Commentaries, Commentary on Judges · Chapter 6 · Verses 1-5
ANd the children of Iſraell did euill in the ſyghte of the Lorde: and the Lorde deliuered them into the hands of Middian ſeuen yeres.
2 Wherfore the hand of Middian preuailed againſt Iſrael, frō the face of Middiā the children of Iſrael made them dennes in the mountaines, and caues, and ſtronge holdes.
3 For when Iſraell had ſowen, Middian came vp, and Amaleke, and the ſonnes of Kedem came vp agaynſt them.
4 And camped againſt them, and deſtroyed the fruite of the earth, euen till thou come to Haza: neyther lefte they anye foode in Iſraell, neither cattell, nor oxen, nor aſſes.
5 For they went vp and theyr cattell and came with theyr tents as greſhoppers in multitude: ſo that they and theyr camels wer without number, they came I ſay into the land to deſtroy it.
Deborah and Barac were deade: by the authority of whiche princes the people of the Hebrewes were kepte in their dutye and religion. But after theyr death, they fell agayne vntounto ſinnes, and eſpecially vntounto idolatry. But yet they are not counted to hauehave turned ſo heynouſly from God, as they did before: for it is not written: And they added to do euil. Farther their puniſhment was not ſo long, for they ſerued the Madianites onelyonly ſeuen yeares. Moreouer it is not ſayde, that God ſold them, as he did before, but that he deliuered them. I confeſſe that theſe coniectures are but ſmall: but yet not ſo ſmall, that they ſhoulde ſeeme vtterly to be deſpiſed. Two thinges are principally entreated of in this hyſtorye,The principall pointes of thys hiſtory. The ordre of thinges to be ſpoken of. the affliction of the Hebrewes, and theyr deliuery by Gidion. But bicauſe eche of theſe partes hauehave their cauſes, therfore we muſt alſo entreate of them. For euen as affliction ſpringeth of ſinne, and deliuery beginneth of repentance: ſo was it mete, that firſt it ſhould be declared that the Iſraelites had ſinned, before mention be made that they were deliuered vntounto the Madianites, and theyr repentaunce muſt firſt be ſhewed, before their ſetting at libertye be ſpokē of, wherfore theſe things ſhal in iuſt order be ſpoken of, and ſhalbe noted in theyr places.
Firſt of all it is written, that Iſraell ſinned, to the end we might vnderſtande that they were iuſtly puniſhed. The kind of theyr ſynne (as we ſhall afterwarde ſee) was idolatry. And the puniſhment which followed was their deliuery vntounto the Madianites to be vexed of them. And what theſe Madianites were, I thinke it good in few wordes to declare.What the Madianites were. Ierome Madian (if we may credite Ierome) was a citye ſo called of a certaine ſonne of Araham whome he begat of his laſt wife Ketura. It lieth beyond Arabia toward the South, in the deſert of the Seracens, not far from the Sea called Erithreum. And theſe people were called Madianites, and peraduenture by an other name more in vſe with the Ethnikes, namely Maudrenites. From thence Moſes hadde his wife and of them alſo came the Kenites, whiche went together with Moſes into the land of Chanaan. And laſtly from thēce thoſe black men ar thought to hauehave theyr ofſpring, which in our times wander eueryevery wher, and of ſome are called Egiptians: they dwell in tentes: and beinge very theuiſhe men, they liue all alwayes of other mens goods.
But what theſe Madianites were, it ſkilleth not much to know, let this contēt vsus, in that by the hiſtory it is declared, that the people of God wer by them verye grieuouſly afflicted. And the Iſraelites to auoyd the miſeries made them Caues for ſo doth this Hebrewe woorde Manaharoth ſignifie.What differēce is betwene a caue and a den. And dennes. It is in Hebrew written Mearoth. But what difference there is betwen theſe two words, as muche as I can gather by the Hebrewes, I wyll declare. Thoſe fyrſte places were in bankes of hilles, and were ſo called bicauſe from the vpper partes, they had certayne chinckes and holes, which were like windowes, ſo that throughe them they had light ſufficient within. And the ſame places were very handſome for men to dwel in them. R. Leui ſayth, that through thoſe holes or clifts, which were like windowes, ſpies, when they ſaw the Madianites comminge, did vſe either by kindling of fiers, or by ſome other token, to geue knowledge vntounto the Hebrewes, wherby they might gather their ſtuffe, fruites & cattels into the dennes & leade them away from the enemies which wer comming by. For dennes wer not in mountaynes, but places vnderunder the earth in the fields being dark & wtout light, wherein men did not dwel, but they mighte after a ſorte hide their things and goods. But caues in lattin are called Specus, a ſpeciendo, which is to behold and to looke vponupon, bycauſe out of them as out of highe places they whyche were there, vſed to looke through. They made alſo fenced places as bulwarckes and caſtels, which might be openly ſene, but that they could not be conquered. And not only the Madianites inuaded the Iewes,Ioſephus but with them were the Amalekites and alſo the children of the eaſt, whome Ioſephus calleth Arabians. They ſuffred the Iſraelits to be in peace and quiet, ſo long as they tilled and ſowed the earth, but when the fruites were ripe, they inuaded them, and deſtroyed and waſted their fyeldes. And the Iſraelites do aptly ſetforth the nature of ſinners, whiche when they put little confidence in god, & hauehave almoſt forgottē him, then they fly vntounto mans inuentions, helpes and municions: which yet iuſtlye and worthelye ſtande them in no ſteade: for ſtrayght way it is ſayd.