forsake Jehovah," &c. This passage has more circumspect and resolved in answering been well considered, in Mr. Hallet's their obligations. The meaning is, God's "Notes," vol. iii., p. 2. Yet it will be service is not, as you seem to fancy, a slight necessary to add, that the verb is re- and easy thing, as soon done as said; but it gularly cessabitis or cessetis; and that the is a work of great difficulty, and requires particles, non, and, ne, are very often great care, and courage, and resolution; put for one another, or signify the same and when I consider the infinite purity of thing: see 1 Kings iii. 26, 27. God, that he will not be mocked or abused; Ged.-Ye will not be sufficient to serve, and withal your great and often manifested &c.] Some modern interpreters have sup- proneness to superstition and idolatry, eve posed, that the true reading here should be during the life of Moses, and in some of you Cease ye not. The conjecture is ingenious, whilst I live, and whilst the obligations but unsupported by any MS. or ancient which God hath laid upon you in this land version; nor is it necessary. The original are fresh in remembrance; I cannot but fear word does not always imply an impossibility. that after my decease you will think the It here implies only a doubt. The Syriac service of God too hard and burdensome for translator seems to have perfectly compre-you, and therefore will cast it off, and revolt hended the meaning: "Consider," says from him, if you do not double your watch, Joshuah, "whether ye will be able to serve and carefully avoid all occasions of idolatry, so holy and jealous a God." which I fear you will not do, but I do hereby exhort you to do. Dr. A. Clarke.-Ye cannot serve the Lord; for he is a holy God.] If we are to take this literally, we cannot blame the Israelites for their defection from the worship of the true God; for it was impossible for them to serve Ver. 20. נֵכָר וְשָׁב וְהֵרַע לָכֶם וְכָלָה אֶתְכֶם God, they could not but come short of his kingdom: but surely this was not the case. Instead of, lo thuchelu, ye CANNOT serve, &c., some eminent critics read Í ἡνίκα ἂν ἐγκαταλίπητε κύριον καὶ λατρεύκαὶ ἐπελθὼν κακώσει lo thechallu, ye shall not CEASE to serve, &c. One beois étépois. This is a very ingenious emendation, but ὑμᾶς καὶ ἐξαναλώσει ὑμᾶς ἀνθ' ὧν εὖ ἐποίησεν there is not one MS. in all the collections of Kennicott and De Rossi to support it. However, it appears very possible that the first vau in did not make a part of the word originally. If the common reading be preferred, the meaning of the place must be, "Ye cannot serve the Lord, for he is holy and jealous, unless ye put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the flood. For he is a jealous God, and will not give to nor divide his glory with any other. He is a holy God, and will not have his people ὑμᾶς. Ver. 25. יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בְּרִית לָעָם בַּיּוֹם -defiled with the impure worship of the Gen וַיִּכְרֹת tiles." : Daya bayipa ph ib ziyan sano καὶ διέθετο Ἰησοῦς διαθήκην πρὸς τὸν λαὸν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ, καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ νόμον καὶ κρίσιν ἐν Σηλὼ ἐνώπιον τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ θεοῦ Ἰσραήλ. Pool.-Ye cannot serve the Lord: he speaks not of an absolute impossibility (for then both his resolution to serve God himself, and his exhortation to them to do so, had been vain and ridiculous), but of a moral impossibility, or a very great difficulty! Au. Ver.-25 So Joshua made a cove. [so Patrick, Rosen.], which he allegeth not nant with the people that day, and set them to discourage them from God's service, a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. which is his great design to engage them in ; | Pool.-Either, 1. He set, or propounded, but only to make them more considerate or declared unto them the statute and ordiand cautious in obliging themselves, and nance, i. e., the sum of the statutes and ordinances of God, which their covenant obliged them to. Or, 2. He set or established it, to wit, that covenant with them, i. e., the people, for a statute or an ordinance, to bind themselves and their posterity unto God for ever, as a statute and ordinance of God doth. An oak. So Gesen., Rosen. Rosen.-Sumsitque lapidem magnum posuitque eum ibi. tappa hun ming noa, Sub quercu illa, quæ erat ad sanctuarium Jova. Bp. Patrick. Set them a statute and an Præpositio nomini præmissa pro ordinance.] It is commonly interpreted, that capienda. Possit tamen et sic exponi: in he propounded to them in brief the precepts loco quo sanctuarium, i.e., arca (vid. ad of the law; which are the conditions of the vs. 1) posita erat. De, i. q. ix, quo covenant: but it may be expounded, that he nomine alii terebinthum, alii, cum Aquila, enacted this covenant to have the force of a Symmacho, Hieronymo, quercum significari statute and ordinance, or judgment, as it is existimant, vid. Bibl. Naturgesch., P. i., in the Hebrew. p. 233, seqq. Ged., Booth.-25 Thus Joshua made a covenant, that day, with the people, and made it a statute and an ordinance in [Ged., and ratified it at] Shiloh [LXX, Arab., see notes on verse 1], before the tabernacle of the God of Israel [LXX]. Ver. 27. Au. Ver.-27 And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God. A witness unto us. Ged., Booth.-A witness against you [LXX, Vulg.]. Which he spake unto us. Rosen.-25 Et fecit Josua foedus populo die illo, i. e., instauravit et renovavit foedus jam ante a populo cum Deo initum, Exod. xxiv. 3, seqq. Foedus autem illud non est aliquid distinctum ab iis quæ præcedunt Josuæ interrogationibus et populi responsionibus, quibus populus professus est et protestatus, sese Jovæ cultum ac religionem spoken unto you [LXX, Vulg.]. pure et illibate velle servare, et Josua ex parte Dei ejus auxilium, protectionem, et paternam curam pollicitus est. Ged. Which he hath this day [LXX] Ver. 30. et legem, statuta et leges in Sichem. Videtur significari, Josuam generatim Mosaicæ legis capita, ut fœderis conditiones, populo in memoriam revocasse. propr. judicium, hinc jus, porro legem statutum, tanquam normam judicandi, denotare constat, vid. Exod. xxi. 1 ; xxiv. 3; Levit. xviii. 4. Pro Da Græcus Alexandrinus et hic, ut vs. 1, posuit ἐν Σηλώ, addiditque : ἐνώπιον τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἰσραήλ. Et his concinit Arabicus interpres. Cf. not. ad vs. 1. Ver. 26. καὶ ἔθαψαν αὐτὸν πρὸς τοῖς ὁρίοις τοῦ κλή pov avтoù èv Oaμvaσapàx év Tô öpeɩ Tô 'Epραὶμ ἀπὸ βοῤῥᾶ τοῦ ὄρους τοῦ Γαλαάδ. ἐκεῖ ἔθηκαν μετ ̓ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ μνῆμα εἰς ὅ ἔθαψαν αὐτὸν ἐκεῖ τὰς μαχαίρας τὰς πετρίνας, ἐν αἷς περιέτεμε τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραὴλ ἐν Γαλγάλοις, ὅτε ἐξήγαγεν αὐτοὺς ἐξ Αἰγύπτου καθὰ συνέταξεν αὐτοῖς κύριος. καὶ ἐκεῖ εἰσιν ἕως τῆς σήμερον ἡμέρας. Au. Ver.-30 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north .side of the hill of Gaash בְּמִקְדָּשׁ יְהוָה: wane? καὶ ἔστησεν αὐτὸν Ἰησοῦς ὑπὸ τὴν τέρμινθον ἀπέναντι κυρίου. Au. Ver.-26 And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD. Timnath-serah. Gesen. (portion of abundance, i. e., remaining portion, see pp) Timnathserah, pr. n. of a town in the mountains of Ephraim, assigned to Joshua, and the place of his burial, Josh. xix. 50; xxiv. 30. The same is called in Judg. ii. 9 nina (portion of the sun) Timnath-heres. The former 152 is probably the correct reading; since a pos- | post ultimum versum reddunt, Israelitas session thus given to Joshua after the rest of postea coluisse deam Astartem et Astaroth, the land was distributed (Josh. xix. 49), Deumque illos tradidisse Egloni, regi MoabAddit, in codicibus describendis would strictly be a portion remaining; see itarum. Studer in loc.-[Prob. i. q. Oaμvá Timnah facilius omitti verba, quam addi, quia causæ of Josephus, the head of a toparchy lying multæ sunt, cur scribæ quædam omittant, between those of Gophna and Lydda; see paucissimæ, cur addant. above in .—TR.] Rosen.-30 De urbem vid. xix. 50. Ver. 32. scribitur trajectis literis, quod solembna bawa mnar Singap i bezbi denotare constat. Hebræi, referente Jarchio וְאֶת־עַצְמוֹת יוֹסֵף אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלוּ בְנֵי־ 9 .Posterior hujus nominis pars Jud. ii הַשָּׂדֶה אֲשֶׁר קָנָה יַעֲקֹב מֵאֵת בְּנֵי־חֲמוֹר e veteribus commentariis, nomen impositum אֲבִי־שְׁכֶם בְּמֵאָה קְשִׂיטָה וַיִּהְיוּ לִבְנֵי־ ,urbi Josue fuisse dicunt a solis simulacro יוֹסֵף לְנַחֲלָה: quod Israelitæ super Josuæ monumentum collocaverint ad conservandam memorabilis illius miraculi memoriam, de quo supra x. 13. Maurero mutatio nominis me in videtur ingenii lusus esse, quo portio solis, id enim denotat, appelletur ea urbs, quam sol, i. e, imperator possidebat, Nostro loco unicus codex exhibet D. Arabicus interpres posuit : حارش in monte Charesch جبل , quod καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ Ἰωσὴφ ἀνήγαγον οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου, καὶ κατώρυξαν ἐν Σικίμοις ἐν τῇ μερίδι τοῦ ἀγροῦ οὗ ἐκτήσατο Ἰακὼβ παρὰ τῶν ̓Αμοῤῥαίων τῶν κατοικούντων ἐν Σικίμοις ἀμνάδων ἑκατὸν, καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτὴν Ἰωσὴφ ἐν μερίδι. Au. Ver.-32 And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver [or, lambs]: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. in Polyglottis exstat, haud dubie est mendum). zi, A septentrione monti Gaasch. Convallium Gaasch,, mentio fit 2 Sam. xxiii. 30. Sed nullum usquam satis Pieces of silver. See notes on Genesis certum loci indicium exstat literis consig-xxxiii. 19, vol. i., page 63, 64. natum. Post hæc verba Græcus AlexanAnd it became, &c. drinus interpres hæc addidit. Ibi posuerunt Dathe. In textu est qui numerus cum eo in monumento, in quo sepelierunt eum, pluralis ad ossa Josephi esset referendus. ibi cultros petrinos, quibus circumcidit filios De quibus etiam multi interpretes explicant. Israel in Galgalis, cum eduxit eos ex Ægypto, Sed quanquam non ignoro reverentiam, sicut constituit Dominus; et ibi sunt usque in hoquam orientales erga ossa majorum suorum diernam diem. Idem additamentum, sed nonhabuerunt, tamen phrasis Hebræa quæ h. l. nihil abbreviatum, dedit Arabicus interpres legitur no non satis apta videtur illi pietati significandæ. Igitur ego hæc ice verba de fundo illo explica, quem Ja ودفنت معهُ فِي قَبْرِهِ تِلْكَ السَّكَاكِينُ بنوا لسرايل بها بنوا هُنَاكَ إلى اليوم صوان وهى 93 al, et sepulti sunt cum eo in sepulchro ejus cultri illi, quibuscum circumcisi sunt Israelita, ex lapide silicis, et sunt illic ad hanc usque diem, sicut præceperat Deus. Hubigantus hæc Arabicum interpretem in suo codice Hebræo legisse existimat, quod, si e Græca interpretatione ea sumsisset, addidisset etiam id quod Græci interpretes cobus Josepho ejusque posteris tanquam Houb.-. Sine dubio, et fuit, de agro dictum eo, qui filiis Joseph cesserat. Erantque Josephitis in hereditatem. Intelligunt nonnulli Josephi ossa sepulta, quæ ab omnibus Israelitis, maxime ab ipsius nepotibus, vene randa essent. Sed verbum si ad niny spec-years." If this addition, which is only in taret, fuisset ponendum. Sed the Greek, be genuine, it should seem, that referendum ad urbem Sichem et agrum, in after the death of Eleazar, the ark, which quo paternum funus locatum fuerat. Ver. 33. hitherto had never been removed from the sanctuary at Shiloh, was begun to be carried about from place to place. Accordingly we find it in Mizpha, Jud. xi. 11; xx. 1, 27; xxi. 8. Yet we find it again at Shiloh, Sam. i. 3 ; iii. 3, whence it was brought to 1 בְּגִבְעַת פִּינְחָס בְּנוֹ אֲשֶׁר נִתַּן־לוֹ בְּהַר καὶ ἐγένετο μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ Ἐλεάζαρ υἱὸς ̓Ααρὼν ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς ἐτελεύτησε, καὶ ἐτάφη ἐν ó Γαβαάρ Φινεές τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ, ἣν ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ ὄρει τῷ Ἐφραίμ. ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ λαβόντες οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ τὴν κιβωτὸν τοῦ θεοῦ περιεφέρεσαν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς. καὶ Φινεές ἱεράτευσεν ἀντὶ Ἐλεάζαρ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ ἕως ἀπέθανε, καὶ κατωρύγη ἐν Γαβαὰρ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ. οἱ δὲ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ ἀπήλθοσαν ἕκαστος εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτῶν, καὶ εἰς τὴν ἑαυτῶν πόλιν. καὶ ἐσέβοντο οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ τὴν ̓Αστάρτην, καὶ ̓Ασταρώθ, καὶ τοὺς θεοὺς τῶν ἐθνῶν τῶν κύκλῳ αὐτῶν. καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτοὺς κύριος εἰς χεῖρας Ἐγλὼμ τῷ βασιλεῖ Μωάβ, καὶ ἐκυρίευσεν αὐτῶν ἔτη δεκαοκτώ. Au. Ver.-33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim. The son of Aaron. Ged., Booth. The son of Aaron, the priest [LXX, Syr., Arab., and two MSS.]. In mount Ephraim. the camp at Eben-ezer, 1 Sam. iv. 4; where it was captured by the Philistines. After its return, it was placed at Kirjath-jearim, where it remained until David brought it to mount Zion. See 2 Sam. vi. Bp. Horsley.-Houbigant esteems this addition, as well as what we find subjoined to the 4th and to the 30th verse, an original part of the sacred text, which was extant in the copies used by these translators. But this last addition is, in my judgment, entirely discredited by the very first part of it, about the removal of the ark from place to place; which is false. For the ark was never moved from Shiloh, till the time of Eli, when it was carried to the camp at Ebenezer, in hopes that its presence might secure the victory to the Israelites over the Philistims, 1 Sam. iv. 3, 4, and 7. Again, in the latter part, the mention of Astarte and Astaroth as different divinities betrays both the ignorance and the late age of the interpolator. Rosen. Quæ post versum 33 in Græca Alexandrina interpretatione porro narrantur Ged.-LXX add, "From that day, the de cultu alienorum deorum, cui Israelitæ children of Israel took the ark, and carried sese post Josuæ excessum dederunt usque ad it about among them: and Phinehas served Eglonis, regis Moabitarum, tyrannidem, ea as priest, instead of his father Eleazar, until sunt, ut recte Maurer animadvertit, e libro his death; when he was intombed in Gabaar Judicum ii. 6, 11, 12, 13; iii. 7, 12, 13, 14, (Gibeah), which belonged to him. But the compilata. Hoc additamentum Masius rechildren of Israel, having gone, every one fert et in suo codice Syro-Hexaplari legi, sed to his own place and city, worshipped As- notari ibi, scriptum fuisse illud post absolutarté and Astaroth, and the other gods of the tam interpretationem LXX interpretum. nations around them: and the Lord deli- Ex quo, uti addit Masius, conjectura satis vered them into the hands of Eglon king of bona duci videtur, non pertinere ea ad Moab, who had dominion over them eighteen | editionem τῶν ἑβδομήκοντα. VOL. II. 154 CHAP. I. 1. JUDGES. Au. Ver.-Behold. Ver. 5. καὶ κατέλαβον τὸν ̓Αδωνιβεζεκ, κ.τ.λ. Au. Ver.—5 And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites. Found. Patrick.-i. e., surprised, as the word found signifies. Adoni-bezek. (for there is mention made of the destroying of the king of Jerusalem, Josh. x. 23; xii. 10; but not a word of the taking of Jerusalem, as there is of the taking of Makkedah, and Libnah, and other cities belonging to the kings there mentioned, Josh. x. 28, &c.,) but by the children of Judah after they had received their lot, when at the desire and with the consent of the Benjamites, in whose lot Jerusalem fell, Josh. xviii. 28, they assaulted and took it, and thereby, as it seems, acquired the right of copartnership with the Benjamites in the possession of that city. Though some think Jerusalem was twice taken; once in Joshua's Pool.-Adoni-bezek; the lord or king of lifetime; and being afterwards recovered by Bezek, as his name signifies. the Canaanites, was now retaken by the children of Judah. Rosen. Et invenerunt dominum, regem BeDr. A. Clarke.-Had fought against Jeruzeki in Bezek, et pugnaverunt contra eum. Jod nominis Tanchum notat esse para- salem.] We read this verse in a parenthesis, gogicum, formulamque idem valere quod because we suppose that it refers to the PT, rex Bezeki. Talis Jod est in taking of this city by Joshua; for as he had PT Jos. x. 1, et in Genes. xiv. 18. conquered its armies and slew its king, Josh. Fuit autem, uti videtur, Adoni-Bezek com-x. 26, it is probable that he took the city; mune nomen omnium regulorum illius civi tatis. yet we find that the Jebusites still dwelt in it, Josh. xv. 63; and that the men of Judah could not drive them out, which probably refers to the strong hold or fortress on Mount Zion, which the Jebusites held till destroyed the Jebusites. : wise anbwi καὶ ἐπολέμουν υἱοὶ Ἰούδα τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ, καὶ κατελάβοντο αὐτὴν, καὶ ἐπάταξαν αὐτὴν ἐν στόματι ῥομφαίας, καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἐνέπρησαν ἐν πυρί. Au. Ver.-8 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. Had fought. Pool.-To wit, in Joshua's time; which though done before, may be here repeated, to show why they brought Adoni-bezek to Jerusalem, because that city was in their hands, having been taken before, as may be gathered from Josh. xv. 63. And the taking of this city may be ascribed to the children of Judah, rather than to Joshua, because the city was not taken by Joshua and the whole body of the army in that time when so many kings were destroyed, Josh. x., xii., 6-9, and 1 Chron. xi. 4-8. It is possible that the Jebusites, who had been discomfited by Joshua, had again become sufficiently strong to possess themselves of Jerusalem ; and that they were now defeated, and the city itself set on fire: but that they still were able to keep possession of their strong fort on mount Zion, which appears to have been the citadel of Jerusalem. Ged., Booth.-8 The Judahites then fought against Jerusalem, and took and smote it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. The king of Jerusalem is numbered among those smitten by Joshua: chap. xii. 10; but either the city was not then taken, or had been retaken by the Jebusites. Even after this sacking, it seems to have been rebuilt, and repossessed by its See 2 Sam. v. 6.ancient inhabitants. Geddes. Rosen.-8 Et pugnarunt filii Juda contra |