad cut off hia looka vhila he vm atUep, he had not yet peroeived that they were gone.
Vena 21. Pui mU kU eye*] Tbue waa the luat of the C7e, in lookiDg after, and gazing On itraDKe women, puniahed. Am the Philieiioes did not knov that hia itrength mi^t not return, they put out hia eyes, that be might oerer be able to plan any enterprise againaC ihem.
He did grinain tlu priwn-Aouae.] Before the invention of icind and wator-mills, the grain vras at firat bruised between two atonee; afterward ground in kajid-milU. Thia is pracuaed in China, and in different parts of the Eaat, Btill; and uomm and alavet are the persone who are t^liged to turn these mills.
Such instrumenta were anciently uaed in this country, and called qiurnt, from the Angto-Sazon Dpoopn, and Infjm, Cioeom, and Cuyrrt, which has the aignification ofi^mUl; hence DpeojiQ rt:aii, Cweorns^in, 4 millalone: Mid as guem eoKnyw die notion of grinding, hence If7«ojmt:e&, CmomUUi, lha dtntet mWare*, or grinder*, in the jaws of animate. Tbii olause of the verae it thus traoslatiBd in the Saxon Octateueh: — Ant> Ba Phlllrcel Sepenjon hlne pona — ~i xetebbon hine ape j — Co heojia bljilX. 1 cm cpeantie^B belucon-becon htne zJ^n^an bC Hiria hanbcptrma. "And the Philiatinea laid their faagik (seised) him soon, and led him away to their burrh, (fitft) and shut bim up in prison, and made bim grintf at uietr hand-querru?' So late as half a century ago, I bare seen these qwm» or hand-milla in Sitae lungdoma.
Verse 22. TAa hair kia head began to grow again] And may we not auppoae that, sensible or hia sin and folly, he renewed hia Naxar vow to the Lord; in e<Mnaequence of which his supernatural aCrength was amnreatorad?
Verse 23. Unto Dagon thair godl X>ic3onu Siculua deacnbea dietr god thus: T« /wr wf4»wwop mi yumtutt, ra 8 «XXa ««/!■ mr ncffafc. "It had die bead of a woman, bat all die rest of the body resembled a fiah." Dagon waa called Deretio amone the heathena.
Horace, in the following piece, especially in the third %ai Jourlh, linea, seems to have in view the image of Dagon.
"^T.^ -^"^ ^bmaon, Oiat he may make us aport.] What the auort waa we cannot tell j probably it WM an exhibition of hia prodigious strength, ftiia seema to.to mtimaied by what » aaid, w. W. of the rastoiation « Ha AoiTf sod the exertions irtuoh he was obliged to
27 Now the houee was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines vtre there: and there were upon the " roof abotit three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.
23 And Samson called unto the Loan, and said, O LoHD God, " remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O Qpd, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the bouse stood, and,'oo which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with hie left.
30 And Samson said, Let pme die wiUi Philistines. And he bowed bunself with all hit mi^ht; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that vere therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. ' _
31 Then his brethren and all the house of hie father came down, and,took him, and broti^t him up, and buried him between Zorah and Kshtaol, in the burying-place of Manoah hi* mther. And he judged lisrael twenty years.
make will account for tlie wearineaa which gave him the pretence to ask for leave to lean againat Bit piilar*. Some think be was brought out to be a laugkxMg-^oek i and that he waa variousTy inavUed by the Phuistioes: hence the version of the Septuagint, <ai upsnCar avrw, and they buff'eled him. Josephus, Antiq. Jud. liD. v. e. &. s. 12. says, He vaa brought out, irt^ mfifmmv cvrav wapa Tw wnv, that they might inmlt him tn thtir aipOL Verae 27. Noa the nouse wa* full o/" men] It waa either the prison-house, house of aaaembly, or a ianmla of Dagon, raised on pillars, open on all aidea, and vttroofed, ao that it could accommodau a multitude of peo|d« on the top.
Verae 28. Samaon eaiUd unto tt* Lord] It waa jn oonae^uence of hii/afft in God, thatheahonla be straHthened to overthrow bis enemiMS and the enemiea oihia country, that he ia mentioned, Heb. xi. among those who were remarkable for (heir Jatlh.
Verse 29. Tfie ttBo middle piUara upon whith 0km houae atoodl Much learned labour has been lost on Am attempt to prove, that a building like thia might stand on two pillars. But what need oTthis? There mi^ haro been as many pjlbin here, as were in the temple of Diana, at EpheauB; and yet the two centre i^Dan be the kev ^ the building: these being once pulled down, die wiiols house would neceasarily lall.
Verse 30. So the dead iMA Ae «&w] We are infoRBcd that the house vtmfuUt^ mm andiaemati and sbcMi threa thouaand of both sexes <m the top: now, as tfas whole houae was ptdled downj eonseqaendy, ihe' principal part of all these wu slain; sod among Oiem we find there were the lords cf the.PMOsAnes. The death of these, with ao many of the inferior chiefs of the petmle, waa such a crush to the Philistine ascendancy, diat tney troubled Israel no more for several years;' and did not even attempt to hinder Samson's relatives firoifi fWng away and Inirying his dead body.
Verse 31. He fudged hraet twenty years.] It is diO* cult to aaeenain the time of Samson's magistracy, mxti dw extent of coimtry over which he presided. His juriarfiotion seema to have been very Hmitw; and to have extended no farther than over thoae parte of the triba qf Don contiguoua to die land of the Philistines. Han ia wbat our margin intimaUa on ver. 20. of chap. zv. Many suppose toot both he and EU were contemporaries; Samson being rather an executor Oie divine jxtatie^ upon the enemiea of hia people, than an admininrator of the civil and religioua lawa of the Hebrewa. AUffwii^ Eli and Samaon to have been contempotariea, diia Utter pswt might have been entirely committed to the care of Eli.
1. Samson does not wpear to turn left any posterity, Hia amours widi the dininent women mentaOMd ia mm hiatory were nnproductjve as to tssce: had he mwrie^ according to the laws of his country, he voold have ' bodi a more usefiiL and • more iu,p^ man; and not 1 come to a violent death.
2. We seldom find mudi mania/ tntrgy'iwtBias in a body th«t in aixa and butt greatly aairasses the < iMnMH^ tre Mldom find propMtioiwta moral faettUut. nmson waa a man of a WtUt mind, a Blave to his pasliini and the \rretehed dupe of his nuotreeaes. He was Mt a grtal, though he was a atrong man; and even his atuseiuar fwM would have been lost or spent in beaiii)| flu air, had h« not been frequently under the impulse of Iba Dl^nc Spirit. Ho often got oimself into broils and diflSculties, firom which nothing but supernatural interpoution could have saved him. His attacks upon the Pnilistines were never imU planned^ as he does not appear to have aaked counsel from Qod: indeed, he seems to have oonsulted nothing lut his own passions; particularly those ot iaor^nate love and revenue; and the kist effort of his ertraordiniuy strength was not to avenge hi* pot^e for the oppressions which they liad Buffered andor the Fhilisliiuan yoke, or to avenge die quarrel of God's covenant Mninat the enemiae of his truth 1 but to be oMn^r^^'^ nilUtinetXor Hu lou nf hia two et/ea.
3. Samson is a solemn proof how litde corporeal prtne- SM avoili^ viitnJudgmaU aad prudence are wanting; and how dangerous all sucfa gifts ore in the bands of any umOf who has not his passions undar proper disdpliiK^ and the MOT of God coniinuallf before his ^res.
4. A paraild has been often drawn between Samson and our blessed Lord, of whom he has been supposed to be a iisosf iUtutriouM type. By a fruitfiil imagination, aad the torture of words and beta, we may force resemblances every vbm t but that oot one will naturally result from a cool oomporisOQ between Jesns Christ 'and Samson, is most demoostrablo. A more exceptionable character is not to be found in the Sacred Oracles. It ia no small dishonour to Chriatto be thus compared. There is no resemblance in the mtaiUieM Samson's mind, there is none in his moral conauci, that can entide him even to the most distant comp^ieon with the chaste, holy, benevolent, and immaculate Jesus. That muk dUiDDoun ue law of unchangeable righteousoesa, who endeavours to make Samaona type of any thing or peraon that can be called holy, just, and pure.
a. Those who compare him lo&mi^, have been more soecssafiil. Indeed, the heuhen god of strength appears to baw been bomwad from the laraelitish judge: but if we tegard what iaealled the CAoice^ l&rcu!ei^ his preference oTvirhu 10 pUamirti we shall find that the heathen is, BioraUy speaking vaadj niperimr lodw Jew. M. DeLa- •OHT, mhis CoKfimutddlaJPaMtataeCHMiireSamte, has tiaoed the parallel between Herculea and Samson in Ae following auuuier, of which what follows isonabridged, but literal traoaladon. It is taken from vol. it page 1, <&& of the above curious work.
"Hsrculel was figured by the poets as supernatural, botli in hia.binh.aDd actions; arid was, durefore, received by d>e pei^>l« as a god of the first order. They attributed to him the atraelea wrought by eeveral illuatrious chiefs among dM people of Ood, which (bey found described in the Sacred Oraelea, more oncieat than their most ancient accounts; or wiiich tb^ had learned by traditicm, aad their commerce with the Beyptiana and Phtanicion^ who were ip«ad through various countries^ but particularly in Oreaee. It ia also to die time of these chiefs, and to the government of the Israelites by their judges, that the heroes and gnuKl avenia of bUe owe their origin; to which dme, indeed diev are referred by the oiHnmoneoiiaent of authcoa, soared ana profane.
" BvOTjr aocient nation, which bad wrftera who left mon- UMii of their eoturtry'agkiiy, hadji Hercules of its owik, fiMMd oo the Mote plan. Varro reokona ntore than forty, -aMCioero reekoaasix. (Book iii. De NaturA Deorum.)
" Herodotus (book ii. entitled Suterpe) only speaks ot ifaaEKTptian and Greek Hercules. Althmi^ a Greek himself ma father of history, as Cicero calls nim, who lived AeaeoMOtof any of these writers to the period he describes, iaJbnaa us, that Greece had borrowed its Hercules from Sgnti aod that Araphitryoo, his fether, and Ahunena, his OMMbtf, ware both Egyptians I so that, notwithstanding the desire tha Greeks hod to make Hercules a native of ineir eooooy, they oould not eoneeal his origin, which was either Bgntian or Hebrew; for the Greeks and Phosnieians Mm upon die Isnelites,. who were setded in Cojumui, or WwMwei^aiBgyptiansi whose aaoestMs. after residing in Emt some eeoturiea, had certainly come from thatoountrr.
^IL Jaqoelot, inhis* 7Vea^ontt«e;rwfsnM^ Ood,' belima that the Tynan Hercules, who was die most meieuL was no other dioo Joahua. But Sl Aoguatin (cUj/ ^ Ood, book xviii. c 19.) bos made it ^ipear diat it was •mr Samson (beoaaae of his pro^gious aioa iiwomparable Mnagdi) that diey forged dwir ffifeulea: first in ^lypL nerwonl in Phcenieia, and, laatbr, in Greece i eadi of whose writers baa tinited in hin all the minwuloiiaaetioiM •TAoedMHi IftAoi, U oppaan that SaaiMi^ jiidgo of the Israslltes, from about A. M. 2967 to 2887, ceMnvted in the Book of Judges, and mentioiMd by Josephos, in bis hi» toiT, IS the original and essential Hercules of &ble; and althou^ tbepoets have united these several oarticular^ drawn from Moees and Joshua, and have addea their own inventions j vet the most capital and considerable belong to Samson, ana.are distioguised by characters so peculiar to him, as to render him easDy discerned throug^unu iba whole.
"In Hebrew, the name of Samson pror aignifles the eun, and in Syriac (servitium vel minislerium ejus) mbjection to tome ones tervitude. Macrobiua aa3r8, that tha name of Hercules si^ifies only die sun,* for he adda, in Greek, Heracles means, itiethe glory qf the air; or, light of lAe sun. The Greeks and Egyptians have exaoly followed the Syriae eigaifieation, by imposii^ on dielr Hm>> culea, during the whole ot his life, a subjection to Euryatheua in all hia exploita, and who appoint«l him hie fiimoua enterpriaes. Hus neceaaiiy they attribute to &te, and the law <H hia birth. Having spoken of hia name, we wil^nov examine ihe circumstances of his birth, as mentiotiedia tha Sacred Writingi^ Judgeach. ziii. and in die History (rf tha Jews; ch. X.
" Manoab, of the tribe of Dan, had married a womaa who was barren, which led them to pra^ eameatly that tha Lord would bless them with an ofispnng. One day, this woman being alone, an aiwel appeond to her, and told her be was sent Go<d to inRirin her she should have a aoa, of tha most extraordinai; strength, who was to raise tha glory of dteir nation, and to humble their enemies. Upon the arrival of her hurtiand, she imparted to him the message and discourse of the angel. Some time after, this heavenly messenger showed hunself to them both, as diey were in the house together; and ascended to heaven in their sight) after bavmg confirmed the promises made before to the woman, who aooo afUo* became prt^aao^ and wb% in due dme, deli-rared of Samson.
" The singular birth of Hercules in faUey ia similar the above account, with the trifliiu; olCeraUon, taken from the ideas the poets entertained of their eods. Amc^tiyon, the most considerafale person, and the onief of the Theban^ had married Alcmena, whom be loved to diatraction, but hea not any children by bsr. Jupiter, desirous of making her dte DuMher of Hercules, repaired to Alcmena one ni^t, io the absence, and under die figture of her husband. On Amphitryon's return, bis wife said dw had seen him before, on such a nigh^ mentioning the vint she had received- Aniphitryon, tran^wrted wiut jealousy, and enraged with bis wife, whatever good opinion he might entertain of her virtue, would neither be appeased nor consoled, till Jupiter appealed to vindicate her conduct: aad, in order to convioea Amphitryon of his beiiw a god, visibly ascended up to heaven, after informing him, that he alone had visited Alcmena; assuring him of her virtue, and promising him a son, who was to be distinguished for his strength; whose glory was to confer honmir on his race and foixulyi who was to humble dieir enemies t ood who, finally, was to be immonaL
"Tbt Spirit of God, with which Samson was from Iba very firM endowed, oaused him, even in hia youth, to effect prodigies of strength. He once met with a ftirious Iton, which attacked him: Samson, then unarmed, immediately rent the lion in pieces, as if it had been a lamb; aad resolving to revenge himself upon the Philistines, who had grievously afflicted the diildren of Israel, be slew vast numbers of them at different tunes) weakened. diem ezceesivelyt and thus began todeliverlsraeloutofdtebaiMs of their enemiea, as die angel had predicted.
"Fable, likewise, causes Hercules to perform exploits requiring prodigious stmigth; but, as iu exomrations are beytmd all bounds, it attributes to him, while still an infont, the stranglkig enormous serpents, which fell upon hin in hta oiadle; wid tha first and most illustrious exploit of hie youdi was, die defeat af a terrible lion in the K»- mmm forest, which he slaw, without the help of any weapon of defisiee: die skin of this lion he afterward woraoa a garment. He likewise formed and executed tha design of deliveriDg his country from the mannic oppreaaioa of the Mjrrmi£»w. We ought not to be surprised that fable, which disfigures so many events, by transfiHining diem to its fency, has altered the other adventures of Samsmi; that it has added to them others of its own invention;' that it attributes to him the actions of other chiefe and heroes; and ascribes some of the performances of Samson to ether persons than Hercules j for this reason we find die account of the foxes SanisoD caogbt and tied by the tail pnaerved indeed, but ttanaferred to aoodier ootintry.
" Fable then borrows, in &Tour of our bero^ Hereulea, dia miraelenrtkieh Ood wfovultt for Joshua, when be asi^id tfaa^SihtCBilaiitahwtdwflvekiMioflheABaeritaai wbin
CHAPTKR XVa
Sitt i** A there was a man of mount JUL. uioi br. x\. Ephraim, whose Dame teas Micab.
AiH^Ma 2 And he said unto his mother, The i.oiir»-p-ca eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from ^ee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, ' Bleesed be thou of the Lord, my son. 3 And when he had restored the eleven huii<
said, I had wht^v dedicated the silver unto lha LoBD from my hand, for my eon, to 'make a graven image and a molten ima^; now therefore I will restore it unto thee.
4 Yet he restored the money nnto his mother: and hia mother > took two hundred shekels of flilver, and gave them to.the founder, who made thereof a graven imnga and a molten imace; and they were in the house of MiciUi.
5 H And the man Micah had a ho\ise or godi, and made an ' " ephod, and * teraphim, and ' consecrated one of. hia sons, who became his priest.
the Lord caat down grest itones tipon them from hMTcn, •0 that more of thoK who fled from the laraeliteB periahed liy the htt^ than did by Uie sword. In imituioa of ihii imracle, fikble lan (Pliny, book iiUe. 4. Pompoohu Mela, Da Situ Orbit, lib. ii. e. M that when Hercules wai engaged in a combat with the Liguriani, Jupiter aMisted him by Bending him a rt\ower of Hones. The quantity of stones which are still to be seen on the pUuna of Crau, (called the ancients Can^ Lapidei) in Provenee, has oooaaioned Oie poets to consider this plaoe as the theatre of the above miracle.
"The jaw-bone of the ass, rendered so tunoos, from Samson having slain one tlMusand Philistines with it, has been changed for the celebrated club of Heroules, with which he defeated giants, and slew the many enemies which opposed him. The aimiluHty of the Greek words x'fpt, and XMfitv, may have given rise to this alteration; eorrt, signi^ng^aw, and cormnS, a mace, or elttb. The change of one of these words for theother is not difficult; especially as it ■eemed more suitable to arm Hercules with a club, than with the jaw-bone of an ass. But fable has, however, more drarly preserved the miracle of the spring of water that Ood produced in this bone, to preserve Samson from perishing with thirst, alter die defeat of the Philistines; for it relates, that when Hercules had slain the dragon that guarded the golden apples in the garden of the Heaperides, nnd he wasin danger of perishing with thirst in the scorching deserts of Libjra, the gods caused a fountain to issue from a rock he struck with his foot, Apol. book zxxvi. of Argonauts, ver. 1446.
"The extraordinary strength of Samson was accompanied with a constant and surprising weakness e fijchialove for women. These two charaetenstice compose hia histcn^, and are equally conspicuous throughout the whole of bia life: the latter, however, predominated; and, after having fiwjuently exptued him lo-danger, at length completed his loin. Fable has not omitted this charactaristio weakness in iu Hercules: in htm this passion was excited by every woman diat presentedherself lohisview; it led him to the performanea of many base actions I and, after precipitating Mm into several dangers^ at length nut aa ma to his mtsetablaexistenee. Sanuon, who well anew thathis strength depended npan the preservation of his hair, was so impnideot aa to impart this secret to Delilah, his mistress. This woman, whose sola desien in importuning him, was to betray him, cut his hair on while aslsap, and delivered him, (hua deprived of all his strength, into the liands of the niilistiDes, who took from him both his liberty and eye^ght, abd treated him as the vilest and most wrelebed of slaves. TVatHtion, which spoils and disfigures the aiieient hisbnies, and those of distant countries, has transferred this advenmre to Nisna, king of Hegara, end hia daughter Scylla. Megara was also the name of one of Hercuier wives, the dsuj^ter of Cretm, king ot Thebes. The name of Scylla is taken from the crime and impiety of the daughter of Ntsus, from the Greek verb eeXsu, swoo, which signifies to rob, or atrip vilk impUtf. The destiny or welfire of Nisus depended on the preservation of a lock of purple hair, which grew on his head. Scylta, having ooooeived «n eJTection for Minos, who was at that time besieging the euital of her father's kingdom, betrayed her parent; cut vm this lock of purple hair while he was asleep; and dellvered him into the hands of his enemy. Nisus lost both his senses and hia life; and, according to f^le, was changed into a bird. — OetdL Mei. U 8.
" But the most remarkable and striking event in the history of Samson, is that by which he lost his me. The Philistines, when offering solemn sacrifices to their god, by way <rf thanksgiving for hia haviu delivered into UMir bandstheir formidule enemy, caused Samson to be brought out of pnson,inordertomaksalM^ing-atoek<rffaim. 8aBasan,as tbou^ wishing to resthimse]Cr»(|<mt«l hiseonduelanto 1st bin leaaagainitdiepillanVhiebmnMrtoddtstsmidSi which was at that time filled with a great multitude of persons, among whom were many princea of the Philistines. Samson then, invoking die Lord, and exerting all his strength, which was returning vidi ibe groaih a bin hair, laid hold of the fHllarswith both htBhanda,anddMalc them so violently ns to pull the building down upon iha whole multitude Uier«in asBcmbled. Tly this fatal catastrophe Samson killed agreater number of Philisliiws tbaii he bed done during his me.
" Fable and tradition could not clfaoe this event in copy of Samson, which is Hercules. Herodotus relates it as a fiibulous tradition, invented by the Greeks; and refecGs it, as having no foundation either in the history itself, or in the manners and customs of the Egyptians; ammg whtnn, the Greeks say, this event liad happened. They relu^ (says this historian. Book 'i. entitled Evttrpf, p. 47.) lint Hercules, having fallen into the hands of the Egypliaii^ was KHidemnea to be sacrificed by Jupiter. He was adorned like a victim, and led With mudi pomp to the foot of the altar: after permitting himself to be conducted thus fru-, and stopping a moment to collect his strength, he feU upon and massacred aH those who were sasenUed to bo either odors in, or spectators o( this pompooa aacrifie^ to the number of many ihouaands.
<"nie oonfbrmitv between ibesa advemoreo ot Samson and Hercules is eel f-evidmt t and proves, beyond a dottbL that the fable of the one was composed from the histoty of the other, "nie remark of Herodotus, respecting the inpossitHlity of this last adventure, according to the Greek tradition, and the folly of attributing it to the Egypliaa^ serves to confirm the truth of iu having bean bwiowaJC and of its being but a dia6gured copy, whose eiiginal unsl be sought for elsewhere.
"In fkct, it appears ihai Samson, judee ofdis Inelite^ particularly mentioned in the Book oT Judges, and by JosephuB, Antia. lib. v. c. 10. is the original and rsssniial Hercules of fitble: and, although the poeu have aniied some particulars drawn from Moses ana Jod»as SMid htem added their own inventions, yet the most capital and eak> siderable belong to Samson i and are distiOBaUisd hf characters so peculiar to him, as reader bin CHsily di»> oemible throughout the whole."
The above is die substance of what ii. Dc LavMur baa written on the subject; and contains^ as soma think, a vasy clear case; and is an additional woof bow nucfa ttm Asb- ^ens have been indditsd to the BikU.
Verse 1. And there isn* a man qfmsmnt Ephmim'] h is extremely difficult to fix the chronolwy of ats and dn fallowing transactions. Some think tbni to be bete im their natural order: others, that th^ happened in tha tina of Josfttto, or immediately after the oanenls^ who outlived Joshua. All that ean ba said with cstlaiarr is this, thM they happened when there was no king ia Israel | i. a. about Uie time of the Jmdgm, or in sOBa turn of d» anarchy, ver. 6.
Verae 2. AhotU. vAiA thou nirsedU] Boobigant and others understand this of puUinfr the youmr iman ta Ms oath. It is likely that when the modier of Ificeh
TerseS. IhadwhoUydmUcatodl FromtUsiti that Micah's mother, though she made a sepatadtiiMM of the ntoney, liad no idolatrmu deaign; far dw anmaelj says, die had dedicated it rmh Lai^iovak, w JaMvehi Biiit tbis fq^Niara to hare bean Ibe reason why sb» powed ■mpraeations on him who bad taken iL verse 4. A graam image andaimstlsnimagw].Wfaal diese imagas warn we Cannot positively a^i wan^ roost pnmibly, some rcsenblaaws at niatt«-bek>sigins ss the tabamaele. See below.
6 * in thoM tkere vtu no khig; Id braeU 7 but every man aid tAof which vas right in his own eyes. „ „.
7 ^ Andtherewasa JioanfEmanoutor^Bethieheni-jadah. of the finnily of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojouraed there.
8 And the man departed out of the city from Beth-lehem-jud'ah, to sojourn where he could fjni} a place; and he came to mount Ephraim to the houae of Micah, * as he journeyed.
9 And Micah said unto hmi, Waeoce comest thou? And he aaid unto him, I am a Levite of Beth-l«hem-judah, and I go to boJoutd where I may find a plctce.
10 And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, >■ and be unto me a ' JUther and a prieBt, and I will give thee ten ^hekda of silver by theyear, and 'rait of apparel, and thy vituala. So the Levite went in.
11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of bis sona.
12 And Micah ' eonrccrated the Levite; and the Toung man t became Us priest, and was in the house of Mioah.
Elahim, B>nVN tva diould, I ibiok, be timoslated a hmue, or UmpU, <^ God I for it is very likely that both the mother aod ibe son inleiuled no more than s prints or domestic chapel, in which they propoaed to set op the worship of the tnie God.
Made an dpAotf] Perhaps the whole of this csm may ba stated thtn: Micoh mode a houM of Ood, a cbapel, in inutuioo of the •anetuaty,- a grmtn imagt, representing. the ark; a malien image, to represent the mtrcy-atati ierofkimj to represent the durubim, above the menjf tmati and an *phod, in imitation of the sacerdotal raentsi and he consecrated one of his eons to be priest Thus ^rosa idolatry was not the crime of Hicoh; he only set up in bis own nousc an epitome of the divine worship, OS performed at Shiluh. What the teraphim were, see the note on Gen. zzii. 19. For the nhid^ see the note on Exod. XIV. 7. 1 and Eorthe laetrdabdvtttmtnta, ia ganen^ ■ee the note on Exod. xzviii. 4. &c.
Who hteame hia prlett] Cohen, \ro which the "ntrgum translates cumara. TTic word irc coAen, is the common n&me in Hebrew for a wietl of the true Gtod; but sometimes it is allied to idolotrotu priests. When it ii to be uDderytood m the former aeiue, the Targum renders it tahan; when in the latter, it uses the word trans cumara, bv which it aJwajFB understands an idolatnm* priest Bat that this was not a case of idolatry, and that the true God was worshipped here, ii evident from the word Jtknah being used, ver. 4. and that oracular answers were given at tbis faousb a* we see from chap, xviil.
Verse 6. Tbm was no ittn^ in bract] Vae word iVs mtidc, w4iich generally means king, ia sometimes taken for a supreme governor, Judge, ma«istrats, or ruZer, of may kind: see Gen. xxzvi. 31. and Deut. xxxiii. 6.: and it IS likely it should be so understood here.
Every man did that which was right in Mm own ei/ee] Ha was his own governor, and what he did he said was ri^it; and, by his cunning and strength, defended his conduct. Wbn a man's own will, passions, and caprice, are to be nude the rule of law, society is in a moat perilous and ruinous state. Civil government is of God; and with' out it the earth must soon be desolated. There wbs a time when there was no king in England; and that was, in geaaral, a time of scandal to religion, and oppression to
Terse?. Of llu family iifJudahl The word /amt^ nay be taken here Sir MIm.— or the young man mimt have been of the tribe of Judah, by his melfter; and of Oie tribe of Lsri by his JiUher; for he is called here a LwiU: and it is prolxmle that he mi^t have officiated at sbil<rfi, in the Levitical ofiice. A Invite might marry into any other tribe, provided the woman was not an heirem.
Verse 8. 7b aojoum vh^re he could Jtnd} He went lAoHt the eountry, seeking for some employinent, for the Lavitaa bad no udieriiaooe; besides^ no secure residence ocnU be found where there was no civil govenment.
Verve 10. Be unto me a Jidhtr and a prieH} l^ou shah be master of my booae, as if thou wert my biher and, amvritet, ihou iholt aopear in the preeenc« ot Ood for Hw tetrnfoAtr is onaa used to espiMs konew and
13 Then said Micah, Now know I that the LoBD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to mjr priett.
ntn IB Msnb Uw lud, who iiThi (t Lanu. who Nrad In hii boon M Kg laqifaH, mod pnmlM Ahi MM.
inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all tAetr inheritance had not fallen unto them amonc the tribes of Israel.
2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, ^ men of valoer, Irom > Zorah, and from EshtaoL " to spy out the land, and to search it; and tney said imto them, Go, search Uke land t who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the " house of Micahr they lodged there.
3 When they mere by the htnise of Micah,
Ten shekels siAwr] About thirty Ann«ig« n^t az>- Dum, with bowd, lodging, and clothes. Very good wages
Verse 11. The LmiU ma eonttnt] He dMM^t the place a good one^ and the wages re^>e^alde.
Verse 12. JtSeah eonaeerated the Lerite] i* rM t^on voyimale et yad, he filled hia haada; that is, be gave hint on offering to present before the Lord, that he mi|^t be accepted bj him. He appointed him la be priest; Ood was to accept and crnmcrate him i and for this purpose b« filled hie ha7idii.e. furni^ed him with the proper offering which he was to present on his inauguratlco.
Verse 13. knou 1 that the Loan will do me good} Am he had already provided on epitome of the tabernacle, a model of the ark, mercy-aeat, and cherubim; and had got prt^r sacerdotal vestments, and a Levite to officiate t he took for granted that all' was right, and that be should DOW have du benediction oC Ood. Some dtink that hs expected great gain from the coneourse of the people to bis temple; oil of diis (here is no evidence in the text. Hieah appears to have been perfectly sincere in all thai he did.
I HAvx already remarked that there is no positive evidence that Micab or his mother intended to establish any idolatrous worship. Hiou^ they acted without any divine command in what they did, yet they appear not only to have been perfeeUy eincere, but also peittctly diaintereated. They put diemselves to considerable erpenoe to ererf (his place of worship; and to maintain, at tbeir own proper chtuges, a priest to officiate there; and without diis the place, in all probabUity, would have been destitute of the woruiip andf knowleq^ of the true God. His tin' eerity, diaijitereetednesa, uid attoAment to the wOrsAfp of the Ood of his fathers, ore fertherseenin the^oy which be expressed on finding a Levite, who might legally offi> oiale m his house. It is true, he hod not a divine worront for what he did t but (he state of the land, die profligacy of his countrymen, bis distance from Shilol^ dbc. considered, he appears to deserve more Trntise than Mmns; diougbor ' the latter he has received a most liberal Am from every quarter. This proceeds from that often noticed propensi^ In man, to take every thing which concerns the character of another hv die worst handle. It caimot be considered any particular crime, should theae notes be found at aqr time leaning to the odier side.
Terse 1. Jbmwtm no king in Mtraat} Saecb^zvii. 6. TV circumstances related here show that tbis must have happened about the time of die preceduig trtpsMtiona.
All their tnA«ritonc«] That is, they bad not got an axtent of country sufficient for them. Some families were still unprovided for, or had not sufficient territory; for we find from Josh. chap. xix. 40, &c. that although the tribe of Dan did receive dieir inheritance with die rest of tbs tribes of Israel; yet their eoaat wetU out too Uttle/br Otem, and they mni and Jbught agamat Lxsnssi, caUra here La%ahy ondfooifcir, dfcc. This eircumstance is maikad here more paitieularly diao in dte book of ioiboa. Ssa ths nots on Josh. six. 47.
t^e7 knew the voiee the joxmg man the Le- Tite: and they turned io thither, and aaid unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in thifl place? and what hast thou here?
4 And he said nato them, Thus wid thtn dealeth Micah with me, and hath "hired me, and I am his prieEt.
5 And they said unto him, i* Aek counsel, we pray thee, ^ of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be proaperoua.
6 And the priest said unto them, 'Go in peace; before the Lobd ia your way wherein ye go.
7 1[ Then the five men departed, and came to ' Laieh, and saw the people that were therein, (how the^ dwelt careleBs, afler the manner of the ZidonianB, quiet and secure; and there leas no ■ magistrate in the land, that might put them, to shame in onjr thing } and they were far from the ^Cidooians, and Ebd. no bunneu with oks man.
. 8 And they came unto their Iffetfrntn to * Zorah and EBhtatd; and tbeir brethren said onto them. What aay yet
9 And they eaid, * Arise, that we may go np againBt them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it it very good: and are ye ' ■UU7 be not slothfiil to go, and to enter to possess the
10 When ye go, ye shall come unto a people ' secure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into your hands; 'a place where there it no want or any thing that tt in the earth.
1 1 T And there went from thence of the family of the - — - '
12 And they went up, and pitched in ^Kirjatbjearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place ' Af ahaneh-dan unto this day: behold, it it bdiind Kirjath-jearira.
1 HAna mere went irom mcuce ui lae iitiQiiv iheDanites, out of Zorah, and out of Eshtaoi, hundred men ^ eqiipointed with weapons of
13 And they PttMod tbenee onto mooBt Bphn-
14 1[ * Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do you know that ' there is in these houses an ephod, and terM>bim, and a ffraven image, and a molten image f now therefore consider what ye have to do.
15 And they turned thidierward. and came to the house of the young man, the Levtta, even UBto the house oiMiciui, and * saluted lum.
16 And the ' six hundred men appointcnd with their weapons of war, which vere the cfaildreo of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate.
17 And ■ the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took ^ the graven image, and the ephod, and the terapbim, and molten image: and the priest stood m the entering of the gate, with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapcms of war.
18 And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, and e^bod, and thtt teraphim, and the nurften image. Thensaidtbe priest nnto them, What do ye?
19 And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, > lay thine hand unto thy mouth, and go with as,
and be to us afather and a priest: it tt better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a fknuly in Israel 7
20 And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraplmii| and the graven image, and went in the midst of the
21 So they turned and departed, and put tfas little onea, and the cattle, aod the earriaee, bafore them.
23 ir when Aey were a good way_ fnoi the house of Micah, the men that were in Uie houses near to Micafa's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan.
Verw % JF%9* hmm— sun ^ vdlmtr\ The Hebrew v«d V<n AtUf has been mpplied to iMnmot prowMa, to fluafsl murg^f, sad to mihiy fOMeaatcna. IVy aaal those in wDMe courage, judgment and prudence, they could Mifely confide.
Verse 3. ThM/ knam Ou aoiet of &ta yauKg nun] Tbey knew by bia diueot, or mode of pnmuneiation, that he wu not an Ephraimita. We have already wen, chop. xii. 6b that the Efdtraimitaa eould not pronounce certain lettan. Sea (he note there.
Verw 6. Aak eowat—qf God] Aa the Danites use the word D<nSN Eloftim here for Ood; we are necenarily led to believe that they meant the tnie God t eepecially aa the Lerita anawerajrer. 6. B^ort tha Loan (tkv VmovoA) ia ifenr uM^. llou^ the nrmer word may be aonietimee ■fiplied to uiota, whom tbeir votariee clothe with the aUrifttOM of Goo, TCt the latter is never applied but to the fnie €hd aiotm. Aa the DanitBS succeeaed according to the oiMle delivered by the Levita^ it ie a Strang i»Mumpijon Ihat the worahip eetaUiahed by Micah vaa not of an idolatmua kind. It is really begging the question to anert, as many eonuneotatort have done, that the aniwer waa eiuier a tndi qf tha Laoite^ or auggeattd by tha daaUi and that the aueeese of the Danites was merely nocidmtxd. This is taking the dung by the worst handle, to ausport so hypo- |beai% and tOBeneaayaleiB. See dw end w the FCeoeding
Jtna^. J^JUr tiuma»aur <f &a Sdoiiiant\ Proba- Uy the people of Laiah, or Laahem, were originally a eoMoy«l the Sidtmiana, who, it appear^ were an opulent people; and, being in poaaeasioa of a Wrong- cUy, lived in a state of security, not being afraid of their neiglwours. In diis the Leahamites imilUed them, though the sequel proves they had not the same reason for their confidence.
7%«y wereTiir jTrom the Zidonimia] Being, aa above auMMsed, a Sufonian colony, ihej might natuniily expect help from their oounnrmen; buiaa theydwelta considerabla diatanoe from SidoiL the Danilea «w that they could strike lha blow before the news of invaaioa could reach 9idant and, emaequently, before the petqde of Laiah oouU reesiTe any auccours fam that tiu, Afid had no Suainaaa with any sian] Io the most eor- root eopiea of the Septuagint thia clauae is thua translated: Km yayatava aaaaratsptTaTwftattOndtkeyliadwIrMUtutiona wUh SniA. Now it is moot evi^t that, inatead of oiN adam, man, tbey read d-<m aram, Stua; words which are so nearfy simitar, that the difference wbieh ezista ia oiUy between the t rah and *> daiethf and which, both in MSS. and printed booka, is often indiscemibla. "Hiis reading is found in the Codex AUxandrinua, in the CmtpbUmaian PolyKlot^ in the i^nitA Polyglot^ and in the edition of the Septuagint pubUahed tiy Amu. It may be proper to observe, that Laiah waa on the firentiera of Syria; but aa they had no intereourae with the f^rriMa^ from whom they might have received the promptest aasiitance, ti^ was an additional reason why the Doaiiea might expect succesa. Verae 3. Ariaty Ac] lUa ia a very plain and addreas; full of good aene^ aad well wtaptad lodie purpoee. It aeema to bave jprMOced aa inatantaaeoiis enbct. Verse U. Sis tundras ni«n] TTieae were not whole s for we find they lud children, dte. ver. 21.: tut theae appear to have been six hundred armed men.
Verse IZ Mihatuh-dan] "The camp of Dan;'* ao ealled from the circumstance of this armament eruavniitf there. See ch^. xiii. 26. which affords some proof dwx thia transaction waa previous to the days of Samaon.
Verse 14. Conaider i^iat yt kaet to do] Th^ probsUw had formed the design to carry off the priest and ha wacana utensils.
Verse 18. Theae went into Micma Aonse] n>e fiva men went io^ while the six hundred armed men stood at the sate., _
Verse 19. Lay thine hand upon Siy vumA] Hub wu (he token of silence. The god of silence, Harpocratea, ia represented, on ancient atatue^ wiA hia Jtagtrpnitid om hialip., „
Verse 20. Wmt in Bus midat tjf fle pae^ He was glad to be employed by the E>aiute8; and went into the crmod, that he might not be discovered by Micah or his family.
Verae 21. TU UOU onea and Aa eaitia, Ac.] men were ao confident of sncceao, that they removed r** whole ftmiliea^ household goods, cattl^ and all.
83 And they cried unto the children of Dan: and they turned their fhcea, and said onto M icah, What aileth thee, ■ that thou comeet with such a company?,
34 Aad he said, Ye have taken away my godv, which I made, and the prieBt, and ye are Ctme away; and watt have I more? am what %$ this that re Bay unto me, What aileth thee?
25 And toe coUdren of Don vaid unto him, Let not Ihy voice be heard among ua, lest ■ angry fellowa run upon thee, and thou loee thy life, with Uie lives of thy household.
26 And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they vere too strong for him, he turned and went back unto bis house.
27 H And they look the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and ' came unto Laish, unto a people UuU were at quiet, and secure: * and the/ smote ihem with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.
28 And there weu no deliverer, because it wa« ' far IVom Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that 2teA *by Beth-rehob. And th^ built a city, and dwelt thereuL.
29 And ■ they called the name of the city "Dan,
And tt< eturtaga] rma kelmdah, their mbaianee, prefltour Mng; or m/uoUM; omtu quod erat pretiommj VvLSATS: Of rather the titggttfa, or baggage i what C— at* wlU, in bis ConuaenuurtM, imptaXjnmta; and whuHam Skptuagtothtntnud^ wt^ht, or baggagt. We sn not 10 suppon that any vk4*l oarriaga ia
Vene 24. Tt han takm away my g»dt] Am Hieah was a worihippar of dw tniA Odd, aa we have Heii, he eannot mean any kind of idob, the word etmey, han med. He undoubtedly meana thoie npretentationt, of divine diings, and symbou of the divine presence | such as the lenphim. ephod, Ac. 1 for diey are all evumtly ioehided under tM word Mui/, which we tranalate godt.
Tene 2B. And them ioat thy l{ft\ "niis waa argummtum ad komiiumi he muit put up with the Iom of hia BObatanee, or elae lose bis liier It waa the more language ef amodernhi^wayniani Tmr 1^*, or fomr mojiM/J
Tetae 27. Bnia a peopb— of gm^t, onaMeure] Tb^ CovBd the report R^veo by die mes to be eomet. Tim people wm apprehenaiT* of do danger, and were nnpreperedfbrreaiBtaiiee; hence they were all put to the aword, and their atf burnt up.
Verae 28. 'Htere waa no deliverer] lley had no loeeeor; becwiae the Sidoniana, from whom th^ might have wcpeeted it were at too great a dUtance.
Vene29. CoOed M« name ^ ike etty Am] lUadty waa afterward my mnaitaOiIs, «s one itf die attmnUUt of thepranisedbnd. Ihe eztaotof die JswiBhterrhDriea was goienlty exprened by iho jkatm,fiom Dm to Bn>-sH>M; diati^frmattiemostnarAenitoawsouthem eztremi^.
Terse30. ne d^drmttf Dan tetup th* rraemim' age] "ntey eneted a dtapel, or temple^ among menuelve^ •a Micah had done before, having the aune implemeiua ■ad the Kune prieet.
And Jtmatheaij 9on tf Ocrvftem] ■tther Ihia waa the name of the voung ItmU r or the; had turned him and got thia J<Hiatban in hi> pUoe.
THeaon ManastekJ Who ifaia Mamwedi wa% none «aD tell I nor does the readiog appear to be gemiioe. He —Id not be ManaiMh the eon of JtwepA, lor ha had no •on called Chnhmi not emdd it be Uuhub^ king et Jtroil, fcr be lived «WU AiMwft^ years sfkarwafd.
Instead of nvA ItknauHL the word ihonld be read rwo JHmML Moess, ai it is found in soma MSS. in the R^gatejHM in the eoncemiont of the most in(elIu;eDt Jews, the Jewa, aa A Z>. SnuU aeknowledges, have ■Mpewled the letter 9 mm, over the word woMmAj; thua^ nwD— which, by the additkm of the fainta, they have JiMMiil into Hamssw^heesass disy ttink h would be a gnat reproad) to dieir leaidaidr to have had a grsodaoa who waa aa idolater. Tnat Oenteii^ the son oT Muea, is here iniandedfU very probable t aee the argiiroenm urged brPr. AwUeo^^Dinarli. p.K^d».; aiid aee the' For. £n«, flf ^ AM SD Ibis plaos. V0L.L-Q3
after the name of Dan their ftther, who waa born unto Israel} howbeit the name of the city was Lawh at the first.
30 1[ And the children of Dan setup the graven image; and Jonathan, the son of Grershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priest* to the tribe of Dan 'until the day cf toe captivity of the land.
31 And they set them up Micah*a graven ima^e, which he made, * all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
AND it came to pass in those days, ' when there was no tcing in Is-, ■^£1^%. rael, that there wns a certain Levite. sojourning on the side of mount Bj^aim, who took to him ^aconcvAtine out of 'Beth-lehemjudah.
3 And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father's house to Beth-lehem-judab, and was there ''four * whole months.
Oniil Aa day of Ihe oapHvUj/ of A* landJi CaLmat obaervca, '"Rie pooteritr of this Jtmalhao exeouled ths office of priest in the ei^ of Dan, ^ the time that die idol at Micah, (the tmfbim, epbod, dbe.) was dure. But this was <Kily while die noose of die Lon waa at ShOoh { an^ conaetjueoUy, the sons of Jonathan were priests at Dan only tul the time in vdiioh the ark was taken by the Piiilisunei^ which was die last year of Eli, the high priest: for after that, the ark no more returned to Shiloh." Thia is evident; and on this very ground, Rmbigant contends that, instead of rvtn Aaordf, the uun>, we should read p*wn Aoanm, the abx; for nothing Is easier than the voui and ^no/ nunfto be mistaken for me Jlna/rtfoddiiwhidl ia tHe only diilereoce between the captvpity qf the Lum, and Ike captivity qf Oie ask. And thia conjecUire is the mom likely, becwise the next rerte tells us tnu Micah's graven image, Ac continued at Dan all tte tivu OuU the hitue OodumaatSntohi whichwastill the ark was taken bytha Philistines. Hiose who wish to see more on this subjeotr nay eoneult Calvtct, and the writer* in PooFe Synoptia. This chapter is an important supplement to the conclusion of the 19ui chapter of Joshua; on which it duti consider* able light.
Ths Daniies were properly the first diaeettUr* from die public alabtidud worship m dte Jews; but they seem to have departed at little as possiUe from ihb Jewim^niu, dkMT wenhip being eondueted in the iaine but not in die mme smcsl Surely it ««■ better to bave bad ddi^ allowug It to be uDcoosdtutimud votritiiv dian to have been wholly destitute of dw ordinances of God.
I diink we have not sufficient ground from the text to call th«M persons idolatere t I believe ther won^ipped dM true God aecording to dieir light and oircunutAOoos, from a conrictioo dial they could not prosper widiout his uDrobationt and that they could not expect that approbadOT if thlr da not olto to hi« a reKgMus worrt^ endeavoured to please him, though d>s means diey adopted
Verse 1. Ilere was no iUn^ in Araaf] All sorts of rft»> ordtn are attributed to die want of cfvU gvteni^fmit iostioa, right, inidi, and humaaitVt had bllen m die streets liA tohim a eonaibinel We have already >aen dnt dieeMKiiKiMwasSBartof*ie(nidaryiB(/k| andthatsaeh oomiexkKiB ware not diwflpaiahl& being aeosrding to tba nneia] ouMom of dioaa times, "nw word srJVfi j concubine, is auppeaed by Mr. PaiUiarBL to be eod. of jSb pSlag, to "divi&i" or -share?' aad BW "touproaeh;" beoauaa die huitend wared or divided his attention and aAetions betwean bn- and die real wiK from whom aba difiSired in Dodiing aiaterial, but ia her poeierinr not inknUing.
^ers^l na««IAsuAore}Neidierdie Vul(^ &ptuagint, Targum, nor Jet^/Aut, understand this word aa impTving aay act of eoojogal iofidelinr on die wosMo^a ■art -niey merely state t&t die psi««tAaBgr«^.OMWOBianreturadtobMrMiai'shouae.- Indeed, all die
3 And herhuBband arose, and went after her, to nwaJt '^friendljr unto her, and to bring her a^n, having his servant with him, and a couple of assea: and brou^t htm into her Other's house; and when the father of the damsel saw him. he rejoiced to meet him.
4 And his fathei-'inTlaw, the damsel's father, retained him; and he abode with hira three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged
6 And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up to depart: and the damsel's lath^ said unto his son-in-law, > Comfort thine heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way.
6 And they sat down, and did eat and drmk both of them together: for the damsel's father had said unto the man. Be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry.
7 And when the man rose up to depart, his father-in-law urged him; therefore Tie lodged there again-
■8 Ana he arose early in the morning on the BKh day to depart: and the damsel's father said, Comfort tnine heart, I pray thee. And ^ev tarried * until afternoon, and they did eat both of them.
9 And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father-inlaw, the damsePs father, said unto him, Behold, now the day ' draweth toward evening, I pray you to tarry all night: behold, i the day groweth to an end; lodge here, that thine heart may be merr;; ami to-morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest so home. ' 10 But the man would not tarry that night, bat he rose up and departed, and came " over against " Jebus, which is Jerasalem; and tiiere were with him two asses saddled, his concubine aiao woe with him.
11 And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in mto this city p of the Jebusites, and lodge in it
12 And his master said untobim, We will not torn aside hither into the city of a Strang that it not of the children of Israel; we will pass orer * to Oibeah.
13 And he said unto his serrant, Come, ana
ctreunuUutGM of th« ease vindicate Ihii view of the aub- MCL If the had been a whore, or aduUtre—, it i> not very bkaly tbat her huaband vould have gone ^er her, to tptiuc Jrimdly; literally, b> spMk to her keart, and entreat her lo return. The Valgoid simply itatei, qua reUquit turn, that Ab left kim; the Septuagiat, wpyia^n avrat that ^e 1DM angry with him i the 7\iTgum,-<rrffyn'\B^ 'ube9enA alehif taut the detpiMtd him; Joaepkua, dKXcrptait ux*, that aha ws» alienatad, or aeparated heraelf from him. BtHbigant trsarirtes the elsiMe^ qu^ cum oA eo aliauita •mat, Ml iratix in mm taut etm raliquU; who, vhea slie was aHmated from hSm, or an^ry with him, left him: and he defends this version in his note. I think the true meanipg to be among the above iateiprelationB.- libey iont I ^e ctaaad to Im Aim; har q^Mjona taareofimo/edfromhimi and ahe Jf/t JUa Aoua^ and ism< Aoms to her father.
Tsrse 3. ue r^foleed to nwcf Mm.] Ha hoped to bs aUe eompletely to reconeila his daughter and bar bnataod.
Verse EL And they tarriad untxl q/lcnwml Merely dtat tbsy might avoid the heat Uu day, which wootd have been veij incoDvenient in travelling.
Terse % tne day growetk to an anal am mn ehanoA haiyom. " the day is about to pitch ita tent t" that is, it was near the time io wtaA travellers ordinarily pitdwd tbnr tanta. to take w thrir lodging for the niahL
Terse 11. When mey were ly J^nta^ Hue was Jeruaalem, whiidi diough, after the death of Jodina, it appears to have been jartly conquered by the tribe of Judah, yw the JdMuitM lent the strong-bold cf Zion till the da^ ot David, by wboAdiey were finslly expelled. See tbeiMe
let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in ■ Ramah.
14 And they passed on, and went Iheir way; and the sun went down ujwn them vfim they were by Qibeeih, which befongeth to Benjamin.
15 And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street cd* the city; for there -was no man that *took tiiem into bis house to lodging.
16 IT And, behold, there came an old man from " his work out of the field at even, which ■was also of mount Ephf aim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites.
17 And when he had lifted op his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city: and the old man said. Whither goest thou 7 and whence comest thou 7
18 And he said unto him. We are passing from Beth-IehenKjudah toward the aide or mount Eohraim; from thence am I: and I went to Beth-Iehem-judah, but I am nov going to ' the house of the Lord; and there is no man that ' receivetb me to house.
19 Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and there is bread and wine also for me and for thy handmaid, and for the youog man ithich is with thy BHTants: then i* o» want of any thing.
20 And the old man said, * Peace be wfth thee; howsoever, let all thy wants lie upon me; 7 only lodge not in the street.
21 ■ So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the asses:* and ther washed their feet, and did eat and drink.
22 1[ A^ou? as they were making their heart* merry, behold, * the men of the city, certain ' sons of Belial, beset the house romid about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, seyins, ' Brine forth the man that came into thine nouse, that we may know him.
S3 And ■ the man, the master of the bonse, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nav, mv brethren, nay, I "^pray you, do not ae wkkeoly; seeing that this man is eome unto nun* house, ' do not this folly.
Verse IS. No man— took them into hia hauaa to lodging,} liiere was probably no inn, or house of public entariainmeni, to this pLKe; and, therefore, the^ could not have a lodging, unlesa mmiahea by mere hoapitaliiy. To aoj that tmre were no iitna in thaae primitive Uma^ in not true; there were such places, thou^ not very trequent. Joseph'sbcethrcafboud thurmooeyin ttieir «cka when they loosed them at an inn, Gen. xlii. 27. TW house of Kahab was an tnn, Joeb. ii. I. And the wenm whose house Samson frequented at Oeaa yas a Aaalaes, «r one who kept aplaoa of piaHe antartoimnant.
Verse 19- Tnare ia both straw and provender far mbt aw«s] In the countries principally devoted to poatara^ there waa no hay; but aa they nuaed some oorn, ih^ tow great care of their sfroi^ chopped it wy einalla aad haviiw mixed it with bartay, baana, or the pouDded bar- Dels Sctoto^ they made it into ball^and fed dteir caols widiit Strms, eat into lAat oalled cAiif,uiMK »»• bsmianlly used in England for dte same jKnrpoee. Terse 30. 4X1 Ay iMiito lie npon maj Here was gam- « hospital!^;-r-"Keep your bread and wine far xoar> salves, and your straw and provender for your a«aaat you may need diem before ym fisiah ymr jontBart I vill
That «H 1IUW know Mm] See Gen. zix. ■'neas ^Mwa gamine Sodomites, aa to beir pcaolioe; Sobs ef BwKal, rascals and misereaata of the deepest £e; won* than mad hiB coocnbiae; them I will bring out now, ■ad ^ hambJe ye them, and do with them what aeemetb gooa unto you; but unto this man do not ' ao vue a thing.
25 But She men would not hearken to him: bo the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they ^knew her, and atrased her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go.
26 Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door oC the man's house where her lord v>as, till it was light.
27 And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way; and, behold, the woman hia concubine was fallen down cU the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold.
28 And he said unto her, Up, and let us be ffoing. But >none answered. Then the man took ner up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto hia place.
29 IT And when he was come into hia house, be took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and ■ divided her, together with her bonea, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of IsraeL
30 And it waa so, that alt that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen, from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of £gypt unto Uiis day: consider of it, ■ take advice, and speak your minds.
... of ofliwca iksawidnaa,.. ml ndanasnAeaa i and aolti invdn (( Iba ihupin Imo ibBT haadi, tt— StC Tliqr iirwW rl (uoi iham, kUIlM IMmuj-in ikDMBad od* c»j a(atittb.ta—n. a ncapliidailaa if iha ■adnd man (aiw ra tt* dUfoaDia>HioiHtaibbiihiLM«<n'hUI((l,3tt—M. «■ budnd men aon nek Kimuoo, fl. Itw Inallui ibairay all ibe atte o( liH SinJaiiiils^.
Vitrae 34. Here is my daughter, a maidm] Such a. proposal v&a made by Lot to the men of Sodom. Gen. xix. but nothing can excuse either, lluu the rigtOM of ho^UalUy -wen ucrtd id the eaat, and moet hiKoly r«- garde<^ we kiio*t Bud thu a mail would dekaX, at the espenw of his li^ dM ainiign whom be had aJmitted uadw his roo£ u tnie: but now »fathcr could tasks such a propoaal relative to hia vir^n daughter^ must renahi among those things which are incomprefaensiUe.
Ve™e "iB. Soiht man took hit ooncufruu] The word ptn< yadiaxtk, which we here translate simplv lon^ sigsifiM rather lo tokt or aiixa by vMaue, Toe woman would DM gs out to themt but bar gtaeeless husbood Jbnad her to go, in order that ha nuAi nve hia own Dodjr. HeeouUhsnbutUtUelOTefiif bwi sndtbiswae the eaose of their separaUoa before.
The men qf OibeaJi who wislied lo ^Mise the body of the Levile; the Lentt, who wished lo save hia bomr at the expense of the modesty, reputation, and life, of^ his wife; and the M man, who wished to save lus guest at the expense of the violui<m of his daughter t are all chaneiera that humanly and modesty wish to be buried in sveriavtiag oblivion.
WKcn Ota dau bt^an to tpringj Their turpitude eooU ■otbeaxthefullU^tirf the day: aad th^ diamiMed llw poor woman when the day began to break.
rcTM 26. rtU down at the door] She bad strength to reach ihe door, but not to knock for admiuanee: when shs reached the door she fell down dead I 1%e reason of this abominable and hmridmaaDmpbeiaatnnigly signified by the original words, ver. 2S. rty/fn 'ra to tV^ym tvm tfvn waiytdu otah, vaiyUh^elu bah col kaUaitah, which we Dtodestly translate, and thsu kime her, and they ainued luraatha nicAf. More literaUy, but still not fully: lUi CKSi t& rem habuerunt, tt altemaUm in tarn, told node amxTtderuni. The huipahtt used here in the verb b'jy gnaOv tnereassa the sense. Coi^ugatio hithpehel j^efmmnmm oeMs, u tmntanent Hbui&Mn deaigiMi, Tbs ifsbie ia not loo strong: SicereturujU in atpiditatea not, tt rruBchati tunt intAad nuUutinam UMcpie.
Terse 29. Divided har~-int« tvdoe jrUcfi Here i* no doubt that with the pMsas he sent to mA tribe a cireunstaotial account ot the barbarity of the men of Gibeah; and it is very likely that the^ considered each of ihl laaaoe as exprwiring an titeratum, " If ye will not eooieaad avenge ny wrongs, mi^'ye be hewn io pieces Mi this sfaused and mutdered woman I"
It was a rustom among the ancient Hic^landen, in Scotland, when one clan wished to call all the real to STOgs its wronga, to lake awoodmeross, dip it in blood, and scad itWa apeeial messenger throii^ all the dans. This WMc^Iod disjlre cross, because, ai sight of it, eaeh «*sn UghUd a-Jrt or bsaeon, which jpsva notte* to all the
THEN -all ihe children of Israel *»'=£^'"- went out, and the congregation.^""""L was gathered together as one man, from >* Dan even to Beer-sheba, with the land of Gilead, unto the Lord «in Mizpeh.
2 And the cliief of all the people, even of all the tribes oP lerael, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen ' that drew aword.
3 ^ow the children of Beiqamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of&i«d. Tell u»,liow was this wickedneaa?
4 And * the Levite, the husband of the wi>: man that was slain, answered and said, < I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge:
5 * And the men of GU>eah rose against me, and beset the house round fd>out upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: ■ ana
Verse 38. There va» no *ueh deed dene nor gem] Tber^ were all struck 3>nlh the enormity of the crime; and considered it a sovereign disgraee to all Ihe tribss ef IsraeL
Con*ider({f iti L\tenlly,putittoyouradve»i~Tai4 eounsei upon it;— and speoK. Thia was the prelude to the council held, and the subsequent opecuiooi^ which ara mentiooed in the following chapter.
I have paaed over the aboininable traasaetioDS of dua chapter as lightly as I could; and shall make no apology 10 the learned Of unlesmsd rcisdsr, for leaving some things untnnslalod.
What a blessing are wholeenne laws and a vigorous and attentive magistracy! Theae wretched people had no form of government, and every one did what was right in his own eyes: their own eye (corrupt iocliiuuion) was the measure and rule of their conduct; and how bad a rul% the abuse and murder of the Leviia s 'wifi) tcadfy, BeadeTt bless God for civil govemmenL y«ae 1. Vnto the Lom in Jffizpehl TUa ei^ was situated on the confines of Judah and Senjanun; and ia sometimes attributed to the <me, sometime to the other. It seems that there was a piaee here, in urtiich the Lord was consulted as well as at Sbildi: in 1 Sbccab. iii. 46. wa read, 2n Mupha teas the place wAere thay prayed ^fore^ time in hraeL Tliese two passages cast l^l on eadi other.
there; but the phrase btfore the ijord may signify no more than meeung in the name iff God, to consult nitn, and make prayer and supplication. Wherever God's people are, there ia God himself: and it ever was true, that wherever two or three were assembled in his nsin^ he was in the midst of them.
Verse 2. Tht dtief qf aa Oe peepU] The corlUrt reaa pinoA.■ (or as the eomer^loaea are the etrength of the walls, so are the (hi^t the strength of the people. Hence Christ is called the dtitf comer-Hone,
In the aaeembly q/" the people of God] The Septuagint translate. And aU Ae trioee qf tarael etood up before the face the I^ord, u cwvXwtf r»v Xoov r»» ecos, in the diureh qf the people qf God. Here was a eAurvA|jkoagh diere was no pmi<; fo^ as TertulHan »ay$, UK tret, eccUeia eet, licet laia. "Wheresoever three are gadtared together in the name of the ^mtA, there is a cAarcA, althou^ there be none but the lai^."
Verse 3. Tell us, how woe thia viekedneaa 7} Tbey hod heard before, bv the messengers ha sent with Ai« fraaments of his wiie's body; but they widk to bear ii, hi fiilf council, from himself.
6 And ■ I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel; for they J have Committed lewdness and fohy in Israel.
7 Behold, ye are all children of Israel; » give here your lidvice and counsel.
8 IT And all the people arose as one man, waywig. We will not any of ua go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn into his house:
9 But now this shall be the thine which we wfll do to Giheah 'i we vrill go up by lot against it.
10 And we will take ten men of a nondred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of (en thQiv>^^i t° fetch victual for the people, that they may do, when they come to Giheah of Ben- ^min, according to all the foUy that they have wrought in Israel
11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city. ■ knit together as one man.
12 IT And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saving, What wickedness t9 this that is done among you 7
13 Now therefore deliver ua the men, "the children of Belial, which are in Giheah, that we may put them io death, and put away evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel:
14 But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Giheah, to jn» out to battle against the children of Israel.
15 And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and ■Ix thousand men that drew sword, besides the inhabitants of Giheah, which were numbered •even hundred chosen men.
Tan* 8. W» vUl not any of us g« fa U« tetf 1 We will hsTC ntisfiKitiai for this widtadness befim we letum home.
Vene 10. Ten men a hundred] Ezpeetin^ ihat they mig^l have a long contest, they provide wttlera for* the camp; and it ia probable that they ehoee dieae tenths Ijkrt.
Tem 13. DeKver us Vu nun] Nothing could be hirer than this. They wish only to make the nmrderers answerable for their guilL
' Benjamin vxmld not fuarkm] Htm making their whole tribe partakers of the guilt of the men of Oibeah. Bynot delivering up those bM men. they in efiect said, "We 'will slaitd by them in what they have done; and woold have acted the same part had we been preamt." pioves that the whole trube was exoeaaively depraved.
Yens U. T'unniy and aix thmi»and\ Some copies of Ihe Septuagint have twen^thres thoosand, odMra twentyftve Ibotuand. Hie PidgaU has thie latter nvmber; the C^pluUntian Polyglott, and JbwpAus, have the same.
Verse 16, Left-hanaed\ They were amlridcxUrt; could use the ri^trhand and the left with equal ease and effect. See the note on chap. iii. ver. 16.
Could tUng tbmta at a hair — and not miss] mm kV> vtlo yadutah, and not tin i w iloftrnfrmwrtt, Here we have the true import of the term sin: It aigninea ^ply to mU$ tlu mark; and ia well tnmalated m the riey Testament by gTiaprovoi, from <■ ntgativt, and fapma, tonStthe mark. Men miss the mark of true happintss in aiming at sensual gratifications; which happiness is to be found only in the possession and enjoyment of the favour of Qod,/rom whom their passions continually lead them. Be alone hitt the mark.tM ceases from sin, who attains to God through Christ Jeaus.
it is worthy of remark that the Perrian ^as£- Uuta kadtn, which literally signifies to tin. ta mUtake, is used bv the Mohammedans to express tohUVu mark.
The tlmg was a vaiv ancient warlike inatrument; and, in the hanls of those who were skiUed in the use of it. it ftoductd aatoniditng effeota. TIm tnhabitanta of the isles sailed f olMres, DOW Majorca and Miaorea, were the most ealebraled slingers of antl<iaitv, Tbey did not permit tfteir children to bmk their fast tiU they had struck down thstrmtihay wsretoestfromtbsloper apok^or some WO hundred chosen men ■ lelt-handed; every osM could slins stones at a hair-6readf A, and not miss.
17 And the men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war.
18 t And the children of Israel arose, and ' went up to the house of God, and > aoked coiid> sel of Ood, and said, Which of us shall jgo up first to the battle against the children of Bei^amia? And the Loan said. Sudati Aall go vp first.
19 And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah.
SO And the men m Israel went out te hatlle against Benjamin: end the m«i of Israel pot themselves in array to fight against them at Oibeah.
21 And ^ the diildren of Benjamin came forth out of Giheah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thov'
22 If And the peoi^e, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves, and set their battle agak in array, in the place where they pat themsehres in array the first day.
S3 I (And the children of Israel went up and wept before the Loan until even, and asked counsel of the Lord, saying. Shall I ee up again to battle against the cnildren of Benjamia my brother? And the LoBD said, Go np against lum.j
24 And the children of Imel came near against the children of Beojamin the seeood
25 And ^Benjamin went forth against them out of Qibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Xaratil Bgam eighteen thousand men: all theee drew tne swora.
disisnt eminence. They bad dieir nnne JBaltatm fina the Greek word fftaOm, to dart, caM, or ttrs»
Concerning the valoeiiy of the ball oat of the sling than are atnmse and iJmost mcredible things tdd fa^ tas aaeients. 'The leaden ball, when thus projeele^ is said to have metttd in its course. So Ovm. Met. lib. u. vsr. TXh
Iliis ia not a poetic fiction: Scmbca, the philosoplisr, ia lib. iii. QtuKit. riaturcd. c 67.jM.ya the same thing! — sEc liaufeit exauaa giant fiinda. tt adiritu atrit vJmt igm» dittiitat. " Thus the ball pojeoted from Ota slinft Bans; and is liquefied by the friction of the air, aa if it were exposed to the action of fire." I have often, by the surfrfsw and vtoltnt compretricn <^ Uu otr, produced lirs; and hf this atone inflamed tinder, end lifted a wiatA.
VegtHut at As JIfiUlapi, lib. iL esp. 23. tells ns ihM slingers could, in menl, lut the maik at six hundred fast diatuKS. F\mmbirtt sispoe prs sign* fomtbant; id BXXOMTOS FSDCs rMHWTsnliir a »ign», ttgimm ttrpiiu tangtrent. These things aender ersdiUa what ta spoken here of dw Benjsmile slingers.
Terse 18. Went up to the haute of Godi Same thiak that a depotation were sent to ShUoh, where Phinebaa, ths high priest, wss) to inquire, not concerning the iiiiwYi'iisiy of the war, nor of its stucett, but witich of the tribaa should begin the attack. Having so much ri^ on dtesr aide, they nad no doubt <rf ttw jwmesof their cawsa. BUn>- ing such a tuperiority ol number^ they had nodonkc of auccesB. See the note on ver. 1.
Verse 21. Dettroyed down to the fTSStnd twr»tf imm thoutand men.] TiM ia, so many wore left dend qq the field of battle.