Judges 11
PATchose rather to fetch a great compass, and travel many miles with groat labour and toil, (sec Numb. xxi. 4.) than give others the least disturbance. And came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched upon the other side of Arnon.] See Numb. chap. xxi. 13. But came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.] This is a demonstration that they did no injury to the Moabites, into whose country they did not enter. For they went no further than Arnon, which divided their country from the Ammonites. Vcr. 19. And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon.] Where his royal palace was. (See Numb. xxi. 25, 26.) And Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land unto my place.] Being denied passage through Edom and Moab, they sent a friendly message unto him, craving the favour of being permitted to go through his country unto Canaan. (Numb. xxi. 21, 22.) hazard; for he had but a small part of the people of Israel with him to fight with their powerful oppressors. This phrase seems peculiar to the Hebrews and the eastern writers; for among all the Greek and Roman writers, Isaac Casaubon saith he never met with it but once in Xcnarchus; whom Athenacus alleges, introducing in one of his plays a man full of fear and trembling — lv rg x"P* ^ v ^vxfjv ixovra. And passed over against the children of Amnion.*] With such forces alone as he could get on his side Jordan, (xi. 29, 30.) And the Lord delivered litem into my hand.] God ap-. proved his undertaking by giving him a great victory. Wlierefore tlien are ye come up unto me this day to fight against me?] Who had defended and preserved them. For if the Ammonites had vanquished Jephthah, they would soon have passed over Jordan and fallen upon the Ephraimites, as they had before attempted, (x. 9.)
Judges 11:1
jyi OW Jephthah the Giteadite. A man of the same country with Jair, their last judge. Was a mighty man of valour.] A warlike person, of great courage and conduct.* «.. v And he was the son of a harlot.] Or, but he was, &c. Some, by the Hebrew word zonah, understand a concubine, but it never signifies so in Scripture; but, as we translate it, ^harlot; and sometimes one that kept a public house; for such people were wont to make their bodiesas common as their houses, to all comers. (See Josh. ii. 1.) But several of the Hebrew doctors think that this word may signify either one of another tribe, or a stranger,.one of another nation: and so Josephus himself here understands it, that he was %Ivoq irtgi rrjv fuiripa, a stranger, by his mother’s side. And SaidasBatricides saith, his mother was an Ishmaelite, as Mr. Selden observes, lib. de Successionibus, cap. 3^ Now such were called v6%ht by the Greeks, as Grotius observes, who were born of a wife that was not a citizen. But among the Jews, if such persons embraced the law, their children were not stained, but capable to inherit among the rest of their brethren; and therefore Jephthah complains of Tiis expulsion, (ver. 7.) looking upon himself as unjustly dealt withal, which could not have been said, had he been a bastard. And Gilead begat Jephthah.] One of the posterity of Gilead, the son of Manasseh, was his father, who was called after the name of his great ancestor.
Judges 11:2
And Gilead ) s wife bare him sons. He took a wife also of the Jewish nation, who bare him several sons; And his wife*s sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah.] When his father was dead; for till then the inheritance was not to be divided; and, if he had been alive, he would not have suffered them tobe so injurious to Jephthah, who was the son of a wife whom he loved extremely, as Josephus relates, lib. v. Antiq. cap. 9. And said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father’s house.] Have no share of his estate. For thou art the son of a strange woman.] This explains the word zonah, to be the same with a tvoman of another country; for there is no reason to think, that by another tvoman (as the words are in the Hebrew) he means a woman of another tribe, as the Chaldee paraphrast, R. Bechai, and others, expound it. (See Selden, in the place beforenamed, and Buxtorf, de Sponsal. et Divortiis, p. 61.)
Judges 11:3
Then Jephthah fled from his brethren. “When they were so unkind as to drive him from his father’s house, he did not think fit to stay in their country. And dwelt in the land of Tob.] We read no where else of this country, which, it is likely, was not far from Gilead, upon the borders of the Ammonites, in the entrance of Arabia Deserta; or, perhaps, it is the same with the country called Ish-tob, 2 Sam. x. 6. 8. which was in Syria, and so near the Ammonites, that they hired forces from thence, as well as from other Syrians, to fight with king David. We find some footsteps of this land, it is very probable, iu 2A2 Microsoft® [chap. XX, the second book of the Maccabees, chap. xii. 17. where wc read of Tov/3u/voi’IouSatot, i. e. Jeivs who dwelt in the land of Tob. And there were gathered vain men to Jephthah.] Or empty men; for the word rekim signifies poor and needy persons, men of no estates, such as resorted to David when he fled from Saul, (1 Sam. xxii. 2.) So I suppose it to be here understood (not that they were profligate persons), for the word pochazim, light men, is not hero added, as it is in the story of those who followed Abimelech, ix. 4. Therefore Grotius doth not seem rightly to have represented Jcphthah, when he saith, he was one of those who " ex pradonura ducibus justi duces facti sunt/’ (lib. iii. de Jure Belli et Pacis, cap. 3. sect. 3.) For these were not highwaymen, as we call them, that lived by prey; but only men of small or no fortune, who were glad of an occasion to join themselves to so gallant a man as Jephthah was. And so. the word we translate gathered, imports that they listed themselves under him of their own accord, being invited to it by the great fame of his humanity and valour. But Grotius herein follows the Vulgar, who adds the word latrocinates, without any authority, either from the Hebrew, Xhaldee, orLXX.’ And went out with him.] Made excursions upon the enemies of the Israelites thereabouts, and got what booty they could from them for their subsistence, just as David did when he was forced to flee into the land of the Philistines, (1 Sam. xxvii. S— 11.)
Judges 11:4
And it came to pass in process of time. In the Hebrew it is after days, L e. as primate Usher understands it (in the place abovenamed), after those years mentioned x. 8. q viz.’ eighteen years, in the conclusion of which, when Jair was dead, the Ammonites took the following resolution; but there is no good ground, as I have shewn there, for this interpretation; therefore by after days I understand some time after their retreat into their own country, which I mentioned X. 17. That the children of Amnion made war against Israel.”] They only came in parties before to rob and spoil them; but n6w, finding the Israelites began to take courage, and had formed a camp in Gilead, (x. 17.) they raised an array, intending to conquer them and possess themselves of their country. * Then JephtJiah gathered all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim.] When he saw they were not pacified by this fair and peaceable apology, but still continued their menaces, he betook himself to arms, and raised as many men as he could to oppose them. And the men of Gilead smote them.] Put them to flight, and made a great slaughter of them. Because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim.] That which provoked them to kill so many of them was their scoffing language (added to their threats), thereby they reproached the men of Gilead, (who were the chief managers of the late war, xi.29.) as if they were but.the scum and dregs of the tribe of Ephraim; L e. of those descended from Joseph, among whom they were the principal. Among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites.] That is, that dwelt in the land of Canaan: who looked upon the Gileadites, find the rest of the. Manassites, on the other side Jordan, and in the most northerly part of it,, as the refuse of their nation. But it must be acknowledged, that the words in the Hebrew are capable of another sense, and may be thus translated; Therefore (so the particle Jci is often translated) they said, Fugitives of Ephraim are ye; that is, having smote them, the Gileadites called the Ephraimites rtm-aways. And the truth is, thus they (not the Gileadites) are called in the next verse: and then the following words maybe thus translated, Gilead got between the Ephraimites and the Manassites. It is very probable, that the Manassites in Canaan joined with the Ephraimites in this presumptuous attempt upon the Gileadites; who being well acquainted with their own country, got between them and the river Jordan, to intercept their passage over it, as we read in the following verse.
Judges 11:5
And it came to pass, when the children ofAmmon mtide war against Israel. The Vulgar interprets it, pressed hard upon them. TJie elders of Gilead.] Who are called princes, x. 18. Went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob.] Some of the principal persons of the country were sent in the name of all the inhabitants’ of Gilead, in an embassy to him, to invite him to return to them. Ver. G. And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our Captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.] They did not pretend to make him their king (remembering, perhaps, what had befallen the men of Shechem and Abimblech), but only the leader of their army^ And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites.] So that none could pass over at these fords, without their leave. And it was so, tliat when those Ephraimites who were escaped.] They. are the very same words in the Hebrew, which are used in the foregoing Yerse, The fugitives of Ephraim. Said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead.] Who were set to guard the passages. Said, Art thou an Ephraimite.] They examined him what countryman he was; whether a Reubenitc, Gadite, Ma-
Judges 11:7
And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did ye not hate me, and expel me out of my father s house?. This signifies, that his brethren ejected him by.the assistance of the public authority (unless we suppose that they were of the number of elders that were sent to him); or the elders, who saw the wrong his brethren did him, connived at it, and did not interpose, according to their office, to do him right, whereby they made his expulsion their own act.. And tvhy are ye come nnto me noio when you are in distress?] As much as to say, What reason have yon to expect that I should hearken to you, since I know it is only your distress which moves you to recall me?
Judges 11:8
And the elders of Gilead said nnto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee nmv. This may relate cither to what immediately goes before, and then the sense is, We confess we are in distress, and therefore Jmplore thy help (which; if thou wilt afford us, thou shalt command us all for ever); or to the beginning of the foregoing verse, and the meaning is, We are sensible of the injury that was done thee, and therefore are come to repair it, by inviting thee to* be our head; for that is meant by their turning again to him: they had altered their mind, and not only revoked that unjust act, but offered him a recompence. TJiat thou may est go with us, and fight against the children of Amnion, and be our head over all theinhabitajits of Gilead.] Of the tribes on their side Jordan; for they could promise nothing for the tribes in the land of Canaan, some of which were oppressed now by the Philistines, as they were by the Ammonites.
Judges 11:9
And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye’ bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the Lord deliver them before me, shall I be your head?. He offers to be the general of their army, if, after he had vanquished their enemies, they would, in good earnest, make him their governor in chief, and not throw him off when they had no further need of him. In which agreement he supposed the consent and appointment of God, by whose aid alone he hoped to be victorious.
Judges 11:10
And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah y The Lord be witness between us, if we do not according to thy word. They solemnly call God to witness their sincerity,* confirming what was agreed by an oath, and wishing God to revenge it, if they did not perform what they promised.
Judges 11:11
Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead. Unto his own country. And the people made Mm head and captain over them.] In a full assembly of the people, with the princes, (ix.G. x. 18.) he was made general of their army; with an assurance he should be their head, after the war was successfully ended. And Jephthah tittered all his words before the Lord.] The people had done their part, but Jephthah would undertake nothing, without God’s approbation, before whom, in a solemn prayer^ he laid all that he. had said.unto them; and it is likely that God answered him by some prophet, and authorized him to undertake the conduct and govern 7 merit of the people; (see x. 11.) for if he had done it without a Divine warrant, the Spirit of the Lord would not have come upon him, as we read it did, ver. 29. In Mizpeh.] Where the children of Israel had gathered themselves together to oppose the Ammonites, x. 17. and where Jephthah chose to fix his habitation, after the conquest of them, ver. 34. of this chapter; for that Mizpeh, where all the tribes, we often read, met before the Lord, was on’ this side Jordan, not far from Jerusalem, cither in r f ltmm* \M CHAP. XI.] UPON FUDGES. the tribe “of Judah, or of Benjamin; It is thought” probable, by some learned men, that there was “some proseiicha, a praying-place, or place of Divine worship, here^at Misspell, (see Josh. v xxiv. 26.) where Jephthah uttered his words; which, otherwise, they think, could not be said to be done before the Lord; but this is not a sufficient ground for such an opinion; for the Divine presence (as Rasi here observes) was in that place where. all. the people assembled upon a public concern. (See 1 Sam. xi. 15.) Kimchi observes the same upon the twentieth chapter of this book, ver. I. where his words are,.” In every place, in which Israel, or a great part of Jt,- is assembled, the Divine presence dwells." (See my notes there.)
Judges 11:12
And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon. Now he plainly acts as a; chief governor, in appointing an embassy to go from him to the king of the Ammonites; whichpower he would not have assumed, if it had not been given hira by God. L Saying, What hast thou to do ivith me.’] That is, what is the ground of thy quarrel? Or, for what reason is this. invasion made? TJiat thou art come to fight against me in my landT\ This is the language of the supreme governor of the country, unto whom all were. subject, as their lord; and de- ■monstrates him to have been a most pious prince, that would first debate matters fairly, before he came to blows, according to the sense of a number of great men in future times, mentioned by Grotius at large, lib. ii. de Jure Belli et Pacis, cap. 23. scct.,7. Unto which he was not bound, having taken arms only in his own defence; yet, to prevent the effusion of blood, he argues the case with the king, of the Ammonites, who ought rather, if he thought himself injured by the Israelites, to have sent, before he took arms, to require satisfaction.
Judges 11:13
And the king of the children of Ammon answered to the messengers of Jephthah, Becatise Israel took away my land when they came out of Egypt. This is a mere colour and pretence, the land being none of theirs, when the Israelites conquered it, but the land of Sihon king of the Amorites: for, as to the country of.the Ammonites, God expressly charged the Israelites not to meddle with it, (Deut. i. 19.) for he would give them none of it. It is true, this land, which they now claimed, had formerly belonged to the Moabites, but Sihon had made a conquest of it, and driven them out of it, as we read Numb. xxi. 26. The king of Ammon, therefore, could not call it his land, unlefcs he was also king of Moab at this time, which is not improbable: whence it is, that, in the following dispute between him and Jephthah, there is a promiscuous mention of tho Moabites, together with the Ammonites, as if they were but one people, (ver. 15. 17, 18.) and Chemosh, which was the god of the Moabites, is called (ver. 24.) the god of the king of Ammon: unto which may be added, that the land which Sihon conquered did not entirely belong to the Moabites, but some of it to the children of Ammon, as is expressly said, Josh. xiii. 25. where we read, that to the Gadites was given half of the land of the children of Ammon; therefore some part of SihoiVs kingdom (where the Gadites were settled) had formerly belonged to the Ammonites. From Arnon even unto Jabbok, and to Jordan.] These are the bounds of the country to which they laid a claim; the river Arnon on the south, and the.brobk Jabbok on the north (which we may call the length of the country), and Jordan on the west; unto which* afterward is added the eastern bounds, when it’is said, ver. 22. from the wilderness unto Jordan; which is the wilderness through which the Israelites entered into the territories of Sihon.. Now therefore restore these lands.] Which belonged to the Moabites and Ammonites. Again peaceably.] The messengers of Jephthah had declared that he desired not war, but peace; which the king of Ammon tells him he must not expect, unless he resigned these countries to him.
Judges 11:14
And Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the children of Ammon. This is an argument of a very peaceable disposition, and a high commendation of a^ warlike spirit, that he was still desirous to end this controversy by reason; and not by the sword.
Judges 11:15
And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah. This is his reply; which seems to be delivered as from a man l in authority. Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Amnion.] He denies the matter of fact upon which they grounded the war: for the Israelites found this country in the possession of Sihon.
Judges 11:16
But when Israel came out of Egypt. He proves the truth of what he affirmed, by a short history of what passed after they came out of Egypt; when the king of Ammon said (ver. 13.) they took this land from him. And icalked through the wilderness unto the’Red Sea, and came to Kadesh.] This is not to be understood of Kadesh-barnea, but of that Kadesh mentioned Numb. xx. 1. 14. which was in the borders of Edom; unto which they came directly from the Red Sea: nor of their coming to the Red Sea, in the first year after they passed through it, mentioned Numb, xxxiii. 10. but of their last coming to it, in that station they made at Ezien-geber (after many stations in other places), which was upon the shore of the Red Sea; from whence they immediately marched to this Kadesh, (Numb, xxxiii. 35, 36.) Ver. 17- Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land.] This shews, they were so far from invading anybody’s" country, that they humbly begged leave to pass through Edom, engaging to do no violence, but to pay for every thing they wanted. (See Numb. xx. 14, &c.) But the king of Edom would not hearken thereto.] Notwithstanding which, they were not provoked by their inhumanity to quarrel with them. And in like maimer they sent to the king of Moab, but he would not consent.] We do not read of such a message sent to the Moabites: but when they came from Ezion-geber into the wilderness of Moab, we find a command of God to them not to distress the Moabites, nor to contend with them in battle: which intimates there was some occasion for it; which was their refusal to grant them a common civility. And Israel abode in Kadesh.] Put up all these affronts, and abstained from all violence, continuing quiet in the place where they had pitched their tents.
Judges 11:18
Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab. When they were denied a passage the direct way, they
Judges 11:20
But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast. AVas jealous they would seize on his country. But Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.] He contented not himself to refuse (as his neighbours had done) to grant a passage through his country, which they could not demand, but raised all his forces, and proudly marched to drive them away from his borders, (Numb. xxi. 23, 24.) •
Judges 11:21
And the Lord God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them. It was plainly an act of God to give the Israelites the victory; for they were unprepared for war, and tired with a long march about the land of Edom and Moab. So Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.] They did not dispossess the Moabites, but the Amorites, who then inhabited that country, which became the possession of the Israelites, by the right of a just war, in their own defence.
Judges 11:22
And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from tlie wilderness even unto Jordan^. This is a description of the length and breadth of the land, from south to north, and from east to west: (see above, ver. 13.) None of which was then in" the possession of the Moabites or Ammonites; who could not therefore charge the Israelites with taking any of their land from them. Vcr. 23. And so now the Lord God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel.] This is a new title to this land; which they not only took in a just war, but Ayas also given them by God, who made them victorious, and then bestowed it upon them. And shouldest thou possess it?] It was absurd to think that they should take the pains to conquer it, and God should give it to them, that they might put the Moabites again in the possession of it, with whom they had no alliance; but, quite contrary, they had denied them the common right of mankind.
Judges 11:24
Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess?. He doth not call Chemosh a god; but only argues from the opinion that they had of him, which all nations had of their gods, that they owed their conquests to them, to whom therefore they gave thanks for all their victories. Now he appeals to them, whether they would not keep what their god had given them, and look upon it as rightfully possessed by them. So whomsoever the Lord our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.] By the very same title whereby the Moabites possessed the country wherein they now lived; from whence they drove out the ancient inhabitants. (Deut. ii. 10, 11.)
Judges 11:25
And noio, art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab?. This is a third argument, that when this conquest was newly made by the Israelites, the then king of Moab (as potent as the present) laid no claim to this country, nor demanded to have it restored to him; but only was afraid they should invade the land he still possessed. Did he ever strive against Israel.] Dispute their title with them. Or did he ever fight against Israel.] Endeavour by forco of arms to recover this country, as not belonging to them but to him.
Judges 11:26
While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coast of Arnon, three hundred years, &c. In the last place he pleads prescription, and that for three hundred years; in which long space of time none of the kings of Moab pretended a right to this country, much less contended it with them; which argument was irrefragable. For if such along undisputed possession cannot make a right to a country, it is impossible there should be any end of wars between kings and princes. But all mankind look upon those wars as unjust, which are made for recovery of countries wherein people have settled quietly for many ages; though, perhaps, in the first acquisition of them, their title was not good. Therefore it is not necessary to examine, whether Sihon had a just cause of w T ar when he conquered this country; nor is it of importance, with respect to this, to examine whether the Israelites had held this con-? quest just three hundred years; for if a few be wanting, it is not material: but with respect to something else it is of great consequence, for the explaining of what we read 1 Kings vi. 2. that Solomon began to build the temple in the four hundred and eightieth year after they came out of Egypt. Which space is divided by these words of Jephthah into two intervals: the first of which contained three hundred and forty years; for they had possessed this country three hundred years, and they came out of Egypt forty years before its conquest: during which time they had been slaves to the Mesopotamians, Moabites, Canaanites, and Midianites. Now, if the years wherein they were oppressed by these four nations, and the years of peace and quiet which they enjoyed, be put together, from the first year of Chushan-Rishathaim to the last year of Jair,they produce a little more than three hundred years; so that no time is left for Joshuas conquest of Canaan, and his life after it, and for the generation that outlived him. But, by supposing that some of these things fell out in the very same time (as for example, during the fourscore years’ rest in the eastern parts of the land after Eglon’s death, they were oppressed twenty years in the north by Jabin), this difficulty is removed, and all comes right; as Sir John Marsham hath demonstrated in his Canon Chronicus: where he shews, that, from the death of Moses to this invasion of the Ammonites, there were three hundred years; allowing five-audr w^^t i CHAP. XI.] UPON JUDGES. twenty years (as Josephus computes) for Joshua’s government after they came into Canaan, and thirty-five years to the following generation that survived him. (See Seculum xi. ^Era Exodi. And concerning the other interval, see here, xii. 14.) Why therefore did ye not recover them within that time?’] This question could not be answered, that in so long a time they should hear nothing of their claim till now.
Judges 11:27
Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou dost vie wrong to war against m&. Upon all these reasons he concludes, the Ammonites had no cause to make this war; but were injurious in it to the Israelites. TJieLord the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.] The meaning is, that if they were not moved by these reasons, but the controversy must be decided by arms, he committed his cause to God, the righteous judge of the whole world, who, he doubted not, would do him right. By this day he doth not mean that God would determine the right, by giving him the victory then, when he spake these words (for he was not yet ready to give them battle), but that God would judge of the justice of his present plea, and accordingly give sentence, when the matter came to be tried in a battle.
Judges 11:28
Howbeit tlie king of the children of Ammon hearkmed not to the words of Jephthah which he sent him. He would not yield to arguments, being obstinately re-’ solved to fight it out.
Judges 11:29
Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. The people had chosen him for their leader, and promised to continue him their chief governor, as they had already made him; and now God publicly declares his approbation of their choice; and made him their judge, as he had done others before, (iii. 10.) by endowing him with an extraordinary measure of courage and wisdom, and all other qualities necessary to render him fit to be the ruler of his people. And he passed over Gilead and Manasseh J] Went through the whole country of Reuben and Gad (which are comprehended in Gilead), and likewise the half tribe ofManasseh, and levied what men he could among them. And passed over Mizpeh of Gilead.] Went to the extreme part of the country northward, where Mizpeh was, towards Mount Lebanon and Hermon. And from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Amnion.] He marched from thence, with such forces as he had gathered, towards the enemy’s country.
Judges 11:30
And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said. If thou shall without fail deliver the children ofAmmon into my hand. He did not make a doubt of it, but thought he might be more assured of victory, if he made a religious vow beforehand, of being very grateful to God for it. Which was the custom of tho ancient Romans, as we* find in Li vy; who frequently tells us, that their generals were wont to vow to Jupiter, or Apollo, or others, part of the spoil they should take in war; or to build temples in their honour. And thus the Israelites, when king Arad came against them,, as they were going towards Canaan (a little before the conquest of this country now in controversy), vowed to make his country a cherem, if God would deliver it into their hands. (See Numb. xxi. 2.)
Judges 11:31
That it shall be, that whatsoever. This comprehends all sorts of creatures, as the Hebrew doctors commonly observe.; Cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me.] The Vulgaf adds the word first, which must be understood; otherwise he would have been obliged to devote many things to the Lord, which might possibly come out of his house. Wlien I return in peace from the children of Ammon.] Come back victorious. Shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it tip for a burnt-offering.] If it was a tiling fit to be offered: for if a dog or a swine should have happened to come out first to meet him, that was not lawful to be offered. But the great question is, Whether it was not as unlawful to offer his daughter, who seems to be comprehended in this vow? And it is said afterward, (ver. 39.) that he did unto her according to it. Josephus, and the Chaldee paraphrast, and several famous rabbins, think that he did offer her, being deceived by a mistake of the sense of that law, Lev. xxvii. 28. And though he might have been absolved from his vow by the high-priest, yet they tell an idle story, that they stood so much upon a punctilio of their dignity, that he would neither go to Phinehas, nor Phinchas vouchsafe to wait upon him. Which is a tale not to be found in the Talmud, but in some lesser writer, as Mr. Seldcn observes, lib. iv. de Jure Nat. etGent. cap. 11. where he shews, that the two Kimchis, father and son, with R. Levi ben Gersom, and others, interpret these words quite otherwise; and take the particle (which we translate and) to be a disjunctive; that is, as much as or. So Kimchi’s words are, It shall be consecrated to the Lord, if it be not Jit for a burnt-offering; or it shall be offered for a burnt-offering, if it befit for it. And so they think she was devoted to God, and separate from all secular affairs, that she might give herself continually to prayer and holy exercises. Which opinion hath several difficulties in it, as he there observes; and it must be confessed, the stream of interpreters runs the quite contrary way: for though they call this votum temerarium, as Tertullian doth, VLtash vow, or a foolish incautious vow, as Theodoret, St. Austin, and others; yet very great numbers (and indeed most of the ancient Christian writers) think that he did really offer her: though it cannot be denied, that there are great difficulties in this interpretation also; no sucfr thing having ever been done in Israel; but such’ sacrifices declared abominahlc unto God: which it is a wonder he should not know, nor the people neither; who, one would have expected, should have hindered such a barbarous sacrifice. All that can be said in answer to this is, that they having been long accustomed to idolatrous worship, and he having lived out of his own country, and being a soldier, had forgotten their law, or retained but a very imperfect knowledge of it. But they that would see this matter largely discussed, ni£iy consult Ludovicus Capellus, who. hath a long dissertation on purpose about it; and I shall say something more of it upon the latter end of this chapter.
Judges 11:32
So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them. He was not far from them before, (ver. 29.) but now he drew his army up to them, and engaged them. And the Lord delivered them into his hand.] And thereby declared the Ammonites were in the wrong, (ver. 27.)
Judges 11:33
And he smote them from Aroer. Which was a city upon Iho banks of the river Arnon; or rather in the river, being encompassed with it. Till thou come toMinnith.] Another city up in the country. Even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards.] They chased them a great way, and destroyed their cities as they went along, till they came to the plain here mentioned. Or, as it is in the margin, unto Abel; a city, perhaps, which was very strong, called Abel-Keramiin, as the LXX. understand it. With a great slaughter.] Both in the field and in the cities. Thus the children of Ammon tuere subdued before the children of Israel] So that they infested their country no more.
Judges 11:34
AndJephthah came to Mizpeh tinto his house. From which he went forth when he began this expedition, (ycr. 29.) And, behold, his daughter came out to meet him tvith timbrels and dances.] She was the first person of his family whom he saw at his return, who came,. accompanied with some of her neighbours, to welcome him home, and congratulate his victory with music and dancing. So the old manner had been, Exod. xv. 20. and continued afterward, 1 Sam. xviii. 6. And she was his only child:.beside her he had neither son nor daughter.] In the Hebrew the words are, he had not from himself cither son or daughter; intimating, perhaps, that though his wife had children by another husband, or he had adopted children, yet he had none descended from his own body but this only daughter, which made her the dearer to him,
Judges 11:35
And it came to pass, that xvhen h$ saw her, he rent his clothes. As the manner was when any great calamity befel them. (See Lev. x. 6.) And said, Alas! my daughter, thou hast brought me very low.] Quite spoiled my triumph. And thou art one of them that trouble?ne.’] Which was the more afflictive, because he expected from her the greatest comfort and pleasure. For I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and J cannot go back.] That is, made a vow which he could not retract. It is likely he told her what it was, though that be not here expressed; or by his deep sorrow at the first sight of her, she understood it was upon her account: but in this he was grossly mistaken, which way soever we interpret this vow; whether of separating her from company, or of offering her for a burnt-offering; for he was bound to neither, yea, he was bound not to offer her in sacrifice, which was a thing abominable. As for the other, there was no such power by their law granted to parents, to shut up their children, and separate them from all society with men, as Mr. Sclden observes, there being not the least footstep of any such thing in the whole body of their Talmud, or in their lawyers. Ver. 3G. And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy?nouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that tvhich hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.] A rare instance of religion, courage, obedience to her parents, and love to her country.
Judges 11:37
And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me. Grant me only one request; which was not inconsistent, she thought, with his vow; for ho did not say he would execute it immediately. Let me alone two months.] Leave me at liberty so long. That I may go up and down upon the mountains.] Which wero fit places for her purpose, being solitary, and far from company. To beivail my virginity.] For it was accounted a great infelicity in that nation to die without issue. I and my fellows.] Other virgins, her companions. This some take for an argument, that she.was not to be sacrificed; for then she would have bewailed her death, rather than her want of posterity. But this is no concluding argument; for she might possibly look upon it as an honour to be a sacrifice unto God.
Judges 11:38
And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months, and she tvent tvith her companions, and bewailed her virginity -upon i the mountains. They that think she knew she was to be offered, infer from hence, that she looked upon it as a greater calamity to die without issue, than merely to die.
Judges 11:39
Audit came to pass, at the end of two montlis, she returned to her father. Having had time to bring her mind unto a perfect resignation to her father; or rather, to confirm herself in the resolution she had at first, cheerfully to submit unto whatsoever he had vowed. Who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed.] That is, saith Kimchi, be made her a house, and brought her into it, and there left her secluded from the company of all men, and from all secular affairs. That is the meaning, he thinks, of the first part of his vow, It shall surely be the Lord’s* And so Ralbag, a" little more fully, She was separated from the company of men; for if she had had a husband, she could not have served the Lord alone, but must have served her husband also, as all wives are bound to do. Selden indeed saith, that he doth not see what law gave him this power to keep her from marriage; there being nothing of it in all their books, as was said before. But there is something like it in 2 Sam. xx. 3. where David shut up his concubines, and made them live in widowhood till their death. And he might take the liberty to do this (though no law gave him such power) rather than take away the life of his v daughter, which was against law; for it condemned such sacrifices. But the truth is, there was no necessity of doing either, if he had understood or considered the law; for he might have paid a price for her to the priest, which the law prescribed, when a son or daughter was consecrated’ to God, (Lev. xxvii. 2,3, &c.) Nay, they who consecrated themselves, might redeem themselves: and about this very case of Jephthah there was anciently a dispute between two famous doctors, -Simeon ben Lakish and R. Johanan; the former of which maintained, that he ought to have paid the price or value of her according to the law; but the other maintained, he was not bound to do so much as that, because the vow was to offer a burnt-offering, in which his daughter could not be comprehended. For other animals only were capable of being offered in sacrifice. As for those words, Lev. xxvii. 28, 29. upon which Lud. Capellus hath founded his opinion that she might be sacrificed, Maimonides hath better restrained them to the sons and daughters of the Canaanites, devoted by God to destruction. But who can think that * Microsoft® CHAP. XI.] UPON JUDGES. > God would have the Hebrew children so devoted as those slaves were, upon whom a curse was denounced before they entered into Canaan? Beside, if Jephthah’ was bound to offer his daughter, who should be employed in that work? Should the priests? Bnt their business was’ rather to persuade and deter him from what he had imprudently vowed. - Should the magistrates? But they could not be ignorant that God had forbidden such sacrifices. Should Jephthah himself? But this would have argued him as void of common sense, as of natural affection. And who can think (as Theodoricus Hackspan goes on) that since God allowed cities of refuge, whither a manslayer might flee and be safe, when he had unwittingly killed a man, that the same privilege might not have been allowed to a son or a daughter, who was perfectly innocent (as “this virgin was), viz. to save their lives by flight, or by paying a ransom?’ »* The Jews are very doubtful in this matter; for some say Phinehas lost his priesthood, and it was translated* to the family of Ithamar, because he did not absolve Jephthah from this vow: but others of the eastern writers say, he was forbid to release him by the spirit of prophecy; and Jephthah, when he was admonished by his friends to go and advise with him how to save his daughter, w r as forbid by an angel to go. (See Selden, lib. i. de Succession, ad Poritificatura, cap. 2. fol. 117, &c) But the Targura upon this verse blames Jephthah for not cdnsulting Phinehas; for if he had, he would have redeemed her for a sum of money.: - ,.. And she knew no man.] This is looked upon, by those who think she was only consecrated to the Lord, as an argument of it; that after the performance of his vow, it is said, she knew no man; that is, as long as she lived, she*’ continued a virgin. And it was a custom in Israel.] They that think sho was sacrificed, take these words as separate from those that follow, and interpret them, upon this asanction was made, that none should hereafter, by the like error, offer human sacrifices. So the Targum. (See Selden in the place forenamed.) But there was no need of this statute; nor is it likely that the fable among the Greeks, concerning the sacrifice of Iphigenia by Agamemnon, was devised out of this sacred story, as Lud. Capellus conjectures; who fancies also this Jeptitigenia, that is, the daughter. of Jephthah (from whence might come Iphigenia), was not sacrificed upon the altar, but only slain; though the vow was, he would offer a burnt-offering. But we refer these words to what follows in the next verse.
Judges 11:40
Tliat the daughters of Israel. They of that country. ■ Went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.] Some interpret the Hebrew word tliannoth to signify they went to discourse with her, or to comfort her; though themost ancient interpreters (as Bochartus observes, in his Hierozoicon, par. i. lib.i. cap. 9.) translate it as we <lo, Zprivuv, as the LXX.have it, to make lamentation. But quite contrary the learned Lud. de Dieu, different from the rest (except Sixtinus Amama, who hath the same notion), interprets it to praise her. Which signification he plainly derives out of the Arabic language; and beside, we ourselves in this very book (ver. 11.) seem to follow it, by translating it reliearse. -And thus that excellent man ex- YOU II. plains this whole matter:—” She was not slain; but, as appears sufficiently from the foregoing words, was* devoted to perpetual virginity; in which she deserved greater, commendation than her father. For he, as soon as he saw her come to meet him, repented of the vow he had rashly made, and tore his clothes," lamenting the miserable condition into which he had brought himself and her: but* she most courageously comforted her father,, and, congratu-: lating his victory, desired him hot to be troubled about her, for she was ready to submit to what he had vowed.’ Upon the account of which heroic virtue, whereby slie obliged the whole country, they could do no less than celebrate her praise every year." Four days in the year.] One day in every quarter of the year they went to celebrate her fame with verses composed in her praise, as Grotius supposes. But whether they went to the place where she was retired, and there sang them before her, or in some other public place; and whether while she lived, or after her death, is uncertain, as De Dieii observes.