celebrated for his prodigious strength, might smite or put to flight (for so the verb non is often elsewhere used) with the jaw-bone of an T. ass a thousand Philistines, who, in order to secure a terrible enemy, had come with a secret terror, and who were panic struck by his suddenly breaking the cords which bound him. Nor is it to be doubted that the Hebrews who were on the spot for the purpose of delivering Samson to the Philistines, would assist him in attacking them, terrorstruck as they were, and put to flight. That in his triumphal song (c. xv. 16.) Samson attributes the victory to himself alone, creates no difficulty; for the poetry in question was not spoken by Samson fresh from the theatre of action, but is cited by the author from some old poem as a testimony of the transaction.[f] The same is also to be said of c. xiv. 18. where Samson is represented as uttering a poetical and even rhythmical composition. Hence it appears that the history of Samson is everywhere taken from poems in which his deeds were poetically represented,[g] and therefore its expressions are not all to be forced to the most rigorous signification of which they are susceptible.-6) The fountain of water, Judg. xv. 19., did not arise out of the jaw-bone of the ass, but out of the place, which either at that very time, or subsequently on account of the preceding feat of Samson, was called the height of the jaw, 'n : for it is not un among -: common among the orientals to designate a place by the name of the jaw, as we find in the Targums, the jaw of Moab, id nình, and the Arabs there is a tribe known by the name of the two jaws, ; MICHAELIS Chrestomath. Arab. p. 54.- -7) The carrying away of the doors of the gate of Gaza, which, however, were not at all like those of the present day, to the mountain opposite Hebron, was not a feat exceeding the powers of a man of uncommon strength; for there are many instances, both in ancient and modern history, of persons who have carried even greater weights.[h]-8) The temple of Dagon, supported by two columns, was without doubt a structure similar to that described in the Bibl. Archæol. P. I. Th. I. § 45. S. 211. (Upham's Trans. § 36. p. 40.), the columns of which, if the structure were somewhat decayed, might easily be so shaken by a man of more than ordinary strength, that the flat roof which rested on them should fall in; Judg. xvi. 28. s.- -9) The connexion of Samson's strength with the preservation of his hair, Judg. xvi. 1619. was merely his own supposition. Hence when his hair was shorn his courage forsook him, and he did not dare to try his strength; but with the growth of his hair his courage returned, and he was capable of exerting his former strength. This the Philistines themselves had observed to be the case, and therefore not content with shaving his head, they deprived him of his sight too, and bound him with chains of brass; paying no attention to the growth of his hair.[i]-10) With respect to the supernatural appearances which are said to have preceded the birth of Samson, it would not have been worth while to invent such accounts concerning a man notoriously guilty of fornication, and who destroyed himself in order to gratify his revenge; and if they had laboured under any suspicion of being feigned, they would have been omitted by the author. The parents of Samson must have related them to the genealogist, or they would not have been recounted by an author who is otherwise well worthy of our credence,who does not praise Samson in any other respect than as he began to liberate the Israelites from the Philistine yoke,—and who relates the extraordinary feats of his prowess only to show what a hero GOD would have given to the Hebrews, if they had chosen suitably to avail themselves of his uncommon endowments. Finally, it can hardly be doubted that the history of Samson is incomplete; for what he did as governor of the people, is either passed over in silence, or at most but very slightly touched; c. xiii. 25. Hence Samson may have been a civil governor worthy of commendation, who began well, but ended ill nor would he be the only example of such a character that history could afford. : [a) It should also be borne in mind, that the Judges frequently acted under the immediate influence of the Divinity, by whom they were endowed with supernatural wisdom, strength, and courage. In some cases, such as that of Samson's suicide, they may have abused their endowments, since the supernatural gifts of GoD are equally liable to abuse with those which he bestows in the ordinary course of nature. Tr.] (b) There is no difficulty in such language; expressions of the same kind are in common use at the present day. Nor does any objection arise from the nature of the instrument, which was well fitted for such a purpose. Comp. Archæol. 59. Upham's Trans. EICHHORN, Einleit. 460. S. 434. Tr.] [c) The author refers to DIODORUS SICULUS, XX. 66. and NIEBURR'S description of Arabia, p. 304, for two instances of the rout of an army equally remarkable with that in the book of Judges. Tr.] [d) Comp. Archæol. 394. Upham's Trans. and see DATHE's note in loc., where he defends the same view of the subject. Some have thought that Jephthah's daughter was devoted in a state of perpetual virginity to the service of the tabernacle in some way: but there is no evidence of such persons being so employed. The only texts which might be thought to favour such an opinion are Num. xxxi. 10, 15-18; but it is plain that these women, who are said to be the Lord's, were intended for the high priest's service, and are therefore called a heave offering.' See v. 29, 41., and comp. xviii 19. See, however, HALE'S Analysis of Chronology, Vol. II. pp. 320-323. Tr.] [e) See Acta Dei per Francos, Tom. I. p. 75, 314; JOB LUDOLPHI Historia Ethiopica, 48; ARNIEUX' Remarkable Accounts, Part 2d. c. xiii; LOBO's Travels in Abyssinia, Part I. p. 155; Bocharti Hierozoicon, Tom. I. p. 753; SCHILLINGERS Missions Bericht. Th. IV. S. 79; PLINII Hist. L. VIII. c. 21.] [) Admitting this to be true, which wants proof, still the terms being express, and cited by the author of the book or document without qualification, and as a statement of a fact, are sufficient to refute Jahn's hypothesis. The only method of accounting for this transaction is by admitting what the narrative expressly (v. 14, 16, 19,) asserts, an extraordinary divine assistance. Tr.] [g) This is a rash assertion. Granting the author's position respecting xv. 16. xiv. 18., the insertion of two passages is far from proving that the history of Samson is everywhere derived from poetic sources, and therefore exaggerated. But it is not certain that these passages are quotations from old poems. No such documents are cited by the author, as is elsewhere customary (Num. xxi. 14. Josh. x. 13. II Sam. i. 18.), but it is unequivocally asserted that Samson said,' &c. Tr.] [h) See PLINII Hist. Nat. L. VII. c. 20.] [) It is plain from the narrative that the connexion of Samson's strength with the growth of his hair was not merely his own supposition. Upon his being shaven, it is expressly said that his strength went from him' (xvi. 9.); and upon his awaking it is also said that he made an effort to do as he had done heretofore, not knowing that the Lord was departed from him' (v. 20.): hence it appears that it was not the effect of his conceit which rendered him powerless, and prevented him from 'daring to try his strength,' since he actually did attempt to exert his might as usual, but found it departed from him. He had broken the conditions upon which supernatural strength had been promised before his birth (xiii. 5.), and the gift was taken from him. Besides, at the time of his capture, and during his captivity, it is incredible that he should have made no effort to escape the power of his foes; if he had done so he would still, according to Jahn's hypothesis, have shown himself as strong as ever. The conduct of the idolatrous Philistines is a miserable argument. They cannot be supposed to have believed in the supernatural origin of his strength, or in its connexion with his vow. Possibly they may have been convinced of its connexion with the preservation of his hair, but they had experienced too many injuries from him not to use every precaution, however unnecessary in appearance, to deprive him of the power of doing them any further evil. Besides, they could not know the exact limits of the connexion of his strength with his hair; shaving his head might deprive him of his strength for the present, but a very short time might be sufficient for its renewal. Prudence, then, required that they should immediately take measures to restrain him from its exercise, if it should return. The objectionable features in this section, Jahn has copied, almost servilely, from Eichhorn. It is to be regretted that, occupying the post of a champion of revelation, he is sometimes, from a wish to attack its enemies upon their own ground, and to render his arguments as much as possible free from their insidious objections, led to make rash and unjustifiable concessions. Tr.] § 38. First Appendix to the Book of Judges: c. xvii. xviii. The first appendix, c. xvii. xviii., contains an account of the origin of idolatry among the Danites, who shortly after the death of Joshua took the city Leshem or Laish in Colo-syria, and furnishes a com mentary on Josh. xix. 47. Its contents are as follows:-A man of Mount Ephraim, named Micah, returns to his mother a sum of money that he had stolen, part of which she appropriates to the making of an image. A travelling Levite is induced by Micah to settle in the family as a priest. In the mean time certain spies, who had been sent by the tribe of Dan to Cœlo-Syria, passed by that neighbourhood, and became acquainted with the Levite's situation. They were succeeded by 600 Danites on their way to attack Laish, who seized the image and took the priest along with them. Upon the conquest of the city, they set up the image, and established idolatry, which continued there a considerable time. From the last words of the history, c. xviii. 30, 31., which relate that the posterity of Jonathan the grandson of Moses [a] were priests of the image in Laish or Dan. y, until that region was devastated, and as long as the house of God was in Shiloh, it appears that the writer lived posterior to the expulsion of the Danites from that territory, and when the tabernacle was not at Shiloh; consequently, after the building of the temple.[b] This is confirmed by the designation of the date of the event, c. xvii. 6. xviii. 1., in those days there was no king in Israel, and every one did that which was right in his own eyes, which shows that when the author wrote the monarchy had been some time established.[c] But, whatever may have been the age of the writer or of the person who annexed this fragment to the book of Judges, he seems to have used a very ancient document, the beginning of which had been worn out or lost for after mentioning Mount Ephraim as Micah's place of residence, he enters directly into the matter, beginning with Micah's confession of the theft which he had committed. The antiquity of the document appears from some peculiar expressions, such as (xviii. 7.) living after the manner of the Zidonians,' i. e. in ease and security, and (xvii. 10. xviii. 19.) to be a father and a priest.' Every circumstance of the narrative moreover, and especially the slender compensation of the priest, (only ten shekels of silver yearly, with food and clothing, xvii. 10.,) is altogether in character with remote antiquity. [a) Thus the author in both his works. Yet there does not appear to be any better authority for the reading than that the name of the Levite's father was Gershom, together with some Rabbinical notion respecting the suspended Nun. The common reading is Manasseh, and this has the support of the Septuagint and the Chaldee Targum. That Moses is the reading of the Vulgate only proves that the variety is very ancient. The circumstances of the story render it very improbable that the person who acts so prominent a part should be the grandson of Moses. See PATRICK and LE CLERC on Judg. xviii. 31. Comp. however, P. I. 138. p. 160, and KENNICOTT, Diss. on the State of the Hebrew Text, pp. 51-55, 559. Tr.] [6) This conclusion of our author is scarcely warranted by the expression," as long as the house of GOD was in Shiloh."-1) That the use of the term the house of GoD,' does not necessarily imply an age posterior to the erection of the temple, see note c) to į 25, and comp. Gen. xxviii. 17, 22.-2) The continuance of the ark of GOD in Shiloh, it is well known, was interrupted by its capture by the Philistines, I Sam. iv., and |