Judges 11

— coin men] Rather, poor and needy men. Bp. Patrick.

— Chemosh thy god ] Otherwise Chamos, the god of the Ammonites, supposed by some to be the sun. Calmet.

Judges 11:3

3. — the land of Tob:] This name occurs only here, and at ver. 5: it is conjectured to be the same with Iahtob, mentioned at 2 Sam. x. 6: according to which, the country would lie not far from Gilead, the country of Jephthah. Dr. Wells. Jephthah is chosen captain. His fruitless embassy Before CHRIST about 1161. depr.

4. — I put my life in my hands.] Meaning, ‘I exposed my life to the utmost hazard;’ for he had but a small part of the people of Israel with him, to fight with their powerful oppressors. Bp. Patrick.

Judges 11:4

4. — drink not wine &c.] The child which was conceived in her was to be a Nazarite, ver. 5; and on this account she is desired to live as the Nazarites did, while she bare him in her womb. A Nazarite (see Numb. vi. 2, 3.) was one, who, under the Levitical Law, either to attain the favour of God, or to avert His judgments, or to acknowledge His mercies, vowed a vow of particular purity, and was separated in an extraordinary manner to the service of God. Samson’s Nazaritism, to which he was consecrated by his parents, was to last the whole term of his life; but his frequent intercourse with the Philistines, and the great havock and slaughter which he so often made among them, render it probable that he had a particular dispensation, exempting him from the observation of many of the rules. Stackhouse, Bp. Patrick.

Judges 11:5

5. — he shall begin to deliver Israel] Samson, as will appear, did not perfectly deliver the Israelites from the yoke of the Philistines, for this was not accomplished till after his death, by Samuel, who put an end to their tyranny by his victory at Ebenezer, 1 Sam. vii. 13; but Samson put a check to them by the damage and

Judges 11:6

6. — Say now Shibboleth.] To find out whether they spake the truth, they put them to the test of pronouncing the word Shibboleth; which the people of Ephraim, having a pronunciation different from the other tribes, were accustomed to speak as Sibboleth. This word was chosen, probably, as being fit for the purpose: Shibboleth means floods of water; so that the test to which they put them was this, to make them say, “Let us pass over the waters.” Bp. Patrick. Nothing is more notorious, than that the people of the same nation, who speak the same language, differ very much in their pronunciation of it, in different parts of the same country. In Palestine, the people of Galilee, and those that lived at Jerusalem, spake the same tongue; and yet in the time of Christ, the latter could say to St. Peter, “Thy speech bewrayeth thee,” Matth. xxvi. 73. In Greece all spake Greek, yet the Ionians, Atticks, &c. spake very differently. And here, though the Vol. I.

Gileadites and Ephraimites were of the same nation, yet the latter could not pronounce the Hebrew letter schim, the first in Shibboleth. Stackhouse.

— and there fell — of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.] This was a terrible slaughter for one tribe to make of another; but the Ephraimites seem to have deserved it, as a just punishment of their pride and insolence, in despising so great a man as Jephthah, who had saved all the people of Israel, and threatening to destroy his house after so glorious a victory; also in reviling their brethren, invading them without a cause, and attempting to drive them out of the country. Stackhouse.

6. — A man of God] She took him probably for a Prophet sent from God. Bp. Patrick.

— like the countenance of an angel] Of a form and countenance perfectly angelick, mixed up with terrour and sweetness, plainly bespeaking something more than human. Pyle.

Judges 11:8

8. — and teach us what we shall do unto the child] When we see the strength of Manoah’s faith, we cannot marvel that he had a Samson for his son. He saw not the messenger, he heard not the errand, he examined not the circumstances; yet now he took thought, not whether he should have a son, but how he should order the son whom he should have: he sued to God, not for the son whom as yet he had not, but for the direction of governing him when he should be. “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed,” John xx. 29. True faith takes all for granted, yes for performed, which is once promised. Bp. Hall.

Judges 11:9

9. — whom he sent abroad.] That is, whom he disposed of in marriage, and sent to their husbands’ houses. These circumstances seem mentioned to shew the great blessing of God on Ibzan and his family. Bp. Patrick.

Judges 11:11

11. — uttered all his words before the Lord] He appears to have laid before God, in a solemn address or prayer, all that he had said to the Gileadites, imploring, probably, His approbation and direction. Bp. Patrick.

Judges 11:12

12. And Jephthah sent messengers] Jephthah was noted for his valour, yet he treated with Ammon before he fought; it was only when reason would not prevail,

Judges 11:14

14. — that rode &c.] See the note on chap. x. 4.

Chap. XIII. ver. 1. Ana the children of Israel &c.] The sacred historian, having detailed the events which

Judges 11:16

16. — if thou wilt offer a burnt offering,] If thou wilt offer a burnt offering to express thy thankfulness to God for the favour vouchsafed unto thee, thou must offer it wholly unto the Lord. Dr. Wells.

Before CHRIST about 1161.

Judges 11:24

24. Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god &c.] He appeals to themselves, whether, as they ascribed their victories and possessions to their supposed deity Chemosh, the Israelites have not the same right and duty to what their God had bestowed upon them. Pyle.

Before CHRIST about 1145. c Deut. 2. 9. d Numb. 20. 14. e Numb. 21. 13. & 21. 24. f Deut. 2. 26. g Deut. 2. 26. to the king of the Ammonites. Jephthah’s rash vow. Before CHRIST about 1143. b Numb. 22. 2. Deut. 23. 4. Josh. 24. 9. LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.

Judges 11:27

27. — the Lord the Judge be judge &c.] He concludes by committing his cause to God, the righteous Judge of the whole world, who, he had no doubt, would decide, by the event of the war, on the justice of his cause. Bp. Patrick.

Judges 11:29

29. Then the Spirit of the Lord came] God now publicly declared His approbation of the people’s choice, by making Jephthah their judge, as He had done others before, chap. iii. 10; and by endowing him with an extraordinary measure of courage, wisdom, and all other qualities necessary to render him fit to be the ruler of His people. Bp. Patrick.

Judges 11:30

30. And Jephthah vowed a vow] He appears not to have had any doubt of the victory, but still to have thought he might be the more assured of it, if he made

a religious vow beforehand, of being very grateful to God for it. Bp. Patrick.

— If thou shalt — deliver the children of Ammon] Jephthah began his war, in craving victory from God, and pouring out his vow to Him: while his hand took hold of his sword, his heart cleaved to God. He who is especially commended for his strength, dared trust in none but the arm of God. If Jephthah had not looked upwards for his victory, in vain had the Gileadites looked up to him. And this is the disposition of all good hearts: they look to their sword or their bow, as servants, not as patrons: and, while they use them, trust in God. If men would do so in all their actions, they would have more joy in their success, and less discomfort in their miscarriage. Bp. Hall.

Judges 11:31

31. — shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up] The more true translation of these words may be, “Shall be the Lord’s, or else I will offer it up for a burnt offering,” for so the Hebrew particle is often used. See the margin. The sense of the vow will then be, Whatsoever cometh out of the house to meet me shall be the Lord’s; if it be a human person, servant, &c. it shall be dedicated to his service; or, if it be a beast fit to be offered, it shall be offered for a burnt offering. Pyle, Dr. Wall.

Judges 11:34

34. — came out to meet him] To congratulate him on his victory, with musick and dancing: such was the ancient custom, Exod. xv. 20, which continued afterwards, 1 Sam. xviii. 6. Bp. Patrick.

Judges 11:35

35. — thou hast brought me very low, — for I have opened my mouth &c.] Thou art unwittingly a cause of much sorrow and affliction to me: for I have made a vow unto God, and cannot reverse it. Bp. Hall.

The issue of Jephthah’s rash vow. The Ephraimites are slain

father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.

Judges 11:36

36.—do to me according to &c.] Many a daughter would have dissuaded her father with tears, and would have wished rather her father’s impiety than her own prejudice: but she sues for the performance of her father’s vow. We learn how obsequious children ought to be to their parents, when we see this holy maid willing to abandon the world on the rash vow of a father. Bp. Hall.

It has been the subject of endless controversy, whether Jephthah did really offer up his daughter “for a burnt offering” to the Lord, or only devote her to perpetual virginity, which might be considered as a sacrifice in those times, especially when every woman looked forward to the production of the promised Seed. The Jews, and early Christian Church, believed that Jephthah actually sacrificed his daughter; and the compilers of the Homilies of our Church agree in substance with the same opinion. On the other hand, there are some strong objections to this opinion: for the terms of the vow do not necessarily imply that he really sacrificed her: see note on ver. 31: also human sacrifices were so forbidden by the Jewish law, and declared so abominable to God, that it is scarcely possible to believe Jephthah would have been guilty of so great a crime. Again, the consequence of the vow recorded at ver. 39, that “she knew no man,” seems to imply that she was devoted to perpetual virginity; and the excessive lamentations on the occasion may be sufficiently accounted for, by the prevailing ideas in those times respecting a state of celibacy. Stackhouse, Dr. Grey, Pyle.

Jephthah’s extreme grief on the occasion, and the request of his daughter for a respite of two months to bewail her virginity, are both perfectly natural. Having no other issue, he could only look forward to the extinction of his name or family; and a state of celibacy, which is reproachful among women every where, was peculiarly so among the Israelites, and was therefore no ordinary sacrifice on her part, who, though she generously gave up, could not but regret the loss of becoming “a mother in Israel.” That Jephthah could not possibly have sacrificed his daughter, (according to the vulgar opinion founded on incorrect translation,) may appear from the following considerations, among others. 1. The sacrifice of children to Moloch was an abomination to the Lord, of which, in numberless passages, He expresses his detestation; it was also prohibited by an express law, under pain of death, Lev. xx. 2, 3. 2. No

father, merely by his own authority, could put an offending, much less an innocent child to death, upon any account, without the sentence of the magistrates, and the consent of the people, Deut. xxi. 18—21. Dr. Hales.

However the more disputable points be determined, it can never be inferred that the God of Israel commanded or countenanced human sacrifices. Those that interpret the vow in the harshest sense, call it rash, and censure Jephthah as ignorant of the Law of God. Others, who think the vow capable of a milder construction, acquit the Scripture and Jephthah of any imputation in the affair. What is most probable is, that Jephthah did not sacrifice his daughter, nor intend any such thing. Dr. Waterland.

From this history of Jephthah’s vow, we should be led to copy after the faith, the piety, the strict sense of honour, and religion, so eminently conspicuous in Jephthah and his daughter. As, on the one hand, we should be cautious how we make rash vows, which may involve us in difficulty and perplexity; so, on the other hand, let us neither seek nor admit of any pretenses for dispensing with our duty. Let no distresses or difficulties shake our constancy, or prevail with us to go back from the paths of virtue and religion; but let us prefer our duty and our honour to all considerations of interest or affection. Let us “ever follow that which is good,” “abstaining from all appearance of evil,” and “keeping a conscience void of offence towards God and man.” Dr. Randolph.

Judges 11:40

40.—went yearly to lament] Went yearly to talk with, as in the margin; or, as the Hebrew word may also be rendered, to make presents to, the daughter of Jephthah. And according to either of these significations, it will be evident that she must have survived the completion of her father’s vow. Dr. Randolph.

Chap. XII. ver. 1. And the men of Ephraim &c.] The Ephraimites at this time seem to have been a haughty and quarrelsome people; they had before envied Gideon his glory, chap. vii. 1, &c. though it tended so much to their common advantage: and now, when Jephthah returned victorious, quarrelled with him on the pretence of his not having consulted them in the war. Pyle.

—went northward,] To the country of Manasseh, east of Jordan, towards the north. Bp. Patrick.

by the Gileadites. CHAP. XII, XIII. Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon judge Israel. Before CHRIST about 1143.

to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire.