10 And now, behold, I have brought the first-fruits of the land, which thou, 0 Lord, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God, and worship before the Lord thy God:
1 1 And "" thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.
12 When thou hast made an end of tithing all the " tithes of thine increase the third year, which is ° the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be fiUed;
1.3 Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them
signifies famine, dearth, &c., he thus makes out his version, and this version he defends at large in his notes. It is pretty evident, from the text, that by a Syrian we are to understand Jacob, so called from his long residence in Syria with his father-in-law Laban. And his being ready to perish may signify the hard usage and severe labour he had in Laban's service, by which, as his health was much impaired, so liis life might have often been in imminent danger.
Verse 1 1. Thou shalt rejoice] God intends that his followers shall be happy; that they shall eat their bread with gl.idness and singleness of heart, praising him. Those who eat their meat grudgingly, under the pretence of their umcorlhincss, &c., profane God's i)Ounties, and shall have no thanks for their voluntary humility.
Thou, and the Levite, and the stranger] They were to take care to share God's bounties among all those wlm were dependent on them. The Levite has no inheritance, let him rejoice with thee. The stranger has no home, let him feel thee to be his friend and his father.
An. Ex. Isr.40. Stranger, to the latherless, and to ^ ^^' the widow, according to all thy
commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, ^ neither have I forgotten them:
14 1 1 liave not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away aught thereof for any unclean use, nor given aught thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me.
1 5 ■■ Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
16 This day the Lord thy God hath com-
xiv. 28. But from the letter in both these places it would appear that the tithe was for the Levites, and that this tithe was drawn only once in three years.
Verse 14. I have not — given aught thereof for the dead'\ That is, I have not consecrated any of it to an idol, which was generally a dead man whom superstition and ignorance had deified. From 1 Cor. x. 27, 28, we learn that it was customary to offer that flesh to idols which was afterwards sold publicly in the shambles; probably the blood was poured out before the idol in imitation of the.sacrifices offered to the true God. Perhaps the text here alludes to a similar custom.
Averse 17. Thou hast avouched the Lord] The people avouch — publicly declare, that they have taken Jehovah to be their God.
Verse 18. And the Lord hath avouched'] Publicly declared, by the blessings he pours down upon them, that he has taken them to be his' peculiar people. Thus the covenant is made and ratified between God and his followers.
Verse 19. Make thee high above all 7iations\ It is written, Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people, Prov. xiv. 34. While Israel regarded God's word and kept his testimonies, they were the greatest and most respectable of all nations; but when they forsook God and his law, they became the most contemptible. O Britain, even more highly favoured than ancient Israel! learn wisdom by what they have suffered. It is not thy fleets nor thine ar- manded thee to do these statutes a. M. 2553. and judgments: thou shall there- An. Ex. isr. 40 fore keep and do them with all ^'^'""'
17 Thou hast ' avouched the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice:
18 And 'the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments;
1 9 And to make thee " high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be ' a holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken.
niies, howsoever excellent and well appointed, that can ultimately exalt and secure thy permanence among the nations. It is righteousness alone. Become irreligious, neglect God's ordinances, profane his Sabbath, despise his word, persecute his followers, and thou art lost. But fear, love, and serve him, and thy enemies shall be found liars, thou shall defeat their projects, and trample on their high places.
The form of confession when bringing the firstfruits, related ver. 4-10, is both affecting and edifying. Even when brought into a state of affluence and rest, they were commanded to remember and publicly acknowledge their former degradation and wretchedness, that they might be ever kept humble and dependent; and they must bring their offering as a public acknowledgment to God that it was by his mercy their state was changed, and by his bounty their comforts were continued. If a man rise from poverty to affluence, and forget his former state, he becomes proud, insolent, and oppressive. If a Christian convert forget his former state, the rock whence he was hewn, and the hole of the pit whence he was digged, he soon becomes careless, unthankful, and unholy. The case of the ten lepers that were cleansed, of whom only one returned to give God thanks, is an awful lesson. Plow m.any are continually living on the bounty of God, who feel no rrratitude for his mercies! Reader, is this tby state? If so, then expect the just God to curse thy blessings.
Moses commands the people to write the laio upon stones, ivhen they shall come to the promised land, 1—3. And to set up these stones on Mount Ebal, 4; and to build an altar of unhewn stones, and to offer on it burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, 5-7. The words to be written plainly, and the people to be exhorted to obedience, 8-10. The six tribes which should stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, 11, 13. Those who are to stand upon Mount Ebal to curse the transgressors, 13. The different transgressors against whom the curses are to be denounced, I 4—20.
saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day.
2 And it shall be, on the day " when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the Lord thy God givclh thee, that '' thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaster them with plaster:
3 And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee.
4 Therefore it shall be when ye be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, " in Mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaster them with plaster.
5 And there shalt thou build an altar unto the Lord thy God, an altar of stones: "^ thou shalt not lift up a?iy iron tool upon them.
6 Thou shah build the altar of the Lord thy God of whole stones: and thou shalt offer
Verse 2. Thou shalt set thee vp great stones] How many is not specified, possibly twelve, and possibly only a sufficient number' to make a surface large enough to write the blessings and the curses on.
Plhster them with plaster] Perhaps the original TC3 DHX mtyi vesadta otham bassid should be translated, Thou shalt cement them with cement, because this was intended to be a durable monument. In similar cases it was customary to set up a single stone, or a heap, rudely put together, where no cement or mortar appears to have been used; and because this was common, it was necessary to give particular directions when the usual method was not to be followed. Some suppose that the writing was to be in relievo, and that the spaces between the letters were filled up by the mortar or cement. This is quuo, a possible case, as the Eastern inscriptions are frequently done in this way. There is now before me a large slab of basaltes, two feet long by sixteen inches wide, ou which there is an inscription in Persian,.Vrabic, and Tamul; in the two former the letters are all raised, the surface of the stone being dug out, but the Tamul is indented. A kind of reddish p:iint had been smeared over tlie letters to make them more ai>parent. Two Arabic marbles in the University of O.vford have the inscriptions in relievo, like those ou the slab of basalt in my possession. In the opinion of some even this case may cast light upon the subject in question.
Verse 3. All the words of this law] After all that has been said by ingenious critics concerning the law
7 And thou shalt offer peace- A. M. 2553. offerings, and shalt eat there, and An. Ex. isr. 40. rejoice before the Lord thy God. ^''"''
8 And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly.
9 And Moses, and the priests the Levites, spake unto all Israel, saying. Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; " this day thou art become the people of the Lord thy God.
10 Thou shalt therefore obey the voice ot the Lord thy God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day.
1 1 And Moses charged the people the same day, saying,
12 These shall stand 'upon Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when ye are come over Jordan; Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin:
1 3 And ^ these shall stand upon Mount Ebal '" to curse; Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Ze bulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
14 And ' the Levites shall speak, and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice,
ordered to be written on these stones, some supposing the whole Mosaic law to be intended, others, only the decalogue, I am fully of opinion that the {T\'>\ri torah) law or ordinance in question simply means the blessings and curses mentioned in this and in the following chapter; and indeed these contained a very good epitome of the whole law in all its promises and threatenings, in reference to the whole of its grand moral design. See at the end of this chapter.
Verse 4. Set up these stones — in Mount EbaT] So the present Hebrew text, but the Samaritan has Mount Gerizim. Dr. Kennicott has largely defended the reading of the Samaritan in his second dissertation on the present state of the Hebrew text, and Dr. Parry has defended the Hebrew against the Samaritan in his Case between Gerizim and Ebal fairly stated. So has /. H. Verschuir, in his Dissert. Critica. Many still think Dr. Kennicott's arguments unanswerable, and have no doubt that the Jews have here corrupted the text through their enmity to the Samaritans. On all hands it is allowed that Gerizim abounds with springs, gardens, and orchards, and that it is covered with a beautiful verdure, while Ebal is as naked and as barren as a rock. On this very account the forme. was highly projior for the ceremony of blessing, and the latter for the ceremony of cursing.
Verse 12. These shall stand upon Mount Gerizim to bless the people] Instead of upon Mount, &c., we may translate bt/, as the particle S>' al is sometimes used; for we do not find that the tribes did stand on either mount, for in Josh. viii. 33, when this directioa
and puttetli it in a secret place. ' And all the
16 " Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.
17 " Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark. And all the people shall say. Amen.
18 ° Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say. Amen.
19 P Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say. Amen.
20 I Cursed be he that heth with his father's
^as reduced to practice, we find the people did not stand on the mountains, but over against them on the plain. See the observations at the end of this chapter.
Verse 15. Cursed be the man, cfc] Other laws, previously made, had prohibited all these things, and penal sanctions were necessarily understood; but here God more openly declares that he who breaks them is cursed — falls under the wrath and indignation of his Maker and Judge. See the note on Exod. xx. 4.
Verse 16. Setteth light by his father or his mother.] See the note on Exod. xx. 12.
Verse 17. Removeth his neighbour''s landmark.] See before on Deut. xix. 14, and on Exod. xx. 17. And for all the rest of these curses, see the notes on Esod. XX., and the observations at the end of it.
Verse 18. The blind to wander out of the way.] A sin against the sixth commandment. See on Exod. XX. 13.
Verse 26. That confirmcth not all the words of this law] The word 73 col, all, is not found in any printed copy of the Hebrew text; but the Samaritan preserves it, and so do six MSS. in the collections of Kennicott and De It.ssi, besides several copies of the Chaldee Targum. The Septuagint also, and St. Paul in his quotation of this place, Gal. iii. 10. St. Jerome says that the Jews suppressed the word, that it might not appear that they were bound to fulfil all the precepts in the law of Moses.
1. Dr. Kennicott, who contends that it was the Decalogue that was written on the stones mentioned m this chapter, says, " If we examine these twelve curses, they will appear to contain a strong enforcement of the ten commands; and it is highly probable
2 1 ■■ Cursed be he that helh with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say, Amen.
22 ' Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people sliall say, Amen.
23 ' Cursed be he that lieth with his motherin-law. And all the people shall say. Amen.
24 " Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly. And all the people shall say. Amen.
25 ' Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say. Amen.
26 " Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.
that the curses were here proclaimed principally to secure obedience to the commandments, as will be made more clear by the following table: — The first, second, third, and fourth Commandments. Verse 15. Cursed be the man that maketh.any graven or molten image, an abomination to the Lord, &c. The fifth Commandment. Verse 16. Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother.
The sixth Commandment. Verse 25. Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person.
The seventh Commandment. Verse 20. Cursed be he that lieth with his fathers wife.
Verse 2 1. Cursed be he that lieth with any beast. Verse 22. Cursed be he that lieth with his sister. Verse 23. Cursed be he that lieth with his motherin-law.
The eighth Commandment. Verse 17. Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark.
The ninth Commandment. Verse 19. Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. The tenth Commandment. Verse 26. Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them."
Many will think this arrangement fanciful; and the analogy (ar from being natural.
2. In pronouncing these blessings and curses, the Talmud bays, six tribes went up towards the lop of Mount Gerizim, and si.'c towards the top of Mount Ebal; and the priests and the Levites, and the ark stood beneath in the midst. The priests encompassed the ark, and the Levites stood round about the priests; and all Israel on this side and on that; see Josh. viii. 33. Then they turned their faces towards Mount Gerizim and pronounced the blessing, Blessed be the man, &c., and those on each side answered Amen! then they turned their faces towards Mount Ebal, and pronounced the curse. Cursed be the man, &c., and those on each side answered Amen! till they had finished the blessings and the curses; and afterwards they brought stones and built an altar. Some suppose that the Levites were divided into two grand bodies, part standing at or on Mount Gerizim, and part on Mount Ebal, and that with each division were some of the priests. The whole Dr. Parry supposes to have been arranged in the following manner: —
3. It is worthy of remark that Moses assigns to the children of Rachel and Leah, the two mothers of the famUy, the office of blessing the people, as being the most honourable; and these he places on Mount Gerizim. On the contrary, he assigns the office of cursing the people to the sons of Zilpah and Bilhah, as being the least honourable office; but with these he joins Zebulun, the youngest of Leah's sons, and Reuben, the eldest. As there must be six tribes on each mountain, it was necessary that while six of the sons of Rachel and Leah, the legitimate wives, should be employed in blessing, two tribes descending from the same mothers should be joined to the other four who proceeded from the handmaids in order to make up the number six. The question is, which two of the more honourable tribes should be joined to the four \c:i%\. honourable, in order to complete the number six ^ Zebulun is chosen, because being the sixth and youngest of all Leah's sons, he was the least honourable of those who proceeded from the free woman; and Reuben is chosen, who, though the eldest of Jacob's sons, and entitled to the birthright, had lost it by his transgression. And hence he, in his posterity, was degraded, and was obliged to pronounce the curse, Cursed is he that lieth with his father's wife. See Gen. xlix. 3, 4, and xxxv. 22, and the notes on both places.
4. It is strange how long the disgrace consequent on some flagrant transaction of a parent may cleave to his posterity! See this exemplified in the posterity of Reuben. Hence, with great propriety we may pray, " Remember not, Lord, our offences, nor the offences of our forefathers; neither take thou vengeance of our sins." — Litany. For the offences of our forefathers may be so remembered against their posterity, that God, in the course of his providence, may still keep uj) a controversy in secular matters with the descendants (though even pious) of unholy ancestors; for as all men are seminally included in their parents, they come into the world depraved with their depravity, and in some sort liable to their curses, though not so far as to affect their eternal interests without the addition of their own persona! offences. Thus God may be said to visit the sins of the fathers upon the chil dren, even unto the third and fourth generation; as he may have a controversy with the land for the evil which has been done in it, and for which no proper atonement has been made. Why is it that at this moment Spain is suffering the most afflictive and cruel desolations? What has she done to merit all this 1 Is she more wicked than all the European nations because she suffers such things? Here is the mystery • Nations, as such, can only be punished in this xcj-lu. Look at the torrents of innocent blood shed oy their ancestors in South America 300 years igo; and see now and adore the awful hand of retributive justice! (December, 1811.) We often see persons tried and afflicted, for whose distresses we can give no legitimate reason. We find others who, though they rise early, sit up late, work hard, eat the bread of carefulness, and have a full knowledge of their business, yet never get on in hfe. Who can account for this I Shall we say that some injustice in their ancestors has brought down the displeasure of God upon the earthly possessions that descended in that line, so that the goods ill gotten shall never be permitted to multiply 7 I knew an honest man, dead many years since, who by great diligence, punctuality, and integrity in his busi ness, had acquired considerable property. Some time before his death, having by will divided his substance among his sons and his daughters, he expressed himself thus: " Children, you need not fear the curse of God on this property; every penny of it was honestly earned." Many years have since elapsed, and the blessing of God has been in the basket and in the store of all his children. Parents! leave nothing behind you that you cannot say before your God, with s clear conscience, " This has been honestly earned." If all bequests of a contrary description were to be deducted from last wills and testaments, the quantum of descending property would be, in many cases, small 1 indeed.
TThe blessings which God pronounces on Ihe obedient, I— fi. Particular privileges lohich the faithful shall receive, 7-13. The curses pronounced against the ungodly and idolatrous, 14-19. A detailed account of the miseries which should be inflicted on them, should tkei/ neglect the commandments of the Lord, 20. They shall be smitten with the pestilence, 21; with consumption, fever, tj-r., 23; drought and barrenness, 33, 24; they shall be defeated by their enemies, 25, 26; they shall be afflicted with the botch of Egypt, 27; with madness and blindness, 28, 29; they shall be disappointed in all their projects, 30; deprived of all their possessions, and afflicted in all their members, 31—35; they and their king shall go into captivity, 36, and become a by-word among the nations, 37. Their land shall be unfruitful, and they shall he the lowest of all people, 38—44. All these curses shall come on them should they be disobedient, 45—48. Character of the people by whom they should be subdued, 49, 50. Particulars of their dreadful sufferings, 51—57. A recapitulation of their ivretchedness, 58-63. The prediction that they shall be scattered among all the nations of the earth, 64—68.
^'''"'^' unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God '' will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and ■= overtake thee, if thou shall hearken
NOTES ON CHAP. XXVIII. Verse 2. All these blessings shall come on thee] God shall pour out his blessing from heaven upon thee. And overtake thee. Upright men are represented as going to the kingdom of God, and God's blessings as following and overtaking them in their heavenly journey. There are several things in this verse worthy ef the most careful observation: —
1. If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. The voice of God must be heard; without a Divine revelation how can the Divine will be known ] And if not known, it cannot be fulfilled.
2. When God speaks, men must hearken to the words of his mouth. He who does not hearken will not obey.
3. He who hearkens to the words of God must set out for the kingdom of heaven. The curse must fall on him who stands in the way of sinners, and will overtake them who loiter in the way of righteousness.
4. Those who run in the way of God's testimonies shall have an abundance of blessing. Blessings shall come upon them, and blessings shall overtake them — in every part of their march through life they shall continue to receive the fulfilment of the various promises of God which relate to all circumstances, vicissitudes, trials, stages of life, &c., &c., each overtaking them ir. the tmie and place where most needed.
Verse 3. In the city] In all civil employments. In the field — in all agricultural pursuits.
Verse 4. Fruit of thy body] All thy children. Increase of thy kine, &c.; every animal employed in domestic and agricultural purposes shall be under the especial protection of Divine Providence.
3 ^ Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be " in the field.
4 Blessed shall be ^ ihe fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy ^ store.
Verse 5. Thy basket] Thy olive gathering and
Store.] niXtyo mishereth, kneading-trough, or remainder; all that is laid up foi future use, as well as what is prepared for present consumption. Some think that by basket all their property abroad may be meant, and by store all that they have at home, i. e., all that is in the fields, and all that is in the houses. The following note of Mr. Harmer is important: —
" Commentators seem to be at a gi-eat loss how to explain the basket and the store mentioned Deut. x.wiii. 5, 17. Whv Moses, who in the other verses mentions things in general, should in this case be so minute as to mention baskets, seems strange; and they that interpret either the first or the second of these words of the repositories of their corn, &c., forget that their barns or storehouses are spoken of presently after this in ver. 8. Might I be permitted to give my opinion here, I should say that the basket, azo teiie, in this place means their travelling baskets, and the other word mSky:0 mishereth, (their store,) signifies their leathern bags, in both which they were wont to carry things in travelling. The first of these words occurs nowhere else in the Scriptures but in the account that is given us of the conveyance in which they were to carry their first-fruits to Jerusalem; the other nowhere hut in the description of tlie hurrying journey of Israel out of Egypt, where it means the utensds in which they then carried their dough, which I have shown elsewhere in these papers means a piece of leather drawn together by rings, and forming a kind of bag. Agreeably to this, Hasselquist informs us that the Eastern people use baskets in travelling; for, speakin" of that species of the palm tree which pro-
to (he faithful
A. M. 2553. 6 '■ Blessed slialt tliou he when
An. Ex. isr. 40. tliou comost ill, and blessed shalt
^°'"''' thou be when thou goest out.
7 The Loitn ' shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
8 The Loud shall '' command the blessing upon thee in thy ' storehouses, and in all that thou " settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
9 " The Lord shall establish thee a holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways.
1 0 And all the people of the earth shall see that thou art "called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be '' afraid of thee.
1 1 And 1 the Lord shall make thee plenteous 'in goods, in the fruit of thy 'body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy
duces dates, and its great usefulness to the people of those countries, he tells us that of the leaves of this tree they make baskets, or rather a kind of short bags, which are used in Turkey on journeys and in their houses; pages 261, iJ62. Hampers and panniers are English terms denoting travelling baskets, as le}ie seems to be a HebreM' word of the same general import, though their forms might very much differ, as it is certain that of the travelling baskets mentioned by Hasselquist now does.
" In like manner as they now carry meal, figs, and raisins, in a goat's skin in Barbary for a viaticum, they might do the same anciently, and consequently might carry merchandise after the same manner, particularly their honey, oil, and balm, mentioned Ezek. xvii. 17. They were the proper vessels for such things. So Sir J. Chardin, who was so long in the East, and observed their customs with so much care, supposed, in a manuscript note on Gen. xliii. 11, that the balm and the honey sent by Jacob into Egypt for a present were carried in a goat or kid's skin, in which all sorts of things, both dry and liquid, are wont to be carried in the East.
" Understood after this manner, the jiassage promises Israel success in their commerce, as the next verse (the Oth) promises them personal safety in their going out and in their return. In this view the passage appears with due distinctness, and a noble extent."— Observations, vol. ii., p. 181.
Verse 6. W/icn Ihoii comcst in] From tliy employment, thou shalt find that no evil has happened to the Jamily or dwelling in thv absence.
12 The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven ' to give thee rain unto thy land in his season, and " to bless all the work of thine hand: and ' thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
1 3 And the Lord shall make thee " the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:
14 ' And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
1 5 But it shall come to pass, ^ if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this
When thou goest out.] Thy way shall be made prosperous before thee, and thou shalt have the Divine blessing in all thy labours.
Verse 7. The Lord shall cause thine enemies, (f-c] This is a promise of security from foreign invasion, or total discomfiture of the invaders, should they enter the land. They shall cmne against thee one way — in the firmest and most united manner. And flee seven jvays — shall be utterly broken, confounded, and finally routed.
Verse 8. The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee] Every thing that thou hast shall come by Divine appointment; thou shalt have nothing casually, but every thing, both spiritual and temporal, shall come by the immediate command of God.
Verse 9. The Lord shall establi.ih thee a holy people unto himself] This is the sum of all blessings, to be m.ade holi/, and be preserved in holiness.
If thou shalt licep, <}c.] Hero is the solemn condition; if they did not keep God's testimonies, taking them for the regulators of their lives, and according to their direction walking in his ways, under the influence and aids of his grace, then the curses, and not the blessings, must be their portion. See ver. 15, &c.
Verse 12. The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure] The clouds, so that a sufficiency of fructifying showers should descend at all requisite times, and the vegetative principle in the earth should unfold and exert itself, so that their crops should be abundant.
Verse 14. Thou shalt not go aside — to the right hand or to the left] The way of obedience is a straight way; it goes right forward; he who declines either
16 Cursed shalt thou be * in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
17 Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.
18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
19 Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
20 The Lord shall send upon thee '' cursing, - vexation, and '^ rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto " for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
2 1 The Lord shall make '' the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.
Verse 20. Cursing] This shall be thy state; tieiation — grief, trouble, and anguish of heart; rehuke — ■ continual judgments, and marks of God's displeasure.
Verse 21. The pestilence cleave unlo thee] p^'^' n3in nx "^D niri'' yadbek Yehovah becha ethhaddaber, the Lord shall cement the pestilence or plague to thee. Sept., TlpoaKoXkriaet Kvpioc ei( as tov Bavarov, The Lord will glue — inseparably attach, the death unto thee How dreadful a plague it must be that ravages without intermission, any person may conceive who has ever heard of the name.
Verse 22. Consumption] nsnB' shachepheth, atrophy through lack of food; from ^ni? shacaph, to be in want.
Extreme burning] "inin charchur, burning upon burning, scald upon scald; from "in char, to be heated, enraged, &c. This probably refers, not only to excruciating inflammations on the body, but also to the irritation and agony of a mind utterly abandoned by God, and lost to hope. What an accumulation of misery! how formidable! and especially in a land where great heat was prevalent and dreadful.
Sword] War in general, enemies without, and civil broils within. This was remarkably the case in the last siege of Jerusalem.
Blasting] pSTtJ/ shiddaphon, probably either the blighting east wind that ruined vegetation, or those
and with an extreme burning, and with the ^ sword, and with ' blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.
23 And '' thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.
24 The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be de stroyed.
25 ' The Lord shall cause thee to be smit ten before thine enemies: thou shalt go ou one way against them, and flee seven way before them: and ™ shalt be " removed into al. the kingdoms of the earth.
26 And ° thy carcass shall be meat unto aL fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.
awful pestilential winds which suflx)cate both man and beast wherever they come. These often prevail in different parts of the East, and several examples have already been given. See Gen. xli. 6.
Mildeio] ppl' yerakon, an exudation of the vegetative juice from different parts of the stalk, by which the maturity and perfection of the plant are utterly prevented. It comes from pT yarak, to throw out moisture.
Of these seven plagues, the five former were to fall on their bodies, the two latter upon their substance. What a fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God!
Verse 23. Thy heaven — shall be brass, and the earth — iron.] The atmosphere should not be replenished with aqueous vapours, in consequence of which they should have neither the early nor the latter rain; hence the earth — the ground, must be wholly intractable, and, through its hardness, incapable of cultivation. God shows them by this that he is Lord of nature; and that drought and sterility are not casualties, but proceed from the immediate appointment of
Verse 24. The rain of thy land poicder and dust] As their heavens — atmosphere, clouds, &c., were to be as brass — yielding no rain; so the surface of the earth must be reduced to powder; and this, being frequently taken up by the strong winds, would fall down in showers instead of rain. Whole caravans have been buried under showers of sand; and Thevenot, a French traveller, who had observed these showers of dust, &c., says, " They grievously annoy all they fall on, filling their eyes, ears, nostrils, &c." — Travels in the East, part 1, book ii., chap. 80. The ophthalmia in Egypt
28 The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and "■ astonishment of heart:
29 And thou shalt ^ grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.
30 ' Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another
appears to be chiefly owing to a very fine sand, the particles of which are like broken glass, which are carried about by the wind, and, entering into the ciliary glands, produce grievous and continual inflammations.
Verse 27. The Lord will smite thee with the botch] rnc shcchin, a violent inflammatory swelling. In Job ii., one of the Hexapla versions renders it e\tii>ar, the elephantiasis, a disease the most horrid that can possibly afflict human nature. In this disorder, the whole body is covered with a most loathsome scurf; the joints are all preternaturally enlarged, and the skin swells up and grows into folds like that of an elephant, whence the disease has its name. The skin, through its rigidity, breaks across at all the joints, and a most abominable ichor flows from all the chinks, &c. See an account of it in Aretnus, whose language is suflScient to chill the blood of a maniac, could he attend to the description given by this great master, of this most loathsome and abominable of all the natural productions of death and sin. This was called the botch of Egijpt, as being peculiar to that country, and particularly in the vicinity of the Nile. Hence those words of Lucretius: —
Est Elcphas morbus, qui circum Jlumina Nili
Scab] y^l garab does not occur as a verb in the Hebrew Bible, but *^J}£ gharb, in Arabic, signifies a distemper in the corner of the eye, (Castel.,) and may amount to the Egyptian ophthalmia, which is so epidemic and distressing in that country: some suppose the scurvi/ to be intended.
Itch] Din chcres, a burning itch, probably something of the erysipelatous kind, or what is commonly called St. Anthoni/s fire.
Whereof thou canst not be healed. ] For as they were inflicted by God's justice, they could not of course be cured by human art.
Verse 28. The Lord shall smite thee with madness] WW shiggaon, distraction, so that thou shalt not know what to do.
shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not ■" gather the grapes thereof.
3 1 Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not cat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and ^ shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them.
32 Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes
And blindness] plli' ivvaron, blindness, both physical and mental; the 31J garab, (ver. 27,) destroying their eyes, and the judgments of God confounding their understandings.
Astonishment] Jinnn timmahon, stupidity and amazement. By the just judgments of God they were so completely confounded, as not to discern the means by which they might prevent or remove their calamities, and to adopt those which led directly to their ruin. How true is the ancient saying, Quos Deus viilt perdere, prius dementat! " Those whom God is determined to destroy, he first infatuates." But this applies not exclusively to the poor Jews: how miserably infatuated have the powers of the continent of Europe been, in all their councils and measures, for several years past! And what is the result? They have fallen— most deplorably fallen!
Verse 29. Thou shalt be only oppressed, t^c] Perhaps no people under the sun have been more oppressed and spoiled than the rebellious Jews. Indeed, this has been their portion, with but little intermission, for nearly 1,800 years. And still they grope at noon day, as the blind gropeth in darkness — they do not yet discover, notwithstanding the effulgence of the light by which they are encompassed, that the rejection of their own Messiah is the cause of all their calamities.
Verse 30. Thou shalt betroth a wife, <jr.] Can any heart imagine any thing more grievous than the evils threatened in this and the following verses 1 To be on the brink of all social and domestic happiness, and then to be suddenly deprived of all, and see an enemy possess and enjoy every thing that was dear to them, must excite them to the utmost pitch of distraction and madness. They have, it is true, grievously sinned; but, O ye Christians, have they not grievously suffered for it I Is not the stroke of God heavy enough upon them? Do not then, by unkind treatment or cruel oppression, increase their miseries. They are, above all others, the men who have seen aflliction by the stroke of his rod; Lam. iii. 1.
Verse 32. Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people] In several countries, particularly in Spain and Portugal, the children of Iho Jews have been taken from them by order of govern-
33 ^ The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up: and thou shall be only oppressed and crushed alway:
34 So that thou shalt be mad ^ for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
3 5 The Lord shall '' smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.
36 The Lord shall " bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and ^ there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.
37 And thou shalt become ^ an astonishment, a proverb, ' and a by word, among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee.
38 f Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for '' the locust shall consume it.
39 Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat
40 Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.
4 1 Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but ' thou shalt not enjoy them; for ^ they shall go into captivity.
43 All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust ' consume.
ment, and educated in the Popish faith. There have been some instances of Jewish children being taken. from their parents even in Protestant countries.
Verse 36—15. Can any thing be conceived more dreadful than the calamities threatened in these verses?
Verse 48. Therefore shall thou serve thine enemies] Because they would not serve GOD, therefore they became slaves to men.
43 The stranger that is within a. M. 2553. thee shall get up above thee very An. Ex. Isr. 40. high; and thou shalt come down ^"^'^^^ very low.
44 ""He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: " he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.
45 Moreover ° all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:
46 And they shall be upon thee ^fora sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.
47 1 Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, "■ for the abundance of all things;
48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things; and he ^ shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed
49 ' The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, " as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not ' understand;
50 A nation " of fierce countenance, ^ which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favour to the young:
5 1 And he shall ^ eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed
52 And he shall ^ besiege thee in all thy
As the eagle ficth] The very animal on all the Roman standards. The Roman eagle is proverbial.
Whose tongue thou shalt not understand] The Latin language, than which none was more foreign to the structure and idiom of the Hebrew.
Verse 52. He — Nebuchadnezzar first, (3 Kings xxv. 1, 2, &c.,) and Titus next; shall besiege thee — beset thee round on every side, and cast a trench
and he shall besiege thee in all thy gales throughout all thy land, which the Loud thy God hath given thee.
5.3 And " thou shall eal the fruit of ihine own •' body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:
54 So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, " his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward "^ the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave:
55 So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates.
56 The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, ^ her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,
57 And toward her '' young one that cometh out e from between her feet, and toward her
around thee, viz., lines of circumvallation, as our Lord predicted; (see Matt. xxiv. 1, &c., and Luke xxi. 5, &c.;) in all thy gates throughout all thy land — all \.hy fenced cities, which points out that their subjugation should be complete, as both Jerusalem and all their fortified places should be taken. This was done literally by Nebuchadnezzar and the Romans.
Verse 56. The tender and delicate woman] This was literally fulfdled when Jerusalem was besieged by the Romans; a woman named Mary, of a noble family, driven to distraction by famine, boiled and ate her own child! See a similar case 2 Kings vi. 29; and see on Lev. xxvi. 29.
Verse 57. Toward her young one — and toward her children tehich she shall bear] There seems to be a species of tautology in the two clauses of this verse, which may be prevented by translating the last word, nn'Su/ shihjathah, literally, her sccondine.i, which is the meaning of the.Vrabic JXnw '"'ff. not badly understood by the Septuagint, j;op(o)' avTTir, the chorion or exterior membrane, which invests the foetus in the womb; and Btill better translated by Luther, t)(c nttcr ijtburti), the after-birth; which saying of Moses strongly marks the deepest distress, when the mother is represented children which she shall bear: a.m. 2553. for she shall cat them for want An. Ex. isr. 40. of all things secretly in the siege ^^^"- and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.
58 If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear '' this glorious and fear ful name, THE LORD THY GOD:
59 Then the Lord will make thy plagues ' wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.
60 Moreover he will bring upon thee all '' the diseases of Egj^pt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee.
61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord ' bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
62 And ye " shall be left few in number, whereas ye were ° as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the Lord thy God.
63 And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord ° rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord ' will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to naught; and ye shall be plucked from off the
as feeling the most poignant regret that her child was brought forth into such a state of suffering and death; and 2dly, that it was likely, from the favourable circumstances after the birth, that she herself should survive her inlaying. No words can more forcibly depict the miseries of those dreadful times. On this ground I see no absolute need for Kennicott's criticism, who, instead of nn'7!y31 ubeshilyathah, against her secondines, reads nSa'il ubashelah, and she shall boil, and tran.slates the 56th and 57th verses as follows: " The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be eviJ toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter. 57. And she shall boil that which cometh out from between her feet, even her children which she shall bear, for she shall eat them, for want of all things, secretly." These words, says he, being prophetical, are fulfilled in 2 Kings vi. 29, for we read there that two women of Samaria having agreed to eat their own children, one was actually boiled, where the very same word, 1\!)2 bashal, is used. See Kennicott's Dissertations on 1 Chron. xi., &c., p. 421.
thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and ' there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.
65 And ' among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: ' but the Lord shall give thee tliere a trembling heart, and faihng of eyes, and ^ sorrow of mind:
66 And thy life shall hang in doubt before
Verse 64. The Lord shall scatter thee among all people} How literally has this been fulfilled! The people of the Jews are scattered over every nation under heaven.
Verse 65. No ease — a trembling heart, and failing of eyes] The trembling of heart may refer to their state of continual insecurity, being, under every kind of government, proscribed, and, even under the most mild, uncertain of toleration and protection; and the failing of eyes, to their vain and ever-disappointed expectation of the Messiah.
Verse 68. And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again] That is, into another state of slavery and bondage similar to that of Egypt, out of which they had been lately brought. And there ye shall be sold, that is, be exposed to sale, or expose yourselves to sale, as the word DmorDnn hithmaccartem may be rendered; they were vagrants, and wished to become slaves that they might be provided with the necessaries of life. And no man shall buy you; even the Romans thought
67 ' In the morning thou shalt say. Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shall fear, and " for the sight of tliine eyes which tliou shalt see.
68 And the Lord ^ shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, ^ Tiiou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man sliall buy you.
it a reproach to have a Jew for a slave, they had become so despicable to all mankind. When Jerusalem was taken by Titus, many of the captives, which were above seventeen years of age, were sent into the works in Egypt. See Josephus, Antiq., b. xii.,c. I, 2, War, b. vi., c. 9, s. 2; and above all, see Bp. Newton's Dissertations on the Prophecies.
The first verse of the ne.xt chapter, in some of the most correct Hebrew Bibles, makes the 69th of this; and very properly, as the second verse of the following chapter begins a new subject.
This is an astonishing chapter: in it are prophecies delivered more than 3,000 years ago, and now fulfilling.
O God, how immense is thy wisdom, and how profound thy counsels! To thee alone are known all thy works from the beginning to the end. AVhat an irrefragable proof does this chapter, compared with the past and present state of the Jewish people, afford of the truth and Divine origin of the Pentateuch '
A recapitulation of God^s gracious dealings with Israel, 1-8. An exhortation to obedience, and to enter imc covenant with their God, that they and their posterity may be established in the good land, 9—15. They are to remember the abominations of Egypt, and to avoid them, 16, 17. He who hardens his heart, when he hears these curses, shall be utterly consumed, 1 8-2 1. Their posterity shall be astonished at the desolations that shall fall upon them, 22, 23; shall inquire the reason, and shall be informed that the Lord has done thus to them because of their disobedience and idolatry, 24—28. A caution against prying too curiously into the secrets of the Divine providence, and to be contented with what God has revealed, 29.
'T'HESE are the words of the covenant, which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel, in the land of Moab,
NOTES ON CHAP. XXIX. Verse 1. These are the words of the covenant] This verse seems properly to belong to the preceding chapter, as a widely different subject is taken up at ver. 8 a
beside " the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.
2 And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, •■ Ye have seen all
All. Es. isr. 40. cyes III thc land of Egypt unto Pliaraoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land;
3 " Thc great temptations wliich thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:
4 Yet ^ the Loud hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and cars to hear, unto this day.
5 ' And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: ^ your clothes arc not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.
6 s Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the Lord your God.
7 And when yc came unto this place, *" Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them:
8 And we took their land, and ' gave it for an inheritance unto the Reubenites, and to the Cadites, and to the half tribe of Manassch.
Beside the covenant which he made — in Hureb.] What is mentioned here is an additional institution to I he ten words given on Horeh; and the curses denounced liere are dilTerent from those denounced against the transgressors of the decalogue.
Verse 4. The Lord hath not given you a heart, <}-c.] Some critics read this verse interrogatively: And hath not God given you a heart, &c. \ because they suppose that God could not reprehend them for the nonperformance of a duty, when he had neither given them a mind to perceive the obligation of it, nor strength to perform it, liad that obligation been known. Though this is strictly just, yet there is no need for the interrogation, as the words only imply that thcij had not such a heart, &c.. not because God had not given them all the means of knowledge, and heljis of his grace and Spirit, which were necessary; hut they had not made a faithful use of their advantages, and therefore they had not that wise, loving, and obedient heart which they otherwise might have had. If they had had such a heart, it would have been God's gift, for he is the author of all good; and that they had not such a heart was a proof that they had grieved his.Spirit, and abused the grace which he had aflbrded them to produce that gracious change, the want of which is here deplored. Hence God himself is represented as grieved because they were unchanged and disobedient: " O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me,
that ye may ' prosper in all that ye do.
10 Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your ofHcers, with all the men of Israel,
1 1 Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from ■» the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer oi thy water:
1 2 That thou shouldest " enter into 'ove nant with the Lord thy God, and " into his oath, which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day:
1 3 That he may i" establish thee to-day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, 1 as he hath said unto thee, and "■ as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abra ham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
14 Neither with you only 'do I make thia covenant and this oath;
and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them and witJi their children for ever '." See chap. v. 29, and the note there.
Verse 6. Ye have not eaten bread, cj-f.] That is, ye have not been supported in an ordinary providential way; I have been continually working miracles for you, that ye might know that I am the Lord. Thus we find that God had furnished them with all the means of this knowledge, and that the means were ineffectual, not because they were not properly calculated to answer God's gracious purpose, but because the jieople were not workers with God; consequently they received the grace of God in vain. See 2 Cor. vi. 1.
Verse 10. Ye stand — all of you before the Lord] They were about to enter into a covenant with God; and as a covenant implies two parties contracting, God is represented as being present, and they and all their families, old and young, come before him.
Verse 12. That thou shouldest enter] '\2j,'l leaber, to pass through, that is, between the separated parts of the covenant sacrifice..See Gen. xv. 18.
And into his oath] Thus we find that in a covenant were these seven particulars: 1. The parties about to contract were considered as being hitherto separated. 2. They now agree to enter into a state of close and permanent amity. 3. They meet together in a solemn manner for this purpose. 4. A sacrifice is offered to God on the occasion, for the whole is a religious act
A. M. 2553. 1 5 But with him that standeth An. Ex. Isr. 40. here with us this day before the Lord our God, "• and also with him that is not here with us this day:
16 (For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by;
17 And ye have seen their abominations, and their " idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which we/'e among them:)
18 Lest there should be among you man, woman, or family, or tribe, ' whose heart
irneth away this day from the Lord our God, go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that Dcareth "^ gall '' and wormwood;
19 And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk ^ in the ^ imagination of mine heart, '' to add '^ drunkenness to thirst:
20 '' The Lord will not spare him, but then ^ the anger of the Lord and ^ his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord? shall blot out his name from under heaven.
2 1 And the Lord "^ shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that ' are written in this book of the law:
22 So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the
. The victim is separated exactly into ttoo equal parts, the separation being in the direction of the spine; and these parts are laid opposite to each other, sufficient room being allowed for the contracting parties to pass between them. 6. The contracting parties meet in the victim, and the conditions of the covenant by which they are to be mutually bound are recited. 7. An oath is taken by these parties that they sliall punctually and aithfully perform their respective conditions, and thus the covenant is made and ratified. See Jer. xxxiv. 18, 19, and the notes on Gen. vi. 18; xv. 18; Exod. xxix. 45; Lev. xxvi.
Verse 15. Him that standctli here'] The present generation, llim that is not here — all future generations of this people.
Verse 18. A root that heareth gall and wormwood] That is, as the apostle expresses it, Heb. iii. 12, An stranger that sliall come from a a. m. 2553. far land, shall say, when they see An. Ex. isr. 40. the plagues of that land, and the ^^'''''
sicknesses '' which the Lord hath laid upon it;
23 And that the whole land tl'ereof is brimstone, ' and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, "" like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:
24 Even all nations shall say, " Wlierefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?
25 Then men shall say. Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:
26 For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and ° ivhom he had not f given unto them:
27 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, 1 to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book:
28 And the Lord ^ rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.
29 The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things lohich are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Jer. xxii. 8, 9. ° Or, who had not given to them any portion.
evil heart of unbelief departing from the living God; for to this place he evidently refers. It may also signify false doctrines, ot idolatrous persons among themselves.
Verse 19. To add drunkenness to thirst] A proverbial expression denoting the utmost indulgence in all sensual gratifications.
Verse 26. Gods — whom he had not given unto them] This is an unhappy translation. Houbigant renders the original words Urh pSn iSl veto chalak lahem, et quibuscum nulla eis societas, " And with whom they had no society;" and falls unmercifully on Le Clerc because he had translated it. From lohom they had received no benefits. I mu.s« ditfer from both these great men, because I think they differ from the text. pSn chalak signifies?i portion, lot, inheritance, and God is frequently represented in Scripture as the portion or inheritance of his people. Here, therefore, I think the original should be rendered, And there was no portion to them, that is, the gods they served could neither supply their wants nor save their souls — they were no portion.
Verse 29. The secret things belong unto the Lord, tj-c] Tliis verse has been variously translated. IIoubigant renders it thus: Qucc apud Dominum nostrum abscondita sunt, nobis ea filiisque nostris palam facta sunt ad mullas tetates, " The things which were hidden with the Lord our God, are made manifest to us and our children for many generations." I am not satisfied with this interpretation, and find that the passage was not so understood by any of the ancient versions. The simple general moaning seems to be this: " What God has thought proper to reveal, he has revealed; what he has revealed is essential to the wellbeing of man, and this revelation is mtended not for the present lime merely, nor for one people, but for all succeeding generations. The things which he has not revealed concern not man but God alone, and are therefore not to be inquired after." Thus, then, the things that arc hidden belong unto the Lord, those that are revealed belong unto us and our children. But possibly the words here refer to the subjects of these chapters, as if he had said, " Apostasy from God and his truth is possible. When a national apostasy among us may take place, is known only to God; but he has revealed himself to us and our children that we may do all the words of this law, and so prevent the dreadful evils that shall fall on the disobedient."
The Jews have always considered these verses as containing subjects of the highest importance to them, and have affixed marks to the original, IJ':^'?! uS lanu ulebaneynu, " to us and to our children," in order to fi.\ the attention of the reader on truths which affect them individually, and not them only, but the whole of their posterity.
Gracious promises are given to the penitent, I-G. The Lord loill circumcise their heart, and put all thesn curses on their enemies, if they hearken to his voice and keep his testimonies, 7-10. The ivord is near to them, and easy to be understood, 11-14. Life and death, a blessing and a curse, are set before them: and they are exhorted to love the Lord, obey his voice, and cleave unto him, that they may inherit the land promised to Abraham, 15-20.
and will return and '' galhcr thee a. M. 2553. from all the nations, whither the An.Ex.lsr. 40. Lord thy God hath scattered thee. "''
4 s If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:
5 And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above th}^ fathers.
6 And *" the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love
when '' all these things arc come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and ■^ thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee,
2 And shalt '' return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice, according to all that I connn.iiul thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy.soul;
3 " That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee,
Verse 1. When all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse] So fully did God foresee the bad use these people would make of ihcir free agency in resisting the Holy Ghost, that he speaks of their sin and punishment as certain; yet, at the same time, shows how they might turn to himself and live, even while he was pouring out his indignation upon them because of their transgressions.
Averse 3. Gather thee from all the 7iatioiu] This must refer to a more extensive captivity than that which they suffered in Babylon.
Verse 5. Will bring thee into the land] As this promise refers to a return from a captivity in which they had been scattered among all nations, conse- 81G quently it is not the Babylonish captivity which is intended; and the repossession of their land must be different from that which was consequent on their return from Chaldea.
Verse ti. God ivill circumcise thine heart] This promise remains yet to be fulfilled. Their heart, as a people, has never yet been circumcised; nor have the various promises in this chapter been ever yet fulfilled. There rcmaineth, therefore, a rest for this people of God. Now, as the laic, properly speaking, made no provision for the circumcision of the heart, which implies the remission of sms, and purification of the sor.l from all unrighteousness; and as circumcision itself was only a sign of spiritual good, consequently the promise here refers to the days of the Messiah, and to
7 And the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.
8 And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.
9 ' And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the Lord will again "^ rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:
10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto tlie Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
1 1 For this commandment which I command thee this day, ' it w not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
12 ™ It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest
say, Who shall go up for us to A. M. 2553. heaven, and bring it unto us, that An. Ex. Isr. 40.
this all the prophets and all the apostles give witness: " for circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter," Rom. ii. 29; and the genuine followers of God "are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands — by the.circumcision of Christ," Col. ii. 11, 12. Hence we see these promises cannot be fulfilled to the Jews but in their embracing the Gospel of Christ. To look, therefore, for their restoration is idle and nugatory, while their obstinacy and unbelief remain.
Verse 1 1. This commandment — is not hidden'] Not too wonderful or dilBcult for thee to comprehend or perform, as the word ilx'^DJ niphleth implies. Neither is it far off — the word or doctrine of salvation shall be proclaimed in your own land; for He is to be born in Bethlehem of Judah, who is to feed and save Israel; and the Prophet who is to teach them is to be raised up from among their brethren.
Xcrse 12. It is rtot in heaven] Shall not be communicated in that way in which the prophets received the living oracles; but the word shall be made flesh, and dwell among you.
Verse 13. Neither is it beyond the sea] Ye shall not be obliged to travel for it to distant nations, because salvation is of the Jews.
Verse 14. But the word is very nigh unto thee] The doctrine of salvation preached by the apostles; in thy mouth, tlie promises of redemption made by the prophets forming a part of every Jew's creed; in thy heart — the power to believe with the heart unto right-
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say. Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
1 5 See, " I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
1 6 In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou inayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither tliou goest to possess it.
17 But if thinp heart turn away, so that thou wilt not Jiear, but shall be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
18 ° I ilenounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong t/our days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
eousness, that the tongue may make confession unto salvation. In this way, it is evident, St. Paul understood these passages; see Rom. x. 6, &c.
Death and evil] Present and future miseries: termed, ver. 19, Life and death, blessing and cursing. And why were these set before them? 1. That tlioy might comprehend their import. 2. That they might feel their importance. 3. That they might choose life, and the path of believing, loving obedience, that led to it. 4. That they and their posterity', thus choosing life and refusing evil, might be the favourites of God in lime and eternity.
Were there no such thing s.s free ivill in man, who could reconcile these sayings either with sincerity or common sense? God has made the human will free, and there is no power or influence either in heaven, earth, or hell, except the power of God, that can deprive it of its free volitions; of its power to will and nill, to choose and refuse, to act or not act; or force it to sin against God. Hence man is accountable for his actions, because they are his; were he necessitalcd by fate, or sovereign constraint, they could not be his. Hence he is rewardable, hence lie is punishable. God, in his creation, willed that the human creature should be free, and he formed his soul accordingly; and the Law and Gospel, the promise and precept, the denunciation of wo and the doctrine of eternal life, are all constructed on this ground; that is, they all necessarily 81"'
20 That thou mayest love the Loud thy
suppose tlie freedom of the human will: nor could it be will if it were not free, because the principle of freedom or liberty is necessarily implied in the idea of volition. See on the fifth chapter and 29th verse.
Verse 20. That thou mayest love the Lord] Without love there can be no obedience.
And — cleave unto him] Without close attachment and perseverance, temporarj' love, however sincere and Icrvent — temporary obedience, however disinterested, his voice, and tliat thou mayest An. Ex. isr. 40. cleave unto him: for he is thy ^ebM. ' life, and the length of ' thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto tiiy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, to give them.
energetic, and pure while it lasts — will be ultimately incflectual. He alone who endures to the end, shall be saved. Reader, how do matters stand between God and thy soul 1 He cannot persevere in the grace of God whose soul is not yet made a partaker of that grace. Many talk strenuously on the impossibility of falling from grace, who have not yet tasted that the Lord is gracious. How absurd to talk and dispute about the infallibility of arriving safely at the end of a way in which a man has never yet taken one hearty step! It is never among those that have the grace of God, but among those that have it not, that we find an overweening confidence.
Moses, ieing one hundred and twenty years old and about to die, calls the people together, and exhorts them to courage and obedience, 1-6. Delivers a charge to Joshua, 7, 8. Delivers the law which he had written to the priests, with a solemn charge that they should read it every seventh year, publicly to all the people, 9-13. The Lord calls Moses and Joshua to the tabernacle, 14. He appears to them, informs Moses of his approaching death, and delivers to him a prophetical and historical song, or poem, xvhtch he is to leave with Israel, for their instruction and reproof, 15-21. Moses tvriles the song the same day, and teaches it to the Israelites, 22; gives Joshua a charge, 23; finishes writing the book of the law, 24. Commands the Levites to lay it up in the side of the ark, 25, 26. Predicts their rebellions, 27. Orders the ciders to he gathered together, and shoivs them lohat evils would befall the people in the latter days, 28, 29, and repeats the song to them, 30.
4 '' And the Lord shall do unto them s as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites; and unto the land of them whom he destroyed.
5 And '" the Lord shall give them up before your face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you.
G ' Be strong and of a good courage, ^ fear
2 iVnd he said unto them, I " am a hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more '' go out and come in: also the Lord hath said unto me, "= Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.
3 The Lord thy God, '^ he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over
NOTES ON CHAP. XXXI. Verse 2. / am a hundred and twenty years old] The life of Moses, the great prophet of (tikI and lawgiver of the Jews, was e.xactly the same in length as the time Noah employed in preaching righteousness to the antediluvian world. These one hundred and twenty years were divided into three remarkable peilods: forty years he lived in Egypt, in Pharaoh's court, acquiring all the learning and wisdom of the a 818