Judges 10:1
rose <06965> [A.M. 2772. B.C. 1232. An. Ex. Is. 259. arose.]
deliver <03467> [defend. or, deliver. Heb. save. Shamir.]
Judges 11:1-40
Jephthah <03316> [Jephthah.]
[called Jephthae. a mighty.]
mother <0802> [an harlot. Heb. a woman, an harlot.]
Probably {zonah} should be rendered as in Jos 2:1, a hostess, or inn-keeper: so Targum of Jonathan, {wehoo bar ittetha pundekeetha,} "and he was the son of a woman, a tavern-keeper." She was very probably a Canaanite, as she is called, ver. 2, a strange woman, {ishah achereth,} "a woman of another race;" and on this account his brethren drove him from the family, as not having a full right to the inheritance.
<01644> [thrust out.]
another <0312> [a strange.]
half-brothers <06440 0251> [from his brethren. Heb. from the face of. Tob.]
Probably the same as Ish-Tob; and appears to have been a part of Syria, near Zobah, Rehob, and Maachah, east of Jordan, and in the most northern part of the portion of Manasseh. If so, it could not be far from Gilead, the country of Jephthah. This country is called Tobie or Tubin, 1 Mac 5:13; and the Jews who inhabited this district Tubieni, 2 Mac 12:17. 2 Sa 10:6.
Lawless men <07386 0582> [vain men.]
time <03117> [A.M. 2817. B.C. 1187. An. Ex. Is. 304. in process of time.]
Heb. after days.
attacked <03898> [made war.]
<03947> [to fetch.]
hated <08130> [Did not ye hate.]
leaders <02205> [the elders.]
we pledge <07725> [we turn.]
back <07725> [If ye bring.]
Lord <03068> [The Lord.]
grievance ... have <08085> [be witness. be the hearer.]
do <06213> [if we do.]
leader <07218> [head.]
repeated <01696> [uttered.]
Jephthah ................ Jephthah repeated <01696 03316> [Jephthah uttered.]
That is, upon his elevation, he immediately retired to his devotion, and in prayer spread the whole matter before God, both his choice to the office, and his execution of the office, as one that had his eye ever toward the Lord, and would do nothing without him; that leaned not to his own understanding or courage, but depended on the Almighty God, and his favour. This is an ensample worthy of universal imitation; in All Our Ways, whether great or apparently subordinate, let us acknowledge God and seek his direction. So shall we make our way prosperous, and obtain that peace which passeth all understanding. Jephthah opened his campaign with prayer.
before <06440> [before.]
Mizpah <04709> [Mizpeh.]
This Mizpeh was east of Jordan in the mountains of Gilead (Ge 31:49); and hence called Mizpeh of Gilead (ver. 29), to distinguish it from another place of the same name, west of Jordan, in the tribe of Judah.
sent messengers <07971 04397> [sent messengers.]
In this Jephthah acted in accordance with the law of Moses; and hence the justice of his cause would appear more forcibly to the people.
come against <0935> [What hast.]
Israel <03478> [Because Israel.]
Arnon <0769> [from Arnon.]
That is, all the land which had belonged to the Amorites and Moabites.
Jabbok <02999> [Jabbok.]
king <03254 04428> [again unto.]
Israel .... steal <03478 03947> [Israel took.]
Israel <03478> [But when.]
The whole of these messages shew, Jephthah had well studied the book of Moses. His arguments also are very clear and cogent, and his demands reasonable; for he only required that the Ammonites should cease to harass a people who had neither injured them, nor intended to do so.
<03212> [walked.]
left ................ came <05927 0935> [came.]
sent messengers ......................... sent <07971 04397> [sent messengers.]
king ............... king .............. king <04428> [the king.]
stayed <03427> [abode.]
<03212> [went.]
bypassed <05437> [compassed.]
traveled east .................... go <0935 04217> [came by.]
camped <02583> [pitched.]
[Lord God.]
[they smote.]
[so Israel.]
took <03423> [And they.]
desert <04057> [from the wilderness.]
From Arabia Deserta on the east, to Jordan on the west.
Jephthah shews that the Israelites did not take the land of the Moabites or Ammonites, but that of the Amorites, which they had conquered from Sihon their king; and although the Amorites had taken the lands in question from the Ammonites, yet the title by which Israel held them was good, because they took them, not from the Ammonites, but from the Amorites.
take ........... take ............ driven <03423> [Wilt not thou possess.]
This is simply an {argumentum ad hominem;} in which Jephthah argues on this principles recognized by the king of Ammon. As if he had said, "You suppose that the land which you possess was given you by your god Chemosh; and therefore will not relinquish what you believe you hold by a divine right. Now we know that Jehovah, our God, has given us the land of the Israelites; and therefore we will not give it up."
Chemosh <03645> [Chemosh.]
Lord <03068> [whomsoever.]
Balak <01111> [Balak.]
Heshbon <02809> [Heshbon.]
Aroer <06177> [Aroer.]
three hundred <07969 03967> [three hundred.]
May ..... Judge judge <08199> [the Judge.]
May ..... Judge judge <08199> [be judge.]
spirit <07307> [the spirit.]
Jephthah <03316> [Jephthah.]
"Jephthah seems to have been judge only of north-east Israel."
passed through ...... went ... Mizpah ....... approached <04708 05674> [over Mizpeh.]
then ....... come through <03318> [whatsoever, etc. Heb. that which cometh forth, which shall come forth. shall surely.]
up <05927> [and I will. or, or I will, etc.]
{Weh„ƒleetheehoo “lah,} rather, as Dr. Randolph and others contend, "and I will offer Him (or to Him, i.e., Jehovah) a burnt offering;" for {hoo} may with much more propriety be referred to the person to whom the sacrifice was to be made, than to the thing to be sacrificed. Unless understood in this way, or as the marginal reading, it must have been the vow of a heathen or a madman. If a dog, or other uncleaned animal had met him, he could not have made it a burnt offering; or if his neighbour's wife, sons, etc., his vow gave him no right over them.
Lord <03068> [the Lord.]
Aroer <06177> [Aroer.]
Minnith <04511> [Minnith.]
Situated, according to Eusebius, four miles from Heshbon, towards Philadelphia or Rabbath.
Abel <058> [the plain. or, Abel.]
Mizpah <04709> [Mizpeh.]
daughter .......................... daughter <01323> [his daughter.]
son <01121> [beside her. or, he had not of his own either son or daughter. Heb. of himself. neither.]
ripped ... clothes <0899 07167> [rent his clothes.]
made an oath <06475> [have opened.]
cannot <03201> [I cannot.]
After <0310> [forasmuch.]
walk <03381 03212> [go up and down. Heb. go and go down. bewail.]
did ....... vowed <06213 05088> [did with.]
That Jephthah did not sacrifice his daughter, but consecrated her to the service of God in the tabernacle, in a state of celibacy, will we imagine be evident from the following consideration:--1. Human sacrifices were ever an abomination to Jehovah, of which Jephthah could not be ignorant; and consequently he would neither have made such a vow, nor carried it into execution. 2. We are expressly told (ver. 29) that Jephthah was under the influence of the Spirit of God, which would effectually prevent him from embruing his hands in the blood of his own child. 3. He had it in his power to redeem his daughter, (Le 27:4;) and surely his only child must have been of more value than thirty shekles. 4. Besides, who was to perform the horrid rite? Not Jephthah himself, who was no priest, and in whom it would have been most unnatural and inhuman; and the priests would certainly have dissuaded him from it. 5. The sacred historian informs us, that she bewailed her virginity, that she knew no man, and that the Israelitish women went yearly to comfort or lament with her.
vowed <05088> [to his vow.]
custom <02706> [custom. or, ordinance.]
Every year ............. days <03117> [yearly. Heb. from year to year. lament. or, to talk with.]
Every year ............ four days <0702 03117> [four days.]
Judges 1:1-36
After <0310> [Now.]
asked <07592> [asked.]
Simeon ............................ Simeon <08095> [Simeon.]
went <01980> [I likewise.]
Lord <03068> [Lord.]
Bezek <0966> [Bezek.]
Eusebius and Jerome mention two villages of this name, near each other, about seventeen miles from Shechem, towards Scythopolis.
thumbs ... big toes <0931> [their thumbs. Heb. the thumbs of their hands and of their feet.]
This was not an unusual act of cruelty in ancient times towards enemies.--’lian informs us, that in after ages "the Athenians, at the instigation of Cleon, son of Cleoenetus, made a decree that all the inhabitants of the island of ’gina should have the thumb cut off from the right hand, so that they might ever after be disabled from holding a spear, yet might handle an oar." It was a custom among those Romans who did not like a military life, to cut off their thumbs, that they might be incapable of serving in the army; and for the same reason, parents sometimes cut off the thumbs of their children.
lick up <03950> [gathered. or, gleaned. as I have.]
Later <0310> [afterward.]
lowlands <08219> [valley. or, low country.]
Kiriath Arba <07153> [Kirjath-arba.]
Sheshai <08344> [Sheshai.]
Debir Debir <01688> [Debir.]
Caleb <03612> [And Caleb.]
The whole of this account is found in Jos 15:13-19, and seems to be inserted here by way of recapitulation.
give <05414> [to him.]
In ancient times fathers assumed an absolute right over their children, especially in disposing of them in marriage; and it was customary for a king or great man to promise his daughter in marriage to him who should take a city, etc.
came <0935> [And it came.]
got down <06795> [and she lighted.]
{Watitznach,} "she hastily or suddenly alighted," as if she had forgotten something, or was about to return.
special present <01293> [a blessing.]
land .... Negev <0776 05045> [a south land.]
Which was probably dry, or very ill watered.
give ......... given ........ give ... springs ... water .... gave ........ springs <05414 01543 04325 03051> [give me also springs of water.]
Let me have some fields with brooks, or wells already digged.
Kenite <07017> [the Kenite.]
Moses <04872> [Moses.]
City ... Date <05892 08558> [city of palm.]
Negev <05045> [which.]
<03212> [they went.]
Judah <03063> [And Judah.]
Zephath <06857> [Zephath.]
[Zephathah. Hormah.]
Judah <03063> [Also Judah.]
There is the following remarkable variation here in the Septuagint: [Kai ouk ekl‚ronom‚sen Ioudas t‚n Gazan, oude ta horia aut‚s; oude t‚n Askal¢na, oude ta horia aut‚s; kai t‚n Akkar¢n, oude ta horia aut‚s; t‚n Az¢ton, oude ta perisporia aut‚s.] "But Judah did not possess Gaza, nor the coasts thereof; nor Askelon, nor the coasts thereof; nor Ekron, nor the coasts thereof; nor Ashdod, nor the coasts thereof." Procopius and Augustine read the same; and Josephus (Ant. 1. v. c. 2) says that the Israelites only took Askelon and Ashdod, but not Gaza or Ekron; and from ch. 3:3, and the whole succeeding history, it appears that these cities were not in the possession of the Israelites, but of the Philistines.
Gaza <05804> [Gaza.]
[See on]
Lord <03068> [the Lord.]
conquered ......... conquer <03423> [he drave, etc. or he possessed the mountain. but could.]
Not because the iron chariots were too strong for Omnipotence, or because he refused to help them; but because their courage and faith failed when they saw them.
chariots <07393> [chariots.]
<05414> [they gave.]
three Anakites <01121 07969> [the three sons.]
<01004> [the house.]
Lord <03068> [the Lord.]
spied out <08446> [sent.]
Luz <03870> [Luz.]
reward <06213> [we will.]
put <05221> [they smote.]
country <0776> [the land.]
Manasseh <04519> [Manasseh.]
Taanach <08590> [Taanach.]
Canaanites <03669> [the Canaanites.]
Kitron <07003> [Kitron.]
The Talmudists say Kitron is "tzippor," that is, Sepphoris, or Dioc‘sarea, a celebrated city of Galilee, now the village Safoury, situated in the plain of Esdraelon, twenty miles (north-west) from Tiberias, according to Benjamin of Tudela.
Nahalol <05096> [Nahalol.]
Asher <0836> [Asher.]
Acco <05910> [Accho.]
Accho, the Ptolemais of the Greeks and Romans, and called Saint John of Acre by the Crusaders, is situated on the Mediterranean, in a fine plain, at the north angle of a bay to which it gives name, and which extends in a semicircle of three leagues as far as Carmel, and nine leagues from Tyre.
Sidon <06721> [Zidon.]
Another celebrated city of Phoenicia, now SaidÅ , situated in a fine country on the Mediterranean, 400 stadia from Berytus, and 200 (north) from Tyre, according to Strabo, one day's journey from Paneas, according to Josephus, and sixty-six miles from Damascus, according to Abulfeda.
Aczib <0392> [Achzib.]
Or, Ecdippa, now Zib, nine miles north, from Accho.
Naphtali <05321> [Naphtali.]
people living ......... live ..... residing ....... living <03427> [he dwelt.]
forced to do hard labor <04522> [became.]
Aijalon <0357> [Aijalon.]
Shaalbim <08169> [Shaalbim.]
strong <03513> [prevailed. Heb. was heavy.]
<04608> [from the going. or, Maaleh-akrabbim.]
Judges 1:1-36
After <0310> [Now.]
asked <07592> [asked.]
Simeon ............................ Simeon <08095> [Simeon.]
went <01980> [I likewise.]
Lord <03068> [Lord.]
Bezek <0966> [Bezek.]
Eusebius and Jerome mention two villages of this name, near each other, about seventeen miles from Shechem, towards Scythopolis.
thumbs ... big toes <0931> [their thumbs. Heb. the thumbs of their hands and of their feet.]
This was not an unusual act of cruelty in ancient times towards enemies.--’lian informs us, that in after ages "the Athenians, at the instigation of Cleon, son of Cleoenetus, made a decree that all the inhabitants of the island of ’gina should have the thumb cut off from the right hand, so that they might ever after be disabled from holding a spear, yet might handle an oar." It was a custom among those Romans who did not like a military life, to cut off their thumbs, that they might be incapable of serving in the army; and for the same reason, parents sometimes cut off the thumbs of their children.
lick up <03950> [gathered. or, gleaned. as I have.]
Later <0310> [afterward.]
lowlands <08219> [valley. or, low country.]
Kiriath Arba <07153> [Kirjath-arba.]
Sheshai <08344> [Sheshai.]
Debir Debir <01688> [Debir.]
Caleb <03612> [And Caleb.]
The whole of this account is found in Jos 15:13-19, and seems to be inserted here by way of recapitulation.
give <05414> [to him.]
In ancient times fathers assumed an absolute right over their children, especially in disposing of them in marriage; and it was customary for a king or great man to promise his daughter in marriage to him who should take a city, etc.
came <0935> [And it came.]
got down <06795> [and she lighted.]
{Watitznach,} "she hastily or suddenly alighted," as if she had forgotten something, or was about to return.
special present <01293> [a blessing.]
land .... Negev <0776 05045> [a south land.]
Which was probably dry, or very ill watered.
give ......... given ........ give ... springs ... water .... gave ........ springs <05414 01543 04325 03051> [give me also springs of water.]
Let me have some fields with brooks, or wells already digged.
Kenite <07017> [the Kenite.]
Moses <04872> [Moses.]
City ... Date <05892 08558> [city of palm.]
Negev <05045> [which.]
<03212> [they went.]
Judah <03063> [And Judah.]
Zephath <06857> [Zephath.]
[Zephathah. Hormah.]
Judah <03063> [Also Judah.]
There is the following remarkable variation here in the Septuagint: [Kai ouk ekl‚ronom‚sen Ioudas t‚n Gazan, oude ta horia aut‚s; oude t‚n Askal¢na, oude ta horia aut‚s; kai t‚n Akkar¢n, oude ta horia aut‚s; t‚n Az¢ton, oude ta perisporia aut‚s.] "But Judah did not possess Gaza, nor the coasts thereof; nor Askelon, nor the coasts thereof; nor Ekron, nor the coasts thereof; nor Ashdod, nor the coasts thereof." Procopius and Augustine read the same; and Josephus (Ant. 1. v. c. 2) says that the Israelites only took Askelon and Ashdod, but not Gaza or Ekron; and from ch. 3:3, and the whole succeeding history, it appears that these cities were not in the possession of the Israelites, but of the Philistines.
Gaza <05804> [Gaza.]
[See on]
Lord <03068> [the Lord.]
conquered ......... conquer <03423> [he drave, etc. or he possessed the mountain. but could.]
Not because the iron chariots were too strong for Omnipotence, or because he refused to help them; but because their courage and faith failed when they saw them.
chariots <07393> [chariots.]
<05414> [they gave.]
three Anakites <01121 07969> [the three sons.]
<01004> [the house.]
Lord <03068> [the Lord.]
spied out <08446> [sent.]
Luz <03870> [Luz.]
reward <06213> [we will.]
put <05221> [they smote.]
country <0776> [the land.]
Manasseh <04519> [Manasseh.]
Taanach <08590> [Taanach.]
Canaanites <03669> [the Canaanites.]
Kitron <07003> [Kitron.]
The Talmudists say Kitron is "tzippor," that is, Sepphoris, or Dioc‘sarea, a celebrated city of Galilee, now the village Safoury, situated in the plain of Esdraelon, twenty miles (north-west) from Tiberias, according to Benjamin of Tudela.
Nahalol <05096> [Nahalol.]
Asher <0836> [Asher.]
Acco <05910> [Accho.]
Accho, the Ptolemais of the Greeks and Romans, and called Saint John of Acre by the Crusaders, is situated on the Mediterranean, in a fine plain, at the north angle of a bay to which it gives name, and which extends in a semicircle of three leagues as far as Carmel, and nine leagues from Tyre.
Sidon <06721> [Zidon.]
Another celebrated city of Phoenicia, now SaidÅ , situated in a fine country on the Mediterranean, 400 stadia from Berytus, and 200 (north) from Tyre, according to Strabo, one day's journey from Paneas, according to Josephus, and sixty-six miles from Damascus, according to Abulfeda.
Aczib <0392> [Achzib.]
Or, Ecdippa, now Zib, nine miles north, from Accho.
Naphtali <05321> [Naphtali.]
people living ......... live ..... residing ....... living <03427> [he dwelt.]
forced to do hard labor <04522> [became.]
Aijalon <0357> [Aijalon.]
Shaalbim <08169> [Shaalbim.]
strong <03513> [prevailed. Heb. was heavy.]
<04608> [from the going. or, Maaleh-akrabbim.]
