Exposition of the Whole Bible

HIS chapter gives us an account of another i fummons of the tribes of J/rael by Yofbua, who obeyed it, and prefented themfelves before the Lord at Shechem, y. 1. when Yofbua in the name of the Lord rehearfed to them the many great and good things the Lord had done for them, from the time of their anceftor Abraham to that day, ¥.2—13. and then exhorted them to fear and ferve the Lord, and reject idols, ¥. 14. and put them upon making their choice, whether they would ferve the true God, or the gods of the Ca. naanites, and they, chufing the former, he advifed them to abide by their choice, ¥. 15—24. and made a covenant with them to that purpofe, and then difmiffed them, ¥. 25—28. and the chapter is concluded with an account of the death and burial of Yofbua and Eleazar, and of the interment of the benes of Fofeph, ¥. 29—33.

¥.1. And Fofbua gathered all the tribes of Ifrael to Shechem, &c.) The nine tribes anda half, not all the individuals of them, but the chief among them, their reprefentatives, as afterwards explained, whom he gathered together a fecond time, being willing, as long as he was among them, to improve his time for their fpiritual as well as civil good, to imprefs their minds with a fenfe of religion, and to ftrengthen, enlarge, and enforce the exhortations he had given them to ferve the Lord; and Abarbinel thinks he gathered them together again, becaule before they returned him no anfwer, and therefore he determined now to put fuch queftions to them, as would oblige them to give one, as they did, and which iffued in making a covenant with them; the place where they affembled was Shechem, which fome take to be Sbilob, becaufe of what is faid y. 26. that being as they fay in the

Et calcanda femel via lethi.

Sed omnes una manet nox,

fields of Shechem; which is not likely, fince Shilob, as Ferom fays*, was ten miles from Neapolis, or Shechem. This place was chofen becaufe neareft to Fo/bua, who was now old and infirm, and unfit to travel; and the rather becaufe it was the place where the Lord firft appeared to Abraham, when he brought him into the land of Canaan, and where he madea promife of giving the land to his feed, and where 4brabam built an altar to him, Gen. xii. 6, 7. where alfo Facob pitched his tent when he came from Padan-aram, bought a parcel of a field, and erected an altar to the Lord, Gen. XxXxill. 18, 19, 20, and where Fo/bua alfo repeated the law to, and renewed the covenant with the children of J/rael, quickly after their coming into the land of Canaan, for Ebal and Gerizzim were near to Shechem, ch. viii. 30—35. and called for the elders of Ifrael, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, fee the note on ch. xxiii. 2. and they prefented themfelves before God; Kimchi and Abarbinel are of opinion, that the ark was fetched from the tabernacle at Sbilob, and brought hither on this occafion, which was the fymbol of the divine prefence; and therefore the place becoming facred thereby is called the fanctuary of the Lord, and certain it is that here was the book of the law of Mojes, ¥. 26. which was put on the fide of the ark, Deut. xxxi.26.

¥. 2. And Fofoua faid unto all the people, &c.}

Then prefent, or to all J/rae/ by their reprefenta-— of Ifrae.

tives: thus faith the Lord God 7; he fpoke to them in the name of the Lord, as the prophet did, being himfelf a prophet, and at this a he der a divine impulfe, and fpirit of prophecy. © According to an Arabic writer” the angel of peared in the form of a man, and with a loud voice delivered the following, though they are by him in a different manner; perhaps he means the captain of the Lord’s hoft, ch. xv. and which is not unlikely: your fathers dwelt on the other fide of the. flood in old time; fide the river Euphrates;

Perat;” i.e. Euphrates; in Mefopotamia and Chaldea; meaning not the remoteit of their anceftors, Neab and Shem, but the more near, and who are exprefsly named: even Terab the father of Abrabam, and the father of Nachor, the d/raclites {prung from rand Tjrael’s dififfion of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, 13, 14.'and to be the deliverers of them: and I plagued Egypt according to that which I did amongft them; on the other inflicting ‘ten plagues upon them for refufing to fo the Targum, “ beyond let Jrael go: and afterwards I brought you out 3 that is, out of Egypt, with an high hand, and ftretched-out arm.

| y. 6, And I brought your fathers out of Egypt, &c.) Which more fully expreffes the fenfe of the)laft claufe of the preceding verfe: and you came unto

Terah, in the line of Abraham, on the father’s fide, and from him inthe line of Nachor on the mother’s fide, Rebekah, Leab, and Rachel being of Nachor’s family:- and they ferved other gods; befides the true God, ftrange gods which were no gods: idols, the idols of the people, as the Targum; fo did Terab, Abralam, and Nachor; fee the notes on Gen. xi. 26, 28. and xii. 1.

¥.3. And I took your father Abrabam from the other fide of the flood, &c.| The river Euphrates, as before: or your father, to wit Abraham, as Neldius *; he took him not only in a providential way, and brought him from the other fide of the Euphrates, out of an idolatrous country and family; but he apprehended him by his grace, and called and converted him by it, and brought him to a fpiritual knowledge of himfelf, and of the meffiah that fhould fpring from his feed, and of the covenant of grace, and of the bleffings of it, and of his inteveft therein; which was a peculiar and diftinguifhing favour: and led him throughout all the land of Canaan; from the northern to the fouthern part of it; he led him as far as Shechem, where J/rael was now affembled, and then to Bethel, and ftill onward to the fouth, Gen. xii. 6—9. that he might havea view of the land his pofterity was to inherit, and by treading on it and walking through it, take as it were a kind of poffeffion of it: and multiplied his feed, and gave him Jfaac he multiplied his feed by Hagar, by whom he had J/bmael, who begat twelve princes; and by Keturab, from whofe fons feveral nations fprung; fee Gen. xvii. 20. and xxv. 1-—4. and by Sarah, who bore him Jac in old age, in whom his feed was called; and from whom, in the line of Yacob, {fprung the twelve tribes of J/rael, and which feed may be chiefly meant; and the fenfe is, that the fea; which refpects fome fenior perfons then preient; for befides Caleb and Fofhua, there were many at this time alive who came to and pafled through the Red-/ea, at their coming out of Egypt; for thofe whofe carcafes fell in the wildernefs, were fuch as were more than twenty years of age, at their coming out from Lgypt, and who were the murmurers in the wildernefs; and it may be reafonably fuppofed, that many of thofe who were under twenty years of age at that time were now living: and the Egyptians purfued after your fathers, with chariots and horfemen, into the Red-fea; of the number of their chariots and horfemen, fee Exod. xiv. 7,9. with thefe they purfued the J/rae/ites, not only unto, but into the Red-fea, following them into it; the reafon of which ftrange action is given in the next verfe.

¥. 7. And when they cried unto the Lord, &c.] Thatis, the J/rae/ites, being in the utmoft diftrefs, the fea before them, Pharaoch’s large hoft behind them, and the rocks on each fide of them; fee Exod. xiv. 10. be put darknefs betweenyou and the Egyptians, the pillar of cloud, the dark fide of which was turned to the Egyptians, and which was the reafon of their following the J/raelites into the fea; for not being able to fee their way, knew not where they were; fee. Exod. xiv. 20. and brought the fea upon them, and covered them; or upon him, and covered him*®; on Pharaoh, as Kim-~ chi; oron L£gypt; that is, the Egyptians; or on every one of them, as Yarchi, none efcaped; fee Exod. xiv. 26, 27, 28. and your eyes have feen what I have donein Egypt; what figns and wonders were wrought there, before they were brought out of it, and what he had done to and upon the Egyptians at the Red-/ea; fome then prefent had been eye-witneffes of them:- avd ye dwelt in the wilderne he multiplied his pofterity after he had given him s a long /ea/on; forty years, where they had the law given

Yaac, and by him a numerous feed; fo Vatablus: Ybmael is not mentioned, becaufe, as Kimchi obferves, he was born of an handmaid; but 4dardinel thinks only fuch are mentioned, who were born in a miraculous manner, when their parents were barren, as in this and alfo in the next inftance.

¥.4. And I gave unto Ifaac Facob and. Efan, &c.] When Rebekah was barren, fo that the chil- them, were preferved from many evils and enemies, were fed with manna, and fupplied with the neceffaries of life, were led about and inftructed, andat length brought out of it.

¥. 8. And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other fide Fordan, &c.] The kingdom of Sihon and Og: and they fought with you; the two kings of them, and their armies: and I gave theminto your hand, that ye might dren appeared the more to be the giftof God;|poffe s their land; and which was now pofiefled by though Zfau perhaps is mentioned, for the fake of what follows:

the two tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half and I gave unto Efau mount Seir to\tribe of poffefs it; that Facod and his pofterity alone might inherit Canaan, and Efau and his feed make,no pretenfion to it: dut. Jacob and bis children went down into Egypt; where they continued many years, and great part of the time in bondage and mifery, which is here taken no notice of; was in order to their being brought into the land of Canaan, and that the power and goodnefs of dom: God might be the more confpicuous in it.

¥.5. Lfent Mofes alfo and daron, &c.] To de- Manaffeh: and I deftroyed them from before you’; the kings, their forces, and the inhabitants of their countries; the hiftory of which fee in Numb. xxi.

y. 9. Then Balak the fon of Zippor, the king of Moad arefe, &c.] Being alarmed with what J/rael and this'had doneto the two kings of the Amorites, and by their near approach to the borders of his kingand warred againft Ifrael, he fully defigned it, and purpofe is put for action, as Kimchi obferves; he prepared for it, proclaimed war, and

254 | FO s HU A. Chines eo eS commienced it, though he did not come to a bat‘ tle; he made ufe of ftratagems and wiles, and magical arts, to hurt them, and fent for Balaam to curfe them, that they borh together might {mite the J/raelites, and drive them out of the land, Numb. xxii. 6. fo his fighting is interpreted by the next claufe: and fent and called Balaam the fon Beor to curfe you; by which means he hoped to prevail in battle, and get the victory over them; but not being able to bring this about, durft not éigage in-battle with them.

cept their fpies, and cut them off; by fhutting up the gates of their city againft [/rae/; be throwing darts, arrows, and ftones, from o ¥. the walls of it at them. Kimchi thinks that fome of the great men of Fericho went out from thence, to give notice and warning to the kingsof Canaan) of the approach of the J/raelites, and in the mean time the city was taken 5 and that thefe afterwards joined with the kings in fighting againft Jofbua ‘and the people of J/rael: the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgajfbites, the Hivites and the ‘febufites; the’ feven nations of Canaan; this they did at different times, and in different’ places: and J delivered them into your band, thele nations and their vi. 10, 11, of the vineyards and olive-yards which ye planted not, do ye eat; thus far an account is © given of the many mercies they had been. 1 were favoured with, and thus far are the words o pe the Lord by Yo/oua; next follow the ufe and improvement Fofoua made of them.. a of' ¥. 14. Now therefore fear the Lord, &c.| Since he has done fuch great and good things, fear the © Lord and his goodnefs, fear him for his goodnefsfake; nothing fo influences fear, or a reverential ’ affection for God, as a fenfe of his goodnefs; ‘this engages men fenfible of it to fear the Lord, that. is, to worfhip him both internally and externally in the exercife of every grace, and in the perform-_ ance of every duty: and ferve him in fincerity and im truth; in the uprightnefs of their fouls, without hypocrify and deceit, and according to the andjtruth of his word, and of his mind and will revealed in it, without any mixture of fuperftition and will-worfhip, or of the commands and inyentions of men: aud put away the gods which your fathers ferved on the other fide of the flood, and in Egypt; that is, exprefs an abhorrence of them,. and keep at a diftance from them, and fhew that you are far from giving in to fuch idolatries your anceftors were guilty of, when they lived on the other fide Euphrates, in Chaldea, or when they were fojourners in Egypt;.for it can’t be thought that the I/raelites were at this time guilty of fach grofs idolatry, at leaft openly, fince Yo/fbua had bore fuch a teftimony of them, that they had cleaved to the Lord unto that day, ch. xxiii. 8. and their’ by endeavouring to inter- zeal againft the two tribes and.a half, on fufpicion of idolatry, or of going into it, is a proof and it may of it alfo: and ferve ye the Lord; and him only. 15. And if it feem evil to you to ferve the Lord, &c.] Irkfome and troublefome, a burden, - a wearinefs, and not a pleafure and delight: chufe you this day whom you will ferve; fay if you have found a better ‘mafter, and whofe fervice will be more pleafant and profitable: whether the gods your fathers ferved, that were on the other fide of the flood, the river Euphrates; thefe may bid faireft for antiquity, but then they were fuch their fathers had relinquifhed, and for which undoubtedly they had good reafon; and to take up with the worthip | of thefe again, was to impeach their wifdom, judgment and good fenfe: or the gods of the Amorites,

- vi 10. But I would not bearken unto Balaam, &e.] Who was very folicitous to get leave of the Lord to curfe J/rael, which he knew he could not do-without; he had a good-will'to it, but could fot aecomplith it: therefore be bleffed you fiill; went on blefling J/rae! to the laft, when Balak hoped every time he would have curfed them; Balaam himfelf. was very defirous of doing it, but could not, being over-ruled by the Lord, and under his reftraint; which fhews his power over evil fpirits, and their agents: fo I delivered you out of bis hands; both out of the hand of Balak, who was intimidated from bringing his forces again{t them, and out of the hand otf Balaam, who was not fuffered to curfe them.

¥.11. And ye went over Fordan, &c.] In a miraculous manner, the waters parting to make way for the hoft of J/rael:. and came unto Jericho, the firft city of any bignefs and ftrength in the land, which was about feven or eight miles from Fordan; fee the note on Numb. xxii. 1. and the men of Fericho fought againft you;

kings. in whofe land ye dwell; but then thefe were fuch as

¥.12. And I fent the hornet before you, 8&cc.| Of which fee the noteon Exod, xxiii. 28. which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites who were Sihon and Og, and not only them, and the Amorites under them, but the other nations, Hivites, Hittites, &c. but not with thy fword, nor with thy bow but by infects of Lord’s fending to them, which, as Kimchi fays, fo blinded their eyes, that they could not fee to fight, and fo Jjrael came upon them, and flew them; in which the hand of the Lord was manifeftly feen, and to whofe power, and not their own, the deftruction of their enemies was to be could not preferve their worfhippers in the land, or the I/raelites had not dwelt in it, and therefore no dependence could be had upon them for future fecurity. The Amorites are only mentioned, becaufe they were a principal nation, fome of which dwele on one fide Fordan, and fome on the other, and the) indeed there were of them in the feveral parts of the land: but as for me and my houfe, we will ferve se Lord; be your choice as it may be: this was the refolution of Fo/bua, and fo far as he knew the fenfe of his family, or had influence over it, could and did fpeak for them; and which he obferves * a as an example fet for the J/raelites to follow after;

afcribed. he full well knowing that the examples of great per- ~ y. 13. And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, &c.| Or, in which*, by manuring and eultivating it, by dunging, and plowing, and fonages, fuch as governors, fupreme and fubordinate, have great influence over thofe that are under them.

y.16. And the people anfwered and faid, “ot v towing: and cities which ye built not, and ye dwellin them, neither built the houfes in them, nor the walls and fortifications about them 3 in which now they dwelt fafely, and at eafe, and which had been promiféd them, as well as what follows; fee Deut. To Fofoua, upon his propofal to them, the option he gave them to ferve, the Lord or idols, and which was only done to try them: God forbid that ~~ we fhould forfake the Lord, to ferve other gods, they fpeak with the utmoft abhorrence of idolatry,

TO as a thing far from their hearts and thoughts, as the moft abominable and execrable, that could be thought or fpoken of; to forfake the word, and worfhip, and ordinances of God, and ferve the idols of the Gentiles, ftrange gods, whether more ancient or more recent, fuch as their fathers worfhipped in former times, or the inhabitants of the land they now dwelt’ in; for which they were fpewed out of it.

y. 17. For the Lord our God, he it is that brought us up, and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, &c.} When Pharaoh, the-king of it, refufed to let them go, yet he wrought fuch wonders in it, and inflited fuch plagues on it, as obliged Pharaoh and his people to difmifs them: from the houfe of bondage; where they were held in the greateft thraldom and flavery, and their lives made bitter and miferable: and which did thofe great figns in our fight; meaning the wonders and marvellous things wrought before Pharaob and his people, and in the fight of J/rael, Pf. Ixxvili. 11, 12, 43. though Abarbinel is of opinion, it refers to what had been done in their fight of late in the land of Canaan, as the dividing of the waters of Yordan, the fall of the ‘walls of Fericho, the ftanding till of the fun in Gibeos; but this feems not fo well to agree with what follows: and preferved us in all the way wherein we went: in the wildernefs from ferpents, and fcorpions, and beafts of prey, men, and the beft of their fervices; are impure and unholy before him, and will not bear to be compared with him, and therefore by no means to’ be trufted in; and it requires much grace and fpiritual ftrength to perform any fervice that may be acceptable to him thro’ Chrift. In the Hebrew text it is, for the holy ones ate he, which may ferve to illuftrate and confirm the doétrine of the Trinity of perfons in thé unity of the divine Effence, or of the three divine holy perfons, holy Father, holy Son, holy

Spirit, as the one God, fee Jf vi. 3. be is a jealous God; of his honour and glory, and of his worfhip, in which he will admit of no rival, of no gtaven images, or any idols to be worfhipped with him, or befides him; nor will he fuffer the idol of mens righteoufnefs to be fet up in the room of, or in oppofition to the righteoufnefs of God, even no fervices and works of men, be they ever fo good, fince they cannot be perfect before him:

he will not forgive your tranfgreffions, nor your fins; even the tran{fgreffions and fins of fuch that for. fake the worfhip and fervice of him, and fall into idolatry, or who feek for juftification by their own fervices, thefe are both abominable to him; otherwife he is a God pardoning the iniquity, tranfgreffion and fin of all thofe who feek unto him and ferve him, confefs their fins, and renounce their own righteoufnefs; fee Exod. xxiii. 21.

y. 20. If you forfake the Lord, and ferve ftrange

and from all dangers from every quarter: and among all the pecple through whom we paffed, thro’ gods, &c.| Fofbua knew the pronenefs of this people to idolatry, and therefore expreffes his jealoufy whole borders they paffed, as the Edomites, Moabites, and Amorites; though the above writer feems to underftand it of prefervation from the dangers of their enemies in the land of Canaan, y. 18. And the Lord drave out from before us all the people, &c.] The feven nations of the land of Canaan: even the Amorites which dwelt in the land; the ftrongft and moft populous of the nations, Amos ii. 9. or efpecially the Amorites, fo Vatablus; or with the Amorites, as others; thofe that lived on the other fide Yordan, over whom Sibon and Og reigned: therefore w#/l we alfo ferve the Lord; as well as Fo/bua and his houfe, for the reafons before given, becaufe he had done fuch great and good things for them: for be is our God; that has made and preferved us, and loaded us with his benefits, and is our Covenant-God, and therefore will we fear and ferve him.

y.19. And Fofoua faid unto the people, &c.] To their heads and reprefentatives now affembled together, and who had returned to him the preceding anfwer: ye cannot ferve the Lord, which he faid not to difcourage or deter them from ferving the Lord, fince it was his principal veiw, thro’ the whole of this converfation with them, to engage them in it; but to obferve to them their own inability and infufficiency of themfelves to perform fervice acceptable to God; and therefore it became them to implore grace and ftrength from the Lord to affift them in it, and to depend upon that, and not to lean to and truft in their own ftrength; as alfo to obferve to them, that they could not ferve him perfectly without any defect and failure in their fervice, for there is no man that does good and fins not; and therefore when a man has done all he can, he muft not depend upon it for his juftification before God; or confifider it as his juftifying righteoufnefs, which was what that people were always prone to; fome fopply it, “* you cannot ferve the Lord with your images,” or along with them, fo Vatablus: for be is an holy God, perfectly holy, fo that the beft of. 3 of them, that they would not be able to continue in the fervice of God, and would be apt to be carried away after idols; and therefore to make them the more cautious and watchful, he reprefents to them the danger they were in, and what would befal them fhould they forfake the Lord they now promifed to ferve, and follow after ether gods,which their fathers worfhipped before they were called out ° of their eftate of heathenif{m, or which the Canaanites or Egyptians worthipped, whofe examples they were too ready to imitate: then he will turn and do you burt; not that there is properly any change in God, either of his counfel or covenant, or of love and affection to his people, but of his providential dealings, or outward manner, of aé&- ing towards men; or the fenfe is, he will again do you hurt, bring evils and calamities upon you again and again, frequently as you revolt from him, fuch as the fword, peftilence, famine and captivity, which thefe people after experienced when they fell into idolatry: and confume you by thefe his fore judgments: after that he hath done you good; by bringing you into fuch a good land, and beftowing fo' many good. things upon you, natural, civil and religious; and yet notwithftanding being difobedient to him, and efpecially in the in-

{tances mentioned, they are made to expect his refentment, and the effects of it.

y. 21. And the people faid unto Fofbua, nay, &c.] We will not ferve ftrange gods: but we will ferve the Lord; according to his revealed will, and him only.

¥. 22. And Fofbua faid unto the people, &c.] In reply to their anfwer and refolution: ye are witneffes againft yourfelves, that ye have chofen you the Lord God to ferve him, that is, fhould they after this choice of him, which they had fo publickly. declared, defert his fervice, and go into idolatry, their teftimony would rife up againft them, and they would be felf-condemned: and they /aid, we are witneffes; fhould we ever apoftatize from the Lord and his worfhip, we are content to have this our witnefs produced againft us. r

¥. 23. Now therefore put away, faid he, &c. J there were any fuch places fovearly as the times of. ‘

Which laft words are rightly fupplied, for they are the words of Sobua: the ftrange gods which are among you; not their private notions and fecret fentiments that fome of them had imbibed in fa- * your of idols, and the worfhip. of them, as Ben Gerfom thinks; but, as the Targum expreffes it, ‘* the idols of the Gentiles;” either fuch as they had brought out of Egypt, or had found among the plunder of the Canaanites, and had fecretly retained; or, as others think, their penates, or houfhold gods, they had privately kept and worfhipped, fuch as thofe that were in Facod’s family, which he caufed to be delivered to him, and which he hid under an oak in this place where J/rael were now aflembled, Gen. xxxv. 2, 4. and which Foua by-a prophetic difcerning {pirit perceived was now

Jofoua, nor is it clear that fuch are ever called)

fanétuaries, oie olde ¥.27. And Fofhua faid unto all the opie The chief of them now gathered together, and who reprefented the whole body: debold, this fone all be a witne/s unto us; of the covenant now: made, and the agreement entered into, as the heap. of ftones were between Facob and Laban, Gen. XXxi. 45; 46, 47. for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he fpake unto us; this is faid by a figure called Profopopwia, frequent in {criprure, by which inanimate creatures are reprefented, as hearing, feeing and fpeaking, and may fignify, that fhould the J/raelites break this covenant, and diiobey the commands of the Lord they had promifed to keep, they would be as itupid and ienfe-.

among them: aad incline your heart unto the God of Ifrael, to love, fear and ferve him; that Lord)lefs as this ftone, or more fo, which would rife in judgment againft them. Nachmanides*, a Fewifh is, pray that your hearts may be inclined thereunto, and make ufe of all means that may tend to direct your hearts to him and his fervice; fo the Targum, “¢ to the worfhip of the Lord God of J/rael.” ¥. 24. And the people faid unto Fofbua, &c.) A

witneffes every thing is confirmed, fo by three teftimonies of the fame perfons: the Lord our God will we ferve: as they had before declared, and to which they add: and bis voice will we obey; or his

Word, as the Targum, not only his word of command, but his effential Word, the Son of God.

commentator, interprets this ftone of the Mefliah, the fame aS in Gen. xlix. 24. P/, cxviil. 22. Zech. iii, 8, g: it fhall be therefore a witnefs unto you, lef? ye deny your God; for a memorial and teftimony to prevent them from going into atheifm, a denying of the true God, or into apoftacy from him, and into idolatry and, falfe worfhip. The Targum of which is, ‘* behold; this ftone fhall be to us as the two. tables of ftone of the covenant, for we made it for a teftimony; for the words which are written upon it, are the fum of all the words of the Lord which he fpake unto us; and

¥. 25. So fofhua made a covenant with the people that day, &c.| -Propofing to them what was moft it fhall be unto you for a memorial, and for a tettimony, left ye lie before the Lord.”

eligible, and their duty to do, and they agreeing

¥. 28. So Fofbua let the people depart, every man to it, this formally conftituted a covenant, of which u#to his inberitance.) Difmified them, and took they themfelves were both parties and witnefles: and fet them a fiatute, and an ordinance in Shechem; either made this covenant to have the nature of a ftatute and ordinance binding upon them, or repeated and renewed the laws of Mo/es, both moral and ceremonial, which had been delivered at mount Sinat, and now upon this repetition in Schechem, might be called a ftatute and ordinance there, ¥.26. And Fofbua wrote thefe words, &c.] Which had paffed between him and the people: iz the book of the law of God; written by Mo/és, and which he ordered to be put in the fide of the ark, and that being now prefent, the book could be eafily taken out, and thefe words inferted in it, Deut. xxxi. 26. and took a great ftone; on which alfo might be infcribed the fame words: and fet it up there under an oak, that was by the: faniuary of the Lord; or in.it*.; that is, in the field or place where the ark was, which made it facred, and upon which account the place was called a fanctuary, or an holy place; for there is no need to fay that the tabernacle or fanctuary itfelf was brought hither, only the ark; and much lefs can it be-thought, that an oak fhould be in it; though it was not improbable, that had it been thither brought, it might have been placed under, or by an oak, as we render it; and it is a tradition of the Fews, which both Farchi and Kimchi make mention of, that this was the fame oak under which Facod hid the ftrange gods of his family in Shechem, Gen.xxxv. 4. Mr. Medeis of opinion that neither ark nor tabernacle were here, but that by January is meant a profeucha, or place for prayer; fuch an one as in after-times was near Shechem, as Epiphanius * relates, built by the Samaritans in imitation of the Fews; but it is a queftion, whetherlelders; thefe could not overlive Fofbua juft the age of Fe/epb, from whom he his final leave and farewel of them, dying foon after; upon which they returned to the pofiefions and inheritances affigned by lot to the feveral tribes,, of which they were the heads, and princes,

¥. 29. And it came to pafs after thefe things, &c.] Some little time after, very probably the fame year: that Fofhua. the fon of Nun, the fervant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old; he wanted ten vears of Mo/es his predeceffor, and fprung, being of the tribe. of Ephraim. ':

¥. 30. And they buried him in the border of bis inheritance, &c.] Ina field belonging to his eftate;. for they buried not in towns and cities in thofe times. The Greek verfion adds, ‘* and they put into the tomb, in which he was buried, the ftone« knives with which he circumcifed the children of Tfrael at Gilgal, when he brought them out of Egypt 3? and an Arabic writer * afirms the fame, but without any foundation: i Timnath-ferab, which isin mount Ephraim, which was his city, and:

where he dwelt; and of which fee the note on ch..

xix. 50. and his grave was near the citys here, they fay‘, his father Nun, and Caled alfo, were buried: on the north fide of the bill of Gaafb,; of the brooks or vallies of Gaafb, mention is made in 2 Sam. xxiii. 30. which very probably were at the bottom of this hill.

¥. 31. And the children of Ijrael ferved the Lord all the days of Fofoua, &c.) Without going into idolatrous practices: and all the days of thé elders that overlived Fofbua; that lived a few years k than he; fome of them that came young out of

Egypt, and were now elderly men; and fome of them doubtlefs were of the court of the feventy many years, for in the times of Cu/ban-rifhathaim, I/rael fell into idolatry, Fudg. ii. 6, 7,8. und which had known all the works of the Lord, that he bad done for Ifrael, in Egypt, at the Red Sea, in the wildernefs, as well as fince their coming into the land of Canaan.;

¥. 32. And the bones of Fofeph, which the children of Ifrael brought up out of Egypt, &c.) At the requeft, and by the order of Fofeph, Gen. 1. 25. which were punétually obferved by the children of Tfrael under the- direction and command of Mo/es, and ‘therefore is afcribed to him, as here to them, Exod. xiii. 19. buried they in Shechem3 not in the city, but in a field near it, as the next claufe fhews. The Jews in their Cippi Hebraici fay *, that Fofeph was buried at a village called Be/ata, a fabbathday’s journey from Shechem, but Ferom fays *, he was buried in Shechem, and his monument was to be feen there in his time. Not that they buried him at the fame time 7o/bua was buried, but very probably as foon as the tribe of Ephraim was in the quiet poffeffion of this place; though the hiftorian inferts the account of it here, taking an occafion for it from the interment of Fofhua: in a parcel of ground which Facob bought of the fons of Hamor the father of Shechem, for an hundred. pieces of filver; of which purchafe fee the note on Gen, Xxxiil. 19. and it became the inheritance of the children of Fofeph; and particularly of the tribe of Ephraim by lot, agreeable to.the gift and difpofal of it by Fagob to fFofeph, Geh. xlviii. 22. fee the note there.

them ‘ ftrict obedience to the commands of God, and took his leave of them, and then ftript himfelf of his holy garments, and clothed Phinebas his fon with them; what his age was, is not faid: and they buried him tn a bill that pertaineth to Phinebas bis fon; or in the hill of Phinebas; which was fo called from him, and might have the name given - it by his father, who might poffefs it before him, and what adjoined to it. The fews in the above treatife fay *, that at4varta was a {chool of Phinebas in a temple of the Gentiles, that Eleazar was buried upon the hill, and a/bua below the village among the olives, and on this hill is faid' to be a {chool or village of Phinebas: which was given him in mount Epbraim; either to Eleazer, that he might be near to Séz/ob, where the tabernacle then was, as the cities given to the priefts and Levites were chiefly in thofe tribes that lay neareft to Feru/alem, though the Fews fay, as Farchi and Kimchi relate, that Phinebas might come into the poffeffion of that place thro’ his wife, or it might fall to him as being a devoted field; but it is moft likely it was given to his father by the children of Ephraim, for the reafon before obferved. TheTa/mudijis fay, that ofhua wrote his own book, which is very probable; yet the laft five verfes muft be written by another hand, even as the laft eight verfes in Deuteronomy were written by him, as they alfo fay; and therefore this is no more an objection to. his being the writer of this book, than the addition of eight verfes by him to Deuteronomy, is to Mofes being the wri-

¥. 23. And Eleazar the fon of Aaron died, &c.]) Very probably in a fhort time after Fo/bua; and according to the Samaritan chronicle', he died Fofoua did, gathered the chief men of the children of Ifrael a little before his death, and enjoined! ter of thate; and the fame Ta/mudijis ™ allo obferve, that ¥. 29, 30, 31, 32. fofbua the fon of Nun, the as' fervant of the Lord, died, &c. were written by Eleazar, and ¥. 33. and Eleazar the fon of Aaron, died, &c. by Phinebas, which is not improbable.

Qm@DE! 02s HE title of this book in the Hey Zt brew copies is Sepher Shophetim, the book of Fadges; but the Sy- - riac and Arabic interpreters call it, ‘* the book of the Judges of the children of J/rael;” and the Septuagint only Fudges; fo called, not becaufe it was written by them, though fome think it was compiled out of annals and diaries kept by them; but it feems to be the work of one perfon only: the true reafon of its name is, becaufe it treats of the judges of J/rael, gives an account of their lives and actions, and efpecially fuch as concerned their office; which office was different from thar of kings, and feems only to have been occafional, and chiefly lay in delivering the people out of the hands of their enemies, when oppreffed, diftreffed, or carried captive by them, in protecting them in the enjoyment of their country, rights and liberties; in leading out their armies againft their enemies when needful, and in compofing differences, judging law-fuits, and adminiftring juftice. The government of the nation, during their time, was a theocracy. It is not certain who was the penman of this book; fome afcribe it to king Hezekiah, others to Ezra; but the Fewifh writers * are generally of opinion, that it was written by Samuel, which is moft likely, who was the laft of the judges; and it feems plainly to be written before the times of David, as appears from a fpeech of Joab, 2 Sam. xi. 21.

fe HE children of J/rael, after Fefbua’s ‘death, enquiring of the Lord which tribes fhould firft go up again{ft the remaining Canaanites, Fudab js ordered to go up, who with Simeon did, y.1t, 2, 3. and had fuccefs -againft the Canaanites under Adoni-bezek, whom they brought to Feru/alem, ¥. 4—8. and againft the Canaanites in Hebron, Debir, Zephath, Hormab, Gaza, Afkelon and Ekron, ¥. 9—20. the Benjamites had not fuch good fuccefs as Fudab againft the Febufites in Ferufalem, y. 21. nor as the houfe of Fofeph had againft Bethel, y. 22—26. nor could the tribes of Mavaffeh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Afber and Napbtali drive out the Canaanites from feveral places which be- Jonged unto them, though many of them became their tributaries, ¥. 27—33. and as for the Amo-

ANAgryez ose aye he a - > and from fome paffages in P/ Ixviiis &, 9. and xcvii. 5. which feem to refer or allude to Fudg. ' v. 4,5. and from Feru/alem being called Febus, which fhews it to be inhabited by the Febufites in the time of the writer of this book, whereas it was taken out of their hands by David; befides, Samuel himfelf refers to the annals of this book, 1 Sam. Xil. g, 10, rr. and from whofe teftimonies, as well as from others in the New Teftament, there is no~ doubt to be made of its being genuine and authentic, and written by-divine in{piration; as is evident from the ufe the apoftle Paul, and the author of the epiftle to the Hebrews have made of it, Ags xiii, 20. Heb. xi. 32. it is ufeful as an hiftory, and without which the hiftory of the people of J/- rael would not be compleat; it containing an account of all their judges, excepting the two laft, Eli and Samuel, of whom an account is given in the following books, and: of fome faéts incidental to thofe times, related in an appendix at the end of it concerning the idol of Micab, and the war of Benjamin; and furnifhes out many ufeful moral obfervations concerning God’s difpleafure at fin in his own people //rae/, and his correétions for it; and about his providential care of them in © raifing up for them deliverers in their time of need, as well as points at various virtues and excellencies in great and good men worthy of imitation. Ie contains, according to Pifcator, Dr. Lightfoot, and others, an hiftory of 299 years,

¥.1. Now after the death of Fofbua, &c.] With the account of which the preceding book is concluded, and therefore this very properly follows after that; though Epiphanius ° places the book of For between them: if came to pafs that the children of Irael afked the Lord, that is, the heads o them who gathered together at Shilo, hee ae tabernacle was; and ftanding before the high-prieft, either Eleazar, or rather Phinebas his fon, Bec 1a being in all probability dead, enquired by Urim and Thummim: faying, who foall go up for us ag the Canaanites firft, to fight againft them? for they

. Ch.i. ¥. 2—7. FED GES: | 259 ' had no commander in chief, 7o/bua leaving no fucceffor, thaugh the Samaritan chronicle * pretends he did; one Abel, a fon of Ca/eb’s brother, of the tribe of Judah, on whom the lor fell, out of 12 of the g tribes and a half, to whom Ye/bua de livered the government of the nation, and crowned him: but this enquiry was not for any man to go before them all as their generaliffimo, but to know what tribe fhould firft go up, and they were defirous of having the mind of God in it, when they might expect to fucceed; which to do at lis; their firft fetting out, would not only be a great encouragement to them to go on, but ftrike dread and terror into their enemies; and this is to be underftood of the Canaanites who remained unfubdued, that dwelt among them, and in cities, which though divided to them by lot, they were not in the poffeffion of; and thefe being troublefome neighbours to them, and befides the [raelites daily increafing, needed more room and more cities to occupy, and more land to cultivate.

¥.3. And Fudah faid unto Simeon his brother, &c.] The men of the tribe of Zudab faid to thofe of the tribe of Simeon, they being not only thren’ by father’s and mother’s fide, which was the cafe of all the fons of Facob, but their poffeffions and inheritances lay near together; and indeed thofe of Simeon were within the inheritance of the tribe of Fudab, Fofb. xix. 1. fo that as they lived in great nearnefs and familiarity with each other, their interefts were clofely united together: come up with me into my lot, that we may fight againft the Canaanites; conjunctly; the meaning is, that the tribe of Simeon, as many of their warlike mén as could would.come and join their forces with thofe of the tribe of Fudab, in order to reduce fuch cities in the lot of that tribe, the Canaanites as yet were in the poffeffion of: and I likewife will go with thee into thy lot; the cities being conquered which were in the lot of the tribe of Fudab, that tribe propofed to bring their united forcesinto the lot of the tribe of Simeon, and reduce fuch cities as were in that lot: /o Simeon went with him; the tribe of Simeon agreed to the propofal, and went along with the tribe of ¥udab againft their as here from the Perizzites, who otherwife were alfo Canaanites; and both thefe, at leaf many ‘of them, dwelt in thofe parts, and were fubdued by: the united forces of Fudah and Simeon, whereby the Lord’s promife was fulfilled, ¥. 2. and they flew of them in Bezek 10,000 men; that is, in and about Bezek, firft and laft, in the courfe of this war, as after related. erom fays 4, there were two villages of this name in his time near one another; feven miles from Neapolis, as you go to Scythopoand our countryman Mr. Sandys « fays, that when they departed trom Bethlehem, bending their courfe from the mountains of Fudea lying weit from it, near to which, on the fide of the oppofite hill, they paffed a little village called Bezek, as he took it, two miles from Beth/ur, fee 1 Sam. xi. 8.

y. 5. dud they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek, &c.] Who was king of the place, and whofe name fignifies lord of Bezek; not that they took him there, for he is afterwards faid to make his efcape from thence, but here he was when they came againft that city, and into which they rufhed upon him; and fell upon him as follows: and they fought againft him; entering the city with their forces: and. they flew the Canaanites and the Perizzites; that were in it, or about it; even to the number of 10,000, as before related.

y. 2. And the Lord faid, &c.] By an articulate voice, which ’tis probable was the ufual way of an{wering by Urim and IThummim: Judah fhall go up; not Fudab in perfon, who was long ago dead, but.the tribe of Fudah; it was the will of the Lord that that tribe fhould engage firft with the Canaanites, being the principal one, and the moft numerous, powerful and valiant, and ‘perhaps had the greateft number of Canaanites among them; and who fucceeding, would infpire the other tribes with courage, and fill their enemies with a panic: behold, I have delivered the land into his hands; that part of it which belonged to that tribe as yet unfubdued, the conqueft of which they are affured of for their encouragement. lows:

¥. 6. But Adoni-bexek fled, and they purfued after 4im, and caught him, &c.] It is very probable. his view was to get to Febus or Ferufalem, a ftrong and fortified city, and he made his way thither as faft he could, but was purfued and overtaken by fome of the forces of Judah and Simeon; and the rather it may feem he took this courfe, fince when he was taken by them, they brought him thither, as foland cut off bis thumbs and bis great toes; whereby he was difabled both for fighting and for fleeing. So the Athenians cut off the thumbs bre-jof the right-hand of the Aginete, the inhabitants not jof the ifland of 4gina, to difable them from holding a fpear, as various writers‘ relate. Whether the J/raelites did this, as knowing this king had ufed others in like manner, and fo according to their law of retaliation, eye for eye, 8c. required it; or whether ignorant of it, were fo moved and directed by the providence of God to do this, that the fame meafure might be meafured to him which he had meafured to others, is not certain; the latter feems moft probable, fince the J/raelites did not ufually inflict fuch fort of punifhments; and befides, according to the command of God, they fhould have put him to death, as they were to do to all Canaanites.

y. 7. And Adoni-bezek faid, &c.] To the men of Fudab, after his thumbs and toes were cut off, his confcience accufing him for what he had done to others, and being obliged to acknowledge he was righteoufly dealt with: 70 kings having their thumbs and their great toes cut off; that is by him, or by his orders, whom he had conquered and common enemy. made captives; according to Fofephus *, they were y¥. 4. And Fudah went up, &c.] Simeon being along with him, from the fourthern parts of the land, where they dwelt, and went more northward towards Ferujalem, and which therefore is called a going up: and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands; into the hands of Fudab and Simeon, the Canaanites here is not the common name of the feven nations, but the name of one of thofe nations, diftinguifhed from the reft 72. the number may be accounted for, by obferving, that in thofe times, as appears by the preceding book, every city had a king over it; and befides, thefe 70 kings might not be fuch who had had the government of fo many cities, but many of them fuch who had reigned fucceffively in the fame city, and had fallen into the hands of this cruel and tyrannical king, one after another, and their fons alfo with them might be fo called: and,