John Gill

But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I stop giving my sweetness and my good fruit, to hold sway over the trees?’

“And the fig tree said unto them,.... Rejecting the offer made: should I forsake my sweetness and my good fruit; for such the fruit of the fig tree is, sweet and good: so Julian (d) the emperor shows from various authors, Aristophanes, Herodotus, and Homer…”

Then Gaal spoke up again, “Look, people are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming by way of the Diviners’ Oak.”

“And Gaal spake again, and said,.... Looking towards the mountains, and taking another view of what he before saw, for further satisfaction: see, there come people down by the middle of the land; either in the valley between the two mountains; or rather those he…”

Then Abimelech went to Thebez, encamped against it, and captured it.

“Then went Abimelech to Thebez,.... Which, according to Ben Gersom, had rebelled against him; it was near to Shechem.”

Tola judged Israel twenty-three years, and when he died, he was buried in Shamir.

“And he judged Israel twenty three years, and died,.... He did not take upon him to be king, as Abimelech did, but acted as a judge, in which office he continued twenty three years, and faithfully discharged it, and died in honour: and was buried…”

He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys. And they had thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth-jair.

“And he had thirty sons that rode upon thirty ass colts,.... Which to ride on in those times was reckoned honourable, and on which judges rode in their circuit, Jdg 5:10 and such might be these sons of Jair, who were appointed under him to…”

When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.

“And Jair died, and was buried in Camon. A city of Gilead, as Josephus (u) calls it; Jerom (w), under this word Camon, makes mention of a village in his times, called Cimana, in the large plain six miles from Legion to the north, as…”

But you have forsaken Me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you.

“Ye have forsaken me, and served other gods,.... Since they had been so remarkably saved, time after time, and delivered from so many powerful enemies, which was dreadful ingratitude: wherefore I will deliver you no more; which is not to be understood absolutely, since after…”

Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you in your time of trouble.”

“Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen,.... For they were their choice, and not what they were obliged to serve through persecution, and by compulsion of others, and whom they needed not, having the Lord Jehovah to be their God; and they…”

and made war with them, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.

“And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel,.... Were preparing for it, and had assembled their forces near them, and had began to make some efforts against them: the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the…”

to tell him, “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or of the Ammonites.

“And said unto him,.... By his messengers: thus saith Jephthah; in a majestic style, as governor of Israel: Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon; they were charged not to take any, nor did they take…”

Do you not possess whatever your god Chemosh grants you? So also, we possess whatever the LORD our God has granted us.

“Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess?.... Chemosh was the idol of the Moabites, see Num 21:29, which has led some to think, that the present king of Ammon was also king of Moab, and who insisted on that…”

Are you now so much better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or fight against them?

“And now art thou anything better than Balak the son of Zippor king of Moab?.... This argument seems to strengthen the conjecture, that this king was king of Moab at this time, and so Balak was one of his predecessors.”

With a great blow he devastated twenty cities from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites.

“And he smote them from Aroer,.... A city which lay near the river Arnon, on the borders of Moab, Deu 3:12.”

that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

“That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite,.... Either the death of her, as some, or her virginity, as others; though the word (p) used may signify to talk and discourse with her, to hold a confabulation with…”

Then the men of Ephraim assembled and crossed the Jordan to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why have you crossed over to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go…

“And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together,.... Or "cried" (r); got together by a cry or proclamation made: in the Hebrew text it is, "a man of Ephraim"; not a single man, but a body of men, who met together and joined as one…”

Jephthah judged Israel six years, and when he died, he was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

“And Jephthah judged Israel six years,.... After the affair of the Ephraimites, he was acknowledged by all Israel as their judge and supreme governor, but did not live long; being perhaps depressed and worn away with grief, on account of his daughter, and other troubles…”

After Jephthah, Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.

“And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. There were two Bethlehems, one in the tribe of Zebulun, Jos 19:15 of which some think this man was; and another in the tribe of Judah, the city of Jesse and David, and of the Messiah; and…”

Then Elon the Zebulunite died, and he was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

“And Elon the Zebulonite died,.... At the end of his ten years of government: and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulun; which is added to distinguish it from another Aijalon in the tribe of Dan Jdg 1:35.”

So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him.

“And the woman bare a son, and called name Samson,.... After these appearances were over, Manoah and his wife returned to their habitation, and she soon became pregnant, and at the usual course of time brought forth a son, and she gave him the name…”

One day Samson went down to Timnah, where he saw a young Philistine woman.

“And Samson went down to Timnath,.... A city which by lot fell to the tribe of Judah, but was afterwards given to the tribe of Dan, and now in the hands of the Philistines, Jos 15:57.”

She wept the whole seven days of the feast, and finally on the seventh day, because she had pressed him so much, he told her the answer.

“And she wept before him the seven days, while the feast lasted,.... Those that remained of the seven days, from the fourth to this time, as Kimchi seems rightly to interpret it; though some think she began to beseech him with tears, on the first…”

Then Samson went out and caught three hundred foxes. And he took torches, turned the foxes tail-to-tail, and fastened a torch between each pair of tails.

“And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes,.... Nor should this be thought at all incredible, since Canaan and Palestine abounded with foxes; hence several places therein had their names of Shual, which signifies a fox, Jos 15:”

Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.

“And the man Micah had an house of gods,.... Having two images in it, besides teraphim, which were a sort of idols; and the Targum is, an house of images, or idols; though it may be rendered "an house of God"; a temple, a place…”

And while they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they went over and asked him, “Who brought you here?

“When they were by the house of Micah,.... At their inn, which might be next to it, or as they were passing by it: they knew the voice of the young man the Levite; who had been in their country, and they had been in…”

And from there they traveled to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house.

“And they passed thence unto Mount Ephraim,.... Steering their coast still northward; this, according to Bunting (b), was eight miles from Kirjathjearim, or Mahanehdan, in which Micah's house was, for as yet they were not come to it, see Jdg 18:15. (b) Ibid.”