Judges — Chapter 9
These annotations are from the original 1609 Douay Old Testament, the first complete English Catholic Bible translation, produced by English scholars in exile at the English College of Douai. The archaic spelling is preserved.
This content was digitized from the original 1609 Douay (Old Testament) and 1582 Rheims (New Testament) print editions by OCR. The OCR process sometimes confused print page numbers with verse numbers, and may have assigned annotations to the wrong chapter. Chapter and verse labels on this page reflect the OCR output from the original print pagination and may not correspond to canonical Scripture chapter/verse numbers. For canonical reference, consult a standard Douay-Rheims edition. The annotation texts themselves are authentic 1609/1582 Douay-Rheims content.
Verse 8
According to the historie Ioatham Gedeons yongest sonne, by a parable iustly expostulateth the iniurie done by the Sichemites to his fathers house, in preferring a base bond-womans sonne, and cruelly murdering the rest of his sonnes: who with much trauel, and manie dangers of his owne life, had deliuered them from seruitude. As in the spiritual sense, which (as the ancient fathers note) is chiefly intended, Idolaters and Heretikes are reproued, who rather accept of vniust vsurpers, that wil serue their licentious appetites, and mantaine vice and wickednes, then to be ruled by iust and lawful men Superiours, appointed by Gods ordinance, indued with grace of the Holie Ghost (signified by the oliue tree); such as bring forth wholesome sweet vertues signified by the figge tree; and are replenished with admirable fortitude (signified by the vine tree); and in their places set vp base, ambitious, cruel, and crabbed spirits, signified by the bramble, or brier. Thus Nemrod, Abimelech, Mahomet, and innumerable other tyrants haue been aduanced, & especially Antichrist shal be exolled aboue al that is called God, or is worshipped, and shal most cruelly persecute al Catholikes, that wil not conforme themselues to his proceedings. But in fine (as here is prefigured in Abimelech) so shal rise against this bramble Antichrist, and shal deuour him and al his together. S. Beda. qq. in lib. Iudic. c. 6.