Exposition of the Whole Bible

N this chapter the //raelites ate taught how difcern a falfe prophet, fhun and punith him, ¥. 1— 5. what to do with enticers to idolatry, not only not to confent to them, but without favour and affection to them, endeavour to bring them to punifhment, and be the firft that fhould inflict on them, y. 6—11. and how to behave towards city drawn into idolatry, as to enquire the truth of it, then make war againft it; deftroy all in it, men, women, children ‘aud cattle; and burn the fpoil of it, and fuffer not any thing at all belonging to it to cleave unto them, ¥. 12—18. toland inculcate into the minds of the people; and for the confirmation of which, and in order to draw them into the reception of them, and aét according to them, he propofed to give a fign or wonder. juft) y. 3. Thou foalt not hearken to the words of that it prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, &c.] Even although he does give the fign and work the wonder; “for it might be reafonably concluded there muft be fallacy i in him, and that neither he nor his miraculous fign could come from God, who would never fend a perfon to enable him to do figns and wonders, to perfuade men to believe and aét contrary to a former declaration of his mind and got; to y.1. If there arife among you a prophet, &c.] A falfe prophet, a lying prophet, as the Yargum of onathan; one that pretends to be a true prophet, and to be fent of God, and to come from him with a meffage from him, a new revelation or doétrine, or in his name, to foretel things to come; the former is chiefly meant. Such prophets did arife in J/rael before the time of Chrift, and have fince arofe under the chriftian name; fee 2 Pet. ii. 1. or a dreamer of dreams; the fame with the prophet, only to be diftinguithed by the different manner of their having the mind and will of God revealed them, pretended to; either by vifion or by dream, which were the two ufual ways in which the Lord fpake to the true prophets, ‘Numb. xii. 6. fo that the prophet is one, who pretended he had a from the Lord, and the dreamer one that had dream from him, or fomething: revealed to him in a dream; and dreams are fometimes ufed for falfe dogtrines, vain, deceitful and illufory; fee Fer. Xxiil. 25—28. The Targum of Jonatha calls himjhim *« a dreamer of a dream of pride”: fuch perfons} are generally prompted by the pride of their own hearts to take fuch a method to make themfelves famous, and refpected among men; and ufually bring fuch doétrines with them which are agreeable to the pride and vanity of human nature: eth thee a fign or a wonder, for the confirmation of his miffion and doétrine; “fuch as Mofes wrought before the children of J/rael and before Pharach, Signs are expreffions or reprefentations of things ' to come to pafs; wonders, fuch as either do, or feem to exceed the common courfe of nature or be contrary to it. Eccl. xii. 13.

trines of thefe and of their worfhip are what the falfe prophet or dreamer is fuppofed to come with, break a plain law of his, as in ch. v. 7, 8, g. this would be to contradiét and deny himfelf; whatever therefore is contrary to a known law or eftablithed doétrine, either of law or gofpel, let it come from whom it will, or pretend to be confirmed by miracles, is not to be received; fee Gal. i. 8, 9. for the Zord your God proveth you, whether you love the Lord your God with ail your heart, and with all your foul; for fhould they be prevailed upon by fuch 4 prophet, to hearken to his doétrine, and embrace it,- and act according to it, it would be a plain cafe tojthat they did not cordially love the Lord, fince they could fo eafily, and by iuch preterices be drawn jafide from the true worfhip of him, and ferve other gods; on the other hand it would be a proof vifionjof their fincere affection for God, and of their ajJclofe and {trict attachment to ey that notwithftanding fuch fpecious pretences made, and fuch miracles wrought, yet abode by him and his worfhip, and could not be wrought upon to forfake and follow other gods and ferve them; fee 1 Cor. xi. 19.

y. 4. Ye fhall walk after the Lord your God, &c.} As he has directed according to the laws and rules which he has given, both with refpect to their moral and civil conduct, and their religious worfhip and giv-jof him; and fo the Targum of Fonathan, “ye fhall walk after the worfhip of the Lord your God”: and fear him, and keep bis commandements, \fear to offend him, and fo keep his commandments; or keep his commandments from or thro” fear; not a fervile but a filial one, a reverential [affection for him; this is the whole duty of man, and “obey bis voice; in his word, or byhis prophets and minifters: it may very well be underltood of the voice of Chrift, the angel that went before them, whofe voice they were continutheJally to. hearken to and obey, Exod. xxiii. 21, 22. aud you fhall ferve him, and cleave unto him; it may refpect all religious worfhip both private and public; the Targum of Fonathan reftrains it to prayer, but it not only includes that but all other aéts of piety and devotion, and which are to be conftantly their performed and not departed from; for fo to do is to cleaye to the Lord, as a man to his wi andjwoman to her hufband, in which conjugal tion God abd his people J/rae/ were, he hufband unto them, and to do otherwife is a whoring from him after other gods. ==” x. 5. dad that peopl tet reaeel hall be put to death, Sec.) Which de Now the doc- ing to the Targum of Fonathan was to with the fword: becaufe be hath Jpoken to away from the Lord your God or /poken y.2. And the fign and wonder come to. pafs whereof be fpake unto thee, &c.] The fign he promifed to give, or the miracle he propofed to do, to fhew the reality of his miffion, and truth of his doctrine, which is performed, or feemingly performed, by legerdemain, by magic art, or by the help of the devil; which the Lord/ fometimes fuffered for the trial of the faith and obedience of his people, and for the hardening of others in their unbelief, and which iffues in deftruction; fee 2 Theff. ii. g—12. faying, let us go after other gods (which thou haft not known) let us ferve them other gods befides the one living and true God, the creator of all things, ftrange gods, the idols of the people, as the Zargum of Jonathan; fach as they had never heard of, nor had any knowledge of, nor any benefit from, as| they had of the Lord their God.

gainft the Lord', high treafon againft him, delivering out doétrine that-tends to caufe his fubjects to rebel againft him, and revolt from him; and therefore he is juftly deferving of death, to draw off a people from him he had been fo good and kind unto; fo that to apoftacy would be added the fin of ingratitude: which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the boufe of bondage; and fo was not only their Lord by creation whom they ought to ferve, but by redemption, which ‘laid them under double obligation to ferve him: to thruft thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to watk in;) not by external force, but by the power of perfuafion, by enticing words and arguments: /o /halt thou put the evil away from the midft of thee, the evil man, by putting him to death, and the evil of idolatry, by not liftening to the words of the falfe prophet.

y. 6. If thy brother, the fon of thy mother, &c.) A brother by mother’s fide, which is generally fuppofed to be the neareft relation, at leaft moft out of queftion, fo more liable to be regarded as being beloved: or thy fon, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bofom; moft dearly beloved by him, as indeed each of thefe relations are by a man, there being none nearer or dearer to him: or thy friend, which is‘as thine foul; as dear to him as himfelf, and fo ftriétly united in friendfhip, as if one foul dwelt in two bodies; fuch clofe friends were Fonathan and David, 1 Sam. xviii. 1. Some Fewifo writers think the father is not mentioned, becaufe of the reverence of him, with which all after-dealings with him obliged to, would feem inconfiftent; but the reverence of God is to be preferred to the reverence of parents; and befides, if fuch near relations that are here mentioned, than which there are none nearer, are not to be fpared if guilty of the fin after warned againft, then not a father, who is in the fame tranfereffion: entice thee fecretly; when alone with him, which might be judged the moft proper time to work upon him, there being none to oppofe the enticer, or to affift the enticed; fo Sataz took the opportunity of Eve being alone when he attacked her with his temptation, and the fame method is taken by his children: faying, let me go and ferve other gods which thou haft not known, thou nor thy fathers; not even their immediate anceftors, and fo the calf was not of thefe gods; nor their more remote ancéftors, as Abrabam, Ifaac and Facob, who were no idolaters; nor even Terah, tho’ he was one, yet the gods of the Canaanites and of the neighbouring nations, which feem to be here meant, at leaft principally, were fuch that he knew not. This circumftance may feem to carry in it an argument rather why they fhould not, than why they fhould ferve fuch gods; wherefore the words of the enticer feem to be only thefe, et us go and ferve other gods, and what follows are the words of the Lord, defcriptive of thofe gods, and fo a diffuafive from ferving them.

y. 7. Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, &c.| As of the Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites and Phenicians: nigh unto thee; as the above were, being on the borders of their land: the Targum of Fonathan interprets this of the idols of the feven nations, that is of the land of Canaan: or far off from thee; as the Babylonians, “Perfians, and others: from the one end of the earth “even unto the other end of the earth; which in- cludes all the idols in the ~orld worfhipped by whatfoever nation, and which were forbidden; and which fhews the univerfality of idolatry in thofe times, and that that is an infufficient argument in its favour. archi interprets this of the fun and moon and the hoft of heaven, who go from one end of the world to the other; and this feems to have been the firft and moft common idolatry of the Gentile world, and which were worthipped in the feveral deities they fet up.

¥.8. Thou fhalt not confent unto bim, &c.] To commit the idolatry enticed unto, or join with him in it: nor hearken to him; not fo much as patiently to hear him, but at once exprefs an abhorrence of and indignation at what he recommends: neither

Joall thine eye pity bim pitied he might be for his ignorance, ftupidity and wickednefs, and on account of the miferable eftate and condition he was - in, and of thofe dreadful confequences which would follow upon it, if not converted from it; but no mercy was to be fhown him on account of nearnefs of relation: neither fhalt thou fpare; to reprove him fharply, and to expofe him to public vengeance: neither fhalt thou conceal him, neither him nor his fin, but make both public, acquaint others with it, and endeavour to bring him before the civil magiftrate to be examined, tried and judged; fo far fhould they be from hiding his offence from others, or excufing and extenuating it, or from harbouring his perfon ‘privately when fought for upon information. ¥. 9. But thou fhalt furely kill bim, 8&c.] Not privately and fecretly when and where he entices, nor the enticed himfelf by his own authority, but after being examined, judged and condemned by the civil magiftrate; and none might judge a falfe prophet but the Sanbedrim at Ferufalem, the Sanhedrim of feventy-one™; fee Luk. xiii. 33. but the difficulty’is how fuch an one could be convicted, fince the affair was tranfacted fecretly, y. 6. and there were none prefent to be witnefles, none but the enticer and the enticed; fo that either the enticer muft be brought to a confeffion of his guilt, or the teftimony of the enticed alone muft be taken. The Yewi/h doétors fay *, that they laid in wait for the enticer, which they never did for any other perfon, and the method they took was this; the enticed brought two perfons, and put them behind a hedge, fo that they might fee the enticer, and hear his words, and he not fee them; and he faid to the enticer, fay what thou haft faid to me privately; which faid, the enticed anfwered to him, how fhall we leave our God which is in heaven, and go and ferve wood and ftone? if he returned (from his evil) hereby, or was filent, he was free; but if he faid unto him, fo we are obliged, and thus it is comely for us; they that ftood afar off, behind the hedge (or ina dark room) brought him to the Sanhedrim, and {toned him, that is, after examination, trial, judgment and condemnation: thine hand fhall be firft upon him to put him to death; he was to throw the firft ftone at him, partly to fhew his indignation againft the fin he had enticed him to, and that it had not at all affected him fo as to incline him unto it; and partly to fhew that he had bore a true’ teftimony, of which a fufpicion might have been created in the minds of fome, had he been backward to the execution of him: and afterwards the hand of ail the people; who then could proceed with more certainty ~and fatisfaction: this fhews 2 that that the perfon enticed had not a right to kill the enticer, without a judicial procefs, and the order of the civil magiftrate.

¥. 10, And thou fhalt ftone him with ftones that he die, &c.] It was not fufficient to anfwer the end of the law to caft a few ftones at him, but he was to be ftoned to death: becaufe be hath fought to thruft thee away from the Lord thy God; to compel by force of argument, or the dint of perfuafion, to relinquifh the profeffion of the true God, faith in him, and the worfhip of him: which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the houfe of bondage; which ageravated the fin of the enticer, and would have made the fin of the enticed the more hainous had he fallen into it.

¥. 11. And all Tfrael foall hear, and fear, &c.] Shall hear of the death the enticer was put unto, and fhall fear to aét fuch a part he did, and be upon their guard againft any fuch perfon, and be cautious that they are not drawn into fin by him: and fhall do no more any fuch wickednefs as this is among you; either to entice unto idolatry or commit it; which

Is a piece of wickednefs againft the firit table of the law, and avery hainous one, and exceeding offenfive and provoking to God, being fo directly againft his being, perfections and glory.

W. 12. If thou foalt hear fay in one of thy cities,

&c.] A report concerning them, any one of them: which the Lord thy God hath given thee to dwell there; which he had not only given them, but had put them into the poffeffion of, and it was become their dwelling-place, or was inhabited by J/raelites, otherwife they were already given unto them, but did not inherit and inhabit them, and it might be poffible that there might be fome city or cities, at leaft for a time, which though given them, were not inhabited by them, but by the and repent, it is well, but if they continue in their folly, the Sanhedrim order all Trad to go. up againft them to war, and they befiege them, and fet themfelves in battle array againft them, until the city be broken up; and when it is broken up, immediately they fet up many courts of judicature, and they judge them; and againft whomfoever two witnefies come that he ferved idols, after they have admonifked him they feparate him; if all the worfhippers be the fewelt, they ftone them, and the reft of the city are delivered; if they are found the greater number, they bring them to the great Sanhedrim, and finith their judgment there, and they flay all thofe that have ferved, with the fword: and bebold if it be truth, and the thing certain; that fuch wicked men have rifen and have prevailed upon the inhabitants of the city where they live, - to leave the worfhip of the true God, and go into idolatry, when there is full proof of this, and it is paft all queftion, that fuch abomination is wrought among you; aS idolatry is, which is an abomination to God, and ought to be fo to all mankind, and efpecially to a people that profefs his name.

¥. 15. Thou fhalt furely mite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the fword, &c] This: could not be the work of a fingle perfon, nor of the whole Sanhedrim, but was what the whole na-. tion was to join in, according to the above note? deftroying it utterly; pulling down the houfes, and demolifhing its walls and fortifications, or burning it, as afterwards explained: and all that is therein; men, women and children: and the cattle thereof with the edge of the fword, this feverity was ufed to fhew the Lord’s indignation againft the fin of idolatry, and to deter perfons from it, both individuals and bodies of men..

y.16. And thou fhalt gather all the fpoil of it

Canaanites, and fuch cities this law did not con- into the mid? of the ftreet thereof, &c.] All the

¥. 13. Certain men, the children of Belial, &c.} Which fignify either perfons without a yoke, who have thrown off the yoke of God’s law and will not fubmit to it, or unprofitable ones, as wicked men be, both to God, themfelves and others: are

| wealth and fub{tance of the inhabitants, their houf hold-goods, fhop-goods, merchandife, utenfils ‘in trade and bufinefs, andevery thing that can benamed. The Jews fay ’ if there is no ftreet, they make one’ (or a market-place), if that is without it, they bring them into the midft of it: and fhall burn with gone out from among yous not locally, but with refire the city, and all ibe Jpoil thereof every whit; be it ipect to their religious fentiments and pra¢tices, having feparated themfelves from the people of God, and from the fervice of the fanctuary, the true worthip of God, and a profeffion of it, and given into the worfhip of idols: and have withdrawn the inbabitants of their city; withdrawn them by the force of perfuafion from the worfhip of the true God, and drawn them into idolatry: faying, let us go and ferve other gods unite as one man in the worlhip of the gods of the Gentiles: (which ye have not known): this was not faid by the children of Belial, but is added by the Lord by way of explanation, thewing what gods they were that thefe men advifed them to ferve, and confirms the obfervation made on y. 6.

¥. 14. Then foalt thou enquire, make fearch, and ask diligently, &c.| That is, of the witnefles, as the Targum of Fonathan; and this is a cafe that is only taken into confideration, and judged of by the great Sanbedrim, or that of feventy-one at Ferifalem° and the method they took was this, when ic fell under their cognizance: the great Sanbedrim fend and enquire and fearch till they know clearly that the whole city, or the greater part of it, are thruit away, and are turned to idolatry;_ after that they fend two difciples of the wife-men to admonifh them and bring them back; if they return what it may be, or let it be whofe property it will; and all this fhall be done: for the Lord thy God; as by his appointment and command, and in obedience to him, {o for his honour and glory, and the vindication of his righteous law; and it hall Le an heap for ever, it foall not be built again; but lie a wafte as Fericho, though not an eatire watfte; for according to the Yewi/ writers, tho’ it might not be built as it was before, it might be made into gardens and orchards 3. ¥.17- And there foall cleave nought of the curfed thing to thine band, &c.] That is, they might not take any thing whatever to their own ule; for all being devoted to deftruétion was curfed, and brought a curfe upon the man that fhould make it his own property, as Achan did, when ericho was deftroyed: that the Lord may turn from the fiercene/s of his anger; ttirred up by the idolatry — of the city: and foew thee mercy, and have compaffion upon thee, who feeing wrath gone e might dread the confequences left it fhould fpread itfelf further: and multiply thee, as he hath fworn to thy fathers; Abraham, Iaac and Facob; this is obferved to encourage them to te his orders punctually in the deftruction of the idolatrous city; fince God could and would multi« ply them, as he had promiied their fathers, with 2 ' ’ bu ( ay » 9 Ibid. Maimon. & Sete

Ch.xiv.¥.1—s. DEUTERONOMT $3 an oath, fo that they fhould. not be the fewer by fuch an inftance of his feverity.

- yt. 18, When thou foalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, &c.| Not only in this cafe, but in all others: fo keep all bis commandments which I command thee this day, the repetition of which he made unto them, and enjoined the obfervance of them in the name of the Lord: to do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord thy God; which they would do, if they kept the commandments of the Lord, which are holy, juft and good, and muft be right in his fight becaufe commanded by him,

N this chapter fome cautions are given the ufe of fome rites and ceremonies in mourning for the dead, with the reafon thereof, y. 1, 2. and inftruétions about what are lawful to be eaten, and what not, whether of. beafts, fifhes, or fowl, x. 3—21. and concerning eating one fort of tithes both at the place God fhould chufe, and within their own gates, ¥. 22—~29.

againft)form to the cuftoms of Gentiles, whether in their extravagant mourning for the dead, or in their re- \ligious fervices; fee ch. vii. 6. and the Lord hath chofen thee to be a peculiar people, above all thei nasions that are upon the earth; to be his peculiar treafure, to be his peculiar fervants’ and worthippers, to enjoy peculiar bleffings and privileges, and behave in a peculiar manner different from all

- jother people; and have no connection with them, y. 1. Ye are the children of the Lord your God, &c.] Some of them were fo by the fpecial grace of adoption, and all of them by national adoption; which was the peculiar privilege of the of Jrael, and laid them under great obligation to honour and obey the Lord their God, who ftood in the relation of a father to them, and they of children to him, Mal. i. 6. The Targum of Fonathan paraphrafes it beloved children; fo the apoftle calls the faints, the dear children of therefore ought to be followers of him, Ep. v. and for a like reafon this relation is obferved namely to quicken a regard totheexhortations of the Lord, his cautions, commands, laws and ordinances, particularly to what follows: ye fball not cut yourfelves; for the dead, as appears from the next as the heathens did, who not only tore their garments, but their flefh in feveral parts of their dies, in their mouths, cheeks, breafts, &c. ". and ufed other extravagant figns of mourning, which the apoftle cautions againft, 1 Thef. iv. 13. &c. and were condemned by the heathens themfelves Though fome think this refers to incifions the heathens made in their flefh to the honour of bods, cutting the names of them therein to whom! they devoted themfelves; or lafhing their bodies at the worfhip of them, as the worfhippers of did when they called upon him, 1 Kings xviii. 28. and fo the Yerufalem Targum ‘* make not marks, marks”, that is here and there, in many places, or bruifes black and blue by ftriping and beating themfelves, for ftrange worfhip, or at it in honour of their gods; but the former fenfe feems beft to agree with what follows; fee Lev. xix. 28. mor make any baldne/s between your eyes for the dead, by fhaving the fore part of their head or their eyebrows, or both, which ufed to be done in lamentations for the dead; fee Fer. xvi. 6, 7. if this could be thought to have any refpect to rites and ceremonies ufed in the worfhip of dead and lifelefs dols, the cuftoms of the Egyptians might be referred to, who are faid to fhave their heads and eyebrows in their facred rites to [is '.

y. 2. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, &c.] Set apart by him from all other people, and devoted to his worfhip and fervice, and many of them were fanctified and made holy in a fpecial and fpiritual fenfe; and therefore fhould not conefpecially in things facred; and in order to keep them a diftin&t, peculiar people from all others, a peculiar diet was appointed them, that fo’ being people) prohibited to eat fuch things as others did, they might be kept out of their company and convetfation, and fo fron being drawn into their idolatrous practices; the rules concerning which follow; fee ch. vii. 6.

y. 3. Thou fhalt not eat any abomincble thing] God, who That is fo either in its own nature, or becaufe fortd bidden by the Lord; what are fuch are declared in here;! the following verfes.

y. 4. The/e-are the beafts which they /hall eat, &zc.] That is which they might lawfully eat of, which were allowed for their food; for they were not obclaufe, 'liged to eat of them, if they did not chufe it: she ow, the fheep, and the goat; which were creatures bo-jufed in facrifice and the only ones, yet neverthelefs they might be ufed for food if chofen. -¥. 5. The hart, the roe-buck, and the fallow deer, All of the deer kind, and very agreeable *.!food; harts were very common in che land of Caaan and parts adjacent; Zlianus{ays» harts are bred shea) the great mountains in Syria, Amanus, Lebanon and Carmel: the roe- buck, or Dorcas, trom whence a good woman had her name, 4é. ix. 36. is fpoken Buwaljof by Martial ™ as very delicious food, and fo are fallow deer; the word Fachmur here ufed, having the fignification of rednefs in it, may be ufed for that fort which are called red deer: it is obferved that in the 4radic language it is ufed for an animal with two horns, living in the woods, not unlike an hart, but fwifter than that; and it is afked, is it not the Ace or Elch?* and the.wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois; the wild goat is reckoned by Pliny ’ among the half wild creatures in Africa; according to the philofopher * there are none but in Syria, on which Canaan bordered, and were very remarkable ones, having i-jears a fpan and nine inches long, and fome reached to the ground. The Hebrew name for this creature theirlis 4kko; and there is a four-footed wild beaft, by the Tartarians called Akkyk, and by the Turks, Akoim, and which with the Scyzhians and Sarmatians are tobe met with in flocks; it is between a hart and a ram, its body whitifh, and the flefk exceeding fweet*; it feems to be the fame with the Zrage- /apbus, of which there were in radia, as Diodorus

Siculus* fays; the next is the pygarg, which we fo render from the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin verfions, or white buttocks, fo called from the hinder part of it being white; a fpecies of the eagle with a white tail is called a pygarg, but here a four-footed aniinal is meant; and which is mentioned as fuch along with hinds, does and goats by: Herodotus*, Alian", and Pliny; it has its name Difbon in Hebrew, from its afh-colour, and the Tragelaphus, or goat-deer, has part of its back afh-coloured, and has afh-coloured {pots or ftreaks on its fides ‘: fome take it to be the Strepficeres, a kind of buck or goat with writhed horns, which the Africans, as Pliny fays*, call Addaca, which is thought by fome to be a corruption of A/-Daj/hen, fo Funius; the Targum of Fonathan takes it for the Unicorn or Rhinoceros; and the Talimudifts fay * that the unicorn, though it has but one horn, is free, z.e. lawful to be eat: the wild ox was common in Arabia; Strabo’ {peaks of multitudes of wild oxen in fome parts of Arabia, on the flefh of which and other animals the Arabians live; in the Septuagint verfion ‘it is called the Oryx, which is a creature that has but one horn, and divides the hoof *, and fo might beeaten; fee the note on / li.

20. the laft the Chamois, has a French name, and is a creature of the goat-kind, from whofe fkin the chamois leather is made; in the figure of its body it feems to approach very much to the ftag kind!; perhaps it is the fame with the Cemas of filian™, mentioned by him along with roe-bucks. Some take it to be the Zarandus, of which Pliny fays" it is of the bignefs of an ox, has an head bigger than a hart and not unlike it; its horns are branched, hoofs cloven, and is hairy like a bear. In the Targums of Onkelos and Fonathan this is the Pygarg; thefe feveral forts of beafts were allowed to be eaten; the three firft there is no difficulty about them, but the other feven, it is hard to determine what they are, at leaft fome of them. Dr. Shaw ° thinks that the deer, the antilope, the wild bear, the goat-deer, the white buttocks, the buffalo and jeraffa may lay in the beft claim to the Ailee, Tzebi, Yachmur, Akko, Difoon, Thau, and Zomer, here.

y¥. 6,7, 8. And every beaft that parteth the hoof, - &c.] In this and the two following verfes two general rules are given, by which it might be known what beafts were fit for food and what not; one is, if they parted the hoof, and the other if they chewed the cud, fuch might be eaten; but fuch that only chewed the cud, but did not divide the hoof, as the camel, hare and coney, might not be eaten, and fo if they divided the hoof, and did not chew the cud, as the fwine, they were alike unlawful; fee the notes on Lev. xi. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

y.9, 10. Thefe ye foall eat of, all that are in the waters, &c.] ‘The fifhes there, even fuch as have fins and fcales, but they that have not were not to be eaten; fee the notes on Lev. xi. 9, 10, 11, 12.

y. 11. Of all clean birds ye fall eat.] Which the Targum of Jonathan defcribes, every one that has a craw, and whofe crop is naked, and has a fuperfluous talon, and is not rapacious; but fuch as are unclean are exprefied by name in the following verfes, fo that all except them might be reckoned clean and fit for food. Maimonides » obferves, were not killed in a proper manner. gums of Onkelos and Fonathan call him an uncir-

Joalt not feethe a kid in its mother’s mi,

that only the number of the unclean are reckoned, fo that all the reft are free.

¥. 12. But thefe are they of which they fhall no eat, &c.] Farchi obferves, that the unclean birds are particularly mentioned, to teach that the clean fort are more than the unclean, and therefore the particulars of the feweft are given; thefe are all the fame names as in Lev. xi. 13—19. excepting one, the glede, ¥.13. which is a kind of kite or puttock; the Feru/alem Targum renders it the vulture, and the Targum of ‘fonathan, the white Dayetha or vulture; and Ariffotle fays * there are two forts of vultures, the one {mall and whiter, the other larger and of many forms or colours; in Hebrew its name here is Raab, and is thought to be the fame with Daahin Lev. xi. 14, there tranflated the Vulture, which has its name there from flying, and here from feeing, for which it is remarkable; fee

Job xxviii. 7. and the letters = and 5 are pretty much alike and are fometimes changed, but chere is another here in ¥. 13. mentioned, the Dayah, which is not mentioned in Lev. xi. though fome think it the fame with the Aya, rendered both here and there the Kite; perhaps it means another fort of vulture, the black vulture, as the Targum of Jonathan.

¥. 19. And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean, &c.}] Which the Targum of Fonatban thus paraphrafes; ‘¢ all flies and wafps (or hornets) and worms of lentiles and of beans, which are feparated from food, and fly as birds, they are unclean; fee the notes on Lev. xi. 20, 23.

¥. 20. But of all clean fowls ye may eat.) Even

of all fowls but thofe before excepted; ben Ezra inftances in the locuft, as being a clean fowl, that might be eaten; and fo the Zargum of Jonathan is ** every clean locuft ye may eat”; fee Lev, xi. 22.

¥. 21. Ye foall not eat of any thing that dieth of This law is repeated from Lev, xvii. 15. fee the note there: thou shalt give it unto the

|ftranger that is in thy gates, that be may eat it; not to the profelyte of righteoufnefs, for he might not eat of it any more than an J/raelite, and if he did, he was obliged to wafh his cloaths, and bathe himfelf in water, and was unclean until the evening, as\in Lev, xvii. 15. but to a profelyte of the gate, who took upon him, as Farchi obferves, not to ferve idols, one that has renounced idolatry, but has not embraced the Yewi/h religion; fuch an one might eat of things that died of themfelves, or The Tar- cumcifed ftranger or profelyte, who had not fubmitted to circumcifion, as the profelyte of righteoufnefs did: or thou mayeft fell it unto an alien, an idolater, one that was neither a profelyte of righteoufnefs nor of the gate, an entire alien from the commonwealth of J/rae/; one that was occafionally in the land of Canaan, or was travelling in it or through it, to fuch an one it might be fold: for thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God; feparated from all others, and devoted to his fervice, and therefore muft live on clean food and good meat, and not eat what others pe, thou the third time this law is mentioned; tee 4d od. xxiii. 19. and xxxiv. 26, and the notes there; —

Ch.xiv.¥.22—29. DEVUTERONOWMY. 5 the reafon of which repetition the Fewi/ writers fay *, is, that it is once faid to forbid the eating it, a fecond time to forbid any ufe of it or profit by it, and a third time to forbid the boiling of it.

y..22. Thoy fhalt truly tithe all the increafe of thy feed, &c.] This was a different tithe from that which was made and given to the Levites, and out of which a tithe was taken and given to the priefts, and which they only eat of, but this; as appears by the following verfe, was what the owners themfelves eat of, and fo the tithing was left to be made by them themfelves, and which they were to. be fure to make, and to make it truly and faithfully: that the field bringeth forth year by year; being ploughed and fowed yearly, the produce of it was to be tithed yearly; the Fewz/h writers * obferve on this, that it muft be what the earth produces and is fit for food; and it muft be ¢hy feed, which is fpecially thine and is not common, but has an owner, and this excludes mufhrooms, &c. which thou foweft not, and therefore can’t be called thy feed.:

¥. 23. And thou foalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he ball chufe to place bis name there, &c.| See ch. xii. 5. there the tithe of all the fruits of the earth was to be eaten; this is the fecond tithe, as the Targum of Fonathan, and fo Farchi, and which is more particularly defcribed as follows: the tithe’ of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil; fee ch. xii. 17. and the note there: and the firftlings of thine herds, and of thy flocks, of which fee the note on the above place: that thou mayeft learn to fear the Lord thy God always; which fuch a conftant practice would inure unto; fee on, xX 12.

y. 24.-And if the way be too long for thee, &c.] The way from the place where any J/rae/ite might live, to carry it; the tithe and the firftlings, it would be too expenfive or too troublefome in any way that could be devifed: or if the place fhall be too far from thee, which the Lord thy God fhall chufe to fet bis name there; which by the event appeared to be the city of Ferufalem, and this from fome parts of the land of Canaan was very diftant: when the Lord thy God hath bleffed thee, with a large increafe of the fruits of the earth, and of flocks and herds.

¥. 25. Thou fhalt then turn it into money, &c.] The tithe, which would be lighter and eafier carriage: and bind up the money in thine band, put it into a bag or purfe, and tie it up and carry it in the hand; which fome think was ordered, that it might not be mixed with other money; but it feems only to have refpect to journeying and making it fit for that. ‘The Yewyh writers *, fome of them give a different fenfe of the word we render bind up, and interpret it of marking the filver, Or impreffing a form, figure or image on it with the hand; they mean that it muft be coined money; fo Maimonides“, they mayn’t prophane the facred tithe with money not coined, nor with money not current, nor with money which is not in a man’s power; for it is faid, in thine hand; which the man is poffeffed of and is his own property: and fhalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God fall chufe carrying the money along with him, for which he fold the tithe. y¥. 26. And thou fhalt beftow that money for what- _foever thy foul lufteth after, &c.] He might buy what provifion he would with it, what he beft liked, and was moft agreeable to his appetite: for oxen, or for fheep; he might purchafe beef or mutton, or any other fort of meat that could be got, and was lawful to be eaten, as before direted: or for wine, or for ftrong drink, to drink with his food, whether wine or any other liquor; the Targum of Jonathan is, wine new or old which he chofe; but the latter, ftrong drink, ben Ezra fays was a liquor made of honey and of dates, of wheat and of barley: or for whatfoever thy foul defireth; whether eatable or drinkable: and thou fhalt eat there before the Lord thy God; he having put his name in that place and dwelling there, as the Lord did in the temple of Yerufalem: and thou fhalt rejoice, thou and thy houfbold; eat their food with chearfulnefs and gladnefs, making a feaft of it and keeping it as fuch, he and his whole family, his wife and children, or as many as were with him; and all males were obliged to appear at the three grand yearly feftivals, and it was at one of thefe this was to be done.

¥. 27. And the Levite that is within thy gates thou fhalt not forfake him, &c.| As not from giving him the firft tithe, as Farchi remarks, fo he was not to forget him in this; he was not to leave him behind, but take him with him to partake of this entertainment: for be bath no part nor inberi~ tance with thee in the land; fee ch. xii. 12.

¥. 28. At the end of three years thou fhalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increafe the fame year, &c.] This, according to Aben Ezra, was a third tithe, and did not excufe the fecond tithe; fo Tobit fays, ch. i. 7. ‘* 1 gaye the third tithe to the repair of the temple”, as in one copy, but, according to another, to the ftranger, fatherlefs and widow, which better agrees with what follows; but the Feewi/b writers generally underftand this as the fame with the fecond tithe, which on the two frft years from the fabbatical year was carried to ferujalem, or money in lieu of it, with which provifions were bought and eaten there, but on the third year were eaten in their own cities with the poor, and in the ftead of the other; fo fays Matmonides* on the third and fixth years from the fabbatical year, after they have feparated the firft tithe they feparate from what remains another tithe, and give it to the poor, and it is called the poors tithe, and not on thofe two years is the fecond tithe, but the poor’s tithe, as it is faid at the end of three years, &c. and ftill more exprefsly elfewhere ’; after they have feparated the firft tithe every year, they feparate the fecond tithe, Deut. xiv. 22. and on the third and fixth years, they feparate the poor’s tithe inftead of the fecond; and this was done, not at the latter end of the third year, but, as Aben Ezra interprets it, at the beginning; for the word ufed fignifies an extremity, and the beginning of the year is one extremity of it as well as the latter end of it: and Jay it up within thy gates; not to be hoarded up, or to be fold at a proper time, but to be difpofed and made ufe of as follows.

¥. 29. And the Levite, becaufe he hath no part nor inberitance with thee, &c.] Shall come and take the firft tithe, according to Jarchi; but tho’ this he was to do, yet is not what is intended here, but he was to partake of the fecond tithe, or what was in the room of it, the poor’s tithe with whom he is here joined: and the firanger, and the father- lefs and the widow which are within thy gates come; and take the fecond tithe, as the above writer rightly interprets it, and which he fays is the fall according to the way they were’ bound to eat the fecond tithe of the two years, that is, the two preceding this: tbat the Lord thy God may ble/s thee im poors of this year; fee ‘ch. xii. 12, 18.°and fhalt eat and be Jatisfed,; make a plentiful meal, eat freely as at a feaft; and, as the fame writer obferves, they were not obliged to eat it at Ferufalem, all the work of thine band which thou docft 5. as might be expeéted, when his commands, and particularly thofe refpecting the tithes and firftlings, were obeyed.

HIS chapter treats of a releafe of debts every feventh year, to which a bleffing is promifed if attendedto, ¥. 1—6, which feventh year of re- Jeafe fhould not hinder lending to a poor man in diftrefs, even though it was nigh at hand, y. 7—11..and of letting fervants go free, whether man-fervant or. maid-fervant, at the end of fix years fervitude, ¥. 12—15. but if unwilling to go, and defirous of ftaying, muft have his ear bored through with an awl, and ferve to. the year of jubilee, y¥. 16, 17,.18..and of fanétifying and eating the firftlings of the herd and flock where the Lord directs, ¥. 1g —23.

y. 1. At the end of every feven years thou fhalt make a releafe;| Not of fervants, for they were not ‘to be difmiffed from their fervice until they had ferved fix years, as is directed to in a following law; for if they were to be fet free whenever a fabbatical year came, they might be difcharged when they

“had not ferved more than a year, or than half a year, or than a month or two, Indeed when the year of jubilee intervened, they were releafed be it at what time it would; but not ina fabbatical year, which was a year of releafe of debts, as the following verfes fhew, as well as there was then a re{t of the land from tillage, Lev. xxv. 2, 3, 4. Now this was done at the end or extremity of every or brother, whether in a natural or religious fenfe, any trouble about it: the Targum of Fonathan.paraphrafes it, ‘* his brother an J/raelite;? one of the fame nation and religion with him, though he might not berelated in the bonds of confanguinity; becaufe it is called the Lord’s releafe; appointed and commandeéd by him, and was for his honour and glory, as a God gracious and merciful to the poor, and beneficent to thofe creditors; and which was proclaimed in his name, by the civil magiftrate, according to his order;. fo the Targum of Fonathan, ‘© ‘becaufe the houfe of judgment, or the fanhedrim, proclaimed it a releafe before the Lord.” Now this was typical of a réleafeof debts, or of forgivenef§ of fins, which is. an act of God’s grace through Chrift, and for his fake. Sins are called debts, not what men owe to God, for then it would be right to commit them, and they might be committed with impunity, yea with praife, fince it would be doing what is fit and right, and well-pleafing to God; but men are debtors to fulfil the law, and in cafe of failure, or a breach of it, are bound to the debt of punifhment; and thefe debts are very numerous, and men are uncapable of paying them: and bya releafe of thefe is meant not a liberty of finning, nor a freedom from the being or bondage of fin, but from the guilt of it, and from obligation to punifhment for it, and is properly the for- feventh year; not at the latter end or extremity of it, for if the debt of a poor man might be exacted of him inthe year, and until the end of it, it would not in this refpect have been a fabbatical year, or a year of reft and quiet; but this was done at the firft extremity of it, at the beginning of it, as Ezra and Ben Meélech obferve; though Maimonides» afferts it to be after the feven years were ended; for he fays, “¢ the feventh year releafeth not monies but at the end of it, according to Deut. xv. 1. that as in Deut. xxxi. 10. after feven years is meant, fo the releafe of monies is after ‘feven givenefs of fin, which is exprefled by various phrafes, as a non-imputation, a non-remembrance, a covering, blotting out, and removing of fin, and here typically a releafe of debts; fee Matt. vi. 12. and God only can make it; he is the creditor, fin 4den)is committed againft him, and he only can forgive it, which he does freely, fully, and at once; fee Luke vii. 41, 42.:;

y.3. Of a@ foreigner thou mayeft exa@ it again, &c.] Either on the feventh year, or after it: dur that which is thine with thy brother thine hand foall re/ea/e; a debt that lies between them, where the years. one is the creditor, and the other debtor, the cre-

¥.2. And this is the manner of the releafe, &c.) Or the rules to be obferved in making it: every creditor that lendeth ought unto bis neighbour fhall releafe it; that is, forgive the debt, or free the debtor from any obligation to payment. think this was only a releafe of debts for this year, in which there was no plowing nor fowing, and fo apoor man could not be in any circumftances to pay his debts, but might be exacted afterwards;) but it rather feems to be a full releafe, fo as the ayment of them might not be demanded, neither ‘this year nor afterwards; indeed, if a perfon afterwards fhould be in a capacity to pay his debts, the would be obliged in confcience, duty, and honour to pay them, though no referve was made in this law, which no where appears: be /ball not exalt it of his neighbour, or of bis brother; he might receive it, if payment was offered, but he might not demand it, or fue for it; or give his neighbour! &c. ditor fhall freely and fully forgive the debtor. So thofe only are releafed or forgiven by the Lord, who are his own, whom he has referved for himfelf, or chofen to everlafting life; who are intereft- Somejed in the covenant of his grace, one article in which is the forgivenefs of fins; and who are redeemed by the blood of Chrift, a branch of which redemption is remiffion of fin; and who are called by grace, and believe in Chrift, to whom pardon of fins is promifed; but thofe who are foreigners and ftrangers, and are not the Lord’s chofen, redeemed, and called people, have no fhare in this - blefling of grace; nor fuch who are rich in their own efteem, and need nothing; but thofe who are. poor and unable to pay their debts, and are fenfible _ of their fpiritual poverty, and apply to the Lord for the forgivenefs of their fins. ~. O) ee y.4. Save when there foall be no poor among you Then fuch a law could not take place, there would be no'debts to be releafed; for this was never defigned to fcreen rich perfons from the payment of their juft debts, or whoever were in a capacity of fo doing, only fuch as were really poor, and unable to-pay; and it fuppofes that this might fometimes be the cafe, that there were none poor in Trael, or needed the benefit of fucha law; and, according to the Targum of Fonathan, it is fuggefted there would be none, if they were obfervant of the commands of God: and fome take it for a promife, rendering the words neverthele/s *, notwithftanding fuch a law, there jhall be no poor among you; but then-it muft be underftood conditionally: others interpret this as the end to be anfwered by this law, to the end‘ there may be no poor among you; by obferving this law, all debts being releafed once in feven years, it would prevent perfons falling into diftrefs and poverty, to fuch ade- continue therein: within any of thy gates in thy land, which the Lord thy God giveththee; a native of the land was to be preferred to a. foreigner, and a brother, whether in relation or religion, to a profelyte of the gate; and the poor of a city to which a man belonged, to the poor of another city, as Farchi obferves; which he gathers from this phrafe, within any of thy gates: thou fhalt not barden thine heart, nor fhut thine hand from thy brother; {fo as not to pity his diftreffed cafe, and have no bowels of compaffion for him, and feel for his want, and fo as not to diftribute to his neceffities, and,relieve him.

¥. 8. But thou foalt open thine hand wide unto him, &c.] And give him bountifully and liberally; in order to which the heart mutt be firft opened, the affections moved, and a willing mind difpofed to give generoufly: and foalt furely lend him fuf- an as to be in want, and become beggars; and ficient for his need in that which be wanteth, enough ulian the emperor obierves, that none of the Fews begged *, which he attributes to the care that was taken of their poor: for the Lord jhall greatly blefs theein the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to poffe/s it; which is either a reafon why there would be no poor, {hould they obferve the commandments of the Lord; ora reafon why they fhould releafe the debts of the poor, becaufe they were. fo greatly blefied with a fruitful land, which brought them fuch an increafe, as enabled them to free their poor debtors, when in circumftances unable to pay them.

¥. 5. Only if thou carefully bearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, &c.| In his word, and by his prophets; this being the cafe, there would be no more poor among them, or however they would be fo bleffed-of God, that they would be capable of releafing the debts of the poor, without hurting themfelves and their families: to obferve to do all these commandments which I command thee this day, a phrafe often ufed to put them in mind of the commands of God, and the neceffity of keeping them, their temporal happinefs depending thereon.

y. 6. For the Lord thy God bleffeth thee as he promifed thee, &c.} He is faithful that has promifed, and he always gives the bleffing he promifes according to the nature of the promife; if abfolute, and without conditions, he gives it without refpect to any; but if conditional, as the promifes of temporal good things to J/rae/ were, he gives according as the condition is performed: and thou fhalt lend unto many nations, but thou foalt not borrow; fignifying they fhould be fo rich and increafed in goods, and worldly fubftance, that they fhould be able to lend to their neighbouring nations round about, but fhould ftand in no need of borrowing of any of them. This is fometimes faid of the language of thefe people, the Hebrew language, that to an{wer his prefent exigencies, but not to caufe him to abound, or to fupply him with things needlefs and fuperfluous, °

¥.9. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, &c.| Or, thy heart of Belial’; thy worthlefs heart, and which ‘is without a yoke unfubjected to the law of God, as every carnal heart is; and in which Belial, Satan, the prince of this world, works effectually, and inclines to evil thoughts, affections, and defires, which are to be guarded againit; faving, the feventh year, the year of releafe is at. hand; perhaps the next year, or within a few months: aud thine eye be evil againft thy brother, and thou give him nought, being of an uncompaffionate and covetous difpofition, fhall refufe to give or lend him any thing on this confideration, becaufe the year of releafe will quickly come, when if poor and unable to pay him, he would be obliged to releafe his debt: and be cry unto the Lord againft thee; go to the throne of grace, and in prayer bring a charge, and lodge a complaint of unkindnefs and uncharitablenefs:_ and it be a fin unto thee; the Lord fhall reckon it as a fin, a very hainous one, and call to an account for it.

¥. 10. Thou foalt furely give him, &e.] Or lend to him; though lending in fuch a cafe and circumftances, that perfon being extremely poor, and the year of releafe at hand, is the fame as giving. Jarchi remarks that money muft be given him, even a hundred times if he afks it; but the limitation is to what he wants, and whatis fufficient for his prefent wants, y. 8. and thine heart fhall not be grieved, when thou giveft unto him; grieved at parting with his money he has little or no hope of feeing again, grudging it to him to whom it is given; when, on the other hand, it fhould be given freely and chearfully, for God loves a chearful giver: becaufe that for this thing the Lord thy God it lends to all, but borrows of none,. being an ori- /hall ble/s thee in all thy works, and in all thou puttef ginal primitive language; fee ch. xxviii. 12. and.thou foalt reign over many nations; which was fulfilled in the times of David and Solomon: but they - fhall not reign over thée., that is, as long as they obferved the commands of God; otherwife, when they did not, they were carried captive into other ‘countries, and other people reigned over them, as at this day..

y. 7. If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren, &c.] As there would be, according to the Targums of Jonathan and Ferufalem, if they did not keep the commandments of the law, and

¥. 11. For the poor fhall never ceafe out of the land, &c.] There would be always fuch objects to exercife their charity and beneficence towards, ‘fob. xii. 8. which is no contradiction to y. 4. for had they been obedient to the laws of God, they would have been fo bleffed that there would have been none; fo the Targums; but he forefaw that they would not keep his commands, and fo this would

4 To the end that there be not, Ainfworth; fo the margin of the bible, corde tuo Belial, Montanus.

be the cafe, and which he foretels that they might expect it, and do their duty to them, as here directed: therefore I command thee, faying, thou foalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, not give {paringly, but largely, in proportion to the neceffities of the poor, and according to the abilities of the lender or giver; and this muft be done to a brother, one that is near in the bonds of confanguinity, and to him a man muft give or lend firft, as Aben Ezra obferves, and then ¢o thy poor; the poor of thy family, as the fame writer: and to thy needy in the land, that are in very diftrefied circumftances, though not related, and particularly fuch as are in the fame place where a man dwells; for, as the fame writer remarks, the poor of thy land are to be preferred to the poor of another place.

y. 12. And if thy brother, an Hebrew man or an Hebrew woman be fold unto thee, &c.] By others, as by the fanhedrim for*theft, for which a man might be fold, but.not a woman, as Farchi obferves; but then a father might fell his daughter for an hand-maid, if little, and under age; and to fuch cafés this law’ is fuppofed to refer; fee Exod. xxi. 2,7. and xxii. 3. though a man on account of poverty might fell himielt: and serve thee Jix years; as he was bound to do, if his matter lived fo long; if he died before the fix years were out, he was obliged to ferve his fon, but not his daughter, nor his brother, nor his heirs, as the Fewifo writers affirm ®: then in the feventh year thou joalt let him go free from thee; thatis, at the end of the fixth, and beginning of the feventh year; fee Exod. xxi. 2.

¥. 13. And when thou fendeft bim out free from thee, &c.] When he difcharged him from his fervitude, and made him a freeman: thou halt not let bim go away empty, without any thing to fupport himfelf, or to put himfelf in a way of bufinefs 5 he having in the time of his fervitude worked entirely for his mafter, and fo could not have got and faved any thing for himfelf.

14. Thon foalt furnife bim liberally, 8c.) Not only to fupply his prefent wants, but for his future ufe, and to fet him up in the world: loading thon fhalt load bim*, fo {ome render the words; give him as much as he can carry, and well ftand up under; the word ufed has the fignification of chains wore about the neck for honour or‘ornament, and fo may fignify he fhould be very honourably difmiffed, wich plain marks of honour and refpect; and the order is, to fupply him out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy wine: prefs; with fheep or lambs out of the flock, with corn out of the floor, wheat, or barley, or both, and wine out of the wine-prefs; which take in all the neceffaries and comforts of life: of that wherewith the Lord thy God bath bleffed thee, thou fhalt give untohim, be it what it will, and in proportion to it, as of money as well as goods; it is afked, How much fhall be given to him? not lefs than the value of 30 fhekels, whether of one kind or whether of many kinds, according to the thirty fhekels for the mulé& of a fervant, Exod. xxi. 32 '. All this may be an emblem both of the fervitude the people of God are in to fin, fatan, and the law, whilft in a tate of nature; and of their freedom from it by Chriff, and of the fufficiency and fulnefs of food and raiment, and large meafures of divine grace; even all things richly to “enjoy, all things pertaining to life and godlinefs, which are

‘given to bhi when brought out of that ftate; who otherwifé come out of it deftitute of all good things, having neither food nor clothes, nor money to buy either, but have all from Cérift freely and fully. ¥. 15. And thou fbalt remember that thou waft a bondman in the land of Egypt, &c.] Where they ~ were ufed hardly, and their lives were made bitter in hard bondage; and therefore fhould thew the grea'er compaffion to fervants, whofe cafe they could not but fympathize with, and have a fellow feeling of: and the Lord thy God redeemed thee 5 from the houfe of bondage and ftate of flavery, after they had been in it many years: therefore 1 command thee this thing to day; to releafe their fervants’

at theend of fix years, and not fend them away empty, but generoufly contribute to them at their difmiffion; fince when he redeemed them he gave them the {poil of Egypt, and of the fea, as Farchz remarks; they came out of their bondage-ftate with jewels, and gold, and filver, and raiment, even with great fubftance, and at the Redea their fpoil was increafed which they took from Pharaoh and his hoft when drowned there; now as they came outof their fervitude not empty but full, being fufficiently paid for their hard fervice, fo they fhould remember to give to their fervants liberally, when they made them free. ©..

¥. 16. And it fall be if he fay unto thee, I will not go away from thee, &c.] Out of his houfé, nor quit his fervice: becaufe he loveth thee and thine boufe, his matter and his family, and fo, loth to leave them, but chufés rather to {tay with them than have his liberty; hence the Jews fay*, if his mafter has not a wife and children, his ear is not to be bored: becaufe be is well with thee; lives well with him, is well ufed by him, wants for nothing, and enjoys peace’ and quietnefs, and has every thing to make him happy as fuch a ftate will admit of, and with the which he is well contented, and highly pleafed. This is an emblem of the chearful and conftant_ obedience® of the people of Chriff to him their mafter, flowing from love to him; whom they love above all perfons and things, with all their heart and foul, and his houfe alfo, the place of his worfhip, his ordinances, truths, minifters and children; and therefore chufe to be where they are, finding that they are there well uled, fare well, having bread enough and to fpare, {piritual provifions in plenty; are well clothed with the righteoufnefs of Cérij?, have the good company of the jaints and excellent in the earth, in whom is,a™ che. delight; and, above all, the prefence of their Lord and mafter, and the {miles of -

¥. 17. Then thou foalt take an aul, and thruft it through. bis ear unto the door, &c.] Not of his mafter’s houfe, but of the fanhedrim, or court of jodicature, according to the Targum re pathan, before whom he was to be brought, and declare his note on defire to continue with his mafter; fee the not Exod. xxi. 6. and be fball be thy fervant for ever; that is, unto the jubilee, as the fame ul

Targum; then all fervants were releafed, and fo archi calls it the ever of jubilee: and alfo unto thy maia vant thon fhalt do likewife, not bore her ear, fo both Farchi and Aben Ezra, and others fay was not to be bored; though fome are o

VPHITO that a maid-fervant who was willing to continue — V * with hermafter was to be bored as a man but this refpects the manner of difmi letting her go free, when fhe was not to go empt:

but to be liberally furnifhed and fupplied, as a) voted to the Lord; fo Farchi fays, to the prieft he y. 18. It fhall not feem hard to thee when thou fendeft bim away free from thee, &c.} He thould not grudge him his diberty, nor. what he gives to him when he difmifies him: for be bath been worth a double hired fervant to thee in ferving thee fix years; fince a hired fervant a man is obliged to pay him wages for his work, befides his food, whereas a bond-fervant received no wages. ben Ezra remarks, that this proves that a man might not hire himfelf for more than three years; or however, whereas a hired fervant—was fometimes hired for fo many years, and this is the longeft time of any we read of, a fervant ferving his mafter fix years, his fervice muft be worth ‘double the fervice of an hired fervant, which at mott was but three years: and the Lord thy God foall blefs thee in all thou doeft; thus well ufing thy fervants, whether men-fervants er maid-fervants.

¥. 19. All the firfiling males that come of thy herd, or of thy Flock, thou fhalt fanéify unto the Lord thy God, &c.| According to the law in &xod. xiii. 2, 12, 13. fee the notes there: shou fhalt do no work with the firfiling of thy bullock; as to plough or tread out the corn with it,. which were done with other heifers: nor /hear the firfiling of thy jeeep; nor was the wool fhorn of it to be-made ufe of; one of the Fewi/p canons runs thus, ‘ if any fpeaks; but if this refpects the J/raelites in common, then they mutt be underftood either of female firftlings or fecond firftlings, which the people voluntarily feparated, and which they were not to eat in their own houfes, dut in the place which the Lord Jeall chufe, which was the city of Ferufalem; fee ch. xii. 5. thou and thy houfbold; the houfhold of the prieft, as Aden Ezra interprets it; but if it defigns the fame as in ch. xii. 17, 18. then the J raelites and their families are meant.

¥. 21. And if there be any blemifb therein, &c.] In the firftling, as if it be Jame or blind, or have any ill blemifh: thou fealt not facrifice it unto the Lord thy Ged, blemifhes in any _beaft made it unfit for facrifices which were required; and fo all peace-offerings, vows, and free-will offerings, were to be free from any, Lev. xxii. 19g—24. fee Mal. i. 14. fuch+ were not fit for an holy facrifice or an holy feaft.

¥. 22. Thou fhalt eat it within thy gates, &c.] Though it might not be facrificed, nor eaten as an euchariftic feaft at Feru/alem, it might be eaten as common food in their own houles:, the unclean and the clean perfon fhall eat it alike; fich as were ceremonially unclean. by the touch of a dead body or the like, might partake of it with thofe that were clean, no difference was to be made: as the roe-buck and as the bart; which were clean creatures, and ufed for firftling into cloth, the cloth is to be burnt’.”

¥.23. Only thou fhalt not eat the blood thereof,

¥. 20. Thou foalt eat tt before the Lord thy\&c. God year by year, &c.| Which if underftood of male-firftlings, as in connection with the preceding Of the firftling: thou fhalt pour it upon the ground as water; fee the note on ch. xii, 16; 23, 24.

verfe, only priefts might eat of them, being de-

HIS chapter treats of the three grand yearly feftivals, of the feaft of paffover, when, where, and what was to be facrificed, how iclaufe; that he fmote all the firft-born in Egypt, and pafled over the houfes of the J/aaelites, the door-pofts being fprinkled with the blood of the to be dreffed, and in what manner to be eaten, y¥. 1—8. of the feaft of pentecoft, when to begin it, where and how it was to be obferved, ¥. g—12. and of the feaft of tabernacles, when, where, how long it was tobe kept, ¥. 13, 14, 15. which three times in the year all the males were to paffover-lamb lain that night, and therefore was a night much to be obferved; and it was in-the night Pharaoh arofe and gave them leave to go; and and;from that time they were no more under his power, and from thence may be reckoned their coming appear out of bondage; fee Exod. xii. 12, 29, 30, 31> before the Lord, and not empty; ¥. 16, 17. an'42.. order is given for the appointment of judges inthe} y. 2. Thou shalt therefore facrifice the paffover unland, toexecutejudgment, y¥. 18, 19, 20. and the to the Lord thy God, &c.] In the month 4si), and chapter is clofed with a caution againft planting in the night of that month they came outof Egypt, groves, and fetting up images, ¥. 21, 22. jeven on the fourteenth day of it at night, between ‘ithe two evenings, as the Targum ot Fonathan;

y¥. 1. Obferve the month of Abvib, &c.| Some- which was a lamb, and typical of Chri, the paftimes called Nifan; it anfwered to part of our fover facrificed for us, 1 Cor.v. 7. of the flock and

March, and part of April; it was an obfervable month, to be taken notice of; it was called 4b), from the corn then appearing in ear, and beginning to ripen, and all things being in their verdure; the Septuagint calls it the month of new fruit; it -was appointed the firft of the months for ecclefiaftic things, and was the month in which the. [ raelites went out of £gypt, and the firft paffover was kept in it, and therefore deferving of regard; fee Exed. xii. 2. and xiii. 4. for in. the month of Abib of theherd, the particle of may be' left out, and the words be rendered the flock and the berd; that is, thou fhalt facrifice alfo the offerings which were offered throughout the feven days of unleavened bread, and thefe were both fheep and oxen, Num. xxviii. 19,24. and are exprefsly called pafloverofferings and _ peace-offerings, 2 Chron, xxx, 21—24. and xxxv. 7, 8, 9. for what was ftrictly and properly the paflover was only of the flock, a lamb, and not of the herd, ora bullock; though the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by Aben Ezra {ays there were fome that thought that night; for though they did not fet out until morning,. when it was day-light, and are faid to come out in the day, yet it was in the night the Lord did wonders for them, as Ovkelos paraphrafes this here is a general term, comprehending in Egypt it was only a lamb or a kid, but now it might be a bullock; which he obferves is not Baht. It may be indeed that the word pafiover the whole paffover- paffover-folemnity, and all the facrifices of the feven days: the Yews commonly underftand this claufe of the Chagigah, or feaft of the 15th day, the firft day of unleavened bread, and fo the Targum ot Fonathan, ** and the fheep and the oxen on the morrow”; fome diftinguifh them thus, the flock for the duty of the paffover, the herd for che peace-offerings, fo Aben Ezra; or as Yarchi interprets it, the flock of the lambs and kids, and the herd for the Chagigah or feftival; in the Talmud™; the flock, this is the paflover; the herd, this is the Chagigah, fo Abendana: there was a Chagigah of the fourteenth day, which was brought with the lamb and eaten firft, when the company was too large for the lamb that they might eat with fatiety "; but this was not reckoned obligatory upon them °, but they were bound to bring their Chagigabon the paffover-lamb, as Alen Ezra, according to Exod. xii. ro. and of the flefh of flocks and herds, or of the Chagigab, according to Farchi this feripture fpeaks of the Chagigab of the fourteenth, which was not to remain on the firft day of the feaft (the 15th) until the morning of the fecond day (the 16th).

¥. 5. Thou mayeft not facrifice the paffover within any of thy gates, &c.] Or cities, as the Targum of Fonathan, fo called becaufe they ufually had gates to them, in which public affairs were tranfated; but in none of thefe, only in the city of Ferufalem, the place the Lord chofe, might they kill the paffover and eat it, and other pafloverofferings: which the Lord thy God giveth thee, in the land of Canaan, and which land was given them of God.

"15th day: 2 the place which the Lord thy God fhall chufe to place his name there, that is, at Ferufalem, as the event has fhewn; hence we read of the rents of our Lord going up to Ferufalem every year at the feaft of the paflover, Luke ii. 41. ¥..3. Thou fhalt eat no leavened bread with it, é&c.] With the paffover, as the Zargum of Fonathan exprefles it; that is, with the paflover-lamb, nor indeed with any of the paffover, or peace-offerings as follows; fee Exod. xii. 8. feven days fball ye eat unleavened bread therewith, with the fover; this plainly fhews, that by the paffover the preceding verfe is not meant ftrictly the fover-lamb, for that was eaten at once on the of the 14th of the month, and not feven days'of - y. 6. But at the place which the Lord thy God /ball chufe to place bis name in, &cc.| To place the pa-Jark and the mercy-feat with the cherubim over them, where he caufed his fhekinah, or divine majefty to dwell; and this was at Yerufalem, where the temple was built by Solomon: there thou foalt facrifice the paffover, kill and eat the pafchal lamb: a¢ ever, at the going down of the fun; between the two evenings it was killed, before the fun was fet, and afterwards at night it was eaten; the Targum paf-jof Jonathan is ‘* and at evening, at the fetting of in the fun, ye fhall eat it until the middle of the night”; pal-!az the feafon that thou cameft forth out of Egypt; night!or as the fame Targum ‘+ the time of the beginning your redemption out of Zgypt”; which was running, and therefore muft be put for the whole folemnity of the feaft and all the facrifices of it, both the lamb of the 14th, and the Chagigcah of the 15th, and every of the peace-offerings of the reft of the days were to be eaten with unleavened bread;

even the bread of affliction; fo called either from the nature of its being heavy and Jumpifh, not grateful to the tafte nor eafy of digeftion, and was thortifying and afflicting to be obliged to eat of it feven days together; or rather from the ufe of it, which was, as ‘archi obferves, to bring to re- when Pharaoh rofe at midnight. and gave them leave to go; from thence their redemption com- y. 7. And thou foalt roaft and eat it in the place which the. Lord thy God fhall chufe, &c.] The word for roaft fignifies to doil, and is juftly fo ufed, and fo Onkelos here renders it, and the Septuagint verfion both roaf and boil; but it is certain that the paffover-lamb was not to be boiled, it is exprefsly forbiden, Exod. xii. 8, 9. wherefore fome membrance the affliction they were afflicted with in Egypt: for thou cameft forth out of the land of think the Chagigab is here meant, and the other offerings that were offered at this feaft; and fo in the

Egypt in bafte,; and had not time to leaven their dough; fo that at firft they were obliged through neceffity to eat unleavened bread, and afterwards by the command of God in remembrance of it; fee Exod. xii. 33, 34, 39. that thou mayeft remember the day when thou cameft forth out of the land of Egypt, all the days of thy life; how it was with them then, how they were hurried out with their unleavened dough; and that this might be imprinted on their minds, the mafter of the family ufed?, at the time of the paffover, to break a cake times of Yo/iah they roafted the paffover with fire, according to the ordinanceof God; but the other holy offerings fod or builed they in pots, cauldrons and pans, and divided them fpeedily among the people, 2 Chron, xxxv. 13. but the paflover-lamb feems plainly to be meant here by the connexion of this verfe with the preceding verfes; wherefore Farchi obferves, that this is to be underftood of roafting with fire, tho’ exprefied by this word: and thou fhalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents; not in the morning of the 15th, after the paffover had been of unleavened bread, and fay, this is the bread of killed and eaten on the 14th, but in the morning, affliction, &c. or bread of poverty; as it is the way of poor men to have broken bread, fo here is broken bread.

¥. 4. And there fhall be no leavened bread feen with thee in all thy coafts feven days, &c.) For before the paffover they were to fearch diligently every room in the houfe and every hole and crevice, that none might remain any where; fee Zx- after the feaft of unleavened bread, which lafted feven days, was over; though fome think that they might if they would depart home after the paffover had been obferved, and were not obliged to ftay and keep the feaft of unleavened bread at Feru/alem, but march to their own cities; and fo Aben Ezra obferves, that fome fay a man may > on a feaft day to his houfe and country, but, fays he, od. xii. 15, t9. and xiii. 7. meither fhall there be any thing of the flelh which thou facrificed? day at even remain all night until the morning; we don’t agree to it; and it appears from the obthe firft Nervation of other feafts, which lafted as long as thefe, that the people did not depart to their which may be underftood both of the flefh of the menced, though they did not actually fet out until ithe morning.;