Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The Hebrews are rebuked by an Angel for worshipping idols; then, from verse 11, the reason for the institution of the Judges is recounted: namely, that the Hebrews after the death of Joshua worshipped idols, and therefore God delivered them to the Edomites and other enemies; whereupon they, repenting, returned to God and implored His aid; and He accordingly sent them Judges, that they might free the Hebrews from the servitude and tyranny of the nations.
Vulgate Text: Judges 2:1-23
1. And the Angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to the Place of Weeping, and said: I brought you out of Egypt, and led you into the land which I swore to your fathers; and I promised that I would not make void My covenant with you forever; 2. on this condition only: that you should not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land, but should overturn their altars. And you would not listen to My voice. Why have you done this? 3. For this reason I was unwilling to destroy them from before you, so that you may have enemies, and their gods may be your ruin. 4. And when the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, they raised their voice and wept. 5. And the name of that place was called the Place of Weeping, or of Tears; and they sacrificed victims to the Lord there. 6. So Joshua dismissed the people, and the sons of Israel went each to his own possession, to obtain it. 7. And they served the Lord all his days, and the days of the elders who lived a long time after him, and who knew all the works of the Lord that He had done for Israel. 8. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred and ten years, 9. and they buried him within the borders of his possession at Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. 10. And all that generation was gathered to their fathers, and others arose who did not know the Lord, nor the works He had done for Israel. 11. And the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals. 12. And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, the gods of the peoples who were around them, and worshipped them; and they provoked the Lord to anger, 13. forsaking Him and serving Baal and Ashtaroth. 14. And the Lord, being angry against Israel, delivered them into the hands of plunderers, who captured them and sold them to the enemies who dwelt around them, and they could not resist their adversaries; 15. but wherever they wished to go, the hand of the Lord was against them, as He had spoken and sworn to them; and they were greatly afflicted. 16. And the Lord raised up judges, who would deliver them from the hands of those ravaging them; but they would not even listen to them, 17. committing fornication with foreign gods and worshipping them. They quickly abandoned the way by which their fathers had entered; and hearing the commandments of the Lord, they did everything contrary. 18. And when the Lord raised up judges, He was moved by mercy in their days, and heard the groaning of the afflicted, and delivered them from the slaughter of the ravagers. 19. But after the judge had died, they would turn back and do much worse than their fathers had done, following other gods, serving them, and worshipping them. They did not abandon their devices and their most stubborn way, in which they were accustomed to walk. 20. And the fury of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He said: Because this nation has made void My covenant which I made with their fathers, and has despised listening to My voice, 21. I also will not destroy the nations which Joshua left when he died, 22. so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or not. 23. The Lord therefore left all these nations, and was unwilling to overthrow them quickly, nor did He deliver them into the hands of Joshua.
Verse 1: And the Angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to the Place of Weeping
First, then, this Angel appeared at Gilgal, so that through the place he might remind the Hebrews of their profession and the obedience owed to God, which they had undertaken and promised. For at Gilgal they had initiated themselves with the sacred rite of Circumcision and had professed that they would keep the law of God given by Moses, just as we in Baptism profess the law of Christ. From Gilgal the Angel then transferred himself to the place which afterward (verse 5) was called, from the event, the Place of Weeping, where the Israelites, pressed by the awareness of their enemies and miseries, seem to have gathered to lament their calamity.
Now the Rabbis think this Angel was Phinehas the High Priest; but it is certain that he was an Angel properly so called. It is probable that he was St. Michael, both because Michael was the guardian and protector of the Synagogue, as he now is of the Church, and because the same one appeared to Joshua (chapter 5, verse 13) at the beginning of his governance, teaching and directing him. Hence the same one seems to have appeared here, and to have suggested to the Hebrews the way of obtaining from God judges who would free them from servitude. Therefore this Angel speaks in the person of God, as an ambassador speaks in the person of his King. For he says: "I brought you out of Egypt," etc. Finally, this Angel appeared and said these things to the Hebrews not while Joshua was still alive, but after his death, when a new generation growing up and associating with the neighboring nations, especially the Tyrians and Sidonians, learned from them to worship their idols, Baal and Ashtaroth. So say Procopius, Cajetan, and Serarius, and St. Augustine supports this.
Verse 2: You should not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land
Lest they seduce you by their association to their idols and crimes. God therefore forbade these treaties; hence they were unlawful for the Hebrews, but not immediately void. For the Hebrews, entering into a treaty with the Canaanites — though unlawfully — were nonetheless bound, after the contract was made, to observe it, especially if they had confirmed it with an oath. First, because the law of nature and of nations requires this; otherwise, all commerce and all human society would be destroyed. Second, because reverence for the divine name invoked in the oath demanded this. Third, because the Canaanites did not know that God had forbidden these treaties; and they would have been greatly scandalized if the Hebrews had violated them.
Verse 3: Their gods may be your ruin
FOR THIS REASON I WAS UNWILLING (and am still unwilling, and so I decree and determine) TO DESTROY THEM FROM BEFORE YOU, SO THAT YOU MAY HAVE ENEMIES (who will punish you, afflict you, and compel you to return to God), AND THEIR GODS MAY BE YOUR RUIN. — The whole of this latter part is to be understood consecutively, not causally. For God, most holy, could not intend this ruin of the Hebrews and their lapse into idolatry, but only permit it in order to punish their preceding sins. For God does not permit the evil of sin except with this end: to draw from it a good, either of showing mercy, or, if they will not accept mercy, of punishing — that is, of showing His clemency in pardoning, or His justice and vengeance in chastising, as St. Augustine, St. Thomas, and the other Theologians teach.
Verse 5: The Place of Weeping
The Septuagint: Klauthmones, that is, the Place of Mourners, from the event already described. One may ask, what and where was this Place of Weeping? Adrichomius answers that it was near Gilgal. Others think it was Shiloh, for the ark was there. But I say the Place of Weeping was in the tribe of Judah, near Jerusalem on the western side, in a forest situated beyond the Valley of Rephaim. That this is so is clear from the fact that David hid in this same forest when he attacked and defeated the Philistines in the Valley of Rephaim (2 Samuel 5:24). For Josephus expressly says that this place was "in the forests, which places were called 'of the Weepers'" (Antiquities, Book 7, chapter 4).
Indeed, God wished this Place of Weeping to be a perpetual example for the Hebrews to do penance in weeping and tears.
Tropologically, Klauthmones, or the Place of Weeping, is this earth and this life of human beings, exiled from God on account of Adam's sin. For Adam, and we in him, were cast out of paradise into this valley of tears, so that by penance we might expiate every sin.
Again, the Place of Weeping is repentance and compunction, to which the preacher, like this Angel, ought to stir the people, "so as to elicit lamentation, not applause," says St. Bernard. For, as he says in Sermon 39 on the Song of Songs: "The tears of penitents are the wine of Angels, because in them is the fragrance of life, the taste of grace, the savor of forgiveness, the sweetness of reconciliation, the health of returning innocence, the gentleness of a serene conscience."
St. Chrysostom, Homily 6 on Matthew: "Just as after violent rains the air becomes clean and pure, so also after the rain of tears, serenity and tranquility of mind follow, and all that darkness poured out from the shadows of sins is dissolved. And as we are purified by water and the Spirit, so again we are purified by tears and confession."
Verse 6: So Joshua dismissed the people
This is a hysteron proteron (reversal of order): for it repeats from the end of the preceding book of Joshua certain of his deeds, so as to pass conveniently and in order to the institution and origin of the Judges who succeeded him. For this book is connected to the book of Joshua, and the history of the Judges depends on the history of Joshua as on its own beginning.
Verse 9: Timnath-serah
The Hebrew and Septuagint read "at Timnath-heres," that is, "in the image of the sun," which was carved on the tomb of Joshua, because he had stopped the sun. Therefore his city, Timnath-serah, was called by metathesis Timnath-heres.
Verse 10: They served the Baals
That is, idols, or the gods of the Gentiles. For by "Baalim" all male gods are signified, just as by "Ashtaroth" all female goddesses. Now Baal in the singular means "Lord" in Hebrew; hence by antonomasia they called their god Baal, that is, Lord absolutely. The first Baal was Nimrod, whom the Assyrians worshipped; Nimrod was Baal, or Belus, the father of Ninus, husband of Semiramis. Baal, Bal, Beel, Bel, Belus, etc., are therefore the same. From the Assyrians the idol and worship of Bel passed to the Babylonians (Daniel 14:2), and from them to the Sidonians and Phoenicians. Hence from the variety of gods or places we have: Baal-peor, that is, Priapus; Beelzebub, that is, the God of the fly; Baal-zephon, that is, the God of the North; Baal-gad, that is, the God of fortune; Baal-shemesh, that is, the sun-god, etc. From Baal are composed Punic names (for that language is related to Hebrew): Hannibal, that is, "Lord of the camps"; Hasdrubal, that is, "Lord of the villas"; and others. So says St. Augustine here, Question 16.
Verse 13: Serving Baal and Ashtaroth
"Ashtaroth" is a Syriac word, not Greek, signifying sheep, especially the females, when their udders are swollen and they nurse their lambs — so called from athar, "to multiply," because they are fruitful; and from aschar, "to enrich," because with cheese, wool, milk, and offspring they enrich their masters. Hence the wealth of the ancients consisted in sheep, not in gold and silver.
For this reason many think that Astarte is Venus surnamed polymastos, "many-breasted," or rather megalomastos, "great-breasted," which was a symbol of fecundity. From sheep, therefore, this goddess was fashioned by the Tyrians and Sidonians. Hence Cicero, Book 3 of On the Nature of the Gods: "The fourth Venus was conceived in Syria and Tyre; she is called Astarte, and is said to have married Adonis."
Moreover, "Ashtaroth" is a plural form, both for emphasis and honor. Originally the ancient pagans, not knowing the true God, worshipped the Sun and the Moon, from which all fertility on earth flows; hence the Romans called them Jupiter and Juno, the Egyptians Osiris and Isis, the Syrians Baalim and Ashtaroth.
Tropologically, "Ashtaroth" for everyone is their own concupiscence. For, as Origen says (Homily 2): "Whatever each person cultivates above all else, what they admire and love above all things — that is their god." So for the glutton, "their god is the belly," says Paul (Philippians 3:19).
Verse 14: He sold them to the enemies
The Hebrew and the Septuagint read: "and He sold," namely God. That is to say: God sold the Israelites as idolaters, that is, delivered them to enemies, so that they might harass, plunder, enslave, and kill them.
Verse 15: The hand of the Lord was upon them
"The hand," namely the avenging hand, punishing and scourging. That is to say: God's vengeance pursued them everywhere, harassed them, and punished them severely.
Verse 19: Their most stubborn way
Because they were disobedient and stiff-necked. The "most stubborn way," therefore, was their impious and obstinate custom of worshipping idols and committing other crimes.
Verse 22: So that through them I may test Israel
That is, so that through experience I may demonstrate and make publicly known whether the Israelites worship Me and keep My law, or rather the idols of the Canaanites. For God Himself, since all things are present to Him and He perceives all things in a single glance of His mind, does not need experience, because He foreknows and foresees all things before they happen. Now this "testing" by God consisted in the permission of occasion and temptation.
God therefore permitted some Canaanites to remain for various reasons. First, so that they might chastise the apostasy and idolatry of the Hebrews by their oppression. Second, so that God might test whether by this affliction they would return to Him. For the Canaanites were like goads stinging the Hebrews and forcing them to worship God. Third, because the Hebrews were not sufficient to inhabit and cultivate the entire land. He therefore permitted the Canaanites to have a part of it, lest it be overrun by wild beasts. This reason God gives in Exodus 23:29: "I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land be reduced to a wilderness and the beasts multiply against you." A fourth reason is given at the next chapter, verse 2: "So that afterward their children might learn to fight against enemies and become accustomed to warfare."
For a similar reason, when it was debated in the Roman Senate whether Carthage should be destroyed, Scipio Nasica counseled that it should not be destroyed, for the sake of the exercise of war: namely, that Carthage might be the whetstone of the Roman youth. And this was right and wise; for after Carthage was destroyed, the virtue of the Romans languished through idleness and luxury. Hence Juvenal, in Satire 6: "Hannibal was near the city, and husbands stood watch on the Colline tower. Now we suffer the evils of a long peace; luxury has descended, more savage than arms, and avenges the conquered world."
A tropological reason is given by Abbot Daniel in Cassian, Conference 4, chapter 6: "God, not grudging Israel its rest, nor counseling it poorly, but knowing this fight to be most useful, preserved it — so that while Israel was always being pressed by the attacks of these nations, it would never feel that it did not need the Lord's help. For frequently those whom adversity could not overcome have been brought low by security and prosperity."
To this meaning the tropological sense aptly applies, which St. Gregory brings forward (Dialogues, Book 3, chapter 14): "The Lord preserved the Canaanites for a long time, so that through them He might test Israel, because sometimes even to those to whom He gives great gifts, He leaves behind certain small faults, so that they may always have something to wage war against." Hence also St. Bernard: "The Jebusite, whether you wish it or not, dwells in your land (that is, concupiscence in the flesh); he can be subjugated, but he cannot be exterminated."