y Which ſhe choſe as a ſolitary place, and therefore fi-teſt both #09% | for Lamentations, and for her preparatien ſor her approaching Cz. || lamity. z That I ſhall die Childiefs, which was etteemed beth 2 Curſe and a Diſgrace for the 1ſ-aelites, Gen. 30: 23: 1 Sam. 1: 6 7. Ia. 4+ 1. Becauſe ſuch were excludea from that great priviledge of increaſing the Holy Seed, and contributing ro the Birth of the M-ſſiah, who was to be born of an 1ſaelitiſh Womens
33 And he ſaid, Go, And he ſent her away for two months, and the went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon. the mountains.
39 And it came to paſs at the end of two months, that ſhe returned unto her father, who did with her ac- cording to his vow which he had vowed & : and ſie knew no man 6b: and it was a || cuſtom in Iſrael. || Or, Or-
a Bu. What was it which Fephthah Vowed and performed con- CIS, cerning his Daughter ? Anſw, Many, eſpecially of Morzern Writ- ters, conceive, that Jephthah's Daughter was not Sacrificed, but ons ly devoted to perpetual Virginity. which then was eſt-emed a great Curſe and Reproach: "This they gather, r. From wv. 37: 38: where we read, that ſhe bewailed not her Death, which had b=-5 the chicE cauſe of Lamentation if that had been Vowed, but her Virginity 3 2+ From this, v. 39. where, after he had ſaid, chat he did with ber according to his Yow ; he adds, by way of declaration of the matter of that Vow, and ſhe knew no man, But for the firſt there may be a fair rez/on given, That ſhe cou!d not with Honour bewail her Death. which ſhe had fo generouſly and chearfu)ly accepted of; be auſe it was attended with, and occaſioned by the publick Good, and her Fathers Honour and Happineis, v. 36. and was a kind of Martyrdor ; and moreover, an a& of Religion, the payment of a Vow, which ought to be done chearfully ; bur only bewailed the circumſtance of her Death, that is was in -me ſort zecurſed and opprobrious ; ſhe having had no Husband ro take away h=r Iee proach, as rhey ſpeak, 7a. 4 1. and leaving no Poſterity to her Fathers Comfort, and the Increaſe of Gods people : And for. the. ſecond, thar Clauſe, and ſhe knew 10 man, is plainly diſtinguiſhed from the Execution of his Vow,which is here mentioned before;and
this1s added,.not as an Explication of tke V
; - l ow, bur as an aggra- , vVaring Circumſtance, that this was executed when the had not yet
known any man. Beſides, this Opinion ſeems 1;
Objetions; x There is no "Sx. in all rhe prot
Woman that was obliged ro perpetual Virginity by. any Vow of
her own, muchleſs by the Vow of her Parents 3 nor have Parents
any ſich power over their Chilorcn, either by che Law of Narure,
or by t:e Holy Scripture. 2. The expreſs words of the Vow. ».
3! mention nothing of her Vi-ginity, but only, that ſhe ſhould ſure
ly be the Lords ; ( 1- e.) Devoted to the Service of the Lord, whick
might be without any obligation to perpetual Virginity ; for even
Samuel, who was as fully devoted to the Lord by his Paretits; as
ſhe c:-uld be, 1 Sam. 1: ri: and Samſon. who was Devored not one
ly by his Parents, bur by God himfeif, and thar in the higheſt de-
gree, even to be a perpetual Nazarite, Judg. 13: 5, 75: yer were not*
prohibired Marriage ; nor were any of the moſt Sacred Perſons, /
Levites, or Pri:ſts, or high Prieſts, though they were the Lords in”
a fi.gular manner, obliged to perpetual Virginity ; and therefore *
it ſhe was not cffercd up for a Burnt-cff:ring, as the Authors of'
this Opinion ſay, but only was Conſecrated to God, there was ne'
occaſion to bewail her Virginity, which, for any thing that aps:
pe-rs, the was not tied to. 3+ If this wereall, here was no ſufficient”
cau::-. why fo wiſe and valiant a man as Jephthah ſhould to birterly
and paſſina'<ly lament over himſelf or his D:ughter; And there- Co]
for ' may ſeem moſt probable, that Fephthah did indeed Sacrifice:
bis DNaug+rer, as he had Vowed to do; which was the Opinion of
Toſep:u: the Few, and of the Chaldee Paraphraſt, and of divers of the
fewiſh DoGors, and almoſt all the Ancient Fathers, and many
<minen” Writers; and ri is beft agrees with the' words of the Vow
\ © 1vered v. 3* whatſoever cometh forth of the doors of my houſe to meek :
me ——- ſhall ſurely be the Lords, and 1 will offer it for a Burnt-offering >
Nor 1« there one word in all the following Vertes, which denies
t at ſhe was thus eff-red ; only the Executien of the Vow is de--
livered in more ambiguous and feneral terms, werſe 39, which
'n all reaſon and by rhe Laws of good Interpretation, ought to
be Iimired and exptained by the more plain and particular de=
cription of it ; Ir 1s rrve, thoſe words may ſeem capable bf ano--
ttier Interpretation ; the conjunGtive Particle, and, may be here
pur for the disjun@ive, or, as it often is, as Exod: 41: I6, F7.
Levit. 6. 3,5. 2 Sam. 2 Ig, ©c. and fo the meaning is that
what I firſt meer ſha# ſurely be the Loras, or, I will offer it up far a Burnt
offering ; to wit, if ir be a Crea:ure fir ro be offered : Orhers
wiſe, ſay they, if a Dog or an Aſs ſhould have met him firſt,. he
{h-uid have been ' bliged to offer them, which Was againſt the'
Law : Bur it is ſufficiently evident, that he ſpeaks of an Humane '
pe: ſon, from the very Phraſe of coming forth to meet him at his res
curn ; which plainly argues a deſign to meer him, purpolcly ra;
Congratulate his Return ; this phraſe of going to meer a perſore
coming, belug very oft uſed in Scripture, and conſtantly of one
perſ.'n meet1'g another, as Gen. 14. 17. and 18: 2: and 24: 17, Oc
And never of any brute Crearure : And although and is ſometimes
put for or, yet it is not to be ſoufed without neceſſity, which
f{ecms nor to be in this place ; nor is it very proper to difſtin-
guifh rwo Sentences in this manner, where the one is more generals
and the other Leing more ſpecta!, is comprehended within it,
which 1s the cafe here; for it ſha! ſurely be the Lords, 1 the genera];
and 1ts being offered up for a burni-effering, is the particular way or 2 Q 3 Mainmy rn
L \
+ Heb.
| from days to days.
|| Or, zo falk with,
+ Heb!
were falled,
hap. ATE.
TO - 4a ——-, = - geen