Deuteronomy 11 commentary

Observe the connexion of these two; Thou shalt love the Lord, and keep his charge. Love will work in obedience, and that only is acceptable obedience which flows from a principle of love, 1Jo 5:3. Moses recounts some of the great and terrible works of God which their eyes had seen. What our eyes have seen, especially in our early days, should affect us, and make us better long afterwards.

Moses sets before them, for the future, life and death, the blessing and the curse, according as they did or did not keep God's commandment. Sin tends to shorten the days of all men, and to shorten the days of a people's prosperity. God will bless them with an abundance of all good things, if they would love him and serve him. Godliness has the promise of the life that now is; but the favour of God shall put gladness into the heart, more than the increase of corn, and wine, and oil. Revolt from God to idols would certainly be their ruin. Take heed that your hearts be not deceived. All who forsake God to set their affection upon any creature, will find themselves wretchedly deceived, to their own destruction; and this will make it worse, that it was for want of taking heed.

Let all be directed by the three rules here given. 1. Let our hearts be filled with the word of God. There will not be good practices in the life, unless there be good thoughts, good affections, and good principles in the heart. 2. Let our eyes be fixed upon the word of God, having constant regard to it as the guide of our way, as the rule of our work, Ps 119:30. 3. Let our tongues be employed about the word of God. Nor will any thing do more to cause prosperity, and keeping up religion in a nation, than the good education of children.

Moses sums up all the arguments for obedience in two words, the blessing and the curse. He charged the people to choose which they would have. Moses then appointed a public and solemn proclamation of the blessing and curse, to be made upon the two mountains of Gerizim and Ebal. We have broken the law, and are under its curse, without remedy from ourselves. In mercy, the gospel again sets before us a blessing and a curse. A blessing, if we obey the call to repentance, to faith in Christ, and newness of heart and life through him; an awful curse, if we neglect so great salvation. Let us thankfully welcome these glad tidings of great joy; and let us not harden our hearts, but hear this voice of God while it is called to-day, and while he invites us to come to him upon a mercy-seat. Let us be diligent to make our calling and election sure.

1. Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God. The whole address has this scope, that the people should testify their gratitude by their obedience, and thus being allured by God’s bounties, should reverently embrace His Law. On this account also, he requires them to love God, before he exhorts them to obey the Law itself. For, although he might have imperiously and menacingly commanded them, he preferred to lead them gently to obedience, by setting before them the sweetness of His grace. In sum, he exhorts them that, being invited by God’s love, they should love him in return. Meanwhile, it is well to observe that free affection is the foundation and beginning of duly obeying the Law, for what is drawn forth by constraint, or servile fear, cannot please God. He designates the precepts of the Law by various names, in order that they may zealously and attentively apply themselves to listen to God, who has omitted nothing calculated to regulate their life; for, by this variety of words, he signifies that God had familiarly and perfectly taught whatever was required. As to the three latter words, “his statutes, and judgments, and commandments,” what I have observed in Genesis and in the Psalms may be referred to. The word משמות, משמרת. A. V., charge. The LXX. keeps closest to the Hebrew idiom, φυλάξη τὰ φυλάγματα ἄυτου. — W. meshamroth, or guards, (custodiae,) which here stands first, is spoken in commendation of the Law on this ground, that it fences in our life, as it were, with rails, lest it should be exposed to errors on the right hand and on the left,. At the end of the verse he exhorts them to perseverance, because it was not allowable for the recollection of their deliverance ever to cease.

2. And know ye this day. He again confirms the preceding sentence; because they had been more than sufficiently taught by the illustrious acts of God, how great was His power and how remarkable His mercy toward themselves. Two meanings may be given to the words; for some connect them thus, “Know ye this day the chastisement of the Lord,” and include in a parenthesis the clause, “for I speak not with your children, which have not known, and have not seen;” but others read the word of exhortation “know ye” separately, and Tellement que tont le reste va son train. — Fr. without any connection. The latter view pleases me best; although it little affects the substance of the matter which exposition we follow. For Moses admonishes them, that, if they only pay attention to the works of God, His glory, which may instruct them to fear Him, may be clearly beheld in them. In order, however, to urge them more vehemently, he adds, that he does not speak to posterity, to which the fame of these miracles would reach, but that he addresses eye-witnesses, who need no proof of them, having been assured of them by certain experience. He celebrates in many expressions of eulogy these miracles, whereby God had testified to them His power and goodness, lest they should lightly pass by what was worthy of their most earnest attention, and constant meditation. I forbear now to speak of other points, which I have elsewhere commented on. The word מוסר מוסר S.M. has rendered this word castigatio. V., disciplina. The root is יסר; and both the root and noun meaning to correct and correction, will sometimes mean to chastise, etc. — W musar, which stands first, is general, and extends to all the specific terms that follow; some, therefore, improperly render it “chastisement.” Where it is said at the end of verse 4, that the Egyptians were “destroyed unto that day,” we must understand that the effects of the slaughter, wherewith God destroyed them, were felt as if still present.

5. And what he did unto you. These things will be spoken of in their proper place in the regular course of the history, from which my method of teaching has compelled me to wander a little. For Moses, to heighten the authority of the Law, sets before them compendiously the circumstances which had occurred in the desert, partly in order that God’s judgments might alarm them by their severity, and partly that His mercies might draw their minds towards Him by their graciousness. Finally, he concludes by saying that he does not speak of unknown things, but that he merely recalled to their recollection the works of God whereof they had been themselves spectators.

DEUTERONOMY 8

Deuteronomy 8:1-6

1. All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers.

1. Omne praeceptum quod ego praecipio tibi hodie, custodietis ut faciatis, ut vivatis, et multiplicemini, et ingrediamini ut possideatis terram de qua juravit Jehova patribus vestris.

2. And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

2. Meminerisque totius vim per quam deduxit to Jehova Deus tuus jam quadraginta annis in deserto, ut affligeret to ac tentaret to, ut sciret quid haberes in corde tuo, utrum observaturus esses praecepta ejus, annon.

3. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.

3. Et afflixit te, ac esurire te fecit, postea pavit te Man, quod non noveras, neque noverant patres tui: ut scire faceret te quod non in pane solo vivet homo, sed omni eo quod egreditur ex ore Jehovae vivet homo.

4. Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.

4. Vestimentum tuum ne quaquam veteravit super re, neque pes tuus intumuit jam quadraginta annis.

5. Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee.

5. Sciasque in corde tuo quod quemadmodum erudit homo filium suum, sic Jehova Deus tuus erudit re.

6. Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.

6. Et custodies praecepta Jehovae Dei tui, ut ambules per vias ejus, et timeas eum.

Deuteronomy 11

Deuteronomy 11:8, 9

8. Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land whither ye go to possess it;

8. Custodite ergo omne praeceptum quod ego praecipio vobis hodie, ut roboremini, et ingrediamini, possideatisque terram ad quam vos transitis ut possideatis cam.

9. And that ye may prolong your days in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give unto them, and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

9. Atque ut prolongetis dies super terram quam juravit Jehova patribus vestris se daturum illis et semini eorum, terram fluentem lacte et melle.

16 Take heed to yourselves. By often inculcating the same thing, viz., that they should diligently take heed, he indirectly arraigns man’s proneness to superstition; and this too is again expressed in the words, “that your heart be not deceived;” for by them he signifies, that unless they take diligent heed to themselves, nothing will be more easy than for them to fall into the snares of Satan. Wherefore the impudence of the Papists is the less excusable, who intoxicate their own and others’ minds with security, when God constantly exhorts them to solicitude. Let us learn, then, that since many impostures and deceits besiege us on every side, we shall in the vanity of our nature be liable immediately to fall into them, unless we carefully guard ourselves. By the expression “turn aside,” he implies what has been before said, that whosoever declines to corrupted worship, impiously falls away from the true God. Unbelievers but little think so, for with them it is a light transgression to exceed in this respect; and they would wilfully blind the eyes of God with their inventions (commentis), nay, there is nothing too silly for them to desire to be approved of, and sanctioned by God. But if it be objected that obedience is better than sacrifice, they shield themselves under the cover of their good intention, as if God were not at liberty to repudiate what they foolishly obtrude upon Him. At any rate, they so pertinaciously indulge themselves in their inconsiderate zeal, that they will hardly acknowledge the slightest fault in it. But, on the other side, God declares that all are apostates who do not confine themselves to the simplicity of the Law. A threat is again added, that God will avenge the violation of His worship, and will curse their land, until He shall destroy them by dearth and famine; and, finally, He pronounces that they shall perish off that land which God had promised them to the end that He might be there purely worshipped.

Deuteronomy 16

Deuteronomy 16:22

22. Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which the LORD thy God hateth.

22. Non eriges tibi statuam: quod odio habet Jehova Deus tuus.

18. Therefore shall ye lay up these my words. He again demands their serious attention, lest if the doctrine he propounds should be only lightly and carelessly received, it should speedily be let slip; for to lay up in, or on, the heart, is the same as to hide deeply in it; although, where the word “soul” is added, the “heart” refers to the mind, or the intellectual faculties. In fine, he commands them to have the Law not only impressed on the mind, but embraced with sincere affection. In the next place, he commands that aid to the memory which we have just considered, viz., that they should wear the precepts on the arms and foreheads; as if God should constantly meet them, to arouse their senses. For (as has been said) God had no regard to the bands themselves, but would have them seen on their arms and foreheads for another object, viz., C’est de renouveler aux enfans d’Israel la pensee, qu ils devoyent avoir de s’enquerir de sa volonte;” to renew in the children of Israel the care they ought to have in inquiring as to His will. — Fr. to suggest and renew their care for religion. Again, He appointed them to occupy the place of ornaments, in order to accustom the people to take their chief delight in meditating on the Law. Thus that foolish ambition is sufficiently refuted, when hypocrites sought after a reputation for holiness by their fringes and other fopperies, as well as that gross error of the whole people, in thinking that they discharged their duty to God by their outward dress. What follows afterwards, that the precepts should be written on the gates of their cities, and on their private houses, tends to the same thing; for we have said, that since men’s minds are prone to vanity, and are easily distracted by innumerable allurements, they have need of such stays to hold them back. And this object is plainly expressed, when He commands them severally to speak of the precepts of the Law, whether they are sitting at home, or going abroad, or lying down, or rising up; because without diligent exercise, it usually happens that whatever men have once learnt is soon lost. He adds, also, another effect of this diligence, viz., that not only should each of them consult their own individual advantage, but also teach their children, whereby God’s Law would ever be maintained in rigor by perpetual succession.

DEUTERONOMY 27

deuteronomy 27:1-4, 8

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

1. Et praecepit Moses et seniores Israelis populo, dicendo, Custodi omnia praecepta quae ego praecipio vobis hodie.

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

2. Erit, quo die transieritis Jordanem ad terram quam Jehova Deus tuus dat tibi, statues tibi lapides magnos, et lines calce.

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

3. Et scribes in illis omnia verba Legis hujus, quum transieris ut venias in terram quam Jehova Deus tuus dat tibi, terram fluentem lacte et melle: sicut loquutus est Jehova Deus patrum tuorum tibi.

4. Therefore it shall be, when ye be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaster them with plaster.

4. Erit ergo quum transieritis Jordanem, statuetis lapides istos de quibus ego praecipio vobis hodie, et lines eos calce.

8. And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly.

8. Et scribes in lapidibus omnia verba Legis hujus (ad verbum, bene) distincte explicando.

26. Behold, I set before you this day. He now embraces the two points at once, viz., that they would be blessed if they earnestly apply themselves to the keeping of the Law, and cursed, if they shake off its yoke and revel in their lusts. But, when he says that he here sets before them a blessing and a curse, it is as much as to declare, that he does not merely tell them what is right, but that the reward is prepared if they obey; and if not, that the punishment is also at hand. Thus we see, that the doctrine which he had hitherto delivered is sealed by hope and fear, since they would not lose their labor if they obeyed it, nor be unpunished if they rejected it. But, that they may learn surely to embrace the promises and to fear the threatenings, he repeats what we have met with before, Added in Fr., “Plusieurs fois.” that God, who is both a faithful rewarder, and a severe judge, is the Author of the Law; yet at the same time he magnifies his own ministry, Added in Fr., “Disant que c’est luy qui commande apres Dieu;” saying that it is he who commands after God. since it behooved them to depend upon God, and to acquiesce in His commandments, in such a manner as still to submit themselves to His Prophet. For such is men’s pride, that they desire to fly above the clouds to listen to God; whilst He would be heard in His servants, by whose mouth He speaks. Moses, therefore, would again enforce upon them this humility, when he states that he enjoins what God has commanded, as if to call himself the organ of the Holy Spirit.

29. And it shall come to pass, when the Lord. I have lately expounded a similar passage, which, although it is subsequent in the order observed by Moses, yet, inasmuch as it sets out the matter more clearly, I have not hesitated for perspicuity’s sake to put first. I said that God’s intention was, whilst appointing the Israelites to proclaim their own condemnation, to lay them under more solemn obligation to keep the Law. If He had Himself declared His will through the Levites only, they ought indeed to have been seriously affected, and to have listened with reverence both to the blessings and the curses; but when each of them testifies with his own mouth what the Levites dictated by God’s command, the introduction of this assent, as a solemn ratification, The Latin word used by C. is a legal one, ratihabitio, explained by Du Cange by “confirmatio, occurring more than once in the Digest, and in more modern writers.” — Adelung’s Gloss. Man., in voce. was more efficacious in awakening their zeal and attention. A more fitting season, however, for this protest was after they had entered the promised land than as if it had been made in the plain of Moab; for the sight of the land tended to its confirmation, as if they had been brought into court to make a covenant with God.

These “Ebal and Gerizim are two closely adjoining mountains, separated by a narrow valley, about a furlong in breadth, in which stands the town of Naplous, the ancient Shechem. This beautiful valley, covered with olive woods and corn fields, has Mount Gerizim on the south, and Mount Ebal on the north. The two mountains are, according to Buckingham, nearly equal in altitude, neither of them exceeding seven or eight hundred feet above the level of the valley, but much more above the level of the sea, as the whole country here is considerably elevated.” — Illustrated Comment on Deuteronomy 27:4. two mountains are situated opposite to each other, in such a manner that the two divisions of the people might easily stand to bless and to curse, so that they might in concert approve of the promises and threats of God.

30. Are they not on the other side of Jordan. Although the form of interrogation is common in Hebrew, yet in this place Moses affirms more vehemently than as if he had only stated directly that these mountains were in the land of Canaan; for he wishes to encourage them in the confidence of entering the promised inheritance; just as he adds immediately afterwards, “Ye shall pass over Jordan.” For, although they had already experienced the miraculous power of God in the conquest of the Amorites, and in heir occupation of the land of Bashan, yet such was their incredulity, that it was necessary constantly to dissipate their fears, so that they might lay aside all hesitation, and boldly prepare to advance. Finally, he founds an exhortation upon this great goodness of God; for the actual enjoyment of the land ought to have stimulated them the more in the service of God, because they were made to inherit it for the purpose of keeping the Law.

Leviticus 26

Leviticus 26:3-13

3. If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;

3. Si in decretis meis ambulaveritis, et praecepta mea servaveritis, et feceritis ea:

4. Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

4. Dabo pluvias vestras tempore suo, dabitque terra fructum suum, et arbores agrorum dabunt fructum suum.

5. And your thrashing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing-time; and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.

5. Apprehendetque vobis tritura vindemiam, et vindemia apprehendet sementem: comedetisque panem vestrum ad saturitatem, et habitabitis confidenter in terra vestra.

6. And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid; and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.

6. Dabo namque pacem in terra, et dormietis, neque erit exterrens: auferamque bestias malas e terra, et gladius non transibit per terram vestram.

7. And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.

7. Et persequemini inimicos vestros, cadentque coram vobis gladio.

8. And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

8. Persequentur quinque ex vobis centum, et centum ex vobis decem millia persequentur: et corruent inimici vestri coram vobis gladio.

9. For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.

9. Vertam enim me ad vos, et crescere faciam vos, atque multiplicabo vos, stabiliamque pactum meum vobiscum.

10. And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new.

10. Et comedetis vetus inveteratum, et vetus propter novum educetis.

11. And I will set my tabernacle among you, and my soul shall not abhor you.

11. Et ponam tabernaculum in medio vestri, neque abominabitur vos anima mea.

12. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.

12. Ambulabo autem in medio vestri, eroque vobis in Deum, et vos eritis mihi in populum.

13. I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bond-men; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.

13. Ego Jehova Deus vester qui eduxi vos de terra Aegypti, ne essetis illis servi: et confregi lora jugi vestri, et incedere feci vos erecta facie.

CHAPTER 11

De 11:1-32. An Exhortation to Obedience.

1. Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge--The reason for the frequent repetition of the same or similar counsels is to be traced to the infantine character and state of the church, which required line upon line and precept upon precept. Besides, the Israelites were a headstrong and perverse people, impatient of control, prone to rebellion, and, from their long stay in Egypt, so violently addicted to idolatry, that they ran imminent risk of being seduced by the religion of the country to which they were going, which, in its characteristic features, bore a strong resemblance to that of the country they had left.

2-9. I speak not with your children which have not known ... But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did--Moses is here giving a brief summary of the marvels and miracles of awful judgment which God had wrought in effecting their release from the tyranny of Pharaoh, as well as those which had taken place in the wilderness. He knew that he might dwell upon these, for he was addressing many who had been witnesses of those appalling incidents. For it will be remembered that the divine threatening that they should die in the wilderness, and its execution, extended only to males from twenty years and upward, who were able to go forth to war. No males under twenty years of age, no females, and none of the tribe of Levi, were objects of the denunciation (see Nu 14:28-30; 16:49). There might, therefore, have been many thousands of the Israelites at that time of whom Moses could say, "Your eyes have seen all the great acts which He did"; and with regard to those the historic review of Moses was well calculated to stir up their minds to the duty and advantages of obedience.

10-12. For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out--The physical features of Palestine present a striking contrast to those of the land of bondage. A widely extending plain forms the cultivated portion of Egypt, and on the greater part of this low and level country rain never falls. This natural want is supplied by the annual overflow of the Nile, and by artificial means from the same source when the river has receded within its customary channel. Close by the bank the process of irrigation is very simple. The cultivator opens a small sluice on the edge of the square bed in which seed has been sown, making drill after drill; and when a sufficient quantity of water has poured in, he shuts it up with his foot. Where the bank is high, the water is drawn up by hydraulic engines, of which there are three kinds used, of different power, according to the subsidence of the stream. The water is distributed in small channels or earthen conduits, simple in construction, worked by the foot, and formed with a mattock by the gardener who directs their course, and which are banked up or opened, as occasion may require, by pressing in the soil with the foot. Thus was the land watered in which the Israelites had dwelt so long. Such vigilance and laborious industry would not be needed in the promised land. Instead of being visited with moisture only at one brief season and left during the rest of the year under a withering blight, every season it would enjoy the benign influences of a genial climate. The hills would attract the frequent clouds, and in the refreshing showers the blessing of God would especially rest upon the land.

14. the first rain and the latter rain--The early rain commenced in autumn, that is, chiefly during the months of September and October, while the latter rain fell in the spring of the year, that is, during the months of March and April. It is true that occasional showers fell all the winter; but, at the autumnal and vernal seasons, they were more frequent, copious, and important; for the early rain was necessary, after a hot and protracted summer, to prepare the soil for receiving the seed; and the latter rain, which shortly preceded the harvest, was of the greatest use in invigorating the languishing powers of vegetation (Jr 5:24; Joe 2:23; Am 4:7; Jas 5:7).

15-17. I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle--Undoubtedly the special blessing of the former and the latter rain [De 11:14] was one principal cause of the extraordinary fertility of Canaan in ancient times. That blessing was promised to the Israelites as a temporal reward for their fidelity to the national covenant [De 11:13]. It was threatened to be withdrawn on their disobedience or apostasy; and most signally is the execution of that threatening seen in the present sterility of Palestine. MR. LowthIAN, an English farmer, who was struck during his journey from Joppa to Jerusalem by not seeing a blade of grass, where even in the poorest localities of Britain some wild vegetation is found, directed his attention particularly to the subject, and pursued the inquiry during a month's residence in Jerusalem, where he learned that a miserably small quantity of milk is daily sold to the inhabitants at a dear rate, and that chiefly asses' milk. "Most clearly," says he, "did I perceive that the barrenness of large portions of the country was owing to the cessation of the early and latter rain, and that the absence of grass and flowers made it no longer the land (De 11:9) flowing with milk and honey."

18-25. lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them--(See on De 6:1).

26-32. Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse--(See on De 27:11).

Thou shalt love the Lord - Because without this there could be no obedience to the Divine testimonies, and no happiness in the soul; for the heart that is destitute of the love of God, is empty of all good, and consequently miserable. See the note on Deu 10:12.

What he did unto Dathan, etc. - See the notes on Numbers 16 (note).

Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments - Because God can execute such terrible judgments, and because he has given such proofs of his power and justice; and because, in similar provocations, he may be expected to act in a similar way; therefore keep his charge, that he may keep you unto everlasting life.

Wateredst it with thy foot - Rain scarcely ever falls in Egypt, and God supplies the lack of it by the inundations of the Nile. In order to water the grounds where the inundations do not extend, water is collected in ponds, and directed in streamlets to different parts of the field where irrigation is necessary. It is no unusual thing in the East to see a man, with a small mattock, making a little trench for the water to run by, and as he opens the passage, the water following, he uses his foot to raise up the mould against the side of this little channel, to prevent the water from being shed unnecessarily before it reaches the place of its destination. Thus he may be said to water the ground with his foot. See several useful observations on this subject in Mr. Harmer, vol. i., pp. 23-26, and vol. iii., p. 141. "For watering land an instrument called janta is often used in the north of Bengal: It consists of a wooden trough, about fifteen feet long, six inches wide, and ten inches deep, which is placed on a horizontal beam lying on bamboos fixed in the bank of a pond or river in the form of a gallows. One end of the trough rests upon the bank, where a gutter is prepared to carry off the water, and the other is dipped into the water by a man standing on a stage near that end, and plunging it in with his foot. A long bamboo, with a large weight of earth at the farther end of it, is fastened to that end of the janta near the river, and passing over the gallows, poises up the janta full of water, and causes it to empty itself into the gutter." This, Mr. Ward supposes, illustrates this passage. See Hindoo Customs, etc., vol. iii., p. 104. But after all, the expression, wateredst it with thy foot, may mean no more than doing it by labor; for, as in the land of Egypt there is scarcely any rain, the watering of gardens, etc., must have been all artificial. But in Judea it was different, as there they had their proper seasons of rain. The compound word ברגל beregel, with, under, or by the foot, is used to signify any thing under the power, authority, etc., of a person; and this very meaning it has in the sixth verse, all the substance that was in their possession, is, literally, all the substance that was under their feet, ברגליהם beragleyhem, that is, in their power, possession, or what they had acquired by their labor.

The rain - in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain - By the first or former rain we are to understand that which fell in Judea about November, when they sowed their seed, and this served to moisten and prepare the ground for the vegetation of the seed. The latter rain fell about April, when the corn was well grown up, and served to fill the ears, and render them plump and perfect. Rain rarely fell in Judea at any other seasons than these. If the former rain were withheld, or not sent in due season, there could be no vegetation: if the latter rain were withheld, or not sent in its due season, there could be no full corn in the ear, and consequently no harvest. Of what consequence then was it that they should have their rain in due season! God, by promising this provided they were obedient, and threatening to withhold it should they be disobedient, shows that it is not a general providence that directs these things, but that the very rain of heaven falls by particular direction, and the showers are often regulated by an especial providence.

Therefore shall ye lay up these my words - See Deu 6:4-8 (note), and Exo 13:9 (note).

From the river - Euphrates, which was on the east, to the uttermost sea - the Mediterranean, which lay westward of the promised land. This promise, notwithstanding the many provocations of the Israelites, was fulfilled in the time of Solomon, for "he reigned over all the kings from the river (Euphrates) even unto the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt." See 2Chr 9:26, and the note, Num 34:12 (note).

Behold, I set before you - a blessing and a curse - If God had not put it in the power of this people either to obey or disobey; if they had not had a free will, over which they had complete authority, to use it either in the way of willing or nilling; could God, with any propriety, have given such precepts as these, sanctioned with such promises and threatenings? If they were not free agents, they could not be punished for disobedience, nor could they, in any sense of the word, have been rewardable for obedience. A Stone is not rewardable because, in obedience to the laws of gravitation, it always tends to the center; nor is it punishable be cause, in being removed from that center, in its tending or falling towards it again it takes away the life of a man.

That God has given man a free, self-determining Will, which cannot be forced by any power but that which is omnipotent, and which God himself never will force, is declared in the most formal manner through the whole of the sacred writings. No argument can affect this, while the Bible is considered as a Divine revelation; no sophistry can explain away its evidence, as long as the accountableness of man for his conduct is admitted, and as long as the eternal bounds of moral good and evil remain, and the essential distinctions between vice and virtue exist. If ye will obey, (for God is ever ready to assist), ye shall live; if ye will disobey and refuse that help, ye shall die. So hath Jehovah spoken, and man cannot reverse it.

Thou shalt put the blessing upon Mount Gerizim, and the curse upon Mount Ebal - The etymology of these names may be supposed to cast some light on this institution. גרזים gerizzim, from גרז garaz, to cut, cut off, cut down; hence גרזים gerizzim, the cutters down, fellers, and reapers or harvest-men, this mountain being supposed to have its name from its great fertility, or the abundance of the crops it yielded, which is a possible case. Of עיבל ebal or eybal the root is not found in Hebrew; but in Arabic abala signifies rough, rugged, curled, etc.; and abalo, from the same root, signifies white stones, and a mountain in which such stones are found; alabalo, the mount of white stones. See Giggeius and Golius. And as it is supposed that the mountain had this name because of its barrenness, on this metaphorical interpretation the sense of the passage would appear to be the following: God will so superintend the land, and have it continually under the eye of his watchful providence, that no change can happen in it but according to his Divine counsel, so that its fertility shall ever be the consequence of the faithful obedience of its inhabitants, and a proof of the blessing of God upon it; on the contrary, its barrenness shall be a proof that the people have departed from their God, and that his curse has in consequence fallen upon the land. See the manner of placing these blessings and curses, Deu 27:12, etc. That Gerizim is very fruitful, and that Ebal is very barren, is the united testimony of all who have traveled in those parts. See Ludolf, Reland, Rab, Benjamin, and Mr. Maundrell. Sychem lies in the valley between these two mountains.

That the land of Judea was naturally very fertile, can scarcely be supposed by any who considers the accounts given of it by travelers; with the exception of a few districts, the whole land is dry, stony, and barren, and particularly all the southern parts of Judea, and all the environs of Jerusalem, most of which are represented as absolutely incapable of cultivation. How then could it ever support its vast number of inhabitants? By the especial providence of God. While God kept that people under his continual protection, their land was a paradise; they lent to all nations and borrowed from none. What has it been since? A demi-solitude, because that especial blessing no longer descends upon it. No land, says Calmet, was more fertile while under the benediction of God; none more barren when under his curse. Its present state is a proof of the declaration of Moses, Deu 28:23 : "The heaven over their head is brass; the earth under their feet, iron." The land itself, in its present state is an ample proof of the authenticity of the Pentateuch. Should facts of this kind be lost sight of by any who read the sacred writings?

Know - That is, acknowledge and consider it with diligence and thankfulness.

Unto this day - The effect of which destruction continueth to this day, in their weakness and fear, and our safety from their farther attempts against us.

Your eyes have seen - All of them had seen some, and some of them had seen all the great things done in Egypt and at the Red - sea, and in the Wilderness. What our eyes have seen, especially in our early days, should be improved by us long after.

With thy foot - That is, with great pains and labour of thy feet, partly by going up and down to fetch water and disperse it, and partly by digging furrows with thy foot, and using engines for distributing the water, which engines they thrust with their feet. For tho' the river Nile did once in a year overflow the grounds, and made them fruitful, yet often it failed them, at least in part, and then they were put to great pains about their ground. And when it did overflow sufficiently, and left its mud upon the earth, yet that mud was in a little time hardened, and needed another watering, and much digging and labour both of the hand and feet, especially in places more remote from that river; which inconvenience Canaan was free from.

Of hills and valleys - And therefore much more healthful than Egypt was, which as it was enriched, so it was annoyed with the Nile, which overflowed the land in summer time, and thereby made the country both unpleasant and unhealthful. And health being the greatest of all outward blessings, Canaan must therefore needs be a more desirable habitation than Egypt. The rain of heaven - Which is more easy, being given thee without thy charge or pains; more sweet and pleasant, not hindering thy going abroad upon thy occasions, as the overflow of the Nile did, whereby the Egyptians were confined in a great measure to their houses; more safe and healthful, being free from that mud which attends upon the waters of the Nile; and more certain too, the former and the latter rain being promised to be given to them in their several seasons, upon condition of their obedience, which condition, tho' it may seem a clog and inconvenience, yet indeed was a great benefit, that by their own necessities and interest they might be obliged to that obedience, upon which their happiness depended both for this life and the next.

Careth for - In a special manner watering it immediately as it were by his own hand, without man's help, and giving peculiar blessings to it, which Egypt enjoys not. To the end of the year - To give it the rain, and other blessings proper to the several seasons. But all these mercies, and the fruitfulness of the land consequent upon them, were suspended upon their disobedience. And therefore it is not at all strange that some later writers, describe the land of Canaan as a barren soil, which is, so far from affording ground to question the authority of the scriptures, that it doth much more confirm it, this, being an effect of that threatning that God would turn a fruitful land into barrenness for the wickedness of these that dwell in it, Psa 107:34.

The ruin of your land - Which is, proper to your land, not common to Egypt, where, as all authors agree, there is little rain. The first rain fell in seed time, to make the corn spring, the other a little before harvest, to ripen it.

I will send grass in thy fields - So godliness has here the promise of the life which now is. But the favour of God puts gladness into the heart, more than the increase of corn, wine and oil.

Shut up the heaven - Which is compared sometimes to a great store - house wherein God lays up his treasures of rain, Job 38:22, the doors whereof God is said to open when he gives rain, and to shut when he witholds it.

Lay up - Let us all observe these three rules, Let our hearts be filled with the word of God. Lay up these words in your hearts, as in a store - house, to be used upon all occasions. Let our eyes be fixed upon the word of God: Bind them for a sign upon your hand, which is always in view, and as frontlets between your eyes, which you cannot avoid the sight of. Let our tongues be employed about the word of God, especially with our children, who must be taught this, as far more needful than the rules of decency, or the calling they are to live by.

As the days of heaven - As long as the heaven keeps its place and continues its influences upon earth.

Every place - Not absolutely, as the Rabbins fondly conceit, but in the promised land, as it is restrained in the following words; either by possession, or by dominion, namely, upon condition of your obedience. The wilderness - Of Sin, on the south - side. To Lebanon - Which was on the north border. Euphrates - On the east. So far the right of dominion extended, but that their sins cut them short: and so far Solomon extended his dominion. The uttermost sea - The western or midland sea.

I set before you - I propose them to your choice.

Which ye have not known - Which you have no acquaintance with, nor experience of their power, or wisdom, or goodness, as you have had of mine.

Put - Heb. Thou shalt give, that is, speak or pronounce, or cause to be pronounced. So the word to give is used, Deu 13:1,2 Job 36:3 Pro 9:9. This is, more particularly expressed, Deu 27:12,13.

Over against - Looking toward Gilgal, tho' at some considerable distance from it. Beside the plains of Moreh - This was one of the first places that Abram came to in Canaan. So that in sending them thither to hear the blessing and the curse, they were minded of the promise made to Abram in that very place, Gen 12:6,7.

2 And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children, which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched-out arm:

(i. e.) Acknowledge and consider it with diligence and thankfulness.

4 And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots, how he made the water of the Red-sea to overflow them, as they pursued after you, and how the LORD hath destroyed them unto this day .

The effect of which destruction continueth to this day, in their weakness and fear, and our safety from all their further attempts against us.

Marginal references: Exod. 14. 27.

6 And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their housholds, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession , in the midst of all Israel:

Heb. At their feet, i. e. under their power, Psal. 8. 6. which followed them or belonged to them.

Marginal references: Num. 16. 31. and 27. 3. Psal. 106. 1[illegible: 1+ letters].; Or, living substance which followed them.; Heb. was at their feet.

7 But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD , which he did.

All of them had seen some, and some of them had seen all, the great things done in Egypt and at the Red-sea, and in the Wilderness.

10 For the land whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye come out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and water [illegible: 1+ letters] it with thy foot as a garden of herbs:

(i. e) With great pains and labour of thy feet, partly by going up and down to fetch water and disperse it, and partly by digging furrows with thy foot, and using engines for distributing the water which engines they thrust with their feet. For though the River Nilus did once in a year overflow the grounds and made them fruitful, yet oft times it failed or s[illegible: 1+ letters]anted them, and then they were put to great pains about their ground; and when it did overflow sufficiently and left its Mud upon the earth, yet that Mud was in a little time hardned, and needed another watering and much digging and labour both of the hand and feet, especially in places something higher or more remote from that river. Which inconvenience Canaan was free from.

11 But the land whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and vallies , and drinketh water of the rain of heaven :

And therefore much more healthful than Egypt was, which [illegible: 1 word] it was inriched, so it was annoyed, with Nilus, which overflowed the land in summer time, and thereby made the country both unpleasant, and, which is much worse, unhealthful. And health being the greatest of all outward blessings, Canaan must therefore needs be a more desirable habitation than Egypt, which is the thing here implyed.

Which is more honourable, because this comes not from mans art or industry; but immediately from Gods power and goodness; more easie, being given thee without thy charge or pains; more sweet and pleasant, not hindering thy going abroad upon thy occasions, as the overflow of Nilus did, whereby the Egyptians were confined in a great measure to their several houses; more safe and healthful, being free from that Mud which attends upon the waters of Nilus; and more certain too, the former and the latter rain being promised and to be given to them in their several seasons, upon condition of their obedience, which condition, though it may seem a clog and inconvenience, yet indeed was a great benefit, that by their own necessities and worldly interest they should be obliged to that obedience, upon which their happiness depended both for this life and for the next.

12 A land which the LORD thy God careth for : the eyes of the LORD thy God are alwayes upon it from the beginning of the year, even unto the end of the year .

To wit, in a special manner, watering it immediately as it were by his own hand without mans help, and giving peculiar blessings to it, which Egypt enjoys not.

To give it the ra[illegible: 1+ letters] and other blessings proper to the several seasons. But all these mercies and the fruitfulness of the land consequent upon them were suspended upon their disobedience as it here follows. And therefore it is not at all strange that some later writers de[illegible: 1+ letters]ry the land of Canaan as in great part a barren soyl, which is so far from affording any ground to question the divine authority of the holy Scriptures in which its fruitfulness is declared, that it doth much more confirm it, this being but an effect of that threatning that God would turn a fruitful land into barrenness for the wickedness of those that dwell in it, Psal. 107. 34. and elsewhere▪ and the wickedness of the Israelites in succeeding ages being notorious, it is but just and fit that the barrenness of their land should be as evident and infamous.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 word] ▪; 1 King. [illegible: 1+ letters] ▪ [illegible: 1+ letters] ▪

14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain, and the latter rain , that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

(i. e.) Which is needful and sufficient for your land; or which is proper to your land, not common to Egypt, where, as all authors agree, there is little or no rain.

The first fell in seed time to make the corn spring, the other a little before harvest to ripen it. See Ier. 5. 24. Ioel 2. 23. Amos 4. 7. Iam. 5. 7.

16 Take heed to your selves, that your heart be not deceived , and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them:

By the specious pretences of Idolaters, who will plead the general consent of all nations except yours in the worship of creatures, and that they worship the creatures onely for Gods sake and as they are glorious works of God, whom they worship in and by them. Which and the like arguments being commonly alledged by Heathens for their Idolatries, as their own writers declare, might possibly seduce an unwary [illegible: 1 word]: and therefore they are here cautioned against such deceit, and withall it is implyed, that if a mans mind be corrupted and deceived, so as he believes Idolatry to be lawful, th[illegible: 1+ letters] will not excuse him in the sight of God.

17 And then the LORDS wrath be kindled against you, and he s[illegible: 1+ letters]ut up the heaven , that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit, and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.

Which is compared sometimes to a bo[illegible: 1+ letters]tle, Ioh [illegible: 1+ letters]8. [illegible: 1 word]. which may be either [illegible: 1 word] or opened▪ sometimes to a great store-house wherein God [illegible: 1 word] up hi[illegible: 1+ letters] [illegible: 1 word] of rain▪ I[illegible: 1+ letters] 48. 22. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1+ letters]. the [illegible: 1 word] whereof God is said to [illegible: 1 word] ▪ when he giv[illegible: 1+ letters] rain, and to [illegible: 1 word] ▪ when he with-hold it. See 1 King. 8. 35. 2 [illegible: 1 word]. 6. 26. and 7. 1[illegible: 1+ letters].

21 That you dayes may be multiplied, and the dayes of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the dayes of heaven upon the earth .

(i. e.) As long as this visible world lasts, whilest the heaven keeps its place and continue▪ its influences upon earth, untill all these things be dissolved. Compare Psal. 72. 5. and 81. 5. and 89. 29. Ier. 33. 25.

24 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread , shall be yours : from the wilderness , and Lebanon , from the river, the river Euphrates , even unto the uttermost sea , shall your coast be.

Not absolutely, as if the Iewes should be Lords of all the world, as the Rabbi[illegible: 1+ letters] fondly conceit, but in the promised land▪ as it is restrained in the following words.

Either by possession, or by dominion, to wit▪ upon condition of your obedience.

To wit, of Sin, on the south-side.

And from Lebanon: or, and to Lebanon, which was the Northern border.

On the east. So far their right of dominion extended, but that their sins cut them short: and so far Solom[illegible: 1+ letters] extended his dominion.

The western or midland sea: Heb. the [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]: for the Eastern part of the World being generally esteemed the foremost, and the southern on the right hand, Psal. 89. 12. and consequently the Northern on the left hand, the Western part must needs be behind. Of these bounds of the land see Gen. 10. 19. and 15. 18. Exod. 23. 31. Ios. 1. 3, 4.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] 1. 3.; [illegible: 1 word]. 34. 3.

26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse:

I propose them to your minds and to your choice.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. 30. 15.

28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods which ye have not known .

Which you have no acquaintance with nor experience of their power or w[illegible: 1+ letters]ome or goodness, as you have had of mine.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. 15.

29 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.

Heb. [illegible: 1 word] gi[illegible: 1+ letters], i. e. speak or pronounce or cause to be pronounced. So the word [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] i[illegible: 1+ letters] u[illegible: 1+ letters]d [illegible: 1 word] 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. [illegible: 1+ letters] ▪ [illegible: 1+ letters]. [illegible: 1 word] 3[illegible: 1+ letters]. 3 Pr[illegible: 1+ letters]v. [illegible: 1+ letters]. 9. This is more [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] D[illegible: 1+ letters]t. 27. 12, 13, and [illegible: 1 word]. 8. 33. whither I refer the reader.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] 2[illegible: 1+ letters] ▪ 12, [illegible: 1+ letters] ▪ [illegible: 1 word]. 8. 33.

In Deu 11:1-12 the other feature in the divine requirements (Deu 10:12), viz., love to the Lord their God, is still more fully developed. Love was to show itself in the distinct perception of what had to be observed towards Jehovah (to “keep His charge,” see at Lev 8:35), i.e., in the perpetual observance of His commandments and rights. The words, “and His statutes,” etc., serve to explain the general notion, “His charge.” “All days,” as in Deu 4:10.

To awaken this love they were now to know, i.e., to ponder and lay to heart, the discipline of the Lord their God. The words from “for (I speak) not” to “have not seen” are a parenthetical clause, by which Moses would impress his words most strongly upon the hearts of the older generation, which had witnessed the acts of the Lord. The clause is without any verb or predicate, but this can easily be supplied from the sense. The best suggestion is that of Schultz, viz., ההוּא הדּבר, “for it is not with your children that I have to do,” not to them that this admonition applies. Moses refers to the children who had been born in the desert, as distinguished from those who, though not twenty years old when the Israelites came out of Egypt, had nevertheless seen with their own eyes the plagues inflicted upon Egypt, and who were now of mature age, viz., between forty and sixty years old, and formed, as the older and more experienced generation, the stock and kernel of the congregation assembled round him now. To the words, “which have not known and have not seen,” it is easy to supply from the context, “what ye have known and seen.” The accusatives from “the chastisement” onwards belong to the verb of the principal sentence, “know ye this day.” The accusatives which follow show what we are to understand by “the chastisement of the Lord,” viz., the mighty acts of the Lord to Egypt and to Israel in the desert. The object of them all was to educate Israel in the fear and love of God. In this sense Moses calls them מוּסר (Eng. Ver. chastisement), παιδεία, i.e., not punishment only, but education by the manifestation of love as well as punishment (like יסּר in Deu 4:36; cf. Pro 1:2, Pro 1:8; Pro 4:1, etc.). “His greatness,” etc., as in Deu 3:24 and Deu 4:34. On the signs and acts in Egypt, see at Deu 4:34; Deu 6:22; and on those at the Red Sea, at Ex 14. פּניהם - הצּיף אשׁר, “over whose face He made the waters of the Red Sea to flow;” cf. Exo 14:26. - By the acts of God in the desert (Deu 11:5) we are not to understand the chastenings in Num 11-15 either solely or pre-eminently, but all the manifestations of the omnipotence of God in the guidance of Israel, proofs of love as well as the penal wonders. Of the latter, the miraculous destruction of the company of Korah is specially mentioned in Deu 11:6 (cf. Num 16:31-33). Here Moses only mentions Dathan and Abiram, the followers of Korah, and not Korah himself, probably from regard to his sons, who were not swallowed up by the earth along with their father, but had lived to perpetuate the family of Korah. “Everything existing, which was in their following” (see Exo 11:8), does not mean their possessions, but their servants, and corresponds to “all the men who belonged to Korah” in Num 16:32, whereas the possessions mentioned there are included here in the “tents.” היקוּם is only applied to living beings, as in Gen 7:4 and Gen 7:23. - In Deu 11:7 the reason is given for the admonition in Deu 11:2 : the elders were to know (discern) the educational purpose of God in those mighty acts of the Lord, because they had seen them with their own eyes.

And this knowledge was to impel them to keep the law, that they might be strong, i.e., spiritually strong (Deu 1:38), and not only go into the promised land, but also live long therein (cf. Deu 4:26; Deu 6:3). - In Deu 11:10-12 Moses adduces a fresh motive for his admonition to keep the law with fidelity, founded upon the peculiar nature of the land. Canaan was a land the fertility of which was not dependent, like that of Egypt, upon its being watered by the hand of man, but was kept up by the rain of heaven which was sent down by God the Lord, so that it depended entirely upon the Lord how long its inhabitants should live therein. Egypt is described by Moses as a land which Israel sowed with seed, and watered with its foot like a garden of herbs. In Egypt there is hardly any rain at all (cf. Herod. ii. 4, Diod. Sic. i. 41, and other evidence in Hengstenberg’s Egypt and the Books of Moses, pp. 217ff.). The watering of the land, which produces its fertility, is dependent upon the annual overflowing of the Nile, and, as this only lasts for about 100 days, upon the way in which this is made available for the whole year, namely, by the construction of canals and ponds throughout the land, to which the water is conducted from the Nile by forcing machines, or by actually carrying it in vessels up to the fields and plantations.Upon the ancient monuments we find not only the draw-well with the long rope, which is now called Shaduf, depicted in various ways (see Wilkinson, i. p. 35, ii. 4); but at Beni-Hassan there is a representation of two men carrying a water-vessel upon a pole on their shoulders, which they fill from a draw-well or pond, and then carry to the field (cf. Hengstenberg, Egypt and the Books of Moses, pp. 220-1).

The expression, “with thy foot,” probably refers to the large pumping wheels still in use there, which are worked by the feet, and over which a long endless rope passes with pails attached, for drawing up the water (cf. Niebuhr, Reise, i. 149), the identity of which with the ἕλιξ described by Philo as ὑδρηλὸν ὄργανον (de confus. ling. i. 410) cannot possibly be called in question; provided, that is to say, we do not confound this ἕλιξ with the Archimedean water-screw mentioned by Diod. Sic. i. 34, and described more minutely at v. 37, the construction of which was entirely different (see my Archaeology, ii. pp. 111-2). - The Egyptians, as genuine heathen, were so thoroughly conscious of this peculiar characteristic of their land, which made its fertility far more dependent upon the labour of human hands than upon the rain of heaven or divine providence, that Herodotus (ii. 13) represents them as saying, “The Greeks, with their dependence upon the gods, might be disappointed in their brightest hopes and suffer dreadfully from famine.” The land of Canaan yielded no support to such godless self-exaltation, for it was “a land of mountains and valleys, and drank water of the rain of heaven” (ל before מטר, to denote the external cause; see Ewald, §217, d.); i.e., it received its watering, the main condition of all fertility, from the rain, by the way of the rain, and therefore through the providential care of God.

It was a land which Jehovah inquired after, i.e., for which He cared (דּרשׁ, as in Pro 31:13; Job 3:4); His eyes were always directed towards it from the beginning of the year to the end; a land, therefore, which was dependent upon God, and in this dependence upon God peculiarly adapted to Israel, which was to live entirely to its God, and upon His grace alone.

This peculiarity in the land of Canaan led Moses to close the first part of his discourse on the law, his exhortation to fear and love the Lord, with a reference to the blessing that would follow the faithful fulfilment of the law, and a threat of the curse which would attend apostasy to idolatry.

Deu 11:13-15

If Israel would serve its God in love and faithfulness, He would give the land early and latter rain in its season, and therewith a plentiful supply of food for man and beast (see Lev 26:3 and Lev 26:5; and for the further expansion of this blessing, Deu 28:1-12).

Deu 11:16-25

But if, on the other hand, their heart was foolish to turn away from the Lord and serve other gods, the wrath of the Lord would burn against them, and God would shut up the heaven, that no rain should fall and the earth should yield no produce, and they would speedily perish (cf. Lev 26:19-20, and Deu 28:23-24). Let them therefore impress the words now set before them very deeply upon themselves and their children (Deu 11:18-21, in which there is in part a verbal repetition of Deu 6:6-9). The words, “as the days of the heaven above the earth,” i.e., as long as the heaven continues above the earth, - in other words, to all eternity (cf. Psa 89:30; Job. Deu 14:12), - belong to the main sentence, “that your days may be multiplied,” etc. (Deu 11:21). “The promise to give the land to Israel for ever was not made unconditionally; an unconditional promise is precluded by the words, 'that your days may be multiplied'” (Schultz). (For further remarks, see at Deu 30:3-5.) For (Deu 11:22-25) if they adhered faithfully to the Lord, He would drive out before them all the nations that dwelt in the land, and would give them the land upon which they trod in all its length and breadth, and so fill the Canaanites with fear and terror before them, that no one should be able to stand against them. (On Deu 11:23, cf. Deu 7:1-2; Deu 9:1, and Deu 1:28.) The words, “every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours,” are defined more precisely, and restricted to the land of Canaan on both sides of the Jordan by the boundaries which follow: “from the desert (of Arabia on the south), and Lebanon (on the north), and from the river Euphrates (on the east) to the hinder sea” (the Mediterranean on the west; see Num 34:6). The Euphrates is given as the eastern boundary, as in Deu 1:7, according to the promise in Gen 15:18. (On Deu 11:25, cf. Deu 7:24; Deu 2:25, and Exo 23:27.)

Deu 11:26-30

Concluding summary. “I set before you this day the blessing and the curse.” The blessing, if (אשׁר, ὅτε, as in Lev 4:22) ye hearken to the commandments of your God; the curse, if ye do not give heed to them, but turn aside from the way pointed out to you, to go after other gods. To this there are added instructions in Deu 11:29 and Deu 11:30, that when they took possession of the land they should give the blessing upon Mount Gerizim and the curse upon Mount Ebal, i.e., should give utterance to them there, and as it were transfer them to the land to be apportioned to its inhabitants according to their attitude towards the Lord their God. (For further comment, see at Deu 27:14.) The two mountains mentioned were selected for this act, no doubt because they were opposite to one another, and stood, each about 2500 feet high, in the very centre of the land not only from west to east, but also from north to south. Ebal stands upon the north side, Gerizim upon the south; between the two is Sichem, the present Nabulus, in a tolerably elevated valley, fertile, attractive, and watered by many springs, which runs from the south-east to the north-west from the foot of Gerizim to that of Ebal, and is about 1600 feet in breadth. The blessing was to be uttered upon Gerizim, and the curse upon Ebal; though not, as the earlier commentators supposed, because the peculiarities of these mountains, viz., the fertility of Gerizim and the barrenness of Ebal, appeared to accord with this arrangement: for when seen from the valley between, “the sides of both these mountains are equally naked and sterile;” and “the only exception in favour of the former is a small ravine coming down, opposite the west end of the town, which is indeed full of foundations and trees” (Rob. Pal. iii. 96, 97). The reason for selecting Gerizim for the blessings was probably, as Schultz supposes, the fact that it was situated on the south, towards the region of the light. “Light and blessing are essentially one. From the light-giving face of God there come blessing and life (Psa 16:11).” - In Deu 11:30 the situation of these mountains is more clearly defined: they were “on the other side of the Jordan,” i.e., in the land to the west of the Jordan, “behind the way of the sunset,” i.e., on the other side of the road of the west, which runs through the land on the west of the Jordan, just as another such road runs through the land on the east (Knobel). The reference is to the main road which ran from Upper Asia through Canaan to Egypt, as was shown by the journeys of Abraham and Jacob (Gen 12:6; Gen 33:17-18). Even at the present day the main road leads from Beisan to Jerusalem round the east side of Ebal into the valley of Sichem, and then again eastwards from Gerizim through the Mukra valley on towards the south (cf. Rib. iii. 94; Ritter, Erdkunde, xvi. pp. 658-9). “In the land of the Canaanite who dwells in the Arabah.” By the Arabah, Knobel understands the plain of Nabulus, which is not much less than four hours’ journey long, and on an average from a half to three-quarters broad, “the largest of all upon the elevated tract of land between the western plain and the valley of the Jordan” (Rob. iii. p. 101). This is decidedly wrong, however, as it is opposed to the fixed use of the word, and irreconcilable with the character of this plain, which, Robinson says, “is cultivated throughout and covered with the rich green of millet intermingled with the yellow of the ripe corn, which the country people were just reaping” (Pal. iii. 93). The Arabah is the western portion of the Ghor (see at Deu 1:1), and is mentioned here as that portion of the land on the west of the Jordan which lay stretched out before the eyes of the Israelites who were encamped in the steppes of Moab. “Over against Gilgal,” i.e., not the southern Gilgal between Jericho and the Jordan, which received its name for the first time in Jos 4:20 and Jos 5:9; but probably the Gilgal mentioned in Jos 9:6; Jos 10:6., and very frequently in the history of Samuel, Elijah, and Elisha, which is only about twelve and a half miles from Gerizim in a southern direction, and has been preserved in the large village of Jiljilia to the south-west of Sinjil, and which stands in such an elevated position, “close to the western brow of the high mountain tract,” that you “have here a very extensive prospect over the great lower plain, and also over the sea, whilst the mountains of Gilead are seen in the east” (Rob. Pal. iii. 81). Judging from this description of the situation, Mount Gerizim must be visible from this Gilgal, so that Gerizim and Ebal might very well be described as over against Gilgal.There is much less ground for the opinion of Winer, Knobel, and Schultz, that Gilgal is the Jiljule mentioned by Robinson (Pal. iii. 47; and Bibl. Researches, p. 138), which evidently corresponds to theGalgula placed by Eusebius and Jerome six Roman miles fromAntipatris, and is situated to the south-east of Kefr Saba (Antipatris), on the road from Egypt to Damascus. For this place is not only farther from Gerizim and Ebal, viz., about seventeen miles, but from its position in the lowland by the sea-shore it presents no salient point for determining the situation of the mountains of Gerizim and Ebal. Still less can we agree with Knobel, who speaks of the village ofKilkilia, to the north-east of Kefr Saba, as the name itself has nothing in common with Gilgal.

The last definition, “beside the terebinths of Moreh,” is intended no doubt to call to mind the consecration of that locality even from the times of the patriarchs (Schultz: see at Gen 12:6, and Gen 35:4).

Deu 11:31-32

Deu 11:31-32 contain the reason for these instructions, founded upon the assurance that the Israelites were going over the Jordan and would take possession of the promised land, and should therefore take care to keep the commandments of the Lord (cf. Deu 4:5-6). B. Exposition of the Principal Laws - Deuteronomy 12-26

The statutes and rights which follow in the second or special half of this address, and which consist in part of rules having regard to circumstances not contemplated by the Sinaitic laws, and partly of repetitions of laws already given, were designed as a whole to regulate the ecclesiastical, civil, and domestic life of Israel in the land of Canaan, in harmony with its calling to be the holy nation of the Lord. Moses first of all describes the religious and ecclesiastical life of the nation, in its various relations to the Lord (ch. 12-16:17); and then the political organization of the congregation, or the rights and duties of the civil and spiritual leaders of the nation (Deut 16:18-18:22); and lastly, seeks to establish upon a permanent basis the civil and domestic well-being of the whole congregation and its individual members, by a multiplicity of precepts, intended to set before the people, as a conscientious obligation on their part, reverence and holy awe in relation to human life, to property, and to personal rights; a pious regard for the fundamental laws of the world; sanctification of domestic life and of the social bond; practical brotherly love towards the poor, the oppressed, and the needy; and righteousness of walk and conversation (ch. 19-26). - So far as the arrangement of this address is concerned, the first two series of these laws may be easily regarded as expositions, expansions, and completions of the commandments in the decalogue in relation to the Sabbath, and to the duty of honouring parents; and in the third series also there are unquestionably many allusions to the commandments in the second table of the decalogue. But the order in which the different laws and precepts in this last series are arranged, does not follow the order of the decalogue, so as to warrant us in looking there for the leading principle of the arrangement, as Schultz has done. Moses allows himself to be guided much more by analogies and the free association of ideas than by any strict regard to the decalogue; although, no doubt, the whole of the book of Deuteronomy may be described, as Luther says, as “a very copious and lucid explanation of the decalogue, an acquaintance with which will supply all that is requisite to a full understanding of the ten commandments.”

The laws relating to the worship of the Israelites commence with a command to destroy and annihilate all places and memorials of the Canaanitish worship (Deu 12:2-4), and then lay it down as an established rule, that the Israelites were to worship the Lord their God with sacrifices and gifts, only in the place which He Himself should choose (Deu 12:5-14). On the other hand, in the land of Canaan cattle might be slain for eating and the flesh itself be consumed in any place; though sacrificial meals could only be celebrated in the place of the sanctuary appointed by the Lord (Deu 12:15-19). Moreover, on the extension of the borders of the land, oxen, and sheep, and goats could be slaughtered for food in any place; but the blood was not to be eaten, and consecrated gifts and votive sacrifices were not to be prepared as meals anywhere, except at the altar of the Lord (Deu 12:20-28). Lastly, the Israelites were not to be drawn aside by the Canaanites, to imitate them in their worship (Deu 12:29-31).

Persuasives to Obedience. (b. c. 1451.)

1 Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway. 2 And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm, 3 And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land; 4 And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord hath destroyed them unto this day; 5 And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place; 6 And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel: 7 But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did.

Because God has made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude (so the preceding chapter concludes), therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God (so this begins). Those whom God has built up into families, whose beginning was small, but whose latter end greatly increases, should use that as an argument with themselves why they should serve God. Thou shalt keep his charge, that is, the oracles of his word and ordinances of his worship, with which they were entrusted and for which they were accountable. It is a phrase often used concerning the office of the priests and Levites, for all Israel was a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. Observe the connection of these two: Thou shalt love the Lord and keep his charge, since love will work in obedience, and that only is acceptable obedience which flows from a principle of love. 1 John v. 3.

Mention is made of the great and terrible works of God which their eyes had seen, v. 7. This part of his discourse Moses addresses to the seniors among the people, the elders in age; and probably the elders in office were so, and were now his immediate auditors: there were some among them that could remember their deliverance out of Egypt, all above fifty, and to them he speaks this, not to the children, who knew it by hearsay only, v. 2. Note, God's mercies to us when we were young we should remember and retain the impressions of when we are old; what our eyes have seen, especially in our early days, has affected us, and should be improved by us long after. They had seen what terrible judgments God had executed upon the enemies of Israel's peace, 1. Upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians that enslaved them. What a fine country was ruined and laid waste by one plague after another, to force Israel's enlargement! v. 3. What a fine army was entirely drowned in the Red Sea, to prevent Israel's being re-enslaved! v. 4. Thus did he give Egypt for their ransom, Isa. xliii. 3. Rather shall that famous kingdom be destroyed than that Israel shall not be delivered. 2. Upon Dathan and Abiram that embroiled them. Remember what he did in the wilderness (v. 5), by how many necessary chastisements (as they are called, v. 2) they were kept from ruining themselves, particularly when those daring Reubenites defied the authority of Moses and headed a dangerous rebellion against God himself, which threatened the ruin of a whole nation, and might have ended in that if the divine power had not immediately crushed the rebellion by burying the rebels alive, them and all that was in their possession, v. 6. What was done against them, though misinterpreted by the disaffected party (Num. xvi. 41), was really done in mercy to Israel. To be saved from the mischiefs of insurrections at home is as great a kindness to a people, and therefore lays them under as strong obligations, as protection from the invasion of enemies abroad.

8 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it; 9 And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey. 10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs: 11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: 12 A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year. 13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. 15 And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. 16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; 17 And then the Lord 's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you.

Still Moses urges the same subject, as loth to conclude till he had gained his point. "If thou wilt enter into life, if thou wilt enter into Canaan, a type of that life, and find it a good land indeed to thee, keep the commandments: Keep all the commandments which I command you this day; love God, and serve him with all your heart."

I. Because this was the way to get and keep possession of the promised land. 1. It was the way to get possession (v. 8): That you may be strong for war, and so go in and possess it. So little did they know either of hardship or hazard in the wars of Canaan that he does not say they should go in and fight for it; no, they had nothing in effect to do but go in and possess it. He does not go about to teach them the art of war, how to draw the bow, and use the sword, and keep ranks, that they might be strong, and go in and possess the land; no, but let them keep God's commandments, and their religion, while they are true to it, will be their strength, and secure their success. (2.) It was the way to keep possession (v. 9): That you may prolong your days in this land that your eye is upon. Sin tends to the shortening of the days of particular persons and to the shortening of the days of a people's prosperity; but obedience will be a lengthening out of their tranquillity.

II. Because the land of Canaan, into which they were going, had a more sensible dependence upon the blessing of heaven than the land of Egypt had, v. 10-12. Egypt was a country fruitful enough, but it was all flat, and was watered, not as other countries with rain (it is said of Egypt, Zech. xiv. 18, that it has no rain), but by the overflowing of the river Nile at a certain season of the year, to the improving of which there was necessary a great deal of the art and labour of the husbandman, so that in Egypt a man must bestow as much cost and pains upon a field as upon a garden of herbs. And this made them the more apt to imagine that the power of their own hands got them this wealth. But the land of Canaan was an uneven country, a land of hills and valleys, which not only gave a more pleasing prospect to the eye, but yielded a greater variety of soils for the several purposes of the husbandman. It was a land that had no great rivers in it, except Jordan, but drank water of the rain of heaven, and so, 1. Saved them a great deal of labour. While the Egyptians were ditching and guttering in the fields, up to the knees in mud, to bring water to their land, which otherwise would soon become like the heath in the wilderness, the Israelites could sit in their houses, warm and easy, and leave it to God to water their land with the former and the latter rain, which is called the river of God (Ps. lxv. 9), perhaps in allusion to, and contempt of, the river of Egypt, which that nation was so proud of. Note, The better God has provided, by our outward condition, for our ease and convenience, the more we should abound in his service: the less we have to do for our bodies the more we should do for God and our souls. 2. So he directed them to look upwards to God, who giveth us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons (Acts xiv. 17), and promised to be himself as the dew unto Israel, Hos. xiv. 5. Note, (1.) Mercies bring with them the greatest comfort and sweetness when we see them coming from heaven, the immediate gifts of divine Providence. (2.) The closer dependence we have upon God the more cheerful we should be in our obedience to him. See how Moses here magnifies the land of Canaan above all other lands, that the eyes of God were always upon it, that is, they should be so, to see that nothing was wanting, while they kept close to God and duty; its fruitfulness should be not so much the happy effect of its soil as the immediate fruit of the divine blessing; this may be inferred from its present state, for it is said to be at this day, now that God has departed from it, as barren a spot of ground as perhaps any under heaven. Call it not Naomi: call it Marah.

III. Because God would certainly bless them with an abundance of all good things if they would love him and serve him (v. 13-15): I will give you the rain of your land in due season, so that they should neither want it when the ground called for it nor have it in excess; but they should have the former rain, which fell at seed-time, and the latter rain, which fell before the harvest, Amos iv. 7. This represented all the seasonable blessings which God would bestow upon them, especially spiritual comforts, which should come as the latter and former, rain, Hos. vi. 3. And the earth thus watered produced, 1. Fruits for the service of man, corn and wine, and oil, Ps. civ. 13-15. 2. Grass for the cattle, that they also might be serviceable to man, that he might eat of them and be full, v. 15. Godliness hath here the promise of the life that now is; but the favour of God shall put gladness into the heart, more than the increase of corn, and wine, and oil will.

IV. Because their revolt from God to idols. would certainly be their ruin: Take heed that your hearts be not deceived, v. 16, 17. All that forsake God to set their affection upon, or pay their devotion to, any creature, will find themselves wretchedly deceived to their own destruction; and this will aggravate it that it was purely for want of taking heed. A little care would have prevented their being imposed upon by the great deceiver. To awaken them to take heed, Moses here tells them plainly that if they should turn aside to other gods, 1. They would provoke the wrath of God against them; and who knows the power of that anger? 2. Good things would be turned away from them; the heaven would withhold its rain, and then of course the earth would not yield its fruit. 3. Evil things would come upon them; they would perish quickly from off this good land. And the better the land was the more grievous it would be to perish from it. The goodness of the land would not be their security, when the badness of the inhabitants had made them ripe for ruin.

18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: 21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth. 22 For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; 23 Then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves. 24 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be. 25 There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.

Here, I. Moses repeats the directions he had given for the guidance and assistance of the people in their obedience, and for the keeping up of religion among them (v. 18-20), which is much to the same purport with what we had before, ch. vi. 6, &c. Let us all be directed by the three rules here given:—1. Let our hearts be filled with the word of God: Lay up these words in your heart and in your soul. The heart must be the treasury or store-house in which the word of God must be laid up, to be used upon all occasions. We cannot expect good practices in the conversation, unless there be good thoughts, good affections, and good principles, in the heart. 2. Let our eyes be fixed upon the word of God. "Bind these words for a sign upon your hand, which is always in view (Isa. xlix. 16), and as frontlets between your eyes, which you cannot avoid the sight of; let them be as ready and familiar to you, and have your eye as constantly upon them, as if they were written upon your door-posts, and could not be overlooked either when you go out or when you come in." Thus we must lay God's judgments before us, having a constant regard to them, as the guide of our way, as the rule of our work, Ps. cxix. 30. 3. Let our tongues be employed about the word of God. Let it be the subject of our familiar discourse, wherever we are; especially with our children, who must be taught the service of God, as the one thing needful, much more needful than either the rules of decency or the calling they must live by in this world. Great care and pains must be taken to acquaint children betimes, and to affect them, with the word of God and the wondrous things of his law. Nor will any thing contribute more to the prosperity and perpetuity of religion in a nation than the good education of children: if the seed be holy, it is the substance of a land.

II. He repeats the assurances he had before given them, in God's name, of prosperity and success if they were obedient. 1. They should have a happy settlement, v. 21. Their days should be multiplied; and, when they were fulfilled, the days of their children likewise should be many, as the days of heaven, that is, Canaan should be sure to them and their heirs for ever, as long as the world stands, if they did not by their own sin throw themselves out of it. 2. It should not be in the power of their enemies to give them any disturbance, nor make them upon any account uneasy. "If you will keep God's commandments, and be careful to do your duty (v. 22), God will not only crown the labours of the husbandman with plenty of the fruits of the earth, but he will own and succeed the more glorious undertakings of the men of war. Victory shall attend your arms; which way soever they turn, God will drive out these nations, and put you in possession of their land," v. 23, 24. Their territories should be enlarged to the utmost extent of the promise, Gen. xv. 18. And all their neighbours should stand in awe of them, v. 25. Nothing contributes more to the making of a nation considerable abroad, valuable to its friends and formidable to its enemies, than religion reigning in it; for who can be against those that have God for them? And he is certainly for those that are sincerely for him, Prov. xiv. 34.

The Blessing and the Curse. (b. c. 1451.)

26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: 28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known. 29 And it shall come to pass, when the Lord thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal. 30 Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh? 31 For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein. 32 And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.

Here Moses concludes his general exhortations to obedience; and his management is very affecting, and such as, one would think, should have engaged them for ever to God, and should have left impressions upon them never to be worn out.

I. He sums up all his arguments for obedience in two words, the blessing and the curse (v. 26), that is, the rewards and the punishments, as they stand in the promises and the threatenings, which are the great sanctions of the law, taking hold of hope and fear, those two handles of the soul, by which it is caught, held, and managed. These two, the blessing and the curse, he set before them, that is, 1. He explained them, that they might know them; he enumerated the particulars contained both in the blessing and in the curse, that they might see the more fully how desirable the blessing was, and how dreadful the curse. 2. He confirmed them, that they might believe them, made it evident to them, by the proofs he produced of his own commission, that the blessing was not a fool's paradise, nor the curse a bugbear, but that both were real declarations of the purpose of God concerning them. 3. He charged them to choose which of these they would have, so fairly does he deal with them, and so far is he from putting out the eyes of these men, as he was charged, Num. xvi. 14. They and we are plainly told on what terms we stand with Almighty God. (1.) If we be obedient to his laws, we may be sure of a blessing, v. 27. But, (2.) If we be disobedient, we may be as sure of a curse, v. 28. Say you to the righteous (for God has said it, and all the world cannot unsay it) that it shall be well with them: but woe to the wicked, it shall be ill with them.

II. He appoints a public and solemn proclamation to be made of the blessing and curse which he had set before them, upon the two mountains of Gerizim and Ebal, v. 29, 30. We have more particular directions for this solemnity in ch. xxvii. 11, &c., and an account of the performance of it, Josh. viii. 33, &c. It was to be done, and was done, immediately upon their coming into Canaan, that when they first took possession of that land they might know upon what terms they stood. The place where this was to be done is particularly described by Moses, though he never saw it, which is one circumstance among many that evidences his divine instructions. It is said be near the plain, or oaks, or meadows, of Moreh, which was one of the first places that Abraham came to in Canaan; so that in sending them thither, to hear the blessing and the curse, God reminded them of the promise he made to Abraham in that very place, Gen. xii. 6, 7. The mention of this appointment here serves, 1. For the encouragement of their faith in the promise of God, that they should be masters of Canaan quickly. Do it (says Moses) on the other side Jordan (v. 30), for you may be confident you shall pass over Jordan, v. 31. The institution of this service to be done in Canaan was an assurance to them that they should be brought into possession of it, and a token like that which God gave to Moses (Exod. iii. 12): You shall serve God upon this mountain. And, 2. It serves for an engagement upon them to be obedient, that they might escape that curse, and obtain that blessing, which, besides what they had already heard, they must shortly be witnesses to the solemn publication of (v. 32): "You shall observe to do the statutes and judgements, that you may not in that solemnity be witnesses against yourselves."

CHAP. XI.

ANd thou shalt love Iehovah thy God, and keepe his charge, and his statutes, and his judgements, and his commandements, all dayes: And know ye this day: for (I speake) not with your children, which have not knowne, and which have not seene the chastisement of Iehovah your God, his greatnesse, his strong hand, and his stretched-out arme. And his signes, and his deeds which he did in the midst of Egypt, unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land.

And what he did unto the armie of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their Chariots; how he made the waters of the Red sea to flow over their faces as they pursued after you; & Iehovah hath destroyed thē unto this day. And what he did unto you in the wildernesse, untill ye came unto this place. And what he did to Dathan, and to Abiram, the sonnes of Eliab, the sonne of Reuben, how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up them, and their houses, and their tents, and all the substance that was at their feet, in the midst of all Israel.

But your eyes have seene all the great work of Iehovah, which he hath done. Therefore shall ye keepe all the commandement which I command thee this day, that yee may be strong, and goe in, and possesse the land, whither yee are going over to possesse it. And that yee may prolong your dayes upon the l[illegible: 1 letter]nd, wch Iehovah sware unto your fathers, to give unto them, and to their seed; a land flowing with milk & hony. For the land whither thou goest in to possesse it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence yee came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wa[illegible: 1 letter]er[illegible: 1 letter]dst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs. But the land whither ye are going over to possesse it, is a land of mountaines and of vallies; it drinketh waters of the raine of heavens. A land which Iehovah thy God careth for; the eyes of Iehovah thy God are continually upon it, from the beginning of the yeere, even to the end of the yeere.

And it shall be, if hearkening ye shall hearken unto my commandements which I command you this day, to love Iehovah your God, and to serve him, with all your heart, and with all your soule; That I will give the raine of your land in his time, the first raine, and the latter raine; and thou shalt gather in thy Corne, and thy new wine, and thy new Oyle. And I will give grasse in thy field, for thy cattell, that thou [illegible: 2 words] and be full.

Take heed to your selves, lest your heart be deceived, and yee turne aside, and serve other gods, and bow downe your selves to them. And the anger of Iehovah be kindled against you, and he shut up the heavens, that there bee no raine, and the land yeeld not her increase, and ye perish quickly from off the good land, which Iehovah giveth you.

And yee shall put these my words in your heart, and in your soule, and shall binde them for a signe upon your hand, and they shall be for Phylacteries betweene your eyes. And yee shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest in the way, and when thou lyest downe, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the doore-posts of thine house, and on thy gates. That your dayes may be multiplied, and the dayes of your children, in the land which Iehovah sware unto your fathers, to give unto them, as the dayes of the heavens upon the earth. For if keeping yee shall keepe all this commandement, which I command you, to doe it, to love Iehovah your God, to walke in all his wayes, and to cleave unto him; Then will Iehovah drive out all these nations from before your faces, and yee shall possesse nations greater and mightier than your selves. Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread, shall be yours: from the wildernesse and Lebanon; from the river, the river Euphrates, and unto the hindmost sea shall your coast be. There shall not a man stand before you: Iehovah your God will give the dread of you, and the feare of you upon the face of all the land, which yee shall tread upon, as hee hath spoken unto you. [non-Latin text not transcribed]

Behold, I set before you this day a blessing, and a curse. A blessing, if yee shall hearken unto the commandements of Iehovah your God, which I command you this day. And a curse, if yee will not hearken unto the commandements of Iehovah your God, but turne aside out of the way which I command you this day, to goe after other gods, which yee have not knowne.

And it shall bee, when Iehovah thy God hath brought thee in, unto the land whither thou goest, to possesse it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal. Are they not on the other-side Iordan, by the way of the going downe of the Sunne, in the land of the Canaanite, which dwelleth in the plaine, over against Gilgal, besides the Okes of Moreh? For yee are passing over Iordan, to goe in, to possesse the land which Iehovah your God giveth unto you, and yee shall possesse it, and dwell in it. And yee shall observe to doe all the statutes, and the judgements which I set before your faces this day.

Annotations. ANd thou shalt love] or, Love thou therefore. Moses returneth to exhort Israel unto the love of God, and to shew the same by their continuall obedience. his charge] or, his custodie, his observation: which word is often used for a watch, as in Exod. 14. 24. The Greeke translateth it charges, or custodies; meaning, ordinances to be kept heedfully: so in Gen. 26. 5. Lev. 8. 35. and 18. 30. Vers. 2. for (I speake not) with your children] or, that (it is) not your children (or sonnes) namely, which have seene Gods greatnesse, &c. but your eyes (are they) that have seene, &c. vers. 7. Hee commendeth Gods speciall favour to their owne persons, more than to their fathers, or to their children, in shewing them his great workes, for which they should the more love and obey him. This he after confirmeth by many arguments. the chastisement] or nurture: which the Chaldee translateth, doctrine, or instruction. It implieth nurture both by words and workes, as Deut. 4. 36. and 8. 5. Lev. 26. 18. Prov. 1. 2. and 4. 1. stretched out] the Greek and Chaldee translate, high arme. See the notes on Deut. 4. 34. Vers. 3. deeds] or acts, in Greeke wonders. Of these see the history in Exod. 7, &c. And here is the first argument, from Gods mighty workes in Egypt. Vers. 4. arme] or power, forces. So the Greeke translateth, the power of the Egyptians. See Exod. 15. 4. to their horses] Hebr. to his horses, and to his Chariots; speaking of them as of one man, or having respect to Pharaoh their King. to flow] or, to swim; and over their faces, is like that in Lam. 3. 54. waters flowed over mine head. He meaneth they were drowned, the Sea covered them, they sanke as Lead in the mighty waters, Exod. 15. 10. destroyed] or, made them perish: so that there remained not so much as one of them, Exod. 14. 28. This was an extraordinary favour of God, who oftentimes suffereth the oppressors to have the strong hand, whiles the oppressed have the teares, and no comforter, Eccles. 4. 1. So this is the second argument from Gods power shewed at the Red sea. Vers. 5. what hee did] or, the things which hee did, in his continuall guiding them thorow that terrible wildernesse, where they bewrayed their many infirmities, and had experience both of his chastisements, and of his mercies: the third argument and motive unto obedience. Vers. 6. Dathan] of whose historie, see Numb. 16. This is the fourth argument of Gods greatnesse, to perswade Israel unto his love: for that hee had repressed the factious and mutinous rebels among themselves, which would have subverted the order and ordinance of God concerning the Priesthood, the meanes of the atonement and reconciliation betweene God and his people. their houses] that is, housholds; as the Chaldee expounds it, the men of their houses: See Numb. 16. 32. at their feet] that is, in their possession: the Greeke and Chaldee translate, that was with them. Vers. 7. have seene] or, are they that see. Therefore this people, above all other, were bound to love the Lord. worke] or deed, that is, workes, as the Greeke translateth. So in the verse following, commandement, for commandements. Vers. 8. be strong] in body and spirit, to fight against the enemy: as in Ios. 1. 6. 1 Ioh. 2. 14. Or, be strong, that is, lively and healthfull, as the Greeke translateth, that ye may live: and they that be strong, Matth. 9. 12. are by another Evangelist said to be in health, opposed to the sicke, Luk. 5. 31. possesse] or, inherit the land; a figure of the kingdome of Gods grace and glory, which the righteous shall possesse by inheritance, Esay 60. 21. and 65. 9. Vers. 9. and honey] which signified the great fertility of that land, and figured out spirituall graces and comforts, as is noted on Exod. 3. 8. Vers. 10. thou sowedst] and so all the inhabitants, as the Greeke translateth, they s[illegible: 1 letter]w. In Egypt (from whence Israel came) they had no raine, but by the over-flowing of the river Nilus, the land was watered; and by the labour of the husbandman, beckes were derived to moysten the ground. And that there they had no raine, is testified both by the Prophets, Zach. 14. 18. and by humane histories: Pomp. Mela li. 1. Herodotus in Euterpe. Nec pluvio supplicat herba Iovi, Tibul. lib. 1. Eleg. 8. with thy foot] that is, with thy diligent labour, signified sometime by the hand, Psal. 128. 2. sometime by the foot, as Gen. 30. 30. This condition of the land of Egypt (the house of bondage) figured the estate of men naturally corrupted, which they labour to releeve by their own works, and with the muddy waters which are from beneath, proceeding from earthly wisedome and carnall understanding, 1 Cor. 1. 20, 31. and 2. 4. 5. Ezek. 34. 19. Ier. 2. 13. Verse 11. mountaines, &c.] hereby is meant the commodious, healthfull, and pleasant situation of the land, farre exceeding Egypt. Wherefore sometime the whole land is signified under the name of a mountaine, Exod. 15. 17. And because it was hills and vallies, it could not be watered with the over-flowing of any river, (as Egypt which was a plaine,) but must otherwise bee moystened with the raine of heaven, or else remaine barren and fruitlesse. the raine] this, as it is most kinde, & causeth the earth to be fruitfull in nature; so it figured heavenly graces, the doctrine of Gods word & spirit, wherewith the soules of men are made fruitfull in good works, Esay 45. 8. Mica 5. 7. See the notes on Gen. 27. 28. Deut. 32. 2. The want of raine is on the contrary, a signe of curse, Zach. 14. 17, 18. Rev. 11. 6. Vers. 12. careth for] Hebr. seeketh, that is, carefully seeth unto it, and as the Greeke translateth, visiteth. According to this phrase, Sion is called a citie sought, (that is, cared for, or regarded) and not forsaken, Esay 62. 12. And of Gods gracious providence towards the land of Israel, David singeth, how the Lord visited the land, and plenteously moystened it, very much enriched it, softned it with showers, blessed the bud of it, crowned the yeere of his goodnesse, and his pathes [the clouds] dropped fatnesse, Psal. 65. 10, 11, 12. the eyes] this also signifieth Gods care and providence, for good, as in the like speeches, Ier. 40. 4. Ezra 5. 5. Psal. 34. 16. Though Gods providence be towards all peoples, and hee giveth to all, life and breath, and all things, Acts 17. 25. doing good. giving us raine from heaven, and fruitfull seasons, Acts 14. 17. causing it to raine on the earth where no man is; on the wildernesse, wherein there is no man, Iob 38. 26. yet other peoples have not the word and promise of God, whereon to depend, as Israel had: whereby they might live, not by bread onely, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord, Deut. 8. 3. Vers. 13. if hearkening yee shall hearken] that is, if yee shall diligently hearken, and obey. This passage of Scripture following, the Iewes read daily in their families, as is noted on Deut. 6. 4. Vers. 14. the first raine, &c.] or, the early raine. Twise in a yeere there fell store of raine in Israel; in the beginning of the yeere, about September or October; and halfe a yeere after, which was in Abib (or March) which ecclesiastically began the yeere unto Israel, as is noted on Exod. 12. 2. whereupon it is called the latter raine in the first moneth, Io[illegible: 1 letter]l 2. 23. The first raine fell after the [illegible: 1 letter]owing of their corne, that it might take rooting in the earth: the latter raine was a little before harvest, that the eare might be full, Of these the Scriptures sundry times speake; but so as that they depended upon God, to whom Israel should obey, and of whom they should aske raine, in the time of the latter raine, Zach. 10. 1. and then hee would come unto them (with his blessings) as the raine, as the latter and former raine unto the earth, Hosea 6. 3. So for the fruits, the husbandman waited, and had long patience, untill hee received the early raine, and the latter raine, I am. 5. 7. Which raine, as it figured heavenly blessings in Christ, Deut. 32. 2. Psal. 72. 6. so they led Israel to the feare of God; but when they revolted from him, they said not in their heart, Let us now feare the Lord our God, that giveth raine, both the former and the latter raine in his season, Ier. 5. 24. If these raines were seasonable and moderate, the land was fruitfull; (as Moses in the next words sheweth:) if they failed, then the drought as [illegible: 1 letter]ire devoured the pastures; if they fell immoderately, the graines rotted under their clods, Ioel 1. 19, 17. new oyle] These three were for the use of man, and the grasse after mentioned, for beasts, as David also sheweth in Psal. 104. 13, 14, 15. By these earthly promises God drew his people to obedience: but David had more gladnesse in his heart, in the light of the Lords countenance, than when corne and wine increased, Psal. 4. 6, 7. Vers. 16. deceived] or, inticed and drawen away by riches, pleasures, or false perswasions: of which Iob saith, If my heart hath beene secretly inticed (or deceived) Iob 31. 27. other gods] that is, Idols, falsly reputed Gods: so the Chaldee translateth, Idols (or Errours) of the peoples. Vers. 17. shut-up the heavens] this phrase is used, both for restraining the naturall raine for mens sins, 1 Kings 8. 35. and the spirituall raine of Gods word and blessings, Revel. 11. 6. perish quickly] or, speedily, suddenly. The wicked heathens God suffered with much patience, and would not have them destroyed suddenly, Deut. 7. 22. but his owne people are threatned for their sinnes to perish suddenly: for judgement must beginne at the house of God, 1 Pet. 4. 17. & he warneth his Church to repent, &c. or else he will come unto her quickly, Revel. 2. 5. Vers. 18. phylacteries] or frontlets, written in parchments, and tyed to the forehead, as the former were to the hand or arme: of these, see the annotations on Exod. 13. 9. 16. and Deut. 6. 4, 8. Vers. 19. teach them your children] cause your children (Hebr. your sonnes) to Iearne them; this explaineth the former precept, Thou shalt whet them on thy children, Deut. 6. 7. Abraham (the father of the faithfull) is commended for this, that he would command his children, and his honshold after him, to keepe the way of the LORD, Gen. 18. 19. and Solomons parents taught him the Law, Prov. 4. 3, 4. and 31. 1, 2, &c. when thou walkest &c.] answerable to these, are those sayings of Solomon, When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keepe thee; and when thou awakest; it shall talke with thee: for the Commandement is a Lampe, and the Law is a light, Prov. 6. 22, 23. Vers. 20. doore-posts] of this rite, see the notes on Deut. 6. 9. Vers. 21. dayes may be multiplied] Long life is a blessing, often promised to them that keepe Gods Law. Heare, O my sonne, and receceive my sayings, and the yeeres of thy life shall be many, Prov. 4. 10. dayes of the heavens] that is, whiles the world endureth; for so long, by the decree of God (in Gen. 8. 22.) shall the dayes of heaven be; and so long shall the heavens be over the earth. And under this, eternall life was also figured. A like promise was for the kingdome of David, or of Christ, that his throne should be as the dayes of the heavens, Psal. 89. 30. Vers. 22. this commandement] the Greek explaineth it, these commandements: see the notes on Deut. 5. 31. to cleave] that is, to continue fast united unto him and his Law, as is noted on Deut. 10. 20. Vers. 23. drive out] according to his former promise, in Exod. 23. 23. 27.—31. But because Israel kept not Gods commandement, this promise was not fully performed, Iudg. 2. 1, 2, 3. Vers. 24. shall tread] The like promise is made after Moses death to Israel under Iesus their Captaine, Ios. 1. 3. who was a figure of our Lord Iesus Christ, by whom this promise was fulfilled. the wildernesse] of Paran, which was the southerne border of the land of Canaan. and Lebanon a mountaine which was the northerne bound. By and Lebanon, we may understand and unto Lebanon, as the next words manifest. Euphrates] in Hebrew, Pherath: this is called the river for excellency sake, meaning the great river, as Deut. 1. 7. Gen. 15. 18. and so the Greeke translateth it here. It was the easterne border of their territories. hindmost sea] or, after sea, which the Greeke and Chaldee calleth the Westerne sea, meaning the maine or great sea toward the going downe of the Sunne, as is explained in Ios. 1. 4. which sea is said to be after or behinde them, because it was to the West, and so their westerne bound. For the East is counted the fore-part of the world, the West behinde, the South on the right hand, Psal. 89. 13. and the North on the left: all which foure parts are called by these names in Iob 23. 8, 9. See this promise fulfilled in 2 Chron. 9. 26. Vers. 25. stand] or, set himselfe, that is, resist or withstand you, as the Greeke translateth. So in Ios. 1. 5. feare] in Greeke, trembling; this was fulfilled before, Deut. 2. 25. Psal. 105. 38. and after, Ios. 2. 11. and 10. 10. Here beginneth the 47. section, [non-Latin text not transcribed] or Lecture of the Law: see Genes. 6. 9. Vers. 26. I set] Hebr. I give: this was, that they might take their choise of either of these; for so the phrase elsewhere meaneth, Deut. 30. 19. and so to manifest, that if the curse or evill came upon them, they caused it themselves. Vers. 27. if yee shall hearken] or, that yee may hearken: but the Hebrew Asher, That, is sometimes used for If, as the Greeke here translateth it, and in Levit. 4. 22. So Asher in 1. King. 8. 31. is Im, that is, If, in 2 Chron. 6. 22. Vers. 28. after other gods] in Greeke, to serve other gods, following other religions, or divine services, which the Chaldee calleth the idols of the peoples. Sol. Iarchi observeth from this place, that whosoever committeth idolatry, he turneth aside from all the way which was commanded to Israel: here upon they say, He that professeth idolatry, is as if he denied the whole Law. Vers. 29. put the blessing] Heb. give the blessing, that is, cause it to be pronounced upon mount Gerizim. The manner is shewed in Deut. 27. where this Law is repeated and enlarged. A thing is said to be given sometime, when it is spoken or pronounced with the mouth, as in Iob 36. 3. Deut. 13. 1, 2. upon mount Gerizim] or, towards mount Gerizim, (which the Greeke calleth Garizim:) so after, towards mount Ebal, (called in Greeke Gaibal.) For the people stood halfe of them over against mount Gerizim, and halfe of them over against mount Ebal, as is recorded in Ios. 8. 33. And the Hebrew gnal sometimes signifieth towards a place, as in Exod. 9. 22. towards heaven. Vers. 30. Are they not] that is, Loe they are, speaking as of a thing well knowne. See the notes on Gen. 4. 7. by the way] or, after (behinde) the way of the going downe of the Sunne, that is, the way towards the West, or Sunne-setting. Gilgal] the place where Israel was circumcised afterward in Iosuahs time, Ios. 5. 9. Okes of Moreh] or, plaines of Moreh, as the Chaldee expoundeth it; which was a place by Sechem, where God first appeared to Abraham after he came into the land of Canaan, and there Abraham built an Altar to the Lord, Gen. 12. 6, 7. And that mount Gerizim was by Sechem, (in that part of the country which after was called Samaria) appeareth in Iudg. 9. 6, 7. And the Hebrewes say, in Thalmud Bab. in Sotah, chap. 7. that Gerizim and Ebal were in Samaria. There on mount Gerizim was the Samaritans Temple, 2 Maccab. 6. 2. where they worshipped they knew not what, Ioh. 4. 20. 22. See also Iosephus Antiq. l. 11. c. 8. It seemeth they tooke occasion of that superstition from this Law, thinking Gerizim to be a holy place, because the blessings were pronounced on it; and they called themselves, those that belong to the blessed mount. And there have been of them in that place of late yeeres, as Benjamin in his Itinerario relateth, how he saw the citie in a valley betweene the mountaines Garizim and Ebal, wherein the Samaritans dwelled, and did sacrifice there on mount Garizim, alleaging that which is written in the Law, And thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim.