Exposition of the Whole Bible

without which all inftrudtiens, and theoretical no-.

tions, fignify little; and thefe they were more © efpecially to do, and fome of them peculiarly, ia the land which I give then to poffefsit; the land of Canaan, and which laidon them no finall obliga~ tion to do the commandments of God; fince of his free favour arid good will, and_as a pure gift of his, he had beftowed upon them a land flowing with milk and. honey, into which he was juft now about to bring them; as nothing can more ftrongly engage fouls to a chearful obedience to the fervice of God, whether in private or in public, than the confideration of the great and good things which God of his rich grace. beftows upon them, and has promifed to them, and prepared for them, and will quickly put them into the poffeffion of; and upon fuch an account Moj/es preffes the obfervance of the commands of God in the following verfes. ¥.32. Ye fall objerve todo therefore as the Lord not from a flavifh fear, but from a fenfe of divine your God doth command you, &c.| Oblerve every

goodnefs: that it might be well with them, and with

their children for ever; for the fear of God, and} the keeping of his commandments, iffue in the good of men, in their own good, their. inward peace, and fpiritual welfare; in the good of others, their neighbours, fervants, and children, by way of example and inftruction; and even in the public peace and profperity of a nation in which they dwell: not that thefe things are meritorious of eternal life, but are what are approved of by the

Lord, and are grateful to him; which is the chief view in the expreffion of the text.

¥. 30. Go fay to them, get you info your tents again;| Which they had Jeft, being brought by Mofes at the direction of God to the foot of mount Sinai, to receive the law from his mouth; this being done they are ordered to return to their tents again, to their families, wives, and children.

y. 31. But as for thee, fland thou ‘bere by me, &c.] On the mount by him whither he was called up; Maefés was not permitted to go to his tent when the children of Z/rael were, but was ordered to wait upon the Lord to receive inftructions from him, which he was to communicate to the people, being a kind of a mediator between God and them, as they requefted, and which was granted them:

precept as to matter and manner which the Lord has commanded, and that under a fenfe of the great obligations laid on them by him, in giving them freely fo gocd a land to poffefs: you fhall not turn to the right band or to the left; but walk in the way of the commandments of God, and not depart from them at all, but follow the Lord in his own ways fully. The phrafe is expreffive of a ftriét and clofe attention to the word of God, without deviating from it in the leaft; for every fin, which is a tranfgreflion of fome command of God or another, isa going out of the way that directs unto; » fee Tf, 22x! 27.: ¥. 33. Ye foall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God bath commanded you, &c.) None are to be avoided or departed from on any confideration whatever; fee P/. cxix. 6. an inftance of this we have in Zacharias and Elizabeth, Luke i. 6. that ye may live; corporally, comfortably in alk’ the outward enjoyments of life needful for them, particularly in the pofleffion of the land of Canaan, and the benefits of it; for thefe promifes of life upon obedience feem to reach no faither, unlefs as types and emblems of what is enjoyed through the obedience and righteoufnefs of Chrift, as the following phrafes fhew: and that it may be well with and I will [peak unto thee all the commandments, and you, and that ye may prolong yout days in the land the ftatutes, and the judgments; all laws, moral, ceremonial, and judicial, which belong to them as men, as in achurch-{tate, and members of a bodypolitic: which thou fhalt teach them, that they may do them; for all doctrine is in order to practice,

N this chapter /o/es proceeds on in his exhor-. tations to the people of J/rae/, to attend to the! commandments of God, that it might be well with which ye foall poffefs;\the land of Canaan; though the Fewifb writers ™ carry it farther, even to heaven and eternal happinels; and fo may we in the ~ fenfe before given.

tempt him, as they had done, but diligently keep his commandments, that it might be well with them in that land, #. 16—19..and when their children © them, ¥. 1, 2,3. and begins with a principal and fundamental article of religion, which deferved their firft and chief regard, the unity of God, and the love of him, ¥. 4, 5. which they were carefully to inftruct their children in, and ever to be mindful of themfelves, ¥. 6—g9. and when they were come into the land of Canaan, and into a plentiful enjoyment of all good things in it, they are exhorted to be careful not to forget the Lord their kind benefactor; butto fear him, ferve him, and not go after other gods, fince he is jealous of his honour and worfhip, ¥. 10—15. and not to enquired the reafon and meaning of fuch teftimonies, ftatutes, and judgments, that were enjoined them, they were to give them the hiftory of | theircafe in Egypf, their deliverance from thence, the wonders that were wrouche for them, and the introduétion of them into the good land of Canaan; and to let them know that thefe commands — were fome of them in commemoration of thefe — bleffings; and by thefe they were laid under obliga- = tion to regard them all, and the rather fince they — were not only for the glory of God, but for own good, ¥.20—25,

1. Now thefe arethe commandments, the fa-|are. tutes, and the judgments, &c.] Not the ten commandments repeated in the preceding chapter, but all others; whether moral, ceremonial;. or judicial, afterwards declared; for what Mo/es now did only to give a repetition _and frefh declaration of fuch laws as he had before received, and delivered to the people; and fo the Targum of Jonathan thus paraphrafes this claufe, “* this is a declaration of ‘** the commandments, ftatutes, and judgments:” which the Lord your. God commanded to teach you; that is, which he commanded him, Mo/es, tojone teach them, though not fully exprefiéd, as may be learned from ch. iv. 1, 5. and v, 31. that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to poffe/sit; this is often obferved, to imprint upon their minds a fenfe of their duty, even of obedience to the laws of God, which they. were carefully and diligently to perform in. the land of Canaan they were going into, and by which they were to hold their poffeffion greater than ordinary; which {eetiis defighed to excite’ the attention to what is contained in this paflage: the Lord our God is-one Lord; the doctrine of which is, that the Lord who was the cowasjvenant-God and father of his people Urael, is but one Febavahb; he is Jebovab, the being of beings, a felf-exiftent being, eternal and immutable; and he is but one in nature and effence; this appears from the perfection of his nature, his eternity, omnipotence, omniprefence, infinity, goodnefs, felffaficiency, and perfection; for there can be but eternal; one omnipotent, one omniprefent, one infinite, one that is originally and of himfelf good; one felf, and all fufficient, and perfeét being; and which alfo may be concluded from his being the firft caufe of all things, which can be but one; and from his relations to his creatures, as their king, ruler; governor, and law-giver. And for this purpofe thefe words are cited in Mark xii. 29, 30. but then they no ways contradict’ the doc- of it.. trine of a Trinity of perfons in the unity of the

¥.2. That thou mighteft fear the Lord thy God, &c.] Being taught to know the greatnefs of his being, and the nature of his mind and will, and the manner of his worfhip; and not with a flavifh fear, but with a filial one, a reverential God; being inftructed in their duty, as of children, to their God and father; feech. v. 29. bis fatutes, and bis commandments, which I command thee; not in hisown name, but in the name, and by theauthority of God, whofe minifter and meflenger he was; and all, having the ftamp of divine authority on'them, were to be obferved and kept, and not one to be neglected or departed from: thou and thy fon, and thy fon’s fon, all the days of thy life; a man and his children, and grandchildren; he was to take care, that they kept all the commandments of the Lordas long as he lived, and had. any concern: with. them: and that thy days may be prolonged; long lite being reckoned a very great. outward mercy; a long enjoyment of, and continuance in the land: of Canaan, is chiefly defigned, which is ufually expreffed' when this is obferved; fee chi iv. 26; 40. andv. 16, 73. ¥. 5. x. 3. Hear therefore, O Irael, and obferve to de it, &c.] Or them, the commandments iven|law, the them: that it may be well with thee; in body. and eftate: and that ye may increase mightily; not only in wealth and riches, but chiefly in numbers: the Lord God of thy fathers bath promifed thee; promife of increafe of numbers. was frequently | made to Abrabam,, Ifadc, and Facob; as that their feed fhould be as the ftars of heaven, and as the duft of the earth, and the fand on the fea-fhore innumerables fee Gen. xv. 5. and xxii, 7. and xxvi. 4. and xxviii. 14. and this efpecially zv the land that floweth with milk and boney.;\avery common periphrafis of the land of Canaan; becaufe of the plenty of good things in it; fee Zxod. divine eflence, the Father, Word, and holy Spirit, which three are one; the one God, the one ebovab, as here exprefled; fee 1 Fob. v. 7. and fo the ancient ews. underftood this pafiage. In an affection for {ancient book of theirs it is faid ° Febovab, Elobenu, febovah, (i.e. Febovah, our God, Jehovah); thee to keep alllare the three degrees with refpect to this fublime myttery; in the beginning God (Elohim) created the eavens and the earth; and again ® Febovah, Elobenu Febovab, they are one; the three forms (modes or things) which are one; and elfwhere 4 it is obferved, there are two, and one is joined to them, and’ they are three; and when the three are one, he fays to (or of) them, thefe are the two names which J/rael heard, Febovab, Febovab, and /obenu (our God) is joined unto them; and it is the feal of the ring of truth, and when they are joined they are one in one.unity; which is illuftrated by the three names the foul of man is called by, the foul, fpirit, and breath; and elfwhere they fay * the holy blefled God; and his fhekinah, aré called one; fee Fob. x. 30.

And thou fhalt love the Lord thy God, &c.] Which is the firft and chief commandment in the fum and fubftance of the firft table of it; and includes init, or at leaft has conneéted with it, knowledge of God, efteem of him; delight’ in asjhim, faith and truft in him, fear and worfhip of | a)him,. and obedience to him, which when right prings from it. God is to be loved becaufe of the perfections of his nature, and the works of his’ hand, of nature, providence, and grace; and becaufe of the relations he ftands in to men, and efpecially to his own people; and becaufe of his peculiar love 'to them;: and indeed he is to be loved by all’ men for his care of them, and bleffings of goodnefs beftowed’on them; the manner in which this is to be done follows: with all thine heart, and with ail iii, 8.. Athy foul) and with all thy might, with a fuperlative ~ yw. 4. Hear, O Ifrael, &e.)| Thefe are the words of Mo/es, ttirring up the people to an attention ‘to what he was abourto fay:of ‘this great and\momentous article the unity: of God, to prevent their going into: polytheifmand idolatry. From/.one of the words,here ufed; the Jews call this fection Kiriath-foema, which they oblige themfelves to read» twice a day, morning and evening"; the Jaft lewer of the: firft wordimthis verfe, Shema, hear, andthe laft letter of the laft:word in it, Zchad; one, " Mifn, Beracot, c.1. §. 1, 2. oad.

@1b,in Num, fol. 67. 3. ' © © TikkuneZohar, love, above all creatures whatever; with the whole of the affections of the heart, with great fervency and ardour of fpirit, in the fincerity of the foul, and with all the ftrength of grace aman has, with fuch love that is as ftrong’as death. ‘Yarchi interprets loving God with all the heart, that is, with thy heart notdivided about God, a heartnot divided between God and the creature; ail thy might he interprets of mammonor fubftance; and indeed thatis one way in which men may thew their love to God, *e Zotar inGen, fol. 1, 3.. P Ib, in Exod, fol, 18. 3, 4. Correét, 47. fol. 86. 2. ‘ by laying out their fubftance in his fervice, and for the fupport of his caufe and intereft in the world. Aben Ezra by the beart underftands knowledge, and by the /oul the {pirit of man that is in his body, and by might perteét love in the heart.

y¥. 6. And thefe.words which 1 command thee. this day, &c.] To hearken to, obferve, and take notice of, that God is one, and is to be loved in the ftrongeft manner. that poffibly can be: fhall be tn thine heart; on the table of the heart, as the Targum of Fonathan.; fee 2 Cor. iii, 3. be cordially received, have a place in the affections of the heart, and be retained in mind and memory.

y. 7. And thou fhalt teach them diligently unto thy children, &c.| Care and diligence are to be ufed, and pains taken, to inftruct children as foon as they are capable in the knowledge of God, and of his commandments; that they are to love him, fear him, ferve, and worfhip him; this is to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, Eph. vi. 4. it may be rendered thou shalt whet or fharpen.them*, the words or commandments; it is expreflive of diligence and induftry in teaching, by frequent repetition of things, by inculcating them continually into their minds, endeavouring to imprint them there, that they may the 2oth, and then roll up the parchment, and write on it Shaddai, and put it either into a cane.

(or reed) or, elfe into a like hollow piece of wood, © and fo fatten it to the wall on the poits of the door atthe right hand of entrance; and thus as often as they go in and out, they make it a part of their devotion to touch this parchment, and_kifgit ©.

¥. 10. Andit foall be when the Lord thy God foall have brought thee into the land, &c.) The land of Canaan, on the borders of which they now were, and were juft going into: which be fware unto thy fathers, to Abrabam, to Ifaac, and to Facob, to give thee; of his own tree favour and good will, without any merit and defert of theirs, and in which would be found great and goodly cities, which thou buildedjt not, large and capacious, delightfully fituated, well built, and ftrongly fortified, without any pains or expence of theirs; all ready for them to take poffeffion of, and dwellin; and fo thould no longer refide in tents or booths, as they had for forty years paft, but in fpacious and noble cities,

¥. 11. And houfes full of all good things which thou filledft not, &c.| Not only full of good, convenient, and rich houfhold furniture, but of the fruits of the earth, of corn, and wine, and oil, and alfo perhaps of gold and filver: and wells dig- be fharp, ready, and expert in them: and fhalt ged, which thou diggedft not; which inthofe hot and talk of them when thou fitteft in thine boufe, at the time of meals, or at leifure-hours, or even when employed in any bufinefs in the houfe which will admit of it; every opportunity fhould be taken to inftil the knowledge of divine things into their tender minds: and when thou walkeft by the way; in a journey, and’ any of his children with him; or for diverfion, in the garden, field, or vineyard 5 occafidn may be taken on fight of any of the works of creation to lead into a difcourfe concerning God, his nature, perfections, and works, and the obligations his creatures lie under to love, fear, and ferve him: and when thou lieft down, and when thou rife up, at the time of going to bed, and rifing from it; which as they are feafons of prayer to God, may be improved in inftruction of children.

y. 8. And thou foalt bind them for a fign upon thine band, &cc.] Asa man ties any thing to his hand for a token, that he may remember fomewhat he is defirous of; though the Fews under- {tand this literally, of binding a fcroll of parchment with this fection and others written in it, upon their left hand, as the Targum of Fonathan here interprets the hand: and they fhall be as frontlets’ between thine eyes; and which the fame Targum interprets of the Tephilim, or phylacteries, which the Yews wear upon their foreheads, and on their arms, and fo Farchi; of which fee the note on dry countries were in much efteem, and of great worth; fee Gen. xxvi. 18 —22. vineyards and olivetrees which thou plantedft not; which Canaan abounded with much more than Egypt, where there were but few vines and olive-trees, though of both thefe there were more where the J/raelites lived than elfe-where; fee the note.on Gen. xlvii. 11. and thefe therefore might be fuch as they had feen in Egypt, in that part of it in which they dwelt, Ge/hen, which was in the Heracleotic nome and that Strabo * fays only produced perfeé olives and fruit-bearing trees, but the reft of Egypt wanted oil; and this nome is the fame which the Arabs now call.the province of Fium, of which Leo Africanus” {ays, it produces a large quantity of olives; fo that this might be obfervedi for the encouragement of the J/raelites: when thou foalt have eaten -and be full, having fuch plenty of good things the land would furnifh them with, ae y. 12. Then beware left thou forget the: Lord, &c.] To love, fear, and onlin and Rep his commands; creature-enjoyments being apt to get pofleffion of the heart, and the affections of it 3 fee Prov. xxx. 9. which brought thee forib out of the land of Egypt, out of the boufe of bondage; into a land abounding with all the above good things, and therefore under the higheft obligations to remember the Lord and his kindneflés, and to ferve and glorify him; fee Exod. xx. 2..,

¥.13. Thou foalt fear the Lord thy God, and y¥. 9. And thou foalt write them upon the pofts of ferve him, &c.) Serve him through fear; not thine boufe, and on thy gates;) To put them in mind of them when they went out and came in, that they might be careful to obferve them; this the Yews take literally alfo, and write in a fcroll of parchment this fection with fome paflages; and, as the Jargum of Fonathan here, fix them in three places, over againit the bed-chamber, upon the ofts of the houfe, and onthe gate at the right handof it; and this is what they call the Mezuzab; and the account given of itis this. _In a parchment prepared for the purpofe, they write the words in Deut. vi. 4. tothe gth, and ch, xi. 13. to tory of the Rites and Cuftoms of the Jews, par. I. ¢. 2. P. 5,6.

through flavifh fear, a fear of hell and damnation; but through filial fear, a reverential affection for that God that had brought them out of-a ftate of bondage into great and glorious liberty, out of Egypt into Canaan's land, out of a place of mifery into a land of plenty; and therefore fhould fear the Lord and his goodnefs, and from fuch a fear of him ferve him, in every partof worfhip public and private enjoined; this paflage Chrifi refers to in

Matt. iv. 10. and fhalt fwear rn they made a covenant with on or were'called beara teftimony for the decifion of mig 4

Ch. vi 14-24. DEUTERONOMY ag which could not be otherwife finifhed; or whenevet they took an oath on any account, which fhould never be taken rafhly-or on any trivial account, and much lefs falfly; it fhould be taken not in the name of any idol, or of any other but the true and living God; the Targum of ‘fouathan is, ‘* in the «name of the Word of the Lord, in truth ye thall

¥.20. And when thy fon afketh thee in time té come, &c.] Or to morrow *; that is, in after times, as Yarchi interprets it; any time after this; and particularly after they were come into thé land of Canaan, when the feveral laws, ftatutes, and ordinances appointed, would take place and be obeyed: what mean the teftimonies, and the fatutes; and the

“ fwear.’’; judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded

v.14. Ye foall not go after other gods, &c.) To ferve and worfhip them, and fwear by them; and which indeed are no gods, only nominal and fititious. ones;_ idols which are nothing in the world, and ought to have no veneration and adoration given them; to go after them is to worfhip them, and this is to depart from the true God, go a whoring after falfe deities: of the Gods of tbe people which are round about you, the gods of the Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, Philiftines, and Egyptians 5 all of which had their peculiar deiyou? what is the reafon of the various rites, cuftoms, and ufages,; the obfervance of which is directed to, fuch as the feafts of ‘paffover, pentecoft, tabernacles, facrifices; and other duties of religion.. | y. 21. Then fhalt thou fay unto thy fon, 8c.) In andjorder to lead him into the {pring and original of them, and to acquaint him with the goodnefs of God, which laid them under obligation to obferve them: wewere Pharaohs bondmen in Egypt; were brought into bondage and flavery to Pharaoh king ties.; of Egypt, into whofe country their anceftors came, 15. For the Lord thy God is a jealous God|and among you, &c.| He was near to them, in the - midit of them, his tabernacle being placed between their camps; and was a God jealous of his) honour and glory in matters of worfhip, and refent any affront given him in that way: /ef the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled againft thee; there being nothing more apt to ftir up his wrath than idolatry: and deftroy thee from off the face of the earth; fuffer them to be carried captive out their own land, and to be fcattered among the nations of the world, and be utterly deftroyed. ance to Mo v.19. To caft out all thine enemies from before thee, &c.| This the Lord promifed, and as it feems with an oath, that he would do for them; drive out their enemies, and make way for the fettlement of ‘them in their country: as the Lord hath fpoken fee Gen. Xv. 18, 19, 20. and xxii. 17, Exod, xxiii: where they refided many years, and at length were reduced to the utmoft fervitude and mifery: and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty and; by the exertion of his mighty power, which would)the Egyptians and their king could not withftand, as a token of his care and kindnefs to us; by the ties of which we are bound in gratitude to obferve his commands. The Targum of Jonathan is, ** the Word of the Lord brought: us, &c.” and of) it was Chri the Son of God that was from firft to Jaft concerned in that affair, even from the appeares in the buth to J/rael’s coming. out of Egypt.

y. 16. Ye fhall not tempt the Lord your God, &c.] By ftriving with him or againft him, by murmuring at or complaining of his providential dealings with them, or by requring a fign of him, or miracles to be done by him;

¥, 22, And the Lord fhewed figns and wonders; great and fore, &c.) Meaning the ten plagues, which were figns of the power of God, marvellous this is another paflage) works, great above the power of nature, and very fore or evil’; very diftreffing to the Lgyptians; for they came and lay heavy upon Egypt, upon Pharaob, and upon all his houfbold before our eyes; Upon the king, his courtiers, and the whole land, and which were done publickly in the fight of the peo= ple of I/rael, as well as the Egyptians; and there were fome then living, though at that time when \wrought under twenty years, who faw with their own eyes what were done to them, and could never Here alfo the Targum of Fonathan has it, “« and the Word of the Lord fent figns, 8&c.”.

ufed by Chrif to repel the temptations of Satan, Matt. iv. 7. as ye tempted him in Majfah, a place fo called from the J/raelites tempting the Lord there, Exod. xvii. 7. the Targum of Fonathan adds, with ten temptations; fee Numb. xiv. 21.

¥.17. You fhall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, &c.) Not only the ten commands, but all others: and his teftimonies, and his fratutes, which he hath commanded thee, thofe of a judicial and ceremonial kind. forget them.

y. 18. And thou fhalt do that which is right and good in the fight of the Lord, &c.| And what is fuch, appears from the declaration of his mind and will in the commandments he has given, and obeying whichis therefore doing what is right and for his commandment is holy, juft, and good, being agreeable both to his nature and will, Rom. vii. 12. that it may be well with thee, as it is with thofe that fear God, and keep his commandments: and that thou mayeft go in and poffe/s the good land, which the Lord fware unto thy fathers; to give to them and to their pofterity, even the land of Canaan; but if they did not what was right and good in the fight of God, they might expect tobe out of it, as their immediate parents were, whofe carcafes fell in the wildernefs.

y. 23. And he brought us out from thence, &c.} By means of thofe miraculous plagues, even out good;!of a ftate of bondage and mifery; and in order that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he /ware unto our fathers; to bring them into the land of Canaan, give it to them, and put them in the pofleffion of it; and fo fulfil his promife and his oath made to Abraham, Iaac, and Yacob.

y.24. And the Lord commanded us to do all thefe /tatutes, &c.] Some of which were defigned on purpofe to commemorate the wonderful deliverafice keptjout of Egypt, as particularly the paffover; and all of them they were obliged. in gratitude to obey, in confideration of fuch great favours beftowed upon them: to fear the Lord our God for our good always; as itis always for the good of men, temporal, {piritual, and eternal, to fear the Lord; for there is no want to them that fear him, nor will the Lord withold good things from them; {ee Pf. xxXXiv. 95 10, that be might preferve us alive as it is at this enjoymentof the good land, and all the bleffings, and benefits of it. others, but as it appears to

¥.25. And it foall be our righteoufnefs, &c.\ Ora mercy, benefit, and blefling to us; or this fhall be reckoned our righteoufnefs, and that by which we fhall be juftified: if we obferve to doall thefe commandments before the Lord our God, as be hath commanded us; in order to have fuch a juftifying righteoufnefs, a man mutt keep all the commandments of God, not one excepted; and that ‘perfectly, without the leaft breach of them in word, or deed; and that before the Lord, in his fight, not as it may appear to a man himfelf, orto — God, who fees the heart, and weighs all actions; and a man mutt keep them in the manner the Lord has commanded, even with all his heart, foul, and ftrength, asin ¥.. 5. and this is not poffible for a finful man to do; and therefore righteoufnefs cannot be by the Jaw. Only Cérift-could thus keep all the command. - ments of God, and his obedience is our righteoufnefs; and he only is the end of the law for righ thought, | teoufnefs to every one that believes, and.to him we muft feek for it. pa

I* this chapter the J/raelites are exhorted to de- {troy the feven nations of the land of Canaan, when they entered into it, and to make noalliances with them of any kind, nor fuffer any remains of idolatry to continue, ¥. 1—5. to obferve which and other commands of God, they are urged from the confideration of their being freely chofen of God above all other people, and of their being redeemed out of the houfe of bondage, and of the Lord’s being a covenant-keeping God to them, y.{ 6— 11. 4nd it is promifed them for their further encouragement to keep the commands of God, that they fhould have an increafe of all temporal good things, and no evils and calamities fhould come upon them, ¥. 12—16. and left they. fhould be| or difheartened at the numbers and might of their enemies, they are put in mind of what God had done for them in Egypt, and of what he had miied to do for them now, ¥.17—20, and they are aflured that the nations fhould be caft out before ' them by little and little, until they.were utterly deftroyed, ¥. 21—24. and the chapter is concluded with an exhortation to deftroy their images, and ’ not admit any thing of that fort to,be brought into their houfes, ¥. 25, 26. vered it.as a Fewi way and room for the people of J/rael to inherit” their land, but as a punifhment for capital crimes they had been guilty of, fuch as idolatry, inceft, murder, &cc. wherefore though they were reprieved for a while for [/rae/’s fake, ull their time was come to poffefs the land, they were at length righteoufly punifhed, which obferved, abates the feeming feverity exercifed upon them: thou halt make no covenant with them, to dwell in their cities and houfes, and enjoy. their lands and eftates, on any condition whatever; and though they did make a league with the Gibeonites, that was obtained by fraud, they pretending not to be of the land of Ca- #aen, but to come from a very diffant country: hew mercy unto them; by iparing their lives, beftowing any favours upon them, or giving them any help and affiftance when in:diftrefs: the Fews pro-jextend this to all other heathen nations befides thefe feven; wherefore, if an [/raelite, as Maimamides * fays, fhould fee a Gentile perifhing, or plunged into a river, he may, not takeshim out, © nor adminifter medicine to. a fick perfon. Hence ‘Zuvenal the poet upbraids them with their unkindnels and _incivility.; and fays that Ddofes delih law, in a fecret volume of his, perhaps referring to this book of Deuteronomy, that y¥. 1. When the Lord thy God foall bring thee into the land whither thou. goeft to poffe/sit, 8cc. land of Canaan they were juft now going into to take pofleflion of; their introduction into which is here, as in many other places, afcribed not to themfelves, or their leaders, but to the Lord as their covenant-God: aud hath: caft.out many nations before thee; even all that were init, the feyen following: the Hittites, and the Girgafbites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and. the Hivites, and. the ‘febufites;. the Canaanites were a particular nation in the land of Cazgax, which had. their name from Canaqa himfelf; the reft were called from feveral fons. of his.; fee Gez. X..15, 16,17. the country of the Gerga/enes, the fame with the Girgafbites, continued its name the times: of Chrift, Matt. viii, 28. feven nations greater and mightier than thou; more.in number, and more robuit in body, fome being of a gigantic ftature; there were ten of thefe nations in déraham’s time, three-of them were fince funk or fwallowed up among the reft, the Kenites, and: Kenizites, and the Rephaim;. for inftead of the Kadmonites the Hivites are here put, which feem to,be the the Jews might not direct a poor traveller in his The\way unlefs he was one of their religion, nor one athirft to a fountain of water; and which led Tacitus®, the heathen hiftorian, to. make this re-~ mark upon them, that they entertained an hoftilé hatred againft all other people, Ae yr.3. Neither foalt. thou make marriages witb /bem, &c.] Unlefs they became profelytes, as Rabab, who. was married.by Salmon, and: fo thofe of other nations, as Ruth the Moabite/s, and fo a captive taken.in war; otherwife it was not lawfi bad confequences have followed upon it, which it is the defign of this lawto prevent; that is, being enfnared.and drawn afide intoidolatry, which was thte cafe of Solomon: thy daughter thou. fhalt not unto! give unto his fon, nor his daughter fhalt thou take unto thy fon.; for according to the Targum of Jonathan, whofoever marries. with them, it is as if he married with their idols; and this law, according to the Fewifh writers *, is binding with; refpect to _ other nations Befides the feven; and. who oever marries any heathen, of whatfoever nation, is to be é beaten. iach asBvsbihs I, <p eal, ¥. 4. For theyavill. turn. away thy fon from fame.;. ing me, &c.| From the pure worfhip of God, his. y¥. 2. And when the Lord thy Gad fhall déliver before thee, &c.] Into their hands: thau alt fmite them, and utterly deftroy them, meh, women, and children; which was ordered not merely to make them) word, ftatutes, and.ordinances;, that they.may ferve other gods; worthip their idols; that is, the daughters of heathens, married to the fons of J/raehtes, would entice them from the worfhip of the true