8 And Iosua the Sonne of Nun the seruaunt of the Lorde dyed when he was an hundred and ten yeares olde 9 And they buryed him in the border of hys inheritance in Thimnath-Heres in mount Ephraim on the North syde of the hyl Gaas 10 And euen so also all that generation were put vnto their fathers and ther arose an other generation after them which neither knew the Lord nor yet the woorke which he had done for Israel Iosua lyued not so long tyme as dyd Moyses Iosua lyued not so long as Moyses whom he by the commaundement of the Lord succeded for Moyses was an .120 yeares old whē he dyed But the same thinges which we reade in this place concerning the death and buriall of Iosua are by as many wordes expressed in his own booke the .24 chap. The place wher they buryed him namely in mount Ephraim was his owne possession For of that Tribe came Iosua The Elders had sepulchers in theyr owne possessions And the Elders prouided to haue Funeralles and Sepulchres in their owne possessions For which cause it is written in the booke of Iosua towarde the ende that the bones of Ioseph which the Israelites brought with them out of Egipt were buryed in Sichem in that fielde I saye which Iacob had assigned as proper vnto Ioseph And it followeth Eleazer also the sonne of Aaron dyed whom they buryed in a hyll that pertayned to Phinehes his sonne which hil was geuen him in mount Ephraim But as touchyng the name of the Citye in that it is here called Thimnath-Haeres R. Selomoh Why the figure of the sun was set vpon the sepulchre of Iosua Rabi Selomoh toward the end of the booke of Iosua wryteth that Thimnath is as much as Temunath which is an Image And for so much as Chaeres signifieth the Sunne it declareth that the Chyldren of Israel placed the Image of the Sunne vpon the Sepulchre of Iosua that it myghte remayne as a monument of the myracle by hym wrought For he commaunded the Sunne and the Moone to stande styll vntil he had finished the battaile That therfore so noble a worke might not be had in obliuion he supposeth that his tombe was adourned with those tokens That this woord Chaeres signifieth the Sunne Esay the .19 chap. and Iob the .9 doo testifye Howbeit this is to be considered in the booke of Iosua that the name of this place doth vary For in the booke of Iosua it is wrytten Timuna Serech D. Kimhi which yet R. D. Kimhi thinketh to be al one the letters beyng somwhat transposed which is a familiar and a thing much vsed in the hebrewe toung as they that are learned in the same wel know It is lawfull to set foorth the benefites of god by certain tokens and outwarde signes Neither was it absurdly or wickedly done of the Israelites so to adourne the tombe of Iosua For it is meete that the benefites of God be set forth by tokens and certain monumentes They had not at that tyme the aboundaunce and vse of bookes which we haue And therfore they vsed certain outwarde Symboles and tokens to helpe and to renewe their memorye Iacob erected a stone in the place where he had sene God Moyses dyd set vp twelue pyllers there where he made a league betwene God and the people The same was done also when the people were passed ouer Iordane for they gathered twelue stones out of the chanell of the riuer which should be a token to their posteritye that God had by a great miracle dried vp the waters of Iordan when they passed ouer it For by reason of our naturall ingratitude we do easely forgette the benifites of god wherfore yf the figure of the sunne were set vpon the tombe of Iosua to testifye the miracle wherin god at the prayers of Iosuah had cōmaunded it to stand that therby the hebrewes might by his conduicte and leading obtayne a perfect and noble victorie this I say semeth not to be done ether vngodly or absurdely for the Image of the Sunne was not therfore put ther to bee worshipped neither wer there any holly assemblyes in that place A godly magistrate wonderfully profiteth the safety of the people wherin yt was Hereby it appeareth how a good and godly magistrate may wonderfully profite the healthe of the people For the Israelites departed not frō the worshipping of god so long as Iosua and the wyse and godly senatours lyued Aptly therfore is it wrytten in the Prouerbes the .29 chap When the vngodly beare rule the people mourne And in the same booke .20 chap a wyse king destroyeth the wicked And in the 29. a iuste king setteth vp the land Reason also sheweth that it is so for the people do therfore endeuour them selues to please their princes to fynd the more fauour at their handes and therefore they frame them selues to their maners and fashions And also bicause the people is by lawes and decrees compelled to obey the will and sentence of the princes They which dye ar sayde to be adioyned vnto the fathers They wer put vnto their fathers It is a kind of speche much vsed in the scriptures that they which do dye ar sayed to be adioyned to their fathers For as touching the bodye they ar buried with them and as concerning the soule they ar adioyned vnto them For if they haue lyued godly they lyue with their holy elders but yf vngodly they ar tormēted with their wicked progenitours if thei haue had any suche Howe some are sayde not to knowe the lord And there arose an other generation after them which knew not the lorde Not vndoubtedlye that any of them wer so rude that altogether they knew not god For the constante administration of the world the vndisturbed order of thynges do testifie crye that ther is a god But this knowledge wherof the history now speaketh is vnderstand to be that which hath annexed with it allowing Augustine fayth and obedience And they are thus sayd to be ignorant of god bycause they obeyed him not they did not put their hope and confidence in hym nether wer they zelouse to worshippe hym purelye and sincerely Augustine in his questions vpon this booke the 15. question affirmeth that it is playnely expressed in what sort the Israelites knew not god namely in those excellent and wonderful workes by which their elders came vnto the knowledge of the lord We rede also of Pharao that he as it is writtē in Exodus answered vnto Moyses that he knewe not the God of the Hebrues and the Lord eyther bicause he was not minded to hearken vnto his commaundements or els though after a sorte he knewe him yet he knewe not by certaine proofe that he was the God of the Hebrewes 11 And the children of Israel dyd euyll in the syght of the Lorde and serued Baalim 12 And they forsooke the Lorde the God of their Fathers whych brought them out of the
such dishonor and thincking with thē selues by that meanes to stay the flight they thrust them selues into the thickest of their enemies setting before them the shewe of their vowe and religion So that by that meanes the harts of the soldiours in maner discouraged might be called agayne more fiersly to fight with their enemyes But we are taught by the holy Scriptures that when we either see or heare of any that are conquerours or els are slayne in battailes we must by and by ascribe vnto God al that whiche is or hath ben done who after the most accustomed phrase of the holy Scriptures is sayd to deliuer them whiche are ouercome into the handes of their enemies God without any iniury deliuereth some in to the hādes of their enemies The Chananites were defiled with moste detestable wicked dedes When it is sayd that any are deliuered of God into the handes of their enemyes we must thincke that that is done without any iniurye And as touchyng this place we know that those nations of the Chananites were full of most heynous wickednesse and for that cause god punished them most iustly Whiche cause is confirmed by that whiche we read in the booke of Genesis where God bringeth a reason why he held the posteritie of Abraham so lōg tyme in Egipt namely bycause the sinnes of the Chananites were not yet full God punisheth the vngodly with two kindes of punishmentes And this is not to be forgottē that God vseth according to his iustice to deliuer synners to be punished two manner of wayes or to two sortes of enemies For sometymes he doth this in geuing them ouer to be vexed with lustes and filthy affections as to certein furyes of hell Augustine God punisheth synnes with synnes And that is it which Augustine oftentimes sayth that sinnes are punished with sinnes So Pharao hys vnfaythfulnesse and cruelty was punished by hardning stubbornesse of harte And Idolaters as Paul teacheth to the Romaines were geuen ouer of god to their owne filthy lust so that they most vylie contamined thē selues with most horrible sinnes But bycause this kynde of punishement is not sene nor felte of mad men as it is mete god therfore deliuereth the vngodly into the handes of straunge enemies to be vexed and at the length vtterly to be destroyed And that this order was obserued with the Chananites the Scripture manifestly teacheth for they were not onely addicted to Idoles but as it is written in the xviii xx chap. of Leuit They miserably defiled them selues with incestes most filthy lustes They were first therfore deliuered of God into a reprobate sense and then were they deliuered to theyr enemies the Hebrues of whō they were spoyled both of their life and also of their most riche kingdome God deliuered them into their handes That is into their power This is not onely an Hebrew phrase but also a latine for we say This is my hande that is it lyeth in my power And they smote them in Bezek to the number of ten thousand men To smite is here to kill And seing that the hoste of the Chananites was great there were nowe slayne of it but onely ten thousand men we must thincke that the rest fled awaye in whiche flight as afterwarde shal be declared Adonibezek was taken But where as these two wordes Chananites and Pherezites are ioyned together in this place They are thus to be taken that if thou vnderstande the Chananites after the common signification wherin were cōprehended those 7. or 9. nations then this name Pherezites should be added bycause of interpretation that by it might be expounded that whiche before was not expressed in the word Chananites But if by this word Chananites we shall vnderstand any one especial or peculiar people of those nations then must we say that that host was gathered of both the peoples of the Chananites I say and the Pherezites 5 And they founde Adonibezek in Bezek they fought agaynste him and slewe the Chananites and Pherezites 6 And Adonibezek fled and they followed after him caught him and cut of the thombes of his handes and of his feete 7 And Adonibezek sayd 70 kynges hauing the thombes of theyr handes and feete cut of gathered their meat vnder my table As I haue done so God hath done to me agayne and they brought hym to Ierusalem and there he died c. After mencion made of the victorye it is here more expressed by partes for the place of the battaile is expressed namely Bezek Bezek but where this Bezek should lye it is not very certain For there was a certaine Bezek whiche was a city belonging to the tribe of Manasses whiche was situate 17. myle from Sichem as ye go to Bethsan Ierome And Ierome testifieth that in his tyme there were two Townes which were called by this name And it is not very likely that Iuda and Symeon would passe with their hoste to the tribe of Manasses whē their purpose was only to ridde the Chananites out of their owne lottes Vnlesse peraduenture that king whiche was called Adonibezek althoughe his kyngdome were in the tribe of Manasse claymed and vsurped by violent tyranny many places in the inheritaunce of Iudah and Simeon This kyng had prepared an hoste to go agaynst Iudah and Simeon and to let them from recouering of their own Which thing being knowen Iudah and Symeon made towarde him that he should not entre into their borders Wherfore it chaunced that they fought with him not farre frō his kingly citie Bezek or els it is to be thought that this Bezek was a certain citie either in the tribe of Iudah or els of Simeon wherof is no mencion made in any other place Malchisedech Adonisedech This kyng was called Adoni-bezek whiche is a compounde name wherin the leter Iod is placed betwene two wordes as Malchi-sedech Adoni-sedech euē as R. Selomo testifieth This king semeth to haue fled for that he sawe his hoste both slayne to the number of ten thousande men and to turne their backes and flye he would therfore saue him selfe by flight but he was brought backe agayn by the Israelites and suffred most grieuous punishement as he had iustely deserued Bohan Behonoth For they cut of the thombes both of his handes and of his feete This word Bohan signifieth in the Hebrew a thombe it is in the feminine gender wherfore it is said in the plurall nomber Behonoth Although R. Dauid Kimhi do interprete that worde into fyngers and the Chaldey paraphrast doth interprete it anckles And Adoni-bezek said 70 kings This tyranne acknowledgeth the iudgement of God but whether he spake this of true faith or pure repentaunce it can not be knowen by the wordes of our history But it is most lykely bycause he called not vpon God implored not his mercy neither shewed any tokens of true conuersion The law of rēdring lyke for lyke that rather anguish did extorte from him
before the Lord Beniamin was caught which R. Selomo expounding ascribeth the same place to Lottes and sayth that the names of euery tribe were fyrst writen in scrolles and hurled into a certayne potte out of the which they were afterwarde drawen by the hand of the Prophet This is his iudgement Although R. D. Kimhi thinketh the that iudgement was geuen by Vrim and Thumim But howsoeuer it was it skilleth not much for no man ought to doubte but that there were lots vsed at that tyme. For Salomon sayth that lots were caste into a pet and gouerned by god Yea and the promysed lande of Chanaan was no otherwise deuided vnto the people thā by lots But by what meanes in what places or after what sort they were had it is no place here to declare It were to long to tell what Vrim and Thumim properly were R. D. Kimhi speaketh aboundauntly of that matter in the booke which we now haue in handes when he expoundeth the history of the concubine reuenged agaynst the Gabaonites And I will set forth an other time in a more fytte place what it should seme to be The manner to aske counsell of Gods hand was before the lawe geuen Neyther dyd thys custome for asking councell of God florysh only in the tyme of Moyses law but also in the patriarches tyme. For we learne in the booke of Genesis that Rebecka desyred an oracle The heathen also asked councell eyther of theyr Prophetes or els of their southsayers The heathen had their oracles and diuinations Balak king of the Moabites called vnto hym Balaam They had moreouer Sibelles and Delphos Apollo and Iupiter Amnō and were euer to much geuen to diuinations but such as were corrupted and false Only amongest the Hebrues wherof we are certayne the maner of oracles was pure Bycause God was knowen onely in Iudea as Dauid hath song Why Iosua deuided the lande not yet possessed Moreouer it is demaunded why Iosua deuided the land to the .xii. tribes at the cōmaūdement of God whē as he had not at that time conquered the same I answer he dyd it that he myght leaue a testimoniall howe certayne they oughte to be of those things which God had promised them namely that they myght be as certayne of the possession of that lande whiche was promised them as if they had it already in theyr hands It would seme to haue bene folyshly done if the obtayning of that land should haue bene hoped for eyther by chaunce or by mannes strength Cesar or els by warlyke power For the which cause Cesar in his Comment doth not vnworthily laugh wonder at the madnesse of the Pompeians whiche when they had not yet fought would yet bargayne among themselues in their tentes concerning the diuision of priesthoodes dignities patrimonies Cesars goods But thys distribution of the Hebrues which was ordayned by the commaundement of god could not be frustrate And moreouer the Israelites when that partitiō was made by Iosua had obtained alredy many victories had possession of a great deale of the land Besides these things this ordinance was very profitable for this purpose to take away frō the tribes controuersies for the limits of their land Yea and thei made war in better order after that euery tribe knew who were their enemies that they should fyght agaynst And finally when as profite and rewards for labours are set forth they do not a litle stirre vp men stoutly to venter vpon any daunger and labour By the same counsell vndoubtedly hath Christ our sauiour the sonne of god geuen vs alreadye eternall lyfe although we haue it presently but only begonne For we must labor wrestle very much before we come thither although the fight be not vncertaine to them which put their trust in God There are three causes alledged Why God destroyed not by and by all the Chananites why God would not by and by destroye all the Israelites enemies out of the lande of Chanaan The fyrste is bycause the Iewes at the beginning wer not so many in numbre as coulde inhabite all the land So that by that meanes if all the Chananites should haue bene destroyed most part of the land should haue lyen waste Whereby many and sundry wilde beastes wherewith the regions in the East abound would maruelouslye haue encreased destroyed the possessions and brought no small damage and destruction to the Hebrewes This reason is alledged of God hym selfe in Exodus An other cause was that the Hebrewes myght throughly learne to fyght and to be expert in warres agaynst their enemyes and they coulde not doo that neyther in Egipt nor yet in the wyldernes The thyrd cause was that they might therfore feare God more and more for they vnderstandyng that they obtayned victories and possession of the lande as long as they obserued their religion and contrarywyse how they were oppressed with most greuous misfortunes troubles and miseries when they forsooke the obedience and woorshipping of God they myght at the least by thys meanes be styrred vp not to faynt from theyr fathers lawes and most holy ordinaunces of God I would to God the same causes especially the two latter whych are described in the thyrde chapter of thys booke myght teache vs why God wyl haue them whych are hys to be subiect in thys lyfe to so greuous and so many temptacions namely that by fyghtyng and wrastlyng we myght be exercised wyth fruite and profytte callyng vpon God continually But why God chose the tribe of Iudah The prayse of the tribe of Iudah to begynne the battayle first against the enemyes many reasons may be alledged Fyrst that tribe was very populous of great force valiaunt of courage warlyke and verye experte therein Whych neuertheles I speake not as thoughe the election of God were moued by these gyftes yea rather in that poynt the cleane contrarye is to be affirmed namely that thys trybe was therefore valiaunt and warlyke bycause God himselfe had destinied it to exercise those offices Neyther is it to be doubted The election of god tarieth not for our gyftes and vertues but that both valiauntnes and warlyke strength are hys giftes But that reason whych I haue declared is thus to be vnderstand that these excellent gyftes which wer freely geuen of God to the tribe of Iudah made it apt to begynne the battayle fyrst against the enemies Neyther had it this kind of office cōmitted vnto it only at this present but also afterward when they should make war against that Beniamites God being asked counsel of decreed that marchyng forwarde to battail should be by the tribe of Iudah to geue to it that it might be as it were a chiefe captayne to all the other Israelites In the booke of Numbers for pytching the Campes it had the chiefe place Also the kinglye power was attributed vnto it by the oracle of Iacob And as the Hebrewes write it was the fyrst of al the rest that passed
For there are haue bene very many which haue maried wiues cleane without any dowery yea those mē of so great honestye and authoritie that it should seme very rash to condemne their fact seing the holy scriptures are not against it neither do I iudge that matrimony should by any meanes be denied to those womē which are without dowery if thei haue nede of matrimonye Paule furthermore testifyeth the matrimonye shadoweth the coniunction of Christ with the church wherfore if we should loke vpō the truth the church had nothing which it could offer vnto Christ in the name of a dowry yea rather as Ezechiel teacheth God found it rolled in bloud and myre The fathers in the old testament seme to haue had wiues sometimes withoute dowries Wherfore it semeth to be decreed the men may and that it is lawfull to receaue doweryes when they are geuen that the same custome is honest so that the iust meane be not exceded and he which marieth be not allured to matrimony by the name of the dowery as the principall cause The manners and godlinesse of the wyfe ought chiefly to be regarded neither ought any man by and by to persuade himself If I shal marry a wife without a dowery I shall therefore haue her the better and the quieter Ierome The wyfe of Law seing as Ierome declareth in his fyrst booke against Iouinian Cato Censorius had Actoria Paula to wyfe who was borne of a base kinred who was poore also and without a dowerye and yet for all that shew as a dronckard weake and proud vnto the same Cato 16 And the children of Keni Moyses father in lawe went vp oute of the citye of the Palme trees with the children of Iudah into the wildernesse of Iudah that lieth in the south of Arad and went and dwelt among the people In the conquering the citie of Hebron and Debir there is mention made also of the children of Moyses father in law they were Ethniks in dede by kinde Of the Kenites but they wer ioyned with the Israelites in will and fayth from whō also in the fyrst ofspring of kinred they wer not straungers for as much as they came of Madian the sonne of Abraham by his wyfe Keturah And the same Kenites constantly abode with the Hebrues tyll theyr captiuitye into Babilon for as much as the Rechabites came of the Kenites as it is written in the booke of Paralipomenon But why they were called Kenites it is vncertaine But some thinke that it came of this bycause the sonne of Iethro namely Hobab the brother of Moyses wife was called Kin by an other name He therfore in the beginning with his familye dwelled together with the Beniamites in the fieldes of Iericho when the Israelites passing ouer Iordane vnder Iosua possessed the city of Iericho But after when they sawe that the tribe of Iudah possessed the cityes of Hebron Debir they went vnto thē and dwelt more cōmodiously in the plaine of Harad although they had no certayne houses but liued continually as it were in tentes The citie of Palmes Although some suspecte the citie of Palmes to haue bene Engaddi yet moste part of the expositours interprete it to be Iericho with whom Iosephus de Antiquit Hebr. agreeth and also Paraphrastes Caldaicus yea and the booke of Deut in the xxxiiii chap. testifyeth the same For as much as that citie had a notable groue of Palmes of a hundred furlongs Strabo which thing Strabo also testifyeth And yet we may not thinke that the Kenites reedifyed the citie of Iericho for it was accursed by the commaundement of Iosua who amongest other thinges published this as it is to be beleued in the name of God namely that he which should attempt to repayre it should wrappe himself vnder the curse which came to passe in very deede For in the time of Ahab the wicked king one Aiel builte it vp agayne but to his own great hurt Fo his two sonnes Abiram Segub perished whē the citie was in repayring as it is written in the first boke of kings .xvi. chap. But the countrey or ground thereof belonged by diuision vnto the tribe of Beniamin The fielde of Iericho belōged to the tribe of Beniamin And these Kenites as it semeth had pitched tentes there eyther for warfare or els for keping of shepe in which thei liued for a time eyther about the cicie or els betwene the decaied places of the city And there was a regard had vnto thē in distributing of the land in assigning of fieldes as Iosephus also testifieth according to the promise made vnto thē by Moyses which is writtē in the x. chap. of Num. And it is thought to be very lykely that their lot was in the tribe of Iudah which being not yet possessed by the children of Israel they dwelled as it is said in the land with the Beniamites in the field of Iericho This exposition semeth ful and manifest inough Kimhi But Kimhi followeth an other opinion and thinketh that the children of Israell when they after they had conquered Hebron and Debir in the time of Iosua had determined vtterly to destroy the citie of Iericho vnderstanding that the Kenites dwelte there lyke straungers as I thinke bycause they came of the stocke of Madian before they ouerthrew al the city they called them away that they might not perish with the other Chananites The same curtesie dyd Saule shewe vnto them when he should make warre agaynst Amelek as it is writtē in the fyrst booke of Samuel xv chap. For he commaunded the Kenites to depart least they shoulde be destroyed with Amelek and he shewed a cause namely bycause they were good and gentle vnto the Israelites comming vp out of Egipt Kimhi addeth moreouer that Amelek and the Kenites were of a farre contrarye affection toward the Israelites For the Kenites loued thē wonderfull wel But Amelek hated thē deadly Wherfore euē as god had bound himselfe by an othe the warre should be continually made agaynst Amelek so would he haue the Kenites recōpenced alwayes with benifites This interpretation should be very likely if this departing of the Kenites frō Iericho were not put by our history after Hebron and Debir were conquered But Iericho was conquered of Iosua fyrst of all after he had passed ouer Iordane and certainely before he had gotten Hebron Debir Besides thys oure historye entreateth eyther of the Kenites whiche remayned in Madian or ells of those which had ioyned thēselues in fellowship with the people of Israel It semeth that this can not be spoken of the first whē as Iericho is not in Madian yea it is farre distant frō thence but if we shal vnderstand this to be spoken of those which came with Israell how shuld it be vnderstand that they dwelt in Iericho before Iosua toke it Moreouer it is not found in the texte of the history that they were called forth as Kimhi writeth but it is
land of Egipt followed straunge Gods euen the Gods of the nations that wer round about them bowed them selues vnto them Wherefore they angred the Lord. 13 They forsooke I say the Lorde and serued Baal Astharoth Vnder those vngodlye Princes which succeeded the good the people grieuously fell Not bicause that they before had not also transgressed for that as we haue shewed they grieuously synned in sparing of the Chananites but nowe they began to contaminate and defile them selues with the superstitions and idolatry of those Nations R. Leui demaundeth in this place how it could be that none of those should be on lyue which had sene the woorkes of God which hee hadde done for Israel when as from their comming out of Egipt to this present time there were but 67. yeares passed He answereth that there might easely be some found which had sene those woorkes yea all men confesse that Phinches lyued at that tyme but there were but fewe suche and there were not many wise men and whych could rightly and with authority instruct the young of those things All the Israelites became not idolatrers which they had sene And it might be that the scripture spake not these woordes of al the people but onely of the new Magistrates which succeded Neither ought we hereby to vnderstand that all the Israelites were become Idolatrers but the moste part of them and which was more haynous they openly professed wicked worshippinges when as neuerthelesse some although but few and peraduenture secretly claue vnto the true God Neither maye wee gather hereby Miracles are not sufficient to persuade godlines that myracles of them selues haue the power to be sufficient either to bring in or to retaine godlynes For Chore Dathan and Abiram Zimri Achan and the ten spies were without dout at the doing of the myracles which were done as well in Egipt as in the wildernes and yet neuerthelesse they fell from God and defiled them selues wyth moste grieuous wicked actes Moreouer they whiche when Moyses was absent woorshypped the golden Calfe and were consecrated to Baal-Peor the God of the Moabites they I say vndoubtedly beheld the wonders whereby God defended the people from their enemies and helped them in diuers necessities and yet for al that they became Idolatrers committed wicked worshippings Euen so came it to passe of the Scribes and Phariseys for the history of the gospell declareth that they saw the wonderful workes of Christ They which sawe not the miracles in the old tyme are not therfore excused from infidelitie and yet they wonderfullye contemned and maliciouslye despised him Wherefore we must thinke that this is not now rehersed of our history as a lawful excuse of the transgressiō which afterward happened For if by that meanes the act of the Hebrewes coulde be defended then might the superstitious Idolatrers of our time defend their cause for they might say miracles haue now ceased and those thinges which Christe or his Apostels did are not in our time sene But we in this sort answer to them which doo thus excuse their infidelitye The miracles which wer don in the old tyme profite vs also namely that the miracles of Christ the Apostles which were done once ought also to suffice vs for for our sakes were they put in writing that wee readyng them myght receaue fruite by them beyng assured that they were ministred not onely to them which lyued at that tyme but also vnto vs. So might it be aunswered to the Hebrewes of whom we nowe entreate what though ye haue not sene the miracles which wer done in the time of your Fathers Haue not Moyses and Iosua faithfullye written all those thinges whych God hath done for your nations sake Yea and your Fathers which were present and saw them haue trulye declared them vnto you when ye were yet lytle ones The scripture therfore doth not so speake at this presēt to excuse that new generation But to declare what pretence they made when they departed from the woorshipping of the God of their Fathers and what occasion they tooke and also to set foorth that they were of a corrupt and naughtye nature which when their good Maisters and Magistrates were dead became vnmindfull of all true godlynes For it is very likely that they as they were impudent so also openly they boasted abroade those or such lyke woordes We ar in doubt neither do we easely beleue that the Lord did so many miracles as our Fathers haue both written and also shewed vs. Who can tell whether they were so or no we vndoubtedlye know not whether the Lorde or anye other God hath for our saluation sake caused such or so great thinges to be done And so they leauing faith and forsaking the true God dyd euyll in the syght of the Lorde How thinges in the scripture ar called good or euell in the sight of the lord By this hebrewe phrase it is declared that God was maruellouslye offended wyth thys their transgression As contrarywise they are called good thinges in the sight of the Lord which doo excedingly please him This is the common and receaued exposition Howbeit if we more narrowly marke this kinde of speeche we shall easylye perceaue that it declareth some other thing vnto vs. Namely that those thinges which the Iewes dyd were allowed by mans iudgement and peraduenture had a goodly shew but yet in Gods iudgement they were most detestable And withoute doubte that people synned a great deale more haynouslye in thys last transgression than they did in the first For there they onelye omitted the ouerthrowing of ymages and aultares but here they woorship straunge Gods Neither durst they do this onely but they forsooke also the worshipping of the true God Wherein vndoubtedly they were to be counted muche more corrupt than were the Samaritanes For they although they woorshipped their Idoles yet therwithall they ioyned the worshipping of the true God as it is declared in the second booke of Kinges And in how euyll part God taketh it thus to bee reiected he hath expressed by Ieremy the Prophet in the .2 chapter Where hee commaunded the Hebrewes to go and looke vpon other Nations An amplifieng of the idolatrye of the Hebrewes and see whether they haue so vnconstantly chaunged the Gods of their Fathers Whiche Nations if they were knowen constantlye to haue retayned their old woorshippings although they were vngodly Israel might thereby learne not to abiect their old rites and customes of their Fathers This wycked acte moreouer was for thys cause much more detestable bicause they had newly receaued the benefit of their deliuery out of Egipt and had also made a couenaunt with god first by Moses and afterward by Iosua when he was euen at the point of death Furthermore bicause they began to worship the gods of those nations which they had nowe eyther driuen oute of the lande of Chanaan or els made tributaries vnto them selues What a
woorke by it selfe and other sometimes eyther by Aungels or by men and that in such maner as wee shall afterwarde declare Augustine Farther I wyll adde that Augustine writeth in the place before alledged against the Epistle of the Maniches the .xxvi. chap. Miracles woulde not mooue except they were wonderfull and they would not be wonderful if they shoulde be accustomed thinges As therefore they say that by admiration sprang Philosophy whych Plato thought to be the Raynebowe and for that cause calleth the daughter of Thaumans so may we beleue that faith Faithe cometh not of miracles but is by them confirmed which cōmeth of the worde of God although it do not vtterly spring of miracles yet by them it may be confirmed And therefore Augustine in his .xii. booke of Confessions the .xxi. chap. saith Ignorance is the mother of wondring at signes this is an entraunce vnto faith to the sonnes of Adam which haue forgotten thee By this sentence he teacheth that men which haue forget God haue by the admiration of miracles an entrance or cōming vnto faith And without doubt it is so The wyll of God is hidden from vs but he as he is good openeth the same to holy Prophets Apostles which that they may profitably declare vnto men he geueth vnto them the gift of his holy woord But bicause he knoweth that mortal men are contrary against his word he hath graūted the power of working of miracles that those thinges might the easilier be beleued which he would haue his messenger profitably to speake That cōfirmation of faith cōmeth by miracles Marke testifieth who toward the end of his Gospel saith And they went forth preaching euerye where the Lord working with them confirming the word with signes which followed And how apt this kinde of confirmation is hereby it is manifest The promises of God do of no other thing depend then of his wyll power And the signes which we now intreate of do testify the power of God forasmuch as they by al meanes ouercome nature and set forth the truth of his wil for by the inuocation of his name by his grace spirit they are wrought Augustine Wherefore Augustine in the place now alledged against the Epistle of Manicheus writeth that miracles do bring authority vnto the woord of God For he when he did these miracles semed to haue geuen an earnest peny of his promises Neither ar these wordes to be passed ouer which the same Augustine hath vpon Iohn in the .24 Miracles consist not in the greatnes of woorkes treatise That miracles consist not in the greatnes of workes for otherwise it is a greater woorke to gouerne this vniuersal composition of the world then vnto a blinde man to restore light which he is destitute of These thynges declared there remayneth that by apt distinctions we destribute miracles into his partes Some of them are to be wondred at An other distinction of myracles by reason of the thing it selfe which is done for that it is so vnaccustomed and great that in the nature of thinges we cannot finde the lyke of it Suche was the staying of the Sunne in the time of Iosua and the turning of that shadowe in the tyme of Ezechias the conception and byrth of the Virgin the foode of Manna in the deserte and suche lyke But there are some which ar miracles not for the nature and greatnes of the thing but bycause of the maner and waye whiche was vsed in bringing them to passe as was the cloude and rayne of Helias the budding of floures and fruites in the rod of Aaron the thunders of Samuel the turnynge of water into wyne and suche lyke For suche thinges are done by nature but they were then myracles bycause of the maner whereby they were wrought that is not by naturall causes but at the commaundement and wyll of Sayntes There is an other deuision of myracles An other deuision of miracles bycause some of them doo onelye mooue admiration as lyghtenynges and thundrynges in mount Sina the turning of the shadowe of the Sunne in the tyme of Ezechias the transfiguration of the Lorde in the Mount There are other which besides the admiration doo bring a present commoditye vnto men as when by the rodde dryncke was geuen out of the Rocke Manna from heauen and when by the Lord and the Apostles sycke folkes were healed And sometimes they bring punishment and hurt vnto the guiltye For by the woordes of Peter perished Ananias and Saphira Elimas the Sorcerer was made blynde by Paule and some were by hym delyuered vnto Sathan to be vexed By this also are miracles deuided An other partitiō of miracles bicause some of them are obtained by praiers For so did Elias and Elizeus namelye by praying restore their deade to lyfe Moses also praying for Pharao draue away Frogs and other plages And other some are wrought by commaundement and authority Iosua commaunded the Sunne to stay his course The Lord Iesus commaunded the windes and Peter said vnto the lame man In the name of Iesus Christ rise walke Ther ar also other which are done neither by praiers nor by commaundement but of theyr own wyll and accord the saintes them selues doing some other thing Euen as when the shadow of Peter as he walked healed those that were sycke and the napkin of Paul healed also folkes diseased Augustine An other diuision of myracles Lastly Augustine as it is written in his .83 booke of questions question 79. deuideth miracles that some are done by publik iustice that is by the stable and firme will of God which in the world is counted as a publike lawe By it God would that his ministers that is Apostles and Prophetes shoulde in preaching woorke miracles And there are other some which by the signes of this iustice are wrought as when the vngodly in the name of God or of Iesus Christ do work any miracle which is not geuen but by the honour and reuerence which thei vse towardes the name of God not that God or nature or any thinges created desire to gratefy them As when a man stealeth away a publike seale or handwriting he may wrest many thinges either from the men of the countrey or from the Citizens which are not geuen vnto him but vnto the seale which they know doth belong to the Magistrate and Prince So he which followed not Christe did yet in his name cast out deuils Thirdly are those miracles reckoned which by some certaine priuate bargaine are wrought wherby the Sorcerers do binde them selues vnto the Deuyl and the deuil likewise to them But those at done neither by publike iustice nor yet by the signes therof but come onelye of a certayne priuate conuention Howbeit wee must knowe that miracles of the second and third sort are not firme neither do they assuredly happen For asmuch as we reade in the .xix. chap. of the Actes of the Apostles that the sonnes of
imaginacion of the Crow there is such an alteration before the rayne that he beginneth to croke Wherfore the effects in the phantasy of those which ar on slepe and also in dede come vndoubtedly of the self same cause Yet haue they great diuersity by reasō of the subiectes in which they are made And it is not to be doubted but that there is a certayne slender and hidden similitude betweene these effectes But it is verye hard to vnderstand the reason of this proporcion or analogy And if we say that the starres are the cause of such effectes or affections who can refer these signes vnto his own propre cause Why diuinatiō by dreames is hard and vncertayne that is to some certayne starres more then to other Assuredly I suppose that there are very few I will not say none whiche can do it Farther if they shuld also be referred vnto propre starres what can we iudge to come to passe by them especially as touching things comming by happe whē as iudiciall Astrology is euermore counted moste vncertayne In fyne images similituds which ar sayd to portend things to come ar so doubtful vncertain ambiguous that we can affyrm nothing for certayn of thē Wherfore this is to be added that forasmuch as dreams cannot be broght to passe of one only cause but of many as we haue declared we shall easely fal into an error if we of those many causes chuse onely one certayne cause Therefore let vs hold this that is not easely to foretel any thing by dreames for that they may easlier de iudged by the euentes then the euentes can by them be foretold Wherefore there remayneth of dreames but onely a certayne suspicion whiche also of necessity is verye sclender A gate of horn a gate of puerye The two most noble Poetes Homere I say and Virgill made twoo gates of dreames the one of horne the other of yuery That of horne as they say pertayneth vnto the true dreames and that of yuery to false and they say that the gretest part passeth through the gate of yuery and not through that of horn Wherfore in iudging naturall dreames let vs not passe the measure of suspition nor stick to much in dreames forasmuch as it is not the duty of a christiā man to cleaue more then is conueniente vnto perillous and vncertayne coniectures bicause whilest they so busily apply them selfes to those things Of dreames sent ether of god or of the deuill To fore shewe any thynge by visions or dreames twoo thinges are required they neglect other things whiche are of greater wayght And the deuil very often times mingleth himself with those thinges to this entent eyther to cal vs back from good actions or els to driue vs to actions that are euell Nowe let vs see what we oughte to affirme of dreames sente of God or moued by the deuel When any thing by the work of god or of angels is in dreams foresene twoo thyngs are required The fyrste is that certayne notes or images of things which are shewed do inform or imprint the phantasy or imagination Secondly must be adioyned iudgement to vnderstand what those things at the last do portend As touching the first we must know that these notes and images are somtimes offred vnto the senses bicause of those things which God maketh outwardly to appeare as whē Balthazar the successor of Nebuchad-Naezar saw in the wall the fyngers of a hande which wrote as it appeareth in Daniel And somtimes without any outward sight are images and formes described in the imagination or phantasy which happeneth two maner of waies For either the formes or images which are kept in the minde are called backe to such vse as God hath entended as when to Ieremy was shewed a seething pot tourned to the North Or els newe formes are shewed whyche by the senses were neuer seene as if formes of coulours and images shoulde bee shewed vnto one blynde from hys byrth And in this kinde or prophesieng images or formes are in steede of letters Formes or images ar lyke letters For as they are ordered and disposed so sundry oracles are shewed Euen as in the diuers chaunging of letters orations and sentences are made diuers Teachers which instruct their scholers may by their study and industry of teaching fashion manifold images in the mindes of the hearers although they be not able to geue the iudgement and right vnderstanding But God ministreth both God somtimes geueth not vnto one to the selfe same man formes and the vnderstandyng of them They whych haue onely images are not simply prophecies not in dede alwaies together for to some sometimes he sheweth onely the formes as to Pharao and to his Butler and Baker also to the king of Babilon al which men needed an Interpretor namely Ioseph Daniel to expound their dreames And vndoubtedly those vnto whom are shewed onely the images of thinges to come are not truely and plainly counted Prophets forasmuch as they haue but onely a certaine degree beginning and in a maner a step of prophecye euen as Caiphas also the high Priest is not to be counted a Prophet when as hee spake those thinges which he knew not But why God would sometimes by dreames manifest vnto Kinges Princes thinges to come as now he doth there are two causes The one is bycause he had a regarde vnto the people and Nations whom they gouerned For if the penury which was at hand had not ben shewed vnto Pharao Egipt had vtterly bene destroyed by famine Secondly it was the counsel of the Lorde by these expositions of dreames to manifest vnto the world his Prophetes and holy men which before were hidden which thing the holy scriptures testifye happened in Ioseph and Daniel The Ethnike Historiographers also do write verye manye thinges of dreames which Princes sometimes saw Yea Tertulian and Tertulian in hys booke de Anima maketh mencion of certayn of those dreames as the dreame of Astyages of his daughter Mandane also of Philip of Macedonia and of Iulius Octauius whom M. Cicero being yet a boy thought he saw him in his dreame and being awake as soone as he met him he straightway knewe him And the same man telleth of certayne other also of this kinde But omitting these let vs by testimonies of the holy scriptures which shall easily be done confirm that certain dreames ar sent by God Mathew testifieth that Ioseph the housbande of Mary was in dreames thrise admonished by the Angel The wyfe also of Pilate had knowledge by a dreame and sent woorde to her housband that he should not condemne Christ being an innocent Peter in the Actes of the Apostles the x. chap. saw a sheete let downe from heauen And in the .xvi. chap. a man of Macedonia appeared vnto Paule and mooued him to go into Macedonia And the Lord commaunded the same Paule in a dreame that he should not depart from Corinthe bycause