LIBER JUDICUM

• 521A

(ATHANAS., in (Synopsi. ) This book is called Judges, for this reason, that after the death of Jesus Nave God preserved his people, oppressed by the nations of the Chanaanites that were left, by means of judges; and the deeds of each of these and the time of their life are contained in this volume, etc. Now they were thirteen in number: and their years were four hundred and eleven.

(ISID., in lib. Judic., cap. 1.) The history of the book of Judges points to no small mysteries of sacred things. For after Josue there succeed Judges, as after Christ the apostles and the rulers of the churches, to govern the faithful, whom he himself leads on to the hope of the eternal promise. And throughout this volume are contained the offences of the Jewish people, and their servitude and their cry and the compassion 521Bof God. For through many years they served for their sins, and being converted they were set free: because our sins furnish strength to our enemies; and when we do evil in the sight of the Lord, our adversaries, that is, the demons, are made strong. But when we are converted, God raises up judges and saviours, that is, princes and teachers, whom he sends to the aid of those who cry to God with their whole heart.

(AUG., quaest. 1 in lib. Judic.) At the end of the book of Jesus Nave the narrator briefly extended the history as far as the point at which the children of Israel turned aside to the worshipping of strange gods. But in this book there is a return to the order, how the things that followed were done after the death of Jesus Nave. The book therefore does not begin from that time in which the people slipped away to the worshipping of images: but from earlier things, the times being interposed 521Cin which those things were done, after it came to them.

VERS. 2.-- And the Lord said: Juda shall go up, etc. (ID., quaest. 2.) It is asked whether any man was called Juda, or whether he so named the tribe itself after the customary manner, etc., as far as then the tribe of Simeon also being taken up for the fighting.

VERS. 12.-- And he said, etc. (AUG., quaest. 3.) Whosoever shall smite the city of letters and shall take it, I will give him my daughter to wife. [Vulg. Jdc 1:12 Dixitque Caleb: Qui percusserit Cariath Sepher, et vastaverit eam, dabo ei Axam filiam meam uxorem, "And Caleb said: He that shall smite Cariath Sepher and lay it waste, I will give him Axa my daughter to wife"] This has been recorded in the book of Jesus, etc., as far as nor yet do I think that Scripture has twice recorded this without cause, concerning the daughter of Caleb given as the victor's prize.

521DVERS. 19.-- Neither could he destroy. (ID., quaest. 5 in Jud.) In this very thing was the Lord, etc., as far as when the Apostle says: Lest it exalt the greatness of the revelations, etc (II Cor. XII). [Vulg. II Cor. 12:7 ne magnitudo revelationum extollat me, "lest the greatness of the revelations exalt me"]

VERS. 21.-- The Jebusite. (AUG., quaest. 7 in Jud.) Above the same city is read of, etc., as far as not without him did they hold the land which they possessed.

VERS. 27.-- Manasses. (AUG., quaest. 8.) And Manasses did not 522Ainherit Bethsan, etc., as far as that the Scythians once held almost the whole of Asia.

VERS. 34.-- And he straitened. (AUG., quaest. 11 in Jud.) And he crushed the Amorrhites, the sons of Dan, in the mountain, since he did not permit them to go down, etc. [Amorrhaeos; read Amorrhaeus, "the Amorite crushed the sons of Dan"] [Vulg. Jdc 1:34 Arctavitque Amorrhaeus filios Dan in monte, nec dedit eis locum ut ad planiora descenderent, "And the Amorite straitened the children of Dan in the mountain, and gave them no place to go down to the plains"] Now this was recorded by anticipation in the book of Jesus Nave; but here by recapitulation.

VERS. 1.-- And the angel went up. (AUG., quaest. 12 in Jud.) And the angel of the Lord went up, etc., as far as that which he there recorded by anticipation.

VERS. 3.-- Wherefore I would not destroy. (AUG., quaest. 13 in Jud.) Hence we understand that certain sins come from the anger of God. For that the gods of the nations, among whom, 522Bnot exterminated, the Israelites willed to dwell, should be to them a stumbling-block, that is, should make them to be scandalized in their own God and to live with him offended, God in his indignation threatened, from which it is manifest that this is a great sin.

Josue therefore dismissed. (AUG.) This is repeated by way of recapitulation. For the death of Jesus Nave also is recorded in this book, so that all things may be briefly intimated as though from the beginning, from what time the Lord gave them the land, and how they lived under the judges, or what things they suffered; and again there is a return to the order of the judges, from him who was first appointed.

VERS. 7.-- And of the elders seniorunt. (ADAMAN., hom. 1 in Jud.) The elders who were with Jesus or after Jesus, etc., as far as but the days of the holy elders are long-lived 522Cand extended.

VERS. 8.-- He died. (ID., hom. 2.) In Paul Jesus lives, etc., as far as and there arose another generation, which knew not Jesus, etc.

(ADAMAN., hom. 2.) And they served the Baalim, etc., as far as we love with the whole soul and with all our strength; we adore idols.

VERS. 13.-- (AUG., quaest. 16 in lib. Judic.) And they served Baal and the Astartes. [Vulg. Jdc 2:13 dimittentes eum, et servientes Baal et Astaroth, "forsaking him, and serving Baal and Astaroth"] Baal is said to be the name of Jupiter among those nations, etc., as far as that he willed Juno to be mentioned in the plural.

(AUG., quaest. 17.) But in the psalm also, etc., as far as they were not to be redeemed with a money price.

VERS. 14.-- And the Lord being angry. (ORIG., hom. 2 in 522DJud.) When anyone serves God, etc., as far as lest we be delivered 522Dover to the devil.

VERS. 5.-- In the midst. (AUG., quaest. 17 in Jud.) In Exodus God says, etc., as far as their multitude would not suffer the lands from which the adversaries were being exterminated to be left waste. But as to what he says: Lest the wild beasts be multiplied against thee; [Vulg. Ex. 23:29 ne terra in solitudinem redigatur, et crescant contra te bestiae, "lest the land be reduced to a wilderness, and the beasts grow numerous against thee"] it is a wonder if he did not mean bestial desires and 523Alusts to be understood . . . for it was not that God could exterminate men and could not exterminate beasts.

VERS. 8.-- (ADAM., hom. 3.) And the Lord delivered them, etc., as far as the foulest odour of pride shines out.

(ORIG., hom. 3 in Jud.) See the kindly Lord, etc., as far as who are designated by Othoniel or Aioth.

VERS. 10.-- The spirit of the Lord was in him, etc. Great is the praise of the first judge, that the Spirit of the Lord was made to be upon him: and by the Spirit of God he judged the people, which I do not much remember to have been said of another. There are today judges of the churches, to whom the judgment of souls also has been given: but I know not whether any one of them is worthy to be filled with the Spirit of God.

523BAnd the spirit of the Lord was in him. (ADAM.) After, namely, that they had cried to the Lord. Who among us sends up to the Lord a cry so strong, so just, that the people may deserve to receive a judge whom the Spirit of God may fill, so that he might be able to hold right judgment? Whence this book is called of Judges, who, namely, judged the people of Israel, men, namely, wonderful, such as Josue was. As is also the book of Kings, in which it is told how each of the kings reigned, and what evil also he did: to the end, namely, that the princes or judges of the Church may imitate their good deeds and beware of their evil ones.

And Israel served. (ADAM., ubi supra.) After eighteen years, etc., as far as to whom it shall be said: Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, I know you not: go into everlasting fire, etc. (Luc. XIII). [Vulg. Lc. 13:27 Nescio vos unde sitis: discedite a me omnes operarii iniquitatis, "I know you not whence you are: depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity"; ite in ignem aeternum stands in no Lucan verse, cf. Mt. 25:41 discedite a me maledicti in ignem aeternum]

523C(ID.) Divine Scripture indicates the measures of punishment also, above, at eight years: here it says eighteen. But it is certain that according to the measure of the sin, and the delay of conversion, the times of chastisement also are determined. For these eighteen years of servitude also passed, and it is not said that they cried to the Lord or were converted from their wickedness: but afterwards.

VERS. 15.-- A saviour. (ID., hom. 3.) Saviours or judges, etc., as far as which says: I am the way, the truth and the life (Joan. XIV).

Who used either hand for the right hand. According to the spiritual understanding, all the saints are called ambidextrous, the devil and his princes double-left-handed. For all that they do is left-handed and perverse, 523Dassigned to eternal fire with those who are on the left hand.

VERS. 20.-- Aod went in, etc. (ADAM., hom. 4.) Aod is interpreted praise. For using a shrewd art and a praiseworthy deception, etc., as far as to whom it is said by the Lord: Well done, good servant, etc.

VERS. 22.-- With the fattest. (AUG., quaest. 21.) It is rightly asked, etc., as far as thus we find. Now Eglon was exceeding fat.

VERS. 25.-- They took. (ID., quaest. 23.) How did the servants of king Eglon open with a key what Aod had not shut with a key? Or if he had shut it with a key, how had he not carried it away with him, so that neither could these open with a key? Accordingly either another key was brought, or there was such 524Aa kind of fastening as could be shut without a key, and could not be opened without a key. For there are certain such things, like those which are called verudata [ MSS., veruclata].

VERS. 31.-- After him. (ADAM., hom. 4.) LXX. Semgar, that is, there a stranger. For all the men of God are strangers in this world; like him who said: I am a stranger, in the land with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. [Vulg. Ps. 38:13 advena ego sum apud te, et peregrinus sicut omnes patres mei, "I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner as all my fathers were" — Migne adds in terra] This Semgar therefore the Holy Spirit calls there a stranger, that is, here: for what is there to the Holy Spirit, who is in heaven, is here to us.

After him. (AUG., quaest. 25.) It is asked how after Aod Semgar fought for Israel and is said to have saved him. For he had not been taken captive or bound with the yoke of servitude. But he saved in this way, not because the enemy 524Bhad done harm; but that he might not be permitted to do harm: whom we must believe to have begun to make trial by war, and to have been repulsed by this man's victory.

Who smote. (ADAM., hom. 4.) Semgar smote the Allophyli in six hundred men, etc., as far as that thou mayest say confidently: But God forbid that I should glory, etc.

VERS. 1.-- And the children of Israel again did evil (ORIG., hom. 4 in Jud.) As it were for the sins of the people the good leader died, etc., as far as and to Jabin the prince of the Chanaanites.

VERS. 2.-- Into the hands of Jabin king of Chanaan. (ADAM., hom. 4 in Jud.) Jabin the prince of the army, etc., as far as either the people of the church be governed, or the sense of each soul.

524CVERS. 4.-- Now Debbora was a prophetess. (ADAM., hom. 5.) According to the Apostle, etc., as far as because it is purity of mind that confers this grace, not diversity of sex.

Debbora. A bee, or speech, which signifies a prophet; who composes the sweet honeycombs of heavenly doctrine, and the sweet honey of the divine word. Whence: How sweet are thy words to my palate, above honey and the honeycomb to my mouth! (Psal. CXVIII.) [Vulg. Ps. 118:103 Quam dulcia faucibus meis eloquia tua! super mel ori meo, "How sweet are thy words to my palate! above honey to my mouth" — Migne adds et favum] And elsewhere: The judgments of the Lord, says the prophet, are precious above gold and the precious stone exceedingly, and sweeter above honey and the honeycomb. (Ibid. X.) [Vulg. Ps. 18:11 desiderabilia super aurum et lapidem pretiosum multum, et dulciora super mel et favum, "more to be desired than gold and much precious stone, and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb"]

VERS. 5.-- And she sat under a palm tree, etc. (ADAM.) See in what places prophecy sits, namely, between the high places and the house of God. Nothing lowly, nothing base can be found about the seat of prophecy. As Solomon says: that it stands in the high places, namely in the gates of the cities, 524Dor dwells in the ramparts of the walls, or moves freely in high towers. Between the house of God therefore and the high places it is said to dwell. For it does not teach us to seek the things that are upon the earth, but the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Thither it exhorts us to ascend: thither prophecy strives to move her disciples.

VERS. 8.-- If thou come with me (AUG., quaest. 29 in Jud.) What is it that Barac answering said to Debbora, etc., as far as: that is, does he make prosperous things with me through an angel?

(ADAM., hom. 5.) I will not go up, unless thou go up with me. Thou seest how to those former ones prophecy brought down the words of God, etc., as far as, Sisara is delivered to her whose name is Jahel.

525AVERS. 18.-- Jahel therefore went forth (ADAM., hom. 5.) Jahel, a woman of another race, signifies the Church, etc., as far as she delivered him to eternal sleep.

VERS. 19.-- And she opened a bottle of milk (ADAM., hom. 5.) Let every soul with this evangelical and apostolic milk lull Sisara asleep within herself and extinguish him, etc., as far as but one reward of victory shall be given to the first and to the last.

VERS. 22.-- And she went forth, etc. (ADAM., hom. 5 in Jud.) Jahel meets him, etc., as far as by a faithful touch she first obtains healing.

VERS. 1.-- And Debbora and Barac sang, etc. (ADAM., hom. 6 in Jud.) If we call to mind the things that were said above, etc., as far as or the fault 525Bwhich comes through our own sloth.

Hear ye, etc. The mountains melted away from before the face of the Lord. (ADAM.) Give ear, all ye satraps. As satraps are inferior to kings, etc., as far as worthily shalt thou be called a king for the hearing of the divine words.

VERS. 6.-- In the days of Samgar. The paths are said to have rested, which in the days of Samgar the leader of Israel had been seized beforehand by the enemies, and they did not dare to go up to the house of the Lord for prayer; from whom Samgar is not written to have fully delivered them.

VERS. 9.-- My heart loveth. (ADAM., hom. 6.) My heart is toward those things which have been appointed for this Israel. As if to say, my heart, my spirit, my sense, and my whole mind reaches toward that, looks toward that which has been appointed and prepared for Israel. Whence: All things that are in 525Cthe world I count as dung, that I may gain Christ, etc. (Phil. III). [Vulg. Phlp. 3:8 arbitror ut stercora, ut Christum lucrifaciam, "I count them but as dung, that I may gain Christ" — the Vulgate has no omnia quae in mundo sunt]

VERS. 10.-- You who of your own will have offered yourselves to danger. Of whom it is said, you who of your own accord have offered your souls to peril periculam, etc., because they subjected themselves to the law of God and to his service, meditating in his law day and night. [Vulg. Jdc. 5:2 Qui sponte obtulistis de Israel animas vestras ad periculum, "You that have willingly offered your lives out of Israel to danger"]

You that ride upon sleek asses. (ADAM.) Ye mighty ones of the people, bless the Lord, for ye ride upon beasts of burden, etc. [Vulg. Jdc. 5:10 Qui ascenditis super nitentes asinos, et sedetis in judicio, et ambulatis in via, loquimini, "You that ride upon fair asses, and you that sit in judgment, and walk in the way, speak"] Our body is a beast of burden: for it was given for the help and for the service of the soul. To the inner man it is said: He that rideth upon the beast of burden, that is, upon his own body, and has been made superior to bodily desires, and governs the motions of the body with the bridle of reason, that he may bless the Lord.

525DVERS. 11.-- Where the chariots were dashed together. As if he should say, although God is to be praised always and everywhere, is he not rather to be praised and blessed here, who overthrew our enemies, as he overthrew the Egyptians in the Red Sea?

There let the justices of the Lord be told. (ADAM.) LXX: The just have been strengthened in Israel. Among the other nations, those who are stronger in bodily might are called mighty in battle: but in Israel, those who are more just; because justice, even when weak in strength, conquers. But injustice, although it has many strong warriors, is overcome. Therefore in our nation either we overcome through justice, or we are conquered through injustice.

VERS. 12.-- Arise, arise. In the Hebrew it is not found: but be thou awakened in spirit, namely of prophecy, for the perfect 526Ateachers stir up Debbora, that she may be awakened with the spirit of prophecy and of praise.

VERS. 15.-- Ruben being divided against himself. The voice of Debbora rebuking Ruben, who did not obey the command of the Lord with his brethren, to war down the enemies, but being terrified, and unbelieving of the words of the Lord, divided himself from them; and therefore he was found high-minded, proud. Whence in the spirit of prophecy he is rebuked thus: Why dwellest thou between two borders? etc. But in the Hebrew two is not found.

VERS. 21.-- The torrent drew away their carcasses, etc. Into the Red Sea, which is Cadumim, which is interpreted 'of the ancients': in that ancient miracles were done there when the children of Israel passed over and the Egyptians perished: so that instead of the carcasses of the Egyptians, the fishes and the beasts of the Red Sea might have the carcasses of the Chanaanites.

526B(ADAM., hom. 7 in Jud.) They are not said to have prevailed over the people of God while they keep the precepts, etc., as far as when we are forsaken by the grace of God.

VERS. 3.-- And when Israel had sown. (ID., hom. 7.) These things Israel suffered, etc., as far as glorified by his death, washed in his blood.

VERS. 8.-- Who sent to them a prophet, and spoke: Thus saith, etc. (AUG., quaest. 31 in Jud.) [Vulg. Jdc. 6:8 Qui misit ad eos virum prophetam, et locutus est, "Who sent to them a man, a prophet, and he spoke"] Why the name of this prophet is not told, etc., as far as: why may not an angel be called a prophet?

(ISID., in Jud., tom. V.) Gedeon signifies Christ: who, set under the shadow of the sacred cross by the predestined mystery of the incarnation to come, by the rectitude 526Cof judgment, as with a rod, separated the election of the saints from the chaff of the vices.

VERS. 17.-- Give me a sign. (ADAM., hom. 8.) A learned man, and having the example of Jesus his predecessor, acts more cautiously. For he knew that the angels of darkness can transform themselves into angels of light: therefore he examines the spirit, whether it be from God. For the spiritual man examines all things. So his predecessor Jesus Nave, when he had seen the prince of the heavenly host, asks: art thou one of ours, or of our adversaries? Therefore Gedeon examines the angelic vision by the diversity and the changing of the signs.

VERS. 18.-- Bearing. (AUG., quaest. 35 in Jud.) It is to be observed, etc., as far as as though he were to be helped by the presence of his holiness.

VERS. 19.-- He went in. (Greg., lib. III Moral., cap. 526D17.) When Gedeon was beating out the corn from the chaff, etc., as far as but let him wipe away also everything that is basely bound up within himself through his thoughts.

(ISID.) That which the father had appointed for deceits [dolis; read idolis, "for the idols" — the plate's own reading is dolis, verified at col. 0526D], this Gedeon slew, and offered another, of seven years, to God; wherein he showed that, after the coming of Christ, all the sacrifices of heathendom are to be abolished, and that now only the sacrifice of the passion of Christ is to be offered to God for the redemption of the people. For he himself is the calf of seven years, full, namely, of the sevenfold Spirit.

VERS. 33.-- Therefore all Madian. (ADAM.) The Madianites came together against Israel, etc., as far as they assault the people of God, namely, with the pagans and the Jews.

In the valley of Jezrael. (ID.) Which is interpreted the seed 527Aof God. For the adversaries dare not go thither, etc., as far as because he is set upon the summit of spiritual understanding.

VERS. 36.-- If thou wilt save. (ADAM., homil. 8 in Jud.) Although the signs are many and innumerable, etc., as far as which no moisture of the divine word was watering.

VERS. 37.-- In the floor. (Orig., homil. 8.) Not anywhere at all, not in the field, nor in the woodland, but in the floor where the harvest is, etc., as far as we may recline with a clean heart at the banquet of the bridegroom Jesus Christ.

If there be dew on the fleece only, etc. (AUG.) In the trial of Gedeon, what the Lord willed to foretell, he showed, namely, that in the fleece wet with rain and in the floor dry all round about there is figured the first people of Israel, where the saints were with the heavenly grace as with a spiritual rain, 527Band that afterwards, the floor being wet with rain and the fleece dried, there is figured the Church of God spread abroad through the whole world, having the heavenly grace not in a fleece as under a covering, but in the open, the former people being as it were estranged from the dew of that same grace and dried up.

VERS. 39.-- I pray, etc. (ADAM., homil. 8.) In the reason of the second sign also, etc., as far as the whole earth is watered with the grace of the divine dew.

VERS. 3.-- He that is fearful, etc. (ADAM., hom. 9). The same thing Jesus cries today, etc., as far as so among huge and abominable crimes the crime of fear and of dread is set.

LXX: He is fearful who, the vice as it were growing up 527Cin him, before he sees evils, is terrified by thought alone, rolling an icy dread through his limbs, so that he is unstrung not so much by the sight of evils as by the hearing and the expectation of them. Therefore, according to the LXX, he is called fearful in heart, for in the heart and in the inward parts of the mind this vice remains fixed. But he is timid who at the first sight trembles at the encounter, yet is not terrified with his whole heart, but can be restored and heartened anew.

VERS. 4.-- The people are still too many. (ADAM., hom. 9.) As I see, those who were first rejected, etc., as far as nor is he laid prostrate on his face because of the thirst of sin.

VERS. 5.-- Who with hand and tongue. (ADAM., homil. 9.) He says that they lap the water with hand and tongue, etc., as far as and they perfectly bear the number of the Trinity.

527DVERS. 6.-- So the number of them was, etc. (AUG., quaest. 47 in Jud.) And the number of them that lapped with their hand, with their tongue, was three hundred men. [Vulg. Jdc. 7:6 Fuit itaque numerus eorum qui manu ad os projiciente lambuerunt aquas, trecenti viri, "So the number of them that lapped the waters, casting them with the hand to the mouth, was three hundred men"] Very many Latin codices have not with their hand, but only with their tongue, etc., as far as David also calls himself a dog, as it were contemptible.

VERS. 13.-- It struck it and overthrew it. (Greg., lib. XXX Moral., cap. 25.) Concerning this war, through the prophet, etc., as far as that the iron of the enemies is overcome by the wood of the cross.

VERS. 16.-- And he divided. (ID., Ibid.) They were led to the river, etc., as far as in his left hand he holds the trumpet, in his right the pitcher.

VERS. 20.-- And had broken the pitchers. (ADAM., 528Ahom. 9.) They carry pitchers, etc., as far as that we may deserve to obtain the victory from him.

VERS. 27.-- And Gedeon made an ephod thereof, etc., (AUG., quaest. 41 in Jud.) It is asked what the Ephod or Ephot is, etc., as far as so that the numerous offspring of his sons should thus perish, as Scripture afterwards testifies.

(AUG.) It is to be understood that it was said by way of prolepsis that Gedeon made the Ephod against the law of God out of the gold that had been carried off when the enemies were vanquished, so that it might be told at one time both whence the gold was and what was made of it. For this sin was committed at the end of the days of Gedeon: when there followed the evils which Scripture appends, after it had said for how many years in the days of Gedeon the land was at rest.

528BAfter that Gedeon was dead. (ID., quaest. 43.) And it came to pass, when Gedeon was dead, that the children of Israel turned away, and committed fornication after the Baalim, and set up for themselves Baalberith as a covenant, that he might be to them for a God, etc. [Vulg. Jdc. 8:33 Postquam autem mortuus est Gedeon, aversi sunt filii Israel, et fornicati sunt cum Baalim. Percusseruntque cum Baal foedus, ut esset eis in deum, "And after Gedeon was dead, the children of Israel turned away, and committed fornication with Baalim. And they made a covenant with Baal, that he should be their god"] Both Baalim and Baalberith are to be understood as idols. Greater therefore is the transgression and the fornication on the part of the people after the death of Gedeon, than while he was alive, on account of the Ephod. And although this had been unlawfully done, yet it was of the sacred things of the tabernacle: but this idolatry has not the false defence of the religion of the fathers. Whence, even if the Ephod was made not at the end of the time of Gedeon, but before, God bore it so patiently that peace continued in the land, because although that had been done which he had forbidden, yet there had not been a far departing from him who had commanded that some such thing should be made in his own tabernacle to his own honour. 528CBut now he would not have the graver things committed, and the open fornication of the people after idols, go unpunished.

VERS. 5.-- And Joatham remained. (ISID.) The younger son, who by fleeing escapes the sword of the enemy, signifies the remnant of Israel that shall believe in the last time and shall escape the sword of Antichrist, he went up to the top of mount Garizim: because one can neither prophesy nor escape the persecution of Antichrist, unless he has first gone up into the mount of blessing, that is, into the loftiness of faith and of the virtues: for this is mount Garizim, which by Moses is appointed for blessing.

(ISID., in Jud. tom. V.) If this deed were not mystical, etc., as far as he will bring in a persecution, that he may slay 528Dall the saints.

VERS. 10.-- And they said. (ID., ibid.) The trees of the wood are unfruitful men, etc., as far as and brought through the most sweet fatness of Christ with glory and honour.

(ID., ibid.) But the vine is Christ, who said: I am the true vine (Joan. XV). Because therefore the people that serves Antichrist is given over to a reprobate sense, that it may believe a lie, that is, Antichrist — because it would not believe the truth, that is, Christ — it is rejected from the kingdom of the vine, that is, of Christ; and from the olive, that is, the grace of the Holy Spirit, and from the fig, that is, the sweetness of the divine law.

And they said. (ID.) The bramble is a kind of briar, which they commonly call the bear's thorn, exceedingly rough 529Aand prickly, by which Antichrist is signified, who shall lay waste the human race with all roughness and savagery: and fire shall come forth from the bramble, [Vulg. Jdc. 9:15 egrediatur ignis de rhamno, "let fire come out from the bramble"] that is, iniquity from Antichrist, and it shall devour together with him all who trust in him.

VERS. 23.-- And he sent. (AUG., quaest. 45 in Jud.) And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of the Sichimites. [Vulg. Jdc. 9:23 Misitque Dominus spiritum pessimum inter Abimelech et habitatores Sichem, "And the Lord sent a very evil spirit between Abimelech and the inhabitants of Sichem"] This word, etc., as far as they have rendered it also immisit.

VERS. 32.-- Arise. (ID., quaest. 46.) And now arise by night, thou and thy people with thee, and lie in wait. [Vulg. Jdc. 9:32 Surge itaque nocte cum populo qui tecum est, et latita in agro, "Arise therefore in the night with the people that is with thee, and lie hid in the field"] Certain Latin copies have maturabis, etc., as far as God created the sun on the fourth day.

VERS. 1.-- After Abimelech. (AUG., quaest. 47 in 529BJud.) How the uncle of Abimelech was a man of the tribe of Issachar, etc., as far as that the flesh of the Lord should be propagated not only from the royal, but also from the priestly stock.

(AUG., quaest. 49 in Jud.) Jephte is interpreted opening, etc., as far as because they do not keep the precepts of the law and do not show faith to him as to a husband.

VERS. 3.-- He dwelt in the land of Tob. (ID., ibid.) In a land, namely, good, or rather best. For what in Greek is ἀγάθον, this in Latin is called optimum. And this is what Tob is interpreted, where the resurrection seems to be understood. For what land is more the best than the earthly body clothed with the excellence of immortality and of incorruption.

529C(ID., ibid.) Before the passion he ate with publicans and sinners, etc., as far as that they may be justified and may learn his ways.

In those days. (ID., ibid.) Those who had cast off Christ, etc., as far as that by old age the last times may be signified.

VERS. 8.-- And the princes said. (AUG., ibid.) Some such thing was figured in Joseph, etc., as far as of which kingdom of his there shall be no end.

And that thou fight. (AUG.) That Jephte is sought as leader against the children of Ammon, at whose overthrow those might be set free who desired to make war under him as leader: because Ammon is interpreted 'son of my people', or 'people of mourning'; either those enemies are signified who out of that same nation remained in unbelief; or all who are predestined to hell: where there shall be 529Dweeping and gnashing of teeth, as to a people of mourning. Although the devil and his angels are fittingly understood as the people of mourning: either because they procure eternal misery for those whom they deceive, or because they themselves are appointed to eternal misery.

VERS. 9.-- I will be your prince. (ID., ibid.) That is, a king whom that nation did not yet have in the time of the judges, etc., as far as but Jephte signified him who is the true king.

(ID.) A king, namely, as it is written in the title of the cross, etc., as far as like those who are contained in the books of Kings.

Are not the things which he possesseth, etc. Are not whatsoever things Chamos hath given thee to inherit? [Vulg. Jdc. 11:24 nonne ea quae possidet Chamos deus tuus, tibi jure debentur?, "are not the things which Chamos thy god possesseth due to thee by right?"]

530AVERS. 29.-- And going about Galaad. (AUG., quaest. 49 in Jud.) Galaad is interpreted casting away, etc., as far as which he signifies by saying also from the watch-tower of Galaad of passing over and passing over to the children of Ammon. [Vulg. Jdc. 11:29 Maspha quoque Galaad, et inde transiens ad filios Ammon, "Maspha also of Galaad, and passing thence to the children of Ammon"]

VERS. 30.-- If thou wilt deliver the children of Ammon. (AUG., ibid.) Whomsoever Jephte may have thought of, he does not seem to have thought of his daughter; for he would not have said: alas for me! my daughter, thou hast hindered me, etc. [Vulg. Jdc. 11:35 Heu me, filia mea! decepisti me, et ipsa decepta es, "Alas me, my daughter! thou hast deceived me, and thou thyself art deceived"] For he shows In icat himself to have been hindered, so that he might not fulfil that which he had thought of. But whom could he think of, who did not have sons? Or perhaps he thought of his wife, and God willed not that this should come to pass, and that he should not leave this unpunished; lest anyone afterwards should dare it: and that by a great providence, out of that which happened, a great mystery of the Church might be figured. From both, therefore, was the prophecy fitted? namely, what he thought of in vowing, 530Band what befell him unwilling. For if he thought of his wife, the wife of Christ is the Church. But because the wife of this Jephte could not be a virgin, in that his daughter rather met him, the rashness of the vow did not remain unavenged, and the virginity of the Church was figured, to whom it is said: Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole, go in peace (Luc. VII). [Vulg. Lc. 7:50 Fides tua te salvam fecit: vade in pace, "Thy faith hath made thee safe: go in peace" — Filia stands at Lc. 8:48, not at Lc. 7:50]

(AUG., quaest. 49.) Concerning the daughter of Jephte there is wont to be a great question, etc., as far as so that all the things which were done afterwards may seem to be understood as works of the Spirit of the Lord who was made upon him.

(ID.) But among praiseworthy men, etc., as far as that it may be altogether avoided, but only that it may be deferred, he labours.

(ISID., in Jud., tom. V.) Jephte signifies Christ, because departing from the face of his brethren, that is, of the Jews, he received the princedom among the Gentiles, because 530Che fulfilled all the mysteries of human salvation as one under oath: and he offered his own flesh, as it were a daughter, for the salvation of Israel. And he swore to the Father and vowed according to that word: As he swore to the Lord, he vowed a vow to the God of Jacob, namely, that he would fulfil the mystery of religion in the passion of his own flesh for the salvation of the human race. These things therefore were so done through Christ that they seem to have been completed for the religion of the oath.

VERS. 37-39.-- And I will bewail, etc. And he did to her, etc. (AUG.) A chaste virgin, that is, the Church, etc., as far as on account of whom the two testaments also are so called.

From thence the custom grew. (AUG., quaest. 49.) But as to what was done by ordinance in Israel, that from days to days they came together to lament the daughter of Jephte, four days in the year, I do not think that it signifies anything after the completed 530Dholocaust, which shall be in eternal life, but the past times of the Church, in which the mourners were blessed. By the four days its universality was figured: because of the four parts of the world through which it is spread far and wide. But as to the proper sense of the history, I do not think that the Israelites decreed this, except because they understood that in her the judgment of God had been shown rather for the striking of the father, lest anyone thereafter should vow such a sacrifice. For why was a lamentation decreed, if that vow is a vow of gladness?

VERS. 7.-- So Jephte judged, etc. (AUG.) As those two months, on account of the seventy days, signify the senary number of the six ages, so here 531Athe sevenfold multiplied six times figures the same thing, so far as it pertains to the six ages of the world; for six times seven are forty-two, nor was it in vain that Jephte himself judged the people six years. [septuaginta; read sexaginta, "sixty"]

VERS. 2.-- But thou shalt conceive, etc. (ISID., in Jud.) Samson has certain things as a type of Christ, etc., as far as and it was said of Christ also by the prophet: There shall arise to you the sun of justice, and health in his wings.

VERS. 3.-- Nor shalt thou eat any unclean thing. (AUG., quaest. 50.) The unclean thing is the dissolution of discipline which had begun to be in Israel, and had already made them fall away to the eating of those things which God had forbidden among the animals: for already they were passing over even to the worship of idols.

(AUG., quaest. 52 in Jud.) As to what the woman says was told her by the angel, etc., as far as the Nazarites observed on certain days, 531Bmaking their vows and paying their vow.

VERS. 19.-- And so Manue took. (AUG., quaest. 53.) As to what Scripture says, that Manue was ignorant that it was an angel of the Lord, etc., as far as that he should be delivered to his enemies for forty years.

VERS. 20.-- And when they had seen it. (GREG., lib. V Moral., cap. 23.) What is it that at the vision of the angel the man is timid, the woman bold, unless that when heavenly things are shown to us, the spirit indeed shakes itself with dread, but yet hope presumes. For from that source hope raises itself to the daring of greater things, from which the spirit is troubled that sees first the things which are above, because when the mind, thus lifted up, beholds the loftier things of the heavenly secrets, all the solidity of human strength trembles.

531C(AUG., quaest. 54 in Jud.) What is it that, after the angel was made manifest to Manue and to his wife, etc., as far as that he would not receive a sacrifice, but would himself be the sacrifice to come.

VERS. 5.-- And so Samson went down, etc. (ISID., in Jud. tom. V, cap. 8.) When Samson was making his way to the strangers for the sake of seeking a wife, he slew a lion: and Christ, about to call the Church from among the Gentiles, overcame the devil, he who says: Rejoice, for I have overcome the world (Joan. XVI). [Vulg. Jo. 16:33 sed confidite, ego vici mundum, "but have confidence, I have overcome the world"] Out of the mouth of the slain lion a honeycomb is drawn, because, as we behold, the kings of the earthly kingdom, who before raged against Christ, now, their savagery destroyed, preach the sweetness of the Gospel, and afford it defences.

VERS. 8.-- And he smote them, etc. (AUG., quaest. 55 in Jud.) LXX: Samson smote the strangers 532Aleg upon thigh, that is, so wonderfully that in their amazement they set the leg of the one foot upon the thigh of the other.

VERS. 12.-- Swear ye. (AUG., quaest. 56 in Jud.) What is it that Samson says to the men of Juda, etc., as far as unless they be learned by hearing or by reading, so neither are the modes of speech.

VERS. 16.-- With the jawbone. (GREG., lib. XIII Moral., cap. 6.) The jawbone of the ass signifies the preachers. For our Redeemer, holding in the hand of his power the simplicity and the patience of those who preach, slew the carnal from their vices, and, the jawbone being cast upon the ground, afterwards poured forth waters: because the bodies of the preachers, delivered over to death, showed forth great miracles to the peoples.

532BVERS. 1.-- He went also, etc. (GREG., Homil. 21 in Evang.) Whom in this deed Samson, etc., as far as and by ascending he pierced through the kingdoms of the heavens.

VERS. 19.-- And she called a barber. (ISID., in Jud., tom. V, cap. 6.) That the crafty woman shaved the head of Samson, etc., as far as and, the contest being made ready, he shall in the end most mightily triumph over the demons.

(GREG., lib. XXVII Moral., cap. 13.) Samson, his eyes lost, is assigned by the Allophyli to the mill, etc., as far as they send [him] outside into the round of toil.

VERS. 30.-- And dying he slew many more. (GREG., lib. XXIX Moral., cap. 7.) In this place Christ is signified by Samson, etc., as far as by dying he laid them all low together.

VERS. 5.-- And he made an ephod and theraphim, etc. 532C(HIERON., epist. 130, tom. I.) In the volume of Judges, etc., as far as he is shown to have done it by the teraphim.

VERS. 7.-- They came to Lais, etc. (HIERON., lib. de loc. Hebr.) Laisan the children of Dan, etc., as far as near Esthaol.

VERS. 25.-- He brought out to them his concubine, etc. (AUG. de Civ., cap. 34.) 'Concubine' is sometimes used for 'wife'. For both Agar and Cethura are called both wives and concubines of Abraham.

VERS. 18.-- They consulted God. (GREG., lib. 24 Moral., cap. 13.) He who does not judge himself, etc., as far as but let it be rigid against itself, and submissive indeed to all good men.

The children of Israel also swore in Maspha, etc.