DEUTERONOMY. Chita 34-—4ai*
Ch.iv.49—46. DEUTE jour enemies; God not being with them to fight for them, protect and defend them, and give them victory,, ial * y. 43. So I spake unto you, 8c.) The words, the orders he- had received from the Lord to deliver to them: avd ye would not hear, fo as to obey them,.and act according to them: but rebelled againft the commandment of the Lord; as before, by not going up when he would have had them gone, and now by attempting it when he forbid them: and went prefumptuoufly up into the bill, that is, of themfelves, in their own ftrength, difregarding the commandment of God, and what they were threatened with; this they endeavoured todo, for they were not able to effect it; the Amorites perceiving them to make up the hill, came pouring down upon them in great numbers, and {topped them, and obliged them to retreat; fee Numb. xiv. 45. ‘ x. 44. And the Amorites which dwelt in the mountain, &c.] Elfewhere called Canaanites, being one, and aprincipal one of the feven nations of Canaan, and who were joined and affifted in the attack by the Amalekites, Numb. xiv. 45. came out againft you, and chafed you, as bees do; which being difturbed in their hives come out in great numbers, and with ereat fury and ardour, (for though a fmall creature it has a great deal of fpirit;) and purfue the aggreffor, and leavehim not till they have ftung him, though thereby they lofe their ftings, and quickly their lives, at leaft their ufefulnefs; fo thefe Amorites, being irritated at the approach of the J/- raelites on their borders, came out in great numbers and with great wrath, and fellupon them and fmote them, and purfued them a long way, as is after expieffed, though thefe in the iffue were deftroyed themfelves. The Syriac verfion renders it, as bees that are fmoked or. irritated by fmoke; which is a method that has been ufed, and was antiently, to difpoffefs them of their hives, and get their honey, as Bochart? from various writers has fhewn, as frorn Virgil? Ovid', and others; and when they are too much {moked become exceeding angry, as Ariftotle* and Pliny‘ obferve; and which fame writers take notice of the ftrength and force of their ftings, as that they will kill with them the largeft animals, even horfes have been killed by them; and though fuch fmall feeble creatures, are not afraid to attack men and beafts; yea, fometimes people have been obliged to quit their habita-
ROW O Até. 4 tions and have been driven out of their country by them, of which @/ienus * gives an inftance; all which fhews the aptnefs and propriety of this fimile; fee Pf! cxviil. 2. and deftroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormab; purfued them ‘as far as mount Seir, even to another place onthe borders of Edom, which was called Hormab, either ftom the deftruction now or afterwards made here; fee the note on Numb. xiv. 45. though fome take it not to be the proper name’ of a place, but an appellative, and render it, even unto deffruéfion; fo the Ferufalem Targum, that is, deftroyed them with an utter de- {truction.
WV. 45. And ye returned and wept before the Lord, &c.] Thofe that remained when the 4morites left purfuing them, teturned to the camp at Kadefh, where Mo/es and the Levites were, and the reft of the people; and here they wept at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and hence faid to be before the Lord; they wept becaufe of the laughter that had been made among them, and becaufe of their fin in going contrary to the will of God, and becaufe they were ordered into the wildernefs; and very probably they cried and prayed unto the Lord, that they might not be turned back, but that he would go with them, and bring them now into the promifed land: dut the Lord would not hearken to your voice, nor give car unto you; was inexorable, and would not repeal the order to gointo the wildernefs again, where he ‘had fworn in his wrath their carcafes fhould fall; the fentence was itrevocable.
¥. 46. So ye abode in Kadefb many days, &c.] Yea, fome years as fome think: according to the days that ye abode there; that is, according ‘to Jarchi, as they did in the reft of the journeys or {tations; fo that as they were 38 years in all at feveral places, they were 19 years in Kade; the fame is affirmed in the Fewi/b chronology “; Mai-= monides {ays * they were 18 years in one place, and it is very probable he means this; but 4den Ezra interprets it otherwife, and takes the fenfe to be, that they abode as many days here after. their return as they did whilft the land was fearching, which were 40 days, Numb. xiii. 25. but’ without fixing any determinate time, the meaning may only be, that as they: had been many days here before this difafter, fo they continued many days “after in the fame place, before they marched onward into the wildernefs again.
he this chapter Mo/es goes on with his account of conkinnas ¥. 13—16. and now paffing along the the affairs of the people of J/rae/, and what befel them, how they turned into the wildernefs again; but pafles over in filence their travels borders of Moab, they were ordered not to meddle with nor diftrefs the children of Mnmon, of whofe land alfo, and the former inhabitants of it, an ac- there, till they came to mount Seir, where having been fome time they were bid ta depart, ¥. 1, 2, 3. and were directed not to’ meddle with the Edomites, or take any thing from them, but pay them forjto. what they fhould have of them, fince they lacked not, ¥. 4-8. nor to diftrefs the Moadites, of whofe country as formerly inhabited, and alfo of Edom, fome account is given, ¥. g—12. when they were bid to go over the brook Zered, to which from their coming from Kade/b-barnea was the {pace of count is given, ¥. 17—23. then paffing over the river Avmon, they are bid to fight with Sibon king of the Amorites, and poffefs his land, y. 24, 25. whom they fent meflengers, defiring leave to pafs through his land, and to furnifh them with provifions for their money, as the Edomites and Moabites had done, ¥. 26—29. but he refufing, this gave them an opportunity to attack him, in which they fucceeded, flew him and his people, and took poffeffion of his country, ¥. 30—37.
»g8 years, in which time the former generation was y. 1. Then we turned, &c.] From Kadefh, ‘where they had been many days, and fo alfo their backs on the land of Canaan, on the borders of which they had been: and took our journey into the wilderne/s, by the way of the Red-fea, as the Lord Jpake unto me; ch. i. 40. and we compaffed mount Seir many days; many think by mount Sei is meant the whole mountainous country of Edom, about which they travelled to and fro in the wildernefs that lay near it for the fpace of 38 years, which they fuppofe are meant by many days; but Trather think they came to this mount towards the clofe of the 38 years, before they came to Kade/h, from whence they fent meffengers to Edom, which they went round about for feveral days.
y¥. 2. And the Lord {pake unto me, &c.] Whilft about mount Seir: faying; as follows.
¥. 3. Ye have compaffed this mountain long enough, &c.] It was time to be gone from thence, as from Horeb, ch. i. 6. turn you northward, from the fouthern border of Edom towards the land of Canaan, which lay north. It was from “xzion-geber in the land of Edom, from whence the Jjraelites came to Kade/fb, where they fent meffengers to the king of Edom, to defire a paflage through his land; fee Numb. xxxiii. 36. and xx. 14.
¥. 4. And command thou the people, &c.| Give them a ftrict charge: /aying, ye are to pa/s through the coaft of your brethren the children of Efau, not through the midift of their country, for that the king of Edom would not admit of, but by or on the border of it: and they fhall be afraid of you; left fuch a numerous body of people as J/rae/ were fhould feize upon their country, and dilpoffefs them of it, they having been fo long wanderers in a wildernefs near them: take ye good heed unto yourfelves therefore; that they did not take any advantage of their fears, and fall upon them, and do them mifchief, or that they did not provoke them to battle and overcome them.
¥. 5. Meddle not with them, &c.] Contend not with them in battle, nor provoke them to it: for J will not give you of their land, no not fo much asa foot-breadth, or as the fole of a man’s foot can tread on, fignifying that they fhould not have the leaft part of it, not-any at all. ‘farchi makes mention of an expofition of theirs, that he would give them nothing of it until fhould come the day of the treading of the fole of the foot in the mount of olives, Zech. xiv. 4. meaning not till the days of the Mefiah, when Edom fhould be a poftefiion of T/rael, fee Numb. xxiv. 18. Obad. ver. 19. decaufe 1 have given mount Seir unto Efau for a poffefion, and therefore not to be taken away from them; they have a right of inheritance of it; fee Gen. xxxvi. 8. Fofh. xxiv. 4.
¥. 6. Ye foall buy meat of them for money that ye may eat, &c.] That is, if they would, as ben Ezra obferves'; for though they had manna daily, yet if they would they might buy other food-when they had an opportunity, as they would how have of Edom, but then they were not to take it by force or ftealth, but pay for it, which they were able to do. ‘The fame writer obferves, that fome read the words with an interrogation, hall ye buy meat? no, there is no need of it; for the Lord had bleffed them with a fufficiency of it: and ye foall alfo buy water of them for money, that ye may drink; which was ufual in thofe hot countries; fee the note on Numb. xx. 19. or dig water’; that is, pay for digging of wells for water, or buy water out of wells dug in the land of Edim. fare in maritime places they exprefs buying by - word, and fo itis ufed in theAradic language; fee the note on Ho/. iii. 2.) = ‘eh y. 7. For the Lord thy God hath bleffed thee in all the works of thine bands, &c.| Had inecreafed their cattle and fubftance, even though in a wildernefs: be knoweth thy walking through this great wilderne s s every ftep they took, and he owned them and pro-, fpered them in all things in which they were concerned: s¢hefe forty years the Lord thy God bath been. with thee, not only to protect and defend them,, but to provide all things neceffary for them, This. number of years was not fully completed, but the: round number is given inftead of the broken one <, thou haft lacked nething; and fince they had wherewith to pay for their food and drink, they are directed to do it, and not take any thing from the Edomites in an unjuft way; nor make themfelves, look poor when they were rich, as archi fays.
¥. 8. And when we paffed by from our brethren thé, children of Efau, which dwelt in Seir, &c,) Along. their coafts, by the borders of their country: through the way of the plain, the wildernefs of Zim, where Kade/h was: from Eleth and Ezion-geber; two ports on the fhore of the Xed-fea in the land of- Edom, it was from the latter they cameto Kadeb, fee Numb. xxxiii. 25, 36. L£/ath was ten miles from Petra, the metropolis of dom, to the eaft of it, as Yerem fays«; it is by Fofephus* called “lana, and by the Septuagint here dilon; from whence the L/anitic bay has its name; he {peaks of it as not far from Ezion-geber, which he fays was then called Berenice: we turned and paffed by the way of the wilderne/s of Moab; the wildernets which is before Moab, towards the’ fun-rifing or the eaft,: Numb. xxi. 11.
y¥.9. And the Lord faid unto me, &c.| When up-. on the borders of Moab: difive/s not the Moabites,. neither contend with them in battle; befiege not, any of their cities, nor draw them into a battle, or provoke them to fight: forT will not give thee of their land for a pofeffion; at leaft not as yet, the meafure of their fins not being fully up, and the time of their punifhment not come; otherwiie in David’s time they were fubdued, and became tributaries to him, and the Edomites alfo, 2 Sam. viii. 2,14. becaufe I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a poffeffion, 10 the Moabites were, they {prung from Moab, a fon of Lot by his firft-born daughter, Ge. xix. 37. Ar was the metropolis of Moab, called Ar ot Mead, If. xv. 1. and is here ' put for the whole country of Moab; fo Aben Ezra interprets it of Moab. ‘archi {ays it is the name of the province; in the /eptuagint verfion itis called Aroer. 2 tia ¥.10. The Emim dwelt there in time paft, &cc.} We read of them as early as the times of Chedorlaomer, Gen. xiv. 5. when their dwelling was in Kirjathaim, a city which Sthon king of the dmerites took from the Moadites, and which being taken from him was with others given to the tribe of Reuben, Numb, xxxii. 37. Thefe are by fome thought to be the fame with the 2’¢mim which anab found and met with in the wildernets, and defeared, which we render. mules, Gen. XXxXvVi. 24. had their name from the fear and terror they men into becaufe of their gigantic ftature. Po a {trength, as follows; it is probable they were the defcendants of Ham; a people great and inany,»« tall as the Anakim, who were very numerous, of a -
¥. 11. Which all were accounted giants as the Anakim, 8&c.] Becaufe of their bulky fize and tail ture; or, * the Rephaim were they accounted, “* even they as the Anakim;” they were reckoned Rephaim, a name for giants in.early times, even the Anakim were; fee Gen. xiv. 5. but the Moadites called them Emim; to diftinguifh them from the Rephaim; fo that it feems this name of.Emim was not originally their name, but they are called fo by a prolepfis, or anticipation, in Gez. xiv. 5. fince they had it from the Moadites, a people of alater land, and brought a report of it; for they were {ent from Kade/h-barnea, Numb. xxxii. 8, unto the paflage of the J/raelites over Zered were 38 years; {o long they had been travelling in the wildernefs, ta-|after they were come to the borders of the land: watil all the generation of themen of war. were wafted owt from among the bof; all that were twenty years as old and upwards, and fit to go out to war upon occafion, when the people were firft numbered after they came out of Egypé; all that generation was now confumed within the above {pace of time, excepting two, Caleb and Fofbua: as the Lord fware unto them, Numbd, xiv. 21, 23, 30.
y.15. For indeed the hand of the Lord was date: _ | againft them, &c.| His power was exerted in a way y. 12. The Horim alfo dwelt in Seir before time, &c.] Which is the name of a mount, and fo of the country from it; fo called from Ser the who dwelt in it before it was poflefled by E/au and his fons; but who the Horim or Horites were, from whence they had their name, is difficult to fay; they wereas earlyas the times of Chedorlaomer, Gen. xiv. 6. They feem to be fo called from their dwelling in holes and caves in rocks, which the fouthern part of Edom or Idumea was full of, and to be the fame the Greeks call Troglodyte: but the children of Efau fucceeded them, Efau and his fons marrying among them, made way for. getting the country into their poffeffion, as appears from Géw. XXXVi. 2, 8. 12. 20, 25. and in which they afterwards fettled themfelves by the dint of fword,} fince it follows: when they had deftroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their ead; even in Seir where they had dwelt, afterwards called Edom, from one ofthe names of E/au, Gen. xxxvi. 8, 9, 20. as Ifrael did in the.
which the Lord gave unto them; becaufe this is faid before the Canaanites were drove out of their land, and it was poffeffed by the J/raelites, fome think this was written by Ezra, or fome other hand; but there is no need to fuppofe that; Mo/es, by a fpirit of prophecy, and in faith of the promifes and prophecies of God relating to this affair, which were juft now about to be fulfilled, might write this; befides, it may referto what was already done to the kingdoms of Sihox and Og, kings of the Amorites; which had been taken from them, and given to the tribes of Reuden and Gad, and the| half tribe of Manajfeh; and the above inftances as well as this may be obferved, to encourage the people of J/rae/ that they fhould fucceed in difpoffeffing the Canaanites, and fettling in their land, in like manner as difpoffeflions of this kind had alof wrath and vengeance on them, for their murmurings at the report of the {pies; and therefore it Hortte,jis no wonder they were confumed, for ftrong is his hand, and high is his right hand; and when lifted up it falls heavy, and there is no ftanding up under it, or againftit; it fmotethem with one difeafe or another, or brought one judgment or another upon them; as the fword of Amalek, by which many were cut off, and the plague at Shittim in the plains of Moab, in which died 24000°3 befides \the deftruction of Kerah and his company, which was quickly after the affair of the fpies, and the plague at that time, of which died 14700; and thus by one ftroke after another, he went on to deftroy them from among the hoft until they were con- - umed, even all of them but two, as follows.
y.16. So it came to pafs when all the men of war were confumed, &c.] By wafting difeafes and judgments of one kind or another: and dead from among the people; the rifing and furviving generation. land of bis poffeffion,, Y.17. That the Lord /pake unto me, &c.] At the brook Zered, having pafled that, or at Dibou Ged, which was their next ftation: /aying; as follows.
¥. 18. Thou art to pafsover through Ar, &c.} That is, over the river drwon, by the city Ar of oad, which was fituated by it; feey.g. andfo Me/es and the people of J/ael were to pals along by that, and by the coa/t of Moab; for they were not admitted to enter the Jand and pafs through it; only to travel on the borders of it, and that they were to begin to do ¢his day; the day the Lord pake to Mo/es.
¥. 19. dnd when thou comeft nigh over-againft the children of Ammon, &c.] Who dwelt near the Moad- #/es, and were brethren, both defcending from Lot, Gen. xix. 37, 38. diftrefs thou not, nor meddle with them 5 lay no fiege to any of their cities, nor ready been made., provoke them to war, nor engage in battle with y¥. 13. Now rife up, faid 1, and get you over the brook Zered, 8c.] It is called the valley of Zered, Numb, xxi. 12. the word ufed fignifying both aj valley anda brook; and it is very probable there were both a valley and a brook of the fame name; it muft be near Dibon Gad, fince in one place it is faid the I/raelites came from Jjim and pitched in Zeved; and in another piace that they came from thence, and pitched in Dibon Gad, Numb. xxi. 11, 12. and xxxili. 45. and we went over the brook Zeved; which was fordable, or perhaps at this time \them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any poffefion, that is, any part of it which was now in their hands; otherwife half their land was given to the tribe of Gad, but then that was what Sibon king of the Amorites had taken from them, and which J/rae/ retook from him, and fo pofleffed it not as the land of the Ammonites, but of the Amorites, one of the feven nations, whole land they were to inherit; fee Fo/b. xiii. 25. Fudg. \Xi.13—23. decaufe I have given it unto the children of Lot for a pofjefion; the Ammonites were the chil-
‘dried up. dren of Lot by his fecond daughter, Gen, xix. 38. ‘ y.14. And the fpace in which we came from Ka- ‘defo-barnea, &c.| The fpace of time; or, be days; the number of them: until we were come over the brook Zered was thirty and eight years, thatis, from the time that the {pies were fent and fearched the y.20. That alfo was accounted a land of giants, &c.] Ammon was fo reckoned as well as Moab, ¥. 10, 11. giants dwelt therein in old time, the Re- |pbaim dwelt there, as they did alfo in A/fbteroth Karnaim, Gen. xiv. 5. and the Ammonites call them
Zamziummim; they ate thought to be the fame with the Zuzim, in Gen. xiv. 5. who had their name, as Hillerus¢ thinks, from Mezuzah, a door-polt, upon the poffeffion of it, hereby affuring of aes tory. em adh,
¥.25. This day will I begin to put the dread of.
from their tall ftature, ‘being’as high as one; and, for a like reafon Sapb the giant might have his name, 2 Sam. xxii 18. The word Zainzummim, according to him‘, fignifies contrivers of evil and terrible things; they were inventors of wickedriefs, crafty and fubtle in forming wicked and mifchievous.defigns, which ftruck terror into people, by Mofes in Exod. xv. 14, 15, 16. and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole bea-: ve; not only the neighbouring nations, the’ Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, Philiftines, and Ca-. naanites, but nations more remote even through-: out the whole world: who hall report of thee s, and made them formidable to them, of what was done for J f.21. A people great and many, and tall as the Anakim, &c.| As the Emim were, ¥. 10. but the Lord deftroyed them before them, deftroyed the Zamzummim before the children of Ammon; or | otherwife they would have been an overmatch for them, being fo numerous, and of fuch a gigantic ftature: and they fucceeded them, and dwelt in their fread; and inthis way, and by thefe means, he rac/ in Egypt, and at the Red-fea, and in the wildernefs; and particularly: of the delivery of Sibon and Og, kings of the Amo-. 7ites, and of their kingdoms into their hands: and: oall tremble, and be in anguifh becaufe of thee; lett. they fhould proceed on, and make conquefts of their lands alfo, fee Jo/d. ii. 9, 10, 11. CRS wW.260. And I fent meffengers out of the wildernefs 2f Kedemoth, &c.] A eity in the tribe of Reuben, gave them their land for a poffeffion, ¥. 19.
and given by, theny_to the Levifes in after times,. y¥.22. As be did to the children of Efau which \ having been taken from the Amorites with others 3 dwelt in Seir, &c.| He did the like things for them near this lay a wildernefs, which took its name as he did for the Ammonites: when he deftroyed from ‘it, and feems to be the fame with Febimon, the Horim from before them; which is repeated from Numb. xxi. 20, 21. fee Fob. xiii. 18. and xxi. 37.
y. 12. other inftances of the like kind being here
Aben Ezra takes it to be the wildernefs of Adattharecited: and they fucceeded them, and dwelt in their Stead even unto this day; fee the note on y¥. 12.
y. 23. And the Avim which dwelt in Hazerim, even unto Azzab, &c.| The fame with the Avites, who appear to have inhabited fome part of the land of the Philiftines, in which dzzab or Gaza was, nab, which according to Ferom ® was fituated on Arnon, 12 miles to the eaft of Medaba; fee Numb.- xxi. 18, 30. from hence meflengers were fent by, Mofes, unto Sihon king of Hefbbon, with words of. peace; in a peaceable and refpectful manner, defiring to be at peace and in friendfhip. with him, which was one of the five lordthips of the Pdili- and a continuance of it, which was done to leave fines, Fo. xiii. 3. The word Hazerim fignifies courts, and a learned man ° interprets it of tents or him inexcufable; as afterwards a like method was ordered to be taken, when they came to any city huts placed in a fquare or circular form, fo as to to proclaim peace, and if an anfwer of peace was. have an area in the middle; and in fuch the Avim given, no hoftilities were to be committed, ch. xx. may be fuppofed to dwell, while in Paleftine as far as Gaza: the Caphtorim which came. forth out of 10. faying; as follows. 2 S.27. Let me pafs through thy land, 8cc.| See
Caphtor deftroyed them, according to the Targums the note on Numb. xxi. 22. I will go along by the of Onkelos and Jonathan, and the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin verfions, thefe were Cappadocians that came out of Cappadocia; but it feems manifeft thatthey were originally of Egypt, fee Gen. x. 14, and Bochart ‘ thinks they went from thence into that highway; the king’s highway, as in the place referred to, the public road: J will neither turnto the right hand, nor to the left, to go into his fields and Vineyards, and gather the fruit, or tread down the corn and vines, or do any manner of mifchief to part of Cappadocia that was near Colchis'; but i 6;
them; fee the above place. r ds HAs things not anfwering their expectations, they re- | ¥. 28. Thou fhalt fell me meat for money that 1 turned, and drove out the Avim from their coun- may eat, &c.]| If they thought fit to have provitry: and dwelt in their fiead; fee the notes on Fer, fion of them, they defired no other but to pay for xlvii. 4. and on Amos ix.7. Though it feems as it: and give me water for money, that I may drinks if they were not utterly deftroyed, but fome efcaped into Afyria, and fettled there, where was a place called 4va from them; andfrom whence they were fent by theking of Afyria to repeople the cities of Samaria, after the captivity of the ten tribes; fee 2 Kings xvii. 24. Now thefe feveral inftances are obferved to encourage the children of J/rae/ to hope and believethat they fhould be able to difpoffefs the Canaanites, and inherit their land; fuch difpoffeffions having been very frequent, when it was the fee ¥. 6. only I will pafs thorow on my feet; for - they were all footmen, Numb. xi, 21. of the phrafe, fee the note on Numb, xx. 19. y¥. 29. 4s the children of Efau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites which dwell in Ar did unto me, &c.] Which refpects, as archi obferves, not the affair of paffing through their land requefted, for neither of them granted that, but buying food and drink; for though the Edomites at firlt feems not to have granted that, yet afterwards they did.
will of God they fhould take place.
The mountain of Seir, and the city 4r, are put y. 24. Rife ye up, take your journey, and pafs over the river Arnon, &c.| Which was on the border of Moab, and divided between Moab and the Amorites, Numb. xxi. 13. bebold, I have given into thy band Sibon the Amorite, king of Hefobon, and bis land; that is, he had determined to give it to the Tfraelites, for as yet it was not actually given; of this king, and the place he was king of, fee the notes on Numb. xxi, 21, 26. begin to poffe/s it, and contend with bim in battle; provoke him to. war, fight withhim, take his land.from him, and. enter
I fhall pafs over Fordan, into the land which the Lord our God giveth us; this is obferved to remove any fufpicion or jealoufy of their feizing his = try, and taking poffeflion of it, and dwelling in it; fince they only propofed to pafs through it on their journey to the land of Canaan, which lay on order to poffefs it, which they had a right unto by the giftof God. _ w bem feellish ¥. 30. But Sihon king of Hefobon would