A. M. 2561. A. C. 1443; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 4189. A. C. 1222. JUD. i. TO THE END OF RUTH. roar, like so many men either mad or drunk; who but a Gideon, that had his faith confirmed by so many visions and miracles before, would have obeyed, and put in execution such orders as must have been thought wild, frantic, and absurd, had they proceeded from any other mouth but God's? But there is one advantage more which Barak might | and, instead of regular fighting, were only to shout and more especially promise to himself in having Deborah's company in this expedition, and that is, that he might not want an oracle to resort to upon any emergency that might happen; because he was persuaded, that God, who, by her means, had put his people upon this enterprise, would not fail, by her mouth, to direct him in the management of it. And, accordingly, in the grand point of all, namely, when it was the properest time to engage the enemy, we find the benefit which he received from her company and conversation. Up,' says she, 'for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thy hand. Is not the Lord gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him, and the Lord discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword.' The faith of those persons whose actions are recorded in the Old Testament, and fame commemorated in the New, consisted, as we said, in a firm belief of God's declarations, and a ready obedience to his commands; and how can we account Gideon culpable in either of these respects? When the angel of the Lord, or a person much superior, as some suppose, appeared to him, and brought him the news of God's having appointed him to deliver his people from the oppression of the Midianites, he seems indeed at first to be willing to decline the office, as conscious of his own incapacity; but desires withal to have some conviction given him, as who, upon the like occasion, would not have desired some; that the messenger came from heaven, and was in reality no impostor; but when once he was satisfied in this, he never pretended to dispute the divine command. He knew very well, that, when he pulled down the altar and grove of Baal, he must necessarily incense the whole country against him, and run the hazard of his own life; and yet, to do it more effectually, he took to his aid ten of his father's servants, and, that he might meet with no molestation, did it in the night. He knew very well, that when he sounded a trumpet, in order to form an insurrection in the country, and to raise some forces to assert his nation's liberty, the Midianites would interpret this as an open declaration of war, and come against him with an army as numerous as the sand on the sea shore for multitude; but this he mattered not. He knew that two and thirty thousand men, when he had raised them, were but a handful, in comparison of the enemy; and yet, to see two and twenty thousand of these desert him all at once, and of the ten thousand that remained, no more left at last than bare three hundred; this was enough to stagger any one's mind, that had not a firm reliance on the word and promises of God. He knew, that three hundred men, had they been all giants, and armed cap-a-pee with coats of mail, would not be able to do any great execution against so numerous a foe; but when he found, that, instead of being armed, he was to attack the enemy naked, and instead of swords and spears, as usual, his soldiers were to march in such a plight as never was seen before, with every one a light, a pitcher, and a trumpet in his hand; and, when they came up with their enemy, were to break their pitchers, flourish their lights, sound their trumpets, Judg. iv. 14. Well therefore might he be allowed to request a repetition, nay, a multiplication of miracles, who was to have the trial of his faith and obedience carried to such an extremity: but the truth of the matter is, that it was not for his own sake that he made this request. He had been sufficiently convinced by the fire's breaking out of the rock, at the touch of the rod in the angel's hand, that nothing was impossible to God, and that the means which he directed, how incongruous soever they might appear to men, would certainly not fail of their effect: but it was for the sake of his allies that had just now joined him in this expedition, that he sent up this petition to God, to have them likewise satisfied; and therefore we may observe, that when all the quotas were come up, and encamped together, then very likely in the audience of the whole army, he requested of God, 2 and said, if thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said, behold I will put a fleece of wool on the floor,' &c. It was for their sakes, I say, that the miracles were wrought, that they who were to share in so hazardous a war, and to destroy the army of the aliens with so small a force, nay, with no force at all, should have some assurance given them, that the God of Israel, who had so often promised their forefathers, that if they would continue in his favour, 3 one of them should chase a thousand, and two of them put ten thousand to flight,' was determined to assist them in this enterprise. If ever this promise was literally fulfilled, it was in this defeat which Gideon gave the Midianites: but the inhabitants of Succoth and Penuel, it seems, made but a jest and ridicule of it, for which they received a condign punishment; but of what kind their punishment was, commentators are not so well agreed. The word in the Hebrew signifies thrashing, and thence it is generally inferred, that Gideon caused the principal men of Succoth, who had denied his soldiers provision in their distress, to be stripped naked, laid flat on the ground, and a good quantity of thorns and briers heaped on them; that so, by cart-wheels, or other heavy carriages passing over them, their flesh might be pierced and torn, and themselves tortured, if not quite crushed to death. 4 This was a punishment not much unlike what David inflicted on the Ammonites, after he had taken their city Rabbah; but the Ammonites, in my opinion, did not so much deserve it as these: for thus stands the case. Gideon was now in pursuit of two kings, who, after the general rout of their army, were making their escape with a party of five thousand men. Coming to two places in the tribe of Gad, who were Israelites as well as he, and equally concerned to have been venturing their lives for the public liberty, he is denied a small refreshment for his men, fatigued all the night with A. M. 2561. A. C. 1443; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A.M. 4189. A. C. 1222. JUD. i. TO THE END OF RUTH. fighting for them, and without some recruit, in no condition to continue their pursuit: so that, as far as in them lay, instead of assisting their gallant countrymen, who had merited every thing from their hands, these Gadites took part with the enemy, and did what they could to facilitate their escape, by denying some relief to their weary pursuers. By the right of war Gideon might have demanded this help from any nation, but much more from a people who were embarked in the same cause, and whose refusal of so small a boon had the aggravation of perfidy and ingratitude, as well as hardheartedness, to inflame its guilt. Nor was this all. His brethren the Gadites, not only refused him this common courtesy, but were very witty likewise, in making their jests and sarcasms upon Gideon. They upbraided him with the smallness of his army, and magnified the strength of his enemies, and thereby not only did all they could to discourage his men in their pursuit, but endeavoured likewise to have it believed, that there was no interposition of God in gaining this victory, and that Gideon would never be able to accomplish it and so, to their other vile qualities, they added insult and irreligion, a contempt of God, and a disparagement of the man whom the Lord had made so strong for himself.' And therefore it is not at all to be wondered at, that Gideon, under all this exasperation, should choose to bring the two captive kings, with whom they had upbraided him, in triumph to these two places, and then resent the affront which was done to God, as well as himself, by making a severe example of some of the chief offenders. : It is suggested indeed by some, that Gideon was as great an offender as any, in his making an ephod for the purpose of idolatry; but before we admit of so rash a censure, we should inquire a little into the nature of this ephod, and for what possible purpose it was at first made. : a mercy-seat, with cherubim, &c., that being now made the supreme governor, he might consult God at his own house, in such difficult points as occurred in his administration. 36 But besides that it is not easy to imagine, that a man familiar with God, and chosen by him, as Gideon was, should, after so signal a victory as he had obtained, immediately apostatize, as he must have done, had he set up an oracle in his own house, there seems to have been no manner of necessity for it, because Shiloh, where the tabernacle stood, was in the tribe of Ephraim, which adjoined to that of Manasseh, whereunto Gideon belonged. Nor should it be forgotten, that this ephod was set up in Ophrah,' which place Gideon * quitted, as soon as he had resigned his public employ, and retiring to a country-house of his own, in all probability left this ephod behind him: there is reason therefore to believe, that the design of setting it up, was merely to be a monument of his remarkable victory over the Midianites, in like manner as other conquerors had done before him; only as the common custom was, to erect a pillar, or hang up trophies upon the like occasion, he chose rather to make an ephod, or priest's habit, perhaps all of solid gold, as a token that he ascribed this victory only to God, and triumphed in nothing so much, as in the reformation of the true religion by that means. This was an action of no bad intent in Gideon, though, in after-times, when the people began to return to idolatry, and had this fancy among others, that God would answer them at Ophrah, where this ephod was, as well as his tabernacle in Shiloh, it was perverted to a bad purpose. But as this abuse arose from the mad caprice of the people, and not from any ill intent in Gideon, he is no more chargeable therewith, than Moses was with the idolatrous worship which the Israelites, in future ages, paid to the brazen serpent, which he, for very beneficial purposes, at first set up. 5 'An ephod, we know, is a common vestment belong- It is generally supposed, that the sacred history has ing to priests in general; but that of the high priest was not furnished us with a complete catalogue of the several of very great value. This vestment, however, was not judges that governed Israel, from the death of Joshua so peculiar to the priests, but that sometimes we find the to the reign of Saul; and that even of those whom it laity, as in the case of David bringing home the ark of takes notice of, it relates nothing but what was most God, allowed to wear it and therefore some have remarkable in their lives and actions: and yet, notwithimagined, that the ephod which Gideon made, was only standing this conciseness, it is far more exact and ina rich and costly robe of state, which, on certain occa-structive than the history of Josephus, to which Scaliger sions, he might wear, to denote the station he held in the Jewish republic. But if his intent was only to distinguish himself from others by such a particular vestment, how this could give occasion to the people's falling into idolatry, or any way become a snare to Gideon and his house, we cannot conceive. Others therefore suppose, that the word ephod is a short expression to denote the high priest's breastplate, together with the Urim and Thummim; and hence, by an easy figure, they are led to think, that to make an ephod is to establish a priesthood; and thereupon conclude, that Gideon's crime, in making this ephod, was not to establish idolatry, but only to institute another priesthood, besides that which God had appointed in Aaron and his posterity: and, to this purpose, they suppose, that he erected a private tabernacle, an altar, 'Le Clerc's and Patrick's Commentaries; Poole's Annotations, &c. 6 seems to give a preference above all others. The fault of Josephus, as any one may perceive it, is this:-That he omits the account of several miracles which the Holy Scripture relates, for fear that other nations, to whom he writes, should think that he gives too much into the marvellous, though at the same time, he makes no scruple of sacrificing the glory of God to his own private character. For this reason it is, that he says nothing of the angel's touching with the end of his rod the sacrifice which Gideon had prepared, and so causing fire to flame out of the rock and consume it; nothing of the two signs which God was pleased to grant him, for the confirmation of his and his confederates' faith, exhibited in the fleece's being at one time wet, and at another dry; A. M. 2561. A. C. 1443; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 4189. A. C. 1222. JUD. i. TO THE end of RUTH. It must be owned, however, that there are some circumstances in this transaction which might possibly intimidate the Philistines, and thereby contribute to nothing of his zeal in demolishing the altar and grove of Baal, for which he drew upon himself the indignation of all the abettors of idolatry; and here, in the matter of Shamgar, he suppresses the circumstance of his slay-facilitate the slaughter which Samson made among them. ing 600 Philistines with an ox-goad, though this be the only remarkable action recorded of him, and what may, not improbably, be thus accounted for. In not many ages after this, we read that these very Philistines, with whom he had here to do, had disarmed the Israelites to that degree, that' none in their whole army, when they came to action, had either sword or spear, but only Saul and Jonathan his son; nay, that they would not so much as suffer a smith to live among them, for fear of their providing themselves with military weapons, but obliged them to repair to them, whenever they wanted to sharpen or repair their instruments of husbandry. : Now, it must be allowed, that the Scriptures say nothing of any such reduction as this, in the days of Shamgar but if such was the policy of the Philistines, in the beginning of Saul's reign, why may we not suppose that it commenced some time sooner? This cer- | tainly the Scripture tells us expressly, that in the days of Shamgar, the highways were unoccupied, and the inhabitants of the villages ceased,' by reason of the Philistines, who came and plundered the country, and carried off what booty they pleased, without molestation; and therefore, it is not unlikely, that for want of some regular arms, whereof the Philistines had stripped the Israelites, Shamgar might make himself a goad, so well contrived, that with it he could kill any man, without any manner of suspicion that it was made for that purpose, but only for common use; that with this instrument he usually went to plough; and when, at any time, the Philistines made their inroads into his lands, he, with the assistance of his servants, who, perhaps, were armed in the like manner, fell upon them, and, at several times, killed to the number of 600 of them in the space of about twenty years. This is a fair analysis of the sense of the words; and where is the great incongruity of this? Or what, indeed, is there in the whole, that an ordinary master of a family, with his domestics about him, might not do, even though we should not call in any supernatural strength to his assistance? There is more reason, however, why we should have recourse to the supernatural aid of God, in Samson's slaying 1000 of these Philistines, at one heat as it were, with no other weapon than the jaw-bone of an ass.' * For though asses in Syria, as the learned affirm, are both stronger and larger than what we have with us, and their bones consequently fitted for such hard service as this; yet it must be owned, that it was by the wonderful strength that God infused into him, and not to any aptitude of the instrument he made use of, that he was enabled to do all this execution, which is only incredible to those that do not consider the power of God, who can raise our natural strength to what degree he pleases, and, at the same time, enfeeble the spirits of those who oppose his designs, in such a manner, that they shall have no power to help themselves. 4 The people of Judah had now prevailed with him to suffer himself to be bound, and conducted to the Philistines' camp. The Philistines, as soon as they saw him coming, ran out with joy to receive him, and very likely forgot to take their arms with them, as knowing for certainty, that he was safe enough now, and bound, as we say, to his good behaviour. But when, contrary to their expectation, they saw him first break the cords so easily and suddenly, and then coming upon them with such fury and vengeance, it is not unlikely this might put them in no small confusion, and as they straggled about in their flight, gave him the opportunity of slaying them one by one, as he came up with them. 5 This, we must allow, is the highest instance of personal prowess that we any where read of; and yet profane historians inform us of other men, who, by their mere natural courage, unassisted by any divine power, (as the Scripture informs us Samson was,) have made great havock among their enemies. For Flavius Vopiscus reports, that in the Sarmatic war, Aurelian slew fortyeight men in one day, and in several days 950, which diminishes the wonder of this achievement of Samson's not a little; especially considering, that the Philistines, in their surprise, might think that this was all a trick and management of his conductors to get so many unarmed men into their power, and that they too were ready to fall upon them, and assist him, in case they should make any opposition against their champion. That Samson, after so long a fatigue, should be almost ready to die with thirst, is no strange thing at all; but the question is, how, in a place where no water was, he came to have this thirst allayed? The Hebrew word mactes does properly signify the socket, in which the great teeth in the jaw are fastened; and from hence Bochart, among many others, endeavours to maintain by arguments, that God made one of these teeth drop out of the jaw, wherewith Samson had done all this execution, and immediately a stream of water gushed out from thence. But with all due deference to the learning of so great a man, it is somewhat strange, that he should 'Patrick's Commentary. 6 6 Le Clerc's Commentary. Upon this occasion the boys made a song, not much unlike that which Samson made of himself, (Judg. xv. 16.), which, after a military manner, they shouted in their dances: "We, a single man, have slain a thousand men-a thousand we have slain-long life to him who slew his thousands-no one has as much wine as the blood shed by him." son's thirst, and what there is no matter of foundation for in the c Josephus gives us a strange account of the reason of SamScripture. "Samson," says he, "was so transported with the thoughts of this victory, that he had the vanity to assume the honour of the action to himself, without ascribing the glory of it to God's power and providence, as he ought to have done. But while this arrogant and overweening humour was yet upon him, he found himself seized with a violent parching thirst, which gave him to understand, that, after all his successes, he was but flesh and blood still, and liable to human infirmities. The sense of this disorder brought him to the knowledge of himself, and to a penitent confession that the victory was God's, and that he was able to do nothing of himself without the divine assistance. He begged pardon for his past vanity and presumption. His prayers were not in vain; for immediately there gushed out of a rock, that was hard by, a stream of delicious water to relieve him in his raging drought."—Antiquities, b. 5. c. 1. A. M. 2561. A. C. 1443; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 4189. A. C. 1222. JUD. i. TO THE end of ruth. 1 26 not observe, when he had this passage under considera- | therefore there was no fatality in making him of this tion, that such a miracle as this would be inconsistent unruly disposition, (for that he contracted himself,) yet with the words which follow: 'wherefore he called the there was a wise direction of God's providence in making name thereof,' that is, of the fountain of water which his rugged temper subservient to his purposes, and even gushed out, 'En-hakkor,' or 'the well of him that cried out of his faults and enormities extracting the plagues to God, which is in Lehi even unto this day.' Lehi is and punishment of his foes; for surely the wrath of here therefore the proper name of a place. This place man shall praise thee,' says the Psalmist, and the rehad doubtless its appellation from this adventure of mainder of his wrath shalt thou restrain.' This we may Sainson's with the jaw-bone, and from this place God lay down as a general reason for God's making use of caused a spring to arise, that he might allay his hero's so furious an instrument as Samson was, in the execution thirst. For it is incongruous to think, that the jaw of of his will: and now, let us examine a little into the an ass or any other creature, could have subsisted to the other inconsistencies which some pretend to espy in the time when the author of this book of Judges lived; or sequel of this story. (if all this while none should have had the curiosity to take away this wonderful bone) that God should, out of the socket of one of its teeth, cause a stream of water to flow, by one continual, useless miracle. It must then be a mistake in our version, to render the words, 'God clave a hollow place, which was in the jaw,' when, according to the a sense of the ancients upon this place, they should be translated, which was in Lehi.' For the truth of the matter is, that though this jaw be long extinct and gone, yet those who have travelled through this part of Palestine do inform us, that in the suburbs of Eleutheropolis, where Lehi very likely stood, the fountain which arose upon this occasion is still remaining, and called the fountain of the jaw to this day. But be that as it will, whether the water which refreshed Samson in this his distress came from the jawbone, or, others think, from a cliff in a rock, or a hollow in the earth, the miracle is the same, though it may not be improper, whenever we can by an easier interpretation, to take away occasion from those that seek occasion to disparage the oracles of God. We are not, however, concerned to vindicate Samson in all his extravagant and outrageous actions; such as his marrying an idolatress, and then leaving her; his loving lewd women, and discovering the great secret whereon his all depended to a common prostitute; his killing some and maiming others, who perhaps had never done him any personal injury; and setting the whole country on fire, to burn their corn-fields and vineyards, with many other things that might be alleged against him. All that we have to say is, that God raised him up to be a scourge to the Philistines, and that had there not been some peculiarities in his temper, he had not been so proper an instrument in his hand; or that, had he not run himself so often into præmunires, he would not have had so frequent occasion to employ the strength which God had given him, in extricating himself from thence by the death and destruction of his enemies. Though 'Judg. xv. 19. a To this purpose we may observe, that the Seventy interpreters, the Chaldee Paraphrast, and Josephus in his history, make it to be a proper name of a place, whence the waters gushed out. The words in the Septuagint are, 'God clave a hollow place in the ground, which was afterwards called Lehi, or Siagon, and out of it issued water.' Josephus is quoted before, only he had these words farther, "which rock," says our translator of Josephus, "from the exploit of Samson, bears the name of a jaw unto this very day." And the words of the Paraphrast are directly to the same purpose: so that it is much to be wondered at, how so learned and acute a man as Bochart, should overlook these sentiments of the ancients.-Le Clerc's Commentary. A certain anonymous author, in a dissertation upon Samson's foxes, has solved the whole difficulty of that piece of history, if we will but admit of his suppositions. He supposes that the word schualim, which we render foxes, should, with a little variation, be written schoalim, which denotes sheaves, or rather shocks of corn; and that the word zanab, which, in our translation, is a tail, equally signifies the extreme or outermost part of any thing. Thus, in an orchard planted in the form of a quincunx, the farthermost tree is called zanab; and, in like manner, the extreme or outside shocks in a field may be so called here: and then the sense of the words will be, “That Samson, at different places, set fire to 300 shocks of corn, which stood in the out parts of the fields belonging to the Philistines, and so, by the fire's spreading from shock to shock, destroyed, in a manner, all their crop." But without entertaining any novel interpretation, and which, upon examination, perhaps will hardly bear the test, we may adventure to say, that these 300 foxes, which Samson is said to have caught, are not, even in a literal sense, so incredible a thing, nor so liable to ridicule, as some may imagine. For we are to consider, (as the learned' Bochart, from the account of several travellers, evinces,) that the whole country, especially that part of it which belonged to the tribe of Gad, so abounded with foxes, that from them several places took their names: that under the name of foxes may not improperly be comprehended a creature very much like them, called thoes, which go in such herds, that 200 of them have been seen together at once; that the manner of catching them was not, as we may imagine, by hunting only, but by snares and nets, as the above-mentioned author plainly demonstrates; and that Samson did not do this alone by himself, in a day and night's time, but that, being assisted by his servants and neighbours, as he was a man of considerable eminence in his country, he might possibly be some weeks in accomplishing his design. His design, however, will not appear so romantic, if b Mr Bernard, in his Republic of Letters, October, 1707, p. 407., makes mention of a small treatise in 12mo, entitled "Dissertation on Balaam's ass, the foxes of Samson, the jawbone of the ass," &c., from whom I have extracted the author's sentiment, as Mr Bernard has represented it; but could, by no means, meet with the book itself, and cannot therefore properly enter into an examination of the author's opinion. However, I thought convenient to make mention of it, because there seems to be something ingenious, as well as singular in it. A. M. 2561. A. C. 1443; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 4189. A. C. 1222. JUD. i. TO THE END OF RUTH. a measure of extension. Add to this, that in all other places of Scripture where we meet with the word handful, that is, as much grain in the stock as the reaper can grasp in his hand, or terms from that in dispute, are always made use of in the origisheaf, a collection of such handfuls bound together, different nal; as Ruth ii. 15, 16, and elsewhere. we consider what collections have been made of creatures | righteousness in this, and many of his other proceedings, much wilder and rarer than foxes: that Lucius Sylla, we are, as we said before, no ways accountable, unless his when he was prætor, ordered to be shown, on the amphitheatre, a hundred lions; Julius Cæsar, when he was dictator, four hundred; and that 2 the emperor Probus, at one spectacle, exhibited a thousand ostriches, a thousand stags, a hundred Lybian, and a hundred Syrian leopards, and an infinite number of other strange creatures and why then should it be thought to be a thing so incredible, as to need the intervention of a miracle, as some contend, for Samson, with the assistance of his friends, who might be let into his design, to get together, in some time, three hundred foxes, in a country that everywhere abounded with them? 3 Foxes, we are none of us ignorant, are very apt to do a great deal of mischief wherever they abound, and therefore Samson might have this farther aim in collecting so many, namely, that, thereby he might clear his own country of such noxious animals, and at the same time, that he very well knew, no creature could be more convenient for his purpose of annoying and detrimenting his enemies. For as these creatures are very swift of foot, and have a natural dread of fire, they could not well fail, when once they were turned into it, of setting the standing corn in a blaze, and then, as they were tied in couples, tail to tail, this would make them draw one against the other, and so being retarded in their flight, and staying longer in a place, they would give the fire more time to spread itself, and make a conflagration universal. Upon the whole, therefore, we may conclude, that the mustering up such a number of foxes, in order to burn up the Philistines' corn, was neither a foolish nor impracticable thing, supposing Samson was at liberty to prosecute his revenge in this manner. a But for his a Dr Kennicott contends for the translation noticed above, namely, that instead of fores we should read handfuls or sheaves, but this meaning does not seem borne out by the use of the word in other places, nor is it supported by the context in this place. The following strictures on this criticism, and remarks on this subject generally, we quote from Dr Harris's Natural History of the Bible. "However plausible this turn may seem, I think that it is as far from the sense of the sacred historian as it is from our translation, which, I imagine, truly expresses his meaning. For the word " lakar, which our Translators have rendered 'caught,' never signifies simply to get, take, or fetch, but always to catch, seize, or take by assault, stratagem, or surprise, &c., unless the following place, 1 Sam. xiv. 47, So Saul took the kingdom over Israel,' be an exception. Again, admitting the proposed alteration in the word yw, shuol, it will be difficult to prove that even then it means a sheaf. The word is used but three times in the whole Bible. Its meaning must be gathered from the connexion in which it stands here. The first place is 1 Kings xx. 10, where it is rendered handfuls,' not of grain, but of dust. The gods do so unto me, and more also,' says Benhadad, king of Syria, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.' In Isaiah xl. 12. the same word is translated, the hollow of the hand.' 'Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out the heavens with a span.' The last place in which the word occurs is Ezekiel xiii. 9. And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley, and for pieces of bread?' The connexion here with pieces of bread seems evidently to point out to us handfuls of barley in the grain, not handfuls or sheaves in the ear and straw. In fine, from the places quoted, taken in their several connexions, the word plainly appears to mean a measure of capacity, as much as the hollow of the hand can hold; as a hand-breadth is used in Scripture for "The supposed incredibleness of the story, as it stands in our bibles, is, I imagine, the only reason for forcing it into another meaning. The language of the critics I oppose, is this: The action of Samson, as represented in our translation, is so extraordinary, that it must be miraculous. The occasion was uaworthy of the divine interposition. Therefore the Translators of the Bible must in this particular have mistaken the meaning of the sacred historian.' But we have shown above, from an examination of the principal terms, that the translation is just. It remains then to be shown, either that the occasion was not unworthy of the divine interposition, or that the action was not above human capacity. The latter, I am fully persuaded, is the truth of the case, though I am far from thinking the former indefensible. The children of Israel were, in a peculiar manner, separated from the rest of mankind, for this purpose more es pecially, to preserve in the world, till the times of general refor mation should come, the knowledge and worship of the one true God. At sundry times, and in divers manners, did the Deity for this end interpose. Many instances of this kind are recorded in the book of Judges. When this people perverted the end of their distinguished privileges, God suffered them to be enslaved by those idolatrous nations whose false deities they had worshipped. By this means they were brought to a sense of their error; and when they were sufficiently humbled, the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. Jud. ii. 16. In such a state of servitude to the Philistines were they at this time. Samson was raised up in an extraordinary manner to be their deliverer; and his intermarriage with the Philistines was a means which Providence saw fit to make use of to effect their deliverance. Thus the affair is represented. Samson proposes his intentions to his parents. They expostu late with him. Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all thy people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines?' But they,' adds the sacred historian, were ignorant that it was of the Lord, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines; for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.' Though Samson, then, might propose to himself nothing more in forming a connexion with a foreign lady, than the gratification of his own inclinations, yet we are warranted to say, an overruling Providence had a further design. The same may be affirmed of other actions of Samson, which appear to have proceeded from passions of a more rugged complexion. His intention in them might be unworthy of a divine interposition; but the end which God bad in view, the deliverance of a people chosen to preserve his worship in the world, would make it highly fit and necessary. Nor ought it to be reckoned strange, that such means should be used; for we are authentically assured, that the wrath of man, and, by parity of reason, other passions too, are sometimes made to praise the Lord. Thus much I thought necessary to say, for the sake of those to whom a solution on natural principles shall seem unsatisfactory. Such a solution I now proceed to give. "In the first place, it is evident from the Holy Scriptures, that Palestine abounded with foxes, or that animal, be it what it will, which is signified by the Hebrew word byw, shuol. This appears from many passages. Psalm lxiii, 10; Cant. ii. 15; Lam. v. 18; Sam. xiii. 17; Josh. xv. 28; xix. 3. From their numbers, then, the capture would be easy. "Further: under the Hebrew word yw, shuol, was probably comprehended another animal, very similar to the fox, and very numerous in Palestine; gregarious, and whose Persic name is radically the same with the Hebrew. It is no easy matter to determine, whether the Hebrew yw, shuol, means the common fox (canis vulpes,) or the jackal, (canis aureus,)"the little eastern fox,' as Hasselquist calls him. Several of the modern oriental names of the jackal, that is, the Turkish chical, the Persian sciagal, sciugal, sciachal, or schacal (whence the French chacal, and English jackal,) from their resemblance to the Hebrew, favour the latter interpretation. Perhaps the term may include both animals, although it seems most probable that |