A Prophecy of Esau and Jacob

Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is none other; I am God, and there is none like Me,

declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’ Isaiah 46:9-10

Genesis 1

¹ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. — created; not formed or made from any pre-existing materials, but created out of nothing; in the beginning of this sidereal system, of which our sun, with its planets; of this material, visible, and temporal world; not the the spiritual, invisible and eternal world;

— God; Heb. Elohim; a word plural in form (Father and Son), but joined with a verb singular; created; the idea of creating them out of nothing;

² And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. — and the earth; the conjunction “and” (וְ) negatives the well-meant attempt to harmonise geology and Scripture while studying Genesis 1:1

— and the earth became (hā·yə could be translated as “become” in some versions as in Genesis 3:20 and elsewhere) without form and void; it just doesn’t make sense that God created something that is already in a state of decay (bohû and tohû);

— this process of hā·yə could have taken many years, perhaps thousands, or even million, the details we’re not given; we’re only given the gist of it only; hence today, many trace marks could be gathered to prove that the earth is very old;

— one example is the Tibetan Plateau, sometimes called the “roof of the world,” and according to Bradley Hacker, a professor of geological sciences at the University of California, “the plateau dates back 13.5 million years and has reached a maximum average height of five kilometers.”

— a second example is the Hawaiian chain of islands; more from Britannica; “The origin of Hawaii’s islands, islets, and seamounts can be traced to at least 70 million years ago, near the end of the Cretaceous Period (145 million to 66 million years ago);”

— a third evidence is the absence of the creation of the dinosaurs in Genesis chapter two, indicating they were created and destroyed millions of years before another creation in Genesis 1:1

— both the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase it, a waste and desert, empty and destitute of both men and beasts;

³ And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. — God said, Let there be light; he willed it, and at once there was light. Oh, the power of the Word of God!

⁴ And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. — divided between the light and between the darkness; God then separates light and darkness, by assigning to each its relative position in time and space; which refers to the division of day and night;

⁵ And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. — and the Evening and the Morning were the first day: the evening, the first and second part of the evening; about the space of twelve hours;

— and the morning, which is also the second part of the night, and the second morning, in the light, in all together they make the opposite space from Evening; and both form one natural day, consisting of twenty four hours; 

⁶ And God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” — a firmament; an extension, or a space; or place extended or stretched out, and spread abroad like a tent or curtain, it indicates something solid;

— and let it be dividing between water and water; it appears that the water in the atmosphereic sphere was in contact with another mass of water ion the earth; hence the Targum of Jonathan says “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate between the waters above and the waters beneath.”

⁷ And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. — the waters under the firmament are seas, rivers, lakes, fountains, and other waters in the bowels of the earth;

⁸ And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. — God called the firmament (the expanse) heaven; and means something heaved up; including the starry and airy heavens; being above the earth, and reaching to the third heaven;

— and the evening; and the morning were the second day; these together made up the space of twenty four hours, which was another natural day; 

⁹ And God said, “Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. — unto one place; the ocean bed. We must add the vast depth of the ocean to the height of the mountains before we can rightly estimate the intensity of the forces at work on the third day;

— and let the dry land appear: clear of the waters, dried by the expanded air, hardened by the fiery light, and as yet without any herb or tree upon it: and it was so; immediately done;

¹⁰ And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas; and God saw that it was good. — he called them not sea, but seas; because of the differing quantity and nature both of several seas, and of the rivers, and other lesser collections of waters, all which the Hebrews call seas;

¹¹ And God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth”; and it was so. — and God said, Let the earth bring forth grass; which had been impregnated by the spirit of God that moved upon it when a fluid; and though now become dry land;

¹² And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind; and God saw that it was good. — and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind; as apples, pears, plums, apricots, nectars, peaches, oranges, lemons, and more;

¹³ And the evening and the morning were the third day. — the space of twenty four hours ran out, and were measured, either by the rotation of the body of light and heat around the earth, or of the earth upon its axis;

¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years; — and God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven; in the upper part of it, commonly called the starry heaven;

— and let them be for signs and the times of the feasts, and to reckon with them the number of days, and, sanctify the beginnings of the months, and the beginnings of the years;

¹⁵ and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth”; and it was so. — to give light upon the earth; and the inhabitants of it, when formed: and it was so:

— the Targum of Jonathan adds “and let them be for signs and for festival times,”

¹⁶ And God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. — the great light, the sun, which is really and considerably greater than the moon and with the little light, the stars, from man’s point of view, are insignificant;

¹⁷ And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, — and God set them in the firmament of the heaven; he not only ordered that there they should be, and made them that there they might be,

— but he placed them there with his own hands; and they are placed, particularly the sun, at such a particular distance as to be beneficial and not hurtful: had it been set nearer to the earth, its heat would have been intolerable; in the one case we should have been scorched with its heat, and in the other been frozen up for the lack of it;

¹⁸ and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. — in the fourth day’s work, the creation of the sun, moon, and stars is accounted for; all by the works of God;

¹⁹ And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. — the fourth day, made by the rotation of the earth on its own axis, in the space of twenty four hours;

²⁰ And God said, “Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.” — moving creature; all oviparous animals, both among the finny and the feathery tribes, remarkable for their rapid and prodigious increase: fowl, which means every flying thing;

²¹ And God created great whales and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind; and God saw that it was good. — great whales; those vast sea monsters known by that name, though elsewhere this word be applied to great creatures of the earth, or under the seas;

²² And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply on the earth.” — be fruitful, and multiply; this blessing shows that the earth was replenished with animal life from a limited number of progenitors, and probably from a small number of centres, both for the flora and for the fauna;

²³ And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. — the evening and the morning were the fifth day; the sun now in the firmament, where it was fixed the day before, having gone round the earth, or the earth about that, in the space of twenty four hours; 

²⁴ And God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth after his kind”; and it was so. — “cattle” which seem to design domestic cattle, and such as are for the use of man, either for carriage, food,

— or clothing, as horses, asses, camels, oxen, sheep and “creeping” things, which are different from the creeping things in the sea before mentioned, are such as either have no feet, and go upon their bellies, or are very short, and seem to do so, whether greater or lesser, as serpents, worms, ants and more;

²⁵ And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind; and God saw that it was good. — and God saw that it was good; that every creature he had made would some way or other be for his glory, and for the benefit of man;

— the Behemoth (H930 ḇə·hê·mō·wṯ), or known as as dinosaur in Job 40:15, is a different word from Cattle (H929 bə·hê·māh) used in this verse and elsewhere; the word “dinosaur” was coined only in 1841 by an Englishman named Sir Richard Owen, hence most translations today continue to use the antiquated word Behemoth;

²⁶ And God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”

— in our image, in our form; after our likeness; with the ability to understand and to discern; these Words “let us” indicates the plurality of God (Elohim); are spoken by God the Father to the Son; hence the “US” and “OUR” plural form of a singuar God;

²⁷ So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. — in our image, that is, in our form; after our likeness; with the ability to understand and to discern, showing man’s superior glory and dignity to the rest of the creations;

— the Jerusalem Targum says,

the Word of the Lord created man in his likeness; even that Word that was in the beginning with God, and in God’s presence, the Word created all things; which is closely linked to John 1:1;

— and the parallel revealing of the Word in John 1:1-3

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. John 1:1-3

²⁸ And God blessed them, and God said unto them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” — so God created man in his own image; and with man’s superior intelligence, to subdue and have dominion over them;

²⁹ And God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. — to you it shall be for meat: which is generally thought to be the food; as the Hebrew word “meat” is an old English term for “food;” compares this Luke 24:41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, He said unto them, “Have ye here any meat?”

³⁰ And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat”; and it was so. — and to every beast, and to every fowl and every thing that creepeth, are likewise for food;

³¹ And God saw every thing that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. — it is affirmed here everything is good that flesh and meat as well as herbs and fruits, are granted to the first men for food;

— and therefore we are safe to ignore any false shepherds who came along later and preached derogatively the eating of meat as if eating corpses; it is sufficient for us that it was expressly allowed here; as was instructed to righteous Noah in Genesis 9:3 (except the blood);

— and Ellen G White is thus a false prophetess; for she wrote derogatively of eating meat as if eating corpses:

From the light God has given me, the prevalence of cancer and tumors is largely due to gross living on dead flesh.

I sincerely and prayerfully hope that, as a physician, you will not forever be blind on this subject, for blindness is mingled with a want of moral courage to deny our appetite, to lift the cross, which means, to take up the very duties which cut across the natural passions.

Feeding on flesh, the juices and fluids of what you eat pass into the circulation of your blood, and, as we are composed of what we eat, we become animalized; thus a feverish condition is created, because the animals are diseased, and by partaking of their flesh, we plant the seeds of disease in our own tissue and blood.

Then when exposed to the changes in a malarious atmosphere, these are more sensibly felt; also when we are exposed to prevailing epidemics and contagious diseases the system is not in condition to resist the disease. TSDF 68.11

I have the subject presented to me in different aspects. The mortality caused by meat-eating is not discerned; if it were, we would hear no more arguments and excuses in favor of the indulgence of the appetite for dead flesh. We have plenty of good things to satisfy hunger without bringing CORPSES upon our table to compose our bill of fare. TSDF 68.12

The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and My people love to have it so. And what will ye do in the end thereof? Jeremiah 5:31

 For they prophesy falsely unto you in My name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord. Jeremiah 29:9

Genesis 2

¹ Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. — the host of them; that is, the creatures contained therein; the host of heaven, in Scripture language, sometimes signifies the stars and sometimes the angels;

² And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. — God ended his work; not all work (John 5:17), but the work of this specific creation;

³ And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made. — God blessed the seventh day, by conferring special honours and privileges upon it above all other days, that it should be a day of solemn rest and rejoicing and celebration of God and his works.

⁴ These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, —t hese are the generations of the heavens and the earth, when they were created; that is, the above account is a history of the creation of the heavens and earth, and of all things in them; the creation of them being a kind of generation, and the day of their creation a sort of birthday;

⁵ and before every plant of the field was in the earth, and before every herb of the field grew; for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

— for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth: so the plants and herbs could not grow owing to that; since on the third day, when they were made, there was no sun to exhale and draw up the waters into the clouds, in order to be let down again in showers of rain;

— and there was not a man to till the ground; who was not created till the sixth day, and therefore could have no concern in the cultivation of the earth, and of the plants and herbs in it; but these were the produce of almighty power;

⁶ But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. — a mist; this mist, as we learn from Job 36:27, where the same word is translated vapour, is the measure and material of the rain;

⁷ And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. — and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground; literally, formed the man (adam) dust from the ground;

— became a living soul, that is, a living man: not only capable of performing the functions of the animal life, of eating, drinking, walking and more; and of thinking, reasoning, and discoursing as a rational creature;

⁸ And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. — and the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; or “had planted” for this wasn’t done after the formation of man;

⁹ And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. — the tree of life also; so called, because of assuring him of the continuance of life and happiness, on condition of his persevering in obedience;

— but also because God had given to the fruit of it a singular virtue for the support of nature, the prolongation of life, and the prevention of all diseases, infirmities, and decays through age;

— the tree of knowledge of good and evil; to man, who by the use of it would know, to his cost, how great and good things he did enjoy, and might have kept by his obedience, and how evil and bitter the fruits of his disobedience were to himself and all his posterity; thus knowing both the good and evil;

¹⁰ And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was parted and became four heads. — the Targum of Jonathan says And a river went forth from Eden, to water the garden, and from thence was separated, and became four heads of rivers (or four chief rivers).

¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon; that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. — the first is Pishon; or Pison, perhaps an eminent branch of the river Tigris, probably that called by others Pasi-tigris, or Piso-tigris;

¹² And the gold of that land is good, and there is bdellium and the onyx stone. — there is the bdellium, and the onyx stone; the first of these is either an aromatic gum; the tree is black, and is of the size of an olive tree, has the leaf of an oak;

¹³ And the name of the second river is Gihon; the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Cush. — Gihon, the second river, flows by the land of Kush; there is one other Gihon mentioned in 1 Kings 1:33, and in II Chronicles 32:30;

— the rivers Pishon and Gihon may have been greatly altered or even effaced by the deluge and other causes over time;

¹⁴ And the name of the third river is Hiddekel; that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. — of the “Hiddekel” and “Euphrates” there high probability the former is the Tigris, or Tigres;

— and the fourth river is Euphrates; which retains its name till modern time as we know it today;

¹⁵ And the Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. — to dress it and to keep it; the first word literally means to work it; for though a paradise, yet the garden had to be tilled and planted; seeds must be sown and the cultivated plots kept in order;

— the other word, “to keep it,” implies, however, some difficulty and danger, though no unpropitious weather, nor blight nor mildew, spoiled the crop, yet apparently it had to be guarded against the incursion of wild animals and birds, and protected even against the violence of winds and the burning heat of the sun;

¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; — saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: a very generous, large, and liberal allowance this: or “in eating thou mayest eat”

¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.” — the tree of knowledge of good and evil; a consequence to humanity of how evil and bitter the fruits of his disobedience were to himself and all his posterity; thus knowing both the good and evil;

— for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die; man became at once a mortal creature; but had he obeyed by eating of the tree of life, he would have lived an immortal life;

¹⁸ And the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper meet for him.” — a new and final need of man is stated, a helper;  she is formed to be social, to hold converse, not only with her superior, but also with him, a co-worker;

¹⁹ And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them; and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

— whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof; his powers of perception and intelligence were supernaturally enlarged to know the characters, habits, and uses of each species that was brought to him.

²⁰ And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found a helper meet for him. — power and dominian over the creatures were also given to man, and as a proof of this he named them all.

²¹ And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof. — the Targum of Jonathan says, “and he took one of his ribs; it was the thirteenth rib of his right side:”

— that opening of his side and the taking away of his rib might be no grievance to him; while he knows no sin, God will take care that he shall feel no pain;

²² And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a woman and brought her unto the man. — the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he woman; was not made from the superior part of man, that she might not be thought to be above him, and have power over him; nor from any inferior part, as being below him, and to be trampled on by him; but out of his side;

²³ And Adam said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” — she shall be called Woman (Ishah), because she was taken out of Man (Ish); from hence the suffix ish is derived from: British (English, Scottish), Irish, Danish, Swedish, Finnish; indicating they are of Hebraic origin;

²⁴ Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh. — one flesh; the human pair differed from all other pairs, that by peculiar formation of Eve, they were one; the man and his wife;

²⁵ And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. — and they were both naked, the man and his wife, but were not ashamed.

Posted in Books of Moses

Deuteronomy 33

¹ And this is the blessing wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.— the blessing wherewith Moses blessed Israel; Moses, the prophet of the Lord, called upon upon Israel by foretelling the blessings which God would confer upon them in the latter days;

² And he said: “The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them. He shined forth from Mount Paran, and He came with ten thousands of saints; from His right hand went a fiery law for them.

— the Lord came; under a beautiful metaphor, borrowed from the dawn and progressive splendor of the sun, the Majesty of God is sublimely described as a divine light which appeared in Sinai and scattered its beams on all the adjoining region in directing Israel’s march to Canaan;

— ten thousands of saints, that is, with a a great company of holy angels, Psalm 68:17 Daniel 7:10, which attended upon him in this great and glorious work of giving the law;

— the Targum of Jonathan adds that both the sons of Esau and Ishmael rejected the law:

And he said: The Lord was revealed at Sinai to give the law unto His people of Beth Israel, and the splendour of the glory of His Shekinah arose from Gebal to give itself to the sons of Esau: but they received it not.

It shined forth in majesty and glory from mount Pharan, to give itself to the sons of Ishmael; but they received it not.

It returned and revealed itself in holiness unto His people of Beth Israel, and with Him ten thousand times ten thousand holy angels. He wrote with His own right hand, and gave them His law and His commandments, out of the flaming fire. Deuteronomy 33:2 Targum

³ Yea, He loved the people; all His saints are in Thy hand; and they sat down at Thy feet; every one shall receive of Thy words. — all God’s saints or holy ones, that is, his people, were in thy hand, that is, under God’s care, to protect, direct, and govern them;

— and from MSG

Moses, man of God, blessed the People of Israel with this blessing before his death. He said, God came down from Sinai, he dawned from Seir upon them; He radiated light from Mount Paran, coming with ten thousand holy angels And tongues of fire streaming from his right hand.

Oh, how you love the people, all his holy ones are palmed in your left hand. They sit at your feet, honoring your teaching, The Revelation commanded by Moses, as the assembly of Jacob’s inheritance. Thus God became king in Jeshurun as the leaders and tribes of Israel gathered. Deuteronomy 33:1-5 MSG

⁴ Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. — the Law, both Written and Oral, is Jacob’s inheritance, because the obligation to observe it was hereditary, passing from parents to their children, and because this was the best part of their inheritance, the greatest of all those gifts which God bestowed upon the children of Israel;

— this command to study the law by the house of Jacob is one example worth studying further from Sanhedrin, the Talmud:

And Rabbi Yoḥanan says: A Gentile who engages in Torah study is liable to receive the death penalty; as it is stated: “Moses commanded us a law [torah], an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob” (Deu 33:4), indicating that it is an inheritance for us, and not for them. Sanhedrin 59a

— to Rabbi Yoḥanan, God want the children of Israel to study the Torah, which is true, but he doesn’t want Gentiles to study and know the Scriptures; which is untrue, for God want “all people, nations, and languages should serve Him:” How could one serve God without an understanding of serving Him?

— for a more detailed analysis, see The Talmud: true or fake?

⁵ And He was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together. — He was king; that is, not Moses but the Lord became king. —

⁶ “Let Reuben live, and not die, and let not his men be few.” — Reuben (France), identified by most CoG Communities as France. Despite having gone to his father’s bed, let Reuben live, and not die. Yet no judge, prophet, or national hero arose out of this tribe. Napoleon might be an exception, but he ended in Waterloo with a defeat!

the Targum of Jonathan says

Let Reuben live in this world, nor die the second death which the wicked die in the world to come; and let his youths be numbered with the young men of his brethren of Beth Israel.

⁷ And this is the blessing of Judah; and he said: “Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people; let his hands be sufficient for him, and be Thou a help to him from his enemies.” — and this is the blessing of Judah, who are the Jews; the Targum of Jonathan adds, “Let his hand take vengeance on his enemies, and be Thou his help and support against his foes.”

— the Targum of Jonathan says in full

And this is the benediction of the tribe of Jehudah, conjoined with the portion and benediction of his brother Shemeon; and thus he spake: Receive, O Lord, the prayer of Jehudah when he goeth forth unto war, and bring Thou him back from war unto his people in peace. Let his hand take vengeance on his enemies, and be Thou his help and support against his foes.

⁸ And of Levi he said: “Let Thy Thummim and Thy Urim be with Thy holy one, whom Thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom Thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah,

— and of Levi (the Jews); next to Joseph, this tribe has the largest share in Moses’ last words, it being his own tribe. The character of the priest is the principal subject. The blessing may be thus paraphrased: “Let thy Thummim and thy Urim (the chief high-priestly ornaments) be ever with some saintly man of thine;

— the Targum of Jonathan says

And Mosheh the prophet blessed the tribe of Levi, and said, With Perfections and Lights hast Thou robed Aharon, the man whom Thou didst find devout before Thee, whom Thou didst try in the temptation, and he was sincere, and didst prove at the Contention Waters in Rekem, and he was found faithful.

⁹ who said unto his father and to his mother, ‘I have not seen him’; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children; for they have observed Thy word, and kept Thy covenant. — they kept thy covenant; while the rest broke their covenant with God by sin of idolatry, the priests and Levites kept themselves pure from that infection, and adhered to God and his worship.

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

The tribe of Levi go forth to the service of the tabernacle, and separate themselves from their dwellings, saying of their fathers and mothers, I have not regarded them and of their brethren, Since we were of thirty years we have not known them or their children, for that they abide twenty years in their charge according to Thy Word, and keep the service of the holy covenant.

¹⁰ They shall teach Jacob Thy judgments and Israel Thy law; they shall put incense before Thee and whole burnt sacrifice upon Thine altar. — they shall teach Jacob thy statutes, and Israel thy law; the priests and Levites, being dispersed among each of the tribes, having cities in them allotted to them, taught the people the laws, statutes, and ordinances of the Lord.

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

Apt are they in teaching the orders of Thy judgments to them of Beth Jakob, and Thy law to them of Beth Israel. Their brethren the priests put incense on the censers to restrain the plague in the day of Thy wrath, and offer up the burnt sacrifice with acceptance at Thy altar.

¹¹ Bless, Lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands; smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again.” — Bless, Lord, his substance; because the priests and Levites hath no inheritance of his own, and therefore wholly depends upon thy blessing;

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

Bless Lord, the sacrifice of the house of Levi, who give the tenth of the tenth; and the oblation of the hand of Elijah the priest, which he will offer on Mount Karmela, receive Thou with acceptance: break the lons of Achab his enemy, and the neck of the false prophets who rise up against him, that the enemies of Johanan the high priest may not have a foot to stand.

¹² And of Benjamin he said: “The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between His shoulders.” — Benjamin is put next to Levi, because the temple, where the work of the Levites lay, was upon the edge of the lot of this tribe;

— Benjamin (Norway and Iceland) was his father’s favourite child, and the imagery of this promise is throughout drawn from the relations between such a child and its father;

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

Mosheh the prophet blessed the tribe of Benjamin, and said: The beloved of the Lord shall abide in safety with Him, He will protect him all the days, and His Shekinah will dwell within his borders.

¹³ And of Joseph he said: “Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, — blessed of the Lord be his land; as the lands inherited by his sons were extremely fruitful, the countries of lead and Bashan by Manasseh, and the fields of Samaria by Ephraim;

— for the precious things of heaven; that is, the pleasant, precious, and excellent fruits, reproduced by the influence of the heavens, particularly showers of rain which descend from thence;

— and for the deep that coucheth beneath; that is, oil, coal, iron ore, tin, zinc and diamonds, beneath the earth, and breaks out upon it, and waters it, and makes it fruitful, which happiness the land of Joseph had, as well as the rain and dew of heaven: this is to be understood of springs and fountains that flow out of the earth to the enriching of it;

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

And Mosheh the prophet of the Lord blessed the tribe of Joseph, and said: The land of Joseph shall be blessed from before the Lord. From the bounty of the heavens shall it have goodly fruit, from the dew and the rain that come down from above, and from the bounty of the founts of the deep which rise up and flow and with good fruitage to water the herbage from beneath,

¹⁴ and for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon, — by the sun, which opens and warms the earth, cherisheth and improveth, and in due time ripeneth the seeds for all manner of fruits of the earth;

— by the moon, which by its moisture refreshes and promotes them; that onions, when the moon waxes old, increase, and flag when it is young, and at the increase of the moon all sort of corn grows bigger and larger. Hebrew, of the moons, or months, that is, which it bringeth forth in the several months or seasons of the year;

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

age and produce that the earth maketh perfect by the aid (bringing out) of the sun, and with the bounty of the firstfruits of the trees which the ground yieldeth in the beginning of month after month,

¹⁵ and for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills, — and for the chief things of the ancient mountains; wWhich were from the beginning of the world, and for which the land, possessed by the children of Joseph, Manasseh, and Ephraim, were famous;

— as the mountains of Gilead and Bashan, inherited by the former, and Mount Ephraim, and the mountains of Samaria, by the latter; which produced, besides great quantities of grass and corn, also vines, figs, olives, and more;

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

and with the goodness through the birthright ordained of the mountain tops, him at the beginning by the benediction of the fathers who resemble the mountains, and with the goodness of the hills whose produce faileth not, which was given him in heritage by the benedictions of the mothers of old, who resemble the hills;

¹⁶ and for the precious things of the earth and fullness thereof, and for the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush. Let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren. — in the strength of this blessing, the tribe of Joseph would attain to such a development of power, that it would be able to tread down all brothers and all other nations;

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

and with the goodness of the excel- lent fruits of the earth and its fulness and the favour towards him of Eloah who revealed Himself to Mosheh at the bush in the glory of His Shekinah: let all these blessings be combined, and be made a diadem of grandeur for the head of Joseph, and for the brow of the man who was chief and ruler in the land of Mizraim, and was the glory and honour of his brethren.

¹⁷ His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns. With them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth; and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”

— his glory is like the firstling of his bullock; or the prime and fairest bullock of the herd. For things that excel in their kind are called firstborn in Scripture; his horns are like the horns of unicorns;a horn is a common Scripture emblem of power and force; as of the monoceros or rhinoceros;

— here also it ascribes to Ephraim ten thousands, and to Manasseh only thousands; thus foreshowing, that Ephraim the younger was to be the more numerous of the two, as Jacob had before prophesied of them;

— ten thousands of Ephraim and thousands of Manasseh; another view refers this to the ten thousands slain by Joshua, the Ephraimite leader, and the thousands slain by Gideon, who was of the tribe of Manasseh;

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

The birthright had belonged to Reuben, but was taken from him and given to Joseph at the beginning; from thence comes the splendour of his glory and praise.

For as it may not be that a man should work the ground with the firstling of his herd, so are not the children of Joseph to be reduced to servitude among the kingdoms; and as the reema pusheth with his horns the beasts of the wilderness, so will the sons of Joseph predominate together among the peoples in all the ends of the earth.

Myriads will be slain in Gulgela by Hoshea bar Nun who hath arisen from the house of Ephraim, and thousands of the Midyance by Gideon bar Yoash who will be of the tribe of Menasheh.

— refering to the posterity of Joseph should carry their conquests and spread their dominionin “among the peoples in all the ends of the earth” the Targum would refer such prophecy to the latter days, not just to the end of the land of Caanan during the days of Joshua and Gidean, which are only a forerunner;

— for more, see (1) Ephraim / The United States (2) The Ox without the Unicorn (3) Jacob prefers Ephraim over Manasseh

¹⁸ And of Zebulun he said: “Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out, and, Issachar, in thy tents. — Rejoice, Zebulun; in thy going out; first, to war, as this phrase is often used; second to sea, in the way of traffic, because their portion lay near the sea;

— Zebulun (Holland) and Issachar (Finland) were united with Judah, in the leading division of Israel in the wilderness; the warlike character of the first and the more peaceful wisdom of the second, are illustrated by Judges 5:18 and 1Chronicles 12:32-33;

— Issachar (Finland) is a strong ass couching down between two burdens (Genesis 49:14); between East and West, between Russia and Nato;

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

And Mosheh the prophet blessed the tribe of Zebulon, and said: Rejoice, O house of Zebulon, in your going forth for your commerce, and you, O house of Issakar, in the tabernacles of your schools.

¹⁹ They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness; for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas and of treasures hid in the sand.”

— of the abundance of the sea; Holland shall grow rich by the traffic of the sea; and treasures of Finand are hidden in the sand; in which sometimes there is mixed a considerable quantity of gold, including iron, chromium, copper and nickel;

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

Many peoples shall pray at the mountain of the sanctuary, thither will they bring their oblations of truth: for they dwell by the side of the great sea, they are nourished with (its) dainties; and they take the shell-fish and dye with its blood in purple the threads of their vestments; and from the sands make mirrors and vessels of glass; for the treasures of their coasts are discovered to them.

²⁰ And of Gad he said: “Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad; he dwelleth as a lion and teareth the arm with the crown of the head. — and of Gad (Switzerland) he dwelleth as a lion; bold and courageous, secure, and without fear of any of his enemies, though near him, on his borders;

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

Mosheh the prophet of the Lord blessed the tribe of Gad, and said: Blessed be He who hath made wide the border of Gad. He reposeth as a lion in his habitation; but when he goeth out to battle against his adversaries, he slayeth kings and rulers, and his slaughtered ones are known from all the slain, for he striketh off the arm with the crown (of the head).

²¹ And he provided the first part for himself, because there, in a portion of the lawgiver, was he seated. And he came with the heads of the people; he executed the justice of the Lord and His judgments with Israel.” — the first part; the first territory conquered by Moses was distributed between Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh;

— he executed the justice of the Lord, and his judgments with Israel; that is, either he justly and truly fulfilled all his promises and engagements, on condition of which he was placed on the other side; or he, together with the rest of the Israelites, executed the righteous judgment of God upon the Canaanites, in the expulsion and destruction of them;

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

And he saw that the land was good, and took his portion among the first; for there was a place strown with precious stones and pearls; for there is the place where Mosheh the prophet is hidden, who, as he went in and out at the head of the people in this world, will go in and out in the world that cometh; because he wrought righteousness before the Lord, and taught the orders of the judgments to the house of Israel his people.

²² And of Dan he said: “Dan is a lion’s whelp; he shall leap from Bashan.” — Dan (Ireland and Denmark) is a lion’s whelp; the lion of the tribe of Dan is not like the lion of the tribe of Judah; Jacob in Genesis 49:17 compared him to a serpent and an adder;

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

And Mosheh the prophet of the Lord blessed the tribe of Dan, and said: The tribe of Dan is like a lion’s whelp, his land is watered by the streams that flow from Mathnan, and his border cometh unto Batania.

²³ And of Naphtali he said: “O Naphtali, satisfied with favor and full with the blessing of the Lord, possess thou the west and the south.” — O Naphtali, satisfied with favour; with the favour of men; and of Naphtali (Sweden); Genesis 49:21 says Naphtali is a hind let loosed indicating sexual immorality and promiscuity; this best describes modern Sweden;

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

And Mosheh the prophet of the Lord blessed the tribe of Naphtali, and said: {Naphtali is satisfied with favour, and hath delight in the fishes of the sea which falleth within his portion; and he will be replete with blessings in the fruits of the vale of Genesareth which hath been given him from the Lord; he shall inherit the water of Sopheni, and the sea of Tebaria.}

²⁴ And of Asher he said: “Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil. — and of Asher (Belgium) be blessed with children; he shall have numerous, strong, and healthful children;

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

{And Mosheh the prophet of the Lord blessed the tribe of Asher, and said:} Blessed is Asher of the sons of Jakob. He will be acceptable to his brethren, and will supply them with provender in the years of release: his border will produce many olives yielding oil, enough for him to bathe in it even his feet.

²⁵ Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be. — thy shoes shall be iron and brass; perhaps it should be read, thy bars shall be iron and brass; or Iron and brass be thy castle; and as the days of thy life let thy rest continue;

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

The tribe of Asher be sound as iron, and their feet-strong as brass in walking on the stony rocks; and as the days of their youth so shall they be strong in their age.

²⁶ “There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven to thy help and in His excellency on the sky. — there is none like unto the God of Jeshurun; or Israel, as all the three Targums say; for this is one of the names of the God of Israel;

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

There is no God like the God of Israel, whose Shekinah and Chariot dwell in the heavens. He will be your helper. He sitteth on His glorious throne in His majesty, in the expanse of the heavens above.

²⁷ The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; and He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee, and shall say, ‘Destroy them.’ — and shall say, destroy them; the Canaanites: to do which the people of Israel had an order from the Lord, Deuteronomy 7:1

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

The habitation of Eloha is from eternity; by the arm of His power beneath the world is upborne. He will scatter your adversaries before you, and will say by His Word, Destroy them.

²⁸ Israel then shall dwell in safety alone; the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew. — Israel then shall dwell in safety; that is, in confidence and security;

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

And Israel shall dwell safely as of old according to the benediction with which Jakob their father did bless them, for whose righteousness sake He will cause them to inherit the good land that yieldeth corn and wine; the heavens also above them will drop with the dews of blessing, and the rains of lovingkindness.

²⁹ Happy art thou, O Israel! Who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! And thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee, and thou shalt tread upon their high places.” — be found liars unto thee; or “shall lie unto thee” or be in such dread and fear as to tell lies to save themselves, perhaps even, “cringe before thee.”

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

Happy are you, O Israel: who of all the nations are like you, a people saved in the Name of the Word of the Lord? He is the shield of your help, and His sword, the strength of your excellency. And your enemies shall be found liars against you from terror, and you shall tread upon the necks of their kings.

Deuteronomy 34

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¹ And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan, — Moses went up; when he knew the place of his death, he cheerfully mounted the hill to come to it;

² and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah unto the utmost sea, — the Lord shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, and all Naphtali . . . unto the utmost sea; that is, the Mediterranean;

— and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh: which lay in the midland part of the country; and he showed him all the land which was to be given to these several tribes; and all the land of Judah; which lay to the south;

— another explanation for “unto the utmost sea” offered by the Targum of Jonathan is “who would have dominion in the land until the latter sanctuary should be destroyed” of which “the latter sanctuary” is further explained by Rashi:

Do not understand the verse as stating הַיָּם הָאַחֲרוֹן, but read it as though it had said הַיּוֹם הָאַחֲרוֹן, “until the very last day,” meaning that the Holy One, blessed is He, showed him all the incidents that were destined to happen to Israel [until “the last day,” namely,] until the time that the dead would return to life. — [Sifrei 33:31]

— which means, Moses was shown by God all the days till the end of this age: the fall of the “latter” sanctuary, the Sword and Flaming Fire from the South; the Psalm 83 Prophecy; a Greater than the Egyptian “Exodus” and the coming Gog and Magog; for more, see Sequence of Prophecies till the Return of Israel

³ and the South, and the plain of the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. — and the Desert of the “South,” that is, the Negeb; and the plain and valley of Jericho which lay before him;

⁴ And the Lord said unto him, “This is the land which I swore unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it unto thy seed.’ I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.”

— this is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed; to Abraham, Genesis 15:18 “from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the River Euphrates:” to Isaac, Genesis 26:3; to Jacob, Genesis 28:13,

⁵ So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. — the land of Moab; which formerly belonged to Moab, and was taken from them by Sihon king of the Amorites, and now in the possession of Israel:and Moses dies

— here on a mountain in this land Moses died; according to the decree of the Lord; and is buried on Pisgah, and Joshua steps into his place, but no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day;

⁶ And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor; but no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day. — and he buried him; Moses is alone in this honour: the Son of God was buried by sinful men, but Moses was buried by Yehovah himself;

— but no man knoweth of his sepulchre; men have always believed that the contention between Michael and the devil about the body of Moses (Jude 1:9) was in fact, a struggle for his body; bearing in mind the appearance of Moses at the Transfiguration Matthew 17:1-10, and what is said by Jude (Jude 1:9), we may conjecture that Moses after death passed into the same state with Enoch and Elijah; and that his grave could not be found because he was shortly translated (transported) from it.

⁷ And Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye was not dim nor his natural force abated. — his age may be divided into three equal periods, forty years in Pharaoh’s court, forty years in Midian, and forty in the care and government of Israel, in Egypt and in the wilderness;

— Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; but though he lived the full length of human life, and to an age which, in others that live up to it, is accompanied with many diseases and infirmities, yet this had made little or no alteration in him;

⁸ And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. — the children of Israel wept for Moses thirty days; as they did for Aaron, his brother (Numbers 20:29);

— the Targum of Jonathan adds more details:

And the children of Israel wept for Mosheh in the plains of Moab thirty days; and the days of weeping in the mourning for Mosheh were completed on the eighth of the month of Nisan.

And on the ninth of Nisan the people of Beth Israel prepared their vessels and set their cattle in order, and passed over the Jordan on the tenth of Nisan.

And the manna ceased for them on the sixteenth of Nisan. They found manna to eat thirty seven days after the death of Mosheh, for the sake of his righteousness.

— “And the manna ceased for them on the sixteenth of Nisan” this being the fact that from the moment (morning) of the “wave sheaf” offering, the children of Israel were then allowed to eat the new grain; adding another proof that the wave sheaf was waved on the sixteenth of Nisan (and not at the end of that week).

— for numerous Issues and Critiques of Pentecost and Wave Sheaf Offering, see (1) Archive for the ‘Pentecost’ Category (2) Archive for the ‘Wave Sheaf Offering’ Category

⁹ And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him. And the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses.

— Joshua was full of the spirit of wisdom; as wisdom is mentioned as being most necessary for the government to which he was now called; for Moses had laid his hands upon him; which was a symbol of the government being committed to him;

¹⁰ And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, — there arose not a prophet since in Israel; such words like these can only indicate have been written some time later after the death of Moses;

¹¹ in all the signs and the wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, — in all the signs and the wonders which the Lord sent him to do; which the Lord sent him to do; ‘for he it was that appeared to him in the bush, and sent him to Egypt to work miracles, which he did by him;

— in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land; to whom they were visible, and who were all affected by the ten plagues inflicting upon all the Egyptians;

¹² and in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses showed in the sight of all Israel. — and in all that great terror which Moses showed in the sight of all Israel; meaning either the terror the Egyptians were struck with by him, in the sight of all Israel,

— when he publicly and before them wrought the wonders he did in the land of Egypt, which threw them into a panic, especially the thunders and lightning, the three days darkness, and the slaying of their firstborn;

— the Targum of Jonathan adds more details of the content that were later deposited inside the Ark, especially “the two tables of sapphire stone:”

and in all the strength of the Mighty Hand by which he bare the rod whose weight was forty savin and that divided the sea, and smote the rock; and in all the solemn things which Mosheh did when he received the two tables of sapphire stone, whose weight was forty savin, and carried both of them in his hands in the sight of all Israel.

Posted in Books of Moses

Deuteronomy 31

¹ And Moses went and spoke these words unto all Israel. — these are the words Moses spoke unto all Israel, which is in great contrast to the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, where was usual to read “And the Lord spoke unto Moses” and “And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the Lord,”

² And he said unto them: “I am a hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in. Also the Lord hath said unto me, ‘Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.’ — and he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; perhaps on the selfsame day he was bid to go up to Mount Nebo and die;

³ The Lord thy God, He will go over before thee, and He will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them; and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath said. — and He will destroy these nations from before thee; and he will destroy those nations from before thee; the seven nations which then inhabited the land;

— the Lord would fulfil His promise, to go before Israel and destroy the Canaanites, like the two kings of the Amorites; only they (the Israelites) were to do to them as the Lord had commanded them, that is, to root out the Canaanites (Deuteronomy 7:2; Numbers 33:51; Exodus 34:11)

⁴ And the Lord shall do unto them as He did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of those whom He destroyed. — and the Lord shall do unto them as he did unto Sihon, and to Og, kings of the Amorites; deliver them up into their hands; the story of this in Numbers 21:10

⁵ And the Lord shall give them up before your face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you. — and the Lord shall give them up before your face; to their ruin and destruction; the Targum of Jonathan says, “the Word of the Lord will deliver them up before you:”

⁶ Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them; for the Lord thy God, He it is who doth go with thee. He will not fail thee nor forsake thee.” — fear not, nor be afraid of them; their enemies, though numerous and mighty, and some of them of a gigantic stature, and their cities strong and well fenced;

⁷ And Moses called unto Joshua and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and of good courage; for thou must go with this people unto the land which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give them, and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.

— and Moses called unto Joshua; who might be at some distance from him, with the tribe to which he belonged; the Targum of Jonathan adds, “out of the midst of the people” and said unto him, in the sight of all Israel;

⁸ And the Lord, He it is who doth go before thee. He will be with thee, He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee. Fear not, neither be dismayed.” — fear not, neither be dismayed; at the number and strength of the enemy, nor at any difficulties that might lie in the way of finishing so great an undertaking, since the Lord would be with him;

⁹ And Moses wrote this law and delivered it unto the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel. — and Moses wrote this law; the book of Deuteronomy, or the Torah, Pentateuch, the five books of Moses, which he had now finished, and which all of them together are sometimes called the law;

¹⁰ And Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the Feast of Tabernacles, — at the end of every seven years; thou shalt read this law; at the return of the sabbatic year and during the feast of tabernacles, the law was to be publicly read;

¹¹ when all Israel has come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which He shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing. — in the place which the Lord shall choose; the city of Jerusalem, and the Temple there.

¹² Gather the people together — men, and women, and children, and thy stranger who is within thy gates — that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law,

— thy stranger who is within thy gates; those strangers that couldn’t hear, see, learn and fear the Lord, these are the blind and unrepentent Gentiles, especially, First, from those of Psalm 83, and, Second, from those of “Gog and Magog;”

— for more, see Sequence of Prophecies for the Return of Israel

¹³ and that their children, who have not known any thing, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over the Jordan to possess it.” — may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God; hear the law of God, learn the meaning of it, and so be brought up in the fear, nurture, and admonition of the Lord, and serve him their Creator in the days of their youth;

¹⁴ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Behold, thy days approach that thou must die. Call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge.” And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.

— that I may give him a charge; immediately from myself, for his great encouragement, and to gain him more authority with the people;

¹⁵ And the Lord appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud, and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle. — the Targum of Jonathan adds, “Moses and Joshua went, and stood in the tabernacle of ordinance;”

¹⁶ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land whither they go to be among them, and will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. — this people will go after the gods of the strangers; first with the Canaanites;

— then later with others:

(a) Easters, a celebration of the Queen of heaven: Ishtar, the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility and sex. Her symbols (like the egg and bunny) were and still are fertility and sex symbols; and to those who actually think eggs and bunnies have something to do with the resurrection; Jeremiah 7:18 the women knead their dough to make cakes to the Queen of heaven; in Egypt, Jeremiah 44:17-19, 25, this is Ishtar: pronounced ‘Easter.’

(b) Christmas; Ezekiel 8:16 five and twenty men with their backs toward the temple; their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward the east; Christmas, which honor Mithraism, birthday on December 25th – a form of nature worship based on the Sun-Goddess Mithra who on the darkest night of the year (December 20/21), gives birth to “Light” causing each day thereafter to grow longer until the Summer solstice;

(c) Sundays; her sabbaths which is Sundays, where the original Sun-worshippers were the Samaritans, brought from Assyria: And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria and dwelt in the cities thereof, II Kings 17:24.

¹⁷ Then My anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured; and many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’

— and they shall be devoured; and they shall be devoured; by their enemies, or by the sore judgments of God, by famine, sword, pestilence, and evil beasts, they and their substance; and many evils and troubles shall befall them; both in their own land, and in other countries, where they would be carried captives;

¹⁸ And I will surely hide My face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods. — for all the evils which they shall have wrought; for all the immoralities they should be guilty of, every transgression of his law, whether of the first or second table, or of LGBTqia; greed or other idolatries.

¹⁹ Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it to the children of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the children of Israel. — put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness; such method of perpetuating the truth was even better adapted to the times and to the condition of the people than the delivery of a written law.

²⁰ For when I shall have brought them into the land which I swore unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey, and they shall have eaten and filled themselves and waxed fat, then will they turn unto other gods and serve them, and provoke Me and break My covenant.

— and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; that is, after they have for a considerable time enjoyed the good things of the land, and they abound with them, and increase in them, and have great fullness of them;

— then will they turn unto other gods: turn from the Lord who has brought them into all this plenty, from the fear, worship, and service of him, and turn to the worship of idols;

²¹ And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles have befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed. For I know their imagination and that which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I swore.”

— this song shall testify against them as a witness; that they were sufficiently admonished of their duty, and forewarned what would be the consequence of their defection from me and my worship;

— for I know their imagination which they go about even now; there being a secret inclination in their minds to idolatry, which were working and contriving schemes to bring it about, and set it up;

²² Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel. — Moses therefore wrote this song the same day; that same day it was dictated to him by divine inspiration; and he wrote it;

²³ And He gave Joshua, the son of Nun, a charge and said, “Be strong and of good courage; for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore unto them, and I will be with thee.” — and said, be strong and of a good courage; that is, not fearing the people of the land, however tall their height or statue;

²⁴ And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book until they were finished, — and it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book; this book of Deuteronomy and those preceding it, and which concluded the Torah, or the Pentateuch;

²⁵ that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, — the Levites, which bare the ark; more specifically “the priests the sons of Levi” as in Deuteronomy 31:9

²⁶ “Take this Book of the Law and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee; — the solemn delivery of the book of the law to the Levites, to be deposited in, or rather by the side, of the ark;

— the Targum of Jonathan says “Take the book of this law, and put it into a chest on the right side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be for a testament to you.”

²⁷ for I know thy rebellion and thy stiff neck. Behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the Lord. And how much more after my death? — and how much more after my death? When he would be no more with them to instruct and advise them, to caution and reprove them, and to keep them in awe by his authority.

²⁸ Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them. — the heads of the tribes, the princes, and magistrates;

²⁹ For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you. And evil will befall you in the latter days, because ye will do evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands.”

— and evil will befall you in the latter days; not only in the times of the judges, nor even the time of the Babylonish captivity, but in their coming captivity, that is of “the latter days” as they call it;

— and here a revelation from Isaiah

Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is none other; I am God, and there is none like Me,

declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’ Isaiah 46:9-10

— for more, see Sequence of Prophecies for the Return of Israel

³⁰ And Moses spoke in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song until they were ended: — and Moses spake; the words of this song; the exodus of Israel begins and ends with a song of Moses.

Deuteronomy 32

¹ “Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

— the expression, “O earth” is expressed seven times throughout the OT, here by Moses, elsewhere by Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Micah, empahsizing that God, too, has a message for the whole of humanity;

— Give ear, O ye heavens; hear, O earth; by appealing, in this solemn manner, to the heavens and the earth in the beginning of this song, Moses intended to signify heaven and earth are here for the inhabitants of all, angels and men: both will agree to justify God in his proceedings against Israel, and to declare his righteousness.

² My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass. — of such importance throughout, he desired that the words should trickle down like rain and dew upon grass and herb.

³ Because I will proclaim the name of the Lord, ascribe ye greatness unto our God. — it is the name YEHOVAH that I utter; Give ye greatness to our God.

⁴ “He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are judgment, a God of truth and without iniquity; just and right is He. — He is the Rock, his work is perfect; or rather, the Rock, perfect is his work.

⁵ They have corrupted themselves; their spot is not the spot of His children; they are a perverse and crooked generation. — they have corrupted themselves; that is, the Israelites by their frequent lapses and their inveterate attachment to idolatry.

⁶ “Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? Is not He thy father that hath bought thee? Hath He not made thee and established thee? — is not he thy Father, that hath bought thee? thus the Father is also the Rock; verse 4 above;

⁷ Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations. Ask thy father, and he will show thee, thy elders, and they will tell thee. — the days of old, that is, the history and events of ancient days or former ages, and thou wilt find that I had a respect unto thee, not only in Abraham’s time, but long before it and also long after;

⁸ When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. — as the chosen people of God, the sons of Jacob were to be his messengers to the nations, the Gentiles; the LXX translate the latter half of Deuteronomy 32:8, “He set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the angels of God”

— and here from the Targum of Jonathan in archaic English; “when by lot the Most High divided the world to the people that sprung from the sons of Noah:”

When the Most High made allotment of the world unto the nations which proceeded from the sons of Noach, in the separation of the writings and languages of the children of men at the time of the division, He cast the lot among the seventy angels, the princes of the nations with whom is the revelation to oversee the city, even at that time He established the limits of the nations according to the sum of the number of the seventy souls of Israel who went down into Mizraim.

⁹ For the Lord’S portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance. — the Lord’s portion is his people.’  Jacob is the lot of his inheritance; because they were his part, his portion, his inheritance, which he chose by lot for himself

— and from the Message Bible

When the High God gave the nations their stake,
    gave them their place on Earth,
He put each of the peoples within boundaries
    under the care of divine guardians.
But God himself took charge of his people,
    took Jacob on as his personal concern. The Message Bible Deuteronomy 32:8-9

¹⁰ “He found him in a desert land and in the waste howling wilderness; He led him about, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. — he found him in a desert land; not by chance, but as it were looking out and seeking for him; he did, indeed, manifest himself to Israel in Egypt;

— as men use to keep the apple of their eye, that is, with singular care and diligence, this being, as a most tender, so a most useful part. What a striking idea does this give us of the care which God took of Israel.

¹¹ As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings, — the eagle is observed by scientists to have a most tender affection to her young, and therefore the care of God over Israel is here well illustrated thereby.

¹² so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. — there was no strange god with him; no idolatry among them then;

— it signifies that the Lord alone was the leader of his people, and he had no assistant in that work, and therefore all the glory should be given to him: he is the leader of his people.

¹³ He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and He made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; — he made him ride on the high places; to conquer their strongest holds on the mountains, and their cities fenced with walls of the greatest height and strength;

— oil out of the flinty rocks; olive-trees growing and bearing fruit best in rocky or hilly places. The expressions are proverbial, and denote a most fertile land;

¹⁴ butter of cows and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape. — the pure blood of the grape; this metaphor, as well as the preceding, is very elegant and natural, on account of the great resemblance between red wine and blood;

¹⁵ “But Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked; thou hast waxed fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness. Then he forsook God who made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

— then he forsook God which made him; the worship of God, as the Targum of Jonathan says, giving into idolatry in times past; and the written word of God, by giving heed to neighbouring traditions of surrounding nations;

¹⁶ They provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations provoked they Him to anger. — they provoked him to jealousy with strange gods; they sacrificed to devils, which were not-God; to gods whom they knew not, to new ones that had lately come up, whom their fathers knew not;

¹⁷ They sacrificed unto devils, not to God, to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. — the devils; render unto idols or destroyers;

— whom your fathers feared not; paid no regard unto, put no trust or confidence in; or, as the Targum of Jonathan, “with whom your fathers had nothing to do.”

¹⁸ Of the Rock that begot thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. — that begat thee, that is, who hath adopted you to be his people, and hath showed as much care and kindness to you as if he had begotten you.

¹⁹ “And when the Lord saw it, He abhorred them, because of the provoking of His sons and of His daughters. — when the Lord saw how they had departed from him to serve idols, he abhorred (rather, spurned or rejected) them in consequence of the provocation which their unworthy conduct israel had given to him;

²⁰ And He said: ‘I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end shall be; for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. — and he said, I will hide my face from them; to withdraw his favour and see what their end would be;

— I will see what their end will be; I will make them and others see what the fruit of such actions shall be; that their apostasy would bring nothing but evil and destruction;

²¹ They have moved Me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked Me to anger with their vanities. And I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. — they have provoked me to anger with their vanities; by vanities are meant the fictitious deities of the nations with whose worship the Israelites corrupted themselves;

²² For a fire is kindled in Mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. — and set on fire the foundations of the mountains; that is, subvert their strongest fortresses, yea, Jerusalem itself, now London, Paris and Washington DC; founded on the holy mountains, which was perfectly fulfilled in its destruction, first, by Titus.

²³ “‘I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend Mine arrows upon them. — I will heap mischief upon them; I will send them one calamity upon another;

— I will spend mine arrows upon them; even empty my quiver, and send upon them all my plagues, which, like arrows (or missiles these days) shot by a skilful and strong hand, shall speedily reach, and certainly hit and mortally wound them.

²⁴ They shall be burned with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and with bitter destruction; I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust. — burned with hunger; from War, famine, pestilence; burning heat; with burning fevers, or carbuncles or other inflaming distempers;

— poison of serpents of the dust; could not escape falling into the hands of wild beasts, and of meeting with poisonous serpents that go upon their bellies, and feed on the dust of the earth;

²⁵ The sword without and terror within shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs. — these are accompanied by the evils of war, which sweeps away the men outside in the slaughter itself by the sword, and the defenceless; all inclusive, the youths and maidens, sucklings and old men;

²⁶ I said I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men, — I would scatter them into corners, or rather, I would utterly disperse them to the end of the world,;

— I would make the remembrance of them cease from among men; as of the Amalekites, Moabites, Midianites, Edomites, Chaldeans, and others, whose names as well as nations are no more;

²⁷ were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, “Our hand is high; and the Lord hath not done all this.”’ — the wrath of the enemy, that is their rage against me; their insolent and furious reproaches against my name, as if I were unnatural and cruel to my people, or unable to deliver them;

— and from MSG

I could have said, “I’ll hack them to pieces,
    wipe out all trace of them from the Earth,”
Except that I feared the enemy would grab the chance
    to take credit for all of it,
Crowing, “Look what we did!
    God had nothing to do with this.” Deuteronomy 32:26-27 MSG

²⁸ “For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them. — for they are a nation void of counsel; instances of their ingratitude, folly, and for lack of counsel and understanding;

²⁹ O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! — Moses, under a spirit of prophecy, foresees the ignorance and stupidity of the Israelites in the latter days;

— that they would consider their latter end; either the latter days of this age; had they wisdom, they would understand and observe that the displeasure of God against them, and their destruction among the nations.

³⁰ How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up?

— except their rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up; that is, unless the Lord, who was their rock and fortress, and in whom they should have trusted as such, had forsaken them, and given them up into their enemies’ hands;

— if Israel were wise, they could easily overcome all their foes through the help of the Almighty (Leviticus 26:8); but having forsaken him, they were left by him, and so came under the power of the enemy.

³¹ For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. — for their rock is not as our rock; that is, the gods of the heathens, the rock in which they trusted, are not like the God of Israel.

³² For their vine is of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter. — Sodom and Gomorrah; here, as elsewhere, and often in the prophets, emblems of utter depravity and destruction; as the cities whose destruction for their wickedness was proverbial doomed.

³³ Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps. —their wine is the poison of dragons; of these creatures, both land and sea dragons;

— and from MSG

They are a nation of idiots,
    they don’t know enough to come in out of the rain.
If they had any sense at all, they’d know this;
    they would see what’s coming down the road.
How could one soldier chase a thousand enemies off,
    or two men run off two thousand,
Unless their Rock had sold them,
    unless God had given them away?
For their rock is nothing compared to our Rock;
    even our enemies say that.
They’re a vine that comes right out of Sodom,
    who they are is rooted in Gomorrah;
Their grapes are poison grapes,
    their grape-clusters bitter.
Their wine is rattlesnake venom,
    mixed with lethal cobra poison. Deuteronomy 32:28-33 MSG

³⁴ “‘Is not this laid up in store with Me, and sealed up among My treasures? — is not this laid up? “This” is generally taken to refer to what follows, but it is not clear. It may refer to the fact that “He looked for grapes, but the vine brought forth wild grapes” Isaiah 5:2

³⁵ To Me belongeth vengeance and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.’ — a prophecy: their foot shall slide in due time; though not so soon as some may expect it, yet in at a latter time when it shall be most proper and seasonable, when they have filled up the measure of their sins.

³⁶ “For the Lord shall judge His people and repent for His servants, when He seeth that their power is gone and there is none shut up or left. — for the Lord shall judge his people; his chosen and covenant people;

— and there is none shut up or left; a phrase used to express the miserable state and condition of a people, when none are left, but all are carried off, or cut off, and destroyed, and there is none to help them;

³⁷ And He shall say: ’Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted, — he shall ask: the Lord, before he deliver his people, will first convince them of their former folly in forsaking him and following idols; he will find an occasion from that miserable and hopeless condition into which their idols have brought them, to upbraid them with it;

³⁸ which ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up and help you, and be your protection. — let them rise up and help you; their gods whom Israel had adopted from the Gentiles, upon whom judgment had fallen.

³⁹ “‘See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god besides Me. I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; neither is there any that can deliver out of My hand. — the repetition of “I” is emphatic: “I, even I, am He, I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal” is expressive of his existence, eternity, immutability, and sovereignty;

⁴⁰ For I lift up My hand to heaven and say: I live for ever. — for I lift up my hand; this is the form in taking an oath;

⁴¹ If I whet My glittering sword and Mine hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to Mine enemies and will reward them that hate Me. — as to say, “As I live forever, if I whet my lightning sword, and my hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and repay them that hate me.”

⁴² I will make Mine arrows drunk with blood, and My sword shall devour flesh, and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.’ — I will make mine arrows drunk with blood; signifying, that by various judgments he would bring upon them, which, like arrows, would come suddenly, fly swiftly, and pierce deeply, there would be a prodigious effusion of blood;

— and that with the blood of the slain, and of the captives; that is, his arrows should be drunk not only with the blood of these that were wounded and killed, but of the captives; who commonly are spared, but in this case should not, their blood should be shed;

⁴³ “Rejoice, O ye nations, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and will render vengeance to His adversaries, and will be merciful unto His land and to His people.” — rejoice, O ye nations, with his people; or, “rejoice, ye nations” who are “his” people; the Gentiles, who are the Lord’s chosen and covenant people, redeemed and called;

⁴⁴ And Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun. — Joshua, who is here joined with Moses in this action, because though Moses only spake the words, yet Joshua consented to them; and, it may be, afterwards repeated them;

⁴⁵ And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel, — such rehearsal, once more impressed upon the hearts of the people the importance of observing all the commandments of God;

⁴⁶ and he said unto them: “Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. — which ye shall command; or rather, that ye may command your children to observe to do all the words of this law.

⁴⁷ For it is not a vain thing for you, because it is your life; and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land whither ye go over the Jordan to possess it.” — for it is not a vain thing for you; not too light a thing for you, not unworthy of your attention;

— the law was no light and trifling matter, because it is your life, but of great importance and consequence, obedience to it being attended with rewards, and disobedience with punishment;

⁴⁸ And the Lord spoke unto Moses that selfsame day, saying, — the selfsame day; on which he finished the reading of the law, and the above song, which was the seventh of Adar (twelveth month) around February; according to the Targum of Jonathan, the day he died on;

⁴⁹ “Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab that is opposite Jericho, and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession. — unto Mount Nebo; where Moses was to die; which is in the land of Moab; it formerly belonged to it, but was taken from the Moabites by Sihon, and now possessed by Israel;

⁵⁰ And die on the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered unto his people, — as Aaron thy brother died in Mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people; of which Moses was an eyewitness; and which is observed, because there was a great likeness in their death;

⁵¹ because ye trespassed against Me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin, because ye sanctified Me not in the midst of the children of Israel. — because ye trespassed; God reminds him of the sin he had committed long before, and this Moses records as an acknowledgment, made at his death, of God’s justice, and a warning to all people not to distrust or disobey the voice of God.

⁵² Yet thou shalt see the land before thee, but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.” — but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel; the land of Canaan was a gift of God to Israel.

Posted in Books of Moses

Deuteronomy 29

¹ These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He made with them in Horeb.

— beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb; though it was substantially the same; but it was renewed now, in different circumstances;

— they had violated its conditions, hence Moses rehearses these, that they might have a better knowledge of its conditions and be more disposed to comply with them.

² And Moses called unto all Israel and said unto them, “Ye have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh and unto all his servants and unto all his land,

— unto Pharaoh and unto all his servants, and unto all his land; the plagues he inflicted on the person of Pharaoh, and on all his courtiers, and on all the people in Egypt, for they reached the whole land.

³ the great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles. — the great temptations which thine eyes have seen; or trials, the ten plagues which tried the Egyptians; the signs and those great miracles: as the said plagues were such as were beyond the power of nature to produce.

⁴ Yet the Lord hath not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear unto this day. — yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive; some of them seen the above miracles with their eyes, but had not discerned with their understanding the power of God displayed in them;

⁵ And I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not waxed old upon you, and thy shoe has not waxed old upon thy foot. — your clothes are not waxen old upon you: were not worn out; all those forty years they had been in the wilderness, they had never wanted clothes fitting for them;

— and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot; which were to wear in travelling, and especially in a rugged wilderness; and yet, thought they had been always in use during so long a time, were not worn out.

⁶ Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink, that ye might know that I am the Lord your God. — ye have not eaten bread; not eaten bread made of corn, common bread, of their own preparing, by the labour of their own hands; but manna, the bread of heaven;

⁷ And when ye came unto this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us unto battle, and we smote them. — and when ye came unto this place; the borders of Moab, the wilderness before it, to which joined the plains they were now in;

⁸ And we took their land and gave it for an inheritance unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to the halftribe of Manasseh. — and we took their land; which belonged to the two kings, the lands of Jazer, Gilead, and Bashan, fine countries for pasturage:

⁹ Keep therefore the words of this covenant and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do. — the words of this covenant; that is, those spelt out in Deuteronomy 29:1 and on Deuteronomy 4:13;

¹⁰ “Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your God— your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel, — ye stand — before the Lord your God; they were assembled at the tabernacle, from whence he delivered these words to them by the priests and Levites;

¹¹ your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water—

— and thy stranger that is in thy camp; not only the proselyte of righteousness, who embraced the Israelite’s religion entirely, but the proselyte of the gate, who was admitted to dwell among them, having renounced idolatry;

¹² that thou shouldest enter into covenant with the Lord thy God, and into His oath, which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day, — the covenant was national, the whole congregation of Israel, of all ages and conditions, all, young as well as old; and therefore embraced all the elements which make up the nation;

¹³ that He may establish thee today for a people unto Himself, and that He may be unto thee a God, as He hath said unto thee and as He hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

— that he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself; it must be observed that this is the aspect of the covenant which makes Yehovah responsible for the fulfilment of the whole; he takes all this trouble for the sake of establishing thee in his presence for himself;

¹⁴ “Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath, — neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath; that is, Moses; for he was ordered to make this covenant with them in the name of the Lord;

¹⁵ but with him that standeth here with us this day before the Lord our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day — so also with him that is not here; that is, with your posterity; and so with him that is not here with us this day; of the people of future generations;

¹⁶ (for ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the nations which ye passed by, — for ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; how long they and their fathers had dwelt there, the number of years they had been in the land;

— as the Targum of Jonathan, which was upwards of two hundred years; and being a country the inhabitants of which were much given to idolatry, they had seen many of their idols, and much of their idolatrous worship;

— and how we came through the nations which ye passed by; as the Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, and Midianites, through whose borders they came, as they passed by their countries in their journeys in the wilderness.

¹⁷ and ye have seen their abominations and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them); — wood and stone, silver and gold; these are the materials of which the idols they had seen in the several countries they had been in, or passed through, were made of;

— some of wood, others of stone cut out of these, and carved; others more rich and costly were made of massive gold and silver, and were molten ones; or the images of wood were glided with gold and silver;

¹⁸ lest there should be among you man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of these nations, lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood,

— lest there should be; to prevent their falling into idolatry, and preserve them from it, whether a single person of either sex, or a whole family, or even a tribe, which might be in danger of being infected with it, and so all the people;

¹⁹ and it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart’—to add drunkenness to thirst.

— that he bless himself in his heart; inwardly pronounce himself blessed, thinking himself secure from the curse of the law, and flattering himself it will never reach him nor come upon him;

— saying, I shall have peace; all happiness and prosperity, in soul, body, and estate; inward peace of mind now, and eternal peace hereafter: though I walk in the imagination of my heart; in worshipping idols which he vainly and wickedly imagined to be gods; to the worship of which his wicked heart prompted him, and he was resolutely and stubbornly bent upon, and in which he continued;

²⁰ The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and His jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven.

— then the Lord will not spare him; have no mercy upon him, nor forgive him, being an hardhearted, impenitent, stubborn, and obstinate sinner, as well as guilty of the grossest and most provoking sin, as idolatry is;

— and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him: for as he that offends in one point is guilty of all, and especially in such a principal point as this, which concerns the being and worship of God; so he makes himself liable to all the curses of the law;

²¹ And the Lord shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this Book of the Law, — according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law; the evil of punishment he shall be separated unto shall be according to them, or include them all;

— and here is from MSG:

^14-21 I’m not making this Covenant and its oath with you alone. I am making it with you who are standing here today in the Presence of God, our God, yes, but also with those who are not here today.

You know the conditions in which we lived in Egypt and how we crisscrossed through nations in our travels. You got an eyeful of their obscenities, their wood and stone, silver and gold junk-gods.

Don’t let down your guard lest even now, today, someone—man or woman, clan or tribe—gets sidetracked from God, our God, and gets involved with the no-gods of the nations; lest some poisonous weed sprout and spread among you, a person who hears the words of the Covenant-oath but exempts himself, thinking, “I’ll live just the way I please, thank you,” and ends up ruining life for everybody.

God won’t let him off the hook. God’s anger and jealousy will erupt like a volcano against that person. The curses written in this book will bury him. God will delete his name from the records.

God will separate him out from all the tribes of Israel for special punishment, according to all the curses of the Covenant written in this Book of Revelation. Deuteronomy 29:18-20 The Message

²² so that the generation to come of your children who shall rise up after you, and the stranger who shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land and the sicknesses which the Lord hath laid upon it,

— and the stranger that shall come from a far land; the Assyrians and the Babylonians were from closeby; or for the sake of travelling from afar, his road either lying through it, or his curiosity leading him to see it;

²³ and that the whole land thereof is brimstone and salt and burning, that it is not sown nor beareth nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger and in His wrath—

— like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah; the whole land burnt of brimstone, and salt, and thereafter, is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein;

²⁴ even all nations shall say, ‘Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land? What meaneth the heat of this great anger?’ — even all nations shall say; not just the Assyrians and the Babylonians from closeby; or even the Roman, but all nations shall wonder;

²⁵ Then men shall say, ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them forth out of the land of Egypt; — then men shall say; these men are Gentiles; and they even know the answer: because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers;

²⁶ for they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they knew not and whom He had not given unto them. — for they went and served other gods, and worshipped them; as did all Israel, in the times of Solomon, and the ten tribes under Jeroboam,

— and other succeeding kings of Israel; and the two tribes in the times of Ahaz, and especially of Manasseh, when they worshipped all the gods of the surrounding nations; 1 Kings 11:33,

²⁷ And the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book; — to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book; in this book of Deuteronomy, and particularly Deuteronomy 28:16; Daniel 9:11

²⁸ and the Lord rooted them out of their land in anger and in wrath and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.’ — and cast them another land, as it is this day; the ten tribes were cast into Assyria, and from thence into the cities of the Medes, the two tribes into the land of Chaldea;

— “and cast them into another land, as it is this day” this maybe a predicted statement of the forthcoming exiles; it could either be the writer’s own and if so betrays his foresight at that time, or it is a later editorial addition. In view of the language of the whole chapter, the former alternative is the more probable.

²⁹ “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. — secret things belong unto the Lord our God; that is, the counsels and secrets of God concerning persons or nations;

— but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever; the things of nature and Providence, which are plain and manifest, are for our use and instruction; and especially the word and ordinances of God, which are the revelation of his will, the doctrines and promises contained in the Scriptures, each of the duties of religion, and the commandments of God.

Deuteronomy 30

¹ “And it shall come to pass, when all these things have come upon thee, the blessing and the curse which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee,

— and thou shalt call them to mind; recollect the promises of blessings and cursings; an awakening among the people themselves must precede their restoration.

² and shalt return unto the Lord thy God and shalt obey His voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart and with all thy soul, — and shalt return unto the Lord thy God; by repentance, acknowledging their manifold sins and transgressions;

³ that then the Lord thy God will return thee from captivity and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee.

— God will return thee from all the nations; not from Assyria, not from Babylon, not from Rome, but from “all the nations” that is, from the east, west, north, and south, where they are now dispersed;

— these are Prophecies of a sequence of Major events that will lead to the Return of the House of Israel, the Northern Lost 10-Tribes, back to the Promise Land that God had promised to Abraham, the land defined as the land between the two rivers;

— for more details written by the prophets Ezekiel, Isaiah and Jeremiah, see Sequence of Prophecies for the Return of Israel

⁴ If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will He fetch thee. — if any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven; again, emphasizing from the “outmost parts of heaven” that is, from the east, west, north, and south, where they are now dispersed;

— the timing is where the Targum of Jonathan indicates, “from thence will he bring you near by the hands of the King Messiah,” which means, at the close of this age;

⁵ And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and He will do thee good and multiply thee above thy fathers.

— and the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; that these Israelites upon their conversion in the latter day will return to the land of Judea and Samaria again, and possess it, is the sense of many passages of other Scripture; written by the prophets Ezekiel, Isaiah, Daniel and Jeremiah;

⁶ And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. — the Lord will circumcise thy heart; will by his Word and Spirit change and purge thy heart from all thy idolatry and wickedness;

⁷ And the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies and on them that hate thee, who persecuted thee. — the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies; from these blind and unrepentent Gentiles, especially, First, from those of Psalm 83, and, Second, from those of “Gog and Magog;”

⁸ And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all His commandments which I command thee this day. — and thou shalt return and do all his commandments; it is as certain that in this age that the laws of Deuteronomy have been forgotten or have never been kept perfectly.

⁹ And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good. For the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as He rejoiced over thy fathers,

— thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand; indicating these Israelites are humans, not spirit beings; in the fruit of thy body; abundance of children; and in the fruit of thy cattle; a large increase of oxen and sheep; and in the fruit of thy land for good;

¹⁰ if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul.

— to keep his commandments and his statutes, which are written in this book of the law; a constant reminder of keeping his laws and statutes, particularly at Mount Sinai and in this chapter;

¹¹ “For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. — for this commandment is not hidden, either is it far off; that law of obeying God, which was the subject of Moses’ discourse, was well known to the Israelites; they could not plead ignorance of its existence and requirements.

¹² It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, ‘Who shall go up for us to heaven and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it?’ — it is not in heaven; the scheme of it was formed in heaven, it was hid in the heart of God there, before revealed;

¹³ Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, ‘Who shall go over the sea for us and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it?’ — neither is it beyond the sea: the knowledge of this commandment is not to be fetched from far distant places;

¹⁴ But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. — in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it; the fulfilment of obeying God’s laws is not impossible, nor really very difficult;

¹⁵ “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil, — see, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; the alternative of a good and happy, or a disobedient and miserable life.

¹⁶ in that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply; and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. — a constant reminder of keeping his commandments, his statutes and judgments;

— and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it; with health and happiness, with an affluence of all good things, in the land between the two rivers they would enter into to take possession of.

¹⁷ But if thine heart turn away so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, — so that thou wilt not hear; the voice of the Lord and obey it, or hearken to his laws, and do them: but shalt be drawn away; by an evil heart, or by the ill examples of others;

¹⁸ I declare unto you this day that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land whither thou passest over the Jordan to go to possess it. — I denounce unto you this day that ye shall surely perish; by one judgment or another; or else sent off into exile as captives;

¹⁹ I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live, — therefore choose life, that thou and thy seed may live; that is, prefer obedience to the law, and choose to perform that, the consequence of which is life;

²⁰ that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him; for He is thy life and the length of thy days, that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

— that thou mayest love the Lord thy God; here he shows them in short what their duty is; to love God as the Lord, a being most amiable, and as their God;

— that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them; the land of Canaan, the land between the two rivers.

Posted in Books of Moses

Deuteronomy 27

¹ And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep all the commandments which I command you this day.

— Moses with the elders; having in discourses at several times repeated the principal parts of the laws, and made several necessary additions to them, Moses called the council together, the seventy elders, at the head of whom was Moses, which made the great Sanhedrin, or council of the nation;

— keep all the commandments which I command you this day; not in his own name, as being the supreme legislator, but in the name of the Lord, whom they had avouched to be their God and King;

² And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over the Jordan unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaster them with plaster.

— they were ordered to take twelve stones, and did; but then they were set up in a different place, and for a different purpose; and plaster them with plaster: that so words might be written upon them, and be more conspicuous, and more easily read;

³ And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee.

— thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law; it might be, as some think, the Decalogue; but a greater probability is that it was “the blessings and curses,” which comprised in fact an epitome of the law (Joshua 8:34).

⁴ Therefore it shall be when ye have gone over the Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, on Mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaster them with plaster. — in Mount Ebal; a mountain near Shechem in Samaria, the mount of cursing. Here the law is written, to signify that a curse was due to its violators;

⁵ And there shalt thou build an altar unto the Lord thy God, an altar of stones. Thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them. — there shalt thou build an altar; of whole stones; these stones were to be in their natural state.

⁶ Thou shalt build the altar of the Lord thy God of whole stones, and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord thy God. — whole stones; rough, not hewn, nor polished, whereby all manner of imagery was avoided.

⁷ And thou shalt offer peace offerings, and shalt eat there, and rejoice before the Lord thy God. — and thou shall offer peace offerings; part of which belonged to God, which was burnt on the altar, and part to the priest that offered them; and the rest to the owner that brought them, which he eat of with his friends;

⁸ And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly.” — and thou shall write upon the stones all the words of this law; not upon the stones of the altar, but upon the first stones brought to Mount Ebal, and set up there before;

⁹ And Moses and the priests, the Levites, spoke unto all Israel, saying, “Take heed and hearken, O Israel: This day thou art become the people of the Lord thy God. — this day thou art become the people of the Lord thy God; they were his people before; he had redeemed them out of Egypt; led them through the wilderness, and provided for them and protected them there;

— and had given them laws and statutes to observe to walk in; all which showed them to be his peculiar people: but now in a very formal and solemn manner they were vouched and declared by him to be his people;

¹⁰ Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the Lord thy God, and do His commandments and His statutes which I command thee this day.” — thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the Lord thy God; in whatsoever he directs in his word, and by his prophets, his Son, eminently called the Word of the Lord:
and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day;

¹¹ And Moses charged the people the same day, saying,

¹² “These shall stand upon Mount Gerizim to bless the people when ye have come over the Jordan: Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin. — the 12 tribes were divided on Gerizim and Ebal;

— on Mount Gerizim were stationed the descendants of Rachel and Leah, the two principal wives of Jacob, and to them was assigned the most pleasant and honorable office of pronouncing the benedictions;

¹³ And these shall stand upon Mount Ebal to curse: Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. — on the twin hill of Ebal were placed the posterity of the bond-women, of the two secondary wives, Zilpah and Bilhah, with those of Reuben, who had lost the primogeniture, and Zebulun, Leah’s youngest son that the numbers might be equal;

¹⁴ And the Levites shall speak, and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice: — with a loud voice; so as they might be heard by a great number of the people, by whom the rest were informed and directed by some signal when they should answer.

¹⁵ “‘Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place.’ And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’ — the “Amen” attested the conviction of the utterers that the sentences to which they responded were true, just, and certain;

¹⁶ “‘Cursed be he that treateth lightly his father or his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ — cursed be he that setteth light by his father, or his mother; that secretly despises them in his heart, and by looks and gestures mocks at them in a private manner;

¹⁷ “‘Cursed be he that removeth his neighbor’s landmark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ — cursed be he that removeth his neighbour’s landmark; removes it forward, and steals ground, this is commonly done secretly; Deuteronomy 19:14

¹⁸ “‘Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ — cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way; by directing him wrong knowingly, or laying a stumbling block in his way, Leviticus 19:14

— the Targum of Jonathan says, “that maketh a traveller wander out of the way, who like a blind man;” who knows his way no more than a blind man does.

¹⁹ “‘Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ — there follow twelve curses; the fifth against those who pervert the right of strangers, orphans and widows;

²⁰ “‘Cursed be he that lieth with his father’s wife, because he uncovereth his father’s skirt.’ And all the people shall say, ’Amen.’ — the sixth against incest with a mother;

²¹ “‘Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ — the seventh against unnatural vices (Leviticus 18:23);

²² “‘Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ — the eighth and ninth against incest with a sister or a mother-in-law (Leviticus 18:9 and Leviticus 18:17);

²³ “‘Cursed be he that lieth with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁴ “‘Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbor secretly.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ — the tenth against secret murder (Exodus 20:13; Numbers 35:16.);

²⁵ “‘Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ — the eleventh against judicial murder (“he that taketh reward to slay a soul, namely, innocent blood:” Exodus 23:7-8);

²⁶ “‘Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ — the twelfth against the man who does not set up the words of this law to do them, who does not make the laws the model and standard of his life and conduct.

Deuteronomy 28

¹ “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe and to do all His commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth;

— if thou hearken diligently; the foregoing blessings and curses being appointed to be pronounced in so solemn a manner, Moses takes occasion from thence to enlarge upon both of them, to show the Israelites what they and their posterity had to expect at the hands of God;

² and all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God: — all these blessings shall overtake thee; the blessings which others greedily follow after, and never overtake, shall follow after thee, and shall be thrown into thy lap by special kindness.

³ “Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. — blessed shalt thou be in the city; not only in the city of Jerusalem, where the temple would be built, and there be blessed with the service, worship, and ordinances of God, but in all other cities of the land;

— where they should dwell in title, large, and spacious houses, and their cities should be walled and fenced, and be very populous; yet should enjoy health, and have plenty of all sorts of provisions brought unto them, as well as prosper in all kinds of merchandise there.

⁴ Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy herds, the increase of thy cattle, and the flocks of thy sheep. — blessed shall be the fruit of thy body; their children, of which they should have many, and these live; be healthful, thrive, and arrive to manhood, and increase and perpetuate their families;

— and the fruit of thy ground; of their gardens, orchards, and fields; grass for the cattle, and the wheat, barley, vines, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates for the use of men: and the fruit of thy cattle; which being distinguished from oxen and sheep.

⁵ Blessed shall be thy basket and thy stores. — blessed shall be thy basket; which the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem restrain to the basket of firstfruits, and the cake of the first of their dough;

— but it intends any and every vessel in which they put their provisions for present use, and that that should never be empty of them, and that they should always have a sufficiency: and thy store; what remained, and was laid up in their barns, cellars, and storehouses, for future use, or in proper places for seed.

⁶ Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. — in all their business and employments of life whether within doors or outside;

— in the administration of every office, whether more public or private; and in all their journeys going out and coming home; and particularly when they went out to war, and returned, all should be attended with success.

⁷ “The Lord shall cause thine enemies who rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face; they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. — flee before thee seven ways—that is, in various directions, as always happens in a rout.

⁸ “The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and He shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. — in thy storehouses: barns, granaries, and cellar, where their corn, wine, and oil, were laid up; by preserving the corn from being devoured by vermin, and the casks of wine and oil from bursting and running out.

⁹ “The Lord shall establish thee a holy people unto Himself, as He hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God and walk in His ways. — an holy people unto himself, that is, shall confirm and establish his covenant with thee, by which he separated thee to himself as a holy and peculiar people, and shall publicly own thee for such.

¹⁰ And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of thee. — compare this to Jeremiah 33:9 “And they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity, that I provide unto it.”

¹¹ And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord swore unto thy fathers to give thee. — in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee; the land of Canaan, often thus described; it evidence shows it is also true in the land of exile.

¹² The Lord shall open unto thee His good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand; and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

— and thou shall lend unto many nations, and thou shall not borrow; that is, thou shalt be in such affluent circumstances, as to be capable, out of thy superfluous wealth, to give aid to thy poorer neighbors.

¹³ And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath, if thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them. — the head, and not the tail; give them dominion over others, and not make them subject to them; the head signifies rulers and governors, and the tail the common people that are subjects;

¹⁴ And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. — to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them; which to do was to break the first and principal table of the law, than which nothing was more abominable and provoking to God.

¹⁵ “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee: — that all these curses shall come upon thee; from the hand of God, certainly, suddenly and unexpectedly:

¹⁶ “Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. — in these curses are specified and delivered out in form, as the reverse of the blessings in Deuteronomy 28:3;

¹⁷ Cursed shall be thy basket and thy stores. — if under the curse, which, in summary, includes all misery, as the blessing all happiness.

¹⁸ Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy cattle, and the flocks of thy sheep. — cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land; — the Targum of Jonathan says “Accursed the children of your wombs, the fruits of your ground, the oxen of your herds, and the sheep of your flocks.”

¹⁹ Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out. — in all their business and employments of life whether within doors or outside;

— in the administration of every office, whether more public or private; and in all their journeys going out and coming home; and particularly when they went out to war, and returned, all should be attended with success.

²⁰ “The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke in all that thou settest thine hand unto to do until thou be destroyed and until thou perish quickly, because of the wickedness of thy doings whereby thou hast forsaken Me.

— vexation; trouble, distress, and anguish of spirit: and rebuke; this may well be considered as a rebuke and correction for sins committed, to awaken to a sense and acknowledgment of them, and to repentance for them;

²¹ The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee until He have consumed thee from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. — pestilence; some fatal epidemic, like Covid-19; there is no reason, however, to think that the plague, which is the great modern scourge worldwide, is referred to.

²² The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blight, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

— hard drugs such as methamphetamine, fentanyl and heroin, and they shall pursue thee until thou perish; coincided with an increase in violence, including gun crime, and come so close one after another upon them, until they are utterly destroyed. In 2021, more than 80,000 deaths in the United States were related to opioids, with nearly 71,000 linked with fentanyl.

²³ And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. — thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass; for its dryness and hardness, no moisture being in it, or passing through it; no showers of rain nor dew being let down from it;

— and the earth that is under thee shall be iron; or like iron, hard and impenetrable, into which the plough and spade will not enter; nor anything spring out of it, for want of rain and dew to moisten and soften it.

²⁴ The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust; from heaven shall it come down upon thee until thou be destroyed. — powder and dust; the great desert, that is, instead of showers of rain in their season, to water, refresh, and enrich the earth, now a land of powder and dust; becoming a great desert, makes this only too possible;

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

After the rain which cometh down on the earth, the Lord will send a wind that shall drive dust and ashes upon the herbage of your fields; and calamity will fall upon you from the heavens, until you are consumed.

²⁵ “The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies; thou shalt go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them, and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

— the Lord shall cause thee to be smitten fore thine enemies; and by them, as they sometimes were by the Philistines and others, before their utter destruction, when they sinned against the Lord; and by the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Romans;

— thou shall go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them; march out against them in a body, promising themselves victory, but be utterly routed; so that they shall flee every way they can for their safety; Deuteronomy 28:7,

— and shall be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth; the ten tribes, when taken captive by Shalmaneser, were not carried into all the kingdoms of the earth, neither were the Jews; only to some particular places; but this prophecy is yet for the endtime: “into all the kingdoms of the earth”

— for a close parallel, see Jeremiah 23 (Another “Out of Egypt” Exodus)

“Therefore, behold, the days come,” saith the Lord, “that they shall no more say, ‘The Lord liveth who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’

but, ‘the Lord liveth who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land” Jeremiah 23:7-8

²⁶ And thy carcass shall be meat unto all fowls of the air and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall frighten them away. — it was to be a very grievous calamity, where their carcasses lying unburied; and as this have never happened, this prophecy is yet for the endtime;

²⁷ The Lord will smite thee with the boils of Egypt, and with the hemorrhoids, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. — the botch of Egypt; the “boil,” with which the Egyptians were plagued (Exodus 9:9); the “scab” and “itch” represent the various forms of the loathsome skin diseases;

²⁸ The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart; — and blindness; not of body, but of mind; with judicial blindness and hardness of heart: astonishment of heart; they shall be filled with wonder and horror, because of the strangeness and soreness of their calamities.

²⁹ and thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways. “And thou shalt be only oppressed and despoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee. — thou shalt grope at noonday, a general description of the painful uncertainty in which they would live.;

— and thou shall not prosper in thy ways; in any steps they may take to extricate themselves out of their difficulties, distresses, and calamities; they would be miserable, poor and wretched, mean and despicable.

³⁰ Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her. Thou shalt build a house, and thou shalt not dwell therein. Thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof. — thou shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her; espouse a woman in order to make her his wife, and before he can take her home, and consummate the marriage, some calamity or another would come upon them;

— thou shall build an house, and thou shall not dwell therein; being, before it is quite finished, or however before he is got into it, carried captive, or obliged to flee to a distant place;

³¹ Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof. Thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee. Thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them.

— thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof; shall be taken from the owner, and out of the field or stall, by the enemy, and killed for the soldiers to feed on, and not the least part of it given to them;

— thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored unto thee; thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shall have none to rescue them; not given them by themselves, but they should be suffered to fall into their hands, and they should never be able to get them out again;

³² Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all the day long; and there shall be no might in thine hand. — thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people; this also was not true in the Babylonish captivity; for then their sons and daughters went with them, and continued with them, and returned again;

— but has been oftentimes verified on their captivity by the Romans; their sons and daughters taken from them by force, to be brought up in another religion, by the edicts of kings and popes, and by the canons of councils, and particularly of the fourth council of Toledo, in attendance by all the bishops of Hispania;

— but onone had happened with the lost 10 tribes; for then their sons and daughters went with them in captivity, and continued with them, though they never returned;

³³ The fruit of thy land and all thy labors shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed always,

— “a nation which thou knowest not” wouldn’t be Assyria, who took the 10 tribes, nor Babylon, who took the Jews; as they were neighbouring countries; nor Rome; more likely “a nation against thee from far” and “a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand” verse 49, it could be Russia or China at the endtimes;

— and thou shall be only oppressed and crushed always; this seems best to agree with their present case, or future tense; for in their former captivities they were not always oppressed and crushed;

³⁴ so that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. — thou shalt be mad, for the sight of thine eyes that thou shall see; on account of the shocking things they saw, their dreadful calamities, oppressions, and persecutions;

³⁵ The Lord shall smite thee in the knees and in the legs with a sore boil that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.

— the Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch, that cannot be healed; this as being a disease of such a nature, that it would render it utterly impossible for those who were afflicted with it either to stand or walk, and then heightens the threat by adding the words, “from the sole of the foot to the top of the head.”

³⁶ “The Lord shall bring thee and thy king whom thou shalt set over thee unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. — “a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known” seems very foreign; for they would have known the Assyrians, the Babylonians and even the Romans;

— and there shall thou serve other gods, wood and stone; which they were obliged to do as were in Babylon, and under subjection to a foreign power, and they should be made to serve other gods, wood and stone seduced or compelled into idolatry as were in the Assyrian and Babylonish captivities;

³⁷ And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee. — an astonishment, and would become an object of horror, a proverb, and a byword among the nations;

³⁸ “Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field and shalt gather but little in, for the locust shall consume it. — consumption of corn by locusts and of grapes by worms, and casting of olives; for the locust shall consume it; which is a great destroyer of the fruits of the earth;

³⁹ Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worms shall eat them. — even in their own land the curse would fall upon every kind of labour and enterprise; much seed would give little to reap, because the locust would devour the seed; the planting and dressing of the vineyard would furnish no wine to drink, because the worm would devour the vine;

⁴⁰ Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy borders, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil, for thine olive shall cast his fruit. — thou shalt have olive trees throughout thy borders, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; nor any other relations, friends, guests, as were at entertainments;

⁴¹ Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them, for they shall go into captivity. — thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shall not enjoy them; for “they shall not be thine” being taken from them into captivity, and given to others;

⁴² All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume. — the locust, a creature that not only consumes grass, and herbs, and the corn of the field, but all green trees;

⁴³ The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high, and thou shalt come down very low. — the stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; in wealth and riches, in power and authority, in honour and dignity;

— and thou shall come down, very low; into a very mean condition, to be in great subjection, a vassal and a slave;

⁴⁴ He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him. He shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail. — he shall lend to thee, and thou shall not lend to him; the stranger, or one of another nation, shall be in a capacity of lending to the Israelite, when the Israelite would not be able to lend to the Gentile.

⁴⁵ Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee and overtake thee till thou be destroyed, because thou hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded thee.

— and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee till thou be destroyed; which though they would endeavour to flee from and escape, should not be able, since they would follow them so closely and swiftly, and overtake them, and seize upon them;

⁴⁶ And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. — and they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder; and what follow, should rest and remain upon them, continue with them, and be very visible on them; so as to be observed by others, as a sign of the wrath and displeasure of God.

⁴⁷ “Because thou served not the Lord thy God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart for the abundance of all things, — with joyfulness and gladness 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 serve the Lord:

⁴⁸ therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies whom the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger and in thirst and in nakedness and in want of all things; and He shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck until He have destroyed thee.

— and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck; bring them into a state of subjection to their enemies, which would be intolerable to them, and from which they would not be able to free themselves, any more than to break an iron yoke; which, as were in the Babylonish captivity, and their subjection in that state.

⁴⁹ The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth, a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand, — the Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far; the invasion of the Romans: “they came from far.” But more likely for the endtime, the Russians and the Chinese , woule then be considered “the end of the earth.”

⁵⁰ a nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old nor show favor to the young. — a nation of fierce countenance; the Russians had lost 20 millions to the Nazis; the Chinese a similar amount to the Japanese, all had toughened themselves;

⁵¹ And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle and the fruit of thy land until thou be destroyed; he also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy cattle, or flocks of thy sheep until he have destroyed thee.

— and your enemy shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, oxen and sheep, as their calves and lambs, and kids of the goat, and the fruit, wheat, barley, figs, grapes, pomegranates, olives, and dates, of thy land until thou be destroyed;

⁵² And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates until thy high and fortified walls come down wherein thou trusted, throughout all thy land; and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land which the Lord thy God hath given thee.

— and he, a modern type of Shalmaneser, Sennacherib, and Nebuchadnezzar, shall besiege thee in all thy gates until thy high and fortified walls come down wherein thou trusted;

⁵³ And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege and in the extremity wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee,

— thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body; this been confirmed during the siege of Samaria by the Syrians (II Kings 6:26-29; but also in Deuteronomy 28:56), and also in Jerusalem when besieged by Nebuchadnezzar (Lamentations 2:20; 4:10)

— during the siege of Samaria by the Syrians:

²⁶ And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”

²⁷ And he said, “If the Lord do not help thee, from whence shall I help thee? Out of the barn floor or out of the wine press?”

²⁸ And the king said unto her, “What aileth thee?” And she answered, “This woman said unto me, ‘Give thy son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’

²⁹ So we boiled my son and ate him. And I said unto her on the next day, ‘Give thy son, that we may eat him’; and she hath hid her son.” II Kings 6:26-29

— and from the MSG version:

²⁶ One day the king of Israel was walking along the city wall. A woman cried out, “Help! Your majesty!”

²⁷ He answered, “If God won’t help you, where on earth can I go for help? To the granary? To the dairy?”

^28-29 The king continued, “Tell me your story.”

She said, “This woman came to me and said, ‘Give up your son and we’ll have him for today’s supper; tomorrow we’ll eat my son.’ So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I told her, ‘Your turn—bring your son so we can have him for supper.’ But she had hidden her son away.” II Kings 6:26-28

⁵⁴ so that the man that is tender among you and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children whom he shall leave, — his eye shall be evil towards his brother, and towards the wife of his bosom, and towards the remnant of his children which he shall leave;

— that is, he shall begrudge his brother, who is so nearly related to him, the least bit of food; yea, his wife, he dearly loved, and is one flesh with him, his other self, and even his children, which are parts of himself, such of them as were left not eaten by him; or his eye should be evil upon then, he should look with an evil eye on them, determining within himself to kill and eat them next.

⁵⁵ so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he hath nothing left him in the siege and in the extremity wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates. — so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat; neither give to a brother, nor to a wife, nor to any of his remaining children, the least bit of the flesh of a child he has killed and dressed for his own food;

— because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates; every creature being eaten up, dogs, cats, anything dung of beasts, and whatsoever else could be any ways made food of;

⁵⁶ The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son and toward her daughter,

— the stress being so immensed, character changed for fear of taking cold, or defiling her feet, her eye shall be evil towards the husband of her bosom, and towards her son, and towards her daughter; begrudge them every bit they eat, and restrain food from them as much as in her lies, and even snatch it out of their mouths;

⁵⁷ and toward her young one who cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she shall bear; for she shall eat them secretly for want of all things in the siege and extremity wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates. — and toward her young one that cometh out from between her fee; for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates;

⁵⁸ “If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, The Lord Thy God, — that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name of the Lord thy God;

— or that it might appear that the fear of God was before their eyes, and in their hearts, by their obedience to his law; that they had a proper awe and reverence of him, who is glorious in his titles and attributes, and whose name is Yehovah;

⁵⁹ then the Lord will make thy plagues wondrous, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. — then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful; visible, remarkable, distinguishable, and astonishing to all that see them;

— and the plagues of thy seed; for they were to continue, as they have done, with their posterity, age after age: even great plagues, and of long continuance; great as to quality and quantity;

⁶⁰ Moreover He will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt which thou wast afraid of, and they shall cleave unto thee. — and would bring all the diseases and pestilences of Egypt; which thou wast afraid of; when living among them, and they shall cleave unto thee; not only should come upon them, but continue with them; they should not get rid of, or be cured;

⁶¹ Also every sickness and every plague which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee until thou be destroyed. — every plague which is not written in the book of this law; now Covid-19, bird flu; whatsoever sickness or disease that could be thought of or named;

⁶² And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude, because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the Lord thy God. — whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; and, as it is sometimes said, as the sand of the sea, as was promised to Abraham, Genesis 15:5; and was partly fulfilled in the days of Solomon 1 Kings 4:20;

— and ye shall be left few in number, because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the Lord thy God; in his law, and by his prophets;

⁶³ “And it shall come to pass that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and to multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. — rejoice over you to destroy you; his just indignation against them will be so great, that it will be a pleasure to him to take vengeance on them;

— the Emperor Adrian, to prevent their insurrections and rebellions, which had given him a great deal of trouble, ordered by an edict that no Jew should come into Jerusalem, nor into the land of Judea, or be seen; by which means the country had them cleared.

⁶⁴ And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. — and the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even to the other; which refers to their current situation, in all parts of the world, east, west, north, and south;

⁶⁵ And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest; but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart and failing of eyes and sorrow of mind. — but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart; being always in fear lest their persons should be seized on, their children taken from them, and their goods confiscated; hence the epithet of “trembling”

⁶⁶ And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have no assurance of thy life. — and thou shalt fear day and night; being in continual dread of being killed: and shalt have none assurance of thy life; of its being continued a moment scarcely, but live in constant fear and expectation of its being taken away.

⁶⁷ In the morning thou shalt say, ‘Would God it were evening!’ and at evening thou shalt say, ‘Would God it were morning!’ for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. — in the morning thou shalt say, would God it were even; wishing they might get through the day well, fearing their life would be taken away before night, or some sad calamity befall them before the day could past;

— for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which, thou shalt see; often beholding such dreadful sights, as their countrymen put upon the rack, and cruelly tortured, and then burnt alive;

— and so their hearts would fear and tremble, lest they should be the next that would be taken up and used in this manner; besides other severities and hard usages, with which their brethren were treated, and they in continual fear of.

⁶⁸ And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships by the way whereof I spoke unto thee, ‘Thou shalt see it no more again.’ And there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.”

— into Egypt again, either into a state of hard bondage and slavery, like that their fathers were in; he hath now so gloriously delivered thee, and the remembrance of what they endured in Egypt could not but make the thoughts of returning thither again very terrible to them;

— no man shall buy you; that is, no one shall venture even to employ you as slaves, regarding you as accursed of God, and to be shunned in everything;

— in archaic English, the Targum of Jonathan says:

And the Word of the Lord will bring you captive to Mizraim in ships through the Sea of Suph, by the way you passed over, of which I said to you, No more shall you see it. And there will you be sold to your enemies, at the beginning for a dear price, as artificers, and afterward at a cheap price, as servants and handmaids, until you be worthless and (be consigned) to unpriced labour, and there be none who will take you.

Posted in Books of Moses

Deuteronomy 25

¹ “If there be a controversy between men and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them, then they shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked. — if there be a controversy between men; a dispute between two or more:

— that the judges may judge them; who were never less than three; the great Sanhedrin at Jerusalem consisted of seventy one, the lesser court was of twenty three, and the least of all three only;

² And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number. — scourging is named as a penalty in Leviticus 19:20. The beating here spoken of would be on the back with a rod or stick, perhaps a rotan, which have been proven to be very effective in its desire effect;

³ Forty stripes he may give him, and no more, lest, if he should exceed and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee. — then thy brother should seem vile unto thee; as if he was a beast, and not a man, and much less a brother;

— the Targum of Jonathan says, “lest he be in danger, and that thy brother may not be made despicable in thy sight;” lest he be in danger of his life, and become vile, as a dead carcass;

⁴ “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. — thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn; the larger grains were beaten out by the feet of oxen, which, yoked together, day after day trod round the wide open spaces which form the threshing-floors; and to be humane, they were allowed freely to pick up a mouthful;

⁵ “If brethren dwell together, and one of them die and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry outside unto a stranger; her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him for a wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother unto her. — if brethren dwell together; in the same town, or at least, the same county.

⁶ And it shall be that the firstborn whom she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother who is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel. — that his name be not put out of Israel; that a family be not lost. So this was a provision that the number of their families might not be diminished;

⁷ And if the man like not to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel. He will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother.’

⁸ Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak unto him; and if he stand by it and say, ‘I like not to take her,’ — the duty is recognized as one of affection for the memory of the deceased;

⁹ then shall his brother’s wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, ‘So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother’s house.’

— the root of the obligation here imposed upon the brother of the deceased husband lies in the idea of childlessness being a great calamity (compare with Hagar in Genesis 16:4), and extinction of name and family one of the greatest that could happen;

¹⁰ And his name shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.’

— and from MSG

¹¹ “When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand and taketh him by the secret parts, — when men strive together, one with another; quarrel with one another, and come to blows, and strive for mastery, which shall beat, and be the best man;

¹² then thou shalt cut off her hand; thine eye shall not pity her. — thine eye shall not pity her; because of the plausible excuse that might be made for her action, as these considerations were to have no place with the magistrate, who was to order the punishment inflicted without pity;

¹³ “Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. — in Proverbs 11:1, “a false balance is abomination to the Lord.”

¹⁴ Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small. — the protection of the poor is the chief practical end in this; rich men can take care of themselves; poor men are doubly robbed by short weight and measure, because they cannot protect themselves against it.

¹⁵ But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have, that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. — that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee; long life was always reckoned a blessing, and is frequently promised to.

¹⁶ For all who do such things and all who do unrighteously are an abomination unto the Lord thy God. — and all that do unrighteously; what is not just and right between man and man, in any other instance whatever: are an abomination unto the Lord thy God; both they and their actions; he is a righteous God, and loves righteousness, and hates injustice of every kind.

¹⁷ “Remember what Amalek did unto thee on the way, when ye had come forth out of Egypt, — take warning from the case of the Amalekites; which was an aggravation of their cruel and inhuman action, that they not only came out against them unprovoked;

¹⁸ how he met thee on the way and smote the hindmost of thee, even all who were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.

— the Amalekites were the aggressors, and fell upon them as they were travelling on the road, but when they were just come out of Egypt, where they had been in hard bondage, and their spirits broken, and they not used to war; and so took them at all these disadvantages, a people that had not in the least injured them.

¹⁹ Therefore it shall be, when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it. — that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven:

— that is, utterly destroy them, so that there should be none left of them anywhere, to put in mind that there ever were such a people on earth; men, women, children, cattle of all sorts, were to be destroyed, and nothing left that belonged unto them; that it might not be said this beast was Amalek’s; and to be destroyed.

Deuteronomy 26

¹ “And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it and dwellest therein, — and possessest it, and dwellest therein; not only had entered into it, but got the possession of it, and settled there;

² that thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring from thy land that the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place His name there.

— and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there; which, as the event showed, was the city of Jerusalem; hither from all parts of the country were the firstfruits to be brought.

³ And thou shalt go unto the priest who shall be in those days, and say unto him, ‘I profess this day unto the Lord thy God, that I have come unto the country which the Lord swore unto our fathers to give us.’ — the priest that shall be in those clays; not the high priest, but the priests generally, or the individual priest whose function it was to officiate on the occasion;

⁴ And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the Lord thy God. — the firstfruits here in question are to be distinguished alike from those offered in acknowledgment of the blessings of harvest;

⁵ “And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God: ‘A Syrian ready to perish was my father; and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.

— a Syrian was my father; that is, Jacob; for though born in Canaan, he was a Syrian by descent, his mother Rebecca, and his grandfather Abraham, being both of Chaldea or Mesopotamia, which in Scripture is comprehended under the name of Syria;

— Jacob’s wives and children, by their mothers’ side, and his relations, were Syrians, and he himself had lived twenty years in Syria with Laban.

⁶ And the Egyptians evilly treated us and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage. — and the Egyptians evilly entreated us; ordered their male children to be killed by the midwives, and by another edict to be drowned by the people: and afflicted us; by setting taskmasters over them, who put heavy burdens upon them;

⁷ And when we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice, and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression. — and the Lord heard our voice, and looked upon our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression; with a look of pity and compassion, heard their cries, answered their petitions, and sent them a deliverer, Exodus 2:25.

⁸ And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great fearsomeness, and with signs and with wonders; — with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm; by his almighty power, of which full proof was given by what he then did, Deuteronomy 5:15,

— and with great terribleness: to Pharaoh and his people, through the plagues that were inflicted on them, especially the last, the slaying of their firstborn; Deuteronomy 4:34; and with signs and wonders; wrought by the hands of Moses and Aaron, meaning the ten plagues, often so called;

⁹ and He hath brought us into this place and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey. — “a land flowing with milk and honey” was for ancient Israel; but “amber waves of grain” and “mountains of cheese and lakes of wine” for modern Israel;

¹⁰ And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which Thou, O Lord, hast given me.’ And thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God, and worship before the Lord thy God; — the person who offered his first-fruits, must remember and own the mean origin of that nation, particularly the family of Abraham began to develop into a nation, of which he was a member.

¹¹ and thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger who is among you. — thou and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you; by which it seems that not only a basket of firstfruits was brought and presented to the Lord, which is the perquisite of the priest,

— but there were others also brought, or bought with their money at Jerusalem, and a sort of a kept, which the Levite, and stranger or proselyte, from Pentecost to the feast of tabernacles a man may bring the firstfruits, and proclaim; must thankfully acknowledge God’s great goodness to Israel. 

¹² “When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates and be filled, — the third year, which was the year of tithing; that is, of the tithe for the poor, commanded to be paid every third year;

¹³ then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God: ‘I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all Thy commandments which Thou hast commanded me. I have not transgressed Thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them. — again, the tithe for the poor, or the third tithe; commanded to be paid every third year;

¹⁴ I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away aught thereof for any unclean use, nor given aught thereof for the dead; but I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God and have done according to all that Thou hast commanded me.

— I have not eaten thereof in my mourning; when in times of sorrow, which brought defilement on sacred things; under a pretense of poverty, and grudging to give any away to the poor.

¹⁵ Look down from Thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Thy people Israel and the land which Thou hast given us as Thou swore unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.’

— and the land which thou hast given us; with fertility and plenty of all good things, that it might be as thou swarest to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey;

¹⁶ “This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments; thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart and with all thy soul. — refer not only to the laws last mentioned, but to all others which he had been repeated and repeated;

— thou shall therefore keep and do them with all thy heart, and with all thy soul; cordially, readily, willingly, sincerely, constantly, and to the utmost of their abilities.

¹⁷ Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in His ways, and to keep His statutes and His commandments and His judgments, and to hearken unto His voice.

— thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God; said, affirmed, pledged and in the most solemn manner declared, that the Lord was their God, and him only; and that they would have no other God, nor worship, serve, or obey any other;

¹⁸ And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be His peculiar people, as He hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all His commandments,

— and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; at the same time declared this as his will, that they should observe all his precepts, to which they were laid under obligation by the special favour and peculiar privileges he bestowed upon them, Deuteronomy 7:6;

¹⁹ and to make thee high above all nations which He hath made in praise and in name and in honor, and that thou mayest be a holy people unto the Lord thy God, as He hath spoken.” — to make thee high above all nations; none of them having the Lord to be their God and King in such sense as Israel,

— nor they his people in such a peculiar sense as they were; nor having such laws and statutes as he had given to them; these things gave them a superiority over all other nations;

— and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken; the end of the Lord in being their God, and making them his people, was not only to make them high above all others, but to make them more holy than others; to set them apart for himself, as a people sacred to his worship and service, as he had both determined and declared, Deuteronomy 7:6.

Posted in Books of Moses

Deuteronomy 23

¹ “He that is wounded in the stones or hath his private member cut off shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord. — he that is wounded in the stones; in any of them, not accidentally, but purposely;

— or hath his private member cut off; a eunuch should not enter into the congregation was doubtless intended to prevent the Israelitish rulers from making eunuchs of their brethren the children of Israel.

² A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord. — a bastard; probably, a child born of incest or adultery; even to his tenth generation;

³ An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever, — an Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; because their forefathers were begotten in incest (Genesis 19:30);

— or marry an Israelitish woman, and so the Targum of Jonathan says, “the male Ammonites and Moabites are not fit to take a wife of the congregation of the Lord;”

— they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever; that is, not only to the tenth generation, but for ever; and this law was understood as in force in Nehemiah’s time; when, at the time of Nehemiah, the newly-built Temple was infiltrated with an Ammonite named Tobiah,

— who, at the bidding of Sanballat, a Samaritan (Josephus: Sanballat was “satrap of Samaria”) went on to introduce the heresy of the Samaritan “passover” to the Jews; whereby there sprung a branch of Judiasm called the Sadducees,

— further, Tobiah, an Ammonite official and an enemy of Nehemiah who had opposed the rebuilding of the walls, had actually been given a room in the Temple for his possessions. That room had housed many important items, including the money allotted to pay the Levites for their time in the Temple. With no payment forthcoming, the Levites had abandoned their posts and returned to their homes to work their fields, (for more, see Nehemiah 2; 4)

⁴ because they met you not with bread and with water in the way when ye came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor, of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.

— in the way when ye came forth out of Egypt; they (viz., the king of the Moabites) had even hired Balaam to curse Israel. In this way they had brought upon themselves the curse which falls upon all those who curse Israel;

⁵ Nevertheless the Lord thy God would not hearken unto Balaam, but the Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the Lord thy God loved thee. — but the Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee; in the very mouth of Balaam, as the Targum of Jonathan says;

— for when he opened his mouth and Balak expected he would have cursed Israel, and he intended it, could he have been permitted, the Lord overruled his tongue, and put such words into his mouth, that instead of cursing Israel, he blessed him; see Numbers 23:11,

⁶ Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever. — still upon any Ammonite or Moabite: thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days forever; not just until the tenth generation;

— make no contracts, either by marriages, or leagues, or commerce with them, but rather shalt constantly keep a jealous eye over them, as enemies who will watch every opportunity to insnare or disturb thee.

⁷ “Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother. Thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian, because thou wast a stranger in his land. — the Edomite, as descended from Esau, the nearest akin to each other of all the nations; and the Egyptian, as of that nation which had shown hospitality to Joseph and his brethren, and shouldn’t be objects of abhorrence.

⁸ The children who are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the Lord in their third generation. — Edomite, and Egyptian; not in the third generation from the time that this law was made, but from the time that any of their males should embrace the true religion; for females, might be accepted immediately as soon as made proselytes through marriage.

⁹ “When the host goeth forth against thine enemies, then keep thyself from every wicked thing. — then keep thee from every wicked thing;

— the Targum of Jonathan adds, by way of explanation, “from strange worship, uncovering of nakedness, and from shedding innocent blood;” that is, from idolatry, uncleanness of every sort, and murder; and all other wickednesses ought to be abstained from at all times by all persons;

¹⁰ “If there be among you any man that is not clean by reason of uncleanness that chanceth him by night, then shall he go abroad out of the camp; he shall not come within the camp. — by reason of uncleanness that chanceth him by night; through pollution by a nocturnal flux, Leviticus 15:4

¹¹ But it shall be, when evening (first erev) cometh on, he shall wash himself with water; and when the sun is down (second erev) he shall come into the camp again. — he shall wash himself with water; dip himself all over in water, not only wash his garments but his flesh;

¹² “Thou shalt have a place also outside the camp whither thou shalt go forth abroad. — thou shalt have also a place without the camp; a place prepared, as the Targums of Jonathan says, provided on purpose for the use hereafter suggested;

— whither thou shalt go forth abroad; to do the necessities of nature, which they were to do outside the camp, not in any place they thought fit and most convenient, but what was appointed for that purpose.

¹³ And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee. — and thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; a nail or spike, some kind of instrument to make a hole in the ground with, which was fastened to the sword upon their loins; which was to be instead of a spade or mattock to dig with;

— and it shall be, when thou shall ease thyself abroad; outside the camp, in the place appointed for that use, whenever nature required such an action to be performed;

— thou shall dig therewith; with, the paddle, an hole in the earth: to make it a foot deep with a spade or mattock, and to everyone that was newly admitted among them, a little pickaxe was given for that purpose: and shalt turn back; having eased nature;

— and cover that which cometh from thee; their dung, with the earth they dug out of the hole they made. This law was made to preserve modesty and decency becoming men, and not act like brute beasts, as well as cleanliness in the camp,

¹⁴ For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp to deliver thee and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy, that He see no unclean thing in thee and turn away from thee. — for the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and give up thine enemies before thee: to save them from falling into the hands of their enemies;

— therefore shall thy camp be holy; that he see no unclean thing; and turn away from thee; and so they fall into the hands of their enemies; care should be taken not to offend him, and cause him to depart from them;

¹⁵ “Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant who has escaped from his master unto thee. — this case in question is that of a slave who fled from a pagan master to the holy land. It is of course assumed that the refugee was not flying from justice, but only from the tyranny of his lord.

¹⁶ He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates where it is good for him. Thou shalt not oppress him. — evidently a slave of the Canaanites or some of the neighboring people, who was driven by tyrannical oppression, or induced, with a view of embracing the true religion, to take refuge in Israel;

— in that place he shall choose, in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best: he was not to be detained by the person that took him up in his own house, or be obliged to dwell in any certain place under, a restraint, but he might take up his abode in any of the cities of Israel, which would be most for his good.

¹⁷ “There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel. — whore and sodomite seem both intended to be taken in the sense in which they belonged to the temples of Baal and Ashtaroth, of persons dedicated to impurity;

— today, such impurities are prevelant in both houses of Israel in the name of liberal democracies; and, with few exceptions, whore and sodomite are far worse than those of the Gentiles;

¹⁸ Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore or the price of a dog into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow, for even both these are abomination unto the Lord thy God. — for even both these are an abomination to the Lord thy God; both the hire of the whore and the price of the dog, when brought as a sacrifice to him.

¹⁹ “Thou shalt not lend upon interest to thy brother, interest of money, interest of victuals, interest of any thing that is lent upon interest. — thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; one of the same nation and religion, and who is in poor and necessitous circumstances, and wants either food for himself and family;

— till such times as the fruits of his ground will bring him in a sufficiency for his support, and the payment of what he borrows, and which is to be lent him without any interest.

²⁰ Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon interest, but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon interest, that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

— the case was different with foreigners, who, engaged in trade and commerce, borrowed to enlarge their capital, and might reasonably be expected to pay interest on their loans.

²¹ “When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, thou shalt not be slack to pay it; for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee, and it would be sin in thee. — thou shall not slack to pay it; or delay the payment of it, but do it immediately; since zeal and affection might abate;

— and there might not be hereafter an ability to perform, or death might come and prevent it; the Targum of Jonathan adds, at the three feasts, that is, of the Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles;

²² But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee. — there shall be no sin in not making any vow, nor any pledge; no charge of guilt be brought or punishment laid;

²³ That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform, even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the Lord thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth.

— even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the Lord thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth; it was to be paid, and in the manner as it was vowed and promised;

— the Targum of Jonathan says

the oath which goeth from your lips you shall confirm. The precepts of integrity you shall verily perform, but that which is not right to do ye shall not do; and according as you have vowed shall you fulfil;

sin offerings, trespass offerings, burnt sacrifices, and consecrated victims shall you present before the Lord your God, and bring the libations and the gifts of the sanctuary of which you have spoken (in promises), and alms for the poor which your lips have declared.

²⁴ “When thou comest into thy neighbor’s vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes to thy fill at thine own pleasure, but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel.

²⁵ When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbor, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand, but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbor’s standing corn.

Deuteronomy 24

¹ “When a man hath taken a wife and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favor in his eyes because he hath found some uncleanness in her, then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.

— some uncleanness; some hateful thing, some distemper of body, or quality of mind, not observed before marriage; evidently mere caprice and dislike are not intended here: there must be some real ground of complaint;

² And when she has departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. — she may go and be other man’s wife; it was permitted her to marry another man, she being by her divorce freed from the law of her former husband;

³ And if the latter husband hate her and write her a bill of divorcement, and putteth it in her hand and sendeth her out of his house, or if the latter husband die who took her to be his wife,

— or if her latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; and she survives him; as she is then by death loosed from the law of an husband, she may lawfully marry another man, but not her former husband;

⁴ her former husband who sent her away may not take her again to be his wife after she is defiled; for that is abomination before the Lord, and thou shalt not cause the land to sin which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

— for that is abomination before the Lord; for a man to take his wife again, after she had been divorced by him, and married to another man;

— and thou shalt not cause the land to sin which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance; since if this was allowed, that men might put away their wives, and take them again at pleasure, and change them as often as they thought fit;

⁵ “When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business; but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife whom he hath taken.

— he shall be free at home one year, that their affections newly engaged may be firmly settled, so as there may be no occasions for the divorces last mentioned.

⁶ “No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone in pledge, for then he taketh a man’s life in pledge. — MSG “Don’t seize a handmill or an upper millstone as collateral for a loan. You’d be seizing someone’s very life.”

⁷ “If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him or selleth him, then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you.

— MSG “If a man is caught kidnapping one of his kinsmen, someone of the People of Israel, to enslave or sell him, the kidnapper must die. Purge that evil from among you.”

⁸ “Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently and do according to all that the priests, the Levites, shall teach you; as I commanded them, so ye shall observe to do.

— take heed, in the plague of leprosy; whether in the bodies of men, or in houses, or in garments, not to hide and conceal it; or cut out the bright spot; that thou observe diligently;

⁹ Remember what the Lord thy God did unto Miriam on the way after ye had come forth out of Egypt.

— remember what the Lord did unto Miriam; this seems to have been intended as an admonition, to take care lest they spoke evil of dignities, or disobeyed the commands of the priest, which might bring such a stroke upon them as God inflicted upon Miriam.

¹⁰ “When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge. — thou shall not go into his house to fetch his pledge; which would be an exercise of too much power and authority;

— to go into a neighbour’s house, and take what was liked; and besides, as no doubt he would take the best, so he might take that which the poor man could not spare;

¹¹ Thou shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the pledge abroad unto thee. — if the lender or creditor had been allowed to go in and take what he pleased for a pledge, he would choose the best; so, on the other hand, the borrower or debtor would be apt to bring the worst, what was of the least value and use;

¹² And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge. — and if the man be poor; which may be thought to be the case of anyone that gives pledges for a debt he owes, or a sum of money he borrows;

¹³ In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment and bless thee; and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the Lord thy God.

— in any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge again, when the sun goeth down; if it was a night covering; but if it was his day clothes, he was to return it in the morning, when the sun arose;

¹⁴ “Thou shalt not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren or of thy strangers who are in thy land within thy gates. — not oppress a hired servant; by detaining his wages from him when due;

¹⁵ At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor and setteth his heart upon it, lest he cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be sin unto thee. — lest he cry against thee to the Lord; having none to apply unto but him, who is the patron of the poor and needy;

¹⁶ “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

— the fathers shall not be put to death for the sin of their children; by the civil magistrates, for sins committed by them of a capital nature, and which are worthy of death: neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers; every man shall be put to death for his own sin;

¹⁷ “Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger nor of the fatherless, nor take a widow’s raiment in pledge; — the law against perverting the right of strangers, widows, and orphans is here repeated from Exodus 22:20, 21; Exodus 23:9 with the addition that the raiment of the widow was not to be taken in pledge;

¹⁸ but thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee thence. Therefore I command thee to do this thing. — but thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt; the remembrance of which may cause sympathy with persons in distress; particularly the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.

¹⁹ “When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field and hast forgotten a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow, that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.

— when thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field; whether barley harvest or wheat harvest, when either of them are ripe for cutting, mowing, or reaping, and are cutting down: and hast forgot a sheaf in the field; it shall be for the stranger; or proselyte; or for the fatherless and for the widow; which of them soever should first find it.

²⁰ When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

— thou shall not go over the boughs again; to beat off some few that may remain; they were not nicely to examine the boughs over again, whether there were any left or not: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow;

²¹ When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. — thou shalt not glean after thee, that is, after thou hast reaped and gathered for thyself;

²² And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt. Therefore I command thee to do this thing.

— and thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt; when they would have been glad to have enjoyed the like favours, as small as they might seem to be, even to glean in their fields, vineyards, and oliveyards.

Posted in Books of Moses

Deuteronomy 21

¹ “If one be found slain in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him, — if a murderer could not be found, great solemnity is provided for putting away the guilt from the land, as an expression of dread and detesting of that sin;

² then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure the distance unto the cities which are round about him that is slain. — thy elders and thy judges near the cities, appointed by members of the great Sanhedrin at Jerusalem;

— so the Targum of Jonathan says, “then shall go out from the great Sanhedrin two of thy wise men, and three of thy judges;”

³ And it shall be that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer which hath not been worked and which hath not drawn in the yoke; — in this case, the heifer, of a year old, represents the murderer, so far at least as to die in his stead, since he himself could not be found;

⁴ and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley. — unto a rough valley; rough, uncultivated ground, fitly representing the horribleness of the murder;

⁵ And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for them the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister unto Him and to bless in the name of the Lord; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried.

— by their word shall every controversy be tried; every controversy between man and man respecting civil things, and every stroke or blow which one man may give another; and whatsoever came before them was tried by them;

⁶ And all the elders of that city who are next unto the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley. — shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley: in token of their innocence, and this they did not only for themselves, but for the whole city;

⁷ And they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. — our hands have not shed this blood; have been no ways concerned in it, nor accessory to it: the Targum of Jonathan says “it is manifest before the Lord that he did not come into our hands, nor did we dismiss him, that has shed this blood;”

⁸ Be merciful, O Lord, unto Thy people Israel, whom Thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto Thy people of Israel’s charge.’ And the blood shall be forgiven them. — and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel’s charge; impute not the guilt of innocent blood to Israel in general, when only a single person, and he unknown, is chargeable with it.

⁹ So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord. — so shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you; which otherwise, the person not being found out, and brought to just punishment for it, would devolve upon the whole.

¹⁰ “When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands and thou hast taken them captive, — by this law a soldier was allowed to marry his captive, if he pleased;

¹¹ and seest among the captives a beautiful woman and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her for thy wife, — and hast a desire unto her; being captivated with her beauty; it signifies a passionate desire of enjoying her in a lawful way,

¹² then thou shalt bring her home to thine house. And she shall shave her head and pare her nails; — she shall shave her head; this was one of the external signs of mourning,

¹³ and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house and bewail her father and her mother a full month. And after that thou shalt go in unto her and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.

— and bewail her father and her mother a full month; who were either dead in the battle, or however she had no hope of seeing them any more,

¹⁴ And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will, but thou shalt not sell her at all for money; thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her. — then thou shalt let her go whither she will; by a bill of divorce, as the Targum of Jonathan, who understands it in this sense,

— and as before marriage, at the month’s end, or any time before, that if his affections cooled towards her, and all the above methods tended to abate his love of her, then he was obliged to dismiss her, or to grant her her freedom, and let her go wherever she pleased.

¹⁵ “If a man have two wives, one beloved and another hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated, and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated, — this law restrains men from disinheriting their eldest sons without just cause;

¹⁶ then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, who is indeed the firstborn.

— when the son of his wife he has the least value for is really his firstborn, he may not, through favour and affection to the wife he loves better, prefer her son, and declare him to be the firstborn;

— the birthright was to Joseph, the eldest son of Rachel, the most beloved wife of Jacob, before Reuben who was the son of Leah, less beloved by him, and was in fact his firstborn; yet this was owing to the sin of Reuben, and by the appointment of God; Genesis 49:3.

¹⁷ But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated as the firstborn by giving him a double portion of all that he hath, for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

— for he is the beginning of his strength; as Jacob said, of Reuben; distinguish him from all his other sons, and make known to all, that he is his firstborn.

¹⁸ “If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them, — which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother; is disobedient to the commands of either of them;

¹⁹ then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city and unto the gate of his place.

— and bring him out unto the elders of his city; the Sanhedrin, or court of judicature, to be admonished and scourged by order of the bench of three, if he returns to his corrupt and wicked ways again;

²⁰ And they shall say unto the elders of his city, ‘This, our son, is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ — this our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; one of an obstinate disposition, will have his own will and way,

— he is a glutton and a drunkard; is perverse and refractory; honours not, but despises his parents, and is disobedient to their commands, unruly and ungovernable;

²¹ And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, so that he die. So shalt thou put evil away from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear. — so shalt thou put away evil from among you; put a stop to, and prevent such an evil for the future,

— and remove the guilt of it; or, as the Targum of Jonathan says, him that doeth that evil, then “all the men of his city shall stone him with stones that he die; and so shall you put away the evil doer from among you, and all Israel will hear, and be afraid.”

²² “And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he is to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree, — on a tree; which was done after the malefactor was put to death some other way; this public shame being added to his former punishment.

²³ his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day (for he that is hanged is accursed of God), that thy land be not defiled which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

— accursed of God by this law, the touch of a dead body was defiling, therefore dead bodies must not be left hanging, as that would defile the land.

Deuteronomy 22

¹ “Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them. Thou shalt in any case bring them back unto thy brother. — go astray; literally, being driven away, as by wild beasts, or by robbers; or frightened and starved away from the herd or from the flock by a wolf or a dog.

² And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again.

— if thou know him not; which implies, that if they did know the owner, they should restore it to him; thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, to be used like thine own cattle.

³ In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment and with all lost things of thy brother’s, which he hath lost and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise; thou mayest not hide thyself. — and so shalt thou do with his raiment; if that is lost and found, it must be restored to the owner;

⁴ Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them; thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again.

— thou shall not see thy brother’s ox or his ass fall down by the way; and lie under his burden, not being able to rise with it of himself, nor with all the assistance about it, without further help;

— and hide thyself from them; cover thine eyes, or turn them another way, and make as if thou didst not see them in distress; thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again; 

⁵ “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for all who do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God. — the woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man; it being very unseemly and impudent, and contrary to the modesty of her sex;

— neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment; which would betray effeminacy and softness unbecoming men, and would lead the way to many impurities; as they are an abomination to the Lord thy God;

⁶ “If a bird’s nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree or on the ground, whether there be young ones or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young; — if a bird’s nest chance to be before thee: these precepts are designed to cultivate a spirit of humanity; and cares for animals and fowls of the sir;

⁷ but thou shalt in any wise let the dam go and take the young to thee, that it may be well with thee and that thou mayest prolong thy days.

— let the dam go; partly for the bird’s sake, which suffered enough by the loss of its young; for God would not have cruelty exercised towards the brute creatures; and partly for men’s sake, to restrain their greediness and covetousness;

— and from MSG

When you come across a bird’s nest alongside the road, whether in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, don’t take the mother with the young. You may take the babies, but let the mother go so that you will live a good and long life. Deuteronomy 22:6

⁸ “When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a parapet for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house if any man fall from thence. — when thou buildest a new house; obviously the Law refers to houses with flat roofs, upon which it was customary to walk;

— that thou bring not blood upon thy house; be not the occasion of blood being shed, or contract guilt of blood through negligence of such a provision the law directs to, the guilt of manslaughter, or of shedding innocent blood in thy house;

⁹ “Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds, lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown and the fruit of thy vineyard be defiled. — with divers kinds of seed mixed and sowed together between the rows of vines in thy vineyard; which was forbidden to be done in the field, Leviticus 19:19, and here in the vineyard.

¹⁰ “Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. — an ox and ass, being of different species and of very different characters, cannot associate comfortably, nor unite cheerfully in drawing a plough or a wagon. The ass being much smaller and his step shorter, there would be an unequal and irregular draft.

¹¹ “Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen together. — a garment of woollen and linen together aren’t allowed;

— in Ezekiel 44:17-18, the priests are altogether forbidden the use of woollen garments during their ministry.

¹² “Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture wherewith thou coverest thyself. —this fringe on the four sides of the square shawl or mantle, Numbers 15:38; partly to bring the commands of God to their remembrance, and partly as a public profession of their nation and religion, whereby they might be distinguished from strangers of the nations.

¹³ “If any man take a wife and go in unto her, and hate her, — that is, marries a wife, and cohabits with her as man and wife, and after some time dislikes her,

¹⁴ and give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her and say, ‘I took this woman, and when I came to her I found her not a maid,’ — I found her not a maid; the sense is, that he had married her, and when he came to cohabit with her as man and wife, it appeared to him that she was vitiated, and not a pure virgin;

¹⁵ then shall the father of the damsel and her mother take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel’s virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate. — then shall the father and the mother of the damsel take; power from the court, according to the Targum of Jonathan;

¹⁶ And the damsel’s father shall say unto the elders, ‘I gave my daughter unto this man for a wife, and he hateth her; — and he hateth her; has taken a dislike to her, and wants to be rid of her, and therefore has brought this infamous action against her;

¹⁷ and lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, “I found not thy daughter a maid,” and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city.

— saying, l found not thy daughter a maid; so that it seems he said this not only to his neighbours, and before a court of judicature, but to the parents of the damsel (a young unmarried woman);

¹⁸ And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him; — and the elders of that city shall take the man, and chastise him. Not with words, but “shall scourge him;” as the Targum of Jonathan says; —

¹⁹ and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought an evil name upon a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days. — the fine was to be paid to the father, because the slander was against him principally as the head of the wife’s family.

²⁰ But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel, — but if this thing be true; which the husband of the damsel (a young unmarried woman) laid to her charge, that she was no virgin when married to him, and she had committed whoredom, of which there was proof;

²¹ then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die, because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father’s house; so shalt thou put evil away from among you.

— sin of an injury to her husband in the false profession of virginity, with a pretence of virginity, she should then be put to death.

²² “If a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman and the woman; so shalt thou put away evil from Israel. — both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; they were both to die, and to die the same death.

²³ “If a damsel who is a virgin be betrothed unto a husband, and a man find her in the city and lie with her, — and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; with her consent, as might be presumed by her not crying out,

²⁴ then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones, that they die — the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city, and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbor’s wife; so thou shalt put away evil from among you.

— the damsel because she cried not, being in the city, and the man because he hath humbled his neighbour’s wife; as she was by espousal, by contract, by promise, and so was guilty of adultery, which was punishable with death: so thou shall put away evil from among you;

²⁵ “But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her and lie with her, then the man only that lay with her shall die. — he being guilty of rape;

²⁶ But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death. For as when a man riseth against his neighbor and slayeth him, even so is this matter;

— and a man force her, and lie with her; or “take fast and strong hold on her” (b); so that she is not able to get out of his hands, and make her escape; then the man only that lay with her shall die; he being guilty of rape;

²⁷ for he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her. — for he found her in the field; from which it might he presumed that she was forced, and did not consent;

²⁸ “If a man find a damsel who is a virgin who is not betrothed, and lay hold on her and lie with her, and they be found, — and lay hold on her, and lie with her, she yielding to it, and so is not expressive of a rape;

²⁹ then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days. — and she shall be his wife; if her father and she agreed to it; and in such a case the man was not at his liberty to refuse;

³⁰ “A man shall not take his father’s wife, nor uncover his father’s skirt. — a man shall not take his father’s wife; not marry her, or any other incestuous relationship with her, whether his own mother, or a stepmother.

Posted in Books of Moses

Deuteronomy 19

¹ “When the Lord thy God hath cut off the nations whose land the Lord thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them and dwellest in their cities and in their houses, — the Lord thy God giveth thee; the seven nations of the land of Canaan, whose destruction was of the Lord for their sins, and whose land was a gift to the children of Israel;

— and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses; should possess their land in their stead, by virtue of the gift of it to them by the Lord, and inhabit their cities and houses built by them.

² thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it. — thou shalt separate three cities for thee; there were to be six cities of refuge in all, but Moses had already appointed three on that side of Jordan where they now were;

— three were before ordered to be separated from those inhabited by the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, Deuteronomy 4:41: namely, Bezer, Ramoth-Gilead and Golan.

³ Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the borders of thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee thither. — thou shalt prepare thee a way; the roads leading to them were to be kept in good condition and the brooks or rivers to be spanned by good bridges;

— divide the coasts of thy land; into three parts, the whole extent of the country from the south to the north. The three cities on each side of Jordan were opposite to each other, “as two rows of vines in a vineyard.”

⁴ “And this is the case of the slayer who shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbor ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past—

— and this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither, that he may live; it was not any slayer that might have protection in these cities, but such who were thus and thus circumstanced, or whose case was as whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly; without intention, as the Targum of Jonathan, did not design it, but was done by him unintentional;

⁵ as when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve and lighteth upon his neighbor, so that he die — he shall flee unto one of those cities and live,

— he shall flee unto one of these cities, and live; be safe and secure from the avenger of blood; such an one might have the benefit of one of these cities;

⁶ lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer while his heart is hot and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him, whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.

— and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; wherefore it was proper that everything should be done to make the way to these cities as easy and as short as it could be;

⁷ Therefore I command thee, saying, ‘Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.’ — thou shalt separate three cities for thee; this was to be done as soon as they were settled in the land of Canaan, and established these cities as soon as when the inhabitants were cut off, or driven out, or however subdued.

⁸ And if the Lord thy God enlarge thy border, as He hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which He promised to give unto thy fathers, — and if the Lord thy God enlarge thy coast; three additional sanctuaries were to be established in the event of their territory extending over the country from Hermon and Gilead to the Euphrates (Genesis 15:18; Exodus 23:31).

⁹ if thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day — to love the Lord thy God and to walk ever in His ways — then shalt thou add three cities more for thee besides these three,

— and then shall thou add three cities more besides these three; three more in the land of Canaan, besides the three now ordered to be separated in it;

¹⁰ that innocent blood be not shed in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee. — that innocent blood be not shed; as it would be if such a slayer as before described was killed by the avenger of blood, before he could get to one of these cities of refuge;

¹¹ “But if any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him and smite him mortally, so that he die, and he fleeth into one of these cities,

— and lie in wait for him knowing and expecting he will come by in such a way at such a time; and rise up against him; out of the place where he lay in wait, just at the time he is passing by;

¹² then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.

— then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence; the Targum of Jonathan says, “the wise men of his city,” appointed by the Sanhedrin, or court of judicature, or at least the civil magistrates of that city, to which such a murderer belonged, had a power to send to the city of refuge whither he was fled;

— that he may die; that is, after the examination and trial of him, and when he is found guilty, and sentence is passed upon him, then he was to be delivered into the hands of the avenger of blood, to be the executioner of that sentence.

¹³ Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee. — thine eye shall not pity him; this is the elders, judges, and civil magistrates of the city to which he belonged, who is not to be supposed to have any pity or compassion on such a criminal;

¹⁴ “Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor’s landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it.

— it is the will of God that every one should know his own; which they of old have set in thine inheritance; and not to injure a man’s property, and alienate his lands to the use of another;

¹⁵ “One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth. By the mouth of two witnesses or by the mouth of three witnesses shall the matter be established. — at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established; either for acquittance or condemnation;

¹⁶ If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong, — if a false witness rise up against any man; in a court of judicature;

¹⁷ then both the men involved in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who shall be in those days; — before the priests and the judges which shall be in those days; which shall compose the Sanhedrin, or court of judicature;

¹⁸ and the judges shall make diligent inquisition. And behold, if the witness be a false witness and hath testified falsely against his brother, — and the judges shall make diligent inquisition; into the case before them, into the nature of the evidence and proof that each witness brings for or against; so the Targum of Jonathan, “the judges shall interrogate the witnesses of their times fairly;”

¹⁹ then shall ye do unto him as he had thought to have done unto his brother; so shalt thou put the evil away from among you. — then shall ye do unto him as he had thought to have done unto his brother; inflict the same fine or punishment on him he thought to have brought his brother under by his false testimony of him;

— whether any pecuniary fine, or whipping and scourging, or the loss of a member, or the value of it, or death itself; whether stoning, strangling, burning, or to be slain by the sword;

— so shalt thou put the evil away from among you; the evil man that bears a false testimony of his brother, or the guilt of sin which would be incurred by conniving at him.

²⁰ And those who remain shall hear and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you. — and those which remain shall hear, and fear; those which survive the false witness shall hear of the punishment inflicted on him, and fear to commit the like sin, lest they should be punished in like manner.

²¹ And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. — and thine eye shall not pity; the false witness when convicted; this is directed to the judges, who should not spare such an one through favour or affection, but pronounce a righteous sentence on him, and see it executed, in proportion to the crime;

— eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot; that is, the price of an eye an eye; practically, however, a pecuniary compensation might be accepted for the offence.

Deuteronomy 20

¹ “When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses and chariots and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them; for the Lord thy God is with thee, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

— when thou goest out to battle against thine enemies; the land of Canaan being to be gained by conquest, in a war of God’s special appointment; and the Israelites, after their settlement in it, being likely to be exposed to invasions from, or quarrels with the neighbouring nations;

— which brought thee out of the land of Egypt; who were reminded for the encouragement of their faith and confidence in him; for he that did that for them, what is it he cannot or will not do?

² And it shall be, when ye have come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, — the priest; not the high priest, but one appointed for that purpose, and called “the anointed of the war” hence, perhaps the expression of Jeremiah 6:4, “prepare ye war”

— they appoint a priest to speak to the people at the time of war, and they anoint him with the anointing oil, and he is called the anointed of war; twice the anointed of war speaks unto the people;

³ and shall say unto them, ‘Hear, O Israel: Ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies. Let not your hearts faint; fear not and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; — Let not your hearts faint, fear not; but the opposite could also be true:

“for they will turn away thy son from following Me, that they may serve other gods. So will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you and destroy thee suddenly” Deuteronomy 7:4

⁴ For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you. — a reassurance of a promise made to Abraham from Genesis:

“I am thy shield! Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the River Euphrates” Genesis 15

⁵ And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, ‘What man is there who hath built a new house and hath not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it.

— what man is there; these questions show that, primarily, all Israelites of military age (20 to 50) were expected to attend the muster; then those who were unprepared for the campaign were suffered to depart;

⁶ And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard and hath not yet eaten of it? Let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle and another man eat of it. — what man is there; this and the following exceptions are to be understood only of a war allowed by God;

⁷ And what man is there who hath betrothed a wife and hath not taken her? Let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle and another man take her.’

— lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it; as the Targum of Jonathan says, “let him go and return to his house, lest sin prevent him from rejoicing with his wife and he be slain in the battle, and another take her.”

⁸ And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, ‘What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart.’

— these cases were founded on the principle that a man’s heart being deeply engrossed by something at a distance, he would not be very enthusiastic in the public service; thus God also provides even for men’s infirmities;

— let him go and return to his house; lest, by his pale looks and trembling joints, his fainting fits and swoons, he discourage the rest in the same company with him, and by his example make them unfit for war also.

⁹ And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people. — that they shall make captains of armies to lead on the people; on to battle; that is, either the officers should do this, that they might be generals of the army, who constituted captains under them, to lead the people on to battle;

¹⁰ “When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. — when thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it; this is to be understood of an arbitrary war, which they engaged in of themselves, or were provoked to by their enemies; which was their own choice, and according to their own will and pleasure;

¹¹ And it shall be, if it make thee an answer of peace and open unto thee, then it shall be that all the people who are found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. — shall be tributaries unto thee: pay a yearly tax imposed upon them, as the Moabites sometimes did, and which was paid in lambs and rams with the wool, II Kings 3:4

— and they shall serve thee; be in continual bondage and servitude; and upon occasion be called out to any public service, as joining them against their enemies, rebuilding or repairing palaces, cities, or walls of cities, and the like; and in general acknowledge their dominion over them by paying an annual tribute, or sending gifts unto them; thus the Moabites, Syrians, and Edomites, became the servants of David, II Samuel 8:2.

¹² And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it. — and if it will make no peace with thee; will not accept of terms of peace offered: but will make war against thee; come out and fight, or prepare to defend themselves: then thou shall besiege it; surround and block it up on all sides with their forces;

¹³ And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword. — thou shall smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword; the men in it, grown persons, as distinguished from little ones; because it was owing to these it was not surrendered at once, when terms of peace were offered;

¹⁴ But the women and the little ones, and the cattle and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies which the Lord thy God hath given thee.

— but the women, the little ones, and the cattle; these were to be spared; women, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shall thou take unto thyself; gold, silver, merchandise, household goods, utensils in trade, and whatever was of any worth and value to be found in their houses;

— and thou shall eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath given thee; that is, enjoy all their wealth and riches, estates and possessions; for this is not to be restrained to things eatable only.

¹⁵ Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations. — thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee; as all such were reckoned that were outside the land of Israel, even all in their neighbouring nations, the Moabites, Edomites, Ammonites, Syrians;

— for the children of Israel never went to war with any very distant nations, unless they came unto them and invaded them; nor did they seek to carry their conquests to any great distance, when the most powerful and victorious, as in the days of David and Solomon;

— the Targum of Jonathan says “Thus shall you do to all cities that are remote from you, which are not of the cities of these seven nations;” the seven nations of the land of Canaan; all that were not of them were accounted foreign cities, and at a distance.

¹⁶ But of the cities of these people which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth, — but of the cities of those people, which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance; the cities of the seven nations, six of which are mentioned by name in the next verse:

— thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth; the reason of this severity was because of their wickedness, the capital crimes and gross abominations they were guilty of, when the measure of their iniquities was full, plus others such as idolatry, incest, witchcraft, soothsaying, and necromancy; for which they reserved total destruction;

¹⁷ but thou shalt utterly destroy them, namely: the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee, — forbearance, however, was not to be shown toward these Canaanite nations, who were to be utterly exterminated;

¹⁸ that they teach you not to do according to all their abominations which they have done unto their gods, so ye should sin against the Lord your God.

— that they teach you not to do after all their abominations; this is another reason why they were to be utterly destroyed, not only because of the abominations which they committed, but to prevent the Israelites being taught by them to do the same;

¹⁹ “When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an ax against them, for thou mayest eat of them; and thou shalt not cut them down to employ them in the seige, for the tree of the field is man’s life.

— the trees thereof; the fruit trees, as appears from the following words; not of the cutting down of all, but only some of them, as the conveniency of the siege might require; for the tree of the field is man’s life; by the fruit of which, among other things, his life is supported and maintained;

²⁰ Only the trees which thou knowest are not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.

— if only the trees which thou knowest that they are not trees for eating, these trees do not bear edible fruits, then mayest thou hew them down;

— and thou shall build bulwarks against the city that maketh war; build bulwarks of the trees cut down, and raise batteries with them, or make machines and weapons from their wood, to cast stones into the city to annoy the inhabitants of it, in order to make them surrender, until they are totally subdued.

Posted in Books of Moses

Deuteronomy 17

¹ “Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God any bullock or sheep wherein is blemish or any evilfavoredness, for that is an abomination unto the Lord thy God. — thou shalt not sacrifice; any bullock, or sheep, which is blemish;

— having spoken of the principal services and offerings prescribed in the law for preventing the Israelites from idolatrous practices, Moses interposes a caution against neglect in their own worship of God; which might be committed by offering any beast to him that had a disease, blemish, or defect in it;

— the only time mentioned in the Scriptures when the sacrifice of imperfect creatures is complained of to any great extent is the time of the prophet Malachi (Malachi 1:7-14). The laxity of the priests in his time called forth the prophecy that “in every place incense should be offered to God’s name and a pure offering.”

² “If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee, man or woman who hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy God in transgressing His covenant, — who hath wrought wickedness; a man or a woman who does evil; doing what is wrong in God’s eyes, breaking his covenant;

— in transgressing his covenant; that is, his law, and particularly the table of the commands, which respects divine worship, and which is in the nature of a marriage contract or covenant; which, as that is transgressed by adultery committed by either party, so the covenant between God and Israel was transgressed by idolatry;

³ and hath gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded, — the host of heaven; either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven; which I have not commanded; to do would be an abomination to the Lord; —

⁴ and it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it and inquired diligently, and behold, it be true and the thing certain that such abomination is wrought in Israel,

⁵ then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman who has committed that wicked thing unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones till they die. — and it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and inquired diligently; a report of this kind was not to be neglected; though it was not to be concluded upon as certain by hearsay,

— it was to be looked into, within the gates of the Sanhedrin and the persons that brought it thoroughly examined; so the Targum of Jonathan says, “and inquired the witnesses fairly,” what proof and evidence they could give of the fact, who the persons were, when and where, and in what manner the sin was committed;

⁶ At the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses shall he that is worthy of death be put to death, but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.

— at the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; the idolater found guilty was to be stoned; two witnesses were sufficient to prove a fact, if three the better, but, on the testimony of one, sentence might not be pronounced.

⁷ The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you. — the hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death; of everyone of them; they were to cast the first stone at him;

— so thou shall put the evil away from among you; both the evil man and the evil committed by him, which by this means would be prevented from spreading, seeing by his death others would be deterred from following his example;

⁸ “If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates, then shalt thou arise and get thee up into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose,

— too hard for thee; he speaks to the lower-ranked magistrates, who were erected in outlying cities, as appears by those at Jerusalem. If, saith he, no the necessary or confidence to determine so weighty and difficult a cause;

— between blood and blood, that is, in capital causes in matter of bloodshed, whether it be wilful or casual murder, whether punishable or pardonable by those laws;

— between plea and plea; in civil causes or suits between plaintiffs and defendants to decide which is in the right and which is in the wrong; or about words, contracts or estates; whether in capital or pecuniary cases; it chiefly if not solely respects civil things in controversy;

— and between stroke and stroke; blow or wound which one man received from another, and for which he commences a suit of law upon it, Exodus 21:18 or for assault of blows and bruises;

⁹ and thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites, and unto the judge who shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment. — unto the priests; that is, unto the great council, which consisted chiefly of the priests and Levites, as being the best expositors of the laws of God, by which all those controversies were to be decided;

— by judges, here, seems to be meant those supreme judges of the nation, whom God raised up when the Israelites were oppressed by their enemies, such as Gideon, Jephthah, Samson, Samuel: such judges were, by their office, invested with the highest authority, civil as well as military;

— the Sanhedrin, the Supreme court, Deuteronomy 17:9, consisted partly of priests, and partly of wise and learned persons of other tribes, is referred to in very general terms as sitting similarily as Jerusalem at “the place which the Lord thy God shall choose,” the Sanctuary Deuteronomy 17:8

¹⁰ And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the Lord shall choose shall show thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee.

— and thou shalt do according to the sentence which they of that place which the Lord shall choose shall show thee; the judges of the lower courts were to return and proceed on the difficult case according to the judgment of the highest court at Jerusalem, and follow the directions and instructions they should give them;

— and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee; not only observe and take notice of what they say, but put it in practice, and not in some things and some circumstances only, but in all and everything they should give them information about relating to the case in question.

¹¹ According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do. Thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall show thee to the right hand nor to the left.

— according to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee; for they were not to make any new law, but to teach the law of God, and so far as their sense and opinion of things agreed with that law they were to be regarded;

— and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do; what were law and justice, what were fit and right to be done, according to the will of God, which they should declare unto them, that was carefully to be done by them;

— thou shalt not decline from the sentence they shall show thee, to the right hand nor to the left; by setting up after, all their own judgments against theirs to whom they had applied for information and direction, which to have done would have been very insolent and affronting;

¹² And the man who will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest who standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die; and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel. — who will do presumptuously, he who will acted proudly and obstinately oppose the sentence given against him;

— even that man shall die; and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel; the Targum of Jonathan affirms “that man shall be put to death; so shalt you put down the doer of evil from Israel,”

¹³ And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously. — and all the people shall hear, and fear; all the people of Israel in their own cities, and particularly the judges in those cities;

— they shall hear of what is done to the obstinate and disobedient elder, and shall be afraid to commit the like offence, lest they should come into the same punishment.

¹⁴ “When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are about me,’ — this is a pophecy; and thou shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are round about me;

— which was what would and did lead them to such a thought and resolution; observing that the neighbouring nations had kings over them, they were desirous of being like them as to the form of their civil government, and have a king as they had.

¹⁵ thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee whom the Lord thy God shall choose. One from among thy brethren shalt thou set as king over thee; thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, who is not thy brother.

— whom the Lord thy God shall choose; approve of, or appoint. So it was in Saul and David ny annointing. God reserved to himself the nomination both of the family and of the person.

¹⁶ But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to the end that he should multiply horses, forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, ‘Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.’

— horses were not anciently used for purposes of agriculture or traveling, but ordinarily for war and as a symbol and embodiment strength and might;

¹⁷ Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away; neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. — neither shall he multiply wives to himself; as Solomon’s did; as well as the manner of other kings were, contrary to the design of God from the beginning.

¹⁸ “And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book from that which is before the priests the Levites. — upon the throne of his kingdom; when he is settled on it, and is even amidst all the pomp and glory of it: he shall write with his own hand; out of that which is before the priests;

— out of that original, which was carefully kept by the priests in the sanctuary, that it might be a perfect copy, and that it might have the greater influence upon him, coming to him as from the hand and presence of God. He shall read therein; diligently and constantly: neither the greatness of his place, nor the weight and multitude of his business, shall excuse or hinder him; all the days of his life;

— it is not enough to have Bibles, but we must use them, yea, use them daily. Our souls must have constant meals of that manna, which, if well digested, will afford them true nourishment and strength.

¹⁹ And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them, — and it shall be with him; always, when at home or abroad, sitting on his throne or lying down, or wherever he went;

— and he shall read therein all the days of his life; every day of his life; meditate on it night and day, that he may learn to, fear the Lord his God; to serve and worship him both internally and externally; having the fear of God always before his eyes, and on his heart, which the holy law of God directs to and instructs in;

— to keep all the words of this law, and these statutes, to do them; not only such as concerned him as a king, but all others that concerned him as a man, a creature subject to the Lord,

²⁰ that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel.

— that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren; on account of his office, the dignity of it, considering that he was subject to the law of God, and accountable to the Lord for all his actions;

— and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand or to the left; not in the least deviate from the law of God in the whole of his conduct, and particularly in the exercise of his kingly office;

— he and his children in the midst of Israel; this shows, that if his son was fit for the kingdom, he was to be preferred to any other man; for though it was elective, yet to be continued in the same family, provided they walked in the ways of the Lord, and observed his laws.

Deuteronomy 18

¹ “The priests, the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and His inheritance.

— the priests, the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi; this is the office of the priests and the Levites: they are said, “to stand before the congregation to minister unto them” (Numbers 16:9); in the Sanctuary and throughout their cities;

² Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren; the Lord is their inheritance, as He hath said unto them.

— therefore shall they have none inheritance among their brethren; neither of the field, nor of the vineyard, because provision was made for them otherwise, and especially because the Lord is their inheritance;

³ “And this shall be the priest’s due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep; and they shall give unto the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the maw. — and this shall be the priest’s due from the people, from them that offer sacrifice; not from the priests, but from those that bring the sacrifices to the priests;

— and they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw; the first of these designs the upper part of the arm that joins to the neck and back, and the next the two cheeks with the tongue.

⁴ The firstfruit also of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him. — and the first of the fleece of thy sheep shall thou give him: and they give white wool, and not defiled, enough to make it into fine garment to minister in; or enough garment fit for a priest to minister in is a girdle.

⁵ For the Lord thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes to stand to minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons for ever.

⁶ “And if a Levite come from any of thy gates out of all Israel where he sojourned, and come with all the desire of his mind unto the place which the Lord shall choose, — and if a Levite come; the Levites with the priests were to receive forty-eight cities in Israel, with the suburbs, Numbers 35:7

— for the Lord thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes; that is, has chosen the tribe of Levi out of all the other tribes of Israel;

⁷ then he shall minister in the name of the Lord his God as all his brethren the Levites do, who stand there before the Lord. — then he shall minister in the name of the Lord his God, as every priest and every sacrifice were: he was to be allowed to officiate, though it was not his course or turn.

⁸ They shall have like portions to eat, besides that which cometh from the sale of his patrimony. — they shall have like portions to eat, beside that; the Levite thus dedicated was to have the same allowance from tithes as the rest who served at the tabernacle;

— beside that which cometh of the sale of his patrimony; though he have an estate whereby he may subsist raised by the sale of his flock or herd, or other movables, yet you shall not upon this ground either deny or diminish their part of your share of maintenance.

⁹ “When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do according to the abominations of those nations.

— thou shall not learn to do after the abominations of these nations; the seven nations which before inhabited it; they might learn to know how corrupt their works were, and to show to their children, that they might not do so.

¹⁰ There shall not be found among you any one who maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or who useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, — there shall not be found among you anyone that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, see Leviticus 18:21

¹¹ or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. — necromancer; or a necromancer that inquiries of the dead, or seeks instruction from them, as the Targum of Jerusalem; as Saul did: 1 Samuel 28:8, Isaiah 8:19

— four of the above practices are ascribed to king Manasseh in II Chronicles 33:6. It is hardly possible that all of them were mere imposture and deceit.

¹² For all who do these things are an abomination unto the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.

— thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations; that whoever does any of them, including the Israelites themselves, all such persons shall be removed from their land; and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee; —

¹³ Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God. — thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God; the Israelites being wholly his, seeking him and cleaving to him, and to his word alone, faithfully adhere to his word, laws, statutes, and ordinances, and walk uprightly before him; and therefore abhorring all commerce and conversations with devils.

¹⁴ For these nations which thou shalt possess hearkened unto observers of times and unto diviners; but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do. — though the heathen whom they exterminated before them hearkened to conjurers and soothsayers, the Lord their God had not allowed anything of the kind to them.

¹⁵ “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, from thy brethren, like unto me. Unto Him ye shall hearken, — the Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet; namely, Him of whom Peter spoke in Acts 3:22-26. “Unto you first; God, having raised up His son Jesus, sent Him to bless you,”

¹⁶ according to all that thou desired of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.’

— according to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God at Horeb; this was promised them, in answer to their request at Horeb or Mount Sinai, when the law was delivered to them in the terrible manner it was;

— saying, let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God; which was attended with so much terror, that they that heard entreated the word might not be spoken to them any more; neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not; out of which the Lord spoke; the congregation of Israel is here represented speaking as if a single person.

¹⁷ And the Lord said unto me: ‘They have well spoken that which they have spoken. — they have spoken in the name of the Lord, for the purpose of enforcing obedience with all the greater emphasis.

¹⁸ I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren like unto thee, and will put My words in His mouth; and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him. — here was the Father, promising concerning Christ, that there should come a Prophet, that his Son, great above all the prophets;

— and I, the Father, will put my word in his mouth; the doctrines of the Gospel, which come from the Father, and are the words of truth, faith, righteousness, peace, pardon, life, and salvation; and which Christ says were not his own, as man and Mediator, but his Father’s, which he gave unto him, and put into his mouth;

¹⁹ And it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto My words which He shall speak in My name, I will require it of him.

— whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him; the direful consequences of unbelief in his Son, the Christ, and disregard of his mission, the Jewish people have been experiencing during eighteen hundred years of exiles;

— I will require it of him; or, as the Targum of Jonathan says, “my Word shall require it of him, or take vengeance on him;” as Christ the Word of God did in the destruction of the Jewish nation, city, and even the Temple; see Luke 19:27.

²⁰ But the prophet who shall presume to speak a word in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or who shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.’ — but the prophet which shall presume to speak in my name; pretending a mission and commission from God, and yet was never sent by him, like the false prophets in Jeremiah 23:21,

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

But the false prophet who doeth wickedly in speaking a thing in My Name, when I have not commanded him to speak, or who shall speak in the name of the gods of the Gentiles, that prophet shall be slain with the sword.

²¹ And if thou say in thine heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?’ — that is, how shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? What marks, signs, and criterions are those by which it may be known that it is not a word that comes from the Lord?

²² when a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously; thou shalt not be afraid of him. — if the thing follow not; which he gives as a sign of the truth of his prophecy. He means the prediction of some strange and wonderful event, and doesn’t come true;

— the Lord hath not spoken: the falsehood of his prediction shows him to be a false prophet, though the truth and accomplishment of his prediction had not proved him to be a true prophet; presumptuously; impudently ascribing his own vain and lying fancies to be the God of truth;

— thou shall not be afraid of him; not only to reprove him for his wickedness, but also to punish him for it; showing no regard to the high character he assumes; we should not be afraid of his predictions or threats, so as to be scared from doing thy duty in bringing him to deserved punishment.

Posted in Books of Moses

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.

Posted in Books of Moses

Deuteronomy 13

¹ “If there arise among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, — if there arise among you a prophet; a false prophet, a lying prophet, as the Targum of Jonathan says; one that pretends to be a true prophet, and to be sent of God, and to come from him with a message from him, a new revelation or doctrine, or in his name, to foretell things to come;

— Moses, foreseeing how liable the Israelites would be to be deluded by false prophets, who, under pretence of divine revelations, or communications of divine power, while indeed they were assisted by no other than wicked and infernal spirits, might foretel some future events;

— or work some wondrous and unaccountable things as demonstrations of their false doctrine, and thereby persuade others to join in their idolatrous worship, here proceeds to show how such pretenders to divine inspiration might be known, and lays down a law, according to which they were to be dealt with.

² and the sign or the wonder come to pass whereof he spoke unto thee, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods which thou hast not known, and let us serve them,’ — and the sign or wonder come to pass; God permitting Satan or his agents to do what is above the ordinary course of nature for thy trial. Saying, Let us go after other gods;

³ thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. — when such a sign or wonder foretold did not follow or come to pass, it was a sign of a false prophet, as is said, Deuteronomy 18:22,

— yet when it did come to pass, it was no sufficient or infallible sign of a true one, especially in such a case when he brings in new gods.

⁴ Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear Him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice, and ye shall serve Him and cleave unto Him. — to fear the Lord thy God; to fear him with a filial fear, and to keep his commandments, his statutes; all the ten commandments, the feasts and all others, and obey his voice;

⁵ And that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

— and that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; whose death, according to the Targum of Jonathan, was to be slain with the sword;

— so shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee; the evil man, by putting him to death, and the evil of idolatry, by not listening to the words of the false prophet.

⁶ “If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend who is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers

— if thy brother; the substance of this law is that individual idolaters, any relatives, however close, entice thee secretly, might be executed, putting the evil away from the midst of Israel.

⁷ (namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth), — of the gods of the people which are round about you; as of the Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites and Phoenicians;

⁸ thou shalt not consent unto him nor hearken unto him, neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him; — neither shalt thou conceal him; that is, smother his fault, hide or protect his person; but shalt accuse him to the magistrate, and demand justice upon him;

⁹ but thou shalt surely kill him. Thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. — but thou shalt surely kill him; not privately and secretly, when and where he entices, nor the enticed himself by his own authority,

— but after being examined, judged, and condemned by the civil magistrate; and none might judge a false prophet but the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem; and afterwards the hand of all the people; this shows that the person enticed had not a right to kill the enticer, without a judicial process, and the order of the civil magistrate.

¹⁰ And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die, because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. — and thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; it was not sufficient to answer the end of the law to cast a few stones at him, but he was to be stoned to death;

¹¹ And all Israel shall hear and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you. — and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you; either to entice unto idolatry or commit it; which is a piece of wickedness against the first table of the law.

¹² “If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying, — if thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities; a report concerning them, anyone of them;

¹³ ‘Certain men, the children of Belial, have gone out from among you and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods,” which ye have not known,’ — certain men, the children of Belial; lawless, designing demagogues (Judges 19:22; 1Samuel 1:16; 25:25), who abused their influence to withdraw the inhabitants of the city to idol-worship;

¹⁴ then shalt thou inquire, and make a search and ask diligently; and behold, if it be truth and the thing certain that such abomination is wrought among you, — then shalt thou inquire, make search, and ask diligently; that is, of the witnesses, as the Targum of Jonathan says; and this is a case that is only taken into consideration and judged of by the great Sanhedrin at Jerusalem;

¹⁵ thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. — destroying it utterly; the very same punishment which was inflicted upon the cities of the cursed Canaanites, to whom having made themselves equal in sin, it is but fit and just that God should equal them in punishment.

¹⁶ And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city and all the spoil thereof every whit for the Lord thy God. And it shall be a heap for ever; it shall not be built again. — and shall burn with fire the city, and all the spoil, the booty, thereof every bit; and all this shall be done for the Lord thy God;

¹⁷ And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand, that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of His anger, and show thee mercy and have compassion upon thee and multiply thee, as He hath sworn unto thy fathers, — there shall cleave naught of the cursed thing to thine hand; no spoil shall be taken from a city thus solemnly devoted to destruction;

¹⁸ when thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God to keep all His commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord thy God. — when thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God; not only in this case, but in all others; 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.

Deuteronomy 14

¹ “Ye are the children of the Lord your God: ye shall not cut yourselves nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. — any baldness between your eyes; apparently, “on your foreheads.” The word for baldness in this place is generally used for baldness on the back of the head;

— Rashi: You shall neither cut yourselves: Do not make cuts and incisions in your flesh [to mourn] for the dead, in the manner that the Amorites do, because you are the children of the Omnipresent and it is appropriate for you to be handsome and not to be cut or have your hair torn out.

— Rashi: [nor make any baldness] between your eyes: [i.e.,] near the forehead. Elsewhere, however, it says: “They shall not make their head bald” (Lev. 21: 5), to make the entire head like between the eyes (בֵּין עֵינַיִם) [i.e., one must not make bald spots on any part of the head]. — [Sifrei]

— ye shall not cut yourselves; in any of their flesh in any part of their bodies: tattooing is cutting of the skin, however tiny or however artistic they may be;

² For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto Himself above all the nations that are upon the earth. — thou art a holy people; since you have the honour to be separated to God to be his peculiar treasure, to be his peculiar servants, by laws different from those of all other nations,

³ “Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. — thou shall not eat any abominable thing; that is so either in its own nature, or because forbidden by the Lord; what are such are declared in the following verses:

⁴ These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat, — the ox, the sheep and the goat; which were creatures used in sacrifice, and are clean ones, yet nevertheless they might be used for food if chosen;

⁵ the hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois. — the hart, the roebuck, and the fallow deer: these are clean animals, but are not generally used for sacrifices;

⁶ And every beast that parteth the hoof and cleaveth the cleft into two claws and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat.— and every beast that parted the hoo fand if they chewed the cud,; in this and the two following verses two general rules are given, by which it might be known what beasts were fit for food and what not;

⁷ Nevertheless, these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud or of them that divide the cloven hoof: the camel, and the hare, and the coney; for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you. — but such that only chewed the cud, but did not divide the hoof, as the camel, hare, and coney, might not be eaten; and so if they divided the hoof, and did not chew the cud, as the swine, they were alike unlawful;

⁸ And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcasses. — and they that divided the hoof, but did not chew the cud, as the swine, they were alike unlawful;

⁹ “These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat. — the rule given here, that only those with fins or scales are clean practically rules out eels, lampreys and others, with of course all shellfish;

¹⁰ And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you. — these ye shall eat of, all that are in the waters; the fishes there, even such as have fins and scales, but they that have not were not to be eaten.

¹¹ “Of all clean birds ye shall eat. — of all clean birds ye shall eat; which the Targum of Jonathan describes, everyone that has a vesicle, and whose crop is naked, and has a superfluous talon, and is not rapacious; but such as are unclean are expressed by name in the following verses:

¹² But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and ossifrage, and the osprey, — the eagle, and ossifrage, and the osprey; identified by the baldness of its head and neck; —

¹³ and the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind, —the glede, and the kite, and the vulture; these are closely related to the eagle, and ossifrage, and the osprey; —

¹⁴ and every raven after his kind,

¹⁵ and the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, — these are they of which they shall not eat,

¹⁶ the little owl, and the great owl, and the swan,

¹⁷ and the pelican, and the giereagle, and the cormorant,

¹⁹ And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten. — these are they of which they shall not eat,

²⁰ But of all clean fowls ye may eat. — but of all clean fowls ye may eat. Even of all fowls, but those before excepted; the locust, as being a clean fowl, that might be eaten; and so the Targum of Jonathan says “every clean locust ye may eat.”

²¹ “Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself. Thou shalt give it unto the stranger who is in thy gates, that he may eat it, or thou mayest sell it unto an alien; for thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. “Thou shalt not boil a kid in his mother’s milk.

— Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself; the blood rendered it unlawful to be eaten. Proselytes of the gate, not being obliged to observe these laws, or mere Gentiles, who might happen to be in their country, might eat such meat;

— but those who were termed proselytes of righteousness, that is, circumcised Gentiles, who had embraced the Israelite religion, were bound to abstain from such food as much as from native Israel; for thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God;

²² “Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed that the field bringeth forth year by year. — thou shalt truly tithe; the tithe mentioned here and in Deuteronomy 14:28, and in Deuteronomy 26:12-15, are second tithe;

— the “first tithe;” are entirely distinct from the ordinary tithe assigned to the Levites for their subsistence in Numbers 18:21, and by them tithed again for the priests (Numbers 18:26); the tithe described in Numbers are called “the first tithe.”

²³ And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which He shall choose to place His name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks, that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always. — this second tithe: thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which He shall choose, which later Jerusalem was nominated to be where his Shekinah dwells;

²⁴ And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it, or if the place be too far from thee which the Lord thy God shall choose to set His name there, when the Lord thy God hath blessed thee, — or if the place shall be too far from thee; which by the event appeared to be the city of Jerusalem, and this from some parts of the land in the North was a distant:

²⁵ then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose. — and shalt go unto the place which the Lord that God shall choose; in Jerusalem, carrying the money along with him, for which he sold the tithe.

²⁶ And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after: for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth; and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou and thine household.

— or for wine, or for strong drink; to drink with his food, whether wine or any other liquor; the Targum of Jonathan says, wine new or old, which he chose; but the latter, strong drink;

²⁷ And the Levite that is within thy gates, thou shalt not forsake him, for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee. — and the Levite that is within thy gates, thou shalt not forsake him; as not from giving him the first tithe, as so 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;

²⁸ “At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates. — at the end of three years thou shalt bring forth ail the tithe; this is called Ma’aser ‘Âni, “the poor’s tithe.” It is regarded as identical with the second tithe, which was ordinarily eaten by the owners at Jerusalem; but in every third and sixth year was bestowed upon the poor.

²⁹ And the Levite (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee), and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within thy gates, shall come and shall eat and be satisfied, that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.

— “the stranger, fatherless, and widow,” who are within thy gates, and lay it up within thy gates; not to be hoarded up, or to be sold at a proper time, but to be disposed and made use of.

Posted in Books of Moses

Deuteronomy 11

¹ “Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep His charge, and His statutes, and His judgments, and His commandments, always. — therefore; there is no break here in the original. “The Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God.”

— and keep his charge; whatsoever the Lord had charged them to observe, even what follow: and his statutes and his judgments, and his commandments, always; all his laws, ceremonial, judicial and moral; and that constantly and continually, all the days of their lives.

² And know ye this day, for I speak not with your children, who have not known and who have not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God, His greatness, His mighty hand, and His stretched out arm, — I speak not with your children which have not known; but your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did;

— it must be remembered that all those who were less than twenty years of age at the date of the Exodus would still be living, and the events of their youth must have left a strong impression on their memories;

— the “chastisement” consisted in the many mighty acts, both of punishment and mercy, through which God had guided them from Egypt to the borders of the promised land.

³ and His miracles, and His acts, which He did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt and unto all His land; — and his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt; the miraculous works done there, the ten plagues inflicted on the Egyptians for refusing to let Israel go;

— unto Pharaoh king, of Egypt, and unto all his land; for those plagues not only affected him and his court, and his metropolis, but all parts of the land, the inhabitants of it everywhere.

⁴ and what He did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses and to their chariots: how He made the water of the Red Sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord hath destroyed them unto this day; — hath destroyed them unto this day; brought them so low that they have not yet recovered their strength;

— or, the effect of which destruction continueth to this day, in their weakness and fear, and our safety from their further attempts against us, what he did in the wilderness, both in a way of judgement and mercy.

⁵ and what He did unto you in the wilderness until ye came into this place; — what he did unto you in the wilderness; the doings of God to the people; the manifestations of his omnipotence, both in their guidance and protection, and in the punishment of those who transgressed;

— one instance of the latter is expressly referred to – the destruction of those who joined in the insurrection of Korah;

⁶ and what He did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their households and their tents and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel—

— Moses does not mention Korah himself here, but only his accomplices Dathan and Abiram, probably, “from regard to his sons, who were not swallowed up by the earth along with their father, but had lived to perpetuate the family of Korah;” perhaps also because, though Korah was at the head of the insurrection, Dathan and Abiram were the more determined, audacious, and obdurate in their rebellion;

⁷ but your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which He did. — but your eyes have seen; literally, for your eyes are the witnesses of all the great working of God which he hath done; and therefore the instruction they should learn from thence should be as follows.

⁸ “Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land whither ye go to possess it; — therefore shall you keep all the commandment and his statutes; the ten commandments, the feasts and all others, which I command you this day,

⁹ and that ye may prolong your days in the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey. — and that ye may prolong your days in the land, not only enter it, and take possession of it, but continue in it long, which depended upon their obedience to the laws of God;

— a land that floweth with milk and honey; abounds with all good things, whose fruits are fat as milk, and sweet as honey; so the Targum of Jonathan says.

¹⁰ For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt from whence ye came out, where thou sowed thy seed and watered it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs. — is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out; either the whole land of Egypt, or that part of it, Rameses, in which Israel dwelt, and which was the best of it, and yet Canaan exceeded that;

¹¹ But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven, — drinketh water of the rain of heaven because this comes not from man’s art or industry, but immediately from God’s power and goodness; more easy, being given thee without thy charge or pains; more sweet and pleasant,

¹² a land which the Lord thy God careth for. The eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year. — which the Lord careth for; in a special manner, watering it immediately, as it were, by his own hand, without man’s help, and giving peculiar blessings to it, which Egypt enjoyed not;

— in Ezekiel 20:6 it says “A land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.”

¹³ “And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, — this exhortation to fear and love the Lord, with a reference to the blessing that would follow the faithful fulfilment of the law, and a threat of the curse which would attend apostasy to idolatry.

¹⁴ that ‘I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn and thy wine and thine oil. — the first rain and the latter rain; the former is the proper term for the autumn rain, falling about the time of sowing;

— and which may be named “the former,” as occurring in the early part of the Hebrew civil year, namely, in October and November, as the Targum of Jonathan says; the other word is applied to the spring rain, which falls in March and April, because it fits the earth for the ingathering of harvest;

¹⁵ And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.’ — and I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle; by giving plentiful showers of rain at proper times, to cause it to spring up and grow, that so there might be food for the cattle of every sort, greater or lesser; 

— that thou mayest eat and be full; which refers to the preceding verse as well as to this; and the sense is, that the Israelites might eat of and enjoy the fruits of the earth to satiety; namely, their corn, wine, and oil; and that their cattle might have grass enough to supply them with.

¹⁶ Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; — that your heart be not deceived; by the specious pretence of idolaters, persuading you that they enjoy fruitful seasons, and other temporal blessings, as a reward for their worship;

¹⁷ and then the Lord’S wrath be kindled against you, and He shut up the heaven, that there be no rain and that the land yield not her fruit, and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you.

— and that the land yield not her fruit; which is unavoidably the case when rain is withheld: and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you; for if the land does not yield its fruits sufficient to support the inhabitants of it, they must in course perish.

¹⁸ “Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. — and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes; of this and the two following verses;

¹⁹ And ye shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down and when thou risest up. — let them therefore impress the words now set before them very deeply upon themselves and their children; 

²⁰ And thou shalt write them upon the doorposts of thine house and upon thy gates,

²¹ that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth. — as the days of heaven upon the earth; that is, as long as the heavens and the earth shall be, and the one shall be over the other, as they will be to the end of time.

²² For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you to do them — to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave unto Him—

— if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you to do them, observe and take notice of them, even all of them, and so as not merely to have a theory or notional knowledge of them, but to put them in practice;

²³ then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.

— then will the Lord drive out all those nations from before you; little by little, even all the seven nations which then inhabited the land of Canaan; and this he would do to make room for them, that they might inherit the land;

²⁴ Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your borders be. — from the wilderness and Lebanon; which was a range of mountains to the north of it; and was the northern border of the land;

— from the river, the river Euphrates; which was the north and eastern border, when it was carried to its utmost extent, as in the days of Solomon; 1 Kings 4:21.

²⁵ There shall no man be able to stand before you; for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as He hath said unto you. — the fear of you and the dread of you; “The fear of you on those that are near, and the dread upon those that are far off.”

— not a single man, such an one as Og, or any of the sons of Anak, the giants; because it could never be thought, imagined, or feared, that one man only should be able to stand against 600,000 fighting men, but any people or nation, though greater and mightier than they.

²⁶ “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse: — a blessing and a curse; literally, blessing and cursing; the blessing if ye obey, and the curse if ye do not;

²⁷ a blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day; — a blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God; that is, a blessing should come upon them, even all temporal blessings they stood in need of; they should be blessed in body and estate, in their families, and in their flocks, in town and country;

²⁸ and a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods which ye have not known.

— and a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God; accursed in body and estate, in basket and store; in their families, flocks, and herds; within doors and without; in city, and country; going out, or coming in; in this world, and that to come, if divine goodness prevent not;

²⁹ And it shall come to pass, when the Lord thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon Mount Gerizim and the curse upon Mount Ebal.

— that thou shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse upon Mount Ebal; that is, pronounce the one on one mountain, and the other on the other mountain.

³⁰ Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh? — are they not on the other side Jordan; opposite to that where Moses now was in the plains of Moab, even in Samaria;

³¹ For ye shall pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it and dwell therein. — and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein: should not only take possession of it, but make their abode in it; they are assured hereby of continuance in it, on condition they obeyed the laws of God;

³² And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day. — which I set before you this day; repeated in order to them, on the observance of which depended their continuance in the land of Canaan; and therefore this is so often repeated and repeated.

Deuteronomy 12

¹ “These are the statutes and judgments which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth. — these are the statutes and judgements; the word Mitzvah (commandment, or duty), is not used here; as institutions and judgements are now before them.

² Ye shall utterly destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains and upon the hills and under every green tree.

— ye shall utterly destroy; first of all these requirements is the destruction of every vestige of idolatry; their temples, chapels, altars, groves, as appears from other scriptures; also the Gentiles used to employ the high mountains for their idolatry;

³ And ye shall overthrow their altars and break their pillars and burn their Asherah poles with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods and destroy the names of them out of that place.

— and you shall overthrow their altars, these were to be demolished, lest the Israelites should be tempted to make use of them; and besides, the Lord would not have any remains of idolatry in the land where his tabernacle and worship were, as being abominable to him.

⁴ Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God. — Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God; not sacrifice to him on hills and mountains, and under green trees;

⁵ But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put His name there, even unto His habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come.

— to put his name there, that is, to set up hiss worship there, or which he shall call by his name, as his house, or dwelling-place, where the ark should be, the tabernacle, or temple; which was first Shiloh, Joshua 18:1, then next in Jerusalem.

⁶ And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks. — the command to bring ALL the sacrifices to the door of the tabernacle, was now explained with reference to the promised land;

⁷ And there ye shall eat before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.

— there; not in the tabernacle or temple, where only the priests might eat the most holy things, (Numbers 18:10,) but in the court of the tabernacle, or in some place adjacent to the sanctuary.

⁸ Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever being right in his own eyes. — every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes; that did he, brought the above things when and where he pleased;

— not that there was no regard had to the laws and rules given, as if there was no priest in Israel, nor the works of the Sandhedrin; but they were not so exactly in all circumstances conformed to as they would be obliged to when they came into the land of Canaan;

⁹ For ye have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which the Lord your God giveth you. — ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance; nor would the passage of Jordan and the conquest of Joshua bring them to it.

¹⁰ But when ye go over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit, and when He giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety,

— but when ye go over Jordan; which lay between the place where they now were, and the land of Canaan, and which they would quickly go over;

¹¹ then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there. Thither shall ye bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the Lord.

— which the Lord your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there: and it was in Jerusalem where he himself would dwell, and where his name would be called, and he would be worshipped.

¹² And ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite who is within your gates, forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you.

— and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God, in the place chosen and later fixed at Jerusalem, where a temple would be built for him, and he would take up his residence; eating with joy and gladness that part of the offerings which belonged to them, keeping as it were a feast before the Lord, in token of gratitude for what they had received from him;

¹³ Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest; — this would be his habitation, where, as King of Israel, would be found by all who reverently sought him;

¹⁴ but in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee. — but in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes; which tribe is not named, nor what place in that tribe;

¹⁵ “Notwithstanding, thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which He hath given thee; the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck and as of the hart.

— whatsoever thy soul lusteth after; what you shall desire either for quantity or quality, provided always you observe the laws given you elsewhere about avoiding excess and uncleanness in the things you eat;

— the unclean, who is forbidden to eat of holy meats, Leviticus 7:20; may eat thereof, to wit, of any sort of creatures, even of those sorts which are offered to God in sacrifices, which are as free to your use as the roebuck and the hart, which were unclean, or not acceptable, for sacrifice, Leviticus 22:19;

¹⁶ Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water. — only ye shall not eat the blood; all manner of blood being forbidden, of fowl or of beasts, whether slain for sacrifice or for common food.

¹⁷ Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings or heave offering of thine hand.

— not within thy gates; that is, not in your private residence, as opposed to the place of God’s worship; they should be eaten at the place God would cloose, that is, later identified to be in Jerusalem: “For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

¹⁸ But thou must eat them before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite who is within thy gates; and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto.

— but thou must eat them before the Lord thy God, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, which is in Jerusalem; which may be said to be eaten before him, being eaten in the place where his sanctuary stood, in which he dwells;

¹⁹ Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth. — take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite; by withholding from him the tithes appointed for his maintenance;

²⁰ “When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border as He hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, ‘I will eat flesh,’ because thy soul longeth to eat flesh, thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.

— because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; would have a craving appetite unto it, having so long ate none, or very little: thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after;

— the clean and unclean ceremonial distinctions did not apply in such cases, of any sort that is clean, and allowed to be eaten, anymore than to “the roebuck” (or gazelle) “and hart,” animals allowed for food but not for sacrifice;

— the permission to hunt and use venison for food was doubtless a great boon to the Israelites, not only in the wilderness, but in Canaan, as the mountainous ranges of Lebanon, Carmel, and Gilead, where deer abounded in vast numbers, would thus furnish them with a plentiful and luxuriant repast.

²¹ If the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to put His name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock which the Lord hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.

— be too far from thee; in which case, being obliged to carry their sacrifice to Jerusalem, that the blood might be there poured forth, they might think themselves obliged, for the same reason, to carry their other cattle thither to be killed;

— they are therefore released from all such obligations, and left at liberty to kill them at home, whether they lived nearer to that place, or further from it; only the latter is here mentioned, as being the matter of any reluctance or hesitation.

²² Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them; the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike. — even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, which were not only clean creatures, but were commonly and frequently eaten, there being plenty of them in those regions;

— so thou shalt eat them; their oxen and calves, their sheep and lambs, their goats and their kids: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike, as in Deuteronomy 12:15 above;

²³ Only be sure that thou eat not the blood; for the blood is the life, and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh. — and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh: by which it seems that the blood might not be eaten in or with the flesh.

²⁴ Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water. — thou shall pour it upon the earth as water; as the blood of sacrifices was poured upon the altar, the blood of common flesh was to be poured upon the earth.

²⁵ Thou shalt not eat it, that it may go well with thee and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord.

— for those that eat blood, contrary to this command of God, it is threatened that he would set his face against them, and they should be cut off, Leviticus 7:27 “Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.”

²⁶ Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take and go unto the place which the Lord shall choose. — only thy holy things which thou hast; which the Targums of Jonathan interprets of the tithe of their holy things, and their burnt offerings and peace offerings;

²⁷ And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the Lord thy God; and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the Lord thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh.

— and thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the Lord thy God; and on that only, even the altar of burnt offering;

— and the blood of thy sacrifices; not only of the burnt offerings, but of the sin offerings, trespass offerings and peace offerings; shall be poured out upon the altar of the Lord thy God.

²⁸ Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God.

— when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God; for these are what are good and right in his sight, and it is for the good of men to do them.

²⁹ “When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them and dwellest in their land, — when the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee; the seven nations of the land of Canaan, Deuteronomy 7:1,

³⁰ take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after they are destroyed from before thee, and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise.’

— and that thou inquire not after their gods; what they were, their names, forms, and figures: saying, how did these nations serve their gods? what was the manner of worship they gave them? what rites, customs, and ceremonies did they use in their adoration of them?

³¹ Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God, for every abomination to the Lord which He hateth have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burned in the fire to their gods.

— for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods; not only men have they sacrificed to them; and not only caused them to pass through the fire, but burnt them in it;

— so the Carthaginians are said to do, who learned this inhuman practice from the Phoenicians; they were a colony of the inhabitants of this land of Canaan.

³² “What thing soever I command you, observe to do it. Thou shalt not add thereto nor diminish from it. — both as to matter and manner, were to be obeyed just as they were delivered: thou shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it; neither add any customs and rites of the heathens to them, nor neglect anything enjoined on them.

Posted in Books of Moses

Deuteronomy 9

¹ “Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over the Jordan this day to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fortified up to heaven, — nations greater and mightier than thyself; the conquest does not rest with Israel; they were of Divine power; the glory of it to God alone, and not to themselves;

² a people great and tall, the children of the Anakim, whom thou knowest and of whom thou hast heard say, ‘Who can stand before the children of Anak!’ — the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest; by report, having had an account of them by the spies;

— who described them as very large bodied men, and of a gigantic stature, the descendants of one Anak, a giant; and so the Targum of Jonathan, “a people strong and high like the giants;” from these Bene Anak, children of Anak, or Phene Anak, as the words might be pronounced;

³ Understand therefore this day that the Lord thy God is He who goeth over before thee as a consuming fire. He shall destroy them, and He shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the Lord hath said unto thee. — as a consuming fire; before whom thine enemies shall be as easily consumed as stubble before the flames;

— so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the Lord hath said unto thee; that is, the far greater part of them, and so many as to make room for the Israelites, and which was quickly done.

⁴ Speak not thou in thine heart, after the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, ‘For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land’; but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee. — Speak not thou in thine heart; never once think within thyself, or give way to such a vain imagination, and please thyself with it

— after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee; to make way for the Israelites, and put them into the possession of their land; which is to be ascribed not to them, but to the Lord;

— saying, for my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land; such a thought as this was not to be secretly cherished in their hearts, and much less expressed with their lips; nothing being more foreign from truth than this, and yet a notion they were prone to entertain;

— but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee; namely, their idolatry, incest, and other notorious crimes;

⁵ Not for thy righteousness or for the uprightness of thine heart dost thou go to possess their land, but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that He may perform the word which the Lord swore unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

— not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart; neither for your external righteousness before men, or outward conformity to the law, nor for the inward sincerity of your hearts, and your upright intentions in doing good, in which they were all defective;

— dost thou go to possess their land; this is repeated, and enlarged on, and explained, that this notion might be entirely removed from them, and not entertained by them; similar to which is that of men, who fancy that their sincere obedience, though imperfect, will be accepted of God;

— and that he may perform the word which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; it was to fulfil his covenant, and make good his word of promise to their fathers, and not on account of any righteousness of theirs; for there were none; —

⁶ “Understand, therefore, that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness, for thou art a stiffnecked people.

— understand therefore that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; this is again repeated to impress it upon their minds, that it was not for any goodness of theirs, but as a gift of divine goodness to them;

— a stiffnecked people; this metaphor seems to be taken from a camel or other beast of burden, a buffalo perhaps, who hardens his neck, and will not bend left or right for the driver.

⁷ Remember, and forget not, how thou provoked the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the Lord.

— remember, and forget not how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness; this was after they journeyed from Horeb; and even as soon as, they were in the wilderness, they provoked the Lord, as by their murmuring for water at Marah;

— from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the Lord; yet their life was a continued course of rebellion against the Lord: so that they were far from being righteous in themselves, nor was there any reason to conclude it was for their righteousness the land of Canaan was given them.

⁸ Also in Horeb ye provoked the Lord to wrath, so that the Lord was so angry with you as to have destroyed you. — even in Horeb; even when your miraculous deliverance out of Egypt was fresh in your memories; when God had but newly manifested himself to you,

— and delivered you the law in so stupendous and awful a manner, and with such visible displays of his divine majesty; when he had just taken you into covenant with himself, and was actually conferring still further mercies upon you.

⁹ When I had gone up into the mount to receive the tablets of stone, even the tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with you, then I abode on the mount forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water.

— and he wrote them upon two tables of stone; the Targum of Jonathan says on tables of sapphire; or as in Deuteronomy 4:13, “which He wrote upon sapphire tablets”

— then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights; and this long stay was one reason of their falling into idolatry, not knowing what was become of him, Exodus 24:18.

¹⁰ And the Lord delivered unto me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them was written according to all the words which the Lord spoke with you on the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.

— and the Lord delivered unto me two tables of stone, written with the finger of God; on tablets of sapphire, the letters were of his devising and forming, the writing was his, the engraving them on the stones was his own making;

¹¹ And it came to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, even the tablets of the covenant. — the Targum Jonathan says “the two tables of marble, the tables of the covenant,” written with the finger of God;

¹² And the Lord said unto me, ‘Arise, get thee down quickly from hence, for thy people whom thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten image.’

— for thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt, have corrupted themselves; their way, as the Targum of Jonathan says;

— that is, by idolatry, than which nothing is more corrupting and defiling; the Lord calls them not his people, but the people of Moses, being highly displeased with them; and ascribes their coming out of Egypt to Moses the instrument, and not to himself, as if he repented of bringing them from thence;

¹³ “Furthermore the Lord spoke unto me, saying, ‘I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiffnecked people. — and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people; unwilling to submit and bear the yoke of my commandments;

¹⁴ Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they.’ — Let me alone, that I may destroy them; do not say one word to me on their behalf, or entreat me to spare them, and not destroy them;

—and blot out their name from under heaven; that no such nation may be heard of, or known by the name of Israel; and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they; whereby the Lord’s promise to Abraham would not have been made void; but equally firm and sure, since this mightier and greater nation would have been of his seed;

¹⁵ So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount burned with fire; and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. — and the mount burned with fire; as it had for six weeks past, ever since the Lord’s descent upon it; and so it continued, for the words may be rendered, “and the mount was burning” and yet this did not deter the Israelites from idolatry;

¹⁶ And I looked, and behold, ye had sinned against the Lord your God, and had made you a molten calf. Ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which the Lord had commanded you. — and, behold, ye had sinned against the Lord your God;

— that plainly appeared by what they had done, and at which he was amazed; and therefore a behold is prefixed to it, it being such a gross sin, having so much impiety and ingratitude, and stupidity in it;

¹⁷ And I took the two tablets, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes. — I took the two tables; and broke them before your eyes; in righteous indignation and in wrath, from zeal to vindicate the unsullied honor of God;

— and by the suggestion of his Spirit to intimate that the covenant had been broken, and the people excluded from the divine favor; and brake them before your eyes; as an emblem of their breach by transgressing them.

¹⁸ And I fell down before the Lord forty days and forty nights as at the first; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sins which ye sinned in doing wickedly in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger. — besides idolatry, they were guilty of unbelief, ingratitude, stupidity, which were notorious and flagrant;

— and were done openly and publicly, in sight of his glory and majesty on the mount; all which must be very provoking to him, and on account of these Moses prayed and fasted.

¹⁹ For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure wherewith the Lord was wroth against you to destroy you. But the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also. — for I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure wherewith the Lord was wroth against you; which was exceeding vehement, as appeared by his words to Moses;

— forbidding to intercede for them, that he might consume them, and make of him a greater nation; wherefore he dreaded the issue of it, lest it should be to destroy you;

— but the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also; as he had at other times, when this people had sinned, and he entreated for them; in which he was a mediator, whom the Father always hears.

²⁰ And the Lord was very angry with Aaron so as to have destroyed him, and I prayed for Aaron also the same time. — Aaron became a partaker of idolatry and would have suffered the penalty of death; had not the earnest intercession of Moses on his behalf prevailed;

²¹ And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burned it with fire and stamped it and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust; and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount.

— and burnt it with fire, and stamped it; with his feet after it was burnt, to bring it into small pieces: and ground it very small; or as the Targum of Jonathan says, “and crushed it well with crushing until I had bruised it into dust”

²² “And at Taberah and at Massah and at Kibrothhattaavah ye provoked the Lord to wrath. — these places are not mentioned in the strict order in which the provocations were made;

— for they provoked the Lord at Massah by murmuring for water, before they provoked him at Taberah, by complaining as it should seem of their journeying; for Massah was before they came to Sinai, and Taberah after they departed from thence;

²³ Likewise when the Lord sent you from Kadeshbarnea, saying, ‘Go up and possess the land which I have given you,’ then ye rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God, and ye believed Him not nor hearkened to His voice.

— Likewise when the Lord sent you from Kadeshbarnea; from whence the spies were sent to search the land, though previous to it they had the following order to go up and possess it; Numbers 32:8.

²⁴ Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you. — you have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that Moses knew them; from the time he first visited them, before his departure from Egypt to the land of Midian;

²⁵ “Thus I fell down before the Lord forty days and forty nights, as I fell down at the first, because the Lord had said He would destroy you. — I fell down before the Lord was translated by Jonathan as “I bowed down in prayer before the Lord”

²⁶ I prayed therefore unto the Lord, and said: ‘O Lord God, destroy not Thy people and Thine inheritance whom Thou hast redeemed through Thy greatness, whom Thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

— that the Israelites might have no pretence to think that God brought them to Canaan for their righteousness, Moses shows what a miracle of mercy it was, that they had not been destroyed in the wilderness.

²⁷ Remember Thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness nor to their sin, — remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the covenant he had made with them, the promises he had made to them of the multiplication of their seed;

²⁸ lest the land whence Thou broughtest us out say, “Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land which He promised them, and because He hated them, He hath brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.” — lest the inhabitants says: because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them;

— the inhabitants of it being so mighty, and their cities so strongly fortified. Here Moses expresses his concern for the glory of God, and the honour of his perfections, and makes that a fourth argument why he should not destroy them:

²⁹ Yet they are Thy people and Thine inheritance, whom Thou broughtest out by Thy mighty power and by Thy stretched out arm.’ — which thou broughtest out by thy mighty power and stretched out arm; even out of the land of Egypt;

— the doing of which was plainly the effect of his almighty power, and an evidence of it, considering the weakness of Israel and the strength of Egypt, and the manner in which the Lord brought about this surprising event.

Deuteronomy 10

¹ “At that time the Lord said unto me, ‘Hew thee two tablets of stone like unto the first, and come up unto Me onto the mount, and make thee an ark of wood. — hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, of the same sort of stone;

— of the same size and form with those God gave him in the mount the first time he was there, and which he broke in his descent from thence; they were the work of God, but these were to be hewed by Moses;

² And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets which thou didst break, and thou shalt put them in the ark.’ — and I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest; though they were hewn by Moses, the writing on them was the Lord’s; and the very same laws, in the same words, without any alteration or variation;

³ And I made an ark of shittim wood and hewed two tablets of stone like unto the first, and went up onto the mount, having the two tablets in mine hand. — and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; two marble ones, as the Targum of Jonathan says on tables of sapphire;

⁴ And He wrote on the tablets, according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments, which the Lord spoke unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly; and the Lord gave them unto me.

— the ten commandments which the Lord spake unto you in the mount; in Mount Sinai, on which he descended, and from whence he delivered the decalogue by word of mouth in an audible manner, that all the people could hear it:

— out of the midst of the fire; in which he descended, and where he continued, and from whence he spoke, so that it was indeed a fiery law;

⁵ And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the Lord commanded me.” — or  “I put the tables in the ark which I had made, and they remained there,”

⁶ (And the children of Israel took their journey from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to Mosera. There Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest’s office in his stead.

— and since Aaron, according to this account, that was thirty eight years after their departure from Mount Sinai; there Aaron died, and there he was buried on Mount Hor in the desert of Mosera, Numbers 20:23;

⁷ From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of rivers of waters. — and by this description of it, it was a place where there was much water, Numbers 21:16

⁸ At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister unto Him, and to bless in His name, unto this day.

— at that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi; that of the encampment at Sinai, at the time that Moses came down from the mount with the tables of the law;

— to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord; even that into which the law; and therefore called the ark of the covenant: when this was carried from place to place, as it was especially in the wilderness, it was the business of the Levites to bear it, particularly the Kohathites; Numbers 3:31,

⁹ Therefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance, according as the Lord thy God promised him.) — the Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord thy God promised him; for so the Lord was an inheritance and portion of other Israelites; though these being taken off of worldly employments, and devoted to sanctuary service;

¹⁰ “And I stayed on the mount, according to the first time, forty days and forty nights; and the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also, and the Lord would not destroy thee. — and the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also; to his prayer on the behalf of the people; that the Lord would not destroy thee; though he had threatened them, and their sin had deserved it.

¹¹ And the Lord said unto me, ‘Arise, take thy journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land which I swore unto their fathers to give unto them.’ — take thy journey before the people; that is, the Lord was pleased not only to hear him and forgive the people, but ordered him to go before them, and lead them on towards the land of Canaan he had promised them;

¹² “And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, — but to fear the Lord thy God; to fear him with a filial fear, to fear him and his goodness, and him for his goodness sake, and particularly for his pardoning grace and mercy vouchsafed to them;

— to walk in all his ways; prescribed and directed to by him, every path of duty, whether moral, ceremonial, or judicial; and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul;

¹³ to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command thee this day for thy good? — to keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes; both the ten commandments, the feasts and all others, which I command thee this day for thy good;

¹⁴ Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord’S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is. — Behold, the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, are the Lord’s thy God; made and possessed by him; the airy and starry heaven, the third heaven, which is the heaven of heavens, the seat of the Majesty, the habitation of angels and any glorified saints;

— Moses shows that God had no particular reason nor obligation to their fathers any more than to other persons or people, all being equally his creatures, and that his choice of them out of and above all others proceeded only from God’s good pleasure and free love.

¹⁵ Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them; and He chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day. — and he chose their seed after them, even you above all the people, as it is this day; to be a special people to him; and particularly to have his law given to them, his tabernacle and worship set up among them.

¹⁶ Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked. — Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart; here he teaches them the true and spiritual meaning of that rite; and be no more stiffnecked; froward, obstinate, and disobedient.

¹⁷ For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty and a fearsome, who regardeth not persons nor taketh reward. — regardeth not persons, whether Jews or Gentiles, but deals justly and equally with all sorts of men; and as whosoever fears and obeys him shall be accepted of him, so all incorrigible transgressors shall be severely punished, and you no less than other people;

¹⁸ He doth execute judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth stranger in giving him food and raiment. — he doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, who have none to help them, and whose patron and defender he is, and will do them justice himself, and take care that it is done them by others;

— or avenge their injuries, for he is a Father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widow; and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment; one that is in a foreign country, at a distance from his native land, and destitute of friends;

¹⁹ Love ye therefore the stranger, for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. — love ye therefore the stranger, because the Lord loves him; and another reason follows, particularly binding on the Israelites,for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt;

²⁰ Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; Him shalt thou serve, and to Him shalt thou cleave and swear by His name. — thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, which includes the worship of him, external and internal; him shalt thou serve; heartily and sincerely, according to his revealed will, and him only;

²¹ He is thy praise, and He is thy God, who hath done for thee these great and fearsome things which thine eyes have seen. — he is thy praise, the object and matter of it, who deserves the praises of all his creatures, because of his perfections, works, and blessings of goodness;

²² Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons, and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude. — thy fathers went down into Egypt with seventy persons, and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude; as he promised they should be, Genesis 15:5.

Posted in Books of Moses

Deuteronomy 7

¹ “When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee — the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou—

— the Hittites; this people were descended from Heth, the second son of Canaan; the Girgashites; supposed by some to be the same as the Gergesenes, who lay to the east of Lake Gennesareth; but they are placed on the west of Jordan;

— the Amorites, descended from the fourth son of Canaan. They occupied, besides their conquest on the Moabite territory, extensive settlements west of the Dead Sea, in the mountains; the Canaanites, located in Phœnicia, particularly about Tyre and Sidon, and being sprung from the oldest branch of the family of Canaan, bore his name;

— the Perizzites, that is, villagers, a tribe who were dispersed throughout the country and lived in unwalled towns; the Hivites, who dwelt about Ebal and Gerizim, extending towards Hermon. They are supposed to be the same as the Avims;

— the Jebusites, resided about Jerusalem and the adjacent country; seven nations greater and mightier than thou; ten were formerly mentioned (Ge 15:19-21); it could be three of them, the Kenites, and Kenizires, and the Rephaim; were either destroyed by foreign or domestic wars, or by marriage united with and swallowed up in some of the rest.

² and when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee, thou shalt smite them and utterly destroy them. Thou shalt make no covenant with them nor show mercy unto them. — nor show mercy unto them; by sparing their lives, bestowing any favours upon them, or giving them any help and assistance when in distress.

³ Neither shalt thou make marriages with them. Thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son;

— neither shalt thou make marriages with them; unless they became proselytes, as Rahab; or as Ruth the Moabitess, and so any captive taken in war; otherwise it was not lawful, to prevent being snared and drawn aside into idolatry, which was the case of Solomon;

⁴ for they will turn away thy son from following Me, that they may serve other gods. So will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you and destroy thee suddenly.

— so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly; by some immediate judgment striking dead at once; there being nothing more provoking to God than idolatry;

⁵ But thus shall ye deal with them: ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their graven images with fire. — and cut down their groves; sacred to idols, which were usually planted on hills, and about pagan temples, and under which idols were placed to be worshipped;

⁶ “For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God; the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. — the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth; for special service and worship, and to enjoy special privileges and benefits, civil and religious;

⁷ The Lord did not set His love upon you nor choose you because ye were more in number than any people, for ye were the fewest of all people; — ye were the fewest of all people; it may be observed that the development of the Moabites, Ammonites, Ishmaelites, and Edomites (all, like Israel, descended from Terah), was far more rapid than that of the chosen line;

— Abraham had twelve grandsons through Ishmael, but only the same number of great grandsons through Isaac and Jacob. Edom, Moab, and Ammon all preceded Israel in the conquest of territory. Kings reigned in Edom “before there reigned any king over the children of Israel” (Genesis 36:31);

— it was only “when the time of the promise drew nigh” that the Israelites grew and multiplied in Egypt; the Scripture is throughout consistent in representing their development as due to the special providence of God (Deuteronomy 10:22);

⁸ but because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

— and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers; the promise he had made, confirmed by an oath: hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand; out of the land of Egypt; and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen; where they were slaves to the Egyptians;

⁹ Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, who keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations,

— with them that love him, and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations; Exodus 20:6 which are not the causes or conditions of his covenant and mercy, nor of his keeping them, but descriptive of the persons that enjoy the benefit thereof;

¹⁰ and repayeth them that hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack to him that hateth Him; He will repay him to his face. — he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face; not defer the execution of his judgment and vengeance, which may seem to slumber and linger, but will quickly and openly bring it upon the sinner.

¹¹ Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments and the statutes and the judgments which I command thee this day, to do them. — which I command thee this day, to do them; Catholics and Protestants alike giving lip services in the name of the Lord; by virtue of which he made fake declaration of obedience to put them out of their mind in order to justify themselves.

¹² “Therefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments and keep and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which He swore unto thy fathers. — the observance of these commandments would also bring great blessings (Deuteronomy 7:12-16). “If ye hearken to these judgments and keep and do them”

¹³ And He will love thee and bless thee and multiply thee; He will also bless the fruit of thy womb and the fruit of thy land, thy corn and thy wine and thine oil, the increase of thy cattle and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which He swore unto thy fathers to give thee.

— and bless thee, and multiply thee; that is bless thee with a multiplication of offspring, which was what was often promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; that their seed should be as the stars of heaven, the dust of the earth, and the sand of the sea;

— the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep: their larger and lesser cattle, oxen and sheep: in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee; the Land of Promise, given in a promise, and that established by an oath.

¹⁴ Thou shalt be blessed above all people. There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your cattle. — there shall not be male or female barren among you; which to be was reckoned a reproach, and the contrary a blessing, Luke 1:25 Psalm 128:3.

¹⁵ And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee, but will lay them upon all those who hate thee. — the evil diseases of Egypt; such as the Egyptians were infected with, either commonly, or miraculously;

— it seems to refer not only to the plagues of Egypt, but to some other epidemic diseases, which they remembered to have prevailed among the Egyptians, and by which God had chastised them for their national sins;

— confirmed by the reports of many modern writers, who tell us that, notwithstanding its equal temperature and sereneness, that country has some indigenous maladies which are very malignant, noxious and nauseous, such as ophthalmia, dysentery, smallpox, and other plagues.

¹⁶ And thou shalt consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them; neither shalt thou serve their gods, for that will be a snare unto thee.

— and thou shall consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee; all the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, which the Lord should deliver into their hands; them they were not to spare, but utterly destroy men, women and children.

¹⁷ “If thou shalt say in thine heart, ‘These nations are more than I. How can I dispossess them?’ — if thou shall say in thine heart; should have secret thoughts arise in the heart, misgivings of heart, fears and doubts there, which, though not outwardly expressed, might be inwardly retained;

¹⁸ thou shalt not be afraid of them, but shalt well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh and unto all Egypt— but shall well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt; a people more numerous and potent than the Canaanites, among whom the Lord wrought such wonderful things by his power, which obliged them to let Israel go;

¹⁹ the great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm —whereby the Lord thy God brought thee out. So shall the Lord thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.

— and the mighty hand, and stretched out arm, whereby the Lord thy God brought thee out; that is, out of Egypt, which was an instance and proof of his almighty power:

— so shall the Lord thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid; not perform the same miraculous operations among them, but exert the same power in the destruction of them, and in dispossessing them of their land, as in destroying the Egyptians, and delivering Israel from among them.

²⁰ Moreover the Lord thy God will send the hornet among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from thee be destroyed. — until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed; such of the Canaanites who escaped the sword of the Israelites, and hid themselves in holes and caverns of the earth;

— these the hornets would find out and sting them to death, until they were all destroyed; thus God can make use of small creatures, even insects, to destroy nations the most populous and mighty.

²¹ Thou shalt not be frightened at them; for the Lord thy God is among you, a mighty God and fearsome. — for the Lord thy God is among you: in the tabernacle, in the Holy of Holies, which was in the midst of them, and besides would give proof of his powerful presence among them, in protecting them, and destroying their enemies;

²² And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee little by little; thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee. — thou mayest not consume them at once; though it was in the power of their hands to do it, there being some wise reasons for sparing them awhile, at least for not cutting them off all at once;

²³ But the Lord thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction until they be destroyed. — but the Lord thy God shall deliver them unto thee; gradually, by little and little, until at length they should all come into their hands: and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction until they be destroyed; even all of them;

²⁴ And He shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven. There shall no man be able to stand before thee until thou have destroyed them. — thou shall destroy their name from under heaven; not only destroy the name of the reigning kings;

— so as that they should not be remembered and made mention of any more, but put an end to the name and race of kings among them, so that they should never have any more, as they never had.

²⁵ The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire. Thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein; for it is an abomination to the Lord thy God. — an abomination to the Lord thy God; not only the idol itself, being put in the place of God, and so derogatory to his honour and glory;

— but the gold and silver on it, being devoted to a superstitious and idolatrous use; and even the taking of it, and appropriating it to a man’s own use, was an abomination, and resented by the Lord as such.

²⁶ Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it; but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it, for it is a cursed thing.

— and thou shalt utterly abhor it, for it is a cursed thing; devoted to destruction; and to have anything to do with it is the way to entail a curse, and bring to everlasting ruin and destruction;

— from MSG

So don’t be intimidated by them. God, your God, is among you—majestic God, awesome God. God, your God, will get rid of these nations, bit by bit. You won’t be permitted to wipe them out all at once lest the wild animals take over and overwhelm you.

But God, your God, will move them out of your way—he’ll throw them into a huge panic until there’s nothing left of them. He’ll turn their kings over to you and you’ll remove all trace of them under Heaven. Not one person will be able to stand up to you; you’ll put an end to them all. Deuteronomy 7:21-24

Deuteronomy 8

¹ “All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers.

— all the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do; this is repeated over and over again, to impress on their minds and to show the importance and necessity of it, how greatly it was expected from them, and how much it was incumbent on them;

— that ye may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers; for their temporal life, and the mercies and comforts of it, the multiplication of their offspring, and of their substance, their entrance into the land of Promise;

² And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep His commandments or not.

— to know what was in thine heart, that is, that thou mightest discover to thyself and others that infidelity, inconstancy, hypocrisy, apostacy, rebellion, and perverseness, which may lay hidden in thy heart;

³ And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know, that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.

— but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live; the Targum of Jonathan says, “but by all that is created by the Word of the Lord doth man live;”

⁴ Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell these forty years.

— thy raiment waxed not old upon thee; the common interpretation of these words is, that, by a miracle, their clothes did not so much as decay, nor their foot swell; or thy shoe did not wax old upon thy feet; that is, “You were not reduced, through poverty, to wear shoes till they were grown so old and torn that they could not defend your feet against tumours.

⁵ Thou shalt also consider in thine heart that as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee. — thou shalt also consider in thine heart; and meditate upon, revolve in your thoughts, well weigh in your minds, and take into thorough and deliberate consideration in your hearts;

— that as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee; that they stood in the same relation to God as a son to a father, and therefore happy and honourable; that all their afflictions came from God;

⁶ Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God to walk in His ways and to fear Him. — to walk in his ways, and to fear him; to walk in the ways he directed, to be under an awe of his majesty, a fear of offending him,

— unlike in the New Testament era, where most Potestant bigwigs thought you could chitchat with him and ignoring his laws, statutes and judgments, which the Lord repetitively and steadfastly commanded.

⁷ For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills,

— and this, an excerpt from “America the Beautiful”

“O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!”

⁸ a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates, a land of olive oil, and honey, — a land of plenty, in fact “overcapacity” with lots for export; see details in Agriculture in the United States

⁹ a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness. Thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. — thou shall not lack anything in it; for necessity and convenience, and for delight and pleasure;

— a land whose stones are iron; in which were iron mines; and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass; both which are taken out of the earth and the stones of it;

¹⁰ When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which He hath given thee. — for the good land which he hath given thee; which supplied them with such plenty, that they enjoyed full meals every day.

¹¹ “Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping His commandments and His judgments and His statutes which I command thee this day, — again, a constant reminder of keeping his commandments, statutes and judgments;

¹² lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses and dwelt therein, — lest when thou hast eaten and art full; not only once and again, but continually, day after day, being indulged with great plenty;

— and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; who for forty years had only dwelt in tents, moving from place to place in the wilderness.

¹³ and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied, — and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply; having good pasture for them in so fruitful a land: and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied; by trading with other nations;

¹⁴ then thine heart be lifted up and thou forget the Lord thy God, who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage,

— and thou forget the Lord thy God; from whom all good things come, and who can take them away when he pleases, and therefore should be ever kept in mind, in deep remembrance always; who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

¹⁵ who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions and drought, where there was no water, who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint, — and drought where there was no water; a dry and barren place where no water was to be had; or it may be rather another kind of serpents may be meant,

¹⁶ who fed thee in the wilderness with manna which thy fathers knew not, that He might humble thee and that He might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end; — that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee; they were kept humble, being dependent on God for their daily bread;

— having nothing in the wilderness to support themselves with; and this tried them, whether they would trust in God for their daily supply, and be thankful for it, or not;

— at thy latter end, that is, that after he hath purged and prepared thee by afflictions, he may give thee, and thou mayst receive and enjoy, his blessings with less disadvantage, whilst by the remembrance of former afflictions thou art made thankful for them, and more cautious not to abuse and forfeit them again.

¹⁷ and thou say in thine heart, ‘My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.’ — or thus Israel thought in his heart, my power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth; so ascribing that to themselves, their labour, and diligence, instead of ascribing the bounty and blessing of God; 

¹⁸ But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God; for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

— for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth; for though men may have seeming opportunities for getting wealth, may have capacities for the management of business for the acquisition of it; it is the blessing of God that makes rich, and to that it should be imputed whenever it is enjoyed;

¹⁹ And it shall be, if thou at all forget the Lord thy God and walk after other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. — a pure prophecy that if thou forget the Lord thy God, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish;

— by one judgment and calamity or another, as the sword, famine, pestilence, and captivity; there being nothing more provoking to God than idolatry, breaking his laws, commandments, the statutes and judgements;

²⁰ As the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish, because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God. — your nation will be in the same ruin and destruction that you are now going to execute upon the Canaanites for your national sins.

Posted in Books of Moses

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.

Posted in Books of Moses

“I am thy shield … Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the River Euphrates” Genesis 15

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Deuteronomy 3

¹ “Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan; and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. — Og was very powerful, but he did not take warning by the ruin of Sihon, the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and desire conditions of war instead of peace;

— Og the king of Bashan trusted his own strength, and so was hardened to his destruction; those not awakened by the judgements of God on others, ripen for the like judgements on themselves;

— the the king of Bashan, Og, and it people were not one of ten tribes destined to be wiped out; in Genesis 15; but they could be if they have not taken the warning from the destruction of Sihon, the Amorite, king of Heshbon;

— such stubbornness (of king of Bashan, Og, and it people) will be repeated by “Gog and Magog” of Ezekiel 38 and Ezekiel 39

² And the Lord said unto me, ‘Fear him not; for I will deliver him and all his people and his land into thy hand, and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.’ — and the Lord said unto me, Moses; when Og was marching with all his forces against Israel;

— after the defeat of king Sihon king of the Amorites and the conquest of his land, the Israelites were able to advance to the Jordan; and now, the land of Bashan; and Og the king of Bashan.

³ So the Lord our God delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people; and we smote him until none was left to him remaining. — they smote him at Edrei, the modern Dra, without leaving him even a remnant; and took all his towns;

⁴ And we took all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we took not from them: threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. — “sixty towns, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.” 

⁵ All these cities were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides unwalled towns a great many. — all these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; literally, double gates and a bar; that is, all the cities in the kingdom of Bashan;

⁶ And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children of every city. — utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city;

⁷ But all the cattle and the spoil of the cities we took for a prey to ourselves. — after the defeat of king Sihon and the conquest of his land, the Israelites were able to advance to the Jordan, and beyond.

⁸ And we took at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites the land that was on this side of the Jordan, from the River of Arnon unto Mount Hermon — prophecised earlier in Genesis 15 the Amorites were one of ten tribes to be wiped out;

“I am thy shield … Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the River Euphrates:

the Kenites and the Kenizzites and the Kadmonites,

and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Rephaim,

and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Girgashites and the Jebusites.” Genesis 15:1,18-21

⁹ (which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir),

¹⁰ all the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salchah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

¹¹ For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron. (Is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon?) Nine cubits was the length thereof and four cubits the breadth of it, according to the cubit of a man.

— only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; namely, in those parts; for there were other giants among the Philistines, and elsewhere;

— Jewish writings interprete “only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants” to mean they were the only survivor of the Refa’im tribe; the Nephilim, they survived the Flood, but how? a) he was spared by sitting on a wooden plank protruding from the ark;^a  b) while others say that due to his gigantic height, his head remained above the water.^b

— “nine cubits in length and four cubits in width” which is 13.5 by 6 feet (4.1 by 1.8 m) according to the standard cubit (18 inches) of a man wikipedia

¹² “And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the River Arnon, and half Mount Gilead and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites. — and half Mount Gilead, and the cities thereof: which were taken from Og king of Bashan, Deuteronomy 3:10

— and God gave it unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites; at their request, on certain conditions to be performed by them, afterwards repeated.

¹³ And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the halftribe of Manasseh: all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants. — after the cubit of a man; that is, after the usual and ordinary cubit, taking 18 inches to the cubit, the bedstead or sarcophagus would thus be from thirteen to fourteen feet long.

¹⁴ Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob unto the borders of Geshuri and Maachathi, and called them after his own name, Bashanhavothjair, unto this day.

¹⁵ And I gave Gilead unto Machir. — and I gave Gilead unto Machir, the son of Manasseh; not to him personally, who cannot be thought to have been living at this time, but to his posterity;

¹⁶ And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the River Arnon half the valley, and the border even unto the River Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon;

¹⁷ the plain also, and the Jordan and the border thereof, from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the plain, even the Salt Sea, under Pisgah eastward. — the Sea of Galilee received the name of Sea of Chinnereth: Numbers 34:11;  the Salt Sea is today the Dead Sea;

¹⁸ “And I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘The Lord your God hath given you this land to possess it. Ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all who are meet for the war. — all that are meet for the war; that is, the Reubenites and Gadites should pass over Jordan with the rest of the tribes, being armed to assist them in the conquest of Canaan;

¹⁹ But your wives and your little ones and your cattle (for I know that ye have much cattle) shall abide in your cities which I have given you, — the wives and their little ones and the cattle of Reubenites and Gadites to remain behind;

²⁰ until the Lord shall have given rest unto your brethren as well as unto you, and until they also possess the land which the Lord your God hath given them beyond the Jordan; and then shall ye return every man unto his possession which I have given you.’ — until the Lord have given rest unto your brethren, as well as unto you; rest from their enemies, and habitations to dwell quietly in; so the land of Canaan is called a rest;

²¹ And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, ‘Thine eyes have seen all that the Lord your God hath done unto these two kings; so shall the Lord do unto all the kingdoms whither thou passest. — saying, thine eyes have seen all that the Lord your God hath done unto these two kings; Sihon and Og; how their kingdoms were taken from them, and given to Israel, and they slain with the sword;

²² Ye shall not fear them, for the Lord your God He shall fight for you.’ — for the Lord your God he shall fight for you; as he did, particularly at Jericho, the walls of which city fell at the sound of rams’ horns;

— and at Gibeon, when he cast down hailstones on their enemies, and more were slain by them than with the sword; and in all their battles it was he that gave them success and victory;

²³ “And I besought the Lord at that time, saying,

²⁴ ‘O Lord God, Thou hast begun to show Thy servant Thy greatness and Thy mighty hand; for what God is there in heaven or in earth who can do according to Thy works and according to Thy might?

²⁵ I pray Thee, let me go over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.’ — Let me go over; for he supposed God’s threat might be conditional and reversible, as many others were;

²⁶ But the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me. And the Lord said unto me: ‘Let it suffice thee: speak no more unto Me of this matter. — and would not hear me; now, and grant the above request, having before declared that he and Aaron should not bring the people of Israel into the land he had given them;

— speak no more unto me of this matter; decided it would be in vain, and to no purpose, to solicit such a favour, since it would never be granted;

²⁷ Get thee up onto the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes; for thou shalt not go over this Jordan. — for thou shall not go over this Jordan; into the land of Canaan;

— this affair, of not being suffered to enter there, Moses frequently takes notice of, no less than four or five times, it being what lay near his heart.

²⁸ But charge Joshua, and encourage him and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.’ — he shall go over; it was not Moses, but Joshua, a type of Christ, that was to cross the Jordan and to give the people rest;

²⁹ So we abode in the valley over against Bethpeor. — so we abode in the valley over against Bethpeor; Moses’ burial-place, as appears by Deuteronomy 34:6 “And the Lord buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.”

Deuteronomy 4

¹ “Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments which I teach you to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you.

— hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you; by statutes were meant all ordinances respecting religion and the rites of divine worship; and by judgments, and enactments to all matters.

² Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. — Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you; make new laws of their own, and join them to the law of God, and set them upon a level with it, or prefer them before it; as the Scribes and Pharisees did in Christ’s time;

— nor abrogate nor detract from the law of God, nor make void any part of it; neither do that which is forbidden, nor neglect that which is commanded; neither be guilty of sins of omission nor commission;

— that the Law was tampered with in Josiah’s day is implied in Jeremiah 8:8, the false pen of the scribes has wrought falsehood.

³ Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baalpeor; for all the men who followed Baalpeor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you. — your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baalpeor;

— because of the idolatry the people of Israel fell into by worshipping that idol, being drawn into it by the daughters of Moab and Midian, through the counsel of Balaam, with whom they committed fornication; which led them to the other sin, and both highly provoking to God.

⁴ But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day. — but ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God; to the worship of the Lord your God, as the Targum of Jonathan says;

— attended the service of the sanctuary, were observant of the laws of God, and walked in his statutes and judgements; did not apostatize from him by idolatry or otherwise, but kept close unto him;

⁵ Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.

— Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, Moses; and he had faithfully delivered them, without adding them, or diminishing from them, and had diligently instructed the Israelites in them, had taken pains to lead them into a thorough knowledge and understanding them;

⁶ Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations who shall hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ — which hear all these statutes; which they had a report, got knowledge of by some of the philosophers who travelled into those parts, and by the translation of the Bible into other languages;

— and say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people; that had such a body of laws, in which they were instructed, and according to which they were governed, and in which they walked; that were sensible to reason, truth, justice, and equity; insomuch that so far as they became known they were admired and copied after, by all peoples; and hence it was that the oracle declared;

⁷ For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him for? — for this mighty and attractive force of the wisdom of Israel consisted in the fact, that in Yehovah they have a God who was at hand with his help when they called upon him;

⁸ And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day? — what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous? these words are directing our attention to the laws and statutes “of Moses,” but actually laws and statutes of God already given at Mount Sinai.

⁹ “Only take heed to thyself and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but teach them to thy sons and thy sons’ sons, — and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; out of thy mind and memory, and have no place in thy affections, through a neglect and disuse of them;

— but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; their children and grandchildren, that they may be trained up in them in their youth, and so not depart from them when grown up, and in years; Deuteronomy 6:7.

¹⁰ especially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, ‘Gather Me the people together, and I will make them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.’ — in Horeb; these words confirms these laws and statutes “of Moses,” were actually laws and statutes of God given at Mount Sinai, verse 8 above.

¹¹ And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. — and the mountain burnt with fire unto the midst of heaven; the flame and smoke went up into the middle of the air;

— with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness; which thick darkness was occasioned partly by the smoke, which went up like the smoke of a furnace, and partly by the thick clouds, which were on the mount, and covered the face of the heavens;

¹² And the Lord spoke unto you out of the midst of the fire. Ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. — and the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire; for the Lord descended on Mount Sinai in a cloud, in fire, and was in the thick darkness, from whence he delivered out the his laws and statutes;

¹³ And He declared unto you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even Ten Commandments; and He wrote them upon two tablets of stone. — which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments; which is in Exodus 20:1, and in this book repeated, Deuteronomy 5:6; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone;

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

¹⁴ And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. — that ye may do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it; the land of Canaan, which was on the other side of Jordan, and over which they must go in order to possess it;

¹⁵ “Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves (for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spoke unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire), — take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves, as to keep all the laws given them, so particularly to avoid idolatry;

¹⁶ lest ye corrupt yourselves and make you a graven image: the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, — the likeness of male or female; of a man or a woman; so some of the heathen deities were in the likeness of men, as Jupiter, Mars, Hercules, Apollo, and others in the likeness of women, as Juno, Diana, Venus;

¹⁷ the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, — the heathen nations did represent and worship God, some by an ox, some by a goat, or a hen, or a serpent, or a fish;

¹⁸ the likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth; — the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth; as the crocodile and hippopotamus, or river horse, by the Egyptians; and Dagon among the Phoenicians;

¹⁹ and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath imparted unto all nations under the whole heaven. — nor the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them;

²⁰ But the Lord hath taken you and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto Him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day. — the furnace wherein iron and other metals are melted, to which Egypt is fitly compared, which they there endured, but also because they were thoroughly tried and purged thereby, as metals are by the fire.

²¹ Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. — which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance; to them and to their children after them.

²² But I must die in this land, I must not go over the Jordan; but ye shall go over and possess that good land. — I must not go over Jordan; this he repeats, as lying near his heart; he had earnestly solicited to go over, but was denied it.

²³ Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make yourselves a graven image or the likeness of any thing which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee. — lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God; lest you either disregard the knowledge of God’s law, or wilfully disobey it;

²⁴ For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. — a consuming fire; when God spoke to Israel at Sinai, his glory appeared “like devouring (consuming) fire on the top of the mount” (Exodus 24:17); and in allusion to this Moses here calls God “a consuming fire.”

— for the Lord thy God is a consuming fire; to his enemies; his wrath is like fire to burn up and destroy all that oppose him and break his commands, and especially idolaters; whose sin of all others is the most provoking to him, since it strikes at his being, his honour and glory;

— even a jealous God; who is jealous of his honour in matters of worship, and will not suffer his glory to be given to another, nor his praise to graven images, without resenting it or punishing for it.

²⁵ “When thou shalt beget children and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God to provoke Him to anger, — and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger; that sin of breaking his laws, statutes and judgements, that God provoking sin, is chiefly intended.

²⁶ I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over the Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. — that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto you go over Jordan to possess it; though they were now about to go over Jordan and inherit the land of Canaan;

— yet they would not enjoy it long, but be taken and carried captive out of it; as the ten tribes were by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, and the two tribes by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and both for breaking his laws, statutes and judgements, their idolatry and other crimes.

²⁷ And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen whither the Lord shall lead you. — and ye shall be left few in number among the nations, whither the Lord shall lead you;

— or so few that they might be easily numbered; that it should be better when in Egypt; there they were multiplied and increased the more they were afflicted, but in these new captivities they should be greatly diminished.

²⁸ And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. — their people, kings and priests, serving other gods:

— a) and the house of Israel is indulging in idolatry; worshipping Easter, which is another form of worshipping Astarte, one of the titles of the Chaldean goddess, the queen of heaven, the ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, fertility and sex. She is featured in the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the “Ishtar Gate” was part of Babylon;

— b) and Mithra or Mitra (the Sun-God whose birthday drunkards honor and celebrate on December 25th which they christianised as Christmas), Zeus and others; called “gods of the earth” in distinction from the god of heaven; and men shall worship these earthly gods, acknowledging their supremacy, Protestants or Catholics alike;

— and those who persist in their blindness will be more than horsewhipped! They would suffer Judgement by the sword, by famine, by pestilence and spending years in captivity to reflect and repent there (for more see Ezekiel 4 – 190/40 Years and A Sword from the South!)

²⁹ But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. — if they seek him with all their heart and with all their soul; keeping his laws, statutes and judgements, sincerely and affectionately; —

³⁰ When thou art in tribulation and all these things have come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God and shalt be obedient unto His voice — this is a prophecy then in general; and in succeeding ages and generations, and “in the latter days”

³¹ (for the Lord thy God is a merciful God), He will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which He swore unto them.

— he will not forsake thee; though in a strange country, but bring them from thence into their own land again, and favour them with his gracious presence in his house and ordinances; for more, see Another “Out of Egypt” Exodus;

³² “For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? — and ask from the one side of heaven to the other; traverse the whole globe, and examine the records of every nation in it in both hemispheres:

— whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? whether they can give any account of anything seen, heard, or done like what follows; suggesting that they cannot furnish out an instance to be mentioned with it.

³³ Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? — did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of fire; none ever heard the voice of God as they did, much less speaking such words as they heard, and still less out of the midst of fire;

— as thou hast heard, and live? which was stranger still, when they might have expected they should, and doubtless feared they would be, as it was wonderful they were not, consumed by it.

³⁴ Or hath God deigned to go and take Him a nation from the midst of another nation by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

— and by great terrors; which the same writer interprets of the drowning of Pharaoh and his host in the sea, and dividing it for Israel; but may be understood not only of the terrors which possessed him and his people then, but at other times, especially at the time of the thunder and lightning, and when they sat in thick darkness, and particularly when all their firstborn were slain; see Deuteronomy 26:8,

— according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes; among the men of Egypt, as the above writer, Pharaoh and his courtiers: the above things were done as before them for their terror, so before Israel for their encouragement.

³⁵ Unto thee it was shown, that thou mightest know that the Lord He is God: there is none else besides Him. — that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God, there is none else besides him; that he is the one only living and true God, and there is no other;

³⁶ Out of heaven He made thee to hear His voice, that He might instruct thee; and upon earth He showed thee His great fire, and thou heardest His words out of the midst of the fire. — those who call upon God, shall certainly find him within call, ready to give an answer to every prayer; all these statutes and judgements are just and righteous, above the statutes and judgments of any of the nations.

³⁷ And because He loved thy fathers, therefore He chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in His sight with His mighty power out of Egypt — and because he loved thy fathers; not their immediate fathers, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness, and entered not into the good land because of their unbelief, but their more remote fathers or ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob;

³⁸ to drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.

— to drive out nations from before thee, greater and mightier than thou art; the seven nations of the land of Canaan, which were more in number and mightier in power and strength than they, and particularly the Amorites, who were already driven out and dispossessed of their country, even the kingdoms and nations of Sihon and Og;

³⁹ Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord He is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath: there is none else. — in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath; that he has made both, and is the possessor and Lord of them, and does what he pleases with them;

⁴⁰ Thou shalt keep therefore His statutes and His commandments which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever.”

— thou shall keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments; all his laws, ceremonial and judicial, partly being under obligation to him for all the great and good things done by him for them before enumerated, and partly and chiefly because he is the Lord God in heaven and in earth, and has a right to command and ought to be obeyed;

⁴¹ Then Moses set apart three cities on this side of the Jordan toward the sunrising,— Moses set apart three cities east of Jordan as asylums who unwittingly and without previous hatred had slain their fellows

⁴² that the slayer might flee thither who should kill his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in times past, and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live, — which should kill his neighbour unawares; by accident to him, without any design and intention to kill him; ignorantly,

⁴³ namely: Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country of the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead of the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan of the Manassites.

⁴⁴ And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel.

⁴⁵ These are the testimonies and the statutes and the judgements which Moses spoke unto the children of Israel after they came forth out of Egypt, — the law, testimonies, statutes and judgements; all to be observed; this is a preface to the rehearsal of the law,

⁴⁶ on this side of the Jordan in the valley opposite Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote after they had come forth out of Egypt. — on this side Jordan, in the valley, over against Bethpeor, where the Israelites abode some time; Deuteronomy 3:29,

⁴⁷ And they possessed his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, who were on this side of the Jordan toward the sunrising, — the land of Og king of Bashan; seized upon and took them as their own, and divided them for an inheritance among two and half tribes;

— two kings of the Amorites; which is more than once mentioned, that it might be taken notice of that these were of the nations of the Canaanites Israel were to root out, and possess their land;

⁴⁸ from Aroer, which is by the bank of the River Arnon, even unto Mount Sion, which is Hermon,

⁴⁹ and all the plain on this side of the Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah. — and all the plain on this side Jordan eastward; the plains of Moab, on that side of Jordan to the east: even unto the sea of the plain; the sea of Sodom, the salt sea: under the springs of Pisgah.

Posted in Books of Moses

“I am thy shield … Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the River Euphrates” Genesis 15

Deuteronomy 1

¹ These are the words which Moses spoke unto all Israel on this side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain opposite the Red Sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab.

— these be the words which Moses spoke unto all Israel, which is in great contrast to the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, where it was usual to read “And the Lord spoke unto Moses” and “And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the Lord,”

— on this side of the Jordan; before the passage of the Israelites over it to the land of Canaan; for Moses never went in thither; when in the land of Canaan was known as “beyond Jordan”

² (There are eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir unto Kadeshbarnea.) — Mount Seir, or Mount Edom, that is, the mountainous country of Seir, which was first possessed by the Horims, and afterwards by the Edomites, Deuternonmy 2:12.

³ And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke unto the children of Israel according unto all that the Lord had given him in commandment unto them, — And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month; the “And” seems like the real beginning of Deuteronomy, and it connects the previous books.

⁴ after he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who dwelt at Ashtaroth in Edrei. — after he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon; either Moses, speaking of himself in the third person, or rather the Lord, to whom Moses ascribes the victory; of this king, and his palace, and the slaughter of him, Numbers 21:24,

⁵ On this side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying, — on this side of the Jordan; before the Israelites over it to the land of Canaan; began Moses to declare this law: to explain it, make it clear the whole system and body of laws, which had been before given him;

⁶ “The Lord our God spoke unto us in Horeb, saying: ’Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount. — the Lord our God spoke unto us in Horeb; the same with Sinai; while the Israelites lay encamped near this mountain, the Lord spoke unto them.

⁷ Turn you and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills and in the vale, and in the South and by the seaside, to the land of the Canaanites and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the River Euphrates. — and go to the mount of the Amorites; where they and the Amalekites dwelt, in the south part of the land of Canaan, and which was the way the spies were sent, Numbers 13:17,

— and unto all the places nigh thereunto; nigh to the mountain; the Targum of Jonathan interprets them of Moab, Ammon, Gebal, or Mount Seir: “in the plains, in the mountain and valley” such was the country near this mountain, consisting of champaign land, hills, and valleys;

— and by the sea side: the Mediterranean sea, the western border of the land, explains of Ashkelon, Gaza, and Caesarea, into the land of the Canaanites; which was then possessed by them, the boundaries of which to the south and west are before given, and next follow those to the north and east;

— the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon; the Canaanites held the plain of Esdraelon and the fortresses in the north. From Lebanon, the conquest would extend ultimately to the north-east, even to the great river, the river Euphrates, Genesis 15:18

⁸ Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.’ — go in and possess the land, which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and their seed after them: they had nothing more to do than to go and take possession of it.

⁹ “And I spoke unto you at that time, saying, ‘I am not able to bear you myself alone. — saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone; to rule and govern them, judge and determine matters between them;

— Jethro had suggested this to Moses, and he took the hint, and was conscious to himself that it was too much for him, and so declared it to the people, though it is not before recorded; Exodus 18:18.

¹⁰ The Lord your God hath multiplied you, and behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. — ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude; the Israelites already far exceeded that multitude, being at the last census above six hundred thousand men fit for war, besides women and children, and those under age, which must make the number of them very large;

¹¹ (The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you as He hath promised you!) — and bless you, as he hath promised you: with all kind of blessings, as he had often promised their fathers.

¹² How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance and your burden and your strife? — Your cumbrance; the original word is found only here and in Isaiah 1:14 “They are a trouble unto me, I am weary to bear them.”

¹³ Take you wise men of understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.’ — take ye wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes; not only whose persons were well known, but their characters and qualifications, for their probity and integrity, for their wisdom and prudence in the management of affairs;

— and I, Moses, will make them rulers over you; the people were allowed to choose their own officers, whom they were to bring them before me, to be invested with their office.

¹⁴ And ye answered me and said, ‘The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do.’ — the thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do; this they saw was for their own good and profit, as well as for the ease of Moses, and therefore readily agreed to it.

¹⁵ So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. — so Moses took the chief of their tribes, wise men and known, and made them heads over them;

¹⁶ And I charged your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother and the stranger who is with him. — and Moses gave charge and made them judges and rulers over them, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds;

¹⁷ Ye shall not respect persons in judgment, but ye shall hear the small as well as the great. Ye shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God’s. And the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me and I will hear it.’

— for the judgment is God’s; the Sanhedrin, judges stand in the place of God, are put into their office by him, and act under him, and for him, and are accountable to him; and therefore should be careful what judgment they make, or sentence they pass, lest they bring discredit to him, and destruction on themselves;

— there are two passages where the word Elohim is substituted for judges, indicating “judges” are acting on behalf or in the capacity of “God” as in (1)

Exodus 21:6 “then his master shall bring him unto the judges (Elohim). He shall also bring him to the door or unto the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him for ever.”

— and (2)

Exodus 22:8-9 “If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges (Elohim) to see whether he has put his hand unto his neighbor’s goods. “For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges (Elohim); and whom the judges (Elohim) shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbor.”

¹⁸ And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do. — “At that time,” that is, after your departure from Horeb; at Mount Sinai;

¹⁹ “And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea.

²⁰ And I said unto you, ‘Ye have come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the Lord our God doth give unto us. — which the Lord our God doth give unto us; not the mountain only, but the whole country of that people, and even all the land of Canaan.

²¹ Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee. Go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.’ — “I am thy shield!” (Genesis 15) “Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the River Euphrates;”

²² “And ye came near unto me, every one of you, and said, ‘We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land and bring us word again by what way we must go up and into what cities we shall come.’ — and ye came near unto me everyone of you; not every individual of them, but the heads of their tribes, that represented them;

— behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee; the land of Canaan, go up; the mountain, by that way of it which was the way the spies went, and they not complying with the call of God;

²³ And the saying pleased me well; and I took twelve men of you, one from a tribe. — and I took twelve men of you out of a tribe; whose names are given in Numbers 13:4.

²⁴ And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the Valley of Eshcol and searched it out. — and they turned and went up into the mountain; as were ordered and directed by Moses, Numbers 13:17.

²⁵ And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, ‘It is a good land which the Lord our God doth give us.’ — It is a good land; in Numbers 13:27 they all say, “Surely it floweth with milk and honey, and this is the fruit of it.” In Numbers 14:7 Joshua and Caleb describe it as an “exceeding good land.”

²⁶ “Notwithstanding, ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God; — Israel defied the command to go up (Deuteronomy 1:26),

— murmuring that God had brought them from Egypt, to be destroyed by the Amorite (Deuteronomy 1:27). quoting the spies that the people of the land were taller with fenced cities, and the ‘Anakim were there (Deuteronomy 1:28).

²⁷ and ye murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord hated us, He hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. — because the Lord hated us; a most astounding commentary on the events of the Exodus up to that date. It is a stronger expression than any recorded, even in Numbers 14:3.

²⁸ Whither shall we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven, and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”’ — and, moreover, we have seen the sons of the Anakims there; the giants so called from Anak, the son of Arba, the father of them; their names are given, Numbers 13:22.

²⁹ Then I said unto you, ‘Dread not, neither be afraid of them. — the attempt made by Moses to inspire the despondent people with courage;

³⁰ The Lord your God who goeth before you, He shall fight for you according to all that He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, — again, reminded of “I am thy shield! Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the River Euphrates” Genesis 15;

³¹ and in the wilderness where thou hast seen how the Lord thy God bore thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went until ye came into this place.’

³² Yet in this thing ye did not believe the Lord your God, — yet in this thing ye did not believe the Lord your God; that they might go up and possess the land at once, and that God would fight for them,

³³ who went in the way before you to search you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night to show you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day. — in fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go; which otherwise they could not have found in dark nights, in which they sometimes travelled, and in, a wilderness where there were no tracks, no beaten path, no common way;

— and in a cloud by day; to shelter them from the scorching sun, where there were no trees nor hedges to shade them, only rocky crags and hills.

³⁴ “And the Lord heard the voice of your words and was wroth, and swore, saying,

³⁵ ‘Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land which I swore to give unto your fathers,

³⁶ save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the Lord.’ — save Caleb; Caleb is here placed as the one exception; Joshua, as Moses’ substitute, the exception among the recognised leaders, is named separately.

³⁷ Also the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, saying, ‘Thou also shalt not go in thither. — also the Lord was angry with me for your sakes; indicating that Moses was condemned to share the fate of the people;

³⁸ But Joshua the son of Nun, who standeth before thee, he shall go in thither. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. — encourage him; with the promise of the divine Presence with him, and of success in subduing the Canaanites, and settling the people of Israel in their land; and so we read that Moses did encourage him, Deuteronomy 31:7.

³⁹ Moreover your little ones, who ye said should be a prey, and your children, who in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither; and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it. — and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil; not being at years of understanding;

⁴⁰ But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.’ — but as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way (in the direction) of the Red Sea; in Numbers 14:32 the parallel sentence is, “As for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.”

⁴¹ “Then ye answered and said unto me, ‘We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight, according to all that the Lord our God commanded us.’ And when ye had girded on every man his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up onto the hill. — and when ye had girded on every man his weapon; his sword upon his thigh; a large number of them, for all of them were not so disposed, though many were;

⁴² And the Lord said unto me, ‘Say unto them: Go not up, neither fight, for I am not among you, lest ye be smitten before your enemies.’ — say unto them, go not up, neither fight; neither go up the hill, and if they did, contrary to this order, lest ye be smitten before your enemies; for I am not among you;

⁴³ So I spoke unto you, and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, and went presumptuously up onto the hill. — So I spoke unto you; these words, the orders Moses received from the Lord to deliver to them;

⁴⁴ And the Amorites, who dwelt in that mountain, came out against you and chased you as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah. — as bees do; this should be observed as illustrating what is said of the hornet in Exodus 23:28-30, Deuteronomy 7:20; and in Joshua 24:12

— the Amorites; “came out against you and chased you as bees do” was also one of the ten tribes prophecised to be wiped out in Genesis 15;

⁴⁵ And ye returned and wept before the Lord; but the Lord would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you. — the Amorites; perhaps in addition to the “the Amalekites and the Canaanites” in Numbers 14:45, who are said to have overwhelmed them.

⁴⁶ So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there. — so they abode in Kadesh many, even close to forty years.

Deuteronomy 2

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¹ “Then we turned and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea, as the Lord spoke unto me; and we compassed Mount Seir many days.

— and we compassed Mount Seir many days; many think by Mount Seir is meant the whole mountainous country of Edom, about which they travelled to and fro in the wilderness that lay near it for the space of thirty eight years, which they suppose are meant by many days;that is, until near the close of the thirty-ninth year of the Exodus.

² And the Lord spoke unto me, saying,

³ ‘Ye have compassed this mountain long enough; turn you northward. — it was from this encampment at Mount Seir that Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom asking permission to pass through his territory.

⁴ And command thou the people, saying, “Ye are to pass through the border of your brethren the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you. Take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore.

— saying, ye are to pass through the border of your brethren the children or Esau: not through the midst of their country, for that the king of Edom would not admit of, but by or along its eastern frontier;

⁵ Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth, because I have given Mount Seir unto Esau for a possession. — meddle not with them; that is, those “which dwell in Seir” verse 4 above;

— for there was another branch of Esau’s posterity, namely, the Amalekites, who were to be fought against and be destroyed (Genesis 36:12; Exodus 17:14; Deuteronomy 25:17); but the people of Edom were not to be injured, either in persons or their property;

— but the posterity of Esau or the Edomites later moved to Spain, and many then spread over to Mexico and South America where they are today; for more, see:

For more about the South, a prophecy of Esau or Edom, see Obadiah

For more on the enemy from the South, see A Sword from the South!

For more into another Captivity: see Ezekiel Timeline – 190/40 Years

⁶ Ye shall buy meat from them with money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water from them with money, that ye may drink. — that is, if they would; for they had manna daily;

— yet if they would they might buy other food when they had an opportunity, as they would now have of Edom; but then they were not to take it by force or stealth, but pay for it, which they were able to do.

⁷ For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand. He knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.”’

— these forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee: not only to protect and defend them, but to provide all things necessary for them; thou hast lacked nothing: and since they had wherewith to pay for their food and drink, they are directed to do it, and not take anything from the Edomites in an unjust way;

⁸ And when we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, through the way of the plain from Elath and from Eziongaber, we turned and passed by the way of the Wilderness of Moab.

— from Elath and Eziongeber; the two ports on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom; it was from the latter they came to Kadesh; Numbers 33:35. Elath was ten miles from Petra, the metropolis of Edom, to the east of it;

⁹ “And the Lord said unto me, ‘Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle; for I will not give thee of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession.’ — because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession; so the Moabites were, they sprung from Moab, a son of Lot by his firstborn daughter, Genesis 19:37.

¹⁰ (The Emim dwelt therein in times past, a people great and many and tall as the Anakim, — a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; who were very numerous, of a very bulky size of body, and of high stature, like the giants the spies had seen at Hebron, the sons of Anak, a noted giant there, Numbers 13:22;

¹¹ who also were accounted giants, as the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim. — their territory comprised principally the fine country on the south; who were troglodytes, or dwellers in caves; and among rocks;

¹² The Horim also dwelt in Seir aforetime, but the children of Esau succeeded them when they had destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead, as Israel did unto the land of his possession which the Lord gave unto them.)

— but the children of Esau succeeded them; Esau and his sons marrying among them, made way for getting the country into their possession, as appears from Genesis 36:2 and in which they afterwards settled themselves by the dint of the sword;

— when they had destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; even in Seir where they had dwelt, afterwards called Edom, from one of the names of Esau, Genesis 36:8

— as Israel did in the land of his possession, which the Lord gave unto them; because this is said before the Canaanites were drove out of their land, and it was possessed by the Israelites;

— and the above instances by the children of Esau as well as this may be observed, to encourage the people of Israel that they should succeed in dispossessing the Canaanites, and settling in their land, in like manner as the Edomites did, taking dispossessions of this kind had already been shown before.

¹³ ‘Now rise up,’ said I, ‘and get you over the Brook Zered.’ And we went over the Brook Zered. — over the brook Zered; it is called the valley of Zered, Numbers 21:12, the word used signifying both a valley and a brook; and it is very probable there were both a valley and a brook of the same name;

¹⁴ And the space in which we came from Kadeshbarnea until we had come over the Brook Zered was thirty and eight years, until all the generation of the men of war were wasted from among the host, as the Lord swore unto them. — until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host; all that were twenty years old and upwards, had died; excepting two, Caleb and Joshua;

¹⁵ For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them to destroy them from among the host until they were consumed.

¹⁶ “So it came to pass, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people,

¹⁷ that the Lord spoke unto me, saying,

¹⁸ ‘Thou art to pass over through Ar, the border of Moab, this day. — thou art to pass over through Ar; that is, over the river Arnon, by the city Ar of Moab, which was situated by it; Deuteronomy 2:9 and so Moses and the people of Israel were to pass along the territory of Moab;

¹⁹ And when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not nor meddle with them; for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession, because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession.’ — most experts identify the children of Ammon of Lot by his second daughter, as Jordan;

²⁰ (That also was accounted a land of giants. Giants dwelt therein in olden times; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, — before the Ammonites, the land was occupied by a gigantic race, called by them, Zamzummim;

²¹ a people great and many and tall, as the Anakim. But the Lord destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them and dwelt in their stead,

— the Lord destroyed them before them; it is noticeable that the conquest of Canaan is here brought with the conquests of gigantic races accomplished by Edom, Moab, and Ammon, children related to Abraham; and if they been able to dispossess these gigantic races, how much more would Israel be able to dispossess the Canaanites under the personal guidance of God?

²² as He did to the children of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, when He destroyed the Horim from before them; and they succeeded them and dwelt in their stead even unto this day. — the Moabites, Edomites, and Ammonites; they drove the giants out; these are recorded to encourage the children of Israel to take possession of the land of Canaan;

²³ And the Avim who dwelt in Hazerim, even unto Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them and dwelt in their stead.) — and the Avims which dwelt in Hazerim; this is another instance of God’s disposal of countries unto what people he pleases;

— by producing these instances of God’s displacing one people, and settling another in their stead, Moses designed to strengthen the faith of the Israelites in the divine promise of giving them the victory over all their enemies, and settling them in the land of Canaan;

— and dwelt in their stead; though it seems as if they were not utterly destroyed, but some escaped into Assyria, and settled there, where was a place called Ava from them; and from whence they were sent by the king of Assyria to repopulate the cities of Samaria, after the captivity of the ten tribes;

²⁴ ‘Rise ye up, take your journey and pass over the River Arnon. Behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. — behold, I have given into thy hand Sihon, the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; that is, he had determined to give it to the Israelites;

²⁵ This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble and be in anguish because of thee.’ — the fear of thee; compare to Exodus 15:15-16 : “All the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away, fear and dread shall fall upon them.”

²⁶ “And I sent messengers out of the Wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,

²⁷ ‘Let me pass through thy land. I will go along by the high way; I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left.

²⁸ Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink. I will pass through only on my feet, — given that Moses sent messengers to king Sihon with words of peace (Deuteronomy 2:26; cf Numbers 21:21), this was done to show the king of the Amorites that it was through his own fault that his kingdom and lands and life were lost.

²⁹ as the children of Esau who dwell in Seir and the Moabites who dwell in Ar did unto me, until I shall pass over the Jordan into the land which the Lord our God giveth us.’ — as the children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites which dwell in Ar, did unto me; which respects, not the affair of passing through their land requested, for neither of them granted that

— but buying food and drink; for though the Edomites at first seem not to have granted that, yet afterwards they did. The mountain of Seir, and the city Ar, are put for the whole countries of Edom and Moab;

— until I shall pass over Jordan into the land which the Lord our God giveth us; this is observed to remove any suspicion or jealousy of their seizing his country, and taking possession of it, and dwelling in it; since they only proposed to pass through it on their journey to the land of Canaan;

³⁰ But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the Lord thy God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day. — but Sihon king of Heshbon, the chief city of the Amorite king, would not let us pass by him;

— for the Lord had hardened his spirit, Sihon king of Heshbon, of the Amorites, and made his heart obstinate; as he did Pharaoh’s, for whom he will he hardens; whose land and cities were eventually given to the children of Reuben and unto half the tribe of Manasseh Numbers 32:33;

— the Amorites were one of ten tribes to be wiped out; prophecised earlier in Genesis 15

“I am thy shield … Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the River Euphrates:

the Kenites and the Kenizzites and the Kadmonites,

and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Rephaim,

and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Girgashites and the Jebusites.” Genesis 15

³¹ And the Lord said unto me, ‘Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land.’ — behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee; by hardening his heart, which was a sure token of his ruin, and a leading step to the delivery of him into the hands of Israel: the children of Reuben and unto half the tribe of Manasseh;

³² Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz. — the wicked Sihon initiated hostilities by coming out with all his host to fight against Moses and the Israelites;

³³ And the Lord our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons and all his people. — and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones; and we smote him and his sons, and all his people; with the edge of the sword; slew them all: we left none to remain;

— the war was one of extermination, in which all the people of Sihon, the Amorites, were destroyed, from one cad of his dominion to the other; all his cities were devoted irredeemably; only the cattle and the material property were preserved as booty by the conquerors.

³⁴ And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men and the women and the little ones of every city; we left none to remain. — the Amorites be utterly destroyed; by God’s command, these being a part of those people who were devoted by the Lord of life and death even the “women and the little ones” to utter destruction for their abominable wickedness.

³⁵ Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took. — the east of the Jordan, the whole of the fine country lying between the Arnon and the Jabbok including the mountainous tract of Gilead, had earlier been seized by the Amorites, who, being one of the nations doomed to destruction, were utterly exterminated;

³⁶ From Aroer, which is by the brink of the River of Arnon, and from the city that is by the river, even unto Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us; the Lord our God delivered all unto us. — there was not one city too strong for us; that could hold out against them, when attacked and besieged by them, but presently surrendered;

— the Lord our God delivered all unto us; Moses ascribes all the victories and success they had unto the Lord, not to their own might and power, but to the power of God with them, and his blessing on them.

³⁷ Only unto the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not, nor unto any place of the River Jabbok, nor unto the cities in the mountains, nor unto whatsoever the Lord our God forbade us.

— only unto the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not; which God allowed to be in their possession; nor unto whatsoever the Lord our God forbad us: whether in Edom, Moab, or Ammon, particularly the latter, of which he is more especially and peculiarly speaking.

Posted in Books of Moses