cause of the diuersity is this word Arba whych in his vsuall and proper signification signifeth the number whych the Latines cal Quatuor It is not certain that Adam and his wyfe were buryed in Hebron the Grecians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is foure Now some suppose the number of foure to be referred to the foure couple of men wyth theyr wiues which they say wer buried in that city Yet the holy scriptures make mēcion but of three for in the booke of Genesis .23 chap. we reade that Abraham and Sara wer buried there also in the .35 .49 chap. of the same booke we rede of Isaac and Rebeckaes burial there And lastly in the .50 chap. we fynde that Iacob was caried thither he him selfe before that had there buried his wife Lea. But concerning Adam Eue his wife whō they haue added vnto these we can finde nothing thereof in the holye scriptures For that which they alledge out of the .14 chap. of Iosua maketh nothing to the purpose for that the word Adam in that place is not the name of the first man Wherfore they can gather nothyng out of that place but that Arba was a certaine great man among the Anakims These are the words there Ha Adam Hagadol be Anakim Hui that is he was a great man among the Enakims But our interpretour translateth it thus Adā was counted the great among the Enakims Wherby it appeareth that he thought that Adam was a proper name But he was two wayes deceaued first he dyd not marke that the article Ha is ioyned to the word Adam which is neuer ioyned with proper names Wherfore it must needes be a common name whych must be referred to that woord Arba for that name was put a litle before The other errour is bycause we reade no where that the first man was reckoned amongst the Enakims that is to say Giauntes The opinion of others is that Hebron was called the City Arba bycause it was inhabited of .4 Giauntes namely Sesay Ahimman and Thalmay vnto which three brethren they adde Annak their Parent But the opinion of these men is easely confuted bycause that in the .14 chap. of Iosua toward the end it is by manifest wordes declared that this word Arba is the proper name of a Giaunt Wherfore it is manifest enough that this woord must not be referred to the number of four And by that meanes not onely this latter sentence but the first also is confuted which would haue this name Arba to haue a respect to the foure couple of men with their wyues buried in the old tyme in that City And vndoubtedly for the same cause also the opinion of others is not to be allowed which do thinke that the City was so called bycause although it were but one City yet it consisted of foure Cities and that this woord Arba is all one wyth this greeke woorde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whiche is foure Cities Wherefore I iudge it best to thyncke that it was so named of the buylder thereof named Arba Arba had three chyldren who how he came by that surname it is vncertaine Onely this we maye gather out of the scriptures that what so euer he was he had three chyldren which are called in this place and also in the booke of Iosua Sehai Ahimman and Thalmay And it is very lykely that they were deade long tyme before Iosua And when they were now dead then was there mencion made of them bicause their families which seme to haue bene of a wonderful huge stature were destroyed by Caleb and Othoniel And this is the reason why I suppose that these three brethrē liued not in Caleb and Othoniels tyme bycause this Citye as it is written in the booke of Numbers was a most auncient city and was buylt .vii. yeares before zoham that is Thamin the kingly Citye of the Egiptians And in zoham dyd Moyses and Aaron woorke the wonders before Pharao And if so be it was the kingly and noble city then it must nedes be built long time before Wherefore if Hebron were built before it and had the name thereof of Arba how could his children be on lyue at this time It cannot be so Besides thys Abraham had a lodging in this City bought there a double caue And from that time to Iosua his time wer almost .400 yeres It is not therefore very likely that the sonnes of him which builded so auncient a city should lyue tyl Iosua his tyme vnles any man wyl fayne that the same city was built long time before called by an other name then in processe of tyme casting away the first name it should be named by this most strong and mighty Giaunt But whether it be thus or no neither skilleth it much neither semeth it curiously to be sought for But this might somwhat moue some bycause Arba wherof we now speake is called in the .15 chap. of Iosua the father of Enak For if he had .3 sōnes which were named as well here as in the same booke of Iosua it wil then he doubtfull who that same Enak was What Hanack signifieth In which thyng sauyng the iudgement of a better learned I would thinke might be answered that it was not a proper name but a cōmon wherby at that time men of huge stature but such as were noble excellently adourned wer called For this word Enak in hebrewe is to gird or to compasse and is chiefly referred to chaines which are worne about the necke for comelynes sake And thereof is this name Enak deriued in the plural number hath both the masculine feminine forme it signifieth a chaine and is transferred to noble worthy men whom thou mayst cal chained Wherfore Sesay Ahimman Thalmay may be called the sōnes of Arba who was not called the father of them onely but also the father of Enak bycause euery one of his sōnes was noble Why giauntes were called Enakim wore a chaine or was a Giaunt for Giauntes also were called Enakim either bicause they wore chaines or els bycause they were of a notable stature of body for it may be that that word was applyed to all kynde of ornaments Of them is mencion also made in the booke of Numbers .13 chapter By how many names giaūtes are called in the holy scriptures Seing we are now by chaunce in hande with giauntes and that there is often mention made of them in the holy Scriptures it shall not be vnprofitable somewhat to speake of them Fyrste we muste knowe that they are called by diuerse names in the holy Scriptures as Enakim Eimim Zemasmim Nefalim Rephaim Why they were called Enakim manifestly appeareth by those things which we haue spoken before And they were called Eimim of the terror which they draue into others by their loke They were called Zemasmim of mischiefe bicause they trusting to their owne power and might were dispisers of lawes iustice and
light vnto other and cause them to lift vp the eyes of theyr mindes vnto God the chiefe fountayne head and beginning of al good things and to honour him with prayses and most vpright religion Wherfore I gather and that truly as I am most fully perswaded that I my self and the rest of the Ministers of the doctrine of the sonne of God ought aboue al other to liue most iustly But when I considered that the office of this vertue Iustice whiche shyneth among mortall men like the bright starre Lucifer consisteth wholy in this to render to euery man that which is his I desired verely to performe the same not maymed nor diminished nor shortened but consisting of all his partes so much as humane weakenes would suffer me And among other excellent parts or kindes therof a thankfull minde and mindfull of a benefite receaued is not to be numbred among the least whose property is not onely to acknowledge benefites receaued but also earnestlye to bee desirous to geue thankes for them This thing when I weigh with my selfe for I thinke on it oftentimes I wyll not say continually there cōmeth into my remembrāce very many great benefites which your publike welth churche schoole haue heretofore bestowed vpō me And assuredly when I recken them more depely weigh them they appere vnto me so many so great that I am excedingly afrayd least I should happen to depart out of this life vngrateful which thing vndoutedly should be more bitter vnto me thē death it self Ye when I came out of Italy for religiō sake with most incredible humanity receaued me ye gaue me the fredome of your most ample city ye placed me in that Schoole which ye not long before with great praise of wyse godly men had erected ther ye appoynted me a Professor of holy scriptures wheras I liued a fellow with most learned and excellent men more then fiue yeares All which time ye mayntained me with a very liberal stipend Ye when I was called into England decreed that I should go thither where certayne yeares I was teaching the Gospel in the Vniuersity of Oxford namelye vntil such time as Edward the sixt of that name that most woorthye King and which can neuer be praysed inough was taken away by vntimely death which brought vnto all the godly griefe mourning and sundrye and hard vexacions Ye exceding louingly receued me when I returned thence to Argentine placed me in the same roume wherin I was with you before Also when the most noble Senate of Tigure called me into the place of Pellicanus which was ther a Professor of Diuinity ye although both to your great griefe and also to mine did yet most louinglye let me go The cause of my departure I wyll not nowe speake of bicause it is to all men knowen wel inough Thus much onely wil I say that I do both vehemently desyre and also hope that this stop or let may be taken away out of the field of the Lord. These your benefits which are of them selues ample and noble I do nothing encrease nor amplify But this one thing I testify that they neuer slipped out of minde neither is it possible but that they being layd vp in the bottom of my hart shal there abide for euer Howbeit bicause the remembrance and thinking on the benefites which I haue receaued of you doth not satisfy me I haue alwayes desired to make open vnto al men my good will and gratefull hart towardes you which haue bene so wonderfull beneficial towardes me wherefore I haue very often times determined with my selfe one tyme at the length to declare by some signification or monument my singular affection and ardent loue towardes your publike wealth Church and Schoole But for as muche as touchynge ryches of thys worlde I haue nothing wherwithal to performe the same least I should dye frustrate of my so honest and vehement a desire being about now to set forth a Comentary vpon the holy history of the Iudges As I haue taught it in your Schoole I haue determined to dedicate it to your name where as otherwise I would haue offred vnto you thinges much greater and better if strength ability had answered vnto my minde Neither was I hereunto perswaded onely by the reason now alledged namely by some maner of meanes to shew my good wyl towards you and not to geue any man occasion of suspicion that in chaunging my place I should haue shaken of my endeuour and study towardes you which thing vndoubtedly is not so For I haue not laid aside these things but they most firmly sticke in my mind daily more more But this also did driue me to do this for that this boke was writtē in your city And therfore I thought it meete that in the possession therof no man should be preferred before you Farther this did not a lytle moue me for that the argumēt of this history most aptly agreeth with you For euen as God at sundry times stirred vp Iudges vnto the Hebrewes to deliuer them when they were oppressed with the tiranny of their enemies So wer you not amonge the last stirred vp by his goodnes and grace to bring to lyght the Gospell of the sonne of God when it was held captiue in darknes by the dominion and violence of hipocrites and when the mindes of Christiās as touchyng godlynes were euery where in a maner baren and vnfruitfull Here assuredlye I could make mencion of very many your actes both godly and honorable but I ouerpasse them for that you haue manye eloquent and notable publishers abroade of your doinges which most aboundantly and elegantly haue set foorth your valiantnes of minde your constancy in embracing and spreading abroade of the Gospel of Christ and your liberality in maintaining your notable moste learned and famous Schoole Neyther vndoubtedly can the praises which they haue geuen you bee reproued of anye lye for as muche as you haue with great seruentnes of fayth receaued the doctrine of the sonne of God and ye are made vnto other a notable example of renuing of piety And afterward when by reason of iniquity of times thinges which wer wel ordered semed somwhat to slide and fall to decaye ye hauing firme confidence of the ayde of God verye godlys and wisely tooke courage vnto you and euen now in this time ye stoutly and luckely did driue out the remnantes of the Amorrihites and Chananites out of the inheritance of the Lord which pertayned to your lot Which your act hath wyth al the godly gotten you great grace prayse glory and fauour Wherefore I as which vehemently desyre honor fame and dignity vnto the City of Argentine do excedingly reioyce for your most excellent and holy act And I do desyre god the father of mercy that ye being inflamed and kindled with his spirit may alwaies go forward to better thinges For so long as we wander here on earth as straungers from our country which is
they say by anticipatiō For it is written in the .11 chap. And Iosua came at the tyme destroyed the Enakims from the mountaynes namely Hebron Debir and all the mountaynes of Iudah If these things should haue ben mencioned in the place as things whiche should come to passe sone after the death of Iosua then had it not ben well spoken to haue sayd And Iosua came at that tyme. And this I thincke the reader shall playnly see proued if he will not thincke it paynfull diligently to read ouer the 10 and 15. chap. of Iosua 12 And Caleb sayd He that smyteth Kiriath Sepher and taketh it to him will I geue Hacsah my daughter to wife 13 And Othoniel the sonne of Kenatz Chalebs yōger brother toke it and he gaue him Hacsah his daughter to wife Here is wont to be demaunded how these cities Hebron and Debir should be written in the booke of Iosua to haue ben taken of Iosua when as it is here put that Chaleb conquered them Chaleb desired to haue these regions assigned him for his inheritaunce whereunto I aunswere that all that warre was gouerned by the conduicte of Iosua who was the chief and principall gouernour of the whole hoste but the principall settyng forward agaynst Hebron and other places adioyning thereunto was committed vnto Chaleb the chief of the tribe of Iudah and that not without a cause For he as it is written in the xiiii chap. of Iosua desired to haue that parte assigned peculiarly vnto hym for hys inheritaunce whiche requestes he easely obtayned For he required the same trusting to God hys promises Chaleb was a faithfull espye for when he was sent with other spyes to view the lande of Chanaan he faithfully made relation of the things as they wer in dede not vnfaithfully as his fellowes did Neither was he an author of the peoples seditiō as the other were yea he rather encouraged the peoples myndes and diminished those thinges whiche his fellowes had amplified concerning the fence of the cities of the giaūtes also and of the strength of the Chananites For he regarded not mās strength but with a singular faith most constantly remembred the power the goodnesse promises of god Wherfore god being angry with the rest destroyed them in the wildernesse so that they came not to the promised lande But he promised Chaleb for his faithfulnesse this inheritaunce whiche when he afterward demaunded he put Iosua in remembraunce of the thyng before done and of the promises of God God promised Chaleb the lād whereon he should treade And the place where the promise is contayned is in the 14. chap. of Num. there God promised him that land wheron his foote should treade whiche wordes the Iewes thincke thus to be expoūded The rest of the spyes being amased for feare of the giauntes and putting small confidence in god durst not entre into the citie of Hebron whiche Chaleb him selfe searched with a valiaunt courage The promise therfore of this possession was made vnto him in the second yeare after the deliuery out of Egypt Chaleb surely declared a valiaunt noble hart when as he did not only require the possession of these places but he enterprised also to conquere thē for al that they were fenced inhabited with most strong giaūtes Wherfore we must beleue that he tooke in hand such so great an enterprise not by his owne power but by gods promises And here ariseth no small doubt howe Chaleb being of the tribe of Iudah Hebron was one of the Cities of refuge could obtayne the citie of Hebron which by lotte belonged to the Leuites For god had cōmaunded that certain cities as wel beyond Iordane as on this side should be had for refuge sake The cities of refuge belōged to the Leuites that thither might flye as many as had slayne any man by chaunce and not of pretensed purpose And the possession of those cities whiche were therfore appoynted belonged to the Leuites Wherfore it was not lawfull that Hebron should be geuen to Chaleb The Leuites had the citie of Hebron but Chaleb had the grounde and Lordship seing it was numbred amōg the cities of refuge These thinges are true but we must vnderstand in the meane tyme that the Leuites myght possesse but their cities only the suburbes adioyning to the walles of them But as for the grounde or dominion whiche they call at this day Lordship it was not graunted them to haue Chaleb therfore desired to possesse the grounde but as for the citie whiche he had in his handes he let to the Leuites as the lawe commaunded It is most certein that there is mention of the citie Hebron in the booke of Gen. when as it is there written that Abraham liued in the groue of okes of Mamere the same had if we may beleue Ierome a precious turpentine tree which grew there from the beginnyng of the world and continued till the time of Constantine the great It is said to be 12000. paces distaunte from Ierusalem Dauid reigned in it some while before he was anoynted king ouer all Israel Neither haue we any thyng to do to write nowe of the auncientnesse therof seing I haue somewhat spoken of it before And Chaleb sayd he that smiteth This whole history is declared in the 15. chap. of the booke of Iosua word for word wherby it appeareth that that is most certain whiche I before admonished you of The conqueryng of Debit was harde namely that all these thinges are now mencioned by a certain repeticiō The conquering of Debir semeth to haue ben paynefull and daungerous and meruelously much desired of Chaleb when as he offreth so ample noble a gift to the conquerour therof namely his owne daughter to wyfe being him selfe the prince of the most noble tribe of Iudah And Othoniel the sonne of Kenaz Chalebs younger brother tooke it It is certain that Othoniel obtayned the victory but whether be were Chalebs brother or his brothers sonne or some other kinne to him it cānot be gathered by these words But how they were kinne it wer good to know partly for the knowledge of the history partly to vnderstand whether the matrimony which followed betwene Othoniel and Achsah were lawfull In the first booke of Paralip Hefron was called also Iephuna and second chap. the father of Chaleb is called Hesron whiche man was the third frō Iudah for Iudah had Pharez by Thamra his sonnes wife and Phares begat Hefron which was called by an other name Iephuna for which cause Chaleb is very often written the sonne of Iephuna R. Salomoh Of whiche thing I can not tell what fonde inuētion R. Salo. writeth namely that he was so called bycause he disagreed from the mynde and counsell of the other spyes Panah signifieth in Hebrew to depart or to decline wherfore he thincketh that this surname was geuen to Chaleb for the cause now alledged Neither maketh that any
was in their power The lawes made by god against the Chananites myght be mitigated to promise mercy and safety vnto this man And as touchyng the commaundement of God they thought gods lawes not to be so rigorous but they might be mitigated with some equitie as they remembred was done with the Gabaonites who were neuer the lesse Heuites or Hemorrites Thou wilt say peraduenture They were so saued that they were brought into bondage Bondage is a ciuille death And necessitie of bondage is a certain kynde of ciuile death wherfore in that the life of the body was graunted them the commaundement of the Lord seemeth not to be violated for they were killed after a sorte The question is not dissolued by this reason For God prescribed by law that the Chananites should be put to death he referred not that to a ciuile death but to a naturall death for otherwise Saul might haue excused him selfe bycause he killed not Agag the king of Amalek with an outwarde death For he might haue sayd that he had alreadye kylled hym ciuilly But bycause we are fallen into talke of the Gabaonites Of the Gabaonites I thincke it good to say thus much of them God ratified the othe performed to the Gabaonites First that God did ratifye that othe whiche the Israelites performed vnto them for as muche as he ayded the host of the Hebrues in deliueryng their citie from the other Chananites But if so be that they had violated the curse whiche was set forth of God he would not then haue done it For bycause of the sinne of Achan who had by stealth saued somwhat of that whiche was cursed in Iericho he did not helpe his people but suffred them fowly to be slayne when they fought against the citie Hay Besides this it is writtē in the latter booke of Samuel that God plagued the Israelites thre yeares continually with most grieuous famine bycause the Gabaonites were contrary to the othe slayne of Saul miserably dispersed Wherfore according to their request they had seauen of Sauls posteritie deliuered them to be hanged These are most certayne signes that God ratified the couenaunt which was made with the Gabaonites althoughe the Hebrues did grieuously sinne bycause they asked not counsell of God Augustine sayth vpon the x. chap. of the Iudges Augustine when he interpreteth that place where it is written that God promised Iosua that he would be with him in the defence of the citie Gabaon For he sayd be not affeard for I will deliuer them namely the Chananites whiche besieged that citie into thine handes if this league sayth he nowe made with the Gabaonites had displeased God then would he haue commaunded Iosua not to take in hand that expedition but rather to haue broken the couenaunt made with that nation But contrarily he encouraged hym and of his owne accord not called vpon promised to aide him in the fight as it may appeare by the history But why he did allow the league so made Why God allowed the league made with the Gabaonites there may be two reasons geuen for it One which is there mentioned bycause they had bounde it with an othe And if the Israelites shuld haue violated that their neighbours would haue coūted them as irreligious and vngodly and their God should haue ben mocked and contemned Wherfore lest the name of God and the fame of the Israelites should haue ben euill spoken of it was ratified althoughe it was vnwysely and without prayse perfourmed The other cause is The Gabaonites were turned to the true God bycause the Gabaonites did now beleue in the true God and were redy to embrase his religion and worshipping Whiche may easely be gathered by two argumētes For they sayd as it is written in the ix chap. of the booke of Iosua that they came in the name of the Lord beyng therfore moued therunto bycause they had heard what thynges God had done for that peoples sake both in Egypt and also in the deserte and lykewise about Iordane This is a tokē that they now beleued the God of the Israelites Moreouer the same appeareth in that they were appoynted by the Hebrues to cary and to prepare wood and also to draw water for the sacrifices whiche were done vnto the true God Therfore they were made labourers and seruauntes of the tabernacle and of the tribe of Leui wherof they were called Nathinites Nathinites And that the lawes whiche were made of God agaynst the seauen nations which inhabited the land of Chanaan were by this equitie to be interpreted and mitigated that if they returned to the true God would make peace with the Iewes they should not be destroyed it manifestly appeareth by that whiche is written in the xi chap of the booke of Iosua namely howe those nations were therfore destroyed bycause none of them the Gabaonites only excepted made peace with the Israelites For God to the end he would extinguish them had hardened their hartes and therfore they most obstinatly fought agaynst the Israelites Why god hardned the hartes of the Chananites But the cause why God so hardned their harts was bycause their sinnes were ful Wherfore they beleued not as did the Gabaonites neither adioyned they thē selues vnto the Israelites And for that cause they continually resistyng them fought so vnluckely that at length they were cleane destroyed But if so be that they had made peace with the Iewes and not despised their godlynesse and religion they should haue had the same geuen them whiche the Gabaonites had But in that they did not so their former sinnes were the hinderaunce therof for God for those sinnes tooke away his spirite and grace from their hartes that at the last they might suffer most iust punishment for their wickednesse This is the equitie and mitigations of those lawes against the Chananites Why the Gabaonites were brought into bondage But there ariseth a doubt why the punishement of bondage was imposed to the Gabaonites if they nowe became so good and faithfull Whereunto is aunswered that they therfore fell into bondage bycause they vsed fraude and guile For God would for this cause haue them so punished lest he should seme to allowe disceate and euill artes Whether the Luzite repēted Ierome Now resteth to enquire what this betrayer of Luz did whether he beleued and embrased the true worshippyng of God Out of the holy scriptures we can gather nothing of this thing Peraduenture it may seme to some that he abode still in his vngodlynesse bycause he went awaye from thence neither abode he with the Iewes But this is but a weake reason For Iethro also departed from Moyses whō he came to se in the desert although as I thincke he left his sonne with Moyses Neither would Christ haue all those continually with him whom he healed and whiche beleued in him yea he sayd to one of thē who would haue dwelled with hym returne to thine owne
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
vs is verye synne but in respecte that it commeth from God it is both good iust and holy For punishment is by God imposed to wycked men And to punishe synnes no man is ignoraunt but that it partayneth to iustice Wherfore God in withdrawing his grace from the vngodly and ministring some occasions which might moue to good things if they happened to right iust mindes and which he knoweth the wicked wyll turne to euil may after a sort although not properly be said to be the cause of sinne And vndoubtedly that act A â—â—militude in that it passeth through vs is sinne but not as it coÌ„meth from God For in that it coÌ„meth froÌ„ God it is most perfect iustice It happeneth somtimes that the self same wine being poured into a corrupt vessell is lost and made paide which wine as it was brought by the husbandmaÌ„ put into the vessel is both swete and good Neither is it hard to vnderstand how one the selfe same act may as touching one be vicious in respect of an other iust For when a murtherer hangman do kill a man the act as touching the matter or subiect without doubt is al one namelye the death of a man And yet the murtherer doth it most vniustly the hangman by law and iustice Iob also did wel vnderstand that when he said The Lord gaue the Lord hath taken away as it hath pleased him so is it done He did not by those wordes praise the Chaldians Sabines the Deuil which wer vessels of iniquity most vicious but he with great godlines allowed those euils as they were gouerned ruled by the prouidence of God namely for this cause bicause they pleased God It is also written in the .2 booke of Samuel the .24 chap. of Dauid who vnaduisedly wold haue the people numbred how God was angry with Israel therfore he styrred vp Dauid to do that And in the booke of Paral. it is writteÌ„ that Sathan was the doer of it For God doth those thinges which he wil haue done by Angels as wel good as euil Wherfore that numbring of the people as it proceeded of Dauid or the Deuil was in dede vicious but in that it came from God who intended to punish the Israelites it pertayned excedingly to the setting foorth of hys iustice Howbeit Iames sayth that God tempteth none to euyll but euery one of vs is allured by our own concupiscence Augustine Whyther God tempt or no. Augustine wryting of thys thyng in hys booke de consensa Euangelistarum saith that there are two kyndes of temptacion the one of trial the other of deceite And in dede as touching tryal he denyeth not but that God tempteth for that the scriptures do confesse it But with that kinde of temptation which deceaueth whereof Iames wrote he sayth that God tempteth no man But the scriptures teache not so as we haue declared a litle before of Dauid and before him of Achab. Yea and in Ezechiel the .14 chap. god saith that he had deceaued the Prophet And the same Augustine writeth not after the same maner in other places as it manifestly appeareth in hys bookes de Praedest Sanctorum de Cerrept Gratia ad Valent. and in hys .5 booke and .3 chap. contra Iulianum Wherfore the true interpretatioÌ„ of this place is that euery man is therfore tempted of his own concupiscence bicause al men haue their natural disease which is corruption and vicious lusts which ar together borne with them do also grow and increase in them Wherefore God instylleth no malice of his for we haue inough at home Therefore he cannot bee accused for as much as the beginning of vngodlines wickednes commeth not from hym God when he wyl bringeth to lyght our frowaconesse of mynde but lieth hid in vs. He ought not therefore to bee counted to geue the cause and fault who yet when it semeth good vnto him wil for iust causes haue our lusts wickednes brought to light and rule gouerne our wicked acts therby more and more to illustrate his iustice and glorye to aduaunce the saluation of the godly Wherfore his singular goodnes and prouidence is very much to be praised which can so iustly and wisely vse so wycked meanes Whence the variety of pronenesse to synne commeth But if a man wil aske how it happeneth that some are more prone to sinnes than others if as it is sayd malice wyckednes ar rooted into vs al from our byrth neither is it nede that any new or latter malice should be instilled in vs froÌ„ God And seyng that we ar al brought forth of one the selfe same lumpe and that lumpe likewise is altogether viciated it shoulde seeme that all also ought to be of a like disposition and inclination to wickednes But thys is diligently to be weighed that besides thys disposition ther happen naturall malices maners customes wicked qualities fellowshippes temperatures of bodies sundry parentes diuers countries and manifold causes wherby some are made more or lesse prone vnto sins which pronenesse of ours God according to his iustice goodnes and wisdome vseth and stirreth it vp gouerneth and ruleth it And this is not to be forgotten that none of vs haue so in our selues the beginninges of good actes which truely please God as wee euen from the verye birth haue within vs the beginninges of sins For they ar inspired in vs by the holy ghost and we continuallye receaue them of God neither burst they foorth out of the corrupt beginninges of our nature Now resteth to see from whence after the synne of Adam that frowardnes and corruption came Whether the first corruption after the synne of Adam were deriued froÌ„ god or no. and whither it wer deriued from God to punish the wicked act which was committed I answer that we maye not so thynke for man was for the fault which he had committed allenated from god wherfore he iustly withrew from him his giftes fauour and grace And our nature being left vnto it self falleth and declineth to woorse and woorse yea it coÌ„meth to nothyng from whence it was brought forth at the beginning Wherefore we must seke for no other efficieÌ„t cause of that corruption Wherefore by that wythdrawing of giftes and grace and departure from God which is the fountain of al good thinges nature is by it self throwen headlong into vice and corruption But now let vs returne to the history 12 Againe the children of Israel dyd euill in the syght of the Lord. And the Lord strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel bicause that they had done euyl in the sight of the Lord. 13 And this Eglon gathered vnto him the Chyldren of Ammon and Amalek and went and smote Israel and they possessed the city of Palme trees 14 And the childreÌ„ of Israel serued Eglon king of Moab .18 yeres The history declareth first the sinne which the Israelites committed then it
God euen then vseth by a certayne wonderfull manner to styrre vp great miseries and calamities out of ashes and sparckels which wer thought to haue bene long time quenched Iabin the king of Chanaan was kylled by Iosua as it is written in his booke the .xi. chap. and Hazor his kingly City destroied and burnt with fire Wherfore none would haue looked that war shoulde haue bene renued againe on that part But an other Iabin the sonne or sonnes sonne of him that was killed tooke courage againe and inuaded and oppressed the Israelites But least al that should be ascribed vnto his strength it is added that God intermedled in the matter when hee solde the Hebrues vnto him that is graunted vnto him to vse them as he thought good hymselfe euen to all most vile seruices and that as most abiect bondslaues And this calamity is amplified by many names First by the longnesse of the tyme for it continued .xx. yeares when as before Othoniels time they were afflicted onely .viii. yeares And before Ehud was stirred vp they serued .xviii. yeares It is declared that this seruitude was very cruell bicause Iabin oppressed the Hebrues by strength and violence And Iosephus writeth that it was in such sort that they durst not so much as to lift vp their head And the cause of his so great crueltye was Why Iabin was so cruel vnto the Hebrues bicause he remembred that the Iewes in the time of Iosua had killed his Father or Grandfather And had ouerthrowen the kingly City Hazor in wasting and burning it wyth sword and fyre Farther the violence and power of his tyranny is by this declared in that he had so great a number of yron or hooked chariots and if we may beleue Iosephus he went a warfare with three hundred thousand footemen Iosephus ten thousand horsemen and three thousand chariotes among which .ix. hundred of them were of yron Neither for al his great host had he ben able to haue brought the Hebrues vnder subiection vnles God as we haue before said had solde thē And vndoubtedly it is to be thought that Iabin vsed these .ix. hundred chariots which the history speaketh of by name to afflict the region of the Iewes which he had now conquered and to the end they should not fal from him And he dwelt in Hazoreth Howe raigned this man in Hazor whē as in the time of Iosua the City was ouerthrowen To this we answer first that after the ouerthrow which happened vnder Iosua the rest of the Chananites fled into a very huge wood which is called Of the Gentiles ther bi litle litle they so increased their power that thei set ouer thēselues a king which was of the surname of the first king namely his sonne or els his sonnes sōne which is therfore said to haue raigned in Hazor bicause he stil retained the title of the place as very many kings do at this day which keping the title of certain places do cal thēselues kings of the same places wherin in very dede they haue no possessiō at all But the Hebrue interpreters think the Hazoreth was a large huge wood which cōtained in it many cities Castels Vnto which sense the Chaldey paraphrast leaneth which turneth that worde munition of Castels This day also in Germany there is the wood of Hercinia wherin are both Cities and very many Castels And it is called Of the Gentiles either bicause a great number of diuers people resorted thither or bicause those places were built and fenced by the labour of manye Gentiles We might otherwise also answer that much more likely to be true namely that the citi of Hazor was after Iosua recouered reedefied by the Chananites so that it was the kingly city agayne wher Iabin either the sonne or els the sonnes sōne of the first Iabin raigned And to this reedefieng the times serued very aptly For from the burning of Hazor there wer passed .150 yeares more or lesse that is eight yeares of bondage which happened vnder the king of Mesopotamia .40 yeares of Othoniel .18 yeres of seruitude vnder Eglon king of Mesopotamia .80 yeres wherin Ehud peaceably iudged the Israelites and .20 yeres this Iabin afflicted the Hebrues Wherfore he might easily reigne in Hazor being againe reedified and this maketh with it bicause it is not writtē of this Iabin that he dwelled in the wood but that Sisara his captayne dwelt there For kinges vse not to kepe an house in their kingly citye but rather to haue them in their borders or in the fieldes wher they may be prompt and redy to accomplysh thinges to be done 3 And the children of Israel cried vnto the Lord for he had .900 chariottes of yron and .20 yeares he opressed Israel very sore 4 And Deborha a Prophetesse the wife of Lappidoth iudged Israel the same tyme. Both by the thinges before declared also by these which are now spoken of we may vnderstand the frowardnes of mans nature for vnles it be by troubles and aduersities brused and broken Men in desperate thinges call vpon God it regardeth not God yea as long as there is any hope of other helpes it neglecteth God and vseth them But whē thinges ar past all hope and do seperat then god is required as a certayne holy ankerhold Wherfore it is no maruayle though the Hebrues deferred their repētance 20. yeares long Surely I am persuaded that they did oftentimes grone and cry But bicause they lamented not that they had offended god and wickedly committed sinnes but only desired him to take a way the payne long punishment and paraduenture murmured against God therfore wer not their praiers heard But now at the last at the .20 yeares ende when with fayth and godlynes they prayed vnto God Though God deferre his help yet wee muste not dispaire he heard their prayer and graunted them their requestes By this example let vs learne that we must neuer dispaire of the help of god although it be deferred We all in deede desire to be strayghtwaye deliuered of our troubles but god in his counsel thinketh not good so soone to take away his punishments Wherfore that which he hath decreed we also must pacientlye suffer Deborah a Prophetesse God which before to deliuer Israel had chosen Ehud which had an impediment in his right hande and then Sangar a husbandman armed onely with the goade of an Oxe nowe choseth a woman by whose conduct the Iewes might be deliuered from a most grieuous enemy God vseth both stronge and weake a lyke Wherefore by these examples he aboundantly sheweth that his power is not bounde vnto noble men and to strong men but hee can easilye vse the weake and feable ones Yea and he sheweth forth his power rather in these than in the other Howbeit to declare that it is all one vnto him as touching both kynde of instrumentes sometimes he vseth the strong ones and other sometimes the weake ones And
of Isaschar That tribe was the lowest and obscurest tribe but god hath no respect to persons The state of this pub weal was most excellent namely Aristocratia wherin god chosed Iudges indiffereÌ„tly out of all the people And there was none which could iustly complayne that his famely could not be exalted to the highest dignity of rule which thing happeneth not in a kingdom For all the kinges came of the famely of Dauid The sonne of Pua Ben Dodo That word is ambiguous darke for it may be both a nowne proper and a nowne appellatyue If it be a proper nowne as the Chaldey Paraphrast supposeth we must say that Thola had to father Pua that Pua was the sonne of a certaine man named Dodo But other thinke that it is a nown appellatiue and that signifieth an vncle and hath a pronowne affixed vnto it of the third person And some vnderstand that by that pronown is referred or signifyed Abimelech as though it were noted that Pua was the vncle of Abimelech which sentence som of the Hebrewes allow Yea and the lattin interpreter to expresse that sentence and that there might be no darkenes therin addeth the name of Abimelech But how Pua shoulde be vncle vnto Abimelech and so the brother of Gideon beinge of an other tribe it seemeth meruellous bicause tribes were not mingled one with an other Some aunsweare that it mighte be that they were brethern on the mother side but yet not on the fathers side For such womeÌ„ which had no inheritaÌ„ce maried ofteÌ„times in other tribes but so did not they which had inheritance that the lands and inheritance should not be confouÌ„ded wherfore it might easly come to pas that ether her husband beyng dead or she by him repudiated maried agayne in an other tribe And by this meanes Gidion Pua may be bretherne although they came of suÌ„dry tribes But that those daughters whych were inheritors might not mary in an other tribe it is by many examples confirmed Saule otherwise a Beniamite gaue his daughter to wyfe vnto Dauid who was of the tribe of Iudah Iehoida a prieste of the tribe of Leui maryed the daughter of king Ioram whych was of the tribe of Iuda as it is written in the latter booke of Paralip the .22 chap. Aaron a Leuite maryed Elisaba the daughter of Aminadab of the tribe of Iuda Wherfore there ar two opinioÌ„s one is of them which thynke that Dodo is a proper name Now a maÌ„ mai be the sonne of his vncle and the other of those which say it is a name appellatiue The third opinion is that that annexed pronown namely of him is to be turned his so that this Thola had one and the self name to his father to his vncle which bi the ordinary meanes was not lawful yet was it detested when a man dyed without children for then the brother maried his wife namely him of whom he was begotten and the other which was dead whose name he bare and was made his heyre This sentence lyketh mee well for it very aptly declareth how a man might be the sonne of his vncle c. 3 After hym rose vp Iair a Gileadite and hee iudged Israel .xxii. yeares 4 And he had .xxx. sonnes that rode vpon .xxx. Coltes and they had .xxx. Cities whych are called Hauoth-Iair euen to thys day are in the land of Gilead 5 And Iair dyed and was buryed in Camon Of what tribe this Iair was appeareth by this woord Gilead which is repeated for Manasses had Machir to his sonne who begat Gilead And his name was coÌ„mune with the mount wherein Iacob and Laban made a league and named the place Gilead bicause there they raised vp a heape of stones for a wytnes Eusebius Câ—sâ—riensis Eusebius saith that the backe of this mount tendeth to Arabia and Phenicia and is ioyned with the hyls of Libanus And this mount hath a City of the same name Machir conquered that City and gaue vnto it a name which was coÌ„mon both to his sonne and to the mount Wherefore Iair was of the Tribe of Manasses a man hauing plenty of children for he had .xxx. And no maruaile when as then they vsed to haue many wyues His children was no Rascals or coÌ„mon people yea they were horsmen which is thus described which rode vpon .30 Asse colts This Hebrue woord Air signifieth either a Colt or an Asse Dauid Kimhi according to which sence are signified .xxx. Mules or the colt of a Mare as R. D. Kimhi expoundeth it Neither were they onely horsmen but also riche for they possessed .30 Cities bicause euery one of them was ruler of a City wherfore their father must nedes be very noble They were called Hauoth-Iair Bicause they wer not enuironed with a wall And were so called euen to this day namely euen vnto Samuels tyme who they say was authour of this booke In the booke of Numbers the .xxxii. chap. it is written Iair tooke many Cities from the Chananites and they were called Hauoth-Iair Wherefore it is demaunded whither he were the same man of whom we now speake or whether he were an other I doo not thinke that he was the same forasmuch as betwene them both there were .300 yeares passed He was a certaine other man distinct from this Iair of whom we nowe speake but yet hee was of the same famely and paraduenture this was his Neuew for they which are of the same famely doo for the most part retayne the names of their kynred Vnto this Iair came those Cities whych that other Iair tooke from the Chananites Wherfore the places agree but that it is not the same man This Iudge therefore is noble when as the twoo former were but of a base famely Neither doth Nobility anything hinder to gouerne a publike wealth if self trust and insolence be taken away yea rather they haue examples of their Elders excellent stirringes vp to vertue and very many helpes to gouerne thinges well And it is not vnlikely but that the people vnder these two Iudges rightly worshipped God in long and quiet peace otherwise God would not haue geueÌ„ them so long a time of rest But after them the Hebrues turned againe vnto Idolatry 6 And the chyldren of Israel wroughte wickedlye agayne in the sight of the Lord and serued Baalim and Astharoth and the gods of Aram and the gods of Zidon and the gods of Moab the gods of the children of Ammon and also the gods of Pelisthim and forsooke the Lord and serued not hym 7 Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was kyndled against Israel and he delyuered them into the handes of Pelisthim and into the handes of the chyldren of Ammon 8 Who from that yeare vexed and oppressed the children of Israel xviii yeares euen all the children of Israel whyche were beyonde Iordan in the land of the Amorrhites whych is in Gilead 9 Moreouer the chyldren of Ammon went ouer Iordan to fyght also against Iuda and
thou arte come agaynst me to fyght in my land 13 And the kinge of the children of Ammon aunsweared vnto the messengers of Iiphtah bicause Israell tooke my lande when they came from Egipte from Arnon euen to Iaboc and vnto Iarden now therfore restore them with peace 14 Yet Iiphtah sent messengers agayne vnto the kinge of the children of Ammon 15 And sayd vnto hym Thus sayth Iiphtah Israell tooke not the land of Moab nor the land of the children of Ammon 16 But when Israell came vppe from Egipte and walked thorowe the wyldernesse euen to the Sea Suph then they came to Cades 17 And Israell sente messengers vnto the kinge of Edom sayinge Let me I praye thee goe thorowe thy lande But the Kynge of Edome woulde not consente And also they sente vnto the Kynge of Moab but he woulde not Therefore Israell abode in Cades 18. Then they wente thorowe the wildernes and compassed the Lande of Edome and the Lande of Moab and came by the Easte syde of the Lande of Moab and pytched beyonde Arnon neyther came they wythin the coaste of Moab For Arnon was the border of Moab 19 Wherefore Israell sente messengers vnto Sihon kinge of the Ammorhites and king of Hebron and Israell sayde vnto him Let vs passe we pray thee by thy land into our place 20 But Sihon trusted not Israell to go thorough his coaste but Sihon gathered together all his people and pitched in Iaaz and fought agaynst Israell 21. And the Lorde GOD of Israell gaue Sihon and all his people into the handes of Israell and they smote them so Israell possessed all the lande of the Ammorrhites the inhabitantes of that countrey 22 And they possessed all the coaste of the Ammorhites from Arnon euen to Iaboc and from the wildernes euen vnto Iordan 23 Nowe therefore the Lorde GOD of Israell hath caste oute the Ammorhites before his people Israell and shouldest thou possesse it 24 Wouldest not thou possesse that whiche Chemos thy God geueth thee to possesse So whomesoeuer the Lorde our God driueth out before vs them will we possesse 25. And arte thou now farre better then Balac the sonne of Zippor king of Moab Did not he striue with Israell Did not he fyght agaynste them 26. When Israell dwelte in Hesbon and in her townes and in Aroer and in her Townes and in all the Cities that are by the coastes of Arnon .300 yeares Why did ye not then recouer them in that space 27 Wherefore I haue not offended thee but thou doest me wrong to warre agaynst me The Lord the Iudge be Iudge thys day betwene the chyldren of Israel and the chyldren of Ammon 28 Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not vnto the woordes of Iiphtaph which he had sent hym When Iiphtah by his messengers saith vnto the king of Ammon what hast thou to do with me he vseth a phrase very much vsed of the Hebrues He inquireth the cause as though he woulde haue sayde why inuadest thou our landes what discord or iniuries are there betwene thee and me The king of the Ammonites answered that he therefore made warre bicause the Israelites did hym iniury which tooke away his landes namely from the borders of Arnon euen to Iaboc and Iarden He complayneth that all that coast was taken from hym which was betwene those riuers This he pretendeth to be the cause of the war And he desired that they would restore peaceablye that is without warre that which they had taken away from him He seemeth to promise that he will leaue of from warre if the Israelites woulde performe this Iiphtah denieth that the thyng is so VVe haue not taken away sayth he your land And bringeth a reason Bicause when the Israelites came vp out of Egipt they of their owne wyll sent messengers vnto the kyng of Edom that they might haue leaue to passe throughe his borders which thing he would not let them doo so farre is it of that wee dyd them iniury The people abode in Cades so muche tempered they themselues frō violence and weapons They went on the syde of the land of Edom for the Edomites would not permit Israel to go straight through the middest of their country Wherefore my people rather iourneyed with great labour then that they were troublesome vnto any man And pitched beyond Arnon There were the endes of Moab Wherefore ye can not complaine that we did anye man iniurye Therfore when the Israelites saw that they could not leade their host throughe the borders of Edom or Moab they sent vnto Sihon king of the Amorhites But he would not neither did he onely denye them passage through his borders but also assembled an host and pursued them And the battaile beyng ioyned God deliuered him in to the handes of the Israelites The Israelites possessed the land by the righte of warre Wherefore sayth he we haue done thee no wrong for this land we possesse by the right of warre Sihon assayled vs with his power and the victory fel on our syde wherfore both he and all his land by the right of warre came into our power And the Lord delyuered Wherfore forasmuch as Israel by the ryght of war succeded Sihon that land which thou desirest is not thine but in the olde tyme pertained vnto Sihon the king Therfore when we occupied this land thou diddest not possesse it but the Amorhites Neither do we possesse this land by the right of warre onely They also possessed it by the gift of God but also by the gift of God for the Lord our God which is Lord of al kingdomes hath geuen it to vs and deliuered it into our power This is the second reason that Iiptah vseth for by the first he onelye sheweth that those places came vnto him by the right of warre without any wrong doing But some man might say It is well perceiued that god gaue it bicause he draue out the Ammonits how knowest thou that God gaue thee this land Bicause saith he he expelled the old inhabiters the Amorhites before vs and wylt thou succede the Amorhites as though hee would say by what right He bringeth an argument a simili that is from the lyke You sayth he worship the God Chemos and you thinke you haue your lād by his benefite and ye beleue that ye possesse it by very good right So we haue receiued our land not from an idole as you haue but from the true God Chemos the god of he Ammonites and we retayne it by very good ryght He calleth not Chemos god bicause he beleued that idole to be a god but speaketh in this maner bicause they iudged that it was so Art thou better then Balac the sonne of Zippor They possessed also by the right of prescription Thys is the thyrde reason We possesse it saith they not onely by the right of warre or gyft but also by the right of prescription for we haue had it nowe in our handes
this .300 yeares and Balac though he were a mighty Prince and other also neuer required it againe wherfore then doest thou demaund it againe especiallye seing we haue had it so long time That which we translate Art thou better in Hebrue it is Tob tob For bicause they want the comparatiue degree they vse in steede of it a repeticion of the positiue degree Why Balac fought agaynst the Israelites Balac of whom he speaketh was he which hired Bileam to cursse the Iewes And when he fought against the Israelites he did not therefore fight bicause he would wrest from them that land this was onely his entent that they shoulde not enter into his borders Hesbon Hesbon was the kingly Citye of Sihon There dwelled Israell and in all her townes .300 yeares and now at the last demaundest thou it agayne If a man wyl count the number of the yeares euen to this time he shall not fullye finde .300 yeares but onely .270 But so vse they to doo which prescribe any thing by time to adde somwhat aboue the iust number Although the scripture also is wont in supputacions many times to follow the greater number And .270 yeares come nere vnto .300 yeares then to .200 yeares And for that cause it seemeth that the number should be put whole Wherfore Iiphtah concludeth after this maner I haue not offended thee Bicause thou art the occasion of the warre and haue shewed thee my reasons now resteth to put the matter in Gods hand he wyll iudge best Thys was the message of Iiphtah We must fyrst entreate by messengers before we go to weapons Titus Liuius This Oration as farre as it appeareth pertaineth vnto the iudicial kynde and entreateth of possession and the reasons are layde foorth But nowe let vs marke that Iiphtah before he moueth battail sendeth messengers before That is a custome verye laudable For Titus Liuius writeth in his first booke that it was the maner of Rome that before warre was proclaymed againste their enemies messengers were sent to complaine of the iniuries and to require againe the thinges taken away And if by their message they nothing profited they returned vnto the Senate who vnderstanding the matter proclaimed war by the publike assent For wise men iudged it not best rashlye and sodainlye to fall to warres So Iiphtah though he were a warlike and valiant man yet woulde he gouerne the matter wisely and moderatlye For he was not so light brained as many now adayes are who firste prepare them selues to battaile and make a bragging before any man know that there is any warre proclaimed God thus ordained in the .27 chap. of Deut. when thou shalt come to any Citye thou shalt firste offer peace So Iiphtah assayeth firste to compose the matter by woords before he goeth to hand strokes The king of Ammon alledgeth a cause in dede but it is but a fained cause for first it was not the laÌ„d of Ammon but of Moab and the Amorhites draue them out as the second chap. of Deut. testifieth For Israel had none of their landes For God had before said that he woulde geue nothing vnto the Israelites of that which pertained either to the Edomites or to the Ammonites or to the Moabites and when they offred no wrong vnto anye man Sihon the king of the Amorhites pursued them with an host and assayed to destroy them but God gaue the victory wherin both Sihon was slain and his kingdome came to the Israelites Wherfore it can not seme that they did wrong vnto the Ammonites for that land at that time longed to the Amorhites which they before had taken away from the Moabites Whither the Israelites sent messengers vnto the Moabites or no. But in this place ariseth a doubt for it is written that the Israelites sent messengers vnto the Moabites and that is not found in the .21 chap. of Numb The Hebrue interpreters say that that may be gathered out of the .2 chap. of Deutr. where it is after this sorte written I sent messengers vnto Sihon the king of the Amorhites with woordes of peace saying Let vs passe throughe thy lande and we wil go by the high way we wil not decline neither to the right hande nor to the leaft Sel vs meate for money for to eate geue vs water for money to drink Onely geue vs leaue to passe through as did the children of Esau which dwell in Seir and the Moabites which dwel in Arre Ther are three principal pointes in this message What wer the chief points of I phtahs meâ—sage for first Iiphtah answereth that he possesseth this land by the right of war secondly by gift lastlye by prescription I thinke it good to examine these thinges singularly and aparte ¶ Of things whych are taken by the ryght of warres AS touching the first we learne that it may be that some thing may be claymed by the right of warre which maye be confirmed both by mans lawes and by the lawes of God But I wyl begyn with mans lawes In the Digestes de captiuis et postliminio reuersis in the law Postliminium Postliminium a law by 〈…〉 we receaue agayn 〈◊〉 â—hichâ— we lostâ— in warres The thinges that we haue lost in war or in affaires of war if we afterward recouer the same again we shal possesse them by the law Postliminium For so long as they are not recouered they are possessed of our enemies And thys ryghte is towarde those whyche are declared to bee enemyes But suche were declared to bee enemies against whom the people of Rome publikelye proclaimed warre or they which publikely prohibited warre against the people of Rome as it is had in the same title in the law Hostes For Pirates or theues cannot by this meanes attaine to be owners or possesse any thing by the law of warre For warre ought to be made to the ende to attaine something by the right of warre And in the Digestes de acquirendo rerum dominio in the lawe Naturale paragrapho the last Such thinges as are taken from enemies by the common law of all men agreing vnto naturall reason are straightwaye made theirs which take them And thus the lawes of man as touching this thing are very manifest So is it also by the lawes of God Abraham as it manifestlye appeareth in the booke of Genesis the .14 chap. made warre against the .v. kinges whiche had led away Lot prisoner The battaile being finished theyr praye came into the handes and power of Abraham which maye easelye bee proued bicause of that pray he gaue tithes vnto Melchisedech But it had not bene lawfull for him to haue geuen tithes of an other mans goods therfore they wer his own of which he gaue Wherfore we must beleue that that pray was truelye in his possession For in that he gaue it to the king of Sodom it was of his mere liberality for he was not therunto compelled by the law I coulde make mencion what
Iiphtah delyuered hys not onelye from theeues but also from moste grieuous enemies from the Ammonites I say Wherefore the principallitye of hys Countrye being geuen hym he coulde not iustly be spoyled of it Whereunto thou mayest adde that he was instituted a Iudge by God Therefore he ought to defende both hym selfe and hys in punishyng wycked men Let vs in this place note the seuere iudgement of God vpon sedicious and ingrate persons 7 And Iiphtah iudged Israel syxe yeares then dyed Iiphtah the Gileadite and was buryed in the Cities of Gilead 8 After hym Iibzan of Bethlehem iudged Israel 9 And he had .xxx. sonnes and .xxx. daughters whych he sent out and tooke .xxx. daughters from abroade for his sonnes And he iudged Israel seuen yeares 10 Then Iibzan dyed and was buryed in Bethlehem 11 And after hym Elon a Zebulonite iudged Israell and he iudged Israel tenne yeares 12 Then Elon the Zebulonite dyed and was buryed in Aialon in the lande of Zebulon 13 After hym Abdon the sonne of Hillel the Pirathonite iudged Israel 14 And he had .xl. sonnes and .xxx. sonnes sonnes that rode on 70 Coltes And he iudged Israel .viii. yeares 15 Then died Abdon the sonne of Hillel the Pirathonite and was buryed in Pirathon in the lande of Ephraim in the mount of the Amelachites The Hebrewes fable that Iiphtah for hys wycked cryme in kyllynge hys daughter Nowe hee was buryed in the cities of Gilead was so smytten of God that hys members rotted and wasted away And that when he walked throughe the Cities of Gilead he lost in euerye one of those Cityes some part of his fleshe And therefore it is not sayde that he was buryed in any one certayne place but in the Cities of Gilead Other say that he was very desirous of glory and renowne and therfore he prouided to haue monumentes made for him in manye Cities of that Prouince These ar thyngs friuolous and ful of fables which other Interpreters seing do thus expounde that forme of speaking that In the Cityes of Gilead is nothyng els then in some one certayn of the Cities of Gilead But I thinke that it might be that the principal Citye of the Gileadites was so builte that it seemed to bee not one Citye but many Wherefore it myght bee sayde in the plurall number Cityes So in Hungary is a Citye called Quinque ecclesiae whyche is fyue Cyties and Siracusae a Citye in Sicilia So that Are Gilead was the proper name of one Citye After hym Iibzan iudged Israel This man counted to be Boaz. Some coniecture that thys maÌ„ was that Boaz whych maryed Ruth but that cannot be confirmed by any authoritye of the scripture He had thirty sonnes and thirty daughters And that we shoulde perceiue that they remayned long on lyue it is sayd that they were all by hym coupled in matrimony But bycause the actes of this Iudge and of the other twoo whych are afterwarde mencioned were not as it is to be thought notable therefore they are not spoken of But thys Iudge was of the Tribe of Iuda whych thyng Bethlehem hys Countrye declareth Elon whych was Iudge after hym tenne yeares was of the Tribe of Zabulon Abdon the sonne of Hillel the Pirathonite as the name of his country declareth was an Ephramite and he also was famous by his posteritye for he had fourtye Sonnes and of them thirtye Neuewes It is declared that they all came to rype age for it is sayde that they were all horsmen who as it is to be thought in ryding compassed the sydes of their father To haue many Children is an excellent gift of God Vnles a great number of children were an excellent gift of God it shoulde not so diligentlye haue bene mencioned of in those places God promised vnto his friend Abraham that hys seede should be increased lyke the starres of heauen and sand of the sea Yea and Dauid also syngeth Thy wyfe shall bee lyke a fruitfull vyne in the sydes of thy house and thy children lyke Olyue braunches rounde about thy table Priamus also is renowmed of the Poetes bycause he had fyfty chyldren The lawe of chyldren â—eÌ„ the Romaâ—â— The Romanes made a lawe called the law of three Chyldren For if anye at Rome had three chyldren a lyue they were excused from personall offices Throughout Italy to obtaine that liberty foure were sufficient But in a Prouince fiue wer required as it is in the Code of those which haue deserued an excuse by the number of Chyldren in the lawe de Personalibus and Eosvero But there are some whych doo hate plentiful fruite bycause they haue no confidence in the goodnes of God and doo dispaire that they shoulh be able to nooryshe them They synnâ— whyche hatâ— plentifull issue And there are other whiche are infected with this wicked affection bycause they desyre to auoyde the troubles of bryngyng them vp and are afrayde that they shall leaue their Chyldren beggers behynde them But thys thing happeneth vnto them bycause they doo euyll esteeme the benefites of God neyther vnderstande they what great honour and dignity he geueth them What is the dignitye of the Parentes as often as they haue issue As God is the Father of men so also would he haue men to be the Parentes of men that they should vnderstande by the fatherlye loue or affection what mynde and beneuolence God beares towardes vs. ¶ The .xiii. Chapter 1. BVt the Children of Israel continued to coÌ„mit wickednes in the syght of the Lorde and the Lorde deliuered them into the handes of the Philistines fourtye yeares 2 And ther was a maÌ„ in Zorah of the family of the Danites named Manoah whose wyfe was barren and bare not 3 And the Angel of the Lord appeared vnto the woman and sayd vnto her Behold nowe thou art barren and bearest not But thou shalt conceaue and beare a sonne 4 And now therfore beware that thou drinke no wyne nor strong drinke neyther eate any vncleane thyng 5 Bicause lo thou shalt conceaue and beare a sonne and no rasor shall come on hys heade for the Childe shal be a Nazarite vnto God from hys byrth and he shall begyn to saue Israel out of the handes of the Philistines This affliction of the Israelits is longer then the other GOd afflicted the Israelites and deliuered theÌ„ to their enemies bycause they returned to their old nature and forgetting the Lord their God woorshypped Idoles And this affliction dured fourtye yeares We reade of none longer then this From the death of Abdon the last Iudge euen almost vnto Hely this affliction endured bicause Samson did not fully deliuer the people He in deede smote the Philistines but he did not vtterlye repell them from oppressing of the Hebrues This woorde Zorah is a name of a place and not of a famelye as we shal afterward vnderstand towardes the ende of the chapter Of the Tribe of Dan. The learneder sorte doo to this place referre those
The custom of God in punishing A similitude Thus God vseth to doo first to punish his owne before he afflict straungers Phisitions also when a man hath taken poyson haue thys as their chiefe care to driue away the poyson from the hart from the lyuer and other principal partes of the body then they apply medicines vnto the other mēbers of the body So also the good man of the house firste enstructeth and chastiseth his chyldren and afterwarde he enstructeth other Wherfore Paul wryteth of a Bishop If he cannot wel gouerne his owne family how shall hee gouerne the church of God Wherfore it is no maruayle if god chastised Samson fyrst afterward grieuously afflicted the Philistines But in that it is writtē that his heare was growen againe we must not beleue that hys strength lay in hys heare for it was a gift of god geuen him freely The vowe of the Nazarites being violated was renewed but yet God required that for that gift he should be a Nazarite vnto which it belonged to let the heare growe and not to cut it with a rasor But if a man had transgressed he did not therfore straight way cease to be a Nazarite but ought to let his heare grow and be clensed and so begyn againe his institucion which he tooke in hand Wherefore Samson repented that he had violated his vow and returned to the rule of a Nazarite and when his heare was growen and he restored both vnto god and to his olde state and strength being assured of the helpe of god he tooke vengeaunce of hys enemyes In the meane time the Philistines ascribe their victory against Samson vnto their god Dagon What Dagon was But what this god was it is not very wel knowen Howbeit as farre as may be iudged by the Etimology of the woorde it was some god of the sea For Dag in hebrew signifieth a fyshe And that both the Grecians and the Latines worshipped gods of the sea Gods of the sea it is certayne For they had Neptune Leucothea and Triton Aboue the belly as they say it had the forme of a man downward it ended in the forme of a fyshe Suche a god woorshipped the Philistines And vndoubtedly the old Ethnikes synned grieuously therin in that they woulde rather serue the creature as Paul sayth then the creator and chaunged the glory of the immortal God and transferred it not onely into the similitude fashioned like a mortal man but also into the images of birdes fourefooted beastes What maner of thinges the Gods of heretikes are and Serpentes or creeping thinges Neither did they onely woorship those things which ar in nature but also they fained vnto thē selues Monsters which appeare no where Such gods in a maner do heretikes woorship For they doo set before them selues some shape and head of God when they confesse that they heleue in God the creator of heauen earth But when farther they adde their own thoughtes and fansies they make the inferiour part to ende in a fishe Of this Dagon there is manifest mencion made in the first booke of Samuel The Philistines extolled their Dagon bycause he had deliuered their ennemye into their handes whiche was nothing els then to blaspheme the name of the true God For they attributed his woorkes vnto an idole Neither considered they that Samson was therfore taken bicause he had sinned against God Wherfore our synnes are a cause why God is blasphemed for when by reason of them we are destitute of the helpe of God our enemies whiche get the victorye againste vs doo ascribe the same both vnto their owne strengthes and to their supersticions So happened it in the conqueryng of Constantinople Horrible examples of blasphemies where the Turkes when they had gotten the city caried about in derision the image of Christ clothed with the apparel of the Turkes throughout al the host and throughout all the wayes of the City And not many yeares ago when the Emperour Charles the fift lost a great nauy and many souldiours at Argery I remember I hearde some soldiours say that Christ our sauiour was now become a Mahomitan or Moore How holy men called vpō 〈◊〉 in tribulacions neither considered they that they them selues wer become farre woorse then the Mahomites So the name of God is mocked for our synnes Wherefore holy men were wont not without a cause thus to pray and to implore mercye that the name of God should not be euil spoken of among the Gentiles So delt Moses with God when he was angry with the people for making the golden Calfe The Prophets also sayd Be mercyful vnto vs Lord for thine own sake and for thine names sake least the nacions say wher is their God Let vs in the meane time when we heare or reade these thinges thus thincke with our selues Seing God hath for synne so grieuouslye afflicted Samson so great a man sanctified from his mothers wombe and appointed to deliuer Israel what shall become of vs if we synne So Paul to the Corrinthians in his first Epistle setteth foorth vnto vs the examples of the Israelites to consider whom God sundry wayes chastised And to the Romanes he sayth If he hath not spared the natural braunches take heede that he spare not thee Marke the goodnes and seuerity of God his seuerity on those which haue fallen and his goodnes in thee if thou abide in goodnes otherwise thou also shalt be cut of Wherefore by these cogitacions we may take fruite by the punishment of other For this vse are examples set foorth vnto the Churche What is the fruit of holy histories that we in readyng them shoulde become better Paule sayde what soeuer thinges are before wrytten are written for our learning that wee throughe pacience and consolacion of the scriptures shoulde haue hope Wherefore when we reade that holye men were so corrected we ought to tremble least we also fall into the lyke anger of God If we doo not take suche fruite by reading of the holy scriptures we then reade them in vayne The Philistines geue thankes vnto Dagon their God for the victorye So were they delyuered vp into a reprobate sense to geue thankes for those thinges for whych they ought most of all to haue bene sory For how obtayned they Samson By the artes of an harlot and by most fylthye deceate After sacrifices followeth a verye sumptuous banquet For in those holye seruices of Idoles was set foorth a certaine communion that the people in that feast shoulde reioyce together wyth a certaine common ioy So also in the olde Testament the Israelites in theyr peace offeringes feasted and reioyced together before the Lord. Neyther is it vnlykely but that the Fathers also before the law had suche holy seruices and solemnities To what ende the Supper of the Lorde was instituted Christ also our Sauiour instituted a Communion and holye Supper that wee shoulde there celebrate hys name and healthfull death But
is the father of the countrey We muste obeye hym but yet not aboue the Lord. Yea if he commaunde any thyng agaynst hym he is both to be hated and also to be denyed Neither is it lawfull for any manne to professe hymselfe to be a Christian whiche will not departe from the superior Magistrate in these thynges whiche are agaynste the woorde of GOD. Thys were to haue a wyll to serue two Lordes and to halte in two partes If GOD be God let vs follow hym and that not by halues but wholy But it is to be feared saye they least whylest we are agaynste the superior power we engender daunger to the publique wealth To this will I answere contraryly to that which Demades in the old tyme answered vnto the Athenienses An answere of Demades Cassander the Macedonian whiche succeded Alexander the greate entreated with the Athenienses to woorshippe Alexander for a GOD. They stayed at it but Cassander vnles they woulde consent seemed that he would inuade them with battaile Wherefore Demades spake thus vnto the people That it was to be feared least whilest they retayned heauen they lost not earth So doo I aunswere these menne but chaungyng the woordes That it is to be feared least whilest they to muche regarde and defende an earthely publique wealth they lose heauen For althoughe the superior power doo fume and threaten we must stande valiantly to a good cause For we muste woorshippe GOD holyly and godly thoughe all Magistrates and the whole worlde were agaynste vs. And therefore if that superior power commaunde any thyng agaynst the lawe of God it is not to be obeyed An example of Naboth So dyd Naboth behaue hymself he would not graunt vnto Achab hys vyneyarde whiche was his inheritaunce Neither had he in that thing a respect vnto any thing elles then that the lawe of GOD should remayne vnbroken wherin it was commaunded that the tribes and famelyes of the Israelites as touchyng possessions should remayne distincte and separated Wherefore by it it was not lawfull for Naboth to alienate hys inheritaunce for euer Yet a manne beyng farre endetted mought haue solde his inheritaunce till the yeare of Iubily But after that yeare it returned vnto the olde possessor agayne GOD woulde by thys meanes that the inheritaunces of the Israelites shoulde not be confounded Wherefore Naboth woulde not sell hys auncient inheritaunce that the lawe of GOD shoulde not be broken whome Magistrates also ought to follow and not to geue place in theyr Cityes and dominions vnto moste vnpure Masses and Papisticall Idolatrye The Iewes when they were oppressed vnder the Mocedonians The constancy of the Iewes agaynste the Macedonians Romanes chused to suffer any thynge rather then that the Image of Iupiter Olimpicus shoulde abyde in the Temple of GOD. And when the Romanes bare rule ouer them howe greate sedition and tumult stirred they vp rather then they would suffer the Siluer Eagle or the Image of Caligula to be set vp in the holy place Yea Valentinian the Emperor beyng an Arrian as both Eusebius writeth and also Ambrose in hys Epistles would haue had the Church of Millan delyuered vnto him there with hys heretikes to haue celebrated prayers and holy seruices Ambrose But Ambrose woulde not geue place but rather abode daye and nyght in the Temple together with the people that the Emperour should not fynd it empty and so possesse it If the Hebrues would not haue the Temple of GOD polluted with Idoles and Ambrose suffred not the Churche to be contaminated by heretikes why doo faythfull Magistrates permitte theyr Temples to Idolatrers and vnpure worshippynges of Papistes They saye that these thynges pertayne not vnto them and that these Temples are not in theyr power What then If murther shoulde be committed in those Temples or any shoulde there conspire agaynste the publique wealth woulde they leaue murtherers and conspirators vnpunished there And would they say that these wycked crimes pertayne nothyng vnto them Would they willingly wittingly suffer these thyngs I thinke not if they were wise if they would keepe and defend the publique wealth If a man should obiect vnto them this Temple is not yours neither maketh it any matter vnto you what is here done yea but they would then aunswere for as muche as it is in our City in that it sufficiently pertayneth vnto vs. But wicked actes farre more grieuous then murthers and conspiracyes are there committed Idolatry I say sacrilege and blasphemye And shall a Magistrate whiche will be called a Christian thynke that these thynges pertayne nothyng vnto hym But say they the superior power hath commaunded these thynges to be done To this I haue already largely aunswered Nowe thys thynge wyll I adde if the same power shoulde go aboute to destroye the Citye or to take awaye or diminishe the priuiledges they woulde neuer suffer that they woulde rather runne to weapons but these thynges whiche are farre more grieuous and cruell are openly and manifestly done and suffred And whiche is muche moste grieuous of all those thynges are there suffred where many yeares the Gospell of Christe hath bene receaued Nowe resteth bycause oftentymes the Magistrate excuseth hymselfe saying the Ecclesiastical causes pertayne not vnto him to declare that to be vntrue Although it be sufficiently declared by those things which I haue already spoken yet for the more easie vnderstandyng I thinke it good to adde those thynges First I say that the Magistrate is the keper of the law of God which conteyneth not onely the latter table but also the first Wherfore the Magistrate is a keper as well of the one as of the other I adde that also whiche Augustine sayth Augustine that not onely priuate men but also kynges ought to serue the Lorde For in the Psalme it is written In gatheryng together peoples into one and kynges to serue the Lorde And in an other place And nowe O kynges vnderstand be wise ye that iudge the earth Serue the Lord in feare c. A priuate man sayth Augustine serueth the Lorde if he confesse hys name and lyue vprightly Howe kynges ought peculiarly to serue the Lorde But this is not sufficient for a kyng and Magistrate For he by his authority and power ought so to serue the Lorde that he must punishe those that are agaynst hym whiche thyng vnles he doo he seemeth to assent vnto blasphemers and heretikes For the king when he seeth these menne and suffreth them is as much in faulte as if he shoulde ioyne hymselfe with them and mainteyne theyr wicked actes Nebuchad-Nezar as soone as euer he knewe GOD made a decree that whosoeuer spake blasphemy agaynst the GOD of Daniel shoulde dye The lyke decree made Darius afterwarde Wherfore our Magistrates also ought vtterly to take awaye all Idolatryes blasphemyes and superstitions assone as euer they find them out The Ethnike princes neuer thought that the care ouer Religion pertayned not vnto their power