no suche thing of that matter but this by expresse woordes they commaunde not to kyll the sonne for the father But for goods they ordayne nothyng But our aduersaryes haue transferred thys ciuill lawe of treason vnto Heretikes For they doo not onely punishe the father whiche is an Heretike but also they depryue hys children of all his goods howe iustly I will not nowe tell Of these thinges I haue made mention the more largely bycause Iiphtah was thrust out of hys fathers inheritaunce and thereby seemed to beare the iniquity of hys father Nowe wyll I returne vnto the Hystory 3 Then Iiphtah fled from his brethren and dwelt in the lande of Tob and there gathered idle fellowes vnto Iiphtah and went out with hym 4 And in processe of tyme the chyldren of Ammon made warre with Israell 5 And when the Ammonites began to fyght with Israell the Elders of Gilead went to set Iiphtah out of the land of Tob. 6 And they sayd vnto Iiphtah Come and be our captayne that we may fight with the children of Ammon 7 Iiphtah answered the Elders of Gilead did not ye hate me and expell me out of my fathers house and why then come ye nowe vnto me when ye are vexed 8 And the Elders of Gilead sayde vnto Iiphtah Therefore we turne agayne vnto thee now that thou mayst go with vs and fight agaynst the children of Ammon and be our head ouer all the inhabitantes of Gilead 9 Then answered Iiphtah vnto the Elders of Gilead If ye bring me home agayne to fight against the chyldren of Ammon and if the Lord deliuer them before me shall I be your head 10 And the Elders of Gilead sayd vnto Iiphtah The Lord heare betwene vs if we do not according to thy woord 11 Then Iiphtah went with the Elders of Gilead and the people made him head and captayne ouer them And Iiphtah spake al his woordes before the Lord in Mizpah The land whereunto Iiphtah fled was called Tob Why the landâ— was called Tob. namely of the name of the possessor therof otherwise Tob signifieth good But here it is the proper name of the Lord of that land Idle men That is vaine This woord signifieth poore men and such as were oppressed for debte So also there came vnto Dauid when he fledde from Saule men that were in debt and heauy of harte And they went out with him Namely to warre agaynste the enemyes of the people of God and they liued of the spoyle For Iiphtah beyng a man banished and dryuen oute of hys countrey hadde nothynge wherewyth to maynetaine souldiers And the children of Ammon foughte We haue tolde that the Ammonites made warre agaynste the Israelites whiche is vnderstande to haue beene after Iiphtah departed from his fathers house and when he shoulde goe into the land of Tob he moued warre agaynste those Ammonites and oute of theyr borders tooke praies and booties Therefore when the Gileadites wer oppressed they came vnto Iiphtah to bringe him home agayne and by hys conducte to defende the city from theyr enemyes They desire to haue him to be theyr head bycause when they wer grieuously oppressed of theyr enemies they iudged it expedient that there shoulde be one to gouerne their thinges And firste they had decreed among themselues as we haue heard that he shoulde be theyr captayne which fyrst shoulde fyghte againste theyr enemyes but whither they did that by theyr owne iudgemente and ciuill reason or by the oracle of God the historye mencioneth not But the act or coÌ„dicion which the Gileadites ordeined was fulfilled by Iiphtah for he with a few souldiours assayled his enemies Therefore they seyng that they were bound to stand to theyr couenant came vnto Iiphtah and chose him captayne bicause he fyrste of all beganne the battayle agaynste the Ammonites This is worthy to be marked that the Gileadites call not Iiphtah kinge Iiphtah aâ—oliâ—ted captayne not kinge but only captayne or ruler Wherfore they are not to be accused as the Sechemites were For they did chuse Abimelech kinge but these men constitute Iiphtah captaine to fight against theyr enemies now for the presente time and also hereafter when oportunity should serue And vndoubtedly they do wel and wisely in choosing Iiphtah for he was a man expert and valiant in warres But god had with himself before in secret decreed that he shoulde be iudge ouer all Israell whiche manifestlye appeareth by those woordes whiche we shall afterward heare And the spirite of the Lord came vpon Iiphtah Farther we must consider that Iiphtah therfore fled bicause his bretherne had thrust him out of his fathers inheritance neither left they him any thing to defend his life with all wherfore he had rather fly and liue in exile then to liue with ignominye in his country This vndoubtedly came of a noble stoute courage that he woulde not liue there where he continuallye hearde his byrth vpbraided vnto him and where al men counted him for a bastard Therfore he got him to an other place and exercised the arte of warrefare It is also possible that that matter came in controuersy and the Iudges to gratify the legitimate bretherne did not onely iudge that he should be depriued of his fathers goods The law commaunded not to banish bastardes but also be thruste oute of the citye and seemeth to me verye probable For when the Gileadits came vnto hym and of theyr owne accorde offred vnto hym the pryncipalytye he aunsweared Did not ye expell mee oute of the citye These woordes declare that Iiphtah was handled more seuerelye then the lawe commaunded For the law commaunded not to banishe bastardes The Gileadites aunsweare that they did so in dede but as before they coulde expel him so also nowe it was in theyr power to call him home againe and make him ruler But nowe sayth Iiphtah you call me agayne when ye are in miserye As thoughe he woulde haue saide otherwise yee woulde not haue called me againe It is so saye they and therfore we come vnto thee that thou maist fight against our enemies bicause we are afflicted But in that it is written we are turned againe we muste not so vnderstande it as though they had before bene with Iiphtah but to turne again is in this place to be referred vnto the mind as though it should haue bene sayd we haue chaunged our counsel purpose Then Iiphtah like a wise maÌ„ would not be satisfied with these words but required the couenants of the principality to be coÌ„firmed If I sayth he shal put my selfe in daunger and god shal geue vnto me the victory shall I be your hed He did not streyght way geue credite to theyr firste woordes bicause he feared least they would not kepe promise which had before doone him such hurt nether worketh he these things priuely with them but in a place most famous What place Mizpa was namely in Mizpa There in the olde time the kinges of Chanaan assembled against
agayne to Gellius He sheweth that there were other which thought histories to be either an exposition or els a demonstration of thinges done But yerely chronicles were when things done in many yeres were compiled together obseruing the order of euery yeare c. According to which sentence this our booke cannot be called a yerely chronicle for that in the narrations thereof it oftentimes noteth not the yeres wherin things were done Moreouer the same author I meane Gellius addeth Sempronius Asellios mynde therin but this was the differēce betwene those whiche woulde leaue behinde them yearely chronicles and those which enterprised to write of thinges done by the Romaynes The yerely chronicles did declare that onely whiche was done and in what yeare it was done but that was not sufficient for an history to declare what was done but it must also shew by what counsell and after what sort they were done And a little after the same Aselio writeth in the same booke for neither can the bookes of the yerely chronicles any thing stirre vp the readers to be more quicke to defend the common wealth nor yet more slow to cōmit thinges vnaduisedly Furthermore bicause that by the knowledge of this booke men are admonished and stirred vp to the true worshippyng of god to repent to put their trust in god and to practise all dueties of lyfe cherefully It conteyneth an history and not yerely Chronicles Peraduenture I haue expounded these thinges with to many woordes but yet as I suppose with some fruicte The number of the yeares that the history of the iudges conteyneth But the space of the tyme which is comprehēded in these declarations if we may beleue Augustine in his xviii booke de ciuitate dei and 22. chap. is 329. yeares which he gathereth thus Whē Rome was builded the Hebrewes had bene in the land of Chanaan 718. yeares of which as he saith 27. perteyned vnto Iosua 329. to the Iudges 362. are referred vnto the kinges For Ezechias the king lyued in the tyme of Romulus God is the author of histories An history is not to be counted a thing of mans inuention when as god him selfe was the author therof which would haue the elders to expoūd to their children and their posteritie those thinges which he had done for Israell in Egipte in the sea and in the wildernes And he commaunded also as it is written in Exodus that the warre which was had against Amalech and the victory which the Hebrewes got of him Histories wer before Moyses time should be put in writing yea and this kind of writing began before Moyses for he maketh mencion both of the booke of the battails of the Lord as also of the booke of the iust men I will not speake of the Prophetes which with their prophecies oftētimes mixed histories I passe ouer Dauid who adourned here and there the psalmes whiche he song with histories I skip ouer our Euangelistes and the Actes which Luke wrote in which are written moste profitable histories in the new Testament If god be the author of these bookes as we must nedes beleue thē god must be counted the author of histories which is not a thing for him vnsemely for an history is a noble thīg as Cicero writeth in hys 2. The praise of an history boke de Oratore it is a witnes of times the light of truth the life of memory the maystres of life the messenger of antiquitie c. These prayses certainly are great and they agree not with euery kynde of histories but with those onely in which those rules are obserued What are requisite to a true history The Latin Historiographers are more faithful than the Grecians which the same author hath set forth in that place namely that it set forth no lies or be afraid to tel the truth that there be no suspicion of fauour or flattery Which order although the Latin Historiographers haue more faithfully accōplished than the Grecians for Quintilianus saith in his iiii chap. of his secōd boke that the greke Historiographers vsed as much licence in writing almoste as the Poets did yet Augustine in his .131 epistle to Memorius the Bishop when he amōg other liberall disciplines attributeth much to histories writing of the truth therof saieth that he cannot see how those histories whiche are written of men can wel follow the truth for that the writers are compelled to geue credite vnto men and oftentimes to gather together the brute of the vulgare people The holy histories are most true whiche writers neuerthelesse are yet excused if they kepe liberty and write nothing disceitfull but there can be nothing at al more true than the histories reuealed and written by the inspiration of god as our histories are Besides the truth whose knowledge without controuersie is most excellēt The commoditie of an historye by the reading of histories we get also other cōmodities and those very excellēt By them we attayne to matter and most aboundant plenty of moste profitable arguments For as Quintilianus writeth in the .iiii. chap. of his .12 boke Exāples and histories are iudgementes and testimonies The vse of examples is double And the profit of the examples is at the least way two fold One is that we should imitate vse allow and commend those thinges which we are taught to be done of holy mē We vnderstande by the diuyne historye that Abraham was a holye man and dearly beloued of god and also one that kepte very good hospitalitie Whereby we learne that hospitalitie is a noble vertue and very deare vnto God and againe we are taughte to auoyde those thinges which we see these godlye men to haue auoyded For when we consider howe Dauid woulde not kil Saul hys deadly enemye hauing twice libertie to doe it we gather that it is not to bee permitted that priuate men althoughe it laye in their power shoulde 〈◊〉 reuenge their priuate iniuries The other vse of examples is that of these thinges whiche are there declared perticularly when we shall perceaue that they be al like we may of them gather generally and vniuersally some one profitable sentence By the history of the Sodomites we note how greuously god punished most horrible fleshly filthines and that the tribe of Beniamin for the same cause was almost cleane put out and Ruben the first begotten son of Iacob for incest was put besides his place and dignity Dauid for committing aduoutry incurred horrible punishmentes and Ammon and Absolon for committing incest came to a most wycked end and Troy as the heathen testifye was vtterly ouerthrowen for aduoutry sake Of these things therfore in such sort considered which happened perticularly we plainly say that all these wandring and vnlawfull lustes of men are most greuously punished of god To which propositiō if we shal adde this sentence that now also throughout all Christendom such free and wādring filthy lust raigne euery where we may strongly conclude that for
the iudgement of God and not by the lust of men But as touching the loue or hatred of enemies wee must vnderstande that Augustine hath written toward the ende of the first booke vpon the sermon of the Lord on the mountaine that he doth ascende one steppe of righteousnes which loueth his neighbour although he yet hate his enemy But then shall he performe beneuolence and gentlenes at the commaundement of hym whyche came to fulfyl the law and not to breake it when he shall stretch it euen to the loue of the enemy For that degree though it be somwhat yet it is so smal that it may be commō also with Publicanes Neither that which is said in the law Thou shalt hate thine enemy It is not lawfull for the vnperfecte to hate their enemyes is to be taken as a commaundement vnto the iust man but as a permission to the weake Thus much he writeth with whom yf I should speake as I thinke I do not agree but am certainly perswaded that to hate our enemies is not permitted of God no not to the vnperfect For it is an euerlasting precept that we should loue our neighbour as our selues Who is oure neyghbour And he is our neighbour whom we helpe by anye occasion as Christ hath declared in the parable of the Iewes and of the Samaritan They were compared as enemyes one to an other wherefore the condition of enmitye when it happeneth can not let but that such as are enemies one to an other be yet neighbours Moreouer for as much as we se the Dauid other prophets did oftentimes curse their enemies by what meanes can we cal thē weake whō God gaue liberty to hate their enemies For they wer holy men and very perfect Augustine Neither doth that seeme to make much to the purpose which the same Augustine saith namely that the sayinges of these holy men were no vowes desires but rather forespeakinges prophecies of them who liuing vnder the old testament did oftentimes prophecye the chaunce of thinges to come For the Apostels ar also found in the new testamēt not only to haue spoken words of cursings as Paul when he saith I woulde to god they wer cut of which do trouble you but also to haue most grieuously punished some For as much as it is written in the actes of the Apostels the same Paul depriued Elimas the Magicien of his sight and Peter slewe Ananias and Saphira Wherfore we must rather say that these great mē did not such things of an hatred graunted to vnperfect men but that they wer driuen therunto by some other maner of meanes Marke the distinction And therfore me thinketh we must make this distinction that they somtimes had to do for their own causes sometimes for gods cause Whē they had to do for their matters al their doings wer ordered with al modestye and gentlenes As we se Dauid to haue done who many times spared Saul his deadly enemy Moyses also other holy men did constantly valiauntly very often grieuous thinges But when the matters of God wer in hand the same mē behaued them selues seuerely nobly And if they should haue done that in theyr own causes they might haue semed to wrest the swerd out of the hande of God and of the Magistrate which they do which reuenge their own iniuries This is also to be added that men which are appointed to take in hand to defend Gods cause What is chieflye to be taken heede of when Gods matters are in hand although they may then do thinges sharpely seuerlye yet they must precisely diligently take hede that vnder that pretence they cocker not their owne affections The Apostels when they desired Christ to sende fyre from heauen vpon the Samaritanes as they knew was done in the olde tyme at the prayers of Helias wer rebuked of the Lord bicause they knew not of whose spirite they wer which without doubt was a most apt answer For they whom God sendeth to execute these offices ought not nowe to be counted priuate or symple men Whether it bee lawfull to pray against tyrans to curse them Augustine but such as wer prepared and enstructed of him to be in hys steede vpon the earth But whether it be lawful for priuate men to praye against vngodly and cruell Tyrannes by whom the true worshipping of God is hindred and to curse them Augustine aunswereth that it is alwaies lawfull for godlye men to pray vnto God against the kingdome of synne And that maye be cleane taken away when the vngodly forsake their wickednes for whose vnfayned repentaunce we must alwayes pray vnto God But if they seeme past all hope it is lawful to praye that their synnes maye sometymes at the length come to an end namely that when they are taken awaye they myght cease both to hynder the woorshipping of God and also to trouble the Saintes For as much as it is not expedient that theyr synne shoulde escape vnpunished for when it is leaste without punishment it is mere vniustice But when the punishment of God is adioyned vnto it then ther is in him lesse deformitye Wherefore God is of the same Augustine called verye wel not a cruell tormentor Augustine but a iust correctour Moreouer bycause holy men are very familiar with God and therefore when by some heauenly reuelation Saintes sometimes reioyce also are sory for the destruction of the wycked they are acertained of his wil bicause they exceedingly loue him they cannot but allow his sentence yea they faithfullye praye that the same may be accomplished Although in that they be men they be both sory and also take it grieuously to haue their neighbours so vexed After whych sorte Samuel mourned for Saul the kyng whom be knew neuertheles to be reiected of god Ieremy also wept for the captiuity which was at hand and Christ wept for the City of Ierusalem which should be destroyed For they which be mē in dede God requireth not the not feeling of the Stoikes can not chose but be sory for their neighbours and their own flesh when it is afflicted Neither doth God require of vs that Stoike lacke of compassion But as touching this matter if the Reaver desire to know more let hym looke vpon my Cōmentaries to the Corrinthians But as touching this present purpose that is to say that the people of Israel in destroying cursing of these peoples followed not their own hatred but the instinction of God for they wer his Lieuetenauntes and might be called his woorkemen when as they destroyed those whom god himselfe had declared to be enemies and cōmaunded that they should be destroyed by them And Iudah tooke Hazzam and the borders therof These words do al so cōfirme that those things which ar now declared wer don after the death of Iosua when the publique wealth of the Israelites was gouerned by elders For when in the booke of
the composition she maketh the cōclusiō with the helpe of Lord beginneth the next clause with the self same wordes as doth Virgill Virgil. O ye Periedes do ye these noble thynges to Gallus to Gallus I say whose loue doth dayly so much increase towardes me What is to be iudged of cursinges bannynges We haue at large before handled the place of cursinges wherfore now I wyll not speake much of it The Summe is That it is not lawfull for a man to curse any mā for the satisfieng of his owne anger For when our own matters are in hand we must loue our enemies we must blesse thē which curse vs. But when God doth somtimes certainely make manifest that he will haue some destroyed they whiche are so admonished of his wil can not but allow it for by the spirite wherw t they are inspired they wil also the same thing the God wil. And after this maner Dauid other Prophetes burst forth oftētymes into cursinges of the enemies of God whiche selfe same men for all that as they were men by naturall compassion whiche is not vicious were not a litle sory for the destruction of the enemies of God So Samuel Dauid Ieremy yea our sauiour himself wept lamēted the fall of vngodly mē Neither is it to be doubted but the dutyes of this kind were very acceptable to God for as much is they procede from charity Howbeit when we see some men cruelly to rage agaynste the godly men and Gospell of God it is lawfull in that case to praye that either theyr will may be chaunged or theyr strength confounded that they shoulde not accomplyshe all the things which they appoint to do Which things if they can not be obtained this is at the least to be prayd for the God will geue vs strength myght to suffer all such things which may aduāce his honor glory And we must diligētly weigh that this curse was therfore stirred vp agaynst the citie Meroz bycause they denyed to helpe the people of god What thē is prepared for those which do not onely not helpe the seruauntes of Christe but persecute grieue and cruelly vexe them Farther we must marke that it is sayd these came not to helpe the Lord as though God neded theyr ayde and that coulde not be as touchyng hym selfe howbeit God in hys people wanteth helpe and in the members of Christ when they are vexed Christ himselfe is vexed Wherfore he will say in the last day of iudgement I was hungry and ye fed me Math. 25. I was thirsty and ye gaue me drinke c. Wherfore let vs hereby learne to obey whē God calleth vs as did the Israelites whiche are commended of Deborah neither neglected they to take in hande the battayle Let vs learne also to helpe those that are in nede especially when they followe theyr vocation 24 Iahell the wife of Heber the Kenite shal be blessed aboue other women aboue women shall she be blessed in tentes When she had cursed the wicked Citie by a contrary phrase she addeth a good prayer as the City Meroz was worthy to be cursed so of the contrary was Iahel to be commended Christ in the last daye of Iudgement wyll not onely saye Come ye blessed of my Father but on the contrary parte he wyll adde Go ye cursed Here is in hys place a parte of the saluation of the aungell Mary as it is described in Luke Blessed art thou aboue women Whiche clause is here twise put for the greater mouing But in that in this repetitiō it is added In tentes it may be thus interpreted For this cause let this woman be praysed bycause she dwelleth in tentes So that by a wonderfull compendiousnesse of one worde the slaying of Sisera is noted which happened not in the campes but was done in the tente Or els we may say that Iahell is to be praysed aboue other womē dwellyng in tentes For the family of the Kenites dwelled not in houses but in tentes Wherefore she is praysed aboue all the women Kenites which are signified by this worde tentes 25 He asked water and she gaue him milke she offred him butter in a cup of the mighty Iahel is here praysed for her prudence and strength For what vertues Iahell is praysed but the mother of these vertues is fayth It was prudence to call the enemy vnto her handsomely to couer hym and to geue him milke to drynke Also to finde out a hammer and a nayle and to chose out his hed among the rest of the members whiche she would strike and among the partes of the hed to smite thorough the temples Her might and strength is hereby knowen bycause a woman durst enterprise suche a notable acte and feared not to assayle such and so greate a Captayne but had a full confidence that she notwithstandyng that she was a woman should be able to kyll hym Peraduenture thou wilt saye the Scripture maketh no mencion here of fayth I graunte that it doth not by expresse wordes but when it is sayd she shal be blessed or praysed her fayth is noted For we be al by nature the children of wrath neither are any blessed with faythfull Abraham but by fayth as the Epistle to the Galathians testifieth He asked water and she gaue him milke That he might the easelyer and soner fall on sleepe Why menciō is made of butter this as some say is the cause bycause out of that milke the butter was not yet cherned And in dede of that kind of milke a mā may drinke a great draught for as much as beside the quenchyng of thirst it hath also a certaine swetenesse She vsed the cup of noble men Whiche namely was a very great one For noble mē wer wont to drinke out of large and wide cuppes Cicero Cicero also agaynst Anthony sayeth If so be that it had happened in the Supper tyme among thy greate cuppes who woulde not count it filthy c. Yea and they were wonte in bāquets of noble mē at the latter end to bring forth great cuppes Wherfore this witty woman to the end she would prouoke him to drinke a very depe drought vsed a cup apte for the fame Kimbi R. D. Kimhi expoundeth these thinges as thoughe she gaue him not onely drinke but meate also For he thinketh that when he had dronke the woman did set butter before him to eate Whiche exposition if we receaue we must then put out this word cup whē as that is vsed for drinke and not for meate vnlesse by the maner of a cup we vnderstand such a kynde of vessell wherin meate also is wont to be put 26 She put her hand to the nayle and her right hand to the workemās hammer with the hammer smote she Sisera she smote of his head wounded him and persed his temple 27 He was bowed down betwene her feete he fell downe he slept betwene her feete he bowed hymselfe and
euery man shal be geuen a mayde or two that is the praye of the rascall souldiours shal be bondmen or bonde women be geuen But to our Sisera shal be geuen the most worthiest thinges garmentes I say of diuers colours and nedle worke Plini in his 8. booke the .48 chap writeth that the men in the old time vsed to dye their wolle and garmentes with such sundry and pleasaunt colours Plinius bicause they would imitate the most beautifull coloures of floures and herbes And the same writer attributeth vnto the Babilonians the inuention of diuers coloures in garmentes and euen as garmentes of siluer which were found out in Asia vnder Attalus the king were called Attalical so those garmentes whiche were by the Phrigians wroughte with the nedle beinge set out with golde and sundry coloures and pictures wer called Phrigionical And for that these workmanshippes wer in the old time had in estimation god would haue the holy tabernacle and the high priestes garmentes wrought with nedle worke And this is not to be passed ouer that by the ciuile lawes it was not lawefull for euerye man to weare such precious garmentes Wherfore it is sayd now in this song that garmentes of sundry coloures and such as were wrought with the nedle ar attributed only to the prince In the Code de vestibus oloberis lege Auratas It is prohibited vpon great punishmente that any other men shoulde were precious garmēts Lawes for apparell And it is no doubt but that in the old time there wer lawes for apparel which at this day lye vtterly voide These womē spake as they knew the maner then vsed for they were not ignorant of the custome in war wherby princely garmentes wer not distributed to priuate men but vnto captaynes and emperors Discipline of warre amonge the elders Farthermore we muste consider that the elders vsed greater discipline in their camps than at this day our men do For when a town or city was sacked euery man had not that which he by violence tooke al thinges wer brought vnto the king or Emperour and not vndoubtedly that he only should haue them but that he should part them according to the labor dignity and quality of the souldiors which manifestlye appeareth in the decrees 23. question the .5 chapter Dixerit aliquis They are the woordes of Ambrose in his booke of Abraham the Patriarche And the same thing is most playnly taught Dist the .1 chap. Ius militare This hebrew word Tsoari signifieth properly a necke or neckes in the plurall number but in this place by translation it signifieth a captayne or prince 31 So let al thine enemies perish O Lord But they that loue thee let them be as the Sunne when he riseth in his strength And the land had rest .40 yeares The thinges which are now mencioned the holy Ghost doth therfore speake them by Deborah to expresse with a great emphasis and signification that those thinges do happen vnto the vngodly which they be afeard of the things which they hope happen cleane contrarye Therefore the songe is nowe concluded with an elegant exclamacion and consisteth of thinges contrary So let all thine enemies perish O Lord as Sisera hath fallen This her Apostrophe or turning to God stirreth vs vp that we shuld with a singular affectiō embrace God the author of so great notable acts Deborah also in this speaking declareth that she setteth not forth her own cause for she sayth not let my enemyes perish but thine But they that loue thee let them continually encrease in al kind of good things as the sunne increaseth from his rising vntil it be none wherin he is most strong ether from the spring time to the highest of sommer She addeth not Let them that loue him be saued as the Antithesis or cōtrary position required For these two are contraries namely to be saued and to perish But let them be encreased saith she strengthened as the sunne increaseth from his rising vnto his strength By thys conclusion the vse of example is taught vnder the forme of a prayer Sisera is ouerthrowne but the people of Israel is encreased with a notable victory so therfore shall it come to passe and happē vnto vs. We shal be deliuered if we be godly they which do persecute vs for Christs cause shal perish Wherfore it is profitable by exāples to gather out rules of the gouernmēt of God which rules with frute let vs apply vnto our own things This performed Dauid as touching this selfe same historye in his psalme where he sayth do vnto them as vnto Middian as vnto Sisera Iabin at the riuer Kyson Wherfore the some of this hystory is to set before vs the seuerity of god toward his enemies again his clemēcy towards the godly And therfore it behoueth that the seuerity of his iudgements breath in vs a fear and that by fayth we take hold of his goodnes and clemency The syxt Chapter ANd the children of Israell did euill in the syghte of the Lorde and the Lorde deliuered them into the hands of Middian seuen yeres 2 Wherfore the hand of Middian preuailed against Israel frō the face of Middiā the children of Israel made them dennes in the mountaines and caues and stronge holdes 3 For when Israell had sowen Middian came vp and Amaleke and the sonnes of Kedem came vp agaynst them 4 And camped against them and destroyed the fruite of the earth euen till thou come to Haza neyther lefte they anye foode in Israell neither cattell nor oxen nor asses 5 For they went vp and theyr cattell and came with theyr tents as greshoppers in multitude so that they and theyr camels wer without number they came I say into the land to destroy it Deborah and Barac were deade by the authority of whiche princes the people of the Hebrewes were kepte in their dutye and religion But after theyr death they fell agayne vnto sinnes and especially vnto idolatry But yet they are not counted to haue turned so heynously from God as they did before for it is not written And they added to do euil Farther their punishment was not so long for they serued the Madianites onely seuen yeares Moreouer it is not sayde that God sold them as he did before but that he deliuered them I confesse that these coniectures are but small but yet not so small that they shoulde seeme vtterly to be despised Two thinges are principally entreated of in this hystorye The principall pointes of thys history The ordre of thinges to be spoken of the affliction of the Hebrewes and theyr deliuery by Gidion But bicause eche of these partes haue their causes therfore we must also entreate of them For euen as affliction springeth of sinne and deliuery beginneth of repentance so was it mete that first it should be declared that the Israelites had sinned before mention be made that they were deliuered vnto the Madianites and theyr repentaunce must
on Gideon the spirit I say of strength as the Chaldey Paraphrast interpreteth God had before appointed Gideon for a sauiour of the Hebrues now when he should go forth vnto the battail he suffreth him not to go vnarmed but endueth him with his spirit The Metaphore of putting on is deriued of garmentes which are put vpon the bodye The spirite of the Lorde therfore is inwardlye hidden in the outwarde man and so woorketh by him as though he had put him on And this is a phrase of speche very muche vsed in the scripture and especially in this booke This did the Angel signify shoulde come to passe when he said vnto Gideon Go in this strength and deliuer the Iewes frō the Madianites Now is it brought to passe that Gideon is endued wyth the spirite of strength For this was that power and myght of God wherewith in the old time he deliuered the fathers He blew a trumpet and Abiezer followed him which in dede was marueilous forasmuch as they were so angry for the ouerthrowing of Baal But their myndes were by the inspiration of God chaunged For when they saw that the Idole did to him no hurt they began to haue a good opinion of him The whole tribe of Manasses followed him also Zebulō Aser Naphthali Gideon alone was called but yet he would not fight with hys enemies alone For faith refuseth not humane helpe which iustlye may be had for godly men are not by fayth styrred vp to tempt God 36 And Gideon sayde vnto God If thou wylt saue Israel by my hande as thou haste sayde 37 Behold I wyl put a fleese of wool in the threshyng place if the dew come vpon the fleese onely it be dry vpon al the earth thē shal I be sure that by my hand thou wilt saue Israel as thou hast sayd 38 And it was so for he rose vp earlye on the morrowe and thrust the fleese together and wrynged the dewe out of the fleese and fylled the vyole with the water 39 Againe Gideon sayde vnto God Be not angry wyth me and I wyll speake onely once more Let me proue onely once I praye thee wyth the fleese Let it I pray thee he dry vpon the fleese onely and let the dewe be vpon all the ground 40 And God dyd so the same night for it was drye vpon the fleese onely and there was dewe on all the grounde Mans imbecillity is diuers and manyfold wherby it cōmeth to passe that in the promises of God we wauer and doubt Gideon was called by so playne and manifest woordes that there was no occasion of doubting left He had no cōmon signe when the sacrifice was consumed with fire he is nowe furnished wyth an host yet he now also wauereth needeth a new confirmation We vse not so to do when we beleue men for if there de but a bare promise or a hand writing made we are content But God must continually beate in into vs those things which he promiseth and seale them with miracles and Sacramentes and yet euen then also we geue litle credit vnto them And though we should endaūger our selues for accomplishing of our own lustes or prosecuting our own affairs there are we stoute there are we bolde and nothing afeard when as otherwise few there are found which in God his cause or for his words sake wil put them selues in daunger In which thing neuerthelesse we ought to be most stoute for God wyl not leaue vs destitute of his ayde He addeth the spurres of promises the confirmation of miracles and to those which cease of he threateneth verye grieuous punishmentes Whence our distrust cōmeth And this pestilence springeth of no other thing but bycause we trust to our owne sense and reason more then is conuenient And against thys euyl there is no remedy so present as frō them to prouoke our selues to fayth and constancy in God Whither Gideon in requiring these signes be to be condēned R. Leui ben Gerson thinketh that Gideon when he required these signes did partly distrust and partly beleue whose opinion if it be receaued then Gideon is guilty of infidelity And I iudge that we must not labour much vtterlye to acquite him of al faultes To the Hebrues his faith in dede is commended but me thinketh that we must not deny but that it was wauering before it was by diuers meanes confirmed And vndoubtedly it is a great matter to confirme the harte of man in the woord of God Although I am not ignorant that they which defend Gideon do say that he doubted not but that he was called of god to set at liberty the Israelites But in requiring these signes he onelye asked counsell of God whither he should then obtaine the victorye againste the Madianites when now he had collected and host And that in the old time with the captaines of the Israelites was a common custome For Saul and Dauid although they wer by God chosen kinges namely to saue the people neither did they therof any thing doubt yet did they often times aske counsel of God whither they should ascend to any place whither their enemies should be deliuered into their handes or contrary whither they should fall before their enemies or bee deliuered into theyr handes So peraduenture it might be sayd that this captain for that he had not with him the Arke of the Lord or a Prophet whom he might aske counsel of as touching the successe of the battail by those signes did aske counsel of the Lord. Augustine in his .63 Augustine Ambrose question vpon Genesis in this maner excuseth Gideon and affirmeth that he by these petitions tempted not God but asked counsel as touching the successe And as cōcerning this thing as he is wont he agreeth with Ambrose who in his first booke de spiritu sancto and .i. chap. affirmeth that Gideon doubted not And the Rabbines of the Hebrues think that these signes wer geuen vnto Gideon by the ministery of some prophet but what he was neyther the scripture declareth neither can they tell And there are some of them whiche suppose that al this thing was done in a vision But of these things what nede we any more to argue Forasmuch as there is nothing whiche letteth but that Gideon might in very dede both demaund and haue experience of these things Howbeit the thing teacheth that al these things happened in the summer time for that there is mencion made of dew I easily assent vnto Augustine which saith that Gideon tempted not God Augustine We maye require a signe to strengthen our fayth bicause I am perswaded that by such signes he woulde haue his fayth confirmed which otherwise was wauering It is synne in deede to doubt in faythe but to strengthen the same it is lawful in time to require a signe For in the Gospell the man cryed Lord I beleue but helpe thou my incredulitye Yea and Gideon also in the selfe same thing had before tryal
the iniury of the .70 sōnes of Ierubbaal and their bloud might come and be layde vpon Abimeleche their brother whyche had slayne them and vpon the men of Sechem whyche had ayded hym to kyll hys brethren 25 So the men of Sechem set men in wayte for him in the toppes of the mountaynes who robbed all that passed that waye And it was tolde Abimelech Tirannye is of no long time Abimelech exercised his tiranny three yeares and no longer for violence cā not be either perpetual or of any long time He iudged not the Israelites in setting them at liberty neither did he them any good but onely raygned God at the length tooke vengeaunce and made the bloode of the sonnes of Ierubbaal to redound vpon Abimelech and the Sechemites And he sent an euyl spirite betwene them to reuenge the murther which not onely Abimelech but also the Sechemites committed Abimelech was annointed king onely by the Sechemites but as the history here declareth he vsurped his tiranny ouer all the Israelites God required the bloud of the sonnes of Ierubbaal at the handes of Abimelech and of the Sechemites Vnles men do with iust punishmentes punish murthers God by himselfe punisheth them ¶ Of Murther BVt to make the thing more plaine twoo thinges seeme to be intreated of First what maner of murther is condemned by the word of God ought by the Magistrates to be punished Secondly who are guilty of thys crime As touching the first we must know that not euerye murther is condemned For if one kil a man by chaunce in exercising a thing honest and lawful he incurreth not the punishment of Homicides Wherfore in the old law there were graunted Cities of refuge For in verye deede he kylleth not but as it is there written God wythout whose wyll nothing is done by chaunce deliuered him to be killed A Iudge also or Magistrate when he punisheth flagicious men is not therefore a murtherer bicause it is not he that killeth but the law yea rather God himselfe who hath wylled and also commaunded that it should so be done Farthermore he which is set vpon by theeues or enemyes in a solitarye place or where he can not be holpen by other if in defending him selfe and according to the lawes repelling violence by violence hee slay a robber or theefe which inuadeth him he is not guilty of murther for as muche as in that case he is armed both by the lawes and by the Magistrate For the publike wealth wyl not that a Citizen should so perishe therefore it geueth hym leaue to defende him selfe by weapons Cicero By thys meanes Cicero defended Milo bycause hee had slayne Clodius who first set vpon him by snares Also the woman Thecoites obtayned of Dauid that the Magistrate shoulde not kyll her sonne who had slaine hys brother falling out in the fielde They were alone sayth she and therefore it is not knowen whyche of them inuaded one the other first Souldiours also when in iust warre they slay their enemies commit nothing vniustly Wherfore that murther which is to be punished cōdēned by the lawes is thē iudged to be cōmitted when of purpose a mā is killed of priuate men And they which wer to be codēned of this crime wer not by the Romanes called homicides but sicarii In the law Cornelia the title is de Sicariis not de Homicidis Sicarii And they are so called whiche do weare about them Sica that is a shorte skayne for to kil a man and by the figure Synechoche by the worde sica is vnderstand all kindes of weapons And not onely they whiche kill are guilty of this crime but also they whiche either in dede or counsell doo helpe and in theyr sayings and aydes haue a respect vnto this how to kill a man Yea the will is to be punished The will is to be punished in this kynde of euill althoughe it haue not successe which thing in the ciuile iudgement is not vsed but onely in three kinde of crimes namely of manquellers called Sicarii of rauishers and of traitors Wherfore that manqueller is to be punished which throweth a weapon at any man to the end he would kil hym or hauing that mynde woundeth him although he dye not therof as it is had in the digest in the same title in the law Diuus where Adrian the Emperor answereth that we must haue a respect vnto the wil and not to the euente And that is to be vnderstand when the will manifesteth it selfe by any tokē But I did not without cause say that all these things are thus as touching ciuill iudgement bycause otherwise before God the desire and decree of the minde as touching all kinde of sinnes are cōdemned for sinne Christ sayth he that beholdeth a woman and lusteth after her hath already committed aduoutry in his heart And that the will in those crimes is coūted for the facte euen the holy fathers and Canons do decree Ierome Ierome vpon Esay as it is in the title de Paenitentia distinction the first chap. Omnis writteth Ciprian Thou hast not killed with the sworde but thou hast killed with the will Yea and Ciprianus in his Sermon de Mortalitate writeth that he which desireth martirdome is a martyr before God It is one thing sayth he for the will to want martirdome an other thing for martyrdome to want the wil. These thinges are had in the same destinction chap. Nunquid And in the same destinction chap. Periculose Augustine Augustine is brought in who sayth that the Iewes did no lesse kyll Christ then the Romanes althoughe with their handes they inuaded him not By this destinction he conciliateth the Euangelistes who seme to disagree as touching the houre of the death of the Lord. One of them sayth he was crucified the third houre the other the sixt houre Augustine affirmeth both to be true Augustine For the Iewes at the third houre cried Crucify Crucify wherfore as touching them they slew the Lord then who yet was afterward at the sixt houre crucified by the souldiers of Pilate But Abimelech and the Sechemites wer murtherers and parricides not onely in wil but in helpe worke and deede and therfore it is no meruaile if God so seuerely punished them Furthermore we must cōsider how meruelously and wonderfully God vseth the vngodly By them as we here see he taketh vengeaunce of other vngodly and sometymes by their labour he both excerciseth and correcteth the iust What more They are his hangmen whom also when he hath vsed he destroyeth also at the last either here or after they be departed out of this life He sent an euill spirite betwene them For they were stirred vp one agaynst an other The Sechemites as it is to be thought against Abimelech bicause he both oppressed and contemned them And agayne Abimelech agaynst them bycause as the hystory declareth they dispysed him What contēpt is Contempt consisteth in three thynges
thinges Iosua Othoniel Dauid Salomon and manye other mo possessed by the ryght of warre For when those Princes had the victory Warre is a iust woorke to attayne possessioÌ„ the thinges taken from their enemies came into their possession But it is not sufficient to make warre to clayme something by the right therof but the warre also must be iust Bycause vnles it be iust it is not warre but robbery But how shal we know when war is iust or vniust Whereby iuste war is knoweÌ„ from vniust Augustine Augustine as he is alledged in th .23 Question .2 chap. Notandum writeth that his war betwene Sihon and the Israelites was iust For they desired to passe wythout hurt through his kingdome which thing by humane fellowship should not haue bene denyed them especiall seing they had faithfully promised not to be troublesome to any man This sentence of Augustine the Gloser goeth about to defende and that by ciuill lawes In the Digestes de aqua pluuia cohercenda in the lawe in summa in the Paragraphe item varus somethyng is permitted in an other mans ground so that it be done without the hurt of the possessor And in the Code Dâ— Seruitutibus in the law per agrum Maximianus and Diocletianus doo thus ordaine That no man can prohibite thee to vse the common high waye And that thing onely did the Israelites desire wherfore being repulsed they iustly tooke warre in hand So much sayth the Gloser Whither a waâ— ought to be geueÌ„ vnto an hoâ—t whose reason doth not so fully satisfy me For that which Augustine speaketh of priuate men may easely be admitted and these thinges which are brought out of the ciuill law do seeme also to be written concerning priuate men But if a man wil leade an host through an other mans country and if they faithfully promise not to be troublesome yet whether a way ought straightway to be graunted him or whether he ought to be beleued it is not certaine They promise thou wilt say that their host shal do no harme but if they stand not to their promises then shall the lande be in theyr power Vndoubtedly Iulius Cesar would not permit the Heluecians to passe thorow his Prouince although they promised that they woulde passe without doing iniury or hurt The Israelits tought iustly against Sihon But I say that the warre which the Israelites made against Sihon was iust but not therfore bicause he denied them leaue to passe throughe his country but bicause he came out of his borders with his host and willinglye offred wrong vnto the Israelites For euery man ought to defend both himself and his against violence That which Augustine bringeth hath some shewe yet his reason is not firme For how could Sihon know certainly whither the Isralites would do him no hurt especially they being so many in number For ther were sixe hundred three score sixe thousand armed souldiours wel appoynted to the battail He might peraduenture haue permitted them to haue passed and that safely although not al of them together but by bandes But seing the first reason before alledged is sufficient wee must not muche labour for Augustines sake What maner of warre is iuste But now I wil generally declare what maner of war is counted iust Such a war is counted iust whiche is taken in hande at the commaundement of the Magistrate either to demaund things againe or els to put away iniuries or to reuenge them as it is had in the .23 question the .2 chap. iustum and they ar the woordes of Isidorus Isidorus For first we must beware that war be not taken in hande by the authority of a priuate man But the causes wherfore war may iustlye be made are these to require thinges taken away or els to repulse iniury Wherunto is agreable that which Augustine writeth in the same place in the chapter Dominus Augustine Iust war is that which is taken in hand to reueÌ„ge iniuries After this maner war is iustly proclaimed against Cities when they wyll not either render thinges taken away or amende those thinges which of theirs was vniustly done For if they wil not punish the guilty it is lawful for other to make warre against them So al Israel tooke war in hand against Beniamin that a most filthy wicked crime should not remaine vnpunished But Augustine addeth that those warres also do in especial seme iust which are taken in hande by the commaundement of God as are many which were done in the old Testament For if God commaunde once to make warre wee muste not seeke for anye other cause of iustice For God knoweth very well what is to be rendred vnto euery man For then both captaine and souldiours are not so muche to be counted authors of the warre as ministers of God of his law And therfore when the people are after this maner called to war they ought not to neglect the coÌ„maundement Augustine Wherfore the same Augustine in his .205 epistle to Bonifacius the Earle a maÌ„ of war which at that time gouerned Affrike vnder Cesar Thou oughtest not saith he to thinke that they which with weapons serue the publik wealth caÌ„ not please God This was the propositioÌ„ wherof afterward he bringeth reasoÌ„s For Dauid saith he made many wars and yet was he dearely beloued of God And vndoubtedly I could bring forth very many examples out of the old testament But the Anabaptistes cry that the old Testament pertaineth nothing vnto vs. I wil therfore make mencion of those thinges whych Augustine alledgeth out of the new Testament The Centurion came vnto Christ and desired him to heale his seruant which was sicke but Christ said he would come to hys house The CeÌ„turion said I am not worthy that thou shouldest come vnder my roofe but onely say the woord my seruant shal be healed And other woordes which are red in the .8 chapter of Mathew At the last Christ answered that he founde not so muche faith in Israel no not in those whiche seemed most holye And the same man was a Centurion and had soldiours vnder him vnto whom for all that Christ ascribeth a very good and most excellent faythe In the Actes also of the Apostles the .x. chapter it is written that Cornelius so lyued in warfare that the Angell testified of hym that hys prayers wer heard of God Yea God also so regarded hym that at Peters hande he hearde the Gospell was baptised and receaued the holye ghost And the Soldiours when they came vnto Iohn to be baptised of him as it is in the third chapter of Luke asked what they should doo Iohn aunswered ye shall doo violence vnto no man bee ye content with your wages Neyther called he them backe from warfare but rather confirmed them when he commaunded them to be content wyth their wages The same Augustine againste Faustus in his .xxii. booke and .lxxiiii. chapter saythe The Lorde was tempted of the
abstinēce Definition not onely from meate and drinke but also from all other thynges whiche may delite and noorishe the body contrary to the accustomed manner as much as strength will suffer and it is done of a repentant mynd and of a true fayth by prayers to desire the clemency of God for miseryes eyther already oppressing vs or very nighe at hand The forme of this definition is abstinence An expositiō of the causes of true fasting and that aboue the accustomed manner whiche yet excedeth not strengthes of the body The matter is not onely meate and drinke but also all thynges whiche may reioyse the body The efficient cause is fayth and repentance for sinnes committed agaynst God The end is by prayers to craue the mercy of God and to turne away or to diminishe calamityes Therfore they whiche fast Exercises of those that faste truely ought to geue themselues to prayers almes visitynges of the sicke and to the holy supper When we feruently pray vnto the Lord and do from the heart truly repent vs of the sinnes which we haue cōmitted for their causes are earnestly afflicted we can not easely thinke vpon meate drinke fine delicates For whō such a griefe grieuously vrgeth it is more pleasant to thē to absteyne thē is any other delectation So Dauid in his .35 Psalme sayth of his enemyes When they were sicke I laughed not but put on sacke clothe and afflicted my soule with fasting and earnestly prayed for them They whiche deiect and humble themselues bycause they in a manner dispaire of their things are wont to contemne and loth meate and drinke and other delightes and pleasures Hereby we may vnderstād Why fastyngs please God Ierome how it commeth to passe that our fastes doo please God not assuredly that the emptines of the belly pleaseth God So Ierome derideth certayne which fasting to hardly were made to all purposes all their lyfe long vnprofitable This pleaseth God that we deiect the mynde that we returne vnto him with prayers and casting away other pleasures do put all our delectation in him onely But the fastes wherof we now intreate Fastes publike and priuate are sometymes publique and sometymes priuate Priuate fastes we take in hand when we are afflicted with proper and domesticall miseries for there is none whiche is not vexed sometymes either in himselfe or in his famely Or if it happē that peraduenture he be not greued with any calamity of his owne or any of hys We must faste sometymes for other mennes sakes yet sometymes he must mourne for other For if we be the members of one the self same body we must thinke that the discōmodityes of our brethrē pertayn vnto vs our selues So Dauid prayed for them which afterward became his enemies which reioysed in his euils So Iobs frindes whē they saw hym vexed with most grieuous plagues lay seuē dayes full in dust and ashes before they spake any thyng vnto him so much wer those men moued with his misery Wherfore before they commoned with hym they would by fasting and prayers desire God to asswage his so great misery So Dauid when Abner was slayne did not onely mourne at his buriall but also sware that he would that day taste of no meate before the sunne were set The same thing did he when he was reproued of Nathan the Prophete and when he had receaued tydinges of the death of the childe Vndoubtedlye all the whole tyme that he was sicke he neuer toke meate Nehemias in the .1 chap. whē he heard of the afflictions of the Hebrewes whiche remayned in Ierusalem afflicted himselfe with fasting and prayed vnto the Lord. Daniel also when he had red those things which Ieremy wrote of the captiuity of .70 yeares cōfessed both his owne sinnes and the sinnes of the people wept also and fasted Wherfore priuate fasting ought to be taken in hand not onely for our selues but also for others But publique fasting is two maner of wayes commaunded How publique fastes are denounced Either of God himself by the law or of the Magistrate or of the Bishop or els of a Prophet And this is to sanctify a fast which sometymes is red in the holy scriptures Of thys kind there are many examples What it is to sanctify a fast especially that fast which the Israelites in this place imposed vpon themselues In the .1 booke of Samuel when the Philistines grieuously afflicted the Iewes the whole people at the exhortation of Samuel assembled in Mizpa wept fasted and threw away their Idoles Dauid also with all his fasted when he heard of the ouerthrowe of the people and death of Saul The men also of Iabes Gilead toke the carkayses of Saul and Ionathas and wept and also fasted That also was a publique fast whiche Iosaphat commaunded in the .2 boke of Paralip the .20 chap. Esther the queene beyng in extreme daunger commaunded by Mardocheus a publique fast to be denounced The Israelites in their captiuity as it is written in the .7 chap. of Zachary had a fast both in the .5 moneth the .7 moneth bycause in the .5 moneth the spoyling of the City desolation of the tēple happened and in the .7 moneth Godolias was slayne wherby so many miseryes afterward ensewed That was also a publique fast whiche Iezabel proclaymed a woman otherwise wicked and an Hipocrite Her acte declareth that it was the manner that when any great wicked crime was committed the whole Churche should fast as it were desiryng helpe agaynst the common punishement This fast sometymes also the Prophetes required As Iohel when he sayd Sanctifie ye a fast Esdras also in his 8. chap. proclaimed a fast Wherfore fastes were by certayne godly considerations publikely denounced Why an yearely fast was instituted among the Hebrues God himself also commaunded a publique fast For he commaunded that euery yeare the feast Chephurim that is the feast of expiations should be celebrated the .10 day of September with a publique fast For the people committed many sinnes thorough out the whole yeare neither did they diligently obserue the ceremonyes Wherfore once in a yeare the tabernacle was purified and a publique fast was obserued These thinges in the old Testament signified as it wer by a certaine shadow that the sinnes of mē should be by Christ abolished of whō when we take hold by a true and lyuely faith The day of fast was a festiuall day we are losed from sinnes and therof followeth the mortification of sinnes and carnall delightes pleasures Neither is this to be passed ouer that that one daye of fast was a festiuall day For it was not lawful in the publique fast either to worke or for a man to geue hym selfe to his own busines not that on feastiual dayes we ought vtterly to be idle but that in those dayes we should do good deedes whereby we may rest in God and we are commaunded onely to absteyne from our