A Prophecy of Esau and Jacob

Deuteronomy 15

¹ “At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. — at the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release; the Law in this place is an extension of that which we find in Exodus 21:2, and Leviticus 25:3; there was to be a freeing of Hebrew slaves and a Sabbath for the land in the seventh year, applicable to all the Israelites.

² And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor who lendeth aught unto his neighbor shall release it. He shall not exact it from his neighbor or from his brother, because it is called the Lord’S release. — a release of debts, every poor Israelite who had borrowed money, and had not been able to pay it before, should this year be released from it;

— the Targum of Jonathan says as a son of Israel, “because the house of judgment, or the Sanhedrin, proclaimed it a release before the Lord.”

³ From a foreigner thou mayest exact it again; but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release, — a foreigner would not be bound by the restriction of the Sabbatical year, and therefore would have no claim to its special remissions and privileges;

⁴ save when there shall be no poor among you. For the Lord shall greatly bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, — to the end that there be no poor among you; and so they contain a reason of this law; namely, that none be empoverished and ruined by a rigid exaction of debts.

⁵ only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day. — to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day; a phrase often used to put them in mind of the commands of God, and the necessity of keeping them, their happiness depending thereon.

⁶ For the Lord thy God blesseth thee as He promised thee; and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.

— and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shall not borrow; signifying they should be so rich and increased in goods, and worldly substance, that they should be able to lend to their neighbouring nations round about, but should stand in no need of borrowing of any of them;

— and thou shalt reign over many nations: which was fulfilled in the times of David and Solomon: but they shall not reign over thee; that is, as long as they observed the commands of God; otherwise, when they did not, they were carried captive into other countries, and other people reigned over them, as at this day.

⁷ “If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother; — within any of thy gates; a native of the land was to be preferred to a foreigner, and the poor of a city to which a man belonged, to the poor of another city;

⁸ but thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wanteth. — and shalt surely lend him, to any within thy gates; sufficient for his need in that which he wanteth;

⁹ Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,’ and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother and thou givest him nought, and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee.

— be warned that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, and thine eye be evil against thy brother, and thou give him nought, especially on the seventh year, the year of release;

¹⁰ Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him, because for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto;

— thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him, that is, thou shalt give not only with an open hand, but with a willing and cheerful mind and heart;

— from MSG

Give freely and spontaneously. Don’t have a stingy heart. The way you handle matters like this triggers God, your God’s, blessing in everything you do, all your work and ventures.

There are always going to be poor and needy people among you. So I command you: Always be generous, open purse and hands, give to your neighbors in trouble, your poor and hurting neighbors. Deuteronomy 15:9-11

¹¹ for the poor shall never cease out of the land. Therefore I command thee, saying: ‘Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy in thy land.’ — for the poor shall never cease out of the land; there would be always such objects to exercise their charity and beneficence towards those obedient to the laws of God;

¹² “And if thy brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee and serve thee six years, then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. — and serve thee six years; the term of servitude could not last beyond six years;

¹³ And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty. — thou shalt not let him go away empty; a seasonable provision for enabling a poor and unfortunate to regain his original status in society;

¹⁴ Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock and out of thy floor and out of thy wine press. From that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee, thou shalt give unto him.

— thou shalt furnish him liberally; not only to supply his present wants, but for his future use; give him as much as he can carry, and well stand up under;

— out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress; with sheep or lambs out of the flock, with corn out of the floor, wheat, or barley, or both, and wine out of the winepress; which take in all the necessaries of life;

¹⁵ And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing today.

— and thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt; where they were bullied, and their lives were made bitter in hard bondage; and therefore should show the greater compassion to others;

¹⁶ And it shall be, if he say unto thee, ‘I will not go away from thee,’ because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee, — it might happen, however, that the slave chose rather to remain with his master than to be freed; and in that case he was not to be forced to go free, which would be a hardship to him;

¹⁷ then thou shalt take an awl and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise. — but in this case, by a formal process of nailing his ear to the door of his master’s house, constituted him to be his slave for life;

¹⁸ It shall not seem hard unto thee when thou sendest him away free from thee, for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee in serving thee six years; and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest. — and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thou doest; thus well using thy servants, whether menservants or maidservants.

¹⁹ “All the firstling males that come from thy herd and from thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the Lord thy God; thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep.

— thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock: as to plough or tread out the corn with it, which were done with other heifers; nor shear the firstling of thy sheep; nor was the wool shorn of it to be made use of;

²⁰ Thou shalt eat it before the Lord thy God year by year inthe place which the Lord shall choose, thou and thy household. — but in the place which the Lord shall choose, which was the city of Jerusalem;

²¹ And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame or blind or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the Lord thy God. — any ill blemish: thou shall not sacrifice it unto the Lord thy God; blemishes in any beast made it unfit for sacrifices which were required;

²² Thou shalt eat it within thy gates; the unclean and the clean person shall eat it alike, as the roebuck and as the hart. — any ill blemish, thou shalt eat it within thy gates; the unclean and the clean person shall eat it alike, as the roebuck and as the hart, though these might not be sacrificed.

²³ Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water. — only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; of the firstling: but thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water.

Deuteronomy 16

¹ “Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover unto the Lord thy God; for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. — the laws for the three yearly feasts are here repeated; that of the Passover, that of the Pentecost, that of Tabernacles;

— observe the month of Abib; this name, belonging to the early agricultural calendar, was replaced after the Exile by the name Nisan of the later priestly calendar, in which it was the first month;

² Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the Passover unto the Lord thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the Lord shall choose to place His name there. — thou shalt sacrifice the passover; strictly so called, this was the paschal lamb; the feast of the Passover, which lasted seven days;

— the sheep (of the flock) and oxen (of the herd) here mentioned were additional sacrifices which were to be offered in the seven days of the paschal solemnity; the Targum of Jonathan says “the sheep and the bullocks”

— if this is only a reference for the Passover proper, it would only be of the flock only, that is, one from the sheep; and none from the herd; but the herd is mentioned, hence this is a reference to a composite feast, the feast of the Passover, which lasted seven days;

— and this composite Passover festival is described with more details in Numbers 28

“‘And on the fourteenth day of the first month is the Passover of the Lord.
“And on the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten.
“On the first day shall be a holy convocation. Ye shall do no manner of servile work therein,
“but ye shall offer a sacrifice made by fire for a burnt offering unto the Lord: two young bullocks, and one ram, and seven lambs of the first year. They shall be unto you without blemish.” Numbers 28:16-19

³ Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste, that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.

— the bread of affliction, that is, bread which is not usual nor pleasant, but unsavoury, heavy and lumpish, to put thee in mind both of thy miseries endured in Egypt;

⁴ And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy borders seven days, neither shall there anything of the flesh, which thou sacrificed the first day at evening, remain all night until the morning.

— neither shall there be anything of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning; which may be understood both of the flesh of the passover lamb;

— at the start of “the first day at even” no leavened bread shall be seen; hence unleavened bread starts on the fourteenth, at even; again proving this feast of the Passover is a composite fesitival;

⁵ Thou mayest not sacrifice the Passover within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee; — not within any of thy gates, that is, within any of thy cities; but as the Targum of Jonathan says “in the place which the Lord your God will choose to make His Shekinah to dwell,”

⁶ but at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place His name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the Passover at evening, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt. — the Passover at evening (bā·‘ā·reḇ)and only in the city of Jerusalem were God had ultimately chosen;

⁷ And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, and thou shalt turn in the morning and go unto thy tents. — and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents; the were commanded to stay and keep the feast of Passover at Jerusalem, where most would be staying in tents;

⁸ Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord thy God. Thou shalt do no work therein.

— the Targum of Jonathan says, on the first day ye shall offer the sheaf (the firstfruits of the old corn), and for the six days which remain ye shall begin to eat the unleavened bread of the new corn; or unleavened bread of the new fruits;

⁹ “Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn. — begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn;

— for the sheaf of the wave offering, as the first fruits of barley harvest, which was done on the morrow after the sabbath; Q is, which Sabbath?

— the Targum of Jonathen makes it clear in Leviticus 23

And he shall uplift the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for you. AFTER THE FIRST FESTAL DAY OF PASCHA (OR, THE DAY AFTER THE FEAST‑DAY OF PASCHA) on the day on which you elevate the sheaf, you shall make (the sacrifice of a lamb of the year, unblemished a burnt offering unto the Name of the Lord . . . 15 and number to you AFTER THE FIRST FEAST DAY OF PASCHA . .  .  (Leviticus 23:11-15, Targum)

— false prophets abound, the Samaritan “Jews” and the latter-day Samaritan “Christians,” who follow the former, interprete this differently: that the Sabbath to start the count is the weekly Sabbath;

¹⁰ And thou shalt keep the Feast of Weeks unto the Lord thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.

— and thou shall keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God; the feast of Pentecost, at which time the Spirit was poured down upon the apostles in Jerusalem, Acts 2:5

— similarily, the Samaritan “Jews,” who kept their Pentecost at Mount Gerizim; and the latter-day Samaritan “Christians,” who also keep it on a different day, if they keep it, were not in Jerusalem to receive the holy spirit on the Day appointed; Period.

¹¹ And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God — thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite who is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are among you — in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place His name there.

— and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God; make a joyous feast, and keep it cheerfully, in the presence of God, in the place where he resides, thankfully acknowledging all his mercies and favours;

— and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen Jerusalem to place his name there; who should be at Jerusalem at this time.

¹² And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and thou shalt observe and do these statutes. —remember that thou wast a bondman in Egyp, Israel was to keep this feast with sacrificial gifts, which every one was able to bring, according to the extent to which the Lord had blessed him;

¹³ “Thou shalt observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, after thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine; — after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine; and sometimes called the feast of ingathering, Exodus 23:16,

— barley harvest began at the Passover, and wheat harvest at Pentecost; and before the feast of Tabernacles began, the vintage and the gathering of the olives were over, as well as all other summer fruits were got in.

¹⁴ and thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within thy gates.

— and thou shalt rejoice in thy feast; at this feast of tabernacles and ingathering of the fruits of the earth, in token of gratitude and thankfulness for the goodness of God bestowed on them;

— the Targum of Jonathan adds, with the clarinet and the flute, making use of instrumental music to increase the joy on this occasion.

¹⁵ Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord shall choose. Because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.

— a solemn feast, yet with rejoicing, with wine and gladness; because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy increase, and in all the works of thine hands; both in the increase of their fields, vineyards, and oliveyards.

¹⁶ Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which He shall choose: in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and in the Feast of Weeks, and in the Feast of Tabernacles. And they shall not appear before the Lord empty; — they must rejoice in their receivings of blessings from God, and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed;

¹⁷ every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which He hath given thee. — every man shall give as he is able; the quantity to be given is not fixed in the law,

— but the wise men appointed it, and it is left by the Lord to the generosity of the people, only giving this general rule, that they should do according to their ability, and as the Lord had prospered them.

¹⁸ “Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes; and they shall judge the people with just judgment. — judges and officers shall thou make thee; judges were fixed in the Sanhedrin, or court of judicature;

— officers are masters of the staff and whip, and they stand before the judges; they go into markets, streets, and shops, to order the weights and measures, and to smite all that do wrong; and they carry out any order of the judges;

¹⁹ Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a bribe; for a bribe doth blind the eyes of the wise and pervert the words of the righteous. — thou shalt not wrest judgment; not give a forced and unjust sentence

— thou shalt not respect persons; not give sentence according to the quality of the person, his riches or poverty, friendship or enmity, but according to the justice of the cause. A gift doth blind the eyes of the wise; biases his mind, that he cannot discern between right and wrong; and pervert the words of the righteous;

— that is, the sentence of those judges who are inclined and used to do righteous things, and have the reputation of being righteous men; it makes them give a wrong judgment.

²⁰ That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. — that which is altogether just; that which had been gathered together, with righteousness; nothing but righteousness in all causes and times, and to all persons equally, shall thou follow.

²¹ “Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy God which thou shalt make thee. — thou shall not plant thee a grove of any trees; of any sort of trees, as oaks or any other; not but that it was lawful to plant trees and groves of them, but not for a religious or idolatrous use;

— near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee; as the heathens did near their altars, lest it should be thought to be done for a like superstitious and idolatrous use;

²² Neither shalt thou set thee up any image, which the Lord thy God hateth. — neither shalt thou set up any image; graven or molten, of man, beast, fish, or fowl; the word signifies a “statue or pillar” which was set up for idolatry.

~ by Joel on May 11, 2024.

Posted in Books of Moses