'Observe the multitude of examples by which this most astonishing truth is attested. Look at the Amalekites and Canaanites; look at the King of Arad and all his family, subjected to the law of devotion; look at the priest Samuel slaying King Agag with his own hands, and cutting him into pieces as a butcher cuts up an ox in his slaughterhouse? Verse 39. 'And it was a custom in Israel.' What meaning can we attach to these words? Our translators have prefixed the word '_That_' to the next verse, to make people believe the custom to refer to the weeping for Jephtha's daughter; if this were the correct reading, then the phrase is incorrect; it is in the past tense, and after relating the fulfilment of Jephtha's vow, adds 'it was a custom.' What? The only answer is, that human sacrifice was a custom. In feet, if it had not been an established custom, the whole nation would have cried out as one man against the murder of Jephtha's daughter. (See also page 54.) *Chapter xiii., v. 5. 'No razor shall touch his head;' yet despite this imperative command of the Omnipotent Deity, a razor did touch Samson's head. (_Vide_ chap. xvi. v. 19.) Verse 9. God hearkened to the voice of Manoah. (See Joshua, ehap. x., v. 14, which contradicts this.) Verse 19. This is a repetition of the conjuring referred to on page 111; here the angel vanishes in the flame. *Chapter xiv., vv. 8 and 9. Bees do not usually rest on carrion at all, much less store honey in a rotting carcass; but it is not more surprising that this should happen, than that Samson should tear a young lion asunder with nothing to aid him but his naked hands. *Chapter xv., v. 4. Foxes must have been very plentiful in the country, where Samson then was; but they must have taken some time to catch. The following is a foot-note to the Douay, 'Being judge of the people, he might have many to assist him to catch with nets or otherwise a number of these animals.' It is difficult to conceive why the Philistines so neglected their own interests, and quietly {115} allowed Samson to capture and turn loose these 300 foxes amongst their crops; and I confess that I cannot quite discover the utility and morality of the course pursued by Samson in burning the corn fields. Verses 14 and 15. Shamgar's feat, commented on in page 109, sinks into utter insignificance beside this. 1000 men all killed with the new jaw-bone of an ass--these evidently slain at one time as they fell in 'heaps upon heaps.' If Samson killed the Philistines at the rapid rate of one per minute, which would be good work considering the weapon employed, the slaughter, if conducted without cessation, would then occupy nearly seventeen hours; and we cannot wonder that Samson was 'sore athirst.' The water flowing from the jaw-bone is a miracle. As to miracles, see pages 74 and 75. *Chapter xvi., v. 1. If the rulers of the Israelites were so immoral, the Israelitish people must have been similar in character.