236. 13.1 Let eueri soul be subiect 262 b 13.1 Powers ar ordained of God 260. b. 1. Corinth 2.15 He that is spirituall discerneth all thinges 262. 6.1 Dare anye of you hauyng a cause agaynst an other 256. b 6.13 14 The body is not for fornication 229. b 7.5 Defraud not one another except it be for a time 94. 7.11 If the womā depart let her remain vnmaried or let her bee reconciled 222. b 7.14 Els were your chyldrē vncleane but now ar they holy 182 7.15 If the vnfaithful depart 86 7.37 He dothe well c. that wyll kepe his virgin 46. 8.4 We know that an Idol is nothing in the world 69. b 10.24 Non quae sua sunt quaerētes Such as seeke not their owne 38. b 10.27 If anye that is an infidell byd you c. 44. b. 45. b 11.5 Euery woman that prayeth or prophecieth barcheaded 93 13.2 If I had al fayth 130 13.12 We shal see him face to face 121. 14.34 Let your women keepe silence c. 93 15.44 It is raysed a spiritual body 211 Galath 1.8 Though we or an angel from heauen c. 262 1.15 c. When it pleased God to reueale his sonne in me c. I communicated not with fleshe and bloud c. 265 3.19 It was ordayned by angels in the hand c. 120 Ephes 5.18 Be not dronke with wyne c. but speake in psalmes c. and songes 103 Philip. 4.8 Whatsoeuer things are honest 250 Collossi 3.16 Let the woorde of Christe abounde in you c. in psalmes c. 103 1. Thes 5.22 Ab omni specie ma la abstinete Refrain from al apparance of ill 18. b 1. Timo. 2.1 Supplications praiers intercessions and geuynge of thankes 44 2.11 I permit not a woman to teache c. 93 3.3 No striker 146. b 4.8 Bodely exercise profits lytle but. c. 140. 279 Titus 1.7 No striker 146. b 2.3 Women should be teachers of honest thinges c. 93 Hebru 7.2 Abraham payed tenthes c. 261 13.4 Hooremongers and adulterers God wyl iudge 254. b 13.16 To do good and to distribute c. 251. b Iacob 1.13 God tempteth no mā 79. b 2.10 Who so keepeth the whole law c. 53 1. Peter 4.17 Iudgement begin at the house of God 234. b Apocal. 19.10 22.8 9. I fell downe to woorshpp before the feete c. 69. b ¶ The common places contayned in this booke OF prediction or treasō 36. b Of Masse 41 Of teares 62 Of Sacrifice 63. b Of Idolatrye 68 Of a league 73. b Of truth and of a lye 87 Of dissimulacion 89. b ¶ Whether it be lawfull to lye to preserue the lyfe of oure neighbours 90 ¶ Whether it be lawfull for subiectes to rise against their princes 90 ¶ Whether it bee lawfull for the godly to haue peace with the vngodly 99 Of musicke and songes 102 Of visions or in what sorte and how much God may be knowen of men 118 Of myracles 126 Of Dreames 134. b Of the affections of enuye and emulacion 141. b Of mercy 142 Of a good intent 132 Of Matrimonye and hauing of Concubines 153. b Of ambition 157. b Of murther of Parentes or kinsfolkes called paracidium 158 Of a fable and apollogy 159 Of wyne and dronkennes 161. b Of murther 165. b ¶ How synne dependeth of God 166. b ¶ Whether we cā resist the grace of God or no. 167. b ¶ How God sayth that hee wyll not geue that which he wil giue and contrarily 174. b Of bastards and children vnlawfully borne 177. b ☞ Whether the sonne shal beare the iniquity of the father 178. b Of thinges which were taken by the right of workes 186 Of prescription 188 Of custome 189 Of the vow of Iiphtah 192 Of sedicion 197 Of the vow of the Nazarits 201 Of Sacrifice 206 Of the vision of Angels 208 ☞ Whether it be lawful for children to mary without the consent of their parentes 214 Of playes 218 Of hooredome fornication 129 Of the head of the church 241 Of Securitye 246. b Of the reconciliation of the husbande and the wyfe after that adultry hath ben cōmitted 247 Of a Magistrate 255 Of merites 272 Of fasting 274 Of Rapte 283 Of daunses 286 FINIS ⧠Faultes escaped in the printing desiring thee gentle Reader to correct the same in thy booke before thou beginnest to read this worke which shal helpe thee much in the vnderstanding of those places The order of which correction here vnder thou maiest see The letters a. and. b. which stand by the numbers signify the sides of euery leafe a. signifieng the first syde and b. the second syde Leafe Lyne Faultes Corrected 2. a 3 iudged and iudged 3. b 50 he Greeke the Greke 4. a 20 not reuenge reuenge 7. a 6 holy hylly 10. a 23 region religion 11. a 9 contamined contaminated 11. a 20 This is my This is in my 22. a 48 to vnprofita not vnprofitable 25. a 24 word wordes 25. b 20 wayling wayting 31. b 5 their maters their own mat 31. b 8 greuous suffer greuous 31. b 30 least left 32. a 34 the wel valle the valleys 35. a 2 helpe for the helpe from the 38. b 38 deceaued receaued 39. a 22 ceaseth not to ceaseth to be 40. a 13 signes synnes 43. b 28 saluation salutacion 47. b 47 stranger stronger 48. a 1 that none that to none 49. a 1 obey admoni obey their admo 52. b 25 contemne continue 53. a 10 workers workes 57. a 39 misery mistery 60. a 18 by colour by no colour 61. a 18 weyed weeded 62. a 9 offer offered 62. a 29 sacrifice sacrificer 62. b 33 nation motion 63. b 20 set setteth 63. b 48 sayth fayth 64. a 1 participacion particion 65. b 36 sawe same 68. b 21 there they 73. b 7 angry angry anger anger 77. b 14 doubt double 81. b 18 is maruayle is no maruayle 84. b 16 nothing one thyng 86. b 50 other vnderstād othe vnderstand 87. a 49 not any not least any 92. b 27 do desperate and desperate 96. b 1 by an ordinarye by no ordinary 100. a 22 decreased digressed 100. a 23 the knight the Kenite 100. b 49 Leuites Kenites 106. a 17 xl C. men xl M. men 111. b 25 decrees .23 q. 5. cha dixerit aliquis decrees causa 23. q. 5. dicat aliquis .28 d. 1 120. a 53 word world 122. b 1◠litle title 124. a 17 inuiolated violated 132. a 42 13500. men 135000. men 134. b 1 Recubites Recutites 144. a 32 mention mantion 192. b 51 dryuen drawne 201. b 4 eare heare 203. b 52 preserue obserue 223. a 15 doubting doubling 227. a 20 ententes euentes 228. b 14 pronounces prouinces 230. a 32 Sickenes Sadnes 247. a 16 Cain Cham 269. b 14 leuened leuelled 285. a 14 cōmunicate excommunicate ¶ The commentarie of Master Peter Martyr vpon the Booke of Iudges THere be some whiche deuide the holy scriptures into
when hee taketh the weake ones he straight waye endueth and adorneth them with his grace and gyftes For as muche therefore as he had vnto thys ministerye chosen Deborah beyng weake in kynde hee strayght waye endewed and adorned her wyth the spirite of prophecye By whyche grace and peraduenture manye other moe myracles she was by God constituted and by myracles confirmed as she that was elected vnto so great an office Neyther onely this woman was endewed with the sprite of prophesy We comen prophetesses did openly instruct the people for in the holy scriptures we reade of other women which were likewise inspired by the holy Ghost Mary the sister of Moses Hanna the Mother of Samuel Holda in the time of Iosias the king were Prophetesses And in the new testament Marye the Virgin Elizabeth the mother of Iohn and Anna the wife of Phanuel the daughters also of Phillip the Deacon as it is written in the Actes of the Apostles were prophetesses Neyther do I thinke that we maye denye that some of those weomen endewed with the sprite of prophesy did openly teach the people in declarynge those thynges vnto them whiche God had shewed vnto them Forasmuch as the giftes of God are not therfore geuen that they shoulde lye hidden but to aduaunce the common edifying of the church And yet hereby it followeth not that that which God doth by some peculiar priuiledge we should by and by draw it for an example because according to the rule of the Apostle we are bound vnto an ordinary law whereby both in the Epistle to Timothy and in the first Epistle to the Corrinthians Why wemen are commounded to kepe silence in the church he commaundeth that a woman should kepe silence in the church And he assigneth causes of this silence so commaunded namely because they ought to be subiect vnto theyr husbandes But the office of a teacher hath a certayne authority ouer those whiche are taught which is not to be attributed vnto a womā ouer men For she was made for the man whome she ought alwayes to haue a regarde to obey whiche thing is also appoynted her by the sentence of God wherby after synne committed he sayd vnto the woman Thy lust shal pertayne vnto thy husband Farther the Apostle geueth an other reason drawne from the fyrste faute bicause as he sayth Eua was seduced and not Adam wherfore if women should ordinarily be admitted vnto the holy ministery of the Church men might easely suspecte that the deuill by his accustomed instrument would deceaue the people and for that cause they would the lesse regard the Ecclesiasticall function if women should be beleued It ought therfore to be committed onely to men that by ordinary right and the Apostles rule And though God do sometimes otherwyse yet can he not be iustly accused forasmuch as all lawes are in his power Wherefore if sometimes he send any prophetesse and adorne her with heauenly giftes if the same woman speake in the church vndoubtedly she is to be hearde but in suche sort that she forgette not her owne estate Twoo places of Paule conceliated Wherefore these two testimonies of Paule which seme to be contrary one to an other may easelye be conciliated To Timothe the fyrst Epistle he writeth that a woman ought in the church to kepe silence which thinge toward the ende of the first Epistle to the Corinth he most manifestly confirmeth And in the same epistle he commaundeth that a man prophesieng or praying should haue his hed vncouered but a woman when she prophesieth should haue it couered whereby vndoubtedly he teacheth that it is lawfull for a woman both to speak and also to prophesy in the church For he would not haue commaūded that in this doing she should couer her head if she should vtterly kepe silence in the holy assembly The thinge is in this manner to be taken that we should vnderstande the precept of silence to be a generall precepte but the other which is for the couering of the head when they pray or prophesy pertained onely to those which wer prophetesses They vndoubtedly are not forbidden to prophesy for the common edification of the church Why women prophetesses were commaūded to haue theyr heds couered but to the ende by reason of theyr office extraordinarely committed vnto them they should not forget theyr owne estate and waxe proude they are commaūded to haue their head couered whereby they myght vnderstande that yet they haue the power of man aboue them Farther whereas to Titus the ii chap. it is commaunded that the elder women should admonish the yonger women of temperance and that they should loue theyr husbandes and children and diligently looke to theyr famely this is not to be vnderstand of publike doctrine or ecclesiasticall sermons but of priuate exhortacions which it is meete that the elders haue to the yongers 5 And the same Deborah dwelt vnder a Palme tree betwene Ramath and Bethell in mount Ephraim And the children of Israell ascended vp to her for iudgement How Deborah iudged the people The word of iudging as we haue admonished in this booke oftentimes signifieth to reuenge and to set at liberty Which signification if we now follow we shall se that Deborah was appoynted vnto the same namelye to deliuer the Israelites And as soone as they by the inspiraciō of God vnderstode that they ascēded to her to heare of her what they should do to attayne vnto liberty But if any man wil haue the word of iudgemēt to signify to set lawes or to geue sentence of controuersies I wil not be much against it For so great peraduenture was the oppression of Iabin that now the Israelites could not vse ordinary iudges They therfore being taken away whē they saw that Deborah was endewed with the spirite of God they had rather be iudged by her than by the Chananites Iosephus But Iosephus inclineth more vnto the first interpretation and he saythe that they beinge oppressed by their enemies came vnto Deborah whome they knew to be a most holy woman and endewed with the sprite of god and desired her to pray vnto God for them which she both did and was heard As touching the ministery of the churche how women may be preferred in what sort they are not apt we haue before declared And this we ad now that whē churches ar newly planted when ther want men to preach the Gospel a womā may at the beginning be admitted to teach but in such sorte that when she hath taught a while some one mā of the faithful to be ordeyned which afterward may minister the sacramēts teach faithfully execute the office of a pastor But bicause Deborah was not onely a Prophetesse but also in setting at liberty gouerned ciuil things I might therfore demaund whether a womā may be appoynted to gouern a pub wealth But I haue determined to entreat of this question in an other place namely whē I come
is the head of the woman as Paule hath said in the first to the Corinth In mariages the fyrst order of kinred maye not be peruerted Wherfore ther must alwaies bee a regarde had that in mariage the order of kinred bee kept least the order which was before should be peruerted For it is meete that mariages should obserue and not violate honesty of order among men Which honesty should he violated if euery man might take to wife hys Aunt his vncles wife or mothers sister For bicause that women ioyned vnto vs by this degree of kynred are to be reuerenced as mothers But if they be made wyues then by the law of matrimony they are made subiectes and ar bound to honour to obey and reuerence their husbands whom otherwise they ought to haue had in place of childrē Which semeth nothing els than to commit thinges repugnaunt to nature But if it be contraryly done then is there no peruerting of order incurred For hee which is an vncle either by fathers syde or mothers syde shoulde be honoured and reuerenced lyke a father when he taketh to wyfe his niepce the husband is made her head and shal be honoured and obeyed of her no lesse than if he wer her vncle eyther by the fathers syde or mothers syde neither commeth there any perturbation of order by coniunction of matrimony These thinges Burgensis alledgeth Wherfore this place doth not onely admonish but in a maner also cōpel vs somwhat to entreate of degrees prohibited in contracts of matrimony Yet wil I leaue at liberty whether Chaleb Othoniel wer brethren or whether they were ioyned with any other affinity together This is most certain if Othoniel wer the sonne of Chaleb his brother the mariage then was very lawfull But the state of the question is whether it wer lawfull for Othoniel by the common lawe to marye hys brothers daughter In the law are not rehersed all the degrees in which maryages ar prohibited This seemeth first to bee agreed vpon that in the .18 .20 chap of Leuit. are not rehearsed al persons or degrees in which mariages are prohibited for there is no mencion made of Graundmother when as neuertheles al men wyll confesse it to be most filthy if anye man shoulde take to wife his Graundmother which is farre aboue him in his yeares The wife also of the Graundfather is not mēcioned of though the wife of the vncle by the fathers side be spoken of yet is there nothing spoken of the wife of the vncle by the mothers syde Yea that we more maruayle at there is no prohibition for the father to marye hys daughter when as al men confesse that these mariages are most incest Wherfore it is to be thought that in that place are set forth by the holy ghost certayne degrees prohibited those not many but yet such that by them as by certain exquisite and manifest rules we may iudge of the like Wherfore we must thinke that those thinges which are spoken of the mother are also commaunded of the Graundfather or Graundmother or wife of the Grandfather seing that al these are to bee reckoned for Parentes Those thinges also whych are spoken of the wife of the vncle by the fathers syde do manyfestly declare what is to be done with the wife of the vncle by the mothers side For as much as these aliaunces or degrees are of one space or distaunce one from an other Wherefore I am of this opinion that I thinke the prohibitions mencioned in the law are therefore set forth that by them we might euidently vnderstand what is meete to doo in the lyke degrees I graunt neuerthelesse concerning Paulus Burgensis reason that they doo muche more violate the law which do concract matrimonies with persons forbiddē Who syn more greuouslye against the degrees prohibited It is vncertain whether the Iewes doo abyde in the right obseruyng of their lawe and therwithal peruerting also the order of kinreds For it semeth to me that he doth farre more vilye which marrieth his Graundmother than he which marryeth his niexce by the brother although I thinke that bothe these matrimonies are not lawful What the Hebrewes do in our time I passe not much to know yea I much doubt of that which Paulus Burgensis taketh vnto him as a thing sure manyfest namely that the Iewes are at this day most diligent in obseruing of theyr outward lawes For me thinketh that I should doo well in not geuing to them more dignity or religion than to Christians Wherfore as it is manifest inough that we haue for mens traditions very much straied from the right obseruation of the comaundementes of God and also from the right knowledge of the scriptures so is it also lykely that the same hath happened vnto the Iewes especially in this our age Wherfore I am not iniurious against them whē as I wyl not geue more to them than to our selues The Iewes haue added mani other degres to the degrees expressed of god Neuertheles I wil not omit that the Rabines haue added to their prohibited degrees in the law many more as wel in ascending as descending which I see the most learned man Paulus Fagius hath declared in his annotacions vpon Leuit. nether can I be perswaded that they wer added by them for any other cause but onely bicause they thought that those degrees wer comprehended in the degrees expressed by God What we must haue a respecte vnto in iudging of degres Wherefore to geue iudgement of any lawful mariages that shal not be sufficient in my iudgemēt if the degree wherin they are contracted shal not be prohibited by manifest proper wordes in the law neither the order of kinred peruerted for it maye be that the like degree of the same distaunce be forbidden by authority of the law The scripture declareth not by manyfest wordes the peruertyng of order which is to be taken heede of in mariages Nether doth the scripture as far as I can see alledge in any place the reason concerning peruerting of order although as I haue before said I doo not vtterly abiect that reason Some man peraduenture wil saye what matter is it for vs of this age either to know or els to obserue those preceptes which ar contained in the .18 .20 chap. of Leuit. seing that we after the cōming of Christ are no more bounde to the ciuill lawes of the Iewes I confesse that the Christians are not bound to the ciuil preceptes of the law but yet I ascribe those preceptes whych are there geuē for mariages not to ciuil lawes but rather to moral And I think that I maye bring a reason out of the same place to confirme my sentence For God when he gaue those lawes added these wordes therunto The Chananites ar reproued bicause thei had defiled thē selues with incest Take hede therfore that ye defile not your selues with whordomes such incestes as the Gentiles
to plucke him awaye from the rest of the Iewes whereby he might haue the fewer enemies not be compelled to fight with so many enemies at one tyme. Or els to get of him a great tribute or some other commoditye which he looked for Farthermore in this his vnluckye chaunce he calleth vpon no God he imploreth not the prayers of others but onely seketh hiding places wher he might hide himselfe tyl such time as the rage and brute of the Conquerers were somewhat staked and onely trusted in humane aydes and leagues By these thinges it easilye followeth that both Iahel dyd her dutye and that Sisera deserued so to be kylled But as touching the lawes of hospitality Lawes of hospitality ought ordinarilye to bee kepte vnuiolated we also do iudge that they by them selues and of their own nature ought to be kept sacred and vnuiolated Thys vnderstoode Loth when he would haue abandoned his daughters to the fylthy lustes of the wanton Sodomites to the end they should doo no iniury vnto them which had turned in vnto him Neither departed that olde man from his example which receaued the Leuite with his wife as straungers as it shal be more at large declared in this historye of the Iudges Whose counsell in betraying hys daughters although I allow not yet I do very much commend the defending of the straungers Yea and the Gentiles worshipped Iupiter hospitalis knowing by the light of nature that God had a singular care ouer straungers and gestes Pythagoras Pythagoras also discommendeth the Swallowes namelye for this bicause they dayly lodge vnder the couering of mens houses and yet will neuer be made familiar or tame vnto their hostes Mischieuous houses There were also somtime certain mischeuous houses in which no man might anye more inhabite as probable authors haue written and that bicause in them the lawes of hospitalitye had bene violated And contrarywise wher hospitality hath bene wel and faithfully kept not onely Angels but God himselfe also somtimes hath bene an acceptable gest Christ also at the end of the world wil say I was a straunger and ye lodged me commending his in the sight of the whole world for the vertue of hospitalitye And it is manifest that men in the old time decreed that betwene the gest the host ther should be great frendship Lastly God in the law commaūded that the Hebrues should not despise the Egiptians or vtterly expel them from them that namely for this bicause at the beginning they shewed hospitality vnto their elders Wherfore we must affirme that by the vniuersal and ordinary lawe When God cōmaundeth all lawes of friendshyp are to bee broken the lawes of hospitality ought to be kept inuiolated And this ought also to he firm that in lawes no friendships are so honest and so iust but they are to be broken if God commaund otherwise For al these thinges ought so long to be of force as the wil of God shal allow them Wherfore forasmuch as God had nowe reiected Sisera and the Chananites and would haue them destroyed no couenants could iustlye be kept with them For we must rather obey God than mans reasons And of this wil of God Deborah was both a prophecier and an interpreter She had declared that Sisera was now reiected of God and had openly foretold that he should be sold into the hand of a woman After this maner the Leuites when they had slaine their friendes kinsfolkes followed Moyses to whom Moyses in the name of God said ye haue consecrated your handes so farre was it of that they were reproued for violating the bondes of kinred Ieremy also when by the commaundement of God hee had pronounced that the Moabites shoulde be kylled he cursed those which had withdrawen themselues from that murther He is cursed said he which doth the woorke of the Lord deceatefully In the lawe also it is commaunded that none shoulde be spared which entised any to idolatry no not the Father nor the Mother no nor he or she which sleepeth in thy bosome Who seeth not here that most strayghte bondes of kinred are to be contemned if the wil and woord of God be against it◠Abraham was commaunded to kyl his sonne and that his onely sonne as touching whom he had receaued a most large promise The promise of God and fatherly kindnes seemed to be against his precept and yet against these thynges the woord of God vrging him he ought to haue kylled his sonne So must we think that al men although they be night of kyn vnto vs ar sacrifices vnto god as many as he commaundeth to be slayne Wherefore in Esay the .xxxiiii. chap. it is written What happeneth vnto them that be preposterously gentle The Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozra But they which wyth a preposterous clemency wyl against the woord of God be merciful let them remember what happened vnto the king of Samaria He when he had spared Benadab the king of Siria contrary to the commaundement of god he was in this maner reprehended in the name of god by the Prophet Thy soule shal be for his soule Wherfore Iahel in this place is not to be blamed forasmuch as she obeyed the counsel of god and was excellently commended in the song of Deborah as wee shal straightway see And vndoubtedly this her worke came of a great fayth and singular obedience I know that some thinke that the act of Iahel is to be commended in that she killed Sisera and had so ready a mynde to set at libertye the Israelites but yet they condemne the lye which she made and the promise wher in she promised that she would hide and defend him For she said turn in to me turne in to me I pray thee my Lord be not afeard By which kinde of spech she seemed to promise him not to betray him to his enemies I also woulde affirme the same but that I see that god was the gouernour of this whole enterprise I haue before taught that it is lawful to vse guile and that euil guile against our enemies and that certaine proditions are iust But I added that there shoulde be mingled no promises nor lyes nor othes with them But al these thinges are to be vnderstand by the common law But if god shal styrre vs vp to doo otherwise there shal be no blame layde in vs if we obey him so that we be very assured that god will haue it so to be done And this is not to be left out that some thinke that Iahel at the beginning when she called Sisera vnto her thought of no guile or fraude towardes him but that she was minded to keepe hym safe as she had promised but afterward she chaūged her purpose bicause god had shewed her that she should otherwyse woorke ¶ The .v. Chapter 1. THen sang Deborah and Barak the sonne of Abimam the same day saying 2 Prayse ye the Lorde for the auenging of Israel and for the
God And this doth Augustine write in his .vi. booke of Confessions the .iii. chap. And leauing him we knowe assuredlye that Daniel prayed to come to the knowledge of the dreame of Nebuchad-Nezar And this is to bee holden for certaine that it is the dutye of godlye men to praye vnto God that euen then also when we sleepe we may be kept chaste and cleane as touching the body and spirite For which thing Augustine prayed in his booke of Confessions Augustine the .x. boke and .30 chap. For visions which come by night wherewith either the mynde is troubled or the body defiled are punishmentes of synne especiallye of originall synne For it should not haue bene so in Paradise if Adam had abidden in that truth wherin he was created as Augustine writeth in his .v. booke against Iulianus the .viii. chap. Now wil we returne againe vnto the history 16 And he deuided the .300 men into three bandes and gaue euerye man a trumpet in hys hand wyth empty pytchers and lampes wythin the pytchers 17 And he sayd vnto them Looke on me and doo lykewyse For be hold I wil come to the syde of the host then euen as I do so do ye 18 For I wil blow wyth a trumpet and al they that are wyth me Then blow ye also wyth trumpets on euery syde of the hoste and ye shal say For the Lord and for Gideon 19 So Gideon and the hundreth men that were with hym came vnto the outsyde of the hoste in the beginning of the mydle watche and they raysed vp the watchmen and they blew with their trumpets and brake the pitchers which they had in their handes Gideons industry or pollecy is here set foorth Many policies of Gideon and the fauour wherwith God prospered his successes and enterprises He deuideth his three hundreth men into three bandes that he might on sundry partes inuade the Madianites and by a sodaine feare trouble their hoste on euerye syde He vsed also another pollecye concerning the time for he set vpon them in the night For when they were in a maner in a dead sleepe they wer the easilyer by a great hurly burly astonished with feare Farther hee chused the moste commodious part in all the night for suche a purpose for he assayled the Madianites about the beginning of the second watche or garde Wherefore it is called Rosch Haticonath that is the heade or begynning of the middle watche or garde This woord Toch signifieth wythin Augustine Ther are foure watches of the night whereof euerye one containeth three houres and therof is deriued Ticonah which is a myddle Augustine in his Sermon De verbis domini the .14 Oration sayth that the Elders deuided the night into .4 partes of which euery one contained .3 houres which he confirmeth also by the testimonies of the holy scriptures For it is said that the Lord came vnto the Apostles in the .4 watch of the night when they labored so vehemētly in the sea that their shypp was very neare soonke The same father writeth the lyke thyng vpon the .79 Psalme The Glose also in the Decrees .1 question the .1 Superueniente Pascha maketh mencion of the names of those partes of the night Conticinium Intempestum Gallicinium Antelucanum that is the bed time the dead part of the night the Cocke crowing and the dawning of the day And Isidorus in hys .v. booke of Etimologies maketh .vii. partes of the nyght Isidorus for he addeth these three Vesperum Crepusculum and Matutinum that is the euentide the twylight the morning The second watch may be vnderstād the midle watch as touching our history For ther are .2 watches betwene the first and the last wherfore howsoeuer it be the second must needes occupy the midle place The inuentone of nyght watches Plinius But the inuenter of these gardes or watches in hostes as Plini wryteth in his .7 booke .56 chap. was Palamedes which by this place we see cannot be so forasmuch as the actes of the Iudges are of farre more antiquitye then was Palamedes vnles peraduenture he spake onely of the watches of the Grecians The vse of watches floorished in the olde tyme not onelye in hostes but they were had in vse also for the safe custody of manye other thinges For at Rome there were watchmen Watchmen for to geue warning of fyres which in the night time went vp and downe the Citye to geue warning of fires and therfore both in the Digest and in the Code the title is De officio praefecti vigilium This industrye also was translated vnto Shepeheardes Watches of Shepeheardes which we may see euen by the Gospel For in Luke the .ii. chap. the Angels when Christ was borne came vnto the Shepeheardes whych kept watche ouer their flocke We reade also that both Ethnikes and Christians vsed watches in holy seruices Watches vsed in holy seruices At Rome there were holy seruices vnto the Goddesse Bona which were done in the night season And in the old Testament we reade that godly women abode all night at the tabernacle for doing iniury vnto whom the children of Ely were accused Philo a Iewe as Eusebius Cesariensis in his first booke rehearseth affirmeth that the Christians which were in the Apostles time Philo. amongst other theyr laudable institutions did most chastely watche in geuing thankes vnto God applieng them selues vnto prayers Tertulian doctrines and praysinges of God Tertulian in his Apologie writeth that the Christians supped oftentimes and moderatly together bicause they knew they should woorship God in the night tyme. In the Actes Paul continued his sermon and disputation til after midnight so that Eutichus a yong man being oppressed with sleepe fel downe from a high loft Yea and Christ also abode al night vpon the mountaine praying and he reprehended the Apostles which could not watch euen one houre with him and exhorted them to watche and praye that they might not be oppressed wyth temptation Ierome vpon the .25 Ierome chap. of Mathew writeth that the Iewes had a tradition that the Messias would come at midnight in which houre in dede the first born of Egipt were slayne Wherfore he writeth that he supposeth that that tradition came from the Apostles that the Priests in the holye night of Easter shoulde not send away the people so that if peraduenture the Lord appeare he may finde them watching But this is not at this daye obserued for the watches are not kept on the night of Easter but on the night of the Natiuity Consilium Carthaginense In the Counsell of Carthage the .4 chap. 49. it is ordayned that a Priest which without any necessity of his bodye ceased from keeping night watches should both be depriued of his degree and also put out of his benefice But in the Counsel of Eliberinum Consilium Eliberinum chap .35 watchings in Church yardes are prohibited where they were wont to watch
died together with thē for thirst Or it was done that the power and beneuolence of God towardes his people should be made the more notable which had not onely deliuered Samson from his enemyes but also had quenched his thyrst by a wonderfull meanes Wherefore Samson turneth himself vnto prayers whiche God maketh him to expresse both by his spirite and also by this present necessitye We are not able to thinke how much God delighteth in our submission Thou sayth he Lord God hast geuen me this victory and wilt thou now forsake me Hereby we vnderstand that the remembrance of the benefites past do excedingly stir vp our prayers for they encrease fayth whereby we hope that we may obteyne the like and also greater things Neither is this a thing to be passedouer that he calleth him self the seruāt of God I am sayth he thy seruāt For I haue not slayn these mē at myne owne lust and motion I haue done thy busines and I haue executed thy warre And wilt thou now suffer me to dye for thurst And by that meanes to fal into the handes of mine enemies And which is most greuous into the handes of the vncicumcised For I vndoubtedlye whatsoeuer I am am thine and I haue set abrode the glory of thyne name Thou hast promised that I should be a iudge vnto thy people suffer me not therfore to come into the power of mine enemies contrary to that promise which thou hast promised me ¶ The .xvi. Chapter 1 THen went Samson to Azzah and he sawe there a harlot and went into her 2 And it was told to the Azzathites Sāson is comhither And they went about and layde waite for him all night in the gate of the city and wer quiet al the night saying Abide til the morning early and we shal kill him 3 And Samson slept till midnight and rose at midnight and toke the dores of the gate of the city and the two postes and lift them away with the barres and put them vpon his shoulders and caried them vp to the top of the mountaine that is before Hebron It is no rare or vnaccustomed thinge that excellent men when they haue accomplished thinges after theyr minde There happen sometimes greuous falles of godly men of churches doe slacke good studies and honest entenprises as though they had done with labors are nowe in that place that they can not fall God suffreth them sometimes so to fal that they shoulde acknowledge thē selues be called back to repentance But that is not done by the merite of the sinners but by the goodnes and mercy of god So God suffred Dauid to fal so Salomon contaminated hymselfe with a most greuous wicked crime so Iudas the sonne of Iacob being in good estimation among his bretherne yet committed incest with Thamar Neyther do these things happē only vnto singuler mē but also vnto the church as well the new as the old In the time of Byleam whē the Israelites could not be won by any other meanes they wer cōquered by harlots And the church of the Corrinthians was at the firste so contaminated with whoredomes that Paule was compelled to shewe by arguments and testimonies of the word of god that foricatiō was sin Yet did not god straightway depart from those which I haue mencioned God doth not straightway after sinne take a way from men hys free gratious giftes nor from Samson as touching his free gracious giftes as are strength gifte of tongues prophesies and suche like bicause they are geuen not for theire sakes whiche possesse them but for other Bileam though he was an euill man yet had he still the gift of prophesy yea and he prophesied most excellently of Christ The Lord also sayth many shall say vnto me in that day Haue not we cast out deuils in thy name And in thy name haue we prophesied it shal be sayd vnto them verely I say vnto you I know you not Howbeit for discipline sake free gracious giftes are also sometimes taken away sometimes I saye not alwayes And Samson did not strayghtewaye at the first time when he sinned lose those giftes of God yet afterwarde he loste them But seyng these ar not alwaies taken away Whither the giftes which follow iustification are firme what shal we affirm of other gifts which of necessity follow iustification Those vndoubtedly ar takē away in sins that ar most heinous For he which hath committed any greuous sinne agaynst himselfe holdeth not peace of conscience neyther the zeale to call vpon God nor hope towardes God Fayth also for that time either sleepeth and lieth still or as some think is taken away although it be afterward restored vnto the elect and those that are predestinate when they repent Suche fals of excellente men are setforth How great the verity of the holy scriptures is How the countrey of the Philistians was deuided that we by them should haue an example that if at any time we fal we should not dispayre And hereby we vnderstand how greate the veritye of the holy scriptures is For they dissemble not errors and vices in the greatest mē in those specially which they haue taken in hand to prayse Azza was one of the head cities of the Philistians For that coūtry was deuided into prouinces and Lordshippes of which in euery one of them there was some one excellent and notable city Our interpretors haue translated Azza into Gaza for it is written by this letter Ain whiche our men turne by g And so the Ammorhites they call Gomorhites But why went Samson downe hither bycause now hauing obteined so manye victories he contemned his enemies and peraduenture he sought occasion to inuade them But in this citye he fell for he had there to doe with a harlot This woorde Zonah signifieth in Hebrewe a harlot of whiche thinge wee haue spoken in an other place Some thinke that Samson did nothing here offend but onely turned into a woman that kept a vitling house For by that word is also signified a woman that kepeth a vitling house bycause she prepareth meate and other necessarye thinges for gestes So some thinke that Rahab in the booke of Iosua whiche receaued the spies was not an harlot but onely one that kept a vitling house But I thinke that Rahab was an harlot For so is she called in the Epistle to the Hebrewes which had doone her iniury now being deade How women that kept vitling houses are called by the Romain lawes if it called her beinge a chaste woman an harlotte The Romaine lawes called such women as kepte vitlinge houses stabulariae as it is had in the title de furtis stabulariorum Ambrose sayth that Helena the mother of Cōstātine the gret was a stabularia after this sort he calleth her a good stabularia He entred into her This Hebrew forme of speaking signifieth carnall fellowship namely that he had to do with her Other think as I haue said that he