The Mystery of Esau and Ephraim

Deuteronomy 5

¹ And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. — and Moses called all Israel; the heads of the various tribes, and elders of the people, as he had on occasion been used to do;

— and said unto them, hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day; the laws, ceremonial and judicial, which he was about to repeat, and afresh declare unto them, being what they had all a concern in, and under obligation to regard.

² The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. — the Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb; which is Mount Sinai;

³ The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day. — the meaning may be “not with our fathers” who died in the wilderness, in consequence of their rebellion, and to whom God did not give the rewards promised only to the faithful;

— but “with us,” who alone, strictly speaking, shall enjoy the benefits of this covenant by entering on the possession of the promised land.

⁴ The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire — the Lord talked with you face to face; personally and immediately, and not by the mouth or ministry of Moses; plainly and certainly, as when two men speak face to face; freely and familiarly, so as not to overwhelm and confound you;

— out of the midst of the fire; in which he descended, and with which the mountain was burning all the time he was speaking; which made it very awful, terrible and frightening.

⁵ (I stood between the Lord and you at that time to show you the word of the Lord, for ye were afraid by reason of the fire and went not up into the mount), saying:

— for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount; lest they should be consumed by it: and indeed bounds were set about the mount, and they were charged not to break through;

⁶ “‘I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. — this is an introduction of God himself to the children of Israel;

— the word “Lord” is expressive of authority or dominion; and God, who by natural claim as well as by covenant relation was entitled to exercise supremacy over his people Israel, had a sovereign right to establish laws for their government;

— and he wrote them upon two tables of stone; to denote the durableness of them; the Targum of Jonathan says on tables of sapphire;

⁷ “‘Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. — idols are, at the very best, only masks which man puts upon the face of God, insulting to his dignity, and tending to conceal him from our view.

⁸ Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth. — graven image; hast thou not formed any gross image of God in thy mind? Hast thou always thought of him as a pure spirit, whom no man hath seen, nor can see?

⁹ Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me, — the Targum says

thou shalt not worship them or do service before them; for I am the Lord your God, a jealous and avenging God, taking vengeance in jealousy; remembering the sins of wicked fathers upon rebellious children to the third generation and to the fourth of them that hate Me, when the children complete to sin after their fathers; Deuteronomy 5:8 Targum Jonathan

¹⁰ and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments. — but keeping mercy and bounty for a thousand generations of the righteous who love Me and keep My mandates and My laws, Targum Jonathan

¹¹ “‘Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain. — the Lord will not hold him guiltless; punishment will assuredly overtake the perjured man, if not in this life, then in another.

¹² “‘Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. — it is taken for granted, that the sabbath was instituted before. God’s blessing and sanctifying a seventh day is derivedn right from the beginning, (Genesis 2:3) so that this was not the enacting of a new law, but the reviving of an old law.

¹³ Six days thou shalt labor and do all thy work, — that all should be done on the six days that could possibly be done, and nothing left to be done on the seventh;

¹⁴ but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates, that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.

— resting from every work is the basis of the observance of the Sabbath; it shall be a day of holy rest from things worldly, and of devotion to things heavenly;

¹⁵ And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm; therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day. — in the land of Egypt; for Egypt was an house of bondage, and there the Israelites were made to serve in hard bondage;

— of which they are reminded, that their hearts might be touched with it, and inclined to show pity to persons in somewhat similar circumstances; calling to mind how sweet a little rest would have been unto them when in Egypt;

¹⁶ “‘Honor thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee, that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. — that thy days may be long, that their, that is, thy parents, may prolong thy days, or the days of thy parents’ life;

¹⁷ “‘Thou shalt not kill. — from the peculiar duties owed by children to their parents, the Divine legislator went on to lay down those general duties which men owe to their fellow-men.

¹⁸ “‘Neither shalt thou commit adultery. —  thou shalt not commit adultery; this commandment forbids all acts of uncleanness, with all those desires which produce those acts and war against all kinds of filthiness, as bestiality, sodomy, whoredom, fornication.

¹⁹ “‘Neither shalt thou steal. — either by deceit or violence, or without his knowledge and consent, take away another man’s goods;

²⁰ “‘Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbor. — this forbids; speaking falsely in any matter, laying false charges, lying, equivocating, and any way devising and designing to deceive our neighbour.

²¹ “‘Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbor’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbor’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbor’s.’ — thou shalt not covet; the foregoing commands implicitly forbid all desire of doing that which will be an injury to our neighbour;

²² “These words the Lord spoke unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice; and He added no more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone, and delivered them unto me.

²³ And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness (for the mountain did burn with fire), that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes and your elders. — after giving the Ten Commandments, the Exodus version ended with

And all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off. Exodus 20:18

²⁴ And ye said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God hath shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.

— the appearance of fire in which the Lord was, “and his greatness,” of the thunders and lightnings, and the voice of the trumpet; and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire;

²⁵ Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall die.

— for this great fire will consume us: if it continues, and we are exposed to it; perhaps some of them might remember the fire that burnt in the uttermost parts of the camp at Taberah, and the destruction of Korah and the two hundred and fifty men with him by fire, Numbers 11:1

²⁶ For who is there of all flesh that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?

— that hath heard the voice of the living God; who lives in and of himself, and is the author and giver of life to all his creatures, whereby he is distinguished from and is opposed unto the lifeless deities of the Gentiles;

²⁷ Go thou near and hear all that the Lord our God shall say; and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, and we will hear it and do it.’

— and we will hear it and do it; hearken to it, and receive it, as the word of God, and not man, and yield a ready and cheerful obedience, even to everything that should be required; 

²⁸ “And the Lord heard the voice of your words when ye spoke unto me; and the Lord said unto me: ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken unto thee. They have well said all that they have spoken.

— they have well said all that they have spoken; expressing such an awe and reverence of the divine Majesty, desiring to have a mediator between God and them, and purposing and promising to hearken to and obey whatsoever he should command by him.

²⁹ O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it might be well with them and with their children for ever! — and keep all my commandments always; not only one, but all, and not only at some certain times, but continually;

³⁰ Go, say to them, “Get you into your tents again.” — the people were commanded to return to their tents, and Moses was appointed to act as mediator between God and them;

³¹ But as for thee, stand thou here by Me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments and the statutes and the judgments which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.’

— stand thou here by me; on the slope of Mount Sinai by him whither he was called up; Moses was not permitted to go to his tent when the children of Israel were, but was ordered to wait upon the Lord to receive instructions from him, which he was to communicate to the people, being a kind of a mediator between God and them;

³² “Ye shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you; ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. — you shall not turn to the right hand or to the left; but walk in the way of the commandments of God, and not depart from them at all;

³³ Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.

— ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you; none are to be avoided or departed from on any consideration whatever;

— and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess; the Promise land between the two rivers.

Deuteronomy 6

¹ “Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it, — these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord commanded; not just the ten commandments repeated in the preceding chapter, but all others;

— in the land which ye shall possess; the Promise land between the two rivers; the Targum of Jonathan thus paraphrases this clause, “this is a declaration of the commandments, statutes, and judgments;”

² that thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life, and that thy days may be prolonged. — fear of the Lord their God which would ensure their divine observance of his worship and their steadfast obedience to his will;

— to keep all his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee; in the name, and by the authority of God, whose minister and messenger he was; and all, having the stamp of divine authority on them, were to be observed and kept, and not one to be neglected or departed from;

³ Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. — in the land that floweth with milk and honey; a very common periphrasis of the land of Canaan, to be the Promise land between the two rivers.

⁴ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord. — this saying among the childrten of Israel, “Blessed are we who, every morning and evening, say, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord!”

⁵ And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. — with all thy heart; it is not only the external action, but the internal affection of the mind that God requires; an affection which influences all our actions, in secret as well as in public, we must love him;

⁶ And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart; — we must, therefore, even lay the words up in our hearts; our thoughts must be daily conversant with them, and employed about them, that thereby our whole soul may be brought under the influence and impression of them;

⁷ and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou risest up. — teach them diligently, so as they may pierce deep into their hearts, that they are to love him, fear him, serve, and worship him;

⁸ And thou shalt bind them as a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. — the Jews understand this literally, of binding a scroll of parchment, with this section and others written in it, upon their left hand, as the Targum of Jonathan here interprets the hand;

⁹ And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house and on thy gates. — the Targum of Jonathan here, fix them in three places, over against the bed chamber, upon the posts of the house, and on the gate at the right hand of it;

¹⁰ “And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which He swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities which thou built not, — great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not;

— large and capacious, delightfully situated, well built, and strongly fortified, without any pains or expense of theirs; all ready for them to take possession of, and dwell in; and so should no longer reside in tents or booths, as they had for forty years past, but in spacious and noble cities;

¹¹ and houses full of all good things which thou filled not, and wells dug which thou dug not, vineyards and olive trees which thou planted not, when thou shalt have eaten and be full,

— vineyards and olive trees which thou plantedst not; which Canaan abounded with much more than Egypt, where there were but few vines and olive trees, though of both these there were more where the Israelites lived than elsewhere;

¹² then beware lest thou forget the Lord who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. — which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; into a land abounding with all the above good things, and therefore under the highest obligations to remember the Lord and his kindnesses, and to serve and glorify him: Exodus 20:2.

¹³ Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve Him, and shalt swear by His name. — and shalt swear by his name; Exodus 23:13 “Make no mention of the name of other gods” or made no covenant with any one else;

¹⁴ Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people who are round about you — ye shall not go after other gods; to serve and worship them, and swear by them;

— and which indeed are no gods, only nominal and fictitious ones; idols which are nothing in the world, and ought to have no veneration and adoration given them; to go after them is to worship them, and this is to depart from the true God, and go a whoring after false deities;

¹⁵ (for the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you), lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth. — lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee; there being nothing more apt to stir up his wrath than idolatry; or profane his statutes and commandments;

— and destroy thee from off the face of the earth; suffer them to be carried captive out of their own land, and to be scattered among the nations of the world, and be utterly destroyed.

¹⁶ “Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted Him in Massah. — as tempted him in Massah; a place so called from the Israelites tempting the Lord there, Exodus 17:7, the Targum of Jonathan adds, with ten temptations; see Numbers 14:21.

¹⁷ Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and His testimonies, and His statutes which He hath commanded thee. — you shall keep the commandments, the statutes, and the judgements, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them; whither ye go to possess it;

¹⁸ And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the Lord swore unto thy fathers, — and that thou mayest go in and possess; this should be taken with what follows, “possess,” so as “to cast out all thine enemies from before thee” (Deuteronomy 6:19).

¹⁹ to cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the Lord hath spoken. — to cast out all thine enemies from before thee; this the Lord promised, and as it seems with an oath, that he would do for them; drive out their enemies, and make way for the settlement of them in their country: as the Lord hath spoken; see Genesis 15:18.

²⁰ “And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, ‘What mean the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments which the Lord our God hath commanded you?’

— and when thy son asketh thee in time to come; or “tomorrow” that is, in later times; or any time after this, and particularly after they were in the land of Canaan, when the several laws, statutes, and ordinances appointed, would take place and be obeyed;

— what mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgements, which the Lord our God hath commanded you? what is the reason of the various rites, customs, and usages, the observance of which is directed to, such as the feasts of Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles, sacrifices, and other duties;

²¹ then thou shalt say unto thy son: ‘We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. — we were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; were brought into bondage and slavery to Pharaoh king of Egypt, into whose country their ancestors came, and where they resided many years, and at length were reduced to the utmost servitude and misery;

— and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; by the exertion of his mighty power, which the Egyptians and their king could not withstand.

²² And the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes; — and the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and sore; meaning the ten plagues, which were signs of the power of God, marvellous works, great, above the power of nature, and very sore or “evil” very distressing to the Egyptians; for they came and lay heavy;

— upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes; upon the king, his courtiers, and the whole land, and which were done publicly in the sight of the people of Israel, as well as the Egyptians; and there were some then living;

²³ and He brought us out from thence, that He might bring us in, to give us the land which He swore unto our fathers. — that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers; and put them in the possession of it; and so fulfil his promise and his oath made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob;

²⁴ And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. — to fear the Lord our God, for our good always: as it is always for the good of men, temporal, spiritual, and eternal, to fear the Lord; for there is no want to them that fear him, nor will the Lord withhold good things from them;

²⁵ And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He hath commanded us.’ — as he hath commanded us; a man must keep all the commandments of God, none excepted; and that perfectly, without the least breach of them in thought, word, or deed.

~ by Japheth on April 20, 2024.

Posted in Books of Moses