fore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me?

4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites.

5 Ånd the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;

6 Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.

7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

8 ¶ And after him Ibzan of Beth-lehem judged Israel.

9 And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.

10 Then died Ibzan, and was buried at Beth-lehem.

11 And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years.

12 And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulun.

13 ¶ And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel.

14 And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years.

15 And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites.

Verse 1. We will burn thine house upon thee.'-Here is a second proof of the haughty and turbulent disposition of the Ephraimites. Comparing this with their complaints to Joshua, their hostile attitude towards Gideon, and their present insulting language to Jephthah, we cannot fail to discover a disposition to lord it over the other tribes, and an affectation of superior authority and pre-eminence, to which they were certainly not yet entitled. There were, however, many circumstances to excite in them this dis position, such as the distinction assigned them in the blessing of Jacob-the fact that Joshua, the chief conqueror of the land, had been an Ephraimite-and the privilege which they enjoyed of having the tabernacle within their borders. The firm but temperate answer of Jephthah, though less soft than that of Gideon on a similar occasion, contrasts well with the personalities and threats of this self-sufficient tribe.

3. I put my life in my hands.'—A strong Orientalism, implying I risked my life in a seemingly desperate undertaking. Mr. Roberts, who cites several proverbial applications of this phrase among the Hindoos, thinks that the idea is taken from a man carrying something very precious in his hands, under circumstances of great danger.

6. He could not frame to pronounce it right.'-Upon this text a very curious dissertation might be written, from which our limits compel us to abstain. It is, however, certain that the difference is not less in the ear than in the tongue; or, in other words, when the Ephraimites were required to pronounce Shibboleth,' they heard it as 'Sibboleth,' and believed that in pronouncing the latter word they gave the precise sound which they had heard. [Of various illustrations of this point we have collected, it may suffice to direct attention to the very different way in which an Englishman, a German, and a Frenchman, will write down what they conceive to be the sound of the same foreign word. Indeed, different persons of the same nation will do so; and to one who is conversant with travels in, and histories of, eastern countries, it is often impossible to recognise the same name under the very different forms in which its vocal sound is represented. The following will

serve in the way of illustration. Carver in his Travels in North America relates that the notes of a certain American bird sound to the people of the colonies, Whipperwill; but to an Indian ear, Muck-a-wiss. The words, indeed, are not alike; but in this manner they strike the ear, or rather the imagination of both; and the circumstance is a proof that the mere sounds, if they are not rendered certain by the rules of orthography, might convey different ideas to different people. The Rev. C. B. Elliot in his Travels (ii. 134), after mentioning that the ancient Pergamus is now called Bergamo, adds, So at least it would be written according to the orthography of our language: but here P is pronounced as B, and B is sounded like V. A learned native requested me to write for him in Turkish characters some English word beginning with a B, as black; which being done, he made me repeat it two or three times; and then changed the B which I had written into a P, saying, 'This (plack) is black.' The present text indicates that a difference of dialects had already arisen in different parts of the country, and by which the inhabitants of one part were distinguishable from those of another. In later times, we find Peter easily distinguished in Pilate's hall as a Galilean, by his dialect. (Mark xiv. 70.) There is nothing extraordinary in this. England herself offers a considerable variety of dialects and modes of pronunciation; and so does every other country. There is scarcely any so small as to be exempt. In Greece, an Athenian spoke Greek as differently from a Dorian as perhaps a northern man speaks English from a native of the southern counties. In the East itself, the Arabic of Cairo, Aleppo, and Bagdad is so different, that one who has made himself master of the language in any one of those cities, cannot, without great difficulty, understand, or be understood, in the others. Even in the small island of Malta (where an Arabian dialect is spoken), the inhabitants of the several villages speak the same language with so much difference as to render the market, to which they resort in common, a sort of Babel. While that island was independent, there was a knight (mentioned by De Boisgelin) who gained great credit by being able to tell, by means of this difference, from what villages the country

people in the market came. The word chosen by the Gileadites means a stream, which being the name of the object immediately before them, would seem to be naturally suggested, and was well calculated to put the Ephraimites off their guard. We scarcely need remark, that sh is of peculiarly difficult, if not impossible, pronunciation to persons whose organs have not, in childhood, been tutored to it. It is entirely wanting in many languages; and when persons to whom such languages are native, attempt to learn a language in which it exists, they find it not the least arduous part of their task to master and use properly this most difficult sound. This was the case of the Ephraimites, who could not frame to pronounce it right.'

7. Was buried in [one of] the cities of Gilead.'— There is a curious Rabbinical comment on this, as read without the clause enclosed in brackets (which is not in the original), which we introduce partly as a specimen

of the perverted ingenuity which the Jewish doctors have applied to the interpretation of Scripture, and partly as shewing the strength of their conviction that Jephthah really did offer his daughter in sacrifice. From Rashi's comments on these words, it appears that the ancient rabbins maintained that the hero, as a punishment for putting his daughter to death, was visited by a disease which loosened the joints of the different limbs and members of his body, and caused them to fall off one after another, from time to time, as he was passing to and fro over the country and that they were buried separately, whenever they happened to drop, so that when he died it could be said, from this general distribution of his members, that he was buried in the cities of Gilead.' The phrase is doubtless idiomatic, the plural being put for the singular, as in Gen. xix. 29 ; Jonah i. 5.

CHAPTER XIII.

1 Israel is in the hand of the Philistines. 2 An angel appeareth to Manoah's wife. 8 The angel appeareth to Manoah. 15 Manoah's sacrifice, whereby the angel is discovered. 24 Samson is born.

AND the children of Israel 'did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.

3 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.

4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and 'drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:

5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and 'no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:

7 But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.

8 T Then Manoah intreated the LORD,

and said, O my LORD, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.

9 And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but ! Manoah her husband was not with her.

10 And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day.

11 And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am.

12 And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. "How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?

G

13 And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.

14 She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.

15 ¶ And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid "for thee.

16 And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.

17 And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?

3 Num. 6. 2, 3.

4 Num. 6. 5. 1 Sam. 1. 11.

18 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is 'secret?

19 So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD; and the angel did wonderously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.

20 For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.

21 But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD.

9 Or, wonderful.

22 And Manoah said unto his wife, 10We shall surely die, because we have seen God.

23 But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.

24 And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.

25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

10 Exod. 33. 20. Chap. 6. 22.

Verse 2.Zorah.'-This is one of the towns which were taken out of Judah's lot, and given to Dan. (Josh. xv. 33; xix. 41.) It seems to have been a frontier town towards Judah after the boundary was altered; for when the ten tribes revolted from the house of David, Rehoboam retained Zorah, and it is mentioned among those towns which he made cities of defence in Judah.' (2 Chron. xi. 10.) Its inhabitants were called Zorites and Zorathites. (1 Chron. ii. 54; iv. 2.) Zorah existed as a town in the time of Eusebius and Jerome; and the site may still be recognised under the name of Surah, situated upon a spur of the mountains running into the plain north of Bethshemesh. It will be well to recollect, that the territory of Dan lay between that of Judah and the Philistines, and consequently at no great distance from any of the places which are mentioned in the remarkable history of Samson, and which were the scenes of his exploits.

18. Secret. The angel does not intend to tell Manoah that his name is a secret, but that Secret is his name. The marginal reading WONDERFUL is however more correct, and far more significant.

of the ground, while others appear as detached fragments, thrown down from the rocky eminences. To such insulated masses of rock there are frequent allusions in Scripture.

25. Eshtaol.'--This was another principal town of Dan which had once belonged to Judah. It was this place and Zorah that furnished the six hundred armed Danites, who went into the north of the country and took Laish (afterwards Dan), forming a new settlement near the sources of the Jordan. These are the only circumstances which make Eshtaol of any historical importance. It still existed in the time of Jerome, who describes it as being ten miles to the north of Eleutheropolis, on the road to Nicopolis or Emmaus. Eleutheropolis, which must sometimes be mentioned as the place from which Eusebius and Jerome measure their distances, does not occur in the Bible, or at least not under that name. It is supposed to have been built considerably later than the destruction of Jerusalem, and, in the fourth century, when the eminent men whom we have named lived, was a place of much importance. Its name imports the free city. It lay near what had been the boundary line between Judah and Dan, and Dr. Robinson seems to have identified it with a site now called Beit-Jibrin, where there are still some remains indicative of a powerful city. This is twenty miles east of Askelon, and twelve miles west-north-west from Hebron,

CHAPTER XIV.

1 Samson desireth a wife of the Philistines. 6 In his journey he killeth a lion. 8 In a second journey he findeth honey in the carcase. 10 Samson's marriage

feast. 12 His riddle by his wife is made known. 19 He spoileth thirty Philistines. 20 His wife is married to another.

AND Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.

2 And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in

Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.

3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for 'she pleaseth me well.

4 But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

5 Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him.

6 And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.

7 And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.

8 And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion.

9 And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.

10 T So his father went down unto the woman and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.

11 And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

12 And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty "sheets and thirty change of gar

14 And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.

15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to take that we have? is it not so?

16 And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?

me.

17 And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people.

18 And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.

19 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house. 20 But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.

5 Or, the rest of the seven days, &c.

Verse 1.Timnath.-This place was very ancient, it having been mentioned in the time of Jacob. Judah had his sheep shorn in or near Timnath (Gen. xxxviii. 12), his visit to which involved the only stain upon his character with which we are acquainted. The town was at first in the lot of Judah, and afterwards in that of Dan; but we do not know that either tribe ever acquired possession of it (Josh. xv. 57; xix. 43). It is mentioned under the names of Timnah, Timnath, and Timnatha; and is usually stated to have been twelve miles from Eshtacl and six from Adullam, and it may perhaps be represented by the deserted site called Tibnah, which is about an hour's journey from Surah, which has been indicated as the Zorah to which Samson belonged.

5. A young lion roared against him.'--It is evident from this and other passages of Scripture, that lions formerly existed in Judæa. Some places, indeed, took their names from the lion, as Lebaoth and Beth-lebaoth (Josh. xv. 32; xix. 6). We do not know that lions are now to be met with in that country; but this is not surprising, as numerous instances might be cited of the disappearance of wild animals, in the course of time, from countries where they

were once well known. This is particularly the case with respect to those animals which, like the lion, are no where found in large numbers. Lions have not, however, disappeared from Western Asia. They are still found in Mesopotamia and Babylonia-or, rather, on both sides of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. That they existed anciently in Syria (as they do still in the eastern parts of that country), as well as in Mesopotamia, is attested by several ancient writers. Thus Q. Curtius (viii. c. 1) mentions that Lysimachus, when hunting in Syria, had killed a very large lion, single-handed, but not until the animal had torn his shoulder to the bone. The historian mentions this incidentally in relating how Alexander the Great, while hunting, was assailed by a large lion, which he slew. This was thought a great feat even for Alexander, although he was armed with a hunting-spear:-what then shall we say of Samson, who overcame a lion when unprovided with any kind of weapon? It will be observed that young lion' does not here mean a whelp, for which the Hebrew has quite a different word-but a young lion arrived at its full strength and size, when it is far more fierce than at a later period of its life.

LION OF WESTERN ASIA.

8. After a time he returned to take her.'-She had doubtless been betrothed to him in the first instance, and the 'time' mentioned, refers to the interval, which it was considered necessary should elapse between the betrothal and actual marriage: that is to say, it was usual for the betrothed bride to remain for a time in the house of her parents, after which the bridegroom came to fetch her home, and take her fully as his wife. The length of the interval depended upon circumstances. As the young people were often affianced by their parents when mere children, a long interval then elapsed before the completion of the marriage; but when they were already marriageable, the time was shorter, as might be previously agreed upon between the respective parties. Even in such a case, however, the time was seldom less than about ten months or a year, which therefore may be taken to denote the period expressed by a time,' in the present text. The Jews still keep up this custom; the parties being, at the least, betrothed six or twelve mouths before marriage. After the betrothal, the parties were considered man and wife; and hence a betrothed woman guilty of any criminal intercourse with another was regarded as an adulteress; and if, from any cause, the husband should be unwilling to complete the engagement, the woman was regularly divorced, like a wife. In process of time the stringency of this law was abated; and now the betrothal is not as formerly by a ring, but by a written engagement, the infringement of which involves no higher penalty than a pecuniary fine. Yet still, in this time, the man and woman appear to have had little if any communication with each other; but it is difficult to determine exactly the terms on which they socially stood towards each other. Some think that they had no opportunities of even talking together; while others allow that the betrothal entitled the bridegroom to visit the bride at her father's, but without any intimate communication. The latter is the practice among the modern Jews, who retain so much of their ancient oriental ideas, as to consider it improper for a young man or woman even to walk together in public, without being betrothed; and among whom, therefore, the betrothal merely admits to a restricted courtship. In point of fact, we apprehend that the betrothal was considered necessary to enable a young man to pay to a woman even that limited degree of particular attention which eastern manners allowed. See Lewis's Origines Hebræa; Jahn's Archæologia; Isaac's Ceremonies, etc., of the Jews; and Herschel's Sketch of the Jews.

-There was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion. The preceding note explains in part the present text. It is evident that several months had elapsed between the first and second visit to Timnath, and in that time the carcase of the lion must have been reduced to a clean skeleton; which might form a very suitable receptacle for the bees which abounded in that region. This would be particularly the case, if it remained covered with some portions of the dried skin, or if it was in a secluded place among bushes or high grass, as seems to be implied in the fact of Samson's turning aside' to look for it, and in its not having been previously discovered by others, who, we may be sure, would have anticipated him in taking the honey. Much less time than the probable interval would amply have sufficed to have rendered the carcase of the lion a perfectly clean habitation for the bees. A day or two for birds and insects, and a night or two for beasts of prey, would, in that country, have cleared the skeleton of every particle of flesh; and, in a few days more, the heat of the sun would absorb all the moisture from the bones and from any portion of the hide which may have been left remaining. There is, therefore, nothing in this fact repugnant to the naturally cleanly habits of bees, and their alleged repugnance to impure smells. Herodotus relates an anecdote somewhat in conformity with this view. He says that the Amathusians revenged themselves on Onesilus, by whom they had been besieged, by cutting off his head, which they carried to their city, and hung up over one of its gates. When it became hollow, a swarm of bees settled in it, and filled it with honeycomb (Terpsichore, 114). Virgil's fourth Georgic, which is devoted to the subject of bees, concludes with the account of an invention by which the race of bees might be replenished or renewed, when diminished or lost. He speaks of it as an art practised in Egypt; and through the absurd distortions of the story, it is not difficult to perceive that it originated in accounts of bees swarming in the carcases of animals. The process, in brief, is to kill a steer two years old, by first stopping his nostrils, and then knocking him on the head, so that

His bowels, bruised within,

Betray no wound in the unbroken skin.'

The body is then left in a proper situation; and when the operator repairs thither nine mornings after :

'Behold a prodigy! for from within

The broken bowels and the bloated skin,
A buzzing sound of bees his ears alarms:
Straight issuing through the sides assembling swarms.
Dark as a cloud they make a wheeling flight,
Then on a neighb'ring tree descending, light.'

DRYDEN.

10. Samson made there a feast.-This feast used to last seven days, as we see by v. 12 (see also the note on Gen. xxix. 27 several other marriage customs are noticed in that chapter, and in chaps. xxiv. and xxxiv.); after which the bride was brought home to, or fetched home by, her husband. We must understand probably, in conformity with existing usages in the East, that Samson made his feast at the house of some acquaintance, or in one hired for the occasion, as his own home was distant; while, at the same time, the woman entertained her female friends and relatives at her father's house. The different sexes never feasted together on such or any other occasions, and the bride and bridegroom did not even give their respective entertainments in the same house, unless under very peculiar circumstances. In reading this narrative, we must not forget that Samson was a stranger at Timnath.

11. Thirty companions.'-We differ from those who think it was a regular custom for the bride's friends to provide the bridegroom with a number of companions or bridesmen. We are continually liable to mistake in taking peculiar cases as indications of general usage. It seems more probable that Samson being a stranger in the place, the bride's friends undertook to provide him with a suitable number of guests or companions to give proper importance to his wedding.