Commentaries, Commentary on Judges · Chapter 1 · Verse 4
4 And Iudah went vp, and the Lorde deliuered the Chananites and Pherezites into their handes and they ſmote them in Bezek to the number of ten thouſand men.
The victorie whiche the two tribes obteyned ouer the Chananites is deſcribed, and accordyng to the manner of the holy Scripture, the ſame is ſet forth and comprehended in fewe wordes, afterward the maner howe the thyng was done is more amplye expounded. Now briefly is declared that they of Iudah obteyned the victorie and ſlew ten thouſand of their enemies.
Why ſuche as are ouercome are ſayde to be deliuered of God into the handes of their ouercommers.And the Lord deliuered the Chananites. The holy Scripture obſerueth his olde order, to ſay that they whiche are ouercome in battaile are deliuered into their enemies handes by God, and ſpeaketh thus to adminiſhe vsus, that victory is not the worke of our owne ſtrength, but of the goodneſſe and counſel of God. Wherfore ſouldiours and emperours whē they hauehave the vpper hand in battailes, they muſt bridle them ſelues from boaſting and gloryeng, which Ieremy alſo faithfully geueth counſell to do. For he ſayth, let not him that is mightye glory in his owne ſtrength. Nebuchadnezar kyng of the Babilonians foliſhely deſpiſing this, was ſo vexed & toſſed with madneſſe, that he was almoſt chaū ged into a dumbe beaſte. Wherefore the adminiſtration of the kyngdome was taken away from him, & he liued in great miſery of long time, who out of doubt had not fallen into ſo great miſfortune, if (as it was mete) he had confeſſed that what ſoeuer he had gotten was geuen him by the prouidence and coūſel of God. But as Daniel mencioneth, he being puffed vp with the nobleneſſe and dignitie of his actes, moſt preſumptuouſly and proudly bragged of them: for he ſayd, that in the ſtrength and might of hys owne arme, he had eſtabliſhed the kyngdome of Babilon.
In the bookes of the Ethnikes thou ſhalte very ſeldome or peraduēture neuer fynde any ſuche kynde of ſpeache. For men whiche are deſtitute of faith, do not aſcribe thoſe good thinges vntounto god, which they thinke they hauehave attayned vntounto by any labour or induſtrie. Yea and they aſcribed the chaunces of warre not to come by the fauour of God, but by ſtrength and pollicye, and ſometymes by fortune. Wherfore Cicero in his boke of diuination affirmeth that the victory of the Decianes whiche they gotte by vowing of them ſelues to the people of Rome,Cicero. Howe Cicero interpreteth the vowing of the Decianes. was an excellent and polliticque deuiſe of warre. So farre is he from attributing it to the prouidence of the gods. They knew (ſayth he) that ye ſtrength & force of the Romayne people was ſuch that if they ſawe their captaynes either to be in extreme daungers, or els to be ſlayne, or to be taken of their enemyes, that they would by no meanes ſuffre ſuch diſhonor, and thincking with thē ſelues by that meanes to ſtay the flight, they thruſt them ſelues into the thickeſt of their enemies, ſetting before them the ſhewe of their vowe and religion. So that by that meanes the harts of the ſoldiours in maner diſcouraged might be called agayne more fierſly to fight with their enemyes.
But we are taught by the holy Scriptures, that when we either ſee or heare of any that are conquerours, or els are ſlayne in battailes, we muſt by and by aſcribe vntounto God al that whiche is, or hath ben done, who (after the moſt accuſtomed phraſe of the holy Scriptures) is ſayd to deliuer them whiche are ouercome into the handes of their enemies.God without any iniury deliuereth ſome in to the hādes of their enemies. The Chananites were defiled with moſte deteſtable wicked dedes.
When it is ſayd that any are deliuered of God into the handes of their enemyes we muſt thincke that that is done without any iniurye. And as touchyng this place we know that thoſe nations of the Chananites were full of moſt heynous wickedneſſe, and for that cauſe, god puniſhed them moſt iuſtly. Whiche cauſe is confirmed by that whiche we read in the booke of Geneſis, where God bringeth a reaſon, why he held the poſteritie of Abraham ſo lōg tyme in Egipt, namely bycauſe the ſinnes of ye Chananites were not yet full.God puniſheth the vngodly with two kindes of puniſhmentes. And this is not to be forgottē, that God vſeth according to his iuſtice to deliuer ſynners to be puniſhed two manner of wayes, or to two ſortes of enemies. For ſometymes he doth this in geuing them ouer to be vexed with luſtes and filthy affections as to certein furyes of hell.Auguſtine. God puniſheth ſynnes with ſynnes. And that is it which Auguſtine oftentimes ſayth yt ſinnes are puniſhed with ſinnes. So Pharao hys vnfaythfulneſſe and cruelty was puniſhed by hardning & ſtubborneſſe of harte. And Idolaters as Paul teacheth to the Romaines: were geuen ouer of god to their owne filthy luſt, ſo that they moſt vylie contamined thē ſelues with moſt horrible ſinnes. But bycauſe this kynde of puniſhement is not ſene nor felte of mad men, as it is mete, god therfore deliuereth the vngodly, into the handes of ſtraunge enemies, to be vexed, and at the length vtterly to be deſtroyed. And that this order was obſerued with the Chananites, the Scripture manifeſtly teacheth, for they were not onelyonly addicted to Idoles, but as it is written in the xviii. & xx. chap. of Leuit: They miſerably defiled them ſelues with inceſtes & moſt filthy luſtes. They were firſt therfore deliuered of God into a reprobate ſenſe, and then were they deliuered to theyr enemies the Hebrues, of whō they were ſpoyled both of their life, and alſo of their moſt riche kingdome.
God deliuered them into their handes. That is, into their power. This is not onelyonly an Hebrew phraſe, but alſo a latine: for we ſay, This is my hande, that is, it lyeth in my power.
And they ſmote them in Bezek to the number of ten thouſand men. To ſmite is here, to kill. And ſeing that the hoſte of the Chananites was great & there were nowe ſlayne of it but onelyonly ten thouſand men, we muſt thincke that the reſt fled awaye, in whiche flight as afterwarde ſhalbe declared Adonibezek was taken. But where as theſe two wordes Chananites and Pherezites are ioyned together in this place. They are thus to be taken, that if thou vnderſtande the Chananites after the common ſignification, wherin were cōprehended thoſe 7. or 9. nations, then this name Pherezites ſhould be added bycauſe of interpretation, that by it might be expounded that whiche before was not expreſſed in the word Chananites. But if by this word Chananites we ſhall vnderſtand any one eſpecial or peculiar people of thoſe nations, then muſt we ſay that that hoſt was gathered of both the peoples, of the Chananites I ſay and the Pherezites.