light vnto other and cause them to lift vp the eyes of theyr mindes vnto God the chiefe fountayne head and beginning of al good things and to honour him with prayses and most vpright religion Wherfore I gather and that truly as I am most fully perswaded that I my self and the rest of the Ministers of the doctrine of the sonne of God ought aboue al other to liue most iustly But when I considered that the office of this vertue Iustice whiche shyneth among mortall men like the bright starre Lucifer consisteth wholy in this to render to euery man that which is his I desired verely to performe the same not maymed nor diminished nor shortened but consisting of all his partes so much as humane weakenes would suffer me And among other excellent parts or kindes therof a thankfull minde and mindfull of a benefite receaued is not to be numbred among the least whose property is not onely to acknowledge benefites receaued but also earnestlye to bee desirous to geue thankes for them This thing when I weigh with my selfe for I thinke on it oftentimes I wyll not say continually there cōmeth into my remembrāce very many great benefites which your publike welth churche schoole haue heretofore bestowed vpō me And assuredly when I recken them more depely weigh them they appere vnto me so many so great that I am excedingly afrayd least I should happen to depart out of this life vngrateful which thing vndoutedly should be more bitter vnto me thē death it self Ye when I came out of Italy for religiō sake with most incredible humanity receaued me ye gaue me the fredome of your most ample city ye placed me in that Schoole which ye not long before with great praise of wyse godly men had erected ther ye appoynted me a Professor of holy scriptures wheras I liued a fellow with most learned and excellent men more then fiue yeares All which time ye mayntained me with a very liberal stipend Ye when I was called into England decreed that I should go thither where certayne yeares I was teaching the Gospel in the Vniuersity of Oxford namelye vntil such time as Edward the sixt of that name that most woorthye King and which can neuer be praysed inough was taken away by vntimely death which brought vnto all the godly griefe mourning and sundrye and hard vexacions Ye exceding louingly receued me when I returned thence to Argentine placed me in the same roume wherin I was with you before Also when the most noble Senate of Tigure called me into the place of Pellicanus which was ther a Professor of Diuinity ye although both to your great griefe and also to mine did yet most louinglye let me go The cause of my departure I wyll not nowe speake of bicause it is to all men knowen wel inough Thus much onely wil I say that I do both vehemently desyre and also hope that this stop or let may be taken away out of the field of the Lord. These your benefits which are of them selues ample and noble I do nothing encrease nor amplify But this one thing I testify that they neuer slipped out of minde neither is it possible but that they being layd vp in the bottom of my hart shal there abide for euer Howbeit bicause the remembrance and thinking on the benefites which I haue receaued of you doth not satisfy me I haue alwayes desired to make open vnto al men my good will and gratefull hart towardes you which haue bene so wonderfull beneficial towardes me wherefore I haue very often times determined with my selfe one tyme at the length to declare by some signification or monument my singular affection and ardent loue towardes your publike wealth Church and Schoole But for as muche as touchynge ryches of thys worlde I haue nothing wherwithal to performe the same least I should dye frustrate of my so honest and vehement a desire being about now to set forth a Comentary vpon the holy history of the Iudges As I haue taught it in your Schoole I haue determined to dedicate it to your name where as otherwise I would haue offred vnto you thinges much greater and better if strength ability had answered vnto my minde Neither was I hereunto perswaded onely by the reason now alledged namely by some maner of meanes to shew my good wyl towards you and not to geue any man occasion of suspicion that in chaunging my place I should haue shaken of my endeuour and study towardes you which thing vndoubtedly is not so For I haue not laid aside these things but they most firmly sticke in my mind daily more more But this also did driue me to do this for that this boke was writtē in your city And therfore I thought it meete that in the possession therof no man should be preferred before you Farther this did not a lytle moue me for that the argumēt of this history most aptly agreeth with you For euen as God at sundry times stirred vp Iudges vnto the Hebrewes to deliuer them when they were oppressed with the tiranny of their enemies So wer you not amonge the last stirred vp by his goodnes and grace to bring to lyght the Gospell of the sonne of God when it was held captiue in darknes by the dominion and violence of hipocrites and when the mindes of Christiās as touchyng godlynes were euery where in a maner baren and vnfruitfull Here assuredlye I could make mencion of very many your actes both godly and honorable but I ouerpasse them for that you haue manye eloquent and notable publishers abroade of your doinges which most aboundantly and elegantly haue set foorth your valiantnes of minde your constancy in embracing and spreading abroade of the Gospel of Christ and your liberality in maintaining your notable moste learned and famous Schoole Neyther vndoubtedly can the praises which they haue geuen you bee reproued of anye lye for as muche as you haue with great seruentnes of fayth receaued the doctrine of the sonne of God and ye are made vnto other a notable example of renuing of piety And afterward when by reason of iniquity of times thinges which wer wel ordered semed somwhat to slide and fall to decaye ye hauing firme confidence of the ayde of God verye godlys and wisely tooke courage vnto you and euen now in this time ye stoutly and luckely did driue out the remnantes of the Amorrihites and Chananites out of the inheritance of the Lord which pertayned to your lot Which your act hath wyth al the godly gotten you great grace prayse glory and fauour Wherefore I as which vehemently desyre honor fame and dignity vnto the City of Argentine do excedingly reioyce for your most excellent and holy act And I do desyre god the father of mercy that ye being inflamed and kindled with his spirit may alwaies go forward to better thinges For so long as we wander here on earth as straungers from our country which is
punishments of other men We ought to take perfect by the punishmēts of other For he aunswered do you thinke that those Galileians sinned aboue all the reast bicause they suffred these thinges No verilye I tell you but excepte ye repente ye shall all likewise perishe Or thinke ye that those 18 vpon whome the Tower in Siloi fell were sinners aboue all men that dwel in Ierusalem No verely I tell you but excepte ye repente ye shall all lykewise perishe Abimelech also shoulde rather thus haue sayd wyth himself If these things haue chaunsed vnto them what shall then happen vnto me Let vs also speake thus with our selues If by the Turkes and Saracenes so grieuous thinges haue happened vnto the Grecians Hungarians and Africanes what shall then become of vs at the length Excepte we repente wee shall lykewyse peryshe The names of two milstones A peece of a milstone Thys Hebrewe woord Rachab signifieth a milstone But there ar two milstones namely that that is aboue and that that is beneath The higher is he which is called Rachab bicause it is put vpō the other and after a sort rideth vpon it The other is called Schachab bycause it semeth to lye still By what meanes the woman hadde a peece of a mylstone in the vpper parte of the house it appeareth not Howebeit it is verye likelye that they caryed vppe stones and greate heauye peeces of rockes into the vpper partes of the houses to haue them in a redinesse to beate backe the enemy And hys page thruste him thorowe and he died This is the ende of a most cruel tiranne He is killed of a woman and when he saw that he must nedes dye he studieth to put away the infamye neyther would he haue it sayd of him that a woman slew him What madnes is thys He is at the poynt of death and he vaynelye thinketh vpon glorye He thinketh it a reproche to be killed of a woman and is nothinge carefull for the soule nor for the other life he onelye careth for his name and fame And god when he hadde vsed thys mannes cruelty to afflicte the Sechemites at the laste destroyed him also He entred in by euell artes He raygned cruellye and tyrannouslye and died moste filthylye And when Abimelech was dead euery man returned into his country Neither was the tower which he assaulted conquered And least any man should thinke that these thinges happened by chaunce but that all menne myghte vnderstande that they were doone by the prouidence and counsell of god the cōclusion is added Thus God rewarded Herebye we are very well taught that if at anye time the like thinges doo happen wee muste not attribute them to fortune but onely vnto the prouidence of God Achab the kinge when he went on warfare chaunged his apparell and woulde not be knowen to be the kinge but be counted a raschall souldiour yet was he slayne wyth an arrowe whiche was shut at auenture whiche thinge myghte haue seemed to haue bene done by chaunce when as yet God in very deede gouerned the shafte And in like manner as Plutarch telleth Pirrhus was slayne of a moman in besieging of Thebez Plutarch she throwing downe a tyle from the house toppe Verye many suche thinges are doone in oure time whiche seeme vnto vs therfore to haue happened by chaunce bycause wee knowe not the causes of thynges and iudgementes of God Moreouer by thys conclusion thys we profitablye gather that GOD at the length reuoketh all thynges to hys tribunall seate and iudgemente If wee shoulde demaunde why the Sechemites were so myserablye afflycted and why Abimeleche was so fylthylye slayne The holye Ghoste aunsweareth God reuenged the ingratitude of the Sechemites toward Gideon and the Parricide of Abimeleche who slewe his bretherne For the bloode of so manye bretherne cryed no lesse vnto the Lorde then the bloode of Abel as is written in Genesis Lastlye let vs note that there are hitherto some good Iudges spoken of among whome is put Abimeleche a moste cruell tyranne that theyr vertue by a comparison or an Antithesis myghte be made more noble But happye was that publyke wealthe whyche amonge manye good had onelye one tyranne but we amongest manye euell haue scarce one good Prince And vndoubtedlye God gaue not vnto the Israelites thys tyranne neyther raysed he hym vp after the manner of the other Iudges but they elected him themselues ¶ The .x. Chapter 1 ANd after Abimeleche rose vp to saue Israell Thola the sonne of Pua the sonne of Dodo a mā of Isaschar and he dwelled in Samir in mount Ephraim 2 And he iudged Israell .23 yeares and died and was buried in Samir AFter the deathe of Abimeleche followed a longe peace namelye .45 A peace during 45. yeares yeares which space of time is destributed into two Iudges whereof the one gouerned the people three and twenty yeares and the other two and twentye yeares So greate is the goodnes of God that he would restore peace vnto men though they deserued it not And after Abimelech rose vp Thola In that it is written both of this Iudge and of the other And there rose vp wee must not for all that thinke that they of theyr owne minde claimed vnto thē selues the principality but they wer elected vnto it by the lord and of him set to rule by the people of Israel And thei are sayd to haue risen vp bycause they followed the instinct of the Lord. To saue Israell Betwene good princes and tirans this is the difference Tirans seke onely theyr own gayn but good magistrats haue only a care for this to saue the people Dauid Kimhi thinketh that Abimelech also saued the Israelites although he both slew his bretherne and made ciuil warres The difference betwene a tyrā a true prince Dauid Kimhi For he was a warlike and stoute man wherfore outward nations feared him But I wil not easely graunt vnto this sentēce for as much as the holy scriptures mencion not that he made warres with outward nations which they would not haue otherwise left vnspoken of If thou wilt say that it maye therefore seeme that he saued Israel by cause he is nombred amonge the Iudges I aunsweare this is rather to be marked that the scripturs called him not a Iudge but rather a king neither is it written that he iudged but reigned But in that he is nombred among the Iudges that was the cause which we haue before touched namely that the vertues of the Iudges might be more illustrat and that it might be made manifest how much princes that are geuen of God do excell those whiche men choose vnto themselues Iosephus in his boke de antiquitatibus leaueth out this Thola and onely maketh mention of the other A iudgemente of the storye of Iosephus of whom we will straightway speake And it is no meruayle for that author is wonte to ouer passe very manye thinges and sometimes to alter some thinges Of the tribe
thinges which are written in the booke of Genesis the .49 chapter There Iacob when he was ready to dye The prophecie of Iacob as touching SamsoÌ„ foretolde what should happen vnto his children after long time And when by order he came vnto Dan Dan sayth he shall iudge hys people and he shal be a Serpent in the way and an Adder in the pathe byting the horses heeles so that his ryder shall fall backward For Samson after a sorte did byte the foote of the horse when he ouerthrew the pyller that is the foote of the parler laid the rider on the ground that is the company of the Philistines with the fal of the wal These thinges I therfore make mencion of that it might appeare that they were no small or vulgare things when as Iacob so long time before prophecied of them Samson was of the Tribe of Dan when as the nexte Iudge before him was of the tribe of Ephraim God vsed not at the tyme any ordinary Magistrate Onely SamsoÌ„ appoynted a Iudge before hys byrth neither dyd the Children succeede the Parentes in this kynde of gouernment There was no Iudge vnto this tyme of the Tribe of Dan. And there was none of all the Iudges but onelye Samson whom God appoynted and as it were published a Iudge before he was borne And hys name was Manoah whose wyfe was barren When God decreed to sende any notable and excellent man Many excelleÌ„t meÌ„ borne of baren mothers he verye often tymes styrred hym vp out of a barren woman whiche thing also wee see came to passe in Samson lykewise in Samuel and in Iohn Baptist and in very many other that it myght manifestly appeare to be altogether the woorke of God Barrennes among the Hebrues was a thyng ignominious but God bycause he woulde declare that of thynges most contemptible he can bring foorth thinges excellent hath very often tymes done after thys manner And that faulte of barrennes was in thys place in the woman and not in the man For sometymes it may be in both but the scripture here pronounceth it of the woman and not of the man He shall beginne sayth he to saue Israel Here is signified that Samson should not fully deliuer the people for Israell did not vnder him fight in battayle against theyr enemies he alone assailed theÌ„ somtimes greuously afflicted them The Aungell appeared vnto his mother a part when her husband was awaye and shewed her of the sonne which she should beare Also the Aungell appeared vnto Mary the mother of Christ when she was a lone Iosephus in his bookes of Antiquities addeth Iosephus that thys Manoah somewhat suspected his wife and thought that it was not an aungell but some man that his wifes chastity was assaulted but eyther doubt was taken away wheÌ„ as at the last when he made sacrifice the angel vanished away in the flame So Ioseph wheÌ„ he somwhat suspected Mary herd of the Aungel Ioseph be not aferd to take Mary thy wife for that which is conceiued in her is of the holy ghost God woulde haue his not onely borne lawfullye but also cleared from all suspicion But in Samuel there could be no such suspicion for when Hanna prayed softely Heli the priest rebuked her and counted her for a dronkard who yet when he vnderstode how diligently and earnestly she prayed at the tabernacle of the Lorde he promised vnto her issue But here besides the promise of the sonne is added also a precepte For the Aungell commaundeth her to abstaine from wine and stronge drinke Why such an abstinence was commaunded the mothâ—s and all thinge that might make her dronke There is also a reason added Bicause he shal be a Nazarite vnto the Lord. Wherfore the mother also is commaunded to abstayne from wine stronge drinke and euerye vncleane thinge that the childe shoulde not be nourished with thynges vnlawefull no not in the wombe of hys mother ¶ Of the vow of the Nazarites ANd as touching the vow of the Nazarits it is manifestly set forth in the .6 of Numb But those thinges whiche are there written The summe of the vow of the Nazarites maye all be reduced to three principall poyntes The firste was that they shoulde drinke no wine nor stronge drinke nor any thinge that might make them droonke An other was that they should not pole theyr hed but all that time the Nazarite shoulde let his heare grow The third was that they should not defile themselues with mourninge for buriales no not at the death of theyr father or mother These thinges were to be obserued but not for euer but onelye for some certayne time For he vowed to bee a Nazarite but for certayne number of dayes or Monethes or yeares But why did God institute these thynges Why god gaue the institution of the Nazarites There may be many causes geuen Fyrste because menne were so prone to chuse vnto themselues certayne kindes of lyfe whereby they mighte easely fall into superstition Therfore God would after this maner bridle them as though he should haue sayd Forasmuch as ye are so prone to your own studies and to inuent newe woorshippings yet shall ye not do what ye liste your selues but what I prescribe vnto you And so geuinge vnto them the lawe of a Nazarite hee kepte them in doynge theyr dewtye But what mente these thinges They ought to keepe theyr heare growinge till the ende of theyr vow For then in offring sacrifice and burninge the fleshe in fire they did cut of the heare and burned it in the same fire And froÌ„ that time they were free and returned to theyr old manner of life which was common also vnto other Some referre these thinges vnto an Allegorye that when the heares were increased the Nazarites should consider that vertues also oughte to increase in the minde But me thinketh there may be an other cause rendred namelye that men should abstayne from to much trimming and deckinge of the body For the clipping of the eare much adorneth the body For Paule sayth in his 1. Epistle to the Corrinthians the .11 Chapter that to menne it is vncomelye if they let theyr heare growe Althoughe other reasons of other menne are not to bee contemned Cyrillus Procopius Cirillus and also Procopius vpon the booke of Numbers say that these thinges were instituted of God to reuoke men from the idolatrous worshippinges and rites of the Ethnikes that that which they gaue vnto idols the Iewes should geue vnto him So also whereas they sacrificed vnto Idols he would haue these men rather to sacrifice vnto himselfe not that god so much regardeth sacrifices but to wythdrawe them from idolatry We reade that the Ethnikes sometimes suffred theyr heare to growe that they mighte afterward consecrate it ether vnto the Nimphes or to Apollo Wherefore Apollo was by them called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a nourisher of the heare Yea and Theseus as it is
this is a weake reason for these thinges are not reckoned of the Apostles that in them shoulde be like reason of fault but bicause that all those thinges if they shoulde haue bene vsed would at the tyme haue disturbed the Churche The Iewes by the custome of their law abstained from blood and that whyche was strangled and the Ethnikes made nothing of whooredome Wherefore that peace should be had among them all they decreed that they al shoulde abstayne from these thinges wherby it followeth not that al these thinges are like sins but rather this we may inferre that all these thinges were an occasion of disturbing the Churche To the second Farther they obiected that God commaundeth not sinnes but he commaunded Hosea the Prophet to haue fellowship with an harlot I aunswer Euerye synne What is the proper nature of synne is in that respect synne bicause it is against the word of God But if God commaund any thing to be done priuately which otherwise disagreeth with the woord written the same vndoubtedly is not sinne bicause vniuersally it repugneth not with the woord of God for although it disagreeth with the word written yet it disagreeth not with the woord priuately reuealed It is synne to take away an other mans good But God when the Hebrues shoulde depart oute of Egipt commaunded that they should borowe stuffe and syluer vessels of the Egiptians and take them away with them which thing they did with out sinne No man doubteth also but that murther is synne and yet Abraham if hee had sacrificed his sonne at the commaundement of God which he was ready to doo had not synned So may we say of Hoseas the prophet If he committed whooredome at the commaundement of God his whooredome was no synne I knowe there are some which thinke that Hoseas was not cōmaunded to cōmit whoredome but to take a harlot to his wife but that agreeth not for it followeth and thou shalt beget of her children of fornication Children gotten after that maner namely of a lawful wife should not haue bene children of fornication Ierome doth better interprete these thinges Hiperbollically Ierome and saith that by this image was expressed the wickednes of the Iewes which had forsaken god their common husband and had committed fornication with the Idoles of the Gentiles and had begotten vnlawfull and bastard children as touching the woorshipping and religion of God To the thyrde Farthermore that is false which they alledge namely that whooredome is neither against religion nor charitye For we haue before declared that it is otherwise neither is it needeful here to repeate that which we haue sayd To the fourth They bryng Augustine also whiche sayth what meate is vnto the body that is accompanieng together for procreation but to eate or drinke a litle more thē needeth is not a grieuous synne therefore neither is fornication also A similitude is not takē to agree in euery part but serueth onely for that part for which it is taken And vndoubtedly he which eateth or drinketh more then he ought doth not straightway loose the health of his body but he which strayeth in carnal fellowship and committeth whoredome may easelye straightwaye beget a childe vnto whom he doth iniury bicause throughe his fault he is borne a Bastard Farther there succeedeth euyl education and so charity is hurt I myghte say also euen as euyl and hurtful meate destroyeth the bodye yea Adam by eating of the prohibited aple corrupted his posteritye so whooredome killeth the soule Lastly that which they alledged To the fyfte namely that fornication is therefore no sinne bicause it cānot be so iudged by the light of nature that I say is nothing For the preceptes of God are knowen to bee iust of nature but yet of a nature vncorrupt and perfect when as a corrupt nature doth often times allow sinnes for vertues For with the Lacedemonians theft was praised Thucydides and as Thucydides writeth among the auncient Grecians piracy was counted a vertue Farthermore it followeth that the preceptes of god may by nature be knowen to be iust and honest but yet of a nature instructed and formed by the woord of god otherwise as Paul testifieth The carnal man knoweth not the thinges whiche are of god But now let vs returne to the history 21 Therefore the Philistines tooke him and put out his eyes and brought him downe to Azzah and bound hym wyth fetters and he did grinde in the pryson house 22 And the heare of his head beganne to growe agayne after that it was shauen 23 Then the Princes of the Philistines gathered them together to offer a great sacrifice vnto Dagon their God and to reioyce For they sayd Our God hath deliuered Samson our enemye into oure handes 24 Also when the people saw him they praised their God for they sayd our God hath deliuered into our handes our enemye and destroyer of our countrey whych hath slayne many of vs. 25 And when their hartes were mery they said cal Samson that he maye make vs pastime So they called Samson out of hys pryson house and he was a laughing stocke vnto them and they sette hym betwene the pyllers 26 Then Samson sayde vnto the seruaunt that ledde hym by the hande leade me that I may touche the pyllers that the house standeth vpon and that I may leane to them 27 Now the house was full of men and women and there were al the Princes of the Philistines also vpō the roofe wer about three thousand men and women that beheld whyle Samson played 28 Then Samson called vnto the Lord and sayde O God I beseche thee strengthen me at this tyme onely that I may be at once auenged of the Philistines for my two eyes 29 And Samson layde holde on the twoo myddle pyllers wherevpon the house stoode and on whiche it was borne vppe on the one wyth hys ryght hand and on the other with hys leaft 30 Then sayd Samson Let me lose my lyfe with the Philistines and he bowed hym wyth al hys myght and the house fell vpon the Princes and vpon all the people that were therein So the deade which he slewe at hys death were mo then they whyche hee hadde slayne in hys lyfe 31 Then hys brethren and all the house of hys father came downe and tooke hym and brought hym vp and buryed hym betwene Zorah and Esthaol in the Sepulchre of Manoah hys father nowe he had iudged Israel twenty yeares When Samson was kept in prison hys heare in the meane time grew to the same length that it was before it was shauen by the harlot God at the lengthe tooke vengeaunce of the Philistines when yet he had first begone at hys owne house For Samson for his synne came into the power of hys enemyes and hys eyes being put out he was compelled to grinde in prison and was vtterly made a mocking stocke Howbeit the wicked Philistines in the meane tyme escaped not vnpunished
oppressed of theyr enemies And that Iiphtah was stirred vp by the sprite to bear rule But before God aunsweareth the very sharpely For he sayd I will not helpe you bycause you alwayes returne vnto your Idoles and forsake me But rather cal vpon your gods let them helpe you Which words when the people heard they repented put away frō them their idols which they had made But this idole which is now spokē of These thinges seme to haue happened after the deathe of Samson indured to the time of Samuel Wherfore it cānot seme probable that it was done at that time The order of the holy scriptures is of most high authority with me and therfore I thinke that these things happened after the death of Sāson Forasmuch as frō that time euen to Heli there wer many yeares passed wherin the Philistians possessed the land of the Iewes neither suffred they any magistrate to be ouer thē Iosephus Iosephus agreeth with the Rabbines but he is many times deceued Wherfore it shal be best to follow that opinion which agreeth with the simple order of the holy history Howbeit ther is one thing which semeth to be a let An obiection namely if a man rekē the yeares frō Samsō vnto Saul he shal find thē to be scarse .60 or at the most .70 And whē as by reasō of filthy whoredom the tribe of Beniamin was almost brought to nothing and they which remained of it had no wiues but those which they got by violence how could it be that in so short a time it should so much encrease the Saule was out of that tribe chosen a king This argumēt hath a certain shew but it is not firme nor sound inough if a man more deligentlye examine it For although there were but a fewe remayninge of that tribe yet were they not so few but they mought very much multiply For there escaped sixe hundreth mē of warre who had wiues geuen them partly of the men of Iabes Gilead and partly by violence And sixe hundreth men wer able in the space of .60 or .70 yeares to beget a great yssue and to se theyr childrens children They could not indede be so many as to be equall with the other tribes but yet they might encrease to a sufficient numbre But that is farre more harde whyche is obiected concernynge Pinhas An other obiection namelye that hee remayned on lyue euen to the tyme of the warres of the Beniamites Whiche if it be so then muste he be at that time .300 yeares of age Therfore some thinke that it is more commodious to draw backe this historye vnto the beginninge of the Iudges But I see not what should let but that god might permit him to liue so longe For when he had slaine a prince of Israell a Madianitish woman when they were committing whoredome god graunted him not onely to succede his father in the priesthode but also gaue him very long to liue D. Kimhi But vndoubtedly I chiefely allow the order and course of the historye from which vnlesse great necessity vrge I will not depart And in this sentence I follow the iudgement of Dauid Kimhi whose authority in expounding of the texte I thinke is not to bee contemned Yea and all the Hebrewes in a manner agree in this that Pinhas liued a very long time and there are some whiche produce his age euen vnto the time of Elias the Prophete Vnto whome I doo not agree bicause no necessity compelleth me thervnto Howbeit as cōcerning this thinge I will not much striue But I leaue it free to euery willing mind to follow which opinion he will And in this history first I marke the institution of idolatry then the consecration of a priest which was twise doone For firste Micha instituted his sonne a prieste and then when by chaunce he met with a Leuite he made him a priest But wherefore was this ido le made What a vowe is For her vowes sake For the promise of the mother of Micha was not simple but with a vow And a vow as al deuines affirme is a holy promise made to God of thinges which are ours Wherefore it must nedes be that this woman was a widow with whome paraduenture her sonne dwelled For if she had beene a wife or a maiden vnmaried or a widowe in the house of her father shee coulde not haue vowed a firme vowe as it manifestly appeareth by the booke of Numb Those persons might not vowe with out the consent of their father or husbād For the law ordeined that if they wer against it the vow should then be voide Hanna did in dede vowe in the firste of Samuell but we must beleue that Helkana her husbande confirmed her vowe This woman sinned not bicause shee vowed but bicause shee vowed a thinge vngodlye namely an idole For it was at that time lawefull for anye to vowe anye thinge of his owne thinges for the adorninge of the temple of God and to amplify his honor But to institute a new and forbidden worshippinge it was vtterly vngodly The sonne had stolen from his mother that money neyther is it any maruall if he would steale whych was so redy to idolatry He which sinneth against the first table doth easely sinne against the second The mother curseth the theefe whosoeuer he were neyther doth she so greuously take the matter for the money taken away as for that she could not performe her detestable vow And she curseth as men in a manner vse to do in aduersities Yea and God himself also vsed curses in the old testament in the assembly to the mount Hebal Garizim The priest also cursedly prayed for barēnes diseases losse of children and other thinges of like sorte And in our time the Pope Women do easely fall to cursinges by what wicked zeale I know not in the day of the supper of the Lord sēdeth forth curses vpon all those whiche haue alienated themselues from his institution and sect This woman cursed the theef and no maruaile Bycause women when they fail in strength do easely fall to cursinges The sonne as soone as he heard the curse of his mother was a feard For so hath nature ordeined that children do wonderfully feare the curses of their parents But this man feared not to violate the lawe of God which thing happeneth not seldome vnto men to haue horror of small sinnes and to neglect them that ar more grieuous Ther is some fruit somtimes of curses euen as of excōmunicatiō Ther ar some somtimes so hard obdurated that they can be bowed by no other meanes then by curses although they be corrected by publike and apert reprehēsion But whither this sonne knew that his mother had by a vow dedicated that mony vnto the Lord before he tooke it away it appeareth not by the wordes of the history Neither is this to be passed ouer in that the mother sayth that she had consecrated it vnto the lord