Commentary on the Pentateuch, Commentary 4 · Chapter 25 – Chapter 26
CHAP. XXV.
Verſ. 1. TO commit whoredom] By the wicked counſel of Balaam, who knew well, that no one means hath more enriched hell, then beautiful faces; and therefore taught Balac to lay this ſtumbling block before the children of Iſrael; and is therein held, by ſome, to have ſinned againſt the Holy Ghoſt. Howſoever, he goes out in a ſtench, as it is uſually ſaid of his Maſter, the Devil.
Verſ. 2. Ʋnto the ſacrifices of their gods] Unto their idolfeaſts; for S…ne Cerere & Libero friget Venus; Gluttony is the gallery that leachery walketh thorough. [And bowed down to their gods] Nemo repentè ſit turpiſſimus, by degrees, they were drawn to open idolatry. If a mans foot ſlip into hell-mouth, it is a miracle if he ſtop ere he come to the bottom. Principiis obſta dally not with the Devil; ſin is very inſinuative; and the old Serpent, if he once get in his head, will quickly winde in his whole body.
Verſ. 3. joyned himſelf to Baal-Peor] Separated himſelf to that ſhame, Hoſ. 9.10. that abominable and ſhameleſs ſervice of Priapus, (as Hierome and Iſidore underſtand it) as Maachah the mother of Aſa, ſeems to have done, 1 King. 15. and other filthy perſons, whoſe faſhion was, aſſoon as their ſacrifice was ended, to ſtep aſide into the grove of their god, and there, like bruit beaſts, promiſcuouſly to ſatisfie their luſts, &c. Vah ſcelus infandum!
Verſ. 4. Take all the heads] The chieftains; their greatneſs might not bear them out. Potentes potenter torquebuntur. Hell is paved, ſaid One of old, with the bald-pates of ſhavelings, and with the creſts of great Commanders; who had ever oppoſed with creſt and breaſt whatſoever ſtood in the way of their ſins and luſts.
Verſ. 5. Ʋnto the Judges of Iſrael] Thoſe of them that had not defiled themſelves; elſe with what face could they puniſh others? or look upon thoſe, that before their faces had been hanged up againſt the Sun, whoſe deſtruction was for ever to be remembred, Mic. 6.5.
Verſ. 6. In the ſight of Moſes] This mans face was hatcht over with deteſtable impudence; he thought, it may be, that being ſo great a man, Plin. lib. 7.none durſt meddle with him. Pliny reports of Proculus Caeſar, that by him, viginti virgines intra dies quindecim foetum conceperunt. Lewis the 11. of France, inviting our Edward 4. to the French Court, Rectè erit cognate, ſaith He, Comineus, l. 6.jucundi vivemus & ſuaviter, teque oblectabis cum lectiſſimis foeminis, &c. (He ſhould have added, But know, that for all theſe things, thou muſt come to Judgment: that would have, haply, Eccleſ. 11.allayed his luſt, cooled his courage. And not have come in with his) Adhibebo tibi Cardinalem Borbonium; is, quicquid peccaris, pro ea quam habet poteſtate, facilè expiabit, Thou ſhalt take thy full pleaſure, and then my Cardinal ſhall give thee full pardon.
Verſ. 7. He roſe up] An heroical act, by an extraordinary motion; as was alſo that of Ehud: and therefore is not to be made a rule of practice; as Burchet conceited; when by this example, he held himſelf warranted, to kill a great perſonage in this Kingdom, whom he took to be a vitious man, and Gods enemy.
Verſ. 8. And thruſt both of them thorow] So they dyed in the flagrancy of their luſt: as did likewiſe One of the Popes, taken in the act, and ſlain together with his harlot, by the husband of the adultereſs. Mention is likewiſe made, by William Malmsbury, of one Walter Biſhop of Hereford, Anno 1060. his offering to force his Sempſter. She reſiſted what ſhe might, Godw. Catal.but finding him too ſtrong for her, thruſt her ſheers into his belly, and gave him his deaths-wound.
Verſ. 9. Twenty and four thouſand] Twenty and three thouſand, ſaith S. Paul, 1 Cor. 10.8. inſiſting only in the ſpecial puniſhment of the people, who were provoked to ſin by that other thouſand, their Princes, as ver. 4. And all to ſhew, Jun. Parallell.quàm frigida & jejuna ſit eorum defenſio, &c. ſaith Junius, how poorly they plead for themſelves, that think to excuſe their ſins, by alledging the examples of their ſuperiours.
Verſ. 13. Becauſe he was zealous for his God] Enraged (as a jealous man) with a holy hatred of ſin, and inflamed with love to God, quem aliter amare non didicerat, as Chryſoſtome ſpeaks of Baſil. Non amat, qui non Zelat, ſaith Auguſtine, Contra Adamant. c. 13.He is no friend to God, that is not zealous for him. To one that deſired to know what kind of man Baſil was, there was preſented in a dream, (ſaith the hiſtory) a pillar of fire, with this Motto, Talis eſt Baſilius, Baſil is ſuch a one; all on a light fire for God.
Verſ. 14. A Prince of a chief houſe] Whom yet Phineas ſpared not; as neither did John Baptiſt ſpare Herod; nor Nathan, David; nor Biſhop Lambert, King Pippin, Epitome hiſt. Gall. pag. 30.whom he freely reproved to his face for his adultery, Anno 798. though he were afterwards therefore ſlain by the harlots brother. Odo Severus the 22. Archbiſhop of Canterbury, Anno 934. dealt like plainly with King Edwin, excommunicated his Concubines, and cauſed one of them, on whom the King doted unreaſonable, Godw. Catal. …to be fetcht out of the court by violence, burnt her in the forehead with a hot iron, and baniſhed her into Ireland.
Verſ. 17. Vex the Midianites] As more malicious and miſchievous then the Moabites; as appears, 1. By their detaining of 'Balaam, when the Moabites diſmiſſed him in great diſpleaſure. 2. By the wickedneſs of their women, who by Cozbi, may ſeem to have been meretrices meretriciſſimae, Lib. 2. tum.ſuch as afterwards was Julia. Meſſalina, and that Romiſh Lucretia, Concubine to Pope Alexander 6. of whom Pontanus,
Hoc tumulo dormit Lucretia nomine, ſedre
Thais Alexandri filia, ſponſa, nurus,
Verſ. 18. For they vex you with their wiles] Not with their wars; they out-wit you, over-reach you by counterfeit courteſie, cut-throat kindneſs; they have deceived you into thoſe ſiſterſins, fornication and idolatry, which God hath ſo ſeverely puniſhed.
CHAP. XXVI.
Verſ. 2. FRom twenty] See the note on Chap. 1.3.
Verſ. 9. Which were famous] But for no goodneſs. Tubulus (who was the Romane Praetor, a little afore Tullies time) was homo tam projectè improbus, Lipſ. Antiq. lection.ut ejus nomen non hominis ſed vitii eſſe videretur, ſo wicked a wretch, that he ſeemed to be wickedneſs it ſelf. Portius Latro calleth Catiline, ſacrarium libidinum, portentum ſcelerum, gurgitem & ſentinam flagitiorum, &c. a ſink of ſinfulneſs. And Joſephus ſaith of Antipater, that his life was no better then a myſtery of iniquity. Theſe men were famous, or rather infamous, for their ſlagitious practices, notoriouſly naught, ſignally ſinful.
Verſ. 10. And they became a ſign] An example of that Rule, that Great ſins bring great plagues; as Herodotus hath it, ſpeaking of the deſtruction of Troy, Aliorum perditio, tua ſit cautio, Enjoy other mens madneſs. Diſcite juſtitiam moniti, &c. Let all that behold me, beware; this was written upon the ſtatue of Sennacherib, as ſaith Herodotus.
Verſ. 11. The children of Korah dyed not] As being either innocent or penitent; for, Aut poenitendum, aut pereundum, Luk. 13.3.
Verſ. 44. The family of the Jeſuites] Serrarius will needs derive the name (Jeſuites) from the 24. verſe of this chapter, (it is wonder how he miſſed of this plainer text) Jeſuites quaſi Jaſhubites: Like as Eraſmus found Friers in St. Paul's time, inter falſos fratres, amongſt the falſe brethren. In Salamanca, a Frier would prove, that the name of the Virgin Mary was ſpoken of, Stella, de modo concionandi, cap. 6.Gen. 1. God called the gathering together of the waters, Maria. Doctor Poynes writes, that it was foretold in the Old Teſtament, that the Proteſtants were a malignant Church, alledging, 2 Chr. 24.19. Mittebatque prophet as ut reverterentur ad Dominum, quos proteſtantes illi audire nolebant. Preface to his Book of the Sacrament.We may with far more ſhew of reaſon, fetch the name of Proteſtants (retained alſo by their Doway tranſlation) from that text, then they can from this, the name of Jeſuites, alias Jebuſites.