[The text begins, continuing from the preceding page] A fighting under Jesus, and those who had received their inheritance under Moses labor with us, yet having not yet settled in it, each is dismissed to his own possessions with the rewards given by Jesus, so that each may dwell in peace, every war having been put down.
These also build a great altar, and when accused of defection, they answer that the altar is where Jesus reigns. This was an image and symbol of that one, so that in time those within the Jordan might not think those outside were foreigners, keeping them from participating in the sacred rites. This signifies that the people of the circumcision of old, the sons of Reuben the firstborn, the sons of Gad another firstborn, the sons of Manasseh another firstborn, B in their own time, evidently, build an altar—not the true one, but a symbol—so that we might not separate them from those others. For the Jews before the advent were our brothers, and although they did not possess the true mystery, they honored it; for the ancient sacrifices were a figure of the true ones, where Jesus was. Therefore, we both become one flock, one shepherd. For just as formerly the people were dying, and Aaron came and stood between the dead and the living and stayed death from the rest, so the true high priest stood between the dead and the living—between those who maintained Judaism up until his advent, and those who did not receive him, and who chose to kill themselves rather than Jesus, thereby daring to bring upon themselves the blood of Jesus. C Wherefore also all the righteous blood reached them. Having come between us, then, he stayed the portion of death, the dead Jews no longer performing anything true of those things set apart by the Law. For among us is the true temple, consisting of living stones, and the true Jesus.
COMMENTARIES ON JUDGES
Those who are ignorant of the power of the present book, and that every Scripture is divinely inspired and profitable, think it useless because it relates wars and battles for the most part. For they do not consider that these things happened to them as a type, but were written for our instruction; D and according to the letter itself, it is very capable of profiting whenever we see how much the worship of God avails, and again, defection. And how the former subdues enemies, even if they attack us, while the latter makes us subject to them. Therefore, the divine Paul draws most of his examples from these, writing: "For the time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, and Barak, and Samson, and Jephthah, who through faith conquered kingdoms," and so forth.
A Wherefore, if there is any obscurity in this narrative, it has not seemed unworthy to shed light upon it through a concise exposition. After Joshua had departed this life, and the memory of the miracles still resounded among them—and his teaching was still fresh—the people were indeed piously affected toward God. Therefore, they consulted the Lord as to who should be their leader; for, having been taught by the example of the conspiracy of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram what kind of punishment awaited such men, no one dared to thrust himself into the magistracy of his own accord. 47 Furthermore, they strove with all their strength toward the ark in Shiloh, and, not following the oracles of the Greeks, they consulted the Lord, it is said. They desired, however, to undertake warfare against the Canaanite; for, having left some foreign peoples round about, they had not yet held the whole of the promised land; namely, so that by the fear of these they might be turned back to the Lord, according to that which Peter says: "For a laboring soul hastens to God." 48 Isaiah likewise says: "In tribulation you teach us silently." Besides, they were not worthy of the whole land because of their law-breaking. Lastly, it was fitting that the boundaries of the land should be narrow, so that three times a year, according to the command of the Law, they might present themselves before the Lord, gather in one place, and offer their first fruits and sacrifices. Therefore, they could not reside in far-off dwellings. B And the Lord said, "Judah shall go up" [Judg. 1:2]. For two had faith in the promises, and were saved, while all those who had set out from Egypt had perished; one of whom was distinguished with the honor of a leader, while the tribe of Caleb also obtained the honor due through him. Moreover, the tribe of Judah excelled in all other respects as well, because it sustained the figure of Christ, to whom, according to the flesh, it was said by the Father: "Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession." [Ps. 11:8] Whence, since he was obedient to the Father, he took Simeon (which is interpreted as "obedience"), and having trodden down the city—for this is what Jebus signifies—and having overcome those who were being driven around in it (for this is how "Canaanites" are interpreted), and having cast out all diabolical movements and afflictions, he fashioned us into the form of peace. C The Lord also struck by his hand the Perizzite in Bezek. Now, "Perizzite" signifies "scattered," because spiritual Judah, Christ, came not only for the sake of Israel, but also for the sake of the scattered children of God; these indeed he struck in Bezek. Now this is a city of Adonibezek, which you shall interpret as "Lord of Bezek," which means the same as "empty scorn." But who is the lord of this other than the devil, who opposes himself and exalts himself above every God or object of worship, and saying: [NEXT PAGE BEGINS] "Τα πάντα καταλήψομαι τῇ χειρί μου ὡς νοσσιάν, καὶ ὡς καταλελειμμένα ὠὰ ἀρῶ. Ον…"
"I will take hold of all things with my hand as a nest, and as eggs that are left I will carry/take them away." Whom Christ has rendered powerless, interrupting his every way and action, and cutting off the extremities of his hands and feet; and his recompense was rendered back to him. "Seventy kings with the extremities of their hands and feet cut off were gathering the things under my table" [Judg. 1, 7]. He says [it refers to] men distinguished by virtues, whom the devil subsequently took captive, intercepting their ways and actions according to God, and casting into them false knowledge, providing them with cheap leftovers from his own food. He argues that the statement about seventy [kings] indicates that they were poorly resting from good deeds, so that the voice of God through Isaiah might sound against them: "Your sabbaths my soul hates" [Isa. 1, 13, 14]. Furthermore, Adonibezek himself, being mutilated, dies in Jerusalem. For just as Christ is said to live in Paul and in others like him, so the devil is said to die in them. Who indeed say: "Thanks be to God who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" [cf. 1 Cor. 15, 57].
Moreover, the sons of Anak were men of immoderate size, whose bones, as Josephus is witness, are still seen even now as a miracle.
"And you shall give me a blessing/redemption of water." This is added to what was said in the history of Joshua [Josh. 15, 19] concerning her, indicating through holy baptism the forgiveness of the heights of pride and of that which exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and of base and earthly thoughts. Symmachus set it out as "a possession in the higher places and a possession in the lower places," indicating the possession of higher thoughts through contemplation, and of the humility which flees far from the pride of the devil. Aquila says, "The upper Gollath and the lower Gollath," estates so named, which he desired to receive from Caleb in place of a dowry. For to him who took the city of Debir, Ashan was proposed as a reward. He desired, however, to take a dowry also along with his bride. Wherefore he obtained the city as a reward along with his wife. Although the Scripture does not clearly state that he granted the city to him.
"From the city of palm trees" [Judg. 1, 16], he says of Jericho. Arad, however, is a city of the Amorites, near the desert of Kadesh, which is Pharan. At this time it is a village at the fourth milestone from Malaathon, but at the twentieth from Hebron.
Whereas the Scripture says that the tribes of Judah and Simeon did not take Gaza, Ascalon, Azotus, or Accaron, Josephus asserts that they did take Ascalon and Azotus. As for the rest, because they were plains and there was an abundance of chariots, they were doing damage to those who attacked them.
[NOTE] But the tribe of Judah and Simeon took those cities of the hill country of Canaan, but those in the plain and by the sea, namely Ascalon and Azotus, they took. Gaza and Accaron escape them. For being plains, and having an abundance of chariots, they were doing damage to those who came against them. Procopius says this in Book 5, chapter [on Josephus]. Unless the reading "those in the plain, and those in the plain" be understood.
A and because of the plains and the frequency of chariots they did not take [them].
Jebusite, on the other hand, who dwelt in Jerusalem. [I, 21] He stated above that lower Jerusalem was taken, but now he speaks of the upper and mountainous [part].
In the land of Chettim. He speaks of Cyprus.
Mageddo. [27] Joshua took this city after its king had been killed, and it fell to the tribe of Manasseh, which did not occupy it. For the foreigner, not having been thoroughly cut off, when he rose up, took it back along with others. Israel, having recovered his strength, made them tribute-payers.
The inhabitants of Ancho. [31] He speaks of it as what they now call Ptolemais.
Nor the inhabitants of Dor. For this was the border of the two tribes.
Above Acrabin. This is the eastern boundary of Idumea.
From the rock and above, it is a city of the Idumean.
Angel of the Lord. Hail to the kindness of God, who instructs sinners, comforts the weak, and turns Israel back toward piety.
And Joshua sent the people away, etc. [6] This is a repetition. For he has already related many things after the death of Joshua, just as he also repeats the things that were said concerning those who died piously, and their children who were godless, to whom the angel was sent, who set forth the reason why they were unable to overcome their enemies. But since they wept after the coming of the angel, the Lord raised up judges for them. For here is the fulfillment of the concept.
And delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. C [14] For by blows and labors the soul is brought to acknowledge the Lord. Just as Jeremiah says: "By labors and lashes shall Jerusalem be instructed."
King of Syria, Mesopotamia. (49) Josephus says that Chusaretathon is king of Assyria. If this is so, he was also king of Syria. For the Assyrians held the rule of all Asia.
And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. [III, 9] This cry deserves praise, since it proceeded from repentance. Concerning which David also says: "O Lord, I have cried out to Thee, hear me." And, "Out of the depths I have cried to Thee, O Lord."
And the Lord strengthened Eglon, king of the Moabites. [14] For the departure of God from Israel provided strength to the enemies.
Aod son of Gera, son of Jemini. [15] For the sake of honor he called him Jemini, that is, "my right hand." Just as Chusi, the close associate of David who thwarted the counsels of Achitophel, is called by the name Jemini. Furthermore, Ehud can be interpreted as "the dexterous one." Which is to say, he who was not ambidextrous, who had nothing sinister. He who is also called a savior, since he is entirely "dexter," and the son of Gera, the interpretation D of which sounds like "observing the sojourn."
Who reigned in Hazor. [IV, 2] Which indeed only
A inflamed Joshua, inasmuch as he held the first place among the rest, and ruled over the foreigners. Jabis is indeed located beyond the Jordan. But at present, it is a village twenty miles distant from the town of Pella; and sixty miles for those ascending toward Gerasa.
In mount Bathor. [IV, 6] It is situated in the plain, ten miles from Diocæsarea to the east. And this is the boundary of the tribe of Issachar and the tribe of Nephthalim. In which tribe was Cedes, a priestly city and asylum of Galilee.
In the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. [IV, 17] This man is a grandson of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. Being there a short while before, intending to witness the outcome of the war, he remained far from the battle, and pitched his own tent near the oak of those resting, near Cedes. To Sisera, who was asking for water, she provided milk, so that he might trust her all the more as one well-disposed; and having been moistened, and warmed by the coverings, he was carried off to sleep. And he was emboldened in this beginning by the treaties which had previously existed between him and Heber, the husband of this woman. B
And Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoem sang on that day, saying. [V, 1] The first canticum in the divine Scriptures is in Exodus: "Let us sing to the Lord, for He has been gloriously glorified." The second is in Numbers, over the well. The third is in Deuteronomy: "Attend, O heaven, and I will speak." The fourth is this present one in Judges. But it behooves the one who has reached this to sing, or rather to have been a bee; for Deborah is so interpreted; or to have ascended, so that he himself might also be lightning; which indeed Barak signifies, who sings the victory song, the kings having failed who had followed crooked ways. C
The passage indicates: "In the leaders appearing in Israel," and the people willingly submitting to them, "bless the Lord." For when a legitimate leader and an obedient people coincide, God is glorified; from whom all authority and order in the universe [proceeds]; for the one is weak and disordered without the other.
"I will sing to the Lord, I will sing." She says these things to the kings of the foreigners and to the satraps: that it was not by my own power, but with God assisting, that I prevailed. To whom I sing, she says, as the cause of victory. Who also chose Israel, and deigns to be called its God.
"When you went forth from Seir." [V, 4] She mentions the return of the people from Egypt, with God leading, when the princes of Edom hastened; which Aquila expresses as, "they were shaken." "And the heaven was shaken," etc. The angelic powers rose up for the assistance of the people. But Theodotion says: "He distilled dews." Which implies the mercy of God upon the people. And, he says, "the clouds also distilled water." For to the thirsty people D
A this might perhaps signify the law given through the angels.
*Montes concussi sunt* [V, 5]. By those eminent among the nations in authority, or certainly by their leaders, the demons.
*Sinai iste*. Symmachus expounded: This is Sinai, so that it is the Sinai of the Lord. But he subjoined who this Lord is. Furthermore, David is in agreement with these things in the sixty-seventh psalm, saying: "O God, when Thou wentest forth before Thy people, when Thou didst pass through the wilderness; the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped at the face of the God of Sinai, at the face of the God of Israel," applying these things to Christ. He who, passing from Seir and Edom—for by this name the Scripture says Esau is called, being a symbol of the people subject to the law, who, being beast-like, cried out against Christ, who was named Jacob—was brought B to the two peoples; for into two peoples the sons of Rebecca were taken. Therefore, when Christ was about to pass from that desert and uninhabited land, He indeed shook the earth upon the cross, and when He was taken up into heaven, He sent down drops from it, that is, the gifts of the Spirit. Whence also the hosts of heaven inquire: "Who is this that comes from Edom?" Then, in order to make Him more renowned to the Jews, he says, the God of Israel. For He who appeared to our ancestors on Sinai shook the earth upon the cross and reproved your madness; He also disturbed the heaven, so that the sun drew back its rays, and the celestial hosts were perturbed at the passion of the Master. With these things accomplished, the spiritual clouds afforded divine gifts from heaven to those who believe. C Moreover, He also shook the mountains of spiritual wickedness through the evangelical teaching. For when He had healed the lunatic, He says: "If you have faith, you shall say to this mountain, Be thou removed," thus calling a demon by that name. Furthermore, he calls the Son the face of the Lord God of Israel: "For the light of Thy countenance, O Lord, hath shone upon us," who shook nations and cities through the evangelical preaching. I leave this trembling in our souls, and the transition from error and earthly things, after the passions in us have been shaken. And thus the present song, while it was concerning visible enemies, reverted through them to the spiritual ones.
*In diebus Samgar fili Anath* [6]. As if he had said: And these things will indeed happen then, but now, in the days of Samgar, in the days of Jael, kings failed. D As far as the literal history is concerned, this Samgar is obscure. Josephus, however, reports that he was chosen for the kingdom of Israel and ended his life in the first year of his reign. He says that Jael is she who slew Sisara. In whose time, and in the time of Samgar, kings failed, and when fear had taken hold of them in flight, they did not return by straight paths, but by crooked ones, which bear the figure of idolatry. They failed, in truth,
A Pharazon in Israel—which, if you interpret it, means "the mighty"—right up to Debbora. Now, Samgar means "stranger," while Anath means "humility" or "answer," and Jael means "ascension." When, therefore, someone becomes a stranger in this present life, being a son of humility, according to Him who said: "Learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart," and attains through it an ascension—for humility is the way of exaltation—he sees also that the kings who had traveled along crooked paths were failing, against whom our struggle is, not against flesh and blood. As it is also said: "I am a stranger and a sojourner." And: "We have not here a lasting city, but we seek one that is to come."
"Until a mother arose in Israel": he explains the former state of Israel before a mother of impiety seized the reins. B "They chose new gods [as] barley bread." For just as if someone suffering from indigestion were to exchange the wheat bread lying before him for barley bread, so did they forsake the true God for vain ones.
"Shield of young men in the midst of forty thousand in Israel, my heart is upon those who have been appointed for Israel." Just as barley bread and the protection of women in war by means of weapons of war is weak, so is a hope placed in idols. To those who trust in such, even if they are many soldiers rising up against Israel, my heart is intent upon those things which God has ordained for the people: to hope in the Lord, to keep His commandments, and not to serve other gods, nor do those things which have been forbidden by the law. If we keep these, God will fight for us. For our weapons are not carnal, but spiritual. "For I will not fear from myriads of the people who surround me on all sides." For I shall declare to Israel the things appointed. "Arise therefore, O Lord, save me, O my God." C "Ye princes of the people, bless the Lord," saying: "Through God we shall do mightily, and He will bring to naught those who afflict us."
"You who ride upon beasts, upon litters, you who sit for judgment, and you who walk on the way, speak [the] word." The princes, he says, of Israel, and you who go before the people on the way, and are appointed for judging, sound forth the victory song as if upon a lyre.
"There they will render justice to the Lord." There; where? Where there is the dwelling of all who rejoice in Him. "For there is no joy for the wicked," says the Lord. "Nor will they render justice to the Lord in the assembly of sinners." "For upon Israel is His majesty, and His power is in the clouds. D Marvelous also is the Lord
in His saints." "And they gained strength," he says, "in Israel." For the Lord will give strength to His people. And His people are the just. A *Then the people of the Lord descended into their cities.* When, then, did they descend? When the just had gained strength in Israel. By the cities of Israel, you are to understand the divine governance of affairs and the observance of the commandments.
*Awake, awake, Debbora.* Increase justice, strengthen the people, arise for the glory of God and the salvation of Israel. B *Arise, O strengthener [Barac].* Be endued with power and arise, according to what was said to Moses: "But you stand here with me." And according to David who said: "Our feet stood in your courts, Jerusalem." Also: "You have set my feet upon a rock." Be strengthened, therefore, and arise, and say: "I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me." And, "The Lord is my strength and my praise." But you also, Debbora, strengthen Barac. For the saints also supply us with strength in the Lord, when they prepare our soul against the enemy. And lead every thought captive into the obedience of Christ; and if you should grow weak in this, as happened to Jonathan, taste the prophetic honey, Debbora, and resume your courage.
*Then the remnant of the magnificent people shall rule; the Lord shall rule for me over the giants.* He who is strenuous for the name of God and conquers invisible enemies becomes great, because he possesses great strength from C virtues given to him from above. For in those who are void of these, he is weak and becomes small. Now, prophetic words provide this power, for they confer spiritual strength.
*Lord, crush those who are stronger than me.* For if the Lord were not among us when men rose up against us, they surely would have swallowed us alive; how much more so demons and Satan, who were cast down because of pride?
*The people of Ephraim avenged them in the valley.* Since Debbora sat on Mount Ephraim, it is likely that he remembers the events that happened under Aod before those under Barac. For when Aod had ascended from Jericho, he sounded the horn on Mount Ephraim; and they gathered together D and struck down Moab. Perhaps, too, after Barac’s victory, all were turned into the torrent of Cisson and slew those who had been left behind. The narrative omitted this for the sake of brevity, having stated their victory simply. Scripture very often calls the Israelites by the part "Ephraim." It is likely that it also prophesies the victory won by Gedeon. For he was indeed himself of the tribe of Manasseh; with—
A him descended the men of the tribe of Ephraim, and having joined in the battle, they turned the Madianites and those with them in the valley into complete flight. But regarding the phrase "Thy brothers Benjamin among thy people," another has interpreted it as, "Behind thee, Benjamin, thy brothers," that is to say, Benjamin was also with Ephraim in the battle formation, as he was a brother of Joseph, and by biblical custom he is quite reasonably called a brother of Ephraim, the son of Joseph. Just as Abraham calls Sarah sister, that is to say, cousin.
"Out of Machir descended inquisitive men [legislators]." Machir is the son of Manasseh, who obtained his inheritance beyond the Jordan with Ruben and Gad. He, having struck Galaad, inherited it, as he states in Numbers. Now Manasseh is a brother to Ephraim both by the same mother and the same father. Therefore, he says, these men, avenging their own brothers, descended to investigate the enemies. B
It is also written thus: "Through me Ephraim rooted them out in Amalec." For with Moab, when he was warring against Israel, Amman and Amalec were also present. "Out of me, therefore, is Ephraim," that is, out of my own kin; for Debbora sat in the mount of Ephraim. Now what has been said perhaps obscurely indicates the war to be waged by Gedeon against the Madianites and the Amalecites.
"And in Zabulon the Lord fought for me most powerfully." For those with Barac were from Zabulon and Nephthalim, who had conquered Sisara. In them, therefore, he says, the Lord fought on our behalf. C
"From thence, with the scepter of the one who strengthens [the leader's scepter], he sent his foot soldiers into the valley in Issachar with Debbora." The scepter of the one who strengthens is either Ephraim—for Debbora was from there—or Nephthalim, from whence Barac had his origin. Therefore, with the scepter of the one who strengthens and leads, Issachar also sent foot soldiers with Debbora.
"And my princes in Issachar with Debbora; and as Barac, so also Issachar was sent on foot into the valley," etc. [V, 15.] In such a way that his scepter is rather that of the one who confirms and leads Ephraim through Debbora. For she both led and strengthened Barac and the rest. He mentions the valley, D because the war took place in a torrent.
"Why do you sit in the midst of two borders [limitum]?" He perhaps speaks to the entire people of Israel. "Why, finally," he says, "having obtained an excellent leader from God, do you reside in the midst of the Chananites—aliens in language and in race? For behold, Barac has stirred their feet against those who have separated themselves from us and from God, and who do not even agree among themselves. For otherwise they would have been a single border."
A Ruben, great are the decrees of the heart; why do you sit among the Mosphathan? They interpret Mosphathan, Aquilas indeed as "of the lots," but Symmachus as "the fields between the two battle-lines." Now Ruben, being the firstborn, is magnanimous and, in other respects, sharp in affairs. This he also applies to Manasseh. What then, he says, considering and meticulously weighing everything, do you sit there, not moving your feet for the battle, nor signaling to those with Ruben across the Jordan? You are content if you might preserve your own lots, even when you see the victory; but meet those who report these things to you and provoke you to the battle formation.
B Great are the searchings of the heart. Gilead rested on this side of the Jordan. [V, 17] Gilead is situated behind Phoenicia and Arabia, and it touches Lebanon; and it extends through the desert as far as the region beyond the Jordan of Peraea. In it dwelt Seon the Amorite. This the two half-tribes had received by lot. And in Jeremiah, “You are to me the beginning of Lebanon,” it is said. There is, moreover, a mountain of Gilead, and a city of the same name upon it; which Galaad, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, took from the Amorite. These, therefore, he says, dwell far off across the Jordan, when they could still take much of the land within the Jordan. It is permitted, however, to interpret Gilead as "testimony of migration." For those who dwell in the land and are sojourners, great are the searchings of the heart. For they have transcended every carnal thought.
C And why does Dan dwell by the ships? For Josephus records that when the Israelites had lapsed into sloth, the Canaanites, taking heart and having prepared great forces, tore from the tribe of Judah Ascalon and Accaron, and many other cities deployed in the plain; but the Danites they forced to flee into the mountain, leaving nothing of the plain to them. But through five scouts, having learned that the land by the great plain of Sidon was good and fruitful, they made an eruption with an army, and built there a city called Dan, after the tribe. Therefore, he is reproached as one who sojourns. Just as it is said to Israel: “What is it to you, Israel, that you are in the land of your enemies?” For if they had adhered to God, these things would not have happened to them. He prophesies, however, concerning things that would happen afterward.
D Asher sat at the station of the ships by the sea shore, and remained in his breaches. Zebulon was a people that devoted its life unto death. [18] For he cultivates the valley from Carmel (for such is the whole land facing Sidon) that has been allotted to him. But Zebulon received the land up to the lake of Gennesaret, extending above Carmel and the sea. He shows, therefore, that because of their neglect of God, their forces were gathered into a narrow place and were gradually despoiled by the Canaanites and the neighboring tribes.
For this reason he says: “The people exposed their own soul to the reproach of death.”
A Furthermore, he says that Nephthali fled to the heights of the region, having abandoned his own portion. For, he says, when they saw the humiliation of Israel, the Canaanites took heart and drew up their battle line. And indeed, any one of us who casts himself into sin becomes subject to the demons.
In Thenach by the waters of Mageddo. [V, 19.] The tribe of Manasses did not capture Thenach, because it did not cast out the foreigners from it, where the war against Sisera was positioned. Now, however, it is a very large village three miles distant from Legeon. But Mageddo was in the tribe of Manasses, which Joshua captured after slaying its king. Yet Manasses did not hold it, because it had not cast out the foreigner from it.
They did not take the gain of money. For the tributes which they demanded of us against right and wrong, they did not receive.
From heaven fought the stars. Josephus (57) reports that, when they were locked in combat, a great storm arose, and much water and hail was cast into the faces of the Canaanites. And every weapon of war was useless to them. Because of this, Israel took heart; some were struck by the Israelites’ spears, while others, thrown from their own horses, were trampled by the chariots. The stars indicate tempests, or they represent the excellence of divine aid, such that it lacked little of the elements themselves also assailing them.
The torrent Cedumim cast them out. Either it is the same as the Cison, or Sisera was fought in both; but in the Cison by Barak, and in Cedumim by Deborah, as Eusebius says in his book *On Place Names* (58). B Or perhaps the rivers, having erupted against one another, dragged the Canaanites with them. Or, finally, the former slaughter passed them on to the latter. Furthermore, the interpretation of Cedumim is "valley of the saints," and Cison is "their joys" or "their hardness." Therefore, the valley of the saints cast out the kings of Canaan from their pleasures and their hardness. For those who do not obey the will of the demons afflict them, while gladdening the angels. The valley is this humiliation of theirs, which receives the rain and provides an outlet for the torrents flowing from the hearts of the faithful, just as the Savior says: “For upon whom shall I look,” says God, “if not upon the humble, and the quiet, and the one who trembles at my words?” (59) By these things, tyrannical joy and hardness are destroyed.
My soul shall trample them firmly. For just as a strong body tramples sensible enemies, so does a strong soul trample intellectual ones. “For thou shalt tread upon the asp and the basilisk.”
Then were cut off the hoofs of the horses of Mudaroth, his strong ones. [22.] Aquilas has translated Mudaroth as "adornment," C or D
"]; A but in fact, it signifies the horses of those who were rushing into battle—that is, the hooves of the swiftest horses—which were rendered useless. The shameful fall of the horses denotes the traps, and the hooves denote the deceits by which the simple are ensnared.
"Curse Meroz." He speaks of that city which did not go to war with Barak, whom it is probable to call the angel of the Lord. Scripture also calls priests angels: "For the lips of a priest shall keep judgment, and they shall seek the law from his mouth, because he is the angel of the Lord." Therefore, he calls Barak either the high priest, or even Deborah, being a prophetess, or truly an angel sent to their aid. But we do not find Meroz in the colonies, nor in the Hebrew interpretations, nor in the *Commentary on the Names of Places*. B
"The Lord is mighty among the warriors." But he is not among those who are dissolved in softness. For as the Lord is wonderful in his saints, so too is he in those who possess spiritual strength. For by reason of his essence, he possesses also an immense power. For "All nations are as a drop from a bucket, and shall be counted as spittle, according to the word of Isaiah. And, tremor shall take the mountains from you."
"In the basin of the great ones she brought butter." [25.] The basin which princes and heroes drink whey from. Sometimes, however, he calls butter "milk" in general, according to that: "Butter and honey shall he eat."
"His right hand [to the cuttings off of explorers]." [26.] Instead of: finally rendered useless. Or, certainly, as Aquila has it, "to the hammer of those who labor."
"He lopped off his head, his jaw." That is, he pierced his temples, C he bored through his head, and struck him. Symmachus, however, has: "He pierced through his temples with a stake, and crushed his head." Theodotion, however: "He cut off the head, and crushed his jaw." For regarding that, "he cut off [the head of] Sisera," some explain it as "he smote with a hammer," others as "he brought to an end."
"Inclinatus cecidit." [27.] For, entirely afflicted, the whole body, being curved and contracted by the cerebrum, fell.
"By lattice work." [28.] For through a lattice, the woman, being solicitous, was watching the flight of her son and his companions.
"His wise princesses answered her." [28.] Scripture calls lamenters this, as in Jeremiah; for such are those who appear to be in mourning. Accordingly, he describes the lamentation which, in turn,
A they uttered, which she calls "princesses" or "leaders" of the lamentation.
"They do not find him dividing the spoils." [v. 29.] Scripture says this either as an interrogation filled with pity, or they offer this as a response, stating the causes of delay as they perceived them. For in truth, he was not dividing spoils among his soldiers as a conqueror; nor was he feasting with his friends as a hero with a severed head might do. Indeed, he was not even adorned with a triumphal robe.
"And those who love him." [v. 31.] Sisera, namely. "Then," he says, "as the rising of the sun in its might." For just as when the summer sun rises, mist and cloud and every obstacle clear away, so when the Sun of righteousness arises, the enemies of God will be scattered, as the power of the light dispels the darkness. B
"And the children of the East." [VI, 3.] The Arabians, for they are more oriental. Josephus also indicates this. They would rush in and ravage the crops, allowing the winter season for sowing and tilling the land given to them. "He beat out wheat in the winepress," because he did not dare to thresh it openly. [v. 11.]
"Behold, my thousand is the weakest in Manasseh." [v. 15.] For they had remained divided into chiliarchs and centurions since the time Jethro advised Moses. Being a chiliarch, therefore, he lamented that those under him were weak.
"And I will offer my sacrifice." [v. 18.] He calls the victim destined for a feast a sacrifice. For the victim was not cooked according to the Law. C
He places it under the oak, imitating Abraham, and thinking that he would consume the dishes provided. But He, pouring out the broth as unsuitable because of its watery and thin quality, ordered the meat to be placed against the rock.
"And burnt it with the rod," [v. 21.] it vanished. The rod signifies in one place discipline, as in: "Strike a foolish man with a rod;" 87 in another place, it signifies firmness and support, as in: "Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me." 88 It has that same signification here, too. The rock signifies the firmness of faith, for which reason Peter received his name. This [faith], with God giving aid and approaching for a short time, will consume the enemies as if by fire. And this is the sign which Gideon asked for. D For this reason, Paul also numbered him among the faithful, for through his belief in God, with three hundred men, he attacked so many thousands of enemies. At the same time, the One who appeared shows that all gifts should be offered primarily to Christ, the true Rock, by whose power they would crush the enemies.
"He extinguished his confusion as well," saying, "You shall not die."
Having attained peace, he calls the altar "Peace of the Lord." This contains a figure of the passion of Christ, who offered himself up for us as an odor of sweet savor unto God and the Father. For He himself is our peace, who
A reconciled both into one, and destroyed the demonic cults that had been handed down to the nations from their fathers; just as Gideon, who also brings the fattened calf to God, who was prefigured by the one offered up for us.
As for the name Maoz, Aquila rendered it "of strength," while Symmachus rendered it B "strong."
He also asks for a second sign for the confirmation of the preceding one. And the fleece alone was wet, in the image of Israel, which alone enjoyed the divine grace, while the entire earth, apart from the fleece, bore the likeness of the nations who received the gifts of the Spirit, with Israel being desolate. David also indicated this with a slight allusion, saying: "And he shall descend like rain upon a fleece, and like drops dripping upon the earth," C demonstrating in the seventy-first Psalm the birth according to the flesh, which happened peacefully and mystically. For it makes no sound, neither the fleece receiving the rain, nor the earth the drops. Thus was the Lord’s conception. And David encompassed both: "Because of the nations, and those saved out of Israel."
"And he brought the people down to the water." They interpreted the incident of those lapping and not lapping in different ways. Some say that God chose them D as weak, as sluggish and idle, and not desiring out of laziness to bend their knees and put a quick end to their thirst, but rather gathering it up in confusion out of cowardice, so that the work might appear to be that of divine grace. For Christ also, having chosen the weak of this world, the fishermen and the leather-worker, destroyed the assault of the nations. Which Isaiah also hints at, saying: "For he has shattered the rod of the disobedient," as on the day that was at Madian. For the men with Gideon were naked. And naked were those apostles sent by Christ, carrying the torches of miracles and the trumpets of their preachings. Others say: "But what of the three hundred with Gideon who lapped manfully?" And again, "Temperance is a beautiful virtue," and they offer as witnesses those who with Gideon subdued Madian.
In this same way, some also have handed down [a tradition] regarding the loaf of barley bread seen in the dream, which the others rendered as fine flour or a cake. For they say these are a sign of the temperance that conquered the camp of Madian; for it signifies the fornication by which these people laid an ambush for Israel. The practice of lapping offers some sort of torch for holiness. For even the virgins in the Gospel...
A bore lamps. And in sum, it signified that a small crowd often overcomes a more powerful one.
They blew the trumpet, therefore, in three ranks. [19.] He divided the three hundred into three ranks, and gathered them into centuries. Against this, the enemy forces, deployed in the common manner, were all together in one mass. These, moreover, also perished, clamoring with voices and terrifying one another.
Is the grape-gleaning of Ephraim not better than the vintage of Abiezer? [VIII, 2.] These are the little clusters of the grape-harvest, which, because of their smallness, are overlooked by the grape-gatherers. With them, he modestly compared himself to his own tribe; but the vintage of the tribe of Ephraim is that which has gathered many.
B Bοrkommim (Borkommim), according to Symmachus, are thorns; according to Aquila, they are buckthorns. Ephod, an oracle or idol. Men empty and terrified. Symmachus: idle and desperate men. For evildoers fear the restoration of the laws. "Taking away my quality"—that is, I do not need adventitious honor, having it from home and from my own fruits. "Let fire go out from the bramble." For fire is good for consuming wood.
And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord. [XI, 30.] This heat of promise, and one of victory—though already despaired of—occurred because Satan, under the pretext of concern, cast into him the urge to offer an unlawful sacrifice, just as he also led Adam to the transgression of the commandment under the pretext that his eyes would be opened. For what could be more impious than such a vow? It was possible for a dog, a horse, an ass, a camel, or anything else that would be likely to be possessed by one who is master of such a great multitude, to have been the one to meet him. Yet, having vowed wickedly, he did not hold to the chance occurrence faithfully, nor did he emulate the piety of Abraham; for in that case, he would have had the maiden, just as that man had the son—and with her the reward of piety. Now, however, the vow was reckless, and the piety was dead. C For the one (Abraham) did not even allow the sacrifice of his child to enter his mind, considering it unworthy of God, yet when he was commanded, he did not delay; the other (Jephthah), however, insulted God both with the vow and with the faithlessness of his mourning.
And the daughter proves herself worthy of her father. For she did not love her own life above the vow, nor did she prefer the religious offering of mortal life, but, having mourned her virginity more bitterly than any lament, or rather, having offered to God...
slaughter. For neither was this according to Isaac, nor was the Father Abraham. But they have become an example: the one, of faith in God; the others, that one should not vow rashly, and that one should gladly perform whatever one has vowed. Therefore, neither before him nor after him has such a sacrifice been made by the pious. For they knew accurately that God neither asked for it, nor accepted a cursed sacrifice. Therefore, the victory was not on account of the vow, but to show Israel being wronged, whom He also called as judge of the justice. For it was not necessary that Israel should perish unjustly on account of an unjust vow, and the wrongdoers triumph. But the one gave penalty for an unjust vow; whereas the people of God were saved, and the hostile ones suffered punishment for their injustices.
As to the text, "And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah," B you will observe that, as he had just recently passed into the magistracy and was rising up against the enemies who were victorious a little before, he was in need of the strengthening of the Spirit, but it did not come to pass because of his easy vow, nor did the origin have an praiseworthy character, nor his life before the victory; nor is God said to have called him to this. But once he was moved, He co-operated for a just victory.
Some say that the daughter of Jephthah endures the decree given against her, and chooses rather to be led as a sacrifice to God than for the father's vow to be rendered false; and through ignorance of the meaning, she fulfilled the type of the sacred and saving sacrifice. Thus indeed the deed was free from blame, yet it was done once, and by no means a second time. For the law does not hold the force of a rule for all time for that which happened by way of a sign, and especially given that God has declared that He in no way wishes for human sacrifices.
Pharathonite [XII, 13]: A city in the mountains of Amalek.
"We shall die by death, because we have seen God" [XIII, 22]. Manoah suspected that he had not seen an angel, but God. For this reason he did not offer the sacrifice in the same place, but C upon the rock which signified Christ. But how, after recognizing that it is an angel, does he say again that he has seen God? He intimates either the Sender in the one sent, or the Angel of the Great Counsel. For the voice of God, too, is that which refuses to tell the name. And it says this is wonderful, which was said previously to Jacob. And he deemed it worthy that the sacrifice be offered to God.
The woman is seen to be more excellent than the man; therefore she is the first to obtain the vision, and through her the husband, and she teaches the husband to take heart.
To Samson, his hair provided all his strength, through which the Spirit also moved upon him. Even so, when Hannah made her vow, if she should give birth, a razor D [was not to come upon the head of the child, Samuel is born, who is compared to the great...]
a razor shall not pass over the head of the child, he gives birth to A Samuel, who is compared by the divine David to Moses the great. For he says: "Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those who call upon his name" (Ps. XCVII, 6). And in Jeremiah: "Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before me" (Jer. XV, 1). Indeed, even the hairs of the disciples of Jesus are numbered (Matt. X, 30). And there is also a discourse in the Canticle concerning the hair of the bride (Cant. IV, 1; VI, 4). Everyone, therefore, who regulates his life accurately, and desires to perform all things according to the divine word, as far as it is possible, and who is holy and consecrated to God, seems to experience in himself even those things which participate less in divinity as being better and more efficacious. Of this sort are those things which pertain to sustenance and are necessarily taken up by men for the sake of supporting the body, which not even a holy man should despise as though they were not holy. For those things which are cared for by God and the Word are not unworthy. For both the eating and drinking of the saints, and everything of this kind, redounds to the glory of God. And these things are numbered before God, B just as in the book of Numbers the children from a month old and upward are numbered, not of all the Israelites, but either of the Levites or the firstborn; nor are servants, or the mixed multitude, or women, or those unable to go out to war because of tender age, included. Such, deservedly, is Samuel.
Why did the spirit of Samson not depart upon the women? Because the things concerning him signify something more sublime. For the whole body of Samson is the body of Christ, the Church, according to the saying: "Now you are the body of Christ, and members in particular" (I Cor. XII, 27). And the hairs of the head are such holy men, providing the power of teaching and of the rest of the conduct to the whole body. The foreigners, therefore, inquire where the power of the whole Church is, until they find in whom it resides. But as long as these are joined to the Church, it is entirely invincible, C and even if it be cast into bonds by the foreigners, those bonds are broken as though they were the weakest things. But as soon as sleep overtakes that body, and it prostitutes its strength to those with whom it should not, it is shaven and loses its power. When the body languishes, the foreigners do not stop at merely taking away those who provide them with strength, but even if there should be anything discerning and capable of seeing sharply in the whole body of the Church, they dig this out, so that the body may be mocked by the enemies, until some new ones, in place of those who have been taken away, grow up in the Church, in whom is the divine power, being called hairs. When these have grown, the foreigners are destroyed, falling upon them together with the pillars of the whole house. But if he himself also partakes D of the ruin of the house and the destruction of the foreigners together with his own destruction, since the Spirit of the Lord had descended upon him and had brought these things to pass, one must consider that after the destruction [the same fate] did not befall the foreigners and Samson. For his...
Spirit, A which descended upon the Lord, did not desert him. If all these things are truly transferred to Christ, they are not unfitting: namely, the killing of the lion, the finding of honey in the mouth of his corpse, and the betrothal of the foreign woman who denotes the Church of the Gentiles, and [the betrothal] of the second woman, who was in the city of gates and bars. The latter indicates that He went down to those spirits held in custody, whom once, when the long-suffering of God was waiting in the days of Noah while the ark was being built, they had not given heed, and He proclaimed to those souls what was joyous, saying as He descended to that place: "Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell." Furthermore, the woman Dalila, which, if you interpret it, means "beggarly," perhaps signifies those who, because of their poverty, lay in wait for the Lord—for which reason He loved them and took pleasure in their company.
B But who were the foxes, to whose tails he had fastened torches, and burned the crops of the Palestinians, being angered that they had deprived him of his Philistine wife? Esdras, in his second book, records that Sanballat and Tobias the Ammonite, when those who had returned from captivity had built the wall, said: "Will they sacrifice or eat in their place? Will not a fox come up and tear down their stone wall?" And the Savior says concerning Herod: "Tell that fox." And concerning certain impious men, David says in the sixty-second Psalm: "They shall be portions for foxes." And in the Song of Songs, Solomon says: "Catch for us the little foxes that spoil the vineyards." Now, concerning the impious about whom he prophesies in that same Psalm: "They have sought my soul in vain; they shall enter into the lowest parts of the earth, they shall be delivered C to the hands of the sword." While all the wicked enter into earthly things, those who attempt to surround the soul of the righteous man with lies, and to drag it down into its lowest parts with persuasive words, descend both with affection and with the punishments that follow them, which is indeed called the "hands of the sword," namely, the flaming one. For every man is a portion either of God, or of one of those who were allotted men when the Most High divided the nations; and it is possible to defect from one portion to another. Wherefore, the portions of foxes are those who have striven to make the soul of God of no account, portions of wicked and most crafty spirits who have laid the foundations of a false kind of knowledge. The ones who have yielded to them have become portions that have come into the lowest parts of the earth. These, according to the Gospel, are also named the dens of foxes. D Among this [sort], the Word who became flesh, and for this reason is called the Son of Man, has no place where He may lay His head and rest. This was said not to a disciple, but to a scribe saying: "I will follow thee." He, then, was of the portion of birds and foxes. To such as these, Samson handed over the produce of the foreigners for burning, through the disharmony of the...
A connection of the foxes, as they ran in different directions. Perhaps wicked farmers were deserving of such a calamity, so that they might be handed over to Satan, to whom other things are also handed over by God, so that the flesh may be destroyed, just as crops were also devastated and brought to ruin when foxes were sent in with torches attached.
There is a first lion, the adversary, the devil; and there is a last one of all, who is to be revealed at the end of the age, the man of sin, the son of perdition, the adversary who exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship. Between the murderer from the beginning and the latter lion, lions fight against men in every generation; and there was no generation when a lion did not exist. And in the generation of Samson, there was a certain lion by the way, which he killed; in whose mouth, once dead, honey is found. Let us, therefore, put to death the B lion that lies in wait. For when it is living, honey could not be found in its mouth. It is said, moreover, that every living lion has a most foul-smelling mouth. It is therefore a wonder that the sweetest of all things, honey, was found in a foul-smelling mouth.
Siagon was previously a nameless place, named from the jawbone of the ass which Samson took, and he slew the foreigners, having put their dogmas to death with useful words.
It is said that God opened a hole in the jawbone and that waters gushed out from it; but rather, he struck the earth with the jawbone, and it yielded water. But those who have interpreted this historically warn that nowhere is it found that Samson is called either just or a prophet, just as neither is Jephthah nor others of this kind. C But in that age, since no one existed worthy of the Holy Spirit, as the present state of affairs demanded, He used someone more excellent than the rest of men. Samson wishes to marry a wife after the manner of the Philistines, which indeed those who observe the Law strictly forbid, yet God permits it, wherefore Scripture says: "But his father and his mother did not know that it was of the Lord, that he might seek an occasion against the Philistines." For the killing of the ass was a terror to the Philistines, and to the champion himself, so that he slaughtered thirty first, and then a thousand.
As to those who reproach the Holy Spirit on account of Samson, it must be replied that Scripture nowhere says that the Spirit came upon him when he committed fornication, or when he took the Philistine woman who became his ruin. For the Holy Spirit does not dwell with man in the manner of a soul, but is present as uncircumscribed, and works whatever He wills. And He, foreknowing the ferocity of Samson, commanded him to abstain from wine and from the fruits of the vine, lest by adding the madness of wine to his natural disposition, he should commit irreparable wrongs against his own kin.
D Therefore, because of his vow,7 the hair was precious to God. And God demonstrated this by legislating concerning every Nazirite, and this in the law that acts as a tutor.
And it came to pass there was a Levite man sojourning in the side of Mount Ephraim. The people could not endure the outrage committed against the wife of the Levite, and...