the apostle Paul in 1 Tim. iv. 3, as Sidaσkaλíais daiμονίων, κωλυόντων γαμεῖν. Drs. Randolph and Kenni cott have remarked that the last clause of this verse in Judges should be thus rendered, which extricates it from the horns of a dilemma: "or I will offer up to him a burnt offering;" the conjunction "or" being substituted for the copulative "and," and the pronoun suffixed being the dative, namely "to him," instead of the accusative "it." Dr. Wall at the same time notices that Jephthah on this occasion neglected to avail himself of that legal advantage concerning vows which was granted to him, in Leviticus, xxvii. 1-4, and infers accordingly that the Jewish damsel was resolved to pass the ordeal of a moral martyrdom.

xii. 14. "And thirty nephews." The Septuagint has, viav viol, "grandsons ;" and the Vulgate, nepotes.

xiii. 19. "And the angel did wondrously." The Alexandrian and Aldine texts read, "Jehovah, who works wonders;" and so the old Italic version, as quoted by Augustine.

xiv. 15. “And it came to pass on the seventh day." In this relation of Samson and the riddle, Dr. Wall and Horsley read, with the Septuagint, év Tŷ ýμépą Tŷ TETÁρTY,

on the fourth day;" which is reconcilable with ver. 17 and 18, where the seventh or last day of the feast, and the anecdote connected with ver. 12 and 14, are particularised. So also the Syriac and Arabic versions.

xv. 4, 5. This passage has been considered incredible by some, but most unjustly. The animal here named is the jackal, shual, called aye or ije, the canis aureus of

Linnæus, abundant in Palestine; of which a large number might be readily caught in pits or by traps, and might be employed by Samson for the purpose of destroying the standing corn of the Philistines. Greek and Latin authors. allude to the usage of tying firebrands to foxes, which was practised in the Roman circus. The only objection is that of coupling the tails of two animals; but the Hebrew and Greek texts are explicit on the subject. See Drs. Doyley and Mant in loco, and the confirmatory opinions of Bochart, Bishop Patrick, Bryant, Parkhurst, and Col. H. Smith.

XV. 8. 66 And he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam." The Septuagint reads, kaì κaтéßŋ kaì ékáθισεν ἐν τρυμαλιᾷ τῆς πέτρας Ἡτάμ, “in a hole or cave of the rock," since Samson descended to it. So also the Vulgate. The present reading involves a contradiction.

xv. 19. "But God clave a hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout." Dr. Wall thus understands the passage: "cleft open a pit in the ground, in that place called Lehi." The miracle could not well have been produced in the jaw-bone itself, nor with it if wielded by the hand of Samson, by means of which he had just slain the Philistines, in the same sense as Moses struck with his rod the rock in the wilderness, because Samson had previously thrown away the bone, and called the spot in consequence Ramath-lehi. See ver. 17. The semblance of an absurdity is hereby avoided, which attaches itself to the present version of the text, the auxiliary verb was having been supplied uselessly in italics. The well in question was extant in the time of Jerome. See Drs. Doyley and Mant in loco, also Patrick, Usher, Wells, and Hales.

xvi. 2. "And it was told." The ellipsis in this place is supplied by all the versions.

xvi. 3. "And carried them up to the top of a hill that is before Hebron." The Septuagint has, тоû êπì πρоσάπоν TOû Xeẞpov; and the Vulgate, qui respicit Hebron, “which looketh towards Hebron." This other mountain was not near to the spot in question, but was visible only in the distant landscape. The Greek version adds, kai ëÔŋkev avтà èκeî, “and he laid them there."

xvi. 13, 14. Drs. Wall and Kennicott consider that there has been an omission here of numerous words in the Hebrew text, which have been supplied by the Septuagint: "And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web” [καὶ ἐγκρούσῃς τῷ πασσάλῳ εἰς τὸν τοῖχον, καὶ ἔσομαι ὡς εἰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀσθενής· καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ κοιμᾶσθαι αὐτὸν, καὶ ἔλαβε Δαλιδὰ τὰς ἑπτὰ σειρὰς τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὕφανεν ἐν τῷ διάσματι, "and fastenest it with a pin into the wall, then shall I be weak, and as another man. And it came to pass, when he slept, that Delilah took the seven locks of his head, and wove them with the web"], "and she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson!" The Greek proper name of Aaλidá here varies from the Hebrew Delilah; but our translation is probably the

more correct.

xviii. 21. "So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them." The Septuagint has, kaì Tò ẞápos; and the Vulgate, et omne quod erat pretiosum. The term "carriage" in this place, as well as in 1 Sam. xvii. 22, ought to be rendered "baggage." See also Acts xxi. 15.

xviii. 30. The first idolatrous priest in Israel is here named "Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh." By the suppression of a single Hebrew letter, the last word would read "Moses," which is found in some Greek manuscripts, and in the Vulgate. Kennicott remarks that the Rabbis have confessed the surreptitious addition of the letter in question, in order to vindicate the honour of their great lawgiver. Though some allowance must be made for the variation in the writing of a proper name in other languages, and in our own, yet the identity of the same name is always preserved.

xx. 16. “Seven hundred chosen men left-handed." The Septuagint has, àμþoтepodéğiοi, "who used both hands alike," omitting the repetition of the number. See 1 Chron. xii. 2. So the Vulgate, ita sinistrá ut dextrá præliantes.

xx. 31. "To the house of God." The Septuagint has, eis Baileλ; and the Vulgate, in Bethel. See margin.

RUTH.

Chap. i. ver. 14. "And Orpah kissed her mother-inlaw; but Ruth clave unto her." The Septuagint reads, kai κατεφίλησεν Ὀρφὰ τὴν πενθερὰν αὐτῆς, καὶ ἐπέστρεψεν εἰς τὸν λαὸν αὐτῆς· Ῥοὺθ δὲ ἠκολούθησεν αὐτῇ, “ and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, and returned to her people; but Ruth clave unto her." The Vulgate has, ac reversa est. See ver. 15.

ii. 1. “And his name was Boaz." The Septuagint has Bool, and the Vulgate the same. See marginal reading, and Matt. i. 5.

iv. 5. "Thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess." The Septuagint adds, καὶ αὐτὴν κτήσασθαί σε δεῖ, “ and thou must buy her also." The Vulgate has, quando emeris agrum de manu mulieris, Ruth quoque Moabitidem, quæ uxor defuncti est, debes accipere. So read the Syriac, and several manuscripts of Kennicott. See ver. 10.