17 If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations a?-e more than I: how can I ^ dispos sess them?
18^ Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well ^' remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;
19 ' The great temptations w^hich thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched-out arm, whereby the Lord thy God brought thee out: so shall the Lord thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.
20 "^ Moreover the Lord thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.
2 1 Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the Lord thy God is ^ among you, ™ a mighty God and terrible.
22 ° And the Lord thy God will ° put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.
23 But the Lord thy God shall dehverthem '' unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed.
24 And 1 he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name ^ from under heaven: ^ there shall no
Verse 1 2. The Lord — shall keep unto thee the covenant^ So we find their continuance in the state of favour was to depend on their faithfulness to the grace of God. If they should rebel, though God had chosen them through his love, yet he would cast them off in his justice. The elect, we see, may become unfaithful, and so become reprobates. So it happened to 24,000 of them, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness because they had sinned; yet these were of the elect that came out of Egypt. Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall.
A M. 2553. man be able to stand before An. Ex. isr. 40. thco, Until thou have destroyed ^^^^^- them.
25 The graven images of their gods * shall ye burn with fire: thou '^ shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be ^' snared therein: for
tie] The Israelites were not as yet sufficiently numerous to fill the whole land occupied by the seven nations mentioned ver. 1. And as wild and ferocious animals might be expected to multiply where either there are no inhabitants, or the place is but thinly peopled, therefore God tells them that, though at present, by force of arms, they might be able to expel them, it would be impolitic so to do, lest the beasts of the field should multiply upon them.
it is ^ an abomination to the Lord thy God.
26 Neither shalt thou bring an
abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; ^ for it is a cursed thing.
Verse 25. Thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them] Some of the ancient idols were plated over with gold, and God saw that the value of the metal and the excellence of the workmanship might be an inducement for the Israelites to preserve them; and this might lead, remotely at least, to idolatry. As the idols were accursed, all those who had them, or any thing appertaining to them, were accursed also,
An exhortation to obedience from a consideration of God's past mercies, 1,2. Man is not to live by tread only, but by every word of God, 3. How God provided for them in the ivildemess, 4. The Lord chastened them that they might be obedient, 5, 6. A description of the land into which they were going, 7—9. Cautions lest they should forget God in their prosperity, 10—16, and lest they should attribute that prosperity to themselves, and not to God, 17, 18. The terrible judgments that shall fall upon them, should they prove unfaithful, 19, 20.
A LL the commandments which I command thee this day ^ shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your
2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God ^ led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and '^ to prove thee, ^ to know what was'm thine heart, whether
Verse 2. Thou shalt remember all the way] The various dealings of God with you; the dangers and difficulties to which ye were exposed, and from which God delivered you; together with the various miracles which he wrought for you, and his longsuffering towards you.
Verse 3. He — suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee] God never permits any tribulation to befall his followers, which he does not design to turn to their advantage. When he permits us to hunger, it is that his mercy may be the more observable in providing us with the necessaries of life. Privations, in the way of providence, are the forerunners of mercy and goodness abundant.
3 And he humbled thee, and ® suffered thee to hunger, and ^ fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth ^ not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.
4 ^ Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee,
Verse 4. Thy raiment waxed not old, <^c.] The plain meaning of this much-tortured text appears to me to be this: " God so amply provided for them all the necessaries of life, that they never were obliged to wear tattered garments, nor were their feet injured for lack of shoes or sandals." If they had carvers, engravers, silversmiths, and jewellers among them, as plainly appears from the account we have of the tabernacle and its utensils, is it to be wondered at if they also had habit and sandal makers, &c., Sic, as we are certain they had iveavers, embroiderers, and such like 1 And the traffic which we may suppose they carried on with the Moabites, or with travelling hordes of Arabians, doubtless supplied them with the materials; though, as they had abundance of sheep and neat cat-
neither did thy foot swell, these forty years. 5 '■ Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee.
6 Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, '' to walk in his ways, and to fear him.
tie, they must have had much of the materials within themselves. It is generally supposed that God, by a miracle, preserved their clothes from wearing out: but if this sense be admitted, it will require, not one miracle, but a chain of the most successive and astonishing miracles ever wrought, to account for the thing; for as there were not less than 600,000 males born in the wilderness, it would imply, that the clothes of the infant grew up with the increase of his body to manhood, which would require a miracle to be continually wrought on every thread, and on every particle of matter of which that thread was composed. And this is not all; it would imply that the clothes of the parent became miraculously lessened to fit the body of the child, with whose growth they were again to stretch and grow, &c. No such miraculous interference was necessary.
Verse 8. A land of loheat, dfc] On the subject of this verse I shall introduce the following remarks, which I find in Mr. Harmer's Observations on the Fertility of the Land of Judea, vol. iii., p. 243.
" Hasselquist tells us that he ate olives at Joppa (upon his first arrival in the Holy Land) which were said to grow on the Mount of Olives, near Jerusalem; and that, independently of their oiliness, they were of the best kind he had tasted in the Levant. As olives are frequently eaten in their repasts, the delicacy of this fruit in Judea ought not to be forgotten; and the oil that is gotten from these trees much less, because still more often made use of. In the progress of his journey he found several fine vales, abounding with olive trees. He saw also olive trees in Galilee; but none farther, he says, than the mountain where it is supposed our Lord preached his sermon.
" The fig trees in the neighbourhood of Joppa, Hasselquist goes on to inform us, were as beautiful as any he had seen in the Levant.
" The reason why pomegranates are distinctly mentioned, in this description of the productions of the land of promise, may be their great usefulness in forming cooling drinks, for they are used among the Asiatics nearly in the same way that we use lemons; see vol. ii., 145.
" Honey is used in large quantities in these countries; and Egypt was celebrated for the assiduous care with which the people there managed their bees. Maillet's account of it is very amusing. ' There are,' says he, ' abundance of bees in that country; and a singular manner of feeding them, introduced by the Egyptians of ancient times, still continues there. Towards the end of October, when the Nile, upon its
tains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land "" of oil olive, and honey;
decrease, gives the peasants an opportunity of sowing the lands, sainfoin is one of the first things sown, and. one of the most profitable. As the Upper Egypt is hotter than the Lower, and the inundation there goes sooner off the lands, the sainfoin appears there first. The knowledge they have of this causes them to send their bee-hives from all parts of Egypt, that the bees may enjoy, as soon as may be, the richness of the flowers, which grow in this part of the country sooner than in any other district of the kingdom. The hives, upon their arrival at the farther end of Egypt, are placed one upon another in the form of pyramids, in boats prepEired for their reception, after having been numbered by the people who place them in the boats. The bees feed in the fields there for some days: afterwards, when it is believed they have nearly collected the honey and wax, which were to be found for two or three leagues round, they cause the boats to go down the stream, two or three leagues lower, and leave them there, in like manner, such a proportion of time as they think to be necessary for the gathering up the riches of that canton. At length, about the beginning of February, after having gone the whole length of Egypt, they arrive at the sea, from whence they are conducted, each of them, to their usual place of abode; for they take care to set down exactly, in a register, each district from whence the hives were carried in the beginning of the season, their number and the names of the persons that sent them, as well as the number of the boats, where they are ranged according to the places they are brought from. What is astonishing in this affair is, that with the greatest fidelity of memory that can be imagined, each bee finds its own hive, and never makes any mistake. That which is still more amazing to me is, that the Egyptians of old should be so attentive to all the advantages deducible from the situation of their country; that after having observed that all things came to maturity sooner in Upper Egypt, and much later in Lower, which made a difference of above six weeks between the two extremities of their country, they thought of collecting the wax and the honey so as to lose none of them, and hit upon this ingenious method of making the bees do it successively, according to the blossoming of the flowers, and the arrangement of nature.' "
If this solicitude were as ancient as the dwelling of Israel in Egypt, they must have been anxious to know whether honeJ/, about which they took such care in Egypt, was plentiful in the land of promise; and they must have been pleased to have been assured it was. It continues to be produced there in large
An. Ex. isr. 40. bread without scarceness, thou ^^^^^' shalt not lack any thing in it; a land " whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
10° When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God, for the good land which he hath given thee.
1 1 Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his
quantities: Hasselquist, in the progress of his journey from Acra to Nazareth, tells us that he found " great numbers of bees, bred thereabouts, to the great advantage of the inhabitants." He adds, " they make their bee-hives, with little trouble, of clay, four feet long, and half a foot in diameter, as in Egypt. They lay ten or twelve of them, one on another, on the bare ground, and build over every ten a little roof" Mr. Maundrell, observing also many bees in the Holy Land, takes notice that by their means the most barren places in other respects of that country become useful, perceiving in many places of the great salt plain near Jericho a smell of honey and wax as strong as if he had been in an apiary.
By Hasselquist's account it appears, that the present inhabitants of Palestine are not strangers to the use of hives. They are constructed of very different materials from ours, but just the same with the Egyptian hives. They seem to be an ancient contrivance; and indeed so simple an invention must be supposed to be as old as the days of Moses, when arts, as appears from his writings, of a much more elevated nature were known in Egypt. I cannot then well persuade myself to adopt the opinion of some of the learned, that those words of Moses, in Deut. xxxii. 13, He made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock, are to be understood of his causing Israel to dwell in a country where sometimes they might find honey-comb in holes of the rock. It is very possible that in that hot country these insects, when not taken due care of, may get into hollow places of the rocks, and form combs there, as they sometimes construct them in ours in hollow trees, though I do not remember to have met with any traveller that has made such an observation. But would this have been mentioned with so much triumph by Moses in this place "? The quantities of honey produced after this manner could be but small, compared with what would be collected in hives properly managed; when found, it must often cost a great deal of pains to get the honey out of these little cavities in the hard stone, and much the greatest part must be absolutely lost to the inhabitants. The interpretation is the more strange, because when it is said in the next clause, "and oil out of the flinty rock," it is evidently meant that they should have oil produced in abundance by olive trees growing on flinty rocks; and consequently, the sucking honey out of the rock should only mean their enjoying great quantities of honey, produced by bees that collected it from flowers growing among the
judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this, day:
12 I* Lest when thou hast eaten.
and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
1 3 And lohen thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
14 1 Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou "■ forget the Lord thy God, which brought
rocks: the rocky mountains of this country, it is well known, produce an abundance of aromatic plants proper for the purpose. Nor does Asaph, in the close of the eighty-first Psalm, speak, I apprehend, of honey found in cavities of rocks; nor yet is he there describing it as collected from the odoriferous plants that grow in the rocky hills of those countries, if the reading of our present Hebrew copies be right: but the prophet tells Israel that, had they been obedient, God would have fed them with the fat of wheat, and wuth the rock of honey would he have satisfied them, that is, with the most delicious wheat, and with the richest, most invigorating honey, in large quantities, both for eating and making agreeable drink. Its reviving, strengthening quality appears in the story of Jonathan, Saul's son, 1 Sam. xix. 27; as the using the term rock to signify strength, &c., appears in a multitude of places. The rock of a sivord, Psa. Ixxxix. 43, for the edge of the sivord, in which its energy lies, is, perhaps, as strange an expression to western ears.
I shall have occasion to speak of the excellence of the grapes of Judea in a succeeding chapter; I may therefore be excused from pursuing the farther examination of the productions of this country, upon giving my reader a remark of Dr. Shaw's to this purpose, that it is impossible for pulse, wheat, or grain of any kind, to be richer or better tasted than what is sold at Jerusalem. Only it may not be amiss to add, with respect to this country's being well watered, that the depth, Dnn tehom, spoken of in this passage, seems to mean reservoirs of water filled by the rains of winter, and of great use to make their lands fertile; as the second word ri'nVi'n tealotheiha seems to mean wells, or some such sort of conveniences, supplied by springs; and the first word ri'mnj naharotheiha rivers or running streams, whether carrying a larger or smaller body of water. What an important part of this pleasing description, especially in the ears of those that had wandered near forty years in a most dry and parched wilderness! I will only add, without entering into particulars, that the present face of the country answers this description.
Verse 9. A land ivhose stones are iron] Not only meaning that there were iron mines throughout the land, but that the loose stones were strongly impregnated with iron, ores of this metal (the most useful of all tiie products of the mineral kingdom) being every where in great plenty.
Out of whose hills thou mayest dig b'-ass.] As there is no such thing in nature as a brass mine, the word
A. M. 2553. thee forth out of the land of An Ex.isr.40. Egypt, from the house of bon- ^'^^'- dage;
1 5 Who * led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, * loherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; " who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with ' manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, "^ to do thee good at thy latter end;
17 == And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
ntypJ nechosheth should be translated copper; of which, by the addition of the lapis calaminaris, brass is made. See on Exod. xxv. 3.
Verse 15. Who led thee through that — terrible wilderness] See the account of their journeying in the notes on Exod. xvi. 1, &c.; Num. xxi., &c.
Fiery serpents] Serpents whose bite occasioned a most violent inflammation, accompanied with an unquenchable thirst, and which terminated in death. See on Num. xxi. 6.
Verse 16. Who fed thee — with manna} See this miracle described Exod. xvi. 13, &c.
1 8 But thou shalt remember the a. m. 2553. Lord thy God: y for it is he An. Ex. isr. 40. that giveth thee power to get ^^^^^'
wealth, that ^ he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is
19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, ^ I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.
20 As the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, ^ so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God.
Verse 18. God — giveth thee power to get wealth] Who among the rich and wealthy believes this saying? Who gives wisdom, understanding, skill, bodily strength, and health? Is it not God 1 And without these, how can wealth be acquired? Whose is providence 1 who gives fertility to the earth ■? And who brings every proper purpose to a right issue? Is it not God? And without these also can wealth be acquired 1 No. Then the proposition in the text is self-evident: it is God that giveth power to get wealth, and to God the wealthy man must account for the manner in which he has expended the riches which God hath given him.
The people are informed that they shall shortly pass over Jordan, and that God shall go over before them, to expel the ancient inhabitants, 1—3. They are cautioned not to suppose that it is on account of their righteousness that God is to give them that land, 4-6. They are exhorted to remember their various provocations of the Divine Majesty, especially at Horeb, 7—14; and how Moses interceded for them, and destroyed the golden calf, 15-21. How they murmured at Taberah, 22; and rebelled af Kadesh-barnea, 23; and had been perverse from the beginning, 24. An account of the intercession of Moses in their behalf, 25-29.
JJEAR, 0 Israel: Thou art to * pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations '' greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and ° fenced up to heaven;
2 A people great and tall, "^ the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of
Verse 1. Thou art to pass over Jordan this day
whom thou hast heard say, Who A. M. 2553. can stand before the children of An. Ex! isr. 40. Anak? ^'^^'-
3 Understand therefore this day, that the Lord thy God is he which ® goeth over before thee; as di ^ consuming fire ^ he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy
over, because of their rebellions; but this time they shall certainly pass over. This was spoken about the eleventh month of the fortieth year of their journeying, and it was on the first month of the following year they passed over; aiid during this interim Moses died.
4 ' Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land: but ^ for the wickedness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee.
5 ^ Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, doth thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform ■" the word which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
6 Understand, therefore, that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art ^ a stiffnecked people.
7 Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness: ° from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the
8 Also p in Horeb ye provoked the Lord to wrath, so that the Lord was angry with you to have destroyed you.
9 1 When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the Lord made with you, then ^ I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water:
1 0 ^ And the Lord delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them ivas written according to all the
Verse 5. For the luickcdness of these nations] So then it was not by any sovereign act of God that these people were cast out, but for their wickedness; they had transgressed the law of their Creator; they had resisted his Spirit, and could no longer be tolerated. The Israelites were to possess their land, not because theij deserved it, but first, because they were less wicked than the others; and secondly, because God thus chose to begin the great work of his salvation among men. Thus then the Canaanites were caU off, and the Israel-
words, which the Lord spake A. m. 2553. with you in the mount, out of the An. Ex'. is*n4b. midst of the fire, ^ in the day of ^^^^^- the assembly. 1
1 1 And it came to pass, at the end of forty | days and forty nights, that the Lord gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant.
12 And the Lord said unto me, " Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they are ^ quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image.
14 y Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and ^ blot out their name from under heaven: ^ and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they.
15 ^ So I turned and came down from the mount, and " the mount burned with fire: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands.
1 6 And "^ I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against the Lord your God, and had made you a molten calf: ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which the Lord had commanded you.
1 7 And I took the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and brake them before your eyes.
1 8 And I ® fell down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wick-
ites ivere grafted in; and the Israelites, because of their wickedness, were afterwards cut off, and the Gentiles grafted in. Let the latter not be high-minded, but fear; if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he spare not thee. But let it be remembered that this land was originally their own, and that the present possessors had no legal right to it.
Verse 10. Tables of stone] See the notes on Exod xxxi. 18, and xxxii. 15, 16.
19 ^For I was afraid of the
anger and hot displeasure wherewith the Lord was wroth against you to destroy you. ^ But the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also.
20 And the Lord was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time.
2 1 And ^ I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount.
22 And at ' Taberah, and at ^ Massah, and at ^ Kibroth-hattaavah, ye provoked the Lord to wrath.
23 Likewise °' when the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you; then ye rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God, and ° ye believed him not, nor hearkened to his voice.
Debased themselves by making and worshipping an Egyptian idol. See on Exod. xxxii.
Verse 21. I took your sin, the calf which ye had made'\ See this fully explained Exod. xxxii. 20.
Verse 27. Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob] As if he had said: " These are their descendants, and the covenant was made with those
Lord from the day that I knew you.
25 p Thus I fell down before
the Lord, forty days and forty nights, as I fell down at the first; because the Lord had said he would destroy you.
26 'I I prayed therefore unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, destroy not thy people and thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed through thy greatness; which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
27 Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin:
28 Lest ^ the land whence thou broughtest us out, say, ^ Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, and because he hated them, he hath brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.
29 * Yet they are thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest out by thy " mighty power, and by thy stretched-out arm.
patriarchs in behalf of these." God bestows manyblessings on comparatively worthless persons, either for the sake of their pious ancestors, or on account of the religious people with whom they are connected; therefore union with the Church of God is a blessing of no common magnitude. The reader will find the grand subject of this chapter explained at large in the notes on Exod. xxxi. and xxxii., to which he is particularly desired to refer.
Moses IS commanded to make a second set of tables, 1, 2. He makes an ark, prepares the two tables, God writes on them the ten commandments, and Moses lays them up in the ark, 3-5. The Israelites journey from Beeroth to Mosera, where Aaron dies, 6; and from thence to Gudgodah and Jotbath, 7. At that time God separated the tribe of Levi for the service of the sanctuary, 8, 9. Hoio long Moses stayed the second time in the mount, 10, 11. What God requires of the Israelites, 12-15. Their heart must be circumcised, 16. God's character and conduct, 17, 18. They are commanded to love the stranger, 19; to fear, love, and serve God, 20, because he had done such great things for them and their fathers,
AT that time the Lord said I and come up unto me into the unto me, " Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first,
Verse I. Hew thee two tables of stone] See the notes on Exod. xxxiv. 1.
Verse 3. Shitti7n wood] See the note on Exod. XXV. 5, and succeeding verses, and on the parallel places in the margin.
e hewed two tables of stone, like unto the^-.'^^g.
5 And I turned myself, an^ k ^ame down from the mount, and ^ put thj tables in the ark which I had made; "> ar^ there they be, as the Lord commanded me.
6 And the children of jgrael took their journey from Beero^ n of t^e children of Jaakan to ° Mosera p there Aaron died, and there he was bujed; and Eleazar his son ministered in thopj-iest's office, in his stead.
7 1 From the;ce they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and /om Gudgodah to Jotbath, a land of riveij of waters.
.,^At that time ""the Lord separated the tribe of Levi, ^ to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, ' to stand before the Lord to
Verse 6. And the children of Israel took their journey, Sfc] On this and the three following verses see Kennicott''s remarks at the end of this chapter.
Verse 12. Noiv, Israel, what doth the Lord — require of thee] An answer is immediately given. God requires,
1. That ye fear him as Jehovah your God; him who made, preserves, and governs you.
2. That ye loalk in all his ivays — that, having received his precepts, all of which are good and excellent, ye obey the whole; walking in God's ways, not your own, nor in the ways of the people of the land.
3. That ye love him — have confidence in him as your father and friend, have recourse to him in all your necessities, and love him in return for his love.
4. That you serve him — give him that worship which he requires, performing it with all your heart — the whole of your affections, and with all your soul — your will, understanding, and judgment. In a word,
part nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance, according as the Lord ihy God promised him.
1 0 And ^ I stayed in the mount, according to the ^ first time, forty days and forty nights; and y the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also, and the Lord would not destroy thee.
11 ^ And the Lord said unto me. Arise "^ take thy journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give unto them.
12 And now, Israel, ^ what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but •= to fear the Lord thy God, '^ to walk in all his ways, and ^ to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
1 3 To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day ^ for thy good 1
14 Behold, s the heaven and the heaven ol heavens is the Lord's thy God, ^ the earth also, with all that therein is.
1 5 ' Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.
putting forth your whole strength and energy of body and soul in the sacred work.
Verse 14. Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens'] All these words in the original are in the plural number: D'''Dtyn 'r^ti^l D'OaTI jH hen hashshamayim, ushemey hashshamayim; behold the heavens and the heavens of heavens. But what do they mean ] To say that the first means the atmosphere, the second the planetary system, and the third the region of the blessed, is saying but very little in the way of explanation. The words were probably intended to point out the immensity of God's creation, in which we may readily conceive one system of heavenly bodies, and others beyond them, and others still in endless progression through the whole vortex of space, every star in the vast abyss of nature being a sun, with its peculiar and numerous attendant worlds! Thus there may be systems of systems in endless gradation up to the throne of God!
Verse 16. Circumcise — the foreskin of your heart] A plain proof from God himself that this precept
18 ^ He doth execute tlie judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.
1 9 •■ Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
20 * Thou shalt fear the Lord a. m. 2553. thy God; him shalt thou serve, An. Ex. isr. 40. and to him shalt thou * cleave, ^^'^^^-
pointed out spiritual things, and that it was not the cutting away a part of the flesh that was the object of the Divine commandment, but the purification of the soul, without which all forms and ceremonies are of no avail. Loving God with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength, the heart being circumcised to enable them to do it, was, from the beginning, the end, design, and fulfilment of the whole law.
Verse 17. God of gods, and Lord of lords] That is. He is the source whence all being and power proceed; every agent is finite but himself; and he can counteract, suspend, or destroy all the actions of all creatures whensoever he pleases. If he determine to save, none can destroy; if he purpose to destroy, none can save. How absolutely necessary to have such a God for our friend!
A great God — mighty] "^^in SxH hael haggibbor, the mighty God; this is the very title that is given to our blessed Lord and Saviour, Isa. ix. 6.
Verse 2 1. He is thy praise] It is an eternal honour to any soul to be in the friendship of God. Why are people ashamed of being thought religious? Because they know nothing of religion. He who knows his Maker may glory in his God, for without him what has any soul but disgrace, pain, shame, and perdition 1 How strange is it that those who fear God should be ashamed to own it, while sinners boldly proclaim their relationship to Satan!
Verse 22. With threescore and ten persons] And now, from so small a beginning, they were multiplied to more than 600,000 souls; and this indeed in the space of forty years, for the 603,000 which came out of Eg}T)t were at this time all dead but Moses, Joshua, and Caleb. How easily can God increase and multiply, and how easily diminish and bring low! In all things, because of his unlimited power, he can do whatsoever he ivill; and he ivill do whatsoever is right.
On a very important subject in this chapter Dr. Kennicott has the following judicious observations: —
" The book of Deuteronomy contains the several speeches made to the Israelites by Moses just before his death, recapitulating the chief circumstances of their history, from their deliverance out of Egypt to their arrival on the banks of Jordan. What in this
^ and swear by his name.
21^ He is thy praise, and he is thy God, ^ that hath done for thee these great and ter rible things, which thine eyes have seen.
22 Thy fathers went down into Egypt ^ with threescore and ten persons; and now the Lord thy God hath made thee ^ as the stars of heaven for multitude,
book he has recorded as spoken will be best understood by comparing it with what he has recorded as done in the previous history; and this, which is very useful as to the other parts of this book, is absolutely necessary as to the part of the tenth chapter here to be considered.
" The previous circumstances of the history necessary to be here attended to are these. In Exodus, chap. XX., God speaks the ten commandments; in chap, xxiv. Moses, on Mount Sinai, receives the two tables, and is there forty days and nights; in chap, xxv., xxvi., xxvii., God appoints the service of the tabernacle; in chap, xxviii. separates Aaron and his sons for the priest's office, by a statute for ever, to him and his seed after him; in chap, xxxii. Moses, incensed at the golden calf, breaks the tables; yet he prays foif the people, and God orders him to lead them towards Canaan; in chap, xxxiv. Moses carries up tivo other tables, and stays again forty days and nigbts. In Numbers, chap, iii., the tribe of Levi is selected; chap. viii., consecrated; chap. x. and xi. the Israelites march from Sinai on the twentieth day of the second month in the second year; in chap. xiii. spies sent j in chap. xiv. the men are sentenced to die in the wilderness during the forty years; in chap, xviii. the Levites are to have no lot nor large district in Canaan, but to be the Lord's inheritance; in chap. xx. Aaron dies on Mount Hor; lastly, in the complete catalogue of the whole march (chap, xxxiii.) we are told that they went from Moseroth to Bene-jaakan, thence to Hor-hagidgad, to Jotbathah, to Ebronah, to Ezion-gaber, to Zin, (which is Kadesh,) and thence to Mount Hor, where Aaron died in the fortieth and last year. In Deuteronomy, chap, ix., Moses tells the Israelites, (ver. 7,) that they had been rebels, from Egypt even to Jordan, particularly at Horeb, (ver. 8-29,) whilst he was with God, and received the tables at the end of forty days and nights; and that, after breaking the tables, he fasted and interceded for his brethren during a second period of forty days and nights; and this ninth chapter ends with the prayer which he then made. Chapter x. begins thus: ' At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone, like unto the first, and come up,' &c. And from ver. 1 to the end of ver. 5 he describes the second?opy of the
on the preceding chapter
ten commandments, as written also by God, and deposited by himself in the ark.
" After this we have now four verses, (6, 7, 8, and 9,) which not only have no kind of connection with the verses before and after them, but also, as they stand in the present Hebrew text, directly contradict that very text; and the two first of these verses have not, in our Hebrew text, the least connection with the two last of them. Our Hebrew text, (ver. 6,) says that Israel journeyed from Bene-jaakan to Mosera. Whereas that very text in the complete catalogue, (Num. xxxiii. 31,) says they journeyed from Moseroth to Benejaakan. Again: Aaron is here said to have died at Mosera, whereas he died on Mount Hor, the seventh station afterwards; see Num. xxxiii. 38. And again: they are here said to go from Bene-jaakan to Mosera, thence to Gudgodah, and thence to Jotbath; whereas the complete catalogue says, Moseroth to Bene-jaakan, t'lence to Hor-hagidgad, and thence to Jotbathah. But if the marches could possibly be true as they now stand in these two verses, yet what connection can there be between Jotbath and the separation of THE TRIBE of Levi ■? It is Very happy that these several difficulties in the Hebrew text are removed by the Samaritan Pentateuch: for that text tells us here rightly that the march was from Moseroth to Benejaakan; to Hagidgad, to Jotbathah, to Ebronah, to Ezion-gaber, to Zin, (which is Kadesh,) and thence to Mount Hor, where Aaron died. Again: as the regular deduction of these stations ends with Mount Hor and Aaron''s death, we have then what we had not before, a regular connection with the two next verses, and the connection is this: That when Aaron, the son of Amram, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, died, neither the tribe of Levi nor the priesthood was deserted, but God still supported the latter by maintaining the former; and this, not by allotting that tribe any one large part of Canaan, but separate cities among the other tribes, and by allowing them to live upon those offerings which were made by the other tribes to God himself. These four verses therefore, (6, 7, 8, and 9,) in the same text, stand thus: (ver. 6,) When the children of Israel journeyed from Moseroth, and encamped in Bene-jaakan; from thence they journeyed and encamped at Hagidgad; from thence they journeyed and encamped in Jotbathah, a land of rivers of water: (7) From thence ihey journeyed and encamped in Ebronah; in Ezion-gaber; in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh; and then at Mount Hor: And Aaron died there, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered as priest in his stead. (8) At that time the Lord had separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord, to minister unto him, and to bless in his name unto this day. (9) Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance, according as the Lord thy God promised him.
" But however consistent these four verses are now with themselves, it will be still demanded, What cotinection have they with the ^^A verse before them, and with the tenth verse after them T I confess I cannot discover their least pertinency here, because Aaron's death and Levi's separation seem totally foreign to
the speech of Moses in this place. And this speech without these four verses is a regularly connected admonition from Moses to this purpose: that his brethren were for ever to consider themselves as indebted to him, under God, for the renev^'al of the two tables, and also to his intercession for rescuing them from destruction. The words are these: (chap. x. 4,) * The Lord wrote again the ten commandments, and gave them unto me. (5) And I came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark, which I had made; — ( 1 0) Thus I stayed in the mount according to the first time, forty days and forty nights: and the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also; the Lord would not destroy thee. (11) And the Lord said unto me, Arise, take thy journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land,' &c. But then, if these four verses were not at first a part of this chapter, but are evidently interpolated, there arises another inquiry, Whether they are an insertion entirely spurious, or a genuine part of the sacred text, though removed hither out of some other chapter? As they contain nothing singular or peculiar, are of no particular importance, and relate to no subject of disputation, they are not likely to have arisen from fraud or design; but, perfectly coinciding in sense with other passages, they may safely be considered as another instance of a large transposition [86 words] in the present text, arising from accident and want of care. And the only remaining question therefore is, Whether we can discover, though not to demonstration, yet with any considerable degree of probability, the original place of these four verses, that so they may be at last restored to that neighbourhood and connection from which they have been, for so many ages, separated ■?
" It was natural for Moses, in the course of these several speeches to his brethren in Deuteronomy, to embrace the first opportunity of impressing on their memories a matter of such particular importance as the continuation of the priesthood among the Levites after Aaron's death. And the first proper place seems to be in the second chapter, after the first verse. At chap. i. 19 he speaks of their march from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea, whence they sent the spies into Canaan. He then sets forth their murmurings, and God's sentence that they should die in the wilderness, and he ends the first chapter with their being defeated by the Amorites, their loeeping before the Lord, and abiding many days in Kadesh, which is Kadesh-barnea, near Canaan.
" Chap. ii. begins thus: Then we turned, and took our journey into the loilderness by the way of the Red Sea, as the Lord spake unto me: and we compassed Mount Seir many days. Now, the many days, or long time, which they spent in compassing Mount Seir, that is, going round on the south-west coasts of Edom in order to proceed north-east from Edom, through Moab to Amon, must include several of their stations, besides that eminent one at Mount Hor, where Aaron died. And as part of their road, during this long compass, lay through Ezion-gaber, (which was on the eastern tongue of the Red Sea, and the south boundary of Edom,) thence to Zin, (which is Kadesh, that is, Meribah Kadesh,) and thence to Mount Hor, as they marched to the north-east; eo it
is probable that the five stations preceding that of Ezion-gaber were on the extremity of Mount Seir, to the south-west. And if their first station at entering the south-west borders of Edom, and beginning to compass Mount Seir, was Moseroth, this gives the reason wanted why Moses begins this passage at Moseroth, and ends it with Aaron's death at Mount Hor. And this will discover a proper connection between the four dislocated verses and the context here. — Deut. i. 46: ' So ye abode in Kadesh (Barnea) many days.' Chap. ii. 1: ' Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea, as the Lord spake unto me; and we compassed Mount Seir
" ' For the children of Israel journeyed from Moseroth, and pitched in Bene-jaakan: from thence they journeyed and pitched in Hagidgad: from thence they journeyed and pitched in Jotbathah, a land of rivers of water: from thence they journeyed and pitched in Ebronah: from thence they journeyed and
mercies and judgments.
pitched in Ezion-gaber: from thence they journeyed and pitched in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh: from thence they journeyed and pitched in Mount Hor, and Aaron died there, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered as priest in his stead. At that time the Lord had separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister unto him, and to bless in his name unto this day. Wherefore, Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren, the Lord is his inheritance, according as the Lord thy God promised him.'
" And this paragraph being thus inserted at the end of the first verse, the secojid verse begins a new paragraph, thus: And the Lord spake unto me, saying. Ye have compassed this mountain long enough; turn ijou northward — through the east side of Seir (or Edom) towards Moab on the north. See ver. 4-8." — KennicotCs Remarks, p. 74.
These remarks should not be hastily rejected.
The people are exhorted to oledience from a consideration of God's goodness to their fathers in Egypt, 1-4, and what he did m the loilderness, 5, and the judgment on Dathan and Abiram, 6, and from the mercies of God in general, 7-9. A comparative description of Egypt and Canaan, 10-12. Promises to obedience, 13-15. Dissuasives from idolatry, 16, 17. The ivords of God to be laid up in their hearts, to be for a sign on their hands, foreheads, gates, ^c, 18, taught to their children, made the subject of frequent conversation, to the end that their days may be multiplied, 19-21. If obedient, God shall give them possession of the whole land, and not one of their enemies shall be able to luithstand them, 22-25 Life and death, a blessing and a curse, are set before them, 26-28. The blessings to be put on Mount Gerizim and the curses on Mount Eb^l 29, 30. The promise that they should pass over Jordan, and observe these statutes tn the promised land, 31, 32.
2 And know ye this day: for / speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen "" the chastisement of the Lord your God, "^ his greatness, « his mighty hand, and his stretched-out arm.
3 ^ And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land;
4 And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; &how he made the water of the Red Sea to over-
5 And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place;
6 And ^ what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the ' substance that ^ loas in their possession, in the midst of all Israel:
7 But ' your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did.
8 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye
Verse 1. Thou shall love the Lord] Because without this there could be no obedience to the Divine testimonies, and no happiness in the soul; for the heart that is destitute of the love of God, is empty of all good, and consequently miserable. See the note on chap. x. 12.
A. M. 2553. may ™ be strong, and go in and An. Ex. isr. 40. posscss the land, whither ye go ^^^^^- to possess it;
9 And ° that ye may prolong your days in the land, "which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, p a land that floweth with milk and honey.
10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, i where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:
11"^ But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven:
12 A land which the Lord thy God ^ careth for; t the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year,
13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall
ments\ Because God can execute such terrible judgments, and because he has given such proofs of his power and justice; and because, in similar provocations, he may be expected to act in a similar way; therefore keep his charge, that he may keep you unto everlasting life.
Verse 10. Wateredst it loith thy foot] Rain scarcely ever falls in Egypt, and God supplies the lack of it by the inundations of the Nile. In order to vs^ater the grounds where the inundations do not extend, water is collected in ponds, and directed in streamlets to different parts of the field where irrigation is necessary. It is no unusual thing in the East to see a man, with a small mattock, making a little trench for the water to run by, and as he opens the passage, the water following, he uses his foot to raise up the mould against the side of this little channel, to prevent the water from being shed unnecessarily before it reaches the place of its destination. Thus he may be said to water the ground with his foot. See several useful observations on this subject in Mr. Harmer, vol. i., pp. 23-26, and vol. iii., p. 411. "For ivatcring land an instrument called janta is often used in the north of Bengal: it consists of a wooden trough, about fifteen feet long, six inches wide, and ten inches deep, which is placed on a horizontal beam lying on bamboos fixed in the bank of a pond or river in the form of a gallows. One end of the trough rests upon the bank, where a gutter is prepared to carry off the water, and the other is dipped into the water by a man standing on a stage near that end, and plunging it in with his/00^. A long bamboo, with a large weight of earth at the farther end of it, is fastened to that end of the janta near the river, and passing over the gallows, poises up the janta full
your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
14 That ^ I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, ^ the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
1 5 y And I will "^ send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest ^ eat and be full.
1 6 Take heed to yourselves, ^' that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and " serve other gods, and worship them;
1 7 And then ^ the Lord's Avrath be kindled against you, and he ® shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ^ ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you.
1 8 Therefore ^ shall ye lay up these my
of water, and causes it to empty itself into the gutter." This, Mr. Ward supposes, illustrates this passage. See Hindoo Customs, 4"c.,vol. iii., p, 104. But after all, the expression, wateredst it with thy foot, may mean no more than doing it by labour; for, as in the land of Egypt there is scarcely any rain, the w^atering of gardens, &c., must have been all artificial. But in Judea it was different, as there they had their proper seasons of rain. The compound word hl'\2 beregel, with, under, or by the foot, is used to signify any thing under the power, authority, &c., of a person; and this very meaning it has in the sixth verse, all the substance that loas in their possession, is, literally, all the substance that was under their feet, DrT'SjID beragleyhem, that is, in their power, possession, or what they had acquired by their labour.
Verse 14. The rain — in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain] By the first or former rain we are to understand that which fell in Judea about November, when they sowed their seed, and this served to moisten and prepare the ground for the vegetation of the seed. The latter rain fell about April, when the corn was well grown up, and served to fill the ears, and render them plump and perfect. Rain rarely fell in Judea at any other seasons than these. If the former rain were withheld, or not sent in due season, there could be no vegetation: if the latter rain were withheld, or not sent in its due season, there could be no full corn in the ear, and consequently no harvest. Of what consequence then was it that they should have their rain in due season! God, by promising this provided they were obedient, and threatening to withhold it should they be disobedient, shows that it is not a general providence that directs
A. M. 2553. words in your heart and in your An. Ex. isr. 40. soul, and ''bind them for a sign ^^^^^- upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
19 ' And ye shall leacli them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
20 ^ And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:
2 1 That * your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, ■" as the days of heaven upon the earth.
22 For if "^ ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and ° to cleave unto him;
23 Then will the Lord p drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall i possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.
24 "■ Every place, whereon the soles of your feet shall tread, shall be yours: * from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea, shall your coast be.
25 * There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the Lord your God shall "^ lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon
these things, but that the very rain of heaven falls by particular direction, and the showers are often regulated by an especial providence.
Verse 18. Therefore shall ye lay up these my words'\ See chap. vi. 4—8, and see on Exod. xiii. 9.
Verse 24. From the river] Euphrates, which was on the east, to the uttermost sea — the Mediterranean, which lay westward of the promised land. This promise, notwithstanding the many provocations of the [sraelites, was fulfilled in the time of Solomon, for *' he reigned over all the kings from the river (Euphrates) even unto the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt." See 2 Chron. ix. 26, and the note on Num. xxxiv. 12.
Verse 26. Behold. I set before you — a blessing and a curse] If God had hot put it in the power of this people either to obey or disobey; if they had not had a free will, over which they had complete authority, to use it either in the way of willing or nilling; could God, with any propriety, have given such precepts as these, sanctioned with such promises and threatenings? If they were not f-ee agents, they could not be pimished for disobedience, nor could thev, in any sense of
27 ^ A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I com mand you this day:
28 And a y curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.
29 And it shall come to pass, when the Lord thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put '^ the blessing upon Mount Gerizim, and the curse upon Mount Ebal.
30 Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, ^beside the plains of Moreh?
31'' For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein.
32 And ye shall observe ° to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you
the word, have been reivardable for obedience. A stone is not reivardable because, in obedience to the laws of gravitation, it always tends to the centre; nor is it punishable because, in being removed from that centre, in its tending or falling towards it again it takes away the life of a man.
That God has given man a free, self-determining WILL, which cannot be forced by any power but that which is omnipotent, and which God himself never loill force, is declared in the most formal manner through the whole of the sacred writings. No argument can affect this, while the Bible is considered as a Divine revelation; no sophistry can explain away its evidence, as long as the accountableness of man for his conduct is admitted, and as long as the eternal bounds of moral good and evil remain, and the essential distinctions between vice and virtue exist. If ye will obey, (for God is ever ready to assist,) ye shall live; if ye ivill disobey and refuse that help, ye shall die. So hath Jehovah spoken, and man cannot reverse it.
Verse 29. Thou shalt put the blessing upon Mount Gerizim, and the curse upon Mount Ebal] The etymology of these names may be supposed to cast some 7fi9 light on this institution. D'T"!: gerizzim, from?i: garaz, to cut, cut off, cut doivn; hence D'llJ gerizzim, the cutters down, fellers, and reapers or harvest-men, this mountain being supposed to have its name from its gTea.t fertility, or the abundance of the crops it yielded, which is a possible case. Of ^Tj^ ehal or eybal the root is not found in Hebrew; but in Arabic i^a£ abala signifies rough, rugged, curled, SfC.; and jHScf abalo, from the same root, signifies ivhite stones, and a mountain in which such stones are found; ^bAS^f alahalo, the mount of white stones. See Giggeius and Golius. And as it is supposed that the mountain had this name because of its barrenness, on this metaphorical interpretation the sense of the passage would appear to be the following: God will so superintend the land, and have it continually under the eye of his watchful providence, that no change can happen in it but according to his Divine counsel, so that lis fertility shall ever be the consequence of the faithful obedience of its inhabitants, and a proof of the blessing of God upon it; on the contrary, its barrenness shall be a proof tliat the people have departed from their God, and that his curse has in consequence fallen upon the land. See the manner of placing these blessings and curses, chap, xxvii. 12, &c. That Gerizim is very fruitful, and that Ebal is very barren, is the united testimony of all who have travelled in those parts. See Ludolf, Reland, Rab. Benjamin, and Mr. Maundrell. Sychem lies in the valley between these two mountains.
That the land of Judea was naturally very fertile, can scarcely be supposed by any who considers the accounts given of it by travellers; with the exception of a few districts, the whole land is dry, stony, and barren, and particularly all the southern parts of Judea, and ail the environs of Jerusalem, most of which are represented as absolutely incapable of cultivation. How then could it ever support its vast number of inhabitants "? By the especial providence of God. While God kept that people under his continual protection, their land was a paradise; they lent to all nations and borrowed from none. What has it been since? A demi-solitude, because that especial blessing no longer descends upon it. No land, says Calmet, was more fertile while under the benediction of God; none more barren when under his curse. Its present state is a proof of the declaration of Moses, chap, xxviii. 23: " The heaven over their head is brass; the earth under their feet, iron.'''' The land itself, in its present state, is an ample proof of the authenticity of the Pentateuch. Should facts of this kind be lost sight of by any who read the sacred writings 1
All monuments of idolatry in the promised land to be destroyed, 1—3; and God's service to be duly performed, 4—7. The difference betiveen the performance of that service in the loildemess and in the promised land, 8—11. The people are to be happy in all their religious observances, 12. The offerings musl be brought to the place which God appoints, and no blood is to be eaten, 13—16. The tithe of corn, ivine, oil, dfc, to be eaten in the place that God shall choose, 17, 18. The Levite must not be forsaken, 19. All clean beasts may be eaten, but the blood must be poured out before the Lord, and he eaten on no pretence whatever, 20—25. Of vows, burnt-offerings, <5fc., 26, 27. These precepts are to be carefully obeyed, 28. Cautions against the abominations of the heathen, 29—31. Nothing to be added to or diminished from the ivord of God, 32.
T^HESE ^ are the statutes and judgments which ye shall
observe to do in the land which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, ^ all the days that ye live upon the
2 •= Ye shall utterly destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shall '^ possess served their gods, ^ upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:
3 And '" ye shall ^ overthrow their altars, and
NOTES ON CHAP. XH. Verse 3. Ye shall overthrow their altars] Where unholy sacrifices have been offered; arid break their pillars, probably meaning statues and representations of their gods cut out of stone; and burn their groves, such as those about the temple of Ashtaroth, the Ca-
their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.
4 ^ Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God,
5 But vinto the place which the Lord your God shall " choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:
naanitish VeJius, whose impure rites were practised in different parts of the inclosures or groves round her temples; and ye shall hew down the graven images, probably implying all images carved out oftvood; and destroy the najncs of them, which were no doubt at first graven on the stones, and carved on the trees, and
heave-offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill-offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks: ■ 7 And ^ there ye shall eat before the Lord your God, and ^ ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.
8 Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, ° every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.
9 For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which the Lord your God giveth you.
1 0 But when p ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies rormd about, so that ye dwell in safety;
1 1 Then there shall be i a place which the Lord your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heaveoffering of your hand, and all "^ your choice vows which ye vow unto the Lord:
1 2 And * ye shall rejoice before the Lord
then applied to the surrounding districts. In various instances the names of whole mountains, valleys, and districts, were borrowed from the gods worshipped there. Verse 14. The place lohich the Lord shall choose^ To prevent idolatry and bring about a perfect uniformity in the Divine worship, which at that time was essentially necessary; because every rite and ceremony had.1 determinate meaning, and pointed out the good things which were to come, therefore one place must be established where those rites and ceremonies should be carefully and punctually observed. Had it not been so, every man would have formed his worship according to his own mind, and the whole beauty and importance of the grand representative system would have been destroyed, and the Messiah and the glories of his kingdom could not hs.x'e been seen through the medium of the Jewish ritual. For uniformity in every part of the Divine worship the same necessity does not now exist; because that which was typified is come, and the shadows have all fled away Yet, when it can be obtained, how desirable is it that all sincere Christians should with one mouth, as well as with one heart, glorify their common Lord and Saviour!
and the Levite that is within your gates: forasmuch as * he hath no part nor inheritance with you.
13 " Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt-offerings in every place that thou seest:
14 ^ But in the place which the Lord shaU choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt-offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.
1 5 Notwithstanding ^ thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee: ^ the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, y as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.
1 6 ^ Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.
17 Thou mayest not eat within thy gales the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill-offerings, or heave-offering of thine hand:
18° But thou must eat them before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord thy God
Verse 15. Thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates] With the proviso that the blood be poured out on the ground. 1. The blood should not be eaten. 2. It should be poured out by way of sacrifice. I think this is the meaning; and not that they should pour out the blood with as little ceremony and respect as they poured water upon the ground, which is the meaning according to Calmet and others.
The roebuck, and — the hart] It is very likely that by '^i* tseli the antelope is meant; and by TX aiyal, the hart or deer. This is the opinion of Dr. Shaw; and from the report of travellers we learn that both these animals are found in that desert to the present day. See Harmer, vol. iv., p. 25, &c. Of the propriety of eating clean animals there could be no question, but the blood must be poured out; yet there were cases in which they might kill and eat in all their gates, cities, and dwellings — such as the roebuck and the hart, or all clean wild beasts, for these being taken in hunting, and frequently shot by arrows, their blood could not be poured out at the altar. Therefore the command appears to take in only such tame beasts as were used for food.
A. M. 2553. shall choose, thou, and thy son, An. Ex. 1st. 40. and tliy daughter, and thy man- ^^^'•^^- servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite that is within thy gates; and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God in all that tliou puttest thine hands unto.
19^ Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite '^ as long as thou livest upon
20 When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border, ^ as he hatli promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh; (because thy soul longeth to eat flesh;) thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soid lusteth after.
21 If the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the Lord hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.
22 ^ Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike.
23 ^ Only s be sure that thou eat not the blood: ^ for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.
24 Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water.
25 Thou shalt not eat it; ' that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, ^ when thou shalt do that tohich is right in the sight of the Lord.
Verse 19. Forsake not the Levite] These had no inheritance, and were to live by the sanctuary: if therefore the offerings were withheld by wiiich the Levites were supported, they of course must perish. Those who have devoted themselves to the service of God in ministering to the salvation of the souls of men, should certainly be furnished at least with all the necessaries of life. Those who withhold this from them sin against their own mercies, and that ordinance of God by which a ministry is established for the salvation of souls.
Verse 23. For the Mood is the life] And the life being offered as an atonement, consequently the blood should not be eaten. See the notes on Lev. xvii. 11, where the subject of the vitality of the blood is largely considered.
Verse 3 1 Their sons and their daughters they have
26 Only thy * holy things which a. M. 2553. thou hast, and "^ thy vows, thou An. Ex. isr!* 40. shalt take, and go unto the place ^eh^t. which the Lord shall choose:
27 And "^ thou shalt offer thy burnt-offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the Lord thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the Lord thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh.
28 Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, ° that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thv God.
29 When p the Lord thy God shall cut off" the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou 1 succeedest them, and dwellest in their land:
30 Take heed to thyself "^ that thou be not snared ^ by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
3 1 * Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every ^ abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for '^ even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: "^ thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
burnt in the fire] Almost all the nations in the world agreed in offering human victims to their gods on extraordinary occasions, by which it is evident that none of those nations had any right notion of the Divine nature. How necessary, then, was the volume of revelation, to teach men what that religion is with which God can be well pleased! The Hindoos to this day offer human victims to their goddess Cali, and at the temple of Jaggernaut; and j'Ct, notwithstanding this, there are found certain persons who, while they profess Christianity, are absolutely unwilling to send the Hindoos the Gospel of Christ, because they think it would not be politically wise! But the wisdom of this world has ever been foolishness with God; and in spite of all this infidel policy, the word of the Lord shaJl have free course and be glorified.
Of false prophets and their lying signs, 1-6. Of those ivho endeavour to entice and seduce people to idolatry, 7, 8. The punishment of such, 9-11. Of cities perverted from the pure worship of God, 12-14. Hoiv that city is to be treated, 15. All the spoil of it to be destroyed, 16. Promises to them who obey these directions, 17, 18.
2 And " the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God ^ proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul.
4 Ye shall ^ walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and ^ cleave unto him.
5 And s that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath ^ spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. ' So slialt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
6 '^ If thy brother, the son of thy mother,
Verse 1. If there arise among you a prophet^ Any pretending to have a Divine influence, so as to be able perfectly to direct others in the way of salvation; or a dreamer of dreams — one who pretends that some deity has spoken to him in the night-season; and giveth thee a sign, mx oth, what appears to be a miraculous proof of his mission; or a ivonder, r\2n mopheth, some type or representation of what he wishes to bring you over to: as some hafve pretended to have received a consecrated image from heaven; hence the origin of the Palladiian, Numa^s Shields, and many of the deities among the Hindoos. But here the word seems to mean some portentous sign, such as an eclipse, which he who knew when it would take place might predict to the people who knew nothing of the matter, and thereby accredit his pretensions, a or thy son, or thy daughter, or A. M. 2553. Uhe wife of thy bosom, or thy An. Ex. isr. 40. friend, "^ which is as thine own ^^^^^-
soul, entice thee secretly, saying. Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
7 Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth:
8 Thou shalt "^ not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:
9 But ° thou shalt surely kill him; p thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the
10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of i bondage.
1 1 And ^ all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.
12 'If thou shalt hear say in one ot thy
Verse 3. The Lord your God proveth you] God permits such impostors to arise to try the faith of his followers, and to put their religious experience to the test; for he who experimentally knows God cannot be drawn away after idols. He who has no experimental knowledge of God, may believe any thing. Expe riencc of the truths contained in the word of God can alone preserve any man from Deism, or a false religion. They who have not this are a prey to the pretended prophet, and to the dreamer of dreams.
Verse 6. If thy brother — or thy son] The teacher of idolatry was to be put to death; and so strict was this order that a man must neither spare nor conceal his brother, son, daughter, luife, nor friend, because this was the highest offence that could be committed against God, and the most destructive to society; hence the severest laws were enacted against it. 77.3
1 3 Certain men, * the children of Belial, " are gone out from among you, and have ^withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, ^ Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;
14 Then shaltthou inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you;
15 Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, "" destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.
1 6 And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it
Verse 13. Children of Belial] '7>''Sd, from Sa bat, not, and by yaal, profit; — Sept. av6peg -Trapavofioi, lawless men; — persons good for nothing to themselves or others, and capable of nothing but mischief.
Verse 15. Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants] If one city were permitted to practise idolatry, the evil would soon spread, therefore the contagion must be destroyed in its birth.
into the midst of the street there- A. M. 2553. of, and shalt ^bum with fire the An. Ex. isr. 40. city, and all the spoil thereof ^^h^tevery whit, for the Lord thy God: and it shall be ^ a heap for ever; it shall not be built again.
1 7 And * there shall cleave naught of the ^ cursed thing to thine hand: that the Lord may '^ turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, ^ as he hath sworn unto thy fathers;
1 8 When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, ^ to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord thy God.
cursed thing] As God did not permit them to take the spoils of these idolatrous cities, they could be under no temptation to make war upon them. It could only be done through a merely religious motive, in obedience to the command of God, as they could have no profit by the subversion of such places. How few religious wars would there ever have been in the world had they been regulated by this principle: " Thou shalt neither extend thy territory, nor take any spoils!"