Judges 1

Notes

[Ver. 2. Judah shall go up. Israel was formerly a camp, now it is a federation of settlements and colonies, in which each tribe is to assert its own territorial rights, but still under the national sanction and banner. Here is the true exemplar of the churches. In the movements and progress of reformation they constitute one army united by common doctrines and common dangers. When the storm of opposition or persecution gives place to the calm of success, the churches settle down in territorial divisions; each church having allotted to it, by Providence, its own peculiar work of faith and labour of love; while all the churches should remain the members of one great federation, of which Christ is the head, and whose separate or combined energies should all be directed to the spiritual subjugation of their common enemies, and the advancement of the glory of their common Lord. C.]

Ver. 6. [Cut off his thumbs and his great toes. This punishment, grievous as it appears, was more politic than cruel. The removal of the thumb was intended to unfit for holding the war-spear. The removal of the great toes to unfit for running; and so to obviate the necessity of imprisonment or death. There seems no room for supposing, with some, that the great toes were cut off merely to prevent Adoni-bezek from employing them as a kind of additional hands, as is common with artisans in the East, and as is sometimes seen in Europe in the case of persons born without hands. In a cruel tyrant, such as Adoni-bezek was, we scarcely expect either the diligence or dexterity of an artisan. C.]

Ver. 7. [As I have done, so God hath requited me. A heathen once wisely said of a criminal, 'He has blushed, and all is well;' and may not a Christian hope that where conscience is not dead, there still is hope of spiritual revival? Adoni-bezek acknowledges the justice of God; may we not judge in charity, that he likewise saw his mercy? C.]

Ver. 13. [Caleb's younger brother took it. Joshua had already taken Arba (Hebron), Jos. 10. 36, how then does it require to be taken again? Are not these accounts contradictory? By no means. The Canaanites had in the meantime retaken them, and they now required to be reconquered, an occurrence very common in all warfare. C.]

Ver. 18. [The Septuagint, which is followed by Augustine, reads, that 'Judah did not take Gaza,' &c.; and Josephus says they took neither Gaza nor Ekron. All these seem forced amendments of the text, and without authority. The subsequent Scripture history exhibiting these cities, not in the possession of Israel, but of their enemies—and no account of their recapture from Israel having been given—it seemed necessary to force an agreement between the two narratives. Such modes of reconciling scriptures are not only indefensible, but to be utterly condemned. The reconciliation lies at the surface. Judah took the cities and lands, as in the text, the Canaanites retook them, as the subsequent history implies, though it records neither the time nor the manner. C.]

Ver. 19. [Could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. These words, as translated, seem to ascribe incapacity to Jehovah. The proper solution lies in translating the last clause of the sentence interrogatively, thus:—'Could he not therefore have caused the inhabitants of the valley to be driven out though they had chariots of iron?' This is a truth in war. For when mountaineers are driven from their natural fortresses—and the earth affords none stronger than those of Palestine—the force that drove them out must with far greater ease drive out the inhabitants of the plain, no matter how strong their walls or how great their means of defence. This solution confirms the declaration, Jos. 17. 18, and is perfectly consistent with the translation of similar sentences in other parts of the Hebrew Scriptures, while it removes the apparent admission of incapacity in God, to the want of faith, obedience, zeal, and courage in the armies of Judah. C.]

Ver. 20. [He expelled thence the three sons of Anak. Therefore how much more should Judah have expelled the inhabitants of the plain, seeing the Anakims were the mightiest and most dreaded of the inhabitants of Canaan? De. 9. 2. C.]

Reflections.—Difficult and extensive is the work which the people of God, and the rulers of nations and churches, have to go through with, after one would think everything was rectified. There is need to acknowledge the Lord in all our ways, that, being animated by him to our proper work, we may prosecute it with courage and success. And the more honour or ability God gives to men, the more difficult work he assigns them. But God most fearfully humbles the proud, marks their sins in their judgments, and metes out to them the measure which they had meted out to others; while such as share with the people of God in their wilderness sufferings, share also in their eternal inheritance. Our own unbelief, sloth, and cowardice frequently hinder our performance of duty, and prevent or mar much of our happiness. Yea, many secret enemies still abiding in our hearts prevent our fully entering into the rest and peace of the gospel, and are causes of daily disquietude and anxiety. But in following bad examples things readily go on to worse and worse. And yet how great is the goodness of God—instead of casting off his chosen people, he multiplies his pardons and mercies to them.