et Jer. xxxi. 5, est vertendum; oppositum | encourage their soldiers. But it is not likely ei quod fructus vineæ aut oliveti recens they had their captains to make or choose plantati primis quatuor annis tanquam sacri when they were just going to battle. habebantur. Tribus enim primis annis eos Bp. Horsley.-9 Very strange! that they non decerpere licebat, et quarto anno epulis should have to appoint the leaders at the sacrificalibus ad locum sacrum illi consumi very eve of the battle, and that these indebebant, quinto igitur demum anno ad ferior officers () should have the usus profanos, i.e., communes, vulgares, appointment of the highest. The Vulgate adhiberi poterant. Cf. Lev. xix. 23. Pro- gives a very different and consistent sense, movebat autem simul hæc lex cum reliquis which cannot, however, be brought out of legibus annexis agriculturam et matrimonia. the Hebrew text as it now stands. "CumCf. Mich. J. M., p. iii., § 177. καὶ ἔσται ὅταν παύσωνται οἱ γραμματείς λαλοῦντες πρὸς τὸν λαὸν, καὶ καταστήσουσιν ἄρχοντας τῆς στρατιᾶς προηγουμένους τοῦ λαοῦ. Au. Ver.-9 And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead [Heb., to be in the head of the people] the people. They shall make captains of the armies. So Houbigant, Rosenmüller. que siluerint duces exercitus et finem loquendi fecerint, unus quisque suos ad bellandum cuneos præparabit." I guess this translator's reading was thus, 177 ΕΤΩΝ ΕΠΕΝ72. "Then let the leaders of the armies marshal the people by their companies." "per cohortes instruant," or perhaps "manipulatim instruant." Bp. Patrick.-9 This shows that what I noted, ver. 5, is true; that the foregoing proclamation was made before they marched forth to the war: for how should they march till there were captains chosen, to lead the several armies (as those companies into which they were divided, are called), which was not done till he had spoken all the forenamed things. And if we translate the words as they may be out of the Hebrew [they shall place or set captains of the hosts in the head, or the front, of the people], still it must be supposed, that this was done before they stirred a foot; for no order could be observed without leaders. Ver. 15. 15 οὕτω ποιήσεις πάσας τὰς πόλεις τὰς μακρὰν οὔσας σου σφόδρα, οὐχὶ ἐκ τῶν πόλεων τῶν ἐθνῶν τούτων, 16 ὢν κύριος ὁ Θεός σου didwoi oo kanpovoμéív tùv yŷv altŵr, oẻ ζωγρήσετε πᾶν ἐμπνέον. Au. Ver.-15 Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations. Of these nations. Ged., Booth." of these nations whose land Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth." Although the addition in this verse," whose land," &c., be only in Ged., Booth.--Captains shall be appointed. Sept. and Vulg., I have no doubt of its Pool.—Or rather, as the Hebrew hath it, having originally stood in the text. The they shall set or place the captains of the comma has been dropt out in transcribing, armies in the head or front of the people from its contiguity to the repetition in the under their charge, that they may conduct beginning of the next verse. The same has and manage them, and by their example happened to the copies of Sept., with re spect to the repetition; which is wanting in the Vatican, and some other MSS., as the preceding comma is wanting in Ald. Comp. and Alex.-Ged. Ver. 17. Au. Ver.-17 But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. Kennicott follows the Sam. and LXX, which supply, and the Girgashites. thereof by forcing an axe against them: 20 Only the trees which thou knowest Bp. Patrick.-In chapter vii. 1, he mentions seven nations, though here are only Thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree six, the Girgashites being omitted. The of the field is man's life) to employ them in reason of which Maimonides (in Hilcoth the siege. So equivalently Frommann, Melachim) thinks to be, that they upon the Dathe, Rosenmüller, Ged., Booth. "Thou first summons of Joshua fled the country shalt not cut them down to employ them in into Africa; and therefore are not named the siege; for the fruit-trees of the field in Josh. ix. 1, 2, among those that "ga- were designed for the food of man."—Geddes. thered themselves together to fight against Dathe.-Eas ne succidite, ut illis ad obIsrael." But I take the true reason of this sidionem utamini: hominum enim usui a to be, that the Girgashites were a people Deo destinatæ sunt. mixed among the rest, and did not live in a separate part of the country by themselves: but that they opposed Joshua, as well as others, and were delivered into his hand, appears from Josh. xxiv. 11. Noldius.-Them ye shall not cut down. But man's [i. c., every man's] are the trees of the field; which may therefore be employed by you in the siege. Bp. Horsley." For why? Is the tree of the field a man, that it go from thee into the besieged town?" or, "into the ramparts?" See LXX, and Vulgate. Pool. The trees thereof, to wit, the fruit trees, as appears from the following words; which is to be understood of a general deinstruction struction of them, not of the cutting down תאכֵל וְאֹתוֹ לֹא תִכְרֹת כִּי הָאָדָם of some few of them, as the conveniency of עֵץ הַשָּׂדֶה לָבָא מִפָּנֶיךָ בַּמָּצְוֹר : רַק עֵץ אֲשֶׁר־תֵּדַע כִּי לֹא־עֵץ מַאֲכָל 20 the siege might require. Man's life, i. e., nanke nay nwjy sy be otherwise translated, as it is in the margin of our English Bibles: For, Oman, the Hebrew letter he being here the note of) עַד יִדְתָּה : ix. 1, Psal. lxii. 10) to be employed in the 19 car dè ñeрikadions #epi módy μíav a vocative case, as it is Psal. ix. 7,) the ἡμέρας πλείους ἐκπολεμῆσαι αὐτὴν εἰς κατά-tree (or trees, the singular number for the Anyw avτîs, our ¿§oλo@pevσcis тà dévôpa plural, as is common) of the field is (or αὐτῆς, ἐπιβαλεῖν ἐπ' αὐτὰ σίδηρον, ἀλλ ̓ ἢ ἀπ' ought, as the Hebrew lamed is used Esth. αὐτοῦ φαγῇ, αὐτὸ δὲ οὐκ ἐκκόψεις. μὴ ἄνθρωπος τὸ ξύλον τὸ ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ εἰσελθεῖν ἀπὸ προσώπου σου εἰς τὸν χάρακα ; 20 allà ¿úλov ô éñioτaσa öтi où kарñó3рwróv éσrt, τοῦτο ὀλοθρεύσεις καὶ ἐκκόψεις καὶ οἰκοδομήσεις χαράκωσιν ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν, ἥτις ποιεῖ πρὸς tion, of all trees, including fruit-bearing σὲ τὸν πόλεμον, ἕως ἂν παραδοθῇ. trees, as that phrase is commonly used, Au. Ver.--19 When thou shalt besiege a' but in its more special and distinct significacity a long time, in making war against it tion, for unfruitful trees, as it is taken Isa. to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees lv. 12; or such as grow only in open fields, such as are elsewhere called the trees of the wood, 1 Chron. xvi. 33; Isa. vii. 2, or the trees of the forest, Cant. ii. 3; Isa. x. 19, which are opposed to the trees of the gardens, Gen. iii. 2, 8; Eccl. ii. 5; Ezek. xxxi. 9; as the flower of the field, Psal. ciii. 15; Isa. xl. 6, and the lilies of the field, Matt. vi. 28, are opposed to those that grow in gardens, and are preserved and cultivated by the gardener's art and care. And so it is a very proper argument to dissuade from the destroying of fruit trees, because the wild and unfruitful trees were sufficient for the use of the siege. And this sense fitly agrees with the following words, where the concession or grant, which here is delivered in more ambiguous terms, of the tree of the field, is repeated and explained concerning the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat. among the Jews expounds these words; and the famous Abarbinel, who thus glosses upon them: "It is not decent to make war against trees, who have no hands to fight with thee, but against men only." And this sense Grotius follows, lib. iii. De Jure Belli et Pacis, cap. 12, sect. 2, where he produces Philo for this opinion, and Josephus, who says, "If trees could speak, they would cry out that it was unjust, that they who were no cause of the war should suffer the mischiefs of it." And thus Onkelos translates these words, and those that follow, "For the tree of the field is not as a man, that it should come against thee in the siege ;" that is, they had no cause to fear trees, and therefore should not hurt them. But this is a reason against cutting down any trees whatsoever; whereas Moses speaks only of fruit-trees. From whence Grotius thinks Bp. Patrick. For the tree of the field is that saying of the Pythagoreans took its man's life.] The word life is not in the original, uepov QUтòv Kai čуKарπоν, &c., Hebrew text; but we add it to make out the "trees that do not grow wild, and bear sense. In which we follow many good fruit, ought not to be hurt, much less cut authors among the Jews, particularly Aben down." And yet it seems to be more agreeEzra, who observes many such elliptical, able to the Hebrew words, than our mari.e., concise forms of speech in Scripture. ginal translation, which makes this sense, As in 1 Sam. xvi. 20, where an "ass of "That there are trees of the field sufficient bread" is an ass loaded with bread. So to employ in the siege;" so that they need here the tree is a man, i. e., the life or not cut down fruit-trees to carry it on. support of man. Just as (xxiv. 6) it is said, Rosen.-19 Cum oppidum multis diebus a man should not take the upper or nether obsidebis, ut id oppugnes et capias, non cormillstone to pledge, ki nephesh hu, "because rumpes agri ejus arbores, immissa in eas it is his life," i. e., that whereby he gets his securi; arbores intelligendæ sunt frugiferæ, livelihood. But there are a great many additur enim, nam ex iis veswho translate the words by way of interro- ceris, i. e., earum fructibus. Hæc ratio est, gation (and the Hebrew will bear it), and, ob quam arboribus frugiferis parcendum joining them with those that follow, make fuit; quod, nimirum, plus sibi obsidentes this the sense, "Is the tree of the field a nocuissent Israelitæ, quam obsessis hostibus, man, that it should come against thee in the dum se fructibus arborum privarent. Solesiege?" So the Vulgar, the Greek, and the bant vero interdum arbores frugiferæ etiam Arabic translation, and the Chaldee para-ab obsessoribus succidi, ut machinæ muris phrast, and Josephus, as Mr. Selden ob- admoveri possint. T DIED 12 DINA 13 serves (lib. vi. De Jure Nat. et Gent., cap.za. In his verbis explicandis et vett. et 12), as much as to say, They need not fear recentt. haud parum laborarunt. Plures any danger from the trees, as if they were ante 77 subaudiunt interrogationem, ut soldiers that could fight against them. And hoc modo interpretanda sint verba: num if this sense do not seem dilute (as some enim homo est arbor agri, ut veniat a conhave censured it), there is no need of ren- spectu tuo in obsidione? quasi Moses dicere dering the words by way of interrogation, voluerit, arbores non esse homines, neque but only of repeating the word not out of militum vim habere, ut intra urbem sé rethe foregoing words, in this manner, "Thou cipientes pugnare contra Israelitas valerent, shalt not cut them down, for the tree of the nee adeo esse, quod in eas, tanquam in field is not a man," &c. Of this there are hostes, irruant, eosque succidendo disperdere many examples, as Glassius and our Gat-, conentur. In hune sensum LXX, μn avaker have shown. And thus R. Bechai θρωπος τὸ ξύλον τὸ ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ, εἰσελθεῖν TTIT апо проσάпоν σov els тov Xápaka; Nec verba hujus vs. tria postrema i TI? aliter Hieronymus, nisi quod interrogationem conjungit cum superioribus in, ut negatione declaravit: Lignum est, et non sensus sit eas ne succidite, ut illis ad obhomo, nec potest bellantium contra te nume-sidionem utamini: arbores enim hebraice rum augere. Eodem modo Onkelos: quo- ante nos in obsidionem venire dicuntur, cum niam non est sicut homo arbor agri, ut veniat ad eam instruendam a nobis adhibentur. ante te in obsidionem. Sensus, quem Chal- Verba media vero: Nuncinis dæus spectavit, est hic: arbores se non includenda, atque a reliquo contextu sepacoram obsessoribus, seu spectantibus iis, in randa censet, ita vertenda: nam hominis, urbem obsessam conjicere posse, contra eos i. e., hominis usui destinata est arbor agri, pugnaturas. Ita Syrus: ut fugiat a con- subaudito ante signo dativi,, quod spectu tuo in urbem obsessam. Clarius id ex- haud raro omittitur. Eadem loquendi forma pressit Saadias: existimans apud te, quod Coh. xii. 13: D, hoc omni homini arbores campi sint velut homo, qui se jam convenit; et Ez. xii. 10: IT, absconderit a conspectu tuo in obsidione, i. e., Principis s. principi est hoc oraculum. Quam in urbe obsessa. Quæ interpretatio, quam- interpretationem et Dathius sequutus est, et vis sit antiquissima, et quamplurimos ap- in qua nos quoque acquiescimus. probatores invenerit, tamen merito repudiatur, quod frigida nimis et jejuna, cur arbores fructiferæ non excidendæ sint, hæc sit ratio, Rosen., Obsidio, i. e., machinæ ad quia arbores illæ non sint homines, adeoque obsidionem., Donec descendet ea, Israelitis urbem obsessuris resistere non sc. urbs, intelligendum hoc de muris cadenvaleant. Nonne idem etiam de arboribus tibus, donec eam urbem expugnaveritis. infructuosis dicendum? Alii nomini IN præmissum vocativum indicare existimant (ut Ps. ix. 7), sensumque loci hunc in Au. Ver. 2 Then thy elders and thy modum declarant: Nam, O homo, arbores judges shall come forth, and they shall meaagri, i. e., sylvestres, adsunt, quibus ad ob- sure unto the cities which are round about sidionem uti possis, machinas ex iis con- him that is slain. struendo, hinc non est, quod fructuosas ad usum huncce adhibeas. Ad verba: ye 20 Build bulwarks. Ged. Make sieging-engines. CHAP. XXI. 2. Judges. So the Heb. Non et, ושטריך que proprie sic vertenda teinenda scriptio Samaritanorum לָבֹא מִפָּנֶיךְ בַּמָּצוֹר volunt: arbor agri adjumento est tibi, ut præsides tui, quoniam eo in negotio nihil veniat urbs coram te in obsidionem, comparant erat, quod dijudicaretur. Unum munus erat phrasin 2 Reg. xxiv. 10; xxv. 2; Jer. senum ac Præsidum, aut vero Judicum, lii. 5 obviam. ii, venit urbs in metiri solum a cædis loco ad urbes proximas, obsidionem. In istam tamen interpretationem vel testes esse factæ mensuræ. Erh. Andr. Frommann in Opuscc. Philologg., p. 169, vere monuit hæc : "Atque quidem Ver. 4. sed, ut quisque per se intelligit, non nisi in καὶ καταβιβάσουσιν ἡ γερουσία τῆς πόλεως ἐκείνης δάμαλιν εἰς φάραγγα τραχείαν, ἥτις οὐκ εἴργασται οὐδὲ σπείρεται, καὶ νευροκοπήσουσι τὴν δάμαλιν ἐν τῇ φάραγγι. Au. Ver.4 And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither cared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley. Into a rough valley. Valley. See notes on Numb. xxiv. 26. nor sown. Gesen., Rosen., Ged., Booth.-To an sown. And, besides this variety, there are everflowing torrent, which cannot be ploughed those who take ethan not to signify either that which is hard or rapid, but the most fertile . The Vulg. renders, vallem asperam | ground: so R. Bechai, and lately R. Jac. atque saxosam. I have no doubt of Abendana, in his marginal notes upon being here a brook that never dries, torrens Michlal Jophi, where he gives this reason perennis, and consequently cannot be la- for it; that the inhabitants of each city boured. See the Arab., and its deriva- might be the more careful to prevent such tives or Michaëlis's Suppl. ad Lex. Heb.- murders, being in danger otherwise to lose Ged. the best ground belonging to their inheritance. For the land where the body was found (if we may believe the Mischna) was never to be sown any more (see Sota, cap. 9, sect. 5). Prof. Lee.-, an irresistible stream or torrent, not perpetual, for these were occasionally dried up, Deut. xxi. 4; Ps. lxxiv. 15; Amos v. 24. Rosen.-Vocibus indicatur rivus Gesen. et 18 (pro cum Aleph prosthetico, a rad. perennis fuit) Adj. 1) seu torrens perennis, per totum annum fluens perennis, maxime de aqua. , rivus (collato Arab. 7, perpetuus fuit, perennis perennis, perpetuo fluens. Deut. xxi. 4; fuit et indesinens aqua, et 18, perenniter Am. v. 24, et omisso 1 Reg. viii. 2: fluens rivus), oppositus illis, qui per æstatem, , mensis ricorum perennium (alibi maxime vero post eam, Octobri mense deTisri), qui anni Hebræi septimus est, a ficiunt. S TEN, Qui nec novilunio Octobris usque ad novilunium colitur nec seritur, qui numquam ita exNovembris. siccatur, ut aliquo anni tempore coli possit. Bp. Patrick.—Unto a rough valley.] The Impurum sanguinem hostiæ pro cæde ignoti Hebrew word nachal signifies both a valley oblatæ asportare debebat rivus, ne quidquam and a torrent. The LXX, Josephus, and ejus in terra hæreret aut frugibus, quos ea the Vulgar, understand it as we do; and effert., Decollabunt the following words favour this interpreta-ibi vitulam in torrente, ministerio, ut videtur, tion. But the Talmudists, and the rabbins sacerdotum, qui aderant; erat enim hæc who generally follow them, take it to signify vitula instar victimæ piacularis. Ceterum a torrent, which is the sense of Maimonides cf. Mich. J. M., p. vi., § 278. himself; and the next word, ethan (which we translate rough), they interpret a rapid torrent. Chaskuni thinks there is some reason for this in the sixth verse, where they are required to "wash their hands over the heifer" in the water that is of the brook. I see nothing to hinder the putting both senses together, torrents being wont to run down violently from the mountains, through the valleys which lie beneath them, which is the cause that the same word signifies both. Which is neither eared.] Or rather, ploughed. Ver. 5. Au. Ver.-5 And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word [Heb., mouth] shall every controversy and every stroke be tried. Pool.-Every controversy: not absolutely all manner of controversies that could possibly arise, but every such controversy as |might arise about the matter here spoken of; nothing being more usual than to understand universal expressions in a limited Nor sown.] Being a stony, craggy ground, sense; and indeed this is limited and exrepresenting the horridness of the murder, plained by the following words, and every and the cruelty and hardness of the man's stroke, the particle and being put exposiheart who committed it. They that follow tively, of which instances have been forthe other interpretation of nachal, under-merly given, i.e., every controversy which stood the foregoing words, asher lo jeabed shall arise about any stroke, whether such a bo, which we translate "neither eared," as mortal stroke as is here spoken of, a murder, if they signified the torrent did not serve to | which may well be called a stroke, as to water the neighbouring ground; and these smite is oft used for to kill, as Gen. iv. 15 ; words to be meant of the soil which lay Lev. xxiv. 17, &c., or any other stroke or next to the torrent, in which nothing was wound given by one man to another. |