Exposition of the Whole Bible

fel,” which leads men to take wrong fteps, in things civil, or moral, or religious; all which _ are ufually done privately: and all the people foall fay Amen; fee the notes on ¥. 15, 16. _leretly, &c.

y.19. Curfed be he that perverteth the judgment | of the firanger, fatherle/s, and widow, &c.) have none to affift them, and take their part, and therefore judges may be tempted to do an unjuft thing; but God is the patron of them, and takes notice of every injury done them, and is the avenger of all fuch: and all the people fhall fay Amen; whether jto be done in fecret: and all the people hall fay Amen; as abhorring fuch inceft.: la y. 24. Curfed be he that fmiteth his neighbour fe- And kills him, and the murder is not known; the curfe of God follows fuch, and Wholjovertakes them fooner or later. Some interpret this of fmiting with the tongue, of fecret backbiting and flander; fo the Zargum of Fonathan, ** that fmiteth with the third tongue;” or falfe accufation: and all the people fhall fay Amen; as difapproving of and condemning fuch a practice, fee as before. even flander, and efpecially murder.

y. 20. Curfed be he that lieth with bis father’s) wife, &c.] As Reuben did, and which is forbidden Lev. xviii. 8. decaufe he uncovereth bis father’s frirt 5 fee ch. xxii. 30. and all the people fhall fay Amen; the tribe of Reuben faid this as well as the y.25. Curfed be be that taketh reward to flay an innocent perfon, &c.] As an affaffin, to murder him privately; or asa judge, that takes a bribe to condemn to death an innocent perfon: fo Aben Zzra obferves, that according to the fenfe of fome reft. a judge is meant; but, fays he, in my opinion a y. 21. Curfed be be that lieth with any manner of beaft, &c.|] See Lev. xviii. 23. and all the people foall fay Amen;, as being fhocking and abhorrent to' falfe witnefs; one that fwears a man’s life away for the fake of a reward given him: and all the people + hall fay Amen, at fo deteftable a crime.

human nature. y.26. Curfed be he that confrmeth not all the y. 22. Curfed be he that lieth with bis fifter, &c.}| words of this law to do them, &c.| That is, who Which is forbid, Lev. xviii. 9. the daughter of his does not perfeétly perform all that the law requires,. father, or the daughter of his mother; whether his and continues to do fo; for the law requires obefifter by father or mother’s fide: and all the people dience, and that perfect and conftant, and in fail- foall fay Amen detefting fuch uncleannefs., ¥. 23. Curfed be he that lieth with bis mother-inlaw, &c.| See Lev. xviii. 7, 8. All thefe incef- ure thereof curfes, in proof of which the apoftle produces this paffage, Gal. iii. 10. fee the note there, for the reconciliation of thefe feriptures, as tuous or brutal copulations, may well be fuppofedto what feeming difference there is between them,

N this chapter Mo/es enlarges on the bleffings and the curfes which belong, the one to the doers, the other to the tranfgreffors of the law, the bleffings, ¥. 1—14. the curfes, fome of which concern individual perfons, others the whole nation and body of people, and that both under the former and prefent difpenfations, and which had

vice, worfhip, and ordinances of God, but in alf other cities of the land; where they fhould dwell in fine, large, and fpacious houfes, and their cities fhould be walled and fenced, and be very populous; yet fhould enjoy health, and have plenty of all forts of provifions brought unto them, as well as profper in all kinds of merchandize there, as their fulfilment in their former captivities, and more efpecially in their prefent difperfion, y. Aben Ezra notes: and bleffed thalt thou be in the field, in the country villages, and in all rural ém- yx. 1. And it fall come to pafs if thou foalt bearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, &c.) In his law, and by his prophets: to obferve and to do all bis commandments, which I command thee this day; for without obferving them to do them, hearing them would be to little purpofe, and they were all of them to be obferved and done, the leffer and weightier matters of the law as they were commanded by Mo/es in the name of the Lord, and as they would be taught, explained, and en- ployments, in fowing and planting, as the fame writer obferves; in all kinds of hufbandry, in the culture of the fields for corn, and of vineyards and olive-yards; all fhould profper and fucceed, and bring forth fruit abundantly.:

¥. 4. Bleffed fhall be the fruit of thy body, &c.]

Their children, of which they fhould have many, - and thefe live; be healthful, thrive, and arrive to manhood, and increafe and perpetuate their families. Grotius thinks this was eminently fulfilled in Mary, the mother of our Lord; fee Lukei. 42.

and the fruit of thy ground, of their gardens, or- — forced by the prophets: that the Lord thy God will chards, and fields; the grafs for the cattle, and the

Jet thee on high above all nations of the earth, as they were in the timesof David and Solomon; fee the note on ch. xxvi. 19.

wheat, barley, vines, figs, pomegranates, olive and dates for the ufe of men: ah the fruit of thy cattle; which being diftinguifhed from oxen and.

y. 2. And ail thefe bleffings foall come on thee and overtake thee, &c.] After mentioned, which fhould come upon them from God from heaven, by the dire&tion of his providence, and that freely and plentifully, and beyond their expectations and deferts, and continue with them: if thou halt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God; the law being the condition of their coming and continuance; for only temporal bleffings in the fheep in the following claufe, muft be underftood of camels and affes, which were ufed for the carriage: both of perfons and burdens, and were very fer-— viceable, and were a confiderable part of their fub- _ ftance in thofe countries; fee Fob i. 3. the increafe of thy kine, and the flocks of thy fheep; of their cows _ obedience to;and oxen, and of their fheep and goats whithe._ were very increafing creatures, and in the increafe > of which much of their outward happinefs lay; fee y. 3. Bleffed thalt thou be in the city, &c.] Not) y¥. 5. Bleffed thall be thy bafket, &c.] Whie only in the city of Ferufalem, where the temple the Targums of Fonathan and Feru/alem reftrain 1 would be built, and’ there be blefiéd with the fer- the bafket of firft-fruits, and the cake of the firft of their dough; but it intends any arid every veflel in which they put their provifions for prefent ufe; and that that fhould never-be empty of them, and that they fhould always have afufficiency: and thy Store; what remained, and was laid up in barns, cellars, and ftore-houfes, for future ufe, in proper places for feed.

¥.9. And the Lord fhall eftablifh thee an holy people unto bhimfelf, &c.| Having feparated them from all others, for his fervice, honour, and glory, fhould continue them as fuch, and fettle them in the land, and confirm all their privileges, natural, civil, and religious. The Targum of Jonathan is,| *¢ the Word of the Lord fhall eftablifh thee, &c.” he that brought them out of Zgypt, through Red fea and wildernels, to the land of Canaan: as he hath fworn unto thee, and to their fathers; fee Deut. vii. 12,13. if thou fhalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways; by which tenure they held the land of Canaan, and had their fettlement and continuance in it, andenjoyment of all the good things thereof; fee Jf, i. fathers to give thee; the land of Candaii, often thus defcribed.

y.12. The Lord fhall open unto thee his good treafure, &c.] The Lord has his treafures of fnow theirjand of hail, and of wind, Fod xxxviii. 22. Pf. orjcxxxv. 7. but here his good treafure; as appears by what follows, is his treafure of rain; In the Targum of Fonathan it is faid, * there aré four In all) keys in the hand of the Lord of the whole wottds which he does not deliver into the hands of any prince; the keys of life, and of the grave, and andjof food, andof rain:” the heaven, to give therain unto thy land inits feafon, that is, he will open the heaven, where his good treafure of rain is laid up, and bring itforth on the land of Canaan for the enriching of it; or will open the windows thereof, \and pour down the bleffing; fee Mal. iii. 10. and that at the proper time, both in autumn and fpring, the one is called the former, and the other the Jatinajter rain; the one was in Marche/van, or Ofoder; andthe other in Nifan, or March, as the Targum of fonathan s the former rain for the fitting the onejearth for feed, or for watering it when fown; and the latter for the plumping of it before harvett: and to ble/s all the work of thine band; in agriculture, for without the bleffing of rain, all the labour of the hufbandman would be to little purpofe: and thou fhalt lend unto many nations, and thou fhalt not dorrow; fee the note onch. xv.16. The connection of thefe words with what goes before, may lead to obferve this fenfe of them, that they fhould furnifh other countries with corn, and not need any of theirs; fee Ezek. xxvii. 17.

¥.6. Bleffed foalt thou be when thou coméft in, and bleffed fhalt theu be when thou goeft out; their bufinefs and employments of life, whether) within doors or without; in the adminiftration of every office, whether more public or private; in all their journeys going out and coming home; and particularly when they went out to war, and returned, all fhould be attended with fuccefs.

¥. 7- The Lord fall caufe thine enemies that rife up againft thee to be mitten before thy face, &c. As the Philiftines, Moabites, Syrians, Edomites, and Ammonites were, efpecially in the times of David: they fhall come out againft thee one way; body all together, in large numbers, marching in great order, to give them battle: and flee before thee feven ways; be entirely routed, and flee fome way, and fome another, evenevery way they could take to make their efcape. The phrafe is expreffive of an entire victory, and of a compleat rout and difperfion of an enemy.

y¥.8. The Lord fhall command the bleffing upon thee inthy ftore-houfes, &c.| Barns, granaries, and cellars, where their corn, wine, and oil were laid up; by preferving the corn from being devoured by vermin, and the cafks of wine and oil from burfting and running out: and in all thou fetteft thine band unto; in all their manufactures, occupations, and trades, in which they were employed, and in the culture of their vines, olives, and other fruit-tree’: and be fhall blefs thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, with health and long life in it, and with an abundance of all good things, it being a land flowing with milk and honey.

y¥.13. And the Lord fhall make thee the bead, and mot the tail, &c.| Give them dominion over others, and not make them fubjeét to them; the head fignifies rulers and governors, and the tail the common people that are fubjects; or the one fuch that are honourable and in high efteem, and the other fuch that are mean and bafe; fee J/ ix. 14, 15. the Targum of ‘fonathan is, “* the Word of the Lord fhall make thee, &c.” and thou fhalt be above only, and thou fhalt not be beneath; which explains what is meant by head and tail, being uppermoft and lowermoft, as the head is the upper part, and the tail the lower part of a creature; the one is more honourable, the other vile: the fenfe is, that thejthey fhould be fuperior to other people in honour and dignity, and not below them, or vaffals to them: and that thou bearken to the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day to obferve and to do them, which is the condition on which all this happinefs depended..

y. 14. And thou fhalt not go afide from any of thewords which I command thee this day, &c.] Depart

19, 20. from them as a rule to walk by, turn out from

¥. 10. And all the people of the earth fball fee that thou art called by the name of the Lord, &c. Called his children, his people, his portion, and his inheritance; and that they are his, and he is theirs, by the care he takes of them, the provifion he makes for them, and the protection they have from him: and they fhall be afraid of thee; as not only the Canaanites were, but all other nations; them as a path to walk in, neglect and difobey \them, and go into practices contrary to them: turning to the right hand or to the left, to go after otber gods to ferve them, which to do was to break the firftand principal table of the law, than which nothing was more abominable and provoking to God. te y. 15. But it fhall come to pafs, if thou wilt not fee ch. xi. 25. hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, &c.] As y. 11. And the Lord fhall make thee plenteous in goods, &c.] In all temporal good things, give|to ob them an affluence of them, even all things richly to enjoy; the Targum of Fonathan is,‘ the Word of the Lord fhall, &c.” in the fruit of thy body, andin the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground; increafe their children, cattle, and fubftance, as before, ¥. 4. in theland which the Lord fware unto thy directed, exhorted, and encouraged to, y. 1, &c. erve to do all his commandments and bis flatutes, which I command thee this day; both moral and ceremonial: that all thefe curfes fall come upon thee s \from the hand of God, certainly, fuddenly, and unawares: and overtake thee, purfuing after thee will come up to'thee, and feize upon thee, though they may feem to move flowly; tee Zech. v. 3, é-

'. ¥ ‘ eee eee, t12 DEUTERONOMY. Ch xxviii.¥.16—26 namely, the curfés which follow. Manaffeh Ben Trael * divides them into two parts, the firft from hence to ¥. 45. which refpeéts the deftruétion the firft temple, and the things that went before or related to that; and the fecond from thence to the end of the chapter; which he thinks refers to the deftruétion of the fecond temple, and their prefent cafeand circumftances; and it muft be owned that for the moft part the diftinction may feem to hold good; what is prophefied of that fhould befal the Jews for their difobedience, being more remarkably and diftinétly fulfilled in the one than in the other; yet there are things in the whole whichjit tefpect both, or that were fulfilled, fome under one difpenfation, and fome under another, and fome that were fulfilled in both; but chiefy and more manifeftly, at and fince their difperfion by the Xofluids are wafhed off, and men are reduced ii and bones: and with a fever; a hot-bt; ofjeafe, which dries up the radical moifture, it, and fo threatens with death; of which are various forts, and fome very peftilential and mortal. archi and Aben Ezra interpret it of a fire in the face, by which they feem to mean what is called St. Aythony’s fire: and with an inflamma- éion, and with an extreme burning; either in the inward parts, as an inflammation of the lungs; or in the outward parts, as carbuncles, burning ulcers, — and the like: and with the fword; inthe margin is, with drought; {0 Aben Ezra interprets the word, which feems better to fuit with what itis in company with; and defigns either drought in human bodies, occafioned by fevers, inflammations, and extreme burnings; or in the earth, through — mans. the force of the fun, and want of rain, which y. 16. Curfed thalt thou be in the city, &c.] From hence to the end of ¥. 19. thecurfes are delivered out in form, as the reverfe of the bleffings in ¥. 3,4, 5,6. and by obferving what the bleffings mean, the fenfe of the curies may eafily be underftood, the one being dire€tly oppofite to the render the earth barren and unfruitful, and fo caufe a famine: and with blafting and with mildew; whereby the corn that is fown, and fprings up, comes to nothing, being blafted by eaft-winds, or ~ turns pale and yellow by the mildew, and fo withers. — away; the confequence of which is want of food, other. and fo deftruction and ruin; fee Amosiv. 9. and y. 20. The Lord fhall fend curfing, &c.} Which is either a general word for all that follows, or rather, fince that had been exprefied before in various inftances, this may denote fome particularjudgment. archi interprets it of penury, of want of all good things, extreme poverty, fo as to be reduced to the utmoft néceffity, and as to ftand need of the common comforts and fupports of life, and even to have their bleffings and mercies turned into curfes; the confequence of which mutt needs be vexation;

y.21. The Lord fhall make the peftilence cleave \ unto thee, &c.| Not only tocome upon them, but to continue with them: autil be have confumed thee from off the land whither thou goeft to poffefsit; which fhews that this refpects not fome particular feafons, when the peftilence came and continued a while, and then ceafed, as in thetimes of David; but when it became more general, and iffued with other judgments in the utter confumption of them, as at the deftruction of Ferufalem, both by the Babylonians and the Romans; at what times the peftilence raged and remained, until by that and other fore judgments the land was wholly depopulated. they fhall purfue thee until thou perifp; follow hard. after them, and come fo clofe one after another upon them, until they are utterly deftroyed.

y. 23. And the heaven that is over thy head foall e bra/s, &c.] Or like brafs, not for its clearnefs, brightnefs, and fplendor, or for its being {pread injout like a molten looking glafs which was of bras, %ob xxxvii. 18. but for its drinefS and hardnefs, no moifture being in it, or pafling through it; no fhowers of rain nor dew being let down from trouble, diftrefs, and an-Jit: and the earth that is under thee thall be iron; this may well be con-jor like iron, hard and impenetrable, into whith providencejthe plow and fpade will not enter; norany thing pring out of it, for want of rain and dew to moiten and foften it. The fame is faid in Zev. xxvi. 19. only there is an inverfion of the figures; there the heaven is faid to be as iron, and the earth like brafs, but fignify the fame thing.;

guith of fpirit: and rebuke;

fidered as a rebuke and correction in for fins committed, to awaken toa fenfe and ac-| knowledgment of them, and to repentance forj} them: i all that thou fetteft thine hand to do, nothing done fhould profper, to relieve them under their prefing wants, a curfe attending all their efforts, and fo fad difappointment follows; and all as a juft rebuke for their many fins: and this would be their cafe more or lefs, uxtil thou be defiroyed, and until thou perifo quickly; mine, and want of the common neceffaries of life; as at the fieges of Samaria and Ferufalem, by the kings of Syria, Affyria, and Babylon: becaufe of the wickednefs of thy doings, becaufe thou baft forfaken me; their feveral immoralities and impieties, and particularly their idolatry, which was a forfaking the worfhip of the true God, and following idols; an iniquity to be punifhed by the judge, and of all things the moft provoking to the Lord.

y.24. Zhe Lord foal) make the rain of thy land powder and duft, &c.] That is, inftead of fhowers of rain in their feafon, to water, refrefh, and enrich the through fa-Jearth, and make it fruitful; and for want of them, and thro’ the heat of the fun, being dried and parched, and its clods crumbled into duft, this fhould be raifed up into the air by the force of winds, and let down again in fhowers of dutt; whereby the few herbs, plants, or green trees onit, would be utterlyde~ {troyed: and fo the Targum of Fonathan interprets. Jit, of the Lord’s fending a wind that fhould raife the duft and earth upon the herbs of their fields. Such plowing winds, that caft up the earth and and, and duft into the air, whereby men and ¢attle are fometimes covered, are frequent in the eaftern countries; of which. fee the note on Fon. iv. 8. from heaven fhall it come down upon thee until thou de deffroyed; that is, from the air, up to which the duft is carried by the wind, and then let fall in vaft quantities, like fhowers, which are very deftrt tive. a y.25. The Lord fhall caufe thee to be fmitten be fore thine enemies, &c.] And by them, as they fometimes were by the Pbilifines and others, | fore their utter deftru€tion, when they finned a 3 the Lord; and by the Arians, Babylon x. 22. The Lord foall fmite thee with a confumption, &c.] An emaciation of their bodies, either through famine or wafting difeaies, whereby the

Romans: thou foalt go out one way agai ip t be ee feven ways before them; march out againft, in a body, promifing themfelves viétory, but 1B terly routed; fo that they fhall flee every way they can for their fafety; fee ¥. 7. and foall be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth; this fhews that Manaffeh’s diftinétion, obferved y¥. 15. will not ftrictly and entirely hold good, nor is there any neceflity to adhere clofely to it; it isenough that the things threatened and prophefied of were at. one time or another fulfilled in thefe people; for neither the ten tribes, when taken captive by Salmanejer, were carried into all the kingdoms of the earth, only to fome particular places mentioned in 2 Kings xvii. 6, nor the two tribes by Nebuchadnez zar, who were carried by him to Babylon, and returned from thence again at the end of feventy years; but this was exactly fulfilled at their laft deftruction by the Romans, when they were fent by them into divers countries, and have been ever fince feattered about in the feveral nations of the world. And yet it muft be owned that Strabo®, who wrote before the laft deftruction of them, affirms, that it was not eafy to find any place in the world which had not received them, and was not occupied by them.

¥. 26. And thy carcafe foall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beafts of the earth, &c | Which was always reckoned a very grievous calamity, to have no other burial, than ‘in the bowels of beafts and birds; and was the cafe of many of the Fews in the Antiochian perfecution, Pf. lxxix. 2. and in a treatife of theirs®, which relates their many afflictions and fufferings in their prefent captivity, fpeaking of a perfecution of them in Spain, in the year 5172, it is reported, how that thofe that fied to avoid punifhment were killed in the fields, where their carcafes lying unburied became a prey to beafts: and no man fhall fray them away; the fowls and the beafts; none of their friends being left to do it, and their enemies would not fhew fo much refpect to them, and care of them.

¥. 27. The Lord will {mite thee with the botch of Egypt, &c.] Which fome underftand of the leproly, of that fort of it called Elephantiafs, frequent among the Egyptians; fee the note on Lev. xiii. 2. T bevenot * relates, that when the time of the increafe of the Nile expires, the Egyptians are attended with fharp prickings in their fkin like needles. So Vanfeb fays*, ** the waters of the Nile caufe an itch in the fkin, which troubles fuch as drink of them when the river increafes. This itch is very f mall, and appears firft about the arms, next upon the ftomach, and fpreads all about the body; which caufes a gricvous pain; and not only the riverwater, but that out of the cifterns drank of, brings it, and it lafts about fix weeks.” Though fome take this botch to bethe botclr and blain which the Ligyptians were plagued with for refufing to let J - yael go, Exod. ix. 9, 10. and with the emerods; or heemorrhoides, the piles, a difeafe of the fundar ment, attended fometimes with ulcers there; fee 1 Sam.v. 9g. and with the fcab and with the itch; the one moift, the other dry, and both very diftreffing: whereof thou canft not be healed; by any art of men; which fhews thefe to be uncommon ones, and from the immediate hand of God.

y.28. The Lord foall finite thee with madnefs, &e.] At the calamities befallen them, and thro’ the force of difeafes on them: and blindnefs; not of body, but of mind; with judicial blindnefs and hardne(s of heart: and aftonifhment of heart; at the miferable condition they and their families fhould be

Srope at noon-days; as tht blind gropeth in darknefs, &c.] That is, being in darknefs through the lofs of their fight; otherwife the darknefs and the light are alike to them, and they grope in the one as well as in the other. This comparifon fhews that the darknefg and blindnefs of the ews threatened them, is to be underftood not of the darknefs of their bodily eyes, but of their minds; not being able to underftand or form a judgment of things, that are as clear as noon-day; and being at the utmoft lofs what methods to take and purfue, when they are plain and manifeft before them; but being infatuated and befotted, follow the lufts and counfels of their own hearts, which lead them wrong: and thou fhalt not profper in thy ways; in any fteps they may take to extricate themfelves out of their difficulties, di- {trefles, and calamities, or to bring themfelves into eafy and comfortable circumftances; to get wealth and riches, and honour and efteem with men; bur, on the contrary, become forlorn and miferable, poor and wretched, mean and defpicable: and thou Joalt be only oppreffed and fpciled evermore, continually, every day, all the days of their lives opprefled with taxes and tributes, with mulés and fines, and fpoiled of their goods and fubftance under one pretence or another; which has been generally their cafe in Popifh countries; for this feems not to refer to the Badbylonifh captivity, where they built houfes, and dwelt in them, and planted gardens, and eat the fruit of them; and inthe peace of cities had peace themfelves, Yer. xxix. By OR7. and no man foall fave thee; from the oppreffions, exactions, and fpoils of their enemies, nor deliver them out of their hands; whereas in procefg of time they had deliverance and falvation from the Babylonifh captivity, by the means of Cyrus king of Perfia. ¥. 30. Thou foalt betroth a wife, and another man foail lie with ber, &c.] Efpoufe a woman in order to make her his wife, and before he can take her home and confummate the marriage, through fome calamity or another coming upon them, they fhould be fet at a diftance from each other, and fhe fhould fall into the hands of another man, who either fhould ravifh her, or gain her confent to lie with her; or become his wife; which when the marriage was fo near being confummated, muft be a grievous difappointment, and a great vexation - thou foalt build an houfe, and thou foalt not dwell therein; being before it is quite finithed, or however before he is got into it, carried Captive, or obliged to flee to a diftant place: thou /halt plant a vineyard, and foalt not gather the grapes thereof; or make it common, on the fourth year to eat the fruits of it, as Zarchi,; which might not be done until fanctified and redeemed according to the law in Lev. Xix. 23, 24, 25. fee the note onch. xx. 6. ¥. 31. Lhine ox thall be fain before thine eyes, and thou fhalt not eat thereof, &c.] Shall be taken from the herd, and out of the field or ftall by the enemy, and killed for the foldiers to feed on, and not the leaft part of it given to them: shine afs Soall be violently taken away from before thy face, and Soall not be reftored unto thee; no leave thall be afked to take it, but without their confent, and againft their will, it fhould be taken away by the foldiers to carry them ard their burdens, and it may be the booty and fpoil of them, and never returned more: thy foeep thall be given unto thine enemies, and thoy foals themfelves, but they fhould be fuffered to fall into their hands, and they fhould never be able to get them out again, nor any for them. Thefe, ftriétly and literally taken, fuppofe them to be in their own land, when thofe things would be done, where] they were pofleffed of farms, and fields, and tle, being much employed in hufbandry; but they may be put for any kind of fubftance they would be spoffeffed of, which they fhould be ftript not given them by, mies, and their fheep given to them before their eyes; to have their fons and daughters taken from then rn and brought up in another religion, and to be ftript of their fubftance; thefe have made th {tark mad, infomuch that they have fometimes detroyed themfelves and their families, In Gercat- many, in their rage and madnefs, they burnta city and themfelves in it; and, in the fame country, being fummoned by an edict to change their religion, or to be burnt, they agreed to meet toge- of under one pretence or another; which has been frequently their cafe in their prefent difperfion in feveral countries, and in ours; when Popi/h princes have wanted money, they have made very exorbitant demands on the ews in their countries, and fadly fqueezed and opprefied them, and who were not able to refift them, and never had any reftoration made to them.

ther in a certain houfe, and deftroy one another; - and firft parents killed their children, and hufbands their wives, and then killed themfelves; leaving only one perfon to be their door keeper, who finifhed the tragedy by deitroying himielf, as their own hiftorian relates™. Other itories of the. like kind are reported of them, and fome, fuch faéts as done in our Own nation”.

¥. 32. Thy fons and thy daughters thall be given unto another people, &c.| This alfo was not true in the Badylonifo captivity; for then their fons and daughters went with them, and continued with them, and returned again; but has been oftentimes verified fince their captivity by the Romans; frequently their fons and daughters have been taken from them by force, to be brought up in another religion, by the ediéts of kings and popes, yt. 35. The Lord fhall {mite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a fore botch, that cannothe healed, &c. J Which, in thofe parts as it is very painful, fo is not eafily cured; and this which is threatened was incurable by the. art of man, as others ‘in y¥. 27. and which fhould not ftop there in the lower parts of the body, but proceed and fpread: from the fole of thy foot unto the top of thy bead; and fo be filled with them, as ‘0d was with his boils and and by the canons of councils, and particularly of ulcers. eae the fourth council of Toledo: and thine eyes foall look and fail, with longing: for them all the day long; expecting every day their children would returned to them, at leaft wifhing and hoping they y. 36. And the Lord fhall bring thee, and thy king which thou fhalt fet over thee, &c.| This was be fulfilled both in Fehoiachin and in Zedekiab, kings of %udab, who were carried captive to Babylon, by would; their hearts yearning after them, but all in vain: and there fhall be xo might in thy hand, to recover them out of the hands of thofe who had the poffeffion of them, or fetch them back from diftant countries, whither they were carried... By an edi& of the Portuguefe, the children of the Yews were ordered to be carried to the uninhabited iflands; and when, by the king’s command, they were had’ to the fhips in which they were to be tranfported, it is incredible, the Fewi/h hiftorian fays!, what howlings and lamentations were made by the women; and there were none pitied them and comforted them, or could help them.

¥. 33. The fruit of thy land, and all thy labour, foall a nation which thou knoweft not eat up, &c.}

The fame was prophefied of by Yeremy, concern-.

ing the Babylonifh captivity, and was fulfilled in it, Fer. v.17. and has been alfo verified in the frequent pillage and fpoil of this people, in their prefent ftate; for though they have no land to till, from whence to gather fruit, yet they are employed in manufaétures and merchandize, the fruit and benefit of which they have been frequently ftript of: and thou foalt be only oppreffed and crufhed always, this feems heft to agree with their prefent cafe; for in their former captivities, they were not always opprefled and crufhed, but had refpite and delive- ‘Ne SD ‘fee the note on ¥. 29.

thine eyes that thou foalt fee;} On account of the fhocking. things feen by them, their dreadful ca- Jamities, oppreffions, and perfecutions, fuch as be- “fore related; not only, violent difeafes on their bodies, which were grievous to behold, as well as their pains were intolerable, and made them mad; but to be deprived of a betrothed wife, a new-jin built houfe, and a new-planted vineyard; to have an ox flain, and an afs taken away by 8&c.]: And fow it plentifully 5 this and whai fome following verfes,, plainly refer~ whilft in their own land, before carried ca tive theirene-!not to their prefent cafe and circum

1234. So that thou fhalt be mad for the fight of the nations among whom they fhould be,

Nebuchadnezzar, 2 Kings xxiv, 15. and xxv, 6, 7.unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; the land of Badylon, which was ata dif-. tance from them, and is reprefented in feripture as afar of + Yer. v. 15. and which the ews not being a trading people, or dealing in merchandize ia foreign parts, were unacquainted with: amd there foalt thou-ferve other gods wood and fione; which.

they were obliged.to do in Babylon, of which it feems beft to underftand it; for though it may be. interpreted of their compliance with the imageworthip of the Papiffs in their prefent condition, as the former claufe may be of their rulers and governors, included in the name of king, carried captive by the Romans; who were a nation as little, - if not lefs known than the Babylonians: but the former fenfe feems to fuit beft here, as this does with ¥. 64. where the language is fomewhat different, and very appofite. The Targum of Fonathan is, ** fhalt pay tribute to thofe that worfhip a idols of wood and ftone.”’ he ster

¥. 37. And thou fhalt become an aftonifoment, &c.] To neighbouring nations, that rae hence their overthrow and captivity, and that fhall fee the miferable condition they are brought into: @ proverb and a by-word among all nations whither the a Lord foall lead thee; both for the wickednefs com-_ mitted by them, and for'the ill ufage of them t igs are were in the Babyloni/h captivity; fee Fer. XXIV. ¢ “ 1 now are, it being common to fay, “ do you th [am a Jew 2” or, ** none buta Few would har done fuch a thing.” > oe ¥. 38. Thou foalt carry much feed into the fila

. alt gather but little in at barveft; little pringing

4, or not coming to perfeétion, being blighted nd blafted, and io yielded but a {mall crop;. fee ‘lagg.i. 9. and chiefly for the following reafon:

or the locuft foall confume it; which ‘isa great de- itroyer of the fruits of the earth 5 fee Foeli. 4. ¥. 39. Thou foelt plant vineyards, and drefs them, &c.] Plant them and prune them, in expec- ration of much fruit from them: dut /ball neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; {o far from drinking of the wine of them, that they fhould not be able to gather any grapes from them: for the worms foall eat them, a fort of worms pernicious to vines, which the Greeks call ipes, or 1kes ° 3 and the Latins convolvuli and vel- voces, as Pliny’.. ¥. 40. Thou fhalt have olive-trees throughout thy coafis, 8cc.] inthe feveral parts of the land of Canaan, which is therefore called aland of oil-olive, ch. viii. 8. but thou fhalt not anoint thyfelf with the oil; nor any other relations, friends, guefts, as was

38, 46. for the phrate thy/e/f is not the text. The reafon why they fhould not anoint is, becaufe they would have no oil to anoint with: for thine olive

Jfoall cafe bis fruit 5 before it is ripe by one means or another, as by winds, or blafting and mildew,

¥. 41. Thou foalt béget fons and daughters, but tl ou foalt not enjoy them, &c.| Or, they foall not be thine*; being taken from them, and given to others, fee ¥. 32. and for the following reafon: for they hall go into captivity, as when the ten tribes were carried captive by Salmanefer, and the two tribes by Nebuchaduezzer, and all the people of the Jews by the Romans.

¥. 42. All thy trees and fruit of thy land fhall the Jocuft confume,| Which is a creature that not only confumes grafs and herbs, and the corn of the ficld,, but all green trees; fee Exod. x. 15. This fort here has its name from the fhade they make, hiding the light of the fun, and darkening the face of the earth at noon-day; or from the noife they make with their wings in flying, Ii. 4.

. 43. The flranger that is within thee fhall get up above thee very high, &c.] In wealth and riches, in power and authority, in honour and dignity. This Manaffeh Ben Ifrael* interprets of the Samaritans, whom the king of Afyria drove out of Samaria, and the neighbouring places; but the defizn of the expreffion is, to fhew how mean and abject they fhould be in another country; that even one who had been a ftranger or profelyte of the eate when in their own country, fhould now be valtly above them: and thou fhalt come down very lew; into a very mean condition, to be in great fubjection, a vaflal and a flave; fee Pf. cvi. 41, 42. and much more when reduced by the Romans, and fent to the mines in Egypt. a

¥.44. He fhail lend to thee, and thou Jhalt not lend to bim, &c.] The ftranger, or one of another nation, fhall be in a capacity of lending to the ew, when the Few would not be able to lend to the Gentile, his circumttances being fo low and mean; to fhew which is the defign of the expreffion, and not the kindnefs or unkindnefs of either; fee ¥. 12. be fhall be the head, and thou fhalt be the tail; he fhallbe ruler and governor, and thou fhalt be fubject to him; fee ¥. 13.

¥. 45. Moreover, all thefe curfes fall tome upon thee, &c.] Before related, as well as what follow: and foall purfue thee, and overtake thee; which tho? they would endeavour to flee from and efcape, fhould not be able, fince they would follow them fo clofely and fwiftly, and overtake them, and feize upon them; fee y. 15. becaufe thou hearkeneft not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep bis commandments and bis ftatutes which he commanded thee, to which difobedience all the curfes are to be imputed, that go before, or follow after.

¥. 46. And they fall be upon thee for a fign and for a wonder, &c.| That is, thofe curfes before pronounced, and what follow, fhould reft and remain upon them, continue with them, and be very vifible on them; fo as to be oblerved by others, as a fign of the wrath and difpleafure of God, and of the fulfilment of prophecy, and of the truth of divine revelation: and fo for a wonder; as it is moft aftonifhing to obferve, how exactly all the curfes threatened them have fallen upon them, and have abode with them, as they did in their former captivities, and more efpecially do in the prefent one: and what is the greater wonder, that notwithftanding thefe dreadful calamities, and fo long continued, enough to have crufhed any people from being a people; yet they have continued, and ftill do continue, a diflinét people; which is a ftanding miracle, and one would think fufficient to convince the moft hardened and obftinate deift of the truth and authority of the facred fcriptures; in which {tand fo many glaring prophecies that have been fulfilled, and are continually fulfilling in this people: and upon thy feed for ever; this fhews that thefe curfes faid to be upon them, not only refer to thofe that came upon them at, and in the Babylonifo captivity; but to thofe that came upon them at their deftruction by the Romans, and which have continued on them feventeen hundred years; and how much longer they will continue, none can fay: it will be their cafe, until new heavens and a new earth are created, or there will be a new ftate of things, at leaft with them; when they fhall be converted to the Lord, and all J/rae/ faved; fee I.

Ixv. 17, 18. Rom. xi, 25, 26. and it may be obferved, that the ten tribes carried captive never returned. ¥. 47. Becaufe thou fervedft not the Lord thy God, &c.] By attending his worfhip, and keeping his commandments: with joyfulne/s and gladnefs of heart, for the abundance of all things, which they enjoyed in the land of Canaan, a land that abounded with all good things; which laid them under great obligations to ferve the Lord: and yet, as they were wanting in a ready attendance on his worfhip, and in achearful obedience to his lawss fo in their facrifices of praife and thankfgivings for their manifold mercies; and becaufe of all this, the curfes written in this book came upon them. ¥. 48. Therefore fhalt thou ferve thine enemies, which the Lord fball fend againft thee, &c.] Since they would not ferve the Lord their God, who was fo good a mafter to them, and fupplied them with all good things, and with plenty of them, they fhould ferve other lords, their enemies, whom God would raife up and fend againft them; not only the Affyrians, Chaldeans, and Babylonians, but the Romans after defcribed, whom they fhould find hard mafters, and from whom they fhould have very fevere ufage, and fhould be in hunger and in thirft, and in nakedne/s, and in want of all good things; being deftitute of food, and drink, and 2 raiment, fo in famifhing and ftarving circumftances: and he foall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck; bring them into a ftate of fubjeCtion to their enemies, which would be intolerable tothem, and from which they and other things, might be difficult, and hard to — would not be able to free themfelves, any more than to break an iron yoke; which, as it agrees with the Badbylonifh captivity, and their fubjection in that ftate; fee Yer. xxviii. 13, 14. fo more efpe-