and upbraided him with his want of love, since he with-held a thing from her which From Judges she was so impatient to know: And thus, by daily teazing and importuning him, she is to the end prevailed with him at length to tell her the secret, viz. that "in the preservation of his hair (for he was a Nazarite from his birth) his strength and security lay."

There was something in his manner of telling her this, that made Dalilah believe she had now got the true secret from him; and therefore she sent word thereof to some of the chief of the Philistines, who came and paid her the money they had covenanted to give her: And when she had cut off his hair, as he lay sleeping in her lap, they fell upon him, bound him, and put out his eyes; and, having carried him to Gaza, they shut him up in prison, and made him † grind in the mill like a slave.

In process of time, however, his hair grew again, and with it his former strength returned: So that when several of the princes and nobility of the Philistines were met in a general assembly, tó return thanks to their god †2 Dagon, for having delivered their worst and sorest enemy into their hands; and after they had feasted a while, and were now grown merry, they ordered that this same Samson should be sent for, that they might have pleasure in ridiculing his misery, and making sport with his blindness; and accordingly Samson was brought. A large number of people was upon this occasion met together; and the building, where the feast was celebrated, had only two large pillars to support the roof. After the Philistines therefore had insulted Samson as long as they thought fit, he desired the boy that led him, to guide him to one of those pillars, that he might rest himself a little against it. The boy did so: And Samson by this means having laid hold of the two main supporters, the one with his right hand and the other with his left, after a short ejaculation to God for the restoration of his former strength, he gave them such a terrible shake, that down came the house, and crushed no less than three thousand persons to death under its ruins, and Samson among the

rest.

Before the invention of wind and water-mills, men made use of hand-mills, wherewith to grind their corn; and as this was a very laborious work, we find masters (especially in most comic authors) threaten ed their servants with it, in case of any delinquency. It was the work indeed of malefactors, as well as slaves; and therefore it seems very probable, that in. this prison where Samson was put, there was a pub. lic mill, as Socrates (Hist. Eccles. lib. v. c. xviii.) tells us there were several afterwards in Rome, in the time of Theodosius. So that from this, and some other circumstances, we may learn, that the Philistines purpose was, not to put Samson to death, (even as they had promised Dalilah they would not) but to punish him in a manner (viz. with blindness, hard labour, and insults) much worse, and more intolerable, than death itself. Le Clerc's Commentary.

+ The word Dagon is taken from the Phoenician root Dag, which signifies a fish; and accordingly the idol is usually represented (as the heathens do tritons and syrens) in the shape of a woman, with the lower parts of a fish-" desinit in piscem mulier formosa supernè."-For this reason learned men have imagined, that Dagon was the same with Decreto, which the people of Askelon worshipped, and near which place there was a great pond full of fish, consecrated to this goddess, from which the inhabitants superstitiously abstained, out of a fond belief that Venus, having heretofore cast herself into this pond, was metamorphosed into a fish. The learned Jurieu is of another opinion, viz. That Dagon, whose termination is

masculine, both in sacred and profane writings, is al-
ways represented as a male deity, and may therefore
very properly be thought to be the Neptune of the
ancients. The Phoenicians in particular (from whom
both the Greeks and Romans borrowed their gods)
living upon the sea-coast, and by their navigation and
commerce gaining great advantages from that ele-
ment, can hardly be supposed to want a deity to pre-
side over it. Saturn, and his three sons, Jupiter,
Neptune, and Pluto, were their principal idols: And
as Saturn was their Moloch, Jupiter their Baal, and
Pluto their Baal-Zebub, so have we reason to pre-
sume, that Neptune was their Dagon. This, however,
will not hinder us from supposing, that there might
be two deities, a male and a female, worshipped in the
same country, and under the same figure or form;
and that, as the pagan theology gives Jupiter a Juno,
to be his consort in heaven; and Pluto, a Proserpine
to keep him company in hell; so Neptune had his Am-
phitrite to be the partner of his liquid empire in the sea.
According to this supposition, the Dagon of Gaza or
Ashdod must be Neptune, and the Derceto of Aske
lon, a few leagues distant, Amphitrite, the daughter
of Doris and Oceanus. Nor can it be thought incon
gruous to suppose farther, that the universal god of
the sea might, in one place, be represented as a male
(as at Ashdod); and in another (as at Askelon) as a
female, to signify the fecundity o. that element, which
produces, and nourishes so many living creatures.
Le Clerc's Commentary, Catmet. Dictionary, and Jus
rieu, Histoire des Dogmes et Cuites, par. iv. chap. vi

i.

of Ruth.

A. M. 2561,

†Thus died this hero in the midst of his enemies, as he desired; and when his rela&c. or 4189. tions heard of his death, they sent and +2 took away his body, and buried it honourably 1443, &c. in the sepulchre of his fathers.

Ant. Chris.

or 1222.

66

THE OBJECTION.

JUDGES, according to the notion that one would have of them, should be men of great gravity and se-lateness; not only regular and religious themselves, but zealous promoters of virtue, and severe avengers of all wickedness and impiety; well skilled in the knowledge of the laws of God, and impartial in the administration of justice: But, instead of this, what do we meet with in this history of their lives but cruelty and perfidiousness, a profane neglect of the service of God, encouragement given to vice by their own examples, and such romantic accounts of some of their actions and adventures, as no human faith can swallow?

For what can we think of Ehud's left-handed doings, in assassinating Eglon king of the Moabites, under the wicked pretence of having a message to deliver to him from God? And yet, it must be owned, that this was not near so base as Jael's inviting Sisera (who was then at peace with her and her husband) into her tent, and, in circumstances that would have moved another's compassion, knocking him on the head, for which she merited to have her name recorded in a triumphant song.

The faith of several of these worthies is highly commended (a) by the author to the Hebrews; and yet we find Barak refusing to obey the Divine summons, unless Deborah would promise to go along with him; and Gideon requesting miracle upon miracle for the confirmation of his faith, though he had demonstration enough that the messenger came from God.

No man had certainly experienced more signal interpositions of God's goodness in his favour than this general had done; and yet how badly did he requite his gracious protector, in making an ephod to be an instrument of idolatry, and a means, in afterages, to alienate the hearts of the people? And how implacable was his revenge, in crushing the princes of Succoth under thorns, and putting the inhabitants of Penuel all

It is made a question among casuists and divines, whether Samson ought to have died in this manner, with a spirit of revenge and self-murder? St Austin excuses him indeed, but it is upon the supposition that he was urged thereunto by the inward motions of him, who is the Great Arbiter of our life and death; and St Bernard affirms, that if he had not a peculiar inspiration of the Holy Ghost to move him to this, he could not, without sin, have been the author of his own death; but others maintain, that, without having recourse to this supernatural motive, this action of his might be vindicated from his office, as being the judge and defender of Israel, and that he might therefore devote his life to the public good (as some heathens have merited the commendation of posterity by so doing), without having any thing in view but the death of his enemies, and the deliverance of his own people. Calmet's Dictionary, and Saurin's Dissert. sur divers exploits de Samson.

+ How the people of Gaza came to permit Sam

son's relations to come and take away his body is not
so obvious to conceive. In all nations there was for-
merly so much humanity, as not to prohibit enemies
from interring their dead, nor did any of the Israelites
join with Samson in his enterprizes; he stood alone
in what he did: But this last slaughter which he had
made among them, might have provoked them, one
would think, to some acts of outrage even upon his
dead body. It is to be observed, however, that in-
stead of any acts of violence, they might perhaps be
much humbled and mollified by this late disaster;
and might fear, that if they denied him burial, the
God of Israel, who had given him such extraordinary
strength in his life-time, would not fail to take ven-
geance of them. And therefore, dreading his very
corps, they were desirous to get quit of it (even as
they were of the ark afterwards), and glad that any
came to take such a formidable object out of their
sight. Patrick's and Le Clerc's Commentaries.
(a) Heb. xi.

to death, merely for denying him some provisions, which, after all, he had no right to From Judges demand?

But, of all the men that judged Israel, commend me to Samson (and yet he is recorded among the worthies of old) for a complete pattern of lewdness and immorality, brutal strength, and brutal passions. It was a feat, one would think, great enough (though Josephus makes no mention of it) for Shamgar to kill six hundred of his foes with an ox-goad only; but what is this to the heaps upon heaps which Samson slew with the jaw-bone of an ass; and to the waters which gushed out at the socket of one of the teeth of the same jaw-bone so very opportunely to allay his thirst? A serviceable weapon this, both to destroy his enemies and refresh himself!

It may savour of spite and malice, perhaps, for him to set the country in a blaze, and burn down all the poor people's corn, merely because his wife, whom he left first, had played the jilt and betaken herself to another man; but it would really raise one's wonder to think where he could possibly get such multitudes of foxes as would do the work: And though we should allow that, after his hair was grown again, he might have strength enough to pull down the house where the Philistines were feasting; yet it seems hardly consistent with the rules of architecture, that a fabric, able to contain three thousand people, should have its whole weight supported by two pillars only.

The truth is, Samson's character at best is but a rough, an uncouth one; and some things are said of his exploits that seem to exceed the bounds of probability. But the wonder of all is, how he comes to be called a judge of Israel, who in all appearance was good for nothing else, but to kill the men and lie with the women: And, as easily may we conceive in what sense (a)" wine may cheer God," as how "the Spirit of the Lord might come upon him," whose actions were so diametrically opposite to every motion of that blessed inmate.

It may well exercise our wonder again, why none of these judges (whose office it was to reform all abuses) set about the extirpation of idolatry. The princes of Israel were certainly in the right (though Joshua in all his wars never did it) in having recourse to the oracle of God; and yet the instruments and offices of religion seem to be strangely blended, when the Levite in Micah's house pretended to answer the Danites every whit as well by a teraphim, which was no more than a pagan idol. And though the other Levite, mentioned in this history, might not have sufficient reason for cutting his dead wife into pieces, and sending them about to every tribe; yet certainly the Israelites acted a just part in espousing the quarrel: And therefore we cannot conceive why God should suffer the Benjamites, these bold contemners of all goodness, to be twice successful against them. And when, in process of time, the other tribes had got the better of them, it is still another paradox how their minds came to be so changed towards them, as to stick at no means (neither rapes nor, murders) to recruit their tribe and effect their restoration.

Without entering therefore into the odd story which is told of Boaz and Ruth, and by what a shameless contrivance the young widow drew in the old man to marry her; we may adventure to say, that during this period the Israelites gave small proof of their being the peculiar people of God; and that the rulers, whom he is said to have raised up, were the very reverse of what they should have been (b) a terror to good works,' rather than evil, and promoters of wickedness and idolatry, rather than avengers to execute wrath upon those that were guilty of them.”

i. to the end Of Ruth.

JUDGES, which in Hebrew are shophetim, were a kind of magistrates, not much un- ANSWER like the archontes among the Athenians, and the dictators among the Romans. The Carthaginians, a colony from the Tyrians, had a sort of rulers whom they called suf

A. M. 2561, fetes or shophetim, much of the same extent of power; and Grotius, in the beginning of &c. or 4189. his commentary on this book of Judges, compares them to those chiefs that were in

Ant. Chris.

1443, &c. or 1222.

Gaul, in Germany, and Britain, before the Romans introduced another form of government. Their power consisted in a medium (as it were) between that of aking and an ordinary magistrate, superior to the latter, but not so absolute as the former. They were indeed no more than God's vicegerents, and every attempt to raise themselves to regal dignity, was looked upon as an usurpation upon his right who alone was to be considered as the Sovereign of the Hebrews; and therefore we find Gideon refusing this supreme authority when it was offered him; (a) “ I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you."

66

The honour of these judges lasted for life, but their succession was not always continued; for there were frequent interruptions in it, and the people lived often under the dominion of strangers, without any government of their own. According to common custom they were generally appointed by God. The gifts which he invested them with, and the exploits he enabled them to do, were a call sufficient to that office: But in cases of extreme exigence, the people made sometimes choice of such as they thought best qualified to rescue them out of their oppression, without waiting for any Divine designation.

Their right extended so far as to arbitrate in all affairs of war and peace, and to determine all causes; but then they had none at all to make any new laws, or lay any new taxes upon the people. Their dominion did seldom reach over all the land; but as it often happened, that the oppressions which occasioned a recourse to their assistance were felt in particular tribes or provinces only; so the judges, which were either raised or chosen to procure a deliverance from these grievances, did not extend their command over all the land in general, but over that district only which they were ap. pointed to deliver.

In short, these judges were by their office the protectors of the laws, the defenders of religion, and the avengers of all crimes, especially of that of idolatry; and yet it must be owned that these were men of the like passions and infirmities with others, and that the great advantages which, under God, they procured for the Israelites, did not exempt them from that frailty which is incident to all human things.

The sacred story indeed tells us, that (b) "the Lord raised up judges, which delivered the Israelites" out of the hands of those that spoiled them," and that when he raised them up he was with them," i. e. he communicated to them gifts, both natural and supernatural, according to the exigencies of his people, and in all their encounters with their enemies, attended them with a peculiar providence; but as well may we infer, that every general who fights the king of England's battles with success, should be a man of singular sanctity, as that those who were employed under God in that capacity should lead lives answerable to their high character. The power of working miracles is not always accompanied with an holy life. Many that shall say unto Christ, (c) "Have not we prophecied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works," by reason of the iniquity of their lives shall find no acceptance with him: what wonder is it then to behold some, both kings and conquerors, even while they ride in triumph over the vanquished foes, tamely led captive by their own passions; so that while we cannot but admire them for their military exploits, we are forced to blame and censure them for their private conduct?

To mention one for all. Samson, a person born for the castigation of the Philistines, and to be a pattern of valour to all succeeding heroes, forgot himself in the arms of a Dalilah, and to the passion he had for a base perfidious woman, sacrificed those gifts which God had bestowed on him for the deliverance of his church, and so, to all ages,

(a) Judg. viii. 23.

(b) Ibid. ii. 16, 18.

(c) Matth. vii. 22.

of Ruth.

he became a sad example of the corruption and infirmities of human nature. The like From Judges perhaps, in other respects, may be said of the rest of the judges; but then we are to i. to the end remember, that they were persons under a particular economy of providence; that their: conduct therefore is no direction to us, though their passions the Almighty might make use of (and therefore tolerate) for the accomplishment of his wise ends: "Howbeit they meaned not so, neither did their heart think so," (a) as the prophet expresses himself upon the like occasion.

Whether it be lawful, according to the right of nature and nations, for subjects to rescue themselves from tyranny by taking away the life of the tyrant, and to recover their country, which has been unjustly taken from them, by destroying the usurper, is a question that has been much debated, and what, at present, we need not enter into, for the vindication of Ehud's fact. It is the observation of the learned (b) Grotius, that the authority of the king of Moab was never legitimized by any convention of the Israelites, and consequently that they were at liberty to shake off his yoke, whenever they found a convenient opportunity. The only difficulty is, (c) whether a private man might make himself an instrument in effecting this in the manner that Ehud did? But to this it is replied, that Ehud was no private man, but acted by a warrant and authority from God; and to this purpose the history acquaints us, that (d)" when Ehud had made an end of offering the present," which the Israelites sent to Eglon, he was upon his return home, and " had gone as far as the quarries, which were by Gilgal." The word pesil, which is here rendered quarries, most commonly signifies (as indeed it is in the marginal note, as well as the Septuagint and Vulgate) graven images, which it is not improbable the Moabites had set up in this place, rather than any other, in pure contempt of the God of Israel, who had for so long a time made Gilgal famous by his presence in the tabernacle, while it stood there.

These images when Ehud beheld, his (e) spirit was stirred with a just indignation within him; and therefore, proceeding no farther in his journey home, he dismissed his attendants, and went himself back with a resolution to revenge this affront to God, as well as the oppression of his people.

That this his return was directed by a Divine impulse and instigation, is evident, I think, from the hazard of the enterprise he was going upon, and the many favourable occasions that accompanied the execution of it. For, how could any man in his senses think that a single person, as he was, should ever be able to compass the death of a king amidst the circle of his guards and attendants? How could he expect that an enemy, as he was, should be admitted to a private audience? or that, if he should prove so lucky, the king should be so far infatuated as to order all the company to quit the room? The killing the king must have been a great difficulty under these circumstances; but then, his making his escape had all the signs of an impossibility in it: And yet, without his escaping, the design of delivering his country must have been abortive. Upon the whole, therefore, it appears, that nothing but a Divine instinct could have given him courage to set about the thing; and therefore it was not all fallacy, when he told Eglon, that "he had a message from God unto him," because God had sent, and commissioned him to kill him: So that what he did in this case, he did, not of himself, or from his own mere motion, but by virtue of an order which he had received from God, who had destined this oppressor of his people to this untimely kind of death,

This seems to be the only way whereby we can apologise for Ehud, in a fact which by no means is to be made a precedent, and without a Divine warrant is in no case to

(a) Isa. x. 7.

(b) De Jure Belli et Pacis, lib. 1. c. 4. § 19.
(c) Saurin's Dissert. sur Heglon tué par Ehud.
(d) Judg. iii. 11. &c.

(e) Patrick's Commentary.

* [This is very absurd quibbling. Fallacy it certainly was, for it was calculated to deceive, and actually did deceive the corpulent and indolent king.]