mh_parser/vol_split/7 - Judges/Chapter 12.xml

<div2 id="Jud.xiii" n="xiii" next="Jud.xiv" prev="Jud.xii" progress="17.57%" title="Chapter XII">
<h2 id="Jud.xiii-p0.1">J U D G E S</h2>
<h3 id="Jud.xiii-p0.2">CHAP. XII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jud.xiii-p1">In this chapter we have, I. Jephthah's rencounter
with the Ephraimites, and the blood shed on that unhappy occasion
(<scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.12.1-Judg.12.6" parsed="|Judg|12|1|12|6" passage="Jdg 12:1-6">ver. 1-6</scripRef>), and the
conclusion of Jephthah's life and government, <scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.12.7" parsed="|Judg|12|7|0|0" passage="Jdg 12:7">ver. 7</scripRef>. II. A short account of three other of
the judges of Israel: Ibzan (<scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Judg.12.8-Judg.12.10" parsed="|Judg|12|8|12|10" passage="Jdg 12:8-10">ver.
8-10</scripRef>), Elon (<scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Judg.12.11-Judg.12.12" parsed="|Judg|12|11|12|12" passage="Jdg 12:11,12">ver. 11,
12</scripRef>), Abdon, <scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Judg.12.13-Judg.12.15" parsed="|Judg|12|13|12|15" passage="Jdg 12:13-15">ver.
13-15</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Jud.xiii-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.12" parsed="|Judg|12|0|0|0" passage="Jud 12" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jud.xiii-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.12.1-Judg.12.7" parsed="|Judg|12|1|12|7" passage="Jud 12:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Judg.12.1-Judg.12.7">
<h4 id="Jud.xiii-p1.8">Displeasure of the Ephraimites; Punishment
of the Ephraimites. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.xiii-p1.9">b. c.</span> 1143.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jud.xiii-p2">1 And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves
together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore
passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and
didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon
thee with fire.   2 And Jephthah said unto them, I and my
people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I
called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands.   3 And
when I saw that ye delivered <i>me</i> not, I put my life in my
hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.xiii-p2.1">Lord</span> delivered them into my hand:
wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against
me?   4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead,
and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim,
because they said, Ye Gileadites <i>are</i> fugitives of Ephraim
among the Ephraimites, <i>and</i> among the Manassites.   5
And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the
Ephraimites: and it was <i>so,</i> that when those Ephraimites
which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead
said unto him, <i>Art</i> thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;
  6 Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said
Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce <i>it</i> right.
Then they took him, and slew 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 <i>one of</i> the cities of
Gilead.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xiii-p3">Here is, I. The unreasonable displeasure of
the men of Ephraim against Jephthah, because he had not called them
in to his assistance against the Ammonites, that they might share
in the triumphs and spoils, <scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.11.1" parsed="|Judg|11|1|0|0" passage="Jdg 11:1"><i>v.</i>
1</scripRef>. Pride was at the bottom of the quarrel. Only by that
comes contention. Proud men think all the honours lost that go
beside themselves, and then <i>who can stand before envy?</i> The
Ephraimites had the same quarrel with Gideon (<scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.8.1" parsed="|Judg|8|1|0|0" passage="Jdg 8:1"><i>ch.</i> viii. 1</scripRef>), who was of Manasseh on
their side Jordan, as Jephthah was of Manasseh on the other side
Jordan. Ephraim and Manasseh were hearer akin than any other of the
tribes, being both the sons of Joseph, and yet they were more
jealous one of another than any other of the tribes. Jacob having
crossed hands, and given Ephraim the preference, looking as far
forward as the kingdom of the ten tribes, which Ephraim was the
head of, after the revolt from the house of David, that tribe, not
content with that honour in the promise, was displeased if Manasseh
had any honour done it in the mean time. It is a pity that kindred
or relationship, which should be an inducement to love and peace,
should be ever an occasion (as it often proves) of strife and
discord. <i>A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong
city, and contentions among brethren are as the bars of a
castle.</i> The anger of the Ephraimites at Jephthah was, 1.
Causeless and unjust. Why <i>didst thou not call us to go with
thee?</i> For a good reason. Because it was the men of Gilead that
had made him their captain, not the men of Ephraim, so that he had
no authority to call them. Had his attempt miscarried for want of
their help, they might justly have blamed him for not desiring it.
But when the work was done, and done effectually, the Ammonites
being subdued and Israel delivered, there was no harm done, though
their hands were not employed in it. 2. It was cruel and
outrageous. They get together in a tumultuous manner, pass over
Jordan as far as Mizpeh in Gilead, where Jephthah lived, and no
less will satisfy their fury but they will burn his house and him
in it. <i>Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce.</i> Those
resentments that have the least reason for them have commonly the
most rage in them. Jephthah was now a conqueror over the common
enemies of Israel, and they should have come to congratulate him,
and return him the thanks of their tribe for the good services he
had done; but we must not think it strange if we receive ill from
those from whom we deserve well. Jephthah was now a mourner for the
calamity of his family upon his daughter's account, and they should
have come to condole with him and comfort him; but barbarous men
take a pleasure in adding affliction to the afflicted. In this
world, the end of one trouble often proves the beginning of
another; nor must we ever <i>boast as though we had put off the
harness.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xiii-p4">II. Jephthah's warm vindication of himself.
He did not endeavour to pacify them, as Gideon had done in the like
case; the Ephraimites were now more outrageous than they were them,
and Jephthah had not so much of a meek and quiet spirit as Gideon
had. Whether they would be pacified or no, Jephthah takes care,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xiii-p5">1. To justify himself, <scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.11.2-Judg.11.3" parsed="|Judg|11|2|11|3" passage="Jdg 11:2,3"><i>v.</i> 2, 3</scripRef>. He makes it out that they
had no cause at all to quarrel with him, for, (1.) It was not in
pursuit of glory that he had engaged in this war, but for the
necessary defence of his country, with which the children of Ammon
greatly strove. (2.) He had invited the Ephraimites to come and
join with him, though he neither needed them nor was under any
obligation to pay that respect to them, but they had declined the
service: <i>I called you, and you delivered me not out of their
hands.</i> Had that been true which they charged him with, yet it
would not have been a just ground of quarrel; but it seems it was
false, and, as the matter of fact now appears, he had more cause to
quarrel with them for deserting the common interests of Israel in a
time of need. It is no new thing for those who are themselves most
culpable to be most clamorous in accusing the innocent. (3.) The
enterprise was very hazardous, and they had more reason to pity him
than to be angry with him: <i>I put my life in my hands,</i> that
is, "exposed myself to the utmost peril in what I did, having so
small an army," The honour they envied was bought dearly enough;
they needed not to grudge it to him; few of them would have
ventured so far for it. (4.) He does not take the glory of the
success to himself (that would have been invidious), but gives it
all to God: "<i>The Lord delivered them into my hands.</i> If God
was pleased so far to make use of me for his glory, why should you
be offended at that? Have you any reason to <i>fight against
me?</i> Is not that in effect to fight against God, in whose hand I
have been only an unworthy instrument?"</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xiii-p6">2. When this just answer (though not so
soft an answer as Gideon's) did not prevail to turn away their
wrath, he took care both to defend himself from their fury and to
chastise their insolence with the sword, by virtue of his authority
as Israel's judge. (1.) The Ephraimites had not only quarrelled
with Jephthah, but, when his neighbours and friends appeared to
take his part, they had abused them, and given them foul language;
for I adhere to our translation, and so take it, <scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.11.4" parsed="|Judg|11|4|0|0" passage="Jdg 11:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. They said in scorn, "You
Gileadites that dwell here on the other side Jordan are but
fugitives of Ephraim, the scum and dregs of the tribes of Joseph,
of which Ephraim is the chief, the refuse of the family, and are so
accounted among the Ephraimites and among the Manassites. Who cares
for you? All your neighbours know what you are, no better than
fugitives and vagabonds, separated from your brethren, and driven
hither into a corner." The Gileadites were as true Israelites as
any other, and at this time had signalized themselves, both in the
choice of Jephthah and in the war with Ammon, above all the
families of Israel, and yet are most basely and unjustly called
<i>fugitives.</i> It is an ill thing to fasten names or characters
of reproach upon persons or countries, as is common, especially
upon those that lie under outward disadvantages: it often occasions
quarrels that prove of ill consequence, as it did here. See
likewise what a mischievous thing an abusive tongue is, that calls
ill names, and gives scurrilous language: it <i>sets on fire the
course of nature, and is set on fire of hell</i> (<scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Jas.3.6" parsed="|Jas|3|6|0|0" passage="Jam 3:6">Jam. iii. 6</scripRef>), and many a time cuts the
throat of him that uses it, as it did here, <scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.8" parsed="|Ps|34|8|0|0" passage="Ps 34:8">Ps. lxiv. 8</scripRef>. If these Ephraimites could have
denied themselves the poor satisfaction of calling the Gileadites
<i>fugitives,</i> they might have prevented a great deal of
bloodshed; for <i>grievous words stir up anger,</i> and who knows
how great a matter a little of that fire may kindle? (2.) This
affront raises the Gileadites' blood, and the indignity done to
themselves, as well as to their captain, must be revenged. [1.]
They routed them in the field, <scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Judg.11.4" parsed="|Judg|11|4|0|0" passage="Jdg 11:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. They fought with Ephraim, and,
Ephraim being but a rude unheaded rabble, smote Ephraim, and put
them to flight. [2.] They cut off their retreat, and so completed
their revenge, <scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Judg.11.5-Judg.11.6" parsed="|Judg|11|5|11|6" passage="Jdg 11:5,6"><i>v.</i> 5,
6</scripRef>. The Gileadites, who perhaps were better acquainted
with the passages of Jordan than the Ephraimites were, secured them
with strong guards, who were ordered to slay every Ephraimite that
offered to pass the river. Here was, <i>First,</i> Cruelty enough
in the destruction of them. Sufficient surely was <i>the punishment
which was inflicted by many;</i> when they were routed in the
field, there needed not this severity to cut off all that escaped.
Shall the sword devour for ever? Whether Jephthah is to be praised
for this I know not; perhaps he saw it to be a piece of necessary
justice. <i>Secondly,</i> Cunning enough in the discovery of them.
It seems the Ephraimites, though they spoke the same language with
other Israelites, yet had got a custom in the dialect of their
country to pronounce the Hebrew letter <i>Shin</i> like
<i>Samech,</i> and they had so strangely used themselves to it that
they could not do otherwise, no, not to save their lives. We learn
to speak by imitation; those that first used <i>s</i> for
<i>sh,</i> did it either because it was shorter or because it was
finer, and their children learnt to speak like them, so that you
might know an Ephraimite by it; as in England we know a
west-country man or a north-country man, nay, perhaps a Shropshire
man, and a Cheshire man, by his pronunciation. <i>Thou art a
Galilean, and thy speech betrays thee.</i> By this the Ephraimites
were discovered. If they took a man that they suspected to be an
Ephraimite, but he denied it, they bade him say <i>Shibboleth;</i>
but either he <i>could not,</i> as our translation reads it, or he
did not heed, or frame, or direct himself, as some read, to
pronounce it aright, but said <i>Sibboleth,</i> and so was known to
be an Ephraimite, and was slain immediately. <i>Shibboleth</i>
signifies a <i>river or stream:</i> "Ask leave to go over
Shibboleth, the river." Those that were thus cut off made up the
whole number of slaughtered Ephraimites forty-two thousand,
<scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Judg.11.6" parsed="|Judg|11|6|0|0" passage="Jdg 11:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. Thus another
mutiny of that angry tribe was prevented.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xiii-p7">3. Now let us observe the righteousness of
God in the punishment of these proud and passionate Ephraimites,
which in several instances answered to their sin. (1.) They were
proud of the honour of their tribe, gloried in this, that they were
Ephraimites; but how soon were they brought to be ashamed or afraid
to own their country! <i>Art thou an Ephraimite?</i> No, now rather
of any tribe than that. (2.) They had gone in a rage over Jordan to
burn Jephthah's house with fire, but now they came back to Jordan
as sneakingly as they had passed it furiously, and were cut off
from ever returning to their own houses. (3.) They had upbraided
the Gileadites with the infelicity of their country, lying at such
a distance, and now they suffered by an infirmity peculiar to their
own country, in not being able to pronounce <i>Shibboleth.</i> (4.)
They had called the Gileadites, unjustly, fugitives, and now they
really and in good earnest became fugitives themselves; and in the
Hebrew the same word (<scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.11.5" parsed="|Judg|11|5|0|0" passage="Jdg 11:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>) is used of the Ephraimites that escaped, or that
fled, which they had used in scorn of the Gileadites, calling them
<i>fugitives.</i> He that rolls the stone of reproach unjustly upon
another, let him expect that it will justly return upon
himself.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xiii-p8">III. Here is the end of Jephthah's
government. He judged Israel but six years, and then died,
<scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.11.7" parsed="|Judg|11|7|0|0" passage="Jdg 11:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. Perhaps the
death of his daughter sunk him so that he never looked up
afterwards, but it shortened his days, and he went to his grave
mourning.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jud.xiii-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:Judg.12.8-Judg.12.15" parsed="|Judg|12|8|12|15" passage="Jud 12:8-15" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Judg.12.8-Judg.12.15">
<h4 id="Jud.xiii-p8.3">Jephthah's Successors. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.xiii-p8.4">b. c.</span> 1112.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jud.xiii-p9">8 And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged
Israel.   9 And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters,
<i>whom</i> he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from
abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.   10
Then died Ibzan, and was buried at Bethlehem.   11 And after
him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten
years.   12 And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in
Aijalon in the country of Zebulun.   13 And after him Abdon
the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel.   14 And he
had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten
ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years.   15 And Abdon
the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon
in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xiii-p10">We have here a short account of the short
reigns of three more of the judges of Israel, the first of whom
governed but seven years, the second ten, and the third eight.
<i>For the transgression of a land, many are the princes
thereof,</i> many in a short time, successively (<scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.28.2" parsed="|Prov|28|2|0|0" passage="Pr 28:2">Prov. xxviii. 2</scripRef>), good men being removed in
the beginning of their usefulness and by the time that they have
applied themselves to their business.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xiii-p11">I. Ibzan of Bethlehem, most probably
Bethlehem of Judah, David's city, not that in Zebulun, which is
only mentioned once, <scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.19.15" parsed="|Josh|19|15|0|0" passage="Jos 19:15">Josh. xix.
15</scripRef>. He ruled but seven years, but by the number of his
children, and his disposing of them all in marriage himself, it
appears that he lived long; and probably the great increase of his
family, and the numerous alliances he made, added to his personal
merits, made him the more fit to be either chosen by the people as
Jephthah was, or called of God immediately, as Gideon was, to be
Israel's judge, to keep up and carry on the work of God among them.
That which is remarkable concerning him is, 1. That he had many
children, sixty in all, a quiver full of these arrows. Thus was
Bethlehem of old famous for increase, the very city where <i>he</i>
was to be born whose spiritual seed should be <i>as the stars of
heaven.</i> 2. That he had an equal number of each sex, thirty sons
and thirty daughters, a thing which does not often happen in the
same family, yet, in the great family of mankind, he that at first
made two, male and female, by his wise providence preserves a
succession of both in some sort of equality as far as is requisite
to the keeping up of the generations of men upon earth. 3. That he
took care to marry them all. His daughters he sent abroad, <i>et
maritis dedit,</i> so the vulgar Latin adds—<i>he provided
husbands for them;</i> and, as it were in exchange, and both ways,
strengthening his interest, he <i>took in thirty daughters from
abroad for his sons.</i> The Jews say, Every father owes three
things to his 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. Some are increased, others are diminished:
both are the Lord's doing.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xiii-p12">II. Elon of Zebulun, in the north of
Canaan, was next raised up to preside in public affairs, to
administer justice, and to reform abuses. Ten years he continued a
blessing to Israel, and then died, <scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.11.11-Judg.11.12" parsed="|Judg|11|11|11|12" passage="Jdg 11:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11, 12</scripRef>. Dr. Lightfoot computes
that in the beginning of his time the forty years' oppression by
the Philistines began (spoken of <scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.13.1" parsed="|Judg|13|1|0|0" passage="Jdg 13:1"><i>ch.</i> xiii. 1</scripRef>), and about that time
Samson was born. Probably, his residence being in the north, the
Philistines who bordered upon the southern parts of Canaan took the
opportunity of making incursions upon them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xiii-p13">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 (<scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.11.14" parsed="|Judg|11|14|0|0" passage="Jdg 11:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): 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 (<scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.11.7 Bible:Judg.11.10 Bible:Judg.11.12 Bible:Judg.11.15" parsed="|Judg|11|7|0|0;|Judg|11|10|0|0;|Judg|11|12|0|0;|Judg|11|15|0|0" passage="Jdg 11:7,10,12,15"><i>v.</i> 7, 10,
12, 15</scripRef>), perhaps because the inscriptions upon their
monuments (for such were anciently used, <scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.23.17" parsed="|2Kgs|23|17|0|0" passage="2Ki 23:17">2 Kings xxiii. 17</scripRef>) 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> <scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.2.29" parsed="|Acts|2|29|0|0" passage="Ac 2:29">Acts ii.
29</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="Jud.xiii-p14">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 (<scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.20.28" parsed="|Judg|20|28|0|0" passage="Jdg 20:28">Judg. xx. 28</scripRef>) to Eli, which may well be
computed 250 years; only the names of the high priests at that time
are preserved, <scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.6.4-1Chr.6.7 Bible:Ezra.7.35" parsed="|1Chr|6|4|6|7;|Ezra|7|35|0|0" passage="1Ch 6:4-7,Ezr 7:35">1 Chron. vi.
4-7; and Ezra vii. 3-5</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Jud.xiii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.3.10" parsed="|2Cor|3|10|0|0" passage="2Co 3:10">2 Cor. iii. 10</scripRef>.</p>
</div></div2>