Chi.#rr—1g. FYFYUDGES.
putation of Ben Gerfom, the time of Yo/bua and the elders were but 27 years; and there were no more than 67 years from their coming out of Egypt to this time; and no doubt there were men living of So years of age and more, but thefe might be but few: and there arofe another generation after them, which knew not the Lord; {0 as to love, fear, ferve, and worfhip him; did not own him to be the one only living and true God, otherwife they mutt know him notionally, being educated in the true religion: mor yet the works which be bad done for Trael; fome of them, as before obferved, might have feen the works and wonders of the Lord for Tjrael, at their firft coming out of Egypt; though not being wife, as the above writer objerves, it had no effect upon them, to keep them from doing evil in the fightof God; and they all of them had been informed of them, and many had feen, and muft have had perfonal knowledge of what was done for them at their coming into the land of Canaan; but not a practical knowledge, or fuch as had any influence upon them, to preferve them from idolatry. ‘@ y. 11. And the children of Ifrael did evil in the Aichi of the Lord, &c.} Openly and publickly, boldly and impudently, in the very face of God, and amidft all the good things they received from him, which were aggravating circumftances of their fins; what the evil was they did is next obferved: and ferved Baalim; the idol Baal, as the Arabic verfion, of which there were many, and therefore a plural word is ufed; to which the apo- {tle refers 1 Cor. 8. 5. for the word fignifies Lords, and there were Baal-peor, Baal-zebubd, Baal-Bevith, &c. and who feem to have their name from Bal, Bel, or Belus, a king of Babylon after Nimvod, and who was the firit monarch that was deified, the Jupiter of the heathens. Theophilus of Antioch ® fays, that according to the hiftory of Thallus, Belus the king of the Afjrians whom they worfhipped, was older than the Trojan war 322 years; and that fome call Cronus or Saturn Bel and Bal; by the Afprians called Bel, and in the Punic or Phenician language Bal*.
y. 12. And they forfook the Lord God of their fathers, &c.] The Covenant-God of their fathers, Abraham, Ifaac, and Facob, and of their more immediate anceftors; his worfhip they forfook, neglected his tabernacle, and the fervice of it: which brought them out of the land of Egypt; out ot wretched mifery and bondage there, with an high hand, and out-ftretched arm; and led them thro’ the wildernefs, and provided for them there, and brought them into the land of Canaam, a land flowing with milk and honey; but all thefe mercies were forgotten by them: and fellowed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, the gods of the Canaanites and Phenicians, of the Egyptians, and of the Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites that were round about them on the borders of them; inftead of one God they worfhipped many, even all in or about the land of Canaan, -fo much given were they to idolatry: and bowed themfelves unto them; giving them all religious worfhip and honour they were capable of: and k provoked the Lord io anger; nothing is more provoking to him than idolatry; he being a jealous -God, and will not bear any rival in worfhip, nor Bex Melech, and Abarbinel explain the phrate: the battle went againit them, becaufe God was again{t /them; his hand was againft them, and there was his glory to be given to another, to a ftrangé od.
¥. 13+ And they forfook the Lord, &c.] The worthip of the Lord, as the Targum, this is repeated to obferve the heinous fin they were guilty of, and how difpleafing it was to God: and ferved Baal and Afptaroth; two images, as the Arabic verfion adds; Baal, from whence Baalim, may fignify the he-deities of the Gentiles, as Jupiter, Hercules, &c. and Aftaroth their the-deities, as Funo, Venus, Diana, &c. the word is plural, and ufed for flocks of fheep, fo called becaufe they make the owners of them rich; and Kimchi and Ben Melech fay thefe were images in the form of female fheep. Perhaps as Baa/ may fignify the fun, fo 4ftaroth the moon, and the ftars like flocks of fheep about her. Aftaroth was the goddefs of the Zidonians, 1 Kings Xi. 5, 33. the fame with Affarte, the wife of Cronus or Ham, faid to be the Phenician or Syrian Venus. So Lucian fays*there was a temple in Phenicia, belonging to the Sidonians, which they fay is the temple of Afarte; and fays he, I think that Afarte is the moon; and Afarte is both by the Phenicians* and Greciaus *faid to be Venus, and was worfhipped by the Syrians alfo, as Minu« tius Felix* and Tertullian * affirm; the fame with Eoftre, or Azfiar, the Saxon goddefs; hence to this day we call the paflover Haffer*, being in Eoftermonto; and with Andrajte, a goddefs of the ancient Britainsy. There were 4 of them, and therefore the Septuagint here ufes the plural number 4fartes; fo called either from A/her, being reckoned dleffed ones, or from Afberoth, the groves they were worfhipped in; or from wy 4 and 41M Tor, the conttellation Taurus or the bull; fo Afarte by Sanchoniatho is faid to put upon her head the head of a bull, as the token of her fovereignty; fee the note on Gen. Xiv. 5, “y.14. And the anger of the Lord was hot ageinp Ifrael, 8cc.| For the idolatries they were guilty of; it burned within him, it broke forth, and was poured out like fire on them, and confumed them; fee Nabum i. 6. and be delivered them into the bands of [oilers that fpoiled them; that rifled their houfes, and plundered them of their goods and fubftance: and be fold them into the hands of their enemies round about; that is, delivered them into their bands, who carried them captive, where they were as men fold for flaves; fee P/ xliv. 12. and this was in juft retaliation, that as they had fold themfelves to work wickednefs, the Lord fold them into the hands of their enemies for their wickednefs; and as they had followed the gods of the people round about them, fo he delivered them up inte the hands of their enemies round about them, as the Mefopotamians, Moabites, Midianites, Pbil;- fines, and Ammonites: fo that they could not any longer fiand before their enemies; but turned their backs.on them, and fled whenever engaged in war with them.
¥. 15. Whitherfoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was againft them for evil, &c.] They profpered not in any bufinefs they undertook, or put their hands unto; or in any expedition they went upon, or when they went out to war, as Kimcbi, no refifting and turning that back; and this fenfe feems to agree with what goes before and follows after; though in fome Fewi/o writings * at is €xplained of thofe, that went out of the land to \efcape the calamities of it, and particularly of Zimelech and his two fons Mahlon and Chilion, Ruth i, 1,2. a5 the Lord had faid, and as the Lord bad Sworn unto them,» having ratified and confirmed his threatening with an oath, that if they ferved other gods, he would furely bring upoa them all the curfes of the law; fee Deut. xxix. 12—20. and they were greatly difireffed; by the Cenaanites they fuffered to dwell among them,’ who were pricks in their eyes, and thorns in their fides, as had been threatened them; and by the nations round about them, who came in upon them, and plundered them, and carried them captive..¥. 16. Neverthele/s the Lord raifed up judges, &c.] Who are particularly mentioned by name, _and their exploits recorded, in fome foilowing chapters, and from whom the book in general has its name: thefe were men that God raifed up in an extraordinary manner, and fpirited and qualified for the work he had to do by them’; which was to deliver the people of J/rae/ out of the hands of their oppreffors, and reftore them to their privileges and liberties, and protect them in them, and adminifter juftice to them; which was a wonderful inftance of the goodnefs of God to them, notwithftanding their many provoking fins and tranfereffions: which delivered them out of the hands of thofe that fpoiled them; who took away their goods and cattle from them, and carried their perfons captive: thefe were the inftruments of recovering both again, juft as Abraham brought again Lot and all his goods.. _¥. 17. And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, &c.] Afterwards, or not always; but when they admonifhed them of their fins, and advifedthem to walk in the good ways of God, and ferve him only; they turned a deaf ear to them, and went on in their own ways, which is a fad aggravation of their iniquities: but they went awhoring after their gods; committing fpiritual adultery, for fuch idolatry is, and is often fo reprefented in fcripture; for by it they broke the covenant God made with them, which had the nature of a matrimonial contract, and in which God was as an hufband to them; and therefore ferving other gods, was rejecting him as fuch, and committing whoredom with others; than which nothing was more provoking to God, jealous of his honour and glory: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, as foon as ever ‘Jofoua and the elders were dead, they departed from the God of their fathers, and the way in which they worfhipped him; and fo likewife quickly after they had been delivered by the judges, or however as foon as they were dead: obeying the commandments of the Lord; ferving him at his tabernacle, according to the laws, commands, and ordinances he gave to Mofes, which is to be underftood of their fathers; but they did not fo, did not walk in the fame way, nor ferve the Lord, and obey his commands, as their fathers did; but all the reverfe.
¥.18. And when the Lord raifed them up judges,
then the Lord was with the judge, &c.| Every one of them that he raifed up; as he ftirred up their fpirits for fuch fervice, to judge his people, from before them, Scc.| At leatt not as y and!very foon nor haitily, as in ¥. 23. of the qualified them: for-it’; he affifted and. ftrengthened ns them, and abode by them, and fucceeded:them in- whatfoever they engaged for the welfare of the peo= ple; the Targum is, ** the Word of rheckibedigies
for the help of the judge:” and delivered them out of the bands of their enemies, all the days of the’
judge; fo long asa judge lived, or continued to be’
their judge, they were protected by him, and pre-. ferved from falling into the hands of their enemies =
for it repented the Lord becaufe of their groanings, by
reafon of them that opprefed them and vexedethem; the Lord being merciful had compa {ion upon them), when they groaned under their oppreffions, and’ cried unto him, then he received their prayer, as the Targum, and fent them a deliverer;-and fe did what men do when they repent of a. thing, change their conduct;_thus the Lord changed the outward. difpenfation of his providence towards them, according to his unchangeable will; for otherwife repentance, properly fpeaking, does not belong unto God:- the Targum is, ‘he turned from the word he fpake;’’ the threatening »hei had denounced, vat lobia ¥.19. And it came to pafs when the judge was dead, &c.| Any one of them, the firft and fo alt fucceeding ones: that ¢hey returned; to their evil ways and idclatrous practices, from which they reformed, and for which they fhewed outward repentance during the life of the judge; but he dying, they returned again to them: and corrupted themfelves more than their fathers; in Egypt and in the wildernefs; or rather, than their fathers that lived in the generation after the death of JFofbua; and fo in every generation that lived before a judge was raifed up to deliver them out of the eyils brought upon them; the children of thofe in every age fucceflively grew worfe than their fathers: iz
following other gods to ferve them, and to bow dows
unto them; not content with the idols their fathers ferved, they fought after and found out others, and were more conftant and frequent in their worfhip and fervice of them, and increafed their facrifices and acts of devotion to them: ‘hey ceafed not from their own doings; or, did not let them fall®; but retained them, and continued: in» the praéticé of them, being: what they were naturally inclined unta and delighted in: wor from their ftubborn way; which they were bent upon, and determined to continue in: or their hard way’; which their hard hearts had chofen, and they obftinately perfifted in, being obdurate and ftiff-necked; and which, in the iffue, they would find hard, troublefome, and diftrefling to them, though at prefent foft and agreeable, and in. which they went on fmesthly; but in time would find it rough and rugged, offenfive, ftumbling and ruinous; or it may fignify a hard beaten path, a broad road*which multitudes trod in, as is the way of fin. oy ¥.20. And the anger of the Lord was hat ageing Traci, &c.] As at firft, fo whenever they fell into idolatry; fee ¥. 14. and be faid, becaufe this people have tranfgrefed my covenant which I commanded their fathers; made at Singi, in which they were enjoined to have no other gods before him: cad have not bearkened to my voice; in his. comm nds, and particularly what -related to his worfhip am again{t idolatry. in y¥.21. I alfo henceforth will not drive o whith Fobua left when be died; that is, unfubdued; which was owing either.to the infirmities of old age coming upon him, which made him incapable of engaging farther in war with the Canaanites; or to the floth and indolence of the people, being weary of war, and not caring to profecute it; or to want of men to cultivate any more land, and people other cities, than what they were pofleffed of; and chiefly this was owing to the providence of God, who had an end to anfwer hereby as follows.
-y, 22. That through them I may prove Ijrael, &c.] Afflict them by them, and fo prove or try them, their faith and patience, which are tried by affictions; and fuch were the Canaanites to them, as afflictions and temptations are to the fpiritual J - yael of God; or rather, whether they would keep in the ways of God, or walk in thofe the Canaanites did, as follows: whether they will keep the way of the Lord as their fathers did keep it, or not; whether they would worfhip the true God their fathers did, or the gods of the Cazeanites; not that the Lord was ignorant of what they would do, and fo made the experiment; but that the fincerity and their hearts, might appear to themfelves and others. «©
N. 23. Therefore the Lord left thefe nations witdaut driving them out bajftily, &c.) Left them unfubdued, or fuffered them to continue among the J/- raelites, and did not drive them out as he could have done; which was permitted, either that it might be feen and known whether J/rae/ would give into the idolatry of thefe nations or not, y¥.22. of which there could have been no trial, if they and their idols had been utterly deftroyed; or becaufe the children of J/rael had tranferefled the covenant of the Lord, therefore he would drive no more of them out, but leave them to affli& and diftrefs them, and thereby prove and try them, ¥. 20, 21. both fenfes may very well ftand, but the former feems rather to agree with what follows: neither delivered he them into the hand of Fofoua, having an end to be anfwered by them before fuggefted, namely, to prove and try J//rael; and for a like reafon, the indwelling fin and corruptions of God’s people are fuffered to remain in them, for the trial of their graces, and that the power of God in the fupport and deliverance of them might ap- faichfulnefs, or infincerity and unfaithfulnefs of pear the more manifeft.
HIS chapter gives an account of the nations al left in Canaan to prove //rael, and who became a fnare unto them, ¥. r—7. and of the fervitude of J/rael under the king of Mefopotamia for their fins, from which they were delivered by Otbniel, y. 8—11. and of their fubjection to the Moabites, from which they were freed by bud, who privately affaffinated the king of Moab, and then made his efcape, y. 12—30. and of the deftruction of a large number of Pdilifiines by Shamgar with an ox-goad, y. 31.
y. 1. Now thefe are the nations which the Lord that they might know what war was, and the fad effects of it; and the difference of fighting with their enemies alone, as other men, and the Lord fighting along with them, and for them, as he did for their fathers: at leaft fuch as before knew nothing thereof; being either unborn, or at an age uncapable of bearing arms, or learning the art of war.
¥. 3- Namely, five lords of the Philiftines, &c.] The places they were lords of were Geza, Afbdod, Afpkelon, Gath, and Ekron; fee Fo. xiii. 3. three of thefe, Gaza, Afbkelon, and Ekron, had. been taken from them by Yudab, fince the death of Yo- left to prove Irael by them, &c.) Which are after- /bua, ch. i. 18, but they foon recovered them again, mentioned, y. 3, 5. even as many of Urael as bad not known all the wars of Canaan, thofe that ‘fofoua, and the people of J/rael under him, had with the Canaanites, when they firft entered the land and fubdued it; being then not born, or fo young as not to have knowledge of them, at leatft not able ro bear arms at that time.
y. 2. Only that the generations of the children of Tjrael might know and teach them war, &c.| | That is, the following nations were left in the land, that the young generations of J/racl: might by their wars and conflicts with them learn the art of war,
-and be inured to martial difcipline; which, if none had been left to engage with, they had been ignorant of: befides, their fathers in Fo/bua’s time, as Farchi and Kimchi obferve, had no need to learn the art of war, for God fought for them; they did not get pofiefiion of the land by their own Hamath; the Pweg arm, and by their fword, but by the power of!land, which entrance le perhaps by the help of the othertwo.. The Pdiliftines were a people originally of Egypt, but came from thence and fettled in thefe parts, and were here as early as in the times of Abraham, and were very troublefome neighbours to the J/raelites in after-times; fee Gen. x. 14. and xxi. 33. and all the Canaanites; thefe were a particular tribe or nation in the land fo called, which inhabited by the fea, and by the coaft of Yordan, Numb. xiii. 29. otherwife this is the general name for the feven nations: and the Sidonians; the inhabitants of the famous city of Sidon, which had its name from the firft-born of Canaan, Gen. x. 15. and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon; on the north of the land of Canaan: from mount Baal-Hermon, the eaftern part of Lebanon, the fame with Baal-Gad, where Baal was worfhipped: unto the entering-in of of the northern part of the d into the valley between
God in a miraculous way; but now this was not to be expected, and the Canaanites were left Zidanus and Antilibanus; fee Numb. xxxiy. 8. among! Fo. xi. 3. and xiii. 5.
them to expel, that they might be trained up in the
y. 4. And they were to prove Ifrael by them, &c.]
knowledge of warlike affairs, and fo be alfo capa-; They were left in the land as to inure them to ble of teaching their children the military art;;war, and try their courage, fo to prove their faithwhich they fhould make ufe of in obeying the fulnefs toGod: 40 know whether they would hearken command of God, by driving out the remains of to the commandments of the Lord, which he comthe Canganiles, and not give.themfelves up to floth | manded, their fathers by the hand of Mofes 5 even all and indolence; though fome think that the mean-jthe commandments of the Lord delivered to them ing is, that God lefy: thefe nations among them, |by Mofes, moral, civil, and ceremonial, and iat
268 | 5 UDGES. Chitty. 5;—10). ticularly thofe that concerned the deftragtion of the Canaanites, their altars, and their idgls, Deut, the Levite’s concubine happened, though related vii.Jat the oe of the book; fo 7o/epbus * places the ac-
=} 5. And the children of Ifrael dwelt among the Canaanites, &c.] As if they had been only fojourners with them, and not conquerors of them; and dwelt by fufferance, and not as proprietors and owners; fuch. were their floth and indolence, and fuch the advantage the inhabitants of the land got over them through it, and through their compliances with them; and this was the cafe not only of one fort of them, the Canaanites, but of the reft: the Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Febufites; who all had cities in the feveral parts of the land, with whom the children of J/rael were mixed,. and with whom they were permitted to dwell. wickedneffes;
y. 8. Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot againft I/rael, &c.] Becaute of their idolatry; fee ch. ii, 14, 20. and he fold them into the band of Chu- /han-rifkathaim, king of Mefopotamia; or Aramnaharaim, that is, Syria, between the two rivers, which were Tigris and Euphrates; hence the Greek name of this place is as here called Ple/opotamia. Jo/epbus ' calls him king of Affria, and gives him the name of Chufarthus; and indeed Cujban-ri-. /bathaim {eems to be his whole name, though the Targum makes Rifbathaim to be an epithet, and calls him Cu/ban, the wicked king of Syria; the word is of the dual number, and fignifies two which, according to the myftical expofition of the fews™, refers to two wicked |things Syria did to I/rae/, one by Balaam the Syriam, and the other by this Cuban. Mr. Bedford " thinks it may be rendered, ‘* Cu/ban, king of the two wicked kingdoms;” the dfyrian monarchy being at this time like two kingdoms, Baon being the metropolis of the one, and Nineveh Ca-jof the other; but it is a queftion whether the momarchy was as yet in being. Hillerus ° makes Cuoan tobe an Arab Scenite, from Hab. iii. 7. and Rihathaim to denote difquietudes; and it reprefents him as a man very turbulent, never quiet and eafy, and fo it feems he was; for not content with his kingdom on the other fide Euphrates, he pafied xxxiv.jover that, and came into Canaan, to fubjeét that tohim, and add it to his dominions. Kimchi fays that Rifhathaim may be the name of a place, and fome conjecture it to be the fame with the Rbifina of Ptolemy’, but it feems rather a part of this king’s name, who came. and fought againt J/rae/, the Lord delivered them into his hands: and ée children of Ifrael ferved Cufhan-rifoathaim eight years; became tributaries to him during that fpace of time, but when that began is not eafy to fay. Bifhop Ufder ° places it in A. M. 2591. and before Chrift 1413.
y. 6. And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their fons, &c. The J/raelites intermarried with the inhabitants of the land, contrary to the exprefs command of God, Deut. vii. 3. whereby they confounded their families, debafed their blood, and were enfnared into idolatry, as follows: perhaps to thefe unlawful|y marriages in their frft fettlement in the land of naan, reference is had in Ezek. xvi. 3. thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite; an\ Amorite marrying a daughter of J/rael, andan J/-| raclitifo man an ' Hittite woman: and ferved their gods; this was the natural confequence of their intermarriages, which the Lord forefaw, and therefore’ cautioned them againft them, Exod. 15, 16. Deut. vii. 3, 4.
y.7. And the children of Irael did evil in the fight of the Lord, &c.] Both by marrying with heathens, and worfhipping their gods: and forgot the Lord their God; as if they had never heard of him, or known him, their maker and preferver, wholand had done fo many great and good things for them: and ferved Baalim and the groves; of Baalim, fee ch. ii. 11. the groves mean either idols worfhipped in groves, as Jupiter was worlhipped in a grove of oaks, hence the oak of Dodona, and Apollo in a grove of laurels in Daphne: there were ufually] groves where idol-temples were built; and fo in Phenicia, or Canaan, Dido the Sidonian queen built a temple for Fano in the midft of the city, where was a grove of an agreeable fhade ¢: fo Barthius © obferves, that moft of the ancient gods of the heathens ufed to be worfhipped in groves. groves and trees themfelves were worfhipped; fo} Tacitus fays ‘of the Germans, that they confecrated groves and forefts, and called them by the names of gods. Groves are here put in the room of 4/fftaroth, ch. ii, 13. perhaps the goddefles of that name were worfhipped in groves; and if Diana is meant by Affarte, Servius ® fays that every oak is facred to Fupiter, and every groveto Diana; and Ovid * {peaks of a temple of Dianain a grove. But as they are joined with Baa/im, the original of which were deified kings and heroes, the groves may be fuch as were coniecrated to them;
y¥.9. And when the children of Ifrael cried unto ¢he Lord, &c.] ‘Towards the clofe of the eight years bondage, as it may be fuppofed, groaning under. the oppreflive taxes laid upon them, and the bon-!dage they were brought into: and the Lord raifed up a deliverer to the children of Ifrael; he heard. Andjtheir cry, and fent them a faviour, whofe fpirit he tirred up, and whom he qualified for this fervice: who delivered thems out of the hands of the king of Me/opotamia, and freed them from his oppreflions: even Oxhniel, the fon of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother; the fame that took Debir, and married Ach/ab, the daughter of Caleb, ch. i. 12, 13. who now very probably was aman in years.
y. 10. dnd the /pirit of the Lord came upon bim, &c.] Moved him to engage in this work of delivering J/rael, infpired him with courage, and filled him with every heedful gift, qualifying him for for as the fameJit; the Zargum interprets it the {pirit of prophecy; fup-Jit feems rather to be the fpirit of counfel and courage, of {trength and fortitude of body and mind: and he judged I/rael; took upon him the office of Micahla judge over them, and executed it; very probably the firft work he fet about was to repraye thems writer obferves', the fouls of heroes were pofed to have their abode in groves; fee the notes on Exod. xxxiv. 13. and Deut. vii. 5. It was in this time of defection, that the idolatry of and of the Danites, and the war of Benjamin about
#.: Chiu. W1f—-17, FUDG E é 269 for their fins, and convince them of them, and reform them from their idolatry, and reftore among them the pure worfhip of God; and this he did firft before he took up arms for them: and be qwent out to war; raifed an-army, and went out at head of them, to fight with their oppreflor: the Lord delivered Cufhan-rifoathaim into bis hand; gave him the victory over him and his army, fo| that he fell into his hands, became his captive, perhaps was flain by him. up a deliverer;
keep up a communication with his own people, and prevent. the tribes of the other fide giving any affiftance to their brethren, if able and _ y¥. 15. BaP when the children of Ijrael criéd unto the Lord, 8c.] After being long oppreffed; and groaning under their burdens, and brought to a \enfe of their fins, and humiliation for them, they thelafked forgivenefs of God, and deliverance from aza;cheir bondage; for it is very probable they were until towards the clofe of thofe years ftupid and hardened, ard did not confider what was the reafon of and their being thus dealt with: the Lord raifed them another faviour, one that he made ule of as an inftrument of their deliverance: Ehud +he fon of Gera a Benjamite, a man left-handed; who is defcribed by his parentage, a fon of Gera, but who his father was is not known; by his tribea Benjamtte, in which Fericho was, Eglon poffefled, and fo might be more oppreffed than any other part; and therefore the Lord ftirred up one of that tribe to be the deliverer; and by his being a left. handed man, as feveral of that tribe were, ch. xx. 16, though a Benjamite fignifies a fon of the right arid he perhaps was one of thofe lefthanded Benjantites that fled to the rock Rimmon, as Dr. Lightfoot * conjeCtures. ch. xx: 47. for that affair, though there related, was before this: the and the Lord) feptuagint verfion calls him an ambidexter, one that could ufe both hands equally alike; but the He- érew phrafe fignifies one that is /hut up in bis right bamd~; who has not the true ufe of it, cannot exercife it as his other hand, being weak and impotent, or contracted through difufe, or fome difdaughterjeafe; or, as Fo/ephus * exprefies it, who could ufé his left hand beft, and who alfo calls him a young man of a courageous mind, and ftrong of body, and fays he dwelt at Yericho, and was very familiar with Eglon, and who by his gifts and prefents hadjhad endeared himfelf to all about the king: and caufejdy him the children of I/rael fent a prefent unto Eglon the king of Moab; either their yearly tribute, or rathera giftunto him, to foften him, and reconcile him to: them, and make their bondage eafier; or to give him accefs to him with more confidence -jand fafety, though it does not feem that they knew any thing of E/ud’s defign.
y. 11. And, the land had ref forty years, &c.] As it fhould feem from the time of this deliverance; though according to: Ben Gerfomand Abarbinel, the eight years fervitude are to be included in them; and bifhop Ujber ' reckons thefe forty years from the reft firft fettled in the land by Fo/hua; but the former fenfe feems beft: and Otbniel the fon of Kenaz died; not at the end of the forty years; it is not likely he fhould live fo long, but when he died is not certain; Eufebius * fays he judged Urael fifty years. hand;
¥. 12. And the chi.dren of Ifrael did evil again in the fight of the Lord, &c.) Fell into idolatry again, which was a great evilin the fight of God, and what they were prone to fall into: firengthened Eglon the king of Moab againft Ifrael; put itinto his heart to. invade them, and encouraged him to it, and gave him fuccefs; what kings reigned over M@oab between Balak and this king, we know ‘not: it is a commonly received notion of the Fews, that Ruth was the of Eglon; fee Ruth, i. 4. and it was about this time that Z£/imelech with his two fons went into Moab, and when many of thofe things rccorded in the book of Ruth were tranfacted: decau/e they had done evil in the fight of the Lord, which greatly provoked him to anger, and was the of ftirring up theking of Mead againft them.
¥. 13. And he gathered unto bim the children of Ammon and Amalek, &c.] Either the Lord gathered them to Eg/on, inclined them to enter into a confederacy with him, to affift in the war againft J rael; or the king of Moad got them to join with bim in it, they being his neighbours, and enemies to Ufrael, and efpecially Amalek: and went and fnote Irael, firtt the two tribes and a half, which Jay on that fide Fordan Moab did, whom it is reafonable to fuppofe he would attack firft; ving defeated them, he came over Yordan: and poffefed the city of the palm-trees, Jericho, as the Targum, which was fet with palm-trees; fee Deuwt. XXXiv. 3. Fudg. i. 16. not the city itfelf, for was deftroyed by Yo/oua, and not rebuilt until time of Abab; but the country about it, or, as Abarbinel thinks, a city that was near it;.here Yo- JSepbus {ays * he had his royal palace; it is probable he built a fort or garrifon here, to fecure the fords of Fordan,.and his own retreat;
y.16. But Ebud made him a dagger, which bad two edges, of a cubit length, &c.| A little fword, as Zo/epbus call it”, with two edges, that it might cut both ways, and do the execution he defigned by it, and ha-Jand was about half a yard long.; which he could the more eafily conceal, and ufe for his purpofe: and he did gird it under bis raiment, that it might not be feen, and give occafion of fufpicion; this nd baie a military garment, the /agum, as the Vulgate the! Latin verfion, which was coarfe, and made of wool, and reached to the ancle, and was buttoned upon the fhoulder, and put over the coat *; the /eptuagint makes ufe of a word Suidas * interprets a coat of mail: upon his right thigh; whereas a as well as tojfword is more commonly girt upon the left; though fome obferve, from various writers, that the eaftern people ufed to gird their fwords on their right thigh; difpofed tojor this was done that it might be the lefs difcerni+ do it.; » ble and fufpected, and chiefly as being moft con-
¥.14. So the children of Ijrael ferved Eglon king ’ of Moab 18 years;] Ten years longer than they ferved the king of Méefopotamia, as a feverer correction of them for their relapfe into idolatry. venient for him, a left-handed'man, to draw it out upon occafion.
y. 17.-And he brought a prefent unto Eglon king of Moab, &c.| Accompanied'by two fervants, as
Fofephus fays ®, and who doubtlefs bore the prefents; for that there were fuch with him that did’
is clear from the following verfe; nor can it be thought that fo great a perfonage as a judge in J - rael, fhould go alone and carry a prefent in his own hands; though itis poffible when come to the king of Moab, he might take it from his fervants, and deliver it to him with hisown hands: and Eglon wasavery fat man; and fo the lefs active, and unable to decline and avoid the ftroke, he might fee, when about to be given him.
y¥. 18. And when he had made an end to offer the prefent, &c.|] Had. delivered the feveral things contained in ity and very probably made a fpeech to the king in the name of the people of J/rae/ from whom he brought it: be fent away the people that bare the prefent; not thefervants of Eglon that introduced him, as if they affifted in bringing in the prefent to the king; for over them he could not have fo much power, as to difmifs them at pleafure; but the children of J/rael that came along with him, and carried the prefent for him: thefe he difmified, not in the prefence of the king of Moab, but after he had taken his leave of him, and when he had gone on fome way in his return home; and this he did for the greater fecrecy of his défign, and that he might when he had finifhed it the more eafily efcape alone, and be without any concern for or care of the fafety of others.,
¥.19. But he himfelf turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal, &c.] For fo far he accompanied the men that came with him. Thefe quarries were places where they dug ftones and hewed them, according to the Targum, and moft Yewifp writers; but fome render the word engravings, and underftand them of in{fcriptions engraved on pillars here, which remained from the times of Seth the fon of ddam; of which fee more on ¥. 26. but according to the Vulgate Latin, and other verfions, graven images or idols are meant, which the king of Moad fet up here.in contempt of the Tjraelites, it being a place where the ark remained fome time, and circumcifion had been performed; or in order to draw them into idolatry, thofe idols perhaps being made of the twelve {tones they had fet up there; or rather in honour of his gods, to invoke their affiftance when he firft entered into theland, or by way of gratitude, and thankfulnefs for the fubduing of it: and this ’tis thought by fome ftirred up the fpirit of Ehud, and caufed him to turn back, refolving to avenge this prophanenefs.: and faid; when he came to the‘ palace of the king of Moaé, and into his prefence: Lave a fecret errand unto thee, O king; which he had forgot when with him before, as he might pretend; or fomething new had occurred unto him to acquaint him of, and which required privacy: who faid, keep filence; that is, the king of Moab faid fo either to Ehud, to be filent until he had fent out his fervants that were about him, that they might not hear the fecret; orto a perfon-or perfons that were fpeaking to him, whom he bid to defift and depart, it being his pleafure to hear Ehud before them; fo Ben Gerfom, but the former fenfe rather feems beft: and all that flood by him went out from him; his fervants, his courtiers that were waiting upon him, or fuch as were admitted into his prefence, to have audience of him, and deliver their meflages, or make their petitions to him.
y¥.20. And Ebud came unto him, &c.| \ Somewhat nearer him than he was before; it feems probable that Zg/on retired from the prefence-chambery where he received company, into his fummer parlour; which was fmaller and more private, and in which he had ufed to be alone as follows, and whither Ehud went in unto him, as he directed him:
and he was fitting in a fummer-parlour, which bé- had for him/felf alone 5 into which he was wont to go and fit alone, for the fake of coolnefs and refrefhment in the hot feafon of the year, which it feems it now was; a room this was, in which, as Kimchi and others obferve, were many windows to let in air to cool and refrefh; or it was in fuch a part of the palace, that was cool and fheltered from the heat of the fun; fee Amos iii. 15. and Ebud faid, I have a mefjage from God unto thee; which was to kill him; and undoubtedly he was fent of God on this errand to him: whether it be rendered a word or thing from God, as it fignifies both, it was true, and no lie; for it was the Lord that fpoke- to him by an impulfe on his {pirit, and the thing was from the Lord he was to do, for nothing lets could have juftifed him in fuch an aétion; and therefore this inftance can be no warrant for the affaffination of princes; as Ebud did not this of himfelf, but of the Lord, fo neither did he doit as a private man, but as a judge of J/rael. phus * fays, he told him that he had a dream at the order of God to declare unto him; but for this there is no warrant; however it feems pretty plain that his view in making mention’of the name of God, and of Elohim, a name given to falfe gods as well as the true, rather than Jebovab, was to {trike his mind with awe and reverence, and caufe him to rife from his feat, that he might the better thruft him with his dagger; and it had the defired effect: and he arofe out of his feat; in reverence of God, from whom he expected to receive a meffage; this he did, though in his mind a blind, ignorant idolater; in his body fat, corpulent, and unweildy; and in his office a king, and a proud and tyrannical man, ‘The above writer fays, that for joy at the dream he was to hear, he rofe from his throne.
y. 21. And Ebud put forth bis left band, and took the dagger from bis right thigh, 8cc.] Being, as before obferved, a left-handed man; and this he could the better do, without being taken notice of by the king, who if he faw him move his left hand, would have no fufpicion of his going to draw a dagger with it, and which alfo was hid under his raiment, ¥. 16. and thruft it into bis belly; Fofephus “fays into his heart; it is certain the wound was mortal, and muft have been in a part on which life depended.;
¥.22. nd the baft went in after the blade, &c.] The handle of the dagger, as well as the blade; fo {trong and violent was the thruft, he determining to do his bufinefs effectually: and the fat clofed upon the blade; being an exceffive fat man, the wound made by the dagger clofed up at once upon it, through the fat:- fo that he could not draw the daggereout of bis belly; being not able to take hold of the haft or handle, that having flipt in through the fat after the blade, fo that he was obliged to leave it in him: and the dirt came out;
the margin of our bibles is, 7¢ came out att:
dament, that is, the dagger did, the thruft being fo ftrong and vehement but that is not fo likely, the s,s dagger being fo fhort, and Eg/on a very fat man. be
The Targum is, ** his food went out;” which was in his bowels; but as the wound was clofed
Ch.iiix%25—-26. FOOD GES. 27i up through fat, and the dagger ftuck faft in ir, it could not come out that way: rather therefore this is to be underftood of his excrements, and of their coming out at the ufual place, it being common for perfons that die a violent death, and indeed others, to purge upon it;
obferves, interpret it of the place where the guards were, the guard-room, through which Ehud went| out, but that is exprefled in another word in the matter, and what fhould be the meaning of the doors being kept locked fo long: and bebold, be opened not the doors of the pariour; this was what furprized them, and threw them into this confufion of mind, that they knew not what courfe to fome, as Kimcbijtake for fear of incurring the king’s difpleafure, and yet wondered the doors were not opened for o long a time: therefore they took a key and opened them; this is the firft time we read of a key, which following verfe; the Syriac and Arabic verfions read, he went out in hafte, that is, Ehud.
y¥. 23. ThemEbud went forth through the porch, &c.] Which the Zargum interprets by exedra, a place, as Kimchi, where there were many feats, either for the people-to fit in whilft waiting to have admittance into the prefence of the king, or where the guards fat, and may be called the guard-room, through this Zbud paffed with all ferenity and compofure of mind imaginable, without the leaft fhew of diftrefs and uneafinefs in his countenance, being fully fatisfied that what he had done was right, and according to the will of God: and fbut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them; joined the doors of the parlour, as the Targum, the two folds of the door, fhut them clofe together only fignifies fomething to open with; and the keys of the ancients were different from thofe of ours; they were fomewhat like a crooked fickle ‘, which they put in through-a hole in the door, and with it could draw on or draw back a bolt, and fo could lock or unlock within fide, fee Cant. v. 4, 5. and at this day the keys in the eaftern countries are unlike ours. Chardin * fays, that a lock among the eaftern people is like a little harrow, which enters half way into a wooden ftaple, and the key is a wooden handle with points at the end of it, which are pufhed into the ftaple, and fo raife this little harrow: and behold, their lord was fallen dead on the earth; lay proftrate on the floor of the parlour dead.,;
¥. 26, And Ehud efcaped while they tarried, &c.]
upon Eglon within the parlour, and bolted them within, or drew the bolt on the infide, which he was able to do with a key for that purpofe; While the fervants of the king of Moad tarried waiting for the opening of the doors of the parofjlour, this gave him time enough to make his which fee more on ¥. 25. and which it is probable hie took away along with him; this muft be underftood as done’before he went through the porch, and therefore fhould be rendered, when or after be bad fout the doors, &c. * wherefore in the Vulgate Latin verfion this claufe is put firft. ¥.24. When he was gone out, bis fervants came, &c.] When Ebudwas gone through the porch, and out of the palace, the fervants of Eg/lon, who had been put out, came to the parlour-door to reaffume their former place, and finifh their bufinefs with the king, or in order to wait upon him as ufual: and when they faw, that bebald the doors of the parlour were locked, which they fuppofed were done by the king himfelf within-fide, having no fufpicion of Ehud: they faid, furely, ox perhaps, as Noldius ‘ renders it, be covereth his feet in his fummer-chamber; that is, was eafing nature; and as the eaftern people wore long and loofe garments, when they fat down on fuch an occafion, their feet were covered with them; or they purpofely gathered them about their feet to cover them, and fo this became a modeft expreffion for this work of nature, fee 1 Sam. xxiv. 3. theugh * fome think that in that place, and alfo in this, is meant lying down to fleep; and that Eglon’s fervants fuppofed, that he had laid himfelf down on his couch in his fummer-chamber to take fleep, when it was ufual to cover the feet with long garments, to hide thofe parts of nature, which otherwile might be expofed; and it muft be owned, that this feems more agreeable to a fummer-par- Jour than the former, and better accounts for the fervants waiting fo long as they did; and Fo/ebus * is exprefs for it, that his fervants thought _ he had fallen afleep. Indeed, the Yews in aftertimes ufed the phrafe in the firft fenfe*, which feems to be taken from hence, 9. 25. And they tarried until they were afhamed, &c.] And knew not what to think of it, or what methods to take to be fatisfied of the truth of the Szillingfleet °.
efcape, fo as to be out of the reach of purfuers; or elfe the fenfe is, that even when they had opened the doors, and found the king dead, whilft they were in confufion at it, not knowing what to afcribe it to, the dagger being inclofed in the wound, and perhaps but little blood, if any, iffued out, being clofed up with fat, and fo had no fufpicion ot his being killed by Zbud; but rather fuppofing it to be an accidental fall from his feat, - and might.call in the phyficians to examine him, ~ and ule their fkill, if there were any hopes of recovery; all which prolonged time, and facilitated the efcape of Ehud: and paffed beyond the quarries, and efcaped to Seirath; he got beyond the quarries, which were by Gilga/, which fhows that. ic could not be at¥ericho, where the king of Moab was, as ‘Jofepbus thinks, but either in his own country beyond Yordan, though no mention is made of Ebua’s croffing Fordan, or however fome place nearer the fords of Fordan; fince Gilgal, from whence he returned, and whither he came again after he had killed the king of Moab, lay on that fide Of Fericho, which was towards Yordan; and this Sezrath he efcaped to, was in or near the mountain of Ephraim, as appears from the next verfe, but of it we have no account elfewhere; but it is thought by fome learned men! to be the place where Seth’s pillars ftood, and they to be the engravings here fpoken of, which we tranflate quarries: the words of Fofephus ™ are, that the pofterity of Seth, who very much ftudied aftronomy, having heard that ddam foretold the deftruction of the univerfe, at one time by fire, and at another by water, erected two pillars, one of {tone, and the other of brick, on which they infcribed their inventions (in aftronomy) that they might be preferved, and which remain to this day in the land of Siriad, but this account of Yo/ephus feems to be taken from a fabulous relation of Manetho, the Egyptian, and is abundantly confuted by Dr. JForchi interprets this of Seirath, a thick wood or foreft, the trees of which grew a> that they could not detain the Jraelites under their thick as the hair on a man’s head, and fo a propower any longer: and the land bad reft 80 years;
per place to efcape to, and hide in; it may be it was the woody part of the mount Ephraim, fee Fofo. xvii. 18.
¥. 27. And it came to pafs when he was come, &c.] That is, to Setrath, in the tribe of Ephraim: that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim; which being an high mountain, the found of the trumpet was heard afar off; and if Ebud’s defigri was known to the J/raelites, what he intended to do, this might be the token agreed on, fhovld he fucceed. to call them together, fee Fer. xxxi. 6. and the children of Irael went down with him from the mount, and he before them, being there affembled together, and which might be the place before appointed for their rendezvous, and where and when he took the command of them, and went before them as their general.
¥.28. And he faid unto them, follow after mé, &c.] This he faid to encourage them, putting himfelf at the head of them, fhewing himfelt teady to expofe his own life, if there was any danger: for the’ Lord hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your bands, which he concluded from the fuccefs he had had in cutting off the king of ‘Moab, which had thrown the Moadites into great confufion and diftrefs, and from an impulfe on his mind from. the Lord, affuring him of this deliverance: and they went down after him from which, according to Bex Gerfom, are to be reckoned from the beginning of their fervitude, and that the reft properly was but 62 years, and fo both reft and fervitude were 80 years, as KX. J/aiah, and according to Abarbinel, the re{t was from the death of Othniel; and our bifhop Ufper o reckons this 8oth year from the former reft reftored to it by Othniel; but others * are of opinion, that there were feveral judges at a time in feygral parts of the land, and that the land was at reft in one part, when there was war in another; and fo that at this time it was only the eaftern part of the land that had reft, while the weftern parts were diltreffed by the Pdiliftines, and the northern parts by Fabix king of Canaan, as in the following verfe, and che le Le
¥.31. And after him was Shamgar the fon of Anath, &c.] That is, after the death of Ebud, when the people of J/rael were in diftrefs again from another quarter, this man was raifed up of
God to be a judge and deliverer of them; but - who ‘he was, and who his father, and of what tribe, we no where elfe read: which flew of the Philiflines 600 men; who invaded the land, and came in an hoftile manner into it; or rather as it feems from ch. v. 6. they entered as a banditti of thieves and robbers, who pofted themfelves in the highways, and robbed travellers as they paffed, fo the mountain of Ephraim: and took the fords of that they were obliged to leave off travelling, or ordan towards Moab; where the river was fordable, and there was a paflage into the country of Moab, which lay on the other fide Fordan; this they did to prevent the Moadites, which wete in the land of J/rae/, going into their own land upon this alarm, and thofe in the land of Moab from going over to help them: and /uffered not a man to pafs over; neither out of J/rae/ into Moad, nor out ot Moab into Irael.
¥.29. And they flew of Moab at that time about 16,000 men, &c.] Who had been fent into the land of I/rael to keep it in fubjeCtion, or had fettled themfelves there for their better convenience, profit and pleafure; itis very probable there were jome‘of both forts: @// lufly, and all men of vafour; the word for /u/ty fignifies fat, living in eafe for'a long time, and in a plentiful country, were grown fat; and according to Ben Gerfom, it fignifies rich men, fuch as had acquired wealth by living in the land of Canaan; or who came over Fordan thither, and fettled about Fericho, becaute of the delightfulnefs of the place, and others were ftout and valiant foldiers, whom the king of Moab had placed there to keep the land in fubjection he had fubdued, and to fubdue what remained of it; but they were all deftroyed: and there efcaped not a man; for there being no other way of getting into the land of Moad, but at the fords of Fordan, they fell into the hands of the Lfraelites poffefled of them, as they made up unto
¥. 30. So Moab was fubdued that day under the hand of Ifrael, &c.| Or the Moadites were broken, as the Targum, that is, their forces in the land of Trael; for the land of Moabé itfelf was not fubdued and brought into fubjection to the J/raelites; but judged but one year.
they were fo weakened by this ftroke upon them, go through bye paths, and not in the public road; and this man, who feems to have been called from the plough to be a judge of I/rael, as fome among the Romans were called from thence to be diétators and deliverers of them from the Gauls: with an ox-goad, which he had ufed to pulh on his oxen with at ploughing, cleared the country of them, nd with no other weapon than this flew 600 of them, either at certain times, or in a body together; which is no ways incredible, being ftrengthened and fucceeded by the Lord, any more than Samfon’s laying 1000 men with the jaw-bone of an afs. forces of Bacchus with an ox-goad 4, which is faid to be done near Carmel, a mountain in Judea, which makes it probable that this is hammered out of the facred hiftory; or that Shamger and Lycurgus are the fame, as Bochart conjectures’. The ox-goad, as now ufed in thofe parts, is an inftrument fit to do great execution with it, as Mr. Maundrel*, who faw many of them, defcribes it; on meaiuring them,, he found them to be eight feet long, at the bigger end fix inches in circumference, at the lefler end was a fharp prickle for driving thé oxen, and at the other end a {mall fpade, or paddle of iron, for cleanfing the plough from the clay: and he elfo delivered Ifrael, from thofe robbers and plunderers, and prevented their doing any further mifchief in the land, and fubjeéting it to their power, and fo may very properly be reckoned among the judges of J/rael; but how long he judged is not faid, perhaps his time is to be reckoned into the 80 years of re{t before mentioned; or, as Abarbinel thinks, into the 40 years of Deborah, the next judge; and who alfo obferves, that their Rabdins fay, She 4
So Lycurgus is faid to put to flight the | apa chapter fhows how that J/rael finning|fome of was delivered into the hands of Yadin king ot Canaan, by whom they were opprefléd twenty years, ¥.15 253. and that Dedorab and Barak conjulted togther about their deliverance, ¥. 4—g. and that Barak, encouraged by Deborah, gathered fome forces and fought Siera the captain of Fa-in bin’s army, whom he met, and obtained a victory over, ¥.10—15. who fleeing on foot to the tent of Fael, the wife of Heber, was received into it, and flain by her while afleep in it, ¥. 16—22, which iffued in a compleat deliverance of the children of J/raél,. 23, 24.
divers nations, or inhabited by workmen of different countries; or rather it was a wood originally, as the name fignifies, to which many of the feven nations of the Canaanites fled: from before Fo/bua, and hid and fheltered themfelves, and in procefs of time built {trong towers and fortrefles it, and became numerous and powerful; and fo the Targum paraphrafes the words, ‘‘ and he dwelt in the ftrength of the towers of the people;” and in other times, as Strabo relates *, the northern parts of the land of Canaan, as thofe were, where Hazor and Harofbeth were, were inhabited by a mixed people, Egyptians, Arabians and Phenicians;
fuch were they, he fays, that held Galilee, Fericho,
¥.1. And the children of Ifrael again did evil in the Sight of the Lord, &c.| Which wasthe fruit and effect of the long reft and peace they enjoyed; and which is often the cafe of a people favoured with peace, plenty and profperity, who are apt to abufe their mercies, and forget God, the author and giver of them and the principal evil, though not exprefled, was idolatry, worthipping Baalim, the gods of the nations about them; though it is highly probable they were guilty of other fins, which they indulged in the times of their peace and profperity: whes Ehud was dead; Shamgar is not mentioned, becaufe his time of judging J/- rael was fhort, and the people were. not reformed in his time, but fell into fin as foon as Ehud was dead, and continued. Some chufe to render the words, for Ehud was dead‘, who had been the inftrument of reforming them, and of preferving them from idolatry, but he being dead, they fell into it again; and the particle vau is often to be taken in this fenfe, of which No/dius “ gives many Philadelphia and Samaria.
_ ¥. 3. And the children of Ifrael cried unto the Lord, &c.] Becaufe of their hard bondage, and begged deliverance from it, being brought toa fenfe of their fins, and humbled for them: /for be ad goo chariots of iron; the fame with the-opucle t« dgeavnDoex5 chariots which earried fcythes at the fide of them, faftened to the orbs of the wheels*, and were on both fides; and in fome ftood out ten cubits ’,which running furioufly among the infantry, cut them to pieces in a terrible manner; of which Cyrus had in his army at firft but 100, afterwards increafed to 3007; and yet here a petty prince of Canaan had goo of them; and which Fo/epbus* has increafed, beyond all belief, to the number of 3000; which ftruck great terror into the I/raelites, and who therefore durft not attempt to thake off his yoke, but cried to the Lord for help: 20 years be mightily oppreffed the children of I/rael; as they increafed their fins, and repeated their revolts, the Lord increafed their oppreffions, and continued inftances. them the longer; the firft was only eight years,
¥.2. Aud the Lord fold them, &c.] Delivered them into a ftate of bondage and flavery, where they were like men fold for flaves, fee ch. into the hand of Fabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; there was a city of this name, and king of it of the fame name, as here, in the times of Fofoua, which city was taken and burnt by him, and. its king flain, Fo/. xi. 1, 10, 11. and either the country about it is here meant, as Zevicho in the preceding chapter is put for the country adjacent to it; or this city had been rebuilt, over which reigned one of the pofterity of the ancient kings of it, and of the fame name; or Fabin was a name common to the kings of Canaan, as Pharach to the Egyptian kings; and by Canaan is meant, not the land of Canaaz in general, but a particular part of it inhabited by that, or fome of that nation or tribe, which was peculiarly fo called: the captain of whofe hoft was Sifera; Fabin maintained a ftanding army to keep the people of Jirael in fubjection, the general of which was Sifera, of whom many things are after faid: which dwelt in Harofheth of the Gentiles, not ‘fabin, as many underftand it, for he had his royal feat and refidence in Hazor; but Sifera his general, and where the army under his command was, This place had its name, either becaufe it was built by the next 18, and this 20, and which was a very heavy one; the other being foreign princes that iii..8.Joppreffed them, but this a Canaanitifh king, an implacable enemy, and who doubtlefs ufed them althe more feverely for what they had done to his anceftors, killed his father or grandfather, burnt the city of Hazor, and deftroyed the inhabitants of lit in 3o/bua’s time; and the fervitude was the harder, and the more intolerable to the J/raelites, that they were under a people whofe land had been given them to poffefs, and whom they had expelled, and now were become fubject to them.
y.4. And Deborah.a propbete/s, the wife of Lapidoth, &c.] Deborab was a name common to women with the eaftern people, fee Gew. xxxv. 8. as Melijf/a, which is of the fame fignification with the Greeks, and both fignify a dee, and to which Dedorab anfwered in her induftry, fagacity and fweetnefs of temper, to her friends, and fharpnefs to her enemies: fhe was a prophete/s, and foretold things to come, as the drawing of Si/era and his army to a certain place named by her, the victory that fhould be gained over him, and the delivery of him into the hands of a woman. Who Lapidoth was, or what is meant by the name, is notcertain; moft take it to be the name of her hufband, which feems beft, but who he was is not known; the
Jews will have him to be the fame with Barak,| there being, as they think, fome agreement in the names, Barak fignifying lightening, and Lepidoth lamps; but the whole context fhows the contrary, that he was not her hufband. Some render the words, a woman of Lepidoth, taking it for the name of her native place or habitation; but where there was a place of this name, no account can be given: fome fay fhe was fo called from her employment before fhe was a prophetefs and judge, making wicks for the lamps in the fanctuary, as Farchi relates; and others take it to be expreffive of her excellencies and virtues, which fhone in her as lamps; the firft fenfe is beft: /he judged Ifrael at that time; toward the clofe of the years oppreffion under Fabin, being railed up of God as other judges were, and eminently endowed with gifts and grace; fhe endeavoured to the people of their fins, exhorted them to repentance, and was a means of reforming them, and adminiftring juftice and judgment in all ¢afes brought before her; and which Yasin might admit*of, connive at, or take no notice of, fhe being a woman, of whofe growing power and intereft he that he had commanded by her mouth: faying, go and draw toward mount Tabor; a mountain on the border of Zebulun, and between the tribes of Wachar and Naphtali, and fo lay very convenient for the inhabitants of thefe tribes co meet heres of which fee the note on Fa. xix. 2z. here Barak is direéted to fteer his courfe, and betake himfelf, and draw others with him by perfuafive motives and arguments, urging the command of God by | Dedorab the prophetefs, and the affurance given. from the Lord by her of victory over their enemies, and deliverance from them; for otherwife the children of IJ/rael were in great fear of Yabin, becaufe of his large army, and iron-chariots: and twenty take with thee 10,c0o men of the children of Naphtali, 4%d of the children of Zebulun? which were near at hand, and were the tribes which perhaps were convince) Moft oppreffed, and therefore more eafily to be perftaded to engage in this expedition; and the number of them is fixed, as being fufficient for this fervice, and whofe hearts the Lord would engage in it, fo that Barak would have little to do but to move it to them, and enforce it with proper arguments; and as they would willingly offer had no jealoufy. themfelyes, as it appears afterwards they did, he y¥. 5. And foe dwelt under the palm-tree of De- Lorah, &c.} Her dwelling-houfé was under alon the palm-tree, or rather fhe fat under one, in the open air, when the people came to her with their cafes, and it was called from hence after her name; though fome, as Abarbinel obferves, think it was fo called, becaufe Deborah, the nurfe of Rebekab, was buried here, and which was near Bethel, one of the places next mentioned, fee Ges. xxxv. 8. between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim; which places were in the tribe of Benjamin in the borders of Ephraim, fee ‘fof. xvi. 2. and xviii. 22,25..The Fews conclude from the fituation of her, that fhe was a very opulent woman; the Targum is, ** the was dwelling in a city in Ataroth, Deborab was fupported of her own;
¥.6. And fhe fent and called Barak the fou of Abinoam, out of Kede/b-naphtali, &c.| So called tojof Carme diftinguifh it from other places of the fame name, this being in the tribe of Naphtali, and a city of refuge, Job. xx. 7. of which tribe and place Barak was, but who he and his father Adixoam were, we have no other account; it feems clear from hence, that he was not thé hufband of Deborah, as the Jews fay, or they would have lived together; tho’ according to Bea Gerfom, the lived feparate from him, becaufe of the fpirit of prophecy that was upon her; however, in this miffion and meflage to Barak, fhe acted not asa private perfon, but asa judge in Jrael, and as having and exercifing public power and authority: and faid unto him, when come to her upon her fummons: hath not the Lord God of Irael commanded, can any doubt be made of it? can Barak in the leaft queftion it, as if the fhould fay? the interrogation carries in it a ftrong affirmation, that the Lord had commanded, and Was at once to take them with him to mount Tador, top of which was a plain of 26 furlongs, as Zo/éphus ® fays, furrounded by a wall; thouglt Moderh travellers make it much lefs, on which however he might draw up his army of 10,000 men, and mufter and exercife them.
¥.7. And I will draw unto thee, &c.] Which are the words of the Lord by Deborah, as are the preceding, fignifying, that by the fecret and power-~ tul influence of his providence he would fo order things, and the circumftances of them; and fo powerfully operate on the mind and heart of the Cancanitifa general as to engage him to come #0 ¢he river Kifbon, Sifera the captain of Fabin's army, with his chariots, and his multitude; called the anfhe hadjcient river, the river Kifbon, ch. v. 21. According to Mr. Maundrel*, the fountain of it was near the valley, at the bottom of mount Taber, where Barak was to have his army itt readinefs to attack Si/era; and which river, according to the fame traveller ¢, cuts his way down the middle of the plain of Edraelon, and then contiriuing his courie clofe by the fide of mount Carmel, falls into the fea at a place called Caypha, with which agrees the account of Mr. Sandys *, who fays it flows from the mountains of Tabor and Hermon, and gliding by the north ikirts, difchargeth itfelf into the fea, ‘This river is fuppofed to be the Chor/eus of Ptolemy: hither the Lord in his providence would incline the mind of Si/era to come with his large army and chariots, and give Barak an opportunity to fall upon him: avd I will deliver him into thine band; not - his perfon only, but his numerous hofts, and his 900 chariots.
palm-trees in Jericho, orchards in Ramab, olives producing oil in the valley, a place of watering in Bethel, and white duft in the king’s mountain:” and the children of Yrael came up to ber from all parts of the land to the mount of Ephraim: for sudgment; to have her advice and counfel in matters of difficulty, and to have caufes between contending parties heard and decided by her, fo that! fhe might be truly reckoned among the judges.
¥.8. And Barak faid wato her, &c.]) To Deborah, after fhe had delivered the words of the Lord unto him: if thou wilt go with me, then I will go; which fhewed faith in the word of the Lord, for which he is commended, and a readinefs to do the will of God, and courage to enga in fuch a work with a powerful adverfary, and is" therefore reckoned among the heroes tor faith, Hed. xi. 32. but if thou wilt not go with me, then Z will not go, which though it might diicover fome — weaknefs in him, yet fhewed the high opinion he