Ven1. 53, 54.-Reputation. In the moment of his death Abimelech is anxious to save his reputation, which he thinks would be dishonoured if it could be said that a woman slew him. l. REPUTATION AMONGST l!EN IS SOMETIMES VALUED MORE HIGHLY THAN INNOCENCE IN THE SIGHT OF Gon. Abimelech is anxious about the opinion of the world, he cares nothing for tbe judgment of God. He is concerned with what will be said of him, be is not troubled about what he really is. He is dying after a most wicked life, yet !ie has no thought about his evil nature and his vile misdeeds, but only anxiety about his fame. So we constantly see people much more occupied in securing a fair appearance than in living a true life. Yet how hollow is this pursuit I After our death it matters nothing to us what men may say, but everything turns on what ~od will do. A man's future state will depend not on the splendour of the fame which he leaves behind in th:s world, but on the character of the revelation which will be made of his life in the other world. An epitaph is no passport to heaven. II. REPUTATION AMONGST MEN 1B OFTEN DETERMINED BY A FALSE STANDARD OF CHARACTER. Abimelech knows that his misdeeds have been blazed through the country, yet he has no concern for the judgment of men on these, but. very mu~h concern for their opinion of the accident of hie death. He sees no dishonour m cruelty and treachery, but great dishonour in death from a woman's hand. The code of honour differs from the code of God's law. Public opinion is too muco. formed 011 artificial points of merit and superficial appearances. Thus cowardice is co_rnmonly felt to be more disgraceful than cruelty; yet it is at least as bad not to be Just ond generous as not to be brave. Men commonly think more _of i:nasc1;11ine excellences than of saintly graces. Both are good, but the first obhgat1on lies on the more Christian. .Among the Christian duties which a consideration of merely worldly re- putation leads men to neglect in comparison with lower obligations, a~e-(1) purity c,11 ,lie part uf men, (2) humility, (3) forgiveness of injuries, (4) chanty. llI. 'fHE INFLUENCE 01' 1!.EPUTAl"lON Sll0WS rHE UlI'Oll'fANCE OF CUL'flYATlNG 4 OH. X. 1-6,] THE BOOK OF JUDGES. 111
HEALTHY PUBLIC frnNTIMENT. Whilst so mRny are governed by the opinion of the world, it is impemtive thnt this should be purified as far as possible. There is some- thing natural in respect for reputation. The bad man who has lost this proves him- self to be utterly abandoned, Next to the fear of God, shame before men is the strongest safeguard for conscience. A healthy social atmosphere is an immense aiu to goodness. The society of the Church is helpful for the preservation of the faith- fulness of the Christian. A pure Christian home is a most valuable security for the character of its members. It is dangerous to stand alone; therefore, while regarding right and God's will first, nnd rising above the fear of man which bringeth a snare, let us reverence Christian public sentiment, and seek to keep it pure.-A.
EXPOSITION. ment in 1 Chron. ii. 22, that "Scgub begat CHAPTER X. Jair," as meaning that he was his lineal Ver. 1.-Tola the son of Puah, the son of ancestor, just as in Matt. i. 8 we read that Dodo. Nothing more is known of Tola "Joram begat Ozias," though three genera- than what is here told us, viz., his name, his tions in.tervened between _them. If, on the parentage, his dwelling-place, his office, the other hand, they are not the same, we must length of time which he held it, and the suppose that Jair in our text was a descend- place of his burial. Who were the enemies ant of the other Jair, and may compare the from whom Tola was raised up to save Israel double explanation of the name Havoth-jair we are not told. There was probably no with the double explanation of Beer-sheba great invasion or grievous senitude, but per- given Gen. x.xi 31 ; Gen. xxvi. 31-33 ; the haps frequent border wars requiring an able threefold explanation of the name Isaac, and watchful chief to maintain the independ- Gen. xvii. 17 ; xviii. 12 ; xxi. 6 ; and the ence of Israel. Tola and Puah (otherwise double explanation of the proverb, "Is Saul written Puvah) were both names of families among the prophets 1" given in 1 Sam. x. in Issachar(Gen. xlvi. 13; Numb. xxvi. 23). 11, 12 ; xix. 23, 24. The Hebrew name Jair Shamir in mount Ephraim, to distinguish it is preserved in the New Testament under from Shainir in the hill country of Judah the Greek form of Jairus (Mark v. 22). (Josh. xv. 48). Both are otherwise unknown. Yer. 4.-Thirty ass colts. The number Ver. 3.-Jair. We read of Jair the son of and dignity of these knightly sons of Jair Segub, the son of Machir's daughter by Hez- shows that J air himself, like Gideon (eh. viii. ron, in 1 Chron. ii. 21-23, and are there 30), assumed the state of a. prince. The told that he had tweuty-three cities in the word in Hebrew for ass colts is identical land of Gilead (called 'Havoth-jair), which with that for cities, as here pointed, and wel'O included in the territory of the sons of this play upon the words belongs to the same Machir. The same information is given in tum of mind as produced J otham's fable and Numb. xxxii. 40-42, and in Deut. iii. 14, 15, Samson's riddle (eh, xiv. 14). in both which passages Jair is styled the son Yer. 5. -Jair . . , was buried in Camon. A of Manasseh, and is stated to have ea.lied the city of Gilead according to Josephus, and cities after his own name, Havoth-jair. In probability. Polybius mentions a Camo-i.n the present verse we are also told that Jo.ir among other trans-Jo1·danic places, but its site the judge wo.s a Gileadite, o.nd that he had has not been verified by modem research. thirty sons who had thirty cities in Gilead Euscbius and Jerome place it in the plain of called Havoth-jair. The question arises, Can Esdrnelon, but without probability. Th6 these two be the same person 1 If they are, careful mention of the place of sepnlture of Dent. iii. 14 must be a later parenthetical the judges and kings is remarkable, beginning insertion, as it has very much the appearance with Gideon (eh. viii. 32 ; x. 2, 5 ; xii. 9, 10, of beinK, The notice in Numb. xxxii. 41 12, 16; xvi. 31; 1 Sam. x.x.xi. 12; 2 Sam. must also refer to later time• than those of ii. 10, &c.). Moses, and we must understand the state-
HOMILETICS. Vere. 1-5.-Tlie lull. In the affairs of nations, as in the lives of men, theTe are occnsional periods of uneventful quietness, wlien the storms and winds of stirring interests and aggressive actions are lulled, and a monotonous rest succeeds to exciting cliange. At such tirues no great chamcters stand out from the historic can\'as, no 11ctivity of mind producing- 11 clashing of opinion agitates the surface of society, 1.0 great 112 'l'HE BOOK OF JUDGES. [cu. x. 1-5.