Commentaries, Commentary on Judges · Chapter 2 · Verses 8-10
8 And Ioſua the Sonne of Nun, the ſeruaunt of the Lorde, dyed, when he was an hundred and ten yeares olde.
9 And they buryed him in the border of hys inheritance, in Thimnath-Heres in mount Ephraim, on the North ſyde of the hyl Gaas.
10 And euen ſo alſo all that generation were put vntounto their fathers and ther aroſe an other generation after them, which neither knew the Lord, nor yet the woorke which he had done for Iſrael.
Ioſua lyued not ſo long tyme as dyd Moyſes, Ioſua lyued not ſo long as Moyſes.whom he by the commaundement of the Lord ſucceded, for Moyſes was an .120. yeares old whē he dyed. But the ſame thinges which we reade in this place concerning the death and buriall of Ioſua, are by as many wordes expreſſed in his own booke the .24. chap. The place wher they buryed him namely in mount Ephraim was his owne poſſeſſion. For of that Tribe came Ioſua. The Elders had ſepulchers in theyr owne poſſeſſions.And the Elders prouided to hauehave Funeralles and Sepulchres in their owne poſſeſſions. For which cauſe it is written in the booke of Ioſua towarde the ende, that the bones of Ioſeph, which the Iſraelites brought with them out of Egipt, were buryed in Sichem, in that fielde I ſaye, which Iacob had aſſigned as proper vntounto Ioſeph. And it followeth: Eleazer alſo the ſonne of Aaron dyed, whom they buryed in a hyll that pertayned to Phinehes his ſonne, which hil was geuen him in mount Ephraim. But as touchyng the name of the Citye, in that it is here called Thimnath-Haeres, R. Selomoh. Why ye figure of the ſun was ſet vponupon the ſepulchre of Ioſua.Rabi Selomoh toward the end of the booke of Ioſua wryteth that Thimnath is as much as Temunath, which is an Image. And for ſo much as Chaeres ſignifieth the Sunne, it declareth that the Chyldren of Iſrael placed the Image of the Sunne vponupon the Sepulchre of Ioſua, that it myghte remayne as a monument of the myracle by hym wrought. For he commaunded the Sunne and the Moone to ſtande ſtyll, vntil he had finiſhed the battaile. That therfore ſo noble a worke might not be had in obliuion, he ſuppoſeth that his tombe was adourned with thoſe tokens. That this woord Chaeres ſignifieth the Sunne, Eſay the .19. chap. and Iob the .9. doo teſtifye. Howbeit, this is to be conſidered in the booke of Ioſua, that the name of this place doth vary. For in the booke of Ioſua it is wrytten Timuna Serech, D. Kimhi.which yet R. D. Kimhi thinketh to be al one, the letters beyng ſomwhat tranſpoſed, which is a familiar and a thing much vſed in the hebrewe toung, as they that are learned in the ſame wel know.
It is lawfull to ſet foorth the benefites of god by certain tokens and outwarde ſignes.Neither was it abſurdly or wickedly done of the Iſraelites ſo to adourne the tombe of Ioſua. For it is meete that the benefites of God be ſet forth by tokens and certain monumentes. They had not at that tyme the aboundaunce and vſe of bookes, which we hauehave. And therfore they vſed certain outwarde Symboles and tokens to helpe and to renewe their memorye. Iacob erected a ſtone in the place where he had ſene God. Moyſes dyd ſet vp twelue pyllers there, where he made a league betwene God and the people. The ſame was done alſo, when the people were paſſed ouer Iordane: for they gathered twelue ſtones out of the chanell of the riuer, which ſhould be a token to their poſteritye, that God had by a great miracle dried vp the waters of Iordan, when they paſſed ouer it. For by reaſon of our naturall ingratitude we do eaſely forgette the benifites of god, wherfore yf the figure of the ſunne were ſet vponupon the tombe of Ioſua to teſtifye the miracle, wherin god at the prayers of Ioſuah had cōmaunded it to ſtand that therby the hebrewes might by his conduicte and leading obtayne a perfect and noble victorie, this I ſay ſemeth not to be done ether vngodly or abſurdely for ye Image of the Sunne was not therfore put ther, to bee worſhipped, neither wer there any holly aſſemblyes in that place,A godly magiſtrate wonderfully profiteth the ſafety of the people. wherin yt was. Hereby it appeareth how a good and godly magiſtrate may wonderfully profite the healthe of the people. For the Iſraelites departed not frō the worſhipping of god, ſo long as Ioſua and the wyſe and godly ſenatours lyued. Aptly therfore is it wrytten in ye Prouerbes the .29. chap: When the vngodly beare rule, the people mourne. And in the ſame booke .20. chap: a wyſe king deſtroyeth the wicked, And in the 29. a iuſte king ſetteth vp the land. Reaſon alſo ſheweth that it is ſo, for the people do therfore endeuour them ſelues to pleaſe their princes, to fynd the more fauour at their handes: and therefore they frame them ſelues to their maners and faſhions. And alſo bicauſe the people is by lawes and decrees compelled to obey the will and ſentence of the princes.
They which dye ar ſayde to be adioyned vntounto the fathers.They wer put vntounto their fathers. It is a kind of ſpeche much vſed in the ſcriptures, that they which do dye, ar ſayed to be adioyned to their fathers. For as touching the bodye they ar buried with them, and as concerning ye ſoule they ar adioyned vntounto them. For if they hauehave lyued godly, they lyue with their holy elders, but yf vngodly, they ar tormēted with their wicked progenitours, if thei hauehave had any ſuche.
Howe ſome are ſayde not to knowe the lordAnd there aroſe an other generation after them, which knew not the lorde. Not vndoubtedlye that any of them wer ſo rude, that altogether they knew not god. For the conſtante adminiſtration of the world & the vndiſturbed order of thynges do teſtifie & crye that ther is a god. But this knowledge, wherof the hiſtory now ſpeaketh, is vnderſtand to be that which hath annexed with it allowing,Auguſtine. fayth and obedience. And they are thus ſayd to be ignorant of god, bycauſe they obeyed him not, they did not put their hope and confidence in hym, nether wer they zelouſe to worſhippe hym purelye and ſincerely. Auguſtine in his queſtions vponupon this booke the 15. queſtion affirmeth that it is playnely expreſſed in what ſort the Iſraelites knew not god, namely in thoſe excellent and wonderful workes, by which their elders came vntounto the knowledge of the lord. We rede alſo of Pharao, yt he (as it is writtē in Exodus) anſwered vntounto Moyſes, that he knewe not the God of the Hebrues and the Lord, eyther bicauſe he was not minded to hearken vntounto his commaundements, or els, though after a ſorte he knewe him, yet he knewe not by certaine proofe that he was the God of the Hebrewes.