by an Oath being faithfully fulfilled he justly claimed their Fidelity to him upon that account Which is the reason it is so often mentioned VI. 10. VIII 1. IX 5. X. 11. XI 9 21. XIX 8. CHAP. XXXI Verse 1. AND Moses went and spake these words Verse 1 unto all Israel By this it seems plain to me that after Moses had renewed the Covenant with the People mentioned in the foregoing Chapter he dismissed them and retired to his own Tent. But not long after gave them a new Summons as he had done XXIX 2. and went again to take his leave of them The LXX indeed seem to take the first words as if the meaning was that he went on with his Discourse For thus they render them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He finished speaking all these words For which I see no warrant nor is it likely he could speak all that here follows at the same time Ver. 2. And he said unto them I am an hundred and Verse 2 twenty years old this day This shows these words were spoken not long before his death which was this year XXXIV 7. Manasseh ben Israel would have us from hence observe The singular care God hath of those who serve him with a perfect heart as Moses did the days of whose years saith he are exactly proportioned For so these words are expounded in Sota Cap. I. To day my years are compleated to day I was born and to day I shall die For he was born on the seventh day of the Month Adar and on the same day of the same Month he died Thus Enoch he adds lived just Three hundred sixty five years which are proportioned to the days of the Suns annual Course Lib. III. de Termino Vitae Sect. V. But as there is no great weight in this Observation if it were true so that which he saith of Moses is evidently false For he did not die this very day as appears from v. 14. where he saith The days approach that I must die therefore the time was not yet come And I can no more go out and in Discharge the Office I have long sustained of your Governor and Leader See XXVII Numb 17. not because he wanted vigor either of Body or Mind for that is contrary to XXXIV 7. of this Book but because God did not think fit to permit him to conduct them any further as the following words explain it Also the LORD hath said unto me thou shalt not go over this Jordan The Particle we translate also often signifies for and is so translated by us in divers places particularly in III Isa 7. XVII Jerem. 8. And being so taken here the sense of these words is plain and easie giving a reason why he could no longer take the charge of them as he had done because God had otherwise ordered having told him he should not bring them into Canaan which they were now ready to enter Ver. 3. The LORD thy God he shall go over before thee Conduct them by the Ark of his Presence III Josh 5 11. and see XXIII Exod. 23. and IX Deut. 3. Verse 3 And he shall destroy these Nations from before thee and thou shalt possess them XXXIV Exod. 11. And Joshua he shall go over before thee As their Captain and Leader when Moses had left them III. 28. Josh I. 2. As the LORD hath said When he was appointed the Successor of Moses XXVII Numb 18 21. Ver. 4. And the LORD shall do unto them as he did Verse 4 to Sihon and to Og Kings of the Amorites c. See XXIV Numb 24 34 35. Ver. 5. And the LORD shall give them up before thy Verse 5 face As he had promised before VII 23. where he saith The LORD thy God shall deliver them unto thee In the Hebrew the words are before thy face See IX 3. That ye may do unto them according to all the Commandments which I have commanded you i. e. Utterly destroy them and their Altars and Images and Groves c. See VII 2 3 5 27. XII 1 2 c. Ver. 6. Be strong and of a good courage By Faith in Verse 6 God which their Fore-fathers wanting were discouraged and durst not go up and possess the Land when God commanded them I. 28 32. Fear not nor be afraid of them Be not affrighted much less dismayed at their Multitude their Stature and Strength when you go to fight with them The second word afraid only expresses an higher degree of the same Passion of Fear signifying being overcome with it For that is the import of the Hebrew word aratz which originally signifies to prevail over another This he had said to their Forefathers I. 21 29. and after repeated to them III. 2 22. VII 17 18 21. For the LORD thy God he it is that doth go with thee According to the assurance before given them XX. 4. He will not fail thee nor forsake thee This Promise which here is general in the next Verse but one is particularly made to Joshua and renewed to him by God himself after the death of Moses when they were about to enter into the Land of Canaan I Josh 5. And it is applied by the Apostle unto all faithful Christians to encourage their hope of being conducted through all Difficulties and Dangers unto their heavenly Inheritance XIII Hebr. 5. Verse 7 Ver. 7. And Moses called unto Joshua and said unto him in the sight of all Israel That they might have the greater reverence to his Person and Authority and follow his Conduct as a Leader appointed by God Be strong and of a good courage He exhorts him to give a good Example to all the People these being the same words he had spoken to them v. 6. For thou must go with this people Be their Leader and Commander in chief by God's special order XXVII Numb 21. Vnto the Land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them VIII 1. X. 13. XXX 20. And thou shalt cause them to inherit it Put them into the possession of it III. 28. Verse 8 Ver. 8. And the LORD he it is that doth go before thee and will be with thee I Josh 9. He will not fail thee nor forsake thee See v. 6. Fear not neither be dismayed The same which he said to the People v. 6. but was most necessary to be pressed upon him who by his undaunted Resolution was to put Courage into them The word we translate dismayed is different in the Hebrew from that v. 6. which is be not afraid but the LXX and the Vulgar use the same word to express both which denote such a Consternation as disables a Man to do his duty which is the proper import of this word Ver. 9. And Moses wrote this Law Some understand Verse 9 by this Law only the Book of Deuteronomy for which I can see no reason the Scripture calling all that is contained in the Five Books of Moses by the name of the Law St. Paul
these Expeditions But they seem to be here remembred as an Encouragement to the Israelites to hope that they might drive out the Inhabitants of Canaan who were not stronger than these as they had already driven the Amorites out of the Country of Sihon as it here follows As Israel did unto the Land of his possession which the LORD gave unto them Some have argued from hence that this Book was not written by Moses but by some body else after they had got possession of the Land of Canaan But it is manifest this may relate to what they had done already in dispossessing Sihon King of the Amorites and Og King of Bashan of their Country which it is expresly said Moses had given for a possession to the Tribe of Reuben and Gad and the half Tribe of Manasseh and that by God's direction XXXII Numb 33. XXXIV 14 15. and in this Book XXIX 8. This hath been observed by many particularly by Huetius in his Demonstratio Evangelica Propos IV. Cap. XIV N. XV. Ver. 13. Now rise up said I and get you over the Verse 13 Brook Zered c. Which elsewhere we translate the Valley of Zered See XXI Numb 12. Ver. 14. And the space in which we came from Kadesh-Barnea Verse 14 until we came over the Brook Zered was thirty eight years For it is evident by the story in Numbers that they came to Kadesh-Barnea about the fourth Month of the second Year after they came out of Egypt See upon XII Numb 16. And if we suppose that they removed from hence in the seventh or eighth Month of that Year it is certain that they could not come to this Brook till the seventh or eighth Month of the fortieth Year For Aaron died at Mount Hor on the first day of the fifth Month of this Year and we must allow two or three Months time for all that followed between that and this viz. the conquest of King Arad and of Sihon and Og c. Vntil all the Generation of the Men of War So they were called who were above twenty years old I Numb 3. Were wasted out from among the People Utterly consumed so that not one of them was left XXVI Numb 64 65. As the LORD sware unto them See XIV Numb 28 29. Verse 15 Ver. 15. For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them to destroy them from among the Host Some of them it is likely died a Natural death but many of them might in the course of Nature have lived longer if God had not several ways cut them off before their time Vntil they were consumed By one Plague or other which God sent among them So that a great deal of their time in the thirty eight Years before mentioned were spent it is likely in burying and mourning for their dead Verse 16 17. Ver. 16 17. So it came to pass when all the Men of War were consumed and dead from among the People that the LORD spake unto me saying This was spoken it is probable just as they passed over the Brook Zered or in their next Station at Dibon-Gad XXXIII Numb 45. Ver. 18. Thou art to pass through Ar the Coast of Verse 18 Moab this day Or rather to pass by the Border of Moab for they were not permitted to come into their Country v. 9. See upon v. 4. Ver. 19. And when thou comest nigh over against the Verse 19 Children of Ammon As they did after the conquest of Sihon King of the Amorites whose Country bordered upon the Ammonites XXI Numb 13 24. Distress them not neither meddle with them The same command with that about the Edomites and Moabites v. 5 9. For I will not give thee of the Land of the Children of Ammon any possession As he had said before of the Land of Moab v. 9. Because I have given it unto the Children of Lot for a possession To the Descendants of his youngest Son as he had done the Country of Moab to the Children of the eldest Ver. 20. And that also was accounted a Land of Giants Verse 20 c. Was called the Country of Giants or Rephaim for People so called inhabited it And the Ammonites called them Zamzummims Changed their Names it is probable from Zuzims See XIV Gen. 5. as they were called before into Zamzummims But why they were called either by the one Name or the other it is but conjectured Some conceive they were called Zuzims from their swiftness or nimble running which in Warriours was a quality always highly valued and Zamzummims from their abominable Wickedness or their craft and cunning in doing Mischief Ver. 21. A people great and many and tall as the Anakims The same description which he gave of the Emims v. 10. Verse 21 But the LORD destroyed them before them i. e. Before the Ammonites who expelled them out of their Country and it 's like cut off the most of them And they succeeded them and dwelt in their Land This is so often repeated to possess the Minds of the Israelites with a sense of God's Providence which rules every where displacing one People and setling another in their stead and fixing their Bounds also which they shall not pass without his leave Verse 22 Ver. 22. As he did to the Children of Esau which dwelt in Seir when he destroyed the Horites from before them c. He repeats this which he had said before v. 12. because it was a fresher Instance of God's disposal of Countries unto what People he pleases and nearly touched the Israelites because they were their Brethren Verse 23 Ver. 23. And the Avims which dwelt in Hazerim even unto Azzah Unto which he adds an instance which seems to be elder than any of the former concerning a People called Avims who inhabited some part of the Land of Canaan whither they were going For though we do not read of Hazerim in any other place yet Azzah i. e. Gaza was in the Country of the Philistims who expelled these Avims And David Chytraeus thinks that Hazerim was a Town afterward in the Tribe of Judah called Haza-gaddah XV Josh 27. The Caphtorim which came out of Caphtor That is some People of Cappadocia who were near of Kin to the Philistims See X Gen. 14. Destroyed them and dwelt in their stead Concerning which see in the place above-named Unto which I shall only add That the Avims being expelled out of Canaan by the Caphtorims went it is very probable over Euphrates and settled there till the King of Assyria brought some of them back again to plant the Country of Samaria 2 Kings XVII 31. where we translate this word Avites See Bochart in his Phaleg Lib. IV. Cap. XXXVI Ver. 24. Rise ye up take your Journey and pass over Verse 24 the River Arnon See XXI Numb 13 14. Behold I have given into thy hand Sihon King of Heshbon and his Land c. You your selves shall do to him what your Brethren the Children of Esau did to the
13. And cut down their Groves There is the same mention of Asherim which we translate Groves in the place last named only another word for cut down See there But Mr. Selden both there and here understands by Asherim wooden Images of Astarte a great Goddess worshipped in that Country For which among other Reasons he gives this that Gideon is said to have thrown down the Altar of Baal and cut down the Grove that was by it So we translate it VI Judg. 25 28. where in the Hebrew the last word is Alau which signifies upon it and not by it And so the LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And therefore the Asherah which is said to be upon the Altar must not signifie a Grove but an Image and none more likely than that of Astarte See De Diis Syris Syntagm 2 Cap. 2. and 2 Kings XXIII 6 7. And burn their graven Images with Fire As he was commanded to destroy their molten Images XXXIII Numb 52. that so no sort of Image nor any Monument of their Worship might be left in the Country but all so entirely abolished that they might have no Incentive to Idolatry This was the work of the Supreme Governour as Grotius prudently observes For tho' out of private places it belonged to the Lord of the place or if he were negligent to the King to remove Idols yet none but the Supreme Power might remove them out of publick places or such Persons who were delegated thereby to that Office See L. de Imper. Sum. Potest circa Sacra Cap. VIII Sect. 3. Ver. 6. For thou art an holy People unto the LORD Verse 6 thy God This is an Argument frequently used particularly in the Book of Leviticus why they should cleave to God alone because he had separated them to himself by many peculiar Laws which no other People had but they XI Levit. 44 45. XIX 2. XX. 7 26. 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 As he had distinguished them from all other People by peculiar Laws so by special Favours and singular Priviledges which no other Nation whatsoever enjoyed See XIX Exod. 5 6. Some interpret the Words special People to signify that they belong'd to none but him and he had no other People but they whom he had espoused to himself From whence it is that as the Israelites are called God's People so that Country is called his Land LXXXV Psal 1. for there he dwelt by his special Presence And the King of that Country is called God's King XVIII Psal 50. and he is said to sit on God's Throne and to be Nelech le Jehovah King for the LORD 2 Chron. IX 8. and the Kingdom is called the Kingdom of the LORD XIII 8. and therefore with this Argument Asa addresses himself to God in the next Chapter XIV 11. for Help in time of Distress because he was their God and would not he hoped let their Enemies prevail against himself And accordingly these Enemies are said to be destroyed before the LORD and before his Host v. 13. Jehoshaphat also exhorts the Judges in that Book to great Caution 2 Chron. XIX 6. because they judged not for Man but for the LORD And the Prophet exhorts in the following Chapter XX. 15. not to be afraid of a mighty Host which came against him because the Battle is not yours but Gods the Cause in which they fought being his more than their own Verse 7 Ver. 7. The LORD did not set his Love upon you nor choose you To be his special People as he calls them in the foregoing Verse Because ye were more in Number than any People for ye were the fewest of all People When God declared his Love first to Abraham and his Posterity he had no Child XII Gen. 1 2 3. XV. 1 2. And when he had his Family continued so small after there were XII Heirs of the Promise that in the space of Two Hundred Years they were but LXX Persons XLVI Gen. 27. Nor do we read of any great increase of them till after the Death of Joseph which was near Fourscore Years more I Exod. 7 8 c. So St. Steven observes VII Acts 17. When the time of the Promise drew nigh which God had sworn to Abraham the People grew and multiplied in Aegypt Ver. 8. But because the LORD loved you Because it was his good Pleasure to single them out from all other People to receive special Tokens of his Favour to them Verse 8 And because he would keep the Oath which he had sworn unto your Fathers hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand c. Not for any desert of theirs but to make good his Promise confirmed with an Oath did he work their wonderful Deliverance out of Egypt XV Gen. 13 14. XXII 16 c. Ver. 9. Know therefore that the LORD thy God he Verse 9 is God He exhorts them therefore to preserve this Sense in their Mind that their God is the only God The faithful God which keepeth Covenant and Mercy with them that love him and keep his Commandments c. Who will not only faithfully keep his Word and make good his Promises but do abundantly more than he hath promised to those that cleave unto him alone and serve no other God For it appears by the Second Commandment that is peculiarly meant by loving him To a thousand Generations See XX Exod. 6. Ver. 10. And repay them that hate him Punish all Verse 10 Idolaters who are peculiarly called haters of God as I have often observed See XX Exod. 5. To their Face They themselves should live to see and feel the Punishment of their Idolatry So the Chaldee Paraphrases it Becajehon in their Life He will not be slack to him that hateth him he will repay him to his Face Though he do not punish him immediately yet he will not defer it long but be avenged of him before he die Therefore when he threatens to punish them to the Third and Fourth Generation the meaning is not that he will only punish their Posterity but them with their Posterity whom they shall see destroyed before their Face For the Fourth Generation as Maimonides observes is as much as the oldest Men commonly live to see Verse 11 Ver. 11. Thou shalt therefore keep the Commandments and the Statutes and the Judgments which I command thee this day to do them All the Laws of God see VI. 1. especially this great Commandment to have no other God but him Verse 12 Ver. 12. Wherefore 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 Mercy which he sware unto thy Fathers As faithfully fulfil his Promises to them as he did to their Fathers Verse 13 Ver. 13. And he will love thee Continue his Love to them And bless thee and multiply thee
so much as a wrinkle in his Cheeks So some of the Ancients interpret the last Clause Others He had not lost so much as a Tooth out of his Mouth See Bocharius in his Hierozoicon P. I. Lib. II. Cap. XLV p. 506. Both Onkelos and the Hierusalem Targum refer it to the Splendor of his Countenance which continued to the last From hence it was that the Heathen who were not wholly unacquainted with this Story but had not a perfect knowledge of it imagined that Moses was troubled to die when he was so vigorous For Trebellius Pollio in the Life of Claudius saith that the most learned Mathematicians were wont to say that no Man lived beyond an Hundred and twenty years For though Moses lived an Hundred and five and twenty years so he mistakes being Dei ut Judaeorum libri loquantur familiaris a Man familiar with God as the Books of the Jews tell us yet he complaining that juvenis interiret he died when he was young they say he was told by an uncertain God that no Man should ever live longer This Mistake arose from their misinterpretation of those words VI Gen. 3. Yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years For Huetius well observes that this incertus Deus was the true God the Creator of Heaven and Earth whom St. Paul saith they called also the unknown God Demonstr Evang. Propos IV. Cap. I. N. LVII And I cannot but add that this passage out of Trebellius was taken notice of above an hundred years ago by a learned Man I have often mentioned David Chytraeus to show that these Sacred Books were not unknown to the Heathen and that they had a Reverence for them Verse 8 Ver. 8. And the Children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days The time of Mourning for the Dead was longer or shorter according to the Dignity of the Person And the Jews have a Tradition which distinguishes between the days of Weeping and Mourning The former of which never exceeded a Month which was the time they wept for Moses the latter never lasted more than a year as they gather from the Example of the greatest Doctor they ever had R. Judah who composed the Mischna for whom they mourned Twelve Months See Schickard in his Jus Regium Cap. VI. Theor. XIX and upon L Gen. 3 10. XX Numb 29. So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended They lamented him compleatly thirty days and no longer By which it seems that weeping and mourning whatsoever difference was between them were anciently of the same length though the Jews in the forenamed Tradition are pleased to make the one last much longer than the other Now by this and what follows in the Book of Joshua we may certainly know the truth of what I said on v. 5. concerning the day on which Moses died For if we add unto these thirty days which followed immediately upon it the three days wherein the Spies lay hid in the Mountain II Josh 22. and allow three or four days more for their going and coming back and then add the three days they lay by Jordan before they passed over III Josh 2. they make just a Month and ten days from the first day of the last Month when I supposed Moses died unto the day they got safe over Jordan which was the tenth day of the first Month. Whereas if we reckon as the Jews do that Moses died on the seventh day of the last Month it would have been the seventeenth day of the first Month before they got over Jordan I observe also that though the Talmudists generally make him to have died on the seventh day of Adar yet there have been some who placed it on the first For the Medrasch Rabbah telling the story of Haman's casting Lots to find the best time to do Execution on the Jews saith he pitched upon the Month ADAR because it had been unlucky to the Jews by the death of their Master Moses therein But he did not consider saith that Medrasch that as Moses died on the first day of this Month so he was born on the same first day Ver. 9. And Joshua the Son of Nun was full of the Spirit of Wisdom To take the Government upon Verse 9 him and manage it prudently as soon as Moses left them Which was necessary to be mentioned that it might not be thought they wanted a Head to conduct them as their Neighbours possibly might imagine when the News came of Moses his death For as the Samaritans tell the story in Hottinger's Smegma Orientale p. 462. when they heard the Lamentations which the whole Congregation made for Moses they began to rejoyce and gather their Forces together to set upon the Israelites as wanting a Leader But they soon found themselves mistaken Joshua having taken the Charge of them and being endued with his Spirit For Moses had laid his hands upon him Whereby he committed to him the Supream Authority after his departure and implored the Spirit of God to qualifie him for it For power to execute any Office among the Jews was given by laying on of hands whereby they were ordained and appointed to it And this was a Rite of Prayer also as many have observed for the obtaining the Gifts of the Spirit which were necessary for the discharge of that Office And though no words of Prayer be mentioned yet the very laying on of hands denotes it as our learned Dr. Outram observes from this very place and from I Tim. V. 22. Lib. I. de Sacrif Cap. XV. N. VIII Of Moses his laying on Hands upon Joshua we read XXVII Numbers 18 c. And he was solemnly also a little before Moses his death presented unto God by his own Command XXXI of this Book 14 c. And the Children of Israel hearkned unto him and did as the LORD commanded Moses Obeyed him as their Supream Governour according to God's Command delivered to Moses XXVII Numb 20. XXXI Deut. 23. See 1 Josh 16 17 c. Ver. 10. And there rose not a Prophet since in Verse 10 Israel like to Moses This is a plain demonstration that the promise God makes by Moses that he would raise up a Prophet like to him XVIII Deut. 15 19 c. was not fulfilled either in Joshua or in Samuel who it is likely wrote this Chapter as I said before and the best of the Jews confess shall not be fulfilled till MESSIAH come Thus the Author of Sepher Ikkarim Lib. III. Cap. XX. It cannot be but that a Prophet shall at last arise like to Moses or greater than he for the King Messiah shall be as great or greater Therefore these words are not to be expounded as if there should never be such a Prophet but that in all the time of the following Prophets till the Cessation of Prophecy none should arise like to Moses But after that there shall be one like him or rather greater than he Whom the LORD
will deliver them but if they did repent he would shorten the days of their Banishment and immediately bring them to their own Land Thus the ancient Nitzacon set forth not long ago by Wagenseil p. 254. And R. Isaac since him and more lately often insists upon this in his Chissuk Emuna published by the same very learned Person Particularly Perck VII where he saith There can be no time prefixed for their Deliverance because it depends upon their Repentance whereby they may cut off the length of this Banishment provided they turn to God with their whole heart and a full repentance For which he alledges this place And he repeats it again Perck XXVII as the great comfort they have in this long Banishment that upon their perfect Repentance God will be merciful to them and overcome their Sins and perform this Promise Which I find still more lately mentioned in Manasseh ben Israel his Book de Termino Vitae L. III. Sect. III. where he saith Herein all the Prophets imitate Moses being wont after terrible Threatnings to conclude with some singular Consolation Which made R. Aquiba as the Talmudists report fall a laughing when all the wise Men who were with him wept and lamented at the sight of the ruins of Jerusalem and the Temple Which they wondering at he said After the Clouds the Sun will break out and after the end of the Evils which Moses threatned we may hope for good things for God is not more faithful in fulfilling the one than in performing the other But alas in all Ages hitherto there are no signs of Repentance much less of a perfect one but they have been strangely hardned in their unbelief and have bitterly reproached the LORD Jesus and his Religion Abarbinel himself though a Gentleman of a noble Family a well bred Person and of an excellent Understanding is extreamly guilty of this And since his time Solomon Virgae in the Age before us considering the astonishing Plagues that have befaln them and that never any People as he acknowledges conflicted with so many Miseries and for so many Ages as they have done enquires the Causes why the Divine Majesty should be so angry with them He reckons Seven among which he accounts the putting of Jesus of Nazareth to death as one yet not as a Crime but that which hath enraged Christians against them For he wickedly illustrates this by that Speech of Moses VIII Exod. 24. which he thus translates If we slay and sacrifice the abominable gods of the Egyptians in their sight will they not stone us Which is the highest Reproach he could vomit against our Saviour mingled with the most stupid folly in giving that as a Reason of the Divine Anger which at the most is only a Reason in their account of Mens indignation Schebet Jehuda Sect. LXIII The most cruel Usage which they have met with in all Christian Countries might thus exasperate and embitter their Spirits and I cannot excuse the violent hatred of Christians to them and their barbarous treatment of them though they therein fulfilled the Divine Threatnings as I have shewn upon the Twenty eighth Chapter which being ceased since the Reformation of Religion the Jews have not been so virulent against our blessed Saviour and it is to be hoped will be won to the Obedience of Faith by our Christian usage of them when those other stumbling Blocks which hinder their Conversion are removed out of the way Ver. 5. And the LORD thy God will bring thee into Verse 5 the Land which thy fathers possessed and thou shalt possess it Be again planted in it as they were at their return from the Captivity of Babylon especially after they had laid the foundation of the House of the LORD he blessed them exceedingly II Haggai 18 19. VIII Zachar. 7 8 9 10 11 12. And he will do thee good The Prophet Zachary hath given a full Explication of these words VIII 13 14 15. And the Prophet Jeremy before him XXXII 42 43 c. which was fulfilled in the building of the House of the LORD though great opposition was made to it and in the compassing Jerusalem with Walls and settling them in a state of liberty according to the Prophecy of Isaiah LII 1 2. And multiply thee above thy fathers The Hebrew words import that he would make them greater then their fathers Which he did by their vast increase after they returned from Babylon See VIII Zachar. 4 5. and before him I Hosea 10. Which is manifest from their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. spreading themselves in so many Colonies through all Asia both the great and the less with Egypt Greece Italy and Spain See Strabo Lib. XVI concerning Joppa By this means they were very much exalted as Zachariah prophecied after the Captivity XII 6. for as they had their liberty in their own Country God being a Wall of Fire to them while Jerusalem had no Walls so they spread themselves as I said and had their Synagogues in Babylon Arabia Syria and divers other Countries before-mentioned and a great many Proselytes also joyned themselves to them Yet one cannot well think that so magnificent a Prophecy as this is was intirely fulfilled after their return from Babylon when they were Tributaries to the Persians and afterwards fell under the power of the Graecians under whom they suffered very much especially in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes whose death did not conclude their Troubles as Hermannus Witsius hath shown at large in his Decaphylon Cap. X. N. 9 10 11 12 c. where he endeavours to prove that there was no moment of time after their return from Babylon wherein they could be said to be made greater than their fathers especially in the days of David and Solomon And therefore he concludes that this Promise is still to be compleatly fulfilled And thus R. Isaac in his Book before-named Chissuk Emuna argues Perck VI. that God did not bestow Benefits upon them equal to those which their Fathers enjoyed much less superiour while the second Temple stood but all that time was full of Straits and Calamities for which he alledges the Prophecy of Daniel IX 25. And therefore saith these words of Moses can by no means be thought to be fulfilled when the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin returned from Babylon and left a vast number behind them who would not come back with them but stay there to this day Ver. 6. And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart By such singular Benefits bestowed upon them in a miraculous manner God designed to take away the stubborn refractoriness of their Spirits called Verse 6 hardness of heart XXIX 19. and to cut off all their wicked Inclinations and Dispositions to Idolatry and Superstition which had been their ruin which is called humbling their uncircumcised heart XXVI Levit. 41. But though God circumcised them yet their hearts might remain uncircumcised as appears from XXIX 3 4. And therefore he calls upon them
before-mentioned Plainly importing That Men could not pretend ignorance of their Duty nor had any reason to desire that some Body would go to Heaven again for those things which Moses had already brought from thence And thus the Apostle most justly accommodates these words to the new Revelation from Heaven by the Son of God which was not abstruse and difficult but as plain and perspicuous as this now made by Moses Ver. 13. Neither is it beyond the Sea that thou shouldst Verse 13 say Who shall go over the Sea for us c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to use the words of Philo in his Book concerning Rewards and Punishments so as to need long and tedious Voyages laborious and wearisom Travels to fetch it from foreign Countries Such as the Greek Philosophers took who travelled into Egypt and the Eastern part of the World to learn Wisdom which God now taught his People in the Wilderness without any pains to attain it Ver. 14. But the word is very nigh unto thee Being Verse 14 brought to their very Doors by Moses the Servant of God who now delivered to them the Mind of God as the Son of God himself did afterwards when he came and dwelt among them In thy mouth and in thy heart Made so familiar to them that they might always have it in their common Discourse to teach it their Children and had now been so often repeated that it might well be laid up in their Memory never to be forgotten by them VI. 6 7 8 9. XI 18 19 20. It was also in the mouth of their Priests who were to teach them Knowledge II Malachi 7. and press it upon their hearts Here the forenamed R. Isaac in both the places forenamed observes That Repentance depends on the confession of the mouth and grief of the heart but the largest Confession and the sorest Grief will not avail them till they repent of their Crucifying the LORD Jesus and shall confess him with their mouth and believe in their heart that God hath raised him from the dead c. as St. Paul speaks X Rom. 9 10. That thou mayest do it That they might have nothing to do but to put it in practice and in order thereunto continually read it and keep it in mind In which the Jews were so diligent that as Josephus tells the Gentiles Lib. II. contra Apionem they could as easily recite all the Laws of God as tell their Names But here was their Error that they were not careful to do what they knew to be the Will of God and so when he sent his Son among them who plainly declared to them more fully the meaning of their holy Books they could not understand and receive that which they read every day And indeed this is the common Error as Dr. Jackson well observes of all corrupt Minds to seek that afar off as if they were Strangers to it which is really in their Mouth and in their Heart so that they would but be doers and not only hearers of the Word as St. James speaks alluding perhaps to these words of Moses As St. Paul applies this whole passage to the Gospel which is that Word of Faith so preached and published by the Apostles that it may be in all our Mouths and Hearts without going to seek for any other infallible Teacher Ver. 15. See I have set before thee this day life and Verse 15 good death and evil Life and Good Death and Evil may be but two words for the same thing viz. all manner of Happiness and all manner of Misery both which he had at large set before them in the Twenty eighth Chapter Or by Life may be meant long Life in the Land God had promised them and Good all the Prosperity they could wish for there as on the other side Death may signifie their being cut off from the Land of the Living before their time and Evil all the Calamities he had threatned while they lived And so the next Verse seems to interpret it Maimonides from these words observes that the wills of Men are under no force nor coaction but are free Agents and therefore have Precepts imposed upon them with a Punishment threatned to the Disobedient and a Reward promised to those who keep God's Commandments Of which he treats at large in his Preface to his Commentary upon Pirke Avoth Cap. VIII Ver. 16. In that I command thee this day to love the Verse 16 LORD thy God to walk in his ways and to keep his Commandments and his Statutes and Judgments This includes their intire Obedience to all God's Laws which are comprehended under these three Names See VI. 1 5. VII 11. X. 12 13. That thou mayest live and multiply and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the Land whither thou goest to possess it This is the Explication of the Life and Good which he set before them if they observed God's Laws with sincere affection to them v. 15. Ver. 17. But if thine heart turn away so that thou Verse 17 wilt not hear Want of Love to God and of a due Esteem of his wonderful Love to them made their Heart turn away to other things and not regard what he had revealed to them from Heaven And worship other gods and serve them This was the principal Breach of the Covenant of God Verse 18 Ver. 18. I denounce unto you this day that ye shall surely perish and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the Land whither ye go c. This is the Explication of the Death and Evil he set before them v. 15. Verse 19 Ver. 19. I call Heaven and Earth to record this day aginst you that I have set before you life and death God Angels and Men were Witnesses that he had done his duty See IV. 26. VIII 19. and therefore is owned by God himself to be faithful in all his house XII Numb 7. Blessing and cursing They are the same with Life and Death but he uses several words to make them sensible that both proceeded from God the one being the Effect of his Love and Favour and the other of his Anger and high Displeasure Therefore chuse life that thou and thy seed may live That is chuse to be Obedient without which they could not be happy Or he wishes them to set their hearts on the happiness God had promised them that it might incline them to do as follows Verse 20 Ver. 20. That thou mayest love the LORD thy God and obey his voice Love is the noblest and the strongest Spring of Obedience And that thou mayest cleave unto him Obedience to God is the surest Preservative from Apostasy For he is thy life and the length of thy days Chapter XXXI The Author and Giver of Life which he preserves and prolongs unto those who are obedient That thou mayest dwell in the Land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob to give them Which Promise confirmed
Land Verse 20 which I sware unto their Fathers that floweth with milk and honey VI. 10 c. XV. 8 9. And they shall have eaten and filled themselves and waxen fat VIII 10 11 12 c. XXVII 15. Then they will turn unto other gods and serve them c. Against which he had most solemnly foremarned them in the places before-mentioned and XI 16. XII 29 30. Ver. 21. And it shall come to pass when many evils Verse 21 and troubles are befaln them that this Song shall testifie against them as a witness That they are most justly punished for their foul ingratitude and unbelief with which this Song upbraided them having told them plainly XXXII 18 19. what would be the effect of their forsaking him and at the delivery of it God having solemnly said here v. 17. that when they went a whoring from him he would forsake them and hide his face from them For it shall not be forgotten out of the mouth of their seed The Calamities which fell upon them according to what is predicted in this Song brought it to their remembrance when they had forgotten it or did not regard it For these words do not seem to be a Precept requiring them to remember this Song but a Prediction foretelling that their Miseries should not suffer them quite to forget it For I know their imagination which they go about even now before I have brought them into the Land which I sware He saw the secret Inclinations and Designs which were in their hearts and perceived that at that very present they hankered as we speak after Idols Verse 22 Ver. 22. Moses therefore wrote this Song the same day And so did Joshua as he was commanded v. 19. who spake the words of this Song unto the People as well as Moses XXXII 44. And taught it the Children of Israel Commanded them to learn it v. 19. In order to which the Jews say every Man was bound to write for himself a Copy of it and more than that they make it one of the affirmative Precepts as Maimonides tells us which obliged every Israelite to write out the whole Book of the Law with his own hand For so they interpret those words v. 19. Write ye this Song for you as if they were spoken to all the People and their meaning had been Write ye this Law for you wherein is this Song for they were not to write the Law by small parts and sections as his words are but all of it intirely And if a Man's Parents had left him a Copy yet he was bound to write one himself or if he could not write to procure one to be written for him by some other Person c. See Schickard's Mischpat Hameleck Cap. II. Theor. V. Verse 23 Ver. 23. And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge That is the LORD who had hitherto spoken to him by Moses now spake to him himself and gave him this charge to gain him the greater Authority For which end he had ordered Joshua to present himself before him together with Moses verse 14. Be strong and of a good courage Which he repeats to him after the death of Moses I Josh 6 7. For thou shalt bring the Children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them I have appointed thee to be the Captain of my People to lead them into the Land of Canaan And I will be with thee To give him success in all his Enterprises Which words being spoken in the audience of all the People as may be supposed from v. 14. made them readily submit to the Authority of Joshua and confide in his Conduct Ver. 24. And it came to pass when Moses had made Verse 24 an end of writing the words of this Law in a Book until they were finished The whole Book of his Laws which he put together before his death as I said on v. 9. Ver. 25. That Moses commanded the Levites c. Verse 25 The Priests who were of the Tribe of Levi. See v. 9. Ver. 26. Take this Book of the Law and put it in the Verse 26 side of the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD your God Not in the inside of it for he doth not say put it into the Ark but in the side of the Ark that is on the outside in a little Box as Jonathan and others expound it For it is the very same Phrase with that 1 Sam. VI. 8. where the Philistims are said to have put the Jewels of Gold which they returned for a Sin-offering in a Coffer by the side of the Ark. Where none could put it but the High Priest because no Body else might go into the Holy Place where the Ark was And therefore those Priests who received the Book of the Law from Moses delivered it to Eleazer to be there placed See Buxtorf Histor Arcae Cap. V. and Huetius more lately in his Demonstratio Evangelica Propos IV. Cap. de Can. Libr. Sacrorum Sect. VIII where he observes that R. Meir in both the Talmuds Abarbinel himself and many others have been of opinion from this very place that the Book of the Law was put into the Ark it self being no less precious than the Tables of Stone which were there But the Scripture tells us There was nothing in the Ark save the two Tables of Stone 1 Kings VIII 9. 2 Chron. V. 10. and their reason is good for nothing the two Tables far excelling this Book because written by the Finger of God And therefore other great Doctors among the Jews rightly place it without the Ark as the very words of Moses import That it may be there for a witness against thee It was deposited in that place as a publick Record that if any one should falsifie or deprave any thing in the Law as Abarbinel interprets it he might be convicted out of this Book which was sacredly preserved to be produced as a Witness against him Or as the Author of Tzeror Hammor expresses it that if they should be so wicked as to lose the Books of the Law this Copy kept under the care of the Priests might remain to testifie what was the Will of God As we see it did in the days of Josiah when it was casually found in the House of God as they were about the reparations of it Though I cannot say they found it in the side of the Ark but rather upon the Roof of the House or in the Rafters where the Priests had hid it as some of the Jews think when Manasseh endeavoured to destroy this Authentick Copy of the Law as he had done all other that he could find and when they came to uncover the House there it appeared Ver. 27. For I know thy rebellion and thy stiff-neck I have been sufficiently acquainted with your perverse disposition Behold while I am yet alive with you this day ye Verse 27 have been rebellious against the LORD and how much more after my death For it was not
likely they would have a greater regard to Joshua than they had to him who had such near familiarity with God as never any Man had Ver. 28. Gather unto me all the Elders of your Tribes Verse 28 I suppose after Moses had spoke to the People what God ordered v. 1 2 c. See there he dismissed them again that he might write the Book of the Law v. 9. and deliver it to the Priests c. and then write this Song which follows in the next Chapter v. 19 22 c. Which being done he is ordered here to summon all the Elders of the several Tribes and with them all the People came v. 30. that he might deliver to them by word of Mouth the Song which he had wrote And your Officers I have frequently observed that these Schoterim which we translate Officers were but Ministers to their Elders or Judges See V Exod. 14. I Deut. 15. XVI 18. Unto which I shall add here only the words of Abarbinel The Office of the Schoterim was to see that the Sentence which the Judges had given was observed and to compel Men to it They who would have more may find a long Roll of Authors who are of this mind both Jews and Christians in Jo. Benedic Carpzovius upon Schickard's Jus Regium who hath also said a great deal to the same purpose Cap. IV. Theorem XIV That I may speak these words in their ears The Song which God had suggested to him and commanded him to write v. 19 22. And call heaven and earth to record against them Call the whole World to witness how wicked they are if they fall from God after such care to preserve them in his Obedience Verse 29 Ver. 29. For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt your selves Fall to the foulest Idolatry II Judges 19. And turn aside from the way which I have commanded you Departing from that way of God which I have delivered to you by his command It was a very melancholy thing for Moses to leave the World in this belief that all his pains would be lost upon them but he comforted himself in doing his Duty to the very last and omitting no means to secure them from Apostasy And evil will befal you in the latter days This seems to express a foresight that they would not immediately revolt but after the death of Joshua and of the Elders who survived him II Judges 7 11 12 c. Because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands By making Images after the manner of other Nations and bowing down to them and worshipping them II Judges 12 13. III. 7. where the Groves signifie the Images in the Groves Verse 30 Ver. 30. And Moses spake With the assistance of Joshua XXXII 44. In the ears of all the Congregation of Israel Whom the Elders and Officers v. 28. had assembled according to their Tribes and Families unto whom they went severally and spake these words in their hearing The words of this song Which follows in the next Chapter and much differs in the raised Expressions and loftiness of the Stile from the rest of this Book hitherto Vntil they were ended Omitted nothing but compleatly delivered this Song to them Or they spake all these words to them at the same time with one continued Speech I observed before that the most ancient way of Instruction was by Poetical Compositions which was more ancient than Rhetorical Discourses And as their chief Learning did consist of Poetry so the excellency of their Poetry was seen in the proper and native Subject of this Faculty that is in Matters of sacred use or observation From whence the Title of Vates descended unto Secular and Prophane Poets who detained the manner of Speech used by the former But as Conradus Pellicanus here truly observes and see my Notes on XV Exod. 1. the Scripture Poetry doth not consist in the cadency and number of Syllables contrived to please the ear but in brief and weighty Sentences simply and sincerely composed in a lively manner to enlighten the Understandings move the Affections and stick in the Memory And the Ancients as a great Man of our own observes had this advantage of later Poets That the Fashion of the World as he speaks in their times was more apt to ravish their thoughts with admiration wonderful Events being then more frequent and their frequency not abating but rather increasing their wonderment because their variety was very great and the apprehension of invisible or supernatural Powers in those Events was usual and undoubted So that admiration was then inforced upon Men and the Breasts of those who diligently observed those Events or were any way disposed by Nature to it were inspired with lively and sublime Affections apt to vent themselves in such Poetical Phrase and Resemblances as we cannot reach unless we raise our Invention by Imitation and stir up Admiration by Meditation and Study But now our Senses being neither moved with such extraordinary Effects of God's Power nor our Minds bent to observe the ways of his Wisdom so as to be stricken with true observation of them we have fewer good Sacred Poems than of any other kind Thus Dr. Jackson Book I. on the Creed Chap. XIV David Chytraeus also hath an excellent Discourse on this Subject to show that the ancient Poetry among the Heathen contained the Doctrine of God and of Celestial Things all the Offices and Rewards of Vertue with the Punishment of Vice the History of their Kings and the noble Acts of famous Men Tome I. of his Works p. 154 c. Where he confirms this out of the Verses of Orpheus who lived as he computes about an Hundred and fifty years before David and those of Pindar Simonides and the rest who lived in the time of the War with Xerxes But Moses led the way to them all whose Mind was raised to that Sublimity of Thoughts and Speech which we find in his Songs by admiration of those strange Events which he saw XV Exod. XXI Numb and here in the next Chapter wherein he was followed by Deborah Barak and Hannah c. in after times V Judges 1 Sam. II. CHAP. XXXII Chapter XXXII Verse 1. GIve ear O ye heavens and I will speak Verse 1 and hear O earth the words of my mouth He calls Angels and Men to bear witness XXX 19. that the Israelites had been admonished of their Duty and warned of their Danger and this not by words of his own invention but which were put into his mouth by the Spirit of God Or after an elegant form of Speech he calls upon all insensible Creatures every where to listen to him that he might awaken the Israelites out of their stupidity or upbraid them as a People that had ears to hear and would not hear him And as some of themselves have observed he may be thought to intimate hereby
die nor being surprised with death for he knew the time and the place and the manner of it And as he did not die of any Disease as was said before or of old Age or by external force but only by the will and pleasure of God who took his Soul out of his Body so he did not part with it against his will nor with any fear but with a placid Mind and composed Spirit committed himself to God In whose embraces as we may speak he expired and this it is likely the ancient Jews meant when they said His Soul departed with a kiss As to the time of his death the Scripture doth not mention the Year the Month and the Day but the Jews commonly place it in the last Month of the fortieth year after their coming out of Egypt called ADAR and the seventh day of that Month. Thus they say in Seder Olam Rabba Cap. X. and in their Kalendar which they now follow and so Patricides in Hottinger's Smegma Orientale p. 457. But our great Primate of Ireland in his Annals observes that it agrees better with the following History to place his death in the first Day of that Month and Torniellus makes the same Computation that it must be either in the latter end of the Eleventh Month or in the beginning of the Twelfth Verse 6 Ver. 6. And he buried him This refers to the words foregoing viz. the LORD who commanded his Angels to bury him So Epiphanius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Haeres IX p. 28. and see p. 600. Though in the Scripture active words are very often used passively and the meaning may be only that he was buried Yet there is this to be said for the other sense that thereupon it is thought that the Contest arose between Michael the Archangel and the Devil as St. Chrysostom Theodoret Procopius Gazaeus and others take it who would not have had him buried but opposed it that he might administer an occasion to the Jews to commit Idolatry Though we never find that the Jews were given to the Worship of Reliques as our most Learned Vsser observes in his Annals See there In a Valley in the Land of Moab over against Beth-Peor This Valley was in the Land of Sihon King of the Amorites IV. 46. who had taken it from the Moabites as I noted before and was now possessed by the Israelites And Beth-Peor was a part of the Possession of Reuben XIII Josh 20. which was a place where the Temple of Peor anciently stood from whence it had its name For this Idol is not only called Baal-Peor but simply Peor XXII Josh 17. and as Beth-Baal is the Temple of Baal so Beth-Peor is the Temple of Peor as J. Ger. Vossius abserves de Orig. Progr Idol Lib. II. Cap. VII Now by all these Circumstances of his burial it appears how frivolous that Opinion of the Jews is mentioned in Jalkut out of Siphri that Moses did not really die but was translated into Heaven where he stands and Ministers before God Which conceit Josephus himself follows Lib. IV. Aniq. Cap. VIII where he saith that the having dismissed the Elders who went with him to Mount Abarim and then conversing a while with Eleazar and Joshua while he embraced them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Cloud on a sudden coming upon him he was snacht out of their sight into a certain Valley Which is not only beside but contrary to the Scripture which saith he died and was buried in the Valley And yet some of the ancient Fathers particularly St. Ambrose and St. Hilary have followed this Opinion that when Moses is said to die it doth not signifie the separation of his Soul from his Body but his Translation to a better Life See Sixtus Senensis in his Bibliotheca Lib. V. Annot. LXI where he observes this is not only against Scripture but against the sense of almost all Ecclesiastical Writers But no man knoweth of his Sepulchre unto this day These words unto this day show that this passage was not written by Moses as Josephus and Philo imagine who say he wrote this by the Spirit of Prophecy See v. 1. The reason why his Body was concealed most think to have been lest in future times it should become an Object of their Worship So R. Levi ben Gersom Future Generations perhaps might have made a god of him because of the fame of his Miracles For do we not see how some of the Israelites erred in the brazen Serpent which Moses made And the Heresie of the Melchisedekians shows this was no vain fear as Hermannus Witzius observes Lib. I. Miscell Cap. XVII if Epiphanius may be believed who saith that in Arabia Petraea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. They thought him to be God because of his Wonders he wrought and worshipped his Image What would they have done if they had had his very Body Which he did not desire to be carried into Canaan and buried among his Ancestors as Joseph ordered concerning his Bones For he understood it is likely the mind of God to be that as he should not go over Jordan while he was alive so his Body should not be carried over when he was dead Which R. Chama thinks might have proved dangerous because in the time of their Distress especially at the Captivity of the Land the Children of Israel might have been prone to run to his Sepulchre and beg him with tears to pray for them whose Prayers had been so prevalent for them in his life time For such a piece of Superstition it seems crept in among them in latter Ages of which see Wagenseil upon the Gemara of Sota Cap. I. Sect. LII Annot II. But though no Man knew where Moses was buried when this was written yet some Maronite Shepherds we are told have pretended lately MDCLV to find out his Tomb with this Inscription in Hebrew Moses the Servant of the LORD A great stir was made about it as the same Witzius observes out of Hornius his Historia Ecclesiastica But a learned Jew he saith so confuted the Story showing it was another Moses whose Tomb they found that the Report presently vanished And the Learned Wagenseil makes some probable guesses that it was the Tomb of Moses Maimonides See Annot. VI. in Gemara Sotae Cap. I. Sect. LI. But Bartoloccius in his late Bibliotheca Rabbinica Tom. III. p. 928 c. hath made it rather probable that Hornius was imposed upon by some body in this narration there being no such Author known among the Jews as R. Jakum or Jacomus ben Gad who he saith confuted this Tale. Ver. 7. And was an hundred and twenty years old Verse 7 when he died A third part of which time wanting one Month he had been imployed in the Government of Israel as Josephus observes in the Conclusion of his Fourth Book of Antiquities His eye was not dim nor his natural force abated That is he had all the vigour of Youth remaining there being not
knew face to face Or as de Dieu thinks it should be translated who knew the LORD face to face This was one Preheminence of Moses above all the Prophets that he conversed more familiarly with God than any of them did See XII Numb 8. which place explains this for to know him face to face was to speak familiarly to God and to hear God speaking in like manner unto him And so the Hierusalem Targum expounds these words only instead of the LORD he saith Who knew the WORD of the LORD talking with him and delivering to him most excellent Laws for the good government of his People In which Laws he still lives they all remaining upon Record to this day when the Laws of all the famous Lawgivers whom the Gentiles honoured as gods are obliterated But it must be observed that in this wherein Moses excelled all the Prophets our blessed Saviour far transcended him For he was in the bosom of the Father I Joh. 18. and spake what he saw and heard c. III Joh. 11 32. Verse 11 Ver. 11. In all the signs and the wonders which the LORD sent him to do The Hierusalem Targum hath it Which the WORD of the LORD sent him to do in the Land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his Servants and to all his Land See IV. 34. VI. 22. VII 19. In these signs and wonders Moses excelled all the Prophets doing more Miracles than all that succeeded him as Maimonides observes More Nevochim P. II. Cap. XXXV But our blessed Saviour excelled him in this as well as them doing more wonders than all the Prophets put together had done from the beginning of the World and far greater also than theirs XXI Joh. ult Ver. 12. And in all that mighty hand and in all that great terror which Moses showed As the former Verse relates to what he did in Egypt so this hath respect unto their passing through the Red Sea and to all that befel them in the Wilderness both at the giving of the Law and afterward till this time So the Hierusalem Targum expounds these words In all that strong hand and in all those great Visions which Moses managed And Onkelos to the same purpose In the sight of all Israel In the place forenamed Maimonides insists much upon this that Moses wrought all his Miracles publickly the whole Congregation being Witnesses of them And so our Saviour commonly wrought his till they sought to kill him in their Synagogues at their Publick Feasts when there was the greatest Concourse of the People of Israel So that in this he was a Prophet like unto Moses though infinitely superiour which some of the old Jews could not but discern as I observed upon Chap. XVIII when upon these words of Isaiah LII 13. He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high they thus gloss in Tanchuma which is an ancient Book among them This is the King MESSIAS who shall be exalted above Abraham extolled above Moses and be very high above the Angels of the Ministry Upon which Conradus Pellicanus thus glosses and concludes his Commentary as I shall do mine with these words What is it to be above the Angels let the Jews explain we can understand nothing by it but the very WORD of God which was in the beginning with God and was God by whom all things were made and without him nothing was made viz. the LORD God of Hosts to whom in perfect Vnity God the Father Son and Holy Spirit be all Honour and Glory for ever Amen Thus ends the Pentateuch which as our great Primate of Ireland computes contains the History of Two thousand five hundred and fifty two years and an half from the beginning of the World to the death of Moses FINIS By reason of the Distance of the Author this Omission hapned which the Reader is desired to insert in its proper place At the end of Page 511. Line ult after three hundred years add these words But if any one think good thus to apply the words of this Verse unto Vespasian they must not take this for the literal meaning of them because it is evident that by the Stranger is to be understood those of other Nations who lived among them Particularly those Gentiles who were brought into their Country by the Assyrians instead of the Ten Tribes as some of the best of the Jewish Writers expound it What the Doctor also saith concerning their advancing Vespasian to the Imperial Dignity cannot be maintain'd ERRATA Page 21. Line 24. read their Cities Page 30. Line 14. r. Elate Page 39. Line 18. r. faith Page 43. Line 17. r. Ammonites Page 67. Line 15. r. Atargatis Page 85. antepen r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Page 86. Line 11. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Page 90. Line 24. r. even before Page 116. Line 2. r. Melech Page 145. Line 13. r. until the other Page 174. Line 5. for notion r. reason Page 183. Line 10. for Geder r. Seder Page 194. Line 18. r. Author of Sepher Ikkarim Page 220. Line 20. r. Acra-batta Page 242. Line 20. r. Arcadica * Page 264. Line 24. blot out but as the persons concerned in the Controversie brought it and read But whoever brought the Controversie before this Court when the Inferiour could not determine it they gave the sentence Page 269. Line 10. r. Cunaeus Lib. II. Page 290. Line 29. r. had her first Page 323. Line 15. r. Chillel Page 332. Line 20. r. was so setled Page 348. Line 2. r. slake Page 358. Line 24. r. both Sexes Page 365. Line 6. r. whom all that Page 372. Line 1. r. make thee Page 382. Line 31 32. r. paid to her father Page 408. Line 20. for inherent r. indigent Page 420. Line 28. r. Chasidah Page 428. Line 2. r. remember it Page 438. Line 16. r. of no consequence Page 439. Line 26. r. as a reason Page 442. Line 28. r. Dr. Pocock Page 488. Line 19. r. would furnish Page  Line 20. r. that should further Page 507. Line 9. r. strangeness Page 599. Line 16. r. retained the manner Page 612. Line 1. r. Olive Tree thrives Page 617. Line 27. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a field Page 641. Line 12. r. Mountain Page 650. Line 22. r. he speaks of himself Page 652. Line penult r. staid behind them Page 663. Line 20. r. Gazellas Page 665. Line 5. r. great numbers Page  Line 25. r. IV Gen. 10. Page 668. Line 17 18. r. He came the Heads of the People Page 685. Line 12. r. he having BOOKS Printed for Richard Chiswell BIshop Patrick's Commentary on the First Book of Moses called Genesis The Second Edition 4 to 1698. His Commentary on the Second Book of Moses called Exodus 4 to 1697. His Commentary on the Third Book of Moses called Leviticus 4 to 1698. His Commentary on the Fourth Book of Moses called Numbers 4 to 1699. His Commentary on the Fifth Book of Moses called Deuteronomy 4 to 1700. His Hearts Ease or a Remedy against all Troubles A Consolatory Discourse directed to those who have lost their Friends and dear Relations To which is added Two Papers printed in the time of the late Plague The Seventh Edition 120. 1699. The Life of Henry Chichele Archbishop of Canterbury In which there is a particular Relation of many remarkable Passages in the Reigns of Henry the Fifth and Sixth Kings of England Written in Latin by Arthur Duck LLD. Chancellor of the Dioscess of London and Advocate of the Court of Honour Now made English And a Table of Contents annexed Archbishop Tollotson of Sincerity and Constancy in the Faith and Profession of the True Religion Being the First Volume Published from the Originals by Dr. Barker Chaplain to his Grace His Second Volume Containg Sixteen Sermons on several Occasions His Third Volume Containing Sixteen Sermons on several Subjects His Fourth Volume Containing several Discourses on Natural and Instituted Religion The Nature and Necessity of Regeneration the Danger of all known Sin c. His Fifth Volume Proving Jesus to be the Messiah the Son of God The Danger of Apostacy from Christianity c. His Sixth Volume Being the First part of his Discourses on the Divine Attributes 1699. His Seventh Volume Being the Second or Remaining Part of his Discourses on the Divine Attributes 1700. A Discourse of the Government of the Thoughts By George Tullie Sub-Dean of York The Third Edition Corrected 120. 1699. Preparation for Death Being a Letter sent to a young Gentlewoman in France in a dangerous Distemper of which she died By William Wake D.D. The Sixth Edition 120. Private Devotions digested into Six Litanies with Directions and Prayers By Hen. Valentine The Bishop of Sarum's Exposition of the 39 Articles of the Church of England in Folio 1700. The Life of John Whitgift Archbishop of Canterbury in the Times of Queen Elizabeth and King James the First Written by Sir George Paul Comptroller of his Graces Houshold To which is added a Treatise intituled Conspiracy for Pretended Reformation Written in the Year 1591. By Richard Cosin LLD. Dean of the Arches and Official Principal to Archbishop Whitgift 80. 1699.