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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J U D G E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we have,
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I. Jephthah's rencounter with the Ephraimites, and the blood shed on
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that unhappy occasion
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+12:1-6">ver. 1-6</A>),
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and the conclusion of Jephthah's life and government,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+12:7">ver. 7</A>.
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II. A short account of three other of the judges of Israel: Ibzan
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+12:8-10">ver. 8-10</A>),
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Elon
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+12:11,12">ver. 11, 12</A>),
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Abdon,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+12:13-15">ver. 13-15</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Jud12_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud12_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud12_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud12_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud12_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud12_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud12_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Displeasure of the Ephraimites; Punishment of the Ephraimites.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1143.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went
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northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over
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to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to
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go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire.
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2 And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great
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strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye
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delivered me not out of their hands.
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3 And when I saw that ye delivered <I>me</I> not, I put my life in
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my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up
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unto me this day, to fight against me?
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4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and
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fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because
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they said, Ye Gileadites <I>are</I> fugitives of Ephraim among the
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Ephraimites, <I>and</I> among the Manassites.
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5 And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the
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Ephraimites: and it was <I>so,</I> that when those Ephraimites which
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were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said
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unto him, <I>Art</I> thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;
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6 Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said
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Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce <I>it</I> right. Then
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they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there
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fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.
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7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the
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Gileadite, and was buried in <I>one of</I> the cities of Gilead.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here Is,
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I. The unreasonable displeasure of the men of Ephraim against Jephthah,
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because he had not called them in to his assistance against the
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Ammonites, that they might share in the triumphs and spoils,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+11:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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Pride was at the bottom of the quarrel. Only by that comes contention.
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Proud men think all the honours lost that go beside themselves, and
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then <I>who can stand before envy?</I> The Ephraimites had the same
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quarrel with Gideon
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+8:1"><I>ch.</I> viii. 1</A>),
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who was of Manasseh on their side Jordan, as Jephthah was of Manasseh
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on the other side Jordan. Ephraim and Manasseh were hearer akin than
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any other of the tribes, being both the sons of Joseph, and yet they
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were more jealous one of another than any other of the tribes. Jacob
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having crossed hands, and given Ephraim the preference, looking as far
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forward as the kingdom of the ten tribes, which Ephraim was the head
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of, after the revolt from the house of David, that tribe, not content
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with that honour in the promise, was displeased if Manasseh had any
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honour done it in the mean time. It is a pity that kindred or
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relationship, which should be an inducement to love and peace, should
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be ever an occasion (as it often proves) of strife and discord. <I>A
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brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city, and
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contentions among brethren are as the bars of a castle.</I> The anger
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of the Ephraimites at Jephthah was,
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1. Causeless and unjust. Why <I>didst thou not call us to go with
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thee?</I> For a good reason. Because it was the men of Gilead that had
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made him their captain, not the men of Ephraim, so that he had no
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authority to call them. Had his attempt miscarried for want of their
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help, they might justly have blamed him for not desiring it. But when
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the work was done, and done effectually, the Ammonites being subdued
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and Israel delivered, there was no harm done, though their hands were
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not employed in it.
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2. It was cruel and outrageous. They get together in a tumultuous
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manner, pass over Jordan as far as Mizpeh in Gilead, where Jephthah
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lived, and no less will satisfy their fury but they will burn his house
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and him in it. <I>Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce.</I> Those
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resentments that have the least reason for them have commonly the most
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rage in them. Jephthah was now a conqueror over the common enemies of
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Israel, and they should have come to congratulate him, and return him
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the thanks of their tribe for the good services he had done; but we
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must not think it strange if we receive ill from those from whom we
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deserve well. Jephthah was now a mourner for the calamity of his family
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upon his daughter's account, and they should have come to condole with
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him and comfort him; but barbarous men take a pleasure in adding
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affliction to the afflicted. In this world, the end of one trouble
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often proves the beginning of another; nor must we ever <I>boast as
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though we had put off the harness.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. Jephthah's warm vindication of himself. He did not endeavour to
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pacify them, as Gideon had done in the like case; the Ephraimites were
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now more outrageous than they were them, and Jephthah had not so much
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of a meek and quiet spirit as Gideon had. Whether they would be
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pacified or no, Jephthah takes care,</P>
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<P>
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1. To justify himself,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+11:2,3"><I>v.</I> 2, 3</A>.
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He makes it out that they had no cause at all to quarrel with him, for,
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(1.) It was not in pursuit of glory that he had engaged in this war,
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but for the necessary defence of his country, with which the children
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of Ammon greatly strove.
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(2.) He had invited the Ephraimites to come and join with him, though
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he neither needed them nor was under any obligation to pay that respect
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to them, but they had declined the service: <I>I called you, and you
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delivered me not out of their hands.</I> Had that been true which they
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charged him with, yet it would not have been a just ground of quarrel;
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but it seems it was false, and, as the matter of fact now appears, he
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had more cause to quarrel with them for deserting the common interests
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of Israel in a time of need. It is no new thing for those who are
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themselves most culpable to be most clamorous in accusing the innocent.
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(3.) The enterprise was very hazardous, and they had more reason to
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pity him than to be angry with him: <I>I put my life in my hands,</I>
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that is, "exposed myself to the utmost peril in what I did, having so
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small an army," The honour they envied was bought dearly enough; they
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needed not to grudge it to him; few of them would have ventured so far
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for it.
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(4.) He does not take the glory of the success to himself (that would
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have been invidious), but gives it all to God: "<I>The Lord delivered
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them into my hands.</I> If God was pleased so far to make use of me for
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his glory, why should you be offended at that? Have you any reason to
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<I>fight against me?</I> Is not that in effect to fight against God, in
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whose hand I have been only an unworthy instrument?"</P>
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<P>
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2. When this just answer (though not so soft an answer as Gideon's) did
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not prevail to turn away their wrath, he took care both to defend
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himself from their fury and to chastise their insolence with the sword,
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by virtue of his authority as Israel's judge.
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(1.) The Ephraimites had not only quarrelled with Jephthah, but, when
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his neighbours and friends appeared to take his part, they had abused
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them, and given them foul language; for I adhere to our translation,
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and so take it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+11:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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They said in scorn, "You Gileadites that dwell here on the other side
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Jordan are but fugitives of Ephraim, the scum and dregs of the tribes
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of Joseph, of which Ephraim is the chief, the refuse of the family, and
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are so accounted among the Ephraimites and among the Manassites. Who
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cares for you? All your neighbours know what you are, no better than
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fugitives and vagabonds, separated from your brethren, and driven
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hither into a corner." The Gileadites were as true Israelites as any
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other, and at this time had signalized themselves, both in the choice
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of Jephthah and in the war with Ammon, above all the families of
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Israel, and yet are most basely and unjustly called <I>fugitives.</I>
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It is an ill thing to fasten names or characters of reproach upon
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persons or countries, as is common, especially upon those that lie
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under outward disadvantages: it often occasions quarrels that prove of
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ill consequence, as it did here. See likewise what a mischievous thing
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an abusive tongue is, that calls ill names, and gives scurrilous
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language: it <I>sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire
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of hell</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+3:6">Jam. iii. 6</A>),
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and many a time cuts the throat of him that uses it, as it did here,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+34:8">Ps. lxiv. 8</A>.
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If these Ephraimites could have denied themselves the poor satisfaction
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of calling the Gileadites <I>fugitives,</I> they might have prevented a
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great deal of bloodshed; for <I>grievous words stir up anger,</I> and
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who knows how great a matter a little of that fire may kindle?
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(2.) This affront raises the Gileadites' blood, and the indignity done
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to themselves, as well as to their captain, must be revenged.
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[1.] They routed them in the field,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+11:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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They fought with Ephraim, and, Ephraim being but a rude unheaded
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rabble, smote Ephraim, and put them to flight.
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[2.] They cut off their retreat, and so completed their revenge,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+11:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>.
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The Gileadites, who perhaps were better acquainted with the passages of
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Jordan than the Ephraimites were, secured them with strong guards, who
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were ordered to slay every Ephraimite that offered to pass the river.
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Here was, <I>First,</I> Cruelty enough in the destruction of them.
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Sufficient surely was <I>the punishment which was inflicted by
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many;</I> when they were routed in the field, there needed not this
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severity to cut off all that escaped. Shall the sword devour for ever?
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Whether Jephthah is to be praised for this I know not; perhaps he saw
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it to be a piece of necessary justice. <I>Secondly,</I> Cunning enough
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in the discovery of them. It seems the Ephraimites, though they spoke
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the same language with other Israelites, yet had got a custom in the
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dialect of their country to pronounce the Hebrew letter <I>Shin</I>
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like <I>Samech,</I> and they had so strangely used themselves to it
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that they could not do otherwise, no, not to save their lives. We learn
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to speak by imitation; those that first used <I>s</I> for <I>sh,</I>
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did it either because it was shorter or because it was finer, and their
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children learnt to speak like them, so that you might know an
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Ephraimite by it; as in England we know a west-country man or a
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north-country man, nay, perhaps a Shropshire man, and a Cheshire man,
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by his pronunciation. <I>Thou art a Galilean, and thy speech betrays
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thee.</I> By this the Ephraimites were discovered. If they took a man
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that they suspected to be an Ephraimite, but he denied it, they bade
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him say <I>Shibboleth;</I> but either he <I>could not,</I> as our
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translation reads it, or he did not heed, or frame, or direct himself,
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as some read, to pronounce it aright, but said <I>Sibboleth,</I> and so
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was known to be an Ephraimite, and was slain immediately.
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<I>Shibboleth</I> signifies a <I>river or stream:</I> "Ask leave to go
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over Shibboleth, the river." Those that were thus cut off made up the
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whole number of slaughtered Ephraimites forty-two thousand,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+11:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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Thus another mutiny of that angry tribe was prevented.</P>
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<P>
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3. Now let us observe the righteousness of God in the punishment of
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these proud and passionate Ephraimites, which in several instances
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answered to their sin.
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(1.) They were proud of the honour of their tribe, gloried in this,
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that they were Ephraimites; but how soon were they brought to be
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ashamed or afraid to own their country! <I>Art thou an Ephraimite?</I>
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No, now rather of any tribe than that.
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(2.) They had gone in a rage over Jordan to burn Jephthah's house with
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fire, but now they came back to Jordan as sneakingly as they had passed
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it furiously, and were cut off from ever returning to their own houses.
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(3.) They had upbraided the Gileadites with the infelicity of their
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country, lying at such a distance, and now they suffered by an
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infirmity peculiar to their own country, in not being able to pronounce
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<I>Shibboleth.</I>
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(4.) They had called the Gileadites, unjustly, fugitives, and now they
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really and in good earnest became fugitives themselves; and in the
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Hebrew the same word
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+11:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>)
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is used of the Ephraimites that escaped, or that fled, which they had
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used in scorn of the Gileadites, calling them <I>fugitives.</I> He that
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rolls the stone of reproach unjustly upon another, let him expect that
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it will justly return upon himself.</P>
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<P>
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III. Here is the end of Jephthah's government. He judged Israel but six
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years, and then died,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+11:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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Perhaps the death of his daughter sunk him so that he never looked up
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afterwards, but it shortened his days, and he went to his grave
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mourning.</P>
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<A NAME="Jud12_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud12_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud12_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud12_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud12_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud12_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud12_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud12_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Jephthah's Successors.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1112.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>8 And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.
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9 And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, <I>whom</I> he sent
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abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons.
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And he judged Israel seven years.
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10 Then died Ibzan, and was buried at Bethlehem.
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11 And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he
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judged Israel ten years.
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12 And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in
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the country of Zebulun.
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13 And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged
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Israel.
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14 And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on
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threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years.
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15 And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was
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buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the
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Amalekites.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here a short account of the short reigns of three more of the
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judges of Israel, the first of whom governed but seven years, the
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second ten, and the third eight. <I>For the transgression of a land,
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many are the princes thereof,</I> many in a short time, successively
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+28:2">Prov. xxviii. 2</A>),
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good men being removed in the beginning of their usefulness and by the
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time that they have applied themselves to their business.</P>
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<P>
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I. Ibzan of Bethlehem, most probably Bethlehem of Judah, David's city,
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not that in Zebulun, which is only mentioned once,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+19:15">Josh. xix. 15</A>.
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He ruled but seven years, but by the number of his children, and his
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disposing of them all in marriage himself, it appears that he lived
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long; and probably the great increase of his family, and the numerous
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alliances he made, added to his personal merits, made him the more fit
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to be either chosen by the people as Jephthah was, or called of God
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immediately, as Gideon was, to be Israel's judge, to keep up and carry
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on the work of God among them. That which is remarkable concerning him
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is,
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1. That he had many children, sixty in all, a quiver full of these
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arrows. Thus was Bethlehem of old famous for increase, the very city
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where <I>he</I> was to be born whose spiritual seed should be <I>as the
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stars of heaven.</I>
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2. That he had an equal number of each sex, thirty sons and thirty
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|
daughters, a thing which does not often happen in the same family, yet,
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|
in the great family of mankind, he that at first made two, male and
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|
female, by his wise providence preserves a succession of both in some
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|
sort of equality as far as is requisite to the keeping up of the
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generations of men upon earth.
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3. That he took care to marry them all. His daughters he sent abroad,
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<I>et maritis dedit,</I> so the vulgar Latin adds--<I>he provided
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|
husbands for them;</I> and, as it were in exchange, and both ways,
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|
strengthening his interest, he <I>took in thirty daughters from abroad
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|
for his sons.</I> The Jews say, Every father owes three things to his
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|
son: to teach him to read the law, give him a trade, and get him a
|
|
wife. What a difference was there between Ibzan's family and that of
|
|
his immediate predecessor Jephthah! Ibzan has sixty children and all
|
|
married, Jephthah but one, a daughter, that dies or lives unmarried.
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|
Some are increased, others are diminished: both are the Lord's
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|
doing.</P>
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<P>
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II. Elon of Zebulun, in the north of Canaan, was next raised up to
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|
preside in public affairs, to administer justice, and to reform abuses.
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|
Ten years he continued a blessing to Israel, and then died,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+11:11,12"><I>v.</I> 11, 12</A>.
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Dr. Lightfoot computes that in the beginning of his time the forty
|
|
years' oppression by the Philistines began (spoken of
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:1"><I>ch.</I> xiii. 1</A>),
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and about that time Samson was born. Probably, his residence being in
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|
the north, the Philistines who bordered upon the southern parts of
|
|
Canaan took the opportunity of making incursions upon them.</P>
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<P>
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III. Abdon, of the tribe of Ephraim, succeeded, and in him that
|
|
illustrious tribe begins to recover its reputation, having not afforded
|
|
any person of note since Joshua; for Abimelech the Shechemite was
|
|
rather a scandal to it. This Abdon was famous for the multitude of his
|
|
offspring
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+11:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
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he had forty sons and thirty grandsons, all of whom he lived to see
|
|
grown up, and they rode on seventy ass-colts either as judges and
|
|
officers or as gentlemen and persons of distinction. It was a
|
|
satisfaction to him thus to see his children's children, but it is
|
|
feared he did not see peace upon Israel, for by this time the
|
|
Philistines had begun to break in upon them. Concerning this, and the
|
|
rest of these judges that have ever so short an account given of them,
|
|
yet notice is taken where they were buried
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+11:7,10,12,15"><I>v.</I> 7, 10, 12, 15</A>),
|
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perhaps because the inscriptions upon their monuments (for such were
|
|
anciently used,
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+23:17">2 Kings xxiii. 17</A>)
|
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|
|
would serve for the confirmation and enlargement of their story, and
|
|
might be consulted by such as desired further information concerning
|
|
them. Peter, having occasion to speak of David, says, <I>His sepulchre
|
|
is with us unto this day,</I>
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+2:29">Acts ii. 29</A>.
|
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|
Or it is intended for the honour of the places where they laid their
|
|
bones, but may be improved for the lessening of our esteem of all
|
|
worldly glory, of which death and the grave will stain the pride. These
|
|
judges, that were as gods to Israel, died like men, and all their
|
|
honour was laid in the dust.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
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|
It is very strange that in the history of all these judges, some of
|
|
whose actions are very particularly related, there is not so much as
|
|
once mention made of the high priest, or any other priest or Levite,
|
|
appearing either for counsel or action in any public affair, from
|
|
Phinehas
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+20:28">Judg. xx. 28</A>)
|
|
|
|
to Eli, which may well be computed 250 years; only the names of the
|
|
high priests at that time are preserved,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+6:4-7,Ezr+7:35">1 Chron. vi. 4-7; and Ezra vii. 3-5</A>.
|
|
|
|
How can this strange obscurity of that priesthood for so long a time,
|
|
now in the beginning of its days, agree with that mighty splendour with
|
|
which it was introduced and the figure which the institution of it
|
|
makes in the law of Moses? Surely it intimates that the institution was
|
|
chiefly intended to be typical, and that the great benefits that seemed
|
|
to be promised by it were to be chiefly looked for in its antitype, the
|
|
everlasting priesthood of our Lord Jesus, in comparison of the superior
|
|
glory of which that priesthood had no glory,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+3:10">2 Cor. iii. 10</A>.</P>
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