J
U D G E S
CHAP. XII.
In
this chapter we have, I. Jephthah's rencounter with the Ephraimites, and the
blood shed on that unhappy occasion (ver. 1-6), and the conclusion of
Jephthah's life and government, ver. 7. II. A short account of three other of
the judges of Israel: Ibzan (ver. 8-10), Elon (ver. 11, 12), Abdon, ver.
13-15.
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Displeasure
of the Ephraimites; Punishment of the Ephraimites.
B. C.
1143.
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1 And the men of Ephraim
gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah,
Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst
not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with
fire. 2 And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great
strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not
out of their hands. 3 And when I saw that ye delivered me
not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon,
and the LORD
delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day,
to fight against me? 4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men
of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim,
because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the
Ephraimites, and among the Manassites. 5 And the Gileadites
took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that
when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men
of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;
6 Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he
could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him
at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites
forty and two thousand. 7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years.
Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities
of Gilead.
Here Is, I. The unreasonable displeasure of the men of Ephraim against
Jephthah, because he had not called them in to his assistance against the
Ammonites, that they might share in the triumphs and spoils, v. 1.
Pride was at the bottom of the quarrel. Only by that comes contention. Proud
men think all the honours lost that go beside themselves, and then who can
stand before envy? The Ephraimites had the same quarrel with Gideon (ch.
viii. 1), who was of Manasseh on their side Jordan, as Jephthah was of
Manasseh on the other side Jordan. Ephraim and Manasseh were hearer akin than
any other of the tribes, being both the sons of Joseph, and yet they were more
jealous one of another than any other of the tribes. Jacob having crossed
hands, and given Ephraim the preference, looking as far forward as the kingdom
of the ten tribes, which Ephraim was the head of, after the revolt from the
house of David, that tribe, not content with that honour in the promise, was
displeased if Manasseh had any honour done it in the mean time. It is a pity
that kindred or relationship, which should be an inducement to love and peace,
should be ever an occasion (as it often proves) of strife and discord. A
brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city, and contentions among
brethren are as the bars of a castle. The anger of the Ephraimites at
Jephthah was, 1. Causeless and unjust. Why didst thou not call us to go
with thee? For a good reason. Because it was the men of Gilead that had
made him their captain, not the men of Ephraim, so that he had no authority to
call them. Had his attempt miscarried for want of their help, they might
justly have blamed him for not desiring it. But when the work was done, and
done effectually, the Ammonites being subdued and Israel delivered, there was
no harm done, though their hands were not employed in it. 2. It was cruel and
outrageous. They get together in a tumultuous manner, pass over Jordan as far
as Mizpeh in Gilead, where Jephthah lived, and no less will satisfy their fury
but they will burn his house and him in it. Cursed be their anger, for it
was fierce. Those resentments that have the least reason for them have
commonly the most rage in them. Jephthah was now a conqueror over the common
enemies of Israel, and they should have come to congratulate him, and return
him the thanks of their tribe for the good services he had done; but we must
not think it strange if we receive ill from those from whom we deserve well.
Jephthah was now a mourner for the calamity of his family upon his daughter's
account, and they should have come to condole with him and comfort him; but
barbarous men take a pleasure in adding affliction to the afflicted. In this
world, the end of one trouble often proves the beginning of another; nor must
we ever boast as though we had put off the harness.
II. Jephthah's warm vindication of himself. He did not endeavour to pacify
them, as Gideon had done in the like case; the Ephraimites were now more
outrageous than they were them, and Jephthah had not so much of a meek and
quiet spirit as Gideon had. Whether they would be pacified or no, Jephthah
takes care,
1. To justify himself, v. 2, 3. He makes it out that they had no cause
at all to quarrel with him, for, (1.) It was not in pursuit of glory that he
had engaged in this war, but for the necessary defence of his country, with
which the children of Ammon greatly strove. (2.) He had invited the
Ephraimites to come and join with him, though he neither needed them nor was
under any obligation to pay that respect to them, but they had declined the
service: I called you, and you delivered me not out of their hands. Had
that been true which they charged him with, yet it would not have been a just
ground of quarrel; but it seems it was false, and, as the matter of fact now
appears, he had more cause to quarrel with them for deserting the common
interests of Israel in a time of need. It is no new thing for those who are
themselves most culpable to be most clamorous in accusing the innocent. (3.)
The enterprise was very hazardous, and they had more reason to pity him than
to be angry with him: I put my life in my hands, that is, "exposed
myself to the utmost peril in what I did, having so small an army," The
honour they envied was bought dearly enough; they needed not to grudge it to
him; few of them would have ventured so far for it. (4.) He does not take the
glory of the success to himself (that would have been invidious), but gives it
all to God: "The Lord delivered them into my hands. If God was
pleased so far to make use of me for his glory, why should you be offended at
that? Have you any reason to fight against me? Is not that in effect to
fight against God, in whose hand I have been only an unworthy
instrument?"
2. When this just answer (though not so soft an answer as Gideon's) did not
prevail to turn away their wrath, he took care both to defend himself from
their fury and to chastise their insolence with the sword, by virtue of his
authority as Israel's judge. (1.) The Ephraimites had not only quarrelled with
Jephthah, but, when his neighbours and friends appeared to take his part, they
had abused them, and given them foul language; for I adhere to our
translation, and so take it, v. 4. They said in scorn, "You
Gileadites that dwell here on the other side Jordan are but fugitives of
Ephraim, the scum and dregs of the tribes of Joseph, of which Ephraim is the
chief, the refuse of the family, and are so accounted among the Ephraimites
and among the Manassites. Who cares for you? All your neighbours know what you
are, no better than fugitives and vagabonds, separated from your brethren, and
driven hither into a corner." The Gileadites were as true Israelites as
any other, and at this time had signalized themselves, both in the choice of
Jephthah and in the war with Ammon, above all the families of Israel, and yet
are most basely and unjustly called fugitives. It is an ill thing to
fasten names or characters of reproach upon persons or countries, as is
common, especially upon those that lie under outward disadvantages: it often
occasions quarrels that prove of ill consequence, as it did here. See likewise
what a mischievous thing an abusive tongue is, that calls ill names, and gives
scurrilous language: it sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on
fire of hell (Jam. iii. 6), and many a time cuts the throat of him that
uses it, as it did here, Ps. lxiv. 8. If these Ephraimites could have denied
themselves the poor satisfaction of calling the Gileadites fugitives,
they might have prevented a great deal of bloodshed; for grievous words
stir up anger, and who knows how great a matter a little of that fire may
kindle? (2.) This affront raises the Gileadites' blood, and the indignity done
to themselves, as well as to their captain, must be revenged. [1.] They routed
them in the field, v. 4. They fought with Ephraim, and, Ephraim being
but a rude unheaded rabble, smote Ephraim, and put them to flight. [2.] They
cut off their retreat, and so completed their revenge, v. 5, 6. The
Gileadites, who perhaps were better acquainted with the passages of Jordan
than the Ephraimites were, secured them with strong guards, who were ordered
to slay every Ephraimite that offered to pass the river. Here was, First,
Cruelty enough in the destruction of them. Sufficient surely was the
punishment which was inflicted by many; when they were routed in the
field, there needed not this severity to cut off all that escaped. Shall the
sword devour for ever? Whether Jephthah is to be praised for this I know not;
perhaps he saw it to be a piece of necessary justice. Secondly, Cunning
enough in the discovery of them. It seems the Ephraimites, though they spoke
the same language with other Israelites, yet had got a custom in the dialect
of their country to pronounce the Hebrew letter Shin like Samech,
and they had so strangely used themselves to it that they could not do
otherwise, no, not to save their lives. We learn to speak by imitation; those
that first used s for sh, did it either because it was shorter
or because it was finer, and their children learnt to speak like them, so that
you might know an Ephraimite by it; as in England we know a west-country man
or a north-country man, nay, perhaps a Shropshire man, and a Cheshire man, by
his pronunciation. Thou art a Galilean, and thy speech betrays thee. By
this the Ephraimites were discovered. If they took a man that they suspected
to be an Ephraimite, but he denied it, they bade him say Shibboleth;
but either he could not, as our translation reads it, or he did not
heed, or frame, or direct himself, as some read, to pronounce it aright, but
said Sibboleth, and so was known to be an Ephraimite, and was slain
immediately. Shibboleth signifies a river or stream: "Ask
leave to go over Shibboleth, the river." Those that were thus cut off
made up the whole number of slaughtered Ephraimites forty-two thousand, v.
6. Thus another mutiny of that angry tribe was prevented.
3. Now let us observe the righteousness of God in the punishment of these
proud and passionate Ephraimites, which in several instances answered to their
sin. (1.) They were proud of the honour of their tribe, gloried in this, that
they were Ephraimites; but how soon were they brought to be ashamed or afraid
to own their country! Art thou an Ephraimite? No, now rather of any
tribe than that. (2.) They had gone in a rage over Jordan to burn Jephthah's
house with fire, but now they came back to Jordan as sneakingly as they had
passed it furiously, and were cut off from ever returning to their own houses.
(3.) They had upbraided the Gileadites with the infelicity of their country,
lying at such a distance, and now they suffered by an infirmity peculiar to
their own country, in not being able to pronounce Shibboleth. (4.) They
had called the Gileadites, unjustly, fugitives, and now they really and in
good earnest became fugitives themselves; and in the Hebrew the same word (v.
5) is used of the Ephraimites that escaped, or that fled, which they had used
in scorn of the Gileadites, calling them fugitives. He that rolls the
stone of reproach unjustly upon another, let him expect that it will justly
return upon himself.
III. Here is the end of Jephthah's government. He judged Israel but six years,
and then died, v. 7. Perhaps the death of his daughter sunk him so that
he never looked up afterwards, but it shortened his days, and he went to his
grave mourning.
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Jephthah's
Successors.
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B.
C. 1112.
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8 And after him Ibzan of
Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 And he had thirty sons, and thirty
daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from
abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years. 10 Then
died Ibzan, and was buried at Bethlehem. 11 And after him Elon, a
Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years. 12 And
Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulun.
13 And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel.
14 And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten
ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years. 15 And Abdon the son
of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of
Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites.
We have here a short account of the short reigns of three more of the judges
of Israel, the first of whom governed but seven years, the second ten, and the
third eight. For the transgression of a land, many are the princes thereof,
many in a short time, successively (Prov. xxviii. 2), good men being removed
in the beginning of their usefulness and by the time that they have applied
themselves to their business.
I. Ibzan of Bethlehem, most probably Bethlehem of Judah, David's city, not
that in Zebulun, which is only mentioned once, Josh. xix. 15. He ruled but
seven years, but by the number of his children, and his disposing of them all
in marriage himself, it appears that he lived long; and probably the great
increase of his family, and the numerous alliances he made, added to his
personal merits, made him the more fit to be either chosen by the people as
Jephthah was, or called of God immediately, as Gideon was, to be Israel's
judge, to keep up and carry on the work of God among them. That which is
remarkable concerning him is, 1. That he had many children, sixty in all, a
quiver full of these arrows. Thus was Bethlehem of old famous for increase,
the very city where he was to be born whose spiritual seed should be as
the stars of heaven. 2. That he had an equal number of each sex, thirty
sons and thirty daughters, a thing which does not often happen in the same
family, yet, in the great family of mankind, he that at first made two, male
and female, by his wise providence preserves a succession of both in some sort
of equality as far as is requisite to the keeping up of the generations of men
upon earth. 3. That he took care to marry them all. His daughters he sent
abroad, et maritis dedit, so the vulgar Latin adds--he provided
husbands for them; and, as it were in exchange, and both ways,
strengthening his interest, he took in thirty daughters from abroad for his
sons. The Jews say, Every father owes three things to his son: to teach
him to read the law, give him a trade, and get him a wife. What a difference
was there between Ibzan's family and that of his immediate predecessor
Jephthah! Ibzan has sixty children and all married, Jephthah but one, a
daughter, that dies or lives unmarried. Some are increased, others are
diminished: both are the Lord's doing.
II. Elon of Zebulun, in the north of Canaan, was next raised up to preside in
public affairs, to administer justice, and to reform abuses. Ten years he
continued a blessing to Israel, and then died, v. 11, 12. Dr. Lightfoot
computes that in the beginning of his time the forty years' oppression by the
Philistines began (spoken of ch. xiii. 1), and about that time Samson
was born. Probably, his residence being in the north, the Philistines who
bordered upon the southern parts of Canaan took the opportunity of making
incursions upon them.
III. Abdon, of the tribe of Ephraim, succeeded, and in him that illustrious
tribe begins to recover its reputation, having not afforded any person of note
since Joshua; for Abimelech the Shechemite was rather a scandal to it. This
Abdon was famous for the multitude of his offspring (v. 14): he had
forty sons and thirty grandsons, all of whom he lived to see grown up, and
they rode on seventy ass-colts either as judges and officers or as gentlemen
and persons of distinction. It was a satisfaction to him thus to see his
children's children, but it is feared he did not see peace upon Israel, for by
this time the Philistines had begun to break in upon them. Concerning this,
and the rest of these judges that have ever so short an account given of them,
yet notice is taken where they were buried (v. 7, 10, 12, 15), perhaps
because the inscriptions upon their monuments (for such were anciently used, 2
Kings xxiii. 17) would serve for the confirmation and enlargement of their
story, and might be consulted by such as desired further information
concerning them. Peter, having occasion to speak of David, says, His
sepulchre is with us unto this day, Acts ii. 29. Or it is intended for the
honour of the places where they laid their bones, but may be improved for the
lessening of our esteem of all worldly glory, of which death and the grave
will stain the pride. These judges, that were as gods to Israel, died like
men, and all their honour was laid in the dust.
It is very strange that in the history of all these judges, some of whose
actions are very particularly related, there is not so much as once mention
made of the high priest, or any other priest or Levite, appearing either for
counsel or action in any public affair, from Phinehas (Judg. xx. 28) to Eli,
which may well be computed 250 years; only the names of the high priests at
that time are preserved, 1 Chron. vi. 4-7; and Ezra vii. 3-5. How can this
strange obscurity of that priesthood for so long a time, now in the beginning
of its days, agree with that mighty splendour with which it was introduced and
the figure which the institution of it makes in the law of Moses? Surely it
intimates that the institution was chiefly intended to be typical, and that
the great benefits that seemed to be promised by it were to be chiefly looked
for in its antitype, the everlasting priesthood of our Lord Jesus, in
comparison of the superior glory of which that priesthood had no glory, 2 Cor.
iii. 10.
Contents
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