Commentary on Judges Part 3 (No. F007iii)

Chapter 10

Tola and Jair

¹After Abim′elech there arose to deliver Israel Tola the son of Pu′ah, son of Dodo, a man of Is′sachar; and he lived at Shamir in the hill country of E′phraim. ²And he judged Israel twenty-three years. Then he died, and was buried at Shamir. ³After him arose Ja′ir the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years. ⁴And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty asses; and they had thirty cities, called Hav′voth-ja′ir to this day, which are in the land of Gilead. ⁵And Ja′ir died, and was buried in Kamon.

Oppression by the Ammonites

⁶And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Ba′als and the Ash′taroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the Lord, and did not serve him. ⁷And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites, ⁸and they crushed and oppressed the children of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. ⁹And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of E′phraim; so that Israel was sorely distressed. ¹⁰And the people of Israel cried to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against thee, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Ba′als.” ¹¹And the Lord said to the people of Israel, “Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines? ¹²The Sido′nians also, and the Amal′ekites, and the Ma′onites, oppressed you; and you cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand. ¹³Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will deliver you no more. ¹⁴Go and cry to the gods whom you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress.” ¹⁵And the people of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to thee; only deliver us, we pray thee, this day.” ¹⁶So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord; and he became indignant over the misery of Israel. ¹⁷Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead; and the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at Mizpah. ¹⁸And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, “Who is the man that will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

Intent of Chapter 10

Samson and the Judges (No. 073)

10:1-5 Tola and Jair

“After Abimelech, the defender of Israel, was Tola son of Puah of Issachar. He dwelt in Shamir in Mount Ephraim and he judged Israel twenty-three years (Jdg. 10:1-2).

After Tola was Jair, the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years (Jdg. 10:3-4). He had thirty sons who rode on ass’s colts.

The role played by these so-called Minor Judges is listed here and in 12:8-15. The text poses some questions. Some scholars have posited that they may be civil heads of the Israelite confederacy, charged with the custody of traditional law and therefor Judges in the strict sense of the term (see OARSV n.). The word would then have been extended to military heroes of the same period. The term as we have seen in the introduction means to set aright and then rule. The first leaders were in fact military heroes and rulers in that sense.

10:6-12:7 After Jair we then proceed to Jephthah a Transjordanian hero who saves his people from the Ammonites.

10:6-16 is a general introduction

10:17 The Ammonites were a central Transjordan people. They had Rabbath-Ammon (modern Amman) as their capital. The texts place them as the children of Lot (see Lot, Moab, Ammon and Esau (No. 212B)). Gilead was the northern part of Transjordan.

Chapter 11

Jephthah

¹Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a harlot. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. ²And Gilead’s wife also bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they thrust Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall not inherit in our father’s house; for you are the son of another woman.” ³Then Jephthah fled from his brothers, and dwelt in the land of Tob; and worthless fellows collected round Jephthah, and went raiding with him. ⁴After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel. ⁵And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob; ⁶and they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader, that we may fight with the Ammonites.” ⁷But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me, and drive me out of my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in trouble?” ⁸And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight with the Ammonites, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” ⁹Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight with the Ammonites, and the Lord gives them over to me, I will be your head.” ¹⁰And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will be witness between us; we will surely do as you say.” ¹¹So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and leader over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord at Mizpah. ¹²Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, “What have you against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” ¹³And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel on coming from Egypt took away my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore restore it peaceably.” ¹⁴And Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the Ammonites ¹⁵and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites, ¹⁶but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. ¹⁷Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Let us pass, we pray, through your land’; but the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh. ¹⁸Then they journeyed through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and arrived on the east side of the land of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon; but they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab. ¹⁹Israel then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, ‘Let us pass, we pray, through your land to our country.’ ²⁰But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped at Jahaz, and fought with Israel. ²¹And the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them; so Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. ²²And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan. ²³So then the Lord, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them? ²⁴Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all that the Lord our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess. ²⁵Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them? ²⁶While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aro′er and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time? ²⁷I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me; the Lord, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.” ²⁸But the king of the Ammonites did not heed the message of Jephthah which he sent to him. ²⁹Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manas′seh, and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. ³⁰And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and said, “If thou wilt give the Ammonites into my hand, ³¹then whoever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer him up for a burnt offering.” ³²So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them; and the Lord gave them into his hand. ³³And he smote them from Aro′er to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a very great slaughter. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel. ³⁴Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances; she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. ³⁵And when he saw her, he rent his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! you have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me; for I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.” ³⁶And she said to him, “My father, if you have opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to what has gone forth from your mouth, now that the Lord has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.” ³⁷And she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me; let me alone two months, that I may go and wander^[^a^]on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions.” ³⁸And he said, “Go.” And he sent her away for two months; and she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. ³⁹And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had made. She had never known a man. And it became a custom in Israel ⁴⁰that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.

Intent of Chapter 11

Samson and the Judges (No. 073)

Jephthah

“Jephthah was thrust out by the sons of Gilead, his brothers by Gilead’s wife. Machir, the son of Manasseh, was the father of Gilead (Josh. 17:1).

[Gilead was named for the land that the tribe had possessed.]

v. 5 A Hebrew community was governed by a council of elders, the elders.

Thus, the deliverer of Israel here was the illegitimate son of a harlot to Gilead. When [the land of] Gilead was in trouble, the elders turned to him and requested his help and made him head over them (Jdg. 11:9-11).

11:12-28 Jephthah negotiated in vain with the king of Ammon and then subdued the Ammonites.

v. 17 see Num. 20:14-21.

11:19-23 see Num. 21:21-32.

v. 24 The argument was that the lands given to a nation by their God are retained. However, here Chemosh was the god of the Moabites and not the Ammonites whose chief God was Molech or Milcom (1Kgs. 11:5,7).

11:25 Balak see Num. Ch. 22-24.

11:29-33 Jephthah defeats the Ammonites by means of a vow.

v. 29 The spirit of the Lord (see 3:10 n.; 6:34.

It was this Jephthah who vowed his daughter as a sacrifice to the Lord. The Companion Bible assumes that, as a sacrifice was illegal, the text refers to her being made a virgin. The text from Judges 11:34-40 does not indicate that and the Soncino takes the sacrifice as being by no means certain. According to the Talmud (Taan. 4a) and other rabbinic sources, including the Targum, she was indeed sacrificed. Kimchi remarked regarding the text I cannot go back that legally the vow was invalid and could have been annulled. According to the Soncino:

the Midrash Rabbah (Leviticus end) relates that he should have gone to Phinehas or the High Priest should have gone to him and had the vow annulled. Each stood on his dignity and waited for the other to take action, and between the obstinacy of the two the maiden suffered. Both were punished: the Divine Presence departed from Phinehas and leprosy struck Jephthah.

There were however some lapses (2Kgs. 3:27).

The lesson here is that no person is bound in Israel by a vow which breaches God’s law. The failure of the priesthood to act and the individuals to recant is the departure of the Holy Spirit from the individuals involved. The Shekinah will relocate to those showing the fruits of it. The arguments that one is bound to organisations or groups, that contravene the Bible, on the grounds that they once possessed the authority of God through the Holy Spirit, is quite wrong. More importantly, the person who fails to act will die. The disease of leprosy is a wasting disease, which represents the destruction of the spiritual body. The recent arguments relating to loyalty to apostate churches, or corporate structures, is thus quite wrong and lethal, for both the priests who knowingly utter such false statements, and the people who delude themselves in following such advice. Both groups, priests and leaders, will die.

Jephthah also experienced internal war because of his error. All Ephraim gathered together against him and 42,000 of Ephraim were killed at the passages of the Jordan, because they could not pronounce Shibboleth correctly but rather said Sibboleth (Jdg. 12:1-6). Shibboleth means a flowing stream, hence a channel, and also a branch or an ear of corn.”

Chapter 12

Jephthah and Ephraim

¹The men of E′phraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites, and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.” ²And Jephthah said to them, “I and my people had a great feud with the Ammonites; and when I called you, you did not deliver me from their hand. ³And when I saw that you would not deliver me, I took my life in my hand, and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into my hand; why then have you come up to me this day, to fight against me?” ⁴Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought with E′phraim; and the men of Gilead smote E′phraim, because they said, “You are fugitives of E′phraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of E′phraim and Manas′seh.” ⁵And the Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the E′phraimites. And when any of the fugitives of E′phraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an E′phraimite?” When he said, “No,” ⁶they said to him, “Then say Shibboleth,” and he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right; then they seized him and slew him at the fords of the Jordan. And there fell at that time forty-two thousand of the E′phraimites. ⁷Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in his city in Gilead. ⁸After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. ⁹He had thirty sons; and thirty daughters he gave in marriage outside his clan, and thirty daughters he brought in from outside for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years. ¹⁰Then Ibzan died, and was buried at Bethlehem. ¹¹After him Elon the Zeb′ulunite judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years. ¹²Then Elon the Zeb′ulunite died, and was buried at Ai′jalon in the land of Zeb′ulun. ¹³After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pir′athonite judged Israel. ¹⁴He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy asses; and he judged Israel eight years. ¹⁵Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pir′athonite died, and was buried at Pir′athon in the land of E′phraim, in the hill country of the Amal′ekites.

Intent of Chapter 12

12:1-7 Jephthah punishes quarrelsome Ephraimites

v. 1 Ephraim west of the Jordan exhibited a similar contentious spirit in the Gideon account (8:1). Jephthah, unlike Gideon (in 8:2-3) decided to fight fire with fire, unlike the gentle words of Gideon.

12:4 Gilead lay between the tribes of Ephraim on the west, and Manasseh both East and West of the Jordan.

v. 5 The Ephraimites tried to slip back to their own lands via the fords of the Jordan.

v. 6 Ephraimite dialect in Hebrew had a specific inability to pronounce the sh sound as in Shibboleth meaning a head of grain and hence they paid for it dearly.

Ibzan, Elon and Abdon

Samson and the Judges (No. 073)

“Ibzan of Bethlehem, seven years. He had thirty sons and thirty daughters and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons (Jdg. 12:8-10). This represents the inner council.

Elon of Zebulun, ten years (Jdg. 12:11).

Abdon, son of Hillel the Pirathonite of Ephraim, eight years. He had forty sons and thirty nephews that rode on seventy ass’s colts (Jdg. 12:13-14). This represents the total council of the seventy restored.

After this, the children of Israel sinned and the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years, as He had done previously under the Moabites (Jdg. 13:1). During this period, Samson was judge. The last two judges are taken up in 1Samuel where Eli and Samuel were the last judges of Israel. Samuel was prophet and judge in Israel, who ordained Saul and served under him, but he was not technically one of the twelve judges. On the death of Eli, the kingship commenced.”

Chapter 13

The Birth of Samson

¹And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. ²And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Mano′ah; and his wife was barren and had no children. ³And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have no children; but you shall conceive and bear a son ⁴Therefore beware, and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, ⁵for lo, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from birth; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁶Then the woman came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his countenance was like the countenance of the angel of God, very terrible; I did not ask him whence he was, and he did not tell me his name;⁷but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son; so then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from birth to the day of his death.’” ⁸Then Mano′ah entreated the Lord, and said, “O, Lord, I pray thee, let the man of God whom thou didst send come again to us, and teach us what we are to do with the boy that will be born.” ⁹And God listened to the voice of Mano′ah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field; but Mano′ah her husband was not with her. ¹⁰And the woman ran in haste and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.” ¹¹And Mano′ah arose and went after his wife, and came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to this woman?” And he said, “I am.” ¹²And Mano′ah said, “Now when your words come true, what is to be the boy’s manner of life, and what is he to do?” ¹³And the angel of the Lord said to Mano′ah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her beware. ¹⁴She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing; all that I commanded her let her observe.” ¹⁵Mano′ah said to the angel of the Lord, “Pray, let us detain you, and prepare a kid for you.” ¹⁶And the angel of the Lord said to Mano′ah, “If you detain me, I will not eat of your food; but if you make ready a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord.” (For Mano′ah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.) ¹⁷And Mano′ah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?” ¹⁸And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” ¹⁹So Mano′ah took the kid with the cereal offering, and offered it upon the rock to the Lord, to him who works^[^a wonders.²⁰And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar while Mano′ah and his wife looked on; and they fell on their faces to the ground. ²¹The angel of the Lord appeared no more to Mano′ah and to his wife. Then Mano′ah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. ²²And Mano′ah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.” ²³But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a cereal offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these.” ²⁴And the woman bore a son, and called his name Samson; and the boy grew, and the Lord blessed him. ²⁵And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Ma′haneh-dan, between Zorah and Esh′ta-ol.

Intent of Chapter 13

Samson and the Judges (No. 073)

“The deliverance of Israel was ordained by the Angel of Yahovah. The Angel is identified as Christ (see the papers The Elect as Elohim (No. 001); The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243) and The Angel of YHVH (No. 024)). Samson was set aside from birth as being holy to the Lord. This is the predestination of the elect from the foundation of the world. The inheritance of Dan was to judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel (Gen. 49:16) and Samson was the first and major example of this aspect. However, this prophecy was not fulfilled in Samson. There was also a city of Dan in northern Palestine in the time of Abraham (Gen. 14:14), which is different from the Laish renamed Dan by the Danites. This old area was in the north of Gilead. Judges 18:30 refers to the idolatry of Dan. The inclusion of Dan with Ephraim in Revelation 7:4 as the tribe of Joseph, is sometimes seen as a punishment for the first tribe to enter idolatry (see also Deut. 29:18-21; Lev. 24:10-16; 1Kgs. 12:30; 2Kgs. 10:29). It is a joining of the tribe with Ephraim in the last days to enable Levi to enter the 144,000 as a priesthood.

13:8-18 “The establishment of the judge as a Nazirite from birth, is a mark also of the elect. The vows of Nazirite were, in effect, no longer necessary from Messiah who was not himself a Nazirite. From the Bible record, at no stage in Christ’s ministry did he take the vows of a Nazirite. The education of Samson was also under direction.

The term wonderful (translated as secret in the KJV seemingly to disguise the relationship) is a name of the Messiah from Isaiah 9:6.

The vows of the Nazirite under the law in early Israel, were for specific periods. The OARSV n. says that they were reportedly taken for life. See also chapter 16:17. From the law as in Numbers 6:1-21 they were for shorter agreed periods as contained in the law. Here God directs that it is for life. Samson means sunlight and, through the light of the world, justice is given to Israel. The Spirit of the Lord was the means by which Samson was given power. Samson’s hair was merely the outward or physical sign, given as a manifestation of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

v. 14 Even the eating of grapes was forbidden as they were the chief symbol of the religion of the Canaanites (Num. 6:4-5).

The Danites were encamped at Mahaneh-Dan or the camp of Dan which is in Kirjath-jearim in Judah. From there they went into Ephraim and removed the teraphim and idols from the house of Micah and established Laish and set up Micah’s graven image in the house of God all the time that it was at Shiloh and Jonathan the son of Gershom the son of Manasseh the Levite, and his sons were priests there (Jdg. 18:12-13, 30-31).

v. 17 The knowledge of God's name was necessary so he could be reached again when desired (comp. Gen. 32:29).

v. 25 Spirit of the Lord (see 3:10 n and 14:6,19).

Samson Marries

The first instance we have of Samson is where he requests a wife of the Philistines and demands that his parents get her for him. Marriage was arranged by the parents and especially the father (Gen. 21:21; 24:4; 34:8; Ex. 21:9; see Soncino, Daath Mikra). The marriage arranged by the father is representative of the giving of the elect in marriage to Christ. According to the Soncino, the rabbis held that before the marriage the woman would have become a proselyte, as it was unthinkable that a Nazirite should live with a heathen (Kimchi on 12:4, Metsudath David). The reality is that all the elect were Gentiles called out of a heathen system and prepared for marriage through the Holy Spirit with Messiah a judge epitomised here as Judge of Dan who is judge of Israel as a tribe hence physically judge of judges.”

Bullinger’s Notes on Chs. 10-13 (for KJV)

Chapter 10

Verse 1

defend = save or deliver.

mount = hill country.

Verse 2

twenty, &c. See note on Judges 9:22 .

Verse 3

twenty. See note, App-50 .

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 . Ashtaroth, plural = the Ashtoreths. Compare Judges 2:11-13 .

gods of Syria. Genesis 35:3-6 .

gods of Zidon. 1 Kings 11:5 (Baal, Astarte).

gods of Moab. Judges 11:24 (Chemosh). 1 Kings 11:33 (Milcom or Molech).

gods of the Philistines: e.g. Dagon (Judges 16:23 ).

Verse 8

vexed and oppressed = brake and crushed. See note on Judges 10:3 , above.

Verse 10

our God. Hebrew. Elohim ( App-4 ). Some codices, with Aramaean, Septuagint, and Vulgate, read "Jehovah our God".

Verse 12

Maonites. Compare 2 Chronicles 26:7 , 2 Chronicles 26:8 . A mixture of Moabites and Ammonites = the two words combined.

Verse 13

Yet. Compare Deuteronomy 32:16 . Jeremiah 2:13 .

Verse 14

Go. Figure of speech Eironeia (Divine Irony). App-6 .

ye have chosen. Compare Deuteronomy 32:37 , Deuteronomy 32:38 . Jeremiah 2:28 .

Verse 16

strange gods = gods of strangers or foreigners.

His soul = He (emph.) Hebrew. nephesh ( App-13 ). Attributed by Figure of speech Anthropopatheia to God ( App-6 ).

Verse 17

gathered = gathered by proclamation. Note the extended alternation in this verse "children, gathered, encamped".

Chapter 11

Verse 1

Jephthah = He will deliver. Note the Fig, Epanadiplosis ( App-6 ), to call attention to the facts of this verse, introducing Jephthah. All was irregular: no king, no judge, no priest.

Gileadite = son of the man Gilead.

man. Hebrew. gibbor. App-14 .

Verse 2

strange = foreign.

Verse 3

from. Hebrew "from the face of". Figure of speech Pleonasm. App-6 .

Tob = fruitful land. East of Syria.

vain = unemployed, or bankrupt.

Verse 4

children = sons.

Verse 9

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 .

Verse 10

be witness = be a hearer.

Verse 11

with. Some codices, with three early printed editions, read "unto".

before the LORD = in the presence of Jehovah.

in Mizpeh. Compare Judges 10:17 .

Verse 15

And said. A special reading ( Sevir , App-34 ) and some codices read "and they said". Hebrew text = he.

Verse 17

me. Most codices, with Syriac, read "us" as in Judges 11:19 . Compare Numbers 20:14 .

Verse 18

Went along = went on.

but came not. Compare Numbers 21:13 , Numbers 21:24 .

Verse 19

Israel sent. Compare Deuteronomy 2:26 .

us. Compare Judges 11:17 and Deuteronomy 2:27 .

Verse 20

trusted = stayed or rested on. See App-69 .

coast = border.

Verse 23

shouldest thou . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis.

it = him: i.e. Israel. Being masculine (in Hebrew), cannot refer to the land of Judges 11:21 ; and singular, so that it cannot refer to coasts of Judges 11:22 .

Verse 24

Wilt not thou . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis . Jephthah does not recognize Chemosh as a god. The emphasis is on "thy" and "our", and is the argument a fortiori : and, taking them on their own ground, it is the argumentum ad hominem.

Verse 25

art thou. ? Figure of speech Erotesis. Compare Numbers 22:2 .Deuteronomy 23:4 .Joshua 24:9 .

Verse 26

three hundred years. Not a "round number". See App-50 .

Verse 29

the Spirit. Hebrew. ruach (feminine.) See App-9 .

unto. This word is read in the text of some codices with Aramaean, Syriac, and Vulgate.

Verse 30

vowed a vow. Figure of speech Polyptoton ( App-6 ) = made a solemn vow. See notes on Leviticus 27:1-8 .

Verse 31

whatsoever. This is masculine. But the issuer from his house was feminine. Thus his rash vow was impossible of fulfillment, and was to be repented of.

and = or. The Hebrew ( Vav ) is a connective Particle, and is rendered in many different ways. It is also used as a disjunctive, and is often rendered "or" (or, with a negative, "nor"). See Genesis 41:44 .Exodus 20:4 ; Exodus 21:15 , Exodus 21:17 , Exodus 21:18 . Numbers 16:14 ; Numbers 22:26 (Revised Version "nor"); Deuteronomy 3:24 . 2 Samuel 3:29 . 1Ki 18:10 , 1 Kings 18:27 . With a negative = "nor", "neither". Exodus 20:17 . Deu 7:25 . 2 Samuel 1:21 .Psalms 26:9 . Proverbs 6:4 ; Proverbs 30:3 , &c. See note on "but", 1 Kings 2:9 . Here, Jephthah's vow consisted of two parts: (1) He would either dedicate it to Jehovah (according to Leviticus 27:0 ); or (2) if unsuitable for this, he would offer it as a burnt offering. He performed his vow, and dedicated his daughter to Jehovah by a perpetual virginity (verses: Judges 11:36 , Judges 11:39 , Judges 11:40 ); but he did not offer her as a burnt offering, because it was forbidden by Jehovah, and could not be accepted by Him (Judges 18:21 ; Judges 20:2-5 ).

Verse 34

timbrels = drums. See note on Exodus 15:20 .

beside her. Figure of speech Pleonasm. App-6 . The fact is stated in two ways, in order to emphasize it.

Verse 35

opened my mouth. Hebraism for making a formal, prepared, and solemn statement.

Verse 37

go up and down = wander about.

Verse 39

did with her according to his vow which he had vowed = He did not offer her as a burnt offering; for Jehovah could not accept th a t . Therefore Jephthah must have dedicated her to the LORD by a perpetual virginity. Such a vow was provided for in Leviticus 27:0 . See note on Judges 11:31 .

and she knew no man. This is conclusive. It has nothing to do with a sacrificial death, but it has to do with a dedicated life to Jehovah. Thus was Jephthah's vow fulfilled.

And it was = and it became.

Verse 40

to lament = to rehearse with, as in Judges 5:11 ; to celebrate [her dedication] in praises.

four days in a year. Thus annually her friends "went", evidently to Jephthah's daughter, to rehearse with her this great event of her life: not of her death.

Chapter 12

Verse 1

children = sons.

Verse 3

my life = my soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 .

Verse 4

and. This "and" is read in the text in some codices, with two early printed editions, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate.

Verse 5

passages = fords.

Verse 6

frame = take heed, give attention.

forty and two thousand = 40 + 2,000 = 2,040. The whole tribe numbered only 32,500 at previous census (Numbers 26:37 ; see note on Judges 7:3 ), and that was less than the first numbering (Numbers 1:33 ). Only 1,000 from each tribe formed the army. Numbers 31:4 , Numbers 31:6 .

Verse 7

judged. First, deliverance; then rule.

buried in one of the cities. City unnamed. Memory not honoured, though mentioned in Hebrews 11:32 ; yet the last name in that list.

Verse 14

nephews = grandsons.

Verse 15

mount = hill country.

Chapter 13

Verse 1

children = sons.

did evil again = Hebrew added to commit.

evil. Hebrew. ra'a'. App-44 .

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 .

forty years. 1120-1080.

Verse 2

man. Hebrew. 'ish. App-4 .

Verse 3

the Angel = Messenger. From verses: Judges 13:18 , Judges 13:19 , Judges 13:22 , the same that appeared to Gideon (Judges 6:12 ).

Verse 4

drink. Compare Numbers 6:2 , Numbers 6:3 .

Verse 5

lo. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6 .

the child. Hebrew. na'ar.

a Nazarite unto God = one separate unto Elohim.

Verse 6

A Man. Hebrew. 'ish. App-14 . This was according to the woman's apprehension.

God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4 .

countenance = appearance.

terrible = awe-inspiring.

Verse 8

my LORD* = ' Ad ona*. Should be "Jehovah". This is one of the 134 changes indicated in the Massorah. App-32 .

Verse 9

God = The God: ha-'Elohim. App-4 .

came. Some codices, with three early printed editions, read "appeared".

Verse 10

And. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton ( App-6) in this verse.

Verse 12

How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him? Hebrew "What shall be the rule of (Genitive of relation = concerning) the boy, and what shall be his work? "

Verse 14

commanded = forbade. The verb zivvah is a Homonym here and Deuteronomy 4:23 , where it is correctly rendered "forbid". Elsewhere "command".

Verse 15

a kid = a kid of the goats.

Verse 16

bread. Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Species). App-6 . Put for all kinds of food.

offer = prepare. App-43 .

offer it = cause it to ascend. App-43 .

Verse 18

secret. Hebrew wonderful. Same as Isaiah 9:6 .

Verse 19

wonderously = a wonderful thing.

Verse 20

the flame went up. See note on Genesis 4:4 .

the altar. The rock is deemed the altar.

Verse 23

received. It is the acceptance of our Substitute by God which saves, not our acceptance of Him. This was sound reasoning.

Verse 24

called his name = called him. Figure of speech Pleonasm. App-6 .

grew. Israel waited twenty years for deliverance. Compare Judges 15:20 ; Judges 16:31 .

Verse 25

the Spirit. Hebrew. ruach. App-9 .

began. They had yet to wait. Compare Judges 15:20 .

move him = stir him with trouble. See Genesis 41:8 . Psalms 77:3 .Daniel 2:1 , Daniel 2:3 .

at times = to and fro.

the camp of Dan , where Israel lay in a fortified place. Compare Judges 18:12 .

Eshtaol. On the borders of Judah.

PO Box 369, WODEN ACT 2606, AUSTRALIA