rewarded their Obedience to them as if he had received the Benefit thereof Verse 14 Ver. 14. Behold the Heaven Where the Sun Moon and Stars shine And the Heaven of Heavens And all the glorious Regions beyond them Is the LORD 's thy God Are all his Possession as they are his Work The Earth also with all that therein is As well as this Earth and all the Creatures that are in it Ver. 15. Only the LORD had a delight in thy Fathers to love them and he chose their Seed after them Verse 15 even you above all People c. He would have them sensible therefore that the Possessor of Heaven and of Earth could have no need of them or of their Services who were a very inconsiderable Part of his Creatures But it was his own meer good Will and Pleasure which moved him to show such Love to Abraham as he had done and to his Posterity for his sake above all other Nations on Earth Ver. 16. Circumcise therefore the fore-skin of your Verse 16 heart Do not satisfie your selves therefore with the bare Circumcision of your Flesh and the Observance of such External Rites and Ceremonies but cut off and cast away all your naughty Affections which make you insensible both of God's Mercies and Corrections and disobedient to his Commands And be no more stiff-necked As he had often before complained they were particularly XXXII Exod. 9. and see IX 6. of this Book It is a Metaphor as I observed from Oxen who when they are to draw in a Yoke and go forward pull back their Neck and their Shoulder to withdraw themselves from the Yoke To both which the Scripture alludes IX Nehem. 29. And sometime severally we find mention of them as in the place before-named in Exodus he speaks of their stiff-neck and in VII Zachar. 11. he saith They pull'd away the shoulder St. Stephen puts both these together in his Character of the wicked Jews that killed our blessed Saviour VII Acts 51. that they were stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart Therefore the contrary disposition God promises towards the Conclusion of this Book as the greatest Blessing he could bestow on them XXX 6. Ver. 17. For the LORD thy God is God of gods and Verse 17 Lord of lords Superiour to all other Beings whether Kings on Earth or Angels in Heaven A great God a mighty and a terrible Who can do what he pleases every where and therefore is to be greatly dreaded Which regardeth not persons nor taketh reward The most righteous Judge of Men who will not connive at your Sins because you are Circumcised nor be bribed by any Sacrifices to overlook your Wickedness XXIII Exod. 8. XIX Lev. 15. I Deut. 17. Nor on the contrary reject those that uprightly obey him though they be not Jews So St. Peter learnt to understand these words X Acts 34. Verse 18 Ver. 18. He doth execute the Judgment of the Fatherless and Widow Takes their part as we speak and defends them against those that would oppress them And loveth the Stranger in giving him Food and Raiment Provideth for those who are driven unjustly out of their own Country or travelling on their honest Occasions fall into want For he seems here to speak of those who were neither Proselytes of Justice nor of the Gate as the Jews speak but were meer Gentiles Verse 19 Ver. 19. Love ye therefore the Stranger Be kind and hospitable to such distressed Persons which is a Vertue that flows from the Love of God v. 12. to which it is in vain to pretend if we love not all Mankind This Love consists in imitating God's Care of such Persons whereof he speaks in the foregoing Verse viz. doing them Justice equally with others and affording them Food and Raiment For ye were strangers in the Land of Egypt This Vertue was peculiarly required of the Jews who had been in that Condition which he commanded them to pity See XXIII Exod. 9. XIX Levit. 33 34. And if they had sincerely practised this Duty towards Aliens the Grace of God shown to the Gentiles in our blessed Saviour would not have seemed so strange to them as it did Ver. 20. Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God him Verse 20 shalt thou serve This was explained before v. 12. To him shalt thou cleave Serve that is and Worship none but him And swear by his Name See VI. 13. Ver. 21. He is thy praise Whom thou oughtest Verse 21 therefore to praise Or rather in whose Love and Favour thou oughtest to glory and to think it the highest honour to be his Servant and to have him for thy God as it here follows He is thy God Who hath bestowed upon thee all the good things which thou enjoyest That hath done for thee all these great and terrible things which thine eyes have seen In bringing them out of Egypt destroying Pharaoh in the Red-sea leading them through the Wilderness giving them the Country of Sihon and Og c. Whom therefore they were bound to Love and Serve and to confide in his Mercy and not in their own Power or Righteousness VIII 17 18. IX 4 5 6. Ver. 22. Thy Fathers went down into Egypt with Verse 22 threescore and ten persons See XLVI Gen. 27. I Exod. 5. Their Family he would have them remember was very small Chapter XI about Two hundred Years ago And now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the Stars of Heaven for multitude Vastly increased them according to his Promise unto Abraham XV Gen. 5. XII Exod. 37. XXVI Numb 51 62. Which alone as Conradus Pellicanus here notes was sufficient to fill their Hearts with his Love and their Mouths with his Praise CHAP. XI Verse 1 Verse 1. THerefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God Who of so small hath made thee so great a Nation And keep his charge A Phrase used frequently concerning the Levites III Numb 7 8 c. But here comprehends all the Particulars following His Statutes and his Judgments and Commandments which he had charged them to observe See VI. 1. Verse 2 Ver. 2. And know you this day Consider seriously what I have said to you till you be sensible of it VIII 5. IX 6. For I speak not with your Children which have not known and which have not seen The words I speak are not in the Hebrew and they may as well be supplied thus For not with your Children have these things been done c. Which agrees well with v. 7. The Chastisement of the LORD your God The Plagues he sent upon the Egyptians His greatness Which appeared by the many great things he did only upon the stretching out of Moses his Rod. His mighty hand and stretched out arm These are more words to express the same thing Ver. 3. And his miracles and his acts which he did in the midst of Egypt Or His miraculous Acts c. Verse 3 He uses so many words to make them sensible how much they were
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
4. By Signs Which are mentioned IV Exod. 9. VII 9 10. And by Wonders This signifies all the Ten Plagues of Egypt For Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go till God had multiplied his Wonders on the Land of Egypt as we read VII Exod. 3. X. 1 2. XI 9 10. And by War This seems to relate to the Overthrow of Pharaoh in the Red Sea where the LORD is said to fight for Israel XIV Exod. 14. XV. 3. while they which is the greatest Wonder of all were delivered without striking a stroke And by a mighty Hand and a stretched-out Arm. These are Phrases which we often meet withal when Moses speaks of their Deliverance out of Egypt III Exod. 19. VI. 6. XV. 12. and many other places And the Hebrews think that his mighty Hand particularly refers to the grievous Murrain and the Pestilence which are called the Hand of the LORD X Exod. 3 15. And his stretched-out Arm to have a particular respect to the killing of the First-born the Angel that was going to smite Jerusalem appearing with a drawn Sword and his Hand stretched out I Chron. XXI 16. And by great Terrors Wherewith the Minds of those were stuck who heard of these things XV Exod 14 15 16. Or else he means the Frights in which the Egyptians were while they remained three Days in most dismal Darkness X Exod. 23. for the conclusion of this Verse signifies that he speaks of all that the LORD their God did for them in Egypt before their Eyes Verse 35 Ver. 35. Vnto thee it was shewed This was a particular kindness to the Israelites which God never before manifested to any other Nation That thou mightest know that the LORD he is God there is none else besides him That they might believe him to be the only true God and worship none but him Which two Articles saith Maimonides More Nevochim P. II. Cap. XXXIII that God is and that he is but One are Fundamentals of Religion which were known not only by Prophets but by every Body else Verse 36 Ver. 36. Out of Heaven he made thee to hear his Voice See XX Exod. 22. That he might instruct thee Teach them his Will which was chiefly declared in the Ten Commandments And upon Earth he shewed thee his great Fire He means either that they saw it as they stood upon the Earth or that it burnt upon the top of the Mount in their sight XXIV Exod. 17. And thou heardest his Words out of the midst of the Fire Ver. 11 12. and XX Exod. 18 19. Verse 37 Ver. 37. And because he loved thy Fathers therefore he chose their Seed after them See XV Gen. 5 6 7. And many other Places in that Book III Exod. 15 16 17. And brought them out in his sight with a mighty power For as he led them the way out of Egypt in a Pillar of Cloud and of Fire XIII Exod. 21. So when they were in danger by Pharaoh's pursuit of them he came behind them and they marched in his sight XIV Exod. 19. Out of Egypt This is mentioned in Scripture as the highest Benefit never to be forgotten by them So G. Sckickard observes in his Mischpat Hamelek Cap. III. Theorem X. That they are put in Mind of this in the Frontispiece of the Decalogue XX Exod. 2. in the Institution of Sacrifices XXII Levit. 33. in the Promise of a Blessing XXVI 13. and here in the enumeration of God's wonderful Works and afterwards in the commendation of his Love VII Deut. 8. in his Dehortation from Ingratitude VIII 14. in his Institution of the Passover XVI 6. in the Speech which the reproving Angel made to them II Judges 1. in the hope he gave them of Victory over the Midianites VI. 9. in his Answer to their Petition for a King I Sam. X. 18. and on a great many other occasions For this was Velut Fundamentum initium Reipublicae c. as another learned German speaks Gierus on IX Dan. 15. the Foundation as we may call it and the Beginning of their Commonwealth founded by God which comprehended in it abundance of Miracles far exceeding all the Power of Nature Ver. 38. To drive out Nations before thee greater Verse 38 and mightier than thou art So mighty that they frighted their Fathers from attempting the Conquest of them XIII Numb 28 29 31. To bring thee in to give thee their Land for an Inheritance as it is this day That is as he had given them a late Experiment by overthrowing the two Kings of the Amorites and giving them their Land for a possession Verse 39 Ver. 39. Know therefore this day and consider it in thy Heart that the LORD he is God in Heaven above and upon the earth and there is none else Be sensible therefore and settle this Belief in thy Heart that the LORD is the sole Governour of the whole World Verse 40 Ver. 40. Thou shalt therefore keep his Statutes and his Commandments which I command thee this day c. Worship and obey him as the only way to make them and their Posterity live happily in the Land which God was about to give them That it may be well with thee and with thy Children after thee and that thou mayst prolong thy days upon the earth c. Tho' Moses speak of their long Life upon Earth yet the better sort of Jews did not set up their rest here but from this word prolong extended their hope as far as the other World For thus Maimonides saith in his Preface to Perek Chelek they were taught by Tradition to expound these Words That it may be well with thee in the World which is all good and mayest prolong thy days in the World which is all long i. e. never ends Verse 41 Ver. 41. Then Moses severed three Cities I observed in the Preface to this Book that Moses did not deliver all that is contained in this Book in one continued Speech but at several times as appears even by the beginning of the next Chapter where it is said He called all Israel and said unto them c. Which supposes that after this Preface in these four Chapters he dismissed them to consider what he had said and then some time after assembled the People again to put them in Mind of the Laws which he so earnestly pressed them to observe But between these two times after he had spoken all that is contained in these four Chapters and before he rehearsed the Decalogue he put in execution the Command of God lately given to set apart three Cities of Refuge on this side Jordan Which he here relates in the order I suppose wherein it was done On this side Jordan towards the Sun-rising On the East-side of Jordan according to what was ordered XXXV Numb 14. Ver. 42. That the Slayer might flee thither which Verse 42 should kill his Neighbour unawares c. See there v. 11 12 c. Ver. 43. Namely Bezer in the Wilderness in
that if they would not hearken and keep his Precepts the Heavens were forbidden to give them Rain and the Earth to bring forth Fruit. The Gloss also of the Hierusalem Targum is not amiss that Moses being shortly to die calls the Heavens and the Earth which endure through all Ages to be Witnesses against them when he was gone But the following observation is too curious That Isaiah when he prophecied i. e. being far remote from the Heavens and near to the Earth calls upon the Heavens to hear and the Earth to give ear or attend whereas Moses quite contrary approaching now very near to the Heavens calls upon them to attend or give ear and being in Spirit remote from the Earth bids it hear Ver. 2. My doctrine shall drop as the rain my speech shall distil as the dew Or Let my doctrine drop c. For this seems to be a Prayer that his words which were sent from Heaven to them might sink into their hearts and soften them as the drops of Rain and the dew do the Earth and produce such Fruits of Obedience as might make them happy As the small rain upon the tender herb and as the showers upon the grass The aforesaid Targum thus paraphrases this whole Verse Let the Doctrine of my Law be as sweet upon the Children of Israel as the Rain and the word of my mouth be received by them as the delectable Dew Let it be as gentle showers refreshing the Grass and as the drops of the latter Rain descending and watering the blades of Corn in the Month of March Verse 3 Ver. 3. Because I will publish the Name of the LORD For my Song shall be concerning the LORD of Heaven and Earth whose glorious Perfections I will proclaim which make him the sole Object of your Worship Ascribe ye greatness unto our God Acknowledge therefore the Infinite Power of our God and his Soveraign Dominion over all and give Honour and Service to none besides him These three first Verses seem to be the Preface to the Song and now follows the Song it self Which Josephus calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Poem in Hexameter Verse Lib. IV. Antiq. Cap. VIII Verse 4 Ver. 4. He is the Rock Always indures and never changes so that in him we may find at all times a sure Refuge His work is perfect Whatsoever he undertakes he perfects and compleats it For all his ways are judgment He doth nothing without the greatest reason and according to the Rules of the exactest Justice A God of truth Who is faithful to his Promises And without iniquity And never deceives or wrongs any Man Just and right is he Nor will he punish any Man without a cause or more than he deserves Maimonides takes the first words of this Verse He is the Rock to signifie the first Principle and the efficient Cause of all things without himself For so the word Rock is used when God bids the Children of Israel Look to the Rock out of which they were hewn LI Isa 1. that is to Abraham their Father from whom they were descended And so he thinks it signifies v. 18. of this Chapter Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful i. e. of God the Author of their being And again v. 30. their Rock i. e. the LORD sold them See More Nevochim P.I. Chap. XVI And then by the next words His way is perfect he thinks is meant that as he is the Creator of all things so there is no defect or superfluity in his Works For he takes these words to be the same with those I Gen. 31. God saw every thing that he had made and behold it was very good See there P. II. Cap. XXVIII and P. III. Cap. XXV And as his Works of Creation are most perfect so are his Works of Providence for he governs the World with the greatest Judgment and Justice So he seems to understand the next words P. III. Cap. XVII all his ways are judgment We are ignorant of the Methods and Reasons of his Judgments yet no injustice or iniquity is to be ascribed to him But all the Evil and all the Good that befals any Man or the whole Church proceeds from the just and equal Judgment of God And more largely Cap. XLIX Our narrow minds cannot apprehend either the Perfection of his Works or the Equity of his Judgments for we apprehend his admirable Works only by parts whether we look upon the Bodies of Animals or the Celestial Spheres and in like manner we apprehend but a little of his Judgments For that of which we are ignorant in both is far more than that which we know of either I conclude this with the words of the Author of Sepher Cosri Part III. Sect. XI He that believes this that all God's Works are perfect and his Ways Judgment will always lead a sweet and pleasant Life All Afflictions will be made light to him nay he will rejoyce that his Iniquities are hereby alleviated and that he shall one day be rewarded for his Patience which he teaches Men by his example and thereby justifies the Judgments of God With respect to which I suppose the Jews now begin the Prayer which they make at the burial of their dead with this Verse of Moses his Song Which Prayer they call Tzidduck haddin i. e. just judgment as Leo Modena observes in his History of the present Jews Part V. Chap. VIII Verse 5 Ver. 5. They have corrupted themselves c. I know not how to justifie this Translation nor that in the Margin He hath corrupted himself Maimonides translates them better making these words a Question and the next words an Answer to them in this manner Did he i. e. God the Rock before spoken of do him any hurt For the Hebrew word Shecheth with lamed after it signifies to hurt or destroy XXXII Numb 15. 1 Sam. XXIII 10. as Joh. Cocceius observes in his Vltima Mosis Sect. 701. And so the meaning is Is God to blame for the Evils that befal him i. e. Israel Unto which the Answer follows in the next words which we thus translate Their spot is not the spot of his Children In the Hebrew the first word of this Sentence is lo i. e. not or no. Which the accent Tipcha as they call it under it shows is not to be joyned with the words that follow banau Mumam but taken by it self being a denial of the foregoing Question And these words are thus to be translated No. His Children are their blot i. e. all the Evil that befals them is the fruit of their Childrens wickedness And so these words are in effect the same with those of Solomon XIX Prov. The foolishness of man perverteth his way and his heart fretteth against the LORD He complains of God when the fault is in himself See More Nevochim P. III. Cap. XII Onkelos translates it thus They corrupted to themselves not to him Children that served Idols i. e. as Paulus Fagius
Propos IV. Cap. 1. Ver. 6. The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb Verse 6 saying X Numb 13. Ye have dwelt long enough in this Mount From the third Month of the first Year XIX Exod. 1. to the twentieth day of the second Year after they came out of Egypt X Numb 11. they stayed at Mount Sinai which is the same with Horeb they being only two tops of the same Mountain one of them something higher than the other as they are described by those who have taken a view of them For Moses was twice with God for the space of Forty days in in this Mount and here the Tabernacle and all things belonging to it were made according to the Orders he there received and then was erected and consecrated and the People all numbred and disposed under their several Standards to march in such order as God appointed II Numb 3 10 17 c. X. 14 15 c. Verse 7 Ver. 7. Turn you From this Mountain And take your Journey Resume your Journey which you have so long intermitted And go to the Mount of the Amorites A Mount on the South part of Canaan inhabited by the Amorites together with some Canaanites and Amalekites XIV Numb 25 43 45. But the principal Possessors of it were Amorites as is expressed more than once in this Chapter v. 19 20 44. This is the Mountain to which Moses bid the Spies go up XIII Numb 17. and so they did v. 22. And unto all the places nigh thereunto And so pass into all the neighbouring Country which lies near it In the Plain in the Hills and in the Vale. This is a Description of the Country nigh unto this Mountain some of which was Champion as we speak and other parts of it consisted of Hills and Dales And in the South and by the Sea-side to the Land of the Canaanites and unto Lebanon and unto the great River the river Euphrates And so go into all the rest of the Land of Canaan the several quarters of which he here sets forth The Southern part lying toward this Mountain the Western upon the Sea where the People properly called Canaanites dwelt the Northern toward Lebanon and the Eastern towards the River Euphrates Which by other Authors as well as Moses is called the great River So Callimachus in his Hymn to Apollo v. 103. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The great Flood of the Assyrian River which the Scholiast observes is meant of Euphrates And Lucan cum Tigride magnus Euphrates L. III. v. 253. Ver. 8. Behold I have set the Land In the Hebrew Verse 8 Given the Land i. e. bestowed it upon you and am ready to bring you into the possession of it Before you That every one of you may have his share of it Or that you may go whether you please and settle your selves in it XIII Gen. 9. XXXIV 10. Go in and possess the Land Therefore make no longer stay here in the Wilderness but go and take possession of my Gift Which the LORD sware unto yuor Fathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob c. XV Gen. 18. XVII 7 8. XXVI 3. XXVIII 13. Ver. 9. And I spake unto you at that time saying Verse 9 About the time of their coming to Horeb or Mount Sinai For the Story of Jethro unto which this relates preceded that immediately XVIII Exod. Many great Men place it after the giving of the Law Of which see Selden L. II. de Synedr Cap. 2. N. IV. I am not able to bear you alone We do not read before now that Moses spake thus to the People But Jethro spake in this manner to him XVIII Exod. 18. and gave him advice to take some others to his assistance v. 21. which advice he followed v. 24. And then spake to the People what Jethro had said to him and enlarged upon it in the words we read here in the following Verses where he gives them the reason why he could not perform the Office of a Judge alone Ver. 10. The LORD your God hath multiplied you Verse 10 and behold ye are this day as the Stars of Heaven for multitude Increased unto a greater number then can easily be told Verse 11 Ver. 11. The LORD God of your Fathers make you a thousand times so many as you are As if he had said I am not troubled at your vast increase but bless God for it and beseech him to make you a thousand times more numerous then at present you are And bless you as he hath promised you In the Promise often repeated to their Fathers XII Gen. 2. XV. 5. XVII 5 6. XVIII 18. XXII 17. XXVI 4. XXVIII 14. Verse 12 Ver. 12. How can I my self alone bear your cumbrance and your burden and your strife But how is it possible for one Man alone to undergo the labour of hearing all the Complaints of such a Multitude and of remedying all their Grievances and determining all their Controversies So the last word signifies Suits at Law as we speak as the two former signifie other Differences which arose between one Man and another about such things as are mentioned in the XXI XXII and XXIII Chapters of EXODUS The first word which we translate cumbrance signifies tediosam litigantium serram as Hottinger interprets it in his Smegna Orientale Lib. I. Cap. 6. the tedious Pleadings of those that manage Causes before a Judge by Bills and Answers suppose and Rejoynders c. Verse 13 Ver. 13. Take ye In the Hebrew it is Give ye i. e. present unto me such Persons as you think fit according to the following Characters Wise men and understanding and known among your Tribes Men of known Wisdom Prudence and Integrity skilful in Divine and Humane Laws See XVIII Exod. 21. Some take Wise men to signifie such as knew much and understanding such as had prudence to make use of their knowledge being Men of Experience and they were to be noted for both these otherwise the People would not have reverenced them Ver. 14. And ye answered me and said The thing Verse 14 which thou hast spoken is good for us to do This Consent of the People is not recorded before but sufficiently implied in their Submission to this Regulation mentioned XVIII Exod. 26. Ver. 15. So I took the chief of your Tribes wise men Verse 15 and known From among those Men that they presented to him he took I suppose such Persons among the chief of their Tribes as were endowed with the Qualities here named and were known by all so to be For obscure Persons either for Birth or Experience in Affairs would have been contemned and therefore he chose the noblest of those that were presented to him called here the chief of their Tribes if they were no less worthy than others For some such no doubt there were among their great Men as might be thought fit for this high Employment And they were the fitter because being Men of Quality as we speak they were less liable to
said unto their Fathers upon this occasion which he doth not mention in the Book of NUMBERS where we read only of his falling down before God that he might awaken this Generation to a greater confidence in God and a dread of his Judgment Dread not nor be afraid of them Do not consider so much how strong they are as how powerful the LORD your God is who hath promised you this good Land Verse 30 Ver. 30. The LORD your God which goeth before you In a glorious Pillar of Cloud and Fire He shall fight for you As he had done hitherto XIV Exod. 14. XVII 8 c. According to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes Why should you think he is less able to bring you into Canaan than he was to redeem you from Egypt where you were oppressed by very powerful Enemies Verse 31 Ver. 31. And in the Wilderness Ever since they came from thence through the Wilderness of the Red-Sea XIII Exod. 18. and the Wilderness of Sin XVI Exod. 1. and the Wilderness of Sinai XIX Exod. 1 2. and then through that terrible Wilderness of Paran See above v. 19. Where thou hast seen how the LORD thy God bare thee as a Man doth bear his Son The long Experience they had had of his tender care over them which was as indulgent as that of a kind Father towards his only Son when he is a Child whom he carries in his Arms should have made them confident of his gracious Providence for the future In all the way that ye went until ye came to this place He made provision for them in the most desolate places bringing them Water out of a Rock sending Bread down to them from Heaven defending them from wild Beasts and from their fiercer Enemies c. Ver. 32. Yet in this thing ye did not believe the Verse 32 LORD your God He could not prevail with them to trust God and go up as he commanded in his Power and Might to possess the Land Nor could all that Caleb and Joshua said at all move them XIV Numb 7 8 9. Ver. 33. Who went in the way before you Never Verse 33 failed constantly to direct and guide you in your Journeys XIII Exod. 22. To search you out a place to pitch your Tents in But always markt out your Encampments where they should be X Numb 17. In fire by night to shew you by what way you should go and in a cloud by day That they might be able to travel by Night as well as by Day which was most convenient in Summer time when the Sun was very scorching in a Wilderness where there was no shelter XIII Exod. 21. X Numb 16 21. Ver. 34. And the LORD heard the voice of your words They not only distrusted God v 32. but murmured against their Leaders and against God in Verse 34 a mutinous manner consulting to return into Egypt XIV Numb 1 2 3 4. And moreover spake of stoning Caleb and Joshua for their good Advice v. 10. And was wroth and sware saying Which so provoked the Divine Majesty that he irrevocably determined what follows confirming it with an Oath XIV Numb 21. Verse 35 Ver. 35. Surely there shall not one of these Men of this evil Generation see that good Land c. See XIV Numb 21 28 29. Verse 36 Ver. 36. Save Caleb the Son of Jephunneh And Joshua the Son of Nun. See XIV 24 30. and see below v. 38. He shall see it and to him will I give the Land that he hath trodden upon c. This was as exactly fulfilled as their disinheriting was XIV Josh 9 12. Where the particular Portion of Land is mentioned which God promised to him and which Joshua gave him in the Mountain where the Anakims dwelt For such was the wonderful Faith and Courage of Caleb that he doubted not to dispossess those whom the rest of the Israelites dreaded as invincible Verse 37 Ver. 37. Also the LORD was angry with me Not at that time but afterwards when they came into the Wilderness of Zin to another Kadesh XX Numb 1 12. For your sakes By occasion of their fresh discontents and mutinous upbraidings of him XX Numb 2 3 4. which provoked him so that he spake unadvisedly with his Lips as the Psalmist observes CVI Psal 31 32. This was an high aggravation of their guilt that they not only undid themselves but brought great Displeasure upon their worthy Leader and Governour whom they wearied with their Tumults and Rebellions Or the meaning may be which doth not much differ from the account now given that they murmuring in a tumultuous manner when they saw the Water did not flow out of the Rock at the first stroke he himself also was put into such a Commotion that he began to doubt and say God would do nothing for such a rebellious People though he had declared he would If this be true he soon recovered himself and smote the Rock again in confidence God would be as good as his word But God was so angry at the words he had spoken that he so far punished him for them as to deny him entrance into Canaan Saying Thou shalt not go in thither Which threatning is renewed a little before his death XXVII Numb 13 14. and he could not get repealed by any Entreaties as we read in this Book III. 26. Ver. 38. But Joshua the Son of Nun which standeth Verse 38 before thee i. e. Waits upon thee He shall go in thither So God promised when he as well as Caleb indeavoured to put Courage into the People to go and possess the Land XIV Numb 6 7 c. 30. Incourage him for he shall cause Israel to inherit it Not only go thither and have his Portion there but be the Captain of Israel and conquer the Land for them and divide it among them This intimates as if Joshua was afraid he might be excluded as well as his Master being extreamly troubled it is likely that he was not suffered to reap the Fruit of his long Labours Therefore God bids Moses incourage his hope and command him to take heart as we speak for undoubtedly he should do more than go into Canaan Which may be the reason why his Name is not put into the Exception v. 35 36. together with Calebs but they are mentioned separately because there was something to be said peculiar to each of them Verse 39 Ver. 39. Moreover your little ones whom ye said should be a prey See XIV Numb 31. Which in that day had no knowledge of good and evil And consequently did not provoke God by their Disobedience They shall go in thither c. Their innocence moved pity towards them though Children in some cases were cut off for their Fathers sins Verse 40 Ver. 40. But as for you turn you From the Land of Canaan to which they were not permitted to go And take your journey into the Wilderness And get you back again
Horites and the Moabites to the Emims and the Children of Ammon to the Zamzummims and the Caphtorims to the Avims By which their Fiaith might still be more confirmed that the People of Canaan though never so mighty should not be able to stand before them Ver. 25. This day will I begin to put the dread of thee Verse 25 and the fear of thee upon the Nations that are under the whole Heaven Especially upon the Canaanites wno were struck no doubt with Terror by this Conquest as they had been by all that befell the Egyptians II Josh 10 11. Who shall hear the report of thee This explains what he means by the hyperbolical expression before going the Nations under the whole Heaven that is as many as shall hear of these things And shall tremble and be in anguish because of thee As Women in travel are Ver. 26. And I sent Messengers out of the Wilderness Verse 26 of Kedemoth There is a City of this Name mentioned by Joshua XIII 18. from whence this Wilderness had its denomination Some take it to be the same with that called Jeshimon XXI Numb 20. Vnto Sihon King of Heshbon with words of peace A friendly Message desiring there might be no quarrel between him and the Israelites who desired nothing but the common Offices of Humanity Verse 27 Ver. 27. Let me pass through thy Land Which was the direct way to the Fords of Jordan I will go along by the high way Not turning into the Fields or Vineyards as it is expressed XXI Numb 22. In the Hebrew the word is doubled bederech bederech by the way by the way which seems to be a vehement affirmation to assure them they would not stir out of the High-way I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left Not step aside out of the common Rode called the King's High-way which was free for all People Verse 28 Ver. 28. Thou shalt sell me meat for money that I may eat c. They offered to pay for whatsoever they wanted which is included in Meat and Drink Only I will pass through on my feet Barely have a passage through his Country Verse 29 Ver. 29. As the Children of Esau which dwell in Seir and the Moabites which dwell in Ar did unto me He doth not mean that they granted Israel a passage through their Country but that they did not deny to sell them Meat and Drink for their Money as they passed by their Coasts Vntil I pass over Jordan unto the Land which the LORD our God giveth us This was said to move Sihon to consent to their desire by letting him understand they intended nothing against his Country being secure of a Settlement in the Land of Canaan unto which they prayed him to let them pass quietly Ver. 30. But Sihon King of Heshbon would not let us Verse 30 pass by him Refused to agree to this reasonable demand For the LORD thy God hardned his spirit and made his heart obstinate c. Gave him over to his own inflexible Humour which was set upon violent Courses from which God did not divert him because he intended to destroy him but rather ordered things so that his Mind should be inraged and disturbed and so unable to consider things prudently and discern what belonged to his peace which is the utmost that can be meant by hardning his Spirit and making his heart obstinate Which as it is a sin cannot be ascribed unto God but as it is a punishment might justly be inflicted by him upon Sihon for his former sins Ver. 31. And the LORD said unto me behold I Verse 31 have begun to give Sihon and his Land This was said when Moses saw him coming out to battle against them as it follows in the next Verse at which time he is said to begin to give them his Country because he had absolutely resolved it and it 's probable so confounded his Forces that they were as good as already conquered Before thee Into their Power that they might go into it at their pleasure Begin to possess that thou mayest inherit his Land In the same sense he bids Moses begin to possess i. e. prepare to take possession of it See III. 2. Ver. 32. Then Sihon came out against us he and all Verse 32 his people to fight at Jahaz See XXI Numb 23. Ver. 33. And the LORD our God delivered him before us and we smote him and his Sons and all his People They won the Field and killed him his Verse 33 Sons and all that came out to fight with them And R. Solomon saith his Sons were like himself very great Men. Verse 34 Ver. 34. And we took all his Cities at that time After this Victory they took his whole Country as is related XXI Numb 24 25. and the Cities belonging to it are mentioned XXXII 34 35 c. And utterly destroyed the Men and the Women and the little Ones of every City we left none to remain They being part of those wicked People the Amorites whom God had condemned to utter destruction For the Amorites came out of Canaan and took this Country from the Moabites and the Children of Ammon Verse 35 Ver. 35. Only the Cattle we took for a prey unto our selves c. They had the Divine Warrant for this no doubt as they had for the Extirpation of the People Verse 36 Ver. 36. From Aroer which is by the brink of the River Arnon This River divided Moab from the Kingdom of Sihon XXI Numb 13 24. upon which the City of Aroer stood which was now in the possession of Sihon though belonging formerly to the Moabites And from this City that is by the River This some take to be the City Ar XXI Numb 15. But I think these words should rather be translated even the City in the River meaning Aroer still as a remarkable place being incompassed with the River XII Josh 2. For Ar I think was never in the possession of the Amorites being the capital City of Moab Even unto Gilead Chapter III. For half of Gilead belonged to the Country of Sihon XII Josh 2. and given to the Tribe of Gad XV Josh 2. And the other half belonged to the Kingdom of Og as we read in the same place XII Josh 5. and was given to the half Tribe of Manasseh XIII Josh 31. Ver. 37. Only unto the Land of the Children of Ammon Verse 37 thou camest not That is into no part of their Country which was then in their possession but all that the Amorites had taken from them was given to the Gadites XIII Josh 25. Nor unto any place in the River Jabbok To no place beyond that River which was the Border of the Children of Ammon XXI Numb 24. XII Josh 2. Nor into the Cities of the Mountains Much less into the mountainous parts of the Country of the Amorites Nor unto whatsoever the LORD our God forbad us The words in the Hebrew are And all whatsoever the
13. And he declared unto you his Covenant which Verse 13 he commanded you to perform even ten Commandments These were the principal Laws which they covenanted with him to observe tho' afterwards he added others after the Tenor of which he made a Covenant with them XXXIV Exod. 27. And he wrote them upon two Tables of Stone XXIV Exod. 12. XXXIV 28. Ver. 14. And the LORD commanded me at that Verse 14 time to teach you Statutes and Judgments that ye might do them in the Land whither ye go over to possess it This doth not signifie that they themselves did not hear the Ten Words from Mount Sinai but were taught them by Moses as Maimonides fancies in the forenamed place for it plainly relates to the rest of the Laws which God immediately after gave him Exod XXI XXII XXIII It being their own desire that God would speak to them no more by himself but communicate the rest of his Will by Moses XX Exod. 19. And accordingly he told the People all the Words of the LORD and all the Judgments which he delivered to him XXIV Exod. 3. All this will appear more plainly from the next Chapter of this Book v. 22 c. It is a meer Imagination of those Jews who take the Statutes and Judgments here mentioned for their Oral Law as Aben Ezra R. Solomon R. Bechai and others do upon this place Who say That when God gave Moses the written Law he expounded it to him Which Exposition he delivered to Joshua and he to the LXX Elders c. so that it came down to them in a successive Tradition Ver. 15. Take ye therefore good heed to your selves for ye saw no manner of similitude on the Day that the Verse 15 LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the Fire He gives them a special Caution about this because the Nations of the World were so prone to make Images of their Gods which he expresly forbids in the Second Commandment Upon this Text the present Jews ground the Third Article of their Faith which is that God is incorporeal Verse 16 Ver. 16. Lest ye corrupt your selves By worshipping any thing but God himself alone Unto whom they being espoused the giving Divine Worship unto any thing else was such a Corruption as Adultery is in a married Woman And make you a graven Image the similitude of any Figure See the Second Commandment XX Exod. 3 4. The likeness of Male or Female The representation of God in Humane Shape is first forbidden because it was most common among the Heathens Therefore I cannot think this relates to the Egyptian Worship who honoured Oxen as sacred to Osiris and Cows as sacred to Isis Unto which Mr. Selden thinks the LXX had respect when they translated these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De Diis Syris Syntag. I. Cap. IV. Verse 17 Ver. 17. The likeness of any Beast that is on the Earth c. The word Or is to be here supplied and in all that follows in this manner Or the likeness of any Beast that is on the Earth or the likeness of any winged Fowl that flieth in the Air Where Col tzippor Canaph which we translate Any winged Fowl signifies all Birds and Insects that fly in the Air For in the shape of such Creatures also the Heathen represented their Gods or some of their Qualities For not only Oxen were sacred to Apis and Rams to Jupiter Ammon but Hawks and Eagles and even Beetles to other Deities Ver. 18. Or the likeness of any thing that creepeth on Verse 18 the Ground Nothing was more common among the Heathen than the Worship of Serpents Or the likeness of any Fish that is in the Waters The famous Dagon whom the Philistims worshipped was a Fish with an Humane Face Hands and Feet Certain it is the Syrians worshipped a Fish as Cicero tells us in his third Book of the Nature of the Gods Syri Piscem venerantur Which Mr. Selden thinks relates to the famous Goddess Atazgatis which is a word made out of the Hebrew Addir-dag i. e. magnificent or potent Fish See De Diis Syris Syntag. II. Cap. II. The Egyptians were famous in After-times for worshipping all sorts of Animals and if one could find they were so in the Days of Moses it might be assigned as the most probable Reason of his cautioning the Israelites against these things so particularly they being lately come out of Egypt Ver. 19. And lest thou lift up thine Eyes unto Heaven Verse 19 From hence I believe that common Speech among the Arabians was derived Take heed how thou gazest on the Splendor of the Stars Which is in the first Century of Arabick Proverbs set forth by Erpenius Prov. XXVIII who saith he knew not what to make of it But I take it to be a Caveat against Idolatry to which the ancient Arabians were addicted And when thou seest the Sun and the Moon and the Stars even all the Host of Heaven The most ancient Idolatry of all other seems to have been the Worship of the Sun and the rest of the heavenly Bodies which began among the Chaldaeans For there is not any God or Goddess among the ancient Gentiles but hath a respect to the Sun or the Moon as Gisbertus Cuperus hath very plainly demonstrated in his Harpocrates P. 87 c. 108 c. And a very learned Man of our own hath lately said a great deal on the same Subject See Appendix to the Antiquity of Palmyra Cap. IV. by Mr. A. Seller And Maimon More Nevoch P. III. Cap. XXX Shouldest be driven to worship them and serve them Drawn in enticed and deceived as Onkelos and the LXX translate it either by the instigation of some evil Genius or admiration of their Splendor or imitation of other Nations or a vain Opinion that some Divinity inhabits such illustrious Bodies or out of a Sense of the Benefits Mankind receive by them For the chief Philosophers themselves were led by their weak Reasonings into this Error as appears even by Plato who saith It is most just that the Heaven should be worshipped with all the Gods and Demons and that we should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. as he speaks in his Epinomis See Eusebius in his Praepar Evang. Lib. XIII Cap. XVIII where he shews how much better the Hebrews speak in this matter and quotes some Words of Plato out of a Work of his not now extant for the Explication of these Words of Moses And to make this Idolatry seem more reasonable some of the Philosophers asserted the Sun to be indued with Understanding and therefore is called by Proclus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The King of Intellectual Fire to distinguish it from other Fires which are without Understanding And from thence in one of the Coyns of Caracalla there is over the Sun surrounded with Rays the word PROVIDENTIA In short the World had been so long settled in this Worship that it was no easie matter when the
your God which he made with you and make you a graven Image c. For this Verse 23 was the principal thing in the Covenant that they should worship him alone Which is the reason it is so often repeated and was immediately after the delivery of the Law from Mount Sinai mentioned alone as if it was the only thing he had said unto them XX Exod. 22 23. Ye have seen that I have talked with you from Heaven Ye shall not make with me Gods of Silver neither shall ye make unto you Gods of Gold Ver. 24. For the LORD thy God is a consuming Verse 24 Fire So he appeared upon the Mount when he delivered his Laws from thence in flaming Fire XXIV Exod. 17. The learned Huetius thinks that from these Words of Moses the ancient Persians took up the Worship of Fire at first only as a Resemblance of God or a Symbol of him as Maximus Tyrius saith Dissert XVIII but afterwards as God himself Demonstr Evangel p. 94. Even a jealous God Who cannot endure any Rival in your Affection See XX Exod. 5. These were two awakening Arguments to keep them from Idolatry that God cannot endure it and will be very terrible in his punishment of it Ver. 25. When thou shalt beget Children and Childrens Verse 25 Children and shalt have remained long in the Land When they were very much multiplied and had been long settled in the possession of the Land of Canaan And shall corrupt your selves By the Worship of other Gods And make a graven Image or the likeness of any thing Which he had strictly prohibited and solemnly caution'd them to beware of v. 23. And shalt do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God to provoke him to Anger By imitating the idolatrous Customs of other Nations Verse 26 Ver. 26. I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you this Day A solemn kind of Asseveration that as surely as the Heaven and the Earth shall endure they should utterly perish That ye shall soon utterly perish from off this Land whereunto ye go c. As soon as the Measure of your Iniquity is filled up ye shall speedily be destroyed without Remedy Which the Hebrews refer to the Captivity by Salmaneser and Nebuchadnezzar after they had been almost Eight hundred Years in this Country and so might be said to have remained long in the Land Verse 27 Ver. 27. And the LORD shall scatter you among the Nations See XXVI Levit. 33. And ye shall be left few in number among the Heathen c. XXVI Levit. 22. Verse 28 Ver. 28. And there ye shall serve Gods the work of Mens Hands Wood and Stone c. The Idols of the Heathen To the Worship of which he threatens to abandon them as a punishment for their Apostasie from God And the Heathen sometime compelled them to worship their Gods as we read in the Third of Daniel Which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell This is a Description of the most stupid Idolatry to which they should be delivered if they fell from God See XXI Numb 29. Ver. 29. But if from thence than shalt seek the LORD thy God When they were scattered among the Heathen v. 27. Thou shalt find him if thou seek him with all thy Heart Verse 29 and all thy Soul If they then repented sincerely and became unfeigned Worshippers of the LORD their God alone he promises them forgiveness Ver. 30. When thou art in tribulation and all these Verse 30 things are come upon thee In great distress by the execution of the foregoing Threatnings Even in the latter Days In future Times or in their most declining State The Jews themselves apply this to the present State wherein they now are and have been many Years as appears by the ancient Nitzacon set forth lately by Wagenseil p. 254. where he saith the whole Nation must repent before God send Deliverance unto them If thou turn to the LORD thy God and shalt be obedient to his Voice The great end of punishment was to convert them and make them more observant of God's Commands Ver. 31. For the LORD thy God is a merciful God Verse 31 See XXXIV Exod. 6 7. XIV Numb 17 18. He will not forsake thee neither destroy thee c. He promises not to cast them off nor destroy them utterly tho' they were utterly thrown out of their Land v. 26. but restore them to his Favour according to the Covenant made with their Fathers and confirmed by an Oath XVII Gen. 19. XXII 16 17. See XXVI Levit. 44 45. Ver. 32. For ask now of the Days that are past which Verse 32 were before thee since the day that God created Man upon the Earth c. Turn over the Annals of the whole World from one end of it to the other ever since it was made and search whether thou canst find any thing like to that which God hath done for you Which R. Isaac thus glosses in his Munimen Fidei lately set forth by Wagenseil p. 103. From the Creation of the World till their going out of Egypt there were passed Two thousand four hundred and forty eight Years and yet in all that long Tract of Time there never were seen or heard in any part of the World such prodigious Miracles as were wrought to bring them out of Egypt and afterward in leading them through the Red Sea raining Manna on them and the appearance of the Divine Majesty at Mount Sinai c. Verse 33 Ver. 33. Did ever People hear the Voice of God speaking out of the midst of Fire as thou hast heard and live Here was a double or rather tripple Prodigy never heard of before that God should speak to them audibly and distinctly so long as to inform them in their Duty towards himself and one another and this out of the midst of devouring Flames and without the least hurt to any one of them XX Exod. 18. XX. 18. XXIV 17. Verse 34 Ver. 34. Or hath God assayed to go and take him a Nation from the midst of another Nation Another Wonder never before heard of that God by two Men alone Moses and Aaron should demand the Delivery of a Nation under the Power of another Nation far greater and stronger than themselves and effect it also by no other Means but such as here follow By Temptations This word may be thought to signifie the grievous Trials of the Israelites whose Miseries were increased after the first Attempt for their Deliverance which seemed to them a strange way of proceeding V Exod. 19 22 23. But by Temptations may in this place be in general meant Miracles as the Hebrews understand it and the Chaldee word Tenessin signifies This and the two following words being of the very same import with the three words in the New Testament which we often meet withal and seem to be taken from hence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 With Miracles Wonders and Signs II Act. 22. 2 Corinth XII II Hebr.
This was the great Promise made to their Fathers that he would make their Posterity as numerous as the Stars of Heaven and the Dust of the Earth XV Gen. 5. XXII 17. XXVIII 14. He will also bless the Fruit of thy Womb. Preserve them from Miscarrying that so they might multiply And the Fruit of thy Land thy Corn and thy Wine and thine Oyl By giving them Rain in due Season c. See XXVI Levit. 4 5. The increase of thy Kine The Hebrew Word Segar which we translate Increase the LXX Vulgar and Syriac render the Herds But Onkelos and Jonathan translate it as we do the young ones which the Mothers bring forth See Bochart P. I. Hierozoicon L. II. Cap. XXX And the Flocks of thy Sheep The Hebrew Word Ashtaroth comprehends Focks both of Sheep and of greater Cattle as the same Bochart observes P. 1. Hieroz L. III. Cap. XLIII and in his Canaan Lib. 2. Cap. 2. where he observes that the Goddess Astarte in those Countries was thought to preside over Flocks of Sheep and Herds of Oxen. Ver. 14. And thou shalt be blessed above all People Verse 14 He promises to make them as singular for his Favours as they were in their Laws and manner of Living There shall not be Male or Female barren among you or among your Cattle See XXIII Exod. 26. Ver. 15. And the LORD will take away from thee all Verse 15 Sickness Or remove from them the common Diseases and Infirmities of Mankind so that they should die in a good old Age as the Scripture Speaks which tended manifestly to their Increase and Multiplication And will put none of the evil Diseases of Egypt which thou knowest upon thee Neither those Blotches or Boils which God by an immediate Hand smote them withal IX Exod. 9. XV. 26. Nor any other which they in that Country were subject unto peculiarly their filthy Ulcers called Aegyptiaca and Syriaca as Casaubon observes upon Persius Sat. V. p. 467. with which the Priests of Isis were wont to threaten and terrify poor People if they did not worship her In Opposition to which our very learned Dr. Spencer thinks God made this special Promise to his People to preserve them from all such evil Diseases if they kept themselves pure from that Egyptian Idolatry Which is very ingenious if the Worship of Isis was so ancient as the Days of Moses See L. I. de Legibus Hebr. Ritual Cap. III. And will lay them upon all them that hate thee And thereby disable them to hurt his people Ver. 16. And thou shalt consume all the people which Verse 16 the LORD thy God shall deliver thee Utterly destroy all the people of Canaan when they had Conquered them as he commanded them before v. 7. Thine eyes shall have no pity upon them The reason of this severity was because of their abominable wickedness as I there observed Neither shalt thou serve their Gods for that will be a snare unto thee In the Hebrew and thou shalt not serve their Gods c. This severity was used to prevent their being inticed by them to their Idolatry if they had suffered them to live among them Verse 17 Ver. 17. If thou shalt say in thine heart these Nations are more than I how shall I dispossess them If such a diffidence began to arise in their hearts as possessed their fore-fathers XIV Numb Verse 18 Ver. 18. Thou shalt not be afraid of them but shalt well remember what the LORD thy God did unto Pharaoh and unto all Egypt He requires them immediately to expel all fear by Faith in God which the remembrance of what God had done for them if seriously reflected on might well work in them Verse 19 Ver. 19. The great temptations which thine eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the mighty hand c. Of all these he had put them in mind before IV. 34. and now renews the remembrance of it that the experience they had of Gods power and goodness might banish all fear out of their hearts Verse 20 Ver. 20. Moreover the LORD thy God will send the hornet among them Raise up enemies which they think not of to infest them that is unusual swarms of hornets and of an unusual bigness it 's like which came like an Army upon them See XXIII Exod. 28. Vntil they that are left and hide themselves from thee be destroyed Which should pursue those that fled from the Israelites and sting them to Death in their lurking Holes Ver. 21. Thou shalt not be afrighted at them Let Verse 21 all this inspire you with Courage For the LORD thy God is among you a mighty God and a terrible The Sovereign of the World of whose Goodness you have had such long Experience dwells among you and conducts and leads you wheresoever you go And who can stand before him See XVII Exod. 7. Ver. 22. And the LORD thy God will put out these Verse 22 Nations before thee by little and little Thou mayst not consume them at once lest the Beasts of the Field increase upon thee Be not discouraged tho' they be not destroyed all at once There is great Reason against that concerning which see XXIII Exod. 21. where this Verse is explained Ver. 23. But the LORD thy God shall deliver them Verse 23 unto thee and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction until they be destroyed In time he will deliver them all up into thy Hands and thou shalt so over power them as to leave none of them remaining Ver. 24. And he shall deliver their Kings into thy Verse 24 hand As he did we read in the Book of Joshua XII 7 8 9 c. where XXXI Kings are enumerated who were conquered by him And thou shalt destroy their Name from under Heaven There shall no Memory of so much as the Names of such Men be left any where There shall no Man be able to stand before thee until thou have destroyed them The Kings and great Men of the Country being destroyed their Victory was easier over the rest Verse 25 Ver. 25. The graven Images of their Gods shall ye burn with Fire This he had required before v. 5. but mentions it again to let them know that if they did not perform their part of the Covenant of which this was the chief God would not destroy the Inhabitants of Canaan totally As we find he did not II Judg. 2 3. and for this very Reason as Joshua had told them XXIII 12 13. Thou shalt not desire the Silver and Gold that is upon them The Jews are too nice and curious who expound this only of the Gold and Silver Clothes or the Chains or other Jewels of Gold and Silver wherewith their Images were adorned because he saith upon them There is no reason to doubt but he means that they should be destroyed if they were entirely made of massy Gold and Silver which they were not to convert to their own use For thus Moses did
the Jews did not differ in its form or substance from that which commonly fell in those Countries and doth so at this Day But herein consisted the Miracle that he gave it them in a prescribed Measure and so abundantly as to suffice such a vast Number and that every Morning in all Seasons of the Year This made it a Divine Manna for the common fell only in small Quantities and not always but at some times in the Year That he might humble thee This word is commonly understood of humbling by Affliction which may seem not to belong to Manna For that was a singular Benefit being an excellent Nourishment and of a delicious Taste But they having nothing else beside this to live upon were soon tired with it as we find XI Numb 6. and much more did it seem an Affliction to them to live upon one thing alone for forty Years together And God intended by it to humble them at the same time that he was extraordinary kind to them And that he might prove thee Whether they would be thankful that they were not starved and submit to his wise Providence and obey his Laws which they had the greater reason to observe because it was evident they owed their very Life and Being to him every Moment For without new Supplies every Day from Heaven they had been famished in that desolate Wilderness And do thee good at thy latter end That in Conclusion his kindness to them might be more thankfully received and more safely enjoyed So Maimonides expounds this Passage in his More Nevochim P. III. Cap. XXIV God was pleased to accustom them to labour in the Wilderness that he might increase their happiness when they came into the Land of Canaan For this is certain A transition from labour to rest is far sweeter than continual rest Nor could they so easily have subdued the Land and overcome the Inhabitants of it unless they had indured some hardship in the Wilderness For rest and idleness takes away Mens Courage but labour and hard fare augments it And this is the good saith he which was in the issue to redound to them by this wise dispensation of God's Providence Verse 17 Ver. 17. And thou shalt say in thine heart my power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth Such vain Conceits are apt to arise in Mens minds if they preserve not a sence of God and of all his Mercies to them Verse 18 Ver. 18. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth Continually call to mind that they owed all they had and the increase of it to his Almighty Providence without whom they could never have gotten possession of this Land nor have prospered in it That he may establish his Covenant which he sware unto thy Fathers c. He would have them sensible of their own unworthiness also which would make them more grateful to him of all the Blessings God had bestowed on them and acknowledge them to his meer goodness and fidelity to his Promises for they had been a murmuring and rebellious People Ver. 19. And it shall be if thou do at all forget the Verse 19 LORD thy God Luxury and Pride the usual effects of Fulness naturally made them unthankful and unmindful of God And neglect of God's Service made them easily fall to Idolatry And walk after other Gods and worship and serve them The two last Expressions are the Explication of the first for then they walked after the Idols of the People as Onkelos paraphrases it when they worshipped and adored them It is evident by this that the drift of Moses in all this Discourse is as I observed before to press upon them the first and great Commandment I testifie against you this day that ye shall utterly perish See IV. 26. Ver. 20. As the Nations which the LORD destroyeth Verse 20 before your face He speaks in the Present Tense because he was about to destroy them and when he began he destroyed them by little and little VII 22. and there were still more to be destroyed So shall ye perish because ye would not be obedient to the voice of the LORD your God It was but just that they should perish as those Nations did because they fell into their Sins Chapter IX CHAP. IX Verse 1 Verse 1. HEar O Israel He begins a new Exhortation to them at some distance of time from the former but still aiming at the same thing to represent to them the danger of Idolatry Thou art to pass over Jordan this day That is shortly not long hence for it cannot be meant precisely all these things being spoken in the eleventh Month of the last Year of their Travels and they passed not over Jordan till the first Month of the next Year Between which and this time Moses died and they mourned a whole Month for him To go in to possess Nations A Country inhabited by Nations for the People themselves they were to destroy Greater and mightier than thy self Whom notwithstanding God would deliver up into their Hands Cities great and fenced up to Heaven As the Spies had represented them I. 28. and they were indeed very strong Cities whose Walls could not easily be scaled Verse 2 Ver. 2. A People great and tall XIV Numb 28 32. The Children of the Anakims whom thou knowest Who seem to have been the chief of those Nephilim or Rephaim which we sometimes translate Giants in those parts XIII Numb 22 28 33. Of whom thou hast heard say who can stand before the Children of Anak A common Proverb in those days The Children of Anak being so famous that the whole Nation as Bochartus thinks took it's Name from them For Bene-Anak i. e. Children of Anak or Pheneanak is easily changed into Phaenicia These Anakims were vanquished by Joshua who drove them out of the Cities where they dwelt and made them flee to the Philistims Where a Remnant of them seem'd to have liv'd till the days of David For Goliah and his Brethren Lahmi Sippai and Ishbibanob 1 Chron. XX. 4 c. were Anakims and so was that Man with six Toes on each Foot and six Fingers on each Hand 2 Sam. XXI 16. for they were all born at Gath which was one of the Cities to which the Anakims fled XI Josh 22. Some think that from hence Kings among the Greeks were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because commonly they chose those to rule over them who were Persons of a great Stature and carried Majesty in their Faces But it is not improbable as I observed before that some of the Anakims fled into Greece and settled there when they were driven out of Canaan Ver. 3. Vnderstand therefore this day Settle this Verse 3 therefore in your Minds before you go over Jordan as undoubted truth That the LORD thy God is he that goeth before thee Over Jordan III Josh 3 4 c. As a consuming fire Before
whom none can stand IV. 24. He shall destroy them and he shall bring them down before thy face See III Josh 10 11. The Hebrews have a conceit that the Fire which burnt upon the Altar appeared in the Form of a Lion to show what God would be to their Enemies if the Israelites obeyed him otherwise what he would be to them So shalt thou drive them out and destroy them utterly as the LORD hath said unto thee Not the whole seven Nations intirely whom he said God would drive out by little and little VII 22. but so many as to make a Settlement for themselves in Canaan without much difficulty Verse 4 Ver. 4. Speak not in thine heart after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out When this is done do not so much as entertain a Thought For my righteousness hath the LORD brought me in to possess this Land Nothing is more dangerous than Pride and Self-conceit And therefore as he taught them before VIII 7. to have an humble Opinion of their own Power so now not to arrogate any thing to themselves on the account of their own Righteousness But for the wickedness of these Nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee XVIII Lev. 24 25 27 28. Verse 5 Ver. 5. Not for thy righteousness or the uprightness of thine heart dost thou go to possess their Land but for the wickedness of these Nations c. and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy Fathers c. It was of great moment which makes him repeat it again that they should understand the true Causes why God expelled these Nations and gave their Land to the Israelites which were these two First The abominable wickedness of the Canaanites for which they deserved to be rooted out Secondly God's gracious Promises to the pious Ancestors of the Israelites with whom he made a Covenant and confirmed it with an Oath to plant them there in the room of the former Inhabitants Ver. 6. Vnderstand therefore that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good Land to possess it for thy Verse 6 righteousness He repeats it a third time that if it were possible he might root out of the Israelites the Opinion of their own Deserts before he rooted the Canaanites out of their Country For thou art a stiff-necked People So far from being Righteous that they were very Refractory Of which God often complained XXXII Exod. 9. XXXIII 3 5. and Moses acknowledges it in his Prayer to God for them XXXIV 9. Ver. 7. Remember and forget not how thou provokedst Verse 7 the LORD thy God to wrath in the Wilderness In order to destroy the Opinion of their own Righteousness it was necessary to call to mind some of their most notorious Provocations which he exhorts them carefully to preserve in their Mind as a Means to keep them humble From the day that thou didst depart out of the Land of Egypt until you came to this place ye have been rebellious against the LORD This appears by the many Murmurings we read of in the two first Years after they came out of Egypt and likewise in the last of which only we have a particular Account but their behavour all the rest of the time they spent in the Wilderness was no better Ver. 8. Also in Horeb ye provoked the LORD to Verse 8 wrath Or rather Even in Horeb for there is an Emphasis in this and he speaks it with some Indignation when they had newly received the Law and had a visible Appearance of God in great Glory upon Mount Sinai and had entred into Covenant with him they so shamefully revolted from him that he thought to have destroyed them XXXII Exod. 7 8 c. Verse 9 Ver. 9. When I was gone up into the Mount to receive the Tables of Stone even the Tables of the Covenant which the LORD made with you See XXIV Exod. 11. Then I abode in the Mount forty days and forty nights I neither did eat bread nor drink water See XXIV Exod. 18. XXXIV 28. Verse 10 Ver. 10. And the LORD delivered unto me two Tables of Stone written with the finger of God See XXXI Exod. 18. According to all the words which the LORD spake with you in the Mount See XXXIV Exod. 28. Out of the midst of the fire in the day of the Assembly When the whole Body of the People were assembled and heard God speak these Ten Words out of the midst of the Fire See IV Deut. 10 11 12 13. Verse 11 Ver. 11. And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights that the LORD gave me the two Tables of Stone c. That is having given him the two Tables as was said before v. 10. Verse 12 Ver. 12. The LORD said unto me Immediately after he had delivered to him the Tables XXXI Exod. 18. XXXII 7. Arise get thee down quickly from hence for the People which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves c. See XXXII Exod. 7 8. Verse 13 Ver. 13. Furthermore the LORD spake unto me saying I have seen this People and behold it is a stiff-necked People Who will not bend to the Yoke of my Laws XXXII Exod. 9. Ver. 14. Let me alone Do not make any Intercession to me for them That I may destroy them and blot out their Name from under Heaven and I will make of thee a Nation Verse 14 greater and mightier than they See XXXII Exod. 10. Ver. 15. So I turned and came down from the Mount Verse 15 See XXXII Exod. 15. And the Mount burnt with fire Was all in a flame in token of God's high displeasure against them and as if he intended presently to consume them And the two Tables of the Covenant were in my hand XXXII Exod. 15. Ver. 16. And I looked and behold ye had sinned against Verse 16 the LORD your God and had made you a molten Calf About which he found them dancing XXXII Exod. 19. Ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which the LORD had commanded you For a few Weeks before he had commanded them with his own Mouth not to make to themselves any graven Image c. XX Exod. 4. And immediately after commanded Moses to repeat this Precept particularly to them Not to make with him Gods of Silver or Gold v. 22 23. Ver. 17. And I took the two Tables and cast them Verse 17 out of my two hands and brake them before your eyes By God's order no doubt in token that they had broken his Covenant and were unworthy to be owned by him for his People XXXII Exod. 19. or that the Covenant was made void and God no longer engaged to them Ver. 18. And I fell down To pray God for Pardon though not presently but after he had broken the Calf in pieces reproved Aaron and made a Verse 18 slaughter among the People XXXII Exod. 20 21 c. As at the first When he
shows how they should proceed against any particular Person who apostatized from God Ver. 3. And hath gone and served other gods and Verse 3 worshipped them either the Sun or Moon or any of the Host of Heaven The most ancient Idolatry of which Abarbinel makes account there were ten sorts was the Worship of the Heavenly Bodies as I have observed before IV. 19. and see XXXI Job 26. The forenamed Doctor indeed places first the Worship of Angels about which I will not dispute but only observe that by condemning those who worshipped the Host of Heaven though very glorious Creatures Moses suggests plainly enough how vile they were who worshipped Images of Wood and Stone Which I have not commanded This is a way of speaking in this Language importing the quite contrary which God had forbidden and that most strictly See XVII Prov. 21. XXIV 23. and many other places Ver. 4. And it be told thee Thou hast had information Verse 4 of such wickedness And thou hast heard it and enquired diligently Upon information they were to make diligent search whether the Report were true or no. And behold it be true and the thing certain They were not to proceed upon Rumours nor yet to slight them but endeavour to be satisfied whether or no there was ground for them And if upon Examination they found there was no doubt of the Truth of the thing to do as is here directed That such abomination is wrought in Israel So Idolatry is frequently called See XIII 14. Verse 5 Ver. 5. Then thou shalt bring forth that man or that woman which have committed that wicked thing unto thy gates Set them before the Court of Judgment in the City to which they belonged See XVI 18. For particular Persons were tried and sentenced in the lower Courts but a Tribe or a City accused of Idolatry only by the highest Court of all as Maimonides and the rest of the Jewish Doctors inform us See Selden Lib. III. de Synedr Cap. IV. N. 3. and Cap. V. N. 1. And shalt stone them with stones that they die This was the Punishment of a particular Person as a City fall'n to Idolatry was to be killed with the Sword and a false Prophet who seduced others to Idolatry to be strangled See XIII 5. Verse 6 Ver. 6. At the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses shall he that is worthy of death be put to death No Man could be convicted but by two Witnesses at least and those of a competent Age of good Fame and not convicted themselves of having born false Witness c. Many other Qualifications of lesser moment the Jews required in a Witness which Mr. Selden reports and the reason of them Lib. II. de Synedr Cap. XIII N. 11. But at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death Because Chapter though the Witness was never so credible it was possible he might be mistaken But it was not likely that two or three honest Men agreeing in the same Testimony should all be deceived Yet in pecuniary Matters the Hebrew Doctors say the Testimony of one credible Witness was sufficient to put a Man to his Oath for his Purgation And they set a Mark of Infamy upon him who in such Matters as are here spoken of had such a single Witness against him See Maccoth Cap. I. Sect. VIII and J. Coch his Annotations there Ver. 7. The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him Verse 7 to put him to death This was great reason that they might thereby still confirm the Truth an Certainty of their Testimony by being the first Executioners of the Sentence Which no Men would easily venture to be who were not sure they had testified the Truth And afterwards the hands of all the people From hence some infer that he was to be put to death at a publick Feast So shalt thou put away the evil from among you See XIII 5. Ver. 8. If there arise a matter too hard for thee in Verse 8 judgment Now he returns to speak of the Courts of Judgment which he had ordered to be erected in all their Cities when they came into the Land of Canaan XVI 18. who might find some Causes to be so difficult that they could not determine them Between blood and blood The Jews I think interpret this absurdly concerning menstruous Women and the Tokens of Virginity See Mr. Selden Lib. III. de Synedr Cap. II. when there is a plain and obvious meaning of these words that there might be a doubt whether a Man had committed wilful Murder or only casual and consequently whether he should have the benefit of the City of Refuge or be taken from it Between plea and plea. As the former words belong to Criminal Causes so these to Civil such as Suits about Debts or Purchases of Lands or Houses c. Between stroke and stroke It doth not seem reasonable to me that this should be interpreted of the Leprosie which is often called a Plague or Stroke though the Jews so understand it for that was to be judged solely by the Priests whereas he speaks also of other Judges Therefore the meaning is concerning any wound or hurt that was done to a Man in his Body About which if the Judges could not agree but were divided in their Opinions either about the Fact it self or about the Punishment to be inflicted an Appeal was to be made to an higher Court Being matters of controversie Or Contention and Strife That is Disputes arising about them which could not be determined by the Judges in those Courts below Within thy gates Where God commanded Judges and Officers to be settled XVI 18. and therefore here he speaks of the Inferiour Courts of Judgment that were in the lesser Cities of their several Tribes Then thou shalt arise and get thee up unto the place which the LORD thy God shall chuse Where the Supreme Court was settled in the chief City of the Kingdom While they continued in the Wilderness the Captains of Thousands and Hundreds and Fifties and Tens whom Moses constituted by the advice of Jethro judged the Causes of the People under Moses himself to whom God joyned Seventy Persons for his Assistance all hard Causes being brought before him But this Authority of the Captains lasted no longer than during their Pilgrimage in the Wilderness for when they came to Canaan the Law as I now observed required Judges and Officers to be ordained in every City Who if there fell any difference about the Law are here ordered to repair to the place where the Sanctuary was for there the highest Court sat as the Successors of Moses and his Consistory of Seventy Elders mentioned XI Numb 16 24 c. who judged all difficult Causes while he lived Ver. 9. And thou shalt come unto the Priests the Levites Verse 9 and unto the Judge Who must be supposed to be resident in this place where the Sanctuary was And these words the Priests
XXVIII Jer. 11. or Prophecies in the name of an Idol suppose Baal all these were to be put to Death by the Sentence of the Court of Judgment But he that suppressed his Prophecy like Jonah or despised the words of a Prophet or did not observe his own words were to be punished by the Hand of Heaven See Selden Lib. III. de Synedr Cap. VI. N. I. Ver. 21. And if thou say in thine heart how shall we Verse 21 know the Word which the LORD hath not spoken Which was but a reasonable question there being as great care necessary not to hearken to falshood as to be attentive unto Truth And this relates unto such Prophets as came to them in the Name of the LORD For if a Man came in the name of any other god there needed no other Mark to discover him to be an Impostor Ver. 22. When a Prophet speaks in the Name of the Verse 22 LORD Predicting some wonderful thing to come to pass as a Token he is sent of God to deliver what he speaks to the People If the thing follow not nor come to pass that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken For if the LORD had sent him he would have accomplished what he gave as a sign of his Mission which not coming to pass he was proved to be a false Prophet who spake out of his own heart and not the Word of the LORD But here the Jews distinguish between a Prophet who predicts evil things as Famine or Pestilence c. and one that predicts good things as Rain when there is great need of it and fruitful years c. Though the Predictions of the former sort did not come to pass he was not to be reputed presently a false Prophet because God is very merciful and often repented him of the evil as he did in the Case of Nineveh But in the latter Case if any one of the good Things he foretold did not come to pass he was to be taken for a Deceiver which they understand also of the very time and place when and where he said the things he predicted should be fulfilled and here they bring in the example of Hananiah the Son of Azur mentioned before XXVIII Jer. 11. And see v. 8 9. of that Chapter But this doth not give us the true difference for both God's Promises and Threatnings many times depend upon a Condition as appears from that famous place in the Prophet XVIII Jerem. 7 8 9. So that the good Things a Prophet foretold might not come to pass and yet he might be a true Prophet because the People proved unworthy of them and God did not absolutely intend them Therefore the true meaning seems to be That if a Prophet foretold such a Thing as the Power of Nature cannot produce and gave it as a sign God sent him who would justifie his Mission by doing that wonder and the Thing did not come to pass he was to be lookt upon as not a Man of God For example when Moses threw his Rod on the ground and said it should become a Serpent if it had not been turned into a Serpent he had been convicted of Falsity Or a Prophet said Fire should come down from Heaven and consume the Sacrifice which lay before him which was the case of Elijah if it had not come down he would have been no more owned for a true Prophet than the Prophets of Baal And as Maimonides well observes if a Prophet's words were fulfilled in one or more Things he was not to be judged a true Prophet unless every Thing he spake in the Name of God came to pass Which he proves from those words concerning Samuel 1 Sam. III. 19 20. The LORD let none of his words fall to the ground And all Israel knew that Samuel was established to be a Prophet of the LORD The Jews also made this addition to the Rule forementioned of trying Prophets as Mr. Selden observes Lib. III. de Synedr Cap. V. N. III. That whatsoever Prophet had the Testimony of another undoubted Prophet was to be taken for a true Prophet By which Rule they might have known the great Prophet whom God promised to them in the foregoing Verses For John the Baptist whom the whole Nation took for a Prophet testified to them that JESUS was the Christ. And besides all other undoubted Marks of his being sent of God his rising from the Dead which he himself foretold was enough to satisfie all Men of the Truth of what he said For though every Prediction of what afterwards comes to pass will not necessarily prove a Man to be a true Prophet yet the fulfilling of a great number of Things not one of which fails as was said before of Samuel especially of such a Thing as this which was impossible to be brought to pass but by an Almighty Power is an uncontroulable Evidence of a Divine Mission R. Solomon upon this Verse hath a Note which is worth our Observation though it be not to the purpose of Moses his words A Prophet saith he that bids thee not observe some of the Precepts is not to be heard unless he be known to be a Man of eminent Vertue and upright Life as Elijah was who bid them build an Altar on Mount Carmel even when Sacrifices upon High-places were forbidden But there was a necessity for it that he might restore the true Worship of God in Israel Which should have made them hearken to our blessed Saviour better than they did he being so perfectly holy and pure that he challenged any of them to charge him with Sin especially when he only laid aside some of their vain Traditions but conformed to all the Rites of Moses So that if in conclusion we should grant that Moses in the 15th and 16th c. Verses speaks of all the Prophets that should succeed him which it is certain he doth not principally intend the Jews were impious in rejecting our Saviour who came as a Prophet to them and had all the Marks that a Prophet could have of his being sent from God But the Prophet hath spoken it presumptuously For it was an act of high Presumption and arrogant Pride for any Man to pretend a Commission from God when he had not sent him Which was done two ways as the Jews interpret this either when a Man spake in the Name of God that which was false or when he pretended that to have been spoken to him which was revealed by God to another See XXII Jerem. 30. Both these were impudent Impostors and accordingly to be treated Thou shalt not be afraid of him Have no reverence or regard to him though he be never so confident Nor be afraid to lay hold of him and endeavour to bring him before the Sanhedrim to have their Sentence pass upon him as the Jews understand it though he have never so powerful an Interest to support him and preserve him from punishment Thus Maimonides in the forenamed Preface
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
shall the Plagues of Babylon the great come in one day In one hour her great riches shall come to nought XVIII Revel 8 10 17. Verse 36 Ver. 36. For the LORD shall judge his people Plead their cause as the Scripture elsewhere speaks L Jerem. 34. and deliver them from the Oppression of their Enemies as this Phrase is often used in the Book of Psalms VII 8. X. 18. And repent himself for his servants Have mercy upon them as the Vulgar truly expresses the sense and turn his Hand which punishes them upon their Enemies See L Jerem. 20. LI. 24. When he sees that their power is gone That they are not able to help themselves That 's the due time or season before-mentioned for God to interpose when the Enemies of his People think themselves irresistible there being none able to oppose them And there is none shut up or left Some refer this to Persons and others to Things and either way it signifies their Condition to be so forlorn that they could do nothing either by Men or by Money for their deliverance J. Forsterus translates these words Custoditum aut neglectum i. e. precious or vile By which wonderful deliverance and restoration when they were so totally destitute of all help all the World was given to understand that there is no God like unto the LORD Ver. 37. And he shall say Or It shall be said Where are their gods their rock in whom they trusted Verse 37 It is dubious whether these words be directed to the Jews or to the Gentiles who had oppressed them It seems most agreeable to take them as a Reproach to the Enemies of the Jews who had long bragg'd of the Power of their gods and ascribed all their Success to them v. 27. who now could not deliver them in their distress Ver. 38. Which did eat the fat of their Sacrifices and Verse 38 drank the wine of their Drink-offerings For the same Rites were used among the Gentiles as among the Jews who offered all the Fat upon the Altar and there poured out the Wine which accompanied the Meat-offering c. See XV Numb The LXX refer this to the Worshippers themselves and translate it thus agreeably enough to the Hebrew The fat of whose Sacrifices ye eat and drank the wine of their Drink-offerings And Onkelos to the same purpose Let them rise up and help you and be your protection From the Calamity which was unavoidably coming upon them XLVI Isa 1 2 7. LI Jerem. 17 18. Ver. 39. See now Open your Eyes now at last Verse 39 and be convinced by your sad Experience of your Error That I even I am he That it is I and none but I who have made these Changes in the World first making you Instruments in punishing my People and now inflicting the like Punishments upon you LI Jerem 24 25 49. The words in the Hebrew being I I am he the Author of the Old Nitzacon was sensible that we Christians might hence observe that there are two who are here called God the Father and the Son And therefore takes care to inform his Reader that there are not two first principles of things Which as no Christian is so foolish as to affirm so their own Authors have acknowledged more Persons than one here called God Thus Jonathan in his Paraphrase plainly supposes another Person in the Divinity whom he calls the WORD when he thus explains this Verse When the WORD of the LORD shall reveal himself to redeem his People he shall say to all People I am he that have been and am and shall be See I Revel 8. and by my WORD kill and make alive I smote the People of Israel and I will heal them in the end of the days Which makes these words a plain Prophecy of the Messiah and him to be God And so the Hierusalem Targum See that I now am he in my WORD and there is no God besides me I am he who kill the living in this World and raise the dead in the World to come c. And there is no god with me As I have no Superiour so neither have I any Equal I kill and I make alive I wound and I heal If I please to destroy any People for their sins none can hinder me and if any repent and implore my Mercy I restore them to perfect safety R. Isaac in his Chissuk Emuna P. I. Cap. VI. Sect. XX. alledges these words as a Prophecy of the Resurrection of the dead in the days of the Messiah And in another place Cap. X. he alledges them as an effectual Confutation of those ancient Hereticks who imagined two Supream Powers one of them the Author of all Good and the other the Author of all Evil which I observed upon XVI Levit. to have been a very ancient Opinion For there could not be they fancied the same Care which had an influence upon both To remove which false conceit God declares I kill as well as make alive c. And for the same reason he saith in XLV Isa 7. I form the light and create darkness I make peace and create evil I the LORD do all these things Neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand Nor can any reverse the Judgment that I pass upon Men. Ver. 40. For I lift up my hand to Heaven Swear Verse 40 solemnly to do what follows viz. be revenged on his Enemies as well as deliver his People Thus Abraham anciently sware XIV Gen. 22. And when God promised to bring the Israelites into Canaan he is said to lift up his hand VI Exod. 8. IX Nehem. 15. From whence some think the word promittere is derived signifying to engage by stretching out the hand and that from thence sprang the Custom of stretching out and lifting up their Hand when they sware Which the Gentiles practised as those known words of Virgil inform us Aeneid XII Suspiciens Coelum tenditque ad sydera dextram When God therefore is said to lift up his Hand to Heaven the meaning is he swears by himself as it here follows And say I live for ever As sure as I live Ver. 41. If I whet my glittering Sword Make all Verse 41 things ready for the execution of my Judgments And my hand take hold of judgment I begin to punish I will render vengeance to mine Enemies None shall stop my proceedings to be fully avenged of them And will reward them that hate me For as Jeremiah speaks LI. 56. The LORD God of Recompences will surely requite For it is the vengeance of the LORD as he speaks in the foregoing Chapter concerning Babylon L. 15. take vengeance upon her as she hath done do unto her Verse 42 Ver. 42. I will make mine Arrows drunk with blood and my sword shall devour flesh Make an exceeding great slaughter XXXIV Isaiah 5 6. With the blood of the slain and of the Captives This signifies none should be spared for they should be killed who
the Blessing wherewith Jacob his Father blessed them in a Land of Corn c. And so the Hierusalem Targum making more express mention of the word Fountain Israel shall dwell by himself securely from the Fountain of Benediction wherewith Jacob blessed them in a Land producing Wine and Oil and the Heavens above are commanded to send Dews and Rain upon them Ver. 29. Happy art thou O Israel He was not Verse 29 able further to express their Happiness and therefore breaks out into admiration of it exciting them thereby to be deeply sensible of it and affected with it Who is like unto thee Who had the LORD for their God as he said before v. 26 c. and IV. 7 8. A People saved by the LORD Who have been redeemed by his mighty Power So the Hierusalem Targum Whose Redemption I suppose he meant out of Egypt is from the presence of the LORD Who had preserved them ever since and would still protect them as it here follows This R. Isaac in Chissuk Emuna P. I. Cap. XVIII saith signifies the Spiritual Blessings God bestowed on them For true Felicity saith he doth not consist in Victory over Enemies and Plenty of Corn or such like things of which he had spoken before in the foregoing Verse but in the Salvation of the Soul of which no Nation in the World was secure but the Jews Which made Moses saith he break out into these words O happy People saved by the LORD As much as to say among all People is there any saved like to thee This he saith because Christians were wont to tell them that they fixed their Minds wholly on the Corporal Felicity which their Law promised them which made him look about to find out all that he could draw to an higher sense And he fixes so much upon these words that he repeats it again a little after that the Salvation here promised is everlasting And yet his Eyes could not be opened to see that this Salvation was to be brought to them by the MESSIAH and that our LORD Jesus is he whose Gospel is as full of such Promises as their Law is of the Promises of Corn and Wine and Oil. The shield of thy help To defend them from all the Assaults of their Enemies He adds this saith the same R. Isaac to show that they to whom he promises Spiritual Blessings are not thereby put out of hope of Temporal For the People that are saved by the LORD have him also for their Shield and their Sword as it here follows And who is the sword of thy excellency To cut their Enemies in pieces so that they should glory and boast in magnificent Victories over them Or as Onkelos translates it From his presence are all the Victories of thy valiant Men. And thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee Find themselves deceived in all their vain hopes of saving themselves or hurting the Israelites Or should be so afraid of them that with feigned Stories they should court their Friendship as the Gibeonites did Or more simply should submit to them though not heartily yet out of fear as this Phrase is used XVIII Psal 44. LXVI 3. and other places And thou shalt tread upon their high places Upon the Necks of their Kings as both Onkelos and the Hierusalem Targum understand it taking bamoth here for great Men in high stations And thus Joshua did as we read X Josh 21. Chapter XXXIV But this word commonly signifies either strong holds or places of idolatrous worship which neither their great men nor their gods themselves should be able to preserve from ruin CHAP. XXXIV Verse 1. AND Moses went up Having thus declared Verse 1 his affectionate Concern for the Happiness of every one of them he took his leave of the Elders and all the People and went up whither God had commanded him XXXII 49 c. From the plains of Moab In which was their last station before they entred into Canaan XXXIII Numb 48 49 50. Where God delivered several Commands to them XXXV Numb 1. XXXVI 13. and where Moses spake to them what we read in this Book I Deut. 5. Vnto the Mountain of Nebo Which was the highest part of the Mountain of Abarim as appears from XXVII Numb 12. compared with XXXII Deut. 49. Near to which there was a City of the same Name XXXII Numb 38. XV Isa 2. To the top of Pisgah Which was the very top of the Mountain Nebo See III Deut. 27. XXI Numb 20. That is over against Jericho A famous City on the other side of Jordan I see no ground to believe that the People of Israel accompanied him hither as Josephus tells the story with so many tears that Moses wept also and having beseeched them not to take his Departure so heavily he dismissed them together with the Elders and remained there alone And the LORD Or as Jonathan hath it the WORD of the LORD who had accompanied him with his blessed Presence through the Wilderness Showed him all the Land of Gilead unto Dan. God had often promised him that he should see the good Land promised to their Fathers though not be permitted to enter into it XXVI Numb 12. III Deut. 27. And now fulfils his word and gives him a full prospect of it bidding him first look Northwards through the whole Land of Gilead which comprehends all that was given to the two Tribes and half on this side Jordan where they now were to the Land of Naphtali which was in the upper Galilee beyond the Sea of Genesaret as far as to the utmost Northern Border which was then called Laisch and afterwards Dan XIX Josh 47. XVIII Judg. 28. and in latter times Cesaraea Philippi The mention of Dan which was not the name of this place till after that Tribe had conquered Laish in the time of the Judges shows that this was not written at the same time with the rest of this Book no more than what we read v. 5 6 10. of his Death and Burial c. unless we suppose Moses to have given an account of his own Death and Burial by the Spirit of Prophecy which is not probable but it is most likely by Samuel who was a Prophet and wrote by Divine Authority what he found in the Records which were left by Joshua and others who succeeded him who gave an account of Moses his leaving the World and of all that was done after till the end of the time of the Judges Ver. 2. And all Naphtali and the Land of Ephraim Verse 2 and Manasseh Having seen the Northern Parts he bad him turn his Eyes towards the Midland Country where Ephraim and Manasseh were situated And all the Land of Judah Which lay Southerly Vnto the utmost Sea By which some understand the Salt Sea which lay on the South-Border of the Land of Judah XXXIV Numb 3. But then there will be no mention of the Western Part of Canaan which lay upon the Mediterranean or Midland
represented as Plutarch tells us in his Book de Iside Osiride But whether in such ancient times as this of Moses it may be justly doubted Wood and Stone Silver and Gold Generally they were made of Wood or Stone which sometimes were silvered or gilded over And if any of them were made of massy Silver or Gold yet being liveless things they were no more able to afford them any help than the Dung on the Earth And it was an abominable thing to look upon dead matter as a god or to think he made his habitation there which was the opinion of the better sort of Heathen or would be represented by them they having no likeness at all unto him Ver. 18. Lest there should be among you man or woman Verse 18 or family or tribe These words are to be connected with v. 15. as the principal end why he engaged every Soul of them to renew their Covenant with God that none of them might revolt from him to serve any other god And the order wherein he places these words show that Idolatry is of a very infectious nature spreading it self strangely from single Men and Women unto Families and at last into whole Tribes Whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God Who had a hankering as we now speak after other gods which might afterwards break out into Idolatry To go and serve the gods of these Nations When the heart i. e. the Mind Will and Affections are depraved Men easily find occasions to follow whither they lead them And by this it appears that the principal part of the Covenant was to keep them close to the Worship of one God and no other as I have often observed VI. 4. VII 2 25. IX 1 c. Lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood Many take a root here to signifie an evil principle which the Apostle calls an evil heart of unbelief III Hebr. 12. But the words going before in this Verse and those that follow in the next plainly lead us to take it for any Person lurking secretly among them like a root under ground that was tainted with Idolatry who might poison others therewith and in time bring forth the fruits of their Impiety which he calls gall and wormwood Where it must be observed that the Hebrew word Rosch which we translate Gall properly signifies an Herb growing among Corn as bitter as Gall. Which in X Hosea 4. we translate Hemlock and commonly in Scripture is joyned with Wormwood as it is here IX Jerem. 15. III Lament 19. VI Amos 12. Unto which Idolatry is compared because it is most ungrateful and distastful if I may so speak unto God and produces bitter effects that is most grievous Punishments unto Men. Verse 19 Ver. 19. And it come to pass when he The Man spoken of before under the name of a root of bitterness Heareth the words of this Curse Against Idolatry which Moses engaged every one of them to renounce by making a Solemn Covenant with God to Worship him alone and dreadful Imprecations upon themselves if they did not make good this Covenant v. 12 14 15 16. XXVII 15. That he bless himself in his heart Secretly fancy none of these Curses shall fall upon him but quite contrary promise himself all manner of happiness Saying I shall have peace Prosper and be happy Though I walk in the imagination of mine heart Or in the stubborness of mine heart as it is in the Margin That is resolve to worship what God I best fancy To add drunkenness to thirst In the Hebrew the words are as the Margin of our Bibles observes the drunken to the thirsty for both words are Adjectives as Grammarians speak and supposing a Substantive to support them many think none so proper to be understood as the word Earth Which makes this a Proverbial Speech to add the wet ground to the dry and thirsty or rather the thirsty to the wet For the Particle beth which in the Hebrew is the Note of the Accusative Case is put before the word dry or thirsty and therefore that 's the thing which is to be added to the wet or drunken not the drunken to the dry And the sense is draw others into the same wickedness just as if a drunken Man should draw sober Persons to play the fool with him and do as bad as himself or after one piece of Land is overflowed the Water should be let into that which is dry and spoil that also For this seems to be the meaning of the whole Verse If a Man shall be so presumptuous as not only to cry peace to himself when he runs after his own Devices in serving other gods but endeavours to draw others into the same wicked practices There are a great many other Interpretations of these words seven or eight given by the Hebrew Doctors besides others in Christian Writers which may be seen in Coccejus in his Vltima Mosis Sect. 134. But this seems to me the most easie at which the Chaldee aims and the LXX if the Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be omitted which is not in the Hebrew or the Chaldee nor the Vulgar Latin And if we take the words as we translate them only inverting them add thirst unto drunkenness the sense is as easie viz. add more sins to the foregoing XXX Isa 1. and to be still inflamed as the Scripture speaks with love to more Idols after the Service of many of them increasing their Altars as Hosea speaks like heaps in the furrows of the field X Hos 1. XII 11. Dr. Jackson in his first Book upon the Creed Chapt. XXX Paragr 4. thinks the meaning is that Posterity added to the wickedness of their Ancestors For they being cast out of their good Land for their Infidelity and Disobedience their Posterity saith he continue Exiles and Vagabonds for their stubborness in like Practices not being willing to this day to offer up the Sacrifice of a contrite heart for their disobedience past but rather adding thirst to drunkenness bless themselves when they hear the words of that Curse promising peace to themselves though they walk on according to the stubborness of their fore-fathers hearts Verse 20 Ver. 20. The LORD will not spare him That is not pardon or pass by his wickedness without punishment But then the anger of the LORD and his jealousie shall smoak against that man These words import the highest degree of Anger That is the severest Plagues which are the effects of the Anger of an incensed Majesty And all the Curses that are written in this Book Particularly in the foregoing Chapter Shall lye upon him Not only fall but remain upon him to his utter ruin as it follows in the next words And the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven By his name is meant himself so that this is a threatning of Destruction to him and his Posterity till there be no memory of him left Ver.
21. And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the Tribes of Israel Though he offended Verse 21 never so secretly for he speaks of one that blessed himself in his heart c. v. 19. God threatens to make him a publick and notorious Example of his Vengeance to all the People of Israel According to all the Curses of the Covenant that are written in the Book of the Law It was a singular condescension in the Divine Majesty to enter into Covenant with them but it contained not only Blessings to the obedient but Curses upon the disobedient the latter of which were as certain as the former Ver. 22. So that the Generations to come of your Children Verse 22 that shall rise up after you and the stranger that shall come from a far Land shall say That which follows v. 24. When they see the Plagues of that Land This shows that these Threatnings are denounced not meerly against a simple Idolater but such an one as made it his endeavour to draw others from the Worship of God not being content to be drunk himself with Heathenish Superstition but zealous to intoxicate as many as he could with it and to root true Religion out of the Nation And the sicknesses which the LORD hath laid upon it In the Hebrew it is The sicknesses wherewith he hath made it sick i. e. the heavy Punishments which he hath inflicted upon it and thereby made it a miserable Nation Ver. 23. And that the whole Land is brimstone and salt and burning Or as it may be translated Is burnt up with brimstone and salt For these make Land Verse 23 barren and unfruitful as Pliny particularly observes of Salt Lib. XXX Cap. VII Omnis locus in quo reperitur Sal sterilis est nihilque gignit All ground in which Salt is found is barren and produceth nothing See IX Judges 45. CVII Psal 34. XVII Jerem 6. XLVII Ezek. 11. II Zephan 9. That it is not sown nor beareth nor any grass groweth therein That neither Nature nor Art will make it fruitful Like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah Admah and Zeboim And the Country about them which was the most beautiful of all other in that part of the World XIII Gen. 10. but on a sudden turned into a filthy stinking Lake where no Creature neither Fish nor Fowl can live Which the LORD overthrew in his anger and in his wrath Being highly incensed by their wickedness See Gen. XVIII 20. XIX 24 25. as he was by the wickedness of the Jews which was the more provoking because they had such an example of his Vengeance continually before their eyes and yet went on in their evil ways till they brought the like Judgment upon all Judoea This was more exactly fulfilled in the last destruction of the Jews by the Romans than in their first by the Babylonians For the whole Land was laid waste and deserted by its Inhabitants and made a Den of Thieves being brought to desolation by repeated returns of Wars More especially in the time of Adrian when Julius Severus as I observed upon the foregoing Chapter made such a devastation that the whole Country was turned in a manner into a Wilderness Ver. 24. Even all Nations shall say All that were near them or came that way from far Countries as it goes before v. 22. Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this Land Verse 24 Which he formerly made so populous and plenteous And what means the heat of this great anger These exceeding dreadful Calamities which evidently proceeded from a Divine Vengeance For the Jews fought so valiantly and defended Jerusalem so resolutely as appears by Josephus that the Author of Schebet Juda had reason to say that it was not want of Arms nor the unusual terrour of new Machines but the Anger of God provoked by their Wickedness which was the true and only Cause of their destruction And indeed Titus himself said as much that God fought for the Romans and drove the Jews from their Fortifications 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for what could the hands of Men or Machines have done against such strong Towers See Chap. XXXII v. 22. Ver. 25. Then shall men say because they have forsaken Verse 25 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 This account must be supposed to be given by the pious Jews or by those who were made sensible when it was too late how stedfast God was in his Covenant which contained Curses as well as Blessings as was before observed v. 21. And see VII 9 10. XI 26 27 28. Ver. 26. For they went and served other gods and Verse 26 worshipped them whom they knew not This aggravated their sin that they sought for acquaintance with strange gods directly contrary to the Covenant of God XII 30 31. And whom he had not given unto them Or as it is in the Margin had not given or divided to them any portion that is never bestowed any benefit upon them as the LORD their God had done who brought them out of Egypt Or more simply as Bootius thinks the words will bear to whom no worship belonged Verse 27 Ver. 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 So Moses foretold them VII 4. XI 16 17. Verse 28 Ver. 28. And the LORD rooted them out of their Land in anger and wrath and in great indignation Here is one word more to express his displeasure against them than was used before when he speaks of the destruction of Sodom c. v. 23. And they all denote the great Plagues threatned in XXVI Levit. and in the foregoing Chapter of this Book And cast them into another Land as it is this day This may seem to relate only to their Captivity in Babylon for after they were rooted out by the Romans they were scattered into all Lands XXVIII 63 64. But considering what goes before v. 23 24. and that they were not quite rooted out many of them remaining in the Land when Nebuchadnezzar conquered them till the desolation made by the Romans I think these words relate to them also and another Land is only the singular number as is usual for the plural And so the Author of Schebet Juda understood it who quoting these words cast them out into another land adds which experience now proves to be true Verse 29 Ver. 29. The secret things belong unto the LORD our God but those that are revealed belong unto us and to our Children for ever c. The Jews generally take these words to be meant of the punishment of secret sins particularly of Idolatry spoken of before v. 19. which belongeth unto God as the punishment of open sins belonged unto them in obedience to his Law who commanded them to put to death him that seduced any Person to Idolatry and to raze the