The History of the Old Testament Methodized, Chapter 4 · Section 144 – Section 145
SECT. CXLIV.
THe Children of Iſrael being now ſorely diſtreſſed, they cry unto the Lord, and acknowledge their Sin, and the Lord either by ſome Prophet, or by the High Prieſt who inquired for them, returned them this Anſwer, Have I not delivered you from the Egyptians, AmoritEs, the Children of Ammon, the Philiſtines, the Zidonians,(d)Divers of theſe Deliverances we do not find mentioned before. So that this people had received from the Lord many more Favours and Bleſſings than are here recorded. Amalekites, and the Maonites,*Poſſibly hereby are meant the Canaanites that inhabited the Wilderneſs of Maon, 1 Sam. 23.24. and yet ye have forſaken me, and followed other gods; Go and cry unto the gods ye have choſen, let them deliver you in the time of your Tribulation. I will deliver you no more. This Threatning was not abſolute, but conditional, though the condition be not expreſſed, but is thus to be underſtood, viz. except ye truly repent, and forſake your Idolatry, and amend that which has been ſo much amiſs among you. They anſwered, O Lord, we humbly acknowledge that we have hainouſly ſinned againſt thee, and do thou puniſh us hereafter as thou pleaſeſt, if we do not continue in thy true and pure Worſhip, utterly renouncing all falſe gods; only make trial of us this once, by delivering us out of the hands of our Enemies. Then they putting away their ſtrange gods, and ſetting upon a real Reformation, the Lord was touched with Compaſſion towards them, and his Soul †This is ſpoken of God after the manner of men, and by way of compariſon only affirmed of him.was grieved for the miſeries they ſuffered. About this time the Children of Ammon gathered themſelves together, and incamped in the Land of Gilead, which now (it ſeems) they claimed as belonging unto them, ſee Ch. 11. verſ. 13.
The Children of Iſrael gathered what Forces they could together to oppoſe them, and encamped at Mizpeh, in Mount Gilead, in the Tribe of Manaſſeh, beyond Jordan: Then they begun to conſider who ſhould be their Leader in this Expedition againſt Ammon, and they declared, That who-ever (being able and fit) would undertake it, he ſhould be the Head or Judge over all the Inhabitants of Gilead. But there were none there preſent willing to undertake it, (the Service being very dangerous) therefore they reſolved to ſend to Jephtah, being a skilful Commander, and of known Valour.
Jephtah was a Gileadite, (his Fathers name being Gilead) and probably he was born in the City of Gilead; His Mother was an Harlot. It ſeems in proceſs of time his Brethren (that his Father had by his lawful Wife) being grown up, did, by the help and decree of the Magiſtrates of Gilead, [ſee verſ. 17.] bar him of any ſhare of the Inheritance of his Father, and denied him any portion for a Livelihood among them. Jephtah being thus uſed, betook himſelf into the Land of Tob (a Country lying along Mount Gilead, not far from the Ammonites, at the entrance of Arabia the Deſart,) and a Company of idle Fellows that had no Means, or took no Courſe for a Livelihood, liſted themſelves under him as their Captain, and with them he us'd to Inrode, Prey upon, and Spoil the Ammonites. And he grew to a great Fame for theſe Exploits, and was held a mighty man of Valour. Upon this account the Elders of Gilead now came and intreated him to be their Captain-General againſt the Ammonites. For though the Law forbad that any Baſtards ſhould be admitted to any Place of Magiſtracy among the Iſraelites unto the tenth Generation, Deut. 23.32. yet their preſent neceſſity, or poſſibly ſome warrant from God*Deus hominibus non ſibi legem praeſcripſit. Diſpenſavit de lege ſua. made them diſpence with the ſeverity and rigor of this Law; the end and equity whereof was to ſhew how much God abhorred all Whoredom and Ʋncleanneſs, to make the people more careful to avoid it, and not to inflict a puniſhment on the perſon ſo begotten, if he abhorred his Fathers ſin, and ſerved God in holineſs and righteouſneſs. Jephtah ſeems to wonder they ſhould come to him upon ſuch an account; What (ſays he) did not you hate me, and expel me out of my Fathers Houſe? and do you come to me now in your Diſtreſs? The Elders of Iſrael replied, They did acknowledge that what He had ſaid was true, and therefore to make amends for their former unkindneſs to Him, they deſired his aid now upon no other Condition, but that he ſhould be Head over all the Inhabitants of Gilead. Jephtah asks them, If they would be as good as their word to make him Governour of the Land of Gilead, if the Lord inabled him to vanquiſh the Ammonites. They replied, They would; and further ſaid, Let the Lord be Witneſs between us, and let Him, as a juſt Judge, puniſh us, if we do not keep Covenant with thee, and make thee our Head. Hereupon Jephtah went along with them to the Aſſembly of the Princes and people met at Mizpeh, and there He repeated all that had paſſed between him and the Meſſengers that were ſent unto him; The Aſſembly of the Princes agreeing thereunto, both he and they ſolemnly bound themſelves to perform that which was agreed on, and probably they confirmed it mutually by Oath, as in the preſence of God.Jephtah the Eighth Judge. And ſo he was made Head and Captain over them. Jephtah being thus inſtated in the Government, he reſolved firſt to try fair ways with the Ammonites, before he ingages in a War againſt them, ſee Deut. 20.10, 11. Accordingly he ſends Meſſengers to the King of the Ammonites, to know what juſt Cauſe he had, or could pretend, for invading their Country, and making War upon them. The King of the Ammonites returned this Anſwer, That he did it becauſe a great part of that Land which the Iſraelites took from Sihon King of the Ammonites, and from Og King of Baſhan, had been before by thoſe Kings taken from the Ammonites, and eſpecially from the Moabites, [Numb. 21.26. Joſh. 13.25.] all which the King of the Ammonites now Claims as belonging to Him, being alſo at this time (as it ſeems) King of the Moabites. *For Chemoſh the Idol of the Moabites is called his god.Now therefore, ſays he, I require that thoſe Lands be forthwith reſtored to me, if you will have Peace with me. To this Jephtah made this Return, That Iſrael took not away the Land of Moab, or the Land of the Children of Ammon, as might plainly appear to him, if he would conſider that when Iſrael came out of Egypt, and travelled through the Wilderneſs unto the Red-Sea, [Numb. 33.35.] and came to Kadeſh, bordering upon the Land of Edom, they ſent Meſſengers to the King of Edom to deſire leave of him to paſs through his Land, [Numb. 20.14.] In like manner they ſent to the King of Moab to deſire the ſame favour of Him, but they both denying them paſſage, they put themſelves to the trouble of fetching a great compaſs about the Land of Edom and Moab, rather than they would be any way injurious to either of them; ſo that the Iſraelites were far from offering Violence to any of the Nations that bordered upon Canaan; and particularly they came not within the Borders of Moab. They ſent alſo to Sihon, to deſire of him that they might quietly paſs through his Land, but he gathered all his people together, and came out and fought againſt them. And having through the aſſiſtance of God conquered Him in a lawful War, they by the Law of Arms juſtly poſſeſſed themſelves of all thoſe Lands which were His, which lie within Arnon on the South, Jabbock on the North, the Wilderneſs of Arabia on the Eaſt, and Jordan on the Weſt. And God having thus diſpoſſeſſed the Amorites, and given their Land to the Children of Iſrael, why (ſays he) ſhould the King of the Ammonites now Claim them? Doth not the King of Ammon think that he may juſtly poſſeſs all that which his Idol Chemoſh (as He falſly conceives) hath given him? 'Tis true, the Lord gave to the Children of Moab the Emims Land for a Poſſeſſion, as He gave the Land of the Zamzumminis to the Children of Ammon, [ſee Deut. 2.9, 10, 19, 20.] but they aſcribed their Victories to their Idols, and poſſeſſed thoſe Lands as their Gift. How much more may we Iſraelites lawfully poſſeſs all that Jehovah the true God hath given unto us? Further (ſays he) I demand whither the King of Ammon hath more right to this Land than Balak had that was King of Moab; yet he would never fight againſt Iſrael to recover this Land out of their hands, which they had taken from the Amorites. Indeed he oppoſed the Iſraelites for fear they would have entred his Land, but neither He nor any of his Poſterity did ever make War with them, after they were ſetled in the Land of the Amorites, under pretence that that Land was theirs. Laſtly, Jephtah pleads Preſcription. He tells him, The Iſraelites had peaceably injoyed theſe Lands three hundred †Non loquitur praeciſe, ſed numero rotundo, per annos trecentos. i. e. circiter. Nam ut doctiſſimi ſentiunt deficiunt aliquot anni; magis tamen ad trecentos quam ducentos accedebant.years, and if they (viz. the Ammonites) had any Title to them, why did they not ſeek to recover them all this while? Therefore (ſays he) we have not done thee any wrong, but thou doſt us great wrong in making War now upon us. The great God, the Judge of all the World, be Judge between you and us in this matter. But notwithſtanding this rational Plea of Jephtah, the King of the Ammonites would not regard any thing he ſaid. Jephtah having tried fair means, and they not ſucceeding, a mighty Spirit of Wiſdom and Fortitude from the Lord came upon him, ſo that gathering his Army together, He marched with them through Gilead and Manſſeh, to fight the Ammonites. And before the battel he made a Vow, that if the Lord would pleaſe to deliver the Ammonites into his hands, when he returned from the Victory, whatſoever came firſt out of his doors to meet him, ſhould ſurely be conſecrated to the Lord; and if it were a thing which was capable(d)The Law forbad that men, or any of mankind, or any unclean beaſts ſhould be ſacrificed to God, ſee Levit. 27.11, 12, 13. v. 31. Summa loci eſt, aut Deo quovis modo ſacrabitur, aut idoneum ſi fuerit erit in holocauſtum. Canis enim ſi fuerit obvia, nec immolari poterat, imo nec redimi quidem. of being ſacrificed (according to the Law) he would offer it up for a Burnt-Offering unto Him; Howſoever, if it were a thing fit, it ſhould be hallowed and conſecrated unto Him. Jephtah having made this Vow, and now engaging with the Children of Ammon, the Lord was pleaſed to deliver them into his hands, and he ſmote them with a very great ſlaughter, and had the chaſe of them a long way, and ſo the Children of Ammon were ſubdued that day before the Children of Iſrael. Jephtah now after this great Victory returning to his own houſe at Mizpeh, his Daughter (his only Child) accompanied with other young Virgins, came out to meet him with Timbrels and Dances, and chearful Tripudiations, according to the Cuſtom of thoſe days, wherein Women and Maids, after great Victories, us'd to ſing Songs of Triumph, [ſee Exod. 15.20. Judges 5.1. 1 Sam. 18.6.] When Jephtah ſaw Her, he rent his Clothes, (expreſſing thereby the bitterneſs of his Grief) and cried out alas! My Daughter, thou haſt brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me. Thou art now unwittingly a cauſe of much ſorrow and affliction to me; For I have made a Vow to God concerning whatſoever ſhould firſt come forth to meet me, and I cannot reverſe it.(e)This he ſpeaks, not knowing (it ſeems) that the Law of God gave him liberty in this caſe to have redeemed his Daughter with thirty Shekals of ſilver, Levit. 27.4. 'Tis probable he then told her more particularly the ſubſtance of his Vow. She tells him, That if he had made ſuch a Vow, and by that Vow ſhe muſt be conſecrated to God, and live a Virgin all her days. She freely ſubmitted to it, and ſhould do it the more willingly, becauſe God had given him ſo great a Victory over their Enemies. And this ſeems to be the meaning of this paſſage. For we cannot rationally think that Jephtah (commended for his Faith, Heb. 11.32.) ſhould offer his Daughter for a Burnt-Offering, ſeeing that would have been much more odious to the Lord, than to have offered to Him Swines blood, or a Dogs-head, [Iſa. 65.4.] and was expreſly forbidden by Him as moſt abominable, Deut. 12.31. Jephtah's Daughter therefore being devoted to ſerve God in a ſtate of Virginity, ſhe deſires ſhe might have two months time to go up and down in the Mountains with ſome young Virgins her Companions, that in thoſe unfrequented and ſolitary places ſhe might expreſs her grief and lamentation, that ſhe muſt live and die a Virgin, *She ſpeaks not of bewailing her approaching death, or being ſacrific'd, but her Virginity, and conſequently Barrenneſs.(leaving no Poſterity behind her) which was in thoſe days eſteemed one of the greateſt of earthly Infelicities. When the two months of her Lamentation were ended, ſhe returned to her Father, who did not redeem her according to the Law, Levit. 27.4. but conſecrated her to God to ſerve him as a Virgin in the ſingle life. And ſo ſhe lived a Virgin as her Father had vowed, and ſhe conſented. And the Daughters of Iſrael went four days in a year to Her, partly to Condole with her, and partly to Comfort and Chear her up in this her ſolitary Condition.
Judg. Ch. 10. from 10. to the end.
Judg. Ch. 11. whole Chapter.
SECT. CXLV.
AFter this great Victory obtained by Jephtah, the men of Ephraim having paſſed over Jordan, turned Northward into the Land of Gilead, and envying Jephtah and the Gileadites the glory of this Victory, they began to quarrel with Him, that he had not call'd them to aſſiſt*Upon the ſame account they quarrelled with Gideon, Ch. 8. him, when he went to fight againſt the Children of Ammon; And they were ſo hot, that they threatned to burn his houſe over his head; and they gave the Gileadites opprobrious Language, calling them Fugitives of Ephraim, as if that half-Tribe of Manaſſeh beyond Jordan had been no better than Fugities that were run away from them, and the meer Refuge and Scum of Ephraim and Manaſſeh within Jordan. And (it ſeems) theſe proud Ephraimites told them, That they (viz. the men of Gilead) were no way to be compar'd with them, and therefore ought not to have undertaken a buſineſs of ſuch Importance as this War was, without firſt acquainting them with it, and deſiring their aſſiſtance. Jephtah tells them, He and his people were at great ſtrife with the Children of Ammon about the Land that the Iſraelites poſſeſſed on that ſide Jordan. And he had ſent to the men of Ephraim, as being their Brethren and Confederates, to deſire their Aid and Aſſiſtance, but they had not thought fit to grant it to them. Hereupon he gathered together what Forces he could, and truſting in God, He put his life in his hand, and reſolved to expoſe it to the utmoſt danger in ſo good a Cauſe, and ſo went out to fight againſt the Ammonites, and the Lord delivered them into his hands. And this being the true ſtate of this buſineſs, I pray you (ſays he) what cauſe have you to come out in this War-like manner againſt us, who are your Brethren? But though Jephtah had reaſon on his ſide, yet it did nothing move (as it ſeems) theſe haughty Ephraimites. Hereupon He immediately gathered together all the men of Gilead that could, on ſo ſhort warning, be got together, and fell ſuddenly upon them, and gave them a great overthrow, and then the Gileadites, to prevent thoſe that eſcaped in the Fight from getting into their own Country, took the Fords of Jordan before them, and when any ſtraglers came to thoſe Fords, to get over, the Gileadites to try whither they were Ephraimites or of other Tribes (as 'tis like they pretended to be) made them pronounce Shibboleth. The Ephraimites could not pronounce the aſpirate, but ſaid Sibboleth, which was a pronunciation (it ſeems) they were accuſtomed and habituated unto. Thereupon they ſlew them, and many of them were here ſlain. So that there were ſlain in the battel and chaſe, and at theſe Fords of Jordan, forty two thouſand of the Ephraimites. Jephtah having judged Iſrael ſix years, died, and was buried in one of the Cities of Gilead.
Judg. Ch. 12. from 1. to 8.