Deu 2:9, 19, 23:3, Judg 10:6-11:40, 1Sa 11, 2Sa 10 | TSK | STEP | Distress not the Moabites. or, Use no hostility againstMoab. Ar.Ar was situated south of the Arnon; and was called by the Greek writers Areopolis, and thought by them to be so named because the inhabitants worshipped [Ares,] or Mars. St. Jerome says that it was destroyed by an earthquake when he was an infant. Burckhardt supposes that the ruins of a small castle called Mehatet el Hadj, may be the site of this ancient city. the children.

Deuteronomy 2:9

Distress not the Moabites. or, Use no hostility againstMoab.

Ar.Ar was situated south of the Arnon; and was called by the Greek writers Areopolis, and thought by them to be so named because the inhabitants worshipped [Ares,] or Mars. St. Jerome says that it was destroyed by an earthquake when he was an infant. Burckhardt supposes that the ruins of a small castle called Mehatet el Hadj, may be the site of this ancient city.

5; Nu 21:15,28

the children.

19; Ge 19:36,37; Ps 83:8

Deuteronomy 2:19

5,9; Ge 19:36-38; Jud 11:13-27; 2Ch 20:10

Deuteronomy 23:3

Ammonite.These nations were subjected for their impiety, wickedness, and enmity to Israel, (ver. 4, 5,) to peculiar disgrace; and on this account were not permitted to hold any office among the Israelites. This did not, however, disqualify them from becoming proselytes; for Ruth, who was a Moabitess, was married to Boaz, and became one of the progenitors of our Lord.

Ru 4:6,10-22; Ne 4:3,7; 13:1,2,23; Isa 56:3

Judges 10:6-18

A.M. 2817. B.C. 1187. An. Ex. Is. 304. did evil.

4:1; 6:1; 13:1

A.M. 2799. B.C. 1205. An. Ex. Is. 286. Baalim.

2:11-14; 3:7; 2Ch 28:23; Ps 106:36

the gods of Zidon.

1Ki 11:5,7,33; 16:31; 2Ki 17:16,29-31; 23:13

the gods of the Philistines.

16:23; 1Sa 5:2; 2Ki 1:2,3; Jer 2:13; Eze 16:25,26

was hot.

2:14; De 29:20-28; 31:16-18; 32:16-22; Jos 23:15,16; Ps 74:1

Na 1:2,6

he sold.

4:2; 1Sa 12:9,10; Ps 44:12; Isa 50:1

that year.

5; Isa 30:13; 1Th 5:3

oppressed. Heb. crushed.

passed.

3:12,13; 6:3-5; 2Ch 14:9; 20:1,2

distressed.

De 28:65; 1Sa 28:15; 2Ch 15:5

cried.

3:9; 1Sa 12:10; Ps 106:43,44; 107:13,19,28

Did not I.

2:1-3

Egyptians.

Ex 14:30; 1Sa 12:8; Ne 9:9-11; Ps 78:51-53; 106:8-11; Heb 11:29

Amorites.

Nu 21:21-25,35; Ps 135:10,11

children.

3:11-15

Philistines.

3:31

Zidonians.

5:19-31

Amalekites.

6:3

the Maonites.The LXX. have "the Midianites," which Dr. Wall thinks the true reading. But the Maonites might be a tribe of Arabs, inhabitants of Maon. (Jos 15:55. 1Sa 23:24, 25; 25:2,) which assisted Moab.

2Ch 26:6,7; Ps 106:42,43

2:12; De 32:15; 1Ch 28:9; Jer 2:13; Jon 2:8

De 32:26-28,37,38; 1Ki 18:27,28; 2Ki 3:13; Pr 1:25-27; Isa 10:3

Jer 2:28

We have sinned.

2Sa 12:13; 24:10; Job 33:27; Pr 28:13; 1Jo 1:8-10

do thou.

Jos 9:25; 1Sa 3:18; 2Sa 10:12; 15:26; Jon 2:4; 3:9

seemeth, etc. Heb. is good in thine eyes. deliver.

2Sa 24:14; Job 34:31,32

they put.

2Ch 7:14; 15:8; 33:15; Jer 18:7,8; Eze 18:30-32; Ho 14:1-3,8

strange gods. Heb. gods of strangers. his soul.

Ge 6:6; Ps 106:44,45; Isa 63:9; Jer 31:20; Ho 11:8; Lu 15:20; 19:41

Joh 11:34; Eph 4:32; Heb 3:10; 4:15

grieved. Heb. shortened.Not that there is any grief in God; he has infinite joy and happiness in himself, which cannot be broken in upon by either the sins or the miseries of his creatures. Not that there is any change in God; for he is of one mind, and who can turn him? But his goodness is his glory; by it he proclaims his name, and magnifies it; and as he is pleased to put himself into the relation of a father to his people, so he is pleased to represent his goodness to them by the compassion of a father to his children; for as he is the Father of lights, so is he the Father of mercies.

gathered together. Heb. cried together. Mizpeh.

11:11,29; Ge 31:49

What man.

1:1; 11:5-8; Isa 3:1-8; 34:12

he shall be.

11:11; 12:7; 1Sa 17:25

Judges 11

1 The covenant between Jephthah and the Gileadites, that he should be their head.

12 The treaty of peace between him and the Ammonites is in vain.

29 Jephthah's vow.

32 His conquest of the Ammonites.

34 He performs his vow on his daughter.

Jephthah.

Heb 11:32

called Jephthae. a mighty.

6:12; 2Ki 5:1

an harlot. Heb. a woman, an harlot.Probably {zonah} should be rendered as in Jos 2:1, a hostess, or inn-keeper: so Targum of Jonathan, {wehoo bar ittetha pundekeetha,} "and he was the son of a woman, a tavern-keeper." She was very probably a Canaanite, as she is called, ver. 2, a strange woman, {ishah achereth,} "a woman of another race;" and on this account his brethren drove him from the family, as not having a full right to the inheritance.

thrust out.

Ge 12:10; De 23:2; Ga 4:30

a strange.

Pr 2:16; 5:3,20; 6:24-26

from his brethren. Heb. from the face of. Tob.Probably the same as Ish-Tob; and appears to have been a part of Syria, near Zobah, Rehob, and Maachah, east of Jordan, and in the most northern part of the portion of Manasseh. If so, it could not be far from Gilead, the country of Jephthah. This country is called Tobie or Tubin, 1 Mac 5:13; and the Jews who inhabited this district Tubieni, 2 Mac 12:17. 2 Sa 10:6.

vain men.

9:4; 1Sa 22:2; 27:2; 30:22-24; Job 30:1-10; Ac 17:5

A.M. 2817. B.C. 1187. An. Ex. Is. 304. in process of time.Heb. after days.

made war.

10:9,17,18

to fetch.

1Sa 10:27; 11:6,7,12; Ps 118:22,23; Ac 7:35-39; 1Co 1:27-29

Did not ye hate.

Ge 26:27; 37:27; 45:4,5; Pr 17:17; Isa 60:14; Ac 7:9-14; Re 3:9

the elders.

Ex 8:8,28; 9:28; 10:17; 1Ki 13:6; Lu 17:3,4

we turn.

10:18

If ye bring.

Nu 32:20-29

The Lord.

Ge 21:23; 31:50; 1Sa 12:5; Jer 29:23; 42:5; Ro 1:9; 2Co 11:31

be witness. be the hearer.

Ge 16:5; 31:53; De 1:16; 1Sa 24:12

if we do.

Ex 20:7; Zec 5:4; Mal 3:5

head.

uttered.

1Sa 23:9-12; 1Ki 3:7-9; 2Co 3:5; Jas 1:5,17

Jephthah uttered.That is, upon his elevation, he immediately retired to his devotion, and in prayer spread the whole matter before God, both his choice to the office, and his execution of the office, as one that had his eye ever toward the Lord, and would do nothing without him; that leaned not to his own understanding or courage, but depended on the Almighty God, and his favour. This is an ensample worthy of universal imitation; in All Our Ways, whether great or apparently subordinate, let us acknowledge God and seek his direction. So shall we make our way prosperous, and obtain that peace which passeth all understanding. Jephthah opened his campaign with prayer.

before.

10:17; 20:1; 1Sa 10:17; 11:15

Mizpeh.This Mizpeh was east of Jordan in the mountains of Gilead (Ge 31:49); and hence called Mizpeh of Gilead (ver. 29), to distinguish it from another place of the same name, west of Jordan, in the tribe of Judah.

Jos 15:38

sent messengers.In this Jephthah acted in accordance with the law of Moses; and hence the justice of his cause would appear more forcibly to the people.

Nu 20:14; 21:21; De 2:26; 20:10,11; Pr 25:8,9; Mt 18:15,16

What hast.

2Ki 14:8-12

Because Israel.

Nu 21:24-26; Pr 19:5,9

from Arnon.That is, all the land which had belonged to the Amorites and Moabites.

Jabbok.

Ge 32:22; De 2:37; 3:16

again unto.

Ps 120:7; Ro 12:18; Heb 12:14; 1Pe 3:11

Israel took.

Nu 21:13-15,27-30; De 2:9,19; 2Ch 20:10; Ac 24:12,13

But when.The whole of these messages shew, Jephthah had well studied the book of Moses. His arguments also are very clear and cogent, and his demands reasonable; for he only required that the Ammonites should cease to harass a people who had neither injured them, nor intended to do so.

walked.

Nu 14:25; De 1:40; Jos 5:6

came.

Ge 14:7; Nu 13:26; 20:1; De 1:46

sent messengers.

Nu 20:14-21; De 2:4-8,29

the king.

De 2:9

abode.

Nu 20:1,16

went.

Nu 20:22; 21:10-13; 33:37-44; De 2:1-8

compassed.

Nu 21:4-9

came by.

Nu 21:11

pitched.

Nu 21:13; 22:36

Nu 21:21-35; De 2:26-34; 3:1-17; Jos 13:8-12

Nu 21:23; De 2:32

Lord God.

Ne 9:22; Ps 135:10-12; 136:17-21

they smote.

Nu 21:24,25; De 2:33,34

so Israel.

Jos 13:15-32

And they.

De 2:36

from the wilderness.From Arabia Deserta on the east, to Jordan on the west. Jephthah shews that the Israelites did not take the land of the Moabites or Ammonites, but that of the Amorites, which they had conquered from Sihon their king; and although the Amorites had taken the lands in question from the Ammonites, yet the title by which Israel held them was good, because they took them, not from the Ammonites, but from the Amorites.

Wilt not thou possess.This is simply an {argumentum ad hominem;} in which Jephthah argues on this principles recognized by the king of Ammon. As if he had said, "You suppose that the land which you possess was given you by your god Chemosh; and therefore will not relinquish what you believe you hold by a divine right. Now we know that Jehovah, our God, has given us the land of the Israelites; and therefore we will not give it up."

Chemosh.

Nu 21:29; 1Ki 11:7; Jer 48:7,46

whomsoever.

De 9:4,5; 18:12; Jos 3:10; Ps 44:2; 78:55; Mic 4:5

Balak.

Nu 22:2-21; De 23:3,4; Jos 24:9,10; Mic 6:5

Heshbon.

Nu 21:25-30; De 2:24; 3:2,6; Jos 12:2,5; 13:10

Aroer.

De 2:36

three hundred.

3:11,30; 5:31; 8:28; 9:22; 10:2,3,8; Jos 11:18; 23:1

the Judge.

Ge 18:25; 1Sa 2:10; Job 9:15; 23:7; Ps 7:11; 50:6; 75:7; 82:8

Ps 94:2; 98:9; Ec 11:9; 12:14; Joh 5:22,23; Ro 14:10-12; 2Co 5:10

2Ti 4:8; Heb 12:23

be judge.

Ge 16:5; 31:53; 1Sa 24:12,15; Ps 7:8,9; 2Co 11:11

2Ki 14:11; Pr 16:18

the spirit.

3:10; 6:34; 13:25; Nu 11:25; 1Sa 10:10; 16:13-15; 1Ch 12:18

Jephthah."Jephthah seems to have been judge only of north-east Israel."

over Mizpeh.

10:17

Ge 28:20; Nu 30:2-16; 1Sa 1:11; Ec 5:1,2,4,5

whatsoever, etc. Heb. that which cometh forth, which shallcome forth. shall surely.

Le 27:2,3,28,29; 1Sa 1:11,28; 2:18; 14:24,44; Ps 66:13,14

and I will. or, or I will, etc.{Wehäâleetheehoo ôlah,} rather, as Dr. Randolph and others contend, "and I will offer Him (or to Him, i.e., Jehovah) a burnt offering;" for {hoo} may with much more propriety be referred to the person to whom the sacrifice was to be made, than to the thing to be sacrificed. Unless understood in this way, or as the marginal reading, it must have been the vow of a heathen or a madman. If a dog, or other uncleaned animal had met him, he could not have made it a burnt offering; or if his neighbour's wife, sons, etc., his vow gave him no right over them.

Le 27:11,12; De 23:18; Ps 66:13; Isa 66:3

the Lord.

1:4; 2:18; 3:10

Aroer.

De 2:36

Minnith.Situated, according to Eusebius, four miles from Heshbon, towards Philadelphia or Rabbath.

Eze 27:17

the plain. or, Abel.

Mizpeh.

11; 10:17

his daughter.

5:1-31; Ex 15:20; 1Sa 18:6,7; Ps 68:25; 148:11,12; 150:4

Jer 31:4,13

beside her. or, he had not of his own either son ordaughter. Heb. of himself. neither.

Zec 12:10; Lu 7:12; 8:42; 9:38

rent his clothes.

Ge 37:29,30,34,35; 42:36-38; 2Sa 13:30,31; 18:33; Job 1:20

have opened.

Le 27:28,29; Nu 30:2-5; Ps 15:4; Ec 5:2-6

I cannot.

21:1-7; 1Sa 14:44,45; Mt 14:7-9; Ac 23:14

forasmuch.

16:28-30; 2Sa 18:19,31; 19:30; Ac 20:24; 21:13; Ro 16:4; Php 2:30

go up and down. Heb. go and go down. bewail.

1Sa 1:6; Lu 1:25

did with.That Jephthah did not sacrifice his daughter, but consecrated her to the service of God in the tabernacle, in a state of celibacy, will we imagine be evident from the following consideration:--1. Human sacrifices were ever an abomination to Jehovah, of which Jephthah could not be ignorant; and consequently he would neither have made such a vow, nor carried it into execution. 2. We are expressly told (ver. 29) that Jephthah was under the influence of the Spirit of God, which would effectually prevent him from embruing his hands in the blood of his own child. 3. He had it in his power to redeem his daughter, (Le 27:4;) and surely his only child must have been of more value than thirty shekles. 4. Besides, who was to perform the horrid rite? Not Jephthah himself, who was no priest, and in whom it would have been most unnatural and inhuman; and the priests would certainly have dissuaded him from it. 5. The sacred historian informs us, that she bewailed her virginity, that she knew no man, and that the Israelitish women went yearly to comfort or lament with her.

31; Le 27:28,29; De 12:31; Isa 66:3

to his vow.

1Sa 1:11,22,24,28; 2:18

custom. or, ordinance.

yearly. Heb. from year to year. lament. or, to talk with.

5:11

four days.

1Ki 9:25

1 Samuel 11

1 Nahash offers them of Jabesh-gilead a reproachful condition.

4 They send messengers, and are delivered by Saul.

12 Saul thereby is confirmed, and his kingdom renewed.

Nahash.In the Vulgate this chapter begins thus: {Et factum est quasi post mensem,} "And it came to pass about a month after;" which is also the reading of the principal copies of the Septuagint; and is also found in Josephus, though it appears to be of little authority.

12:12; Jud 10:7; 11:8-33

Jabesh-gilead.

31:11-13; Jud 21:8,10-25

Make.

Ge 26:28; Ex 23:32; De 23:3; 1Ki 20:34; Job 41:4; Isa 36:16

Eze 17:13

On this.

2Ki 18:31

thrust.

Jud 16:21; Ex 3:6; Pr 12:10; Jer 39:7

reproach.

17:26; Ge 34:14

Give us. Heb. Forbear us.

to Gibeah.

10:26; 14:2; 15:34; 2Sa 21:6

lifted up.

30:4; Jud 2:4; 21:2; Ro 12:15; 1Co 12:26; Ga 6:2; Heb 13:3

after the herd.

9:1; 1Ki 19:19; Ps 78:71

What aileth.

Ge 21:17; Jud 18:23; Isa 22:1

Spirit of God.

10:10; 16:13; Jud 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 14:6

his anger.

Ex 32:19; Nu 12:3; Mr 3:5; Eph 4:26

he took.The sending the pieces of the oxen was an act similar to that of the Levite, Jud 19:29, where see the Note. An eminent Scotch writer describes the rites, incantations, and imprecations used prior to the fiery cross being circulated, to summon the rough warriors of ancient times to the service of their chief; and he alludes to this ancient custom, which in comparatively modern times, has been practised in Scotland; and proves that a similar punishment of death, or destruction of their houses, for disobeying the summons, was inflicted by the ancient Scandinavians, as recorded by Olaus Magnus, in his History of the Goths. This bears a striking similarity to the ancient custom of the Israelites. With the Highlanders, a goat was slain; with the Israelites, an ox. The exhibition of a cross, stained with the blood of the sacrificed animal, was the summons of the former, while part of the animal, was the mandate of the latter. Disobedience in one nation was punished with the death of themselves or oxen, and burning of their dwellings in the other.

hewed.

Jud 19:29

Whosoever.

Jud 21:5-11

the fear.

Ge 35:5; 2Ch 14:14; 17:10

with one consent. Heb. as one man.

Jud 20:1

Bezek.

Jud 1:4,5

the children.

13:15; 15:4; 2Sa 24:9; 2Ch 17:12-19

help. or, deliverance.

Ps 18:17

To-morrow.

2,3

on the morrow.

Ge 22:14; Ps 46:1

in three.

Jud 7:16; 9:43

morning.

Ex 14:24

slew.

2; Jud 1:7; Mt 7:2; Jas 2:13

so that two.

30:17,18; Jud 4:16

Who is he.

10:27; Ps 21:8; Lu 19:27

There shall.

14:45; 2Sa 19:22

the Lord.

19:5; Ex 14:13,30; Ps 44:4-8; Isa 59:16; 1Co 15:10

let us go.

7:16; 10:8

renew.

10:24; 5:3; 1Ch 12:38,39

before the Lord.

10:17

sacrificed.

10:8; Ex 24:5; 1Ch 29:21-24

rejoiced greatly.

8:19; 12:13-15,17; Ho 13:10,11; Jas 4:16

2 Samuel 10

1 David's messengers, sent to comfort Hanun the son of Nahash, are villanously treated.

6 The Ammonites, strengthened by the Syrians, are overcome by Joab and Abishai.

15 Shobach, making a new supply of the Syrians at Helam, is slain by David.

AM 2967. B.C. 1037. An. Ex. Is. 454. king.

Jud 10:7-9; 11:12-28; 1Sa 11:1-3; 1Ch 19:1-3

shew kindness.

De 23:3-6; Ne 4:3-7; 13:1-3

Nahash.

1Sa 11:1

as his father.

1Sa 22:3,4

Thinkest thou that David doth. Heb. In thine eyes dothDavid. not.

Ge 42:9,16; 1Co 13:5,7

and shaved.The beard is held in high respect and greatly valued in the East: the possessor considers it as his greatest ornament; often swears by it; and, in matters of great importance, pledges it; and nothing can be more secure than such a pledge; for its owner will redeem it at the hazard of his life. The beard was never cut off but in mourning, or as a sign of slavery. It is customary to shave the Ottoman princes, as a mark of their subjection to the reigning emperor. The beard is a mark of authority and liberty among the Mohammedans. The Persians who clip the beard, and shave above the jaw, are reputed heretics. They who serve in the {seraglios} have their beards shaven, as a sign of servitude; nor do they suffer them to grow till the sultan has set them at liberty. Among the Arabians, it is more infamous for anyone to appear with his beard cut off, than among us to be publicly whipped or branded; and many would prefer death to such a punishment.

Le 19:27; 1Ch 19:3,4; Ps 109:4,5; Isa 15:2

cut off.

Isa 20:4; 47:2,3; Jer 41:5

Jericho.

Jos 6:24-26; 1Ki 16:34; 1Ch 19:5

stank.

Ge 34:30; Ex 5:21; 1Sa 13:4; 27:12; 1Ch 19:6,7

Syrians of Beth-rehob.

8:3,5,12

Zobah.

Pr 25:8; Isa 8:9,10

Maacah.

Jos 13:11-13

Ish-tob. or, the men of Tob.

Jud 11:3,5

all the host.

23:8-39; 1Ch 19:8-19

at the entering.This was at the city of Medeba, a city upon the borders of the Ammonites, and in their possession.

1Ch 19:7

Rehob.

6; Nu 13:21; Jos 19:28; Jud 1:31

Jos 8:21,22; Jud 20:42,43

1Ch 19:9-12; Ne 4:20; Lu 22:32; Ro 15:1; Ga 6:2; Php 1:27,28

Be of good.This is a very animating address, and equal to any thing of the kind in ancient or modern times. Ye fight {pro aris et focis;} for every good, sacred and civil; for God, for your families, and for your countries. Such harangues, especially in very trying circumstances, are very natural, and may perhaps be found in the records of every nation. Several instances might be quoted from Roman and Grecian history; but few are more remarkable than that of Tyrtaeus, the lame Athenian poet, to whom the command of the army was given in one of the Messenian wars. The Spartans had at that time suffered great losses, and all their stratagems proved ineffectual, so that they began to despair of success; when the poet, by his lectures on honour and courage, delivered in moving verse to the army, ravished them to such a degree with the thoughts of dying for their country, that, rushing on with a furious transport to meet their enemies, they gave them an entire overthrow, and by one decisive battle brought the war to a happy conclusion.

Nu 13:20; De 31:6; Jos 1:6,7,9,18; 1Sa 14:6,12; 17:32; 2Ch 32:7

Ne 4:14; Heb 13:6

play.

1Sa 4:9; 1Ch 19:13; 1Co 16:13

the Lord.

16:10,11; Jud 10:15; 1Sa 3:18; Job 1:21

they fled.

1Ki 20:13-21,28-30; 1Ch 19:14,15; 2Ch 13:5-16

A.M. 2968. B.C. 1036. An. Ex. Is. 455. gathered.

Ps 2:1; Isa 8:9,10; Mic 4:11,12; Zec 14:2,3; Re 19:19-21

Hadarezer.

8:3-8; 1Ch 18:3,5