manner how it was to be the Lords ; as it were very improper to fay, This is either a man, or it is my ſervant Jehn ; becauſe the Latrer branch is contained in the former: and theretore 1n all the alledged inſtances where and is put for or, they are two diſtintt per- ſons or things, and not one comprehended within another, as Exod. 21. 17. Feather or Mother, 2 Sam. 2- 19- right hand or left. But the great Obje&ion againſt this Opinion 1s this, Thar it ſeems a moſt horrid AR, dire&ly contrary to the Law of Narure, and to plain Scrip- ture, thus to Sacrifice his own Daughter ; and that it ſeems alto- gether incredible, eirher that ſuch a man as Jeprhahy ſo eminent for Piety, and Wiſdom, and Zeal, and Faith, ſhould either make ſo Barbarous a Vow,or purſue it for above two Months ſpace; and that none of the Prieſts of that time ſhould inform him of the unlawful-
- neſs ofexecuting ſo wicked a Vow, and of the liberty he had to re-
deem ſuch a Vow, by vertue of Levit. 27+ 2, 3, &c. or that Jeph- thah would not willingly receive information, eſpecially where it was ſo agreeable to his ewn intereſt and natural affeQion; or, that the Priefts and people would ſuffer him to execute his own Daugh- ter, and not rather hinder him by force, as they afterward did S2ul, when he had ſworn the death of Jerethan. Theſe and other ſuch difficulties I confeſs there are in the caſe; but ſomething may be truly and fairly ſaid to allay the ſeeming Monſtrouſneſs of this fact. 1. Theſe were times of great and general ignorance and corruption of Religion? wherein the 1r«elites had Apoſtatized from God, and learnt and followed the praftices and worſhips of the Heathen Na- tions, Jadg 10. 6. whereof this was one, tooffer up Humane Sa- crifices to Molech ; and although they ſeem now to have repented and forſaken their Idols, Judg. Io. I6. yet they ſeem ſtill ro have retained part of the old Leaven, and this among the reſt, That they might offer Humane Sacrifices, not to Moloch, as they had done but unto the Lord. And whereas ſome of the Jewiſh Writ- ters pretend that Phinehas was alive zt this time ; and tell a fine Story concerning him and Jephrhah, That both ſtood upon their Terms, and neither would goto the other to adviſe about the mat- ter ; yet ir is more than probable that Phinehas was dead long be- fore this time; and whoſoever was the Hi gh-prieſt then, he ſeems fo be guilty either of groſs ignorance or negligence ; ſo that a Jete Learned Writer conceives, that this was the reaſon why the Priefſt- hood was taken from him, and from that line, and tranſlated to the line of :hamar, which was done in the time of the Judges, as may be gathered from 1 Sam. 2+ 35 36. Moreover Jephthah, though now a go0d Many may ſeem to have had but arude and barbarous E- ducation; having been baniſhed from his Fathers Houſe, and forced to wander and diſpoſe himſelf in the uttermoſt Borders of the Land of Gilead, beyond Jordan, at a great diftance from the place of Worſhip and Inftru&ion ; Nor 1s it ſtrange, That the Prieſts and people did not reſiſt Jephrbab in this Enterpriſe; partly, becauſe many of chem might lie under the ſame 1gnorance and miſtake that Jephthah did ; and partly becauſe they knew Jephthah to be a ſtouty and reſolute, and boiſterous Man, and were afraid to oppoſe him ih a matter wherein he ſeemed to be ſo peremptory, and their per- ſons and Families were not much concerned. 2. This miſtake of Jephthah's, and of the reſt of that Age was not without ſome plau- ſible appearance of Warrant from the Holy Text, even from Levrr. 27s 2s, 29 wherein it is exprefly provided, That no Devoted thing whether Man or bea#, ſhould be redeemed, but ſhould ſurely be put to Death ; a place, which it is nor ſtrange that a Soldier in ſo ignorantan Ase ſhould miſtake, ſcing even ſome Learned Divines, in this know- ing Age, and Capelus, amongſt the reſt, have fallen into the ſame error, and juſtified Jephrhab's Attion from that plzce; and though I doubt not they run into the nther extream, as Men commonly do, thoſe words being ro be otherwiſe underſtood than they take them ( of which ſee my Notes on that place) yet muſt ir muſt be granted that place gave fephthah a very cclourable pretext for the Aion ; and being puſhed on by Zeal for God, and the Conſcience of his Vow, he might eaſily be influced to it ; andthough this was a-Sin in him, yet it was. but a Sin of Ignorance ; which therefore was overlooked by a gracious God, and not reproved by any Holy men of God. Ir is probab'y conceived, that the Greeks, who ufed to ſteal ſacred Hiſtories, and turn them into Fables, had from this Hiſtory their relation of Iphigines ( which may be put for Feph- tigenis ) Sacrificed by her Father Agamemnon, which 1s deſcribed by many of the ſame. circumſtances wherewith this is accompanied. b.To wit, carnally ; ſhe died a Virgin-
| 40 That the daughters of Iſrael went T yearly «|| to lament the daughter of Jephthah 4 the Gileadite four days in a year. :
*c To a place appointed for their meeting to this end, poſſibly to the place where the was Sacrificed. 4 To expreſs their Sorrow for her loſs, according to the manner. Or, #» diſcourſe of ( ſo the Hebrew Lamed is ſometimes uſed ) che Daughter of Jephthah, to cele- =þ1/ Fo praiſes, who had ſo willingly yielded up her ſelf for a Sacrifice.
CHAP. XIL
The Ephraimites wage War againſt Jephthah : Are ſmitten by the Gileadites: Aud being diſcerned by Shibboleth, are flain to the number of two and forty thouſand, 1 — 6, Fephthah dies, 7. After him Ibzan, 8 — 10.
. Elon, 18, 12+ Abdon, 13— —15. Were Judges over Iſrael. A- Nd the men of Ephraim + gathered themſelves to- £ A. pether, and went. northward «, and faid unto Jephthah 6, Wherefore paſſedſt thou over « to fight againſt the children of Ammon, and didſt not call us
to po'with thee 2 We will burn thine houſe upon thee with bre.
:-z "Over Jorden, ſo Northwards towards Mizpeh, where Jephrhah was, Judg- 11+ 34+ and which was in the Northern part of the Land beyond Jordan. þ Through Pride and Envy, contending with him 25 they did before with Gideon, Judz. 8. 1. c Not over Jordan, for there he was already ; but over the Borders of the Iſraelites Land beyond Jordan, as appears, by comparing this with Judg. 11. 29, where the ſame Phraſe is uſed.
'-2 And Jephthah ſaid unto them, T and my people were at great ſtrife with the children of Ammon ; and
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