Judges 1 - John Trapp Complete Commentary

Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?

The Book of Judges,] Who were God's lieutenants, extraordinarily raised up, as occasion required: for himseff still held the iura regalia, the royal rights and royalties, till Saul's reign: whence Josephus calleth the government of this people a theocracy, or God government. Whether Samuel wrote this book, as the Hebrews say he did, or some other holy prophet or prophets, it mattereth not. Regis epistolis acceptis, saith Gregory, when a king sendeth his letters to his subjects, it is ridiculous for them to inquire with what pen he wrote them. God is the author of this book; and the argument of it we have in the second chapter, as also in Psalms 106:1,48. And whereas Vopiscus a saith, Neminem historicorum non aliquid esse mentitum; that all heathen historians have taken some liberty to lie; of this, and the rest of the sacred writings, we may safely say, as Revelation 22:6, "These sayings are faithful and true"; they are also "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." 2Ti 3:16

a In Vita Aureliani

Ver. 1. Now after the death of Joshua.] The enemies haply might hope to hold their own, now that the lion was dead; as the loss of a valiant general is sometimes the ruin of a whole state; witness the Thebans, known by their calamities only, after the death of their renowned Epaminondas. But Israel, whilst they kept close to their covenant, might truly triumph and say, as in Isaiah 33:22, "The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us."

The children of Israel asked the Lord.] They had miscarried at Ai by not consulting first with God: so did afterwards David when he carted the ark, and Josiah when he went against Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt. The heathens usually consulted their oracles before they waged war: and they called a sacrifice Hostia, because when they went against their enemies they offered it.

Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

Ver. 1. Jude the servant] To distinguish him from Judas the traitor, lest he should suffer by mistake, as Nicholas the deacon is thought to do, as if he were the author of the sect of the Nicolaitans, which Christ hated. This Jude or Judas, was also surnamed Lebbaeus, that is, hearty; as Hooper the martyr was called hearty Hooper. He was indeed a hearty friend to the truth, earnestly contending for the faith once delivered unto the saints; and (haereticorum malleus) a hammer against heretics, whom he describeth here to the life, and opposeth them to his utmost.

To them that are sanctified] Or to them that are beloved, as other copies have it.

Preserved] "Kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation," 1 Peter 1:5.

And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.

Ver. 2. And the Lord said,] viz., By the ministry of the high priest.

Judah shall go up.] A valiant, prudent, and hitherto a prosperous tribe, ever preferred according to Genesis 49:8, and with reference to Messiah the Prince, that Lion of this tribe.

Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.

Ver. 2. Mercy unto you, &c.] Mercy from the Father, peace from the Son, and love from the Holy Ghost.

And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him.

Ver. 3. And Judah said unto Simeon his brother.] Both by race, place, and grace.

Come up with me.] Continue the old league, defensive and offensive, that is already betwixt us. See Joshua 12:14. Two is better than one, and a good neighbourhood no small happiness.

Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

Ver. 3. Of the common salvation] That wherein all saints have a share.

For the faith] That faith of the gospel, Philippians 1:27, the doctrine of faith.

Once delivered] Once for all, not only as but one only rule, but as but once sent to a nation. So that if lost, or any way corrupted, it will not be given again; another edition of it is not to be expected. Contend earnestly for it, therefore, conflict one after another, as the word επαγωνιζεσθαι signifies. Hold fast the faithful word, as with both hands, Titus 1:9. See Trapp on " Tit 1:9 " Resolve either to live with the gospel, or to die for it. Be zealous in the defenee of it, and strive your utmost. When Carolostadius opposed Luther's consubstantiation, but weakly, faintly, and insufficiently, Zuinglius said he was sorry that so good a cause wanted shoulder. Non satis humerorum haberet. In the conference at Possiacum in France, Beza (speaker for the Protestants), entering into the matter of the Eucharist, spake with such heat, that he gave but ill satisfaction to those of his own party (saith the author of the History of the Council of Trent), so that he was commanded to conclude. How true this is I know not; sure it is, that in falling forward is nothing so much danger as in falling backward; so he that contendeth earnestly for the truth, though he may carry some things indiscreetly, yet he is far better than a faint chapman or a feeble champion. Austin was much heartened and hardened in his Manichism, because he met with weak opponents, such as his nimble wit could easily overturn.

And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men.

Ver. 4. And they slew of them in Bezek.] Saul's rendezvous. 1Sa 11:8

For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ver. 4. For there are certain men] Not worthy to be named, as that rich glutton,Luke 16:19 .

Crept in unawares] παρεισεδυσαν, stealing their passage, and making as if they minded nothing less. Thus Socrates (the writer of the Ecclesiastical History) was a close Novatian, as the learned Jacobus Billius observeth; he favoureth that heresy all along his history, sed ita oblique, ut minus perspicaci Lectori non tam dolori suo atque irae obsequi quam veritatis rationem habere videatur, but he doth it so cunningly, that a man would think he did it out of pure regard to the truth. (Observat. Sacrar. i. 26.) So Spondanus, the epitomizer of Baronius, drinks to his readers the pernicious poison of Hildebrand's heresies, quasi aliud agens, as if he intended no such matter.

Ordained to this] Gr. προγεγραμμενοι, written down, enrolled, set down in the black bill.

Turning the grace of our God] Gr. μετατιθεμενοι, translating it from its proper end, perverting it, by arguing from mercy to liberty, which is the devil's logic. Corruptio optimi est pessima. The corruption of the best is the worst. Learned men have conceived, saith Plutarch, that as of oxen, being dead and rotten, there breed bees, of horses wasps, of asses beetles; so men's bodies, when the marrow melteth and gathereth together, do bring forth serpents. The grace of God, if turned into wantonness, becometh the "savour of death unto death."

And they found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

Ver. 5. And they found Adonibezek.] Who had pompously called himself Lord of Bezek, after the name of his city, seeking thereby to immortalise himself upon his possession; see Gen 4:17 Psa 49:11 but it proved otherwise, for he was found and ferreted out of his den, whither he had carried together no small spoil. Jdg 1:7

I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.

Ver. 5. Afterward destroyed] Their preservation was but a reservation, as was Sennacherib's, Pharaoh's, and theirs whom God threatened to destroy, after that he had done them good, Joshua 24:20 .

But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.

Ver. 6. But Adonibezek fled.] Excusing his flight, perhaps, as afterwards Demosthenes did. Vir fugiens denuo pugnabit; He that now fleeth, may fight another time.

And caught him.] Fugere quidem hic tyrannus potuit, sed non effugere; fly he might, but not escape, because divine vengeance pursued him for his cruelty. And the like befell Manasseh, Zedekiah, Muleasses (discovered by his perfumes), and many others.

And cut off his thumbs and his great toes.] So Tamerlane shackled Bajazet the great Turk whom he had taken in battle, and shut him up in an iron cage made like a grate, that he might be seen and derided of all men. He used him also on festival days as a footstool to tread upon when he mounted to horse, and at other times scornfully fed him like a dog with crumbs fallen from his table. All which Tamerlane did, not so much for hatred to the man, as to manifest the just judgment of God against the arrogant folly of the proud, saith the historian. a

a Turk. Hist., 220.

And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

Ver. 6. Kept not their first estate] Their original integrity or principality. Of this sin of the angels, the cause was the will of the angels, good in itself (but mutable and free), not by working either, but by not working, saith a divine.

But left their own habitation] Being driven thence and hurried into hell.

He hath reserved in everlasting chains, &c.] There are two sorts of chains, saith Mr Leigh. First, those which torment the devil, God's wrath, and his own conscience. Secondly, those which restrain him, his own finiteness, and God's providence.

And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered [their meat] under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.

Ver. 7. And Adonibezek said.] Perhaps he repented a little, as did afterwards Antiochus, Licinius, and other tyrants, who yet acknowledged that God's heavy hand was just upon them; but surely a fame of ingenuity he hath gotten him, for confessing God's art of justicing in that most exact way of counter-passion or retaliation, such as did Adamussim aequiparare, et in librili perpendere, as Favorinus speaketh: a the scales were even: his cruelty in the one, his punishment in the other. This if he had thought on, and taken up in time, he might have haply redeemed his present sorrows and sufferings. Sethon king of Egypt

“ Qui Pharios currus regum cervicibus egit, ”

made his tributary kings draw his chariot by turns, till one time he espied one of those kings to look back earnestly on the wheel, and demanding the reason thereof, was answered by him, that with much comfort he beheld the lowest spokes turn uppermost by course. Whereupon, apprehending the moral, he left off that proud and barbarous custom. b

Having their thumbs and their great toes cut off.] That they might be disabled for fighting any more. The Latins call the thumb pollex, ab eo quod pollet, from its power and great usefulness. The Greeks call it αντιχειρ, that is, another hand. Further he might exercise this cruelty, Ut suas victorias ostentaret, et animum exhilararet; For a trophy of his victories, as did Sesostris or Sethon, forementioned; or to make himself sport, as Pope Clement V used Dandalus, the Venetian ambassador, whom he made to wallow under his table with dogs, that he might laugh at him. Man's heart, saith Mr Perkins, c is a palace of satanical pride: it is like unto the table of Adonibezek, at which he sat in a chair of state, and made others, even kings, to eat meat like dogs under his feet, with their thumbs cut off. Such a one is every man by nature: he lifteth up himself, saying, I am the man, and treadeth his brother underfoot, as nobody to him.

Gathered their meat under my table.] Meat they had then, though in a base way. This was better usage yet than our Richard II met with here in his own kingdom. For although his food was served in at Pomfret Castle, and set before him in the wonted princely manner, yet he was not suffered to taste or touch thereof, but was tantalised and starved to death. d So were the cruel Duke of Alva's prisoners, whom he told, that though he gave them quarter for their lives, yet he never promised them food in prison to keep them alive. About the year 1159, Frederick I, Emperor, sent Guafalgus Duke of Milan prisoner into Germany, and for three days together held him under his table as a dog, and caused him to be whipped with a dog whip. e

As I have done, so God hath requited me.] God loveth to retaliate, as were easy to instance. Phalaris was burnt in his own brasen bull:

“ Neque enim lex iustior ulla est,

Quam necis artifices arte perire sua. ” - Ovid.

Constantine the Emperor put out his uncle's eyes, and five years after had his own eyes put out by his own mother Irene. f Phocas, the traitor, had his arms, feet, and genitals cut off in like manner as himself had served his sovereign Mauricius. Archbishop Arundel and Stephen Gardiner were smitten in their tongues and famished, as they had silenced preachers, spoken swelling words against the professors of the truth, and brought a famine of the word. g Charles IX of France, author of the Parisian massacre, h and Felix, earl of Wartenburg, i who threatened to ride up to the spurs in the blood of the Lutherans, were stewed in their own broth, choked in their own blood: they had "blood given them to drink, for they were worthy." What wouldst thou have done with me, said Tamerlane to Bajazet, if it had been my fortune to have fallen into thy hands? I would, said Bajazet, have enclosed thee in a cage of iron, and so in triumph have carried thee up and down my kingdom: even so, said Tamerlane, shalt thou be served. j

And there he died,] viz., Of his wounds, little care being taken of his cure, because he was a proscribed person.

a Gell., lib. xx. cap. 1.

b Isaacson, Chron., p. 61.

c Perk., Of Man's Imagin.

d Speed, p. 766.

e Naucler. Gen. xxix.

f Bucholc.

g Act. and Mon.

h Annal. Gall.

i Flac. Illyr.

j Turk. Hist., p. 220.

Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Ver. 7. Giving themselves over] In scortationem effusae, wearying and wearing themselves out with that beastly sin, εκπορνευσασαι εκ επιτασιν habet; as did Proculus, Messalina, and Lais, who died in the act of uncleanness. (απεθανε βινουμενη, Athen. xiii.) The word here used signifies, saith Aretius, Scortationi immori, et contabescere illius desiderio, To waste and consume with that cursed concupiscence. Such a one was that filthy lecher mentioned by Luther, who desired no other heaven than to live always here, and be carried from one stews to another. He died between a couple of notorious strumpets.

And going after strange flesh] See Trapp on " Gen 19:5 "

Are set forth] Gr. προκεινται, are thrown forth.

For an example] Herodotus saith the like of the destruction of Troy, that the ruins and rubbish thereof are set forth for an example of this rule, των μεγαλων αδικηματων μεγαλαι εισι και αι τιμωριαι παρα του Θεου, that God greatly punisheth great offences.

Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.

Ver. 8. Had taken it.] As also Hebron and Debir, while Joshua was yet alive, Joshua 10:42 ; Jos 15:63 which yet some hold to be there set down by way of anticipation.

Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

Ver. 8. Likewise also] Or, yet nevertheless; albeit these dreadful executions are set before them for an example.

These filthy dreamers] Or, these sound sleepers, these whom the devil hath cast into a dead lethargy of damned security. (Sopiti. Beza.) Or, these Nehelamites, that pretend dreams and divine inspirations. SeeJeremiah 29:24; Jeremiah 29:31 .

Defile the flesh] By nocturnal pollutions, which we must pray against. The devil can fasten that filth upon the soul when we sleep, that he cannot do at another time.

Despise dominion] Gr. αθετουσι, set it at nought. See Trapp on " 2Pe 2:10 " Under pretence of Christian liberty, they "set it aside," they "put it from its place" with scorn and contempt.

And speak evil of dignities] Gr. blaspheme glories: so the Papists do familiarly those princes they count heretics, as Henry IV of France, whom they called Huguenot Dog, &c. Our Edward VI, bastard. Of Queen Elizabeth they reported in print some years after her death, that she died without sense or feeling of God's mercies. Sanders calleth her the English wolf; Rhiston, the English lioness, far surpassing in cruelty all the Athaliahs, Maacahs, Jezebels, Herodiases, that ever were. Os durum! Harsh mouth. (Rivetti Jesuita vapulans, 263.)

And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley.

Ver. 9. Went down.] Being heartened by their former successes, but especially by that sweet promise in Judges 1:2 .

Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

Ver. 9. About the body of Moses] As desirous thereby to set up himself in the hearts of the living. There is a strange strife still, not of earthly, but of spiritual powers, about the possession of man's heart. If Satan can get that, he is safe. And so Satan's vicar. It was a watchword in Gregory XIII's time in Queen Elizabeth's days, "My son, give me thy heart." Be in heart a Papist, and go where you will, and do what you will.

Durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee] Let us also answer the devil in like sort: or as Grynaeus (out of Chrysostom) when he sent back Pistorius's railing letters, not so much as opening the seal, Inhonestum est honestam matronam cam meretrice litlgare, It is not seemly for an honest matron to scold with a base harlot.

And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron: (now the name of Hebron before [was] Kirjatharba:) and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.

Ver. 10. And they slew Sheshai, &c.] Those huge giants were slain by such as seemed but grasshoppers unto them. See Joshua 11:21,22 .

But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

Ver. 10. Of those things which they] So do the Papists in railing against imputed righteousness, assurance of salvation, the testimony of God's Spirit witnessing with our spirits, &c.

In those things they corrupt themselves] As in eating, drinking, carnal copulation, &c., holding neither mean nor measure, as he in Aristophanes (in Ranis), οστις γε πινειν οιδε και βινειν μονον, who was good for nothing else but to epicurize.

Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

Ver. 11. In the way of Cain] The devil's patriarch, the first apostate; this was fulfilled literally in Alphonsus Diazius, who slew his brother John, because he was a Protestant; and mystically, in all that are guilty of spiritual parricide.

And ran greedily] Gr. εξεχυθησαν, were poured out, as water out of a bottle; they ran headlong after the wages of wickedness, not caring which way they came by it, so they had it. Instar aquae diffluentis proiecta est eorum intemperies, saith Calvin, their limitless lust-like water, ran all abroad, &c.

And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before [was] Kirjathsepher: Jdg 1:12 And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife. Jdg 1:13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.

Ver. 11-13, &c. See Joshua 15:15,16, &c., See Trapp on " Jos 15:15 " See Trapp on " Jos 15:16 " &c.

These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

Ver. 12. These are spots] Or rocks, or muddy holes, that harpy-like a not only devour, but defile all that they touch, σπιλαδες, παρα το σπαν την ελην, a trahendo lutum.

In your feasts of charity] See these described by Tertullian (Advers. Genres, c. 39).

When they feast with you] Thrusting themselves into your company, whether invited or not; sin having wended an impudence in their faces.

Feeding themselves] As fatted cattle fitted for the slaughter.

Without fear] Of being ensnared by the creatures,Proverbs 23:2 .

Clouds they are] Light, and constant only in their inconstancy. The philosopher saith, Insalubre admodum caelum est quod pluviam promittit non, demittit, That is an unwholesome air that promiseth rain, but performs it not. It is ill conversing with these waterless clouds.

Twice dead] Killed with death,Revelation 2:23. Such as for whom hell gapeth.

Plucked up by the root] Trees that are not for fruit are for the fire.

a Gr. and Lat. Myth. A fabulous monster, rapacious and filthy, having a woman's face and body and a bird's wings and claws, and supposed to act as a minister of divine vengeance. ŒD

Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

Ver. 13. Raging waves of the sea] Unsettled, turbulent, and arrogant spirits; boldly belching out their abominable opinions and detestable doctrines.

Wandering stars] That were never better than meteors. Sir Francis Drake in his Travels reporteth that in a certain island to the southward of Celebes, among the trees night by night did show themselves an infinite swarm of fiery-like worms flying in the air, whose bodies, no bigger than an ordinary fly, did make a show, and give such light as if every twig on every tree had been a lighted candle, or as if that place had been the starry sphere. Lo, such were these impostors.

And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,

Ver. 14. And Enoch also] Enoch foretold the day of judgment before Noah the deluge. That day is longer before it comes, but shall be more terrible when it is come.

Behold] One calleth this word a starry note; another compares it to a hand in the margin of a book pointing to some notable thing; another compares it to the sounding of a trumpet before some proclamation, to procure attention; and it is no more than need, so heedless we are of our soul's health. Hence the heathen's hoc agite, Well this. in their sacred services. And the deacons in Chrysostom's time were appointed to call often upon the people in these words, Oremus, attendamus, Let us pray, let us pay attention. I am afraid, saith a divine, most of us do believe the predictions of Scripture but as we believe the predictions of an almanac, which tells you that such a day will be rain, and such a day will he wind; you think it may come to pass, and it may not. So here; such a threatening may be fulfilled, and it may not; let us venture it; it may be "the Lord will deal" with us not according to his present menaces, but "according to all his wondrous works," as those rebellious Jews suggested to Jeremiah 21:2 .

The Lord cometh] Syr. Maranatha. Hence the Jews say that the great excommunication Maranatha was instituted by Enoch.

With ten thousand of his saints] Or, with his holy myriads; sc. of saints and angels; he shall not leave one of them behind him in heaven, Matthew 25:31. And whereas it is said, The Lord cometh, it shows that he is already on his way, and will be with us shortly. Where St Jude had this prophecy of Enoch it much matters not. The Jews have yet to this day some relics of it in their writings. And Tertullian tells us (de Habitu Mulierum), (but who told him I know not), that the book of Enoch's prophecies were preserved by Noah in the ark, and that they continued and were read until the times of the apostles. But because they contained many famous testimonies concerning Jesus Christ, the Jews out of malice suppressed and abolished the whole book.

To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

Ver. 15. To convince all] To set them down, to leave them excuseless, speechless, self-condemned, ελεγξαι .

Of all their hard speeches] Their rude, crude, crooked, cross speeches, uttered with perverse lips; so Solomon calls them, Proverbs 4:24, as if the upper lip stood where the nether lip should.

And the children of the Kenite, Moses' father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which [lieth] in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.

Ver. 16. And the children of the Kenite.] Elsewhere called Jethro, Hobab, Revel: his posterity followed the Israelites for religion's sake, into the promised land, leaving their own country -

“ Omne sohm forti patria est. ” - Ovid., Fast.

These Kenites dwelt in tents, and had no settled habitation, as a kind of Nomads or Cosmopolites. They held the same of the world that a certain philosopher did of Athens - viz., that it was a pleasant place to travel through, but not safe to dwell in.

These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.

Ver. 16. These are murmurers] Ut porci saginati, saith Aretius, as boars in a frank, they grunt against God's ways and worshippers, like so many Caii Grunnii Corocottae.

Complainers] Invalidum omne natura querulum, saith Seneca. Weak ones are never without their ailments.

After their own lusts] So many lusts, so many lords.

Great swelling words] Bubbles of words. See the note on 2 Peter 2:18. The Syriac renders it, stupendous stuff. They amaze their hearers with sesquipedalian a words, and sublime businesses, big swollen fancies, &c.; they tell them they shall hear that which they never heard before, and therefore call upon them to mark; whereas the thing is either false, or if true, no more than ordinarily is taught by others: with as much confidence as ignorance they counsel the simple by portentous words and phrases abhorrent from Christian religion, truth, and sobriety; and which wise men lament while fools applaud and admire.

Having men's persons] Licking up their spittle, as it were, and loading the mouse with the elephant's praises. Ungunt pariter et emungunt.

a Of words and expressions (after Horace's sesquipedalia verba ‘words a foot and a half long', A.P. 97): Of many syllables. Ten dollar words! ŒD

And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah.

Ver. 17. And utterly destroyed it.] So that this city was twice utterly ruined, and therefore called Horma, devoted to destruction.

“ Roma diu titubans, variis erroribus acta

Corruct, et mundi desinet esse caput. ”

But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Ver. 17. Of the apostles] Paul and Peter, from whom St Jude borroweth much from his Epistle. See my Preface to God's Love Tokens.

Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and Askelon with the coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof.

Ver. 18. Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof.] But lost them again to the Philistines -

“ Non minor est virtus, quam quaerere, parta tueri. ”

How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

Ver. 18. Mockers] Who fleer a when they should fear. See Trapp on " 2Pe 3:3 "

Who should walk after their ungodly lusts] Gr. the lusts of ungodliness, whereby the heart is turned away from God and godliness.

a To laugh mockingly or scornfully; to smile or grin contemptuously; hence, to gibe, jeer, sneer. ŒD

And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out [the inhabitants of] the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

Ver. 19. Drave out the inhabitants of the mountain.] Or, Possessed the mountain: for the same Hebrew word Jarash, signifies to possess and to dispossess.

But could not drive out.] Indeed, for want of faith: else they might have driven them out; Si ex fide fortiter pugnassent: to faith all things are feasible. Is not the same God, God of the valleys also, as well as of the mountains? But as it is said that Mar 6:5 our Saviour "could do no mighty work" - that is, he would do no mighty work - "in his own country, because of their unbelief," so was it here.

These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

Ver. 19. Who separate] From Church assemblies, upon pretence of newer lights, greater holiness. The Arabic renders it, intermitters, sc. of Church worship. Such as upon pretence of a more than ordinary holiness, and I know not what imaginary perfection, thought they might give over hearing of the word, as having immediate teaching; and separated from holy duties, as the words following show.

Sensual] Gr. ψυχικοι, animal; such as have no more than a reasonable soul, and are yet in their pure naturals, 1 Corinthians 2:14, and by their profane practices animas etiam incarnaverunt, have turned their very spirits into a lump of flesh.

Having not the Spirit] Unless it be the spirit of delusion, as Muncer the Anabaptist had, who wrote a book against Luther, dedicated it "To the most illustrious Prince Christ" (as his words are), uphraideth Luther with want of the Spirit, and calleth him a carnal man, a silly soul. (Scultet. Annal. 338.)

And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak.

Ver. 20. And they gave Hebron.] See Joshua 14:6,7. See Trapp on " Jos 14:6 " See Trapp on " Jos 14:7 "

But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,

Ver. 20. Building up] By holy conference, a singular help, a most needful but too much neglected duty.

Praying in the Holy Ghost] Whose creature fervent prayer is.

And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.

Ver. 21. And the children of Benjamin.] See Joshua 15:63 .

Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Ver. 21. Keep yourselves] Remit nothing of your former fervour. But keep afoot and alive that twofold love of God: 1. That of desire, and earnest delight and intense longing after him, as our chiefest good. 2. Of delight and complacency, whereby we hug and embrace him, solacing ourselves in the fruition of him.

And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD [was] with them.

Ver. 22. And the Lord was with them.] "The Lord, mighty in battle."

And of some have compassion, making a difference:

Ver. 22. And of some] Or (according to other copies), "Retell their false reasonings," and dispute them out of their errors, ελεειτε, alias ελεγχετε .

And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the name of the city before [was] Luz.)

Ver. 23. Now the name of the city before was Luz,] i.e., An almond, or a filbert; perhaps from the plenty of such fruits there growing: like as Cerasus in Pontus had its name from cherries, Elaea from olives, &c.

And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

Ver. 23. Out of the fire] viz. of hell; as the angel pulled Lot out of Sodom, as ye would save a drowning man, though ye pulled off some of his hair to save him. a Hic est depingendus Satan et Tartarus, et career atrocissimus et luctuoaus, in quo vere sit strider dentium et fletus, saith Aretins. Those that are obstinate, and receive not reproofs, are to be terrified and told of the horror of hell, those seas of vengeance, that worm that never dieth, torments without end and past imagination.

Even the garment spotted] As Nero's was, when he rode in the same horse litter with his own mother. (Sueton.) The phrase is thought to be taken either from legal impurities of leprous garments, by touching of which men were defiled, Leviticus 14:54,57; or else from the profuse drunkenness and filthiness of the Gnostics, which sometimes defiled their garments.

a Haec est sancta violentia, optabilis rapina. Jerome.

And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will shew thee mercy.

Ver. 24. And the spies saw a man come forth.] Whether upon his ordinary business, or to fall to the enemy, is uncertain.

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

Ver. 24. That is able] q.d. I can only counsel you, it is God must keep you.

And when he shewed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family.

Ver. 25. And when he showed them the entrance,] i.e., Where and how they might best take it.

But they let go the man and all his family.] Who if he did this out of true faith, as Rahab did, Jos 2:1-24 he is to be excused: but if for selfish ends and sinister respects, he is to be esteemed a traitor, and might have met with such reward as Metius Suffetius did, who was drawn in pieces with wild horses by Tullus Hostilius for his treachery. Or as John Justinian of Genua did, who let Mohammed the great Turk enter Constantinople upon promise to make him king. He made him so; but after three days put him to death. Or, lastly, as he that betrayed the Rhodes; for he had his promised wife and portion presented; but the Turk told him that he would not have a Christian to be his son-in-law; he must needs be a Moslem, that is, a believing Turk both within and without. And therefore he caused his baptized skin, as he called it, to be taken off, and him to be cast in a bed strowed with salt, that he might get a new skin, and so he should be his son-in-law. But the wicked wretch ended his life with shame and torment.

To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

Ver. 25. See Trapp on " 1Ti 1:17 "

And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which [is] the name thereof unto this day.

Ver. 26. And built a city.] Therefore it seemeth he was well rewarded, and not in counterfeit coin: as the Spaniard rewarded a countryman of ours who had betrayed a town to him in the Netherlands, saying that false money was good enough for so false a knave.

Neither did Manasseh drive out [the inhabitants of] Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

Ver. 27. See Joshua 17:11,12 .

And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.

Ver. 28. They put the Canaanites to tribute.] When they could have cast them out: this they did out of covetousness, that root of all evil, neglecting the command of God to the contrary. Well might David pray, "Incline mine heart to thy testimonies, and not to covetousness." Psa 119:36 Sallust saith, Ubi divitiae clarae habentur, ibi omnia bona vilia sunt, fides, probitas, pudor, pudicitia; Where money is in price, there honesty and fidelity are easily parted with.