he would not labour in the publike wealth What the Popes oughte to haue before theyr eyes but bicause he vnderstode that it was no lawful vocatioÌ„ which the Popes also ought to regard He had before his eyes the law in Deut. now alledged The Pope ought also to loke vpon the words of Christ Kinges of the nations sayth the Lord bear rule ouer theyr subiectes but ye shal not do so and being demaunded who should be greatest he aunsweared that he which was lowest and which more serued others This is to gouern the church not to commaund but to serue Peter himselfe also taught ministers not to beare dominion ouer their flocke Who are in the church to â—â—uerenced aboue other And Paule hath written that Christ is set the hed of the church not men although in it they are aboue other to be much made of to be honored whych more then other profet the faythfull and are more largely endewed with good gracious giftes and as Christe required of Peter doo more depely loue him and which ar more aboundantly endewed with those qualities which Paule to Timothe and Titus requireth in bishops If we highlier honor such men in the church aboue other not as lords not as vniuersal bishops not as heads of the church but as excellent ministers thereof the authority and obedience of the word of god should therby be nothing diminished An error verye hurtful in the church But they do not so They haue fixed the exellency and dignity of the ministers of the church vnto chayres places and cities howsoeuer he be in greater price honor which sytteth in those chayres or places and what manner of man so eueâ— he be in lyfe and manners And so is there no regarde had to the graces and giftes of God but onely to the place and seate This vndoubtedly was the fountayne ofpring and beginning of al euils and superstitions Our elders thought it good that in cities which were more famous where marchandises were traded and were assemblies of men where Proconsuls or Presidentes gouerned there also the bishops should be of greater authority and iurisdiction Whereby custome obteined that those Churches and chayres were had in greater honor But as it commeth to passe ambicion crepte in and in those places byshoppes were ordeyned not alwaye suche as were more worthye but such as were better fauored of Princes And oftentimes the better learned and more holy were geuen ouer to small and abiecte bishoprikes When Augustine was Bishop of Hippouerhegium one called Aurelius gouerned the most honorable church of Carthago And who knoweth not that Augustine in doctrine maners and authoritye farre excelled Aurelius The same thinge happened vnto Gregorius Nazianzenus who was byshop in an abiect place namelye in Sassimis when as many other not to be compared with him obtayned the chief chayres After this way maner the bishop of Rome began to be preferred aboue other namelye bycause of the moste ample dignitye of the citye The cause why the bishop of Rome was preferred before other whyche cause neuerthelesse he vnderstanding that it was no firme groundsele of the honor which he had obteyned he hath fained other causes of his excellency And first he pretendeth that he had this priueledge by the councel of Nice which yet he could not proue before the fathers of Africa bicause in that Sinode the charge onelye of suburbe churches was committed vnto hym Not a charge to beare dominion but to geue counsel to admonish and if there wer any things of more waight to referre the same to the counsell As to the bishop of Alexandria the suburbe churches of Egipt and to the byshop of Antioch of the suburbe churches of the east parties And it was not geuen the bishop of Rome to be the vniuersall pastor Neyther is it possible that a weake and mortall man should feede the flocke of Christe in all countries Farthermore the bishop of Rome boasted that he was set to be the head of the church The bishop of Rome canot be hed of the whol church whych cannot be meete for any man For from the heade ar deriued mouinge and sense by the sinewes into al members as Paule very well teacheth to the Ephesians and Colossians But no man can performe that as of himselfe by closures ioynts to quickeÌ„ the meÌ„bers of the church with the sprite of god It loÌ„geth onely to christe Magistrates princes may be called heads of the people to destribute vnto his meÌ„bers spiritual mocions illustracion of the minde and eternall life Indede kings and magistrates may be called heads of the people bicause they gouerne ciuily and from them we may looke for good lawes and ciuyle mouinges but in the church men entreat not of ciuile life but of spiritual and eternall life which we cannot loke for but at gods hand neyther can any mortall men quicken the members of the church Kinges magistrates when they are godlye in my iudgemente oughte to haue the chiefe place in the church and to them it pertaineth if religion be il administred to correcte the defaultes For therfore they beare the sword to maintayne Gods honor But they cannot be heades of the churche Paule to the Romaines and to the Corinthians where he maketh rehearsal of the members of the churche putteth some to be eyes some noses eares hands and feete but he adorneth none with the dignity of the heade who yet to the Ephesians sayth this of Christe that god had geuen hym to be the head of the body of the church We must not make the church two headed Let the papistes shew writen in any other places of the holy scriptures that Christ gaue an other hed vnto the church they shall haue the victory But I know assuredly they caÌ„not For if that could haue bene done the church should be a two hedded monster But it is a sporte to heare what Iohn sometimes B. of Rochester in defendyng the Pope auÌ„swered to this To graunt two heads of the Church sayth he is not absurd for the Apostle writeth the man is the head of the womaÌ„ neuertheles euery wife hath byside her husband which is the head an other head also Wherfore he concluded that we may thus affirme of the church namely that it hath both Christ and the Pope to be head But this man faileth by a false Sillogismus of equiuocatioÌ„ For speaking now of a head as it is attributed vnto the Church he falleth to a natural head In matrimony the husband is the head of the wife not the natural hed How the husband is the hed of the wyfe but as touching aeconomical life But the natural head of the woman is the beginning of her natural life And vndoubtedly if we looke vpon the natural head in the church we shal finde that it is not one head but looke howe manye men there be in it so many heades shal there be for there is none
in peeces your fleshe with thornes of the wildernesse and with briars 8 And he went vp thence vnto Penuel and spake vnto them lykewise and the men of Penuel aunswered hym as the men of Succoth aunswered 9 And he sayd also vnto the men of Penuel when I come agayn in peace I will breake downe this Tower 10 Nowe Zebah and zalmonah were in Karkor their hostes with thē about fiften thousand al that were left of all the hostes of the childrē of Kedem they which wer slayne were an hundreth twenty thousand men that drew swordes 11 And Gideon went thorough them that dwelt in tabernacles on the East side of Nobah Iogbehah and smote the hoste for the host was carelesse 12 And when zebah and zalmonah fled he followed after them and tooke the two kynges of Madian zebah and zalmonah and discōfited all the host 13 So Gideon the sonne of Ioas returned from the battayle before the sunne rose vp After a long parenthesis the history returneth vnto the iust order of the thing that was done and declareth in what sorte the ende of the battayle was When the Madianites and they of the Easte had wounded themselues one an other and a few of them whiche remayned fled away Gideon pursued after them passed ouer Iordane And bycause he had laboured all the night and sawe that his thre hundreth men were weary he would somwhat refresh them Therfore he required meat of the city of Succoth for his fellow souldiers Two Succoths And Succoth lyeth beyond Iordane in the tribe of Gad. Iacob builded it when he departed from saluting his brother Esau Whiche I therfore speake bycause there is an other place which is likewyse called Succoth but it belongeth vnto Egypt and is numbred among the first mention places of the children of Israell Gideon desireth that he might haue geuen him Kichroth that is round peces of bread for his weary souldiers Vndoubtedly if he had required great plenty of bread or meat generally they of Succoth might after a sorte haue ben excused But by name he desired onely bread Wherfore they whiche would not do that can not but be condemned of great inhumanite He bringeth two causes of hys request He bringeth two causes of hys request my fellow souldiers saith he are weary namely bycause for the publique health they haue laboured all night wherby he signified that they were not vnworthy of their reward Farther we pursue the Madianites puttyng our selues agayn in daunger for the health of the Hebrues Either of these cause were sufficient ynoughe to allure their beneuolence The princes of Succoth aunswere namely one for them all and therfore it is sayd in the singular nūber Vaiiomer and he sayd Wherby is signified that onely the princes and senators of this city were in the faulte and therfore they were at the length as afterward shal be declared punished by Gideon and he threatned them only as it is here written They do not onely refuse to geue bread but also they scorne the man Are sayth they the handes of zebah and zalmonah in thy power Thou speakest vnto vs with so greate a stoutenesse and so desirest bread as though thou haddest already taken them Gideon was griuously angry with these mockes for so vnworthy a contempt and he freely and playnely forespake what he would do agaynst them If these vngodly and rude men had bene wise they would haue ioyned them selues vnto him to assiste his endeuor in fighting for the common health But this they do not impudently deny bread whiche men vse to geue vnto suche as are weary and hungry although they be straungers A wonderfull diuersity vndoubtedly of things The Madianites which were strangers were afrayd and fled but those whiche were Israelites mocke Gideon the conquerer If thou wilt saye they were ignoraunt of hys vocation we may aunswere that they could not denye but that his worke was good But graunt that they doubted of the vocation and principality of Gideon what excuse at the laste can theyr moste wanton derision haue For so did Nabal the Carmilite behaue hymselfe towarde Dauid when he required some meate of hym for hys Souldiers makyng mencion of hys fayth and the fidelitye of hys men in safegardyng hys thynges But he dyd not onely denye vnto hym that humanity but sent awaye the messangers laden with contumelyes The thynges which Gideon required were iuste and honesty Stipēdes and victuales are due vnto an hoste whiche goeth on warfare For stipendes and vittailes are due vnto the Magistrates for as muche as he laboureth for the publicque vtility Wherefore Paul sayeth Therefore ye geue vnto hym tribute bycause he is the Minister of God namely in defendyng the innocent and punishyng the guilty Wherefore they of Succoth were bounde to geue those thynges whiche were desired by the duety of iustice For the same Apostle writeth render vnto euery man that whiche is due to whome tribute belongeth tribute to whom custome is due custome c. The Ethnikes also saw this whē as there are many ciuiles lawes extāt whiche doo both weyghtely and moste iust prouide that Souldiers should haue vittayles founde them when they goo on warfare And howe muche they synned in mockyng so greate a man we may gather by the wordes of Christ who sayeth If a man saye vnto an other man foole or Racha be shal be guilty of iudgement and Counsell how muche more shall he be condemned whiche wantonly scoffeth and mocketh hys Magistrate Some prynces dyd seuerely punishe those whiche with contumelyes reproched euen theyr images what ought this man to doo with those whiche so mocked hym to hys face These thynges I therfore speake that we shoulde not thinke that Gideon did vniustly threaten them It is not for priuate men to reuenge theyr owne iniuryes But it is the office of the Magistrate to reuenge both hys owne iniuryes and other mennes and in reuengyng hys owne he reuengeth also other mennes iniuryes For what souer contumely is committed agaynste a prince it redoundeth vnto the publique wealth and all princes Gideon at thys present dyd onely threaten yet he stayed not there least by occasion of reuengyng of hys owne iniury the commodity of the victorye whereunto he was called by God shoulde be hindred He differred therefore that whiche belonged vnto hymselfe but with spede he prosecuteth that whiche chiefely pertayned to the delyuery of the publicque wealth But princes at thys daye do otherwise who rather make warre amonge themselues and that for very lyght causes then they will take in hande a common cause and defence agaynste the Turke Yea and there are some and those of the Cardinalles whiche write that they will if they can call backe Cesar himselfe from that course of victory wherwith he might obteyne agayne euen the City of Constantinople and to punishe the Germaynes and Englishemen and other whiche fell from the Churche of Rome Furthermore Gideon is for thys thyng to
owne woorkes But to beleue to pray to acknowledge sinnes to bewaile them with an earnest repētāce are the woorkes of God and therfore are not forbidden on festiuall dayes but rather commaunded The Ethnikes acknowledged a Religious fast These thynges haue not onely the Hebrues learned out of the lawes of God but also the Ethnikes by the instincte of nature For when Ionas preached vnto the Niniuites that their City should within .40 dayes be ouerthrowen they dispayred not of the mercy of God but got themselues to repentaunce and euery one of them euen from the kyng vnto the lowest Citezin with their beastes also and cattell fasted And when they vehemētly and with a feruent zeale cried vnto the Lorde Augustine Porphyrius they were heard Augustine de ciuitate dei writeth that Porphyrius taught that abstinence from flesh and grosse meates doth purify the myndes of men wherby they are made the more prompt to thinges deuine and to familiarity with good spirites Plutarche Plutarche also in his litle booke de Iside Osiride sayth that the Priestes of Heliopolis vtterly absteyned from all meates whiche might noorishe and augment the wantones of the fleshe and that they neuer brought wyne into the temple of their God For they counted it a vilany to drinke wyne in the day tyme in the sight of their God other men sayd he vsed wyne but not much and they had many purifications without wyne The same Plutarche de cohibenda Iracundia sheweth Holy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that among the Athenienses wer certayne holy sacrifices which were done onely with water without wyne And this is notable which is written in the same booke Empedocles Titus Liuius that Empedocles was wont to say that a mā ought most of all to fast from malice Titus Liuius maketh mention that when at Rome there happened many portentuous thyngs which seemed to foreshewe some great euill the decemuiri were sent to looke into the bookes of the Sibilles and that there was aunswere made that they should institute a publique fast in the honor of Ceres whiche fast should also be repeated agayne euery .5 yeare And that by that meanes the anger of the gods should be pacified Wherfore the Ethnikes beyng smiten with the feare of the euils whiche hoonge ouer their heades fled vnto the oracles fasted and prayed the gods to turne away their anger But Christians not onely seyng so many so great euils but also hearyng them told from all parts of the world yet turne they not vnto GOD by prayer neither are they any thyng moued in mynde But peraduenture some man will say that Fastes Fastes are commended in the new Testamēt bycause they are partly Iewishe and partly Ethnike seeme to be farre from our Religion But that it is not so may easely be proued by the new Testament In the Actes of the Apostles the .13 chap. the Church beyng admonished by an oracle that Paul and Barnabas should be chosen to visite the Cityes and Townes where the Gospell had ben preached first decreed a fast then they layd their handes vpon them And in the .14 chap. when they after they had accomplished their matters thorough Iconium Listria and Antioche returned home they instituted a fast and created ministers and Priestes in euery City Augustine in his Epistle to Cassulanus sayth Augustine When Peter should at Rome haue talke with Simon the sorcerer vpon the Son day the Churche of Rome vpon the Sabaoth day denounced a faste whiche custome was alwayes afterward retayned Ierome Ierome in his prologue vpon Mathew sayth that Iohn beyng desired of the Churches to write the Gospell agaynst Ebion and Cerinthus who denyed the deuine nature of Christ aunswered that he woulde so doo if the whole Churche woulde before indicte a publique faste Whiche thyng Eusebius also in his Ecclesiasticall Hystory testifieth Eusebius Paul also in the .1 to the Corinthians the .7 chapter admonisheth those that are ioyned together in matrimony not to separate themselues a sonder but for a tyme to geue themselues to fastyng and prayers In whiche place I thynke he vnderstādeth publique prayers and also a publique fast For fellowshyp with the wife nothyng letteth but that they may be vsed priuately but whether he vnderstood publique fastes or priuate it skilleth not much Farther Christ being asked of his Apostles why they could not heale the dōme and cast out the deuil He answered Bycause of your incredulity And he added This kynd of deuils is cast out onely by fasting and prayer That place is somewhat darke and therfore it shall not be vnprofitable briefly to expounde it Is it to be thought that by the merite of fastyng and prayers as they vse to speake deuils are cast out by vertue of the worke wrought Not so What thē signified the woordes of Christ First he said Bycause of your incredulity for if ye had fayth euen so muche as a grayne of mustard and should say vnto this mountayne Take vp thy self cast thy self into the sea it should obey you And together with a fayth is necessary a vehement and feruent prayer and also fastyng bycause a fixed and earnest prayer which draweth the mind not onely frō meate and drinke but also from all other humane cogitacions and pleasures Wherefore Christ by the effectes describeth the cause namely fayth by prayers and fasting and he speaketh of those deuils to whom god gaue more liberty as though he should haue sayd ye must not lyue easely or idely if ye will cast out this kynd of deuils Ye must haue a sure and strong fayth whiche thyng he expressed by the effectes by prayers I say and fastes By these reasons and testimonyes may fastes also be commended in the new Testament But in them are faultes to be taken heede of What vices in fasting ar to be taken heede of whiche very often are many and those greuous First bycause in the Papacy are obserued fastes vpon certayne appoynted dayes without consideration of persons or occasions Faste brought in without measure as an yearely ceremony whiche at this day is vtterly of no strength is as if it were Iewishe Moreouer euery man hath added heaped vp of his owne whatsoeuer pleased him and not that which calamity of tymes or feruent prayers required For one man brought in Septuagesima an other Sexagesima an other Quinquagesima another Quadragesima which is Lent an other Rogatiō dayes an other Imber dayes an other the euēs of the Apostles an other Friday an other Saterday an other brought in fastyng on the Wēsday But of so many fastes what vtility hath there at the length followed Many contentions and questions concernyng fastyngs A great many questions contentions For a man will scarse beleue howe many question 's the elders haue had concernyng fast Augustine ad Cassulanum writeth that therfore we must fast on the Wensday bycause Christ was sold that day and on
the mariage of his cousin Germaine or of his sisters daughter or of his brothers daughter or of his wiues daughter lastly of al whose mariage is forbidden and condemned But that law is not in these dayes found in the Digestes neither in the booke of the Code nor in the Authentikes Which neuerthelesse Clother the king followed as it is red in the lawes of the Almaines entituled of vnlawfull mariages yea and it is confirmed by the ecclesiasticall Canons and decrees in Gracian 35. Question the second and third also by the counsel of Agathen in the 61. Canon And Gregorye the fyrst in the same place is found to be of the same opinion in the chap. Quaedam ex Romana c. This answereth to the sixth interrogation of Augustine Bishop of Cantorbury and affyrmeth that those which be ioyned by the degree of cousin Germaines ought to abstaine from contracting of matrimony one with an other Yea and long before Gregorye his time Ambrose hath in his 66. Epistle ad Paternum condemned the mariage of brethrens children he testifieth that it was forbiddē by the law of Theodosius which I haue also brought And if I should vse coniecture I thinke Theodosius did it by the persuasion of Ambrose who had a singular respecte to publique honestie Neither was that law so seuere at that time but that sometimes it might be released as he declareth in that Epistle to Paternus In that Ambrose affyrmeth there that such mariages were prohibited by Gods lawe It can be made probable to none which shall attentiuely consider the wordes of the law of god and doings of the fathers How the Romanes haue behaued themselues toward their cousins as concernyng matrimonyes in the old time this I haue obserued Ligustine sayth in the 2. booke and 5. decade of Liuy that his father gaue him his Vncles daughter to wife Cicero also writeth in hys oration for Cluentius that Cluentia had lawfully maryed her cousin Germaine M. Aurius And M. Anthonius the Philosopher tooke to wife Faustina his cousin Germaine as Iulius Capitolinus testifieth And before Rome was builded the mariages of Turnus and Lauinia were in hand which came of two sisters Howbeit Plutarch writeth in the place aboue mentioned that at the fyrst when Rome was builte it was forbidden by a lawe that they whiche were nighe of kinne shoulde not marrye together But yet he writeth that the lawe for brethren and sisters children was vppon thys occasion released bycause a certayne man beyng both honeste and also well beloued of the people of Rome when he was greuouslye oppressed with pouertye toke to wife his sisters daughter which was ryche and welthye for the whiche cause he was accused of inceste But the matter being decided he was quyted by the iudgemente of the people of Rome for he was greatly fauoured in the citye Then after that it was decreed by the consent of the people of Rome that from thence forth it shoulde be lawfull for brethren and sisters children to marry together These thinges I thought good to declare of this kinde of matrimonye both out of Gods lawes and the old new lawes of the Romanes and also out of the fathers and ecclesiasticall Canons Whereunto I will adde that there be very many Cities professing the gospell whiche do not admitte the mariages of brethren and sisters children as Surike Berna Basile Schapusin Sangallum Biema c. In the kingdome also of England when I was there that degree was excluded from matrimony Wherfore in places where the magistrate forbyddeth these mariages the faithful ought for those causes whiche I haue before declared to abstayne from them But now I will go to the present matter If Othoniel as I haue before sayd were cousin vnto Achsa he might mary her by the lawe of God but if he were her vnckle it was not lawful by the cōmō lawe But he maried her Wherfore we must nedes saye one of these two thinges either that it was a faulte for the fathers as we haue before sayd were not alwayes free from sinne or elles that god would haue this done by a priuilege or certain prerogatiue whiche we may not for all that take example by Neither is this to be forgottē that after the accustomed manner of Scriptures Kinsfolkes in scriptures are called brethren they whiche were any way of kinne together were called brethren as Loth is called the brother of Abraham the kinsfolkes of Iesus Christ the sonne of God are called in the history of the gospel his brethrē So may it also be in this place that Othoniel may be called the brother of Chaleb when as he was but only some other waye of kinne vnto him And the interpretours do vse this expositiō oftē times which I would not disallow but that I se this particle in the texte The yonger whiche is not wont to be added but when sisters and brethren in dede are compared together But now wil I go to other thinges whiche are to be considered in this history Chaleb had promised him which should cōquere the citie of Debir Whether Chalebs promisse were a rashe promisse his daughter to wife What if any wicked persone had performed that should he by the vertue of the promise haue ben made the sonne in law of Chaleb surely it semeth not For what other thing had this ben than to betraye his daughter Therfore it may appeare that he promised rashly For a wise man ought to foresee those thinges whiche might happen How be it we must consider that there were not at that tyme such wicked and flagitious men among the Israelites for as long as those elders lyued whiche gouerned the publicque wealth together with Iosua as it shal be declared in this hystory the people feared god Wherfore it followeth that they vsed to put those to death by the lawe whiche were guiltie of very grieuous crimes Therfore there was no daunger lest any such mā should conquere the citie to whom for that act Hacsah should be geuen to wife of duetye But if there remayned certaine smal and common faultes in him which had conquered it the same might be recompenced by his other vertues For there is is none so absolute and perfect but that some times he may fal Moreouer there were some hope of amendement of life And the conquerour might be so nighe of kynne as peraduēture this Othoniel was that he could not mary the daughter of Chaleb Wherfore it seemeth that at the least in that part it was a rashe promise But I do not thincke it can be accused of rashenesse A constant rule of all humane promises for as much as all promises ought among the godly so farre forth to be of force as they do agree with the word of god which thing if Iepthe had diligently considered he would neuer haue suffred hym selfe to haue committed so vnworthy thinges agaynst his daughter This cōdition surely in all couenaunts and promises ought to be counted
maruayle saith she if at thy sight they wer so troubled wheÌ„ as this Sina was not able to abide the disceÌ„ding down vpoÌ„ it wheÌ„ in old time thou gauest the law for it was altogether shaken it woÌ„derfully trembled Let the prudeÌ„t reader mark that there wanteth this particle Caph. Whiche is a note of a similitude whiche should be here put This Sinai is written simply wheÌ„ as we must vnderstand eueÌ„ as this Sina in the old time was moued so they at our coÌ„ming were sore afrayd trembled To mount Seir or Edom which is now mentioned in the .30 chap. of Deutronomy where almost the same thing is written is Pharan added namely a mountayn lying hard by it and the like thing is red in the Psalme The Rabbines of the Hebrewes do bring trifles A farned thyng of the Rabines and say that God did therfore come from Seir when he would geue the law because he would firste haue geuen the lawe vnto the Edomites which when they refused he went vnto mounte Sina to the Hebrewes which receaued the law with a willing and glad hart But these fables are not drawen out of the holy scriptures but spring out of theyr own inueÌ„tion which immoderatly coÌ„mend their own nation as though they by their own iudgement vpright wil had deserued to receaue the law of God But others thinke that God when he came to Sinai was sene to haue descended from those mountaynes of the Edomites as though he should beginne to goe from thence vnto the Israelites This also is but a weake reason The fyrste interpretation fitteth best for as touching the hystory when God caused the Israelites to passe ouer beyond the mountayne then were the Chananites sore afearde especially when Og and Sihon the kinges were slayne 6 In the dayes of Sangar the sonne of Anath in the dayes of Iahel the highe wayes were vnoccupied and the trauaylers walked thorough bywayes 7 The townes of Israell were not inhabited they decayed vntill I Deborah rose vp which rose vp a mother in Israell Hetherto is God commended as the auncient defendour of the Israelites but now is set forth this present victory And is handled by comparison bicause it is declared that God had now graunted farre greater things than before he had geuen when Deborah was not yet stirred vppe For Sangar of whome we before entreated althoughe he obteined some victorye ouer his enemies and did somewhat for the safety of the people yet he did not perfectly set the Hebrewes at liberty Neither performed Iahel a full deliuery For in their time the high ways also were not then safe and men were compelled eyther not to go forwarde or els to trauaile throughe bywayes and vnknowen places And thinges were come to that poynte that villages and townes whiche were not fenced and inclosed with walles were cleane forsaken Wherfore marchandise husbandrye iudgementes were hindred and the Iewes were compelled to kepe themselues in cities well fenced except they would haue ben made prayes vnto the Chananits And this misery indured froÌ„ the oppressioÌ„ of Iabin to the dominion of Deborah But it may seme merueilous why he maketh mention of Sangar Iahel both together Some thinke that she iudged Israell after Sangar But for asmuche as the holye scriptures write not so I dare not affirm it I thincke rather that shee was named with Sangar for honours sake as though she should haue sayde Althoughe GOD hath by her nowe killed euen Sisera and that hytherto GOD hath loued her yet as longe as shee hath liued vnto this presente daye the calamity of Israell hath endured neither was it taken away This Hebrew worde Perzon in the singular number signifieth villages and townes without walles and fenses and therefore it is construed with a verbe of the plurall number namely Chadelu Virgill Farther we must note that this verbe Chadelu is twise repeated for it is put both in the beginninge and in the ende of the sentence as in that verse of Virgil He demaunded many things of Priam many things of Hector She sayth that she rose vp as a mother in Israel bicause she was stirred vp not to raigne as a tirant Certayn do somtimes fight for theyr country and do seme as though they would set it at liberty Cesar but afterward the same men doe oppresse it no lesse than enemies Cesar semed to haue deliuered the frenchemen and the Germaines from the yoke of the Romaines â—arius Silla but he vtterlye oppressed the publike wealth that is the liberty of the people The same thing went Marius and Silla aboute What is the property of a lawfull prince And here is touched the duty of a lawful and good prince And that is to haue a fatherly minde toward his people Wherfore Senatours were called fathers and they wer named Patres conscripti That is appoynted fathers whose familyes also wer called Patritiae And assuredly in the old time it was counted an excellent and a most noble title to be called a father of his countrey for Tulli estemed it to be so honorable vnto him that he sayd The city of Rome called Cicero the father of the country 8 When he chosed new Gods then was ther warre in the gates if there were a shield or speare sene among .40000 of Iraell These wordes are expounded two manner of wayes and that not vnaptlye First it may be sayde that warre did then strayghtway oppresse the Iewes and that the enemy also beseged theyr gates and cities when they declined vnto Idolatry According to which interpretacioÌ„ the election is referred vnto Israel and this worde Elohim shal be the accusatiue case so that there is a reason shewed of the misery wherewith the Hebrues were afflicted Vndoubtedly they were therfore brused and made afeard and also not one of many thousandes which durste take a shield or shake a speare bicause they had polluted themselues with idolatry And Deborah testifieth this to be so true that she may confirme it euen with an othe Which this particle If which is here put declareth moreouer we maye in this sorte interpreate it I Deborah after that I was stirred vppe of God there was warre in the gates either of the tentes or els bicause the Hebrew souldiors which before kept themselues within wer now gone forth of the gates bycause god hath now chosen new thinges that is he hath broughte in a new shewe and forme of thinges longinge vnto the Israelites Oure menne durst do nothing hetherto which now burst forth and assayle theyr enemies It is god therefore whiche hath chosen newe thinges And this word Elohim in that sense shal be the nominatiue case The things which god hath now wrought are not vnworthely called new thinges For it is a rare and an vnaccustomed thinge that armed souldiours should be vanquished of vnarmed meÌ„ And the Hebrues were so with out weapons that not among xl C. men was fouÌ„d so much as one shield or speare
publique wealth he doth in deede punishe sinnes greuously but after his fatherly correction he doth with an vnmeasurable goodnes restore the hurtes and losses wherin men oftentymes incurre by theyr owne error faulte In all these things we may see an Image of our tymes For we are infected with the same infirmityes that our fathers were neither doth the deuill and his meÌ„bers with lesse diligence at this day vexe the congregatioÌ„ of the godly then he did in the old time Wherfore let vs praye vnto God our most louyng father thoroughe his sonne Iesus Christ that euen as from the begynning he hath holpen and noorished hys Churche in most great daungers so also he would now keepe and defende it when it is almoste ouerwhelmed with euils and calamityes Let vs desyre him also that euen as he from tyme to tyme stirred vp Iudges and deliuerers vnto the Hebrues by whom he restored both liberty and health and as in our tyme he hath geuen Heroicall and most excellent men namely Luther Zuinglius Oecolampadius Phillip Melanchton and suche like setters forth of the doctrine of the Gospel so he would vouchsafe to go forwarde and in conuenient tymes stirre vp certayn lyghtes by whiche he may illustrate the mindes of hys elect and kindle their heartes to keepe amplifie the Church of Christ that at the leÌ„gth he may haue it raygning with him in heauen without spot or wrinkle Amen ¶ The ende of the Commentary vpon the Booke of the Iudges ¶ A diligent Index or table of the most notable thinges matters and wordes contayned in thys whole woorke VVhich thinges ye shall fynde by the folio which is on the fyrst syde of the leafe and b signifieth the seconde syde of the same leafe A. AAroÌ„ reproued iustly 53 b Abimeleche Gedeons sonne 153. b Abimileches tiraÌ„ni 155 b Abimileches vices 157. b Abraham maried his brothers doughter 20. Abrahams leage with the Chananites 99. b Abrahams saying Sara was hys Sister 89. Abuses of church musicke 103. b Accidences do differ 286. b Accusations violate not but helpe the lawes 255 Action one and the same maye be good and bad 79 Actions should be both iust and iustly done 245 Actions voluntary naturall 63. b Adam and Eua whether they wer buried in Hebron 14. b Adonibezek 11 Aduersity giueth occasion of profitable sermons 113. b Aduersity oght to moue vs to praise thaÌ„k god aswel as prosperiti 104 Aduersities behauiour 6 Aduoutries counted lyghte crimes with Papistes 233 Aduoutries looseth her dowry 81 Adulterers and hooremongers god wyll iudge 249 Adultry punished with adultry 254. b Adultry salued by recoÌ„ciliatioÌ„ 249 Adultry and rapt ioyned 283. b Aesopes fables 160 Aestimation is not so much to be regarded as truth 90 Affections are qualities 141. b Affections of the bodye and mynde also signified by dreames 135 Affections ar attributed to God improperly 176 Affections which are to be counted godly 194 Affections whether they bee good or euyll 142 Affections may be ioyned with obedience 195. b Afflicted persons thinke god is not with them 114. b Affliction to the afflicted of God is not to be added 235. b Affliction springeth of synne 112 Affliction of the Israelites of forty yeares 200. b Afflictions of the goodlye are not properly punishments 181. b Afflictions of this life God sendes to diuers endes 180 Afflictions great or smal is no sure argument of the heynousnesse of synnes 171. b Afflictions final causes 8 Affricanes are Chananites 7 Affricanes wer Phenitians 68 Age good what 155. Ain turned by g. 226. b Allegories vse 8. b Allegory taken out of the holy scripture 141 Alexander vnto Darius 157 Altare erected 280. b Altare is not to bee erected but to God 69 Altars vsed why 122. b Alteracion is none in God 175 Ambition handled 157. b Ambition when it hath place 183. b Ambition of kings and bishops 12 Ambrose a Neophyt when he was made bishop 184 Ambrose opinion of Iiptah disalowed 194 Ambrose first vsed singyng in the west church 103 Anabaptistes fault 132. b Anabaptistes error 264. b Anabaptistes deny that the olde testament pertaineth to vs. 186. b Anadiplosis 109. b Anathemata 30. b Anarchia is destruction of a coÌ„mon wealth 139 Ancyrana Synodus 95 Angel signifieth diuersly 59 Angels howe they haue their names 205. b angels why they fell 15. q angels cannot burn in lustes 285 Angels whyther they dyd eate and drinke 212 angels bodyes wherin they appere are true and humaine 211. b Angels what maner of bodies they take vpon them 209. b angels apparitions 208 Angels apparitions may be imagigined .3 maner of waies 209. b. 211 Angels appearing and Gods do eeuidently differ 1â—2 b Angels whether they se God 121. b angels may worke miracles 126. b Anger of God described 70 Anger defined by the matter 73. b anger asswaged by gentle aunswer 141. b anger why Christ forbad 166. b Anger an vnfit affection to punysh in 280. b Answer with the Hebrues is to begyn to talke 244 Anthropomorphites error 118 Antichrist the pope of Rome 147. b Anticipation a common figure in scriptures 246. b Antiochus begyled 86 Apelles error 210. b Apis the oxe was loÌ„g fatting 122 b Apollonius Thyaneus 211 Apology defined 159. b Apoplexia 163. b Apostles how thei ar fouÌ„dacioÌ„s 149 Apparel prescribed by lawes 111. b Apparitions of angels 208 appeale from the Pope 266. b Application of popishe sacrifice for quicke and dead 50 Aquarij heretikes 189. b Arba the builder of Hebron 15 Arguments false of Siricius 94 Arguments from the euents to the cause are not alwayes firm 271. b argument against the Pope 161 Aristocratia 1. b Aristocratia in the church 241 Aristocratia compared with a kingdome 156 Aristotle deceiued 138 Arke taken 244. b Armes of noble men 140. b Artes forbidden 283 Ascension daye whether it was on the wensday or thursday 276. b Asers situation 108 Asking at God how 272 Assamonites or Machabites 259 Assemblies exercises 65 asses vsed in Syria 106. b Asses much vsed in Syria 25. b Attilius Regulus 85. b Augustines saying I would not beleue the Gospel c. scanned 5. b Augustine vsed the latine toung to preach in 84 Augustine Ierome contend 60. b Augustine excuseth Tertullian 120 Augustine chaunged his opinioÌ„ for compelling of heretikes 55 Augustines mother 138. b Aunts why meÌ„ may not mary 19 b B. BAal-berith 155 Baal handled 123. b Baal and Baalim 68 Balaams praying was prophesying 207 Banished mens custome in buylding of Cities 40 Banishment the extremest punishmeÌ„t of the citizens of Rome 146 b Baptisme of Infanes 75. b Baren mothers haue brought forth many excellent men 200. b Baruch is Apocripha 51 Bastard defined 177 b Bastards haue no place in the congregacion of Israel 177 Bastardes proue wurs then other children 178 Bastards wer not commaunded to be banished by the law 183 Bawde who acording to the Ciuill law 249 Bawdes are the Popes 232 Bawdry 232 Beanes make