thankes onely for prosperous thinges but also for aduersity Also thys woorde Perag signifieth to reuenge and by this meanes forasmuch as reuengemēt may be referred to two thinges the sense of it also may be taken twoo wayes The first is That god in oppressing the Israelites and deliuering them to the Chananites reuenged the iniury that was done vnto himselfe wherein they dyd grieuously offende hym when they fel to impietye and Idolatrye Neyther doth thys latter sentence vary any thyng from the fyrst Forasmuch as by thys way also Deborah commaundeth to geue thankes vnto god for the former afflictions For to the godly aduersitye also turneth to good For the Saintes when they haue fallen are wont by scourges wherewith they are punished to be called backe againe to repentaunce which repentaunce God poureth in them by diuers and many vexations The third sense is which is euery where and almost receaued of al men That they should geue thankes vnto God which at the last had reuenged the iniuries of the Israelites For they were before long time that grieuously oppressed by the Chananites And then by the spirite of God they were made willing and prompt which before were such abiectes and cowardes Two thinges therfore are expressed namely that God confounded the Chananites in reuenging the euyls whyche they had done vnto the Iewes and also that he strengthened them in the battaile If God reuenged them We do not ask those things of God whiche ar in our own power they by them selues coulde not reuenge themselues If he made them willing they themselues were not such Wherfore free wyl is put down and the goodnes of god commended For euen as we doo not aske of god those thinges which we haue in our own hands and power so for these things when they happen vnto vs we geue him no thankes 3 Heare ye Kinges hearken ye Princes I euen I wyll syng vnto the Lord I wyl syng prayse vnto the Lord God of Israel Why she calleth Kynges in special there maye be manye reasons alledged The first is bicause all the Iewes were called in a manner Kynges For God made that nation both a kingdome and a priesthoode vnto himselfe They were all therefore so called euen as we of Christ are called Christians or anoynted of our onely head Christ whych was chiefly annoynted wyth the oyle of righteousnes and grace An admonitiō to Magistrats Farther he maketh an Apostrophe to kinges bycause that shee song these wordes not onelye for her time but also hauing a regarde to the tyme to come wherefore by her all Princes and Magistrates are in especiall admonished bycause they being puffed vp with pride and ryches both thinke and also affirme that the people should looke for safety at their handes But now they ar taught by the woord of God that it is he which defendeth and keepeth although sometimes therunto he vseth the helpe of them that are preserued Lastly Deborah speaketh to straunge kynges whiche had determined wyth them selues to destroye the Israelites and exhorteth them diligently to weigh wyth themselues the thinges which God hath done and to marke howe hee knoweth to auenge hys people in due tyme. I euen I sayth she wyll syng The repeating of the pronowne of the first person is not onely vsed of Poetes but also of Orators nether doth it onely adorn the oration Virgil. Cicero but also moue the affections and stirreth vp men vnto admiration Virgil saith I euen I am present which did it turne your weapon against me Cicero also saith Ah I miserable man the goodes the goodes I saye of Gnaius Pompeius were most cruelly by the voyce of the cryer c. This nowe is as if Deborah should haue sayde I althoughe a woman yet a Prophet I although a woman yet a sauiour of Israel wyl syng vnto my God They vse to put a certayne difference betwene these two latin wordes canere that is to syng and psallere which is also to syng but bycause that difference is not alwaies obserued yea one is taken oftentymes for an other therfore I willingly ouerpasse it 4 Lord when thou wentest out of Seir whē thou departedst out of the fielde of Edom the earth trembled the cloudes also dropped water 5 The mountaynes melted before the Lord as did that Sinai before the Lord God of Israel In the ditties and periodes of songs and of the prophets this is a common vse that the latter part differeth not from the fyrst as touching sence Why in the periodes of the holy scriptures one sentence is repeated but cōtayneth the same thing the wordes being somewhat chaunged which thinge also in the Prouerbes of Salomon is easy to marke And I doubt not that the same is done vpon iust causes Forasmuch as of the holy ghost nothing is done rashly or vnprofitably The sentences also which are entreated of in those bookes are verye graue and therfore by that tarying in them our dulnes is holpen For it quickly passeth ouer the sence of the firste parte therfore the latter parte being all one with the fyrst maketh vs to geue more attentiue heede Farthermore our hardenes is so greate that to one stroke it vseth not to geue place Wherefore it is no merueyle if God strike it with a double stroke And when the wordes are chaunged the efficacy and wayght of the sentence alredye spoken is more and more expressed The want of humayne speache is holpen whiche want is suche that at one speaking the whole signification of a wayghty sentence can not be opened Wherfore by that repititiō that which is not expressed by the fyrst words is expounded by other woordes which serue for the same thing God therefore by whose conducte this victorye was obteyned is to bee praysed whych is by very good reason done forasmuch as his beneuolence towardes Israel is proued to be no strange or new beneuolence Wherefore Deborah celebrateth him as an old and auncient patrone of the Iewes From the time sayth she wherin the Israelites at thy cōmaundement walked .38 yeres by diuers writers as it is written in the .2 of Deutronomy about mount Seir and then at the length by thy will departing from thence they went forward to the land of Chanaan thou nobly takest in hande theyr cause For thou goyng with vs in a piller of fyre and of a cloud so fearedst the Chananites our enemies that they wer not able to resist vs which were otherwise weake and feble Before when we went aboute the mountayne they liued in securitye and stoutlye contemned vs. But when thou leddest vs out of those places such a feare came vpon them that euen the earth seemed to tremble and the heauens and cloudes caste downe great tempestes and showres And it was so greate as though the mountaines should roule down greate heapes of water to the inferior valleis By these alligories Deborah discribeth the feare that was driuen into the Amorites and Chananits And it is no
Gospell For although God haue promised that the preaching of hys woord shal be fruitful through the benefite of his spirite yet must euerye man instruct him selfe in hys vocation according to his hability Neyther ought men to bragge out of season as phanatical men are accustomed to do God according to hys promyse wyl be with vs when we shal speake He hath promised in dede and wyll surely perfourme when tyme wyl not serue or that a man can not either thincke or meditate what to speake But if libertye be geuen and leasure graunted to fynde dispose and wysely to deuise those thinges which we should speake then can we not be excused but that we tempt God when as we neglect to do these thinges Yea rather let vs plucke all thinges vnto vs what so euer they be so farrefoorth as godlynes permitteth and occasion offereth it selfe to helpe our labour to obtayne those thinges which are already promised vs. Furthermore Princes publicke weales may make leagues somtimes this coniunction of Iudah wyth Simeon doth admonishe the readers that it is lawful in those warres which ar taken in hand iustly to make a league whereby Princes or publique weales maye be ioyned together to defende honest thynges The godly ought not to ioyne them selues wyth the vngodly as Iudah now ioyned fellowshyp wyth the Symeonites to fyght against the Chananites But thys must be taken heede of that such coniunction and league be ioyned together wythout fault neyther ought the godly to ioyne them selues in league wyth the vngodlye For the scripture reproueth Iosaphat who otherwyse was a godly kyng for making league wyth wycked Achab and other kynges are often tymes reprehended by the Prophetes for ioyning them selues in league eyther wyth the Egiptians or els wyth the Assirians But surelye this Simeon was of the same region that Iudah was and both their endeauours tended to thys ende religiously to fulfyl the wyll of God I knowe there be some whych by the example of Asa kyng of Iudah beyng well praysed defende suche leagues made wyth Infidels For he beyng greuouslye oppressed of Basa kyng of the ten Tribes as it is wrytten in the fyrst booke of the Kynges sent vnto Benadab kyng of Siria as appeareth in the .xvi. chapter a certayne somme of gold and syluer and he made a couenant wyth hym of that condicion that he shoulde inuade the kyng of Israel whereby he myght bee deliuered from hys oppression But they whych affirme those thynges should consider wyth them selues two thynges Fyrst that the kyngdome of the tenne Tribes had now fallen from God and from woorshypping of hym Wherfore if an vngodlye kyng was styrred vp agaynst it the same is not for all that to be conferred wyth those whych confessing them selues to be Christians do incense Tyrannes whych are of a straunge religion agaynst other Christians Besydes that thys deede of Asa kyng of Iudah is mencioned in the holy scriptures But we cannot fynde that it was allowed to be well done Yea if we looke vpon the latter booke of Chronicles the syxtene chapter we shall see that that kyng was most greuously rebuked of God by the Prophet for suche a wycked deede For it is thus wrytten At that tyme came Hanani the Sear to Asa kyng of Iudah and sayde vnto hym bycause thou haste trusted in the kyng of Siria and not rather put thy trust in the Lorde thy God therefore is the hoste of the kyng of Siria escaped out of thyne hande Had not the Ethiopes and they of Ludim an exceadyng strong hoste wyth many Chariotes and horsemen And yet bycause thou dyddest put thy trust in the Lorde he delyuered them into thyne hand For the Lorde and hys eyes beholde al the earth to strengthen them that are of perfect hart towarde hym But thou herein hast done foolyshly and therfore from hence foorth thou shalt haue warres c. For I shewed before that we myght without daunger discommende thys example whych they bryng of thys kyng when as God doth so sharpelye chasten hym by hys Prophet But we wyll entreate of thys more largely afterward 4 And Iudah went vp and the Lorde deliuered the Chananites and Pherezites into their handes and they smote them in Bezek to the number of ten thousand men The victorie whiche the two tribes obteyned ouer the Chananites is described and accordyng to the manner of the holy Scripture the same is set forth and comprehended in fewe wordes afterward the maner howe the thyng was done is more amplye expounded Now briefly is declared that they of Iudah obteyned the victorie and slew ten thousand of their enemies Why suche as are ouercome are sayde to be deliuered of God into the handes of their ouercommers And the Lord deliuered the Chananites The holy Scripture obserueth his olde order to say that they whiche are ouercome in battaile are deliuered into their enemies handes by God and speaketh thus to adminishe vs that victory is not the worke of our owne strength but of the goodnesse and counsel of God Wherfore souldiours and emperours whē they haue the vpper hand in battailes they must bridle them selues from boasting and gloryeng which Ieremy also faithfully geueth counsell to do For he sayth let not him that is mightye glory in his owne strength Nebuchadnezar kyng of the Babilonians folishely despising this was so vexed tossed with madnesse that he was almost chaūged into a dumbe beaste Wherefore the administration of the kyngdome was taken away from him he liued in great misery of long time who out of doubt had not fallen into so great misfortune if as it was mete he had confessed that what soeuer he had gotten was geuen him by the prouidence and coūsel of God But as Daniel mencioneth he being puffed vp with the noblenesse and dignitie of his actes most presumptuously and proudly bragged of them for he sayd that in the strength and might of hys owne arme he had established the kyngdome of Babilon In the bookes of the Ethnikes thou shalte very seldome or peraduēture neuer fynde any suche kynde of speache For men whiche are destitute of faith do not ascribe those good thinges vnto god which they thinke they haue attayned vnto by any labour or industrie Yea and they ascribed the chaunces of warre not to come by the fauour of God but by strength and pollicye and sometymes by fortune Wherfore Cicero in his boke of diuination affirmeth that the victory of the Decianes whiche they gotte by vowing of them selues to the people of Rome Cicero Howe Cicero interpreteth the vowing of the Decianes was an excellent and polliticque deuise of warre So farre is he from attributing it to the prouidence of the gods They knew sayth he that the strength force of the Romayne people was such that if they sawe their captaynes either to be in extreme daungers or els to be slayne or to be taken of their enemyes that they would by no meanes suffre
he arose out of his seate 21 Then Ehud put forth his left hand and toke the sworde froÌ„ hys right side and thrust it into his bellye 22 And the haft went after the blade and the fat closed the hafte so that he could not draw the sword out of hys belly the dirte came out As soone as they vnderstoode the will of the King they went all forth and Ehud was lefte alone with the King And he satte in a colde parler that is as they translate it in a sommer parler The Hebrew interpreters do say that that place was therfore the colder bicause it had very many windowes so that the ayre did the eassier come into it When Ehud sayd I haue a message vnto the from God he sayde not a message from Iehouah but from Elohim whiche is a general name and is also attributed vnto idoles he lieth againe although he depart not from the signification of the wordes He deceaued the king and that he might the better beguile him he spake after this sorte Eglon when mentioÌ„ was made of the worde of God he rose vp honoured it And as it is to be thoughte the manner was so at that time in those regions And in oure daies we see oftentymes that very many Princes whiche otherwyse are farre from religion yet to fayne themselues most religious will vncouer their hed at the name of God and of Christ and come to holy seruices shewing greate reuerence vnto suche rites rather of hipocrisye thereby to deceaue the common people and where as they are vngodlye they woulde bee counted verye Godlye Thys dyd Eglon as farre as I suppose althoughe I knowe that the Hebrew Rabines haue far otherwise fayned For they say that bycause of this honor which he gaue vnto the name of God it came afterwardes to passe A lye of 〈◊〉 binâ— that the daughter of Eglon Ruth I say was conuerted to the Iewishe religion and was the great grandmother of Dauid That is altogether a fayned thing bycause it hath no testimony out of the holy Scriptures And yet I speake not this God besâ—oweth benefiâ— s vpon men for kepâ—â—g outwâ—rd â—â—â—â—pline as though I knewe not that God geueth vnto men aboundant benefites for obseruyng of outward discipline Farther I marke that Ehud got thre coÌ„modityes by the things whiche he thus did First as a Prophet he spake vnto the king standyng wheras otherwise he ought to haue spoken with him either prostrate or elles knelyng Secondly the kyng myght easelyer be striken to death standyng than syttyng Lastly whilest he was rysing he could not so well marke Ehud plucking out his shorte sworde And the stroken was so vehement that not onely the sworde but also the haft persed into the body of the kyng Yea the whole skayn was so closed in with fat or greace that he was not able to plucke it out And the king was killed with the selfe same stroke It is added also that dyrte came froÌ„ him which thinges is wont to happen to those whiche dye violently 23 And Ehud got him out thorough the porche and shut the dores of the parler about him and locked them 24 When he was gone out his seruauntes came and looked and beholde the dores of the parler were locked Then they sayd Surely he couereth his feete in his sommer chamber 25 And they taryed till they were ashamed and beholde he opened not the doores of the parler Wherefore they toke a kay and opened theÌ„ And behold their Lord was fallen down dead on the earth Ehud when he went forth plucked the doores after hym and locked them for there is a certayn kynd of lockes made in such sort that wtout a kay of a maÌ„ plucke the dores after him they wil straightway locke Augustine And Augustine writyng of this place sayth that they are in Affrike euery where called Verudata The seruaunts of Egl n when Ehud was come forth suspected no euill bycause as it is most lykely he neuer chaunged his countenance when he went forth but went hys way fayre and softly as thoughe he had committed no wicked acte And they thought that the king had shut Thedores bycause peraduenture he would ease him selfe And that is ment by the Hebrew phrase wherin they say He peradueÌ„ture couereth his feete For in that worke men vsed to couer their feete with garmentes like a tabernacle or tente And whilest the seruauntes of Eglon taryed and wayted Ehud had good leasure to flye But at the length when they were ashamed they tooke a kay and opened the doores They vse in courtes to haue many kayes of the kinges chamber whiche the chamberlaynes diligently kepe and that is it whiche is here sayde that they tooke a kaye But when they sawe their king so vily and miserably slayne we must beleue that they were amased so that they could not well tell what was to be doone The thing was so strauÌ„ge whiche had happened Peraduenture also they a while mourned and lamented or elles prouided to saue them selues by flyght bycause they had not well kepte the kyng 26 And Ehud escaped whilest they taryed and was passed ouer the quarrey of stones or place of grauen images and escaped into Seirath 27 And when he was come to hys he blewe a trompet in mount Ephraim And the children of Israell went downe with him from the hill and he went before them 28 And he sayd vnto them Follow me for the Lord hath deliuered your enemies the Moabites into your handes and they descended after him and tooke the passages of Iordan towarde Moab and suffred not a man to passe ouer This place Seirath whiche is here mencioned is not the mount Seir in Idumea but is a place not farre from mount Ephraim as the wordes which follow do manifestly declare And Ehud beyng of a noble courage when he had slayne the tyranne left not his matters halfe done and halfe vndone as did Brutus and Cassius long sins when they had slayne Cesar with a trumpet he called together the Ephraites whiche were men very expert in warres and those by his authoritie he exhorted to battayle makyng them assured the God had graunted him the victory They therfore stopped the passages of Iordane that the Moabites which were in the kyngdome of the Israelites had gotten part of it as it is already declared should not flye away And lest others of the couÌ„trey of Moab should passe ouer the riuer to succor their owne men whiche were among the Hebrues 29 And they slewe of the Moabites the same tyme aboute a ten thousande men whiche were all fat and all strong men and there escaped not a man 30 So Moab was subdued that day vnder the hande of Israell and the land had rest lxxx yeares WheÌ„ they had stopped the passages of the riuer of Iordane they slew x. thousaÌ„d Moabites which at the tyme dwelt in the dominioÌ„s of the Hebrues And they which were slayne were no common
God that they being turned into the body of a man not withstanding yet abode Angels doest thou take away thus from God which is more mightie as though Christ putting on man in very dede wer not able to remayne God Thus Tertulian fighteth against the Marcionites The errour of the Marcionites for they affirmed that Christ seemed to haue a humane bodye but in verye deede hee had none Tertulian obiecteth against them and if ye graunt this saith he vnto the Aungels that they had true bodies why doo ye not rather graunt it vnto the sonne of God And he addeth Or did those Angels appeare in fantesy of fleshe But thou darest not say so for if it be so that thou count the Angels of the creator as Christ then shal Christ be of the same substance as the Aungels are and the Angels shal be suche as Christ is If thou diddest not sometimes of purpose reiect and sometimes corrupt the scriptures which resist thy opinion the Gospel of Iohn shoulde haue of this confounded thee Of the Dooue wherin the holi gost appeareâ— whiche declareth that the spirite comming downe in the bodye of a Dooue sat vpon the Lorde which spirite being that he was was as truly a Dooue as he was a spirit neither the contrary substance taken destroyed the proper substance I know there are some of the schoolemen which thinke that it was not a very Doue which discended vpon the head of Christ but onely that it was an ayry thicke body which appeared to be a Dooue Augustine Yet Augustine de Agone Christiano writeth the contrary namely that it was a very Doue for to expresse the property of the holy ghost a thing sayth he serueth better then a signe euen as Christians also are better expressed in Sheepe and Lambes then in the lykenes of Sheepe and Lambes Also if Christ had a true bodye and deceaued not then tâ—e holy ghost had in very deede the body of a Dooue Tertulian addeth Thou wilt demaund where the body of the Doue became What becaâ—â— of the Doue wherin the holy goâ—â— appeared when the spirite was taken againe into heauen and likewise of the Aungels It was by the same meanes taken awaye whereby it was made If thou haddest seene when it was broughte foorth of nothyng thou shouldest also haue knowen when it was turned to nothing If the beginning was not visible no more was the ende Farther he remitteth the reader to Iohn Was he also sayth he a fantasy after his resurrection when he offred his handes and feete to be seene of his Disciples saying behold that it is I for a spirite hath not flesh and bones as ye see me haue Then Christe is brought in as a Iugler or Cuniurer And in his third booke against Marcion Wherefore his Christ that is Christe of the true God bicause he should not lye neither deceaue and by that meanes paraduenture should be counted the Christ of the creator was not that which hee appeared to be and fayned to be that thing which he was flesh and not flesh man and not man wherefore Christ is also God and not God For why shoulde he not also cary the fantasy of God Shall I beleue him as touching this inwarde substance that is ouerthrowen as touching his outward substance Howe shall he be counted true in a secrete thing that is found so false in an open thing And afterwarde It is inoughe for me to affirme that whiche is agreing vnto God namely the truth of that thing which he obiecteth to three senses to sight touching and hearing Againe in the booke de carne Christi The vertues sayth he proue the spirite of God the passions proue the flesh of man If vertues are not without spirite neither shal passions also be without flesh If the flesh with his passions be fayned the spirite also with his vertues is false Why doest thou by thy lye take but halfe Christ He is al whole truth The opinion of Apelles Apelles the heretike being in maner ouercome with these reasons graunteth that Christ had in dede true flesh but he denieth that he was borne but brought from heauen and he obiecteth that the bodies which were taken by Angels wer true bodies but they were not borne Suche a body sayth he had Christ Tertulian answereth hereunto They sayth he which set foorth the fleshe of Christ after the example of the Aungels saying that it was not borne namelye a fleshye substaunce I would haue them to compare the causes also as well of Christ as of the Aungels for which they came into the flesh No Aungel did at anye tyme therefore discende to be crucified to suffer death and to rise againe from death If there was neuer any such cause why angels should be incorporate then haste thou a cause why they tooke flesh and yet wer not borne They came not to die therefore they came not to bee borne But Christe beyng sent to dye it was necessarye that he shoulde bee borne that he might dye for none is woont to dye but hee whiche is borne He addeth moreouer And euen then also the Lorde himselfe appeared among those angels vnto Abraham without birth namelye with flesh for the same diuersity of cause Afterward he addeth That the Aungels haue their bodies rather from earth then from heauen Let them proue saith he that those angels receaued the substance of flesh of the stars If they proue it not bicause it is not written then was not the flesh of Christ thereof to whych Christ they apply the example of Angels And in his third booke against MarcioÌ„ My God saith he which hath reformed it taken of the slyme in this quality not yet of seede by mariage and yet flesh might as wel of anye matter haue framed flesh also vnto Angels which also framed the world of nothing into so manye and suche bodies Againe in his booke de carne Christi hee saith It is manifest that angels cary not flesh proper of their own as substaÌ„ces by nature spiritual and if they haue any body yet it is of their owne kinde and are transfigurable for a time into the flesh of man that they may be sene and haue fellowship with men Farther in his third booke against Marcion Know thou saith he that this is not graunted vnto thee that the flesh in Angels was putatiue or by imaginacion but of the very and sound substance of man For if it were not hard to geue vnto that putatiue flesh the true senses and actes of flesh much more easyer was it to geue a true substance of flesh to true senses and actes euen for that he is the proper authour and woorker therof For it is a harder thyng for God to make a lye then to fayne a body Last of al thus he concludeth Therfore are they truly humayne bodies bicause of the truth of God who is far from lying and deceate And bicause they can not humanelye be handled of men
is not credible as Ambrose saith that these thinges were done wtout the good wil of the maiden Ambrose But diuorsement should not be made so rashly and for so light a cause Christe hath made one cause onely of diuorcement namely aduoutry Paul addeth the difference of religion although he wyll not haue the faithfull to depart if the vnbeleuing party wil dwel together Neither permitted he second mariages bicause man and wife agree not in religion but bicause the one wil not abide wyth the other Ther was here no cause of iust diuorcement In Samsons cause there is neither of these There was no aduoutrye neyther did the mayden say she would not dwell with her husband neither did Samson repudiate his wife although he then departed from her For afterwarde he returned vnto her as we shal heare And although he so departed that the wyfe knewe not where he was become yet ought she not straight way to marye an other For the ciuill lawes when any suche thing happeneth doo appoynt her to tary fyue yeares as it is had in the Digestes De diuortiis in the law Vxor. And in the Authentikes De Nuptiis in the Paragraphe Sed etiam The Canon lawes in the Decretals would haue amended these thinges and decreed that it should not bee lawfull to marye againe before some certaine woorde were broughte of the death of the first husbande or wyfe But with what godlynes and wysdome they did that I wyll not at this tyme declare It is certaine that in this place was iniustice done for the wife to mary an other being not ignoraunt that her husbande was yet on lyue But the Father excuseth the act saying I thought thou haddest hated my daughter But why should he haue suffered hymselfe to be perswaded after this sorte It was conuenient that he shoulde before haue knowen Samsons mynde Iosephus and taryed for a booke of deuorcement Although I see that Iosephus is of this opinion that hee thinketh Samson dyd repudiate his wyfe But that is not very lykely when as he afterwarde descended to take his wife againe vnto him Neyther should the Philistians iustly haue burned that maÌ„ with his famely Ambrose Yea and Ambrose also denyeth that there was any deuorcement This is in a maner the fruite of those that are ioyned together in an vnequall mariage We reade the lyke thing in the fyrst booke of Samuel the .xxv. chapter Dauid had maryed Michol the daughter of Saul and when Dauid fled her Father gaue her vnto an other husbande when as the first husbande had not yet repudiated her but afterwarde Dauid demaunded her agayne In the meane tyme let vs that are Christians determine thys with our selues that it is not lawfull to dissolue matrimonies for lyghte causes Paule saythe If the wooman depart let her remayne vnmaryed or let her be reconciled vnto her husbande Chrisostome Which assuredlye hee ment not of aduoutry for he woulde not amende the woordes of Christ but as Chrisostome sayth he vnderstoode these thynges of lyghter offences for as muche as of them some reconsiliacion may be hoped for whych is vtterly cut of if she be maryed to an other ¶ The .xv. Chapter 1 BVt within a while after in the time of wheate haruest Samson visited his wife with a Kyd saying I wil go vnto my wife into her chamber but her father would not suffer him to go in 2 And her father sayde I had thought that thou haddest hated her therefore gaue I her to thy companion Is not her younger syster fayrer then shee Take her I praye thee in steede of the other 3 And Samson sayd vnto hym Nowe am I more blameles then the Philistines and therfore wil I doo them displeasure THis was the simplicity of those times that the husbande shoulde bring vnto his wyfe a Kyd. It was a gyft of reconcilement to pacify hys wyfe withall In saying I haue sayd That is I did fyrmly and constantly thinke That doubting of woordes with the Hebrues addeth a vehemency which selfe thing we maye see in that which followeth In hating thou diddest hate her that is thou diddest exceedingly hate her The father in lawe seemeth to lay the fault in the Sonne in lawe For it is as muche as he shoulde haue sayde Thou wast the cause that I gaue her vnto an other Is not her yonger syster fayrer then shee He feared Samson bycause he was of a strong and mighty body least he shoulde rage and kyll and slaye the Philistines therefore he offereth him his other daughter to asswage his anger He offereth her but yet against the law of God by which it was not lawfull to mary twoo Systers as it is manifest in the eightene and twentye of Leuiticus Wherefore the father offereth vnto Samson mariage but yet an incestious mariage Neither was it by the Romaine lawes lawfull to marye two systers It is not lawful to maâ—y two Sisters although the first were dead and vndoubtedly for a iust cause For for as muche as man and wife are one fleshe thereby commeth that the kynsfolkes of the one are ioyned in the same degree with the other Wherefore the syster of my wyfe must be counted for my sister Let the Pope therefore take heede what he doth when he so easely geueth licence in this kinde of mariages But this is nothing to him which thinketh that all thinges are lawfull vnto hym But it maye be that the Philistians obserued not these degrees in matrimonies For when Moses gaue the law before brought Ye shal not doo saith he as the nacions do which the Lord your God shall subdue vnto you For therefore hath the earthe syued them out before your face Samson receiued not the condicion offred hym Of you saith he is sproong the iniury my cause is the better and more iust if it should come to iudgement Wherfore he hath cause to be reuenged of the Philistians And assuredly it was written before of God And he sought occasion We must not thinke of Samson as of a priuate man Here the Reader is agayne to be admonished not to thinke of Samson as of a priuate man For it is not lawful for anye priuate man after this maner to prosecute hys owne iniuries He must rather go vnto the Magistrate But Samson was nowe constituted of God as a Magistrate First hee taketh vengeaunce of the goods of the Philistians and that after a wonderfull maner 4 And Samson went tooke .xxx. Foxes and tooke firebrandes and turned them tayle to tayle and put a fyrebrande in the middest betwene two tayles 5 And when hee hadde set the brandes on fyre hee sent them oute into the standyng corne of the Philistians and burnt vp bothe the reekes and the standing corne with the vineyardes and oliues 6 Then the Philistians sayd who hath done this And they aunswered Samson the sonne in law of the Thimnite bicause he had taken awaye hys wyfe and geuen her to hys
in the Sacrifices of Idols all thynges were ordayned for ryot and pleasure and they seldome departed from thence wythout fylthy lustes or murther as at thys daye doo the Papistes in consecrations of theyr Churches after Masse they celebrate a feast afterward they fall to dauncyng and wanton leapinges whereby oftentymes they fall together by the eares The Philistines assembled together aboue three thousande men and at the length commaunde that Samson shoulde be brought before them a man myserable bounde and blynde When they had with so many iniuries not sufficientlye fulfylled their hatred they woulde moreouer make hym a mocking stocke These thinges were farre more hytter Iosephus then if they had put him to death For as Iosephus writeth in thys place Death is naturall and maye after a sorte bee suffered but for as muche as to bee made a mocking stocke hath reproche and contumely ioyned with it that seemeth not possible to be borne wythall It is a thing very cruell to adde affliction vnto the afflicted Wherefore althoughe God seemed to haue smytten Samson they oughte to haue bene touched wyth some mercye towardes hym neyther must we be molestious vnto them that are smytten by God as thoughe we woulde imitate God Wherefore Amos the Prophet writeth For three transgressions of Edom for the fourth I wyl not be turned For when the Iewes were dryuen and banished oute of theyr owne countrey and had escaped to their borders they handled them moste cruellye Thys thyng sayth God by the Prophet hee wyll not leaue vnpunished For althoughe the Iewes were for their desertes afflicted of God yet it was not the duty of neighbours to heape more iniuries vpon the afflicted Dauid in hys hundreth and nyne Psalme curseth hym which shoulde persecute him whom the Lord hath stricken Set thou sayth he the synner ouer him and let Sathan stande at hys right hand When hee is iudged let hym go oute condemned and let hys prayers be turned into synne Let hys dayes bee fewe and let an other take hys charge Bycause he remembred not to shewe mercye but persecuted the afflicted and poore man and the sorrowful harted to kill him These thynges we reade A cruel maner towarde those which haue suffred shipwrack and contemne them and it is horryble to see the maner in certayne regions for if any that hath suffered shypwracke escape to the shore theyr goods if peraduenture they bee cast on lande are made forfayte What other thyng is thys then to adde affliction to the afflicted Howe Samson was reconciled vnto God Samson beyng brought before them declareth by the successe howe deare he was to God Not that the sufferaunce of the pryson had purged hys synnes it is Christ onelye whych purgeth synnes Not that by pacience or anye other vertue he had deserued the mercye of God awaye wyth all consideracion of desert But in pryson he acknowledged hys synne hee beleued trulye in Christe and as it becommeth a godlye man hee repented and that so muche the more howe muche greater the calamitye was wherewith he was oppressed Wherefore being endued wyth fayth whereby he tooke holde of the mercye of God by Christ Samson is proued to haue had fayth he was reconsiled vnto God And that he had fayth manifestlye appeareth by that which he prayed How sayth Paul did they cal vpon god in whom they beleued not And in the Epistle to the Hebrues Samson is numbred amōg them which being excellent in fayth wrought wonderful thinges And he sayd vnto the Ladde leade me vnto the pyller As thoughe he had bene wearye hee made as though hee woulde haue leaned to the pyller There were there al the princes of the Philistines They were assembled thether bycause god had appointed to take punishmēt of them al together In what manner Samson prayed And Samson prayed Remember me Lord. These prayers at the fyrste syght seeme not verye godly For he praieth to haue vengeaunce graunted him of his enemies bicause they had put out both his eyes Vndoubtedly if he did it of a stomake or choler we could not iustly defend his prayers For he should haue bene no more allowed of god then if be should expressedly haue sayd I pray thee Lorde prosper eyther my theft Augustine or my aduoutry Augustine sayth that Samson dyd these thinges not of his own wyl but by the impulsion counsell of the holy ghost Farther as I haue often admonished wee muste not thynke of Samson as of a priuate man but as of a Magistrate whom God hym selfe had appoynted And in deede as a priuate man it was not lawful for him to reuenge his owne iniuries but as a Magistrate he both might ought If we haue in hand a priuate cause that saying of Paul ought to be of force Geue place vnto anger To me belongeth vengeaūce I wil render saith the Lord. But in a publike cause the Magistrate ought by the commaundement and authority of God to auenge iniury bicause he is gods vicar in earth and god himselfe although often times he take vengeaunce of synnes by himselfe and as it is sayde withoute meanes yet for the most part he punisheth by Magistrates Wherfore those wordes To me belongeth vengeaunce and I wyl render doo not let the seueritye of Magistrates wherby they punish the guilty For they are the Ministers of God and that which they do God himselfe doth by them By the same maner of speeche it is sayd vnder the person of God God communicateth many of hys properties vnto men Equity is mine iudgement is mine and power is mine all which thinges yet he communicateth wyth men vpon whom hee bestoweth them Wherefore God commaunded Samson to reuenge the iniuries of eyther namely of the name of God and his owne for as muche as the Philistines had put out hys eyes But for what cause What bicause he had committed whooredome No vndoubtedlye For what cause the Philistines afflicted Samson but bicause he was an Israelite a deliuerer and reuenger of the people of God Wherefore Samson auengeth either iniurye both that whiche the Philistines had done vnto hym selfe and that which they had done vnto God When he calleth vpon God he prayeth hym to prosper hys vocation And suche prayers are woont to be of most efficaye For what other thyng dyd the Apostles and other brethren pray for as it is wrytten in the Actes of the Apostles the fourth chapter then that God would prosper their vocation and office Geue vnto thy seruauntes sayde they not to regarde their threatninges graunt them boldlye to speake thy woorde Streche foorth thine hande that they maye woorke sygnes If a man will say the sygnes of the Apostles were profitable and healthful bycause they delyuered and healed the afflicted But contrarilye the signe of Samson tended to the slaughter of his enemies Wherfore there is not in them both one consideration I answer that often times it happeneth so The sygnes of
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