Ibzan, Elon, and

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not frame to pronounce it right. 11 And after him Elon,
Zebulonite, judged Israel;
he judged Israel ten years.

and

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him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.

7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

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12 And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in of Zebulun.

i

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Pirathonite, An. Exod. Isr.

13 And after him Abdon the
son of Hillel, a
8 And after him Ibzan of judged Israel.

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14 And he had forty sons and

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9 And he had thirty sons, and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and 1. Olymp. 357. thirty daughters, whom he sent ten ass colts and he judged Israel eight abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel

seven years.

years.

15 And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in

10 Then died Ibzan, and was buried at the land of Ephraim, in m the mount of the Beth-lehem.

He seems to have been only a civil judge to do justice in northeast Israel. A civil judge in northeast Israel.

Amalekites.

A civil judge in northeast Israel. k Heb. sons' sons. 1 Chap. v. 10; x. 4. Chap. iii. 13, 27; v. 14.

But cebboleth is the reading of the Complutensian Polyglot, and is supported by one of my own MSS.; yet the former reading, the bboleth, is found in two of my MSS. The Chaldee has na shubbaltha for the Gileaditish pronunciation, and hɔɔ subbaltha for that of Ephraim. The Syriac has shebla and

Mr. Richardson, in his "Dissertation on the Languages, Literature, and Manners of the Eastern Nations," prefixed to his Persian and Arabic Dictionary, p. ii., 4to. edition, makes some observations on the different dialects which prevailed in Arabia Felix, the chief of which were the Hemyaret and Koreish; and to illustrate the point in hand, he produces the follow-m sebla. The Arabic has the same word, with ing story from the Mohammedan writers: "An ensheen and w seen; and adds, "He said Sebla, voy from one of the feudatory states, having been sent for the Ephraimites could not pronounce the letter to the tobba, (the sovereign,) that prince, when he was sheen." These notices, however trivial at first introduced, pronounced the word Theb, which in the view, will not be thought unimportant by the Biblical Hemyaret implied, Be seated: unhappily it signified, critic. in the native dialect of the ambassador, Precipitate thyself; and he, with a singular deference for the orders of his sovereign, threw himself instantly from the castle wall, and perished." Though the Ephraimites had not a different dialect, they had, it appears, a different pronunciation, which confounded, to others, letters of the same organ, and thus produced, not only

Verse 8. And after him Ibzan] It appears that during the administration of Jephthah, six years— eight years, (in the whole thirty-one years,) the IsraelIbzan, seven years—Elon, ten years—and Abdon, ites had peace in all their borders; and we shall find. corrupted themselves, and were afterwards delivered by the following chapter that in this time of rest they into the power of the Philistines.

1. WE find that Ibsan had a numerous family, sixty children; and Abdon had forty sons and thirty

For he could not frame to pronounce it right.] This grandsons; and that they lived splendidly, which is is not a bad rendering of the original, 17

velo yachin ledabber ken; "and they did not direct to speak it thus." But instead of yachin, to direct, thirteen of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., with two ancient editions, read ' yabin; "they did not understand to speak it thus."

66

here expressed by their riding on seventy young asses; what we would express by they all kept their carriages; for the riding on fine asses in those days was not less dignified than riding in coaches in ours.

2. It does not appear that any thing particular took place in the civil state of the Israelites during the time of these latter judges; nothing is said concerning their administration, whether it was good or bad; nor is any thing mentioned of the state of religion. It is likely that they enjoyed peace without, and their judges were capable of preventing discord and sedition within. Yet, doubtless, God was at work among them, though there were none to record the operations either of his hand or his Spirit; but the people who feared him no doubt bore testimony to the word of his

The versions take great latitude in this verse. The Vulgate makes a paraphrase: Dic ergo Shibboleth, quod interpretatur spica: qui respondebat Sibboleth; eadem litera spicam exprimere non valens. Say therefore, Shibboleth; which interpreted is an ear of corn: but he answered, Sibboleth; not being able to express an ear of corn by that letter." In my very ancient copy of the Vulgate, probably the editio princeps, there is sebboleth in the first instance as the test word, and thebboleth as the Ephraimite pronunciation.gracę.

An angel foretells

JUDGES.

CHAPTER XIII.

the birth of Samson

An

The Israelites corrupt themselves, and are delivered into the hands of the Philistines forty years, 1. Angel appears to the wife of Manoah, foretells the birth of her son, and gives her directions how to treat both herself and her child, who was to be a deliverer of Israel, 2-5. She informs her husband of this transaction, 6, 7. Manoah prays that the Angel may reappear; he is heard, and the Angel appears to him and his wife, and repeats his former directions concerning the mother and the child, 8-14. Manoah presents an offering to the Lord, and the Angel ascends in the flame, 15-20. Manoah is alarmed, but is comforted by the judicions reflections of his wife, 21-23. Samson is born, and begins to feel the influence of the Divine Spirit, 24, 25.

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AND the children of Israel from the womb and he shall

C

k

a did evil again in the sight begin to deliver Israel out of the
of the LORD; and the LORD
delivered them into the hands

of the Philistines forty years.

d

2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare

not.

3 And the fangel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.

4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and & drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:

5. For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be i a Nazarite unto God

a Heb. added to commit, &c.- b Chap. ii. 11; iii. 7; iv. 1 ; vi. 1; x. 6. This seems a partial captivity. -d1 Sam. xii. 9. e Josh. xix. 41. Ch. vi. 12; Luke i. 11, 13, 28, 31.- Ver. 14; Num. vi. 2, 3; Luke i. 15.

NOTES ON CHAP. XIII.

Verse 1. Delivered them into the hand of the Philistines] It does not appear that after Shamgar, to the present time, the Philistines were in a condition to oppress Israel, or God had not permitted them to do it; but now they have a commission, the Israelites having departed from the Lord. Nor is it evident that the Philistines had entirely subjected the Israelites, as there still appears to have been a sort of commerce between the two people: They had often vexed and made inroads upon them, but they had them not in entire subjection; see chap. xv. 11.

hand of the Philistines.

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was

6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his m countenance like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:

7 But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death. 8 Then Manoah entreated the LORD, and said, O my LORD, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born. 9 And God hearkened to the voice of Ma

Num. vi. 5; 1 Sam. i. 11.- i Num. vi. 2. See 1 Sam. vii. 13; 2 Sam. viii. 1; 1 Chron. xviii. 1. Deut. xxxiii. 1; 1 Sam. ii. 27; ix. 6; 1 Kings xvii. 24. Matt. xxviii. 3; Luke ix. 29; Acts vi. 15.- - Ver. 17, 18.

Verse 5. He shall begin to deliver Israel] Samson only began this deliverance, for it was not till the days of David that the Israelites were completely redeemed from the power of the Philistines.

Verse 6. But I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name] This clause is rendered very differently by the Vulgate, the negative NOT being omitted: Quem cum interrogassem quis esset, et unde venisset, et quo nomine vocaretur, noluit mihi dicere; sed hoc respondit. Who, when I asked who he was and whence he came, and by what name he was called, would not tell me; but this he

Verse 2. A certain man of Zorah] A town in the said," &c. tribe of Judah, but afterwards given to Dan.

Verse 3. The angel of the Lord] Generally supposed to have been the same that appeared to Moses, Joshua, Gideon, &c., and no other than the second person of the ever-blessed Trinity.

Verse 4. Beware-drink not wine] As Samson was designed to be a Nazarite from the womb, it was necessary that, while his mother carried and nursed him, she should live the life of a Nazarite, neither drinking wine nor any inebriating liquor, nor eating any kind of forbidden meat. See the account of the Nazarite and his vow in the notes on Num. vi. 2, &c.

The negative is also wanting in the Septuagint, as it stands in the Complutensian Polyglot: Kai npwrwv αυτον ποθεν εστιν, και το όνομα αυτού, ουκ απήγγειλε μot; "And I asked him whence he was, and his name, but he did not tell me." This is also the reading of the Codex Alexandrinus; but the Septuagint, in the London Polyglot, together with the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic, read the negative particle with the Hebrew text, I asked NOT his name, &c.

Verse 9. The angel of God came again] This second appearance of the angel was probably essential to the peace of Manoah, who might have been

Manoah presents an

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noah; and the angel of God came | For Manoah knew not that he

An. Exod. Isr. again unto the woman as she sat in the field but Manoah her hus1. Olymp. 381. band was not with her. 10 And the woman made haste, and ran, and showed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day.

11 And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am.

12 And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. • How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?

13 And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman, let her beware.

8

15 And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee. 16 And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread and if thou wilt offer a burnt-offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. Heb. What shall be the manner of the, &c.- -P Or, what shall he do? Heb. what shall be his work?- Ver. 4.- Gen. xviii. 5; chap. vi. 18. Heb. before thee." Gen. xxxii. 29.

jealous of his wife had he not had this proof that the thing was of the Lord.

Verse 15. Until we shall have made ready a kid] Not knowing his quality, Manoah wished to do this as an act of hospitality.

was an angel of the LORD.

17 And Manoah said unto the

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angel of the LORD, What is thy
name, that when thy sayings come to pass we
may do thee honour?

18 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, "Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?

19 So Manoah took a kid with a meat-offer ing, w and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.

20 For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. 21 And the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD.

22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. 23 But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt-offering and a meat-offering at our hands; neither would he have showed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.

Or, wonderful; Isa. ix. 6.- Chap. vi. 19, 20.- - Lev. ix. 24; 1 Chron. xxi. 16; Ezek. i. 28; Matt. xvii. 6. Chap. vi. 22.

- Gen. xxxii. 30; Exod. xxxiii. 20; Deut. v. 26; ch. vi. 22. Verse 23. If the Lord were pleased to kill us, &c.] This is excellent reasoning, and may be of great use to every truly religious mind, in cloudy and dark dispensations of Divine Providence. It is not likely that God, who has preserved thee so long, borne with

Verse 16. I will not eat of thy bread] As I am a thee so long, and fed and supported thee all thy life spiritual being, I subsist not by earthly food.

And if thou wilt offer a burnt-offering] Neither shall I receive that homage which belongs to God.; thou must therefore offer thy burnt-offering to Jehovah. Verse 18. Seeing it is secret ?] It was because it was secret that they wished to know it. The angel does not say that it was secret, but 'hu peli, il is WONDERFUL; the very character that is given to Jesus Christ, Isa., ix. 6: His name shall be called, Wonderful; and it is supposed by some that the angel gives this as his name, and consequently that he was our blessed Lord.

long, girding thee when thou knewest him not, is less willing to save and provide for thee and thine now than he was when, probably, thou trustedst less in him. He who freely gave his Son to redeem thee, can never be indifferent to thy welfare; and if he give thee power to pray to and trust in him, is it at all likely that he is now seeking an occasion against thee, in order to destroy thee? Add to this the very light that shows thee thy wretchedness, ingratitude, and disobedience, is in itself a proof that he is waiting to be gracious to thee; and the penitential pangs thou feelest, and thy bitter regret for thy unfaithfulness, argue that the light and fire are of God's own kindling, and are sent to direct and refine, not to drive thee out of the way and destroy thee. Nor would he have told thee such things of his love, mercy, and kindness, and unwillingness to destroy sinners, as he has told thee in Verse 22. We shall surely die, because we have his sacred word, if he had been determined not to seen God.] See the note on chap. vi. 22. extend his mercy to thee.

Verse 19. The angel did wondrously] He acted according to his name; he, being wonderful, performed wonderful things; probably causing fire to arise out of the rock and consume the sacrifice, and then ascending in the flame.

1 Sam. iii. 19; Luke i. 80; ii. 52.- Chap. d Heb. Mahaneh-dan, as chap. xviii. 12. Josh. xv. 33 ; chap. iii. 10; 1 Sam. xi. 6; Matt. iv. 1.

Verse 24. And called his name Samson] The ori-liverance. ginal ¡n shimshon, which is from the root shamash, to serve, (whence shemesh, the sun,) probably means either a little sun, or a little servant; and this latter is so likely a name to be imposed on an only son, by maternal fondness, that it leaves but little doubt of the propriety of the etymology.

And the Lord blessed him.] Gave evident proofs that the child was under the peculiar protection of the Most High; causing him to increase daily in stature and extraordinary strength.

Verse 25. The Spirit of the Lord began to move him] He felt the degrading bondage of his countrymen, and a strong desire to accomplish something for their de

CHAPTER XIV.

Samson marries a wife of the Philistines, 1-4. Slays a young lion at Timnath, in the carcass of which he afterwards finds a swarm of bees, 5-9. He makes a feast; they appoint him thirty companions, to whom he puts forth a riddle, which they cannot expound, 10-14. They entice his wife to get the interpretation from him; she succeeds, informs them, and they tell the explanation, 15–18. He is incensed, and slays thirty of the Philistines, 19, 20.

AND Samson went down to daughters of thy brethren, or
Timnath, and saw a woman among all my people, that thou
in Timnath of the daughters of goest to take a wife of the un-
circumcised Philistines? And
Samson said unto his father, Get her for me;
for she pleaseth me well.

Samson kills a lion.

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CHAP. XIV.

- 5 Then went Samson down,

and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vine1. Olymp 361. yards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him.

6. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.

7 And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.

8 And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion.

9 And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.

man

I.

10 So his father went down unto the woand Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.

11 And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

12 And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can cer tainly declare it me m within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give

iHeb. in meeting him. Chap. iii. 10; xiii. 25; 1 Sam. xi. 6.11 Kings x. 1; Ezek. xvii. 2; Luke xiv. 7.

are now suspected; and it is not likely to be generally received again without violent demonstration.

Verse 5. A young lion roared against him.] Came fiercely out upon him, ready to tear him in pieces.

Verse 6. He rent him as he would have rent a kid] Now it is not intimated that he did this by his own' natural strength, but by the Spirit of the Lord coming mightily upon him: so that his strength does not appear to be his own, nor to be at his command; his might was, by the will of God, attached to his hair and to his Nazarate.

Verse 7. And talked with the woman] That is, concerning marriage; thus forming the espousals.

Verse 8. And after a time] Probably about one year; as this was the time that generally elapsed between espousing and wedding.

A swarm of bees and honey in the carcass] By length of time the flesh had been entirely consumed off the bones, and a swarm of bees had formed their combs within the region of the thorax:. nor was it an improper place; nor was the thing unfrequent, if we may eredit ancient writers; the carcasses of slain beasts becoming a receptacle for wild bees. The beautiful episode in the 4th Georgic of Virgil, beginning at ver. 317, proves that the ancients believed that bees might be engendered in the body of a dead ox:

Pastor Aristaus fugiens Peneia Tempe-
Quatuor eximios præstanti corpore tauros
Ducit, et intacta totidem cervice juvencas.
Post, ubi nona suos Aurora induxerat ortus,
Inferias Orphei mittit, lucumque revisit.
Hic vero subitum, ac dictu mirabile monstrum
Adspiciunt, liquefacta boum per viscera toto
Stridere apes utero, et ruptis effervere costis ;
Immensasque trahi nubes, jamque afbore summa
Confluere, et lentis uvam demittere ramis.

VIRG. Geor. lib. iv., ver. 550.

"Sad Aristæus from fair Tempe fled,
His bees with famine or diseases dead-
Four altars raises, from his herd he culls
For slaughter four the fairest of his bulls;
Four heifers from his female store he took,
VOL. II.
( 11 )

Gen. xxix. 27.

All fair, and all unknowing of the yoke,
Nine mornings thence, with sacrifice and prayers,
The powers atoned, he to the grove repairs.
Behold a prodigy! for, from within

The broken bowels, and the bloated skin,
A buzzing noise of bees his ears alarms,
Straight issuing through the sides assembling swarms!
Dark as a cloud, they make a wheeling flight,
Then on a neighbouring tree descending light,
Like a large cluster of black grapes they show,
And make a large dependance from the bough.
DRYDEN.

Verse 10. Samson made there a feast] The marriage-feast, when he went to marry his espoused wife.

Verse 11. They brought thirty companions] These are called in Scripture children of the bride-chamber, and friends of the bridegroom. See the whole of this subject particularly illustrated in the observations at the

end of John iii.

Verse 12. I will now put forth a riddle] Probably this was one part of the amusements at a marriagefeast; each in his turn proposing a riddle, to be solved by any of the rest on a particular forfeit; the proposer forfeiting, if solved, the same which the company must forfeit if they could not solve it.

Thirty sheets] I have no doubt that the Arab hayk, or hyke, is here meant a dress in which the natives of the East wrap themselves, as a Scottish Highlander does in his plaid. In Asiatic countries the dress scarcely ever changes; being nearly the same now that it was 2000 years ago. Mr. Jackson, in his account of the Empire of Morocco, thus mentions the Moorish dress: "It resembles," says he, "that of the ancient patriarchs, as represented in paintings; (but the paintings are taken from Asiatic models;) that of the men consists of a red cap and turban, a (kumja) shirt, which hangs outside of the drawers, and comes down below the knee; a (caftan) coat, which buttons close before, and down to the bottom, with large open sleeves; over which, when they go out of doors, they throw carelessly, and sometimes elegantly, a hayk, or garment of white cotton, silk, or wool, five or six yards long, and 161 b