--- title: "Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible · Volume 1: Genesis to Jeremiah" author: "Adam Clarke" languages: [en] shelf: "Commentaries" section: 249 of 914 url: https://scriptura.si/works/adam-clarke-commentary-volume-1-genesis-to-jeremiah/249/ cite: "Adam Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible · Volume 1: Genesis to Jeremiah, section 249. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/adam-clarke-commentary-volume-1-genesis-to-jeremiah/249/" --- # Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible · Volume 1: Genesis to Jeremiah *Adam Clarke* Clarke's learned notes on the Hebrew and Greek, verse by verse, from Genesis to Revelation: volume 1 of 2. ## 249. Judges · 5 of 29 Source: https://scriptura.si/works/adam-clarke-commentary-volume-1-genesis-to-jeremiah/249/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/adam-clarke-commentary-volume-1-genesis-to-jeremiah/249/#p-N ### Verse 29 [¶1] All lusty, and all men of valor - Picked, chosen troops, which Eglon kept among the Israelites to reduce and overawe them. ### Verse 30 [¶3] The land had rest fourscore years - This is usually reckoned from the deliverance under Othniel, that being a term from which they dated every transaction, as in other cases they dated from the exodus, from the building of Solomon's temple, etc., and as other nations did from particular events: the Romans, from the building of the city; the Mohammedans, from the Hijreh, or flight of Mohammed to Medina; the Christians, from the birth of Christ, etc., etc. But see the preface, and the different chronological schemes there mentioned. ### Verse 31 [¶5] And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath - Dr. Hales supposes that "Shamgar's administration in the West included Ehud's administration of eighty years in the East; and that, as this administration might have been of some continuance, so this Philistine servitude which is not noticed elsewhere, might have been of some duration; as may be incidentally collected from Deborah's thanksgiving, [Jdg 5:6]." [¶6] Slew - six hundred men with an ox-goad - מלמד הבקר malmad habbakar, the instructer of the oxen. This instrument is differently understood by the versions: the Vulgate has vomere, with the coulter or ploughshare, a dreadful weapon in the hand of a man endued with so much strength; the Septuagint has αροτροποδι των βοων, with the ploughshare of the oxen; the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic, understand it of the goad, as does our translation. [¶7] 1. That the ox-goad, still used in Palestine, is a sufficiently destructive weapon if used by a strong and skillful hand, is evident enough from the description which Mr. Maundrell gives of this implement, having seen many of them both in Palestine and Syria: "It was observable," says he, "that in ploughing they used goads of an extraordinary size; upon measuring of several I found them about eight feet long, and at the bigger end about six inches in circumference. They were armed at the lesser end with a sharp prickle for driving the oxen, and at the other end with a small spade or paddle of iron, strong and massy, for cleansing the plough from the clay that encumbers it in working." See his Journey from Aleppo, etc., 7th edit., pp. 110, 111. In the hands of a strong, skillful man, such an instrument must be more dangerous and more fatal than any sword. It is worthy of remark that the ox-goad is represented by Homer to have been used prior to this time in the same way. In the address of Diomed to Glaucus, Iliad. lib. vi., ver. 129, Lycurgus is represented as discomfiting Bacchus and the Bacchanals with this weapon. The siege of Troy, according to the best chronologers, happened within the time of the Israelitish judges. Ουκ αν εγωγε θεοισιν επουρανιοισι μαχοιμην· Ουδε γαρ ουδε Δρυαντος υἱος κρατερος Λυκουργος Σευε κατ' ηγαθεον Νυσσηΐον· αἱ δ' ἁμα πασαι Θυσθλα χαμαι κατεχευαν, ὑπ' ανδροφονοιο Λυκουργου Θεινομεναι βουπληγι. "I fight not with the inhabitants of heaven; [¶8] That war Lycurgus, son of Dryas, waged, [¶9] Nor long survived. - From Nyssa's sacred heights [¶10] He drove the nurses of the frantic god, [¶11] Thought drowning Bacchus: to the ground they cast [¶12] All cast, their leafy wands; while, ruthless, he [¶13] Spared not to smite them with his murderous goad." [¶14] The meaning of this fable is: Lycurgus, king of Thrace, finding his subjects addicted to drunkenness, proscribed the cultivation of the vine in his dominions, and instituted agriculture in its stead; thus θυσθλα, the thyrsi, were expelled, βουπληγι, by the ox-goad. The account, however, shows that Shamgar was not the only person who used the ox-goad as an offensive weapon. If we translate βουπληξ a cart-whip, the parallel is lost. [¶15] 2. It appears that Shamgar was merely a laboring man; that the Philistines were making an inroad on the Israelites when the latter were cultivating their fields; that Shamgar and his neighbors successfully resisted them; that they armed themselves with their more portable agricultural instruments; and that Shamgar, either with a ploughshare or an ox-goad, slew six hundred of those marauders. [¶16] 3. The case of Ehud killing Eglon is a very serious one; and how far he was justified in this action is with all a question of importance, and with not a few a question of difficulty. "Is it right to slay a tyrant?" I, without hesitation, answer, No individual has a right to slay any man, except it be in his own defense, when a person attacks him in order to take away his life. "But may not any of his oppressed subjects put an end to the life of a tyrant?" No. The state alone can judge whether a king is ruling contrary to the laws and constitution of that state; and if that state have provided laws for the punishment of a ruler who is endeavoring to destroy or subvert that constitution, then let him be dealt with according to those laws. But no individual or number of individuals in that state has any right to dispose of the life of the ruler but according to law. To take his life in any other way is no less than murder. It is true God, the author of life and the judge of all men, may commission one man to take away the life of a tyrant. But the pretension to such a commission must be strong, clear, and unequivocal; in short, if a man think he have such a commission, to be safe, he should require the Lord to give him as full an evidence of it as he did to Moses; and when such a person comes to the people, they should require him to give as many proofs of his Divine call as the Hebrews did Moses, before they should credit his pretensions. "But had not Ehud a Divine call?" I cannot tell. If he had, he did not murder Eglon; if he had not, his act, however it succeeded, was a murderous act; and if he had no message from God, (and there is no proof that he had), then he was a most base and hypocritical assassin. The sacred historian says nothing of his motives nor call; he mentions simply the fact, and leaves it without either observation or comment, and every reader is left to draw his own inference. The life of any ruler can only be at the disposal of the constitution, or that system of rules, laws, and regulations, by which the people he rules should be governed; if he rule not according to these, he is, ipso facto, deposed from his government. If he break the constitution, to the great injury or ruin of his subjects, then he is to be judged by those laws according to which he must have pledged himself to govern. If a king be deposed on any other account, it is rebellion. If his life be taken away by any means but those provided by the constitution, it is murder. No pretended or proved tyranny can justify his being taken off in any other way, or on any other account. And what constitution in the civilized world provides for the death of the supreme magistrate? It is true the good people, as they were called, of England and France, have each under a pretense of law, beheaded their king; and they endeavored to justify their conduct on the ground that those kings had broken the constitution: this being proved, they should have been deposed. But by what law, either of those nations or of the civilized world, were their lives taken away? Let it be remembered that the inflation of the punishment of death, either against or without law, is murder. ### Introduction [¶18] The Israelites again rebel against God, and they are delivered into the hands of Jabin, king of Canaan, [Jdg 4:1], [Jdg 4:2]. They cry unto God, and he raises up Deborah and Barak to deliver then, [Jdg 4:3-10]. Some account of Heber the Kenite, [Jdg 4:11]. Barak attacks Sisera, captain of Jabin's army, at the river Kishon, and gives him a total overthrow, [Jdg 4:12-16]. Sisera leaves his chariot, and flies away on foot; enters the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber, by whom he is slain, while secreting himself in her apartment, [Jdg 4:17-24]. ### Verse 1 [¶20] When Ehud was dead - Why not when Shamgar was dead? Does this not intimate that Shamgar was not reckoned in the number of the judges? ### Verse 2 [¶22] Jabin king of Canaan - Probably a descendant of the Jabin mentioned [Jos 11:1], etc., who had gathered together the wrecks of the army of that Jabin defeated by Joshua. Calmet supposes that these Canaanites had the dominion over the tribes of Naphtali, Zebulun, and Issachar; while Deborah judged in Ephraim, and Shamgar in Judah. ### Verse 3 [¶24] Nine hundred chariots of iron - Chariots armed with iron scythes, as is generally supposed; they could not have been made all of iron, but they might have been shod with iron, or had iron scythes projecting from the axle on each side, by which infantry might be easily cut down or thrown into confusion. The ancient Britons are said to have had such chariots. ### Verse 4 [¶26] Deborah, a prophetess - One on whom the Spirit of God descended, and who was the instrument of conveying to the Israelites the knowledge of the Divine will, in things sacred and civil. [¶27] She judged Israel - This is, I believe, the first instance of gynaecocrasy, or female government, on record. Deborah seems to have been supreme both in civil and religious affairs; and Lapidoth, her husband, appears to have had no hand in the government. But the original may as well be translated a woman of Lapidoth, as the wife of Lapidoth. ### Verse 5 [¶29] The palm tree of Deborah - It is common for the Hindoos to plant trees in the names of themselves and their friends; and some religious mendicants live for a considerable time under trees. - Ward. ### Verse 6 [¶31] She sent and called Barak - She appointed him to be general of the armies on this occasion; which shows that she possessed the supreme power in the state. [¶32] Mount Tabor - "Mount Tabor," says Maundrell, "stands by itself, about two or three furlongs within the plains of Esdraelon. It has a plain area at the top, both fertile and delicious of an oval figure, extending about one furlong in breadth, and two in length. The prospect from the top is beautiful: on the N.W. is the Mediterranean; and all around you have the spacious plains of Esdraelon and Galilee, which present you with a view of many places famous for the resort and miracles of the Son of God. At the bottom of Tabor, westward, stands Daberah, a small village, supposed to have taken its name from Deborah. Near this valley is the brook Kishon. During the rainy season, all the water that falls on the eastern side of the mountain, or upon the rising ground to the southward, empties itself into it, in a number of torrents: at which conjuncture it overflows its banks, acquires a wonderful rapidity, and carries all before it. It might be at such a time as this when the stars are said to fight against Sisera, [Jdg 5:20], [Jdg 5:21], by bringing an abundance of rain, whereby the Kishon became so high and rapid as to sweep away the host of Sisera, in attempting to ford it." See Maundrell and Shaw. This mountain is very difficult of ascent; it took Mr. Maundrell nearly an hour to reach the top; this, with its grand area on the summit, made a very proper place for the rendezvous of Barak's army. Antiochus used it for the same purpose in his wars; and Josephus appears to have fortified it; and Placidus, one of Vespasian's generals, was sent to reduce it. See more in Calmet. ### Verse 9 [¶34] The Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman - Does not this mean, If I go with thee, the conquest shall be attributed to me, and thou wilt have no honor? Or, is it a prediction of the exploit of Jael? In both these senses the words have been understood. It seems, however, more likely that Jael is intended. The Septuagint made a remarkable addition to the speech of Barak: "If thou wilt go with me I will go; but if thou wilt not go with me, I will not go; Ὁτι ουκ οιδα την ἡμεραν εν ῃ ευοδοι Κυριος τον αγγελον μετ' εμου, because I know not the day in which the Lord will send his angel to give me success." By which he appears to mean, that although he was certain of a Divine call to this work, yet, as he knew not the time in which it would be proper for him to make the attack, he wishes that Deborah, on whom the Divine Spirit constantly rested, would accompany him to let him know when to strike that blow, which he knew would be decisive. This was quite natural, and quite reasonable, and is no impeachment whatever of Barak's faith. St. Ambrose and St. Augustine have the same reading; but it is found in no MS. nor in any other of the versions. See [Jdg 4:14]. ### Verse 10 [¶36] Ten thousand men at his feet - Ten thousand footmen. He had no chariots; his army was all composed of infantry. ### Verse 11 [¶38] Hohab the father-in-law of Moses - For a circumstantial account of this person, and the meaning of the original word חתן chothen, which is translated son-in-law in [Gen 19:14], see the notes on [Exo 2:15], [Exo 2:16], [Exo 2:18]; [Exo 3:1]; [Exo 4:20], [Exo 4:24]; [Exo 18:5]. ### Verse 14 [¶40] Up; for this is the day - This is exactly the purpose for which the Septuagint state, [Jdg 4:8], that Barak wished Deborah to accompany him. "I know not," says he, "The Day in which God will send his angel to give me prosperity: come thou with we that thou mayest direct me in this respect." She went, and told him the precise time in which he was to make the attack: Up, for This is the Day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand. [¶41] Went down from Mount Tabor - He had probably encamped his men on and near the summit of this mount. See the note on [Jdg 4:6]. ### Verse 15 [¶43] The Lord discomfited Sisera - ויהם יהוה vayiahom Jehovah; the Lord Confounded, threw them all into confusion, drove them pell-mell - caused chariots to break and overthrow chariots, and threw universal disorder into all their ranks. In this case Barak and his men had little to do but kill and pursue, and Sisera in order to escape, was obliged to abandon his chariot. There is no doubt all this was done by supernatural agency; God sent his angel and confounded them.