Annotations Upon the Historical Books Part 2, Judges · Chapter 11
CHAP. XI.
Verſ. 1. NOw Jephthah the Gileadite, was a mighty man, &c.] Though he were the ſonne of one Gilead, as is evident in the laſt words of this verſe, And Gilead begat Jephthah (not the ſame who was the ſonne of Machir the ſonne of Manaſſeh, Joſh. 17.1, 2. of whom the greateſt part, if not all of that tribe were deſcended, but another of his poſterity, and called by his name) yet doubtleſſe he is here called a Gileadite, either from the land or city of Gilead, the place of his birth and education; for the moſt of Gilead was poſſeſt by Manaſſehs tribe.
Verſ. 2. And they thruſt out Jephthah, and ſaid unto him, Thou ſhalt not inherit in our fathers houſe, &c.] This his brethren did by the help and decree of the Magiſtrates of Gilead, as appears by Jephthahs anſwer to the Elders, verſ. 17. And Jephthah ſaid unto the Elders of Gilead, did ye not hate me, and expell me out of my fathers houſe? Whether they onelyonly caſt him one from having any ſhare in the inheritance of their father, or whether alſo they denyed him any portion for his livelyhood amongſt them, we cannot from the words certainly conclude; yet becauſe being a baſtard he could not challenge any part of his fathers inheritance, and his complaint verſ. 7. ſeems to imply, that he apprehended himſelf greatly wronged, therefore the laſt is thought moſt probable.
Verſ. 3. And Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob.] Where this land of Tob was, we reade not, but their ſudden fetching Jephthah to be their Captain, ſhows plainly that it was a place not farre off from them.
And there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.] That is, they went with him out of the land of Gilead, to wit, to ſerve under him in other countries where he ſhould be imployed.
Verſ. 5. The Elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah, out of the land of Tob.] After that conſultation in the Aſſembly at Mizpeh, whereof chap. 10. verſ. 18. when and where the government was proffered to any man that would begin the fight againſt the Ammonites, none being found either ſo fit or willing to undergo the charge, at laſt it ſeems the whole Aſſembly, moved with the great renown that Jephthah had got with his valour in the land of Tob, reſolved to ſend for him, and to make him their captain and head: and ſo he became the next Judge in Iſrael. At firſt it ſeems he was onelyonly choſen to be the head of the inhabitants of Gilead, but afterwards it is evident he was Judge of all Iſrael, chap. 12.7. And Jephthah judged Iſrael ſix years. The Law indeed ſaith that no baſtard ſhould be admitted to any place of Magiſtracy amongſt the Iſraelites, as you may ſee in the note upon Deut. 23.2. A baſtard ſhall not enter into the congregation of the Lord: but neceſſitie now forced them to do, what they do, and that not without the ſpeciall providence of God, who might diſpence with his own Law.
Verſ. 8. And the Elders of Gilead ſaid unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now, &c.] That is, we acknowledge this thou ſayeſt to be true, but therefore now we come to ſeek thy favour, and to make amends for the unkindneſſe then proffered thee, we deſire thine aid upon no other condition, but that thou ſhalt be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
Verſ. 9. 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?] That is, will you be as good as your word to make me governour of the land of Gilead? becauſe they had formerly dealt injuriouſly with him, he was the more carefull now to look to the agreement he made with them: nor was Jephthah to be blamed for an ambitious and greedy deſire to rule over them, in that he laboured thus to make ſure that he might be their head; as will be evident, if we conſider, firſt, that he might the rather deſire this, leſt if he ſhould have lived afterwards amongſt them in a private condition, his brethren not yet forgetting the old quarrells that had been between them, might offer him ſome injury: and ſecondly, that he might be carefull to ſecure the government which they tendered him, out of a deſire to do good to the people; and doubtleſſe, as he might lawfully imbrace it, when it was proffered him, as beleiving that he was called thereby of God to it, ſo he might alſo as lawfully provide, that when he had hazarded his life for them, they ſhould alſo make good their promiſe to him, and the publick good might be his chief aim in all this he did.
Verſ. 11. And Jephthah uttered all his words before the Lord in Mizpeh.] That is, Jephthah coming to the aſſembly of the people and princes at Mizpeh, there, as in Gods preſence he repeated all that he had before ſpoken unto the meſſengers that were ſent unto him, both he and they ſolemnly binding themſelves to perform that which they then agreed upon, and that happely by oath, mutually taken as in the preſence of God.
Verſ. 13. Becauſe Iſrael took away my land when they came out of Egypt, &c.] A great part of that land which the Iſraelites took from Sihon king of the Amorites; yea, and from Og king of Baſhan, had been before by thoſe kings taken from the Ammonites, eſpecially from the Moabites, as we may ſee in the note upon Num. 21.26. For Heſhbon was the city of Sihon king of the Ammorites, who had fought againſt the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even to Arnon. Joſh. 13.25. And their coaſt was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon. Deut. 3.11. For onelyonly Og king of Baſhan remained of the remnant of gyants; behold his bedſtead was a bedſtead of iron: is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon: all which the king of the Ammonites claims now as belonging to him, being alſo it ſeems king of the Moabites: whence Chemoſh the idol of Moab is called his god.
Verſ. 15. Iſrael took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon.] Hereby alſo it ſeems probable that the king of the children of Ammon, did at this time alſo command over Moab in chief, and thereupon challenged all that land which Sihon had firſt taken from the Moabites, and then the Iſraelites from him; for why is it elſe that Jephthah here anſwers, that the Iſraelites meddled not either with the land of Moab, or with the land of the children of Ammon.
Verſ. 16. But when the Iſraelites came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderneſſe unto the red ſea, and came to Kadeſh.] Not Kadeſh-Barnea, but that Kadeſh bordering upon the land of Edom, whence they ſent meſſengers to the king of Edom to deſire a paſſage through his land, Num. 20.14. And Moſes ſent meſſengers from Kadeſh unto the King of Edom.
Verſ. 17, And Iſrael abode in Kadeſh, &c.] That is, there they ſtayed till they ſent meſſengers to the king of Edom, and received an anſwer back from him, reſolving not to enter his land; yea, and when he denyed them a paſſage, they put themſelves to the trouble of fetching a great compaſſe about his land, rather then they would be any way injurious to him, as is expreſſed in the following words, verſ. 18. Then went they along through the wilderneſſe, and compaſſed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the eaſt ſide of the land of Moab, and pitched in the north ſide of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: all which Jephthah now relates, to let them ſee how fairly the Iſraelites dealt with all the nations they paſſed by, and how farre they were from offering violence to any of the nations that bordered upon the land of Canaan,
Verſ. 18. And pitched on the north ſide of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab, &c.] Hereby they prove that the Iſraelites were ſo farre from taking any of the land of the Moabites from them, they that came not within their border.
Verſ. 20. But Sihon gathered all his people together and pitched in Jahaz, and fought againſt Iſrael.] This diſcovers the juſt cauſe they had to fight againſt the Amorites; and the juſtneſſe of their cauſe herein tends ſtrongly to juſtifie their intereſt in that land, which through Gods aſſiſtance, in this warre they recovered from them.
Verſ. 24. Wilt not thou poſſeſſe that which Chemoſh thy god giveth thee to poſſeſſe? &c.] Molech or Melchom was the idol-god of the Ammonites, 1. Kings 11.7. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemoſh, the abomination of Moab in the hill that is before Jeruſalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon: and verſ. 33. Becauſe they have forſaken me, and worſhipped Aſhtaroth the goddeſſe of the Sidonians, Chemoſh the god of the Moabites and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon: ſee alſo 2. Kings 23.13. but Chemoſh was the god of the Moabites, Num: 21.29. Wo to thee Moab, thou art undone O people of Chemoſh. Jer. 48.13. Moab ſhall be aſhamed of Chemoſh. Now in that Jephthah ſpeaking to the king of the Ammonites, calls Chemoſh his god, it ſeems hereby alſo not improbable that this king of the Ammonites was at preſent king of the Moabites; and becauſe the Moabites (yea the children of Ammon too) had formerly taken their land from other people that had anciently inhabited it, Deut. 2.9, 10. And the Lord ſaid unto me, Diſtreſſe not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battell; for I will not give thee of their land for a poſſeſſion, becauſe I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a poſſeſſion. The Emims dwelt therein in times paſt, a people great, and many, and tall as the Anakims: and verſ. 19, 20. And when thou comeſt nigh over againſt the children of Ammon, diſtreſſe them not —becauſe I have given it unto the children of Lot for a poſſeſſion (that alſo was counted a land of gyants) gyants dwelt therein in old time, and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims; and were ready enough to aſcribe this to the help they had received from their god Chemoſh; hence Jephthah wiſheth the king to conſider whether it were not as juſt that the Iſraelites ſhould keep that land which the Lord their God had given them to poſſeſſe, as that the Moabites ſhould hold that which they pretended their god Chemoſh had conferred upon them.
Verſ. 25. And now art thou any thing better then Balak the ſonne of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever ſtrive against Iſrael, &c.] That is, art thou wiſer or more puiſſant, or haſt thou any better title then Balak had that was king of Moab; now if he would never ſtrive againſt Iſrael, nor fight againſt them, to wit, to recover that land out of their hands, which they had taken from the Amorites, why then ſhouldeſt thou ſo many years after, pretend a title and think by force to carry it away? indeed Balak oppoſed the Iſraelites, for fear they would have entered his land, but neither he nor any of his poſterity did ever make warre with them after they were ſettled in the land of the Amorites, under pretence the land was theirs; of which onelyonly Jephthah ſpeaks, as is evident by the words of the following verſe.
Verſ. 26. While Iſrael dwelt in Heſhbon and her towns, and Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coaſts of Arnon, three hundred years?] Here he pleads preſcription: having peaceably enjoyed the land ſo many years, it was a ſilly thing in the king of the Ammonites, now to pretend a title to it. For the computation of theſe three hundred years, it is hard to ſay how they muſt be reckoned. They that reckon the years of the Ifraelites oppreſſion, apart from the years of the Judges, muſt needs find from the Iſraelites conqueſt of this land, to this time, at leaſt three hundred thirty ſix years; which diſcovers this computation to be erroneous; no doubt Jephthah would have made the moſt he could of the years they had enjoyed the land. But now reckoning onelyonly the years of the Judges, allowing to Joſhua ſeventeen years (ſee the note upon Joſh. 24.29.) to Othniel fourty, to Ehud eighty, to Barak fourty, to Gideon fourty, to Abimelech three, to Tola three and twenty, and to Jair two and twenty, we find leſſe then three hundred years, to wit, but two hundred ſixty five. But to this we anſwer, either that Jephthah to help his cauſe made the moſt of the time, this being uſuall in the Scripture, yea and in mens ordinary ſpeech, to reckon a full round number, when the years of which they ſpeak are not exactly ſo many, but near about ſo many; or elſe, that theſe two hundred ſixty five years, wherein the Iſraelites had poſſeſſed it, muſt needs be made up three hundred by the addition of thoſe years wherein Sihon and Og held it, after they took it from the Moabites and Ammonites, whoſe right the Iſraelites had by the law of conqueſt.
Verſ. 27. The Lord the Judge, be Judge this day between the children of Iſrael, and the children of Ammon.] That is, by giving victory at this time to the innocent party, may the Lord the great Judge of all the world make it manifeſt, whether the Iſraelites have unjuſtly detained from the Ammonites, that which belonged to them, or whether the children of Ammon do not moſt unjuſtly upon a groundleſſe pretence, make warre now againſt the children of Iſrael.
Verſ. 29. Then the ſpirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, &c.] See the note chap. 3.10.
Verſ. 31. Whatſoever cometh forth of the doores of my houſe to meet me, &c. ſhall ſurely be the Lords, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.] It is a great queſtion, whether Jephthah did by this vow intend to bind himſelf to offer as a burnt offering, whatſoever ſhould firſt come out of his houſe to meet him; and indeed according to the Hebrew, the words may be reade disjunctively, as it is in the margin; It ſhall ſurely be the Lords, or I will offer it up for a burnt offering; and then his meaning muſt needs be, that whatſoever ſhould firſt meet him out of his houſe, ſhould ſome way be conſecrated to the Lord, and if it were any thing fit for Gods altar, it ſhould be offered for a burnt offering. But I conceive that Jephthah did abſolutely intend that which he vowed for a burnt offering, and that for theſe two reaſons; firſt, becauſe the firſt clauſe being generall, It ſhall ſurely be the Lords, and comprehending that which follows of offering a burnt offering, it cannot with any propriety of ſpeech be read disjunctively, It ſhall ſurely be the Lords, or I will offer it up for a burnt offrring, no more then he could have ſaid, I will offer a clean beaſt or a ſheep: and ſecondly, becauſe the bitter lamentation which he made, when he ſaw his daughter come forth to meet him, is a ſtrong argument to prove that he apprehended himſelf bound by his vow to offer her for a burnt offering; yea, indeed I make little queſtion but he meant what he ſaid merely concerning a humane ſacrifice, to wit, that whatſoever it were either man or woman that came firſt out of his houſe to meet him, it ſhould be ſacrificed to the Lord, as indeed the manner of ſpeech here uſed doth plainly imply; for what elſe but a man or woman could come out of his houſe of purpoſe to meet him, by way of congratulating the great victory wherewith God had honoured him? It is indeed ſtrange, that an Iſraelite, yea a faithfull good man (for he is reckoned by S. Paul, Heb. 11.32. amongſt Gods worthies that through faith did accompliſh great things) ſhould be ſo ignorant of Gods Law, as to think to pleaſe God with that which was ſo expreſſely there forbidden, Deut. 12.30, 31. Take heed to thy ſelf that thou be not ſnared by following them, &c. for every abomination to the Lord which he hateth, have they done unto their gods: for even their ſonnes, and their daughters, have they burnt in the fire to their gods. Yea beſides, had he been never ſo great a ſtranger to the Law of God, as being a man trained up in the warre, and that too a great part of his life amongſt heathens out of the land of Iſrael, yet the ſacrificing of men and women, is a ſinne ſo much againſt the light of nature, that one would think it ſhould not come into the thought of a man that had any ſpark of grace in him: Well, but yet the letter of the text being ſo expreſſe for this, I ſee not how it can be determined otherwiſe, but that in this vow of his he did intend a humane ſacrifice; and that we may not ſtumble too much at the ſtrangeneſſe of it, we muſt conſider, firſt, that the people of Iſrael were for the generallity never ſo farre fallen away from the knowledge and worſhip of the true God, or ſo farre corrupted with the abominations of the heathens, as they were now; we ſee that it is ſaid before, in the ſixth verſe of this chapter, that they forſook the Lord, and ſerved not him, but were wholly gone aſide after the idolatry of the heathen: ſecondly, that Jephthah had hitherto perhaps, lived in as much darkneſſe as the reſt, and that the rather, becauſe he had ſpent ſo much of his time out of the land of Iſrael, and therefore though at this time God had called him, and ſo the ſpirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, that for the preſent he ſhould make ſuch an uncouth and unwarrantable vow in ſuch dark times, is not at all incredible: thirdly, that there being a ſort of vowes mentioned in the Law of God, wherein the perſons devoted to be put to death, Levit. 27.29. None devoted which ſhall be devoted of men ſhall be redeemed; but ſhall ſurely be put to death, this Jephthah might take to be a j…ſt warrant for his vow, though indeed it were not: and fourthly, that Jephthah made this vow raſhly, not conſidering the miſchief that might follow upon it, being at that time tranſported with the fervency of his zeal for the reſcuing Gods people from the oppreſſion of the Ammonites; for to this end, that he might have the Ammonites delivered into his hand, he ſought as it were to demerit Gods favour by promiſing this extraordinary gift, and by binding himſelf ſolemnly to do that for God, which the heart of man would ſtartle at.
Verſ. 33. And he ſmote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, &c.] That is, the inhabitants of twenty cities, and thoſe in the land of the Ammonites, for they were beyond Aroer, which was the bounds betwixt Iſrael and Ammon: of Minnith there is mention made, Ezek. 27.17. Judah and the land of Iſrael, they were thy merchants, they traded in thy market, wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm.
Verſ. 35. Alas, my daughter, thou haſt brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me, &c.] That is, God having raiſed me to a high pitch of honour by this glorious victory which I have now attained over the Ammonites, thou who mighteſt have reaped a great ſhare in mine honour, and thereby have added unto my joy, haſt now humbled me, and deprived me of all the glory and comfort of my victory, and haſt brought more trouble upon me, then all mine enemies could have done.
Verſ. 36. And ſhe ſaid unto him, my father, if thou hast opened thy mouth, &c.] By thoſe words of her father mentioned in the former verſe, Alas, my daughter, &c. for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back, ſhe might conceive that he had made ſome vow concerning her but could not know what that vow was; and therefore it is evident, that beſides what is expreſſed in the foregoing verſe, her father had alſo acquainted her what the vow was that he had made, and thereupon being erroneouſly perſwaded, that he was bound to make good his vow, ſhe freely offers her ſelf to undergo what he had vowed, as being ready to die, rather then he ſhould ſinne againſt God by breaking his vow, and deſirous, by diſcovering her willingneſſe to conſent thereto, to appeaſe and mitigate his ſorrow as much as in her lay.
Verſ. 37. Let me alone two moneths, that I may go up and down upon the mountains & bewail my virginity, &c.] She choſe the mountains to do this in, becauſe thoſe unfrequented and ſolitary places were fitteſt for the bitter lamentations and mournfull expreſſions of their grief, wherewith ſhe reſolved with her companions in a ſolemn manner to bewail this heavy affliction that was fallen upon her, and happely, withall, ſhe deſired by retiring to thoſe unfrequented places, to fit and prepare her ſelf for that death, which within a ſhort time ſhe was to undergo, for though ſhe ſpake onelyonly of her bewailing her virginity, yet thereby is meant that ſhe would bewail her dying a virgin, implying how much this did aggravate her ſorrow, that ſhe ſhould die without leaving any poſterity behind her; and indeed to die childleſſe, was in thoſe times eſteemed one of the greateſt of earthly miſeries. There are many learned Expoſitours that conceive that Jephthahs vow was, that whatſoever ſhould firſt meet him, ſhould be the Lords, and that if it were a creature which by the Law might be offered in a ſacrifice, then he would offer it for a burnt offering; & ſo many of them read his vow disjunctively, as is noted before, verſ. 3. It ſhall ſurely be the Lords, or I will offer it up for a burnt offering: and ſo they conceive that his daughter was not ſacrificed, but onelyonly ſhut up there in perpetuall virginity, to ſpend all her time in the ſervice of God, and therefore ſhe deſires not reſpite to bewail her death, but to bewail her virginity. But many things make this opinion leſſe probable: for firſt, we reade not the leaſt touch in the Scripture, of any ſuch ſeparating men or women to the ſervice of God, in a monaſticall life, much leſſe, that parents ſhould have this power over their children, to vow them to virginity without their conſent. Samuel, that was conſecrated to God from his infancy was yet married, and had many children: ſecondly, if his vow muſt be underſtood of any thing that ſhould firſt meet him (whereof ſee verſ. 31.) we may demand what if a dog or a ſwine had met him, yea, what if his wife or any of his married ſervants had met him, that could not have been devoted to perpetuall virginity; for to avoid this it cannot be reaſonably anſwered, that ſuch might have been redeemed, for if they ſpeak of redemtion in theſe caſes, then we reply, why might not his daughter have been redeemed too, that being alſo allowed by the Law, Levit. 27.5. And if it be from five years old, even to twenty years old, then thy estimation ſhall be of the male twenty ſhekels, and for the female ten ſhekels: and thirdly, the bitter lamentation of Jephthah, verſ. 35. Alas, my daughter thou haſt brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me, ſhews, that there was ſomething more in his vow, then the conſecrating of his daughter to perpetuall virginity.
Verſ. 39. She returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed.] That is, he ſacrificed her, it is indeed ſtrange, that having two moneths liberty to deliberate about it, he was not all that time, either by the prieſts, or ſome other reſolved, both how unlawfull his vow was, and how lawfully he might now break it. But much muſt be aſcribed to the ignorance, corruption, and confuſion of theſe times.
And ſhe knew no man.] Theſe words are added to imply, that this did much aggravate Jephthahs loſſe, that his daughter died childleſſe.
And it was a cuſtome in Iſrael, &c.] To wit, that foure dayes every year the daughters of Iſrael went into the mountains to bewail Jephthahs daughter, as it follows, verſ. 40. at firſt happely they met onelyonly that were her companions, but at laſt it grew to be an anniverſary cuſtome, and it may be was the rather taken up and continued, that it might be a memoriall to warn men to take heed of all ſuch raſh and unlawfull vowes.