Commentaries, Commentary on Judges · Chapter 2 · Verses 11-13
11 And the children of Iſrael dyd euyll in the ſyght of the Lorde, and ſerued Baalim.
12 And they forſooke the Lorde, the God of their Fathers, whych brought them out of the land of Egipt: & followed ſtraunge Gods, euen the Gods of the nations that wer round about them, & bowed them ſelues vntounto them. Wherefore they angred the Lord.
13 They forſooke, I ſay, the Lorde, and ſerued Baal & Aſtharoth.
VnderUnder thoſe vngodlye Princes which ſucceeded the good, the people grieuouſly fell. Not bicauſe that they before had not alſo tranſgreſſed: for that (as we hauehave ſhewed) they grieuouſly ſynned in ſparing of the Chananites, but nowe they began to contaminate and defile them ſelues with the ſuperſtitions and idolatry of thoſe Nations.
R. Leui demaundeth in this place, how it could be, that none of thoſe ſhould be on lyue, which had ſene the woorkes of God which hee hadde done for Iſrael, when as from their comming out of Egipt to this preſent time there were but 67. yeares paſſed. He anſwereth, that there might eaſely be ſome found, which had ſene thoſe woorkes: yea all men confeſſe that Phinches lyued at that tyme, but there were but fewe ſuche, and there were not many wiſe men, and whych could rightly and with authority inſtruct the young of thoſe things,All ye Iſraelites became not idolatrers. which they had ſene. And it might be that the ſcripture ſpake not theſe woordes of al ye people, but onelyonly of the new Magiſtrates which ſucceded. Neither ought we hereby to vnderſtand that all the Iſraelites were become Idolatrers, but the moſte part of them, and which was more haynous, they openly profeſſed wicked worſhippinges, when as neuertheleſſe ſome, although but few, and peraduenture ſecretly, claue vntounto the true God.
Neither maye wee gather hereby,Miracles are not ſufficient to perſuade godlines. that myracles of them ſelues hauehave the power to be ſufficient, either to bring in, or to retaine godlynes. For Chore, Dathan, and Abiram, Zimri, Achan, and the ten ſpies were without dout at the doing of the myracles which were done as well in Egipt as in the wildernes: and yet neuertheleſſe they fell from God, and defiled them ſelues wyth moſte grieuous wicked actes. Moreouer they whiche when Moyſes was abſent, woorſhypped the golden Calfe, and were conſecrated to Baal-Peor the God of the Moabites, they I ſay vndoubtedly beheld the wonders, whereby God defended the people from their enemies, and helped them in diuers neceſſities, and yet for al that they became Idolatrers, & committed wicked worſhippings. Euen ſo came it to paſſe of the Scribes and Phariſeys: for the hiſtory of the goſpell declareth that they ſaw the wonderful workes of Chriſt,They which ſawe not ye miracles in the old tyme, are not therfore excuſed from infidelitie. and yet they wonderfullye contemned and maliciouſlye deſpiſed him. Wherefore we muſt thinke that this is not now reherſed of our hiſtory as a lawful excuſe of the tranſgreſſiō which afterward happened. For if by that meanes the act of the Hebrewes coulde be defended, then might the ſuperſtitious & Idolatrers of our time defend their cauſe: for they might ſay, miracles hauehave now ceaſed, and thoſe thinges which Chriſte or his Apoſtels did, are not in our time ſene.
But we in this ſort anſwer to them which doo thus excuſe their infidelitye,The miracles which wer don in the old tyme profite vsus alſo. namely that the miracles of Chriſt & the Apoſtles which were done once, ought alſo to ſuffice vsus: for for our ſakes were they put in writing, that wee readyng them, myght receaue fruite by them, beyng aſſured that they were miniſtred, not onelyonly to them which lyued at that tyme, but alſo vntounto vsus.
So might it be aunſwered to the Hebrewes, of whom we nowe entreate: what though ye hauehave not ſene the miracles which wer done in the time of your Fathers? HaueHave not Moyſes and Ioſua faithfullye written all thoſe thinges whych God hath done for your nations ſake? Yea, and your Fathers which were preſent and ſaw them, hauehave trulye declared them vntounto you, when ye were yet lytle ones. The ſcripture therfore doth not ſo ſpeake at this preſēt, to excuſe that new generation. But to declare what pretence they made, when they departed from the woorſhipping of the God of their Fathers, and what occaſion they tooke, and alſo to ſet foorth that they were of a corrupt and naughtye nature, which when their good Maiſters and Magiſtrates were dead, became vnmindfull of all true godlynes. For it is very likely, that they as they were impudent ſo alſo openly they boaſted abroade thoſe or ſuch lyke woordes. We ar in doubt neither do we eaſely beleue that the Lord did ſo many miracles as our Fathers hauehave both written and alſo ſhewed vsus. Who can tell whether they were ſo or no? we vndoubtedlye know not whether the Lorde or anye other God hath for our ſaluation ſake cauſed ſuch or ſo great thinges to be done. And ſo they leauing faith and forſaking the true God dyd euyll in the ſyght of the Lorde. How thinges in the ſcripture ar called good or euell in the ſight of the lordBy this hebrewe phraſe it is declared that God was maruellouſlye offended wyth thys their tranſgreſſion. As contrarywiſe they are called good thinges in the ſight of the Lord which doo excedingly pleaſe him. This is the common and receaued expoſition.
Howbeit if we more narrowly marke this kinde of ſpeeche, we ſhall eaſylye perceaue that it declareth ſome other thing vntounto vsus. Namely that thoſe thinges which the Iewes dyd, were allowed by mans iudgement, and peraduenture had a goodly ſhew, but yet in Gods iudgement, they were moſt deteſtable. And withoute doubte that people ſynned a great deale more haynouſlye in thys laſt tranſgreſſion, than they did in the firſt. For there they onelye omitted the ouerthrowing of ymages and aultares, but here they woorſhip ſtraunge Gods. Neither durſt they do this onelyonly, but they forſooke alſo the worſhipping of the true God. Wherein vndoubtedly they were to be counted muche more corrupt than were the Samaritanes. For they although they woorſhipped their Idoles, yet therwithall they ioyned the worſhipping of the true God as it is declared in the ſecond booke of Kinges. And in how euyll part God taketh it thus to bee reiected, he hath expreſſed by Ieremy the Prophet in the .2. chapter: Where hee commaunded the Hebrewes to go and looke vponupon other Nations,An amplifieng of the idolatrye of ye Hebrewes and ſee whether they hauehave ſo vnconſtantly chaunged the Gods of their Fathers. Whiche Nations if they were knowen conſtantlye to hauehave retayned their old woorſhippings although they were vngodly, Iſrael might thereby learne not to abiect their old rites and cuſtomes of their Fathers. This wycked acte moreouer was for thys cauſe much more deteſtable, bicauſe they had newly receaued the benefit of their deliuery out of Egipt, and had alſo made a couenaunt with god, firſt by Moſes, and afterward by Ioſua, when he was euen at the point of death. Furthermore bicauſe they began to worſhip the gods of thoſe nations, which they had nowe eyther driuen oute of the lande of Chanaan, or els made tributaries vntounto them ſelues. What a diueliſh madnes was this to count thoſe gods for true goddes, which could not vndoubtedly againſt the Lord, helpe euen thoſe whyche woorſhypped them.
An outwarde ſigne of worſhipping.And in this hebrew woord Veiiſchtechou is properly noted, that they threwe them ſelues to the ground, & proſtrated them ſelues before thoſe idoles: by which outward ſigne is declared the adoration. For as the bodye proſtrateth it ſelfe, ſo alſo the ſoule is declared to be ſubiect vntounto the Idole. And this woorde Bealim is expreſſed in the plurall nomber. But the Hebrewes ſometymes take it for the ſyngular number. And althoughe by the ſtrengthe of the woorde it ſhoulde bee tranſlated Lordes, yet wee muſte in many places tourne it Lord. For thys woorde Baal ſignifieth a Lorde, a Huſbande, a Patrone, and ſuche like.What Baal & Bealim ſignifi. Aſtharoth. Thys woord Aſtharoth is lykewiſe ſpoken in the plurall number. And the Idole is ſo called, bicauſe it ſtoode to be woorſhipped in fourme of a Sheepe, for a Sheepe in hebrew is called Aſchtor. And as it appeareth by the firſt booke of Kynges, it was an Idole of the Zidonians, Iupiter Ammō was expreſſed by the figure of a Ramme. Auguſtine.wherunto Salomon by the inſtigation of his wyues buylded ſometimes a Chappell. But what God the Ethnikes woorſhypped in the fourme of a Sheepe, I do not very well knowe. How be it this I am ſure of, that Iupiter Ammon was figured like a Ramme. And Auguſtine who being of Affrica, had the Affricke ſpeche perfectly, which (as we hauehave taught in an other place) differeth not much from the hebrew toung,Virgil. What Baal & Aſtharoth wer with the Affricians. for they of Affricke are Phenitians, for they came from Tyre and Sydon. Wherefore Virgil called Dido a Sidonian. Auguſtine (I ſay) writeth that the Affricians called Iupiter by the name of Baal, as the Lord of all. And by this name Aſtharoth are ſignified Iunos, bicauſe that Aſther in that toung ſignifieth Iuno. But why that woorde was ſpoken in the plurall number, he thincketh it was therefore done, bicauſe there were very many ymages of that Goddeſſe. And I wyll adde, bicauſe thoſe gods had obtayned ſundry properties and reaſons, as well by their offices appointed vntounto them, as by the places where they woorſhypped. For Iupiter was called Ammon, Stator, Pheretrius, and Hoſpitalis, Iuno alſo was called Lucina, Argiua, Samia. &c.
I thinke we may gather by this hiſtory,Religiō nedeth continually to be purged. that the nature of man is ſo frayle and weake, that it can not long abyde in the ſincere and pure woorſhipping of God. Wherby it commeth, that religion hath continually nede of repairing and purging. For the Iſraelites, as ſoone as their good Prince and godlye Magiſtrate was dead, fell ſtraight way from true godlynes. Moreouer, the ſame oftentimes happened vnderunder their kinges: yea and in our Churche it happeneth after the ſame ſort. For we hauehave ſeene, and we hauehave with great griefe had experience, that the Apoſtles being taken away, yea, and when they were yet lyuyng, ther ſprang foorth many and ſundry errours. Which vndoubtedlye is no maruaile, when as Chriſt hath foretolde vsus, that after the good ſeede was ſowen, ſtraight way the enuious man came, which ſowed tares therwithall.